Order Gallinæ
Family Tetraonidæ
THE CAPERCAILLIE
TETRÁO UROGÁLLUS
Feathers of the throat elongated, black; head and neck dusky; eyes with a bare red skin above and a white spot below; wings brown speckled with black; breast lustrous green; abdomen black with white spots; rump and flanks marked with undulating lines of black and ash colour; tail black with white spots; beak horn white; eyebrows naked, red, beneath the eye a white spot. Length thirty-six inches. Female—a third smaller, barred and spotted with tawny red, black, and white; throat tawny red, unspotted; breast deep red; tail dark red with black bars, white at the tip; bill dusky. Eggs dull yellowish white speckled with yellowish brown.
The Capercaillie, Wood Grouse, or Cock of the Woods, was a rare bird in Scotland in Pennant’s time (1769), and was found only in the Highlands north of Inverness. It became extinct in the eighteenth century, but was re-introduced in 1837 in Scotland, and it is now common in firwoods there, especially in Perthshire. In the pine forests of Sweden and Norway it is still indigenous, but, being a large and beautiful bird, is much sought after, and is annually receding from the haunts of men. It is also found in some of the central countries of Europe, as Poland and the Jura mountains, where it is said to be rather common. It is not only an inhabitant of woods, but passes its time for the most part in trees, and feeds in great measure on the young shoots of the Scotch fir. In summer it adds to its dietary berries, seeds, and insects, for which it searches among bushes or on the ground, returning to the woods to roost. The male bird has obtained great celebrity for his marvellous performances when serenading the hens during the morning and evening twilight in spring. “During his play, the neck of the Capercaillie is stretched out, his tail is raised and spread like a fan, his wings droop, his feathers are ruffled up, and, in short, he much resembles in appearance an angry Turkey Cock. He begins his play with a call something resembling the words peller, peller, peller; these sounds he repeats at first at some little intervals, but, as he proceeds, they increase in rapidity, until, at last, and after perhaps the lapse of a moment or so, he makes a sort of gulp in his throat, and finishes by drawing in his breath. During the continuance of this latter process, which only lasts a few seconds, the head of the Capercaillie is thrown up, his eyes are partially closed, and his whole appearance would denote that he is worked up into an agony of passion.” This performance, however attractive it may De to those for whose benefit it is intended, exercises a fascination over himself which is often dangerous; for the sportsman, well acquainted with the sound, is thus guided to his perch, and, shy though the bird is at other times, is able to get near him unperceived or unheeded, and summarily closes his performances. The Capercaillie hen makes her nest upon the ground, and lays from six to twelve eggs. She is said to sit for four weeks. The young keep with her until towards the approach of winter. The size of the full-grown bird varies considerably according to the latitude in which it is found. In Lapland the male weighs about nine or ten pounds, but in the southern provinces of Sweden as much as seventeen pounds. The hen usually weighs from five to six pounds.
THE BLACK GROUSE
TETRÁO TÉTRIX
Throat-feathers not elongated; plumage black with violet reflections; a broad white band on the wings; secondaries tipped with white; lower tail-coverts white; tail much forked, the outer feathers curved outwards. Eyebrows naked, vermilion; beneath the eye a white spot. Length twenty-three inches. Female—smaller; head and neck rust-red barred with black; rump and tail-feathers black barred with red; belly dusky brown with red and whitish bars; tail slightly forked. Eggs dull yellow spotted and speckled with reddish brown.
The Black Grouse is a native of the northern countries of Europe and of the mountainous districts of the central part of the Continent. In the south it is unknown. Of a hardier nature than the Pheasant, and less fastidious in its dietary, it braves the most inclement seasons, and is never stinted in its supply of food. Moreover, as it rarely wanders far from its heath-clad home, it would probably, if it enjoyed the privilege of insignificance, be abundant in all the extensive waste lands of Britain. But its large size, the excellent flavour of its flesh, and the excitement of the sport which it affords all tend to keep down its numbers, so that a moor well stocked with Black Grouse is a possession not to be thought lightly of by the highest and wealthiest. The male bird is, in sporting phraseology, a Black Cock, the female a Grey Hen; and it is the etiquette of the field to shoot Cocks only, the Hens being left for breeding. The Black Cock resembles, in one of its most striking peculiarities, its near relative, the Capercaillie. ‘During the spring’, says Mr. St. John, ’and also in the autumn, about the time the first hoar frosts are felt, I have often watched the Black Cocks in the early morning when they collect on some rock or height, and strut and crow with their curious note, not unlike that of a Wood Pigeon. On these occasions they often have most desperate battles. I have seen five or six Black Cocks all fighting at once; and so violent and eager were they, that I approached within a few yards before they rose. Usually there seems to be a master-bird in these assemblages, who takes up his position on the most elevated spot, crowing and strutting round and round with spread-out tail like a Turkey Cock, and his wings trailing on the ground. The hens remain quietly near him, whilst the smaller or younger male birds keep at a respectful distance, neither daring to crow, except in a subdued kind of voice, nor to approach. If they attempt the latter, the master-bird dashes at the intruder, and often a short melée ensues, several others joining in it, but they soon return to their former respectful distance. I have also seen an old Black Cock crowing on a birch-tree with a dozen hens below it, and the younger Cocks looking on with fear and admiration. It is at these times that numbers fall to the share of the poacher, who knows that the birds resort to the same spot every morning.’
The food of these birds is abundant in quantity, and though simple, yet partakes of an extensive assortment of flavours. Twigs of the fine-leaved heath (Erica cinerea), and heather (Calluna); buds of the willow and birch; the tender shoots of cotton-grass, sedge, and grass; and whortleberries, cranberries, and crowberries, are the principal items of their bill of fare, varied according to the season. In the months of February, March and April, they do much mischief to plantations by destroying the tender shoots of Scotch and Silver Fir. ‘In searching for food, the Black Grouse frequents the lower grounds of the less-cultivated districts, not generally removing far from the shelter of woods or thickets, to which it betakes itself as occasion requires. It sometimes makes an excursion into the stubble-fields in search of the seeds of cereal plants, and in summer and autumn includes those of the grasses and rushes. While thus employed, it walks and runs among the herbage with considerable agility, and, when apprehensive of danger, flies off to a sheltered place, or settles down and remains motionless until the intruder passes by. It perches adroitly, and walks securely on the branches; but its ordinary station is on the ground, where also it reposes at night. It may often, especially in spring, be seen on the turf-top of the low walls inclosing plantations. Its flight is heavy, direct, and of moderate velocity, and is capable of being protracted to a great distance.’41
The Grey Hen constructs a rude nest of withered grass and a few twigs in the shelter of some low bush, and lays from five to ten eggs. The male bird takes no part in the bringing up of the brood, but leaves the duties of incubation and attention to the wants of his family to the hen, who devotes herself wholly to the careful nurture of her little ones. While the poults are in their nonage, she assiduously leads them about where food is most abundant; and if surprised by an intruder, leaves them to hide among the heath and ferns, creeps rapidly herself to some distance, and then rises in a fluttering manner, so that a stranger to her habits would suppose her to be wounded. By August 20, the young are supposed to be fully fledged, and the sportsman is expected not only to show his skill as a marksman, but his quickness of eye in discriminating between males and females as the covey rises. The former are to be distinguished by their richer colouring, and by the more strongly marked white on the wings. At this season the old Black Cocks club together.
The Black Cock is found in greater or less quantities in the moorland districts of many of the English counties, but is most abundant in the north of England and Wales, and in Scotland.
THE RED GROUSE
LAGÓPUS SCÓTICUS
Plumage chestnut brown, marked on the back with black spots and beneath with black lines; a fringe of small white feathers round the eyes, and a white spot at the base of the lower mandible; a crimson fringed band above the eyes; some of the feathers of the abdomen tipped with white; tail of sixteen feathers, the four middle ones chestnut with black bars, the rest dusky; feet and toes covered thickly with grey hair-like feathers. Female—the red eye-lid less conspicuous; colours not so dark and tinged with reddish yellow, the black spots and lines more numerous. Length sixteen inches. Eggs reddish ash colour, nearly covered with blotches and spots of deep red-brown.
The diminution of the number of Pheasants in France, owing to a relaxation of the efforts formerly made to protect them, and the abundance of the same birds, in those parts of England where unceasing care is taken of them in severe or protracted winters, tend to prove the great difficulty of preserving a foreign bird in a country which is not in every respect adapted to its habits and constitution. On the other hand, the undiminished abundance of Red Grouse in Great Britain, in spite of the absence of all artificial protection, and notwithstanding the vast quantity which annually fall a prey to vermin, poachers, and sportsmen, proves as satisfactorily that where a bird has become abundant, in a country in all respects suited to its constitution and producing an inexhaustible supply of its natural food, it is impossible to extirpate it. If we ever had occasion to adopt a bird as a national emblem, the choice might for one reason fall on the Red Grouse. It is a native of the British Isles, and is found in no other country. On the moors of Scotland, the hilly parts of the north of England, the mountains of Wales, and the wastes of Ireland, it is as wild and free as the Gull on the sea-cliff. It frequents extensive heaths where man could not protect it if he would, and finds no stint of food where few living things can exist but insects and some of the larger rapacious animals which make it their special prey. Eagles, Falcons, Buzzards, Crows, Foxes, Martins, and Polecats, all wage against it incessant war; it is wholly without armour, offensive or defensive; yet its numbers are undiminished. And we may confidently say that, as long as there are large tracts of land in Great Britain unreclaimed, there will be Grouse.
Red Grouse must, occasionally, fall in the way of the wanderer over the Scottish moors, whatever may be the object of his rambles; but a sportsman alone is privileged to make the bird his study at all seasons. My sketch, therefore, of the Grouse is to be considered as taken, not from the limited observation which I have been enabled to make, when I have chanced to start a bird on the hills of Westmoreland or the Highlands, but to be compiled from the notes of others who have had more ample means of observing its habits.
“The Brown Ptarmigan, generally known by the name of Red Grouse, as compared with the Black Grouse, is met with in Scotland on all kinds of surface, provided it be covered with heath, whether Calluna vulgaris (Ling) or Erica cinerea (Common Purple Heath), from the level of the sea to the height of about two thousand feet. The low sandy heaths of the eastern counties of the middle division appear to be less favourable to it than the more moist peaty tracts of the western and northern districts, where the shrubs on which it feeds attain a great size.”
Its food appears to be much the same as that of the Black Grouse, to which it is similar in many of its habits; but it never perches on trees. It has, moreover, a decided predilection for the national grain of Scotland. Hence the cultivation of small tracts of land with oats in the neighbourhood of moors where it abounds is an unprofitable labour.
Its name, Lagópus (Hare-footed), is equally appropriate as descriptive of its thickly-clothed foot and its fleetness as a runner; by some French ornithologists it is enumerated among Velocipedes, for the latter reason. On ordinary occasions it does not fly much, but keeps concealed among the heath, seldom choosing to rise unless its enemy comes very near. Red Grouse pair early in the season, and build their nests generally on the borders between heath and lea ground, with a view to providing their young with an open nursery-ground, on which to learn the use of their legs, as well as a safe retreat on the approach of danger. The nest is loosely constructed of straws and twigs which may chance to lie about near the selected spot. The number of eggs is usually eight to ten; the hen sits very closely, allowing the shepherd almost to trample on her before she springs. The period of hatching is a perilous one for the chicks, for, as they break the shell, they utter a small but shrill chirp—a certain signal to some watchful Hooded Crow that a prey is at hand; he traces up the sound, drives the mother from her nest, and destroys the whole brood.
Once fairly hatched, the danger decreases; the young birds, while still quite small, show great readiness in concealing themselves. When disturbed they separate in all directions, crouch on the ground, squeeze between objects that seem to defy all passage, work their way through the cover, or, if they fancy that an eye is fixed on them, lie as motionless as stones. When so far grown as to be able to fly, they still prefer the shelter afforded by the cover; but if hard pressed the old cock usually rises first, with a cry which some compare to the quack of a Duck. The hen and young birds show no hurry in following his example, but take wing singly, and at unequal intervals—not like Partridges, which always rise in a covey. This is the period when they afford the easiest shot to the sportsman, who often puts them up almost beneath his feet, or under the very nose of his dogs. Later in the season a great change takes place, and this, it is said, whether the birds have been much harassed or not. Become cautious and wild, they no longer trust to concealment or swiftness of foot, but, discovering from a great distance the approach of danger, they rise most frequently out of shot, so that it requires skill and patience to get near them. A slight and early snow sometimes makes it more easy to approach them, at least for a few hours; but ordinarily, not even extreme cold, or a covering of snow a foot thick, appears to tame them at all. Under such circumstances, they collect in enormous ‘packs’, and betake themselves to some particular part of the moor from which the snow has been more or less drifted. These packs keep together during winter, and at the beginning of spring separate and pair, not, however, without some previous altercations; but these are soon over, and they lose much of their shyness, venturing close to the roads, and being little disturbed by the passage of the traveller.
THE PTARMIGAN
LAGOPUS MÚTUS
Winter plumage—pure white, a black line from the angle of the beak through the eye; outer tail-feathers black; above the eyes a scarlet fringed membrane; bill and claws black; tarsi and toes thickly clothed with woolly feathers. Female—without the black line through the eyes. Summer plumage—wings, under tail-coverts, two middle tail-feathers, and legs white; outer tail-feathers black, some of them tipped with white; rest of plumage ash-brown, marked with black lines and dusky spots. Length fifteen inches. Eggs reddish yellow, spotted and speckled with deep reddish brown.
This beautiful bird is the Schneehuhn, ‘Snow-chick’, of the Germans, the White Partridge of the Alps and Pyrenees, and the Gaelic Tarmachan. Whilst most birds shrink from cold, the Ptarmigan, on the contrary, seems to revel in it, and to fear nothing so much as the beams of the sun. Not even when the valleys rejoice in the livery of spring does it desert the snowy regions altogether, and, when the mist-wreaths clear away, it avoids the rays of the sun by seeking the shady sides of the mountains. Only when the northern regions or lofty mountains are so thickly covered with snow as to threaten it with starvation does it repair to districts where the cold is somewhat mitigated, but never lower into the valleys than where it may quench its thirst with snow. ‘The male bird’, says a field naturalist, ‘has been seen, during a snow-storm in Norway, to perch himself on a rock which overtopped the rest, and to sit there for some time as if enjoying the cold wind and sleet, which was drifting in his face; just as one might have done on a sultry summer’s day on the top of the Wiltshire downs, when a cool air was stirring there.’42 The same writer observes: ‘I have generally found the Ptarmigan concealed among the grey, lichen-coloured rocks on the summits of the fjelds, and so closely do they resemble these rocks in colour that I could scarcely ever see them on the ground; and sometimes when the practised eye of my guide found them, and he would point out the exact spot, it was not until after a long scrutiny that I could distinguish the bird within a dozen yards of me. Frequently we would find them on the snow itself, and many a time has a large circular depression in the snow been pointed out to me, where the Ptarmigan has been lying and pluming himself in his chilly bed. He is a noble bird, free as air, and for the most part uninterrupted in his wide domain; he can range over the enormous tracts of fjeld, seldom roused by a human step, and still more seldom hunted by man. When the winter clothes his dwelling in a garb of snow, he arrays himself in the purest and most beautiful white; when the summer sun melts away the snow, and the grey rocks appear, he, too, puts on his coloured dress, and assimilates himself once more to his beloved rocks. But the young Ptarmigans are my especial favourites: I have caught them of all ages; some apparently just emerged from the egg, others some weeks older; they are remarkably pretty little birds, with their short black beaks and their feathered toes; and so quickly do they run, and so nimble and active are they in escaping from you, that they are soon beneath some projecting stone, far beyond the reach of your arm, where you hear them chirping and calling out in defiance and derision. The call of the old Ptarmigan is singularly loud and hoarse; it is a prolonged grating, harsh note, and may be heard at a great distance.’ This has been compared to the scream of the Missel Thrush; but Macgillivray says it seems to him more like the croak of a frog.
Ptarmigans pair early in spring, and build their nest of grass, bents and twigs in a slight hollow behind a stone or bush, and lay from seven to twelve eggs. The young are able to run about as soon as they are hatched, and, as we have seen, are most expert and nimble in concealing themselves. The hen bird when surprised with her young brood counterfeits lameness, and runs about in great anxiety, as if wishing to draw attention from her chicks to herself. Their food consists of the fresh green twigs of heath and other mountain plants, seeds, and berries. While feeding they run about, and are shy in taking flight even when they have acquired the use of their wings, but crouch on the approach of danger, and remain motionless and silent. When at length they do rise, they fly off in a loose party, and mostly in a direct line, for a distant part of the mountain, the movement of their wings resembling that of the Grouse, but being lighter in character. Early in the season, a long time before Grouse, the coveys of Ptarmigans unite and form large packs, and it is while thus congregated that they perform their partial migrations from the high grounds to what they consider a milder climate, the Norwegian valleys. There, while the ground is covered thickly with snow, they, to a certain extent, modify their habits, and perch on trees, sometimes in such numbers that the branches seem to be altogether clothed in white. It does not appear that any of these flocks make long journeys or cross the sea. In Scotland they are no more numerous in winter than in summer, nor have they been observed to take refuge in the woods. In the comparatively mild temperature of Scotland there occurs no lengthened period during which they cannot find their simple food somewhere in the open country; they consequently do not leave the moors, but only descend lower.
The Ptarmigan is neither so abundant nor so generally diffused in Scotland as the Grouse. It is resident on high mountains. It is said to have existed at one time in the north of England and in Wales; if so, it has totally disappeared, nor is it known in Ireland.
FAMILY PHASIANIDÆ
THE PHEASANT
PHASIÁNUS COLCHICUS
Head and neck glossy, with metallic reflections of green, blue, and purple; sides of the head bare, scarlet, minutely speckled with black; general plumage spotted and banded with orange-red, purple, brown, yellow, green, and black, either positive or reflected; tail very long, of eighteen feathers, the middle ones longest. Female—light brown, marked with dusky; sides of the head feathered; tail much shorter. Length three feet. Eggs olive-brown.
This climate suits the Pheasant pretty well, and at most seasons of the year it finds abundance of food; but in hard winters the supply diminishes, or fails altogether; and were not food specially scattered about for it in its haunts, it would either die off from being unable to withstand cold and hunger together, or become so weak that it would fall a prey to the smaller rapacious animals, who are not a match for it when it is strong and active. A healthy cock Pheasant has been known to beat off a cat; a sickly one would be unable to compete with a Magpie or Jay. It is, in fact, an exotic running wild, and enabled to do so only by the care of those who help it to surmount the inconveniences of a life spent in a foreign land.
The Pheasant is said to have been brought originally from Colchis, a country on the shores of the Black Sea, and to have derived its name from the river Phasis, the famous scene of the expedition of the Argonauts, bearing date about 1200 years before Christ. From this epoch it is said to have been known to the Athenians, who endeavoured to acclimatize it for the sake of its beauty as well as the delicacy of its flesh. The Romans received it from the Greeks; but it was little known, except by name, in Germany, France, and England, until the Crusades. The custom was then introduced from Constantinople of sending it to table decorated with its tail feathers and head, as a dish for kings and emperors—a special honour until that time confined to the Peacock. Willughby, in the seventeenth century, says of it that, from its rarity, delicacy of flavour, and great tenderness, it seems to have been created for the tables of the wealthy. He tells us, too, that the flesh of Pheasants caught by hawking is of a higher flavour, and yet more delicate than when they are taken by snares or any other method.
The kings of France greatly encouraged the naturalization of the Pheasants in the royal forests, both as an object of sport and as an acquisition to the festive board, and were imitated by the nobles and superior clergy. In the fourteenth century, all the royal forests, the parks of Berry and the Loire, all the woods and vineyards of the rich abbeys, were peopled with Pheasants. The male bird was protected by the title of ‘Royal game of the first class’, and the killing of a hen was forbidden under the severest penalties. During the period between the reigns of Henry IV and Louis XVI its estimation increased. During the revolution royal edicts were little heeded. Pheasants, no less than their owners, forfeited their dignity, which, however, rose again somewhat under the empire. Waterloo, and succeeding events, brought desolation to the Pheasantries as well as to the deer-parks of France; and now the royal bird, French authors tell us, is likely to disappear from the country. Already, the space which it occupies is reduced to a thirtieth part of the national territory. The centre of this privileged province is Paris; its radius is not more than five-and-twenty leagues, and is decreasing every year. Pheasants have disappeared from the districts of the Garonne and Rhone, while in Touraine and Berry a few only are to be found in walled parks.
If the Pheasant should ever, in this country, lose the protection of the Game Laws, it will probably dwindle away in like manner. Under existing circumstances, it offers an inducement to poaching too tempting to be resisted. Gamekeepers engage in more affrays with poachers of Pheasants than of all the other game birds taken collectively; and if the offence of destroying them were made less penal than it is at present, they would doubtless diminish rapidly. Next to Wood Pigeons, they are said to be the most destructive of all British birds; so that farmers would gladly do their utmost to exterminate them; their large size and steady onward flight combine to make them an ‘easy shot’ for the veriest tyro in gunnery, while the estimation in which they are held for the table would always secure for them a value in the market.
The places best adapted for Pheasants are thick woods in the neighbourhood of water, where there is abundance of shelter on the ground, in the shape of furze-bushes, brambles, tall weeds, rushes, or tussock grass; for they pass their lives almost exclusively on the ground, even roosting there, except in winter, when they fly up in the evening, and perch on the lower boughs of middling-sized trees. In April or May, the female bird scratches for herself a shallow hole in the ground under the shelter of some bushes or long grass, and lays from ten to fourteen eggs; but not unfrequently she allows might to prevail over right, and appropriates both the nest and eggs belonging to some evicted Partridge. The situation of the nests is generally known to the keepers, and all that are considered safe are left to be attended to by the owner. Such, however, as are exposed to the depredations of vermin or poachers are more frequently taken, and the eggs are placed under a domestic hen.
Pheasant chicks are able to run about and pick up their own food soon after they have escaped from the egg. This consists of grain, seeds, an enormous quantity of wireworms, small insects, especially ants and their eggs, and green herbage. When full grown, they add to this diet beans, peas, acorns, beech-mast, and the tuberous roots of several wild plants. A strip of buck-wheat, of which they are very fond, is sometimes sown for their special benefit along the skirt of a plantation. In seasons of scarcity they will enter the farmyard, and either quietly feed with the poultry, or, less frequently, do battle with the cocks for the sovereignty. A story is told, in the Zoologist, of a male Pheasant, which drove from their perch, and killed in succession, three fine cocks. The proprietor, with a view to prevent further loss, furnished a fourth cock with a pair of steel spurs. Armed with these, the lawful occupant was more than a match for the aggressor, who, next morning, was found lying dead on the ground beneath the perch. Another has been known to beat off a cat; and a third was in the habit of attacking a labouring man. The female is a timid, unoffending bird, as peaceful in her demeanour as quiet in her garb. The tints of her plumage, far less gaudy than in the male, are a protection to her in the nesting season, as being less likely to attract the notice either of poachers or vermin. Indeed, were she always to lie close, her nest would not be easily discovered, for the colour of her feathers so closely resembles that of withered leaves, that she is, when sitting, less conspicuous than her uncovered eggs would be.
Common Pheasants are occasionally found having a large portion, or even the whole, of their plumage white. These, though highly ornamental when mixed with the common sort, are not prized, owing to their being a more conspicuous mark for poachers. The ‘Ringed Pheasant’ occasionally shot in English preserves is not, as some maintain, a distinct species; it differs from the typical form of the bird only in that the neck is partially surrounded by a narrow white collar passing from the back of the neck to the sides, but not meeting in front.
THE COMMON PARTRIDGE.
PERDIX CINÉREA
Face, eyebrows, and throat, bright rust-red; behind the eye a naked red skin; neck, breast, and flanks, ash colour with black zigzag lines, and on the feathers of the flanks a large rust-red spot; low on the breast a chestnut patch shaped like a horseshoe; upper parts ash-brown with black spots and zigzag lines; scapulars and wing-coverts darker; quills brown, barred and spotted with yellowish red; tail of eighteen feathers, the laterals bright rust-red; beak olive-brown; feet grey. Female—less red on the face; head spotted with white; upper plumage darker, spotted with black; the horseshoe mark indistinct or wanting. Length thirteen inches. Eggs uniform olive-brown.
Very few, even of our common birds, are more generally known than the Partridge. From the first of September to the first of February, in large towns, every poulterer’s shop is pretty sure to be decorated with a goodly array of these birds; and there are few rural districts in which a walk through the fields will fail to be enlivened by the sudden rising and whirring away of a covey of Partridges, in autumn and winter; of a pair in spring. At midsummer they are of less frequent appearance, the female being too busily occupied, either in incubation or the training of her family, to find time for flight; and at this season, moreover, the uncut fields of hay, clover, and corn afford facilities for the avoiding of danger, by concealment rather than by flight. The habits of the Partridge, as of the Grouse, are especially terrestrial. It never flies, like the Lark, for enjoyment; and as it does not perch in trees it has no occasion for upward flight. Still, there are occasions when Partridges rise to a considerable distance from the ground, and this seems to be when they meditate a longer flight than usual.
A friend, to whom I am indebted for many valuable notes on various birds, tells me that when a covey of Partridges are disturbed by a pack of hounds, they lie close at first, as if terrified by the noise and bent on concealing themselves; but when the pack actually comes on them they rise to a great height, and fly to a distance which may be measured by miles—at least, so he supposes, as he has watched them diminish and fade from the sight before they showed any sign of preparing to alight.
The Partridge, though decorated with no brilliant colours, which would tend to thwart it in its habit of concealing itself among vegetation of the same general hue as itself, is a beautiful bird. Its gait is graceful, its feet small and light, its head well raised; and its plumage, though devoid of striking contrasts, is exquisitely pencilled, each feather on the back and breast being veined like the gauzy wings of a fly. The most conspicuous part of the plumage of the male bird, the horseshoe on its breast, is invisible as it walks or crouches, and the general tone approaches that of the soil.
Partridges pair early in the year; but the hen does not begin to lay until May, nor to sit until towards the beginning of June. The nest is merely a depression in the ground, into which a few straws or dead leaves have been drawn. It is sometimes placed among brushwood under a hedge, but more frequently in the border of a field of hay, clover, or corn, or in the wide field itself. The mowing season, unfortunately, is not noted in the calendar of Nature; so the mother-bird, who is a close sitter, is not unfrequently destroyed by the scythe, or, at all events, is driven away, and returns to find her eggs carried off to be entrusted to the care of a domestic hen. In unusually wet seasons, nests which have been fixed in low situations are flooded, and the eggs being thus reduced to a low temperature become addle. When this has taken place, the Partridge makes a second laying, and a late brood is reared.
Notwithstanding this, however, Partridges are exceedingly prolific, and are said to be increasing in numbers in proportion as new lands are reclaimed from the waste, although the Red-legged Partridge has lessened its numbers in some districts. It must certainly be admitted that, in bad seasons, they are treated with a consideration that would scarcely be shown towards them if they were simply destroyers of grain and had nothing to recommend them as objects of sport or as delicacies for the table. When abundant, they fall freely before the sportsman’s gun; but when the coveys are either small or few, they are treated with forbearance, and enough are left to stock the preserves for the ensuing year.
While the hen is sitting, the male bird remains somewhere in the neighbourhood, and gives timely warning of the approach of danger; when the eggs are hatched, he accompanies his mate, and shares in the work of teaching the young to shift for themselves—a lesson which they begin to learn at once. The food both of old and young birds is, to a great extent, insects. The young are especially fond of ants and their pupæ or larvæ. During the year 1860, in which there were no broods of Partridges, I was much struck by the fact that stubble-fields abounded, to an unusual degree, with ant-hills. In ordinary seasons, these are found torn to pieces and levelled. This year, scarcely one was touched; and even at the present time, the end of October, winged ants are far more numerous than they usually are at this time of the year. Besides insects, Partridges feed on the seeds of weeds, green leaves, grain spilt in reaping, and on corn which has been sown. This last charge is a serious one; yet, on the whole, it is most probable that Partridges do far more good than harm on an estate, the insects and weeds which they destroy more than making amends for their consumption of seed-corn.
I might fill many pages with anecdotes of the devotion of Partridges to their maternal duties—their assiduity in hatching their eggs, their disregard of personal danger while thus employed, their loving trickeries to divert the attention of enemies from their broods to themselves, and even the actual removal of their eggs from a suspectedly dangerous position to a place of safety; but with many of these stories the reader must be already familiar if he has read any of the works devoted to such subjects.
The number of eggs laid before incubation commences varies from ten to fifteen, or more. Yarrell says, ‘Twenty-eight eggs in one instance, and thirty-three eggs in two other instances, are recorded as having been found in one nest; but there is little doubt, in these cases, that more than one bird had laid eggs in the same nest.’ This may be; but I find in a French author an instance in which no less than forty-two eggs were laid by a Partridge in captivity, all of which, being placed under a hen, would have produced chicks, but for the occurrence of a thunder-storm accompanied by a deluge of rain which flooded the nest, when the eggs, which all contained chicks, were on the point of being hatched. The average number of birds in a covey is, I believe, about twelve; quite enough to supply the sportsmen and to account for the abundance of the bird.
The character of the Partridge’s flight is familiar to most people. Simultaneously with the startled cry of alarm from the cock comes a loud whirr-r-r as of a spinning-wheel: away fly the whole party in a body, keeping a horizontal, nearly straight line: in turns each bird ceases to beat its wings and sails on for a few yards with extended pinions; the impetus exhausted which carried it through this movement, it plies its wings again, and if it have so long escaped the fowler, may, by this time, consider itself out of danger, for its flight, though laboured, is tolerably rapid.
The call of the Partridge is mostly uttered in the evening, as soon as the beetles begin to buzz. The birds are now proceeding to roost, which they always do in the open field, the covey forming a circle with their heads outwards, to be on the watch against their enemies, of whom they have many. They feed for the most part in the morning and middle of the day, and vary in size according to the abundance of their favourite food. In some districts of France, it is said, the weight of the Partridges found on an estate is considered as a fair standard test of the productiveness of the soil and of the state of agricultural skill.
Most people are familiar with the distich:
If the Partridge had the Woodcock’s thigh,
It would be the best bird that e’er did flie; but every one does not know that the saying was in vogue among epicures in the reign of Charles II.
THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE
CÁCCABIS RUFA
Throat and cheeks white, surrounded by a black band, which spreads itself out over the breast and sides of the neck in the form of numerous spots and lines, with which are intermixed a few white spots; upper plumage reddish ash; on the flanks a number of crescent-shaped spots, the convexity towards the tail rust-red, the centre black, bordered by white; beak, orbits, and feet, bright red. Length thirteen and a half inches. Eggs dull yellow, spotted and speckled with reddish brown and ash colour.
The Red-legged Partridge, called also the French and Guernsey Partridge, is a stronger and more robust bird than the common species, which it also greatly surpasses in brilliancy of colouring. As some of its names indicate, it is not an indigenous bird, but a native of the south of Europe, whence it was first introduced into England in the reign of Charles II. To Willughby, who lived at that period, it was unknown except as a native of the continent of Europe and the islands of Guernsey and Jersey. Towards the close of the last century it was re-introduced into Suffolk, where it has become numerous; so much so, indeed, in some places, as to have gained the better of the common species for a time.
Its flight is rapid, but heavier and more noisy than that of the Common Partridge. It is less patient of cold, and less able to elude the attacks of birds of prey. It is quite a terrestrial bird, very slow in taking flight, and never perching except when hard pressed, when, on rare occasions, it takes refuge among the thick branches of an oak or pinaster; here it considers itself safe, and watches the movements of the dogs with apparent unconcern. Sometimes, too, when closely hunted, it takes shelter in a rabbit’s burrow or the hole of a tree; but under ordinary circumstances it runs rapidly before the dogs, and frequently disappoints the sportsman by rising out of shot. The Grey or Common Partridge frequents rich cultivated lands; the Red Partridge prefers uncultivated plains, ‘which summer converts into burning causeways, winter into pools of water—monotonous landes, where skeletons of sheep pasture without variation on heath and the dwarf prickly genista. It delights, too, in bushy ravines, or the steep sides of rocky hills covered with holly, thorns, and brambles; and when it resorts to vineyards, it selects those situated on the sides of steep slopes, where marigolds and coltsfoot are the principal weeds, rabbits and vipers the most abundant animals.’43 Red Partridges are consequently most numerous in the least cultivated districts of France, especially those between the Cher and the Loire, and between the Loire and the Seine. Towards the east they do not extend beyond the hills of Epernay, and do not cross the valley of the Meuse. The flesh of the Red Partridge is considered inferior to that of the Grey, and the bird itself is less esteemed by sportsmen as an object of pursuit. In England it seems to retain its natural taste of preferring bushy heaths to inclosed land. In the mode of incubation and rearing the young the two species are much alike.
THE QUAIL.
COTÚRNIX COMMÚNIS
‘This species’, says a French naturalist, ’is probably the most productive of all winged creatures; and it could not well be otherwise, or it would be unable to withstand the war of extermination declared against it by human beings and birds of prey. One may get an idea of the prodigious number of victims which the simple crossing of the Mediterranean costs the species by two well-known and often quoted facts. The Bishop of Capri, a wretched islet scarcely a league in length, which lies at the entrance of the Bay of Naples, used to clear a net revenue of 25,000 francs a year (£1,000) by his Quails. This sum represents 160,000 Quails at the lowest computation. In certain islands of the Archipelago, and parts of the coast of the Peloponnese, the inhabitants, men and women, have no other occupation during two months of the year than that of collecting the Quails which are showered on them from heaven, picking and cleaning them, salting them (‘they spread them all abroad for themselves’) and packing them away in casks for transportation to the principal markets of the Levant; that is to say, the migration of Quails is to this part of Greece what the migration of herrings is to Holland and Scotland. The Quail-catchers arrive at the shore a fortnight in advance, and every man numbers his ground to avoid disputes. The Quail arrives in France from Africa early in May, and takes its departure towards the end of August.’
Another French author says, ‘Like Rails, Woodcocks, Snipes, and many of the waders, the Quail, when it travels towards the sea-shore, flies only in the night. It leaves the lands, where it has passed the day, about the dusk of the evening, and settles again with the dawn of the morning.’ Not unfrequently, while performing their transit, they become weary, and alight on vessels, or fall into the sea, and are drowned. ‘Being at a small town on the coast, in the month of May’, says M. Pellicot, ‘I saw some boats come in with ten or a dozen sharks. They were all opened before me, and there was not one which had not from eight to twelve Quails in its body.’ ‘Enormous flights are annually observed at the spring and fall, after crossing an immense surface of sea, to take a brief repose in the islands of Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, Crete, in the kingdom of Naples, and about Constantinople, where, on these occasions, there is a general shooting match, which lasts two or three days. This occurs always in the autumn. The birds, starting from the Crimea about seven at night, and with a northerly wind, before dawn accomplish a passage of above sixty leagues in breadth, and alight on the southern shore to feed and repose. In the vernal season the direction of the flight is reversed, and they arrive in similar condition on the Russian coast. The same phenomena occur in Malta, etc.’44
On its arrival, the Quail betakes itself to open plains and rich grassy meadows, especially where the soil is calcareous, and avoids woody countries. During the early part of summer it frequents corn-fields, saintfoin, and lucern. In September it is found in stubble and clover fields, and among the weeds growing in dry ponds, or it finds shelter in any crops which may yet remain standing. In warm countries it resorts to vineyards, attracted, it is said, not so much by the grapes as by the numerous small snails with which the vines are then infested; for the crops of the late birds are generally found filled with these molluscs. In locomotion it makes more use of its feet than its wings, and when put up is never induced to perch on a tree. Its flight resembles in character that of the Partridge, but it rarely flies far, and when it alights makes awkward attempts to conceal itself, but often fails, and may sometimes be captured with the hand. In June or July, the female lays from eight to fourteen eggs in a hole in the ground, and brings up her young without the assistance of the male. Towards the end of August the old birds migrate southwards, and are followed by the young. Before the end of October all have disappeared, though instances have occurred of their being shot during winter, especially in seasons when the harvest has been a late one.
The flesh of the Quail is considered a great delicacy, and many thousands are caught, imported to the London markets, for the table. They are placed in low flat cages, scarcely exceeding in height the stature of the bird, for the reason that in confinement, the birds, in their effort to escape, would beat themselves against the upper bars, and destroy themselves. These are said to be all old males.
Quails inhabit the eastern continent, from China—where they are said to be carried about in winter by the natives, to keep their hands warm—to the British Isles. With us they are nowhere plentiful, but are occasionally shot by sportsmen in most parts of the country. In corn-fields, on the shores of Belfast Lough, in the north of Ireland, they are of frequent occurrence.
In Palestine the Quails still come up in the night, as of old, and “cover the land.”
FAMILY RALLIDÆ
LAND RAIL, OR CORN CRAKE
CREX PRATENSIS
Upper feathers dusky brown bordered with reddish ash; over the eye and down the side of the head, a streak of ash; wing-coverts rust-red; quills reddish brown; throat, belly, and abdomen, whitish; breast pale yellowish brown; flanks barred with white and rust-red; upper mandible brown, lower whitish; irides brown; feet reddish brown. Length ten inches. Eggs yellowish brown spotted and speckled with grey and reddish brown.
Few persons can have spent the summer months in the country, and enjoyed their evenings in the open air, without having grown familiar with the note of the Corn Crake; yet, strange to say, among those who have heard it on numberless occasions, not one in a hundred (leaving sportsmen out of the account) have ever seen one alive. Its whole life, while with us, seems to be spent among the long grass and stalks of hay or corn, between which its long legs and slender body give it peculiar facility of moving, and it is only when hard pressed that it rises from the ground. Its flight is low, with its legs hanging down; and it usually drops into the nearest hedge or cover which presents itself, and from which it is not easily flushed a second time.
The Corn Crake used to be found, during summer, in all the counties of England, but is less frequent in Cornwall and Devonshire than in the counties farther east, and increases in abundance as we advance northwards. In the north of Ireland it is to be heard in every meadow and cornfield, and here its incessant cry in the evenings is monotonous, if not wearisome; in many parts of Scotland it is also very common, and here it is much more frequently seen. In waste lands, where it can find no continuous corn, it takes refuge in patches of flags, rushes, or tall weeds, and if watched for, may be seen leaving its place of concealment, and quietly walking along the grass, lifting its feet high, and stooping from time to time to pick up its food, consisting of worms, insects, snails, and seeds.
The Land Rail is considered a delicate article of food, and has long been prized as such. In France it used to be termed, in old sporting phraseology, ‘King of the Quails’, the Quail being a bird which it much resembles it colouring.
The Corn Crake places its nest, which is composed of a few straws, in a hollow in the ground, among corn or hay, and lays from eight to ten, or rarely, twelve eggs. The young birds are able to accompany their parents in their mazy travels as soon as they have left the shell. The note of the old bird is heard much later in the season than the song of most other birds, and is probably employed as a call-note to the young, which, but for some such guidance, would be very likely to go astray. In the still evenings of August, I have, while standing on the shore of the island of Islay, distinctly heard its monotonous crek-crek proceeding from a cornfield on the opposite shore of Jura, the Sound of Islay which intervened being here upwards of half a mile wide. On ordinary occasions it is not easy to decide on the position and distance of the bird while uttering its note; for the Corn Crake is a ventriloquist of no mean proficiency.
THE SPOTTED CRAKE
PORZANA MARUETTA
Forehead, throat, and a streak over the eye, lead-grey; upper plumage olive-brown, spotted with black and white; breast and under plumage olive and ash, spotted with white, the flanks barred with white and brown; bill greenish yellow, orange at the base; irides brown; feet greenish yellow. Length nine inches. Eggs yellowish red, spotted and speckled with brown and ash.
The Spotted Crake is smaller in size than the Corn Crake, and far less common. It is shot from time to time in various parts of Great Britain, especially in the fen countries, to which its habits are best suited. It frequents watery places which abound with reeds, flags, and sedges, and among these it conceals itself, rarely using its wings, but often wading over mud and weeds, and taking freely to the water, in which it swims with facility. The nest, which is a large structure, composed of rushes and reeds, is placed among thick vegetation, near the water’s edge, and contains from seven to ten eggs.
The drainage and improving of waste lands has driven this Crake away, but its eggs have been found in Roscommon, and a nestling in Kerry.
THE LITTLE CRAKE
PORZANA PARVA
Head brown; upper plumage olive-ash, the feathers black in the centre; middle of the back black, sprinkled with white; throat, face, and breast, bluish grey, without spots; abdomen and flanks indistinctly barred with white and brown; wings without spots, reaching to the extremity of the tail; bill green, reddish at the base; irides red; feet green. Length seven and a half inches. Eggs yellowish, spotted with olive-brown.
This species appears to be generally diffused throughout the eastern and southern countries of Europe, but is very rare in England, coming now and again from spring to autumn. It is a shy bird, like the last species, confining itself exclusively to reedy marshes, and building its nest close to the water’s edge. It lays seven or eight eggs.
THE WATER RAIL
RALLUS AQUÁTICUS
Upper feathers reddish brown, with black centres; under plumage in front lead-colour, behind and on the flanks barred with black and white; bill red, tinged with red above and at the tip; irides red; feet flesh-colour. Length ten inches. Eggs yellowish, spotted with ash-grey and red-brown.
The Water Rail is a generally diffused bird, but nowhere very common, haunting bushy and reedy places near the banks of rivers and lakes, and especially the Norfolk Broads, where it feeds on aquatic insects, worms, and snails. Like the Crakes, it makes more use of its legs than of its wings, and places its safety in concealment. Rarely does it take flight, and then only when closely hunted; still more rarely does it expose itself outside its aquatic jungle. I recollect on one occasion, during an intense frost, when every marsh was as impenetrable to a bird’s bill as a sheet of marble, passing in a carriage near a stream which, having just issued from its source, was unfrozen; I then saw more than one Water Rail hunting for food among the short rushes and grass on the water’s edge. Its mode of walking I thought was very like that of the Moor-hen, but it had not the jerking movement of body characteristic of that bird, which alone would have sufficed to distinguish it, even if I had not been near enough to detect the difference of colour. Either the severity of the weather had sharpened its appetite, and made it less shy than usual, or it had not learnt to fear a horse and carriage, for it took no notice of the intrusion on its privacy, but went on with its search without condescending to look up. The Water Rail, then, unlike the Corn Crake, remains with us all the winter. When forced to rise, this bird flies heavily straight forwards, at no great elevation above the rushes, with its legs hanging loose, and drops into the nearest thicket of weeds. A nest and eggs of this bird are thus described in the Annals of Natural History: ‘The bird had selected for her nest a thick tuft of long grass, hollow at the bottom, on the side of the reed pond; the nest, about an inch and a half thick, was composed of withered leaves and rushes; it was so covered by the top of the grass, that neither bird, nest, nor eggs could be seen; the entrance to the nest was through an aperture of the grass, directly into the reeds, opposite to where any one would stand to see the nest.’ The number of eggs is about ten or eleven. Its note during breeding is a loud, groaning cro-o-o-an.
Upper plumage deep olive-brown; under tail-coverts and edge of the wing white, the former with a few black feathers; under plumage slate colour, the flanks streaked with white; base of the bill and a space on the forehead bright orange, point of the bill yellow; irides red; feet olive-brown; a red ring round the tibia. In females the colours are brighter than in the males. Young birds have the front of the neck whitish, the belly grey, the base of the beak and legs olive-brown. Length thirteen inches. Eggs buff, spotted and speckled with orange-brown.
Of the two common names of this bird, ‘Moor-hen’ and ‘Water-hen’, the former is that which is more generally in use, though the latter is the more appropriate. The bird frequents moors, it must be admitted, but only such as are watery; while there is scarcely a river, lake, canal, brook, or even pond, of moderate dimensions, which Moor-hens do not either inhabit all the year round or occasionally visit. The name is objectionable on other accounts; the male bird is called a Moor-hen as well as the female, while the terms Moor-fowl and Moor-cock have long been applied to the Ptarmigan. For these reasons, I suppose, many recent ornithologists Anglicize the systematic name, and call it the Gallinule, which means ‘little fowl’, and is suggestive of the half-domestic habits of the bird, under certain circumstances.
The Gallinule being a common bird of some size, conspicuous colours, and active habits, is an interesting appendage of our rivers and pieces of artificial water. Its note, something between a bark and a croak, is as well known in watered districts as the note of the Cuckoo, and is often uttered when the bird has no intention of being seen. Any one who may happen to be walking on the bank of a reedy pond may perhaps hear its strange cry and see the bird itself at some little distance, swimming about with a restless jerky motion, often dipping its head, and with every dip turning slightly to the right or the left. If he wishes for a nearer view, let him advance quietly, concealing himself as much as he can; for if he proceeds carelessly, and takes off his eyes for any considerable time from the spot where he observed it, when he looks again it will have disappeared, taken wing, he may imagine, for some distant part of the water. Not so; the cunning bird, as soon as a stranger was perceived within a dangerous proximity, steered quietly for the nearest tuft of reeds, among which it lies ensconced till he has passed on his way. Or it rose out of the water, and, with its feet trailing on the surface, made for a similar place of concealment; or dived to the bottom, where it still remains clinging to the weeds. Perhaps it lies close to his feet, having sunk beneath the water, and, aided by feet and wings, rowed a subaqueous course to an often-tried thicket of rushes, where, holding on with its feet to the stems of submerged weeds, it remains perfectly still, leaving nothing above the surface of the water but the point of its beak. If the observer suspects the whereabouts of its concealment, he may beat the rushes with his stick and produce no effect; the bird knows itself to be safe where it is and will make no foolish attempt to better itself. A water spaniel or Newfoundland dog will be more effective. Very often an animal of this kind is an overmatch for its sagacity, and seizes it in his mouth before the poor bird was aware that the water itself was to be invaded; but more frequently it discovers an onset of this nature in time to clear itself from its moorings, and dashing out with a splashing movement of feet and wings skims across the pond to another lurking-place, and defies further pursuit.
The Gallinule, though an excellent swimmer and diver, belongs to the Waders; it has, consequently, free use of its legs on land, and here it is no less nimble than in the water. When induced to change the scene it steps ashore, and, with a peculiar jerking motion of its tail, showing the white feathers beneath, and very conspicuous by its bright red bill, which harmonizes pleasantly with the green grass, it struts about and picks up worms, insects, snails, or seeds, with unflagging perseverance, making no stay anywhere, and often running rapidly. If surprised on these occasions, it either makes for the water, or flies off in a line for some thick hedge or patch of brushwood, from which it is very difficult to dislodge it.
Its mode of life is pretty much the same all the year round; it is not a traveller from choice. Only in severe weather, when its haunts are bound up with ice, it is perforce compelled to shift its quarters. It then travels by night and searches for unfrozen streams. At such times it appears occasionally in pretty large numbers in places where usually a few only resort. When the south of Europe is visited by severe frosts it is supposed even to cross the Mediterranean, it having been observed in Algeria, feeding in marshes in half-social parties, where a day or two before none had been seen. To the faculties of swimming and running it adds that of perching on trees; this it does habitually, as it roosts in low bushy trees; and it has besides the power of walking cleverly along the branches.
In the neighbourhood of houses where it has long been undisturbed, it loses much of its shy nature, and will not only allow itself to be approached within a short distance, but, becoming half-domesticated, will consort with the poultry in the farmyard, and come with them to be fed. It is fond also of visiting the kitchen-garden, where it is apt to make itself unwelcome, by helping itself to the tenderest and best of the vegetables. Bishop Stanley, in his entertaining Book on Birds, gives some highly amusing anecdotes of the Gallinule.
It builds its nest on the stump of a tree, or in a bush among wet places, or in the roots of alders, but often it is placed on the low-lying branch of a tree overhanging the water. The nest is a large structure, made of rushes and dry flags, and is easy of detection. It is very liable, too, to be swept away by any sudden rise in a river. Added to which, the young frequently fall a prey to pike. But as the bird has two, and sometimes three, broods in a year, each consisting of from six to eight, it remains undiminished in numbers. The nest is sometimes placed in a tree at a distance from the water. When this is the case, as the habits of the young birds are aquatic, immediately on their breaking the egg, the old birds convey them in their claws to the water. An instance is recorded in the Zoologist of a female Gallinule being seen thus employed carrying a young one in each foot; it has been observed, too, that in such cases the male bird builds a second nest, near the water’s edge, to which the young retire for shelter during the night, until they are sufficiently fledged to accompany their parents to their ordinary roosting-places in trees.
THE COMMON COOT
FÚLICA ÁTRA
Upper plumage black, tinged on the back with grey; under parts bluish grey; frontal disk large, pure white; bill white, tinged with rose-red; irides crimson; feet grey, tinged with green; part of the tibia orange-yellow. Length sixteen inches. Eggs brownish, speckled with reddish brown.
The Coot, seen from a distance, either on land or water, might be mistaken for a Gallinule, flirting up its tail when it swims, jerking its head to and fro, and when on land strutting about with a precisely similar movement of all its members. On a nearer examination, it is clearly distinguished by its larger size and the white bare spot above the bill, in front, from which it is often called the Bald-headed Coot. It is only during the summer season that the two birds can be compared; for while the Gallinule remains in the same waters all the year round, the Coot visits the Azores, Madeira and the Canaries, North Africa and Egypt in winter, and gets as far south as the Blue Nile. Their note, in summer, is a loud harsh cry, represented by the syllable krew, as it would be uttered by a crazy trumpet. In winter they are nearly mute. During the latter season, Coots are confined to the southern parts of the island; but in the breeding season they are more generally diffused.
When seen on the sea-coast, they are readily distinguished from Ducks by the different position in which they sit on the water, with their heads low, poking forwards, and their tails sticking high above the body. When flying in large coveys, they crowd together into a mass, but when swimming scatter over a wide space.
They have the same power of concealing themselves by diving among weeds that has been already said to be possessed by the Gallinule. I have seen a female Coot and her brood, when disturbed by a party of sportsmen, paddle for a small patch of rushes, and defy a long-continued and minute search conducted by keepers and clever water-dogs. The latter appeared to traverse, again and again, every square foot of the rush bed; but not a single bird was dislodged.
Owing to drainage the Coot is less plentiful than it was, although the late Lord Lilford said it had increased much on the river Nene of recent years.
FAMILY GRUIDÆ
THE CRANE
GRUS COMMÚNIS
General plumage ash-grey; throat, part of the neck, and back of the head, dark blackish grey; forehead and cere covered with black bristly hairs; crown naked, orange red; some of the secondaries elongated, arched, and having the barbs of the feathers free; bill greenish black, reddish at the base, horn-coloured at the tip; irides reddish brown; feet black. Young birds have the crown feathered, and want the dark grey of the neck and head. Length five feet. Eggs pale greenish ash, blotched and spotted with brown and dark green.
From the fact of nine Cranes being recorded among the presents received at the wedding of the daughter of Mr. More, of Loseley, in 1567, it would appear that these birds were tolerably common in England at that date.
Willughby, whose Ornithology was published about a hundred years later, says that Cranes were regular visitors in England, and that large flocks of them were to be found, in summer, in the fens of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. Whether they bred in England, as Aldrovandus states, on the authority of an Englishman who had seen their young, he could not say on his own personal knowledge.
Sir Thomas Browne, a contemporary of Willughby, writes, in his account of birds found in Norfolk: ‘Cranes are often seen here in hard winters, especially about the champaign and fieldy part. It seems they have been more plentiful; for, in a bill of fare, when the mayor entertained the Duke of Norfolk, I met with Cranes in a dish.’
Pennant, writing towards the close of the eighteenth century, says: ‘On the strictest inquiry, we learn that, at present, the inhabitants of those counties are scarcely acquainted with them; we therefore conclude that these birds have left our land.’ Three or four instances only of the occurrence of the Crane took place within the memory of Pennant’s last editor; and about as many more are recorded by Yarrell as having come within the notice of his correspondents during the present century. It would seem, therefore, that the Crane has ceased to be a regular visitor to Britain. It is, however, still of common occurrence in many parts of the Eastern Continent, passing its summer in temperate climates, and retiring southwards at the approach of winter. Its periodical migrations are remarkable for their punctuality, it having been observed that, during a long series of years, it has invariably traversed France southward in the latter half of the month of October, returning during the latter half of the month of March. On these occasions, Cranes fly in large flocks, composed of two lines meeting at an angle, moving with no great rapidity, and alighting mostly during the day to rest and feed. At other seasons, it ceases to be gregarious, and repairs to swamps and boggy morasses, where in spring it builds a rude nest of reeds and rushes on a bank or stump of a tree, and lays two eggs. As a feeder it may be called omnivorous, so extensive is its dietary. Its note is loud and sonorous, but harsh, and is uttered when the birds are performing their flights as well as at other times.
The Crane of the Holy Scriptures is most probably not this species, which is rare in Palestine, but another, Grus Virgo, the Crane figured on the Egyptian monuments, which periodically visits the Lake of Tiberias, and whose note is a chatter, and not the trumpet sound of the Cinereous Crane. In the north of Ireland, in Wales and perhaps elsewhere, the Heron is commonly called a Crane.
A certain number of Cranes have been noticed in the Shetland Isles, and some in the Orkneys. The latest seen in Ireland was in 1884, County Mayo.
FAMILY OTIDIDÆ
No hind toe.
THE GREAT BUSTARD
OTIS TARDA
Head, neck, breast, and edge of the wing ash grey; on the crown a longitudinal black streak; bill with a tuft of elongated loose feathers on each side of the lower mandible; upper plumage reddish yellow, streaked transversely with black; lower whitish; tail reddish brown and white, barred with black. Female—smaller, without a moustache, the streak on the crown fainter. Length nearly four feet. Eggs olive-brown, irregularly blotched with dull red and deep brown.
The Great Bustard was formerly not unfrequent in Britain, but of late years it has become so rare that it is now impossible to describe its habits on the testimony of a living eye-witness. In several parts of the Continent it is indeed still to be met with; but I find so many discrepancies in the various accounts which I have consulted, that it is hard to believe all the writers who describe it to have had the same bird in view. Some of these the reader may examine for himself.
The earliest mention of it which I find occurs in the Anabasis of Xenophon, who describes a plain or steppe near the Euphrates full of aromatic herbs, and abounding with Wild Asses, Ostriches, and Bustards (Otis). The latter, he says, ‘could be caught when any one came on them suddenly, as they fly to a short distance like Partridges and soon give in. Their flesh is delicious.’ Pliny’s description of the Bustard is very brief. He says it approaches the Ostrich in size; that it is called Avis tarda in Spain, Otis in Greece; its flesh is very disagreeable, in consequence of the strong scent of its bones.’ Our countryman Willughby, who wrote in the middle of the seventeenth century, gives a longer account. ‘The Bustard has no hind claw, which is especially worthy of notice; for by this mark and by its size it is sufficiently distinguished from all birds of the tribe. It feeds on corn and the seeds of herbs, wild cabbage, leaves of the dandelion, etc. I have found in its crop abundance of the seeds of cicuta, with but a few grains of barley even in harvest-time. It is found on the plains near Newmarket and Royston, and elsewhere on heaths and plains. Bustards are birds of slow flight, and raise themselves from the ground with difficulty, on account of their size and weight; hence, without doubt, the name tardu was given to them by the Latins. By the Scotch, on the authority of Hector Boethius, they are called Gustardæ.’
M. Perrault, who wrote in 1676, gives an account of a tame Bustard which was kept for a while in summer in a garden, and died of cold in the winter. ‘He killed mice and sparrows with his bill by pinching their heads, and then swallowed them whole, even when of considerable size. It was easy to observe a large mouse going down his throat, making a moving tumour till it came to the turn of the neck; it then moved backwards, and although out of sight, yet its progress was traced by the feathers between the shoulders separating, and closing again as soon as it passed into the gizzard. He was fond of worms, and while the gardener was digging, stood by him and looked out for them. He ate the buds of flowers, and particularly of roses; also the substance of cucumbers, but not the outside. From these observations the Bustard is evidently fitted more particularly to live on animal food.’
The average number of Bustards annually supplied to Chevet, the great game-dealer of the Palais Royal, Paris, about fifty years ago, was six. Its principal place of resort in France was the wild country between Arcis-sur-Aube and Châlons, in most other districts it was as little known as with us.
Several authors of undoubted veracity state that the adult male Bustard has a capacious pouch, situated along the fore part of the neck, the entrance of which is under the tongue, capable of holding several quarts of water—it is said not less than seven. Montagu, in his Ornithological Dictionary, expresses his doubt whether the bird could carry as much as seven quarts, or fourteen pounds, while flying; he admits, however, that ‘it is large, as may be seen in the Leverian Museum’; and he adds, ‘that it is only discoverable in adults, as it is most likely intended for the purpose of furnishing the female and young in the breeding with water.’ Of this pouch a figure is given by Yarrell, copied from Edwards’ Gleanings of Natural History, and there inserted on the authority of Dr. James Douglas, the discoverer. Some doubts having arisen in Mr. Yarrell’s mind as to the accuracy of the statement, he took much pains to ascertain the truth by dissecting several adult males, and found no peculiarity of structure—a result which was also arrived at by Professor Owen, who dissected one with a view of obtaining a preparation of the supposed pouch for the Museum of the College of Surgeons. A paper by Mr. Yarrell,45 read before the Linnean Society since the publication of his admirable work on Ornithology, contains many other interesting particulars respecting this bird, to which the reader is referred.
Bustards have been seen in England at various intervals during the last eighty or a hundred years, sometimes in small flights and sometimes as solitary specimens, more frequently in Norfolk than in any other county, but they have ceased to breed in this country. I lately met a gentleman in Norfolk who well recollected the time when Bustards were to be met with in that county. On the lands near Flamborough Head there used to be droves of them. They were occasionally seen in the middle of the large uninclosed plains with which Norfolk formerly abounded, and in such situations he had himself seen them. When disturbed they move off rapidly, employing both their feet and wings, rising heavily, but at an angle so acute that they advanced perhaps a hundred yards before they attained the height of a man. When once on the wing, they flew swiftly. They formerly bred in the parish of Deepdale, and he could himself recollect an instance when an attempt was made to rear some in captivity from the eggs, but failed. The Bustard is now only a very rare visitor to Great Britain. Its last fertile eggs were taken in Norfolk and Suffolk about the year 1838.
FAMILY GLAREOLIDÆ
THE PRATINCOLE
GLAREOLA PRATÍNCOLA
Crown, nape, back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, greyish brown; throat and front of the neck white, tinged with red, and bounded by a narrow black collar, which ascends to the base of the beak; lore black; breast whitish brown; lower wing-coverts chestnut; under parts white, tinged with brownish red; tail-coverts, and base of tail-feathers, white; the rest of the tail dusky, much forked; beak black, red at the base; irides reddish brown; orbits naked, bright red; feet reddish ash. Length nine inches and a half. Eggs pale stone colour, spotted with grey and dusky.
The Pratincole, called on the Continent, but without good reason, Perdrix de mer, or Sea Partridge, is a rare visitor to Great Britain, inhabiting for the most part the northern part of Africa, and the countries in the vicinity of the Don, the Volga, the Caspian, and the Black Sea. It has been observed also from time to time in several of the countries of Europe.
In some of its habits it resembles the Plovers, as it frequents open plains and runs with great rapidity. In nidification, also, and in the shape, colour, and markings of its eggs it is associated with the same tribe; while in its mode of flight and habit of catching flies while on the wing, it approaches the Swallows. Hence it was named by Linnæus, Hirundo pratincola, and under this designation it is figured in Bewick. Its true place in the system is, however, undoubtedly, among the waders, several of which not only feed on insects, but are expert in catching them on the wing.
FAMILY CHARADRIIDÆ
THE THICK-KNEE OR STONE CURLEW
ŒDICNÉMUS SCÓLOPAX
Upper parts reddish ash with a white spot in the middle of each feather; space between the eye and beak, throat, belly, and thighs, white; neck and breast tinged with red, and marked with fine longitudinal brown streaks; a white longitudinal bar on the wing; first primary with a large white spot in the middle; second, with a small one on the inner web; lower tail-coverts reddish, the feathers, except those in the middle, tipped with black; beak black, yellowish at the base; hides, orbits, and feet, yellow. Length seventeen inches. Eggs yellowish brown clouded with greenish, blotched and spotted with dusky and olive.
Though a citizen of the world, or at least of the eastern hemisphere, this bird is commonly known under the name of Norfolk Plover, from its being more abundant in that county than in any other. It is also called Thick-knee, from the robust conformation of this joint; and Stone Curlew, from its frequenting waste stony places and uttering a note which has been compared to the sound of the syllables curlui or turlui. Like the Cuckoo, it is more frequently heard than seen, but that only by night. In some of its habits it resembles the Bustard, and is said even to associate, in Northern Africa, with the Lesser Bustard. Its favourite places of resort are extensive plains; it runs rapidly when disturbed, and when it does take wing, flies for a considerable distance near the ground before mounting into the air. It frequents our open heaths and chalk downs and breeds in Romney Marsh and in the uplands of Kent and Sussex.
By day the Thick-knee confines itself to the ground, either crouching or hunting for food, which consists of worms, slugs, and beetles, under stones, which it is taught by its instinct to turn over. After sunset, it takes flight, and probably rises to a great height, as its plaintive whistle, which somewhat resembles the wail of a human being, is often heard overhead when the bird is invisible. It is singularly shy, and carefully avoids the presence of human beings, whether sportsmen or labourers. Yet it is not destitute of courage, as it has been seen to defend its nest with vigour against the approach of sheep or even of dogs. Nest, properly speaking, it has none, for it contents itself with scratching a hole in the ground and depositing two eggs. The males are supposed to assist in the office of incubation. The young inherit the faculty of running at an early age, being able to leave their birth-place with facility soon after they are hatched; but the development of their wings is a work of time, for their body has attained its full size long before they are able to rise from the ground. Before taking their departure southwards in autumn, they assemble in small parties, numbering from four to six or seven, when they are somewhat more easy of approach than in spring. In the chalky plains of La Marne in France they are very numerous; and here, by the aid of a light cart, fowlers in quest of them have little difficulty in shooting large numbers, the birds being less afraid of the approach of a horse than of a human being. But when obtained they are of little value, as their flesh is barely eatable.
The Thick-knee is migratory, visiting us in the beginning of April to stay till October. His flights are made by night.
THE CREAM-COLOURED COURSER
CURSORIUS GALLICUS
Plumage reddish cream colour; wing-coverts bordered with ash-grey; throat whitish; behind the eyes a double black bar; lateral tail-feathers black towards the tip, with a white spot in the centre of the black; abdomen whitish. Length nine inches. Eggs unknown.
Though the specific name Europæus would seem to imply that this bird is of frequent occurrence in Europe, this is not the case. Not more than three or four have been observed in Great Britain, at various intervals, from 1785 to 1827; and on the Continent it is an equally rare visitor to the plains of Provence and Languedoc.
It is a native of Syria, Egypt, and Abyssinia, frequenting pools and other moist situations. It is singularly fearless of man, and when disturbed prefers to run, which it does very swiftly, rather than to take flight. Its winter residence is supposed to be the central lakes of Africa, from which it returns to the countries named above early in autumn, and disappears at the approach of winter. Nothing is known of its nidification. About the autumn of 1868 one was shot in Lanarkshire.
THE GOLDEN PLOVER
CHARÁDRIUS PLUVIALIS
Winter—upper plumage dusky, spotted with yellow, cheeks, neck, and breast mottled with ash-brown and buff; throat and abdomen white; quills dusky, white along the shafts towards the end; beak dusky, feet deep ash-colour; irides brown. Summer—upper plumage greyish black, spotted with bright yellow; forehead and space above the eyes white; sides of the neck white, mottled with black and yellow; lore, throat, neck, and lower parts deep black. Length nine inches. Eggs yellowish green, blotched and spotted with black.
The Golden Plover is a common bird in the south of England during the winter months, and in the mountainous parts of Scotland and the north of England during the rest of the year; yet so different are its habits and plumage at the extremes of these two seasons, that the young naturalist who has had no opportunities of observing them in their transition stage, and has had no access to trustworthy books, might be forgiven for setting down the two forms of the bird as distinct species.
In the hilly districts of the north of Europe, Golden Plovers are numerous, sometimes being, with Ptarmigans, the only birds which relieve the solitude of the desolate wastes. Though numerous in the same localities, they are not gregarious during spring and summer, and are remarkable for their fearlessness of man. So tame, indeed, are they that, in little-frequented places, when disturbed by the traveller they will run along the stony ground a few yards in front of him, then fly a few yards, then stand and stare and run along as before. On such occasions they frequently utter their singular cry—the note so often referred to in Sir Walter Scott’s poems—which, like the Nightingale’s song, is considered simply plaintive or painfully woe-begone, according to the natural temperament or occasional mood of the hearer. This bird builds no nest; a natural depression in the ground, unprotected by bush, heather or rock, serves its purpose, and here the female lays four eggs, much pointed at one end, and arranges them in accordance with this.
At the approach of autumn, no matter where their summer may have been passed, Plovers migrate southwards in large flights, those from Scotland to the southern counties of England, where they frequent wide moist pastures, heaths, and reclaimed marshland. From the northern parts of the continent of Europe they take their departure in October, either to the European shores of the Mediterranean, or to the plains of Northern Africa. In these migrations they are not unfrequently joined by Starlings. They travel in close array, forming large flocks much wider than deep, moving their sharp wings rapidly, and making a whizzing sound which may be heard a long way off. Now and then, as if actuated by a single impulse, they sweep towards the ground, suddenly alter the direction of their flight, then wheel upwards with the regularity of a machine, and either alight or pursue their onward course. This habit of skimming along the ground and announcing their approach beforehand, is turned to good purpose by the bird-catcher, who imitates their note, attracts the whole flight to sweep down into his neighbourhood, and captures them in his net, a hundred at a time, or, when they are within range, has no difficulty in killing from twelve to twenty at a shot. Not unfrequently, too, when some members of a flock have been killed or wounded, the remainder, before they remove out of danger, wheel round and sweep just over the heads of their ill-fated companions, as if for the purpose of inquiring the reason why they have deserted the party, or of alluring them to join it once more. This habit is not peculiar to Plovers, but may be noticed in the case of several of the sea-side waders, as Dunlins and Sanderlings. In severe winter weather they desert the meadows, in which the worms have descended into the ground beyond the reach of frost, and so of their bills, and resort to the muddy or sandy sea-shore. In the Hebrides it is said that they do not migrate at all, but simply content themselves with shifting from the moors to the shore and back again, according to the weather. In the northern parts of France, on the other hand, they are only known as passengers on their way to the south. From making their appearance in the rainy season they are there called pluviers, whence our name Plover, which, however, is supposed by some to have been given to them for their indicating by their movements coming changes in the weather, in which respect indeed their skill is marvellous.
The Golden Plover, sometimes called also Yellow Plover, and Green Plover, is found at various seasons In most countries of Europe; but the Golden Plovers of Asia and America are considered to be different species.
THE GREY PLOVER
SQUATÁROLA HELVETICA
Winter—forehead, throat, and under plumage, white, spotted on the neck and flanks with grey and brown; upper plumage dusky brown, mottled with white and ash colour; long axillary feathers black or dusky; tail white, barred with brown and tipped with reddish; bill black; irides dusky; feet blackish grey. Summer—lore, neck, breast, belly, and flanks, black, bounded by white; upper plumage and tail black and white. Length eleven and a half inches. Eggs olive, spotted with black.
Many of the Waders agree in wearing, during winter, plumage in a great measure of a different hue from that which characterizes them in summer; and, as a general rule, the winter tint is lighter than that of summer. This change is, in fact, but an extension of the law which clothes several of the quadrupeds with a dusky or a snowy fur in accordance with the season. The Grey Plover, as seen in England, well deserves its name, for, as it frequents our shores in the winter alone, it is only known to us as a bird grey above and white below. But in summer the under plumage is decidedly black, and in this respect it bears a close resemblance to the Golden Plover, with which, in spite of the presence of a rudimentary fourth toe, it is closely allied. My friend, the Rev. W. S. Hore, informs me that he has seen them in Norfolk wearing the full black plumage in May. The occurrence of the bird, however, in this condition, in England, is exceptional; while in the northern regions, both of the Old and New World, it must be unusual to see an adult bird in any other than the sable plumage of summer.
The Grey Plover is a bird of extensive geographical range, being known in Japan, India, New Guinea, the Cape of Good Hope, Egypt, the continent of Europe, and North America. In this country, as I have observed, it occurs from autumn to spring, frequenting the sea-shore, and picking up worms and other animal productions cast up by the sea. Grey Plovers are less abundant than Golden Plovers; yet, in severe seasons they assemble in numerous small flocks on the shores of the eastern counties, and, as Meyer well observes, they are disposed to be “sociable, not only towards their own species, but to every other coast bird. When a party either go towards the shore, or leave it for the meadows and flat wastes, they unanimously keep together; but when alighting, they mix with every other species, and thus produce a motley group.” They fly in flocks, varying from five to twenty or more, keeping in a line, more or less curved, or in two lines forming an angle. Their flight is strong and rapid, rarely direct, but sweeping in wide semicircles. As they advance they alternately show their upper and under plumage, but more frequently the latter; for they generally keep at a height of sixty or a hundred yards from the ground, in this respect differing from Ringed Plovers, Dunlins, etc. Occasionally one or two of the flock utter a loud whistle, which seems to be a signal for all to keep close order. Just as Starlings habitually alight wherever they see Rooks or Gulls feeding, so the Grey Plovers join themselves on to any society of birds which has detected a good hunting-ground. During a single walk along the sands I have observed them mixed up with Dunlins, Knots, Gulls, Redshanks, and Royston Crows; but in no instance was I able to approach near enough to note their habit of feeding. They were always up and away before any other birds saw danger impending. In autumn they are less shy.
The people on the coast describe the Grey Plover as the shyest of all the Waders, and could give me no information as to its habits; but Meyer, whose description of this bird is very accurate in other respects, states that “its general appearance is peculiar to itself; it walks about on the ground slowly and with grace, and stops every now and then to pick up its food; it carries its body in a horizontal position on straight legs, and its head very close to its body, consequently increasing the thick appearance of the head.”
The Grey Plover breeds in high latitudes, making a slight hollow in the ground, and employing a few blades of grass. It lays four eggs, on which it sits so closely that it will almost be trodden on. When thus disturbed its ways remind one of the Ringed Plover.
THE DOTTEREL
EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS
Winter—head dusky ash; over each eye a reddish white band, meeting at the nape; face whitish, dotted with black; back dusky ash, tinged with green, the feathers edged with rust-red; breast and flanks reddish ash; gorget white; beak black; hides brown; feet greenish ash. Summer—face and a band over the eyes white; head dusky; nape and sides of the neck ash; feathers of the back, wing-coverts, and wing-feathers, edged with deep red; gorget white, bordered above by a narrow black line; lower part of the breast and flanks bright rust-red; middle of the belly black; abdomen reddish white. Young birds have a reddish tinge on the head, and the tail is tipped with red. Length nine inches and a half. Eggs yellowish olive, blotched and spotted with dusky brown.
The Dotterel, Little Dotard, or Morinellus, ‘little fool’, received both the one and the other of its names from its alleged stupidity. ‘It is a silly bird’, says Willughby, writing in 1676; ‘but as an article of food a great delicacy. It is caught in the night by lamplight, in accordance with the movements of the fowler. For if he stretch out his arm, the bird extends a wing; if he a leg, the bird does the same. In short, whatever the fowler does, the Dotterel does the same. And so intent is it on the movements of its pursuer, that it is unawares entangled in the net.’ Such, at least, was the common belief; and Pennant alludes to it, quoting the following passage from the poet Drayton
Most worthy man, with thee ’tis ever thus,
As men take Dottrels, so hast thou ta’en us
Which, as a man his arme or leg doth set,
So this fond bird will likewise counterfeit.
In Pennant’s time, Dotterels were not uncommon in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire, appearing in small flocks of eight or ten only, from the latter end of April to the middle of June; and I have been informed by a gentleman in Norfolk that, not many years since, they annually resorted also in small flocks to the plains of that county. Of late years, owing most probably to their being much sought after for the table, they have become more rare; and the same thing has taken place in France.
The Dotterel has been observed in many of the English counties both in spring and autumn, and has been known to breed in the mountainous parts of the north of England; but I may remark that the name is frequently given in Norfolk and elsewhere to the Ringed Plover, to which bird also belong the eggs collected on the sea-coast, and sold as Dotterel’s eggs.
THE RINGED PLOVER
ÆGIALITIS HIATÍCULA
Forehead, lore, sides of the face, gorget reaching round the neck, black; a band across the forehead and through the eyes, throat, a broad collar, and all the lower parts, white; upper plumage ash-brown; outer tail-feather white, the next nearly so, the other feathers grey at the base, passing into dusky and black, tipped with white, except the two middle ones, which have no white tips; orbits, feet and beak orange, the latter tipped with black. Young—colours of the head dull; gorget incomplete, ash-brown; bill dusky, tinged with orange at the base of the lower mandible; feet yellowish. Length seven and a half inches. Eggs olive-yellow, with numerous black and grey spots.
On almost any part of the sea-coast of Britain, where there is a wide expanse of sand left at low water, a bird may often be noticed, not much larger than a Lark, grey above and white below, a patch of black on the forehead and under the eye, a white ring round the neck, and a black one below. If the wind be high, or rain be falling, the observer will be able to get near enough to see these markings; for sea-birds generally are less acute observers in foul weather than in fair. On a nearer approach, the bird will fly up, uttering a soft, sweet, plaintive whistle of two notes, and, having performed a rapid, semicircular flight, will probably alight at no great distance, and repeat its note. If it has settled on the plain sand or on the water’s edge, or near a tidal pool, it runs rapidly, without hopping, stoops its head, picks up a worm, a portion of shellfish, or a sand-hopper, runs, stops, pecks, and runs again, but does not allow any one to come so near as before. The next time that it alights, it may select, perhaps, the beach of shells and pebbles above high-water mark. Then it becomes at once invisible; or, if the observer be very keen-sighted, he may be able to detect it while it is in motion, but then only. Most probably, let him mark ever so accurately with his eye the exact spot on which he saw it alight, and let him walk up to the spot without once averting his eye, he will, on his arrival, find it gone. It has run ahead with a speed marvellous in so small a biped, and is pecking among the stones a hundred yards off. Its name is the Ringed Plover, or Ringed Dotterel. Fishermen on the coast call it a Stone-runner, a most appropriate name; others call it a Sea Lark. In ornithological works it is described under the former of these names.
The Ringed Plover frequents the shores of Great Britain all the year round. It is a social bird, but less so in spring than at any other season; for the females are then employed in the important business of incubation, and the males are too attentive to their mates to engage in picnics on the sands. The nest is a simple hollow in the sand, above high-water mark, or on the shingly beach; and here the female lays four large, pointed eggs, which are arranged in the nest with all the small ends together. The young are able to run as soon as they break the shell; but, having no power of flight for a long time, avoid impending danger by scattering and hiding among the stones. The old bird, on such occasions, uses her wings; but not to desert her charge. She flies up to the intruder, and, like other members of the same family, endeavours to entice him away by counterfeiting lameness or some injury.
The Ringed Plover sometimes goes inland to rear her young, and lays her eggs in a sandy warren, on the bank of a river or the margin of a lake; but when the young are able to fly, old and young together repair to the sea-shore, collecting in flocks, and for the most part continuing to congregate until the following spring. Their flight is rapid and sweeping, consisting of a succession of curves, while performing which they show sometimes their upper grey plumage, and at other times the under, which is of a dazzling white. Occasionally, too, as they wheel from one tack to another, every bird is lost sight of, owing to the perfect unanimity with which, at the same instant, they alter their course, and to the incapacity of the human eye to follow the rapid change from a dark hue to a light.
Not unfrequently one falls in with a solitary individual which has been left behind by its companions, or has strayed from the flock. Such a bird, when disturbed, utters its whistle more frequently than on ordinary occasions, and, as its note is not difficult of imitation, I have often enticed a stray bird to fly close up to me, answering all the while. But it has rarely happened that I have succeeded in practising the deception on the same bird a second time.
THE KENTISH PLOVER
ÆGIALITIS CANTIANA
Forehead, a band over each eye, chin, cheeks, and under parts, white; upper part of the forehead, a band from the base of the beak extending through the eye, and a large spot on each side of the breast, black; head and nape light brownish red; rest of the upper plumage ash-brown; two outer tail-feathers while, the third whitish, the rest brown; beak, irides, and feet, brown. Female wants the black spot on the forehead, and the other parts black in the male are replaced by ash-brown. Length six and a half inches. Eggs olive-yellow, spotted and speckled with black.
The Kentish Plover differs from the preceding in its inferior size, in having a narrower stripe of black on the cheeks, and in wanting the black ring round the neck. It is found from time to time in various parts of the country, breeding in Kent, Sussex and the Channel Islands, but is most abundant on the shores of the Mediterranean. Its habits resemble closely those of the allied species.
On the authority of the Greek historian Herodotus, a little bird is found in Egypt called the Tróchilus, which is noted for the friendly and courageous office it performs for the Crocodile. This unwieldy monster, having no flexible tongue wherewith to cleanse its mouth, comes on shore after its meals, opens its jaws, and allows the Tróchilus to enter and pick off the leeches and fragments of food, which, adhering to its teeth, interfere, with its comfort. This story was long believed to be a fable; but the French naturalist Geoffrey de Saint Hilaire has, in modern times, confirmed the veracity of the father of history, and pronounces the Tróchilus of the ancients to be the Pluvier à Collier interrompu, the subject of the present chapter. The Cayman of South America is also said to be indebted for a similar service to the kindly offices of a little bird, which, however, is not a Plover, but a Toddy.
THE LAPWING, OR PEEWIT
VANELLUS VULGARIS
Feathers on the back of the head elongated and curved upwards; head, crest and breast, glossy black; throat, sides of the neck, belly and abdomen white; under tail-coverts yellowish red; upper plumage dark green with purple reflections; tail, when expanded, displaying a large semicircular graduated black patch on a white disk, outer feather on each side wholly white; bill dusky; feet reddish brown. Young—throat dull white, mottled with dusky and tinged with red; upper feathers tipped with dull yellow. Length twelve and a half inches. Eggs olive-brown to stone buff, blotched and spotted with dusky black.
The Peewit, or Green Plover, as it is sometimes called, is among the best known birds indigenous to the British Isles. This notoriety it owes to several causes. The lengthened feathers on the back of its head, forming a crest, at once distinguish it from every other British Wader. Its peculiar flight, consisting of a series of wide slow flappings with its singularly rounded wings, furnishes a character by which it may be recognized at a great distance; and its strange note, resembling the word ‘peweet’ uttered in a high screaming tone, cannot be mistaken for the note of any other bird. In London and other large towns of England its eggs also are well known to most people; for ‘Plovers’ eggs’, as they are called, are considered great delicacies.
Peewits are found in abundance in most parts of Europe and Asia from Ireland to Japan. They are essentially Plovers in all their habits, except, perhaps, that they do not run so rapidly as some others of the tribe. They inhabit the high grounds in open countries, the borders of lakes and marshes and low unenclosed wastes, and may not unfrequently be seen in the large meadows, which in some districts extend from the banks of rivers. They are partially migratory; hence they may appear at a certain season in some particular spot, and be entirely lost sight of for many months. Individuals which have been bred in high latitudes are more precise in their periods of migration than those bred in the south. In Kamtschatka, for instance, their southern migration is so regular that the month of October has received the name of the ‘Lapwing month’. In Britain their wanderings are both more uncertain and limited; for, though they assemble in flocks in autumn, they only migrate from exposed localities to spots which, being more sheltered, afford them a better supply of food.
In April and May these birds deposit their eggs, making no further preparation than that of bringing together a few stalks and placing them in a shallow depression in the ground. The number of eggs is always four, and they are placed in the order so common among the Waders, crosswise. Lapwings are to a certain extent social, even in the breeding season, in so far that a considerable number usually frequent the same marsh or common. It is at this season that they utter most frequently their characteristic cry, a note which is never musical, and heard by the lonely traveller (as has happened to myself more than once by night) is particularly wild, harsh, and dispiriting. Now, too, one may approach near enough to them to notice the winnowing movement of their wings, which has given them the name of Lapwing in England and Vanneau in France (from van, a fan). The young are able to run as soon as they have burst the shell, and follow their parents to damp ground, where worms, slugs, and insects are most abundant. When the young have acquired the use of their wings, the families of a district unite into flocks. They are then very wary, and can rarely be approached without difficulty; but as they are considered good eating, many of them fall before the fowler.
OYSTER CATCHER
HÆMÁTOPUS OSTRATEGUS
The plumage of this species is entirely black and white; head, neck, scapulars and terminal half of the tail black; rump, upper tail-coverts white; legs and toes pink; eyelids crimson. Length, sixteen inches. The young have the feathers of the back and wings margined with brown. The Oyster Catcher inhabits the shores of Great Britain and Ireland throughout the year. The first time I came upon a flock of these birds I was able to approach them nearer than on any other occasion. They frequently uttered a harsh note in a high key which, though unmusical, harmonized well with the scenery. I had many other opportunities of observing them on the shores of the Scottish lochs, and I was once induced, on the recommendation of a friend, to have one served up for dinner as an agreeable variation from the bacon and herrings which mainly constitute the dietary of a Scottish fishing-village inn. But I did not repeat the experiment, preferring fish pure and simple to fish served up through the medium of a fowl. The nature of its food sufficiently accounts for its strong flavour. Oyster Catchers frequent rocky promontories or the broad banks of mud, sand, and ooze, which stretch out from low portions of the coast. Here they feed on mussels and other bivalves, limpets, worms, crustacea, and small fish; mixing freely with other birds while on the ground, but keeping to themselves while performing their flights. In their mode of using their wings they remind the spectator of Ducks rather than of Plovers, and they advance in a line, sometimes in single file, one after another, but more frequently wing by wing. When they alight, too, it is not with a circular sweep, but with a sailing movement. When the mud-banks are covered by the tide they move to a short distance inland, and pick up slugs and insects in the meadows, or betake themselves to salt marshes and rocky headlands. They have also been observed many miles away from the coast; but this is a rare occurrence. Their nest is generally a slight depression among the shingle above high-water mark; but on rocky shores they make an attempt at a nest, collecting a few blades of grass and scraps of sea-weed. They lay three or four eggs, and the young are able to run soon after breaking the shell.
In high latitudes Oyster Catchers are migratory, leaving their breeding grounds in autumn, and returning in the spring; consequently, those coasts from which they never depart afford an asylum in winter to vast numbers of strangers, in addition to their native population. On the coast of Norfolk, for example, they are to be seen in small parties all through the summer; but in winter, especially if it be a severe one, they may be reckoned by thousands. They here seem to have favourite spots on which to pass the night. One of these is what is called the “Eastern point” of Brancaster Marsh, a place of perfect security, for it is difficult of access under any circumstances, and cannot be approached at all with any chance of concealment on the part of the intruder. Towards this point I have seen line after line winging their way, all about the same hour, just before sunset, all following the line of the coast, but taking care to keep well out at sea, and all advancing with perfect regularity, every individual in a company being at the same height above the water. They are very wary at this season, insomuch that though I must have seen many thousands, and examined upwards of twenty species of sea-shore birds, which had been shot in the neighbourhood, not a single Oyster Catcher was brought to me.
A common name for this bird is Sea-pie, another appropriate one is ‘Mussel picker’; and it is thought that ‘Catcher’ comes from the Dutch aekster (magpie). The note is a shrill keep, keep. It swims well, and sometimes it will take to the water of its own accord. Although the nest is commonly on shingle or among sand-hills, or a tussock of sea-pink on a narrow ledge of rock, Mr. Howard Saunders has seen eggs of this bird in the emptied nest of a Herring-gull and on the summit of a lofty ‘stack.’
THE TURNSTONE
STRÉPSILAS INTÉRPRES
Crown reddish white, with longitudinal black streaks; upper part of the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, rusty brown, spotted with black; rest of the plumage variegated with black and white; bill and irides black; feet orange-yellow. Length nine inches. Eggs greenish-grey, blotched and spotted with slate and brown.
The Turnstone is a regular annual visitor to the shores of Great Britain, and indeed of almost every other country, having been observed as far north as Greenland, and as far south as the Straits of Magellan; but it is rarely inland. It arrives on our coasts about the beginning of August, not in large flocks like the Plovers, but in small parties, each of which, it is conjectured, constitutes a family. It is a bird of elegant form and beautiful parti-coloured plumage, active in its habits, a nimble runner, and an indefatigable hunter after food. In size it is intermediate between the Grey Plover and Sanderling, being about as big as a Thrush. The former of these birds it resembles in its disposition to feed in company with birds of different species, and its impatience of the approach of man. For this latter reason it does not often happen that any one can get near enough to these birds to watch their manœuvres while engaged in the occupation from which they have derived their name, though their industry is often apparent from the number of pebbles and shells found dislodged from their socket on the sands where a family has been feeding. Audubon, who had the good fortune to fall in with a party on a retired sea-coast, where, owing to the rare appearance of human beings, they were less fearful than is their wont, describes their operations with his usual felicity: “They were not more than fifteen or twenty yards distant, and I was delighted to see the ingenuity with which they turned over the oyster-shells, clods of mud, and other small bodies left exposed by the retiring tide. Whenever the object was not too large, the bird bent its legs to half their length, placed its bill beneath it, and with a sudden quick jerk of the head pushed it off, when it quickly picked up the food which was thus exposed to view, and walked deliberately to the next shell to perform the same operation. In several instances, when the clusters of oyster-shells or clods of mud were too heavy to be removed in the ordinary way, they would not only use the bill and head, but also the breast, pushing the object with all their strength, and reminding me of the labour which I have undergone in turning over a large turtle. Among the sea-weeds that had been cast on shore, they used only the bill, tossing the garbage from side to side with a dexterity extremely pleasant to behold.46 In like manner I saw there four Turnstones examine almost every part of the shore along a space of from thirty to forty yards; after which I drove them away, that our hunters might not kill them on their return.”
A writer in the Zoologist47 gives an equally interesting account of the successful efforts of two Turnstones to turn over the dead body of a cod-fish, nearly three and a half feet long, which had been imbedded in the sand to about the depth of two inches.
For an account of the habits of the Turnstone during the breeding season—it never breeds with us—we are indebted to Mr. Hewitson, who fell in with it on the coast of Norway. He says, ‘We had visited numerous islands with little encouragement, and were about to land upon a flat rock, bare, except where here and there grew tufts of grass or stunted juniper clinging to its surface, when our attention was attracted by the singular cry of a Turnstone, which in its eager watch had seen our approach, and perched itself upon an eminence of the rock, assuring us, by its querulous oft-repeated note and anxious motions, that its nest was there. We remained in the boat a short time, until we had watched it behind a tuft of grass, near which, after a minute search, we succeeded in finding the nest in a situation in which I should never have expected to meet a bird of this sort breeding; it was placed against a ledge of the rock, and consisted of nothing more than the dropping leaves of the juniper bush, under a creeping branch of which the eggs, four in number, were snugly concealed, and admirably sheltered from the many storms by which these bleak and exposed rocks are visited.
FAMILY SCOLOPACIDÆ
THE AVOCET
RECURVIROSTRA AVOCÉTTA
General plumage white; crown, nape, scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, and primaries, black; bill black; irides reddish brown; feet bluish ash. Length eighteen inches. Eggs olive-brown, blotched and spotted with dusky.
This bird has become so rare, that having recently applied to two several collectors in Norfolk, once the headquarters of the Avocet, to know if they could procure me a specimen, I was told by one that they were not seen oftener than once in seven years—by the other, that it was very rare, and if attainable at all could not be purchased for less than five pounds. In Ray’s time it was not unfrequent on the eastern maritime coasts. Small flocks still arrive in May and now and again in the autumn, but collectors never allow them to breed. They used to rest on the flat shores of Kent and Sussex. Sir Thomas Browne says of it: ‘Avoseta, called shoeing horn, a tall black and white bird, with a bill semicircularly reclining or bowed upward; so that it is not easy to conceive how it can feed; a summer marsh bird, and not unfrequent in marsh land.’ Pennant, writing of the same bird, says: ‘These birds are frequent in the winter on the shores of this kingdom; in Gloucestershire, at the Severn’s mouth; and sometimes on the lakes of Shropshire. We have seen them in considerable numbers in the breeding season near Fossdike Wash, in Lincolnshire. Like the Lapwing, when disturbed, they flew over our heads, carrying their necks and long legs quite extended, and made a shrill noise (twit) twice repeated, during the whole time. The country people for this reason call them Yelpers, and sometimes distinguish them by the name of Picarini. They feed on worms and insects, which they suck with their bills out of the sand; their search after food is frequently to be discovered on our shores by alternate semicircular marks in the sand, which show their progress.48 They lay three or four eggs, about the size of those of a Pigeon, white, tinged with green and marked with large black spots.’ Even so recent an authority as Yarrell remembers having found in the marshes near Rye a young one of this species, which appeared to have just been hatched; he took it up in his hands, while the old birds kept flying round him.
The Avocet is met with throughout a great part of the Old World, and is said to be not unfrequent in Holland and France. A writer of the latter country says that ‘by aid of its webbed feet it is enabled to traverse, without sinking, the softest and wettest mud; this it searches with its curved bill, and when it has discovered any prey, a worm for instance, it throws it adroitly into the air, and catches it with its beak’.
THE GREY PHALAROPE
PHALÁROPUS FULICARIUS
Winter—plumage in front and beneath white; back of the head, ear-coverts, and a streak down the nape, dusky; back pearl-grey, the feathers dusky in the centre, a white transverse bar on the wings; tail-feathers brown, edged with ash; bill brown, yellowish red at the base; irides reddish yellow; feet greenish ash. Summer—head dusky; face and nape white; feathers of the back dusky, bordered with orange-brown; front and lower plumage brick-red. Length eight inches and a half. Eggs greenish stone colour, blotched and spotted with dusky.
The Grey Phalarope, without being one of our rarest birds, is not of irregular occurrence. Its proper home is in the Arctic regions, from whence it migrates southward in winter. It is a bird of varied accomplishments, flying rapidly like the Snipes, running after the fashion of the Sandpipers, and swimming with the facility of the Ducks. In all these respects it does not belie its appearance, its structure being such that a naturalist would expect, à priori, that these were its habits. During the breeding season, the Phalarope quits the sea, its usual haunt, and repairs to the sea-shore, where it builds a neat nest, in a hollow of the ground, with grass and other weeds, and lays four eggs. The usual time of its appearance in Great Britain is autumn; sometimes it comes then in numbers; but specimens have been obtained in winter. On all these occasions it has shown itself singularly fearless of man.
THE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
PHALÁROPUS HYPERBOREUS
Head deep ash-grey; throat white; neck bright rust-red; under plumage white, blotched on the flanks with ash; back black, the feathers bordered with rust-red; a white bar across the wing; two middle tail-feathers black, the rest ash, edged with white; bill black; irides brown; feet greenish ash. Length seven inches. Eggs dark olive, closely spotted with black.
The Red-necked Phalarope, or Lobefoot, is, like the preceding species, an inhabitant of the Arctic regions, but extends its circle of residence so far as to include the Orkney Islands, in which numerous specimens have been obtained. It builds its nest of grass, in the marshes or on the islands in the lakes, and lays four eggs. The most marked habit of these birds seems to be that of alighting at sea on beds of floating sea-weed, and indifferently swimming about in search of food, or running, with light and nimble pace, after the manner of a Wagtail. They are often met with thus employed at the distance of a hundred miles from land. They are described as being exceedingly tame, taking little notice of the vicinity of men, and unaffected by the report of a gun.
THE WOODCOCK
SCÓLOPAX RUSTÍCOLA
Back of the head barred transversely with dusky; upper plumage mottled with chestnut, yellow, ash, and black; lower reddish yellow, with brown zigzag lines; quills barred on their outer web with rust-red and black; tail of twelve feathers tipped above with grey, below with silvery white; bill flesh-colour; feet livid. Length thirteen inches. Eggs dirty yellow, blotched and spotted with brown and grey.
The history of the Woodcock as a visitor in the British Isles is briefly as follows: Woodcocks come to us from the south in autumn, the earliest being annually observed about the twentieth of October. On their first arrival, they are generally found to be in bad condition; so weak, in fact, that I recollect many instances of flights having reached the coasts of Cornwall, only able to gain the land. Their condition at these times is one of extreme exhaustion; and they become the prey, not only of the sportsman, but are knocked down with a stick, or caught alive. In the course of a very few days they are enabled to recruit their strength, when they make their way inland. They have been known even to settle on the deck of a ship at sea, in order to rest; or actually to alight for a few moments in the smooth water of the ship’s wake. Their usual places of resort by day are woods and coppices in hilly districts, whither they repair for shelter and concealment. Disliking cold, they select, in preference, the side of a valley which is least exposed to the wind; and though they never perch on a branch, they prefer the concealment afforded by trees to that of any other covert. There, crouching under a holly, or among briers and thorns, they spend the day in inactivity, guarded from molestation by their stillness, and by the rich brown tint of their plumage, which can hardly be distinguished from dead leaves. Their large prominent bead-like eyes are alone likely to betray them; and this, it is said, is sometimes the case. So conscious do they seem that their great security lies in concealment, that they will remain motionless until a dog is almost on them or until the beater reaches the very bush under which they are crouching. When at length roused, they start up with a whirr, winding and twisting through the overhanging boughs, and make for the nearest open place ahead; now, however, flying in almost a straight line, till discovering another convenient lurking-place, they descend suddenly, to be ‘marked’ for another shot. About twilight, the Woodcock awakens out of its lethargy, and repairs to its feeding-ground. Observation having shown that on these occasions it does not trouble itself to mount above the trees before it starts, but makes for the nearest clear place in the wood through which it gains the open country, fowlers were formerly in the habit of erecting in glades in the woods, two high poles, from which was suspended a fine net. This was so placed as to hang across the course which the birds were likely to take, and when a cock flew against it, the net was suddenly made to drop by the concealed fowler, and the bird caught, entangled in the meshes. Not many years ago, these nets were commonly employed in the woods, near the coast of the north of Devon, and they are said still to be in use on the Continent. The passages through which the birds flew were known by the name of ‘cockroads’, and ‘cockshoots’.
The localities which Woodcocks most frequent are places which abound in earthworms, their favourite food. These they obtain either by turning over lumps of decaying vegetable matter and picking up the scattered worms, or by thrusting their bills into the soft earth, where (guided by scent it is supposed) they speedily find any worm lying hid, and having drawn it out, swallow it whole, with much dexterity. When the earth is frozen hard, they shift their ground, repairing to the neighbourhood of the sea, or of springs; and now, probably, they are less select in their diet, feeding on any living animal matter that may fall in their way. In March they change their quarters again, preparatory to quitting the country; hence it often happens that considerable numbers are seen at this season in places where none had been observed during the previous winter. They now have a call-note, though before they have been quite mute; it is said by some to resemble the syllables pitt-pitt-coor, by others to be very like the croak of a frog. The French have invented the verb croûler, to express it, and distinguish Woodcock shooting by the name croûle. Some sportsmen wisely recommend that no Woodcock should be shot after the middle of February; for it has been ascertained that increasing numbers of these remain for the purpose of breeding in this country; and it is conjectured, with reason, that if they were left undisturbed in their spring haunts, they would remain in yet larger numbers. As it is, there are few counties in England in which their nest has not been discovered; and there are some few localities in which it is one of the pleasant sights of the evening, at all seasons of the year, to watch the Woodcocks repairing from the woods to their accustomed feeding-ground.
The nest is built of dry leaves, principally of fern, and placed among dead grass, in dry, warm situations, and contains four eggs, which, unlike those of the Snipes, are nearly equally rounded at each end.
There have been recorded numerous instances in which a Woodcock has been seen carrying its young through the air to water, holding the nestling between her thighs pressed close to her body.
During its flight, the Woodcock invariably holds its beak pointed in a direction towards the ground. Young birds taken from the nest are easily reared; and afford much amusement by the skill they display in extracting worms from sods with which they are supplied. The Woodcock is found in all countries of the eastern hemisphere where trees grow; but it is only met as a straggler on the Atlantic coast of the United States.
THE GREAT SNIPE
GALLINÁGO MAJOR
Crown black, divided longitudinally by a yellowish white band; a streak of the same colour over each eye; from the beak to the eye a streak of dark brown; upper plumage mottled with black and chestnut-brown, some of the feathers edged with straw-colour; greater wing-coverts tipped with white; under parts whitish, spotted and barred with black; tail of sixteen feathers; bill brown, flesh-coloured at the base. Length eleven and a half inches. Eggs brownish olive, spotted with reddish brown.
The Great Snipe, Solitary Snipe or Double Snipe, is intermediate in size between the Woodcock and Common Snipe. Though not among the rarest of our visitants, it is far from common. It is, however, an annual visitor, and is seen most frequently in the eastern counties in the autumn. Its principal resorts are low damp meadows and grassy places near marshes, but it does not frequent swamps like its congeners. This difference in its haunts implies a different diet, and this bird, it is stated, feeds principally on the larvæ or grubs of Tipulæ (known by the common name of Father Daddy-Long-legs), which are in summer such voracious feeders on the roots of grass. It breeds in the northern countries of Europe, and in some parts of Sweden is so abundant that as many as fifty have been shot in a day. When disturbed on its feeding-ground, it rises without uttering any note, and usually drops in again, at no great distance, after the manner of the Jack Snipe. It may be distinguished by its larger size, and by carrying its tail spread like a fan. In the northern countries where it breeds it is found most commonly in the meadows after hay-harvest, and as it is much prized for the delicacy of its flesh it is a favourite object of sport. It is remarkable for being always in exceedingly good condition, a remark which applies to specimens procured in this country as well as those shot in Sweden. The nest, which has rarely been seen, is placed in a tuft of grass, and contains four eggs. The Zoologist once mentioned the fact of four solitary Snipes being killed in the county of Durham in August, and two of these were young birds, scarcely fledged.
THE COMMON SNIPE
GALLINÁGO CÆLESTIS
Upper plumage very like the last; chin and throat reddish white; lower parts white, without spots; flanks barred transversely with white and dusky; tail of fourteen feathers. Length eleven and a half inches. Eggs light greenish yellow, spotted with brown and ash.
The Common Snipe is a bird of very general distribution, being found in all parts of the eastern hemisphere, from Ireland to Japan, and from Siberia to the Cape of Good Hope. It is common also in many parts of America, especially Carolina, and is frequent in many of the American islands. In Britain, Snipes are most numerous in the winter, their numbers being then increased by arrivals from high latitudes, from which they are driven by the impossibility of boring for food in ground hardened by frost or buried beneath snow. In September and October large flocks of these birds arrive in the marshy districts of England, stopping sometimes for a short time only, and then proceeding onwards; but being like many other birds, gregarious at no other time than when making their migrations, when they have arrived at a district where they intend to take up their residence, they scatter themselves over marsh land, remaining in each other’s neighbourhood perhaps, but showing no tendency to flock together. Their food consists of the creeping things which live in mud, and to this, it is said by some, they add small seeds and fine vegetable fibre; but it is questionable whether this kind of food is not swallowed by accident, mixed up with more nourishing diet. The end of their beak is furnished with a soft pulpy membrane, which in all probability is highly sensitive, and enables the bird to discover by the touch the worms which, being buried in mud, are concealed from its sight. Snipes when disturbed always fly against the wind, so when suddenly scared from their feeding-ground, and compelled to rise without any previous intention on their part, they seem at first uncertain which course to take, but twist and turn without making much progress in any direction; but in a few seconds, having decided on their movements, they dart away with great rapidity, uttering at the same time a sharp cry of two notes, which is difficult to describe, but once heard can scarcely be mistaken. When a bird on such an occasion is fired at, it often happens that a number of others, who have been similarly occupied, rise at the report, and after having performed a few mazy evolutions, dart off in the way described. At other times they lie so close that between the sportsman and the bird which he has just killed there may be others concealed, either unconscious of danger, or trusting for security to their powers of lying hid. This tendency to lie close, or the reverse, depends much on the weather, though why it should be so seems not to have been decided. But the movements of Snipes generally are governed by laws of which we know little or nothing. At one season they will be numerous in a certain marsh; the next year perhaps not one will visit the spot; to-day, they will swarm in a given locality; a night’s frost will drive them all away, and a change of wind a few days after will bring them all back again. If very severe weather sets in they entirely withdraw, but of this the reason is obvious; the frozen state of the marsh puts a stop to their feeding. They then retire to milder districts, to springs which are never frozen, to warm nooks near the sea, or to salt marshes. Perhaps the majority perform a second migration southwards; for, as a rule, they are most numerous at the two periods of autumn and spring—that is, while on their way to and from some distant winter-quarters. After March they become far less frequent, yet there are few extensive marshes, especially in Scotland and the north of England, where some do not remain to breed. At this season a striking change in their habits makes itself perceptible. A nest is built of withered grass, sometimes under the shelter of a tuft of heath or reeds, and here the female sits closely on four eggs. The male, meanwhile, is feeding in some neighbouring swamp, and if disturbed, instead of making off with his zigzag winter’s flight, utters his well-remembered note and ascends at a rapid rate into the air, now ascending with a rapid vibration of wing, wheeling, falling like a parachute, mounting again, and once more descending with fluttering wings, uttering repeatedly a note different from his cry of alarm, intermixed with a drumming kind of noise, which has been compared to the bleat of a goat. This last sound is produced by the action of the wings, assisted by the tail-feathers, in his descents. One of its French names is Chèvre volant, flying goat, and the Scottish name ‘Heather-bleater’, was also given to it as descriptive of its peculiar summer note. The female sits closely on her eggs, and if disturbed while in charge of her yet unfledged brood, endeavours to distract the attention of an intruder from them to herself by the artifice already described as being employed by others of the Waders.
‘Sabine’s Snipe’, which was at one time thought to be a distinct species, is now admitted to be a melanism, a dark variety of the Common Snipe, recent examination of specimens having proved that its tail contains fourteen feathers and not twelve only, as was supposed. It is seldom found outside Great Britain.
THE JACK SNIPE
GALLINÁGO GALLÍNULA
Crown divided longitudinally by a black band edged with reddish brown; beneath this on either side a parallel yellowish band reaching from the bill to the nape; back beautifully mottled with buff, reddish brown, and black, the latter lustrous with green and purple; neck and breast spotted; belly and abdomen pure white; tail of twelve feathers, dusky edged with reddish grey; bill dusky, lighter towards the base. Length eight and a half inches. Eggs yellowish olive, spotted with brown.
As the Great Snipe has been called the Double Snipe, on account of its being superior in size to the common species, so the subject of the present chapter is known as the Half Snipe, from being contrasted with the same bird, and being considerably smaller. The present species is far less abundant than the Common Snipe; yet still it is often seen, more frequently, perhaps, than the other, by non-sporting observers, for it frequents not only downright marshes, but the little streams which meander through meadows, the sides of grassy ponds, and the drains by the side of canals, where the ordinary pedestrian, if accompanied by a dog, will be very likely to put one up. Its food and general habits are much the same as those of the Common Snipe; but it rises and flies off without any note. Its flight is singularly crooked until it has made up its mind which direction it intends to take; indeed it seems to decide eventually on the one which was at first most unlikely to be its path, and after having made a short round composed of a series of disjointed, curves, it either returns close to the spot from which it was started, or suddenly drops, as by a sudden impulse, into a ditch a few gunshots off. I have seen one drop thus within twenty yards of the spot where I stood, and though I threw upwards of a dozen stones into the place where I saw it go down, it took no notice of them. It was only by walking down the side of the ditch, beating the rushes with a stick, that I induced it to rise again. It then flew off in the same way as before, and dropped into the little stream from which I had first started it.
From this habit of lying so close as to rise under the very feet of the passenger, as well as from its silence, it is called in France la Sourde, ‘deaf’. In the same country it is known also as ‘St. Martin’s Snipe’, from the time of its arrival in that country, November 11; with us it is an earlier visitor, coming about the second week in September.
A few instances are recorded of the Jack Snipe having been seen in this country at a season which would lead to the inference that it occasionally breeds here; but no instance of its doing so has been ascertained as a fact.
THE SANDERLING
CALIDRIS ARENARIA
Winter—upper plumage and sides of the neck whitish ash; cheeks and all the under plumage, pure white; bend and edge of the wing and quills blackish grey; tail deep grey, edged with white; bill, irides, and feet, black. Summer—cheeks and crown black, mottled with rust-red and white; neck and breast reddish ash with black and white spots; back and scapulars deep rust-red, spotted with black, all the feathers edged and tipped with white; wing-coverts dusky, with reddish lines, and tipped with white; two middle tail-feathers dusky, with reddish edges. Young in autumn—cheeks, head, nape, and back variously mottled with black, brown, grey, rust-red and dull white. Length eight inches. Eggs olive, spotted and speckled with black.
The early flocks of Sanderlings often consist of old as well as young birds, which is not the common rule with Waders. They are plentiful on our sandy shores, and they sometimes visit inland waters. By April the return passage begins. The note is a shrill wick! They arrive on our shores early in autumn, keeping together in small flocks, or joining the company of Dunlins, or Ringed Plovers. In spring they withdraw to high latitudes, where they breed; they are not, however, long absent. Yarrell mentions his having obtained specimens as late as April and June, and I have myself obtained them as early as the end of July, having shot at Hunstanton, on the coast of Norfolk, several young birds of the year, on the twenty-third of that month; and on another occasion I obtained a specimen on the sands of Abergele, in North Wales, in August. This leaves so very short a time for incubation and the fledging of the young, that it is probable that a few birds, at least, remain to breed in this country, or do not retire very far north. Little is known of their habits during the season of incubation, but they are said to make their nests in the marshes, of grass, and to lay four eggs.
Like many other shore birds, they have an extensive geographical range, and are found in all latitudes, both in the eastern and western hemispheres.
THE CURLEW SANDPIPER
TRINGA SUBARQUATA
Bill curved downwards, much longer than the head. Winter—upper tail-coverts and all the under parts white; upper plumage ash-brown, mottled with darker brown and whitish; breast the same colours, but much lighter; bill black; iris brown; feet dusky. Summer—crown black, mottled with reddish; under plumage chestnut-red, speckled with brown and white; much of the upper plumage black, mottled with red and ash. Length seven and a half inches. Eggs yellowish, with brown spots.
This bird, called also the Pigmy Curlew, is of about the same size as the far commoner Dunlin, from which it is distinguished not only by the difference in the colour of its plumage, but by the greater length of its beak, which is curved downwards. Pigmy Curlews are observed from time to time in this country at the periods of autumn and spring, and it is said that a few remain with us to breed, but their nest and eggs have never been detected. In their habits they resemble the Dunlins, from which they may readily be distinguished, even when flying, by their white upper tail-coverts. They are of wide geographical range, but nowhere abundant, and visit us on passage in spring and autumn.
THE KNOT
TRINGA CANÚTUS
Beak straight, a little longer than the head, much dilated towards the tip; tail even at the extremity; a small part of the tibia naked. Winter—throat and abdomen white; breast and flanks white, barred with ash-brown; upper plumage ash-grey, mottled with brown; wing-coverts tipped with white; rump and upper tail-coverts white, with black crescents; bill and legs greenish black. Summer—streak over the eye, nape, and all the under plumage, rusty-red, the nape streaked with black; back streaked and spotted with black, red, and grey. The upper plumage of young birds is mottled with reddish brown, grey, black, and dull white; legs dull green. Length ten inches. Eggs unknown.
The Knot, Willughby informs us, is so called from having been a favourite dish of King Canutus, or Knute. It is a migratory bird, visiting the coasts of Great Britain early in autumn, and remaining here till spring, when it retires northwards to breed. During the intervening months it keeps exclusively to the sandy or muddy sea-shore, assembling in small flocks, and mixing freely with Dunlins, Sanderlings, and Purple Sandpipers. Some authors state that it feeds principally early and late in the day, and during moonlight nights; but I have seen it on the coast of Norfolk in winter feeding at all hours of the day in company with the birds mentioned above, and differing little from them in the mode of obtaining its food. But I remarked on several occasions that, when a flock was disturbed, the Knots often remained behind, being less fearful of the presence of man; in consequence of which tardiness in rising they more than once fell to our guns after their companions had flown off. On their first arrival, they are said to be so indifferent to the vicinity of human beings that it is not difficult to knock them down with stones. Their provincial name in Norfolk is the Green-legged Shank, the latter name, Shank, being applied for shortness to the Redshank. Dr. Richardson states that ‘Knots were observed breeding on Melville Peninsula by Captain Lyon, who tells us that they lay four eggs on a tuft of withered grass, without being at the pains of forming any nest.’
Flocks of young make their appearance early in August, the adults arriving a little later.
THE DUNLIN
TRINGA ALPINA
Bill a little longer than the head, slightly bent down at the tip; two middle tail-feathers the longest, dusky and pointed; a small part of the tibia naked. Winter—throat and a streak between the bill and eye white; upper plumage ash-brown streaked with dusky; upper tail-coverts dusky; lateral tail-feathers ash, edged with white; breast greyish white, mottled with brown; bill black; feet dusky. Summer—most of the upper plumage black, edged with rust-red; belly and abdomen black. Young birds have the upper plumage variously mottled with ash-brown, dusky, and reddish yellow; the bill is shorter and straight. Length eight inches. Eggs greenish white, blotched and spotted with brown.
The name variabilis, changeable, has been applied to this species of Sandpiper on account of the great difference between its summer and winter plumage. It was formerly, indeed, supposed that the two states of the bird were distinct species; of which the former was called Dunlin, the latter Purre. It is now known that the two are identical, the bird being commonly found to assume in spring and autumn colours intermediate between the two.
Except during the three summer months, May, June, and July, the Dunlin is common on all the shores of Great Britain, where there are extensive reaches of sand or mud. I have obtained specimens on the coast of Norfolk as early as the twenty-fifth of July; but, generally, it is not until the following month that they become numerous. From this time until late in the winter they are reinforced by constant additions; and in very severe weather the flocks are increased to such an extent that, if it were possible to number them, they would be probably found to contain very many thousands. Such a season was the memorable winter of 1860-61, when, during the coldest part of it, I made an excursion to the coast of Norfolk for the purpose of observing the habits of the sea-side Grallatores and Natatores which, in winter, resort to that coast. Numerous as were the species and individuals of these birds which then flocked to the beach and salt-marshes, I have no doubt, in my own mind, that they were all outnumbered by Dunlins alone. Of nearly every flock that I saw feeding on the wet sand or mud, fully half were Dunlins; many flocks were composed of these birds alone; while of those which were constantly flying by, without alighting, the proportion of Dunlins to all other birds was, at least, three to one. Added to which, while the parties of other birds were susceptible of being approximately counted, the individuals which composed a flock of Dunlins were often innumerable.
At one time, we saw in the distance, several miles off, a light cloud, as of smoke from a factory chimney: it moved rapidly, suddenly disappeared, and as suddenly again became visible. This was an enormous flock of Dunlins, consisting of many thousands at least. They did not come very near us; but smaller flocks which flew about in our immediate vicinity presented a similar appearance. As the upper surface of their bodies was turned towards us, they were of a dark hue; suddenly they wheeled in their flight as if the swarm was steered by a single will, when they disappeared; but instantaneously revealed themselves again flying in a different direction, and reflected glittering snowy white.
Dunlins, while feeding, show a devoted attention to their occupation, which is not often to be observed in land birds. They run rapidly, looking intently on the ground, now stopping to pick up some scrap of animal matter which lies on the surface of the sand, now boring for living prey where they detect indications of such prey lying hid. Occasionally an individual bird appears to suffer from lameness, and halts in its progress as if its legs were gouty. Frequently they chase a receding wave for the sake of recovering a prize which has been swept from the beach: never venturing to swim, but showing no fear of wetting either feet or feathers. While engaged in these various ways, they often keep up a short conversational twitter, in a tone, however, so low that it can only be heard at a very short distance. While flying, they frequently utter a much louder piping note, which can readily be distinguished from the call of the other sea-side birds. I observed that a small detached flock, when disturbed, generally flew off to a great distance; but if other birds were feeding in the neighbourhood, they more frequently alighted near them, as if assured by their presence that no danger was to be apprehended.
Dunlins have bred in Cornwall and Devon; but in many parts of Scotland, in the Hebrides and Orkneys ‘they frequent the haunts selected by the Golden Plovers, with which they are so frequently seen in company, that they have popularly obtained the name of Plovers’ Pages. Sometimes before the middle of April, but always before that of May, they are seen dispersed over the moors in pairs like the birds just named, which, at this season, they greatly resemble in habits. The nest, which is composed of some bits of withered grass, or sedge, and small twigs of heath, is placed in a slight hollow, generally on a bare spot, and usually in a dry place, like that selected by the Golden Plover. The female lays four eggs, and sits very assiduously, often allowing a person to come quite close to her before removing, which she does in a fluttering and cowering manner.’ 49
In a few specimens which I obtained, the bill was considerably curved downwards throughout its whole length, thus approaching in form that of the Pigmy Curlew; but the dusky upper tail-coverts sufficiently distinguished it from its rarer congener.
PURPLE SANDPIPER
TRINGA STRIATA
Bill longer than the head, slightly bent down at the tip, dusky, the base reddish orange; head and neck dusky brown, tinged with grey; back and scapulars black, with purple and violet reflections, the feathers edged with deep ash; breast grey and white; under plumage white, streaked on the flanks with grey; feet ochre-yellow. Length eight and a quarter inches. Eggs yellowish olive, spotted and speckled with reddish brown.
The Purple Sandpiper is described as being far less common than the Dunlin, and differing from it in habits, inasmuch as it resorts to the rocky coast in preference to sandy flats. The few specimens of it which I have seen were associated with Dunlins, flying in the same flocks with them, feeding with them, and so closely resembling them in size and movements, that a description of the one equally characterizes the other. It was only, in fact, by the difference of colour that I could discriminate between them; and this I did, on several occasions, with great ease, having obtained my specimens singly while they were surrounded by other birds. According to Mr. Dunn, ‘The Purple Sandpiper is very numerous in Orkney and Shetland, appearing early in spring, and leaving again at the latter end of April; about which time it collects in large flocks, and may be found on the rocks at ebb-tide, watching each retiring wave, running down as the water falls back, picking small shellfish off the stones, and displaying great activity in escaping the advancing sea. It does not breed there.’
This species has a wide geographical range. It has been often observed in the Arctic regions, where it breeds. It is well known in North America, and is found in various parts of the continent of Europe, especially Holland.
TEMMINCK’S STINT
TRINGA TEMMINCKI
Bill slightly bent down at the tip, much shorter than the head; tail graduated. Winter—upper plumage brown and dusky; breast reddish; lower plumage and outer tail-feathers white; bill and feet brown. Summer—All the upper feathers black, bordered with rust-red; breast reddish ash, streaked with black. Length five and a half inches. Eggs unknown.
Temminck, in whose honour this bird was named, states that it ‘inhabits the Arctic Regions, and is seen on its passage at two periods of the year in different parts of Germany, on the banks of lakes and rivers; probably, also, in the interior of France; never along the maritime coasts of Holland; very rare on the Lake of Geneva. Its food consists of small insects. It probably builds its nest very far north.’ A few have been killed in England, and it occurs in many parts of Asia and in North Africa, but it is nowhere abundant, being an irregular visitor, only on migration.
LITTLE STINT
TRINGA MINUTA
Bill straight, shorter than the head; two middle and two outer feathers of the tail longer than the rest (‘tail doubly forked’); tarsus ten lines; upper plumage ash and dusky; a brown streak between the bill and the eye; under plumage white; outer feathers of the tail ash-brown, edged with whitish; middle ones brown; bill and feet black. Length five and a half inches. Eggs reddish white, spotted with dark red-brown.
A rare and occasional visitant, appearing from time to time in small flocks on the muddy or sandy sea-coast. My friend, the Rev. W. S. Hore (to whom I am indebted for many valuable notes, incorporated in the text of this volume), obtained several specimens of this bird in October, 1840, on the Laira mud banks, near Plymouth. In their habits they differed little from the Dunlin. They were at first very tame, but after having been fired at became more cautious. In their food and mode of collecting it, nothing was observed to distinguish them from the other Sandpipers. They come on passage in spring and autumn.
THE RUFF AND REEVE
MACHÉTES PUGNAX
Male in spring—face covered with yellowish warty pimples; back of the head with a tuft of long feathers on each side; throat furnished with a ruff of prominent feathers; general plumage mottled with ash, black, brown, reddish white, and yellowish, but so variously, that scarcely two specimens can be found alike; bill yellowish orange. Male in winter—face covered with feathers; ruff absent; under parts white; breast reddish, with brown spots; upper plumage mottled with black, brown, and red; bill brownish. Length twelve and a half inches. Female, ‘The Reeve’—long feathers of the head and ruff absent; upper plumage ash-brown, mottled with black and reddish brown; under parts greyish white; feet yellowish brown. Length ten and a half inches. In both sexes—tail rounded, the two middle feathers barred; the three lateral feathers uniform in colour. Eggs olive, blotched and spotted with brown.
Both the systematic names of this bird are descriptive of its quarrelsome propensities: machetes is Greek for ‘a warrior’, pugnax Latin for ‘pugnacious’. Well is the title deserved; for Ruffs do not merely fight when they meet, but meet in order to fight. The season for the indulgence of their warlike tastes is spring; the scene, a rising spot of ground contiguous to a marsh; and here all the male birds of the district assemble at dawn, for many days in succession, and do battle valiantly for the females, called Reeves, till the weakest are vanquished and leave possession of the field to their more powerful adversaries. The attitude during these contests is nearly that of the domestic Cock—the head lowered, the body horizontal, the collar bristling, and the beak extended. But Ruffs will fight to the death on other occasions. A basket containing two or three hundred Ruffs was once put on board a steamer leaving Rotterdam for London. The incessant fighting of the birds proved a grand source of attraction to the passengers during the voyage; and about half of them were slain before the vessel reached London. Ruffs are gluttonously disposed too, and, if captured by a fowler, will begin to eat the moment they are supplied with food; but, however voracious they may be, if a basin of bread and milk or boiled wheat be placed before them, it is instantly contended for; and so pugnacious is their disposition, that even when fellow-captives, they would starve in the midst of plenty if several dishes of food were not placed amongst them at a distance from each other.
Many years have not passed since these birds paid annual visits in large numbers to the fen-countries. They were, however, highly prized as delicacies for the table, and their undeviating habit of meeting to fight a pitched battle gave the fowler such an excellent opportunity of capturing all the combatants in his nets, that they have been gradually becoming more and more rare. The fowler, in fact, has been so successful that he has destroyed his own trade.
Another peculiarity of the Ruff is, that the plumage varies greatly in different individuals—so much so, indeed, that Montagu who had an opportunity of seeing about seven dozen in a room together, could not find two alike. These birds are now become rare, but occasional specimens are still met with in different parts of Great Britain, and at various seasons; but if they are ever served up at table, they must be consignments from the Continent.
The female builds her nest of coarse grass, among reeds and rushes, and lays four eggs. The brood, when hatched, remain with her until the period of migration; but the males take no interest in domestic affairs. The few that have not been caught become more amicably disposed during the latter portion of the year. They lose the feathery shields from whence they derive their English name, and, assuming a peaceful garb, withdraw to some southern climate. The Ruff is about one-third larger than the Reeve; and the latter is, at all seasons, destitute of a prominent collar. Formerly these birds bred in the east of England.
GREEN SANDPIPER
TÓTANUS ÓCHROPUS
Upper plumage olive-brown, with greenish reflections, spotted with whitish and dusky; lower plumage white; tail white, the middle feathers barred with dusky towards the end, the two outer feathers almost entirely white; bill dusky above, reddish beneath; feet greenish. Length nine and a half inches. Eggs whitish green, spotted with brown.
This bird, which derives its name from the green tinge of its plumage and legs, must be reckoned among the rarer Sandpipers. In habits it differs considerably from most of its congeners, in that it is not given to congregate with others of its kind, and that it resorts to inland waters rather than to the sea. It is seen for the most part in spring and autumn, at which seasons it visits us when on its way to and from the northern countries in which it breeds. Specimens have been killed late in the summer, from which it has been inferred that the Green Sandpiper sometimes breeds in this country; but the fact does not appear to have been confirmed by the discovery of its nest. While migrating it flies very high, but when scared from its feeding-ground it skims along the surface of the water for some distance, and then rises high into the air, uttering its shrill whistle. In its choice of food, and habits while feeding it resembles the Common Sandpiper. It lays its eggs in deserted nests and old squirrel dreys—and breeds probably in wild parts of Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. The Son of the Marshes considers that it does so.
THE WOOD SANDPIPER
TÓTANUS GLARÉOLA
Winter—a narrow dusky streak between the bill and eye; upper parts deep brown, spotted with white; breast and adjacent parts dirty white, mottled with ash-brown; under plumage and tail-coverts pure white; tail-feathers barred with brown and white; two outer feathers on each side with the inner web pure white; bill and legs greenish. Summer—head streaked with brown and dull white; the white of the breast clearer; each of the feathers of the back with two white spots on each side of the centre. Length seven and a half inches.
This species closely resembles the last both in appearance and habits. It received its name of Wood Sandpiper from having been observed occasionally to resort to boggy swamps of birch and alder, and has been seen even to perch on a tree. Its most common places of resort are, however, swamps and wet heaths. Like the last, it is a bird of wide geographical range, nowhere very abundant, and imperfectly known, coming only on passage in spring and autumn.
THE COMMON SANDPIPER
TÓTANUS HYPOLEUCUS
Upper parts ash-brown, glossed with olive; back and central tail-feathers marked with fine wavy lines of rich dark brown; a narrow white streak over each eye; under plumage pure white, streaked at the sides with brown; outer tail-feathers barred with white and brown; bill dusky, lighter at the base; feet greenish ash. Length seven and a half inches. Eggs whitish yellow, spotted with brown and grey.
To this bird has been given not inappropriately the name of Summer Snipe. In form and mode of living it resembles the Snipe properly so called, and it is known to us only during summer. Unlike the last two species, it is a bird of common occurrence. One need only to repair to a retired district abounding in streams and lakes, at any period of the year between April and September, and there, in all probability, this lively bird will be found to have made for itself a temporary home. Arrayed in unattractive plumage, and distinguished by no great power of song—its note being simply a piping, which some people consider the utterance of one of its provincial names, ‘Willy Wicket’—it may nevertheless be pronounced an accomplished bird. It flies rapidly and in a tortuous course, likely to puzzle any but the keenest shot; it runs with remarkable nimbleness, so that if a sportsman has marked it down, it will probably rise many yards away from the spot; it can swim if so inclined; and when hard pressed by a Hawk, it has been seen to dive and remain under water until all danger had passed away. It has never been observed to perch on the twigs of trees, but it has been noticed running along the stumps and projecting roots of trees. Its favourite places of resort are withy holts (where it searches for food in the shallow drains), moss-covered stones in rivers, the shallow banks of lakes, and the flat marshy places intersected by drains, which in low countries often skirt the sea-shore. Its food consists of small worms and the larvæ and pupæ of the countless insects which spend their lives in such localities. It may be presumed, too, that many a perfect winged insect enters into its dietary, for its activity is very great. Even when its legs are not in motion, which does not often happen, its body is in a perpetual state of agitation, the vibration of the tail being most conspicuous.
Sandpipers do not congregate like many others of the Waders; they come to us generally in pairs, and do not appear to flock together even when preparing to migrate. The nest is a slight depression in the ground, most frequently well concealed by rushes or other tufted foliage, and is constructed of a few dry leaves, stalks of grass, and scraps of moss. The Sandpiper lays four eggs, which are large, and quite disproportionate to the size of the bird. Indeed, but for their peculiar pear-shaped form, which allows of their being placed so as to occupy a small space with the pointed ends all together, the bird would scarcely be able to cover them. The parent bird exhibits the same marvellous sagacity in diverting the attention of an intruder from the young birds to herself, by counterfeiting lameness, which has been observed in the Plovers. The young are able to run within a very short time after exclusion from the egg, there being an instance recorded in the Zoologist of a gentleman having seen some young birds scramble away from the nest while there yet remained an egg containing an unhatched chick. Early, too, in their life they are endowed with the instinct of self-preservation, for Mr. Selby states that if discovered and pursued before they have acquired the use of their wings, they boldly take to the water and dive.
The Sandpiper is found in all parts of Europe and Asia, but not in America.
THE COMMON REDSHANK
TÓTANUS CALIDRIS
Winter—upper plumage ash-brown; throat, sides of the head, streak over the eye, neck, and breast, greyish white; rump, belly, and abdomen, white; tail marked transversely with black and white zigzag bars, tipped with white; feet and lower half of both mandibles red. Summer—upper feathers ash-brown, with a broad dusky streak in the centre; under parts white, spotted and streaked with dusky; feet and lower half of both mandibles vermilion red. Length ten to eleven inches. Eggs greenish yellow, blotched and spotted with brown.
The Redshank is a bird of frequent occurrence on all such parts of the coast as are suited to its habits. Nowhere, I suppose, is it more abundant than on the coast of Norfolk—at least, on those parts of the coast where it can have access to muddy marshes. It does not, indeed, confine itself to such places, for it is not unfrequently to be seen on the sea-shore, feeding in the neighbourhood of Dunlins, Knots, Grey Plovers, and other Waders; or, when its favourite haunts are covered by the tide, a solitary bird or a party of three or four meet or overtake the stroller, by the sea-side, taking care to keep at a respectful distance from him, either by flying high over his head or sweeping along, a few feet above the surface of the sea, in the line of the breakers or in the trough outside them. They may easily be distinguished from any other common bird of the same tribe by the predominance of white in their plumage. Other Waders, such as Dunlins and Sanderlings, present the dark and light sides of their plumage alternately, but the Redshank shows its dark and white feathers simultaneously, and if seen only on the wing might be supposed to be striped with black and white. Keen-sighted observers can also detect its red legs. Its flight, as accurately described by Macgillivray, ’is light, rapid, wavering, and as if undecided, and, being performed by quick jerks of the wings, bears some resemblance to that of a Pigeon’. During its flight it frequently utters its cry, which is a wild shrill whistle of two or three notes, approaching that of the Ringed Plover, but louder and less mellow. At low water, it frequents, in preference to all other places of resort, flat marshes which are intersected by muddy creeks, and in these it bores for food. It is very wary, flying off long before the fowler can come within shot if it happens to be standing exposed; and even if it be concealed under a high bank, where it can neither see nor be seen, it detects his approach by some means, and in most cases is up and away before any but the most expert shot can stop its flight. On these occasions it invariably utters its alarm note, which both proclaims its own escape and gives warning to all other birds feeding in the vicinity. Scattered individuals thus disturbed sometimes unite into flocks, or fly off, still keeping separate, to some distant part of the marsh. On one occasion only have I been enabled to approach near enough to a Redshank to watch its peculiar movements while feeding, and this observation I was much pleased in making, as it confirms the account of another observer. A writer in the Naturalist, quoted by Yarrell and Macgillivray, says: ‘I was very much struck with the curious manner in which they dart their bill into the sand nearly its whole length, by jumping up and thus giving it a sort of impetus, if I may use the word, by the weight of their bodies pressing it downwards.’ This account Macgillivray, with an unamiable sneer too common in his writings when he refers to statements made by others of facts which have not fallen within his own observation, considers to be so inaccurate that he pronounces the birds to be not Redshanks at all, and calls them ‘Irish Redshanks’. On the occasion to which I have referred, I saw at a distance a largish bird feeding on a bank of mud close to an embankment. Calculating as nearly as I could how many paces off it was, I cautiously crept along the other side of the embankment; and when I had reached what I supposed was the right spot, took off my hat and peeped over. Within a few yards of me was an unmistakable Redshank, pegging with his long beak into the mud, and aiding every blow with an impetus of his whole body. In my own mind I compared his movements with those of a Nuthatch, with which I was quite familiar, and, the surface of the mud being frozen hard, I imagined that the laborious effort on the part of the bird was necessitated by the hardness of the ground. Perhaps this may have been the case; but, whether or not, it is clear enough that the bird does, when occasion requires it, lend the weight of his body to the effort of his beak in searching for food. I should add that I did not know, at the time, that any similar occurrence had been recorded.
The food of the Redshank consists of worms, marine insects, and any other animal matter which abounds on the sea-shore. In small communities it builds its nest of a few blades of grass in the marshes, in a tuft of rushes or long grass, never among the shingle where that of the Ringed Plover is placed, but often under a shrub (popularly known on the coast of Norfolk by the name of ‘Rosemary’), the Suæda fruticosa, Shrubby Sea Blite, of botanists. It lays four eggs, which are considered delicate eating.
Bill strong, compressed at the base, slightly curved upwards. Winter—forehead, all the lower parts, and lower back, white; head, cheeks, neck and sides of the breast, streaked with ash-brown and white; rest of the upper feathers mottled with dusky and yellowish white; tail white, middle feathers barred with brown, outer white with a narrow dusky streak on the outer web; bill ash-brown; legs yellowish green, long and slender. Summer—feathers of the back edged with white, breast and adjacent parts white, with oval black spots; middle tail-feathers ash, barred with brown. Length fourteen inches. Eggs olive-brown, spotted all over with dusky.
An unusual colour and disproportionate length of leg are characters which sufficiently distinguish the Greenshank and account for its name. It is far less common than the Redshank, but seems to resemble it in many of its habits. It is sociably disposed towards birds of its own kind and allied species, but utterly averse to any familiarity with man, insomuch that fowlers rarely come within shot of it. It frequents low muddy or sandy shores and brackish pools, the oozy banks of lakes, ponds, and rivers, preferring such open situations as allow it a clear view of threatening danger while there is plenty of time to decamp. In the course of feeding it wades unconcernedly through pools of shallow water, and, if so minded, hesitates neither to swim nor to dive.
Its visits to England are paid most commonly in spring and autumn, while it is on its way to and from the northern climates in which it breeds. ‘In Scotland it is seen’, says Macgillivray, ‘in small flocks here and there along the sea-shore, by the margins of rivers, and in marshy places breeding there in the north, but it is nowhere common, and in most districts of very rare occurrence. By the beginning of summer it has disappeared from its winter haunts, and advanced northwards; individuals or pairs remaining here and there in the more northern parts of Scotland, while the rest extend their migration.’ The same author describes a nest, which he found in the island of Harris, as very like those of the Golden and Lapwing Plovers, with four eggs, intermediate in size between the eggs of these two birds. Another nest was also found by Selby, in Sutherlandshire. There can be therefore no doubt that the north of Scotland is within the extreme southern limit of its breeding-ground. During the winter it is to be seen in the west of Ireland only.
THE BAR-TAILED GODWIT
LIMÓSA LAPPONICA
Beak slightly curved upwards; middle claw short, without serratures. Winter-upper plumage variously mottled with grey, dusky, and reddish ash; lower part of the back white, with dusky spots; tail barred with reddish white and dusky; lower parts white. Summer—all the plumage deeply tinged with red. Young birds have the throat and breast brownish white, streaked with dusky, and a few dusky lines on the flanks. Length sixteen inches. Eggs unknown.
On the coast of Norfolk, where I made my first acquaintance with this bird in the fresh state, it is called a Half-Curlew. In like manner, a Wigeon is called a Half-Duck. In either case the reason for giving the name is, that the smaller bird possesses half the market value of the larger. It resembles the Curlew in its flight and the colour of its plumage; but differs in having its long beak slightly curved upwards, while that of the Curlew is strongly arched downwards; and it is far less wary, allowing itself to be approached so closely that it falls an easy prey to the fowler. It appears to be most frequently met with in spring and autumn, when it visits many parts of the coast in small flocks. In Norfolk it is met with from May, the twelfth of that month being called ‘Godwit day,’ by the gunners, although it is almost unknown up north at that season.
The specimens which were brought to me were shot in the very severe weather which ushered in the year 1861. These birds have nowhere been observed in England later than the beginning of summer, from which fact the inference is fairly drawn that they do not breed in this country. Their habits differ in no material respects from the other sea-side Waders, with whom they frequently mingle while feeding, not, seemingly, for the sake of good fellowship, but attracted by a motive common to all, that of picking up food wherever an abundance is to be met with. Their note is a loud, shrill cry, often uttered while on the wing. The female is much larger than the male.
This bird is sometimes called the Sea Woodcock. Its flesh is good eating, but is far inferior in flavour to that of the true Woodcock.
THE BLACK-TAILED GODWIT
LIMÓSA BELGICA
Beak nearly straight; middle claw long and serrated; upper parts ash-brown, the shafts of the feathers somewhat deeper; breast and adjacent parts greyish white; tail black, the base, and the tips of the two middle feathers, white; beak orange at the base, black at the point; feet dusky. Summer—much of the plumage tinged with red. Length seventeen and a half inches. Eggs deep olive, spotted with light brown.
This bird is, in outward appearance, mainly distinguished from the preceding by having two-thirds of the tail black, instead of being barred throughout with white and black. Like its congener, it is most frequently seen in autumn and spring, while on the way to and from its breeding-ground in the north; but it does not stay with us through winter, though occasionally a few pairs used to remain in the fen-countries to breed. It is by far the less common of the two, and seems to be getting annually more and more rare. Its habits, as far as they have been observed, approach those of the other Scolopacidæ. In its flight it resembles the Redshank. Its note is a wild screaming whistle, which it utters while on the wing. It builds its nest in swamps, among rushes and sedges, simply collecting a few grasses and roots into any convenient hole, and there it lays four eggs.
THE COMMON CURLEW
NUMENIUS ARQUATA
General plumage reddish ash, mottled with dusky spots; belly white, with longitudinal dusky spots; feathers of the back and scapulars black, bordered with rust-red; tail white, with dark brown transverse bars; upper mandible dusky; lower, flesh-colour; irides brown; feet bluish grey. Length varying from twenty-two to twenty-eight inches. Eggs olive-green, blotched and spotted with brown and dark green.
Dwellers by the sea-side—especially where the tide retires to a great distance leaving a wide expanse of muddy sand, or on the banks of a tidal river where the receding water lays bare extensive banks of soft ooze—are most probably quite familiar with the note of the Curlew, however ignorant they may be of the form or name of the bird from which it proceeds. A loud whistle of two syllables, which may be heard for more than a mile, bearing a not over-fanciful resemblance to the name of the bird, answered by a similar cry, mellowed by distance into a pleasant sound—wild, but in perfect harmony with the character of the scene—announces the fact that a party of Curlews have discovered that the ebb-tide is well advanced, and that their feeding-ground is uncovered. The stroller, if quietly disposed, may chance to get a sight of the birds themselves as they arrive in small flocks from the inland meadows; and though they will probably be too cautious to venture within an unsafe distance, they will most likely come quite close enough to be discriminated. Not the merest novice could mistake them for Gulls; for not only is their flight of a different character, but the bill, which is thick enough to be distinguished at a considerable distance, is disproportionately long, and is curved to a remarkable degree. Curlews are in the habit of selecting as their feeding-ground those portions of the shore which most abound in worms and small crustaceous animals; these they either pick up and, as it were, coax from the tip to the base of the beak, or, thrusting their long bills into the mud, draw out the worms, which they dispose of in like manner. When the sands or ooze are covered, they withdraw from the shore, and either retire to the adjoining marshes or pools, or pace about the meadows, picking up worms, snails, and insects. Hay-fields, before the grass is cut, are favourite resorts, especially in the North; and, in districts where there are meadows adjoining an estuary, they are in the habit of changing the one for the other at every ebb and flow of the tide. From the middle of autumn till the early spring Curlews are, for the most part, sea-side birds, frequenting, more or less, all the coast; but at the approach of the breeding season they repair inland, and resort to heaths, damp meadows, and barren hills. Here a shallow nest is made on the ground, composed of bents, rushes, and twigs of heath, loosely put together. The eggs, which are very large, are four in number. During the period of incubation the male keeps about the neighbourhood, but is scarcely less wary than at other seasons. The female, if disturbed, endeavours to lure away the intruder from her dwelling by the artifice, common in the tribe, of pretending to be disabled; and great anxiety is shown by both male and female if any one approaches the spot where the young lie concealed. The latter are able to run almost immediately after they are hatched, but some weeks elapse before they are fledged. It seems probable that an unusually long time elapses before they attain their full size, for the dimensions of different individuals vary to a remarkable degree. Eight or nine specimens were brought to me in Norfolk in the winter of 1861, and among them about half seemed full-grown; of the others some were so small that, at the first glance, I supposed them to be Whimbrels.
The Curlew is found on the sea-coast over the whole of Europe and Asia, and along the northern coast of Africa.
The flesh of this bird is said by some to be excellent eating. This, perhaps, may be the case with young birds shot early in autumn before they have been long subjected to a marine diet. My own experience of birds shot in winter does not confirm this opinion. I have found them eatable, but not palatable.
THE WHIMBREL
NUMENIUS PHÆOPUS
General plumage pale ash-colour, mottled with white and dusky spots; crown divided by a longitudinal streak of yellowish white; over each eye a broader brown streak; belly and abdomen white, with a few dusky spots on the flanks; feathers on the back, and scapulars deep brown, in the middle bordered by lighter brown; rump white; tail ash-brown, barred obliquely with dark brown; bill dusky, reddish at the base; irides brown; feet lead-colour. Length not exceeding seventeen inches. Eggs dark olive-brown, blotched with dusky.
Though by no means a rare bird, the Whimbrel is of far less common occurrence than the Curlew, and is seen only at two periods of the year, in May and August, when performing its migrations. It resembles the Curlew both in figure and habits, though much smaller in size; its note, too, is like the whistle of that bird, but somewhat higher. It is gregarious, but unsociable with other birds. The extreme southern limit at which the Whimbrel breeds is considered to be the Orkney and Shetland Islands. It is known to visit most of the countries of Europe and Asia in spring and autumn, but is nowhere very abundant.
FAMILY LARIDÆ
Sub-Family STERNINÆ
THE BLACK TERN
HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA
Bill black; feet purple-brown, the membrane short; head and neck black; upper parts lead-colour; under parts dark ash-grey; under tail-coverts white; tail not much forked, shorter than the wings; irides brown. In winter, the lore, throat and breast are white. Length ten and a quarter inches. Eggs dark olive-brown, blotched and spotted with black.
The Black Tern is a common bird in most temperate countries which abound in extensive marshes. In its habits it is scarcely less aquatic than the preceding species, but differs from them all in preferring fresh water to salt. It was formerly of frequent occurrence in England; but draining and reclaiming have, within the last few years, given over many of its haunts to the Partridge and Wood Pigeon; and it is now but rarely known to breed in this country.50 A few, however, are not unfrequently seen in spring and autumn, when on their way from and to their winter quarters, which are the warmer regions of the globe. In Norfolk its name still lingers as the ‘Blue Darr’, a corruption, probably, of Dorr-Hawk (another name of the Nightjar), a bird which it closely resembles in its mode of flight. Like the Dorr-Hawk, the Black Tern feeds on beetles and other insects, which it catches on the wing, but adds to its dietary small fresh-water fish, which it catches by dipping for them. While in pursuit of its winged prey, it does not confine itself to the water, but skims over the marsh and adjoining meadows, sometimes even alighting for an instant to pick up a worm. Black Terns are sociable birds among themselves, but do not consort with other species. They lay their eggs in the most inaccessible swamps, on masses of decayed reeds and flags, but little elevated above the level of the water. The nests are merely depressions in the lumps of vegetable substance, and usually contain three or sometimes four eggs. They are placed near enough to each other to form colonies; and the birds continue to flock together during their absence in warmer climates. Large flocks have been seen in the Atlantic, midway between Europe and America. In Holland and Hungary they are said by Temminck to be numerous. This author states that the Black Tern commonly lays its eggs on the leaves of the water-lily.
THE SANDWICH TERN
STERNA CANTIACA
Bill long, black, the tip yellowish; tarsus short (one inch); tail long; head and crest as in the last; nape, upper part of the back, and all the lower parts brilliant white, tinged on the breast with rose; back and wings pale ash-grey; quills deeper grey; tail white; feet black, yellowish beneath. Young birds—head mottled with black and white; back, wing-coverts, and tail-feathers varied with irregular lines of black; bill and feet dark brown. Length eighteen inches. Eggs greyish green, blotched with brown and black.
The Sandwich Tern, which takes its name from the place where it was first seen in England, is not uncommon on many parts of the coast during the summer months. In some places it seems to be abundant. A large colony inhabits the Farne Islands. They breed as far north as the Findhorn. Upon this coast it is called par excellence ‘The Tern’, all the other species passing under the general name of ‘Sea Swallows’. Its habits are so like those of the Common Tern, to be described hereafter, that, to avoid repetition, I purposely omit all account of its mode of fishing, and content myself with quoting, on the authority of Audubon and Meyer, incidents in its biography which I have not noticed in the Common Tern. The former author says: ‘Its cries are sharp, grating, and loud enough to be heard at the distance of half a mile. They are repeated at intervals while it is travelling, and kept up incessantly when one intrudes upon it in its breeding-ground, on which occasion it sails and dashes over your head, chiding you with angry notes, more disagreeable than pleasant to your ear.’ Meyer, writing of the same bird, says: ‘The Sandwich Tern is observed to be particularly fond of settling on sunken rocks where the waves run high, and the surf is heavy: this being a peculiar fancy belonging to this species, it is sometimes called by the name of Surf Tern.’
THE ROSEATE TERN
STERNA DOUGALLI
Bill black, red at the base; feet orange, claws small, black; tarsus three-quarters of an inch long; tail much forked, much longer than the wings; upper part of the head and nape black; rest of the upper plumage pale ash-grey; tail white, the outer feathers very long and pointed; cheeks and under plumage white, tinged on the breast and belly with rose. Length fifteen to seventeen inches. Eggs yellowish stone-colour, spotted and speckled with ash-grey and brown.
Of this Tern Dr. M’Dougall, its discoverer, says, ‘It is of light and very elegant figure, differing from the Common Tern in the size, length, colour, and curvature of the bill; in the comparative shortness of the wing in proportion to the tail, in the purity of the whiteness of the tail, and the peculiar conformation and extraordinary length of the lateral feathers. It also differs from that bird in the hazel-colour and size of the legs and feet.’
Roseate Terns have been discovered on several parts of the coast, principally in the north, as in the mouth of the Clyde, Lancashire and the Farne Islands. They associate with the Common Terns, but are far less numerous. Selby says, ‘the old birds are easily recognized amidst hundreds of the other species by their peculiar and buoyant flight, long tail, and note, which may be expressed by the word crake, uttered in a hoarse grating key.’ They rarely nest in Great Britain.
THE ARCTIC TERN
STERNA MACRURA
Bill slender, red throughout; under plumage ash-grey; tail much forked, longer than the wings; legs orange-red, in other respects very like the last. Length fifteen inches. Eggs as in the last.
This bird, as its name indicates, frequents high northern latitudes, to which, however, it is not confined; since in the Orkneys and Hebrides it is the common species. It breeds also on the coast of some of the northern English counties, but not farther south than the Humber, though several instances are recorded of large flocks making their appearance in different places at the season when they were probably on their way from their winter quarters—far away to the south—to their breeding-ground. In the rocky islands, which they frequent from May to September, they form colonies and lay their eggs, generally apart from the allied species. The eggs closely resemble those of the Common Tern, but are somewhat smaller. In its habits and general appearance the Arctic Tern comes so close to the last-named species, that the birds, even when flying together, can only be distinguished by the most practised eye.
Bill moderate, red with a black tip; head and long feathers on the back of the head black; upper parts bluish ash; quills ash-grey, brown at the tips; tail much forked, not longer than the wings, white, the two outer feathers on each side dusky on the outer webs; under parts white, tinged with grey on the breast; irides reddish brown; feet coral-red. Young birds have a good deal of white about the head, and the feathers on the back are tipped with white; tail ash-grey, whitish at the tip. Length fourteen inches. Eggs olive-brown, blotched and spotted with ash and dusky.
On those parts of the coast where the Common Tern is abundant, no sea-bird is more likely to attract the notice of the visitor than the Common Tern. It is less in size than any of the common species of Gull, with which, however, it is often confounded by the unobservant. It is more lively and active in its motions, not ordinarily flying in circles, but, if I may use the expression, ‘rambling’ through the air, frequently diverging to the right or left, and raising or depressing itself at frequent intervals. These characters alone are sufficient to distinguish the Tern from any of the Gulls; but it presents yet more striking features. Its tail is elongated and forked like that of the Swallow, and from this character rather than from its flight it is commonly known as the Sea Swallow. Its mode of taking its prey is totally different from that of the Gulls. Very frequently a single Tern may be observed pursuing its course in a line with the breakers on a sandy shore at the distance perhaps of from fifty to a hundred yards from the beach. Its beak is pointed downwards, and the bird is evidently on the look-out for prey. Suddenly it descends perpendicularly into the water, making a perceptible splash, but scarcely disappearing. In an instant it has recovered the use of its wings and ascends again, swallowing some small fish meanwhile if it has been successful, but in any case continuing its course as before. I do not recollect ever to have seen a Tern sit on the water to devour its prey when fishing among the breakers. Often, too, as one is walking along the shore, or sailing in a boat, when the sea is calm, a cruising party of Terns comes in sight. Their flight now is less direct than in the instance just mentioned, as they ‘beat’ the fishing-ground after the fashion of spaniels, still, however, making way ahead. Suddenly one of the party arrests its flight, hovers for a few seconds like a Hawk, and descends as if shot, making a splash as before. If unsuccessful it rises at once, but if it has captured the object on which it swooped, it remains floating on the water until it has relieved itself of its incumbrance by the summary process of swallowing it. I do not know a prettier sight than a party of Terns thus occupied. They are by no means shy, frequently flying quite over the boat, and uttering from time to time a short scream, which, though not melodious, is more in keeping with the scene than a mellow song would be.
In rough weather they repair to sheltered bays, ascend estuaries, or follow the course of a river until they have advanced far inland. They are harbingers of summer quite as much as the Swallow itself, coming to us in May and leaving in September for some warmer coast. They usually breed on flat shores, laying two or three eggs on the ground, in marshes, or on sandy shingle. The eggs in my collection were procured on the coast of Norfolk, but I have seen the birds themselves in the greatest numbers in Belfast Lough and in Loch Crinan. They have bred as far north as Sutherland.
THE LITTLE (OR LESSER) TERN
STERNA MINUTA
Bill orange, with a black tip; feet orange; forehead, and a streak above the eye, white; crown black; upper parts pearl-grey; under, white; tail much forked, shorter than the wings. Young birds have the head brownish, with darker streaks; upper plumage yellowish white and dusky; bill pale yellow, with a dark tip; legs dull yellow. Length eight and a half inches. Eggs stone-colour, spotted and speckled with grey and brown.
On the sandy and marshy shores of Norfolk, the Lesser Tern is a bird of common occurrence in summer, either single, or in small parties of three or four. Not unfrequently, as the sea-side visitor is sauntering about on the sands, one of these birds seems to take offence at its dominion being invaded. With repeated harsh cries it flies round and round the intruder, coming quite close enough to allow its black head and yellow beak to be distinguished. Its flight is swift, something like that of a Swallow, but more laboured, and not so rapid. If fired at, it takes little notice of the noise; and, knowing nothing of the danger, continues its screams51 and circling till its pertinacity becomes annoying. When feeding it presents a far pleasanter appearance. Then, altogether heedless of intrusion, it skims along the surface of the drains in the marshes, profiting by its length of wing and facility of wheeling, to capture flying insects. At least, if this be not its object, I can in no other way account for the peculiar character of its flight. At other times, either alone or in company with a few other individuals of the same species, it is seen flying slowly along, some fifteen or twenty feet above the surface of a shallow tidal pool, or pond, in a salt marsh. Suddenly it arrests its onward progress, soars like a Kestrel for a second or two, with its beak pointed downwards. It has descried a shrimp, or small fish, and this is its way of taking aim. Employing the mechanism with which its Creator has provided it, it throws out of gear its apparatus of feathers and air-tubes, and falls like a plummet into the water, with a splash which sends circle after circle to the shore; and, in an instant, having captured and swallowed its petty booty, returns to its aërial watch-post. A social little party of three or four birds, who have thus taken possession of a pond, will remain fishing as long as the tide is high enough to keep it full. They take little notice of passengers; and if startled by the report of a gun, remove to a short distance only, and there resume their occupation. Sometimes they may be seen floating about in the open sea, resting their wings, perhaps, after a long flight, or simply idling, certainly not fishing; for although they plunge from a height, with great ease and elegance, diving proper is not one of their accomplishments.
To the stranger who visits the coast of Norfolk, the Lesser Tern will, perhaps, be pointed out under the name of ‘Sea Swallow’, or, more probably, as a ‘Shrimp Catcher’. Either of these names is appropriate. Its mode of progress through the air is more like a Swallow’s than that of the Common Tern, and in size it does not so very much exceed the Swift as to make the comparison outrageous. A shrimp it can undoubtedly catch; and it exercises its vocation in shallow water, such as shrimps alone inhabit or small fish no larger than shrimps.
Like the other Terns it is migratory, repairing year after year to low flat shores on various parts of the coast, arriving in May, and departing in September for some climate subject to no cold severe enough to banish small marine animals to deep water. The Lesser Tern makes no nest, but lays its eggs, generally two, among the shingle.
Sub-Family LARINÆ
THE LITTLE GULL
LARUS MINUTUS
Summer—head and neck black; lower part of the neck, tail, all the under plumage, white; upper plumage pale ash-grey; primaries white at the end; bill reddish brown; irides dark; legs vermilion. Winter—forehead, front and sides of the neck white; nape and cheeks white, streaked with greyish black. Length eleven inches.
This, the smallest of the Gulls, comes sometimes in numbers to the British coast. It is said to be remarkably active and graceful in its movements through the air, and to associate with Terns. Its food consists of marine insects and small fish. Its breeding-place and eggs are unknown. As a rule it leaves us in September or early in October.
THE BROWN-HEADED GULL
LARUS RIDIBUNDUS
Summer—head and upper part of the neck deep brown; lower part of the neck and all the under plumage white, slightly tinged with rose; upper plumage bluish ash; primaries white, edged with ash, and broadly tipped with black; irides brown; bill and feet red, with a purple tinge. In winter the head and neck are white; bill and feet bright vermilion. In young birds the hood is pale brown; the upper plumage dark brown, mottled at the edges of the feathers with yellowish; bill livid at the base, the tip black; feet yellowish. Length seventeen inches. Eggs olive, spotted with brown and dusky.
Black-headed, Blackcap, Brown-headed, Red-legged, and Pewit, are all common distinctive names of this Gull, to which may be added that of Laughing Gull. The latter name is, indeed, often given to the next species, a rare bird, and might with equal propriety be applied to several other species, whose harsh cry resembles a laugh. The systematic name, ridibundus, which has the same meaning, is by general consent confined to this. The reader, therefore, must bear in mind that though the term ridibundus will bear no translation but ‘laughing’, the name of the Laughing Gull is Larus atricapilla, which can mean only ‘Black-headed Gull’; a paradoxical statement, perhaps, but one which it is necessary to make, or the young student will probably fall into error.
Brown-headed Gull is the most appropriate of all the above names, at least in summer, for at this period both male and female are best distinguished by the deep brown colour of the head and upper part of the neck.
This is one of the most frequent of the Gulls, to be sought for in the breeding season not on the rocky shore among cliffs, but on low flat salt marshes on the coast and in fresh-water marshes far inland. Early in spring large numbers of Brown-headed Gulls repair to their traditional breeding-grounds and wander over the adjoining country in search of food, which consists of worms and grubs. From the assiduity with which they resort to arable land and follow the plough, they have been called Sea Crows. In April and May they make their simple preparations for laying their eggs by trampling down the broken tops of reeds and sedges, and so forming a slight concavity. The number of eggs in each nest is generally three, and as a large number of birds often resort to the same spot, the collecting of these eggs becomes an occupation of importance. By some persons they are considered a delicacy, and, with the eggs of the Redshank, are substituted for Plovers’ eggs; but to a fastidious palate they are not acceptable, and far inferior to an egg from the poultry yard. Willughby describes a colony of Blackcaps on a small island in a marsh or fish pond, in the county of Stafford, distant at least thirty miles from the sea. He says that when the young birds had attained their full size, it was the custom to drive them from the island into nets disposed along the shore of the lake. The captured birds were fattened on meat and garbage, and sold for about fourpence or fivepence each (a goodly price in those days, 1676). The average number captured every year was 1200, returning to the proprietor an income of about £15. In The Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds, it is stated that precisely the same sum is paid for the privilege of collecting the eggs from Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk. Towards the end of July, when the young are fully fledged, all the birds, old and young, repair to the sea, and scatter themselves in small flocks to all parts of the coast, preferring a low sandy shore, or the mouth of a tidal river, as the Thames and the Clyde, where they are of common occurrence. They also accompany shoals of herrings and other small fish, often congregating with other species in countless numbers.
Before winter the distinctive character afforded by the brown plumage of the head and neck has entirely disappeared. These parts are now of a pure white, and the red legs afford the best distinguishing feature. Persons residing on the coast, who are familiarly acquainted with the habits of the bird, but are unaware of the periodical change in its colour, consider the two forms of the bird as distinct species. Thus I have received from a marsh on the coast of Norfolk the eggs of the ‘Black-Headed Gull’, and have had the same bird pointed out to me in winter as the ‘Red-legged Pigeon-Mow’ (Mew). One flock of about thirty thus pointed out to me presented a very pretty sight. They had detected either a shoal of small fishes, or a collection of dead animal matter floating among the breakers, and were feeding with singular activity.
THE COMMON GULL
LARUS CÁNUS
In spring the head and neck of this species are white and the mantle is a pale grey, a little darker in summer, the head, tail and under parts white; primaries comparatively long, and the three outer pairs dull black on the lower portions, with large white ‘mirrors’ near the tips in mature birds—in the rest the predominant tone is a pale grey, the black only forming a bar, and all but the first primary broadly tipped with white; bill a rich yellow towards the point; legs and feet greenish yellow in summer, darker in winter. In winter the head and neck are streaked and spotted with ash-brown. Length eighteen inches.
This is a species resident in Great Britain, but it is not known to breed south of the Solway. It nests, however, in the west of Ireland; grassy sides and islands of lochs or slopes that face the sea, not far often above high-water, are its favourite resorts, where it breeds in colonies, the nest of sea-weeds, heather and dry grass being fairly large. In it will be, as a rule, three eggs, an olive-brown, spotted and streaked with a blackish tone; but pale blue, light green and straw-coloured varieties are found often. This Gull is the first to seek the shore on the approach of ‘coarse’ weather; and it may often be studied in the fields as it picks up grubs among the furrows in the company of Rooks, or by the town-tied Cockney, from his own standpoint of Westminster Bridge.
The ‘Blue Maa’, as this species is called in the north, breeds in abundance on the Scottish coasts as well as the moors of the fresh-water lochs, including the Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands. The Black-Headed Gull is generally the Common Gull of the peasantry in Ireland, but the underside of the wing in the young of the Common Gull is mottled with brown, whereas it is greyish-white in the Black-Headed species.
Gulls are, moreover, of material service, for they perform for the surface of the sea the same office which crustaceous animals do for its depths. Most of their time is spent in either flying or swimming about (they are no divers) in quest of food, which is of that nature that, if suffered to accumulate, more than one of our senses would be offended. All animal matter which, when life is extinct, rises to the surface, it is their especial province to clear away. To perform this necessary work, they have need of a quick eye and a voracious appetite. That they have the former in an eminent degree, any one may convince himself who, when taking a sea voyage, sees the vessel followed, as he often will, by a flock of Gulls. Let him fling overboard, into the foaming track of the ship, where his own eye can distinguish nothing, ever so small a portion of bread or other kind of food. That some one individual at least among the flock will have seen it fall and be able to descry it is certain; now, probably, a general scramble will ensue, and the prize will be secured by the swiftest. Having tried this several times with the same result, let him throw over, instead of meat or bread, a bit of wood. Not a bird will come near even to examine it. I have often tried this experiment, and have met with but one result. To prove that the Gull is capable of consuming a large quantity of food, as well as quick-sighted, a single anecdote will suffice:—“A man who was shooting on the banks of the river Yare, seeing something, which had the appearance of an eel half-swallowed, hanging from the mouth of a Gull which was flying overhead, fired at the bird, and on taking it up, found, not an eel, but—five tallow candles attached to a piece of thread, to the other end of which was fastened a sixth, the latter having been almost entirely swallowed. The candles were about twelve inches in length, with cotton wicks, such as are used on board the fishing boats, from the deck of which he had probably taken them”. The Gull, then, is not choice in its diet; it is, in fact, omnivorous. It skims the deep for dead animal matter, follows the ship for offal thrown overboard, paces the shore in quest of molluscs and marine insects, flies inland in stormy weather (a specimen was once brought me which had been shot in Hertfordshire, twenty miles from the nearest navigable river) in winter and spring, and follows the plough along with Rooks and Jackdaws, alights on fields which have been manured with decomposed fish, resorts to marshes for frogs and worms, and after an inundation repairs to the lately submersed ground, and picks up the small quadrupeds which have been drowned. It usually flies at no great elevation above the water, but when repairing inland and returning it frequently rises to a very great height.
THE HERRING GULL
LARUS ARGENTÁTUS
Head and neck white, streaked in summer with light brown; tail and lower parts white; back and wings bluish ash; primaries dusky, passing into black, the shafts black and extremities white; secondaries edged and tipped with white; bill, orbits, and irides, yellow; feet flesh-colour. In young birds the white is mostly replaced by dark grey, mottled with brown; wings and tail brown, the latter reddish yellow towards the end; bill dusky; irides, orbits, and feet, brown. Length twenty-three inches. Eggs olive-brown, spotted with dark brown and dusky.
If, among a flock of Common Gulls, seen either following a vessel at sea or attending on the movements of a shoal of fish, one be observed which greatly surpasses the rest in size, it will probably be this species, provided that it have a grey and not a black back. In the latter case it may either be the Great or Lesser Black-Backed Gull.
The Herring Gull is a large and powerful bird, thoroughly competent to dispose of a herring or even a more bulky fish. It is common on most parts of the British coast, and remains with us all the year, building its nest on steep cliffs, or rocky islands. In the south of England it is very abundant, and is more frequently seen inland, in newly-ploughed fields, than any other species. Like the other Gulls, it may easily be tamed if taken young; and, when kept in a garden, earns its maintenance by keeping down slugs and other vermin.
THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
LARUS FUSCUS
Wings reaching two inches beyond the tail; head and neck white, streaked (in winter) with brown; lower parts pure white; rest of the upper plumage blackish grey; primaries black, the first two with an oval white spot near the tip; secondaries and scapulars tipped with white; bill, irides, and feet, yellow; tarsus two and a quarter inches long; orbits red. In young birds the white plumage is mostly replaced by grey mottled with brown, and the black by dusky edged with yellowish; the primaries have no white spots, and the bill is dusky. Length twenty-three inches. Eggs brownish grey, spotted with brown and black.
This is a generally diffused species, occurring in considerable numbers, not only on various parts of our coast, but in the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the northern parts of America. It repairs in spring either to rocky islands, steep cliffs, or sometimes to inland lakes, where it builds a rather large nest of tufts of grass, and lays two or three eggs. When the young are hatched it is very impatient of having its stronghold invaded, and resents molestation by darting at the head of the intruder. The Lesser Black-Backed Gull breeds habitually on many parts of the coast, especially such as are frequented by the Herring Gull. Its food and habits are much the same as those of the Common Gull. In the South of England, the nesting-places are confined to Devon and Cornwall, but there are colonies on the Farne Islands, the Isle of Man and Wales.
THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL
LARUS MARÍNUS
Wings extending but little beyond the tail; legs pale flesh-colour. Length thirty inches; breadth about five feet nine inches. In most other respects resembling the Lesser Black-Backed Gull. Eggs stone-buff, blotched and spotted with dusky brown.
Of the two Black-Backed Gulls, the Greater, or ‘Cobb’, is by far the less frequent on our coasts, and when seen generally occurs in pairs. It remains with us all the year, but is most frequent in the south during winter. In spring, Great Black-Backed Gulls for the most part withdraw to cliffs and rocky islands far north, as, for instance, the Orkneys and Hebrides, where they are numerous, a few only nesting southwards. Unlike most other Gulls, birds of this species are unsociable even in the breeding season. They build their nests on the most inaccessible parts of the rocks, and reserve the situation entirely to themselves, not even permitting birds of their own species or any other intruders to settle there. They are exceedingly wary, and give notice of the approach of danger to other animals. Consequently, they are held in dislike by the gunner, whether in pursuit of sea-birds or seals. Like the rest of the Gulls, they are omnivorous, but are, more than any others, addicted to carrion, in quest of which they often wander inland; hence, they are sometimes called Carrion Gulls. ‘If a floating prize presents itself’, says Mr. St. John, ‘such as the remains of a large fish or dead bird, it is soon discovered by one of the large Gulls, who is not, however, allowed to enjoy his prize alone, for every one of his fellows within sight joins in tearing it to pieces. When I have winged a Duck, and it has escaped and gone out to sea, I have frequently seen it attacked, and devoured almost alive, by these birds.’
Stations occur here and there on the coast of England in which the Great Black-Backed Gull builds. It sometimes resorts to a marsh at the breeding season, but retains its habit of driving away all intruders. Its eggs are prized as dainties, being thought to resemble Plovers’ eggs.
GLAUCOUS GULL, OR BURGOMASTER
LARUS GLAUCUS
General plumage white; back and wings bluish grey; tail and terminal portion of the quills white; bill strong, yellow; legs livid flesh-colour. Young mottled with white, grey, and light brown; shafts of the quills white; in other respects like the last, but the bill is longer and stouter. Length about twenty-nine inches; breadth five feet two inches. Eggs as in the last, but of a greener hue.
The Glaucous Gull, a large, handsome, and powerful bird, resembles in many of its habits the species last described, but it has not been known to breed in even the most northerly of the British Isles. It pays occasional visits to our shores in winter. A few specimens only have been shot in the southern portion of the island, and no large number in Scotland; but in the neighbourhood of the whale fishery it is common enough. It is very voracious, and not only eats fish, whether dead or alive, and shares with the whale-fisher in his booty, but pursues other sea-fowl, compels them to disgorge their prey, robs them of their eggs, and, if they resist, kills and devours them.52 In short, it is the very tyrant of the Arctic Ocean. Its predatory habits were noticed by the early navigators in these waters, who gave it the name of Burgomaster; but as no accurate description of the bird was brought home, and as some of our other large Gulls are open to a charge of similar rapacity, the name was naturally transferred by Willughby to another species, which he calls the Wagel (probably the Great Black-Backed Gull in immature plumage). This was in 1676. A hundred years later Brunnich gave it the name of Glaucous Gull; but it is still called Burgomaster by the Dutch, and by Arctic voyagers generally.
Mr. St. John gives the name of Wagel to the Great Grey Gull.
THE KITTIWAKE GULL
RISSA TRIDACTYLA
Hind toe represented by a small knob without a claw. Summer plumage—head and neck pale bluish ash, a few fine dusky streaks before the eyes; forehead, region of the eyes, and all the under parts, pure white; upper plumage bluish ash; first primary with the outer web black, four first tipped with black, two or three of them ending in a small white spot, fifth having the tip white bordered with black; bill greenish yellow; orbits red; irides brown; feet dark olive-brown. In winter, the whole of the head and neck is white. Young birds have the head white, mottled with grey and dusky; upper feathers tipped with brown; bend and upper edge of the wing black; primaries black; tail black, towards the end tipped with white; bill, orbits, and irides, black; feet pale brown. Length fifteen and a half inches. Eggs stone-colour, spotted with grey and two shades of brown.
The Kittiwake Gull takes its name from the cry with which in the breeding season it assails any intruder on its domain. It is a beautiful bird, especially in its variegated immature plumage, remarkable for its delicacy of colouring and the easy grace of its flight, frequenting high cliffs in summer, while engaged in the duties of incubation, and at all other times preferring the open sea to estuaries, and feeding on such small fish as swim near the surface. It is very abundant in the Arctic regions of both hemispheres during summer, and extends its southern limits so far as to include the British Isles, but is most numerous in the north. Its nest, built of sea-weed or bents, is placed high up in the face of a precipitous cliff, generally on a narrow ledge, and in close proximity with others belonging to birds of the same species. It contains three eggs, and the young birds remain in their airy nest until fully fledged, when, as well as their parents, they disperse over the neighbouring seas, rarely venturing either to perch on land or fly over it. The young of the Kittiwake, previous to its first moult, is sometimes called the Tarrock. Colonel Irby says that the Kittiwake is a partially resident species. Marked birds have been known to follow vessels across the North Atlantic.
Sub-Family STERCORARIINÆ (Robber Gulls)
THE GREAT SKUA
STERCORARIUS CATARRHÁCTES
Upper plumage brown, of several shades; shafts of the quills, basal half of the primaries, and shafts of the tail-feathers, white; under, reddish grey, tinged with brown; two central tail-feathers but slightly elongated, not tapering; tarsus two and a half inches long, somewhat rough at the back. Length twenty-five inches. Eggs olive-brown, blotched with brown.
The Skuas, called also Skua Gulls, are sufficiently distinguished from the true Gulls by their strong hooked bills and talons, and by the habits of daring and voracity founded on these characters. The present species, though called common, is only to be so considered in high latitudes; for it is very rarely seen on the coasts of England, and has become scarce even in the Shetland Islands, where it was at one time frequent. Mr. Dunn53 says: “I never saw this bird in Orkney, and there are only three places in Shetland where it breeds—viz. Foula, Rona’s Hill, and the Isle of Mist; in the latter place it is by no means numerous, and is strictly preserved by the landlords, on whose property it may have settled, from a superstition that it will defend their flocks from the attacks of the Eagle. That it will attack the Eagle if he approaches their nests is a fact I have witnessed: I once saw a pair completely beat off a large Eagle from their breeding-place, on Rona’s Hill. The flight of the Skua is stronger and more rapid than that of any other Gull. It is a great favourite with the fishermen, frequently accompanying their boats to the fishing-ground, or Haaf, which they consider a lucky omen; and in return for its attendance, they give it the refuse of the fish which are caught. The Skua Gull does not associate in groups; and it is seldom that more than a pair are seen together. During the breeding season it is highly courageous; and will strike furiously at, and will even pursue, any one who may happen to approach its nest, which is constructed among the heath or moss; the female laying two eggs.”
Some authors state that the Common Skua obtains its livelihood by levying contributions on the White Gulls, compelling them to disgorge their prey, and catching it before it reaches the water; but Dr. Edmonston, who had great opportunities of watching the habits of these birds, says that they do not adopt the practises correctly attributed to the Arctic Gull, or Richardson’s Skua. The voice of the Common Skua is said to resemble that of a young Gull, being sharp and shrill; and it is from the resemblance of its cry to that of the word Skua, or Skui, that it obtains its popular name. That it is remarkably courageous and daring, all accounts agree. Mr. Low says that, when the inhabitants are looking after their sheep on the hills, the Skua often attacks them in such a manner that they are obliged to defend themselves with their cudgels held above their heads, on which it often kills itself; and Captain Vetch, In the Memoirs of the Wernerian Society, says that it not only drives away Ravens and Eagles, but that the larger quadrupeds, such as horses and sheep, which venture near its nest, are immediately put to flight. Its northern name is Bonxie.
TWIST-TAILED OR POMATORHINE SKUA
STERCORARIUS POMATORHINUS
Upper plumage uniform dark brown; feathers of the nape long, tapering lustrous; sides of the face and under plumage white; a collar of brown spots on the breast, and similar spots on the flanks; shafts of the quills and tail-feathers white, except at the tip; two central tail-feathers projecting three inches, not tapering; tarsus two inches long, rough at the back, with projecting scales. Length twenty-one inches. Young birds—upper plumage dusky brown, mottled with reddish yellow; under, yellowish white, thickly set with brown spots and bars. Eggs ash-green, spotted with dusky.
The habits of this bird vary but little from those of the other species. Its home is in the Arctic seas, from which it strays southwards in winter, and has been occasionally seen on our coasts. The following account of the capture of one of these birds, in 1844, indicates a bird of unusual daring and voracity: “About the beginning of last October, a Pomarine Skua was taken in the adjoining village of Ovingdean. It had struck down a White Gull, which it would not quit: it was kept alive above a fortnight, and then died. The very first day of its captivity it (is said to have) devoured twenty-five Sparrows. Once it escaped, and immediately attacked a Duck, which it held till recaptured.”54
RICHARDSON’S SKUA
STERCORARIUS CREPIDATUS
Crown dusky; cheeks, neck, and under plumage white, tinged with yellow or brown; rest of the plumage dusky, the wings and tail the darkest. Two central tail-feathers tapering from the base, pointed, and projecting six inches; tarsus less than two inches. Length twenty-one inches. Eggs olive, with a circle of brown spots near the larger extremity, the rest speckled with the same colour.
This species of Skua, most familiarly known, perhaps, as the Arctic Gull, received its distinctive name, ‘Richardson’s’, in honour of the eminent Arctic naturalist. It is distinguished from the species already described by its longer tail, but the habits of all are much alike; indeed, the names of ‘Arctic Gull’, ‘Boatswain’, ‘and Man-of-War’, appear to be sometimes employed indiscriminately. Richardson’s Skua, like the rest, inhabits the Arctic seas, but extends its wanderings southwards in far greater numbers than either of the other species, so that its occurrence on the east coast of England is not unusual. According to Mr. Dunn, ‘numbers of this bird breed in Orkney and Shetland, appearing regularly in May and leaving in August: it is confined to a few situations and is strictly preserved, from the same motive as the Skua Gull. It constructs its nest on low, not mossy, heaths in exposed situations. The female lays two eggs, and has recourse to the same stratagems that the Plover employs to decoy you from the nest; but when a person approaches near to the place where the nest is built, becomes bold and fierce, and strikes severely with the feet and bill.’ The following account is taken from Mr. St. John’s Wild Sports of the Highlands: “I was much amused the other day by the proceedings of a pair of the Black-toed Gull or Boatswain. These two birds were sitting quietly on an elevated ridge of sand, near which a number of other Gulls of different kinds were fishing, and hovering about in search of what the waves might cast up. Every bird, indeed, was busy and employed, excepting these two black robbers, who seemed to be quietly resting, quite unconcerned. When, however, a Gull had picked up a prize, these birds seemed instinctively to know it, and darting off with the rapidity of a Hawk (which bird they much resemble in their manner of flight), they attacked the unfortunate Gull in the air, and in spite of his screams and attempts to escape, they pursued and beat him till he disgorged the fish or whatever he had swallowed, when one of them darted down and caught the substance before it could reach the water. The two then quietly returned to their sandbank, where they waited patiently to renew the robbery, should an opportunity occur. As the flock of Gulls moved on with the flow of the tide, the Boatswains moved on also, hovering on their flank like a pair of plundering freebooters. I observed that, in chasing a Gull, they seemed perfectly to understand each other as to who should get the spoil; and in their attacks on the largest Gulls (against whom they waged the most fearless warfare), they evidently acted so as to aid each other. If another pair of Boatswains intruded on their hunting-ground they immediately seemed to send them further off; not so much by actual battle, as by a noisy and screaming argument, which they continued most vigorously till the new-comers left the neighbourhood.
“I never saw these birds hunt for their own living in any other way than by robbing the other Gulls. Though not nearly so large as some of the birds which they attack, their Hawk-like swoops and great courage seem to enable them to fight their way most successfully. They are neatly and powerfully made, their colour a kind of sooty dull black, with very little gloss or shining tints on their feathers.”
FAMILY ALCIDÆ
THE RAZOR-BILL
ALCA TORDA
Wings reaching to the origin of the tail; head and upper parts black; a band across the wing; an interrupted line from the eye to the base of the bill, and all the under parts white; bill black, with three or four furrows, of which the middle one is white; irides hazel; legs dusky. In summer the line from the eye to the bill is pure white, and the whole of the throat and neck is black, tinged with red. Length seventeen inches. Eggs white, blotched and spotted with two shades of brown.
In general habits, the Razor-bill closely resembles the Guillemot and Puffin. Indeed, in some parts of the coast, the Razor-bill is called a Puffin, and the latter a Sea Parrot; and in Cornwall both Guillemots and Razor-bills are known by the common name of Murre. At a distance the birds can only be distinguished by a practised eye; but on a close inspection they cannot be possibly confounded.
Razor-bills are common on many parts of our coast during the later summer months. They are more frequently seen swimming than flying, and if pursued by a boat are little disposed to take alarm until they are approached to within twenty or thirty yards, when they dive, but soon reappear not very far off. If two birds be in company and one be killed by a shot from a gun, its companion, instead of taking measures to insure its own safety, seems to lose the power of self-preservation. It paddles round its companion as if unable to comprehend the reason why it neither dives nor flies, and if pursued suffers itself to be overtaken and knocked down by an oar. This sympathetic feeling is not confined to birds which have paired, or to members of the same family; for in an instance which came under my own notice, both birds were only a few months old, and, as the Razor-bill lays but one egg, the birds could not possibly have grown up together. Towards winter, Razor-bills migrate southwards, either to avoid cold or to find waters where their prey swims nearer to the surface than in our climate. In spring they return northwards, and repair, like Puffins, to places of habitual resort for the purpose of breeding. At this season, also, they are eminently social, laying each an egg in close proximity on a ledge in the rocks, lower down than the Puffins, but above the Guillemots, all of which birds flock to the same portion of coast, often in countless multitudes. The egg differs from that of the Guillemot not only in colour but in shape, being less decidedly pear-shaped. It is much sought after as an article of food, and is said to be very palatable.
The ‘Auk’ of Arctic voyagers is this bird. The Razor-bill is one of the best known of the Auk family, or Alcidæ, although less plentiful than the Guillemot or the Puffin.
THE COMMON GUILLEMOT
ÚRIA TRÓILE
Bill much compressed, longer than the head, greyish black; upper plumage brownish black; the secondaries tipped with white; a whitish patch behind the eye on each side; under plumage white; feet dusky; iris brown. Length nearly eighteen inches. Eggs greenish or bluish, blotched and streaked with black.
This is one of our common sea-birds during a great portion of the year, though little known to ordinary sea-side visitors, owing to its habit of keeping well out to sea and having nothing ostentatious in its habits. Yet, during a cruise in a yacht, on almost any part of the coast, a practised eye will often discover a few stragglers, distinguished among other sea-birds by their black and white colours, short neck, and sharp beak. They swim low in the water; and when disturbed do not invariably dive like the Grebes and Divers, but readily take wing. They are essentially marine birds, never resorting to fresh water, and living exclusively on fish, which they capture by diving, an art in which they are scarcely less skilful than the true Divers, and which they practise in the same way—by the means, namely, of both wings and feet. Occasionally, a small party may be observed, flying in single file near the surface of the water. On the eastern coast of England, the Guillemot is best known by the name of Willock. It is also called Tinker’s Hue, or, as Yarrell gives it, ‘Tinkershere’; and in the west of England it is often called a Murr. The old writers describe it under the name of Greenland Dove, or Sea Turtle-Dove; and in Scotland it has a variety of other names. Tinker’s Hue is, I presume, the sobriquet of a white bird with a smutty back; Murr is clearly a corruption of Mergus, or ‘diver’. Yet more commonly it is known as the ‘Foolish Guillemot’, a term of reproach analogous to that of ‘Booby’, given to it from the indifference which it evinces, in the breeding season, to one of its few, but that one the most formidable of its enemies, man. Early in spring Guillemots throng together from all parts of the open sea, and repair to some lofty cliff, where, on a narrow ledge of rock, which in their folly they deem inaccessible, they lay each a single egg. As the bird holds the egg between her legs, she could not well cover more than one; and though a concave nest is very needful to keep eggs together when there are several, no such contrivance is necessary when there is one only; so the Foolish Guillemot builds no nest, but lays a solitary egg on the bare rock. The egg, which is large, is thick-shelled and rough, so that it receives no detriment from the rock; and it is not likely to roll off, for at one end it is thick, and at the other tapers almost to a point; consequently, if accidentally moved by the parent bird when taking flight, it turns as if on a pivot, but does not fall off. At this season, the cliffs to which Guillemots resort are frequented also by myriads of other sea-birds, such as Razor-bills, Puffins, and Gulls, each congregating with its own species, but never consorting with another. In Iceland, the Faroe Islands, St. Kilda, the Orkneys, and many parts of the coast of Scotland, the breeding season of these birds is the harvest-time of the natives. Either by climbing from below, or by being let down with ropes from above, the egg-collectors invade the dominions of these literally feathered ‘tribes’. The Foolish Guillemots, rather than leave their charge, suffer themselves to be knocked on the head, to be netted, or noosed. Although stationed so close to each other that a Foolish Guillemot alone could know its own egg, they learn no wisdom from the fate of their nearest neighbours. They are captured in detail for the sake of their feathers; and their eggs are taken for food. In St. Kilda and, perhaps, elsewhere, young birds are also taken in large numbers, and salted for consumption in winter. Such as escape this systematic slaughter flounder, as well as they are able, into the sea when nearly fledged, or are carried thither by their foolish mothers. There they learn to swim, to dive, and to fish, and about the middle of August old and young disperse.
Huge baskets of their eggs are sometimes brought to the markets of seaport towns (I have seen them so far south as Devonport), and sold for a price exceeding that of domestic fowls, for they are much larger, and are said to afford good eating. Wilson, in his Voyage round the Coasts of Scotland, says that the natives of St. Kilda prefer the eggs of these, and other sea-fowl, ‘when sour; that is, when about ten or twelve days old, and just as the incipient bird, when boiled, forms in the centre into a thickish flaky matter, like milk.’55 Great quantities are used in the neighbourhood of Flamborough Head early in the nesting season.
THE BLACK GUILLEMOT
ÚRIA GRYLLE
Upper plumage black; middle of the wings and under parts white; iris brown; feet red. Length thirteen and a half inches. Eggs whitish grey, blotched and speckled with grey and two shades of brown.
The Black Guillemot, is a resident species breeding on the Isle of Man, and on the Irish coasts. In Scotland it is common. Its mode of life, as described by Macgillivray, who was familiarly acquainted with it, differs in no material respect from that of the species already described. It is, however, much smaller, and lays two or sometimes three eggs. Macgillivray says that, on those parts of the coast which it frequents, attempts are often made to rear it in captivity; but always unsuccessfully. In summer, these birds may be readily distinguished from other sea-fowl, by their black and white plumage and red feet: the predominant tint of the plumage in winter is white, with a tinge of grey; and in high latitudes the proportion of white increases.
THE LITTLE AUK
MÉRGULUS ÁLLE
Head and upper parts black; two bands across the wings; a spot above the eye and all the under parts white. In summer the throat and front of the neck are also black. Length about seven inches. Eggs uniform pale blue.
The Little Auk is essentially a northern sea-bird, coming to us in winter, and is described by Arctic voyagers under the name of Rotche. It is an indefatigable swimmer, and has considerable powers of flight; but it does not possess the faculty of diving to the same degree as the Divers and Grebes, as it generally stays but a short time under water. Hence it must find its food near the surface; and this is supposed to consist of the small crustaceous animals which are so abundant in the Arctic waters. Little Auks are eminently social birds, and have been observed occasionally in such numbers on the water and floating masses of ice as almost to hide their resting-place. They rarely travel far south; and when they visit our shores, which is in winter, and after tempestuous weather, they are supposed to have been driven hither against their will. Instances are recorded of specimens having been found far inland, disabled or dead. It lays only a single egg.
THE PUFFIN
FRATERCULA ÁRCTICA
Crown, collar, and upper parts, black; cheeks, region of the eyes, and throat, greyish white; under parts pure white; bill bluish grey at the base, yellow in the middle, bright red at the tip; upper mandible with three transverse furrows, lower, with two; iris whitish; orbits red; feet orange-red. Length twelve and a half inches. Eggs whitish, with indistinct ash-coloured spots.
Unlike the majority of sea-birds which have been passing under our notice, Puffins visit the shores of the British Isles in summer, and even in winter they are not absent. They make their appearance about April or May, not scattering themselves indiscriminately along the coast, but resorting in vast numbers to various selected breeding-places, from the Scilly Islands to the Orkneys. Their home being the sea, and their diet small fish, they possess the faculties of swimming and diving to a degree of perfection. They have, moreover, considerable powers of flight; but on land their gait is only a shuffling attempt at progress. Their vocation on shore is, however, but a temporary one, and requires no great amount of locomotion. Soon after their arrival they set to work about their nests. Fanciful people who class birds according to their constructive faculty as weavers, basket-makers, plasterers, and so on, would rank Puffins among miners. Building is an art of which they are wholly ignorant, yet few birds are lodged more securely. With their strong beaks, they excavate for themselves holes in the face of the cliff to the depth of about three feet, and at the extremity the female lays a solitary egg—solitary, that is to say, unless another bird takes shelter in the same hole, which is not unfrequently the case. Puffins generally show no overweening partiality for their own workmanship; sloping cliffs which have been perforated by rabbits are favourite places of resort; and here they do not at all scruple to avail themselves of another’s labour, or, if necessary, to eject by force of beak the lawful tenant. If the soil be unsuited for boring, they lay their eggs under large stones or in crevices in the rock. The old bird sits most assiduously, and suffers herself to be taken rather than desert her charge, but not without wounding, with her powerful beak, and to the best of her ability, the hand which ventures into her stronghold. Myriads burrow on Lundy Island. Lunde means Puffin, and ey Island, the name being given by the old Scandinavian rovers who settled there.
The young are fed by both parents, at first on half-digested fish, and when older on pieces of fresh fish. At this period they suffer their colonies to be invaded without showing much alarm, and are either shot, knocked down with a stick, or noosed without difficulty. As soon as the young are fully fledged, all the Puffins withdraw to southern seas, where they pass the winter, and do not approach land until the return of the breeding season. “A small island near Skye, named Fladda-huna, is a great breeding haunt of Puffins, a species which arrives in the earlier part of May, literally covering the rocks and ledgy cliffs with its feathered thousands. Although these have no concern with our Grouse-shooting season, they almost totally disappear on the twelfth of August.”56 It was just about this period (August 7) in the present year (1861) that I observed several large flocks of Puffins, floating with the tide through the Sound of Islay, and was told by an intelligent gamekeeper that “these birds habitually swim through the sound at this season, but always fly when returning”. The reason probably is that the young are not at the former period sufficiently fledged to undertake a long flight, though they find no difficulty in swimming. By spring they have attained their full strength, and are able to adopt the more rapid mode of progress. In Scotland there are many large colonies, also in the cliffs by Flamborough Head, and on the Farne Islands.
Puffins and some other sea-birds appear to be either liable to a fatal epidemic or to be surprised by some atmospheric disturbance, being unable to resist which, they perish in large numbers. I have seen a portion of the sea-shore in Cornwall strewed for the distance of more than a mile with hundreds of their remains. All the softer parts had been apparently devoured by fishes and crustaceous animals, and nothing was left but the unmistakable parrot-like beaks. A friend informs me that he witnessed a similar phenomenon in Norfolk, in September, 1858; but in this instance the carcases of the birds were not devoured, and the birds were of different kinds. He estimated that about ninety per cent. were Guillemots, and the remainder Puffins, Razor-bills, Scoters, and a sprinkling of Black Throated Divers. A similar mortality among sea-birds is recorded in the Zoologist as having taken place on the coast of Norfolk, in May, 1856. On this occasion they were so numerous as to be thought worth collecting for manure.
Other names by which the Puffin is known are Sea Parrot, Coulterneb, Mullet, Bottlenose; and, in Scotland, Ailsa Parrot, Tammie-Norie, and Tammas.
FAMILY COLYMBIDÆ
THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER
COLYMBUS GLACIÁLIS
Bill, with the upper mandible, nearly straight, upwards of four inches in length; head and neck violet-black, with a double gorget white, barred with black; upper parts black, spotted with white; under parts white; bill black; irides brown; feet dusky, the membranes whitish. Young very like the next, but distinguishable by their superior size and the direction of the bill. Length thirty-three inches. Eggs dark olive-brown, with a few spots of purplish brown.
The name Divers is, on the sea-coast, loosely applied to a tribe of sea-birds, including the Grebes, Cormorants, and other birds, which, when pursued, place their safety in diving rather than in flying. In works on natural history the term is, however, employed to designate the genus Colymbus, and with great propriety; for, however skilled any of the above birds may be in this mode of progression, the true divers surpass them immeasurably. First among these in size and dignity is the Great Northern Diver, a native of high latitudes in both hemispheres, never perhaps coming farther south than the Shetlands for breeding purposes, and visiting our waters only during winter.57 The Northern Diver, or Imber or Ember Goose, appears to be tolerably frequent in British waters. In Scotland it prefers salt-water lochs and sandy bays to the open sea, though occasionally seen some miles from land. It swims deep in the water, but advances rapidly. When in pursuit of prey it sinks beneath the surface without plunge or splash, the head disappearing last, and it traverses perhaps two or three hundred yards of water before it rises again. Montagu says that it propels itself by its feet alone; Audubon, on the contrary, states that it uses the wings under water. The latter author is most probably correct, for it dives more swiftly than the Grebes, and these birds undoubtedly make a vigorous use of their wings. Where shoals of small fish, such as sand-eels and sprats, abound, or where fish even of a much larger size are numerous, the Northern Diver finds a rich harvest. Occasionally while thus engaged it meets its death by dashing into the herring nets, and there getting entangled. A fine specimen was recently shown to me in the island of Islay, which had been thus captured. Though it has never been known to take wing in attempting to elude pursuit, it is often seen flying with strength and rapidity, outstripping even the Grebe, which, in proportion to its size, is furnished with far larger wings than itself.
The adult male, which is a very handsome bird, is of rare occurrence, most of those which visit our shores being young birds.
The nest is usually placed near the edge of a reedy lake or large river, having a well-beaten track leading to it from the water’s edge. This is formed by the bird in its clumsy effort to walk, a feat which it only performs on such occasions. The nest itself is bulky, and is formed of the vegetable substances found in the immediate vicinity, such as grasses and other herbaceous plants. It contains two, and sometimes three, eggs. The young are able to swim and dive very soon after they are hatched, and are fed for about a fortnight by their parents, at the expiration of which time they have to hunt for themselves.
THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER
COLYMBUS ARCTICUS
Bill slightly curved upwards, with the middle of the lower mandible equal in width to the base, exceeding three inches in length; head ash-grey; throat and front of the neck black, lustrous with violet and green; beneath the throat a narrow band streaked with white and black; sides and front of the neck streaked with white and black; back black, with a longitudinal patch of white and black bars on the upper part; scapulars with twelve or thirteen transverse white bars; bill dusky; iris brown; feet dusky, with whitish membranes. Young birds have the head and back of the neck greyer and the upper plumage dark brown, edged with bluish ash; under plumage white; cheeks white, spotted with ash; upper mandible ash-grey, lower dull white. Length twenty-four to twenty-eight inches. Eggs dark olive-brown, spotted with purplish brown.
This Diver differs from the preceding species principally in being of inferior size. The predominant tints of the plumage are the same, and the habits of the two are so similar that a separate description is unnecessary. The present species is, however, far less common, though it breeds in the Outer Hebrides and in Scotland, where both eggs and young birds have been observed, and migrates southward in winter. It lays two eggs, near the edge of a fresh-water loch; and Mr. Selby observed that a visible track from the water to the eggs was made by the female, whose progress upon land is effected by shuffling along upon her belly, propelled by her legs behind. In the breeding season the old birds are often seen on the wing, at which time also they have a peculiar and loud cry, which has been compared to the voice of a human being in distress.
Bill slightly curved upwards, with the edges of both mandibles much incurved, not exceeding three inches in length; head, throat, and sides of the neck mouse-colour; crown spotted with black; neck both above and below marked with white and black lines; on the front of the neck a large orange-coloured patch; back dusky brown; lower parts white. Young birds—upper plumage mouse-colour, darker on the back, where it is marked by longitudinal white lines; wings dusky; feathers on the flanks dusky, some of them edged with white; all the under plumage pure white. Length twenty-six inches. Eggs chestnut-brown, spotted with darker brown.
The name ‘Loon,’ given in some districts to the Crested Grebe, is elsewhere given to the Red-throated Diver. The term is an old one, for our countrymen, Ray and Willughby, quoting yet more ancient authorities, describe the Northern Diver under the name of ‘Loon’, and the Black-Throated Diver under that of ‘Lumme’, the latter being the name of the bird in Iceland and Norway, and the former probably an English corruption of the same word, which in the original signifies ‘lame’.
On no part of our coast must we expect to hear this bird popularly called by the name of ‘Red-throated’, for, though common on many parts of the coast, almost all the specimens observed are young birds of the year, which have the throat pure white. Several were brought to me by the sea-side gunners on the coast of Norfolk. In May birds with red throats are noticed. A writer in the Zoologist58 says that they are very numerous in winter off the coast of the Isle of Wight, passing and repassing in small flocks and in two lines about a mile apart. Of the hundreds which fell under his notice one only had a red throat, and this was captured under singular circumstances. On April 24, 1839, some fishermen observed an object floating which they imagined was a keg of spirits, but which proved to be a large fish of the kind known as the Fishing Frog, or Angler. On hauling it on board with their boat-hooks, the fishermen discovered that the animal had nearly choked himself by swallowing, tail foremost, an adult Red-throated Diver. The head of the bird protruded from the throat into the mouth of the captor, and, strange to say, it had not only survived its imprisonment, but was unhurt. It was extricated and presented to the Zoological Gardens, where it lived for six months. Another writer in the same magazine59 says that he saw a large number in Norway during the breeding season, but not one without the dark red throat.
This species, like the rest of the genus, obtains its food by diving; when pursued it rarely tries to escape by taking wing, though it has the power of flying with great rapidity. During the breeding season especially, it often flies about over the water with its long neck outstretched, and uttering a wailing scream.
I am informed by a friend, that while fishing in a boat in calm water off the coast of North Devon, he has many times seen Divers pass through the water, at a considerable depth below, propelling themselves by a free and active use of their wings.
From October to May only these Divers frequent our coast. Towards the end of spring they withdraw northwards and build their nests, of coarse grass and other herbs, close to the edge of a fresh-water loch. They lay two eggs, and the male is said to take his turn in the office of incubation. Many stay to breed in the Orkneys and Outer Hebrides, and in Ireland.
FAMILY PODICIPEDIDÆ
THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE
PÓDICEPS CRISTÁTUS
Bill longer than the head, reddish, the tip white; distance from the nostril to the tip seventeen or eighteen lines; cheeks white; crest and ruff dark brown and chestnut; upper plumage dark brown; secondaries white; breast and under parts silky white; bill brownish red; irides red; feet dull green. Female—crest and ruff less conspicuous, colours generally less bright. Young birds have neither crest nor ruff. Length twenty-one inches. Eggs white.
The Great Crested Grebe is thus described by Sir Thomas Browne, under the name of Loon: ‘A handsome and specious fowl, cristated, and with divided fin-feet placed very backward. They come about April, and breed in the broad waters; so making their nest in the water, that their eggs are seldom dry while they are set on.’ Fifty years ago the Loon continued to be so common on the Broads of Norfolk that eighteen or twenty might be counted together. It is more or less resident in England and Wales—in the meres of the Midlands and the lakes of Breconshire, and has lately bred in the vicinity of the Clyde.
The movements of this bird in the water are described as most graceful; in swimming it vies with the Swan, and it is a skilful diver. As seen perched up in a museum its form is ungainly, but in its native element it might serve as the standard of perfection among water birds. The legs, compressed so as to present a sharp edge, cut the water with a minimum of resistance; the webbed feet are placed so far backwards that they fulfil at once the office of propellers and rudder; the body is conical and covered with satiny plumage, which throws off water as perfectly as the fur of the otter; the long neck tapers to exceedingly narrow dimensions and terminates in a small head produced into a slender bill. The conformation of the greyhound is not better adapted for fleet running than that of the Grebe for rapid diving. The chase, I need scarcely add, consists of fish; but the Loon will feed on frogs, tadpoles, and any other small animals which fall in its way. It frequents fresh water during the summer months, but on the approach of winter repairs to the sea, not, it would seem, from any desire of varying its food, but to avoid being frozen up. It builds its nest among rushes or decaying weeds, but little above the level of the water, and lays four eggs, the male assisting his partner in the office of incubation.
The young can dive and swim immediately that they are hatched; but if the mother be suddenly alarmed while they are with her, she takes them under her wing and dives with them.
The name Loon is supposed to be a corruption of the Finnish designation, Leomme or Lem, ‘lame’, given to several of the Colymbidæ on account of the awkwardness with which they advance on land.
The Loon is found in lakes throughout a great portion of both the eastern and western hemispheres, but not very far to the north. It rarely flies, except at the period of migration, when it passes swiftly through the air, with neck and feet extended to their full length.
RED-NECKED GREBE
PÓDICIPES GRISEÍGENA
Bill as long as the head, black, yellow at the base; distance from the nostrils to the tip eleven lines; crest very short; head and crest lustrous black; cheeks and throat mouse-colour; a black band along the nape; breast bright rust-red; lower parts white; flanks spotted with dusky; feet black, greenish yellow beneath. Young birds have the head, neck, and back, dusky; throat, cheeks, breast, belly, and abdomen, silky white; sides of the breast spotted with grey. Length sixteen inches. Eggs dirty greenish white.
The Red-necked Grebe is smaller than the Loon, from which it differs also in wanting the elongated crest, in having a more robust bill in proportion to its size, and is further distinguished by the grey hue of its cheeks, on account of which last character it is known in France under the name of Grébe Jou-gris. It is a native of the north-eastern parts of Europe, and is fairly common along the eastern coast of Great Britain from autumn to spring. In habits it differs little from the last described species, but is less common, occurring both in fresh-water lakes and along the sea-coast.
SLAVONIAN GREBE
PÓDICIPES AURITUS
Bill strong, shorter than the head, compressed throughout its whole length, black, with the tip red; eyes with a double iris, the inner yellow, the outer red; distance from the nostrils to the tip of the bill six or seven lines; head and bushy ruff glossy black; two horn-like crests orange-red; lore, neck, and breast, bright chestnut; upper plumage dusky; secondaries and under parts white; bill black, rose-coloured at the base and red at the tip. Young—crest and ruff wanting; upper plumage and flanks dusky ash, under parts white; irides white, surrounded by red. Eggs dirty white.
The Slavonian, or Horned Grebe, approaches so closely in habits to the two preceding species that it is unnecessary to say more than that it inhabits the northern parts of America and Europe, visiting us from autumn to spring. Audubon describes its nest as a rude structure of weeds, situated at a distance of about twelve feet from the water’s edge; but other authors state that though it constructs its nest of these materials, it disposes it among weeds in such a way that it rises and falls with every alteration in the level of the water. It lays from five to seven eggs, and the male is supposed to assist in the office of incubation.
THE BLACK-NECKED OR EARED GREBE
PÓDICIPES NIGRICOLLIS
In summer the head and neck of this species are black, with a triangular patch of long golden-reddish feathers on the ear-coverts. Breast and belly white—flanks a dull chestnut, bill black, upcurved slightly. In winter it resembles the last named Grebe in plumage, excepting that it is white on the primaries. Length twelve inches.
This is essentially a bird of the south, visiting us in spring and summer, but also now and again in autumn and winter, but this more rarely. It is said to have bred occasionally in the southern counties, and more often in Suffolk and Norfolk. To the north it becomes more scarce, although it has been observed up to the Orkneys. Just a few instances are recorded from Cumberland, but the bird is rare on our western side. Very few have been met with in Ireland. In Algeria it is said to nest in “societies more densely crowded than any rookery,” the nests being raised on islets with stout foundations constructed by the bird. In Denmark the nests observed were on tussocks at the edge of the lake, and they were made of moss, part of which the female used to cover her eggs with on leaving them.
THE LITTLE GREBE, OR DABCHICK
PÓDICIPES FLUVIÁTILIS
Bill very short, shining, compressed; no crest or ruff; distance from nostrils to tip of the bill five lines; tarsus with a double row of serratures behind; head black; cheeks bright chestnut; breast and flanks dusky, mottled with white; upper parts dark brown, tinged with green; primaries ash-brown; secondaries white at the base and on the inner web, under parts dusky ash, tinged on the thighs with reddish; bill black, whitish at the tip and base of the lower mandible; irides reddish brown; feet externally greenish brown, beneath flesh-colour. Young birds are ash-brown above, slightly tinged with red; breast and flanks reddish white; belly pure white; bill brown and yellowish ash. Length nearly ten inches. Eggs dirty white.
The Lesser Grebe, or, as it is more commonly called, the Dabchick, is the only species with which it is possible to become familiarly acquainted in Britain. It frequents rivers, ponds, and lakes, in all parts of the country, rarely flying, and still more rarely coming to land.
Rambling by the side of a sluggish river, the sides of which are lined with reeds or bulrushes, one may often descry, paddling about with undecided motion, what appears to be a miniature Duck no longer than a Blackbird. It does not, like the Moor-hen, swim with a jerking movement, nor when alarmed does it half swim and half fly in a direct line for the nearest bank of weeds. If you are unobserved, it swims steadily for a short distance, then suddenly disappears, making no splash or noise, but slipping into the water as if its body were lubricated. It is diving for its food, which consists of water insects, molluscs, small fish and worms. As suddenly as it dives so suddenly does it reappear, most likely not far from the spot where you first observed it:
A di-dapper peering through a wave,
Who, being looked on, ducks as quickly in.
Shakspeare.
Another short swim and it dives again; and so it goes on, the time spent under the water being far in excess of that employed in taking breath. Advance openly or make a noise, it wastes no time in idle examinations or surmises of your intentions, but slips down as before, not, however, to reappear in the same neighbourhood. Its motives are different: it now seeks not food, but safety, and this it finds first by diving, and then by propelling itself by its wings under water in some direction which you cannot possibly divine; for it by no means follows that it will pursue the course to which its bill pointed when it went down. It can alter its line of flight beneath the water as readily as a swallow can change its course of flight through the air. But wherever it may reappear, its stay is now instantaneous; a trout rising at a fly is not more expeditious. You may even fail to detect it at all. It may have ensconced itself among weeds, or it may be burrowing in some subaqueous hole. That it has the power of remaining a long while submerged, I have no doubt. There is in the parish of Stamford Dingley, Berks, a large and beautiful spring of water, clear as crystal, the source of one of the tributaries of the Thames. I was once bending over the bank of this spring, with a friend, watching the water, some five or six feet down, as it issued from a pipe-like orifice and stirred the sand around like the bubbling of a cauldron, when there suddenly passed between us and the object we were examining a form so strange that we were at first doubtful to what class of animals we should refer it. In reality, it was a Dabchick, which, alarmed probably by the noise of our conversation, was making for a place of safety. As it passed within two or three feet of our faces, we could distinctly see that it propelled itself by its wings; but it appeared not to have observed us, for it kept on in a direct course towards the head of the spring. We searched long in the hope of discovering it again, but failed; and as there were no weeds among which it could possibly hide above water, and we could examine the bottom of the spring almost as thoroughly as if it contained air only, we could but conclude that our apparition had taken refuge in a hole under the bank.
Early in spring, when Dabchicks leave the small streams and water-courses for broader pieces of water, they have been observed to fly; and during the building season also they have been seen circling round in the air near the locality of their intended nest. The nest itself is constructed of weeds of all kinds, forming a thick mass raised but a few inches above the surface of the water, and invariably far enough from the bank to be inaccessible except by wading. The Dabchick lays five or six long-shaped eggs, pointed at either end, of a chalky white colour. These the bird, when she leaves the nest, covers with weeds for the purpose of concealment, and on her return continues the work of incubation without removing the covering, so that the eggs soon lose their white hue, and before the period of hatching have become very dirty. The young birds can swim and dive immediately on leaving the egg. I have never myself seen a Dabchick fly through the air or walk on land, neither have I ever heard its note. The latter, a low clicking and chattering sort of noise, it is said to utter in spring. It breeds even in St. James’ Park. Females smaller than males.
FAMILY PROCELLARIIDÆ
THE FULMAR PETREL
PROCELLARIA GLACIÁLIS
Head, neck, under plumage, and tail, white; wings bluish ash, the primaries brownish grey; beak, irides, and feet, yellow. Young of the year grey tinged with brown, mottled on the back with deeper brown; bill and feet yellowish ash. Length nineteen inches. Eggs white.
In some of the Outer Hebrides Fulmars breed; but the great station, to which tens of thousands annually resort, is the remote island of St. Kilda. To the Fulmar indeed, and in a less degree to the Gannet and two or three other sea-birds, the island is indebted for its being able to boast of human inhabitants. Eggs and birds, fresh or salted, furnish them with food; the Fulmar with oil: and feathers pay their rent. In the Shetlands it is said to be increasing.
Professor James Wilson says: ‘The oil is extracted from both the young and old birds, which, however, they must seize on suddenly and strangle, else, as a defensive movement, the desired (and pungent) oil is immediately squirted in the face and eyes of their opponent.’ This oil is ejected, not, as it is sometimes said, through tubular nostrils, but directly through the throat and open mouth. The flesh of the Fulmar is also a favourite food with the St. Kildans, who like it all the better on account of its oily nature.
The Fulmar is essentially a sea-bird, and never comes to land except in the breeding season, when it builds its nest of herbage on the grassy shelves of the highest cliffs, and lays a single egg, if which be taken, it lays no more. The young birds are fed with oil by the parents, and on being molested spurt out through the throat and open mouth the same fluid, which, being of a rank smell, infects not only the nest, but the whole neighbourhood. The young birds, which are taken early in August, are boiled, and made to furnish a large quantity of fat, which is skimmed off and preserved for winter use. The old birds are considered great dainties.
In the Arctic regions the Fulmar is well known for its assiduity in attending on whale ships, keeping an eager watch for anything thrown over; and when the operation of cutting up a whale is going on, helping itself most greedily to stray pieces of offal, and venturing so near as to be easily knocked down by a boathook or to be taken by hand.
Owing to the rankness of its food, the smell of the Fulmar is very offensive. A specimen recently shot was brought to me in Norfolk, early in January, 1862, and being a great rarity, was carefully preserved and set up; but on being sent home from the bird-stuffer’s it was banished to an outhouse, where it has remained for three months without losing anything of its offensive odour.
THE GREAT SHEARWATER
PUFFINUS MAJOR
Bill two inches long; tail pointed; upper plumage dusky; under, deep ash grey. Length eighteen inches.
The Great Shearwater is far less abundant than the preceding species, and may indeed be considered a rarity. A few solitary specimens have from time to time been shot on various parts of the coast, and they have occasionally been noticed in considerable numbers off the coast of Cornwall. In the Scilly Islands, where they are called ‘Hackbolts’, they are said to be yet more frequent. The Great Shearwater differs little in habits, as far as they are known, from the other species.
THE MANX SHEARWATER
PUFFINUS ANGLORUM
Bill an inch and a half long; tail rounded; upper plumage brownish black lustrous; under white; sides of the neck barred with grey; sides spotted with grey. Length fourteen inches. Eggs nearly round; pure white.
That a bird whose generic name is Puffinus should sometimes be called a ‘Puffin’ is not surprising; and the reader who meets with the name in books should satisfy himself whether the subject of his study be an Auk or a Shearwater, before he admits as facts any statements about the ‘Puffin’ which may fall in his way. Yarrell, for instance, gives the name of Puffin to the bird already described under the name of Fratercula Arctica, while by Montagu that bird is described under the name of ‘Coulterneb’, ‘Puffin’ being given as a synonym for the Shearwater. Off Cornwall it is called skiddeu and brew.
The Shearwater is so called from its mode of flight, in which it ‘shears’ or skims the water; and its distinctive name, Manx, it owes to its having been formerly very abundant in the Calf60 of Man, a small island lying south of the Isle of Man.
The Manx Shearwater is, during the greater portion of the year, an ocean-bird, and only ventures on shore during the breeding season. It then repairs to some island, or portion of the coast little frequented by man, and in society with other birds of the same species there takes up its summer quarters. A sandy or light earthy soil, scantily furnished with vegetation, is preferred to any other station. Its nest is a hole in the ground, either the deserted burrow of a rabbit or a tunnel excavated by itself, or less frequently it lays its one egg in the crevice of a rock. During the day Shearwaters, for the most part, remain concealed in their holes, and lie so close that they will suffer themselves to be dug out with a spade and make no attempt to escape. Towards evening they quit their hiding-places, and paddle or fly out to sea in quest of food. This consists of small fish and other marine animals which swim near the surface, and are caught by the birds either while they are floating or ‘shearing’ the water. No nest ever contains more than one egg, but that one and the chick which it produces are objects of the greatest solicitude.
Unfortunately for the poor Shearwaters, their young, though fed on half-digested fish oil, are delicate eating; consequently, some of the stations of these birds have been quite depopulated, and in others their numbers have been greatly thinned.
Willughby tells us that in his time ‘Puffins’ were very numerous in the Calf of Man, and that fully fledged young birds, taken from the nests, were sold at the rate of ninepence a dozen. He adds, that in order to keep an accurate reckoning of the number taken, it was customary to cut off, and retain, one of each bird’s legs. The consequence was that the state in which the birds were sent to market was supposed to be their natural condition, and the Puffin was popularly believed to be a ‘monopod’ (one-footed bird).
This station is now nearly, if not quite, deserted; but colonies still exist in Annet, one of the Scilly Islands, on the south coast of Wales, in the Orkneys, and in the Shetlands. In the Scilly Islands the Shearwater is called a Crew, from the harsh note uttered by the bird when its burrow is invaded; in the north, a Lyrie or Scrabe.
THE STORM-PETREL
PROCELLARIA PELÁGICA
General plumage like the last; tail even at the extremity; legs moderate; membranes black. Length scarcely six inches. Eggs white.
Under the name of ‘Mother Carey’s Chickens’ the Petrels must be known to all readers of voyages. According to the belief popular in the forecastle, these birds are invisible during calm or bright weather; but when the sky lowers, and a storm is impending, suddenly, no one knows whence, forth come these ill-omened heralds of the tempest, inspiring more terror than would be caused even by the hurricane which they are supposed to commence. In reality, the Petrels are scarcely birds of the day; they love to hide themselves in holes and behind stones. It is not, therefore, surprising that when the sea is calm, and the sun bright, they lurk in their hiding-places, if near enough to land; or, if on the open ocean, lie asleep on the surface of the water, unnoticed, because still and of small size. An overcast sky, however, awakes them as twilight would, and they leave their hiding-places, or rise from their watery bed, not because a storm is impending, but because the cloud which accompanies the storm brings them the desired gloom. When in motion they are more conspicuous than when at rest, and they follow the wake of a ship for the same reason that other sea-fowl do, for the sake of the offal thrown overboard. They will sometimes accompany a ship for days, showing that they have untiring power of wing, and to all but the superstitious greatly relieving the monotony of the voyage.
The Petrel builds its nest, a rude structure of weeds and rubbish, either in the hole of a cliff or under stones on the beach, and lays a single egg. It rarely comes abroad by day, and if disturbed ejects from its mouth an oily matter, after the manner of the Fulmar. Towards evening it comes forth from its stronghold, and skims the sea in quest of food, which consists of floating animal matter of all kinds. Its name, Petrel, or Little Peter, is derived from its habit of occasionally skimming along so close to the surface of the sea as to dip its feet in the water, and present the appearance of walking; but its ordinary flight is very like that of the Swallow.
The Storm-Petrel breeds in the Orkney, Shetland, and Scilly Islands and a few on the Welsh coast, also in the Channel Islands, but a genuine ocean-bird quits the land as soon as its young are able to accompany it. It is frequently seen in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and is not an uncommon visitor to our shores, especially during severe weather.
Its note is only heard during the season of incubation, when its retreat is often betrayed by a low twittering.
Storm-Petrels are gregarious birds; they breed in colonies, and skim the sea in small flocks. The French steamers which sail between Toulon and Algiers are said to be regularly accompanied by these birds.
THE FORK-TAILED PETREL
PROCELLARIA LEUCORRHOA
General plumage like the last; tail forked; legs moderate; membrane dusky Length seven and a quarter inches. Eggs white, marked with small rusty spots.
The Fork-Tailed Petrel, a native of North America, does not differ materially in habits from the other species. It is met with almost annually on our east coast, and is common off Cornwall. In Ireland it is frequent. This species was first declared to be a British bird by Bullock, who found it at St. Kilda in 1818.
GLOSSARY OF COMMON AND PROVINCIAL NAMES AND OF TECHNICAL TERMS.
♂: male ♀: female
Aberdeen Sandpiper: a name for the Knot
Aberdevine: a name for the Siskin
Accentor, Hedge: Sparrow, Chanter or Warbler
Alk: the Razor-bill
Allamotte: the Petrel
Allan: the Skua
Alp: a name for the Bullfinch
Annet: the Kittiwake Gull
Arctic-bird: the Skua
Arctic Skua
“Tern
Assilag: the Petrel
Awl: the Woodpecker
Badock: the Skua
Bankjug: the Chiff-chaff and Willow Warbler
Bargander: the Sheldrake
Barley-bird: the Siskin and Wryneck
Barred or Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
Bar-tailed Godwit
Basal: at or near the base
Beam-bird: the Spotted Flycatcher
Bean Crake: the Land-Rail
” Goose
Bearded Reedling
Bee-bird: a name sometimes given to the Flycatcher;
sometimes to the Willow Warbler
“ -eater
” -hawk: the Honey Buzzard
Beech-finch: the Chaffinch
Bergander: the Sheldrake
Bernicle Goose
Billy: the Hedge Sparrow
Billy-whitethroat: the Whitethroat
Bittern
Black-a-top: the Stonechat
Black-billed Auk: a name given to the Razor-bill in the winter
plumage of the first year
Blackcap: a name sometimes given to the Black-headed Gull,
the Marsh Tit, and Coal Tit
Black Duck: the Scoter
Blacky-top: the Stonechat
Bloodulf: the Bullfinch
Blind Dorbie: the Purple Sandpiper
Blue-backed Falcon: the Peregrine Falcon
“ -bird: the Fieldfare
” -cap: the Blue Tit
“Darr: the Black Tern
” Hawk: the Peregrine Falcon
Blue-headed Wagtail: the greyheaded Wagtail
“ -tailed Bee-eater
” Tit: the Tom Tit, the Blue-cap
“ -winged Shoveler: the Shoveler
Boatswain: the Skua
Brake-hopper: the Grasshopper Warbler
Brambling, or Bramble-finch
Bran: the Crow
Brancher: the Goldfinch in its first year
Brantail: the Redstart
Brent Goose
Broad-bill: the Shoveler
Bronzie: the Cormorant
Brook Ouzel: a name given to the Dipper, and incorrectly to the Water-Rail
Brown Owl, or Tawny Owl
” -Leader Gull: Black-headed Gull, Red-headed Gull or Hooded Gull
“Starling: a name sometimes given to the young of the Starling
” Tern: the Tern in its immature plumage
Budfinch: the Bullfinch
Bullfinch, Common
“Pine, or Pine Grosbeak
Bunting, Lapland, or Finch
Burgomaster: the Glaucous Gull
Burrow Duck: the Sheldrake
Bustard, Great
Cackareer: the Kittiwake Gull
Caddaw: the Jackdaw
Calloo: the Long-tailed Duck
Cargoose: the Crested Grebe
Carinate: in the form of a keel
Carrion Crow
Car-swallow: the Black Tern
Cere: the wax-like membrane which covers the base of the bill in the Falconidae
Chaldrick or Chalder: the Oyster-Catcher
Chanchider: the Spotted Flycatcher
Channel Goose: the Gannet
Chanter, Hedge: Sparrow, Accentor or Warbler
Charlie Miftie: the Wheatear
Chank, and Chank-daw: the Chough
Chepster: the Starling
Cherry-finch: the Hawfinch
Cherry-sucker, Cherry-chopper, and Cherry-Snipe: the Spotted Flycatcher.
Chevy Lin: the Redpoll
Chickell: the Wheatear
Chickstone: the Stonechat
Chippet Linnet: the Redpoll
Church Owl: the White Owl
Churn Owl: the Nightjar
Churr: the Dunlin
Cirl Bunting
Clack Goose, Clakes: the Bernicle Goose
Clatter Goose: the Brent Goose
Clee: the Red Shank
Cleff: the Tern
Clinker: the Avocet
Cloven-footed Gull: the Tern
Coal-and-candle-light: the Long-tailed Duck
Coal Goose: the Cormorant
Coaly Hood: the Bullfinch or Coal Mouse
Cob: the male Swan
Cob: the Great Black-backed Gull
Cobble: the Great Northern Diver
Cobbler’s Awl: the Avocet
Cobweb: the Spotted Flycatcher
Cockandy: the Puffin
Cock-winder: the Wigeon
Coddy Moddy: the common Gull in its first year’s plumage
Coldfinch: the Pied Flycatcher
Colk: the King Duck
Colin: a name in New Spain for Quail
Compressed: flattened vertically
Coot-foot: the Phalarope
Copperfinch: the Chaffinch
Corbie: the Raven
Corndrake: the Land-Rail
Cornish Crow, or Daw: the Chough
Cornwall Kae: the Chough
Coulterneb: the Puffin
Crake, Little
” Spotted
Crank bird: the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Craw: part of the stomach in birds
Cream-coloured Plover: Swiftfoot or Courser
Courser Gull: the Glaucous Gull
Creeper, Creep-tree, or Tree-creeper. These names are in some places given to the Nuthatch
Crested Cormorant: the Shag
“Heron, Common or Grey
Cricket-bird: the Grasshopper Warbler
Cricket Teal: the Garganey
Crooked Bill: the Avocet
Crossbill: Common
Cuckoo’s Leader or Mate: the Wryneck
Cuhnen: the ridge of the upper mandible
Cultrate: in the form of a billhook or pruning knife
Curlew-Jack: the Whimbrel
Curwillet: the Sanderling
Cushat: the Ring Dove
Cutty Wren: the Common Wren
Cygnet: the young Swan
Daker Hen: the Land-Rail
Danish Crow: the Hooded Crow
Darr, Blue: the Black Tern
Dertrum
Depressed: flattened horizontally
Deviling: the Swift
Dick Dunnock: the Hedge Sparrow
Dippearl: the Tern
Dirty Allen: the Skua
Dishwater: the Wagtail
Diving Pigeon: the Guillemot
Dobbler and Dobchick: the Lesser Grebe
Door Hawk and Dorr Hawk: the Nightjar.
Dorbie: the Dunlin
Doucker: a popular name for a Grebe or Diver
Doveky: the Black Guillemot
Dove-coloured Falcon: the Peregrine Falcon
Draine: the Missel Thrush
Duck Hawk: the Marsh Harrier
Ducker: a popular name for a Grebe or Diver
Dulwilly: the Ring Plover
Dunkir and Dunair: the Pochard
Dun Crow: the Hooded Crow
Dundiver: the female and young of the Merganser
Dung Hunter: the Skua
Dunlin
Dunnock: the Hedge Sparrow
Earl Duck: the Red-breasted Merganser
Easterling: the Smew
Ebb: the Bunting
Ecorcheur: the Shrike
Egret: a tuft of long narrow feathers found on the lower part of the neck of the Herons.
The name is also sometimes extended to the two tufts of feathers, resembling ears or horns,
in some of the Owls
Elk: the Hooper Swan
Emmer or Ember Goose: the Great Northern Diver
Emmet Hunter: the Wryneck
Erne: the Eagle
Falk or Falc: the Razor-bill
Faller: the Hen Harrier
Fallow Chat, Fallow Finch, Fallow Lunch, or Fallow Smich: the Wheatear
Fanny Redtail: the Redstart
Fauvette: the Garden Warbler, also applied to others of the Warblers.
Feather-poke: i.e. “sack of feathers” is the Chiff-chaff, so called from the
materials and form of the nest
Felt and Feltyfare: the Fieldfare
Fiddler: the Common Sandpiper
Field Duck: the Little Bustard
Field Lark: the Skylark
Fiery Linnet: the Common Linnet
Finch, or Lapland Bunting
Fire-crested Regulus or Wren
Fire-tail: the Redstart
Flapper: a young Duck
Flopwing: the Lapwing
Flusher: the Butcher-bird
Foot: The foot of a bird consists of four, never less than three, toes,
with their claws, and the joint next above, called the “tarsus”
French Linnet: the Redpoll
” Magpie: the Red-backed Shrike
“Pie: the Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Gaggle: a flight of Wild Geese
Gairfowl: the Auk and the Razor-bill
Gallinule: the Moor Hen; this name is sometimes applied to the Crakes
Gallwell Drake: the Land Drake
Gannet: the Skua
Garden Ouzel: the Blackbird
” Warbler
Gardenian Heron: the young of the Night Heron
Gaunt: the Crested Grebe
Gidd: the Jack Snipe
Gillhowter: the White Owl
Gladdy: the Yellow Hammer
Glaucous Gull
Glead, Gled, or Glade: the Kite
Goat Owl and Goatsucker: the Nightjar
Goldeneye
Golden-crested Regulus, Warbler or Wren
“Oriole or Thrush
” Plover
Gorcock: the Moor Cock
Gorsehatch: the Wheatear
Gorse-duck: the Corn Crake
Gorse Linnet: the Common Linnet
Goud Spink: the Goldfinch
Gouldring: the Yellow Hammer
Gourder: the Petrel
Gouk: the Cuckoo
Graduated: a term applied to the tail of a bird when the middle
feathers are longest and the outer ones are shorter in gradation
Greenwich Sandpiper: the Ruff
Grey: the Gadwall
Greybird: the Thrush
Grey-Duck: the Gadwall
“Coot-footed Tringa: the Phalarope
” Crow: the Hooded Crow
“Falcon: the Hen Harrier
” Heron: common or Crested Heron
Grey Lapwing, or Sandpiper: the Grey Plover
“Linnet: the Common Linnet
” Owl: the White Owl
“Partridge: the Common Partridge
” Shrike, Lesser: the Ash-coloured Shrike
“Skit: the Water-Rail
” -lag: Fen, Stubble, or Wild Goose
Grisette: the Whitethroat
Ground Lark: the Pipit and Bunting
“Wren: the Willow Warbler
Guldenhead: the Puffin
Gull-tormentor: the Skua
Gunner: the Great Northern Diver
Gurfel: the Razor-bill
Gustarda: the Bustard
Hackbolt: the Greater Shearwater
Hadji: the Swift
Hagdown: the Greater Shearwater
Haggard: the Peregrine Falcon
Hagister: the Magpie
Half-Curlew: the Whimbrel and Godwit
” -Duck: the Wigeon, Pochard, etc.
“ -Snipe: the Jack Snipe
Harle: the Red-breasted Merganser
Harpy: the Marsh Harrier
Hawk Owl: this name is sometimes given to the Short-eared Owl
Hay-bird, or Hay-Tit: the Willow Warbler
Hay-Jack: the Garden Warbler and Whitethroat
Heather Bleater: the Snipe
Heath Throstle: the Ring Ouzel
Hebridal Sandpiper: the Turnstone
Heckimal: the Blue Tit
Hedge-Chicken: the Wheatear
” -Jug, the Long-tailed Tit
Hegrilskip: the Heron
Helegug: the Puffin
Hellejay: the Razor-bill
Hern, Hernshaw, Heronshaw: the Heron
Heronsewgh: the Heron
Herring-bar: perhaps a corruption of Herring-bird, Diver
Herring Gant: the Gannet
“Gull
Hew-hole: the Woodpecker
Hickwall: the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
High-hoo: the Woodpecker
Hiogga: the Razor-bill
Hissing Owl: the White Owl
Hoarse Gowk: the Snipe
Hoddy: the Crow
Holm Cock and Holm Screech: the Mistle Thrush
Hoop: the Bullfinch
Hornfinch: the Petrel
Horniwinks: the Lapwing
Horra: the Brent Goose
Horsefinch: the Chaffinch
Horsmatch: the Red-backed Shrike, the Wheatear and Whinchat
Howlet: the Brown Owl
Howster: the Knot
Huckmuck: the Long-tailed Tit
Hullat: the Owl
Icebird: the Little Auk
Imber, or Great Northern Diver
Isle of Wight Parson: the Cormorant
Iris (plural, Irides): the coloured circle of the eye surrounding the pupil
Isaac: the Hedge Sparrow
Ivy Owl: the Barn Owl
Jack Curlew: the Whimbrel
Jackdaw
Jack-nicker: the Goldfinch
” Saw: the Goosander
“Snipe
Jar Owl: the Night Owl
Jay, Jay Pie, or Jay Pyet
Jenny: the Wren
Jid or Judcock: the Jack Snipe
Kadder and Kae: the Jackdaw
Kamtschatka Tern: the Black Tern
Katabella: the Hen Harrier
Kate: the Hawfinch
Katogle: the Eagle Owl
Kiddaw: the Guillemot
King-Harry: the Goldfinch
Kip: the Tern
Kirktullock: the Shoveler
Kirmew and Kirmow: the Tern
Knee: a name often given, though inaccurately, to the junction of the
tarsus and tibia of a bird.
Knot
Lamhi or Lavy: the Guillemot
Land Curlew: the Great Plover
Lary: the Guillemot
Laughing Goose: the White-fronted Goose
Lavrock: the Skylark
Leg-bird: the Sedge Warbler
Lesser wing-coverts: the feathers which overlie the greater
wing-coverts, or those next the quills
Ling-bird: the Meadow Pipit
Linlet: a young Linnet
Lobefoot: the Phalarope
Long-tongue: the Wryneck
Loom or Loon: the Diver
Lore: the space between the beak and the eye
Lough Diver: the Smew
Lum, Lungy: the Guillemot
Lumme: the Diver
Lyre: the Manx Shearwater
Madge Howlet: the White Owl
Maglowan: a name for the Divers
Magpie Diver: the Smew
Malduck, or Malmarsh: the Fulmar
Mallemoke: the Fulmar
Mandibles: upper and under, the two portions of a bird’s bill
Man-of-war bird: the Skua
Manx Shearwater: the Manx Petrel
Marketjew Crow: the Chough
Marrot: the Guillemot and Razor-bill
May-bird, or Mayfowl: the Whimbrel
Mavis: the Thrush
Meadow Crake, or Drake: the Gallinule
” Pipit, Titlark or Titling
Meggy-cut-throat: the Whitethroat
Merlie: the Blackbird
Mew or Mow: a Gull
Millithrum: the Long-tailed Tit
Minute Gallinule: the Little Crake
“Merganser: the young Smew
” Tringa: the Little Stint
Mire Snipe: the Snipe
Mistle Thrush, or Mistletoe Thrush
Mitty: the Petrel
Mock-bird: the Sedge Warbler
“Nightingale: the Blackcap and Garden Warbler
Monk: the Bullfinch
Moor Blackbird, or Ouzel: the Ring Ouzel
Moor Hen, or Water Hen
Morrot: the Guillemot
Moss-cheeper: the Meadow Pipit
Mother Carey’s Chickens: the Petrels
Mountain Linnet: the Twite
” Ouzel: the Ring Ouzel
Mouse Hawk or Owl: the Hawk Owl
Mow: a Gull
Mud-plover: the Grey Plover
Muggy: the Whitethroat
Mullet: the Puffin
Mum-ruffin: the Long-tailed Tit
Murdering-bird: the Butcher-bird
Nape: the upper part of the neck behind
Neck-a-pecker and Nickle: the Woodpecker
Night-crow, or Night-hawk: the Nightjar
“Heron
Nope: the Bullfinch
Norfolk Plover: the Great Plover
Norie: the Cormorant
Northern Crow: the Hooded Crow
Norway Lark: the Snow Bunting
Nun: the Blue Tit
Oke: the Auk
Olive: the Oyster-catcher
Olive-tufted Duck: the Goldeneye
Operculum: a lid or covering
Orbit: the skin that surrounds the eye, and in some birds is
destitute of feathers
Ouzel, Water, or Dipper
Oven-bird: the Chiff-Chaff, Willow Warbler, and Wood Warbler
Owl, Long-eared or Horned
” Short-eared or Little-horned
“Tawny or Brown
Padge and Padge Owl: the Barn Owl
Palmipedes: Web-footed Birds
Pandle-whew: the Wigeon
Parasitic Gull: the Skua
Parrot, Ailsa: the Puffin
” Sea: the Puffin
Parson Mew: the Black-backed Gull
Passerine: belonging to the order Passeres
“Warbler: the Garden Warbler
Pea-finch: the Chaffinch
Pearl: the Tern
Pease Crow: the Tern
Peck: the Bar-tailed Godwit
Pectinated: cut like a comb
Peese-weep: the Peewit, also sometimes given to the Greenfinch
Peggy: the Wren, Whitethroat and the Garden Warbler
Peggy cut-throat: the Whitethroat
Petrel: the name Petrel is in some places given to the Godwit
Pettychaps, Greater: the Garden Warbler
” Lesser: the Chiff-chaff
Philomel: the Nightingale
Pianet: the Magpie, and Oyster-catcher
Picarini: the Avocet
Pick-cheese: the Tom-Tit and Great Tit
Pickmire: the Black-headed Gull
Picktarney and Picket: the Tern
Pictarn: the Black-headed Gull
Pie, Sea: the Oyster-catcher
Pied Diver: the Smew
“Wagtail
” Wigeon: the Garganey, and Goldeye
Pie-finch: the Chaffinch
Pienet and Piet: the Magpie
Piet, Water: the Water Ouzel
Pigeon Hawk: the Sparrow Hawk
“Mow, Red-legged: the Black-headed Gull in its winter plumage
Pigmy Curloo, or Sandpiper
Pine Bullfinch, or Pine Grosbeak
Pink: the Chaffinch
Pink-footed Goose
Pinnock: a Tit
Pint: the Laughing Gull
Pintail Duck
Pirenet: the Sheldrake
Plover’s Page: the Purple Sandpiper
Pocker, or Poker: the Pochard
Poke-Pudding: the Long-tailed Tit
Pomarine Skua, or Gull, Twist-tailed
Poor-willie: the Godwit
Pop: the Redwing
Pope: the Puffin
Popinjay: the Green Woodpecker
Port-Egmont Hen: the Common Skua
Post-bird: the Spotted Flycatcher
Primaries: the quills, usually ten, of the terminal joint of a bird’s wing.
Provence Furzel: the Dartford Warbler
Proud-tailor: the Goldfinch
Puckeridge: the Nightjar
Pudding-poke: the Long-tailed Tit
Puffin
Puffinet: the Black Guillemot
Purple Sandpiper
Purre: the Dunlin
Puttock: the Buzzard and Kite
Pywipe: the Lapwing
Quaketail: the Wagtail
Que: the Night Heron
Queest or Quest: the Ring-dove
Queet: the Coot and Guillemot
Quills: the large feathers of the wing, called primary, or digital;
secondary or cubital;
and tertiary, or humeral;
according as they arise from the terminal, middle, or inner joint
Quill-coverts: a row of feathers immediately covering the base of the
quills above and below, and therefore called upper and under
Quinck: the Goose
Rafter-bird: the Spotted Flycatcher
Rail, Land
Rain-bird: the Green Woodpecker
” -Goose: the Red-throated Diver
Raptores: Birds of Prey
Rasores: Gallinaceous Birds
Rattle-wings: the Goldeneye
Redcap: the Goldfinch
Red Godwit: the Bar-tailed Godwit
“Grouse
Red-headed Linnet: the Common Linnet and Redpoll
” Pochard: the Common Pochard
“Wigeon: the Common Wigeon
” Hoop: the Bullfinch
“ -legged Crow: the Chough
” “Godwit: the Spotted Sandpiper
” “Gull, the Black-headed Gull
” “Partridge
” -necked Coot-foot, Lobefoot, or Phalarope
Red Sandpiper: the Knot in its summer plumage
Redstart, Common
“Black
Red-throated Diver
Red-winged Blackbird: Maize-bird, or Starling
Reed-bird: the Sedge Warbler
Reed Bunting: the Black-headed Bunting
” Fauvette: the Sedge Warbler
“Pheasant: the Bearded Tit
” Sparrow: the Black-headed Bunting
“Warbler or Wren
Reeve: the female of the Ruff
Richardson’s Skua
Richel Bird: the Lesser Tern
Rind-tabberer: the Green Woodpecker
Ring Blackbird: the Ring Ouzel
” Dove
Ringed Dotterel, or Plover
“Guillemot
” -necked or Great Northern Diver
Ring-tailed Eagle: the Golden Eagle in its second year’s plumage
Rippock: the Tern
Rochie: the Little Auk
Rock-birds: the Auk, Puffin, and Guillemot
“Dove, Rocker Dove, Rockier Dove
” Hawk: the Merlin
“Lark, or Pipit
” Ouzel: the Ring Ouzel
“Sandpiper: the Purple Sandpiper
Rodge: the Gadwall
Rood Goose, or Brent Goose
Rose-coloured Ouzel, Pastor, Starling or Thrush
” Linnet: the Redpoll, and Common Linnet
Rotck, or Rotcke: the Little Auk
Rothermuck: the Bernicle Goose
Ruddock: the Redbreast, Robin
Ruddy Goose, or Sheldrake
“Plover: the Bar-tailed Godwit
Ruff (female Reeve)
Runner: the Water-Rail
” Stone: the Ringed Plover
St. Cuthbert’s Duck: the Elder
St. Martin’s Snipe: the Jack Snipe
Sandcock: the Redshank
Sanderling
Sandsnipe: a Sandpiper
Sandwich Tern
Sandy-loo: the Ring Plover
“Poker: the Pochard
Sarcelle: the Long-tailed Duck
Saw-bill: the Merganser
Scale Drake: the Sheldrake
Scallop-toed Sandpiper: the Phalarope
Scammel: the Bar-tailed Godwit
Scapulars: the feathers which rise from the shoulders and cover the sides of the back
Scar Crow: the Black Tern
Scarf and Scart: the Shag
Scaurie: the Herring Gull
Scooper: the Avocet
Scotch Goose: the Brent Goose
Scout: the Common Guillemot
Scurrit: the Lesser Tern
Scrabe: the Manx Shearwater
Scraber: the Black Guillemot
Scraye: the Tern
Screamer and Screecher: the Swift
Screech: the Missel-Thrush
” Martin: the Swift
“Owl: the Barn Owl
Scull: the Skua
Scuttock: the Guillemot
Sea Crow: the Cormorant, and Black-headed Gull
” Dotterel: the Turnstone
“Hen: the Guillemot
Sea Lark: the Rock Pipit and Ring Plover
” Mall, Mew, or Mow: the Gull
“Parrot: the Puffin
” Pheasant: the Pintail Duck
“Pie: the Oyster-catcher
” Sandpiper: the Purple Sandpiper
“Snipe: the Dunlin
” Swallow: the Tern
“Titling: the Rock Pipit
” Turtle-dove: the Guillemot and Rotche
“Wigeon: the Scaup
” Woodcock: the Godwit
Seaford Goose: the Brent Bernicle
Secondaries: the quill-feathers arising from the second joint of the wing
Sedge-bird, Sedge Warbler, or Sedge Wren
Selninger Sandpiper: the Purple Sandpiper
Serrator: the Ivory Gull
Serrated: toothed like a saw
Serrula: the Red-breasted Merganser
Sheldapple: the Crossbill This name and “Shelly” are sometimes given to the Chaffinch
Shepster: the Starling
Shilfa: the Chaffinch
Shoeing-horn: the Avocet
Shore-bird: the Sand Martin
“Pipit: the Rock Pipit
Short-eared or -horned Owl
Shrieker: the Black-tailed Godwit
Shrimp-catcher: the Lesser Tern
Shrite: the Missel Thrush
Silvery Gull: the Herring Gull
Skart: the Cormorant, and Shag
Skein: a flight of Geese
Skiddaw: the Guillemot
Skiddy Cock, Skilty, or Skit: the Water-Rail
Skite: the Yellow Hammer
Skitty: the Spotted Crake
Skrabe: the Black Guillemot
Snake-bird: the Wryneck
Snite: the Snipe
Snow-bird: the Ivory Gull
” -Bunting: Flake, or Fleck
Snuff-headed Wigeon: the Pochard
Solan, or Solent Goose: the Gannet
Solitary Snipe: the Great Snipe
Song Thrush: the Common Thrush
Sparlm-fowl: the female Merganser
Spectacle Duck: the Goldeneye
Speculum: the bright feathers which form a kind of disc of the wing of the Ducks
Speckled-bellied Goose: the White-fronted Goose
“Diver: the young of the Great Northern Diver
Spider-diver: the Dabchick
Speney: the Petrel
Spink: the Chaffinch
Spoonbill, White
Spotted-necked Turtle Dove: the Turtle Dove
Sprat Loon, the young of the Great Northern Diver
” Mew: the Kittiwake Gull
Spurre: the Tern
Standgale, or Stannel: the Kestrel
Starling, Common, Stare, or Starenil
Staynil: the Starling
Steel Duck, Larger: the Goosander
“ ” Lesser: the Merganser
Stint: the Dunlin, or any similar bird, is often so called on the coast
Stock-Dove
Stonechacker or Stoneclink: Stonechat
Stone Curlew: the Great Plover
Stonegale: the Kestrel
Stone Hawk: the Merlin
Stone-smirch: the Wheatear
Stork, White
Storm Cock: the Missel Thrush
“Petrel, or Storm Finch
Straney: the Guillemot
Summer Snipe: the Sandpiper
” Teal: the Garganey
“Duck, or Sheldrake: the Long-tailed Duck
Sweet William: the Goldfinch
Swiftfoot: the Courser
Swimmer, Little: the Phalarope
Swine-pipe: the Redwing
Tail-coverts: upper and under, feathers covering the basal portion
of the tail feathers above and below
Tailor, Proud: the Goldfinch
Tammie Cheekie and Tammie Norie: the Puffin
Tang-waup: the Whimbrel
Tangle-picker: the Turnstone
Taring, Tarrot: the Tern
Tarrock: the young of the Kittiwake Gull
Tarse: the male Falcon, a name used in falconry
Tarsus: the bone of a bird’s foot next above the toes. In a domestic
fowl the tarsus is the portion between what is called
the “drumstick” and the toes; the shank
Tatler: a Sandpiper
Teal Cricket: the Garganey
Teaser: the Skua
Teewit: the Peewit
Tertiaries: the quills which spring from the third or inner joint of a bird’s wing
Thistlefinch: the Goldfinch
Three-toed Sandgrouse
Thrice-cock: the Mistle Thrush
Throstle: the Thrush
Tibia: the joint of a bird’s leg next above the tarsus; the “drumstick.”
Tick: the Whinchat
Tidley: the Wren
Tinkershere, or Tinker’s hue: the Guillemot
Tippet Grebe: the Crested Grebe
Titlark, and Titling: the Meadow Pipit
” Sea: the Rock Pipit
Tom Harry: the Skua
Tom Pudding: the Dabchick
Tommy Norie: the Puffin
Tomtit: the Blue Tit
Tonite: the Wood Warbler
Tony Hoop: the Bullfinch
Tope: the Wren
Tor-Ouzel: the Ring Ouzel
Towilly: the Sanderling
Tree Pipit, or Lark
“Sparrow
” Sheeler: the Tree Creeper
Tuchit: the Lapwing Plover
Tufted Duck
Tuliac: the Skua
Turkey-bird: the Wryneck
Turtle, Sea: the Guillemot and Ricke
Twink: the Chaffinch
Twit Lark: the Meadow Pipit
Tystie: the Black Guillemot
Ulnia: the Tawny Owl
Under tail-coverts: the feathers which overlap the base of the tail beneath
Under wing-coverts: the feathers which cover the wings beneath
Upper tail-coverts: the feathers which overlap the base of the tail above
Upper wing-coverts: the feathers which overlap the base of the quills
Utick: the Whinchat
Vare Wigeon: the Smew
Velvet Runner: the Water-Rail
Wagell: the young of the Great Black-backed Gull
Wall Hick: the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Wash-dish and Washerwoman: the Pied Wagtail
Water-hen: the Moor-hen
“Crow, the Dipper
” Junket: the Common Sandpiper
“Ouzel or Dipper
” Sparrow: the Sedge Warbler
“Tie: the Wagtail
” Wagtail: the Pied Wagtail
Waxen Chatterer or Waxwing
Wease-alley: the Skua
Weasel Coot: the young Smew
“Duck: the Smew
Weet-weet: the Common Sandpiper
Wellplum: the Red-headed Pochard
Whaup: the Curlew
Whautie: the Whitethroat
Wheel-bird, or Wheeler: the Nightjar
Wheety-why: the Whitethroat
Winthrush: the Redwing
Whewer: the Wigeon
Whey-bird: the Whitethroat
Whilk: the Scoter
Whim: the Wigeon
Whimbrel or May-bird
Whin Linnet: the Common Linnet
Whistling Plover: the Golden Plover
Whistling Swan: the Whooper Swan
White Baker: the Spotted Flycatcher
White-breasted Blackbird: the Ring or Water Ouzel
” -faced Duck: the Pochard
“Tinch: the Chaffinch
” -headed Goosander: the Smew
“ -headed Cormorant: the Common Cormorant
” -headed Harpy: the Moor Buzzard
“Nun: the Smew
” -spot Cormorant: the Common Cormorant
“ -tail: the Wheatear
” -winged Black Duck: the Velvet Scoter
Whit-ile, i.e. Whittle: the Green Woodpecker
Whitterick: the Curlew
Whitty-beard: the Whitethroat
Whitwall and Witwall: the Green Woodpecker
Wierangel: the Ash-coloured Shrike
Willock and Willy: the Guillemot
Willow-biter: the Tomtit
Willywicket: the Common Sandpiper
Windhover and Windfanner: the Kestrel
Windle, Winnard, and Wind-thrush: the Redwing
Wing-coverts: several rows of feathers covering the basal part of
the quills above and below, and called the upper and
under wing-coverts; the feathers outside these are
called the lesser wing-coverts
Winglet: a process arising from near the base of the terminal joint of
the wing, answering to the thumb in the human hand
Winnel and Windle-Straw: the Whitethroat
Winter-bonnet: the Common Gull
“Duck: the Pintail Duck
Winter-Gull, or Mew: the Common Gull in its winter plumage
” Wagtail: the grey-headed Wagtail
Witch: the Petrel
Witwall: the Green Woodpecker
Woodcock Owl: the Short-eared Owl
“Sea: the Godwit
” -Snipe: the Great Snipe
Woodcracker: the Nuthatch
Wood Grouse: the Capercaillie
Woodpie: the Green Woodpecker
Wood Sandpiper
“Shrike Woodchat
Woodspite, Woodwall, and Woodwele: the Green Woodpecker
Wood Warbler, or Wren
Writing Lark: the Bunting, so called from the markings of the eggs
Yaffil, Yaffle, Yaffler, Yappingale: the Green Woodpecker
Yardkeep and Yarwhip: the Bar-tailed Godwit
Yarwhelp: the Stone Plover and Godwit
Yeldrin and Yeldrock: the Yellow Hammer
Yellow legged Gull: the Lesser Black-backed Gull
” Sandpiper: the young of the Ruff
“Owl: the White Owl
” Plover: the Golden Plover
“Poll: the Wigeon
” Warbler: the Willow Warbler
“Yeldock, Yoit, Yoldrin and Yowley, the Yellow Hammer
Yelper: the Avocet
INDEX OF BIRDS AND OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The first numeral refers to the text, the second to the illustration facing the page named.
Auk, Little: 294; p. 291
Avocet: 252; p. 247
Bearded Reedling: 41; p. 46
Bee-eater: 135; p. 129
Bittern: 173; p. 231
Blackbird: 7; p. 3
Blackcap: 23; p. 17
Brambling: 97; p. 85
Bullfinch: 101; p. 97
Bunting, Cirl: 108; p. 108
" Corn (or common): 106; p. 108
" Lapland: 111; p. 108
" Reed: 109; p. 108
" Snow: 110; p. 108
" Yellow (Yellow Hammer): 107; p. 116
Burgomaster: see Gull, Glaucous
Bustard, Great: 236; p. 220
Buzzard, Common: 150; p. 149
" Honey: 151; p. 149
" Rough-legged: 151; p. 149
Capercaillie: 212; p. 220
Chaffinch: 95; p. 96
Chiff-chaff: 30; p. 30
Chough: 56; p. 59
Coot: 233; p. 231
Cormorant, Common: 165; p. 166
" Green: 167; p. 166
Courser, Cream-coloured: 240; p. 262
Crake, Corn: 228; p. 230
" Little: 230; p. 230
" Spotted: 229; p. 230
Crane: 234; p. 234
Crested Tit: see Titmice
Crossbill: 103; p. 138
" Two barred (White-winged): 106; p. 138
Crow, Carrion: 65; p. 68
" Hooded: 67; p. 68
Cuckoo: 137; p. 138
Curlew, Common: 273; p. 246
Dabchick: see Grebe, Little
Dipper: 51; p. 47
Diver, Black-throated: 298; p. 291
" Great Northern: 297; p. 291
" Red-throated: 299; p. 291
Dotterel: 244; p. 246
Dove, Ring (Wood Pigeon): 203; p. 208
" Rock: 208; p. 208
" Stock: 207; p. 208
" Turtle: 209; p. 208
Duck, Black: see Scoter, Black
" Eider: 197; p. 198
" Goldeneye: 195; p. 191
" Long-tailed: 196; p. 198
" Pintail: 190; p. 190
" Scaup: 194; p. 191
" Tufted: 194; p. 191
" Wild: 185; p. 179
Dunlin: 262; p. 262
Eagle, Golden: 152; p. 152
" Sea, or White-tailed: 153; p. 152
" Spotted: 152; p. 152
Falcon: see Peregrine Falcon
Fern Owl: see Nightjar
Fieldfare: 5; p. 2
Flycatcher, Pied: 79; p. 69
" Spotted: 77; p. 69
Fulmar: see Petrel, Fulmar
Gadwall: 189; p. 179
Gallinule: see Moor-hen
Gannet: 168; p. 167
Garganey: 192; p. 190
Godwit, Bar-tailed: 272; p. 247
" Black-tailed: 273; p. 270
Gold Crest: see Wren
Goldfinch: 88; p. 96
Goosander: 201; p. 199
Goose, Bean: 178; p. 178
" Bernicle: 181; p. 166
" Brent: 180; p. 166
" Grey Lag: 176; p. 178
" Pink-footed: 179; p. 178
" White-fronted: 177; p. 178
Grebe, Black-necked: 308; p. 298
" Great-crested: 300; p. 298
" Little: 302; p. 199
" Red-necked: 301; p. 298
" Slavonian: 302; p. 298
Greenfinch: 86; p. 69
Greenshank: 271; p. 270
Grosbeak, Pine: 102
Grouse, Black: 213; p. 209
" Red: 215; p. 209
Guillemot, Common: 292; p. 290
" Black: 294; p. 290
Gull, Black or Brown-headed: 281; p. 282
" Common: 283; p. 279
" Glaucous: 287; p. 279
" Great Black-backed: 286; p. 279
" Herring: 285; p. 282
" Kittiwake: 287; p. 282
" Lesser Black-backed: 285; p. 279
" Little: 281; p. 282
Harrier, Hen: 148; p. 148
" Marsh: 147; p. 153
" Montagu’s: 149; p. 148
Hawfinch: 87; p. 96
Hawk, Sparrow: 156; p. 153
Heron, Common: 170; p. 234
" Night: 173; p. 234
Hobby: 161; p. 153
Hoopoe: 136; p. 129
Jackdaw: 61; p. 68
Jay: 58; p. 59
Kestrel: 163; p. 148
Kingfisher: 132; p. 129
Kite: 158; p. 149
Kittiwake: see Gull, Kittiwake
Knot: 261; p. 257
Lapwing: 247; p. 246
Lark, Shore: 122; p. 117
" Sky: 119; p. 117
" Wood: 122; p. 117
Linnet: 98; p. 85
" Mountain: 100; p. 97
Magpie: 59; p. 59
Martin, House: 83; p. 84
" Sand: 84; p. 84
Merganser: 202; p. 199
Merlin: 162; p. 153
Moor-hen: 231; p. 231
Nettle-creeper: see Whitethroat
Nightingale: 17; p. 14
Nightjar: 125; p. 220
Nutcracker: 57; p. 58
Nuthatch: 44; p. 46
Oriole: 53; p. 47
Osprey: 154; p. 152
Owl, Barn or White: 142; p. 139
" Long-eared: 144; p. 139
" Short-eared: 145; p. 139
" Tawny or Brown: 146; p. 139
Ox-bird: see Dunlin
Ox-eye: see Great Tit
Oyster-catcher: 248; p. 278
Partridge, Common: 222; p. 209
" Red-legged: 225;
p. 209
Penguin: see Razor-bill
Peewit: see Lapwing
Peregrine Falcon: 159; p. 148
Petrel, Fork-tailed: 308; p. 299
" Fulmar: 304; p. 299
" Storm: 307; p. 299
Phalarope, Grey: 253; p. 247
" Red-necked: 253; p. 247
Pheasant: 219; p. 220
Pipit, Meadow: 117; p. 116
" Rock: 118; p. 116
" Tree: 116; p. 116
Pigeon, Wood; 203; p. 208
Plover, Cream-coloured: 240
" Golden: 240; p. 235
" Green: 247
" Grey: 242; p. 235
" Kentish: 246; p. 235
" Ringed: 244; p. 235
" Stone or Great Norfolk: 239; p. 246
Pochard (or Dunbird): 193; p. 191
Pratincole: 238; p. 221
Ptarmigan: 217; p. 221
Puffin: 295; p. 290
Quail: 226; p. 221
Raven: 63; p. 59
Razor-bill: 291; p. 290
Redbreast: see Robin
Redpoll, Lesser: 99; p. 97
" Mealy: 99; p. 97
Redstart: 14; p. 9
" Black: 16; p. 9
Redshank; 269; p. 270
Redwing: 2; p. 2
Reedling, Bearded: see Bearded Reedling
Reeve, Female of Ruff: 266
Ring Ouzel: 10; p. 3
Ringtail: see Hen Harrier
Robin: 16; p. 14
Roller: 134; p. 129
Rook; 68; p. 68
Ruff and Reeve: 266; p. 270
Sanderling: 260; p. 257
Sandgrouse: 211; p. 221
Sandpiper, Common: 268; p. 263
" Curlew: 261; p. 263
" Green: 267; p. 263
" Purple: 264; p. 263
" Wood: 268; p. 257
Scaup: 194; p. 191
Scoter, Black (or Common): 199; p. 198
" Surf: 201
" Velvet: 200; p. 198
Shag: 167; p. 166
Shearwater, Great: 305; p. 283
" Manx: 305; p. 299
Sheldrake: 184; p. 179
Shoveler: 189; p. 179
Shrike, Great Grey: 73; p. 58
" Lesser Grey: 74
" Red-backed: 74; p. 58
" Woodchat: 76; p. 58
Siskin: 90; p. 96
Skua, Great: 288; p. 283
" Richardson’s: 290; p. 283
" Twist-tailed: 289; p. 283
Smew: 202; p. 199
Snipe, Common; 257; p. 256
" Jack: 259; p. 256
" Great or Solitary: 256; p. 256
Sparrow: House: 92; p. 85
" Hedge: 20; p. 14
" Tree: 94; p. 85
Spoonbill, White: 176; p. 231
Starling: 54; p. 47
" Rose-coloured: 56; p. 47
Stint, Little: 265; p. 262
" Temminck’s: 265; p. 262
Stonechat: 13; p. 9
Stork: 175; p. 234
" Black: 175
Swallow: 80; p. 84
" Night: see Nightjar
Swan, Bewick’s: 181; p. 167
" Whooper or Wild: 180; p. 167
Swift: 123; p. 84
Teal: 191; p. 190
Tern, Arctic: 278; p. 271
" Black: 275; p. 271
" Common: 278; p. 278
" Little: 279; p. 278
" Roseate: 277; p. 271
" Sandwich: 276; p. 271
Thick-knee: see Plover, Great
Thrush, Song: 1; p. 2
" Mistle: 1; p. 2
Titmouse, Great: 37; p. 34
" Blue: 39; p. 35
" Cole: 40; p. 35
" Marsh: 41; p. 35
" Bearded: 42
" Crested: 42; p. 35
" Long-tailed: 35; p. 34
Titlark: see Pipit, Meadow
Tree-creeper: 47; p. 46
Turnstone: 250; p. 278
Twite: see Linnet, Mountain
Wagtail, Blue-headed: 115; p. 109
" Grey: 113; p. 109
" Pied: 112; p. 109
" White: 111; p. 109
" Yellow: 115; p. 109
Warbler: Dartford: 25; p. 31
" Garden: 23; p. 17
" Grasshopper: 28; p. 30
" Marsh: 27; p. 31
" Reed: 25; p. 31
" Sedge: 27; p. 31
" Willow: 31; p. 30
" Wood: 32; p. 30
Waterhen: see Moor-hen
Water Rail: 230; p. 230
Waxwing: 76; p. 69
Wheatear: 10; p. 14
Whimbrel: 275; p. 257
Whinchat: 12; p. 9
Whitethroat: 21; p. 17
" Lesser: 22; p. 17
Wigeon: 192; p. 190
Windhover: see Kestrel
Woodcock: 254; p. 256
Woodpecker, Green: 129; p. 128
" Great Spotted: 127; p. 128
" Lesser Spotted: 129; p. 128
Wren, Common: 48; p. 46
" Gold-crested: 33; p. 34
" Fire-crested: 35; p. 34
Wryneck: 131; p. 128
Yellow Hammer: see Bunting, Yellow
The illustration captions have been rearranged so they are listed in order of picture layout.
There were quite a few minor punctuation corrections made that are not detailed here. Several words were shown both with a hyphen and without (ex., sea-shore and seashore) and with diacritical accents and not. For the diacritical marks, either other resources were used to select the ‘correct’ version or the most frequently used variation was adopted. Some quoted passages have words that appear to be typos (ex., Dottrels p. 224); but were left unchanged as that was or may have been the way they were originally spelt in the text from which it is quoted. In the Glossary, several entries were out of alphabetical order and were moved to the correct location.
The PODICIPEDIDÆ section (Page 300) was missing the word FAMILY from the title. As most of the species names in the text are shown in ALLCAPS, those few shown as small caps were converted to ALLCAPS. Formatting of references to similar Family or Genus names were standardized to the most prevalent form.
Typographical Corrections
| Page | Correction | |
| xx | bind ⇒ hind | |
| 2 | cheery ⇒ cherry | |
| 234 | Neue ⇒ Nene |
Notes
41 Macgillivray.
42 Rev. A. C. Smith, in the Zoologist, vol. viii. p. 2977.
43 Toussenel.
44 Colonel C. H. Smith.
45 Lin. Trans., vol. xxi. p. 155.
46 From this habit, the Turnstone is in Norfolk called a ‘Tangle-picker’.—C. A. J.
47 Vol. ix. p. 3077.
48 It is not a little singular that the Spoonbill, a bird which strongly contrasts with the Avocet in the form of its bill, ploughs the sand from one side to another, while hunting for its food.
49 Macgillivray.
50 The Rev. R. Lubbock states in his Fauna of Norfolk, 1845, that it has ceased to breed regularly in Norfolk, but that eggs had been recently obtained at Crowland Wash in Lincolnshire.
51 I have been beset in this manner by a Lesser Tern, so far on in the summer that I could not attribute its actions to any anxiety about either eggs or young. I am inclined to think it is, on such occasions, taught by its instinct to accompany a traveller for the sake of the insects disturbed by his movements. During the summer months, the shingle, on a sunny beach, is haunted by myriads of sluggish flies, which rarely take wing unless thus disturbed. That the Chimney Swallow often accompanies the traveller for this object, I have no doubt; as I have seen them fly to and fro before me, darting in among the swarming flies, and so intent in their chase, as to pass within a few yards of my feet every time they crossed my path.
52 A specimen shot in Norfolk was found to contain a full-grown Golden Plover entire.
53 Ornithologist’s Guide to Orkney and Shetland, p. 112.
54 Zoologist, vol. iii. p. 880.
55 Vol. ii. p. 45.
56 Wilson’s Voyage round the Coast of Scotland.
57 Mr. Yarrell, vol. iii. p. 426, quotes Sir Thomas Browne as an authority for the fact that Divers formerly bred in the Broads of Norfolk. A careful examination of that author will show, however, that Sir Thomas Browne had seen only a single specimen of the Northern Diver, his ‘Divers’, or ‘Dive-fowl’, being the Crested and Lesser Grebes, etc., which, as we have seen above, continue to breed in the Broads.
58 Vol. iii. p. 974.
59 Zoologist, vol. ix. p. 3084.
60 ‘Calf’, on many parts of the coast, is a name given to the smaller of two rocks in proximity, of which the larger is called the ‘Cow’.