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diff --git a/41550-0.txt b/41550-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9086b7d --- /dev/null +++ b/41550-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2496 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41550 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 41550-h.htm or 41550-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41550/41550-h/41550-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41550/41550-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/nestseggsoffamil00adamiala + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + + + + +NESTS AND EGGS OF FAMILIAR BRITISH BIRDS, + +Described and Illustrated; With an Account of the Haunts and Habits +of the Feathered Architects, and Their Times and Modes of Building; + +SECOND SERIES. + +by + +H. G. ADAMS. + +Author of "Favorite Song Birds," "Beautiful Butterflies," +"Humming Birds," &c., &c. + +With Eight Coloured Plates of Eggs, +Containing Thirty-Eight Different Species. + + + + + + + +London: +Groombridge and Sons, 5, Paternoster Row. +M DCCC LVII. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +WHAT IS AN EGG? + + +It may at first strike our young readers that this is a question very +easily answered; if they think so, let them try what sort of an answer +they can give to it, and if they break down in the definition, we will +endeavour to help them, as we are told in the old fable, Jupiter did +the waggoner; but it is best for young people to _try_, and, for that +matter, old people too; let them never believe that they _can't_ do a +thing--"where there's a will there's a way." Many a boy that will take +a deal of pains, and incur no inconsiderable risk of life and limb, to +climb up a tree after a bird's nest, finds it too much trouble to read +and learn about the habits of the creature he is thus ready to deprive +of its warm comfortable home and beautiful eggs. He cannot tell you, if +you ask him, of what the nest is composed, nor how, nor when it was +built, much less can he answer the question which we have just put to +our readers,-- + +WHAT IS AN EGG? + +"Well," we hear some one say, "an Egg is a thing of an oval shape, +large or small, white or coloured and speckled, as the case may be; it +has a shell which breaks if you knock it, because it is brittle; and +inside is a yellow substance called the yolk, surrounded by a white, +clear liquid; if you boil it for a little time it becomes _set_, so +that you can take it up in a spoon, and in this state it is good to +eat. Oh! very good, I like an egg, especially for breakfast, with a +little salt; and then eggs, and other things with them, make custards, +and pancakes, and puddings, and all sorts of nice things; and then I +recollect some such funny '_Stanzas to an Egg by a Spoon_,' which begin, + + 'Pledge of a feathered pair's affection, + Kidnapped in thy downy nest, + Soon for my breakfast--sad reflection! + Must thou in yon pot be drest.'" + +Well, never mind the rest. Now listen to our definition of an Egg. The +word itself, we may observe first of all, is of Saxon origin; that this +is how the ancient dwellers on our island used to write it aeg, you may +call it _aeg_ or _oeg_, which you like. Johnson says the term means, +"That which is laid by feathered and some other animals, from which +their young is produced;" it is also, we are told by the same +authority, "the spawn or sperm of other creatures," as fish, which +are said, you know, not to lay eggs, but to _spawn_. Another +dictionary-maker defines it to be "the _ovum_ of birds," giving us here +the Latin for egg, hence that peculiar shape is called _oval_, and the +science of eggs is sometimes termed + + +OVOLOGY. + +As we have told you in the first volume of this series, _Oology_ is +another term for this science, which has occupied the attention of many +learned men, who have gone deeper into Eggs than ever you or I shall, +and told us such strange things about them, as would scarcely be +believed by the very hens that laid them. Little does the happy mother +think, when she goes cackling about the yard, proclaiming the event, +that she has produced such a wonderful object. It looks a simple affair +enough, one might make a thing very like it with a piece of chalk; +touch it, roll it about; boil it, eat it, or crack it, and let the +inside flow out; there's the yellow, and there's the white; there's +nothing very particular in that, all eggs are so. Well, who made them +so? and of what _are_ they made? and what reason is there for this +peculiar arrangement of the different parts of an Egg? and how is it +that, under certain circumstances, so complete a change should take +place in the nature of its contents--that the fluids should be +gradually absorbed into a solid body, and that, by and by, at the end +of a period which can be calculated to a nicety, the shell should be +burst open, and there should come forth a living creature? Truly this +_is_ wonderful; but we are surrounded by wonders, and only heed them +not because they are so common. + + _Common_ is the vital air, + _Common_ is the azure sky, + _Common_ flowers are everywhere, + _Common_ stars shine out on high: + Music of the forest bird, + Cometh without stint or measure, + Friendly smile and loving word, + _Common_ are as joy and pleasure; + Why from _common_ things then turn, + And for the _uncommon_ yearn? + +But about this common thing, an Egg? It is the germ or seed, so to +speak, of animal life; in it is contained all that is necessary for the +formation of the perfect living creature; in that little oval case lie +snugly packed up, bones, and muscles, and sinews, and all the delicate +parts, organs, as they would be called, from a Greek word signifying an +instrument, thus the tongue is an organ of speech, the eye of sight, +and so on. But all these organs are in an _undeveloped_ state, as the +flower is in the bud; develope is a French word, and signifies to +unroll, or unfold. The animal is there in _embryo_; this again is +Greek, and means a thing unperfected, or unfinished, so the poet +Thompson says:-- + + "While the promised fruit + Lies yet a little _embryo_ unperceived, + Within its crimson folds." + +And so with closer reference to our subject, we might say, + + While the promised bird + Lies yet a little _embryo_ unperceived, + Within its oval shell. + +Dr. Harvey, who made that great discovery, the circulation of the +blood, uttered a truth when he said _omne animal ex ovo_, every animal +is born of an egg, for although some animals are _oviparous_, and +others _viviparous_,--the two words come from _ovum_ egg, _vivum_ life, +and _pario_ to bring forth--yet may the first stage of all animal life +be compared to an Egg. From the smallest insect up to the most huge and +unwieldy creature that swims in the deep sea, or walks upon the land. +All were at one time alike, mere specks, surrounded by fluid matter, +which afforded the material for growth and nourishment, and enclosed in +some kind of a case, which if not exactly like an egg shell, answers +the same purpose of protection from injury. + +What a vast difference is there between the bright-winged insect, whose +history we traced in our volume on Butterflies, and the bird with downy +plumage and the voice of melody; between that again and the great +crocodile, in his scaly coat of mail; the mighty boa constrictor, king +of serpents; or that tyrant of the deep, the fierce voracious shark; +and yet all these come from Eggs, very similar in form, and precisely +so in their nature and internal construction. Look too at the +difference in size, between the egg of the Humming Bird, no bigger than +a pea, and that of the Ostrich, as large as a man's head nearly, or +bigger still that of the Epyornis, of which fossil remains have been +found in Madagascar, the contents of which must have been equal to six +ostrichs', or one hundred and forty-eight common hens' eggs, that is +about seventeen English pints; and yet in all these the germ, or as it +would be called, the vital principle, that is, the principle of life, +is but a tiny speck, or circle, which is attached to the membrane that +surrounds the yellow portion, or yolk; it is from this that the animal +in embryo derives nourishment, and the size of it, and consequently of +the whole egg, is in proportion to the quantity that is required to +sustain life, until the protection of the shell is no longer necessary. +There is only so much food stored up as the bird, or reptile, or +whatever it may be, requires before it is strong enough to make an +opening in its prison, and come forth to provide for itself, or be fed +by the parent. Some creatures that eventually attain a large size are +born, or _hatched_, as it is termed, comparatively small; thus the size +of the egg is not always in proportion to that of the animal which lays +it; the crocodile's egg, for instance, is but little larger than that +of the common fowl; the young comes forth like a small lizard, about +two or three inches long, takes to the water at once, and begins to +catch insects on its own account; its mother may be twenty or thirty +feet in length. Most creatures that produce eggs small in proportion to +their size lay a great many; this is especially the case with fish, +whose _spawn_ must be numbered by millions: it has been calculated that +if the young of a single pair of herrings were suffered to breed +undisturbed, they would in twenty years together make up a bulk six +times the size of the earth; but so many creatures feed upon this +spawn, that few of the eggs of which it is composed ever come to young +fish, that is comparatively few, for the vast shoals which every year +visit our shores, for the purpose of depositing their spawn in shallow +water, shew that immense numbers must escape the dangers to which they +are exposed. There are some fish of the fierce and rapacious kind, such +as the Ray, the Dog-fish, and the Shark, which attain a considerable +size before they lose the protection of the egg-shell, which is of a +very peculiar shape and construction, being of a leathery texture, +flat, and four-cornered, with a long curling string-like projection +from each corner; frequenters of the coast, to whom they are very +familiar objects, being often cast up on the beach, call them Mermaid's +purses, and Fairy-purses, while the clustered Eggs of the Cuttle-fish +they term Sea Grapes. + +All eggs require warmth to hatch them; the fishes know this, not as we +know it, because we have read, or been told so, and can _reason_ upon +causes and consequences, and so understand _why_, but they know it +_instinctively_; they possess, in common with all unreasoning +creatures, what we call _instinct_, that is, a natural impulse to do in +the right way, and at the proper time, whatever may be necessary for +the maintenance of that state of existence in which God has placed +them; so instinct directs the fishes when the time for spawning has +arrived, to leave the deep waters, where they generally remain safe +from the pursuit of man, for the shores, where the warmth of the sun +can reach the eggs, and awaken the principle of life within them. So +instinct teaches the bird to leave its winter home, in some far +southern country, and fly hundreds of miles across land and ocean, to +reach a spot suitable for the purpose of breeding and rearing its +young; to collect the materials and to build its nest, and after the +eggs are laid, to sit patiently on them the appointed time; to select +the food proper for those little gaping bills, and to tend the +fledglings carefully, until they are able to fly and provide for +themselves, and then, when their wings are strong enough for the +journey, and their food begins to get scarce, away they go back to the +south of Europe, or Africa, straight as an arrow, and the young ones, +which have never flown that way before, seem to know it as well as +those which have been backwards and forwards, often and often. + +But the egg, what of that? Can we describe its nature and construction +in a way sufficiently clear for our readers to understand? Let us +try:--it is like a series of cases or envelopes, one within the other; +the outer one only, which is the last formed, being hard and unelastic, +that is, it will not stretch or change its shape. Like the shells of +some fish, and other testaceous animals, it is composed of carbonate of +lime, which the animal has the power of secreting, as it is called, +from its food. Hens sometimes lay soft eggs, without a shell; this +shews a deficiency of the secreting power, or a want of the necessary +material, and may generally be remedied by mixing some chalk with the +food, or scattering it about the yard. Next to the shell is a skin +called the _membrana putaminis_, that means the membrane or skin of the +shell; it has also a Greek name--_chorian_; it is divided into two +layers, which separate at the larger end, and leave a space called the +_vesicula aëris_, that is, air vesicle, or little bladder; this +contains the air necessary for the chick to breathe before it chips the +shell. Enclosed in this membrane is the _albumen_, or white fluid, +sometimes called the _glair_, from the Latin _glarea_; in the same +language _albus_ means white; and our readers who live in Albion, so +called from her chalky cliffs, ought to see at once from whence we +derive the word _albumen_; the little chords by which this bag of fluid +is suspended are called _chalaza_; this word comes from a Greek root, +and has reference to the connection between the suspending chords and +the germ, or spot, in which is the vital principle. + +We now come to what may be called the provision bag, because it +encloses the yolk, which serves as food for the animal in embryo; it is +called _membrana vitelli_, or the skin of life. Thus our examination of +the egg has brought to view the three great necessities of all +existence--_protection_, the shell and albumen; _nutrition_ or food, +the yolk; and the _vital principle_, to understand the nature of which +has puzzled the greatest philosophers that the world ever saw. It is +said in the Scriptures that God breathed into man the breath of life, +but what this may be we can none of us tell; it is given to us and we +_live_, it is taken away from us and we _die_; and so do all God's +creatures, which by Him, and Him alone, live, and move, and have their +being. Man can do many wonderful things, but he has not yet been, nor +will he ever be, able to make an egg, much less to produce a chick from +it. + +Let us now fancy that we are looking upon one of these strange little +elongated globes, and that instead of being _opaque_, that is, +dark--not clear, it is transparent, so that we can see into it, and +observe the changes which are taking place there. The mother bird has +been sitting on it for, say twelve hours, and the warmth of her body +has called into action the principle of growth, or of vitality; the +little spot and ring in the centre of the yolk have become somewhat +enlarged and changed in form; they are no longer round, but the outline +is irregular, shewing a tendency to shoot or spread out on all sides. +Four hours later shews them yet more enlarged, and getting into an oval +shape, with a distinct, though somewhat broken line down the centre. +When the _incubation_ has lasted thirty-six hours, (for meaning of this +word, see the first series of "Nests and Eggs,") there is a still +greater increase in the germ, and a spreading of its mottled margin +over a portion of the yolk; if at this stage of growth we examine it +through a magnifying glass, we shall see a little body like some +curious kind of caterpillar, and veins shaped like stags' horns +branching out of it in every direction. On the fourth day the chick is +a more strange-looking object still, with great projecting eyes with +rings round them, like spectacles, and what appears to be a very blunt +sort of a snout or muzzle; the whole head, and there is not much else, +reminds one of that of a serpent, it might be the Cobra di Capello, or +the Spectacle Snake, seen through a diminishing glass. But we cannot +give a proper description of it, so we have called in the aid of our +artist, who has furnished us, on the next page, with portraits of the +interesting creature at four different stages of its growth. In the +last we get a side view, and begin to fancy we discover some +resemblance to a baby-fowl, although a very hideous one. + + [Illustration: 36 hours. + + 4 days. + + 6 days. + + 10 days.] + +All this time a great change has been going on in the whole interior of +the egg; the chick has, of course greatly increased, and the red veins +have become more numerous, and spread over the entire surface; the yolk +is scarcely distinguishable from the other portions. Now, too, the +bones of the chick have begun to form, and we clearly perceive the +projection of the wings and the stump of the tail, while the pupil of +the eye is quite clear and distinct. Larger and larger the creature +grows, until it fills all the space, and has to be doubled up in a very +curious manner, with the feet and the head brought together, and the +bill close to the shell, ready to be used as the instrument of +liberation. Many persons suppose that the parent bird chips the shell, +but this is not so, it is done by the little creature within, which has +first to make its way through a thick membrane, or skin; this it does +on the twenty-first day of incubation; we are speaking now of the +common fowl, the periods in different species of birds vary +considerably, although the process of growth in all is the same. One +wonders how, with its soft bill, the little creature can make its way +through the tough skin, and hard, though brittle shell; but it must be +remembered that the elastic skin is stretched to its greatest extent, +and when in this state, a slight prick will make a large opening; and +the shell, too, is no doubt, by the pressure from within, rendered less +capable of resisting the stroke, slight though it be, of the bill of +the prisoner, which does sometimes fail to make its escape, and dies in +confinement, if not released by some friendly hand from without. + +As if to assist in the work of opening a passage to the light and air, +there is found on the tip of the chick's bill a small horny scale, +having at the centre a hard and sharp projecting point, which, from the +position of the head, is brought into direct and constant contact with +the inner surface of the shell; this scale soon loosens and comes away +after the chick is hatched, there is then no further use for it. The +preceding figure represents the chick as it lies closely folded up on +the twenty-first day, just previous to its deliverance from bondage. + +We have now finished our account of this wonderful process, and may say +in the words of a recent writer, "Dull indeed of soul must the man be, +(or boy either,) in whom an egg does not inspire emotions of awe and +admiration, wonder and worship. The circle of life is from the adult +(fully-grown animal,) to the egg. This is the vital round--the +beginning and the ending--the ending and the beginning. The wheel goes +round continually, life kindling sparks of life; and what is called +death is the worn-out forms becoming cold and decaying away." + + +HOW TO PRESERVE EGGS FOR THE CABINET. + +For this purpose eggs which are newly laid should always be chosen, as +any decomposition of the contents will, probably, cause a +discolouration of the shell. Make a hole at the smaller end, with an +awl, or some other pointed instrument, and another at the larger end, +which should be as small as possible, merely a pin hole will do; to +this latter the mouth must be applied to blow out the contents. If the +yolk does not come out readily, get a cup full of water, and immersing +the sharp end into it, put your mouth to the blunt end, and suck up +some of the water into the shell, then shake it about well, and blow it +out again; repeat this operation two or three times, if necessary. If +the shell has got soiled in any way, wash it well in strong lather, +using a nail-brush if the stains do not come off readily, but great +care must be taken in the handling of so brittle and fragile an +article. Now as the membrane which lines the shell would be likely to +decompose, and render it offensive, if not injure its beauty, it is +best to wash the inside with a solution of the bichloride of mercury, +commonly called corrosive sublimate, in spirits of wine; this solution +should be prepared by a chemist, and used with great caution, as it is +extremely poisonous. Pour it into a wineglass, and holding the egg +firmly, yet tenderly, with the finger and thumb, which should not touch +the liquid, put the smaller end therein; then apply the mouth, as +previously directed, to the larger end, and suck up gently; cease doing +so as soon as you are aware, by a cold sensation in the finger and +thumb, that the liquid has entered the shell, which then take up by the +two ends, so as to stop the orifice, and shake it well, then blow the +solution back into the glass, taking care to wash the lips or the +fingers if it comes in contact with either of them. The Oological +specimen will soon dry, and is now ready for the cabinet. To render it +more glossy and brilliant, it may have a coat of mastic varnish, put on +thinly with a camel-hair brush, or, if the egg be of a blue or green +tint, as many are, a solution of very pure white gum arabic is best, as +the varnish is apt to injure those delicate colours. + +As to the formation of the cabinet, and arrangement of the eggs +therein, directions are scarcely necessary; this must depend very much +upon the means and conveniences, as well as the taste of the collector. +Shallow drawers with divisions sufficiently broad for the names of the +specimens to be written or pasted along the tops, are perhaps best. +Small pill-boxes, which may have the names on the lids, are not bad +receptacles, and the cost of a few dozens of these is not much; but +above all things let the arrangements be carried out with neatness and +order; do not let the specimens be huddled together, but classified, +and placed so that the hand may be laid upon any one which may be +required. Duplicates for exchanging with other collectors, or replacing +any which may be broken, may be put carefully in a drawer by +themselves, their presence with the others will only cause unnecessary +confusion and trouble. + +Care should be taken not to name a specimen positively, if there is any +doubt of its identity, it may be named with a query; and in the +note-book, which every collector should keep, should be entered all the +circumstances which weigh for or against the correctness of the +designation given to it. This note-book ought to be a complete record +of the time and place of acquisition of every specimen included in the +collection, and of all that is curious or interesting connected with +it. If nests as well as eggs are preserved, of course drawers with +divisions are the very best receptacles; they occupy a great deal of +space, and, except in some cases where the structure is peculiarly neat +or curious, it is perhaps scarcely worth while to take and preserve +them, especially as doing so often involves a cruel spoliation of the +feathered architects, whose carefully chosen situations for building +are well described by Dr. Bidlake, in his "Walks in a Forest." + + "The cavern-loving Wren sequester'd seeks + The verdant shelter of the hollow stump; + And with congenial moss, harmless deceit, + Constructs a safe abode. On topmost boughs + The glossy Raven, and the hoarse-voiced Crow, + Rock'd by the storm, erect their airy nests. + The Ouzel, lone frequenter of the grove + Of fragrant pines, in solemn depths of shade + Finds rest, or 'mid the holly's shining leaves; + A simple bush, the piping Thrush contents, + Though in the woodland concert he aloft + Trills from his spotted throat a powerful strain, + And scorns the humble choir. The Lark too asks + A lowly dwelling hid beneath the turf, + A hollow trodden by the sinking hoof: + Songster of heaven! who to the sun such lays + Pours forth as earth ne'er owns. Within the hedge + The Sparrow lays her sky-blue eggs. The barn, + With eaves o'er-pendent, holds the chattering tribe. + Secret the Linnet seeks the tangled copse. + The White Owls seek some ruin'd antique wall, + Fearless of rapine; or in hollow trees, + Which age has cavern'd, safely courts repose. + The thievish Pie, in twofold colours clad, + Roofs o'er her curious nest with firm wreath'd twigs, + And side-long forms her cautious door; she dreads + The talon'd Kite, or pouncing Hawk, savage + Herself, with craft suspicion ever dwells." + + + + +FACTS AND ANECDOTES OF NESTS AND EGGS. + + +EASTER EGGS. + +During the fifteen days after Easter, which constitute the Russian +carnival, the people of that country supply themselves with eggs, +variously coloured, which they send or give to one another as presents; +and when they meet during this time they salute with the words, "Christ +is risen;" to which the other having answered "He is certainly risen," +they kiss one another. He that salutes first is obliged to present the +other with an egg; no one, of whatever rank or sex, being allowed to +refuse either the egg or the kiss. This custom prevails in many +Catholic countries; the eggs, it appears, being considered as an emblem +of the resurrection. + + +EGGS USED AS COIN. + +The want of any copper coin in Peru has given rise to a curious +practice of which Lieutenant Maw was informed at Truxillo. A person +coming to the market of that city, and not wishing to spend a real upon +every article, purchases a real's worth of eggs, with which he or she +proceeds to market; buying an egg's worth of vegetables from one, and +so on from others, till all that was wanted has been obtained. The eggs +are taken as current payment, and finally purchased themselves by those +who require them for use. + + +ILLUMINATED NESTS. + +The birds that build hanging nests are at Cape Cormorin numerous. At +night each of their little habitations is lighted up, as if to see +company. The sagacious little bird fastens a bit of clay to the top of +the nest, and then picks up a firefly, and sticks it on the clay to +illuminate the dwelling, which consists of two rooms. Sometimes there +are three or four fire-flies, and their blaze of light in the little +cell dazzles the eyes of the bats, which often kill the young of these +birds.--_Dr. Buchanan._ + + +AN EGG WITHIN AN EGG. + +A few years since, M. Seguin submitted to the Academy of Sciences at +Paris, a hen's egg of extraordinary size, in which was a second egg. +Its dimensions were eighty-eight millimetres by fifty-nine, or nearly +three inches and a half by two and a quarter. More recently, in 1855, +there appeared in an English scientific journal, an account of a +similar oological curiosity, produced in Scotland, in the case of a +turkey's egg. + + +A BOY REPROVED BY A BIRD. + +A correspondent of "The Youths' Instructor" relates the following +anecdote, to which our young readers are earnestly requested to pay +especial attention:--"When quite young, in my boyish days, I had +watched some sparrows carrying materials to build their nests, (in the +usual season,) under the eaves of a cottage adjoining our own; and +although strict orders had been issued that none of us should climb up +to the roofs of the houses, yet birds' eggs formed a temptation too +powerful to be easily resisted, and self-gratification was considered +rather than obedience. A favourable opportunity presenting itself, the +roof of the house was ascended, and not only was the nest pillaged, but +seized and carried away. It was soon stripped of all its unnecessary +appendages, that it might appear as neat as possible. Amongst the +_externals_ thus removed, was a piece of paper, which had been a page +of one of Dr. Watts's hymn-books; and which, thrown away, had been +taken by the poor bird for the purpose of strengthening the nest, or +increasing its warmth. A word or two caught my eye, and I unfolded the +paper. Need I say that, boy as I was, I read these verses with, to say +the least, _curious_ feelings. + + "Why should I deprive my neighbour + Of his goods against his will? + Hands were made for honest labour; + Not to plunder nor to steal. + + Guard my heart, O God of heaven, + Lest I covet what's not mine; + Lest I take what is not given, + Guard my hands and heart from sin." + + + + +NESTS AND EGGS OF FAMILIAR BRITISH BIRDS. + +SECOND SERIES. + + + + +CROSSBILL. + +EUROPEAN OR COMMON CROSSBILL. SHELL OR SHIELD-APPLE. + +FIGURE 1. + +Of those curious birds called Crossbills, from the peculiar +construction of the bills, the points of which cross each other, there +are three species known in this country, but two of them, namely, the +Parrot and White-winged Crossbills, are very rare, only a few specimens +having been taken here. The more common kind is a migratory bird, +coming in large flocks at very irregular intervals, and visiting more +especially those parts of the country where there are woods and +plantations of fir and pine, of the seeds of which they are very fond, +extracting them with great dexterity from between the scales of the +cones; for this operation, the projecting points of the bill appear to +be well adapted, as well as for picking out the apple-pips, as they are +called, and kernels of other fruits; hence the name shell-apple given +to the bird, which was a not uncommon visitor to the English orchards +in former times; thus in a curious old record we are told that "In the +yeere 1593 was a greate and exceeding yeere of apples; and there were +greate plenty of strang birds, that shewed themselves at the tyme the +apples were full rype, who fedd uppon the kernells onely of those +apples, and haveing a bill with one beake wrythinge over the other, +which would presently bore a greate hole in the apple, and make way to +the kernells; they were of the bignesse of a bullfinch, the henne right +like the henne of the bullfinch in coulour; the cocke a very glorious +bird, in a manner al redde or yellowe on the brest, backe, and head." + +We would not advise our young readers to take the above as a lesson in +spelling, although it is a very lively and faithful picture of the +Crossbill, great flocks of which were English visitants in 1254, 1593, +and 1791, when a bird-catcher in Bath caught one hundred pairs, which +he sold for five shillings each; again in 1806, 1828 and 9, and 1835; +ever since which time they have generally remained with us in greater +or lesser numbers, having been probably induced to do so by the greater +abundance of fir plantations. They are very lively birds, chattering +and making a shrill noise while engaged in their favourite occupation +of picking out seeds; they swing about on the branches of the trees +often head downwards, and are very nimble and graceful in their +movements, and so fearless of the approach of man, that they can +frequently be taken with a hand-net, or knocked down with a stick. + +That the Crossbill sometimes breeds in this country there cannot be a +doubt, but it does this only as an exception to the general rule; the +nest, which has been found at various seasons, has been described as of +a loose texture, not unlike that of the Common Greenfinch, though not +nearly so well nor so carefully built; the eggs also are not unlike +those of that bird but larger. In Norway and Sweden, where the bird +habitually breeds, the nest is built in the uppermost branches of the +pines and firs; it is composed of grass, moss, and the finer portions +of these trees; one has been found here on an apple tree, and another +on a fir, and another, near Dartford, in Kent, on the lowest fork of a +pine; this was composed of dry twigs, but no eggs were laid in it, the +curiosity of frequent observers having driven the bird away. + +Although we have placed this among our _familiar_ British Birds, the +eggs to English collectors are rare and difficult of attainment, and +should be prized accordingly. The scientific name given to the species +is _Loxia curvirostra_, both the terms having reference to the shape of +the beak, the first coming from the Greek _loxos_, curved, and the +latter from the Latin _curvus_, curved or bent, and _rostra_, the beak. +By some naturalists _EuropÊa_ is the generic term, and this so closely +resembles the English name as to require no explanation. + + +STARLING. + +COMMON STARLING, OR STARE. + +FIGURE 2. + +This handsome and well-known bird is sometimes called, when young, the +Solitary Thrush. Its scientific name is _Sturnus vulgaris_, which is +simply the Latin for the Common Starling. It may be met with in all +parts of Britain, even in the Orkney and Shetland Isles, where it +sometimes breeds in rocky caves, and fissures, and holes in the turf. +More towards the south its nest is found in hollow trees, cavities in +chalk-pits, sandy banks and old buildings; it is large and rudely +fashioned of straw, roots, dry grass, and other vegetable fibres, with +frequently a lining of hair and feathers; the eggs, from four to six in +number, are of a delicate greenish blue colour, sometimes altogether +plain, but frequently spotted with black; they are of a longish oval +shape. + +"Nidification," as Mr. Morris tells us, in his beautiful work on +British Birds, "commences about the beginning or middle of April." This +word, my readers should remember, comes from the Latin _nidus_, a nest. + +Incubation lasts about sixteen days; _incubatio_, as we have already +explained in the first series of "Nests and Eggs," is the Latin for to +lie or sit upon. These are words we shall often have to use, and +therefore we think it well to explain their meaning here, lest they +should have escaped the memory of some who take this volume in hand. + +The Starling is gregarious and insectivorous, that is, it goes in +flocks and feeds on insects; chiefly on insects, we should say, but not +altogether, for it likes also worms, snails, grain, fruit, and seeds of +various kinds, so that it may be almost called omnivorous, eating all +things. A bold lively bird, something like the Magpie in its habits, +given to picking and stealing when it can get a chance; it is, +nevertheless, a general favourite, on account of its beauty and +teachability, if we may use such a word. It has naturally a low musical +note, which is uttered by both male and female, although least by the +latter, and may be taught to articulate many words, so that it is often +kept in confinement, where, like the poor bird in Sterne's "Sentimental +Journey," we may fancy we hear it exclaiming in piteous tones, "I can't +get out!" + + +CHOUGH. + +CORNISH CHOUGH. RED-LEGGED, MARKET-JEW, OR HERMIT-CROW. RED-LEGGED +JACKDAW. GESNER'S WOOD-CROW. CORNISH, CHAUK, OR CLIFF-DAW. CORNWALL +KAE, OR KILLEGREW. + +FIGURE 3. + +Plenty of names here for one bird. Oh, stay, here's another--Long-billed +Chough; not to count the scientific names, the most common of which is +_Corvus graculus_, that is a Chough Crow, or a Crow Chough, whichever +may be preferred. Some naturalists use a longer specific name, and say +_Pyrrhocorax_, which comes from the Greek _pyrrhos_, red, and _Corax_, +a Crow. A fine handsome fellow is this, with his sable plumes, over +which shimmers a steely blue reflection; his bright eye, and long red +bill, and legs of the same colour; the very handsomest of the Crow +family, and with us the rarest, although, from all that we can read and +learn, it was formerly by no means uncommon, especially in Cornwall, as +its name imports. It now occasionally occurs in small flocks in various +parts of Great Britain, generally near the coast, where it builds amid +the cliffs a rude nest of sticks lined with wool and hair; the eggs are +generally five in number, of a dull white colour, spotted with grey and +light brown, most thickly at the larger end. Sometimes the nest is +found in old church or other towers, especially such as are in a +ruinous condition. + +The Chough feeds chiefly on grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects, +in search of which, says Mr. Morris, it will follow the plough like the +Rooks; it will also eat the smaller kinds of crustacea, or shell-fish, +and grain and berries. Now and then it indulges, like the Common Crow, +in a feast of carrion. It has a shrill note something like that of the +Jackdaw; it also chatters, and steals, and talks, as well as a +Starling, in short is a most accomplished feathered performer. One of +its favourite haunts is, or used to be, Shakspere's cliff at Dover, and +our great poet describing that grand and sublime scene, alludes to the +bird.-- + + "Here's the place:--stand still. How fearful + And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low! + The crows and choughs that wing the midway air, + Show scarce so large as beetles." + + +RAVEN. + +CORBIE. CORBIE CROW. GREAT CORBIE CROW. + +FIGURE 4. + +Scientific name, _Corvus corax_, the first being the Latin, and the +second Greek, for a Crow. This is the largest, as it is also one of the +best known of the Crow tribe or family. It is found in nearly all parts +of the world--in the coldest as well as the hottest climates--amid the +wild mountainous regions of everlasting snow, in the depths of the +gloomiest forests, and on the wide prairies and sandy plains, its +hoarse cry may be heard; as well as on the lonely island, whose shores +are lashed by the foaming waves of the mighty ocean, and seldom or ever +visited by the prow of the merchant or other vessel. + +A bold familiar bird is the Raven, with jet black plumes, and a large +powerful bill, fitted for tearing to pieces the flesh of animals on +which it often feeds; and a deep hollow voice, that grates harshly upon +the ear; and strong feet armed with sharp talons; and wings that spread +out to a great extent, and with regular and well-timed beats, _flap_, +_flap_, _flap_, winnow the air, and support the bird in its long flight +over land and sea; while the broad tail, now elevated and now +depressed, now turned this way and now that, gives to the heavy body +the desired direction. "_Croak!_" one hears the sound, and scarcely +knows whether it comes from the air above or the earth beneath; but +presently the sunshine is obscured by a black shadow, and swoop! down +comes the bird of ill omen, as people have generally agreed to consider +it, down upon the sick sheep, or any other weak and defenceless +creature, that may be within the compass of its keen sight, and +commences picking out the eyes of the animal, reminding us of the +punishment threatened by the Lord against disobedient children, as +mentioned in Proverbs, and paraphrased in Dr. Watts' familiar lines:-- + + "Have you not heard what dreadful plagues + Are threatened by the Lord, + To him that breaks his father's law, + Or mocks his mother's word. + What heavy guilt upon him lies, + How cursed is his name, + The Ravens shall pick out his eyes, + And Eagles eat the same." + +Then again, as we see the strong-winged bird sweep far away over the +wide sea, we think of the time when the waters covered the face of the +whole earth, and "Noah sent forth a Raven, which went to and fro until +the waters were dried up." Or, if in some scene of wild sublimity, some +valley hemmed in by lofty mountains, through which a stream goes +winding silently, we are startled by that black shadow and harsh +grating note, we fancy ourselves by the brook Chereth, where the Ravens +brought bread and flesh, morning and evening, to the prophet Elisha, +being commanded to do so by God, who, as we are told in Job, "provideth +for the Raven his food;" and in Psalms, "heareth the young Ravens which +cry." + +In nearly all parts of Great Britain these birds are found, they were +formerly more abundant than they are at present, gamekeepers and others +having long waged war against them, on account of their real or +supposed propensity to destroy the young hares, partridges, pheasants, +etc. + +In the northern and western parts of Scotland, and in some of the +Scottish Isles they are numerous. They make large nests composed of +sticks, cemented together with mud, and lined with roots, wool, fur, +and such other soft materials as come most readily to hand, or we +should rather say, to beak and claw; they are said sometimes to rob the +sheep's backs. Their building-places are cliffs and precipices, church +towers, caves and rocky fissures, and the clefts between the forked +branches of tall trees. The eggs are from four to six in number, of a +pale olive green, more or less blotched and spotted with greenish brown +and grey. They are early builders, sometimes commencing in January; the +eggs, says Mr. Morris, have been taken in the middle of February. +Incubation lasts twenty days; both male and female sit on the eggs, in +defence of which and their young, they will fight desperately, driving +off the hawks, and even eagles and vultures. + +The Raven is known to live to a great age, often when in a domesticated +state, seeing out two or three generations of a family; it is one of +those birds which possess the power of imitating the human voice, and +many anecdotes are told of its proficiency in this respect. It is a +very sagacious bird, indeed so cunning that it has been thought by +ignorant persons, to know more than it ought, and to be in league with +witches and other "uncanny" people. Constantly do we find its cry +alluded to by both ancient and modern poets, as ominous of death. + + "The Raven is a dreaded bird, + The stoutest quail when his voice is heard, + For when, 'tis said, his dismal cry + Rends thrice the tranquil azure sky, + 'Tis the token, + Surely spoken, + That ravenous death is hovering nigh." + + +CARRION CROW. + +GOR. GORE, OR FLESH CROW. BLACK NEB. HOODY BRAN. + +FIGURE 5. + +Everybody knows the Common Crow that goes _caw-cawing_ over the fields +through the long summer day, and hunts in the freshly-turned furrows +for grubs and wire-worms, and settles down upon the marshes where the +white flocks are feeding, dotting them here and there with great black +spots, as though some literary giant had taken too much ink in his pen, +and scattered it out over the landscape before he began to write. Oh +yes, everybody knows the familiar Crow, called by scientific people +_Corvus corone_, Latin and Greek again for the same thing--a Crow! +Black and all black is he, a kind of Raven in miniature, closely +resembling that bird in his habits as well as appearance. A foul +feeder, delighting in putrid carcasses, and all kinds of meat that is +not merely a "_little_ touched," but "very far gone" indeed. The +shepherd does not like him, neither does the gamekeeper, neither does +the farmer, although we are inclined to think that the dislike of the +latter is owing to an unfounded prejudice; true it is that our friend +_Corvus_ does sometimes eat grain, but he prefers animal food, and +oftener feeds on worms and other grain-destroyers. If you wish to find +his nest, you must climb into the tall elm tree, or far up the face of +the chalky cliff; it is made of sticks, cemented together with clay, +and lined with roots, straw, wool, moss, or any soft substance which +can be had. If in a tree, it is usually placed among the topmost +branches, or else on a bough near to the trunk, so as to be well +sheltered and hidden from view. The eggs, from four to six in number, +are of a pale bluish green or grey, speckled, some very thickly, with +light brown and deep grey. + +The Crows, like the Ravens, pair for life; the work of building is +shared by both birds, and generally commences about the end of +February, or beginning of March. There is a variety of this species +which is almost wholly white, and this is the case also with the Raven. +Harrison Ainsworth has written a spirited song on the Carrion Crow, of +which this is the first verse:-- + + "The Carrion Crow is a sexton bold, + He raketh the dead from out the mould; + He delveth the ground like a miser old + Stealthily hiding his store of gold. + _Caw! Caw!_ + The Carrion Crow hath a coat of black, + Silky and sleek, like a priest's, on his back; + Like a lawyer he grubbeth, no matter what way, + The fouler the offal the richer the prey. + _Caw! Caw! the Carrion Crow!_ + _Dig! Dig! in the ground below!_" + + +HOODED CROW. + +ROYSTON. GREY, GREY-BACKED, DUN, BUNTING, HEEDY, OR SCARE-CROW. HOODY. + +FIGURE 6. + +The Hooded Crow, so called, most probably, on account of the distinct +black covering of the head and neck, is not a very common bird in +England generally, although it may often be found in certain +localities, and at certain seasons, for it is partly migratory, +frequenting the southern parts of the island only in winter, usually +from October to April. In the north of Scotland, and the Hebrides and +other islands, they are always to be found, and in great numbers. In +its habits the Hooded Crow resembles the common kind, except that it is +more of a coast bird, seldom being found far from the sea-shore, or the +banks of estuaries, or tidal rivers. + +Its nest is generally placed on tall trees, or the clefts and chasms of +rocks and hill sides. Mr. Morris describes it as composed of sticks, +roots, stalks, or heather, lined with wool and hair. The eggs are from +four to six in number, of a green tint, mottled over with greenish +brown; some have been found of a yellowish tinge, or with dashes and +streaks of yellow, others of a uniform dull dark green, with but few +spots or variations of any kind. + +It is the opinion of some naturalists, that the Hooded and Carrion +Crows are but varieties of one species, and certain it is that they do +sometimes breed together, but there appears to be sufficient +distinctive marks and characteristics to warrant the specific +difference assumed for them by most of the leading ornithologists. + +Frequenting as it does the sea-shore, the Hooded Crow, which may be +known by its distinctly marked plumage of dull grey, extending all over +the back, breast, and belly, feeds much on shell-fish, which it bears +up to a great height, and then lets fall on a large stone or piece of +rock, so as to break the shell. We have here an instance of something +very like reasoning power, in what we must call an unreasoning +creature, nor are such instances at all unfrequent in natural history. + + +ROOK. + +BARE-FACED CROW. YDFRUN, OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH. + +FIGURE 7. + +Naturalists term this bird _Corvus frugilegus_. With the meaning of the +first, or generic name, our readers are already well acquainted; the +specific name comes from the Latin _fruges_--fruits, and _lego_--to +collect or gather, and from this we learn that it is a _frugiverous_ or +fruit-eating bird; it is not, however, altogether so, for it feeds much +on insects, worms, slugs, and such small animals, in search of which it +digs or delves with its large and strong beak, all around the base of +which is bare of feathers, hence the name Bare-faced Crow, by which the +bird is known in some localities. It is a matter of dispute whether or +not this bareness is caused by the constant use of the bill as a +digging instrument; we are inclined to think not, for several reasons, +which need not here be stated; but, that the bare whitish skin which +surrounds the beak, and which offers such a strong contrast to the rest +of the purplish black plumage, is a natural distinction. + +Rooks are said to be more abundant in England than in any other part of +the world, although they are found in most temperate regions of Europe +and Asia; they do not, like many of the Corvine, or Crow family, +increase toward the north, but on the contrary, decrease in that +direction: in the Scottish islands they are not to be met with. They +are strictly gregarious birds, immense numbers of them building and +rearing their young together. Almost every English Village, or Hall, or +old Manor House, has, or at one time had, its "Rookery," where, on the +tops of the tall elms or other lofty trees, the sable birds delight to +build their large loose nests of sticks, cemented together with clay, +and lined with grass and root fibres. There do they hold their noisy +councils, morning and evening, but especially at the latter time, +before retiring to rest. One would think they had all the affairs of +the nation to settle, so long and loud is the debate, or at least that +there must be an immense deal of quarrelling about the right to this or +that resting-place; and more fighting, too, than there ought to be, +among a decent feathered community. + +There is something pleasing about the _caw_ of the Rook, whether heard +in the dreamy quietude of nature, or, as it often is, amid the bustle +of the busy town; it is a sociable bird, friendly to man and his +belongings. It is an English bird--a _home_ bird, and reminds us of +domestic scenes and pleasures. We have had rookeries in the very hearts +of cities; there was one in the Temple Gardens, in London, close by the +stream of life which ever flows and reflows up and down the Strand and +Fleet Street. Not many years since it was stated in the papers that, +"in the small church-yard of St. Peters, Westcheap, situated in Wood +Street, Cheapside, stands a solitary tree, in the lofty branches of +which, two pairs of Rooks have built themselves nests, and are now +busily engaged in rearing two broods, which have been recently +hatched." But volumes might be written, as they have been, about Rooks +and rookeries; Leigh Hunt, and Charles Lamb, and Washington Irving, and +nearly all the English poets, might be called in to give their tribute +of praise to this old familiar friend and companion of our +life-journey. + +The Rooks are frugal nest-builders; they make the same structure do +year after year. Early in March they begin to repair their old +habitations, which, during the winter, we may see far up amid the naked +branches, like so many bundles of dry sticks; the young pairs, we +suppose, build new ones, unless they should find a nest left vacant by +the removal, by death or otherwise, of parents or other relatives, for +all the community must be closely allied. + + "Where, in venerable rows, + Widely waving oaks enclose + The moat of yonder antique hall, + Swarm the Rooks with clamorous call; + And, to the toils of nature true, + Wreathe their capacious nests anew," + +says the poet Warton, describing the 1st. of April; and generally by +the end of May, or beginning of June, the young Rooks are fledged. The +eggs from which they have emerged do not differ greatly from those of +the other members of the _Corvus_ family just described. They are +usually four or five in number, of a pale greenish ground colour, +blotched and spotted with light brown and yellowish green; they, +however, vary greatly, some being nearly white, others grey, and others +olive brown, with markings more or less deep and distinct. + + +JACKDAW. + +DAW. KAE. + +FIGURE 8. + +_Corvus monedula_ is the scientific name of this species, the latter, +or specific title, being derived, as Mr. Morris supposes, from _moneo_, +to warn; the Daw, like most of the Crow tribe, having been formerly +considered a creature of evil augury. + +A pert bold fellow is the Jackdaw, restless, inquisitive, and +loquacious; ever poking and prying into every hole and corner, and +purloining whatever he can lay his claw or his bill on. He seems to +delight in mischief, and to consider that to pick and steal is the +great end and object of his existence. This is a sad character to give +a bird, but we must tell the truth at all hazards, and confess that, +notwithstanding the respectability of his appearance, with his suit of +silky black, and grey poll, like the wig of a counsellor, he is a sad +scamp. + +Oh, what a long catalogue of crimes and offences connected with this +black-coated offender, might we present, had we space and inclination +to do so; but we have not, and indeed it is not necessary, for all the +world knows the character of the subject of these remarks, as well as +Thomas Hood, who says-- + + "The Daw's not reckoned a religious bird, + Because it keeps a cawing from a steeple." + +And this brings us to one of the favourite building places of Kae, as +the Scotch people call it; ruined towers, and ivy-grown steeples, holes +in cliffs and hollow trees, are generally chosen for the heap of sticks +loosely piled together, and having a depression in the centre, where, +on a layer of wool, hair, grass, or other soft substance, the eggs are +deposited; in number from four to six, of a pale bluish white, spotted +with greyish brown; some of the spots being large and distinct, and +much deeper than the others. The young birds are generally hatched by +the end of May, or early in June, by the end of the second week in +which month they are usually fit to be taken from the nest; they are +easily reared by hand, and become very tame, learning to talk, and play +all sorts of curious tricks. + +The caw of the Daw is more high and shrill than that of most Crows; it +is found in nearly all parts of Great Britain, and is common in +Holland, Germany, France, Italy, and most countries of Europe. One +remarkable circumstance connected with its nidification is the immense +quantity of material which it collects; sometimes it builds in +chimneys, and completely stops them up with the huge pile of sticks, +which it there deposits. It is said that the fire which, some years +since partly consumed the cathedral of York, was much fed and assisted +by the Jackdaws' nests on the turrets. In Cambridge, where the Daws are +numerous, building in the colleges and church towers, no less than +eighteen dozen of deal laths, about nine inches long and one broad, +which had been purloined from the botanic gardens, where they were put +into the ground as labels for the plants, were found in the shaft of +one chimney in which the birds had built. Many anecdotes are related of +the ingenuity they manifest on getting their building materials into +the desired position; often through narrow loopholes, and up winding +staircases, they manage to convey long sticks and pieces of wood in a +manner truly surprising; and the way in which they pile up the light +fabric upon joists and cross-beams, and window-sills, and make it all +firm and stable, is no less so. Sometimes the Daws choose less lofty +situations for their nests; generally, as Bishop Mant tells us, they +make + + "In spire or looped and windowed tower + Of hallowed fane their nestling bower. + In caverned cliff beside the sea, + Or hollow of the woodland tree;--" + +But occasionally they descend, when nature + + "Prompts them in the waste to roam + And seek a subterranean home, + The burrowing rabbit's haunt, and there + Of sticks and matted wool prepare + Their dwelling, and produce their race, + In that unlikely dwelling-place." + + +MAGPIE. + +PIET. PIANET. MAG. MADGE. + +FIGURE 9. + +_Pica caudata_, _Pica melanoleuca_, and _Corvus pica_ are the several +names given by naturalists to this bird; the first word is Latin, and +means simply a pie; in the same language _caudus_ signifies a tail, and +a splendid tail our handsome Magpie possesses, long and broad, and like +the beautiful pinions, all shot with green and purple reflections. +_Melanoleuca_ is compounded of two Greek words, meaning black and +white, and no one can deny that this is very appropriate, although it +is not so commonly used as the former name. The third title may be +translated the Crow-Pie; indicating the particular genus and species of +Mag the merry. No member of the Crow family puts on so resplendent a +dress as this; beautifully do the snowy shoulders (scapulars +naturalists would say) and belly, contrast with the rich velvety black +of the back, breast, head, and neck. Rich is the sheen of emerald and +amethyst which plays about the tail and wings, as the latter are spread +out in the sunshine, and the former flirts up and down with a quick +vibrating motion. And such a droll fellow, too, is Mag, every now and +then you would think he were dancing, or imitating some fine lady or +courtly beau; he steps or hops along in such an odd, fantastic manner. +Yes, a droll fellow, but a sad thief; it is not safe to leave a gold +chain, or a ring, or a silver spoon in his way; up into the old church +steeple it is sure to go, if it is not buried in some out-of-the-way +corner, all among the moss, and dead leaves, and decayed wood, which +have accumulated there for centuries. We all remember the old story of +the Maid and the Magpie; and how nearly the poor girl suffered death +for the loss of the silver spoons stolen by the bird, who, however, was +not so guilty after all, for he did not know that the loss of the +glittering objects which attracted his attention, would be attended +with such serious consequences. He had no sense of right and wrong to +guide him as my readers have, and had never been taught the great +commandments--"Thou shalt not covet!" and "Thou shalt not steal!" + +The chattering Magpie is found chiefly in the cultivated and wooded +parts of Britain and Ireland; it is an _omnivorous_ feeder, that is, it +eats almost anything--_omnes_ in Latin, you know, means all. It is a +shy watchful bird, and very difficult to catch; it has a fine broad +tail, but we never heard that any one was able to put salt upon it. +Such a quick eye the fellow has, and a way of twisting himself about, +so as to be looking every way at once; you would catch a weasel asleep +sooner than you would Maggie. The nest is made with a hole in the side, +from whence a sharp look-out can be kept. It is placed in some thick +bush, or tall prickly hedge, generally at a considerable distance from +the ground; it is of a longish oval shape, and made of sticks and +thorns, cemented together with mud; on the lining of roots and grass +lie the bluish white eggs, spotted over with grey and greenish brown; +there may be six, seven, or even eight of them, although very rarely so +many as the latter number. The breeding-time is quite early in the +spring, and the same nest is resorted to by one pair of birds year +after year. + +It is thus that Bishop Mant describes the mode and place of building of +what he calls the "Artful Pie." + + "On turf-reared platform intermixt, + With clay and cross-laid sticks betwixt, + 'Mid hawthorn, fir, or elm tree slung, + Is piled for the expected young, + A soft and neatly-woven home, + Above of tangled thorns a dome, + Forms a sharp fence the nest about, + To keep all rash intruders out. + So like a robber in his hold, + Or some marauding baron bold, + On coasted cliff in olden time, + They sit unblenched in state sublime, + And fortress intricately planned; + As if they felt that they whose hand + Is aimed at others, rightly deem + The hand of others aimed at them. + So there they dwell, man's dwellings nigh, + But not in man's society;-- + Arabian-like: and little share + His love, nor for his hatred care; + Prompt of his rural stores a part + To seize, and joyful of their art + His efforts at revenge elude." + + +JAY. + +JAY PIE. JAY PIET. + +FIGURE 10. + +In scientific language _Corvus glandarius_, or _Garrulus glandarius_; +the specific name is from the Latin, and signifies of or belonging to +acorns; the second generic name is also Latin, and means chattering or +talkative, a leading characteristic of this bird, whose harsh cry is +frequently heard amid the stillness of the solitary woods. + + "Proud of cerulean stains + From heaven's unsullied arch purloined, + The Jay screams hoarse," + +says Gisborne, in his "Walks in a Forest," and all persons who are +accustomed to woodland scenery, must have been startled, ever and anon, +by the grating syllables _wrak, wrak_, shortly and sharply repeated by +this bird, and have noticed the dull gleam of its blue wings, as it +passed in a heavy scurrying manner from tree to tree, or shuffled away +down the glade, as though it had committed some crime, and was fearful +of being taken. + +The Blue-winged Jay is a name commonly given to this certainly handsome +bird, whose plumage of delicate brown, variegated with white and black, +and set off with "cerulean stains," as Gisborne says, give it a +striking and pleasing appearance, notwithstanding its general air of +dullness and apprehension. It is true, we seldom have an opportunity of +observing it closely, except in a state of confinement, where it is not +likely to be very lively, for it is a bird of the wild woods, and likes +not to be deprived of its free range, and brought into close +companionship with man. Sometimes, however, if taken young and properly +trained, it becomes a very amusing domestic pet, having a decided +talent for mimicry, and being gentle and teachable. + +The nest of the Jay is commonly built in a high coppice wood, or hedge, +generally many feet from the ground, although it is seldom seen near +the tops of tall trees, like those of the Magpie and Crow. Montagu +says, "He who feels inclined to study the nidification of this bird, +must search the lower branches of the oak, or inspect the woodbine +mantling round the hazel." + +Morris describes the nest as "of an open shape, formed of twigs and +sticks, and well lined with small roots, grasses, and horse-hair. Some +are much more cleverly constructed than others." And certainly from the +representation which he gives of one, we should take the Jay to be a +much neater builder than any of its _congeners_, as birds of the same +family or genus would be called. + +The eggs are five or six in number, of a greenish or yellowish white, +freckled all over with two shades of light brown. + +Several variations from this common pattern have been found and +described, some being lighter and some darker, and some having a +greater degree of polish on them than others. + +The Jay is an omnivorous feeder; but is said to have a great partiality +for acorns; and also for the eggs and young of game-birds, hence he is +shot without mercy by those interested in their preservation. + +Let us see what Bishop Mant says of him. + +"He who makes his native wood Resound his screaming, harsh and rude, +Continuously the season through; Though scarce his painted wing you'll +view With sable barred, and white and grey, And varied crest, the +lonely Jay!" + + +GREEN WOODPECKER. + +LARGE GREEN WOODPECKER. NICK-A-PECKER. ECLE. HIGH-HOE. HEW-HOLE. AWL, +OR RAIN-BIRD, OR FOWL. POPINJAY. WHITTLE. YAFFLE. YAFFER. YAPPINGALL. +WOODSPITE. WOODWALL, OR WELE. + +FIGURE 11. + +We have in England six species of Woodpeckers, namely, the Black, the +Green, the Greater Spotted, the Lesser Spotted, the Hairy, and the +Three-toed, but only the one above-named is at all common. It is a +handsome bird, with green and brown plumage, prettily marked and barred +with white; the bill is large and black, which colour extends over the +sides of the head and part of the throat; there is a light-coloured rim +round the eye, and a crest like a crimson cap, also a few feathers of +the same rich colour set in the black patches of the throat. A truly +handsome bird, rather awkward in appearance, on account of the +shortness of the tail, and the large size of the feet, head, and bill. +A shy, unsocial bird, too; not fond of exhibiting its beauties; for +ever tap-tapping the hollow beech, or other tree, in the depth of the +solitary woods; often heard but seldom seen, and when it is, in all +sorts of inelegant positions, creeping up or down the rugged bole, +clinging to the broken bough, crouching close, and peeping and peering +into every hole and crevice, in search of its favourite food--insects +and their eggs, spiders, and grubs and caterpillars; and boring into +the decayed bark with its hard wedge-shaped bill. The old poet Chaucer +describes a very busy, inquisitive person as being + + "As prate and prying as a Woodpecker, + And ever inquiring upon everything." + +And Gisborne gives us a true picture of this restless and curious +bird:-- + + "With shrill and oft-repeated cry, + Her angular course, alternate rise and fall, + The Woodpecker prolongs; then to the trunk + Close clinging, with unwearied beak assails + The hollow bark; through every call the strokes + Roll the dire echoes, that from wintry sleep + Awake her insect prey; the alarmed tribes + Start from each chink that bores the mouldering stem; + Their scattered flight with lengthened tongue the foe + Pursues; joy glistens in her verdant plumes, + And brighter scarlet sparkles in her crest." + +We have here perhaps a little bit of what is called poetic licence; +true, it has been said that the Woodpecker taps on the tree to alarm +the insects lurking within, and make them come out to see what is the +matter, but it is most likely done to ascertain which are the parts +most unsound and pervious to the bill. In the above lines is an +allusion to the shrill cry of the bird; this, heard amid the stillness +of the wood, is perfectly startling; like a peal of unearthly laughter, +it bursts forth and rings around; it has been compared to the syllables +_glu_, _glu_, _glu_, _gluck!_ finishing off with a sharp _gk_, as +though a laugh had tumbled down and broken its neck, turning into +something like a cry before it expired. Only just as you are thinking +it is really dead and done for, out it bursts again louder than ever, +and you listen aghast to + + "The ringing of the Whitwall's shrilly laughter, + Which echo follows after," + +but is never able to overtake. And we are here reminded of the long +array of names with which this noisy fellow is honoured; a different +one for almost every locality, and having reference mostly to the cry +of the bird, or its singular habits. The scientific name is _Picus +viridis_; the first signifying a Woodpecker, and the last green. + +"The Woodpecker," says Mudie, "is especially a bird of the ancient +forests. You do not find it in the hedge or the coppice, where so many +of the little birds, especially the summer migrants, build their nests, +and spend their mid-days, when the reflections of the sun come bright +on all sides of the foliage, in picking the soft caterpillars from the +leaves, or capturing the insects that resort thither for the purpose of +depositing fresh myriads; and when they have thus secured the shelter +and beauty of their habitation, farewell the evening, and again hail +the morning with their joyous songs. The aged tree is all to the +Woodpecker, and he is much to the aged tree." Yes, for he eats the +insects which are revelling in its decay, and of the fine dust thereof +he makes his nest, if nest it can be called, which is merely a hole in +the trunk, high up, perhaps twenty or thirty feet, lined with the small +particles of rotten wood. + +All the Woodpeckers lay white or nearly white eggs, and all, with whose +habits we are acquainted, are early builders; the common green species, +found in most of the southern parts of Britain, commences making a new, +or repairing its old nest as early as February; the eggs are from four +to eight in number. The young are hatched in June. + + +WRYNECK. + +CUCKOO'S MATE, MAID, OR MESSENGER. RINDING, SNAKE, TURKEY, BARLEY, OR +TONGUE BIRD. EMMET-HUNTER. LONG-TONGUE. + +FIGURE 12. + +This bird, which appears to be a kind of connecting link between the +Woodpeckers and Cuckoos, having some of the characteristics of both, is +only a summer visitant of this country, generally arriving in April. +Its scientific name is _Yunx torquilla_; the first is undoubtedly +Greek, but its meaning is not very obvious; the second comes from +_torqueo_--to turn or twist, and refers to a singular habit which the +bird has of twisting its neck with a kind of slow undulating motion, +like that of a snake; hence also the common English name Wryneck, and +one or two others given above. The Welsh consider this the forerunner +of the Cuckoo, and call it _gwas y gog_, or the Cuckoo's attendant. In +the northern counties of England the common people call it Cuckoo's +Maiden; it generally comes to us a few days in advance of that bird, as +though it were deputed to prepare a place for it. + +Although it can boast of no bright and gaudy colours, the Wryneck is a +most elegant bird, both in shape and plumage. + + "The embroidery of that vesture grey + No pen nor pencil can pourtray," + +says Bishop Mant. But it is seldom that one can get a good sight of its +beautifully marked and mottled dress, for it is, like the Woodpecker, a +shy and retiring bird; like that, too, it lays its eggs in a hole of a +tree, lined with the decayed wood; they are six or seven in number +generally, sometimes nine, and even ten, have been found in one hole; +the colour is a pure white, or slightly tinged and spotted with +yellowish brown. The time of incubation is fourteen days, and the +female is so much attached to the young birds, that she will often +suffer herself to be taken rather than desert them. These birds resort +to the same spot year after year; it is at various heights from the +ground, and sometimes the deserted nest of a Woodpecker or other bird +is used. + + +NUTHATCH. + +NUT-JOBBER. WOODCRACKER. + +FIGURE 13. + +The _Sittine_ Birds, or Nuthatches, are little short-bodied creatures, +with large heads, and very small tails; the bill is tolerably long, +straight, and slender, pentagonal, or five-sided at the base, or part +where it is inserted into the head. They are pretty lively birds, and +seem to occupy a position between the _Certhias_, or Tree Creepers, and +the _Parine_ Birds or Tits. We have but one species in this country, +known as the _Sitta EuropÊa_, or European Nuthatch; the generic name +being derived, as Morris thinks, from some word in a primitive, or +early language, (from _primus_--first,) from which also comes the term +hatchet, and having reference to the habit of hacking and hewing at the +nuts, on which this bird chiefly feeds. + +The Nuthatch is not found generally throughout Britain, only in certain +localities, and very rarely in the northern parts. It has long curved +claws, by means of which it ascends the trunks of the trees, and clings +about the branches much like the Creepers and Woodpeckers, frequently +descending head downwards, which few other birds are able to do. It +bores into the nuts with its strong-pointed bill, and feeds upon the +kernels; it also with the same instrument extracts the insects from the +holes and crevices, and thus varies its diet. Its motions are abrupt +and jerking, so that it always appears in a desperate hurry, and it +keeps up a constant _quit, quit_, as though giving warning to its +landlady of an intention to leave its lodgings forthwith. Bewick says +that it will pick bones, and that it lays up a store of food for the +winter in various little granaries. + +For a nesting-place it makes choice of some hole in a tree, which it +lines with dried leaves, moss, scales of fir-cones, bits of bark, and +it may be, a little hair. If the entrance is too large it is partly +closed up with clay, so as to leave but just room for the bird to +enter. The eggs are from five to seven or eight, sometimes nine in +number; they are greyish white, with spots or blotches of reddish +brown. + +The following interesting account of a pair of Nuthatches engaged in +making their nest, is from the pen of a contributor to a periodical +called "The Naturalist;" the date of the occurrence was the 18th. of +April.--"The birds had fixed upon a hole in an ash tree, about twenty +feet from the ground, and were contracting it with a plastering of mud, +for which they flew to a small pond about fifty yards distant from the +tree, and took pieces in their beaks about as big as a bean, which they +laid on, and smoothed with their chin. Sometimes one of them would go +inside and remain for a short time, I suppose for the purpose of +smoothing the mud there. They would every now and then leave off from +their task, and chase one another up the trunk and round the branches +of the tree with amazing rapidity, uttering all the while their +flute-like whistle. They both seemed to take an equal share in the +labour; and had, like the House Martin, small pieces of straw mixed +with the mud, for the purpose of making it bind better. They seemed to +be quite at ease on the ground, and hopped about much after the same +manner as the Sparrow. The male bird was easily distinguishable by his +brighter plumage." + + +CUCKOO. + +COMMON, OR GREY CUCKOO. GOWK, OR GECK. COG, OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH. + +FIGURE 14. + +Of the _Cuculine_ Birds, or Cuckoos, none are permanently resident in +countries subject to severe winter cold. They feed mostly on insects, +worms, or soft fruit, gliding amid the trees in search of their food in +a peculiarly rapid and noiseless manner. In passing from branch to +branch they generally leap; they do not climb like the Woodpeckers and +Creepers, although they have much the same conformation of feet, the +outer toe being directed backwards, as well as the first; this is +called _Zy-go-dac-ty-lous_, a Greek word, signifying that the toes are +yoked, or in pairs, two before and two behind. We have thought it well +to introduce this queer word to our readers, lest they should stumble +over it, as they are likely to do, in many works on Natural History +which they may consult, and be frightened at its uncouth appearance; +they will now know what is meant by _zygodactylous_, or _dactytic_ +birds, such as Owls, Woodpeckers, Cuckoos, etc. But having explained +thus much, we should go a step farther, and introduce also +_A-ni-so-dac-ty-lous_, Greek again, meaning unequally yoked, that is, +when there is a wider interval between one pair of toes than between +the other. + +Of Cuckoos the British Naturalist knows of three species; the Great +Spotted Cuckoo, inhabiting chiefly the northern and western coasts of +Africa, and only now and then paying a short visit to these northern +climes; the Yellow-billed, or American Cuckoo, or Cowcow, as some call +it, which is a more frequent, although still a rare visitant, and the +Common Grey species, termed _Cuculus canorus_, that is, the Musical +Cuckoo, with whose curious cry--_cuck-oooo_, most of our readers must +be familiar. It may not be generally thought that there is much music +in this _monotonous_, that is, single-toned call, but we are assured by +a competent authority, that this is the only feathered performer who +sings in strict accordance with musical numbers, its notes being the +fifth and third of the diatonic scale. But be that as it may, the cry +of the Cuckoo is extremely pleasant to most ears, when first heard, +soon after the bird arrives in this country, which is sometimes about +the middle of April, "in April, come he will," says the old proverb; we +know that the fresh floral season of sunshine and country delights, has +fairly set in, and all through the summer, to the time of his +departure, in August or September, we love to listen to the far-away, +dreamy kind of call, for it seems like an invitation to 'follow, +follow,' some invisible leader, through greenwoods and flowery dingles, +and into scenes of quietude and peace; then, too, there is a kind of +mystery about it which excites the curiosity, for who ever sees the +utterer of these dreamy sounds. We are inclined to say with +Wordsworth,-- + + "Oh, Cuckoo, shall I call thee bird, + Or but a wandering voice." + +And indeed the Cuckoo is a flying and feathered marvel altogether; we +should fill this book were we to repeat all the strange tales that have +been told about it, and by grave authorities too, from Aristotle of +ancient Greece, to Dr. Jenner, and the rest of modern England. Amid all +the disputations that have arisen upon the points of this bird's +natural history, we can only clearly gather that it is a summer +migrant, coming and going at the times just mentioned; that while with +us it is to be found in all wooded and sheltered parts of the island, +frequenting most parks and pasture-grounds, groves and thickets, it is +more likely to be seen at early morning and evening, than during the +broad daylight, and its cry has been heard at all hours of the night, +proving it to be somewhat nocturnal in its habits,--_nox_, you know is +the Latin for night, and from thence comes this word. + +The Cuckoo lives almost entirely upon insects, devouring great numbers +of hairy caterpillars. It makes no nest of its own, but lays a single +egg in that of some other bird, or conveys it thither in its bill. Its +eggs are small for the size of the bird, in colour white, with a +greyish, or it may be a reddish tinge, with cinereous (that is, ashy) +or grey brown speckles. How many of these the bird lays no one can +tell, but it has the judgment, or compassion, or whatever it may be, to +give the Pipit, Hedge Sparrow, Wagtail, or other small bird so +favoured, the task of rearing but one of its young, which soon grows to +be quite a monster in the eyes of its foster parent, and sometimes, +says the old Greek, Aristotle, eats her up; but this is just a physical +impossibility, and a most vile slander. Whether the intruder, as Dr. +Jenner says, _shovels_ up with its broad back its fellow fledglings, to +whom the nest rightfully belongs, and pitches them over the edge to die +miserably of cold and starvation, while he gets the whole of the food +brought by the provident mother, we cannot say, but may hope, for the +credit of bird nature, that this too may be a mistake, if not a fable. + +The Cuckoo is an elegantly-formed and agreeably-coloured bird, the +prevailing tints of its plumage being a greenish grey, fading off into +white, which is barred and mottled with silky brown; the large tail is +spotted and edged with white. The male resembles the female; the young +at first have bars of light red and olive brown about the upper parts. + + +KINGFISHER. + +COMMON KING, OR KINGFISHER. GLAS Y DORIAN OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH. + +FIGURE 15. + +The Kingfishers belong to the order called _Jaculatrices_, or Darters, +and to the family _AlcedinÊ_; so they are _Alcedine_ birds. These terms +are not very easy of explanation. _Alcedo hispida_ is the name of the +Common Kingfisher. The second term may mean either rough, or hairy, or +wet, all of which are quite applicable to this bird, which must be +familiar to many of our readers; for although by no means common in any +part of Britain, and very rare in the north, it is yet to be found, all +the year through, in most parts of the country where there are streams +of water, and river banks, and moist meadows suited to its habits, +which are solitary. It generally nestles in holes in the declivities +near to its favourite hunting ground--the clear stream, fringed with +reeds and bulrushes, which glides away over pebbles that shine like +gold and silver, and weeds as green as emeralds, or red as rubies, amid +which dart the minnows and other small fish, on which, together with +aquatic insects, the gorgeously-painted fisher feeds. You may see him +in some quiet out-of-the-way place, beneath the shade of the grey +alders, sitting motionless as a statue upon a branch of an old thorn, +that projects over the stream. It may be that a ray of sunshine finds +its way between the shivering branches, and out flash the glorious +tints of its plumage--red, and green, and blue, and all changeable +colours. Truly he is the monarch of fishing birds, and rightly named +_King_fisher! Not handsome in form, certainly not elegant, nor well +proportioned--with his short squat body and stump of a tail, thick +neck, large head, and immense bill, little feet, that seem meant for a +Sparrow, and eyes which, although bright and sharp enough, are much too +small for the head. But he is a swift flier, for all that he looks so +awkward; and see! quick as light he darts down upon that heedless fish +that has come too near the surface, swallows it at a gulp, and is ready +for another dart before you can look round you. + +The eggs of our Common Kingfisher are what is termed broadly ovate in +shape, that is, they are nearly round, not tapering out much, as some +eggs do; they are simply white and semi (that is half) transparent. The +number is generally six or seven. They are laid some time in May, in a +hole, often that of the water-rat, sometimes on the bare earth, but +more frequently on a layer of small fish bones; now and then on a +little dried grass. The note of the bird is sharp, shrill, and piping, +like that of the Sandpipers, but is not often uttered. + + +SWALLOW. + +RED-FRONTED, COMMON, OR CHIMNEY SWALLOW. + +FIGURE 16. + +The _Hirundine_ Birds, or Swallows, form a very distinct group; they +have slender bodies, and large, powerful wings, which enable them to +fly with great velocity, skimming over the moist meadows, where their +insect food most abounds, and wheeling and circling about trees and +buildings in a swift and easy manner, which appears to be the very +perfection of motion. They are all migratory birds, coming to us from +Africa and the south of Europe to breed, and returning to those warm +climates to pass the winter. + +The Common Swallow, called by naturalists _Hirundo rustica_, the first +word signifying a Swallow, and the second, of, or belonging to the +country, generally arrives in Britain in the latter half of the month +of April, or the beginning of May, some time in which month the nest is +commenced; it is of a broad cup-like shape, and is formed of moist +earth, collected bit by bit from the side of a pond or stream, and +moulded together with straw and grass: there is a lining of feathers, +or some other soft materials. The situations chosen are sheltered spots +beneath eaves or projecting roofs of any kind, shafts of mines, holes +in the sides of pits and quarries, old wells and out-buildings, bell +turrets, the under sides of spouts and bridge arches; most usually the +spot selected is near human habitations. Who is not awakened in the +bright summer mornings by the twittering of the young birds near his +bed-room window? These birds have frequently been known to build in +empty unused rooms, to which access could be gained through a broken +pane of glass; they are said to nestle near chimneys for the sake of +the warmth, being apparently not at all annoyed by the smoke which +issues thence. + +The eggs of the Swallow are usually from four to six in number; they +are white, thickly speckled over with ash-coloured, dark red, or brown +spots. Morris says that two broods are frequently hatched in the year, +the first of which flies in June, and the second in August. It is most +interesting to see the parent birds tempting them on from one resting +point to another, and so teaching them to use their wings, feeding them +in a most dexterous manner while on the wing; it is said that these +careful parents, ere the young can provide for themselves, bring them +food about once in every three minutes throughout the day. The male +Swallow is a handsome bird; the wings, long forked tail, head, neck, +and upper part of the breast, being brownish black, with a steely blue +reflection, which is only seen in certain lights. The forehead and +throat are chestnut, and there is a tinge of the same on the delicate +white under parts of the body. Undoubtedly a handsome bird, and one of +the most familiar of our feathered friends while it remains with us, +which is until the autumn is fairly set in. You may know when the +Swallows are about to leave, by their frequent consultations on the +roofs, and by the more frequent utterance of their low, and not +unmelodious warble, which is very different from the short, sharp cry, +consisting of two notes, which they utter occasionally when hawking, as +it is called, after insects. + +Previous to their departure they may be frequently observed wheeling in +rapid circles in the air, as if trying their wings, and drilling for +their long, and no doubt orderly flight. We might quote plenty of +poetry on this bird, for its beauty, grace of motion, and familiarity +with man, have made it ever a general favourite, but for want of +sufficient space we shall not be able to make use of any. In some +allusion is made to a notion once entertained even by scientific +naturalists, that the Swallows did not actually leave this country in +the cold season, but _hybernated_, as it is called, from the Latin +_hyems_--winter; that is, wintered here, passing the time in a state of +torpor, or sleep, somewhere out of sight, as the dormouse and some +other animals do. But it is now certainly known that this is a false +impression; a few young or sickly birds, unable to endure so long a +journey, may be, and no doubt are, left behind; these constitute but an +exception to the rule of annual migration. + + +MARTIN. + +WHITE-RUMPED, WINDOW, HOUSE, OR MARTIN SWALLOW. MARTINET. HOUSE OR +WINDOW MARTIN. MARTLETT. + +FIGURE 17. + +This is the _Hirundo urbica_ of naturalists, the latter term coming +from the Latin _urbs_--a city. Its plumage is of a more decided purple +tint than the Common Swallow, from which it is also distinguished by +the absence of chestnut brown on the forehead, throat, and under parts, +which in this species are pure white. In its habits the Martin closely +resembles its congeners, than which it is, perhaps, even more a house +and city bird; hence its specific name. It reaches our island generally +a few days later than the Swallow, and departs at about the same time. + +The eggs of this bird are four or five in number, of a longish oval +shape, smooth, and perfectly white. The nest, which is composed of mud, +so cemented and tempered that it will adhere even to glass, is lined +with hay or feathers. Gilbert White, in his "Natural History of +Selborne,"--a delightful book which all young naturalists should read, +says that there are generally young birds in the nest up to Michaelmas, +there being two broods, and sometimes even three, in the year; the +first brood are generally ready to fly by the latter end of May, and +the second early in August: the period of incubation is thirteen days. + + +SWIFT. + +COMMON, OR BLACK SWIFT. BLACK, OR SCREECH MARTIN. SWIFT-SWALLOW. +DEVELING. SCREECH. SCREAMER. SQUEALER. CRAN. MARTIN DU, OF THE ANCIENT +BRITISH. + +FIGURE 18. + +Like the rest of our Swallows, this is a migratory bird, and it remains +with us a shorter time than most of the others, generally arriving in +May, and departing in August. Its scientific name is _Hirundo apus_, +meaning a Swallow without a foot, derived no doubt from the small size +of the feet, and the little use it seems to make of them, being almost +constantly in the air, where its evolutions are peculiarly rapid and +graceful, even for one of its family. The rapidity with which it skims +and dashes along, wheeling and turning in the most sudden manner, is +truly marvellous; so great is the force of its forward impetus, that it +has been known to kill itself by dashing against a wall; it has been +estimated that Wild Ducks fly ninety miles an hour, and Swallows rather +more, but the Swift above two hundred miles an hour; this may possibly +be an exaggeration, but if we make a large allowance, say one half, the +rate of progress is something astounding. + +The note of the Swift is a harsh scream, hence several of the common +names by which it is known; it is generally uttered while pursuing its +insect prey on the wing, and may be considered as an exclamation of +triumph or delight, as much as to say,--"Ha, ha, I have caught you!" + +The Swift resorts much to ruinous castles, steeples, towers, and +precipitous rocks, for the purpose of building; sometimes it nestles +under the eaves of cottages and barns, or in holes in walls, and hollow +trees, etc. The nest is rudely formed of sticks and straws stuck +together with mud; the materials are picked up with great dexterity +while the bird is on the wing, and, sometimes, it is said, the Sparrow +or other small bird is robbed of its goods and chattels by the impudent +stranger, which snatches them up, and is gone like a flash of +lightning. + +The eggs are white, of a longish oval shape, and seldom more than two +or three in number. + +This bird, like the rest of the Swallows, is pretty widely diffused +over the country during the time it remains here; it has a near +relative called the White-bellied or Alpine Swift, which is common in +the south of Europe, but which seldom comes so far north as this. There +are also belonging to this family of _gliders_, as they are sometimes +called, the Purple and Sand Martins, which are placed among British +Birds; the former is common in America, but rare with us, the latter, +the smallest of the family, are not unfrequently found in Britain. + +The whole plumage of the Common Swift, with the exception of a greyish +white patch under the chin, is blackish brown, with a bronzy green +tinge, which greatly relieves its otherwise dull appearance. + + +NIGHTJAR. + +GOATSUCKER. EUROPEAN OR NOCTURNAL GOATSUCKER. DOR, OR NIGHT-HAWK. FERN, +CHURN, OR JAR-OWL. NIGHT-JAR, OR NIGHT-CHAR. WHEELBIRD. PUCKERIDGE. +RHODWR AND ADERYN V DROELL, OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH. + +FIGURE 19. + +To the above long list of names, we might add two or three others by +which different naturalists distinguish this remarkable bird, but the +most common of its scientific designations will be sufficient; this is +_Caprimulgus Europúus_, the first name being derived from the Latin +_caper_--a goat, and _mulgio_--to milk; it having been at one time +supposed that the poor innocent bird was in the habit of sucking the +teats of the goats to obtain the milk; and there are, we believe, some +ignorant persons in out-of-the-way country-places, who still give +credence to this absurd notion, and even fancy that the udders of the +cows, as they lie asleep, are drained by the feathered depredator, as +they consider the Churn Owl to be. From this supposed habit of the +bird, and the whirring or jarring noise which it makes when flying, are +derived most of the names given above. + +The Goatsucker flies chiefly by night, and is oftener heard than seen; +_whirr, whirr, whirr_ it goes, like a spinning-wheel, and the sound is +interrupted every now and then by a shrill whistle or scream, or a +softer cry, _dec, dec_, which it generally utters when getting on the +wing. White, of Selborne, says, that when a person approaches the haunt +of the Fern Owls in an evening, they continue flying round the head of +the intruder, and by striking their wings together across their backs, +in the manner that the pigeons called Smiters are known to do, make a +smart snap. He thinks it likely that this is done by way of menace, to +scare those who are approaching their young. This author also observes, +that the powers of flight of this bird are truly wonderful, exceeding, +if possible, in graceful ease and celerity, even those of the Swallow, +than which it is a much larger bird. + +Its plumage is remarkably soft and downy, like that of the Owl, and is +prettily marked and mottled, the colours being brown, yellow, and grey +of various shades. The eye is large and hawk-like, the bill small, the +mouth capable of great distension, and fringed with small feathers, +which have a very curious appearance. + +The Goatsucker is pretty common throughout the whole of England, but +more so in the south than the north; it is a migratory bird, arriving +towards the middle or end of May and departing in September. It chiefly +inhabits woods, moors, heaths, and commons, especially where fern and +brushwood abound. Its food consists chiefly of moths, beetles, and such +insects as are most frequently met with on the wing in the morning and +evening twilight. + +The nest consists of a few dead leaves huddled together in some hollow +in the ground, among the heath, long grass, or fern; it is frequently +found at the foot of a furze or other bush. The eggs, two or three in +number, are of a perfect oval shape, beautifully clouded and streaked +with grey and light brown on a white ground; they are laid in the +beginning of July, in about the middle of which month the young are +generally hatched. + + +RING DOVE. + +RINGED DOVE, OR CUSHAT. QUEEST, OR CUSHIE. WOOD PIGEON. + +FIGURE 20. + +Of the _Columbine_ birds, or Doves, we have in this country four +distinct species, three of which are permanent residents, and one a +summer migrant. There is also a member of the family, although classed +in a different genus, of which a few specimens have been taken in this +country, namely, the Passenger Pigeon of North America. All these are +extremely beautiful birds, and general favourites on that account, as +well as for their pleasing habits and manners, which have mainly +contributed to make the name of the Dove synonymous with all that is +gentle, and peaceable, and loveable. It was a Dove, we may remember, +which first gave to Noah assurance that the waters had subsided from +the earth, by returning to the ark with an olive leaf in its beak, +since which, both bird and plant have ever been emblematical of peace; +and it is under the mystic semblance of a Dove, that we find the Holy +Spirit personated in Scripture. + +The particular species above named is termed by most naturalists +_Columba palumbus_, the first term meaning a Dove or Pigeon, and the +second a "Wood Pigeon," which, in this country, is its most common +appellation, although it is also frequently called the Ring Dove, or +Cushat. This truly elegant bird occurs throughout the whole of Great +Britain and Ireland, frequenting most the cultivated and wooded +districts, where it does a good deal of mischief by feeding upon the +wheat, peas, barley, and other agricultural produce; it also partakes +freely of beech-mast and acorns; it is _graminivorous_, that is, +feeding on grass; as well as _granivorous_--feeding on grain. Its +favourite resting-place is amid the thick branches of tall trees, +especially beech, ash, and pine, in which most frequently its nest will +be found; just a few twigs, loosely put together in a circular form; it +is generally from sixteen to twenty feet from the ground. + +The eggs are two in number, of a pure white colour, and of a roundish +form. Three broods are sometimes produced in a season, the first of +which is generally abroad by the beginning of May, and the second about +the end of July. The period of incubation is sixteen or seventeen days. + +All must be familiar with the soft _coo coo_ of this shy bird; heard in +the summer woodlands, it falls on the ear with a particularly soothing +effect. In the winter it congregates in large flocks, the number of the +permanent residents being then much increased by fresh arrivals from +the continent; and very beautiful they look, flying about amid the +snow, in their greyish blue plumage, ornamented with black and white, +green and purple, and suffused on the breast with a reddish flush, as +though the light of the setting sun were shining on them. + + +STOCK DOVE. + +BLUE-BACKED OR WOOD DOVE. + +FIGURE 21. + +_Columba Ênas_ is the scientific name of this species. The first term, +as you are aware, means simply a Dove, the etymology of the second is +not so clear, most likely it comes from _oinos_--relating to wine, and +alludes to the ruddy or vinous tinge of the breast. This is a somewhat +stouter bird in the body than the last, and it wants the white patches +which so vary and enliven the plumage of the Ring Dove, than which it +is less elegant, although perhaps its plumage is more rich and +splendid, with that shifting play of golden green and violet which all +the Doves, and some other of the feathered tribes present. But for +this, the plumage of our Stock Dove, (so called, it is said, because it +is the original stock from which our common domestic Pigeons are +derived,) would be considered plain and dull; it is chiefly greyish +blue, deepening at parts into purple, and flushed here and there with +deep red; the legs of this, as of most Doves and Pigeons, are light +red, and the bill light brown or yellowish. + + "The Stock Dove builds in the old oak wood," + +says Mary Howitt, in her beautiful song of the Pheasant, and so no +doubt it often does; but more frequently, perhaps, in the fir +plantation, or among the beeches, or any other trees that present a +suitable nesting-place; a hole in the trunk is frequently chosen, it +may be only four or five, or as many as forty or fifty feet from the +ground. Sometimes the flat and shallow nest, just a few sticks loosely +put together, is placed on the ground itself, in a deserted +rabbit-burrow, or some other hollow place; beneath furze bushes it is +occasionally found, and even in hedges and fruit trees near to woods +and coppices. + +Nidification commences about the end of March or beginning of April; +incubation lasts about seventeen days, and in a month from the time of +hatching the young are ready to fly. There are two or three broods in +the year. The eggs are white, somewhat smaller than those of the Ring +Dove, and more pointed at the smaller end. The parent birds sit very +close, and will even allow themselves to be taken off by the hand; they +evince great attachment for their young, as well for each other, and +although several pairs may build within a very limited space, they do +not appear to quarrel; indeed gentleness and tenderness is the main +characteristic of all their motions, as well as of their soft notes, +the old familiar _coo, coo, coo_. In winter they consort with the Ring +Doves, but are not perhaps so numerous in this country as these birds. +They migrate from place to place, and feed on hemp, rape, and other +seeds, young shoots of plants, berries, beech-mast, acorns, and grain. + + +ROCK DOVE. + +WHITE-BACKED DOVE. WILD, OR ROCK PIGEON. + +FIGURE 22. + +Scientific name _Columba livia_; the latter name probably from +_livida_--livid, blue, or lead-coloured. It is held by some that this +species, and not the Stock Dove, has the best claim to be considered +the original of the Common Pigeon; others have confounded the species, +although there appears to be a very clear mark of distinction in the +white patch over the tail, which is never absent, the broad black band +across the grey wings, and the more deep and distinct marking of the +plumage altogether. Besides, the habits of this bird differ +considerably from those of either of the other species. + +It is, as its name implies, a haunter of rocks, in the crevices and +caverns of which it generally builds its rude nest of twigs, and grass, +and stalks of plants. It is a social bird, building in companies; the +first eggs, two in number, and white, are generally laid about the +middle of April, and the last towards the latter end of August; the +young are fledged in about three weeks, and after that, a few days' +training by their parents, enables them to fly and obtain their own +livelihood. They feed like their congeners, and are great grain-eaters, +only at times varying this kind of food with a few snails. Like all the +Doves they are swift flyers. + + +TURTLE DOVE. + +RING-NECKED TURTLE. + +FIGURE 23. + +This is perhaps the most beautiful, as it is also the smallest and +rarest of our native Doves; naturalists term it _Columba turtur_, of +which its English name is simply a translation; sometimes the specific +name _auritus_--golden, is applied to it, and this well describes the +plumage of the bird, which has a rich golden tinge throughout most +parts of the plumage, the chief colours of which are brown and grey, +running off into yellow and white, flushed at places with red, and +elegantly marked with black. + +With us, the Turtle Dove is migratory, generally arriving towards the +latter end of April, and departing early in September; it is pretty +much confined to the southern and eastern counties, but few specimens +having been found in Scotland. It frequents the wooded districts both +hilly and flat, flies in small flocks, and feeds on grain and seeds, +peas, of which it is particularly fond, and sometimes small slugs and +snails; being fond of drinking and bathing, it is commonly found in the +neighbourhood of streams and brooks; in such situations may its soft +note, _tur, tur_, doubtless the origin of its name, be frequently +heard, when the shy bird itself is hidden amid the thick shade of the +leafy boughs. + +Mr. Morris tells us that the nest is so slight and carelessly +constructed that the eggs may frequently be seen from below; it is +generally placed at some distance from the ground, ten or twenty feet, +and is commonly well concealed among the foliage. The glossy white +eggs, two in number, and of a narrow oval form, are generally laid +about the middle of May, and the young birds come forth in sixteen or +seventeen days: there are two or three broods in the year. + +The prophet Jeremiah, we may remember, speaks of this as a migratory +bird, "Yea, the Stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and +the Turtle, and the Crane, and the Swallow observe the time of their +coming." The soft note of the bird is also spoken of by Solomon as one +of the signs of returning spring, "For lo! the winter is past, the rain +is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the +singing of birds is come, and the voice of the Turtle is heard in our +land." + + +PHEASANT. + +COMMON OR RING-NECKED PHEASANT. + +FIGURE 24. + +This glorious bird is the _Phasianus Colchicus_ of naturalists, the +first term meaning a Pheasant, and the second of Colchis, the ancient +name of a country of Asia Minor, from whence it is said the bird was +originally brought into Europe, by the old Greek navigators, called the +argonauts, say some--those who in the ship Argo, sailed the seas under +the command of Jason, and went through a series of surprising +adventures connected with the bearing away of a certain _golden fleece_ +from the King of Colchis, all of which are faithfully reported in the +mythology, for the admiration and belief of the credulous. Certain it +is that if Jason had not with him such a treasure as a golden fleece, +he had in the Pheasant a golden bird, if there really ever was such a +person, and he did in reality bring the splendid king of the English +preserves into Europe. + +A description of the bird's gorgeous plumage we need not attempt, as +all of our readers must have seen it hanging up in the poulterer's +shops, if they have not been startled by the sudden _whirr_ of its +wings as it rose from the fern-brake or thicket at their approach, as +they wandered amid the green woods where it delights to dwell. + +The nest of this bird consists of merely a few leaves placed in a +slight depression on the ground, sometimes in the open field near to a +preserve or plantation, but more frequently among the underwood, in +long grass and in hedge-rows; frequently the situation chosen is +beneath boughs that have been felled, or have fallen from the tree. The +laying of the eggs commences in April or May; incubation lasts from +twenty-four to twenty-six days; the number sat upon varies from six up +to as many as fourteen; more than this have been found in one nest, but +it was not likely to have been the produce of a single hen; the colour +of the eggs is pale olive brown, covered all over with very small dots +of a deeper tint. Poachers are ever on the look-out for these eggs, as +a sitting of them fetches a high price; they are generally, when taken +from the nest, placed under a common hen to be hatched. Some have been +found of a greyish white tinged with green. It is said that Partridges +are sometimes expelled from their nests by these birds, which will sit +upon their own eggs, and those of the rightful owner of the nest, and +hatch them all. + +Generally speaking, the Pheasant is a shy wary bird, and with good +reason, being such an object of pursuit with sportsmen, as well as +unlicensed depredators; but where secured from molestation and well +fed, it becomes bold and familiar. Its general food is grain of various +kinds, peas, beans, nuts, and berries, shoots and leaves of several +plants, roots, and insects: it is particularly partial to sunflower +seeds and buckwheat. + +The variety called the Ring-necked Pheasant is distinguished by a clear +ring of white round the neck; there is also a variety known as the +Bohemian Pheasant, which is of a stone-colour prettily marked and +mottled with black and brown. White and cream-coloured ones +occasionally occur. + + +BLACK GROUSE. + +BLACK GAME. BLACK COCK. FEMALE--GREY OR BROWN HEN. + +FIGURE 25. + +The meaning of the generic name of this bird--_Tetrao_, is by no means +clear, neither is that of its specific name _tetrix_: are they not both +derived from the Hindostanee word _Tetur_? is the query of Morris, who +does not tell us what this _tetur_ means. + +The Black Grouse, conspicuous for its large size, glossy black plumage, +forked tail, turning out like the flakes of an anchor, and noble +bearing, is, with the exception of its near relative, the Capercaillie, +or Cock of the Woods, now only to be found in some of the Scottish +forests, the largest of our native game birds. It is found chiefly in +Scotland, where it frequents those parts where there is a good growth +of underwood or heather, or other thick vegetation, and also plenty of +water, which appears to be necessary to its existence. It is also found +in many of the English counties, being tolerably plentiful in Yorkshire +and Northumberland, and about Windermere, in Westmoreland. It feeds on +juniper and most other berries, and wild fruits, heather-twigs, and +young shoots of many plants; the tops of grasses, rushes, sedge, and +buds of trees, turnip and rape leaves, and even the young fronds of the +fern. + +The nest, which is placed in some marshy spot among heath, or in +plantations or hedge-rows, amid the rank vegetation, is composed of +grass or twigs, neatly laid but not woven together. The eggs are from +five to eight or ten in number; the colour is reddish yellow, in some +nearly white; they are irregularly spotted with reddish brown: they are +generally laid in May. + +A fine full-grown Black Cock will weigh nearly four pounds; and the +Grey Hen, which has a sober dress of brown and grey prettily +intermixed, about half this weight. They are birds much valued as table +delicacies; and every year immense numbers are shot by eager sportsmen, +who leave the desk and the counter, the senate-house and the +drawing-room, to roam amid the Scottish moors and mountains, and +undergo fatigues and privations with an endurance and perseverance +worthy of a better cause. + + +RED GROUSE. + +GOR, OR MOOR-COCK. MOOR, OR MUIR-FOWL. RED-GAME. RED, OR BROWN +PTARMIGAN. + +FIGURES 26 & 27. + +_Tetrao_, or _Lagopus Scoticus_ is the scientific name of this species; +the meaning of the first term is already explained, the second comes +from _Lagos_--a hare, and _pous_--a foot, and is given to this bird +because it has the lower joints of the leg, and even the toes, +feathered, differing in this respect from the other kinds of Grouse. +_Scoticus_ means Scotch, and indicates the country in which the species +most abounds, although it is also found in various parts of England and +Wales; it is, however, peculiar to Great Britain, and therefore the +name _Britannicus_ has been suggested as a more appropriate generic +name for it. + +The Red Grouse is, perhaps, the most highly-prized of all game birds, +and the wonder is that it continues so abundant, notwithstanding the +annual slaughter which takes place in its breeding and feeding grounds, +which are mostly the open moors and hill-sides, where there is plenty +of heath and ling, and other low-growing plants of the like nature. It +is especially partial to the heather, which affords it both shelter and +food. It also feeds on various grasses and mountain berries, and grain +when its home is near cultivated districts, which it generally, +however, avoids, retiring as far as possible from the presence of man, +as though it knew and feared him as its greatest enemy. + +The nest of the Muir Cock, as the Scotch call it, is formed of heather +and grass, with a few of the soft downy feathers of the bird, and is +placed in a hollow of the ground among the heath. The first eggs are +laid in March or April; they are usually six or seven in number, +although sometimes they amount to twelve and even more; they vary +considerably in colour, the ground being usually a greyish white, with +more or less of a reddish brown or yellow tinge. They are thickly +dotted or clouded with dark grey and brown; the shape is a regular +oval. + +The Heath Poults, as the young are called, leave the nest directly they +are hatched, as do most of the game birds, and are very soon able to +fly. At first they lie close, and may almost be trodden upon, but they +get more wild and wary as the shooting-season advances; this commences +in August. + + +PTARMIGAN. + +WHITE GAME, OR GROUSE. IN GAELIC, PTARMICHAN. + +FIGURE 28. + +Rich as is the plumage of the Red Grouse, with its beautiful markings, +and warm sienna tint, which prevails throughout every part except the +snowy legs, yet we are inclined to give the preference to this, its +close relative, for elegance of appearance. It is all over of a pure +delicate white, except just the points of the toes, the larger tail +feathers, the bill, and a patch on each side of the head, which +surrounds the eye, all of black; there is also, as in every other +species of Grouse with which we are acquainted, a semicircular patch, +like a piece of crimson velvet over each eye. The edges of the white +feathers are delicately pencilled, as we see them in the Silver +Pheasant, so that they appear perfectly distinct from each other. This +is the winter dress, according well with the snowy regions which the +bird chiefly inhabits. In summer the plumage in parts becomes brown +and yellowish grey of different shades; this dress also assimilating +well with the lichen-covered rocks of those Alpine solitudes where +the Ptarmigan must be sought. With us it is found only in the +Grampians, and others of the Scottish mountains; there it dwells in +seldom-disturbed security, feeding upon such plants as grow in these +elevated places, in winter descending lower, to obtain a better supply +of food, but never venturing into the plain. + +Its eggs, which vary from seven to twelve in number, are sometimes laid +on the bare earth, under the shadow of a rock or some plant; their +colour is white, with sometimes a green, yellow, or reddish tinge; they +are blotted and spotted with dark brown. The laying does not commence +until June; incubation lasts three weeks. The young at first feed on +insects. + +The scientific name of this bird is _Tetrao lagopus_, the meaning of +which has already been explained, and _Lagopus vulgaris_, that is, +common, or mutus--changeable, in allusion to the variation in the +colour of the plumage. + + +PARTRIDGE. + +COMMON OR GREY PARTRIDGE. + +FIGURE 29. + +This is one of the best-known and most-esteemed of our native game +birds; its scientific name is _Perdix cinerea_, the first term meaning +a Partridge, and the last ash-coloured, the prevailing tint of the +plumage of this species being ashy grey and brown, with a reddish tinge +throughout. Beautifully marked and mottled is the dress of the plump +little Partridge, as our readers know well,--delicately barred, and +pencilled, and variegated, as if to shew what glorious effects may be +produced with two or three colours only. + +Partridges are tolerably plentiful in nearly all parts of Great +Britain, where cultivation has smoothed the rugged features of the +landscape; for, unlike the Grouse, which retreat as man advances +further and further into the wilds of nature, these birds seldom go far +from the farm and the home plantations. Coveys, as the family parties +are called, are sometimes met with on the edges of moors, and they +often wander, as Mr. Morris tells us, to wastes and commons; but their +home is not there; the clover, turnip, grass, or stubble field is their +cover and resting-place; there, and in the coppice and along the +hedge-row they feed, and build their nests, if the placing a few loose +straws in a hole scratched in the ground can be called building; there +they lay their eggs, generally ten or twelve in number, although +sometimes more, and of a uniform pale greenish brown colour. Early in +the spring, from the first to the middle of February, may the not +unpleasing call--_chicurr, chicurr_--of these birds be heard; and +towards the end of May, or the beginning of June, the nest will most +likely be quite finished. The hen bird alone sits, the male keeping +watch, and, when the covey are hatched, assisting to feed and protect +them from their numerous foes. The chicks run directly they are out of +the shell, frequently with portions of it sticking to them; they are +very lively and nimble, and so escape many dangers. But one brood is +reared in the year, unless the first eggs are taken, in which case +others will be laid, and the work of incubation recommenced, although +the eggs will be less in number, and the young, it is said, weaker. It +is related by Mr. Jesse, as a curious fact, that "when young Partridges +are hatched, and have left the nest, the two portions of the shell will +be found placed one within the other." We have observed this in eggs of +the Common Fowl, and believe with the above-named naturalist that it is +done by the chicks themselves, in their efforts to escape from their +confinement. + + +QUAIL. + +COMMON OR WANDERING QUAIL. + +FIGURE 30. + +The Quail can scarcely be called a common bird with us, although it may +be found occasionally in various parts of both England and Ireland, and +sometimes, though very rarely, in Scotland. It is migratory, generally +arriving in May and departing in September; some few remain throughout +the year, and scraping together a few bits of dry grass, clover, or +straw, make a rude nest in a hollow place on the ground, and there +deposit their eggs, which are of a yellowish, greenish, or reddish +white, blotched and speckled with brown. They vary in number from six +to fourteen, and even, it is said, twenty; the most common number is +ten. The period of incubation is about three weeks; the young, like +Partridges, run as soon as hatched. + +The Common Quail is a plump little bird, not much unlike the Partridge +in its form, colours, and markings, but the head and throat are +curiously barred with black and white, and the distinct patch of the +latter colour beneath the chin gives the bird a very peculiar +appearance. Naturalists call this species _Perdix coturnix_, the former +term meaning a Partridge, and the latter a Quail. + +This is thought by some to be the bird with which the children of +Israel were fed in the wilderness, as mentioned in the sixteenth +chapter of Exodus, and the immense flocks which pass from country to +country in the migratory seasons, render the supposition likely. It is +said in Numbers xi., 31, that "There went forth a wind from the Lord +and brought Quails from the sea;" and it is well known that the +direction of the wind will often determine the flight of these birds. +As many as one hundred thousand are said to have been taken in one day +in the kingdom of Naples after an unusually exhausting flight over the +Mediterranean; thousands of dozens are sent every year into the London +market, where they are eagerly purchased: their flesh is esteemed a +great delicacy. + +Quails are desperate fighters, and in some countries are kept +especially for the cruel "sport," as it is called, which their +pugnacious propensities afford. They feed upon grain, seeds, young +leaves, and insects; and have a shrill whistling note like _whit, +whit_, which is called "piping." + + +BUSTARD. + +COMMON OR BEARDED BUSTARD. + +FIGURE 31. + +If you can fancy a bird in general conformation something between an +Ostrich and a Goose, you will have a pretty fair notion of the Great +Bustard--_Otis tarda_ as naturalists call it, the first term meaning a +Bustard, and the second slow or lazy; yet lazy as he may be, this +long-legged stalker is by no means slow in his movements when once +roused to action; he runs with great swiftness, and, when he does take +wing, which he appears to do with difficulty, has a strong and +sustained flight. This is now a very rare species in Great Britain, +although once plentiful, according to old writers, who state that it +was customary with greyhounds + + "To hunt the Bustards in the fens." + +A tall, strong, and stately bird is this, slow and sedate in its +general manners and movements, frequenting plains, and heaths, and open +moors, where it can have a wide range of vision, and so be aware of the +approach of an enemy. The gradual extension of cultivation over its +favourite places of resort, and the incessant war waged against it by +sportsmen, anxious to bag such a noble head of game, have nearly driven +it from our island. A specimen was shot as late as January, 1856, near +Hungerford, in Berkshire. + +The prevailing colours in the plumage of the Great Bustard are white or +bluish grey, and yellowish or orange brown, with black mottlings; the +legs and beak are dark horn-colour; underneath the chin is a plume of +narrow feathers, falling backwards, and partly covering the front and +sides of the neck; they are six or seven inches long, and very light +and graceful. + +The Bustards are called graminivorous, but are somewhat omnivorous +feeders; mice, frogs, worms, and young birds are occasionally added to +their usual vegetable diet. We have a species called the Little +Bustard, much smaller than the one we have been describing, and also a +very rare bird. The eggs of both these species are great treasures to +collectors; those of the larger kind are like what our artist has +represented, of an olive brown colour, clouded and spotted with ash and +rust-colour. They are generally two in number, laid on the bare earth, +or in a hollow carefully lined with corn stalks or grass; the length is +nearly three inches. The eggs of the Little Bustard are more decidedly +green, with ashy or dull brown variations. + + +GOLDEN PLOVER. + +WHISTLING, YELLOW, GREEN, GREY, OR BLACK-BREASTED PLOVER. + +FIGURE 32. + +Of the _Pluveline_ Birds, or Plovers, we have several species in this +country, and the one above named is the commonest. Naturalists call it +_Pluvialis aurea_, the first term meaning a Plover, and signifying +rainy, or pertaining to rain, and the last golden; or _Charadrius +pluvialis_. Of the meaning of this generic name we are obliged to +confess our ignorance; by some it is, applied to all the Plovers, and +by others to the Sand Plovers only. This Golden species is a very +remarkable bird, both in its habits and appearance; all the under parts +of the body, the breast, throat, and sides of the head up to and above +the eyes, are of a deep velvet black; then comes all round an edging of +white, which deepens into grey tinged with yellow; and then again all +over the back, pinions, tail, and top of the head, are black feathers, +beautifully bordered, and barred with what appears to be gold +embroidery. It is a nimble active bird, constantly running about on the +open plains and ploughed fields in search of food, which consists of +insects of various kinds, green corn and leaves of vegetables, small +berries, etc.; or in flying hither and thither in the air, now close to +the ground as if about to settle, and then with a sudden upward wheel +urging a strong and swift flight to some distant part of the field, or +sea shore, which is a favourite resort in winter, where the birds +collect in large flocks, uttering their wild shrill whistle, which +harmonizes well with the sounds of the winds and waves. + +The Golden Plover may be found all over Britain, where it remains +throughout the year, generally resorting to the heaths, downs, or +marshes to breed. Its nest is merely a few stems of grass and vegetable +fibres laid in a slight hollow in the ground, just about large enough +to contain the eggs, which are usually four in number, of a yellowish +stone colour, blotted and spotted with brownish black. They are +generally placed with great regularity, with the smaller ends meeting +in the centre; they are laid early in June. The young leave the nest as +soon as hatched, and are able to support themselves in a month or five +weeks. + + +DOTTEREL. + +DOTTREL. DOTTEREL PLOVER. + +FIGURE 33. + +This, the _Charadrius morinellus_ of naturalists, is another lively and +beautiful bird, more so, perhaps, than the species last described, +having greater variety and more distinct markings in the plumage. The +crown and sides of the head are black, with a white band proceeding +from above each eye, running down into a point, and nearly meeting +another band from the back of the head; the throat is white, tinged and +spotted with grey, which is the colour of the breast, which is divided +from the orange-coloured belly by a broad waved band of white; black +and bright yellow complete the under parts; the back, wings, and tail +are brown and black, the larger feathers being distinctly edged with +golden yellow. + +"The Dotterel," says Morris, "has acquired the character of being a +foolish bird, hence its English name from the word to dote, and its +Latin one from the word _morio_--a foolish fellow." The bird was +formerly supposed to imitate the actions of the fowler, and so to fall +into the trap, instead of providing for its escape by a timely flight. + +The Dotterel, which is a migratory bird, frequents open and exposed +situations, wide heaths and barren mountainous districts, where it +generally breeds. Any hollow in the ground serves it for a nest, which +is composed of a few lichens, not woven but merely laid together. The +eggs are seldom more than three in number; they are generally laid in +June; the colour is a deep yellowish brown, or it may be a fine grey, +thickly spotted, especially about the darker end, with dark or reddish +brown, and deep grey. + + +RINGED PLOVER. + +RING, OR STONE PLOVER. RINGED DOTTEREL. SAND LARK, OR LAVROCK. +DULL-WILLY. SANDY-LOO. + +FIGURE 34. + +_Charadrius hiaticula_ is the scientific name of this species; we have +already confessed our ignorance of the meaning of the first term; +according to the old naturalist Pliny, it is "a bird the seeing of +which cures those that have the jaundice;" but we must say that we are +extremely doubtful if the sight of any bird included by modern +naturalists in the genus _Charadrius_ would have such a wonderful +effect. The Latin dictionary tells us that the term comes from the +Greek, and that one of its meanings is _terrÊ fissura_, which we may +translate furrowed earth; so that the name may have reference to the +bird's real or supposed habit of haunting the furrows of the ploughed +field, or the rough uneven ground of rocky shores or barren places. +With regard to the specific name _hiaticula_, we have something very +like it in English--_hiatus_, a break, an aperture, or opening; the +Latin word from which it comes is precisely similar. Why applied to +this bird cannot tell, except it be from its being chiefly found on +broken and uneven ground. + +The Ring Plover, or Dotterel, is altogether a shore bird, and may be +found on most parts of the British coast, and along the margins of the +creeks, estuaries, and tidal rivers, and sometimes by the inland lakes +and ponds. It is a bright lively creature, with party-coloured plumage +of black, brown, and white. It plays about on the sands, following the +retiring tide, and fleeing before its advance, as we see children do; +its silky feathers ruffled by the wind, and its shrill clear whistle +making pleasant music amid the rocks, and over the wide wild ocean +scenery. Its eggs are laid in some slight natural hollow in the sand or +small gravel, sheltered by a tuft of reeds or coarse herbage, sometimes +just above high-water mark, but frequently in the marshy grounds +further inland; they are four in number, of a greenish grey, buff, or +cream-colour, spotted and streaked with grey and black, or dark brown. + +These birds generally pair in May; the male and female both sit on the +eggs, and are very careful of them and the young. Their general food is +worms, marine and other aquatic insects, shrimps, and small crustaceous +animals. On moonlight nights they may be seen searching diligently with +quick and incessant movements, their white plumes flashing here and +there like silver. + + +LAPWING. + +COMMON, CRESTED, OR, GREEN LAPWING. GREEN PLOVER. LAPWING SANDPIPER. +PEWIT. TEWIT. TEACHET. PEESE-WEEP. FRENCH PIGEON. + +FIGURE 35. + +_Vanellus cristatus_ is the scientific name of this beautiful bird; the +first term may perhaps come from _vannus_--a fan, and be given to it on +account of the graceful fan-like motion of its glossy green pinions, as +it skims along the shore, or over the wide heaths, or low-lying +marshes, which it most frequents; the specific name means crested, and +has reference to the crest of long black feathers which adorn the head, +and can be raised nearly straight up or depressed at pleasure. We have +called this a beautiful bird, and truly so it is, with bronzy green and +coppery reflections playing over its black back, breast, throat, wings, +top of the head, and end of the tail; the breast, back, and sides of +the neck are pure white, as is part of the tail, and a long patch on +each side of the head; the legs, belly, and under side of the tail, are +all bright orange colour; and then its long shining crest gives it such +a pert and comical air, that it is quite a pleasure to behold. + +Lapwings, or Peewits, as they are more generally called, from their +shrill cry, which sounds like the syllables _pe-wit_, or _pees-wit_, +are tolerably familiar birds with us, being found in summer on most wet +heaths, moors, and marshy pastures. It nestles in April, and lays its +four eggs, which, in general, are of a dull green colour, blotted and +irregularly marked with brownish black, in April. A slight depression +in the ground, with perhaps a few straws for lining, suffices for a +nest; it is sometimes placed amid a tuft of rushes or long grass. Being +considered delicate food they are eagerly sought for, and great numbers +are every year taken and exposed for sale in the poulterers' shops in +London and elsewhere. + +The Lapwing feeds on worms and insects, runs with great speed, and has +a quick flight, although the flapping of its wings is heavier and more +measured than that of the Plovers. + + +TURNSTONE. + +COMMON, OR COLLARED TURNSTONE. HEBRIDAL SANDPIPER. + +FIGURE 36. + +This is a very remarkable bird with regard to personal appearance, +having a variegated dress of black, white, and brownish red, with +little fading or running off into the other, so that the colours are +strongly contrasted; it has a tolerably heavy body, a strong stout bill +of moderate length, and longish thick legs, which are of a dull orange +colour, the toes terminating in strong black claws, very useful in what +appears to be the chief occupation of the bird, namely, turning up the +stones and pieces of rock on the shore, in search of the sea-worms and +small shell-fish which lurk beneath; farther inland it searches in the +same way for beetles and other insects; hence its common name +Turnstone, and Collared Turnstone, from the distinct white mark which +passes over the neck and down each side of the breast, until it nearly +meets beneath. In the Hebrides we find that it is called a Sandpiper, +because it closely resembles, in habits and general conformation, some +of the birds which belong to the _Tringa_, or Sandpiper genus, of which +there are several species in this country. + +The most commonly used scientific name of the Turnstone is _Strepsilas +interpres_--rather a difficult name to translate; the first term +appears to come from two Greek roots, _Strepho_--to turn, and _laas_--a +stone; the second term may mean an interpreter, and is applied to the +bird, as Morris conjectures, from its habit of careful investigation, +and turning over, as a translator does the leaves of a book. So we may +set down our feathered friend, who goes poking and prying into holes +and turning up stones, as one who likes to see the bottom of things. It +is well for my readers to have the like inclination, to possess an +inquiring mind, so that they pursue their investigations with a due +regard to the wishes and interests of others, and are not merely +curious and Paul Pryish, if we may use the term. The secrets of nature +cannot be too closely and perseveringly investigated, and in her +domains much information may often be gained by becoming a Turnstone. + +This bird is one of our winter visitants, arriving, says Morris, at the +end of August; the Scottish naturalist, Macgillivray, we see, says, +"visiting our coasts at the end of October;" perhaps he refers more +particularly to Scotland and the northern parts of the island; both +agree in assigning May as the latest date of departure. + +The Turnstones frequent rocky and gravelly places more than the smooth +level sands. They are active energetic birds, running swiftly, and +flying rapidly with regular well-timed beats of the wings, sometimes in +a direct course, but oftener in curves. They have a clear twittering or +whistling cry, uttered frequently while flying. Their time of breeding +is about the middle of June, when they are found on the coast of Norway +and other northern countries of Europe. They lay their eggs on the +sandy and rocky shores, sometimes amid the stunted herbage, but often +in a slight hollow, natural or scraped out for the purpose, and lined +with a few blades of grass. The eggs are four in number, of a reddish +olive cast, spotted with dark grey, greenish brown, and black, some +very thickly, others not so much so. They are smaller than the eggs of +the Peewit, and more rounded in shape. Hewitson has remarked that those +which he met with in Norway had a beautiful purple or crimson tinge. + + [Illustrations: 1 through 38] + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +The eight pages of illustrations preceding the title page have +been moved to the end of the text. + +Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without +note. Dialect spellings, contractions and inconsistencies have been +retained as printed. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41550 *** |