ections:. THE Section, vi-10/6 net BRITISH BIRD BOOK OO PLATES; IN COLOUR- AND NUMEROUS PI IOTOGRAPI I I DITED BY PBKIRKMAN BAOXON \ J. L. BOMh WILLIAM 1 \KKLN I lOLKDAIN \\. I*. PYC31AFT HDMl'M) SI 1 OUS MISS 1.1 1LKM-K A. I . THOMSON \M) I III. I 1)1 IOK ML • )l .1.1 II. \\oll) I LODG1 \ \\. si \in \M) 01 1ILKS A COMF1 J:/I E V/ORK ON THE BIRDS, NESTS AND EGGS OF GREAT BRITAIN LonJonu an.cf kcl i j^hu rg}\_ ^T C & JE C JACK, BIOLOGY LIBRARY e u« ' f-' 8. 10 16. Egg Plate E* (Shapes of Unspotted Eggs) By H. GrOnvold 1. House-martin 2. Sand-martin 3. Black -redstart 4. Dipper 5- Wryneck 6- Little-woodpecker 7- Great spotted-woodpecker 8. Green-woodpecker 9. Swift 1O. Ring-dove 11. Kingfisher 12. Turtle dove 13. Little- owl 14. Stock-dove 15. Rock-dove 16. Shorteared owl 17. Barn-owl 18. Brown-owl 19. Longeared-owl THE OWLS [ORDER: Coraciiformea. FAMILY: Strigidas] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES [W. C. R. JOUBDAIN. W. f. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] BARN-OWL1 [Strix ftdmmea Linnaeus ; Tyto alba alba (Scopoli).* White- owl, screech-owl, jenny-howlet, church-owl, ullet or hullot. French, effraye ; German, Schkiereule ; Italian, barbagianni]. I. Description. — The barn-owl is distinguishable at once from all other British owls by the orange-buff of the upper parts and the white under parts. The sexes are alike. (PI. 80.) Length 13-5 in. [342-90 mm.]. The disc feathers are white enlivened by a patch of rust-red around the eye, which is of a dark brown, almost black colour ; the peripheral disc feathers are tipped with buff. The orange-buff of the upper parts is variegated by dull white spots and dusky vermiculations, giving a hoary appearance, especially on the back and wing- coverte. The secondaries are of a paler buff transversely barred with grey, the inner- most with grey vermiculations like the back. The primaries have faint grey bars across the inner, and strongly marked oblique bars across the outer webs. The outer tail feathers have buff outer and white inner webs, transversely barred with narrow bands of dark grey ; the tips are white vermiculated with grey. The under parts are white, tinged more or less markedly with buff on the breast, and spotted with grey on the flanks. The lower part of the foot and toes is sparsely covered with bristles, and the inner edge of the middle claw is serrate*!.: :'-^Jye« daibj- brown, nearly black. The nestling develops two generations of' wstlinjr- down.* *„.* •••.;. •.•*"• both of which are of the degenerate, umbelliform type, and white in colour. ' The juvenile plumage is indistinguishable from that of the adult, [w. p. p.] 1 Subepecifically : the whitebreauted barn-owl. See list on p. 808. * See footnotes to the shorteared-owl and barn-owl. VOL. II. 3C 746312 380 THE OWLS 2. Distribution. — The barn or white-owl is a cosmopolitan species, for some form or other of this widely distributed bird may be found resident locally throughout the greater part of Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Australia, in districts suited to its habits. The white-breasted form, which is resident with us, is in Dr. Hartert's opinion also met with in the west of the European continent, in Western France, the Iberian Peninsula, Morocco, and Algeria, as well as in the Mediterranean basin south of the Alpine system. Other authorities, such as Kleinschmidt, separate the British, Spanish, Sardinian, and Italian forms subspecifically. In Great Britain it is tolerably general in England, except where shot or trapped down by ignorant keepers and others, and often manages to survive in thickly populated manufacturing districts, where there is no game preservation. In Wales it is scarce, and in Northern Scotland it is very local and scarce, but is known to breed as far north as Caithness, and also in Skye and some of the Inner Hebrides. In Ireland it is also resident, but not numerous. [F. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — Resident, and probably stationary. There is little evidence of any migration, but there may possibly be a partial southward movement within our area in autumn, seeing that the bird has been thought by some to become more numerous in parts of the south of England during the winter months (cf . Boyd Alexander, cited by Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 249). The autumn immigrants from overseas belong to the Central European form. [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — Strictly speaking, no nest is made by this bird, which breeds in some dark recess in a building, such as a church tower, old barn or farm building, and occasionally in a dovecot. It also resorts at times to deep holes in trees, and crevices in rocks or caves. (PL xxxiv.) Exceptional cases have been recorded of breeding in corn-ricks, and old nests of jackdaw and stock-dove (Zoologist, 1905, pp. 34 and 71). As the same hole is often occupied for many years consecu- tively, great quantities of pellets are often found within it. The number of eggs varies as a rule from 4 to 6, less commonly 7 or 8, and 10-11 have been occasionally recorded. In many cases they are laid in pairs at considerable intervals, so that fresh eggs, incubated eggs, and young may be found in the same hole. This is by ;:no means; ijiy&rjably the case, for I have taken 6 eggs, none of which showed more than the 'slightest traces of incubation, and also found 6 young, in the nest of &pj>foximafcety 'the same stage of development, and the Rev. M. A. Mathew records a clutch of 10 eggs, all fresh. In shape they are somewhat elongated, pure white in colour, without the gloss so apparent on pigeons' eggs. (PL E*.) Average size of 47 British eggs, 1-59 x 1-25 in. [40'4 x 31'7 mm.]. As a rule the eggs are not laid PLATI XXXIV .•••ff. 1 owl. In MM PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 381 t ill t In- latter part of April or in May, but the breeding season is somewhat irregular, and eggs have been found at the end of March (Zoologist, 1867, p. 601). Incubation, which lasts about four weeks, though incorrectly given by older writers at about three weeks, is, according to Mr. J. L. Bonhote, who has bred and carefully watched the special in captivity, performed by the hen alone. In England a second brood is frequently reared, and the eggs may be found in July, while instances of breeding in late autumn and even midwinter have been recorded. [F. c. R. J.] 5. Food. — The staple diet of the white-owl consists of field-voles (short- tailed tield-mice), longtailed field-mice, common shrews, and brown rate. The bank- vole is also not infrequently taken in districts where it is common, while remains of lesser-shrew, water-shrew, house-mouse, water-vole, and mole are occasionally detected, and there are one or two records of the discovery of skulls of squirrel, bate, and rabbit among large series of pellet*. Sparrows are frequently captured ; thrushes, blackbirds, and small birds occasionally ; while remains of frogs and beetles have also been recorded. For analyses of series of pellet* see Dr. Altum, Journal fur Ornithologie, 1863, pp. 44, 218 ; L. E. Adams, Journal of the Northamptonshire Nat. Hist. Soc., June 1898, p. 49 ; F. C. R. Jourdain, Essay on the Economic Valve of Birds (Soc. Prot. Birds, Leaflet No. 47) ; and Freiherr G. v. Schweppenburg, Jour. f. Orn., 1906, p. 534. Eleven hundred and twenty-four pellets analysed by Mr. Adams yielded the following results: — 997 field-voles, 726 mice, 469 shrews, 205 rate, 97 sparrows, 81 other birds, 10 water-voles, 9 frogs, 5 moles, 3 beetles, 2 rabbits, and 1 squirrel. Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg estimates the pro- portion of shrews on the Continent at 30 per cent., mice 22 per cent., and voles 44 per cent. [F. c. R. J.] 6. Song Period. — The barn-owl has no "song," but is most vociferous during the early part of the year. [w. p. p.] TAWNY-OWL [Syrnium alvco (Linnaeus) ; Strix altco, Linnaeus.1 Wood- owl, brown-owl, howlet, hooter, brown-ullert. French, hulotte, chat-huant ; German, Waldkauz ; Italian, gufo selvatico]. I. Description. — The tawny-owl may be distinguished from all the other British owls by the densely feathered legs and toes, also by the shape of the 1 The right name by strict rule of priority. We are here forced to disregard it in order to avi.nl any suggestion of generic relationship with Sfrir ftammta. See footnote to the nhoi t- eared-owl. A good illustration of the advantages of a uniform international terminology. Enrr. 382 THE OWLS aperture of the~external ear; and from all, except the barn-owl, by the large, dark brown, almost black eyes. (PI. 82.) Length 15 in. [381 mm.]. The coloration of this bird is very variable, presenting distinct grey and red phases, as well as intermediate hues. In the typical grey phase the ground-colour of the plumage is ash-grey, the disc is also grey and vermiculated with darker grey, with a peripheral band of dark brown. The plumage above is striated with dark brown, and mottled with paler brown and white. The outer scapular feathers have each a large patch of white on the outer web, the combined patches of several feathers forming a more or less complete longitudinal white bar ; the rest of the scapulars have dark brown shaft-streaks, and coarse vermiculations of dark brown. The lesser wing-coverts are indistinctly mottled and barred with dark brown, the median, with large patches of white at their tips, forming a more or less distinct white bar. The major coverts are greyish brown, heavily barred with sepia, and with a large white spot at the tip of the outer web. The major coverts of the primaries have no white patch, and are darker brown. The primaries are pale brown, transversely barred with pale sepia, the outermost feathers with the outer webs barred alternately with brown and white. The secondaries are pale brown, barred across both webs with pale sepia, the bars on the outer and inner webs alternating ; the interspaces between the bands of sepia on the outer webs are white with irregular vermiculations of sepia, and tinged with brown. The tail is greyish brown heavily barred with pale sepia, and tipped with white, but in the middle feathers the barring is indistinct, giving place to vermiculations. The under parts are broadly striated and indistinctly barred with dark brown, and faintly mottled with pale brown. In the red phase the ground-colour of the upper surface is of a red-brown hue, with dusky striations and bars arranged much as in the grey phase, but more sharply defined, while the breast and flanks are of a dull white with dusky striations and faint rust-coloured bars. The abdomen is white. The first down (protoptyle) plumage is of buff-coloured, umbelliform tufts, the second (mesoptyle) of buff- coloured, semi-plumous feathers marked with dusky transverse bars. The first teleoptyle plumage is like that of the adults, [w. p. P.] •2. Distribution. — Resident in Great Britain and throughout the greater part of the European continent, but in the southern part of its range known chiefly as a mountain-haunting species. A paler form inhabits North-west Africa, and to the east this species ranges into Asia Minor and Turkestan, but is absent from Siberia. Northward its range extends to Trondhjems Fjord in Norway and lat. 64°-65" N. in Sweden, beyond which limits it is rare, while in Russia it is found up PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES to about lat. 61° N. and the Ural range on the east aide. In the British Isles it is fairly common in most wooded districts of England and Wales, while in Scotland it is general in the south and in the Great Glen, while it has increased ito range north- ward and is now found in Sutherland and Caithness, as well as on Skye and the wooded islands of the Inner Hebrides, but no definite proof of its occurrence in Ireland is as yet forthcoming, [r. c. R. J.] 3. Migration. — Resident and stationary. Single records from the Faeroes and from Heligoland are evidence of exceptional migration, but, as a rule, the special is conspicuously non-migratory. In this connection it has been described as follows : " One of the most sedentary of our native birds, this owl rarely n Mllim. and I can find no evidence whatever of any migratory movement taking place either locally or generally " (Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 254). I A. I.. T. ] 4. Nest and Eggs. — Generally the brown-owl prefers to breed in a hole, usually in a tree, but occasionally on ledges of rocks, and, more rarely, inside build- ings, such as old barns or ruins, or in crevices of cliffs. When hollow trees are not available, the brown-owl will take possession of an old nest of buzzard, sparrow- hawk, magpie, rook, crow, or squirrel, and will sometimes breed thus in the middle of a rookery. Several instances are also on record of nesting on the ground (as in the case of the longeared-owl) at the foot of trees, or in rabbit burrows, or under shelter of branches (cf. British Birds, iv. pp. 24-25). (PI. xxxiv.) No nesting material is used, and the eggs, which are large, pure white, and more glossy than most owls' eggs, are generally from 2-4 in number, though clutches of 5 and even 6 have occasionally been met with, and are laid at intervals of tjvo days or so. (PI. E*.) Average size of 100 eggs, 1-84 x 1*52 in. [46-9 x 38-7 mm.]. The breeding season generally begins about the middle of March, but occasionally clutches may be found at the end of February or during April. Reliable data as to the period of incubation seem to be wanting : Naumann merely states that the hen incubates for over three weeks, but it is improbable that the period lasts for less than four weeks. Occasionally the male bird is very savage, and resents an approach to the nest in no undecided way, striking hard from behind at the head of the intruder. Only a single brood is normally reared in the season, but an instance of a nest with eggs in September in Dumfriesshire is recorded by Mr. R. Service in the Zoologist, 1892, p. 424. [r. c. R. J.] 5. Food. — The diet of this species is much like that of the white-owl, but it is a more powerful bird and more inclined to attack larger game. Field-voles and 384 THE OWLS common shrews furnish the bulk of its food, but the longtailed field-mouse is also commonly taken as well as the brown rat. Other mammals recorded in smaller numbers are the bank-vole, rabbit, house-mouse, water-shrew, squirrel, and lesser- shrew, as well as an occasional bat or young hare ; while among the birds, the sparrow is the most frequent victim, but it is said to have taken pigeons on more than one occasion. Beetles, lizards, fish, and frogs also figure on its dietary. I have found eleven dead starlings in one nest, and have seen six rats, neatly arranged in a row with their tails all pointing the same way, in another. For further notes on the food of this bird see the papers referred to in the " Classified Notes " on the whitebreasted barn-owl (§ 5). [F. c. R. jr.] 6. Song Period. — Most vociferous during the breeding season. LONGEARED-OWL [Asio otiis (Linnaeus). Horned-owl. French, moyen due ; German, Waldohreule ; Italian, gufo comune]. I. Description. — The longeared is distinguished from the shorteared-owl at a glance by the long " ear " tufts, the transverse barring and vermiculation of the under parts, and the vermiculations of dark brown on a dull buff ground of the upper surface. The female differs from the male in being slightly larger and darker. (PI. 81.) Length 14 in. [355-60 mm.]. Eyes golden yellow. The facial disc has the outer portion buff coloured, the inner white, with a patch of black above the eye, while the periphery is outlined in black and white. The " horns " or " ear " tufts, an inch and a half in length, and composed of seven or eight feathers, are dusky, with an outer margin of white and an inner margin of buff. The upper parts are of a pale buff, with broad dusky striations and faint mottlings of white. The scapulars and wing-coverts are buff tipped with white, relieved by dusky shaft-streaks and vermiculations ; but the hindmost and outermost scapulars and median coverts have large white spots at the tips of the outer webs, forming more or less conspicuous white areas. The secondaries have the outer webs brownish grey, with dusky transverse bars and vermiculations, the inner webs buff, and similarly barred. The primaries are of a rich buff, shading towards the tip into brownish grey, and heavily barred with dark brown. The first primary has the outer web serrated, while the margins of the second and third are emarginate,with serrations along the emarginated region. The tail feathers are buff, shading towards the tip into brownish grey and marked by dusky bars ; on the two middle feathers the bars are broader, and flecked with buff. The breast and flanks are buff, the fore-breast relieved by dusky PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES striations, while the lower breast and Hank feathers shade towards the tip into white, and have transverse vermiculated dusky bars and dusky shaft-streaks. The lap; and toes an fe>Un>Bd and buff coloured. The tint generation of nestling down feathers (protoptyles) are umbeliiform and buff coloured, the second generation (mesoptyle) are semi-plumous, and crossed by dusky bars. The first teleoptyle plumage is like that of the adults, [w. p. p.] a. Distribution.— This is a widely distributed species, which inhabits the greater part of Europe, Northern Africa, Northern Asia, and North America. The r u «• ulurli inh. ilut- the l'.nti>h I -Irs 4jfo0fcU »lu* { 1.. i. is found on tlir . out mrnt of Europe to about lat. 63° N., as well as in North-western Africa and Northern Ana, while allied forms are found in the Atlantic Isles, Abyssinia, and North America. It is not rare as a resident in the woodlands of Great Britain and Ireland, and has bred in the Orkneys and in the wooded islands of the Inner Hebrides, while it has also occurred on the Outer Hebrides, and is said to have bred on N. Uist, and on migration in the Shetlands, but does not breed there. [r. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — A resident and a winter visitor. There is little or no evi- dence of migratory movement on the part of the British-breeding individuals, but a considerable number of birds from Northern Europe pass the winter in Great Britain. The species occurs in Shetland on migration, and " as an immigrant it is observed annually on the coast in the vicinity of Spurn, and at the Teesmouth, but in very limited numbers, and arrives there . . . usually in the latter days of November or in December " (Nelson, B. of York*., 1907, p. 296). In the south of England an increase in the numbers of this species becomes apparent in October ; the new- comers " probably do not come direct from the Continent, but whether they are British bred birds that have moved south, or whether they are continental birds that have arrived on the east coast farther north than Kent, it is impossible at present to say ; neither have we any evidence of a passage through the county either to the west or the south " (Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 250). The immi- gratory movements do not extend to Ireland, for although the species has been obtained exceptionally on Rat hi in Island, and at the Tuskar, " there is little evidence of seasonal migration " (cf. Ussher and Warren, R. of Ireland, 1900, p. 1 15). In winter the species is to some extent gregarious (cf. Nelson, lot. cit. ; and others). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — The usual breeding-place of this owl in the British Isles is in the flattened nest of a crow, rook, magpie, jackdaw, sparrow-hawk, heron, 386 THE OWLS or wood-pigeon. Most of these nests are old and deserted by their former owners, but I have known a pair of longeared-owls to eject magpies from a newly built nest. Squirrels' dreys are also frequently utilised, and occasionally a nest may be found on the ground, not only in treeless situations, but also occasionally in planta- tions (cf. Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1898, p. 50 ; 1902, p. 200 : Field, Nov. 22, 1902 : Zoologist, 1901, p. 31 ; 1904, p. 250; 1900, p. 193, etc.). By preference a nest in a thick belt of spruce or other evergreen conifer is generally selected.1 (PI. 81.) The usual number of eggs is from 3-5 or rarely 6, but on the Continent clutches of 7 and even 8 eggs have been recorded. They are white, closely resembling those of the white-owl, but are rather more rounded in shape and have a more decided gloss, though, of course, much less than the eggs of pigeons. Average size of 100 eggs, 1'58 x 1'26 in. [40*3 x 32'2 mm.]. The breeding season is generally during the latter half of March or early in April, exceptionally as early as the end of February. With regard to the period of incubation there is considerable difference of opinion, but probably about four weeks is the correct time. An egg hatched out in an incubator on the 27th day (W. Evans), and Mr. S. E. Brock gives the period as 28-30 days (cf . W. Schuster, Zeitschr. fur Oologie, xiii. p. 53). Incubation is certainly chiefly, and probably entirely, performed by the hen, who is supplied with food by her mate. There is some evidence that occasionally a second brood is reared. [F. c. B. J.] 5. Food. — This is a woodland haunting species, whose food consists chiefly of longtailed field-mice, but it also kills many brown rats. Other mammals whose remains have been discovered in pellets are the common and lesser shrews, house- mouse, field-vole, water-vole, dormouse, and bats. Sparrows and other small birds are not infrequently taken, and remains of toads as well as frogs have been found in castings, besides numerous large beetles, especially Oeotrupes stercorarius and Mdolontha vulgaris. In Germany voles appear to furnish 81 per cent, of the food of this species ( Jour. f. Orn., 1906, p. 544). [F. o. B. J.] 6. Song Period. — Most vociferous during the breeding season, [w. P. P.] 1 On the Continent the eggs are said to have been found occasionally in holes of trees, but there seems to be no clear evidence of this habit in the British Isles (cf. Naumann, Natur- geschichte d. Vogel Mitteleuropas, v. p. 57). On the Continent it also makes use of the nests of the larger birds of prey — buzzards, goshawks, kites, etc. PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES :ts7 SHORT EARED- OWL [Agio accipitriniu (Pallas); Asio ftdmmeiu, Pon- toppidan.1 Woodcock-owl, moor-owl, fern-owl ; catyogle, grey or brown yogle (Shetland*). Fn-nch. due d courte* oreiUu ; German, SumpfohreuU ; Italian, gvfo di padule], I. Description. — The shorteared differs conspicuously from the longeared- owl in the absence of vermiculations on the upper parts, and transverse barrings below, also in the shortness of the " ears." The female is larger and darker than the male. The eyes are golden yellow. (PI. 84.) Length, 14-5 in. [368*30 mm.]. The disc feathers are greyish buff, black round the eyes, and the forepart, on either side of the beak, white. The plumage above is buff, broadly striated with sepia on the head, hind-neck, and interacapulars. The innermost scapulars are marked with broad arrow-shaped shaft-streaks of sepia, the outermost with broad shaft-streaks of sepia spreading out into irregular transverse bars. The feathers along the outer edge of the anterior end of the tract have the outer webs mostly buff, and crossed by trans- verse bars of sepia, forming a row of large oval buff spots. The wing-coverts and remiges are more or less regularly chequered with bars of buff and sepia, very broad on the remiges. The tail is buff, crossed by four or five broad bars of sepia. On the two middle feathers the bars expand at the fore-edge of the feather so as to meet one another and enclose a row of oval buff spots. The under parts are of a pale buff colour striated with sepia, generally broadly on the fore-breast, narrowly on the flanks. The first down (protoptyle) plumage is of a dirty white colour. Nothing seems to have been recorded as to the mesoptyle plumage, [w. p. p.] 3. Distribution. — This species is more migratory in its habits than most of the owls, and is better known in many parts of the British Isles as an autumn and winter visitor than as a breeding species. Outside the British Isles it has a very extensive range, inhabiting the greater part of the European and North Asiatic continents, North Africa, and ranging throughout North and South America, and being resident in some of the island groups of the Pacific. It is, however, difficult to distinguish between the breeding and winter ranges of this bird, for often its presence or absence is determined by the food-supply, and it is usually present in numbers during periods of abnormal increase of small rodents. In Northern Europe 1 This should be, by strict rule of priority, the right name of this species, if we accept the view, sanctioned in America, that the figure to which the specific term flan\me\t» is attached in I'c>nt<>|>pidan's work does represent a shorteared-owl, in which case Tyto alba becomes the name of the barn-owl. We hesitate, however, to adopt so revolutionary a change while the actual fact of pri. .t it y itself seems open to doubt— EDIT. VOL. II. 3D 388 THE OWLS it is a migrant, breeding locally in suitable ground to within the Arctic Circle and south to the Mediterranean, but absent as a breeding species from the Iberian Peninsula and Greece. In Great Britain it is also somewhat sparingly and locally distributed in moorlands and marshes as a breeding species, but chiefly on the northern moors, although a few pairs breed south of the Pennines, e.g. in the Devonian Peninsula, East Anglia, Lincolnshire, Wales, etc. It also nests in the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands, and has bred in the Isle of Man, but not in Ireland apparently, although the country seems well suited to its habits. [F. c. E. j.] 3. Migration. — A resident in variable but generally small numbers, a winter visitor in large but also variable numbers, and probably also a bird of passage to a slight extent. The distribution of the British-breeding stock is both local and variable, but in winter the species is common and generally distributed throughout the British Isles, including Ireland, where it is not known to remain to nest. The immigration takes place from Northern Europe on the eastern seaboard of Great Britain, including the northern isles. It becomes noticeable in the last days of September, and persists till the middle of November or later. The spring emigra- tion is less noticeable, but takes place in March and April. October to January is the period in which it is abundant in Ireland (cf . Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, pp. 116-17). There is some evidence of an autumnal passage through Kent and across the Straits of Dover, with a corresponding return journey in spring (cf. Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, pp. 251-52). As regards habits, it may be said that this owl migrates both by night and by day ; on the Yorkshire coast, for instance, it is noted as arriving " at all hours of the day, from early morn till late afternoon " (cf. Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 299). It is commonly seen about the lanterns of lighthouses at night, not striking against it like other birds, but preying on the thrushes and other migrants attracted by the glare (cf. Gatke, Vogelwarte Helgoland, Eng. trans., 1895, pp. 195-96 ; Nelson, op. cit., p. 298 ; and Rintoul and Baxter, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1909, p. 16). As a migrant, the shorteared-owl is gregarious to a very considerable extent : on the Yorkshire coast it often arrives in parties of from ten to twenty (cf. Nelson, loc. cit.) ; on Heligoland, in flocks of twenty or more (cf. Gatke, loc. cit.) ; and in the autumn of 1907, on Fair Isle (Shetlands), "on two occasions from forty to fifty were observed " (cf. Clarke, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1908, p. 83). The variability of the numbers of this species from year to year, both as a resident and as a winter visitor, and the interesting connection of this with the numbers of the common field-vole (Microtus agrestis), is discussed PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES (cf. p. 406 postta ; and also Ticehuret, op. cit., pp. 252-53 ; Cordeuux, Zoologist, 1877, p. 9 et 9tq. ; Ussher and Warren, loc. cit. ; Williams, British Birds, i. p. 358 ; and others). [A. L. T. ) 4. Nest and Eggs. — Though the nesting-sites vary considerably, they are all on the ground : sometimes among rushes and coarse vegetation in a marsh or among cut reeds ; on the moorlands often among thick heather ; while on the hill pastures the eggs are merely laid in a depression or scratching in short grass, and among sand-dunes in a hollow among the sand and marram grass. (PI. xxxiv.) Here the eggs are laid, usually from 4-7 or 8 in number, but during vole plagues many nests have been found with 10 eggs, and even 12-13, and in one instance 14 ! Considerable intervals take place, as a rule, in such cases between the first and last laid eggs. They are white, in texture and lack of gloss resembling other owls' eggs, and rather variable in size and shape. (PI. E*.) Average of 100 eggs, 1 '57 x 1*21 in. [39-9 x 30*9 mm.]. The normal breeding season begins during the latter part of April, but during vole plagues clutches have been found as early as February, and in such seasons probably two or three broods are reared. Incubation is carried on by the hen, who sits very closely, while her mate keeps guard not far away. Probably the duration is about the same as that of the other smaller owls, viz. about four weeks, [r. o. a. jr.] 5. Food. — During the vole plagues it is chiefly this species which has been instrumental in reducing the abnormally large numbers of field-voles. As a rule pellets of this species are not easily obtainable for examination, so that our informa- tion is comparatively defective. Geyr von Schweppenburg's researches in Germany, however, give the following results: — voles, 87*20 per cent. ; mice, 11*20 per cent. ; birds, *90 per cent. ; bank-vole, *70 per cent. It is said occasionally to take rabbits (Gatke), moles, frogs, and the larger insects, and Howard Saunders states that it also feeds on lemmings, bats, and fish. [p. c. R. J.] 6. Song Period. — Is most vociferous during the breeding season, [w. p. p.] LITTLE-OWL [Athene noctua (Scopoli). French, chevtche ; German, Steinkauz ; Italian, civetta]. i. Description. — The little-owl is to be distinguished by its greyish brown coloration, spotted and barred with white, and the swollen, pea-shaped prominence in which the nostril is placed. The female differs from the male in its larger size. (PI. 84.) Length, male, 9 in. [228*60 mm.], female, 9*5 in. [241.30 mm.]. Irides 390 THE OWLS yellow. The disc feathers are not sharply denned, and of a dull white, tinged with brown on either side. The close brown of the upper parts is relieved by spots of dull white, forming more or less well-marked striations on the scapulars, and bars on the wing-coverts. The primaries are umber-brown barred with yellowish brown ; the tail is similarly barred. The upper part of the breast is marked by an indistinct band of brown and white, while the breast and flanks are greyish white with clove- brown striations. The legs and toes are sparsely covered with bristle-like feathers, and the irides are pale yellow. The protoptyle plumage is of a dull white, the mesoptyle dress of a reddish grey, clouded with white, [w. p. p.] 2. Distribution. — At the present time this species is well established as an increasing resident in southern England and Wales, but it owes this position entirely to artificial means, large numbers having been imported and turned down by Lord Lilford and others. Apart from this, a few of the earlier occurrences may have been those of genuine wanderers to our shores. On the Continent the western form, A. noctua noctua (Scop.), is found south of the Baltic and North Seas, through Central Europe to the Mediterranean, while other sub-specific forms occur in Northern Africa and Western Asia. For a detailed account of its spread in Great Britain from the two main centres of introduction in Northamptonshire and Kent, see H. F. Witherby and N. F. Ticehurst in British Birds, i. pp. 335-42. At that time it was known to breed in the following counties — Northampton, Bedford, Hertford, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Rutland, Leicester, Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, and Sussex ; besides occurring, in some cases under circumstances which pointed directly to breed- ing, in Yorkshire, Essex, Buckingham, Berks, Oxford, Suffolk, Norfolk, Nottingham, Lincoln, Derby, Stafford, and Salop, as well as from Anglesey, Scotland, and Ireland. Since that date further information has come to hand, from which we now know that it has bred in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and probably also in Oxfordshire, while it has occurred in Gloucester, Warwick, Wilts, and Cheshire. [F. c. R. J.] 3. Migration. — Resident as a naturalised British bird, and probably also an occasional visitor from the Continent in the natural course of events. Apart from the districts in which it now breeds, it has occurred in many parts of England and Wales, and once each in Scotland and Ireland (cf. Saunders, III. Man. B. B., 2nd ed., 1899, p. 301 ; and Witherby and Ticehurst, British Birds, i. pp. 315, 335-42, etc.). Most of these records doubtless refer to birds of the introduced stock, and it is sometimes disputed whether the species ever visits the British Isles in the natural way. It must certainly be admitted that on the Continent the little-owl is known to be very little addicted to migration : on Heligoland, for instance, its PBXLDONAB7 CLASSIFIED NOTES occurrence has been only once recorded (cf. Saunden, loc. cil. ; and Gatke, uxirte Helgoland, Eng. trans., 1895, p. 192). [A. u T. J 4. Nest and Eggs. — Like the other owls, this species makes no nest, but deposits its eggs in a hole of some sort : often in a hollow oak or other tree, but also at times in buildings or walls, and also in quarries or crevices of rocks, and occasionally in holes in the ground, rabbit burrows, under woodstacks, etc. (PI. 84.) Here its eggs are laid, to the number usually of 4 or 5, occasionally 6 or even 7. They resemble other owls' eggs, but are the smallest of our British breeding species. (PI. E*.) Average of 100 eggs, 1*34 x M3 in. [34*1 x 28*7 mm.]. They an generally laid about the last week of April or early in May, and are apparently incubated by the hen alone, the male often keeping guard from a perch not far distant, and showing great boldness in defence of the nest. Incubation, according to Meade-Waldo and RUBS, lasts 28 days, and is performed by the hen alone, who site very closely. Heir E. Detmers (Zeitschrift fur Oologie, x vii. p. 44) asserts that a bird hatched out two young in a cage in 16 days after the laying of the first egg ! One brood is reared during the season. [F. o. B. J.] 5. Food. — Although the smallest of our resident owls, the little-owl is a bold and even at times savage species, and is more prone to feed by daylight and to attack small birds and game than the other owls. A small series of pellets from Northamptonshire, examined by L. E. Adams, gave the following results: — Field- vole, 8 ; shrew, 7 ; longtailed field-mouse, 2 ; rat, 1 ; rabbit, 1 ; and beetle, 1. Von Schweppenburg's results are as follows: — Voles, 81*80 per cent. ; mice, 8-80 per cent. ; birds, 3-20 per cent ; bank- vole, 2-90 per cent. ; shrews, 1 -80 per cent. ; rats, -30 per cent. ; bats, '30 per cent. Remains of pigeons were also discovered, and in England it has been known to take pheasant chicks from the rearing-ground, while Mr. Meade- Waldo has observed it collecting earthworms from lawns in the evening. [F. c. a. J.] 6. Song Period. — Is most vociferous during the breeding period, [w. p. p.] SNOWY-OWL [Nfctea n$ciea (Linnaeus); Njctea scdndiaca (Linnaeus). Catyogle (Shetlands). French, harfang ; German, Schnee-Evle ; Italian, civetta delta neve]. i. Description. — The snowy-owl may be distinguished from all other owls by its large size and white plumage, more or less closely barred with dark brown. The female is larger than the male. (PL 83.) Length, male, 23 in. [584-20 mm.], female. 26 in. [660*40 mm.]. Iris golden yellow. The closeness of the barring in 392 THE OWLS the plumage is reduced with age, especially in the male. But it appears to be a variable character, some individuals being much barred throughout life, while in others the bars almost completely disappear. The " ears " are always very short and inconspicuous. The feet and toes are closely feathered ; the soles of the feet are also feathered. The first nestling down (protoptyle) plumage is of a sooty brown colour, the second (mesoptyle) is barred, [w. P. P.] 2. Distribution. — A circumpolar species, breeding principally in the Arctic regions of the Old and New Worlds. In Europe it is occasionally found nesting on the fjelds of Northern Norway, Sweden, and Lapland, and in the Kola Peninsula, but chiefly during Lemming years and at irregular intervals. It also breeds on the tundras of North Russia, and is said to have nested as far south as the govern- ments of St. Petersburg, Perm, and Orenburg, as well as in Livonia (Russow). It has frequently been known to breed on Novaya Zemlya, and apparently on Waigatz, Jan Mayen, Franz Josef Land, and probably Spitsbergen, but not on Iceland, though it is found in Greenland and in the Arctic regions of Asia and North America. The most northerly breeding-place on record is in Grinnell Land, lat. 82° 33'. Although its normal winter quarters lie in the high north, it has occurred as a rare straggler to France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Lower Austria, the Black and Caspian Seas in Europe ; while it has occurred as far south as Texas in N. America, and Persia and Peshawur in Asia. [F. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — A winter visitor, in very small numbers, from its Arctic summer quarters. To Shetland and Orkney "it is now known to be an almost annual visitor in the cold season, especially after northerly gales ; while its occur- rence in the Outer and Inner Hebrides, as well as on the mainland of Scotland, is by no means unusual " (Saunders, III. Man. B. B., 2nd ed., 1899, p. 303). There are also numerous records from various parts of England and Wales, notably from the northern, south-western, and East Anglian districts, and the species has also been frequently recorded from Ireland (cf. Saunders, loc. cit. ; Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, pp. 117-18 ; and Witherby and Ticehurst, British Birds, i. p. 315, and ii. p. 412, etc.). Evidence of a gregarious tendency on migration may be found in the statement that " a flock, perched on the spars of a vessel, has voyaged from Labrador half way to Ireland " (Saunders, op. cit., p. 304). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — Does not breed in the British Isles. [F. c. E. J.] 5. Food. — In the high north the food of this species consists of such species as the lemming and other rodents, the Arctic hare, ptarmigan, willow-grouse, ducks, little auks, and other species of sea-birds. It has also been known to take PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES fish (Audubon). In the British Idea it subsists chiefly on rabbit*, but will take I. mis of many species, mice, and even beetles and spiders (cf. S&xby, Birds of Shetland, p. 50). [F. c. R. J.] 6. Song Period.— Is most vociferous during the breeding season, [w. p. p.] The following species and sub-species are described in the supplementary chapter on " Rare Bird* Dark breasted barn-owl, Strix flammea flammea Linnaeus, Ty to alba guttaia (Brehm). Tengmalm's owl, Nyctala tengmalmi (Gmelin). European hawk-owl, Surnia ulula ulula (Linnaeus), [Surnia funerea (Linnaeus)]; and American hawk-owl, Surnia ulula caparoch (P. L. 8. Miiller). Scops owl, Otu* scops (Linnaeus), [Scops giu (Scopoli)]. Eagle-owl, Bubo bubo (Linnaeus), [Bubo ignants, T. Forster]. [F. c. R. J.] 394 THE OWLS OWLS [W. P. PYCRAFT] Among our native birds few have been so greatly maligned, so hopelessly misunderstood and misrepresented, as the owls, and this, no doubt, largely because of their nocturnal habits, and the strange, unearthly noises to which some give vent. By our forefathers, who lived in an atmosphere saturated with superstition, the owls were reviled as birds of ill omen, portending death and lesser evils ; to-day, in an age which prides itself in its " strong common sense," they fare scarcely better. They no longer inspire fear, but hatred reigns in its stead, and this because it is believed that these birds are the enemies of "game." The game-preserver and the gamekeeper are their most relentless enemies, though happily there are signs of enlightenment on the part of both, which is well for all concerned. Were the owls afforded the protection they deserve, rat and vole plagues would be unheard of. In the United States the value of the owl was long ago realised. Recently Mr. C. W. Beebe, of the New York Zoological Society, remarked, " Only in the last few years, when our grain crops reach from ocean to ocean, and the devastations of hordes of mice have touched one of the deepest chords of man's nature — his purse — is the owl getting due credit for his value and economic importance. If every owl on our continent was suddenly swept out of existence, it is doubt- ful if, after a few years, a single crop of grain would be reared success- fully. It would take the mice and other rodents, and many injurious insects, but little time to confine all their ravages to the hours of darkness. Hawks would, in such an event, become useless to man, and though weasels and minks might increase prodigiously, yet, without the deadly swoop of the owl, the mice would soon overrun the land." By the systematist the owls have been no less misunderstood, OWLS though this fact has brought them no ill. Till recently they were i VLT.H dod as belonging to the " Birds of Prey," which were, accordingly, divided into the "diurnal " and "nocturnal," the owls forming the latter. As a matter of fact, though they are indubitably "birds of prey," they are, nevertheless, in no way related to the so-called "diurnal" birds of prey now known as the Accipitreg, being much iiioiv in -arl\ akin to the nightjars and "frog-mouths." The two most characteristic features that distinguish them as a «:roup are the strange softness of the plumage,1 which extends even to the quill feathers, which, like muffled oars, impart a peculiarly silent flight — a feature of the highest importance to birds which must surprise an ever alert and agile prey, hunted, for the most part, during the twilight hours — and the curious arrangement and structure of the feathers surrounding the eyes, forming the " discs " with which all of us are familiar. In the upright carriage of the body, the form of the beak, and feet, these birds, indeed, closely resemble the Accipttrex, but this resemblance is due to " convergence " and not to descent As touching the structure of the foot, it must be remarked that, while closely resembling the foot of an accipitrine bird, it differs in the greater mobility of the toes. When perching, the toes have the xygodactyle arrangement — two in front and two behind ; when grasp- ing prey they radiate as it were from a common centre : when the bird is on the ground, however, the toes have the typical avian arrange'' ment — three in front and one behind. Only one or two Accipitres, e.g. the osprey, are able to turn the outer toe backwards, and on this account, until recently, the osprey was held to form the connecting link between the Accipitres and the owls. The eyes of Owls are relatively larger than those of any other birds, a fact explained by their nocturnal habits. In them, as in the eyes of the Accipitres, the ring of bony plates, "sclerotic plates," which surround the eyeball is extremely well developed, and plays an important part in rapidly focussing the eye ; further, they are so lodged 1 Which they •hare with the Nightjar*. VOL. ii. 396 THE OWLS in the socket as to be practically incapable of notatory movement, and hence the whole head has to be turned in the direction of the object to be scanned. In colour, as in the Accipitres, they are either yellow — e.g. longeared and eagle owls — or of a dark hazel, so as to appear black — e.g. barn-owl, tawny-owl. The nictating membrane, or curtain, which is incessantly drawn over the eyeball, is well developed, as it is in the Accipitres. But the Owls differ from other birds in that the upper lid, as in ourselves, closes the eye, instead of the lower. The young of the Owls, as with the Accipitres, are nidicolous — that is to say, they remain long in the nest helpless, and must be fed by the parents. They are also daring, as with young Accipitres. But while it is now known that the young owls develop two generations of nestling down, as much cannot yet be certainly said of the young of Accipitres. These two generations are known as the protoptyle and mesoptyle generations.1 In the barn-owls, for example, the protoptyle down is vestigial, and the mesoptyle degenerate, while in the eagle and tawny owls the mesoptyle down is extremely well developed, being semi-plumous in structure, and transversely barred, a pattern rare, indeed, in such plumage outside the Owls. The mesoptyle generation of down lasts in the tawny -owl for about eight weeks, when it is replaced by the contour feathers, the quill and tail feathers having meanwhile appeared. In Accipitres the nestling down is composed both of down which is later replaced by down in the adult, and is thus called pre-plumulce,2 and down which is later replaced by contour feathers, and hence is called pre-pennce. In the Owls, on the other hand, pre-pennae alone are present, the adult owl having no down feathers. Further, we may remark, in the Accipitres the oil-gland is tufted, but not so in the Owls. 1 Pycraft, British Birds, vol. i. p. 162. 1 Pycraft, " Morphology of the Owls," Trans. Linn. Soc., 1898. HAKN-oWl. :tt>7 BARN-OWL Of the eleven species in the British list, only four are resident and 1. tli.MiJi the little-owl, which has been introduced in some during recent years, has become plentiful in certain counties. Our resident species, happily, embrace representatives of both of the two families into which the Striges are divided. Of these two families one is represented by the barn-owl alone, the other containing all the remaining special. The reasons for these divisions will be given later on in the course of this work. Suffice it to comment on two of its more striking characteristics. In the first place, the facial disc is extremely well denned, and, unlike that of other owls, is daring sleep curiously contracted, the segment of the disc beneath the eye being drawn upwards. It is also conspicuously long-legged, and the claw of the middle toe is serrated, as in the nightjar and many other quite unrelated groups. This is a. character which, BO far, has defied inter- pretation, and, it is to be noted, is not present in nestling!. That the barn-owl is cosmopolitan is easily understood, since it shows a greater adaptability as to haunts and breeding-places than ;m\ other owl. Thus it finds comfortable accommodation alike in church towers and belfries, farm and other outbuildings, dovecots, hollow trees, and clefts in walls and cliffs ; it seems indeed, unlike other owls, to display a preference for human habitations, and to establish itself wherever man has founded a settlement, and this pro- bably because man, in his wanderings, is always closely followed by the ubiquitous mouse and rat, which form the staple food of the barn- owl. It is the only one of our native owls which displays such friend- liness to man and preference for human habitations — hence the name barn-owl — and this in spite of the fact that this trustfulness is so commonly misunderstood, bringing death as a consequence. Though it will occasionally venture forth to hunt by day, even at 398 THE OWLS midday during hot summer weather — statements to the contrary not- withstanding— it is by choice a nocturnal bird : and these excursions during the day are the exceptions, not the rule. As twilight falls it emerges from its hiding-place to search the hedgerows, lanes, orchards, and enclosures near outbuildings, quartering the ground like a dog, in search of field-mice, rats, and shrews, though insects, occasionally sparrows roosting in ivy, bats, and even fish are taken. It has been stated, again and again, that shrews are not eaten, but we have the testimony to the contrary of observers like Montagu, Macgillivray, Gilbert White, and Waterton ; while the matter can be settled at first hand by any who will take the trouble to examine a number of pellets taken from the sleeping-quarters of one of these birds ; for, like other owls, the Accipitres and many species not generally credited with the habit, they eject, in the form of pellets, the indigestible portions of their food, such as skin and bones. The late Dr. Bowdler Sharpe has left on record some interesting notes on the barn-owl. He had frequent opportunities of studying this bird at Avingtori Park, Hamp- shire, the seat of Sir Edward Shelley. " I have seen," he remarks,1 " two and three of these pretty birds flying about in the early evening, over the bracken, and playing with each other in the air. Their movements were full of grace and activity as they sailed over the ferns and gambolled with each other in the most playful manner. The number of mice which a barn-owl catches in a single night is truly astonishing. Waterton says that the birds will bring a mouse to their nest every twelve or fifteen minutes, and a nest in Avington Park was found by us to have over forty freshly killed field-mice, which must have been caught during the preceding night." Seebohm gives an instance of twenty rats found in a similar situation. This matter of the part played by the barn-owl in keeping down rats and mice is one which, even to-day, is not properly appreciated. For years past this bird has been wantonly and brutally slain in the supposed interests of game-preserving. But for this the recent serious 1 " British Birds," Lloyd's Natural History, vol. ii. p. 110. Plate 80 Barn-owl hunting By A. W. Soaby BARN-OWL of plague spread by rats would never have occurred. The engines of destruction have been the gun and the pole iiap, the latter a means unworthy of a " sportsman." But, lest we be accused of senti- mentality, let us cite the opinion of others, mltow authority to qpinlr cannot be questioned Thus, then, Mr. R B. Lodge ! quotes the fol- lowing passage from the late Mr. Cordeaux, a well-known ornithologist of his time, whose work still lives: "The owls (shorteared-owls) have been exterminated by the keepers with their deadly pole-traps — a cruel form of bird murder which no humane person would tolerate or adopt . . . The useful barn-owl, too, has been ruthlessly destroyed whenever opportunities offered in this same cruel fashion. Noise- lessly across the waste in tike twilight . . . comes the soft-winged owl, and seeing, as if placed ready for his use, a post of vantage from which he may mark each stealthy movement of the mischievous field- vole, stays bit flight to settle on the treacherous perch; and then, during all the long night, and too often, we fear, through the succeeding day —with splintered bone protruding through smashed flesh and torn tendon, hangs suspended in supreme agony, gibbeted head downwards till death puts an end to his sufferings. Well may we ask, Can all the game-preserving in the world justify this ignorant and needless Similarly, Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier,2 for so many years on the l' of the Field, wrote: "The utility of the owl (barn-owl) is illus- trated by [the late] Lord Lilford with a very amusing anecdote. He states that when he was a schoolboy he had a half-grown barn-owl that he regaled on one occasion with as many mice as it would swallow. Eight disappeared in quick succession down the capacious gullet of the owl, the ninth followed all but the tail, which for some time hung out of the bird ; but the quick digestion of these liaptore* is well illustrated by the fact that in three hours the owl was ready for a second meal, and took four additional mice. " If this is the performance of a single bird, the effect that the fer tar. no satisfactory explanation thereof has been found. An able summary, too long for quotation, was given of this subject bySir Digby Pigott in the Ctmtemporary Review, 1908, from which it appears that similar luminous birds have been seen in other parts of England, though of these no detailed or careful records have been given. LONGEARED, SHORTEARED, AND TAWNY-OWLS These three species differ much in their habits, though they all agree in evading, as far as is possible, the neighbourhood of man — thus (littering from the barn-owl. In the matter of habitat, for example, the longeared and shorteared forms are the very antithesis of one another, the former agreeing with the tawny and the latter with the snowy-owl. And it was apparently this fact that led Seebohm to divorce the long and shorteared-owls in his History of British Birds. This is the more remarkable, since it was his practice to make a great show of considering structural characters — which he never understood — in all his writings. A very little first-hand knowledge of the facts would have shown him the absurdity of such a divorce, and the danger of employing habits as a factor in classification. These two birds, in th« ir pterylosis, the structure of the external ear, their osteology, and anatomy generally, differ one from another only in small particulars ; though in their coloration they are less alike. Both, like the eagle and snowy-owls, have " ears " or " horns," formed of long, erectile feathers, springing from the crown on either side, but in the shorteared and snowy-owls— and especially in the latter — they are very short These are merely " ornaments." The species here compared also agree in having the legs feathered down to the toes, and in this particular the tawny-owl is also included. The longeared-owl, it is to be noted, is a forest lover, and for choice seems to favour plantations of spruce and Scots fir, and it has extended its range in this country in keeping with the increase of VOL. II. 3 P 404 THE OWLS such plantations. Large woods are not essential ; small clumps of firs, or trees bordering forests, are all-sufficient, but old ruins, barns, or outbuildings are shunned. While nocturnal in its habits, it is not affected by the glare of daylight, though in a very strong light it will generally draw the nictitating membrane over the eyes. Like most of its kind, however, it rarely ventures abroad by day, being possibly deterred by its fear of being "mobbed" by all the smaller birds — thrushes, blackbirds, titmice. When at rest it generally stands with the body close to the trunk of the tree, and if suspicious of danger, will hold itself in a strangely upright attitude, drawing the feathers close to the body, and placed as close to the tree trunk as possible. The strangely inanimate appearance thus gained, coupled with the complete harmony of its plumage with its surroundings, and the fact that it is a remarkably silent bird, renders it extremely difficult to detect. This strangely wooden pose, however, is quickly thrown aside when at bay. At such times it becomes transformed into the very incarnation of fury, the body is thrown forward, the wings are opened so that the secondaries are raised high above the back, while the primaries are dropped, and all the other feathers of the body are set on end, producing a truly terrifying attitude, which is heightened by the great glaring, yellow eyes, the snapping of the jaws, and the production of a peculiar swearing sound, recalling the " spitting " or "swearing" of a cat when roused. In all this it reproduces the attitude of the great eagle-owl, and stands in strong contrast with the barn-owl, which seems to content itself with curious, waving, side to side movements of the lowered head and neck. With the twilight the longeared-owl emerges to hunt, its prey being furnished by rats, mice, voles, shrews, small birds caught as they flit by, as well as beetles and other insects. As might be supposed, the young fare as their parents. This bird neither sleeps nor breeds in hollow trees, like the barn and tawny owls, neither does it build a nest, but adopts some deserted squirrel's drey, or the forsaken nest of a crow, heron, wood-pigeon, or Plat* 81 Longeared-owl feeding its young By Winifred Aucton LONGEARED, SHOHTEARED, AND TAWNY-OWLS 405 >w-hawk. In such a nursery from four to seven eggs are laid, which, according to the usage of owls, are incubated as soon as laid, hence young of different ages and sizes are found in the MUM nest What we may call aberrations in the selection of a site for a nursery are rare, but instances of nesting on the ground have been recorded. One siKl i instance was given by Mr. C. F. Archibald,1 who found a iM-st at riverston, under a tiny Scots fir, among the heather, in peat moss containm- tuo .••_"_>. This \\;ix on Ma\ :;. I'.NH. \\licn\isitrd .. i in on the 16th of the same month the eggs had vanished. But three days later a second was found, about one hundred yards from the first, and in an exactly similar position. This contained four eggs, from which three were hatched. To make certain that no mistake hud occurred, one young bird was kept, and throve in captivity. This curious choice of a site is the more remarkable since there were plenty of suitable Ueei close at hand. Normally, however, the site chosrii for ;i mirM-r\ is about ;\\riit\ or thirt\ I'cct lii-li. occasionally as lour as twelve feet, or as high as forty feet from the ground. The young have a curiously discordant note, which has been compared to the creaking of a gate swinging on unoiled hinges ; while the adults, though, as we have remarked, usually silent birds, have yet cries to represent varying moods. Thus they are said to make a silver}' chirruping note, like the shaking of a small bag of silver coins, just as they are beginning to sally forth for the night, and as a greeting. The young also are said by the same observer2 to make the same note when food is brought to them. The female when alarmed, or angry, as when the young are threatened, makes a loud noise, likened to kyak, or described as "quacking." But its most interesting notes are those heard mainly early in the year. These are tli«' nuptial calls, and sound like oo long drawn out, and persistently repeated. At this season, too, the male gives vent to strange moaning sounds, made, it \\ould scrm, when on the wing, and accompanied by a strange percussion of the wings brought smartly over the back, as in > Zbofcyu/, 1801, 81. ' C. H. Bryant, Zoologist, 1906, : 406 THE OWLS the case of wood-pigeons, but owing to the peculiar softness of the quills in the owl the sound is muffled and is like " bock.'" The nightjar makes a similar, but sharper, sound. While this curious and most unexpected note is being made, the bird will often fling himself about in the air as if in play. That the long and shorteared-owls are closely related must be evident from the remarkable structure of the aperture of the ear, described later in this chapter (p. 411). As much might be inferred from the general superficial likeness of the two birds, though the longeared species is decidedly a " smarter " bird to look at. The shorteared species, by comparison, has a " dowdy " appearance, lack- ing, for one thing, sharpness of definition in the longitudinal stripes, which had no transverse barrings. But they differ, as we have already hinted, still more widely in their habits, for the shorteared-owl is a ground-dweller, haunting meadows, turnip-fields, commons, furze- brakes, sedgy marsh-land, and fens. Moreover, it is a more markedly migratory species than the longeared-owl, arriving in considerable numbers, and in companies, in the autumn, at about the same time as the immigrant woodcock, on which account it is commonly known as the " woodcock-owl." Whether, as is the rule among migrants, they fly at a considerable height when crossing the sea is not known, but they certainly adopt the practice of descending when near land, and this to a lower level than the woodcock, inasmuch as, on the Lincoln- shire coast, for instance, they are commonly taken in the nets stretched along the shore at a height of about two feet from the ground, while the woodcock are never so captured. The shorteared- owl returns northwards in spring to breed, and these birds, it is possible, may some day be discovered to be distinguishable from our resident, breeding birds, though these are becoming fewer annually. Nevertheless, a remnant of this ancient breeding-stock remains, and in suitable localities a few succeed in rearing broods annually. At times the number of these breeding birds is considerably augmented, as on occasions when, either from the too persistent persecution of LONG I- ARK l>, SHORTEARED, AND TAWNY-OWIB 407 i li< ii enemies, or from Mi unuHual succession of yean of plenty, voles (JHicrotot agmtu) increase in such numbers as to become a plague in the land, when, it would seem, numbers of the birds which would otherwise have passed northwards in the spring to their usual l>n-. .1 ing haunts remain \\itli us, tempted by the abundance of food concen- trated in tin- infrMrd aiva>. Such \<»lc plauurs. in tlu-sr islands, aiv happily of infrequent occurrence, but records of such visitations r\u»nd back over more than three hundred years. Kent and Easel u<-lkirk>liiir M»nir thiitrni thoiixai.d were killed in three months by men armed with wooden spades, and in Glenkerry no less than fifteen thousand were killed in one month by similar means. Meanwhile the owls — and kestrels — thronged to the scene. The former displayed a remarkable fecundity under the stimulus of this plenty. Normally laying from four to eight eggs, clutches of thirteen now appeared, and at least two broods were ivaivd l»y tin- inajoritN of In-ceding birds. Thus. l»rfoiv tin- rnd of tin- plague, no less than four hundred pairs of shorteared-owls alone were ti tiding sustenance in the stricken area. A small wood within the * :ts^>). Imt it will probably In- found that i\i\^ red, or "hepatic," phase ix ivt.iiiird ilin.u_'lioiit Mi' though this is not true of the cuckoo, which presents a similar dimorphism. The female in always inclined to rufous: indeed, tin- ta\vny-ow|s of this country are markedly more rufous than those of the Continent, even those of the "grey" phase. Like tin- rest of its genus, the tawny-owl has unusually large eyes, in consonance with its more strictly nocturnal habits; and, further, tin iris is of an extremely dark brown, HO that the eyes are commonly described as black, and in this coloration the tawny agrees with the burn-owl, and the rim of the eyelid has a curious pink colour, adding a curious effect to the bird's appearance. But in the majority of owls the iris is yellow, generally of a rich golden yellow, and it would seem that in cases where the iris is of this bright hue the birds are IMS strictly nocturnal This connection between the colour of the iris and nocturnal habits cannot, however, be pushed very far, for the barn-owl will hunt by daylight : and we get a similar diversity in the colour of the iris among the Accipttres, which are all diurnal, since the falcons and eagles, for example, have a brown iris, while most of the other AccipUres have a yellow iris. Another peculiarity of the o\\ls so far described is the fact that the outermost quills have the outer webs curiously serrated ; whether this in any way contributes towards the silent flight is doubtful Finally, we come to the most remarkable of all the external character of these owls— to wit, the structure of the external ear, which presents certain puzzling features which neither the anatomist nor the field ornithologist has suc- ceeded in interpreting ; indeed, the riddle seems insoluble, though it may prove to be associated with the extremely acute sense of hearing which these birds seem to possess. Briefly, in many owls, • .\\ih, as well as in similar i-li mates at high elevations in less northerly latitudes. Only when pressed by the extreme severity of the weather, and the consequent scarcity of food, does it seek more southerly lands. And during such migrations it not nnfre(|iient IN visits our ishmds. hut only t luring the N\ inter months : the Orkneys and Shetlands are almost annually visited l»\ these ItinK and especially after northerly _ir.iles. More rarely it wanders, or is perhaps driven, yet farther south, and Norfolk boasts no less than nine of these visitations. The habits of this bird, however, must be studied in its northeni home, where it may be found breeding chiefly in the region of the Arctic Circle — the fjelds of Lapland, the tundras of Siberia, and the nortln -i 1 1 most regions of North America. For some eight months in tin- \ear these regions are under some six feet of snow. The three months of hot summer weather are largely occupied in the cares of a family. The nest, which is formed of moss, feathers, and lichen, placed in a hole in the ground, after the fashion of the shorteared-owl, is placed, as a rule, in a steep bank, in a crevice in a cliff, or an eminence rising above the plain, whereby damp is avoided Incubation, as is usual anion- ..\\U. rommences ;,x soon as tin- first . — is hid. and tin- male is said to mount guard during the hours of brooding, and to him falls the task of procuring food for the young, which is apportioned by the female. The young birds, it is to be remarked, are clothed in a sooty grey down, and not, as one would have expected, in white down. 416 THE OWLS While in the case of some birds, as with seed-eaters, the young are fed on a special diet, with the Owls and other predaceous birds the young fare as their parents. In the case of the snowy-owl the food is commonly furnished by lemmings, but willow-grouse, ptarmigan, and the Arctic hare are also killed, from which fact the snowy-owl, in Sweden, is known as the "Harfang" or hare-catcher. In parts of its range, at any rate, the bulk of its food is furnished by mice and field-voles, varied by musk-rats and squirrels. In Behring Island, for example, Dr. Leonhard Stejineger l obtained eleven specimens, all of which were crammed with " arvicoline mice," and it is interesting to note that, according to this author, prior to 1870 there were no mice in the island, and but few snowy-owls visited it. At about this date the house-mouse (Mm- musculiis) was introduced from ships, and the red- backed-mouse (Evotoinys rutilus) also, in some mysterious way, gained an entrance. Twelve years later this island swarmed with mice, and there was an abundance of resident owls. But they did not feed exclusively on mice, for he also saw them chase " sea-ducks (especially Histrionicus histrionicus) out at the reef very much in the same manner as does the falcon." According to Collet, the duty of providing the food devolves upon the male, the female dividing it among the young as it is brought to her. Hence the males, during this period of the year, are always in poor condition, while the females are generally plump ! 2 Reference has already been made to the liking which this and other owls display for fish, but the snowy-owl seems to be almost as expert a fisherman as the true fish owls. Thus they will take their prey by a sudden down-thrust of the feet as they fly low over the water, or they will alight on a low boulder over the water and grip their victims from this station. Audubon 3 has left on record a some- what remarkable account of this stationary method of fishing. " One morning," he says, " as I lay hidden in a pile of floated logs at the falls 1 Bull. U.S. Nat. Mu8.t 1885, 223. 1 Seebohm's History of Birds, vol. i. p. 182. 3 Ornithological Biography, vol. ii. p. 136. 417 "t the Ohio ... I had an opportunity of seeing thin owl secure fish in the following manner \\liil. \\atching for their prey on the borders <>t tin pots, they in\arial>l\ l.i\ tl.ii on the rock, with the body pluced l« •n-thui-i itloiiu: tin- border •>! the hole, the head also laid down, but turned toward- tin water. One nii^ht have supposed the bird sound asleep, as it would remain in the same position until a good oppor- tunity of securing a fish occurred, which, I believe, was never missed ; tor as the latter unwittingly rose to the surface near the edge, that instant the owl thrust out the foot next the water, and, with the quickness of lightning, seized it and drew it out. The owl then removed to the distance of a few yards, devoured its prey, and returned to the same hole, or, if it had not perceived any more fish, flew only a few yards over the many pots there, marked a likely one, and alighted at a distance from it It then squatted, moved slowly towards the edge, and lay as before, watching for an opportunity. Whenever a fish of any size was hooked, as I may My, the owl struck the other foot also into it, and flew off with it to a considerable distance." While some hold that the heavily barred form of snowy-owl which is sometimes met with represents the immature plumage, others are of opinion that this bird, like the tawny-owl and the Greenland falcon, is dimorphic. That is to say, that the heavily barred forms, though they may reduce this character, to a limited extent, with age, are always conspicuously barred ; while individuals conspicuous for their lack of barring have, similarly, always been so distinguished. More remarkable still is an observation by Mr. C. W. Beebe,1 of the New York Zoological hardens. \\|,o. after pointini: »>ut that old male birds are sometimes almost pun- \\hite in colour, ^oes on to remark that a male shot in Alaska had the plumage suffused with a " rich and extremely beautiful shade of clear lemon-yellow, exactly as the rose-blush clothes the entire plumage of some gulls in spring. The morning after the bird was killed the colour was gone, the plumage being dead white." 1 The BUvtnth Annual Report ofUwNtw York Zoological Society. 418 THE OWLS Whether heavily or slightly barred, the general effect of this plumage is whiteness : and there can be no doubt but that it confers a distinct advantage on the bird, inasmuch as it enables it to occupy any point of vantage wherefrom to survey the land when on the look- out for prey without being itself detected, since the plumage harmon- ises for the greater part of the year, at any rate, with the mantle of snow which is spread over the whole country. By the time this disappears the capture of prey becomes an easier matter, being more abundant, and it is probable that even then, from its habit of sitting motionless, it is by no means conspicuous. But we naturally ask, Is this whiteness due to the direct action of natural selection, eliminating all but the whitest owls, or is it due rather to the effect of cold, which is inimical to the secretion of pigment? In other words, Is the coloration due to the selection of variations in the direction of white- ness, or is it a physiological reaction to physical stimuli ? In either case, it may be argued, natural selection is the arbiter, on the one hand eliminating unfavourable pigmental variations, on the other, variations in which the metabolism is unaffected by cold, for it seems certain that whiteness is essential to survival in these regions for this species, and this whiteness is a highly specialised character induced by selection. The same factors, whatever they may be, have brought about the whiteness of the ptarmigan and the Arctic hare, on which the snowy-owl largely feeds. But this is what we should expect. It is the unwary which are taken, from among the victims; it is the restless owl which goes hungry from among the slayers. Movement, on either side, betrays. Strong contrast with environment, on either side, means death, either by violence or starvation, as the case may be. If only the ptarmigan, grouse, and hare are protectively coloured, then the fox and the owl must perish, for they will give warning of their approach long before they come within striking distance. If, on the other hand, only the fox and owl wear this garment of invisibility, then sooner or later the ptarmigan and hare will vanish. There is one other point demanding notice, and this concerns the Plato 84 Shorteared-owl sunning itself fleft figure) By Winifred Austen Little-owl at the entrance to its hole (right figure) By O. E. LITTLE-OWL 419 feet of the snowy-owl. In all the owls there are always more or leas feathers down to the claws, though in some this fonHmrllHJ is reduced almost to the condition of bristles. In others, like the long and shorteared-owls and the eagle-owls, for example, the feathering is thick and long, entirely concealing the skin. The snowy-owl has carried this feathering a step further, since the soles also are covered. This appears to be due to the needs of the environment, since the Polar bear and the ptarmigan, which also inhabit Arctic regions or hi^h elevations of perpetual snow, show a similar modification. As touching the cries of the snowy-owl, but little is to be said, though it is interesting to note that, though a near relation of the eagle-owl, it does not appear to utter that strange, thick, almost husky " o-ooo " which is so characteristic of the eagle-owl. It is said, when on the wing, to utter a loud " krau-au" repeated three or four times, and only when excited; while at times, and similarly when excited, it gives vent to a loud cry which has been said to resemble "rick, rick, rick," while other observers have attributed to it a low, whining wail. LITTLE-OWL Of the little-owl it is possible many new observations will be made in this country, for while voluntarily it but rarely visits us, numbers have been turned loose during recent years, notably by the late Lord Lilford in Northamptonshire, the Hon. Walter Rothschild at Tring, Hertfordshire, and in Cambridgeshire, and by Mr. E. G. B. Meade- Waldo near Edenbridge in Kent1 These have not only thriven in these respective centres, but they have also spread over a large area, But this attempt at introducing the little-owl among us is by no means new, for Waterloo, so long ago as 1843, had made the same experiment in Yorkshire, though these birds would seem to have disappeared. 1 An admirable summary, much too long to giro here, of these introductions and the spread of this bird appeared in British Birdt, vol. L, 1807, p. 885. VOL. II. 3 H 420 THE OWLS The success of later experiments has not met with universal approval. In Cambridgeshire it is said to have materially reduced the numbers of many of the smaller Passerex, while still more serious charges are laid at its door by the gamekeeper, who protests that it is a serious pest in the neighbourhood of pheasant coops and of partridge chicks. Since it hunts in broad daylight there may be truth in these charges, though we venture to doubt whether it is guilty of raids on partridges' eggs, which charge has been on many occasions brought against it. This is the owl that was held in such esteem by the ancient Greeks, who dedicated it to Pallas Athene and engraved it on their coins. By them it was regarded as the symbol of wisdom. The reason for such singular marks of regard is somewhat difficult to understand, for the little-owl is the buffoon among birds, performing the strangest antics when excited, and giving no particular signs of intelligence in its graver and calmer moments. Nevertheless it is said to make an interesting pet. The late Dr. Bowdler Sharpe once kept a pair of these birds, largely for the purpose of exterminating the cockroaches which infested his kitchen. "Every night," he wrote, "the gas was turned low and the owls sat on our hands like trained hawks. Their bright little eyes were turned in every direction, and the advent of a beetle was announced by a vigorous ' bobbing ' of their heads. Before I could see the noxious insect, the owls would leave their perch on my hand, and glide noiselessly down and capture the unsuspecting horror. Then they would stand over it, with one wing spread out, as if to protect the savoury morsel from the vulgar world which knows not the delicacy of a black-beetle. Then, grasping it with their toes, holding it like a parrot, as if with a hand, they would munch it up contentedly, till not even an antenna was left to mark the place of slaughter." Its flight resembles that of a bat, being erratic and speedily changing in direction. Downy pheasants apart, this bird feeds on small birds, mice, grasshoppers, cockchafers, and other insects, while LITTLE-OWL i.'i it breeds in hollow trees, displaying great affection for its young. Mr. R B. Lodge1 relates that when in Spain, where it is very common, he took newly hatched young and an adult from a wood- pecker's hole. On replacing the young and releasing the old bird, to his surprise *hr in-tantlv scrambled back again after her chicks. From its -mull size and peculiar Hight, which does not suggest that of an owl, this bird is likely to escape notice even when it may be tolerably abundant, but its cry is unmistakable. Saunders syllables it as "CM," or sometimes "CM-CM," which it utters "with exasperating monotony," both in spring and autumn. 1 I*icturt9 of Bird Lift, p. 80S. THE ROLLER [ORDER: Coraciiformes. FAMILY: Coraciidce] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES [F. C. B. JOTTRDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] ROLLER [Coracias gdrrvlus Linnaeus. French, rollier ; German, M andelkrdhe, Blauracke ; Italian, ghiandaia marina]. i. Description. — This bird is easily identified, the back being of a chestnut- brown colour, the rest of the plumage blue. The feet are syndactyle. The sexes are alike. (PI. 85.) Length, 12 in. [304*79 mm.]. In the male the scapulars and inter-scapulars and inner secondaries are of a tawny chestnut; the head, neck, and under parts are of a pale cobalt blue; the lower back and rump purplish blue ; the greater wing-coverts are greenish blue, the marginal coverts purplish blue. The primaries have the outer webs greenish blue, those of the secondaries purple. The central tail-feathers are of an oil-green colour, the rest greenish blue on the outer, black on the inner web. The lores are black, the forepart of the cheeks and throat dull white, and there is an indistinct superciliary band of dull white. The feet are dark yellow, and the iris is dark brown. The juvenile plumage resembles that of the adult but is duller, the head and neck being of an oily green colour, [w. P. P.] a. Distribution. — The roller has never been known to breed in the British Isles, but is a tolerably frequent visitor on migration, chiefly in the autumn. On the Continent its breeding range extends to about lat. 61° N. in Sweden, while in Russia it becomes scarce in the St. Petersburg government, and rare in Finland, although it has occurred in the Olonetz and Perm governments (lat. 59°). Farther south it becomes more numerous, but is scarce in Denmark, France (except in the south), and the Low Countries, though plentiful in the Mediterranean countries, especially in the Iberian Peninsula. In the Mediterranean it is common in Sicily I'KKLIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTBB and Cyprus, and visits the S. of Sardinia, but is absent from Corsica. Eastward it is plentiful in the Balkan Peninsula and S. Russia, and also occurs during summer in Asia Minor, Palestine, and Persia. The paler Transcaspian birds have been described as a local race. In Western Siberia and Turkestan it ranges occasionally M ! ir is ( >m-k i .">."• V Lit.). :utr. inch on a tree a hundred yards away. Anything more striking can hardly be imagined : the bird forces itself on the attention of the most indifferent Our little kingfisher is perhaps as brilliant, 426 THE ROLLER and very similar in scheme of colour, but he is a mere speck in the landscape — a microscopic point of colour, while a pair of rollers, or still better a flock of these marvellous birds, haunting the mud cliff's and dry water-courses of the lower Danube valley, is a sight never to be forgotten. Throughout the whole of Europe and North Africa the roller is only known as a summer resident or bird of passage. His winter haunts lie in the recesses of Central and Southern Africa, but some of the birds which breed by the water-courses of Kashmir apparently winter in the lower Indus valley. Only a small proportion extend their wanderings beyond the Orange River, although a few specimens have been recorded from Natal in January and February ; from King William's Town, East London and Port St. John in Eastern Cape Colony, occasionally in the Orange River Colony, Transvaal, Bechuana- land, Namaqualand, Damaraland (in January), and Rhodesia. Farther north it becomes more plentiful, and occurs in some numbers in Gaza- land, while Mr. G. A. K. Marshall describes it as fairly common round Salisbury in Mashonaland, arriving from the north about September and leaving early in April. His supposition that it probably breeds here (Ibis, 1900, p. 246) is, however, very unlikely. According to Hartlaub it also reaches Madagascar, while de Bocage records it from Angola, and it is also found in German and British East Africa. Professor Reichenow has suggested that these African specimens may belong to a distinct race, as they possess a greener tinge on the head and throat. This is, however, probably only seasonal, and Dr. R. B. Sharpe pointed out that a specimen from Mesopotamia, killed on August 26, was moulting from a blue head into an olive-green one, similar to that of the African birds.1 It is a regular migrant in Kamerun, passing in October and November, and probably also on the return passage ; while Dr. Rendall records it from the Gambia, Weiss from the Island of Sao Thome, and Keulemans from Principe. During its stay in its winter quarters the roller is addicted to perching on the top boughs 1 Ibis, 1902, 613. Plate 86 Rollers, adult (foreground), young (background) By Winifred Austen THK ROLLER 427 of isolated trees in fairly open country, or resting on the telegraph \\ires. It is not particularly shy, and can be approached within gun- shot without difficulty. In the Gambia Kendall noticed that it would dash down from the top branch* s of a tree after a lizard which had rashly ventured into the open, but farther south it is generally described as feeding on beetles, locusts, and grasshoppers picked up on thf -i -omul. Von Ileuglin on our occasion came across many hundreds in October feeding on the swarms of locusts. Being to a great extent independent of water, and able to pick up a living in all but the most arid deserts, as well as having considerable power of flight, the roller is probably able to cross the Sahara without the necessity of diverging in order to follow up the Nile valley or to keep near the coast Soon after the beginning of April the first arrivals may be noticed in Tunisia, and about the same time, or a little earlier, in Marocco and Algeria, and here some settle down at once to breed, while their companions pass over across the Straits of Gibraltar as well as to Sicily and Italy. In Marocco it is a somewhat local bird, breeding among the ruins at Larache and other places in considerable numbers. Mr. Meade- Waldo describes how he encamped among some ruins where a colony of quite three hundred of these magnificent birds were breeding. At the time of his visit they were feeding their young with large and very poisonous centipedes, quite six inches long — not a particularly inviting diet, to our ideas at any rate. The same writer also found it an abundant species in the Great Atlas, and notes that it was breeding in the old walnut trees at an elevation of GOOO feet In Algeria and Tunisia it is also frequently found nesting in trees in wooded districts, but the more usual breeding-place is in a hole in the steep bank of some river or a crevice in a cliff face. Towards the end of April the migration in Tunisia is at its height, and Mr. J. Whitaker1 describes how the telegraph wires lining the routes were constantly occupied by small flocks of these birds, which kept on taking short flights and perching again on the wires ahead. Curiously enough, in North out 1 Bird* of Tunitin, ii. 52. VOL. II. 3 I 428 THE ROLLER Africa it is quite unknown as a breeding species, though large numbers pass through on passage to Palestine and Asia Minor. No doubt many birds also diverge eastward on their way through Arabia to the highlands of Persia, Afghanistan, and Transcaspia. There is some difference of opinion as to the way in which the roller migrates. It evidently moves by day, and some observers speak of large flocks consisting of some hundreds, while others de- scribe it as passing in small flocks or pairs. Probably these apparent discrepancies are due to local conditions. Thus in Egypt it is generally noticed either singly or in small parties according to von Heuglin and Shelley, but in Palestine it arrives in large flocks, which very gradually disperse themselves over the country. Tristram gives a graphic description of the behaviour of these newly arrived migrants. " For several successive evenings great flocks of rollers mustered shortly before sunset on some dom trees near the fountain, with all the noise, but without the decorum, of rooks. After a volley of discordant screams ... a few birds would start from their perch, and commence a series of somersaults overhead, somewhat after the fashion of tumbler pigeons. In a moment or two they would be followed by the whole flock, and these gambols would be repeated for a dozen times or more. In about a week the immigrants dispersed . . . after this dispersal not a roller ever came back to the dom trees where they had roosted at first." It is interesting to see how they adapt themselves to their surroundings. The telegraph wire is at once used as a sub- stitute for the dead branch : in the valley of the Nile the stumps of the durra, which are left standing in the fields to the height of some feet, are freely used as perching-places, while Captain Sperling saw them seated on the slender reeds in the swamps on the treeless plain of Sharon, and Tristram watched them perched on knobs of gravel or marl in the barren Ghor by the Dead Sea, waiting for the emergence of beetles from the sand. The distribution of this species during the breeding season in Europe and Asia has already been indicated in the " Classified Notes," THE ROLLER so that it is unnecessary to recapitulate it here. But it must be 1 1 membered that in most parts of Europe it it by no means a common bird. It is, however, plentiful in some parts of the Iberian Peninsula, such as the Guadalquivir valley above Seville, and is fairly common in Sieilv. and extremely numerous in the lower Danube valley, except where it has been exterminated by plume-hunters, parts of South Russia and Asia Minor. Naiunann remarks that it is found only in tlat or slight 1\ hilly districts, where the soil is sandy, and that it haunts open woodlands, interspersed with old oaks, or the neighbourhood of pine forests. We have, however, already seen that though this is true for Germany it does not hold good for the southern portion of its r.m_. . uli, iv il i- ;i con >n breeding species, to a eon>iderahle height in the Great Atlas. In the same way, where the bird is scarce and liable to persecution, it is decidedly shy and wary, but where plentiful, as locally in North Africa and the Balkan Peninsula, it is quite the reverse. In the Dobrogea I have driven within two yards of a bird seated on a bush by a roadside without causing it to take wing. MoM of the birds \\hich arrive in Northern Kurope appear to be already paired, and proceed at once to the business of breeding ; but the appearance of an unmated male on the scene is the signal for an energetic attack, accompanied with loud and harsh cries, and he is soon chased away from the neighbourhood Where the birds are plentiful, and many pairs are found breeding in company, a good deal of bickering and fighting undoubtedly takes place. Nun maim goes still further, and states that much quarrelling, accompanied by noise and continual pecking, takes place between the sexes till the eggs are laid, but this is not confirmed by von Lowis and other observers. During the fights between rival males, whole bunches of feathers are torn out, especially from the head, and severe bites are given. In some cases a pair of fighting birds have been picked up by ha ml. neither being willing to let go his hold, and Naumann states that such birds are occasionally captured by prowling foxes. But the most remarkable feature about the behaviour of the male at this eoteop is 430 THE ROLLER the extraordinary flight, from which he derives his name of "roller." In fine weather he rises in the air with loud and harsh " rack, rackkack," etc., to a fair height, and proceeds to " tumble " or turn somersaults in his flight, after which he darts down with a harsh chatter which Nau- mann writes as "raeh, raeraeh, rraeh, rrae" etc., returning at length to his perch.1 The ordinary flight of the roller is rapid and powerful, and has been compared by some writers to that of the pigeon : the firm, decided flaps are often varied by an occasional tumble and glide, but now and then a bird may be seen at a good height, winging its way steadily to some distant point, and calling harshly at frequent intervals. He does not hop from one bough to another, but flies, while on the ground he never seems quite at home when in motion, but hops somewhat slowly, although wonderfully quick at seizing his prey. The nesting-place varies according to locality : in well-wooded districts, such as Northern Europe, it is generally in a hole of some old tree, rarely less than six feet or so from the ground, but many pairs breed in holes of old and ruinous buildings in North Africa and Eastern Europe : holes in mud cliffs and banks of streams are used by thousands of birds in the Balkan Peninsula and other southern dis- tricts, and in Spain I have seen nests in quarries and among rocks. Kriiper found that in Asia Minor some pairs bred in old magpies' nests in which the roof was still standing, while the late Herr Hocke main- tained that he had taken the eggs from a wood-pigeon's nest in Germany.2 In Bulgaria, Herr O. Reiser discovered a colony of about seventy pairs breeding in company with red-footed falcons, in an old piece of oak forest. In such situations there is naturally no difficulty in finding nests, but where isolated pairs are nesting, con- siderable caution is shown by both sexes, though, of course, the presence of the male — his restless movements and tumbling flight — 1 Naumann describes the call-note as a high, ringing " kraeh," not unlike the cry of the young jackdaw, and when rapidly repeated the " rack-rack " sounds more like " ckraL~ra-kra- !. tia\s the presence of a nest not far away. Even where several pairs are breeding close at hand, suspicion is at once aroused by the presence of a xxatchrr. and givat imxxillingness (o disclose tin- ncsting- site is always sh«>\\n. at an\ rate in tin- earlier stages of breeding. Commander Lx ncs noticed in Sicily that the cock warned the hen when danger was at hand, and she took advantage of the warning to slip a wax «|iiietly from the hole. I ti tivrs there is often no nest, or a mere handful of grass and a few dead chips, but in some cases a rough bed of roots, grasses, feathers, or hair may be found. The eggs are usually four or five, sometimes only three or even six in number, pure white and smooth, but less glossy than those of the great black-woodpecker, and not so pointed. The average size of 208 Russian eggs is, according to Herr Goel>el, T39 x Til in. [35*4 x 28*4 mm.]. Kriiper states that in Asia Minor he found a clutch in which the most recently laid egg was normal, but the others were stained by rain acting on the nest material till they resembled ptarmigan eggs! Both sexes are said to take part in incubation,1 but unfortunately Mr. W. H. St Quintin, who has bred this species in con- finement, does not mention whether this was the case with his birds. The incubation period is apparently eighteen to twenty days,3 and so closely does the sitting bird incubate that she will often allow herself to be caught on the nest When the young are hatched, both parents take part in feeding them, but the excreta are never removed, and the young become exceedingly dirty. Naumann graphically states that they sit in dirt and filth to over their ears, and that their smell is most offensive in consequence. Mr. St Quintin's first young bird left the nest twenty-six days after the cries of the newly-hatched young were first heard. It could perch and fly well from the first, and two days later a second followed. For about a week afterwards they returned to the nest-hole to sleep. In a wild state the young are seen with the parents after they have left the nest, and are fed by them. 1 Naumann, \f colour, are unmistakable. In spite of its seeming weakness, the bird travels at a fair pace, with a certain amount of undulation, and when pursued in the air. Hits about with light, almost butterfly- like strokes of its wings, and is evidently by no means easy to catch. In Palestine, Tristram was inclined to think that it must migrate by night, as he found it generally distributed, without being able to detect any preliminary migratory movements ; but it is clear that on its sea voyages, at any rate, it moves by day. Many birds have already been left on the south side of the Mediterranean to breed in the forests and hills of Northern Africa, and some settle down in most of the larger Mediterranean islands to breed, while others push on across the Continent to their breeding-places. Hardly an olive grove in Southern Europe now but contains a hoopoe or two, and every- where one hears the soft " poo-poo-poo n repeated, now close at hand, now half a mile away. But some birds must still push on, moving quietly onward by short flights into Central Europe, working their way slowly up the river valleys, and haunting willows, water- meadows, and orchards. Stragglers have been known to penetrate within the Arctic Circle and even to Spitsbergen, but the normal breeding range on the Continent does not extend beyond Southern Sweden, and up to about lat 55° N. in Russia. It is, however, by no means confined altogether to low ground, for Mr. Elwes found it quite common in some of the wildest and most desolate valleys of the Himalayas, at heights of from 12,000 to 15,000 feet, and in Southern Tibet Captain Walton records it as common up to mid-October at 15,200 feet (Ibis, 1906, p. 241). In Spain, and in many parts of the Balkan Peninsula, it is a very common bird, as well as in South Russia. But common though it is, and by no means shy, except where it has learned by experience to dread the gun, it shows considerable caution, as a rule, in the choice of its breeding-place. Now and then one finds a nest, perhaps in a hollow of a stone wall, quite close to a house, and as the parents become accustomed to the sight of men, they will fly in and out with food within a yard or two of the spectator. 440 THE HOOPOE But the natural inclination of the bird seems now to be towards seclusion and secrecy. From tree to tree he flits, often, too, settling on the ground, and constantly uttering his call. Should a rival male appear before each pair is settled down, a fight is sure to ensue, and it is quite a common sight to see the two cocks sparring with one another like gamecocks, leaping and fluttering in the air over one another, while the hen looks on with a studied air of indifference. Some of these fights are severe, and on one occasion in Spain I came across two males which were so engrossed in their struggle that they allowed me to approach within a few yards, and seemed much exhausted. M. Necker also says that after a fight the ground is at times strewn with their feathers. Little has been recorded of the courtship of this species. Full use, of course, is made of the crest, and no doubt the boldly barred wings are also displayed, but as a rule one only gets a glimpse of the bird calling among the branches of the trees, or quietly and sedately walking about with his mate on the ground. Both sexes take part in the work of house-hunting. One sees male and female disappearing in turn in the recesses of a dry stone wall, or in a wood unexpectedly flushes one bird from a hollow in a tree, where he or she has been prospecting for a likely site ; but, somehow, they seem to feel instinc- tively that they are being watched, and operations are at once suspended sine die. The nest is generally in a cranny or hole of a tree, or else in a wall or rock crevice. The hoopoe has, however, been known to breed in a rabbit-hole, and has recently been known to take to a nesting-box. Heaps of stones also furnish possible sites, while drains have been utilised, and the nest has been found under- neath a big boulder on a hillside. Pallas found a pair breeding in the decayed chest of a rotting corpse, loosely covered with stones, and notes that an open coffin in China forms a favourite nesting-place, and in Eastern Europe many nests are built in holes of mud walls. Some nests are quite low down, others nearly twenty feet from the ground. The entrance to the hole is preferably rather narrow, and Plate 86 Hoopoes at their nest-hole By Winifred Austen THK HOOPOE Ml the hole itself often descends for a foot or two. In some cases no nesting material is placed in the hole at first, while in others a few hents and hits of'ruhbish are coll. < i< < -r.itely collected by the bird itself, and it is a remarkable . •oinridriice that the nests of three such brilliantly plumaged birds as the kingfisher, roller, and hoopoe should all be kept in apparently such an insanitary state, and be so disgusting, at any rate, to our senses. Here the hoopoe deposits her eggs. Most writers on ornithology underestimate the number of eggs laid, but five is probably the minimum for a full clutch; and some neste contain as many as nine, ten, and even twelve, according to Radde. The common explanation given of these large clutches, that two hens lay in one nest, seems to be improbable in this case, owing to its restricted dimensions and generally narrow entrance, while the hen begins to incubate before the clutch is completed, as is proved by the fact that the eggs are found in different stages of development, and, as soon M incubation begins, the hen spends practically all her time in the nest In fact, it is only after the closest observation that the hen can be detected leaving the nest at all. The cock brings food to her on the nest throughout the period of incubation, putting his head inside the hole with insect food of some sort in his bill Dr. D. Scott, who had two pairs breeding in the verandah of his house at Umballa, by close watching ascertained that the hens left the nest once or twice during the day, but only to take a short flight, during which they passed their droppings, and returned to the nest without alighting on the ground at all. The information given in most works on the time of year at which the hoopoe breeds is usually of the vaguest character. But it has already been shown that there is considerable variation in the time of 442 THE HOOPOE arrival of these birds in Southern Europe. In Southern Spain, Chap- man gives May 1st as the average nesting time, and this accords fairly well with my own observations, though full clutches may be found in the last week of April. On April 28, 1907, however, I came across a hoopoe's nest in a willow in Central Spain, not far from Madrid, where the birds might well be expected to be later breeders than in the Andalucian plains. On cutting this nest out, to my astonishment I found big young, with well-developed crests and primaries, so that even on this plateau some birds must have eggs at the beginning of April. In Middle Europe the best time for full clutches is about the second or third week in May, and in Asia Minor also about the same time. While the hen is sitting the cock keeps watch in the neighbour- hood, and warns her of the approach of danger by a harsh chattering note. This sound is also heard when two birds are quarrelling. Another curious note which is not unfrequently uttered is a curious cat-like " quuaauw " or " kiaouww" I have never been able to get a good view of the bird when making this noise, but while the familiar "poo-poo-poo" is being uttered the bird bows its head (with de- pressed crest) to the branch on which it sits, and even at a distance one can see that the neck is inflated. The sound also varies, some- times being quite softly uttered, and at other times more loudly. Swinhoe sent some interesting notes to the Zoologist (1858, p. 6229) on the method in which this sound is produced. He states there that the air is drawn into the trachea, which puffs out on each side of the neck, and is then forced out again by striking the point of the bill against the ground, each stroke producing a separate and distinct note. At the end of the three notes which make up its song, the air is exhausted, and before repeating its call the neck is re-inflated with a slight gurgling noise. In some further notes on the same subject in the Proc. Zool. Society of London, 1871, p. 348, he points out that the trachea of the hoopoe is not dilatable, but its oesophagus is, and the puffing of the neck is caused by the bulging of the oesophagus with THE HOOPOE 443 sw;i I!.. \\nl air. AN there is no connection between the cesophagus and the trachea, and apparently no organ at the entrance to the former which could modify sound, it becomes difficult to sec what share the swallow <•«! ;iir has in the production of the notes. Probably, however, the dilated oesophagus serves as a chamber of resonance, as in the case of the air-tilled crops of pigeons while cooing. Personally, I have not been able to detect the hammering on the ground of which Swinhoe speaks, perhaps because the birds I have seen calling have been generally perched on branches of trees, and Swinhoe distinctly says that when perched on a rope it only jerks out the call with nods of the head, producing a modified note, which he writes as " hoh-/toh-/,oh,n Although popularly believed to be an exceedingly timid bird, Mr. P. J. M'Gregor says that he has seen a hoopoe attack a stork which had ventured near its nesting-place. It has a curious habit of suddenly flattening itself out on the ground with outspread wings, and tail and beak pointing upwards. This attitude is assumed when some bird of prey is parsing over, and on sandy and rocky ground is extraordinarily protective, the colours harmonising well with its surroundings. On two occasions in Holland Mr. J. O. Keulemans noticed that birds which he had surprised adopted this position and at once became practically invisible.1 Bechstein com- pares the general effect to that of an old particoloured rag lying on the ground. Young hoopoes when first hatched are quaint-looking little creatures, with quite short bills, and naked, although they soon become covered with small blue quills. They make a hissing noise, and Swinhoe notes that they crouch forward and do not stand upright till nearly fledged. Dr. Clark remarks of the young which were reared in Cornwall, that when first hatched the beaks were not at all conspicuous, though their gape was enormous. "The crest quills » See the Field, July 5, 1002, where this attitude la illustrated by a sketch by Mr. P. W. Frohawk. VOL. ii. SL 444 THE HOOPOE were decidedly in evidence on the fourth day, and on the sixth the quills that covered their pink ungainly bodies clearly showed the russet-brown of the coming plumage, and the well-marked black and white bars of the wings " (Zoologist, 1907, p. 284). Both parents are assiduous in feeding the young, but make no attempt to remove their excreta, which accumulate in the nest. Mr. Meade Waldo gives some interesting details of the way in which the young are fed. As a rule the old birds only carry one insect at a time, and quite at the tip of their beaks. A centipede is carefully folded into about four loops. In the Canaries and Marocco, where these observations were made, the young hoopoes were fed largely on centipedes about two and a half inches long, and crickets in the larval stage, as well as the larvae of certain beetles. When first removed from the nest the smell of the young hoopoe is most offensive, the nest being by this time in a most filthy state ; but after being fed for a few days on clean food, and kept in sanitary conditions, the offensive smell passes away, and the bird becomes an attractive pet, but a somewhat difficult one to keep. The food of the adult consists chiefly of insects. In temperate climates these are dug out of turf or from heaps of dung by means of the long curved bill. Various species of Scarabcei, Bembidia, and Aphodii are extracted in this way. They are then knocked about for a time ; the bird's head is then thrown back and the beak widely opened, when the grub disappears into the mouth and is swallowed. Worms are also treated in the same way, after being pulled out of the ground and bruised. A hoopoe has been seen to kill a locust, but it is doubtful whether it could have eaten it, unless possibly piecemeal. In confinement it will eat many kinds of vegetable and fruit readily, and probably derives some of the moisture required in this way, for in a wild state it is apparently a non-drinking species. Indeed, in many districts where hoopoes are common, no surface water is available for drinking purposes for many miles, and if it were neces- sary to the existence of the species, its journeys to and from its THE HOOPOE 446 (I i ink ing-places would soon rtteiet attention, as in the case of the sandgrouse. Towards August the hoopoe hnghn Hi southward migration. It appears to move gradually and slowly, feeding as it goes, and some- times family parties are met with moving together. By the middle of September nearly all our European birds have left us, and, with the exception of a straggler or two here and there, have crossed the Mediterranean on their way to their winter quarters in Africa. THE KINGFISHER : [ORDER : Coracii/ormes. FAMILY : Alcedinidce] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES [F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] KINGFISHER [A Icedo ispida Linnaeus. French, martin pecheur ; German, Eisvogel ; Italian, martin pescatore], 1. Description. — The kingfisher is distinguished at once by the blue of the upper and the chestnut-red of the under parts, the long beak, and red, syndactyle feet. The sexes are alike. (PI. 87.) Length 7*5 in. [19O50 mm.]. The upper parts are of a dark greenish blue relieved on the crown and wings by spots of cobalt-blue and by a broad band of cobalt-blue running down the back. The lores and ear- coverts are chestnut-red ; on the side of the neck is a patch of white bounded below by a dark blue malar stripe ; the throat is white. The female is slightly, but hardly perceptibly, duller than the male, and has the base of the mandible red. The juvenile plumage is like that of the adults, but markedly duller, especially on the fore-neck and breast, where the feathers are fringed with ashy grey. The coloration of the upper surface of the kingfisher varies greatly in intensity and hue, according to the incidence of light, [w. p. p.] 2. Distribution. — This species is resident in the British Isles, and is on the whole fairly general in England and Wales, although it avoids the mountain districts as a rule, and is generally found in the low-lying parts, where steep earthy banks provide facilities for nesting. In Scotland it is scarcer, especially in the north, where it is almost unknown, while it is only a casual visitor to the north-west Highlands and Skye, and a very rare straggler to the Outer Hebrides. In Ireland, although very scarce, it is known to have bred in every county. On the Continent it occurs rather locally in the plains : in Scandinavia it has bred once in the south, and nests occasionally in Denmark ; while in Russia its range extends as far north PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 447 as the Kazan, Jaroslav, and Pskov government*. To the south it ranges to the Mediterranean, and a local race IB said to be resident in North-western Africa, while another small form replaces it in Asia and the Malay Archipelago; but apparently it is the European form, A. ijtpida itpida, Linnaeus, which is found in Western Siberia, [r. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — Chiefly a resident, but said also to be a winter visitor. Although quite resident within our area, our breeding kingfishers are subject to considerable local wanderings, which vary in extent with the severity of the winter. No definite general direction has been noticed in these movements, the birds appar- ently merely seeking the most convenient tidal waters when the inland streams are ice-bound. Thus in Ireland it is said that " when the breeding season is over the kingfisher wanders very much, especially in frosts, when it betakes itself to tidal estuaries " (Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1000, pp. 109-110). But it seldom wanders far from land, if we may judge from the scarcity of records from outlying islands or light-stations. Again, we are told that in Kent the birds concentrate on the coast in September and October, returning to the inland parts of the county early in March ; but in addition to this "it is probably true that in unusually severe winters a certain number of birds make their way to the Kent coast marshes from other inland counties, but this is quite exceptional " (Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, pp. 236-38). It is claimed that the kingfisher is also something of a winter visitor to our area, arriving on the coast of Yorkshire in autumn in varying numbers ; and in one particular case that is cited, on account of the earliness of the date, 4th July (1905), the bird is described as being seen two miles from shore, and coming from the north-east (cf. Nelson, B. of York., 1907, p. 280). As may be seen from the preceding paragraph, the kingfisher is very rarely found breeding in Denmark, Scandinavia, or Northern Russia ; and it is nowhere known to be much addicted to migration ; it is, for instance, of very rare occurrence on Heligoland (cf. Gitke, VogelwarU Helgoland, Eng. trans., 1895, p. 420). These facts lead us to doubt that any large proportion of the kingfishers found on the Yorkshire coast in winter can really be of overseas origin. [A. L. T. ] 4. Nest and Eggs. — The nesting-site is generally in the steep bank of a stream, though sometimes, where suitable sites are rare, it will excavate its burrow at a considerable distance from water in a dry ditch or gravel-pit. In has also been known to breed among the roots of trees by the waterside, in holes in walls, and in the stonework of a bridge over a river (O. Grabham, Field, June 7, 1902). The burrow is generally about 3 feet or rather less in length, with a circular chamber 448 THE KINGFISHER at the end, and rises slightly. It is sometimes used for some years in succession, and is apparently the work of both sexes as a rule, though it is said to be occasion- ally only adapted by them for nesting purposes. (PI. xxxv.) The eggs are laid at first on the bare earth, or on a few fish bones, but these accumulate while incubation progresses. The eggs are usually 6 or 7 in number, less commonly 8, or, it is said, even 9-10 in number. They are round in shape, extremely glossy, and pure white in colour. Average size of 100 eggs, -89 x '73 in. [22'6 x 18'6 mm.]. Incubation, which is said to last 14-16 days, is performed by the hen alone according to Naumann, during which time she is fed by the male. Mr. H. S. Gladstone has observed different stages of development in birds in the same nest (Birds of Dumfriesshire, p. 165). The normal breeding season is during the latter part of April, but occasionally the eggs are laid much earlier, probably in the case of old birds with a burrow already made. Saunders states that the young have been known to be out of the nest by llth March, an extraordinarily early date ; and on one occasion I met with fresh eggs on 31st March in Derbyshire. A second brood is often reared late in June or early in July. [F. c. R. J.] 5. Food. — Fish and fish-fry, aquatic insects, shrimps, and occasionally slugs, snails, and leeches, [w. p. p.] The following is described in the supplementary chapter on " Rare Birds " : — The Belted-kingfisher, Ceryle alcyon (Linnaeus). PL*TI XXXV KIN<;KISHI:K 449 THE KINGFISHER [W. P. PYCRAPT] According to popular beliefs, one must seek for birds of gorgeous plumage in the tropics, where animated nature presents a very riot of colour, while in more northern lands sober hues prevail. The king- fisher seems always to be forgotten in this connection, for surely no dweller under tropical skies could be more gorgeously coloured ! Of all our native birds it is one of the most interesting, as it is also one of the most persecuted. It has been made the theme of fables, and of poetry, from time immemorial ; for generations it has been sub- jected to the desecrations of the milliner and the bird-stuflfer, while the malice of the fisherman has been scarcely less malignant : only by the ornithologist has it been neglected. Some facts in regard to its life-history have been harvested from the raids of the egg- collector ; but of the rest of its economy we know little. We are, however, it is to be hoped, entering upon a new era in regard to the study of birds, and the following summary of the little we know of this bird may serve as a basis to a comprehensive and systematic study of every phase of its life. To begin with, our kingfisher, like the dipper a "land*1 bird, has yet acquired the ability to plunge with impunity into streams, whence alone it is now able to procure its food. In its mode of fishing, however, it rather resembles the gannet, for the dipper is able to remain submerged, picking its food from the bottom of the stream, whereas the kingfisher seizes only such creatures as are to be taken from the surface. Any prolonged stay either on or in the water, indeed, is impossible ; for so highly specialised for its peculiar mode of life has this bird become, that the feet are now ex- tremely reduced in size, the front toes being united within a common sheath, almost to their tips, forming what is known as a " syndactyle " 450 THE KINGFISHER foot, opposed to which is a short hind toe. This makes an admirable grasping foot, but walking and swimming alike are impossible. But we must be careful in generalising. Were this the only kingfisher known to us, we should regard its peculiarities of beak and feet as alone the result of adaptation to this semi-aquatic life. But there are other kingfishers, in other parts of the world, which are not aquatic, which, indeed, live remote from water, and prey upon insects, reptiles, and small mammalia. These have the same peculiarities of beak and feet. Hence the adaptation to an aquatic, or sub-aquatic life, of which we have spoken, is rather enforced by physiological than by structural modifications. Of these insect and reptile-eating king- fishers, however, some show changes in the form of the beak which are apparently the results of adaptation to secure special advantages. In one direction the beak has developed a hook at the tip, as in Melidora ; in another, Syma, it is serrated along the cutting edge, as in the motmots — to which the kingfishers appear to be related ; while in yet another, Clytoceyx rex, the beak is short, swollen, and of great width, recalling that of the boatbills and the shoebill stork (Balceniceps), Neither is the remarkably short tail, so characteristic of our kingfisher, to be regarded as one of the " hall-marks " of the kingfisher tribe, for in some species, as in the belted kingfisher, it is long, while in the beautiful Tanysipteras the two central feathers are prolonged to form long " racquets." Most of us, perhaps, take but little account of the fact that our kingfisher is but one of a large family, presenting a very striking diversity in point of size, and a still more striking diversity in colora- tion. Yet these facts ought to be kept in mind, for thereby we shall the more readily appreciate the peculiarities of our own bird. Indeed, with this wider outlook much that now mystifies may become clear. As to size, it shall suffice to remark that the smallest of the King- fishers is Myioceyx lecontii, 3f inches ; while the largest, a veritable giant, is the laughing jackass of Australia, which attains a length of 17 inches. Till: KINGFISHER -i:,i llu matter of coloration cuiinot be summarised thus Metl\. M;iriiii«; with birds of sombre colours, like the laughing jackass (Dacvlo), which hare a tinge of verditer-blue on the rump and wing- coverts, or with quaker-likr lun-s of grey and white with a tinge of red, as in Ceryle alcyon, we get groups of species presenting, each, more or less striking combinations of grey, blue, black, and white; //. ykkiri*, grey, blue, black, and red ; //. jMiUuliventrw, black and white — the grey intt -n-itied to black, and the red lost — as in Ceryle nulis, bronze-green and white — black-tinged green ; Ceryle atnazotiim, vivid green and white ; Halcyon cJUorut, blue and white ; //. leucopygut, red and white ; green, blue, and red, Alcaic ispidia ; and all red, red and green, Ceyx euerythra. This is but a bald summary of a most marvellous series of changes of coloration, which must be seen to be properly realised. What are the factors which have determined these colour groupings ? What has determined the vivid hues of our own species ? Why, as in our bird, do the colours of the upper parts change with the incidence of the light, while the under surface of the body presents no such dialler ? How is it tlmt tbr female is as brilliantly coloured as her mate ? What relation do these colours bear to the habits of the birds? This last question was long ago asked by Darwin in his Descent of Man. In his attempt at an answer he pointed out that with the kingfisher, like a number of other species — e.y. parrots, bee-eaters, hoopoes, both sexes are practically coloured alike, and are brightly coloured, exceptions apart ; and that in all the nest is made in holes in the ground, or in trees, where the sitting bird is con- cealed from view; and Wallace, in later years, dwelt on the same facts. They argued that the vivid hues of the female were assumed in consequence of this habit of incubating in the dark. That is to say, they have in consequence become enabled to assume the livery of the male, because a dull coloured, protective plumage has ceased to be useful. There is certainly much to be said in favour of this view. The case of the sheldrake, among the ducks, may be cited as an illustra- VOL. ii. :; M 452 THE KINGFISHER tion, since in its case the female is brightly coloured, like the male, though a little duller, and she breeds in a burrow. The mallard and the pheasant afford instances of the opposite kind, wherein the males are brightly coloured, while the females are sombrely clad, and nest in relatively exposed places. Yet it is curious that, as we have already pointed out, in some woodpeckers the female, though nesting in holes, loses certain conspicuous colour patches on reaching maturity, and thereby is less like the adult male than when in the first teleop- tyle plumage ! The kingfishers, again, present an interesting illustration of that strange evolution of the coloration of the sexes, and of the young, which was first pointed out by Darwin. With our own bird, as every- body knows, the sexes are barely distinguishable, and the young in their first plumage can hardly be distinguished from the adults. But in a number of species the female differs more or less conspicuously from the male, and the young from both, the adults wearing a bright, the young a dull plumage, as, for example, in species of the genera Ceryle and Carcineutes. Bearing these facts in mind, surely, in contemplating this living jewel of our streams, we shall be the more eager to watch its every action and discover the key to some of the many riddles it represents. In its choice of haunts it is bound only by one condition, the neigh- bourhood of water. But it will contrive to find a congenial home in the marshy wastes of the fenlands, fishing in dykes as easily as in the more picturesque northern counties where limpid streams make their way along rock-bound gorges, with all their attendant splendour of moss and fern, straggling bushes, and tall trees. Sticklebacks and minnows, or even shrimps and aquatic insects, serve them as well as the jealously guarded trout. In Norfolk I have commonly found the kingfisher feeding on the shrimps that swarm in the brackish water which fills the dykes there, though this diet is varied by the fry of the various "coarse" fish which also abound. He exhibits all the patience of the true fisherman, sitting motionless awaiting his prey, with the THE KINGFISHER body held almost vertically. Every now and then the head is thrust forwards, and first one eye, then the other, surveys the flood. No sooner is a victim sighted than. \\ith .1 Midden downward plunge, he sei/es it and hears it hack to the stump, or bough, as the case may be, which forms thr perch. There, if it be a fish, it is beaten two or three times against the perch, and deftly swallowed head foremost Sometimes, however, the plunge is fruitless, and sometimes I have seen him hover like a kestrel over the water, before darting down. Shi^s. worm-, and leeche-. according to .Montagu. are aUo eaten, hut this must be under pressure, surely. Stevenson, in his delightful Birds of Norfolk, quotes a case of one which captured a shrew, but it cost the captor its life, for it was choked by the unusual morsel ; and a similar painful death sometimes follows the capture of the ruffe and iniller's-thumb, for if these be large the spines on the gill-covers catch in the bird's throat and there remain fixed. Unfortunately this moot beautiful of our native birds is nowhere very common ; for it is, in the first place, of an exceedingly pugna- cious disposition, and will brook no rivals on its own stretch of water, and in the second, as we have already remarked, under one pretext or another, it is remorselessly shot down. Hard winters, again, tell heavily upon its numbers, for when the streams are ice-bound many, from loss of vitality, get frozen to their perches. Some migrate to the coast, and there contrive to find a sufficiency in the rock-pools. But if these be wind-swept, and their surface continually ruffled, death from starvation is inevitable, for the bird cannot see its prey. At all times an extremely wary bird, it is exceedingly difficult to approach, making off like an arrow before it is itself discovered. Indeed, but for its unfortunate habit of expressing its alarm by a shrill p&p, peep, as it dashes away, its presence would often remain miMivpected, for, in spite of its brilliant coloration, it is by no means a conspicuous bird : though, when flying low over the water, the wonderful blue of the back stands out with tolerable distinctness. 454 THE KINGFISHER The swift, arrow-like flight, just over the water, is not seldom the cause of its undoing, for those acquainted with its habits, when they find this bird frequenting a narrow stream, spread a fine silken net across, when its capture is certain. Not always, however, does it follow the winding of the stream, for sometimes it will take a short cut overland to join the bend of the river later. At such times it will often fly high up, but, as a rule, the flight is low, and surprisingly swift, having regard to the small and rounded wings. Alighting with ease, the tail is often bobbed up and down to maintain balance. According to Seebohm,1 the feet are so ill-adapted for perching that the bird is obliged to sleep in the burrow, which during a part of the year serves for its nursery. There is no evidence in support of this statement, which, on the face of it, is improbable. When the nest is placed in low banks, as on the Thames, for instance, the mouth of the burrow is often under water for weeks. Where, then, could the birds rest ? This nursery is dug by the birds, both sexes taking part in the tunnelling, which is, perforce, done by the beak. It is commonly supposed, however, to avail itself of the holes dug by water-voles, where the nesting-site, as in flat and marshy country, is, perforce, near the water's edge. Montagu,2 however, long ago refuted this, urging that the water-vole is a deadly enemy of the kingfisher, eating its eggs and young. This, however, can hardly be likely, since the kingfisher would be liable, when nesting in the neighbourhood and within the reach of these animals, to the same perils in a hole dug by itself. As a matter of fact, the kingfisher invariably digs for itself, and the mouth of its burrow can be recognised at a glance from that of any other creature. And this because of its shape, which is oval, and with clean-cut edges. Thereby it differs from the burrow of the sandmartin, which is cordiform, the apex upwards. The initial stage of the tunnelling is said to be performed by charging the 1 Seebohm, British Birds, vol. ii. p. 342. 1 Montagu, Ornithological Dictionary. THE KINGFISHER iv> s|>ot at full tilt, using the tirelr after the fashion of a lance, till ti cavity is made large enough to afford a grip for the feet1 In country where the river runs between high banks, a greater variety of choice is possible in the selection of nesting-sites, when the hole is generally placed much higher up. As with other species, how- ever, it exhibits a certain waywardness in the site selected for Me nursery, since nests have been found in crumbling soil under the roots of a tree, holes in masonry, and the sides of gravel and chalk l>it> as much as a mile away from the nearest water. Occasionally, when the tunnel has been driven some distance, a stone or root is encountered which stops further progress, and a fresh start has to be made. As a rule, such nests take the form of a long ascending tunnel, about a yard long, ending in a brooding chamber, the eggs resting on a platform of fish bones, and the hard parts of shrimps and other indigestible portions of its food. These remains are the gradual accumulations of " pellets " thrown up, as in the case of owls, hawks, and many other birds which swallow food containing much indigest- ible matter. According to Montagu, these accumulations are not accidental, the birds resorting to their burrows for the purpose of ridding themselves of these pellets for some time before the first eggs are laid. Yarrell describes this platform as a "nest," cup-shaped, and smooth within, and possibly fashioned by the bird's breast, or by the mere pressure of her body during incubation. Sometimes, with great care, such " nests " may be removed entire, but they generally crumble. This difficulty of preserving the bed on which the eggs are deposited entire possibly accounts for the stories of the almost fabu- lous value of such entire specimens. At any rate, offers of such whole *' nests " are not infrequently offered to the authorities of the British Museum at perfectly ridiculous prices. Sometimes, it would seem, the deserted nest of a sandmartin is utilised, both kingfisher and sandmartin frequently breeding in the same bank, and this accounts 1 Country Ltft, p. 258. 1008. 456 THE KINGFISHER for the fact that occasionally feathers are found in the nest. The association of these two birds, and the fact that both are skilled at tunnelling, is remarkable, for neither would seem in the least degree fitted for such labours, which shows us how careful we ought to be in interpreting structure and habits. But the kingfisher works leisurely, taking two or three weeks about its task. Both sexes take part in this work, and both, according to Seebohm, incubate. The eggs are white, being laid in holes, but before being blown they have a beautifully translucent appearance, tinged with pink, due to the colour of the blood-vessels surrounding the yolk showing through the shell. The young are fed at intervals of about a quarter of an hour, and it has been stated, among others by the late Mr. Bosworth Smith, that they are nourished by regurgitated food. This was but an inference drawn from the fact that he had never seen the bird return to the nest with fish in the beak. It may be, however, that the food is " pouched," that is to say, is held within the mouth. At any rate, whole fishes are commonly found within the tunnel, that for some reason have been left there, instead of taken to the young ; and Seebohm J quotes an instance of a loach, 3£ in. long, being found within the burrow. The condition of the burrow, and of the nest, after the appearance of the young, is extremely dirty ; the fluid excrement of the young, and the remains of fish dropped in the burrow, combining to form a thick, foetid layer of gluey consistency and green colour, most offensive to the nostrils of all but the occupants. The nest commonly rests on a similar unsavoury bed. Not seldom, it is not surprising to find, the whole passage is swarming with maggots, while the constant draining away of the more fluid portions of this mess runs down from the mouth of the burrow, and so betrays its whereabouts. The young, which remain naked until the appearance of the contour feathers, leave the nest as soon as they are fledged, and, perched in a row on some convenient bough, await the parents returning with food. For some time indeed, after they have left 1 Bird Life and Bird Lore, p. 397. Plato 87 Kingfisher feeding its young By A. W. Seaby THE KINGFISHER r>7 the urst, they are dependent upon their parent*, but M soon as they are capable of foraging for themselves they are driven away. \ltlimi;_'li tli«- kinjjMirr i>> ;i iv»idriit Imd. inii:i-;inl^ s.-rm to reach our coasts from the Continent in the autumn, and such wan- derers are occasionally taken at the lightships and lighthouses along our southern and « n-i. rn seaboard. During hard weather, as we have already remarked, an internal migration takes place, inland birds making for the coast for the sake of the open water and small fish left in rock-pools at low tide. Many, however, perish in the neighbourhood of their normal haunts, freezing to death on their perches. Of the courting habits of these birds nothing seems to be known, save that during this season the males, pugnacious at all times, now become excessively so. Nor can we surmise as to their actions at this time from what takes place among other species at this period. They seem, however, to display great solicitude for their young. The belted kingfisher, which is regarded by some as entitled to rank as a British bird, is'said to be devotedly attached to its young. The female, feigning injury, will drop onto the water, and, fluttering along the surface, will endeavour to lure away intending marauders, while the male, with erected crest, flies to and fro with uugry cries. So far, no similar habits have been recorded of our kingfisher under like conditions, but it is certain that so soon as the young have grown big enough to fend for themselves they are driven away by their parents. The kingfisher of the fabulist and the poet bears no relation to the living bird ; that is to say, unlike so many other birds which have been immortalised in literature, nothing in the least reflecting its habits has been set down. The pretty story of the " halcyon days " does not seem to have been inspired by any incident or phase in the life-history of the living bird, nor does the profound and widespread belief that its dead body, suspended by a thread, will serve to show from what quarter the wind blows, rest on any better foundation. THE CUCKOO ' [ORDER: Cuculiformes. FAMILY: Cuculidw] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES [F. C. R. JOURDAIN. F. B. KIRKMAN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] THE CUCKOO \Cuculus cdnorus Linnaeus. Gowk. French, coucou ; German, Kuckuck ; Italian, cucco, cuculo]. I. Description. — The cuckoo may at once be recognised by the leaden colour of the upper parts, the large, fan-shaped, spotted tail, the barred under surface, and yellow, zygodactyle feet. Sexes alike. (PI. 88.) Length 14 in. [355'60 mm.]. The adult male has the upper surface of a bluish lead colour with a faint greenish gloss. The wings and tail, however, are rather darker, the remiges being of a brownish black, and the tail dark slate colour. The two central tail feathers have a row of white spots along the shaft ; the rest have a row of similar spots on each side of the shaft and along the fore edge of the inner web, and all are tipped with white. The throat and fore-breast are of a pale bluish grey, the rest of the under parts white barred with black. The inner webs of the primaries have broad white bars for about two-thirds of their length from the base. The female is like the male, but slightly smaller, and commonly has a rufous shade in the fore-neck. The juvenile (first teleoptyle) plumage differs conspicuously from that of the adult, being of a rufous brown colour, heavily barred with slaty black. The scapulars and inter- scapulars, wing-coverts, inner secondaries and primaries are tipped with white ; the rump feathers are similarly tipped, and there is a white patch on the forehead and nape. The tail is marked with V-shaped bars of dark slate colour, and white spots along the shaft ; it is also tipped with white. The under parts are white tipped, heavily barred with black. Frequently this juvenile dress assumes a " hepatic " phase, the general coloration being pale rust or cinnamon colour ; the markings are as in the normal phase, but less conspicuous. PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES a. Distribution. — During the summer months the cuckoo is generally distributed throughout the Continent of Europe, reaching to well within the Arctic <'ir«-li- .ind id mod '" tli-- North < '.qx' m S.-.imlMi.ivi.i, .mil rir.irK .is far in North I; . A t.'u |..ur> .il>«> stay in N<>rth-\\»t Afru-.i. .mil in tin- Bnti.sh Mrs it is widely distributed, ranging north to the Orkneys and Shetlands, and breeding in some numbers in the Hebrides. To the F«roe* it is only an occasional straggler, and the same is true of the Canaries and Madeira. A great part of the Asiatic continent also falls within the summer range of this species, but here various allied forms are also found, while recently it has been asserted that local races are to be found in Corsica and the Balkan Peninsula. Further study is, however, necessary before these can be accepted. The winter quarters of the cuckoo lie in Southern Asia, Ceylon, the Philippines, Celebes, New Guinea, and South Africa. Here it has rarely occurred in Cape Colony, and is not common in Rhodesia, Zambesia, German W. Africa, Portuguese E. Africa, and Natal, but a good many have been recorded from the Transvaal, so that probably the greater part of our European birds winter farther north, [r. o. R. J.] 3. Migration. — A summer visitor. The immigrants arrive on the south coast of England " first and chiefly on its eastern half." Records of cuckoos heard in March are generally looked on with scepticism, but in early seasons a few stragglers undoubtedly do appear in the south of England in the last days of the month. During the first half of April a considerable number of " fore- runners " regularly arrive, and the main immigration sets in about the middle of that month. This continues for three or four weeks, fresh arrivals being noted as late as mid-May in some seasons (cf. B. O. C. Migration Reports). On an average, the first cuckoos in Yorkshire appear during the third week of April, and in North Wales during the fourth week (cf. Nelson, B. of York*., 1907, pp. 287-89 ; and Forrest, Fauna N. Walts, 1907, p. 204). In the inland part* of Dumfriesshire the average date for the first cuckoo is about 24th April (cf. Glad- stone, B. of Dumfriesshire, 1910, p. 171), but very few are recorded in Scotland till the very last days of the month and the first days of May : and to the north the species does not penetrate until the second week of May, as a rule (cf. Annals Scot. Nat. Hist.). In Ireland, stragglers are frequently met with during the first half of April, but the main influx takes place during the latter part of the month : in the north-west the cuckoo is often not recorded till May (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 1 13). The adults emigrate at a very early date. They leave Scotland by the last week of June, and very few are seen in any part of VOL. II. 3 N 460 THE CUCKOO the British Isles after the middle of July : . the majority of the young birds leave in August, but a fair proportion do not emigrate until September (cf. Gladstone, loc. cit. ; Nelson, loc. cit. ; Ussher and Warren, loc. cit. ; and B. O. C. Migration Reports, v. p. 270). From among the various exceptional records for later dates we may cite the outstanding case of a cuckoo reported from the Pentland Skerries (off Caithness) on 7th November 1906 (cf. Paterson, Annals Scot. Nat. Hist., 1907, p. 143). Similarly, on Heligoland, where the spring passage takes place chiefly in May, the adults' return passage takes place in June, and the young birds' in July and August, a space of from three to six weeks intervening (cf. Gatke, Vogelwarte Helgoland, Eng. trans., 1895, p. 423). The cuckoo is at least partly a nocturnal traveller, and it is frequently obtained at the light stations (cf. Nelson, loc. cit. ; and Ussher and Warren, loc. cit.). It is also mainly a solitary migrant, but it is occasionally seen in flocks at the migration season, and one numbering " several dozens" has been recorded (cf. Gladstone, op. cit., p. 168. See also Nelson, B. of Yorks., p. 288 ; and Zoologist, 1845, 821). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — As is well known, the cuckoo makes no nest, but is parasitic upon other species of birds. As far as we know at present the female cuckoo is polyandrous, and produces, according to Saunders, from 5 to 8 eggs in the season. The researches of the late Dr. Rey and others on the Continent, however, tend to prove that a much larger number is produced, estimated by Rey at about 20, laid on alternate days, and deposited as a rule in nests of the same species, from which one or two eggs are generally removed. Capek is however probably nearest the truth in saying that the eggs are laid on alternate days in two clutches, the first of 5-7 eggs, and the second, after an interval, of about 4 or 5. In the case of small birds at any rate the egg is laid on the ground and afterwards inserted in the nest by the bill. In colour and markings the eggs of the cuckoo vary considerably, but it is a curious fact that the range of variation in the British Isles is consider- ably less than on the Continent. Many resemble tolerably closely the eggs of the foster-parents, but there are notable exceptions to this rule, the blue eggs of the hedge-sparrow being often associated with cuckoo's eggs of a totally different type. It is impossible in a brief space to describe all the different types which occur, and a glance at the plate will give a better idea than pages of description. Most British eggs vary in ground-colour from reddish, purplish, bluish, greenish to yellowish or brownish grey, and are mottled, clouded, and spotted, sometimes closely and at other times sparingly, with darker markings of various shades. Only one egg is placed in each nest, cases in which two or even three eggs have been found PLATC XXXVI cuckoo la • rwd-w«rbl«% IMM PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 4<;i in one nest being due to oviposition by two or more hens. (PI. E.) of 626 eggs, meMUied by Eey, -88 x -65 in. [22*4 x 16'5 mm.]. The incubation period lasts for 12-13 days, and soon after it is hatched the young cuckoo proceeds to eject its companions from the nest, hoisting them one by one on its back to the edge and throwing them over the side. [F. c. R. j.] 5. Food. — Various insects and their larvae, notably hairy caterpillars (pp. 485-86) and beetles. It also takes spiders, and occasionally seeds, bud-scales, grass, and the eggs of earthworms and insects (Naumann, Provost, E. Key, Eckstein, Newstead). For the food of the young, see p. 486. [F. B. K.] 6. Song Period. — From April till July (see p. 464). [F. B. K.] The following are described in the supplementary chapter on " Rare Birds " : — Great Spotted-cuckoo, Coccystes glandarius (Linnaeus). Yellowbilled-cuckoo, Coccyztt* americanu* (Linnaeus). [Blackbilled-cuckoo, Coccyzus erythrophthalmw (Wilson).] 462 THE CUCKOO THE CUCKOO1 [F. B. KIRKMAN] The examination candidate's assertion that the cuckoo is "the bird that does not lay its own eggs," trespasses, no doubt, outside the region of fact. But though the cuckoo has not supernatural powers, its habits are so peculiar that they have become an object of excep- tional interest not only to ornithologists but to the public at large. This interest has shown itself in an enormous literature, far exceeding that relating to any other species, or even to any other family of birds. From this it has been possible to extract a large amount of trustworthy information. There are still important gaps to be filled in, and the fundamental problems raised by the facts are as far from solution as ever, but enough is known to enable the cuckoo's biographer to give a fairly complete account of the chief events of its life. Most of the birds arrive on our shores from their winter quarters in Africa during the month of April. A few individuals arrive earlier, and some again as late as mid-May. The males, as is the case with probably all migrant species, are to be found in their breeding-places several days before the females.2 There can be little doubt that they return each year to the same place, in this, again, resembling other migrant species. One cuckoo, recognised by a peculiarity in its note, was observed by Naumann to come back to its former haunts twenty-five years in succession.3 Others have made similar observations.4 The cuckoo's favourite resort is open woodland, but it may be 1 The cuckoo's foster-parents and eggs are treated separately (p. 487). 1 "According to reliable observations the female arrives 8-10 days after the male."— J. A. Link in the Verhandlungen der Ornith. Gesellschaft in Bayern, 1903, 142. ' Voyel Mitteleuropas, iv. 398. 4 Zoologist, 1889, 33 (A. Walter). THE CUCKOO found brooding almost e \cr\where. amon;: sandhills, lor instance, and also on grouse-moon*.1 Each cuckoo confines itself to a more or less well-defined area, from which it probably only issues, if a cock, when in pursuit of a hen. I n this area it has its favourite trees and perches. It may frequently be seen Hying from one to the other, and, day after day, its note may be heard coming from the same spot The bird with a peculiarity in its voice, referred to above, occupied a district, of which Naumann's own wood was the centre, which embraced three or four villages. One year another cuckoo arrived before the rightful owner and took possession. On the appearance of the latter, there followed a series of fierce combats, which resulted finally in a division of the original district into two parts, an arrangement which appears to have been continued in the following years.3 It seems reasonable to assume that this subdivision of territory may occur in the case of any species of which the individuals confine themselves during the breeding season within definite boundaries. If it occurs before the arrival of the female, she has the alternative either of yielding to the new order and throwing in her lot with one of the males, or else of continuing to fly freely about the whole of the original territory, and accepting the attentions of both males. The former is the usual habit of most species, judging from the fact alone that they are monogamous. The latter is unquestionably the course that would be pursued by the hen cuckoo, for it is her habit to mate with more than one cock.3 The particular hen that returned to the locality referred to by Naumann would have had no difficulty in adapting herself to the new circumstances. The district she frequented may, 1 T. A. Coward, Fauna of Chethirt, \. 208; Droate-HUhUioff, I'ogtltrelt dtr ffurdwtrinml Borlntm, 84. * Loc.cit. 1 In reference to the polyandry of the cuckoo, Bailly write*: "Pour m'amurer d'un fait anmi important pour I'histoire du coucou. il a fallu me aoumettre pendant pluxienn pr in tempt oonaecutifa a examiner treo minutieuaemcnt cet oUeau pendant »ea ebate amoureux. Cert alor* qne j'ai vu frequemment . . . den femellea laiaaer den mAlen qui venaient de lea feconder pour M rendre directement aux deaira dea autrea male* qui lea reclamaient dans le meme canton."— Omilhologit de la Savoie, i. 881. See alao Lilford'a Bird* of \orthanl*. i. 251 : " The hen accept* the attention* of an indefinite number of the other «ex." 464 THE CUCKOO indeed, already have comprised those of other males beside the two in question. Brehm noted a female cuckoo — easily recognised by a broken feather in her tail — which visited the districts of no less than five males.1 How complicated the cuckoo territorial system may become can easily be realised by imagining what is well within the bounds of possibility — the advent of a second female into the district occupied by these five males. If it were divided between the two hens, and their boundaries happened to traverse the estates of two or more males, there might result not only polyandry but promiscuity. All the evidence points, however, to an excess of males, and hence to polyandry as the rule, the result being to substitute for the usual system of one pair to each breeding-area a system of comparatively small estates occupied by males, and of comparatively large estates occupied by females. How far the boundaries of these two sets of estates coincide or interlace is a matter that still requires investiga- tion. Whether the male cuckoo has a love-display apart from that with which he accompanies his familiar note is not recorded. His display, when giving utterance to the latter, varies to all seeming according to the intensity of his feelings at the time. In moments of high excite- ment he raises and lowers his body, puffs out his feathers, fans his tail, and turns himself about in the approved fashion of the domestic pigeon.2 He sometimes moves the body and tail from side to side, frequently erects the latter to various heights, and also puff's out the feathers of the throat. When in a milder mood, he is content, according to my observation, merely to droop the wings, which he almost invariably does when calling, the rest of the body being in its normal position of repose, except for the customary raising and lower- ing of the head at each " cuckoo," the latter uttered with the bill closed, or almost so, as shown in Mr. Seaby's drawing. The "cuckoo" itself is usually to be heard from the middle of April to the end of June, occasionally later. According to the 1 Dresser, Birds of Europe, v. * British Birds, ii. 239 (T. T. Mackeith). Plate 88 Cuckoo uttering its note By A. W. Seaby THE CUCKOO legendary literatim- of the subject, endorsed liy ;U least one staiuhinl \\oik. tlu- cuckoo in .him- "elianiM^ time." Tliis statement evidently ivtn-v to the tri-s\llaliir note — the rapid, excited cttck-curkroo f and its variations, and i- n«>t t xact The noli in ijiiestion is heard in May, and is probahh mi < red 1>\ the male when excited by the presence of the female.1 The remaining notes of the cuckoo have yet to be closely studied. The best known is one which may be said to resemble the noise that would be made by a person with a rasping cough trying not to laugh, but with indifferent success ; it sounds something like a rapid hoarse spluttered feuxne-wow-wow, and is one of the most singular noises uttered by any animal. It is frequently heard preceding the " cuckoo." On at least three occasions I have noted it uttered by itself; on the first the bird was flying past alone; on the second, it was being pursued by small birds ; a and on the third it was in company with two others of its own species, one a female. The male has also been heard to utter a hissing note when in pursuit of the hen.s A third note, the clear bubbling or laughing sounds, is taken to be that of the female. Whether it is peculiar to her, and whether she ever utters the ordinary " cuckoo," are uncertain. In addition to these notes, an individual has been known to utter in captivity "an angry chattering" when repelling the amicable advances of a tame dove. This expression of displeasure was the only note heard from him — a bird of the year — "excepting on three or four occasions, when he was heard to utter a loud sound like the sharp bark of a little dog." 4 1 liriti*h Bird*, ii. 197, 240. I have also heard it in May. 1 With respect to the mobbing of the cuckoo by small birds, the general view is that the cuckoo owes these unpleasant attentions to its resemblance to the sparrow-hawk. In the Zoologist, 1911, 290, Mr. C. B. Moffat pointa out, however, that in Ireland the cuckoo is mobbed • inly, as a rule, according to his observation, by meadow-pipits — that is, by "the only speciea of bird that in Ireland is commonly victimised or duped by the cuckoo." His view is that the < \x-koo is regarded as an enemy, quite apart from its hawk-like appearance ' F. C. R. Jourdain (in lift.). 4 Montagu, Dictionary of Birdt, quoted from the Zoologist, 1844, 855. 466 THE CUCKOO II It is when we turn to the nesting-habits of the cuckoo that we open the strangest chapter in its life-history. As is well known, it deposits its eggs in the nests of other species, and leaves to them the duty of rearing its offspring. It thus frees itself entirely from the labours of nest-building and incubation, and the still more arduous work of feeding the young. It is left only with the responsibility of finding nests in which to deposit each of its eggs, and possibly also of taking certain precautions to ensure the upbringing of its young, of which more later.1 The cuckoo has been seen flying over fields and along hedges apparently searching for nests, but the recorded instances which leave little or no doubt that it was actually thus engaged are few. In one case a cuckoo was observed to enter two bushes in turn, harried the while by a pair of sedge-warblers. When it had flown away, search revealed in the second bush a nest containing two sedge-warbler's eggs. Next day the same nest contained a cuckoo's egg in addition to two sedge-warbler's, and outside it on the ground lay a third sedge- warbler's egg broken. The inference is that the cuckoo found the nest on one day and laid an egg in it on the next. That it was the same bird is far more likely than not, for cases in which two hens frequent the same nests are comparatively rare.2 On another occa- sion a meadow-pipit was seen to fly with nest material onto a meadow. A cuckoo then appeared, hovered a while over the spot, alighted to rise and hover again a little farther off, and alighted again after the return and departure of the meadow-pipit. It then flew away. Search revealed an almost finished, well-hidden nest of a pipit species.3 The foregoing instances provide evidence that the cuckoo 1 A German ornithologist records that he saw a cuckoo incubating its eggs and feeding its own young (Gartenlaube, xxxvi., 1888. Translated in the Ibis, 1889, and the Zoologist, 1889, 215). But the authenticity of the account has been discredited (Journal fur Omithologie, 1889, 33-46. Translated in the Zoologist, 1889, 219). 1 J. A. Link, quoting A. Walter, in the Verhandhmgen der Ornith. Gesellschaft in Bayern, 1903, 128. 3 J. A. Link, op. cit., p. 127. THE CUCKOO M.7 she* for nests before she is ffsniy to lay an egg. As she often, if not usually, lays the latter on the ground before depositing it in a nest, it is possible that she may also search for the nest after laying, but there is no evidence that she does so. When a nest is built OB the MOM site year after year, a cuckoo will return to it, thus saving lirrM'lt'ron-itl'-r.iMr trouble.1 The actual deposition of the egg in the nest, which may take plarr ;it ;ni\ t inn- <>t 't lie »la\ . li;is !>,•« n (|rM-i -j|M-' Urban and Matthew, Bird* of Devon. ' J. A. Link, op. cit., p. 125. ' FMd, 1806, Ixxzr. OS) (A. Malcolm YeaU). It baa been suggested to me that the bird* were dusting themselves. • OmitkologiedtlaSavoie, i. 887. Cf. also Field, 1802, ziz. Mo; Zoologist, 1000, 202; Xoolo- Gorton, 1808, 874 ; J. A. Link, op. n/., p. 180. VOL. II. 30 468 THE CUCKOO aware, is the only case in which he is said to have given her assistance.1 It may here be noted that the abnormally small size of the cuckoo's egg makes it easy to hold it in the beak, possibly also in the pouch under the tongue. How small it is compared with the size of the bird may be judged from the fact that it is not much bigger than that of a hedge-sparrow, though this species is considerably less than half the size of the cuckoo. The unusual hardness of the shell is another advantage, especially when the bird happens to be pushing its head and neck in through the narrow entrance of a closed nest. In the case of closed nests it is clearly impossible for the cuckoo to introduce its egg other than by putting it in with its beak. But this necessity would not apply in the case of open nests strong enough to support the bird if it sat upon them. That it occasionally does so is certain. Naumann had the good fortune to see one lay its egg directly in the nest of a reed-warbler, and he noted that it maintained its position with the aid of wings and tail, which were pressed against the reeds surrounding the nest.2 Another was seen to sit on a pied- wagtail's nest, and there lay its egg.3 In a third instance, the bird appears to have made an attempt to lay in the nest of a yellow- hammer, but without success. The nest, after the cuckoo had left it, was found with the sides pressed apart, and the lining outside, pre- sumably caught in the cuckoo's claws and thus pulled out. The cuckoo's egg also lay outside.4 Though it is clear from what pre- cedes that the cuckoo has two methods of introducing its egg into the nests of its victims, to what extent each is used is a question to which no satisfactory answer can yet be given. When putting its egg into a nest, the cuckoo is in the habit of removing one or more of those of the owner. These are frequently found on the ground beneath a nest which contains a cuckoo's egg. An instance is given above (p. 466). The bird has also been caught 1 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv. 404; J. A. Link, op. cit., p. 135. * Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv. 406. 3 Field, 1897, Ixxxix. 027. 4 J. A. Link, op. cit., 134. THE CUCKOO in the act. One was observed to quit a hedge-sparrow's nest with an egg of this species in its beak, for which it had substituted its own.1 Occasionally all are removed except one, the cuckoo's egg itself being nomnfiafli among those ejected, a fact which gives little proof of intelligent discernment" IB ftftittili eiecin the eggs of the victim- ised species are left unremoved.8 The ejection by the cuckoo of one or more of its victim's eggs is not the least remarkable of its habits, seeing that the necessity for such a proceeding is by no means evident One could understand it if the bird were in the habit of placing its egg in nests containing a full clutch, for it might then be necessary to make room, but this is not its usual course. Nor can I find any clear evidence to show that if an egg were not removed the nest would be deserted. Again, the removal of the egg would be intelligible if the cuckoo profited by the occasion to eat it, but its habit is to leave it untouched. That it occasionally eats eggs is proved by the discovery of fragments of shell in its stomach, but such finds are rare. In fifteen specimens examined by Mr. Newstead, one only contained fragments of shell, which were recognised as those of a meadow-pipit4 None were found in the thirty-four examined by Eckstein.5 The cuckoo found with the remains of at least seven eggs in its stomach, of which two were robin's, must have been a bird of abnormal tastes." The cuckoo does not confine itself to depositing its egg in nests which already contain those of the species victimised. Its eggs are found in old and deserted nests,7 and also in those in which the «^gp of the owner have not yet been laid, and sometimes before the build- ing is completed.8 There was no egg in the wren's nest in which the 1 Field, June 0, 1008. 082 (P. Banister). See also Nelson, Bird* of For**., i. 289. ' J. A. Link, op. dt.. p. 101. ' See p. 470, and note 2. • Food ofsonte British Bird*, p. 07, No. 430. 1 Naomann, Vogel Mitteleuropa*, iv. 401, where the stomach content* of the thirty-four specimens are given in detail. * FieM, 1882, liz. M (H. L. Wilson). T J. A. Link, op. «'/., pp. 100-01. The cuckoo lays also in doterted newt* which contain eggs. An instance is given in British Bird*, i. 320 (J. F. (ireen), of a cuckoo depositing her egg in it li.-.ik--'--p-ni-"» - "'-t .-..t.UiM.,',,: ..i.i- •w'. "!"• I' I'.'i'l l»''-'i '!• •-•! !.-.! I In.-, «.-. -k- |.t. \ Insf) ' Naumaan, Vogel MitUfatropa*. iv. 158 (in the hardly Hnixhed nest of Sylvia locntUlla ; Journal fitr Ornithologir, 1800 (Homeyer) ; J. A. Link. op. cit., p. 153. 470 THE CUCKOO cuckoo above referred to was seen to place her egg after laying it on the ground in a rough nest previously prepared by her mate. Such nests appear to be usually deserted by the owner, except, it is said, by species like the wagtail, hedge-sparrow, robin, some warblers, which are the most often victimised.1 The cases in which they are not deserted probably account for most of the relatively rare occasions on which a cuckoo's egg is found together with a full clutch of the owner, for the fact that the cuckoo laid first would probably save the eggs of the other from ejection. It does sometimes happen, however, that the cuckoo deposits her egg after the full clutch has been laid. An instance is given of her doing so in a white- wagtail's nest, from which, moreover, she ejected no eggs. Another cuckoo's egg, quite fresh, was found in the nest of the same species, which contained four of its own eggs at least ten days incubated. Similar instances could be given.2 The nest which the cuckoo usually chooses is one in which there are eggs that the owner has not begun to incubate, the reason given being that she hesitates to drive an incubating bird off the nest.s The reason is not, however, convincing, unless we assume that the cuckoo has two or three nests in mind to select from when ready to lay its egg, and that, finding an incubating bird on one, it would then go to the next. Moreover, an instance, already noted (p. 467), is given by Bailly from his personal observation of a cuckoo driving a robin from its nest. He adds that he saw another cuckoo drive a whinchat from its nest on the ground by swooping down upon it4 The cuckoo's approach to a nest in which she intends to deposit an egg is probably always actively resented by the rightful owners, if present. A robin is recorded as having got hold of the trespasser by the back of the neck, to which he hung for a few seconds with fierce 1 J. A. Liuk, op. tit., p. 152. * J. A. Link, op. cit., pp. 154, 158, 158, 159 ; Naumann, Vvgel Mitteleuropas, iv. 405. ' J. A. Link, op. cit., p. 158. 4 Ornitholoyie de la Savoie, i. 387 (footnote). THE CUCKOO 471 tcnaeit). Tin- cuckoo threw her head hack, opened her «jreat orange- colourod mouth, and squawked loudly in protest, thus making clear that she was not carrying her egg in her beak. Possibly she carried it, like the ("rows, in the pouch under the tongue. She placed it in the robin's nest in spite of their resistance, which appeared to cease during the act of deposition itself.1 This was also the wise with a pair of shrikes. When the cuckoo was at the nest they remained to all appearance quite indifferent, though previously they had shown every sign of resentment* The question of the origin of this strange parasitism of the cuckoo is one of extreme difficulty, to which it is impossible to do justice within the limits of the present chapter. The answer, if ever reached, can be the result only of a careful comparative study of the various degrees of this form of parasitism as manifested not only in the behaviour of different species of cuckoo, but of species belonging to quite different families and orders, such, for example, as the cow- hirds (Molvbrux), which belong to the Pasaeres. A few examples of the variations in parasitism must here suffice. The yellowbilled-cuckoo (Coccyzus americanw) usually builds a nest and incubates its eggs. The nest is a frail platform, off* which the eggs easily roll. It is itself liable to fall owing to its slight- ness, which is said to be the reason why this cuckoo occasionally lays its eggs in the nests of other species, including that of the black- billed-cuckoo. The latter returns the compliment, and is still more decidedly parasitic in its habits.3 One of the American cowbirds (M. bonaritntu) occasionally attempts to build nests, but leaves them unfinished, and drops its eggs into the nests of other species, often laying several in the same nest4 Another cowbird (M. ater) appears to be M parasitic as our cuckoo. It puts its eggs in the nests of other species, sometimes in old, deserted, or unfinished nests ; sometimes, again, if pressed, on the ground. From one to seven cowbird's eggs 1 Zoologist, 1000, 2024 (A. H. Meiklejohn). * Journal fUr Ornithologi*, 1858, 100. ' Charles Bendire, Life-Ili»torieuof N. American Bird*, 1886, 10. 4 W. H. Hudson. Argentine Ornithology- 472 THE CUCKOO may be found in one nest, probably laid by different birds. The eggs of the victim may be ejected or punctured either by the beak or claws of the cowbird. As the eggs are found in hole-nests, the species must, occasionally at least, lay the egg outside the nest and then carry it in the beak.1 Some of the explanations of the cuckoo's parasitism that have been offered are mainly interesting as illustrating the chief difficulty which besets the question, that of distinguishing between cause and effect. An example is supplied by Jenner's view that the short stay of the cuckoo — about three months — prevents it from performing its parental duties, but its short stay may be an effect and not a cause of the parasitism.2 The same difficulty applies to the view that explains parasitism by polyandry.3 One might argue that our cuckoo has completed the stage through which the American yellowbilled-cuckoo appears to be going. It has found it more advantageous to use the nests of others than build an unsafe nest of its own. This view overlooks two difficulties. All cuckoos would not build equally badly, and it seems unreasonable to assume that natural selection would lead to the extinction of the individuals building nests that were adequate to their purpose in favour of individuals compelled by their incapacity to lay in the nests of other species ; it is difficult to see what advantage the offspring of the latter would have over those of the former. Further, the habit of occasionally laying eggs in the nests of other species surely comes under the head of an acquired character — one gained by the individual during the course of its experience. Can such be inherited ? The cause of the parasitism of the cuckoo, whatever it may be, must have been exceedingly potent in its operation, for not otherwise could it have completely annihilated those deep-rooted parental 1 Bendire, op. cit., p. 430. 1 The statement that certain non-migratory species are parasitic cannot be used as an argu- ment against Jenner's view till it is shown that these species were always non-migratory. They may have become parasitic during a previous migratory period.- ' The view that the somewhat peculiar position of the cuckoo's stomach makes the function of incubation difficult has long been discredited, it having been shown that other species which do incubate have the same peculiarity. THE CUCKOO 478 instincts which are so marked a characteristic of birds, and of all the ln_'li- i animals. Ill After about twelve days' incubation the young cuckoo is born, and sooner or later it proceeds to eject from the nest the eggs or young of its foster-parent The first who appears to have noted this curious fact was a French doctor, Lottinger, in a work entitled //ijrfm'/r er ride, would simply roll back, as in the case observed by Mr. W. II Hudson and described below.1 (8) Having evicted, or failed to evict, the nestling or egg, the cuckoo sinks back exhausted into the nest, either at once or after feeling about with the extremities of its naked anus to we, it is said, if the business has been done. It has often been seen to feel in the same way for its victim before starting to eject" The great sensitiveness of the arm extremities, which seems to compensate for the creature's blindness, has often been commented upon. They serve for hands, and, regarded structurally, that is what in fact they are, the wing of the bird being nothing but the reptilian fore-limb adapted to purposes of flight The young cuckoo has been seen to eject not only eggs and nestlings, but other objects placed in the nest, such as bits of dried earth, sticks, and the like.' If two young cuckoos are born in the same nest, one is usually ejected. Jenner records two instances. In one the struggle began one morning a few hours after birth and lasted till the following afternoon, when the weaker was turned out as well as the egg and nestling of the hedge-sparrow owning the nest. During the struggle each carried the other several times nearly to the top of the nest, then only to sink back exhausted.4 Mr. Craig also witnessed a desperate struggle between two which were not two days old. The ejected cuckoo was put back, and the fight began again. "Sometimes the birds put the bill or head against the opposite side of the nest for more pressure when commencing to climb. Several times the top bird tumbled over the head of the other, like a rider falling over the head of a horse. After a short respite the birds became extremely restless, and again commenced the struggle." Next day one was » P. 477. * Hancock, op. rtt. ' XoolayiMl. 1888, 245 (R. P. Harper). 4 I%9mtfki\u1 Trmuactiont of the Royal Sonfty. 1788, Uxriii. 228. VOL. II. :: r 476 THE CUCKOO again found outside.1 On rare occasions both cuckoos have been found growing up side by side in the nest. In these cases it may have happened that neither was able to eject the other.2 On one occasion two fully fledged young cuckoos were seen in the act of being fed by one and the same meadow-pipit, a fact which points to their having been reared in the same nest.3 The presence of two young cuckoos in the same nest is assumed to be the result of laying by two different females, for when the eggs are found they almost invariably prove to be of distinct types, and it is practically certain that those laid by any given female are of the same type.4 Rarely three eggs are found.5 Adolf Walter found three in a wren's nest twice in one week, and ascribed this to the decrease of wrens and the increase of cuckoos in the district.6 Sometimes, when the young cuckoo is hatched after the offspring of the foster-parent, it finds them too big to eject. At least eight such cases have been recorded, one by Buffbn, who found a young cuckoo in a nest with two nearly fledged thrushes.7 Probably ejection is occasionally impossible when the cuckoo is born in a hole-nest. Among the questions arising out of the ejection of eggs or nest- lings by the young cuckoo which still await a definite answer, is that of the stimulus which moves the cuckoo to action. What causes this blind and seemingly helpless creature to initiate and perform a singu- larly difficult feat — keeping the victim on its back while it scrambles backward up the inside of the nest, jerking the burden off without losing its own balance — requiring a degree of strength that seems 1 Quoted by A. H. Japp, Our Common Cuckoo, p. 47. See also Zoologisches Garten, 1868 (Adolf Mtiller) ; and Macgillivray, Hist, of Birds, iii. 109 (quoting from Weir). 2 Zoologist, 1865, 9628 (E. T. Gunn) ; Magazine of Natural History, viii. 287 (H. Turner). 3 British Birds, iii. 164 (E. A. Wallis). 4 See on pp. 496-97. For the evidence see Link, op. tit., pp 146-49; Coward, Fauna of Cheshire, i. 268. 6 Link, op. cit., p. 150, quoting from the Journal fur Omithologie, 1874, 80 (H. Thiele), and Ornith. Monateschrift, 1893,464 ; Zoologist, 1886, 368 ; 1906, 276 (J. G. Tuck) : Country Life, June 16, 1906 (A. C. Elwes), with photo of a hedge-sparrow's nest, containing three cuckoo's and four hedge-sparrow's eggs ; British Birds, i. 325. Mr. Jourdain tells me there is also a robin's nest with three eggs of C. canorus in the Hungarian National Museum. See also pp. 497-98. * Link, loc. cit. 7 Link, op. cit., pp. 172, 174 (six cases) ; Field, 1900, xcv. 771, 949 (two cases). THE CUCKOO 477 little short of supernatural ? It would he absurd to suppose that the I'ird exercises any foresight in the matter; that it knows its ehances of survival dopnnd upon its receiving the undivided attention of it* foster-parents. This is the effect of its action, but the came must be some immediate and very potent stimulus. The only account which clearly indicates what this stimulus may be is that of Mr. W. H. Hudson in his Hampshire Days (p. 16), by far the most interesting and important written since the days of Jenner. Mr. Hudson found a robin's nest containing four eggs, one being a cuckoo's. On the afternoon of May 27 the young cuckoo hatched out At 8 A.M. on the 20th one robin's egg had been ejected, a newly I " .1 1 1 young robin and the third egg being still in the nest " The cuckoo occupied the middle of the deep, cup-shaped nest, and his broad back, hollow in the middle, formed a sort of false bottom ; but there was a small space between the bird's sides and the nest, and in this space or interstice the one unhatched egg that still remained and the young robin were lying." The cuckoo appeared to be very sensi- tive to the pressure of these two bodies against his sides ; of the egg especially, which was hard and unyielding; "he was continually moving, jerking and wriggling his lumpish body this way and that, as if to get away from the contact At intervals this irritation would reach its culminating point, and a series of mechanical movements would begin, all working blindly but as surely towards the end as if some devilish intelligence animated the seemingly helpless infant parasite." In a space of eight minutes he made four separate efforts to get rid of the egg, but as he pushed or carried it up the wrong or upper side of the nest, it rolled back each time. " The process in each case was as follows : — The pressure of the egg against the cuckoo's side, as I have laid, was a constant irritation ; (nit the irritability varied in degree in different parts of the body. On the under parts it scarcely existed; its seat was chiefly on the upper surface, beginning at the sides and increasing towards the centre, and was i:reateM in the hollow of the hack. When, in inovin-. the • — 478 THE CUCKOO got pushed up to the upper edge of his side, he would begin to fidget more and more, and this would cause it to move round, and so to increase the irritation by touching and pressing against other parts. When all the bird's efforts to get away from the object had only made matters worse, he would cease wriggling, and squat down lower and lower in the bottom of the nest, and the egg, forced up, would finally roll right into the cavity in his back — the most irritable part of all. Whenever this occurred, a sudden change that was like a fit would seize the bird ; he would stiffen, rise in the nest, his flabby muscles made rigid, and stand erect, his back in a horizontal position, the head hanging down, the little naked wings held up over the back," and the work of ejection would recommence. When the egg had been finally ejected, the rapid growth of the two nestlings made the position of the cuckoo more and more intolerable. A fresh series of struggles began, but success did not come till the little curved beak of the robin came accidentally into contact with the centre of the cuckoo's hollow back. Instantly the latter pressed down into the nest "shrink- ing away as if hot needles had pricked him, as far as possible from the side where the robin was lying against him, and this movement of course brought the robin more and more over him, until he was thrown right upon the cuckoo's back. Instantly the rigid fit came on, and up rose the cuckoo, as if the robin weighed no more than a feather on him ; and away backward he went, right up the nest, with- out a pause, and standing actually on the rim, jerked his body, causing the robin to fall oflf clean away from the nest." Mr. Hudson's account makes it appear that the young cuckoo's extreme sensitiveness to pressure upon its sides and upper parts is what causes it to perform the act of ejection. Its first desire is to remove its sides from the source of irritation ; it wriggles with discomfort, and finally seeks escape by flattening itself down in the bottom of the nest. The effect, however, of this movement, is to throw the egg or nestling onto or across its back, and into contact with the most sensitive spot of all, the hollow in its back. It shrinks THE CUCKOO 475) from the contact as if, to use Mr. Hudson's expression, pricked by hot needle* only by HO doing to make matters worse. 80 unendurable does the irritation become, that it galvanises the cuckoo into a convulsive alni«>»i -up. ni;itural energy, which gives it the strength required to expel tin- canst- of its sullerina^ It will be observed that, according to this account, the egg or nestling reaches the back as the purely mechanical result of the cuckoo's efforts to escape. According to most accounts there is a deliberate effort made to get the object into place (p. 475). The difference is probably one of interpretation, Jenner and others see- ing in the preliminary arm and body movements of the cuckoo a meaning that they may not possess. That the nestling cuckoo should be more or less sensitive to pressure is no doubt to be explained by the fact that it is in a nest a l)oii t half the size of that which its parents would have built. That the irritability should be most acute in the hollow of the back may be explained by natural selection. Any nestling cuckoo that chanced to be born with physical modifications tending to increase the sensitiveness of the dorsal nerves would profit in the struggle for existence by the fact that, more than its fellows, it would be stiniuJajte.d to greater energy in its efforts at ejection, and would, therefore, :haye of gaining undivided |x>ssession of the nfcstj-'aiiti" a better chance of gaining undivided |x>ssession hence undivided attention from its foster-jwrents. The sensitiveness of the depression in the back does not appear to arise from the existence of the depression itself. If it did, one would expect that the dates of the appearance and disappearance of the depression would correspond with the beginning and end of the period during which the nestling cuckoo showed signs of un- easiness at the presence of objects in the nest The evidence on the point is scanty, but, as far as it goes, does not point to any definite correspondence. With respect to the first appearance of the depression, Mr. J. H. c added tin- Matrint'iit of tlu> iranlnuT. quoted hy Mr. 11. II. (Jotlwin Austen, that on one occasion he found three young wag- tails, two of tin-in dead, and one egg, lying outside a nest in a green- house, the young cuckoo being at the time scarcely out of its shell. \v ;m ;i,lllll curUno had l»crii xrrli nil III. .If 1)1:111 (Mir orraMoii I.. * uter the greenhouse, it was assumed to have made the eviction. Another example is provided by Herr Adolf Walter. He found a wren's nest containing a cuckoo just born, and, on the ground, four wren's eggs. The eggs were put back, and were not ejected while Herr Walter remained in observation. Next day the eggs were again found outside, and were put back, with the same result. In the after- noon, however, they were found once more ejected. They were put back a third time, and were not ejected. At the end of eight days they were still in the nest On the strength of this by no means con- clusive evidence, M. TL Raspail, in quoting it, goes so far as to make the following somewhat premature assertion : " Thus disappears from ornithological biology this legend which represents the young cuckoo as the murderer of his fellow-nestlings." A further argument in favour of the view that those ejections which take place before the young cuckoo is two days old are performed by the parent cuckoo is supplied by the following facts quoted by Herr Link. A brood of young robins and a young cuckoo were born on the same day. The former were found lying outside the nest all alive. They were replaced. Next morning they had completely disappeared, the young cuckoo being still in the nest. As the latter could not have carried its victims away out of sight, the inference made is that they were removed by the parent cuckoo, if not by the parent robin.3 This overlooks the possibility of their having been ejected by the young cuckoo, and the bodies subsequently carried away by mice or nits. A more cogent argument is supplied by the fact that when nest- lings or eggs are found lying outside the nest and put back, it some- times happens that no attempt is made to re-evict them by young 1 Aftmotra* de la SocVU Zoolofique dt France, 1806, M. * Link, op. «/., pp. 170-77. 482 THE CUCKOO cuckoos until they reach a certain age. A good example is provided by Mr. J. H. Gurney. On June 3, at 12.30 P.M., a young cuckoo, thirty-two hours old, was found alone in the nest, its fellow-nestlings, two young hedge-sparrows, lying dead on the rim. One was put back, but no attempt was made to eject it, though the young cuckoo showed signs of restlessness. On June 4, at 7.45 A.M., a pied- wagtail's egg was put in the nest with the same result, and some minutes later a nestling was substituted for the egg, but the cuckoo still made no serious effort. At 2 P.M. "a lively young wren" was put in, against which the cuckoo " immediately commenced proceedings," but failed to hoist it even on to the rim. It failed twice on the following day, its last attempt being made at the age of three days ten hours, after which its desire to evict ceased.1 It might from this be inferred that the hedge-sparrows found outside the nest on June 3 were not ejected by the young cuckoo, but here again the inference amounts to no more than a supposition. The fact remains that there is as yet no convincing evidence that the parent cuckoo has been seen to perform the act of eviction, and with anything short of such evidence we have no right to be satisfied.2 There is good evidence, on the other hand, that the infant cuckoo can eject eggs and nestlings before it is two days old. The first ejec- tion witnessed by Jenner took place within twenty-four hours of the birth of the cuckoo. He found the nest, on June 18, with three hedge-sparrow's eggs and one cuckoo's. The next day all were hatched, and the three hedge-sparrows ejected. The ejection of the third was witnessed by Jenner.3 He also states that he saw one nestling cuckoo make its first attempt to eject another nestling cuckoo " a few hours after birth one morning." 4 It did not succeed in effecting its purpose till the following afternoon, but still within the two days' limit. The ejections above described, witnessed by Mr. Hudson, took place, either within or not much after forty-eight hours. This evidence is 1 Zoologist, 1905, 164. * Zoologist, 1899, 135, for a statement by another. ' Op. tit, p. 225. « Op. cit., p. 238. THE CUCKOO 488 .(.... I ;iv (;, i- as it goes, though it lacks invasion o\\ m_: to the neglect in state the time of day at which the birth of the cuckoo and the first attempt to eject respectively took place. More evidence is needed. If it does eventually prove beyond all question that tin- n» s(lin«r ran |M>rforni the act of eviction shortly after birth, the interest of the problem rained by the contrast, already alluded to, namely, between the creature's apparent feebleness and its sudden accession of extra- ordinary vigour, will be very greatly increased. That, at the age of two days, it should be able to throw out what to it must he a very heavy weight, is astonishing enough ; that it should do so a few hours after birth would border on the miraculous. What part does the foster-jwrent play in the act which has so tragic a termination for its own offspring? Information on this point, again, is scanty, attention having been chiefly directed to the pro- ceedings of the young cuckoo, but what there is point - to an attitude of complete indifference. In the account given by Mr. Hancock of the ejection of a young hedge-sparrow, it is stated that " the mother was present, but took no notice of the affair going on, and looked on calmly." The same mother-bird was observed to brood the young cuckoo shortly after the eviction of one of her eggs. She " remained ;i \ery short time on the nest and seemed very uneasy, raising herself and standing in the m-i Her uneasiness was no doubt due to the movements of the nestling cuckoo. The foster-parent sometimes has beneath her eyes the dead or dying bodies of her own nestlings. This was the case with the robin in the incident related by Mr. Hudson. She sat for hours wanning the destroyer of her brood, while but a few inches away, on a broad green leaf, fronting her gaze, lay one of her evicted infants, "growing colder by degrees, hour by hour, motionless except when it lifted its head as if to receive food, then dropped it again, and when, at intervals, it twitched its body as if trying to move." It seems that if her nestlings are not where the mother expects them to be — in the nest — then for her they 1 Hampshire Day*, p. 24. VOL. II. 3Q 484 THE CUCKOO cease to exist. I have myself, as related above in connection with the young rook,1 placed a callow willow-wren on the ground an inch or two from the entrance of its nest, and though it wriggled there un- comfortably and conspicuously, the parent bird passed again and again over its head carrying food to the other nestlings without paying it the least attention. Birds, like men, are very much creatures of custom. IV The young cuckoo remains in the nest about twenty days.2 When hatched it has no down ; its naked, creased and wrinkled skin is a pale flesh colour,3 which later grows darker, becoming a slaty brown, " in fact nearly black." 4 On the seventh day the bird is nearly covered with sprouting quills, and its eyes are opening.5 On the fourteenth it is well covered with bristly, growing feathers. Now and later, it appears, when disturbed, a truly startling object ; it swells up in the nest, snapping and uttering quick, vicious little notes, its plumage all erect, its throat puffed out, and its angry eyes deep-set in bristling feathers, giving it an air of resolute ferocity that is almost terrifying. One that I placed on the ground to photograph behaved in exactly the same way, rising on its feet and making little angry springs and snaps at my finger. I noted that the inside of its capacious mouth was a bright red, in this resembling its parents. At what date the mouth assumes the red is not recorded ; on the first day after hatch- ing it is "pale yellow without any spots on the palate."6 The note of the young cuckoo was described by Jenner as a " chuckling noise like a young hawk's." It has been syllabled as chiz, chiz, chiz,7 and tz, tz, tz, tz ! 8 but whether its call-note for food and its note of anger are the same is not clear. The former has been 1 Vol. i. p. 40. 1 Memoires Soc. Zool. France, 1895, 151 (X. Raspail) ; Wustnei and Clodius, Vogel Mecklen- burg* ; Zoologist, 1905, 104 ( J. H. Gurney) ; British Birds, i. 363 (P. H. Bahr). 3 Zoologist, 1889, 33-40 (A. Walter). 4 Zoologist, 1905, 104 (J. H. Gurney). s J. H. Gurney, loc. cit. • J. H. Gurney, op. cit. 7 Coward, Fauna of Cheshire, i. 208. » Field, 1898, 358. THE CUCKOO 4s:, compared to the " twisting of u glass 8top|>er in a bottle." According to Mr. Coward, the young cuckoo, at least when it has quitted the neat, is not affected by the alarm-notes of the foster-parents.1 Both before and after quitting the nest the little cuckoo is fed assiduously by its foster-parents, for which it is not always sufficient I \ grateful. One was seen, after receiving its food, invariably to make ft vicious snap at the giver, a pipit, which the latter managed to avoid on each occasion by prompt retreat3 When out of the nest, one of the foster-parents may not uncommonly be seen perched on the cuckoo's back, a convenient perch from which it is able to drop its contribution into the upturned, wide-open, red blaxing gape of its gigantic charge.4 How long the young cuckoo continues to be fed after quitting the nest has not been exactly recorded. The food given to the young cuckoo varies, of course, with the v|.«'<-ics of tlic t'oMrr |MI« lit. <>lir tetl l'\ \Mt-UliK ivcri \ ctl Ilirs. beetles, small snails, grasshoppers, caterpillars, jmrt of a horse bean, and vegetable substance resembling bits of tou^h grass, which was found inside it rolled into a ball ; also seeds of a vegetable resembling those of the goose-grass. Another was nourished by a tit-lark, chiefly ^ith grasshoppers; a third by a hedge-sparrow, almost entirely with \ . _:etable food, wheat, vetches, etc., an exceptional diet, as, according t«» .lenner, from whom these details are taken, hedge-sparrows usually feed young cuckoos on animal food. Snails and large worms formed the diet provided by a tit-lark observed by Weir. It would be interesting to know whether the diet of the young cuckoo influences its adult gastronomic tastes, thus causing con- siderable variations in the food of individual birds. The only varia- tion of which we have at present any certainty is that caused by the \.ir\iiiL1 nature of the cuckoo's habitat Baron Droste-Hulshoff relates, for instance, that the cuckoos which bred among the sand- hill- <>t the island of Borkutn off the mouth of the Ems, had to deny 1 British Bird*, i. 863 (P. U. BahrX ' Loc. cit. ' Coward, Joe. cit. 4 For photograph* of thin nee British Birds, i. 806 (P. II. Bahr) ; and K. Krarton*' A'a/uiVc Carat Singer*, p. H. 486 THE CUCKOO themselves the favourite food of their species, hairy caterpillars, for these were scarcely to be found.1 As the species finds its food largely in tall trees, the diet of individuals must again vary somewhat with the kind of tree they haunt. The full dietary of the cuckoo is given in the " Classified Notes." The most interesting item in it are the hairy caterpillars above referred to. These are refused by the vast majority of birds, among the exceptions being the mistle-thrush.2 The bird swallows the caterpillar, hairs and all. The hairs remain in the gizzard, when the digestible portions have been absorbed, and are there found either adhering to the surface of the gizzard so as to give it the appearance of being coated with fur, or else collected into a ball, ready no doubt for ejection. How long the hairs remain in the gizzard, and how they are detached previous to ejection, has not been ascertained. That they must sooner or later be ejected is obvious. If proof were needed, it is supplied by the fact that birds dissected on their arrival have the gizzard quite free from hairs. Balls of hair are occasionally found in the stomachs of young cuckoos. Those found by Jenner were "curiously wound up," and were composed chiefly of horsehair. Owing to the presence of the same in the lining of nests, he inferred that the cuckoo had swallowed them while a nestling.3 The cuckoo occasionally picks its food off the ground, descending for that purpose, making a few ungainly hops, and then flying back into the tree. It will often cling to the trunk in order to pick off an insect, but, according to Naumann, always across it, and not vertically like the woodpeckers. Gilbert White relates that in July he saw " several cuckoos skimming over a large pond ; and found, after some observation, that they were feeding on the Libellulce, or dragon-flies, some of which they caught as they settled on the weeds, and some as they were on the wing." 4 The fact that this incident was witnessed 1 Vogelwelt der Nordseeinsel-Borkum, 1809, 84. * E. L. Turner (in litt.). 3 Op. tit., pp. 235-30. 4 Letter to Barrington, October 8, 1770. THE CUCKOO'S FOSTER- PA HUNTS AND EGGS in July seems to point to a fiiliUlillg of cuckoos previous to, or on, in i-r; it N.I i The s|>ecies lias been seen to migrate in flocks, also -m_l \ The adults clrjwrt for the most |mrt early in July ; the young tnlluu xninc \\crk> liltrl. ;ili.| h;»\r roi i»r< | IK 'lit I \ It) lili.l thrir \\;i\ to their African winter quarters under the guidance of their instinct only, knowing nothing of the new wonderland where, for the first time, perhaps, th<>v will meet others of their kind, and among them, it may be, the parents they have not yet seen and do not recognise. THE CUCKOO'S FOSTER-PARENTS AND EGGS [F. C. R JOCBDAIN] Various lists have been prepared at different times of the different foster-parents made use of by the cuckoo, but for the purposes of this paper we may ignore the earlier ones, which were necessarily baaed on imperfect data,* and consider only the later and fuller ones. In 1883 Mr. E. Bidwell published a list of 86 foster-parents, with indica- tions of the origin of most of the records, in the Traw. Norfolk and Norwich Nat. Hist. Soc.t iii. p. 526.* In 1892, in his Altes wid Neuttam dem J/atuthalte dt* Kwkucks, the late Dr. E. Rey gave on pp. 18-20 a list of 117 foster-parents. Of these some 18 were from India or Siberia, and in those cases where the records were unique or exceedingly rare, references are given to the name of the author to whom they are due, while an attempt is made to classify the occurrences geographical!) . In 1896 Mr. E. Bidwell organised an exhibition of cuckoos' eggs in London, at which 919 were shown, and in the 7W» of that year (pp. :*97- 400) he published a list of Western Palwarctic birds in the nests of \\ 1 1 ich cuckoos' eggs have been found. This list contains the names of 119 species, with the number of eggs of each species exhibited * See " Classified Not**." * Some particulars of earlier list* may be gleaned from W. Well* Bladen'* list of reference* in the Annual Rgp. and Trnn». of the \. Staff*. \alnrttli*t* Field Club, 180646, p. 80. ' Of thnu 42 were marked M baring occurred in Great Britain. 488 THE CUCKOO noted, but no information as to the source from which the records were derived. In the same year Mr. W. Wells Bladen published, in the Annual Report and Transactions of the N. Staffordshire Field Club, vol. xxx. pp. 30-39, a list of 145 species, of which 122 were European. By means of initials in parallel columns Mr. Bladen shows which species have been included in the more important published lists, and also notes which species are represented in his own collection, with localities. In Naumann's Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv. p. 403, Dr. Rey gives an amended list of 145 species, which is practically identical with Mr. W. Wells Bladen's, and a few years later, in his Eier der Vogel Mitteleuropas, pp. 94-96, he published a catalogue of 146 foster- parents, of which 119 were classed as European and 27 as Asiatic. At the present time it is probable that the list of Asiatic foster-parents might be largely increased, but the question arises whether these long lists of names, in many cases based only upon clutches bought from dealers, without even the original collectors' names, have any real scientific value. The fictitious value attached to a cuckoo's egg with a clutch of some rare foster-parent makes deception so easy and pro- fitable, that a thorough investigation of records is desirable, and it would be better if only those authenticated by the testimony of the finder were admitted. In Key's list of 1 17 species, an analysis of the records shows that no fewer than 94 are recorded fewer than ten times, leaving only some 23 regular foster-parents. Of course this list is very imperfect, especially with regard to English records, but it probably represents with some accuracy the proportion of rare or accidental foster-parents as opposed to regular ones in Germany. The highest number of records (199 instances) is associated with the redbacked-shrike, Lanius collurio L., but its position at the head of the list is due to exceptional circumstances. The majority of Key's records were naturally derived from his own collection, and in the Leipzig district the redbacked-shrike was an exceptionally favoured foster-parent. Thus out of 147 cuckoos' eggs from this neighbourhood, no fewer than THE CUCKOO'S FOSTER-PARENTS AND EGOS 489 127 were obtained from nests of L. coUwrio. In other puts of Germany this proportion is reversed. Thus out of 119 eggs from Dessau, only 10 were obtained from nests of this species. Next in order comes the white-wagtail, Motaeittu alba alba L., with 105 records, followed by lh. -;inl« n-wail>lrr with 1. (he iv<-tl-\\arl)lrr with si;, tin- common wren with 82, the redstart with 76, the robin with 72, the common whitethroat with 49, and the barred-warbler with 38. Other species which have been recorded more than ten times are the tree-pipit (31), the sedge-warbler and hedge-sparrow (25), the marsh- warbler (24), the blackcap (21), the meadow-pipit (18), the chiff-chaff' (16), the pied- wagtail (16), the linnet and wood-warbler (15), the yellow-bunting (14), the lesser-whitethroat (13), the great reed-warbler (11), and the blue- headed-wagtail (10). At the present time no materials are available for a similar study of English records, but it is quite clear that if a list were drawn up on similar lines there would be considerable discrepancies. Thus the redbacked-shrike would be relegated to the list of rarer fosterers, the pied- and yellow-wagtails would replace the white- and blue-headed forms, the barred- warbler would disappear from the list altogether, and the marsh-warbler would be classed among the rarest foster- parents. On the other hand the hedge-sparrow, meadow-pipit, and yellow-bun ting would probably take much higher positions in the list At Mr. BidweU's exhibition, where the great majority of exhibited specimens were of British origin, some idea may be gathered of the preponderance of certain fosterers from the number of nests exhibited. Thus the hedge-sparrow supplied 74 instances, the robin 65, the reed-warbler 62, the meadow-pipit 49, the garden- warbler 47, and the sedge-warbler 41. Among the rarer foster- parents which have been found with cuckoo's eggs in the British Isles, the following deserve special treatment :'- 1 It hma not been thought neceawry to give records in the catte of the commonly adopted fosterers mentioned above, nor in those of the linnet, yellow-bunting, tree-pipit, whitethroat, willow-warbler, garden-warbler or wren, all of which have been frequently recorded. 490 THE CUCKOO [Records of young cuckoos are marked thus (f).] Greenfinch. Recorded by G. D. Rowley ; l W. Borrer ; A. Hussey (Zoologist, 1860, p. 7104); J. E. Harting; F. Bond; S. Lewis; F. C. R. Jourdain; J. G. Tuck, and others. Hawfinch. Recorded by J. Palmer (Zoologist, 1902, p. 279). House-sparrow. Professor A. Newton (1842) (Ootheca Wolleyana, i. p. 202) ; H. E. Smith (Cat. Eggs Br. Mus., iii. p. 113) ; J. Tomlinson (Field, 1861, xviii. p. 67 1); T. N. Postlethwaite (Naturalist, 1885, p. 127); M. C. H. Bird (quoted by J. H. Gurney). Tree-sparrow. T. N. Postlethwaite (loc. cit.). Chaffinch. W. Borrer ; H. A. Macpherson (quoting Cairns) (Birds of Cumber- land, p. 67 f) ; S. Lewis (Zoologist, 1906, p. 34) ; L. B. Mouritz (Avicultural Magazine, 1907, p. 359). Lesser-redpoll. F. W. Paple (quoted by W. W. Bladen, p. 36) ; H. Noble (British Birds, i. p. 313). Twite. T. C. Heysham (Vert. Fauna of Lakeland, p. 170) ; W. Greenup (Birds of Cumberland, p. 67) ; cf. Trans. Cumberland Association, pt. ii. (1876-77) p. 172, quoted by Bidwell ; E. P. Butterfield (Zoologist, 1904, p. 315 (but not the records referred to on p. 314)); H. B. Booth (Zoologist, 1905, p. 433) ; cf. also Zoologist, 1906, p. 111. Bullfinch. A. W. Johnson (in litt.) ; S. Lewis (Zoologist, 1906, p. 33) ; cf. Zool., 1905, p. 433 ; J. H. Owen (in litt. f). Corn-bunting. R. J. Ussher; 2 C. E. Radcliffe (Cat. Eggs Br. Mus., iii. p. 113) ; J. Palmer (Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club Report, 1902, 1903). Girl-bunting. H. Saunders (quoted by Bidwell) ; C. B. Wharton (Zoologist, 1882, p. 265). Reed-bunting. J. E. Harting ; J. G. Tuck ; R. J. Ussher ; H. A. Macpherson (Birds of Cumberland, p. 67); F. Barclay (Zoologist, 1907, p. 129 f) ; F. C. R. Jourdain, etc. Skylark. E. V. Seebohm (Cat. Eggs Br. Mus., iii. p. 112); F. Bond; J. E. Harting ; J. Palmer ; M. A. Mathew, and others. Woodlark. F. Bond; cf. also Zoologist, 1863, p. 8992 f. White- wagtail. See J. Palmer (Caradoc and Severn Vattey Field Club Report, 1904, p. 31 ; 1905, p. 27). 1 G. D. Rowley's list of foster-parents will be found in the Ibis, 1865, p. 178-180 ; F. Bond's and J. E. Harting's lists were published in the Birds of Middlesex, p. 120. 1 Birds of Ireland, p. 113. THE CUCKOO'S FOSTER-PARENTS AND EGGS -I'.H Crry-u.i-t.nl. K. |i,,i,,l: .1. S. Kll.ott ./..,/. «/i< 1S!»L>, p. itiij ! . .m.l and Severn Valley Field Club Report, 1000) ; J. Palmer (torn, ri/., 1904, 1900). Yellow-wagtail. F. Bond, J. E. Harting, Professor A. Newton, J. F. Brockholee, F. C. R. Jourdain, and others, Book-pipit Of. Field, 1806, xxvi. p. 43. F. Bond ; C. E. Seaman (Zoologist, 1863, p. 8720 f); C. Oldham (Zoologist, 1896, p. 260); T. H. Nelson (Birds of Yorkshire, i. p. 135). Song-thrush. G. T. Porritt (quoted by Bidwell) ; A. O. Butler (Zoologist, 1877, p. 300 f) ; J. H. Willmore (Zoologist, 1883, p. 303); J. G. Tuck (Zoologist, 1897, p. 364) ; R. H. Read (Zoologist, 1900, p. 520) ; Rev. C. Birley (Field. July 6, 1901) ; J. Palmer (Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club Report, 1900, 1901) ; A. B. Farn, 1904 (Birds of Kent, p. 247) ; L. B. Mount/. (Avic. Mag., 1907, p. 358). Blackbird. E. Bidwell (Zoologist 1877, p. 340) ; Field, May 22, 1897 ; F. C. R. Jourdain ; Rev. C. F. Thornewill (British Birds, iii. p. 28, and Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club Report for 1909); W. A. Wilkinson (torn, cit., 1903). Ring-ouzel. R. Small and A. Hogg (quoted by Bidwell) ; W. WeUs Bladen (Rep. N. Staffs. Field Club, 1895-96, p. 24). Wheatear. J. E. Harting ; Rev. W. K. Martin (in litt.) ; Coward and Oldham ( Vert. Fauna of Cheshire, i. p. 270). Whinchat. J. Harrison (quoted by Bidwell) ; cf. Birds of Lancashire, 2nd ed., p. 113; Vert. Fauna of Lakeland, p. 170. Stonechat. W. M. Crowfoot (quoted by Bidwell) ; Major Dods (Zoologist, 1905, p. 88 1). Redstart J. Whatt (Zoologist, 1863, p. 8328 f); J. E. Harting; F. Bond: 0. V. Aplin (Zoologist, 1900, p. 13 f). Nightingale. F. Bond, J. E. Harting ; J. G. Tuck (Zoologist, 1899, p. 323) ; L. B. Mouritz (Avic. Mag., 1907, p. 359). Dartford-warbler. F. Bond; P. Crowley; cf. Zoologist, 1901, p. 251. Goldcrest H. S. Davenport (Field, June 3, 1911 1). Chiff-chaff. H. E. Rawson (quoted by Bidwell) ; J. Palmer (Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club Report, 1905). Wood-warbler. C. Stubbs (Zoologist, 1863, p. 8681) ; J. Palmer (Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club Report, 1901, 1906). Blackcap. F. Bond ; J. G. Tuck ; G. W. Kerr (Zoologist, 1906, p. 308) ; and others. Marsh-warbler. W. W. Fowler (Zoologist, 1898, p. 356, 1900, p. 20, 1906, VOL. II. •"•!: 492 THE CUCKOO p. 403) ; P. F. Bunyard (British Birds, iii. p. 185) ; G. W. Kerr and E. Pettitt (Zoologist, 1909, pp. 397-8) ; W. Farren (British Birds, iv. p. 37). Grasshopper-warbler. F. Bond; F. W. Lambert (Zoologist, 1892, p. 246). Great-tit. P. F. Bunyard (Bulletin B. 0. C., xxvii. p. 40). Redbacked-shrike. F. Bond; C. E. Wright (in litt.) ; J. G. Tuck (Zoologist, 1899, p. 323) ; cf. torn cit., 1901, p. 251 ; J. Palmer (Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club Report, 1906). Spotted-flycatcher. F. Bond; J. G. Tuck; C. E. Wright (in litt.), and others. Cf. J. H. Gurney (Zoologist, 1898, p. Ill (2 f reared)). Swallow. H. Nicholls (Zoologist, 1869, p. 1866 f) ; G. Rooper (torn, cit., 1877, p. 260) ; Field, March 22, 1890, p. 432 ; C. Wolley Dod (Ibis, 1892, pp. 524- 530f ) ; E. W. Atkinson (Field, Aug. 11, 1894, cf. Zoologist, 1894, p. 340f). Ring-dove. Willughby. Pheasant. W. Wells Bladen (Rep. and Trans. N. Staffs. Field Club, 1895-96, p. 24). Red-grouse. Dumfries Courier, July 1, 1844 (quoted by H. S. Gladstone, Birds of Dumfries, p. 169). Kestrel. J. Shaw (quoted by H. S. Gladstone, loc. cit.). (The four latter species can hardly be regarded seriously as foster- parents, and in each case the cuckoo had probably failed to find any suitable nest in which to deposit her egg.1) Although it has long been known that a considerable amount of variation exists in cuckoos' eggs, the curious fact remains that in a series of British taken eggs, the variation is considerably less than in a similar series taken on the Continent. At the time of the first publication of Dr. Baldamus' work on the eggs of the cuckoo, in which it was stated that the eggs of the cuckoo tend to mimic those of the foster-parent, this statement was met with much incredulity on the part of some English naturalists, and led to a long controversy in the columns of the Zoologist. A fuller knowledge of the range of variation in this species has proved that mimicry does exist in a large propor- tion of cases, especially on the Continent ; but side by side with such 1 The same remark applies to the jay, green- woodpecker, stock-dove, turtle-dove, and little- grebe, all of which have been recorded as foster-parents on the Continent. CUCKOO'S FOSTER-PARENTS AND BOGS »'.>:< other instances occur in which there is no resemblance whatever between tli. I-L.-L: of iln- cuckoo aiitl that of tin- fostei parent The plate of cuckoos' eggs has been specially arranged to bring out some of these anomalies. Figs. 1, 3, and 0, in which cuckoos' eggs are represented with one egg of the fosterer from the same nest, show remarkable contrasts in colour and general appearance. This is also observable in Figs. 13, 16, 17, 21, 27, and 30, all of which differ widely from typical eggs of the foster-parent On the other hand, Figs. 2, 4, 5, 10, and 11, each of which in figured together with a fosterer's egg, show remarkable mimicry, and it is apparent also in Figs. 15, 19, 22, 24, as well as to some extent in some of the other illustrations. It will be noticed that out of the 30 cuckoos' eggs figured, 27 are of British origin, while 3 are from various part- of tin- ( 'onlim-iit Tin- first of these < l-'i-. 1 1 > is the historic blue egg obtained by Seebohm in North Brabant in a redstart's nest, from which he extracted the embryo and noticed its zygodactyle feet, thus proving that it was not an unusually large redstart's egg, as had been suggested by some of the more incredulous English collectors.1 Although there is some evidence that this blue type of egg occasionally occurs with us, there appear to be no thoroughly authenticated speci- mens in existence to prove the fact ; while in some parts of the Continent, such as Finland, it is not very rare, and is always found in the nest8 of birds which themselves lay blue eggs. This is the more remarkable in view of the fact that the hedge-sparrow is very frequently adopted as a foster-parent in England. Figs. 15 and 22, representing eggs taken from a robin's and a redbacked-shrike's nest respectively, are also noticeable as exhibiting mimicry in the opposite direction — red predominating instead of blue. An examination of a large series of British taken eggs leads to the following conclusions. In some species (of which the hedge- sparrow, wren, and willow-warbler are perhaps extreme cases) there is practically no attempt at mimicry. In others (of which we may 1 Cf . Ibit. 1806, p. 180. 494 THE CUCKOO take the pied-wagtail as typical) there is almost invariably a great resemblance between the eggs of the cuckoo and the fosterer. There is also a third class in which resemblance undoubtedly exists in some cases, while in others it is equally certainly lacking. The tree-pipit and robin may be quoted as belonging to this category. On the Continent, eggs of the cuckoo found in nests of the redstart and brambling almost invariably resemble those of the fosterer very closely. Dr. Rey states that out of 67 cuckoos' eggs taken from redstarts' nests, no fewer than 57 were blue, and, except in size, did not differ from those of the redstart, while the few examples obtained from bramblings' nests in all cases showed close mimicry. Other species in which mimicry commonly exists are the common white- throat, the garden-warbler, the reed-warbler, and the sedge-warbler ; while, on the other hand, no authenticated instance of mimicry has been recorded in the case of the common wren, willow-wren and its congeners, and only very rarely in the case of the hedge-sparrow.1 On the whole, it may confidently be stated that successful mimicry exists only in a minority of cases, and is less prevalent in the British Isles than on the Continent, while in India some wonderful types of erythristic eggs have been obtained which are unknown in Europe. One other point about the egg of the cuckoo deserves a word of mention. Not only is there considerable range of colouring in these eggs, but the size is also variable, and in certain cases the egg of the cuckoo bears some relation to the size of the eggs of its host. Thus Mr. R H. Read informs me that the largest cuckoo's egg he ever found was in the nest of the largest host, a song- thrush, while the smallest was with the smallest eggs of any represented host, namely the sedge-warbler. Mr. O. H. Latter has investigated the subject from a mathematical standpoint in Siotnetrika, i. pt. ii. pp. 164-76, and iv. pp. 363-73, and comes to the conclusion that eggs found in nests of hedge-sparrow, tree-pipit, meadow-pipit, and robin vary ' Cf. N. P. Ticehurst, Birds of Kent, p. 247 ; W. Borrer, Birds of Sussex, p. 167 ; S. Lewis, Zoologist, 1906, p. 34. Egg Plate E Eggs of Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus By H. Gronvold Fiji 1 to 12, Eggs of Cuckoo together with those of foster 1, • TI«xlt«>Ti«ririw (Leatherhead, Brit. Muu.).1 2, • Sedge warbler (Bngland, Brit. Mus.). 8, • Wren (Northampton, F. Jourdain ooU.). 4, + Pied wagtail (Berks. Brit. Mus.). 0. * Pied wagtail (Tenby, Brit. Mus.). 6, • Reed warbler (Arlington. Surrey, Brit Mus.). 7, • Tree pipit (Salop. Brit. Mus.). 8, * Meadow pipit (Hayes Common, Brit. Mus.). 9. - Tree pipit (Odiham. Hants, Brit. Mus.). 1O, * Greenfinch (Suffolk, F. Jourdain coll.). 11. - Redstart (Valkenswaard. Holland. Brit. Mus.). 12. • Blackbird (Staffordshire, F. Jourdain coll.). Figs. 13 to 3O represent eggs of Cuckoo alone :— 13 (- Nightingale. Surrey, Brit. Mus.). 14 (Robin. Churt, Brit. Mus.). 1C ( + Robin, Moravia, Brit. Mus.). 16 (• Robin, England, Brit. Mus.). 17 ( • Cbiffchaff. Churt, Brit. Mus.). 18 ( • Reed warbler, Arlington, Biit. Mus.). 10 ( Grasshopper warbler. Brighton. Brit. Mus.). 2O ( • Hedge-sparrow. 8. Cadbury. Somer- set R. H. Read coll.). 21 ( - Reed bunting, England. Brit. Mus.). 22 ( - Redbacked shrike. -Moravia, Brit. Mus.). 23 Whitethroat. Epping. Brit. Mus.). 24 ( * Reed warbler. Holkham. Brit. Mus.). 20 ( • Dartford warbler, Churt, Brit. Mus.). 26 ( - Linnet Churt, Brit. Mus.). 27 ( - Whinchat, Otteroourne, Brit. Mus.). 28 ( * Spotted flycatcher, Salop. Brit. Mus.). 20 ( Skylark. Salop, Brit. Mus.). 3O ( Stone chat Twyford. Brit. Mus.). . % \ir ., \ ¥ THI: CUCKOO'S FOSTER-PARENTS AND EGGS »•..-. in >i/t> relativeh t«» that n\' tin t.^i, r pan-nt- « _j- Thus while robins' eggs average 17*7 x 12*7 mm. and hedge-sparrows' 80*1 x 14*7, ruck..,,- «-ggs from the former average 21*1 x 15X and from the latter £H x 16-a With regard to the quest ion as to the number of eggH laid by each hen cuckoo in the course of the season, we find great disorep- ancies in the conclusions at which different writers have arrived. The tendency of most of the earlier writers on the subject was in favour of a small number of eggs, ranging from 4 or 5 to 7, laid at intervals of six to eight days. But Dr. Rey's researches led him to the astonishing conclusion that each female cuckoo laid about 20 eggs every year, and that they were deposited on alternate days. J. A. Link, on the other hand, believes that the long series of eggs of one type collected by Or. Rey and hie son in single seasons were probably the produce of two hens which laid very similar eggs. V. Capek, in a very careful paper in the Ornitholoyixche JaJirbuch for 1896, is of opinion that the cuckoo lays on alternate days, but that the eggs are deposited at two periods, with an interval between, as in the case of birds which are ordinarily double brooded. He believes that a hen in full vigour lays 5 to 7 eggs on alternate days during the first period, while, after a short pause, a second series of eggs, probably from 4 to 5 in number, is deposited, but at longer and probably irregular intervals. On the whole this seems to be the most satisfactory elucidation of the facts, and is not inconsistent with the facto as recorded both in England and on the Continent It must be remembered tliat the accurate study of this subject can be carried on in some |>arts of the Continent far more satisfactorily than with us. Thus in the neighl>ourhood of Leipzig, where Dr. Rey worked, the redlweked-shrike is the most la\ oured foster-parent of the cuckoo. But the whole country round i- arable, entirely devoid of hedgerows, and only here and there are small plantations to be found, where the shrikes must necessarily breed. It is therefore not impossible for two active men to be personally acquainted with every nest of the shrike for a wide radius. 496 THE CUCKOO Now in a well wooded district, with innumerable hedgerows, gardens, and coppices, it is quite impossible for the keenest bird-nester to be able to work every possible breeding-place. The best results have therefore naturally been obtained in England in the case of such species as the reed-warbler, which is confined to a limited area on the banks of our rivers, and, as far as they go, these observations tend to confirm Capek's conclusions. Of course no definite results could have been arrived at if it were not for the fact, which may be regarded as definitely proved, that each hen cuckoo lays eggs of a similar type throughout her life. The marvellous series of eggs collected by the Revs, with the index number of each hen on the test-tube containing the clutch, would convince the most sceptical. As a general rule it may be stated that each hen cuckoo lays by preference in the nest of some one species. When this species is plentiful it is probable that all the eggs are laid in this way. But if we suppose that a hen cuckoo is parasitic on the reed-warbler, and after successfully depositing four or five eggs she finds the supply of foster-parents exhausted, as the colony of reed-warblers is only a small one, it is natural that she should make use of a sedge-warbler's nest with fresh eggs in the same locality. This we know from experience does frequently take place, and in all probability many of the rarer foster-parents are only made use of owing to the fact that the cuckoo can find nothing really suitable for the purpose. I am inclined to think that in some cases they are merely intended as a temporary convenience, for cases have fallen within my own experience in which a cuckoo's egg has proved to be incubated for some days, while the eggs of the foster-parent were quite fresh.1 Unless the cuckoo's egg had been left for a day or two in the nest of some other species, it is difficult to account for this, as it is hardly credible that a bird would brood over a cuckoo's egg for some days before she had begun to lay. 1 Cf. also H. Reeks, Zoologist, 1863, p. 8681 : J. G. Tuck, Zoologist, 1899, p. 323 ; 1901, p. 317. THE CUCKOO'S FOSTER-PARENTS AND EGOS 497 Another rule of almost invariable application in that each cuckoo lays only a single egg in any one nest It in true that one or two install,-*--* li;i\c iv,-, -nth IMM-II ivronlrd «>n tli«' < 'out iiinit in \>liirli t«o ens in one nest are ascribed by the finder to the mime hen ; but the - * very fact that these remain almost unique among the numerous records of two and even tlm-»- eggs of the cuckoo having been found in the game nest, is quite enough to establish the truth of the general rule.1 Instances in which the eggs of two hen cuckoos have been found in one nest are too numerous to be worthy of special record,9 but those in which the districts of three hens have overlapped, and all three have laid in one nest, on naturally exceedingly rare. In the British Isles five instances appear to have been recorded. In the Zoologixt for 1865, p. 9618, Mr. T. E. Ounn records a nest with two young cuckoos and an addled egg, as well as two young meadow-pipits. In the same journal for 1900, p. 868, R Kelley writes that a friend of his found a titlark's nest with three cuckoo's eggs, presumably in North Devon. Country Life for June 16, 1906, contained a photograph of a hedge-sparrow's nest with three cuckoo's eggs as well as four of the rightful owner! (See PI. xxxvi.) The Rev. J. G. Tuck records a meadow-pipit's nest with three cuckoo's eggs, but no others, in the Zoologist for 1906, p. 276 ; and lastly, Mr. J. F. Green gives particulars of a robin's nest from which three cuckoo's eggs were taken, but in this case one was removed before the other two were laid. In both these latter cases it is definitely stated that all three cuckoo's eggs belonged to different types. On the Continent several instances have also been recorded. The Hungarian National Museum contains a robin's nest with three cuckoo's eggs; Herr A. Walter found two wrens' nests, each containing three cuckoo's eggs (Orntthologitekt Monarch rift, 1893, p. 463) ; but the earliest recorded instance appears to be that mentioned in the Journal fur Ornithologie for 1874, p. 80, 1 See C. Jex, ZtiUchrift filr Ooloffit, 180240. p. 88 ; V. Capek, Ornitholoffitcht Jahrbvch, 1808, pp. 154-150. 1 Thus Capek (Orn\thologi»che Jahrbwh, 1800, p. 158) record* eleven instance* in hi* col lee. tion ; while the Rey collection in 1802 included twenty-one. 498 THE CUCKOO where it is stated that a nest of the white-wagtail was found with three cuckoo's eggs and two of the foster-parent in the Reitzenstein Forest near Landsberg, Germany. Most extraordinary of all is the statement of Herr Otmar Reiser (Jahresbericht Com. fur orn. JSeobacht. Btationen, 1884, p. 82), that a forester near Landskron in Bohemia discovered four fledged cuckoos together in a hole of a tree, which were being fed by redstarts ! In this case the young were unable to leave the nest owing to the narrow entrance to the hole. THE PIGEONS [ORDER: Charadriiformr*. FAMILY: Columbidee] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES [F. C. R. JOURDAIN. \V. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] WOO D-P I G E O N [<'<>!ti»il«t palumbu* (Linnaeus). Ring-dove, cuahat, queest, woodie ; cuahie doo (Scotland). French, colombe ramier ; German, Ringil- taubf ; Italian, colombarfio]. 1. Description. — The wood-pigeon is readily distinguished from all iU congeners, not only by its much larger size, but also by the large patch of white on the neck, and the broad band of white which runs across the extended wing transversely to its long axis. Length 16 in. [406*4 mm.]. The sexes am alik--. (PI. 89.) The head and neck are bluish grey glossed with metallic green and lilac ; the side of the neck marked by a large patch of creamy white. The back and wings are of a bluish lead colour, the greater wing-covert* are blackish. Across the extended wing, from the region of the wrist joint, runs a broad white bar, tram- veraely to the long axis of the extended wing; the anterior margin of the wrist joint is also white. The under parts from the throat to the breast are vinous, with the abdomen, flanks, and under tail-coverts pale bluish grey. The beak is orange- red at the base, yellow towards the tip, the cere white ; the legs and toes are red, and the iris is straw-yellow. The female is somewhat smaller and duller than the male. The juvenile plumage differs from that of the adults in being duller and paler, tinged with brown, and lacking the white patch on the neck. The beak is dull red at the base, the rest greyish. The nestling is uparwly covered with yellowish, hair-like down. [w. p. p.] 2. Distribution. — During the breeding season this species is generally distributed through all the wooded portions of Europe (except in Scandinavia, and Russia north of lat. 65°-flft° N.), as well as in Asia Minor, while other subcpecific VOL. ii. :i - 500 THE PIGEONS forms are found in the Azores, Madeira, and North-western Africa. In the British Isles it is a well-known resident in practically the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, except in treeless districts, but it has bred occasionally in small numbers even on the Outer Hebrides and the Orkneys. Birds from Northern Europe are migratory, and have their winter quarters in our islands and in Central and Southern Europe as well as North Africa, but the migration limits of this species appear to extend no farther than its most southerly breeding range. [F. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — A resident, and a winter visitor in greatly varying numbers. There is no evidence of any movement on the part of our resident birds, but they may possibly migrate to some extent within our area, seeing that such movements might well be indistinguishable from the subsequent wanderings of Continental immigrants. The immigration referred to takes place on the east coast of Great Britain, the Shetland Isles being visited by some of the migrants. The extent of the immigration varies greatly from year to year, but at its maximum it affects the greater part of our area, the species' numbers in Ireland, for instance, then receiving large additions. As a rule, the birds first arrive in the British Isles late in October or early in November, and their numbers are increased during the latter month ; by the end of January a decrease may already have set in, and the majority leave in February (cf. C. B. Ticehurst, British Birds, ii. p. 72 ; and others). What has been said of the immigrants in Ireland is true of our area as a whole, namely, that they " vary as to the localities they visit, the time they remain, and the seasons in which they occur, being doubtless influenced by the rigour of the weather in the countries whence they come, and also by the abundance of beechmast and other food here " (Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 222). Seasons in which great immigrations have occurred are 1881, 1884 (especially : cf. British Associa- tion Migration Reports, vi. p. 59), 1889, 1894, 1899, 1901 (cf. Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 488), and 1907 (cf. C. B. Ticehurst, loc. cit.). A markedly gregarious bird on migration and in the winter months generally : in seasons such as those just named enormous flocks occur. [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — When built by the birds themselves, the nest is placed in tall hedges or trees of all kinds at varying heights, but generally at a fair distance above the ground, and is a flimsy erection of twigs, through which the eggs can often be seen. (PL xxxvm.) But many nests are made upon old squirrel dreys or nests of other birds, and it is not uncommon to find it breeding in ivy, on trees, walls, or cliffs. It has also been known to build exceptionally on or quite close to the ground, in heather or bracken, under boughs, etc. (cf. H. F. Witherby, Zoologist, PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES ivo. ,,.» -.•.-.• ind also p. 275; /4*nok o/ NrottwA A'o/wro/ //Mtory, 1901, p. 236), while in towns it has nested on a window ledge (see Field, 7th May 1904). Material for building is contributed by both sexes according to Naumann, but the work of construction is performed by the hen. The eggs MB generally two only, but ImtSJMSi "I ilin-.' in .1 HIM .nc n •. .1-1. .11. illy r.TMi depositing tin in in holrs. and. it has IMTII assiimrd. for tin sake of concealment To explain the fact that species like the wood- pigeon and turtle-dove seek no such concealment, it has been contended that with these birds the whiteness of the shell is their protection, since the nest is so flimsy that light is readily seen through its interstices when the structure is seen from below, and this being HO, the white shells become indistinguishable from flecks of light ! As a matter of fact, the eggs seen from such a standpoint would appear black Further, even if it were otherwise, it would afford no protection against the only foes that need be dreaded — those which can climb, or surmount the nest — squirrels and egg- eating birds. These can have but small difficulty in finding such quarry, at any rate with the early clutches laid before the leaves are fully out Later a measure of protection is afforded by overhanging foliage. But it is clear that though the risk of destruction to which such eggs are exposed is considerable, the annual losses by the community cannot be heavy, or these birds would either have become extinct or they would have reverted to the ancestral habit of breeding in holes and caverns, like the rock-dove and stock- 1 fVmbohm. Britith liird*, vol. ii. p. 807. 510 THE PIGEONS dove. In short, it is because the wood-pigeon and turtle-dove are descended from hole-nesting ancestors that their eggs are white, the fact that they continue to lay white eggs shows that the lack of colour is no serious handicap in the struggle for existence. These birds, like the parrots, kingfishers, and the host of other species which lay white eggs in holes, do so, not as Wallace contended, to conceal their eggs, but because they lay in holes. Such were probably the chosen sites of the primitive birds, and whiteness was absolutely necessary in order that the eggs should be visible, even if imperfectly, in the dim light which found entrance to the nest-chamber from the entrance hole. Without such guide the eggs would almost inevitably get broken before the incubation period was over, when the bird entered the nest to brood. Coloured shells appeared when such brood-chambers were exchanged for open nests, either to serve as a protective mantle, as in the case of the plovers, for instance, or possibly, as I have already suggested, to serve as a protection against excessive light. The fact, however, that ostriches and rheas, among struthious birds, lay whitish or creamy eggs which are often exposed for some time to the burning sun, militates, it must be admitted, against this idea that a light-screen is necessary. A point in regard to the feathers of pigeons demands notice here. Some time ago I drew attention to the fact that if a feather of one of these birds be pressed upon, or squeezed between plates of glass, a perfect image of the feather, in the form of a pale blue film, remains. This film is formed by a waxy substance akin to that given off by "powder-down" feathers or " filo-plumes," such as are met with in the herons, for instance. So far, however, no one has succeeded in discovering the origin of this filmy matter, or what purpose it serves, but to it must be ascribed the "bloom" which pervades the plumage of these birds when alive. THE WOOD-PIGEON fill THE WOOD-PIQEON [W. P. PYCHAPT] Of our niitixr pigeons the wood-pigeon is undoubtedly the beat known, as it is also the most numerous and the largest In the open country one of the most wary and suspicious of birds, yet wherever amid cities large open spaces with an abundance of trees are to be met with, there the wood-pigeon takes up its abode, and loses at once its fear and dread of man : no others of our native birds display quite such trustfulness, though the sparrow and the water-hen run it very close in this respect In the gardens of the Tuilleries years ago I witnessed — and others, perchance, may have the same good fortune to-day — a most interesting instance of the wonderful lameness which these birds may display while enjoying their full liberty, for " wild " birds they could hardly be called. In this particular case a man had long accustomed them to expect his appearance at a certain time during the day laden with food. The moment he arrived they clustered round him in eager excitement, alighting on his arms, shoulders, and head, and taking food from his hands and lips. Meanwhile a no less eager crowd gathered round his feet Having rewarded one or two, he would, at a given signal, dismiss them, and others would at once take their place. And this system of rotation was constantly repeated till the store of food was done. In London parks, of which they began to take possession about the year 1883, a similar confidence in the human race is displayed : they will even alight on children's perambulators to pick up bread if enticed to do so. All this is the more curious, because wood-pigeons reared from the nest away from towns generally develop all the wild- ness of their race as soon as they attain the power of flight During the last hundred years the numbers of this bird have increased amazingly, owing in part to the destruction of predatory 512 THE PIGEONS birds — hawks, jays, and magpies — which preyed either upon the birds themselves or their eggs, and in part to the increase of land under cultivation, and of plantations affording them harbourage for their nests. As a consequence, the suspicions and ominous forecasts of the generation of farmers which first began to perceive this increase have been amply fulfilled in some parts of the kingdom at any rate ; for, without doubt, this bird, in many parts of the country, is at times a veritable scourge, devouring immense quantities of corn, young turnips, and clover, according to the season of the year. Years ago, on the other hand, when these birds were kept within bounds, partly by their natural enemies and partly by more restricted harbourage, things were otherwise. Thus, for example, we find St. John in his delightful Wild Life in the Highlands striving to convince a farmer that "an immense flock of wood-pigeons, busily at work in a field of young clover," were really his benefactors. To prove his point he shot eight from the field which was being ravaged, and in the presence of the farmer straightway opened their crops. The results were exactly in accordance with his predictions. The birds had not been eating the clover, but " every pigeon's crop was as full as it could possibly be of the seeds of the worst weeds in the country, the wild mustard and the ragweed, which they had found remaining on the surface of the ground. . . ." And, he continues, " no amount of human labour and search could have collected on the same ground, at that time of the year, as much of these seeds as was consumed by these five or six hundred wood-pigeons daily for two or three weeks together. Indeed, during the whole of the summer and spring, and a considerable part of the winter, all pigeons must feed entirely on the seeds of different wild plants. . . ." To-day the tide has turned in the opposite direction, and not without some reason, this bird is viewed with extreme dislike by farmers in many parts of the country. Mr. T. H. Nelson, after the usual gibe at the "sentimental cabinet naturalists," tells us that the food of the wood-pigeon consists " chiefly of grain, peas, beans, beechmast, acorns, seedling potatoes, turnip-tops, Plate 89 Ring-dove courting By A. W. Seaby THE WOOD-PIGEON 518 hulks, and seeds . picked up from the freshly sown drills . . . clover, seeds of the wild mustard. charlock, dock and ragweed, an. I \arious other I.enie- -« ,,!«.. .m.l j.l.miv The qualification " chicllx appended t«> sm-h a list. lca\« - <>m- curious to know how tin- rest of tin- diet is made up! Hut it is clear that the wood-pigeon is not entire!) harmful, as some would have us helie\e. Mr. Nelson himself remarks : ' "In districts where it is not particularly numerous it probably does not harm the farmers' crops, but even In -nctitM them, as, for instance, when unkindly weather in spring has arrested the growth of some of the white corn crops, allowing the hardy wild mustard to overtop the tender blade, the pigeon destroys the weed by stripping it of every leaf, and often the lowly duckweed furnishes it with an abundant repast" In the London parks, when this bird is abundant, I have frequently seen them, in the spring, feeding greedily on the young buds of plane trees, creeping as near to the end of the bough as possible, and craning their necks down to get at the end twigs just beyond them. The capacity of the crop, which has a peculiar bi-lobed shape, is astonishing. As many as sixty-one ttoetPB have been taken from one such receptacle, from another seventy-three hazel-nuts. When a large flock is feeding, Mr. Abel Chapman tells us,3 "among turnip fields, stubbles, or clover lea, they alternately feed and rest on the nearest trees, the birds in the latter position serving as sentries, whether purposely or by accident" ; and, he continues, "a big pack of cushats on the feed can be made out a long way off by the habit of the rearmost birds con- tinually flying up and alighting in the front rank, thus causing constant movement" Reference has already been made to the enormous increase in numbers of the wood-pigeon, all over the kingdom, during the last century. A few figures may help to make this fact more readily apparent Viscount Reidhaven, at the Central Banflshire Farmers Club, so far back as 1879, stated that on his father's estate, between t Op.nl., p. 91. •mrdLtftoftfu Bordert, 2nd edit., p. 2». 514 THE PIGEONS the years 1876-79, 15,194 eggs, 1603 young birds, and 3733 old birds were destroyed, a total of 20,529. The amount of money expended as head-tax was £117, 13s. 3d. Similarly, the United East Lothian Agri- cultural Society, about forty years ago, over a period of about seven years, caused to be destroyed about 130,000 pigeons ; but since 1870 the numbers of wood-pigeons in Scotland appears to have been materi- ally decreased. Happily this bird affords most excellent eating, so that the slain can be utilised. Wherever their numbers increase sufficiently to demand drastic thinning operations, it is found more easy to attack them as they come home to roost than to endeavour to take them by surprise in the open. They always fly head to wind, and hence the guns must be placed accordingly. Mr. Abel Chapman, in his delightful Bird Life of the Borders, gives elaborate directions for such raids, and he further remarks that they vary their roosting-places according to the weather. In his own county a favourite spot was an old beech wood standing on high ground, and much exposed. But during rough or stormy weather they resorted to a low-lying wood of tall Scots firs. I have had many opportunities of studying these birds in Battersea Park, London, and note that, in the winter, when the trees are bare so as to reveal their movements, they congregate in considerable numbers, in certain parts, on the outskirts of the park, during the afternoon, then, as dusk falls, they betake themselves, gradually, to the trees on an island in the centre of a small lake. In the matter of its plumage the wood-pigeon presents no very striking characters, but there is one peculiarity which I do not remember to have seen described anywhere. This refers to the arrangement of the feathers of the white neck patch and those immediately above, which have the appearance of being distributed in semicircular rows, divided by well-defined transverse spaces, thus recalling the longitudinal grooves down the necks of geese. Of their habits during courtship, Mr. Edmund Selous writes : " The male . . . bows to the female lengthways along the branch on which he is sitting, elevating the tail at the same time, in just the " THE WOOD-PIGEON 515 m doe* the stock-dove. As he does BO he say* " coo-oo-oo" the last syllable being long drawn out, and having a very intense expres- sion with a rise in the tone of it, .sometimes almost to the extent of becoming a soft sin ill m— I laving delivered himself of this long " coo- ," he says several times together in an undertone, and very quickly, coo, coo, coo coo," or " coo ooo, 000,000, coo, coo, coo," after which, rising, and then bowing, again he recommences with long-drawn, impassioned "roo-oo-oo," as before. Occasionally, when courting on the ground, according to Mr. Selous, the low bow is prefaced by one or more curious hope, a feature not remarked in any other of our native pigeons. I also have had the good fortune to see something of this phase of the wood-pigeon's life-history, and have remarked that just before pairing they frequently feed one another, and immediately after each JI^UIIM-X ;i eurioii>l\ " \\oodrn" attitude, ivariti;: tin- bod\ upward*. and pressing the beak down upon the neck, which is thrust up as far as it can be strained, and these grotesque movements are accompanied by a strange raucous cry which refuses to be expressed in words. Of the earlier bowing and cooing, with inflated crop and outspread tail, which marks the beginning of courtship, there is no need to speak, for with this phase every one is familiar. This performance is varied by a very beautiful aerial display, the male launching himself into the air, rising and falling on outstretched pinions, in great curves high above the trees ; occasionally the wings are brought smartly together over the back with a resounding snap. During such displays the white bar across the wing is most conspicuous. Both birds, I remark in my note-book, take part in the building of the nest; but the pale alone appears to collect the sticks, which he brings to his mate. A very few are taken from the ground, nearly all are broken off from the tree. Suitable-looking twigs are seized by the beak and tugged at. If dead they readily break and are borne away, but should any drop they are not picked up. The growing nest which I kept under observation was placed on a big bough, close to the trunk of a VOL. ii. 3u 516 THE PIGEONS plane tree, and the sticks were passed to her in a curiously methodical, one might say mechanical manner, for though there was an ample fairway along the bough the bird always stood on the back of his mate and passed them over her head ! This nest was completed in about three days. Both birds left the unfinished nest every night, and returned to their labours early in the morning.1 On the fourth day the first egg appeared, and from then onwards she sat continuously, save for a short occasional break when she moved out along the bough of the tree for a few minutes, or went oft' to feed. The male during this time disappeared, save for an occasional visit. But during an unguarded moment, when the female seems to have gone off to feed, a carrion-crow came along and took the eggs. Both birds for about twenty-four hours hung about the empty nest dis- consolately, and then betook themselves off, probably to try elsewhere f During the period of courtship, and the short spell of incubation before the disaster, the male kept up an almost continuous anthem of " cooing," " coo-coo-co-coo-co ; coo-coo-co, coo-co" This " song," for most of us, has a peculiarly soothing effect, and it is not, happily, confined to this season of the year, for it may be heard in almost every month when the weather is fine. THE STOCK-DOVE AND THE BOCK-DOVE [W. P. PYCBAFT] The two species now to be considered present many points in common, and both differ, somewhat conspicuously, from the wood- pigeon, as will become plainly apparent presently. So similar in appearance, to the unpractised eye, are these two birds, that they are commonly confounded. This confusion is excusable, since, among the older ornithologists at any rate, Montagu, Bewick, and Fleming failed 1 As has already been pointed out, p. 509, the wood-pigeon does not always take the trouble to build a nest, flimsy though this be ; for it will adopt the deserted nests of sparrow-hawks and magpies as well as squirrels' dreys. Plate 90 Rock-dove alighting on its nest 67 Winifred Auatan THE STOCK-DOVE AND THE ROCK-DOVE 517 to discriminate l>etweeii them. Yet, as we have already shown, the two birds are readily distinguishable. The very name stock-dove is a \\iiness to this confusion, for by some, indeed, it was use\as the ancestor of domesticated races of l>i:_'t ilksworth during twenty winters, not a single stock-dove was taken till 1879, "then we got one which was considered a rarity." The following winter three or four were taken, while during the winter of 1 Umber and Warren, Bird* of Ireland, p. 223. 520 THE PIGEONS 1884-85 they were quite common. They sometimes flew to roost with the wood-pigeons, and birds of both species were killed out of the same flock, but more often the stock-doves came separately in small parties of six or eight. Similarly it has extended its range into the south-western counties of England and into Wales. In Ireland it was unknown till 1875, but is now resident in parts of Leinster and Ulster,1 and is gradually increasing its range. In Ireland, as elsewhere, it commonly associates with ring-doves, but always seems to separate from its congeners on taking flight, when, by their smaller size and more rapid wing-beat, they are readily distinguished. This gradual extension of range is interesting, and would seem to be due in no small degree to the bird's ability to adapt itself to circum- stances, especially, as we have already pointed out, in the matter of breeding-sites. Yet this interpretation is hardly adequate, since the wood-pigeon, showing less resource, is by far the commoner species. It is significant, indeed, that in no part of its range without the British Islands is it met with in so great abundance as its larger congener the wood-pigeon. By the destruction of its enemies, as we have already shown, the wood-pigeons' population has become abnormally high, and hence, from the stress of obtaining sufficient food, a bird at one time regarded with favour by the farmer is now banned as an outlaw. One cannot help speculating as to the future of the stock-dove, which is, as we have shown, also increasing, and may, in consequence, be similarly driven to take an undue toll of the fruits of man's labour, for in the matter of its choice of food it closely resembles the wood-pigeon. But it is significant to note that in the case of a bird of each species, shot at one discharge, the crop of the wood-pigeon contained a great mass of clover, turnip-tops and bulbs, the crop of the stock-dove contained an egg-cupful of charlock seeds, some barley, and several weed seeds, but no clover.2 The only charge so far levied against the stock-dove 1 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 223. 2 Yarrell, British Birds, vol. vii. p. 8. Plate 01 Stock-dove drinking By O. B. Collins THE STOCK-DOVE AND THE ROCK-DOVE is that of damage to bean and pea fields, and to mustard-fields when the seed is ripe, and this likin- tor mustard it shares in common with the turtle-do\«. \\hile the \vood-pigeoo appears nirely, if ever, to eat i]\i •*< M-eds; but the harm wrought jx not great, and seems to be more than atoned for by the great quantities of charlock seeds consumed by thesr hirds and of \\hieh they are especially fond. The rock-dove, being nowhere HO abundant as the stock-dove, a fact sufficiently ex- plained by its conservative habits, its numbers are not sufficiently great to enable it to commit "ravages "on the fanners' crops, even though it be compelled to fly inland for the greater part of its food. Like its congeners, it is partial to grain, but it atones for this weakness by eating the roots of the couch-grass (Agropryon reperut) and the seeds of numerous troublesome weeds, as well as large quantities of snails. The bird's-foot trefoil is among the seeds which it specially favours. Like its congeners the rock-dove drinks frequently, and in Egypt, in placet where the banks of the Nile are so steep that the birds cannot alight on the shore to drink, both Mr. R 8. Skirving and Mr. E. C. Taylor have observed whole flocks settle on the water like gulls and drink while they floated down-stream : and the same habit has been observed in tame pigeons at Cologne when the shore-ice in the Rhine prevented approach to the water. Unlike most birds the head is not raised during the act of drinking. Of its habits we have yet much to learn, for it has been, and still is, commonly confused with the stock-dove, and consequently records from places frequented by both species are to be regarded as requiring revision. At all times gregarious, it is not a migratory bird, though in hard weather it will wander from its usual haunts, sometimes in great flocks. That this is the bird from which all our varieties of domesticated pigeons have been derived is certain, and if only for this reason the rock-dove is a species of quite peculiar interest As we have already remarked, it never alights in trees, a peculiarity shared by its domesti- cated descendants, and is rarely found away from surf-beaten cliffs. 522 THE PIGEONS But even here it is now difficult to secure pure-bred birds, owing to inter- breeding with dove-cot pigeons decoyed away from home. Last year (1910) I endeavoured to secure pure-bred birds from caves in Donegal, but out of about twenty birds shot all but two showed more or less evident traces of interbreeding with house-pigeons : some could not be distinguished from " blue-rocks." Darwin, it may be remembered, long ago drew attention to a very curious fact in regard to the coloration of the rock-dove, and the domesticated variety thereof, which so far has received no explanation. " There seems," he says, " to be some relation between the croup being blue or white, and the temperature of the country inhabited by both wild and dove-cot pigeons ; for nearly all the dove-cot pigeons in the northern parts of Europe have a white croup like that of the wild European rock-pigeon ; and nearly all the dove-cot pigeons of India have a blue croup like that of the wild C. intermedia of India." Are we to infer from this that the presence or absence of pigmenta- tion is determined by climate ? or that the white area is a colour variation, or colour "mutation," whose presence or absence is deter- mined by Mendelian factors ? That is to say, the coloration of the rump is determined not by climate, but by germinal variation, and the interbreeding of birds presenting two forms of this variation. There are inexplicable and contradictory features in either interpretation, and it were profitless to pursue the theme further. Let it suffice to draw attention to the problem, which stands where it was when Darwin propounded it THE TURTLE-DOVE [W. P. PYCRAFT] The turtle-dove differs conspicuously from our other native pigeons in coloration, the dominant hue of the upper parts being ochreous yellow, while the beautiful metallic iridescence of the neck is entirely wanting. Furthermore, unlike its congeners in these THE TURTLK-DOVK islands, it disappears entirely during the winter montliH, which an* -|M-nt in more southern latitudes. In its habits it more nearly recalls the wood-pigeon, si i in it shows a preference for park-lands, woods, and plantations, and hence, likr the wood-pigeon, its numbers during FMtmt years have considerably increased, though, as will have been ;iln ;i»|\ ivmarki-d. it is still a ran- bird both in the northern portion** of Great Britain and in Ireland. Somewhat less gregarious than its ron-riM-i-x. it ^alhris. IK. \M-\n. in flocks in autumn, \ounu ami old resorting to the stubbles and root-crops, devouring such grain as may be picked up, and besides, a considerable quantity of the Heeds of JHMMJH It drinks frequently, and seems to show a decided liking for salt water, and hence Stevenson suggests that this is the reason why this bird is HO abundant near the coast Other pigeons are known to prefer brackish water to fresh. The flight is swift and powerful ; often, as is the custom among the pigeons, the wings are brought smartly together over the back, producing a sharp, snapping sound. Mr. Edmund Selous has described the court ing-habits of the turtle-dove in some detail. The display made at this time resembles that of other pigeons, but the bowing of the male differs from that of, say, the wood-pigeon in that it takes the form of a series of " quick little bows, or rather bobs," . . . "instead of one or more slower and much more imposing ones." AH the while this " bobbing" is going on he " utters a deep rolling, musical note, which is continuous (or sounds so), and does not cease till he has got back into his more everyday attitude. When thin ceremony is performed on the ground, it would seem that between the bows he makes a "curious dancing step towards the female." But besides this, "these birds," continues Mr. Selous, "have another and charming nuptial disportment." Herein one of a pair sitting in some high tree will every now and then fly out and upwards, make one or two circling sweeps around and above it, and then after remaining poised for some seconds, descends on extended wings in the most graceful fashion, alighting on the same branch beside his waiting partner. VOL. II. 3 X. 524 THE PIGEONS The duties of nest-building, incubation, and the care of the young are, as in the other species herein described, shared by both sexes. But the nest, as a rule, is a very flimsy structure, though Seebohm says that occasionally it is much more compactly built. As in the case of the wood-pigeon, it is never placed in holes or burrows in the ground ; but while the wood-pigeon always places its nursery high up, this is by no means true of the turtle-dove, which is often content with low shrubs, or a high, thick hedge, as a lodgment for its cradle. Occasionally, however, it will select the boughs of a tree forty feet from the ground. Plate 92 Turtle-doves By A. W. Seaby PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE [ORDEB: Charadriiformes. FAMILY: Pteroclidce] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES [r. C. R. JOC&DAIN. W. P. PYCRAJT. A. U THOMSON] PALLAS'S SANDQROUSE [Syrrhdptes paraMxus (Pallas). French, syrrhapU (no popular name) ; German, SUppenhuhn ; Italian, I. Description. — Pallas' s sandgrouse may be distinguished at once by the shape of the sole of the foot, all the toes being enclosed within a common pad. The hind-toe is wanting. There is a marked difference in the coloration of the sexes. (PI. 93.) Length, 14*5 in. [368-29 mm.]. The male is a light sandy buff colour, inclining to greyish on the crown, while the throat is yellow, deepening on the fore- neck to rust colour. The fore-breast is greyish buff, bordered behind by a band formed of three cresoentic lines of black on a white ground. The breast is sandy buff, with a broad band of dark chocolate-brown across the middle ; the abdomen and under tail-coverts are white. The intencapulare and scapulars are of a sandy buff, the former heavily barred with black, the latter, similarly barred, is marked in addition with large spots of mahogany red. The wings are sandy buff, the marginal coverts spotted with black : the major coverts sienna-red. The primaries, the outermost of which are produced into filiform points, are lavender-grey with broad white margins. The tail is dark grey, barred buff and tipped white, but the two centre feathers are buff, barred with grey at the base and passing backwards into long black filaments. The female is similarly of a sandy buff colour, the throat and sides of the neck are pale yellow, the former bounded by a narrow line of black, 526 PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE absent in the male. The fore-breast is spotted with black, but the lower pectoral band of black and white is wanting, and the chocolate patch on the mid-breast is much smaller and duller. The crown and hind-neck are striated with black ; the primaries, like those of the male, but duller, and with less pointed ends ; the tail is similarly less pointed. The juvenile plumage resembles that of the adult female, but has the neck and fore-breast barred with irregular black bars, while the bars on the interscapulars are very irregular in shape, the black patch on the under parts is also wanting, and the wings and tail do not terminate in filaments. The young in down, which is apparently a mesoptyle down, are of a pale buff colour with nine or less distinct longitudinal lines along the head and back of sienna and brown, bordered with narrow dotted lines of black. The general effect is almost that of a piece of ' wool-work ' and is difficult to describe. This effect is due to the ' feathery ' nature of the down which is of a less degenerate character than that of the ' game-birds.' [w. p. p.] 2. Distribution. — This species has only been known to breed regularly in Europe since 1876, when Henke found it breeding in the Kirghis steppes near Astrakhan, and was assured by the inhabitants that it had not nested there before. It has recently extended its range also to the Ufa government (of. Ornitholog. Jahrbuch, 1908, p. 232). In Asia its breeding range extends from north-eastern Turkestan through the desert regions of Central Asia east to Transbaikalia and Mongolia. Its northern limit in Asia extends to about lat. 51° N., while in Tibet it is replaced by the larger Tibet sandgrouse. Its ordinary winter range is regu- lated by the climatic conditions, but during severe weather it ranges to the plains between Pekin and Tientsin (Ibis, 1861, p. 341), but is unknown in the Indian sub- region, and is apparently only subject to local movements in Russia and Turkestan. The abnormal westward migrations are treated more fully below and on p. 98. During these incursions attempts to breed have taken place in Denmark, Schleswig- Holstein and Hanover in Germany, Holland, and the British Isles. For details of British records see Birds of Yorkshire, ii. p. 602 (cf. also Whitaker, Notes on the Birds of Notts, p. 222 ; and Stevenson and Southwell, The Birds of Norfolk, iii. p. 393) ; Newton, Ibis, 1890, p. 213, and Harvie-Brown and Buckley, A Fauna of the Moray Basin, ii. p. 132. [F. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — A very irregular visitor from the Central Asian steppes beyond the Caspian Sea, sometimes occurring in large numbers, and occasionally surviving in the British Isles to breed in two consecutive seasons. The extra- ordinary " irruptions " of this species cannot be strictly classed as true migratory PKKLIMINAKY CLASSIFIED NOTES :>-r, movement*, but a chronological summary of the movement* affecting our area may well be given under this head :— 1869. Several were obtained in different part* of the British Isle*, including some in Kent, Norfolk, and Wales : the three Kentish specimens constitute the earliest evidence of the species' occurrence, in the British Isles. IMS. The first great invasion on record occurred in this year. From the south- eastern countries of Europe the birds spread as far as the British Trim The first British examples for this year wen seen in North- umberland on 21st May, and on the same date the species was first observed on Heligoland. During the summer it became abundant in the British Isles, and was noted in the Shetland Isles, the Outer Hebrides, Co. Donegal in Ireland, and other outlying parts, although the majority of the records were from the eastern parts of Great Britain. 1864. The last British survivors of the previous year's invasion were recorded from Wales in February. 1872. Small flocks were reported from Northumberland and Ayrshire. 1876. Sandgrouae were reported from Norfolk in May, and from Co. Kildare (Ireland) in October. This alight invasion is of special interest, seeing that in this year a new colony was successfully established on the Kirghis steppes, between the Caspian Sea and the Volga. 1888. Hie greatest known movement of these birds took place in this year. Towards the beginning of March it was reported from Eastern Russia that the sandgrouse were already moving. As in 1863, the move- ment spread all over Europe, and reached the British Isles in May. Also as before, the birds were chiefly noted in the eastern parts of Great Britain (it was estimated that 1600 to 2000 birds reached Scotland), but some were recorded from such outlying parts as the Shetland Isles, the Outer Hebrides, and Belmullet (Co. Mayo), the extreme north-western point of Ireland. Many of the birds bred. Large numbers were shot, and many others quitted our shores or succumbed to the damp climate. 1889. A few birds survived the winter, and a nestling was found in Moray in tho summer of this year. 538 PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE 1890. A few were recorded from various parts of the east of England (Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire). 1891. Recorded from Yorkshire, and the Moray area in Scotland. 1899. Reported from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. 1904. Reported from Yorkshire. 1906. Recorded from Norfolk, Yorkshire, and East Lothian. 1907. One reported from Middlesex. 1908. A slight invasion was noticed in this year over a considerable part of Europe, including England (Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, etc.). 1909. Reported from Yorkshire. (Cf. Newton, Ibis, 1894, p. 186 ; Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, pp. 227- 229 ; Witherby and Ticehurst, British Birds, ii. pp. 126, 127 ; Gatke, Vogel- warte Helgoland, Eng. trans., 1899, pp. 438-442 ; von Tschusi zu Schmidhoffen, MittheiL Nat. Ver. Steiermark, 1889, Der Zug des Steppenhuhnes nach dem Westen, 1908 (1909); Jourdain, British Birds, iii. pp. 344-346; Macpherson, Visitation of Pallas's Sandgrouse to Scotland in 1888 ; W. Evans, Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society, Edinburgh, x., pt. i., 1889, pp. 106-126; Southwell, Birds of Norfolk, iii. pp. 392-396 (cf. i. p. 376), and Zoologist, 1888, pp. 442-456 ; Bolam, Berwickshire Naturalists Club Transactions, 1889, pp. 1-24 ; and others). Of the habits of the sandgrouse as a traveller it is unnecessary to say more than is sufficient to emphasise the erratic nature of the movements. Of the 1863 irruption as observed on Heligoland it was remarked that " small bands of three or five, but also larger ones of twenty and even fifty individuals, were seen almost daily, and sometimes, though in rarer instances, flocks of a hundred or more. These latter for the most part were observed hastening along at a tremendous speed, the flights, however, not proceeding in one direction, after the manner of a fixed migratory movement, but irregularly in all directions, according to what appeared to be the prevailing mood of a particular company " (Gatke, loc. cit.). This erratic nature of the movement, coupled with the irregularity of the occurrence of such movements, and with the absence of any definite return movement, separates these phenomena from those of true migration. The movements are probably to be regarded rather as sudden attempts at extension of range, due to obscure causes the nature of which need not be discussed here. In support of this explana- tion we have the evidence of the successful establishment of a new colony after PRELIM I NAKY CLASSIFIED NOTES the invasion of 1876, as already mentioned. The more gradual extension of the species' breeding range into European Russia during recent yean must also be noted (cf. Remann, Ornitholty- Jaturbuck, 1008, p. 232). The irruption* into western and northern Europe may perhaps be considered to be mysteriously exaggerated and extended phases of these more explicable movements. But as such they are certainly almost without parallel : gradual range extensions are common occur- rences (e.g. hawfinch, shorelark ; of. antea, vol. i. pp. 66, 204), but sudden invasions have seldom been known, one of the few other instances being that of the rose- coloured starling, whose movements, however, are more easily accounted for (cf. antea, vol. ii. pp. 108-109, 137-138), and the crossbill. [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — Practically no nest is made by this bird ; the hen scratches out a hollow in a spot where there is light sandy or salt-impregnated soil. Sometimes a little marram grass is added by way of lining, and in Siberia shoots of the various salt-loving plants which grow in the vicinity are also some- times but not always used. W. H. Bateson (quoted in Oolhtca Wolkyana, ii. p. 11) found many nests on the Shu River, Turkestan, in depressions among the tufts of Artemisia which covered the steppe. The eggs are usually 2 or 3 in number, quite exceptionally 4, and are elliptical in shape, so that the " big " and " little " ends are practically indistinguishable. They do not vary much in colour and markings, but the ground colour ranges from light stone-colour to warm brownish, and they are irregularly spotted and blotched with small or medium-sized markings of deeper brown, and underlying smudges and spots of pale ashy grey. (PI. F.) Average size of 71 eggs, 1 '65x1-16 in. [42*1 x 29*6 mm.]. The breeding season in Asia begin fi. according to Radde, about 13th April, while two or even three broods are said to be reared during the season. Fresh eggs can undoubtedly be obtained till the end of May in Asia, and probably also later, while in Europe they have been laid as late as 19th June, and the newly-hatched chick described by Professor Newton was found on 8th August. As the incubation period is estimated by Christiansen at about 24 days (although some eggs placed in an incubator by Blaauw took 28 days to hatch out), the egg from which this chick was hatched could not have been laid earlier than about 10th July. Incubation is, as far as we know, performed by both sexes ; and in the case of at least two other species, the male bird takes charge of the eggs at night and the female by day. [r. c. B. jr.] 5. Food. — In Asia the normal food of this species consists of the seeds and also the fleshy shoots of the various salt-loving steppe plants, such as Sabola seeds and shoots of Salicornicc (Radde), and seeds of Agriophyllum gobicum (Prjcwalsky). 530 PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE Christiansen reared a young bird on grass and clover seed, and G. Sim, in the Vertebrate Fauna of Dee, p. 158, gives the following list of food plants which have been satisfactorily identified in the British Isles: Yare or spurrey, Spergula arvensis; knot grass, Polygonum aviculare ; clover, probably Trifolium pratense ; orache, Atriplex babingtonii ; flowers and seed of small yellow clover, T. minus ; mouse- eared chickweed, Cerastium vulgare ; eyebright, Euphrasia officinalis ; leaves and seed of sorrel, Rumex aeetosella ; chickweed, Stellaria media ; dock, Rumex crispus ; rye-grass, Lolium perenne ; broom, Spartium scopurium ; Molina ccerulea ; bent, Triticum junceum ; various vetches, and indeed Leguminosce generally ; barley, wheat, and oats ; large seeds apparently of the apple ; and the chrysalides of some small moth. The chief article of diet was yare seed : often three-quarters of an ounce were taken from a single crop. Chapman (Bird Life of the Borders, 2nd ed., p. 141) records seeds of the common field runch, a noxious weed, in birds shot on Holy Island. Tegetmeier found chiefly chickweed and Poa annua ; and Stevenson gives details of the contents of the crops of Norfolk killed birds in vol. i. p. 394 of the Birds of Norfolk. For summary of results of food investigation on the Continent see Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mittekuropas, vii. p. 37. [F. c. B. j.] 6. Song Period. — Whether the cries uttered by the male birds in flight repre- sent the song of this species is not clear, but all observers note that these sounds are continually uttered in the spring and early summer, and Captain Dunbar-Brander notes that when the birds arrived in May they flew with a cry, "chak, chak" while in October nothing was heard but the loud " sough" of the wings, no cry (A Fauna of the Moray Basin, ii. p. 139). [F. c. E. J.] PALLAS* 8ANDOROU8E PALLAS'S SANDQROUSE [F. C. R JOURDAIK] This remarkable bird occupies quite a unique position among our British binK tor it cannot be classed ax a resident, though it baa been known to breed and to stay through the winter, nor as a regular summer or winter visitor or passage migrant, though it has visited our shores on many occasions. Probably the closest |mrallels are to be found in the cases of the continental crossbill and the rose-coloured starling, although in the latter instance there is no proof of its having bred within our limits, while the former has established itself as a resident in a few localities for some years at any rate. There seems to be no doubt that a considerable increase has, however, taken place in the breeding range of the sandgrouse in a westerly direction of late years on the Continent, so that we may confidently expect further visits, and it is possible that in some favourably situated localities the bird may, if efficiently protected, even become established as a breed- ing species with us. Pallas's sandgrouse is the only representative on the British list of the group Pterodete*. They form a tolerably well-defined order, showing affinities in many respects with the Coktmba or pigeons. Huxley, writing in 1868, and basing his conclusions almost entirely on osteological grounds, regarded them as forming a transition group between the pigeons and the fowls (GaUt). Since that time the anatomy of these birds has been studied by Garrod, Brandt, Gadow, and Beddard, and is now much better known. Beddard sums up his chapter by saying that " the PterodeUs occupy a lower place than the CWt/m/xr — that they have given rise to the Columbff, and not rice vena. . . . On the whole it seems not unreasonable to look upon the PtcrodeUs as not far from the stock which produced the Limicokt, which itself was possibly not far again from the primitive VOL. ii. SY 532 PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE gallinaceous stock." x The sandgrouse are divided by most writers into two genera,2 Pterocles and Syrrhaptes. No member of the former has as yet been recorded from the British Isles, although two species are found in Spain, and are birds of powerful flight. The genus Syrrhaptes is represented by one species only, the subject of this paper. In the hand Pallas's sandgrouse can at once be distinguished from any other bird on the British list by a glance at the feet. In the first place they are feathered down to the nails on the upper surface : the hind toe is altogether wanting, while the three front toes are encased in a common "podotheca," which Newton compares to a fingerless glove, and the under surface of which consists of a leathery pad covered with small circular warts, closely packed together, from which the three blunt nails protrude. The true home of this erratic species lies in the deserts of Central Asia, its eastward breeding limit being the steppes by the river Argun in Transbaikalia and Chinese Mongolia, and extending thence over the vast desert of Gobi south to the northern borders of China and westward through Dzungaria, the Tian Shan district, and the Kirghis steppes in Turkestan. Of late years it has also established itself in European Russia in the Ufa government and Astrakhan, west to the Volga. Here it is either resident or partially migrant, according to climatic conditions. There are great differences in the winter temperatures of the elevated plateaux and the more sheltered districts of these regions. In some of the more exposed parts, the whole country is frost-bound and deep in snow for three or four months in the year, while, on the other hand, Mr. Carruthers found the Zarafschan valley good collecting ground through the winter. The seasons also naturally vary in severity. Thus in the winter of 1860-61 Swinhoe found this species extra- ordinarily abundant on the plains between Pekin and Tientsin, so that the market at the latter place was glutted, and birds could be 1 P. E. Beddard, The Structure and Classification of Birds, p. 319. 1 The pintail-sandgrouse has also been made the type of a third geuus (Pteroclurus) by Bonaparte. PALLA0B 8ANDOROU8E bought for next to nothing. Dr. Q. Radde1 describes how the first Hork of would-be breeding birdM arrived at the Tarei-Nor on March 10, 1H5«;, when the thermometer at night fell to ty° (nearly 30 below freezing-point), while at midday it only reached 37°. It in evidently a very hardy bird, capable of withstanding a considerable amount of cold. In the Tian Shan district too, Schalow* states that it breeds as 1 1 i.^li as the juniper region, some 10,000 feet al>ove sea-level. In these desert regions it lias few enemies. Occasionally a Shungar falcon may succeed in striking down one or two, but it is by no means invariably »u«-« •rxxful. l'n-.lator\ mammal- an- raiv. :m O. Radde, Rei*. UN SOd. r. O. Sib., ii. p. 2K. * Jour. f. OrnttA., 1MB, p. V. 534 PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE on the subject are those by Professor Newton in the Ibis for 18G4, pp. 185-222, in which the invasion of 1863 is described ; while von Tschusi has chronicled the irruptions of 1888 and 1908.1 H. A. Macpherson has also published a pamphlet on the Visitation of Pallas' s Sandgrouse to Scotland in 1888 ; A. B. Meyer and F. Helm also described the progress of the 1888 invasion through Europe,2 and Dr. Leverkiihn compiled a useful bibliography of the species which appeared in the Ornithologische Monatsschrift for 1888- 1892. The German records for 1888 were summarised by Dr. Reichenow in the Journal filr Ornithologie for 1889, pp. 1-33, and use- ful contributions have been made by Holtz, von Homeyer, and others.3 Within the limits of this article it is impossible to describe these invasions in detail. In the " Classified Notes " will be found a summary of the British records, and a comparison with the continental notices of its appearance is interesting. The first straggler reached Sarepta in 1848, and in 1853 it was mentioned by Moschler as of very rare occurrence on the Lower Volga. In 1859, when it was first noted in England, one was obtained at Hobro, Jylland, and one of a pair was shot at Zandvoort in Holland, while a pair was reported to have been killed in the Wilna government of Russia, and another was found in the market at Perpignan (Pyrenees orientales). One was also obtained at Sarepta in 1860. In 1861 and 1862 some were observed, and one obtained, in Holland, and a flock was recorded from Szegedin. During the first great invasion of 1863-64, the records extended northward to Thorshavn in the Faeroes, Mandal in Norway, Nykoping in Sweden, and Archangel in Russia, while southward it occurred as far as Perpignan and Biscarolle (Pyrenees), and Rimini, 1 Von Tschusi zu Schmidhoffen, Mittheil. Nat. Ver. Steiermark, Separat-Abdruck (1889), and Der Zug des Steppenhuhnes nach dem West-en, 1908, (1909). 1 Abhandl. it. Ber. des Kgl. Zool. u. anthrop.-etJmol. Museums in Dresden, 1888-89. ; 3 See also the literature quoted in Naumann's Naturgeschichte der Vogcl Mitteleuropas, vii. 3a PALLAS'S 8ANDGROU8E Itelluno, and Novara (N. Italy). In rstmiaiin^ the numbers of invaders, Professor Newton gave those actually obtained ax about 346, and thought that another 155 might be unrecorded and thus lost sight of. Adding the total of 4G5 to the 150 or 300 observed at Riigen in October, probably on the return journey, and allowing another 50 for birds scattered over Europe, this would bring the number up to at least 665 or 715, probably a very moderate estimate. I'.r.-. dm- jx known to have taken place in Denmark and Holland. In 1871 one was obtained in Italy, and in 1872, when they again appeared in England, Gatke records them from Heligoland. Radde records a flock near Lenkoran in the winter of 1875. In 1876, when it established itself for the first time as a breeding species in the steppes of the Lower Volga and Don, not only did it occur in the British Isles, but also on Heligoland and in Italy. Two were obtained near Lenkoran in 1878. In 1879 it was recorded from Syria ; a flock appeared in Bohemia in 1880, and two were obtained in Brunswick in 188*2, while two more were recorded from Prussian Silesia in 1883. No definite records were received between 1883 and 1887, when flocks were reported in late summer from Pomerania, Galizia, and Upper Austria. These were evidently the forerunners of the second great invasion of 1888-89. This was on a much larger scale than that of 1863, the numbers being described by Professor Newton as "quite incalculable." The limits on the northern and western sides differed little from those of the previous great incursion, the Gulf of Finland being crossed to Helsingfors, and the most northerly point reached being Koraas in Norway, while in Ireland they ranged as far west as Belmullet But on the southern side a great extension of range took place, records being received in I taly from Santa Severe near Rome, and also for the first time from Spain, where specimens were obtained at the Albufera of Valencia. Probably this invasion was more carefully recorded and more widely observed, in consequence of the fact that it was to some extent looked for, and the experience of the former incursion had prepared 536 PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE us for what was to follow. In the British Isles breeding was reported from the Moray area in Scotland, as well as from Yorkshire, where two clutches of eggs were obtained, and in the following year another chick was obtained from the Culbin Sands in Morayshire. On the Continent eggs were reported from Jylland, Denmark (five nests with 3 eggs each), from Schleswig-Holstein (5 eggs), from Hannover (1 egg), and also from Holland. Comparatively few out of the many thousands which must have visited Europe stayed through the winter in their old haunts, but a few remained in 1889 in suitable districts in Great Britain and on the Continent. The breeding of this species on the Culbin Sands in 1889 has already been referred to, and a list of various occurrences (mostly in the early part of the year, but in some cases up to August) in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Hungary, Denmark, and the Baltic provinces of Russia, will be found in Naumann's Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, vii. 33. In 1890 the only records on the Continent were from Denmark and Moravia, but in 1891 it was observed in Hungary, Bohemia, France, and possibly other localities ; in 1892 in Moravia ; in 1895 in North Germany ; in 1897 again in Moravia ; and in 1898 in Lower Austria. The only records for 1899 and 1904 are from the English coasts, but in 1906 it was reported from the Dutch as well as from the British coasts. In 1908 the third important invasion took place. It was, however, on a much smaller scale than that of 1888, and apparently less than that of 1863. Von Tschusi thinks that the main body of migrants became divided into two streams, the northern one avoiding the Carpathians and making for the North Sea and the British Isles in small flocks, while the southern division did not penetrate farther than South Italy, although large numbers were observed on passage in Roumania. Curiously enough, the Frisian islands and the Dutch coast, which were frequented in considerable numbers during previous invasions, were almost entirely avoided in 1908. Some indications PALLA01 of a return passage are Imnishe.l l.\ a record of a large flock of several hundred birds seen near Saskut in Kouumnia in November. On reviewing the above records, it will IHJ seen that the only places where ih« -<• liinU Allowed mv signs of settling down to breed were those where the natural conditions were something like those in their Central Asian home. The Culbin Sands in Morayshire, the i-lancl of Texel and Xainlvoort in Holland, the Ringkjobing Fjord in Denmark, and the plains of Schleswig-Holstein may be cited as instances of this. Extensive ranges of sandhills, or low-lying sandy plains and sandbanks, are to be found in all of them. But although a desert form, there is not a single s|>ecies of sand- grouse which is able to extract enough moisture from its food to dispense with drinking. Generally twice a day, at morning and evening, the flocks make their way to some drill king-place. Prjewal- sky describes how about sunrise the great flocks of Syrrhaptca leave their roosting-place in the desert to feed, flying very low, and with gnat swiftness. The male birds often utter a peculiar note in flight, something like the words " truck, turttck, truck, tttruck" but this note is only heard from small parties, and the big flocks fly in silence, except for the noise made by their wings, which make a whistling like the wind. After feeding they resort to some pool or salt lake — but fresh water is usually preferred." Before settling down to drink or feed they describe a circle in the air, so as to be assured that the coast is clear. Radde says that the later arrivals call and are answered by those already there. They then join them, standing by the water's-edge in rows of ten or twelve birds, but do not stay long, and are soon on the wing again. With regard to the mode of drinking, Gadow distinctly says that all the sandgrouse differ widely from the pigeons in their method. The latter dip their bills into the 1 J. Whitaker compare* the sound to the word " fee*, Uck, tocfc " repeated about every second (Afofe* on the Birds of NotU, p. 220) ; he mentions aUo a very musical cry, " U tit to * Mr. Bateeon noticed them drinking the talt water of Telekul. which hat a •pecifio gravity of 1006, and ia almoet unfit for cooking. 538 PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE water as far as the cleft of the mouth, and then suck the water in without raising the head till they have finished drinking. Pterocles and Syrrhaptes, on the other hand, drink as fowls and other birds do, by taking up water mouthful by mouthful and raising the head to let it run down the throat.1 They have certain favourite drinking-places, and return to them with the utmost regularity, though the hour depends somewhat on the time of year. Prjewalsky noticed them chiefly be- tween 9 and 10 A.M., but in Scotland they were observed to drink and bathe between 7 and 8 A.M. in October. On the ground they have a very peculiar and awkward gait, taking very short steps and waddling from side to side, while the tracks they make in the sand resemble those of small mammals. When flying to their feeding-grounds, the flocks occasionally rise high in the air, and single birds will sometimes swoop downwards and swerve upwards to rejoin the rest as rooks frequently do. Radde states that in spring he found the crops and .stomachs of shot birds full of the seeds of Salsola, and adds that they regularly graze on the young juicy shoots of the Salicornice. Prejwal- sky states that in Mongolia they subsist chiefly on the seeds of Agrwphyllum gobicum. All the sandgrouse are fond of basking in the sun, frequently lying on their side and stretching out a wing, and probably Tristram mistook this attitude for that of the incubating bird, when penning his notes in the Ibis on the blackbellied-sand- grouse. Most species of these birds are known to drink twice a day, generally towards nightfall, but whether this is the case with Syrrhaptes is not definitely recorded. During the hottest part of the day they rest, and are fond of dusting themselves, like the game birds and fowls, scratching a hole in the loose sand, in which they partially bury themselves, ruffling up their plumage to allow the sand to penetrate thoroughly. At such times they will allow a very near approach, but on account of their protective colouring are difficult to distinguish. In their roosting-habits at night they also recall the partridge, collecting into coveys and resorting to one spot, where they may be heard calling after the darkness has fallen. 1 Proc. Zool. Society, 1882, p. 329. Plato 03 Sandgrouse and young. The cock is the nearer bird, on the right By H. OrOnvold PA LIAS'S SANDGROU8B it packs together in autumn, and is sociable at all >ns, generally breeding in colonies and feeding in company, there is little doubt that this sandgrouse is monogamous, and probably pairs for life. Radde's description of the return of the flocks to their breeding-grounds has already been quoted. Probably the first eggs are laid by the middle of April, the hen scratching a hole about five inches in diameter in the sandy soil, and sometimes adding a scanty lining of Stikola shoots or marram grass, though this is often wanting. In this nest the peculiar elliptical eggs are laid, usually two or three in number, although occasionally a clutch of four is met with. They are apparently laid at intervals of a day, judging from those which have been laid in confinement When the hen leaves the nest in the morning to drink, the eggs are left uncovered ; but it is noteworthy that when the hen has been snared on the nest, the male bird can be caught by setting another snare. None of the sandgrouse are close sitters, but generally rise from the nest while the intruder is still some distance away. In the case of the pintailed- and singed sand- grouse, both of which have reared their young in captivity, it waa noticed that while the protectively coloured hen incubated during the day, the more brightly coloured male relieved his mate by night1 After an incubation period of 23 or 24 days 2 the chicks are hatched, and differ widely from those of the pigeons. One which was found in Scotland was figured in the Ibis for 1890, plate vii., and a second, as well as a nestling 13 days old, was figured by Gronvold to illustrate Heir Winge's paper in the Vidensk. J/eddel. Naturhist. Forening t. KjtftenJiarn, 1892, pi. iv. figs. 1 and 2. The chicks are also figured in this work (PI. 93) by Gronvold. When first hatched they are covered with yellowish white down, tinged with brownish, while a bold and regular pattern of sienna-brown patches is bordered in many cases with blackish brown. Though, from the construction of it* feet, ' E. O. B. Meade-Waldo, At-icultural Magazine, 1887, p. 179; W. H. St. Quint in, torn. I860, p. 78. ' F. E. Blaauw (Ibis, 1800, p. 406) state* that eggs placed in an incubator came oat after 28 days. VOL. II. 3 Z 540 PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE less active than the young of the game birds, one hatched under a hen in Denmark throve well on grass and clover seeds ; and the young of other species of sandgrouse hatched in confinement could feed and forage for themselves at once, and refused to be brooded by their parents after the tenth day. Herr Winge's paper, men- tioned above, does not make it clear whether water was supplied to the nestling or not. It would be interesting to know whether this was the case, as it is now known that the pintailed-, singed-, and blackbellied-sandgrouse supply their young with water, the male bird visiting some pool of water in the neighbourhood, and after thoroughly soaking his breast plumage, returning to the nest in order that the young may drink, by taking the water in their bills from the wet feathers. This habit was first recorded by Mr. Meade- Waldo in 1895, and now that the method of procedure in the case of the allied species is known, it should not be difficult to ascertain whether the habit is also common to the genus Syrrhaptes. Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK THE BRITISHBIRD BOOK AN ACCOUNT OF ALL THE BIRDS, NESTS AND EGGS FOUND IN THE BRITISH ISLES EDITED - BY FB KIRKMAN'BAOXON ILLUSTRATED BY TWO HUNDRED COLOURED DRAWINGS AND NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS • • * • «*-•- •••••• • • •• • • J ••••*•• \ »*.«« *»*t * • • ••••••••• •««•%•"• . . VOLUME II TC & EC JACK 16 HENRIETTA STREET LONDON WC AND EDINBURGH 1911 CONTENTS THE WARBLERS, ..... WH1TETUKOAT, LB8SER-WHITETHROAT, BLACKCAP, GARDEN- WARBLER, DARTFORD-WARBLER, BRITISH OOLDCRR8T, CONTI- HKNTAL QOLDCRE8T, FIRECREST, CHIKKCHAKK, WILLOW-WARBIJB, ARCTIC WILLOW-WARBLER, WOOD-WARBLER, REED-WARBLER, MARSH-WARBLER, SEDOE-WARBLKR, AQUATIC-WARBLER, Hit ill HOPPER-WARBLER. HEDGE-SPARROW, ...... BRITISH HEDGE-SPARROW, CONTINENTAL HEDGE-SPARROW. THE STARLINGS, STARLING, ROSE-COLOURED STARLING. THE GOLDEN-ORIOLE, THE WAXWING, THE TITS, . . BRITISH LONOTAILED-Tn1, BRITISH GREAT-TIT, CONTINENTAL GREAT-TIT, BRITISH COAL-TIT, IRISH COAL-TTT, MARSH -TIT, BRITISH WILLOW-TIT, BRITISH BLUE-TIT, CONTINENTAL BLUE-TIT, SCOTTISH CRESTED-TIT, LONOTAILED-Tn1. THE NUTHATCH, THE BEARDED-TIT, . THE SHRIKES, . REDBACK ED-SHRIKE, GREAT GREY-SHRIKE. ,.,• - 1-94 95-103 104-142 143-155 156-169 171-212 213-221 222-96 237-260 PAGES vi THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK THE FLYCATCHERS, 261-276 SPOTTED-FLYCATCHER, PIED-FLYCATCHER. SWALLOWS AND MARTINS 277-317 SWALLOW, HOUSE-MARTIN, SAND-MARTIN. THE WOODPECKERS, 318-341 GREEN-WOODPECKER, BRITISH GREAT SPOTTED-WOODPECKER, NORTHERN GREAT SPOTTED-WOODPECKER, LESSER SPOTTED- WOODPECKER. THE WRYNECK, 342-349 THE SWIFT, 350-361 THE NIGHTJAR . 362-378 THE OWLS, . 379-421 BARN-OWL, TAWNY-OWL, LONGEARED-OWL, SHORTEARED-OWL, LITTLE-OWL, SNOWY-OWL. THE ROLLER 422-432 THE HOOPOE, • 433-445 THE KINGFISHER, .... • 446-457 THE CUCKOO • 458-498 THE PIGEONS, .... • 499-524 WOOD-PIGEON, STOCK-DOVE, ROCK-DOVE, TURTLE-DOVE. PALLAS'S SANDGROUSE, 525-540 LIST OF COLOUR PLATES IN VOL. II rum WHITETHROATS. By O. E. **»**••, . 47 BLACKCAPS, MALE AND FEMALE. By A. W. SBABV. 48 84 I.I.^I.K Wlllll T|||(..Ar KKKI'IM. MM \(. lly<.. K( ..... N-. 40 40 GARDEN-WARBLER (Left) AND D A RTPORD- WARBLER (Right). By O. E. COLLINS, . ...... 50 it GOLDCRB8T8. By A. W. SBABY, . . 51 50 WILLOW- WARBLER BUILDING ITS NEST. By G. E. COLLINS, . • 04 WOOD-WARBLER FEEDING ITS YOUNG. By A. W. SBABV. . 58 SEDGE- WARBLER. By A. W. SBABV, . 54 72 REED- WARBLER AT ITS NEST. By G. E. COLLINS, . 55 78 MARSH- WARBLER (Left) AND GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER (Right). By WINIPRRD ACSTBN, . . ...... - M HEDGE-SPARROW. By G. E. COIJJNB, . 57 100 STARLINGS. By A. W. SBABV. . • 114 ROSE-COLOURED STARLINGS FIGHTING. By H. GOODCHILD, . . • 140 GOLDEN-ORIOLE. By WINIPRBD ACBTBX. flO I : WAX WINGS. By WoonutD ACSTBN. . . 01 102 LONGTAILED TITS BUILDING THEIR NEST. By A. W. SBABV, 02 186 (Left) TWO MARSH-TITS ON A SUNFLOWER, ONE DISPUTING x POSSESSION WITH A COAL-TIT, m |02 (Right) WILLOW-TITS (»ae p. 200). By A. W. SBABV, BLUE-TIT ABOUT TO FEED ITS NESTLINGS. Bv A. W. SBABV. 04 viii THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK PLATE PAGE (Left) GREAT-TIT, (Bight) CRESTED-TITS. By A. W. SEABY, 65 206 NUTHATCH PICKING OUT THE KERNEL OF A NUT. By A. W. SEABY 66 216 BEARDED-TITS AND NESTLINGS. By WINIFRED AUSTEN, 67 228 REDBACKED-SHRIKES IN THEIR LARDER. By A. W. SEABY, . 68 244 GREAT GREY-SHRIKE (MALE) WITH GOLDCRESTED-WREN IM- PALED UPON A THORN. By A. W. SEABY, .... 69 254 SPOTTED-FLYCATCHER ENTICING ITS YOUNG TO FLY. By A. W. SEABY, 70 268 PIED-FLYCATCHERS: THE FEMALE IS ABOUT TO FEED THE YOUNG, THE MALE ON THE RIGHT LOOKING ON. By A. W. SEABY, 71 274 HOUSE-MARTIN FEEDING ITS YOUNG. By G. E. COLLINS, . 72 292 SWALLOW ABOUT TO FEED YOUNG. By G. E. COLLINS, 73 304 SAND-MARTINS AT THEIR NEST-HOLES. By G. E. COLLINS, . . 74 312 (Left) LESSER SPOTTED-WOODPECKERS AT THEIR NEST-HOLE, . -v (Right) GREATER SPOTTED-WOODPECKER (MALE) ABOUT TO FEED | 75 332 NESTLINGS. By A. W. SEABY, J GREEN - WOODPECKER, MALE AND FEMALE, THE LATTER PROTRUDING HER TONGUE TO CATCH ANTS. By A. W. SBABY .76 338 WRYNECKS QUARRELLING. By A. W. SEABY 77 346 SWIFTS. By WINIFRED AUSTEN, ...... 78 354 NIGHTJAR (MALE) IN FAVOURITE POSITION ON A BRANCH. By A. W. SEABY, 79 368 BARN-OWL HUNTING. By A. W. SEABY 80 398 LONGEARED-OWL FEEDING ITS YOUNG. By WINIFRED AUSTEN, . 81 404 TAWNY-OWL MOBBED BY SMALL BIRDS. By G. E. LODGE, . 82 410 SNOWY-OWL WITH HARE. By G. E. LODGE, . . . • 83 414 LIST OF COLOUR PLATES ix 8HORTEARJUM>WL BOMUHH ITSELF (Left Figure). By WINIFRBD AUBTBN. . ..... LITTLE OWL AT THE ENTRANCE TO ITS HOLE (Right Figure). By O. E. LODOB, . (U 418 ROLLERS. ADULT AND YOUNG. By WINIFRED Auvnw, . 428 HOOPOES AT THEIR NEST-HOLE. By WINIFRED Aram, 80 440 KINGFISHER FEEDING ITS YOUNG. By A. W. SBABY. . . . 87 CUCKOO UTTERING ITS NOTE. By A. W. SBABY - 404 EGGS OP CUCKOO (Cwmhu cotton*). By H. GRONVOLD, . . .Egg Plato E 404 RING-DOVE COURTING. By A. W. SBABY 80 512 ROCK-DOVE ALIGHTING ON ITS NEST. By WINIFRED AUOTBH, . 00 510 STOCK-DOVE DRINKING. By G. E. COLUXS, . . .01 TURTLE-DOVES. By A. W. SBABY, . . . 02 .1 8ANDGROU8B AND YOUNG. By H. GB&KVOLD. LIST OF BLACK AND WHITE PLATES IN VOL. II WHITETHROAT AND ITS NESTLINGS WHITETHROAT'S NEST, LESSER-WHITETHROATS NEST, DARTFORD- WARBLER'S NEST, BLACKCAP'S NEST, HEN BLACKCAP ON HER NEST, GARDEN-WARBLER'S NEST, GARDEN- WARBLER'S NEST WITH YOUNG, .... GOLDENCRESTED- WREN'S NEST CHIFFCHAFP'S NEST, WILLOW- WREN AT THE ENTRANCE TO ITS NEST IN REEDS, WILLOW- WREN'S NEST IN GRASS WOOD- WREN'S NEST IN A BANK, WOOD- WREN'S NEST IN WEEDS, REED-WARBLER FEEDING ITS YOUNG, .... MARSH- WARBLER'S NEST SEDGE- WARBLER ENTERING ITS NEST GRASSHOPPER- WARBLER AND NESTLINGS, PLATE XVIII. XIX. XX. 12 :J XXI. XXII. 18 26 NESTING COLONY OF STARLINGS UNDER STONES ON THE BEACH i AT LAMBHOLM, ORKNEY STARLING'S NEST IN THE HOLE OF A WALL. Front stone removed, YOUNG STARLING AT THE ENTRANCE TO ITS NEST-HOLE IN A TREK, ........... XXIII. 106 LIST OF BLACK AND WHITE PLATES rt»T» xi • XXIV. XXV. XXVI. LONGTAILED-TIT AT ITS NEST. . . LONGT AILED TITS NEST IN THE PORK OP A TREE. . GREAT-TITS NEST IN A HOLE IN A WALL. Stone removed to iibow Nert. . GREAT-TITS OPEN NEST BUILT ON AN OLD SONG-THRUSH'S NEST IN A TANGLE OP HONEYSUCKLE, . GREAT-TITS NEST IN A LETTER-BOX MARSH-TITS NEST IN A SUNK PENCE. Stone removed to show Neat, . COAL-TITS NEST-HOLE IN A TREE. SAME OOAL-TITS NEST WITH FRONT CUT AWAY, NUTHATCH AT ITS NEST-HOLE IN A TREE, . NUTHATCH'S NEST IN A BOX, . BEARDED-TITS MOT AND 1008, MALE-BEARDED TIT, SHOWING "STRIDE" OP. LEGS PROM REED J "vu- TO REED,' AND YOUNG IN NEST, . MALE REDBACKED-SHRIKE AT NEST. . FEMALE REDBACKED-SHRIKE AT NEST, SPOTTED -FLYCATCHER'S NEST UNDER THE THATCH OF A SPOTTED-FLYCATCHER'S NEST IN AN OLD CAP, . SPOTTED-FLYCATCHER'S NEST IN THE FORK OP A TREK, . SWALLOWS NEST INSIDE A RUINED COTTAGE AGAINST A WALL WITH PRACTICALLY NO SUPPORT. ... SWALLOW'S NEST BUILT ON A STUMP INSIDE AN OUTHOUSE. SANDMARTDTS NEST. Burrow cat open to show Nert. FIFTY-TWO HOUSE-MARTINS' NESTS UNDER ONE EAVE. HOUSE MARTINS' NESTS ON THE FACE OP KILN8BY CRAG. WHARFEDALB, . . . . . GREEN- WOODPECKER AT THE ENTRANCE TO ITS HOLE, . GREEN- WOODPECKER LOOKING OUT OF ITS HOLE. NIGHTJAR'S NEST.' AND BOOB, NIGHTJAR AND YOUNG. 174 178 :) XXVIII. .11 ±22 m XXX. 280 •\ XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. m Xll THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK YOUNG BARN-OWL AT THE ENTRANCE TO ITS NEST-HOLE, SHORTEARED-OWL'S NEST AND EGGS YOUNG SHORTEARED-OWLS IN NEST, TAWNY-OWL NEST AND EGGS AMONG THE ROOTS OF A TREE ON A BANK KINGFISHER'S NEST-HOLE OPENED TO SHOW EGGS, . KINGFISHER'S BREEDING-HAUNT, ... . . THREE CUCKOO'S EGGS IN A HEDGE-SPARROW'S NEST, YOUNG CUCKOO IN WREN'S NEST, ,. .. YOUNG CUCKOO IN A REED- WARBLER'S NEST, .... YOUNG CUCKOO IN A NEST, WITH EGG IN POSITION FOR EJEC- TION, YOUNG CUCKOO EJECTING CHICK, . . . RING-DOVE'S NEST STOCK-DOVE'S NEST IN A SANDHILL, STOCK-DOVE'S NEST-HOLE IN A CLIFF, .... TURTLE-DOVE'S NEST, XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. 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