C.-1DIXOJV — THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL OF TUli BRITISH ISLANDS. SHEFFIELD : PRINTED BY MKSSKS. PAW8ON AND BUAILSFOHD, Hir.H SIUKI'.'I AND M l'I.l:l '. 1:1! V STBJ JH a. -a c < "o trt « < The Game Birds and Wild Fowl The British Islands. By CHARLES DIXON, AUTHOK OF RURAL BIRD-LIFE," "EVOLUTION WITHOUT NATURAL, SELECTION," "OUR RARER BIRDS,' "ANNALS OF BIRD-LIFE," "STRAY FEATHERS FROM MANY BIRDS," ; IDLE HOURS WITH NATURE," " THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES," " THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS,' " THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS," ETC., ETC. ; PART AUTHOR OF " A HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS." Second Edition, enlari/etl, improved and thoroughly revised by the Author. COLOURED PLATES, representing S6 COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS drawn specially for this Edition By CHARLES WHYMPER. SHEFFIELD : PAWSON & BRAILSFORD, PUBLISHERS, HIGH STREET AND MULBERRY STREET. 1900. s. 35 Preface to the Second Edition. SINCE the first edition of the present work was published, our knowledge of various species contained therein has been considerably increased. Not only have several new species been added to the British list (abnormal migrants), but much information has been obtained relating to their geographical distribu- tion and their affinities. The completion of the British Museum Catalogue of Birds, and the publication of many important books and memoirs bearing upon the present subject, have also enabled me to give a more complete account of British Game Birds and Wild Fowl than had hitherto been possible. The present edition has to a very large extent been rewritten : the necessary information has been added to bring the book fairly up to date. The classification remains practically the same ; but many generic changes have been made, and a more or less exhaustive account of the various orders and families has been added. The treatment of each species is much the same as in the first edition, but a short synonomy has been appended to each, which may prove of service to the student anxious to consult the literature of the subject. Since the first edition was published I have devoted much time and study to the Migration and Distribution of Birds, with the result that many previously held opinions have been discarded, and the geographical distribution and migration of the various species have been dealt with in accordance with a suggested new law of dispersal. A short introductory chapter on Distribution and Migration has been inserted. The old set of drawings has been entirely replaced by a series of coloured plates, the original designs for which have been specially prepared by my friend, Mr. Charles Whymper ; whilst it is equally satisfactory to be able to state that the lithography and letterpress printing, together with every detail connected with the issue of this new edition, are the work of the celebrated Yorkshire firm whose imprint the present volume bears. My thanks are specially due (among many other friends) to Mr. H. L. Popham, the fortunate finder of the nest and eggs of the Curlew Sandpiper, who most obligingly furnished me with particulars of his discovery ; also to Mr. F. H. Waterhouse, who has rendered me much bibliographical assistance whilst the book has been passing through the press. CHARLES DIXON. I'aujnton, S. Devon, February, 1900. 811986 Preface to the First Edition, T71 VERY naturalist may not be a sportsman, but there are certainly very few JLj sportsmen that are not, or do not eventually become, ardent naturalists. The habits and economy of birds are specially the naturalist's own province ; but then, on the other hand, no sportsman worthy of the name is indifferent to the life-history of the birds and beasts that are the object of his chase. A man who would be a successful sportsman must be familiar with the ways of the creatures that furnish his sport ; not only so, the constant chase of bird and beast, in nine cases out of ten, creates a desire for knowledge, and a wish to know something more of their economy. The present volume has been written with the object of furnishing the naturalist and sportsman with concise yet fairly complete, and I hope accurate, information respecting the Game Birds and Wild Fowl of the British Islands, and their allied races and species in other parts of the world. I have sought to bring this information up to date, not only by including several species new to our avi-fauna, but by dealing with these birds from an evolutionary point of view, and according to modern ideas on and recent discoveries in that particular branch of natural knowledge which is embraced by Darwinian Ornithology. Hence it has been my constant care to discard insular and narrow study, which only too often leads to pedantry and error, and to treat the birds incorporated in the following pages on broad, evolutionary lines, and from a more cosmopolitan point of view. The inevitable result of such treatment has been the recognition of local races, subspecies, or climatic varieties, into which many of our British Game Birds and Wild Fowl have been separated by the endless segregating process of Evolution, working as surely at the present day as it has undoubtedly worked in past ages, and will continue to work in ages yet to come. Of course, in a work of the present nature, I have had to rely much upon the labours of other naturalists ; but in every case where such has been necessary I have sought the highest, the latest, and the most trustworthy authorities for the information required ; whilst my own more than twenty years' experience in the study of Ornithology, both from the scientist's and the field naturalist's point of view, has been of incalculable service in assisting me to separate the sound wheat of reliable knowledge from the unstable chaff of ignorance and error. The last twenty years have been eventful ones for Ornithology, fraught with discoveries PBEFACE TO THE FIEST EDITION. vii and pregnant with importance, not only respecting the economy of British species, but with the past history of all birds, much light having been thrown on their affinities and origin. The classification of birds is still in a most unsatis- factory state, although the great and ever-increasing attention that the subject is receiving must ultimately result in some uniformity of opinion. At present no two recognised authorities agree in their estimation of the taxonomic value of respective characters. Among the latest systems elaborated may be mentioned those of Dr. Sclater, Professor Newton, the late Mr. Forbes, the late Professor Garrod, Dr. Keichenow, Professor Coues, Dr. Stejneger, Mr. Seebohm, and last, and perhaps most important of all, the great work of Professor Fiirbinger. I have had an opportunity of studying each of these important avian classifica- tions, and it is quite needless to remark the wide, nay almost hopeless and bewildering divergence of opinion expressed by their talented authors and compilers. Until some sort of uniformity of opinion is arrived at, the arrange- ment of species in a work like the present appears to me to be a matter of little importance ; for the classification of yesterday that you may adopt to-day is out of date and antiquated to-morrow. The whole subject of classification, at present, is in a violent state of eruption; one would think that scientists had " lost their heads." Fortunately the scope of the present volume calls for no elaborate classification, and the species dealt with are units of fairly well-defined groups, about which, as groups, systematists are on the whole pretty well agreed. The number of species and races of Game Birds and Wild Fowl which may fairly claim to be included in the British avi-fauna is 127. The majority of these do not breed within our limits, but are either regular winter visitors, or accidental stragglers on migration, of varying degrees of rarity, to the United Kingdom. The British and foreign geographical area of each of these has been traced, and the various allied forms noted, with their distribution and distinguishing charac- teristics. The habits, notes, food, nest, and eggs have been described as fully as space allowed, or as completely as our knowledge extends ; whilst the diagnostic characters of each will enable the naturalist or sportsman readily to identify the various British species, and are in my opinion infinitely preferable to long, tedious, detailed descriptions of plumage. Little need be said of the sport that our British Game Birds and Wild Fowl yield, or of the healthy invigorating recreation derived from the pursuit, of that sport. Field and covert shooting is not without its excitements and delights, even in these degenerate days of breech-loaders and battues ; but, to my mind, the cream of all gun sport is skimmed by the wildfowler and the shore-shooter. There is a charm about the chase of Wild Fowl which no covert-shooting can excel or equal ; for the incomparable skill demanded in punting up to the flocks of wary Ducks and Geese, in stalking the shy Waders on the muds and marshes, or in " getting on " to the fleeting Fowl with deadly effect as they pass like arrows over your cold and lonely ambush during flight time, is very viii PEEFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. different from that required for the work of even a warm corner in some highly preserved cover. Then there is the charm of uncertain expectancy which is the shore-shooter's and wildfowler's own — the delicious feeling of never knowing what the next shot may be, as fen and marsh are traversed. Away from the mere pleasure of killing, which, alas, seems inherent in male human nature, there is the greater pleasure of watching the ways of the wary Fowl, of studying their habits and economy. Sportsmen have it in their power to render incalculable service to Natural History, if they are only put in the way of making observations. No better proof of this is furnished than that of the army of Indian sportsmen, who, encouraged and directed by that great ornithologist and sportsman, Allan Hume, have done so much for the Ornithology of our Eastern Empire, and set an example to sportsmen at home which might be followed with inestimable profit to British Ornithology. By their aid the magnificent and unrivalled collection of Indian birds was formed, which now, thanks to the noble generosity of Mr. Hume, forms a part of our National Collection at South Kensington. Should the present volume be the means of creating a taste for observation among those sportsmen who have hitherto been neglectful of the scientific side of their pursuit, to the advantage of Natural History, or prove of some help to the naturalist in his studies of this important and interesting group of birds, the labour involved in writing it will ever be recalled with pleasure. I desire also to place on record my great appreciation of the work of my contemporaries, and my sincere thanks for the profit of their experience ; also to acknowledge my gratitude to many friends for valued information. My thanks are specially due to my old friend Mr. F. H. Waterhouse, the courteous Librarian to the Zoological Society of London, whose bibliographical assistance from time to time has been invaluable. CHARLES DIXON. January, 1893. SYSTEMATIC INDEX. PAGE Order COLUMBIFORMES.— THE PIGEONS ... ... ... 1 Family COLUMBID^E.— THE TYPICAL PIGEONS ... ... 2 Genus COLUMBA, or Grey Pigeons ... ... ... 2 Columba palumbus. — Ring Dove ... ... ... 3 ,, aenas. — Stock Dove ... ... ... 6 „ livia. — Eock Dove ... ... ... 9 Genus ECTOPISTES, or Passenger Pigeons ... ... 12 Ectopistes migratorius. — Passenger Pigeon... ... 13 Family PEEISTEBID^.— THE GKOUND PIGEONS ... ... 17 Subfamily TURTURIN^:. — THE TURTLE DOVES ... ... 17 Genus TURTUR, or Turtle Doves ... ... ... 18 Turtur auritus. — Turtle Dove ... ... ... 19 „ orientalis. — Eastern Turtle Dove ... ... 22 Order PEDIOPHILI.— THE SAND-GEOUSE ... ... ... 24 Family PTEBOCLID^E.— THE SAND-GROUSE ... ... ... 25 Genus SYRHHAPTES, or Three-toed Sand-Grouse ... 25 Syrrhaptes paradoxus. — Pallas's Sand-Grouse ... 26 Order QALLIFORMES.— THE GAME BIEDS ... ... ... 30 Family TETBAONIDvE.— THE GROUSE ... ... ... 31 Genus LAGOPUS, or Moor Grouse ... ... ... 31 Lagopus mutus. — Ptarmigan ... ... ... 32 ,, scoticus. — Bed Grouse ... ... ... 35 Genus TETRAO, or Wood Grouse ... ... ... 39 Tetrao urogallus.— Capercaillie ... ... ... 40 „ tetrix. — Black Grouse ... ... ... 44 Family PHASIANIDJE.— THE TYPICAL GAME BIRDS ... ... 47 Genus PHASIANUS, or True Pheasants ... ... ... 47 Phasianus colchicus. — Pheasant ... ... ... 48 Genus PERDIX, or True Partridges ... ... ... 53 Perdix ciiierea. — Partridge ... ... ... 54 Genus CACCABIS, or Eock Partridges ... ... ... 57 Caccabis rufa. — Eed-legged Partridge ... ... 58 Genus COTUHNIX, or Quails ... ... ... ... 61 Coturnix communis. — Quail ... ... ... 62 SYSTEMATIC INDEX. PAGE Order RALL1FORMES.— THE RAILS AND FINFOOTS ... ... 65 Family RALLIDjE.— THE RAILS ... ... ... ... 66 Subfamily RALLIN.E. — THE PLAIN-TOED RAILS ... ... 66 Genus CBEX, or Crakes ... ... ... ... 66 Crex pratensis. — Corn Crake ... ... ... 67 „ porzana. — Spotted Crake ... ... 70 „ Carolina. — Carolina Crake ... ... ... 72 ,, bailloni. — Baillon's Crake ... ... ... 74 „ parva. — Little Crake ... ... ... 76 Genus RALLUS, or Typical Rails ... ... ... 78 Rallus aquaticus. — Water Rail ... ... ... 79 Genus GALLINULA, or True Water Hens ... ... 82 Gallinula chloropus. — Water Hen... Subfamily FULICIN^;.— THE LOBE-TOED RAILS ... ... 86 Genus FULICA, or Coots ... ... ... ... 86 Fulica atra.— Common Coot ... ... 87 Order GRU1FORMES.— THE CRANES AND THEIR ALLIES ... 90 Family GRUID^E.— THE CRANES ... ... ... ... 91 Genus GRUS, or Cranes ... ... ... ... 91 Grus cinerea. — Common Crane „ virgo. —Demoiselle Crane ... ... ... 95 Order CHARADRIIFORMES.— THE BUSTARDS, PLOVERS, &c. ... 98 Family OTIDID^E.— THE BUSTARDS ... ... ... ... 99 Genus OTIS, or Typical Bustards ... ... ... 99 Otis tarda.— Great Bustard ... ..100 „ tetrax.— Little Bustard ... ... 103 Genus HOUBAHA, or Ruffed Bustards ... ... ... 105 Houbara macqueeni — Macqueen's Bustard... ... 106 Family (EDICNEMID^.— THE STONE CURLEWS ... ... 108 Genus (EDICNEMUS, or Typical Stone Curlews ... ... 108 (Edicnemus crepitans. — Stone Curlew ... ... 109 Family CURSORIID.3D.— THE COURSERS, PRATINCOLES, ETC. ... 112 Genus CURSORIUS, or Typical Coursers ... ... 112 Cursorius gallicus.— Cream-coloured Courser ... 113 Genus GLAREOLA, or Typical Pratincoles ... ... 116 Glareola pratincola. — Common Pratincole ... ... 117 Family CHARADRIID^}.— THE PLOVERS, SANDPIPERS, AND SNIPES 120 Subfamily H.EMATOPODIN.S:. — THE OYSTER-CATCHERS ... 121 Genus H^MATOPUS, or Oyster-catchers ... ... 121 Hsematopus ostralegus. — Common Oyster-catcher ... 122 Subfamily CHARADRIINJE. — THE TYPICAL PLOVERS ... ... 125 Genus JEaiALms, or Typical Ringed Plovers ... ... 125 ^Egialitis minor. — Little Ringed Plover .. ... 126 „ major. — Greater Ringed Plover ... ... 129 SYSTEMATIC INDEX. xi PAGE Order CHARADRIIFORMES.-BUSTAEUS, PLOVEES, &c.—Contd. .ZEgialitis hiaticula. — Einged Plover ... .. 132 ,, cantianus. — Kentish Plover ... ... 134 Genus OXYECHUS, or Wedge-tailed Einged Plovers ... 137 Oxyechus vociferus. — Killdeer Plover ... ... 138 Genus OCHTHODBOMUS, or Eed-breasted Einged Plovers . . . 140 Ochthodromus asiaticus. — Caspian Plover ... ... 141 Genus EUDROMIAS, or Dotterels ... ... ... 143 Eudromias morinellus. — Dotterel ... ... ... 144 Genus CHABADKIUS, or Golden Plovers ... ... 147 Charadrius pluvial! s. — Golden Plover ... ... 148 „ fulvus. — Asiatic Golden Plover... ... 151 ,, dominicus. — American Golden Plover ... 154 Genus SQUATAKOLA, or Grey Plovers ... ... ... 157 Squatarola helvetica. — Grey Plover ... ... 158 Genus VANELLUS, or Typical Lapwings ... ... 161 Vanellus cristatus. — Lapwing ... ... ... 162 ,, gregarius. — Sociable Lapwing ... ... 165 Subfamily HIMANTOPODIN^:. — THE STILTS AND AVOCETS ... 167 Genus HIMANTOPUS, or Stilts... ... ... ... 167 Himantopus melanopterus — Common Stilt... ... 168 Genus EECUBVIEOSTEA, or Avocets ... ... ... 171 Eecurvirostra avocetta. — Common Avocet ... ... 172 Subfamily STBEPSILIN.E. — THE TUBNSTONES ... ... 175 Genus STEEPSILAS, or Turnstones ... ... ... 175 Strepsilas interpres — Turnstone ... ... ... 176 Subfamily PHALAEOPIN.E. — THE PHALAEOPES ... ... 179 Genus PHALABOPUS, or Phalaropes ... ... ... 179 Phalaropus fulicarius — Grey Pharalope ... ... 180 „ hyperboreus. — Bed-necked Phalarope ... 184 Subfamily TOTANIN^;. — THE SEMI-WEB-FOOTED SANDPIPEES, or TATLEES ... ... ... ... ... 187 Genus NUMENIUS, or Curlews ... ... ... 187 Numenius arquata. — Common Curlew ... ... 188 ,, phagopus. — Common Whimbrel ... ... 192 „ borealis. — Eskimo Whimbrel ... ... 195 Genus LIMOSA, or Godwits ... ... ... ... 197 Limosa rufa. — Bar-tailed Godwit ... ... ... 198 „ melanura. — Black-tailed Godwit ... ... 202 Genus MACEOBHAMPHUS, or Snipe-billed Sandpipers ... 205 Macrorhamphus griseus. — Eed-breasted Snipe ... 206 Genus BAETRAMIA, or Long-tailed Sandpipers ... ... 209 Bartramia longicauda — Bartram's Sandpiper ... 210 Genus MACHETES, or Buffs Machetes pugnax. -Buff ... ... ... 213 xii SYSTEMATIC INDEX. PAGE Order CHARADRIIFORMES.— BUSTARDS, PLOVERS, &c.— Continued. Genus HELODROMAS, or Green Sandpipers ... ... 216 Helodromas ochropus. — Green Sandpiper ... ... 217 „ solitarius. — Solitary Sandpiper . ... 219 Genus TOTANUS, or Hard-billed Sandpipers ... ... 221 Totanus hypoleucus.— Common Sandpiper ... ... 222 macularius. — Spotted Sandpiper ... ... 225 glareola. — Wood Sandpiper ... ... 228 flavipes. — Yellow-legged Sandpiper ... 231 calidris. — Common Redshank ... ... 233 fuscus. — Dusky Redshank ... ... 236 glottis. — Greenshank ... ... ... 239 Subfamily SCOLOPACIN.E. — THE CLEFT-FOOTED SANDPIPEBS AND SNIPES... ... ... ... ... ... 242 Genus TKINGA, or Typical Sandpipers... ... .. 242 Tringa canutus. — Knot ... ... ... ... 243 ,, subarquata. — Curlew Sandpiper .. ... 247 ,, alpina. — Dunlin ... ... ... ... 250 „ maritima. — Purple Sandpiper ... ... 253 ,, platyrhyncha. — Broad-billed Sandpiper ... 256 Genus HETEBOPYGIA, or Pectoral Sandpipers ... ... 258 Heteropygia fuscicollis — Bonaparte's Sandpiper ... 259 „ maculata. — American Pectoral Sandpiper 261 ,, acuminata. — Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper 264 Genus LIMONITES, or Stints ... ... ... ... 266 Limonites minuta. — Little Stint ... ... ... 267 „ minutilla. — American Stint ... ... 271 „ temmincki. — Temminck's Stint ... ... 273 Genus TKINGITES, or Buff-breasted Sandpipers ... ... 276 Tringites rufescens. — Buff-breasted Sandpiper ... 277 Genus CALIDBIS, or Sanderlings ... ... ... 279 Calidris arenaria. — Sanderling ... ... ... 280 Genus SCOLOPAX, or Woodcocks ... ... ... 283 Scolopax rusticula. — Woodcock ... ... ... 284 Genus GALLINAGO, or Snipes ... ... ... ... 289 Gallinago major. — Great Snipe ... ... ... 290 ,, scolopacina. — Common Snipe ... ... 293 Genus LIMNOCBYPTES, or Jack Snipes ... ... 297 Limnocryptes gallinula. — Jack Snipe ... ... 298 Order ANSERIFORMES.— THE SCREAMERS, FLAMINGOES, SWANS, GEESE, DUCKS, AND MERGANSERS 301 Family ANATID^E. — THE SWANS, GEESE, DUCKS, AND MEBGANSEBS 303 Subfamily CYGNIN.S:. — THE SWANS... ... ... ... 303 Genus CYGNUS, or Swans ... ... ... ... 304 Cygnus musicus. — Whooper Swan ... ... 305 „ bewicki. — Bewick's Swan ... ... ... 308 ,, olor. — Mute Swan 310 SYSTEMATIC INDEX. xiii PAGE. Order ANSERIFORMES— SCEEAMEES, SWANS, GEESE, &o.—Contcl. Subfamily ANSERINE. — THE GEESE ... ... ... 313 Genus CHEN, or Snow Geese ... ... ... . . 313 Chen hyperboreus.— Lesser Snow Goose ... ... 314 ,, nivalis. — Greater Snow Goose ... ... 455 Genus ANSEK, or Typical Geese ... ... ... 316 Anser segetum. — Bean Goose ... ... ... 317 ,, brachyrhynchus. — Pink-footed Goose ... ... 320 ,, cinereus. — Grey Lag Goose ... ... ... 322 ,, albifrons. — White-fronted Goose ... ... 325 „ erythropus. — Lesser White-fronted Goose ... 327 Genus BHANTA, or Brent Geese ... ... ... 329 Branta berniela. — Brent Goose ... ... ... 330 ,, glaucogaster. — White-bellied Brent Goose ... 333 „ leucopsis — Bernacle Goose ... ... 334 „ ruficollis.— Eed-breasted Goose ... ... 337 Subfamily ANATIN^E. — THE SHELDRAKES AND NON-DIVING DUCKS 339 Genus TADOBNA, or Sheldrakes ... ... ... 340 Tadorna cornuta. — Common Sheldrake ... ... 341 Genus CASAECA, or Ruddy Sheldrakes ... ... ... 344 Casarca rutila. — Buddy Sheldrake ... ... ... 345 Genus CHAULELASMUS, or Gadwalls ... ... ... 349 Chaulelasmus streperus. — Gadwall ... ... 350 Genus DAFILA, or Pintails ... ... ... ... 353 Dafila acuta — Pintail Duck ... ... ... 354 Genus MARECA, or Wigeons ... ... ... ... 357 Mareca penelope — Wigeon ... ... ... 358 ,, americana — American Wigeon ... ... 361 Genus NETTION, or Teals ... ... ... ... 363 Nettion crecca — Common Teal ... ... ... 364 „ carolinense — American Teal ... ... 367 Genus QUEEQUEDULA, or Garganeys ... ... ... 369 Querquedula circia— Garganey ... ... ... 370 „ discors — Blue-winged Garganey ... 373 Genus SPATULA, or Shovelers ... ... ... 375 Spatula clypeata — Shoveler ... ... ... 376 Genus ANAS, or Typical Ducks ... ... ... 379 Anas boschas — Mallard ... ... ... ... 380 Subfamily PULIGULINJE. — THE DIVING DUCKS AND EIDERS ... 383 Genus NETTA, or Eed-crested Pochards ... ... 383 Netta rufina— Eed-crested Pochard ... ... 384 Genus NYROCA, or Pochards ... ... ... ... 387 Nyroca africana — White-eyed Pochard ... ... 388 „ ferina— Pochard ... ... ... ... 391 Genus FULIGULA, or Scaups and Tufted Ducks ... 394 Fuligula marila — Scaup ... ... ... ... 395 cristata— Tufted Duck ... ... ... 398 ,, collaris — Eing-necked Duck ... ... 401 xiv SYSTEMATIC INDEX. PAGE. Order ANSERIFORMES.-SCEEAMERS, SWANS, GEESE, &c.— Coiitd. Genus CHABITONETTA, or Buffel-headed Ducks ... ... 404 Charitonetta albeola — BuS'el-headed Duck ... ... 405 Genus CLANGULA, or Golden-eyes ... ... ... 407 . Clangula glaucion— Golden-eye ... ... ... 408 Genus COSMONETTA, or Harlequin Ducks ... ... 411 Cosmonetta histrionica — Harlequin Duck ... ... 412 Genus HABELDA, or Long-tailed Ducks ... ... 415 Harelda glacialis — Long-tailed Duck ... ... 416 Genus CEDEMIA, or Scoters ... ... ... ... 419 (Edemia nigra — Common Scoter ... ... ... 420 „ fusca — Velvet Scoter ,, perspicillata— Surf Scoter ... ... 426 Genus HENICONETTA, or Eufous-breasted Eiders ... 429 Heniconetta, stelleri — Steller's Eider ... ... 430 Genus SOMATEBIA, or Eiders... ... ... ... 432 Sotnateria mollissima— Common Eider ... ... 433 „ spectabilis — King Eider ... ... 437 Subfamily MEBGIN^E — THE MEBGANSEBS ... ... ... 440 Genus MEBGANSEB, or Typical Mergansers ... ... 440 Merganser castor — Goosander ... ... ... 441 ,, serrator — Bed-breasted Merganser ... 444 Genus LOPHODYTES, or Hooded Mergansers ... ... 447 Lophodytes cucullatus — Hooded Merganser ... 448 Genus MEBGUS, or Smews ... ... ... ... 450 Mergus albellus — Smew ... ... ... ... 451 NOTE. — For Alphabetical Iiulex see page 458. List of Plates. PLATE I. EING DOVE. COLUMBA PALUMBUS. PLATE II. STOCK DOVE. COLUMBA .ENAS. PLATE HA. (see Errata, p. 457). EOCK DOVE. COLDMBA LIVIA. PLATE III. TUETLE DOVE. TUKTUB AUBITUS. PLATE IV. PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS. PLATE V. PTAEMIGAN. LAGOPUS MDTUS. PLATE VI. EED GEOUSE. LAGOPUS SCOTICUS. PLATE VII. CAPEECAILLIE. TETRAO UROGALLUS. PLATE VIII. BLACK GEOUSE. TETRAO TETRIX. PLATE IX. (FRONTISPIECE.) PHEASANT. PHASIANUS COLCHICUS. xvi LIST OF PLATES. PLATE X. JAPANESE PHEASANT. EING-NECKED PHEASANT. PHASIANUS VERSICOLOR. PHASIANUS TOHQUATUS. PLATE XI. PAKTRIDGE. PERDIX CINEREA. PLATE XLv. (see Errata, p. 457). RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. CACCABIS RUFA. PLATE XII. CORN CRAKE. CREX PRATENSIS. PLATE XIII. WATER RAIL. PLATE XIV. COMMON CRANE. GRUB CINEREA. PLATE XV. GREAT BUSTARD. RALLXIS AQUATICUS. OTIS TARDA. PLATE XVI. MACQUEEN'S BUSTARD. HOUBARA MACQUEENI. PLATE XVII. COMMON PRATINCOLE. SOCIABLE LAPWING. GLAEEOLA PRATINCOLA. VANELLUS GREGARIUS. PLATE XVIII. OYSTER-CATCHER. HiEMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS. PLATE XIX. LITTLE RINGED PLOVER. KILLDEER PLOVER. MINOR. OXYECHUS VOCIFERUS. LIST OF PLATES. xvii PLATE XX. CASPIAN PLOVER. OCHTHODROMUS ASIATICUS. PLATE XXI. DOTTEREL. EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS. PLATE XXII. GOLDEN PLOVER. GREY PLOVER, CHARADRIUS PLUVIALIS. SQUATAROLA HELVETICA. PLATE XXIII. LAPWING. VANELLUS CRISTATUS. PLATE XXIV. COMMON STILT. COMMON AVOCET. HlMANTOPUS MELANOPTERUS. RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA. PLATE XXV. GREY PHALAROPE. RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS. PHALAROPUS HYPERBOREUS. PLATE XXVI. BAR-TAILED GODWIT. COMMON REDSHANK. LlMOSA RUFA. TOTANUS CALIDRIS. PLATE XXVII. BARTRAM'S SANDPIPER, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA. TBINGITES RUFESCENS. PLATE XXVIII. CURLEW SANDPIPER. SIBERIAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER. TRINGA SUBARQUATA. HETEROPYGIA ACUMINATA. XVI 11 LIST OF PLATES. PLATE XXIX. WOODCOCK. SCOLOPAX RUSTICULA. PLATE XXX. GEE AT SNIPE. GALLINAGO MAJOR. COMMON SNIPE. GALLINAGO SCOLOPACINA. PLATE XXXI. JACK SNIPE. LlMNOCRYPTES GALLINULA. PLATE XXXII. LESSEE SNOW GOOSE. CHEN HYPERBOREUS. BEENT GOOSE. BRANTA BERNICLA. PLATE XXXIII. EED-BEEASTED GOOSE. BHANTA RUFICOLLIS. PLATE XXXIV. COMMON SHELDEAKE. TADORNA CORNUTA. PLATE XXXV. (see Errata, p. 457). PINTAIL DUCK. WIGEON. DAPILA ACUTA. MARECA PENELOPE. PLATE XXXVI. SHOVELEE. SPATULA CLYPEATA. PLATE XXXVII. MALLAED. ANAS BOSCHAS. PLATE XXXVIII. TUFTED DUCK. FULIGULA CRISTATA. EED-CEESTED POCHAED. NETTA RUFINA. COMMON EIDEE. SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. PLATE XXXIX. KING EIDEE. SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS. STELLEE'S EIDEE. HENICONETTA STELLERI. PLATE XL. GOOSANDEE. MERGANSER CASTOR. HAEELEQUIN DUCK. COSMONETTA IIISTRIONICA. INTRODUCTION. THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. WE intend to devote the opening pages of the present volume to a brief introductory chapter on the geographical distribution and migration of Game Birds and Wild Fowl. In our opinion the science of avine distribution, or dispersal, is still most imperfectly understood, notwithstanding che vast progress that has already been made during the latter half of the present century. The geographical distribution of Life, if we mistake not, is governed by law, and therefore subservient to certain definite influences, and is not the fortuitous process that naturalists, almost without exception, believe it to be. We have too much evidence to suggest, if we come to study the phenomenon in a critical manner, that the dispersal of life over the globe is not without a plan. The phenomenon of migration (so inseparably associated with geographical distri- bution) appears also to be as little understood, and we fear that this will remain so as long as naturalists decline to accept this apparently unquestionable conclusion. In certain directions naturalists have much to congratulate themselves upon. With the dawn of the Darwinian epoch the importance of the distribution of living forms began to be recognised as a factor throwing unexpected light upon the evolution of species. With the stimulus given to the new science of geographical dispersal by Dr. Sclater, who sketched out the world into six great faunal regions, guided largely by the avine facies of the Continental areas, great things have been accomplished. Dr. Sclater's scheme was followed a few years later by that of Huxley, in which the earth was separated into four primary regions, the divisions being latitudinal instead of longitudinal. Eight years later still Wallace published his monumental work on the geographical distribution of animals, perhaps best described as a detailed elaboration of Dr. Sclater's scheme. It is unnecessary here to allude to the labours of other naturalists, for beyond slight modifications the general ideas of Dr. Sclater and Huxley have been adopted. Neither can more be said for that branch of the subject concerning the means of dispersal, all writers hitherto regarding these as more or less fortuitous, and in a great measure dependent upon the physical mutations of the earth's surface. These views involve the acceptance of Polar Dispersal, or, in other words, that Life has gradually spread in endless forms from the poles to the equator, influenced from time to time by glacial epochs. It is perhaps unnecessary here to add anything to what I have already written upon the subject of avine XX INTRODUCTION. dispersal in my two volumes on the migration of birds. An introductory chapter in a work like the present does not afford the necessary facilities for the discussion of such a complicated question, but I hope shortly to elaborate my views in a special volume devoted to the geographical history of avine life. It is sufficient here to say that, in my opinion, all the available evidence tends to show that Life is of equatorial origin, and that from such a vast centre living forms have drifted in strict accordance to law north and south towards the poles. That law, briefly stated, is that species spread in the direction of the poles and towards points of least resistance in the struggle for existence. Following Huxley to some extent, I have divided the world into three realms. First, an Intertropical or Primogaean realm, with northern and southern limits marked tentatively by the tropics ; second, an Arctogsean or Northern realm, which embraces the entire world north of the Tropic of Cancer ; third, a Notogaean or Southern realm, which in like manner includes the entire world south of the Tropic of Capricorn. We need scarcely have alluded to this law of dispersal in the present volume, but the reader will find many instances of its application in the geographical ranges of the various species dealt with in the following pages. This is more especially the case when we come to treat with the various species of Waders — birds with extended areas of distribution in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The reader will find that I have endeavoured to deal with many problems of distribution in a manner opposed to the generally accepted views of ornithologists. In many of these cases we are unfortunately without sufficient data to furnish absolute proof of our contention, but we wait with every confidence the exploration of the Antarctic and high Southern regions, and the accumulation of additional facts relating to the habits and movements of certain species in the Southern hemisphere, to support the views we hold on these important questions. We will now proceed to glance in detail at the general features of the geographical distribution of the several orders dealt with in the present volume. Our first order consists of the Columbiformes or Pigeons. The Pigeons are a widely distributed group, but the four hundred and seventy or so species that compose it are very unequally dispersed, even in those warmer portions of the globe that they chiefly affect. They are by far the least abundant in cold northern latitudes, and perhaps reach their highest degree of development, and certainly their preponderance in numbers, in the Australian region — an area, be it remarked, abounding in islands and offering those facilities for isolation so favourable to the establishment of new species — the number of known species therein nearly equalling those in all other parts of the world combined. The Nearctic and Palaearctic regions are the poorest in species ; the Ethiopian region comes next ; whilst the Oriental and Neotropical regions, next to the Australian region, are nearly equal in their number of Columbine forms and abundantly represented. The Pigeons belonging to the British genera, Columba and Turtur, . INTRODUCTION. xxi are the most widely distributed of the Columbiformes, an order which is singularly remarkable for the localness of its genera. Following the Pigeons we have now to glance at the distribution of the Pedio- phili or Sand-Grouse. This very small and very distinct order is exclusively con- fined to the Old World, becoming most abundantly represented in the arid desert districts of the Ethiopian region and in similar areas in the central Palasarctic region. They are most sparsely represented in the Oriental region and in South Europe. Next in the order of our sequence come the Galliformes or Game Birds. There is perhaps no other group of birds more thoroughly cosmopolitan in their distri- bution, being represented amidst the snows and the ice of the Arctic regions upon the lofty mountains, in the woodlands and plains and valleys of temperate latitudes, to the jungles and forests of the Tropic zone, and southwards beyond to Temperate regions again. The Game Birds are divisible into several well-defined families, which to a great extent are geographical. Thus the Grouse are confined to the Northern hemisphere, the Partridges and Quails together are separable into groups which are both of them representative of the New World and the Old World respectively, the Pheasants are chiefly Asiatic, the Turkeys are as exclusively American as the Guinea Fowls are African, the Hemipodes are confined to the Eastern hemisphere, the Megapodes are almost exclusively peculiar to the Australian region,1 and, lastly, the Guans and Curassows are indigenous to the American continents. Another cosmopolitan group is the Ralliformes or Rails, universally distri- buted with the exception of the Polar regions, and some of the species remarkable for their enormous areas of dispersal. Here again we have a group singularly rich in island species, some of them having entirely lost the power of flight. It is a most significant fact that some of the genera or families are indigenous to the tropic zone right round the world — a phenomenon of distribution that is utterly opposed to any theory of Polar dispersal. Following these in the arrange- ment adopted in the present volume we have the Gruiformes, or Cranes and allied birds. The various families that form this somewhat heterogenous group are to a great extent geographical. The true Cranes are by far the most cosmopolitan, and, with the exception of the Neotropical region, are found distributed over all the great laud masses of the globe. On the other hand, the Guaraiinas (Ararnidae) and the Trumpeters (Psophiidae) are exclusively Neotropical, whilst the Kagu (Khinochetidae), the most local of all, is confined to the island of New Caledonia. Our next order is the Charadriiformes, which includes all the remaining land birds dealt with in the following pages. This order we have divided into nine fairly well-defined families, four (which has inadvertently been given as five on page 98) of which are represented in the British Islands. 1 In the account of the Order Galliformes (p. 30) the statement that Game Birds are cosmopolitan with the exception of the Australian region is somewhat ambiguous. It should there have been explained that the Order is represented by the Megapodes only. xxii INTRODUCTION. First of these come the Bustards (Otididse) . This is another family confined exclusively to the Old World. Bustards are a decidedly Ethiopian type, being most abundant in species in Africa. The typical Bustards range over the Palrearctic, Oriental and Ethiopian regions ; whilst the Buffed Bustards, in addition to these areas, penetrate to the Australian region. The Stone-Curlews (CEdicnemidae) , although a family containing few species, have a comparatively wide area of distribution, including the temperate and tropical portions of the Old World and the Neotropical portion of the New World. The Coursers, Pratincoles and allied forms associated in the family Cursoriidse are another small and exclusively Old World group distributed over the southern portions of the Palaearctic region, throughout the Ethiopian region, the Oriental region and the Australian region. The Plovers, Sandpipers, and Snipes (Charadriidae) form a much more extensive group, and, moreover, a cosmopolitan one, the range extending almost from one pole to the other. Of the ten subfamilies into which this family may be divided no fewer than seven are represented in the British list. The geographical distribution of this family furnishes us with some of the most significant and remarkable facts in support of the suggested new law of equatorial dispersal. Many of these facts have been pointed out as opportunity presented when the geographical distribution of the various species has been dealt with. These we need not stay to repeat. It will be sufficient here to allude to the significant distribution of the Quail, the Avocet, the Common Sand- piper, Bonaparte's Sandpiper, the Turnstone, some of the Oyster-catchers, the Yellowshank, the Hudsonian Godwit and the Sanderling, to mention but a few instances of species breeding in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, starting from and returning to an equatorial base, to illustrate the strong confirmation of our hypothesis that no migratory bird normally crosses the Tropics to breed or to winter in either hemisphere. Of the subfamilies with British representatives we have first the Oyster-catchers (Haematopodinae) which are practically cosmopolitan in their distribution. Following these come the typical Plovers (CharadriinaB), another cosmopolitan assemblage of species ranging over the entire earth almost from pole to pole. Many of the genera, however, are confined to certain areas ; and the geographical area of many species is consider- ably more restricted during the breeding season than in winter. The third subfamily in our order of sequence is composed of the Stilts and Avocets (Himantopodinse) , a group of small extent, yet almost cosmopolitan in distri- bution, with the exception of high northern and southern latitudes. The fourth subfamily consists of the Turnstones (Strepsilinaa), a group although restricted to a couple of species only of practically cosmopolitan distribution, and one with an Intertropical or Primogaean focus. Another remarkably small subfamily, and yet a very distinct one, is that of the Phalaropes (Phalaropinae). Phalaropes are decidedly Northern hemisphere birds confined to the arctic and temperate portions of the Nearctic and Palaoarctic regions, by some authorities linked together under INTRODUCTION. xxiii the term Holarctic region, and conforming somewhat closely to our own Arctogaean realm (supra). Oar next subfamily consists of the Semi-web-footed Sandpipers or Tatlers (Totaninse) , another widely dispersed group, but most abundantly distributed over the Arctic and Temperate portions of the Northern hemisphere especially during summer. Some of the genera as well as not a few species appear to have a northern and southern dispersal from an equatorial focus, notably in Totanus, Actiturus and Limosa. Some of the genera are strictly geographical — Machetes is confined to the Old World, Bartramia as exclusively to the New World. Our last subfamily contains the Cleft-footed Sandpipers and Snipes (Scolopacinae). These are birds of almost cosmopolitan distribution, but, as in the preceding subfamily, they are to a great extent dominant in the Arctic regions during summer. We also find some of the genera with a Primogaean focus (as for instance Tringa, Calidris, and Scolopax). Of the British genera, Gallinago and Scolopax are the two most thoroughly cosmopolitan. The last order with which we have to deal is the Anseriformes, which includes the somewhat heterogeneous assemblage of Screamers, Flamingoes, Swans, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers. Of the three suborders, two are not represented in the present volume, but the third, the Ducks (Anseres), is rich in British species. The non-British suborders may be briefly dismissed. The Screamers (Palamedeae) are exclusively a New World group, confined to the Neotropical region ; whilst the Flamingoes (Phoenicopteri) are much more cosmo- politan, and occupy the tropical areas of Asia (with South Europe), Africa, and America, but are not represented in Australia. The Anseres are all contained in a single family (Anatidas), divisible into some eleven subfamilies, of which no less than five find British representatives. The Ducks and their allies are absolutely cosmopolitan in their distribution — a fact which may be largely due to their exceptional facilities for dispersal. Reviewing the British subfamilies in their order of sequence, we have first to consider the Swans (Cygninae). The distribu- tion of these birds is somewhat remarkable owing to its being discontinuous. Swans are distributed over the Arctic and Temperate portion of the Northern hemisphere and the Temperate portion of the Southern hemisphere — a fact which seems to suggest a dispersal from the Primogaean realm, north and south, at a sufficiently remote era to have produced generic differences in Australia, the most isolated area. Next in succession we have the Geese (Anserina3). Of these, the three British genera are exclusively confined to the Northern hemisphere, Chen and Branta being chiefly Arctic in distribution. The typical Geese are northern birds, no species being found south of the equator. Our next subfamily contains the Sheldrakes and Non-diving Ducks (Anatinae). These may fairly be described as cosmopolites, but many of the genera are significantly geographical. Thus Dendrocygna (non-British) is Tropical, and is found right round the world ; Chenalopex ranges over Africa and South America ; Tadorna and Casarca (Sheldrakes) are Old World ; xxiv INTRODUCTION. Chaulelasmus is confined to the Northern hemisphere ; Poecilonetta is com- mon to South America and Africa, south of the Great Desert ; Elasmonetta, peculiar to New Zealand ; Nesonetta, to the Auklands ; Malecorhynchus, to Australia and Tasmania ; Heteronetta to the Southern portions of South America. The cosmopolitan genera are Nettion, Anas, and Spatula ; whilst Querquedula is found over the Northern hemisphere and South America, and Dafila is a cosmopolite with the exception of Australia and New Zealand. Following these, we have the Diving Ducks and Eiders (Fuligulina?). These Ducks are almost exclusively Northern hemisphere birds, with the exception of the genus Nyroca which is cosmopolitan ; Metopiana (one species) which is confined to South America, one of the five species of Fuligula which inhabits New Zealand, the Aukland and Chatham Islands, and Tachyeres (one species) inhabiting the Strait of Magellan and the Falklands. Many of the species are arctic or sub-arctic in distribution during summer, as details of their geographical area in the present volume will show. Our last British subfamily contains the Mergansers and Smews (Merginae). Of the three genera that compose it, Lophodytes (one species) is confined to North America, Mergus (one species) is exclusively Palsearctic, whilst Merganser (seven species) is of wide distribution, ranging over the Palsearctic and Nearctic regions, and portions of the Neotropical and Oriental regions, together with the Aukland Islands in the South Pacific. Some of the other subfamilies are remarkable for their geographical distribution, such as the Merganettinse with representatives in New Zealand and the Andes. Now as regards the migrations of the Game Birds and Wild Fowl. Taking the various groups of birds dealt with in the present volume in their sequence, we have first to consider the migrations of the Pigeons. So far as concerns the few British species we have little of exceptional interest to record, although the annual movements of some birds of the Pigeon tribe in other parts of the world are upon such a scale that elevate them to the highest class of migrational phenomena. To illustrate this we have only to allude to the marvellous migra- tions of the Passenger Pigeon of the New World. Unfortunately the progress of civilization in North America has been synchronous with the almost complete extermination of this interesting bird, which now only manages to survive in the least populated areas, and even there in numbers that can only be described as remnants. This species is an abnormal migrant to the British area, and we have already dwelt at some length upon its migrational movements. The typical Pigeons can scarcely be classed as birds of strong migrational movement, season- flight perhaps reaching its greatest development in the Turtle Dove and allied forms. Migration becomes much more pronounced amongst the Sand-Grouse, and in these birds it is often of a strongly marked nomadic or irruptic character. Two of the species are known as cold season visitors to India, and one or two of the South African Sand Grouse appear to have well-defined migrations. There is more regular migration among the Game Birds than is perhaps INTRODUCTION. xxv generally supposed. Much of this migration is of a nomadic chiiracter, or is displayed in the form of vertical migration in so many mountain species. Many of these movements are at present little understood, and the data concerning them is of the most meagre character. The migrations of some of the Grouse are exceptionally interesting. Thus the Prairie Hen (Tympanuchus americanus) is said by competent observers to migrate as regularly as the Canada Goose. In November and December large flocks of this Grouse come from Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota to winter in Northern Missouri and Southern Iowa. The return migration is performed in March and April. It is a curious fact that the migratory individuals are said to be females only, but this is possibly not universal, and may be similar to the movements of the Chaffinch. The most typical migrant amongst the Game Birds is the Quail. Its seasonal movements are not only regular, but take place over wide areas of country, often in vast numbers. In the next group, the Eails, we have species of much more pro- nounced and regular migration (our own Corn Crake furnishes a capital example). Even more strongly of migratory habits are the Cranes, although it may be remarked that the allied Trumpeters and the Kagu are eminently sedentary. We now come to the most thoroughly typical migrants of all the land birds treated in the present volume, the great cosmopolitan order of the Charadrii- formes. It is true that many of the species that compose it are of sedentary habits, but the majority of them are birds of passage. Every kind of migrational movement finds its representative in this order, from the nomadic or vertical migrant to the feathered pilgrim that crosses half the world in its annual passage. The Coursers, Pratincoles and Phalaropes may be classed among the most sedentary species, as the Sandpipers, Turnstones and Plovers rank as the greatest migrants. Little less famous as migrants are the Ducks and their allied forms, the annual movements of so many of these birds being too familiar to require description in detail here. We may remark, however, that if the migrations of birds of the Duck tribe are regular and pronounced, they are not so extended as in the preceding order ; whilst there can be little or no doubt that a much greater percentage of the species are sedentary, especially in the tropics and the Southern hemisphere. We now propose to bring the present chapter to a conclusion by a brief description of the spring and autumn aspects of the migrations of the British species of Game Birds and Wild Fowl as they are presented in our area. So far as our Islands are concerned, migration is very sparsely demonstrated by Game Birds and Pigeons. Some of our Grouse are certainly subject to marked if slight vertical migration, and there appears to be some amount of nomadic movement during winter. The Quail is the sole strictly migratory species. Our Pigeons are all sedentary in the sense of not crossing the seas, but large numbers of Eing Doves and smaller numbers of Stock Doves visit us in autumn and winter from Continental areas. The Turtle Dove is the only migratory species, XXVI INTRODUCTION. and will be again alluded to when we deal with the months of its arrival and departure. It will, perhaps, be most convenient to deal with the migrational phenomena as they occur from month to month. During the depth of winter true migration may be at perfect rest, but at this season there is an immense amount of movement in progress amongst Wild Fowl. This is largely dependent upon the prevailing state of the weather and the vicissitudes of food supply. In February migration may be justly said to commence among Wild Fowl. During that month we have evidence of movement among Geese, Swans, and Ducks, especially of the more boreal species, the first signs of their spring migration northwards from our waters. Migration among wading birds is not, however, so pronounced at this period, although Golden Plovers, Lapwings, Grey Phalaropes, Woodcock, Common and Jack Snipes, Redshanks, and Curlews show unmistak- able signs of moving north, north-east, or east. With the advent of March migration reaches a much stronger phase. Ring Doves and Stock Doves are migrating back to Continental districts ; almost without exception every species of British Duck, Goose, or Swan is now passing from our islands or coasting over them towards the breeding grounds, a state of things that will continue with increasing frequency for weeks. The Smew closes its passage this month. Greater migrational activity also prevails among Waders. Golden Plovers and Lapwings continue to migrate out of our area ; Grey Plovers begin their northern movement, and numbers of this latter species also pass along our coasts ; perhaps the greater number of our Snipes migrate north during March. Curlews and Redshanks are still leaving us, and this month the Dunlin begins to move out of the country as well as to pass along the coasts ; the Purple Sand- piper also initiates its passage. Towards the end of March the Garganey appears. The migration north of Ducks continues throughout April, as also does the departure of the Ring Dove and Stock Dove. During this month we remark the first appearance of those Waders that have wintered south of our area. Now the Stone Curlew arrives, the first of the Kentish Plovers, and Dotterels, the Red-necked Phalarope, the Ruff, the Common Sandpiper, the Wood and Green Sandpipers, the Greenshank, the Whimbrel, and the Black-tailed Godwit. Ringed Plovers are passing north along our coast, Avocets are seen, and Bar- tailed Godwits are coasting us. Now also appear the first of the Little and Temminck's Stints, the Curlew Sandpiper, and the Knot : Sanderlings are now in strong movement. Towards the end of April, Quails, Corn Crakes, and Spotted Crakes arrive in our Islands to breed, and the Turtle Dove in small numbers makes its appearance. These four latter species are, however, better classed as May migrants. By the end of April the migrations of the Bean and Pink- footed Geese are practically over, but all the other British species of Geese, together with the Swans, prolong their movements into early May, mostly coasting migrants. Among the Ducks, Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Long- tailed Duck, and Golden-eye complete their passage practically in April, but the INTRODUCTION. xxvii other species prolong theirs into May. There is a good deal of coasting migration over the British Islands during May amongst Wild Fowl of most species, and in not a few instances this is continued into June, especially with hirds that breed in the far north, such as Knots, Grey Plovers, Turnstones, Curlew Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Whimbrels, and Bar-tailed Godwits. Among the Ducks, Brent Geese, Teal, and Wigeon may be instanced as prolonging their passage into June. This month, however, brings to a close the spring migration northwards of our British Wild Fowl. Vertical migration commences fairly early, as soon as the uplands are sufficiently open to furnish food, with the passage of Lapwings in February, the Golden Plover, the Curlew, and the Dunlin, for instance, in March. In our islands this vertical migration ceases in May. We have scarcely remarked the last departing fowl northwards in spring and early summer before signs of the returning birds begin to be apparent. Among the Ducks we occasionally have indications of a southern migration in July, with such species as Brent Geese, Mallards, and Common Scoters ; among Wading birds with such species as Grey Plovers, Golden Plovers, Lapwings, Turnstones, Eedshanks, Curlews, Bar-tailed Godwits, Knots, and Sanderlings. In August, the migration of birds of the Duck tribe becomes slightly more apparent by the earliest arrivals of Bernacle Geese, Whoopers, Teals, Wigeons, Scaups, and Velvet Scoters. These individuals, however, are but pioneers of the hosts that are to arrive during the few succeeding months. During August, a few Corn Crakes, Spotted Crakes, and Stone Curlews, leave their British breeding grounds and draw south ; the Turtle Dove is also in movement this month ; whilst the numbers of Grey Plovers, Golden Plovers, Lapwings, Turnstones, Eedshanks, Curlews, Knots, and Sanderlings, perceptibly increase. Migration is also com- menced by the Grey Phalarope, the Woodcock, the Common Snipe, the Buff, and the Dunlin, in August ; whilst Whimbrels, Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshanks, Wood and Green Sandpipers, are also leaving us, or in movement coasting south. In September, migration rapidly increases in intensity. To the list of arrivals must now be added (in small numbers) the Pink-footed Goose, the Pintail, the Pochard, the Tufted Duck, and the Golden-eye. Among Waders, we may mention that the Jack Snipe and the Purple Sandpiper begin to return to their British winter haunts. Among the departures of our summer migrants may be instanced the Garganey, the Turtle Dove, and the Quail, the passage of all three species being prolonged into the following month. The Corn Crake, the Spotted Crake, and the Stone Curlew are also migrating strongly now. Coasting migrants perceptibly increase in numbers, especially Plovers, Sandpipers, Whimbrels, Godwits, and the first of the Stints. The Eed-necked Phalarope now begins to leave its summer quarters, and the Avocet, and the Green and Wood Sandpipers, complete their autumn passage. So far as the Duck tribe is concerned, October inaugurates migration on the grandest scale. The migration of every species is strongly marked, birds pouring xxviii INTRODUCTION. into our area from the north and east. This month brings the first of the White- fronted and Bean Geese, Bewick's Swans, and Mute Swans, Gadwalls, Long- tailed Ducks, Goosanders, and Smews. The migration of the Spotted Crake draws to a close this month, also that of the Garganey. Not only are the various species of wild fowl coming into our Islands and seas in vast numbers, but similar multitudes are coasting south. The Dotterel completes its migration in October, as also do the Eed-necked Phalarope, the Common Sandpiper (except in a few isolated instances), the Greenshank, the Whimbrel, and the Black-tailed Godwit. November brings the normal autumn migration of Wild Fowl to a close. Geese, Swans, and Ducks continue to arrive in our area or to pass our Islands to still more southern haunts. Ring Doves and Stock Doves are still migrating into this country, a few Corn Crakes, Stone Curlews, and Kentish Plovers are still moving out of it ; whilst many Plovers and Sandpipers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Purple Sand- pipers, Knots, and Sanderlings, still coast us on their way south. Vertical migra- tion commences in July and August among such species as Lapwings, Golden Plovers, Curlews, Dunlins, Eedshanks, and Mallards, and is continued until October, when the uplands are practically cleared of their wading birds of passage. We have not space here to describe in detail the actual movements of these various species of Wild Fowl. There is something intensely interesting, and at times most impressive, about their seasonal movements, more often than not performed under the cover of darkness. Their wild expressive cries when on passage across the night sky, the rush of their rapidly moving wings in the dark- ness overhead, their visits to the light-houses when lost and bewildered by adverse atmospheric conditions, are all of exceptional interest, and combine in forming a demonstration of avine migration of a most impressive kind. The reader who might care to pursue this fascinating subject further, may be referred to our two volumes on migration, as well as to Gatke's monumental work on the Birds of Heligoland. The Game Birds and Wild Fowl OF The British Islands. ORDER COLUMBIFORMES.— THE PIGEONS. THE Pigeons form a homogeneous, well-defined, and important group of birds, closely allied to the Game Birds (GALLIFOBMES) — through the Sand-Grouse (PEDIOPEIL1) — and to the Plovers (CHARADRIIFORMES). Their sternum, which varies in shape, generally contains two notches on each side of the posterior margin, the interior pair being small, the exterior pair wide and deep. In the modification of their cranial bones they are schizognathous, whilst their nostrils are schizorhinal. In their pterylosis, myology, and digestive organs they show considerable affinity with the Plovers and the Game Birds. The external characteristics of the Pigeons are their somewhat Plover-like bill, enlarged at the tip and covered at the base with soft skin, in which are placed the nostrils, partly concealed by an incumbent valve ; their small hind toe ; and their dense, compact plumage. The oil gland is nude or absent. The contour feathers are without an aftershaft, or only possess a rudimentary one. The primary quills are eleven in number, the fifth secondary is absent ; but the rectrices are variable in this respect (from twelve to twenty). The Pigeons are, so far as is known, double-moulted; the young are hatched blind, but clothed with thin, yellowish down. About 470 species of Pigeons are known. Count Salvadori, the most recent monographer of the Columbiformes, has divided the existing species of Pigeons into five families, of which two only are represented in the British Islands. The Pigeons are cosmopolitan in their distribution with the exception of the Polar regions, but are probably most abundant in the Australian region. I, THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family COLUMBID/E.— The Typical Pigeons. The birds comprising this division of the order may be distinguished by their somewhat short metatarsus — in most cases less than the middle toe in length— and by the number of their tail feathers, which is twelve. In this group the soles of the feet are of moderate breadth, and the skin on the side of the hind toe only is exceptionally expanded. Count Salvadori, somewhat needlessly, we consider, has divided the present family into no less than three subfamilies, one of them containing but a single species, the Passenger Pigeon. Genus COLUMBA, or Grey Pigeons. Type, COLUMBA MNA.S. Coltimba, of Linnaeus (1766). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by their prevailing slate-grey plumage, glossed chiefly on the head, neck, and breast with metallic hues. The wings are long, broad, and rather pointed, the first primary considerably longer than the sixth ; the tail, which is shorter (or not longer) than the wing, is composed of twelve feathers, nearly even. The metatarsus is short, scutellated in front, reticulated behind, and feathered on the upper portion, but never more than for half its length. The bill is moderately stout, straight at the base, and compressed. There are three toes in front, cleft to the base ; one toe behind. This genus is composed of about sixty more or less denned species, which are inhabitants of the Palaearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, Nearctic and Neotropical regions. Three species are resident in the British Islands. The Grey Pigeons are dwellers on rock-bound coasts, inland precipices, groves, and forests. They are birds of sustained and rapid flight, and progress on the ground by running and walking. Their notes are full and soft, but possess little sweetness or variety. They subsist chiefly upon grain and vegetable substances. Their nests are slight platforms of twigs, placed on rocks or trees ; and their eggs, never more than two, are white or creamy- white, and oval. These birds pair for life, and are remarkably prolific. Their flesh is highly and justly esteemed for the table. PI; J#* JU& RING £>OVE. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 3 Family COLUMBIDjE. Genus COLUMBA. RING DOVE. COLUMBA PALUMBUS.— -Linnceus. PLATE I. Columba palumbus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 282 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 259 (1837) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 3, pi. 456 (1878) ; Yarrell, Brit. B., ed. 4, iii. p. 1 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii, p 396 (1884) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 299 (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 344 (1893) ; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxxii. (1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 157, pi. 47 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 242 (1897). Geographical distribution. — British : The Eing Dove is a resident throughout the wooded districts of the British Islands ; most abundant in well- cultivated localities. To the Outer Hebrides and to St. Kilda it is only known as an occasional visitor. Its range is steadily increasing with the planting of trees. Foreign : Western Palaoarctic region. It ranges from Scandinavia east to the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus. It is a resident except in the extreme north, where it breeds as high as lat. 65J° in the west and lat. 60° in the extreme east. It breeds locally throughout the basin of the Mediterranean, but is here best known as a migrant during winter. To the Azores and Faroes it is an abnormal migrant only. Allied forms. — Columba casiotis, an inhabitant of Persia, Turkestan, and Afghanistan as far east as Gilgit, on the frontiers of Cashmere. Differs from the Eing Dove in having the light patches on the neck buff instead of white. Habits. — The Eing Dove is certainly the best known of its tribe in our islands, and a bird that is almost everywhere on the increase. It is a resident, and frequents the woodland districts, parks and shrubberies, as well as the open fields. It is more or less gregarious throughout the year, and though one of the shyest of birds, soon becomes trustful and tame in districts where it is not molested, as witness the extraordinary confidence of the Eing Doves that of late years especially have taken to frequenting some of the London parks. The flight of the Eing Dove is rapid and powerful, and the white patches on the wings and on the neck are very conspicuous as the bird hurries along. The Eing Dove is a silent bird during winter, but early in spring it regains its note, which is continued more or less freely into the following September, and less frequently into October. This 4 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL note is a loud, full coo-roo-coo, most frequently repeated when the bird is in the act of paying court to its mate. In autumn vast flights of this bird congregate in chosen localities, migrants from Scandinavia, which fraternise with our indigenous birds, and frequent the open fields during the day, seeking the fir plantations at dusk to roost, where their homeward flight oft affords good sport to the gunner. The King Dove drinks frequently, and is very fond of repairing to salt water. It is a most voracious feeder, and in some districts commits great havoc on the crops of beans and grain and the tender shoots of clover. During spring and summer it feeds largely on shoots of herbage, mollusks, and seeds, and, as the autumn advances, grain of all kinds, peas, acorns, beech-mast, fruits, berries, and even nuts are devoured. In winter it has been known to feed on the tender shoots of turnips, and even on pieces of the turnips themselves. At this season it will frequent those places in the game coverts where maize is spread for the pheasants ; and here good sport may often be obtained by lying in wait for the gluttonous pilferer. This species does not frequent the coast anything nearly so much as the Stock Dove. Vast numbers of Eing Doves occasionally visit the British Islands in Jate autumn from continental Europe ; although it is interesting to remark that at Heligoland the bird is seldom seen in large flights, but is observed in straggling parties and singly both in spring and autumn. Nidification. — From what I have observed I am of the opinion that the Bing Dove pairs for life, and yearly nests in the same locality if not disturbed. This species is an early and a prolonged breeder, commencing in March or April and continuing to rear brood after brood until the autumn. The nest is placed in a great variety of situations, both in evergreen and in deciduous trees (the latter often before they are in leaf), and in bushes and amongst ivy on cliffs or tree-trunks. Woods, plantations, odd trees in the hedgerows or trees in the open fields, are selected without choice of situation, and the nest is placed at varying heights. Mr. Witherby has recorded (Zoologist, 1895, p. 232) a very interesting and remarkable instance of this bird nesting on the ground amongst heather on a small island in Lough Cong, co. Galway, although suitable trees were available. Two nests were discovered in such a situation ; and this fact seems forcibly to illustrate how a species may initiate a change in its nesting habits. It is worthy of remark that these curious nests were on islands, safe from predatory animals ; and the habit, therefore, has every chance of becoming a more general and permanent one. Mr. J. J. Armistead (op. cit. p. 275) records nests " not a foot from the ground," in blackthorns, in the south of Scotland. The nest of the Ring Dove is merely a few dead twigs arranged basket-like in a flat and almost a shapeless mass. The eggs are normally two, but exceptionally one or three in number, oval in form, and pure and spotless white. They are on an average 1'6 inch in length by 1'25 in breadth. They are sometimes laid one on each successive day, but often a day is missed between each. Incubation lasts from seventeen to OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 5 twenty days. Both parents assist in the task, and in ministering to the wants of the young. It should be remarked that in all the species of this family the excreta of the young are never removed, and, caking together, soon form a firm platform with the twigs, on which the heavy nestlings rest secure. The young are brought to maturity by being fed with half-digested food regurgitated from the crop of the old birds. The Eing Dove has been known to breed in confine- ment, and also to hybridise with the domestic Pigeon. Diagnostic characters. — [Adult] Columba, with a conspicuous white bar on the wings, and white patches on the sides of the neck ; [Young] with a white wing bar, neck patches absent. Length, 16 to 17 inches. It might here be remarked that the irides of this bird, as is the case with many other species, change in colour with age. Thus in the young bird they are very dark, nearly black, whilst in the adult they are brilliant yellow. 6 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family COLUMBINE. Genus COLUMBA. STOCK DOVE. COLUMBA M8A&.—Linnasus. PLATE II., Pig. 1. Columba asnas, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 279 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 287 (1837) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 23, pi. 458 (1876) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 8 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 401 (1884) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xx. (1891) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 261 (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 346 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 158, pi. 47 (1896) ; Sharpe, Hanb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 244 (1897). Geographical distribution.— British : The Stock Dove is a resident throughout England and Wales both inland and near the coast, but more locally distributed than the Eing Dove. It is very rare and local in Ireland and Scotland, but its range is steadily increasing. Foreign : West Palsearctic region. It ranges from Scandinavia east to the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Turkestan and Afghanistan. It is a summer visitor only to the northern portions of its range, which extends in the west up to lat. 62° and in the east up to lat. 57°. It breeds throughout Central and Southern Europe and North-west Africa. It is rare in Palestine, and doubtfully recorded from Egypt. Allied forms. — Columba eversmanni, an inhabitant of Central Asia. Differs from the Stock Dove in having a pale rump, a vinous crown, and a black base to the bill, and is slightly smaller. The Stock Dove is represented on the North Atlantic African islands by several allied but quite distinct species. Habits. — Although so common and widely distributed throughout the year, the Stock Dove is much less known to sportsmen and naturalists than is the preceding species. It is also often confused with the Kock Dove, in spite of the fact that the two species are very different in appearance. Although this species may be met with frequently on the coast (in Tor Bay it is the only Pigeon of the cliffs, but practically deserts these places during winter), and even in quarries and on moors and downs, yet it is most abundant in wooded districts, especially where the timber is aged and hollow. To many sportsmen it is known by the name of " Kockier." It is a shy and wary bird, and rarely allows a near approach unless it considers itself unseen ; and will then often remain in trees or on the cliffs until it is well within gun-shot. The Stock Dove flies rapidly and impetuously, having fO C- cO CO QJ E OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 7 wonderful command over itself in the air, and is able to dart and twist in and out of the branches, defying all but the quickest shots to bring it down. Like the Eing Dove it frequents the fields and more open country to feed and to dust itself ; but when alarmed it hurries to the nearest cover, and always repairs to its accustomed roosting-place in thick plantations or 011 the ivy-clad cliffs at the approach of dusk. It may frequently be seen running along the horizontal limbs of trees, especially during the pairing season. The note of this bird, persistently kept up all the spring and summer, if; much harsher than that of the Eing Dove, and may be aptly expressed as a grunting coo-oo-up. At all times of the year the Stock Dove is socially inclined, and in autumn becomes gregarious, the flocks then assuming large size. Many of these birds are migrants from Scandinavia. All through the autumn and winter the flocks frequent the stubbles and fields of newly-sown grain, flying at nightfall to the woods and coppices, where they roost. Eing Doves very often mingle with them. The food of this species largely consists of grain during the time that fare is available ; but seeds of weeds, clover, and grasses are often eaten. This bird is also partial to acorns and " mast," and even consumes blackberries. Peas and beans are favourite fare, and in severe weather, when snow is about, it will eat shoots of grain and clover and the leaves and sprouts of turnips. Although it frequents the ocean cliffs it is rarely seen on the beach below, except to drink the salt water, of which it is particularly fond ; but searches for its sustenance on the fields near by, or often flies to some distance where favourite fare chances to be plentiful. This bird in some districts is looked upon as a pest by agriculturists, owing to its depredations among the grain and green crops, yet its good offices in ridding the fields of weeds is some recompense for its pilferings. Nidif ication. — The Stock Dove pairs for life, and returns yearly to breed in some favourite spot even in spite of much disturbance. What is also remark- able is its sociability, even gregariousness, during this period, numbers of nests often being placed quite close together. This may be in some measure because suitable sites are rare elsewhere. Like its congeners it begins to breed early, and is remarkably prolific, continuing to rear brood after brood from March or April onwards to September and October. I have in November shot young Stock Doves not many days out of the nest, with filaments of down clinging to the head. The nest is placed in a variety of situations, yet always well concealed. A covered site of some kind is always preferred. Holes in trees, the deserted nests of Magpies and Crows, the old dreys of squirrels, amongst ivy on trees and cliffs, even in holes of the latter, and in church steeples — these are all favourite places ; whilst in more exposed districts rabbits' burrows are often chosen for the like purpose. I have known this bird nest several yards up a fissure in the ironstone cliffs of a quarry. The nest is slight, and in many instances dispensed with altogether. A few twigs or roots carelessly interlaced, or a handful of straw, are 8 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL the sole provision ever made. The two eggs (three have been said to have been found, but never in my own experience) are creamy-white in colour, oval in form, and measure on an average 1'4 inch by 1'2 inch. Incubation lasts from seventeen to eighteen days, and both birds assist in the task, as they also do in rearing the young. These are brought to maturity in a similar manner to those of the preceding species, and are deserted as soon as they can leave the nest. Diagnostic Characters. — Columba, with a rudimentary wing bar, no white patches on the sides of the neck, the rump uniform in colour with the back, and the axillaries and under wing coverts grey. Length, 13 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 9 Family COLUMBINE. Genus COLUMBA. ROCK DOVE. COLUMBA LIVIA.— Bonnat. PLATE II., Fig. 2. Columba livia, Bonnat. Tabl. Bncycl. Method, i. p. 227 (1790 ex Brisson) ; Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 268 (1837) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 11, pi. 457 (1879) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 13 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 405 (1884) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 252 (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 348 (1893) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 158, pi. 47 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 247 (1897). Geographical distribution.— British . The Eock Dove is found throughout the rocky coasts of the British Islands, extending to St. Kilda. Colonies of white-rumped Doves occur in many inland districts on rocks and the sides of quarries, and are unquestionably composed of tame or domestic Doves which have become feral. Foreiyn : Palaearctic region. Wild birds are apparently confined to the coasts ; inland colonies are descendants of tame birds. The Eock Dove is a resident on the Faroes, but only one breeding-place is known in Scandinavia, in the Stavanger Fjord. It breeds in the Pyrenees and in the Sierra Nevada, as well as on all the Atlantic Islands, including St. Helena. It is a resident on the rock-bound coasts of the Mediterranean, Black and Eed Seas, and on the mountain chains adjacent. Feral Eock Doves, intricately intermingled with tame birds, are found from Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia, through Asia Minor and Persia, Beloochistan, Cashmere, and the Altai, across South Siberia to North China and Japan, examples from the latter country being very dark in colour (Seebohm). Allied forms. — Columba intermedia, an inhabitant of India and Ceylon. Differs from the Eock Dove in having the rump dark. G. rupestris, an inhabitant of the Eastern Palaearctic region, from Turkestan to North China, and from the Altai to the Himalayas. Differs from the Eock Dove in having a broad subterminal white band across the tail. All these Doves interbreed wherever their range impinges. Habits. — The Eock Dove, the original stock from which the endless varieties of the domestic Pigeon have descended, is a resident in the British Islands; and there is much evidence to prove that its numbers are increased in autumn 10 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL by migrants. Indeed, our information is decidedly negative in this respect, for the Eock Doves in the Faroes and in Scandinavia are said to be resident, and their appearance at Heligoland is decidedly irregular and abnormal. The Eock Dove is closely associated with the sea, and dwells on the ocean cliffs and in the country in their immediate vicinity all through the year. There are many inland colonies of Eock Doves — Doves with the rump white and the wings barred, but these unquestionably are descendants of tame Pigeons which have become feral. The true wild Eock Dove is found only on the coast and the country near at hand. This pretty species is readily identified by its white rump, as it dashes from the cliffs. It is ever shy and alert, although unwilling to take wing so long as it thinks itself unseen. Its flight is rapid and powerful, performed by quick beats of the wings, the bird often going long distances to feed. By the inhabitants of St. Kilda it is generally believed that Eock Doves breeding on those rock-bound isles visited the Hebrides, some seventy miles away, daily, for food. The Wild Pigeon of North America, better known to English readers as the Passenger Pigeon, is said in some cases to fly a hundred miles each day for food. All through the year the Eock Dove is gregarious, and during autumn especially gathers into flocks at the feeding grounds. I have often seen very large flocks of this species in the fields near Flarnborough and on the farms at North Berwick. This bird has a great antipathy to trees, never alights in them, and when disturbed from the pastures and stubbles either hurries off to the cliffs at once, or takes a more or less extended flight to another part of the fields. Upon the ground it runs about in true Pigeon style, with quick, short steps and bobbing motion of the head. It is ever on the alert, and stops from time to time to scan the surrounding ground, rarely admitting of a close approach. These birds often fly in a very regular manner to and from the caves where they roost, and good sport may be obtained by waiting their return, or by visiting (usually in a boat) the cliffs they frequent. It requires all a man's resource, as he rolls about in a dancing boat, to bring down a Eock Dove going at full speed from the caves. The note of the Eock Dove is a soft and full coo-roo-coo, variously modulated when the bird is under sexual excitement. This note commences very early in spring, a week or so before the actual nesting season, and is continued into the autumn. The food of this species consists largely of grain ; but seeds of many kinds of weeds, the buds and shoots of herbage, and the roots of the couch-grass are also eaten. The bird is said also to eat great quantities of small land shells. It drinks freely and often, and is fond of sea water. It has been said even to alight on the surface of a river to drink, but I, for one, doubt the statement. Nidification. — Like its two congeners the Eock Dove is an early breeder, a few pairs commencing to lay in March, but nesting does not become general before April and May. It is also wonderfully prolific, and goes on rearing brood after brood until the following October. The nest is always placed on the rocks, OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 11 either in clefts and fissures of the cliffs or in caves, those being preferred which are always inaccessible to man save by the use of a boat. In the latter situations the nest is placed in the clefts and crannies of the rugged roof, or on ledges and prominences of the walls. Numbers of birds breed in company, the size of the colony depending to a great extent on the suitability and resources of the site chosen. The nest is slight enough — a few bits of grass or seaweed, a few roots or twigs, or dry stems of weeds ; whilst even green grass has been known to be used. The eggs are two in number, oval in form, and pure white in colour. They measure on an average 1'4 inch in length, and 1'2 inch in breadth. These birds pair for life, use the same nesting-places year after year, and both parents assist in the duties of incubation — which lasts from sixteen to eighteen days — and in the care of the young. These are brought to maturity in a similar manner to their congeners, and are deserted as soon as they leave the nest. Diagnostic characters. — Columba, with two well-defined black wing bars, a pure white rump, and white axillaries and under wing coverts. Length, 11 to 12 inches. 12 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Genus ECTOPISTES, or Passenger Pigeons. Type, ECTOPISTES MIGEATOEIUS. Ectopistes, of Swainson (1827). — The Passenger Pigeon presents characteristics so widely differing from, other members of the Columbidae that Count Salvadori elevates it to sub-family rank in that group. Generic distinction, however, is all that we feel disposed to accord to it. The birds in the present genus are characterised by having the tail longer than the wing, the feathers being narrow and acuminated. But one species of Passenger Pigeon is known, and this is confined to the Nearctic Region from Hudson's Bay south and west to the Great Plains. Details of its distribution and habits are given in the account of the species. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 13 Family COLUMBID.3L Genus ECTOPISTES. PASSENGER PIGEON. ECTOPISTES MIGEATOEIUS (Linnanu). Columba migratoria. Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 285 (1766) ; Fleming, Hist. Brit. An. p. 145 (1828) ; Eyton, Hist, rarer Brit. B. p. 30 (1836). Ectopistes migratorius (Linn.), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 28 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 414 (1884) ; Salvador! , Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 369 (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 360 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 160, pi. 47 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 250 (1897). Geographical distribution.— British : No less than five examples of the Passenger Pigeon are known to have been shot within the British area, but it is impossible to say how many — if indeed any — of these had escaped from confinement, or reached us on abnormal flight. The bird formerly used to be kept commonly in captivity, whilst we know that individuals have actually been imported and turned loose in our islands. On the other hand there is nothing exceptionally remarkable in such a bird of powerful flight reaching our shores unaided ; and when we also bear in mind the extraordinary wanderings of this Pigeon in its native country we seem fully justified in giving it the benefit of the doubt, and admitting it into the British list. To say the least, there are several other species retained therein without question, possessing less claim to the distinction. The British occurrences are as follows : — Scotland : Fifeshire (December), Berwickshire (October) ; England: Yorkshire (October), Cambridge- shire (July) ; Ireland : Co. Kerry. Foreign : Eastern Nearctic region. This Pigeon is now very locally distributed through the deciduous forest regions of eastern North America, from northern Maine west to northern Minnesota, and in the Dakotas and the eastern and middle portions of Canada northwards to Hudson Bay. According to the late Captain Bendire this species still breeds in scattered pairs in the New England States, northern New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, and in a few other localities further south. Winter area, south of lat. 36°. Allied forms. — As previously remarked the present species is the sole surviving member of the genus, and has no allies sufficiently close to demand notice here. 14 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Habits.- — A melancholy interest attaches to the present species, for it is threatened with speedy extinction. Years ago, when North America was in the sole occupation of the red man, the Passenger Pigeon (known familiarly in the States as the Wild Pigeon) must have been one of the most numerous of known birds ; and many early writers on America, naturalists and others, have testified to its vast abundance. Wilson estimated a flock seen by him to consist of upwards of 2,230 millions ! One of the latest writers on this species, the late Captain Bendire, now informs us that " the extermination of the Passenger Pigeon has progressed so rapidly during the past twenty years, that it looks now as if their total extermination might be accomplished within the present century." The vast colonies of this species that formerly bred in various parts of the country, and which have been so graphically described by Wilson and others, have all disappeared, and scattered pairs are now all that remain. This dispersal maybe the means of saving the species from extirpation, provided legal protection be accorded in time to these survivors. Although the Passenger Pigeon is addicted to much wandering, apparently in an aimless manner, like the Waxwing and the Hose-coloured Pastor, its migrations are normal and regular. Its passage north in spring commences about the middle of March and is continued until the third week in May. The return migration begins about the middle of September and lasts until the first week of October. There can be no doubt that formerly this Pigeon was one of the most gregarious of birds, but its numbers have now so greatly decreased that this characteristic appears almost to have vanished. The few scattered pairs unite into flocks in autumn, and possibly remain gregarious until the following spring, but the vast hordes that once used to roam over the land are things of the past. The favourite haunts of the Passenger Pigeon are open woodlands and districts that are well studded with groves surrounded by more open country, as well as well-timbered valleys. Except when actually breeding this species seems ever to be wandering about the country (of course within certain well-defined limits which constitute its normal area of dispersal) in quest of food ; and, it is said, districts that abound with birds one season may be quite deserted the next. Audubon's graphic account of his meeting with this Pigeon in countless hordes, as he was crossing the barrens between Henderson and Louisville, has been questioned for its accuracy, but there can be little doubt of its truth. He tells us (it was in the year 1813) how he observed them flying south-west in larger numbers than he had ever observed before ; how he attempted to count them as they passed in successive flocks, but was obliged to give up the task as impossible ; and how the light of noonday became dimmed as in an eclipse as the hordes of flying Pigeons obscured the sky. Then he goes on to describe the aerial evolutions of the vast flocks, especially when pressed by a Hawk in quest of prey ; how the flocks sped on with a roar suggestive of thunder from the rapid beats of innumerable wings, darting forward or swooping to the earth with marvellous velocity, and rising OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 15 again almost perpendicularly in huge columns, wheeling and gyrating in the air like the coils of a vast serpent. These aerial movements were particularly fine as the flocks were about to settle upon ground where food was abundant, the birds passing in circles lower and lower over the woods, and at length alighting, only to rise again immediately as if suddenly alarmed or fearful of some hidden danger. Dr. Brewer writes that " when at last settled upon the ground, they industriously search among the fallen leaves for the acorns and beech mast, the rear flocks continually rising, passing over the main body, and re-alighting. These changes are so frequent that at times the whole collection appears to be in motion. A large extent of ground is thus cleared in a surprisingly short space of time, and cleared with a completeness that is described as incredible. They are usually satiated by the middle of the day, and ascend to the trees to rest and digest their food. On these occasions the Pigeons are destroyed in immense numbers, and their abundance in large extents of the country has been very sensibly reduced." The food of the Passenger Pigeon consists of grain, berries of various kinds, wild fruits, beech mast and acorns, as well as angle worms and hairless caterpillars. The birds' devastations amongst crops used formerly to be very serious. The note of this Pigeon during the breeding season is described as a short coo-coo ; and its ordinary call note as a treble kee-kee-kee, the first louder, and the last softer than the middle one. Nidification. — The Passenger Pigeon has been known to commence nesting in Wisconsin and Iowa as early as the first week of April, and in Connec- ticut and Minnesota as late as the first half of June. This species used formerly to breed in vast colonies, but of late years these enormous gatherings have ceased, owing to the wholesale slaughter of the nesting birds. Passenger Pigeons used formerly to arrive from the south in certain districts — the choice often varying from year to year — and to settle down to the business of reproduction. Some of these colonies were of enormous dimensions. Mr. W. Brewster, who has devoted much attention to this species, was informed by Mr. Stevens, a veteran Pigeon netter, that the largest " nesting" of this Pigeon that he ever visited was in 1876 or 1877, in Michigan. He informed him that the Pigeons arrived in two separate flocks, one coming directly from the south over land, the other following the east coast of Wisconsin, and crossing Lake Michigan by way of Manitou Island. He watched the latter flock come in from across the lake about three o'clock in the afternoon — a vast compact mass of Pigeons at least five miles long and one mile wide ! The birds began to build whilst the snow was still twelve inches deep in the woods, and the vast colony spread rapidly from the neighbour- hood of Petosky in a north-easterly direction for twenty-eight miles, and on an average four or five miles in width. It is said that nesting usually begins in deciduous woods, but the colony rapidly spreads as the birds begin building in rapid succession, and no choice of tree is shown. In this particular "nesting" the first 16 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL eight miles was in hard-wood timber, then it crossed a river bottom clothed with arbor-vitae trees, and for the next twenty miles extended through woods of white pine. Over the whole of this vast tract of wooded country every tree of any size contained nests in varying numbers, and many trees were filled with them. It is said, however, that none were placed less than fifteen feet from the ground. The Passenger Pigeon is described as being very noisy whilst building, the sound of such a multitude of voices resembling the croaking of wood frogs. The nest is merely a slight platform of twigs. Two eggs are frequently laid, but it is said that one is by far the most common number. They are elliptical oval in shape, glossy in texture, and pure white, and measure on an average 1'2 inch in length by '9 inch in breadth. Incubation is performed by both sexes, the males usually in the fore part of the day, the females during the latter part and at night. The sitting bird does not quit the nest until the bill of its incoming mate nearly touches its tail, the eggs thus being constantly covered. Several broods are reared in the season, but a different nesting ground is chosen for each, the old birds moving from twenty to one hundred miles for the purpose. It is said that five weeks are occupied by each "nesting," when the young are driven from the nests by the parents often several days before they can actually fly. There can be little doubt that many pairs of this Pigeon breed solitarily in the woods, not joining the vast colonies for the purpose. Diagnostic characters — Ectopistes, with the tail longer than the wing, and wedge-shaped. Length, 14 to 16 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 17 Family PERI5TERID/E.— The Ground Pigeons. The birds in the present family are characterised by having the tarsus equal to or longer than the middle toe. The number of tail-feathers varies from twelve to twenty. As in the typical Pigeons, the bill is not hooked, and the nostrils are linear and parallel to the tomia of the upper mandible. Count Salvadori divides the present family into no less than seven subfamilies ; but it seems to be doubtful whether the characters relied upon for their separation are, in some cases at any rate, of more than generic value. Subfamily TURTURIN/E.-The Turtle Doves. The Turtle Doves may be distinguished from the other members of the present family by the absence of hackles from the neck, as well as by the more or less metallic black spot below the ear coverts, which is characteristic of the ZenaidinsB alone. They are further distinguished by the absence of metallic spots from the wings. The tail, which is rather broad, consists of twelve feathers ; the metatarsus is naked on the upper portion ; and the neck is decorated with a more or less distinct dark collar of scale-like feather patches on either side. This subfamily contains but one genus, although it has been subdivided by Count Salvadori into five tolerably well-marked subgenera. 18 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Genus TURTUR, or Turtle Doves. Type, TUBTUK AUEITUS. Turtur, of Selby (1835). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by their prevailing brown and non-metallic plumage, by their more or less conspicuous black collar, comparatively small size, and slender, graceful form. The wings are long and rather pointed; the tail is composed of twelve feathers, and is graduated. The metatarsus is shorter than the middle toe, naked on the upper portion, and scutellated in front. The bill is slender; nostrils basal, and covered with two soft, tumid, bare substances. Three toes in front, cleft to the base, one behind. This genus is composed of about twenty-eight species, which are confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the southern Palsearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions, and the Austro-Malayan division of the Australian region. Two species are British : one a regular summer migrant ; the other an abnormal migrant. The Turtle Doves are dwellers in woodland districts. They are birds of sustained and powerful flight, and progress on the ground by walking or running. Their notes are full and soft, but with little pretension to variety or sweetness. They subsist chiefly on grain and vegetable substances. Their nests are slight platforms of twigs, placed in trees and bushes, and their eggs, never more than two in number, are white or creamy-white, and oval. These birds pair for life. Game Birds £^Wiid Fowl of the British Islands. Plate III. TURTLE DOVE Turtur auritus. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 19 Family PEEISTEEID^. Genus TTJRTUR. Subfamily TuRTURlNJE. TURTLE DOVE. TUETUE AUEITUS.— Gray. PLATE III. Columba turtur, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 284 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. i. p 291 (1837). Turtur vulgaris, Eyton; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 39, pi. 462 (1876). Turtur communis, Selby; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 21 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1894). Turtur auritus, Gray ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 411 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 350 (1893); Seebobm, Col. Eig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 159, pi. 47 (1896). Turtur turtur (Linn.), Salvad. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 396 (1893) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gr. Brit. iv. p. 254 (1897). Geographical distribution — British: The Turtle Dove is generally distributed during summer throughout England and Wales, but becomes rarer in Wales, in the extreme south-west of England, and north of the Humber. It occurs only as a straggler on migration in Scotland, although it passes the Shetlands regularly on passage. It has not been observed in the Outer Hebrides, and only breeds locally in Ireland. Foreign: West Palaearctic region during summer. It is found throughout suitable districts in Scandinavia and Eussia south of lat. 60°, eastwards to Turkestan, the Altai and Northern Cashmere, southwards through Afganistan, Persia, and Asia Minor, westwards to Central and Southern Europe. It passes through Palestine and North Africa on migration, many remaining behind in spring to breed. To the Canaries it is a common summer visitor, but it is rare in Madeira. Its winter quarters are in Central Africa. Allied forms. — Turtur isabellinus, a summer migrant to North-east Africa. Differs from the Turtle Dove in having the head buffish-brown instead of grey, and in being slightly smaller (length of wing 6 inches, instead of 7 as in the Turtle Dove). T. f err ago, inhabiting South-western Turkestan and India. Differs from the Turtle Dove in having the light patches on the neck bluish-grey instead of white, and the breast not so pink. It is also a larger bird. T. orientalis, inhabiting India, South-east Siberia, China, and Japan. Differs from the Turtle Dove in having the under tail coverts and the light tips of the tail feathers slate- grey instead of white. These two latter birds appear only to be subspecifically 20 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL distinct, intermediate forms occurring in India, where the geographical area of each impinges. T.ferrago is not known, however, to cross with the Turtle Dove in Turkestan, where the range of the two species meets. Pale eastern examples of the common Turtle Dove have been described as Turtur arenicola. Habits. — The Turtle Dove is a summer migrant. The usual date of its appearance is the first week in May, a period which marks its entry into Europe at Gibraltar in greatest abundance; but individuals are occasionally seen during the latter part of April. Its return journey is taken in September, although odd birds are met with from time to time at much later dates. The haunts of this species are woods and plantations, as well as parks and fields which are well timbered, or in the vicinity of trees. It is a shy and retiring bird, far more often heard than seen ; although when I was in Algeria, on the borders of the Great Desert, in the oasis of Biskra, I found it a most tame and confiding species. Here they frequented the tops of the date palms, hiding amongst the foliage, where they roosted at night. I also observed that they were very regular in visiting the Oued to drink, going in the early morning to quench their thirst and to bathe. Whilst perched in a tree the Turtle Dove will often allow a near approach , but it keeps so quiet that it is almost impossible to detect its whereabouts until it dashes out with almost a whirr, and in erratic flight dodges between the branches and trunks, and soon conceals itself again amongst the foliage. As may readily be inferred, a bird of such extended migrations is a good flyer, and passes rapidly through the air. It is often seen on the ground, in the open fields, where it goes to feed ; and here it runs to and fro with Pigeon-like gait, yet always alert and ready to dash off to the trees the moment danger threatens. The arrival of this bird in our English woods is soon persistently proclaimed by its note. This is a gentle, soft, and rich coo-r-r-coo-r-r-r, each coo more or less gutturally prolonged, as if the bird laboured under quite an effort to produce it. The male bird, as usual, calls the most, and is particularly noisy during the season of courtship. This note is maintained all through the summer, but begins to wane in August, and by the time of the bird's departure for the south is practically suspended. The food of the Turtle Dove is composed of grain of all kinds, the seeds of a great variety of weeds, tender shoots of herbage, fruit, and even snails and insects. In autumn it becomes more or less gregarious again, and in flocks frequents the stubbles, clover-fields, and turnips. It frequently goes long distances to feed on favourite pastures, and is much attached to its roosting-place. Nidification.— I am of opinion that the Turtle Dove pairs for life; and even in Algeria, before the northern flight was taken, I saw them sitting in pairs on the palm-tops. Soon after its arrival in England the nesting season begins, and the first eggs are generally laid late in May, in more backward seasons the first week in June. The nest is as a rule made much nearer the ground than that OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 21 of the King Dove; and trees are not so often used as tall bushes. Sometimes a thick hedge is selected; whilst white-thorns, hollies, and laurels are often chosen. It is a flat, basket-like structure made of a few slender dead twigs, through which the eggs are often visible from below. The eggs are two in number, oval, and creamy-white in colour. They are on an average 1'2 inch in length and '91 inch in breadth. Incubation lasts about sixteen days, and both parents assist in the task as well as in tending the young. Sometimes two broods are reared in the summer, but this is exceptional; and the existence of late broods of this species may often be attributed to the fact that the first nest has been robbed. I have not observed much social tendency during the breeding season in this species. Diagnostic characters — Turtur, with black tipped with pale lavender (nearly white) patches on the side of the neck, and with the under tail coverts and tips of the rectrices white. In young birds the neck patch is absent, and the feathers are edged with brown. Length, 11 to 12 inches. 22 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family PEEISTEEID^S. Genus TURTUR. Subfamily EASTERN TURTLE DOVE. TUETUE OEIENTALIS.— (Latham). Columba orientalis, Latham, Ind. Orn. ii. 606 (1790). Turtur orientalis (Lath.), Salvad. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi.p. 403 (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 331 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 159 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gr. Brit. iv. p. 256 (1897). Geographical distribution — British: A single example of the Eastern Turtle Dove has been obtained in the British Islands in Yorkshire. On the 23rd of October, 1889, an example in the plumage of the first autumn (without the pied patches on the neck) was shot at a small stream running from Oliver's Mount, near Scarborough. The specimen was exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society of London. Conf. Proc. Zool.Soc. 1890, p. 361. Foreign: The Eastern Turtle Dove is almost as great a stranger in Continental Europe, but it has been twice recorded (in immature plumage) from Northern Scandinavia. It inhabits India, from the central provinces northwards to the lower ranges of the Hyrnalayas (4000 to 6000 feet), from Afghanistan to Sikhim. It is also found in South-east Siberia, and occasionally in Mongolia and Thibet; whilst it ranges through Burma and China, to the Loo-Choo Islands, Japan, and the Kuriles. Stejneger has separated examples from the Loo-Choo group under the name of Turtur stimpsoni, but the darker colour, upon which the distinction is based, does not appear to be a reliable character. Allied forms. — See remarks on the allied forms of the Turtle Dove. Habits. — In its habits the Eastern Turtle Dove does not differ much from its West Palsearctic representative Nidification. — Of the breeding habits of this species, I have written in my work on the nests and eggs of non-indigenous British birds, as follows : In most parts of its northern area of dispersal the Eastern Turtle Dove is migratory, and even in the south is subject apparently to much local movement during the non- breeding season. Capt. Hutton states that it arrived in its summer quarters at Mussoorie in April, leaving again in October. In its habits it is not known to differ in any important respect from the nearly allied European Turtle Dove. OP THE BBITISH ISLANDS. 23 It probably pairs for life, but makes a new nest for each brood. It cannot be regarded as gregarious during the breeding season, but numbers of pairs nest within comparatively small areas of suitable country, and as soon as the young are reared the birds begin to flock. Its favourite haunts are wooded mountain sides, pine forests, groves and clusters of trees. The note in the breeding season is described as a thrice-repeated gutteral coo, and unlike that of other Doves. The nest is generally placed not far from the extremity of a horizontal branch, and is a circular, flat, mat-like structure of neatly arranged twigs, the cavity in the centre being somewhat deep. Plume states that the nest is rather more substantial than that of many other Turtle Doves. Of the actions of the birds at the nest I find nothing of special interest recorded. The eggs of the Eastern Turtle Dove are two in number, oval in form, glossy, and pure white. They are on an average 1'2 inch in length, by "92 inch in breadth. Incubation is performed by both sexes, and lasts about sixteen days." Diagnostic characters — Turtur, with the under tail coverts and the pale tips to the rectrices slate-grey. Length, 12 inches. 24 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL ORDER PEDIOPHILJ.— THE SAND-GROUSE. I HAVE adopted Bonaparte's term PEDIOPHILI for the present order in preference to that of PTEHOCLETES suggested by Dr. Sclater, not only because, as Professor Newton points out, the latter is based on a grammatical misconception, but because the former possesses the additional claim of priority. The Sand-Grouse form a remarkably isolated group of birds, showing affinities (especially in the digestive organs) with the Game Birds, and (in their osteological characteristics) with the Pigeons; being, as was pointed out by Huxley thirty years ago, so completely intermediate between these groups that they cannot be included within either of them without destroying its definition, although perfectly definable themselves. Some systematists, as for instance Sclater and Stejneger, elevate them to the rank of a separate order ; and all things considered this seerns to be the wisest course: others, as Reichenow and Fiirbringer, regard their characters of only sufficient importance to rank as a sub-order. Some naturalists include them in the great natural order of the COLUMBIFORMES; others, with equal authority, include them in the equally distinctive group of GALLIFORMES. The Sand-Grouse are one of the few ancient surviving links in the now broken chain of avine descent; and it seems impossible, iii the present state of our knowledge, to say to which existing group of birds they are most closely allied. Their double-spotted egg (having underlying as well as surface markings) and precocious nestling, gives the casting vote in favour of placing them in closest proximity to the GALLIFORMES, although on the other hand their pterylosis is similar to that of the COL UMBIFOBMES. In the Sand-Grouse the sternum contains two notches on each side of the posterior margin, the inner one in some instances being reduced to an aperture or foramen. In the modification of their cranial bones the Sand-Grouse are schizognathous, whilst their nostrils are schizorhinal ; although this latter is a variable character and thus apparently of comparatively'small taxonomic value. Amongst their external characters may be mentioned the following: oil-gland nude; hallux, small, rudimentary, and sometimes absent; body feathers with well-marked after-shafts; fifth secondary absent. So far as is known the Sand- Grouse moult only in autumn ; the young are hatched covered with down, and able to run almost as soon as they break from the shell. Sixteen species of Sand-Grouse are at present known to science, and these are all contained in a single family. These birds are all confined to the Old World. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 25 Family PTEROCLID/E.— The Sand-Grouse. As this order contains but a single family, the characters that distinguish the latter will be the same as those already given for the former. As supplementary characters, however, may be mentioned the bill of the Sand-Grouse, which resembles that of the Game Birds ; the long and pointed wings ; and the feet, which are more or less covered with dense short plumes. The family is divisible into two, if not three, fairly-marked genera, only one of which is represented in the British avifauna, and that by a single species as an abnormal visitor. Genus SYRRHAPTES, or Three-toed Sand-Grouse. Type, SYEEHAPTES PAEADOXUS. Syrrhaptes, of Illiger (1811). — The birds comprising the present genus are distinguished by the absence of the hind toe. The wings are very long and pointed, the outermost primary having the shaft terminating in an attenuated filament ; the tail is cuneate, and the two central rectrices are much longer than the rest. The metatarsus is very short, and clothed with feathers to the toes. The bill is small and short, decurved from the base to the tip ; the nostrils basal and almost hidden by feathers. Three toes in front and covered with feathers; soles of feet rugose. This genus contains but two species, which are confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the plains and deserts of Asia. One of these species is an abnormal and irruptic migrant to Europe and the British Isles. These Sand-Grouse are dwellers on salt plains and deserts. They are birds of sustained and powerful flight, and progress on the ground by running and walking with short quick steps. They are given to much wandering within their normal areas of dispersal. Their notes are said to be rather melodious. They subsist chiefly on grain, seeds, and vegetable substances. Their nests are mere depressions in the ground, and their eggs, usually three in number, are double spotted and oval in form. Pairing habits unknown. 26 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family PTEEOCLID^E. Genus SYRRHAPTES. PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE. SYEEHAPTES PAEADOXUS— (Pallas). PLATE IV. Tetrao paradoxa, Pall. Eeis. Russ. Eeichs. ii. p. 712, pi. F. (1773). Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Pall.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 75, pi. 468 (1876); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 31 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 419 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xvii. (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 351 (1893) ; Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 2 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 160, pi. 47 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 260 (1897). Geographical distribution.— British: Pallas's Sand-Grouse, like the Waxwing and other species of irregular migrations, appears in our islands at long and uncertain intervals and in varying numbers. It was first noticed as a British bird in 1859, one example each being obtained in Norfolk, Kent, and North Wales. In 1863 it again occurred, when numbers found their way to almost every county of Great Britain, and to the north-west of Ireland, to the Scilly Islands, the Shetlands, and even to the Faroes. A further visitation was remarked in 1872, a flock visiting Northumberland, and a smaller party the south of Scotland (Ayrshire) ; whilst in 1876 the birds were observed at Winterton, in Norfolk, in May, and in county Wicklow in October. In 1888 there was an invasion of extraordinary proportions, the numbers visiting the British Islands being so great that no exact estimate could be formed. So far as is known the first pioneer of this irruption of Sand-Grouse was remarked on one of the Fame Islands, on the 6th of May, and within a few days almost every part of our area had been invaded. Parties of half a dozen, and flocks of thirty or more individuals, were remarked in districts most suited to their requirements. Nearly all these birds had apparently paired, and in some cases attempts were made to nest. Two nests with eggs were obtained in Yorkshire, and two young birds were caught on the Culbin Sands, in Moray, one in 1888 and another the following year. Although some efforts were made to protect these interesting visitors, all finally disappeared. In the autumn of 1888 flocks of Sand-Grouse were still in existence, but by the following spring most of the birds had been killed, although there is evidence to suggest that survivors still existed in our islands until 1892. Foreign: Pallas's Sand- Grouse is just as irregular and uncertain in its visits to continental Europe as to our islands. The first recorded occurrence in Europe was in the winter of 1848, when an example was obtained at Sarepta. In 1859 half a dozen birds were JS Q. L. CO b) 91 O 15 E Q- 0 ,0 OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 27 secured in Europe, of which three were shot in the British Islands. In 1860 another example was procured at Sarepta, and in the autumn of the same year an invasion of the plains of China is recorded; whilst in 1863 a large band invaded the west, and birds were obtained in most parts of Europe, from Scandinavia in the north to Italy in the south. The normal breeding area of this Sand-Grouse is in Central Asia, on the vast steppes and salt plains of North- east Turkestan, Mongolia, and Dauria; whilst in winter it includes West Turkestan, the Kirghiz Steppes, and North China. Allied forms. — None very closely related, with the exception of Syrrhaptes tibetanus, an inhabitant of the tablelands of Thibet, a much larger species (the largest of the order), with no black patch on the abdomen. Habits. — We may appropriately preface our account of the habits of this species by quoting what we have already written respecting its irruptic movements, in our volume on the migration of birds.* These irruptic movements of birds cannot be classed either as normal migration or as nomadic migration, although many naturalists appear to think that they are nothing but variations of one or other of these habits. Irruptic movements are entirely abnormal movements and only occur at irregular intervals: waves of avine life that burst from certain centres, eventually exhausting themselves, and ultimately ending in dissolution and death. Gatke classes these irruptic movements as phenomena of migration, and attributes them to meteorological influences, probably of an exceptional character ; but I should be disposed to attribute them to an excess of population flowing from an overcrowded area, taking of course the direction of the normal migration at whichever season the movement may be initiated. As an example of this irruptic movement we have the intensely interesting wanderings of Pallas's Sand-Grouse, from Central Asia, that have from time to time extended to Western Europe with startling suddenness. This species for the past fifty years or so has evidently been in a highly restless and disturbed state, and from time to time great waves of individuals have been thrown out, apparently to relieve a congested area of distribution. Pallas's Sand-Grouse normally is an inhabitant of the vast plains or steppes that stretch continuously from North-east Turkestan and South Siberia to Mongolia. In the north it is a migratory bird, and the winter range base extends into North China in the east, and the Kirghiz Steppes north of the Aral Sea in the west. Until 1859 this species was practically unknown to western ornithologists, although Russian naturalists had met with it from time to time in its far eastern habitat. In that year, however, the first signs of the coming irruptions broke into Europe, and examples of the Sand-Grouse were obtained in Poland, Jutland, Holland, and in the British Islands. It is interesting to note that the evident direction of this avine wave followed a north- westerly course from the Kirghiz Steppes, almost exactly corresponding with the * The Migration of Birds, pp. 257-260 (Amended Edition). 28 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL normal north-easterly route. Four years later (in 1863) a much more important irruption took place, this time consisting probably of thousands of individuals, and very much the same route was followed; although, as might be expected in such a great rush of birds, the wave spread wider and further, extending to Italy and the Pyrenees in the south, to Scandinavia and Archangel in the north, and throughout the British Islands to the Faroes. Many birds endeavoured to breed in places that were best adapted to their requirements. In 1888 another and even more important wave of Sand-Grouse spread westward over Europe, the par- ticulars of which will be still fresh in the mind of the reader. This invasion was undoubtedly the most successful of all; and so well did the birds appear to be established, that in our islands a special Act of Parliament was passed (in 1888, but not becoming law until early in the following year) for their protection. Gatke has recorded a vast irruptic wave of Jays (Garrulus glandarius) that swept over and past Heligoland during three successive days in October, 1882. This irruption was estimated to number millions, and curiously enough since that year down to the present one solitary Jay only has been seen at the island. As the Jay does not range further east than the Urals and the Volga, where all these birds came from is a question which appears to defy solution. Gatke also records a similar irruptic wave of Mealy liedpoles (Linota linaria), which, during the 4th and 5th of November, 1847, had attained such proportions "that the whole island was literally covered with them." Similar irruptic waves of Goldcrests (Eegulus cristatus) are occasionally remarked. Now nothing can more clearly indicate the abnormal character of these irruptic movements than the fact that they are utterly abortive, either as a means of preserving the individuals under- taking them (for in no case is a corresponding permanent increase of the species remarked in the areas invaded) or as a means of colonising new districts with the surplus population from old ones. To class them either with normal migration or with range expansion is therefore erroneous. We must bear in mind the fact that these waves of avine life are drifting into districts already tenanted with a bird population as large as conditions of life will allow, or into areas where the conditions of existence are quite different from those they have proceeded from. It is a sadly significant fact that these vast bird waves never show any sign of a return ebb. Like leaves scattered by the autumn wind, the birds composing them perish, for Nature's edicts are inexorable : her delicate balance cannot be disregarded with impunity. This Sand-Grouse appears to be more or less a migratory species, a nomadic migrant, but one whose wanderings normally take place within the usual area of dispersal. They are apparently early birds of passage, for Eadde states that they arrived at their breeding grounds before the end of March, during very cold weather, the thermometer falling nearly thirty degrees below zero at night. A month later they were nesting. All through the year this bird appears to be more or less gregarious, and to breed in colonies which are scattered here and there OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 29 over the vast plains. In summer they appear to be very fond of basking in the sun in cavities scratched out of the sand, where they lie on their side and dust themselves. Their flight is described as exceedingly rapid, their quickly-beating long wings, which move very regularly and in a Plover-like manner, making a whirring sound as they go. Upon rising they utter what is described as a melodious chuckle ; but this note is often heard as they stand upon the ground. Their short legs make them walk and run somewhat clumsily, with little steps, the body swaying from side to side. The food of this bird is composed of seeds and the tender shoots of plants growing on the steppes. After feeding they repair very regularly to certain chosen spots to drink, salt-lakes or wells ; but fresh water is said to be taken by preference. They are remarkably wary, and when once flushed, never appear to alight again until they have carefully scrutinised the selected spot by describing a circle over it. They are said to drink quickly, and to fly for very long distances to the water, especially in the morning. In autumn this bird appears to become even more gregarious, and it then forms into vast flocks, which lead a more or less nomadic kind of life until the following spring, apparently going but short distances from their summer quarters unless driven away by snowstorms. During winter flocks of Sand-Grouse occasionally reach Northern China ; and here, according to Swinhoe, the natives take them in clap nets baited with small beans. Nidification. — Whether this bird pairs for life or not is difficult to say, but being so very Pigeon-like in its affinities it may probably do so. It is an early breeder, and the eggs are said by Eadde to be laid in April : that naturalist, in fact, took nests in April and saw the chicks by the middle of May. The nest is nothing but a little hollow in the sand, with a few bits of grass or weed arranged round the margin. Even this slight addition is often dispensed with. The eggs are usually three, but sometimes four in number, very oval and Pigeon-like in shape, but olive or brownish-buff in ground-colour, profusely spotted with dark brown and underlying markings of grey. They are, on an average, 1'7 inch in length by I'l inch in breadth. The female sits lightly, and soon flies from her nest if threatened by danger, leaving the eggs to the concealment afforded by their protective colour. The hot sun also assists largely in incubation, and as soon as it is sufficiently high above the horizon to dispense its genial warmth the nests are said to be left, and the parent birds to go off in pairs to feed and drink. Incubation lasts a month, and the young, as soon as they are hatched, are able to run and forage a good deal for themselves. Two broods are supposed to be reared in the year. Diagnostic characters. — Syrrhaptes, with the legs and toes feathered to the claws, with no hind toe, with the first primary and the two central rectrices finely pointed, and with a large black patch on the abdomen. The latter characters are not so pronounced in the female or young. Length, 15 to 20 inches. 30 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL ORDER QALLIFORMES.— THE GAME BIRDS. THE Birds comprising the present order, and popularly known as "Game Birds," constitute a large and important group, but somewhat ill-defined on what may be termed the boundaries. The most simple way of showing their possible affinities is to place them in the centre of a circle, round which must be grouped in varying proximity the Pigeons, the Sand-Grouse, the Plovers, Cuckoos, Bustards, Rails, Cranes, Hemipodes, Touracous, and the Hoactzin. Their sternum contains two very deep notches on each side of the posterior margin: the episternal process is perforated to receive the base of the coracoids. In the modification of their cranial bones they are schizognathous, whilst their nostrils are holorhinal. Amongst their external characters may be mentioned the following. The oil-gland is generally tufted (although nude in the Megapodes, and absent in Argus) ; the hallux or hind-toe is always present, varying, however, in size and position ; the body feathers have well-marked after-shafts. The bill is always comparatively short and stout, curved and wide at the base, the upper mandible overhanging the lower one. The primaries are ten in number; the wings rounded; rectrices variable in number. The young are hatched covered with down, and able to run and feed almost directly they break from the shell. They begin to develop quills soon after they are hatched, and are able to fly in the juvenile stage of their existence, their wing feathers being changed repeatedly, so that by the time they are fully grown they have had three, four, or even five sets of quills. The Game Birds have one complete moult in autumn. Some species have a partial moult in spring; others change their feathers more or less completely several times during the year, and in some cases a change takes place in the colour or pattern of the feather without a moult at all. Perhaps in no other group is the change of plumage more complicated. In no other order do birds exhibit more diversity in their external characters. The great variety and brilliancy of the wattles, combs, and excrescences that adorn the head; the development of spur, the magnificent colour of the plumage, and the wonderful modification of the tail feathers and coverts, all being of exceptional interest. Mr. Ogilvie Grant, a high authority on the present order, includes therein about four hundred species and subspecies of Game Birds. The Galliformes are divisible into at least four fairly well-defined families, and these again into three subfamilies. Two of these families are represented in the British Islands. The Game Birds are cosmopolitan in their distribution, with the exception of the Australian region. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 31 Family TETRAONID/E.— The Grouse. The birds in the present family are characterised by having the hallux raised above the level of the front toes; the nostrils entirely and the feet partially or wholly concealed by feathers ; the toes are either plumed or naked and pectinate ; spurs absent. Genus LAGOPUS, or Moor Grouse. Type, LAGOPUS ALBUS. LagOpUS, of Brisson (1760). • — The birds comprising the present genus are characterized by their densely feathered metatarsi and toes. The wings are remarkably rounded and short ; the tail is composed of sixteen feathers, generally nearly even. The bill is very short; nostrils basal, shielded by an arched membrane, and concealed by feathers. Space above the eye naked. Three toes in front, one behind very short, and only just reaching the ground. This genus is composed of about half-a-dozen species, which are confined to the Northern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the Palsearctic and Nearctic regions. Two species are resident in the British Islands. The Moor Grouse are dwellers on moors, tundras, and mountains. They are birds of rapid flight, which, however, is seldom long sustained, and on the ground they progress by running and walking. Their notes are loud and unmusical. They subsist chiefly on fruits, berries, seeds, grains, shoots of herbage, and insects. Their nests are rudely made, placed on the ground, and their eggs are numerous and single-spotted. These birds pair annually. Their flesh is highly esteemed for the table. 32 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family TETEAONLIXE. Genus LAGOPUS. PTARMIGAN. LAGOPUS MUTUS.— Montin. PLATE V. Tetrao mutus, Montin, Phys. Salsk. Hand. i. p. 155 (1776-86); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 424 (1884); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 271, pi. 59 (1896). Lagopus cinereus, Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 187 (1837). Lagopus mutus (Montin), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 157, pis. 477, 478 (1874) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 83 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. iii. (1888); Dixon, Nests and Eggs, Brit. B. p. 364 (1893); Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 44 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 271 (1897). Geographical distribution.— British: The Ptarmigan is an inhabitant of Scotland, principally the Highlands, extending to the Outer Hebrides, and the mountains as far south as Arran, but is absent from the Orkney and Shetland Islands. Foreign: Circumpolar. The Ptarmigan, in one of its several forms, inhabits the moors and tundras above the limit of forest growth of Europe, Asia, and America, and is found in certain localities further south at high elevations where a similar climate and conditions prevail. It frequents the Dovre-fjeld, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Urals, the mountains of South Siberia, Japan, and the Kurile Islands. It also inhabits Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla. On the American Continent it frequents the Eocky Mountains south to lat. 55°. Allied forms. — Lagopus leucurus, an inhabitant of the Eocky Mountains and their western spurs in British Columbia and Washington territory. Differs from the Ptarmigan in having the tail white at all seasons. L. mutus var. hyperboreus, an inhabitant of Spitzbergen, is perhaps subspecifically distinct, owing to its larger size (length of wing, 8'9 to 8'6 inches, against 7'9 to 7'2 inches in the typical form) and greater amount of white on the basal portion of the tail feathers. The Ptarmigan inhabiting Iceland and the regions north of the Arctic circle in both hemispheres have been called L. mutus, var. rupestris, in consequence of their wanting the dark breast which characterises examples from more southern latitudes. Professor D. G. Elliot has described a new species of Ptarmigan from Attu Island, one of the Aleutian Chain, under the name of Lagopus eversmanni, " distinguished from all the Ptarmigans of the western hemisphere by its entire white and black plumage." He has also described a new subspecies from Kyska -C — ^ £ i£ 2 i f> cQ v 6 Z «j < 2 OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 33 and Adak Islands from the Aleutian archipelago. It is more than probable that all these races of Ptarmigan are nothing more than representative forms or climatic varieties of one polymorphic species. Habits. — Of all our Game Birds the Ptarmigan is the wildest. It is a resident in our islands, confined to the summits of the mountains, wandering nomadically a little lower during the non-breeding season. Its haunts are barren and wild in the extreme; rough, broken, wind-swept summits, where the surface is either bare and stony, or covered sparsely with ling and heath and ground fruits, strewn with boulders, and for the greater part of the year picked out with spotless snow. Here the plumage of the Ptarmigan is so eminently protective, and the bird itself so skulking in its habits, that the observer often wanders all unconsciously through a pack of birds, never dreaming of their proximity until they rise here, there, and everywhere around him from the ground which often seems too bare to conceal a mouse. Ptarmigan afford one of the best known instances of protective colouration. With each recurring season a different dress is assumed to meet the changing hues of their surroundings. In spring these birds are clothed in a dress of dark brown, mottled with yellowish brown, to assimilate in colour with the mosses and lichens. In autumn they change this dress for one of pale grey, vermiculated with black — or rather they are slowly changing colour all the summer through with the changing aspect of their haunts, the latter tints being emphasized at a time when the mosses and lichens are burnt up and beginning to fade. Then in winter, when the mountain-tops are wreathed in snow, the browns and greys are doffed and plumage of spotless white assumed in their stead. The Ptarmigan is a thorough ground bird, and never uses its wings unless compelled by various circumstances to seek the air. Then, however, it can fly fast and far, and often goes from one mountain-top to another on rapid-beating wings, or skims over brows and shoulders of the hill-tops with pinions held arched and stiff. It is very fond of sitting on rocks and boulders, apparently basking in the sun ; whilst on the ground it walks and runs about in true Game Bird style, and is very fond of lying on its side and taking a dust bath. Many of its resorts and movements are similar to those of the Red Grouse, but the note is very different. It is nothing near so loud or distinct, and may be best described as a low croak or grunt. The food of this species is principally composed of the tender green tops of ling and heath, but buds, seeds, and shoots of various mountain plants are eaten ; and in autumn, ground fruits, such as bilberries and cloud-berries. A small quantity of grit is invariably contained in the stomach to assist digestion ; and according to Macgillivray, the bird eats its fill of food and then goes off to some quiet nook to digest it. Early in autumn, sometimes at the end of July or the beginning of August, Ptarmigan begin to pack, especially if the season be stormy and unsettled, but during very mild and genial weather this operation is somewhat delayed. These flocks keep to the lower summits, and 3 34 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL during winter, birds are scarcer on the highest tops and said to be smaller in size. Although subject to the same disease as the Red Grouse, this is never so virulent, the sterner conditions of existence probably doing much to stamp out its tendency to spread and recur. Nldification. — The Ptarmigan is monogamous and pairs early in the year, although the eggs are not laid before the beginning or even the end of May, according to the state of the season. The nest is little more than a hollow in the ground, sometimes beneath the shelter of a bush or beside a rock boulder, sparsely lined with twigs of heather, and perhaps a little dead mountain grass and a few bilberry leaves. The eggs are from eight to twelve in number, buffish- white or buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with rich liver-brown. They are, on an average, 1*7 inch in length by I'l inch in breadth. The hen-bird sits closely, often allowing herself to be nearly trodden upon before rising. The young chicks run soon after they are hatched, and are very well able to take care of themselves, scattering and hiding amongst the stones and vegetation the moment danger threatens or when the watchful mother sounds the note of warning. The hen alone appears to incubate the eggs, sitting about three weeks for the purpose. One brood only is reared each season. Diagnostic characters. — Lagopus, with the primaries white with dark shafts, and the wing less than 8 inches in length. Length, 15 inches. — CL D * O S Ot " O «> -o c JO _c oQ w E «> a OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 35 Family TETEAONHLE. Genus LAGOPUS. RED GROUSE. LAGOPUS SCOTICUS— (Latham). PLATE VI. Tetrao scoticus, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 290 (1787 ex Brissori) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 428 (1884) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 272, pi. 59 (1896). Lagopus scoticus (Lath.), Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 169 (1837) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 165, pi. 479 (1873) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 73 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xviii. (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 362 (1893) ; Grant, Cat. B Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 35 (1893) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 263 (1897). Geographical distribution. — British : The Ked Grouse is confined to the British Islands, where it inhabits the wild moorland districts throughout Great Britain and Ireland, except those counties of England that lie south and east of a line drawn from Bristol to Hull. Although inhabiting the Hebrides and the Orkneys, it is absent from the Shetlands. Foreign : No extra-British distribution. Allied forms. — Lagopus albus, the continental representative of the Eed Grouse, an inhabitant of the tundras above the pine region in the willow and birch zones of Arctic Europe, Asia and America. Differs from the Eed Grouse in having a white winter dress, and in having the primaries and secondaries white at all seasons. Habits. — British sportsmen may well pride themselves upon the exclusive possession of such a thorough Game Bird and true sport-furnishing species as the Eed Grouse or Moor Fowl. It is one of the most sedentary of Game Birds, and never wanders from its native heath except under very exceptional circumstances. The great haunts of the Eed Grouse are the vast expanses of heath-clothed waste that stretch in almost one unbroken line from Wales to the Orkneys and Shet- lands. This district is wild and romantic enough, and the great diversity of its physical aspect counteracts the impression of monotony that the sameness of the vegetation which clothes them is apt to inspire. Hills and dales, vast plateaux, swamps, lakes, and streams, ridges and peaks break the surface of the moors, and patches of coarse grass, dense fields of rushes and sedges, of bracken and gorse, and clumps of broom and mountain ground fruits relieve the monotony of the otherwise interminable stretches of heath and ling. Here, all the year round, the 36 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Bed Grouse is the one dominant bird, cherished and protected everywhere with the greatest solicitude for the unrivalled sport it yields. The Eed Grouse is a thorough ground bird, although it may occasionally be seen sitting in the stunted willow, birch, and thorn trees, and is fond of perching on boulders or on the rough, " dry " walls that divide the moors from the highways and upland pastures. In spite of the bird's abundance it does not make itself very conspicuous, and the inexperienced observer may wander over miles of moor without seeing many Grouse. They skulk in the heather, and generally prefer to run out of harm's way instead of taking wing. They are wary enough, too, and are ever on the outlook for approaching danger, craning their heads high above the cover, and looking warily about in all directions. When flushed, however, they will be found to fly well and with great speed, although seldom rising very high. Like the Ptarmigan, they often skim on stiff arched wings for a long distance over a ridge or bank, and if much disturbed will prolong their flight across a wide valley, or along the hillsides for a mile or more. At all times of the year the Eed Grouse is socially inclined, and in autumn becomes to a great extent gregarious, " packing " towards the end of August, when it becomes more wary and wild. Previous to stormy weather these packs are found on the highest ground, but when the change arrives they seek the sheltered hillsides. During severe snow- storms the Eed Grouse will burrow into the snowdrifts for shelter. The note of the Eed Grouse is very loud and highly characteristic, most frequently heard as the bird rises startled from the heather. It may best be expressed as a loud, clear, go-bac go-bac bac-bac-bac. Its crow, heard during the pairing season, and especially in the early morning, is slightly modified into a loud and clear cok-ok-ok. The cry of the female is little more than a low croak. The food of the Eed Grouse is chiefly composed of the green, tender tops of the ling (Callund) and the heather (Erica); but various ground fruits are eagerly devoured in autumn (the birds' droppings at this season staining the rocks dark purple) as well as the seeds of weeds; whilst during harvest and severe weather the birds will visit oat stubbles and even stack-yards at some distance from their usual haunts. I have known Eed Grouse to be taken in the streets of Sheffield during severe winters, and great numbers to be shot on farms and near dwelling-houses several miles from the moorlands. As some misapprehension may arise respecting this apparent " retreat " of species from adverse conditions, I may here repeat what I have said concerning it in the volume dealing with the migration of British birds. Scores of similar instances might be given ; and in some continental districts, where the weather has been far more severe than with us, still more extraordinary cases have occurred of wild birds visiting civilized places to seek for food. Now, in the first place, it may be remarked that however unusual the locality may be in which such species may appear under these exceptional circumstances, it is always within the normal area occupied by that species. A Nutcracker will never come to an English cottage door for food, any more than a Eobin will ever appear at the OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 37 threshold of a Canadian settler. In the second place, the straying of a species from its accustomed haunts is purely abnormal — a struggle for life, in fact, of an individual, and such an action in the majority of cases would not save the species from extermination if it succeeded in saving that individual. The conditions for successful reproduction, found only in the normal haunts of the species, would he wanting, and the inevitable result would be a more or less rapid extinction throughout the area affected. Little need be said concerning Grouse-shooting. The sport yielded by driven Grouse is certainly not equalled by any other winged game ; and the man who can satisfactorily account for his cartridges after shooting for an hour or so from the "butts," at birds that thunder by like sky-rockets, need not be afraid to boast of his prowess. Very large bags are sometimes made both over dogs and at the butts. The Bed Grouse is singularly subject to what may well be termed a mysterious disease, seeing that its causes and nature are but imperfectly understood. This disease (which is said to have been traced to a parasitic worm, Strongylus pergracilis, breeding in the throat and rapidly spreading to the other organs), appears specially to attack the liver and the intestines ; but whether the worm is the primary cause of the disorder seems by no means certain, for parasites of this character, if not of the same species, are often common in healthy birds. Space forbids discussion of this disease here; but I might remark that in the opinion of an old gamekeeper friend of mine, it is very closely connected with the moulting of the birds. I offer this merely as a hint to investigators. On the other hand, over-stocking of moors, both with birds and with sheep, causes a short food supply, and brings the Grouse low in condition, and makes them less likely to withstand incipient disease. Attempts have been made to introduce the Red Grouse in some of the eastern and southern counties — at Sandringham, Holt, and other places. It is said that of fourteen brace turned out at Sandringham in 1878, enough remained to produce three broods in 1881. The small extent of moorland in these places seems fatal to the success of the efforts. Nidification. — The Eed Grouse is monogamous, and pairs early in the spring. At this period the cock-birds stand on some bit of rising ground and crow defiance to their rivals and invitation to the hens, sometimes accompanying this call by jumping into the air or flapping their wings. Once paired, however, there is no evidence to show that the cock ever mates with more than one hen. The nest is slight enough, always on the ground, either among the ling and heath, under the shelter of a boulder, or even amongst grass and rushes. Sometimes it is made in frequented places, a yard or so from the highway or footpath; whilst favourite nesting-grounds are near the patches of burnt heather — burnt for the purpose of furnishing a supply of young shoots for the Grouse — where doubtless the abundance of food influences the choice. The nest is merely a hollow scratched out in the peaty soil and strewn with a few bits of withered ling, heath, 38 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL dry grass, or dead leaves. The Eed Grouse is a rather early breeder, birds on sheltered low ground going to nest early in April, but those inhabiting higher and more exposed districts are several weeks later. The state of the season also considerably affects the time of laying; and sometimes a late fall of snow will overtake the brooding or laying birds and cause great mischief. The eggs, too, vary considerably in number in different years. If wet and cold, the clutches vary from five to nine eggs; if warm and dry, twelve or fifteen are frequently found. They are creamy-white in ground-colour, very thickly spotted and blotched with rich reddish-brown, in some cases almost crimson-brown. The colouring matter is easily rubbed from newly-laid eggs, and during wet weather the feet of the sitting bird spoil much of their beauty. They are, on an average, 1'8 inch in length by 1'25 inch in breadth. The Eed Grouse is a close sitter, and will remain brooding until almost trodden upon. The female performs the entire duties of incubation, which lasts twenty-four days ; but when the young are hatched both parents assist in tending them. The young broods are generally led by their parents to the wettest parts of the moors, doubtless for the sake of some particular kind of food. One brood only is reared in the season, but if the first clutch of eggs be destroyed it is usually replaced by another of smaller number. Diagnostic Characters. — Lagoptis, with the primaries uniform dark brown. Length, 14 to 16 inches. Hybrids are occasionally found between this Grouse and the Black Cock, and sometimes, it is said, the Ptarmigan; whilst Mr. J. G. Millais has recorded and figured (Game Birds pp. 43-62) a hybrid between the Eed Grouse and a Bantam Fowl. More or less perfect albino Eed Grouse have been recorded. For one of the most remarkable, conf. Zoologist, 1898, p. 126. NOTE.— The Red Grouse is a species subject to considerable variation in the colour of its plumage. Mr. Ogilvie Grant, who has made a very exhaustive study of the question, states that the male Grouse present three distinct types of plumage— a red form, a black form, and a white spotted form. The first of these is principally confined to the low grounds of Ireland, the West Coast of Scotland, and the Outer Hebrides. The second form appears to have no special locality; whilst the third form is found most emphasised on the high grounds of the North of Scotland. In the female no less than five types are definable— the red, black, white-spotted, buff-spotted, and buff-barred. Of these Mr. Grant states that the first two are the rarest; the white-spotted occurs as in the male ; the fourth is the commonest and most usually met with ; whilst the fifth is found in the South of Ireland. Another interesting peculiarity of this species is that both male and female have two distinct moults in the year, but in the male they take place in autumn and winter, and in the female in summer and autumn. The males have no distinct summer, and the females no distinct winter, plumage, These changes of plumage have been exhaustively worked out by Mr. Grant. (Conf. Annah of Scottish Nat. Hist. 1894, pp. 129-140, pis. v., vi.). OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 39 Genus TETRAO, or Wood Grouse. Type, TETEAO UROGALLUS. Tetrao, of Linnaeus (1766). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by their feathered metatarsi and bare toes. The wings are rounded and short ; the tail is composed of eighteen feathers, and varies considerably in shape.* The bill is short and stout, and arched from the base to the tip ; nostrils basal, shielded by an arched membrane, and almost concealed by feathers. Space above the eye naked. Three toes in front, one behind, the latter short ; edges pectinated. This genus is composed of about half-a-dozen species, which are confined to the Northern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the Palaearctic region. Two species are resident in the British Islands. The Wood Grouse are dwellers in forests and on the broken ground near them. They are birds of rapid if somewhat laboured flight, and on the ground they progress by running and walking. Their notes are loud, and, in the males, considerably varied. They subsist chiefly on the buds and leaves of conifers, also on fruit, berries, grain, seeds, and insects. Their nests are rudely made, placed on the ground, and their eggs are numerous and single-spotted. These birds are polygamous, and the female takes sole charge of the eggs and young. Their flesh is highly esteemed for the table. 'Mr. Grant separates the Black Grouse under the generic title of Lyrurus, the chief character being the curved outermost tail feathers, but as this distinction applies only to male birds we fail to recognise its generic importance. 40 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family TETRAONID^E. Genus TETBAO. CAPERCAILLIE. TETEAO UEOGALLUS.— Linnceus. PLATE VII. Tetrao urogallus, Linn, Syst. Nat. i. p. 273 (176G) ; Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 138 (1837) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 223, pi. 490 (1873) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 45 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 440 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 359 (1893) ; Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 60 (1893) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 274, pi. 59 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 276 (1897). Geographical distribution — British : Bones of the Capercaillie testify to its former residence in the north of England, such having been found in the caves of Teesdale and amongst the Roman remains at Settle, in West Yorkshire. During the latter half of the last century it was exterminated from Scotland and Ireland, Pennant stating that a few were to be found about Thomastown, in Tipperary, about the year 1760, and mentions an example obtained north of Inverness ; so that it would seem that the bird became extinct in Scotland and Ireland simultaneously. Its successful introduction into Scotland from Sweden commenced in 1837-38 by Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, although an attempt had been made some ten years previously at Mar Lodge. From Taymouth, in Perth- shire, the centre of its restoration, it has spread during the past fifty years over the greater part of this county and Forfarshire, as well as into Stirlingshire. The extension of its range appears now only to be a matter of time. Foreign : Western Palsearctic region. It inhabits the pine forests of Europe and Asia ; in Scandinavia as far north as lat. 70°; in Eussia and Siberia as far north as lat. 67°. Its eastern limit appears to be the valley of the Yenisei up to Lake Baikal. Retaining west- wards it is found in South Siberia, in the Altai Mountains, and in North-eastern Turkestan up to an elevation of 10,000 feet. It appears not to inhabit the Caucasus and Southern Eussia, but is a dweller in the pine forests of the Carpathians, on the Italian slopes of the Alps, the Spanish slopes of the Pyrenees, and throughout the Cantabrian ranges. It is still found, but in apparently decreasing numbers, in Poland and in Northern and Central Germany. Allied forms. — A pale subspecies of the Capercaillie has been described from the Urals under the name of Tetrao uralensis by Professor Nazarov. Tetrao parvirostris, an inhabitant of East Siberia, ranging from the valley of the Yenisei, through Mantchooria, southward into Northern China. Differs from the Caper- J _ J "5 o Ul a Q. i OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 41 caillie in having the head and neck metallic purple and green, more white on the wing- and upper tail-coverts, but with no white on the tail itself, and in having a longer and more graduated tail. The Capercaillie from Kamtschatka, T. kamtschaticus, is said to be intermediate in size, and to have the shoulder feathers so boldly tipped with white as to form a conspicuous band along each side of the back. Habits. — This magnificent Grouse is one of the rarest and most local of those birds which are classed under the head of Game. Its haunts are chiefly in the forests of spruce fir and larch, although it frequently wanders from these localities into birch and oak woods, and on to the bare expanses of moor, or the open parts of the forest where the broken ground is strewed with bracken and with various kinds of ground fruit. It is most partial to the large pine woods, more especially those that are broken up into swampy ground in places, and where small lakes occur. In these wild districts where the Capercaillie is present it is often very conspicuous, as the massive creature sits poised on some topmost point of a pine tree, his huge form showing out clearly against the sky. Here it is very wary, and seldom allows a near approach, although when sitting amongst the lower branches, where it considers itself well concealed, the observer is often allowed to walk quite closely past it. The Capercaillie is far more of a tree bird during winter than in summer ; but it always prefers to roost in a tree, and to retire to a tree to sit and digest its meal. It is everywhere a resident, although it is given much to wandering up and down the country side in an aim- less sort of way ; females and young males especially so. The flight of the Capercaillie is very powerful, yet the bird seldom flies far, unless it be to cross over a valley from one wood to another ; nor is it very loud and whirring, except when he rises almost at your feet, or dashes unexpectedly from the branches where he has been watching you intently. The food of the Capercaillie in summer consists of the leaves and buds of various plants and trees, such as the alder, birch, and hazel, the leaves of the fir and larch, and less frequently of the spruce. To this fare is added all the various ground fruits that flourish in or near the haunts of the bird, as well as acorns : insects, especially ants and their eggs, and beetles, are also sought for, as are also worms. In winter the needles of the pine-trees are almost the exclusive food. At all times of the year the male feeds more on these spines or needles than the female, who spends more of her time on the ground. Consequently the flesh of the latter is more palatable than that of the male, whose carcase is frequently too strongly flavoured with turpentine or resin to be pleasant to the taste. Grain is never eaten in great quantities. It is said that during severe weather this bird will bury itself in a snowdrift for shelter. The statements that the Capercaillie is detrimental to the presence of Black Game and Pheasants by its pugnacity and habit of appropriating their nests, do not appear to be borne out by evidence carefully collected for the purpose 42 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL of ascertaining their truth. That it may do considerable damage to small forests where it may chance to be abundant is by no means improbable ; the crop of one bird shot in November containing the extraordinary number of two hundred and sixty-six shoots and buds, besides a large handful of leaves, of the Scotch fir! For furthur information on this important subject, as well as for full particulars concerning the introduction of this species into Scotland, I must refer my readers to Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown's exhaustive treatise entitled The Capercaillie in Scotland, a book that should be on the shelves of every sportsman and naturalist. Nidification. — The Capercaillie becomes most interesting, perhaps, to the naturalist in the breeding season. It is a polygamous species, and like most of such birds, indulges in various grotesque and interesting habits during that period. This portion of their economy has been most carefully studied and described by Lloyd, and from his important work on Scandinavian Game Birds the following particulars have been obtained. Pairing commences in April and continues through May. The male chooses some point of vantage in his haunts, generally a pine tree in the more open part of the forest, or a huge piece of rock with a level surface. Here he takes his stand in the morning just before sunrise, and again in the evening directly after sunset, and from his perch on a bare or dead branch of the tree, or the summit of the rock, he puffs out his plumage, and with extended neck, drooping wings, and erected tail spread out to the fullest extent, he begins to utter his "spel," or love music. This consists of three very distinct notes, pellep, klickop, and hede, the first and last several times repeated. These antics and notes occupy a period of several minutes, and are often repeated at once, during which time the bird works himself up to such a pitch of amorous excite- ment as to be utterly oblivious of impending danger. The natives take advantage of this, and by advancing during each " spel " or ecstasy, creep up within gunshot. The females respond to this curious exhibition by uttering a harsh croak, advancing to attract his attention, until he finally descends from his perch and pairs with each in turn. These "laking places" are frequented every spring with great regularity by numerous cocks and still more numerous hens, and are usually all in the same neighbourhood of their haunts. Much fighting takes place, the young and weaker birds being driven out, and not allowed to "spel" or "play." The love notes are often uttered so loudly as to cause the tree on which the bird is sitting sensibly to vibrate to the touch, and may be heard for a long distance through the silent forest. A second "spel" is said to take place towards the end of September or early in October. The female takes all charge of the eggs and young. She makes a scanty nest amongst the bilberry wires and heather in a clearing of the forest, merely a hollow scraped out, and lined with a few dry leaves or scraps of grass. The eggs are from eight to twelve in number, the smaller clutches being the produce of the younger hens. They are brownish-buff in ground-colour, thickly spotted with reddish-brown, and a few larger markings of OP THE BBITISH ISLANDS. 43 the same colour. They measure on an average 2'2 inches in length by 1'6 inch in breadth. One brood only is reared in the year, and incubation lasts from twenty-six to twenty-eight days. Diagnostic characters. — Tetrao, with the tail nearly square, and the wing more than 12 inches in length. Length, 35 inches (male) ; 25 inches (female) . Hybrids are pretty frequent in a wild state between the Black Cock and the female Capercaillie, the latter being much given to wandering from their usual haunts and pairing with Black Game during these peregrinations. Hybrids have also been known between the female Capercaillie and the male Willow Grouse, and the species is said occasionally to cross with the Pheasant. 44 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family TETRAONIME. Genus TETRAO. BLACK GROUSE. TETEAO TETEIX.— Linnaeus. PLATE VIII. Tetrao tetrix, Linn, Syst. Nat. i. p. 274 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 145 (1837) ; Dresser, B. Eur vii. p. 205, pi. 487 (1873) ; Yarroll, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 60 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 435 (1884) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. vii. (1888) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 360 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 273, pi. 59 (1896). Lyrurus tetrix (Linn), Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 53 (1393) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 273 (1897). Geographical distribution — British : The Black Grouse was formerly widely distributed throughout Great Britain, but it has been exterminated in many localities, in some of which, however, it has been introduced. It is resident locally in all counties south of the Thames, perhaps with the exception of Kent. It is locally distributed in Wales, the Midlands, and in the vicinity of Sandring- ham, in Norfolk ; thence in every county north of Nottingham up to the Border. It is more widely and generally distributed throughout Scotland, including some of the Inner Hebrides, but has not succeeded in establishing itself on the Orkneys or Shetlands. It is not indigenous to Ireland. Foreign : Palaearctic region. It inhabits the pine and birch forests of Europe and Asia ; in Scandi- navia as far north as lat. 69£° ; in Russia and Siberia as far east as the Yenisei, as far north as lat. 68°, but in the valley of the Lena not beyond lat. 63°. East of the latter valley in North Siberia it has been found as far as the Kolima river, and in the south of that country it ranges eastwards into the Amoor Valley to the Ussuri and Mantchooria. Returning westwards we find it to be an inhabitant of South Siberia and North-eastern Turkestan, onwards throughout Central Europe as far south as the Alps and the Northern Apennines. It is said to occur in the Eastern Pyrenees. Allied forms. — Tetrao mlokosiewiczi, an inhabitant of the Caucasus. Differs from the Black Grouse in having no white in the plumage, in being some- what smaller, and in having a very differently-shaped tail. The female of this species is greyer than the female Black Grouse, and the vermiculations on the plumage are less coarse. w +-> JO a. -o c is 00 i !fl T u (0 I CO E i« O OF THE BKITISH ISLANDS. 45 Habits. — The Black Grouse is a bird of the trees, but not quite as much of a forest species as the Capercaillie. It loves wild, broken country on the border of the moors, in birch and fir plantations, and the romantic hollows below the level plateaux of heath and ling, where the ground is clothed with bracken and bramble, strewn with rocks, and traversed by dancing streams which sometimes widen out into expanses of rush-grown bog and cotton-grass. In our southern counties favourite haunts of this bird are the wild commons and small isolated tracts of moorland, where pine woods are in close proximity, and plenty of underwood and trees are to be found. The Black Grouse is extremely partial to districts where water abounds, either swampy ground or pools and streams. It is a skulking, shy, and wary bird, seldom being seen until it is flushed, either from the ground or the trees ; and even when feeding on the bare hillsides, which it often does, some distance from the plantations, it is ever on the alert, and runs and conceals itself the moment it is alarmed. I have seen Black Cocks take refuge in clumps of rushes growing on the hillside, running from one tuft to another until the plantation was reached. The flight of the Black Grouse is powerful and rapid, but the bulk of the bird seems to lend it a laboured character. The Black Cock, except during the moulting season, in July and August, spends much of his time in the trees, and always prefers to roost in a tree ; but the Grey Hen is more of a ground bird. I have often remarked the partiality of this species for tall bracken in autumn ; and at that season it also wanders from the covers to the stubbles. During long-continued snowstorms it sometimes burrows into the drifts for shelter. The food of the adult Black Grouse is almost exclusively of a vegetable nature. In summer the seeds of rushes and the tender tops and leaves of ling and heath and other plants are the birds' favourite fare ; in autumn, grain and wild fruits and berries are partaken of ; whilst in winter, willow twigs, birch catkins, alder buds, and leaves of the ling and heath are eaten. Black Game, like Eed Grouse, always seem bewildered and stupid during misty weather, and then often allow a much nearer approach as they sit on the half-leafless trees. I might also remark for the benefit of any sportsman unaware of the circumstance, that while Eed Grouse always endeavour to fly down wind, Black Game seek to fly up wind. The formation of the tail may have some influence on this. When much shot at, Black Game generally mount up high into the air, and fly right away to some distant cover. This species also appears to have an antipathy to flying up- hill, and when flushed on a slope they usually pass to a lower level. Nidification. — In the matter of its reproduction the Black Grouse very closely resembles the Capercaillie. It is polygamous, and the Black Cocks perform much the same peculiar antics during the pairing season to charm the Grey Hens as we have already described in the preceding chapter. Certain meeting or "laking" places are chosen in their haunts, to which numbers of males resort early in April ; and here battles are of frequent occurrence for the females, which are attracted by 46 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL the love notes, or "spel," and charmed by the grotesque attitudes assumed by the cocks. The "spel" or song consists of two very distinct notes, one a kind of coo, the other a hiss, both so loudly uttered that they may be heard for a mile or more across the silent wilderness. During the progress of the "lek " the females creep up to the place with drooping wings, uttering a low note and apparently watching the proceedings with great interest, waiting to pair with the most successful males. A second "spel" is said to take place in autumn, and during this period the cocks keep in companies by themselves. The female takes all charge of the domestic arrangements. About the first week in May the Grey Hen goes to nest. This is always placed on the ground, under a clump of dead bracken or matted bramble and fern, or amongst heather or ling, rushes, or bilberry wires. It is merely a hollow into which is scraped a few bits of dry grass, broken fern-fronds, or dead leaves of the bilberry, and fallen pine-needles. The eggs, from six to ten in number, are brownish-buff, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown of various shades of intensity. They measure on an average 2'0 inches in length, by 1'4 inch in breadth. Occasionally a single nest will contain as many as sixteen eggs, the produce of two hens which sit together amicably enough and bring up the numerous progeny in company. This usually occurs in localities where the Black Grouse are thick upon the ground. The Grey Hen is a close sitter, and her plumage is remarkably inconspicuous amongst the dead fern and undergrowth. Incubation lasts about twenty-six days. One brood only is reared in the season. The young are reared with difficulty, wet seasons being especially fatal to them ; and many nests are washed away by being made too near the bank of some mountain stream, which rapidly becomes a torrent and overflows its banks during long-continued rain. Diagnostic characters — Tetrao, with the tail lyre shaped (male), and the wing 11 inches in length or less. Length, 22 inches (male), 15 inches (female). The Black Cock hybridises with the female Ecd Grouse occasionally, and has been known to interbreed with Willow Grouse, Hazel Grouse, the hen Capercaillie, and the Pheasant. Mr. J. G. Millais figures an interesting example of a Black Cock which has assumed the dress of the Grey Hen. (Game Birds and Shooting Sketches.) OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 47 Family PHASIANID^E.— The Typical Game Birds. The birds in the present family are characterised by having the nostrils bare, never concealed by feathers ; the metatarsi partially or entirely naked, and in many cases armed with spurs ; the toes bare and never pectinate. Attempts have been made to divide this large group into several subfamilies, but with very unsatisfactory results, the characters relied upon being artificial and inconstant. Further research may show how to subdivide the group in a natural manner, but up to the present time no characters of any scientific value have been discovered by which we may so class the 270 or so species and subspecies of which it is composed. Genus PHASIANUS, or True Pheasant. Type, PHASIANUS COLCHICUS. Phasianus, of Linnaeus (1766). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by the absence of any occipital crest, and by their long wedge- shaped and graduated tail. The wings are short and rounded, the first primary about equal to the eighth and much longer than the tenth ; the tail is long and wedge-shaped and composed of eighteen feathers. The metatarsus is moderately long, and armed in the male with a conical, sharp spur. The bill is of medium length, the upper mandible convex, the tip bent downwards ; nostrils basal, and shielded by a membrane. Three toes in front, one behind ; hind toe articulated upon the metatarsus. This genus is composed of about eighteen species and several subspecies, which are confined to the Eastern hemisphere, being inhabitants of the south- eastern portions of the Palsearctic region and the northern portions of the Oriental region. One species is resident in the British Islands. The true Pheasants are dwellers in woodland districts, where plenty of cover affords them shelter. They are birds of rapid flight, and progress on the ground by running and walking. Their notes are harsh and discordant. They subsist chiefly on grain, seeds, fruits, berries, tender shoots, insects, larvae, and worms. Their nests are slight, and made upon the ground, and their eggs are numerous, unspotted brown or green. They are polygamous. Their flesh is highly esteemed for the table. 48 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family PHASIANID.E. Genus PHASIANUS. PHEASANT. PHASIANUS COLCHICUS— Linnaus. PLATES IX. (Frontispiece) and X. Phasianus colchicus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 271 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 114 (1837) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 85, pi. 469 (1879) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 91 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 445 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 357 (1893) ; Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 320 (1893) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. part xxxiii. (1896); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 275, pi. 59 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 291 (1897). Geographical distribution. — British: The Pheasant was probably introduced into the British Islands by the Eomans. It is a resident throughout all parts of the country where it is preserved, even in some of the wildest districts of the Outer Hebrides, the presence of cover being all that is required in addition to artificial feeding during severe weather. Foreign : Although intro- duced into most parts of Europe (with the exception of Spain and Portugal), and of recent years into North America, the true habitat of this species is in Western Asia, in the western parts of the basin of the Caspian Sea, and the southern and eastern portions of the basin of the Black Sea. It is a resident in the valleys of the Caucasus up to 3,000 feet above sea-level, and inhabits the country along the Caspian, from the Volga in the north to Asterabad on the southern shore ; it is found in the northern districts of Asia Minor, south to Ephesus, and is a resident on the island of Corsica. Allied forms. — The various species and races which are most closely allied to the Pheasant of Western Asia and Europe (the typical English species) are by no means clearly defined, and it is probable that further research may prove that several of these forms are merely the result of interbreeding. A table showing their geographical distribution and points of distinction is inserted at the end of the present chapter. Habits. — The almost uninterrupted interbreeding which has been going on between the Ring-necked Pheasant from China and the typical Pheasant from Colchis for the past ninety years has so far contaminated the original stock that few, if any, pure-bred birds are to be found in the British Islands. Again, in more recent years, another species (figured with the Eing-necked Pheasant on Plate X.) has been introduced into our islands and has crossed with these two species, viz., the Japanese or Green Pheasant, Phasianus 5 O r. M -C tf> .- J 2 £ 4 00 V E 1) O Ul 3 4J JS a. Id o Q Q Ul D a tc. •n -o .c 1 X) O OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 59 Habits. — In many of its habits this handsome Partridge differs considerably from the preceding species. It is much more arboreal in its tastes, and shows a decided preference for rougher ground, such as commons, the open, treeless parts of woods, and strips of heathy land covered with gorse and rush and bramble. Nevertheless, it is met with quite commonly on the fields in haunts affected by its British ally, but is always even more skulking, and ever tries to run and hide amongst the cover rather than use its wings. Another pecularity sure to be impressed upon the observer is the bird's habit of frequently perching in trees, on corn-stacks, or on hedges and fences ; whilst during snowstorms it often quits the open fields entirely, and seeks shelter amongst bushes and brushwood. It is a shy and wary bird, ever on the watch for danger, craning out its neck and peering in all directions at the least alarm, and continuing to do so as it runs quickly towards the cover. It flies well and strongly, with rapidly beating wings which make a loud, whirring noise, whilst on the ground it is capable of running with amazing speed. The note of the Eed-legged Partridge is a shrill treble crik-ik-ik, which is said to be common to both sexes. Its food is not known to differ in any important respect from that of the Common Partridge, and its habits from the time the broods are reared, onwards through the autumn, are very similar. It lives in coveys, which sometimes join into flocks, but which soon scatter when alarmed, each bird making off to some refuge. In consequence of this peculiarity, the Bed-legged Partridge affords poor sport. It will not lie close in the cover until flushed by the gunner, but is ever on the run, so that driving is absolutely necessary to obtain a decent bag. Nidification. — The Ked-legged Partridge pairs early in April, sometimes towards the end of March, and during this period it becomes rather pugnacious, and combats are of frequent occurrence between the cock-birds. The female goes to nest rather earlier than the Common Partridge, the eggs usually being laid towards the end of April or early in May. The nest is slovenly and slight, placed amongst the dense herbage of a hedge bottom or a dry ditch, or amongst growing grain, clover, or mowing grass. Sometimes it is placed amongst the thatch of a stack, or even in the side, and not unfrequently in a very exposed situation by the side of a footpath or highway. It is merely a hollow into which a few bits of dry herbage and leaves are scraped. Here the hen lays from twelve to eighteen eggs, pale brownish-yellow in ground-colour, spotted and speckled with dark brown. They measure on an average 1'G inch in length by 1*2 inch in breadth. Very often the hen lays at irregular intervals. Incubation, which is performed by the female, lasts about twenty-four days. As soon as the brood is hatched the male assists his mate in bringing up the chicks. Eggs of the Pheasant and the Common Partridge are occasionally found in the nest of this species. I have known instances where the Ked-legged Partridge has destroyed an entire brood of the Common Partridge ; and, in spite of oft-repeated statements to the contrary, 60 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL I ain firmly of opinion that the two birds are better apart. I would not advise the introduction or the encouragement of the Bed-legged Partridge in any district where the Common Partridge is already flourishing. There may be, however, many wild districts unsuitable to the latter species where the former might be established with advantage. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters. — Caccabis, with the gorget and lores black, the throat white, and the feathers of the upper breast brown, spotted with black. Length, 13 to 14 inches. Hybrids between this species and the Bock Partridge, C. saxatilis, have been recorded. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 61 Genus COTURNIX, or Quails. Type, COTUENIX COMMUNIS. Coturnix, of Bonnaterre (1790). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by their long-pointed wings, the first primary being about equal to the third, and the second generally a trifle the longest ; axillaries long and white. Eectrices extremely short, less than half the length of the wing, and ten or twelve in number. All the species are birds of small size. The meta- tarsus is scutellated in front, reticulated posteriorly, and spurless. The bill is short and stout, the upper mandible curved from base to tip ; nostrils basal, and semi-closed by a horny membrane. Three toes in front ; one behind, short and elevated. This genus is composed of about six species and doubtful races, which are confined to the Eastern hemisphere, being inhabitants of all the great zoological regions with the exception of Arctic latitudes. One species is a partial resident in the British Islands. The Quails are ground birds, and dwellers in open country, cultivated districts, grain lands, and plains. They are birds of prolonged and rapid flight, and progress on the ground by running and walking. Their notes are shrill and not quite unmusical. They subsist on grain, seeds, shoots of herbage, and insects. Their nests are rude structures placed on the ground, and their eggs are numerous and spotted. They are both polygamous and monogamous. Their flesh is highly esteemed for the table. 62 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family PHASIANID.E. Genus COTURNIX. QUAIL. COTUKNIX COMMUNIS.— Bonnaterre. Tetrao coturnix, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 278 (1766). Coturnix dactylisonans, Meyer ; Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 233 (1837). Coturnix communis, Bonnat. ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 143, pi. 476 (1878) ; Yarrell Brit. B. cd. 4 iii. p. 123 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 462 (1884); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B.p. 352 (1893); Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1893) Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 277, pi. 59 (1896). Coturnix coturnix (Linn.), Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 231 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 287 (1897). Geographical distribution — British: The Quail is a summer visitor to most parts of the British Islands, extending to the Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys, and Shetlands, but appears to be nowhere common. A few winter in the south of England and in Ireland : in the latter country the bird is said to be slowly becoming extinct. Foreign: Palsearctic region, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Quail is a summer visitor to Europe south of lat. 64°. It occurs throughout North Africa, Palestine, and Asia Minor, but in the basin of the Mediterranean is chiefly known on passage, although a few remain to breed and a few remain to winter in that district, whilst in the Azores and the Canaries it is a resident. The majority of the West Palsearctic birds winter in the African portion of the Intertropical realm. Eastwards the Quail visits Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan (where a few remain to winter), Siberia, and the north island of Japan in summer, wintering in Arabia, throughout India, Burma, and China, south to the Tropic of Cancer. It has also been recorded from Mayotte and the Grand Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean. Allied forms. — The Common Quail is another species presenting con- siderable variation, but whether these differences are sufficiently constant geographically to warrant specific or even subspecific distinction is by no means clear. Beginning in the West Palsearctic region, Mr. Meade Waldo states (Ibis, 1889, p. 517) that in the Canary Islands there are two races of Quail, one coming to the islands to breed, the other wintering there. This latter, he says, is smaller, darker, and more brightly coloured than the migrants, with brilliant yellow legs, those of the former being flesh-coloured. The Quails of SouthAfrica have been described as distinct under the name of Coturnix capensis, being somewhat smaller in size, and having the sides of the head, the chin, and the throat, bright OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 63 chestnut. This latter form is said to occur in the Canaries, Madeira and Azores, whilst the typical form certainly inhabits South Africa ; a fact, bearing in mind the suggested new law of geographical distribution propounded by us, which goes far to prove that these differences are of no specific value' whatever. As we suggested in The Migration of Birds (amended edition), the Quail is an equatorial species, one set of individuals of this species moving north to breed in the Palttarctic region ; another set moving south to breed in South Africa ; both sets returning to winter in the Intertropical realm. Returning north again we find that the east Palsearctic Quails have also been described as distinct species of climatic races, under the somewhat misleading name of Coturnix japonica, seeing that they are found in Eastern Siberia and North China, as well as in Japan. These individuals have no trace of black on the throat, which is uniform dull brick-red. As this form is said also to occur in South Europe, it seems probable that the differences are not even of subspecific value, but due to age, sex or season. The Quail question is by no means yet finally cleared up. Habits. — The Quail is a late bird of passage to the British Islands, arriving in May amongst the last of our summer visitors. The passage of this species from Africa across the Mediterranean into Europe is most interesting, and tens of thousands are caught each migration period for food. The return migration is undertaken during September and October. In some localities- this species is said to migrate by night during spring, but by day during autumn : whether this is the general order of passage remains to be seen. During its sojourn with us the Quail is one of our most skulking birds, far more often heard than seen, but it is a persistent caller, and its characteristic note of clik-a-lik soon proclaims its whereabouts. It is much attached to certain haunts, and appears to return to them each season. Its favourite resorts in this country are the grain and grass fields, and rough, hummocky pasture lands. Here it keeps close amongst the growing herbage, rarely using its wings, spending most of its time in the cover, and running with great quickness out of the way of impending danger. When flushed it flies quickly, but at no great height, with rapidly beat- ing wings, and always seems intent on dropping into the herbage at the first favourable spot. Sometimes it may be seen to skim on motionless wings for a considerable distance over a hedge or a bare bit of ground, just before alighting. It is nevertheless fond of frequenting bare spots in the fields, where it can dust its plumage and bask in the sun. During the hottest part of the day it does not move much, being most active in early morning and towards evening. The food of the Quail consists largely of grain and such small seeds as those of the plantain and chickweed. Insects and small snails are also eaten by the bird in some abundance, The Quail is for the most part solitary in its habits until the time of migration arrives, although the broods and their parents keep close company. The birds that are stationary in our islands never seem to pack, or to fraternise with other species. 64 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Quail shooting is a favourite sport in many districts. Tickell, referring to their abundance in India, says that under certain circumstances shooting them is mere slaughter. He writes: "Where birds get up at every step, dogs or beaters are worse than useless, and where the game is so plentiful, search after a wounded bird is seldom thought worth the trouble. It is usual to be provided with two or three guns (this was in the pre-breech-loader days), to be loaded, as fast as emptied, by a servant. With one gun only it would be necessary to wash out the barrels two or three times in the course of an afternoon, or at all events to wait every now and then for them to cool. A tolerably good shot will bag fifty to sixty brace in about three hours, and knock down many others that are not found. I remember one day getting into a deyra, or island formed by alluvial deposit, in the Ganges, between Patna (Bankipore) and Sonepore, which was sown almost entirely over with grain (chunna), and which literally swarmed with Quail. I do not exaggerate when I say they were like locusts in number. Every step that brushed the covert sent off a number of them, so that I had to stand every now and then like a statue and employ my arms only, and that in a stealthy manner, for the purpose of loading and firing. A furtive scratch of the head, or a wipe of the heated brow, dismissed a whole bevy into the next field; and in fact, the embarras de richesse was nearly as bad as if there had been no birds at all." Nidification. — In localities where there is an excess of hens the Quail is decidedly polygamous, but in others where the sexes are about equally dispersed, the male pairs with one female only, and assists her in bringing up the brood. During the pairing season the Quail is most pugnacious, each cock beating off all intruders from his own particular haunt; and about this period the merry note of the male sounds incessantly and defiantly from the cover. The female is late in going to nest, the eggs seldom being laid before June. The nest is scanty, a mere hollow amongst the corn or clover, or the rough grass of the weedy pastures, into which a few bits of dry grass and leaves are scraped. In districts where the cocks run with several hens, the nests are often placed not many yards apart. The eggs vary a good deal in number. I have known nests contain twenty eggs, but from eight to twelve is the usual clutch. They are buffish-white or yellowish-olive in ground-colour, boldly blotched and spotted with various shades of brown, ranging from very pale olive to nearly black. They measure on an average 11 inch in length by '91 inch in breadth. The hen bird alone incubates the eggs, which are hatched in about twenty-one days. The young are soon able to run with their parents and to forage largely for themselves. It is said that the Quail sometimes rears two broods or bevies in the season, but this must be under very exceptional circumstances ; my experience is that if the first nests be taken no other attempts are made. Diagnostic characters.— Coturnix, with the outer webs of the primaries irregularly barred with buff, with the general colour of the plumage buff, and the chin and throat nearly black in the male and buff in the female. Length, 7 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 65 ORDER RALLIFORMES.— THE RAILS AND FINFOOTS. THE Rails and their allies form a comparatively well-defined and somewhat isolated group, the affinities of which are by no means clearly determined. They have been more or less closely associated with other groups, such as the Bustards, the Cranes, the Game Birds, the Sand-Grouse, the Grebes, and so on, according to the importance attached to certain characters by various system- atists. Their sternum contains one notch only on each side of the posterior margin ; but, unlike the Galliformes, the opisternal process is not perforated to receive the base of the coracoids. In the modification of their cranial bones they are schizognathous, whilst their nostrils are holorhinal. The dorsal vertebrae are heterocoolous. Amongst their external characters may be men- tioned the following : — The oil-gland is tufted ; the af tershaft is in most cases present ; the toes are long and slender, sometimes furnished with webs and scallops, the hallux slightly elevated ; the metatarsus is rather short. The bill varies considerably in size and shape. The primaries are ten in number ; the rectrices vary from twelve to eighteen in number. So far as is known the young are hatched covered with down, and able to run and swim shortly after leaving the shell ; although in the Finfoots (Heliornithidae) the young are reputed to be hatched naked. Nothing definite, however, appears to be known relating to this portion of their economy. Moult variable — in some species once in autumn only ; in others in spring and autumn. In the single- moulted species the nuptial plumage is assumed by abrasion and increased brilliancy. The birds in the present order number upwards of two hundred species and subspecies. These have been divided into two well-marked families by Dr. Sharpe, the most recent monographer of the group : one of these is well represented in the British Islands. It seems probable, however, that the Mesitidae (containing but one species) of Madagascar will have to be included in the present order. These birds are cosmopolitan with the exception of the Polar regions. 5 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family RALLID/E.— The Rails. The birds comprising this, by far the largest division of the order, may be distinguished, in addition to the characters already given, by their having au after- shaft to the body feathers and twelve rectrices. The present family is divisible into two fairly well-defined subfamilies, both of which are represented in our area. Subfamily RALLIN^E.— The Plain=toed Rails. The Plain-toed Bails may be distinguished from other members of the present family by the absence of lobe-like processes from the toes. It includes by far the greater number of species, and has been subdivided by a recent monographer into what we consider to be an unwarrantable number of genera. Genus CREX, or Crakes. Type, CEEX PRATENSIS. Crex, of Bechstein (1803). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by their short, thick bill, shorter than the head, and by having the forehead covered with feathers to the base of the culmeu. The wings are moderately long but rather rounded ; the tail is short. The metatarsus is compara- tively short, the lower part of the tibia devoid of feathers. The bill is short and compressed ; nostrils linear and oblong. Three toes in front, one behind, the former long and slender ; claws curved and sharp. This genus is composed of about twenty species, which are confined to the Eastern hemisphere, being inhabitants of all the great zoological regions with the exception of Arctic latitudes. Four species are either resident in or visitors to the British Islands. The Crakes are dwellers amongst the dense and humid vegetation of swamps and marshes, but some species are more terrestrial than others. They are birds of somewhat slow and laboured flight, and on the ground progress by running and walking. Their notes are shrill and harsh. They subsist chiefly on insects, seeds, and tender shoots. Their nests are large, and made of aquatic vegetation, and their eggs are numerous and double-spotted. They are monogamous. The flesh of some species is highly esteemed. X V 4-1 J2 Q. OQ w J2 a. -o c m in •§ *^ i 1 oa | o HI \ OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 141 Family CHARADRIID^. Genus OCHTHODBOMDS. Subfamily CHARADRIIN&,. CASPIAN PLOVER. OCHTHODROMUS ASIATICUS— PLATE XX. Charadrius asiaticus, Pallas, Eeis. Euss. Eeichs. ii. p. 715 (1773). ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 122 (1896). /Egialitis asiatica (Pall.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 479, pis. 520, fig. 1, 522 (1878) ; Butler, Ibis, 1890, p. 463 ; Southwell, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1890, p. 461 ; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892). /4Egialophilus asiaticus (Pall.), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 231 (1894). Ochthodromus asiaticus (Pall.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 150 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 230 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British : At a meeting of the Zoological Society on June 17th, 1890, the secretary, Dr. P. L. Sclater, exhibited on behalf of Mr. T. Southwell a mounted specimen of the Caspian Plover, the first and only example known to have been killed in the British Islands. Mr. Southwell's communication was as follows :— " On the evening of the 23rd May I received from Mr. Lowne, of Yarmouth, the fresh skin of a handsome full-plumaged male of MgiaUtii asiatica, sent me for identification. Subsequently I learned the following particulars with regard to this interesting occurrence. During the morning of the 23rd of May two strange birds were seen in a large market garden bordering on the North Denes, at Yarmouth, which attracted the atten- tion of the occupier of the gardens, but he had no opportunity of a shot till about 5.30 p.m., when they were on the golf ground which forms a portion of the Denes. He tried to get both birds in a line for a double shot ; that being unsuccessful he selected the brighter of the two, its companion being at the time about six yards distant from it. When he fired, the paler bird, presumably the female, flew off in a westerly direction and was no more seen. Very shortly after the bird was purchased of the shooter by Mr. H. C. Knights, by whom it was taken the next morning to Mr. Lowne for preservation, who, .as before stated, forwarded the skin to me for identification. The weather at the time was very warm, and Mr. Lowne, seeing that it was a valuable bird, would not risk sending it to me in the flesh ; hence it was that I saw only the skin, but I may mention that it had all the appearance of having been very recently removed, and 142 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL that there were still many living parasites remaining on the feathers. The sternum Mr. Lowne sent to Professor Newton. The total length of the bird in the flesh was 8 inches and its weight 2£ oz. Mr. Knights was good enough to give me the first offer of the bird, and through the liberality of some friends of the Norwich Museum I was enabled to purchase this latest addition to the many local rarities for that institution." (Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1890, p. 461.) Foreign : South central Palaearctic region ; Ethiopian region in winter. The range of this Plover is remarkably restricted, the bird in the breeding season being apparently confined to the basins of the Caspian and Aral Seas. It passes Arabia and the Upper Nile Valley on migration, and winters in Africa in the Intertropical realm. There can be 'little doubt that this is another species which migrates north and south from an equatorial base. That it breeds in South Africa seems to be sug- gested by the fact that examples in full breeding dress — dated from November to February — have been obtained there, and are now in the National Collection. It is also a rare visitor to Western India, and is also a straggler to Heligoland and Italy ; whilst an immature bird was taken six hundred miles from land in the Indian Ocean. Allied forms. — None with which it is likely to be confused. Habits. — But little is known of the habits of this Plover ; and from the few fragments recorded in the Ibis and elsewhere I do not find anything of special interest. Nidification. — A reputed egg of this species taken on the Kirghiz Steppes is described by Mr. Dresser (B. of Europe) as oval and tapering, warm buff, with a faint tinge of green in ground-colour, and the spots nearly black. This descrip- tion appears to be a doubtful one. Von Middendorff figures an egg of this bird in his Beise in Nord. und Ost. Sibiriens, ii., pi. xix., fig. 4. It measures 1'25 inch in length by 1-07 inch in breadth. Diagnostic characters.— Ochthodromus, with no black markings on the head and neck, with the lores white, and the legs and feet pale brown. Length, 7'5 inches. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 143 Genus EUDROMIAS, or Dotterels. Type, EUDEOMIAS MOBINELLUS. Elldromias, of Brehm (1831). — Although very closely allied to the birds in the preceding genus, the Dotterel presents certain characteristics which to some extent warrant its generic exclusion. The single species in the present genus is characterised by having the tibia almost entirely feathered, and the culmen less than the combined length of the middle toe and claw. The hind toe is wanting and the wings are long and pointed. This genus contains but a single species which is confined to the Palsearctic region in summer, and in winter is found also in the Ethiopian portion of the Intertropical realm. It is a summer visitor to the British Islands, and passes them on spring and autumn migration. The Dotterel is an inland species rather than a dweller on the coasts, and in its habits and economy closely resembles its allies. Full particulars will be given in the following chapter. 144 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAKADKIID^E. Genus EUDROMIAS. Subfamily CHARADRllNM. DOTTEREL. EUDEOMIAS MOKINELLUS— (Linnceus) . PLATE XXI. Charadrius morinellus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 254 (1766) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 30 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 123, pi. 39 (1896). Pluvialis morinellus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 104 (1850). Eudromias morinellus (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 507, pi. 526 (1875) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 246 (1883) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 257 (1893) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 152 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 234 (1896) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxiv. (1897). Geographical distribution.— British: In England the Dotterel is chiefly met with on spring and autumn passage, more frequently in the eastern counties than in the western. A few perhaps may still breed in the Lake District and on the Cheviot Hills. Probably it may have formerly bred on some of the chalk ranges in the south, but if so it has long ceased to do so. It is of very rare occurrence in Wales, but this may probably be owing in a great measure to insufficient observation. It is rarer in Ireland than in England, and is not known to have nested there. Scotland is its headquarters in the British Islands, and there it is said to breed on the hills of Dumfriesshire, on the Grampians in North Perthshire, on the borders of Inverness-shire and in Koss and Banffshire. It has been found nesting on the Orkneys, but only passes the Shetlands on migration. In the west of Scotland it is rare, and has not hitherto been noticed in any of the Outer Hebrides. Foreign : Palaearctic region during the breeding season ; western Palsearctic region and Ethiopian region in winter only. It breeds on the tundras above forest growth across Europe (including Nova Zembla) and Asia ; passes Central Europe (where a few remain to breed on the Alps, in Bohemia, in Transylvania, and further north on the mountains of Scandinavia), West Siberia, Turkestan, and Persia on migration, and winters in Palestine, Egypt, and North-west Africa, although a few remain during that season on the northern shores of the Mediterranean. It is an occasional visitor to the Canaries, and has been recorded from Japan. Allied forms. — Ochihodromus veredus, a somewhat distantly related and genetically distinct species, which breeds in Mongolia, and winters from Java to X X — Q_ OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 145 Australia. Differs from the Dotterel, amongst other characters, in having a white belly in summer plumage, and in its small foot (middle toe without claw shorter than bill, and less than half the tarsus.— Scebohm.) Habits. — The migrations of the Dotterel are by no means the least interesting portion of the bird's economy. The story of its journeying from North Africa to Arctic Europe in the space of a single night is unquestionably the wildest of romance. This extraordinary story seems to receive confirmation by the fact that during spring, of the tens of thousands of Dotterels that leave Africa for the Arctic tundras, comparatively few birds are seen in the intervening country, in Central and Southern Europe, but this is unquestionably because Dotterels (as well as most, if not all other migrants) are far less prone to alight en route in spring, travel quicker, and often at a much greater altitude than they do in autumn.* The Dotterel is a late migrant, not reaching our islands until the end of April or beginning of May, and the Arctic regions a month or more later. The passage south in autumn is undertaken much more slowly, beginning in September and lasting in the extreme south of Europe through October into November ; indeed, an example has been shot in the British Islands as late as the 23rd of the latter month. The Dotterel is in no sense a coast bird, but loves to haunt the upland fallows, and the bare downs and mountains, and rough, barren pastures. In the Arctic region it frequents the tundra — a district very similar to our own moorlands, treeless, but covered with a great variety of herbs and heaths, shrubs and flowers. All through the summer the Dotterel is more or less gregarious, and in autumn and winter becomes especially so. Upon its arrival it is one of the tamest of birds, and admits of a very close approach, but persecution soon teaches it wariness Its remarkable trustfulness has gained for it the name of " foolish" Dotterel — the latter word in olden times being the equivalent for a " foolish, dull person." The Dotterel spends most of its time on the ground, running hither and thither about the rough, hummocky wastes, or over the newly-ploughed fields and bare downs. Its rather short neck and plump body is apt to lend it the appearance of sluggishness, but when flushed it flies rapidly enough, in true Plover style, with quick, regular beats of the long wings. Its call-note is a prolonged and plaintive diit, varied sometimes into drr, the two occasionally being uttered together as drr-dilt. This note in the pairing season becomes a trill, but whether uttered by the male or female, or by both, remains to be ascertained. The food of the Dotterel consists of insects, worms, and grubs, and the tender buds and shoots of plants. In Palestine, Canon Tristram observed this species feeding on various species of small white snails. During winter the Dotterel often congregates into very large flocks, which frequent the various southern steppes and plains, and here they are described as being just as tame as in the breeding-places. * (Conf. The Migration of Birds and The Migration of British Birds.) 146 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Nidification. — From the nature of the country it frequents the Dotterel is a rather late breeder, and even in our islands the eggs are seldom laid before the end of May or the first week in June. In higher latitudes they are, of course, later still. There is much of interest attached to the nesting of the Dotterel. In the first place the hen is larger and more handsomely coloured than the cock,* and, as is usual in such very exceptional cases, the male bird not only performs the greater part of the duty of incubation, but takes the largest share in the task of bringing up the young. The nest is merely a slight hollow amongst the moss and lichen or grass near the mountain-tops, or on the open tundra. The eggs are invariably three in number, and very handsome objects, varying from yellowish-olive to pale buff in ground-colour, richly blotched and spotted with dark brown, and, much more sparingly, with slate-grey. They measure on an average 1'6 inch in length by I'l inch in breadth. Incubation lasts from eighteen to twenty-one days. At the nest the old birds are very wary, if some- what tame, and run about or fly from place to place, tiring all but the most patient watcher, and only returning to the eggs when the intruder is considered by the watchful owners to be at a sufficiently safe distance. When the young are discovered the parent oftens feigns lameness, and seeks to lure an intruder away by various cunning artifices. One brood only is reared in the year. Fresh eggs of this species have been found on the Cumberland hills as late as July, probably the produce of birds that had lost their first clutch. Diagnostic characters.— Eudromias, with the axillaries grey, and the bill shorter than the middle toe without the claw. In breeding plumage this species is easily recognised by its rich chestnut breast and flanks and black belly. Length, 9 inches. * This has recently been denied by Dr. Sharpe, who states that the series of skins in the British Museum does not confirm the suggestion. Equally good authorities, however, maintain the contrary. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 147 Genus CHARADRIUS, or Golden Plovers. Type, CHAKADEIUS PLUVIALIS. Chnraclrius, of Linnseus (1766). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the innermost secondaries very long and pointed, and the under parts black in breeding plumage. The upper parts are spotted with golden yellow at all seasons. The hind toe is absent. The bill is shorter than the head, and rather slender ; the nostrils are sub-basal and linear. The lower portion of the tibia is naked. This genus is composed of three species, and is almost cosmopolitan, but the species are most abundant in the high north in summer. One species is a common resident in the British Islands, whilst the remaining two are abnormal migrants to them. The Golden Plovers are dwellers on mountains, tundras, and plains, as well as on the sea coast. They are birds of rapid and prolonged flight, and progress on the ground by walking and running. Their notes are loud, and not unmusical. They subsist on insects, worms, mollusks, small seeds, mountain fruits, and shoots of herbage. Slight nests are made on the ground, and their eggs, pyriform in shape and four in number, are richly spotted. They are monogamous ; social in summer, gregarious in winter. 148 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHARADEIID^l. Genus CHAKADRIUS. Subfamily CHARADRIIN&. GOLDEN PLOVER. CHABADKIUS PLUVIALIS.— Linnatus. PLATE XXII. Charadrius pluvialis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 254 (1766) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 435, pi. 515, fig. 1 (1871); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 271 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 35 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 255 (1893) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 143 (1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 124, pi. 39 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 191 (1896.) Pluvialis aurea (P. L. S. Miiller), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 94 (1852). Geographical distribution. — British: The Golden Plover breeds locally in England south of Derbyshire, and in Wales, in fact it follows the moun- tains. A few breed in Devon and Somerset ; and on the heights of Breconshire, amongst other localities, in the Welsh area. From the moors of North Derby- shire and South Yorkshire it becomes more plentiful, and from thence is pretty generally distributed in all suitable localities northwards throughout Scotland, including the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and Shetlands. It occasionally visits St. Kilda. During the winter it is widely dispersed along most of our coast-line and in many inland districts. In Ireland it is widely distributed, breeding on the moors, and frequenting the coasts in winter. Foreign : It breeds on the Faroes and in Iceland, and has occurred on Jan Mayen and Nova Zembla, but is erroneously recorded as from Greenland. The principal breeding grounds are the Norwegian fells, and the tundras of Northern Russia and Siberia, as far east as the valley of the Lena ; and it breeds in smaller numbers on the moors of Holland, Belgium, and Germany, but to the rest of Central and Southern Europe it is known on passage only, a few remaining in these districts to winter. The birds that breed on the Siberian tundras pass through Turkestan and Baluchistan on migration, a few remaining to winter in the latter country, but the majority passing on to spend that season in Africa in the basin of the Mediterranean, the grand winter home of this species. It is a regular winter visitor to the Canaries, a straggler to Madeira, and occasionally wanders in Africa as far south as Cape Colony and Natal. X X OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 149 Allied forms. — None more closely allied than Charadrius fulvus, and its American representative, C. dominions, treated fully in the two following chapters. Habits. — The Golden Plover, like many other birds, is a species that changes its haunts according to season. In summer it is an inhabitant of the moors and mountain heaths, the rough upland pastures and the tundras ; in winter it quits these places and takes up its residence on the lowland marshes, the pastures and rough saltings near the sea, and the low flat coasts and mud banks. For the greater part of the year it is a social bird : even in the breeding season I have seen parties of half-a-dozen or so : but towards autumn it becomes much more gregarious, and lives in flocks of varying size throughout the winter. The flight of this species is rapid and steady, especially during migration, or when the bird is passing from place to place, performed by regular and quick beats of the wings. This Plover also frequently indulges in various serial evolutions, and flocks often assume the shape of a V or a W during flight. Most of its food is obtained during winter on the mud-flats and saltings, and it very often retires to some inland spot between the tides to sleep, or to rest and wait until the muds are exposed again. Vast flights of Golden Plover — the Plover of the coast — make their appearance on our low-lying coasts in autumn, many of which con- tinue along our shores and cross the sea again to winter further south, but others remain with us for that season. In no part of the British Islands can the migration of this species be better remarked than in the neighbourhood of the Wash. For days and nights, about the end of October and early in November, this Plover has been known to fly over from continental Europe in almost one incessant stream, the flocks succeeding each other so quickly as to form a nearly unbroken throng. This Plover may frequently be noticed in company with Dunlins, Lapwings, and Curlews, and occasionally a few Grey Plovers mix with them. As its flesh is very palatable great numbers are shot in the autumn and winter. It has been repeatedly noticed that just before stormy weather the Golden Plover becomes restless and unsettled, and often leaves a district entirely before the change arrives. Much of its food is obtained during the night, especially if there be a moon, but I do not think it moves much on very dark nights. The food of the Golden Plover varies a good deal according to season. In winter it consists of beetles, small mollusks, sand-worms, hoppers, and, occasionally, small seeds ; but in summer, insects and grubs, as well as earth-worms, and towards autumn various kinds of ground fruits. In summer this species has been known to feed upon the maggots (presumably the larvae of the common blue-bottle) infesting a dead sheep. Various vegetable fragments and gravel are also found in its stomach. The alarm note of the Golden Plover is a plaintive ko, but the call- note is double, and sounds something like klee-wee, sometimes prolonged into three syllables, klee-ee-wee. These notes are uttered both on the ground and whilst the bird is in the air. During the pairing season the male utters a rather 150 THE GAME BIBDS AND WILD FOWL musical trill, a variation of the double or treble call-note. The whistle of this Plover is one of the most characteristic sounds of the mud-flats or the moors, and on a calm still day may be heard for a very long distance. Nidification. — The Golden Plovers begin to retire to their inland breeding grounds early in April, and by the end of that mouth or early in May the eggs are deposited. Although the vast flocks soon break up, either before the moors are reached or shortly after arrival, the bird continues more or less sociable, and many nests may be found within a comparatively small area on suitable ground. This species is very conspicuous on the bare moors, and is remarkably fond of proclaiming its presence either by standing perched on the top of a little hillock, or rising into the air, uttering its piping note the moment its solitudes are invaded by man. It is in Spring much more tame than in winter, and often flies up to the observer and wheels above his head, or stands quietly watching his approach. Before the flocks finally disperse, however, this bird is almost as wary as when on the coast. The well-known note sounds near and far, as it is uttered by answering birds all over the wilderness, and here, there, and everywhere the showy Plovers in their brazen spotted upper plumage and black underparts rise and fall in airy grace. The Golden Plover appears to pair annually, and the nest is very slight, a mere hollow, scantily lined with a few bits of withered herbage peculiar to the moor. It is generally made on a tuft of herbage, or beneath the shelter of a clump of cotton-grass, more rarely in barer situations, amongst short wiry grass and heath. The eggs are four in number, pyriform, buff of various shades in ground-colour, boldly and richly spotted and blotched with purplish-brown and brownish-black, and more sparingly with grey. Most of the colouring is generally distributed on the larger end of the egg. They measure on an average 2'0 inches in length by 1*4 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the duty of incubation, which lasts sixteen to twenty days. The birds are remarkably watchful at the breeding grounds, and the sentinel bird quickly conveys the signal of alarm to its mate, which slips quietly off the eggs, and often both rise into the air and wheel round and round above them. Sometimes they run anxiously to and fro about the moor, occasionally uttering a mournful note ; and as soon as the nearly hatched eggs are discovered they commence a series of antics to draw all attention upon themselves. When the young are hatched these actions are even more demonstrative. The young chicks, clothed in yellow down, spotted and blotched with black, are quick to conceal themselves at the ap- proach of danger, and remain crouching to the ground, which so closely resembles their own protective dress, until all is still and safe again. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic Characters.— Charadrius, with all the rectrices barred and the axillaries white. Length, 10 to 11 inches. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 151 Family CHABADBIID^E. Genus CHABADRIUS. Subfamily CHARADRIINJE. ASIATIC GOLDEN PLOVER. CHARADBIUS PULVUS.— Gmelin. Charadrius fulvus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p 687 (1788) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 443, pis. 516, 517, figs 2, 3 (1871) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 276 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 40 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 234 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 125, pi. 39 (1896). Charadrius dominicus, (P. L. S. Miiller), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 147 (1896 partim) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 195 (1896 par tim). Geographical distribution. — British : At least two examples of the typical Asiatic Golden Plover have been known to occur in the British Islands, but one of these is doubtful from the fact of having been obtained in Leadenhall Market, a centre to which many Continental examples of waders find their way during the season. This— the first reputed British example — was said to have been sent with a number of Golden Plovers from Norfolk in December, 1874 (Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 513). However probable this may be, it was always open to the doubt of having been sent from the Continent, and accidentally mixed with the Norfolk batch of Plovers. It sufficed, however, to put British naturalists on the look-out, and thirteen years later (November 26th, 1887) an example was obtained at Stennis, in Orkney, round which no doubt of any kind appears to dwell (J. G. Millais, Field, 1887). Foreign : Eastern Palsearctic region and North- western Nearctic region in summer, Oriental and Australian regions in winter. Of accidental occurrence only in Europe and South-west Asia : on Heligoland and Malta, in Malaga, Poland, and on the Mekran coast. It breeds on the tundras of East Siberia from the valley of the Yenisei to the Pacific coast, and in Alaska, where Dr. Stejneger says it occupies the whole shore line of Behring Sea. It passes through South Siberia, Mongolia, Behring Island, and Japan, on migra- tion, to winter in India, Burma Peninsula, China, the Malay Archipelago, Australia, New Zealand,* and the Polynesia, but there can be little doubt that the individuals visiting the temperate latitudes of the southern hemisphere do so to breed, or are abnormal migrants far south of their usual limits.! ' The Asiatic Golden Plover was discovered breeding on Portland Island, off New Zealand, by Mr. Robson, in January, 1883. This is a most interesting and important fact, supporting our suggested new Law of dispersal. t Conf. Migration of Birds, p. 218. 152 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Allied forms. — Charadrius pluvialis and C. dominions, treated in the preceding and following chapters. Habits. — The habits of the Asiatic Golden Plover are not known to differ much from those of its European ally. During summer it is a bird of the tundras, the vast expanses of Arctic moors above the limits of forest growth ; but in winter it migrates for thousands of miles to the south, and spends that season principally on the flat, mud-bound coasts and rough lands near the sea. In China, however, Swinhoe observed it frequenting the dry rice fields and sweet potato gardens as well as the sea shore ; whilst at its winter quarters in Borneo it is said to haunt the places where buffalos wallow, probably for the purpose of catching insects and worms. It is equally gregarious and sociable, especially during winter, and then consorts with other wading birds ; and in Ceylon is said to be generally in the company of the Mongolian Ked-breasted Einged Plover. Many of its gatherings during winter are of very large dimensions, which frequent the muds, whilst smaller parties are said to haunt the bare fields. Captain Legge states that in Ceylon, where it is very common during winter, it has a habit of running a little distance when approached, then pausing for a moment, with its body turned away from the observer and its head twisted on one side. If it be still pursued it spreads its wings and runs for a little way, then takes flight. A flock when disturbed will frequently fly swiftly towards the ground, then rise again. It walks and runs about the ground, and flies in a similar manner to the Golden Plover. The note of the Asiatic Golden Plover is described by Seebohrn as a plaintive Tco ; the double note is a whistling kl-ee, which is sometimes prolonged into three syllables, Ttl-ee-Tco. The food of this species consists of various small marine animals, such as mollusks, crustaceans, and the like, worms, snails and insects, and probably various ground fruits of the tundra. Nidif ication.— By far the best account of the breeding habits of the Asiatic Golden Plover is that given by Seebohm, who met with this species and obtained its eggs and downy young on the Siberian tundras in the valley of the Yenisei. These eggs and nestlings are perhaps the only authentic ones known to science, with the exception of the eggs obtained by Mr. H. L. Popham in the same area. The earliest examples of this species arrived in the Arctic regions during the first week in June, in lat. 66£°, and it was observed on the Koorayika during its passage north to the tundras. It was not again observed until the open tundra was reached in lat. 69}°, just beyond the limits of the growth of trees. Here the pine trees had disappeared, and the birch trees had become nothing more than stunted bushes about a foot high ; but the alders and the willows still grew luxuriantly on the banks of the great river. The tundra here was hilly, full of lakes and swamps, covered with mosses and lichens, here and there varied witli OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 153 bare patches of pebble-strewn ground, and little plains where gay flowers and the various fruits of the tundra nourished. A pair of Plovers soon made their appear- ance during an excursion on the 14th of July, and after much fruitless watching one of them, the male, was shot. The nest was found shortly afterwards amongst the moss and lichen, containing the full complement of eggs. At Gol- cheeka this Plover is very common, but unfortunately Seebohm was too late for eggs (20th of July), and here obtained a nestling only. The nest was merely a slight depression lined with broken stalks of reindeer moss. The eggs are almost precisely similar to those of the European Golden Plover, but are slightly smaller and paler in ground-colour. Those obtained by Seebohm varied from 1'92 to 1'85 inch in length by 1'32 to 1'27 inch in breadth. In the same valley Mr. H. L. Popham found this species more numerous than the Golden Plover, and remarked the difference in the note of the two birds, which rendered their identification an easy task. The eggs obtained by Mr. Popham varied in length from 2~04 to 1'96 inch, and were 1'33 inch in breadth. One brood only is reared in the year, and both parents appear to assist in domestic duties. Diagnostic characters. — Charadrius, with the rectrices barred, and the axillaries smoke-grey. Length of wing, 6'0 to 6'7 inches. Total length, 9 inches. 154 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAEADEIID^. Genus CHABADBIUS. Subfamily GHAUADRIINM. AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER. CHAHADEIUS DOMINICUS.— P. L. S. Mutter. Charadrius dominicus, P. L. S. Miiller, Syst. Nat. Anhang, p. 116 (1776) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 147 (1896 partim) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 195 (1896 partim). Charadrius virginicus (Licht.j, Gurney, Ibis, 1883, p. 198; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 41 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 125, pi. 39 (1896). Charadrius fulvus americanus (Schlegel), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 236 (1894). Geographical distribution — British: Two examples of the American Golden Plover have been obtained in the British Islands, although, unfortunately, the same remarks apply to one of them as to one of the examples of the Asiatic species, viz., that it was obtained in Leadenhall Market (10th of November, 1882) ; whence actually obtained, a mystery (Gurney, Ibis, 1883, p. 198). Fortunately a second example is much more satisfactory, Mr. J. G. Millais recording (Zoologist, 1886, p. 26) a specimen obtained in Perthshire on the 3rd of August, 1883. There can be little doubt that eventually others will be obtained, now that the attention of naturalists and sportsmen is specially drawn to the subject. Foreign : Northern Nearctic region and SouthernNeo tropical region in summer ; Intertropical realm in winter. Of accidental occurrence only in Europe ; Heligoland (Seebohm, Ibis, 1877, p. 165). It breeds in the Arctic regions of North America, above the limits of forest growth on the tundras from Alaska to Greenland ; passes Canada, the States, Bermudas (abnormally), West Indies, and, in smaller numbers, Cali- fornia, on migration, and winters in the Neotropical portion of the Intertropical realm. The breeding area of this species in temperate South America is not yet determined, but there can be little doubt that the bird migrates southward to nest.* Allied forms. — Charadrius pluvialis, and C. fulvus, already treated of in the two preceding chapters. Habits. — The habits of the American Golden Plover somewhat closely resemble those of its Asiatic ally. Mr. E. W. Nelson writes as follows respecting the present species during its summer sojourn in Alaska : " The males are conspicuous objects as they stand like silhouettes, their black and white breasts and sides of neck presenting a sharp, clear-cut outline on the brown and grey • Conf. The Migration oj Birds, p. 218. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 155 background. At intervals, their clear, mellow, and melancholly note rises for a moment, and then the bird apparently sinks into a day-dream, and remains motionless for some time, until he is prompted to assure his partner of his presence by another call. The male at this season has a brighter plumage than the female, and in places little frequented by man he becomes very unsuspicious : near villages, however, he is always on the look-out, and is difficult to approach even when he is found by his nest. Towards the end of May and during the first weeks of June the males utter a clear, rich song, which is frequently heard during the twilight of the short Arctic nights. When I was camping at the Yukon mouth during the last of May and the first part of June, 1879, these birds were scattered all about in the vicinity of the tent, and frequently during the middle of the night the song was heard close by, and was exceedingly sweet and musical. One night in particular I remember lying awake, listening to the usual continuous faint clicking among the disintegrating ice in the river, which seemed to make the silence still more marked, when, suddenly, just at the back of the tent, arose the clear, plaintive note of the Golden Plover, which may be represented by the syllables too-lee-e. Soon after, in the same sweet, musical tone, was uttered a marvellously harmonious succession of notes, which I wrote down at the time, listening to the song as it was repeated again and again, and ascertaining the exact number of syllables. These, I find, are only imperfectly represented as follows : TEE-lee-lEo, tu-lee-lee, wit, wit, wit, wee-u wit, che lee-u too lee-e. The last three syllables are the ones most commonly uttered, serving as a call-note ; but the song in full is only repeated on special occasions, as before remarked, being oftener heard during the still hours of the night than during the day, if, indeed, it can be called night when the sun disappears below the horizon for little over an hour." The American Golden Plover occurs on migration throughout the Mississippi Valley and Manitoba as well as along the coasts, on its way to and from its breeding grounds in the Arctic regions. Its northward migration appears to begin in March, and to be continued until the first week in May. The southward migration commences as early as the middle of July in some years and lasts until the close of October or early in November. Further south, Colonel Feilden records some very interesting par- ticulars relating to the migrations of the American Golden Plover on the island of Barbadoes. He writes,* " Stragglers arrive as early as July and the beginning of August, but the main flights come with the first heavy weather after the 27th of August, and long experience and observation proves that this date is kept year after year with wonderful accuracy. The course of all the migratory Charadriidae across Barbadoes in the autumn is from the north-west to south-east, and if the wind blows from south-east the birds are brought down to the island, for it appears to be a well-established observation that birds prefer migrating with a ' beam ' wind. A shift of wind from the north-east, with squally weather to the * Ibis, 1889, pp. 490, 491. 156 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL south-east, is ardently longed for by the Barbadoes sportsmen towards the end of August, as this forces the migratory hosts to alight instead of passing over at a great height, as they are seen to do when the wind is from the north-east. The first arrivals of this species are invariably black-breasted birds, showing that the old birds precede the young, and the first comers are nearly all males. The young birds without black on the breast appear about the 12th of September, and continue to pass till the end of October ; sometimes stragglers are as late as November." It is not known that the food of this species differs in any important respect from that of the preceding species ; whilst the localities it frequents are similar, and are inland as well as maritime. Nidification. — The American Golden Plover reaches its nesting places on the "barren grounds" of Arctic America at the end of May or early in June. Its nesting habits very closely resemble those of the Asiatic species. MacFarlane describes the nest as a mere hollow in the moss or lichen-clothed ground, carelessly lined with a few scraps of herbage ; whilst Mr. Nelson says it is a slight structure lined with dry grass and dead leaves of the dwarf willow. The eggs are four in number ; although MacFarlane has recorded an instance in which five were found. They so closely resemble those of the Asiatic species that a detailed description of them is unnecessary. MacFarlane writes of the breeding habits of this Plover as follows* : — " This beautiful species is very numerous in the barren grounds, from the outskirts of the forest to the shores of the Polar Sea. The nests were precisely similar to those of C. squatarola. They were also as difficult to detect, and for the same reason, a harmonizing resemblance of the egg markings to the surrounding soil and a timeous departure of the female bird from her nest. In a very few instances where she happened to be surprised by a close approach, she would pretend lameness, and nutter away from our very feet. On one occasion our party spent half an hour in a close but fruitless search, during which the female resorted to various manoeuvres to hide the nest ; but on our withdrawal to a short distance she at last revealed it by settling down upon her eggs. I find one hundred and seventy nests recorded among my notes. Except when there was reason to believe that the full number had not been deposited, four eggs were always met with. In one instance, however, there was as many as five, and in another but one, the contents of which were found in a well-developed condition. Foxes also destroy many eggs and young of this and other species during the season of nidification. The frequently varying but sweetly clear and melodious notes of this Plover are almost constantly heard whilst traversing their usual breeding grounds." One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters.— Charadrius, with the rectrices barred and the axillaries smoke-grey. Length of wing, 6'8 to 7'5 inches. Total length, 9 to 10 inches. * Proceedings U. S. Nat. Museum, xiv., pp. 429, 430 (1891). OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 157 Genus SQUATAROLA, or Grey Plovers. Type, SQUATAEOLA HELVETICA. Sqtiatarola, of Leach (1816). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the innermost secondaries very long and pointed, and the under parts black in breeding plumage. The upper parts are spotted with black and white at the same season. The most characteristic feature is the presence of a hind toe. The bill is shorter than the head and rather slender ; the nostrils are sub-basal and linear. The lower portion of the tibia is naked. This genus is composed of a single species, the range of which is almost cosmopolitan, from the Intertropical realm northwards to the Arctic regions. It is a well known visitor on spring and autumn migration to the British Islands, and some numbers remain to winter. The Grey Plovers are dwellers on the open moors, tundras, and barren grounds of the high north during summer ; frequenters of the sea coast during winter. They are birds of rapid and prolonged flight ; upon the ground they progress by walking and running. Their notes are loud and musical. Their food consists of insects, worms, mollusks, small seeds, mountain fruits, and shoots of herbage. Slight nests are made upon the ground, and their richly-marked, double-spotted eggs are four in number. They are monogamous ; sociable in summer, gregarious in winter. 158 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAEADEIID^E. Genus SQUATAROBA. Subfamily CiiARADRHNM. GREY PLOVER. SQUATAEOLA HELVETICA.— (Linnaus) . PLATE XXII. Tringa helvetica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 250 (1766). Pluvialis squatarola (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 86 (1852). Squatarola helvetica (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 455, pis. 515, fig 2, 517, fig. 2, 518, fig. 2 (1871) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 278 (1883) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 138 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 182 (1896). Charadrius helveticus (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 44 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non.-indig. Brit. B. p. 232 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 126, pi. 39 (1896). Squatarola cinerea Fleming ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xviii. (1891). Geographical distribution — British : The Grey Plover is most abun- dant on autumn passage along the coasts of the British Islands, but numbers remain to winter ; and in spring a considerable stream of migrants, returning north to breed, pass over our shores. It is most abundant on our eastern coasts, but small numbers regularly visit the west of Scotland. In Ireland it is less numerous than in England, and becomes rare on the Outer Hebrides. Foreign : Circumpolar in summer ; Palaearctic, Nearctic (?), Neotropical, Oriental, and Australian regions in winter. The only known breeding grounds of the Grey Plover are situated on Kolguev Island, in the lower valleys of the Petchora and Yenisei, on the Taimur Peninsula, and the delta of the Lena, in Alaska, on the banks of the Anderson Eiver, and on Melville Peninsula, all districts of the tundra above the limits of forest growth. It passes Central and Southern Europe, the Canaries, South Siberia, Turkestan, Mongolia, Behring Island, and Japan on migration, and winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, in Arabia, Africa, India, South China, the Malay Archipelago, Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon group and adjacent isles. In theNew World it passes the Bermudas on abnormal migration, and winters in the West Indies and in South America as far south as Peru and Brazil. It has been recorded from Aruba Island, off the north coast of Venezuela as late as the 24th of June ; whilst in the Old World it is recorded from Eeunion, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. There is no evidence to suggest that this species normally extends in winter beyond the limits of the Intertropical realm in either hemisphere. I note that odd individuals OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 159 are observed practically resident in Tasmania ; but the reader may consult what I have already written on the subject of " lost birds" (The Migration of Birds, pp. 184, 185). Allied forms. — None more nearly related than Charadrius pluvialis and C. fulvus, with allied races (generically distinct), all of which have been treated of in the preceding chapters. Habits. — The Grey Plover is a well-known bird on the British coasts between the months of October and May, and although many of the individuals that arrive in autumn pass on to more southern lands, a great number remain with us for the winter. The young birds mostly are the first to make their appearance, sometimes arriving on our coasts with bits of down still adhering to their plumage. In August they begin to arrive, and continue to do so into Sep- tember, only a few old birds in their company. During October and November it is said the great bulk of the old birds arrive. The return migration begins in May, and by the end of that month the majority have passed north, although a few linger into June, and odd immature non-breeding birds are sometimes met with in July. During its sojourn in our islands the Grey Plover is almost exclusively confined to the low-lying coasts and salt marshes. It is especially fond of the wide expanses of mud at the mouths of rivers. During winter it does not appear to gather into such large flocks as the Golden Plover, and may often be met with in odd pairs, or in small parties, whilst now and then stray individuals attach themselves to flocks of Dunlins, Knots, or other Waders. In its actions and flight it very closely resembles its congeners. It feeds much at night, especially during moonlight. The food varies according to season, and consists of various marine animals found on the shore, and worms, insects, and grubs, and probably ground fruits during summer on the tundras. Seebohm describes the usual alarm note of the Grey Plover as a long-drawn, plaintive, whistling kop ; the call-note, common to both sexes, is a Jcl-ee or bleep. The bird has also a treble note which appears to be a combination of the call and alarm note, sounding like kl-ee-kop. Nidification.— Previous to 1875 the breeding habits of the Grey Plover were but little known, and the bird's eggs were very rare in collections. The first authentic eggs of this species were obtained by the Eussian naturalist and traveller, Von Middendorff, in 1843, on the Taimur Peninsula. In 1864 MacFarlane obtained eggs on the tundras near the Arctic Ocean in North America ; whilst in 1875 Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown discovered the breeding grounds of this bird in Europe on the tundras above the limit of forest growth, in the valley of the Petchora in North-east Russia. Between June the 22nd and July the 12th these two naturalists took no less than ten nests of the Grey Plover, and carefully identified the parents of each. The nest of the Grey Plover is merely a slight 160 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL hollow in the moss or lichen-covered ground, into which is placed by way of lining a few twigs, scraps of reindeer moss, and other vegetable refuse. The hollow of the nest is described as perfectly round and rather deep. The eggs are four in number, and intermediate in colour between those of the Golden Plover and the Lapwing, being neither quite as olive as the latter nor as buff as the former in ground-colour, but the markings are similar in every respect. They measure on an average 2'0 inches in length by T4 in. in breadth. For nesting duties the part of the tundra most favoured by the Grey Plover is the flat bog, intersected with tussocky ridges. The birds were observed to indulge in rather curious flights as they rose from their nests, tossing their wings in the air somewhat like the action of a Tumbler Pigeon. After being driven from their home the female was generally the first to return, but she invariably came less conspicuously than the male. She generally made her appearance on a distant ridge of the tundra, then, after looking round her for a short time, she would run quickly to the next ridge, and again look round, calling at intervals to her mate with a single note. To this, however, the male was observed seldom to reply, but when he did so it was with a double note. After the female had run about thus for some time the male began to move, but he generally joined his mate by boldly flying up to her. On the other hand the female rarely took to her wings. She was very cautious, and passed and repassed her nest several times, until she finally settled upon it. All the time that the nest was being watched the female was restless and ran about a good deal, but the male generally remained stationary on a hillock or a ridge, apparently watching the movements of his mate. When the young are hatched the old birds perform various alluring antics to try and draw an intruder away. Seebohm gives a very remarkable instance of a female Grey Plover dropping as if dead after being fired at, but when he was about to pick her up she flew away, apparently uninjured. One brood only is reared in the season. Since 1875 the eggs of the Grey Plover have been taken on the island of Kolguev, in 1895, by the Messrs. Pearson, who obtained seven clutches. They remarked that the birds did not nest in close company, each pair appearing to take possession of about a mile of country. During the same summer Mr. H. L. Popham made the very interesting discovery that the Grey Plover bred in the valley of the Yenisei, and he obtained four nests near Golchika. Diagnostic characters — Sguatarola, with the axillaries black, and a small hind toe. Length, 11 to 12 inches. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 161 Genus VANELLUS, or Typical Lapwings. Type, VANELLUS CEISTATUS. VanellllS, of Brisson (1760). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the innermost secondaries broad and rounded at the tips, and the rectrices with broad white bases succeeded by a black subterminal band, broken on the outermost feathers. The hind toe is present. The tail is moderately long and nearly square. The bill is typical in shape ; nostrils placed in a deep groove. This genus is composed of two species, confined to the Palaearctic and Oriental regions, and the north-eastern portion of the Ethiopian region. Both species are British, one a common resident in and the other a very rare straggler to our Islands. The Lapwings are dwellers on the open plains, birds of the moors and commons, fields and downs, but are more maritime during winter. They are birds of somewhat slow and irregular flight, and progress on the ground by running or walking. They are somewhat nocturnal in their habits. Their notes are shrill and plaintive. They subsist on worms, mollusks, insects, larvae, &c. They make scanty nests on the ground, and their eggs, pyriform in shape and four in number, are richly spotted. They are monogamous ; and more or less gregarious, and sociable always. 11 162 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAEADEIID^E. Genus VANELLUS. Subfamily CHARADRIINM. LAPWING. VANELLUS CEISTATUS.— Wolf and Meyer. PLATE XXIII. Tringa vanellus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 248 (1766). Vanellus cristatus Wolf and Meyer, Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 133 (1852) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 57 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 253 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 126 pi. 40 (1896). Vanellus vulgaris Bechstein, Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 545, pi. 531 (1875) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 283 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891). Vanellus vanellus (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 170 (1896); Sharp, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 166 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British: The Lapwing is widely and generally distributed throughout the British Islands, in all suitable districts including the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. It is commonest in Scotland and Ireland, and more widely spread in winter than in summer, during the former season visiting the Channel Islands. Foreign : Palaearctic region, encroaching on the Nearctic region in the extreme west and east ; parts of the Oriental region in winter. It is an accidental visitor to Greenland and Jan Mayen, a summer visitor to Iceland and the Faroes. It breeds in localities suited to its requirements throughout Europe, south of the Arctic circle, and in small numbers in North Africa as far south as Egypt. It is a resident in Europe south of the Baltic; but the birds that breed further north are migratory, and winter in Asia Minor, the basin of the Mediterranean (including Africa north of the Great Desert), the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores, whilst it has been known to stray as far as Barbadoes (fide Col. Feilden). In Asia it does not appear to range further north than lat. 55° (although, according to Bogdanow, it reaches ten degrees further north : a circumstance which seems probable, as it is an occasional wanderer to Alaska), but it is a common summer migrant to South Siberia, Turkestan, Mongolia (including the Thian-Shan range up to 11,000 feet), and may probably breed in the north island of Japan. The Asiatic birds winter in Persia, North India (south to 25° N. lat.), China, and Japan. X X L. OQ T3 T a5 * s a = 1 " i— -4 (B OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 163 Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to require notice. Habits. — The Lapwing is by far the best known and most widely distributed of the Plovers frequenting the British Islands. It is a resident, but changes its ground a good deal with the season, and in autumn its numbers are largely increased by the arrival of migrants from Continental Europe. The haunts of the Lapwing are rough, unenclosed lands, moors, pastures and fallows, commons and heaths, marshes, broads, and saltings. At all seasons it is a shy, wary species, but becomes much tamer than usual during the nesting season, when its great solicitude for its young causes it to suspend its habitual caution. The most characteristic feature of the Lapwing is its singularly erratic and prolonged flight. The wings are broad and rounded, and move in a slow, deliberate, and regular manner. I cannot express this bird's movements more aptly now than I did eighteen years ago in my Rural Bird Life. The moment an intruder appears in their haunts the watchful Lapwings rise one by one, and with ever flapping pinions begin to sail about high overhead. Now the birds soar seemingly without effort, then on napping wings they wheel round and round. Anon they dart rapidly down, as if hurling themselves to the ground, and then, mounting the air again with easy grace, they fly in ever-changing course, darting, wheeling, tumbling, and reeling, as though beating time with their pinions to their wailing and expressive cries. As the cause of their alarm retreats the birds soon settle again, each bird generally keeping its long wings expanded and elevated for a moment before gracefully folding them. The Lapwing both runs and walks well, but it rarely wades. All through the year the Lapwing is to a certain extent gregarious, and usually breeds in more or less scattered colonies. In winter, however, its gatherings are the largest, and during this season immense flocks may often be seen retreating before a coming storm, or shifting their ground from one district to another from a variety of causes. This bird is also very nocturnal, even in summer, and all night long its peculiar notes may be heard in its haunts. It often becomes particularly noisy and active just after dusk. Flocks of flying Lapwings usually pass through the air in a scattered throng, but as a rule the advance guard present a very even line. The note of this Plover is a peculiar mewing or nasal pee-weet, variously modulated into weet-a-weet pee-weet-weet ; whilst during the pairing season the male still further modulates this note into several distinct cries. In autumn the Lapwing becomes more gregarious, and most of the summer stations on high exposed ground are deserted for the winter. The bird then often becomes remarkably numerous in littoral districts, on the wild saltings and rough marshes where an abundant supply of food can be obtained in almost all weathers. Great numbers of these Plovers are killed at this season for the table, but they do not command either the higher price or the ready sale of the Golden Plover, and their flesh is not only dark but often accompanied by an unpleasant taste. Shot during early autumn, 164 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL however, they are far from unpalatable. The food of the Lapwing consists of worms, snails, grubs, insects, seeds, and tender shoots and various ground fruits growing in the bird's more upland haunts. Nidification. — The Lapwing is an early breeder. As a rule, if the season be fairly forward, the first eggs are laid at the end of March, but fresh eggs may be found in greatest abundance throughout April, less frequently in May, and occasionally in the beginning of June. Birds breeding in warm, sheltered southern localities are of course much earlier than those living in more exposed and northern districts. The nest is either made on the moors, near the shelter or even in the centre of a tuft of rushes, on the top of a mole-hill, on the bare ploughed land, or on the grass. It is merely a hollow, into which a few scraps of dry herbage are collected, and in many cases no provision whatever is made. The eggs are normally four in number, but I have been reliably informed of a clutch of five. At least two other similar instances have been recorded. They vary from buff to olive in ground-colour (in rare instances very pale blue), blotched and spotted with blackish-brown and grey. They measure on an average 1'9 inch in length by 1'3 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the task of incubation, which lasts from twenty-five to twenty-six days. The hens will continue laying from time to time after their eggs are taken, but one brood only is reared in the year. The eggs of this Plover are a highly-prized table delicacy, and are much sought after for the markets, the earliest of the season often commanding as much as twelve shillings a dozen retail. Numbers are sent to this country from the continent, and the eggs of other species are not unfrequently passed off for them by unscrupulous dealers. The Lapwing as a rule does not manifest much concern for the safety of its eggs, apparently well aware that their protective colour will shield them from discovery ; but when the young are hatched the old birds often become very demonstrative, and will reel and tumble along the ground, or sweep round an intruder's head, all the time uttering wailing notes of alarm. Diagnostic characters — -Vanellus, with a long crest, the upper plumage loricated with metallic tints, with no white on the wing coverts, and with the upper and under tail coverts chestnut. Length, 13 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 165 Family CHABADBIID./E. Genus VANELLUS. Subfamily CtTARADBllNJE. SOCIABLE LAPWING. VANELLUS GEEGAEIUS— (Pallas). PLATE XVII. Charadrius gregarius, Pall. Reis. Buss. Eeichs. i. p. 456 (1771). Chettusia gregaria (Pall.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 527, pi. 528 (1875). Vanellus gregarius (Pall.), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 225 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 127 (1896). Chastusia gregaria (Pall.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 173 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 174 (1896). Geographical distribution — British: One example only of the Sociable Lapwing has been recorded as British, which, through an error of identification, was overlooked for nearly thirty years. It appears to have been shot from a flock of Lapwings near St. Michael's-on-Wyre, in Lancashire, in the autumn of 1860, where it remained in a case with other birds as a Cream- coloured Courser, even being recorded as such (Yarr. Brit. B., ed. 4, iii. p. 241). It subsequently changed owners, and eventually was correctly identified, and ex- hibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society by Seebohm on November 20th, 1888. Foreign : South-central Palaearctic region. It is of accidental occurrence only in Western Europe ; in Italy (four examples), Spain (one, probably), Poland (two, seen and identified by Professor Taczanowski). It breeds on the steppes of South-eastern Bussia, from the Crimea, north to Sarepta (Seebolim), and to lat. 53° (Bogdanow), and south to Astrakhan and the Caucasus ; on the plains of South-west Siberia and Turkestan, as far east as the Lake Saisan basin in the province of Semipolatinsk, and Western Mongolia. It winters in Arabia, Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia, and on the plains of India, abnormally wandering south to Ceylon. Allied forms. — Euhyas leucura, an inhabitant in summer of the steppes of Western Turkestan, and in winter of North-east Africa and North India. Accidental in Europe : South-east Bussia, Malta, south of France. Differs from the Sociable Lapwing not only generically, but amongst other important characters, in having a white tail. 166 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Habits. — The habits of the Sociable Lapwing during its summer sojourn on the steppes of Central Asia are imperfectly known ; but of the bird's life- history during its winter residence in India we are fortunately much better acquainted, thanks to the observations of Hume, Butler, Irby and others. It is said to be a dweller on the sand plains, especially common in Oudh and Kuniaon, and is always observed in parties or large flocks. Hume states that in Scinde its favourite haunts are waste uplands near to cultivated districts, and that it keeps together in flocks of from twenty to a hundred. It is by no means a shy bird, but very fearless until repeatedly fired at. On the ground, Irby remarks that it looks very similar to a Golden Plover, but on the wing it resembles more closely allied birds, and flies near to the ground, unlike the typical Plovers. Colonel E. A. Butler says that it frequents open sandy and grass maidans and bare or uncultivated ground. Its food is said to be of an insectivorous nature — grass- hoppers, locusts, spiders, beetles and larvae. Its note is described as a peculiar cry, which is not uttered frequently. Nidification. — Of the habits of the Sociable Lapwing during the nesting season nothing whatever is known. It is said to frequent the steppes and plains for breeding purposes, but its nest has never been described. All that is known respecting its eggs is contained in Dresser's Birds of Europe. That naturalist writes : — " A single egg sent to me by Mr. Moschler, who informs me that it was obtained by his Sarepta collector, with the birds, closely resembles eggs of the Common Lapwing (Vanellus cristatus), but is, if anything, rather paler in ground- colour, and a trifle more sparingly marked with spots and blotches." Diagnostic characters — Vanellus, with no crest, with the greater wing coverts white, with brown bases, and with the tail coverts white. Length, 12 inches. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 167 Subfamily HIMANTOPODIN^E.— The Stilts and Avocets. The Stilts and Avocets may be distinguished from other members of the GHARADRIID& by the absence of a dertrum from the bill, which is long, slender, and either straight or curved upwards. The bill is further peculiar in having the nasal orifice situated in the basal fourth, as measured from the frontal feathers. The metatarsus is finely reticulated, and never less in length than twice that of the middle toe. This subfamily contains three well-marked genera. Genus HIMANTOPUS, or Stilts. Type, HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTEBUS. Himantopus, of Brisson (1760). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having a long, slender, nearly straight bill, only slightly webbed feet, and no hind toe. The wings are long and pointed, the first primary being the longest ; the tail is rounded. The metatarsus is long, more than twice that of the middle toe and claw ; a great portion of the tibia is devoid of feathers. The bill is long, slightly recurved at the point ; nostrils lateral, linear, and elongated. This genus is composed of seven species, one of which (H. Picatus) appears to be of doubtful distinctness, locally distributed in the Australian, Neotropical, Ethiopian, southern Palasarctic and Nearctic, and Oriental regions. One species is an accidental visitor to the British Islands. The Stilts are dwellers in salt marshes, on low-lying coasts, and on the banks of lakes. Their flight is rapid, graceful and sustained, and on the ground they walk and run with elegant ease. Their notes are clear and loud. They subsist principally on insects and small univalves. They make scanty nests near the water on the ground, and their eggs are usually four in number, and spotted. They are monogamous, and at all times of the year are more or less gregarious, usually breeding in colonies. 168 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAKADEIID^. Genus HIMANTOPUS. Subfamily HIMANTOFODIN&. COMMON STILT. HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTEEUS.— Meyer. PLATE XXIV. Charadrius himantopus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 255 (1766). Himantopus melanopterus Meyer; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 312 (1852); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 79 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1890) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 237 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 129, pi. 38 (1896). Himantopus candidus Bonn.; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 587, pis. 535, 536 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 305 (1883). Himantopus himantopus (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 188 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 310 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British : The Common Stilt is an occasional straggler on migration to the British Islands, chiefly individuals that have overshot the mark on their way to their European breeding grounds in spring, but occasionally stray birds that have joined the western stream of migration in autumn. It has been known as an accidental visitor to our shores for upwards of two hundred years. It is most frequently observed on the south and east coasts of England, especially in Norfolk (twelve examples) ; but occasionally met with inland, in Notts, Oxford, Somerset, etc. It is very rare in Scotland, where, however, it has been met with as far north as the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In Ireland about half-a-dozen examples are on record. Foreign: Southern and Western Palaearctic region, Oriental and Ethiopian regions. It is a summer visitor to the marshes of Southern Spain and Portugal, the delta of the Rhone, Sicily, the Danube valley (Neusiedler See, near Vienna), and the lagoons of the Black Sea. Elsewhere in Europe it is only an accidental straggler on migration, visiting Northern France, Holland, Denmark, and Germany. It is a resident in many parts of Africa, where it has been found breeding as far south as the Berg river, and is said to do so on the coasts of Madagascar. It is most abundant in the Ethiopian region during winter, its numbers being then increased by migrants from the northern shores of the Mediterranean : but it is said to be a resident in Algeria, and is an abnormal migrant to the Canaries. Eastwards it is a summer visitor to the Kirghiz and Kalmuk Steppes, Asia Minor, Palestine, North Persia, Turkestan, and Afghanistan, the birds breeding in this area wintering in Africa, X X J2 EC 00 2 4 T oc O 1 OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 169 India, and Burmah ; whilst stragglers at that season have been known to wander into North China, Cochin China, Timor, the Philippines, Borneo, and New Zealand. The most extensive breeding grounds appear to be in India and Ceylon, where the bird is a resident, although, as previously stated, its numbers are increased during the cold season. Allied forms. — Himantopus leucocephalus, breeding in Australia and wintering in the Malay Archipelago, Borneo, New Guinea, etc. Differs from the Common Stilt in having the entire head white and the back of the neck black, separated from the black of the back by a white collar. The New Zealand Pied Stilt has been separated from the foregoing under the name of H. picatus, and is apparently an intermediate form, the result of interbreeding between H. leuco- cephalus and H. melas, the Black Stilt of New Zealand. The representative species in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions are : H. mexicanus, breeding in the southern half of South America, wintering in the northern half of that continent ; resident in the central districts. Distinguished by having the black on the back of the neck ex- tending over the crown and joining the black on the mantle. H. brasiliensis, breed- ing in the Chilian subregion, many wintering in Southern Brazil. Distinguished by having the black on the back of the neck separated from that of the mantle by a white collar, and extending underneath the eye, but not on to the crown. Habits. — The passage of the Common Stilt into Europe begins at the end of March and lasts till the middle of April. It migrates in small flocks, probably the birds of a breeding colony journeying in company. Its stay in Europe is seldom prolonged after the middle of November. The colonies of these birds which breed in India are much more extensive than those in Europe. Its principal haunts are salt marshes, especially lagoons, and low, muddy islands. There are few such graceful birds as the Common Stilt : its every movement, either on land or in air, is easy and elegant in the extreme. It may often be watched walking about the mud-banks or standing in the shallow water, tripping lightly over the slimy, treacherous ooze, or sitting with long legs folded beneath it on some dry spot, as if basking in the hot sunshine. They are by no means shy birds, yet if too closely pursued they soon take to the air, often running a little way with wings open before rising. Their flight is slow and straight, the neck outstretched, and the long legs pressed close to the body under the tail, beyond which they project for some distance. The wings are beaten with slow and regular motion, and during flight the bird from time to time droops its legs as if about to alight, although high above the ground. They are said to be tame and rather quiet birds, but when their breeding places are invaded they soon become noisy in their anxiety for their eggs and young. The usual call- note is a clear kee-kee-kee, and the alarm notes may be syllabled as kit-kit-kit and a rattling peur-r-ree. The food of the Common Stilt consists of mollusks, and such aquatic insects as beetles, gnats, dragon-flies, etc. 170 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Nidification. — The date of the breeding season of the Common Stilt varies a good deal according to locality. In Spain, Stilts commence laying by the end of April or first few days of May. In the valley of the Danube, near the Black Sea, they are more than a month later ; whilst in India the greater number of eggs are laid in June, but the birds begin to lay about the same time as those that breed in Spain. This bird breeds in colonies of varying size, some consisting of a few pairs only, others of several hundreds. The nest is made in a great variety of situations, and varies considerably in size and materials. If the ground be wet the nest is more bulky than when made in drier situations. Some nests are quite in the water, amidst heaps of dead reeds and other aquatic vegetation, rising from two to three inches above the water-level : others are made on the mud, and are smaller. A great breeding station of this bird is situated at some salt works near Delhi, in Upper India. These works consist of many acres of shallow pools lined with lime, and divided from each other by strips of ground from one to six feet in breadth. On these narrow strips, and in the shallowest of the pools, the birds make their nests. These are remarkably curious structures — little platforms made of pieces of lime, raised about three inches high and from seven to twelve inches across, on which is strewn a small quantity of dry grass as a bed for the eggs. Many nests are made close together, and the birds are remarkably tame, allowing the workmen to pass them closely as they sit on their eggs. When disturbed at the colony the birds rise from their eggs, or run from them with elevated wings before taking flight. The eggs are four in number, pyriform, and pale huffish-brown in ground-colour, streaked, spotted, and blotched with blackish-brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They measure on an average 1'7 inch in length by T2 inch in breadth. But one brood is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters. — Himantopus, with the head and neck white (adult). Immature birds have the back of the neck and the crown black. In first plumage the dark parts are brown, mottled with buff. Length, 13 to 14 inches. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 171 Genus RECURVI ROSTRA, or Avocets. Type, EECUEVIEOSTEA AVOCETTA. Recurvirostra, of Linnaeus (1766). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by combining a long, slender, deeply recurved bill with webbed feet and a hind toe. The wings are long and pointed, the first primary being the longest ; the tail is rounded. The metatarsus is long, but not more than twice that of the middle toe and claw ; a great portion of the tibia is devoid of feathers. The bill is long, weak, and flexible, and recurved for its entire length ; nostrils linear and elongated. This genus is composed of four species, which are locally distributed in the Australian, southern Nearctic, Palaearctic, Ethiopian, and Neotropical regions; Oriental region in winter. One species formerly bred in, but is now a rare straggler to, the British Islands. The Avocets are dwellers on flat, sandy coasts, marshes, lagoons, and mud- banks. Their flight is airy, graceful, and well-sustained, and on the ground they walk and run with elegant ease. They swim and wade. Their notes are shrill and monotonous. They subsist principally on worms, crustaceans, and aquatic insects. They make scanty nests on the ground, and their eggs, three or four in number, are spotted. They are monogamous, sociable, and gregarious. 172 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHARADEIID^}. Genus KECURVIKOSTBA. Subfamily HIMANTOPODINJE. COMMON AVOCET. EECURVIKOSTEA AVOCETTA.— Linnaus. PLATE XXIV. Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 256 (1766) ; MacgiU. Brit. B. iv, p. 306 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 577, pi. 534 (1875) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 hi. p. 299 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1890) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 239 (1894) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 185 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 326 (1896). Himantopus avocetta (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 74 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 129, pi. 38 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British: The Avocet is now an irregular straggler on migration to England, still more accidental elsewhere. A melancholy interest attaches to the Avocet, inasmuch that this curious bird once bred regularly in the British Islands, but has long been exterminated as a nesting species by the destruction of its favourite haunts and the persecution of man. For nearly seventy years the Avocet has ceased to breed in this country. It formerly bred in the marshes and on those parts of the coast suited to its requirements, in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, and Sussex ; and it is to these old haunts the occasional visitors seem most attracted, usually making their appearance in spring, as was once their regular practice ; less frequently in autumn. Still earlier records show that it frequented the Severn district and Staffordshire. The last colony of Avocets of which we have any evidence was near Salthouse, in the fens (1822—25). This was destroyed by the taking of the eggs for puddings, and the birds for their plumage to make artificial flies for fishermen ! The bird appears to have been an accidental visitor only elsewhere, especially in the north and west. About half-a-dozen examples only have been recorded from Scotland, where it has been met with, however, as far north as the Orkneys and Shetlands, and even in the Outer Hebrides. It is of only accidental occurrence in Ireland, chiefly in the south, though once recorded from the estuary of the Moy in the north-west. Foreign : Southern Patearctic and Ethiopian regions, Oriental region in winter. It breeds in Europe on some of the islands off the Dutch and Danish coasts, on the marshes at the delta of the lihone, in the marisuias of Southern Spain, the valley of the Danube, notably, it is said, in the OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 173 Neusiedler See, near Vienna, and in the lagoons of the Black Sea. To the remain- der of the continent, as far north as Southern Scandinavia, it is only an abnormal visitor on migration. South of the Mediterranean it is supposed to breed in suit- able localities throughout the African continent, and in Madagascar, where it probably may do so. Eastwards it is a bird of passage across Asia Minor, a few remaining to winter, and a resident in Palestine and Persia, but a summer visitor only to Northern Turkestan, South-west Siberia, South-east Mongolia, and South Dauria, wintering in India (sometimes in Ceylon) and China, including the islands of Formosa and Hainan. Blakiston and Pryer include the Avocet in their list of the birds of Japan, whilst Temminck and Schlegel had long previously included it in their list in the Fauna Japonica, but until an example has been obtained and identified by competent authorities it seems probable that the American Avocet may be the species that occasionally visits these islands. Allied forms. — Recurvirostra americana, an inhabitant of North America, from Great Slave Lake in the north to Texas in the south, the more northern birds wintering in the West Indies and Central America. Differs from the Common Avocet in having the secondaries white, the major part of the outer web brown ; and in breeding plumage in having the head and neck dull chestnut. R. rubricollis (R. nova hottandice, of many authors) an inhabitant of Australia, occasionally occurring in Tasmania, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and New Guinea. Differs from the Common Avocet in having a chestnut head and neck during the breeding season, and in having the combination of the secondaries white on both webs, much white on the scapulars, but none on the tertials. Habits. — The habits of the Avocet resemble very closely those of the Common Stilt. Like that species it is a migratory bird, arriving at its European breeding places in April and May, and leaving them again in September. Its haunts are low, sandy coasts, salt marshes, lagoons, and muddy islands. In these places it frequents the waterside, and not only wades in the shallows but swims well and lightly whenever it has occasion to do so. It runs quickly over the treacherous muds, and walks with graceful steps hither and thither in quest of food. Although conspicuous enough on the bare muds and sands, or on the short turf of the salt marshes, it is said not to be very shy, but it is careful to keep well out of harm's way notwithstanding. Its flight is similar to that of of the Stilt, the neck and legs being outstretched, and in the air the bird's strongly contrasted black and white plumage gives it a very singular appearance. Like the Stilt it is also more or less gregarious, especially in winter, when the flocks are sometimes very large ; and it also possesses the habit of running for a little way either just before or after flight. This species frequently alights upon the sea, but although it swims well it is not known to dive. The food of the Avocet is composed of small worms, crustaceans, and various kinds of aquatic insects and 174 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL their larvae. Much of this food is obtained as the bird scoops or draws its long, slender, upturned bill from side to side across the surface of the soft mud or sand. The bill is never probed into the surface. Occasionally an insect is caught as it sits upon the water or flits slowly by. The Avocet often feeds whilst wading in the shallows, and sometimes its head is actually pushed under the surface. When food is captured the bird generally swallows it by tossing up the head. The note of this bird is a somewhat low yet clear til-it, til-it, most persistently uttered when its breeding grounds are invaded. Nidification. — The breeding season of the Avocet commences early in May in Jutland ; but in the valley of the Danube, where all birds for some unknown reason (possibly influenced by the annual inundations of the great river) nest later, the eggs are not laid until the beginning of June. This bird breeds in colonies of varying size, and all through the nesting season is most sociable. The nests are either placed on the bare sand or mud or on the short herbage of the marshes, and are little more than hollows into which a few scraps of withered herbage are collected. The eggs are generally three or four in number, but in rare cases five are said to have been found. They are pyriform in shape, and pale buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with blackish-brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They measure on an average 1'95 inch in length by 1'4 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the duty of incubation, which according to Naumann lasts from seventeen to eighteen days. One brood only is reared in the year, after which event the birds become even more gregarious. The exact manner in which the old birds, with their long, recurved beaks, convey food to the young is still undetermined. Even in the nestling stage of its existence the bill of the Avocet is distinctly recurved. Diagnostic characters — Becurvirostra, with the forehead, crown, and hind neck black, and the innermost secondaries white (adult) ; brown in young in first plumage, the secondaries barred with white. Length, 18 inches. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 175 Subfamily STREPSILIN/E.— The Turnstones. The Turnstones may be distinguished from other members of the CHARA- by the absence of a dertrum from the bill, and by having the nasal orifice extending beyond the basal fourth of the bill. The metatarsus is scutellated in front on the lower half ; the remainder reticulated both before and behind. The toes are cleft to the base. In some respects the Turnstones form a connecting link between the Plovers and the Sandpipers. This subfamily contains but a single genus. Genus STREPSILAS, or Turnstones. Type, STREPSILAS INTEEPEES. Strepsilas, of Illiger (1811). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the toes cleft to the base, and the nasal orifice reaching beyond the basal fourth of the bill. The wings are long and pointed, the first primary the longest ; tail rather short and nearly even, composed of twelve feathers. The metatarsus is scutellated in front, reticulated behind ; the tibia just above the tarsal joint devoid of feathers. The bill is short, thick at the base, tapering to the point, somewhat conical ; nostrils basal, lateral, partially shielded by a membrane. Toes, three in front, one behind short and elevated. This genus is composed of two species, and is practically cosmopolitan. One species is a common visitor to the British Islands on passage, rarer during winter. The Turnstones are dwellers on the sea-coast, rocky coasts by preference. They are birds of powerful and sustained flight, performing extended migrations ; and they walk and run with equal facility. Their notes are clear and shrill, some not unmusical. They subsist principally on small crustaceans, sand- worms, the animals in small shells, etc. They make scanty nests on the ground, and the four pyriform eggs are spotted. They are monogamous, and more or less gregarious and sociable, even during the breeding season. 176 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHABADBIID^E. Genus STREPSILAS. Subfamily STREPSILIN&. TURNSTONE. STEEPSILAS INTEEPEES— (Linnaus) . Tringa interpres, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 248 (1766). Strepsilas interpres (Linn.), Maegill. Brit. B. iv. p. 143 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 555, pi. 532 (1875) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 289 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiv. (1890); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 259 (1894). Charadrius interpres (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 12 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 119, pi. 38 (1896). Arenaria interpres (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 176 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 92 (1896). Geographical distribution — British: The Turnstone is most abun- dant on the British coasts during spring and autumn passage, a few only remaining to winter. It is commonest on the Scotch and Irish coasts, and probably breeds on the Hebrides and the Orkney and Shetland groups. Foreign : Circumpolar region, and widely dispersed, breeding as far north as land extends, but in the Northern hemisphere, apparently in Europe,not south of the Baltic, although there is some evidence to suggest that it may do so in the Canaries and the Azores ; and Heuglin seems to have discovered it breeding on the shores of the Bed Sea. In winter it is practically cosmopolitan south of the Arctic circle, and a visitor to the coasts of both hemispheres down to the Intertropical realm. The Turnstone is another species with an equatorial base, migrating north and south to breed, although its nesting places are fewer and much less known in the Southern than in the Northern hemisphere. It has been met with inland, amongst other places on the highlands of Yarkand in Central Asia, and on the shores of Lake Nyassa in Central Africa. Allied forms. — Strepsilas melanocephalus, an inhabitant of the coasts of Western America from Alaska to Mexico. Differs from the Common Turnstone in having the chestnut replaced by black, and in the absence of white on the head and neck. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 177 Habits. — Although occasionally met with inland on migration the Turn- stone is eminently a coast bird, and at all times of the year lives either on the shore or in the immediate vicinity of the sea. It is best known on passage in our Islands, although a few odd birds occasionally remain with us during the winter, and it would appear that immature non-breeding individuals occasionally stay behind in the winter quarters during summer, or at a considerable distance south of the nesting grounds, although we are convinced that in many cases this is by no means the correct explanation of the phenomenon. Young Turnstones begin to make their appearance on our coasts at the end of July, and the migration continues through August and September, by which latter date most of the birds have passed south. They arrive on their northern passage in our Islands at the end of April, and the spring flight lasts about a month ; even in the high north they appear early in June. The Turnstone prefers a rocky or shingly beach to a mud one, and during autumn and winter usually lives in flocks of varying size. Many odd birds, however, may be met with at these seasons, sometimes consorting with other Waders. Most of its time is spent upon the beach in restless quest of food. It is ever running about amongst the pebbles and drifted rubbish on the shore. It indulges in the peculiar habit of turning over shells, pebbles, or other small objects on the beach — hence its trivial name — in search of the small marine animals that often lurk under them ; and it is said occasionally to use its breast as well as its singularly shaped beak for the purpose. It not only runs about the dry shore, but frequently wades, and Hume states that he has seen it swimming on the sea just outside the breakers, rising from time to time and flying a little way, then settling on the water again. Its flight is not particularly rapid, and as it generally flies straight and not very far from the ground it is a somewhat easy bird to shoot. It is also fond of sitting on an elevated spot, and Swinhoe states that in China he has seen numbers of this bird perched on stakes and on the ropes suspended between them. The note of the Turnstone is a shrill whistle, resem- bling the syllable keet ; the bird also utters a double note, which some authorities syllable as hitter, and sometimes the two are uttered in succession, making a treble note. During the love season these notes are uttered so quickly by the male as to form a somewhat musical trill. The food of this species consists of sand-worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and other small marine animals. An example I dissected during the autumn of 1893 had its stomach crammed with dozens of minute shells. It is said that this bird is easily tamed, and according to Dr. Finch is kept in confinement on Pleasant Island (one of the Gilbert group) for fighting purposes. Nidification. — The Turnstone breeds in June; and although not gre- garious during the nesting season, several pairs not unfrequently hatch their eggs in the same immediate neighbourhood. Its breeding grounds are close to the sea, often on low rocky islands. The nest is usually placed amongst the scanty 12 178 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL herbage of the coast, amongst tufts of grass or bushes, and is simply a hollow, often under the shelter of a plant or bush, lined with a few scraps of vegetable refuse. The eggs are four in number, glossy in texture, and vary from pale olive- green to pale buff in ground-colour, boldly blotched, spotted, and clouded with olive-brown and dark reddish-brown and with underlying markings of violet-grey. They are rather pyriform, and measure on an average 1'6 inch in length by I'l inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the duty of incubation and one brood only is reared in the year. As soon as the chicks are hatched the broods and their parents repair to the shore, and very soon afterwards the migration south begins. In the high north the entire breeding season lasts about a couple of months only. Diagnostic characters. — Strepsilas, with the chin and throat white. The mottled black, white and chestnut plumage of this species is very charac- teristic. Length, 9 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 179 Subfamily PHALAROPIN/E.— The Phalaropes. The Phalaropes may be distinguished from other members of the CHARA- by having the toes furnished with scalloped webs or lateral lobes, and the planta tarsi serrated, as in the Grebes, a peculiarity, we believe, first pointed out by Dr. Sharpe. The toes are united by a web at the base ; whilst the meta- tarsus is scutellated before and behind. The nasal groove extends along the greater part of the upper mandible. This subfamily contains but a single genus, although some recent authorities have sought needlessly to split up the three known species into as many genera. Genus PHALAROPUS, or Phalaropes. Type, PHALABOPUS FULICAKIUS. PhalaropUS, of Brisson (1760). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having lateral lobes to the toes, and laterally compressed metatarsi. The wings are long and pointed, the first quill the longest ; the tail is short and somewhat rounded. The metatarsus is scutellated posteriorly and anteriorly ; the tibia just above the tarsal joint devoid of feathers. The bill is moderately long and straight, depressed and weak. Nostrils basal, oval with an elevated border. Toes three in front, one behind articulated. This genus is composed of three species confined to the northern and tem- perate portions of the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions. Two species are British, one of which is a local summer visitor, and the other a nomadic migrant to the British Islands. The Phalaropes are dwellers on the sea coasts and more inland lakes and tarns. They are the most aquatic of the CHARA.DRIIDVE, and swim well and lightly, often going hundreds of miles out to sea. They are birds of powerful and well-sustained flight, and walk and run with equal facility. Their notes are shrill and piercing. They subsist principally on insects, crustaceans, and worms. They make scanty nests on the ground, and their pyriform eggs are four in num- ber and double-spotted. They are monogamous ; but the males perform the duties of incubation. They are more or less gregarious and social, and often build in scattered colonies. 180 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAEADEIID^. Genus PHALAROPUS. Subfamily GREY PHALAROPE. PHALAEOPUS FULICABIUS— PLATE XXV. Tringa fulicaria, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 249 (1766). Phalaropus lobatus (nee Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 284 (1852). Phalaropus fulicarius (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 606, pi. 538 (1874) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 310 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 85 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 243 (1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 130, pi. 38 (1896). Crymophilus fulicarius (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 193 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 693 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British: The Grey Phalarope is a rare and irregular visitor, chiefly in autumn and winter, and is generally met with sparingly almost every year, occasionally appearing in great " rushes," or "visita- tions," after the manner of the nomadic migrants, in which class it must he placed. It has been most frequently observed on the southern coasts of_ Eng- land ; on the eastern coasts least frequently north of the Wash. In Scotland it appears to have been met with from Berwick to the Orkneys, and has been obtained in the Outer Hebrides. It has occurred in Wales, but is altogether rarer on our western coast-line ; whilst in Ireland it is of very infrequent appear- ance, although several were captured in the south during the exceptional visitation of 1886. The last exceptional visitation appears to have been in 1891. By far the most extensive visitation took place in the autumn of 1866, when it has been estimated that upwards of five hundred birds were taken, nearly half of this vast number in Sussex ! Twenty years previously, in the autumn of 1846, another irruption took place, which curiously enough again favoured Sussex in a remark- able degree. By a noteworthy coincidence, twenty years later than the great visitation, namely, in the autumn of 1886, another and smaller one occurred ; whilst in 1869 it is said an irruption took place of some importance, both of which were almost confined to the south. Many of these visitors wandered from the coast to inland districts. Foreign : Circumpolar region, but not known to breed on any part of Continental Europe. Like the Knot, the Curlew Sandpiper, and some few other Arctic birds, it appears to be very local during the breeding to Ou u i SK •*e»--- TV.- D -c S 3 U a. bl P r 5 UJ * a 3 O u SI I 3 OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 181 season, and may possibly, like the Waxwing and Eose-coloured Pastor, change its breeding places periodically. There are certain spots favoured by this species on the islands as well as on the mainland of the coasts of Arctic Asia and America, extending to at least as far north as lat. 82|-0, and probably to all existing land suited to its requirements in the Polar basin. Among these may be instanced Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, Golcheeka near the mouth of the Yenisei, the Taimur Peninsula, the delta of the Lena, the Tchuski Land north of Kamts- chatka,* Alaska, the Parry Islands, and Grinnell Land. To the mainland of Europe it is an accidental straggler only, and is of still less frequent occurrence in North Africa. Although its normal routes across Asia are yet un traced, it appears to cross that continent on migration, many, perhaps, by way of the Pamir, where Severtzow, the Russian ornithologist, says it is a rare visitor, and to winter on the Mekran coast and in Scinde. A straggler has been met with even as far to the south-east as Calcutta. In the far east, Kamtschatka and the Kurile Islands appear to be winter resorts of this species. It has been obtained in Japan (Owari Hondu), as recorded by Dr. Stejneger; whilst it has been known to wander as far as New Zealand. In the New World its wanderings are much the same as in the Old World, and it has been met with on both the eastern and western coasts of America as far south as lat. 40° ; and inland, Audubon speaks of a flock of about a hundred birds on the banks of the Ohio, in lat. 38° ; whilst more recently the late Mr. Salvin and Dr. Sclater have each recorded it from Chili ! Allied forms. — Phalaropus hyperboreus, also a British species, and fully treated of in the following chapter. P. wilsoni, an inhabitant of America : in the Nearctic region, breeding on the shores of the lakes as far north as Winnipeg, and south to Great Salt Lake and Lake Michigan ; in the Neotropical region, ranging from Mexico in the north to Patagonia in the south, although its nesting area is not yet traced. Eeadily identified from the only two other Phalaropes known by the long, slender bill, which is more than an inch in length. This latter species has been recorded as British from Leicestershire, but the evidence is not suffi- ciently conclusive to merit its inclusion in the British avifauna. — See Proc. Zool. Soc. 1886, p. 297. Habits. — The migrations of the Grey Phalarope are, as a rule, neither very extended nor very regular. When the birds' northern haunts are disturbed by unusually severe tempests, or long-continued frosts, it draws southwards, often in considerable numbers, but such movements are not made every year, and the Grey Phalarope must be classed as a bird that winters as far north as it possibly can with safety. Except during the breeding season, this bird is not seen much on land, but spends the greater part of its time on the sea, where it is * Dr Stejneger met with a flock of Phalaropes, wkich he identified as the present species, several miles at sea near Behring Island, off the coast of Kamtschatka, on the 2ist of August, 1882. No examples, however, were obtained. 182 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL frequently met with hundreds of miles from shore, even following in the wake of whales for the sake of catching the various marine animals that are disturbed each time those mighty creatures " blow." This singular habit has acquired for the Grey Phalarope the name of " Whale Bird." Sabine states that he has seen this species swimming about amongst icebergs, miles from shore. It is most expert at swimming, floating very lightly on the water, with a peculiar bobbing motion of the head, but it is not known to dive. At all times it appears to prefer to swim out of danger rather than to fly. It is also remarkably social, and during winter gathers into flocks, sometimes of very large size. Mr. Nelson, writing of this species in Alaska, in June, before the flocks had dispersed to the breeding places, says : — " A little later in the day, as their hunger became satisfied, they began to unite into parties, until fifteen or twenty birds would rise and pursue an erratic course over the flat. As they passed swiftly along, stray individuals and pairs might be seen to spring up and join the flock. Other flocks would rise and the smaller coalesce with the larger until from two hundred to three or even four hundred birds were gathered in a single flock. As the size of the flock increased, its movements became more and more irregular. At one moment they would glide straight along the ground, then change to a wayward flight, back and forth, twisting about with such rapidity that it was difficult to follow them with the eye. Suddenly their course would change, and the compact flock, as if animated by a single impulse, would rise high over head, and after a series of graceful and swift evolutions, come sweeping down with a loud rushing sound to resume their playful course near the ground. During all their motions the entire flock moved in such unison that the alternate flashing of the under side of their wings and the dark colour of their back, like the play of light and shade, made a beautiful spectacle. When wearied of their sport the flock disbanded and the birds again resumed their feeding." The call-note of the Grey Phalarope is a shrill weet, and the alarm note, uttered chiefly during flight, has been described as a rapidly repeated bick-a bick-a. The Grey Phalaropes that have from time to time visited our Islands were very tame and confiding, doubtless because they had had little experience of man ; but Hume states that in Scinde they were wary enough, and the flocks rose simultaneously as soon as a boat approached them. The food of this species consists principally of insects, but crustaceans, small worms, and scraps of vegetable substances are also eaten. Nidification. — The Grey Phalarope is a late breeder. It resorts to the breeding grounds in May, pairs towards the end of that month, and the eggs are usually laid during the first half of June. They make their nests on the swampy margins of the Arctic pools and lakes, in much the same sort of places as those selected by the Eed-necked Phalarope. The nest is merely a hollow in the moss or lichen-covered ground, but sometimes a few dry leaves are added as a lining. The eggs are four in number, pale buff with an olive tinge in ground- OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 183 colour, heavily blotched and spotted with rich dark brown, and a few underlying markings of pale brown. They measure on an average 1'25 inch in length by '87 inch in breadth. In this species the female bird is the more brilliant in colour, and she not only conducts the courtship, but leaves the male to incubate the eggs. The young are hatched early in July, and about a month or six weeks after this event the breeding places are deserted, and the birds repair to the open sea, forming into flocks for the winter. Diagnostic characters Phalaropus, with the bill short and wide (the culmen equal to the metatarsus in length), and the central rectrices more than half an inch longer than the outermost ones. In breeding plumage the entire underparts are rich chestnut. Length, 8 inches. 184 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAKADRinXE. Genus PHALABOPUS. Subfamily PHALA.HOP1NA). RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. PHALAEOPUS HYPEKBOKEUS— (Linnaius) . PLATE XXV. Tringa hyperborea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 249 (176G). Lobipes hyperboreus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 291 (1852). Phalaropus hyperboreus (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 597, pis. 537, 539, fig. 2 (1874) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 315 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 89 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 276 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 131, pi. 38 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 197 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 698 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British : The Red-necked Phalarope is now only known to breed in a few favoured spots in the Shetlaiids, the Orkneys, and the Outer Hebrides (North and South Uist, Benbecula, etc.) It formerly bred in Sutherlandshire, Inverness-shire, and Perthshire. To the mainland of Scotland and England, and other island localities, it is now only known as a rare visitor on migration, chiefly in autumn. It is rare on the eastern coast of Scotland, and perhaps most frequent in Norfolk. It has been observed once in Ireland — in November, 1891. Foreign : Circumpolar region above the limits of forest growth ; Oriental and Southern Palaearctic and Nearctic regions in winter. It is a summer visitor to Southern Greenland, the Faroes, Iceland, Northern Scandinavia, and to the tundras of the Dovrefjeld in lat. 62°, Nova Zembla, and eastwards across Siberia as far north as land extends, but rarely south of the Arctic circle, except in the far east, where Middendorff observed it breeding on the west coast of the Sea of Okhotsk as far south as lat. 55° ; whilst Stejneger records it as one of the commonest breeding summer birds on Behring Island, off the east coast of Kamtschatka. South of these limits in the Old World it is a winter visitor to the coasts of Europe, becoming rare in the Mediterranean basin ; being absent altogether, apparently, from North-east Africa, Asia Minor, and Palestine. It passes across Asia on most of the known internal routes of migra- tion, and winters in Persia, on the Mekran coast, and, perhaps, less frequently in Northern India. It is also known on the Japanese coasts on migration, and winters in China and the Malay Archipelago southwards to New Guinea. The New World individuals pass south to winter in the United States, Mexico, and Central America, and occasionally wander as far to the east as the Bermudas. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 185 Allied forms. — Phalaropuefulicarittt, already treated of in the preceding chapter, and P. wilsoni also mentioned in the allies of that species (see p. 181). Habits. — Although the migrations of the Red-necked Phalarope are not very extended in the western Palaearctic region, they are much more so in other parts of the world, as may be gathered from the remarks on the geographical distribution of this bird. It is a bird of the sea, and though it does not appear to wander so far from shore as the Grey Phalarope, it does not visit the land much except during the breeding season. It is a tame and confiding little bird, as I have often remarked, especially when on the pools and lakes where it nests ; and at all times it is extremely social. Parties of Red-necked Phalaropes may be seen all the summer through swimming in company. This bird swims remarkably well and buoyantly, scarcely raising a ripple, nodding its head as it progresses, usually in a zigzag direction, across the pool, and picking insects from the water, or snapping at them as they flit by as it goes. It also runs daintily about the swampy margins of the water, and I have seen it walk lightly over floating masses of weed. The Red-necked Phalarope spends most of its time on the water, rarely taking wing, although it can fly both rapidly and well. The note of this species is a rather low but shrill weet. Its food consists largely of insects and their larvae ; but worms, crustaceans, and other small marine animals are also eaten. Nidification. — The breeding season of this species commences in May in Scotland, but in more Arctic latitudes it is several weeks later. Its breeding grounds are returned to each season. These are usually situated on marshy moors, generally in the neighbourhood of pools and not far from the sea. In the valley of the Petchora, Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown found the nest amongst long grass in the centre of a thick tuft a foot or more from the ground ; but in Scotland it is usually made on the ground. This nest is sometimes very slight — merely a hollow lined with a few bits of dry grass and rush ; but at other times more substantial and neatly made. The eggs are four in number, buff of various shades or pale olive in ground-colour, blotched and spotted with umber- brown, blackish-brown and pale brown, and underlying markings of grey. They measure on an average 1'linch in length by -82inch in breadth. The male, as in the preceding species, performs the duties of incubation, and takes the greatest share in bringing up the brood : the female (the most brilliantly-coloured) taking the initiative in the courtship, and, as Mr. Nelson remarks, possessing "all the rights demanded by the most radical reformers." Messrs. Pearson and Bidwell have recorded (Ibis, 1894, p. 234) some remarkable facts respecting the breeding habits of this Phalarope. They say: "In most instances where we saw this species there were three birds — two males and one female. Twice we saw parties of three birds each on the sea, feeding just behind the breakers ; repeatedly we 186 THE GAME BIKDS AND WILD FOWL noticed three birds together on the wing ; and, nearly every time we came upon them in the small lakes of the tundra, the party consisted of two males and one female. Can this species be polyandrous ? " When the breeding place is invaded the birds leave their nests and settle on the adjoining pools, displaying little concern for their safety. As soon as the young are reared the birds of a colony (for many nests are often made within a small area) betake themselves to the sea, and as autumn advances the southern movements are commenced. One brood only is reared in the season. Diagnostic characters. — Phalaropus, with the bill tapering from the base to the tip and less than one inch in length. Length, 7 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 187 Subfamily TOTANIN/E.— The Semi= web -footed Sandpipers, or Tatlers. The Semi-web-footed Sandpipers may be distinguished from other members of the CHABADBIID^E by having the middle and outermost toes connected by a web at the base, and a similar but smaller web connecting the inner and middle toes. The nasal groove extends along the greater part of the upper mandible, but the nasal orifice is situated within the basal fourth of it. The metatarsus is scutellated in front, and in the majority of species behind as well. This subfamily has been recently subdivided into no less than seventeen genera by Dr. Sharpe, but probably not more than a third of these are worthy of distinction. Genus NUMENIUS, or Curlews, Type, NUMENIUS AEQUATUS. IN u men ills, of Brisson (1760). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the metatarsus scutellated in front and reticulated behind, and the bill sufficiently arched for the point to be considerably lower than the plane of the gape.* The wings are long and pointed ; tail nearly square. The metatarsus is rather long and slender, the lower portion of the tibia devoid of feathers. The bill is long, slender, and decurved ; nostrils lateral, linear, and situated within the basal fourth part of the bill. This genus is composed of ten species and subspecies confined to the Palsearctic and Nearctic regions during summer, but more cosmopolitan during winter. Three species are included as British, one a very rare abnormal migrant, one a common resident, and one best known on passage and in winter. The Curlews are dwellers on moors, marshes, and upland wastes in summer, of sea coasts during winter. They are birds of rapid and well sustained flight, and walk and run with ease. Their notes are clear, loud, and not unmusical. They subsist on worms, mollusks, insects, and fruit. They make slight nests on the ground, and their pyriform eggs are four in number and double-spotted. They are monogamous ; during winter they are gregarious, and even in summer somewhat sociable. They are shy and wary, and their flesh is not unpalatable. * Not having had access to a very large series of specimens of Numenius, I cannot speak with absolute certainty, but probably the plane of the gape does not extend beyond the basal half of the upper mandible. 188 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHARADRIID^E. Genus NUMENIUS. Subfamily TOTANIN&. COMMON CURLEW. NUMENIUS AEQUATA.— (Linnteus). Scolopax arquata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 242 (1766). Numenius arquatus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 243 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 243, pi. 578 (1873) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 499 (1883) ; Beebohiu, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 94 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 272 (1893) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 317 (1896; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 132, pi. 45 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 341 (1896). Geographical distribution — British: The Curlew breeds on most of the moors and mountains of the British Islands, and on some of the heaths and wild lands in less romantic districts, as for instance in Wilts, Hants, Lincoln- shire, and the Isle of Man. Its breeding grounds extend from the highlands of Cornwall to the "moors" of Devon, and the hills of Somerset and Dorset; thence northwards over the Welsh mountains and adjoining uplands, through the Peak and the entire Pennine chain to the Cheviots. North of the Border suitable districts increase, and it becomes even more widely distributed, extending to the Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. The same remarks apply to Ireland, where it is equally generally dispersed. In winter it seeks the coasts, and is then widely distributed on all parts of the sea-board suited to its needs, including the Channel Islands. Foreign : Western Palaearctic region, Ethiopian region in winter. It is an accidental visitor to Iceland and the Faroes ; a sum- mer resident in Scandinavia, and breeds in Eussia as far north as Riga in the west, and the Volga basin in the east. Southwards it breeds in Poland, North Germany, Denmark, and Holland, and is said to do so in Flanders and Brittany ; whilst in the east it does so on the Kirghiz and Caucasian Steppes. It passes Europe south of these limits, Asia Minor, and Persia on migration, and winters in Arabia and Africa. If this species visits temperate South Africa normally, there can be little doubt that it breeds there, migrating from a winter base in the Ethiopian portion of the Intertropical or Priinogaean realm. It is an occasional wanderer to the Azores, and the Canaries : and has been recorded from the Seychelles and Aldabra Island, as well as from Reunion, Rodriguez, Ainirantes, and Providence Bank. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 189 Allied Forms. — Numenius arquatus lineatus, an inhabitant in summer of Siberia, in the west as far north as the Arctic circle ; but in the east only as far as Dauria and the southern valleys of the Amoor, passing through Turkestan on migration and wintering in India, Ceylon, Burmah, and the Malay Archipelago, abnormally wandering to the eastern coast of Africa. It is the eastern form of the Common Curlew, only subspecifically distinct ; none of the diagnostic characters being constant, and with intermediate forms very frequent. Typical examples differ from the Common Curlew in having the lower back uniform white without spots, the axillaries uniform white, the margins of the scapulars white, and the bill seven to eight inches in length. N. cyanopus, an inhabitant in summer of East Siberia, passing the Amoor Valley and the coasts of China and Japan on migration, and wintering in Australia. Another set of individuals of this species appear to migrate south from a base in the Intertropical realm, to breed in South Australia and Tasmania, although the nest has not yet been discovered in these latter areas. N. longirostris, an inhabitant in summer of temperate North America ; and of Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies in winter, though resident in some of the central districts. Both these Curlews differ from the Common Curlew in having the rump uniform in colour with the rest of the upper parts. The former bird in addition is characterised by its nearly white axillaries, barred and streaked with brown. The latter in addition is characterised by its uniform rich buff axillaries, and nearly uniform buff underparts. Habits. — The haunts of the Curlew vary considerably with the change of season. This species is a resident in our Islands, although its numbers are increased during the colder periods of the year by migrants from more northern latitudes. In summer, however, it frequents inland moors and wild, rough uplands ; in winter it descends to the coast, and is then widely distributed on all parts of the shore where sand, mud, and broken rocks are to be found at low water. During high water in many localities the birds retire inland to moors and pastures, returning with remarkable punctuality as soon as the tide begins to ebb. In other districts they visit shingle-banks and low islands to pass the time between the tides. All the year round many parts of the coast are never deserted altogether by Curlews, the young non-breeding birds it is said not visiting the breeding grounds, but remaining behind in the usual winter haunts. Curlews are the very essence of wariness, the shyest and the easiest alarmed birds upon the coast, and perhaps the most difficult to stalk. On bare ground it is simply impossible to get near them, and the only way to make a successful shot is to station oneself on their usual line of flight, and take one's chance as they fly over on their way to and from their feeding grounds. Sometimes odd birds may be successfully stalked whilst feeding amongst the rocks at low water, but the process is a rough and tedious one, and the gunner may well be proud of 190 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL his bird if he be fortunate or skilful enough to creep up and make a lucky shot. When feeding, the birds are seldom still, but run and walk about searching for their food in the sand and rocks close to the waves, and all the time sentinels seem ever on the watch to sound the warning note, which sends the big speckled birds hurrying away to safer haunts. If fired at, the flock often rises to a good height and flies about in a restless manner, the birds calling to each other all the time. When on regular flight, a flock of these birds usually assumes the shape of the letter V, and as they pass along at great speed the leading bird from time to time drops out of position, and its place is taken by another in turn. During moon- light nights when the state of the tide admits, the Curlew is as active as by day, and feeds on the flats and saltings ; and even during summer on the inland moors their wild, mournful notes may be heard through every hour of darkness. The flight of this bird is rapid and strong, the neck is outstretched, and the long legs are pressed close to the body and extend beyond the tail. The long wings are beaten with great speed and regularity, but very often just before the bird alights they are held stiff and expanded. I have often noticed that this species runs a little way with wings half open before rising into the air. It is frequently seen to wade in the shallows, but never, I think, swims unless wounded, whilst it has been known to perch in trees. The usual note of the Curlew is very characteristic — a shrill, far-sounding curlee, curlee ; and during the breeding season the bird also utters a very peculiar rippling note, almost like bubbling water, which may he expressed as wiw-i-wiw-i-wiw, rapidly repeated. For the greater part of the year the Curlew is more or less gregarious, and also associates with many other shore birds ; but during the breeding season, although many pairs often nest on the same moor or upland waste, they are not very social. The food of the Curlew varies a good deal according to season. In summer, worms, insects and their larvae, and various ground fruits and berries are eaten ; in winter, sandwonns, crustaceans, and mollusks are the principal fare, and various vegetable fragments have been found in the birds' stomach during the latter period. Although a resident with us, the Curlew is a regular bird of passage in many Continental districts, coming to its summer quarters in April and May, and returning during September and October. Nidification. — In March the Curlew begins to return to its inland breed- ing places, and the eggs are laid during April and May. Its great breeding grounds are the wild, swampy moors at a considerable elevation above sea-level ; but many birds nest on the rough fallows near the moors, an:1 I have known their eggs to be broken during spring tilling. The nest is generally made on some dry patch of the moor, often under the shelter of a little bush or tuft of cotton-grass or rush, or yet again on the bare earth of the fallows, sometimes in a footprint of a horse or cow. This nest is very slight, merely a hollow about ten inches in diameter and two inches in depth, sparingly lined with a few scraps OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 191 of dead herbage or dry leaves ; in some cases no nest whatever is made. The eggs are four in number, pyriform in shape, and various shades of olive-green or buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with olive-brown and pale grey. Sometimes a few streaky scratches of blackish-brown occur. They measure on an average 2'7 inches in length by T85 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the task of incubation, which lasts about a month. When its breeding grounds are invaded by man, the Curlew becomes very noisy, usually flying into the air long before the spot where the nest is situated is reached. One bird is usually on the look-out and conveys the warning to its mate ; the cry is taken up by other birds, and soon the whole moor is in a state of commotion. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters.— Numenius, with no pale mesial line, with the lower back and rump white, and with the metatarsus more than three inches in length. Length, 21 to 26 inches. 192 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAKADRIIME. Genus NUMENITJS. Subfamily TOTANIN&, COMMON WHIMBREL. NUMENIUS PHJEOPUS — (Linnerus). Scolopax phoeopus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 243 (1766). Numenius phceopus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 253 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 227, pi. 576 (1873) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 Hi. p. 507 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 100 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 274 (1893) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 322 (1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 133, pi. 45 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 355 (1896) ; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxxii. (1896). Geographical distribution.— British: The Common Whimbrel is known only to breed on the Orkneys and Shetlands, most numerous on the latter, and on North Eonay in the Hebrides. Elsewhere in the British Islands it occurs on migration, and during the spring and autumn flights is pretty generally distributed along the coasts. Comparatively few remain with us through the winter, whilst immature and non-breeding birds may be seen in still smaller numbers during the summer. I have met with them on St. Kilda during June. Foreign : Northern and western Palaearctic region in summer ; Ethiopian region in winter. It breeds in the Faroes and Iceland, and occurs accidentally in Greenland. It is a summer visitor to Scandinavia, breeding on the fells and moors above forest growth ; thence it appears to be locally distributed at this season through Lapland and the remainder of North Russia, and is said by Sabanaeff to be common on the Ural Steppes. It passes along the entire coast- line of Europe during migration, as well as by some of the inland routes, and also occurs on passage in Northern Africa, wintering in Arabia, the Azores, Canaries (where it is observed all the year round), Madeira, and on the coasts of tropical Africa, as well as in some few interior districts. It is said that a few young non-breeding birds are found in their African winter quarters during the northern summer, but the southern limits of the Whimbrel are by no means accurately determined, and possibly the bird visits these remote antipodean areas to breed from a winter base in the Primogaean realm. Allied forms. — Numenius phceopus variegatus : Eastern Palsearctic region in summer ; Oriental and Australian regions in winter. Breeding range not very definitely known, but probably extends from the valleys of the Obb and the OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 193 Yenisei in Western Siberia, eastwards to Kamtschatka, whilst the bird has been known to occur on Behring Island, east of the latter country. This Whimbrel probably passes through Turkestan on migration, although it appears not to have yet been observed there, for it is known to winter in India and Ceylon. Birds breeding further east pass through Dauria, China, and Japan on migration, and winter in Burmah, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. It is probably examples of this race that have been recorded from various islands in the Indian Ocean Amirante, Aldabra, Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritius, Eodriguez, Seychelles, Pro- vidence Bank, Gloriosa, Assumption, and Grand Comoro). It is the eastern form of the Common Whimbrel, only subspecifically distinct, a complete inter- gradation existing between eastern and western examples of each race. Typical examples differ from the Common Whimbrel in having the rump streaked with dark brown, a peculiarity only observed, and even then not to such a marked extent, in the young of the latter. N. hudsonicus, the American representative, breeding in the Arctic portion of the Nearctic region and in undiscovered areas in the far south of the Neotropical region (Patagonia, and possibly still further south), wintering in the American portion of the Intertropical or Primogaean realm. It differs from the Common Whimbrel in having the axillaries and under wing coverts pale chestnut, and the rump uniform in colour with the back. N. taliitiensis (most closely allied to the preceding), an inhabitant of Alaska during the breeding season, wintering in the Pacific Islands, on some of which it is sup- posed to breed. It differs from the Common Whimbrel in having the rump uniform in colour with the back, the axillaries and under wing coverts pale chestnut, and in having hair-like plumes extending beyond the feathers on the thighs. Habits. — Although the Whimbrel is a much more northern bird, and is best known in our Islands on passage, its habits very closely resemble those of the Curlew. Owing to the remarkable regularity of appearance of this species in spring it is known in many districts of England as the " May bird," usually arriving on our coasts during the last days of April and the beginning of May. It is observed crossing the Mediterranean from its winter quarters in Africa during April. The return migration begins at the end of July in our Islands and the flight is continued through August and September, the Mediterranean again being crossed during September and October. In autumn, however, the birds fly much higher past our coasts and do not alight in such numbers as in spring. The migrations of the Whimbrel are one of the most impressive known to me, the birds being not only remarkably regular, but very noisy as they hurry across the night sky. A few birds, it should be stated, remain on our coasts all the summer, non-breeding individuals that stop short of the breeding grounds, whilst others lag behind the rest in autumn and spend the winter with us. The Whimbrel migrates in flocks, and these generally pass our coasts at night, often 13 194 THE GAME- BIEDS AND WILD FOWL at an immense altitude, only their faintly-sounding call-notes informing us of their presence overhead. During their stay with us they frequent much the same localities as the Curlew, mud-banks, salt marshes, and flat, low-lying coasts. At first they are by no means shy, as is usual with birds breeding in the Arctic regions, where they are seldom or never molested by man, but the gunners of the coast soon teach them wariness. Their actions on the coast are very similar to those of their larger congener. Their flight is equally rapid and well-sustained, and they possess the same habit of flying about the air, uttering repeated cries when alarmed. Perhaps they do not feed so much on the actual beach as the Curlew, being more partial to the swampy salt marshes, full of streams and pools left by the tide. They wade repeatedly, and are said even to swim occasionally ; and they have been observed to be very fond of bathing, throwing the water over themselves as they stood breast-deep in the sea. In autumn and winter the Whim- brel appears to be just as gregarious as the Curlew, but does not associate with other wild fowl to the same extent. The notes of this bird are very similar to those of the Curlew. The bird also possesses the same rippling or bubbling cry — a shrill tet-ty tet-ty tet-ty tet, which is heard repeatedly in the air, and has gained for the Whimbrel the local name of " Titteral." During summer the Whimbrel occasionally perches in trees. The food of this species consists of insects, worms, snails, various ground fruits, and berries in summer, and of crustaceans, sand- worms, and other small marine animals during winter. Nidification. — The breeding season of the Whimbrel begins about the middle of May, and the eggs are laid from the end of that month until the end of June. Its breeding grounds are the elevated moorlands in the vicinity of the sea. The nest is merely a hollow in the ground amongst heath or other rough herbage, usually in a dry part of the moor, lined with a few bits of dead grass and dry leaves. The eggs are four in number, olive-green of various shades or pale buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with olive-brown and reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of pale grey. They measure on an average 2'3 inches in length by 1'6 inch in breadth. At its breeding grounds the Whimbrel is both courageous and pugnacious, and drives off such intruding birds as Gulls and Skuas with a chorus of angry cries. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters.— Numenius, with a pale stripe down the centre of the dark crown, and with the lower back much paler than the mantle (white in adult birds, streaked with brown in immature examples). Length, 16 to 18 inches. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 195 Family CHARADRIID^. Genus NUMENIUS. Subfamily TOTANIN&. ESKIMO WHIMBREL. NUMENIUS BOREALIS— (J. R. Forster). Scolopax borealis, Forst. Phil. Trans. Ixii. pp. 411, 431 (1772). Numenius borealis (Forst.), Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 712 (1790); Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 221, pi. 575 (1873) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 512 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 104 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 241 (1894) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 326 (1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 133, pi. 45 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 368 (1896). Geographical distribution — British : The Eskimo Whimbrel is a very rare straggler to the British Islands, on autumn migration. The following occur- rences are on record : — England : Suffolk (two examples), November, 1852 ; Scilly Isles (one example), September, 1887. Scotland : Kincardineshire (two examples), September, 1855 and 1880 ; Aberdeenshire (one example) , September, 1879. Ireland : Sligo (one example), October, 1870. Foreign: Northern Nearctic and Southern Neotropical region in summer ; American portion of the Primogaean realm in winter. It breeds on the tundras, above the limits of forest growth, from Alaska to the shores of Hudson Bay and Davis Strait. On the west it is said occasionally to wander across Behring Strait to the north-eastern coast of Asia, whilst in the east it appears accidentally to stray to Greenland. Its remote southern breeding grounds in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands are not yet discovered ; but there can be no doubt, if the species visits the southern temperate latitudes normally, that it nests in them. It crosses the United States, east of the Eockies, on migration ; visits the Bermudas abnormally, and winters in South America. Allied forms. — Mesoscolopax minutus, an inhabitant during summer of Eastern Siberia, passing through Dauria, Japan, and China on migration, and wintering in the Malay Archipelago and Australia ; but how far south normally remains to be determined. It closely resembles the Eskimo Whimbrel in general appearance, but is generically distinct, having the back of the metatarsus scutellated like the front — covered before and behind with narrow transverse plates instead of hexagonal scales. Habits. — Like its congener, the Common Whimbrel, the present species is a migratory bird and a northern one. Its migrations are also performed about 196 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL the same time. It passes across the United States in flocks with great regularity during May, appearing at the beginning of that month sometimes before the snow has all melted, and frequenting the inland plains as well as the salt marshes and mud-flats on the coast. A few birds begin to return about the end of July, and the autumn migration extends from that date to the end of October. It has been remarked by observers that this Whimbrel shows more preference for the sea coasts than inland districts in autumn and winter, probably because the supply of food is more regular and constant. Like its allies it is a shy, wary bird, and seldom admits of a close approach unless carefully stalked. In autumn and winter, up to the arrival on the breeding grounds in the following spring, the Eskimo Whimbrel is gregarious, but there is no evidence to show that it is any more social than its allies during the nesting season. The flight of this bird is rapid, and during migration especially is made at a considerable altitude. The bird also possesses the characteristic habit of gliding on motionless pinions before alighting, and elevating them for a moment before they are folded close to the body. Its note is described by Dr. Coues as a soft, mellow whistle, oft repeated ; as a chattering cry when on flight ; and, when wounded, as a harsh scream. The Eskimo Whimbrel is much attached to certain haunts where its favourite food chances to be abundant, often continuing to frequent the place after being repeatedly shot at. Its food in summer consists of insects, worms, and various kinds of berries and ground fruits, whilst on the coast it is chiefly composed of small mollusks, crustaceans, and other marine creatures. Nidif ication.— The breeding grounds of the Eskimo Whimbrel are situated on the barren grounds or tundras of the Arctic regions beyond the limits of forest growth. Like all other Arctic Waders it breeds late, not being able to do so until the ground is free from snow towards the end of June. The nest is placed on the ground of the tundra, and is a mere hollow lined with a few scraps of dry herbage and withered leaves. The eggs are normally four in number. They range from brownish or greyish-buff to greenish-olive in ground-colour, blotched and spotted with brown of various shades, and with pale underlying markings of greyish-brown. They are pyriform, and measure on an average 2'0 inches in length by T4 inch in breadth. Although MacFarlane, Eichardson, and others have had ample opportunity of observing the breeding habits of the Eskimo Whimbrel, there are many points still unknown. How long the period of incu- bation lasts, whether both sexes sit, or male or female alone, whether more than one brood is reared, all remain to be determined. MacFarlane states that the hen bird, as a rule, glided from the nest whilst he was still at some distance, so that the eggs were discovered with great difficulty, as they closely resemble surrounding objects in colour. Diagnostic characters.— Numenius, with a pale mesial stripe, and with the primaries unbarred. Length, 14 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 197 Genus LIMOSA, or Qodwits. Type, LIMOSA MELANUEA. Limosa, of Brisson (1760). — The birds comprising the present genus are closely allied to the typical Totani, but appear to differ in the formation of the sternum. In the Godwits the apex of the profile of the keel retreats from the furculum, whilst in the Totani, as in the Snipes, it advances towards it. They are further characterised by having the metatarsus scutellated in front, the bill long, exceeding the tail in length, slightly recurved, expanded and hard and smooth at the tip ; and the frontal feathers not extending beyond the gape. The wings are long and pointed, the first quill the longest ; the tail is short and nearly even, and composed of twelve feathers. The metatarsus is long and slender, the lower por- tion of the tibia devoid of feathers. Toes, three in front, one behind articulated. This genus is composed of six species and subspecies. In the Northern hemi- sphere they are distributed over the Arctic and temperate portions of the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions during summer, but more cosmopolitan in winter ; in the Southern hemisphere the distribution of the genus is not only misunderstood but comparatively little known. That certain species migrate south from the Intertropical realm to breed seems to be unquestionable. Two species are visitors to the British Islands. The Godwits are dwellers on the moors and tundras and marshes during summer, the sea-coasts during migration time and winter. They are birds of powerful and rapid flight, run and walk with ease, and habitually wade. Their notes are loud and expressive. They subsist on worms, insects, mollusks, etc. Their nests are slight and made on the ground, and their eggs are four in number and double-spotted. They are monogamous, and more or less sociable and gre- garious during winter. 198 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHARADKinXE. Genus LIMOSA. Subfamily BAR=TA1LED QODWIT. LIMOSA KUFA— (Linnaus). PLATE XXVI. Scolopax lapponica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 246 (1766). Limosa rufa, Briss ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 260 (1852) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non- indig. Brit. B. p. 256 (1894). Limosa lapponica (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 203, pi. 573, fig. 1 pi. 574, fig. 2 (1872) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 494 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxii. (1892) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 309 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 373 (1896). Totanus rufus (Briss.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 156 (1885) ; Seebohrn, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 142, pi. 42 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British : The Bar-tailed Godwit is a well- kiiown visitor on spring and autumn migration, most numerous during the vernal flights on the coasts of the eastern counties of England south of the Humber. It is most abundant and widely distributed in autumn, and commonest on the eastern coast line. It passes the Orkneys and Shetlands, the Outer Hebrides, and the Channel Islands on migration ; but is commonest in Ireland during autumn and winter, especially on the west coast. By far the greater number of birds that visit us in autumn pass south, but a few remain to winter on our coasts, especially in the east of England ; upon the sole authority of Mr. Abel Chapman they are said to occur in thousands even during the hardest winters on the coasts of Northumberland, which is contrary to my own experience on the Lincolnshire coast, as well as to that of most other competent observers. Perhaps some other species has been mistaken for them. Foreign: Northern and western Paloearctic region in summer; small part of Oriental region in winter. It breeds on the tundras above the limits of forest growth from Lapland in the west across Northern Europe and Siberia, probably as far east as the valley of the Yenisei. It is an accidental wanderer to the Faroes, and passes the western coasts of Europe on migration to winter in the basin of the Mediterranean, principally in Northern Africa, and occasionally straying to the Canaries. Gambia on the west, and the Somali Country on the east appear to be the southern limits. The birds breeding in West Siberia appear to migrate down the valleys of the Tobol and i fc- «• sti.ii s Q « in n J o <§ OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 199 the Ural into the Caspian basin, thence across country to the Mekran coast to North-east Africa, and occasionally to the extreme north-west of India, the great mountain chains of Central Asia apparently turning the tide of migrants westwards from the Yenisei Valley into this area. Allied forms. — Limosa rufa uropygialis, northern and eastern Palsearctic region in summer ; Australian region during antipodean summer. It breeds on the tundras of Northern Siberia above forest growth, probably from the Tairnur Peninsula eastwards to the sea of Okhotsk and across Behring Strait into Alaska. It passes Japan, Mantchooria, and China on migration, and winters in the islands of the Malay Archipelago and Australia. In the present state of our knowledge it is impossible to say whether this race of Godwit furnishes another instance of a species breeding in the Northern and Southern hemispheres and having an Intertropical base. This Godwit is known to visit Norfolk Island, New Zealand, parts of Southern Australia and Tasmania during summer in those regions ; but, possibly, its appearance may be abnormal. On the other hand, future research may show that the bird breeds in those latitudes. This is the eastern form of the Bar-tailed Godwit, only subspecifically distinct, and completely intergrading with its western representative. Typical examples differ from the Bar-tailed Godwit in having the prevailing colour of the rump browner, caused by the dark centres of the feathers being larger and more numerous. This form should be looked for on the British coasts, especially during the autumn nights. L. fedoa, the America representative of the Bar-tailed Godwit, breeding as far north as Lake Winnipeg, and wintering as far south as the coast of Peru. Distinguished from the Bar-tailed Godwit by having the axillaries and under wing coverts chestnut. Habits. — The Bar-tailed Godwit begins to leave its winter quarters in North Africa in February, and the stream of migrants slowly percolates into Europe from that date until the end of April. This stream of migrating Godwits breaks upon our coasts towards the end of April and during the first half of May, but does not appear to extend north of Spurn Point, whence the German Ocean is crossed, and the Arctic breeding grounds are reached towards the end of that month or early in June. Birds on the return journey — mostly young — are observed on the British coasts at the end of August, and the autumn flight continues from that date to the end of October or the first week in November. Hume states that in India the earliest occurrence of this species known to him in autumn was the 29th of September, and the latest in spring on the 23rd of March. The birds that pass our coasts in spring are mostly adults on their way north to breed, and excessively wary ; but in autumn the flocks are largely com- posed of young birds which are just as remarkably tame. I have often been allowed to approach within a few feet of single birds on the mud-flats of the 200 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Wash, without their showing the least alarm — only greeting me with what I should say were expressions of astonishment. Probably I was the first human being they had ever seen. During their sojourn on our coasts these birds confine themselves principally to low coasts, where a considerable area of mud is exposed at low tide. They are very fond of frequenting the little creeks and dykes that intersect salt marshes, and during high water often repair short distances inland to wait for the ebb. The Bar-tailed Godwit during autumn and winter is generally a gregarious species, and sometimes unites into very large flocks at the feeding grounds ; but these gatherings are easily dispersed, and the birds divide into parties and often fly off in various directions. Hume records similar habits in the winter quarters of this species in Kurrachee Harbour. This Godwit usually walks about the soft muds and marshes, but can, when occasion requires, run with considerable swiftness. Its flight is rapid and often rather unsteady at first, and, like most Waders, the bird frequently skims for a short distance before it alights. When reposing on some mud-bank the long neck is usually drawn in close to the body, and one leg is often held up. It moves about a good deal at night, and is often taken in the flight nets of the Wash at that time. It wades frequently ; but never attempts to swim or dive unless wounded. The food of the Bar-tailed Godwit during autumn and winter consists of insects, crustaceans, snails, and sand-worms. Hume remarks that birds shot in India which he dissected had been feeding on what appeared to be minute acephalce or jellyfish. In summer the bird subsists largely on insects and their larvae, worms, and possibly ground fruits and berries. The flesh of this species is not very palatable, especially when the birds are shot in winter, or after long residence on the coast. A young bird, shot soon after its arrival in our islands in autumn, is in the best condition for the table. The note of this Godwit resembles the syllables kyd-kyd-kyd, often very persistently uttered as the birds fly up and down the mud-flats. During the pairing season the male utters a trill. Nidification. — No thoroughly trustworthy observations of the breeding habits of the Bar-tailed Godwit have been recorded until Mr. H. L. Popham published his Yenisei experiences of this species in the Ibis last year (1897). Its breeding grounds are on the swampy moors of the Arctic regions, and apparently very local. Eggs of this bird were obtained by Wolley in Finland on the 29th of May, and he states that it breeds in marshes, and that the nests are hard to find. Mr. Popham met with this Godwit in fair numbers between lat. 69° and 72° in the valley of the Yenisei. He states that never more than one pair occupies the same district when nesting. Like Wolley he experienced great difficulty in finding the nests, which he describes as a slight hollow on the high-lying tundra. These were met with on the 27th of June and the 3rd of July, in each case being in the vicinity of a nest belonging to Buffon's Skua. Both birds take part in the incubation of the eggs. The one upon the nest keeps very close, seldom leaving OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 201 it until almost touched by the hand, whilst its mate flies out to meet an intruder at least a mile from the spot, screaming all the time, both in the air and upon the ground, and never leaving him until he is clear of the sacred neighbourhood. The call-note of this Godwit at the nest is described by Mr. Popham as koo-ivak. The eggs are four in number, olive-green of various shades in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with darker brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They measure on an average 2'1 inches in length by T45 inch in breadth. It is impossible to distinguish them from eggs of the Black-tailed Godwit. Probably this species rears one brood only in the season. Diagnostic characters — Limosa, with the lower back, rump, under wing coverts, and axillaries white, obscurely marked with brown, the tail barred with black and white. Length, 15 to 16 inches. 202 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAKADKIIDJE. Genus LIMOSA. Subfamily TOTANIN&. BLACK-TAILED QODWIT. LIMOSA MELANUBA-Leisfer. Scolopax limosa, Linn. Syst. Nat i. p. 246 (1766). Limosa regocephala (Linn.), apud : Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p, 269 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 211, pi. 574 (1872) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 488 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1893). Totanus melanurus (Leisler) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 162 (1885) ; Scebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 143, pi. 42 (1896). Limosa melanura, Leisler; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 254 (1894). Limosa limosa (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 313 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 381 (1896). Geographical distribution — British : Although the Black-tailed God- wit formerly bred in the eastern counties of England, it is now much rarer than the preceding species. It is half a century ago since the last eggs were taken in Norfolk. It occurs sparingly, but fairly regularly, on spring and autumn passage, on the low-lying coasts of the east of England, south of the Humber ; much less frequently elsewhere, although it is said to visit the coast of Lancashire every autumn. It is very much rarer in Scotland, even on the eastern coasts ; but it has been observed as far north as the Shetlands ; on the west coast it is only accidental. It is of rare occurrence in Ireland, chiefly in autumn. It occasionally strays inland to large sheets of water, and a few laggards are sometimes met with in winter. Foreign : Western Palaearctic region ; Oriental region occasionally in winter. It breeds in Iceland and the Faroes. On Continental Europe it breeds in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Scandinavia (occasionally up to the Arctic circle), Poland, North Germany, and Central and Southern Bussia. In Asia it breeds in Western Turkestan and South-western Siberia up to lat. 60°, and as far east as the western tributaries of the Obb. It passes Western Europe both by way of the coasts and across inland districts on migration, and winters on the Spanish littoral and in the basin of the Mediterranean, occasionally wandering to the Canaries and Madeira, and down the Bed Sea to Abyssinia. The birds breeding in the east appear to pass West Turkestan on migration to winter in the basin of the Caspian, in the Persian Gulf, and in India and Ceylon, those visiting the latter country crossing the Himalayas on passage. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 203 Allied forms. — Limosa melamira melanuroides, an inhabitant of the eastern Palaearctic region ; Oriental and northern Australian regions in winter. It breeds from the eastern tributaries of the Yenisei, through the Altai Mountains and the Baikal basin to the valley of the Amoor, apparently not occurring north of lat. 55° in East Siberia. It passes Mongolia and Japan on migration, and winters in China, Burniah, the Malay Archipelago, Northern Australia, and many of the Pacific Islands. This is the eastern form of the Black-tailed Godwit, only subspecifically distinct. In spite of the fact that the area of distribution during the breeding season appears to be discontinuous, the eastern and westerm forms completely intergrade, a fact owing probably to the winter quarters of each impinging. As may be seen, this is exactly reversed in the Bar-tailed Godwit, in which the breeding area of the two forms overlaps, but the winter area is discon- tinuous. Typical examples differ from the Black-tailed Godwit only in size, measuring in length of wing from 7'0 to 8'0 inches, instead of from 8'0 to 940 inches as in the western race, and in length of tarsus from 2'25 to 3'0 inches, instead of from 3'0 to 3'75 inches. This form should be looked for on the British coasts, especially in autumn. L. hudsonica, the American representative of the Black-tailed Godwit, breeding on the tundras of Arctic America from Alaska to Baffin Bay, and probably in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, wintering in the American portion of the Intertropical realm. It is distinguished from the Black- tailed Godwit by having the axillaries and under wing coverts dark brown instead of white. Habits. — Flocks of Black-tailed Godwits begin to leave their winter quarters south of the Mediterranean in February, and continue to do so until the middle of March. These birds do not appear to be in any great hurry to reach their breeding grounds, as they pass slowly up the coasts of Western Europe, not reaching our Islands before April and May, which is also the date of their arrival in Denmark. The return migration begins in Denmark and the British Islands in August, and lasts into September; in France it begins in September and continues into October. In Upper India this species does not arrive in any great numbers before the end of October, and most of the birds have departed again by the end of March ; but Hodgson states that in Nepal it arrives in September, stays a month before passing south, and returns in March and April. This bird not only frequents the mud-flats and saltings, but more inland marshes and the wet, boggy parts of moors. At its winter quarters in India it is found inland near broads and swamps, usually in the vicinity of rice fields and on the banks of the larger rivers ; but in more littoral districts it affects the mud-flats of estuaries by preference. This Godwit usually walks with rather slow, deliberate steps, but it is capable of running very quickly, and often wades in the shallows. Sometimes it sleeps while standing in water up to the breast, with the long neck and bill nestled in the dorsal plumage. In India they are said to be much more easily 204 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL approached when in flocks than when in pairs or alone ; but curiously enough the reverse is often the case on our coasts. It may frequently be seen in marshy meadows, and occasionally frequents long grass almost as tall as itself. This Godwit, whilst on passage, is remarkably restless, and shifts its ground a good deal, but when once fairly settled in its winter quarters it continues to visit certain feeding grounds for many weeks in succession. Hume states that in India although they have certain spots, especially rice stubbles and fields and patches of wild rice, to which they resort for several hours during the day to feed, they also feed at other times in places to which they resort for the remainder of the day. The food of the Black-tailed Godwit consists of worms, insects and their larvae, crustaceans, sand-worms, and snails. In summer this food is varied with shoots and roots of aquatic plants ; and in winter, according to Hume, rice, whenever available, both cultivated and wild, is this Godwit's favourite food, in additon to which it eats great quantities of millet seed, and the seeds of grass and sedges. Its kind of food, this writer informs us, depends a good deal on what may chance to be to hand, and its gizzard is usually crammed with one variety alone. The call-note of the Black-tailed Godwit resembles the syllables tyii-it, but its alarm note is a loud and clear tyii, tyii, most persistently uttered when the breeding grounds are invaded by man. Nidification. — The breeding season of the Black-tailed Godwit commences at the end of April or in May, in Poland and Jutland, a little later in higher latitudes, and the young may be seen fully fledged towards the end of June. Although not strictly gregarious during this period, numbers of nests may be found within a small area of the marshes and swauipy meadows on which this species breeds. The nest, found with difficulty, is usually well concealed amongst the herbage, and is often placed in a tussock of sedgy grass, the wettest ground generally being preferred. It is merely a hollow about three inches deep, some- times but not always rather neatly lined with dry grass and other vegetable refuse. The eggs are four in number, various shades of olive-brown in ground- colour, spotted and blotched with darker olive-brown, and with underlying markings of pale brown and grey. They are pyriform, and measure on an average 2'15 inches in length by 1*5 inch in breadth. As soon as the breeding haunts are invaded the Godwits rise and fly to and fro with noisy clamour, rarely if ever remaining on their nests until approached ; and when the young are hatched they become more bold, and venture within a few feet of the intruder's head. They are said to be very pugnacious at this period, and will even attack cattle that chance to stray on to their haunts, and pursue with great fierceness any wan- dering Crow or Hawk that invades their quarters. One brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young can fly the move southwards begins. Diagnostic characters.— Limosa, with the retrices black with white bases, and the axillaries white, sometimes obscurely barred with brown. Length, 16 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 205 Genus MACRORHAMPHUS, or Snipe=billed Sandpipers. Type, MACROEHAMPHUS GEISEUS. Macrorhamphus, of Leach (1816).— The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having a long Snipe-like bill, nearly straight, expanded near the tip which is covered by a soft pore-studded skin ; whilst the groove on the lower mandible reaches nearly to the tip, whereas in the Godwits it does not extend beyond half the length. They form a somewhat isolated group, presenting characters similar to those of the Cleft-footed Sandpipers and Snipes (in the bill) and to the Totani in the structure of the foot, which is partially webbed at the base of the toes. The wings are long and pointed. The metatarsus is long; the tibia for some considerable distance bare of feathers. The nostrils are lateral and basal ; the toes, three in front, one behind somewhat elevated. This genus is composed of three species and races distributed over the Eastern Palsearctic and the Nearctic regions in summer and the Neotropical and Oriental regions in winter. One species is a rare straggler to the British Islands. The Snipe-billed Sandpipers do not differ in their general habits and the localities they frequent from their near allies. Their eggs and mode of nidification are also normal Totaninae. 206 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAEADBIID^E. Genus MACRORHAMPHUS. Subfamily TOTANIN&. RED-BREASTED SNIPE. MACEOEHAMPHUS GEISEUS— (Gmelin). Scolopax grisea, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 658 (1788). Macrorhamphus griseus (Gmel.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 275 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 187, pi. 571 (1878) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed 4, iii. p. 357 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1894) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 306 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 394 (1896). Ereunetes griseus (Gmel.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 168 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 257 (1894) : Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 143, pi. 41 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British: The recorded occurrences on which the claim of the Eed-breasted Snipe to rank as "British " is based are as follows: — England: Devonshire (three examples), October, 1801, 1837, and "previous to 1857"; Cumberland (one example), September, 1835; Norfolk (three examples), October, 1836, October, 1840, October, 1845 ; Middlesex (two examples), one " previous to 1866 " ; Scilly Isles (one example), October, 1857 ; Lincolnshire (one example), August, 1882; Lancashire (one example). Scotland : Fifeshire (one example), September, 1867 ; Lanarkshire (one example), "previous to 1870." Ireland : Queen's Co. (one example), November, 1893 ; Tipperary (one example), November, 1893. It is by no means improbable that some of these examples may belong to the nearly allied Asiatic species about to be mentioned ; it is also impossible to say, without examining each specimen, whether all or part belong to the eastern or western form of the American species. It is said, however, that the two Irish examples did actually belong to the western race. Foreign : Nearctic region except extreme north-west ; Northern Neotropical region in winter. It occurs accidentally in Greenland and in Continental Europe. It breeds throughout the Arctic regions of North America from the Eockies in the west to Baffin Bay in the east, and south to Hudson Bay, and probably the Great Lakes in about lat. 44°. It passes by inland routes, as well as along the Atlantic coasts, and abnormally over the Bermudas on migration, and winters in the West Indies, Central America, and South America, as far south as Bahia in Brazil. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 207 Allied forms. — Macrorhamphns griseus scolopaceus, an inhabitant of the North-western Nearctic region ; Northern Neotropical region in winter. Probably breeds from the valley of the Saskatchewan, northwards through the lake region and the Mackenzie Valley to Banks Land, and westwards to Alaska and the extreme north-east of Asia, in the Tchuski Land and Kamtschatka. It passes down the Pacific coasts, and inland almost in a line with the Rocky Mountains, and winters in Central America. It occasionally wanders to the Atlantic coasts ; has been recorded inland in Asia as far east as the valley of the Lena ; and occurs accidentally in Japan. This is the western form of the Red-breasted Snipe, °nly subspecifically distinct, and completely intergrading with its more eastern representative. Typical examples differ from the Red-breasted Snipe in being less spotted on the underparts in breeding plumage, and in having the lower* back less spotted in summer and winter alike. It is also said to be on an average a slightly larger bird. M. taczanowskii, an inhabitant, probably, of the valley of the Lena in Siberia during summer, passing through Dauria and Mongolia on migration, and wintering in China, Borneo, Burmah, and India. It differs from both forms of the Red-breasted Snipe in having the middle toe united at the base by a web to both the adjoining toes, and the bill more than three inches in length. Habits. — The Red-breasted Snipe is a rather late migrant, passing the northern United States from the latter half of April to about the middle of May, and arriving at its Arctic breeding grounds towards the end of that month. As is the case with most Waders in which the young birds do not breed in their first spring, many individuals pass the summer considerably south of the breeding grounds, or even do not migrate north at all in spring, but remain during the summer in their winter quarters. The return migration commences to a great extent with the young birds that leave their birth-place almost as soon as they can fly. These reach even such southern localities as the West Indies by the end of July. During August and September the great bulk of birds pass south, and then this species literally swarms in districts suited to its requirements. As is usual, the autumn passage is made much more leisurely than the spring one, and the migrating parties of a dozen or more individuals often remain for several weeks in a district where food is abundant before passing on again. They are said to be very tame birds whilst on passage, probably because most of them are young and ignorant of man's persecutions. During autumn and winter the Red- breasted Snipe principally frequents the low, flat, muddy coasts, where abundant food can be obtained, but less frequently it is found near inland swamps and marshes. On the muds it runs about in the usual Sandpiper style, occasionally wading through the shallows, and even swimming when it chances to get out of its depth. When alarmed, the flock rises en masse, and settles again in the same manner. The flight of this bird is quick and well-sustained, but is not characterised 208 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL by the unsteady, wavering movements that are so remarkable a feature in that of the true Snipes. The usual note of the Bed- breasted Snipe is said to be a whistle, easily imitated by the sportsman, who often thus lures the bird to its doom. The alarm note is described by Coues as a soft weet, uttered as the bird is about to take flight ; whilst in the love season the male utters a musical trill, usually whilst hovering above his mate on quivering wings. The food of this bird con- sists principally of worms and insects, but seeds and various ground fruits are eaten. On the shore it obtains crustaceans, mollusks, and other small marine animals. Nidification. — The breeding season of the Eed-breasted Snipe begins in June, and fresh eggs may be obtained throughout that month. The nesting grounds of this species are situated on the Arctic tundras, the marshy portions of these interminable northern moors, or "barren grounds," as the Americans term them, where pools are frequent. Sometimes its breeding grounds are close to the sea, at others considerable distances inland. The nest is made upon the ground, often in a tuft of marsh grass, or amongst the short vegetation on the shores of the moorland lakes. It is merely a hollow, scantily lined with a few dead leaves or bits of withered herbage. The eggs are four in number, and vary in ground- colour from pale greenish-brown to pale buffish-brown, blotched and spotted with dark reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of pale greyish-brown. Some- times a few very dark streaks occur. They are pyriform, and measure on an average 1'7 inch in length by 1*15 inch in breadth. One brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young can fly they begin to draw southwards with their parents on their way to their winter quarters. Diagnostic characters — Macrorhamphus, with no web between the middle and inner toes, and with the lower back much whiter than the mantle. Length, 10 to 11 inches. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 209 Genus BARTRAMIA, or Long=tailed Sandpipers. Type, BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA. Bartramia, of Lesson (1831). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the tail much graduated, the outermost feathers less than the central ones by as much as the length of the hind toe and claw. The metatarsus is very long, being twice the length of the innermost toe and claw. The bill is short, and slightly swollen near the tip. The tibia is bare of feathers for a considerable distance. The wings are long and pointed ; toes, three in front, and one behind somewhat elevated. This genus is composed of a single species, which is distributed over the Nearctic and Neotropical regions, and is an abnormal migrant to the British Islands. Unlike so many of the Totani, the Long-tailed Sandpiper is a dweller on plains and uplands, and appears rarely to be seen near water, and to pass the coasts on migration only. Its food, habits, mode of nesting, migrations, etc., are described in the account of this species. 14 210 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHARADBirOE. Genus BARTRAMIA. Subfamily, TOTANIN&. BARTRAM'S SANDPIPER. BABTEAMIA LONGIC AUDA— (Beehst) . PLATE XXVII. Tringa longicauda, Bechstein, Kurze Uebersicht. p. 453 (1811). Bartramia longicauda (Beehst.), Yarrell, Brit, B. ed. 4, iii. p. 440 (1884) ; Lilforcl, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxix. (1894) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 267 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 509 (1896). Totanus bartrami (Wilson), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 110 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 245 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 134, pi. 44 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British: Bartram's Sandpiper is a very rare straggler to the British Islands on autumn migration. The following occurrences are on record: — England: Warwickshire (one example), October, 1851 ; Cambridgeshire (one example), December, 1855 ; Somerset (one example), no date recorded, some forty-five years ago ; Cornwall (two examples), November, 1865, October, 1883 ; Northumberland (one example), November, 1879 ; Lincoln- shire (one example), October, 1880. Ireland (one doubtful occurrence), autumn, 1855. Foreign : Central Nearctic region, Neotropical region. In North America Bartram's Sandpiper breeds in Alaska, Euperts Land, and the northern United States, from Pennsylvania westwards to the foot of the Eockies, but appears to be very rare on the Pacific coast. It passes along the inland routes of migration as well as down the Atlantic coasts, and abnormally over the Bermudas, and winters in the Southern States, Mexico, the West Indies, and throughout the South American portion of the Intertropical realm. In the Southern hemisphere the breeding grounds of this Sandpiper are not yet defined. It is found in summer — from September to May — in the Argentine, and appears undoubtedly to breed on the plains of that region, and possibly further south in Patagonia. It has been known to wander to Australia, and there are several instances on record of its occurrence in Europe outside of the British Islands : Italy, Malta, Holland, Germany. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to need mention. Habits. — Bartram's Sandpiper is a well-known and very regular bird of passage across the eastern United States. The "Prairie Pigeon," as this species is locally named, crosses the boundless prairies which extend from the Mississippi X X HJ 02 |J 10 -Q. -o ft 2 Q u z 5* < c 10 3 10 <* 2 E 15 « 5- u a a although the nest has not yet been actually discovered, and statements made by Durnford and Abbott respecting its breeding in these localities have been derided. 260 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Allied forms — Tringa subarguata, already dealt with, and the species in the present genus described in the following chapters. Habits. — The habits of Bonaparte's Sandpiper very closely resemble those of the Dunlin, although during the breeding season the bird is rather more of an Arctic one. Its migrations are regular, and not only taken along the coast, but inland down the great river valleys. It is equally as gregarious as the Dunlin, indeed often flocks with that species as well as with other small Sandpipers. It is described by American naturalists as being remarkably tame and trustful, and runs about the rocky beaches in the presence of an observer with little show of fear. Bonaparte's Sandpiper is a rather late bird of passage, even for an Arctic species, passing along the coasts of the United States and up the valley of the Mississippi during May, and reaching its breeding grounds towards the end of that month or early in June. Odd birds make their appearance in the Northern States near the end of July, but the majority pass southwards during September and October. Its actions on the shore are very similar to those of the Dunlin. The bird runs about the wet sands and muds, and over the weed-grown rocks in the usual restless manner. Its flight is rapid, yet rather wavering, and it often wades breast-deep into the water in its eager quest for food. The flocks often wheel and gyrate in the air when disturbed. The note of Bonaparte's Sandpiper is said by Coues to be a low, soft weet, unlike that of any of the bird's congeners. Its food is said to consist of insects, worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and other small marine animals, and during summer various ground fruits are eaten. Nidification. — The breeding grounds of Bonaparte's Sandpiper are the Arctic tundras in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea. But little has been recorded of its habits during the nesting season. A nest discovered by Mac- Farlane was merely a hollow in the ground, lined with a few dead leaves. The eggs are four in number, and vary in ground-colour from olive to greyish-buff, blotched and spotted with dark reddish-brown and pale brown, and with under- lying markings of grey. They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an average 1'25 inch in length by '9 in breadth. It is said that one brood only is reared in the year, and, like the Dunlin, as soon as the young are fledged they with their parents begin to migrate slowly south. Diagnostic characters. — Heteropygia, with the upper tail coverts white, more or less streaked with brown, and the bill under one inch in length. Length, 7£ inches. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 261 Family CHAEADEIID^. Genus HETEBOPYGIA. Subfamily SCOLOPACIN&. AMERICAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER. HETEEOPYGIA MACULATA— (Vieillot). Tringa maculata, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxxiv. p. 465 (1819) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 11, pi. 546 (1878) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 368 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiv. (1890). Tringa pectoralis (Say) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 190 (1852) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 201 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 148, pi. 43 (1896). Tringa accuminata pectoralis (Say), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 266 (1894). Meteropygia maculata (Vieill.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit, iii p. 247 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 562 (1896). Geographical distribution — British: The American Pectoral Sand- piper is a rare straggler on migration to our Islands, chiefly in autumn. The claim of this species to rank as "British" rests upon the following recorded occurrences. England : Scilly Isles (four examples, one in May), Cornwall (one example), Devonshire (two examples), Sussex (one example), Kent (one example), Suffolk (four examples), Norfolk (eight examples), Lincolnshire (one example), Yorkshire (five examples), Durham (two examples), Cumberland (one example), Northumberland (two examples, one in June). Scotland: Dumbar- tonshire (one example), Aberdeenshire (one example), Orkneys (one example). Ireland : Co. Galway (one example). With the two solitary exceptions noticed, these occurrences have all been in autumn, during August, September, October and November. Foreign : Nearctic and Neotropical regions. In the Northern hemisphere it breeds in the Arctic regions of America above the limits of forest growth, from Alaska in the west to Davis Strait in the east, and has wandered as far as Greenland. It passes the United States, the Bermudas (abnormally) and the Bahamas on migration, and winters in the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and the South American portion of the Intertropical realm. In the Southern hemisphere it unquestionably breeds in Patagonia, and possibly the Argentine, although the nest has not yet been actually discovered. 262 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Allied forms. — Heteropygia acumiiiata, which since the first edition of the present work was published has become a " British " species, and will be dealt with fully in the following chapter. H. bairdi, an inhabitant of Alaska, and the valley of the Mackenzie, passing through the Western United States on migration, and wintering in the South American portion of the Primogaean realm, occasion- ally straying even as far as South Africa. Distinguished from the Pectoral Sandpiper by its black legs and feet (those of the Pectoral Sandpiper are buff), and by having the central tail feathers no longer than the outer ones. Habits. — During its migrations this Pectoral Sandpiper passes along the coasts as well as by inland routes up the river valleys of the United States during April and May. It begins to return from its Arctic breeding grounds in August, and the autumn flight continues through the two following months. It frequents by preference low sandy or muddy coasts, swampy meadows and salt marshes, running about in a restless, active manner, tame and trustful. Like the Dunlin, it is sometimes observed in large flocks and parties, and is often met with solitary or in the company of other Waders. Its flight is rapid, sometimes rather wavering, and when in flocks the birds often perform graceful evolutions after they are flushed. The birds of a flock scatter about a good deal whilst feeding, but when alarmed they soon form into a compact body in the air, and often rise to a considerable height after being fired at. It is much attached to its feeding grounds, resembling the Kinged Plover in this respect, and continues to haunt certain spots in spite of much disturbance. The food of the Pectoral Sandpiper consists of small mollusks, crustaceans, insects of various kinds, notably beetles, scraps of algaa, and seeds. In summer the bird doubtless eats ground fruits. The call-note of this species is a single tweet, only repeated under exceptional cases when the bird is alarmed or excited ; but at the breeding grounds the male often indulges in short flights with the wings elevated and beaten rapidly together, the throat expanded to the utmost, uttering meanwhile a guttural note which has been syllabled as hoo-hoo-Jwo. Before uttering these notes the bird fills the sesophagus with air, thus distending the throat and breast like a Pouter-Pigeon. Adams was the first observer to record this peculiarity forty years ago ; whilst much more recently (in 1879) Mr. Nelson remarked the same thing of this species in Alaska. The latter naturalist states that the skin of the throat and breast become flabby and loose during the pairing season, the aesophagus soft and distensible. The male may frequently be seen running along close to the female with this enor- mous air-sac inflated, the head drawn back and the bill pointed forward ; or flitting just above the ground with head upraised and tail depressed, uttering the singular hollow booming notes. Nidification.— Nothing appears to have been known respecting the breed- ing habits of the Pectoral Sandpiper until its eggs were obtained by Lieutenant OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 263 Eay's expedition to Point Barrow in Alaska in 1882 — 83. The birds were observed to arrive at their nesting places on the Arctic tundras or barren grounds at the end of May, and early in June they began to pair. The nest is stated to be always placed amongst the grass in a dry part of the tundra. The nest has not been described minutely, but the eggs are four in number. These vary in ground-colour from pale olive-brown to pale buff, blotched and spotted with rich reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an average 1'5 inch in length by I'l inch in breadth. One brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are fledged they begin to congregrate into parties for migration, but some of the old birds linger and skulk until they have completed their moult, before starting south. Diagnostic characters.— Heteropygia, with the rump and upper tail coverts blackish ; with little or no white on the secondaries, and with the central rectrices "25 inch longer than the next ; by the greater amount of brown on the throat and chest, streaked with dark brown. Length, 8| inches. 264 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHARADEIID^. Genus HETEROPYGIA. Subfamily SCOLOPACIN&. SIBERIAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER. HETEKOPYGIA ACUMINATA— (Horsf.) PLATE XXVIII. Totanus acuminatus, Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 192 (1820). Tringa acuminata (Horsf.), Ground, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1892, p. 581 ; Southwell, Zoolo- gist, 1892, pp. 356, 405 ; Seebohm, Ibis, 1893, pp. 181—185, pi. 5 ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. Appendix i. p. 336 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 146 (1896). Heteropygia acuminata (Horsf.) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 244 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 566 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British: The suggestion we made in the first edition of the present work that possibly some of the examples of H. maculata recorded as British might prove to belong to the present species, has been justified by the discovery that at least one specimen has been so confused with the American Pectoral Sandpiper. This example is said to have been obtained near Yarmouth, in September, 1848, remaining for nearly half-a-century unidentified in the Norwich museum. Curiously enough, with that strange coincidence of occurrence remarkable in not a few of the rare birds obtained in our Islands, a second example of this species was shot near the same locality on the 29th of August, 1892, by Mr. T. Ground. Both these examples are in adult plumage. They were recorded by Seebohm (Ibis, 1893, p. 181, pi. 5), who gives (in conjunction with Dr. Sclater) an exhaustive account of the species. Mr. Ground's specimen (the example figured in the Ibis) when shot was in the company of several Dunlins and a Kinged Plover. Foreign : Eastern Palaearctic region ; Oriental and Australian regions in winter. Although the exact breeding grounds of this Sandpiper remain to be discovered, there can be little doubt that they are located in North-eastern Siberia, in Dauria, the Tchuski Land, and Kamtschatka. It is, however, worthy of remark that Dr. Stejneger, during his visit to the latter country, only obtained young examples during autumn migration on Behring Island. It passes the coasts of China and Japan on migration, and winters in the Malay Archipelago, and in the Australian portion of the Intertropical or Primogaean realm. It is a species of wide abnormal migration, and has been met with in Alaska (where it possibly breeds), at Gilgit, in the Indus Valley, in South Australia, the Friendly Islands and New Zealand. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 265 Allied forms. — Heteropygia macidata, the American representative of the Pectoral Sandpiper — also an abnormal migrant to the British Islands, and the other species in the present genus already dealt with in the preceding chapters. Habits. — But little of interest has been recorded concerning the habits of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper, and doubtless its economy very closely resembles that of allied and better known species. Like most birds breeding in the high north, this Sandpiper migrates late in spring and retires south early in autumn, probably as soon as the young can fly. Swinhoe found it abundant on the Chinese coasts in August, whilst Mr. Styan records it as passing through Shanghai in fair numbers in April and May. The autumn migration, however, must be some- what prolonged, because Dr. Stejneger states that these birds were observed on Behring Island from the middle of September onwards for three weeks. He met with them both on the tundra near the lake and on the rocky beach. He speaks of them as being very shy, occurring singly or in small parties, never in large flocks. Mr. Nelson met with this Sandpiper near North Cape, on the north shore of Siberia, scattered about the wet grass flats near the coast as early as the first of August. The birds were seeking for food amongst the reindeer tracks with which the ground was covered. Curiously enough these individuals were the reverse of shy, and allowed Mr. Nelson and his companions a close observation as they circled round about his party. This naturalist states that the birds usually make their first appearance on the shores of Norton Sound at the end of August, and soon become very common. Sometimes they remained in this locality up to the 12th of October ; and Mr. Nelson informs us that he has seen them searching for food along the tide-line when the ground was covered with a couple of inches of snow. Their tameness was remarkable, and if a flock was fired at the birds returned again and again to the same spot. I find little or nothing recorded respecting the flight, notes, or general habits of this interesting bird ; but Dr. Stejneger states that its food partly, at all events, consists of gammarids. Nidification. — The nest and eggs of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper are at present unknown to science. Diagnostic characters.— Heteropygia, with the central rectrices "1 inch longer than the next, with squamate markings on the belly and flanks (adult in summer) ; and by the lesser amount of brown on the throat and chest, spotted with dark brown. 266 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Genus LIMONITES, or Stints. Type, LIMONITES MINUTA. Limonites, of Kaup (1829). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the culmen and metatarsus equal in length, but the latter is no more than about equal to the middle toe and claw combined, and also by having a hind toe. The wings are long and pointed. The nostrils are lateral and situated in a groove. The tibia just above the metatarsal joint is devoid of feathers. This genus is composed of five species, distributed over the northern portions of the Palsearctic and Nearctic regions (Arctogaean realm) in summer, and the Neotropical, Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions (Primogaean realm) in winter. Three species are visitors to the British Islands, two on spring and autumn passage, and one on abnormal migration. The Stints resemble allied species in their habits and general economy. In summer they frequent tundras and open grounds ; in autumn and winter, sea coasts. They are social and gregarious, especially during the non-breeding season. They feed on insects, larvae, worms, crustaceans, mollusks, ground fruits, etc. They are monogamous, making a slight nest upon the ground, and their eggs, four in number, are richly marked with a double class of spots. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 267 Family CHAEADEIID.E. Genus LIMONITES. Subfamily LITTLE STINT. LIMONITES MINUTA— (Lewfer) . Tringa minuta, Leisler, Nachtr. Bechst. Naturg. Deutsch). i. p. 74 (1812; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 227 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 29, pi. 549, fig. i (1871) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 386 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 204 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891J ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p 267 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 148, pi. 44 (1896). Limonites minuta (Leisler), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 250 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 538 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British . The Little Stint is a fairly common visitor 011 spring and autumn migration, most abundant during the latter period. It is principally found on the eastern coast of England, more rarely on the south coast, and still less frequently on the east coast of Scotland as far north as the Shetlands. It is practically unknown on the west coast of Scotland, and is rare on the west coast of England, chiefly affecting Lancashire and the Solway dis- trict. It visits Ireland sparingly every autumn, most frequently on the north-east and eastern coast, and passes the Channel Islands on migration. Foreign : Western Palaearctic region ; Ethiopian region, and Indian subregion of Oriental region in winter. This Stint breeds locally on the Arctic tundras of Europe and Asia from the North Cape in the west to the Taimur peninsula in the east, including Kolguev, Nova Zembla and Waigatz Island. It has been found breeding at Kistrand in Northern Norway, on the Kola peninsula in Lapland, in the delta of the Petchora in Eussia, on the Yalmal peninsula, in the valley of the Yenisei, and on the Taimur peninsula in the Siberian province of Yeniseisk. It passes the coasts of Europe, the valleys of the Kama and the Volga, Western Siberia and Turkestan on migration, and winters sparingly in the basin of the Mediterranean, tropical Africa,* (including the valley of the Nile and the Central Lakes) , Arabia, * We cannot admit that this Stint is a normal migrant to South Africa, nor that it anywhere crosses the tropics to winter. 268 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Persia, India, Ceylon and Burrnah. The Little Stint has also been recorded from the Seychelles and Providence Bank, in the Indian Ocean. Allied forms. — Limonites ruftcollis, an inhabitant of Eastern Siberia, from the valley of the Lena to the Tchuski Land and the Commander Islands passing the Baikal region, China, and Japan on migration, and wintering in the Malay Archipelago and Australia. Possibly this bird may breed in the Southern hemisphere. Gould records it as doing so in Australia in the Houtmans Abrolhos in December. It also visits Tasmania and the smaller islands. We may rest assured that if this Stint normally crosses the tropics it breeds in south temperate or even antarctic latitudes. The eastern representative of the Little Stint, possibly distinct although completely intergrading with its western representative. Typical examples in breeding plumage differ from the Little Stint in having the underparts, from the chin to the breast inclusive, unspotted chestnut, and the two central tail feathers uniform brownish-black. In the Little Stint the chin and throat are white, and the breast is streaked with chestnut. The two forms are, however, almost if not quite indistinguishable in winter plumage. L. minutilla and L. damacensis treated of in the next chapter. Habits. — British naturalists and sportsmen only have the opportunity of meeting with the Little Stint during the period of its autumn and spring migrations along our coasts. In autumn it begins to arrive in August, but the majority appear in September and remain until October before passing on still further to the south. It is a late bird of passage in spring with us, not arriving before May in any numbers, lingering with us often until the middle of June, then starting north for the Arctic tundras where it breeds. During its sojourn on the British coasts it chiefly frequents the low shores where mud-flats abound, and broad reaches of sand supply it with haunts where food is ever plentiful. It also frequents salt marshes, and is partial to the wide estuaries of East Anglia. Here it is frequently to be met with in the company of Dunlins and other little birds of the shore. It usually migrates in flocks of varying size which, when alarmed, perform various graceful evolutions in the air before settling again. Even during the breeding season the Little Stint is a remarkably social bird, and small parties collect round the shores of the moorland pools to feed. The immature non-breeding birds appear to keep in large flocks in the summer quarters throughout their stay ; and whilst the brooding birds are busy incubating, their mates often form into considerable bands. Its habits when on the coasts of our Islands are very similar to those of the Dunlin. Like that bird it is almost constantly in motion, running hither and thither about the mud and sand in a restless manner, and even wading through the shallows, but it appears never to swim nor dive. The food of this Stint consists of insects and their larvae, crustaceans, worms, and various small marine creatures ; whilst in the Arctic OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 269 regions the bird may also eat ground fruits and small seeds. Its note at the nesting place is a rather shrill whit, but in autumn and winter it utters a chirping cry. This species probably has a trill during the pairing season; but as Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie -Brown did not reach the breeding grounds of the Little Stint until after this event was over, they probably did not hear it. Nidification. — Von Middendorff was the first naturalist to discover the breeding grounds of the Little Stint. Nearly fifty years ago he met with it nesting on the Taimur peninsula, at the eastern limit of its known range. In 1875 Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown discovered nesting places of this Stint at the delta of the Petchora, and their interesting accounts of the breeding of this bird in Europe were the first made known to British ornithologists. Since their discoveries, other breeding places have been found in various parts of Arctic Europe, extending as far west as the Porsanger fjord and the North Cape in Northern Norway. At the mouth of the Petchora the breeding grounds of the Little Stint were situated on a comparatively dry and gently sloping part of the tundra close to the inland sea, at the mouth of the great river. Here the tundra was thickly studded with tussocks of grass, and the swampy ground was almost concealed by cotton-grass. These grass tufts were covered with green moss and smaller patches of reindeer moss, the whole almost hidden with a thick growth of cloud-berry and carices, dwarf shrubs, and sundry Arctic flowers. Several of the nests discovered were quite close together. Other nests were found where the ground was more sandy and full of small pools, and covered with short grass and plants. The nest of the Little Stint is merely a slight hollow in the ground, lined with a few dead leaves of the cloud-berry and other scraps of vegetable refuse. The eggs are four in number, and vary in ground-colour from pale greenish-grey to pale brown, spotted and blotched with rich reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of paler brown and grey. Most of the spots and blotches are on the larger end of the egg, as is usual with those of all Waders. They are pyriform, and measure on an average I'l inch in length by '8 inch in breadth. They are laid towards the end of June, or early in July. Incubation appears to be performed by both sexes, and one brood only is reared in the year. In some cases the female alone appears to frequent the nest, and when this is approached she makes little demonstration and is remarkably quiet. It should be remarked, however, that Mr. Pearson found the male bird at the nests he discovered. Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown state that the tameness of the hen bird was sometimes most extraordinary. The former gentleman states that at one nest the female approached within eighteen inches of his hand as he sat beside the eggs, and when his hand was stretched towards her she quietly retreated a couple of feet ; but the moment he left the vicinity of her home she changed her tactics at once, and began fluttering along the ground with quivering wings and outspread tail as if dying. After having a glove thrown at her and 270 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL being fired at, she concluded that men were not to be trusted, and she finally flew away. It is sad to read that after all she returned, faithful to her beloved eggs, and fell a martyr to science ! In the summer of 1895 Mr. C. E. Pearson succeeded in obtaining fifteen sets of eggs of the Little Stint on the island of Kolguev, between the 6th and the 15th of July. All were placed at no great distance from tidal water. Diagnostic characters. — Limonites, with the wing under 4 inches in length, the bill broadest at the base, and the legs and feet black. Length, 6 inches. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 271 Family CHARADRIIDyE. Genus LIMONITES. Subfamily AMERICAN STINT. LIMONITES MINUTILLA— (Vieillot). Tringa minutilla, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxxiv. p. 452 (1819) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 51, pi. 552, figs. 2, 3 (1871) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 396 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 213 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 149, pi. 44 (1896) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt xxxv. (1897). Tringa subminuta minutilla, Vieill., Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non.-indig. Brit. B. p. 270 (1894). Limonites minutilla (Vieill.) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 255 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 548 (1896). Geographical distribution — British: The American Stint is a very rare straggler on autumn migration to our area, but is one that is doubtless fre- quently overlooked. The claim of this species to rank as " British " rests upon the following occurrences :— England : Cornwall (one example), October, 1853 ; Devon- shire (two examples), September, 1869, and August, 1892. Foreign: Northern Nearctic region ; Neotropical region in winter. It breeds in the Arctic regions of America from Alaska to Labrador and Newfoundland, south to Nova Scotia. It passes the United States, from California in the west to the Atlantic coast in the east, on migration, occurring abnormally on the Bermudas, a few wintering in the Southern States, but the majority in Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, the Galapagos (doubtless abnormally), and the northern portions of South America. Allied forms. — Limonites damacensis, an inhabitant of Eastern Siberia, south of the Arctic circle, from the valley of the Lena to the coasts of the Sea of Okhotsk, Behring Island, and the islands off Alaska. It passes through the Baikal region, the valley of the Amoor, and along the coasts of China and Japan on migra- tion, and winters in the Malay Archipelago, North Australia, India, Ceylon, and Burmah. The Old World representative of the American Stint only sub- specifically distinct, and completely intergrading with its New World repre- sentative. Typical examples differ from the American Stint in having a larger foot (length of middle toe and claw '85 to '95 inch, instead of '8 to '85 inch). L, minuta and L. ruficollis treated of in the preceding chapter. 272 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Habits — The American Stint is as well known and abundant in the United States during its seasons of migration as the Little Stint is in Western Europe. Unlike that bird, however, it appears to migrate across inland districts as well as along the coast line. They begin to arrive in the Southern States in April, slowly travel on to New England early in May, reach North Carolina towards the end of the latter month, but do not appear on the Arctic tundras where they breed until early June, when the snow is melted, and the " barren " grounds no longer deserve the name but teem with life. Notwithstanding the fact that many follow an inland course, the favourite haunts, both on passage and in winter, are the mud-flats of the low-lying coasts. Here in the wide marshes behind the actual beach, amongst the creeks and mud-fringed streams, the American Stint may be watched in flocks of varying size tripping about the slimy soil, picking here and probing there in quest of its food. The return migration commences with the immature and non-breeding birds towards the middle of July ; in August many of the young appear, but the great flights arrive during September. When in flocks the American Stint is rather a silent bird, but when flushed solitary or in little parties, it usually utters a sharp whit as it hurries away. It is very tame when on the coast. Flocks of this bird when flushed often perform various graceful evolutions in concert before alighting again. Like all its congeners it is a restless, active little bird, ever tripping about in quest of food, and very frequently associates with other small Waders. The food of the American Stint consists of insects and their larvse, small worms, crustaceans and mollusks, seeds, and various ground fruits. Some of this food is sought on the weed- covered rocks at low water, or even on masses of drifting seaweed. Nidification. — Eggs of the American Stint may be found towards the end of June or early in July. Its breeding grounds are on the Arctic tundras, sometimes near the coast, more frequently a short distance inland on the margins of the lakes and pools. The nest is merely a slight hollow in the ground, lined with a little withered grass and dead leaves, and is often made under the shelter of a bush or a stone. The eggs are four in number, pale buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of paler brown and grey. They very closely resemble those of the preceding species. They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an average TO inch in length by •8 inch in breadth. The female is very tame and trustful at the nest, but sometimes seeks to lure an intruder away by feigning lameness. One brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young can fly they and their parents begin to draw southwards. Diagnostic characters.— Tringa, with the outer rectrices grey, the legs and feet pale brown, and the wing less than 4 inches long. Length, 5£ to 6 inches. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 273 Family CHAKADBIID^. Genus LIMONITES. Subfamily SCOLOPACIN&. TEMMINCK'S STINT. LIMONITES TEMMINCKI— (Leisler). Tringa temminckii, Leisler, Nachtr. Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. ii. p. 78 (1812) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 230 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 45, pi. 549, fig. 1 ; pi. 555, fig. 2 (1871) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 398 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 217 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 272 (1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 149, pi. 44 (1896). Limonites temmincki (Leisler), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 257 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 555 (1896;. Geographical distribution.— British: Temminck's Stint is a rare but regular visitor to our Islands on spring and autumn migration ; most frequent on the east and south coasts of England from the Humber to the Scilly Isles, and especially so in Norfolk. North of the Humber it is rare, and has once only or twice been recorded from Scotland. It is very rare on the west coast of England ; whilst one example only has been recorded from Ireland, and this in January, the sole known instance of this species being found in our Islands during winter. It occasionally wanders inland — Middlesex, Cambridgeshire, Notts, and Lanca- shire. Foreign : Northern Palaearctic region ; Oriental region in winter. It breeds on the tundras above the limits of forest growth, from Scandinavia in North-western Europe to the Tchuski Land in North-eastern Asia, and in suit- able localities on river banks as far south as lat. 65° on the White Sea and Bothnian Gulf, and lat. 55° on the coasts of the Okhotsk Sea. It has been said to breed on the lofty Siberian Mountains, but the evidence is unsatisfactory, although the record of a male bird obtained on the 26th of May from Tagdum- bash Pamir, at an elevation of 14,000 feet, is very suggestive. It passes the European coasts, and along internal routes both of Europe and Asia, and the coasts of China (accidentally in Japan), on migration, and winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, in Northern Africa, and on both eastern and western coasts as far south as lat. 10°, India, Ceylon, Burmah, South China, and the Malay Archipelago. Allied forms. — None nearer than the Stints already dealt with, and to which it is only distantly related. 18 274 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Habits. — The British Islands are evidently situated on the extreme outer fringe of the spring and autumn migration of Temminck's Stint. This is probably because the bird's line of flight is more inland, not so maritime as that of the Little Stint, and taken down the great river valleys which extend almost due north and south between the tundras where it breeds and the countries where it winters. The few individuals that do stray so far to the westward as our coasts usually make their appearance in May and September, and the great majority of the birds reach their Arctic haunts during the last week of May in Europe and the first week of June in Siberia. It is much more addicted to inland lakes and rivers than to the coast, and always prefers a muddy shore to a sandy one. During passage and in its winter quarters Temminck's Stint is generally met with in flocks, but occasionally in scattered pairs or alone, and odd birds are frequently met with in the gatherings of other Waders. Its habits and movements on the mud-flats do not differ in any important respect from those of its congeners. Its flight is rapid and the small bunches of birds frequently gyrate in the air after being disturbed from their feeding places, each movement being performed with such precision that a common impulse seems to control the entire number of individuals. The food of Temminck's Stint is composed principally of insects and their larvae, worms, and various small marine animals ; particles of vegetable matter have been noticed in the stomach of this bird. Its call-note is a shrill ptirr, very different from the whit of the Little Stint. Nidification. — The breeding season of Temminck's Stint is in June. Wolley was the first naturalist to furnish detailed information of the nest and eggs of this species. He found it breeding sparingly in the marshes to the north of the Bothnian Gulf. Although several nests may be found quite close together, it is said that Temminck's Stint is not gregarious at the breeding grounds, keep- ing in pairs during that period. During the pairing season this Stint frequently perches on the small trees in its haunts, or stands on a post or fence, vibrating its wings and trilling lustily. This musical trill, however, is generally uttered whilst Temminck's Stint is wheeling round and round or hovering and floating in the air, although it is sometimes heard as the bird runs along the ground with uplifted wings. The nest is usually made near to water, often on low islands which are clothed with willows and long grass at the delta of a river. It is merely a hollow amongst the sedge, rushes, or grass, scantily lined with dry grass and withered leaves. The eggs are four in number, ranging from pale buff to pale olive in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and dark brown, and with underlying markings of paler brown and grey. On some eggs a few dark, nearly black, streaks occur. They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an average I'l inch in length by '85 inch in breadth. When its breeding grounds are invaded Temminck's Stint becomes exceedingly demonstrative and noisy, and often betrays the whereabouts of its nest by careering wildly about above it. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 275 When the nest is actually discovered the bird becomes much quieter, and its actions closely resemble those of the Little Stint under similar conditions. Incubation seems in many cases to be performed by the male (although instances are on record where the female has been shot from the nest), and it is usually he that is so excited and alarmed when the nest is threatened by danger. One brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are able to fly the breeding grounds begin to be deserted. Diagnostic characters — Limonites, with the outer rectrices pure white. Length, 6 inches. 276 THE GAME BIBDS AND WILD FOWL Genus TRINGITES, or Buff=breasted Sandpipers. Type, TEINGITES EUFESCENS. Tringites, of Cabanis (1856). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the metatarsus longer than the culmen, and the central retrices extending beyond the others. The bill is short, the culmen less than the metatarsus in length. The wings are long and pointed, and the black mottling on the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries is very noteworthy and peculiar to the genus. The nostrils are lateral and situated in a groove. The tibia just above the metatarsal joint is devoid of feathers : the hind toe is present. This genus is composed of a single species only, distributed over the American Continent from the Arctic regions south to the Primogsean realm. It is an abnormal migrant to the British Islands. The habits, food, migrations, nidification, notes, etc., of this single species are described in the following chapter. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 277 Family CHAEADEIIDyB. Genus TRINGITES. Subfamily BUFF=BREASTED SANDPIPER. TEINGITES RUFESCENS— (Vieillot). PLATE XXVII. Tringa rufescens, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxxiv. p. 470 (1819) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 194 (1852) ; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig Brit. B. p. 276 (1894). Tringites rufescens (Vieill.), Dresser, B Eur. viii. p. Ill pi. 561 (1876); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 435 (1883). Tryngites rufescens (Vieill ), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 226 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 151, pi. 43 (1896). Tringites sub-ruficollis (Vieill.); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 264 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 521 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British: The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a rare straggler to the British Islands, chiefly on autumn migration, as is usually the case with abnormal migrants from the New World . The claim of this species to rank as " British " rests on the following recorded occurrences : — England: Cambridgeshire (one example), Norfolk (four examples), Sussex (one example), Cornwall and Scilly Isles (four examples), Lundy Isle (one example), Lancashire (one example), May, 1829; Cumberland (one example). Scotland: Caithness (one very doubtful example). Ireland : Co. Dublin (one example), Antrim (two examples). All have occurred in autumn with the exception of the Lancashire example, the date of which is open to some doubt. Foreign : Northern Nearctic region, and probably extreme north-east of Palsearctic region ; Northern Neotropical region in winter. It breeds in the Arctic regions of America, from Alaska probably to Baffin Bay, although it is unrecorded from Greenland. Westwards it appears to range to the Siberian coasts of Behring Strait, and has been obtained on the southern shore of the Okhotsk Sea. It passes the United States and the Bermudas (abnormally) on migration, and winters in Mexico, the West Indies, and the northern portion of South America. A single example has been obtained on Heligoland in May, a date, by the way, which tends to confirm that of the Lancashire example, whilst it has been recorded from Japan. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to require notice. Habits — The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a Sandpiper that eschews the sands. It is not a coast bird, and prefers the prairies to the mud-flats, and the 278 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL wide grassy wastes to the shore. Its migrations to and from its breeding grounds are consequently chiefly taken across inland districts, but small parties occasion- ally frequent the shore. It passes across the prairies of the United States in spring, and arrives at its Arctic breeding grounds during the first week in June, and the return migration commences in August and lasts through the autumn. In many of its habits it resembles Bartram's Sandpiper, and like that species it is fond of frequenting the wagon tracks and bare spots on the plains, where it runs about in quest of food. It is said to be a very tame bird, seldom flying far after being fired at. Its flight is rapid and straightforward. The note of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is described by Dr. Heermaim as a low, oft-repeated tweet. The food of this species consists principally of insects, especially cole- optera, for which the bird searches amongst the droppings of animals and the herbage of its haunts. Worms, and when on the shore, crustaceans and mollusks, are also eaten, and during summer various ground fruits and berries. During migration the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is more or less gregarious, but whether these flocks continue through the winter appears to be unknown. Nidification.— But little has been recorded of the habits of the Buff- breasted Sandpiper during the breeding season. Mr. Elliot states that the males go through various antics during the pairing season, sometimes sparring with each other like game cocks and then soaring into the air. MacFarlane found this bird breeding in abundance in the Anderson Eiver district in the north-west of America, and obtained a remarkably fine series of eggs ; but unfortunately he neglected his splendid opportunities of observing and recording details of the nesting habits of this and many other Waders, and the few facts he has furnished only bring out in stronger contrast his unpardonable neglect. He informs us that the nest is always on the ground, and scarcely distinguishable from that of the Golden Plover (Charadrius fulvus). His series of eggs was obtained between the 26th of June and the 9th of July. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was also met with breeding at Point Barrow, in Alaska by Mr. Murdoch. He states that it frequented the dry portions of the tundra, and that the nest was a shallow depression lined with a little moss. The eggs are four in number, and vary in ground-colour from pale to rich buff, sometimes tinged with olive, handsomely blotched and spotted with rich reddish-brown and blackish-brown, and with numerous underlying markings of ink-grey. They measure on an average 1/45 inch in length by I'D inch in breadth. The parent birds are said to be very tame at the nest, only flying away for a little distance when flushed from the eggs. But one brood is reared in the season, and the southern flight commences shortly after the young can fly. Diagnostic characters.— Tringites, with the under surface of the wings buff, mottled with black and white, and the tail graduated. Length, 7 to 8 inches. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 279 Genus CALIDRIS, or Sanderlings. Type, CALIDEIS AKENABIA. Calidris, of Illiger (1811). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the metatarsus and culmen about equal in length, com- bined with the absence of a hallux or hind toe. The bill is short and stout, the culmen about equal to the metatarsus in length. The wings are long and pointed. The nostrils are lateral, and situated in a groove. The tibia, just above the inetatarsal joint, is devoid of feathers. This genus is composed of a single species only, which has a range base in the Primogaean realm, migrating north to breed, apparently as far as land extends in the Northern hemisphere (Arctogsean realm), and south to unknown limits, possibly for a similar purpose, although its breeding grounds in the Southern hemisphere (Notogasan realm) are stiJl undiscovered. It is a common visitor to the British Islands on migration, and a few remain to winter within our limits. The habits, food, migrations, nidification, notes, &c., of this single species are described in the following chapter. 280 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHABADKIID.E. Genus CALIDRIS. Subfamily SCOLOPACIN&. SANDERLINQ. CALIDKIS ABENAEIA— (Linnaus). Tringa arenaria, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 251 (1766) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non- indig. Brit. B. p. 274 (1896). Calidris arenaria (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 237 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 101, pis. 559, 560 (1877) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 420 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 221 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 150, pi. 41 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 260 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 526 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British : The Sanderling is a common visitor to our area on spring and autumn migration, most abundant during the latter, a few remaining behind in the fall to winter, especially in the mild climate of the south. It visits all the islands as well as the mainland coasts, including the Orkneys and Shetlands, the Hebrides and the Channel Islands ; and occa- sionally occurs some distance inland, especially near to large sheets of water. Foreign: Circumpolar region in summer, Palsearctic and Nearctic regions chiefly on passage ; Ethiopian, Oriental, and Neotropical regions in winter. It probably breeds in suitable localities on all the shores of the Arctic Ocean, although its known breeding grounds are remarkably few. In the Old World its eggs appear only to have been taken in Iceland (lat. 65°), although it is to be met with during summer on Spitzbergen, as was recently ascertained by Mr. Pike, on the Golaievskai Islands in the Petchora Gulf, the Waigats, Nova Zembla, the delta of the Yenesei, the Taimur peninsula, and the Laikov Islands. In the New World portion of the Circumpolar region its eggs have been taken on the Anderson Eiver (lat. 68°), on the Parry Isles (lat. 78°), in Grinnell Land (lat. 82£°), and in Greenland on the west coast near Smith Sound (lat. 79°), and Godthaab (nestlings) (lat. 63°), on the east coast, Sabine Island (lat. 74^°). It is also a common bird during summer in Alaska. It passes the coasts of Europe, Asia, and America, as well as along many internal routes, on migration, and winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, on the coasts of Africa, Arabia, and the Mekran coast, but becomes rare in India, Ceylon and Burmah. Dr. Abbott states that this species is " common " on Aldabra Island, north-west of Mada- gascar, whilst four examples are recorded from it by Eidgway. Further east it OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 281 is a winter visitor to China, Japan, and the Malay Archipelago (Java, Borneo), and has been recorded from Australia. During that season it visits all the coasts of South America within the tropics, the Galapagos, the West Indies, and the Bermudas. In the New World the Sanderling is found as far south as Terra del Fuego ; in the Old World down to Cape Colony. If these visits are normal, then the species breeds in southern latitudes. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to demand notice. Habits. — A few Sanderlings, probably individuals that have not been breeding, appear on the British coasts at the end of July, but the majority of birds arrive during August and the early days of September. By the middle of the latter month many have passed on towards the south ; by the end of October comparatively few are left, and some of these linger with us throughout the winter. The return migration of the Sanderling commences on our coasts in April, and lasts into May and early June. It is said to be one of the first migrants to arrive in the Arctic regions, even reaching such high latitudes as the extreme north of Siberia by the 4th of June, and Grinnell Land, upwards of eight degrees further north, one day later. That the Sanderling migrates by night there can be little doubt, for I have repeatedly become aware of its arrival in the Wash in autumn by taking as many as half-a-dozen birds from a single flight net as soon as the tide had ebbed, and before sunrise. I do not think they fly very high whilst on passage, for these birds must have struck the net at the half-ebb, when only a part of it was exposed above water. The Sanderling is a gentle, trust- ful little creature, not only fond of the sandy reaches, but the mud-flats and shores of the creeks and streams in salt marshes and in the estuaries of rivers. Whilst on passage and in its winter quarters the Sanderling gathers into flocks of varying size, but many pairs frequent the coast by themselves, or attach themselves to parties of other small Waders. I have especially remarked the partiality of this little bird for the company of Kinged Plovers. Here in Devonshire most large bunches of that Plover contain a few Sanderlings during the period of the latter bird's migrations. Its actions on the sand are very similar to those of the Kinged Plover. It does not appear to run in such fits and starts, but steadily searches the ground after the manner of a Dunlin or a Stint. In many localities I have repeatedly observed that during high water the Sanderling skulks on the higher shingle, returning to the actual beach as soon as the sands begin to be exposed. Here it follows the receding tide, running about the edge of the waves as they break on shore, and occasionally wading through the shallow water. The white breast of the Sanderling makes it a very conspicuous bird on the dark sands, and the effect produced of a scattered flock all standing head towards the observer is very pretty. It is a remarkably tame little creature upon its first arrival, but becomes more wary later. The food of this species consists of crustaceans, sand- THE GAME BIBDS AND WILD FOWL worms, and various insects, as well as of great quantities of minute shells. In summer the Sanderling is much more insectivorous, and also feeds on the buds of the Arctic saxifrages. The note of this Wader is a sharp, shrill whit ; whether it utters a trill or any other cry at the breeding grounds observers who have had ample opportunities of noticing omit to inform us. Nidificatioil. — Only meagre details concerning the breeding habits of the Sanderling are on record. MacFarlane appears to have been the first naturalist to take the nest of this bird, he killing a female from her eggs on the tundras near the Arctic Ocean in North-west America, on the 20th of June, 1863. This nest was merely a hollow scantily lined with dry grass and leaves. Thirteen years afterwards, almost to the very day (24th June), Captain Feilden found a nest of the Sanderling, close to Cape Union in Grinnell Land, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean at the very northern limit of known animal life. This nest was made on a ridge of gravel several hundred feet above sea-level, and was merely a slight hollow in the centre of a bent-down willow plant, lined with a few dead leaves and withered catkins. By the 8th of August he observed the young able to fly, yet still in company with their parents. The eggs of the Sanderling are four in number, buflish-olive in ground-colour, densely mottled and spotted with pale olive-brown, and with underlying markings of ink-grey. They measure on an average T4 inch in length by TO inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the task of incubation, and one brood only is reared in the season. It is rather an unusual circumstance in this group of birds for the adults to migrate south before completing their autumn moult ; but this the Sanderling does, and I have repeatedly shot adults in breeding dress in the first week in August. Diagnostic Characters — Calidris, with no hind toe, and the legs and feet black. Length, 8 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 283 Genus SCOLOPAX, or Woodcocks. Type, SCOLOPAX EUSTICULA. Scolopax, of Linnaeus (1766). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised hy having the culmen longer than the tarsus (twice its length), and the prominent eye situated so far back in the head as to be only just in front of the auricular orifice. The metatarsus is somewhat short, and the tibia is feathered in three species, bare just above the metatarsal joint in one other. The bill is long and straight, swollen laterally, and softened towards the tip, which is rugose or pitted. The nostrils are lateral, basal, and covered with a membrane. The wings are more rounded than in the Sandpipers, the long innermost secondaries not so long as the primaries, the black markings on the head are transversely situated, the tail is tipped with silvery white spots on the under surface ; and the summer and winter plumage are similar in colour. Sternum so far as is known abnormal, with two notches only in the posterior margin. This genus is composed of four species, one of which is peculiar to the Moluccas ; two others distributed over the Palsearctic and Oriental regions ; and a fourth confined to the Nearctic region. One species is common in the British Islands. The Woodcocks are dwellers in woodland swamps. They are birds of rapid and powerful, if somewhat erratic, flight, displayed to a remarkable degree during courtship. They run and walk with ease ; are shy and retiring, skulking close amongst the. cover, from which they rarely wander far. Their food consists of worms, insects, and larvae. Their nests are made upon the ground amongst herbage, and their double-spotted eggs are, so far as is known, less pyriform in shape, paler, and less richly marked than the Snipes, and four in number. They are monogamous, and for the most part solitary in their habits, except perhaps during migration and in the pairing season. 284 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHABADBIIDyE. Genus SCOLOPAX. Subfamily SCOLOPACIN&. WOODCOCK. SCOLOPAX EUSTICULA— Linnaus. PLATE XXIX. Scolopax rusticula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 243 (1766) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 615, pi. 540 (1877) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 320 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 231 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pts. viii. (1888), xiv. (1890) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 280 (1893) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 205 (1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 152, pi. 41 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mua. xxiv. p. 671 (1896). Rusticola sylvestris (Brehm) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 386 (1852). Geographical distribution — British : In the British Islands the Woodcock is a local resident, but most abundant during winter and on spring and autumn migration, especially the latter. It breeds sparingly throughout the British Islands (including the Shetlands), except perhaps on the Orkneys and Hebrides. It has, however, been recorded as having bred on the Long Island and other similar districts where suitable cover is wanting. Foreign : Palaearctic region ; Oriental region in winter. It breeds in the forest districts of Scandinavia as far north as the Arctic circle, in West Eussia up to about lat. 65°, and in East Kussia and Siberia not much beyond lat. 60°. Southwards it breeds as low as the Azores, the Canaries, and Madeira, and at considerable elevations in the Alps, the Carpathians, the Balkans, and the Caucasus. Its southern breeding range in Asia reaches the Himalayas at an elevation of ten thousand feet, the mountains of the Baikal district, Mongolia, and the mountains of Japan. In the southern portion of its breeding area it is probably a resident, but the birds breeding in the north pass southwards to the basin of the Mediterranean, Persia, India (occasionally straying to Ceylon), Burmah, and China for the cold season; breeding, however, in the latter country in Western Szechuen at an altitude of from ten thousand to twelve thousand feet. It has occurred on the Faroes, and is an accidental wanderer to the Azores, Newfoundland, New Jersey, and Virginia. Allied forms. — Scolopax minor, an inhabitant of North America from about lat. 50° in the north to Texas in the south, and as far west as the Bocky OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 285 Mountains. It is a resident in the south, but migratory in the north of this area. This species is distinguished by its attenuated first three primaries, and nearly uniform buff underparts. S. rochusseni, an inhabitant of the Moluccas, distin- guished by its unbarred breast, and primaries marked with rudimentary bars ; and S. saturata, an inhabitant, so far as is known, of Java and New Guinea, much smaller than the Common Woodcock and with the primaries barred on the outer webs only. These are all the true Woodcocks at present known to science. Habits. — Speaking from a naturalist's point of view, and with a full know- ledge of the habits of birds during the moulting season, I should say emphatically that the Woodcocks breeding in the British Islands are stationary, that is, in the sense of not crossing the seas. I am glad to say that this opinion is confirmed by several intelligent gamekeepers, on whose grounds the bird breeds in fair numbers every season. After the breeding season is over the Woodcock is a most skulking bird until its moult is completed ; in this respect it resembles the Snipe. Not only so, but many of these resident Woodcocks are actually breeding even before the return migration of this species in spring, when the birds that breed further north pass our Islands on their way thither. The migrations of the Woodcock are both marked and regular. The bird may be traced leaving its winter quarters in the Mediterranean basin at Gibraltar in the west during the latter half of February, and in Asia Minor in the east during the first half of March. We find it in the British Islands on its way north in March, and it reaches Scandinavia by the end of that month or early in April. The return migration in autumn, which is much more pronounced and noticeable than the vernal one, begins early in October, and continues with varying intensity through the month into the first half of November. Asia Minor is reached towards the end of October, but in the west of the Mediterranean the birds are about a fort- night later. The Woodcock almost invariably migrates by night, up wind, and at a considerable elevation. This species is seldom or never caught in the flight nets, because it continues its lofty course until over dry land, and then drops down almost perpendicularly into the cover below. I have met with great numbers of tired-out Woodcocks in the early morning before actual sunrise on the shores of the Wash, skulking in the hedge-bottoms amongst the drifts of autumn leaves, or on the sea banks amongst the long dry grass. Here they generally remain, if not much disturbed, until the evening, and then, under the cover of darkness, continue their flight inland to their favourite and more suitable winter haunts. Many migrating Woodcocks come to grief at the lighthouses, attracted by the glare of the lanterns. The Woodcock very often arrives on our coasts, especially in autumn, in considerable numbers, or " rushes," but the bird, notwithstanding, is eminently a solitary one, even on passage, and these unusual arrivals are caused by a prolonged spell of unfavourable weather detaining them on Continental Europe and causing them to accumulate whilst waiting for a 286 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL favourable passage. As soon as this is presented all start off, eager to get to their journey's end, and consequently arrive simultaneously on our coasts, but as soon as they reach land they separate and each bird, or at most a pair, retire to their own particular haunts. Even in districts where the Woodcock is common during winter no gregarious tendencies are ever observed, and the birds are flushed with rare exceptions one after the other from certain favoured spots. Its habits are quite as solitary as those of the Snipes, and like those birds it is ever changing its ground, sometimes for no apparent cause. Woodcock-shooting is a sport that should never be put off till to-morrow ; if plenty of birds chance to be in the covers they should be looked after at once, for very often if a night is allowed them they have taken their departure. The favourite haunts of the Woodcock are plantations of young trees and spinneys with plenty of long grass and under- growth, and the borders of woods where similar cover abounds, especially hollies, under which the bird loves to skulk during the day. Its feeding grounds are marshes, swamps, and the boggy banks of streams, even turnip fields, and these are often some considerable distance from the haunts it frequents during the day- time. The Woodcock feeds principally at night, and it retires to its favourite pastures with great regularity about dusk, following a certain track to and from them ; when its feeding places are close by it always prefers to walk down to them. Even whilst feeding it is ever a shy and cautious bird, and I have heard dozens of men whose daily lives have been spent in the woods and other haunts of this species remark, when questioned on the subject, that they had never seen a Woodcock feeding or running about in a purely voluntary manner. The occasions on which I have seen Woodcocks stirring of their own free will could easily be counted on the fingers of one hand. I have seen odd birds during a bright moonlight night whilst sitting near the swamps, certainly not watch- ing for them, wandering about probing the mud with their long beaks, and looking very big and round and plump in the uncertain light, and disappearing like phantoms, as it were, into the very ground the moment they were alarmed. I remember one of these occasions was in the depth of winter and all the country- side was deep in snow, except the little swamp in question. The food of the Woodcock consists principally of earth-worms and grubs, but beetles and other insects are eaten, and vegetable fragments have been found in the bird's stomach. It has also been known to eat shellfish. Its flight is quick, but somewhat laboured, the bird carrying its long bill depressed. Sometimes when flushed the Woodcock hurries off at first in a very eractic manner, dipping and gliding or turning and twisting from side to side, and it is surprising how deftly the bird will thread its way between the tree-trunks and network of branches. It makes a very distinct whirr with its wings as it rises and at the same time occasionally utters a croaking sound, which I will not attempt to syllable, although some naturalists have done so with that of skaych. The Woodcock has been known to perch in trees. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 287 Nidif ication. — As previously inferred, the breeding season of the Woodcock is an early one. Even in the north of Scotland its eggs have been taken on the 9th of March ; a week earlier still in the north of England. The majority of the eggs are laid during April. The Snipes are birds remarkable for their peculiar flight and for the singular sounds they produce during the love or pairing season. The Woodcock, although somewhat aberrant, is not wanting in this curious performance. With the approach of the pairing season the habits of the male undergo considerable change. From being one of the shyest and most skulking of birds he suddenly changes, for a certain time each day, into a bold and obtrusive one. For a quarter of an hour in the early morning and again at night the male birds fly slowly to and fro along certain routes, usually a " drive " or an open glade in the woods or along the borders of the plantations and spinneys, uttering two peculiar notes, sometimes in succession, at others only one of them. One of these notes is a harsh, guttural r-r-r-r-Jc, the other a cry between a whistle and a hiss, impossible to express on paper. Whilst " roding," as it is termed, should rival males meet each other a chase and a combat very often occur, incited more probably by invasion of haunt rather than the favour of the female. The nest is made in a dry secluded corner of the wood or spinney, where plenty of cover is to be found in the form of last year's withered bracken, tall dry grass, brambles, and drifts of fallen leaves. It is merely a hollow in the ground, rather thickly lined with dry grass and withered leaves, and is usually sheltered more or less with surrounding vegetation, but sometimes in a bare spot at the foot of a tree. The lining materials are occasionally increased whilst incubation is in progress. The eggs of the Woodcock are four in number, and vary in ground- colour from very pale yellowish-brown to bufnsh-brown, rather sparingly spotted and blotched with reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They measure on an average 1'7 inch in length by T35 inch in breadth. Incubation lasts about three weeks. The Woodcock is a close sitter and usually remains upon the eggs until the last moment ; rarely, if ever, are both parents seen near the nest together. Whether the eggs are ever covered when they are left voluntarily I cannot say, but I strongly suspect that such will prove to be the case. Although this species is solitary enough during the breeding season, as at most other times, several nests may frequently be found within a small area, especially in districts where suitable sites are not very common. One brood only is usually reared in the year, but instances are on record where fresh eggs have been found in July and August. St. John states that this species is double- brooded in Scotland, and this is also the experience of Hume in India. There can be no question that the female Woodcock very often removes her brood from place to place, carrying the chicks one at a time between her legs and pressed close to the body with her bill. It has even been stated that where the favourite feedin^ o grounds are some distance from the nesting place the chicks are carried to them 288 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL at night and brought back to the woods at dawn. The flesh of the Woodcock is not excelled by that of any other bird. Diagnostic Characters. — Scolopax, with silvery tips to the under surface of the rectrices, with the breast barred and with the primaries marked with rudimentary bars on both webs. Length, 13 to' 14 inches. The Woodcock is subject to considerable variation in size, weight, and plumage. Average weight, 11 to 12 oz. ; more rarely 14 to 16 oz. ; an example is on record weighing 27 oz. Indian individuals are said by Hume to be constantly smaller and lighter than British ones. Birds with the ground-colour of the plumage white or yellow are not very uncommon. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 289 Genus GALLINAGO, or Snipes. Type, GALLINAGO MAJOE. GallinagO, of Leach (1816). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the culmen longer than the metatarsus (twice its length) and the long innermost secondaries equal in length to the primaries. The bill is long and straight, swollen laterally, and softened towards the tip, which is rugose or pitted. The nostrils are lateral, basal, and covered with a membrane. The black or dark markings on the head are longitudinal, not transverse as in the birds in the preceding genus. The number of rectrices varies to an enormous extent — from fourteen in the common British species to twenty-six in Gallinago stenura ! The summer and winter plumage are similar in colour. Sternum, as far as is known, abnormal, with two notches only in the posterior margin. This genus is composed of twenty-two species and subspecies, and may be described as almost cosmopolitan in distribution. Two species are British, one of which breeds within our Islands, and the other is a somewhat rare visitor, chiefly in autumn. The Snipes are dwellers in marshes and woodland swamps. They are birds of rapid, powerful, and well-sustained if somewhat erratic flight, and run and walk with ease. They are more or less nocturnal in their habits. Their notes are loud, some of them not unmusical. They subsist on worms, insects and larvae, etc. They make slight nests on the ground and their pyriform eggs are four in number and double-spotted. They are monogamous. They are almost solitary, never gregarious, save perhaps during migration or courtship. Their flesh is highly esteemed for the table. 19 290 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAEADEIIDJE. Genus GALLINAGO. Subfamily OREAT SNIPE. GALLINAGO MAJOE PLATE XXX. Scolopax major, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 661 (1788; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 364 (1852); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 237 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p 278 (1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 152, pi. 41 (1896). Qallinago major (Gmel.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 631, pi. 541 (1876); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 336 (1883) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 211 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 626 (1896). Geographical distribution — British: The Great Snipe is a rare straggler, chiefly on autumn migration, to our Islands, and most frequently observed in the eastern and southern counties. It is very rare in Scotland, perhaps not more than a dozen authentic instances of its occurrence being known, two of which were in May — a fact which more likely proves the bird occasionally to winter with us than to wander here in spring. In Ireland it is of even rarer occurrence still, probably not more than four examples having been recorded. Foreign : Western Palsearctic region ; Ethiopian region in winter. It breeds more or less frequently in Holland, Denmark, North Germany, Poland, throughout Scandinavia, and Eussia south to about lat. 50°, and north to the coast. In West Siberia it is found as far north as lat. 67£° in the valley of the Obb, but only to lat. 66^° in the valley of the Yenisei, which appears to be the eastern limit of its range. It passes the remainder of Europe (east of the Ehone valley), the Caucasus, and Persia on migration, a few wintering in the basin of the Mediterranean, but the majority passing on to the Ethiopian portion of the Intertropical realm for the cold season. It is said that the Great Snipe crosses the tropics to winter in South Africa, but possibly the present species has been confused with Gallinago teguatorialis ; if found there it is either as an abnormal migrant or as a summer visitor for breeding purposes. Allied forms. — Gallinago megala, an inhabitant in summer of South-east Siberia and the north island of Japan, passing China on migration, and wintering in the Malay Archipelago. It is distinguished from the Great Snipe by having twenty tail feathers instead of sixteen, the outermost being narrow and banded with brown, instead of being broad and pure white for at least the terminal half. I a. o If s.r a -^ O o OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 291 G. austraUs, an inhabitant of Japan in summer, passing the coast of China and the Philippine Islands on migration, and wintering in the Australian portion of the Intertropical realm. The individuals of this species visiting South Australia and Tasmania most likely breed there, or, on the other hand, must be classed as abnormal migrants. Distinguished from the Great Snipe by having eighteen tail feathers, the two outermost only being narrow, and by having the wing six inches or over in length. G. cequatorialis, an inhabitant of Africa south of the Great Desert. Distinguished from all other birds of this genus by its having the ground- colour of the four outer tail feathers on each side white, and the medium wing coverts narrowly tipped with buff. Habits. — Although the Great Snipe is but accidental in its visits to our islands, its migrations (undertaken at night) in Continental Europe and in Asia are very marked and regular. It crosses the Mediterranean during March and April — a month earlier in the east than the west (which is an exceptional passage) — and arrives at its breeding grounds in Norway and Sweden from the middle to the end of May. Seebohm found that it was one of the latest birds to arrive in the latitude of the Arctic circle, not doing so in the Petchora Valley until the 3rd of June, and eight days later still in the Yenisei Valley in Siberia. The haunts of the Great Snipe are in swamps, especially those where patches of bare mud or sand occur ; and the marshy margins of rivers and lakes, where tall rank grass, sedges, and other aquatic vegetation furnish plenty of cover. Its habits are very similar to those of its congeners. It delights to skulk amongst the herbage, remaining buried under the grass and sedge until almost trodden upon before it rises. Its flight, however, is neither so erratic nor so rapid as that of the Common Snipe, and the tail is much more expanded ; the bird makes a considerable whirr as it rises. Like that bird, however, it feeds principally at dusk or by the light of the moon, then wandering from its favourite cover on to the more open parts of its haunts, where it struts about in a timorous kind of way in search of food, at the least alarm hiding amongst or behind the nearest tuft of vegetation. Its food consists principally of worms, but insects and their larvae, as well as slugs, are also eaten. Whilst in quest of food the Great Snipe often wanders into districts which it does not usually frequent — turnip fields, and grass lands, and dry commons. Seldom more than a pair of these birds are flushed in one particular spot during autumn and winter, but on migration and in the pairing season much more gregarious tendencies are developed. Nidification. — In the pairing season parties of male birds appear often to collect and go through various strange antics on the ground and in the air. Seebohm, who has had exceptional opportunities of observing this species at its nesting grounds, relates how he has often watched them at a distance of from fifteen to twenty yards, whilst concealed among willow bushes, " stretch 292 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL out their necks, throw back the head almost upside down, and open and shut their beaks rapidly, uttering a curious noise like that produced by running the finger along the edge of a comb." Sometimes these notes were uttered just after the bird had taken a short flight, or spread its wings and tail. As many as six birds were counted in the air together, during this singular tournament, in another locality. The nest of the Great Snipe is either made amongst the long coarse grass which the bird frequents, or in the centre of a tussock of rush or sedge. It is merely a shallow depression lined with dry grass and sometimes a little moss. The eggs are four in number, and vary in ground-colour from olive and greyish-buff to brownish-buff, handsomely and heavily spotted and blotched with rich dark brown and pale brown, and with numerous and large underlying markings of violet-brown and grey. Most of the blotches are obliquely dis- tributed, and on some eggs many streaks are to be seen. They are pyriform, and measure on an average 1'8 inch in length by T25 inch in breadth. The eggs are laid at the end of May in some localities, nearly a month later (the middle to the end of June) in others. Incubation lasts from seventeen to eighteen days. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters.— Gallinago, with the major portion of the four outer rectrices on each side white, and with broad white tips to the median wing coverts. Length, 10^ to 11^ inches. X X X 1O -a U c cQ v a O OP THE BBITISH ISLANDS. 293 Family CHAKADBIIDvE. Genus GALLINAGO. Subfamily SCOLOPACINJE. COMMON SNIPE. GALLINAGO SCOLOPACINA.— Bonaparte. PLATE XXXI. Scolopax gallinago, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 244 (1766) ; Maegill. Brit. B. iv. p. 368 (1852) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 241 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 282 (1893) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 153, pi. 40 (1896). Qallinago caelestis (Prenzel) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 641, pis. 542, 543, fig. 1 (1880) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 342 (1883). Gallinago gallinago (Linn.) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 215 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 633 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British . The Common Snipe is a common resident in our islands, breeding wherever suitable localities occur ; most numerous in Scotland, and especially so in Ireland. It is more abundant in winter than in summer, its numbers being largely increased during the cold season by arrivals from higher latitudes. Foreign : Paltearctic region ; Oriental region and northern confines of Ethiopian region in winter. It breeds throughout Northern and Central Europe (including Iceland and the Faroes) north to the Arctic Ocean, and south to the Alps and South Kussia. Eastwards it breeds throughout Siberia, south of lat. 70°; southwards to the lofty heights of Turkestan and South-east Mongolia. The northern birds pass the intermediate country on migration, and winter in the basin of the Mediterranean and North Africa (south to about lat. 10° on both east and west, and including the Azores, Madeira, and the Canaries) ; in Persia, India, Ceylon, Burmah, China, Formosa, and the Philippine Islands. It has once been recorded from the Malay Peninsula, and is said to have visited South Greenland. Allied forms. — Gallinago wilsoni, northern Nearctic region in summer; southern Nearctic and extreme north of Neotropical regions in winter. Breeds throughout North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as far north as the Arctic circle, and as far south as the northern United States to about lat. 40°. It winters in Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and the northern limits of South America, and is an abnormal migrant to the Bermudas. The New 294 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL World representative of the Common Snipe. Typical examples are distinguished from the Common Snipe by having sixteen tail feathers instead of fourteen, by having the axillaries barred with brown instead of pure white, and the breast marked with transverse bars instead of longitudinal streaks. The outer tail feathers are crossed by five dark bars instead of three, and the bill is appreciably shorter, varying from 2'3 to 2'7 inches instead of from 2'5 to 3'0 inches. Inter- mediate forms are said to be common in India, and birds possessing some of the characteristics of the American Snipe are often met with in England and elsewhere, but hitherto no Snipe combining all the characters of the New World race has been detected in the Eastern hemisphere. The G. sabinii of Vigors, practically confined to the British Islands, is now universally admitted to be nothing but a melanistic variety of the Common Snipe, with no specific value. Habits. — Like many other birds that may be found in the British Islands throughout the year, the Common Snipe is migratory elsewhere, even in such countries as Denmark and Germany. It is, however, an early migrant, reaching its summer quarters in Central Europe by the middle or towards the end of March. Finland is reached by the end of April ; Lapland not until the end of May ; whilst further north and east it is at least a week later still. Hume states that in India this species leaves the plains towards the end of March, but in the north it lingers a month or six weeks longer, which is a fair corresponding date for its arrival in Siberia. The return journey commences in Europe about the middle of August, and continues for at least two months. In India it is later, the earliest arriving at the end of August, but the greater number in September, and in the south in October. Gates states that in Burmah it does not arrive until December. In our islands the Common Snipe is certainly a solitary bird, but in India Hume distinctly states that it is eminently gregarious, and arrives and departs en masse. By this, however, he does not appear to infer that the birds when flushed rise in flocks, although three or four will rise from the same spot where they had evidently been feeding in company. In our Islands no matter how thick Snipe may be on the ground, they are almost invariably put up a yard or so apart ; and this is Hume's experience in India, where it should be remarked the Common Snipe is probably more abundant in winter than in any other known locality. The Snipe is nocturnal in many of its habits ; it migrates at night ; becomes most active at dusk, and obtains the greater part of its food between sunset and sunrise. In its skulking habits it does not differ from its congeners. No birds are more retiring, or more persistently hide themselves away, and unless flushed they are rarely seen on the wing except in the breeding season. The usual haunt of the Snipe is never far away from marshy ground, either in a swamp or a bog, but never on the mud-flats or bare sands. Cover is imperative ; rough herbage such as sedges, rushes, and coarse grass, being the usual vegetation amongst which the bird delights to hide. From this cover it OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 295 strays to the bare spots in the marshes, to the banks of the sluggish streams, and the margins of the pools where the ground is soft, to feed. Hume states that in India during winter, the Common Snipe may be found in every swamp and marsh, on the banks of rivers, ponds, and lakes, wherever the foreshore is mud, protected by short grass, rushes, or reeds. Here their favourite vegetation, and amongst which they are sure to be found if in the locality at all, is the round- stemmed rush (Scirpus carinatus). Snipe never rest much in swamps covered with water ; they may and do feed in such localities, but rarely or never squat in them ; they invariably skulk in a comparatively dry spot where their under plumage is free from contact with water. Hume remarks that many Snipe often rest at midday on large floating masses of water weed, the birds keeping close until the boat pushes against the patch of vegetation, which may be as much as half a mile from land. The flight of the Common Snipe, just after the bird rises, is very rapid and uncertain, full of sudden unexpected twists and turns which baffle the best of shots, but it soon becomes steadier, and is rarely far prolonged. The Common Snipe occasionally perches in a tree, and has been known to utter its peculiar pairing notes whilst sitting on the topmost spike of a bare larch seventy feet from the ground. The Common Snipe, except during the breeding season, is a very silent bird, but sometimes as it rises it utters a long-drawn guttural note as impossible to express on paper as that of the Wood- cock. The pairing notes will be described later. The food of the Common Snipe consists of worms, grubs, aquatic insects and their larvae, and small water- snails. Much of this food is obtained whilst the bird probes the soft mud with its extremely sensitive bill, which is full of small thread-like nerves connected with the brain. This complicated nervous plexus renders the bill of the Common Snipe so sensitive that the bird is enabled to feel its prey when buried deep and out of sight in the soft mud. Much difference of opinion has been expressed respecting the best method of shooting Snipe, some sportsmen preferring to work their ground " off the wind " or down wind; whilst others are equally attached to working against the wind. Both methods are to be recommended according to circumstances, but light charges and a gun held straight rarely fail to answer for Snipe, however worked. A hundred couple a day have been known to fall to a single gun in India. Nidification. — In the British Islands the breeding season of the Snipe commences towards the end of March, and fresh eggs may be obtained through April and May. In more northern latitudes the eggs, of course, are laid much later. During the pairing season especially, and less frequently even up to the time the young are hatched, the male Snipe spends a good deal of his time in the air. All the old love of skulking in the marshes seems relinquished for the time being, and high in the air the bird careers about, uttering his love notes and making the sound popularly known as "drumming" or " bleating." These flights 296 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL may be witnessed at all hours of the day, but are most persistently and frequently indulged in towards evening. The bird rises to a considerable height, often uttering his note of tchik-tchak, tchik-tchak, or tyik-tyuk, tyik-tyuk, as he goes. Then when at the zenith of his course, which may be almost if not quite beyond the limits of human vision, he suddenly descends with great velocity on vibrating wings and outspread tail, making the drumming noise. Sometimes this descent is continued until the ground is reached, but more often the bird stays its course at varying heights, the drumming ceases, and he flies off in another direction uttering his monotonous tchik-tchak as he goes. Much difference of opinion has been expressed concerning the " drumming" of the Snipe. Some writers assert that the sound is a vocal one, others maintain that the vibration of the wings is responsible for its production ; whilst others yet again hold that it is caused by the rush of air through the outspread tail. Stejneger maintains that the sound originates from the throat, a view of the question which was suggested to him by the actions and voice of the Aleutian Sandpiper, which he observed sitting upon a tussock with puffed plumage and pendant wings and producing a loud bleating sound like that of the Common Snipe. The vocal organs must be dismissed, because the Snipe has been heard to utter its love notes whilst drumming, although this is exceptional. I am inclined to adopt Colonel Legge's explanation, based as it was on much careful observation and experiment, which he minutely described to me some years ago, and that is the drumming is produced by the combined action of the wings and tail. He informed me (as he also published in his magnificent work on the Birds of Ceylon) that the vibrations of sound were exactly coincident with the beats of the wings, and that the air-waves are driven by the powerful wing-beats through the expanded and rigid tail feathers. The nest of the Common Snipe is usually placed in the centre or under the side of a tuft or tussock of coarse grass and rush in the swamps. It is merely a slight depression lined with dry grass and bits of dead aquatic herbage. The eggs are four in number, and vary from buff of different shades to olive of different shades in ground-colour, heavily and handsomely blotched and spotted with rich dark brown, occasionally streaked with blackish-brown and with numerous large underlying markings of pale brown and grey. They are pyriform and measure on an average T6 inch in length by I'l inch in breadth. Incubation, principally performed by the female, lasts from sixteen to twenty days. But one brood is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters — Gallinago, with fourteen rectrices, with dark streaks (not bars) on the breast, and with the axillaries white, more or less marked with dark grey. Length, 10£ inches. Albinos and fawn-coloured varieties are not uncommonly met with, especially in India. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 297 Genus LIMNOCRYPTES, or Jack Snipes. Type, LIMNOCRYPTES GALLINULA. Limnocryptes, of Kaup (1829). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the culmen longer than the metatarsus (twice its length), and the long innermost secondaries equal in length to the primaries. The most important distinction between the Jack Snipes and the Snipes is an osteological one, the latter birds having two notches only in the posterior margin of the sternum, whilst the former have four notches, the normal number in the present family. The Jack Snipes further differ from the Snipes in having twelve tail feathers only, instead of fourteen and upwards. In most, if not all, other respects the Jack Snipes resemble the birds in the preceding genus. This genus is composed of a single species only, which is distributed over the northern portions of the Palasarctic region in summer, drawing southwards in autumn and winter, when it visits the Oriental region. It is a common winter migrant to the British Islands. The Jack Snipe closely resembles the Snipes in its habits and economy, which will be fully dealt with in the following chapter. 298 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family CHAKADRIID.E. Genus LIMNOCRYPTES. Subfamily JACK SNIPE. LIMNOCKYPTES GALLINULA— (Lmntciis) . PLATE XXXI. Scolopax gallinula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 244 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 380 (1852) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 247 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non- indig. Brit. B. p. 280 (1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 154, pi. 41 (1896). Gallinago gallinula (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 653, pi. 544 (1877) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 351 (1883). Limnocryptes gallinula (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 220 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 665 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British: The Jack Snipe is a common winter visitor locally distributed throughout the British Islands, including the Orkneys, the Shetlands, and the Hebrides. Owing to the fact of odd birds having been met with in early summer, it has been surmised that the Jack Snipe may occasionally breed within our limits, but there is no decided evidence whatever that such is ever the case. Foreign : Northern Palaearctic region ; southern Palsearctic region and Oriental region in winter. It breeds locally above the limits of forest growth, on the Dovrefjeld and the tundras of Lapland, and in Western Kussia as far north as St. Petersburg. In Asia it appears to breed as far north as lat. 70°, and about as far south as lat. 60° ; eastwards possibly to the Pacific. It passes Europe, south of the above limits, on migration, and winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, in North Africa as far south as the Great Desert, and is said to penetrate dow^n the Nile Valley to Abyssinia. The birds breeding in Asia are known to pass South-west Siberia, Turkestan, and less frequently China and Japan on migration ; and probably cross other central districts, though as yet undetected, and winter in Persia, Afghanistan, India, Ceylon, and Burmah. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. Habits. — A few Jack Snipes make their appearance in our Islands during the latter half of September, but the great bulk of the birds arrive in October and the beginning of November. The return migration begins in March and OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 299 continues into April. Birds which breed in the highest Arctic limits of the European range of this species do not appear to pass our Islands at all ; those that winter with us breed in Scandinavia most probably ; those that pass later in spring through Central Europe nest in Northern Eussia. Jack Snipes arrive in India as a rule at the end of September or early in October, and leave later than the Common Snipe, in April and May. Middendorff noted their arrival in North Siberia on the 8th of June. The Jack Snipe frequents almost precisely the same kind of haunts as its larger ally, but it is frequently found in much smaller bogs. A few square yards of marshy ground, provided there is cover and a snug corner in which to nestle, will content a Jack Snipe ; and haunts that are tenanted one year are invariably filled the next, either by the same bird, if it is fortunate enough to escape the sportsman, or by another individual that in some strange manner only known to themselves becomes aware that the eligible haunt is vacant. Jack Snipes migrate at night, obtain much of their food by night, and change their ground — say when frozen out during continued frosts — at the same time. It is always a mystery to me how these birds can spot a tiny bog in the darkness when newly arrived in this country ; the sense that guides them must be one totally unknown to man. The Jack Snipe at all times is a very solitary species, but whether it migrates in company is entirely unknown to me. If the birds do journey together (and Hume seems to infer that they do) they must separate at once ; and though many may be flushed from one bog, each seems concerned with its own affairs. It is a skulking bird enough, and usually remains squatting close in the herbage, often behind a tuft, until nearly trodden under foot. When put up it flies at first in a very unsteady manner, but after going some distance the flight becomes steadier, and the bird pitches again almost directly. It may be flushed time after time in this manner, as it is one of the easiest birds to mark down. Much has been said about the difficulty of shooting Jack Snipe ; but if the gunner can only control himself, and wait until the critical moment, when the zig-zag flight is changed into a steadier course, and which usually happens when the bird is just a nice distance from the gun, a moderate marksman should rarely miss. The Jack Snipe whilst with us is remarkably silent, and never, so far as my experience goes, utters a sound as it rises, nor is the whirr of its wings very perceptible. As Hume very aptly remarks, the favourite haunt of a Jack Snipe is a corner ; the bird loves a cosy nook in which to nestle, a sheltered secluded spot where the cover is ample and where there is just enough bog to ensure a comfortable living. In such a retreat a Jack Snipe will remain the entire winter through — unless it is shot, of course. The food of this species consists of worms, insects and their larvae, rnollusks and crustaceans, and a considerable amount of vegetable substances, such as small seeds, bits of green weed, club-moss, and grass. In the manner of its search for food the Jack Snipe resembles its congeners. During the heat of the day this Snipe keeps very close and sleeps ; but it has been shot, in the 300 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL absolute act of feeding, rather late in the morning and long hefore sunset. The flesh of the Jack Snipe is excellent, and even in very severe weather, when Common Snipe have been woefully out of condition, I have remarked that Jack Snipe continue to remain as plump and fat as ever. Nidification. — It is rather remarkable that so little has been recorded of the breeding habits of the Jack Snipe. Every writer has to depend upon the information gathered by Wolley, and this in a great measure is meagre and vague. It would be interesting to hear the accounts of other naturalists. The Jack Snipe begins to breed towards the end of June. Wolley found the first nest on the 17th of that month, and four others on the 18th. From his account we are left in ignorance as to whether the male bird drums like the Common Snipe during the nesting season ; indeed, the facts appear to be against it. He describes the bird careering about the air over the marshes of Muonioniska, uttering a sound like the distant canter of a horse over a hard road. This evidently refers to the note, which is compared by Naumann to the clicking of the death-watch beetle, and undoubtedly not to drumming or bleating. He found the nests placed in dry spots amongst the sedge and grass close to the borders of the more open swamps. They were mere hollows lined with a little dry grass, equisetum, and dead withered leaves of the dwarf birch. The eggs are four in number, ranging from buff to olive in ground-colour, blotched and spotted, and sometimes streaked with rich blackish-brown, and with underlying markings of pale brown and grey. They are pyriform, very large for the size of the bird (a clutch weighs nearly as much as the hen herself), and measure on an average l-5 inch in length by I'O inch in breadth. The female is a close sitter, and remains brooding over her eggs until the last moment ; Wolley was allowed to approach one nest within six inches before the parent rose. One brood only is reared in the year, so far as is known. Diagnostic characters. — Limnocryptes, with the mantle glossed with purple, and the inner webs of the scapulars with metallic green ; rectrices twelve in number. Length, 7J- inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 301 ORDER ANSERIFORMES.— THE SCREAMERS, FLAMINGOES, SWANS, GEESE, DUCKS, AND MERGANSERS. THE birds comprising the present order constitute a fairly well-defined group, possibly most nearly related to the Storks by way of the Flamingoes, and to the Kails by way of the Screamers. They are perhaps also more remotely allied to the Eaptores and the Pelicans. They form the order to which the name of CHENOMORPELE was applied by Huxley ; and Count Salvadori, the most recent monographer of the group, recognises what are certainly three very natural suborders, viz., the PALAMEDE/E, or Screamers ; the PH^BNICOPTERI, or Flamingoes ; and the ANSERES, or Ducks and allied forms. The birds in these three groups have the palate desmognathous, and the spinal feather tract not defined upon the neck : the young are also hatched covered with down, and able to forage for themselves soon after breaking the shell. Other characters common to the order (as shown by Count Salvadori) are the long neck, the tufted oil gland, the incomplete internasal septum (nares pervioe), the coalescing of the maxillo-palatines across the middle line, the presence of the ambiens muscle and the leading of the flexor perforans digitorum to all three anterior digits but not to the hallux. With the Flamingoes and the Screamers we are not concerned in the present work. So far as the Ducks and their allies are concerned the regular moult is a single one in autumn. In the Ducks the males moult their small feathers twice during twelve months ; the Geese, Swans, and possibly all the Sheldrakes have one moult only. The quills are moulted so rapidly as to incapacitate the bird for flight. The progress of the young to maturity seems to be as follows : In the Geese the young do not differ very remarkably from their parents in colour, except in those species where the adults are characterised by violent contrasts of colour ; in the Ducks the young in first plumage very closely resemble the old female, and acquire (males) nearly adult plumage after their first 302 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL autumn moult; in the Swans in first plumage the colour is greyish-brown, a plumage which they appear to lose in their first autumn, when the adult attire is almost completely assumed. So far as concerns the white species a few brown markings occur on the scapulars. Males appear to assume the white dress sooner than females ; whilst the young of both sexes, even when a year old, are very perceptibly smaller. The birds in the present order number upwards of two hundred species and subspecies. Of these but nine are included amongst the Flamingoes and Screamers ; the remainder (the Ducks) forming one large family, which is practically cosmopolitan in its distribution and well represented in the British Islands. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 303 Family ANATID/E.— The Swans, Geese, Ducks, and Mergansers. The birds comprising this by far the largest division of the order may be distinguished by their peculiar laminated bill, short legs, and webbed feet. They are characterised by having the basipterygoid processes placed as far forward as possible and by the metatarsus being about equal in length to the fermur, reticulated behind and generally in front. Their sternum contains one notch only on each side of the posterior margin. The tongue is large and fleshy, the edges serrated. The bill is generally broad and flat, and has a nail at the tip of the upper mandible. Count Salvadori (whose arrangement as elaborated in the Catalogue of Birds in the National Collection we propose chiefly to follow) divides the present family into eleven fairly well-defined subfamilies, five of which are represented in our area. Subfamily CYQN1N/E, or Swans. The birds included in the present subfamily are distinguished from their allies by having the lores (space between the eye and the bill) bare of feathers. Their reticulated metatarsus further distinguishes them from the Ducks, whilst the shortness of that member (not so long as the middle toe) is a point of distinction from the Geese. The hind toe is not lobed ; the neck is extremely long. The sexes are nearly alike in colour. One moult in autumn. This subfamily is composed of seven species, referable to three genera. 304 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Genus CYQNUS, or Swans. Type, CYGNUS MUSICUS. Cygnus, of Bechstein (1803). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the lores devoid of feathers, the metatarsi reticulated, and shorter than the middle toe. The wings are long, but rather rounded, secondaries long and broad, the first four primaries being of nearly equal length, the tertials and scapulars normally smooth ; the tail is short and rounded. The predominant colour of the plumage is white. The bill is moderately long and of equal breadth, higher than wide at the base, depressed at the tip ; nostrils oblong, lateral and central. The neck is long and slender. Three toes in front webbed, hind toe small. This genus is composed of six species, which are confined to the Palaearctic, Nearctic, and Neotropical regions ; more widely distributed in winter than in summer. Three species are British, but one only is resident, and breeds in our Islands in a semi-domesticated state. The Swans are dwellers on lakes and inland waters in summer ; more mari- time in winter. They are birds of very powerful and sustained flight, and swim and walk with ease. Their notes are loud and trumpet-like. They subsist chiefly on vegetable substances, insects, and mollusks. They make large and bulky nests on the ground, and their eggs are oval, three to twelve in number, dull white and unspotted. They are monogamous, and probably pair for life. More or less social and gregarious, especially in winter. Their flesh was formerly held in high repute for the table. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 305 Family ANATID.E. Genus CYGNUS. Subfamily WHOOPER SWAN. CYGNUS MUSICUS-Bec/wtom. Anas cygnus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 194 (1766 partim). Cygnus musicus, Bechstein ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 659 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 433, pi. 419, fig. 4 (1880) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 308 (1885) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 480 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxv. (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs, Non-indig. Brit. B p. 144 (1894) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 26 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 29, pi. 7 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 247 (1896). Geographical distribution — British : The Whooper Swan, upon the authority of Low, is said to have bred in the Orkneys upwards of a hundred years ago. It is now a winter visitor only, passing the Shetlands on migration, and is found more or less commonly round the Scotch coasts, including St. Kilda, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides. To England it is not so common a visitor, but it occurs in most suitable districts from Northumberland to Devonshire, inland as well as on and off the coasts, Slapton Ley, in South Devon, being one of its many favourite resorts. The same remarks apply to Ireland, although this species is never seen in such enormous quantities as its smaller ally, Bewick's Swan. Foreign : Northern Palaearctic region ; southern Palaearctic region in winter. It is an accidental straggler to Greenland, visits the Faroes on migration, and breeds commonly in Iceland. It breeds throughout Arctic Europe and Asia, in the former not below the Arctic circle in Norway, but four degrees further south in Sweden, Finland, and North Russia. In Asia it does not appear to nest commonly below the Arctic circle, and ranges above that limit eastwards to Behring Strait. In Europe it wanders south during winter to the basin of the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, as far as the lakes of Algeria, Lower Egypt, and Palestine. The Asiatic birds pass South Siberia and Mongolia on migration, and spend the cold season in Japan and on the coasts of China as far south as Shanghai. It is said to have wandered abnormally to Nepal. Allied forms. — None nearer than Cyynus bewicki, a British species treated fully in the following chapter, 20 306 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Habits. — The Whooper migrates to and from its Arctic haunts in flocks of varying size, and sometimes in pairs, not only at night but during the day, as may easily be learned from its loud notes uttered during flight. It begins to leave its winter quarters in the south in spring, and reaches the Arctic regions about the middle of May, just as the ice in the great rivers is about to break up and the snow to melt from the grounds where it breeds. At first only a few pairs make their appearance, but soon the migration is in full swing, and continues until the early days of June. The migration south in autumn commences soon after the moult is completed ; in fact, whilst it is in progress the birds begin to wander down the great rivers towards their winter quarters, which are reached in October and November. Migrating flocks of this species usually assume the form of a wedge, and fly at an immense elevation. The flight is rapid enough when the bird gets fairly under weigh, and the swish, swish of the long wings beating regularly can be heard for long distances ; the head and neck are stretched out in a straight line. The Whooper spends much of its time on the water, searching round the banks and in the shallows for food. It is nothing near so graceful in its movements as the Mute Swan, and the neck is never so beautifully curved, being almost always held up straight except when the bird is feeding. Like most big birds it is excessively wary and shy, and during its sojourn in our Islands is very careful to keep well in the centre of the pool or lake, or at some distance from shore, when not actually feeding. When disturbed from the water it rises with apparent difficulty, and the long wings beat the surface for some distance as the bird attempts to reach the air. The Whooper feeds a good deal whilst on dry land, and is very fond of swimming round the banks of a deep pool, from time to time plunging the head and neck under water to explore the mud and the roots of the herbage growing at the bottom. The food of this species is principally of a vegetable nature — herbs, grasses, weeds, flowers and seeds, roots, stems, buds, and leaves — but water insects and mollusks are also eaten. The note of the Whooper once heard can never be forgotten or confused with that of any other British species. It is a short, loud, clear, far-sounding trumpet-blast, uttered several times in succession, and when mellowed by distance sounds far from unpleasant, but at close quarters is ear-splitting and discordant. Nothing in bird life to my mind sounds so inspiring as the distant yet clear calls of migrating Swans, one to the other, as they cross the night sky. Nidification. — The chief breeding grounds of the Whooper are beyond the Arctic circle on the islands in the deltas of the great rivers that flow into the northern seas, or near the big lakes of the tundras, or the creeks that run some distance inland from the parent stream. The birds pair for life. The nest is usually placed on an island well covered with willow-trees and other dense scrub, or at others amongst the tall rank grass and reeds that fringe the pool. It is a huge pile of coarse grass, sedge, and other herbage built upon the ground, and OP THE BKITISH ISLANDS. 307 probably carried to such a height in anticipation of any sudden rise in the water near by. As incubation proceeds it often increases in bulk, the birds adding materials from time to time. In Northern Russia from two to four eggs form a clutch ; in Iceland five are frequently found ; and old females are said occasionally to lay as many as seven. The eggs are laid towards the end of May in some districts, a fortnight later in others. They are creamy-white in colour, rough in texture, and nearly oval in shape. They measure on an average 4'5 inches in length by 2'8 inches in breadth. Incubation lasts from five to six weeks, and according to Dr. Palmen the young mature slowly. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters. — Cygnus, with the tail short and rounded, and with the lores and the basal portion of the bill extending below the nostrils yellow, remainder black. Length, 60 inches. 308 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATID^. Genus CYGNUS. Subfamily, CYGNINJE. BEWICK'S SWAN. CYGNUS BE WICKI- Cygnus bewickii, Yarrell, Trans. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 445 (1833) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 669 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 441, pi. 419, fig. 3 (1880) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 484 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 315 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxv. (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 145 (1894) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 29 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 29, pi. 8 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 252 (1896). Geographical distribution. —British : Bewick's Swan is a winter visitor to the coasts and many inland waters of the British Islands. It is most abundant on the wild broken coast of the west of Scotland and the lakes and western coasts of Ireland. It is, however, fairly well known as a frequent winter visitor on the east coast of Scotland and the coasts of England. Foreign : Northern and Eastern Palaearctic region ; southern Palaearctic region in winter. But little is known of the breeding grounds of this species, and until the visit of Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown to the valley of the Petchora in the summer of 1875 the eggs were absolutely unknown to science. It breeds on the tundras above the limit of forest growth, on the eastern shores of the White Sea, on the islands of Kolguev and Nova Zembla, and in the deltas of the Petchora, Obb, Yenisei, and Lena; on the Liakov Islands and the tundras of North-Eastern Siberia, possibly to Behring Strait. It is only an accidental visitor to Norway and Fin- land, and the coasts of the Baltic, Denmark, Holland, and France ; one example is recorded from Nepal. It passes the great river valleys from the Kama and the Volga eastwards, down those of the Obb, the Yenisei and the Lena, and crosses Turkestan and Mongolia on migration, and winters in the basin of the Caspian, and on the coasts of Japan and China as far south as Shanghai. Mr. Styan records them in flocks of at least a thousand at the head of the Poyang Lake, whilst he states that large flocks frequent the low islands and mudflats at the mouth of the Yangtse. Allied forms. — None nearer than Cygnus musicus, a British species, treated fully in the preceding chapter. Habits. — Bewick's Swan resembles the Whooper very closely in its habits. It is a bird of regular passage to and from the Arctic regions, arriving at its OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 309 breeding grounds just as winter is about to give way to the short, hot northern summer, and the ice on the great rivers is breaking up, towards the end of May. It is a gregarious bird on passage, and journeys in herds of varying size, which usually assume a wedge-shaped formation as they fly. It migrates by day as well as by night, and like its larger ally is a very noisy bird on passage, the individuals of the party calling to each other at intervals. This note is neither so loud nor so harsh as that of the Whooper, and is aptly described by Sir Kalph Payne-Gall wey as long, short but musical. Both at its summer quarters and whilst in our Islands during winter Bewick's Swan is a remarkably shy and cautious bird, difficult to approach either on the sea or on an inland lake. During winter it is a very gregarious species, sometimes congregating on certain favoured waters in flocks, hundreds or even thousands strong. Its food is obtained in a very similar manner to the Whooper, and consists of the roots, stems, buds, flowers, seeds, and leaves of herbs and aquatic plants, and of grass, insects and their larvae, and worms. The bird, perhaps, feeds more whilst on land than the Whooper, and is more partial to enclosed waters than the open sea. Its flight is just as rapid and powerful, the long wings beat regularly with a loud noise, and the bird's neck is outstretched. Nidif ication. —Very little is known of the breeding habits of Bewick's Swan, and although its eggs have been obtained, few naturalists have yet been fortunate enough to see them in situ, or to examine the nest. Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown, when in the valley of the Petchora in 1875, had eggs of this bird brought to them by a Russian fisherman, which were obtained on the island of Pyonin in the delta of that river. Other eggs were brought to the former gentle- man during his visit to the valley of the Yenisei two years afterwards, which had been obtained from an island, and on the mainland of the delta of that river. Mr. Trevor Battye discovered the nest of this Swan on the island of Kolguev— a huge pyramid of moss, with a cup at the apex for the eggs, whilst the young in down were obtained there more recently by Mr. H. J. Pearson's expedition. The nest resembles that of the Whooper, and is built in a similar situation. The number of eggs in a clutch is not known with certainty, but more than three have not yet been found in one nest. They are smaller than those of the Whooper, whiter on an average, and not so glossy. They measure on an average 4'0 inches in length by 2-6 inches in breadth. Diagnostic characters — Cygnus, with the tail short and rounded, and with the lores and the basal portion of the bill (but not extending below the nostrils) yellow, remainder black. Length, 50 inches. 310 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATID^l. Genus CYGNUS. Subfamily CYGNIN&. MUTE SWAN. CYGNUS OLOR— (Gmelin). Anas olor, Gmelin, Syst. Nat i. p. 501 (1788). Cygnus olor (Gmel.), Vieillot, N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. ix. p. 37 (1817) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 419, pi. 418 (1880) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 324 (1885) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 476 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 222 (1893) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 38 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 28, pi. 7 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 254 (1896) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxv. (1897). Geographical distribution. — British: Whether the Mute Swan was introduced into the British Islands (as some writers affirm it was by Eichard I. from Cyprus) or not is a question somewhat difficult to decide. It is rather remarkable that such an explanation should ever have been put forward, for there is nothing extraordinary in a bird which, in a wild state, is a regular summer visitor to Denmark and North Germany, extending its migrations to our Islands. Its exceeding beauty and gracefulness probably led very early in the history of our civilisation to its domestication, which has finally brought it to its present condition of a semi-wild resident species. It is to be met with more or less abundantly throughout the United Kingdom, wherever man affords it protection, some of the Swanneries being very ancient and extensive. Foreign : Western Palsearctic region ; occasionally in the extreme north-west of the Oriental region during winter. It breeds in South Sweden (but is an accidental visitor only to Norway), Denmark, Germany west of the Rhine, Central and South Russia, the valley of the Danube, Transylvania and Greece, Turkestan and Mongolia. It occasionally wanders into Dauria and to North-west India during the cold season. In the basin of the Mediterranean, and throughout most of Europe south of the above limits, it is best known as a winter visitor, and during that season it is also found in the southern districts of the Caspian. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to demand notice. In 1838 Yarrell described a Swan under the name of Cygnus immutabilis (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1838, p. 19). It was said to differ from the Mute Swan in having the tubercle at the base of the upper mandible smaller, the legs lead colour instead of black. A further specific distinction was that the young birds had a paler OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 311 bill, and the plumage of the upper parts pure, unsullied white. Although this bird received the trivial name of " Polish" Swan, it appears to have been confined to the British Islands with the exception of a single example captured on the Haarlem Lake, in Holland, during December, 1840. The alleged characters of the '"adult" appear only to depend on age — the older the bird the larger the frontal tubercle, and the darker the legs. As regards the white plumage of the young, it appears to be nothing but an exceptional albinism, the result probably of semi-domestication, and from a similar cause as that which has originated white Ducks and poultry. Habits. — The Mute Swan is too well known in a domesticated state to re- quire any lengthy description of its habits in our Islands. There can be little doubt that a few really wild birds visit the British Islands from time to time in winter, but it is utterly impossible to identify them, as domesticated birds often wander about a good deal from one sheet of water to another where they are allowed to live unpinioned. In the northern portions of its range the Mute Swan is a regular bird of passage, appearing in its summer quarters in March, and leaving them with its brood in October. Like its congeners, it migrates in flocks of varying size by day and by night, in the same wedge-shaped formations. Its haunts in summer are large lakes, especially those that contain islands with plenty of low cover, amongst which it can make its nest safe from enemies. During winter wild Mute Swans frequent the coast as much as their congeners do ; and in India they haunt the tanks and lakes, but are rare visitors. The flight of this bird is powerful and rapid, and the noise of the mighty wings may be heard a long distance, especially across water on a calm, still day. Although tame and confiding enough with us in a semi-domesticated state, when wild it is excessively shy and wary, rarely admitting of a close approach. When fired at, however, instances are on record where the flock has returned again and again, flying over their fallen companions, and showing the greatest reluctance to quit the place. The Mute Swan is a much more graceful bird in the water than either of its two preceding congeners, and its neck is often curved into beautiful lines. It feeds, however, in much the same manner, both whilst on land and swimming in the water. This food consists of aquatic plants and grass, insects and their larvae, mollusks, and frogs. The bird is also said to eat fish spawn, and I have known it to devour small fish. In a state of domestication the Mute Swan, as its name implies, is a very silent bird, only making a low, hissing noise, especially when excited or angry ; but wild individuals are said to utter a loud, trumpet- like cry, similar to the note of the Whooper. Nidification. — The breeding season of wild Mute Swans commences in April or May. Both tame and wild birds appear to pair for life, and to return each season to a favourite nesting place, although they usually make a new nest 312 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL every year, but in some cases repair the old one. This is usually made on the ground on an island in a dense thicket, or amongst tall grass and other aquatic vegetation, and consists of a huge pile of dead grass, rushes, reeds, and any other rubbish the birds can collect in the neighbourhood. As incubation advances the nest is increased in bulk, especially when in a district subject to sudden inundation. Many nests are said to be built together in some localities. The eggs are from five to eight in number, old birds laying from eight to twelve. They are greenish- white or very pale green, rough in texture, and with little or no gloss. They measure on an average 4'5 inches in length by 3'0 inches in breadth. Incuba- tion, performed by the female, lasts from five to six weeks. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters — Cygnus, with the tail wedge-shaped and long, and with the lores and frontal tubercle black. Length, (50 inches. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 313 Subfamily ANSERIN/E, or Geese. The birds included in the present subfamily are distinguished from their allies by the absence of a cere, having the lores covered with feathers and the metatarsus reticulated all round. They are further distinguished from the Swans by their longer metatarsus (longer than the middle toe) and much shorter neck ; whilst from the Ducks, their short, robust, sub-conical (and in many cases higher than broad at the base) bill is an additional distinction. The sexes are nearly alike in colour. This subfamily is divisable into about half-a-dozen genera. Genus CHEN, or Snow Geese. Type, CHEN HYPEKBOBEUS. Chen, of Boie (1829). — The birds in the present genus are characterised, according to Count Salvadori, by having the serrations on the cutting edge of the upper mandible visible externally for the greater part of the toinium. The bill is exceptionally stout, the height through the base being equal to considerably more than half the length of the cuhnen. The species are further characterised by their white or bluish body plumage and their black wings. This genus is composed of four species and races, which are confined to the Arctic regions. One of these is an abnormal migrant to the British Islands. The Snow Geese are inhabitants of the Arctic seas and the open tundras or barren grounds in their immediate vicinity. Their habits are but little known. They feed on both vegetable and animal substances. Their nests are mere hollows in the ground lined with down. Their eggs are white. 314 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATID.E. Genus CHEN. Subfamily ANSERINE. LESSER SNOW GOOSE. CHEN HYPEKBOBEUS— (Pallas). PLATE XXXII. Anser hyperboreus, Pallas, Spicil. Zool. vi. p. 25 (1769) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 490 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 30, pi. 11 (1896). Anser albatus, Cassin. ; Saunders, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871 p. 519. Chen albatus (Cassin), Dresser, B. Eur. iv. p. 409, pi. 417, fig. 2 (1873). Chen hyperboreus (Pallas), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 275 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxvi. (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 147 (1894) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 84 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 225 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British: The Lesser Snow Goose is a very rare straggler to Ireland on autumn migration, and has been observed in England. The claim of this species to rank as " British " rests on the following occurrences : — Ireland : Lake Tacumshane, south coast of County Wexford (two immature examples purchased in Leadenhall Market, one example shot at the same time and place but not preserved), November, 1871 ; Termoncarra, Co. Mayo (flock of seven seen, one of which was shot and another trapped), October, 1877. The two examples said to have been captured in Ireland, and afterwards placed in Lord Derby's menagerie at Knowsley, and which subsequently were sold by auction to Castang, the bird and animal dealer of London, have too dubious a pedigree to share the honour of positive evidence. England : Coast of Cumber- land (one adult example, "identified but not obtained"), August, 1884; others noticed in Yorkshire (1891), Northumberland and elsewhere, but no examples obtained. Foreign : Northern Nearctic region ; more southerly in winter. It breeds, as far as is known, in the Arctic regions of North-west America ; probably also breeds in the extreme north-east of the Palaearctic region, and winters as far south as California in the west and the Valley of the Mississippi in the east, and visits Japan at that season, a fact which strongly confirms the suggestion that it breeds in Asia. Owing to the two races of this species being confused, it is difficult to trace the geographical area of the smaller form in any more detail with accuracy. Allied forms. — Chen nivalis, only known to breed in Hudson Bay terri- tory, but is probably circumpolar, as it has occurred on migration in various X X bl JS w «> O Q OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 399 Habits. — During its sojourn in our Islands the Tufted Duck is for the most part a coast bird, those that frequent inland waters being the resident individuals that breed with us or birds that have been enticed by them. The Tufted Duck makes its appearance in the British Islands towards the end of October or early in November, and remains until the following March or April. They arrive at their Arctic haunts with the thaw and leave in September or October. Their arrival in and departure from India is about at the same time as in England. The principal haunts of this Duck with us are the low-lying coasts, especially in the neighbourhood of mud-banks and estuaries. In India it prefers large sheets of water with plenty of weed at the bottom and plenty of reeds and rushes round the margin. Odd pairs and small parties also frequent the smaller ponds where food and cover are suitable ; but the large flocks of this bird that congregate in that country in the cold season, sometimes ten thousand strong, are invariably found on the extensive sheets of water. The Tufted Duck migrates at night, generally in large flocks, and on passage will often pay a fleeting visit to some lake or pool en route. It is also nocturnal in its habits, seeking most of its food at night, in this country, but, curiously enough, Hume remarks that they are day feeders in India. The flight of this Pochard is rapid and well sustained, smooth and easy, but the rapidly-beaten wings make a characteristic rustling sound. In rising the bird strikes the water with its feet something like a Coot, so that when a large flock takes wing together the splashing can be heard for a long distance. It swims well and rapidly, sitting rather low in ^the water, and, of course, dives with marvellous speed and skill, sometimes remaining below for a minute or more. During the day the Tufted Duck usually keeps well out from shore, often sleeping and preening its plumage whilst in the centre of the lake. It rarely visits land, and always tries to evade pursuit by diving if possible ; and Hume states that after a gun has been fired he has seen a large flock of several hundred birds dive simultaneously as if moved by a common impulse ! The Tufted Duck is not a very noisy bird, especially during winter, but occasionally utters a harsh kurr-Jcurr as it rises alarmed from the water. The food of this species consists of aquatic insects, worms, grubs, lizards, frogs, spawn, and small fish ; whilst the roots, stems, leaves, and buds of water plants are also eaten. After having fed inland chiefly on vegetable diet the flesh of this Duck is by no means unpalatable, but birds shot on the coast are rank and fishy in flavour. Nidification. — The breeding season of the Tufted Duck commences about the middle of May in some localities, the end of May or early in June in others. Its favourite breeding grounds are on tbe banks of meres and lakes, and in marshy districts full of small ponds. This Duck may probably pair for life, as in districts where the fact can be observed the duck and drake swim and fly in company for the greater part of the year. The nest is either built amongst the rushes, in the centre of tufts of sedge, in long, coarse grass, or under a stunted 400 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL bush, always, however, near to the water. It is merely a hollow in which is arranged a little dry grass or other vegetable refuse and lined with plenty of down from the female. The eggs are usually eight or ten in number, sometimes several more are found. They are greenish-buff, smooth in texture, and rather polished, and measure on an average 2'3 inches in length by 1'6 inch in breadth. The down tufts are small, dark greyish-black with obscure pale centres. But one brood is reared in the year, and the female takes sole charge of the young. Incubation lasts from twenty-five to twenty-eight days. Diagnostic characters — (Nuptial plumage) Fuligula, with the crown and neck metallic green and purple, with a conspicuous crest, and with only diist- like traces of vermiculations on the upper parts (adult male) ; with white axillaries and alar speculum, and with dark brown unvermiculated head, neck, and upper parts (adult female). Length, 16 to 17 inches. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 401 Family ANATID^l. Genus FULIGULA. Subfamily FuLlQULlNJK. RINQ=NECKED DUCK. FULIGULA COLLAEIS— (Donovan}. Anas collaris, Donovan, Brit. B. vi. pi. cxlvii. (1809). Anas fuligula (nee Linn.), Wilson, Am. Orn. viii. p. 66, pi. 67, fig. 5 (1814). Fuligula collaris (Donovan), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. pp. 584, 610 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 355 (1894) ; Salvador!, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 370 (1895). Geographical distribution.— British: The King-necked Duck, like the American Bittern, was first made known to science from an example obtained in England. In connection with this matter we are not disposed to rob Donovan of the honour of his discovery by transferring it to Lewis and Clarke, by whom Dr. Coues endeavours to prove the bird had been previously obtained near the mouth of the Columbia Eiver. For just upon a century ornithologists appear to have ignored the claim of this species to a place in the British list, whilst many other birds have been admitted upon much less slender evidence. We are at a loss to account for this, and shall here take the opportunity of reinstating the King-necked Duck to our list of abnormal migrants to the British Islands. It has certainly an equal, if not a better, right to be so included than such species as the Griffon Vulture and the Black-browed Albatross, both of which can only claim a similar single record. This solitary example of the Ring-necked Duck was obtained in Leadenhall Market in London some time in January, 1801. Foreign: Nearctic region; extreme north of the Neotropical region during winter. The Ring-necked Duck breeds sparingly, at least, as far south as Minneapolis in Minnesota, and at Clear Lake in Iowa ; thence north- wards, in larger numbers, across Canada to the Arctic regions of America. Its principal breeding grounds are probably in the high north, although it is some- what remarkable that Macfarlane failed to meet with the nest of this Duck. It passes southwards over the United States to winter, extending, at that season, to Guatemala and the West Indies. It is an abnormal migrant to the Bermudas. Allied forms. — -None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. It is probably most nearly allied to the Tufted Duck (Fuligula cristata) of the Old World, although very distinct from it. 26 402 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Habits.— The migrations of the King-necked Duck are by no means the least interesting portion of the bird's life history. In northern Minnesota this species is widely known as the "Fall Duck," doubtless, because it is so abundant in that area during the fall or autumn migration. Its passage up the Mississippi Valley in spring takes place during March and April : the return migration is performed during October and November. According to Wilson this Duck shows more preference for inland waters than the open sea. Most meagre details of the habits of the Eing-necked Duck have been recorded, but they doubtless do not differ much from those of allied species. The favourite haunts of the Eing- necked Duck seem to be streams and lakes rather than the open coast. It does not appear to be anything like so gregarious during winter as its Old World representative the Tufted Duck, the flocks consisting of a dozen or twenty individuals — perhaps a brood and its parents. To the wild fowlers of Long Island this Duck is widely known as the " Bastard Broad-bill," a term indicating the popular belief that the bird is a hybrid. Like kindred species, the Eing- necked Duck obtains most of its food by diving in deep water ; but it also seeks for sustenance by dabbling amongst the roots of grasses and other vegetation on the banks. Its food consists of aquatic insects, snails, worms, small fishes, frogs and the buds, seeds and leaves of various plants. It swims well and buoyantly, and, like the Scaup, is said to keep raising its head, erecting the bushy plumage of the occiput and uttering a note similar to the " sound produced by a person blowing through a tube." It rises from the water or the land with little effort, and its flight is rapid and often lofty, the individuals of a flock frequently scattering when disturbed. During winter small parties of Eing-necked Ducks frequently associate with allied species, and these may often be seen flying quite close to the surface of the water. The flesh of this Duck is described as being of excellent quality, according to Audubon, tender and juicy, and without that fishy flavour that generally renders most "Black Ducks" almost uneatable, especially when shot off salt water. Nidification. — I find but little recorded of the nesting habits of the Eing- necked Duck. Its favourite breeding-grounds appear to be in the vicinity of lakes and rivers. The bird is decidedly sociable during summer, and more than one observer has remarked several pairs breeding in company. The nesting season begins in May, the more northern breeding individuals being of course the latest. The nest, usually well concealed, is generally placed amongst reeds, dense grass and other vegetation on the margin of the water, sometimes in a bog, and is made of dry grass and leaves, to which down and feathers are added as the period of incubation advances. The eggs, ten or twelve in number, are described in Messrs. Baird, Brewer and Eidgway's standard work on the birds of North America, to which I am largely indebted for my account of this species, as greyish ivory-white, sometimes the greyish tinge being replaced by buff. They OF THE BBITISH ISLANDS. 403 measure 011 an average 2'1 inches in length, by 1'65 inch in breadth. One brood only appears to be reared in the season, but whether the male takes any share in the duty, observers fail to inform us. Doubtless the female alone takes sole charge of eggs and brood. The period of incubation, so far as I can ascertain, has not been recorded. Hybrids between this species and Nyroca americana have been recorded by Professor Newton (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1860, pi. clxvii.), and by Leverte (Journ. Orn. 1890, p. '224). Diagnostic characters.— Fuligula, with the speculum bluish-grey; and in males in breeding dress with a varyingly distinct chestnut ring round the neck. Length, 17 inches. 404 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Genus CHARITONETTA, or Buffel = headed Ducks. Type, CHAEITONETTA ALBEOLA. Charitonetta, of Stejneger (1885). — -Although perhaps the majority of ornithologists include the Buffel-Head with the Golden-eyes, under the generic term of Clangula, there can be no doubt that this species is quite as worthy of generic distinction as certain other members of the present subfamily. Among the more important characters of this genus pointed out by Stejneger as dis- tinctive from Clangula, may be mentioned the nostrils, which are situated in the anterior portion of the posterior half of the bill instead of the reverse ; they are also rather narrow and the tubercle is visible. The outer toe without the claw is decidedly longer than the middle one ; and lastly the tail is rather long, more than twice the length of the metatarsus. But one species of Buffel-headed Duck is known. It is an abnormal migrant to the British Islands, and its distribution, habits, and general characteristics will be fully described in the following chapter. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 405 Family ANATIDvE. Genus CHABITONETTA. Subfamily FuLWULlNM. BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK. CHAEITONBTTA ALBEOLA— (Linnaus). Anas albeola, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 199 (1766). Clangula albeola (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 185 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 589, pi. 439 (1877) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 442 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 178 (1894) ; Salvador!, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 385 (1895) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx (1895). Fuliffula albeola (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 588 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xi. (1889) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 48 (1896). Charitonetta albeola (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 24 (1896). Geographical distribution — British : The Buffel-headed Duck is a very rare straggler to our Islands. Its claim to rank as " British " rests on the following evidence : — England: Norfolk (one example) , winter, 1830 ; Yorkshire (one example), winter, 1864-65. Scotland : Aberdeenshire (one example), January, 1865 ; Loch Strathbeg (one example), no date. Ireland : Although there is some evidence that this species has visited Ireland, nothing can be stated positively until an example be secured. Foreign : Northern Nearctic region ; more southerly in winter. It breeds throughout Arctic America up to the limit of forest growth, and as far south as Maine and Wisconsin. It winters in the United States, California, the West Indies, and Mexico, and occasionally visits the Bermudas on abnormal passage, whilst it has occurred in Greenland on the east and Behring Island on the west. Allied forms. — None nearer than Clangula glaucion and allied races, the former a British species, and dealt with fully in the following chapter. Habits. — So far as they are known the habits of the Buffel-headed Duck resemble very closely those of its near ally, the Golden-eye. Like that species it is much attached to inland waters, and only appears to seek the sea when its other retreats are sealed by ice. It flies well and strongly, swims quickly, and dives with such astounding speed that in some localities it is known by the name of " Spirit Duck." Its note is a somewhat grating and feeble Tturr. The food of 406 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL this species consists of the buds, roots, steins, and leaves of aquatic plants, worms, niollusks, crustaceans, etc. Most of this is obtained by diving. During winter this Duck usually consorts in small flocks, but sometimes gathers into greater numbers during severe weather when its feeding grounds are more restricted. Nidification. — According to latitude and climate the breeding season of the Buffel-headed Duck begins in May or June. Like the Golden-Eye it breeds in hollow trees, sometimes as much as twenty feet from the ground. No particular species of tree seems selected ; all that is desired is a suitable hole. No nest is made, and the eggs are laid on the decayed powdered wood at the bottom of the hole, which is, however, eventually lined with down, plucked from the body of the female. They are from six to ten in number, and pale greenish-grey in colour. They measure on an average 2'0 inches in length by T45 inch in breadth. Although several observers have been very careful to inform us that the nest hole contained a quantity of down, none of them have deemed it sufficiently important to describe it ; it probably resembles that of the Golden-eye. Whether the male takes any share in domestic duties is unknown, as is also the period of incubation. Diagnostic characters — (Nuptial plumage) Charitonetta, with the axillaries brown and with a large white patch on the side of the head, commencing behind the eye (both sexes). Length, 14 to 15 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 407 Genus CLANQULA, or Golden-eyes. Type, CLANGULA GLAUCION. Clangllla, of Leach (1819). — The birds in the present genus are charac- terised by having the primaries uniform brown or unmirrored with grey. The head is well crested ; the bill strong ; the edges of the upper mandible not bent inwardly ; the nostrils situated in the posterior portion of the anterior half, rather broad, and the tubercle invisible. The outer and middle toes are of equal length ; the tail is rather short, less than twice the length of the metatarsus. This genus contains but two species distributed over the northern portions of the Palsearctic and Nearctic regions. One of these is a well-known British species, and the other has been included in our list but on unreliable evidence. The Golden-eyes are inhabitants of both fresh water and marine localities. They are more or less migratory. They swim and dive with marvellous skill, but their movements on the land are clumsy and their gait waddling. The are to some extent gregarious during winter and on passage. Their flight is power- ful, and accompanied by a peculiar rushing or whistling noise. Their notes are harsh and unmusical. Their food is chiefly of an animal character, but vegetable substances are also eaten. They are monogamous. They nest in holes of trees, and their numerous eggs are greyish-green in colour. 408 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATID.E. Genus CLANGULA. Subfamily FULIGULIN&. QOLDEN = EYE. CLANGULA GLAUCION— (Linnceus). Anas clangula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 201 (1766). Anas glaucion, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 201 (1766). Clangula chrysophthalma, Stephens; Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 174 (1852). Clangula glaucion (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 595, pi. 440 (1875) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 435 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 179 (1894) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 376 (1895). Fuligula clangula (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 590 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xi. (1889) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 48, pi. 13 (1896). Clangula clangula (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 20 (1896). Geographical distribution — British: The Golden-eye is a common winter visitor to the coasts and inland waters of the British Islands, including the Orkneys and Shetlands, but in the Outer Hebrides it is perhaps less numerous. It is equally common in Ireland, both inland and on the coast. The statement that this bird has bred in a hollow tree in Sutherlandshire is still unconfirmed, as is also Saxby's opinion that it bred in the Shetlands. Foreign : Northern Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, more southerly in winter ; small portion of the Oiiental region in winter. The Golden-eye is rare in the Faroes, and has been only recently proved to inhabit Iceland. It breeds throughout the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Europe and Asia as far north as the limit of forest growth. In Europe it breeds as far south as Northern Germany, Pomerania, and the Caucasus ; in Asia it does so throughout Siberia, south of the limits already given. During winter it visits the coasts of Western Europe and the basin of the Mediterranean, but is very rare on the southern shores. The basins of the Black and Caspian Seas are also winter quarters of this species. The birds breeding in Siberia pass Mongolia on migration (although those inhabiting the Baikal basin arc said to be resident, and many remain to winter in Mongolia), and spend the cold season in Turkestan, Upper India, China and Japan. In the Nearctic region it breeds in British North America and Alaska, up to the limit of forest growth and winters in the Southern States, Mexico, and parts of the West Indies. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 409 Allied forms. — The Nearctic Golden-eyes have been separated from the Palaearctic individuals by American ornithologists under the name of Clangula glaucion americana, because they are said to be a trifle larger. Whether this race is worthy of subspecific rank is yet by no means proved, Count Salvadori asserting that he is unable to distinguish the two races specifically. C. islandica, an inhabitant of much the same area in the Nearctic region as C. glaucion, but extending to Greenland and Iceland. It is distinguished from the Golden-eye by having the white on the sides of the head extending in the form of a crescent in front of the eye : females and young birds are indistinguish- able from those of the Old World species. This species has been included in the British list on the faith of a female example, said to have been shot at the mouth of the Derwent ! There is no evidence whatever to confirm this. Habits. — The Golden-eye is certainly more addicted to fresh water than the sea, and so long as its inland haunts remain open it remains upon them ; continued frost sends it to the coast, where it is most partial to low-lying muds and estuaries. This Duck arrives on the British coasts and inland waters about the middle of October and remains with us until the following April, although immature birds have been noticed as late as the end of May. Prjevalsky found small numbers of these birds wintering on Lake Hanka, on the open part of the river Sungatch in Mongolia (,N. lat. 44°) ; but late in March and early in April they become very plentiful. At the large lake of Koko-Nor (N. lat. 37°), situated at an elevation of 10,000 feet, they arrived on the 4th of March and became numerous towards the middle of the month ; whilst at Dalai-Nor (in N. lat. 43°) they arrived at the end of March and early in April, congregating on those parts of the lake that were free from ice. The migration south in autumn takes place in September and October. Stoliczka observed numbers at Lake Sirikul, on the Pamir, at an elevation of 10,000 feet, in May, when most of the water was covered with ice. From these facts it will be gathered that the Golden-eye is a hardy species, apt to linger in its favourite haunts until the frosts seal them and stop its food supplies, and returning as soon as open water is to be found. The Golden-eye is not a very gregarious bird, and its flocks are generally small, but in restricted feeding areas it is apt to congregate in larger numbers. Like all its congeners it dives with wonderful skill, swims well and lightly, but is apt to sink its body when alarmed. Its flight is strong and rapid, and the bird usually strikes its feet in the water several times until fairly off, especially when there is no wind ; then, however, it is seen to get up with little effort. The wings as they rapidly beat the air make a peculiar rushing whistling sound, hence the bird's Latin name of clangula. This Duck almost invariably seeks to escape sudden danger by diving and appearing again at a much safer distance. It is ever a vigilant bird, and even when a small flock is busy feeding they never all dive together, one or two 410 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL remaining on the surface to watch over the rest. The Golden-eye does not visit the land much, and there its waddling gait is clumsy and awkward enough ; it spends most of its time on the water. At its breeding grounds, however, it frequently perches on trees, probably because it makes its nest in holes in their limbs and trunks. The note of the Golden-eye is a low, croaking kurr, uttered during flight as well as when at rest. The food of this species, which is mostly obtained by diving, consists of small fish, crustaceans, testaceous mollusks, insects, and various aquatic weeds and plants. Its flesh is not only dark in colour but unpalatable. Nidification. — The breeding season of the Golden-eye begins soon after the ice breaks up in its Arctic and subarctic haunts towards the end of May, and the eggs are laid from that date onwards until near the end of June. It is very probable that this Duck pairs for life and uses the same nesting site annually. The eggs are laid in holes of trees, often as much as twenty-five feet from the ground, although Naumann asserts (probably where suitable holes cannot be found) that this Duck frequently makes its nest amongst rushes and other aquatic vegetation, and on the top of a pollard, either near to the water or at some considerable distance from it. When in a hole, no nest is made beyond a warm and plentiful lining of down and a few feathers plucked from the body of the parent. It should be remarked that the Golden-eye never attempts to bore a hole for itself, but selects one ready for the purpose, often the deserted nest of a Black Woodpecker. The Lapp and Finnish peasants are in the habit of placing boxes and hollow trunks for this bird to breed in, and from which they regularly and judiciously remove the eggs. The partiality of this bird for a nesting site near a waterfall or quick-flowing stream has been noticed by several observers. The eggs are usually from ten to thirteen in number, but exceptionally as many as nineteen have been found. They are bright greyish- green, smooth in texture, and somewhat glossy, and measure on an average 2'3 inches in length by 1'6 inch in breadth. The down tufts are moderate in size and pale lavender-grey in colour, with paler and obscure centres. The young are conveyed to the water one by one, pressed between the female's bill and her breast. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters — (Nuptial plumage), Clangula, with the head and upper neck metallic green, with a white patch at the base of the bill, not extending above the eye, and with the scapulary region striped with white (adult male) ; with the axillaries brown, with a white alar speculum, and with the under tail coverts white (adult female). Length, 16 to 19 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 411 Genus COSMONETTA, or Harlequin Ducks. Type, COSMONETTA HISTEIONICA. Cosmonetta, of Kaup (1829).— The Harlequin Ducks are distinguished by having the primaries uniform brown. The head is uncrested ; the bill is conical, the base of the upper mandible overlapping the tomium, and the base of lower mandible for some distance being covered with a soft naked membrane. The peculiar colour-pattern of the plumage is another generic distinction of con- siderable importance. But one species of Harlequin Duck is known, and as this is a rare abnormal migrant to the British Islands its distribution, habits and characteristics will be fully described in the following chapter. 412 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATID^E. Genus COSMONETTA. Subfamily FULIGULIN&. HARLEQUIN DUCK. COSMONETTA HISTEIONIC A— (Linnaus) . PLATE XL. Anas histrionica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 204 (1766). Clangula histrionica (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 169 (1852). Cosmonetta histrionica (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 609, pis. 600, 613 (1877) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 452 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 395 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 31 (1896). Histrionicus minutus (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 613 (1877). Fuligula histrionica (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 594 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 171 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 49, pi. 15 (1896). Geographical distribution — British : The Harlequin Duck is a very rare and accidental straggler to the British Islands. Out of a score or more examples recorded as " British," about half-a-dozen only have withstood the test of a searching inquiry into their antecedents. (Conf. Prof. Newton, Ibis, 1859, p. 162, and J. H. Gurney, Bumbles of a Naturalist, p. 263). The claim of this species to rank as " British " rests on the following evidence, which appears to be thoroughly reliable : — Scotland : Lewis (?) (two examples, recorded by Montagu in 1802 and presented to Mr. Sowerby, by whom they were figured in his British Miscellany in 1806) ; Aberdeenshire (one example), 1858, a male in full adult plumage. England : Yorkshire, one trustworthy example, found dead in the autumn of 1862; Northumberland, off the Fame Islands (three seen, two secured, both young males), December, 1886. There is a male example of this Duck in the Torquay Museum, which may have been obtained in Tor Bay (Conf. Bird-Life in a Southern County, p. 290). Foreign: Eastern Palaearctic and Nearctic regions. Probably a Nearctic species that has only comparatively recently extended its range into the Old World. It is a resident in Iceland and breeds in Greenland, south of the Arctic circle. It breeds across the North American Continent from about the Arctic circle south to lat. 45°. Thence it is a resident in the Aleutian Islands, and probably breeds in Kamtschatka, the Stanavoi Mountains, the valley of the Amoor, and the Baikal district. The OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 413 evidence of the occurrence of this species further west is extremely meagre and unsatisfactory. Sabanaeff states that it breeds in the Ural and Yaroslav ; Evers- mann records it also from the Ural, and Nordmann from Finland. It is said by Hencke to be rare in summer near Archangel, and a single example has been obtained off the coast of Sweden. The birds breeding in Eastern Siberia draw south in winter to the Kurile Islands and Northern Japan ; those breeding in America visit the Great Lakes and the Middle States during that season. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. Habits. — The migrations of the Harlequin Duck are not very regular or extended, and the bird appears to winter as far north as it can find open water. During summer it is for the most part an inland species attached to fresh water, but at the approach of winter it wanders seawards, and is then principally observed in the sheltered bays and inlets of rocky coasts. In summer this Duck lives in scattered pairs, but in winter it congregates on the sea in considerable flocks. It swims well and is a most accomplished diver, some of its aquatic gambols being remarkably beautiful, as it swims amongst the surf like the Eider or darts through the waterfalls in sportive play or in quest of food. As is usual with these diving Ducks the present species always tries to evade pursuit by darting under the surface, and, when alarmed, sometimes sinks its body so low that little more than the head is exposed to view. Notwithstanding it flies well and rapidly, with wings beating the air so quickly as to make a characteristic whistling sound. The note of this Duck appears to be undescribed, except on hearsay evidence ; but most reliable authorities agree that the bird is remarkably silent at all times. It is said to be a rather tame and confiding species, numbers being easily killed. The food of the Harlequin Duck consists of insects, both marine and fresh water, crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish. This Duck does not appear to be much of a vegetable feeder, although some naturalists assert that it eats various aquatic plants and weeds. Its flesh by some authorities is said to be excellent, by others the reverse, doubtless owing to the nature of the food on which it has been living just previous to being killed. Nidification. — The breeding season of the Harlequin Duck commences towards the end of May or early in June, at the beginning really of the short Arctic summer. Its breeding haunts are on the banks of rivers, and the nest is placed on the ground close to the water. Messrs. Pearson have recorded some very interesting particulars relating to the nesting habits of this Duck in Iceland. They write : — " Generally speaking the nest is placed within six feet of the water, a rapid stream being preferred. On the llth of July one of us visited some islands on a river, the remains of an ancient flow of lava. The lava had formed a dam across the river, which had afterwards broken through, forming four channels, and down these the waters ran like a mill-race, so that it was 414 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL difficult to find a place where even Iceland ponies could cross. On these islands were six nests with eggs, three of them only two feet from the water, and placed under the leaves of wild angelica, the others in holes in the banks close to the water, and protected by a screen of trailing plants. Many of the nests con- tained but little down, though several of the eggs were much incubated. The down of this Duck is much larger than that of most other species we have taken, individual pieces having sometimes a diameter of about If inch. There were many old nests in these holes, showing the islands to have been a favourite breeding-place for years. The dog put the duck off a nest of seven eggs on the 9th. This was placed about ten yards from the water, under a birch bush, but we are sure that this is a very unusual distance from water." The eggs are from eight to ten in number; they are creamy- white in colour, smooth, and rather glossy. They measure on an average 2'2 inches in length by T7 inch in breadth. The down tufts are large, light greyish brown with white centres and white tips. The broods and their parents in some cases apparently keep together all the winter ; but it is not known whether the drake takes any share in bringing the young to maturity, and Messrs. Pearson observed flocks of more than thirty males on several occasions during the summer. Diagnostic characters. — (Nuptial plumage) Cosmonetta, with a metallic purple alar speculum and the scapulary region striped with white, and with broad white crescentic bands across the lower neck and breast (adult male) ; with the axillaries grey, with the under tail coverts dark brown, with a white spot on the forehead and another behind the eye, and with the bill less than 1'5 inch in length (adult female). Length, 14 to 17 inches. Or THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 415 Genus HARELDA, or Long=tailed Ducks. Type, HAEELDA GLACIALIS. Harelda, of Stephens (1824). — The Long-tailed Ducks are distinguished by their uniform brown primaries. The head is fully crested ; the bill is strong and conical, but with no overhanging membrane at the base; the edges of the upper mandible bent inwards to some extent. The long-pointed central tail feather of the male is another well-marked characteristic of the genus. But one species of Long-tailed Duck is known, a British species, the dis- tribution, habits and characteristics of which will be fully described in the following chapter. 416 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATID^. Genus HARELDA. Subfamily FULIGULINM. LONG-TA1LED DUCK. HARELDA GLACIALIS— (Linneeus). Anas glacialis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 303 (1766). Harelda glacialis (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 192 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 617, pis. 443, 444 (1875) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 446 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit B. pt. xxx. (1895); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 389 (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 26 (1896). Fuligula glacialis (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 598 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 173 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 50 pi. 15 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British : The Long-tailed Duck is a fairly common winter visitor to the British Islands. It is only sparingly distributed round the English coasts, especially on the west and south ; and in Ireland it is equally uncommon, being rare in the south and of irregular appearance in the west and north. It becomes most numerous in Scotland, both on the east and west, and in the Orkneys and Shetlands, examples having been met with in summer in the latter locality. Throughout the Hebrides it is a well-known and at times even abundant species. It sometimes visits us in unusual numbers, during exceptionally severe weather in the North Sea basin, as, for instance, during the winter of 1887-88. Foreign : Northern Palsearctic and Nearctic regions, more southerly in winter. It breeds throughout the Arctic zone above the limits of forest growth, and in a similar climate at high elevations in Scandinavia, in Iceland, and perhaps the Faroes. Its northern range appears to extend as high as land is known, and may possibly reach the North Pole. The winter migrations of this species are not very extended, but at that season it visits the Faroes, the Baltic, the North Sea basin, and much more rarely that of the Mediterranean Sea, where it has occurred on the Italian lakes and on the coasts of the Adriatic. Eastwards it visits, during winter, the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, North China, and Japan ; whilst on the American Continent it is found at that season as far south as the Great Lakes and the Northern United States. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 417 Habits. — Of all the Arctic Ducks none are more thoroughly Arctic than the present handsome species. It is late to arrive in British waters, and is seldom seen off even our northern coasts before November, later still in the south. It leaves us in April and reaches its Arctic haunts with the opening of the northern waters. Like most of its congeners it is gregarious in winter, but the flocks that frequent our seas are seldom very large ; even in summer it is to a certain extent sociable, and numbers of nests may be found within a small area of suitable ground. Whilst with us it keeps principally to the sea, often wandering long distances from land, only approaching the shore during stormy weather, when it shows a decided preference for creeks and inlets on a wild, rocky coast. It is rarely or never seen on inland fresh water during winter, although in summer its favourite retreats are the northern lakes, often at some considerable distance from the sea. The flight of this Duck is remarkably quick and graceful, the long tail making the bird look very elegant as it careers along with wings beating the air so rapidly as to be almost invisible. It dives with even greater speed, so quickly as often to dodge the shot from a modern breech-loader, and under water it darts about and goes for long distances like a Grebe or an Auk, appearing far out of danger. The note of the Long-tailed Duck cannot easily be confused with that of any other species. It is a loud, clear cry of several syllables, the middle one being the longest and the loudest, rendered by some authorities as cow-cow-w-ie, col-goh'-y, or cal-loo-oo ; whilst in some parts of Scotland the sportsman has made a free translation of it into " coal-an-can'le-licht." The food of this species consists of small mollusks, crustaceans, insects, minute marine animals, and the buds, roots and leaves of various water plants and weeds. Most of this is obtained whilst the bird is diving. Nidification. — The great breeding grounds of the Long-tailed Duck are on the Arctic tundras of the Old World and the barren grounds which extend from beyond the limit of forest growth to the frozen ocean in the New World. Here its haunts are the pools and lakes, often those studded with islands. Odd pairs are scattered up and down the small pools, whilst the larger sheets of water are the haunts of perhaps a dozen or twenty pairs. The breeding season commences at the end of May or early in June, and fresh eggs may be obtained throughout the latter month and the first half of July. The nest is usually placed in some sheltered nook, often among willow and birch scrub in the drifted rubbish left by the floods when the big northern rivers break up in spring, or among long grass. An island is usually selected when available in the lake or pool. The nest is merely a hollow among the herbage, plentifully lined with down and a few feathers from the breast of the female. The eggs are from seven to twelve in number, eight or nine being an average clutch. They are pale huffish-green or greenish-buff in colour, smooth, and with some gloss, and 27 418 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL measure on an average 2'1 inches in length by 1'5 inch in breadth. The down tufts are small in size, warm brown in colour, and without any white tips. The period of incubation is unknown. It is a noteworthy fact that the drake of this species assists the duck in bringing up the young, moulting much earlier than is usual in this group into his post-nuptial plumage, and remaining in this garb until the brood can fly. During the breeding season this Back is very tame and most unwilling to take wing, generally swimming out into the centre of the large lakes for security. When the brood of ducklings is menaced, the female tries to get her offspring to follow her out into the open water, and is said to display great anxiety for their safety. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic Characters — (Nuptial plumage), Harelda, with the pre- vailing colour of the head and neck white (but with an oval patch of brown on each side of the latter), with the tail (of 14 feathers) white, except the two central feathers, which are black and about five inches longer than the rest, and with the scapulary region striped with white (adult male) ; with the axillaries brown, with the sides of the head white, and the sides of the neck brown (adult female). Length, 22 to 26 inches inclusive of the tail in the male. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 419 Genus (EDEMIA, or Scoters. Type, (EDEMIA NIGEA. CEdemia, of Fleming* (1822). — The Scoters are distinguished by their uniformly coloured primaries, and by the uniform black plumage in the males and brown unbarred plumage in the females. There can be no doubt that these birds are as fully entitled to generic distinction as any other group in the present family, notwithstanding the fact that colour is always a more or less unsatisfactory character and should be avoided as far as possible. There are at present six species of Scoters recognised by ornithologists. These are distributed over the northern portions of the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, their range becoming more southerly in winter. Three species are British, two of them being indigenous, and a third an abnormal migrant to our Islands. The Scoters are thoroughly marine in their habits. Their flight is noisy and powerful. They keep well out to sea, rarely visiting the land except to breed. They are all more or less migratory, and exceptionally gregarious during passage and in winter. Their notes are harsh and unmusical. Their food, obtained by diving, is chiefly of an animal character, crustaceans, mollusks, fry, and insects. They are monogamous, making their rude but down-lined nests on the ground. Their eggs are numerous, and various shades of greyish-buff in colour. * Spelt Oidemia. 420 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATHXE. Genus (EDEMIA. Subfamily FULIGULINJS. COMMON SCOTER. (EDEMIA NIGEA— (Linnenut). Anas nigra, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 196 (1766). Oidemia nigra (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 140 (1852). CEdemia nigra (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 663, pi. 449 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 472 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xii. (1892) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 401 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 43 (1896). Fuligula nigra (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 602 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 242 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 51, pi. 14 (1896). Geographical distribution. —British : This Scoter is a common winter visitor to our area, especially on the eastern coasts, from the Shetlands and Orkneys to the mouth of the Thames, in all suitable districts, and thence round the southern coast of England, although not in such vast numbers. Comparatively speaking it is much less common on our western coast line, the flat shores of Lancashire and the Solway district being its chief head-quarters. It is most abundant in the north of Ireland, becoming more sparingly distributed in the west and south. Small numbers of immature non-breeding birds frequent the British coasts during the summer, and a few pairs of adults are known to breed in the north of Scotland, in Caithness, Sutherland, and Eoss-shire. It is also recorded as having bred in 1897 on the island of Tiree. This Duck is recorded (Science Gossip, 1891, p. 256) as having bred on Earnley Marshes, near Chichester, but further confirmation of the fact is much to be desired. Foreign : Northern and western Palsearctic region, more southerly in winter. It breeds in the Arctic regions of Europe and Western Siberia, from Iceland to the Taimur Peninsula, as far north as lat. 74,° and as far south as the Arctic Circle, and in a few localities at high elevations below it where similar climatic conditions prevail. It is found during winter in the Baltic and the basin of the North Sea, exceptionally as far south as the Azores, and only very sparingly in the Western Mediterranean as far as Italy. It was said by Pallas to visit the Black Sea, and is reputed to be common in the Caspian Sea, whilst it has been obtained on the coasts of Palestine during winter. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 421 Allied forms. — (Edemia americana, an inhabitant in summer of Kamts- chatka, the Kurile Islands and Arctic America eastwards to Hudson Bay, and in winter of Japan, the Pacific coast of America to Southern California, the Great Lakes, and the Atlantic coast as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. The American representative of the Common Scoter. It may be distinguished from the Common Scoter by having the tubercle at the base of the bill orange-yellow instead of black. This form should be looked out for on the British coasts, especially in autumn. Habits. — The Common Scoter is one of the best known, and one of the most common Ducks to be found on and off the British coasts during winter. In some parts its vast flocks literally blacken the water, and may be observed far away from land during moderately calm weather. No Duck is more gregarious or more exclusively marine in its habits. The great autumn migration of this species begins in September and lasts through October in our Islands, but many old birds are said to arrive in the Baltic during August. The return flight commences in April and lasts well into May. The line of migration is taken across country as well as along the coast, and though this Duck certainly migrates in flocks, these appear to break up into pairs as soon as the breeding grounds are reached. This, however, only applies to adults, for the immature birds do not appear to breed during their first spring, but to continue all the summer in the vast flocks they journeyed in from the south. These keep for the most part to the sea, hanging about the Arctic islands and the deltas of the great northern rivers. An immense flock, estimated at ten thousand strong, was observed by Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown in the middle of July, circling over the Golievsky Islands in the delta of the Petchora. Flocks of non-breeding Scoters also frequent our coasts all the summer as previously remarked. The Scoter is rather a late bird of passage in spring, and was not observed in the valley of the Petchora until the 1st of June. This Duck is just as proficient a diver as its congeners, and swims with equal power ; on the land it is rather clumsy, waddling with an awkward gait, but in the air it is more at home, and flies with great speed. The note of this Scoter is a harsh kurr, but in the pairing season the drake is said to modulate it into a more musical cry, syllabled by Faber as an oft-repeated tu, that of the female at this season, according to the same authority, being a grating re-re-re. The food of this species consists of mollusks, crustaceans, and insects, and in summer the leaves, roots, and buds of weeds and aquatic plants. Its flesh is fishy in flavour and unpalatable. Nidification. — The Common Scoter is a late breeder, even in the com- paratively temperate climate of Iceland, not beginning to lay before the middle of June, and in Arctic Eussia not until the end of that month or early in July. 422 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL The favourite breeding grounds of this Duck are the hikes on the northern tundras and the banks of the rivers, at no great distance from the sea, especially in localities where dwarf willow and birch scrub is abundant. An island in the lake or river is selected where choice of such a situation admits. The nest is merely a hollow, in which is placed a little dry grass, sprigs of heath, withered leaves, or other such-like refuse, and warmly lined with down from the body of the female. The eggs are eight or nine in number and pale greyish-buff in colour, smooth, and with little gloss They measure on an average 2'5 inches in length by 1'8 inch in breadth. The down tufts are large, brownish-grey in colour, with pale centres. One brood only is reared in the season, of which the female apparently takes the entire charge. Diagnostic characters. - (Nuptial plumage), (Edemia, with the bill black with a yellow mark on the culmen in front of the basal knob, with the entire plumage bright black (adult male) ; with the axillaries brown, with the under tail coverts dark brown, with the culmen 1'5 inch or more in length, and with no alar speculum (adult female). Length, 20 to 21 inches. OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 423 Family ANATID^E. Genus (EDEMIA. Subfamily FULIGULIN&. VELVET SCOTER. (EDEMIA FUSCA.— (Linnaus). Anas fusca, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 196 (1766). Oidemia fusca (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 134 (1852). (Edemia fusca (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 657, pi. 448 (1877) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 476 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxii. (1892) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 406 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 46 (1896). Fuligula fusca (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 605 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 175 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 52, pi. 15 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British : The Velvet Scoter is a regular winter visitor to our islands, but much less common than the preceding species. It occurs sparingly on the south and east coasts of England, chiefly in those localities frequented by the Common Scoter, becomes more frequent on the east coast of Scotland, but is decidedly rare in the Shetlands. It is much less common round the western coasts of Scotland, and is said to be rare in the Outer Hebrides. It is rare and local in the west of England and chiefly mixed with the common species. It is also rare in Ireland, chiefly met with at sea off the east and south coasts. According to Booth a few pairs may possibly breed in the north of Scotland, but no direct evidence is yet forthcoming. Foreign : Northern Palaearctic region, more southerly in winter. This Scoter breeds in the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Europe and Asia from the Atlantic eastwards at least to the Yenisei, as far north as lat. 72°, and as far south as the Baltic Provinces in the west and lat. 55° in the east. It winters in the basin of the North Sea, occasionally wandering as far south as Spain and the Mediterranean and Black Seas. To Turkestan it is a visitor on passage, and in winter it is found in the basin of the Caspian. It has once been obtained in Alaska, once in Green- land, and is an abnormal migrant to the Faroes. 424 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Allied forms. — The Velvet Scoter of Eastern Asia has heen specifically separated from the Western bird under the name of (Edemia carbo. It possibly breeds throughout Eastern Siberia, and winters off the coasts of China and Japan, occurring apparently as an abnormal migrant in Alaska. (E. deglandi, an inhabi- tant in summer of Arctic America from west to east, and in winter of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic, and Pacific coasts as far south as the Gulf of Mexico and Lower California. This Scoter also visits the Pacific coasts of the Old World, and may be traced from Alaska, across the Aleutian Islands to Kamtschatka, the Kuriles, Japan and China. This race should be looked out for on the British coasts, especially in autumn. The Velvet Scoter and these two allied species belong (as pointed out by Count Salvadori) to that division of the genus (Edemia in which the length of the commissure is much more than the length of the inner toe without the claw, and the feathering of the head advances farther forward on the lores than on the forehead ; the wing has also a white speculum. (E. carbo and CE. deglandi are distinguished from (E. fusca by having the loral feathering separated from the nostrils by a space much narrower than the length of the nostril. In (E. carbo the lateral outlines of the bill are nearly parrallel, and the knob on the bill of the male is very high, with the anterior outline concave, and the upper one horizontal. In (E. deglandi the lateral outlines on the bill are convex, and the knob on the bill of the male with the anterior outline sloping backward. The female of (E. carbo is distinguished from that of (E. deglandi, by having the frontal feathering almost transverse, as in the female of (E. fusca, from which it is readily separated by the peculiarity of the loral feathering already alluded to. Habits. — The habits of the Velvet Scoter do not differ in many important respects from those of the allied Common Scoter. It is, however, a bird more addicted to inland waters, and even during winter, although commonly met with at sea, often far from land, wanders up rivers and estuaries and visits lakes. Its breeding grounds also are as a rule situated at greater distances from the sea, and the nest is not unfrequently made a long way from any water at all. The flight of this Scoter is rapid and well-sustained, but except on migration the bird is Joth to take wing, and almost invariably seeks to elude danger by diving. In the water it is extremely active, not only swimming well, but diving with amazing speed, and going not only to a considerable depth in quest of food, but for a long distance to escape an enemy, appearing again well out of harm's way. It is seldom seen on land, and there its gait is waddling and clumsy, even for a Duck. In more favoured winter quarters there is no doubt that the Velvet Scoter congregates in large flocks, but in our seas it is rare to see more than a small company together, and is usually met with in odd birds or scattered pairs among flocks of the much more abundant Common Scoter. It appears in OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 425 British waters and takes its departure about the same time as the preceding species, although odd (and probably immature) birds sometimes linger with us throughout the summer. The food of the Velvet Scoter consists principally of mollusks, crustaceans, and small fish in winter, but in summer there can be little doubt that vegetable substances, such as aquatic weeds, are eaten. Its note is said not to differ very much from that of the preceding species, and is a grating kurr. Nidification.— The Velvet Scoter is a late breeder, even for an Arctic species, and its eggs are not laid until the very end of June or early in July. It appears to separate into pairs as soon as the breeding grounds are reached, and the duck and drake keep close company until the eggs are laid, after which the latter leaves his mate to incubate them and take all care of the brood. The nest is made amongst scrub or coarse tundra vegetation, either near a lake or river, or some dry part of the moor away from either. The nest is merely a hollow, often under some small stunted bush, into which a little dry grass, dead leaves, or other vegetable refuse is placed, and finally lined with down and a few feathers from the breast of the female. The eggs are eight or nine in number and pale greyish-buff in colour, smooth, and with little gloss. They measure on an average 2'8 inches in length by 1'9 inch in breadth. The down tufts are larger than those of the Common Scoter, brown, with a slight tinge of grey and with indistinct pale centres. One brood only appears to be reared in the season. Diagnostic characters.— (Nuptial plumage), (Edemia, with the loral feathers separated from the nostrils by a space nearly or quite equal to the length of the nostrils, with the lower part of the swollen basal portion of the upper man- dible on sides unfeathered, with the basal portion of the culmen elevated, but not forming an abrupt knob (adult male) ; with the plumage greyish-brown and with no white on the head (adult female). Length, 21 to 22 inches. 426 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATID^E. Genus (EDEMIA. Subfamily SURF SCOTER. (EDEMIA PEKSPICILLATA— (Linnceus). Anas perspicillata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 201 (1766). Oidemia perspicillata (Linn.), Macgill, Brit. B. v. p. 129 (1852). GEdemia perspicillata (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 669, pi. 450 (1877) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed 4, iv. p. 481 (1885) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 412 (1895) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 48 (1896). Fuligula perspicillata (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 607 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 176 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 52, pi. 15 (1896). Geographical distribution. —British : The Surf Scoter is a rare straggler in winter to the British Islands, and known to be such for upwards of sixty years. It was first recorded by Blyth in 1838, from a somewhat doubt- ful example sent in the flesh to Bartlett, which may or may not have been captured in this country in a wild state. The other evidence of this bird's claim to rank as "British" is as follows — England: Cumberland (one example), August, 1856; Yorkshire (one example), October, 1860; Lancashire (one example), December, 1882 ; Dorset (two examples), winter, 1851, December, 1853 ; South Devon (three examples) ; Cornwall (one example) , no exact date ; Scilly Isles (two examples) , September, 1865, October, 1867. Ireland: Belfast Lough (two examples, one shot), September, 1846; Co. Dublin (one example), October, 1880; Co. Cork (one example), November, 1888; Achill Island (one example) Moy estuary (two examples. Scotland: Edinburgh Co. (one example), spring, 1852; Stornoway, Outer Hebrides (one example), winter, 1865; North Shetland (one example, said to have been seen by Mr. Dunn), June, 1847; The Orkneys are apparently the most favoured locality of this species in its erratic visits (six examples secured, many others seen and identified), March, 1866, February, 1872, 1876, October, 1880. Foreign: Northern Nearctic region, more southerly in winter. It breeds in the Arctic and Subarctic regions of America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as far north as lat. 70°, and as far south as lat. 50°. In winter it strays down the Pacific coasts as far as Lower California ; inland it is found at that season on the Great Lakes ; whilst on the Atlantic coasts it extends as far as Florida, and occasionally visits the Bermudas and OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 427 Jamaica. It is a rare straggler to Greenland and the Faroes, and has occurred on the coasts of Heligoland, Scandinavia, Germany and France, and inland as far as Switzerland. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. Habits. — The migrations and habits of this Nearctic Scoter very closely resemble those of the preceding species. Its grand summer quarters are in the Arctic and Subarctic regions of British North America. From the most northerly of these it begins to retire early in September, and as the autumn and winter advance it slowly works south, not only along the coast, but across country by way of the great lakes and river valleys, as it appears to be as much at home on inland waters, so long as they are open, as the sea. In April it begins to migrate north again, and reaches its highest Arctic haunts as the ice is breaking up, and summer is bursting with startling suddenness over the wild, lone land. It is just as gregarious as its allies, not only on migration and in winter, but in summer also ; for as soon as the females have scattered up and down the breeding grounds and gone to nest, the males flock once more, and apparently keep gregarious until the following spring. The flight of the Surf Scoter is strong and rapid, but the bird is said to rise with difficulty from the water. It is an expert and rapid diver, keeps principally to the water, where it swims equally well, and ever seeks to evade pursuit by diving out of reach of its enemies. It is not much of a land bird, and walks in a clumsy, waddling manner. The note of this bird is not known to differ from that of its allies, and the female is said to utter a hoarse cry as she rises startled from the nest, As is the case with both the other British Scoters, but more especially with the Common Scoter, many immature and non-breeding birds stay behind in their winter quarters, where they keep in large flocks. The food of the Surf Scoter, obtained almost entirely by diving, consists of mollusks, crustaceans, and small fish. It is not known whether this bird is a vegetable feeder in summer; but there can be little doubt that to a certain extent this is the case. Great flocks of this bird almost blacken the sea, and look like mud-banks in the distance, congregating in certain favoured haunts during winter, often in company with other Ducks, but as its flesh is fishy and unpalatable it is not much sought after by American sportsmen, by whom it is known in some districts as " Surf Coot," " Spectacled Coot," or " Skunk-headed Coot." Nidification. — The favourite breeding grounds of the Surf Scoter are the lake-studded northern tundras, and the banks of the winding rivers that join them into a more or less swampy paradise for aquatic birds. It is a late breeder, like its allies, laying towards the end of June or early in July. The nest is made near the water, in many cases amongst scrub and coarse vegetation ; but MacFarlane found one concealed under the drooping lower branches of a 428 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL stunted pine-tree, and others have been observed in similar situations. It is merely a hollow in the ground, lined with any vegetable refuse that may chance to be near, and with an abundance of down from the body of the female. The eggs are from five to eight in number, pale greyish-buff in colour, smooth, and with little gloss. They measure on an average 2'3 inches in length by 1'65 inch in breadth The down tufts, so far as I am aware, are still undescribed. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters — (Nuptial plumage), (Edemia, with the feathering of the head advancing much farther forward on the forehead than on the lores, with the entire plumage glossy-black, except a broad patch of white on the forehead and another on the nape (adult male) ; with bare swellings at the base of the sides of the bill, with the frontal feathers extending about an inch beyond those at the sides of the bill, and with the white nape patch indistinctly defined (adult female). Length, 21 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 429 Genus HENICONETTA, or Rufous= breasted Eiders. Type, HENICONETTA STELLEEI. Heniconetta, of Gray (1840)*.— By many authorities Steller's Eider, the sole member of the present genus, is associated with the typical Eiders, but the species possesses several characters which perfectly justify its removal from Somateria. Steller's Eider belongs to that division in which the primaries are uniform in colour. The bill is very peculiar. The edges of the upper mandible are bent inwardly ; the lower mandible has the apical portion almost spatulated. "Especially characteristic," writes Stejneger, "are the soft lobes formed by the tomia of the upper mandible in the anterior half. When dried they roll up so as to enclose the lower mandible, and become hard, the lateral outline thereby being considerably changed, becoming unduly narrowed towards the tip." Both sexes exhibit a metallic alar speculum ; the tertials are more or less falcate, and on the head of the males are patches of stiff feathers. This genus contains but a single species, a rare abnormal migrant to the British Islands, the distribution, habits, and characteristics of which will be fully described in the following chapter. * Spelt Eniconetla. 430 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATID^E. Genus HENICONETTA. Subfamily FULIQULIN&. STELLER'S EIDER. HENICONETTA STELLERI— (Pallas). Anas stelleri, Pallas, Spic. Zool. vi. p. 35, tab. v. (1769). Stellaria dispar (Sparrm.), Macgill, Brit. B. v. p. 164 (1852). Somateria stelleri (Pall.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 649, pi. 447 (1871) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed 4, iv. p. 468 (1885) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 613 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 181 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 63, pi. 9 (1896). Heniconetta stelleri (Pall.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 419 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 34 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British: Steller's Eider is a very rare straggler to the British Islands in autumn and winter. The very slender claim of this species to rank as "British " is based upon the following occurrences — England : Norfolk (one example), February, 1830. Shot at Caistor, near Yarmouth, a nearly adult male, formed the subject of the illustration in Yarrell's British Birds and is now preserved in the Norwich Museum ; Yorkshire (one example), August, 1845. It was shot on the sea off Filey Brigg, a male assum- ing nuptial plumage, and is now in the collection of Lord Scarsdale. Foreign : North-eastern Palaearctic region, and possibly the extreme north-west of the Nearctic region, more southerly and westerly in winter. The exact breeding range of this species is very imperfectly known. It has been found breeding in Kamtschatka, on the islands round about Behring Strait, the Aleutian Islands (although the fact is doubted by Stejneger), the delta of the Lena, the Taimur Peninsula, the coast of Kussian Finmark, and in the Varanger Fjord. Mr. Nelson states that it breeds in tens of thousands along the north coast of Siberia. In winter it is found in Northern Norway, in the Baltic, in the Sea of Okhotsk, and off the coasts of the Kurile Islands. During this season it has been observed in Denmark, Heligoland, North Germany, and France. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. Habits.— But little has been recorded of the habits of Steller's Eider. The bird appears, however, very closely to resemble its congeners in its economy, being eminently a sea Duck and almost sedentary, only wandering in winter from its OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 431 usual haunts to the nearest open water. The adults probably live in pairs through the summer, but immature individuals remain in parties at that period ; whilst in autumn both old and young become more or less gregarious. Dr. Stejneger found this Duck very common during winter on Behring Island. They made their appearance in large flocks about the first of November, remain- ing about the rockiest parts of the coast where the breakers were most violent. In spring, especially during April, the number of Steller's Eider greatly increased, and immense flocks covering many acres were watched floating on the sea within half-a-mile of the shore. Towards the end of April their numbers perceptibly decreased ; by the end of the month but few remained, and none were remarked after about the 25th of May. During its winter sojourn here Dr. Stejneger found it to be, next to the Golden-eye, the shyest of all the Duck tribe. The adult males generally keep apart from the adult females and young males, and, as is usual they did not as a rule, come so near to the land. It is interesting to remark that Dr. Stejneger found the females of this Duck in full moult at the end of April while the males were not in such condition, and at that date not a single young male among many thousands observed showed even a trace of new white plumage. The food of this Eider is not known to differ from that of allied species, and is obtained in a similar manner. Its note is undescribed, but Von Middendorff states that the female when flying from the nest uttered a rattling cry. Nidification. — The only particulars concerning the breeding habits of Steller's Eider, obtained from personal observation, appear to be those published by Von Middendorff, who met with this Duck breeding in some numbers on the Taimur Peninsula, the most northerly continental land on the entire globe. The eggs are apparently laid early in July, or at the very end of June. The nests were made on the tundra, and were merely deep hollows in the moss-clothed ground, lined with quantities of down plucked from the breast of the females. The eggs range from seven to nine in number, and are pale huffish-green in colour, smooth, but with little gloss. They measure on an average 2'35 inches in length by 1'55 inch in breadth. The down tufts are apparently undescribed. But one brood is reared in the year. The females are said to sit closely, and, as is usual with the Eiders, the drakes swim about in the neighbourhood of the nests, and probably join their mates when they leave the eggs and retire to the water to feed. Diagnostic characters. — (Nuptial plumage), Heniconetta, with the back black and the falcated scapulars white on the inner and bluish-black on the outer webs (adult male) ; with the alar speculum purplish-blue, enclosed between two white bars (adult female). Length, 18 to 20 inches. 432 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Genus SOMATERIA, or Eiders. Type SOMATEEIA MOLLISSIMA. Somateria, of F. Boie (1822). The birds comprising the present genus are best characterised by having the scapulars long and falcated, and the head marked with emerald green. Unfortunately these distinctions apply to males only, and the following character must also be added to distinguish the females : feathers on the forehead and on the sides of the bill projecting in triangular patches nearly or quite as far as the nostrils. The wings are moderately long ; the tail is short and consists of fourteen feathers. The bill is swollen and elevated at the base, extending on to the forehead, and the edges of the upper mandible are not bent inwardly ; nostrils small and oval. Three toes in front webbed ; hind toe moderate and lobed. This genus contains four species and subspecies which are confined to the northern portions of the Palsearctic and Nearctic regions. Two species are British, one of which is a common resident in, and the other is an accidental visitor to, our Islands. The Eiders are dwellers exclusively on rocky coasts. They are birds of somewhat slow and laboured yet powerful flight ; they swim and dive well, but walk clumsily. They subsist on crustaceans, marine insects, and shell-fish. Their notes are harsh and grating. They make slovenly nests, which are lined with down, upon the ground, and their eggs are numerous and green of various shades, unspotted. They are monogamous, but the male takes no share in family duties. They are more or less gregarious and social at all seasons. x X -a c "• 00 • -o Ul tj 9 8. " « LU z ? o r~n tr. . gs — w LJ tS U g d i £ 5 ^x Bi ! til W> Q | ui o u ° *— ' Ift E i« O OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 433 Family ANATIDyE. Genus SOMATKRIA. Subfamily COMMON EIDER. SOMATEEIA MOLLISSIMA- (Linnaeus) . PLATE XXXIX. Anas mollissima, Lynn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 198 (176G). Somateria mollissima (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 147 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 629, pi. 445 (1871) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 616 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 457 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxii. (1892) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 244 (1893) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 425 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 54, pi. 9 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit, iii. p. 37 (1896). Geographical distribution — British : The Common Eider is a rare straggler in winter to the southern portions of the British Islands, including the west, east, and south coasts of England, and all the coasts of Ireland. It breeds from the Fame Islands locally northwards to the Orkneys and Shetlands, and along the west coast of Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides and St. Kilda, as far south on the mainland as Inverness-shire. Foreign : Northern and western confines of Palsearctic region, and northern and eastern confines of Nearctic region, more southerly in winter. It breeds on the shores of the Kara Sea, Franz-Josef Land, Spitzbergen, Jan Mayen, the coasts of Norway and Denmark, the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland up to lat. 81^°, thence across Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, along the coast of the mainland and on the islands in the Arctic Ocean as far east as Banks Land and the Coppermine River. AVherever the winters are sufficiently severe to seal the water it draws southwards, and is then found in the Baltic, the basin of the North Sea, and the English Channel, and in the New World as far south as the coast of Maine. It is said very exception- ally to wander as far south as the Mediterranean, and has been recorded on doubtful authority from the Swiss lakes. Allied forms — Somateria dresseri, an inhabitant in summer of Labrador and Newfoundland, drawing south in winter as far as the coast of Maine. A mere local race said to differ from the Common Eider in having the feathers on the forehead prolonged in a narrow line only half as far as those on the side 28 434 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL of the bill, instead of almost as far. 8. v-nigrum, an inhabitant of the coasts of East Siberia, the islands of Behring Sea, and the coast of Alaska. The Pacific representative of the Common Eider, closely allied but apparently specifically distinct. It differs from the Common Eider in being a larger bird, and in having a very distinct V-shaped mark on the throat, in this particular showing a close affinity with the King Eider. The Nearctic Eider Ducks have been separated from the typical Old World form under the name of S. borealis, but the slight differences, if constant, do not appear to warrant specific distinction. Habits. — This beautiful Duck is probably the most maritime of its family, and, except in the breeding season, spends nearly all its time on the sea. So closely is it attached to the sea, so thoroughly " sea-faring " in its habits, that it rarely flies overland at all except to its nest, and prefers to follow a winding coast line rather than to cross even the narrowest of promontories. The Eider is practically a sedentary species, only wandering south a little way from its summer haunts either in quest of food or in prolonged severe and stormy weather. It loves the wild, rock-bound coasts, especially where plenty of precipitous islands occur and the shore line is broken up into sheltered bays and fiords. Sometimes it may be seen standing on the rocks close to the water's edge, but usually it keeps well out to sea, and even sleeps on the water. At all times it is more or less gregarious, although never congregating into the vast flocks that many other sea Ducks do. It is generally observed in parties, in summer and winter alike, for the drakes swim in company whilst the ducks are incubating on shore, and when the latter come to the sea to feed all join into a scattered company. In summer the female Eiders are remarkably tame and confiding, but in winter they are wary enough, and at all times of the year the males are difficult birds to approach. The food of the Eider consists of minute marine insects, crustaceans, and shell-fish, especially mussels and small crabs. Most of this food is obtained by diving, the bird being remarkably expert at this, descending to considerable depths and remaining a long time under the surface. The Eider loves to draw shorewards with the flowing tide, and to swim just outside the breakers. It is most interesting to watch this bird swim clean through each mighty wave just before it turns over and breaks upon the beach. It may be watched gradually swimming towards the laud in some sheltered bay, feeding as it comes, until the very edge of the breakers is reached. If alarmed, instead of diving it usually swims quickly out from shore, and when still further pursued or fired at, instantly takes wing, rising from the water at once and with little splash or fuss. So far as my experience extends the Eider is a day feeder, and during the breeding season at any rate passes the night on land. I never met with this bird at sea during the night amongst the coasts where it was breeding in considerable numbers, although Auks were common enough ; still it is abroad and feeding by dawn. The flight of this Duck is, as a rule, not very OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 435 quick, the wings being beaten very regularly ; but on occasion the bird can fly with astounding speed, as I have on many occasions learnt to my own humilia- tion. The Eider is a remarkably silent bird, its usual note being a not very loud kurr, but in the breeding season the drake makes a cooing noise when paying court to his mate, accompanying it with a bobbing motion of the head, usually as he swims round and round her, guarding her from the attentions of rivals. The Eider is not very social, and seldom mingles with other fowl. Its flesh, as I can testify from experience, is not unpalatable when prepared by a skilful cook. Nidification. — In our Islands the small flocks of Eiders begin to break up more distinctly into pairs towards the latter end of March, but the eggs are seldom laid until the middle or end of May, and in the Arctic regions not before the end of June. The nest, wherever possible, is built on a small uninhabited island, a rocky one by preference, moderately level, but covered with plenty of marine vegetation. In some places it is made among ruins, where the fallen masonry offers snug sites ; at others it is on the top of the cliffs, or among the long heather of the hillsides that slope to the sea. I have seen it at the very top of cliffs several hundred feet in height on the Island of Doon, in the St. Kilda group. Usually it is not very far from the water, but reliable instances are on record where it has been discovered several miles from the sea, and at an elevation of one thousand feet above the sea level. The nest is generally made amongst sea campion or coarse grass, but often in a crevice of low rocks, or on a ledge of the same. It is usually a bulky, well-made structure, composed of dry grass and bits of other marine herbage, sometimes twigs of heather, and is well and warmly lined with down plucked from the body of the female, gradually accumu- lated as the eggs are laid. The eggs are six or seven in number, sometimes eight, and vary in colour from cream-grey to greyish -green, smooth and wax-like in texture, but with little gloss. They measure on an average 3'1 inches in length by 2'0 inches in breadth. The down tufts are moderate in size, and vary from brownish-grey to greyish-brown with obscure pale centres. This down is the highly. prized article of commerce, used for stuffing quilts and other purposes, and valued, when cleaned, at about twenty shillings per pound. Each Duck produces about four ounces of down in the season. In Greenland. Iceland, and in some parts of Norway the birds are regularly farmed for this product. (Further particulars of this industry may be obtained in our work entitled, Stray Feathers from many Birds, p. 21.) Incubation, performed entirely by the female, lasts twenty-eight days. When suddenly flushed from the eggs, the female Eider almost invariably discharges excreta over them and the nest as she hurries away. Mr. Trevor-Battye remarked the same peculiarity amongst the Eiders (as well as the Long-tailed Duck) breeding on Spitzbergen. (Conf. Ibis 1897, p. 585.) When the young are hatched the mother soon conveys her brood to the sea, carrying them in many cases one by one in her bill. 436 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Here the old bird will often take one or more of her ducklings on her back to rest and sleep, sinking her body low in the water to allow the little creature more easily to mount. One brood only is reared in the year. The male does not desert the female after the eggs are laid. He never comes near the nest, but is usually not far away on the sea close by, and when his mate leaves the eggs to feed he invariably joins her. I should remark that the Eider is gregarious during this period, and numbers of nests may be seen almost side by side, in some cases two females sharing the same nest. As soon as the young are reared the birds quit the land, and undergo their annual change of plumage for the most part out at sea. Diagnostic characters.— (Nuptial plumage), Somateria, with the upper back, mantle, and falcated scapulars white (adult male) ; with the feathers on the forehead only extending about half as far as those on the side of the upper mandible (adult female). Length, 25 inches. OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 437 Family ANATID^E. Genus SOMATERIA. Subfamily KING EIDER. SOMATEEIA SPECTABILIS— (Linnaus). PLATE XXXIX. Anas spectabilis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 195 (1766). Somateria spectabilis (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 158 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 643, pi. 446 (1877) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 621 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed 4, iv. p. 463 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 183 (1894) ; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii.' p. 432 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 54, pi. 9 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 41 (1896). Geographical distribution. — British : The King Eider is an acci- dental straggler to the British Islands, and so frequently observed during summer as to suggest the possibility of its breeding within our limits. It has been seen and obtained in various localities from Plymouth to the Orkneys and Shetlands, although it is much rarer in Ireland, where only four instances of its occurrence are on record. It has been observed at the Fame Islands in summer ; and we met with two pairs during June at St. Kilda. Foreign Extreme northern Palsearctic and Nearctic regions, more southerly in winter. It breeds on the islands off the coast of Northern Siberia, Nova Zembla, Franz-Josef Land, probably Spitzbergen, Greenland, and the islands and coasts of Arctic America, perhaps as far north as land extends. It is a more or less accidental visitor in winter to the coasts of Norway, the Baltic, Denmark, Holland, and France, to the Faroes, Iceland, Labrador, New Jersey, the Great Lakes, and California. Allied forms. — None more closely allied than the Eider Duck and its representative forms treated of in the preceding chapter. Habits. —The King Eider, although it resembles the Common Eider very closely in its general habits, is not quite such an exclusively marine species, and is occasionally found on fresh water, yet only, so far as I can determine, on such vast expanses as the Great Lakes in North America. It is almost if not quite as sedentary as the Common Eider, and does not wander far beyond the limits of open water during winter. Most of those that do straggle south at that season 438 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL are immature birds. It is just as gregarious, perhaps more so, inasmuch as Koss often met with large flocks of adult males and others of adult females with their young in the open Atlantic. In its food, note, and mode of progression in the air and the water it does not differ in any important -respect from the Common Eider. I had the good fortune to meet with the King Eider during my pro- longed visit to St. Kilda in the summer of 1884, and made the following note respecting its habits, which I transcribe verbatim from my paper on the birds of these Islands contributed to the Ibis : " Ornithologists will read with pleasure that the King Eider frequents St. Kilda. I first became aware of this interesting fact when trying to stalk the Common Eiders in the bay. For two hours I lay concealed behind a huge boulder, watching the little party of Ducks that were swimming just outside the breakers. Two of the pairs were King Eiders. In spite of all my efforts, both on this and subsequent occasions, I failed to secure an example. They were not more than seventy yards away from me several times, so that I had every opportunity of observing them ; and on more than one occasion I carefully scanned them through a powerful glass. They mingled freely with the Common Eiders, and did not differ in any perceptible degree in their habits. It was a pretty sight to watch these rare and charming birds sporting in the heaving waves, the males and females swimming side by side. As the mighty rollers broke upon the shore the birds dived through the bright green wave just before it turned over. They were busy feeding on the small animals which were disturbed by the breaking waves. They floated light as corks on the heaving sea, now high up exposed to view, then deep down in the trough of the waves. As soon as they caught a glimpse of me they quickly swam farther from shore. Every day they might be observed in one particular part of the bay ; and I have not the slightest doubt that they were nesting on the precipitous island of Doon. Of course the natives did not distinguish them from the Common Eider; and they take but little interest in them, for they tell me the male Eider is the only bird of St. Kilda that they are unable to snare." I am pleased to be able to record that my opinion respecting the breeding of the King Eider in these islands is shared by others of much wider experience of the ornithology of this district than myself. Mr. John A. Harvie-Brown, the gentleman so frequently alluded to in these pages relative to the habits of some of the least known of the species, says in epistola; "I shall be glad if you succeed in getting undoubted King Eiders. Personally, I believe they breed on the Dun [Doon] every year." Nidification — The King Eider breeds even later than the Common Eider, probably because its summer range nowhere reaches quite so far to the south, and extends more to the north. Its eggs are laid during the first half of July. It appears to arrive at its most northerly breeding stations in flocks towards the end of June. The nests are made on islands as well as on the OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 439 coasts of the mainland, and are placed in similar situations to those of the Common Eider. The nest is merely a depression in the ground, which may or may not contain a little vegetable refuse, but is always warmly lined with down from the body of the female by the time the full number of eggs is deposited The eggs, so far as is known, are six in number and pale greenish-grey in colour, smooth in texture, and with little gloss. They measure on an average 2'6 inches in length by T75 inch in breadth. The down tufts are similar in every respect to those of the preceding species. One brood only is reared in the year. The habits of this Eider during the nesting period and after the young are reared do not differ from those of allied species. Diagnostic characters. — (Nuptial Plumage), Somateria, with the upper back white and the falcated scapulars black, and with a black stripe on each side of the throat meeting on the chin, forming a V-shaped mark (adult male) ; with the feathers on the forehead extending beyond those on the side of the bill (adult female). Length, 24 inches. THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Subfamily MERGIN/E.— The Mergansers. The Mergansers resemble the Diving Ducks and Eiders in having the hind toe broadly lobed; but the bill is compressed, the lower mandible without lamellae, but with the edges of both mandibles furnished with a series of very prominent tooth-like serrations. The moult is similar to that of the non-diving Ducks. This subfamily is composed of nine species, divisible into three fairly well denned genera. Genus MERGANSER, or Typical Mergansers. Type, MEKGANSEE CASTOE. Merganser, of Brisson (1760).— The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the culmen longer than the metatarsus, and the tooth-like serrations on both mandibles very prominent and inclined backwards at the tips. The wings are moderately long. The nostrils are lateral and central. Three toes in front connected with webs ; hind toe moderate and lobed. This genus contains seven species, distributed over the Palsearctic and Nearctic regions, Northern India, South-eastern Brazil, and the Auckland Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Two species are British. The typical Mergansers frequent both inland waters and maritime districts. They are birds of rapid flight, and swim and dive with exceptional skill. Their notes are harsh and unmusical. They subsist largely on fish, crustaceans, mollusks, etc. They make rude nests, either on the ground or in holes of trees and rocks. Their eggs are numerous and creamy-buff or olive-grey, unspotted. They probably pair for life, and are more or less gregarious and social. 1 i CO I a * A 0 ^ 0 § Q 5 n Ul C _I O a; E Ul a OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 441 Family ANATIDZE. Genus MERGANSER. Subfamily MERGING. GOOSANDER. MBEGANSEE CASTOK— (Linnaeus). PLATE XL. Mergus merganser, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 208 (1766) ; Dresser B. Eur. vi. p. 685, pi. 452 (1875) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 625 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iv. p. 488 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 245 (18931; Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xxiii (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 55, pi. 15 (1896). Merganser castor (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 207 (1852^; Salvador!, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 472 (1895). Merganser merganser (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 58 (1896). Geographical distribution — British: The Goosander is a fairly common winter visitor to the British Islands, both inland and on the coast. It is rare in the Orkneys and Shetlands, but more frequent on the east and west coasts of Scotland, especially the latter ; tolerably common on the eastern shores of England, but rarer on the south and west. It is rare in Ireland, although in the severe weather of 1880-81 an unusual visitation took place, and examples were obtained in all parts of the Island. It breeds sparingly in Scotland, in Suther- landshire, Argyllshire, North Perthshire, and a few other localities in the High- lands. Foreign : Palsearctic region ; northern limits of Oriental region in winter. It breeds in Iceland and Denmark, and throughout Scandinavia, but does not winter north of the Arctic Circle. It is said to breed in Switzerland, and has been recorded from Nova Zembla. Eastwards it is found during summer in Pomerania, and Eussia as far north as the Arctic Circle, and as far south as lat. 50° in the Ural and Volga districts. In Asia it breeds throughout Siberia south of the Arctic Circle, and in a similar climate at high elevations in Turkestan, and the Himalayas up to 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. It winters on the coasts and inland waters of Central and Southern Europe, but rarely crosses to the African side of the Mediterranean. It is also found at this season in the Black Sea, on the lower lands of Turkestan, in Northern India, Mongolia, China and Japan. Allied forms. —Merganser americanus, an inhabitant of the Nearctic region, breeding from about lat. 42° as -far north as the limit of trees, and in winter 442 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL of the United States, and occasionally the Bermudas. The American representative of the Goosander, and perhaps only superficially distinct. Typical examples may be distinguished from the Goosander by having a narrow black bar across the greater wing coverts. M. comatus, an inhabitant of Central Asia, including the Himalayas. Distinguished by being smaller in size, and in having the crest feathers fewer, narrower, and longer, the bill shorter, and (in the male) the black margins of the tertials broader, the lower back and rump paler grey, and much freckled with white. M. squamatus, from China (?), a doubtful species, described from an immature bird by Gould, possibly a hybrid between the Goosander and the Bed-breasted Merganser. Habits. — During winter the Goosander with us is for the most part a coast bird, showing a preference for sea lochs and the quiet bays of a rocky shore, such as are so common on the west of Scotland, but it may be met with in estuaries, as well as on broads and inland lakes. In Lower India, however, it is almost exclusively confined during the cold season to rivers, and those where the bed is rocky or sandy are preferred to others which flow over clay or alluvial soil. It is a hardy bird, and lingers in its summer haunts until the waters are frozen, not leaving the pools and streams of the Himalayas until December, and quitting its southern retreats again in March. The same remarks apply to the individuals breeding at elevations of from 8,000 to 11,000 feet in Central Asia ; they linger until driven down by the ice sealing their favourite haunts. The Goosander is a remarkably agile bird in the water, swimming and diving with wonderful skill. When going down stream it sits high on the water, but when swimming against the current its body is kept low, so that the oar-like feet may work to the best advantage. It is capable of diving a great depth, and remains under water for as much as two minutes at a stretch. It flies well and with great speed, but rises from the surface with difficulty, flapping along for several yards before it gets clear into the air. The Goosander does not spend much of its time on shore, but when gorged with food it will often sit and bask, like a Cormorant, on some rock rising out of deep water, resting with its body upright and with its wings half expanded. It seldom rests far from the water's edge, and when disturbed wriggles forward with its breast almost touching the ground, in a very Diver-like manner. It is a wary bird, much more so than the Red-breasted Merganser. The note of this species is a harsh karr, but on the whole it is a remarkably silent bird. The Goosander feeds almost exclusively on fish ranging from two to six inches in length, but aquatic insects, mollusks, and shell-fish are eaten, and the remains of vegetable substances have been found in its stomach. Most of these creatures are obtained by diving, and sometimes when feeding in flocks the entire party of birds will dive simultaneously, although it is more usual to see several individuals on the surface, as if acting as sentinels for the rest. The flesh of this Duck is said to be rank and fishy, and most unpalatable. OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 443 Nidification. — The favourite breeding grounds of the Goosander are open swampy forests, in which there are plenty of lakes and rock-bound streams and rivers. It is a somewhat early breeder, laying towards the end of April in the British Islands and in Denmark, and a month or six weeks later in Finland. Dybowsky states that it arrives at its breeding grounds near Lake Baikal by the middle of April, which is early for that cold region, and remains until December. The Goosander, wherever it can obtain one, prefers a hole in a tree, but in sparsely-wooded districts a cleft or hole in a rock or cliff not far from the water is used instead. It has been known to breed in an old nest of a Crow, or in the top of a pollard. According to Selby, Dresser, Dybowsky, and others, the^nest is sometimes made on the ground amongst grass, but this must be highly excep- tional if the observers named were not actually in error in identifying the species. In Finland the Goosander readily avails itself of boxes or hollow logs placed in the trees by the peasants, and submits very patiently to the daily removal of its eggs to the number sometimes of a score. The nest of this bird is slight, little more than the dust and refuse at the bottom of the hole selected, but warmly lined with plenty of down before the eggs are incubated. The eggs are from eight to twelve in number, creamy-white in colour, smooth in texture, and with a satin-like gloss. They measure on an average 2'7 inches in length by 1'8 inch in breadth. The down tufts are large and uniform greyish-white. Incubation lasts twenty-eight days. The young are carried to the nearest water one by one in the bill of the parent, and until they are considerably advanced towards maturity do not stray far from the shallow water. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters — (Nuptial plumage), Merganser, with the head (crested) and upper neck black, shot with green and purple, and with the lower neck and the whole of the underparts pure white, with a rosy tinge on the breast and belly (adult male) ; with the head (crested) and upper neck chestnut, and with the wing varying from 9'5 to 10'25 inches in length (adult female). Length, 25 to 28 inches (male) ; 22 to 25 inches (female). 444 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATIDJE. Genus MERGANSER. Subfamily MERGING. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. MEEGANSEE SEEEATOK— (Linnaus) . Mergus serrator, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 208 (1766) ; Dresser. B. Bur. vi. p. 693, pi. 453 (1874) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 629 (1885); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed 4, iv. p. 494 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 247 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 56 pi. 16 (1896). Merganser serrator (Linn.), Macgill, Brit. B. v. p. 216 (1852) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 479 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 61 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British : The Eed-breasted Merganser is a common resident in the north, but only a winter visitor in the south of our Islands. It is generally distributed along the English coasts and, in smaller numbers, on the inland waters, during winter, and breeds throughout Scotland in all suitable districts, both inland and on the coasts, north to the Orkneys and Shetlands, and west to the Outer Hebrides and St. Kilda. It is generally dis- tributed in Ireland, both inland and on the coast, and breeds most abundantly on the wild, broken coast of the west. Foreign : Northern Palsearctic and Nearctic regions, more southerly in winter. It breeds in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, and throughout Scandinavia ; thence across the basin of the Baltic and Eussia, as far north as the Arctic Circle, and south to the Volga and Ural districts in lat. 50°. Eastwards it ranges across Siberia south of the Arctic Circle to the Pacific, but is not known to breed in Turkestan or the Himalayas. Its summer range in America extends a little lower, and during that season it ranges from about lat. 45° north to the Arctic Circle, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. During winter it is found on the inland waters and coasts of Central and Southern Europe as far south as the Mediterranean, but only accidentally on the African coast. It is also common at this season in the Black and Caspian Seas, in Turkestan, China, and Japan ; whilst on the American Continent it ranges throughout the United States, and occasionally visits the Bermudas. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. Habits. — Our resident Eed-breasted Mergansers are considerably increased in numbers in autumn by migratory individuals from higher latitudes, which return again in spring. A considerable southern movement also takes place OF THE BEIT1SH ISLANDS. 445 among the birds breeding in Scotland and the north-west of Ireland, many of the former straying to English waters. Although common enough in many com- paratively inland districts, I should say that the favourite haunts of this species are on the coast, and that it is far more partial to marine localities than the preceding species. It loves a wild, rocky coast full of secluded bays and lochs and fiords, and studded with islands, and may frequently be observed where streams and rivers flow into the sea or loch. During winter it is gregarious, and flocks of varying size may then be met with at sea, or during rough weather, congregated in the sheltered bays and fiords. A long-continued spell of rough weather on the coast often drives this bird to inland waters and exceptional haunts. By the end of March most of these flocks are dispersed and the birds are in pairs at their usual breeding places. It is a shy and wary species, but owing to the rough nature of the banks of its favourite waters it may be easily stalked and watched. I know of few prettier sights than a pair of these Mergansers swimming all unsuspecting of danger in some quiet sea-loch. They swim side by side in the deep water close in shore, and from time to time dive and reappear some distance farther on. Then, perchance, they paddle in the shallows, or stand upon a rock an inch or two below the surface and preen their plumage, standing very upright, like a Cormorant or a Diver. In the pairing season I have often witnessed the aquatic gambols of these birds, the drake chasing the duck through the water or diving after her and churning the calm sea into bubbles and foam for a considerable area. The Merganser feeds prin- cipally by day, and will fly with great regularity to certain spots, timing its arrival to a nicety just when the rocks are beginning to be exposed by the ebbing tide, and remaining as long as the deep pools, in which many fish are stranded, remain isolated. It flies almost invariably in spring and early summer in pairs, sometimes one bird several yards behind the other, but always in company. The flight of this species is rapid and straightforward, the wings, which are beaten very quickly, making a whistling sound. It rises from the water in a rather laboured manner, often flapping along the surface for several yards before getting well on the wing ; but during a high wind I have noticed it start up from the sea almost at once. It swims well, but sits low in the water, and dives head first like a Cormorant, descending to considerable depths, and often remaining under the surface for a minute or more. The note of this bird is aptly described by Naumann as a guttural kurr, uttered most frequently during flight. The food of the Red-breasted Merganser consists largely of fish, but crustaceans and small crabs are also eaten ; and I have known this bird feed on limpets and whelks which the Oystercatchers had only partly devoured. This food is mostly obtained by diving, and it will be remarked that each capture is almost invariably brought to the surface to be eaten, the bird drinking and often rising three parts out of the water and flapping its wings after doing so. The flesh of this bird is fishy in taste and unpalatable. Be this as it may, I knew an 446 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL old Highlander who used to swear by a fat Merganser, which he partly boiled first and then baked or roasted ! This bird always tries to elude pursuit by diving — at least, such is ray experience — both when in pairs and in flocks, only taking wing when the chase has evidently become too hot. Nidification. — In the British Islands the breeding season of the Red- breasted Merganser begins in May, and the eggs are laid during the latter half of that month and the first half of June ; but in more northern latitudes they are about a month later. This bird can scarcely be called gregarious during the breeding season, although many pairs may nest within a comparatively small area, especially in places where suitable sites are scarce. I should say they are distributed in more or less scattered pairs, each keeping much to itself. An island is preferred for a nesting-place, but where such is not available a quiet part of the mainland is chosen. All the nests that I have seen, and I have seen a good round number, were situated on rocky islets, except one, and that was on a portion of the' shore which became an island at high water. The nest is usually made under a rock or bank ; but rabbit burrows and crevices in walls are sometimes selected, and it is even placed among heather, bracken, and furze, at no great distance from the water in our Islands, but often some distance from the sea in wooded localities in other countries. The nest is scanty and in many cases is dispensed with altogether, the eggs lying on the ground until sufficient down accumulates to protect them. When a nest is made, it is merely a hollow into which a little dry grass and dried leaves are placed, finished off with a warm lining of down from the body of the female. The eggs are from eight to twelve in number and olive-grey of various shades in colour, smooth in texture, and with some little gloss. They measure on an average 2'6 inches in length by 1'7 inch in breadth. The down tufts are large, pale brownish-grey in colour, with obscure pale centres and tips. Incubation, performed entirely by the female, lasts twenty-eight days. Sometimes she sits very closely, but generally slips off at the first sign of danger and goes right away at once. The male is never seen at the nest, but he is generally stationed on the sea close by, and joins his mate when she leaves her eggs to come and feed ; whilst as soon as the young brood are abroad he retires to moult. The young soon take to the sea with their mother, and are remarkably active both in swimming and diving. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters.— (Nuptial plumage), Merganser, with the head (crested) and upper neck black, shot with green and purple, with the lower neck and upper breast buff streaked with black, with black margins to the white feathers on the sides of the breast, and with the flanks strongly vermiculated with greyish-black (adult male) ; with the head (crested) and upper neck pale chestnut, and with the wing varying from 8'25 to 9 inches in length (adult female). Length, 24 to 26 inches (male) ; 22 to 23 inches (female). OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 447 Genus LOPHODYTES, or Hooded Mergansers. Type, LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS. Lophodytes, of Keichenbach (1852.)* — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having the culmen longer than the metatarsus, and the tooth-like serrations on both mandibles are short and blunt, and not distinctly inclined backwards at the tips. The nostrils are lateral and central. The wings are moderately long. Three toes in front connected with webs ; hind toe moderate and lobed. This genus contains a single species only, confined to the New World. It is an inhabitant of North America generally, from Alaska to Mexico and Cuba. It is an abnormal migrant to the British Islands. The habits of the single species in the genus are fully described in the following chapter. * ? 1850. 448 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Family ANATIDJE. Genus LOPHODYTES. Subfamily MERGING. HOODED MERGANSER. LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS— (Linnteus) . Mergus cucullatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 207 (1766) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 663 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 509 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig, Brit. B. p. 185 (1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. 1895 ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 57, pi. 16 (1896). Merganser cucullatus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 225 (1852). Lophodytes cucullatus (Linn.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 468 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 56 (1896). Geographical distribution.— British: The Hooded Merganser is a rare and irregular straggler to the British Islands in winter. Several of the alleged occurrences of this species are unworthy of credence, but the reliable evidence on which its claim to be regarded as " British" is founded may be briefly summarised as follows — England: Norfolk (two examples), winter of 1829, and winter of 1837-38. Wales: Menai Straits (one example), winter of 1830-31. Ireland: Co. Kerry, Dingle Bay (one example), about the year 1840 ; Co. Meath (one example), no data; Co. Cork, Cork Harbour (two examples), December, 1878; Co. Kerry (one example), January, 1881; Co. Sligo (one doubtful example, not preserved), winter 1880-81. Foreign: Northern Nearctic region, more southerly in winter. It breeds in Arctic and North Temperate America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as far north as the Arctic Circle, and as far south as about lat. 45°. During winter it visits most parts of the United States, extending its winter area to Mexico and the West Indies. It occasionally visits the Bermudas, but is not known to occur in Greenland, Iceland, or any part of Continental Europe. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. Habits. — The Hooded Merganser does not differ in its habits and economy from its congeners in any known important particular. It is perhaps more of an inland species than the preceding bird, attached to fresh water during summer like the Goosander, but resorting to the coasts in winter, where it prefers a OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 449 deeply indented rocky shore to the more open sea. It is gregarious during the latter season, although the flocks are never very large, and not only frequents the sea, but visits inland waters, especially flooded tracts of country. Like its allies it is an accomplished diver, obtaining most of its food under the surface. It also flies with great speed, but is clumsy enough on land, shuffling along in an awkward manner with its breast touching the ground or nearly so. The food of this Merganser is composed almost exclusively of fish, but crustaceans and various kinds of aquatic insects are also sought. It is said to be a shy, wary bird, preferring to elude pursuit by diving rather than flying, and so expert at this as to disappear very often at the flash of the gun, and rising again uninjured far out of range. The note of this species does not differ from that of allied birds. During winter the Hooded Merganser sometimes associates with other Ducks, and in our Islands has been observed to do so with its ally, the Ked-breasted Merganser. Nidification. — The breeding grounds of the Hooded Merganser are lake and river districts where plenty of trees occur ; in this respect it exactly resembles its two allies, the Smew and the Goosander. The nest is made in a hole of a tree or in a hollow fallen log. The eggs are at first laid on the powdered wood, but gradually a thick warm bed of down accumulates, plucked from the body of the female. The eggs are from five to eight in number, pure white in colour, smooth in texture, and remarkably rotund ; the latter shape, it may be remarked, is very prevalent among birds nesting in holes where space is limited. They measure on an average 2'1 inches in length by 1'7 inch in breadth. The down tufts are moderate in size, and very pale grey in colour. The female performs the task of incubation, which is said to last thirty-one days. She then conveys her chicks to the water in her bill one by one, where they are remarkably active, swimming and diving with ease. It is not known that more than one brood is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters — (Nuptial plumage), Lophodytes, with the head and upper neck black, ornamented with a very conspicuous crest, white margined with black, and with two black crescentic marks on each side of the breast (adult male) ; with the head (crested) and upper neck uniform brown, and the under- parts below the neck uniform white (adult female). Length, 17 to 19 inches. 29 450 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Genus MERQUS, or Smews. Type, MEEGUS ALBELLUS. MergUS, of Linnaeus (1766). — The birds comprising the present genus are characterised by having a straight, slender, narrow bill shorter than the meta- tarsus, furnished on both upper and lower mandible with saw-like lamellae. The wings are moderately long. The nostrils are lateral and central. The metatarsus is short ; three toes in front, webbed ; hind toe moderate and lobed. This genus contains but a single specie which is distributed over the northern portions of the Palaearctic region, and is a winter visitor to our area. The Smews frequent both inland waters as well as maritime districts. They are birds of rapid, if laboured flight, and swim and dive with wonderful skill, but on the land they walk clumsily. Their notes are loud and unmusical. They subsist on fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and shell-fish. They make rude nests, which are lined with down, in holes of trees. Their eggs are numerous, and cream-white in colour. They are monogamous and probably pair for life. They are more or less gregarious, except in the breeding season, although social tendencies are even then observable. OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 451:. Family ANATID^). Genus MEBGUS. Subfamily MERGING. SMEW. MEEGUS ALBELLUS— Linnasus.' Mergus albellus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 209 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 233 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 699, pis. 454, 455 (1874) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 636 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 449 (1885); Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. xiv. (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 186 (1894) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 464 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 58, pi. 15 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 52 (1896). Geographical distribution — British : The Smew is a rare and irregular winter visitor to the British Islands, where, as one might naturally expect from the peculiarities of its normal geographical area, it is most frequently observed on our eastern seaboard. Adult males are nothing near so frequently observed as young males and females, and these are pretty generally dispersed along the south and east coasts of England and the east coast of Scotland. On the west of England and Scotland, including the Hebrides, it is much rarer. In Ireland it is also of rare and irregular appearance, principally in the north and central districts. Foreign : Northern Palsearctic region, more southerly in winter; extreme north of Oriental region in winter. The Smew breeds in Eussia as far west as Finnish Lapland, as far north as the Arctic Circle, and as far south as the Gulf of Finland in the west, and the valleys of the Kama and Lower Volga in the east. Thence it may be traced across Northern Siberia south of the Arctic Circle (some authorities say the limit of forest growth) to the shores of the Pacific. During migration or in winter it is an accidental wanderer to the Scandinavian coasts (both the Atlantic and the Baltic), but it is not known to visit the Faroes and Iceland. It is also found at this season along the coasts and on the inland waters of Central, Western, and Southern Europe, as far south as Morocco and the Mediterranean. It also visits the Black and Caspian Seas at this season. On migration it crosses Turkestan, Southern Siberia, and Mongolia, and winters in Northern India, China, and Japan. Allied forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 452 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL Habits. — The Smew is certainly the least maritime of the Mergansers, although it is most frequently met with on the coasts, and not inland, during its winter visits to the British Islands. Here, as elsewhere in the southern limits of its winter area, young birds are apparently most frequent, possibly because the old birds keep more out to sea. The Smew remains in its usual haunts as long as the water remains free from ice, and even in the exceptionally severe climate of Asia it is a bird of late passage. Hume states that even in Upper India it does not arrive until November, and that it leaves equally early in spring, most having left the country by the end of March. Not only so, but its appearances are rare and irregular, and mostly confined to immature individuals. Like all its allies it is a very gregarious bird during winter, and lives in flocks of varying size up to thirty or forty individuals. Its favourite haunts in India are large rivers and lakes, but it occasionally frequents smaller sheets of water. Where its haunts are extensive it usually remains the entire winter sedentary, but in the more restricted waters it is more restless, and generally deserts them altogether if much sought by the gunner. It is a wary bird, keeping well out from shore in the open water, and even when diving a few individuals remain on the surface to watch for danger. This it usually seeks to evade by swimming quickly away, its body low in the water, and when fired at dives at once, and reappears well out of range. The flock after having dived en masse, come up in scattered order, but each bird swims to a converging point, and all are soon bunched together again. If hard pressed the birds rise and circle in the air, again dropping perhaps several miles away. The Smew is said to be ever a restless, active bird, swimming to and fro and diving at intervals. It rarely visits land, and even sleeps upon the water. Its flight is quick but almost silent, and the bird rises out of the water with little effort or splash. The Smew is a most accomplished diver, and according to Hume its movements under water are even more rapid than those of the Cormorants or Grebes. The wings are used in diving, and the birds frequently go to a great depth, and remain under water for a minute at a time. The food of this Duck is composed principally of small fish, but frogs, aquatic insects, and crustaceans are also eaten. The bird is not known to eat anything of a vegetable nature. The note of the Smew is described as a harsh kurr, but it is a remarkably silent bird in its winter quarters. Jerdon states that it utters an oft-repeated bell-like call, probably at its breeding grounds, because this peculiar note has won for it the name of Bell Duck in Northern Asia. The flesh of this species is rank and unpalatable. Nidification.— The breeding grounds of the Smew are situated in the swampy forest districts of the Arctic regions where lakes and streams abound, where big swamps, studded with pools connected by streams, and surrounded by trees form a pleasant relief to the monotony of the northern forests. It is a rather late breeder, not laying until July or the very end of June. The nest is OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 453 placed either in a hollow fallen log, or in a hole in the trunk of a tree or broken stump. The first eggs are laid on the powdered wood at the bottom of the hole, but as the clutch is completed a plentiful lining of down is added, plucked from the body of the female. The eggs are seven or eight in number, creamy-white in colour, smooth in texture, and with some gloss. They measure on an average 2'0 inches in length by 1'47 inch in breadth. The down tufts are moderate in size and very pale greyish-white. The female usually conveys her chicks to the nearest water in her bill. One brood only is reared in the year, and it would appear that the duck and her young, or at least the young, keep company during the winter. Diagnostic characters.— (Nuptial plumage), Mergus, with the head (crested) and neck white, except a large spot between the eye and the bill, and another on each side of the nape, where they meet, which are black shot with green (adult male) ; with the feathers of the forehead, crown, and nape (the latter elongated into a crest) chestnut, and with a large black patch between the eye and the bill (adult female). Length, 17 to 18 inches (male) ; 15 to 17 inches (female). '454 APPENDIX. OWING to the length of time which the present edition has necessarily taken in passing through the press, I find it necessary, in order to bring the information as nearly up to date as possible, to add the following records of abnormal migrants to the species named below : — Page 74 — Baillon's Crake (Grex bailloni) : Add one, Renfrewshire, May, 1893 ; one near Thurso, September, 1898. ,, 92 —Crane (Grus cincrea) : Has been obtained in Ireland as recently as 1896. „ 95 — Demoiselle Crane (Grus virgo) : Add one, Norfolk Coast, July, 1899 (? an escaped bird). ,, 103 — Little Bustard (Otis tctrax) : Ireland can now claim six examples. „ 117 — Common Pratincole (Glarcola pratincola) : Add a second Scotch example, Eocksands, Montrose, November, 1899. „ 154 — American Golden Plover (Charadrius dominions) : Add one, Co. Mayo, September, 1894. „ 165 — Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) : Add one (5), Co. Meath, August, 1899. „ 210 — Bartram's Sandpiper (Bartramia longicanda) : Add one Irish specimen, Co. Cork, September, 1894. ,, 277 — Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tritu/itcs rufescens) : Add one (6"), Norfolk, September, 1899. ,, 315— Greater Snow Goose (Chen nivalis): Now a British species, of which an account is given on the two following pages (pp. 455, 456). ,, 398 — Tufted Duck (Fuligula cristata) : Add to British breeding area, South-west Derbyshire. APPENDIX. 455 Family ANATID^. Genus CHEN. Subfamily ANSERINE. GREATER SNOW GOOSE. CHEN NIVALIS— ( Anas nivalis, Forster, Phil. Trans. Ixii. p. 413 (1772). Chen hyperboreus (Pall.), Coues, Birds N.-West, p. 548 (1874 par tint) ; Newton, Diet. Birds, p. 374 (1893 pariim). Chen hyperboreus nivalis (Forst.), Baird, Brewer, and Eidg., Water-B. N. Amer. ii. p. 440 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 148 (1894). Anser hyperboreus nivalis (Forst.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 490 (1885). Chen nivalis (Forst.), Salvador!, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 86 (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 227 (1896); Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Nov. (1899). Geographical distribution.— British: Providing the identification be correct, and of this there seems to be little or no doubt, so far as I am able at present to judge, the Greater Snow Goose (as recorded in Knowledge for February, 1900), must now be included as a rare abnormal migrant to the British Islands. Its claim to rank as "British" rests upon a single occur- rence, though possibly some of the "Snow Geese" seen but not obtained both in England and Ireland may have belonged to the larger of the two races into which most scientific ornithologists agree in dividing them. It is a somewhat remarkable coincidence, and one which has frequently been noticed in the repeated appearance of abnormal migrants in certain areas, that Co. Mayo can claim the first record of the Greater Snow Goose. This example appears to have been shot near Belmullet in November, 1899. It was exhibited on behalf of Mr. K. J. Ussher (a gentleman long known in connection with Irish orni- thology) by Dr. Sharpe, at a meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club, held on the 22nd of November of that year. Foreign : Northern portions of the Arctogffian realm ; more southerly in winter. The large race of the Snow Goose is only known to breed in the Hudson Bay territory, but its appearance in North-eastern Asia, especially in Japan and China, and its visits to Greenland, seems to suggest that its summer range is vastly more extended. If we cannot at present exactly define the breeding area of this Goose, its wide extent is certainly indicated by the flocks of this species that visit during winter various localities in the Old World from Russia to Japan, and in the New World the 456 APPENDIX. United States as far south as Texas. This Goose must also be included in the list of abnormal migrants to the Bermudas. Macfarlane states (Proc. U. S. Nat, Mus. xiv. p. 423) that breeding grounds of this species are situated on the shores and islands of Esquimaux Lake and Liverpool Bay. Allied forms. — Chen hyperboreus, an abnormal migrant to the British Islands, and dealt with on pages 314 and 315. The small form of the Snow Goose, and possibly only subspecifically distinct. C. rossi, an inhabitant of Arctic America during summer, migrating south as far as California and Montana in winter. It differs from the two preceding species in being much smaller in size, and in having, as pointed out by Count Salvadori, the bill comparatively weak, and the feathering at the base of the upper mandible, along each side, forming a nearly straight oblique line instead of a very convex line, as in the other three species of Snow Geese. It forms the type of Elliot's genus Exanthemops. C. ccerulescens, an inhabitant of the interior of Arctic America east of the Kocky Mountains, drawing south in winter. It is distinguished by its greyish-brown plumage, becoming bluish-grey on the wing coverts and rump. Habits. — It is not known that the habits of the Greater Snow Goose differ in any important respect from those of the smaller race. MacfarJane states the belief that the Greater Snow Goose was some days later in arriving at its arctic haunts in spring. These appear to be reached in May and left again in September and October. It is chiefly found during winter on the Atlantic coast, not entering the Mississippi Valley in such numbers as its smaller ally. This Goose during winter frequents inland localities as well as maritime ones. Its food is largely of a vegetable character, grass, roots, ground fruits and berries, varied with insects and mollusks. It is gregarious during winter, and consorts with the smaller race as well as with other allied species. The note, so far as I can ascertain, has never been described. Nidification. — The information relating to the nidification of this Goose is of a most meagre description, but doubtless the nesting habits differ little from those of the smaller race. The eggs are similar in colour, and I know of no character by which they may be distinguished from those of the preceding form. One brood only is reared in the year. Diagnostic characters — Chen, with the primaries black and the remainder of the plumage white, with the wing 17£ inches or more in length. Length, 30 to 38 inches. 457 ERRATA. Page 6— Line 4, for Plate II., fig. 1, read Plate II. 9— Line 4, for Plate II., fig. 2, read Plate HA. ,, 50 — Line 2, for monogamous, read polygamous. 54— Line 4, for Plate XI., fig. 1, read Plate XI. ,, 58-Line 4, for Plate XL, fig. 2, read Plate X!A. 98— Line 29, for five families, read four. ,, 181 — Line 39, for wkich, read which. ,, 218 — Line 1, for Totanus solitarius, read Helodromas solitarius. „ 247— Plate XXVIII.— Mr. Whymper has unfortunately omitted the squamate or arrow-shaped markings from the flanks that are such a characteristic feature of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper (Heteropygia acuminata). ,, 261 — Line 10, for Tringa accuminata pectoralis, read Tringa acuminata pectoralis. ,, 315 — Line 4, for superficially, read subspecifically. ,, 341 — Line 13, for Tadorna Tadorna, read Tadorna tadorna. Pages 354, 358, Plate XXXV.— It has been thought advisable to omit this Plate, and to replace it by Plates HA and XLv. The decision was made too late to delete the Plate number under the Pintail Duck and the Wigeon, or to make the necessary alterations in the numbering of the succeeding plates. Page 430— Add below line 4, " Plate XXXIX." 458 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. NOTE. — The names in black type are used for tlie British species in tlie present work. Actitis hypoleucus ... Actitis macularia ... Actiturus .iEgialeus semipalmatus ... ^gialitis .iEgialitis alexandrina .53gialitis asiatica ... ASgialitis cantianus .ZEgialitis curonicus .SSgialitis dealbatus .33gialitis dubia ^Egialitis hiaticola jEgialitis hiaticula ./Egialitis hiaticula major ... jEgialitis major ^Egi ali tis minor .ZEgialitis minor jerdoni ^Igialitis minutus ... .3