A

HISTORY

OF THE

BIRDS OF EUROPE,

NOT OBSERYEI) IN THE BRITISH ISEES.

BY CHARLES ROBERT BREE, ESQ., M.D.

VOL. HI.

L 0 N D 0 N :

VKOOVBEIDGE AND SONS, PATEKNOSTEK ROW.

SI DCCC LXII.

A

I 9&Z.

V.3

RB

S'X.

CONTENTS

OF

THE THIRD VOLUME.

PAGE.

Sombre Tit ........

1

Siberian Tit .

6

Azure Tit ........

10

Penduline Tit .......

13

Black-headed Bunting ......

24

Marsh Bunting .......

29

Pine Bunting .......

. 35

Cretzschmaer’s Bunting .....

40

Striolated Bunting ' .

. 44

Meadow Bunting ......

47

Rustic Bunting .......

. 53

Yellow- breasted Bunting .....

60

Yellow-browed Bunting . . ' .

. 63

Little Bunting .......

65

Scarlet Bullfinch .......

69

Rosy Bullfinch .......

Desert Trumpeter Bullfinch .....

. 81

Crimson-winged Grosbeak ....

95

Serin Finch .......

98

Citril Finch .......

106

Snow Finch .......

. 110

Alpine Serin Finch ......

115

CONTEXTS.

Holboll’s Eedpole ....

I'AGF..

. 117

l\ock Simrrow .....

120

Italian House Sparrow

. 128

Spanish Sparrow ....

131

Grey "Woodpecker ....

. 136

White-rumped Woodpecker

142

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

. 146

Dalmatian Nuthatch ....

151

Wall Creeper .....

. 158

Elue- cheeked Bee- eater

162

Black-and-White Kingfisher .

. 166

Oriental Chimney Swallow

170

Bufous Swallow .....

. 174

Crag Swallow .....

184

Basset-necked Nightjar

. 188

Egyptian Turtle Dove

195

Hazel Grouse .....

. 203

Willow Grouse ....

212

Pin-tailed Sand Grouse

. 221

Sand Grouse .....

226

Caucasian Snow Partridge

. 232

Francolin .....

236

Greek Partridge .....

. 242

BIEDS OF EUROPE,

NOT OBSERVED IN THE BRITISH ISLES.

GRANIV'OR.E.

Family PARID^. ( Bonaimrte.)
Genus Parus. ( Linnams.)

Generic Characters. — Beak short, straight, strong, conical,
and compressed; edges sharp and pointed, the base furnished
■with a few stiff hairs; nostrils basal, round, and covered with
reflected bristly feathers. Feet short, with three toes in front
and one behind, entirely divided to their origin; hind toe
the strongest, and armed with a long hooked claw. Wings,
the first primary very short, the second much shorter than
the third, the fourth, fifth, and sixth about equal in length,
and the longest in the wing.

SOMI3RE TIT.

J*ar>(s luyuhris.

Parus luguhris.

Ratteres. Temminck.
Bonaparte, 1838.

ScniNz. Schlegel.
Kaup. Bonaparte, 1850.

Pcecilia lugul)ris,
Jlesange luguhre,
Trauermeise,

Of the French.
Of the Germans

\'(yL. in.

o

SOMBRE TIT.

Specific Characters. — Top of the head, nape, and throat
brownish black, separated by a broad white band extending from
the gape to the nape, and increasing in width from before
backwards. Length five inches and three-tenths; carpus to tip
of wing three inches; tail two inches and a half; beak from
gape three-fifths of an incli; tarsus nine-tenths of an inch.

The Tits are a very wcll-inarkccl family. In dispo-
sition of colours, in form, and habit, they very much
resemble each other, in whatever part of the world
they are found; and yet almost every species is, by
some author or other, placed in a separate genus. Thus
in the present family we have the original genus of
Linnteus, Parus ; then we have Leach separating those
with long tails into the genus M.ecistura, and those
with a beard into that of Calamophilm. Xot satisfied
Avith this innoA’ation, Boie calls the last genus Mystacinus ,
and Vigors places the Little Penduline Titmouse, which
1 shall figure and describe by and bye, in the genus
.^yithalus ; AAdiile Brehm places the same bird in a
genus created for its especial use, that of Pendulinus.
Then we find that great innovator, Kaup, placing the
Crested Tit in the genus Lopliojihanes , and the Marsh,
Sombre, and Siberian Tits in the genus Pmcilia,
while for the Azure Tit he creates the genus Cyanistes,
in all of AApich he is followed by Bonaparte.

This uncertainty arises no doubt from the different
conceptions by naturalists of what really constitutes a
genus. As I believe, with Agassiz, that genera are
natural groups of a peculiar kind, separated from each
other by ultimate details of structure, I shall consider
the family of Tits as coming within this definition, and
therefore as belonging to one genus only. It is re-
markable how modern naturalists have lost sight of the
thoughts, by Avhich (it is clear, as pointed out by

SOMBRE TIT.

3

Agassiz,) our old classifiers were influenced in the
formation of orders and genera; the consequence of
this is that every few years we have a new nomen-
clature, founded on the assumption that the previous
one was based upon erroneous data.

Upon this all-important subject the reader will find
some excellent and judicious remarks in a paper by
Mr. Stimpson, quoted from Silliman’s “Journal,” in the
“Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal” for October,
1860. I will only here make one extract: — “The res-
toration by G. P. Gray, of Boddaert’s names in ornithology
is another instance. By the discovery of a meagre
pamphlet of the eighteenth century, only two or three
cojiies of which now exist, we find ourselves forced
to change the generic names of common birds, familiar
as they are by long and constant usage.”

I shall have another opportunity, more appropriate
than this, of enlarging upon this subject, in which I
shall be able to shew that the Prince of Canino has
changed the generic name of some birds twice or even
three times, without in any case adding either precision
or utility to the science. I sincerely hope that British
ornithologists at least, will do all in their power to put
an end to a system which merely encumbers our
literature with useless verbiage.

The Sombre Tit is an inhabitant of Dalmatia,
Hungary, Greece, and Pussia. According to De Selys,
it also occurs in Switzerland. Temrninck says that it
is never found in Austria, or in fact in any part of
Germany.

In the distribution of colours about the head and
neck this bird is very similar to Parus Sihiricus,
with which it has been indeed considered identical by
Keyserling and Blasius, without, however, I think.

4

SOMRRE TIT.

either due consideration, or comparison of specimens.
P. lugubris is altogether a larger bird, tlie beak and
tarsi are stronger and larger; and while the abdomen
is Avhite and the back grey brown in lugubris, the
former is russet, and the latter mottled with russet
and black in Sibiricus. A reference to the two figures
will render this quite clear.

Temminck says it is easy to confound the Sombre
Tit with the Nonette or Marsh Tit; but it is quite
certain that he referred to the Parus atricapillus of
Gmelin, which is a North American bird, altogether
differing from our well-known Marsh Tit, with which
the present species can in no way be confounded.

Count Miihle, who has recorded the occurrence and
detailed the habits of this bird in Greece, says that
its habits are different from the other members of the
family. It arrives in the IMorea, where it appears to
be a summer visitor, at the end of April or beginning
of May, and locates itself in the little mountain valleys,
where it lives solitarily, frequenting the wild-fruit trees,
and never being found upon the more lofty ones.
Each bird takes up its own territory, and is observed
on the same resting-place frequently during the day.
'i-'hey are very unsociable and shy on the appearance of
man, and seem to know if they are followed, and
consequently are difficult to shoot. Count Miihle did
not observe them after September, and was altogether
unacquainted with their nidification, the only egg he
procured being an imperfect and uncoloured one which
was found in a female shot in the spring.

The adult male in breeding plumage has the top
of the head and throat dark blackish brown, the
rest of the upper plumage bright hair brown; cheeks,
chest, abdomen, and under tail coverts white, with the

1. S 0 M B a E T J T.

2. SIBERIAN TIT.

>1

SOMBllE TIT.

5

flanks mottled with bluish black; the white patch on
the cheeks extends to the upper scapularies. Beak,
feet, and iris, brown.

My figure is taken from an adult male kindly sent
me by Mr. Tristram. The figure of the egg is taken
from Thienemann.

The bird is also figured by Michahelles, in Sturm,
Deutschlands Fauna, heft. 2, tab. 1 ; Gould, Birds of
Europe, pi. 151, fig. 1.

GKANlVOllvE.

Family FAlilDJE. ( Bonaparte.)
Genus Paiius. ( lAnnceua.)

SIIffiRIAN Tl^r

Paras Siblricas.

Pants Sibiricus,
Peecilia Sihirica,

Gmelin and Authors.
Kaup. Bonaparte.

Oe the French.

Of the Germans.

IMesange de Siberie,
Sibirische Meise,

Specific Characters. — Tliroat black; top of bead brown; cbest
and abdomen russet. Length four inches and nine-tenths; carpus
to tip two inches and a half; tail two inches and a half; beak
two-fifths of an inch; tarsus three-fifths of an inch.

The Siberian Tit, as its name implies, is a northern
species, being found only in the boreal regions of
Europe and Asia, visiting, during winter, some of the
provinces of Russia. It also inhabits Lapland, where
it was discovered nesting by the late much lamented
John Wolley. According to this gentleman it is the
only species which breeds in the Muonioniska district
of Finnish Lapland. In his catalogue for 1858, four
eggs are inserted as having been obtained at Mokhajerri,
from a nest made with the hairs of mice. Mr. Wolley
remarks that P. borealis is seldom seen in Lapland,

SIBERIAN TIT. i

and that he doubts if it ever breeds in the far north.
In the catalogue for 1860 five eggs are inserted, taken
also in Finnish Lapland. It is also included in the
Scandinavian Fauna by jN’illson. M. Linden, the con-
servator of the Museum of Geneva, states that this bird
is also found in the Swiss Alps; but M. De Selys-
Longchanips is of opinion that he mistook P. lucjuhris
for it.

I am indebted to Mr. Newton for the following in-
teresting details of this bird: — ^‘My own opportunities
of observing Parus Sibiricus were not sufficient to
enable me to say in what particulars (if in any) its
habits differ from those of the other species of the
genus with which I am acquainted, beyond the fact
that its call-notes are easily recognisable as distinct
from anything else. Indeed from the information I
have at various times received from the late Mr. John
Wolley, I should suppose that in manners it closely
resembles the rest of the Titmice. It is resident
throughout the year in the district around Muonioniska,
and as he has often assured me, was the only species
which he found to breed there, although in autumn
the Marsh Titmouse makes its appearance, and on one
occasion, a solitary Great Titmouse was obtained by
him. I am unable to give even an outline of the
range of Parus Sibiricus in Lapland; but I do not
remember seeing it until, in descending the river
Muonio, we had entered the region of the Scotch fir,
f Pinus sylcestris.) I never found a nest myself, or
saw one m situ. It breeds in holes of trees, whether
naturally formed by decay, or excavated by Woodpeckers.
The nest is a mass of hair, principally from the lem-
ming, or some of the voles, but occasionally from the
alpine hare, mixed with a little green moss, black

8

siiJEKiAX rir.

fibrous lichen, and willow down. (Seven appears to be
the usual complement of eggs, but eight, and even
nine are sometimes laid. This Titmouse seems to pay
as little regard to the rights of priority as some orni-
thologists do, for several instances occurred to Mr.
Wolley’s knowledge, of its dispossessing the Common
Redstart from a convenient hole in which the latter
bird had begun its nest. The ordinary cry of Parus
Sihiricus is perhaps best expressed by the words
‘Pistee-tee,’ pronounced in a hissing tone, and from
this cry the bird gets its Finnish name. By those of
the people who are inclined to superstition it is re-
garded as a bird of bad omen, and the squirrel-shooter
or bear -hunter looks forward to a luckless expedition
if in starting in the morning, he is greeted by the
notes of the busy little Pistee-tianen.

Specimens of the Marsh Titmouse from the north
of Europe undoubtedly differ somewhat (as is the case
with so many other species) from those obtained in the
British Islands, by having the colours more strongly
contrasted. The northern race has been described by
M. De Selys-Longchamps, as distinct, under the name
of Pams horealis, (Bulletins de 1’ Acad. Roy. de
Bruxelles, tome x. No. 7). I have, thanks to that
gentleman, lately had the advantage of comparing his
type specimens with examples from Mr. Wolley’s col-
lection, and can safely say that they are in all respects
identical. At the same time I must express my belief
that the differences between them and our common P.
palustris are not such as I can consider specific; and
if I am not mistaken, M. -De’ Selys himself is now
of the same opinion. I feel assured that that talented
naturalist was wrongly informed as to the locality
whence his types were obtained. It was doubtless from

SIBERIAN TIT.

9

some part of tlie Scandinavian continent, and not from
Iceland, where no Titmouse is found, that they were
brought by the French Northern Scientific Exhibition.”

The adult male in breeding plumage has the top
of the head and nape dusky brown ; the back and
upper wing coverts russet brown, mottled with black.
AFings and tail dark hair brown. The throat is black,
and between it and the top of the head is a broad
patch of pure white, extending from the gape to the
scapularies, and increasing in width from before back-
wards. All the rest of the under parts are russet,
lighter on the crop, and verging into grey where it
joins the black of the throat. Wings and tail under-
neath slate brown; beak black; feet lead grey; iris
dark brown.

The female is rather smaller than the male, having
the top of the head and throat of a greyish brown
tinged with russet. The young before the first moult
are much less russet-coloured above, and of a brown
tint, the black feathers of the throat being bordered
with grey.

I am indebted for the male specimen figured to the
kindness of Mr. Tristram. The egg is from a specimen
kindly sent me by Mr. Alfred Newton, and its
authenticity, I need not say, may be entirely relied
upon.

The Siberian Tit has also been figured by Temminck
and Laugier, in the Atlas to the Manual, with the remark
of the author, that the russet colour of the flanks is
deficient, and that of the abdomen and inferior coverts
too deep. The tail ought to have been a trifle longer,
and more tapering. Buffon, pi. enlum 708, fig. 3; Gould,
Birds of Europe, pi. 151, fig. 2.

VOL. in.

c

10

GRANIVOBJE.

Family P ARID^. ( Bonajyao'te.J
Genus Parus. f Linnceus.)

AZURE TIT.

Parus cyanus.

Pants cyaniis,

(( (t

“ cyaneus,

“ ccsruleus major,

“ scelyensis,

“ krjcesciolc,

tC (i

Cyanistes cyanus,

][Iesange azuree,

La Grosse Mesange lleue,
Lasurmeise,

Pallas; Nov. Comm. Acad. Peterop.,
V. 14, p. 588, pi. 23, fig. 3.
Gmelin. Temiiinck.

SCHLEGEL. FalcK; Vog., T. 3,
p. 407, pi. 31.

Beisson.

Spaemm; Mus. Carl., pi. 25.
Gmelin; Syst.

Latham; Ind., v. 2, p. 572.
Lepech; Voy., vol. i, p. 180.

Kaup. Bonapaete.

Of the Peench.

Of the Geemans.

Specific Characiers. — All tlie inferior parts pure vliite, ■with
a brilliant blue patch on the middle of the abdomen. Length
five inches and a half.

The Azure Tit, perhaps the most beautiful of the
European Paridce, is an inhabitant of the north of
Europe and Asia. It is very common in Siberia and the

I

AZURE TIT.

11

adjacent parts of the Russian dominions, extending in
winter through the greatest part of European Russia,
being found at St. Petersburg, as well as on the banks
of the Wolga, and sometimes ranging from thence into
Poland and Prussia. According to<* Naumann, it is
more frequently found in Sweden than in the north of
Germany. An occasional specimen may he sometimes
found in Saxony, or even in Austria, but it does not
occur further to the south or west.

In the beginning of autumn it migrates into warmer
latitudes, as in winter or early spring, an occasional
pair, or single bird only, will be found in the north-
west.

Naumann, who is almost the only author from whom
we can glean anything about the habits of this
bird, says that it does not appear to aftect trees with
pointed leaves, like the fir or pine, preferring willow
bushes in meadows by the side of rivers and watery
places. In winter they are found more plentifully in
the neighbourhood of houses, and come even into
towns. It is a lively, agile, and fearless bird, like the
rest of its tribe, very skilful in climbing, and is seen,
like the Blue Tit, clinging to boughs and branches.
It is, however, readily distinguished from the other
allied Tits by its longer tail.

Bechstein compares its call-note to that of the House
Sparrow, hut it is softer.

It lives on insects and their eggs, larva3, and pupae,
which it diligently picks out from the open crevices
of bark, and to get at which, like the Blue Tit, it
destroys many buds, blossoms, and leaves. It is also
fond of seeds and the kernels of nuts, upon which it
may be seen hammering with its beak, having carefully
fixed the object in a chink of the tree.

12

AZURE TIT.

Naumann says that it never nests in Germany; in
fact very little is known about its propagation, and I
am sorry that I have not an authentic egg to figure.
It breeds in the wild regions of Siberia and Eastern
Russia. t

The adult male has the top of the head, a large
patch on the nape, the cheeks, throat, and all the
inferior parts snowy white, the top of the head being-
shaded with azure blue, and there is a patch of the
same in the middle of the abdomen. From the beak
through the eyes to the nape is a band of very dark
blue, which, passing round the head, enlarges at the
nape, returns and forms a triangular patch on the side
of the neck; back, rump, and above the wings, azure
blue; greater wing coverts dark blue, the border being
clearer, and terminating in white ; middle tail quills
azure blue, the laterals bordered and terminated with
white. The tail long and cuneiform; feet and tarsi
azure blue.

The female has the top of the head grey white; all
the blue colours less pure, and the blue band which
passes through the eyes is smaller in the nape.

Figured by Temminck and Laugier; Pallas, Nov.
Comm. Acad. Peterop, pi. 2o, fig. 3; Naumann, Vogel
Deutsch., vol. iv, pi. 95; Gould, pi. 153.

P E N D U L 1 N a TIT.

10
O

GRANIVOPv^.

Familif FAllIDJE. ( Bonaparte.)
Genus Parus. ( Linnceus.)

PENDULINE TIT.

Parus pendulinus.

Parus pendulinus, Linnjeus. Temminck et Atjct.

“ 7iarhonensis, Qun.,) Gmelin. Latham.

^githalus pendulinus, VioOES. Bonapaete.

“ “ Eetseeling and Blasius.

Mesange Pemiz, La Penduline,

La Udesange de Languedoc, Of the Fbench.

Gemeine beutelmeise, Of the Geemans.

Specific Characters, — Vertex and tliroat white; forehead black,
edged with ochreous ; cheeks black ; back rich deep russet. Length
four inches and one-fifth; carpus to tip two inches and one-tenth;
beak from gape two-fifths of an inch; tarsus three-fifths of an inch;
tail two inches.

The Penduline Tit is an inhabitant of Poland, Italy,
Russia, Hungary, the Crimea, and France. It is also
found in some parts of Germany. Degland says he has
received the nests and eggs from the neighbourhood of
Pezenas; that it is found in Provence only during its
migration, and accidentally in Lorraine and in the de-
partment of the Seine-Inferieure. ]M. Hardy has also

VOL. nr.

D

14

PENDULINE TIT.

obtained it in tbe neighbourbood of Dieppe. To these
localities Nauinann adds, Dalmatia, Scandinavia, and
Siberia; while Count Miible tells us that it is not rarely
found in tbe swamps of Rumelia and the Morea.

The Penduline Tit is not only one of tbe most prettily
coloured among the family, but it is altogether a most in-
teresting and remarkable bird. Its nest is a very
elaborate structure; and all ornithologists from tbe time
of Aldrovandi, two hundred and seventy years ago, have
been eloquent and minute in their descriptions of this
singular domicile, and of its ingenious and skilful ar-
chitects.

• A good deal of difference is, however, to be found
among theh descriptions, and I have therefore thought
better to give at length the history of the process, as
well as some of the most interesting points in the bird’s
economy, from two recent observers, one of whom, it
will be perceived, accounts for the discrepancy in the
descriptions of former naturalists.

In the ''‘Revue et Magasin de Zoologie,” for 1859,
No. 3, we have the following account by M. Moquin-
Tandon : —

“The Remitz or Penduline, called by various authors
Mesange de Pologne or de Narhonne, and by others
Mesange des sanies or des marais, is without doubt one
of the most remarkable of European birds. This bird
displays a wonderful industry in the construction of its
nest; no other species in France or Europe forms anything
so elaborate and curious.

The nest of the Remitz is not cup-shaped like that
of most birds, but is closed at the top more or less
ovoid, and in the form of a bag or purse ; on the side
near the top is a small round entrance, which is pro-
longed into a conico -cylindrical passage, either placed

I'E^'DULINE TIT.

15

horizontally or obliquely from top to bottom. It is in
some respects like tbat of tbe Long-tailed Tit, but it
is more delicately and skilfully built, and it is particu-
larly distinguished from it by the manner in which it
is suspended. This nest does not rest upon the branches
or trunk of the tree; it is quite free, and always sus-
pended from the upper part of the flexible branches of
aspens, willows, tamarisks, and other trees or shrubs
which grow on the borders of rivers or marshes. This
is why some ornithologists call the Lemitz, Penduline,
( Parus nidum suspendens.)

When the nest of the Pemitz is turned on one side,
with the opening above, it resembles somewhat a woollen
sock both in shape and material; so much so, that the
peasants in the neighbourhood of Nimes have given the
bird the name of Dehassayre, (stocking-weaver.) This
little architectural chef -d’ -oeuvre is more or less length-
ened according to the age and other circumstances of
the bird. The most ordinary form is that of a bag-
pipe, of which the pipe has been shortened.

M. Requien, of Avignon, sent me from the neighbour-
hood of his native town a nest of this form, which is
very characteristic. It was taken on the borders of the
Phone, suspended to the bough of a young aspen, by
a rather long and narrow cord. It had the following
dimensions: — Height seventeen cents.; transverse diameter
eleven cents; length of lobby three cents, and a half;
diameter of opening three cents.; thickness of edges fonr
millemetres. It weighed fifty-five grammes. Sometimes
the lobby does not exist, and the nest then takes the
figure of a wallet, an egg, or a pear, nearly like that
of the Long-tailed Tit.

The nest is attached and suspended with fibres of
hemp, flax, nettles, stalks of grasses, and even with little

16

PENUULINE TIT,

pieces of wool and tlie roots of coucli-grass. The length
of the susjiending rope varies very much, INI, Schintz
has figured one, which was brought to me, in 1823,
from the environs of St, Gilles, (Gard,) by General dc
Fregeville, It was suspended to an old aspen on the
borders of the lesser Rhone, by a cord four centimetres
and a half long,

Guettard has figured two nests of the Penduline, the
cords of both being finished by a sort of buckle which
surrounds a small branch, I have never seen this sort
of fastening. Those I have observed were always twisted
round a bending branch, while both assisted in sup-
porting it as well as constituted a part of its structure.
Thus suspended by a flexible cord, this pretty little
cradle is gently rocked above the surface of the river
or marsh, where the insects upon which the Remitz
feed are found in abundance. The opening of the nest
always faces the marsh or river near which it is built.

The nest is composed of tufts of thistles, dandelions,
viper grass, but above all the light and silken down
which surrounds the catkins of willows and poplars.
There is also found in it horse-hair and other animal
materials, but only when vegetable substances are scarce.
I had a nest from the neighbourhood of Pezenas, which
was almost entirely composed of sheep’s wool, and which
had consequently a very strong smell of the grease of
that animal.

Having brought together the materials necessary for
its nest, the Remitz interlaces them, felts them, gums
them together, and thus produces a sort of thick cloth,
very close and firm. (It is in fact a real cloth or felt.)
This tissue is strengthened with the narrow leaves of
grasses, fibres, and rootlets, which sometimes stick out
of the exterior. Thus the frame-work is made. One

PENDULINE TIT.

IT

of tlie nests figui-cd by Guettarcl has little bits of straw
sticking out, of wbicli the greater part are worked into
the texture. The Tits now arrange at the bottom of
the nest a small couch formed of down, feathers, and
other very soft materials. The colour of the nest is
generally greyish or whitishf according to the material
of which it is made. Aldrovandi and Thienemann have
described nests with two openings, one before and one
behind; but in all the nests I have received I have
only noticed one entrance.

We have seen that the edifice of the Remitz is
suspended from above; the bird first makes the cord,
which he twists round a fiexible branch. This cord,
which is more or less long and thick, is divided into
two parts, one of which goes into one side of the nest,
the other into the other, and it is easy to observe how
this cord will make at first two openings, one before
and one behind, and one of which, as the nest advances,
the bh'ds shut up, and complete the other into a pretty
little door.

The Remitz is not often seen in the north or centre
of France, but frequently in the southern departments,
and above all on the shores of the Rhone, Durance,
Garden Herault, and Lez. The male and female work
together, and take eighteen or twenty days to complete
the nest. This activity is surprising when the perfection
of the work is compared with the size and feebleness
of the bh’ds.

The Remitz lays four or five eggs, rarely six or seven.
They are like those of the House Swallow, but smaller.
They are rather elongated; the shell slender and dull.
When just laid they are of an ivory white, and a pure
white when blown. Great diameter fifteen millemetres,
small diameter ten millemetres ; weight when empty

18

PENDULTNE TIT.

six centigrammes. Bechstein and Temminck made a
mistake when they described small reddish spots as
distributed over the shell, like the eggs of the other
Tits. The female lays twice in the year, — in April or
May, and again in July or August.”

The following interesting description of the nidification
of the Penduline Titmouse given by M. Taezanowski,
of Warsaw, is also taken from the “Bevue et Magasin
de Zoologie” No. 6, 1859: —

‘^Having had an opportunity of seeing a great number
of the nests of the Bemitz, and of making a collection
of those variously constructed, I have been able to as-
certain the way in which they are built, and to correct
some mistakes which have hitherto existed, from the
imperfect observations which have been made upon
them.

The materials which form the foundation of these
nests are the fibres of hemp, nettles, and long and slender
filaments of the bark of different species of willows,
which the Bemitz separates in great quantity from those
plants when they are dry. It attaches these materials
upon a single flexible branch above its fork. When it
has sufficient material it begins the real substance of
its nest, which is composed of the down of the catkins
of the willow and poplar, and is placed helow the fork
of the branch above mentioned. It first forms an out-
line of the nest, about three centimetres wide, into
which it introduces at least one twig of the tree into

each side of the nest. When this outline is sufficiently

long, it takes the ends of the filaments and joins them
together, so as to form the bottom of the nest. It now
lines the two sides of the nest with down, proceeding

from the bottom to the top, until it has succeeded in

forming a nest which has two openings. Then it lines

PENDULINE TIT.

19

tlie centre of tire nest with softest cloAvn of the willow,
and then closes np one of the openings. It strengthens
the outside with a greater quantity of willow-down, to
which it often adds tufts of sedge, reeds, and thistles,
and then diminishes the other opening, and forms a
projecting conduit or passage. It uses no animal pro-
duction in this construction, which takes about four
weeks to complete. This is the real form of these nests,
all those with two openings being imperfect constructions,
and the error has been perpetuated in consequence of
the female commencing to lay eggs before the nest is
completed, in which both male and female assiduously
engage. If the process of sitting commences before the
nest is finished, the work is carried on by the male
alone. There are very few places in the kingdom of
Poland where the Pemitz builds. The locality is generally
some large pond covered with rushes and bushes, situ-
ated on the right hand shore of the Vistula, and in the
vast wooded marshes found in the neighbouring country
of Paleria — the low and marshy part of Minsk, Volhynia
and Grodno. There are a few which nest on the shores
of the Vistula, but none have been found on the left
side of the river.

The nest is placed on difierent species of poplar,
willow, and alder, situated from one to fifteen metres
or more above the ground; lowest on the osiers, and
highest on the poplars. They are not always suspended
over the water; more frequently over the ground,
but always in places surrounded by water. I have never
found them in thickets, but in spots more or less open.
In the thick osier grounds they are only found at the
edges of the openings and glades. The nest is very
easy to find when building, or when the brood is young,
for then the parents are always at hand, and give

20

PEXDULINE TIT.

warning of tlie approach of danger by a slight prolonged
whistling, (sifRcnient.) When the female sits, the male
often goes away and gives no warning, hut as soon as
the nest is taken he appears, perches himself on the
place it once occupied, and never ceases to bewail its
loss.”

Count Miihle remarks that in Greece it is very diffi-
cult to get specimens of the Penduline Tit, because it
lives and breeds in impenetrable swampy woods, sur-
rounded by grass land also frequently under water. He
found the nests frequently in the winter empty, when
the trees were leafless.

The male bird in breeding plumage has the top of
the head and throat white, frequently verging into grey,
which extends to the nape and scapularies. The back
and wing coverts rich russet, becoming lighter towards
the rump. Forehead black, edged with deep ochreous;
cheeks and ear coverts black ; neck and crop light russet,
spotted with the same deep rich ochreous colour of the
back; the rest of the abdomen light fawn-colour, the
flanks darker; primaries clay brown; secondaries same
colour, slightly tipped with white ; tertials brown, deeply
bordered with greyish white, tinged with russet; tail
of moderate length and emarginate, the feathers all more
or less brown, bordered with greyish white ; beak black ;
feet and legs lead grey; iris yellow.

The female has the top of the head grey, and the
black of the forehead is wanting, but there is a spot
of ochreous brown just above the base of the beak; the
inferior parts are of a deeper fawn-colour than those of
the male, and the brown of the wings and tail feathers
is lighter, and the grey border not so broad.

The young before the first moult has the black parts
of the forehead, cheeks, and ear coverts replaced by

PENDULINE TIT.

:2l

russet; the oclireoiis colour of the back is less deep than
in the adult; the under parts of the body are of a light
red.

My figure of this bird and its egg are from specimens
kindly sent me by the Hev. H. Tristram. The nest is
after Gould.

It has also been figured by Buffbn, pi. enl. 618, fig.
3, and 708, the young before the first moult under the
name oi Mesange de Languedoc; P. Poux, Ornith. Prov.,
pi. 124, fig. 1, adult male; fig. 2, head of young; Bou-
teil, Ornith. du Dauph., pi. ol, fig. 6; Gould, B. of E.,
pi. 159; Naumann, Vogel. Deutsch, vol. 4, pi. 97, male,
female, young, and nest; Temminck, Atlas; Vieillot,
Faun. Franc., pi. 50, fig. 2 and 3; Albin, vol. 3, pi. 57;
Bechstein, Naturg. Dent., vol. 3, pi. 38, fig. 2; Meyer,
Vog. Dent., part 10.

There are one or two other ParidtB, which require
a short notice.

Parus Carolimnsis cristatus, Brisson; P. hicolor, Lin-
nasus and authors, was figured by Gould, pi. 152, Birds
of Europe. It has however been omitted by Schlegel
and Bonaparte from the European list, and is admitted
with doubt by Degland. Mr. Gould now thinks that
it ought to be erased, in which opinion he is joined
by all the best modern ornithologists.

Parus horealis, Selys; Poecilia borealis, Bonaparte. —
Mr. Newton’s valuable remarks about this species in the
notice of the Siberian Tit, in the last number, are I think
sufficiently strong to warrant my excluding it from the
European list as a distinct species. It is so closely
allied to our Marsh Tit, f P. palustris,) that it can
only at the most lay claim to be considered a permanent

YOL. III.

PEJNDULIXE TIT.

variety or race of that species. I have, however, been
favoured by Mr. Wheelwright, of Gadsjo, near Carlstadt,
in Sweden, with some remarks about this bird, which
I will insert. Mr. W., who has had many opportunities
of observing this and others of our most interesting
European species, writes to mo, —

‘^It so much resembles our IMarsh Tit, both in habit
and appearance, that I really think it can hardly be
called a separate species. There are, however, the fol-
lowing differences, which are constant: —

Head glossy silk black; cheeks and sides
of the neck white, rather tinged with black ; back
blackish grey brown. The edge of the outer web of
wing feathers a little paler than the back.

Borealis. — Head walnut dull black; cheeks and sides
of the neck clear white; back grey. The edge of the
outer web of wing feathers nearly clear white.

In Borealis the tail is longer and different in con-
struction. The outer tail feather is about two and a
half or three lines longer than the middle one, which
is nearly as long as the longest in the tail. The outer
feather is considerably shorter than the other. In
Palustris, on the contrary, the outer tail feathers are
generally of the same length as the middle ones, and
always only about a line shorter than the longest in the
tail.

Nilsson is of opinion that the species are distinct, and
Kjterbolling agrees with him.

If I remember right the British Marsh Tit always
builds its nest with moss, etc. Now the nest of our P.
borealis is always built of the fine under bark of the
dead alder tree. That of the Crested and Blue Tit of
moss, and sometimes feathers.

P. borealis is very common in the south of Sweden,

PEXDULINE TIT.

2S

and only accidental in Denmark. They say Palustris
goes as far north as the birch grows. It is, however,
certainly very rare here, for all I kill are Borealis.
The further north we go after passing Gefa, the less
common it becomes, being replaced by P. sihiricus, which
is very rarely killed south of Stockholm. P. ctjanus,
according to Nilsson, is only found in the north of
Sweden.”

P. hockhariensis , Brehm, is said to be occasionally
seen in the north of Europe ; but I believe there is no
good authority for its introduction into the European
list.

24

GIIAXIVORtE.

Family FFINGILLIDFB. f Bonaparte. )
Genus Embekiza. (Linnceus.)

Generic Characters. — Eeak short, strong, conical, compressed,
and sharp-pointed; the edges of both mandibles curved in-
wards, with the commissure more or less oblique; the upper
mandible narrower than the inferior one, and internally in
the palate, or roof, there is a bony and projecting tubercle.
Nostrils basal, round, and partly hidden by small feathers in
front. Feet with three toes in front and one behind, the
front ones entirely divided; the hinder toe carries a claw*,
short and curved; in front the claws are rather long, curved,
and strong. The wings with the first primary slightly
shorter than the second and third, which are the longest in
the wing. Tail forked or slightly rounded.

BLACK-HEADED BUNTING.

Emheriza melanocepliala.

Emheriza melanocepliala,

(C (6

Tanagra melanictura,
Xanthormus Caucasicus,
Frhigilla crocea,
iEiispxza melanocepliala,
Uruant- Crocote,
Sclmarzlcopfiger Ammer,
Zlgolo Capinero,
JBlach-lieaded Bunting,

ScopoLi, 1768. Gmeltn.
Latham. Temminck. Cuvier.
Keyserling et Blasius.

ScHINZ. ScHLEGEL. DeGLANH.
Guldenstedt.

Pallas.

ViEILLOT.

Bonaparte.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Of Savi.

Latham, nec Bewick, vel
Yarrell.

B I A C K - 11 E A D E D BUNTING.

BLACK-IIEADKD BUNTING.

25

Specific Characters. — Tlie first primary equal in length, to the
second, and slightly longer than the third; primaries and tail
liglit brown, the latter without any white markings. Back and
rump rich russet, tinged with yellow. Length six inches and a
half; from carpus to tip three inches and three-quarters; tail
three inches; beak from gape seven-tenths of an inch; tarsus
nine-tenths of an inch.

The Buntings are’ a very natural group, and easily
distinguished, by their peculiar characters, from the
rest of the family. They live in fields, woods, gardens,
road-sides, or banks of rivers and marsKes. They feed
upon farinaceous seeds and insects. The sexes are
always distinctly marked, the males having the most
vivid coloration. The young resemble the females,
except in having duller colours, and being more spotted.
Temminck says none of the European species moult
more than once, while the exotic species do so regu-
larly, the colours of the male changing considerably,
having in summer, very brilliant colours, but in winter
the quiet and modest plumage of the female. Degland
remarks, — “The greater number, independently of the
usual moult which takes place towards the end of
summer, have also in spring a change in coloration.
This change is occasioned by the under part of the
plumage, which is always the most brilliantly-coloured,
being in the spring uncovered by the rubbing away
of the edges of the feathers, which are of a duller
tint.” The Buntings nest on the ground, on banks,
or among grass, in bushes, shrubs, or reeds. Those
species which have the hind toe long and straight have
been separated by Meyer, under the generic term
Plectropltayies. The others form a very closely-allied
and distinct family, notAvithstanding which Kaup has
divided the genus into eight.

^0

P. L A C K - ] I F, A D K 1 ) BUNTING.

Of tlie European species different authors vary in
the number which they assign to that fauna. Temininck,
in the last edition of his “Manual,” describes sixteen
species, which is the number also given by Schlcgel.
Degland adopts this list, with the exception of one
addition, E. borealis. Bonaparte gives nineteen species,
in five different genera. On the whole I think the
list of Schlegel best represents the European members
of this genus. Of these, five, and both the species of
Plectrophanes , are found in the British Isles.

The name “Black -headed Bunting” has been unfor-
tunately given by modern English authors to our
well-known bird the “Reed Bunting.” As, however,
the subject of this notice can lay claim to a much
older title, and as I do not feel justified in creating
a new one, I hope English ornithologists will use the
name “Reed Bunting,” first given, I believe, by Pen-
nant, to our British species.

The Black -headed Bunting is an inhabitant of the
southern parts of Europe and Asia Minor. It inhabits
the Caucasus, and is very common in Georgia, about
Tiflis, and in Greece, and is not rare in Dalmatia,
where it has the name of Ortolan, though a very
different bird from that which bears this name in
France. It is common throughout the Levant, and is
sufficiently so, according to Temininck, in Istria, in the
neighbourhood of Trieste, in the bushes and slopes of
the hills, which border the Adriatic. It has been
occasionally, but accidentally found in Lombardy,
Provence, Saxony, and in Germany, in the neighbourhood
of Vienna.

It sings very agreeably, preferring to perch on some
post in the open country.

It nests upon shrubs, particularly, according to

BLACK-HEADED BUXTING. 27

Deglaiid, on Bariurus aculeatus, and not far from
the ground. It lays from four to five whitish eggs,
which are covered with very small spots and dots of
a more or less ashy grey; some specimens are of a
greenish white, with spots of a rust brown at the
largest end.”

In a long and interesting letter, full of valuable
information, which I have received from Dr. Leith
Adams, from Malta, I extract the following remarks
about the bird I am now noticing: — “Euspiza melano-
cepliala, Bonaparte, is almost the prototype of E.
simillima of Blythe; the latter authority fixes on the
following as distinctions. The closed wing of simillima
is three inches and a quarter, instead of four inches,
and altogether it is not so large a bird. The species
frequents southern India, and until Mr. Blythe made
the above diagnosis, Indian authors considered it iden-
tical with E. melanocephala. I have seen three speci-
mens, and could not make out any decided distinctions.
Might not climate account for the smaller size?”

Count Miihle says “It comes (into Greece) at the
end of April, and I have for many years observed its
arrival. On a clear bright morning in spring the
hedges near the coast are often covered with them,
though previously none were to be seen. It builds
and breeds on the overgrown hills, and goes away
early in August. During the breeding time the male
sits on the tops of the bushes, and lets its agreeable
simple. Yellow-hammer-like song be continually heard.
It is very stupid, and not at all shy; indeed it is
frequently killed, by those in quest of it, with a
stick alone. It is at the same time strange that the
female is so seldom seen. I have only met with a
very small number. M^hen they first arrive the male

Ixas the rust-reel pluinage of tlie head in abundance,
hut this is by degrees rubhed of.”

Brehm, in Biideker’s work upon European eggs,
says, ^‘Very little is known about the nidification of
this bird. Its eggs, of which it lays five, arc very
similar to those of the other Buntings. One variety is
like that of the Snow Bunting. They are of a blue
greenish ground, delicately marked with dark and
reddish grey spots, mostly at the larger end. In form
they are a loaigish oval, and the shell very soft and
brittle.”

This very beautifully-marked bird has the breeding
plumage of the male as follows: — -Head, nape, and
auditory regions deep black. The whole of the back,
scapularies, and upper wing coverts rich dark russet,
tinged with yellow; chin and all the inferior parts
♦ bright citron yellow. Wings and tail brown; the
primaries lightly edged with grey. Beak bluish grey;
feet yellowish brown.

The female, according to Temminck, has all the
upper parts of a russet grey; the throat white; inferior
parts reddish white; under tail coverts yellow; greater
wing coverts and the first primaries bordered with
reddish grey, having their centres black.

]My figures of this bird and its egg are taken from
specimens kindly sent me by Mr, Tristram. They are
from Greece. The egg is from a nest of four taken
by W. H. Simpson, Esq., at Missolonghi, January 3,
1859.

The bird has also been figured by Temminck in his
Atlas; Boux, Ornith. Prov. ; Giildenstedt, Nov. Com.;
Naumann, Naturg. Neue Ausg., pi. 101, f. 2; Gonld,
Birds of Europe, pi. 172. Four figures of the egg
are given in Biideker’s illustrations of European eggs.

GPvANIVOE^.

Famihj FRINGILLIDuE. ( Bonaparte.)
Genus Emberiza. f LinncBUS.)

MARSH BUNTING.

Emberiza palustris.

Emberiza palustris,

“ pyrrhuloides,

“ Caspia,
SchcBiiicula pyrrhidoides,
Bruant des Marais,
Sumpfammer,

Passera di padule,

Savi. Bonapaete. Temminck.
SCHINZ. SCHLEGEL.

Pallas.

Meneteies.

Bonapaete.

Of the Feench.

Of the Gteemans.

Savi.

Specific Characters. — Beak short, thick, and strong, the upper
mandible curved; as broad at the base as long. Bump grey,
and marked vith brown; under tail coverts white; primaries
slightly bordered with russet, the first being shorter than the
fourth. Length of a young male sent) me by Mr. Gould, seven
inches; from carpus to tip three inches and a fifth; beak three-
tenths of an inch; tarsus one inch.

The jMarsli Bunting is an inhabitant of the south
of Europe, being found especially in the south of
France, Italy, and Sicily.

It was at first described as a distinct species by
Savi, in his “Ornitologia Toscana.” Temminck doubted
whether it was distinct from E. sclimiiculus , in any-

VOL. III.

30

^rAKSTI liUNTTNO,

thin" except the sliortness, stoutness, and eonvex'ity of
the beak, and in tlic "reater distinctness and brilliancy
of the colouring, llonaparte, on the contrary, not only
admits the ]\Iarsh Hunting as a distinct sjiccics, but
adds another, whiclr is said to be intermediate in
character between tliis and schcenicAilus, under the name
of S. intermedia, the E. intermedia of Michahclles, the
E. canneti of Brehm; and he places the three in a
new genus, that of Schccnicola. Ihoux also denies that
the Marsh can ever be confounded with the Reed
Bunting; and Degland adds several points of distinction
to those given by Tcmminck, which I have incorporated
after verification in my specific diagnosis. Dcgland
thinks that Tcmminck did not know the true E.
jxilustris, but that the specimens upon which he as-
sumed its identification with E. scliceniculus were, in
fact, larger specimens of this latter species. In a note
which I have just received from Professor Blasius, of
Brunswick, that distinguished naturalist places this bird
as a variety of E. schceniculus.

Such being the difference of opinion about the
specific distinctness of this bird, let us hear what
Savi himself says about it. I copy the following from
his “Ornitologia Toscana,” tome secondo, p. d2: — “The
Zigolo of which I speak has been for some time in
the hands of ornithologists. The Bunting, of which
there is a drawing in the ‘Storia degli Uccelli,’ under
the name of 3Iigliarino di Padulc, is clearly recognised
by the form of its beak, as belonging to this species.
In the Museum of Turin, and in that of the Jardin
des Plantes at Paris, it is preserved as a variety of
Emheriza schceniculus. Signor Dott: Pajola sent it to
me last year from Venice, describing it as a new
species. I had long fancied it was distinct, but as

MARSH BUNTING.

31

on examination of the distribution of colour, the pro-
portions of its quill feathers, etc., I did not find any
characters to distinguish it from the other species, and
knowing then nothing of its habits, I had never made
it known as new, and, to avoid making a mistake, T
placed it in the iNIuseum of Pisa as E. palustris. Since
then, however, having been able to make some new
observations upon the form and habits of the two
species, I am persuaded they are decidedly different,
and the principal reasons which induce me to form this
opinion are the following : —

The distinctive characteristics of E. palustris and
E. schceniculiis are the greater size of the former, its
head larger in proportion to the rest of the body, its
tarsi proportionally shorter and thicker, its upper
plumage more distinct in coloration, and its beak
differing in form and size.

Xow as these characteristics only consist in a greater
development of parts, and a stronger degree of colour,
it may be objected that this is owing to difference in
age; that is to say, that the Migliarino cli Padule in
growing old may acquire the proportions and colours
of the Passera di Padule. As far as size and colour
are concerned, there would be no difficulty in under-
standing this, but it is not so easy to account for the
difference in the beak, and almost impossible to conceive
such a change in the form and dimensions of the
masticatory organs, and such an alteration in the other
hones of the face and skull, in the adult age of
animals, in whom the consolidation of bone rapidly
occurs. But that I might have positive proof, I kept
several Peed Buntings in my house for about a
year, and as I had supposed no change in the form
or dimensions of the beak occurred. Besides this,

MAKSII liUN'riXG.

tlie liabits of tlie two birds prove them to bo of
different species. E. ncJicenicAilus lives among bushes,
and always remains on ground far from water, feeding
upon seeds; while E. is always found estab-

lished near water, climbing up the reeds, and feeding
on the muddy banks of ponds. Then the two species
are never found mixed together in the same flock.
I have killed as many as ten in the same flock
without finding one schceniculus, and, what is worthy
of note, without in such a number finding one with
the beak of the same size and form as in that bird,
which would naturally have been the case, had they
been varieties of the same species.”

At page S26 of the third volume, we have also the
following interesting account of the habits of this bird:
— ‘‘The Black -headed Bunting is found in Tuscany
during the summer, inhabiting watery places covered
with reeds. A great number hatch in the marshes of
Castiglione, so that in crossing the intricate passages
made by the fishermen cutting the reeds, which rise
so high as to exclude all but a small portion of sky,
the low moaning of the wind is uninterrupted, except
by the distant voice of the Tarabugio, (Bittern,) which
sounds shrill • over the dead water, or the continual
croaking of the Passcra di Padide, which then remains
obstinately hidden. It has a voice similar to the
Rena esculenta, (frog,) but it is even more sonorous.”

Count Miihle, in his “Bcitraege zur Ornithologie
Griechlands,” says, “ Emheriza pyrrlmloidcs is considered
to be a distinct species from E. schceniculus . All the
proportions are larger and stronger, the head much
thicker and longer, the beak peculiarly arched, unlike
that of any other species, the colouring of the plumage
is much brighter, and in broader masses, the black on

1. MARSH E’JisTiNG. 2. MEADOW BUR TING.

3. RUSTIC BUNTING.

4 & 5. YELLOY/-H BAD ED BUNTlNi^.

MARSH nUXTINO.

the head and breast much deeper. It breeds in the
impenetrable reed beds, coming Avhen they are green.
When the swamps are swollen it is not to be got at,
but later it arrives on the borders of these s^vamps,
and then it is to be discovered by its contrast with
the blood-colour of the club reed. It is very lively;
the male clings to the joints of reeds, and utters, like
Salicar'ia turdoides, its crisp song. It is not so plen-
tiful as E. schceniculus , and goes away earlier.”

Enough has, I think, been said to prove the sj^ecific
distinction of this bird. Of its nidification Degland
tells us: — “,It nests on the edges of marshes, among
rushes, between the roots of aquatic plants. Its nest
is composed exteriorly of the filaments of vegetables,
dry plants, and is lined with horse-hair. Its eggs, in
number from four to five, are of a dull white, dis-
tinctly marbled with brown, (according to Tcmminck,)
or (according to Crespon) of a white, shaded into
greyish, and marked with a multitude of small brown
spots, most numerous at the larger end.”

“In manners and habits the Marsh Bunting differs
but little from the Heed Bunting. Its note, according
to Crespon, is briefer and stronger. The same author
remarks that it breaks the stems of the reeds to eat
the pith, and that it also feeds on insects.”

The following is Savi’s description: — The male in
breeding plumage has the beak thick, compressed
laterally, curved above and below, obtuse at the point,
and of a black colour. It rather resembles a Sparrow’s
beak, but is shorter. Head, neck, throat, and middle
part of breast black; there is a large white band be-
ginning at the angle of the beak, and uniting itself
with the white of the flanks and abdomen. Scajjularies
black, broadly margined with fulvous chesnut; the rest

u

MARSH RUNTING.

of the upper feathers ashy black, margined with
chesuLit. Flanks and abdomen white; upon the hanks
longitudinal spots of obscure black. Primaries black,
margined with chesnut, the lesser wing coverts having
a broader margin of fulvous chesnut; under wing
coverts white. The first tail feather white, with a
large black wedge-shaped spot on the inner web at
the base, and a smaller one at the tip ; the second
tail feather black, with a white wedge-shaped spot at
the tip on the inner side; the other tail feathers black;
the two middle feathers edged with brownish yellow.
Feet rather robust, and obscurely black; claws black.

In autumn the adult male has the feathers of the
head, throat, neck, and middle jjart of chest black,
shaded off to the point. The white feathers of the
neck become so shaded towards the tip, as almost t
obscure the white. All the upper feathers have a bay
margin, more extended, terminating in brownish yellow.

The female has the vertex, sides of the head, and
neck of an obscure chesnut colour, with black spots;
nape, back, and wings dark brown; a brown band on
the checks terminates near the car, the region of which
is covered by a nearly black spot; throat and neck
white, shaded with russet; from the angle of inferior
mandible there is a mottled black band extending to
the chest; chest and flanks white, shaded with russet,
and covered with long obscure spots.

]\Iy figure is that of a young male, kindly sent me
by IMr. Gould.

This bird has also been figured by Stor, Uccelli Tav.,
006, (a good figure of male;) by Roux, Ornith. Prov.,
pi. 114, male in autumn, fig. 2, head of female; Ch.
Bonaparte, Faun. Itah, pi. 35, f. 1, male in spring, f. 2,
female, f. 3, young; Gould, B. of E., pi. 184.

i

PINE

BUNTING.

GRAXIVOILE.

Family FRINGILLIDJE. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Embeuiza. ( Linnceus.)

PINE BUNTING.

Emheriza pityornis.

Emheriza pityornis,

a a

“ scotata,

Passer esclavonicus,
Emheriza Bonapartii,
Bruant a couronne lactee,
Fichtenammer,

Pallas. Iter, 1776.

Gmelin, Syst., 1788.

Latham; lud., 1790, et Syn., iii,
p. 203, et p. 256, (as Dalmatian
Sparrow.)

Temminck; Man., 2nd. ed., 1820.
Bonaparte; Birds, 1838.
Ketserling et Blasius; Die
Wirbelt: 1840.

ScHiNZ ; Eur. Faun. 1840.
ScHLEGEL; Eevue, 1844.
Bonaparte; Eevue et Mag. de
Zool., April, 1857.

Brisson, 1760. Degland, 1849.
Barthelemy.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Specific Characters. — Bump, throat, and cheeks dark russet;
top of the head, and distal half of the two lateral tail feathers
white; the first four primaries of equal length. Length seven
inches: carpus to tip three inches and a half; tail three inches
and a half; beak from gape half an inch, breadth at base three-
twentieths of an inch; tarsus four-fifths of an inch.

36

PINK 1!TNT1N(;.

'I'liE Pino Pnntino’ is an inhabitant of Siberia, rangino^
thence to Turkey, being found occasionally on the
shores of the Caspian Sea, Temminck says it is found
during the winter in Hungary and Bohemia, and ac-
cidentally in Austria and the Illyrian provinces. Its
real home is in the north and west of Asia, its
occurrence in eastern Europe being considered accidental
by most of our modern ornithologists. That it has,
however, a real claim to a place in the European
fauna, seems, I think, settled by the paper of Prince
C. Bonaparte, in the ^‘Bevue et Magasin de Zoologie”
for April, 1857, in which he describes a young male
which was killed in the neighbourhood of Brescia, in
Lombardy, and sent to him by M. Parzadaki, under
the name of Emheriza scotata. This bird is described
in the above paper under the name of Buscarla pity-
ornis, and figured in the same number of the “Bevue”
as Emheriza scotata.

Count Miihle says that he has often seen the female
and young in Boumelia in the early autnmn. Naumann
(“^‘Naturgeschichte der Vogel Deutschlands”) says the
Pine Bunting is found in Siberia, where, from the
Ural Mountains to the Biver Lena it is very common.
“It also comes into the southern provinces of European
Bussia, into Turkey in winter, and, rarely, into Bohe-
mia, but is never found in the middle or north of
Germany. It loves rocky places, but not the mountains
themselves, frequenting more the valleys between them.
There it must be sought for near the water, on the
banks of brooks, rivers, and lakes, where it lives among
the sedges and low bushes. It derives its name from
the pine woods of Siberia. It remains only a short
time in the woods, like the Beed Bunting in our
timber woods.”

FIXE BUXTTXG.

37

The Pine Bunting is a cheerful lively bird, with a

note similar to the other members of its family. In

its habits, it resembles the Heed Bunting. It feeds on
insects, and seeds of some of the mountain plants, and
probably also on those of the reed and other water
plants; in winter on oats, millet, etc. Of its nidification
I am sorry to say I can add nothing.

The male has the top of the head white, bordered

with black, which is also the colour of the forehead;
a band extending from the base of the beak beneath
the eyes, a demi collar round the front of the neck,
the centre of the abdomen, the distal half of each
lateral tail feather, and under wing and tail coverts,
white. Scapularies and upper wing coverts chesnut
brown, with longitudinal patches of black; rump russet;
tail above dark broAvn. Primaries dark brown, edged
externally with white; tertials dark brown, deeply bor-
dered Avith russet ; cheeks and throat deep chesnut ;
crop and flanks mottled Avith same colour of a lighter
tint; wings and tail below broAAm; beak brown above,
yelloAvish beneath; tarsi yellow; iris brown.

In the female, according to Degland, the Avhite
mark on the top of the head is only slightly indicated;
there is no russet on the thi*oat; the upper parts are
of a broAvn russet, inferior Avhitish; wings and tail as
in the male.

The young male is thus described by Prince Charles
Bonaparte, in the “Hevue et Magasin de Zoologie” for
April, 1857 : — “The top of the head, the auditory
region, and the shoulders, bright bay; the feathers on
the top of the head blackish in the middle, and the
ears are edged with the same colour in an undecided
manner. The large superciliary feathers and the
moustache, Avhich are spread out at the end, and so

VOT.. ITT.

G

38

riNE BUNTING.

nearly unitiiig as to form almost a circle round the
entire cheek, are of a whitish colour, slightly tinted
with an isahelle rose; immediately below the beak
proceeds, as if to extend itself to the beginning of the
chest, a long pyriform band of an elegant orange rose-
colour, which is rarely seen in nature, and which is
'of the same tint as the Antlius riifigtilaris ; this band
is completely surrounded by a black border, which is
sjiread out on the sides of the neck; the upper part
of the neck and the rump are of a nearly jnire ash-
colour ; the back is variegated with black, bay-coloured,
and whitish spots; the under parts are whitish, with
large .brownish longitudinal wedge-shaped spots; the
lesser and greater wing coverts are, as well as the ter-
tiary feathers, black, with red and white external
edges; the primaries, of which the first is about the
same size as the fifth, arc brown, unicolorous, with a
slight edging of white at the tip. The tail is slightly
notched ; the two middle feathers, short and very
pointed, are black along the shaft, and the first is
edged with reddish grey, the two following on each
side arc quite black, and the two external feathers have
a large white cuncifoian spot, much more extended
upon the last feather, of which the very narrow outer
plumes arc white, and which has ashy brown grey on
the shaft, and a large spot on the tip.”

“It is well known that this Emheriza is also the E.
passevina, Messerschniitd ; E. albida, Blyth; E. leuco-
cephala et Dahnatica, Gmelin, and Sclavonica, Dcgland.
It is probably an older species which M. Barthelemy,
of Pomerania, has called after me, E. Bonapartii.”

My figure is from a specimen kindly, sent me by
Mr. Gould.

It has also been figured by S. G. Gmelin, Nov. Comm.

PTXE BUNTING.

39

Acad, Petrop., pi. 23, fig-, 3; Lej)echm, Ibid, pi. 25,
fig. 2; Gould, B. of E. pi. 104; Bonajiarte, in Bovue
de Zoologic, for April, 1857, fyoung male.)

40

GRANIVOEtE.

Famihj FRINGILLIDjE. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Emberiza. ( Linnceus.)

CliETZSCHMAER’S BUNTING.

Fmheriza ccesia.

Fmheriza ccesia,

Ceetzschmaee; in Euppell’s Atlas,
(Vogel,) pi. 10, B.

(( it

66 66

Temminck, 1835.

Ketsebling et Blasius; Bio
Wirbelt: 1840,

ScHiNZ; Europ. Faun., 1840.
ScHLEGEL; Eevue, 1844.

Degland; 1819.

“ liortulanus,

Fringillaria ccesia,
JBruant cendrillard,
Graulcoffiger Ammer,

Blasius; in Lit.

Bonapaete; Consp. Av. Eur., 1850.
Of the Feench.

Or THE Geemans.

Specific Characters.-

—Beak brown above, reddish below; rump

russet grey; head, nape, and crop slate grey. First three pri-
maries of nearly equal length, and considerably longer than the
fourth. Primaries fringed ou their outer web with russet grey.
Length five inches and three-quarters; carpus to tip three inches
and three-teuths ; beak two-fifths of an inch; tail three inches;
tarsus seveu-tenths of an inch.

Ceetzschmaer’s Blinting, so called from tire name
of its first artist in Euppell’s Atlas of the birds oh-

CRETZSCH1v;aEE,’3 bunting.

ciietzschmaer’s buxtixg.

41

served in the North African journey of that distinguished
naturalist^ is found in the south of Europe, and is a
regular summer visitant into Greece, appearing there,
according to Count Miihle, early in April, and leaving
in August. Its principal home is in Syria, Nubia,
and Egypt. Temminck suggests that it would probably
be found more common in the south of Europ)e, but
that its similarity to E. da causes it to be frequently
mistaken for that bird. Its capture near Vienna, in
1827, is also recorded by this naturalist, and M.
Eoux states that it is found in Provence, in company
with E. da. It has also been killed in the neigh-
bourhood of Marseilles by M. Busonnier, as recorded
by Degland.

Count Miihle says that it is the most common
Bunting in Greece. ‘‘After its arrival in April it is
found in flocks among the wild and rocky hills of the
country, in company with S. stapazina, Sarnia noctua,
and Tardus cyanus. It is seldom found in fields or
among bushes. It hops among the rocks with great
agility, and its song is much more refined than that of
the Ortolan. This bird (the Ortolan) first appears
plentifully when E. ccesia has been gone some time,
and is never found in the same localities, preferring
bushy fields.”

“E. ccesia builds its nest, which is like that of the
Yellowhammer, but smaller, behind blocks of stone in
a sage plant, off the ground. It lays four to six
eggs, which are grey blue, sprinkled with liver-coloured
sj)ots. It feeds its young with ground beetles and the
caterpillars which it finds among the flowers of the
sage.”

Of this bird in Palestine Mr. Tristram remarks, (Ibis,
vol. i, p. 34): — “One of the most common birds of the

C ]l ETZSCl I M A K ll’s ]{ U N r I XG .

more' fertile districts of Talestinc. I’erclied on the topmost
bough of a shrub or tree, it continues its monotonous
song through the day, and is to be seen on almost
every bush. In its habits and actions it is very dif-
ferent from its Algerian congener, Emheriza Saharce,
which it so nearly resembles in form and plumage,
avoiding buildings, and not, as hir as I am aware,
perching on stones or walls. Its nest is placed near
the ground, in a low bush.”

As there is a considerable difference in the above
two descriptions, I wrote to Mr. Tristram, who oblig-
ingly forwarded me the following explanation: — “I can
only account for the discrepancy in the two histories,
by the difference in the time of year. I was only in
the Morea in winter, and in the north of Greece late
in the spring, and I did not observe E. ccesia, so far
as I recollect; but neither did I notice it in Palestine
in the corn-fields, where we saw the Ortolan consorting
with the Common Bunting and the Larks, but in the
hill country of Judaea. It abounds in the olive-clad
valleys and ravines to the west of Jerusalem, and I
was struck by its habit of always perching on the
bushes and shrubs, both on the uncultivated hills and
about gardens. Probably when Count Miihle saw them
they had not paired; when I fell in Avith them they
were building. E. ccesia is, I should say, the commonest
Bunting in Palestine.”

Professor Blasius, of BrunsAvick, in a private letter
to me, places E. ccesia as a variety of E. hortulanus.

The adult male in breeding plumage has the top of
the head and a broad collar round the neck bluish
grey ; all the upper parts from the nape varied Avith
dark brown and russet; throat, chest, and abdomen
russet; primaries and tail feathers dark brown, bordered

CRETZSCIT^rAEK’s lU'NTlA'G.

43

with russet; two outer tail feathers with a large Avhite
patch on the inner web of their distal extremities; beak,
tarsi, and feet reddish brown.

The female has, according to Degland, all the upper
parts varied with brown and russet, having a strong
resemblance to the female Ortolan in breeding attire;
the inferior parts and under tail coverts russet, with
brown striae on the crop and chest.

Teimninck says that the male and female in autumn
have the colours less pure, with small striae on the
grey of head and neck; the feathers of the crop boi’-
dered with brown, and the russet red of the throat
less pure.

^ly figure and description are taken from a male
specimen kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram, marked
“Emniaus, Judaea, March 25th., 1858.”

It has also been figured by Doux, as a variety of
the iNIeadow Bunting, in his Ornith. Prov. Atlas, pi.
112, (male;) by Cretzschmaer, in Buppell’s Atlas, pi.
10, fig. 6, (male in breeding plumage;) and by Gould,
B. of E., pi. 181.

44

OllANTYORyE.

Fumthj FRINGILLIDvF. ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Emijeriza. ( Linnceus.)

STRIOLATED BUNTING.

Emheriza striolata.

Emherha striolata,
<( ((

Frin [/ill aria striolata,

(( (C

Fruant Striole,
Gestreifter Ammer,

RurPELL; Atlas, (Vogel,) pi. 10, a.
Temminck; Man., p. 640, 1820.
Ketseeling et Blasius; Die
Wirbelt: 1840.

ScniEGEL, 1844. Degland, 1849.
Lichtenstein; Cat. des doub. du
Cabinet de Berlin, 1823.
Bonapaete; Consp Av. Europ. 1850.
Of the Eeench,

Or the Geemans.

Specific Characters. — No white mark on either of the two
outside tail feathers. Bump and outer edge of primaries russet;
first and fourth primaries of equal length, and shorter than the
second and third, fifth shorter than first or second. Length five
inches and a half; carpus to tip three inches; beak two-fifths
of an inch; tarsus three-fifths of an inch; tail two inches and
three-quarters.

The Striolated Bunting, one of the smallest in the
family, is an inhabitant, of Africa. It was found by
Ituppell in Egypt, and figured in his Atlas by

S T K. ^ G A B u

3 G -Gr I N G.

STRIOLATED BUNTING.

45

Cretzscliiuaer. Its European localities are Spain, in
tlie Andalusian provinces of which country it is said
by Teinininck to be common. Bonaparte gives Lusi-
tania as a locality.

In the “Revue de Zoologie,” for March, 1857, it
is placed by M. De Selys-Long’champs in the list of
those birds admitted into the European fauna without
sufficient authority. Temminck, however, says of it, —
“Inhabits Andalusia, where it is sufficiently common,
and perhaps also in other parts of southern Europe,
which is the more probable since E. ccesia has been
found in Greece, where it is very plentiful. The Strio-

lated Bunting is found in winter on the coast of Bar-
bary, and has been brought from Egypt by Ehrenherg

and Riippell; it also appears in winter in the neigh-

bourhood of Abukol and Schendi. It lives among the
bushes.”

On the whole, I only admit this bird into my work
provisionally, and as a doubtful European species, for
whose accidental appearance we are more indebted to
the proximity of the Spanish and African frontiers, than
to any indigenous claim it can set up. If it should
wander, however, and become settled in Europe, I hope
that its likeness may he recognised from the figure
which I give, and which is taken from a male specimen
sent me by Mr. Tristram, marked “Nubia.”

The adult male has the head, the cheeks, nape, and
breast of a jmre slate grey, marked with longitudinal
spots of black; above the eyes, and from the angle of
the jaw, and base of lower mandible proceed three
white bands ; scapularies, wing coverts, and rump lively
russet red; primaries and outer tail feathers dark brown,
edged with russet; middle tail feathers entirely dark
brown; abdomen, flanks, and under wing coverts light

AOL. III.

II

4G

STRIOLATED BUNTING.

russet; upper luandible and iris Lroun; inferior man-
dible and feet yellow.

The female and young, according to Temminck,
have the bead and neck of a grey russet, marked with
brown striae, more or less deeply shaded; all the other
parts as in the male, but the colours less lively and
pure.

Figured by Cretzsclimacr, in Ruppell’s Atlas of
African Birds, pi. 10, A.

47

GRANIVOEiK.

Family FRINGILLIDyF. ( Bonaparte.)
Geiuis Embekiza. (Linnceus.)

MEADOW BUNTING.

Emheriza cia.

Emheriza cia,

“ pratensis.

Linka:us, S. N., and Authoes.
Beisson, Ornith., vol. iii, p. 266,

1760.

“ lotharingica,

“ barhata,

Cirlus stultus,

Bruant fou ou de pres,
Zipammer,

Zigolo JiTuciatto,

Ortolan de Lorraine,

Foolish and Lorrain Bunting,

GmelijST; Syst., 1788.

SCOPOLI.

Aldeovandus; Ornitli, vol. ii, p. 858.
Of the Feench.

Of the Gteemans.

Savi.

Buffon.

Latham.

Specific Characters. — Head grey, longitudinally marked with
black; rump russet red; primaries edged on the outside with
grey, first and sixth of equal length, and considerably shorter
than the second, third, fourth, and fifth, which are nearly of
the same length, the third being the longest in the wing.
Length six inches and a fifth; carpus to tip three inches and
a fifth; beak half an inch; tarsus four-fifths of an inch; tail
three inches and a fifth.

The Meadow Bunting is an inhabitant of a great
part of the south of Europe, more especially Italy,

48

MEADOW EUXTIXC.

Spain, and the shores and islands of tlie ^lediterranean.
It occurs in the south of Germany, as far as the
Illiine. It is stationary in some parts of Provence,
and migratory in others: it is also a bird of passage
in Lorraine. It is plentiful in Greece during the
winter months, in which season it is mentioned by
j\Ir. Carte as common in the Crimea, and by the
Honourable JMr. Powys (“Ibis,” vol. ii, p. 138,) as
resident, but not abundant, in Corfu. It does not
appear to have been found in the north of Germany;
and Temminck says it does not occur in Holland.
Dubois informs us that it is occasionally found in
Austria and Bavaria, and is very rare 'in Belgium. It
is a bird of passage in Switzerland. It ranges through
a great part of Asia — Syria, Arabia, and the Daouria;
and is mentioned by Mr. Tristram among the birds of
North Africa, (‘‘Ibis,” vol. i, p. 295.)

Of its habits Naumann has given us the best des-
cription, and I am principally indebted to him for
the following history: — The Meadow Bunting a^ipears
in Central Germany in March and April, and leaves
in October or beginning of November, after which a
solitary bird only is to be found. In Switzerland it
is much rarer than the Cirl Bunting. It likes to live
in mountainous places, not, however, in the wild and
deserted parts, but among the fertile valleys. Sometimes
it seeks out meadows, and is found among the bushes
bordering woods, and it especially loves those places
which are near cultivated fields and gardens. It also
frequents the neighbourhood of water, and lingers about
the banks of brooks and ditches, where it sits among
the thickest bushes, and is often seen on the ground.

It is a lively restless bird, pecking and fighting
Avith other birds, as well as with the members of its

MEADOW BUNTING.

49

own family. Its motion on the ground is heavy, and
it has a quick, w'avy, or jerking flight. Its habits
altogether are very similar to those of the Yellowhammer.

Its call-note is a short sharp ‘zi-zi-zi,’ which some-
times sounds like ^zip,’ and hence its German name.
The song of the male is very similar to that of the
Yellowhammer, but shorter and clearer. Bechstein
expresses its note as ‘zi-zi-zi-zirr-zirr,’ others as ‘zip-
zip-zip-zai-zip-zip-zip-zi.’ It is a diligent songster, and
often sits upon the top of a rather low tree or bush.
^Vhen kept in confinement the Meadow Bunting is
sometimes heard to sing at night. It is a pleasant
bird in a room, and soon becomes very domestic, and
may be kept for several years. Bechstein had a pair
which he kept for several years. They are very affec-
tionate to each other, and live sociably with different
birds in confinement, preferring the Yellowhammer.

The Meadow Bunting feeds upon insects, grass seeds,
oats, and millet seeds. It will also eat hemp and
poppy seed, and in confinement become quite content
and healthy upon this food, with the addition of a
little bread soaked in milk; as a treat nothing is so
welcome as ants’ eggs or a mealworm.

Naumann further remarks that they breed certainly
in Germany, in Austria more frequently, but in Italy
plentifully. The nest he describes as like that of the
Yellowhammer, and the eggs similar to those of that
bird, but they may be readily distinguished from both
it and every other Bunting. They are roundish, short,
and oval; dirty or greyish white, with many reddish
and rust-brown streaks and hairs marked upon them.
There are also shorter streaks, which the other Bun-
tings have not. Brehm, in his description of the egg
in Biideker’s work upon European eggs, says, ‘Tt

50

MEADOW DENTING.

prefers high meadows, where it is found among the
short bushes in the neighbourhood of vineyards. It
does not often build on the lihine. Its nest is placed
among the crevices of the artificial fences which sur-
round the mountain vineyards, and generally contains
four eggs, which have a grey whitish ground; shewing
through it, brown, black, and grey lines, which often
form a zone round the middle of the egg. These
lines are connected together and form peculiar markings,
by which they can be readily distinguished from any of
the varieties of the Yellowhammer. Rarely they are
marked with points, or round spots placed solitarily.
They breed tAvice. The young birds are similar to
those of the Yellowhammer, and, like them, are fre-
quently bred in confinement.”

Savi says it is doubtful if they breed in Tuscany,
but they do so freely in the ultramontane countries.
Their nest, Avhich is placed in low bushes, is made of
moss externally, and with root filaments and wool in-
ternally. Eggs four or five, with irregular zigzag lines
and spots of black or dark violet-colour.

Count Miihle’s description, in his ^''Grecian Orni-
thology,” of the habits and plumage of E. da, is
evidently taken from another species. He himself sug-
gests the E. fucata of Pallas, with Avhich his description
to a certain extent agrees. He says the bird Avhich
he describes as E. da is ‘bieither confiding nor stupid,
but shy, and knoAVs hoAV to escape the ambush of the
hunter very skilfully. It flies up quickly, and rims
along the goat-paths as quichly as a Lark” This
certainly is not the habit of the Foolish Bunting.
Moreover, he remarks, “the first primary is quite as
long as the fifth, and much longer than the sixth;”
which measurements are quite different from those of

MEADOW liUXTTXG.

51

E. da, as ■will be seen by reference to iny specific
diagnosis of that bird.

Naumann concludes bis account of tire Meadow
Bunting tlius: — “The Zipainmer, from its confiding
nature is easily shot. They may be drawn in flocks
by the Yellowhammer, as a decoy, and thus be cap-
tured in great numbers, so that in France they have
received the name of Fool. They are very good eating;
they rejoice us with their song, destroy pernicious
insects, and do no damage.”

The adult male in its breeding plumage has the
head and neck bluish grey, with two black bands
along the sides of the vertex, and two other narrower
bands of the same colour, one of which passes through
the Ime of the eye, and the other forming a moustache;
these lines unite, in the parotid region. The upper
parts are bright russet, varied by longitudinal black
stria? ; rump chesnut red; the throat is white; neck
and chest delicate bluish grey; the rest of the under
parts are russet red, brighter on the sides of the chest
and flanks. AFings marked with two narrow whitish
bands; wing coverts colour of the back; primaries
blackish, bordered with russet; tail black, with the
middle feathers bordered with russet, and the two
most CACternal marked with a large white patch on the
internal Avebs. Beak blackish above, grey below; feet
and his brown.

The female has the head, nape of the neck, and
body varied Avith russet and black; rump and under
tail coverts bright russet; inferior parts russet red,
Avith the throat Avhitish; front of the neck and chest
shaded Avith dull grey, and spotted with brown; flanks
of a deeper russet, and more or less spotted Avith
russet broAvn.

MKAIXJAV P.UX'l'IXG.

The young- before tlie first moult dilFer considerably
from the adult. Top of the bead and nape grey, with
a black streak in tire middle of cacli featlicr; upper
parts of tlie body and wings varied like the female,
but of a more grey russet; under tail coverts russet,
with longitudinal spots of black; throat, front and sides
of neck, and top of the chest grey, marked with black
spots; the rest of chest and abdomen white, lightly
washed with russet. — (Degland.)

My figures of the bird and its egg are from specimens
sent me by Mr. Tristram; the former is marked “Ksour,
Jan. 28th., 1857,” and is therefore in its winter plumage.
The egg was from a nest of four, taken by Mr. Tristram
near Algiers, 1856.

The bird has also been figured by BufFon, pi. enl. 3,
fig. 2, female or young under the name of Brumit cle
pres de France, and 511, fig. 1, male in breeding
plumage, under the name of V Ortolan de Lorraine;
Naumann, Naturg. Neue Ausg., pi. 104, figs. 1 and 2;
Vieillot, Faun. France, p. 94, figs. 2 and 3 ; Boux,
Ornith. Prov., pi. Ill and 112, male and female, but
the figure marked a variety in pi. 112, is a male of F.
ccBsia-, Bouteil, Ornith. du Dauph., pi. 32, fig. 6; Gould,
B. of £., pi. 179.

I

GRANIVOR^:.

Fumihj FRINGILLIDjF. ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Emberiza. ( Linnanis.)

]iUSTIC BUNTING.

Eniheriza rnstica.

Fmheriza rvstica,

(( ((

“ leshia,

ii it

“ borealis,

Hypocentor rusticus,
Jji'uant rustique,
Feldammer,

Zigolo di Mitilene,

Le Mitilene de Frovence,

Pallas; Voy., vol. iii, p. G98, 1776.
Latham; Ind., vol. i, p. 413.
Temminck, 1820. Bonaparte.
ScHINZ. ScHLEGEL. DeGLAND.
Calvi; Catal. d’ Ornitli. di Geneva,
p. 46.

Savi; Ornitli. Tosc., vol. iii, p. 223.
Zetteestedt; Besa i Lappra, voL
i, p. 107.

Cabanis.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Savi.

Buffon.

Specific Characters. — Region of the rump russet; primaries
bordered with russet, the first longer or as long as the third,
the fourth shorter than the third; a large elongated white spot
on the two external tad. feathers; beak straight, awl-shaped, and
shghtly elevated at the point. Length nea,rly five inches and
two-fifths . — Pegla n d .

VOL. III.

I

54

KL’STKJ liUNTlNG.

There has been some confusion among the synonymcs
of this bird. Bonaparte has made three species, namely,
— E. rustica, Pallas, E. leshia, Gmclin, and E. procin-
cialis, Gmelin. Schlegel makes only two of the three,
namely, — E. rustica and E.fucata, including among the
synonymes of the latter, both E. leshia and E. procin-
cialis, and in a note, page 83, he remarks, — “This
pretty species dift’ers from E. rustica, by the beak,
which is more curved, and the feet, which are more
robust; the beak of E. rustica is straight and awl-
shaped, absolutely like that of E. pusilla. In winter,
and when they are young, E. fucata and E. rustica
resemble each other very much in the plumage.” Gould
figures E. leshia and E. rustica. Temminck describes
E. rustica, but he also introduces E. leshia as the
Mitilene de Provence of Bufibn, and E. provincialis as
the Bruant Gavoue of Bufibn. Degland follows Schlegel.

It appears that amidst all this confusion there are
two species as described by Schlegel, namely, E.
rustica and E. fucata, but that there is really no au-
thority for the introduction of the latter bird into the
European list. To clear up the matter, I placed
myself in communication with the best ornithologists in
Europe, and I will here insert at length a letter with
which I have been kindly favoured by Professor Blasius,
of Brunswick, whose great knowledge of European birds
gives a high value to his opinion upon the subject.

“Brunswick, Jan. 12th., 1861.

“Sir, — It seems to me that confusion among the
species of the genus Emheriza is greater than in any
other family of Passerines. The distinct species which
are known to me as European, are as follow: —

1. — Emheriza striolata, Lichtenstein. In Africa, ac-

RUSTIC BUXTIXG.

55

cidentally in Spain. One individual, from the south of
France, is in the collection at Vienna.

2. — E. miliaria, Europe, E. Caspia, Menetries. From
the original types at St. Petersburgh.

d. — E. melanocepliala, Scopoli. Southern Europe.
$ E. graniticora, Menetries. From the original type
at St. Petersburgh. ? Euspiza dolgclionica, Bonaparte.
From the original drawings of Bonajiarte. N.B. — E.
icterina, Eversmann. Asia. Bonaparte gives this as
European without adducing any proof.

4. — E. aureola, Pallas. North of Europe — North of
Bussia.

5. — E. citrinella, Linnseus. Europe.

6. — E. cirlus, Linnaeus. South of Europe^i

7. — E. hortulanus, Linnaeus. Europe, (i,) Southern
Russia E. ccesia, Cretzschmaer.

8. — E. clirysophrijs , Pallas. Northern Asia. Acci-
dentally at Lisle.

9. — E. cia, Linnaeus. South of Europe, (b,') Eastern
Russia E. cioides, Brandt; E. ciopsis, Bonaparte. N.B.
— Bonaparte gives this variety of E. cia as European,
without producing any proof.

10. — E. rustica, Pallas. North of Russia, and Boreal
Asia. E. borealis, Zetterstedt; E. lesbia, Calvi and
Savi; Mytilene de Provence, Buffon, pi. enl.

11. — E. pusilla, Pallas. Boreal Russia and Asia.

12. — E. intijornus, Pallas. Asia. Accidentally in
East of Europe — Greece.

13. — E. scliceniculus , Linnaeus. Europe. E. Pcdlasii,
Cabanis, original type; E. intermedia, Michahelles; E.
provincialis, Gmelin, Bonaparte; Gavoue de Provence,
Buffon, pi. enl. (b,) E. pyrrhidoides, Pallas. South of
Europe. E. palustris, Savi.

The two species, E. rustica, Pallas, and E. pusilla.

56

KUSTK! HUXTIXG.

Pallas, are j^erfectly distinct and nnmistakeable. They
both live and nest in the forests of Northern Russia,
for instance, in the neighboiirhood of Archangel. E.
rustica is also found in Lapland. There are correct
figures of the tAvo species in the Appendix to Naumann,
‘Vogel Deutschlands,’ vol. xiii, pi. 388. These figures
were taken from individuals Avhich I killed myself in
the north of Russia, in the neighbourhood of Nidjing-
Wiliki; the two species have also been taken in the
Island of Heligoland, and in the middle of Germany.

It is very difficult to interpret correctly Buffon’s
figures, pi. enl. 656, figs. 1 and 2. Le Gamue de
Pi 'ovence, p. enl. 656, fig. 1, has the beak, and is nearly
of the same colour as E. schcBnicidus var. intermedia,
JMichahelles ; but the figure is the type of E. provin-
cialis, Gmelin, and is also the E. durrazzi, Bonaparte,
that is to say E. schcenicidus , Linnseus. I think that
is all that can be said of this question, nearly lost to
Eui’opean ornithology.

La Mitilene de Provence is perhaps, and will pro-
bably be f est peut etre et elle sera prohahlement J an
imperfect representation of E. rustica, Pall $ (Buffon,
pi. enl. 656, fig. 2.) The form and contour of the
beak, and the colour of the plumage, are characteristic
of E. rustica; but Temminck’s description, Man. d’Orn.,
iii, p. 235, is perhaps a phantom of E. fucata, Pallas.
This is the reason why E. fucata has been considered
a European species, but it is a very uncertain suppo-
sition, and a presumption made upon insufficient data.
I think it possible that Temminck wrote his deserqjtion
of E. leshia, Man., i, p. 317, from Buffon’s figure.

The tAvo species, E. rustica and pusilla, Pallas, live
regularly in the north of Russia, and they have been
taken many times in Central Europe; but E. fucata,

RUSTIC J5UMTNG.

57

Pallas, lias never been taken ivitli certainty in Europe.

Accept tbe assurance, etc., etc.,

C. R. Bree, Esq., M.D. J, H. Blasius.”

I think it will be allowed that tbe above letter
from so good an authority, clears up much of the
confusion which has been occasioned in the natural
history of the Eurorean Buntings, by mistaking slight
differences of plumage for specific distinctions.

From Dr. Schlegel, of Leyden, I have also received
a long letter, from which I make the following extract:
— “The question of the synonymes of the Asiatic Em-
heriza killed in Euro^ie is a very difficult one. I think
it is almost unpossible to state which species are meant
by Buffon, but I believe that all the Asiatic EmherizcB
caught in Southern Europe belong either to rustica or
pusilla, two species breeding as you know in Northern
Russia, and visiting in small numbers the east of Europe.

Emheriza fucata I believe now has never yet been
observed in Europe: it is a species of Eastern Siberia
and Japan, and very well characterized by its long
Lark-like claws. I am also quite sure that the female
and young of E. Scliceniculus have often been confounded
with one or the other of those species, although easily
distinguished by its longer tail.”

The Rustic Bunting is, as has been stated in the
above letter, an inhabitant of Northern Russia. It is
mentioned by Middendorff as occurring in Siberia, and
Temminck states that it has been observed in the
Crimea. It has also been taken accidentally near
Marseilles, one individual having been captured there
alive, and kept in a cage for two years, by M.
Barthelemy, the curator of the museum of natural
histoi'y in that town. This gentleman, as quoted by

58

RUSTIC BUNTING.

]M. Crespon, informs ns that it is in its disposition
lively and gay, that its cry resembles that of its
congeners, ‘zir-zir,’ and that its song, which it keiit
up in 1838, from April to the end of October, had
some resemblance to that of the Fauvette a tete noire.
Its plumage became rather paler at the autumn moult.

It was fed upon millet and hemp seed.

In Badeker’s work I find the following notice: — “It
is a north-dwelling bird, which comes plentifully into
Siberia, and rarely into Lapland, and builds in bushes.
Its nest is similar to that of the Reed Bunting. It
lays five eggs, which are somewhat smaller than those
of the Reed Bunting. The ground colour is brownish
grey, with violet grey spots, veined, and streaked, and
clouded with chesnut brown.”

“The male in breeding plumage,” according to Deg-
land, whose descriptions are always accurate, “has the
top of the head black, with a longitudinal band of russet
Avhite upon the median line, which terminates at the
occiput in a small white spot; nape red russet; back,
scapularies, and upper tail coverts, marked with black
spots, which are edged with reddish russet; throat, front
of neck, and middle and lower part of abdomen of a
pure white; this colour is surrounded on the neck by
a blackish streak, and a large collar of red russet, which
embraces the upper part of the chest; fianks with long
spots of the same colour; under tail coverts white, with
some brownish s^Dots; large superciliary band of pure
Avhite, which is lost in the white spot on the occiput;
wings like the scapularies, and barred with white; tail
brown black, with the two median quills bordered with
russet, and the two outermost on each side marked in
their length with a white band, the smallest on the
second.”

RUSTIC BUXTING.

59

“111 autumn they should have, according to Temniinck,
the black feathers of the vertex edged with brown, and
the median hand of the same tint; on the sides and
lower part of the neck is a row of small brown spots
only.”

Pallas’s description is the following; — “Head black,
with three white bands, one in the middle of the vertex,
the two others above the eyes in the form of eyebrows;
neck and bend of the wing ferruginous; upper part of
the body of a brown and russet tint; under parts white,
vdth some russet spots on the neck; external tail feather
on each side has a longitudinal and oblique white sjiot
towards the tip.”

My figure is taken from Gould. The egg is from
Badeker.

The bird has also been figured by Bufifon, pi. enl.
656, fig. 2, male; Boux, Ornith. Prov., pi. 109, fig. 1,
young, fig. 2, adult; Naumann, Vogel Deutsch, Ajipen-
dix, vol. xiii, pi. 388; Gould, Birds of Europe, pi. 177;
Nilsson, Faun. Laponica, pi. 131, female.

(10

(JRANIVOK.E.

Family FRINGILLIBjF. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Emberiza. ( Linncens.)

YELLOW-HEADED BUNTING.

Emberiza aureola.

Emberiza aureola,

“ Sihirica,
Selj/sii,
Euspiza aureola,
Passerina collaris,
lippocenter aureola,
Pruant aureole,
Kragenammer,

Pallas et ArcT.
Eversmann.
Verant.
Bonaparte.

ViEILLOT.

Cabanis. Brehm.
Of the French.
Of the Gtermans.

Specijic Characters. — Occiput and rump ricli cliesnut brown; the
first two primaries of equal length, and longer than the third; an
elongated white mark on the inner web of outermost tail feather.
Length five inches; carpus to tip three inches; tail two inches and
a half; beak from gape two-fifths of an inch; tarsus seven-tenths
of an inch.

The Yellow-breasted Bunting of the Arctic Zoology
and Latliam is one of those northern species, especially
noticed by Pallas, which have a common habitat along
the borders of the two continents of Europe and Asia.
It ranges from the Ural mountains to Kamtschatka, and

Y E I, L O A\' - H K A 1) E 1 ) J U X T I X G .

()1

is recorded by Temminck and Degland as liaving been
seen during its migration in tlie Crimea. I do not,
liowever, find any notice of its occurrence tliere by Dr.
Carte or Captains Blakiston and Irby. Latliam says it
inhabits the pine forests of Katberinesburg, and that it
is not met witli on the poplars and willov/s in the islands
of the Irtish and other rivers in Siberia. Middendorff
notices its occurrence in his Siberische Beise ; and
Brehm, in his description of eggs in Biideker’s work,
has the following notice: —

“This pretty little Bunting dwells among the bushes
which overgrow the low meadow laird of Siberia, from
the Ural to Kamtschatka. It builds an half-globular
nest away from the ground, of sedges, grasses, or rushes,
and lines its inside with feathers and hairs. It lays
five eggs of a very pretty short oval shape, the ground-
work of which is greyish green, with grey and blackish
veins, black brown bordered points, having round spots
marked upon them.” In the plate to which the notice
refers, four varieties are figured, from which I have
selected two. ]MiddendorfF also figures the egg. His
drawing resembles most the lighter of the tivo varieties
in my plate.

The male has the top of the head a rich maroon,
and the rump is of the same colour, though more mot-
tled; back and wings are broAvn, shaded Avith longitu-
dinal patches of a darker tint; the upper tail feathers
are broAvn; those round the base of the neck and cheeks
deep black; throat and chest canary yelloAV, being
separated by a band forming a half-circle of the same
rich maroon Avhich marks the top of the head ; abdomen
and flanks light yellow; under tail coverts Avhite; pri-
maries and secondaries the same uniform broAvn as the
tail; tertials darker brown, edged Avith rufous; the

A'OL. nr.

K

62

YELLOW-HEADED BUYTIXG.

ODtermost tail feathers only have a slight white patch
on the inner weh ; beak brown above, yellow below ;
feet brown.

According to Degland the female has the vertex and
crop maroon; nape and mantle dull brown, with longi-
tudinal black spots; face blackish grey; the maroon
band on the neeje very narroAv; flanks shaded with
olive, and marked with large brown spots; the feathers
about the carpus whitish grey.

My figure is taken from a Siberian specimen sent to
me by the Rev. H. B. d'ristram. It has also been figured
by Gould, but the drawing represents too large a bird.

I

63

GRANIVORiE.

Family FRINGILLID^. ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Emberiza. ( Linnceus.J

YELLOW-BEOWED BUNTING.

Emberiza elirysoplirys.

Emberiza clirysoplirys, Pallas; Zoog. Eoss. Asiat., pi. 84, fig. 2.

“ “ Selys; Faune Beige., pi. 4, fig. 1.

“ “ Degland ; Tableau des Ois. du Nord de

la France, et Cat. des Ois. observes en
Europe ; (in the Memoirs of the Society
of Sciences, Arts, and Agriculture of
Lille, 1831 — 1845.) Orn. Eur., p. 249.

“ “ ScHLEGEL; Eevue.

“ “ Bonaparte; Consp. Avium Europearum.

Bruant a sourcils jaunes, Of the French.

Gelhbrauiger Ammer, Of the Germans.

Specific Characters. — A yellow supercihary band' stretching be-
yond the auditory orifices; beak straight. First primary as
long as the fourth. Tail very much notched; the most lateral
feather nearly white, spotted with brown only on the upper part
of the internal web, and the under part of the external web;
the following quiU edged with white outside. Length about six
inches.

This bird is an inhabitant of the north-east of Asia,
and is occasionally found in those parts of Northern
Europe contiguous thereto. Its occurrence in Europe,

64

YKLLOW-lilt()\VKl) lUNl'lNt;.

is, however, accidental. One specimen Avas shot in the
neighbourhood of Lille, in France, and is preserved in
the museum of that town.

Of the propagation and habits of this species I am
sorry that I cannot refer to any authentic details.

The folloAving description is from Dcgland: — “The
male has the top of the head black, with a longitu-
dinal Avhite line along the middle, Avhich mingles
behind with a kind of half collar of the same colour;
a large and long citron yellow hand above each eye;
upper parts of the body ferruginous hroAvnish grey,
darker in the middle of the feathers, Avhich are russet
on their' borders; inferior parts grey white on the
neck, with a kind of breast-plate on the crop of brown
and russet feathers; the abdomen pure grey Avhite,
with small spots of brown at the base of the crop and
on the flanks; primaries brownish, bordered with russet
outside. Tail quills brown, three-quarters of the most
external white, Avith the end brown outside; the tAvo
next to the external have the distal half Avhite. Beak
and feet broAvnish ; iris brown.”

It has been flgured by Pallas, and by De Selys, in
the Faune Beige, (1842,) vol. i, pi. 4, fig. 1.

LITTLE BUNTIXG.

G5

GRAXIVOll^.

Family FBINGILLIDJE. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Emberiza. ( Linnceus.)

LITTLE BUNTING.

Fmberiza pusilla.

Emheriza pusilla,
«( ((

(( <(

Bruant Nain,
Zwergammer,

Pallas; Voy., 1776, Zoog., 42, No. 206.
Gmelin; Syst., 1788.

ScHLEGEL; Eevue, 1844.

Degland; Ornith. Eur., 1849.
Bonaparte; Consp. Avium Eur., 1850.
Of the French.

Of the Germans,

Specijic Characters. — Occiput, cheeks, and part of throat fer-
ruginous, with two distinct, deep black, irregular bands, extending
from the base of the upper mandible over each eye, to the
nape, where they turn round, and in some specimens form a
more or less complete collar round the neck, mingled with white
or fawn-colour; throat more or less M'hite, mingled with the
ferruginous colour of the occiput and cheeks; base of the inner
web of most external tail feather white, that of the second the
same, but only half as wide; first and third primaries of nearly
equal length, the second the longest in the wing. Length of
male five inches and three-tenths; carpus to tip three inches;
tail two inches and a half; beak two-fifths of an inch; tarsus
seven-tenths of an inch. Female a little less.

The Little Bunting E the last of the closely-allied

I.ITTl.E r.rXTTNG.

G()

forms wliicli inliahit the northern parts of Russia and
Eastern Siberia; and it will also close my list of this
interesting genus. It lives and breeds in the neigh-
bourhood of Archangel, and has been taken frequently,
according to Blasius, in Central EurojJe. The specimen
from which Schlegel drew his lengthened description
in the Revue Critique, was captured in the neighbour-
hood of Leyden, on the 18th. of November, 1842. It
is included by Professor Blasius and Herr Giitke
among the birds found in Heligoland. It is said by
Pallas to be very common in the Daouria, and is re-
ported by Mr. R. Swinhoe, as occurring in occasional
flocks in Amoy (China) during the winter. — (Ibis, vol.
ii, p. 61.)

It is hardly necessary to enter into any discussion about
the specific identity of this bird, after the very clear
and convincing remarks of Professor > Blasius, which I
published in the notice of E. rustica. M. He Selys-
Longchamps ex23ressed a doubt, in a letter to Hegland,
about the identity of SchlegePs sjDecimen with the bird
described by Pallas, and referred it rather to the female
of E. fucata. Upon this Degland remarks: — “Having
seen in the museum of Leyden, the Emheriza pusilla
of M. Schlegel, I cannot, with my distinguished friend,
refer it to E. fucata; it has not the same kind of
beak. This organ, instead of being convex above, and
a little bent, is straight and awl-shajied, j^ointed, and
slightly reversed at its tij). Its plumage is decidedly
different.”

Bona2)arte, in his “Consj^ectus of Euroj)ean Birds,”
says of this species: — “It is a good s]3ecies of Siberia,
which has been taken accidentally even in Italy; that
of Schlegel is the true one, and neither of the two
figures in my Italian fauna ought to be referred to it.”

1

I.ITTLl-: I’.UXTIXO.

G'

Its habits are no doubt siinilar to those of the
closely-allied species which iudiahit the northern local-
ities, hut I am not able to add anything authoritatively
upon the subject.

By the kindness of ]M..Verreaux, of Paris, I have
been hivoured with a series of four specimens of this
bird, three marked Europe, and one “Mer cV OcJiotysk,
$ , ?” I have figured this last specimen, and the male
in breeding plumage. The other two specimens are
only distinguished by the less amount of russet on the
throat in one, and its absence in the other, which
I presume represent the more or less perfect winter
plumage.

The male in breeding plumage has the top of the
head, cheeks, and throat rich russet red, with a broad
black band stretching from the base of the beak over
each eye to the occiput, where it joins a collar of
cream- colour, which passes entirely round the base of
the neck. Upper parts of the body dark brown,
mingled with light russet, so as to shew a mottled
appearance of those colours on the back, with the
broad tertials nearly brown black; primaries rich hair
brown, with their tips tinged with russet, and the
outer web lightly edged with cream-colour; secondaries
same colour, edged with a band of russet externally;
rump greyish browm. Tail brown, the most external
quill nearly all white, the second having a wedge-
shaped band of that colour on the base of the broad
inner Aveb, the base of the wedge being at the distal
end of the feather. Crop and flanks cream-colour,
thickly covered with longitudinal marks of black
brown; abdomen grey white; under tail coverts cream-
colour.

Schlegcl describes the beak of a blackish horn-colour.

GS

I,TTTr,E r.UXTTXG.

shading off into yellowish upon the edges of the man-
dibles, and the base of the lower; feet and chnvs
slender, and of a pale yellowish horn-colour; claws
pointed, rather bent in, and of a pale blackish horn-
colour.

The bird marked by M. Verreaux $ , ? No. 23G53,
is smaller than the male, but does not differ from it
in plumage essentially, except in the absence of russet
on the throat, the more uniform greyish white, and
the fewer spots of the inferior parts. The colours are
altogether less clear.

My figure of the egg is taken from IMiddendorff.

The bird has been figured in Naumann’s Appendix.

i ili,,

X A k A

c II.

1

GRANIVOliJ^.

Family FRINGILLID^. f Bonaparte.)

Genus Pyrrhula. ( Brisson.J

Generic Characters. — Beak short, conico- convex, and thick
at the base, the sides inflated and bulging; upper mandible
convex, deflected at the tip, and overhanging the lower one
more or less. Kostrils basal, lateral, round, and for the most
part concealed by bristly feathers at the base of the bill.
Tarsus shorter than the middle toe; toes entirel}^ divided.
Wings short; the first three primaries tapering, the fourth
the longest in the wung. Tail of moderate length, slightly
rounded, or square.

SCARLET BULLFINCH.

Pyrrhula

Pyrrhula erythrina,

Loxia erythrina,
Erythrospiza erythrina,
Carpodacus erythrinus,

Pyrrhulinota roscecolor,
rosea et erythrina,
Erythrothorax ruhifrons,
Loxia cardinalis,

“ ohscura,

Fringilla fiommea,
Pyrrhula Sinaica,
Souvreuil Cramoisi,

Brand Posengimpel,

erythrina.

Temmixck.

Pallas. Gmelix.
Bonaparte.

Gray. Kemp. Bonaparte.
Dubois.

Hodgson.

Brehm.

BeSEKE NEC LiNNjEUS.

Gmelin. ?

Eetztus.

Muhle; Orn. Griech.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

VOl . III.

70

SCAKLET BULT.FINCH.

Specific Characters. — Hump red or asli-coloured; abdomen pure
white. The first primary equal in length to the third, and
shorter than the second. Length five inches and a half; carpus
to tip three inches and a half; expanse of wing ten to eleven
inches; tlie closed wing reaches to two inches and a half of the
length of the tail; tarsus nine to ten lines; middle toe seven
lines, and its claw three lines; hinder toe four lines, and its
claw three lines. — Naumann.

The Bullfinches are a beautiful race of birds, and
bow much soever our own British species is valued
for this quality in our eyes, it is j)erbaps surpassed
by the subjects of the present and following notice.

The Scarlet Bullfinch inhabits the regions of the
arctic circle, in the north of Europe and Asia. It is
found in Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Siberia, more
particularly near the Elvers Volga, Samara, Oder, and
Selenga. It occurs solitarily in Courland and in Poland ;
and Naumann especially mentions having found it in the
summer of 1819, on Sylt, one of the islands on the
west coast of Jutland, It occurs accidentally in France,
Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and Central Germany, and
has been captured at Hesse, on the Rhine. Hegland
mentions that individuals have been shot at Abbeville,
at Tournai, in the neighbourhood of Milan, and on
the Swiss Alps; and Nordinann tells us, in the “Faune
Pontique,” that it comes regularly in spring into the
Botanic Gardens at Odessa, either singly or in pairs,
and that it is common in the provinces situated to
the east of the Black Sea. It is mentioned by Count
Miihle as occurring in Greece, under the name of
Pyrrhula Sinaica.

During the summer it is essentially a northern bird,
hut in the autumn it migrates southwards. If it stays
the winter, it is found more especially in the neigh-

SCAKLET BULLFINCH.

71

bourliood of dwellings, where it can he sheltered
among the shrubs. It is very fond of moist situations,
and is frequently found among the bushes on the banks
of rivers, lakes, and ponds, where it may be seen on
the willows or reeds.

Xaumann has given a very complete account of the
bird, from wdiich I have gathered the following: —
“For several years, in the early spring, a pair of
these birds were seen near Breslau, among the wil-
lows and reeds of a swampy district. The male and
female w'ere always near together, and the former
sung gaily. They were both killed at a single shot,
but the female was not found. The male is now in
the museum at Berlin. Later another pair w'ere also
shot.

“This bird does not, according to my observation,
like large thick woods. I have seen it where there
was none at all, namely, at Sylt, in Jutland. In one
part of this island there are no other species of trees
but small thorn bushes.

“In the northern narrow part of the island, where,
between high sand downs, a narrow creek runs into
the land, is a little thicket surrounded by a low earthen
wall, in which is the renowned duck decoy. The
ponds, canals, and the decoy man’s house are all
surrounded by alder trees and thorn bushes. There
is also a thick reed-bank, about ten feet high, which
is all the protection that the neighbouring downs re-
ceive from the devastating north-west storms. Altogether
it is not more than a hundred paces in circuit. The
wood is quite stunted, yet it is, for such a neighbour-
hood, a very interesting spotj and for me it became
still more so when I myself met with a Scarlet
Bullfinch, which I had never seen before in its free

SCARLET KULLFIXCH.

70

state. The male came to within fifteen paces, into a
thorn bush, and sang. It allowed itself to be observed
freely, without any marks of fear. The female was
not to be seen, nor the young, which had already
(June 7th.,) left the nest. The old decoy man, who
chiefly dwelt there, knew of the nest, and took me to
it, assuring me that these birds had for many years
bred there, and that they were not rare in the island.
That they also bred in the elder and meadow thorn
bushes near the house, and Avere pleasant-singing
cage-birds. After much seeking Ave found no more,
but Ave discoA'ered the Common Linnet, for which they
may probably liaA^e been mistaken by the decoy man,”
“The Scarlet Bullfinch is very confiding to Avar ds man,
being not at all shy. The singing male remains in
the open, like the Linnet, upon the j^oints or tips
of bushes, and flys aAvay like a shot when disturbed.
Its call is a clear, piping, high tone, similar to Ticke,
ticke, tuk,’ tAvlce repeated in a clear and perceptible
manner. When a part of the song has been uttered,
as far as my observation extends, the Avhole tone is
A'aried into a longish cadence.”

“W'heii Avith my friends Von Woldicke and Boie
I last approached this celebrated decoy, at Sylt, I
heard the song at a considerable distance, and I drew
their attention to it, that there might be no mistake.
The resemblance of the song to some of the notes of
the Heed Bunting, as well as those of the Linnet, is
a remarkable fact. Both these latter birds live in its
neighbourhood. It is a very agreeable, loud, long,
and, Avith many slight pauses, unbroken song; and it
is so characteristic, that an ear like mine, Avhich from
earliest youth has been accustomed to obseiwe the song
of birds, can distinguish it in the far distance. In a

CARLBT BULLFINCH.

SCARLET BULLFINCH.

73

neighbourhood where little can escape the eye, the
beautifully-plumaged songster, was easily recognised,
and, as we did not like to shoot it, we placed our-
selves at a short distance, where, unseen, we were
able to observe it for a considerable time. It may
be an agreeable cage-bird, but in confinement the red
plumage turns into a permanent yellowish green.”

The Scarlet Bullfinch lives xipon various kinds of
seeds, more especially, according to Dubois, those of,
an oily nature, as well as those of the elm or alder.
Xaumann also suggests that it feeds upon the seeds
of the reeds, among which it likes to live. The same
authority informs us that it nests among the woody
plantations in the neighbourhood of St. Petersburg.

The nest is formed of wool, dry grass stalks, and
twigs, and lined with feathers and horse-hair. It lays
five or six eggs, light green, spotted at the larger
end with small black dots.

Brehm, in Badeker’s work upon European eggs, has
the following notice of the nidification of this bird: —
“They nest in the thick woods and bushes of Siberia,
in Lausatia, in the neighbourhood of Galitz, in Galicia,
and in Poland — near Warsaw, where it is found in
swampy situations overgrown with alder trees. Once,
in June, it was met with, paired, in Penthendorf.
The nest is placed in a bush, and is made of moss,
sticks, dry twigs, and sheep’s wool, and is lined with
hair and wool. The eggs arc a lively blue green
in colour, more or less marked with black or brownish
dots and spots on the larger end. They are inclined
to pear-shape in form, without, like the other Bull-
finches, being sw'ollen in the middle.”

The male in breeding plumage has the small feathers
in the nostrils and around the neck, of a dull rose-

74

SCARLET BULI.ITNCH.

colour; tlie base of all the feathers, as well as a
narrow streak along the shafts, of a brown red; rump,
sides of the head, throat, front of neck, and chest,
of a bright or rose crimson; belly and abdomen of
a pure white ; back and wing coverts ashy brown,
tinged with a little red towards the extremity or tips
of the feathers; quill feathers of both wings and tail
blaekish brown, bordered with reddish; tail forked,
beak and feet brown.

The female has all the upper parts of an ashy
brown, with large longitudinal spots of a darker brown;
throat and eheeks regularly spotted with white and
brown; front of neck and all the under parts of a
pure white, marked with large longitudinal spots of
dark brown; middle of belly without spots. It is
stated that the male adopts in winter the plumage of
the female . — ( T emminck. )

The young males are not red in the first year; they
have a remote similarity to the female of our Linnets,
but are distinguished from them by having more of
a greenish tint pervading the whole plumage, especially
through the yellowish borders of the wing feathers;
the head, under part of the neck, back, and shoulders,
as Avell as the wing coverts, are brown grey, but
something brighter on the borders of those feathers
which are of a greenish colour; rump dirty yellow
green; the dirty white throat has down its sides small
brownish feathers, which become larger on the upper
part of the breast, where the ground is also brownish,
but on the sides is shaded into brownish grey; belly
and under wing feathers dirty white, without spots ;
the dark brown wing feathers have on the outer side
a yellow greenish bordering, which makes them brighter;
beak and feet are like those of the old male, but of

SCARLET BULLFINCH.

a brighter colour, namelj a dirty yellowish or brown
yellowish flesh-colour, the tips of the claws being dark
brown. — (N aumami.)

In the first part of the Bulletin of the Imperial
Society of Naturalists of Moscow, for the year 1860,
there is an article by Alexander Von Nordmann,
upon the birds of Finland and Lapland, in which he
states that P. erythrina is very common in Southern
Finland, which was not the case, according to the
testimony of his father, thirty years ago. It builds
every year in the Botanical Gardens at Helsingfors,
in the tops of the maple and Carangana Sibirica. It
arrives at Helsingfors in the middle of IMay, and the
young are fledged by the 25th. of June. The nest
is made loosely of twigs. The eggs are white, with a
few blackish red spots at the large end. The voice
of the bird is loud and flute-like, easily recognised
again when once heard. It has a call-cry similar to
our Greenfinch. — (See ‘This,” January, 1861, p. 111.)

The figure of my bird is from Naumann. The egg
is from Badeker.

The bird has also been figured by Gould, B. of E.,
pi. 206; Dubois, Oiseaux de la Belgique, pi. 117, (male
and female;) Naumann, Natur. der Vogel Deutsch.,
pi. 113, (male and female.)

7(>

GRAXIVOll.E.

Family FRINGILLID^. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Pyrrhula. ( Brisson.)

KOSY BULLFINCH.

Pyrrhula rosea.

Pyrrhula rosea,

Passer roseus,

Fringilla rosea,
Carpodacus roseus,
Pouvreuil-rose Pallas,
Sibirischer Rosengimpel,

Temminck.

Pallas.

Of Authors.

Kaup. Bonaparte.
Of the French.
Of the Germans.

Specific Characters. — The vertex red, with silver-white spots;
throat also mottled with crimson and white; rump crimson or
yellowish white; two transverse bands of white across the wings.
Length five inches and a half, French, (Temminck,) six inches
and a half, German, (Naumann;) expanse of wings eleven inches
and a half; length of somewhat notched and forked tail two
inches and five-eighths. The wing does not reach to half the
length of the tail; the club-shaped beak five and a half lines;
tarsus three-quarters of an inch; middle toe and claw seven
lines; hinder toe and claw rather over six lines; leg and toes
covered with scales. — (XaX'Mann.)

The Ivosy Bullfincli is described by Naurnann as
the most beautiful of our Northern European birds.
Closely allied to the last species, it yet differs from
it in size and ornamentation. Its beak is quite dif-

EOSY BULLFINCH.

I i

ferent, being narrower and more pointed, liaving
more the clraracter of that of the true Finches. The
measurements also of the two species, which I have
taken from Naumann, shew very important structural
differences.

The Rosy Bullfinch is found in Northern Asia,
principally in Siberia — on the banks of the rivers Uda,
Selenga, etc., visiting in the winter the eastern parts
of the south of Europe, and occasionally it has been
captured in Hungary. It has also, hut very rarely,
been seen in the north-east of Germany; and it is not
improbable that it is there, but has escaped observation.
It has also been included by Professor Blasius among
the list of birds captured in Heligoland.

Very little is known of the natural history of this
bird. This may in a great measure arise from its
being very frequently mistaken for the last. Pallas
says, however, that it is rare even in Siberia. Nau-
mann senior saw it free once only, and then was not
acquainted with its name for several years after.
Temminck, in the first edition of his “Manual,” con-
founded it with the Scarlet Bullfinch.

The Rosy Bullfinch likes to live in bushes which
grow near water, and occasionally comes into gardens,
accompanied by the Snow Bunting. It feeds upon
all common seeds, according to Naumann, and on
the kernels of various berries. About its propagation
nothing is known.

The adult male has the forehead and throat of a
silvery and shining white; vertex, neck, and body of
a very bright crimson red, with the feathers of the
back and scapularies black in the centre; two bands
of a rosy white on the wings, of which the coverts
are edged with dirty white; cheeks, lo-wer part and

VOL. III.

M

78

ROSY BULLFIXCn.

sides of neck, and cliest, crimson red; belly and under
tail coverts rosy white; primaries and tail quills brown,
edged with rose on the outside; beak and feet clear
brown.

In the young before the first moult the entire plu-
mage is of a reddish grey, longitudinally spotted with
brown; Avith two bands of reddish yellow on the wing,
and the rump yellowish. After the fii’st moult a little
Avhite appears on the forehead, and the red becomes
more brilliant Avhile the spots disappear: thus the
specimen described by Pallas as having Avhite only on
the forehead, and Avith its plumage broAvner, must
haA’e been a young bird after moulting. — (P'emminck.)

The folloAving is from Naumann’s account of this
bird, Avhich I insert to make my description as complete
as possible. I quote from the above accurate obserA'cr’s
beautiful Avork on the ‘‘Birds of Gennany,’^’ a AAmrk,
Avhich I may take this opportunity of saying, is, in
my oj)inion, both for full and elaborate description,
and for the beauty and natural expression of its illus-
trations, perhaps unrivalled in ornithological literature.
— “The size is that of a Mountain Finch, and larger
than the Common Linnet, but in contour it someAvhat
resembles them both. The beak is reddish grey, the
root of the superior mandible being yelloAvish; the
round nostrils are ornamented Avith stiff small feathers,
and the iris is rust broAvn. The broAvnish yelloAV feet
are tolerably strong and robust; the claAvs, not very
large, but sharp, are dark broAvn at the tip, but have
othei’Avise the colour of the feet.

“The old male has tAvo distinct characters of plu-
mage,— brown, and a splendid carmine red; and the
last, with Avhich the Avhole bird seems to be suffused,
makes it one of the most beautiful of northern birds.

EOSY BULLFINCH.

79

The head and neck are carmine red, irith a brown
grey sparkling through it, so that the feathers (like,
in fact, those of the whole bird,) are more or less
dark, having a ground of grey and white, and the red
colouring only taking possession of the tips or edges
of the feathers. On the temples, the hinder part of
the head, the throat, to the middle of the breast, and
the rump, this colouring is the brightest, a deep
brilliant rose red; and on the sides of the breast dark
brovm arrow-shaped spots on a whitish ground, be-
coming larger on the flanks, with, on this part of the
body, a yellow white tinge; the belly and under wing
coverts are white, Avith rosy red borders. There is
one peculiarity to be noticed, namely, that in this
northern bird, as Avell as in the male of PyrrJmla
longicauda, Temminck, Avhich is the Loxia Sihirica of
Pallas, the feathers of the vertex and throat have a
silvery scaly appearance, and the barbs of the feathers,
as well as their points, have a bright shining white
colour. The shoulders and uiiper part of the back are
dark broAvn, spotted Avith red streaks; the dark brown
feathers of this part have borders of carmine red; the
greater feathers of the shoulders haA^e also white bor-
ders. All the wing feathers have a dull dark broAvti
ground; the lesser Aving feathers carmine red borders,
the greater, broad white borders, Avith rosy red tips.
The greater wing coverts rosy red borders with Avhite
tips, forming tAvo oblique borders of Aidiite across the
wings. The upper tail coverts bright red, with dark
brown arroAV-spots, and the darker broAim tail feathers,
of Avhich the outermost are merely someAvhat lighter,
have rosy red borders; the underneath Aving and tail
feathers are light brown grey; the under Aving coverts
dirty white, spotted Avith broAvn, having, at the edges,
a tinge of rosy red.

80

KOSY I5UI-LFIXCH.

‘‘In tlic autumn plumage, tlie borders of the -sving
and tail featliers are broader, shading into a brownish
white, and in the back and shoulder the red bordered
feathers have besides brownish white edges. The
splendid red is there also darker, and acquires its
brilliancy by degrees under the influence of air and
sun.

Probably the young male is not so beautifully red,
and in the first year perhaps not at all so as in the
preceding species, ( P. erytlirina,) and the females of
both are certainly very similar. I have only seen two
male stuffed specimens of this splendid bird to examine
and compare with P. erytlirina and P. purpurea, the
Bouvreil violet de la Caroline of Brisson.”

It has also been figured by Gould, B. of E,, 207.

81

GUAmVORM.

Family FFINGILLIDJE. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Pyrrhula. ( Brisson.J

DESERT TRUMPETER BULLFINCH.

Pyrrhula githayinea.

Pyrrhula githayinea,

ft (6

“ payrcaudaei,

Fringilla githayinea,

“ thehaica,

Erythrospiza githayinea,
Cat'podacus payreaudaei,
Pucanetes githayinea,
Serinus “

Erythrothorax githayinea,
BouvreuiUrose “
Trompeter gimpel,
Papageien “

Eosen “

Egyptscher rosen-gimpel.

Temminck. Eoux.

Bolle; Naumannia, 1858,
p. 369.

Audouin ; Descr. Egypt.
Zool.

Lichtenstein.

Hemprich; Sched. Mus.

Berolin.

Bonaparte.

Gray; Gen. of Birds.
Cabanis; Mus. Hein., p. 164.
Gloger.

Chr. L. Brehm.

Of the French.

Cabanis.

C. L. Brehm.

A. Brehm.

Schlegel.

Specific Characters. — The small feathers all round the base of
the beak rose carmine; rump, external borders of the primaries
and abdomen a most delicately beautiful rose pink; no transverse
bands across the wings; the first q.uill feather the longest in the

82

DESERT TRUMPETER RULLEINCH.

wing. Length five indies and a half; from carpus to tip three
inches and three-eighths; the tip of the wing reaching, when
closed, within one-third of an inch of the end of the tail. Tail
two inches and three-eighths long; tarsus three-quarters of an inch;
beak from gape five-eighths of an inch; height of beak five-
twelfths of an inch; circumference of beak at base one inch.

This elegant bird is a native of Africa, and has only-
been known to occur in Europe with certainty in Pro-
vence, Tuscany, and the Grecian Archipelago. It is
found however at Malta, the bird figured in the “leones
Fauna Italica,” having been captured there. It is seen
in the island from December to IMarch, and its desig-
nation “The Trumpeter,” is derived from its Maltese
name “Trumbettier.” It is mentioned by Captain Loche
among the birds observed by him in Algeria, and is
especially found in Nubia and Syria. A long and in-
teresting account of its residence and habits in the Canary
Islands, from which the following history is principally
taken, is given by Dr. C. Bolle, in “Naumannia,” for
1858, pp. 369-393; and in Cabanis’ “Journal fur Orni-
thologie,” for 1859, p. 469, a further account of it is
given by Chalihl ElFendi, as it was found by him in
the desert regions of the north-east of Africa, on the
banks of the Nile, in Upper Egypt, in the oases of
Nubia, where it occurs in large flocks, and in Arabia
Petrea.

Dr. C. Bolle’s monograph is a model of this kind of
descriptive natural history, going into full particulars of
all the habits and nidification of a most interesting bird,
hitherto generally dismissed by authors with the brief
remark, “Ses mamrs, ses habitudes, son regime et sa pro-
jyagatiou sent inconnus.”

In the early part of his account. Dr. Bolle reprobates
the system of name-making in modern days; the present

DESERT TRUMPETER nULLFIXCiI.

88

bird being classed by various authors as an Emheriza,
a Frmgilla, Pyrrhida, Carpodacus, Erytlirospiza, Ery-
throthorax, Serinus, or Bucanetesl

I have preferred, however, keeping it where it is
placed by its structural affinities in the genus Pyrrhida,
It may be considered as the ground and desert type
of that genus, not far removed from the two preceding
species.

It is truly, as Dr. Bolle remarks, a bird of the Sa-
hara. He writes about it as follows: — “Far beyond the
other side of the fruitful coast-line of North Africa,
which borders southwards the Mediterranean Sea, the
cultivated fields of the Arabs are surrounded by a margin
of desert, where a new unexplored kingdom, with a
scanty but strange world of plants and animals, comes
into view. Silence, as of the grave, reigns supreme
in the terrible Sahara, where the sea of sand has its
waves agitated by the poisonous breath of the Simoon.
Through this run the routes of the caravans, and its
palm-shaded oases and wadis, which during the falls of
winter are flooded with water, and are adorned with
thickets of mimosse and tamarisks.”

It was in the two Canary Islands Lanzarote and
Fuertaventura, which appear to have been divided from
the Sahara by the sea, and bear the character of scenery
above described, that Dr. Bolle found the Desert Trum-
peter in great abundance, and where his observations
upon its habits were made.

“Whoever,” says Dr. Bolle, wishes to know the
dwelling-place of P. githaginea, must not expect to
follow me as when I described the wild Canary bird
into the glades of the Hesperides, through hollows rich
in flowers, and bordered whth woods of laurel. The
Fortunate Islands are in no way similar to the ever-

84

DESERT TREMrETEU UrEEElNCII.

green colour in wlrich they appear to travellers who pass
these land-marks of navigation in the height of summer.

The Desert Trumpeter is found most plentifully in
Lanzarote and Fuertaventura, and most sparingly in the
great Canary Island. I found it in fact spread over
the whole eastern part of the Canary Islands, and have
reason to believe that it may inhabit the more western
parts also.

On the 1st. of April, 1856, I found it in an excursion
to Caldeca von Bandama, on the high-road which leads
from Ciudad de las Palmas to the Vegas, and welcomed
it joyfully as an old acquaintance one comes upon un-
expectedly. It is seen, but less plentifully, in the neigh-
bourhood of the principal town, but at the time of
migration it appears in great numbers in the harbour,
Puerta de la Luz. I have also observed it in the
districts of Jinamar, Cariizal, and Juan Grande, and
nowhere more abundantly than in Arguineguin, where
it frequents in flocks the tombs and ruins of a town
which at one time had been plundered by the Spaniards,
which now covers a cape or promontory with rocks and
grottoes, and fig-trees in the back ground, and com-
mands an incomparable panorama over the sea tow'ards
the peak of Teneriffe,

It also breeds in the islands of the western group,
since the thick growth of wood has driven it back
there, but it has not been seen hitherto on Teneriffe,
Gomera, Palma, or Ferro.”

‘^The country inhabited by the Desert Trumpeter
must above all things be without trees, and in the hot
regions of the sunny coast. It prefers stony places,
where in the noon-day the wind trembles over burning
stones, and by the glimmer, and reflected light of which
the traveller is almost blinded. Only a little grass grows

desi<:rt trumpeter bullfinch.

85

in summer betAveen tire parclied and bleaclied yelloAV
stones; and here and there at wide intervals the low
bushes of the taybayba, f Euphorhia halsamifera,) or
the thorny prenanthes, only eaten by the dromedary,
spring up. Here the Trumpeter lives — a Bullfinch Avith
the manners of a Stonechat. It is always found in
sociable little groups, Avhen the cares of the breeding-
season do not keep it solitary. The cheerful little bird
dances from stone to stone, or glides about near the
ground, but seldom can our sight follow it far into the
landscape, for the reddish grey feathers of the old bird
mix as closely with the colours of the stones and leafless
stems and tAvigs of Euphorbia, as the isabelle of the
young does with the pale yellow of the sand or
chalk.

AVe should soon lose it if its voice, Avhich is one of
its most striking peculiarities, did not guide us to it.
Listen! A note like that of a small trumpet trembles
through the air, and vibrates continuously; and if Ave
are very attentive Ave shall, hear just before and just
after it tAvo gentle light notes ringing like silver bells
through the still desert, or the almost imperceptible
chords of an harmonium played by unseen hands. Again
it changes, and this time its notes resemble the deep
croak of the green frog of the Canaries, but less coarse,
hastily repeated one after another, and Avhich the little
bird will itself ansAver with almost similar but weaker
sounds, like a ventriloquist, as though they came from
the far distance. Nothing is more difficult than to des-
cribe in language the notes of birds. They must be
heard to be appreciated, and no one Avould expect to
hear so remarkable a song from a bird in such a locality.
The aboA-e trumpet-like tones often ending in a succes-
sion of crowing and humming, distinguishes the habitat

VOL. III. N

8G

DESERT TUr-MPETER BULEFI>'CTr.

of tliese birds. They live almost so completely in tlic
uninhabitable country around, that they arc ahvays joy-
fully welcome, and listened for attentively when silent,
dliey are as the melancholy voices of the desert, or as
the Djuns of the solitude. ‘Vox clamant is in. dcsertoi’

The Desert 'rrumpeter does not appear frequently on
the stec]) rocky liills, at least I have only once met with
it in such a situation, and that was in April, 185~. It is
much more partial to the black lava stream of the desert,
which, full of gaping- rents and chasms, hardly permits
a blade of grass to become green. It never settles on
a tree or bush, like the Stonechat. In inhabited dis-
tricts they are rather shy, yet where, as in Handia and
nearly all the south of Fuertaventura, the silence and
solitude of the desert is unbroken, they are very con-
fiding, especially the young, which, when we meet with
them unexpectedly seated on a stone, will peer with
their little brilliant eyes quite into one’s face.

They feed entirely, or almost so, on the seeds either
of grasses, which are found like a mealy kind of bread
in their stomachs when killed, or the oily seeds of
composite and cruciferous plants, which they shell like
other finches, by moving them most carefully backwards
and forwards between the mandibles of their strong beak.
They will also eat tender young leaves. They cannot
long dispense with -water, and often must fly some
miles daily to get it. Their presence in the desert is
always a good omen for the thirsty traveller. I have
constantly seen them flying to drink in flocks. They
drink much at a time in long draughts, between which
they lift up their heads. After drinking they are very
fond of bathing. I have never seen them roll about in
the dust like Sparro-ws. The breeding-time begins in
March, and like those of most true desert birds, the

DESERT TRUMPETER JiU LLFIKCH.

87

nest is well concealed, and witli such foresight, that it
can hardly ever be found.

I have never succeeded in discovering one, though I
have many times sought in vain, as did Brehm in
Egypt, who writes, ‘In the month of March P, githa-
ginea is in breeding-plumage, but I have never succeeded
in discovering any more about it. The masses of rock
on both sides of the Nile form a very favourable nest-
ing-place, but they extend so much that the naturalist
cannot pursue his object with any good result.’

I know, however, from the goatherds of E uertaventura,
that the Mores', as they are called there, build in crevices
under large overhanging stones upon the ground. The
nest has a tolerably strong texture, and is woven with
the coarse straw of the desert grass, and lined within
with great feathers, mostly of the ostrich and bustard,
as well -as the wool of the camel and hair of the goat.
The number of eggs is from three to five. They cer-
tainly breed twice, if not more frequently. The second
moult takes place in July. Individuals quite tired have
been seen by fishermen flying over the arm of the sea
and the islands of the coast. These journeys shew why
it appears yearly in Malta as a bird of passage, as this
island makes the direct line from the Western Sahara
and Canary Islands to the deserts of the Syrte, bordering
on the Mediterranean.

The Desert Trumpeter does not appear to have many
enemies in its native home, as with the exception of
the wild cat and a few stoats, it has no four-footed foes.
The Horned Owl can scarcely find it under the flat
stones, and in the clifts which protect it. It has only
to beware of the Kite, (Milvus regalis.)’’^

Dr. Bolle v'as a long time before he could keep them
alive in confinement, but he at length succeeded, and

88

DESKKT 'J'KUMI’ETEll (5U ELElXCir.

he gives a most interesting account of tlicir habits.
He says they are peaceful and gentle, very tame and
sociable with each other, or with other birds. The male
bird sings in the late autumn and winter. They love
company, and constantly call to one another. He kept
his birds in a room with plenty of light, and when the
lamp was brought in they began their song. The
tone is sometimes clear and beautiful, but Avith a short
trumj)et, or a prolonged drony or quaking sound, Avhich
appears to be the key-note of their song, and to Avhich
is often added various modulated tones, sometimes re-
sembling the purring of a cat. The ‘ka, ka, ka,’ AA^hich
they constantly rejAeat, ansAvers, as a rule, one much
deeper, softer^ and shorter. Rarely they may be heard
uttering a Ioav chattering, like the little parrot; they
Avill also cackle like the hen, ‘kekek, kekeek,’ three or
four times in succession. Their alarm note is a loud
‘schak, schaok.’ When hunted and caught they shriek
Avith anguish. Their notes are almost Avithout exception
so full and expressive, that we Avonder hoAV such a
small creature can produce them. The female has not
the trumpeting tone so loud as the male has in spring.”

“In confinement the first egg was laid on the 24tli.
of April. They are four in number, rather large for
the bird, pale sea-green, or lighter, Avith small spots
and points of reddish broAvn, thinner at the smaller
end, and forming at the larger end a kind of croAvn
or Avreath.”

The male bird has the top of the head and nape
ashy grey. The back more or less broAvnish ash-grey,
with reddish edges to the feathers; the greater Aving
coverts, pale broAvnish, edged Avith rosy red; the pii-
maries are a glossy hair-broAvn, Avith their outer edges
fringed Avith rosy pink, their tips being bordered (the

DESERT TRUMPETER BUELFIXCH.

89

first three slightly, the rest more broadly,) 'with cream}^
white; in the secondaries the outer border is the
broadest, and the cream-colour is more deeply tinged
with rosy pink; the tail is emarginate, and the
feathers present the same deep brown coloxir, broadly
edged with cream-colour and rosy red, as the wing
feathers, so that when the wings are closed, they form,
with the tail, a pleasing striped appearance. All the under
parts (more or less,) the under tail coverts, feathers round
the beak and rump are rosy red, mingled on the crop
and abdomen with grey.

Dr. BoUe says that when old, the males have the
scapularies speckled with red, and that this colour is
much deeper on the back. In autumn the male is less
beautiful,- — the red is less remarkable, and the ashy
grey above, changes into a dull grey brown, on which
account, after moulting for the first time, they have a
strongly marbled appearance. In this stage a reddish
shade on the back is above all perceptible. The beak
is a rosy coral colour, which Dr. Bolle says gives it in
the distance the appearance ^of an exotic bird. Tarsi
and feet rose; iris brownish black.

The female is above brownish grey, hut that colour is
lost in the clearer tints below, which from the throat
downwards, become exclusively 'whitish. The upper
part of the wings reddish grey. On the throat and
immediately under the beak clear rose; tail rosy red;
scapularies edged with rosy red. The greater wing
coverts and tail feathers like the male, only smaller, and
the rose less marked; under tail coverts pale reddish
grey; feet paler rose than the male. No hands across
the wings of either sex.

The plumage of the young differs somewhat from
that of the adult. IITien it leaves the nest it is clear

90

DESERT TRUMPETER RUI.LEINCTI.

light colour, or dull isabelle yellow, which Dr. llolle
.says Dcghmd wrongly ascribes to the female. This
colour goes doAvn wards from the throat Avithout any
streaks, and gradually blends into Avhitish; there is no
trace of red, not even on the almost isabelle yellow
tint. The under tail coverts are yelloAvish; greater and
lesser wing coverts, wings, and tail have a darkish
broAvn colour, Avith a speckled grey yelloAV on both
edges; beak and feet flesh-colour. (Bolle.)

My flgure of this bird is a male sent to me by Mr.
Tristram, and marked “Biskara, 212nd. Jan., 1857.” The
egg is also from a specimen sent me by the same
gentleman.

The bird has also been figured by Temininck et
Tangier, planche color, 400, figs. 1 and 2; Boux, Or-
nith. ProA’., vol. i., suj^p. plate 74, bis, young male in
autumn plumage; Gould, B. of E., pi. 208.

The folloAving have been by A^arious authors admitted
into the European list of the genus Pijrrhula: —

1. — Pyrrliula coccinea, Selys. — The Greater Bullfinch,
^Boucreuil ponceau of the French,) differs in nothing
Avhatever from the Common Bullfinch except in size,
and having rather more Avhite on the rump, and the
band of this colour across the Avings being rather broader.
W^e are informed by Dubois (Oiseaux de la Belgique,
p. 125,) that it never mixes Avith the common species.
It Avas first introduced as a distinct race by Yieillot,
Diet., 1817, and after by M. Le Baron Selys-Longchamps,
in his “Faune Beige.” Schlegel, hoAveA^er, in his ‘^Be-
vue Critque,” 1844, declined to admit it as a distinct
species, having never seen it in nature. De Selys
himself only considered it as a local race of the Common
Bullfinch. Degland admits it into his “Ornithologie

desert trumpeter ruelfinch.

91

Eiiropeenne/’ with the following remarks : — The size
of the Bouvreuil ponceau is constantly larger than that
of the common species; there is a difference in the
proportions of their wing primaries, in the strength of
their note, and it is certain that they always flock
separately.”

Bonaparte, who admits it into his ‘‘Conspectus Avium
Europaearum,” 1850, and in his “Critique,” p. 27, makes
the following remarks about it: — “I would not answer for
this not being in reality a constant race or species, evi-
dently that which Graba would have represented in his
work upon northern birds.”

Lastly, Dubois admits it as a distinct species, under
the designation of Pyrrhula coccinea, Leisler, and re-
marks upon it: — “This bird is in many respects like the

axen Chatterer, appearing only from time to time.
Sometimes it is not seen for several years, and then
shews itself in great numbers. These Bullflnches have
their periodical migrations, and unite together sometimes
in large, and at other times in small flocks before
starting. They have been seen in Belgium in 1836,
1840, 1846, and 1850; but in the autumn of 1855, there
was such a number taken, that they might have been
bought by the dozen at the game-dealers. Our learned
naturalist M. Le Baron Selys-Longchamps, had the honour
of being the first to flgure this bird in his “Faune
Beige,” and other naturalists have followed his example.
This Bullfinch has been long known as the Great
Bullfinch among bird-catchers. Naturalists have con-
founded it with the Common, although from its size
it ought to form a separate species, and it is never
kno'svn to join the Common Bullfinch when they assemble
for their periodical migrations. It is distinguished by a
more brilliant red and greater development of the white

BESEKT TRUM PETEK BULEFTXCH.

mark on the rump. The species, according to all ap-
pearances, belongs to the north of Europe, but as it
has always been confounded Avith the Common Ihdl-
finch, it is not jrossible to assign it a fixed locality.”

Such is the history of this bird. I sec no reason
Avhatevcr for constituting it a distinct species any more
than for forming different species out of the A'arictics
of rams 2>alustns, which Mr. A. Nervton has shcAvn to
present at least three different forms between this country
and Laplaiifl, but not sufficient to constitute specific
difference. Having seen the birds I entirely agree in
this opinion; and the rule which seems to obtain with
most birds of exhibiting strongly marked and permanent
climatic variation, must not be overlooked as it applies
to the present one. Under any circumstances it is quite
unirecessary that I should give a figure of this assumed
species.

2. — P. Langicauda, Temminck, P. Sibiricus, Pallas. —
This bird was stated by Temminck to have been cap-
tured in Plungary, and it is admitted into the European
list by Keyserling and Blasius. It is hoAvever rejected
by Schlegel, Degland, and Bonaparte. There does not
appear any authentic account of its occurrence in Europe.
It inhabits Eastern Siberia and the Altai mountains.

3. — P. Caucasica, Pallas, Loxia ruhicilla, Guldenstadt,
is admitted into the European list by Keyserling and
Blasius, Schlegel, and Bonaparte. The latter says of it:
— ^‘The Loxia ruhicilla of Guldenstadt is a Carpodacus;
but it is much more strongly formed than ErytJirina,
Avith which in other respects it has less affinity than
with P. roseus, Avhich is also much smaller.”

He then alludes to a female in the collection of M.
De Selys, about the authenticity of which there is some
doubt.

DESERT TRUMPETER BULI-FIXCTI.

98

Degland also remarks of this bird, “This geniis f Coc-
cothraustes ) M'as established by Brisson, and only includes
our HaAvfinch. The Count de Keyserling, Professor
Blasius, and INI. Schlegel place in this genus the C.
Caucasicus of Pallas, Loxia ruhicilla, Guldenstadt, But
this bird was only known to the latter naturalist; it
resembles in size, form, and coloration the Pine Bunting;
it is not certain that it belongs to the genus Coccoth-
■raiistes, and as it is only taken in the Caucasus, I do
not include it in this catalogue, and must refer for a
description to the “Revue” of M. Schlegel, p. 79.”

This description is that of Guldenstadt, and is very
clear and minute.

It appears to be intermediate between the Pine Bull-
finch and the Hav'finch, of a soft red colour, variegated
Muth vdiite and grey. It is indigenous to the Caucasian
Alps, delighting in the cold regions frequented by the
Pine Bunting, especially the beds of gravelly rivers,
where it feeds on the berries of the Hippoplioes rham-
noides. It assembles in flocks, and imitates the notes
of the Bullfinch. There is scarcely any difference in
the sexes.

“The top of the head, throat, underneath the neck,
and chest, intense red, marbled with ■white acutely tri-
angular spots and streaks; abdomen and under tail
coverts weak rose, Avatered Avith AAdrite; tail feathers
beloAV rosy-fuscous. Xeck above and back greyish, -with
a rosy tinge; tail feathers above rosy-fuscous. The base
of all the feathers Avhich lie in situ, and Avhich con-
stitute the greater part of all the plumage is intensely
grey. The closed Aving is an inch shorter than the
tail; the primaries and tail quills are fuscous, indistinctly
margined Avith rose; the axillary feathers colour of the
back. The tail is three inches and six lines long; the

A'OL. III.

94

DESEET TlirMPETER l!T'I,T,ETXrTr.

t-svelve tail feathers brassy-black, the tip of each external
margin white, the rest shaded with rose. The thighs
are feathered to the knee, and grey; the tarsus and
toes, of which there are three before and one behind,
of a black colour, claws incurved, acuminate, black,
equal anteriorly, the hind one -.longest. Length eight
inches, of wings four inches nine lines, tarsus one inch
one line, middle toe nine lines, hind toe five lines.”

Figured by Guldenstadt, Nov. Comm. Petr, xix, pi.

12.

I have thought it right to give a translation of the
principal part of Guldenstadt’s diagnosis of this bird, and
regret that I have not a specimen to figure, although
confined as it is to neutral ground, its claims to Euro-
pean rank are very slight.

1

GPvANIYOR^.

Family FRINGILLID^. ( Botiaparte.J
Genus Frixgilla. f Linnceus.J

Generic Characters — Beak short, strong, convex, straight,
and conic; superior mandible dilated, slightly bent at the
point; the upper part depressed. Nostrils basal, round, placed
near the forehead, behind the horny elevation of the swollen part
of the beak, partly hid by the feathers of the forehead. Tarsi
shorter than the middle toe. The two or three first wing
primaries tapering, the third or fourth the longest.

CEIMSON-WINGED GEOSBEAK.

Fringilla coccotJiraustes plimiicoptera.

Fringilla rliodopfera,
Montifringilla sanguinea,
Ergthrospiza phcenicoptera
et Rhodopechgs phcenicoptera,
Rhodopechys phcenicoptera,

“ phcenicoptere.

Lichtenstein.

Gould.

Bonapahte.

Cabanis.

Loche.

Specific Characters. — Top of the head in the male black; the
first two-thirds of the outer web of aU the primaries, except the
first, the feathers round the eyes, and the ujiper tail coverts, rich
crimson. Length seven inches; carpus to tip four inches and
three-tenths; tarsus ten fines; tail two inches and three-fifths;
beak seven fines; circumference of beak at base one inch and a half.

90

C R ni S 0 X - A V I X G E I) G R O S 1 5 ]•: A K .

Tins beautiful species is closely allied to tlie Desert
Trumpeter, Pyrrhula githayinea. It has been included
with it and Frinyilla obsoleta, by Liclitenstcin, in the
genus Erythrosjnza, in which arrangement he was fol-
lowed by Bonaparte. Subsecpicntly Cabanis placed this
bird in a new genus, that of llhodopechys , in Avhich
he was also followed by the versatile Prince of Canino.
It differs, however, from the Bullfinches in the size
and form of the beak, and belongs, I think, more
strictly to the genus Coccothraustes , although here
again the form of the wing is different.

Bonaparte says of it in his “Conspectus Avium
Europearum.” p. 28: — “This elegant Enythrosjnza
phcenicoptera, which does not differ from the Frinyilla
sanyiiinea of Gould, from the confines of Persia and
Circassia, claims its place in the ornithology of Europe,
which it can always ensure by a few movements of
its wings. It is essentially sedentary, only changing
from plains to mountains,”

In addition to the above places, Erzerouin may be
mentioned more particularly as a locality; in the neigh-
bourhood of which place it is found in flocks of five
or six. It occurs also in the southern parts of Africa.

In its habits it very much resembles P. githayinea,
living among rocks and stones in the desert, and
feeding upon seeds.

The male in breeding plumage has the top of the
head black; the nape, back, scapularies, and wing
coverts rich chesnut brown, checks, throat, and flanks,
being a brown of a lighter shade. Wings black, with
the first two-thirds of all the primaries, except the
first, rich crimson, the secondaries being broadly tippled
with very pure white; upper tail coverts crimson; tail
black, with the exception of the most external on each

CKIMSON-AVINGED GKOSEEAK.

97

side, 'wliich. are jiure wliite; all tlie other quills more
or less tipped 'svitli white. The feathers surrounding
the eyes crimson; the crop and abdomen fawn-colour,
with the feathers covering the thighs white; under
parts of the wings at the shoulders bordered with
crimson; the rest of the upper part white, below slaty
brown; tail, when closed, white, being covered by the
two external feathers. Feet brown; beak yellow.

The female has the upper part of the head brown,
with all the other upper parts different shades of the same
colour, only a slight vestige of the crimson colour of
male being perceptible; the primaries and secondaries
dark brown, the former slightly edged with crimson,
aiad the latter tipped with dirty yellow. Throat,
cheeks, crop, and flanks nutmeg brown; abdomen
dirty-mottled white and brown.

The figures of this beautiful bird are from specimens
kindly sent me by Mr. Gould. The male is from
Erzeroum. The female was also shot in the breedinar

O

season.

98

GRANIVOR^.

Family FRIGILLIDJE. ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Fkingilla. ( Linnceus.)

SERIN

Frinyilla

Fringilla sertnus,

Fyrrhula serinus,

ii

Serinus Jlavescens,

“ hrumaHs,

“ hortiilanus,

“ meridionalis et islandicus,

Serin Finch,

Serin cini,

Gemeiner grilngimpel or girlitz,
VerzelUno,

Raperino, Verdolini,

Serino d' Italia,

Crespolino,

FINCH.

sei'inus.

Linnjeus. Temminck.
ScHLEGEL. Degland.
Keysebling et Blasius.
Gould. Bonaparte.
Strickland.

Koch.

Bonaparte.

Latham; Syn., vol. iii, p. 296.
Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Savi.

Stor.

Of the Tuscans.

Specific Characters. — The back olivaceous, marked with longi-
tudinal blackish spots; vertex pale olivaceous yellow; primaries
and tail feathers dusky brown. Length four inches and a half;
carpus to tip two inches and seven-eighths; tarsus nine lines;
beak four lines.

The Serin Finch is an inhabitant of Southern
Europe. It is found plentifully in Spain, the south

SEKTX FINCH,

00

of France, in Italy, Greece, in that part of Switzerland
which borders on Italy, and more rarely in the south
and south-west of Germany. It is also found in
Central Germany, in the north of France, and in
Holland; but Naumann says it is not found in the
north of Germany. According to Faber, it has been
found and killed between 66° and 6T° of north lati-
tude. It has also been found in the Hertz Mountains,
and, according to Bechstein, it is often seen in
Thuringia. Dr. Leith Adams informs me that it is an
autumn visitor at Malta, is common in Sicily, and
very common at Smyrna. Xaumann remarks as worthy
of notice that the Serin Finch is not equally plentiful
in the same country, and Schinz writes to him that
he has never procured it in the Canton of Zurich,
though they are common a four hours’ journey out of
it. They are said to be plentiful in the neighbourhood
of Heidelberg and Offenbach, but in the country be-
tv'een very rare. Count Miihle says it is very common
in Greece, in company with Finches and Linnets,
and that its colours are in that country very bright.
Captain Loche includes it among the birds of Algeria;
and Mr. Salvin (“Ibis,” vol. i, p. 313,) says that it is
common about the olive-groves of Sousa, in the neigh-
bourhood of Turin, but rare in the more elevated
and mountainous parts of the Eastern Atlas.

A special interest attaches to this bird in consequence
of its having been recently captured in England, but
as it has not hitherto been figured as a British bird,
it comes into my list. The account of this capture
will be found related by Mr. Bond, in the “Zoologist”
for 1860, p. 7105. One specimen was said to have
been caught in a clap-net on the 20th. of June, 1859,
near Brighton; and a second near London, in October,

100

SERIN I'INCII.

1859, shortly after a severe storm. ]\Ir. Rowley also
(“Ibis,” January, 1861,) alludes to other specimens
having been taken near Brighton.

Tho Serin Finch is generally a migratory bird,
quitting its summer and breeding ground in October,
and returning the following March; but in the mild
climate of the Rhine, Naumann tells us it remains all
the year round.

It lives most frequently in fruit-gardens, orchards,
or avenues of wallnut or nut-trees, and vineyards;
more rarely in oak and beech woods, and loves to
dwell among willows and alders, on the banks of brooks
and rivers, as well as in garden-trees in the middle
of villages or near buildings. Naumann, from whom
I am now quoting, further remarks that wherever it
lives in summer, it makes itself known by its restless
habits, and its custom of always singing on the sum-
mit of the tree tops, from which it often flies down
to the roofs of buildings. In autumn it is more retired,
but remains long on the thick tree tops.

It seeks its food principally on the ground, on
which account it is often seen there, but never very
far from trees and bushes, and still less in the open
fields. It does not seem to like fir or pine woods.
In its movements it is very lively and active, springing
from branch to branch, very much like the Siskin or
Common Linnet, and it willingly associates with these
birds, particularly the Siskin. They arc generally seen
in pairs or small flocks, and the pairs do not seem to
separate during the whole year, but “cling to each
other with the utmost affection and tenderness.” If
one is accidentally separated from the other, they call
assiduously until they are again united.

The male is very lively in the beautiful spring

SERIX FINCH.

101

weather, and sings continually from the tops of the
trees, and delights especially in flying from one to the
other, sometimes soaring and sometimes fluttering aloft,
and flying straight down again like the Tree Pipit.
In its usual flight it resembles the Siskin, moving
quickly from place to place, and uttering its peculiar
note, which has been compared to that of the Siskin,
the Goldfinch, and Canary-bird. The song has much
variation, and may be heard at the breeding-place all
day long, and from March till far into August. It is
a favourite cage-bird, assorting by choice with Siskins,
Goldfinches, and Canaries, and it may, like these birds,
be taught many performances.

Like other Finches, the Serin feeds on seeds, es-
pecially those grown in gardens, and it prefers the
oleaginous to the farinaceous. Naumann mentions par-
ticularly cabbage, hemp, and poppy, rape, turnip,
radish, and lettuce seed, for which it lays contributions
on the cultivator, and for which it is doubtless often
shot and trapped. The wild seeds which it seems to
prefer, are dandelion, hawk cabbage, chicory, the
grasses, and even, v/hen driven to it, oats. In autumn
it seeks its food among the alders and birches.

Its nest is much more frequently found on fruit
and walnut-trees than on beech, oak, or alder. It is
in position more like the nest of the Goldfinch than
the Linnet, placed in a forked bough, not very high,
or in the lowest branches; in bushes and dwarf fruit
trees, but not in low bushes. The nest is sometimes
like that of the Goldfinch, at others more like the
Greenfinches, but smaller, very narrow, rounded, and
lined with more skill than the latter. It is formed of
small roots, woven together with old twigs, which are
however, sometimes wanting. The inside is tolerably

VOL. III.

10^

SKKIN FINCH.

deep, and made soft and warm witli feathers, and
generally a large quantity of horse-hair, and single
pigs’ bristles, which secure a smooth resting-place for
the eggs, and make, as Naumann justly remarks, one
of the prettiest of nests.

The eggs are about the size of the Siskins’, but
shorter and rounder, very tender-shelled, and in colour
resembling the Linnets’, having a ground of greenish
white, with solitary dots and short streaks of a dull
or dark blood red, or reddish brown, forming a kind
of wreath oftentimes round the larger end. They sit
fourteen days, and this duty is performed entirely by
the female, while the male often feeds her most
tenderly from his crop.

The late lamented Mr. Edward Tuck, of M^allington
ilectory, near Baldock, Hertfordshire, who took a
great interest in the progress of my work, wrote to
me an account of his observation of this bird in the
south of France, and promised to send me the nest
and eggs. The fatal disease, however, which took
him to the sunny climate of the south of France, has
since then terminated fatally; and it is with a melan-
choly interest I record an extract from one of his
letters, which displayed not only considerable knowledge
of natural history, but powers of observation, which
would, had he been spared, have done much good to
the science, in the pursuit of which he w'as so fond.
The letter is dated June 15th., 1859; —

“I have lately returned from Cannes, where I passed
several months of the winter; but I am sorry to say
have met w'ith very little indeed in the ornithological
way. . . .Provence is generally a very dry and barren
country, and you only find birds in the valleys, on
the borders of streams. With regard, however, to the

SERIN FINCH.

103

Serin Finch, F. sermus, I found that some wintered
in Provence. I heard the song two or three times in
December, and obtained a sjiecimen in January. They
begin to sing again about the middle of February.
By the middle of March their numbers had greatly
increased by arrivals, and they were extremely abundant
all along the edges of the pine Avoods, Avith Avhich all
the higher ground of the country is coA’ered. They
evidently frecjiuented the borders of culti\mted ground
more than the interior of the Avood. The males Avere
then in full song. From the middle of March the
numbers gradually lessened till there were only some
pairs left here and there breeding.

^‘They build chiefly in gardens, more so than in
pine Avoods. The nest is ahvays on a pine or cedar,
from six to sixteen feet from the ground. On the
14th. of April I saAv some young Serins out of the
nest, but they could not flyj and on the 26th. I took
a nest containing only tAvo fresh eggs. On my way
home, I stayed some days at Fontainebleau. I cer-
tainly did not hear these birds there, though the
gardens round the palace seemed suitable for them, and
I AAms sheAvn the skin of one said to have been ob-
tained there. The Serin Finch is not found in
Madeira. I have seen it at Cintra, near Lisbon, in
June, but they are never numerous there then.”

In Badeker’s Avork upon European eggs, I find the
following remarks about this bird by Brehm: — “The
Serin Finch inhabits the south of Europe, Asia Minor,
and North Africa. In Germany it removes in a
remarkable manner toAvards the north. I saAv it at
Nuremberg in 1130, and for three years at Jena and
Dresden. It comes into the south of Germany during
the first fortnight in April. The half-boAvl-formed

104

SERIN FINCH.

nest is made of grass and stalks of plants, and lined
ivitli feathers and hairs. INIany also use the catkins of
the willow upon the under layer, Avhilst others are
made almost entirely of rootlets, and some build almost
exclusively of the clustering blossoms of the chesnuts.
It lays in May five eggs, which are similar to those
of F. citrinella in size and markings. The ground-
colour is pale green, having at the narrow end faint
reddish grey spots, in the middle brown, Avhile, at the
greater end, the small streaks and dots are black broAvn.”

Savi’s interesting account does not differ from those
I have given. It appears in Tuscany in flocks in
April.

The male in breeding plumage has all the upper
parts olivaceous, Avith longitudinal black markings; the
vertex, throat, crop, and an imperfect collar round the
neck, greenish yelloAv; the nape mottled yellow and
olivaceous; the lower part of the body and flanks
dirty whitfe, the latter being marked Avith longitudinal
broAvn s^iots. The wings are crossed Avith tAVO narroAV
yellowish Avhite bands. Primaries and tail quills broAAUi,
bordered lightly with dirty white; the rump is clear
canary yelloAv; beak horn brown above, whitish below;
feet and iris broAvn. In autumn the colours are less
pure.

The female has less yelloAV in its plumage than the
male, more black above, and more broAvn spots below.

Before the first moult the young are variegated Avith
grey and yellowish, Avith elongated broAvn markings.

My figures of the bird and its egg are from speci-
mens kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram.

The bird lias also been figured by Bufibn, pi. enl.
658, (male;) Roux, Ornith. Provence, pi. 94, (male and
female;) Boutcil, Ornith. du Dauph., pi. 34, fig. 4;

SElilX FI^X•II.

lOo

Gould, B. of E., pi. 195; Tcmminck, Atlas du Manuel;
Vieillot, Galerie des Oiseaux, pi. 62, et Faune Franc.,
pi. 38, fig. 1; Naumann, Vogel Deutsch., vol. v, pi.
123.

10(3

GKANIVOil^.

Family FRINGILLID^. f Bonaparte.)
Genus Fringili.a. f Linnceus.)

CITKIL FINCH.

Fringilla citrinella.

Fringilla citrinella,

“ alpina,

“ hrumalis,

Serinus citrinella,

Chlorospiza citrinella,

Cannahina citrinella,

Citrinella serinus sive alpina,
Venturon ordinaire, Le Venturon
de Provence, or Gros hec Venturon,
Gemeiner Citronenjinic,

Venturone,

Linna;us. Temminck.
SCOPOLI.

Bechstein.

Boie.

Kaup.

Degland.

Bonaparte.

Oe the French,

Of the Germans.
Savi.

Specific Characters. — Vertex and back green; nape grey. Pri-
maries all tipped witli ash; first and third primaries of equal
length, and the longest in the wing; tail much forked. Length
four inches and four fifths; carpus to tip of wing three inches;
tarsus seven lines; beak four lines; tail two inches and three
tenths.

The Citril Finch is very common in the south of
Europe — in Greece, Turkey, Italy, the shores of the
Mediterranean, and in Provence. It is found acciden-

CITRIL FINCH.

107

tally only in Germany and tlie north of France, and,
according to Temininck, never in Holland. It is by
no means a rare bird in Spain, nor in Switzerland.
It leaves Germany and Switzerland in October in
flocks, and returns in March or April. It is also
found in those parts of Asia and Africa which abut
on the European border. Captain Loche says it occurs
only accidentally in Algeria.

Thus limited to the southern parts of Europe, the
Citril Finch is nevertheless a true Alpine bird, living
not only among the smaller hills, but frequenting the
highest Alpine mountains as far as the arboreal region
extends. It is found, says Naumann, in the upper
dark forests Avhich are broken here and there by
open plains overgrown with grass, and rocky precipices.
Count Miihle says it is rare in Greece everywhere
except in the mountains.

The following account of its habits is from Naumann:
— It is a cheerful restless little bird, very active in
its movements, and somewhat shy. It seems always
full of joy, and is constantly heard even in bad
weather, or in the middle of alpine snow and storms.
It is never known to stay long in the same place;
and appears in constant motion, turning its tail from
side to side, hopping or fluttering among the boughs
of the trees, or on the earth when it seeks its food;
its spring is quick, its deportment fearless. In all this
its affinity with the Siskin is remarkable. It resembles
it also in its flight, especially that of passage. It seems
alike indifferent to weather or temperature, and only
departs from its mountain home, when the ground is
frozen, and there is a deficiency of food.

Its note is a gentle piping, described by some as
^gu,’ by others as ‘qjiul’ or ‘qjiub.’ This call is

108

crniiL Fixcu.

heard frequently as it flics or immediat('ly after
settling. The song of the male is variously described.
Bechstein compares it to that of the Canary bird, but
says it is not so shrill — something between a Canary
bird and Tree Pipit. Schinz compares it to the song
of the Siskin. It is really a loud, clear, pleasant song,
which may be constantly heard at the breeding-season,
from March to September. The female also sings a
little, but not so loud as the male.

Many agreeable qualities combine to make the male
Citril Finch a favourite cage-bird, and it is kept by
amateurs in great numbers. It becomes domesticated
quickly, is easily tamed, and not difficult to keep
even for a long time. It feeds principally on the seeds
of firs or pines, and on those of many alpine plants,
and also destroys buds and blossoms, though probably
it docs this, like the Goldfinch, in search of insect
larvee. In confinement it is fed, like other Finches,
on poppy or hemp seed, but with the last it gets too
fat, and it must not consequently be made its principal
food.

It nests in the mountains of the countries above
named, in the Tyrol, and in many places in Switzer-
land on the southern Alpine chain. The nest is
sometimes placed in the thick stumpy alpine firs or
other 2:)ine trees, sometimes under the roofs of the
herdsmen’s cottages. It is cup-shaped, and very well
and skilfully woven together. It is made of dry grass,
with moss and twigs more or less intertwined, is
tolerably smooth on the outside, and very beautifully
lined with many hairs of various animals, small feathers,
and husks of the poppy.

The eggs are four or five in number, and in form
and colour very similar to those of the Goldfinch.

t I

r

/

\

i

CITRIL FINCH.

109

They are, however, much smaller. The ground-colour
greenish blue, with variously-sized dots of reddish
grey and blood red, chiefly at the larger end.

According to M. Crespon, it will breed with the
Serin Finch.

The male in breeding plumage has the top of the
head and back olive green; nape and sides of throat
grey; rump, throat, and all the under parts citron
yellow; wings and tail dark brown; the primaries
lightly and the secondaries broadly tipped with ashy
white; two oblique bars of olive green across the wings.
Beak brown; feet reddish; iris clear brown.

The female has the plumage browner, with less of
yellow below, and the wing bars are whitish.

According to Degland the young before the first
moult have the upper parts of a russet grey, with a
longitudinal black spot in the centre of each feather;
the inferior parts russet white, with a number of
brown spots, distinct, but less pronounced on the
middle of the abdomen; wings of a blackish grey,
with the coverts broadly bordered and tipped with
light yellow ochre, forming two transverse bands, one
on the middle, the other on the lesser coverts; pri-
maries brown, bordered and tipped with grey; tail
quills equally brown, bordered and tipped with ashy
white.

My figure of this bird is from a specimen sent me
by Mr. Tristram. The egg is from Thienemann.

The bird has also been figured by Temminck, Atlas;
Vieillot, Faune Franc., pi. 40; Roux, Ornith. Prov.,
pi. 90, (male;) Naumann, Vogel Deutsch., pi. 124;
Bouteil, Ornith. du Dauph., pi. 35, f. 3; Gordd, B. of
E., pi. 198.

Q

VOL. III.

no

GKANIVOEJ^.

Family FRINGILLID^. f Bonaparte.)
Genus Fringilla. f Linnceus.J

SNOW FINCH.

Fringilla nivalis.

Fringilla nivalis,

“ saxatilis,

Passer alpicola,
Plectrophanes frinyilloides ,
Chlorospiza nivalis,
Montifringilla nivalis,
Pinson de Neige des Alpes,
Alpen Schneejink,

Beisson.

Koch.

Pallas.

Boie.

Kaup.

Brehm. Bonaparte.
Of the French.

Of the Germans.

a

Specific Characters. — Wing coverts, tlie chief part of the
secondary quills, and all the tail feathers with the exception of
the two middle ones of a pure white. Length six inches and
two fifths.

The Snow Fincli is an inhabitant of the highest
mountains of Southern Europe, namely, — Switzerland,
south of France, the Pyrenees, the Appenines, and the
Caucasus. It is found also in the Tyrolese Alps, and
occasionally, while on its passage to the north, in
Thuringia and Anhalt. In the north of Europe it
is rare. It has, however, been taken in Sweden ac-

SNOW FINCH.

Ill

cording to Nilsson, thoiigli he only mentions a single
capture: and it is equally rare in Siberia. It occurs
in the high mountains of Persia, and is found in
North America. Dr. Leith Adams informs me that it
is common about Candahar, so that it has a wide and
extensive range. In Switzerland it is found in the
highest mountains in the regions of everlasting snow,
descending to the lower parts only when driven by
storms; and in the spring of the year it is found in
the higher alpine valleys. In summer it still prefers the
most desolate places, where it is seldom disturbed by
its enemy man; such as the Usfernthal, the desert
regions of the Gumsel and the Simplon, and in the
neighbourhood of the convent of St. Bernard, where
it is found all the year.

Naumann, from whom my account is principally
taken, says that the Swiss naturalists consider there
are two species or permanent varieties, one living
ahvays in the Swiss mountains, the other in the south
of Germany; hut he does not agree with this opinion,
considering the idea has originated in the well-known
migratory habits of the bird.

The Snow Finch lives during summer, and in a
great part of the year where no trees grow ; it is
therefore seen on the ground, stones, and walls or roofs
of buildings. It is a cheerful, restless, and vigorous
bird, resembling in its habits the Mountain Finch and
Chaffinch, and like them it runs and hops on the
ground, and has a similar flight, in which its beautiful
plumage is well displayed. It is generally considered
a very shy bird, hut the Swiss naturalists say that
in their mountains it is less wild, though ever
cautious. It is sociable with its kind, and is seldom
seen alone, except during the breeding-season. When

112

SNOW FINCH.

startled, it flies up high in the air, and seems to go
far away, hut it usually makes a circuit and returns to
the same spot, where it settles upon the ground.

Its call, which is heard during flight, is a pe-
culiar piping, short, broken note, comiiarcd by Schlnz
to the syllables ‘tri, tri, tri.’ Bechstcin says that its
call is a loud and clear ‘kip, kip,’ like that of the
Crossbill. It will also in confinement sing the notes
of the Mountain Finch, and is not easily tamed.

It lives upon seeds and insects, preferring of the
first those that are oily, and of the latter beetles and
grasshoppers, moths, etc. In winter its food is by
necessity confined to the seeds of alpine plants — fir and
pine trees, and, like our Sjiarrows and Finches, it
may he seen feeding among the dung of horses, and
it Avill even in inclement seasons venture into the
cloisters of St. Bernard to pick up grains of rice or
anything it can get. Schinz tells us they are always
in good condition, and very fat in summer. In con-
finement they will do well on rape and hemp seeds,
but will also eat those of the fir, which they seem to
like much. They also feed upon the seeds of several
grasses.

The Snow Finch breeds only in the highest regions
of the highest mountains, where the growth of wood
has ceased, and near those dreary and desolate spots
where the snow has never melted since the mountain
was upheaved from the bowels of the earth. Yet it
hath pleased Him, without whose knowledge not a
Sparrow falleth to the ground, to locate here one of
the most beautiful of His created things; and as the
weary traveller seeks among these wild and inhospitable
regions the records of a past history in the world —
and is full of that deep and indescribable feeling which

SNOW FINCH.

tlie sublimity of such a solitude creates M'ithiu his
miud — he is charmed and delighted by the chirp or
the flutter of this lonely denizen of the Alps, which
proclaims to him by its presence there — by its adapta-
tion to its existence — by its distinct individuality — that
it had a special creation and a special position assigned
to it in the great scheme of nature.

The nest of the Snow Finch is placed on the rocks,
between stones, in fissures of the rocks, or in holes,
as well as in the balconies and under the roofs of the
hospitals of the great St. Bernard and the Simplon.
It begins to build in May, and' has probably only
one brood in the year. The nest is made of dry
grass, stalks, and moss, and lined inside with feathers
or hairs. It contains from four to five eggs, which
are very similar to those of other Finches. The ground-
colour is bright greenish, with ashy grey and dark
green or brown irregular spots and dots.

The young are fed upon insects, and are taken off
into the snow, even to the highest regions, by the old
birds.

The male in breeding plumage has the top of the
head and neck of an ashy colour, running into bluish;
back and scapularies brown, shaded with russet on the
borders of the feathers; upper tail coverts partly white
and partly black, with their edges russet; the inferior
parts are white, washed with ash on the crop and
neck, with a large black spot on the throat; abdomen
white; under tail coverts white, with some brown spots
at their extremity. Wings black, with a large white
longitudinal band formed by the wing coverts and the
greatest part of the secondary quills; the primaries
bordered on the outside, and tipped with russet grey;
the two middle tail feathers black, bordered with

VOL. III.

R

114

SNOW I'lNC’H.

nissct grey; the others white, tipped with u slight black
spot bordered with russet; the most external feather
on each side entirely white; beak black; feet and iris,
brown.

In autumn the colours of the male arc browner
above, the black mark on the neck less extended, and
the borders of the feathers which form it ashy; beak
yellowish, and the feet of a darker brown.

The female does not differ from the male, (;xccpt
by the ash-coloured head, which runs into russet, and
the absence of the black mark on the neck.

The young before their first moult are above and
on the sides of the head and nape of an ashy brown,
with the feathers broadly bordered wdth russet; back
and scapularies brown, with the feathers bordered with
red; front and sides of the neck ashy white; cro]3, ab-
domen, and under tail coverts of a russet white ; the white
feathers of the wings and tail, washed with an ochreous
red on their borders; the black feathers of the same
parts bordered and tipped with russet; beak saffron
yellow; feet russet brown. — (Degland.)

Figured also by Buffon, Brisson, Wilson, Temminck,
etc. By Roux, Ornith. Prov., pi. 89, (male in winter
plumage;) Bouteil, Ornith. du Dauph., pi. 35, fig. 1;
Naumann, Vogel Deutschlands, pi. 117; Gould, B. of
E., pi. 189.

115

GKANiyOR.E.

Family FFINGILLIDFE. ( Bonaparte. J
Genus Fringilla. f Linnceus.)

ALPINE SEEIN FINCH.

Fringilla pusilla.

Fringilla pusilla,
Passer pusillus,
Serinus “
Pyrrhula pusilla,
Moineau des Alpes,
Alpensperling ,

Gmelin.

Pallas.

Brandt. Bonaparte.
Uegland. De Selts.
Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Specific Characters. — Bump grey, spotted with blackish; abdo-
men dirty white; primaries boi’dered with yellow in the adult, and
with white in the young. Length about four inches and a half.
— Degland.

This species is said by Pallas to be common in the
Caucasus and tbe borders of the Caspian Sea, to which
it goes in spring from the high mountains in common
with Fringilla nivalis and Sylvia erytlirogastra, which
come down in winter from the alpine regions of Persia.

The following is the description given by Pallas; —
“Forehead testaceous red; vertex black. Neck and
back grey, Avith the middle of the feathers fuscous;
abdomen and under tail coverts Avhite. Feet black;
beak fuscous.”

116

ALPINE SEKIN FINCH.

The above description is thought by De Sclys-Long-
champs to apply only to the young in the winter
plumage. In the “Revue de Zoologie” for 1847, page
120, this distinguished naturalist has given the following
more extended diagnosis of the adult bird: — Top of
the head, auditory region, and throat, of a dull black,
with the forehead of a bright and lively red; nape,
upper parts of the body, and upper tail coverts, grey;
the centre of the feathers blackish, having the borders
of a saffron yellow or grey white ; the parts below dirty
white, with longitudinal blackish spots on the flanks
and under tail coverts, the whole irregularly washed
Avith saffron yellow ; wings blackish, the lesser coAmrts
broadly bordered with saffron yelloAV ; primaries slightly
bordered Avith this colour, and the secondaries with
grey white; tail blackish, Avith the end lightly bordered
with grey white; beak brown; feet black.

Figured by Pallas, Zoog., 1811-31, vol. 2, p. 28.

I have not a specimen or good drawing of this bird,
Avhich I therefore am sorry to say cannot be figured.

r

]iO,L BOLL’S Ki;DiOLj^.

117

GRANIVOR^.

Family FRINGILLIDJF. ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Fringilla. (Linn<Bus.)

HOLBOLL’S EEDPOLE.

Fringilla Holhoelli.

Fringilla Holhoelli,
“ canescens,

H 6(

“ borealis,

it it

Linaria canescens,

“ Holhoelli,
Acanthis Holhollii,
^giothus Holhoelli,
Carduelis Holhoellii,
Siserin Grisatre,
Grauer leinjink.

Brehm.

De Selys; Faune Beige.
ScHLEGEL; Eevue.
Teiiminck; Man., 1835.
Keyserling and Blasius;

Die Wirbelthiere Europa’s.
Gould. Degland.

Brehm.

Bonaparte.

Cabanis.

Dubois.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Specific Characters, — Bump pure white in all seasons, except
in the breeding season, when it has in the male a rose-red tint;
tail six cents and a half, equal about to two inches and three
fifths. Length five inches and three fifths. — Degland.

The Lesser and Mealy Redpoles are included in our
British lists, both of them being frequently taken in
this country. Mr. Gould has, however, figured a variety

118

ill liis “Birds of Europe,” M'liich is considered by some
to be only a variety of F. borealis; and Mr. Morris,
in his “History of British Birds,” has figured the iNIcaly
Bedpole under Gould’s naiiic of Linaria canescens.

As long ago however as 1S42, M. Selys I)c Ijong-
chainps, in his “Faune Beige,” p. 73, remarked that
“i^. borealis must not be confounded with F. canescens,
Avhich differs always from it, in that the whole rump
is of a pure white above, but it has a much stronger
make, a very long tail, and the ground colour of the
plumage white, tinted with brown.”

This species inhabits Greenland, and is found occa-
sionally in Belgium and the north of France.

M. Dubois, in his “Planches Coloriees des Oiseaux
de la Belgique,” a work which I have before had
occasion to speak of with favour, has the following notice
of this bird, which I take the liberty, with the author’s
kind permission, to transcribe: — '“The Tarin D’Holboll
is very rare, and we have only very vague and very
imperfect accounts about it. M^e are ignorant of its
true country. It is only known that it conies from the
north, and that it appears in Germany and Belgium.
Nothing is known about the habits and nidification of
this bird, but they probably do not differ from other
species of the same genus. It is distinguished from its
congeners by the body and beak being stronger, and
the greater length of the wings. Many naturalists have
made a special genus for this Tarin and the two other
European species, but we cannot admit this distinction,
as these Tarins do not differ in anything but the colour

of the plumage The figures are taken from two

species in the collection of M. De Selys-Longchamps.”

The male has the vertex and forehead blood-red ;
upper parts of neck and body whitish, with longitudinal

HOLBOI.l’s KE])P0I:K.

119

blackish marks; rump, front of neck, and chest, rose-
red; rest of the under parts white; ear coverts and
tliroat black; primaries and tail feathers brown, edged
with pure white ; beak yellow below and brown above ;
feet and iris brown. The female is like the male, but
without red on the neck or chest; the lower part of
the body white, with brovni streaks on the sides.

Male and female in winter have the ground eolour
of the plumage white, tinted with brown; rump pure
white, and the black of the ear coverts and throat
dull. The young before the first moult are unknown.
— (Degland.)

My figure is taken from the male in Dubois’ plate,
which I have selected as being a good drawing of the
specimen referred to in De Selys’ collection.

It has also been figured by Gould, Birds of Europe,

193?

The following members of the genus Fringilla require
a word or two of notice: —

Fringilla incerta, Bisso, Chlorospiza incerta, Bonaparte,
is only the young of Pgrrhtda erythrina.

Fringilla irevirostris is not considered by Mr. Gould
to belong to the European fauna, all the specimens
which have fallen under his notice having been captured
in Asia.

1130

1

(JRANlYOllyE.

Family FRINGILLID^. (Bonaparte.)

Genus Passer. ( Brisson.)

Generic Characters. — Beak short, slightly convex, and curved
at the tip, the border of the upper mandible slightly over-
lapping the inferior. Wings medium size, the second primary
the longest. Tarsi nearly as long as the middle toe; claws
sharp and curved; tail nearly square, and of medium size.

EOCK SPARROW.

Passer petronia.

Passer petronia,

“ sylvestris,

Fringillu' petronia,

6( (C

Coccotliraustes petronia,

Petronia rupestris,

Moineau Soulcie,

Stein Sperling,

Passer a Lagia,

Ping Sparrow, Foolish,

Speckled, and W'hite-tailed
Sparroic, Latham.

Specijic Characters. — The tail is large; each of the tail feathers,
except the two middle, marked with a round patch of white on

ScHLEGEL. Degland.

Bkisson.

Linn^its. Gtmelin. Latham.
Keyseeling and Blasids.
Temminck. Schinz. Naumann.
CuviEE. Lesson.

Bonapaete.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Savi.

ROCK SPARRO

ROCK SPARROW.

m

the extremity of each inner web; under tail coverts fawn-colour,
with a round patch of white at the extremity of each feather.
In the adult there is a band of yellow across the neck anteriorly.
Length six inches; carpus to tip four inches; tail two inches
and a half; tarsus nine lines; beak eight lines long, and one
inch and a fifth in circumference at its base.

The genus Passer is well marked, and has been
established ever since ornithology was a science. Notices
of it may he found in the writings of Gesner, Wil-
loughby, Aldrovandus, and Ray, and it was finally
determined by Brisson, in his “Ornithologia,” published
in 1760. Cuvier suggested the name of Pyrgyta in-
stead, and in some few works he has been followed,
very much against the true interests of science.
Bonaparte, following Schlegel and others, adopts
Brisson ’s genus with some restrictions, and with his
usual fondness for converting specific into generic
names, he has followed Kaup by placing the subject
of the present notice in a separate genus under the
name of Petronia rupestris.

The Rock Sparrow is an inhabitant of the warm
and temperate regions of Europe, namely, Spain, the
south of France, Sardinia, and the whole of Italy. In
the south of France it is very common in Anjou, the
Pyrenees, and the Basses Alps. It is found occasionally
in Lorraine, and several individuals are stated by
Degland to have been captured in the neighbourhood
of Paris, and one female at Lille, in October, 1839.
It is rare in the north of France and Switzerland,
and is only occasionally found solitary in the west and
south of Germany, viz., the Rhinegau, Wetherau, and
several other places on the Rhine. Naumann says it
has been shot in Thuringia, but not, to his knowledge

VOL. III.

KOCK Sl’AHKOVV.

in Anhalt. It is included in Savi’s “llirds of Tuscany,”
but it does not appear to be a common bird there.
Count Miible says that it is solitary in the whole of
Greece on the bare stone walls, and very plentiful
throughout the Grecian Islands. Lord Lilford, in his
description of birds observed by him in the Ionian
Islands, (‘‘Ibis,” vol. ii, p. 137,) says that he observed
several of these birds in the Acrocerannian Mountains,
in Maj^, 1857, and in Montenegro in August of the
same year. It was found by Captain Loche in the
three provinces of Algeria; and is included by Mr.
Tristram in his list of the birds of Southern Palestine,
where it is observed everywhere on the bare stony
hills. Dr. Leith Adams informs me that it is very
common in Sicily, occasionally visits Malta in the
spring, and is abundant in Affghanistan.

According to Naumann, to whose invaluable work I
am indebted for most of the following information, it
is a stationary bird in mild climates and a migratory
one in cold countries. They associate in small flocks
rather than greater multitudes, which are at all events
never seen in Germany. In the Phinegau, especially
near Wiesbaden, they are observed in autumn on fruit
trees by the sides of the roads, and in corn-fields, in
flocks. Brehm mentions flocks of about ten. They
choose mountainous places for their residence, where,
among rocks and ruins they love to dwell. In
winter they mix with other birds, and are seen about
the roads and villages, but it does not appear that
they visit farm-yards. In autumn they are found in
stubble-fields. They appear to avoid level land. At
night they sleep in holes of walls and ruins, always
choosing a hole with a very narrow entrance, and
sheAV their sociable qualities by selecting places near

ROCK SPARROW.

123

each other. Brehm records having seen three of them
enter the same hole.

Its habits are entirely those of the Sparrow, and
nothing can justify that reckless disregard of close
affinities by which it has been separated from that
genus. Though resembling most in its habits those of
our House Sparrow, it differs from it altogether in
one thing, — it is more distrustful of man, and is gen-
erally a very shy bird, flying away upon the approach
of danger, and keeping a good look-out against it.
Its movements on the ground are like those of other
Sparrows, but it is more active and brisker. In its
flight it is compared by Brehm to the Crossbill. They
are very sociable among each other, with the excep-
tion of certain quarrels which take place like those of
the House Sparrow, and their tone of voice is similar.

Leisler records having seen large flocks of the Bock
Sparrow in the Bhinegau, in 1803, where they were
making a House Sparrow-like chattering among the
trees. The manner of the bird is crafty, and it fre-
quently moves its wings with a quick short movement.
They are very sensitive to the cold of winter, and
many are found dead during that season in the holes
of trees.

The usual note is a homely croak, similar to the
call of the Mountain Finch. Brehm says it may be
represented by ‘qjiwit,’ and that it is similar to that
of the Goldfinch, and very different from that of the
Linnets and Siskin. One note serves as a warning cry,
another invites to settle, and a third is the signal for
flight. A young bird begins to pipe early, and has
a note like that of the Canary bird, in addition to
the ‘qjiwit.’ When it fears danger or its nest is ap-
proached it calls out like the other Sparrows. Brehm

124

ROCK SPARROW.

compares tlie song to that of the E,eed Bunting,
which is not paying much for it, but it is not without
melody.

In confinement the Bock Sparrow is very tame and
sociable with its kindred. Brehm brought up a young
bird which was very confiding in its manner to him.
It would feed out of his hand, and let him know
by a cry or a look when it wanted food. It sung
before it was full-grown, and was heard constantly
in October, being loudest when the other birds were
singing. Leisler informs us that he brought up a
young bird, which was very docile and an excellent
mimic, having, among other qualifications of this kind,
learned to imitate, much to his master’s annoyance, the
cry of his Marmot. This bird, however, did not
seem inclined to sing when people were in the room,
but it was nevertheless very tame, comical in its habits,
and mischievous.

The Bock Sparrow feeds on seeds of various kinds,
insects and their larvae, especially beetles, grasshoppers,
and Naumann adds, I am sorry to say, cherries.
Large grains of sand are often found mixed with the
food in the stomach. It frequents ploughed fields,
meadows, and roads, after corn-seeds, especially oats,
which it seems to like best of the cereals. It is also
a berry feeder. It lives in early summer on insects;
and feeds its young, like the rest of its family, upon
caterpillars and other larvae, together with beetles,
grasshoppers, and moths, all of which it removes from
the cultivated lands, very much to the benefit of the
farmer, who rewards its relations for the same service
in this country with a dose of poison. Naumann,
however, expatiates upon the fondness of the Bock
Sparrow for cherries, in search of which it will lead

V

Cj 1

>

•*' '■ ^ -mi'-. 4k
• « » ••<!!. •

1. ROUIv SPA'RROW.

2. ITALIAN HOUSE SPARROW.

ROCK SPARROW.

125

its young into orchards, giving them the fleshy part,
and then cracking the stone for the kernel with its
strong beak. When it catches large insects it bites
off the head, wings, and legs, and eats the body in
small pieces. It differs from other Sparrows in prefer-
ing oily to farinaceous seeds.

The Hock Sparrow nests in the Rhine country,
in the neighbourhood of Wiesbaden especially. They
build in high fruit trees, or in the holes of ruins of
old castles and watch-towers. They pick out a nar-
row and deep fissure in the walls, generally pretty
high up ; they never build in woods. They will
return year after year to the same hole, and, like
other Sparrows, young and old sleep in them together.
The nest is like that of the House Sparrow; there
is a great heap of straw and stalks of grass, with
fine rootlets and other fibres of plants, old rags, and
thread, and it is lined Avith hair, \yorsted, wool, and
feathers in abundance. It is ahvays placed so deeply
in the hole that the materials cannot be seen outside.

It appears from the authority of Brehm that they
only lay two or three eggs. Naumann, however, thinks
this is a local peculiarity and not general. The eggs
are very similar to those of the House Sparrow, but
larger, and equally as various. The ground colour is
a cloudy white, with ash-grey and brown dots marked
over with streaks and spots, through which much of
the ground colour appears. Those slightly marked
have often greater spots, others mostly small streaks
running over them, and the markings are generally
most numerous at the larger end. The grey marking
varies into brighter and darker, and the brown
changes from yellowish to reddish grey brown, and
even almost into blackish hroAvn or slate-colour.

ROCK SPARROW.

12()

They appear only to breed once in the year. The
old birds are very anxious about their young, and
are in great distress when anyone approaches the nest
which contains them, and are very careful watchers.

The male in breeding plumage has the head light
brown, with two darker bands on each side; all the
upper parts more or less of the same tint, marked
with longitudinal patches of darker brown, the borders
of the feathers being lighter ; rump and under tail
coverts light brown, the feathers tipped with white;
throat, erop, and abdomen tawny white, with grey
and brown spots; a yellow band separates the throat
from the crop; sides of the head and neck ash-colour,
with a brown band beneath the eye, and a white
broad line separating the eyebrow from a similar
band on the head. Wings the same colour as the
baek, with the coverts tipped with russet grey; the
primaries brown, with a white patch on the middle
of each outer web, except the first, and more marked
on the second and third; tail feathers brown, and
terminated, except the two middle ones, with a round
white spot on the inner web. Beak brown above,
yellowish below; feet russet; iris brown.

The male in autumn has the general tints browner;
the black spots and the whitish ones above larger;
the scapularies, wing coverts, and primaries tipped
with whitish; the under parts with the longitudinal
brown spots larger and darker.

The female difiers very little from the male ; the
yellow mark on the neck is not so distinct, and all
the other colours less lively.

The young before the first moult resemble the fe-
male, without the yellow mark on the neck. Degland
says this mark is lost in confinement.

ROCK SPARROW.

127

!My figure of this bird is from a specimen kindly
sent me by INIr. Tristram, marked “Bethlehem, 31st.
March, 1850.” The egg is from Badeker.

The bird has also been figured by Buffon, pi. enl.
225, under the name of Moineau de bois ou Soulcie;
Roux, Ornith. Prov., pi. 75 and 76, (male and female;)
Naumann, Vogel Deutsch, pi. 116, (male and female;)
Bouteil, Ornith. du Dauph, pi. 33, f. 1, but not a good
figure; Gould, B. of E., pi. 186.

GRANIVOR^.

Family FILING ILLIDjE, ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Passer. ( Brisson.J

ITALIAN HOUSE SPARROW.

Passer domesticus cisalpinus.

Passer domesticus cisalpinus,
“ “ var. B,

“ Italia,

“ Italicus,

Fringilla cisalpina,

Pyrgita Italia,

Moineau cisalpin,
Italianischer Ilaussperling,
Passera. Reale,

“ capannaja.

SCHLEGEL.

Keysekling et Blasius.
Bonapaete.

Degland.

Temminck.

ViEILLOT.

Of the Feench.

Of the Geemans.

Savi.

Stor.

Characters of Variation. — Back, light chesnut and black ; top of
the bead and nape maroon or brown; flanks unicolorous; tbe first
primary is longer than tbe third, and very nearly as long as tbe
second, which is slightly tbe longest in tbe wing; wings reach
more than half way down tbe tail. Length about six inches.

It is impossible to resist the fact that the present is
only a permanent variety of the Domestic Sparrow. I
have endeavoured with the greatest care, by a comparison
of specimens, to detect any real specific difference, but

I T A r .' " / K H O U ?

ITAIJAX HOUSE SEAHUOW. 1

Avithoiit success. The Italian bird differs from the Do-
mestic Sparrow in some unimportant yet permanent
colouration, and the wings extend further down the tail
when closed. There is also a slight difference in the
second primary, which is relatively to the first and
second longer than in the Domestic Sparrow. But there
are the same general dimensions pi’ecisely; the flanks
and abdomen are of the same unicolorous dull grey;
the black markings on the throat and crop are of the
same character, and defined by the white of the
cheeks and side of the neck with a similar sharp and
distinct outline. The habits too are precisely similar,
and it is only as a variety under the name given it by
Schlegel, that I admit it into this work.

The Cisalpine Sj^arrow replaces the common type
throughout the whole of Sicily. It is found during its
migi’ation in the south of France, and has been noticed
by Strickland as occurring at Smyrna. Dr. Leith Adams
also informs me that it occurs in Malta, and that it is
said to breed with the following species. Its habits
and propagation are precisely similar to those of the
House Sparrow. It builds its nest in the same places,
and of the same form, and the six eggs Avhich it lays
are sunilar in size, shape, and colouration to those of
our well-known bird.

Mr. Tristram remarks, (Ibis, vol. i., p. 293,) “In its
habits this Sparrow agrees exactly with our own, in-
habiting the roofs of houses and the rafters of sheds in
preference to the more distant groves and gardens. I
never found it in great communities at a distance from
buildings ; but wherever man dwells in the desert there
it is found his constant companion. Probably there are
frequent instances of hybrids in the gardens where both
species may be found together.”

VOL. III.

130

TTAIJAN IfOU.SE Sl'AKHOW.

The dilForences between the two birds having been
expressed in the characters of variation at the head of
this notice, a more detailed description is nnneccssary.

My figures of the bird and its egg arc from specimens
sent me by Mr. Tristram.

It has been figured also by Roux and Gould.

r

131

GRANIVOR^.

Famihj FRINGILLIDJE. ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Passer. ( Brisson.J

SPANISH SPAEEOW.

Passer salicarius.

Passer salicarius,

Fringilla Bispaniolensis,

“ sardoa,

Passer domesticus salicarius,
Moineau a poitrine Noir,
Schwarzbrustiger Sperling,
Passera sarda.

ViEILLOT.

Temminck.

Savi.

Eeyseeling et Blasius.
Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Savi.

Specific Characters. — Top of the head deep chesnut or maroon;
back black, with longitudinal streaks of cream-colour; flanks
thickly spotted with black on a dirty white ground. The first
primary the longest in the wing, but nearly equalled by the
second and third, and all of them longer than the fourth.
Length about six inches; carpus to tip three inches; tarsus nine
lines; middle toe and claw eleven lines; beak six lines; tail two
inches and a half.

The Spanish. Sparrow has very strong structural
affinities with the House Sparrow, hut its ornamentation
and habits are so decidedly different that I think there
can he no doubt of its specific distinction. Professor

132

Sl’AMSir SPARROW.

lilasios has, however, made it a variety only of the
Passer domesticus.

The Spanish Sparrow is, as its name implies, an in-
habitant of Spain, but it is also common in the south
of Europe generally, particularly in Sardinia, Sicily,
and Italy. Count jMiihle says it is very rare in
Greece, but when found it is not in company with
the Domestic Sparrow, from Avhich he considers it
quite distinct. Dr. Leith Adams informs me that it is
the commonest bird in the island of Malta, and breeds
in the walls of the forts and houses. Dr. Adams also
mentions having shot and seen it in confinement with
a yellowish black hill, and lighter tinge of plumage,
hut in no way distinct. It is also said in Malta to
breed with P. cisalpina, and that a hybrid is produced,
but Dr. Adams has not been able to confirm this
statement. Dr. Adams further adds, “I have seen
specimens in collections made in the AVestern or
Trans-Indus portion of the Punjaub, where it is known
bv the name of ‘Cabool Sparrow.’ I do not think it
is found further eastward.”

It seems very common in Africa. Captain Loche
met with it in the three provinces of Algeria. Mr.
Tristram has recorded it as abundant in Northern, and
INIr. Salvin in Eastern Africa. — (“Ibis,” vol. i.) Mr.
'fristram also includes it in his list of the birds of
Palestine, and Mr. E. C. Taylor cays that it is abun-
dant in Egypt, frequenting the open country in large
flocks, and roosting in trees.

I shall take the liberty of quoting IMr. Tristram’s
and INIr. Salvin’s very interesting remarks, from the
work above alluded to. Mr. Tristram says, “The
Spanish Sparrow, of which the Arab name is Zaouch,
is abundant in vast flocks wherever there is moisture.

SPANISH SPARROW.

133

and especially among the reeds in the salt marshes. At
AV aregla and Tuggurt, where the salt lakes are never dry,
the noise of these birds is perfectly deafening, and a
hundred may he, and I am told have been, brought
down at a shot. Its habits are certainly very different
from those of its familiar congener here, though in
boldness and activity it rivals him. I am not acquainted
with this bird in Spain; hut in Africa, as a general
rule, it does not affect the habitations of men, and
alwavs breeds near water, in vast colonies of many
thousands.” — (Page 293.)

Mr. Salvin says in his ‘‘Five Months Bird-nesting in
the Eastern Atlas, (“Ibis,” vol. i, p. 314:) — “The Span-
ish Sparrow is found in great numbers during the
breeding season, among the tamarisk thickets on the
Chemora, and in the high sedge at Zana. The Arabs
destroy the nests, eggs, and young wherever they find
them, as their great numbers do much damage to the
crops of corn. The nests are placed as thickly as
they can stand, the whole colony, consisting of perhaps
one hundred pairs, occupying only five or six trees.
The noise and ceaseless chattering proceeding from
one of these ‘Sparrow towns’ can easily be imagined;
and, guided by the sound alone, one may walk di-
rectly to the spot for a considerable distance. One
Sunday morning four Arabs came to our tents, and
gravely sitting down in a row, opened the hoods of
their burnouses, and disjdayed eight hundred or a
thousand Sparrow eggs, which they arranged in four
heaps before them, and remained in their sitting pos-
ture, contemplating them with evident satisfaction. 4Te
were rather taken by surprise, but selected the best
for our collections, reserving the rest for omelettes.”

I have received a male and female of the bird

134

SPANISH SPARROW.

which Dr. Leith Adams says is very common in Malta,
and Avdiich he has labelled Passer salicarius, Vieillot.
Upon close comjmrison I could not discover any real
specific differences between these skins and our Com-
mon House Sparrow, P. domesticus. I wrote this to
Dr. L. Adams, and in reply that gentleman remarks:
— “In the absence of specimens for comparison, my
impressions have always been that our Sparrow in
IMalta is a true type, or else a variety of the Passer
salicarius of Vieillot, and Sir W. Jardine, to whom
several type specimens were sent, says the same. I
have, however, since you wrote, made a very long
series, and sent it by a friend to Mr. Sclater, re-
questing he will make particular enquiry into the
subject, and publish his vicAvs in the ‘Ibis.’ It is
very curious in such a central place as Malta, where
so many naturalists have touched, that Ave should be
still in doubt as to the common SparroAV of the island.”

Brehm, in Biideker’s “European Eggs,” says of this
bird: — “It lays from four to six eggs, Avhich are some-
Avhat smaller than those of the House SparroAv, bluish
or greenish Avhite, like those of the Italian SparroAv,
often very dark at the thick end; generally oval, but
sometimes much lengthened.”

The male in spring plumage has the top of the
head and the nape dark chesnut broAvn; back black,
streaked with cream-colour; upper tail coverts oliva-
ceous broAvn; cheeks and superciliary ridge pure white;
throat and upper part of breast deep black, while the
loAvcr parts of the breast and flanks are thickly spotted
Avith large black markings on a Avhite ground; middle
of the abdomen and under tail coverts dirty Avhite.
T’he Avings Avith a broad band of white across them,
formed by the tips of the lesser coverts, and there

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W 0 O D P R C :< H

SPANISH SPATIROVV.

1.S5

is a similar band above the carpus, extending from tlie
cbecks; tlic lesser coverts arc the same colour as the
top of the head and nape, the others broadly bordered
with russet. Tail olivaceous hrown, with the feathers
slightly bordered with ash-colour; beak black; feet
reddish ; iris brown.

In autumn the male has the feathers of the neck
and crop bordered with ash, like the Domestic Spar-
row, and the white of the cheeks also more ash-coloured.

The female has the head, top of neck, and body
grey brown, with the feathers of the scapularies and
the quills of the wings, fringed along their borders
with yellowish; below, the colour is dirty white, with
faint spots of brown in front of the neck and crop,
and the flanks of a russet and ashy tint; beak brownish
above, yellowish below.

The young before the first moult resemble the
female, only the tints are paler, and the commissures of
the beak soft and yellow.

My drawings of this bird and its egg are from
specimens kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram. The bird
is marked “Rhodes, April 19, 1858.”

It has also been figured by Roux, Ornith. Prov., pi.
84, (adult male ;) Gould, B. of E., pi. 185.

130

Okder V.— ZYGODACTYLI.
Family PICID^. ( Bonaparta.)
Genus Picus. ( Linneeus.)

Generic Characters. — Beak strong, cuneiform, or rounded, and
grooved above, about as long as tlie head, straiglit, and
pointed; nostrils open, oval, more or less bid by the setaceous
feathers which cover the base of the beak. Tongue very
mobile, capable of being projected from the mouth, armed
with small sharp needle-like processes bent backwards and
horny towards the tip. Feet robust and short, with three or
four toes; claws arched, compressed, and pointed, formed for
climbing. AVings elongated, the bastard quill short, the third
and fourth the longest. Tail composed of quills having stiff
and elastic shafts, ten or twelve in number, and serving as
a prop in climbing.

GEEY WOODPECKER.

Picus canus.

Picus canus,

“ viridis Norveyicus,
“ Norveyicus,

“ viridis canus.

Guelin, 1788.
Bkisson, 1709.
Latham, 1790.
Meyer.

Boie. Bonaparte.
Oe the French.
Of the Germans.
Stor.

Gecinus canus.

Pic vert Cendre,
Grauer Grilnspecht,

Piccliio verde di Norveyia,

GREY wool ))>K('K Eli.

SjjecT/ic Characfo's. — Plumage green, ■with the top of the head
grey and the forehead crimson; only the middle feathers of the
tail having transverse bands across them. Length from tip of beak
to end of tail eleven inches; from carpal joint to tip of wing five
inches and a half; tarsus one inch; middle toe and claw one
inch and a quarter; tail four inches; beak one inch and a half.

This bird^ with which I commence tlie interesting
family of Woodpeckers, is essentially an inhahitant
of the northern parts of Eurojie. It occurs in Nor-
way and the north of Sweden, being only found in
the southern parts of this country accidentally. It also
occurs in Eussia and Finland, but Mr. Wheelwright
informs me that it has not been observed by the
S'svedish naturalists in Lapland. It is sometimes found
in Swutzerland, near Zurich, and occasionally in France,
but never, according to Temminck, in Holland. It is
found accidentally in Denmark. It is rare in the south
of Germany, hut in the north is more plentiful than
P. viridis. It is in this country (Germany) a bird of
passage, leaving in October, and returning to breed
in March. It is mentioned by Count Miihle and Dr.
Lindermayer among the rarer birds of Greece. Ac-
cording to Temminck it is also found in America and
the north of Asia, but it is not included in Bonaparte’s
list of the birds of the former; nor is the latter given
as a locality by the same or other modern authorities.

I am indebted to Naumann’s “Naturgeschichte der
Vogel Deutschlands” for most of the information con-
tained in the notices of this and the following species
of Wodjiecker.

In winter the Grey Woodpecker chooses a locality
for its residence which is solitary, and as much as
possible unobtruded upon by man. Each bird seems
to have its own hunting-ground, over which it roams

VOL. III. u

f.KKY AN OODl’KCK KK.

MS

regAilarly day by day. Tt is generally to be found
on the same trees, and if it meets in its territory Avitli
the Green Woodpecker, a battle royal is sure to ensue,
in Avhich the former, being the Aveakest, ahvays gets
the worst. We may therefore fairly assume, according
to the DarAvinian code, that it is gradually becoming
exterminated. But Ave have no evidence of this, nor
any marks of a happily directed divergence of form in
the Green Woodpecker to give plausibility to such a
supposition.

“The trees and bushes,” says Naumann, “about my
residence are ahvays hunted over by a Green Wood-
pecker, Avhich, Avhen driven away by a shot in autumn,
is replaced by another later. Once a female Grey
Woodpecker came Avithin the above hunting-ground in
March; but it became restless, did not consort Avith
the Green WoodjAecker, and called unto itself a mate.
Another time a male Grey-head came and disputed
the rights of territorial oAvnership with the Green. A
terrible battle ensued, Avhich ended in the death of
the intruder.”

“For a number of years I haA^e knoAAUi a pair of
Grey Woodpeckers inhabit a large Avood about tAvo
miles from my residence. They prefer leafy trees to
pines, and Avoods in grassy mountains Avell watered by
riA'ers have more charms for them than the hill-side
or the mountain forest.”

The Grey AToodpecker, like our oAvn, loves to dAvell
Avhere there are plenty of old oaks, beeches, aspens,
or elms standing out in their oAvn solitary and pic-
turesque beauty. It will remain in the same neigh-
bourhood so long as it can obtain its favourite food —
ants. AVhen they fail it takes its departure, and does
not return. It is often seen on or about old avIUoav

GKEY WOODPECKEK.

139

stumps near avoocIs. It also comes into tlie gardens of
villages or toAvns in Avinter, but does not cling to
buildings. It remains, Xaumann tells us, much longer,
and is seen more frequently on the ground than the
Green Wood]3ecker, and AA'hen frightened from thence,
it Avill fly aAvay and suspend itself from a high tree,
or take up its position on the top of the same, in
Avhich it differs considerably from the Green. At
night it takes refuge in the holes of trees, to Avhich
it retires, like other Woodpeckers, Avith great caution
in the late tAvilight.

Naumann tells us that the Grey Woodpecker is a
lAely, cheerful, and impudent felloAv; cautious and
crafty AAuthal, but not so shy as P. viridis. It is very
restless, and alAA^ays either seeking its food, or flying
A^ery adroitly among the trees. It rarely, hoAA^ever, taps
upon them like the “Woodpecker tapping” of our oAvn
country, but it has equal skill in chiseling out holes
for its nest or nightly habitation. It is A-ery quarrel-
some and jealous about its food, and is not by any means
to be allured from this by any artificial knocking or
“tree tapping.” It is less shy in the breeding season,
and more frequently seen on the tops of high trees
than the other Woodpeckers, Avhere it sits crossAvise,
sunning and pluming itself, and making its Avhereabouts
easily discovered by its call.

It flies like the Green species, and its A'oice is A'ery
much the same, but rings in the ear more agreeably,
AA'hile the tone is less shrill and sharp. It is beard
from March to June, especially in the pairing season,
and in the beautiful mornings of the bright sunny
spring. The note consists of a full-toned syllable,
‘klii, klih, klih, klyh, klyh, kliik, kliik, kliik, kliik,’
sinking deeper each time, so that the end is much

140

GllEY WOODPECKER.

fuller than the beginning thereof. The time is slower
than that of the Green AVooclpecker, and the tone
fuller and less sharp, and an observant car can easily
distinguish one from the other. The male sometimes
also makes a whizzing noise as it sits on a hard
branch on the summit of a tree, violently hammering
the same, so that the tone is brought out as ‘orrrr,’
but shorter than the other allied species. This noise
is only heard in the bird under consideration during
the pairing season, or when the female is sitting.

The Grey Woodpecker lives principally upon ants,
Avhen it can get them. When they fail it eats bark
beetles, various larvEe, and, rarely, elderberries. Among
ants, Formica rubra and fusca are its favourites, and
the abundance of these insects generally determines
the choice of a summer residence. The young are
fed with the eggs or pupte. In summer it lives on
no other food, and in winter it knows where to look
for them.

The nest is formed about the beginning of May,
in the holes of trees, especially oak. They are not
so careful in the choice of a situation as the Black
or Green Woodpecker. It is generally in a tree easy
to climb, and not very high up. The eggs are six in
number, and very like those of the Green Woodpecker.
They are, however considerably smaller, and more pear-
shaped in form. The egg shell is of the finest grain
— tender and thin, so that when fresh, the yolks shine
through the peculiarly clear and enamel-polished white.
This effect is destroyed by incubation. The male and
female sit by turns, and are so fearless that they will
almost permit themselves to be caught at this time.
The young remain a long time in the nest, and are
fed by the old ones some time after they leave it.

G R K Y J< ) I) R K C K E R .

141

The Avhole family may be seen Hying about the forest
together.

iNIr. AVheelwright describes a freshly-killed male as
follows: — Forehead carmine red; a black streak from
the nostrils to the eye, and a similar one on the side
of the throat from the nnder mandible. Head and
neck ash grey, with small longitudinal blackish streaks
or spots on the crown of the head. Back and wing
coverts green; rump shining greenish yellow; all the
under parts of the body jjale ash grey, with a faint
green tinge. AVing feathers dark brown, with transverse
white spots on the inner web, and similar, but smaller
ones on the outer web. Tail feathers blackish green
of one colour, with the exception of the two middle
ones, which are marked with indistinct transverse bars.
Beak thinner than that of P. viridis, bluish brown,
having the root of the under mandible greeaiish yellow.
Iris red; legs grey green. Length twelve inches; car-
pus to tip six inches and one eighth; tail five inches.

The female has no red on the forehead, which is
replaced by small brown spots; the green on the back
has an ashy grey tinge.

The bird which I have figured is a young one of
the year, sent me with the egg by Mr. MTieelwright,
of Gardsjo, Sweden. The difference in dimensions are
those between fresh and dry skins.

It has also been figured by Edwards, pi. 65,
(young male;) Naumann, Vogel Deutsch., pi. 133,
(male and female;) Sepp. Hederl. Vogel, page 389,
(female;) Stor, Degl. Ucc., vol. ii, pi. 177, (female;)
Meyer, Vogel Deutsch., pi. 22, (male and female;)
Boux, Ornith. Prov., pi. 59, (male and female;) Bouteil,
Orn. du Dauph, supplement, fig. 4; Gould, B. of E.,
pi. 227.

142

ZYGODACTYLI.

Family PICID^F. ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Picus. ( Linnceus.)

WHITE-EUMPED WOODPECKER.

Picus leucoywtus.

Picus leuconotus,

“ leucotus,

“ cirris,

Pic varie a dos hlanc,
TPeissruckiger Puntsprecht,
Picchio vario iMassimo,

Meyer and Wolff, 1810.
Temminck, 1820.
Bechstein.

Pallas.

Or THE Prench.

Of the Germans.

Stor.

Specific Characters. — Plumage varied; the rump wliite, and the
upper tail coverts crimson and white. Length ten inches and
three quarters; from carpal joint to tip of wing five inches and a
half; tarsus one inch; beak (upper mandible) one inch and two
fifths; tail three inches and a half.

The White-rumped Woodpecker is an inliabitant of
the most northern parts of Euroj)e and Siberia. It is
not rare in Pussia, Poland, and Prussia, extending
through Esthonia, Courland, and Einland, It is some-
times found in Silesia, and occasionally in the western
and southern parts of Germany. One individual is
recorded as having been shot in the Pyrenees, by M.

WHITE-RUM PED WOODPECKER.

U.s

Ernest Delaybe. It is included in tlie birds of Greece,
by Count Mlible and Dr. Lindermayer. Mr. AVheel-
wright writes me word that it is spread over Scandi-
navia, but appears to be more common in the midland
districts. “They do not, however, breed with us, but
in the thick fir forests of North Wermerland. It breeds
also in Gothland, but is a rare winter migrant to Scania.
It seems to prefer level tracts to stony rises. It is by
no means shy, and often comes in winter about the wood
fences round the houses; but in the forest it is generally
seen high up on the top of dead trees. In manners
and habits it resembles the Greater Spotted Woodpecker,
and the cry is much the same. Nilsson says that they
are seen generally in families in the autumn and winter.
This I cannot corroborate. I never met, in our forest,
in winter, more than two together, but if you shot
one its partner was never far off. They breed very
commonly in Smaland. It has not been identified in
Denmark.”

In Germany the White-rumped Woodpecker is both
migratory and stationary. In the late autumn or
winter it is found in the great forests, and comes
thence into the neighbourhood of houses, fruit gar-
dens, Gllages, or even towns, where it dwells very
confidingly.

On the wing it is very like our Greater Spotted
Woodpecker, and its voice differs but little from that
of any of its allied species. It feeds upon insects
found under the bark, maggots, caterpillars, and other
larvfe. Like the Grey Woodjiecker it is also very
fond of ants and their eggs. Naumann says that one
was shot in Silesia which was supposed to have been
killing the bees from the hive, but, as none of these
insects were found in the stomach, we may, I think.

144

WHITE-RUM RED WOODRECKER.

fairly enter a verdict of “not guilty” on rliis count.

The White-rumped Woodpecker bnilds, like its con-
geners, in the holes of trees, particularly oaks. It
lays four or five clear white shining eggs.

Although I have specimens kindly sent me by i\[r.
Wheelwright, I will let that gentleman speak for
himself, as his descrijition is drawn up from birds
recently killed. Male; length ten inches and three
quarters; expanse of wing seventeen Inches; tail be-
yond the wings. Head above, carmine red; forehead
white, with a brown tinge. Around, and at the back
of the eyes, a large white spot, and another below
on the sides of the neck; throat white. From the
under mandible a black streak extends backwards
under the eyes, and becoming broader at the back of
the ears, passes doAvn the sides of the throat to the
breast. Breast white, with a greenish yellow tinge,
and having, as well as the flanks, longitudinal streaks
of black; belly and under tail coverts red. Neck
above, top of back, and lesser wing coverts glossy
black; the middle and lower part of back white;
outer half of greater wing coverts white ; the secon-
daries transversely barred with black and white,
which arises from a series of white round spots, placed
on the edges of each web at regular intervals, a sim-
ilar effect being produced by the same means on the
primaries, giving a barred appearance to the whole
wing when closed. The first primary is about the
same length as the sixth, and both are much shorter
than the intervening four. Upper tail feathers and
coverts coal black; the under ones cream-colour, bar-
red with black, and becoming rufous at the tip. Iris
nut brown ; beak horn blue ; legs lead grey.

'The female has the head glossy black above; fore-

AVIIITE-RUMPEl) WOODPECKER.

145

licad wliite, ting-ed Avitli rusty brown. The rest like
the male, but more didl. The colours of both,
especially the male, brighter Avith age.

My figures of this bird and its egg are from speci-
mens sent me by Mr. M^heelwright, from Sweden.

The bird has also been figured by Bechstein, JSaturg.
Deutsch., vol. ii, pi. 25, figs. 1 and 2, (male and female;)
Stor, Degli. Ucc., a'oI. ii, pi. 169, (old male;) Meyer,
Vogel Dent., vol. i, pi. 11, (male and female;) Xau-
mann, Vog. Deutsch., pi. 135, (male and female;) Gould,
B. of E., pi. 228.

VOL. III.

X

14G

/Y(U)lU(’TyLl.

Family FICIUJE. ( lirissoa.J
(Jernis Pk’US. fLinnams.J

MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

Ficus mcdius.

Ficus meclius,

“ varius,

“ cynacdus,

Fie vayie a tete rouge,
Mittlerer Buntsjpecht,
Ficchio rosso mezzano,

LiNNiEtJS.

Brisson.

Pallas.

Of the French.
Of the Gtermans.
Savi.

Specific Characters. — Plumage varied; rump black; under tail
coverts red; flanks rose-colour, with longitudinal streaks of black.
Head carmine red in both sexes. Lengtb eight inches and a half;
expanse of wing fifteen inches. Tail three inches and a half.

The Middle Spotted TYoodpecker is found generally
in those parts of Southern Europe, with the exception
of Great Britain, which are inhabited by the Greater
Spotted. In Sweden it is found in the south, and is
even more common in Skania than its congeners Major
and Minor. It is not found in Finland or Esthonia,
but in Prussia Proper occasional specimens have been
cajitured. It is very common in some parts of Germany,

0 T T

O 0 D ^

MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKEll.

147

and tolerably jilentiful in Switzerland, Italy, and France.
It is plentifni in some parts of Siberia, and is met with
all the year round in Denmark. It occurs only acci-
dentally in Flolland.

This species has been thought by some ornithologists
to be the young or only a variety of Picus major. But
they are very distinct both in ornamentation and habits.

The female has the occiput and vertex red, as 'well
as the male, 'w'hich is not the case with P. major. P.
medius never remains long in pine woods, where P.
major loves to dwell. It is a more active bird, and
will adroitly avoid any disjmte leading to a fight with
that bird; but it will give battle to one of its own
species. Its voice is similar, but its call-note weaker.

The Middle Spotted M^oodpecker dwells among the
thickest foliage of the highest trees, particularly oaks,
elms, and aspens. It is not often found on the ground,
but like its congeners is generally seen paling trees,
which it will ascend even to the top bough and perch
there. Its habitation is in the highest hole it can find,
and it will continue to use the same tree for years if
not driven away. It is a most assiduous ‘Tapper,” and
may often be seen on the under side of a decayed
bough working away; the entrance hole turned towards
the ground.

It is a very handsome bird, perhaps the most so of
all the European Woodpeckers. It is restless but not
shy, and in pairing and breeding seasons very incautious.
It can make good use of its legs in hopping on the
ground, or from branch to branch. It has a whirring
wavy flight, and appears on the wing a slenderer bird
than its ally the Greater Spotted.

Xaumann says that this bird will feed not only on
insects but also upon many tree-seeds, and to assist in

148

:MII)DLE SrOTTEl) woodpecker.

digesting- them it may be seen ]iiching np particles of
gravel at the base of the tree. It is not content with
the insects it finds under the hark, hut Avill split off
entire pieces, and crush the rotten wood hcneatli into
holes, in its search for wood-feeding larviP, such as
S/rex, Ceramhyx, BostncJnis, Forficula, etc. It never
seems to suffer for want of food during the winter; it
is generally in good condition, hiit never fat. It is
very fond of nuts, and will carry them like a Tomtit
into the fork of some near tree, and crack them: it
generally swallows tlie kernels Avhole, and will eat acorns
and beech nuts in the same way. Naumann further
tells us that it is a fruit-stealer, and will rob cherry trees,
not so much however for the fruit pulp as the kernels
of the stones, and that it will also split open fir-cones,
and feed on the seeds when it cannot get better food.
It does not affect the neighbourhood of water, is not
often seen to drink, and still more rarely to bathe. Its
stomach is larger than that of the other Woodpeckers.

It nests in woods and sometimes in fruit gardens,
which are overhung by woods of thick foliage. In the
end of March or April they repair to their breeding
places, which are easily betrayed by their restless habits
and cries. Very soon (I am quoting Naumann) the
male is seen chasing his mate from tree to tree, and
among the boughs — or two males are observed having
a battle royal — from which they frequently fly to swing
from the highest summit of the trees. They now either
call to their mates with a clear hri ght voice, or Avhirr
against their rival. Their nesting place is thus easy to
discover, as also the tree by the debris at the bottom,
hut the hole is generally hid from view, and not so
easily found. It is not often less than twenty feet from
the ground, and very often as high as sixty feet. The

MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

149

entrance hole is quite round, not larger than is actually
necessary, and appeal’s from below so small that few
people would believe it belonged to this bird. It is
Avidcnccl inside in the form of a ball, and. extends
clovriiAvards from the entrance seven to ten inches —
seldom more.

The eggs are laid, on fine Avood shavings under the
Avails of the very prettily-Avorked entrance hole. They
are generally five or six in number, sometimes seven.
They resemble those of the Greater Spotted, but are
much smaller, oAml in shape, tender shelled, and of
enamelled whiteness. They are hatched in fifteen days,
male and female sitting alternately, and the young, in
Xaumann’s oAAm Avords, are “blind, ugly, helpless, thick-
headed,” hawing, like other young Woodpeckers, a car-
tilaginous knob upon the corner of the beak. When
full fledged they fly round the tree in circles until
they gradually separate into twos and threes. The old
birds display great affection for their young.

Mr. WhcelAvright describes the old male from freshly
killed specimens as folloAA's: — Forehead grey; A^ertex
and occiput carmine redi.. Throat, sides of the head,
and neck, white, Avith a black band Avhich commences
at the gape, and gradually broadening, forms a triangular
spot on the side of the neck. Tack of the neck, back,
and rump black; shoulders Avhite; wings black, Avith
white spots in pairs on both Avebs of the primaries and
secondaries ; breast vrhite, Avith a ^^elloAvish, and the belly
AA'hite, with a reddish tinge, Avith longitudinal black
streaks along the sides of both; under tail coA-erts car-
mine red. The side tail feathers at the end AAdiite,
Avith black transverse bands; the four middle feathers
C|uite black; iris broAvn, encircled Avith a AA'hitish ring;
beak shorter, more compressed and weaker than in P.

150

MIDDI.K srOlTKI) ’WOODPECKER,

major ; Icad-colourcd at tlic root, bluish black at the
tip.

The female differs from the male only in having the
colours of the head less bright, and the streak from the
gape greyish and more indistinct.

The young male much resembles the female.

My figure of this bird is from Gould’s ‘‘Birds of
Europe,” pi. 250; that of the egg is from Skania,
Sweden, sent me by Mr. AVheelwright.

This bird has also been figured by Buffon, pi. enl.
611; Vieillot, Diet., pi. 26; Roux, Ornith. Prov., pi. 61;
(adult male;) Naumann, Vogel Deutsch, pi. 136, (male
and female;) Sepp, ISTederl. Vog., vol. 4, pi. 637, (male;)
Storr, deg. ucc., pi. 166, (male,) as Picchio vario sarto.

Pious tridactylus, Linnaeus, Apterrus tridactylus,
Swainson, Picoides Europceus, Lesson, Picoides tridac-
tylus, Gray. — This bird has been described and figured
by Mr. Morris, in his “History of British Birds.” I
think its claims to be considered British very doubtful,
but having appeared in the above work, it will not
fall within the scope of mine.

Mr. MTieelwright says of this bird, in a private letter,
“It is scarcely so common anywhere in Sweden as any
of the others; but in Lapland it is the commonest of
all the species. It comes into Wermcrland in the
winter, but does not I think breed with ns. It has
never been seen in Skania, although it has once been
shot in Denmark. It is not shy, and prefers level to
rocky woods.”

“In the winter all the Wodpcckers in our forests
secrete themselves by day in holes of trees.”

“In all the AToodpcclcers the colours appear to grow
more distinct with age,”

1

Ordkr VI.— AXISODACTYU.
Famihj CERTHIID^. (Bonaparte.)
Genus SiTTA. ( Linnceus.J

Generic Characters. — Beak straight, medium size, C3’lindrical,
conic, double edged at the point. Nostrils basal, rounded, and
partly hidden by hair and short feathers. Tongue short,
pointed, and horny. Feet with three toes in front and one
behind, the outer being joined at its base to the middle
one; the hind toe very long, and armed with a long curved

claw. Wings medium size; the first quill very short, the

second shorter than the third or fourth, which are the longest

in the wing. Tail composed of twelve quills, short, flexible,

and square at the end.

DALMATIAN NUTHATCH.

Sitta Syriaca.

Sitta Syriaca, Ehrenbekg. Bonaparte.

“ neumayeri, jMichaelles.

“ rvfescens, Gould.

“ rupestris, Temminck; Man. 3, p. 287.

Sitelle de Syrie, Of the French.

Syrische Spechtmeise, Of the Germans,

Specific Characters. — Flanks and under tail coverts russet, the
latter not spotted with white; tail uuicolorous slaty blue, the most
outward feathers slightly tipped with pale russet. Length six
inches and two fifths; carpus to tip three inches; tarsus one inch;
beak eleven lines.

15,?

DALMA'l'IAX XU’!'1I A'lAMl.

The Dalmatian Nutliatcli is an inhabitant of the
conntry from nhich its Englisli name is derived. Passing
along the shores of the Adriatic Ave find it in the Ionian
Islands and Greece commonly. Thence avc trace it to
Smyrna, and along the shores of Asiatic Turkey to
Syria, where it is very common, that country also giving
its specific and French name. Dr. Leith Adams informs
me that it is pretty common in Affghanistan.

The three European Nuthatches form an interesting
illustration of the adaptation of structure to climate of
nearly allied species. The present bird is very much
larger and stronger than the European form. As will
be observed farther on, its habits differ, inasmuch as it
does not frequent trees, but rocks and ruins. The
northern form and that which inhabits Britain are so
closely allied to each other, that the best ornithologists
have denied, and I think with good reason, their specific
distinction. But the three birds have all a strongly-
marked character in common. The coloration varies,
but it is disposed after the same plan, the blue slate
back, and the dirty white or russet abdomen, and the
characteristic black mark on the side of the head of
each. These are instances in Avhich there can be no
objection urged as to the possibility, or rather the strong
probability, of a common origin. But then we have no
evidence of the stronger bird in the south, or the weaker
one in the north, diverging into any different forms.
The variation is adaptive and final, and the species or
varieties are constant.

“Few birds,” says the Bev. H. B. Tristram, in his
account of the Birds of Southern Palestine, (Ibis, vol.
i., p. 27,) “have interested me more than the Dalmatian
Nuthatch. I had good opportunities of observing its
habits in the south of the Morea in winter, and I

DALMATIAN NUTHATCH.

153

encountered it again in tire liill country of Judoea.
Unlike our species it is confined to tlie most barren
and rocky regions, and runs up and down the stones
Mutli wondrous agility, descending head downwards, and
then by a sudden bound flying to the foot of the next
rock, M^hich it climbs and runs down after the same
fashion, searching the crevices as it goes for small
beetles, with which the stomach of those I examined
were filled. In summer and winter alike they were
always in pairs, never (as Sitta Muropceci) in small
flocks. The note is louder than that of our species,
and much resembles the call of the Spotted Woodpecker.”

The following account given by Lord Lilford, in his
descriptions of the birds observed by him in the Ionian
Islands, (Ibis, vol. ii., p. 232,) is somewhat different: —
“Sitta Syriaca is common in certain localities in Epirus,
particularly amongst the stony and precipitous hills
near Santa Quaranta, where I have frequently observed
it in small parties of five or six, flitting about and busily
examining the holes and crevices of the rocks. It is
a lively and restless bird, and has a note entirely dif-
ferent from that of the Common Nuthatch. I never
observed this bird to perch on a tree or shrub, but
almost invariably found them on the most exposed and
barren hill sides.”

Mr. W. H. Simpson has also some interesting remarks
about this bird in his “Ornithological Notes from Mis-
solonghi and Southern vEtolia,” (Ibis, vol. ii., p. 289.) —
“On the ojiposite side of the same stone was a nest of
that most eccentric bird, Sitta Syriaca; it had been
repaired once or twice, but at that period was not
inhabited. The nest was plastered over the mouth of
a small cavity, and, were it not for the little round
entrance hole, would be very difficult to distinguish

VOL. nr.

Y

154

DALMATIAN NUTHATCH.

from the numerous structures of a species of aut u-hicli
are thickly stuck over the face of the rock, and at a
distance resemble in size and appearance the nest of
Sitta Stjriaca itself. But the greatest curiosity of all
was to he seen under a large flat slab, which ju'ojectcd
enough to afford convenient shelter during a shower of
rain. This was a nest of Ilirimdo rufula, which had
been broken at one end, and consequently abandoned
by the bird. Meanwhile a Nuthatch had come and
repaired the damage, possibly with the intention of
appropriating the nest. The difference in the Avork-
manship, and to a certain extent in the material, Avas
very apparent Avhen taken in juxtaposition. In shape
the nest of Hirundo rufula is so different from that of
any other European bird, that this proceeding on the
part of the Nuthatch Avas still more extraordinary.”

I copy the folio Aving from Count Miihle’s ‘‘Beitraege
Zur Ornithologie Griechenlands,” p. 50: — “This is a
bird Avhich by many of our naturalists is only considered
to be an acclimatized variety of the common 8. Europesa;
but it is certainly a distinct species. It lives only on
the rocks, never in Avoods, and remains Avillingly about
old Venetian fortresses, Avhere it constantly glides in
and out of the shot-holes. When it settles upon a rock,
it likes to suspend itself Avith its head doAviiAvards, and
hops off by fits and starts. It seeks its food on trees
that are frequented by Coleoptera, such as the bread
fruit, or Cactus opuntia. It builds its nest on the rugged
rock Avails under the natural roof of an OA'erhanging
rock, usually on the east or south side — never on the
Avest. It is very large outside, and skilfully built Avith
clay, eleven inches long from the entrance. It is lined
Avith the hair of bullocks, dogs, goats, or jackals. It
is alAvays on the outside Avoven together Avith the seeds

F

DALMATIAN NUTHATCH. 15-5

of Chnjsomela graminis and Triclwdes antiquus. It is
usually so compactly made, that I was obliged to sepa-
rate one with a chisel. This nest had been used many
years. The bird is very lively, restless, and inquisitive.
The young- are easily turned, and become very confiding;
they may be fed upon bread crumbs, but in a cage
remain always on the ground, and will not perch. The
families remain long together, and the young are taught
by their parents all about catching insects.”

The following interesting account of the nidification
of this bird is translated from the Italian of the Marchese
Oratio Antinori, and is inserted in “Xaumannia,” for
1857, page 429; —

‘‘This pretty little bird enlivens with its cheerful
note the highest and most lonely part of the Anatolian
mountains, where it generally remains. Sometimes,
however, it comes down into the plains, where it is
especially seen on the rocks surrounding mountain tor-
rents, or on the walls of old buildings. It builds its
nest the last days of March, and the beginning of April;
and for this purpose it chooses a rock or ruined wall,
where among the projections it can be sheltered from
the rain. It is easy to observe with what caution this
bird makes choice of a locality, for before it finally
resolves to build its nest in a jiarticular spot, it places
some of the materials, which consist of resinous sub-
stances mixed with feathers, hair, rootlets, thread, or
wool, in several different places. This is evidently done
to satisfy itself, not only that it may not be discernible
to others, but that it may be impervious to wet, and
sufficiently firm a foundation to last many years. Indeed
it would be quite impossible to move the nest of Sitta
Sgriaca from the place to which it is fastened, nor coidd
it be distinguished from the parts to which it is attached.

15(5

DA T.M A T I A N N U'l' 11 AT( 'II.

were it not that the dark shades of the entrance hole
sometimes reveal its existenee. One which I recently
found near the town of Magnesia, on a commanding
rock, had a diameter of ten inches, and very nearly
six in depth. The upper wall was three inches thick,
and the sides and under Avail about four fifths of an
inch, while the depth of the neck and entrance hole
Avas tAVo inches. The Aveight of the Avholc Avas upAvards
of five hundred drachms, (sixty-three ounces!) alloAving
for that part of it Avhich I could not cut aAvay from
the rock. It is quite clear that this bird cannot build
every year a ncAV nest so large and heavy, but that it
must last a long time, even for a whole life. Round
the hole, Avhich is chosen for the building of the nest,
and also over the nest itself, is a quantity of resin,
Avhich is mixed Avith the other materials, and Avith earth.
This resin it gets especially from Pistacea terebintlius
and lentiscus. M"hen melted by the Avarmth of the
sun, it runs doAvn and gives the nest a very firm hold
of the rock, and Avill bear a great Aveight.

llaAung mixed together feathers and fibres Avith clay
and cement out of the Avater, to Avhich hairs and threads
are sometimes added, it shapes its nest in the form of
a flask, Avith a round opening of one inch and one fifth
in diameter. The inside of the nest is more regular
than the outside, but not A'ery smooth, both having
throughout a granular surface, Avhich is covered by the
small p>ieces of earth stuck one above another. The
outer side differs also from the inner, in being coAmred
Avith resin and a red sticky mass, perhaps taken from
the poplar. When this is melted by the sun it not
only makes the Avhole impervious to Avet, but makes it
in appearance similar to the Avail on Avhich it is placed.
It is not possible to examine this structure Avithout

DA L ]M ATI A N N U T H A TC H .

167

being struck 'svitli its beauty and adaptation. The inside
is lined with feathers, wool, and threads. It lays five
or six eggs.”

The eggs are larger than those of the Common Nut-
hatch, four or five in number, slightly elongated, white,
with pale brick-red spots, principally at the larger end.

The male and female are alike in plumage. All the
upper parts are of a slaty blue; the ends of the closed
wings being rich hair brown; the throat, sides of the
head, and chest white ; abdomen, flanks, and under tail
coverts russet; from the angle of the jaws, through the
eyes and ear coverts, and extending to the scapularies,
is a distinctly defined black band; tail feathers brown,
with their ends slightly tipped with russet. Beak and
feet black.

My figure is taken from a specimen shot on February
22nd., 1858, on Mount Taygetus, and kindly sent me
by Mr. Tristram. The egg is from Thienemann.

The bird has also been figured by Bonaparte, Faun.
Itah, pi. 26, f. 2, and Gould, B. of E., pi. 235.

I do not consider it necessary to give a figure of the
Asiatic variety of SitUi Euroj^ceus , namely, S. Uialensis ,
Lichtenstein, S. sericea, Temminck, as I do not find
any specific distinction between the two forms. S.
Eralensis is found in the Caucasus and Siberia. By
Pallas it was denominated S. EuropcBci, var. Sihirica.
The only asserted difference given by authors is that
the ffanks are not rufous, as in the Common Nuthatch.
This is very much the same as making two human
beings of different species, one of whom had flaxen
and the other red hair.

15S

ANISODACTYLI.

Family CERTTIIID^F. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Tichodroma. (Illiyer.)

Generic Characters. — Beak very long, slightly arched, slender,
cylindrical, angular at its base, and depressed at its point.
Nostrils basal, naked, pierced horizontally, half closed by an
arched membrane. Feet with three toes in front, the external
attached at its base to the middle toe by a membrane; the
hind toe carrying a very long claw. Tail round, with the
shafts of the quills feeble. Wings with the first primary
short, the second and third tapering, the fourth, fifth, and
sixth the longest.

WALL CHEEPER.

Tichodroma muraria.

Tichodroma muraria.

Illiger.

Koch.

Temminck.

Gmelin.

Of the French.
Of the Germans.
Savi.

alpina,

plioenicopiera,

Certhia muraria,
Tichodrome echelette,
Gemeiner Mauerldufer,
Ficchio murajolo.

Specific Characters. — Two round spots on the inner web of the
first four true primaries, and one upon the fifth; the basal half
of all the true primaries, except the first, and of the secondaries

T

■/; A T. L CREEP K.

n

I

"WALL CREEPER.

1.59

ricli crimson. Length six indies and a half; carpns to tip tiirce
inches and three quarters; tarsus nine lines; hind toe and claw
one inch; beak one inch and one fifth.

This beautiful bird, so Avell known to the alpine
traveller, is common in Switzerland, Spain, and Italy.
It is a soutliern bird, frequenting tire rocky parts of
tlie warmer countries of Europe. It is found in France
and tire soutli of Germany, and is not rare in the
highest Alps in the Tyrol. It occurs also in Bohemia
and Silesia, and is included by Count Miihle among
the birds of Greece, and hence it ranges to India,
being mentioned by Dr. Leith Adams as occurring in
Cashmere, by the sides of rivers and streams in rocky
and precipitous places.

It does not ajipear ever in flocks anywhere, being
generally found solitary or in pairs. When the rough
weather of autumn sets in, it is driven from the high
mountains, and ajipears about the valleys and mountain
towns during the winter months. In the spring it
again gradually mounts up until it settles for breeding
purposes among the highest rocks of the mountain top.

AITierever it is seen, whether in mountain, or valley,
or town, it is always found among rocks, running up
and down their perpendicular faces, and peering into
every nook, cranny, or cleft for its insect food.

In its habits the Wall very much resembles the Tree
Creeper, being lively, restless, and shy on the approach
of man. It clings with great tenacity to perpendicular
or horizontal rocks. It runs ujiwards with great dex-
terity, but does not, like the Woodpecker, run down-
wards. After a short rest it flies down from the top
of even the highest towers, and then re-commences its
upward ramble. It does not appear to use its tail as

AVAL!- CllEEl'ER.

1()()

a 2'^oint (Vajjjmi like its congeneric species, but goes
Avitli a loAV spring from one rough spot to another,
until it gets to the top, Avhen it flies clown again, and
so on for a whole day. It "is not seen on the ground.

Naumann tells us the Wall Creeper is unsociable and
quarrelsome Avith its kind, and hence it is ahvays soli-
tary. Even the young separate early. The call-note is
said to be similar to the Bullfinch, and it has also a
shorter note Avhen running up the Avails, in Avhich the
short strophe di, didi, zaa, is often kept up with very
little variation. Both male and female sing, and during
the performance they raise their bodies, and move their
Avings and tail, or flutter them upon the rocks.

It feeds on insects and their larvae and eggs, spiders,
ants, etc., all of which it pokes out of the crevices
with its long curved beak.

It builds in high places which are very difficult to
get at — in chinks of barren rocks, or in the holes of
Avails and old buildings or toAvers. Little indeed was
knoAvn about the nidification of this bird until about
ten years ago, when Nager-Donaziane, of Unsen-Thale,
discovered the nest and eggs, and supplied his friends
Avith specimens, of which a true description was first
given by the Baron V. Konig, in “Cabanis’ Journal
fur Ornithologie,” for 1855. The nest is built of an
underlayer of soft dry stalks, mixed Avith moss, hair,
soft feathers, and avooI, and is lined Avith animals’ hair.
It lays from three to five eggs in June, AAdiich are
either pear-shaped or more generally OAml. The shell
is slightly shining Avhite, Avith small red or flesh-coloured
spots and dots, AAdiich are most numerous at the larger
end. They are about the same size as those of the
d^^ryneck.

The male in breeding plumage has the top of the

9 ^

;

'I

i i

1. vV A 1 L C A ; A' 3 R.

NaT^.-',. - OH. 3. ill DDL 3 S POTT 3

O O D

WALL CREEPER.

IGl

head, rump, and under tail coverts, blackish grey;
Rape and back grey; checks, throat, and front of neck
deep black; abdomen black; the under tail coverts tipped
with white; wing coverts and basal half of the external
web of the wing feathers of a deep crimson; the rest
of the feathers blackish brown, with two large round
spots on the internal web of the first four true primaries,
and one on the fifth. Secondaries tipped with white;
tail black, with the two most external quills broadly
terminated with white, and the others more narrowly
with grey. Beak, feet, and iris, black.

The male in autumn and winter is of a distinct grey
above, with a slight russet colour on the head ; the
throat and chest white, slightly tinged with the same;
the dark parts of the abdomen are less deep than in
spring.

The female resembles the male in winter plumage.

The young of the year have the primaries and tail
quills tipped with grey, and the colours above and
below less pure than in the adult. After the first moult
the two sexes and the young are alike in plumage.

My figure is taken from a skin in autumn plumage,
killed at Geneva, and kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram.
The egg is fi'om a specimen sent by the same gentleman.

The bird has been also figured by Buffon, pi. enl.
3T2, fig. i. male in spring, fig. ii. male in autumn, given
as the female. Boux, Ornith. Prov., pi. 238 ; Bouteil,
Ornith. du Dauph, pi. 3T, f. 4; Naumann, Vogel Deutsch-
lands, pi. 141, male in summer and winter plumage;
Gould, B. of E., pi. 239.

VOL. III.

Order VII.— ALCYONES.
Fcwiihj MEROPID^. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Merops. ( Linnceus.J

Generic Characters. — Beak middle sized, sharp edged, pointed,
and slightly curved, the summit elevated and entire. Aostrils
basal, lateral, ovoid, and open, the opening hidden by having
feathers directed forward. Feet with the tarsus short; of the
three toes in front the most external is united up to the
second articulation of the middle toe, and this with the in-
ternal up to the first articulation; the hind toe broad at its
base; claws — that of the hind toe the smallest. Wings — the
first primary very short, the second the longest in the wing.

BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATEE.

Merops Persica.

Merops Persica,

“ Savignyi,

“ Migyptius,

“ siiperciliosus,

Guepier Savigny,
Guepier meridional,
Sildlicher Bienenfresser,
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater,

Pallas; Voy., 1776.
Cuvier. Swainson.
Forskahll.
PuprELL.

Le Vaillant.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

SWAINSON.

Specific Characters. — Throat yellow; upper part of neck
anteriorly, russet red; upper plumage various shades of green;
superciliary ridge and a band below the eyes turquoise blue. The

I

/

(■

B I , II E - C H E E K E D ] { E E - E A '1' E R .

l()S

two middle tail feathers much longer than the others. Length
from tip of beak to end of long tail feathers twelve inches; carpus
to tip, five inches and three quartei’S; tarsus half an inch; beak
one inch and three quarters; tail six inches.

The Blae-clieeked Bee-eater is an inhabitant of
Persia and Egypt, being found especially on the
borders of the Caspian Sea. It extends along the
shores of the Mediterranean Sea through Tripoli,
Algeria, and along the Atlantic coast as far as Senegal ;
while, eastward, it ranges, according to Dr. Leith
Adams, into the north-west of India, where it is not
unconnnon.

As might be expected, it is occasionally found on
the European side of the Mediterranean, where,
however, it occurs only accidentally. It was introduced
into the European list by Bonaparte, from two speci-
mens which were killed in the neighbourhood of
Genes. It is also included by Count Miihle among
the birds of Greece, while Dr. Leith Adams informs
me that it is found (but rarely) in that neutral territory,
]\Ialta. It is recorded (“Ibis,” vol. i, p. 2T,) by Mr.
Tristram as occurring in the valley of the Jordan in
Southern Palestine; by Mr. Taylor (ibid, p. 47,) as
very abundant in small flocks in Egypt ; and Dr.
Heuglin says it occurs in large flocks on the Somali
coast of the Bed Sea. — (Ibid, vol. i, p. 340.)

In its habits the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater resembles
the better-known species in our own fauna, Merops
apiaster.

The male and female have the forehead marked by
a white band; above the eye is a band of turquoise
blue, with a similar one below, which is, however,
slightly mingled with white feathers; from the angle

164

B L U E - C 1 1 E E K E D B E E - E A T E R .

of tlie beak straiglit tbroogli tlic eye is a band of
dark green. All the npper parts of the body green,
more vivid on the rump, and from tlience shading off
along the long tail feathers into green russet, while the
tips are black. The win*- primaries dark green, with
the most internal part of the broad inner web dusky
brown, shading off into black towards the tip ; under
wing coverts and flanks a rich chesnut, like the chest,
while the rest of the under parts of the wing, and
those of the tail, are glossy hair brown. Throat yellow,
going off into a darker chesnut on the crop; sides of
the neck, abdomen, and under tail coverts, vivid
Scheeles green; beak black; feet horn brown.

Temminck notices two varieties in his ‘‘Manual,”
fourth part, 1840, p. 651. The var. A, are specimens
from Senegal, which, he says, differ in some of the
tints of the plumage, by having the two middle tail
feathers longer, and by having shorter wings — differences
which are seriously recommended to species makers.
This variety has been figured by Bonaparte, in his
“Fauna Italica,” and by Le Vaillant, pi. 6, bis.

The other variety, B, which is that which I have
figured, from Nubia and Egypt, has less blue in the
green of the upper plumage, the middle tail feathers
are rather shortei’, and the wings slightly longer,
reaching near to the end of the lateral tail feathers.
This is Le Vaillant’s Guepier, pi. 6. In my specimen,
which was kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram, and marked
“Egypt,” the wings, when closed, do not reach to
within an inch of the end of the lateral tail feathers.

There is still another variety, found in Japan, the
Merops Javanicuni of Horsfield, which is, however,
easily distinguished by its bright blue rump.

According to Bonaparte, Merops Persica of Pallas

BLaS-CHBEKBD BBB-BAT3E,,

BLAOK-AND- WHITE KIN GB I 3 HSR.

] 5 1 A' E - ( : 1 1 E p; ] V !•: D U E E - E A '1' E R .

100

is clifFereiat from the Merops Savignyi of Swaiuson, a
statement which it is impossible to admit for a moment.
The bird I have figured is in all particulars precisely
the bird described by Swaiuson as J/. Saxignyi, the
Blue-cheeked Bea-eatcr, “Birds of ^Vfiica,” vol. ii, p.
TT, ph T.

Figured by IjC Yaillant, Hist. Xat. Promer, ph 0 et
6 bis; Swaiuson, Birds of Africa, vol. ii, ph 7;
Bonaparte, Fauna Italica, ph 2o, fig. 1.

ALCYOJ^ES.

Family ALCEDINID^F. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Alcedo. (Linnceus.)

Generic Characters. — Beak long, straight, quadrangular,
pointed, sharp edged, and very rarely depressed. Nostrils
basal, lateral, obliquely pierced, and almost entirely closed by
a naked membrane. Beet short, naked above the knee; three
toes in front, the exterior of which is joined to the middle
toe as far as the second articulation, and this with the inside
toe as far as the first articulation. Hind toe broad at its
base, and its claw the smallest. First and second wing
primaries shorter than the third, which is the longest in the
wing.

BLACK-AND-WHITE KINGFISHEE.

Alcedo rudis.

Linn^us.

Beisson.

SWAINSON.

Strickland.

Boie. Bonaparte.
Of the French.
Of the Germans.

Alcedo rudis,

“ ispida. ex albo et nigra varia,
“ ispida hicinta et hitorquale,

“ cerylevaria,

Ceryle rudis,
Martin-pecheur pie,
Geschdekter JSisvogel,

Specific Characters. — Feathers of the occiput long and pointed;
tail with a broad black band, tipped with white at its end; a
broad black band across the crop, interrupted in the middle.
Length from tip of beak to end of tail eleven inches and a half;

-■ : : D - 7/ ±1 : T E X I N G F J S TI .

BLACK-AND-WHITE KINGFISHER. 1()7

from carpal joint to tip of wing fivm incb.es and a half; tail two
inches and a half; beak two inches and a half; tarsus one third
of an inch; middle toe and claw one inch.

This bird is only an accidental visitor to the
European shores. It has been observed in Turkey,
Greece, Italy, and Spain; generally near the coast,
on the European borders of the Mediterranean. In
Africa it is most plentiful at the Cape and in Egypt.
Swainson considered the Senegal species as distinct,
and described it in his ‘^Birds of Africa” under the
name of Ispida hicmta, the Double-collared Kingfisher.
It is found rarely, and only accidentally, in Algeria.
One specimen only was seen by Mr. Tristram near
Jordan, in Southern Palestine. It is stated by Mr.
Taylor, in his Egyptian Beminiscences, (“Ibis,” vol. i,
p. 47,) to be abundant all the way from Alexandria to
the First Cataract. In Asia we find it occurring in
Turkey, Persia, India, and China.

In its habits it resembles the other Kingfishers. Mr.
Taylor (Op. cit.) says it is very tame and familiar in
Egypt. “The food seems to be entirely fish. I have
often watched it hovering over a shallow pool of water,
and every now and then darting down and catching
fishes, sometimes as much as three or four inches in
length. This bird breeds in holes in the banks of the
Nile.”

In the colony of Natal Mr. Gurney (“Ibis,” vol. i,
p. 245,) informs us, that “it frequents the lakes and
rivers near the coast; not found in the interior. This
bird hovers over the water before darting down, and
if not successful flies on further, and hovers again;
having caught a fish, it flies to a bough or post to
swallow it.”

J5LACK-AXD- WHITE KINGFISHER.

1()8

Mr. Swinlioc also, in liis very interesting paper on
tlie Ornithology of Amoy, (“Ibis,” vol. ii, p. 49,) says
that it is “very common on the river, where it is to
be found at all seasons; it poises on the wing at a
lu'ight above the water, and drops suddenly down to
catch its prey. I have however seen it strike obliquely,
when flying close to the surface of the water.”

Like other Kingfishers this bird makes a nest in the
holes of banks of rivers, and lays four or five eggs,
which are white, glossy, and nearly round.

The plumage of the Black-and-AYhite Kingfisher is
very difficult to describe minutely, as almost each
feather, as Swainson remarks, is varied in a different
manner.

The male in breeding plumage has the crown of the
head and its crest black, with longitudinal streaks of
white; all the rest of the upper parts are a mottled
black and white; primaries and tail black and white;
the white line which springs from each nostril is
“carried over the eye and ears, and is lost in the
variegated feathers of the crest.” All the under parts
are pure glossy white, with a broad belt of deep glossy
black across the chest, narrowed or interrupted in the
centre; the flanks thinly striped with black. The iris,
beak, and feet black.

According to Degland the female is rather less, has
more white in the plumage, the black collar less
extended, and sometimes there is a second, which may
probably have caused Swainson to describe the Senegal
species as distinct. He certainly gives no separate
distinction of the sexes.

Before the first moult, the white of the upper parts
is less pure, with a number of black dashes; the
black collar on the chest is only faintly indicated by

BLACK-AND-WHITE WOODPECKER.

169

black spots; the beak is sensibly shorter than in the
adult.

]\Iy figures of the bird and its egg are from specimens
kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram. The bird is marked
“Egypt, March, 1858.”

It has been figured by Bufibn, pi. enl. 62, young,
716, adult male; and Gould, B. of E., pi. 62.

170

Order VIIT.— CHELIDONES.

Family IIIR UNBINIT) ( Bonaparte.)

Genus IIiruxdo. (lAnnams.)

Generic Characters. — Beak very short, very much depressed,
and broad at the base; upper mandible curved downwards at
the point. Feet short, with three toes in front entirely divided,
or united at the base only by a short membrane; claws much
curved; wings long and pointed.

ORIENTAL CHIMNEY SWALLOW.

Ilirundo rustica, var. Saviynyi.

Hirundo Savignyi,

“ rustica orientalis,

“ Cahirica,

“ Fiocourii,

“ Boissonneautii,
Cecropis Savignyi,

Horondelle de clieminie orientate,
Ostliclie Fauchschwalhe,

Leach. Stephens.

SCHLEGEL.

Lichtenstein; Cat., 1823.
Audouin; Des. del’Egp., vol. 13.
Temminck; Man. 3, p. 652.

Boie ; Isis, 1828, p. 316.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Diagnostic Characters. — Under parts of the body, from the
crop to the base of the tail, of a dark chesnut. Length six
inches ; carpus to tip four inches ; tail from base to end of lateral
feather three inches ; tarsus five lines ; beak from gape to end of
upper mandible seven lines.

This ^^perinanent variety” of our English Swallow
is found principally in Macedonia^ Egypt, and Eastern

ORIENTAL CHIMNEY SWALLOW.

171

Siberia. It is very coninion in Egypt, bat is only found
accidentally in Europe, — Spain and Greece being the
localities noted by Temniinck, Miihle, Lindermeyer, etc.

Professor Blasius, in “Nauniannia,” 1859, p. 254,
has a paper upon this bird, which I will transcribe
nearly entire, as it not only expresses all we know
about it, but contains some useful remarks upon the
difficult question of ‘^species.” —

“At a meeting in Cothea we learned through Olph-
Gaillard, that H. Cahirica, Licht., was taken by
Xager-Donazians, at St. Gothard, and the specimen
was exhibited. Later Laudamman Nager ■wrote to me'
that this is there the only Chimney Swallow, and that
during the spring passage it is sometimes caught by
boys with the hand. I also received specimens which
did not differ in intensity of colour from African
spechnens. We may reasonably express surprise at an
Egyptian species coming to St. Gothard, particularly so
regularly according to Andermatt. In the following
spring Baldamus found this bird breeding and pairing
with H. rustica in Diebzig, and I have one of these
specimens now in my possession. In the jjresent
spring (1859) I have also seen these Swallows breeding
in Brunswick, and paired -with the common II. rustica.
Many specimens were brighter than the Egyptian H.
Cahirica; otherwise they resembled them. From other
sources I have received intelligence that among Chimney
Swallows individuals with red brown under sides have
been found breeding.

Under these circumstances can still affirm that
this bird has been taken at St. Gothard; but it is not
so clear that it is the only kind of Chimney Swallow
which is found there. Dr. Glbger says that the very
dark red House Swallow is very common in Sardinia,

172

orip:ntal chimney swat, low.

and also in Eastern Siberia, where, according to Pallas,
the Chimney Swallow has a remarkably rnst-coloured
under side. As the different coloured birds pair together,
and as in the same nest there are to be found from
normal coloured parents — both colours — it is evident
that the varieties blend one with another, and as there
is very little difference in the forms and habits, so it
is not well to maintain that there is a difference of
species. But how is this question to be view^ed? For
example as to climatic varieties? Our northern climate
has under some circumstances produced the African
form! No one can satisfactorily maintain that our
northern dark rust-coloured Chimney Swallow was
originally bred from the African! Nor can any one
connect the one in the climate of Egypt with that in
Eastern Siberia; far less can we deduce from the
casual fact of the varieties pairing together, that the
rust-colour of the Egyptian or Siberian Chimney Swallow
is due to physical causes. The name climatic variety
is only an arbitrary distinction.”

‘‘Or races? But races can only be comprehended
with certainty within the same limits as climatic
varieties. Pdie young will without any intermediate
form go back to that of the parents. Nature does not
carry out this idea precisely.”

“Perhaps sub-species? The comprehension of sub-
species is so little established in theory, and is so
variably demonstrated in practice, that it gives no
bounds to capriciousness.”

“In short, are local forms one and the same species?
But is not that a name without all philosophical or
physiological consideration? Perhaps all the better if
philosophy or physiology stood on weak ground. A
distinction founded on fact is at least remembered by

ORIENTAL CHIMjSEY SWALLOAV.

173

a matter of fact.* Would it not be advisable to make
this matter of fact certain before Ave dispute about an
idea? To do this Ave must knoAv Avhere the white and
rust-coloured SwalloAvs are known to dAvell distinctly.
Hoav far, and in Avhat statistic relation, the one form
extends into the territory of the other, and in Avhat
relation there is a proportion betAveen the two forms.
We might then help each other to solve this riddle,
and then we shall have no difficulty in being certain
about the name.”

This paper I think clearly establishes the fact of the
identity of the v'ariety Avhich is the subject of the
jiresent notice Avith the Chimney SavrUoav. They breed
together. Their habits and nidification are similar.
They only differ in the colour of the abdominal
plumage, in having a brighter black on the back, and
perha^is a broader black collar round the neck.

The specimen sent me by Mr. Tristram, Avhich I
haA'e figured, and the measurements of which I have
given in my diagnosis, Avas killed in January, 1860,
in Egypt, by AV. C. P. Medlycott, Esq.

The plumage aboA^e is glossy black ; beloAV dark
chesnut, Avith a broad black collar round the neck.
Each of the tail feathers has a Avhite spot on its inner
web, giving the appearance of a crescentic band Avhen
vieAved from beneath.

It has also been figured by Audouin, in plate 4, fig. 4,
of his “Expedition to Egypt.” The draAvings in this
Avork Avere done by M. Savigny, after Avhom Stephens,
in his edition of “ShaAv’s Zoology,” named the bird.

* I append the German text of this passage ; — “Oder endlich gar Localformen
ein und derselben art ? Aber ist das nicht ein Name ohne alle tiefere
philosophische Oder physiologische Bedeutung ! Vielleicht um so besser,
wenn die Philosophic oder Physiologie aiif schwachen Fussen steht. Fine
thatsachliche Bezeichnung erinncrt doch wenigstcns an einen Thatbestand.”

174

CHELIDONES.

Family Hill UNDINIDHl. ( Bonaparte. )
Genus Hiritndo. ( Linnceus.)

EUFOUS SWALLOW.

Ilirundo Daurica.

Ilirundo Daurica,

“ rufula,

H ((

a a

LiNNiEus. Savi; Oru. Tosc.
Temminck; Mau., 3rd. Ed., p. 298.

(excluding syuonymes.

ScHiNZ; Europ. Faun., vol. i., p. 250.

(excluding syuonymes.)
ScHLEGEL; Kerue, 1844', p. 18 and
51.

66

66 66

66 66

6 6 66

Degland; Oruitli. Eur., No. 155,
the male.

Ceespon; Faun. Merid., vol. i.,
p. 309, the male.

Bonaparte; Bev. Grit., pp. 40 and
47. List of birds, (portion) No.
59. Conspect., p. 339, (excluding
the synonyme of Bilppell.)

Jaubeet; llev. Zool., 1854, j), 261,
the adult only.

De Selys-Longchamps; Bulletin
de L’Academic de Bruxelles, vol.
22, part 2, p. 125.

&

t* if

RUFOT'S SWALLOW.

175

Jlirundo aJpestris,

“ Capensis,
Hirondelle RoiisseUne,
rousse, or rufaline,
Hothliche Schicalhe,
Kondine di Siberia,

Malherbe; Faiinc Orn. Sicile,
(excluding synonymes.)
Bonaparte; Intr. Faun. Ital.
Keyserling et Blasius; Die
TV irbelthiere, No. 201, (portion.)
Durazzo; Ucc. Lig., No. 45.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Savi.

Specific Characters. — Medium size. Top of the head, back,
wings, and tail, black; the outer tail feathers for the most part
faintly spotted with white; nape rufous, not striated; rump pale
rufous, passing into whitish posteriorly; below the cheeks, and
under wing coverts, russet, with very narrow brown striae, which
are however absent in the anal region; the posterior half of the
under tail coverts black; feet moderate size. Length about seven
inches; closed wings four inches and four fifths; external tail
feathers four inches; tarsi half an inch; posterior toe (without
claw) six tenths of an inch; posterior claw about a quarter of an
inch.

This bird lias been confounded witli several others.
It was first noticed by Savi, in 18-31, in the “Orni-
tologia Toscana,” Appendix to vol. i., p. 201, as Hirundo
Daurica, Lin. — the Rondine di Siberia. It was after-
wards introduced as a European bird in tlie second
edition of Temminck’s Manual, as identical with Hirundo
Capensis of Gmelin, from which however it is clearly
distinct. Temminck proposed for it the name of Rnftda,
which it retained through the many scientific difficulties
it encountered after his time. Temminck’s reasons for
the change of name is hardly defensible. He thought

170 IlUFOUS SWALLOM'.

that it was not right to use the word Capensis for
a European species, and he therefore translated the
word Rousseline, given to the Cape bird by Le Vaillant,
into Ritfula. The next difficulty it had to encounter
was from the Prince of Canino, who, after adopting
the name of Temminck in his “List,” in 1838, applied
the name Alpestris in his ^‘Catalogo degli uccelli
Europe!,” in 1842. In his “Eevue Critique de
1’ ouvrage de Docteur Degland sur les Oiseaux d’
Europe,” in 1850, he further adds to the confusion
by describing it as a miniature Hirundo Senegalensis ,
although it is at once distinguished from that bird by
the black apex of the under tail coverts. He also
united it with another distinct bird, the H. vielano-
ertssa, of Ruppell. Schlegel, in his “Revue Critique
des Oiseaux d’ Europe,” of 1844, was the first to
notice the confusion of the true H. rvfula of Sicily
with its congeners, namely, H. Capensis, H. alpest7'is,
( Daui'ica,) H. Senegaletisis , and H. sU'iolata.

KeyseiTing and Blasius, in “Die Wirbelthiere Europas,”
1840, describe as a European species the H. alpestris
of Pallas, and identify it with H. 7'ufida. Schinz,
following Temminck, confounds H. rufula with H.
Capensis; while Degland, in his Ornithologie Euro-
peene,” in 1849, describes the male bird with the
omission of the important character of the termination
in black of the inferior tail coverts; but for the
female he again falls back, and gives a description of
H. Capensis, in which mistake he is followed by IM.
Crespon, in the “Faune Meridionale.”

Gould figures H. Senegalensis for H. rufula. Lesson,
in his “Traite Ornithologie,” 1831, confounds Rufida
with both Senegalensis and Capensis. Ruppell figures
H. melanocrissa for the first time, in 1845, in his

RUFOUS SWAIJ.OW.

ITT

‘^Systematische Ubersicht der Yogels Nord-Ost Africa;”
and Bonaparte at once claims this bird as H. rufula.
After which we cannot wonder that Blyth, Sykes,
Hodgson, and Gray should more or less have confounded
its synonymes.

M. De Selys-Longchamps has removed all this
confusion by an admirable memoir upon the Swallows,
in the work which I have referred to in the specific
characters. I am indebted to this memoir for most of
what I have to say about H. rufula.

The Bufous Swallow has been observed in Greece,
on the Italian shores of the Mediterranean, and in the
South of France. It is not observed in the two latter
countries commonly, but accidentally on its passage in
April or May, in couples or flocks more or less large.
It has been frequently observed in Sicily. At Messina,
according to Luigi Benoit and Cantraine, it was common
in 1832. The Marquis Durazzo has recorded its
appearance at Genoa; M. Crespon, at Nimes; M.
Jaubert, at Marseilles. According to Lunel it nested
in the neighbourhood of Avignon, in 1845 and 1846.
Fie describes the eggs as white, with small reddish
spots and points, which formed a zone at the greater
end, which indicates that he did not get the egg of
H. Daurica. M. Jaubert has also observed it at Mont-
pellier, and M. Malherbe in the Cote-d’or and the
Drome.

Mr. Tristram remarks, (Ibis, vol. i., p. 26,) “FF. rufula
appears to be the Common Swallow of the Holy Land.
I cannot be sure that I saw H. rustica at all, though
possibly it might not yet (April) have returned from
the south.”

De Selys (Op. cit.) remarks about its real country
as follows : — “The question was formerly asked from

2 B

VOL. III.

178

RUFOUS SWAIJ.OW.

whence came our Domestic Swallows? It is now
known they pass the winter in Africa; hut this (picstion
may be still asked with good reason as to H. rufula.
From whence does it depart, and Avhat is its true
country? No ornithologist has yet (1855) been able
to answer this question. We only know the bird
from its accidental appearance on the shores of the
Mediterranean. Those who took it for H. Daurica,
{H. alpestris, Pall.,) thought it came from Siberia, and
this presumption might be justified by the simultaneous
appearance in the same parts of the Mediterranean of
many Siberian birds, such as Emberiza rustica, E.
aureola, E. pityornus, E. pusilla, Accentor Calliope,
etc.; but if Rufula is very nearly allied to Daurica,
there is still a difference between them; nor has it
yet been found in Pussia, or upon the coasts of the
Black Sea. Prince Bonaparte seemed to have settled
the question, by claiming its identity with H. melano-
crissa of Abyssinia, but unfortunately we have seen
that they are distinct.”

“H. rufula being as we may say intermediate between
H. Daurica and H. melanocrissa, I am led to believe,
in the absence of further proof, that its home must be
one of the mountainous countries situated between
Egypt and India, probably the mountains in the south
of Armenia or Persia. I exclude for the present the
hyjsothesis of Barbary, as it has not yet been met with
in Algeria or Spain.”

^‘As far as we know of H. rufula, and until we can
in a more positive manner determine the differences
which age may introduce between this species and its
congeners, it is distinguished from H. Daurica by the
exceedingly fine brown streaks on the inferior parts
of the body, by the larger russet collar, and by the

KUFOL'S SWALLOW.

1T9

nissot of the nuiip, which passes decidedly into a
whitish tint posteriorly.

“It is distinguished from Melanocrissa by the presence
at all ages of the streaks on the under parts; by the
absfiice of the anal russet border; by the less deep
russet of the collar; by the brighter red on the rump
passing into white posteriorly; and by the whitish spot
which almost always is found on the external tail
feather.”

Since the above was written by M. De Selys, avc
have further accounts of this bird, which not only
verify his prognostication as to the true country, but
appear to remove all doubts as to the identity of II.
rufula and H. Daurica. I allude to the observations
of Mr. Tristram, before noticed, that it entirely takes
the place of H. rustica in the Holy Land and in
Egypt. Also to the still more important and interesting
account given of H. rufula, by Mr. Simpson, (Ibis,
vol. ii., p. 288,) where he describes it as inhabiting
Missolonghi and Southern Hitolia, and further gives some
most interesting accounts of its nidification in AV estern
Greece, in the same volume, p. 386. ]\Ir. Simpson

describes the egg as white, which is further proof of
the identity of this bird with H. Daurica.

M. Ed. De Selys-Longchamps has very kindly sent
me his Grecian specimen, which I have had very carefully
figured; and through the kindness of Mr. Tristram, I
am also able to figure one of the eggs taken by Mr.
Simpson, in Greece. ]M. De Selys accompanied the
specimen with some valuable remarks, from which I
extract the folloAving: —

“As to Hirundo rufula, my statements are quite
verified as to its country being the mountains of Eastern
Asia, since Mr. Tristram (Ibis, vol. i., p. 27,) indicates

180

KUFOUS SWAIJ-OW.

it as the Common Su’allow in the Holy Land. It
must, however, be added to this that it inhabits Greece
regularly, and not accidentally. (Ibis, Oct., 18(30, p.
386, Mr. Simpson.) This observer gives valuable
information in saying the eggs are quite Avhite, like
those of H. urhica. It is then more than probable that
M. Lunel made a mistake when he said they were
spotted. This discovery as to the eggs and that of its
true country, confirms me in my belief that this species
is identical with Daurica, as I had before supposed.
I have in reality received from Siberia specimens of
Daurica which have the nuchal collar complete, and
as to the brown streaks below the body being more
or less marked, they are no doubt so according to
age, of which I have proof in its congener Melanocrissa.
The name of Daurica ought to stand with the addition
of a very doubtful race, which may be called Rufula
— H. rufula?

“Edward ISJewton’s Sw'allow, (Ibis, 1859, p. 462,)
seen between Cairo and Alexandria, in Egypt, was
probably H. melanocrissa. M. Jaubert, of Marseilles,
has, I believe, figured and described in his_ work,
‘Eichesses Ornithologique, etc.,’ the II. rufula of Mar-
seilles. The work being at my country residence, I
cannot quote it with eertainty at this moment. My
mounted specimen is without indication of sex.”

In accordance with the opinion expressed by M. De
Selys, I have sunk the name of Rufula, and adopted
that of Daurica, leaving it for future observers to
determine whether there is or not a race to which the
name Rufula may yet be given.

In Mr. Simpson’s very interesting account of some
of the Birds of Western Greece, (Ibis, vol. ii., p. 386,)
I extract the following about the nesting of H.

RUFOUS SAVALLOW.

181

Daurica : — “II. riifula ( Daurica ) is still more singular
in its niclification, always fixing its nest under a cave
or projecting slab of rock. In the little Klissoura,
and tlirougliout the precipices of ikracyntlius, there
are plenty of these caves, in former times a convenient
refuge for the Klephtsas; they are uoav for shepherds
tending their flocks during the Avinter months. This
eccentric SAvalloAV, not satisfied Avith having a good
dry caA’e all to himself, must needs construct a long
passage to his nest; thus giving it the shape of a retort,
Avith the upper part cut aAvay, and the remaining
portion glued underneath a flat surface. The entrance
is narroAV, but the passage gradually Avidens till it
finally opens iirto a sort of chamber, very Avarmly lined
Avith feathers; here the little fellow and his mate are
sure to be most snugly tucked in just after sundoAvn,
when they cannot see to catch any more insects.
Escape therefore is impossible Avhen a ruthless orni-
thologist wishes to capture the pair for the sake of
identifying their eggs. No more than one pair ev^er
seem to occupy a cave, though the remains of previous
nests could occasionally be traced on the roof. The
same pair appear to return year after year, and their
nest, unless injured by shepherd boys during the
Avinter, will merely require a little touching up to
render it again habitable. The fact of the same birds
returning Avas proA'ed by these caves being untenanted,
where the pair had been captured during the preceding
year. Several nests Avith eggs Avere found toAvards the
end of May and beginning of June, 1859. Four seems
about the complement; they are quite Avhite, much
resembling eggs of H. urhica, Avhich could be Avell
passed off* for them in collections.

“A curious circumstance in connection Avith one of

182

RUFOUS SWALLOW.

these nests occurred to Dr. Kriiper and myself, in a
cave at the entrance to the little Klissoura. Fastened
to the roof of this cave, (Avhich was on the face of a
low cliff, and not easy of access,) we espied a very
good nest of H. rufula, {Daurica,') upon which Dr.
Kriiper proceeded to operate with a penknife, whilst
I placed my hand over the month of the passage.
Presently something that felt cold, like a dog’s nose,
began rubbing against the palm. On withdrawing the
hand a thick snake poked his head out of the aj^erture,
looked around for aAvhile, and then popped in again.
He Avas in very good quarters, and evidently intended
to take a lease of the premises, which just suited him,
as he could coil himself up in the bulb of the retort,
Avith his head and neck stretched out along the passage,
in readiness for any emergency. We soon had him
sprawling on the floor of the caAx, Avhen it became
apparent that he had SAvallowed a full-groAvn young
SAvalloAv; the other three being in all probability destined
for a similar fate. The sensations of those Avr etched

little victims, lying in such close contact Avith their

horrible enemy, must have been someAvhat akin to those
of Ulysses and his companion in the caA’e of Polyphemus.
In the destruction of the nest tAvo of them made their
escape; the fourth was captured and preserved by
Kriiper, together Avith the first, which, on being cut
out of the body of the snake, Avas found to be A^ery
little injured as a specimen. The walls of the cave

Avere smooth and nearly perpendicular; the roof at

least seven feet above the floor, and no cracks visible;
how then could this monster have Avriggled himself
into such a well-stocked larder?”

Mr. Simpson further informs us that every European
species of Hirundo and Cypselas (except, perhaps, H.

rt:f()US swallo^v.

183

riparia,) may be found breeding in iSIount Aracynthus.
Hirxindo rupestris is tbe only Swallow which winters
in Greece.

H. Dmirica has the top of the head and back metallic
black; Avings and tail dull black; cheeks and auditory
region yelloAvish grey; nape and lateral parts of the
occiput russet; rump taAvny red, passing into yelloAvish
white on the posterior half; throat, chest, abdomen,
under tail and Aving coverts, Avhitish, Avashed Avith russet,
especially on the chest and flanks, and finely striated
with broAvn, more distinct on the crop and throat; the
terminal moiety of the under tail coverts, Avell-defined
metallic black; beak and feet blackish, the latter slender.
The external tail feathers have almost ahvays on their
inner barb a small, Avhitish, oval spot, not Avell defined,
and placed slightly in adAmnce of the base of the feather,
Avhich is covered by the inferior coverts. M. De Selys
informs us that M. Jaubert has a specimen Avhich has
a well-marked Avhite spot on one of the great tail
feathers, while the other is quite black.

As I have before mentioned, I am indebted to M.
Ed. De Selys-Longchamps for the Grecian specimen
Avhich I have figured. I return him my very best
thanks for this obligation. The egg is from Mr.
Tristram, and is marked “JE. M. 31 — 59. W. H. S.”

184

CHELIDONES.

Family HIM UNDINIDH^. f Bonaparte. )
Genus Hirundo. ( Linnceus.J

CEAG SWALLOW.

Hirundo rupestris.

Hirundo rupestris,

“ montana et rupestris,
Cotyle rupestris,

Ptyonoprogne rupestris,
Hirondelle de rocher,
Felsenschwalbe,

Mondine montana,

ScoPOLi; 1768.
Gmelin; 1788.
Boie. Bonapaete.
Bonapaete.

Of the Feench.
Of the Geemans.
Savi.

Specific Characters. — Upper parts ash. grey, more or less dark
according to age; primaries dark smoky brown; tail dark brown,
the two upper and two most external tail feathers unicolorous;
all the others having a large round white spot on the inner
web. Length of tip of beak to end of long wings w'hen closed
six inches and a half; from carpus to tip five inches; tarsus five
lines; beak seven lines; tail tw'O inches and a half.

The Crag Swallow inhabits Sicily, Sardinia, the
Alps and Pyrenees, the north of Africa, and the eastern
parts of Asia. It is also found in the Appenines, and
in Tuscany, in Greece, and the Ionian Islands. We
have also records of its appearance in Egypt and the
rocks bordering the Chiffa, in Algeria. In India, Dr.

r

CRAG SWAIJ.OW.

inr)

Leith Adams informs me that it is generally distributed
over the Nilghiris Mountains, in Madras, and on certain
parts of the Western Himalayas. In the Epirus we
are informed by Lord Lilford, (Ibis, vol. ii,, p. 234,)
it is common and resident, “haunting the high and
precipitous mountains of the interior in summer, and
coming down to the coast during the winter months.”
In the same Journal, (vol. i., p. 46,) Mr. Taylor informs
us that it is the most abundant of the SavrIIows above
Cairo. “I found a nest of this species on the 25th.
of January, in the grottoes of Ben-Hassan, containing
tAA^o eggs nearly ready to hatch. Both nest and eggs
much resembled those of the Common SwalloAv.”

In his “Vogel Griechenlands,” p. 118, Lindermayer
says, “LT. rupestris is a resident bird in Greece, and found
plentifully in the low neighbourhoods in Avinter, flying
in large flocks over the sAvamps and the Ioav leA'el
grounds near the sea. In summer it is only seen in
the high mountains. I have in the early days of March,
1845, killed many specimens in the mountains of
Athens. Kriiper found a nest Avith eggs in Akarnania
and on Parnassus.”

Count Miihle, in his “Beitrage Zur Ornithologie
Griechenlands,” page 81, says, — “In summer H. alpestris
is only seen on high mountains, such as Taygetus,
(Eta, Velugi, etc. In cold clear Avinter days it first
approaches human dAvellings, and extends solitarily
among them, and is seen in Avaving flights over the
tOAvns, which resemble much more the Bee-eater than
the Swallow. Here they pass the Avinter, for I haA'e
shot them plentifully in the end of December.”

From Degland I take the following: — “H. alpestris
is sufficiently common in SAvitzerland, in SaA^oy, and in
the Pyrenees. I have received it from Bagnerre-di-

2 c

VOL. III.

180

CHAO S^VAI-L<)^V.

1

Eigorre and Grenoble. M. Gerbe informs me tbat it is
abundant in the department of the Basses-Alpcs, near
Moustiers, and in the Var among some of the high
mountain rocks which border the River Argent. M.
C’respon reports it from the department of Gard; and
it is seen in its passage in some other spots in Provence,
Languedoc, Anjou, and the department of Isere. It
builds among the clefts in the anfractuosities of the
rocks, making a nest of tempered clay, small straws,
and feathers. It lays live or six white eggs, spotted
with red, dark rust, or brown.”

“This species flies more slowly than its congeners, and
always in regions most elevated. It almost always seeks
its food in an undulatory flight above the rocks it
inhabits. It arrives in Italy and in the south of France
before the other Swallows, and leaves last. M. Gerbe
tliinks that some individuals hybernate in certain parts
of Piedmont, near the borders of France; because when
the winter is not severe, it is not rare to see them
in the months of January and February flying above
the mouth of the Var, and at Nice above the river
which passes through that city. As this species moults
before it emigrates, Avhich is peculiar to it, M. Gerbe
also suggests that those individuals wFich appear in a
season where generally they are not seen again, are
the young ones of the last brood, and that a retarded
moult has obliged them to remain in our climate.”

The male and female have the upper plumage ash
grey, with the wings and tail darker. Throat light
fawn, gradually becoming darker on the chest and
abdomen; under wing coverts dark smoky brown; linger
tail coverts hair brown ; the tail feathers, with the
exception of the two median, and the two external,
have an oval Avhite spot on their inner web; beak

C'KAG SWALLOW.

187

blackish; iris hazel, or, according to M. E.oux and M,
Crespon, gold-colour.

According to Degland, the young before the first
moult have the feathers of the upper parts bordered
with russet; those of the inferior parts of a yellow
russet, and the throat spotted with brown on a white
ground.

My figure is after a specimen kindly sent me hy
Mr. T fistram, marked ‘‘Kedron, near the Dead Sea,
March, 1858.”

The bird has also been figured by Naumann, pi.
146; Yieillot, Faun. Fr., pi. 39; Foux, Ornith. Provence,
pi. 142; Bouteil, Ornith. du Dauph, pi. 38, f. 6; Gould,
B. of E., pi. 56.

CIIELIDONES.

Family CAPRIMULG ID^. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Caprimulgus. ( Lmnceus.J

Generic Characters. — Beak very short, flexible, depressed,
slightly curved, and cleft to beyond the eyes; superior mandible
hooked at the point, furnished with stiff bristly hairs directed
forwards. !N^ostrils basal, large, closed by a membrane, and
partly covered by the feathers of the forehead. Feet with
three toes in front and one behind; the anterior toes united
as far as the first articulation by a membrane; the hind toe
reversible; claws short, except that of the middle toe, which
is long and serrated, so as to form a comb. Tail rounded or
forked, composed of ten quills. Wings long; first primary
shorter than the second, which is the longest.

RUSSET-NECKED NIGHTJAR.

Caprimulgus rujicollis.

Caprimulgus rujicollis,

“ rujitorques,

Scoiornis trimaculatus,

Bugoulevent a collier roux,
Halsbandziegenmelker,

Temminck.

VlEILLOT.

SwAiNSON; Birds of
Africa, vol. ii.

Of the Fbench.

Or THE Geemans.

Specific Characters. — A collar of russet extending from the cheeks
round the back of the neck, and joining on each side in front
to a white spot on the throat; first primary shorter than the

- N l: c

RUSSET-NECKED NIGHTJAR.

189

third. Plumage having a general rufous tint. Length twelve
inches; carpus to tip eight inches; tarsus one inch; middle toe
one inch; claw pectinated. Beak from gape fourteen lines; breadth
at base one inch; tail six inches and a half.

The Red, or, as I prefer calling it, the Russet-necked
Nightjar, is a native of Africa, being occasionally found
in various parts of Europe. The south of Spain and
France, namely, Provence, Marseilles, Nimes, and
Montpellier, are recorded as its European localities.
To these, through the kindness of Dr. Leith Adams,
I am able to add Malta, where a specimen was obtained
by Charles Augustus Wright, Esq., from whose notes
I copy the following: —

‘Tn the spring of this year (1861) a native bird-
stuffer sent me word of a curious Goat-sucker having
been shot a few days previous, (in the middle of May,)
at Emtalitep, a valley situate on the southern coast of
this island. When I saw it the bird had already been
set up, but the skin was quite fresh, and there is no
doubt about its being a fine specimen of Caprimulgus
ruficollis. * * addition to the localities

given by Degland, I know it is included in an
unpublished list of Egyptian birds in my possession,
compiled from various sources by Mr. W. C. Medlycott.
As far as my information extends, it has never been
known to visit Sicily, or any part of Italy, except
Nice, where it has been occasionally met with. There
appears to be no previous record of its capture in
Malta. I am glad to say that the subject of this
notice passed into my possession, and now occupies a
conspicuous place among my Birds of Malta. C.
ruficollis may be easily distinguished from C. Europceus,,
by its larger size, general rufous colouring, different
proportionate length of primaries, two large white

190

KUSSET-NECKED NIGHTJAR.

spots on tlie throat, and the reddish collar from which
it derives its name. C. Europceus is a very common
bird in Malta during the vernal and antumnal migrations.
Before the capture of this species, C. rujicollis was
unknoAvn as a Maltese visitor.”

C. rujicollis is apparently a rare and local bird in
Europe, except Spain. It is not mentioned by Mr.
Salvin, in his interesting “Five Month’s Bird-nesting
in the Eastern Atlas,” or in Lord Lilford’s “Notes
upon the Birds of the Ionian Islands,” published in
the ^‘Ibis.” Neither is it mentioned by Count Miihle,
or Dr. Lindermayer, as a visitor to Greece.

In Mr. Tristram’s “Notes from Eastern Algeria,”
however, I find the following, (Ibis, vol. ii., p. 374:) —
“As evening drew near the Bed-necked Goat-sucker,
{Caprhnulgtis rujicollis,) flitted about the glades, and
the note of the Scops-Eared Owl floated on the air,
Avith its plaintive ‘Maroof, maroof,’ from which it derives
its local appellation.” It is also mentioned by Captain
Loche as inhabiting the three provinces of Algeria.

Dr. D. Antonio Machado, in his “Catalogo De las
Aves observadas en Algunas provincias de Andalucia,
Sevilla, 1851,” says of this bird, — “It inhabits the woody
flat ground of the mountains; it appears in spring,
and leaves again in October: very common. It has no
nest, birt places its eggs in hollows in the ground, or
under the shelter of some shrub. It frequents the
roads where there is much horse or mule traffic, and
the vulgar notion is that it feeds upon the dung Avhich
it finds there; brrt it is much more probable that it is
in search of the beetles Avhich live among it, and which
are its principal food.

I have ventured to place among the synonyrnes of
this bird that of Scotontis trimaculatus, as it agrees in

HU.SSET-^ KI KEJ) NIG IITJ A K.

11)1

every important particular with the description given
by Swainson of that bird, in his “History of the Birds
of Africa,” — “Jardine’s Naturalists’ Library,” Ami. A’iii.,
p. 70: — Singularly enough Mr. Swainson seems to have
OAmrlooked the fact that the European Nightjar has
three spots on the inner web of the three first primaries,
and has claimed for his bird this exclusi\’e character.
IMr. SAvainson giAms eleven inches as the length of his
bird, Avhich is rather shorter than that of C. rnjicollis,
but the other and more important dimensions are the
same.

There is another point of difference Avhich I cannot
help thinking is accidental. Mr. S. says, “The first
primary quill is half an inch shorter than the second
and third, Avhich are of equal length, and the longest,
AAdiile the fourth is an ineh shorter, and the fifth is
one and one fourth inches shorter than the fourth.”

If the end of the aboAm passage is transposed, and
read, “AVhile the fourth is an inch and a quarter
shorter, and the fifth one inch shorter than the fourth,”
the Avhole Avill apply Avith joerfect exactitude, like every
other part of the desciiption, to C. ruficollis.

I have no account to offer of the nourishment,
habits, and nesting of this bird. But they are not
likely I think to differ much from its European and
closely-allied congener. There is the same Avide mouth,
Avith its array of bristles, and the same comb to clean
them Avith on the claAV of its middle toe. What a
beautiful adaptNe proA'ision is this comb. Looked at
through a lens, the teeth of the comb are seen to be
placed with perfect regularity, and are admirably
adapted to their evident use — to clean the bristles, an
act Avhich Dr. Maclean tells me he has actually seen
performed by our Goat-sucker. The biistles are required

192

RUSSET-NKCKEl) N IG IITJ AR.

as a fence for the large mouth, out of which otherwise
many an insect would slip away. But the bristles get
clogged up, and the God who made this bird has
provided it Avith as perfect a comb to clean them with,
as is to be found on the table of any lady in Europe!
I should like to knoAv how such a provision could have
been given by “natural selection,” or “variation,” or
by any other “aid to theory,” Avhich Mr. DarAvin or
Dr. Asa Gray Avould assign as the means by Avhich
this beautiful adaptation was produced? To imagine
that this comb on the claw of the long middle toe is
an accidental variation, is to surrender common sense.
Still more absurd Avould be the inference that such a
variation could have been produced by successive steps
through a long series of years. The bristles and the
comb haA"e a distinct relation to each other. They are
parts of the organic structure of the being. Did they
vary separately or simultaneously? Were they produced
independently or in distinct relation to each other ?
How much more good would the RevicAvers of DarAvin
do by going into questions like these, rather than giving
us long and very often unintelligible and dull disser-
tations, in Avhich fine Avriting is more aimed at than
sound science. The physiological part of the question,
evidently the most important, they seldom or ever
touch.

The prevailing tint of the upper plumage is grey,
more or less tinged with rufous, which is the prevailing
colour of the wings and all the inferior parts. The
head has the sides grey, Avith a broad band of rufous,
and dark brown longitudinal spots between. The nape
is composed of the rufous collar which gives the bird
its name. Back and upper tail coverts and feathers
grey, barred and striated irregularly Avith rufous and

KUSSET-XECKED NIGHTJAR.

193

dark brown. Tlie scapularies and upper wing coverts
light rufous, mingled with grey and rich dark brow'n.
The lesser wing coverts, primaries, and secondaries, deep
chesnut, barred with darker brown. The first three
prunaries have a large white oval spot on their inner
web, each spot from the first being slightly nearer the
tip of the feathers. The other primaries are tipped with
grey, and more deeply bordered at the ends with the
same colour darker.

The first primary is about half an inch shorter than
the second and third, which are longest. The fourth
is an inch shorter than the first, and the fifth one inch
shorter than the fourth. Throat, cheeks, and chest,
light rufous, with a large white spot on the former;
abdomen still lighter rufous, finely barred with brown;
under tail coverts fawn-colour. When closed the tail is
grey above, divided into a cup-within-cup pattern, the
intervals of which at the sides are faAvn-colour; beloAV
the tail is fawn-colour, thickly barred with dark blackish
brown, and terminating with white; the three lateral
feathers on each side have this character above and
below, while the rest are dark mottled brown, tipped
and edged with fawn-colour. Beak black ; feet and iris
brown.

My figure is from a specimen sent me by Mr.
Tristram, marked “Bojhar Forest, 29th. May, 1856.”

It has also been figured by Vieillot, Faun. Franc.,
pi. 62, fig. 2; Boux, Ornith. Provence, pi. 14S; Gould,
B. of E., pi. 52.

Caprimul(jus climaturus, the African Long-tailed
Nightjar, is mentioned to me in a letter by INI. Dubois,
of Brussels, as having been accidentally captured in
Europe.

2 D

VOL, JJI,

194

EUSSET-XEf'KED XTGIITJAR.

Mr. Swainson has separated the Nightjars into two
groups. In that for which he retains the name of
Caprimulcjiis, the two lateral toes of the foot arc of the
same length; in the other the inner toe is longer than
the outer, and these he has classed under the generic
name Scotornix, and it is to this group that Caprimuhjns
climaturus belongs. It is here I think that classifiers
err. There is no family so well marked as a family
as the Nightjars. In colour they so much resemble
each other, that it is impossible to designate by this
character alone one species from another. AYhy then
divide the genus? Because some few members of the
family have a slight difference in the lateral toes, surely
we have no right to complicate by dividing the genus!
So long as their structure, habits, and ornamentation
are similar, a slight deviation in the length of a toe is,
with all deference to Mr. Swainson, insufficient to
constitute generic distinction.

The claims of C. climaturus as a European species
are, I think, too slight to justify me in introducing it
into this Avork, further than by the present notice.

Foot of Russct-neckcd Nightjar, slightly enlarged.

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1

Order IX.— COLUMBvE.

Family COL UMBIDJE. (Leach.)

Genus Columba. (Linnceus.)

Generic Characters. — Beak of medium size, compressed; base
of the upper mandible covered with a soft skin, through which
the nostrils are pierced, the point more or less curved. Feet
with three toes in front, entirely divided, and one behind.

EGYPTIAN TURTLE DOVE.

Columha JEgyptiaca.

Columha .Mgyptiaca,

“ ca mb aye lists,

“ maeulicollis,

Tartar Senegalensis,
Tourterelle d' Egypte,
JEgyptische Tarteltauhe,

Latham.

Temminck.

Wagler; Syst. Avium.
Bonaparte.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Specific Characters. — External boi’der of the wings black; the
upper and middle four tail feathers unicolorous; the most lateral
ashy at their base, black iu the middle, and bluish white at their
distal ends; no black and blue collar on the neck. Length nine
inches and a half; carpus to tip five inches and a half; tail four
inches and a half ; tarsus nine lines ; middle toe and claw one inch ;
beak eleven lines.

X.B. — The above measurements are from the dry skin of the
female specimen which is figured.

19G

EGYPTIAN TURTLE DOVE.

GiiEEUE is the European locality of the Egyptian
Turtle Dove, and Asia and Africa its real home. Its
name is derived from its frequent occurrence in Egypt;
but it is also recorded as an inhabitant of Turkey by
Degland, and of the Sahara in Algeria by Captain
Loche.

Count Miihle, in his ‘‘Oniithologie Gricchenlands,”
says, “I have shot this pretty Dove many times in
summer, when drinking with the Common Turtle Dove,
but until the last year I had not regarded it as a
distinct species.”

Dr. Linder may er, Avriting as late as 1860, in his
‘‘Vogel Gricchenlands,” says that he has not hitherto
found it; but he has had the eggs sent to him Avhich
he had mistaken for those of the Bee-eater, until after
due inquiry he Avas set right upon this point by Herr
Baron Konig-Warthausen. The eggs came from
Attila. He from this inferred that the Egyptian Dove
arrives about the same time as the Common Turtle
Dove, breeds at the same places, and goes aAvay with
it, by reason of Avhich Lindermayer considers it has
been so little noticed. Erhardt does not include it in
his list, nor has Kriiper discovered the eggs. There
cannot hoAvever be any doubt about its oceurrence in
Greece, because Miihle’s description of the bird is Axry
exact.

The male and female liaA^e the head, neck, and
throat a beautiful pink, or flesh-colour, Avith the feathers
under the base of the beak pure Avhite. There is a
distinct collar between the throat and the chest of pinky
russet, AAdiich goes only to the nape, Avhere it becomes
blended Avith the colour of the back. From the nape
to the rump, and to the edges of the Aving coA'erts on
each side, the colour is a rich lustrous russet broAvn,

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HAZEL G R O U c E.

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COLtJMBA GELASTTS.

197

tlie scapularles being entirely of this colour, while in
those parts at the sides which verge upon the wing
coverts, the feathers are each bordered with a brighter
russet. Primaries, riimj), and upper tail feathers hair
brown; upper wing coverts slate grey, lower dark
brown; crop and chest a more vinous or darker flesh-
colour than the head; abdomen and under tail coverts
cream-colour; flanks and under wing coverts slate grey;
under part of primaries light brown; under part of tail
black at the base, then white, while the grey tips of
the other feathers are seen beyond.

I And marked on tbe label of my specimen tarsi
and feet flesh-colour; irides yellow; bill, bluish black,
blue at base.

jNIy figure is a female from a specimen sent me by
Mr. Tristram, marked “Benyan, Dec. 1st., 1856.” The
egg is also from a specimen sent me by the same
gentleman, marked “V. E,., 1857.”

It has also been figured by Temminck, in his
celebrated work upon Pigeons, pi. 45.

Columha gclastis, Temminck. — This is only considered
a variety of the Common Turtle Dove — a larger bird
with a redder- coloured abdomen. It has occurred in
the south of Sweden; and ]\Ir. Sclater tells us, ^‘Ibis,”
July, 1861, that we may expect some day to see it in
Englarid. Without, therefore, in the absence of speci-
mens, giving a figure, I will record here all we know
about the bird.

The following is Nilsson’s account, copied, translated,
and kindly sent me by Mr. Wheelwright: — “The old
bird about thirteen to fourteen inches long; wing from
carpal joint eight inches. On the sides of the neck a

198

COLUMBA GELASTIS.

black spot witli four white transverse streaks. Wings
above blackish, with broad rusty red edges to the
feathers, which give these parts a scaly appearance.
Tail rounded, black, with a broad whitish grey tip,
the web of the outer feathers grey; the middle nearly
free from the light tips. Back and upper parts blue;
head and breast Avhitish grey, with a rusty tinge,
especially in the breast; under tail coverts bluish
white. — Stockholm Museum.

Young. Tail black, with a broad white tip, which
is absent on the middle feathers; wings, etc., dark
brown, with rusty yellow tips. Black spots on the sides
of the neck scarcely visible. — Stockholm Musemn.

This Dove, which was formerly only known in Japan,
has of late years been met with in S^veden. In
December, 1842, a young example was purchased in
Stockholm in a load of other birds from Herjeadalei,
where it was caught in the autumn. An older specimen
was sent down alive by a ship-builder, named J.
Peterson, of Piteo, to the Stockholm Museum. It
was caught in a forest tract a mile and a half Swedish
from the town. It was kept alive in Stockholm
some time, but died December 20th., 1853, and is
now preserved in the Museum as one of the rarest
and most handsome of Swedish birds. According to
Professor Sundevall, the note exactly resembles that of
the Turtle Dove, (consequently not laughing, as the
name would imply,) and the general appearance of the
two birds is so similar, that were it not for the size
it might easily be taken for a large variety of O.
Turtur. Professor Sundevall imagines that besides
Japan it inhabits North-Eastern Asia, and that the
yearling bird, which was caught in Herjeadalei, was
hatched in the above-named province or in Lapland.

COLUMliA GEl.ASTIS.

199

In its native conntiy it aiipcars to inhabit rocky
mountainous tracts.”

Dr. Leopold Von Sclircnck, in bis “Reiscn und
Forscbungen iin Amur Lande,” Vol. 1, Part 2, 1854-6,
page 390, bas a long account of tins bird, from wbicb I
extract tbe following: — “Tbis is only a geograjabical
variety of C. Turtur, distinguisbed by its greater size
and by its darker colouring. The Amur Lande species
resembles mark for mark tbe C. Turtur ^ and in tbe
tone of its colouring most resembles the description
given in the “Fauna Japonica,” especially tbe wings,
tail feathers, and upper parts; tbe under parts are
brighter than in C. Turtur, and tbe lower breast is of a
clear vinous reddish, without the yellowish tint; round
tbe neck and upper part of tbe breast there is less
brownish, and more vinous reddish grey colouring.
The under tail coverts and the tips of tbe tail feathers
are in all our specimens grey, and certainly in spring
of a somewhat darker bluish ash grey; in the latter part
of summer, on tbe contrary, they are shaded into a
greyish white.

“We also find in the young of C. gelastis tbe
characteristic markings of C, Turtur, namely, Avbite on
tbe tail and under tail coverts p)assing into grey, and
on tbe belly into vinous red. Besides this C. gelastis
bas all tbe distinctive marks of tbe young Turtle Dove,
especially on tbe throat and crop down to the breast,
where tbe colour is grey brown, with rusty yellow
edges to tbe feathers, without tbe glossy appearance;
also on the primaries and secondaries towards tbe end
tbe edges are broad rust brown, and tbe upper tail
coverts, as well as the two middle tail feathers, have
a slight rust brownish tip to each feather, passing
into bluish grey borders in the middle of tbe feathers.

200

COLIIMBA GELASTIS.

“In the next plumage tlie young birds have the
iris two colours^ in a sharply-defined ring; the inner
part brown, and the outer yelloAvish. Beak bluish
grey; feet violet grey. In the old birds in summer
I have found the iris had its outer border in a
slender whitish ring, and the inner part red ; beak
violet grey, especially towards the base; feet violet red.”

Dr. Schrenck then discusses the opinions of other
writers upon the specific difference of this bird.
Temminck and Schlegel refer to the larger size of
Gelastis, and the former to the shorter tail and
longer wing. Middendorff also notices the larger size
of the body, while Pallas is of ojiinion that the same
difference as exists between the two in size, may
equally be observed between the Bussio-European and
the Dauritian examples of C. cenas and C. lima.

The following is Dr. Schrenck’s table of dimensions
of the Amur bird: — Male. — Length of closed wings
seven inches three lines, tail five inches, beak seven
lines and a half, tarsi eleven lines and a half, middle
toe (without claw) one inch, claw of middle toe three
lines and a half. Female. — Length of closed wings
six inches eleven lines, tail four inches ten lines, beak
seven lines and a half, tarsi eleven lines and a half,
middle toe (without claw) one inch, claw of middle
toe three lines. Young. — Length of closed wings seven
inches, tail four inches eleven lines, tarsi one inch,
middle toe (without claw) one inch one line and a
half, claw of middle toe three lines and a half.

On the whole, I think we may give C. gelastis to
Mr. Darwin as a transitional variety. I will not,
however, apologize for making a further extract from
Dr. Schrenck’s interesting notice.

Dr. Schrenck goes on to remark that the Turtle

COIAIMBA GELASTIS.

201

Dove has spread along the shores of the Pacific Ocean
to Dauria, and in larger numbers eastward to the
Stanowvi Mountains and to the coasts of the Ochotsk
Sea, (according to MiddendorlF,) to the neighbouring
country of the Amoor, and (according to Temminck)
to Japan, where it assumes its largest form, and has
the same variety of colours which have been described
in C. gelastis. “In the Amoor I found C. gelastis very
common, as well at the mouths of the rivers as also
further outwards, and on the Ussuri. It is also found,
according to the testimony of the natives, on the
Island of Sachalin. On the Amoor it remains in the
hazel woods, as Avell as among evergreens and willow
bushes on the islands, and, as far as I have been
able to observe, in the neighbourhood of Avater. I
have often seen them a short distance from the river,
on the level sand and pebbles, between light willoAV
branches, sitting in pairs, or in small companies of
four to six. At first I thought they repaired to
such places only to drink or pick up small stones
and coarse grains of sand, but the specimens which I
shot sheAV me that they find their food there as Avell.
I found the crop filled Avith Phnjgane, AA^ich is found
abundantly, and of various kinds on the Amoor. I
am not aAvare that this has oAxr been observed as
the food of our Turtle Doves in Europe.

“Quite early in the spring this Turtle Dove appears
on the Amoor. At the Nikolajev Posten I found
them in the spring of 1855, the end of April; and
it also appeared at the mouth of the rUer about
the 8th. (20th.) of May, Avhen the bushes Avere
covered Avith ice, and there Avas still much snoAV in
the forest.

“The moulting begins among the old birds in the

2 £

A"OL. III.

202

COLI'MBA GELASTIS.

latter half of August, much later among the young
ones, probably not until the old ones have completed
their change,

“This Dove plays an important part in the religious
ceremonies of the inhabitants of the Amoor, as docs
also the Cuckoo.”

Further details of this interesting part of his subject
Dr. Schrenck reserves for another part of the great
work which is now throwing so much light ujjon the
history of this interesting country.

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203

Order X. — GALLINJE.

Family TETRAONIDFE,. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Tetrad, f Linnceus.)

Generic Characters. — Beak short, strong, naked at the base;
superior mandible arched, convex, and curved from its origin.
Kares basal, half covered by an arched membrane, hidden
by the forward feathers of the forehead; eyebrows naked,
garnished by red papillte. Feet with three toes in front,
united as far as the first articulation; one toe behind, short:
the edges of all pectinated. Tarsi feathered to the toes, and
often even to the claws. Tail composed of sixteen or eighteen
feathers. Wings short; the first primary short, the second
shorter than the third, fourth, and fifth, which are the
longest.

HAZEL GROUSE

Tetrao honasia.

Tetrao honasia,
Gallina coryloram,
Honasia,

Honasia sylvestris,
Tetrastes honasia,
Gelinotte commune,
Gemeines Haselhuhn,
FrancoUno di Monte,
Hjerpe,

Linna:us, 176G.

Aldeovandcs, 1599.

Beisson, 1760.

Bonapaete, 18.38.

Ketseeling et Blasius, 1810.
Of the Feench.

Of the Geemans.

Savi.

Of the Swedes.

Specific Clavacters. — Featliei’s of vertex elongated; tail round,
■with a black fascia tipped witli grey on all the lateral feathers;
inferior parts of the tarsi and the toes naked; tliroat black in the
male, yellow in female. Length thirteen inches and a half; from
carpal joint to tip of wing six inches and a half; tail six inches;
tarsi one inch; beak nine lines.

According to modern views of classification we have
now arrived at the second great division of the class
Aces. The first division comprises all those birds, the
young of which require attention in the nest from
their parents, before they arrive at maturity in wing
and limb. Hence they are called Heterophagi — those
the young of which cannot feed themselves. We have
gone through this sub-class, and have arrived at the
second, or Autophagi — those the young of which can
more or less feed themselves from birth. The former
sub-class comprises the Raptores, Passeres, Scay^sores,
and ColumhidcB ; the latter the Rasores, Cur sores,
Grallatores, and Natatores.

Although this work treats of only a section of the
birds in one quarter of the globe, and though I have
adopted as the simplest, and what I consider (with
all its faults) the best of modern classifications — that
of Tcmminck — I still do not consider myself jirecluded
from noticing, from time to time, what I may think
as worthy of observation on the great and important
subject of scientific arrangement.

The division to which I have alluded makes but
little break in Temminck’s arrangement. It merely
excludes the Columhidee from the second sub-class, and
places them in the first. The arrangement is, 1 think, a
good one. It is founded on a great natural division
in the plan of development in birds, and which is

IIA/.KL GROlSn.

205

beautifully adapted to the ‘^circumstances of their
existence.”

The Hazel Grouse, which, in the absence from my
list of the genus Phasianus, claims my first notice,
is an inhabitant of many of the heathery or woody
mountains and plains of Europe. It occurs in the
north of Sweden and Xorway, Switzerland, Germany,
France, Italy, the Alps, Savoy, Verona, the Tyi'ol
and Siberia as far as the Eiver Lena. In France it
is especially found among the Pyrenees, the mountains
of the Vosges, the Dauphine, and the Ardennes. It
does not occur in Greece or Holland, and is not
noticed in Dr. Machado’s list of the birds of Andalusia.
Dr. Schrenck includes it in the birds of Amoor Land.

]\Ir. Wheelwright, of Gadsjo, in Sweden, living in
the land of Grouse, has obligingly favoured me with
some notes about this and the next species, for which
I have to tender him my thanks; such information,
coming from the fountain head, always being most
acceptable.

“The Hjerpe has never been met with in the south
of Sweden, but is found in the woods of Dahl and
in the south-Avest coast of Bohns Land. It is tolerably
common in Oster Gothland. It is rare around Stock-
holm, but common in the more northerly parts;
(Xilsson remarks that this appears the more strange
since the same bird comes in niimbers into Germany,
and even France. He thinks that if it Avere introduced
it Avould thrive in the rocky Avooded tracts of North
Scania.)

“The Hazel Grouse does not go so high up the
fell sides as the Capercaillie or Black Grouse, and it
disappears from the NorAvegian fells long before we
haA'e reached the limits of the frost. According to

206

HAZE I- GROUSE.

Herr ^*on Wright, it is found up as high as Kengis,
(67° 10',) and even as high as Mounioniska. It is
common in most parts of Wcrmerland.”

“It frequents old thick forests, as well as young
plantations of birch and pine mixed, and I think this
is much owing to the season of the year. With us
it is generally found in old fir forests with stony rises,
and often at the foot of rocks in the aln and birch
Avoods. In summer they appear to frequent leafy
plantations, and Avith the fall of the leaf they Avith-
draw into the fir forests, AAdiere they remain through
the Avinter, only making occasional migrations into the
nearest birch Avoods to feed on the catkins of the
birch, AA'hich at this season forms their principal, and,
I think, their only nourishment, for I ncA^er by any
chance find any fir shoots in their crops, as I do in
those of the Capercaillie. They appear ahvays to be
on the ground, and only fly up into a fir tree AA^hen
they arc flushed. Their flight is noisy and bustling,
and they never go far. I never find them by any
chance in the open, like the Black Grouse.”

“They live in a state of monogamy, and Avith us
the pairing takes place about the same time as that of
the Capercaillie or Black Grouse. The note is a soft
rather melancholy pipe, Avhich can he readily imitated
by a Hjerpe Avhistle made of bone or quill. The
call-note rather resembles Ti, li, titititi-ti.’ The note
of the male is stronger than that of the female. By
this note, AAdiich Ave ahvays hear from the ground, the
sexes carry on their spring conversation, and in the
autumn the mother uses the same kind of language to
her young. As soon as the pairing is over the sexes
divide. The males keep then single, and you never
see three or four together. The female lays as many

IIAZEI. GROUSE,

^>07

as from nine to twelve pale yellow brown-spotted
eggs, in a bole in the moss on the ground. She
makes no nest. She hatches the eggs by herself, and
has all the care of the young. As soon as the young
can fly the male conics back to them, and the whole
family live together during the autumn and winter.
They remain throughout the year in those ivoods in
which they take up their abode. I never saw more
than one family together in our forests, though in
Finland they are said to pack. In the beginning of
April they separate in pairs, and the breeding season
begins, although I never took a nest in Wermerland
till the middle of May.

‘‘In the north they are considered the most delicate
of forest game, but they afford little sport to the real
sportsman, as we generally shoot them from the perch.
I think they are more shy and retired in their habits
than any other of the Grouse.”

“The beak is black, thick, and convex; upper man-
dible the longest. First primary shorter than the
eighth, second shorter than the sixth ; third, fourth,
and fifth alike, and longest. Tail somewhat rounded,
'fhe crown feathers, which, in the male especially, are
long, can be raised into a kind of crest. Over the
eye is a small naked red spot, with small warts on
the upper edge, but no comb. Tarsi generally only
half, but sometimes three fourths covered with grey,
soft, hairy feathers ; the naked part grey brown, covered
with divided half rings. Toes grey brown, covered
with half rings, and on the sides with scales, under
which they are fringed with combed teeth; claws pale
brown.”

“It varies inuch in size. From the northern tracts
the male is generally from fourteen inches to fourteen

208

]IA/KL (illOUSK.

inches and a Inilf long; extent of Avlngs twenty inches;
tail four inches and six eighths, extending beyond the
wings three inches and a half; tarsus one inch and a
half.” The above is Swedish measure, in Avhich tlic
inch is a quarter of an eighth shorter, and, I have
no doubt, refers to freshly-killed specimens. The
dimensions in my diagnosis are those of a fine male
sent me by Mr. Wheelwright, which is figured.

“Head above, neck, and part of the back brown or
grey brown, with black transverse streaks ; shoulders
rusty brown, with black spots, and in the outer edge
a long white streak. Wing coverts grey brown, with
white spots; back and rump ash grey, marked with
longitudinal black streaks and small black points; chin
and throat pure black, with a white edging. Behind
the nostrils a white spot, and a small one behind the
eye. Front of neck rusty brown, with a black streak
before the white edge of each feather. This black
streak and the white edsre is broader on the breast

O

and belly, on which account it appears Avhite with
black or brown red transverse spots. On the sides the
red brown colour is more apparent. Wing primaries
dark brown, speckled on the outer web with rusty
yellow and brown. Secondaries same, with rusty yellow
edges on the tips. Tail feathers black, speckled with
ash grey, and a pure black band before the tip, which
is pale ash grey, often speckled with black. The
two middle feathers speckled with brown and black,
and marked with seven or eight confused black and
ash grey transverse bands. Iris, in a freshly-killed
specimen, brownish.”

“Summer dress. The feathers on the head and neck
are much shorter than in winter; chin and throat are
rather brown than black.”

HAZEL GROUSE.

209

‘‘The female is from an inch to an inch and a half
shorter than the male, and has a rusty yellow (not
black) throat. Between the beak and the eye a red
brown (not white) spot. Otherwise resembles the male.

“Accidental varieties occur with paler colour, so that
they are only brownish where the usual colour is
black. According to Nilsson this is the Tetrao canus,
the original of which is preserved in the Stockholm
:m useum.”

I have thought right to give Mr. 'Wheelwright’s
account in full. 'With the bird before me I have
been able to verify the correctness of the description.
INIr. AV. himself, if at all on any point in doubt, referred
to Nilsson’s excellent history of these birds in the
“Fauna Skania.” To use his own Avords, — “I have
referred in part to Nilsson, and verified his remarks
by my oAvn experience.”

From the north-Avest of Europe it is interesting to
folloAV this bird into the far-off north-east of Asia,
Avdiere it Avas found in great plenty by Dr. L. Von
Schrenck. The account is so interesting as it regards
the geographical distribution of this species, that I will
add a translation of Dr. Schrenck’s notice, from his
recent “Beisen und Forschungen in Amur Land.”

“The Hazel Grouse of the Amoor Land entirely
agrees Avith that of Siberia and the Avest of Europe,
except in having a greater proportion of ashy grey,
and underneath the feathers more rusty brown; the
Avhole length of the back is of a clear ashy grey,
Avith fine dark bands and pointed marks across; the
shoulders are partly rusty broAvn, and there is also a
little upon the upper and under Aving coverts; also
round the crop there is a rusty broAvn among the black
and AALite streaks. At the side of the breast there is

A'OI.. III.

2 F

210

HAZEL GROUSE.

a lively rust-colour, which, however, is very scanty, and
rapidly passes into a lighter shade.

“The Hazel Grouse is found in the whole of Ainoor
Land as far as I know it, from the southern coast of
the Ochotsk Sea to the Bay of TIadshi, and on the
island Sachalin, as well as at the mouth of the Amoor,
to the sources of the river in Dauria. Everywhere,
and at all seasons of the year, it is the most common
of the feathered tribe. Scarcely any locality can be
named where it is not found, yet it appears principally
in the north of the Amoor, on the borders of rivers
in the mixed forests of birch, aspen, poplar, alder,
and willow bushes, and in the south principally in the
li.o’ht-foliaffed woods and the underwood which grrows
along the rocky banks of the rivers. Xot unfrequently,
also, I have met with it in winter and summer on the
willow-grown islands, or on such shores as those of
the Amoor, Gorin, and Ussuri. In as great numbers
did I find the Hazel Grouse in the wildest parts of
the Amoor Land, where it was by no means shy.
In the Nikolajev Posten, and on the Liver Tyrny, in
Sachalin, I have been able to shoot several times at
a pair of individuals in a tree before the others flew
away. In Sachalin, and on the Gorin, they flew up
before us and kept in a circuit round about us. In
summer, when the noise of our movements roused them,
they often settled down on a tree close by the river,
enabling us to shoot them from our hiding-places.
They were among the daily contents of our game-bag
in the Amoor Land, where, as well as in the Bay of
Hadschi and the snow-fields of Sachalin, they gave us
as good sport as in the light and sunny oak hedges on
the Ussuri.

“In the summer of 1855 I found a nest with eggs

HAZEL GROUSE.

211

on the borders of the Lalce of Kidsi. It was in a fir
wood, at the foot of a tree, concealed in the moss
and brushwood. The eggs were of the usual dark
yellow, with many brown spots and points, and were
hatched on the 14th. of June. On the 28th. of July
I met with a family just fledged at Pachale, near the
mouth of the Gorin, in the leafy underwood of a
pine forest. The moulting of the Hazel Grouse takes
place at Nikolajev Posten in August and September.
On the 23rd. of August I found the moulting far
advanced, and every wing and tail feather freshly
grown. It was quite concluded on the 1st. of October.”

My figures of this bird and its egg are from speci-
mens sent me from Sweden by Mr. Wheelwright.

The bird has also been figured by Aldrovandus,
Ornith., pi. 82; Stor, Degli Uccelli, pi. 238, (male;)
Buffon, pi enh, 474-479; Poux, Ornith. Prov., pi. 254;
Bouteil, Ornith. du Dauph, pi. 41; Naumann, Vogel
Deutsch., pi. 158; Gould, B. of E., pi. 250.

GALLlNvE.

Family TETllAONID^. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Tetkao. f Linnceus.)

AVILLOW GROUSE.

Tetrao saliceti.

Tc4rao saliceti,

“ lagopus,

“ albus,

“ suhalpina,
Lagopus albus,

“ saliceti,
Lagopede des saules,
Mora st-Schncehuhn,
Dal Itipa,

Dairy pa skogsrypa,
Mezakana,

Riefsak,

Temminck.

LiNNiEUS.

Gmelin.

Nilsson.

JioNAPARTE.

SWAINSON.

Of the French.
Of the Germans.
Swedish.

Norsk.

Finnish.

Lapp.

Specific Characters. — The primaries, abdomen, and feet white
in the adult in all seasons. Tail square, of fourteen feathers,
and always black. First primary one inch and three eighths
shorter than the second, which is two eighths of an inch shorter
than the third, which is equal to the fourth, and longest, the
fifth always longer than the second. Length of male fifteen
inches and a half; expanse of wing twenty-four to twenty -five
inches; from carpus to tip eight inches; tail five inehes, extending
beyond the closed wings about three inches; beak, from forehead,
seven eighths of an inch, — from nasal furrow half an inch;

.H '’»«>K.-> 'fHy.lAt'^.,

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wilt li't iV/ jiV'if'// o* K iuff»f>if( 1 f!8

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M'lLLOW GROUSE.

PAS

breadth of that part of beak three cightlis of an inch; tarsi
one inch and a half; middle toe one inch and a half; hind toe
half an inch. The female varies from half an inch to an inch
shorter than the male.

The Willow Grouse is an inliaLitant of the north of
both Europe and America. Its home is, however, more
especially in Sweden and Norway, Lapland and
Greenland.

In Sweden and Norway it occupies much the same
position as the Led Grouse does in our own country.
A question was raised in the ‘^Zoologist,” in 1858, as
to the specific identity of the two birds, by INIr.
Norman, of Hull, and an interesting discussion ensued,
which, however, appeared to go against such a sup-
position. In the present day it is more difficult than
ever to define the character of species. Grant says
that ‘^species mongers” have been destroyed for ever
by the all-jDowerful wand of Mr. Darwin. I for one,
however, refuse to submit to a dogma of this kind,
and will take the liberty of considering the Tetrao
saliceti as a species perfectly distinct from that of T.
Scoticus. Its affinities are more with the Ptarmigan
than with the Red Grouse, but it is distinct from both.

INIuch as I was indebted to Mr. Wheelwright for his
notes about the Hazel Grouse, I am still more obliged
to him for the very valuable account with which he
has favoured me of the j)resent bird. Living as he
does in their own country, Mr. W.’s experience is
valuable, and his well-known contributions to natural
history entitle his remarks to our respect. Like the
last contribution the present one is filled up where
deficient from Nilsson.

“The MTllow Grouse is found in the north of

214

WILLOW GROUSE.

Scandinavia, from the very north of Finmark down to
about 60° north latitude; it is met with in North
Wermerland throughout the whole year, but never
further south than Lake Fryken, unless indeed they
are driven down by snow, when an odd one may
even occasionally be shot in Bohns Land and Upland.
They are not met with near Christiana in the summer.

They never go up to the real fells or such rocks
as rise above the limits of vegetation. When we
go down from the fell tops we find the Dal Ripa
first in that region which is clothed with willow
hushes and fell birch, ( Betiila nana,J and especially
in the lower tracts, where the birch f Betula alba,)
first appears and forms low forests. Below this we
rarely meet with them, and only when the young can

fly-

in this above-mentioned sub-alpine region the Dal
Ripa in summer is usually found in valleys, mostly by
the side of the little becks or mountain streams wLich
run among the bushes and thickets. You always find
them in pairs or families with the male and female
together. You not only find them, according to
Nilsson, in the interior of the country, but even on
the coasts and islands. They crouch among the dwarf
birch, willow, or heather, and rarely rise till you nearly
tread on them. Sometimes, however, they rise very
wild, and in the spring and autumn appear to he
most shy. They almost always are on the ground,
and very rarely perch in a tree; hut, although I have
myself seen on more than one occasion the Willow
Grouse, when frightened, perch in the birch trees, it
is so rare an occurrence that many deny it. Their
flight to me appears exactly to resemble that of the
Red Grouse, and as they fly they utter a loud cackle

WILLOW GROUSE.

2ir)

Avliicli much resembles ‘errackackackkah.’ They do not
generally fly far, and when they settle they usually
utter the note of ‘kawau, kawau.’ The female generally
rises silently, or with a faint ‘hjan, hjan.’ As soon as
the young birds are hatched you see the families
together; and in the breeding season the male is never
far from the nest where the old female is sitting. As
winter comes on they pack, and deep snow and hard
frost sometimes drives them down into the regions that
lie below the fells.

They pair about the end of May, but sometimes as
early as April. At about one in the morning the male
commences his love song with a loud ‘prrr-pack-prrr,’
and a deeper ‘kawau, kawau.’ The female answers
with a finer ‘hjan, hjan,’ and the two draw together,
and the male is very easily shot now by the poacher,
who is hidden behind a rock or bush, and decoys
him within shot by an imitation of the call-note of
the female. The bird comes on by short flights, and
runs within shot, sometimes stands still, raises up his
tail spread out like a fan, flaps his wings against his
legs, throws his neek back, and answers with his hoarse
‘kawau, kawau.’

The female lays ten or twelve eggs, without any
nest, in the heather, but generally under a bush, or
by the stump of an old fir. The male keeps watch
while she is sitting to drive away any birds of prey
that may approach the spot, and so bold is he at this
time that he has even been seen to drive away a fox.
After they are hatched, both the old ones attend the
covey. When the young ones are frightened u^i they
scream out much like young chickens, and separating
cast themselves among the bushes or heather, and then
sit so close that they can be easily picked up by the hand.

21G

WILLOW GROUSE.

In the summer the food of the Dal Ripa consists
principally of the blades or leaves of several plants,
such as Salix herhacea — the hleaherry, f Vaccinum
mijrtillus,) and the young leaves or sprouts of several
other species of willow, and especially the seed of the
Polygonum viciparum, which on this account is in
Norway called Ripa Grass. In autumn they principally
live on berries, and in the winter on birch knots, and
the stalks of the bleaberry bushes. In spring their
chief food consists of birch knots.

Although no doubt Willow Grouse would afford as

o

good sport to the shooter as the Red Grouse, scarcely
any one ever shoots them here in a fair manner, and
they are principally taken in snares in the winter, and
sent down frozen to the different towns for sale; and
some idea of this traffic may be formed by the fact
that a single dealer in one of the northern provinces,
according to Nilsson, during one winter when the
birds were plentiful, sent off about fifty thousand Dal
Ripa.

Beak black, short, thick, and convex; upper man-
dible tolerably blunt, and a little longer than the lower,
(but out of a great many which I have examined
scarcely two are alike.) Iris dark brown; eyelids covered
with down, the edges brown. Over the eye in the
male a large half-round vermilion spot covered with

small warts, and fringed upwards with a red comb,

three or four millemetres high, dentated at the edges.

This spot and comb is smaller and paler in the female,

and in both sexes is most apparent in the breeding-
season. The claws vary in form and colour at different
seasons; in winter they are long, of an even breadth,
tolerably straight, thin, convex above, concave beneath,
white, and only brown at the roots. In summer they

WILLOW GROUSE.

21T

are sliorter, oblong, oval, and flat (not concave) under-
neath. They are shed in July or August.

The old male in summer dress. — Head, neck, breast,
and sides, red brown, sometimes chesnut, with black
spots, especially on the top of the head and back of
the neck, sometimes even with black transverse streaks
or Avavy lines on the breast; under chin for the most
jAart black, with a Avhite spot on each side. The eyelid
Avhite, and sometimes a Avhite spot over the nostrils.
Back, shoulders, over rump, upper tail coverts, and
the innermost AAung feathers, as well as the middle
coverts, black, transversely speckled with rusty yelloAV
or red broAvn lines. The smaller wing coverts, most
of the Aving feathers, belly, thighs, and legs, Avhite;
the six first primaries Avith broAvn shafts. Tail feathers
— the fourteen black, Avith Avhite edges on the tips,
Avhich are broadest on the middle ones; the tAvo feathers
AAdiich lie over them and their coA'erts speckled Avith
black and red broAvn. The under tail coverts red
broAvn, speckled Avith black, and marked Avith a streak
in front of the Avhite edge at the end; tarsi in front
and toes on the inner half coAxred Aidth , dirty Avhite
hair -like feathers; tarsi behind and the front part of
the toes naked.

Female in summer. — Head, neck, breast, and sides,
rusty yelloAA’, Avith black spots or transverse streaks ;
these are especially thick on the upper parts, so that
the head aboA'e and sometimes the back of neck
appears black, Avith rusty yelloAV spots. Back, shoul-
ders, upper tail coverts, and the tAvo or four
middle tail feathers, black, and speckled Avith rusty
yelloAv or pale yelloAV traiisA^erse streaks; belly, Avings,
tail, and legs as in the male; under tail coverts pure
Avhite.

VOL. in.

2 G

218

AVII.I.OW GKOUSK.

The male in summer dress differs from the female on
account of its rather larger body and black chin, which
in the female is rusty yellow; red brown colour on the
neck and breast, where the female has only rusty
yellow and black, and by the altogether different under
tail coverts. Sometimes the red brown in the male is
so dark as to appear nearly chesnnt, or black brown
in very old males, hut in the younger birds the colour
is lighter yellowish red brown, like the female, so that
the head and neck above are black, with small red
brown spots. Throat, sides of the head, front of the
neck, and breast, yellowish brown, with small black
transverse streaks; but the female is always distinguished
from the male through many or few red brown feathers
on the throat and breast. It is according to Nilsson’s
experience that the males are more seldom met with
in jmre summer dress than the females. Both moult
in July and August, ndicn the speckled feathers are
shed and others come in their places; and Liljehorg
notices that this species even has an autumn dress with
finer rusty yellow watering.

The young, just before the autumnal moult, from
specimens taken from the 9th. to the 16th. of July,
about six or seven inches long; beak brown; claws
grey ; the naked pale red spot over the eyes has
already obtained its little dentated comb; legs covered
with dirty grey brown hair-like feathers down to the
very claws. Head above brov.m red, with a black
spot on the crown, and a brown streak along the
hack of the neck. The upper parts of the body
speckled with red browm and black, with white spots
on the shoulders; breast and sides rusty yellow, with
black transverse hands. Wing feathers grey brown,
the outer finely — the inner ones more thickly — speckled

■WILLOW GROUSE.

219

■with rusty yellow. Tail with black anti rusty yellow
wavy transverse streaks.

By degrees the young become like the mother, as
the hroAvn wing feathers in August are changed for
white, and the black tail feathers shoot out. The
white Aving feathers groAV in this manner: — The outer
ones of the first and second order come at one time;
the third and fourth broAvn Aving feathers are shed
last in the young birds, generally after the middle of
August. In this or the foregoing month the old birds
shed their tail and Aving feathers, and in the same or
beginning of the next month the horny covering on
the claAvs.

Male and female in Avinter dress. Beak black; eye
spot smaller and paler; the fourteen tail feathers black,
Avith Avhite edges on the ends, A'ery broad on the
middle ones. The shafts of the fiA^e or six first Aving
feathers broAvn. For the rest, the Avhole of the
plumage is snoAV AAdiite; tarsi and toes thickly covered
Avith bushy feathers, like hair, Avhich, similar to the
foot of a hare, lie eA^en on the sole of the foot.

The transition from summer to Avinter dress takes
place at different times in different jilaccs and seasons,
but generally in September and October. In the
middle of the last-named month Ave see some Avhite
Bipa, and some speckled, on account of some of the
summer feathers remaining. In the end of April or
May the spring moult takes place, and even in the
beginning of June Ave find occasionally Avintcr feathers
remaining. During the period of transition Ave see
speckled birds Avith more or less AA'hite feathers among
the speckled ones.

The spring moult comes on in this Avay: — The
coloured feathers first appear on the head and neck.

220

WILLOW GROUSE.

next on the hack, last on the breast; and this tallies
exactly with Hearne’s observations in North America.”

My figure of this bird is that of a female shot by
Mr. Wheelwright from the nest in June, 1860. It is
therefore in the real breeding plumage. The egg
figured was taken out of her nest at the same time.

The bird has also been figured by Buffon, pi. enl.
\20, (female in breeding plumage, f. 2 head of female
taking on the breeding dress;) Bouteil, Ornith. du
Dauph., pi. 42, f. 1; Naumann, Vogel. Deutsch., pi.
159; Temminck, Pig. et Gall., vol. hi, pi. 11, figs. 1,
2, S; Frisch, pi. 110 et 111, (in winter plumage, and
commencement of moult;) Gould, B. of E., pi. 255.

oo\

GALLING.

Familij TETRAONID^. (Bonaparte.)
Gemis Pterocles. ( Temminch.J

Generic Characters. — Beak medium sized, compressed, slender
in some species; upper mundiWe straight, but curved near the
point; nostrils basal, half closed by a membrane, covered by
the feathers of the forehead, open below. Feet with short
toes, the under one hardly developed and articulated high up
the tarsus; the three front toes united to the first articulation,
and edged with a membrane; the front of the tarsi covered
with small very short feathers, the rest naked. Claws very
short, the hind one sharp edged, those in front obtuse. Tail
conical; in some species the two middle feathers are elongated
in a thread-like manner. Wings long, terminated in a point,
the first primary the longest.

PIN-TAILED SAND GROUSE

Pterocles alchata.

Pterocles alchata,
“ setarius,
Tetrao alchata.

Stephens.

Temminck.

Linnjeus.

Gmelin.

Pallas.

ViEILLOT.

Or THE French.
Of the Germans.
Savi.

caudacutus,

chata.

.Ainas cata,
Ganga cata,
Chata-Flugliuhn,
La Grandule,

ooo

PIN-TAILED SAND GROUSE.

Specific Characters. — Tail couical, and the two middle feathers
prolonged to a thin point. A broad rufous band bordered with
black, darker in the male, separates the cliesnut-coloured throat
from the pure white abdomen. Length, from tip of beak to the
end of the long, thin, tail feathers thirteen inclies, the latter
extending three inches beyond the shorter featliers of the tail.
From carpus to the end of the long pointed wing eight inches
and a half; beak eight lines; tarsi one inch and one fifth;
middle toe and claw one inch.

This* most elegant and beautiful of birds claims
Spain and the Pyrenees as its principal European
locality, for which reason it was named by Brisson La
Gelinote des Pyrenees. It is also found in Sicily and
the Levant, the plains of Crau in Provence, and
accidentally in the northern parts of France. Its real
home however is in the sandy plains of Africa and
Asia, where it ranges from the three provinces of
Algeria, through the Great Sahara, to Egyjit, Syria,
Persia, and thence to the burning sands of India,
being common, as Dr. Leith Adams informs me, in
Afghanistan.

In Eastern Africa we are informed by Mr. Salvin,
(Ibis, vol. i, p. 352,) that he only found this bird in the
extensive sandy plains, — the Harakta. In the north of
Africa, however, Mr. Tristram (Ibis, vol. ii, p. TO,)
says that it is hir more abundant, and continues to
occur in vast flocks in winter, in the iM’zab and
Touarick, where the next described species, P. arenarlus,
is not found.

The Pin-tail Sand Grouse occurs in sandy plains
and uncultivated grounds, avoiding as much as possible
the habitations of men. M. Crespon however tells us
that he succeeded in taming it in confinement, and he
had specimens in his aviary for several years, and

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1. r I N - T A I L E D SAND GROUSE.

2. SAND GROUSE.

PIN-TAILEI) (iKOTTSE.

22o

even bred them. The male appeared very attentive to
its mate, Avhose voice it readily responded to in
syllables resembling ‘kaak, kaak, kaak, ka, ka, ka.’

In the desert however it is very wild. Mr, Tristram
says, ‘Txcept during the breeding-season it is very
difficult of approach; and when packed in winter it is
vain to attempt to get a second shot, unless well
mounted. Its flight is stronger and more vigorous
than its congeners; and its sharp-pointed long wings
give it all the appearance of a Plover. It is very
garrulous when on the ground, and often betrays itself
by its call-note, long before it can be distinguished by
the eve from the surrounding sand.”

According to Eversmann its voice resembles that of
Ravens and Crows. It makes no nest, but scrapes a
hole in the sand, in which, according to INIr. Salvin, it
deposits only three eggs, which are laid in IMay, and
the young arc hatched in about the second week of June.
Dcgland says it lays four or five, Tcmminck two or
three eggs. The egg is described by Mr. Tristram as
perfectly elliptical in all the five species he possesses
of the srenus Pterocles. It is of a much richer fliwn-

O

colour than that of P. arenarius, ‘Aovered and sometimes
zoned with large maroon-red blotches.”

That which is figured — a specimen kindly sent to
me by Mr. Tristram — is one inch and nine tenths long,
and three inches and nine tenths round the middle.
It Avas taken by his own hand.

Mr. Tristram says that the Pin-tail Sand Grouse is
A'ery bad eating, the flesh, like that of its congener,
being both poor and dry. Mr. E. C. Taylor, hoAvcA’cr,
does battle upon this point, (Ibis, vol. ii, p. 199.) Avhere
he says that it all depends upon the cook, and that
in Egypt he found the two species of Sand Grouse,

224

PIN-TAILED SAND GROUSE.

P. exustus and P. Senegalensis , ‘‘very good eating, the
flesh of the thigh especially being peculiarly white and
tender. However our Dragoman was an artist of no
ordinary culinary skill.”

It is almost a pity, however, to talk about anything
so sensuous as a dinner off a bird so beautiful as the
Pin-tailed Sand Grouse. Mr. Tristram, whose experience
as a practical ornithologist is very great, says, “I
think, on close inspection, there is scarcely a bird in
nature which surpasses the male P. alchata in richness
of colouring or delicacy of pencilling” — a fact which
I am sure my artist will verify with his usual skill.

The adult male has the head, nape, and back, a
beautiful rich dead olive green, more or less shaded
with darker, each feather being edged narrowly with
black or blackish. The upper tail coverts rich fawn,
finely barred and pencilled transversely with black.
The greater wing coverts lighter olive green, with a
more decidedly marked black border, while the lesser
wing coverts are of a rich maroon, distinctly bordered
with white. Primaries grey, with black glossy shafts;
secondaries grey, bordered with white; tertiaries dark
brown, with white inner webs, and also distinctly
edged with white. Tail feathers grey, barred with
dusky, and shaded with fawn-colour on the outer web,
while the extremity of each feather for about half an
inch is pui’e white; the long filiform middle tail
feathers partaking of the olive green colours of the
back, while below they share with this aspect of the
tail feathers their rich dark brown. Side of the
head and a band across the crop, upwards of an inch
broad, rich dark fawn-colour, the latter being edged
above and below by a line of black, which separates
it above from the light olive greenish brown neck and

PI^"-TAILEU yANB GROUSE. 225

beloAV from the pure white of the abdomen, flanks,
and under tail coverts; shewing in a marked manner
the sharply-defined colours in contrast, which gives to
this bird a peculiarly beautiful appearance. The throat
is black, sometimes as in my specimen, which is in
autumn plumage, mottled with white. The tarsi are
thickly clothed with short white feathers, which, like
the colours of the other parts, are sharj)ly contrasted
where they terminate with the horny brown of the
toes; beak horny brown; claws black.

The female differs from the male considerably. The
hea.d, nape, back, and upper tail coverts, are clearly
barred with black and fawn-colour, broader on the
back, and narrower but more thicldy on the tail coverts.
The throat is white, the collar round the neck lighter
and more mottled vdth brown, while the band across
the crop between the two black lines is much broader,
and lighter in colour. The side of the head is mottled
like the back of the head and neck. The white tips
to the tail feathers are smaller, and the finely-extended
middle tail feathers rather shorter. In other respects
like the male.

The young of the year resemble the female, but
are smaller. The crop shaded with greyish and russet,
with spots and brown zigzags.

My figures of the male and female of this bird are
from specimens kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram.

It has also been figured by Brisson, Ornithologia,
vol. i, pi. 19, male and female; Buffon, pi. enl , 505
male, and 506 female; Boux, Ornith. Prov., pi. 247,
adult male, pi. 248, fig. i, female adult, fig. ii, head of
female of the year; pi. 249, fig. i, young just after
leaving nest, and ii, male of year; Gould, pi. 258.

2 H

von III.

GALLING.

Family TETRA ONIDJE. f Bonaparte.)
Genus Pterocles. ( Temminck.)

SAND GROUSE.

Pterocles arenarius.

Pterocles arenarius,
Tetrao arenarius,
Perdix Aragonica,
lEnas arenarius,
Ganga unihande,
Ringel-Jiugh u Ji n,
Ganga,

Temminck.

Pallas.

Latham.

ViEILLOT.

Of the French.
Of the Germans.
Savi.

Specific Characters. — Only one band across the thorax; abdomen
black. Tail wedge-shaped, and without any elongation of the
middle feathers. Length of male thirteen inches; carpus to tip
nine inches; beak eight lines; tarsus one inch and a quarter.

The Sand Grouse inhabits the south of Europe,
more especially Spain. It occurs also in Sicily, and
occasionally in Italy and Germany; more rarely still
in New Russia and the Caucasus. It is found only
accidentally and as a straggler in Greece. Like the
preceding species it is a bird of the desert, and is at
home in the sandy plains of Northern Africa and
Eastern Asia. In the Eastern Atlas Mr. Salvin tells
us it occurs in the same localities as P. alcliata, but

G R 0 U S K.

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007

I

is also found about Djendcli and Madracen, wbcre that
bird is not found. Mr. Tristram says that though less
abundant than Alchata, P. arenarius occurs universally
throughout the Sahara, excepting in the extreme south,
where it is replaced by P. Sencgalus. Dr. Leith
Adams informs me that it occurs plentifully in Persia,
Afghanistan, and Northern India, where it is known
to English sportsmen either as Sand Grouse or Pock
Pigeon. He further adds, “It frequents dry arid
wastes, and is usually met with in flocks; although in
request as a game bird its flesh is tough, and devoid
of good flavour. The call is a rough guttural sound,
resembling Tuturuk’ repeated.”

The following interesting account of the Sand Grouse
is taken froin Mr. Tristram’s paper on the “Ornithology
of Northern Africa,” (Ibis, vol. ii, p. 69:) — “There is
much of the Plover character in the flight and manner
of this tribe; and the first time I observed a covey on
the wing I took them for some large Plovers until
within shot. The flocks of this species are generally
smaller than those of its congener, though all the class
aj)]oear to be more or less gregarious, even in the
breeding season, several generally nesting close to each
other. The P. arenarius is not so wary as P. alchata,
perhaps from its upper plumage assimilating more closely
to the sand in colour; but when alarmed it crouches
to the ground, carefully concealing its dark breast, and
does not take wing until approached very closely.
Then it suddenly rises to a considerable height, and
flies often to a great distance. These birds chiefly
feed towards sunset, when their call-note, resembling
that of a Partridge, may be heard incessantly until
after dusk. As if to shew that iu some respects they
are a link between Gathnce and Columhidev, they never

228

SAND GROUSE.

lay more tlian tlii’ce eggs, this being the invariable
number of the genus. These are of a character most
unlike that of any other gallinaceous bird with which
I am acquainted, being extremely elongated, compressed
in the centre, and exactly the same size at each end —
in fact perfectly ellij^tical. The eggs are placed two
in a line, and the third Icngthw'ays outside them in
a depression in the sand without any nest. The bird
in sitting, as I have observed, lies on one side spread-
ing out one wing to cover the eggs, thus presenting a
grotesque lop-sided appearance ; but it is a posture
for which the deep keel of her sternum admirably
adapts her.”

“The flesh of the Sand Grouse is extremely white,
but very poor and dry, without any flavour. We never
discovered any mode of cooking by which it could be
rendered tasty, or even palatable. I have seen both
the common species thrive while in captivity, and almost
domesticated in the courtyards of Arabs’ houses.”

The egg which I have figured is one taken by Mr.
Tristram, and kindly sent to me. It measures one inch
and nine tenths long, and four inches and one tenth
round the middle.

Captain Irby, in a valuable paper in the “Ibis,” vol.
iii, p. 235, on the “Birds observed in Oudh and
Kumaon,” says that two or three large flocks of P.
arenariiis were seen near Hurdue in January 1860,
and many killed. He quite confirms the statements of
Dr. Leith Adams and Mr. Tristram, about the uneatable
character of the Sand Grouse. “Both species,” says
Captain Irby, of the Indian Sand Grouse which I
have tasted are uneatable, and in this respect certainly
tend to confirm what tlie natives say, ‘that they live
upon sand.’ ”

SAJCD GROUSE.

229

Without of course falling in Avitli the native statement
above made, it is quite clear from Mr. Taylor’s note,
as quoted in the last notice, that difference of food has
much to do (as well as the skilful Dragoman) in
makiu!? the flesh of these birds eatable.

The adult male has the top and sides of the head
and nape russet grey. The back and upper tail coverts
have a mottled appearance, representing a series of
spots of a sandy ochreous colour surrounded by a ring
of black. If a separate feather is examined, it will be
found that the extremity is ochreous, and the base paler,
the two colours being separated by a dusky band.
The wing coverts are the same, but are terminated
with rich ochreous, which gives a broad band of that
colour across the wing. The long strong pointed wing,
which when closed, extends beyond the tail, has the
primaries dark grey with glossy black shafts, the third,
fourth, fifth, and sixth slightly bordered at their distal
ends with light russet. Secondaries unicolorous smoky
grey, lightly bordered with Avhite.

The throat and sides of the neck are occupied by
a broad dark ochreous-coloured collar, faintly shewn
at the nape, and bordered in front beloAV with a
broad black band; the neck and crop have a slight
lavender tint, gradually going off into the mottled russet
of the back; this is separated from the pink coloured
feathers of the upper part of the abdomen by a narrow
well-defined black band, edged with white, which goes
right across the thorax; the middle and lower part of
the abdomen and flanks are brown black with a tinge
of sepia. Under tail coverts white; tail feathers, below
and above, russet, bordered with black and tipped
with white, except the two middle ones. Tarsi covered
with smaller pink feathers in front, and with a kind

230

SAND G HOUSE.

of shagreen skin behind, which is continuous with that
on the soles of the feet. The beak bluish horn colour.
Feet yellow.

The female differs from the male, in having the
upper parts of a light fawn-colour, thickly pencilled
with black in transverse strice. Lighter and fewer
bands on the wing coverts, which terminate with
ochreous yellow, hut much paler than in the male;
throat and under wing coverts yellowish white, the
breast in colour and markings like that of a hen Pheasant,
and the black line, which is broader than in the male,
is succeeded by a band of about half an inch wide
of yellowish white. The rest of the abdomen black.
Under tail coverts whiter.

My figures, male and female, are from sj)ecimens
kindly sent to me by Mr. Tristram; they are marked
Laghouat, November 1856, and therefore in winter
plumage.

The bird has also been figured by Temminck and
Laugier pi. col. 354 and 360; Gould, Birds of Europe,
pi. 25T ; and Naumann pi. 153.

Of the beautiful and elegant Three-toed Sand
Grouse, Syrrhajitcs paradoxus , an excellent figure and
description has been given in the “Ibis,” vol. ii, p.
105, by Mr. Moore, the keeper of the Free, Public,
and Derby Museum, Liverpool. This paper was read
at the meeting of the British Association at Aberdeen,
in 1859. It records the appearance of this bird for
the first time in England, or even in Europe. One
specimen was shot in M^ales, out of a flock of three,
on July 9th., 1859. Another was captured in Norfolk
about the same time, and is recorded by Mr. Currie,

SAXT) GROUSK.

231

(“Ibis,” vol. i, p. 472.) A third specimen was shot
near Hebro, in Jutland, on the 23rd. of Jvdy, 1859;
and a pair were observed in the Dunes near Leyden,
one of which was shot in Sejjtember, 1859.

As there is a full account of the capture of this bird,
and its history, with a plate by Wolf executed in
the first-rate style of excellence, for which the “Ibis”
is justly celebrated, I do not feel called upon to
include it in this work. If any bird is seen in EurojDe
for the first time, and not figured, it will still fall to
my net, though observed in these isles. I regret not
to have the opportunity of including in my work the
beautiful SyrrJiajites paradoxus, so called from the
entire absence of a spur or hind toe, and also remarkable
for the aberrant character of the beak.

GALLING.

Family PEllDICID^F. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Tetrao-gallus. ( Gray.)

Generic Characters. — Beak much shorter than the head, broad
at its base; upper mandible arched near the point, compressed,
the commissure waved or undulated. Nostrils pierced in a
semicircle at the base of a swollen cere, and surrounded by
the feathers of the forehead. Wings subacute, the second and
third primaries being the longest; tail large and rounded.
Tarsi short and stubby, equal in length to the third toe,
broadly shielded with scales; toes united by a slight membrane;
the hind toe is short, and does not touch the ground; claws
middle sized.

CAUCASIAN SNOW PARTRIDGE.

Tetrao-y alius Caucasicas.

Tetrao-gallus Caucasicus,
“ Caspia,

Tetrao Caucasicus,
Tetraogalle da Caucase,
Kaurcasisches Alpenhuhn,

Geay. Bonaparte. Schlegel.
Gould.

Pallas; Zoog., ii, p. 76, No. 225.
Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Specific Characters. — Upper plumage grey. The feathers of the
upper wing coverts and middle of the back broadly bordered with
ochreous brown on their outer web. The long feathers of the
flanks edged on both webs with still darker ochreous brown.
Front of the neck marked with the brown horse-shoe, like the
Grey Partridge. Length twenty-one inches and a half ; carpus
to tip eleven inches ; tarsus and middle toe and claw each two
inches and a half ; beak one inch and a half long, and circum-
ference at base two inches.

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CAUCASIAN SNOW PARTKIDGE.

m

For tins species and four or five others known as
“Snow Partridges” or “Snow Pheasants,” Dr. Gray has
established the Genus Tetrao-g alius, signifying that it
is intermediate between the Grouse and Pheasant or
Partridge. I think, however, that the subject of the
present notice might have very well stood at the head
of the genus Perdix leading us from Phasianus to the
Francolins, and thence to the typical Partridges. As,
however, it is the rule among ornithologists to group
birds of similar structure and habits under a number
of difierent genera, it is not for me to complain.

The Caucasian Snow Partridge inhabits that neutral
ground, half of Avhich is in Europe, and the other in
Asia — the Caucasian Pange. As its name implies, it
is found there among the wild and desolate mountains
which are covered with perpetual snow. It is there-
fore difficult of access, and we find very little recorded
of its habits or nidification.

The Snow Partridge, living on neutral ground, must
of course be classed among those birds more or less
common to the continents — Europe and Asia.

INIr. Gould in his “Birds of Asia,” mentions that he
was informed by Prince Charles Bonaiiarte, that “there
were reasons for believing that this bird occurs within
the confines of Europe; he did not, however, mention
the locality in which it has been observed.”

But surely if the bird is found in the Caucasus, or
as one of its names implies, on the borders of the
Caspian, its European locality is sufficiently indicated.
Mr. Gould further remarks “I had also been told by
an officer of one of Her Majesty’s surveying ships
employed in the Mediterranean, whose name I cannot
recollect, that he himself had observed a bird of this
form among the mountains in the island of Candia,

2 I

VOL. III.

234

CAUCASIAN SNOW PAKTKIDGE.

where, however, it was very rare, and only to be
seen on the peaks of the hills; as this is a point of
some interest in the history of the birds of this genus,
I would beg to direct the attention of travellers to
the subject.”

Mr. Gould also inserts an extract furnished him by
Mr. G. E.. Gray, taken from one of the St. Petersburg
“Transactions,” which is as follows; —

“This species builds on the highest summits of the
rocky mountains of the Caucasus; it prefers altogether
the regions of snow, which it never quits; thus when
we desired to acclimatize the young chickens of this
Partridge on the plains of Kahetia, they did hut
survive the spring.

It runs on the rocks of the ledges of precipices
with great agility, and rises with a cry on the least
danger, so that the most skilful sportsman cannot
approach within shot, except under cover of mists.

They live in societies of from six to ten individuals,
becoming the inseparable companions of the goat, on
the excrement of which they feed during the winter
months.

In autumn it grows very fat, and its flesh resembles
that of the Common Partridge. In the crop of this
gallinaceous bird I have found a great quantity of
sand and of small stones, mixed with all kinds of
seeds of alpine plants.”

In the “Ibis,” vol. i, p. 116, the Editor gives an
extract from the journey of one Herr Kotschy into
the Cilician Taurus in Asia Minor, in which this bird
is incidentally mentioned as being found in company
with the steinbock on the Taurus mountains. He calls
it “a noble bird with a flne-sounding call.” As this
is more than half way from the Caucasus to Candia,

CAUCASIAN SNOW PAKTIIIDGE.

235

the statement adds strength to that of ]\Ir, Gould.

The male has the top and sides of the head and
nape what I have called Partridge grey. Scajoularies
and all the rest of the upper parts the same colour,
finely dotted with light brown, and marked on the
wing coverts with broad longitudinal markings of what
I may also call Partridge brown, being similar to the
well-known horse-shoe colour of our Grey Partridge.
Primaries of pure white, with about an inch and a half
of their distal extremities, dull brown; the secondaries
having their general colour the same, but the brown
parts larger, and the outer web the same dotted
grey as the upper parts. Throat and sides of the
neck white, the two parts being separated by a broad
band of Partridge brown, forming a double horse-shoe
of that colour. From this double horse-shoe to nearly
the middle of the abdomen, is a broad band of three
inches and a half, of colours apparently borrowed from
the French Ped-legged Partridge, but not so distinct,
being dirty white with black transverse markings across
the feathers; the rest of the abdomen grey brown.
The long feathers of the flanks a lighter grey, broadly
edged with the characteristic brown above described.
Under tail coverts white; tail feathers rufous below,
and the same colour above, but thickly spotted with
small black dots. Beak horn colour; the strong
thickly scaled tarsi and toes reddish brown; the claws
strong and obtuse. In my specimen, which is a male,
and obtained by Mr. Tristram, from Circassia, there is
no vestige of a spur.

The bird has also been figured by Gould in his
magnificent work, the Birds of Asia.

GALLINiK.

Fa?nily PERDICID^. f Bonaparte.)
Genus Perdix. ( Brisson.J

First Section.— FRANCOLINS.

Generic Characters. — Beak short, compressed, strong, naked
at the base; superior mandible arched, convex, and much
curved near the point. Nostrils basal, lateral, half closed by
a membrane, arched, and naked. Feet with three toes in
front and one behind, those in front united by a membrane
up to the first articulation. Tail composed of fourteen or
eighteen feathers, short, wedge-shaped, and turned towards the
ground. Wings short, the three first primaries the shortest,
the fourth and fifth the longest, the fifth generally the longest.

FKANCOLIN

Perdix FrancoUnus.

Perdix francolimis,

FrancoUnus,

Tetrao francolinus,
FrancoUnus vulgaris,
Chcetopus francolinus,
Attageyi francolinus,
Francolin a collier roux,
Gerneines Spornfeldhuhn,
Francolino,

66

Latham. Temminck. Vieillot.
Cuvier. Lesson. Schinz.
ScHLEGEL.

Brisson.

LiNNiEUS.

Stephens. Bonaparte.

SWAINSON.

Keyserling et Blasius.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Savi.

’KmOONV!!

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FRA^•C()LI^^

237

Specijic Characters. — Upper tail coA'erts and tail beautifully
marked with black aud white, (male,) or with broader bands of
grey aud white, (female.) A red collar round the neck of the
male, bordered on the back below with another band of black
feathers and round white spots. Under tail coverts in both sexes
dark red. Length of male thirteen inches; carpus to tip six
inches ; tarsus two inches ; middle toe and claw one inch and
three quarters; beak one inch and three tenths. Female eleven
inches and a half long.

The Francolin inliabits the south of Europe^, especially
Sicily, Malta, Cyprus, Sardinia, Naples, the Grecian
Archipelago, and Turkey. From thence it ranges
through the whole of Asia, and the vast prairies and
marshes of the north of Africa. With the exception,
however, of Sicily and the Grecian Archipelago, the
Francolin is becoming a rare bird in Europe. Savi
tells us that in the sixteenth century they were common,
as game birds, in Tuscany, and that special laws were
enacted by the Tuscan princes for their preservation.
Now, however, they are only recorded very rarely
there; Savi himself has never met with a specimen,
although he has known sportsmen who have killed
them in their youth.

The Francolin lives, like other Partridges, in coveys,
and remains constant to the locality where it is bred.
It loves humid woods and marshy grounds, and,
according to Savi and other writers, it perches on
trees during the night. M. Malherbe, however, denies
that the Francolin perches. He says it lives solitarily
in Sicily, in moist plains near a brook, or in the
middle of a bed of rushes; that they keep much on
the ground, but will fly a good distance when hunted,
and their capture requires skill and perseverance. The
natural timidity of the bird makes it difficult to tame
in confinement.

238

F11ANC0I,IN.

During tlic breeding season the male bird, morning
and evening, utters a sonorous note, ‘tre, tre, tre;’
and there is an adage in Sicily, among the peasantry,
that this cry indicates its value to be three taris, a
sum equivalent to one franc and twenty-five centimes.

In India the Francolin or Black Partridge is very
common. Captain Irby (“Ibis,” vol. iii, p. 236,) says;
— “This handsome Partridge is found in great numbers
in all grass jungles near water, and is particularly
numerous on the banks of the Gogra, Choka, and
other large rivers. Good sport is to be had with them
in November, in the Imlde or turmeric fields. This
Partridge was common in Kumaon in April, May, and
June. Its call was to be heard wherever there was
any cultivation.” He further adds, when describing
the Grey Partridge, ( Perdix ponticeriana,) that its
flesh is dry, and scarcely eatable, being a degree worse
than that of the Black Partridge, (the Francolin.)

M. Malherbe, however, says that in Sicily it is “un
gibier exquis,” and that it is so much sought after at
all seasons, that it is becoming more and more rare.
Captain Irby says that in India the Francolin will
take refuge in trees when flushed, but rarely.

The Francolin nests on the ground underneath some
bush, where it scrapes a hollow, which it fills with
dried leaves and stalks, and in this nest it deposits
from ten to fourteen eggs, which are of a pale grey
yellow or white, and either unicolorous or having large
brownish, almost invisible spots marked upon them.

From a paper on the nidification of European birds,
in “Naumannia,” for 1853, p. 419, by Baldamus, I
translate the following about the egg of the Francolin: —
“Two eggs in my collection, and many others in the Paris
collections, from Cyprus, differ materially from that

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PKANCOLIW.

2. GREEK

P ARTRIEG-

FRANCOl.IN.

239

figured by Thienemann, pi. 7, fig. 8. This figure has
the length, and almost the breadth of one figured as
Perdix saxatilis. Figs. 5, a, b, which Thienemann
figures of the Francolin’s egg, is forty millemetres long,
and twenty-nine millemetres broad, {Saxatilis being
forty by thirty.) This in my opinion is too large.
INIy specimens are much more nearly the size of those
of P. cinerea. In the grain of the shell they also
resemble the egg of P. petrosa. They have a somewhat
granular surface and an isabelle white ground colour,
and no spots.”

The following are the measurements given by
Baldamus of the five European Partridges, and the
dimensions of their eggs : — Perdix Grceca, {Saxatilis.^ —
Length of bird from thirty-two to thirty-five centimetres;
egg, greater diameter from forty-three to forty-five
millemetres, lesser from twenty-two to twenty-three
millemetres. P. petrosa, (Barbary in B. lists.) — Bird
thirty-one to thirty-two centimetres ; egg, greater diameter
thirty-nine to forty-one millemetres, lesser twenty-nine
to thirty-one millemetres. P. rubra, (Bed-leg.) — Bird,
thirty to thirty-one centimetres; egg, greater diameter
forty to forty-one millemetres, lesser thirty to thirty
millemetres and a half. P. cinerea, (Grey Partridge.)
— Bird, thirty centimetres ; egg, greater diameter thirty-
three to thirty-five millemetres, lesser twenty -five to
twenty-six millemetres. P. francolinus. — Bird, thirty
centimetres; egg, greater diameter thirty-three to thirty-
four millemetres, lesser twenty-five to twenty-six
millemetres.*

The figure of the egg of the Francolin in Badeker’s
work is in accordance with this description of Balda-

* Ten millemetres are one centimetre, and to bring centimetres
into English inches, midtiply by two and divide by five.

240

FKANCOLIN.

mus, but, singularly enough, the description, which is
by Breliin, falls into the error of describing what the
plate does not exhibit, namely, that the egg is larger
than that of the Bed-leg or French Partridge. In
the absence of an authentic specimen, I give a copy
of Badeker’s figure of this egg.

The male has the top of the head and nape a
light rufous, with longitudinal stripes of black; forehead
and sides of the head, with the exception of a large
oval patch of white extending from the eyes backwards,
black. The dark rufous collar of the neck having
some of its feathers tipped with an oval black spot
with white edges, and a broader band of black feathers
marked conspicuously with pure white round spots,
occupy the upper part of the back; below these
bands the scapularies are well marked out with dark
brown feathers, broadly edged with light rufous; the
rest of the back, upper tail coverts, and tail feathers,
most delicately pencilled with transverse zigzag lines of
black and white. The upper wing coverts are marked
out like the scapularies, while the long tertials are richly
marked with light rufous transverse bands, on a black
brown ground, the rufous more distinct on the outer
webs. The primaries and secondaries rich rufous, with
transverse bands or spots of dusky brown, more or
less distinct. The throat and breast are pitchy black,
separated by the rich dark rufous collar round the
neck; the sides of the chest and all the lower part
of the abdomen black, with oval white spots, which
become larger on the flanks and shaded with rufous;
bottom of abdomen light red, edged with white, while
the rich rufous of the neck is repeated on the feathers
of the under tail coverts, which are also fringed with
white. The feathers on the thighs are barred with

fKANCOI.lX.

black and white, mingled ndth pcncillings of rufons.
Tail below dark brown, with their basal halves barred
with white. Beak black; legs and feet orange red;
tarsi armed with a spur.

The female is a much plainer-marked bird. The
forehead, and a faint trace on the back of the neck,
red; top of the head hair brown, with darker longi-
tudinal shades; scapularies and wing coverts dark
brown, with light brown edges; the rest of the back
and ujiper tail coverts “partridge grey,’^ beautifully
marked and pencilled Avith darker transverse bands of
broAvn and white. Primaries black broAvn, Avith russet
spots and transAmrse bands; the secondaries marked in
the same way, but the colours lighter, and the bands
broader. The throat creamy Avhite, going off into
yellow on the neck; sides of the head rufous, finely
spotted with black about the ear coverts ; chest and
abdomen cream Avhite, Avith triangular bars of black,
and more or less tinged Avith rufous on the sides and
flanks; loAver part of abdomen dirty Avhite; under
tail coverts dark rich russet, Avith slight bars of black
and yellow, and covered on their basal aspect on each
side by tAvo or three feathers of a yelloAvish Avhite,
barred Avith black ; tail feathers dark broAvn, lightly
barred with Avavy bands of Avhite.

The young after the first moult resemble the adult.
The males haA'e the spur rudimentary.

^ly drawings of these birds, male and female, are
from specimens procured by Mr. Tristram, in Cyprus.

The bird has also been figured by Brisson, pi. 27,
fig. 2, in which it may be remarked that this accurate
observer has omitted to give the spur on the tarsus
of his figure, AA^hich is a male ; Buffon, pi. enl. 147,
(male and female ;) Gould, pi. 259.

2 K

VOL. III.

GALLINJ^.

Family PERDICID^. (Bonaparte.)
Genus Pekutx. ( Brisson.J

GREEK PARTRIDGE.

Per (lice Grceca.

Perdix Grceca,

(( ((

“ Tufa,

“ saxatilis,

Bai'tavelle Grecque,
Stein-roth ehuhn, Rot-liuhn,
or Weltsch-Raeb-hun,
Coiurnice,

AoJeer-Hoena,

Gesner; leones Avium, p. 64, 1553.
Brisson; 1760.

LiNN.ai:us. Vieillot.

Meyer et Wolff.

Of the French.

Of the Germans.

Savi.

Of the Swedes.

Specific Characters. — Throat and upper part of the front neck
w'hite or cream-coloured, which is separated from the unicolorous
dove-coloured cross by a black band, broader at the sides, which
extends from each eye. The central tail feathers extend for
three quarters of an inch beyond the under tail coverts. Length
thirteen inches and a half to fifteen inches ; carpus to tip six
inches and a half ; tarsus two inches, middle toe and claw rather
longer; beak three quarters of an inch.

The bird wbicb I have now to notice has been
well known for three hundred years as Perdix Grceca,
or the Greek Partridge. It is closely allied to the

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v/i’, , 4 ; ’, ■ f Sko- , U'(»\>vAv '\ 'i('

GREEK PARTRIDGE. 243

f

Red-leg, or French Partridge, but is at once dis-
tinguished by its larger size, and by the absence of
the mottled plumage below the black mark in the
neck. The older ornithologists — Gesner, Willughby,
and Belloni — acknowledged this affinity by designating
Perdix Grceca as Perdix major or Rufa major ; while
Ray, Linnaeus, and Albin all referred it to Perdix
rufa, the latter even figuring the Red-legged Partridge
for this bird. In the present day we do not find
ornithologists confounding the two birds, as they are
universally considered specifically distinct. There are,
however, other varieties or races which are considered
by modern naturalists as probably distinct also. Mr.
Tristram has sent me two skins, one from the Morea,
a male, which may be considered typical; and another,
a female, a smaller bird with a rufous throat, which
was obtained from Crete. But I cannot, after careful
examination, find anything which age, or sex, or
difference of food might not account for. Mr. Tristram
says he thinks they represent two distinct species,
one inhabiting the hills, the other the plains.

Dr. Leith Adams writes me word he is quite
confident that the Perdix chukar (Gray) of India is
identical with this bird. I will give an abstract of
his letter: — “These two are identical. P. chukar
frequents the Himalayas from Nepaul to the mountains
of Persia in the west. I have seen and examined
specimens from all these countries, including Afghanistan
and Chinese Tartary. P. Grceca is common on the
hills and mountains of south-eastern Europe. It is a
common bird during the winter months in the markets
of Constantinople, where I procured several specimens,
which I have carefully compared with Himalayan
specimens of P. chukar, and I cannot observe any

244

GREI-:K rAKTlllDGE.

difFerciice. Mr. Blyth, (T. A. S., xviii, p. 53,) states
that ‘P. Grceca only differs from P. chukar of the
Himalayas, Afghanistan, etc., in having a purehj ivhite
throat, and in the ferruginous of the ear coverts being
less marked^' According to my experience (having
examined many skins) these points, although pretty
general, are not universal in the birds killed in
Turkey. I have seen several exactly similar in all
respects with P, chukar.

According to this opinion the smaller of the two
birds sent me by Mr. Tristram from Crete, is equal
to the P. chukar of Gray; and it follows, I think,
if this is so, that P. Gr(^ca and P. chukar are one
and the same species, for surely we cannot maintain
for a moment that the difference of colour in the

throat is sufficient to constitute specific difference. Mr.
Tristram, however, does not consider that his smaller
specimen is sufficiently deep rufous, for he remarks, —
“I never saw the white throat from India, or the

rufous one from Western Europe. Turkey and Syria
are debatable ground held by both varieties.”

I have not been able to get a Swiss skin for com-
parison. As Mr. Tristram observes, however, the

question is one of “race,” or of eastern and western
varieties of the same species. M. Bouteille, as quoted
by M. Degland, has succeeded in obtaining a hybrid
between P. Grccca and P. ruhra, the males being more
like the former, the females more like the latter.
Both had the black collar of the Greek Partridge and
the black spots which follow it in the French
Partridge, but smaller and less numerous. The feathers
on the flanks of the male were more like those of
Grceca, in the female more like ruhra.

The Greek Partridge is found, as its name implies.

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>'. 1 '■•»■.• iili W- /ll.l )i ' ijjffl V

'1;

GREEK PARTRIDGE.

^45

in Greece and the islands of the Archipelago, in
Italy, Sicily, Switzerland, and Turkey. Thence it
spreads into Syria, being replaced in Persia and
India by the form known as P. chukar. It is found
in some parts of Germany and France, and among
the mountains of the Jura, the Alps, and the Pyrenees.
Specimens from Ja^jan are, according to Temminck,
exactly like those found in Europe. Lord Lilford,
(“Ibis,” vol. ii, p. 238,) says it is the Common
Partridge of the Epirus and the Ionian Islands, but is
not very abundant in Corfu, where it is only met
Avith on the ridge of San Salvador. He further
remarks: — “The Greek Partridge haunts the stony hill
sides, never, as far as my oAvn observation goes,
descending to the plain. It is not easy to make a
good bag of these birds, even in localities where they
are numerous, as the coveys disperse on being disturbed,
and on alighting each bird takes a line of its OAvn,
and sets off running to the nearest covert, Avhich, in
these parts, generally consists of thick evergreen shrubs,
from Avhich it is very difficult to flush them. In the
Ionian Islands they are most abundant in Cephalonia,
Santa jNIaura, Kalumo, Petula, Arkudi, and Meganisi.
The flesh of this species is, to my taste, far su^Acrior
to that of either of its congeners, P. ruhra or P.
petrosaP

The habit above mentioned by Lord Lilford, of
frequenting stony and rocky j)laces, is doubtless the
reason Avhy Meyer thought it right to alter the name
of this bird, from that which it had possessed for
centuries, to that of Pcrdix saxatilis, a most uncalled-
for and unjustifiable innovation.

The Greek Partridge scrapes a hole near a rock or
stone, Avhich it fills Avith stalks and leaA^es, and in

246

GREEK PARTRIDGE.

this it lays from ten to twenty eggs, which are
somewhat larger than those of P. rubra. The shell is
hard and shining, and is either unspotted pale yellow,
or browmish yellow with violet brown dots and spots,
according to Badeker. The shape of the egg is oval.
Nidification commences in May, and the female sits
twenty-three days.

The adult male has all the upper plumage dove-
coloured grey, with a beautiful shade of purplish
glossy pink on the scapularies and sides of the chest.
The primaries are of a rich brown, with a light brown
patch near the end of the quill on the third to the
ninth inclusive, gradually getting smaller; the second,
third, fourth, and fifth primaries are about equal, and
the longest in the wing. Head, throat, and chest have
been described in the specific diagnosis. Centre of the
abdomen presents a conical surface of rich fawn-colour,
flanked above on each side by beautifully-marked
feathers of a pure dove-coloured grey, with a bar of
light fawn-colour between two other transverse bars of
rich umber brown, at the end of each feather: these
latter markings being broader on the sides of the
abdomen, and narrower on the flanks proper. Under
tail coverts russet; tail feathers rich dark russet. The
margin of the eyes, iris, and beak, a beautiful red;
legs and feet same colour, but paler; bottom of the
feet dirty yellow; the tarsus of the male is furnished
with a well-developed, but obtuse spur, situated ab^ut
the middle.

The female resembles the male, but is smaller and
without spurs; the grey is less lively; there is less
white on the throat ; and the black band and the
markings on the flanks are smaller.

The young after the first moult are more grey, and

GREEK PARTRIDGE.

247

less shaded with pink above, and arc pencilled and
spotted irregularly with brown and whitish.

In some varieties the white is less pure, or even
fawn-coloured.

My figures of this bird and its egg are from specimens
kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram. The male bird with
white throat, the typical P. Grceca, is from the Morea.
The female bird with the rufous throat, which I have
figured for comparison, is from Crete. It is the bird
alluded to before.

The bird has also been figured by Brisson, Ornith.,
pi. 23, f. 1; Bufibn, pi. enl. 231; Boux, Ornith. Prov.,
pi. 259; Naumann, pi. 164; Bouteil, Ornith. du Dauph.,
pi. 42, fig. 2; Gould, B. of E.; Temminck, Atlas du
Manuel; Vieillot, Faun. Franc., pi. 109; Bonaparte,
Fauna Ital.

END OF VOL. III.

B. FAWCF.TT, F.NQRAVER AND PRINTER, EAST LODGE, DRIFFIELD.

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EEEATA.

Page 60, in head line, for “Yello'w-headed Bunting,” read
“Yellow-breasted Bunting.”

Page 163, second paragraph, dele “by Mr. Taylor (ibid, p. 47,)
as very abundant in small flocks in Egypt.”

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