FOR THE PEOPLE

FOR EDVCATION

FOR SCIENCE

LIBRARY

OF

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM

OF

NATURAL HISTORY

HISTORY

OF

BRITISH BIRDS,

INDIGENOUS AND MIGBATORY.

1

BRITISH BIRDS,

INDIGENOUS AND MIGRATORY:

INCLUDING

THEIR ORGANIZATION, HABITS, AND RELATIONS;

REMARKS ON CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE ;

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL ORGANS OF BIRDS, AND

OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO PRACTICAL

ORNITHOLOGY.

ILLUSTRATED BY

NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS.
BY WILLIAM MACGILLIVRAY, A.M., LL.D.

PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND LECTURER ON BOTANY, IN MARISCHAL
COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY, ABERDEEN ;

MEMBER OF THE TVERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY AND ROYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETIES OP EDINBURGH, OF THE

NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETIES OF BOSTON AND PHILADELPHIA, OF THE LYCEUM OF NEW YORK,

OF THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, ETC.

VOL. IV.

CURSORES, OR RUNNERS.

TENTATORES, OR PROBERS.

AUCUPATORES, OR STALKERS.

LATITORES, OR SKULKERS.

LONDON :

WILLIAM S. ORR AND CO., AMEN CORNER,

PATERNOSTER ROW-

1852

TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY

THE QUEEN,

THIS

HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS,

TO WHICH HER MAJESTY HAS BEEN GRACIOUSLY
PLEASED TO EXTEND HER PATRONAGE,

IS DEDICATED,

^ WITH THE MOST PROFOUND RESPECT,

BY HER MAJESTY'S
MOST FAITHFUL SUBJECT,

AND MOST DEVOTED SERVANT,

WILLIAM MACGILLIVRAY.

Edinburgh, 1, Wharton Place,
15th June, 1840.

PREFACE.

As the wounded bird seeks some quiet retreat, where,
freed from the persecution of the pitiless fowler, it may pass
the time of its anguish in forgetfulness of the outer world ;
so have I, assailed by disease, betaken myself to a sheltered
nook, where, unannoyed by the piercing blasts of the North
Sea, I had been led to hope that my life might be protracted
beyond the most dangerous season of the year. It is thus
that I issue from Devonshire the present volume which,
however, contains no observations of mine made there, the
scenes of my labours being in distant parts of the country.

So many years have elapsed since the publication of the
third volume, which ended the series of Land Birds, that
those interested in the completion of the work must have
despaired of ever seeing more of it. Unexpected events?
however, are of daily occurrence ; and I now have the prospect
of presenting to those in whose eyes the previous volumes
have found favour the volumes containing the Waders and
the Swimmers, which will conclude the series.

In this, the fourth volume, are contained the Orders of
the Cursorial, Tentatorial, Aucupatorial, and Latito-
rial Birds, — including all the British Waders, or Shore
Birds, amounting to seventy species. The descriptions are
in all respects similar to those of the Land Birds. It may
be hoped that they will be found more correct, as, having
mostly been written twelve years ago, they have benefited
by the many opportunities of improving them that have
occurred. It had been intended to confine this volume to

viii PREFACE.

the Waders ; hut by this arrangement it was found that the
last volume, should all the Swimming Birds he referred to it,
would be disproportionately large ; and thus there is included
in the present a portion of the first order of that series — the
two families of the Anserince and Cygnince, Geese and Swans,
containing fourteen species ; — the entire number described
being thus eighty-four. The fifth volume will contain
eighty-six.

It is well that the observations from which these descrip-
tions have been prepared were made many years ago, when I
was full of enthusiasm, and enjoyed the blessings of health,
and freedom from engrossing public duties : for I am per-
suaded that now I should be in some respects less qualified
for the task, more, however, from the failure of physical than
of mental power. Here, on the rocky promontory, I shiver
in the breeze which, to my companion, is but cool and
bracing. The east wind ruffles the sea, and impels the little
waves to the shores of the beautiful bay, which present alter-
nate cliffs of red sandstone and beaches of yellow sand,
backed by undulated heights and gentle acclivities, slowly
rising to the not distant horizon, fields and woods, with
villages and scattered villas, forming — not wild nor altogether
tame — a pleasing landscape, which in its summer and autum-
nal garniture of grass and corn, and sylvan verdure, orchard
blossom and fruit, tangled fence-bank and furze-clad common,
will be beautiful indeed to the lover of nature. Then, the
balmy breezes from the west and south will waft health to
the reviving invalid. At present, the cold vernal gales sAveep
along the channel, conveying to its haven the extended fleet
of boats that render Brixham, on the opposite horn of the
Bay, one of the most celebrated of the southern fishing-
stations of England. High over the waters, here and there,
a solitary Gull slowly advances against the breeze, or shoots
athwart, or with a beautiful gliding motion sweeps down the
aerial current. At the entrance to Torquay are assembled
many birds of the same kind, which, by their hovering near
the surface, their varied evolutions, and mingling cries, indi-
cate a shoal, probably of Atherines or Sprats. On that
little pyramidal rock, projecting from the water, repose two

PREFACE. ix

dusky Cormorants ; and, far away, in the direction of Port-
land Island, a Gannet, well known by its peculiar flight,
winnows its exploring way, and plunges headlong into the
deep. But neither time nor place are favourable to the
observation of the Wading tribes, although the country
around supplies the greater number of those found in Britain.
It is not until disabled that the observer of the habits of
wild animals becomes sensible of the happiness he has enjoyed,
in exercising: the faculties with which his benign Creator has
endowed him. No study or pursuit is better adapted for such
enjoyment, or so well fitted to afford pleasures not liable to
be repented of, than Natural History. Is there any ordinary
occupation or profession — Law or Medicine, Mathematics,
Greek or Latin, or Engineering, or Fighting, or Commerce,
Trade or Farming — that tends more to bring a man into
sensible relation to his Maker ? Yet how often have I heard
persons, lay and clerical — but not one of them having the
least taste for the study of nature, whether as a mere science,
or as a part of theology — insinuate, and lament, that natural-
ists forget all regard to God in the study of His works, and
hint that they themselves, ignorant of what they consider it
of no importance for them to know, have wisely chosen the
good part. How different is the feeling of a pious man who
has studied nature ! And are there not at least as many pious
men among naturalists as in any other class of people ? — and
are not those who have carefully studied the works of God
better qualified to join intelligently with the Psalmist in
giving Him the glory due to His excellent power and wisdom,
than those who superciliously sneer at beetles and birds' skins,
skeletons of alligators, and scales of fishes ? May this mag-
nificent study, second to none but Theology, daily gain more
favour in the eyes of the public ; and be the time not distant
when observers shall arise capable of giving greater accuracy
and precision to our knowledge of British Birds. While the
world endures — be it a thousand years or ten millions of
centuries — the works of God will never be fully comprehended
by man ; and thus, there is delightful occupation in view for
all time. I have exercised the faculties given me upon them,
and if men of more intellect, and having better opportunities,

xii APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES.

been obtained of late years. Of these it is necessary to give
some account, though I may be held excusable for not enter-
ing into minute details respecting them. They are all "strag-
glers" from distant regions, chiefly from the south of Europe.

1. Vultur fuhus. Griffon Vulture. Of the family of
the Vulturinae, and the typical genus Vultur, which is charac-
terized by having the bill strong, moderately compressed ;
the upper mandible with the sides convex, the tips decurved
and pointed, the nostrils large, oblong, oblique, near the edge
of the cere ; the lower mandible with the sides nearly erect,
the tip obtuse, but thin-edged ; the feet very strong ; the
tarsus reticulated with small scales ; the anterior toes webbed
at the base, the third toe very long ; the claws arched, mode-
rately compressed, acute ; the head and neck covered with
short down ; the wings very long and broad ; the third and
fourth quills longest.

The species here noticed has the bill pale yellowish-grey ;
the cere bluish-black ; the feet bluish-grey ; the claws black ;
the head and neck covered with white down ; the upper parts
light yellowish-brown; the primary quills and tail-feathers
blackish-brown; the lower parts light reddish-brown, paler
anteriorly. Male about 40, female 48 inches in length.

It is said to inhabit Turkey, Greece, and other European
countries, as far north as France and Germany, and to occur
in various parts of Africa. An individual, caught by a young
man on the rocks near Cork Harbour, in the spring of 1843,
came into the possession of Lord Shannon, who had it care-
fully stuffed, and presented it to Mr. R. Ball, for the collec-
tion in Trinity College, Dublin.

2. Aquila ncevia. Spotted Eagle. Tail slightly rounded
not extending beyond the wings ; plumage reddish-brown,
lighter on the head, neck, tarsus, and inner part of tibia ;
quills and tail-feathers blackish-brown. Young with the
plumage dark chocolate-brown, feathers of the upper parts
tipped with a crescent of pale yellowish-brown, the upper
parts with pale spots. Male about 23, female 26 inches in
length.

It inhabits chiefly the southern countries of Europe, but
extends as far north as the Baltic, and has been found in

APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES. xiii

various parts of Asia and Africa. A bird of this species was
shot, in January 1845, on the estate of the Earl of Shannon,
in the county of Cork. It was described by Mr. R. Davis,
jun., of Clonmel, in a letter to Mr. Thompson, as " a minia-
ture of the Golden Eagle, about a third less than a male of
that species ; except the tail-coverts, and some spots on the
wing-coverts and breast, it is entirely of a deep glossy blackish-
brown." Another bird of the same species had been killed
in the same place a few days before.

3. Cuculus glandarius. Great Spotted Cuckoo. Feathers
of the head elongated, acuminate, forming a decumbent crest
of a dark-grey colour ; upper parts greyish-black, the feathers
of the wings and the tail-coverts tipped with white ; the tail
long, graduated, dark greyish-brown, tipped with white, the
medial feathers lighter.

. Inhabits northern Africa and the south of Europe, occa-
sionally extending into Germany. An individual, pursued
by Hawks, had flown into a hole in a stone wall, and was
caught by two persons in March, 1842, in the island of Omagh.
It is now in the Museum of Trinity College, Dublin.

4. Ceryle Alcyon. Belted Kingfisher. The genus Ceryle
differs little from Alcedo, the bill being only stouter, and the
general form more robust ; the wings long, pointed, with the
second and third quills longest ; the tail short and even.

The celebrated Belted Kingfisher of America is about
twelve inches in length, crested, with the upper parts, cheeks,
and a broad belt across the fore part of the breast, light blue,
the shaft of each feather darker ; the lower parts white ; a
small white spot before the eye, and another on the lower
eyelid ; quills black, primaries barred with white at the base,
and having the inner web of that colour for half its length,
secondaries broadly edged with light blue, dotted and tipped
Avith white, and having the inner web barred with the same ;
tail-feathers dusky, edged with blue, barred and tipped with
white. Female with the sides, and a band across the middle
of the breast light red.

Two individuals have been met with in Ireland, as re-
corded by Mr. Thompson. One of them was shot by Frede-
rick A. Smith, Esq., at Annsbrook, county of Meath, on the

vol. iv. b

xiv APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES.

~6th of October 1845. The other was shot by the game-
keeper of Mr. Latouche of Luggela, county of Wicklow, and
is now in the collection of Mr. Warren.

5. Progne jnirparea. Purple Martin. Progne differs
from Hirundo chiefly in having the bill stouter, and in some
other unimportant distinctions, not appreciable without a
comparison of specimens representative of the various genera
into which the Hirundina? have latterly been divided.

The Purple Martin has the wings as long as the deeply-
emarginate tail ; the plumage silky, shining, purplish -black,
with steel-blue reflexions ; the quills and tail-feathers brown-
ish-black ; the tarsi and toes purplish-black. The female
has the lower parts light grey, streaked with black. Length
*l\ inches.

Generally distributed in North America, where it is as
great a favourite as our Window Martin is in England.
Wilson, Audubon, and Nuttall have given full and interest-
ing accounts of its habits. The latter author says : — " This
beautiful species, like many others of the family, seeks out
the dwellings of man, associating himself equally with the
master and the slave, the colonist and the aboriginal. To
him it is indifferent whether his mansion be carved and
painted, or humbled into the hospitable shell of the calabash
or gourd. Secure of an asylum for his mate and young
while under the protection of man, he twitters forth his
gratitude, and is everywhere welcomed to a home. So eager
is he to claim this kind of protection, that sometimes he
ventures hostilities with the Blue-birds and domestic pigeons,
whom he often forces to abandon their hereditary claims.
Satisfied with their reception and success, like so many
contented and faithful domestics, they return year after year
to the same station. The services of the Martin in driving
away Hawks and Crows from the premises he claims are also
important inducements for favour : he has even the courage
to attack the redoubtable King-bird, when his visits are too
familiar near the nest. At the approaching dawn the merry
Martin begins his lively twitter, which, continuing for half a
minute, subsides until the twilight is fairly broken. To this
prelude succeeds an animated and incessant musical chatter-

APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES. xv

ing, sufficient, near the dwelling, to awaken the soundest
sleeper. His early vigils are scarcely exceeded by the
domestic cock : the industrious farmer hears the pleasing
call to labour, and associates with the favourite bird the idea
of an economical, cheerful, and useful guest. In the Middle
States, from the 15th to the 20th of April, the Martins begin
to prepare their nest, which is usually made of green or dry
leaves, straws, hay, and feathers, laid in considerable quan-
tities. The eggs, pure white, are from four to six, and
without spots. They rear two broods in the season. Several
pairs also dwell harmoniously in the same box. The male,
very attentive to his sitting mate, also takes part in the task
of incubation ; and his notes at this time have apparently
a peculiar and expressive tenderness. The food of the
Martin is usually the larger winged insects, as wasps, bees,
large beetles, as the common Cetonia or goldsmiths, which
are swallowed whole. His flight possesses all the swiftness,
ease, and grace of the tribe. Like the Swift, he glides along
as it were without exertion. Sometimes he is seen passing
through the crowded streets, eluding the passengers with
the rapidity of thought ; at others he sails among the clouds
at a dizzy height, like something almost ethereal."

It is stated by Mr. Yarrell, in the second edition of his
valuable History of British Birds, that, according to infor-
mation received from Mr. Frederick M'Coy, of Dublin, a
female of this species had been shot near Kingstown, and
placed in the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society. He
further informs us that, " during the first week of September,
1842, two other examples of this same species were shot by
Mr. John Calvert, of Paddington, at the Kingsbury Reser-
voir ;" one of them a young bird of the year, the other an
old male.

6. " Turdus aurigaster. Gold-vented Thrush." This
species, which appears to be now generally referred to the
genus Turdus, presents, in my opinion, a much greater
deviation from that group than Petrocincla. The differences
in its bill and feet, and its style of colouring, are, I think,
quite sufficient to sanction its removal to another group.

The bill is considerably widened at the base, Avith the

xvi APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES.

ridge prominent; the tarsi short, much compressed, very
thin-edged behind ; feathers of the forehead and crown
slightly elongated ; bill and feet black ; head blackish-
brown ; neck, back, wings, and tail uniform umber-brown ;
throat and fore-neck clove-brown ; the breast lighter, passing
into dull-white ; the feathers under the tail bright yellow.
Length about 8 inches.

Mr. Thompson states that, by the kindness of Dr. Burkitt
of Waterford, who has a collection of birds killed in Ireland,
he exhibited an individual of this African Thrush to the
Natural History Section of the British Association, held at
Cork in 1843. It was shot by a country lad at Mount
Beresford, three miles and a half from Waterford, and is the
only individual known to have occurred in Europe. Mr.
Yarrell has figured and described the identical specimen in
the Supplement to his British Birds, and in the second
edition of that work.

7. Petrocincla saxatilis. Common Rock-Thrush. The
genus Petrocincla, allied to the Thrushes, properly so called,
and the Saxicolinse, especially the Vitiflorae, is characterized
by a rather slender, compressed bill, the upper mandible with
the ridge narrow, the notches obsolete, the tip very small, and
slightly decurved, the lower mandible straight, with the tip
acute ; tarsus rather stout, short, compressed, anteriorly with
a long plate and four scutella ; lateral toes about equal ;
claws slender, arched, much compressed, acute ; short bristles
at the base of the bill ; wTings rather long, the third quill
longest ; tail short, even, or slightly emarginate.

The species inhabit the rocky and stony parts of the
mountainous districts of the southern and middle divisions of
Europe.

Petrocincla saxatilis has the head, neck, and fore part of
the back greyish-blue, the scapulars tinged with brown, the
rest of the back white ; the upper tail-coverts dark brown ;
the wings and two middle tail-feathers dark brown, the other
tail-feathers and the lower part of the body light chestnut-
red. Length 8 inches.

Mr. Yarrell has figured and described a specimen obtained
" on the 19th of May, 1843, by Mr. Joseph Trigg, who shot

APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES. xvii

it at Therfield, near Royston, in Hertfordshire, while it was
sitting on an ash-tree in the evening. It inhabits the moun-
tainous tracts of the south of Europe.

8. Alauda cristata. Crested Lark. Feathers of the
head elongated, acuminate, erectile ; bill slightly arched ;
hind claw straight, longer than the toe ; upper part of the
head light yellowish-brown, streaked with dusky ; hind neck
and ear-coverts dark brown ; back and wing-coverts brown,
each feather with a medial dusky patch ; quills chocolate-
brown, middle tail-feathers light brown, the rest dusky, the
outer two light red at the end ; throat white ; fore neck,
breast, and sides pale yellowish-brown, streaked with darker ;
the rest of the lower parts plain yellowish-white ; bill and
feet yellowish-grey. Length nearly 7 inches.

In the Dublin Penny Journal of February 27, 1836, is a
notice, signed J. W. R., of a specimen shot by the writer
near Taney, a few weeks before. Another, subsequently
killed in Sussex, is described by Mr. Yarrell. The species is
said to occur in most countries of Europe, from the Baltic to
the Mediterranean, as well as in North Africa, Egypt, and
Anatolia.

9. Alauda brachydactyla. Short-toed Lark. Bill straight ;
hind claw straight, not longer than the toe ; upper parts light
reddish-yellow, streaked with deep brown; throat, and a
band over the eyes, pure white ; breast and sides pale red ;
abdomen reddish- white ; the two middle tail-feathers black-
ish-brown, bordered with deep red, the next three on each
side bordered and tipped with light red, the next reddish-
white on the outer web, the outermost nearly all of that
colour, but more reddish toward the end ; bill and feet light
brown. Length nearly 6 inches.

As stated by Mr. Yarrell, an individual taken at Shrews-
bury is the only known British representative of this species,
which is said to inhabit Spain, Italy, and the south of
France.

10. Agelaius phceniceus. Red-winged Marsh- Blackbird.
The birds of the genus Agelaius somewhat resemble Starlings
in appearance and habits. They have the bill much stouter,
however, shorter than the head, conical, tapering to an acute

xviii APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES.

point. They are gregarious, granivorous, and, being extremely
numerous, often inflict great injury on the crops. The genus
belongs to America, and, with others, is part of the extensive
family of the Icterinae, to which systematic writers have
assigned different stations in their arrangements.

The "Red-wing," or "Red-winged Starling," of North
America, is about nine inches in length ; its plumage glossy
black, the smaller wing-coverts scarlet, their first row yellow,
at the tip whitish. The female is much smaller, with the
upper parts dark brown ; some of the smaller wing-coverts
tinged with red ; wings and tail blackish-brown, the feathers
margined with brownish-red, the first row of small coverts
and secondary coverts narrowly tipped with whitish ; a
yellowish -brown band over the eye ; lower parts longitudi-
nally streaked with dusky and whitish ; the fore-neck tinged
with dull carmine.

Very abundant in North America, by the ornithologists
of which country its habits have been fully and pleasantly
described. In vol. I. of the Zoologist, the Rev. Richard
Lubbock informs us that a male, said to have been accom-
panied by another, was shot near Rollesby Broad, Yarmouth,
and came into the possession of J. H. Gurney, Esq., in a
fresh state, in June 1842. Mr. Yarrell mentions another
individual shot among the reeds at Shepherd's Bush, a
swampy situation about three miles west of London, on the
Uxbridge Road.

11. Perdix petrosa. Barbary Partridge. This species
has been admitted into the British Fauna, because an indi-
vidual was found dead at Edmondthorpe, about six miles
from Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire, in April 1842.
Mr. Yarrell has figured and described this specimen, it
having been lent him by Mr. Thomas Goatley, of Chipping
Norton, Oxfordshire.

The Barbary Partridge has the bill, the bare space
around the eyes, the tarsi, toes, and claws red ; the sides of
the head bluish-grey ; its upper part and the hind-neck
chestnut-brown ; the neck with a broad collar of the same,
spotted with white ; the back and tail greyish-brown ; the
wing-coverts edged with light red ; the primary quills

APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES. xix

brownish-black, their outer web greyish-brown; the fore-
neck bluish-grey ; the breast buff ; the sides barred with
black, white, and chestnut; the rest of the lower parts
reddish-yellow. Length 13 inches.

It inhabits Turkey, Greece, Calabria, Spain, and France,
and is also extensively distributed in Africa.

12. Hemipodius Andalusicus. Andalusian Hemipode.
The genus Hemipodius is composed of small birds of the
family of the Perdicinse, few of them so large as the Common
Quail, and is more particularly characterized by being desti-
tute of hind toe, and by having the wings of moderate
length, very broad, the primary quills much incurved, the
outer three longest, and the tail very short, its feathers
decurved, not stronger than the coverts which conceal them.

The Andalusian Hemipode has the upper parts brown,
barred with brownish-black and yellowish-white ; the head
with a longitudinal light red band ; the wing-coverts yel-
lowish-brown, toward the end paler, with a dusky spot ;
quills and tail-feathers greyish-brown ; throat white ; fore-
neck pale chestnut ; lower parts yellowish-white ; sides
barred with semi-lunar brown spots. Length about 6 inches.

An individual was shot, in November 1844, by the game-
keeper on the Cornwell estate, in Oxfordshire, about three
miles from Chipping Norton, as indicated by Mr. Thomas
Goatley in the Annals of Natural History, Vol. XIV. It
was figured and described by Mr. Yarrell in his Supplement.
Mr. Goatley also states that another had since been killed
near the same spot by the same person, but was not pre-
served.

Several other species are stated to have occurred, espe-
cially—

Acanthylis caudata. Australian Spring-tailed Swallow.

Sylvia luscinioides. Savi's Warbler.

Sylvia turdoides. Great Sedge Warbler.

Sylvia Hippolais, Temm. Melodious Willow- Wren.

JRegulus modestus. Dalmatian Kinglet. Mr. Gould, in
his Birds of Europe, has introduced a new species of
Regulus, of which he had seen only a single specimen, a
male, shot in Dalmatia. Mr. J. Hancock, Newcastle, met

o APPENDIX TO PREVIOUS VOLUMES.

with a bird apparently of the same species, on the coast of
Northumberland, in September, 1838. His description, in
Ann. Nat. Hist. II. 310, is as follows: — " Length 4^ in. ;
breadth 6£ in. ; length from the carpus to the end of the
wing 2-jL-in. ; tail lTVin. ; the bill from the gape to the tip
nearly j7-^ in., and from the tips of the feathers, which extend
to the extremity of the nostrils, % in.

" The whole of the upper plumage is greenish-yellow ;
on the centre of the crown of the head is a streak of paler ;
a light lemon-coloured streak extends over the eye from the
base of the bill to the occiput ; a short streak of the same
colour passes beneath the eye, and a narrow band of dusky
passes through the eye and reaches the termination of the
auriculars. The under parts pale yellow ; the ridge of the
wing bright lemon colour ; wing feathers dusky, edged with
pale yellow, becoming broader on the secondaries ; two con-
spicuous bands of lemon colour cross the coverts ; the wings
reach to within three quarters of an inch of the end of the
tail. Bill brown, with the under mandible paler at the
base ; mouth yellow ; legs and toes brown, with the under
surface of the toes inclining to yellow ; claws brown.

" Its manners, as far as I had an opportunity of observing
them, wrere so like those of the Golden-crested Wren, that
at first I mistook it for that species. It was continually in
motion, flitting from place to place in search of insects on
umbelliferous plants, and such other herbage as the bleak
banks of the Northumberland coast affords. Such a situation
could not be at all suited to the habits of this species ; and
there can be little doubt that it had arrived at the coast
previous to or immediately after its autumnal migrations."

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Introductory Observations - - - - 1

Essential Characters of the Orders - - 9

ORDER XIII. CTTRSORES. RUNNERS.

Characters of the Cursores - - - 1 2

FAMILY I. GRUINiE. CRANES AND ALLIED SPECIES 15

Genus I. Grus. Crane - - - 17

1. Grus cinerea. The Grey Crane - - 20

FAMILY II. OTIN^l. BUSTARDS AND ALLIED SPECIES 25

Genus I, Otis. Bustard - - - 26

1. Otis Tarda, The Great Bustard - 30

2. Otis Tetrax. The Little Bustard - - 35

Genus II. Cursorius. Courser - - - 40

1. Cursorius Europseus. The Cream-coloured Courser 42

Genus III. Glareola. Pratincole - - 46

1. Glareola Pratincola. The Collared Pratincole - 49

ORDER XIV. TENTATORES. PROBERS.

Characters of the Tentatores 54

FAMILY I. PLUVIALIN^. PLOVERS AND ALLIED SPECIES 66

Genus I. QSdicnemus. Thice-knee - - 75

1. 03dicnemus crepitans. The Stone Thick-knee 77

xxii CONTENTS.

Genus II. Plutialis. Plover - - 83

1. Pluvialis Squatarola. The Grey Plover - 86

2. Pluvialis aurea. The Golden Plover - 94

3. Pluvialis Morinellus. The Dotterel Plover - 104

Genus III. Charadrius. Ping-Plover - - 114

1. Charadrius Hiaticula. The Common Ring-Plover 116

2. Charadrius Cantianus. The Kentish Ring-Plover 125

3. Charadrius minor. The Little Ring-Plover - 129

Genus IV. Vanellus. Lapwing - - 131

1. Vanellus cristatus. The Crested Lapwing - 133

Genus V. Strepsilas. Turnstone - - 141

1. Strepsilas Interpres. The Collared Turnstone - 143

Genus VI. ILematopus. Oyster-catcher - 149

1. Hsematopus Ostralegus. The Pied Oyster-catcher 152

FAMILY II. TRINGINJE. SANDPIPERS AND ALLIED SPECIES 161

Genus I. Machetes. Ruff - - - 169

1. Machetes pugnax. The Common Ruff - 171

Genus II. Tringa. Sandpiper - - - 183

1. Tringa Canutus. The Ash-coloured Sandpiper - 185

2. Tringa pectoralis. The Pectoral Sandpiper - 190

3. Tringa rufescens. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper - 194

4. Tringa maritima. The Purple Sandpiper - 197

5. Tringa Cinclus. The Black-breasted Sandpiper or

Dunlin - - - - 203

6. Tringa subarquata. The Curlew-billed Sandpiper 215

7. Tringa Schinzii. Schinz's Sandpiper - 222

8. Tringa platyrhyncha. The Flat-billed Sandpiper 224

9. Tringa minuta. The Little Sandpiper - 227
10. Tringa Temminckii. Temminck's Sandpiper 232

Genus III. Calidris. Sanderling - - 235

1. Calidris arenaria. The Common Sanderling 237

CONTENTS.

Genus IV. Numenius. Cublew - - - 241

1. Numenius Arquata. The Great Curlew - 243

2. Numenius Phoeopus. The Whimbrel Curlew - 253

Genus V. Limosa. Godwit - 258

1. Limosa rufa. The Bar-tailed Godwit - - 260

2. Limosa iEgocephala. The Black-tailed Godwit 269

Genus VI. Haceoehamphus. Long-beak - - 274

1. Macrorhamphus griseus. The Grey Long-beak 275

FAMILY III. PHALAROPHSLE. PHALAROPES AND ALLIED

SPECIES - - - - - 281

Genus I. Phalaeopus. Phalaeope - - 283

1. Phalaropus lobatus. The Grey Phalarope - 284

Genus II. Lobipes. Lobe-eoot - - 289

1. Lobipes hyperboreus. The Red-necked Lobe-foot 291

FAMILY IV. TOTANIKE. TATLERS AND ALLIED SPECIES 299

Genus i. Recubvieostea. Avoset - - 304

1. Recurvirostra Avocetta. The Black-and-white

Avoset - 306

Genus II. Himantopus. Stilt-shank - - 310

1. Himantopus melanopterus. The Black- winged

Stilt-shank - - - 312

Genus III. Glottis. Long-shank - - 316

1. Glottis Chloropus. The Green-legged Long- shank

or Green- shank - - - 319

Genus IV. Totanus. Tatlee - - - 325

1. Totanus fuscus. The Dusky Red- shank Tatler 328

2. Totanus Calidris. The Common Red-shank Tatler 333

3. Totanus Ochropus. The Green Tatler - 342

4. Totanus Glareola. The Wood Tatler - - 346

xxiv CONTENTS.

Genus V. Actitis. Weet-weet - - - 350

1 . Actitis Hypoleucos. The White-breasted Weet-

weet - - - - 351

2. Actitis macularia. The Spotted Weet-weet - 356

FAMILY V. SCOLOPACIN^E. SNIPES AND ALLIED SPECIES 359

Genus I. Scolopax. Snipe - 363

1. Scolopax major. The Great Snipe - - 364

2. Scolopax Gallinago. The Common Snipe - 368

3. Scolopax Sabini. Sabine's Snipe - - 377

4. Scolopax Gallinula. Jack Snipe - - 380

Genus II. Rusticola. Woodcock - - 384

1. Rusticola sylvestris. The Common Woodcock 386

ORDER XV. AUCUPATORES. STALKERS.

Characters of the Aucupatores - - - 397

FAMILY I. ARDEIN^. HERONS AND ALLIED SPECIES 399

Genus I. Botaurus. Bittern - - 408

1. Botaurus stellaris. The European Bittern - 410

2. Botaurus lentiginosus. The American Bittern 417

3. Botaurus minutus. The Little Bittern - 423

4. Botaurus comatus. The Squacco Bittern - 428

Genus II. Nycticorax. Night-Heron - 431

1. Nycticorax Gardeni. Grey Night-Heron - 433

Genus III. Ardea. Heron - - 438

1 . Ardea cinerea. The Grey Heron - - 440

2. Ardea purpurea. The Purple Heron 453

Genus IV. Egretta. Egret - - - 458

1 . Egretta nigrirostris. The Black-billed Egret 460

2. Egret alba. The Yellow-billed White Egretta - 465

3. Egretta Garzetta. The Little White Egret - 471

4. Egretta russata. The Buff-backed Egret - 475

CONTENTS.

Genus V. Ciconia. Stork - 479

1. Ciconia alba. The White Stork - 481

2. Ciconia nigra. The Black Stork - - 485

FAMILY II. TANTALIN^. TANTALI AND ALLIED SPECIES 488

Genus I. Ibis. Ibis - 490

1. Ibis Falcinellus. The Glossy Ibis 493

Genus II. Plata lea. Spoonbill - - - 500

1 . Platalea Leucorodia. The White Spoonbill 503

ORDER XVI. LATITORES. SKTTLXERS.

Characters of the Latitores - - - 508

FAMILY I. PARKING. JACANAS AND ALLIED SPECIES 511

Genus I. Rallus. Rail - - - 518

1. Rallus aquaticus. The Water Rail - 521

Genus II. Obex Crake ... 525

1. Crex pratensis. The Corn Crake - 527

2. Crex Porzana. The Spotted Crake - - 535

3. Crex Baillonii. Baillon's Crake - - 539

4. Crex pusilla. The Little Crake - - 541

Genus III. Gallinula. Galllnule - 544

1. Gallinula Chloropus. Green-footed Gallinule, or

Water-hen - - - - 547

Genus IV. Fulica. Coot - - - 557

1 . Fulica atra. Bald Coot - - 560

Remarks on the Swimming Bibds - - 567

ORDER XVII. CRIBRATORES. SIFTERS.

Characters of the Cribratores - 571

CONTENTS.

FAMILY I. ANSERINE. GEESE AND ALLIED SPECIES 579

Genus I. Ansek. Goose ... 585

1 . Anser ferus. The Thick-billed Grey Goose 589

2. Anser segetum. The Narrow-billed Grey Goose 595

3. Anser brachyrhynchus. The Short-billed Grey Goose 602

4. Anser albifrons. The White-fronted Goose - 609

5. Anser Canadensis. The Canada Goose - 614

Genus II. Beenicla. Bebnicle Goose - - 619

1. Bernicla leucopsis. The White-faced Bernicle-

Goose .... 622

2. Bernicla Brenta. The Black- faced Bernicle-

Goose ... . 629

3. Bernicla ruficollis. The Bed-necked Bemicle-

Goose .... 634

Genus III. Chenaiopex. Fox-Goose - - 637

1. Chenaiopex iEgyptiacus. The Egyptian Fox-

Goose - - - - 639

Genus IV. Plectroptebus. Spue-winged Goose - 643

1. Plectropterus Gambensis. The Gambo Spur-
winged Goose - - 644

FAMILY II. CYGNIN^. SWANS AND ALLIED SPECIES 646

Genus I. Cygnus. Swan - - - 649

1. Cygnus immutabilis. The Changeless Swan - 654

2. Cygnus musicus. The Whooping Swan - 659

3. Cygnus Bewickii. Bewick's Swan - - 669

4. Cygnus Americanus. The American Swan - 675

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIVE FIGURES.

PLATES.

I. Digestive Organs of Lapwing, Dunlin, and Grey Phalarope.
II. Digestive Organs of Oyster-catcher, Curlew-billed Sandpiper, and Redshank.

III. Digestive Organs of Black-billed Egret.

IV. Digestive Organs of Corn Crake, and Bald Coot.

WOOD CUTS.

Fig. 1. Head of Grey Crane, Grus cinerea. Reduced three- eighths, page 20

2. Head of Little Bustard, Otis Tetrax, - - - 3-5

3. Head of Cream-coloured Courser, Cursorius Europaeus, - 42

4. Head of Collared Pratincole, Glareola torquata, . - 49

5. Sternum of Crested Lapwing, Vanellus cristatus, - 56

6. Foot of Golden Plover, Pluvialis aurea, - - - 67

7. Wing of Common Ring-Plover, Charadrius Hiaticula. Reduced

one-third, 68

8. Foot of Crested Lapwing, Vanellus cristatus, - - 68

9. Head of Grey Plover, Pluvialis Squatarola, - - 86

10. Head of Golden Plover, Pluvialis aurea, - - - 94

11. Head of Common Ring-Plover, Charadrius Hiaticula, - 116

12. Head of Crested Lapwing, Vanellus cristatus. Reduced one-half, 133

13. Head of Collared Turnstone, Strepsilas Interpres, - - 143

14. Head of Pied Oyster-catcher, Hsematopus Ostralegus. Reduced

one-third, - - - - - 152

15. Wing of Dimlin, Tringa Cinclus, ... 163

16. Head of Common Ruff, Machetes pugnax. Reduced one-third, 171

17. Head of Ash-coloured Sandpiper, Tringa Cauutus, - 185

18. Head of Curlew-billed Sandpiper, Tringa subarquata, - 215

19. Head of Common Sanderling, Calidris arenaria - 237

20. Head of Great Curlew, Numenius Arquata. Reduced one-third, 243

21. Head of Bar- tailed God wit, Limosa rufa. Reduced one-third, 260

22. Foot of Red-necked Lobe-foot, Lobipes hyperboreus, • 290

23. Head of Red-necked Lobe-foot, Lobipes hyperboreus, - 291

24. Wing of White-breasted Weet-weet, Actitis Hypoleucos. Re-

duced one-fourth, ----- 300

25. Head of Avoset, Recurvirostra Avocetta. Reduced one-half, 306

26. Head of Black-winged Stilt-shank. Himantopus melanopterus.

Reduced one-fourth, - - - - 312

xxviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIVE FIGURES.

Fig. 27. Head of Green-legged Long-shank, Glottis Chloropus. Reduced

one-fourth, .... page 319

28. Head of Common Red-shank Tatler, Totanus Calidris, - 333

29. Head of White-breasted Weet-weet, Actitis Hypoleucos, - 351

30. Wing of Common Snipe, Scolopax Gallinago, - - 361

31. Head of Common Snipe, Scolopax Gallinago, - - 368

32. Head of Common Woodcock, Rusticola sylvestris. Reduced one-

third, ..... 386

33. Wing of European Bittern, Botaurus stellaris. Reduced three-

fourths, - - - - - - 409

34. Head of European Bittern, Botaurus Stellaris. Reduced one-half, 410

35. Head of little Bittern, Botaurus minutus. Reduced one-third, 423

36. Head of Grey Night-Heron, Nycticorax Gardeni. Reduced one-

half, ..... 433

37. Head of Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea. Reduced five-eighths, - 440

38. Head of Black-billed Egret, Egretta nigrirostris. Reduced two-

thirds, ..... 460

39. Head of Glossy Ibis, Ibis Falcinellus. Reduced one-half, - 493

40. Head of White Spoonbill, Platalea Leucorodia. Reduced, 503

41. Sternum of Bald Coot, Fulica atra. Reduced one-fourth, 509

42. Sternum of Green-footed Gallinule, Gallinula Chloropus. Re-

duced one-fourth, - - - - 510

43. Sternum of Corn-Crake, Crex pratensis. Reduced one-fourth, 510

44. Head of Brazilian Jacana, Parra Jacana, - 514

45. Foot of Brazilian Jacana, Parra Jacana, - - 515

46. Wing of Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus. Reduced one-half, - 519

47. Head of Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus. Reduced one-fourth, 521

48. Head of Corn-Crake, Crex pratensis, - - - 527

49. Head of Spotted Crake, Crex Porzana, ... 535

50. Wing of Green-footed Gallinule, Gallinula Chloropus. Reduced

one-half, ..... 545

51. Foot of Green-footed Gallinule, Gallinula Chloropus. Reduced

one-fourth, ..... 546

52. Head of Green-footed Gallinule, Gallinula Chloropus, - 547

53. Foot of Bald Coot, Fulica atra, - - - 558

54. Head of Bald Coot, Fulica atra, - - - 560

55. Foot of Cormorant. Reduced one-half, - - - 570

56. Lamellas of Wild Duck's Bill, Anas Boschas, - - 578

57. Head of Thick-billed Grey Goose, Anserferus. Reduced one-half, 589

58. Head of White-faced Bernicle Goose, Bernicla leucopsis. Re-

duced one-fourth, - - - - 622

59. Head of Whooping Swan, Cygnus musicus, - - 659

INTKODUCTOKY OBSEBYATIONS.

The birds which now come to he described have not in-
aptly been named Grallatorial ; for, although some are not
remarkable for the elongation of their legs, and several have
those members short, yet by far the greater number present
a form which suggests the idea of their being elevated upon
stilts. But the names of Waders and Littoral, or Shore
Birds, by which they have also been designated, although
applicable to many of them, are not correct in a general
sense, there being among them some which, so far from fre-
quenting water, reside in arid wastes, on dry heaths, or culti-
vated fields, and others which are habitually addicted to
swimming. Some species are remarkable for their extreme
speed on foot, while, on the other hand, the merely rudi-
mentary structure of their wings disables them from flying.
Of these birds, the Ostriches and Cassowaries, however, we
have no representatives in Britain. Others run and fly with
equal celerity, manifesting in all their actions the greatest
activity. Of these birds, the legs, always slender, are often
extremely elongated, but in many cases of moderate length
or short. The genera Himantopus, Recurvirostra, Nurae-
nius, Totanus, Actitis, and Limosa, afford examples of the
former; while Charadrius, Cursorius, Glareola, Tringa, and
Strepsilas are of the latter kind. Rails, Gallinules, Coots,
and Jacanas, being peculiarly fitted for making their way
among thick grass, reeds, and sedges, growing in watery
places, run with great speed, although their tarsi are not

VOL. I. WATER BIRDS. _ B

2 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.

often long, but are less expert at flying, and are with diffi-
culty raised. Others, again, the Herons, Bitterns, and Storks,
having very elongated legs, and very ample wings, are less
active, many of them searching quietly for their prey, or
remaining in a fixed position until it approaches them in
the water.

The food of these birds is various, and their alimentary
canal is correspondingly modified. They mostly swallow the
objects fitted for affording them nourishment entire. Those
which live on worms, insects, small mollusca and Crustacea,
have the mouth and oesophagus narrow, and the stomach
muscular ; while those which prey on fishes, frogs, and other
reptiles, have a dilatable mouth, a very wide oesophagus, and
a membranous stomach. None of them are furnished with a
crop, and none are purely phytophagous, although several
approach in form and habits to the Gallinaceous birds.

If among the Grallatores any birds represent, by analogy
or similitude of structure and habits, the Raptores, it must
be the Herons; among which are some, as the Adjutant
Stork, which differ little in their omnivorous propensities
from the Vultures. These birds differ from the rest in having
the oesophagus much wider, and in form and structure similar
to that of the fish-eating Palmipedes, the stomach in a degree
membranous, like that of the rapacious land birds, without
lateral muscles, or strong epithelium ; the intestine extremely
slender, and the anterior extremity of the large intestine,
or rectum, furnished with a lobe, or sac, but destitute of the
two lateral coeca which occur in most birds of all the families.
They form a group very clearly defined, although not uncon-
nected with others, and, if long legs and wading habits be
peculiarly characteristic of the Grallatores, they are certainly
entitled to typical pre-eminence. But there are various ways
of viewing birds, and analogies are never wanting to support
preconceived theories. Any of the other families might in
fact be assumed as equally typical. But supposing the Rap-
tores typical of the Aerial Land Birds, the Cantatores of the
Perching Land Birds, and the Divers, Guillemots, and other
allied species of the Natatorial Birds, the Herons seem to be
their analogues among the Grallatorial Birds.

INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 3

It is very remarkable that while the young of some birds
are blind at birth, and remain in the nest until they are fully
fledged, those of other birds have their eyes open, and pre-
sently leave the nest, being able to run about, and having
the instinct of concealing themselves in suitable places. Of
the former kind are Vultures, Hawks, Owls, Shrikes, Swal-
lows, Flycatchers, Goatsuckers, Thrushes, Woodpeckers,
Finches, Pigeons, — in short, all the Aerial and Terrestrial
Birds, excepting the Gallinaceous families or Rasores. Among
the Grallatores, the Herons and Ibises, and some allied
species, alone remain in the nest until fledged ; and among
the Sea Birds, the Pelicans, Cormorants, Gannets, Divers,
Guillemots, Auks, and allied genera. The young birds which
are at once capable of seeing and running are those of the
Pheasants, Grouse, Partridges, and other Rasores ; the Bus-
tards, Cranes, Plovers, Snipes, Rails, Gallinules, — in short, of
all the Grallatores except the Herons and Tantali ; the Gulls,
Terns, Albatroses, Petrels, or all the fish-eating swimming
birds, except those which dive or plunge after their prey ;
and lastly, the young of the whole tribe of Swans and Ducks.
Now, here are two series distinct from each other, and we
have in the fact a principle of arrangement, to which little
attention has been paid, although it is well fitted for the
purpose. Certainly no two groups having the opposite cha-
racters spoken of can form part of a natural family, and they
who have attempted to unite the powerless-younged Pigeons
with the active-younged Partridges, have failed in showing
that they possess common characters. Yet, as in the other
circumstances which distinguish groups there are various gra-
dations, analogy would lead us to expect the same in this
case ; so that a group, intermediate in characters between
two or more groups, may in this respect resemble that to
which it is otherwise least allied.

The mode of nestling, and the form, colouring, and number
of the eggs, have not, perhaps, been sufficiently attended to
in constructing groups. None of the Grallatorial tribes form
very elaborate nests, and most of them merely scrape a cavity,
in which they place a few straws. The Herons and Tantali
construct a large flat nest, either in trees or on the ground.

4 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.

The Gallinules and Rails also form, on the ground, a very
bulky nest ; but the rest are content with making a shallow
cavity in the sand or gravel, and either leaving it unfurnished,
or rudely garnishing it with twigs, straws, or moss. Very
many species, those especially of the families of Pluvialina?,
Totanina?, and Scolopacinse, lay four pyriform spotted eggs,
of which the pointed ends meet. Those of the family of
Rails and Gallinules lay from five to ten or more ovate or
oblong spotted eggs, resembling those of various partridges
and grouse. The eggs of the Tantalinee or Ibises are also
oblong and spotted, but fewer. The Herons and birds of
allied genera have from two to four broadly elliptical eggs,
generally of a greenish-blue colour, sometimes white, rarely
spotted.

I am not aware of a single character common to all the
Grallatorial birds. The same may be said of the Natatorial,
and indeed of the Aerial and Terrestrial groups. Supposing
we look to the bill for characters, we find it excessively long
in the Curlews and Godwits, and shorter than the head in
some Crakes and Sand-Plovers ; conical in Herons, cylin-
drical in Snipes ; extremely robust in Storks, extremely
slender in Stilts and Avocets ; straight, decurved, recurved
in different species ; rigid in some, flexible in others. In
like manner the tibia is bare to a great extent in Storks and
Herons, feathered to the joint in Woodcocks and some Bit-
terns ; the tarsus extremely long in some, short in others ;
the toes very long or very short, three or four in number ;
the claws long and slender, or short and broad. The wings
are very long and very broad, very long and narrow, ex-
tremely diminutive, so as to be incapable of raising the bird
from the ground ; rounded or pointed, spurred, knobbed, or
plain on the carpus. The tail may be short or long, rounded,
wedge-shaped, even, or emarginate, of ten or twelve feathers.
Every organ differs in the same manner. The tongue is
short, extremely short, or the reverse ; the gullet narrow or
wide ; the stomach membranous or very muscular ; the in-
testine short or excessively long, of moderate width or ex-
tremely narrow; the coeca short or long, or wanting altogether.
Then what are these Grallatores, and how are they distin-

INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 5

guished ? There is no such order in existence. Groups of
too great extent cannot be denned : they arc unnatural. All
the definitions ever given of the Grallatores are incorrect and
inadequate. Take, for example/ that of M. Temminck : —
" Bill of varied form ; more frequently straight, very elon-
gated-conical, compressed; seldom flat or depressed. Feet
slender, long, more or less bare above the knee ; three toes
before and one behind, the hind toe articulated at the level
of the fore toes, or higher." The systematic Ornithology
which tolerates formulas so vague as this stands much in
need of a reform-bill.

Instead of adopting a single order of Grallatores, I arrange
the birds so called by authors into four distinct orders — Cur-
sores, Tentatores, Aucupatores, and Latitores. The species
of these orders that reside in or visit a small portion of
the globe, so limited and insulated as Britain, are not so
numerous as to represent all the genera. Some even of the
larger groups are entirely wanting with us. Yet the number
is by no means inconsiderable, as it amounts to about
seventy species, the forms and habits of which will afford
ample materials for a volume. With many of these birds in
the living state I am personally unacquainted, they being of
very rare occurrence with us ; but of others I have studied
the habits under very favourable circumstances, and with not
a little ardour.

As in the other volumes, I present short distinctive cha-
racters of the groups to be described, to enable the student
to refer a bird which he may obtain to its order in the
system. Immediately following the general account of each
family will be found a synopsis of the genera and species,
intended for a similar use.

HISTORY

BRITISH BIRDS

INDIGENOUS AND MIGRATORY.

XIII. CURSORES. RUNNERS.

XIV. TENTATORES. PROBERS.
XV. AUCUPATORES. STALKERS.

XVI. LATITORES. SKULKERS.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS OF THE ORDERS.

ORDER XIII. CURSORES. RUNNERS.

Bill of moderate length, rather stout, straight or nearly
so, compressed toward the end, opening to beneath the eyes,
and having the nasal sinuses large. Mouth rather wide.
Tongue fleshy, tapering, pointed. (Esophagus of moderate
width; proventriculus bulbifonn ; stomach with strong lateral
muscles, dense and rugous epithelium ; intestine of moderate
length and width., with large or moderate coeca. Legs gene-
rally long, and slender ; tibia bare to a great extent ; tarsus
long, generally reticulate all round, but sometimes anteriorly
scutellate ; toes short or moderate, thickish, flattened beneath,
the anterior spreading, and webbed at the base; the hind
toe wanting, or small and elevated; claws short, obtuse.
Plumage moderately developed, the feathers with a large
plumule ; wings slightly developed in one family, but usually
large, generally pointed, though varying in form ; tail short.

ORDER XIV. TENTATORES. PROBERS.

Bill longer than the head, very slender, somewhat cylin-
drical, generally flexible and elastic. Mouth very narrow.
Tongue slender, triangular, tapering to a point. (Esophagus
narrow ; proventriculus oblong, or bulbiform ; stomach
roundish, elliptical, or oblong, with strong lateral muscles,

10 CHARACTERS OF THE ORDERS.

large tendinous spaces, and dense, hard, longitudinally ru-
gous epithelium ; intestine of moderate length, rather narrow ;
coeca rather long, cylindrical, or oblong. Legs long or mode-
rate, slender ; the tibia bare to a great extent, but sometimes
feathered to the joint ; tarsus slender, generally scutellate ;
toes of moderate length, slender, the anterior webbed at the
base, the hind toe very small and elevated, or wanting ; claws
small, compressed, arcuate, mostly rather acute. Plumage
generally soft, on the upper parts somewhat compact, the
feathers with a rather large downy plumule ; wings long,
acute, the first quill generally the longest ; some of the inner
secondaries much elongated, narrow, and tapering ; tail short.

ORDER XV. AUCUPATORES. STALKERS.

Bill large, generally conical, mostly pointed, sometimes
subcylindrical or flattened at the end. Mouth wide, and
very dilatable. Tongue trigonal, acute. (Esophagus very
wide ; stomach generally a large rounded sac, with the walls
thin, but sometimes moderately muscular, the epithelium
thin, or thick, soft, and rugous ; intestine very long and
narroAv, without coeca in one family, but in the other with
small coecal appendages. Legs long, slender ; tibiae bare to a
large extent ; tarsus mostly scutellate in front ; toes four,
large, the hind toe on the same level as the rest. Plumage
generally lax, the feathers elongated ; wings large and broad ;
tail short.

ORDER XVI. LATITORES. SKULKERS.

Bill of moderate length, generally rather short, semetimes
elongated, rather strong, compressed. Mouth narrow. Tongue
slender, trigonal, tapering. (Esophagus of moderate width,
without crop or remarkable dilatation ; proventriculus oblong ;
stomach with very large distinct muscles, and thick rugous
epithelium ; intestine of moderate length and width ; coeca
long. Legs of moderate length, stout ; tibia bare to a con-

CHARACTERS OF THE ORDERS. 11

siderable extent ; tarsus large, compressed, anteriorly scutel-
late ; toes very long, slender, free, the hind toe very small ;
claws generally long, little arched, or straight, compressed,
acute. Plumage blended, but firm ; wings short, or mode-
rate ; tail very small.

Although the Struthionina?, or Ostriches, have been in-
cluded in the above definition of the Curscres, it is not
certain that they do not belong to the Rasores. Many
authors consider them as forming an order of themselves,
containing only five, — or, if the NeAV Zealand Kivi be in-
cluded,— six species. The other orders are perfectly natural,
insomuch that the student cannot fail to recognise any one of
their members, provided he pay due attention to its external
form and digestive organs.

12

XIII. CURSORED RUNNERS.

Though all the birds which belong to the Grallatorial
series, the Storks and Herons excepted, are remarkable for
their peculiar adaptation for speed of foot, those which seem
to me to constitute the present order are pre-eminent in this
respect. Three natural groups or families, easily distinguish-
able, insomuch that their natural affinity is not very readily
perceived, agree in possessing this character, however much
they may differ in other circumstances, especially with respect
to flight.

The most remarkable of these families, that of the Stru-
ihioninoB or Ostriches, in some respects allied to the Rasorial
families, is composed of very large birds, having the neck
and feet elongated, the bill short, the tibia bare below, the
tarsus very strong, the toes short and stout, the hind toe
always, and in one species the second toe, wanting. The
African Ostrich, Struthio Camelus; the Indian Cassowary,
Casuarius Emu ; the American Nandu, Rhea Americana ;
Darwin's Nandu, Rhea Darwinii; the Emeu of New Hol-
land, Dromiceius Novse-Hollandiae, are all the species known
of this family, singular chiefly on account of the merely rudi-
mentary state of the wings, and the corresponding modifi-
cations in the formation of the sternum and clavicles. Being
thus incapable of flying, these birds might perhaps constitute
an order by themselves ; but in that case the Penguins, which
yet to many seem not entitled to such distinction, ought to
be separated from the diving sea-birds. However, as none

CURSORES. RUNNERS. 13

of the Struthioninae occur in Britain, it is unnecessary that
they should particularly engage our attention.

The Gruince, or Cranes, large birds of which some resemble
Herons and others Bustards, are furnished with large and broad
wings, elongated legs, with rather short, stout anterior toes,
and a diminutive elevated hind toe. Only a single species
comes under our notice, formerly not uncommon, but now
scarcely ever met with.

The Otince, or Bustards, which are in some respects allied
to the Struthioninae, and to the Perdicinae or Partridges, as
well as to the Pluvialinae or Plovers, are large, or of mode-
rate size, with ample, rather concave, somewhat rounded
wings, and have a correspondingly vigorous flight, although
in ordinary circumstances most of them make little use of it.
Of this family four species occur in Britain, all of them very
rare. The general characters of the Cursores seem to be
somewhat as follows : —

The body is ovate, somewhat compressed, large or mode-
rate ; the neck very variable in length ; the head rather
small, ovate, rounded above ; the bill of moderate length,
straight or nearly so, compressed towards the end, with the
point of the upper mandible somewhat decimate and obtuse,
the nasal sinus large. The tongue is of moderate length, taper-
ing, acute ; the oesophagus of moderate width, with the walls
thick ; the proventriculus bulbiform, that is, not wider than
the rest of the oesophagus, but having a belt of large glan-
dules which gives it a greater breadth ; the stomach a mus-
cular gizzard, with strong lateral muscles; the epithelium
dense and rugous; the intestine of moderate length and
width ; with two moderate, or rather large, nearly cylindrical
coeca. The tibiae are bare to a great extent ; the tarsi long,
reticulate all round, in a few instances scutellate anteriorly ;
the toes short or moderate, thickish, flattened beneath, the
anterior spreading, the outer two more or less webbed at the
base; the claws short and obtuse. Number in this, as in
many other instances, affords no character ; for, not to men-
tion the Ostrich, which has only the third and fourth toes,
as is shown by their position, and the number of joints, while
some have three toes only, the first or hind toe being wanting,

14 CURSORES. RUNNERS.

many have also a hind toe, which however is always small,
and more or less elevated, so as scarcely to touch the ground.
The plumage is moderate, the feathers having a large plu-
mule, varying generally from a third to a half of their length,
but in the Ostrich group so large that the feathers might be
described as double. The wings and tail vary, as in every
large group.

All the species feed on insects and worms, and occa-
sionally on vegetable substances, their digestive organs being
adapted for both sorts of food. They nestle on the ground;
laying from three to five eggs. The males are larger than
the females, and sometimes differently coloured, at least in
part. The general moult takes place in autumn, the partial
moult in spring. Many of the species are migratory, those
which in summer reside in the colder or temperate regions
moving southward in autumn.

15

GRUINJE.

CRANES AND ALLIED SPECIES.

The birds of which this family is composed are of large
size, slender form, and elegant proportions. They have some
external resemblance to Herons ; but their structure, espe-
cially that of their digestive organs, their general habits, and
food, indicate little affinity to those birds, and show that
they claim a much closer alliance to the Ostriches on the one
hand, and the Plovers on the other. They may be briefly
characterized — their extreme scarcity with us rendering it
inexpedient to present an extended description — as having
the body large and compressed ; the neck long and slender ;
the head rather small and oblong ; the bill about the length
of the head, straight, depressed at the base, compressed toward
the end, the nasal sinuses extending to half its length, the
tip rather obtuse ; the nostrils subbasal, lateral, oblong, or
roundish. The legs are long and slender ; the tibia? bare
at the lower part; the tarsus somewhat compressed, ante-
riorly scutellate ; the toes rather long, the hind toe short and
somewhat elevated ; the claws obtuse. The plumage is full,
and rather compact ; most of the species are ornamented with
elongated plumes on the fore part of the neck, or the hind
part of the back ; the wings are broad and convex, the inner
secondaries elongated and decurved ; the tail generally short
and rounded.

These stately and handsome birds are chiefly inhabitants
of warm climates, but some of them perform long migrations.
They feed on insects, mollusca, reptiles, seeds, and other

16 GRUINjE. CRANES, &c.

vegetable productions. They nestle on the ground, and lay
few eggs. The young, unlike those of the Herons, are active
from the first.

SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENTS I. GItUS. CRANE.

Bill longer than the head, stout, straight, tapering, com-
pressed, obtusely pointed. Tarsus very long, slender, with
numerous curved, anterior scutella ; toes rather short. Wings
very large, the inner secondaries much elongated, and curved
downwards ; tail short, rounded, of twelve feathers.

1. Grus cinerea, Grey Crane. Fore part of the head
and loral spaces bare, bluish black ; crown bare, bright red ;
plumage ash-grey ; a band of dull white from the eye down
the side of the neck.

17

GRUS. CRANE.

On account of their large size, the elongation of their
tibia? and tarsi, and the straight, tapering, compressed form
of their bill, the Cranes have by most authors been associated
with the Herons, which they further resemble in their general
aspect. But they differ from these birds in several essential
respects, as will presently be shown. The body is large,
ovate, and little compressed ; the neck very long and of
moderate thickness ; the head ovate, and much rounded
above.

Bill much longer than the head, stout, straight, tapering,
compressed, pointed ; upper mandible with the dorsal line
straight, until near the end, when it is convexo-declinate,
the ridge rather broad and nearly flat for about two-thirds of
its length, then convex, the sides sloping, the edges strong,
sharp, straight, notchless, the tip narrowed, thin-edged,
rather obtuse ; nasal groove large, half the length of the bill,
filled by a bare membrane, with a deep broad groove at its
fore part ; lower mandible with the angle very narrow and
extending to the middle, the dorsal line ascending, almost
straight, the sides of the crura concave, the ridge rounded,
the sides toward the end convex, the edges sharp and strong,
the tip narrow, thin-edged, rather obtuse; gape-line straight,
commencing opposite the base of the ridge, and much ante-
rior to the eyes.

Mouth very narrow, altogether unlike that of the Herons ;
palate convex, with three longitudinal anterior series of
strong, compressed, horny papilla?, those of the middle ridge
largest ; upper mandible internally moderately concave, with
a prominent median line ; lower mandible more deeply con-

c

18 GRUS. CRANE.

cave, with two ridges on each side. Tongue rather long,
emarginate and papillate at the base, trigonal, acute ; oeso-
phagus rather narrow ; stomach a very strong gizzard, having
powerful lateral muscles, and a dense rugous epithelium;
intestine of moderate length, rather narrow ; two oblong
cceca. Trachea moderately flattened, curved and entering a
cavity in the sternum, whence it is reflected before passing
into the thorax ; bronchi wide.

Nostrils linear, direct, in the fore part of the nasal groove.
Eyes of moderate size, eyelids bare. Aperture of ear small,
roundish. Feet very long ; tibia bare for about a fourth of
its length, covered all round with hexagonal scales; tarsus
very long, slender, moderately compressed, with numerous
broad, curved scutella before, small elongated hexagonal scales
on the sides, and larger scales behind ; toes four ; the first
very small, and elevated ; the anterior toes rather short, stout,
scutellate above, papillate and somewhat flattened beneath ;
the second a little shorter than the fourth, Avhich is connected
with the third by a short basal web. Claws short, decurved,
little compressed, rather obtuse, the third with an inner thin
entire edge.

The greater part of the head bare, or sparsely covered
with hair-like feathers. Plumage in general soft, but imbri-
cated ; the feathers with moderate down-plumules ; those of
the neck small, oblong ; of the body broad and abruptly
rounded, of the hind part of the back oblong. Wings very
long and ample, with about thirty-five quills ; primaries
decurved, strong, attenuated on the inner web ; the third
longest, but scarcely exceeding the second and fourth, and
very little longer than the first ; the inner secondaries longer
than the primaries when the wing is closed, curved outwards,
and with their filaments loose toward the end ; some of the
secondary coverts similarly decomposed. Tail short, rounded,
of twelve feathers.

The Cranes are migratory birds, which breed in the
northern regions of both continents, and betake themselves
to the temperate or warm climates in winter. They live in
tlocks, run with great celerity, and have a rapid and ex-
tended flight. When migrating they advance in lines, — con-

GItUS. CRANE. 19

tinuous, angular, or undulated. Their cry is a loud clear
trumpet-like sound. They frequent marshy plains, the mar-
gins of lakes and rivers, as well as fields and dry wastes ;
feeding chiefly on vegetable substances, but occasionally also
on insects and reptiles. Although the)'' bear some consider-
able resemblance to the Herons and Storks, they are clearly
not of that family, but more allied to the Bustards and
Plovers ; their very muscular stomach and double coeca being
sufficient to separate them from the former birds. Besides,
their young are able to run with great celerity while yet
covered with down. They are said to nestle on the ground,
and to lay two or three eggs.

20

GEUS CINEREA. THE GREY CRANE.

OOMJBOS CKAKE.

Flc. I.

Ardea Grus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 234,
Ardea Grus. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 674.
Crane. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Grue cendree. Grus cinerea. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 567.
Grus cinerea. Common Crane. Flem. Brit. Anim, 97.
Common Crane. Grus cinerea. Selb. Illust. Brit. Ornith. II, 4.
Grus cinerea. Common Crane. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 185.
Grus cinerea. Bocap. Comp. List of Eur. and Amer. Birds, 46.

Upper part of the head and loral spaces bare, or sparsely
covered with black hairs ; bill greenish-black, greyish-yellow
toward the end ; plumage ash-grey ; fore part of neck and a
triangular patch on the nape dark grey ; primary quills
greenish-black.

Male. — The Grey Crane, which is nearly as large as the
White Stork, has the body ovate, little compressed ; the neck
very long, bnt of moderate thickness; the head ovate, and much

GREY CRAXE. 21

rounded above. The bill is nearly twice as long as the head,
rather stout, straight, much compressed, tapering to a rather
obtuse point ; the upper mandible with the ridge rather broad
and flat, the nasal sinus large, of great length, and filled by
a bare membrane ; the lower mandible with the angle ex-
tending as far as the middle and very narrow, the ridge
convex ; the edges of both sharp but strong, and the tips
narrowed but rather thin-edged and somewhat obtuse. The
gape-line, which is straight, commences far before the eyes ;
and the mouth is narrow, measuring scarcely an inch across.

The nostrils are linear, ten-twelfths of an inch long, near
the middle of the bill, in the fore part of the nasal membrane.
The eyes are of moderate size, or rather small, their aperture
being eight-twelfths. The opening of the ear is very small,
being only a quarter of an inch in diameter. The feet are
very long, and slender, but strong. The tibia, which is
covered with hexagonal scales, is bare for three inches and a
half ; the tarsus is covered behind and on the sides with
scales, but anteriorly with forty broad decurved scutella.
The first or hind toe is very small, a little elevated, with
twelve scutella ; the second with twenty-two, the third
thirty-eight, the fourth twenty-eight ; the second toe a little
shorter than the fourth, but with its claw longer. The claws
are small, conical, decurved, little compressed, acute ; the first
smallest, the third largest, and with a dilated inner edge.

The forehead and loral spaces are thinly covered with
blackish hairs ; the upper part of the head also bare, papil-
late behind, and with some blackish hairs. On the nape the
feathers are pointed, on the cheeks and throat linear, on the
neck oblong, gradually enlarging downwards ; on the body
broad, narrower on the hind part of the back. The Avings
are very long and of great breadth ; the third quill longest,
the second and fourth scarcely shorter, the first an inch
shorter; the outer primaries decurved, narrowed, and pointed ;
the secondaries very broad, some of the inner curved out-
wards, loose at the margin, and exceeding the primaries,
when the wing is closed, by about four inches ; some of the
inner secondary coverts are also curved and decomposed.
The tail is short, and rounded.

22 GItUS CINEREA.

The bill is greenish-black, tinged with red at the base,
and with more than an inch of the tips greyish-yellow, or
horn-colour. The bare skin on the head is red, the iris
brownish-red, the feet and claws black. The general colour
of the plumage is light ash-grey ; a triangular elongated
patch on the neck very dark grey; the whole fore part
blackish-grey. The alula and primary quills, with their
coverts, are greyish-black, with brown shafts ; the secondaries
of the general grey colour, tinged with dusky at the end,
and white at the base, as are their coverts. The tail-feathers
are similar to the secondaries, and, like them, have the shafts
white.

Length to end of tail 46 inches ; bill along the ridge 4^ ;
wing from flexure 21 ; tarsus 9^- ; third toe 3 ; its claw 5^.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but smaller.

Habits. No specimen of this bird having been obtained
in any part of the country in which I have resided, I have
been obliged to take my descriptions from preserved skins.
Its habits, as observed on the Continent, are as follows : —
"About the end of spring, the Cranes are seen advancing
northward, in flocks, arranged in lines or triangles, although,
as they frequently fly by night, their passage is only known
by the loud clear cries which they emit at intervals. They
generally keep at a great height, fly in a sedate manner,
alight in the temperate parts of Europe only to feed or rest
for a short time, and proceed to the most northern regions,
where they pass the summer. Although they ascend to a
great elevation, and sustain a very extended flight, they do
not rise from the ground without some difficulty, but run
a few steps, unfolding their wings, before they take their
spring. They fly in bands, and observe a regular order;
form a triangle in the air when the atmosphere is tranquil ;
keep close together when the wind is violent or contrary ;
and arrange themselves in a circle to struggle against the
tempest. It is usually by night that they travel. One of
them, who may be regarded as the leader, frequently emits a
loud cry, which is repeated by all the rest. When they have

GREY CRANE. 23

alighted, whether for food or for sleep, one of them acts as
sentinel, takes note of what is going on, and gives warning
by a cry the purpose of which is understood by his com-
panions, the whole flock taking to flight should there be
apparent danger. They nestle in the low grounds and
marshes of the northern tracts, and lay only two eggs. The
young, it is said, while yet unfledged, can run with such
speed that a man cannot overtake them, and they are fed by
their parents until they have grown up, and are able to fly."
— Valmont Bomarc.

The flesh of this bird is said to be firm and tough,
although it was held in estimation by the Romans, Avho
fattened it in their aviaries after putting out its eyes. In
England, where the species was formerly abundant in the
fen districts, its flesh appears to have been much esteemed.
Although Cranes are said to have formerly bred in the fens,
they are now of extremely rare occurrence in England, not
so many as half-a-dozen individuals being recorded as having
been killed there within these forty years. Dr. Fleming, in
his History of British Animals, records its occurrence in
Shetland: — "A small flock appeared, during harvest, in
1807, in Tingwall, Zetland, as I was informed by the Rev.
John Turnbull, the worthy minister of the parish, who added
that they fed on grain." Mr. J. Wolley gives an account of
one that frequented Shetland for several months in the
summer and autumn of 1848, and states that several years
previously one was shot in South Ronaldsha, one of the
Orkneys. Mr. Dunn, in his Ornithologists' Guide to Orkney
and Shetland, says : — " This bird is an occasional visitor in
severe winters or stormy weather : two examples were shot
in Shetland in the interval between my first and second
visits— 1831 and 1833."

Young. — According to M. Temminck, " the young, before
their second autumnal moult, have no bare space on the top
of the head, or rather have it scarcely perceptible. The
blackish-grey colour of the fore part of the neck and the
nape does not exist, or is merely indicated by longitudinal
spots."

24 GRUS CINEREA.

Remarks. — Perhaps the nearest approach to the bill of
the Crane is to be seen in that of the Turnstone, which
might be described almost in the same terms, but, of course,
presents differences. It is also constructed similarly to that
of (Edicnemus, Charadrius, and other genera of the same
group, to which its affinity is further indicated by the narrow-
ness of the throat. However much the Cranes may seem to
resemble Herons, on account of their large size, and, in some
degree, their colours, they are in reality more allied to the
Ostriches or the Plovers. The account given by Mr. Audubon
of the American Crane confirms this opinion. It often, he-
says, digs in the dried mud for the large roots of the water-
lily ; in winter resorts to the fields, in which corn, pease, and
sweet potatoes are planted, feeding on the grains and roots ;
and in the wet fields seizes on water insects, toads, and
frogs, but never, he believes, on fishes. Water lizards,
young alligators and snakes, cray-fish, and small quadrupeds
are also eaten by it. In captivity, it becomes gentle, and
feeds freely on grain and other vegetable substances.

25

OTIN^E.

BUSTARDS AND ALLIED SPECIES.

Although in some families of birds there is little diver-
sity of size, in others a Patagonian and a Bushman, giant
and dwarf, stand side by side, magnitude not being a measure
of affinity. Some of the Otince are large and stately birds,
while others scarcely excel a starling or thrush. In external
appearance, they seem allied to the Perdicinse and the Pluvi-
alinse, having the plumage and colouring of the former, and
somewhat of the form of the latter.

Their body is ovate, large, and not much compressed ; the
neck long, and rather slender ; the head of moderate size, or
rather small, somewhat compressed, and convex or rounded
above. The bill shorter than the head, moderately stout,
nearly straight, or considerably arched, depressed at the base,
compressed toward the end; the upper mandible with the
ridge narrow, the nasal sinuses large, and filled by a mem-
brane, which is feathered at the base, the edges partially
inflexed, the tip narrow ; the lower mandible has the angle
long and narrow, the edges sharp and direct, the tip narrow ;
the gape-line little arched, and commencing before the eyes.
The mouth is of moderate width, or rather narrow; the
tongue trigonal, fleshy, tapering ; the oesophagus rather
narrow ; the proventriculus bulbiform ; the stomach with
large muscles and dense epithelium ; the intestine of mode-
rate length and width ; the coeca long and obtuse.

The nostrils are oblong, or linear, direct, slightly opercu-
late, nearly basal. Eyes rather large. Aperture of ear large.

26 OTIN.E.

The legs are long, rather slender ; tibia bare to a con-
siderable extent ; tarsus long, reticulated ; toes short, margi-
nate, flattened beneath, with short basal membranes, the
hind toe generally wanting; claws short, arched, convex,
obtuse.

The plumage is moderately developed, compact, with
large plumule ; the wings large, pointed ; the tail short, of
twelve or more feathers.

The Otinae inhabit chiefly the desert plains of the warmer
parts of the Old Continent. They are as remarkable as the
Ostriches for their great speed of foot, though, having wings
of ample size, they have a correspondingly strong and sus-
tained flight. Most of them feed on vegetable substances,
insects, and other smaller animals. The males are larger
and handsomer than the females. The nests are formed on
the ground ; the eggs are not numerous ; and the young,
covered with down, run from the first.

Four species occur in Britain ; all of them very rare there,
though the Great Bustard was formerly numerous.

SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. OTIS. BUSTARD.

Bill shorter than the head, moderately stout, depressed at
the base, compressed toward the end, the tip narrowed, but
obtuse ; the gape-line little arched. Nostrils nearly basal,
linear-oblong, direct; nasal sinuses large, feathered at the
base. Legs long, rather slender; tarsus reticulated; toes
three, short, marginal, with short basal webs ; claAvs convex,
obtuse. AVings long, broad, rather pointed, the third quill
longest ; tail short, of more than twelve feathers.

1. Otis Tarda. Great Bustard. Tail of twenty feathers,
male about forty-four inches long.

2. Otis Tetrax. Little Bustard. Tail of sixteen feathers.
Male about eighteen inches long.

BUSTARDS, &c. 27

GENUS II. CURSORIUS. COURSER.

Bill somewhat shorter than the head, slender, rather
broader than high at the base, compressed toward the end ;
the gape-line gently arched. Nostrils sub-basal, oblong, in
the fore part of the rather short sinuses. Legs long, slender ;
tarsus anteriorly scutellate ; toes three, short, the outer two
connected by a narrow basal membrane ; claws small, slender,
acute. Wings long, narrow, acute, the first and second
quills about equal ; tail moderate or short, of twelve obtuse
feathers.

1. Cursorius Europceus. Cream-coloured Courser. Pale
brownish-yellow, lighter beneath ; a triangular black spot on
the nape ; two bands, a white and a black, from the eye to
the occiput.

GENUS III. GLAREOLA. PRATINCOLE.

Bill short, moderately stout, broader than high at the
base, compressed toward the end ; the gape-line considerably
arched. Nostrils basal, oblong, oblique. Legs of moderate
length, very slender ; tarsus reticulated ; hind toe very small ;
lateral toes very short, the middle toe much longer, and con-
nected with the outer by a basal membrane ; claws slender,
compressed, acute, that of the middle toe very long. Wings
very long, narrow, acuminate ; tail rather long, forked, of
twelve feathers.

1. Glareola Pratincola. Collared Pratincole. Tail deeply
forked ; wings very long ; upper parts greyish-brown, tail-
coverts white ; throat pale reddish-yellow, margined with
two bands, the inner white, the outer black.

28

OTIS. BUSTARD.

The Bustards may be said to be in external appearance
intermediate between the Partridges and Plovers. They
look like Gallinaceous birds of which the legs are elongated,
the toes shortened and reduced to three. Their body is
ovate, large, little compressed; the neck long and rather
slender ; the head of moderate size, ovate, somewhat com-
pressed.

Bill shorter than the head, moderately stout, or rather
slender, nearly straight, broader than high at the base, com-
pressed toward the end ; upper mandible with the dorsal line
straight for half its length, then decimate and convex, the
ridge narrow to beyond the nostrils, the nasal sinus large,
and filled by a membrane, which is feathered at the base,
the edges sharp, inflected for half their length, then direct,
the tip narrowed but blunt ; lower mandible Avith the angle
long and narrow, the dorsal line slightly ascending and
nearly straight, the sides of the crura sloping a little outwards
and nearly flat, the edges sharp and direct, the tip narrow
but blunt ; the gape-line little arched.

Upper mandible internally with three prominent lines,
lower more deeply concave. Nostrils linear or oblong, direct,
slightly operculate, nearly basal. Eyes rather large. Aper-
ture of ear of moderate size. Feet long and rather slender ;
tibia bare for a third of its length, covered all round with
oblong scales ; tarsus long, reticulated with oblong, sub-
hexagonal scales ; toes three, short, scutellate above, margi-
nate, flattened beneath, spreading, with short basal webs.
Claws short, depressed, convex, arched, thin-edged, obtuse.

Plumage moderate, compact ; feathers narrow on the head

OTIS. BUSTARD. 29

and neck, ovate on the body. Wings long, broad, rather
pointed ; the third quill longest, the second little shorter, the
first as long as the fifth ; the outer quills narrowed toward
the end. Tail short, of more than twelve feathers.

It is difficult to decide as to the precise position of the
Bustards. Some authors refer them to the Rasores, others
to the Grallatores ; and it is obvious enough that in some
points they resemble both groups. Their internal structure
alone can settle the question ; and as I have had no oppor-
tunity of making myself acquainted with it, I must leave the
Bustards as I have found them.

Although furnished with large wings, these birds on
ordinary occasions make little use of them ; yet their flight
is strong and sustained. They run Avith great speed, squat
on the ground to avoid their enemies ; feed on vegetable
substances, worms, and insects ; form a slight and rude nest
among the herbage, and lay from three to five or more
spotted eggs.

30

OTIS TARDA. THE GREAT BUSTARD.

Otis Tarda. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 264.

Otis Tarda. Lath. Ind. Oniith. II. 6-58.

Great Bustard. Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Supplt.

Outarde barbue. Otis Tarda. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 506.

Otis Tarda. Great Bustard. Flem. Brit. Aniin. 115.

Great Bustard. Otis Tarda. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. I. 442.

Otis Tarda. Great Bustard. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 174.

Otis Tarda. Bonap. Comp. List, 44.

Male about forty-six inches long ; in summer with a tuft
of slender elongated feathers directed backwards on each side
of the throat ; the head, neck, part of the breast, secondary
and some of the smaller wing-coverts bluish-grey ; a longi-
tudinal black band on the head ; upper parts reddish-yelloiv,
spotted and barred with black; tail white at the base, then
light yellotcish-red, with two black bands ; lower parts of the
body white, Female with the grey of the head and neck
darker; the dark band on the head lighter, the gidar tufts
wanting, otherwise coloured like the male.

Male in Summer. — This species, which is the largest of
our indigenous birds, sometimes, according to Montagu,
weighing as much as thirty pounds, has the body very large
and full, the neck rather long and of moderate thickness;
the head ovate, somewhat compressed, and considerably
rounded above. The peculiarities of its internal structure I
am unable to describe, not having had an opportunity of
examining a recent specimen. It is said, however, to have a
large subcutaneous gular pouch, communicating with the
throat, and supposed by some to be inflated with air, while

GREAT BUSTARD. 31

others think it is intended for carrying water. On each
side of the throat, and extending upwards in the direction
of the ear, is a bare space of a bluish-black colour. The
bill is short, stout, nearly straight, rather broader than high
at the base, compressed toward the end ; the upper mandible
with the dorsal line straight for nearly half its length, toward
the end convex, the nasal sinus large and feathered; the
edges sharp, direct, with a slight sinus close to the rather
obtuse tip ; the lower mandible with the angle rather long
and of moderate width, the dorsal line ascending and slightly
convex, the sides nearly erect, the edges direct, the tip nar-
rowed but rather blunt ; the gape-line slightly sinuate and
arched.

The nostrils are large, oblong, in the lower and fore part
of the sinus. The eyes rather large. The aperture of the
ear rather large. The legs are rather long, and slender ; the
tibia bare for about two inches ; the tarsus somewhat com-
pressed, covered :-ui round with hexagonal scales, of which
the anterior are larger ; the toes very short, thick, three, the
inner considerably shorter than the outer, all marginate, flat-
tened beneath, connected by basal membranes, of which the
outer is larger ; the middle toe with twenty scutella; the rest
scaly at the base, scutellate toward the end. The claws are
short, strong, convex, decurved, obtuse.

The plumage is full and compact ; the feathers on the
head and neck oblong, rather short; those on the upper
parts ovate, with large plumules. On each side of the throat,
at the base of the bill, is a tuft of stifhsh feathers with dis-
united filaments, directed backwards and downwards, and
about six inches in length. The wings are of moderate
length and breadth, concave, with thirty quills ; the pri-
maries stiff, decurved, narrow ; the third longest, the second
half-an-inch shorter, and exceeding the first by an inch ; the
secondaries broad and rounded ; some of the inner narrowed
and elongated. The tail is short, rounded, of twenty rather
firm, broad, rounded feathers.

The bill is pale yellowish-broAvn, darker on the ridge.
The iris hazel ; the feet light brown, as are the claws. The
head and upper neck all round are light greyish-blue. On

32 OTIS TARDA.

the upper part of the head is a longitudinal brown band.
The elongated mystaehial feathers white. The lower part of
the neck anteriorly is pale yellowish-red ; the fore part of
the breast pale greyish-blue, fading into white, of which
colour are the other lower parts, excepting the sides of the
lower neck and body, which are light yellowish-red barred
with black, each feather having two subterminal unequal
bars, and generally several spots. The tail feathers are
similar, but tipped with white, and having the base of that
colour. The outer wing-coverts, secondary coverts, and inner
secondary quills are white, the former tinged with grey ; the
primary quills brownish-black, with the shafts white.
Length to end of tail from 40 to 48 inches.

Female in Summer. — The female is much inferior in size
to the male, generally weighing only ten or tAvelve pounds.
There are no elongated feathers on the sides of the head.
The bare parts are coloured as in the male. The upper part
of the head is yellowish-red, barred with black ; the fore neck
greyish-blue, without any red at its lower part ; the colouring
of the other parts as in the male ; but the black markings on
the back and tail more numerous.

Length to end of tail about 35 inches.

Habits. — The Great Bustard, which is said to have been
numerous on the heaths and downs of the southern and
eastern parts of England, is now so rare that years pass
without the occurrence of one being noticed. Formerly it
appears to have been a common object of sport, and to have
been hunted with greyhounds ; one might think only when
moulting, for it might be judged from the size of its wings
that it is capable of a much longer flight than would suffice
to withdraw it from any danger to be apprehended from dogs.
But a French author informs us that " when the Bustard is
chased it runs with great speed, flapping its wings, and
sometimes goes several miles at once without stopping ; but
as it rises on wing with difficulty, and only when aided by a
favourable wind, and besides never perches, nor indeed can
do so, whether on account of its weight or of its wanting the

GREAT BUSTARD. 33

hind toe, with which it might grasp the branch and keep
itself there, it has every thing to fear, and the dogs can start
it, and even sometimes seize it when it is not far from the
ground." It being now so rare in England, it does not
appear that any ornithologist has had an opportunity of ob-
serving its habits there, so as to present a continuous account
of them. I have not so much as seen an individual alive,
and therefore all I can do is to compile from the notices
given in various works a short history, for the accuracy of
which I cannot be held responsible.

In France and Germany, where Bustards are numerous,
they reside on the heaths and plains, as well as in large cul-
tivated fields, after the breeding season forming at first small
flocks, and afterwards larger. In April they pair and dis-
perse, some alleging that they are polygamous, while others
merely state that after incubation has commenced the males
desert the females. As all seem agreed on this latter point,
there can be no truth in the supposition that the gular sac of
the male is intended for the purpose of furnishing the female
and young, in the breeding season, with water, which, in
general, is only to be procured at a distance upon the dry
and extended downs they inhabit. Indeed, Bewick states
that one which was kept in a caravan never drank. Being
extremely timid; they cannot be approached without much
pains, but are taken with snares, sometimes by means of
dogs and hawks, or shot by persons dressed in the guise of
horses or cows. They feed on green vegetable substances,
seeds, roots, insects, reptiles, and even small quadrupeds and
young birds, using a quantity of pebbles or gravel to aid
digestion. The male pays court to the female by strutting
and expanding his tail, like a Turkey, and inflating the skin
of his throat, which assumes a purple tint. The nest is a
hollow in the ground, in an open part, or among corn. The
eggs, two in number, are nearly three inches in length, two
inches and two-twelfths in breadth, of an ovate-elliptical
form, pale olive-brown, blotched with greyish-brown. They
are deposited in the end of May or beginning of June, and
are hatched in about thirty days. The young, at first covered
with greyish-yellow down, spotted above and on the sides

n

34 OTIS TARDA.

with black, presently leave the nest, and accompany their
mother. When they are fledged, the different families unite
into flocks, and are joined by the males. It does not appear
that this species is migratory, as it occurs in Germany and
France, and has been seen in England, during winter ; but
in time of snow it leaves the open grounds, and betakes itself
to the cultivated fields, where, attracting notice by its great
size, it is more liable to be surprised and shot. Its flesh is
held in great estimation on the Continent, where it is often
exposed for sale in the markets. It occurs in Spain, Italy,
and all the south-eastern parts of Europe ; but its distri-
bution in Asia and Africa has not been traced.

The extensive plains of Wiltshire, on which Bustards
were formerly numerous, seem to have latterly been entirely
deserted by them ; and the county of Norfolk appears to be
the only district in which they now permanently reside,
although in greatly diminished numbers. In Sussex, Cam-
bridgeshire, and Lincolnshire they are also now and then
met with. In the Yorkshire wolds, which they used to fre-
quent in considerable numbers, none, I believe, have been
seen for several years. The only district in Scotland where
it has been recently seen is the low tract in Morayshire
between Elgin and the sea. As it is not permanently resi-
dent there, it must come from a great distance, so that its
powers of flight must be considerable. According to the
Rev. Mr. Gordon, in his Fauna of Moray, " one was shot
near Oakenhead, in 1803, by the late William Young, Esq.,
of Burghead ; another was taken a few years ago at Inch-
broom, by Charles Barclay, Esq."

3o

OTIS TETRAX. THE LITTLE BUSTARD.

V-5>

Otis Tetrax. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 264.

Otis Tetrax. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 659.

Little Bustard. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Outarde Canepetiere. Otis Tetrax. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 507.

Otis Tetrax. Flem. Brit. Anim. 115.

Little Bustard. Otis Tetrax. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. I. 447.

Otis Tetrax. Little Bustard. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 175.

Otis Tetrax. Bonap. Comp. List. 44.

Male about eighteen inches long ; in summer with the
upper part of the head and the nape pale reddish-yellow
variegated ivith brownish-black, throat and sides of the head
light greyish-blue, a narrow ring of white on the neck, suc-
ceeded by a broad collar of black, below which anteriorly are
a half ring of white and another of black ; upper parts pale
reddish-yellow , transversely undulated ivith black; edge of
the wing, alula, outer secondary coverts, basal part and tips
of the quills and tail feathers, together with all the lower
parts of the body, white. Female with the head, neck, upper

38 OTIS TETRAX.

latter colour, the lateral feathers gradually becoming more
white, and losing one of the black bands.

Length to end of tail 18 inches; bill along the ridge 1,
along the edge of lower mandible 1^ , wing from flexure 10 ;
tail 4^ ; bare part of tibia 1 ; tarsus 2^- ; inner toe -^-, its
claw -^ ; middle toe 1TV, its claw, yV ; outer toe 4_4> its
claw -jSj.

Female. — The female, which is about the same size,
differs in having none of the blue or black so conspicuous on
the neck of the male. The upper part of the head, its sides,
and the neck all round, are pale reddish-yellow, variegated
with dark brown, each feather having a broad median longi-
tudinal band, and several transverse bars. The throat is
yellowish white, the upper parts are variegated as in the
male, but with the markings larger, and many of the feathers
having a large black patch in the middle, toward the end.
The wings and tail as in the male, but with the white less
extended and barred with black. The lower parts are yel-
lowish white, the feathers of the breast and sides with trans-
verse black lines ; the lower tail-coverts with the shafts black,
and some bars of the same colour.

Male in Winter. — At the end of autumn the black,
white, and gray feathers on the head and neck are changed
for others variegated with yellow and black ; so that in
winter the male resembles the female, but with the mark-
ings finer.

Habits. — The Little Bustard is said by various authors
to inhabit the countries bordering the Mediterranean ; to be
common in the southern parts of Europe, where it resides all
the year ; but to become rare as we proceed northward, indi-
viduals being very seldom seen beyond the Baltic. In
Britain, it ranks merely as a straggler, although it has been
killed in England at all seasons. Whether migratory or not
with us, it has never been known to breed in the country,
and Mr. Yarrell remarks that males in the summer plumage,
as above described, have not been met with. In Cornwall,

LITTLE BUSTARD. 39

Devonshire, and many of the eastern districts, individuals
have been obtained. In the north of England it becomes
extremely rare, and in Scotland is scarcely ever seen. The
only specimen obtained there, in so far as I can learn, is a
female wliich Mr. John Adamson informs me was shot on the
6th of March, 1840, near St. Andrew's. " It was first seen
among turnips, on the farm of Burnside. When raised, it
took a short circular flight, with outstretched neck, like a
duck, and again settled in an adjoining ploughed field, where
it was found with some difficulty as it sat close. It gave a
peculiar chirping cry on rising. It was in fine condition,
weighing twenty-eight ounces, and on being prepared was
placed in the museum of the St. Andrew's Literary and
Philosophical Society."

This species is said to be remarkably shy and vigilant, to
run with great celerity, and to fly Avell, although on ordinary
occasions it seldom rises on wing ; to feed on worms, insects,
herbs, and seeds ; and to nestle among the grass or corn,
laying from three to five glossy green eggs. Mr. Yarrell
states that they are two inches in length, an inch and a half
in breadth ; the colour of one in his collection, uniform olive-
brown, although he has seen some slightly clouded with
patches of darker brown. The same author informs us that
in a specimen killed at Harwich, " the stomach contained
parts of leaves of the white turnip, lungwort, dandelion, and
a few blades of grass. The flesh had the appearance and
flavour of that of a young hen Pheasant." Others say it is
dark, but of an exquisite flavour.

In France, where this species is common, it arrives in
April, and departs in September. It is said to be polyga-
mous, the male assuming a station, and attracting the females
by his cries. The eggs are deposited in June, and the young,
which follow their mother like those of a domestic fowl, and
conceal themselves by squatting under the apprehension of
danger, are not able to fly until the middle of August.

40

CURSORIUS. COURSER.

The species, few in number, which constitute this genus,
are of small size and slender form, with the neck rather
short, the head oblong and little elevated in front. Bill
somewhat shorter than the head, slender, tapering, nearly
straight or a little arched, a little broader than high at the
base, compressed toward the end ; upper mandible with the
dorsal line straight for two-thirds of its length, then arcuato-
declinate, the ridge somewhat carinate, the edges sharp, the
tip acute, without notch ; lower mandible with the angle
long and narrow, the dorsal line decurved, the back convex,
the edges sharp, the tip narrow, but rather blunt. Tongue
slender, emarginate and papillate at the base, flattened above,
with a medial groove, the tip thin, narrow, but obtuse.

Nostrils sub-basal, lateral, oblong, in the fore part of the
shortish nasal sinus. Eyes of moderate size. Aperture of
ear rather large. Legs long, slender ; tibia bare for a third,
scutellate before, and with two rows of scales behind ; tarsus
slender, compressed, anteriorly scutellate. Hind toe wanting ;
anterior toes short, the fourth much longer than the second
or inner, all scutellate above, the middle and outer connected
by a narrow basal membrane. Claws small, slender, little
arched, acute, that of the third toe with a dilated inner edge.

Plumage moderate, soft, and blended; feathers of the
fore part of the head very short. Wings long, narrow, and
acute ; primaries broad and tapering, the first and second
about equal ; inner secondaries much elongated. Tail short
or moderate, slightly rounded or even, of twelve obtuse
feathers.

The Coursers are natives of the warmer regions of the

CURSORIUS. COURSER. 41

Old Continent, inhabiting chiefly the sandy tracts of the
interior. They run with extreme celerity, and have a rapid
flight ; hut their habits are little known. It is perhaps
difficult to say whether they ought to be placed with the
Bustards or Plovers ; yet I think they are more allied to the
former, although their small size might lead one to class
them with the latter. A very few individuals of a single
species have been met with in England.

42

CURSORIUS EUROPJEUS. THE CREAM-
COLOURED COURSER.

CREAM-COLOUttED PLOVER.

Adult with the bill black, the feet yellowish; the plumdgc
pale brownish-yellow, lighter on the lower parts; the fore
part of the head reddish, the hind part grey, with a trian-
gular black spot on the nape ; two bands, a white ana a black,
from the eye to the occiput ; the primaries black. Young
with the upper part of a duller tint, icith undulated angular
transverse dusky lines.

Cursorius europoeus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 751.

Cream-coloured Plover. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Coirrt-vite isabelle. Cursorius isabellinus Ternm. Man. d' Ornith. II. 513.

Cursorius isabellinus. Cream-coloured Courser. Flem. Brit. Anim. 112.

Cream-coloured Swift-foot. Cursorius isabellinus. Selby Illust. Brit.

Ornith. II. 217.
Cursorius isabellinus. Cream-coloured Courser. Jenyns. Brit. Vert. Anim.

176.
Cursorius Europaeus. Bonap. Comp. List. 45.

Male. — This species is somewhat inferior in size to the
Golden Plover, and of a more slender form, having the body

CREAM-COLOURED COUkSER. 43

rather elongated, the neck shortish, the head of moderate
size, and oblong. The bill is rather shorter than the head,
slender, depressed at the base, compressed toward the end,
considerably arcuate, acute. The feet are long; the tibia
bare to the extent of an inch, scutellate anteriorly ; the tarsus
compressed, with fifteen anterior scutella ; the toes short,
the inner with nine, the second with twenty-six, the third
with twelve scutella ; the outer much longer than the inner,
and connected with the third by a narrow basal membrane.
The claws are small, slender, little arched, acute, that of the
middle toe with a dilated, somewhat notched inner edge.

The wings are nearly as long as the tail when closed,
narrow, and pointed ; with the primary quills broad, but
tapering, the first and second about equal ; the secondaries
short, slightly incurved, the inner very long. The tail is
short, slightly rounded, of twelve soft, rounded feathers.

The bill is dusky ; the feet yellowish. The general
colour of the plumage is light yellowish-brown, approaching
to cream-colour ; the lower parts paler, and fading behind
into whitish. The occiput and part of the nape ash-grey,
with the tips of the feathers black ; the fore part of the head
light red. From over the eye to the occiput is a white band,
and below it a band of black. The primary quills are
brownish-black ; the secondaries cream-coloured, with a dusky
patch toward the end, and the tips white ; but the inner
without dark colour. The lower wing-coverts and axillar
feathers are blackish-brown. The tail is rufous, all the
feathers, except the middle, with a black patch toward the
end, and tipped with white.

Length to end of tail 10 inches ; wing from flexure 6f ;
tail 3; bill 1, along the lower mandible 1^; bare part of
tibia 1 ; tarsus 1^-g- ; inner toe -£7, its claw -fj ; middle toe ^-,
its claw ^V ; outer toe -^, its claw -f^ .

Female. — The female resembles the male in colour.

Habits. — It is said to inhabit various parts of Africa, and
especially Abyssinia. Individuals have occurred in Italy,
Spain, Switzerland, France, and Germany ; but in the latter

44 CURSORIUS EUROPCEUS.

more northern countries it is to be considered an extremely
rare straggler. In England not more than four specimens
have been obtained. The first of these was shot on the 10th
of November, 1785, near St. Albans, in East Kent, the seat
of William Hammond, Esq., who presented it to Dr. Latham.
" He first met with it running upon some light land; and so
little fearful was it, that after he had sent for a gun, one was
brought to him, which, having been charged some time, did
not readily go off, and in consequence he missed his aim.
The report frightened the bird away ; but, after making a
turn or two, it again settled within a hundred yards of him,
when he was prepared with a second shot, which despatched
it. It was observed to run with incredible swiftness, and, at
intervals, to pick up something from the ground ; and was
so bold as to render it difficult to make it rise from the
ground, in order to take a more secure aim on the wing.
The note was not like any kind of Plover's, nor, indeed to
be compared with that of any known bird." Montagu states
that one was shot, in North Wales, in 1793, by Mr. George
Kingstone, of Queen's College, Oxford, a very accurate orni-
thologist. Mr. Atkinson, in his Compendium, mentions a
third that was shot near Wetherby, in April, 1816 ; and Mr.
George T. Fox, in the third volume of the Zoological Journal,
records a fourth, shot on the 15th of October, 1827, in
Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, and now in the pos-
session of the Rev. T. Gisborne, of Yoxall Lodge, Stafford-
shire. The Wetherby bird was seen on a piece of dry fallow
ground, running very swiftly, and making frequent short
nights, and that of Charnwood Forest was represented by the
person who shot it as uttering a cry with which he was un-
acquainted. Both were easily approached, as was the first
recorded. From these circumstances I think it appears to
resemble the Little Bustard more than the Plovers in its
habits. Its nest and eggs have not been described ; but the
young in their first plumage are marked in the manner of
the Sandpipers.

Young. — The general colour of the upper parts is like
that of the adult, but tinged with grey, and the feathers

CREAM-COLOURED COURSER. 45

having a submarginal dusky grey line at the end. The
white and black lines from the eye to the occiput are much
narrower, the black spot on the nape wanting ; the primary
quills are margined internally with reddish-yellow ; the lower
parts as in the adult, but with angular dusky lines on the
sides.

4G

GLAREOLA. PRATINCOLE.

The birds of this genus, all of small size, and remarkable
for their very long and pointed wings, forked tail, and slender
feet, have puzzled the systematist to such a degree that some
have placed them among the Rasores, others among the
Plovers, and a few among the Swallows. M. Temminck
refers them to his order Alectorides, consisting of the genera
Psophia, Dicholophus, Gypogeramis, Glareola, Palamedea,
and Chauna. The small hind toe often present in the order
of Cursores has been productive of much confusion, — those
persons who take some artificial, often insignificant character,
as a string on which to run their genera, having separated
the three-toed from the four-toed Grallatores, the Plovers
from the Lapwings, for example, and the Glareolse from the
Cursorii. The present genus, I think, must take its place
next to Cursorius. But to determine its affinities it would
be necessary to examine its digestive organs, which I have
not had an opportunity of doing. The body is rather full,
ovate, compact ; the neck short ; the head rather small,
ovato-oblong, and little elevated in front.

Bill short, moderately stout, somewhat arcuate, wider
than high at the base, compressed toward the end; upper
mandible with the dorsal line straight for a short space, then
arcuato-decurvate, the nasal sinus wide and feathered, the
ridge narrow, the edges sharp and inflected toward the end,
without notch, the tip rather acute ; lower mandible with
the angle of moderate width, the dorsal line slightly decurved,
the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute ; the gape-line
arched, and commencing beneath the eyes, so that the mouth
is wide, and in no respect resembles that of the Plovers.

GLAREOLA. PRATINCOLE. 47

Nostrils basal, lateral, oblong, oblique. Eyes large ; upper
eyelids feathered, lower bare. Aperture of ear rather large.
Legs of moderate length, very slender ; tibia bare at its lower
part, not at all " feathered to the knee " as M. Temmniek
alleges ; tarsus moderate, slender, reticulated ; hind toe very
small, a little elevated ; lateral toes very short, the outer a
little longer, the middle toe much exceeding the rest, and
connected with the outer by a basal membrane. Claws
slender, slightly arched, compressed, acute ; that of the middle
toe very long, with the inner edge thin, and somewhat
pectinate.

Plumage moderate, soft, rather compact ; the feathers
ovate or elliptical ; those on the fore part of the head mode-
rate. Wings very long, narrow, taper-pointed, very similar
in their digital part to those of the Swallows, but differing
in the cubital portion ; the quills twenty-five ; primaries
tapering, very long, stiff; the first longest, the rest rapidly
decreasing ; outer secondaries incurvate, broad, obliquely
emarginate ; inner moderately elongated. Tail rather long,
forked, of twelve feathers.

The Pratincoles, of which only a few species are known,
are inhabitants of Africa and the warmer regions of Asia, the
Indian Islands, and Australia. One species is also exten-
sively distributed in the southern and eastern parts of Europe,
and sometimes makes its way even to England. They are
said to run with great celerity, fly with extreme rapidity,
feed on insects and aquatic worms, and reside in marshy
places, and by the sides of lakes and rivers.

Authors are far from being agreed as to the systematic
location of this genus. " It will be observed," says Montagu,
" that Linnaeus placed this bird with his Hirundines, to
which, in some particulars, it has considerable affinity, though
its bill and legs certainly constitute characters sufficiently
distinct to remove it from thence ; but why it has been taken
from the land division, and placed amongst the water birds,
we are* unable to discover." " The continuator of Shaw's
Zoology,'''' M. Temminck remarks, " says that the pratincoles
or glareolse have not the slightest affinity to the water or
river birds, but that they are more related to the swallows ;

48 GLAREOLA. PRATINCOLE.

because, says he, they have the same wings and tail ; an
argument worthy of a compiler. It is useless to refute at
length this error. I have been in Hungary in the vast
marshes of lakes Neusidel and Balaton, surrounded with
some hundreds of these birds, and I can assert that they
have nothing of swallows but the celerity of flight, with
which the Skimmers, Terns, Lestres, and Petrels, are also
endowed in the highest degree." Many other opinions suc-
ceed ; but to settle all disputes as to the affinities of the
Glareolae, it is only necessary to inspect the intestinal canal
of a single specimen. The birds to which they might be or
have been assimilated, namely, the Swallows, Goatsuckers,
Grouse, and Sandpipers, have digestive organs well charac-
terized. Mr. Gould, who might have settled the question,
still remarks : — " I have for many years questioned the pro-
priety of placing the Pratincoles in the same group with the
Plovers, or even in the same order, believing them as I do
to be a terrestrial form of the Fissirostral birds. Linnaeus
placed them near the Swallows, and I think he was right in
so doing ; and Mr. Blyth, one of the most philosophical of
ornithologists, entertains, I believe, the same opinion ; but
as nearly all other writers have placed them with the Chara-
driadse, I have adopted their view of the subject, and have
accordingly placed them in that group." Mr. Thompson,
also, places it at the head of the Plovers.

49

GLAREOLA PRATINCOLA. THE COLLARED
PRATINCOLE.

AUSTRIAN FRATJ.XC0LE.

Fiu. 4.

Tail deeply forked; icings nearly as long ; tipper parts
greyish-brown; tail-coverts white; throat pale reddish-yellow,
margined with two narrow bands, the inner tohite, the outer
Mack; lower wing-coverts deep brownish-red.

Hirundo Pratincola. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 345.

Glareola austriaca. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 753.

Glareola torquata. Austrian Pratincole. Flem. Brit. Anim. 94.

Austrian Pratincole. Mont. Ornith. Diet. Supplt.

Glareole a collier. Glareola torquata. Temni. Man. d'Ornith. II. 500.

Collared Pratincole. Glareola torquata. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 21 3.

Glareola Pratincola. Collared Pratincole. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 216.

Glareola Pratincola. Bonap. Comp. List. 45.

Male. — The Collared Pratincole is about the size of the
Dotterel Plover, and in form bears a considerable resem-
blance to a Swallow. Its body is compact; the neck rather

E

oO GLAREOLA PRATLNCOLA.

short ; the head rather small, ovato-oblong, rather depressed
in front. The bill is short, rather stout, compressed toward
the end, arcuate, and pointed ; the nasal groove rather wide
and feathered ; the gape-line arcuate, and commencing under
the eyes. The nostrils oblong, oblique, in the fore part of
the nasal groove. The eyes large. The feet are of moderate
length, very slender ; the tibia and tarsus reticulate ; the
former bare for five-twelfths of an inch. The first toe is
very small, somewhat elevated, with five scutella ; the inner
with fifteen, the third twenty-two, the fourth eighteen ; the
outer longer than the inner, and connected by a small basal
web with the middle toe, which is much longer. The claws
are somewhat arched, slender, pointed ; that of the middle
toe very long, with its inner edge somewhat pectinate.

The plumage is rather compact ; the feathers ovate,
rounded, and of moderate size. The wings are very long,
narrow, and pointed, with twenty-five quills ; the primaries
tapering, the first longest, the rest rapidly decreasing; the
outer secondaries obliquely rounded and somewhat emargi-
nate, the inner tapering, but rounded, and of moderate
length. The tail is deeply forked, of twelve feathers, of
which the lateral are two inches longer than the medial.

The bill is black, at the base carmine-red, as are the
margins of the eyelids; the feet dusky-grey. The general
colour of the upper parts is greyish-brown, with a tinge of
green. The upper tail-coverts white ; the tail-feathers white
at the base, dark-brown at the end. The quills are blackish-
brown, glossed with green, the inner like the back. On the
throat is a large patch of pale reddish-yellow, margined by
two narrow bands, the inner white, the outer brownish-
black, which ascend to the eye ; the space between which
and the bill is blackish-brown. The sides of the neck, its
lower part in front, a portion of the breast, and of the sides
of the body are of the same greyish-brown as the back, but
paler ; the rest of the lower parts white, anteriorly tinged
with red. The axillar feathers and middle lower wing-
coverts are of a deep brownish-red ; the larger and those
along the edge of the wing brownish-grey, the latter mixed
with white.

COLLARED PRATINCOLE. 51

Length to end of tail 10 inches ; wing from flexure 7£ ;
tail 4 ; bill along the ridge -^ ; along the edge of loAver
mandible 44- ; tarsus l-jV ; hind toe -fV, its claw -^ ; second
toe -j^, its claw -^ ; third toe -^V, its claw -^ ; fourth toe -^ ;
its claw -Ar.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Variations. — Individuals vary in their tints, both ac-
cording to age and the season of the year, the moult being
said to be double, although the winter plumage differs little
from that of summer.

Habits. — M. Temminck informs us that this species
" inhabits the margins of rivers, inland seas, and lakes, of
which the waters form large rushy marshes ; lives in the
provinces bordering on the confines of Asia, and in the
southern countries of that vast continent ; is common on the
saline lakes and vast marshes of Hungary ; is a regular or
accidental visitant in some provinces of Germany and
France, Switzerland, and Italy, but of very rare occurrence
in Holland and England. It feeds especially on flies and
other winged insects which live among the rushes and reeds,
darting upon them with astonishing rapidity, and seizing
them both on wing and by running. It nestles among the
thickest reeds and tall plants, and lays three or four eggs."

Montagu states that an individual was shot near Liver-
pool, on the 18th of May, 1804. It was killed in the act of
taking beetles on wing, the remains of which were found in
its stomach. This specimen, which was seen when newly
shot, by Mr. Bullock, was sent to Lord Stanley's collection.
In 1812, Mr. Bullock had the good fortune to procure another
in Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Islands. " When
I first discovered it," he says, in the Transactions of the Lin-
ncean Society, " it rose within a few feet, and flew round me
in the manner of a swallow, and then alighted close to the
head of a cow that was tethered within ten yards distance.
After examining it a few minutes, I returned to the house of
T. Edmondston, Esq., for my gun, and, accompanied by that

52 GLAREOLA PItATINCOLA.

gentleman's brother, went in search of it. After a short
time, it came out of some growing corn, and was catching-
insects at the time I fired, and, being wounded only in the
wing, we had an opportunity of examining it alive. In the
form of its bill, wings, and tail, as well as its mode of flight,
it greatly resembles the genus Hirundo ; but, contrary to the
whole of this family, the legs were long, and bare above the
knee, agreeing with Tringa ; and, like the Sandpipers, it ran
with the greatest rapidity when on the ground, or in shallow
water, in pursuit of its food, which was wholly of flies, and
of which its stomach was full." Four other instances of its
occurrence in England are mentioned, and one in the south
of Ireland.

Although nothing less than an inspection of the internal
structure of a bird can determine its relations, when its ex-
terior presents anomalies or combinations of forms indicative
of various affinities, the examination of even a prepared skin,
which is all I have of the Pratincole, is capable of affording
much information. The bill of this bird, — which is short,
stout, arched, opening to beneath the eyes, and broad at the
base, compressed towards the end, and with the tips of both
mandibles narrow, but rather obtuse, the mouth being at the
same time wide, — has no relation, even in the least degree, to
that of the Plovers, or any of the other probing birds, of
which the bill is typically long, slender, straight, compressed,
slightly enlarged toward the end, opening far anterior to the
eyes, the mouth being also extremely narrow. It therefore
belongs to none of these tribes ; but in the form of its bill
approximates to the Bustards, and is Cursitorial or Galli-
naceous. The head rather large and flattened above re-
sembles that of the Otime, and the large eyes may be theirs
as well as of the Plovers. The legs, of moderate length, and
slender, resemble those of the Totatinse in form, as do the
toes, only the middle toe is proportionally longer ; but they
also resemble those of some Otinae and Gallinaceous birds.
As to the wings, they differ greatly from those of any Otis,
being very elongated, narrow, and pointed, the primaries
somewhat incurvate, and resemble those of a Swift or
Swallow ; but the secondaries are not few and very short, as

COLLARED PRATINCOLE. 53

in these birds, being fifteen in number, like those of a Tringa
or Totanus, the inner elongated, but in a less degree than
those of the Probers. They are certainly not the wings of a
Swallow; nor do they differ essentially from those of a
Plover, Sandpiper, or other bird of the order to which these
belong. The forked tail, of twelve feathers, resembles that
of a Swallow ; but a forked tail, as in the Kite, may occur
in families of which the tail is generally rounded. The form
of the tail, therefore, indicates nothing very particular, but
appears from analogy to have relation simply to flight, it
being often associated with long, narrow, and pointed wings,
as in the Terns ; though what its action may be I do not
understand. The plumage agrees with that of some of the
Rasorial birds, and with that of some Cursitorial and Tenta-
torial ; so far as regards the structure of the feathers and
their plumule, the bird might be of any of these groups. It
is decidedly not a Pluvialine, Tringine, Totanine, or Scolo-
pacine bird, nor a Swallow, nor a Swift ; nor of any order of
Land Birds, so called. It may be a Rasorial, but is more
probably a Cursorial bird. The inspection of the exterior, I
think, shews nothing more.

oi

XIV. TENTATORES. PROBERS.

Intimately connected with the Otinse on the one hand,
and on the other with the Tantalinae by the genus Numenhis,
the Tentatores, like most very natural groups that have
obvious affinities, are not very easily defined. It may be
remarked here that, although the Snipes, being perhaps
more familiarly known than the other genera, are usually
considered as typical of this series, which accordingly is fre-
quently named after them, yet the Godwits and several other
genera in which the bill and feet are very long, seem to me
to have a better claim to this distinction. The genera may
be grouped so as to form several distinct families, with as
much propriety as has been done in the case of the Canta-
tores, in which the Turdinae, Alaudina?, Motacillince, and
others differ very little in any important point of view, — their
skeletons and digestive organs being very similar. But as
they graduate into each other, and that in a complex manner,
so that a particular genus may be closely allied to another
genus in the form of its bill, Avhile in the structure of its feet
akin to a third genus differing considerably in the bill, I
have thought it better here to give the prevalent characters
of the entire group.

They are birds of moderate or small size, the largest not
exceeding a Pheasant, and the least not so large as a Pipit.
The body is ovate, and compact ; the neck long or moderate ;
the head small, ovate, compressed, and rounded above. The
bill is seldom shorter, usually longer than the head, slender,

TENTATORES. PROBERS. 55

somewhat cylindrical, generally in some degree flexible ; the
upper mandible with the ridge separated from the very
narrow sides by a groove on each side, extending often to
the point, which is somewhat blunt; the lower mandible
with the angle very long and narrow, the sides grooved, the
tip rather acute. The tongue is slender, sagittate and papil-
late at the base, triangular, tapering to a point. On the roof
of the mouth are two or three rows of papilla?, directed back-
wards. The oesophagus is narrow, with the proventriculus
bulbiform or oblong ; the stomach oblong or elliptical, with
strong lateral muscles and large tendinous spaces, its epithe-
lium dense, hard, with large longitudinal ruga? ; the intestine
of moderate length, and rather narrow ; the cceea rather long,
cylindrical, or oblong ; the cloaca oblong.

The legs are slender, generally long, often moderate ; the
tibia scarcely ever feathered to the joint ; the tarsus slender,
scutellate in front ; the toes of moderate length, slender, the
anterior spreading and more or less Avebbed at the base, the
first small, elevated, sometimes wanting ; the claws small,
compressed, arched, acute.

The plumage is generally soft and blended, or somewhat
compact ; the feathers oblong or ovate, with a rather large
down-plumule. The wings are long, of moderate breadth,
acute ; the first quill generally longest, some of the inner
secondaries narrow, tapering, and nearly as long as the outer
primaries when the wing is closed. Tail short or moderate,
of twelve or sometimes more feathers, and varying in form.

The skeleton is very similar in all the species which I
have examined. The cranium is rather small, the part con-
taining the brain short, rounded behind ; the interocular
septum incomplete, as is a large portion of the base of the
skull anteriorly. The jaws are very elongated and slender ;
the nasal sinus extremely long, extending nearly to the tip,
so as to separate the medial from the lateral portions ; there
is also a groove along the crura of the lower jaw. Taking
the Curlew as an example, we find that it has 44 vertebra?,
of which 14 are cervical, 9 dorsal, 13 sacral, and 8 caudal.
The cervical vertebra? are moderate, with large articulations.
The ribs, nine in number, are very slender ; the first rudi-

5G

TENTATORES. PROBERS.

mentary, the second incomplete, and with the last destitute
of process. The body of the sternum is of moderate length
and breadth, concave, with two deep sinuses behind filled by
membrane ; the crest extremely prominent, its lower outline
a little convex, the anterior concave. The clavicles are
rather short and moderately stout ; the furcula rather slender,
curved, with the angle rather wide and rounded. The sca-
pula slender and arcuate. The humerus moderately long,,
the cubitus about a fourth longer ; two carpal bones ; the
pollical bone slender and tapering ; the two metacarpal bones-
united at both ends, the inner very slender; the outer digital
bone broad, internally thin-edged, the inner very small and
curved, the extreme digital bone slender and tapering. The
pelvis is large ; the ischium united, but leaving a large
oblong foramen ; the pubes very slender, free unless at the
base ; the femur of moderate length ; the tibia very long,
slender ; the fibula very slender, partially united, extending
to about half the length of the tibia ; tarsus nearly square ;
the hind toe elevated, small, of tAvo phalanges, and a basal
bone, the rest of rather short, three, four, and five phalanges.

The skeleton of the Snipe is very little different, the limbs
only being shorter, and the bones proportionally thinner. In
it the vertebra? are 43, of which 13 are cervical, 9 dorsal,
13 sacral, and 8 caudal.

TENTATORES. PROBERS. 57

Birds of this order occur in all countries. They frequent
marshes, the margins of lakes and rivers, and the shores of
the sea. Their food consists essentially of worms, and small
testaceous mollusca, as well as insects of various kinds, and
along with it a quantity of sand is usually found in the
stomach, which is a true gizzard, adapted for bruising. The
refuse is not disgorged, but passes in a comminuted state
through the intestine. Generally speaking, they run with
extreme celerity, those which frequent the shores of the sea
following the retiring wave, and retreating as the next
advances. Very many of them have an almost continued
vibrating motion of the body. On being alarmed, they run
a short way and take to flight ; but some of the shorter-
legged species, on apprehending danger, lie close to the
ground. They all wade in the water, and for the most part
procure their food by thrusting their bills into the soft mud
or sand, the extremities of the bill, from the size of the
nerves distributed to them, and the delicate skin which
covers it, being probably very sensitive. The flight of all
the species is rapid, and protracted. They frequently in
flying incline the body to either side, the individuals of a
whole flock acting thus in concert. Their cries are loud,
shrill, and generally reiterated. Most of them are gregarious
in various degrees, and migratory, advancing in flocks toward
warmer regions as the cold increases. The larger species
are extremely shy, vigilant, and, on being alarmed, clamorous ;
but the smaller, when feeding, being intent on their occu-
pation, often allow a near approach. They nestle on the
ground, in marshy places, forming a slight nest in a hollow,
and laying four pyriform, spotted eggs, of which the smaller
ends are placed together. The young, at first densely clothed
with down, are able to run about soon after birth, and con-
ceal themselves by lying flat. When the nest or young are
approached, the parents fly about in great agitation, uttering
shrill cries, or feign lameness to draw off the intruder. The
females are frequently larger than the males ; the colours of
the plumage in many change with the renewal of the feathers
twice in the year ; their flesh is generally juicy, and forms
an agreeable article of food.

58 TENTATORES. PROBERS.

The Pluvialinae have often been referred to the last
order ; but in the structure of their skeleton, form of their
wings, mode of flying', running-, and procuring their food,
these birds are most intimately allied to the other families.
Nothing is more common than to see species of the two
groups intermingled while feeding. On the sea-shore the
Dunlins, for example, and Ring-plovers ; and in summer, on
the moors, the Dunlins and Golden Plovers or Lapwings.

Numerous species occur in Britain. They may be dis-
posed into four principal groups or families, namely, the
Pluvialinae or Plovers, the Tringinae or Sandpipers, the
Totaninae or Tatlers, and the Scolopacinae or Snipes ; of
which the peculiar characters will be very briefly given.

1. Pluvialinae. The head roundish, much rounded
above ; the bill generally about the length of the head, but
sometimes longer, and often shorter, straight, or very slightly
recurvate, mostly slender, compressed, blunt, the upper man-
dible with its outline convex toward the end, the nasal
groove extending about two-thirds of its length ; eyes gene-
rally large and prominent ; feet long and slender ; toes small,
rather short, flat beneath, and marginate ; sometimes a dimi-
nutive hind toe ; wings long, narrow, pointed or moderately
rounded, the inner secondaries elongated and tapering ; tail
short, rounded, of twelve feathers.

2. TringintE. The head small, compressed, rounded in
front ; the bill long, straight, sometimes arcuate, sometimes
a little bent upwards, slender, compressed, the nasal groove
extending nearly to the end; eyes generally small; feet
rather long, slender ; toes four, the hind toe very small and
elevated, anterior toes of moderate length, sometimes free,
generally more or less webbed at the base ; wings long,
narrow, pointed, some of the inner secondaries much elon-
gated and tapering ; tail short, of twelve feathers.

(Phalaropin^e. The general characters of the Tringinae

TENTATOKES. PROBERS. 59

and Totaninse; but tbe toes broadly bordered, or lobate.
Tbe habits more aquatic.)

3. Totani>\e. The head small, compressed, rounded in
front ; the bill very long, straight, mostly in some degree
recurvate, very slender, compressed, or toward the end de-
pressed, the tips acute ; eyes rather large ; feet very long
and slender ; toes four, the hind toe very small and elevated,
or three only, slender, of moderate length, webbed at the
base ; wings very long, pointed, some of the inner secondaries
elongated and tapering; tail short, rounded, of twelve
feathers.

4. Scolopacin.e. The head rather small, much com-
pressed, rounded above ; the bill very long, straight, slender,
compressed until toward the end, when it becomes more or
less enlarged ; eyes rather large ; tarsi short ; toes four, the
first very small and elevated, the anterior long, slender ;
wings long or moderate, rather broad, but pointed ; the inner
secondaries generally much elongated, sometimes moderate
and rounded ; tail short, of from twelve to twenty-four
feathers.

Among the most remarkable traits in the character of
the Grallatorial tribes is the manner in which they protect
their nests and young from predacious animals, of which man
is probably the most mischievous. Although the employ-
ment of stratagem or dissimulation is neither peculiar to
them, it being equally exhibited by many of the Rasorial
species, nor yet general, it being little observable in the
Aucupatorial or Latitorial tribes, it is more obvious to the
observer and carried to greater perfection in the Tentatorial
Order than in any other. But, to form a correct idea of it,
we ought to take a general view of the means employed by
birds in defending their progeny. We may confine ourselves
to the British species, they being sufficiently numerous to
furnish facts capable of leading to correct notions on this
interesting subject.

Now, on examining the habits of the Raptorial Birds, we
find that they never employ stratagem in defending their

60 TENTATORES. PROBERS.

nests, but use open force. This is in accordance with their
organization, they being supplied with very efficient weapons,
in their sharp and curved bills and claws, and with means of
rapid locomotion in their powerful wings. The Peregrine
Falcon instantly attacks any suspected bird, such as a Raven
or Hooded Crow, that approaches the cliff on which its nest
is built, but pays no attention to those which it acquits of
hostile intentions. It will even assail, and, if necessary,
strike at the Sea Eagle or the Golden Eagle, which it knows
to be destructive birds, although it does not appear that they
ever attack that vigorous and watchful bird or meddle with
its nest. Some of the smaller hawks, especially the Merlin
and the Sparrow-Hawk, are equally ready to drive off in-
truders. Birds of this tribe, when excited by the screams of
their young, or even when simply seeing their nests invaded,
fearlessly attack man himself, of whom, in other circum-
stances, they have a salutary dread. Vultures, it is said, are
less courageous, and we have none to make observations
upon ; and Owls, being of nocturnal habits, are in a great
measure removed from our inspection, although it is known
that they occasionally make a vigorous defence.

The Insessorial birds are less efficiently armed, and yet
many of them display the greatest courage in defending their
nests. The larger species, especially the Raven, the Hooded
Crow and the Carrion Crow, have strength and spirit enough
to drive off Gulls, Hawks, and all other birds of which they
are suspicious. I have often seen two Ravens sally forth to
meet or pursue an Eagle that happened to come within a
quarter of a mile of their nest, and so annoy him as make
him glad to get away from them as soon as possible. Yet,
Avhen Eagles and Ravens nestle in the same rock, or range
of cliffs, they live quite peaceably together. There are
among the smaller species many, such as the Titmice,
Thrushes, and Swallows, that make a vigorous defence of
their nests ; but very many others merely keep flying around
and evincing their anxiety by frequent cries. When a pair
of birds attempt to seize upon the nest of another pair, of a
different species, the latter, if not able to make an efficient
defence, attract by their screams numerous individuals of their

TENTATORES. PROBERS. 61

own kind, which attack or annoy the intruders. It might
be supposed that the situation of the nest would in some
measure determine the mode of defence, and that the owners
of those placed on the ground would, if feeble, use stratagem
to decoy intruders away. Few of them, however, shew this
kind of instinct otherwise than, when very closely approached,
by flying off close to the ground, in a cowering or fluttering
manner, as if disabled. The Pipits, for example, act in this
way, which, however, seems the effect of fright, rather than
an attempt to draw attention to themselves, and thus save
their charge. I have seen a pole-cat eating the young ones
in a lark's nest, while the parent birds, and some others of
the same species, attracted by their cries, were hovering over
it and vociferating loudly, but without venturing to attack
it, or attempting to decoy it away. But, we know very little
of the defensive habits of birds except with reference to our-
selves ; and in most cases their courage and cunning are of
little avail in preserving either themselves or their progeny
from our tyranny. Although the Raven is the largest and
strongest bird of this group, and can protect himself from all
our native birds and quadrupeds, he sometimes employs dis-
simulation when man is the aggressor, and I have seen one,
after I had long been endeavouring to find a way to its nest
in a maritime cliff, and to shoot itself, fly to a distance, and
on an elevated place flutter and roll over, as if expiring in
agony.

The Deglubitorial, or smaller thick-billed birds, seldom
employ either force or cunning in defence of their nests ; but
merely hover about, emitting cries, or stand silent in the
neighbourhood.

Most of the Rasorial birds, however, evince great anxiety
for the safety of their eggs or young ; and many of them,
especially the Partridges, feign lameness, and use other
stratagems to withdraw from their charge the attention of
intruders, whether canine or human. They have, at the
same time, great boldness on such occasions, and will often
attack crows, weasels, or other destructive prowlers. The
Pigeons merely flit about at a safe distance, or even fly off
altos'ether.

62 TENTATORES. PROBERS.

The habits of the Cursorial birds are little known ; but
those of the Tentatorial are patent to the observation of all
who traverse our fields and moors, or have occasion to visit
the sandy shores of the sea. The Lapwing, the Golden
Plover, and the common Ring-Plover, fly up to an intruder,
keep hovering over and around him, or alight, and manifest
the greatest anxiety and anger. The males sometimes, but
generally the females, will move crouchingly to some dis-
tance, and flutter on the ground, as if mortally wounded,
limp as if one of their legs were broken, or shew a fractured
or dislocated wing, hanging or whirling about in a most
surprisingly simulative manner. The object of all this pre-
tended distress is obviously to withdraw the attention of
men, dogs, polecats, weasels, foxes, crows, or other animals
from their nests, and attract it to themselves. If you come
up to one of these birds fluttering apparently in extreme
agony, it will not cease its display of suffering until you are
very near it, when it will limp away with drooping wings,
keeping so little ahead that you feel sure of catching it ; but
gradually as it removes from the nest, it revives, and when
it has drawn you far enough to render it difficult for you to
find again the spot whence you were enticed, it will fly off
cxultingly, emitting perhaps a merry note, as if conscious of
the success of its stratagem. The unsophisticated bird,
" pure from the hand of nature," and with morals uncon-
taminated, actually practises deceit. It sees an enemy
approaching its young ; it feels alarmed for their safety, and,
knowing that it has not strength to drive off the aggressor,
it essays to mislead and bewilder him. Knowing that the
intruder has a propensity to seize or destroy even a poor
little innocent bird, it runs away a little, and then shews a
broken leg and a shattered wing, as if it said, " See, how
easy it is for you to catch me, when I can neither run fast
nor fly at all." Then it pretends to try to rise on wing, and
falls over on one side, but is up again, and limps along.
" Come, you may be quite sure of me if you follow. No need
of salt ; but if you have some, you see how easy it is to put
it on my tail." So the chace commences, and soon ends in
disappointment to the pursuer, avIio cannot help laughing at

TENTATORES. PROBERS. 63

himself. The Greenshank and Redshank, as well as most
of the Totaninae, act differently. They come clamouring up
from a great distance, wheel, and plunge, and glide, scream-
ing and scolding without intermission, alarm all the timid
animals within at least a quarter of a mile around, and the
nearer you approach their nest, the more extravagant are
they in their rage. Perhaps the object of this kind of pro-
ceeding is to intimidate their ordinary enemies, such as
hawks and small quadrupeds ; but it certainly tends to
betray their secret to man, who might pass by unconscious
were they to remain quiet and keep out of sight.

As to the Herons, they could defend themselves from
most birds, were they active enough ; but a crow or a jack-
daw will sometimes carry off an egg from an uncovered nest,
while other Herons are by, and if they attempt to catch the
thief, they only make fools of themselves. The Skulkers,
such as Coots, Water-hens, and Rails, are never bold enough
to face an enemy of any vigour, as a Polecat or Weasel, but
keep running or swimming about. When their young are
with them, however, they manage much better : for when an
alarm-click is uttered by the mother, all the chicks scatter
about, dive, and in some concealed place each puts up its
head just far enough to be able to breathe, and the parent
bird does the same ; or they get among the thick reeds and
equiseta, where they are secure enough ; or squat among
the herbage.

I do not think that any British bird uses stratagem or
deceit for any other purpose than that of protecting its eggs
or young. It is alleged that the Jay and the Butcher Bird
imitate the cries of various birds with the view of alluring
them to destruction ; but this object is merely conjectural,
whatever may be their motive for the mimicry. " The
Flusher, Lanius Collurio," Mr. Rennie says, " is said to lure
small birds within its beat by mimicking their notes ; —
a feat of ingenuity not borne out by any observation we have
been able to make, though our attention has been for five
summers directed to this point, in a district where the
species abounds. We have, on the contrary, ascertained
that the Flusher utters no call that has the most distant

64 TEXTATORES. PROBERS.

resemblance to that of any other bird, its usual note being a
harsh, disagreeable screech."

Some persons have moralized on the cunning of birds.
They cannot believe that they should naturally possess any
instinct leading them to acts such as in men are accounted
evil. But a rational being, and an instinctive animal, have
no moral affinity. Why should not animals use stratagem
in defence of themselves or their young? Is cunning a
greater crime than murder ? And yet who finds fault with
an eagle for tearing a lamb to pieces, but the shepherd and
his master ; or with a lion for devouring a Bosjesman or a
Dutch Boor, but other Bosjesmen and Boors, who may dread
the same fate ? If a myrmeleon digs a pit, and lies in wait
to seize and devour the unhappy insect that has fallen into
it, do not men — moral men — make pits to entrap elephants,
hyenas, wolves, and other beasts ? Who blames the fisher
for his practices, although his whole art is a piece of mean
deceit ? He lets down into the dark sea a web of cord, and
persuades the silly herrings that there is nothing in their
way. He busks a pointed and barbed hook, casts it on the
water, and says to the trout, — there's a nice fat fly for you !
He impales a sprawling frog, and letting it down the stream
pretends to attend to the comfort of the hungry pike, who is
not insensible of his good fortune until he feels the steel
points thrilling his pneuino-gastric nerves. The hunter and
the sportsman have at least the qualities of boldness and
openness ; but the angler is a mere cheat.

It is certain, however, that perfect candour and openness
are never practised among men. It would even appear that
they consider the exercise of these qualities impracticable,
or conducive to serious detriment ; and, in polished societies
especially, dissimulation is really viewed, even by the most
respectable persons, as a necessary defence from the injuries
to be looked for from every one around. No merchant,
speculator, or tradesman discloses his schemes to his kind
neighbours, for he knows that some among them would
endeavour to turn such knowledge to his own account ; and
all important schemes are kept as profoundly secret as pos-
sible, unless publicity be essential to their success. Every

TENTATORES. PROBERS. 6J

man suspects every other; hence, a promise is nothing with-
out witnesses. Who would lend his best friend a hundred
pounds, without interest and good security ? An honest and
candid man cannot thrive among the traders and mammon-
worshippers of this Christian country. He is esteemed a
simpleton, a fool, an imbecile. If you are candid, and deter-
mine to remain so, expect not to be rich. They who differ
from you in politics or religion will not allow your cherished
virtue to be of any merit. Your neighbours will prey upon
you, when you are well off ; and when you are poor, should
any of them lend you a hand, he will, with the other, take
your watch from you. They say, " After all, honesty is the
best policy," — which means, they know nothing at all of
honesty ; for it has nothing to do with policy.

The tricks of birds are very blameless compared with
those of men. The most amusing instance of cunning in a
bird, and of gullibility in an ornithologist, that I know, is of
the Lapwing, and some persons who have made a great
matter of it. That bird has a habit of very gently and
quickly patting its little feet on the ground, as it stands
looking around. The object of this movement is said to be
to cause the worms to emerge from their holes. Those in
the neighbourhood, sensible of a commotion in the ground,
imagine it to be caused by the poking of a mole, to escape
the voracity of which they suddenly emerge upon the surface,
to be instantly seized by the cunning and expectant Lap-
wing. Other birds pat the ground precisely in the same
manner, but certainly not with such an object. Gulls, when
resting on the sands, and not thinking of food, I have often
seen performing the same act. As to the Lapwing, its weight
is so small that its slight pattings could not cause any great
earthquake ; and, on the other hand, if you stand still and
observe the heavings of the ground caused by the progress of
a mole, you never see the worms in its course coming to the
surface.

66

PLUYIALIN^E.

PLOVERS AND ALLIED SPECIES.

The birds of which this family is composed have a mani-
fest mutual resemblance, but with differences sufficient to
indicate generic distinctions, such as may in most instances
be readily appreciated. (Edicnemus appears to lead directly
from Otis of the preceding family, which is allied, on the
one hand, to the Perdicina?, and on the other to the Struthi-
onina?, or Ostriches. Most of the species are three-toed, and
when a hind toe exists, it is always diminutive, and elevated
above the level of the rest. Vanellus has a hind toe, and a
broader form of wing, but otherwise is very similar to Pluvia-
lis, one of the species of which, having also a hind toe, has
been separated to form a genus to which Cuvier has given
the name of Squatarola. Other Plovers constitute the
genera Eudromias, Dotterel, and Hiaticula, Ping-Plover,
more distinguishable by differences in the mode of colouring
than by any structural character. The genus Charadrius of
Linnaeus, however, I divide into only two : Pluvialis and
Charadrius. Strepsilas and Ostralegus are the only other
British genera. The latter, most intimately allied to the
former, has a more elongated bill, and leads to the family of
Scolopacinse.

These birds are generally of small size, and many of them
are very diminutive, although some are rather large. In
general, they have a moderately full, or rather slender body,
of an ovate, somewhat compressed form ; slender legs, rather

PLOVERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 67

long, or of moderate length ; long wings ; a rather short
neck, and a roundish head, which is always elevated and
rounded in front, like that of the Pigeons.

The bill is generally about the length of the head, in
some cases longer, and frequently much shorter, straight or
very slightly recurvate, slender, tapering, compressed, blunt ;
the upper mandible with its outline straight and slightly
declinate for half or more of its length, then convex or
bulging towards the end, the nasal groove extending about
two-thirds of its length ; the lower mandible with the angle
moderately long and narrow, the dorsal outline ascending
and a little convex. Both mandibles are internally mode-
rately concave ; the posterior aperture of the nares is oblongo-
linear, margined with acute papilla? ; the palate soft with
conical papillae. The tongue is short or of moderate length,
fleshy, narrow, emarginate and papillate at the base, flattish
above, its tip entire. The mouth is extremely narrow : the
oesophagus narrow, of nearly uniform diameter; proventri-
culus oblong, with oblong glandules. The gizzard is large,
elliptical, compressed, its muscles very large and distinct ;
its cuticular coat tough, with prominent transverse ruga?.
The intestine is slender, of moderate length ; the cceca rather
long, and subcylindrical.

The eyes are generally large and prominent ; the eyelids
densely feathered. The nostrils are sub-basal, lateral, linear,
of moderate length, in the long, bare, basal membrane. The
aperture of the ear is roundish, and of moderate size.

The feet are long and slender ; the tibia bare at its lower
part ; the tarsus long or moderate, a little compressed, reticu-
lated or anteriorly scutellate ; the toes small and rather
short, flat beneath and marginate ; three before, spreading ;
the hind toe wanting, or very small and above the general
level. The claws are small, arched, compressed, slender,
blunted.

Fig. 6.

08

PLUVIALIN.E.

The plumage is close, short, and generally blended ; the
feathers oblong, rounded, with loose margins ; those on the
face very short, on the middle and hind part of the back also
short ; the scapulars very long and narrow. The wings are
long, narrow, pointed, or moderately rounded, with twenty-
five feathers ; the inner secondaries elongated and tapering.
The tail is short, even or rounded, of twelve feathers.

The skeleton of the Pluvialinse bears in some respects a
great resemblance to that of the Columbine, although the
differences are also great, especially in the form of the
sternum and the length of the feet. Taking the Golden
Plover and Lapwing as types, we observe the following cha-
racters. The structure generally is rather delicate, the bones
being slender or thin. The skull is rather large, oblong,
compressed ; with the septum between the orbits very incom-
plete, having in it two large apertures. The orbits are very-
large, incomplete below, their upper margins elevated so as
to leave a deep groove between them, in which are the two
narrow curved depressions for the supraorbital glands. The
intermaxillary bones are linear, and separated from the
maxillary, which are very narrow, by a vacuity extending
nearly to the end. The lower jaAv is entire, arched, towards

PLOVERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 69

the end straight and attenuated. The cervical vertebrae are
thirteen, the dorsal nine, the lumbar and sacral twelve, the
caudal nine. The ribs are nine, the first rudimentary, the
second incomplete, all very slender, compressed. The sternum
is large, its body of moderate breadth, with the sides parallel,
its posterior margin slightly oblique on each side, with a
small sinus and smaller foramen ; the crest, which extends
its whole length, is very high, anteriorly concave. The
coracoid bones are moderately stout ; the furcula rather
narrow, considerably curved, and very slender. The scapula
is uniform and pointed. The wings are long; the humerus
rather long ; the cubitus considerably longer ; the hand of
the same length as the latter. At the base of the larger
metacarpal bone the anterior process is thin and rounded,
but in some species is elongated, and covered with a conical
horn or spur. Of course, if the tarsal spur of the Rasores
be analagous to the hallux, the carpal spur of many of the
Grallatoriae and Natatoriae corresponds to the pollex. Beyond
this process is the slender bone of the first or alular finger ;
the other two fingers are united ; the anterior having a large
metacarpal bone, and two phalanges, both of which are more
or less flattened and posteriorly thin-edged ; the other having
a slender metacarpal bone attached at both ends, and a single
phalanx united with that of the other. The pelvis is com-
paratively small, but very wide beneath. The sacrum is
quite distinct, not being anchylosed with the innominata, of
which the anterior or iliac plate is narrow, rounded, and
does not rise above the level of the vertebrae, of which the
spinous processes are extremely short. The sciatic foramen
is elliptical, the thyroid roundish. The pubes is linear,
slightly recurved, and free, or united only anteriorly. The
thigh bones are very short and of moderate strength; the
tibia very long, slender, roundish, the fibula rudimentary,
scarcely extending a third of the length of the tibia ; the
tarsus rather long or moderate. The toes are slender ; the
first either wanting, or extremely small and running off above
the level of the rest, with two phalanges and a basal bone ;
the second shorter than the outer, of three phalanges ; the
third longest, of four ; the fourth of five.

70 PLUVIALIX.E.

The muscular system is moderately developed. The pec-
toral and other muscles of the wing are rather large. The
vkin is very thin, and has a considerable quantity of fat
adhering.

The digestive organs are adapted for insects, larvae,
worms, small Crustacea, and similar objects. No bird that
cats entire and live animals has a crop, and thus the Chara-
drianae pass their food directly to the gizzard, where, with
the aid of sand or gravel, it is triturated. Being then
delivered to the intestine, it receives the bile and pancreatic-
fluid. The foeces and urine, being first deposited in the
elliptical cloaca, are voided in a semifluid state.

These birds are generally gregarious and migratory,
breeding in the northern regions. Their nest is a cavity
formed in sand or gravel, generally without any substance
intervening between it and the eggs ; which are for the most
part four, extremely large, pyriform, spotted and clouded
with dark brown. The young are born covered with long
soft down, run about presently, and squat when alarmed.

The Pluvialinse run with very great speed, by short steps,
with the body horizontal, and the head raised. Tbey do not
vibrate their body, like the Scolopacinae. Their cries are
generally clear, loud, and mellow. Their sight is very acute,
and they feed by moonlight as well as by day. They frequent
wild and uncultivated moors or pastures, or ploughed fields,
or sands, or the shores of the sea or of lakes and rivers ; and
pick up their food directly, without generally probing for it
in the mud, their bills being short and firm.

Their flight is strong, direct, on ordinary occasions sedate ;
but, when requisite, very rapid, their pinions whistling as
they fly. They often move in extended lines, or in various
figures, and often perform circular flights before alighting.
When little disturbed they are not shy, but on being perse-
cuted they soon learn to distrust their enemies. All the
species manifest great anxiety for their eggs or young,
feigning lameness to induce intruders to pursue them.

The plumage is changed in autumn ; and a partial moult
takes place in spring, so that the colours in summer are to a
certain extent different, many species assuming black on the

PLOVERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 71

breast. The males and females are generally similar, the
former always larger. The young in their first plumage
differ from the adult.

Individuals of this family are found in all countries of the
globe. In Britain, one species or other may be seen in almost
every part, and at every season ; but in winter and spring
they chiefly frequent the sea-shore and the fields in its
vicinity, while in summer they are scattered over the
interior.

SYNOPSIS OF TEE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. CEDICNEMUS. THICK-KNEE.

Bill rather longer than the head, stout, straight, depressed
at the base, compressed toward the end ; ridge of the upper
mandible prominent, straight to the middle, then slightly
arched and decimate, the tip rather acute ; gape-line straight.,
commencing under the anterior angle of the eye ; nasal
sinuses large ; nostrils linear-oblong, medial, direct. Legs
long, slender ; tibio-tarsal joint large ; tarsus reticulate with
hexagonal scales ; toes three, short, with short basal webs ;
claws short, convex. Wings of moderate length, pointed ;
tail short.

1. (Edicnemus crepitans. Stone Thick-knee. Bill pale-
yellow at the base, black at the end; feet yellow; head and
upper parts pale reddish-yellow, streaked with brown.

GENUS II. PLUVIALIS. PLOVER.

Bill nearly as long as the head, rather slender, straight,
compressed ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight for
two-thirds, then bulging a little, or arcuate, at the end, the
tip narrow, but rather obtuse ; gape-line straight ; nasal
groove long and rather wide ; nostrils small, linear, sub-basal,
pervious. Legs of moderate length, very slender; tarsus

72 PLUVIALIN^E,

covered with hexagonal scales ; toes rather short, slender, the
outer two connected at the base by a web ; claws rather
short, compressed, slightly arched, obtuse. Wings long and
pointed, the inner secondaries much elongated ; tail short,
nearly even.

1. Pluvialis Squatarola. Grey Plover. Bill rather
stout. A very diminutive hind toe. In winter, the upper
parts blackish-grey, spotted with white; the lower parts
greyish-white, streaked with greyish-brown ; axillar feathers
greyish-black. In summer, the upper parts black, spotted
with white ; the breast black.

2. Pluvialis aurea. Golden Plover. Bill rather slender.
In winter, the upper parts brownish-black, spotted with
yellow ; the lower parts pale, variegated with brown, throat
and abdomen white, as are the axillar feathers. Jn summer,
the upper parts black, spotted with bright yellow ; fore neck
and breast black.

3. Pluvialis Morinellus. Dotterel Plover. Bill slender.
Inner secondaries extremely elongated. The plumage vari-
ously coloured, but without spots.

GENUS III. CHARADRIUS. RING-PLOVER.

Bill generally much shorter than the head, rather slender,
straight, as broad as high, slightly compressed toward the
end ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight for half
its length, then bulging, or arcuate, the tip rather obtuse ;
gape-line straight ; nasal groove about half the length of the
bill; nostrils small, linear, sub-basal, pervious. Legs of
moderate length, very slender ; tarsus covered with hexagonal
scales ; toes rather short, slender ; the outer two connected
at the base by a web ; claws rather short, compressed, slightly
arched, slender, rather acute. Wings very long, narrow,
pointed ; the inner secondaries tapering, extremely elon-
gated ; tail of moderate length, or long, rounded, the two
middle feathers somewhat pointed.

1. Charadrius Hiaticida. Common Ring-Plover. Length
about eight inches ; bill half as long as the head ; wings and
tail of equal length. Upper parts greyish-brown ; two bands,

PLOVERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 76

a black and a white, on the forehead ; a dark brown band
under the eye ; a white ring including the throat, succeeded
by a broader ring of brownish-black ; feet orange.

£. Charadrius Cantianus. Kentish Ring -Plover. Length
nearly seven inches ; bill more than half the length of the
head ; wings shorter than the tail. Upper parts light
brownish-grey ; two bands, a black and a white, on the fore-
head ; hind part of the head light brownish-red ; loral space
and a band behind the eye black ; the throat and a band
crossing the hind neck white ; a patch of black on each side
of the lower part of the neck ; feet dusky.

S. Charadrius minor. Little Ring-Plover. Length about
six inches and a half ; bill more than half the length of the
head ; wings shorter than the tail. Upper parts greyish-
brown ; two bands, a black and a white, on the forehead ;
hind part of the head light brownish-grey ; a band under the
eye black ; the throat and a band crossing the hind neck
white, succeeded by a brownish-black ring ; feet yellowish-
flesh-colour.

GENUS IV. VANELLUS. LAPWING.

Bill shortish, slender, straight, compressed ; upper man-
dible with the dorsal line straight for two-thirds of its length,
then convexo-declinate to the end, the tip rather obtuse ;
gape-line straight; nasal groove very long; nostrils small,
linear, sub-basal, pervious. Legs of moderate length, or long,
very slender ; tarsus anteriorly scutellate ; toes short, slender,
margined, the outer two connected by a basal web ; hind toe
extremely small ; claws short, arched, compressed, slender,
obtuse. Wings long, rounded ; inner secondaries tapering
and much elongated ; tail rather broad, rounded or even.

1. Vanellus cristatus. Crested Lapwing. A recurved
occipital crest of linear feathers ; upper parts green, lower
white ; fore part of neck black ; tail white, with a broad
black band.

GENUS V. STREPSILAS. TURNSTONE.

Bill a little shorter than the head, slightly bent upwards

74 PLUVIALINiE.

beyond the middle, compressed until towards the end, the tip
depressed and blunted ; gape-line very slightly recurvate ;
nasal groove half the length of the bill ; nostrils linear, sub-
basal, pervious. Legs of moderate length, slender ; tarsus
anteriorly scutellate ; toes of moderate length, slightly webbed
at the base ; hind toe very small ; claws short, compressed,
arched, obtuse. Wings long, narrow, pointed ; inner secon-
daries greatly elongated, and tapering ; tail rather short,
somewhat rounded.

1. Strepsilas Interpres. Collared Turnstone. In winter,
the middle of the back and the lower parts white ; the fore
neck black ; the upper parts blackish-brown. In summer,
the upper parts variegated with black and brownish-red.

GENUS VI. HiEMATOPUS. OYSTER-CATCHER.

Bill long, slightly bent upwards beyond the middle, pen-
tagonal at the base, where it is covered by a soft skin, which
extends nearly half its length, beyond which it is extremely
compressed, in the form of a thin blade, abrupt at the end ;
gape-line slightly ascending beyond the middle ; nasal sinuses
long ; nostrils linear, sub-basal. Legs long, and stout ; tarsus
compressed, covered with hexagonal scales ; toes three, short,
spreading, broadly margined, webbed at the base ; claws very
small, narrow, obtuse. Wings long, acute ; inner secondaries
tapering and very elongated ; tail rather short, nearly even.

1. Hcematopus Ostralegus, Pied Oyster-catcher. Bill
vermilion ; feet pale purplish-red ; plumage black and white.

75

(EDICNEMUS. THICK-KNEE.

The birds which constitute this genus have the appear-
ance of large Plovers, but are at once distinguishable from
the species of the genera Pluvialis and Charadrius, by the
greater size of the bill, and especially by the extent to which
it opens. In one species that organ is so large as to give the
bird somewhat of the appearance of a Heron. This extension
of the gape-line might induce us to suspect that the (Edicnemi
belong to the family of Otinse, but in other respects their bill
more closely resembles that of the Pluvialinse. The genus
in fact forms the transition from the one family to the other,
and has been referred by authors to both. The body is ovate
and rather full ; the neck rather long ; the head rather large,
compressed, and much rounded above.

Bill generally longer than the head, stout, straight, about
the same height and breadth at the base, compressed in the
rest of its extent, and pointed; upper mandible with the dorsal
line straight to near the end, when it is gently deflected, the
ridge prominent, convex, generally narrowed, the nasal sinus
large, covered with a bare membrane, the sides sloping and
little convex, unless toward the basal margin, the edges in-
flected, the tip rather acute ; lower mandible with the angle
rather long and of moderate width, the lower outline of the
crura straight or a little deflected, the dorsal line ascending
and somewhat convex, the edges inflected, the tip acute ; the
gape-line commencing under the eyes, at first ascending,
then straight, or slightly recurvate.

Nostrils sub-basal or medial, linear, direct, at the lower
edge of the nasal membrane. Eyes large, with the eyelids
partially bare. Aperture of ear large. Legs long and rather

7(5 (EDICNEMUS. THICK-KNEE.

slender ; tibia bare for two-thirds, and reticulate ; the tibio-
tarsal joint large ; tarsus compressed, reticulate with hexa-
gonal scales ; toes three, short, scutellate, the outer much
longer than the inner, and connected with the third by a
basal web. Claws small, slightly arched, compressed, rather
acute, the inner edge of that of the middle toe a little
dilated.

Plumage ordinary, close, rather blended ; feathers ovato-
oblong on the upper parts, small and oblong on the head
and neck. Wings long and pointed, of twenty-five quills ;
the primaries tapering, the second longest, the first a little
shorter than the third ; the inner secondaries elongated. Tail
graduated, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.

The species of this genus belong to the Old Continent
and New Holland. Although the bill of (Edicnemus longi-
rostris is so much larger than that of CEdicnemus crepitans,
and the colours of the plumage are very different, it is not
apparently expedient to separate these species ; and therefore
I have had an eye upon it in drawing up the above generic
character. The (Edicnemi, it would appear, frequent arid
wastes and dry pastures and heaths ; feed on insects, reptiles,
and even small mammalia, probably also on vegetable sub-
stances, especially bulbous roots. One species occurs in
many parts of Europe, and visits the eastern parts of England
in summer.

(EDICNEMUS CREPITANS. THE STONE
THICK-KNEE.

GREAT PLOVER. COMMON THICK-KNEE. NORFOLK PLOVER. STONE PLOVER.
STONE CURLEW. THICK-KNEED BUSTARD.

Bill yellow at the base, black at the end ; feet yellow,
claws brown ; plumage of the upper parts light yellowish-red
tinged with grey, longitudinally streaked with blackish-brown ;
anterior smaller wing-coverts cream-coloured ; tips of secon-
dary quills white; primaries black, the outer two xoith a large
white patch about the middle; tail-feathers variegated, except
the two middle tipped with black; a band over the eye, loral
space, and an elongated band under the eye, whitish, then a
light brown band streaked with dusky ; fore part and sides of
neck and breast light yellowish-red streaked with dusky;
throat, middle of the breast, and abdomen white, lower tail-
coverts yellowish-white.

Charadrius (Edicnemus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 255.

Otis (Edicnemus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 661.

Thick-kneed Bustard. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

(Edicneme criard. (Edicnemus crepitans. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. II. 523.

Oidicnemus crepitans. Common Thick-knee. Flem. Brit. Anim. 114.

Common Thick-knee, ffidicnemus crepitans. Selhy, Illustr. Brit. Ornith.

I. 250.
OZdicneinus crepitans. Common Thick-knee. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim.

177.
(Edicnemus crepitans. Bonap. Comp. List, 45.

Male in Summer. — This bird, which is about the size of
the Whimbrel, but proportionally stouter, has the body rather
full, the neck of moderate length, the head rather large,

78 (EDICNEMUS CREPITANS.

compressed, and much rounded above. The bill is much
shorter than the head, stout, straight, as broad as high at the
base, compressed toward the end, pointed ; the upper man-
dible with the dorsal line straight, for half its length, then
gently deflected, the ridge convex, gradually narrowed, the
sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip rather
acute ; the nasal sinus large and covered with a bare mem-
brane ; the lower mandible with the outline of the crura
straight, a little deflected toward their junction, the dorsal
line ascending and somewhat convex, the edges inflected, the
tip acute.

The nostrils medial, linear, in the lower edge of the
membrane. The eyes large, as is the aperture of the ears.
The legs are long and slender ; the tibia bare for a third of
its length, and reticulate ; the tarsus compressed, covered
with hexagonal scales ; the toes short, scutellate, the middle
toe with twenty-five scutella, the outer much longer than
the inner, and connected with the third by a basal mem-
brane, which margins both nearly to the end. The claws
are small, compressed, slightly arched, rather acute.

The plumage is moderately full, soft, blended, on the
upper parts rather compact ; the feathers of the head and
neck small, ovato-oblong, of the other parts broad and
rounded. The wings are long and broad, of twenty-five
quills ; the primaries tapering, the second longest, and ex-
ceeding the first by a quarter of an inch ; the inner secon-
daries elongated. The tail is rather short, much rounded or
graduated, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.

The bill from the base to the middle is greenish-yellow, to
the end black. The iris yellow, the bare space around and
behind the eye greenish-yellow. The feet are yellow, the
claws blackish-brown. The upper part of the head and the
hind neck are light yellowish-brown, streaked with black.
On the back and wings, the feathers are light brownish-
yellow, each with a medial brownish-black streak. The
primary quills are black, the first and second with a large
white patch beyond the middle ; the secondary coverts termi-
nally margined with yellowish-white ; the smaller coverts at
the anterior edge of the humerus brownish-white. The tail-

STONE THICK-KNEE. 79

feathers mottled with brown and pale reddish-yellow, with
more or less white toward the end, and the tips black, unless
on the two middle feathers. The loral space, and a band
below the eye, white ; below this band is another of brownish-
red, finely streaked with dusky ; the throat white, the fore
part and sides of the neck light reddish-yellow, streaked with
dusky, as are the sides and part of the breast ; the rest of
the lower parts white, with slender streaks ; the feathers
under the tail yellowish-white.

Length to end of tail 11 j ; extent of wings 29 ; wing
from flexure 9-j-f; tail 3f ; bill along the ridge ljV, along
the edge of lower mandible l\% ■ Dare part of tibia 1 ; tarsus
3^; inner toe i-jf, its claw -fa; middle toe 1-^, its claw -j^;
outer toe 1, its claw ^-.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — The Stone Thick -knee, which has an extended
geographical distribution, having been found in various parts
of Africa, Asia, and the southern countries of Europe, where
it appears to be in part stationary, visits the middle and
western districts of the latter continent annually, and appears
in England about the beginning of April, sometimes later,
but occasionally much earlier. In Britain it does not spread
to so great an extent as might be expected from its wide
range, but is principally confined to the southern and eastern
counties of England, and is said to be especially abundant
in Norfolk, on which account one of its most popular names
is that of Norfolk Plover. To the northward it has not
been observed beyond Yorkshire, and I am not aware of its
having been met with in any part of Scotland even as a
straggler, although both the Bustards have been seen there.
It is not quite a stranger to Ireland, however, as is shewn by
Mr. Thompson, in his very interesting work on the Birds of
that country. Its mode of life resembles that of the birds
just named, as well as of the larger Plovers, insomuch that
it has by some been considered a Bustard, and by others a
Plover. It frequents waste lands, commons, rabbit-warrens,
heaths, and large cultivated fields, keeping at first in small

SO (EDICNEMUS CREPITANS.

flocks, -which soon separate, when the different pairs make
arrangements for the increase of the tribe. The nest is u
slight hollow in an exposed place, on the bare ground or
turf, or among gravel or pebbles. The eggs, generally two,
are ovate, two inches in length, an inch and a half in breadth,
greyish-yellow, or pale greyish-brown, spotted, dotted, and
streaked with dark -brown and purplish-grey. In form and
colour they more nearly resemble those of the Oyster-catcher
than of any other British bird. The young, covered with
greyish down clouded with brown, run immediately after
birth, and conceal themselves by sitting close on the ground.
This bird is shy and suspicious, seldom allowing one to
approach within shooting distance. It runs with great
rapidity, and has a strong, quick flight, performed by regular
beats of its expanded wings. Its cry is a loud clear whistle,
somewhat like that of the Golden Plover, and may often be
heard at night by those intruding on its haunts. The great
size of its eyes seems to adapt it for seeking its food in the
dusk and by moonlight, in which respect it resembles the
plovers. Insects of various kinds, especially coleoptera, snails,
slugs, and worms, are the objects on which it principally
subsists ; but it is said also to devour reptiles and small
quadrupeds. After the breeding season, they collect into
small flocks, and in the end of October take their departure.
Mr. Salmon, in his Notice respecting the arrival of Mi-
gratory Birds in the neighbourhood of Thetford in Norfolk,
{Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. ix. p. 520), gives the following
account of the present species: — "The Norfolk Plover,
(Edicnemus crepitans Temm., is very numerously distributed
over all our warrens and fallow lands, during the breeding
season, which commences about the second week in April ;
the female depositing her pair of eggs upon the bare ground,
without any nest whatever. It is generally supposed that
the males take no part in the labour of incubation : this, I
suspect, is not the case. Wishing to procure for a friend a
few specimens in their breeding plumage, I employed a boy
to take them for me. This he did by ensnaring them on the
nest ; and the result was, that all those he caught during
the day proved, upon dissection, to be males. They assemble

STONE THICK-KNEE. 81

in flocks previously to their departure, which is usually by
the end of October ; but, should the weather continue open,
a few will remain to a much later period. I started one as
late as the 9th of December, in the winter of 1834."

The following account of the habits of this bird, as ob-
served in France, will serve to render its history somewhat
complete : — " The Great Plover, commonly called the Land
Curlew, is the bird that is heard in the country, in the
evening, in summer and the beginning of autumn, and which
seems incessantly to repeat the word courlis, or rather tarlui,
beginning its cries at sunset, and continuing them all night.
This bird is of the Plover genus, and has no other relation
to the Curlews than the cry which it utters, and which has
obtained for it the name of Land Curlew. This large plover
is of the size of a chicken that has attained half its growth,
and measures sixteen inches in length, twenty-six inches and
a half in extent of wings. The Land Curlews or Great
Plovers arrive pretty early in spring. They settle on the
dry grounds, filled with stones, among fallows and stubbles,
preferring low hills and sloping fields. Crickets, grass-
hoppers, and other insects form part of their food. During
the day these birds keep themselves concealed and couched
on the ground ; but at sunset they put themselves in action,
and are then heard to commence their cries, which they do
not cease to repeat during the fine summer nights. When
surprised they run with extreme speed ; their flight is low,
and not very long ; they are very wild birds, not easily made
up to. The female lays two, or at most three eggs, in the
midst of pebbles or gravel, in some depression of the ground,
or some hollow which these birds have formed by scraping.
It is said that they sometimes have two broods in the year,
that incubation continues for a month, and that the growth
of the feathers is slow in the young. In fact they are
nearly full-grown before they can fly, their wing-feathers
not having yet sprouted ; but they run in this state with
great lightness ; and at this age appear as stupid as
timid. In November the Land Curlews set out on their
journey to warmer climates, and it appears that even in
summer they do not advance far northward. As an article

G

82 (EDICNEMUS CREPITANS.

of food, their flesh is held in moderate estimation." — Val-
mont Bomare.

Young. — According to M. Temminck, " the young have
the colours less decided, and are distinguished at once by the
very enlarged form of the upper part of the tarsus, and the
great size of the joint which corresponds to the knee in
quadrupeds. This form of the tarsus is peculiar to the
young of the year of all the species of birds that have long
slender legs, but is particularly remarkable in the young
CEdicnemes."

Remarks. — What M. Temminck considers to be the knee
is, correctly speaking, the ancle. The generic name Thick-
knee is therefore erroneous; but as Thick-ancle, the true
name, sounds strangely, and is more applicable to a Pelican
or Penguin, I must leave matters in this respect as I have
found them.

83

PLUVIALIS. PLOVER.

It having been considered necessary to break up the
Linneean genus Charadrius, which, constituted as it was,
would now contain a vast number of species, differing in
many respects from each other, almost every succeeding
author who has treated of the group has proposed an arrange-
ment of his own. To explain all the variations thus intro-
duced, would be to enter into details probably not intelligible
to every reader. I shall therefore confine myself to a few
remarks. If we take our common Golden Plover, Chara-
drius Pluvialis of Linnaeus, as typical, and place around it
the species which are most nearly allied, we should first
select Charadrius marmoratus of Wagler, and, with little less
hesitation, Tringa helvetica of Linnaeus, which, although
having a stouter bill, and a mockery of a hind toe, is ex-
tremely similar. These birds have the bill nearly as long as
the head, the wings acuminate, the tail short and nearly
even, the plumage mottled, and the feet rather long. Chara-
drius Morinellus, which comes very near to them, differs in
having the inner secondaries more elongated, and the plumage
coloured in masses, bands, and streaks. Charadrius Hiati-
cula, semipalmatus, melodus, Cantianus, minor, and Wilsonii,
form a group very intimately allied in form and colouring,
smaller than the Golden Plover, with shorter neck and legs,
and longer and more rounded tail. One has the bill slender
and but half the length of the head, in another it is very
stout, and as long as the head ; the tail in one is short, in
another long, and in a third intermediate. If we take such
characters as distinctive of genera, we shall scarcely find
three species agreeing together. Then come birds similar in
form to a great extent, but yet differing, some having mem-
branous wattles at the base of the bill, one with a bill as

84 PLUVIALIS. PLOVER.

stout as a Heron's, another with long spurs on its wings,
some with scutella on the tarsus, and some with scales only,
some with four toes even, the wings and tail also varying.
Now, we cannot reasonably group all these birds into a
single genus, as Wagler has done ; nor, on the other hand,
can we take very minute characters of which to form genera,
otherwise, in most cases, each species will constitute a genus.
But, acting upon the principle of associating species evidently
related, so as to form groups of moderate extent, and capable
of being intelligibly defined, we may, taking the first species
described by Linnaeus, Charadrius Hiaticula, and adding to
it all those allied in form, colours, and habits, constitute a
genus, to which some give the name iEgialites, proposed by
Brehm, others Hiaticula. Those larger species, with mottled
or streaked plumage, somewhat longer legs and neck, in-
cluding the Golden Plover, may form a genus to which we
might leave the Linnaean name Charadrius, though we should
prefer that of Pluvialis, employed by Brisson, Ray, and many
other writers. The still larger birds with longer and stouter
legs, broader wings, rounder heads, and stronger bills, have
by most recent authors been referred to the genus (Edic-
nemus.

The Plovers, thus restricted, form a genus of moderate
extent, and of which three species occur in Britain. They
are all of rather small size, with the body ovate and rather
full ; the neck of moderate length ; the head rather small,
roundish, somewhat compressed, and much rounded above.

Bill nearly as long as the head, straight, rather slender,
compressed; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight
and slightly decimate for two-thirds of its length, then
bulging a little, or arcuate to the end, the nasal groove long
and rather wide, the edges slightly inflected, the tip narrow,
but rather obtuse ; lower mandible with the angle rather
long and narrow, the dorsal line ascending and slightly
convex, the sides concave at the base, convex toward the
end, the edges inflected, the tip narrow, but rather blunt ;
the gape-lino straight. Mouth very narrow, as is the palate,
on which are two longitudinal ridges, and anteriorly a double
series of large papillae. Tongue rather long, very narrow,

PLUVIALIS. PLOVER. 85

emarginate and papillate at the base, deeply channelled
above, sub-trigonal, pointed. (Esophagus narrow, without
dilatation ; proventriculus small, with a belt of oblong glan-
dules. Stomach a rather large muscular gizzard, of an ellip-
tical compressed form, with strong lateral muscles, radiated
tendons, and dense longitudinally rugous epithelium. In-
testine long, and narrow ; cceca small, cylindrical, and very
narrow.

Nostrils small, linear, pervious, sub-basal, near the
margin. Eyes large and full ; both eyelids densely feathered.
Aperture of ear rather large, roundish. Feet of moderate
length, very slender ; the tibia long, bare for nearly a fourth ;
tarsus of ordinary length, anteriorly and laterally covered
with numerous hexagonal scales. Toes rather short and
slender, three before, in one instance a rudimentary hind
toe, the third and fourth connected at the base by a web, all
margined and with numerous narrow scutella. Claws rather
short, compressed, slightly arched, slender, obtuse.

Plumage ordinary, close, rather blended ; feathers oblong.
Wings long and pointed, of twenty-five quills ; the primaries
tapering, the first longest, the rest rapidly diminishing ; the
outer secondaries short, incurved, and obliquely rounded, the
inner tapering and much elongated. Tail straight, slightly
arched at the base, rather broad, nearly even, of twelve
feathers, of which the two middle are somewhat pointed.

The species of this genus are very widely distributed, and
one of them is common to both continents. They form large
flocks after the breeding season, and generally betake them-
selves in cold weather to the shores of the sea or their
vicinity. They run with celerity, have a rapid flight, and
emit a loud shrill whistle, sometimes modulated. Their food
consists of coleopterous and other insects, worms, mollusca,
small Crustacea, and sometimes berries. The nest is a slight
hollow in the ground ; the eggs four, pyriform, extremely
large, and spotted or clouded. The young run about imme-
diately after birth, and conceal themselves by squatting.
The flesh of these birds is excellent, and their eggs delicious.
One species is very common in Britain, another breeds there
in small numbers, and the third is a winter visitant.

86

PLUVIALIS SQUATAROLA. THE GREY PLOVER.

BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. GREY SANDPIPER. BULL-HEAD.

Tringa Squatarola. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 252. Adult in winter.

Trmga helvetica. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 250. Adult in summer.

Tringa Squatarola. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 729. Adult in winter.

Tringa helvetica. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II 718. Adult in summer.

Grey Sandpiper. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Vanneau Pluvier. Vanellus melanogaster. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 547.

Squatarola cinerea. Flem. Brit. Anim. 111.

Bastard or Grey Plover. Squatarola cinerea. Selb. Illust. Brit. Ornith.

II. 227-
Vanellus griseus. Gray Plover. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 181.
Squatarola Helvetica. Bonap. Comp. List, 46.

Bill rather stout, nearly as long as the head ; a very
diminutive hind toe. In tvinter, the upper parts blackish-
grey, spotted with xchite ; the cheeks, neck, breast, and sides

GREY PLOVER. 87

greyish-white, streaked with greyish-brown ; the axillar
feathers greyish-black. In summer, the upper parts black,
spotted ivith white/ the fore-neck, breast, and sides black;
the forehead, a line over the eye, the abdomen, and legs white.
Young dusky-grey above, spotted with white and yellow,
greyish-white beneath, the fore-neck and sides streaked with
brownish-grey.

Male in Winter. — The similarity of the Grey and
Golden Plovers is not less striking than that of the Golden
Plover and the exotic species named marmorata. The Grey
is considerably larger then the Golden, but has the same
proportions, is coloured in the same manner, and undergoes
the same seasonal changes. It has a stouter bill, however,
and is furnished with an insignificant hind toe. These
trifling differences some have held sufficient to constitute a
genus, which they have named Squatarola, while others,
overlooking the differently formed wing, have referred it to
the genus Vanellus. The body is ovate and moderately full ;
the head of ordinary size, roundish, somewhat compressed,
with the forehead rounded. The bill is almost as long as the
head, straight, compressed, rather stout ; the upper mandible
with the dorsal line straight and slightly declinate for more
than half its length, then convex, the ridge convex, the nasal
groove extending beyond the middle, the edges sharp and
direct, the tip narrow but obtuse ; the lower mandible with
the angle narrow, the outline of the crura slightly concave,
the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the edges
sharp and direct, involute toward the tip, which is rather
acute ; the gape-line straight.

The mouth narrow ; the palate with a double row of
papillae anteriorly. The tongue is an inch in length, slender,
emarginate and papillate at the base, grooved above, tapering
to a thin horny point. The oesophagus is five inches and a
quarter in length, about half-an-inch in width ; the proven-
triculus eight-twelfths broad, its glandules oblong, forming a
belt eight-twelfths in breadth. The stomach is a strong
gizzard, of an irregular roundish form, an inch and a quarter
in breadth, with thick lateral muscles, large radiating ten-

83 PLUVIALIS SQUATAROLA.

dons, and dense, thin, longitudinally rugous epithelium. The
intestine is twenty-eight inches in length, from three-twelfths
to two-twelfths in width ; the coeca two inches and a quarter
in length, their greatest width two-twelfths ; the rectum two
inches and a half in length.

The nostrils are linear-ohlong, narrower before, three-
twelfths of an inch long. The eyes large, their aperture
three and a half twelfths in diameter. That of the ear three-
twelfths. The feet are of moderate length, slender ; the
tibia bare for three-fourths of an inch ; the tarsus roundish,
covered with hexagonal scales, and thus differing from that
of the Lapwings. There is an exceedingly diminutive hind
toe, with five scutella, and a minute claw. The fore toes are
connected by membranes of considerable extent, the outer
extending as far as the second joint ; the inner toe a little
shorter than the outer, and with sixteen scutella, the middle
toe with thirty, the fourth with twenty-six. The claws are
small, slightly arched, slender, and rather acute ; that of the
hind toe more curved, and so small as scarcely to be observed.

The plumage is close, soft, blended, and slightly glossed ;
the feathers broad and rounded. The wings are long and
pointed, with twenty-six quills ; the primaries tapering and
narrow, the first longest, the second little shorter, the rest
rapidly decreasing; the outer secondaries short, broad,
obliquely rounded, and incurved, the inner elongated and
tapering. The tail is rather short, and slightly rounded, of
twelve rounded feathers.

The bill is black ; the iris dusky ; the feet greyish-black.
The upper parts are blackish-grey, variegated with very
numerous white spots, arranged along the margins of the
feathers, those on the rump tinged with yellow. The upper
tail-coverts are white, with some dusky bars towards the
end ; and the tail is barred with dusky and white, the greater
part of the inner webs of the four lateral feathers being of the
latter colour. The primary quills and their coverts are
chocolate-brown, slightly margined at the end, and inter-
nally, with greyish-white ; the shafts of the primaries white
toward the end ; the outer secondaries similar, white at the
base, that colour enlarging inwards ; the elongated inner

GREY PLOVER. 89

secondaries like the feathers of the hack. The sides of the
head, the neck all round, the breast and sides of the body
greyish-white, streaked with brownish-grey ; the abdomen,
lower tail-coverts, and tibial feathers white. The lower
wing-coverts are also white, the larger greyish-white ; but
the axillar are greyish-black.

Length to end of tail llj^- inches; extent of wings 25 ;
wing from flexure 7-fj ; tail 3^ ; bill along the ridge 1-^,
along the edge of lower mandible 1^; bare part of tibia f ;
tarsus 1^4-; first toe -fj, its claw -^; second toe ^4-, its
claw y^j third toe 1-fj, its claw -yV; fourth toe \^, its
claw -^

Female in Winter. — The female is similar to the male,
but smaller.

Length to end of tail 11^ inches ; extent of wings 23f ;
wing from flexure 7^; tail 3j4¥; bill along the ridge ljV,
along the edge of lower mandible lfe; tarsus ljV; middle
toe and claw lj40.

Variations. — Individuals vary considerably in size, and
more especially in the thickness of the bill, which is some-
times very remarkable. Many of the spots on the back and
wings are often yellow, of as bright a tint as in the Golden
Plover.

Changes of Plumage. — In spring a partial moult takes
place, in consequence of which the lower parts become black.
The general moult happens in autumn, and is not completed
until November.

Male in Summer. — Not having met with a specimen
killed in Britain in its complete summer plumage, I have
recourse to one shot at " Igloolik, 23rd June, 1823." The
bill and feet are black. The upper part of the head, the
occiput, and the back part of the neck above, are ash-grey,
mottled with pale brown. The lower part of the neck, the
back, the scapulars, and the wing-coverts, are transverely
spotted with white and brownish-black, with irregular patches

90 PLUVIALIS SQUATAROLA.

of pale yellowish-brown, the end of all the feathers white,
and the middle generally dark. The primaries are liver-
brown, the shafts more or less white, all except the outer
four marked with white on the middle and outer webs
towards the base ; the inner Avebs of all white, unless toward
the end. The secondaries are brownish-grey, tipped with
white ; the inner pale yellowish-brown, with alternate spots
of white and black along the edge. The upper tail-coverts
are white, with a few brown marks. The tail-feathers barred
with white and dark brown, the latter diminishing laterally,
so that the extreme feathers are nearly white. The forehead
and a line extending from thence along the side of the neck
and breast, to the axillaries, white. The lower surface of
the wings, the tibiae, the abdomen, and the lower tail-coverts,
pure white ; the immediate tail-coverts with a few brown
spots near the tips. The rest of the lower surface, that is,
the throat, neck, breast, axillaries, and anterior part of the
abdomen, brownish-black.

Length to end of tail 12 inches ; bill along the ridge 1^;
tarsus If; middle toe 1-g-, its claw j42.

Female in Summer. — The female has the colours lighter.
There is more pale yellowish-brown on the upper surface,
less brownish-black ; the ends of the feathers, instead of
being white, are ash-grey ; the lateral white line along the
neck is sprinkled with brown ; the throat is mixed with
Avhite ; the brownish-black of the breast is lighter, and mixed
with white ; the axillaries only being as dark as in the male.

Length to end of tail II5- inches; bill 1^; tarsus If;
middle toe 1-g-.

Habits. — The Grey Plover, which is pretty generally
distributed on the Continent of Europe, and is plentiful in
some parts of North America, seems to be with us merely
an annual visitor, appearing in small flocks in autumn and
spring, chiefly along the coast, where it frequents the muddy
and sandy beaches, which it searches in the manner of the
Golden Plover and Ringed Sand Plover, for worms, insects,
and small marine animals. Many individuals remain all

GREY PLOVER. 91

winter with us. Thus I have obtained specimens in December
and January, as well as in spring. In that season, however,
it seems to be more numerous in England than in Scotland,
although nowhere common. Mr. Yarrell says he has " occa-
sionally obtained a specimen in the London market in the
full black plumage at the end of May ;" Mr. Selby , too, has
sometimes met with one or two on the Fern Islands in June,
but could never detect any of their young ; and Dr. Fleming
says he has " reason to believe that it breeds in the high
grounds of the Mearns." I have not been able to find any
evidence of its breeding there, or in any part of Aberdeen-
shire; though it visits the coasts of the latter county in
autumn.

From the polar regions it extends to Japan, and even to
New Guinea and Java. It has been found in Bengal and at
the Cape of Good Hope, as well as in Egypt, Italy, Spain,
France, Holland, Germany, and Russia. It is remarkable
that the individuals which reside in the wanner climates
appear to retain the same colours in summer as in winter.
M. Temminck says, " those which come from the Isles of
Sunda and New Guinea are generally much smaller, and,
although received in great number and killed at different
periods of the year, there has not come to us a single indi-
vidual clothed in the beautiful summer plumage ; all bearing
the winter livery, precisely similar to that of our individuals
killed in Europe." Perhaps these small-sized individuals
may be of a distinct species, those analogous supposed indi-
viduals of the Golden Plover having been found to be spe-
cifically different. I have a specimen of the Grey Plover in
winter plumage from Bengal, but it is fully equal to our
northern individuals. In America, the species is also widely
dispersed. Dr. Richardson remarks that " it breeds in open
grounds from Pennsylvania to the northern extremity of the
continent ;" Mr. Audubon, who traced it from the Gulf of
Mexico to Labrador, states that in winter most of the mi-
grating individuals pass southward beyond the limits of the
United States ; but that some spend the summer months in
the mountainous parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Con-
necticut, where they breed. " The nest is merely a slight

92 PLUVIALIS SQUATAROLA.

hollow, with a few blades of grass. The eggs are four, an
inch and /Seven-and-a-half-eighths in length, an inch and
three-eighths in their greatest breadth ; their ground colour
yellowish-white, tinged with olivaceous, and pretty generally
covered with blotches and dots of light brown and pale
purple, the markings being more abundant toward the small
end. When sitting these birds will remain until they are
almost trodden upon. On being started, they fly off a few
yards, alight running, and use all the artifices employed on
such occasions to induce the intruder to set out in pursuit.
The young leave the nest almost immediately after they are
hatched, and when two or three weeks old, run with great
celerity, and squat in perfect silence when apprehensive of
danger. When they are able to fly, several families unite,
and betake themselves to the sea-shore, where other flocks
gradually arrive, until, at length, on the approach of cold
weather, almost all of them begin to move southward. In
their habits they are more maritime than the Golden Plovers,
which, when migrating, generally advance over the land.
The flight of this bird is swift, strong, and well sustained.
When roaming over large sand-bars, they move in compact
bodies, whirling round, and suddenly veering, so as alter-
nately to exhibit their upper and lower parts. At this time
old and young are intermixed, and many of the former have
lost the black so conspicuous on the neck and breast in
summer. During winter, or as long as they frequent the
sea-shore, they feed on marine insects, worms, and small
shell-fish ; and when they are in the interior, on grasshoppers
and other insects, as well as berries of various kinds, on
which they fatten so as to become tolerably good eating. This
species is known in Pennsylvania by the name of Whistling
Field Plover, suggested by the loud and modulated cries
which it emits during the love season."

Young. — When about a week old, Mr. Audubon has
represented the young as having the bill and feet dull
greenish-brown ; the iris brown ; the general colour of the
downy covering pale brownish-yellow, mottled with dusky ;
a whitish ring round the eye ; the tail with a black band,

GREY PLOVER. 93

the rump whitish, the primary quills dusky, the outer edges
of the secondaries -whitish. When fledged, he says the bill
is greyish-black, the feet bluish-grey; the upper parts
brownish-black, spotted with white, some of the spots
yellow ; the wings and tail as in the adult, but the latter
tinged with grey, and having eight dark bars on all the
feathers ; the fore part and sides of the neck, and the sides
of the body, greyish-white, mottled with brownish-grey ;
the axillary feathers brownish-black ; the rest of the lower
parts white.

Remarks. — By more recent writers this bird is variously
named Squatarola cinerea, Squatarola grisea, Vanellus mela-
nogaster, and Vanellus griseus. But Squatarola, being a
barbarous name, is scarcely admissible. Moreover the bird
is a Plover, in despite of its rudimentary hind toe. As to
Vanellus, it can be referred to that genus only by those who
consider a hind toe as its most essential characteristic, and
overlook the reticulation of the tarsus, and the different form
of the wing. In naming it Pluvialis Squatarola I have in-
vented nothing, the former being the old generic name
appplied to the group to which it belongs, and the latter
being the specific appellation used by Linnaeus and others.
Literally translated, Pluvialis is Plover, and thus the nomen-
clature is so far perfect. Is it not strange that they who
make it a Squatarola in mongrel Latin, should call it a
Plover in plain English, thus giving it the same generic
name that they apply to birds of what they tell us is quite a
different genus ?

In another individual, a male, examined in Edinburgh,
in January, 1841, the measurement of the digestive organs
were as follows : — Tongue ten-twelfths long; oesophagus four
inches and a half; belt of glandules ten-twelfths; stomach
an inch and five-twelfths long, an inch and two-twelfths in
breadth ; intestine two feet eleven inches in length ; cceca
three inches and a quarter ; rectum two inches. The stomach
was moderately distended with slender blades of green ulvse,
among which were a few small • univalve shells and some
bits of quartz.

94

PLUVIALIS AUREA. THE GOLDEN PLOVER.

YELLOW PLOVER. WHISTLING PLOVER, GREY PLOVER. FEADAG.

Charadrius Pluvialis. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 254.

Charadrius apricarius. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 254.

Charadrius Pluvialis. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 740. Adult in winter.

Charadrius apricarius. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 742. Adult in summer.

Golden Plover. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Pluvier dore. Charadrius Pluvialis. Temni. Man. d'Orn. II. 535.

Charadrius Pluvialis. Green Plover. Flem. Brit. Anim. 113.

Golden Plover. Charadrius Pluvialis. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 231.

Charadrius pluvialis. Golden Plover. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 177.

Charadrius Pluvialis. Bonap. Comp. List, 45.

In winter, the upper parts brownish-black, spotted with
yellow, the cheeks, neck, and fore part of the breast greyish,
variegated with brown; the throat and abdomen white, as are
the axillar feathers. In summer, the upper parts black,
spotted with bright yellow; the fore neck and breast black;
the forehead, a line over the eye, a band bordering the back
of the lower parts, and the lower tail-coverts white.

GOLDEN PLOVER. 95

Male.— The Golden Plover is one of the most beautiful
and probably the best known species of its family. In size
it is inferior to the Lapwing, which it resembles in form, its
body being ovate and rather full, its head of moderate size,
oblong, somewhat compressed, the forehead rounded. The
bill is shorter than the head, straight, compressed ; the upper
mandible with the dorsal line straight and slightly decimate
for two-thirds of its length, then convex, the sides sloping at
the base, convex toAvards the end, the edges soft and in-
clinate, the tip narrow and rather blunt ; the lower mandible
with the angle narrow, the dorsal line ascending and slightly
convex, the tip rather acute. The nasal groove is bare, and
extends along two-thirds of the length of the mandible.

The nostrils are linear, pervious, sub-basal, three-twelfths
of an inch long. The eyes are large, their aperture four-
and a-half-twelfths in diameter. That of the ear of moderate
size, being three-twelfths across. The feet are of moderate
length, slender ; the tibia bare for about half-an-inch ; the
tarsus of moderate length, rather compressed, covered all
round with hexagonal scales ; the inner toe considerably
shorter than the outer, with eighteen scutella ; the middle
toe with twenty-five; the outer with twenty. The claws are
small, slightly arched, compressed, slender, obtuse.

The plumage is soft, blended, slightly glossed ; the
feathers generally oblong and obtuse. The wings are long
and pointed ; the quills twenty- six ; the primaries tapering,
the first longest, the second a little shorter, the rest rapidly
graduated ; the outer secondaries are short, broad, obliquely
rounded, and inflected, the inner elongated and tapering.
The tail is rather short, and slightly rounded.

The bill is black ; the iris brown ; the feet bluish-grey.
The upper parts are brownish-black, variegated with very
numerous yellow spots arranged along the margins of the
feathers. The upper tail-coverts are barred with brown and
yellow; the tail-feathers greyish-brown, barred with yellowish-
white, the inner webs of the four lateral but faintly barred.
The wings are chocolate-brown, the smaller coverts, secon-
dary coverts, and inner secondaries spotted like the back ;
the primary coverts, primaries and outer secondaries plain,

96 PLUVIALIS AUHEA.

slightly tipped and margined with greyish- white, and the
shafts of the primaries white toward the end. The sides of
the head, the neck all round, breast and sides of the body
are light grey, spotted and streaked with brownish-grey ; the
throat, abdomen, and axillar feathers white.

Length to end of tail lOf inches ; extent of wings 22^ ;
wing from flexure 7^; tail 3j22; bill along the ridge 1, along
the edge of lower mandible lj22; tarsus lj82; inner toe j",
its claw ,42 ; middle toe 1 j22 , its claw E62 ; outer toe } | , its
claw j42.

Female. — The female is precisely similar to the male,
and is very little inferior in size.

Length to end of tail 10^ inches ; extent of wings 22 ;
wing from flexure 7 ^ ; tail S j20 ; bill along the ridge } ' ;
tarsus lj72; middle toe l,^, its claw

5
1 2*

Variations. — The deviations from the ordinary colouring
observable in the winter plumage are generally not very
remarkable. Individuals, however, sometimes occur that
have the brown and black tints pale, and the yellow nearly
white. I have seen one, an adult female, having no yellow
spots, all the markings being greyish-white. The late Mr.
Carfrae, preserver of animals in Edinburgh, had a very
beautiful cream-coloured specimen, faintly spotted with pale
yellow. Individuals variously patched with white are also
sometimes, though rarely, met with.

Change of Plumage. — The regular annual moult takes
place in September and October, and is generally completed
by the beginning of November. The partial moult com-
mences by the middle of February, and is completed by the
middle of May. In the outer Hebrides, where, in my youth,
I used to shoot a good deal on the moors, I observed that
the males had their black livery complete by Whitsunday,
— old style.

Male in Summer. — The upper part of the head, the fore
part of the back, and the scapulars, are beautifully variegated

GOLDEN PLOVER. 97

with brownish-black and bright yellow, as in winter ; the
hind part of the back, the upper tail-coverts, and the tail-
feathers, greyish-brown, variegated with paler yellow, the
lateral tail-feathers barred with white. The middle of the
fore-neck and breast is brownish-black, that colour bordered
with white ; the sides of the neck and body variegated with
greyish-yellow and brown; the forehead, a band over the
eye, the chin, the abdomen, white, as are the axillar feathers ;
the lower wing-coverts light grey ; the lower tail-coverts
white, with their outer webs and tips banded with brown
and yellow.

Female in Summer. — The female differs from the male
only in having less black on the lower parts.

Habits. — Many a time and oft, in the days of my youth,
when the cares of life were few, and the spirits expansile,
and often too in later years, when I have made a temporary
escape to the wilderness, to breathe an atmosphere untainted
by the effluvia of cities, and ponder in silence on the wonders
of creative power, have I stood on the high moor, and
listened to the mellow notes of the Plover, that seemed to
come from the grey slopes of the neighbouring hills. Except
the soft note of the Ring-Plover, I know none so pleasing
from the Grallatorial tribes. Amid the wild scenery of the
rugged hills and sedgy valleys, it comes gently and soothingly
on the ear, and you feel, without being altogether conscious
of its power, that it soothes the troubled mind, as water
cools the burning brow. How unlike the shriek of the
Heron — but why should we think of it, for it reminds us of
the cracked and creaking voice of some village beldame of
the Saxon race. The clear gentle tones of the Celtic maiden
could not be more pleasant to any one, or perhaps much
more welcome to her lover, than the summer note of the
Golden Plover to the lover of birds and of nature. As you
listen to it, now distant, now nearer, and near, and see the
birds with short flights approaching as if to greet you, though
in reality with more fear than confidence, with anxiety and
apprehension, the bright sunshine that glances on their

H

98 PLUVIALIS AUREA.

jetty breasts is faintly obscured by the white vapours that
have crept up from the western valley, and presently all
around us is suffused with an opaline light, into the confines
of which a bird is dimly seen to advance, then another, and
a third. Who could represent the scene on canvas or card ?
— a hollow hemisphere of white shining mist, on which are
depicted two dark human figures, their heads surrounded
with a radiant halo, and these black-breasted Golden Plovers,
magnified to twice their natural size, and gazing upon us,
each from its mossy tuft. It is as if two mortals had a con-
ference on the heath with three celestial messengers — and so
they have. Presently a breeze rolls awray the mist, and
discloses a number of those watchful sentinels, each on his
mound of faded moss, and all emitting their mellow cries the
moment wre offer to advance. They are males, whose mates
are brooding over their eggs, or leading their down-clad and
toddling chicks among the to them pleasant peat-bogs that
intervene between the high banks, clad with luxuriant heath,
not yet recovered from the effects of the winter frosts, and
little meadows of cotton-grass, white as the snow-wreaths
that lie on the distant hill. How prettily they run over the
grey moss and lichens, their little feet twinkling, and their
full bright and soft eyes gleaming, as they commence their
attempts to entice us away from their chosen retreats. In
the midst of them alight some tiny things, black -breasted
too, with reddish backs and black nebs, and neat pointed
wings, which they stretch right up, and then fold by their
sides. These are Plovers' Pages, which also have their nests
on the moor. The mist rolls slowly away, and is ascending
in downy flakes the steep side of the corry, whence comes
suddenly on the ear the loud scream of the Curlew, — pleasing
too, but to the deer startling. The fewer of these birds on
the moors after the 12th of August, the better for the deer-
stalker ; but that day is far distant. Three harts that lay
ruminating among the long heath, half-dosing, and flapping
away the flies with their long ears, start on their feet ; they
stretch their sinewy limbs, and curve up their backs, and,
having inspected us, and judged us not trustworthy, they
move off at a gentle pace, tossing their antlered heads, and

GOLDEN PLOVER. 99

pursue the retreating mist, in which they will presently
vanish from our sight. We have no guns, or pistols, and
need none. The lover of birds does not kill all he meets
with ; though there are those who profess to be in raptures
Avith Ornithology, and estimate their progress in it by the
extent of their lists of killed and wounded. But there are
all sorts of combinations in human nature, and some natu-
ralists are most murderous, while others are so gentle as to
grieve when they have heedlessly trampled on a mushroom.
We must now, however, descend from the hill, and essay a
plain narrative.

The Golden Plover is generally distributed over Britain
in the winter season, when it frequents the open plains and
ploughed fields so long as the weather remains mild, but
betakes itself to the sea-shore and its vicinity when there is
frost. In many parts of Scotland, but especially in the
Northern Highlands, and in the Hebrides, it is a very common
bird. When the weather begins to improve towards the end
of spring, the Plovers may be seen flying over the shores or
the fields in their neighbourhood, at a great height, in loose
flocks, which now extend into a wide front, now form
irregular angular lines, move with a quiet and regular flight,
frequently emitting their peculiar soft notes, and at times
uttering a singular cry, somewhat resembling the syllables
courlie-wee. These flocks are leaving their winter haunts,
and returning to the inland moors, over which they disperse
in pairs.

In the beginning of May, should you traverse one of the
dreary heaths, you will often hear the plaintive cry of the
Plover, mingling, perhaps, with the feeble cheep of the
Dunlin, or the loud scream of the Curlew. Before you have
advanced to any considerable distance, there may come up
and alight on some mossy knoll beside you, a male, clad in
his beautiful summer vesture of black and green. You may
approach him within ten paces if you are inclined, and in
some districts it would be easy for one to shoot many dozens
of them in a day at this season. After incubation has com-
menced, the females seldom make their appearance on such
occasions. Whether the males assist their mates at that

100 PLUVIALIS AUREA.

time or not, they certainly do not forsake them. The nest
is a slight hollow in a tuft of moss, or on a dry place among
the heath, irregularly strewed with fragments of withered
plants. The eggs, of which the full number is four, are
placed, as usual in this genus, with their small ends together.
They are much larger and more pointed than those of the
Lapwing, being on an average two inches and one-twelfth in
length, and an inch and five-twelfths in their greatest trans-
verse diameter. The shell is thin and smooth, of a light
greyish -yellow, or pale greenish-yellow, or cream colour,
irregularly spotted, dotted, and patched with dark brown,
and sometimes having a few light purple spots interspersed,
the markings larger toward the broadest part. The young
leave the nest immediately after they burst the shell, and
conceal themselves by lying flat on the ground. At this
period, the female evinces the greatest anxiety for their
safety, and will occasionally feign lameness to entice the
iutruder to pursue her. I have several times seen one fly off
to a considerable distance, alight in a conspicuous place, and
tumble about as if in the agonies of death, her wings flapping
as if they had been fractured or dislocated. The eggs are
delicious, and the young birds when fledged not less so.

"When the young are able to fly, the Plovers collect into
flocks, but remain on the moors until the commencement of
winter, when they advance towards the pasture lands, and
in severe weather betake themselves to the low grounds near
the shores. During continued frosts, they feed on the sands
and rocky shores at low water, and in general during the
winter remain at no great distance from the sea.

When a flock alights at this season on a field, the indi-
viduals disperse, run about with great activity, and pick up
their food. Sometimes one finds them so tame that he can
approach within fifteen yards, and I have often walked
round a flock several times in order to force them together
before shooting. In windy weather they often rest by lying
flat on the ground, and I have reason to think that at night
this is their general practice. In the Hebrides I have often
gone to shoot them by moonlight, when they seemed as
actively engaged as by day, which was also the case with

GOLDEN PLOVER. 101

the Snipes ; but I seldom succeeded in my object, it being
extremely difficult to estimate distances at night. The
numbers that at this season frequent the sandy pastures and
shores of the outer Hebrides is astonishing.

Although occasionally addicted to wading, the Golden
Plover evidently prefers dry ground, in which respect it
differs essentially in habits from the Totani and Limosae. It
frequently probes the moist sands, and in summer the cow-
dung on the moors and upland pastures is seen perforated
by its bill. In summer and autumn it lives on worms, larvse,
and insects ; in winter and spring chiefly on marine animals,
especially mollusca. It affords very delicate eating, being
scarcely inferior to the Woodcock, and is in prime condition
in September and October.

When searching for food in the pasture grounds, the
Plovers run about in a lively manner, pick up an object, a
worm, an insect, or a small helix, then perhaps stand still
and look around for a moment, and continue their occu-
pation. If disturbed they cease their pursuit, stand with
erected neck, and gaze upon the intruder. One here and
there stretches out his wings in a perpendicular direction,
another utters a loud mellow scream, when suddenly all fly
up, and wheel away, often rising to a great height, and per-
forming various evolutions before they alight again. Their
flight is beautiful, being direct, sedate, performed by regu-
larly-timed beats ;• the birds sometimes moving in a loose or
a dense body, sometimes in a straight or angular or undu-
lated line.

On the first frosty days it is pleasant to watch their
arrival from the moors, and see them disperse over the mari-
time pastures, where, as they are generally hungry, one may
frequently obtain several shots. But it is on the flat shores
and banks of the Hebrides, on the sands of Uist and Harris,
and the Reef of Berneray, that at this season one may be
sure of abundant sport. There thousands are often seen,
and there it is said upwards of twenty have been killed at a
shot. This is possible enough ; but for my own part, I have
been content with three, four, or five at a shot, and the
greatest number I ever killed was six. When a nock on

102 PLUVIALIS AUIIEA.

wing is fired at, all the birds come sweeping down toward
the ground, in a more or less abrupt curve, and then ascending
in a gentler SAveep resume their course. Frequently, also,
should some of them be killed, the rest will wheel round, and
come again within shot.

The Plovers of the Hebrides do not migrate : they merely
shift from the moors to the shores and back again. In the
mainland districts, they act in the same manner ; but their
flights are there more extended. On the Plain of Corstor-
phine, near Edinburgh, vast flocks are often seen in winter,
which have come from the interior, and in snowy weather
betake themselves to the shore at Cramond. Aberlady Bay
is also a favourite place of resort. Vast numbers are seen
on various parts of the Solway Frith ; and all these birds
probably remain during the winter.

In England, however, it would appear that the flocks
which occur in the southern counties, in winter, migrate far
northward in spring. Mr. Thompson says it " is common in
suitable localities throughout Ireland, and is permanently
resident." What the " natural enemies " of the Golden
Plover are I am unable to say, not having seen any animal
but man molest it. The Hooded Crow probably devours the
eggs and young, whenever he meets with them, and the
Raven would be equally unscrupulous. This, however, is
mere conjecture on my part. But Mr. St. John has seen the
Peregrine Falcon pursue and capture it. " In the plain
country near the sea-shore (in Morayshire) the Peregrine
frequently pursues the Peewits and other birds that frequent
the coast. The Golden Plover, too, is a favourite prey, and
affords the hawk a severe chase before he is caught. I have
seen a pursuit of this kind last for nearly ten minutes, the
Plover turning and doubling like a hare before a greyhound,
at one moment darting like an arrow into the air, high above
the Falcon's head ; at the next, sweeping round some bush
or headland — but in vain. The Hawk, with steady, relent-
less flight, without seeming to hurry herself, never gives up
the chase, till the poor Plover, seemingly quite exhausted,
slackens her pace, and is caught by the Hawk's talons in
mid-air, and carried off to a convenient hillock or stone to
be quietly devoured."

GOLDEN PLOVER. 103

Young. — The young are at first covered with a greyish
down, of which the tips are yellow. When fledged they are
brownish-black, spotted with bright yellow above, and in
other respects scarcely different from the adult birds in their
winter dress.

Remarks. — Many of the older writers, observant, not of
living birds, but of stuffed skins, considered the Golden
Plover in its summer vesture quite a different species from
itself in its winter coat ; but, as this and other mistakes of a
like nature have been clearly exposed by M. Temminck and
other writers, it is unnecessary to lay much stress upon them
here. The above description is entirely original, my oppor-
tunities of examining and observing the species having been
excellent. On referring to various writers, I find nothing of
any importance to add, excepting what refers to the distri-
bution of the species.

On the continent it is said to extend in summer from
Lapland to the southern parts of Europe, and in winter is
abundant in the latter. It is also found in various parts of
Asia, among others in Northern India ; and, it is said, in
the South Sea Islands. I have a specimen from Norway in
summer plumage, the black of the breast blacker and more
continuous than I have seen it in any British individuals.

The obstinacy with which people adhere to exploded
errors is really surprising. M. Lesson, in his ill-digested,
but yet useful, Manuel cV Ornithologie, informs us that the
" Pluvier dore a gorge noire, Charadrius apricarius, Gm., is
considered as a distinct species by some ornithologists, and
as the Golden Plover in its nuptial plumage, according to
some others, and particularly M. Temminck, who describes
it as the adult age of Charadrius pluvialis. What would
lead one to think that this Plover really forms a distinct
species is, that of the thousands of individuals which I have
seen in Saintonge, where the Golden Plovers are very
common, I have never met with a single individual that had
the plumage of the Apricarius."

104

PLUVIALIS MORINELLUS. THE DOTTEREL
PLOVER.

Charadrius Morinellus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 254.

Charadrius Morinellus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 747.

Dottrel. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Pluvier Guignard. Charadrius Morinellus. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 537.

Charadrius Morinellus. Dottrel. Flem. Brit. Anim. 113.

Dotterel. Charadrius Morinellus. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. I. 236.

Charadrius Morinellus. Dotterel Plover. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 178.

Eudromias Morinella. Bonap. Comp. List, 45.

Bill slender, considerably shorter than the head; inner
secondaries extremely elongated. In winter, the top of the
head dark brown, laterally margined with reddish-white ;
upper parts greenish-brown, the feathers edged with pale
red ; forehead and checks whitish, streaked with dusky ; fore-
neck brownish-grey ; a transverse band of white at its lower
part; breast brownish-red. In summer, the top of the head
broivnish-black, laterally margined with pure white, of which
colour are the forehead and cheeks; upper parts greyish-
brown, the feathers edged with red; fore-neck brownish-grey ;
a double transverse band, black and white, at its loiver part ;
breast bright red; part of abdomen black, Young with the
top of the head, and tipper paints of the body, dark brown,
edged with buff-orange ; forehead, band over the eyes, throat,
and sides of the face cream-yellow, streaked with greyish-
broivn ; sides of the neck and flanks buff -orange, streaked
tvith dusky ; breast pale reddish-grey, abdomen white.

Male in Summer. — This beautiful bird is considerably
smaller than the Golden Plover, which it clearly resembles
in form, but with the tail somewhat longer and more rounded,
and the inner secondaries extremely elongated. The body
is moderately full, the neck of ordinary length; the head

DOTTEREL PLOVER. 105

roundish, a little compressed, the forehead rounded. The
bill is short, slender, straight, sub-cylindrical; the upper
mandible with the dorsal line straight for two-thirds, then
convex and decimate, the ridge flattened at the base, the
edges a little involute toward the tip, which is rather sharp ;
the lower mandible with the outline of the crura short and
slightly concave, the dorsal line ascending and straight, the
edges sharp, involute toward the end, the tip rather sharp ; the
gape-line straight, the nasal groove extended to two-thirds.

The nostrils are linear, lateral, sub-basal, two-twelfths
and a half in length. The eyes large, their aperture nearly
three-twelfths. The legs are of moderate length, slender ;
the tibia bare for half-an-inch ; the tarsus slender, roundish,
covered all round with hexagonal scales ; the outer toe con-
nected at the base with the middle toe by a short membrane ;
the inner much shorter, with eighteen scutella, the next
with twenty-five, the outer with twenty-two ; all marginate,
and having the soles smoothish and flattened. The claws
are short, considerably curved, compressed, slender, bluntish.

The plumage is soft and rather blended; the feathers
oblong and obtuse, those of the head short. The wings are
long and acuminate ; the first quill longest, the second a
twelfth and a half shorter, the rest rapidly graduated ; the
outer secondaries incurved, obliquely rounded, and acumi-
nate ; one of the inner secondaries as long as the second
quill when the wing is closed. Tail of moderate length,
rounded.

The bill is bluish-black ; the iris brown ; the feet pale
brownish-green, the toes blackish-grey, the heel orange, the
claws black. The upper part of the head brownish-black ;
the feathers of the forehead margined with white ; a white
band extends from the lore, over the eye, to the occiput,
where it meets that of the other side ; the sides of the head
and the throat white, with some dusky specks ; the ear-
coverts and the neck all round pale greyish-brown. The
upper parts are pale greyish-brown, the feathers margined
with brownish-yellow ; the scapulars and inner secondaries
darker and shaded with green. The primary quills and
coverts are greyish-brown, the shaft of the first quill white ;

106 PLUVIALIS MORINELLUS.

the secondaries and their coverts light greyish-brown, the
outer margined and tipped with white. There is a broad
transverse band or half ring of white, at the junction of the
neck and breast, edged above with black, and beneath with
an interrupted narrower dusky band. The sides and fore
part of the breast are deep yellowish-red ; on its hind part
is a large patch of black ; the abdomen and loAver tail-coverts
yellowish- white. The tail-feathers are brownish-grey, toAvard
the end dark brown, glossed with green, excepting the two
middle tipped with white, the lateral more extensively, and
with its outer margin white.

Length to end of tail 10 inches ; extent of wings 19 ; wing
from flexure 6^ ; tail 2-|4; bill along the ridge -fV, along the
edge of lower mandible \^; tarsus 1^-; inner toe T7T, its
claw j32 ; middle toe -L2-, its claw TV; outer toe ^-, its claw* ^-.

Female. — The colours are similar to those of the male,
but paler. The top of the head is deep brown, streaked with
yellowish-white ; the yellowish-brown of the breast is mixed
with white feathers, and the deep brown of the hind part of
the breast is nearly supplanted by white. The lower surface
of the wings in both is pale grey.

Length to end of tail 9^ inches ; extent of wings 18^ ;
wing from flexure 6yV; tail 2yV; bill along the ridge -j^-;
tarsus 1^; inner toe -f^, its claw j\; middle toe -^V, its
claw -y^; outer toe yV, its claw -,3^.

Variations. — I have not observed any remarkable vari-
ations in adult birds, although I have examined a consider-
able number of individuals. The above descriptions are
taken from two fresh specimens shot near Edinburgh on the
19th of May, 1824, and compared with a pair obtained near
Haddington in July, 1835.

Habits. — The Dotterel makes its appearance in various
parts of England and Scotland, at two different seasons of
the year ; first, on its way northward, in April and May, and
again, on its return, in September and October. It does not
appear that individuals remain in this country after November.

DOTTEREL PLOVER. 107

In the south of England it generally arrives about the 20th
of April, in small flocks which pass over the midland and
eastern counties, some settling on the northern hills, espe-
cially those of Cumberland and Westmoreland ; others on
the Lammermoor Hills, and the western and middle Gram-
pians. During its sojourn in the southern districts, it fre-
quents the open downs and ploughed fields, where it searches
for worms and insects ; but for its breeding places it selects
the more elevated heaths.

In the parish of Towie, in Aberdeenshire, I met with a
very large flock on a low hill, on the 10th of September,
1821, and was assured by a gentleman residing at its foot
that they bred on the elevated moors every year. This flock
precisely resembled one of Golden Plovers immediately after
the breeding season. Not having been molested, the birds
merely ran along before us as we approached them. Several,
on being first roused, stretched up their wings, as is custo-
mary with all the birds of this group, and moved about in a
listless sort of way, seeming to entertain little apprehension
of danger. On being urged, they rose on wing, but presently
alighted in the neighbourhood. It is this insensibility to
danger which has procured for them the names of Dotterels
and Morinelli, or little fools. It has been alleged, too, that
by stupidly looking on, and imitating the gestures of the
fowler, they suffered themselves to be driven into the net ;
but this propensity to imitate is probably imaginary, although
it is certain that the bird often runs along with an out-
stretched wing, which might be supposed to be in imitation
of an elevated arm. When shot at they are said often to fly
around and over the birds that have been killed or wounded,
and to alight in the neighbourhood ; but after being harassed,
they become more wary, and fly to a distance. In unfre-
quented parts of Scotland, the Golden Plovers are scarcely
more suspicious, inasmuch that one may by walking round
a scattered flock drive them into a compact body, before
shooting, as I have myself often done.

The only good account of the habits of this bird, derived
from the author's own observation, is the following by T. C.
Heysham, Esq., published in the Magazine of Natural His-

108 PLUVIALIS MORIXELLUS.

tory, vol. ii. p. 295: — "In the neighbourhood of Carlisle
Dottrels seldom make their appearance before the middle of
May, about which time they are occasionally seen in different
localities, in flocks which vary in number from five to fifteen,
and almost invariably resort to heaths, barren pastures,
fallow grounds, &c, in open and exposed situations, where
they continue, if unmolested, from ten days to a fortnight,
and then retire to the mountains in the vicinity of the lakes
to breed. The most favourite breeding haunts of these birds
are always near to or on the summits of the highest moun-
tains, particularly those that are densely covered with the
woolly fringe moss (Trichostomum lanuginosum, Hedw.),
which indeed grows more or less profusely on nearly all the
most elevated parts of this alpine district. In these lonely
places they constantly reside the whole of the breeding
season, a considerable part of the time enveloped in clouds,
and almost daily drenched with rain or wetting mists, so
extremely prevalent in these dreary regions ; and there can
be little doubt that it is owing to this peculiar feature in
their economy, that they have remained so long in obscurity
during the period of incubation. The Dottrel is by no means
a solitary bird at this time, as a few pair usually associate
together, and live, to all appearance, in the greatest harmony.
These birds do not make any nest, but deposit their eggs,
which seldom exceed three in number, in a small cavity on
dry ground covered with vegetation, and generally near a
moderate-sized stone, or fragment of rock. In early seasons
old females will occasionally begin to lay their eggs about
the 26th of May, but the greater part seldom commence
before the first or second week in June. It would appear,
however, from the following facts, that they vary exceedingly
in this respect. On the 19th of July, 1833, a perfect egg
was taken out of a female, which had been recently killed
on Robinson ; and on the 26th of May, 1834, I received four
Dottrels from Keswick, which had been shot on Great Gavel
the day before. In the ovary of one of them I found an egg
almost quite ready for exclusion, being a difference of nearly
eight weeks. So great a discrepancy in all probability is of
very rare occurrence, yet it will subsequently appear that

DOTTEREL PLOVER. 109

eggs recently laid, and a young bird, a few days old, were
found on the same day, at no great distance from each other.
The males assist the females in the incubation of their egas.
How long incubation continues I have not yet been able to
ascertain, but I am inclined to think that it rarely lasts much
longer than eighteen or twenty days. A week or two previous
to their departure, they congregate in flocks, and continue
together until they finally leave this country, which takes
place sometimes during the latter end of August, at others,
not before the beginning of September. A few birds, no
doubt, are occasionally seen after this period, but they are
either late broods, or birds that are returning from more
northern latitudes. This autumn I visited several breeding
stations on the 25th of August, and again on the 2nd of
September, but in neither instance could I observe a single
individual.

" Anxious as I have been for several years past to procure
the eggs of the Dottrel, for the purpose of adding undoubted
specimens of so rare an egg to my cabinet, as well as to
prove beyond all doubt that this bird breeds in Cumberland,
yet it was not until the present year that I had the gratifi-
cation of accomplishing an object which I have had so long
in view. After repeated excursions through the lake dis-
trict, this summer, for the express purpose, I was so fortu-
nate as to obtain their eggs in two different localities,
namely, three on Whiteside, contiguous to Helvellyn, on the
29th of June ; and two on the 5th of July, on Robinson, in
the vicinity of Buttermere. The former had been incubated
twelve or fourteen days, the latter were only recently laid,
and in both instances the birds were seen to leave their eggs ;
one, on quitting them, immediately spread out its wings and
tail, which it trailed on the ground a short distance, and
then went away without uttering a single note. On this
day (5th July, 1835), a young bird, a few days old, was also
captured.

" Having spent a considerable portion of several days on
Robinson, in company with a very able assistant, searching
for the eggs of the Dottrel, I had, of course, ample oppor-
tunities of observing their manners ; and I flatter myself

110 PLUVIALIS MORINELLUS.

that the following particulars will be interesting to some of
my ornithological readers. On the 3rd of July we found
three or four pair near the most elevated part of this moun-
tain, and on all our visits thither, whether early in the
morning or late in the afternoon, the greater part were
always seen near the same place, sitting on the ground.
When first discovered, they permitted us to approach within
a short distance, without showing any symptoms of alarm ;
and frequently afterwards, when within a few paces, watching
their movements, some would move slowly about and pick
up an insect, others would remain motionless, now and then
stretching out their wings, and a few would occasionally toy
with each other, at the same time uttering a few low notes,
which had some resemblance to those of the common linnet,
Linaria cannabina. In short, they appeared to be so very
indifferent with regard to our presence, that at last my
assistant could not avoid exclaiming, ' What stupid birds
these are ! ' The female that had young, nevertheless
evinced considerable anxiety for their safety, whenever we
came near the place where they were concealed, and as long
as we remained in the vicinity, constantly flew to and fro
above us, uttering her note of alarm.

" As soon as the young birds were fully feathered, two
were killed for the purpose of examining their plumage in
this state ; and we found that after they had been fired at
once or twice, they became more wary, and eventually we
had some little difficulty in approaching sufficiently near to
effect our purpose. The moult appears to commence some-
what early in old birds ; a male that was killed on the 25th
of July was completely covered with pen-feathers, and the
belly, from incubation, almost entirely bare. The stomachs
I dissected were all filled with elytra and remains of small
coleopterous insects, which in all probability constitute their
principal food during the breeding season.

" These birds I understand are getting every year more
and more scarce in the neighbourhood of the lakes ; and
from the numbers that are annually killed by the anglers at
Keswick and the vicinity, (their feathers having long been
held in high estimation for dressing artificial flies,) it is

DOTTEREL PLOVER. Ill

extremely probable that in a few years they will become so
exceedingly rare, that specimens will be procured with con-
siderable difficulty." The author then gives the names and
elevations of the mountains on which they have been known
to breed, viz.: — " Hellvellyn, 3055; Whiteside; Whatson
Dod ; Great Dod ; Saddleback, 2787 ; Skiddaw, 3022 ; Car-
rock Fell, 2110 ; Grassmoor, 2756; Robinson, 2292; Gold
Scalp, 1114 ; Great Gavel, 2925 feet above the sea-level."

" All the eggs found on Whiteside and Robinson, were
very similar with respect to colour and markings, but differed
a little in size and formation, varying from 1-fo to 1^ of an
inch in length ; and in breadth from 1T^ to 1-^-; the ground
colour wine-yellow, varying a little in tint, and all thickly
covered with large blotches and spots of different shades of
brownish-black, particularly at the obtuse end." The fol-
lowing descriptions of the young are by the same observer.

Young. — " Description of a young Dottrel, a few days
old, captured alive on Robinson, July 5th, 1835. Front of
the head, throat, a bare space round the neck, and all the
under parts covered with a whitish down. Top of the head,
occiput, and all the upper parts of the body, dark brown,
mixed here and there with buff-orange, and whitish clown.
The few feathers that have made their appearance on the
breast, belly, and flanks, buff-orange, slightly spotted with
greyish-brown ; a few feathers on the back blackish-brown,
edged with reddish-white. Bill black. Irides very dark
brown. Legs and toes pale cinereous, slightly tinged with
green."

" Description of a young female, three weeks or a month
old, killed on Robinson, July 25th, 1835. Forehead, throat,
and sides of the face cream-yellow, covered with small spots
and fine streaks of greyish-brown. Crown of the head,
occiput, and also the feathers on the back, dark brown, all
more or less broadly edged with buff-orange. Scapulars and
wing-coverts olive-green, deeply edged with reddish-white.
Tail the same, finely margined with white, the centre feathers
broadly tipped with reddish-white, and the three lateral ones
on each side ending in a large irregular whitish spot. Sides

112 PLUVIALIS M0R1XELLUS.

of the nock, flanks, and a broad band above each eye, bnff-
orange, the former finely streaked with grejish-brown.
Breast cinereous, slightly tinged with reddish-white, and
marked on each side with large spots of olive-green. Belly
white, spotted here and there with greyish-brown. Bill
black. Irides dark brown. Legs pale olive-green, soles
bright yellow."

The following observations I transcribe from an unpub-
lished Fauna of Aberdeenshire and the neighbouring coun-
ties ; — " This beautiful bird arrives about the middle of May
in the upland tracts of the counties of Forfar, Kincardine,
Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray, and resides there until the end
of September, when it migrates southward. It has been
met with on many of the hills of this tract through the
summer, and great numbers have been killed in early
autumn by sportsmen engaged in grouse-shooting; but its
nest does not appear to have been found by any person
interested in the habits of birds. Dr. Irving, Old Aberdeen,
informs me that he has shot several specimens in August
and September on the moors near Tarland. According to
Mr. G. Anderson, Inverness, as stated in Mr. Gordon's
Fauna of Moray, it is ' frequently killed by sportsmen in
Strathdearn and Badenoch.' In autumn, when it has col-
lected into flocks, it is excessively fat, and so little appre-
hensive of danger that the flocks may be easily approached.
Toward the end of September, they betake themselves to
the lower grounds, and proceed southwards. But there is
also a migration from more northern countries, and flocks
pass northward in the end of spring. At both seasons they
have been met with along the coast, from Montrose to
Fraserburgh. The Rev. Mr. Smith says : — ' The Dotterel is
seen almost yearly, in its progress towards the north, on the
links, — as they are called, — which adjoin the Loch of
Strathbeg. In May, 1847, I accidentally fell in with a flock
upon a piece of ploughed land near to the Old Castle of
Federret, in New Deer. I am not aware that it is seen in
this quarter (the parish of Monquhitter) during the autumnal
migration. It has been shot on a rough piece of unenclosed
land near Macduff.' On the 8th of August, 1851, being on

DOTTEREL PLOVER. 113

the celebrated mountain of Lochnagar, in the upper part of
Aberdeenshire, I came upon a Dotterel, which flew from
among some stones, pretending lameness, and hovered
around, manifesting great anxiety. I shouted for two of my
companions, who had advanced, to come and see it, which
they did. Although it was evident the bird had a nest or
young ones, as it fluttered and limped when chased, we
failed in discovering its charge, and therefore left it. Mr.
M'Gregor, Achallader, and Mr. Gumming, Factor to Lord
Fife, informed me that though Dotterels still breed on the
higher hills in Braemar, they are less frequent now than
formerly, when they used to form flocks in autumn on the
moors. They are known to breed in other parts of Aber-
deenshire, especially in the Strath-Don district ; and I have
seen a few individuals, in August, in the upper part of
Forfarshire.

114

CHARADRIUS. RING-PLOVER.

The Ring-Plovers constitute a genus of very considerable
extent, although not more than three species occur in Britain.
They are all of small size, some of them not exceeding a
Brown Linnet, while the largest does not equal the Golden
Plover. Although in most respects they agree with the
Plovers, properly so called, they differ in others, of which
some notice will be taken after giving their general cha-
racters. The body is ovate and moderately full ; the neck
short; the head moderate, oblong, compressed, and much
rounded above.

Bill generally much shorter than the head, straight,
rather slender, as broad as high, slightly compressed toward
the end ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight and
slightly declinate for half its length, then bulging or arcuate,
the nasal groove about half its length, the edges slightly
inflected toward the end, the tip rather obtuse ; lower man-
dible with the angle of moderate length, the dorsal line
ascending and a little convex, the sides concave at the base,
convex toward the end, the edges inflected, the tip narrow,
but rather blunt ; the gape-line straight. Mouth extremely
narrow, as is the palate, on which are two longitudinal
ridges, and anteriorly a few papillse. Tongue of moderate
length, narrow, deeply channelled above, with the edges
involute, the base emarginate and papillate, the tip narrow,
with a thin horny edge. (Esophagus narrow ; proventri-
culus oblong, with a broad belt of oblong glandules. Stomach
a roundish, compressed gizzard, with thick lateral muscles,
radiated tendons, and dense longitudinally rugous epithelium.
Intestine of moderate length and width ; coeca rather small,
cylindrical, narrow.

Nostrils small, linear, pervious, sub-basal. Eyes large
and full ; eyelids feathered. Aperture of ear rather large,
roundish. Feet of moderate length, very slender ; tibia bare
for about a fourth ; tarsus of ordinary length, covered with

CHARADRIUS. RING-PLOVER. 115

hexagonal scales. Toes rather short, slender, three, with
numerous scutella, marginate, the outer considerably longer
than the inner, and connected with the third by a basal
web. (Haws rather short, compressed, slightly arched,
slender, rather acute.

Plumage ordinary, close, rather blended ; feathers oblong
or ovate. Wings very long, narrow, pointed, of twenty-five
quills ; the primaries tapering, the first longest, the rest
rapidly diminishing ; the outer secondaries short, incurved,
and obliquely rounded, the inner tapering and extremely
elongated. Tail straight, rather broad, of moderate length
or long, rounded in various degrees, of twelve feathers, of
which the two middle are somewhat pointed.

The species of this genus are very extensively distributed,
and some one or other occurs in almost every known region.
They frequent chiefly the sandy shores of the sea, lakes, and
rivers ; but some occur also in the interior, chiefly on dry
barren grounds. After the breeding season, they often form
large flocks. Their nests are a slight hollow in the sand,
sometimes with a few vegetable substances, and their eggs
are four, pyriform, extremely large, light-coloured, and
dotted or clouded with dusky tints. The young, covered
with down, run presently after birth, and conceal themselves
by squatting. All the species are very active and lively,
run with great celerity, have a very rapid flight, and emit a
clear, mellow cry. Their food consists of insects, Crustacea,
mollusca, and worms. Their flesh is good, and their eggs
delicate. One species is common and resident in Britain,
another occurs on the sands of the southern and eastern
counties of England, and a third has been met with only in
one or two instances.

The Ring-Plovers have the body, and especially the
Avings and tail, more elongated than the Plovers, the neck
shorter, and the head proportionally larger. White and
grey or brown, in masses, are their predominant colours ;
and all are broadly banded or ringed on the head and neck.
Their lower parts do not become black in spring and
summer, as is the case with the Plovers ; nor is their
plumage ever spotted or striped like theirs.

116

CHARADRIUS HIATICULA. THE COMMON
RING-PLOVER.

RING DOTTEREL. RING PLOVER. SAND LARK. SANDY LAVEROCK. SANDY
LOO. DULWILLY. STONEHATCU. STONE PLOVER. BOTHAG.

Fig. 11.

Charadrius Hiaticula. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 253.

Charadrius Hiaticula. Lath. Ind. Ornitli. II. 743.

Ringed Plover. Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Supplt.

Grand Pluvier a collier. Charadrius Hiaticula Tcmm. Man. d'Omith. II.

539.
Charadrius Hiaticula. Ringed Plover. Flem. Brit. Anim. 113.
Ringed Plover. Charadrius Hiaticula. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 240.
Charadrius Hiaticula. Ringed Plover. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 179.
iEgialites Hiaticula. Bonap. Corup. List. 45.

Length about eight inches, bill seven-twelfths, half as long
as the head, wings and tail of equal length. Adult with the
upper parts greyish-brown; the forehead with two bands, a
white and a black; a dark brown band tinder the eye; a ring
of white including the throat, succeeded by a broader ring of
brownish-black; bill orange at the base, black at the end;
feet orange, claivs black. Young without the black band on
the forehead, the other dark bands lighter, the feathers of the
upper parts margined with pale brownish-red, the bill entirely
black, the feet dull greenish-yellow, the elates black.

COMMON RIXG-PLOVER. 117

Male in Winter. — This most lively and beautiful little
bird, which is a constant resident in Britain, and occurs on
all our flat coasts, is of a compact form, having the body
moderately full and a little compressed ; the neck short ;
the head rather large, and much rounded above. The bill is
about half the length of the head, straight, slightly com-
pressed near the end ; its upper mandible with the dorsal
line straight and the ridge flattened for nearly two-thirds,
then arched and convex, the nasal groove extending to the
commencement of the arched part, the edges soft and some-
what inflected, the tip bluntish, but sharp-edged, as is that
of the lower mandible, of which the angle is moderate, the
dorsal line ascending and somewhat convex.

The nostrils are sub-basal, lateral, linear, two-twelfths
long, occupying the middle of the nasal groove. The eyes
large, their aperture having a diameter of two-twelfths and a
half. The feet are of moderate length and slender ; the tibia
bare for about a quarter of an inch ; the tarsus a little com-
pressed, and covered with hexagonal scales ; the toes rather
short, flattened beneath, marginate, the outer and middle
connected by a basal web extending as far as the second
joint of the former ; the inner or second with eighteen, the
third with thirty, the fourth with twenty-live scutella. The
claws are short, compressed, slightly arched, slender, rather
acute.

The plumage is very soft, and rather blended ; the
feathers ovate and rounded. The wings long, pointed, when
closed reaching to the end of the tail ; the quills twenty-six ;
the first longest, the second a twelfth shorter, the other pri-
maries rapidly graduated ; the secondaries curved inwards
and obliquely rounded, excepting the inner, which are very
long and taper to a blunt point, one of them reaching to
half-an-inch of the end of the first primary in the closed
wing. The tail is of moderate length, nearly straight, con-
siderably rounded, the two middle feathers sub-acuminate.

The bill is black at the end, orange in the rest of its
extent. The iris brown. The feet orange, the claws black.
A band on the forehead, a line over the eye, the lower eyelid,
the throat, and a broad band proceeding obliquely backwards

118 CHARADRIUS HIATICULA.

from it so as to encircle the upper part of the neck, together
with the breast, sides, abdomen, and lower tail and wing-
coverts, all pure white. A broad transverse band over the
white of the forehead, a line margining the upper mandible,
and proceeding, broader, along the lore under the eye to the
ear, and a belt round the lower neck, much broader in front,
are brownish-black, the feathers slightly edged with grey.
The top of the head, the occiput, a small portion of the
upper hind-neck, the back, and the wings are greyish-brown.
The quills are dark greyish-brown, of a deep tint toward
the end. A bar of white extends across the wing, including
the shafts, near the end, of the outer primaries, increasing
on the rest, and on the secondaries, so as to occupy the
whole length of two of them, and returning outwards along
the tips of the quills, but evanescent on the primaries. The
tips of the secondary coverts are also Avhite, as are those of
the primary coverts, but more narrowly. The inner secon-
daries are greyish-broAvn. The tail-feathers are pale greyish-
brown, becoming dark brown toward the end, the whole of
the outer two feathers, the outer margin of the next two,
and the tips of all, white.

Length to end of tail 8^ inches ; extent of wings 17£ ;
wing from flexure 5X42; tail 2j82; bill along the ridge x7.2,
along the edge of lower mandible ,82 ; tarsus 1 ; inner toe ,fi2 ;
its claw ;22 ; middle toe ^ , its claw ^ ; inner toe ^ , its
claw jV

Female. — The female is similar to the male, with the
following slight differences : — The white band across the
forehead is tinged with brown, the dark band above it, and
that along the cheek, are greyish-brown, as is the fore part
of the dusky collar.

Length to end of tail 8i- inches; extent of wings IT;
tarsus 1 ; middle toe and claw 1.

Variations. — Slight differences as to size and colouring
are observed. The shafts of all the primaries are sometimes
white, unless at the end. The outer tail-feather sometimes
has a dusky spot near the tip ; the next has more frequently
a patch of the same.

COMMON RING-PLOVER. 119

Changes of Plumage. — If this species undergoes a partial
moult in spring, no difference is produced in the distribution
of the colours. In summer, the dark markings are deeper,
on account of the disappearance of the greyish tips, and the
brownish-grey of the upper parts is paler. Towards autumn,
however, the colours become much faded. A male and a
female shot at Ythan Mouth on the 26th of May present the
following particulars : —

Male in Summer. — Upper parts light greyish-brown ;
frontal and cheek bands and collar deep brownish-black.

The tongue slender, tapering, concave above, horny and
thin-edged toward the bluntish tip ; oesophagus 3 inches long,
-py in width ; proventriculus bulbiform ; stomach very mus-
cular, -}-§- long, -jV in its greatest breadth, its epithelium
dense and rugose; intestine 16 in length, -^ in its greatest
width ; cceca 1-^- long, cylindrical, obtuse, lyV from the
extremity.

Length 8^; extent of wings 16^; wing from flexure 5^-;
tail 2-L£; bill along the ridge -fy, along the edge of lower
mandible ^; tarsus 1 ; middle toe fy; its claw ^-.

Female in Summer. — Similar to the male ; only with
the white frontal band, and that over and behind the eye, of
less extent ; the black collar of a lighter tint ; the dark band
on the tail narrower.

The oesophagus 3 inches long ; stomach \% in length,
-Jj in breadth ; intestine 16 in length, 1£ in width ; cceca
1^, at the distance of 1-jL- from the extremity. The stomach
was filled entirely with remains of small coleoptera and
some sand.

Length 8^ ; extent of wings 16|- ; wing from flexure
5^ ; tail 2|4f- ; bill along the ridge ^-, along the edge of
lower mandible -^ ; tarsus 1 ; middle toe -j^-, its claw 1V.

I do not find a single new feather in either of these birds.

Habits. — Were I to describe the manners of this gentle
creature under the influence of the delightful emotions which
the view of it has often excited in me, I should probably

120 CHARADRIUS HIATICULA.

appear to the grave admirer of nature an enthusiast, or an
imitator of other men's musings. Well, let him think as he
lists ; hut yet lives there the man, calling himself an orni-
thologist, Avho, quietly strolling along the bright sandy
beach just left bare by the retiring tide, and aroused from
his pleasing reveries by the mellow Avhistle of the Ring-
Plover, would not gaze with delight on the pleasant little
thing that speeds away before him with twinkling feet, now
stops, pipes its clear cry, runs, spreads its beautiful wings,
glides close over the sand, and alights on some not distant
tuft. What are primaries and secondaries, coecums and
duodenums, types and analogies, squares or circles, to him
who thus Avatches the living bird ? There is the broad blue
sea, on that hand the green pasture, under foot and around
the pure sand, above the sunny sky. FroAvn not upon the
cheerfulness of nature ; shout aloud, run, leap, make the
Sand Lark thy playmate. Why mayest thou not be drunk
with draughts of pure ether ? Are the gambols of a merry
naturalist less innocent than the mad freaks, the hoAvlings,
the ravings of sapient men assembled to deliberate about
corn-laAvs, or party zealots upholding their creed by palpably
demonstrating their total Avant of charity ?

By the middle of August, the young of this species are
able to shift for themselves. After this period small flocks
of from five or six to fifteen or twenty individuals, may be
seen here and there along the sandy or pebbly shores, chiefly
in the neighbourhood of high-Avater mark, although some-
times also by the edge of the sea. Most of them have
nestled on the shores of the ocean, many on those of
estuaries, some of rivers and lakes, and a feAv even on sandy
heaths or Avarrens remote from Avater. But iioav they all
resort to the sea, especially near the mouths of rivers. They
run Avith great speed, pick up insects, Crustacea, small
shelled mollusca, and marine Avorms, along Avith which they
SAA'alloAv some particles of sand and gravel. Their mode of
proceeding differs considerably from that of the Tringa?, with
which, they often associate. The bird stands, suddenly runs
forward, picks up an object, stands again, and thus proceeds,
someAvhat in the manner of the Thrush. It does not probe

COMMON RING-PLOVER. 121

the sand or mud with quickly-repeated tappings of its bill,
as is the habit of the birds just mentioned ; but on the edge
of the sea, when the tide is rising or retiring, it is in more
constant motion than when on an exposed place. Unless
much molested, they are not generally shy ; but in the
neighbourhood of towns, where they are liable to be fre-
quently shot at, they are seldom disposed to allow a person
to approach very near. On the sands they are easily per-
ceived, but among pebbles it is very difficult to distinguish
them, insomuch that one may see them flying off from places
around him in which he had not suspected any of being.
On rising, and while on wing, they now and then emit their
very mellow and pleasant note. Their flight is rapid, even,
performed by regularly-timed beats, and they glide along,
often at a very small height, or ascend, and perform various
evolutions before alighting, sometimes all the individuals in
a flock inclining to one side, so as to expose now their upper
and again their lower surface to the spectator. Frequently
when feeding they intermix with Sandpipers, Turnstones,
Hedshanks, and other species ; but in flying they generally
keep apart. At high water they repose on the sands or on
the pastures, usually in a crouching posture. They are
partly nocturnal, and I have often found them searching for
food by moonlight. As the autumn advances, they collect
into larger flocks, and at the mouths of rivers may often be
seen in very numerous bands. During winter and the
greater part of spring they continue along the sea-shore,
none being then found by the rivers or lakes.

Toward the beginning of April, the flocks break up into
smaller parties, and by the middle of that month the birds
have paired. As the constant residence of many of them is
the sea-shore, and the sands or pastures in its immediate
vicinity, they have no preparations to make, nor long journeys
to perform, before they commence the absorbing occupations
connected with rearing their families. Just above the tide-
mark, either in the sand, or among the gravel or pebbles, they
scrape a slight hollow, which they often line with fragments
of shells, and in which are deposited the four eggs, placed
with their small ends together. They are pyriform, with the

122 CHARADRIUS 1IIATICULA.

large end hemispherical, or a little flattened ; their average
length an inch and five-twelfths, their greatest breadth eleven-
twelfths and a half, their colour greyish-yellow, sparsely
covered all over with dots, small spots, and angular linear
markings of brownish-black and purplish-grey, On finding
the eggs on the beach one can scarcely believe that they
belong to so small a bird. The young are capable of running
the moment after they leave the eggs, and, when their
parents are away, crouch among the stones, but separately.
When sitting on her eggs, the female will sometimes remain
until a person comes close, when she will run limping along,
to entice him to pursue her ; but more commonly she quietly
leaves the nest, while he is yet at a distance, runs a con-
siderable way in silence, then stops, utters her cry, and
endeavours to attract his notice, or flies up to him, and goes
off in another direction. No birds manifest more anxiety
about their eggs and young. They often come up to within
a few yards of a person sauntering in their vicinity, feign
lameness, and run limpingly along for some distance. If
this does not suffice to entice the intruder, they droop one of
their wings, as if it had been broken or dislocated, and
shuffle aAvay some yards farther. Then, perhaps, both wings
seem broken, and the bird tumbles about in the most sur-
prising manner. If you now run up, it remains in the
agonies of death until you are within a few yards, when,
suddenly reviving, it starts upon its feet, emits a lively note,
runs a little way, springs into the air, and is off at full
speed, wheeling from side to side, and joyously whistling as
it proceeds. It now makes a very wide circuit, and comes
up in your rear, but remains motionless until you pass on.
In its attempts to decoy persons from its nest, I have some-
times seen it fly off at once to the distance of a hundred
yards or more, spread out its wings and tail, and tumble as
if in a fit of epilepsy.

But although by far the greater number of individuals
nestle on the sea-shore, and remain there all the year, many
are to be found on the pebbly beaches of rivers, such as the
Spey and the Dee, and even in the pastures by the sides of
muddy or sandy streams in low districts. Sometimes, also,

COMMON RING-PLOVER. 123

they are seen by the banks of lakes in the Highlands of
Scotland. Mr. Salmon, speaking of the migratory birds of
the neighbourhood of Thetford, in Norfolk, says " it is very
abundant upon all our warrens during the breeding season,
and is the first bird that gives us notice of its arrival in the
spring, by its low plaintive whistle whilst on the wing, and
garrulous note of satisfaction when it alights upon the
ground. These notes are peculiarly pleasing at this early
season of the year upon our warrens, where hitherto silence
has reigned for several months, only interrupted by the occa-
sional whistle of a flock of Golden Plovers as they sweep
past you ; but, as the season advances, its notes are too
melancholy for the freshness of spring. It commences its
nidification very early, as I have found them sitting upon
their eggs on the 30th of March. After having reared their
offspring, they all take their departure, by the middle of
August, for the sea-coast, where they remain throughout the
winter."— Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. ix. p. 522.

This species is found on all our sandy sea-shores from
one end of the island to the other, and is plentiful in the
Shetland and Orkney Isles, as well as in the Hebrides,
especially the Outer, whose western coasts are chiefly of
shell sand. It remains all winter, but then usually deserts
the more exposed parts, and frequents the bays, creeks, and
estuaries, scarcely ever at that season going up rivers beyond
the tide. It has been supposed to be more numerous with
us in winter than in summer, and the alleged increase in the
former season has been attributed to the immigration of indi-
viduals from more northern countries. This may be correct ;
yet, if we consider that the birds are scattered in pairs
during summer, so that few at a time can be seen along the
coast, while many too resort to the interior, and that they
collect in autumn and winter into large flocks, causing
the species to appear very numerous, although only in
particular places, it may well seem difficult to decide.

It occurs in the arctic and northern regions of the Old
Continent, and has been seen as far south as the shores of the
Mediterranean. In Iceland and Greenland it has also been
met with ; but the Ring-Plovers found in North America

124 CHARADMUS HIATICULA.

are all different, although one of them was long considered
the same. That species, Charadrius semipalmatus of Bona-
parte, is extremely similar, differing only in being somewhat
less, and in having the toes more palmated. The Ringed-
Plover, according to Mr. Thompson, " is common," in Ire-
land, " at all seasons, except summer, in small flocks around
the sandy or gravelly shores ; where also a limited number
annually breed."

Young. — The young, which at first are covered with
very soft down, of a white colour, with dusky grey patches,
are, when fledged, as follows : — The bill is brownish-black at
the end, paler towards the base, a small portion of the lower
mandible flesh-coloured, the iris brownish-black, the feet
dull greenish-ochre, the claws black. The colours are dis-
tributed as in the adult ; but the feathers of the upper parts
are margined with light brownish-red, fading to greyish-
white, the dusky bands are brownish-grey, that on the fore-
head is wanting, the broad band on the neck meets but par-
tially in front, a large white space being left below. One
shot on the 26th of May has the upper part of the head
brownish-grey ; a Avhite frontal band ; a white collar, the
feathers there very soft, almost downy ; the dusky collar not
of a darker tint than the back ; the upper parts light brownish-
grey, the feathers all margined with reddish-white, within
which is a very narrow dusky line ; quills and tail-feathers
nearly as in the adult, the white on the wings of less extent.
This individual measured 7 inches in length, 15^ in extent
of wings.

Progress toward Maturity.' — After the first moult,
which commences in the beginning of October, and is not
completed until the middle of spring, the young cannot be
distinguished from the adult. During this time the base of
the bill changes from black to brown, brownish-yellow, and
orange ; the feet from dull greenish-ochre to light reddish-
brown, brownish-yellow, and orange-yellow. The black
band on the forehead, and the black feathers which complete
the ring in front, are produced in March and April.

125

CHARADRIUS CANTIANUS. THE KENTISH
RING-PLOVER.

KENTISH PLOVER.

Charadrius cantianus. Lath. Ind. Omith. Supplt. II. 316.

Kentish Plover. Mont. Ornith. Diet. Supplt.

Pluvier a collier interrompu. Charadrius cantianus. Temm. Man. d'Ornith.

II. 544.
Charadrius Alexandrinus. Kentish Plover. Flem. Brit. Anirn. 114.
Kentish Plover. Charadrius cantianus. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 243.
Charadrius cantianus. Kentish Plover. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 180.
.ZEgialites Cantianus. Bonap. Comp. List, 45.

Length nearly seven inches ; bill seven-twelfths, more than
half the length of the head ; wings shorter than the tail.
Adult with the upper parts light brownish-grey ; the forehead
ivith tivo bands, a white and a black, the hind part of the
head light brownish-red ; the lorcd space and a band behind
the eye black ; the throat and a band crossing the hind neck
ivhite ; a large patch of black on each side of the lower part
of the neck; bill black, the lower mandible flesh-coloured at
the base ; feet dusky ; claws black. Young without black on
the head ; the bands on its sides and the patches on the neck
brown ; the feathers of the upper parts margined with
ivhitish.

Male in Summer. — This pretty little Ring-Plover is
considerably inferior in size to the common species, already
described, from which it is easily distinguished by its having
merely two patches of black in the place of an entire ring of
that colour on the neck. It is also of a more slender form,
and has the wings shorter than the tail, although otherwise
its proportions are nearly the same. The body is ovate, the
neck short, the head rather large and ovate, with the front

126 CHARADMUS CANTIANUS.

considerably elevated. The bill is shorter than the head,
nearly straight, being shortly recurved toward the end. The
upper mandible has the dorsal line straight for nearly two-
thirds, then convex ; the nasal groove long, the edges toward
the end a little inflected, the tip narrow but blunt ; the lower
mandible with the angle rather long and narrow, the dorsal
line ascending and convex, the sides flat at the base, then
convex, the edges a little inflected, the tip narrow.

The eyes are large ; the nostrils linear ; the aperture of
the ear roundish and rather large. The legs are of moderate
length, and slender ; the tibia bare for rather more than half
an inch ; the tarsus with two anterior rows of scales and six
inferior scutclla ; the inner toe much shorter than the outer,
which is connected with the third by a basal membrane ; on
the second or inner are eighteen, on the third thirty-two, on
the fourth twenty scutella ; the claws are very slender, slightly
arched, much compressed, acute.

The plumage is blended, on the upper parts somewhat
compact. The wings are long, reaching when closed to half
an inch from the tip of the tail, pointed, the first quill being-
longest, the rest rapidly decreasing ; one of the inner seconda-
ries seven-twelfths shorter than the longest primary ; the '
tail is rounded, with the two middle feathers protruded a
little beyond the rest.

The bill is black, with the base of the lower mandible of
a dusky flesh-colour ; the irides are brown ; the tarsi are
dusky, the toes darker, the claws black ; the forehead and a
broad band over and behind the eyes are white ; towards the
crown of the head is a patch of black ; the rest of the head
and the hind part of the neck are light brownish- red ; the
loral spaces and a band behind the eyes are black ; all the
loAver parts, from the bill to the tail, and a band crossing the
neck behind, are white ; but there is a patch of black on each
side at the bend of the wing ; the upper parts are light
brownish-grey; the primary quills and their coverts brownish-
black ; the shafts of the former white for more than half their
length, the bases and a small part of the tips being brown.
The outer secondaries are chiefly white, with more or less
greenish-brown, and their coverts are tipped with white ; the

KENTISH RING-PLOVER. 127

inner secondaries like the back. The two middle tail feathers
are dusky, the two outer on each side white, the rest of in-
termediate shades.

Length to end of tail 6,92 inches ; extent of wings 14^ ;
wing from flexure 4^ ; tail 2 ; bill along the ridge x72 ; along
the edge of lower mandible j82 ; bare part of tibia j72 ; tarsus
} ?2 ; inner toe ,52 , its claw j22 ; middle toe ,82 , its claw two-
twelfths and a half; outer toe j62, its claw A.

Female in Summer. — The female, which is scarcely
smaller, differs in colour chiefly in having the dark parts
tinged with brown, and the brownish-red on the head and
neck paler.

Length to end of tail 6 j82 ; bill along the ridge j7, ; wing
from flexure 4| ; tail 2 ; tarsus } £ ; middle toe x70 , its claw j22 .

Habits. — The Kentish Plover, so named by Latham, who
first described if from specimens shot at Sandwich in Kent,
and sent to him by Dr. Boys, has been found in various parts
of the counties of Kent, Essex, and Sussex, as well as in Nor-
folk, to the northward of which however it has not been met
with ; nor has it hitherto been seen on any part of the
western coast of Britain, or in Ireland. It is said to be very
extensively distributed on the Continent, being found from
the northern coasts of Germany to the shores of the Medi-
terranean. M. Temminck states that it occurs in India and
its islands, and Dr. Horsfield found it in Java. Its habits
may be supposed to be very similar to those of the Common
Ring-Plover ; but it does not appear that any person has
particularly described them, and I am unable to supply the
deficiency. The female is said to lay her four eggs in a
slight hollow in the sand. They are, according to Mr.
Yarrell, an inch and three-twelfths in length, eleven-twelfths
in breadth, of a yellowish-stone colour, spotted, and streaked
with black.

Young. — When fledged, the young differ from the adult
only in being destitute of the black patch on the head, and
in having the loral spaces, ear-coverts, and patch on each
side of the lower part of the neck, dusky brown.

129

CHARADRIUS MINOR. THE LITTLE RING-
PLOVER.

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER. LITTLE RIXG DOTTEREL.

Petit Pluvier a collier. Charadrius minor. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 542.

Charadrius minor. Little Ringed Plover. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 179.

Charadrius minor. Little Ping Dotterel. Gould, Birds of Europe.
JEgialites minor. Bonap. Comp. List, 45.

Length about six inches and a half; bill seven-twelfths,
more than half the length of the head; wings shorter than
the tail. Adult with the upper parts gregish-brown; the
forehead with two bands, a white and a black ; the hind part
of the head light brownish-greg ; the loral space and a band
under the ege and including the ear-coverts black; the throat
and a band crossing the hind-neck ichite, succeeded bg a ring
of brownish-black, narrowed behind; bill entirely black; feet
getto wish-flesh-coloured ; claws black. Young with the dark
markings on the head and neck brown; the feathers of the
upper parts margined with light red ; the base of the bill
pale gelloivish.

Or this species it appears that only a single individual is
recorded as having heen obtained in Britain. That indi-
vidual I have not seen, nor can I procure specimens for
description ; so that, on this occasion, I am obliged to have
recourse to the description and figures given by Messrs.
Temminck, Jenyns, Gould, and Yarrell.

Male in Summer. — The form of this bird is the same as
that of the Kentish Ring-Plover, which it nearly equals in
size; but in colour it more resembles the Common Ring-
Plover. The bill is black in its whole length ; the iris

LITTLE RING-PLOVER. 129

brown ; the feet yellowish-flesh-coloured ; the claws black.
The anterior part of the forehead is white, succeeded by a
broad band of black ; the rest of the upper part of the head
brownish-grey. The loral space and a band passing under
the eye and including the ear-coverts black. A broad collar
of white including the throat is followed by another of black,
which is broad in front and narrow behind. The upper
parts of the body, including the wing-coverts, are greyish-
brown ; the lower parts pure white. The primary quills and
coverts all brownish-black ; the outer secondary quills of a
lighter tint, and edged with white, as are their coverts, the
inner like the back ; the outer quill alone with its shaft
white. The tail-feathers are greyish-brown, darker toward
the end, all excepting the two middle terminated with white,
that colour increasing in extent so as to include the whole of
the outer feather on each side, with the exception of a dusky
spot on its inner web.

Length to end of tail 6-£- inches ; wing from flexure 4j42 ;
bill along the ridge t70.

Female. — The female has the dark bands on the head
and neck of a lighter tint, but is otherwise similar.

Habits. — According to M. Temminck, this species " more
willingly frequents the margins of rivers than those of the
sea, occurs as a straggler or in the course of its migrations in
Holland, is more abundant in Germany, and in the south as
far as Italy. Its food consists of aquatic insects, their larvae,
and small worms. It forms its nest on the beach or in the
neighbouring pastures, laying from three to five oblong,
whitish eggs, marked with large black dots, and faint spots
of greyish-brown." Mr. Hoy, in Mr. Hewitson's work on
the Eggs of British Birds, says : — " The Little Plover appears
to be very rarely found on the sea-coast, but frequents in
preference the banks of rivers, where it breeds. It lays its
eggs on the sand, not a particle of grass or other material
being used. It is very partial to sand banks, forming islands,
which are often met with in some of the larger rivers of the
Continent. It may also frequently be found during the

K

130 CHARADRIUS MINOR.

breeding season upon those large extents of sand, which are
met with at some little distance from the borders of rivers,
overgrown in part with a coarse wiry grass." Mr. Hewitson
and Mr. Yarrell represent the egg as an inch and an eighth
in length, seven-eighths in breadth, pale greyish-yellow,
marked with numerous small spots of dark brown, reddish-
brown, and pale purplish-grey. A young individual of this
species, obtained at Shoreham, in Essex, is said to be in the
possession of Mr. Henry Doublcday, of Epping.

Young. — When fledged, the young, according to M.
Temminck, have the parts which in the adult are black of a
lighter tint ; the greyish-brown of the upper parts deeper,
and the feathers margined with light red ; the base of the
bill of a pale yellowish colour.

131

VANELLUS. LAPWING.

The Lapwings are very intimately allied to the Plovers,
from which they differ chiefly in having a small hind toe,
and in the form of the wing, which, in place of being narroAv
and acuminate, is broad toward the end and rounded. They
are beautiful and lively birds, varying in size from that of a
Ringed Plover to that of a Whimbrel, and having the body
moderately full, the neck of ordinary length, the head rather
small, roundish, and anteriorly convex.

Bill shortish, straight, slender, compressed ; upper man-
dible with the dorsal outline straight and slightly decimate
for two-thirds of its length, then convexo-declinate to the
end, the edges soft and slightly inflected, the tip rather
obtuse, the nasal groove very long ; lower mandible with the
angle rather long and narrow, the dorsal outline ascending
and slightly convex, the sides concave at the base, convex
towards the end, the edges inflected, the tip narrow but
blunt. Gape-line straight. Tongue soft, of moderate length,
slender, trigonal, channelled above, pointed. Fauces very
narrow. (Esophagus narrow, without dilatation ; proventri-
culus small, its glands oblong ; gizzard very large and
powerful, its muscles distinct and extremely firm ; its cuti-
cular lining rugous ; intestine long ; cceca moderate, cylin-
drical.

Nostrils small, linear, pervious, sub-basal, near the
margin. Eyes large and full ; both eyelids densely feathered.
Aperture of ear rather large, roundish. Feet of moderate
length or long, very slender ; the tibia long, bare above
the joint ; tarsus of moderate length, or long, anteriorly
covered with numerous scutella, laterally reticulated. Toes
short, slender, three before, the hind toe extremely small,
the second a little shorter than the fourth, which is con-

132 VANELLUS, LAPWING.

nected with the third by a basal web, all margined, and
covered above with numerous narrow scutella. Claws short,
arched, compressed, slender, obtuse.

Plumage ordinary, rather blended. Wings long, rounded,
of moderate breadth, with twenty-five quills ; the third pri-
mary longest, the first and seventh nearly equal ; the other
three primaries diminish very rapidly ; the outer secondaries
short and incurved, the inner tapering, and one of them
nearly as long as the tip of the wing when it is closed.
Tail straight, slightly arched at the base, broadish, rounded
or even, of twelve feathers, of which the middle are not
acuminate.

The Lapwings and Plovers are similar in most respects,
so that they might, without much impropriety, be considered
as sections of the same genus, rather than as distinct genera.
Their principal differences are these : — The Lapwings gene-
rally have longer legs, their tarsus is scutellate instead of
being reticulate ; their wings are rounded and broad towards
the end instead of being very narrow and pointed ; their
tail is even instead of having the middle feathers longer ;
they have a hind toe instead of none or an extremely dimi-
nutive one. Many Lapwings, now referred to the genus
Lobivanellus, have fleshy or membranous appendages about
the head, and most of them have the metacarpal knob
pointed and covered Avith horn, constituting a spur.

In habits they resemble the Plovers. They belong more
especially to warm climates, frequent marshy places, plains,
and heaths, as well as the shores of rivers, lakes, and the
sea. They feed on insects, Crustacea, mollusca, worms, and
sometimes seeds ; run with great celerity, fly with rapidity,
and utter a mellow, sometimes modulated note. The nest is
a slight hollow in the ground ; the eggs are four, pyriform,
extremely large, and spotted. The young run immediately
after birth, and conceal themselves among the stones or
herbage.

Only one species occurs in Britain, where it is generally
distributed.

133

VANELLUS CRISTATUS. THE CRESTED
LAPWING.

PEWIT. PEESEWEEP. TUCU1T. GREEX PLOVER. CUROCHDAG.

Fig. 12.

Tringa Vanellus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 248.

Tringa Vanellus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 726.

Lapwing. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Vanneau huppe. Vanellus cristatus. Temm. Man. d'Om. II. 550.

Crested or Green Lapwing. Vanellus cristatus. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith.

II. 221.
Vanellus cristatus. Common Lapwing. Flem. Brit. Anim. 111.
Vanellus cristatus. Crested Lapwing. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 182.
Vanellus cristatus. Bonap. Comp. List, 46.

A recurved occipital crest of linear feathers ; upper part
of head and fore part of neck black; upper parts green,
lower white ; tail ivhite, with a broad black band.

Male. — The Lapwing, so named on account of its peculiar
mode of flight, is one of the most beautiful of our native
birds, and among the most familiarly known of the family to
which it belongs. It is considerably larger than the Golden
Plover, which it resembles in form, and in many of its

134 VAXELLUS CRISTATUS.

habits. Its body is moderately full, its neck rather short,
its head oblong and somewhat compressed, but rounded
above, being much elevated in front ; its legs slender and of
moderate length ; its wings very long and broadly rounded.
The bill is shorter than the head, straight, gently tapering,
rather slender, with the edges a little involute toward the
end, the nasal groove extending to two-thirds of the whole
length, the tip hard, narrow, and rather obtuse.

The mandibles are internally concave, the aperture of the
posterior nares linear and margined with papillae. The
tongue papillate at the base, long, slender, concave above,
thin, horny, and involute toward the end, which is obtuse.
The oesophagus, which is six inches long, is of moderate
width, without dilatation, the proventriculus somewhat bulbi-
form ; the stomach a strong gizzard, an inch and a half in
length, its muscles very thick, the epithelium dense, with
parallel ruga?. The intestine is twenty-six inches long,
nearly uniform in diameter, its duodenal portion a third of
an inch across ; the coeca, which are cylindrical, and two
and a half inches long, are three inches distant from the
extremity.

The eyes are rather large, their aperture being four and
a half twelfths in diameter. The nostrils linear, three-
twelfths long. The aperture of the ear measures four-
twelfths across. The tibise are bare for about half-an-inch ;
the tarsus has about twenty-eight anterior scutella, the first
toe six, the second tAventy, the third twenty-four, the fourth
twenty ; the claws are short, arched, compressed, blunted ;
that of the hind toe conical. The carpal knob is blunt, and
covered by the skin.

The plumage is very soft, on the neck and lower parts
blended, on the upper parts glossy and somewhat silky, but
imbricated ; on the head short. On the occiput is a recur-
vate, dependent, erectile, crest of about twenty unequal
linear feathers. The wings are very long, of moderate
breadth ; the first quill is scarcely an inch long, the second
three-fourths of an inch shorter than the fourth, which is
longest, and about the same length as the eighth. The pri-
maries broad and rounded ; the outer secondaries very broad

CRESTED LAPWING. 135

and obliquely rounded ; the inner broad and tapering. The
tail is of moderate length, broad, even, or very slightly
emarginate, of twelve broad, abrupt feathers.

The bill is brownish-black ; the iris brown ; the feet dull
crimson ; the claws black. The whole upper part of the
head, including the crest, is black, highly glossed with green
and blue ; there are some white feathers on the sides of the
forehead and over the eyes ; the sides of the head and neck
white, but a black streak under the eyes ; the fore part of
the neck and a portion of the breast black, glossed with
green and blue ; the back, scapulars, and inner secondaries
are of a shining brownish-green, some of the feathers with
purple, others with blue reflections, the scapulars tipped
with yellowish-white ; the smaller wing-coverts dark blue
glossed with green; the breast and abdomen pure white.
The primaries and outer secondaries are bluish-black, the
outer four primaries with brownish-white at the end ; the
carpal, and primary lower wing-coverts black, the cubital
coverts and axillaries white, as is the basal half of the
secondary quills, their white portion, however, not being
visible on the upper surface of the wing ; the upper and
lower tail-coverts are light red ; the tail white, with a broad
terminal band of black, broadest on the middle feathers, and
forming only a spot on the inner web of the outer.

Length to end of tail 13 inches ; extent of wings 30; wing
from flexure 9r2 ; tail 4/,; bill along the ridge 1, along the
edge of lower mandible 1^; tarsus 1}.*; first toe f,, its
claw22; second toe IS, its claw^; third toe li22, its claw J2 ;
fourth toe li, its claw ?■>.

Female. — The female is similar, differing only in having
the tints of the head and fore-neck somewhat lighter, and the
hind-neck brownish-grey. The crest is also less elongated.

Length to end of tail 12^ inches ; extent of wings 29 ;
bill along the ridge 1 ; tarsus 1JS; middle toe and claw li42.

Variations.— Albino individuals, of a pure white or
cream colour, have been seen, but very rarely. Otherwise
the variations are not remarkable.

136 VANELLUS CRISTATUS.

Changes of Plumage. — The moult commences in June,
and is completed by the beginning of November.

Male in Summer. — In the breeding season, the upper
and fore parts of the head, the chin, throat, and part of the
breast are black, glossed with blue and green ; the nape
greyish-brown ; the colours of the other parts as in winter.
As the summer advances, the green of the back changes to
purplish. An individual shot at Ythan Mouth, on the 27th
of May, presented no new feathers, except those on the
throat and fore-neck. The oesophagus 6 inches long ; the
gizzard 1*2 by j°; the intestine 29 inches long, from i\ to
fa in width ; the coeca 3 inches from the extremity, cylin-
drical, 2 j inches long.

Length 12^ inches ; extent of wings 30^ ; bill 1 ; wing
from flexure 9-jr ; tail 4 ; bare part of tibia r> ; tarsus 2 ;
middle toe /2, its claw j^.

Female in Summer. — The female differs only in having
the breast white, and the crest shorter.

Habits. — The Lapwing is generally distributed, but more
numerous in the southern than in the northern parts of the
country ; it being of very rare occurrence in the extreme
north of Scotland and in the Hebrides. On downs, com-
mons, and in uncultivated marshy tracts, it is met with more
frequently than in districts entirely subjected to the plough ;
but often on cultivated land, when the fields are large, it is
to be seen in great numbers. After it has reared its young,
it forms flocks, often of great size, and remains on the moors,
the inland fields, or in their vicinity, until the middle or
end of autumn, when it betakes itself to the lower grounds,
and occupies the wet plains and large ploughed fields. Its
food consists of worms, insects, and occasionally seeds and
other vegetable substances. Its gizzard, which is nearly as
muscular as that of a gallinaceous bird, is found to contain
numerous bits of hard stone, generally quartz, from two-
twelfths of an inch in diameter downwards. In searching
for food, it walks sedately along, keeping its body horizontal,

CRESTED LAPWING. 137

and its legs slightly bent, stopping now and then to look
around, when, should it apprehend danger from the intrusion
of a person walking in the fields, it utters its well-known
cry, resembling the syllables pee-wee, or pee-o-wec, rises on
wine, and either flies about or removes to a distance. A
large flock, whether on the ground or on wing, is always
interesting to the observer of natural objects, who finds
amusement where others see nothing but bare fields or
barren moors. Its mode of flying is peculiar, for it sedately
flaps its broadly-rounded wings, which seem extraordinarily
large, partly because of their black colour beneath, as con-
trasted with the pure white of the body. When proceeding
to a distant place, they fly with great speed, usually in an
irregular body, but sometimes arranging themselves in lines,
and generally in silence, and before alighting they perform
various evolutions. On settling, they stand for some time
quietly, and look around ; and should they perceive no indi-
cation of danger, scatter about. Although very shy and
vigilant in places that are much frequented, they are not so
timorous when unaccustomed to molestation ; yet, under all
circumstances, they are less easily approached than the
Golden Plovers. They can scarcely be said to associate with
any other species, although they may be seen in the same
field with Plovers, Rooks, and Gulls. In winter they ap-
proach the sea-shore, and at low water often betake them-
selves to the sands or muddy flats, to search for Crustacea
or mollusca ; but they never at any season fairly take up
their residence on the coasts. In the northern and part of
the middle divisions of Scotland, they migrate southward in
winter, part of them remaining only when the weather is
mild, or in peculiarly favourable places, such as the shores of
the Beauly Firth.

In the middle of March, should the weather be good,
they return to the higher grounds and unfrequented pastures.
Frequently about this season, however, boisterous weather sud-
denly comes on, accompanied with snow or hail ; and this so
commonly happens in the eastern districts of the middle divi-
sion of Scotland, that the people always expect what they call
the " Tuchit's storm," about the time of the arrival of that

138 VANELLUS CRIST ATUS.

well-known bird. Thus Mr. Robertson, in his Agricultural
Survey of Kincardineshire, says : — " The Green Plover, or
Peas-weep, arrives here so very correctly about Candlemas
term, that the storm which generally happens at that season
of the year goes by its name (the Tchuchet storm)." Many of
them, however, betake themselves to the vicinity of marshes
and moors, in any situation, or to the downs or links, or
disperse over the fields. Their nests, which are slightly
constructed, being often merely a few straws or blades laid
in a shallow cavity, are found sometimes on an exposed slope
or level part of the moors, where the herbage is short, some-
times on tufts in the midst of a bog or morass, sometimes on
the bare open ground in a field, and, owing to its nature
and the colours of the eggs, is not readily perceived. Should
one approach it, the female runs off long before he comes
up, and both she and the male fly about, now high, now
low, suddenly descending and rising, in gentle curves or
abrupt windings, and performing a variety of evolutions,
sometimes striking their wings so forcibly as to cause a loud
noise, and usually emitting their peevish wail. So great is
their anxiety, that they will frequently come very near, and
may thus be easily shot on such occasions. Should other
pairs be in the neighbourhood, some of them will also fly
up, and join in the performance. Meanwhile, the female
will perhaps steal away quietly to some distance, and run
limpingly along, with the most innocently pitiable appear-
ance imaginable, stopping now and then as if to attract your
attention, and entice you off in pursuit. Or she may go
farther away, and hanging out one or both of her wings, run
coweringly along. So excellent is the simulation, that one
can hardly refrain from pursuing, even although smiling at
his folly. It is needless to state, that no one has any chance
of catching one of these lame Lapwings. When a dog
approaches their nest, they are still more active in attempting
to intimidate or bewilder him, and sometimes will even hit
him with one of their wings.

During the whole of the breeding season, even when not
disturbed, but acting under the impulse of their natural
instinct, they may be seen flying about, hovering, gliding,

CRESTED LAPWING. 139

slanting, and curving along, shooting through the air with a
continuous noise of the wings, or causing an undulated loud
hum by flapping them strongly, and at the same time emit-
ting various modifications of their usual cry. This behaviour
is, no doubt, analogous to the aerial rambles of the Snipe at
the same season. The Golden Plover also exhibits a similar
tendency, but it flies more sedately, not indulging in these
fanciful freaks, although it utters a cry different from its
usual whistle.

The eggs are four, very large for the size of the bird, but
much smaller than those of the Golden Plover, and, like
them, pyriform, their average length an inch and ten-
twelfths, their greatest breadth an inch and a quarter, or
somewhat less. They are generally pale brownish-yellow,
blotched, spotted, and dotted with brownish-black ; but their
ground-colour varies to greenish-grey, or olivaceous, and the
markings are various, being small or large, thickly or sparely
distributed. The young are closely covered with soft down,
variegated with greyish-yelloAv, brown, and black, and leave
the nest immediately after exclusion, crouching among the
moss or herbage when alarmed. So long as they remain
motionless, it is almost impossible to perceive them ; but the
anxiety of their parents often betrays their place of refuge,
for they will fly up, screaming, flapping, and wheeling about.
The eggs are considered delicate food, and are sold as such
in London ; but I am not aware of their being brought to
the markets in Scotland. Lapwings themselves are not
much inferior to Golden Plovers in tins respect, and in
winter and spring are not uncommon in the markets of the
larger towns south of the Forth. In the north of Scotland,
however, the flesh of this bird, which is dark-coloured, and
seldom fat, does not seem to be held in much estimation.

Young fledged. — When fully fledged, the young have
the bill dusky, the feet dull olive-brown, the iris dark-brown.
The crest is as yet short, and the feathers in general are
much less compact and glossy than in the adult, but the
colour is the same. The sides of the forehead, the cheeks,
and the throat are white ; there is a black streak under the

140 VANELLUS CRISTATUS.

eye, and numerous spots of the same between it and the
throat. In other respects there is no great difference, only
most of the feathers of the upper parts are terminally mar-
gined with pale red.

Progress toward Maturity. — The colours are per-
fected after the first moult.

Remarks. — The above account being entirely the result
of my own observation of a bird whose habits are easily
studied, and of which specimens can readily be procured, I
have here to add such particulars as, having escaped my
notice, or being beyond my reach, it may yet be interesting
to know. The only additional circumstance which I find in
Montagu's article on the subject is, that " it runs fast, and
has a singular motion of the head, frequently putting its bill
to the ground without picking anything up." Mr. Selby
repeats this observation : — " it runs swiftly, during which it
has a singular habit of stopping suddenly at intervals, and
putting its bill to the ground, but without picking up any-
thing;" and adds, "apparently to bring its body, as it were,
to a proper equipoise." I have often observed it, both when
it stopped after running a little, and on other occasions, to
stoop a little forward, and depress its head, presently to
raise it again, and sometimes stretch it up a little. The
latter author also alludes to its being frequently kept in
gardens on account of its devouring slugs, insects, and larvae ;
and states that " when thus domesticated, it requires to be fed
and protected during the severity of winter, as it is, in such
situations, unable to obtain a sufficient supply of its native
food." In Ireland, however, where the climate is milder,
Mr. Thompson says, " I have known lapwings to be kept some
years in gardens (even four or five birds in one garden),
during which time they lived wholly on what they could
pick up, no food being supplied to them."

According to M. Temminck, it is " nowhere so abundant
as in Holland," and other authors give it an extended dis-
tribution over Europe and Asia.

141

STREPSILAS. TURNSTONE.

Bill a little shorter than the head, slightly bent upwards
beyond the middle, compressed until towards the end ; upper
mandible with its dorsal outline slightly concave, the ridge
somewhat flattened, but towards the end convex, the sides
sloping at the base, afterwards convex, the edges rather
sharp and slightly inflected, the tip depressed and blunt ;
lower mandible with the angle narrow, the dorsal outline
ascending and slightly convex, the ridge rounded, the sides
sloping outwards and grooved at the base, convex towards
the end, the edges a little involute, the tip depressed and
blunt. The nasal groove occupies one half of the length of
the bill, and the gape-line is very slightly recurvate.

Eyes of moderate size, margins of eyelids papillate.
Aperture of ear transversely oblong, of moderate size. Nos-
trils sub-basal, linear, lateral, perforate, the nasal groove
bare. The body is ovate and rather full, the neck rather
short, the head oblong, of considerable size, and rounded in
front. The feet are slender and of moderate length. Tibia
bare for a short space ; tarsus rather short, somewhat com-
pressed, anteriorly covered with numerous scutella ; toes
three before, of moderate length, slightly webbed at the
base, the third longest, the second a little shorter than the
fourth, the first very small ; claws short, compressed, arched,
obtuse, that of the hind toe sharper and more curved.

Plumage rather compact above, blended beneath, very
short on the fore part of the head and on the middle of the
back ; scapulars elongated and narrow. Wings long, narrow,
pointed ; quills twenty-six ; primaries tapering, the first
longest, the rest rapidly graduated ; outer secondaries short,
incurved, obliquely rounded with a point ; inner greatly

142 STREPSILAS. TURNSTONE.

elongated and tapering. Tail rather short, a little rounded,
of twelve straight, rather broad and rounded feathers.

Tins genus is very intimately allied to Hoematopus,
agreeing with it in almost every particular, excepting the
form of the bill, which, besides being shorter, is depressed,
instead of being compressed, at the end. Only one species
is as yet known, of which, however, the distribution has
been traced to the greater part of Europe, the Cape of Good
Hope, various countries of Asia, Australia, and the northern
parts of America.

143

STREPSILAS INTERPRES. THE COLLARED
TURNSTONE.

Tringa Interpres. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 248.

Tringa Morinella. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 249.

Tringa Interpres. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 738.

Turnstone. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Tourne-pierre a collier. Strepsilas collaris. Temm. Man. d'Om. II. 553.

Strepsilas interpres. Common Turnstone. Flem. Brit. Anim. 110.

Common Turnstone. Strepsilas Interpres. Selb. Illustr. II. 204.

Strepsilas Interpres. Common Turnstone. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 182.

Strepsilas Interpres. Bonap. Comp. List, 46.

In winter, the middle of the bach and the loicer parts
white, the fore-neck black, the upper parts blackish-brown.
In summer, the upper parts variegated with black and
brownish-red.

Male. — The Turnstone, which obtains its name from a
supposed habit of shifting or overturning small stones while
searching amongst them for food, is a lively and handsome
bird, about the size of the Dotterel. Although so much

114 STREPSILAS ENTERPRES.

smaller, it is very similar to the Oyster-catcher in form, as
well as in habits. There being- no other species known, it is
unnecessary to repeat here those particulars which have been
given in the generic character. The tongue is ten twelfths
of an inch long ; the oesophagus four inches, with an average
diameter of three twelfths ; the stomach one inch ; the intes-
tine eighteen inches ; the coeca nearly two inches. On the tarsus
are twenty-five scutella, on the first toe six, on the second
eighteen, on the third twenty-six, on the fourth twenty-two.

The bill is black, the base of the lower mandible tinged
with red, the throat pale flesh-colour ; the iris brown, the
feet orange, the claws black. The general colour of the
upper parts is dark brown, glossed with green and purple,
the feathers edged with pale brown, the fore part and sides
of the head brownish-white, spotted with black. The throat
is white ; a band on each side from the lower mandible, the
side of the head behind the ear-coverts, and the fore part of
the neck black, the feathers slightly edged with whitish;
the rest of the lower parts pure white, as are the hind part of
the back and the upper tail-coverts, some of the rump
feathers, however, being black. The tail is white at the
base, brownish-black towards the end, edged externally with
light brown, the outer Aveb of the outer and the tips of all
excepting the two middle white. The primary quills and
coverts are brownish-black, the secondaries more brown ; all
in their lower part, the outer secondaries at their extremities,
and the shafts of the primaries white, of which colour also
are the tips of the secondary coverts, and the tertiaries or nu-
merals, together with some of the smaller wing coverts.

Length to end of tail 9£ inches; extent of wings 18-f-;
bill along the ridge \\, along the edge of lower mandible } °;
wing from flexure 6 j42 ; tail 2^; tarsus 1^; first toe j32,
its claw ^ ; second toe x32, its claw x\ ; third toe J2, its
claw !32 ; fourth toe ,»a, its claw ;22.

Female. — The female differs only in having the black
parts more tinged with brown.

Len°th to end of tail 9f inches ; extent of wings 18| ;
bill alon°" the ridge 1^, along the edge of lower mandible 1.

COLLARED TURNSTONE. 145

Variations. — In adult individuals the only variations
that I have observed consisted of a greater or less intenseness
of tint.

Changes of Plumage. — The moult commences in Sep-
tember and is completed by the end of November, when the
colours are as described above. A partial moult takes place
in the beginning of summer, so that during the breeding
season the birds present the following appearance : —

Male in Summer. — The forehead, loral space, throat,
and a patch on the nape, white, as are all the parts described
as such above. A narrow band across the forehead, passing
under the eye, another from the base of the lower mandible,
and the fore part and sides of the neck, glossy black ; the
top of the head reddish-white streaked with black ; the fore
part of the back, the scapulars, and many of the Aving-coverts
light chestnut with spots of black, the central part of each
feather being of the latter colour.

Female in Summer. — The female is similar to the male,
but has the colours less deep, and the white on the neck less
pure.

The descriptions of the male and female in winter
plumage are taken from two individuals shot by myself in
the island of Harris, on the 4th December 1817; and those
of the birds in summer, from foreign specimens, and an in-
dividual shot in Fifeshire in the autumn of 1836.

Habits. — The Turnstones appear on our coasts in the
end of October, and remain until the beginning of May. The
latest period at which I have seen them was the 14th of May,
on which day (1831) I shot one out of a large flock near
Prestonpans on the Firth of Forth. In the outer Hebrides,
they frequent the rocky shores in flocks varying from half-a-
dozen to twenty individuals, and are not generally shy, but
may be easily approached when feeding. Although they eat
coleopterous insects, their food consists chiefly of small shell-
fish, Crustacea, and marine worms, which they search for

l

146 STEPSILAS INTERPRES.

among the fuci, in the crevices of the rocks, and among the
stones and gravel, seldom or never making their appearance
on the sands or in muddy places. Their flight is like that of
the Oyster-catcher, rapid on occasion, performed by regularly
timed beats, often direct, but frequently in semicircular
curves. They run about with great celerity, occasionally
utter a mellow note, and sometimes associate with Kinged
Plovers and Oyster-catchers, although when flying they gene-
rally keep apart. Owing to the pure white on their back,
the bar of the same colour on the wings, the blackish tint of
the upper parts, and the form of their long pointed wings,
they present a very beautiful appearance when flying. It is
not less interesting to watch them as they are feeding on the
shore, when, however, I have not observed them turning over
the stones, as it is alleged they do. I have indeed seen them
on stony beaches, where frequently Ring Plovers were also
engaged in searching for food, and have observed them poking
their bills into the spaces between the stones, and extracting
small objects from the crevices ; and had nearly given up
their alleged stone-turning habits as a fable. But Mr.
Audubon, in the fourth volume of his Ornithological Biogra-
phy, relates an actually observed instance of the fact. On
a beach in Galveston Island, he and a sailor, carrying the
carcass of a deer to the water to be washed, met with four
Turnstones. " They merely ran a little distance out of our
course, and on our returning, came back immediately to the
same place ; this they did four different times, and, after we
were done, they remained busily engaged in searching for
food. None of them was more than fifteen or twenty yards
distant, and I was delighted to see the ingenuity with which
they turned over the oyster-shells, clods of mud, and other
small bodies left exposed by the retiring tide. Whenever
the object was not too large, the bird bent its legs to half
their length, placed its bill beneath it, and with a sudden
quick jerk of the head pushed it off, when it quickly picked
up the food which was thus exposed to view, and walked
deliberately to the next shell to perform the same operation.
In several instances, when the clusters of oyster-shells or
clods of mud were too heavy to be removed in the ordinary

COLLARED TURNSTONE. 147

way, they would not only use the bill and head, but also the
breast, pushing the object with all their strength, and remind-
ing me of the labour which I have undergone in turning
over a large turtle, Among the sea-weeds that had been
cast on the shore, they used only the bill, tossing the garbage
from side to side, with a dexterity extremely pleasant to
behold. In this manner I saw these four Turnstones ex-
amine almost every part of the shore along a space of from
thirty to forty yards ; after which I drove them away, that
our hunters might not kill them on their return." The flesh
of this bird is not so delicate as that of the Plovers, but
rather resembles that of the Oyster-catcher. It has been
observed along all the coasts of England, but has never been
found breeding in any part of Britain, nor indeed has any
credible person seen it there in the summer months. M.
Temminck states that it " nestles in the north ; forms a slight
hollow in the sand of the shores, and lays three or four eggs
of a greyish, olive, or greenish colour, marked "with brown
spots." This species is very extensively distributed along
the coasts of Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and America.
Mr. Gould remarks : — " If any bird may be regarded as cos-
mopolite it is the Turnstone, for it inhabits the sea-shores of
every part of the globe."

Young fledged. — The young when fully fledged have
the upper parts greyish-brown, the feathers darker in the
centre ; the throat is brownish-white, the loral space brownish-
grey, and there is no white on the nape ; the fore -neck is
dark brown, the feathers edged with whitish, the rest of the
lower parts, the back, excepting a band on the rump, a
band on the wing, and the tail, excepting a dusky band across
it, pure white. The bill is dusky, at the base lighter, the
feet light orange. In this state, but with some of the
second set of feathers interspersed, the young birds arrive
here.

Progress toward maturity. — In winter the young-
have assumed the appearance of the adults as described above,
only that their dark tints are lighter.

148 STREPSILAS INTEItPRES.

Remarks. — M. Temminck is of opinion that this bird
moults only once in the year ; but, in the first place, I have
never met with a single individual killed in winter, that had
any red on its plumage ; and, secondly, both before their
departure and after their arrival individuals of the summer
plumage as described above are met with. A specimen
killed on Winter Island, on the 14th of June, 1822, is marked
as follows.

Male in Summer. — Bill black; feet reddish-orange,
claws black ; the upper part of the head white, with broadish
longitudinal streaks of greenish-black edged with pale brown.
The sides of the head and upper hind neck greyish-white,
with faint brownish streaks. A brownish-black band extends
across the forehead ; a similar band on each side from the
base of the lower mandible ; these bands unite Avith a patch
of greenish-black occupying the cheek ; and from this a band
of the same colour proceeds down the neck, enlarging below
and meeting its fellow in front, forming a large greenish-
black patch on the lower part of the neck and fore part of
the breast, and extending backwards to the hind neck, and
below to the axilla. The lower part of the hind neck, the
scapulars, and the wing-coverts are pale chestnut brown,
with irregular patches of greenish-black ; the middle and hind
parts of the back are white; a broad brownish-black bar
across the rump ; the tail-coverts Avhite. The tail is white,
with a transverse bar of blackish-brown, broadest in the
middle, where it nearly includes all the exposed part, except
the tip. A spot on the side of the forehead, the throat, and
the upper part of the fore neck, the breast, the belly, and the
lower tail-coverts, the axillary feathers, and the lower wing-
coverts are pure white. The primaries are light blackish-
brown, the shafts more or less white, as are the inner edges.
A band of white extends across the secondaries, excepting the
inner six, which are pale blackish-broAvn, Avith large spots of
pale chestnut-biOAvn ; the secondary coverts are also Avhite.

14«J

H^EMATOPUS. OYSTER-CATCHER.

Bill long, slightly bent upwards beyond the middle,
pentagonal and about as high as broad at the base, where it
is covered by a soft skin which extends nearly to the middle ;
beyond this extremely compressed, and, when viewed verti-
cally, gradually tapering to a point ; when viewed laterally,
contracting a little from the base to before the nostrils, then
enlarging before the nasal groove, and afterwards gradually
sloping, but not forming a point, the tips being more or less
abrupt. This attenuation of the mandibles is not the original
form, but is produced by their being rubbed against hard
substances. Upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly
decimate at the base, then more or less bent upwards, the
ridge broad, convex at the base, gradually narrowing to the
tip, the sides at the base sloping, towards the end erect, the
edges soft and rounded at the base, rather sharp and hard
towards the end ; lower mandible with the angle rather long
and acute, the dorsal line a little convex, the sides and edges
as in the upper mandible. Mouth narrow ; upper mandible
within fiat, the edges projecting but slightly ; palate soft,
with six rows of conical papilla? directed backwards, three
on each side of the nasal slit ; lower mandible within but
slightly concave. Tongue very short, fleshy, sagittate and
papillate behind, flat above, the tip entire. The oesophagus is
narrow, dilates a little about the middle, and terminates in
an oblong proventriculus, surrounded with oblong glandules.
Gizzard large, muscular, oblong, with the muscles distinct,
the tendons radiated ; the cuticular lining tough, rather thin,
with prominent transverse rugse. Intestine slender, nearly
uniform in diameter, with two cylindrical rather long coeca ;
the cloaca elliptical.

Eyes of moderate size, margins of eyelids bare and papil-

150 H.EMATOPUS. OYSTER-CATCHEE. '

late. Aperture of ear transversely oblong, very small. Nos-
trils linear, sub-basal, direct, about the middle of the long
nasal groove, which is filled with a bare skin. The general
form is compact, the body muscular, the neck rather long
and thick, the head rather small and oblong, the forehead
convex.

Feet long and stout ; tibia bare about a third up ; tarsus
compressed, rounded before and behind, covered anteriorly
with hexagonal scales, laterally and posteriorly with scales
of the same form but smaller. Toes three before (the first
wanting), spreading, short, depressed, covered above with
numerous narrow transverse scutella, and having thick broad
margins, which, with the very broad flat soles, are covered
with roundish papillae ; the second or inner toe shortish, the
fourth a little longer, the third considerably longer ; outer
and middle toes with the margins dilated and united at the
base, so as to form a short web ; which is also the case with
the middle and inner, but in a much smaller degree. Claws
very small, very slightly arched, narrow, obtuse.

Plumage soft and glossy, blended, somewhat distinct on
the back, on the middle of which it is very short, as well as
on the forehead. Feathers of hind-neck very soft and loose ;
scapulars elongated, narrow. The feathers in general ovate
or lanceolate, with a considerable tufty plumule. Wings
long, acute ; quills thirty ; primaries with very strong shafts ;
the outer fourteen secondaries short, curved inwards and
obliquely rounded ; the rest narrow, tapering, and some of
them elongated so as nearly to equal the first primary when
the wing is closed. Tertiaries short. Tail rather short,
broadish, nearly even, of twelve straight, broad, rounded
feathers.

One of the most remarkable circumstances connected
wTith this genus is the attenuated wedge-like form of the bill,
which is produced by attrition, that organ being used for
detaching limpets, balani, and other shells from the rocks. In
the young bird the bill is not compressed towards the end,
and the upper mandible has the tip a little declinate and
longer than that of the loAver. In this respect the species of
this genus resemble those of the genera Strepsilas and

H.EMATOPUS. OYSTER-CATCHER. 151

Cinclus. The claws also are at first acute, and become
blunted by use.

The species greatly resemble each other in form and size.
The bill in all is of a vermilion or orange tint, and the
colours of the plumage are either black and white, or the
former alone. One or other of the species is found in almost
every known country. They reside on the sea-shore, and
live on mollusca and Crustacea. " I believe," Mr. Gould
remarks, " that there is no country of the world of any
extent, the shores of which are not inhabited by one or other
of the numerous species of this genus ; but it would seem
that all those which exist in the southern hemisphere are
totally different from those of the northern."

In Britain, indeed in Europe, there occurs only one
species, which is easily distinguished from that of America,
although they were confounded by Wilson.

1. H. Ostralegus. The head, neck, and back deep greenish-
black ; the throat often half-ringed with white. Europe.

2. H. palliatus. The head and neck brownish-black; the
back greyish-brown. America.

The name Haematopus, or Bloody-foot, given to this
genus by Linnaeus, was sufficiently appropriate so long as
only the European species was known ; but when it is con-
sidered that another has the feet flesh-colour, a second pink,
and a third white, the generic name becomes quite inappli-
cable. It might be expedient, therefore, to follow Lesson in
having recourse to Brisson's name Ostralega, although, as
the former author observes, " it is not itself happily chosen,
for although several Oyster-catchers live on shell-fish, they
do not eat oysters. Ostralegus, however, signifies merely
shell-gatherer, and in so far is correct enough, although not
distinctive, for many birds are shell-gatherers.

152

HAEMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS. THE PIED
OYSTER-CATCHER.

SEA PIE. SEA PIET. PIANET. CHOLLDRICK. TPJLLACHAN. TRILLACHAN-
TRAGHAID.

Haematopus Ostralegus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 257.

Haematopus Ostralegus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 752.

Oyster-catcher. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

L'Huiterier Pie. Haematopus Ostralegus. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 531.

Haematopus Ostralegus. Common Oyster-catcher. Flem. Brit. Anim. 115.

Common Oyster-catcher. Haematopus Ostralegus. Selby Illustr. Brit.

Ornith. II. 200.
Haematopus Ostralegus. Pied Oyster-catcher. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 184.
Haematopus Ostralegus. Bonap. Comp. List, 46.

Bill vermilion ; feet purplish-red ; head, neck, fore part
of hack, wings, and terminal half of tail black; the rest
white.

Male. — This beautiful and not uncommon bird is nearly
as large as the Curlew, of a compact form, rather robust,
with a longish neck ; rather small, oblong head ; stout,
though rather long legs ; shortish, rounded tail ; and wings

PIED OYSTER-CATCHER. 1.33

reaching when closed nearly to the tip of the latter. The
bill is about twice the length of the head, slightly bent
upwards, rather stout, compressed, being of greater height
than breadth in its whole length, much narrowed toward
the tip, which is abrupt, and somewhat wedge-shaped. Both
mandibles are grooved for more than a third of their length,
at first gradually narrowed, when viewed laterally, toward
the middle enlarging considerably, and then gently con-
tracting ; the edges sharp, but strong ; and the gape-line,
which commences far before the eyes, very slightly re-
arcuate.

The mouth is very narrow ; its roof nearly fiat ; the
tongue short, eight-and-a-half-twelfths long, triangular, emar-
ginate and papillate at the base, thin, fleshy, tapering to a
blunt point. The oesophagus seven inches long, at first
eight-twelfths in width, but enlarging to an inch and a half,
then narrowed half-an-inch. The proventriculus oblong, an
inch and a twelfth in breadth, with simple oblong glandules.
The stomach, an inch and ten-twelfths in length, and an inch
and a half in breadth, has the lateral muscles rather large
and distinct, the epithelium rather thin, dense, elevated on
its inner surface into rugae, which are longitudinal, and at
the upper and lower parts curiously puckered. The intes-
tine is four feet three inches long, slender, nearly uniform in
diameter, its width being three-twelfths and a half. At the
distance of three inches and a half from its extremity come
off the coeca, which are three inches and a twelfth in length,
cylindrical, two-twelfths and a half in breadth. The rectum,
not much wider than the intestine, enlarges into a globular
cloaca.

The nostrils are sub-basal, linear, four-and-a-half-twelfths
long. The eye four-twelfths in breadth. The aperture of
the ear nearly of the same size. The tibia is bare for nine-
twelfths ; the tarsus rather short, stout, and covered with
hexagonal scales ; the toes three, rather short, broadly mar-
ginate, flat beneath ; the inner with twelve, the middle toe
with twenty-two, the outer with only eight scutella. The
claws are small, little curved, rather depressed, and obtuse.

The plumage is glossy ; blended on the head, hind neck,

154 ILEMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS.

and abdomen ; firm and imbricated on the upper parts ; the
feathers generally oblong and rounded. The wings are long,
and acute ; the first quill longest, the other primaries rapidly
graduated, tapering, and obliquely rounded ; the secondaries
twenty, the outer fourteen rather short, curved inwards, and
obliquely rounded, the rest narrow, tapering, some of them
greatly elongated. The tail is rather short, slightly rounded,
and repand, the middle and lateral feathers being a little
shorter than the rest.

The bill is vermilion tinged with yellow as far as the end
of the nasal groove, the attenuated part dull yellow. The iris
crimson, the edges of the eyelids vermilion. The feet are pale
lake or purplish-red. The head, the neck all round, the fore
part of the back, the scapulars, wing-coverts, quills, and ter-
minal half of the tail, are deep greenish-black. The breast,
abdomen, sides, lower wing-coverts, middle and hind part of
the back, and the upper and lower tail-coverts, are pure white.
A broad band of the same colour passes across the wing, in-
cluding the greater portion of all the secondary quills excepting
the inner, and forming two oblong patches, one on the inner,
the other on the outer web of the primaries, the outer of these
patches being reduced on the first and second quills to a mere
line on the shaft ; the terminal half of the secondary coverts,
and the tips of the inner primary coverts, are white ; and there
are some white feathers on the outer edge of the wing. A band
of white crosses the throat, rising on each side to behind the
ears ; on the lower eyelid is a greyish-white mark ; and there
are some minute whitish feathers along the base of both
mandibles.

Length to end of tail IT inches ; extent of wings 35 ;
wing from flexure 10^ ; tail 5 ; bill along the ridge 2^, along
the ridge of lower mandible 2f ; tarsus l^-; inner toe 1, its
claw j22 ; middle toe 1^, its claw -y^; outer toe 1^, its claw^.

Female. — The female resembles the male in colour, and
differs little in size, being however larger. (Esophagus seven
inches long ; gizzard two inches in length, an inch and three-
fourths in breadth ; intestine five feet one inch long ; rectum
three inches and a half: coeca four inches and a half.

TIED OYSTER-CATCHER. 155

Length to end of tail 18^ inches ; extent of wings 36 ;
wing from flexure 10^ ; tail 5 ; bill along the ridge 3^,
along the edge of lower mandible 3-^; bare part of tibia -^-;
tarsus 2; inner toe 1, its claw ^-; middle toe 1-^-, its
claw -fV ; outer toe 1^, its claw -j^.

Variations. — Considerable differences occur in the size
of individuals, and especially in the length and shape of the
bill. Slight variations of tint in the black parts are per-
ceptible, the head and neck being more or less tinged with
grey, the wings and tail with brown. The presence or
absence of white markings on the neck are also remarkable,
some birds having two spots on the neck behind the ears,
others a band across the throat, others irregular white
markings, and many none. The bill varies in length from
three inches and a half to little more than two.

Changes of Plumage. — The black of the head and
other parts becomes a little faded as the plumage becomes
old, but I have not observed any other changes. The partial
spring moult spoken of by many authors I have not de-
tected, birds at all seasons occurring with the varieties as to
the white marks on the neck mentioned above.

Habits. — The Sea Pie occurs on all our coasts, on many
parts of which it is abundant, but nowhere more so than in
the Scottish Islands. After the breeding season it forms
flocks, which are frequently very numerous, being composed
of from twenty to a hundred or more individuals. At this
period they are met with chiefly on the low rocky shores, or
at the mouths of rivers, where, at low water, they obtain
their food, which consists of patellae, balani, small bivalve
shells swallowed entire, young crabs, and other marine
animals. Although frequently seen on extensive open sands,
they seem rather to betake themselves thither for security
than for the purpose of looking for food. On low pebbly,
muddy, or sandy shores, they always prefer the edge of the
water, in which they wade, although they also search the
exposed parts. They run with great celerity on hard sand,

156 ILEMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS.

and walk with ease in soft muddy places, their short, flat-
soled toes being well adapted for both purposes. Limpets
and balani form their chief food ; but, although they have
been said by many to eat oysters and other large bivalve
mollusca, I have not found such animals in their stomach.
The bivalve shells found in their gizzard or oesophagus are
generally, when of small size, either entire or merely crushed,
but when large are deprived, in a greater or less degree, of
their testaceous envelopes. Along with their food they
swallow particles of gravel, frequently of considerable size :
I have found some a quarter of an inch in diameter. In
searching for food they usually keep by themselves, although
they sometimes allow the Curlew, Turnstone, and Redshanks
to mingle with them ; and in their flights they are very
seldom accompanied by other species. When it is high
water, they betake themselves in flocks to the rocky head-
lands, or to islands, sometimes also to an unfrequented part
of an extensive sandy beach, where they rest until the re-
tiring tide has left their feeding grounds exposed.

While reposing, the Sea Pie stands with its legs quite
straight, or uses one leg only, the other being drawn up, the
body horizontal, the neck retracted, the head either directed
forward, or with the bill buried among the feathers of the
back. In this position they present a curious appearance
when there is a high wind, as in that case each individual
directs his breast toward it, and on a sandy beach or level
shore they often stretch out in long lines. When going to
sleep, however, it rests on one leg only. In open sandy
places, I have seen the flocks crouch. Its flight is strong
and steady, performed by regular beats of the extended
wings, the neck drawn in and the feet directed backwards,
as in the other Grallse. At all seasons it is very shy and
vigilant, seldom permitting one to approach within shooting
distance, and with its shrill cries alarming less wary birds.
Its alarm note is a single shrill scream, but on some occasions
it emits a modulated softened cry of several notes. When
wounded so as to be unable to fly, it readily betakes itself to
the water, and swims off, sitting light, and moving with
considerable speed.

PIED OYSTER-CATCHER. 157

The Oyster-catcher is a permanent resident, and does not
seem to extend its flight to a great distance, although after
the breeding season is over it collects into flocks, and in
winter betakes itself to the estuaries and extended open
coasts. In April the flocks break up, and the individuals
disperse in pairs. Along the eastern coast of Scotland, few
breed on the rocky headlands, the greater number betaking
themselves to the rivers, on the stony or sandy beaches of
which they form their nests. On the Tay and its tributaries,
the Tumel, and the Garry, as far up as Blair Atholl ; on the
South and North Esks ; the Dee, the Don, the Spey, and the
Findhorn, as well as many smaller streams, they are seen
dispersed from March through the summer and part of
autumn. They ascend the Dee as far as Mar Lodge, and
the Spey as far as Granton. Once, on a botanical excursion
with my class, I found a nest with eggs by the Dee, in the
parish of Petercultir. It was merely a slight hollow among
the pebbles of the beach.

The eggs, like those of the smaller gulls, are good ; but
the flesh, which is very dark, and abounds in fat of a
yellowish colour, has a disagreeable smell, and rather un-
pleasant taste. In winter these birds become extremely
plump, the skin, the interstices of the muscles, and the in-
ternal organs being then often loaded with fat. They are
frequently seen in the markets, and are generally sold at two
shillings the pair in Edinburgh ; but they are greatly inferior
to the Curlew and Golden Plover as an article of food.

On the shores of the Hebrides, where I have often found
it, the nest is generally a slight hollow among the gravel or
pebbles above high-water mark; but when a rocky place
has been chosen, a few straws and fragments of plants,
sometimes small stones and bits of shells, are brought
together. The favourite breeding places are headlands and
rocky islands, but the nests are sometimes found on sandy
beaches. The eggs are generally three, sometimes four,
placed with the smaller ends together. They are of a regular
oval form, somewhat narrowed towards the smaller extre-
mity, two inches long, an inch and seven-twelfths broad, of
a pale greyish-yellow colour, marked all over with dots,

158 HJEMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS.

spots, and blotches of blackish-brown and umber, with some
irregular linear markings of the same. The eggs are usually
deposited from the tenth of April to the twentieth of May, and
only one brood is reared in the season. Although the parent
birds evince great anxiety about their eggs or young, they
seldom come very near an intruder, but generally keep flying
about at a safe distance, uttering their loud shrill cry.

Mr. St. John states that, in the neighbourhood of Forres,
they " sit quietly in pairs the chief part of the day on the
banks or islands of shingle about the river or on the shore,
but resort in the evenings to the sands in large flocks," and
that " during the whole of the breeding season they remain
in large flocks along the coast, notwithstanding their duties
of hatching and raising their young. When all other birds
are paired off, they still every now and then eollect in the
same numbers as they do in winter." This, however, is not
a practice with them in other parts of Scotland, and, pro-
bably on account of local peculiarities, a great number of
sterile individuals, or such as are not breeding, may continue
or collect there in summer. Some are, in like manner, to be
seen about Ythan Mouth in summer ; but generally all along
our eastern coast the sea-shore is deserted during the breeding
season.

Should one consider the Sea-Pie the most beautiful of
our native birds, I could not much censure his taste. When
by the silver Dee, gliding rapidly along, amidst corn-fields,
pastures, and fragrant birch-woods, you hear a loud and
shrill cry, and turning about, see a pair winging their flight
up the country, their glossy black and pure white plumage
contrasting strongly with everything around, and their long
vermilion beaks giving them a strange and foreign aspect,
they never fail to rivet your gaze. Equally attractive are
they when running about on some grassy meadow, picking
up an insect or a slug, then standing, and again advancing
with quick short steps, prettily tripping it among the
gowans ; then emitting their loud alarm-cries, and flying off
to a more distant place, or alighting on the pebbly beach.
No creature but man seems to molest them; but of his
advances they are always suspicious, as good need they
have to be.

PIED OYSTER-CATCHER. 159

Young. — The young leave the nest soon after emerging
from the e^, and conceal themselves among the stones or
herbage, in the manner of those of the Lapwing. At first
the head, neck, back, wings, and tail are covered with a
mottled down of a dull brown colour, with greyish-white
tips. The parts that are to be white have the down
greyish-white, tipped with pale brown. The down on the
tail is very long, brown above, white beneath. The bill is
yellowish-brown to the middle, then greyish-white, the end
dusky. The iris blackish-brown. The feet are of a livid
grey, the toes darker, the claws greyish-white at the base,
light brown at the end. The bill, although much shorter,
is of the same general form as in the adult, but it is much
less compressed toward the end ; both mandibles are pointed,
and the upper, which extends a little beyond the other, has
the tip slightly decimate. The young do not for many days
betake themselves to the rocks or open sands, and therefore
must be fed by the old birds, and that plentifully, for
towards the period of their being fully fledged they are
usually excessively fat. When fledged, the general colour
of the dark parts is deep chocolate-brown, the feathers
slightly margined with yellowish-red ; the breast, belly,
greater part of the back, half of the tail, and its coverts, are
white. The bill is more tinged with orange, but the feet
are nearly as above described,

Progress toward Maturity. — After the first moult,
the black parts of the plumage are tinged with brown, more
especially the quills and tail. There is an obscure half-ring
of greyish-white across the fore part of the neck, the tips of
the white feathers being black. The legs are pale livid
grey, the claws brown, whitish at the base ; the iris crimson ;
and the bill as in the adult, but a little more dusky towards
the end. It appears to me that the younger birds only have
the white marks on the neck, and that these gradually dis-
appear each successive moult, until in very old birds there
exist only faint indications of them, the feathers being merely
whitish at the base. The chin, which is slightly mottled
with white in young birds, becomes at length pure black.

1G0 ILEMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS.

Remarks. — My opportunities of studying this species
have been excellent, as I have very frequently watched
it in the Outer Hebrides, where it is plentiful, and
where I have often found its eggs and young. All that is
recorded above is, therefore, exclusively the result of my own
observation. On referring to various works, I find nothing
additional of much interest. Montagu states that it " never
quits the sea-coast," and Mr. Jenyns that " it is never found
inland." This is not quite correct, for although it never
removes to a distance from water, it is, as I have shewn,
sometimes found far inland along pebbly rivers.

This species is common on the shores of most parts of
Europe, and is found in Asia and Africa ; but its occurrence
in America is doubtful, for although Wilson figures it, his
description refers to Hsematopus palliatus, which Mr. Audu-
bon has described as the only species met with by him in
that country.

1G1

TEINGIN/E.

SANDPIPERS AND ALLIED SPECIES.

Who that has often visited the shores of the ocean.
wandered along the extended sand-beaches on the margin of
which the waves terminate their career in foam and uproar,
or visited the muddy estuaries alternately filled and emptied
by the periodical floods, has not stood to gaze upon the flocks
of tiny birds that were busily picking up their food from the
moist ground, or wheeling, as if in sport, their devious flight,
now skimming the surface of the water, now rising high
above the breakers, and then shooting far off to sea, to visit
a distant part of the coast. How often, in visiting a sedgy
pool surrounded with marshes, have we been saluted, but in
no friendly wise, by the shrill clamour of the long-billed and
sharp-winged birds which had placed their nests on tufts too
remote to be reached. Again, on the long range of heathery
hills that we had traversed for many a weary mile, we have
come, very unexpectedly to us, and with no welcome from
its occupant, upon the nest of the lonely Curlew, which
fluttered from among our feet in silence and terror, until
reaching a safe distance, she began to entice us away from
her treasure, by displaying a broken wing and shattered leg
— taught, in fact, by instinct, to act a palpable untruth.
Many pleasant sights have we seen on these solitary rambles —
here the four spotted eggs of the Dunlin, so like in colour to
the surrounding ground, that you wonder how the eye has
distinguished them — here the timid young of the same bird
squatted among the short heath — there a flock of Godwits
thrusting their long bills into the mud ; and, again, the
gliding and low flight of the beautiful White-breasted Tatler,

M

1G2 TllIXGIN.E.

as skimming by the margin of the quiet lake, it emits its
shrill and reiterated cries.

Of these birds, and many others all nearly allied, those
which constitute the natural family of the Tringinae agree in
presenting the following characters. The body is ovate, and
compact ; the neck long or of moderate length ; the head
small, compressed, rounded in front. The bill long, straight,
blunt-tipped, sometimes arcuate, sometimes a little curved
upwards. The mouth is extremely narrow ; the tongue
slender, trigonal, grooved above, tapering, pointed. (Eso-
phagus narrow, with an oblong bulbiform proventriculus :
stomach elliptical or roundish, with very large lateral muscles,
radiated tendons, and thin, dense, longitudinally rugous
epithelium ; intestine long, rather slender ; coeca moderate,
slender, cylindrical, or oblong.

Nostrils linear, small, pervious, basal. Eyes small.
Aperture of ear rather large, roundish. Legs of moderate
length or long, slender ; tibia bare below ; tarsus slender,
scutellate ; toes four, the hind toe very small and elevated ;
or three only, of moderate length, generally more or less
webbed at the base ; claws small, arched, compressed, obtuse.
Plumage moderately full, blended, on the upper parts
compact. Wings very long, pointed, with the first quill
longest ; inner secondaries elongated, one of them nearly as
long when the wing is closed. Tail short, of twelve feathers.
The Tringinae, though nearly allied to the Phivialina?,
are easily distinguishable. They have the head smaller and
compressed ; the bill longer and more slender ; the eyes com-
paratively small, those of the family compared being re-
markably large and full. They are much more aquatic in
their habits, and a few of them swim habitually and with
ease. They are gregarious in winter, often collecting into
vast flocks, and searching the shores of the sea for food.
They run with great speed, have a rapid flight, and emit loud
and rather shrill cries. It is chiefly by probing the sand and
the mud that they obtain their food ; but they also pick up
objects from the surface. Their food consists of mollusca,
insects, Crustacea, and other animals. Most of the species
that continue with us in winter, retire northward in summer.

SANDPIPERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 163

Their nest is a slight hollow, generally with some fragments
of vegetables, and they lay four large pyriform, spotted eggs.
Their flesh is savoury, and held in estimation, most of them
passing in the markets as snipes.

Fig. 15.

SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. MACHETES. RUFF.

Bill scarcely longer than the head, straight, slender,
somewhat flexible, with the ridge convex, flattened toward the
end, the nasal groove extending nearly to the end, the tip
slightly enlarged, obtuse. Nostrils small, linear, pervious,
basal, close to the margin. Legs rather long, very slender; toes
four, first very small and elevated, anterior rather long, third
and fourth connected by a basal web. Wings long, pointed ;
tail short, doubly emarginate. The male, in the breeding
season, assumes a great development of plumage on the
neck, and has the face tuberculated.

1. Machetes pugnax. Common Ruff. Male, in winter,
with the upper parts variegated with brownish-black and
light red, the throat and abdomen white, the fore-neck and
part of the breast pale reddish-brown, spotted with dark
brown. Female similar, but with the upper parts lighter,
the lower more grey. Male, in summer, with numerous
fleshy tubercles on the face, two occipital tufts, and a very
large ruff of elongated feathers on the neck ; the colours of

164 TRINGINjE.

the plumage varying. Female without tubercles or orna-
mental feathers, the upper parts greyish-brown, glossed with
green, the fore-neck and breast paler.

GENUS II. TRINGA. SANDPIPER.

Bill not much longer than the head, nearly straight,
slender, soft, and somewhat flexible, with the ridge narrow,
but flattened toward the end, the narrow groove extending
nearly to the end, the tip slightly enlarged, and obtuse.
Nostrils small, linear, pervious, basal, sub-marginal. Legs
of moderate length, very slender ; toes four, small, the first
diminutive and very elevated, the outer two connected by a
very small basal web. Wings very long, pointed ; tail short,
o-enerallv doublv emarginate.

1. Tringa Canutus. Ash-coloured Sandpiper. Bill a little
longer than the head, straight, its tip considerably dilated ;
tail even. In winter, ash-grey above, white beneath, the
neck and sides streaked with dusky. In summer, the back
glossy black, variegated with brownish red ; the fore-neck
and breast yellowish-red.

2. Tringa pectoralis. Pectoral Sandpiper. Bill a sixth
longer than the head, scarcely deflexed at the end ; tail with
the middle feathers pointed and much longer than the
lateral, of which three on each side are equal. In winter,
the upper parts greyish-brown, streaked with dusky ; cheeks,
sides, and fore part of neck, with part of the breast and the
sides of the body, greyish-white, streaked with dusky, the
rest of the lower parts white. In summer, the feathers of
the upper parts brownish-black, broadly margined with
brownish-red ; the rump black ; the cheeks, neck, part of
the breast, and the sides brownish-grey, with larger streaks
of brownish-black.

3. Tringa rufescens. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Bill not
longer than the head, straight ; tail with the middle feathers
considerably longer than the lateral, of which three on each
side are nearly equal. In summer, the upper parts blackish-
brown, each feather margined with greyish-yellow ; cheeks,
sides, and fore part of neck, with part of the breast and the

SANDPIPERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 16o

sides of the body, light reddish-yellow, streaked with brownish-
black ; the rest of the lower parts yellowish-white, quills
greyish-brown, their inner webs whitish, with transverse
curved lines and dots of black ; outer tail-feathers edged
with white, within which is a black line.

4. Tringa maritima. Purple Sandpiper. Bill a little
longer than the head, slightly decurved at the end ; tail with
the middle feathers considerably longer, the three lateral on
each side nearly equal ; tarsus shorter than the middle toe ;
feet ochre-yellow. Upper parts glossy purplish-black ; in
Avinter, the feathers margined with light grey ; in summer,
margined with light red, and tipped with white.

5. Tringa Cinclus. Dunlin Sandpiper. Bill a fourth
longer than the head, slightly decurved at the end ; tail
with the middle feathers considerably longer; tarsus an
inch long ; bill black ; feet very dark olive ; tail-coverts
dusky. In winter, brownish-grey above, streaked witli
dusky ; fore part of neck paler, similarly streaked ; throat,
breast, and abdomen white. In summer, yellowish-red
above, spotted with brownish-black ; fore part of neck
greyish-white, tinged with red, and distinctly spotted with
dusky ; a large patch of black on the breast.

6. Tringa subarquata. Curleio -hilled Sandpiper. Bill
half as long again as the head, considerably decurved toward
the end ; tail with the middle feathers slightly longer ; tarsus
an inch and a quarter long ; bill black ; feet very dark
olive ; tail-coverts white. In winter, brownish-grey above,
streaked with dusky ; fore part of the neck greyish- white,
streaked with brownish-grey. In summer, light red above,
spotted with black ; fore part of neck bright yellowish-red,
faintly streaked with dusky ; tail-coverts spotted with brown
and red.

7. Tringa Schinzii. Schinz's Sandpiper. Bill about the
length of the head, straight ; tail with the middle feathers
considerably longer ; tarsus eleven-twelfths long ; bill and
feet dusky. In winter, yellowish-grey above, streaked with
brownish-black, scapulars edged with light red ; tail-coverts
white ; fore-neck and breast greyish-white, with lanceolate
brownish-black streaks.

16G TRINGIN.E.

8. Tringa platyrhyncha. Flat-hilled Sandpiper. Bill half
as long again as the head, depressed at the base, tapering :
tail with the middle feathers considerably longer than the
lateral, which are nearly equal ; tarsus an inch long ; bill
reddish at the base, black toward the end ; feet greenish-
grey. In summer, the upper parts black, the feathers nar-
rowly edged with light red ; upper part of the head blackish-
brown, with two narrow light red bands ; fore part of neck
reddish-white, spotted with brown ; the rest of the lower
parts white, lateral tail-coverts white, with a dusky spot.

9. Tringa minuta. Little Sandpiper. Bill about the
length of the head, straight, slender, scarcely enlarged at the
end ; tail doubly emarginate ; tarsus ten-twelfths long ; bill
and feet black, In winter, brownish-grey above, streaked
with dusky, the sides of the neck paler, of its lower part
tinged with brown ; lower parts white ; as are the lateral
tail- coverts. In summer, yellowish-red above, spotted with
brownish-black ; lower parts white ; lower anterior and lateral
parts of the neck reddish-grey, streaked with brown ; a dusky
loral band, and a whitish streak over the eye.

10. Tringa Temminckii. Temminck' 's Sandpiper. Bill
shorter than the head, straight, slender, scarcely enlarged at
the end ; tail somewhat cuneate, the outer feathers being
shorter than the rest ; tarsus eight-twelfths long ; bill dusky ;
feet greenish-brown. In winter, deep brown above, streaked
with blackish-brown ; fore part of the neck and a portion of
the breast reddish-grey ; throat and lower parts white ; lateral
tail-feathers nearly white. In summer, the feathers of the
upper parts deep black, margined with red ; fore part of the
neck reddish-grey, finely streaked with black; throat and
lower parts white, as are the lateral tail-feathers.

GENUS III. CALIDRIS. SAXDERLIXG.

Bill of the length of the head, straight, slender, soft, and
somewhat flexible, with the ridge narrow, but flattened
toward the end, the nasal groove extending nearly to the
end, the tip a little enlarged, and obtuse. Nostrils small,
linear, pervious, basal, sub-marginal. Legs rather short,

SANDPIPERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 167

very slender ; toes three, small, laterally marginate. Wings
very long, pointed ; tail short, somewhat doubly emarginate.
1. Calidris arenaria. Common Sanderling. In "winter,
pale grey above, with dusky lines, white beneath. In summer,
variegated above with black and red, beneath red anteriorly,
white behind.

GENUS IV. NUMENIUS. CURLEW.

Bill at least twice the length of the head, arcuate, slender,
somewhat flexible, with the ridge broadly convex, the nasal
groove very long, the tip enlarged, sub-elliptical. Nostrils
small, linear, pervious, basal. Legs long, slender ; tarsus
reticulated, but with a series of short scutella anteriorly for
two-thirds of its length ; toes rather short, broad and flat
beneath. Wings very long, pointed ; tail rather short,
rounded.

1. Numenius Arquata. Great Curlew. Length from
twenty-three to twenty-eight inches ; bill from five to seven
inches. Hind part of the back Avhite, with narrow longi-
tudinal dark markings.

2. Numenius Pliceopus. Wkimbrel Curlew. Length from
sixteen to nineteen inches ; bill little more than three inches.
Hind part of back white.

GENUS V. LIMOSA. GODWIT.

Bill about twice the length of the head, straight or
slightly curved upwards, slender, considerably flexible, with
the ridge convex, flattened at the base and toward the end,
the nasal groove extending nearly to the end, the tip slightly
enlarged, obtuse. Nostrils small, linear, basal. Legs long
or moderate, .slender ; tarsus scutellate ; toes rather short,
broad and flat beneath, the outer two connected by a rather
large basal web, running out narrow to the end of each.
Wings long, pointed , tail short, the four middle feathers a
little longer.

1. Limosa rufa. Bar-tailed Godwit. Bill about four
inches long, recurvate, flesh-coloured, dusky toward the

168 TRINGIN^E.

end ; tarsus about two inches and two-twelfths ; feet gTcyish
blue ; tail white, with eight dusky bars.

2. Limosa JEgocephala. Black-tailed Godwit. Bill about
three and a half inches long, straight, orange, dusky at the
end ; tarsus about two inches and three quarters long ; feet
brownish-black ; middle claw serrated ; tail black, white at
the base.

GENUS VI. MACRORHAMPHL'S. LONGBEAK.

Bill twice the length of the head, straight, slender, sub-
ulate, compressed for more than half its length, depressed
and scrobiculate toward the end, and a little enlarged there,
the tips narrowed but blunt. Nostrils sub-basal, linear, per-
vious. Legs of moderate length, slender; toes four, rather
small, the first diminutive and elevated, the outer two con-
nected as far as the second joint by a membrane. Wings
very long, pointed ; tail short, nearly even.

1. Macrorhamphus griseus. Grey Longbeak. In winter,
the upper parts brownish-grey, spotted with dusky ; the
rump and tail white, transversely barred with blackish-
brown. In summer, the upper parts variegated with
brownish-black and light reddish-yellow ; the lower light
yellowish-red, spotted and barred with dusky.

;go

MACHETES. RUFF.

The bird known in Britain by the name of Ruff, Tringa
pugnax of various authors, has been separated from the
Tringa? by Cuvier, to form a genus by itself, bearing the
designation of Machetes or Fighter, in allusion to the com-
bative propensity of the males during the breeding season.
The bill in this genus differs in no appreciable degree from
that of Tringa Canutus ; the general form approaches to that
of Limosa ; the legs, and especially the toes, are longer than
in Tringa, and the latter indicate some approach to the
Snipes. Not being acquainted with any other species than
Machetes pugnax, I must take the generic character from it
alone.

Bill scarcely longer than the head, straight, slender, soft
and somewhat flexible : upper mandible with the dorsal line
straight, slightly decimate for two-thirds, the ridge convex,
flattened toward the end, the tip slightly enlarged, obtuse,
and a little exceeding that of the lower, the nasal groove
extending nearly to the end, and filled by a concave bare
membrane ; lower mandible with the angle very long and
narrow ; the sides grooved, the tip a little enlarged and
obtuse. Tongue very long, slender, trigonal, channelled
above, pointed.

Nostrils small, linear, pervious, basal, close to the mar-
gin. Eyes rather small; both eyelids densely feathered.
Aperture of ear rather large, roundish. Legs rather long;
tibia bare about a third of its length ; tarsus rather long,
slender, compressed, anteriorly covered with numerous nar-
row scutella ; toes slender, first very small and elevated ;
anterior toes rather long, inner a little shorter than outer,
third not much longer, all with numerous scutella above,
laterally marginate ; third and fourth connected by a basal

170 MACHETES. RUFF.

web. Claws small, arched, much compressed, tapering,
acute.

Plumage moderately full, soft, and rather blended, on the
back and wings distinct. Wings long, pointed ; quills
twenty-five ; primaries tapering, the first longest ; seconda-
ries short, incurved, but the inner elongated, one of them
nearly as long as the first primary when the wing is closed.
Tail short, doubly emarginate, of twelve feathers.

The males, which are polygamous, have the face covered
with tubercles, and the neck furnished with a large ruff,
during the breeding season.

171

MACHETES PUGNAX. THE COMMON RUFF.

Tringa pugnax. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 247. Summer.

Tringa littorea. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 251. Young.— Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 731.

Tringa pugnax. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 725. Summer.

Buff. Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Supplt.

Becasseau comhattant. Tringa pugnax. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 731.

Tringa pugnax. Buff. Flem. Brit. Anim. 110.

Machetes pugnax. Buff. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 130.

Tringa pugnax. Buff. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 207.

Machetes pugnax. Bonap. Comp. List. 50.

Male in winter with the bill brown, the feet greenish-
yellow, the throat and abdomen white, the fore neck and part
of the breast pale reddish-brown, spotted with dark brown ;
the upper parts variegated with brownish-black and light-red.
Female similar, but with the upper parts lighter, the loivcr
more grey, the bill and feet dusky. Male in summer, toit/t
numerous fleshy tubercles on the face, two occipital tufts and
a very large ruff of elongated feathers on the neck ; the colour
of the plumage varying in different individuals, and even in
the same at different periods of the same season; the bill and

172 MACHETES PUGNAX.

feet orange or yellow. Female without tubercles or ornamen-
tal feathers ; the upper parts greyish-brown, glossed with
green, the fore neck and breast paler ; the bill and feet dusky.
Young with the lower parts pale reddish anteriorly, white
behind ; the feathers of the upper parts black, margined with
light red.

This bird is remarkable for two circumstances connected
with its habits, it being polygamous, and during the breeding
season extremely pugnacious. Two circumstances relative
to its plumage are also peculiar ; in spring it acquires an
enormous ruff of feathers on the neck and a multitude of
fleshy tubercles on the face, which disappear in July ; and
the colours of the ruff especially, as well as of the body, are
so diversified that hardly two individuals can be found pre-
cisely alike. As in every other instance, I shall first describe
the bird in its winter plumage.

Male in Winter. — The general form of the Ruff is
rather slender ; the body being moderate, the neck rather
long, the head rather small, ovate, somewhat compressed.
The bill is of the same length as the head, straight, slender,
higher than broad, toward the end depressed; both man-
dibles laterally grooved nearly to the end, with the edges
soft and blunt, the tips a little enlarged and obtuse. The
nostrils are linear, small, three-twelfths long, sub-basal, sub-
marginal, direct. The eyes are of moderate size ; the aper-
ture of the ear roundish and rather large. The legs are
rather long and slender ; the tibia is bare for an inch, or one
third of its length ; the tarsus has twenty-eight anterior
scutella, and a greater number behind ; the hind toe, which
is very small, has four, the second toe twenty, the third
twenty-eight, the fourth twenty-six scutella ; the anterior
toes are long, slender, compressed, marginate, the third and
fourth connected by a basal web, the second a little shorter
than the fourth. The claws are of moderate length, very
slender, much compressed, tapering, pointed, arched.

The plumage is soft and rather blended, unless on the
back and wings ; the feathers generally ovate. The wings

COMMON RUFF. 173

are long, of moderate breadth, pointed ; the primaries stiff,
tapering', the first longest, the rest rapidly graduated ; the
inner secondaries tapering and elongated. The tail is rather
short, of twelve feathers, of which the four middle are con-
siderably longer.

The bill is brown ; the iris hazel ; the feet greenish-
yellow ; the claws black. The throat and fore-neck are
white, its lower part and a portion of the breast pale reddish-
brown, spotted with dark brown ; the rest of the lower parts
white. The upper parts are variegated with brownish-black
and light red ; the feathers having a large patch of the
former colour, with a margin of the latter ; on the hind part
of the back they are greyish-brown, with reddish margins.
The smaller wing-coverts are brownish-grey, with their
central part dusky ; the primary qnills and their coverts
dark brown, with the shafts whitish ; the secondary quills
and coverts greyish-brown, with a greenish gloss, and nar-
rowly margined with whitish. The upper tail-coverts are
brownish-grey, margined with paler, and having a dusky
mark near the end; the tail-feathers brownish-grey, with
the shafts whitish ; the four middle feathers with dusky
markings toward the end.

Length to end of tail 12 inches ; extent of wings 25 ;
wing from flexure 1j ; tail 3 ; bill along the ridge 1-^, along
the edge of loAver mandible ljV; bare part of tibia 1-}V;
tarsus 2 ; first toe -fir, its claw -jV ; second toe -[4, its clawr TV ;
third toe 1^, its claw -f^; fourth toe -jV, its claw ,32.

Female in Winter. — The female resembles the male,
but has the dark tints paler, and the lower parts tinged with
grey. The bill is black ; the feet dusky grey.

Variations. — The males vary considerably in colour
even in winter ; but this is chiefly owing to the intermixture
of feathers belonging to the summer plumage. After the
month of April, the greatest diversity prevails.

Change of Plumage. — The quills, larger coverts, and
tail-feathers are changed in autumn ; but the other feathers

174 MACHETES PUGNAX.

are renewed twice in the year. In spring, moreover, a tuft
of oblong curved feathers projects from each side of the
occiput ; and along the sides of the neck anteriorly arise
series of elongated, oblong, incurved feathers, capable of
being raised so as to form a large ruff. The cheeks, fore-
head, and space around the eyes become at the same time
covered with obovate or oblong papillae of a yellow colour
and fleshy consistence. In June these papillae disappear, the
summer plumage begins to be shed, and by the end of
October the winter dress is completed.

Male in Summer. — Bill yellowish-orange, toward the
end brown ; papillae on the head reddish ; feet yellow ; claws
black. The wings, tail, and abdomen, as in winter ; but all
the other parts varying so as to render a general description
impracticable. Thus in an individual before me the occi-
pital tufts are purplish-black ; the ruff pale yellow, streaked
and variegated with black ; in another, the tufts are minutely
variegated with light red and black, while the ruff is glossy
purplish-black ; in another, the tufts and ruff are variegated
with reddish-yellow and black • in another they are purplish-
black, barred with white ; in another almost entirely yellow ;
in another nearly white. In short, there is no end to the
variations of these parts. The neck, breast, and sides are
frequently black, glossed with blue and purple ; but often
also variegated with white and black, or yelloAv, grey, and
other tints. For the most part the hind-neck and back are
barred and mottled with brownish-black and light reddish-
yellow ; the middle tail-feathers usually barred.

Female in Summer. — The female does not acquire any
tubercles or ornamental feathers on the head or neck. The
bill is black ; the feet greenish-grey. The upper parts
greyish-brown, glossed with green ; the fore part of the
neck and breast paler ; the rest of the lower parts white.

Habits. — This species formerly bred in great numbers in
the fenny districts along the eastern coast of England ; but,
owing to the draining of the marshes, and the increase of

COMMON RUFF. 173

population, is now of rare occurrence in those parts. It
appears that many of the Ruffs now merely sojourn with us
for a short time during their vernal and autumnal migra-
tions. On the east coast of Scotland they usually appear
about the middle of September, and depart in about a fort-
night ; but I have never seen an adult male killed there ; the
little flocks that occur being young birds and females.

In the end of August, and in September and October,
small flocks are sometimes met with along the east coast of
Aberdeenshire, especially about Ythan Mouth, and thence
to Aberdeen, and in the estuaries of the South Esk and
Tay. They seem to pass southward after a very short
sojourn. They are also not very unfrequently met with on
the shores of the Frith of Forth. From thence, all along
the eastern and part of the southern shores of England, they
have been met with here and there. The bird is not known
to breed any where in Scotland or its islands, and therefore
it is more than probable that these flocks have winged their
way from Scandinavia, in some parts of which no bird is
more common during the summer. We have no facts as to
their passage along the western coasts of Scotland and
England ; but Mr. Thompson states that they occur not un-
frequently in Belfast Bay, and sometimes in other parts of
Ireland, though not hitherto observed on the western or
southern coasts.

Very few now breed in England, and none, in so far as is
known, in Scotland or Ireland. They reappear, on their
return to the north, in spring, from March to the middle of
May ; but in smaller numbers. Montagu states in the Sup-
plement of his Ornithological Dictionary, published in 1813,
that he made a tour through Lincolnshire to make himself
acquainted with the history of this singular bird. He found
that, owing to the draining of a large tract of fen, they had
become scarcer than they used to be.

" The trade of catching Ruffs," he says, " is confined to
a very few persons, which at present scarcely repays their
trouble and expense of nets. These people live in obscure
places on the verge of the fens, and are found out with diffi-
culty, for few, if any, birds are ever bought but by those

17G MACHETES PUGNAX.

who make a trade of fatting them for the table ; and they
.sedulously conceal the abode of the fowlers, so much that
by no art could we obtain from any of them where they
resided ; and in order to deceive us, after evading our en-
treaties, gave us instructions that led us quite a contrary
direction. The reason of all this was obvious, for after much
labour and search, in the most obscure places, (for neither
the innkeepers, nor other inhabitants of the towns, could
give any information, and many did not know such a bird
was peculiar to their fens,) we found out a very civil and
intelligent fowler, who resided close to Spalding, at Fen-
gate, by name William Burton, (we feel a pleasure in
recording his name, not only from his obliging nature, but
for the use of others in similar pursuits,) and strange to say,
that, although the man had constantly sold Huffs to Mr.
Towns, a noted feeder, hereafter more particularly noticed,
as also to another feeder, at Cowbit, by the name of Weeks,
neither of these persons could be induced to inform us even
of the name of this fowler. The reason, however, was
evident, and justly remarked by Burton, for he obtained no
more than ten shillings per dozen, Avhereas AVeeks demanded
thirty shillings for the like number he had the same day
bought of Burton. The season was far advanced, and we
were obliged to buy some at that price of Weeks, for Burton
could not then catch us as many as we required.

"At this time we were shown into a room, where there
were about seven dozen males, and a dozen females, and of the
former there were not two alike. This intrusion to choose
our birds, drove them from their stands, and compelling
some to tresspass upon the premises of others, produced many
battles. By this feeder we learned, that two guineas a
dozen was now the price of fattened Ruffs ; and he never re-
membered the price under thirty shilling, when fit for table.

" Mr. Towns, the noted feeder at Spalding, assured us his
family had been a hundred years in the trade ; boasted that
they had served George the Second and many noble families
in the kingdom. He undertook, at the desire of the late
Marquis of Townsend (when that nobleman was Lord Lieu-
tenant of Ireland), to take some Ruffs to that country, and

COMMON RUFF. 177

actually set off with twenty-seven dozen from Lincolnshire,
left seven dozen at the Duke of Devonshire's, at Chatsworth,
continued his route across the kingdom, to Holyhead, and
delivered seventeen dozen alive in Dublin, having lost only
three dozen in so long a journey, confined and greatly
crowded as they were in baskets, which were carried upon
two horses.

" Nothing can more strongly evince the hardy constitution
of these birds, than the performance of such a journey, so
soon after capture, and necessarily fed with a food wholly
new to them : and yet a certain degree of care and attention
is requisite to preserve, and more especially to fatten them ;
for out of the seventeen dozen delivered at the castle of
Dublin, not more than two dozen were served up to table,
doubtless entirely owing to a want of knowledge or attention
of the feeder under whose care they had been placed.

" Few Ruffs, comparatively speaking, are now taken in the
spring, as the old birds frequently pine, and will not readily
fatten. The principal time is in September, when the young
birds are fled ; these are infinitely more delicate for the
table, more readily submit to confinement, and. are less in-
clined to fight. If this plan were generally enforced by the
proprietors of fen land, or made a bye-law amongst them-
selves, the breed would not be so reduced ; but there are
still some fowlers who make two seasons, and thus by
catching the old birds in the spring, especially the females,
verify the fable of the Goose and the golden eggs ; the
destruction of every female in the breeding season is the
probable loss of four young.

" The manner of taking these birds is somewhat different
in the two seasons : in the spring the Ruffs kill, as it is
termed, that is, they assemble upon a rising spot of ground
contiguous to where the Reeves propose to deposit their
eggs ; there they take their stand, at a small distance from
each other, and contend for the females — the nature of poly-
gamous birds. This hill, or place of resort for love and
battle, is sought for by the fowler, who, from habit, dis-
covers it by the birds having trodden the turf somewhat
bare, though not in a circle as usually described.

N

178 MACHETES PUGNAX.

" When a hill has been discovered, the fowler repairs to
the spot before the break of day, spreads his net, places
his decoy birds, and takes his stand at the distance of
about 140 yards or more, according to the shyness of the
birds.

" The net is what is termed a single clap-net, about 17 feet
in length and 6 wide, with a pole at each end. This, by
means of uprights fixed in the ground, and each furnished
with a pulley, is easily pulled over the birds within reach,
and rarely fails taking all within its grasp ; but in order to
give the pull the greatest velocity, the net is (if circum-
stances will permit) placed so as to fold over with the wind.
However, there are some fowlers Avho prefer pulling it against
the wind for Plovers. As the Ruffs feed chiefly by night,
they repair to their frequented hill at the dawn of day,
nearly all at the same time ; and the fowler makes his first
pull according to circumstances, takes out his birds, and
prepares for the stragglers who traverse the fens, and who
have no adopted bill. These are caught singly, being enticed
by the stuffed birds.

" Burton, who was before mentioned, never used anything
but stuffed skins, executed in a very rude manner ; but some
fowlers keep the first Ruffs they catch for decoy birds. These
have a string of about two feet long tied above the knee, and
fastened down to the ground.

" The stuffed skins are sometimes so managed as to be
moveable by means of a long string, so that a jerk represents
a jump, (a motion very common amongst Ruffs, who at the
sight of a wanderer flying by will leap or flirt a yard off the
ground,) by that means inducing those on wing to come and
alight by him.

" The stuffed birds are prepared by filling the skin with a
whisp of straw tied together, the legs having been first cut
off, and the skin afterwards sewed along the breast and
belly, but with no great attention to cover the straw beneath.
Into this straw a stick is thrust to fix it into the ground, and
a peg is also thrust through the top of the head, and down
the neck into the stuffing or straw body, and the wings are
closed by the same process. Rough as this preparation is,

COMMON RUFF. 179

and as unlike a living bird as skin and feathers can be made,
it answers all the purpose.

" When the Reeves begin to lay, both those and the Ruffs
are least shy, and so easily caught, that a fowler assured us
he could with certainty take every bird on the fen in the
season. The females continue this boldness, and their teme-
rity increases as they become broody ; on the contrary, we
found the males at that time could not be approached within
the distance of musket-shot, and consequently far beyond
the reach of small shot.

" We were astonished to observe the property that these
fowlers have acquired, of distinguishing so small an object as
a Ruff at such an immense distance, which, amongst a
number of tufts or stumps, could not by us be distinguished
from one of those inequalities ; but their eyes had been in
long practice of looking for the one object.

" The autumnal catching is usually about Michaelmas, at
which time few old males are taken ; from which an opinion
has been formed that they migrate before the females and
young. It is, however, more probable that the few which
are left after the spring fowling, like other polygamous birds,
keep in parties separate from the female and her brood till
the return of spring. That some old Ruffs are occasionally
taken in the autumnal fowling, we have the assertion of ex-
perienced fowlers ; but we must admit that others declare
none are taken at this season. It must, however, be recol-
lected, that in the autumn the characteristic long feathers
have been discharged, and consequently young and old
males have equally their plain dress ; but the person who
assured us that old male birds wrere sometimes taken at that,
season, declared it was easy to distinguish them from the
young of that summer.

" It does not appear to be the opinion of fowlers, that the
males are more than one season arriving at maturity, because
the Ruffs taken in the spring, destitute of the characteristic
long feathers, which constitutes their principal distinction, are
comparatively few to those possessing the ruff. The opinion,
therefore, that those ruffless males are birds of a very late
brood of the preceding season, is a reasonable conjecture.

180 MACHETES PUGNAX.

" The long feathers on tlie neck and sides of the head, in
the male, that constitute the ruff and auricles, are of short
duration; for they are scarcely completed in the month of
May, and begin to fall the latter end of June. The change
of these singular parts is accompanied by a complete change
of plumage; the stronger colours, such as purple, chesnut,
and some others, vanish at the same time, so that in their
winter dress they become more generally alike from being
less varied in plumage ; but we observed that those who had
the ruff more or less white, retained that colour about the
neck after the summer or autumnal moulting was effected.

" The females, or Reeves, begin laying their eggs the first
or second week in May ; and we have found their nest with
young as early as the third of June. By this time the males
cease to hill. The nest is usually formed upon a stump in
the most swampy places, surrounded by coarse grass, of
which it is also formed. The eggs are (as usual with its
congeners) four in number ; these are so nearly similar in
colour to those of the Snipe and Redshank, both of which
breed in the same wet places, and make similar nests, that
some experience is required to discriminate them. They
are, however, superior in size to the former, and are known
from the latter by the ground being of a greenish hue
instead of a rufous white ; but individuals assimilate so
nearly to each other as not to be distinguished, especially as
the dusky and brown spots and blotches are similar. The
weight of the eggs is from five drams twenty grains to five
drams fifty grains.

" The weight of the Ruff in the spring, when first taken,
is from five ounces and three quarters to six ounces and a
quarter ; the weight of the Reeves about four ounces. The
length of an old Ruff is sometimes as much as thirteen
inches and a half; young males about twelve inches. The
female measures about ten inches.

" It is a remarkable character of these birds, that they
feed most greedily the moment they are taken ; a basin of
bread and milk, or boiled wheat, placed before them, is
instantly contended for ; and so pugnacious is their dis-
position, that they would starve in the midst of plenty, if

COMMON RUFF. 181

several dishes of food were not placed amongst them, at a
distance from each other."

Montagu carried some of these birds with him to
Devonshire. Several of them lived in confinement for two
and three years, and one for four years. He noticed that
their annual changes never varied ; every spring produced
the same coloured ruff and other feathers ; but the tubercles
on the face never appeared in confinement.

" We had occasion to remark," he continues, " that
although the pugnacious disposition of the Ruff never en-
tirely ceased in confinement, yet it increased with the
growth of the long neck feathers in the spring, when the
least movement of either from their stand provoked a battle.
At other times they would occasionally sleep close to each
other, with their heads turned over the wing, and one leg
tucked up ; but a mess of bread and milk instantly roused
the latent spirit for battle, and one bird was so much
wounded in the throat in one of these feuds that he died.
Their actions in fighting are very similar to those of the
Game Cock ; the head is lowered, and the bill held in a
horizontal direction ; the ruff, and indeed every feather,
more or less distended, the former sweeping the ground as a
shield to defend the more tender parts ; the auricles erected,
and the tail partly spread ; upon the whole assuming a most
ferocious aspect. When either could obtain a firm hold with
the bill, a leap succeeded, accompanied with a stroke of the
wing ; but they rarely injured each other."

Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, in his Natural History of
Ireland, presents a not pleasing battle-scene : — " A relative
has mentioned to me, that when he was leaving Rotterdam
for London, a few years ago, in spring, a huge basket con-
taining from two to three hundred Ruffs was put on board
the steamer. The incessant fighting of these birds proved
the grand source of attraction to the passengers during the
voyage. Their crib was one great battle-field, in which
every individual seemed to be at the same moment engaged,
and determined to keep up the warfare as long as life itself
lasted. It was a continual battle, and treading down of the
wounded and dying. About one half of them were slain

182 MACHETES PUGNAX.

before the vessel reached London. On inquiry of the person
who had charge of them, ' Would it not have been better to
place them in smaller baskets V the reply was, that it would
have been quite the same as to the fighting and deaths
produced."

Young. — The following description of the young in full
plumage is taken from two individuals shot on the shores of
the Firth of Forth in autumn, and a specimen from Norway.
The bill is black ; the feet greenish-black. The upper part
of the head light red streaked with black ; the upper hind-
neck duller, with larger and fainter spots ; the rest of the
hind-neck, the fore part of the back, and the scapulars
brownish-black, with light red margins ; the feathers of the
hind part of the back dusky grey, with dull light red edges.
Wing-coverts glossy greenish-grey, black toward the end,
and edged with pale reddish-grey ; quills dusky, glossed with
green, margined with whitish ; the inner secondaries edged
with light red. Tail-feathers grey, glossed with green, edged
with red, the four middle darker, all with dusky markings
toward the end. The fore-neck and part of the breast and
sides are pale greyish-red, the other parts white.

In September, 1840, I procured two young individuals,
a male and a female, which had been shot on the Forth near
Stirling.

In both, the tongue was one inch in length ; the oesopha-
gus five, the stomach an inch and two-twelfths long, an inch
and one-twelfth in breadth ; the intestine in the male
measured seventeen inches, in the female eighteen ; coeca in
the former an inch and ten-twelfths, in the latter two inches,
their greatest width two-twelfths ; the rectum in both two
inches and a quarter. The stomach broadly elliptical, com-
pressed, with strong muscles and radiated tendons; the
epithelium very thin, dense, elastic, longitudinally rugous,
dull yellow. The contents of the stomach were small Crus-
tacea, insects, and fresh-water univalve shells, with numerous
fragments of quartz, rounded and smoothed, the largest two-
twelfths in diameter.

183

TRINGA. SANDPIPER.

The Sandpipers are birds of small size, the largest not
exceeding the Golden Plover, and resemble in form the
Sanderlings, Phalaropes, Snipes, and other genera of the
same family, having the body rather full and ovate, the neck
of moderate length, the head rather small, compressed, and
anteriorly convex.

Bill not much longer than the head, nearly straight,
slender, soft and somewhat flexible ; upper mandible with
the dorsal outline straight, the ridge narrow, but flattened
towards the end, the tip slightly enlarged, obtuse, and a little
exceeding that of the lower, the nasal groove extending
nearly to the end and filled by a concave bare membrane ;
lower mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the
sides grooved, the tip a little enlarged and obtuse. Tongue
soft at the base, very long, slender, trigonal, channelled above,
pointed. Upper mandible within concave, with a groove on
each side, and a central double row of reversed pointed
papilla? ; lower deeply concave. Fauces extremely small.
(Esophagus narrow, without dilatation ; proventriculus small,
its glands oblong; gizzard very large and powerful, its
muscles extremely firm ; its cuticular lining rugous ; intes-
tine long ; coeca moderate, cylindrical.

Nostrils small, linear, pervious, basal, close to the margin.
Eyes rather small ; both eyelids densely feathered. Aperture
of ear rather large, roundish. The feet are of moderate
length, and very slender ; the tibia long, and bare above the
joint ; tarsus of ordinary length, anteriorly covered with
numerous narrow scutella ; toes small ; first very small and
elevated ; second a little shorter than fourth, third not much
longer ; all with numerous scutella above, laterally margi-

184 TRINGA. SANDPIPER.

nate ; third and fourth connected by a basal web. Claws
small, curved, compressed, obtuse.

Plumage moderately full, soft, and rather blended, but on
the back and wings distinct. Wings very long, pointed ;
quills twenty-five ; primaries tapering, the first longest ;
secondaries short, incurved, but the inner elongated, one of
them nearly as long as the first primary when the wing is
closed. Tail short, of twelve narrowed feathers, generally
emarginate.

The Sandpipers inhabit the sandy and muddy coasts of
the sea in autumn and winter, often collecting into large
flocks, and occasionally associating with Plovers, Sander-
lings, and other birds of a like nature. In summer they are
scattered over the moors and marshy districts of the northern
countries, where they breed, forming a shallow nest on the
ground, and depositing four pyriform, spotted eggs. The
young run about almost immediately after birth, and squat
when in danger. The food is obtained by probing the mud
or soft sand with their flexible bill, and consists of insects,
worms, and small testaceous mollusca.

The males are considerably smaller than the females, and
in some species are distinguished by a difference of colour, or
by modification of the plumage. In the same species the
colours vary at different seasons, the winter plumage being
very different from that of summer, on which account great
confusion prevailed in this genus until M. Temminck and
some other modern writers accurately defined the variations
observed.

The bird popularly known as Sandpiper, is of a different
genus, in which are species distinguished by different names.
But as every genus ought to have a generic name, vernacular
as well as scientific, if the term Sandpiper is to be employed,
it must be given exclusively to the genus Tringa or the
genus Actitis. The Tringse arc usually called Sandpipers,
and many ornithologists give them that name ; but if it be
appropriated by them, it is evident that it cannot be shared
by another genus.

* CENTRAL PARK, *'
^18^-WYORK. a.

TRINGA CANUTUS. THE ASH-COLOURED SAND-
PIPER OR KNOT.

GREY SANDPIPER. RED-BREASTED SANDPIPER. RED SANDPIPER.

Fig. 17,

Tringa Canutus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 251. Adult in Winter.

Tringa Canutus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 738. Adult in Winter.

Tringa islandica. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. Addenda. Adult in Summer.

Tringa islandica. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 737. Adult in Summer.

Red Sandpiper. Mont. Orn. Diet. Summer.

Knot. Mont. Orn. Diet. Winter.

Sandpiper, Ash-coloured. Mont. Orn. Diet. Young.

Becasseau Canut ou Maubeche. Tringa cinerea. Temni. Man. d'Orn. II. 627.

Tringa Canutus. Knot. Flem. Brit. Anim. 109.

Tringa cinerea. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 733. Young.

Tringa grisea. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 733. Adult in Winter.

Tringa noevia. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 732. In moult.

Knot. Tringa Canutus. Selby, Illustr. II. 138.

Tringa Canutus. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 213.

Tringa Canutus. Bonap. Conip. List. 49.

Bill straight, a little longer than the head, its tip con-
siderably dilated ; tail even; tarsus an inch and two-twelfths
long. In winter the plumage ash-grey above, tohite beneath,
the neck and sides streaked icith dusky. In summer the back
glossy black, variegated with yellowish-red ; the fore neck and
breast yellowish-red. The young grey above, each feather on
the back with a double marginal band of black and white.

186 TRINGA CANUTUS.

Male. — The Knot, which is much larger than the Purple
Sandpiper and Dunlin, and inferior in size to the Ruff, pre-
sents nothing in its form and structure differing in a remark-
able degree from the other species of the genus. The bill is
very slightly longer than the head, straight, slender, some-
what compressed; the upper mandible has its dorsal outline
straight, the ridge flattened towards the end, the lip con-
siderably enlarged, obtuse, a little exceeding that of the
lower, the sides deeply grooved to near the end ; the lower
mandible has the angle very long and narrow, the sides
grooved, the tip enlarged and obtuse. The oesophagus is
four and a half inches long, of uniform diameter and narrow ;
the proventriculus small, with very numerous glandules.
The gizzard is very large, its muscles extremely firm, its
cuticular lining longitudinally rugous ; its length an inch
and a half. The intestine twenty-nine inches long, of nearly
uniform diameter ; the coeca three inches long, with a
diameter of two-twelfths; the rectum an inch and three-
quarters in length ; the general diameter of the intestine
four- twelfths.

The head is small, oblong, and compressed ; the eyes
rather small ; the aperture of the ears large, being four-
twelfths across. The feet are very slender and of moderate
length; the tibia bare* for a short space; tarsus anteriorly
covered with thirty-five broad scutella ; toes small ; the first
very small and elevated, with six scutella, the second with
eighteen, the third with thirty, the fourth with twenty scu-
tella ; the anterior toes are very slightly webbed at the base,
and rather broadly margined. The claws are very small,
curved, compressed, and obtuse.

The plumage is blended; on the back and wings the
feathers are distinct and rounded. The Avings are very long
and pointed ; the quills twenty-five ; the primaries tapering,
the first longest, the rest rapidly graduated ; the inner
secondaries elongated and tapering, the longest an inch
shorter than the first primary. The tail is short, even, of
twelve tapering, rounded feathers, the two middle and the
outer a little longer, so that the organ is in fact doubly emar-
ginate in a slight degree ; the tail-coverts long and narrow.

ASH-COLOURED SANDPIPER. 187

The bill is greyish-black, the margins at the base reddish.
The feet are greyish-blue, the tarsal-joint and soles green ;
the claws black. The upper part of the head, a band from
the bill to the eye, the hind-neck, the fore part of the back,
the scapulars, and wing-coverts, ash-grey ; the central part
of each feather . dark-grey, on the scapulars, back and neck
reduced to a mere line. The hind part of the back, and the
upper tail-coverts are white, with curved bands of black. The
primary coverts and quills are greyish-black ; the secondaries
gradually fading to grey ; the shafts of the quills and the tips
of the larger coverts Avhite. The tail is light ash-grey. The
lower parts are white ; the cheeks and fore-neck greyish, and
marked with small dark-grey lines ; the fore part of the
breast and the sides with undulated bands.

Length to end of tail 10^ inches ; extent of wings 20 ;
bill along the ridge ljV, along the edge of lower mandible
1^- ; wing from flexure 6 -p-j ; tail 2\^ ; tarsus lyV ; first toe
■^j, its claw -yV ; second toe -j^-, its claw -fa ; third toe J-g-, its
claw -j3j ; fourth toe -fe, its claw -j^-.

Female. — The female is similar, but much larger.

Length to end of tail 10} £ inches; extent of wings 22;
bill along the ridge 1 ,52 , along the edge of lower mandible
lfV; wing from flexure 6f ; tail 2f ; bare part of tibia -fe;
tarsus 1-fry ; first toe -fV, its claw -^ ; second toe y^, its claw -^ ;
third toe -f|, its claw yV ; fourth toe -j^, its claw yV-

Variations. — I have not observed any remarkable varia-
tions in the winter plumage of adult individuals.

Changes of Plumage. — Excepting the quills and tail-
feathers, the whole plumage is renewed in spring, when the
colouring becomes entirely altered. The ordinary moult
commences in August, and is complete by the middle of
November.

Adult in Summer. — Not having at hand a British speci-
men at this season, I take the following description from one
obtained in the Arctic regions by the surgeon of a whaler : —

188 TRINGA CANUTUS.

The bill and feet are black ; the head and lower parts are of
a delicate light red ; some feathers along the middle of the
breast and abdomen white, as are the lower tail-coverts.
The axillar and some of the hypochondrial feathers are white,
barred with dusky. The upper parts generally are of a
beautiful glossy purplish-black, the feathers margined with
pale red, and on the hind parts tipped with white, the
scapulars and inner secondaries with large spots of red ;
those on the rump and the upper tail-coverts white, barred
with dusky. The tail-feathers are ash-grey, margined with
white. The primaries are greyish-black, their shafts and the
outer webs of the inner white ; the secondaries ash-grey,
broadly edged with white, except the inner, which are like
the back ; the coverts dark grey, edged with greyish- white.

Habits. — The Ash-coloured Sandpiper appears on our
coasts in small flocks in the beginning of September, or even
earlier, when the old birds usually retain a portion of the
summer plumage. Its flight is rapid, and characterized by
the same peculiarities as that of the Dunlin, the birds Avheel-
ing off to sea, and performing various evolutions, as they flit
along the shore. They run on the sands and muddy flats
with great agility, often keeping along the edge of the water,
running out when the wave recedes, and again retreating.
At other times they are met with in salt marshes, and even
in pastures overflowed by the tide. Their food consists of
small Crustacea, coleoptera, mollusca, and worms. On some
parts of our coast they often form very large flocks in winter ;
but they are not nearly so abundant as the Dunlin ; nor are
they in general so shy as that species, but frequently, when
intent on feeding, allow a person to walk up pretty close to
them. They are sometimes sold in our markets, and are
not inferior in flavour to the Golden Plover. I have seen
this species pretty late in summer, and in 1818 shot one at
Aberdeen in its red plumage ; but it has not been found
breeding with us. M. Temminck states that it breeds in the
northern regions, living in summer in the marshes. I have
seen the young in its first plumage in Scotland, and have
now before me a specimen from Davis Straits, which is
marked as follows.

ASH-COLOURED SANDPIPER. 189

Young. — The bill and feet are greyish-black. The upper
part of the head is dusky, the feathers edged with greyish-
white ; the hind-neck pale-grey, streaked with whitish ; the
rest of the upper parts ash-grey, each feather with a double
margin of brownish-black and white ; but the feathers of the
rump and the upper tail-coverts white, barred with dusky.
The tail-feathers are ash-grey, margined with dusky and
white ; as are the inner secondary quills, the outer and their
coverts grey, edged with white ; the primaries blackish-grey,
similarly edged. The throat is white ; the cheeks, sides of
the neck, its fore-part, and the sides of the body, greyish-
white, streaked and barred with grey ; the rest of the lower
parts white.

Remarks. — It is unnecessary now to trace all the names
given by authors to this species, which, as M. Temminck
observes, " is repeated, in the systems, under seven different
appellations." It appears to be generally distributed at
different seasons over Europe and North America, moving
southward in autumn, and returning in the beginning of
summer to the polar regions.

190

TRINGA PECTORALIS. THE PECTORAL
SANDPIPER.

Pectoral Sandpiper. Tringa pectoralis.. And. Oruith. Biogr. III. 601

V. 582.
Becasseau pectoral. Tringa pectoralis. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. IV. 397.
Tringa pectoralis. Pectoral Sandpiper. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 210.

Bill a sixth longer than the head, scarcely deflexed at the
end ; tail with the middle feathers pointed and much longer
than the lateral, of which three on each side are equal; tarsus
an inch and a twelfth and a half long ; bill olivaceous, dusky
toward the end; feet dull yellowish-green. In icinter, the
feathers of the upper parts greyish-brown, with a darker
medial streak, and pale brownish-grey margins ; the wing-
coverts lighter ; the rump dusky ; the primary quills blackish-
brown, the first icith its shaft white, the secondaries grey
edged with white, as are the tail-feathers, except the middle,
which are dusky toward the end; cheeks, sides, and fore part
of the neck, icith part of the breast and the sides of the body
greyish-white, streaked with dusky ; the chin and lower parts
white. In summer, the feathers of the upper parts brownish-
black, broadly margined with broionish-red ; the rump black ;
the wings and tail as in icinter; the cheeks, neck, and part
of the breast and sides brownish-grey , with larger streaks of
broivnish-black.

Male in Winter. — This species, of which only three
individuals have been obtained in England, I describe from
American specimens, one of which was preserved in spirits,
and another presented to me by Mr. Audubon. The form is
ovate and compact, but rather slender ; the neck of moderate
length ; the head rather small, oblong, compressed, and

PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 191

rounded above. The bill is a little longer than the head,
straight, slender, flexible, somewhat tapering or sub-cylin-
drical, compressed at the base, but depressed toward the
end, where it is a little enlarged and very slightly denexed ;
the upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, a little
decurved at the tip, which is obtusely pointed, the ridge
convex, a little flattened toward the end, the nasal groove
extending almost to the end ; lower mandible with the
angle very long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line nearly
straight, the sides grooved, the tip a little widened, but
tapering to a blunt point.

The mouth is extremely narrow, as in all the species ;
the upper mandible internally marked with two grooves, and
having a central double line of reversed papilla?. The
tongue, which is eleven-twelfths of an inch long, is very
slender, trigonal, tapering, channelled above, and pointed.
The oesophagus four inches and a half long, narrow, with a
bulbiform proventriculus ; the stomach large, roundish, ten-
twelfths in length, nine in breadth, with strong lateral
muscles, and dense, thin, longitudinally rugous epithelium.
The intestine is eleven inches and a half in length, a twelfth
and a half in width ; the cceca an inch and a quarter long,
one-twelfth in width.

The eyes are rather small. The nostrils basal, linear, per-
vious, a twelfth and a quarter in length. Apertures of ears
moderate. The legs of moderate length, slender; the tibia
bare to the extent of seven-twelfths of an inch ; the tarsus
compressed, with twenty anterior scutella, and a greater
number behind. The first toe small, slender, and elevated ;
the anterior toes rather long and slender, slightly emargi-
nate, separated to the base, and without vestige of webs ;
the inner with twenty, the middle toe with twenty-five, the
outer with twenty-five scutella ; the outer and inner toes of
about equal length ; the claws rather long, slightly arched,
compressed, acute, that of the middle toe much larger, with
the inner edge dilated.

The plumage is soft, but rather firm, blended on the
lower parts, somewhat distinct on the upper. Wings long,
pointed, extending when closed a little beyond the tail ;

192 TRIXGA PECTORALIS.

primaries tapering, obtuse, the first longest, the second con-
siderably shorter, the rest regularly graduated ; outer secon-
daries short, obliquely rounded, with a short point, the inner
elongated and tapering, the longest about an inch shorter
than the tip of the closed wing. Tail of twelve feathers,
rather short, the three outer on each side rounded and equal,
the rest gradually elongated, the two middle pointed, and
exceeding the lateral by half-an-inch.

The bill is olivaceous, becoming brownish-black at the
end. The feet dull greenish-yellow, with the claws black.
The feathers of the upper parts are greyish-brown, with a
darker medial streak, and pale brownish-grey margins ; the
wing-coverts lighter, and the upper tail-coverts darker. The
primary quills and coverts are blackish-brown, with a tinge
of grey, the shaft of the first quill and that of the first covert
white ; the secondaries light brownish-grey, narrowly mar-
gined with white ; the inner like the feathers of the back.
The tail-feathers are light brownish-grey, narrowly mar-
gined and tipped with white, the two medial dusky toward
the end. A whitish band streaked with dusky extends over
the eye ; the loral band brown ; a small white space on
the throat ; the cheeks, sides of the neck, its fore part, a
considerable portion of the breast, and the upper part of the
sides greyish-white, streaked with dusky ; the rest of the
lower parts white ; axillar feathers, and some of the lower
wing-coverts, pure white ; those toward the edge of the wing
dusky grey, with white margins ; the larger coverts grey, as
is the lower surface of the quills.

Length to end of tail 9 inches, to end of wings 9^ ; extent
of wings 18 ; wing from flexure 5-^; tail 2-/V; bill along the
ridge 1^-, along the edge of lower mandible 1-^; bcire part
of tibia -j2,-; tarsus 1-^; hind toe -pj, its claw -^; second toe
-^V, its claw Yj-, third toe ^4, its claw -^; fourth toe -^V,
its claw 12J.

Female. — Similar to the male, but somewhat larger.

Male and Female in Summer. — The bill and feet as in
winter. The feathers on the upper part of the head are

PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 193

brownish-black, bordered with light brownish-red ; a faint
whitish line, streaked with dusky, over the eye; the loral band
brownish-black. On the upper parts of the body and wings
the feathers are brownish-black, broadly edged with brownish-
red ; those on the hind part of the back but slightly edged ;
the middle tail-coverts black, the lateral whitish ; the larger
Aving-coverts paler ; the quills and tail-feathers as in winter.
The sides of the head and neck, with the fore part of the
latter, a portion of the breast, and the sides brownisb-grey,
streaked with dusky ; the other parts white, except some of
the lower wing-coverts.

Habits. — Very little seems to be known of the habits of
this species. Mr. Audubon says it is not uncommon along
the eastern coasts of the United States in autumn and
winter, and Mr. Nuttall describes it as plentiful about
Boston. The former of these authors adds : — " I have ob-
served that the flight of the Pectoral Sandpiper resembles
that of the Knot, and is firm, rapid, and well-sustained. It
skims rather low over the surface of the water or the land,
and at times shoots high up into the air, propelling itself
with double rapidity and in perfect silence. It runs with
great agility, and probes the sand or wet earth, immersing
its bill up to the base. I never saw the species in any part
of the interior. Its places of resort during the breeding
season, and the changes of plumage which it undergoes, are
unknown." It does not appear to have been met with on
the shores of Europe ; but an individual is recorded to have
been killed " on the 17th of October, 1830, on the borders
of Breydon Broad, an extensive sheet of water near Yar-
mouth, rather celebrated for the numerous rare birds which
have at different times been observed and shot on its banks
and waters. The person who killed it remarked that it was
solitary, and its note was new to him, which induced him to
shoot it. It proved a female on dissection." A second in-
dividual is stated to have occurred at the Scilly Islands, and
a third on the coast of Durham.

104

TEINGA RUFESCENS. THE BUFF-BREASTED
SANDPIPER.

Tringa rufegcens. Vieill. Gall, des Oiseaux. II. 105.
Tringa rufescens. Yarrell. Linn. Trans. XVI. 109.
Buff-breasted Tringa. Tringa rufescens. Selby, Illustr. II. 142.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Tringa rufescens. And. Oruith. Biogr. III. 451
Tringa rufescens. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 214.
Tringa rufescens. Bonap. Comp. List, 50.

Bill not longer than the head, straight; tail with the
middle feathers considerably longer, the three lateral nearly
equal; tarsus an inch and a third in length; bill dull olive-
green ; feet dull yellowish-green. Plumage in summer blackish-
brown above, each feather margined with greyish-yellow; the
sides of the head and neck, with the fore part of the latter, a
small portion of the breast, and the sides of the body light
reddish-yellow, streaked with brownish-black ; the throat,
breast, and abdomen yellowish-white; quills light greyish-
brown, darker at the end, their inner icebs whitish, with
transverse curved lines and dots of black; the tail with the
middle feathers brown, dusky toward the end, and edged with
white, the rest gradually paler, edged with white, within
which is a black line.

Male in Summer. — This species, of which two indi-
viduals are recorded as having been shot in England, I
describe from American specimens. It is very closely allied
in form to Tringa pectoralis, as well as to the females and
young of Tringa pugnax of Linnaeus, although much inferior
in size, and destitute of the ruff which forms so conspicuous
a feature in the male of that bird ; and is distinguished from
all our Tringa? by the beautiful markings on the inner webs
of its primary quills. The body is rather slender ; the neck

BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 195

of moderate length ; the head oblong, compressed, and
rounded above. The bill is about the length of the head,
slender, straight, flexible, somewhat tapering or sub-cylin-
drical, compressed, toward the end a little depressed ; the
upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, very slightly
decurved at the end, the ridge convex, the nasal groove
extending nearly to the end, the tip obtusely pointed ; lower
mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal
line straight, the sides grooved, the tip a little widened, but
tapering to a blunt point.

The nostrils linear, basal, pervious. Eyes rather small.
Legs rather long, slender ; tibia bare about a third of its
length ; tarsus compressed, with numerous anterior and pos-
terior scutella ; the first toe small, slender, and elevated ;
the anterior toes of moderate length, slender ; the fourth
slightly longer than the second ; all slightly marginate,
separated to the base, without webs. The claws are rather
small, slightly arched, compressed, laterally grooved, rather
acute.

The plumage is very soft, blended on the loAver parts,
somewhat distinct on the upper. The wings very long and
pointed, extending slightly beyond the tip of the tail ; the
first quill longest, the other primaries rapidly decreasing ;
the secondaries rather short, obliquely sinuate on the outer
web at the end, with the inner web rounded, and extending
beyond the outer, as in Tringa pectoralis ; the inner secon-
daries tapering, acute, one of them extending when the wing
is closed to half-an-inch from its tip. The tail is of moderate
length, with the outer three feathers on each side rounded
and equal, the rest gradually elongated, the two middle
pointed, and exceeding the lateral by nearly half-an-inch.

The bill is dull olive, becoming brownish-black at the
end. The iris hazel. The feet dull yellowish-green, the
claws dusky. The feathers of the upper parts are blackish-
brown, margined Avith greyish-yellow ; the wing-coverts
lighter ; the quills and their coverts light greyish-brown,
greenish-black at the end, with the tip whitish, the inner
webs whitish and beautifully marked with curved lines and
dots of black ; the inner secondaries like the feathers of the

196 TRINGA RUFESCENS.

back. The two middle tail-feathers are greyish-brown,
darker and glossed with green at the end, slightly edged
and tipped with white ; the other feathers gradually paler,
edged and tipped with white, within which is a line of
black. The sides of the head, fore part and sides of the
neck, with a small part of the breast, and a portion of the
sides are light yellowish-red, streaked with brownish-black ;
the throat paler, as are the rest of the lower parts, and
without markings. The axillar feathers Avhite, as are most
of the lower wing-coverts ; but those near the edge of the
wing are black in the centre, and the large coverts are dotted
with black. The dark markings of the quills are con-
spicuous on their lower surface.

Length to end of tail 8 inches ; extent of wings 18 ; wing
from flexure 5f ; tail 2^ ; bill along the ridge J \, along the
edge of lower mandible 1 ; tarsus 1 ,42 ; bare part of tibia ^ ;
hind toe f2, its claw ,'-.,; second toe f2, its claw j22 ; third
toe \ ° , its claw j32 ; fourth toe j0o , its clawr *0 .

Female. — The female is similar in colour to the male,
but somewhat larger.

Habits. — This species is said to be not uncommon on
the coasts of Massachusetts, in company with the Pectoral
Sandpiper, which it resembles in its habits, as well as in
form ; and of which, notwithstanding the curious markings
on its quills, I cannot help suspecting it to be the young.
An individual, described by Mr. Yarrell in the Linncean
Transactions, vol. xvi. p. 109, was shot in the beginning of
September, 1826, in Cambridgeshire, along with some Dot-
terels ; and another, a female, was killed on the 28th of
July, 1832, at Sheringham, in the county of Norfolk.

197

TRINGA MARITIMA. THE PURPLE SANDPIPER.

Tringa maritima. Gra. Syst. Nat. I. 678.

Tringa maritima. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 731.

Purple Sandpiper. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Becasseau violet. Tringa maritima. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 619.

Tringa striata. Purple Sandpiper. Flem. Brit. Anim. 110.

Purple or Rock Tringa. Tringa maritima. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith.

II. 1.50.
Tringa maritima. Purple Sandpiper. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 211.
Tringa maritima. Bonap. Comp. List, 49.

Bill a little longer than the head, and slightly decurved at
the end; tail with the middle feathers considerably longer, the
three lateral nearly equal ; tarsus ten-twelfths of an inch
long, shorter than the middle toe ; bill dusky, orange at the
base ; feet ochre-yellow ; scarcely any bare space on the tibia.
In winter the upper parts glossy purplish-black, the feathers
margined toith light grey ; the head, cheeks, sides, and fore
part of the neck light purplish-grey , the sides and lower tail-
coverts streaked with the same ; the throat, part of the breast,
and abdomen white. In summer the upper parts glossy pur-
plish-black, the feathers on the head margined with pale red,
on the back with light red and tipped with white, the lower
parts white, streaked and spotted with dusky-grey.

Male. — The Purple Sandpiper is somewhat larger and
considerably more robust than the Dunlin, which it very
closely resembles in summer, although readily distinguishable
on account of its peculiar markings, its shorter tarsus, and its
broader claws. In its form it is rather full, the body being-
ovate, the neck rather short, the head oblong, compressed, and
rounded in front. The bill is slender, very slightly arcuate,
compressed, tapering, the tips a little enlarged and blunt;
the ridge rounded to near the point, where it is flattened.

198 TPJNGA MARITIMA.

Internally the upper mandible is marked with two grooves,
and has a central double line of reversed acute papillae. The
tongue is very slender, trigonal, tapering, with three papillae
on each side at the base, channelled above, eleven-twelfths
of an inch long. The fauces are extremely narrow. The
oesophagus is three inches and a quarter in length, very
narrow ; the stomach a roundish, compressed gizzard, three-
fourths of an inch long, its muscles large and distinct. The
intestine is fourteen inches long, from two-twelfths to one-
twelfth in diameter ; the coeca cylindrical, obtuse, an inch
and three-twelfths long.

The eyes are rather small, their aperture tAvo and a half
twelfths in diameter. The nostrils are linear, a twelfth and
a half long. The aperture of the ear measures three and a
half twelfths across. The feet are short ; the tibia with
scarcely any bare space ; the tarsus short, covered before and
behind with transverse plates, the anterior twenty-eight ; the
first toe very diminutive, with six scutella ; the second with
twenty-six, the third with thirty, the fourth with thirty.
The claws are short, curved, blunt, much broader than those
of Tringa Cinclus.

The plumage is very soft and blended ; on the upper part
glossy. The wings are very long, and reach nearly to the
end of the tail ; the quills twenty-five, the first primary
longest, the second half a twelfth of an inch shorter, the rest
rapidly graduated ; the secondaries incurvate, except the
inner four, which are elongated and tapering. The tail is
short, the middle feathers a quarter of an inch longer than
the three lateral, which are nearly equal.

The bill is black, its base reddish-orange, especially on
the ridge of the upper mandible. The iris is dark brown,
the margin of the eyelids white. The feet dark lemon or
ochre yellow, the claws black. The head and neck are pur-
plish-grey, the throat, a line over the eyes, and the eyelids,
white. The back is brownish-black, glossy, with rich purple
reflections, the feathers margined with greyish-white. The
primary quills are greyish-black, edged with white, of which
colour are the shafts also ; the secondaries are white at the
base, that colour enlarging so as to include the whole of the

PURPLE SANDPIPER. 199

tenth and eleventh, the tips also are white ; the inner four
glossy black, toward the point greyish. The four lateral
tail-feathers on each side are ash-grey, the rest greyish-black,
all margined with greyish- white. The fore part of the breast
and sides is light purplish-grey, like the neck ; the rest of
the lower parts white, the sides and lower tail-coverts streaked
with grey ; the lower surface of the primary quills grey, as
are the outer wing-coverts, the inner being white.

Length to end of tail 8yV inches ; extent of wings 14^ ;
bill along the ridge 1-jV, along the edge of lower mandible
1-jV ; wing from flexure 5yV ; tail 2^ ; tarsus ±4,- ; first toe ^,
its claw ^-; second toe -yV, its claw ^-; third toe \^, its
claw yV ; fourth toe -/j, its claw yV

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but some-
what larger.

Length to end of tail 9^- inches ; extent of wings 14^ ;
bill along the ridge l^V ; tarsus ^4-; middle toe and claw lyV-

Variations. — The variations exhibited by the plumage
in winter arc not remarkable ; but individuals vary con-
siderably as to size. The greatest length is nine inches, and
the bill frequently measures an inch and a quarter, and I
have seen one an inch and five-twelfths long.

Changes of Plumage. — The moult takes place in
autumn, commencing in July, and being completed by the
end of November. In spring it is renewed, excepting the
quills and tail, and the summer plumage differs in colour
from that of winter. As this species does not remain with
us in summer, although individuals have been seen in the
country at that season, I am obliged to have recourse to skins
of foreign specimens for description.

Male in Summer. — A male, from Winter Island, shot on
the 12th June, 1822, has the whole under surface greyish-
white, marked with longitudinal streaks of clove-brown,
broadest on the fore-part of the breast ; the axillaries white.
The upper part of the head is liver-brown, the feathers

200 TRIXGA MAHITIMA.

margined with light brownish-red ; the neck brownish-grey ,
with darker streaks. The back is glossy purplish-black, the
feathers pale yellowish-brown towards the end, and the
scapulars tipped with white ; the hind part of the back is
liver brown, the upper tail-coverts purplish-black, except the
three lateral on each side, which are dusky, broadly edged
with white. The middle tail-feathers are greenish-brown,
the rest ash-grey tinged with brown.

Length to end of tail 8|- inches ; wing from flexure
5 j ; tail 2 ,7., ; bill along the ridge 1 ^- ; tarsus j90 ; middle
toel^.

Female in Summer. — A female, from the same place, is
precisely similar.

Length to end of tail 9 inches ; bill along the ridge 1 ^0 ;
tarsus 1!)n.

Individuals, brought from Davis' Straits in 1837, are
similar to the above. In this state the Purple Sandpiper
bears so close a resemblance to the Dunlin, that the two
species might readily be confounded by that vaguely denned
or defining sort of person whom the ornithologists are fond
of denominating " a superficial observer." The breast how-
ever, although spotted, is never black.

Habits. — Although not extremely rare, the Purple Sand-
piper is not very frequently met with. This happens partly
because it seldom forms large flocks, like those of the Dunlin
and Sanderling, and partly on account of its confining itself,
while searching for food, to the rocky parts of the coast.
Montagu mentions its occurrence on the coast of Caermar-
thenshire, near Sandwich, and in Somersetshire ; and Mr.
Selby states that it is a common bird in Northumberland.
Mr. Dunn says it " is very numerous in Shetland and Orkney,
appearing early in the spring and leaving again in the latter
end of April, about which time it collects in large flocks, and
may be found on the rocks at ebb-tide, watching each retir-
ing wave, running down as the water falls back, picking
small shell-fish off the stones, and displaying great activity
in escaping the advancing sea. It does not breed there."

PURPLE SANDPIPER. 201

The following note, which I extract from a journal kept in
1818, contains in brief phraseology, all that I then knew of
it as a Hebridian : — " This is one of the tamest birds with
which I am acquainted (rather one of the most unobservant
of man), allowing a person to approach within five or even
four paces. Mr. Norman Macneil says he has seen them
killed with a tangle (that is by throwing at them a piece of
the stem of Fucus digitatus). It does not appear that they
are numerous here. I have seen them at Northtown, Ensay,
and Pabbay, at times in flocks, at other times one by one.
They pick up their food quite close to the wave ; hence while
searching for it they are in continual motion, running out as
the wave retires, and retreating as it advances. I have never
seen them on sand." The individuals described above were
shot near Aberdeen on the 14-th February, 1817. It also
occurs along the Firth of Forth. On the 20th of May, 1831,
I saw an individual on the Bass Rock ; but neither on the
east coast of Scotland, nor in the Hebrides have I met with
any at a later period in the summer.

These birds appear on our coasts in small flocks, about
the middle of October, and remain until the end of Spring.
They fly in curves, sweeping over the sea when removing
from one place to another, and now and then emitting a faint
shrill cry, in the manner of the Dunlins, which they also
closely resemble in their mode of walking or rather running
along the shore, where they search the rocks and fuci for
small testaceous mollusca, crabs, and onisci. No instance of
their breeding in this country has yet been recorded. Dr.
Richardson states that it is common on the shores of Hud-
son's Bay, where it breeds. The eggs are " pyriform, sixteen
lines and a half long, and an inch across at their greatest
breadth. Their colour is yellowish-grey, interspersed with
small irregular spots of pale brown, crowded at the obtuse
end, and rare at the other."

Young. — The young when fully fledged resemble the
adults in winter, more than those in summer plumage, and
are as follows : — The upper part of the head is greyish-black,
streaked with pale red ; the hind part and sides of the neck

202 TRINGA MARITIMA.

are dull grey ; the upper parts generally are glossy purplish-
black, the feathers margined with "white and tipped with
very faint reddish ; those of the hind part of the back, and
the upper tail-coverts are greyish-black, the latter tipped
with white. The quills are greyish-black, edged with
greyish-white, some of the secondaries almost entirely white :
the four middle tail-feathers similar, the rest ash-grey, all
edged with greyish-white. The lower parts are greyish-
white, the fore neck and sides mottled with dark grey, of
which there is a central streak on each of the abdominal
feathers and lower tail-coverts. The bill is light red at the
base, black towards the end ; the feet dusky orange, the
claws black. This description is from a specimen brought
in 1837 from Davis' Straits, and agrees with that given by
M. Temminck, according to whom the young in perfect
plumage " have the feathers of the top of the head, those of
the back, the scapulars, the secondary quills, and the middle
feathers of the tail, dull black, all bordered and tipped with
pale red ; all the wing-coverts tipped with broad white
edges ; the fore part and sides of the neck longitudinally
striped, each feather being margined with grey ; large
longitudinal spots on the sides and abdomen ; base of the bill
and feet light yellowish."

Remarks. — The specific name " maritima" is not happily
chosen ; but, as it is true, although not distinctive, it cannot
with propriety be rejected. Larus marinus, Motacilla flava,
and many other names equally defective, ought yet to be
retained, were it for no other reason than to avoid con-
fusion.

M. Temminck states that it is very common in Holland,
and occurs in Norway, and on the shores of the Baltic and
Mediterranean Seas. Mr. Audubon found it very abundant
in the United States, and also traced it in summer to
Labrador ; while our Arctic travellers describe it as plentiful
in Hudson's Bay The American specimens which I have
examined do not differ from those of Europe.

203

TRINGA CINCLUS. THE BLACK-BREASTED
SANDPIPER, OR DUNLIN.

PURRE. STIN'T. SEA SNIPE. PLOVER'S PAGE. SEA LARK. RED-BACKED
SANDPIPER. SCRAILLIG. GILLE-FEADAIG. OX-BIRD. OX-EYE. DORBIE.

Triuga Cinclus. Linn. Syst. Xat. I. 2-51. Adult in Winter.

Tringa alpina. Linn. Syst. Xat. I. 249. Adult in Summer.

Tringa Cinclus. Lath. Ind. Orn II. 73-5. Adult in Winter.

Tringa alpina. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 736. Adult in Summer.

Tringa ruficollis. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 736. Young.

Purre. Mont. Orn. Diet. Adult in "Winter.

Dunlin. Mont. Orn. Diet. Adult in Summer. Supplt. Both sexes in

Winter and Summer.
Becasseau Brunette ou variable. Tringa variabilis. Temm. Man. d'Orn.

II. 612.
Dunlin or Purre. Tringa variabilis, Selb. Illustr. II. 153.
Tringa variabilis. Dunlin. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 209.
Pelidna Cinclus. Bouap. Comp. List. 50.

Bill a fourth longer than the head, and slightly decurved
at the end ; tail with the middle feathers considerably
longer ; tarsus an inch long ; bill black, feet very dark olive.
Plumage in winter brownish-grey above, each feather with a
dusky streak ; the sides and fore part of the neck, with a
small portion of the breast paler , and similarly streaked ; the
throat, breast, and abdomen, white ; tail-coverts dusky ; the
tail ash-grey, the inner webs of the middle feathers black. In
summer the tipper parts yellowish-red, spotted with brownish-
black ; the sides of the head, neck, and body, and the fore
part of the neck greyish-white tinged with red, and distinctly
spotted with dusky ; a large patch of black on the breast.
Young with the upper parts variegated tvith black and light-
red ; the fore neck, breast, and part of the sides spotted with
black ; the throat, middle of the breast, abdomen, and lower-
tail-coverts white.

204 TRINGA CINCLUS.

The flocks of this species which in winter frequent the
sandy shores of the sea, in all parts of Britain, render it one
of the hest known of its tribe. In summer it is found on the
inland moors of Scotland and its islands, where it attracts
attention by its frequently mingling with the Golden Plover.
It is an active and lively little bird, about the size of the
Sanderling, and considerably smaller than the Curlew-billed
Sandpiper, which it closely resembles in its winter plumage.
Its form is compact, rather slender than robust, with the
neck of moderate length, the head rather small, oblong, com-
pressed, and rounded above.

The bill is about a fourth longer than the head, straight
until near the end, when it becomes a little decurved, rather
higher than broad at the base, tapering; both mandibles
laterally grooved nearly to the end ; the tips a little enlarged
and somewhat flattened. Internally the upper mandible is
marked with two grooves, and has a central double line of
reversed papillae. The tongue, which is eleven -twelfths of
an inch long, is very slender, trigonal, tapering, with two
papillae on each side at the base, channelled above and
pointed. The mouth is very narrow ; the oesophagus three
inches and one-twelfth long, with an average breadth of two-
twelfths. The stomach is large, roundish when filled, com-
pressed, nine-twelfths of an inch long, ten-twelfths in breadth,
when empty elliptical, and only seven-twelfths in breadth ;
its muscles large and firm ; the epithelium dense, rugous,
and flesh-coloured. The intestine is thirteen inches long,
from two twelfths to one-twelfth in width, enlarged con-
siderably before the coeca, which are cylindrical, obtuse, an
inch and four-twelfths in length ; the rectum an inch and a
quarter ; the walls of the intestine very thick.

The eyes are rather small, their aperture measuring
two-twelfths and a half. That of the ear is round, three-
twelfths in diameter. The nostrils are linear, a twelfth and a
quarter in length. The legs are slender ; the tibia bare for
five-twelfths ; the tarsus eleven-twelfths and three-fourths
long, with thirty anterior scutella ; the first toe very diminu-
tive, with seven scutella, the second with twenty-two, the
third with thirty, the fourth also with thirty. The claws

BLACK-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 20J

are extremely small, very slightly curved, compressed, and
blunt.

The plumage is soft and generally blended ; the feathers
of the head and neck very narrow and oblong, of the back
ovate-oblong, and more compact. The wings are very long,
with twenty-five quills ; the primaries rapidly graduated, the
first being longest; the secondaries incurved, excepting the
last four, which are elongated and tapering. The tail is
short, doubly emarginate, the two middle feathers being con-
siderably longer, and the lateral a little longer than those
next to them.

The bill is black, the iris brown, the feet very dark olive,
when dry seeming quite black. The general colour of the
upper parts is brownish-grey, each feather having a dusk)-
central line ; the sides of the head and neck, the fore part of
the latter, and the anterior portion of the sides of the body
similar but paler. A greyish white streak from the bill over
the eye ; the throat, breast, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts
white. The quills and greater coverts are greyish-black, the
former with a part of the shaft and a large portion of the
webs white, the outer four excepted, the coverts tipped with
white. The feathers of the tail are ash-grey, narrowly
bordered with paler, the two middle having their inner web
blackish-brown. The upper tail-coverts are blackish, except
the three outer on each side, which are white.

Length to end of tail 7^- inches ; extent of wings 14-^ ;
bill along the ridge 1^, along the edge of lower mandible
1^5- ; wing from flexure 4^ ; tail 2^- ; tarsus 1 ; first toe
-j^T, its claw a half- twelfth ; second toe -j^, its claw -^ ; third
toe |4, its claw -^ ; fourth toe -^, its claw -f2T.

Female. — The female resembles the male in colour, but
is considerably larger. In old birds there is scarcely any
difference between the males and females, but in younger
individuals the males have the markings darker. The fol-
lowing are the dimensions of the digestive organs of the
specimen selected for description. Tongue eleven-twelfths
long ; oesophagus three inches and two-twelfths in length ;
stomach elliptical, nine-twelfths long, seven-and-a-half-

206 TRINGA CINCLUS.

twelfths in breadth; intestine thirteen inches long, from
two-and-a-half-twelfths to one-twelfth in width ; cceca an
inch and seven-twelfths long.

Length to end of tail 8 inches ; extent of wings 14 j^J- ;
bill along the ridge 1-f^, along the edge of lower mandible
ljV ; wing from flexure 4-^- ; tail 2-fa ; tarsus 1 ; first toe TV,
its claw a half-twelfth ; second toe ^-, its claw -fa ; third toe
-14, its claw fa ; fourth toe fa, its claw -fa. Eye -fa ; ear fa.

Variations. — Individuals vary considerably in size ;
males being from seven to eight inches in length, and from
fourteen to fifteen in extent of wing ; females from seven
and a half to eight and a half inches in length, and from
thirteen and a half to fifteen in extent of wing. The bill
varies greatly in length, measuring in some individuals an
inch and one-twelfth, in others an inch and four-twelfths.
Individuals vary also in the tints of their plumage, some
being more grey than others, and the markings of the fore-
neck and sides being more or less decided.

Changes of Plumage. — The moult is generally com-
pleted by the middle of November, when the birds present
the appearance indicated above. The quills and tail-feathers
are not renewed until the next annual moult, but the other
feathers are changed in spring and summer. By the middle
of May the appearance is as follows.

Male in Summer. — The bill and feet are as in winter.
The quills, tail-feathers, and coverts are also the same. The
upper part of the head is variegated with brownish-black
and yellowish-red, the margins of the feathers being of the
latter colour. The feathers of the back and the scapulars
are similarly marked, the latter barred on the edges. A very
small part of the throat is white ; the sides of the head and
neck, the fore part of the latter, and the nape greyish-white,
more strongly marked with blackish-brown than in winter ;
the feathers then being white, with a large brownish-black
spot toAvard the end, their edges fringed with Avhite ; the
breast black, or variegated with white and black ; rest of the
lower parts white.

BLACK-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 207

Female in Summer. — The female is similar to the male,
but with the black patch on the breast less extended.

A further change takes place, for, like the Ptarmigan,
this bird seems to be in moult all the year round. After the
end of July, the feathers of the breast, of which the terminal
portion is black, are substituted by others having a much
smaller portion of their extremity of that colour. In the?
beginning of September the grey feathers, characteristic of
the winter plumage, appear here and there, and by degrees
the whole plumage is renewed.

Habits. — In the end of August or the beginning of
September, the Dunlins make their appearance on our shores
in flocks, which are of various sizes, from a few individuals
to several hundreds. At high water they generally betake
themselves to the headlands, or rest on the sands ; but when
the tide recedes they are all in motion. Their flight is very
rapid, being performed by regularly-timed beats of the wings,
with occasional intermissions. It is seldom that they fly in
a direct course, but even in proceeding from one place to
another in search of food they wheel off to sea, and often
perform various evolutions before alighting. Now they are
seen stretching away over the waves, at one time scarcely
discernible on account of the distance and their dusky
colour, but next moment glancing in the light, as they
simultaneously turn their lower surface to the view. In this
respect, however, they are not singular, the Sanderlings and
Ring-Plovers exhibiting the same alternate exposure of the
upper and lower surfaces, as they wheel over the sea or
along the beaches. On alighting the Dunlins stand for a
few moments, then disperse, and commence probing the
sands, in which they engage with so much earnestness that
one may sometimes get quite close to them. On the sands
of the Hebrides I have sometimes found them so unsus-
picious as to allow me to walk round them at a distance, in
order to drive them together before shooting ; but in places
where they are much disturbed, they are usually very shy.
Their food consists of small bivalve testacea, worms, and
other diminutive marine animals, as well as coleopterous

208 TRINGA CINCLUS.

insects, in pounding which a great quantity of sand, gene-
rally of a black colour, is employed by the gizzard. If it be
pleasant to gaze upon the flocks as they sweep over the
water, it is not less so to watch them searching the shores.
They are seen moving about in a quiet manner, never inter-
fering with each other, but busily picking up the food which
comes in their way, or which they discover by tapping or
probing, without, however, thrusting their bills deep into the
sand or mud. Frequently, keeping along the edge of the
water, they are seen to run out as the wave retires, and
retreat as it advances on the beach. In still shallow water
they may often be seen wading, and it is observable that
their bills are just about the length of their tarsi and the
exposed part of the tibia ; but they never go beyond their
depth or resort to swimming, although when wounded,
should one drop into the water, it floats buoyantly, and is
capable of advancing. Their ordinary cry when on wing is
a single shrill peep, and when feeding a softer and less loud
note. Very frequently they associate with Sanderlings,
sometimes with Ring-Plovers ; but although while feeding
they may often be seen mingling with Curlews, Redshanks,
Godwits, or Oyster- catchers, they separate from these birds
when put up, as their mode of flight is different. On sands
in the vicinity of towns, or in populous districts, being much
persecuted, they become very wary in winter ; and the best
time for shooting them is during ebb, when they are more
keenly engaged in searching for food. Although they fre-
quent the exposed beaches on the coast, they prefer the sands
of estuaries, and from September to May are scattered over
the whole extent of our shores, but for the most part dis-
appear from the northern parts of Scotland. It may be
supposed that multitudes of these birds are of foreign origin,
and visit us, like the Woodcock, when their native country
becomes too cold for them ; but it is probable that a very
large proportion is indigenous.

The Dunlins in fact breed in great numbers on the heaths
of many parts of Scotland, and its larger islands, wrhere they
may be found scattered in the haunts selected by the Golden
Plovers, with which they are so frequently seen in company

BLACK-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 209

that they have popularly obtained the name of Plovers'
Pages. Sometimes about the middle of April, but always
before that of May, they are seen dispersed over the moors in
pairs like the birds just named, which at this season they
greatly resemble in manners. From this period until the end
of August none are to be found along the shores of the sea,
instead of searching which, they now seek for insects and
worms, in the shallow pools, soft ground, and by the edges
of lakes and marshes. The male frequently flies up to a
person intruding upon his haunts, and sometimes endeavours
to entice him away by feigning lameness.

The nest, which is composed of some bits of withered
grass or sedge, and small twigs of heath, is placed in a slight
hollow, generally on a bare spot, and usually in a dry place
like that selected by the Golden Plover. The eggs, always
four, are ovato-pyriform, an inch and four or five-twelfths in
length, eleven-twelfths or a little more in breadth, and have a
light greyish-green, or sometimes greenish-yellow, or brownish
ground, irregularly marked all over with spots and patches
of umber-brown and light purplish-grey, more numerous
toward the larger end, where they are often confluent. The
female sits very assiduously, often allowing a person to come
quite close to her before removing, which she does in a flut-
tering and cowering manner.

The young, which are covered with close stifhsh down,
are variegated with yellowish-grey and dark brown, with the
bill dusky, and the feet yellowish-brown. Like those of the
Golden Plover and Lapwing, they leave the nest immediately
after exclusion from the egg, run about, and when alarmed,
conceal themselves by sitting close to the ground, and remain-
ing motionless. If at this period a person approaches their
retreat, the male especially, but frequently the female also,
flies up to meet the intruder, and uses the same artifices for
deceiving him as many other birds of this family. After they
are able to shift for themselves, the young remain several
weeks on the moors with their parents, both collecting into
small flocks, which are often intermigled with those of the
Golden Plover, and often in the evenings uniting into larger.
They rest at night on the smoother parts of the heath, and

p

210 TRINGA CINCLUS.

both species, when resting by day, either stand or lie on the
ground. When one advances within a hundred yards of such
a flock, it is pleasant to see them stretch up their wings, as if
preparing for flight, utter a few low notes, and immediately
stand on the alert, or run a short way ; but at this season
they are not at all shy. Towards the end of August, the
different colonies betake themselves to the sea-shore. On
the large sand-fords of the outer Hebrides, I have at this
season seen many thousands at once, running about with
great activity in search of food. After a few weeks the hosts
break up and disperse, few if any remaining during the
winter. On most parts of the sandy coasts of the main
land, however, they are then plentiful, and in England are
equally so.

The above account of the habits of the Dunlin is entirely
the result of my own observation. Besides collecting in-
formation and procuring specimens, I have, before penning
it, betaken myself to the shores of the Firth of Forth, to
observe its manners once more, and procure fresh individuals,
of which five, shot by myself on the 11th of October, 1837,
are now (the 12th) on my table. On consulting various
books, I observe nothing recorded in them that has not
occurred to myself. I have, therefore, only to add that the
flesh of the Dunlin is dark, and not remarkably good, being
much inferior to that of the Snipe ; but that the eggs are
delicious.

P.S. In the history of a bird many little circumstances
occur which few people think it worth while to notice, but
which are of the greatest importance, both as illustrative of
the habits of the species and as indicative of its affinities.
Thus, having at various times collected by observation a
number of particulars relative to the Dunlin, and having
related them as above, I yet found that some things were
wanting, which I might indeed imagine, as others have done
in like cases, but which it seemed to me necessary to see
with my own eyes. I therefore, on the 9th of September,
1840, walked to Musselburgh, where I was informed that
the Sandpipers were very abundant; and having betaken
myself to the mouth of the Esk soon after the tide had

BLACK-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 211

turned, was gratified by the sight of a great number of
Dunlins and Ring-Plovers. In the first place, I met with
two flocks reposing, the one among some thin herbage,
composed chiefly of Glaux maritima ; the other on a slightly
elevated part of the sand, just above water-mark. Indi-
viduals of both species were intermingled, all lying flat on
the ground, and in a crouching attitude, with the neck drawn
in. Thus, as I have elsewhere observed, these birds repose
during the period of high water in unfrequented places along
the shore, and generally, especially if there be a strong
wind, in a decumbent posture. On my approaching them,
they dispersed, and began to search for food. Presently
straggling bands flew in from a distance, and alighted on
the shore. The Dunlins on such occasions come gliding on
outspread wings, which in alighting they extend and elevate
a little. They then run a few steps, and stand a short time, or
at once commence their search. These bands were remarkably
intent on seeking for food, so that I was allowed to walk up to
about fifteen paces from one of them. In this flock of about
fifteen, two limped, apparently having had one of their legs
damaged by shot, yet they seemed scarcely less active than
the rest. Being in a muddy place which probably afforded
a good supply of food, they did not run much, but yet moved
quickly about, with their legs a little bent, the body hori-
zontal, the head a little declined, and the bill directed
forwards toward the ground at an angle of about forty-five
degrees. I observed that they seemed in general merely to
touch the surface, but also sometimes to introduce their bill
into the mud for about a fourth of its length ; but this
always with a rapid tapping and somewhat wriggling move-
ment, and not by thrusting it in sedately. This flock having
flown away, I observed another of about twelve individuals
alight at a little distance on the other side of the mill-
stream. Being very intent on tapping the mud, they allowed
me to approach within ten paces, so that I could see them
very distinctly. I was surprised to hear from them a very
gentle warble, which was composed of feeble notes somewhat
resembling the syllables pee-pee-pee, continually repeated,
and with more frequency when the individuals came very

212 TBINGA CINCLUS.

near each other. These notes could not be heard at a
greater distance than twenty yards, and would thus he en-
tirely lost to the casual observer. All at once I heard a
singular noise, which might be likened to a cough, shrill
and feeble as it was, and presently found that it came from
one which, having picked up something too large for its
gullet, stood endeavouring to swallow it by repeated jerks,
at each of which it emitted a sharp wheezing or hissing
sound. The rest paid no attention to the distressed bird,
which in about three minutes got the morsel down, and
resumed its search. While thus busily employed, and quite
regardless of me, although so near that I could see their
little dusky eyes, and distinguish by its tints one individual
from another, a Sandpiper, Totanus hypoleucos, came silently
gliding over them at the height of not more than three feet.
It was beautiful to see how they all rose simultaneously on
wing, to the height of from two to four feet ; and finding
that they had no cause of alarm, immediately re-alight. I
now struck my note-book against my hand, when they all
rose, but alighted about five yards off, and three of them
came within ten paces of me. As nothing more was to be
seen, I examined the marks made by them in the mud.
Although it was soft, very few footmarks were left; but the
place was covered with numberless small holes made by their
bills, and forming little groups, as if made by the individual
birds separately. Of these impressions very many were mere
holloAvs not larger than those on a thimble, and not half a
twelfth of an inch deep ; others scarcely perceptible ; while
a few were larger, extending to a depth of two-twelfths ; and
here and there one or two to the depth of nearly half-an-inch.
On scraping the mud, I could perceive no worms or shells.
It is thus clear that they search by gently tapping, and it
appears that they discover the object of their search rather
by the kind of resistance which it yields, than by touch like
that of the human skin.

When searching the beaches on which waves are
breaking, and when they are necessarily in very rapid
motion, they utter louder, although still faint cries ; and by
stooping more rapidly seem to jerk up their tail, although it

BLACK-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 213

is seldom raised above the level of the back. None of the
birds of this family depress the tail when stooping, and
painters err who represent them as doing so. The Ring-
Plover flies very nearly in the same manner as the Dunlin,
but proceeds in a somewhat different way, as will be seen
in my description of the habits of that species.

The Dunlin is most extensively dispersed, being found
along the shores of both continents, from the polar regions
to the tropics.

Young. — When fledged, the young are as follows : — The
bill is black ; the iris dusky ; the feet dark greenish-brown.
The upper parts are variegated with black and light red, as
in the adult ; and the fore-neck, breast, and part of the sides
are spotted with black ; the middle of the breast, the abdomen,
lower tail-coverts, and throat white. They begin to moult
in September, and by the middle of November have acquired
the appearance of the old birds at that season ; but may
generally be distinguished by having the dark spots larger,
and the fore-neck rufous.

Remarks. — Montagu, in the Supplement to his Ornitho-
logical Dictionary, expressed his belief, founded on the com-
parison of individuals at different seasons, that the Purre
and the Dunlin of former writers are merely the same bird
in its winter and summer plumage. M. Temminck has con-
firmed this view ; and other writers, assuming to themselves
much merit in further corroborating the statements of these
excellent ornithologists, have chimed in with them. For
my own part, having studied the Dunlin before consulting
books, I was afterwards surprised to learn that Linna?us and
others had considered the summer black -breasted bird as of
a different species from the white-breasted one of winter.
But my opportunities of observation were much superior to
those of the persons alluded to, for the Dunlins bred within
a mile of my habitation, and in vast numbers resorted to the
sands before it.

There is some reason for thinking that two species occur
in Britain, and are confounded under the name of Tringa

214 TRINGA CINCLUS.

Cinclus. A male shot in the Pentland Hills in June, 1840,
and a female shot at Ythan Mouth on the 17th of May, 1851,
besides being of comparatively small size, have less black on
the breast, and that copiously intermixed with white, the
feathers having only a large spot toward the end. The birds
that visit the eastern coasts of Scotland in autumn seem in
general much larger ; but observations are wanting on this
subject.

In September and October the Dunlins are often exceed-
ingly fat, the quantity of adipose matter that covers the
abdomen externally, and distends it from within, being truly
surprising. In this respect, however, they do not differ
from the other species of the genus. I have found minute
testaceous mollusca in the stomach of this bird, and fre-
quently small white worms from a quarter to half-an-inch in
length, along with mud and mineral particles.

215

TRINGA SUBARQUATA. THE CURLEW-BILLED
SANDPIPER.

PIGMY CURLEW. PIGMY SANDPIPER.

Scolopax subarquata. Gmel. Syst. Nat. I. 658. Summer.

Numenius africanus. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 712. "Winter.

Pigmy Curlew. Mont. Orn. Diet. Supplt.

Becasseau cocorli. Tringa Subarquata. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 609.

Tringa subarquata. Flem. Brit. Anim. 107.

Curlew Sandpiper. Tringa subarquata. Audub. Orn. Biogr. III. 444.

Curlew Tringa. Tringa subarquata. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 158.

Tringa subarquata. Pigmy Curlew. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 208.

Pelidna subarquata. Bonap. Comp. List, 50.

Bill half as long again as the head, and considerably de-
curved at the end; tail with the middle feathers slightly longer
than the lateral ; tarsus an inch and a quarter long; hill
black, feet very dark olive. Plumage in winter brownish-grey
above, each feather with a dusky streak ; the sides and fore
part of the neck, with a small portion of the breast, greyish-
white, streaked with brownish- grey ; the throat, breast, and
abdomen, white; the tail-coverts white, the tail brownish-grey.
In summer the upper parts of the body black, mottled and
streaked with light red; the sides of the head, the fore part and
sides of the neck, and the breast, bright yellowish-red, the neck
faintly streaked with dusky; the tail-coverts white, spotted tvith
brown and red, the tail brownish-grey glossed with green. Young
with the feathers of the upper parts greyish-black glossed with

216 TRINGA SUBARQUATA.

green, darker towards the margins, and edged with white; the
fore part of the neck pah reddish, faintly streaked with dusky,
the rest of the lower parts white, as are the upper tail-coverts,
which are very narrowly tipped with dusky.

Although description may fail in conveying a clear idea
of the differences between the Curlew-billed and the Black-
breasted Sandpiper, these birds are perfectly distinct, and
may easily be distinguished by one who has specimens to
compare. The present species is considerably larger, with
the bill, tarsi, and wings much longer, and in all stages has
the upper tail-coverts white, whereas most of them are black
in the other species. But, as it can very seldom be obtained
for comparison, long-billed individuals of the Black-breasted
Sandpiper are liable to be mistaken for it, in the winter
season, when the colours of the two species are very similar.
The idea of referring birds so closely allied to two different
genera, seems to me quite preposterous.

Male in Winter. — Of a rather slender and elegant
form, with the body compact, the neck rather long, the
head rather small, ovate, compressed, and rounded above.
The bill is about half as long again as the head, higher than
broad at the base, tapering, compressed, straight for two-
thirds of its length, then considerably decurved, but not
more so in proportion to its length than in Tringa Cinclus.
Both mandibles are laterally grooved for three-fourths of
their length, with the edges rather thick, the tips slightly
enlarged and obtuse. On the roof of the mouth are two
series of large, hard, pointed papilla?, directed backwards.
The tongue is an inch and a quarter long, emarginate with
four papillae at the base, fleshy for a fourth of its length, then
horny, extremely slender, grooved above, compressed and
pointed. The oesophagus is three inches and three-quarters
in length, three-twelfths in width, uniform ; the proventri-
cular portion nine-twelfths long, with oblong glandules. The
stomach is elliptical, nine-twelfths in length, seven-twelfths
in breadth, with its muscular coat thick, its tendons large,
the epithelium dense, flesh-coloured, transversely rugous at

CURLEW-BILLED SANDPIPER. 217

the upper part, longitudinally grooved in the rest of its ex
tent. The intestine is fifteen inches long, from three-
twelfths to a twelfth and a half in width ; the rectum little
enlarged ; the coeca an inch and a quarter from the extremity
of the gut, an inch and a half in length, cylindrical, scarcely
a twelfth in width.

The eyes are small, their aperture measuring only two
and a half twelfths. That of the ear is round, and three-
twelfths in diameter. The nostrils are linear, a twelfth and
a half in length. The legs are slender, and rather long ; the
tibia bare for eight-twelfths of an inch ; the tarsus an inch
and a quarter in length, with thirty anterior scutella ; the
first toe very diminutive, with seven scutella, the second
with twenty-two, the third with thirty, the fourth with
twenty-eight scutella ; the outer toe a little longer than the
inner, and slightly webbed at the base. The claws are very
small, slightly curved, compressed, and rather blunt.

The plumage is soft and blended ; the feathers of the
head and neck very narrow and oblong, of the back ovato-
oblong, and compact. The wings are very long, extending
a quarter of an inch beyond the tail, of twenty-five quills ;
the first quill longest, the other primaries rapidly graduated ;
the secondaries are incurved, and obliquely obtuse, excepting
the inner five, which are elongated and tapering. The tail
is short, doubly emarginate, the two middle feathers being
a little longer than the lateral.

The bill is black, with the base of the lower mandible
greenish-brown ; the iris brown ; the feet very dark olive,
when dry seeming greyish-black. The general colour of the
upper parts is light brownish-grey, each feather with a dark
brown central streak ; the sides of the head and neck, the
fore part of the latter, and a small part of the breast and
sides of the body, greyish-white, streaked with brownish-
grey, and on the neck tinged with brown. A greyish-white
streak extends from the bill over the eye ; the loral space is
faintly marked with grey ; the throat, breast, abdomen, and
lower tail-coverts are white, as are the lower wing-coverts,
excepting those margining the wing, which are grey, edged
with white. The primary quills and coverts are greyish-

218 TBJNGA SUBARQUATA.

black, the secondary quills paler, the inner grey; the
secondary coverts grey, tipped with white ; the shafts of the
quills are whitish in the middle, and there is a white space at
the base of all the quills, increasing inwards ; most of the
outer secondaries margined with white. The upper tail-
coverts are white ; the tail-feathers grey, glossed with green,
narrowly bordered with white.

Length to end of tail 8^ inches ; extent of wings 16^ ;
bill along the ridge 1-^-, along the edge of lower mandible
l-£j ; wing from flexure 5^- ; tail 2 ; bare part of tibia -fe ',
tarsus 1£ ; first toe -^-, its claw -^ ; second toe -fj, its claw
-fj ; third toe -Lg-, its claw -fe ', fourth toe -^ its claw 1§5-.

Female. — The female resembles the male in colour, but
is somewhat larger.

Length to end of tail 8-^Q- ; extent of wings 16|- ; bill
along the ridge l-fe ; tarsus 1^ ; middle toe \$, its claw -^-.

Male in Summer. — In its summer plumage this species
is easily distinguished from the Dunlin, the breast being red
in the one and black in the other. The bill, iris, and feet
are coloured as in winter, but the latter are of a lighter tint.
The upper part of the head is black, streaked with light red,
the margins of the feathers being of the latter colour ; the
forehead, sides of the head, and throat are white, with small
brown streaks ; the sides and fore part of the neck, with the
breast and sides, are bright yellowish-red; the lower tail-
coverts white, tipped with black. The feathers of the upper
parts of the body and the wing-coverts are brownish-black,
edged with greyish-white; the scapulars with red spots along
the margin ; the quills and coverts brownish-black, the
coverts tipped with white, as are the outer secondaries ; the
inner secondaries and scapulars glossed with green. The
hind part of the back is brownish-grey; the upper tail-
coverts white, barred with red and dusky ; the tail-feathers
greenish-grey, edged with white.

Female in Summer. — At this season, also, the female
resembles the male in colour.

CURLEW-BILLED SANDPIPER. 219

Habits. — Although this species is very uncommon along
our shores, it is probably not of so very rare occurrence as it
is generally supposed to be; inattentive observers and sports-
men being apt to confound it with the Dunlin. It arrives
in small flocks on the shores of the Firth of Forth, in the
beginning of September, and is occasionally met with at the
mouth of the Esk at Musselburgh, which is the only place
where I have had an opportunity of seeing it alive, and
where I have shot it. Generally mingling with the Dunlins,
it is hardly distinguishable from them ; but when seen apart,
is observed to have precisely the same habits as to its mode
of searching the sands for food. Its flight is rapid and
light ; its ordinary cry a shrill scream, differing from the cry
of the Dunlin. It searches the mud and sands, walking or
running according to occasion, and patting or probing them
in search of food, which consists of small worms and other
marine animals, along with which it swallows fragments of
quartz and other mineral substances. I am not qualified to
say more respecting its habits.

Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, represents it as not uncommon
there, and considers it as an annual visitant along the whole
eastern and southern coasts of Ireland. " September is its
favourite month in Belfast Bay. The earliest arrival noted
is the 25th of August; before the end of September its
departure is occasionally taken, and it rarely remains until
the end of October. The numbers vary in different years.
In 1838 they were remarkably scarce; an intelligent shooter,
always on the look-out, observing them but twice — one on
the 3rd of September, and none again until the 23rd of
October, when four appeared. In 1845, one only was killed;
a few others were heard during the last week of August that
year. In 1846, but two were seen until the 10th of October,
on which day one was killed ; the other had been procured
on the 26th of September. In the autumn of 1837, they
were more common than usual in the bay, and numbers
were shot : a flock of about twenty birds was once seen, and
out of a party of eight, six were killed at one discharge.
My informant (who has supplied me with many specimens)
distinguishes this species from the Dunlin when on the

220 TRINGA SUBARQUATA.

ground, by its superior size ; in flight, from the lower part
of the back being white ; or by its call, which is very different
from that of its congener, and is said more to resemble that
of the Turnstone than of other shore birds. In 1839, they
were more plentiful than ever before known, and arrived
before the ordinary time, a couple having been shot on the
2nd of September. On the 7th of that month, a flock of
from thirty to forty appeared, and they increased until the
21st, when not less than a hundred were seen in company
with a large body of Dunlins, though generally when a
number are together they do not associate with other species.
Occasionally about fifty or sixty would rise together from
one extremity of the flock, and, after flying about for a short
time, would alight with the others. The noise produced by
their calls, especially, when on wing, was very great, and
described to me as a ' kind of chatter/ most unlike the note
of the Dunlin. This large body subsequently proved to have
been collected together for migration, as they took their
departure on that day from the bay, and not one was seen
again during the season. The Grallatores generally were
particularly abundant in Belfast Bay during the autumn of
1839. In 1840, again, Pigmy Curlews were plentiful, and
appeared so early as the 25th of August ; their numbers
increased until the 7th of September, and they then nearly
all left the bay. An early arrival is generally followed by
an early departure. In 1843, flocks consisting of about a
dozen birds were observed from the 1st to the 18th of
September, when I was informed of the circumstance. They
usually keep to the shores of the bay ; but in September
and October, 1836, they frequented the river Lagan (within
flow of the tide at high water) in flocks. On the 6th of the
latter month, I observed nine in company, busily feeding at
the edge of the river at Ormeau Bridge ; in the following
year, also, they frequented the tidal portion of that river."

Few instances of its occurrence have been noted in Eng-
land or Scotland, and it does not appear to remain with us in
summer. It is very extensively distributed, being found in
India, at the Cape of Good Hope, in various parts of
Europe, and in North America. M. Temminck states that

CURLEW-BILLED SANDPIPER. 221

on the European continent it occurs on the borders of the
sea and lakes, seldom going far inland ; feeds on insects and
worms, as well as sea-weeds ; and lays four or five eggs, of a
yellowish colour with brown spots.

Young. — Having, while writing this article, a fresh
specimen shot on the 12th of September, 1840, at Mussel-
burgh, by Mr. Thomas Fraser, who presented it to my son,
I may here describe it, as it appears to be a young bird in its
first plumage. The bill is black, the lower mandible tinged
with olive-brown toward the base ; the iris dusky brown ;
the feet dark olive ; the toes black. The upper part of
the head and the nape are blackish-brown, streaked with
brownish-white ; from the bill over the eye is a band of
greyish-white, minutely streaked with dusky ; the loral
band dusky ; the throat white ; the fore-neck and part of
the breast and sides pale yellowish-brown, approaching to
cream-colour, the neck being faintly streaked with dusky ;
the rest of the lower parts white, excepting the smaller
coverts margining the wings, which are greyish-black, with
white margins. The sides of the head and neck, with a
large portion of the hind-neck, pale brownish-grey, streaked
with grey ; the feathers of the lower hind-neck, back, and
wings are greyish-black, darker toward the margins, which
are white or brownish-white, the scapulars glossed with
green. The quills and larger coverts are greyish-black, the
latter tipped with white, the former with the shafts white
about the middle, their bases white, but not apparent, the
extent of that colour enlarging on the inner quills, the tips
of the outer secondaries margined with white. The upper
tail-coverts and some of the feathers of the rump white,
faintly margined with dusky ; the tail-feathers grey, glossed
with green, darker toward the margins, but edged with
white, the shafts of the outer and part of their inner webs
white. It is seen, on dissection, to be a female.

Length 8^ inches ; extent of wings 16^ ; bill along the
ridge 1\%, along the edge 1J; wing from flexure 5^-; tail
1^ ; tarsus 1-jV ', third toe ^-, its claw ^-.

222

TRINGA SCHINZIL SCHINZ'S SANDPIPER.

Tringa Schinzii. Bon. Synops. 249; Amer. Ornith. IV. 69.

Sehinz's Sandpiper. Tringa Schinzii. Audub. Ornith. Biogr. III. 529.

Tringa SchiDzii. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. IV. 40.

Schinz's Sandpiper. Tringa Schinzii. Gould, Birds of Eur.

Pelidna Schinzi. Bonap. Comp. List, 50.

Bill about the length of the head, straight, with the 'point
slightly enlarged and rather obtuse; tail with the middle
feathers considerably exceeding the lateral, which are nearly
equal; tarsus eleven-twelfths long; bill and feet dusky. In
winter, brownish-black above, the feathers edged with yellowish-
grey, the scapulars with light red; first row of coverts greyish-
brown, tipped with white; rump white, tail light grey, medial
feathers brownish-black toward the end; fore neck and breast
greyish-white, with lanceolate brownish-black streaks.

Male in Winter. — This species, of which one individual
is recorded as having been killed in England, is here
described from American specimens. The body is rather
slender ; the neck of moderate length ; the head oblong,
compressed, rounded above. Bill about the length of the
head, sub-cylindrical, compressed at the base, the point
slightly enlarged and rather obtuse ; the ridge narrow and
convex, broader and flattened toward the end ; the nasal
groove extending to near the tip.

Nostrils basal, linear, pervious. Eyes rather small. Legs
rather long, slender ; tibia bare about a third of its length ;
tarsus covered before and behind with numerous scutella ;
hind toe extremely small ; the rest of moderate length,
slender, slightly margined with rather pointed scales, a very
slight basal membrane connecting the outer two; claws

SCHINZ'S SANDPIPER. 223

small, slightly arched, acute, that of the middle toe much
larger, with the inner edge dilated.

Plumage very soft, blended on the lower parts, rather
firm and distinct above. Wings very long, pointed, the first
quill longest, the second slightly shorter ; outer secondaries
incurvate, narrow, obliquely sinuate at the end of the outer
web, the inner rounded, and extending beyond the outer.
Tail of moderate length, with the outer feathers nearly equal,
the medial considerably longer and pointed.

Bill and feet dusky. Upper plumage brownish-black,
the feathers edged with yellowish-grey, the scapulars with
light red ; wing-coverts greyish-brown, first row tipped with
white ; quills brownish-grey, darker toward the end, the
inner primaries and outer secondaries edged and tipped with
white ; tail-coverts Avhite, often with a dusky spot ; tail-
feathers light grey, the two middle dusky toward the end ;
cheeks, fore-neck, part of breast, and sides greyish-white,
with lanceolate brownish-black streaks ; the rest of the
lower parts white.

Length to end of tail 7 inches ; extent of wings 14f ;
bill along the ridge \±, along the edge of lower mandible ±± ;
wing from flexure 4^f ; tail 2^- ; tarsus i-±- ; hind toe -f^,
its claw -fj ; middle toe \&, its claw 137.

This species, which has been found along the eastern
coast of North America, from Florida to Labrador, as stated
by Audubon and others, has been introduced by Mr. Gould
into his splendid and costly work on the Birds of Europe,
in consequence of his having seen a specimen killed at Stoke
Heath, near Market Drayton, Shropshire, and in the pos
session of Sir Rowland Hill. In the Zoologist, vol. iv. p. 1564,
Mr. E. H. Rodd states that two were procured, in the middle
of October, 1846, within a few miles of Penzance. Mr.
Thompson, in his Natural History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 297,
mentions one " believed, on circumstantial evidence," to
have been procured near Belfast.

224

TRINGA PLATYRHYNCHA. FLAT-BILLED
SANDPIPER.

Nunienius pygmoeus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II 713.

Tringa platyrhyncha. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 616 ; IY. 403.

Tringa platyrhyncha. Broad-billed Sandpiper. Gould, Bird of Eur. pt. XVII.

Broad-billed Sandpiper. Yarr. Brit. Birds, II. 638.

Pelidna platp-hyncha. Bonap. Comp. List, 50.

Bill half as long again as the head, straight, slightly de-
curved at the end, depressed at the base, tapering; tail with
the middle feathers considerably longer than the lateral, which
are nearly equal; tarsus an inch long; bill reddish at the
base, dusky; feet greenish-grey. In summer the upper part
of the head blackish-brown, with tiro narrow longitudinal
light red bands; the feathers of the upper parts black, nar-
rowly edged with red; fore part and sides of the neck and
breast reddish- white, spotted with brown; the rest of the lower
parts white ; lateral tail-coverts white, with a dusky spot.

This species I have never seen alive, nor have I a skin
of it ; and specimens not being procurable while I write this
article, I am obliged to have recourse to the descriptions and
remarks of others.

Adult in Summer. — According to M. Temminck, the
"head and occiput are of a blackish-brown colour, inter-
sected by two narrow light red longitudinal bands ; a band
over the eyes "white marked with brown clots ; the streak
between the bill and the eye of a blackish-brown ; sides of
the head whitish, streaked with brown ; nape grey, longi-
tudinally streaked with brown ; feathers of the back and
scapulars deep black, all narrowly bordered with light red ;

FLAT-BILLED SANDPIPER. 225

the scapulars further bear on the outer webs a small longi-
tudinal whitish streak; wing-coverts blackish toward the
end, tipped with reddish-white ; throat, belly, and abdomen
of a pure white ; fore part and sides of the neck of a reddish-
white, variegated with small longitudinal streaks ; all the
feathers tipped with white ; on the sides of the body are
some large brown spots, and on the white feathers of the
lateral tail-coverts are some lanceolate spots; middle tail-
feathers black, edged with light red ; the lateral tail-feathers
and the quills bordered with pale grey; bill black, but
reddish-grey at its base ; feet of a greenish-grey." The
length about 6^- inches.

Young in their First Plumage. — " Two longitudinal
bands of a reddish-white over the eyes ; a brown streak
between the bill and the eye ; top of the head, back, sca-
pulars, wing-coverts, rump, and the two middle tail-feathers
black, each feather being bordered with light red ; lateral
tail-feathers of a brownish-grey ; face, nape, sides of the
neck, breast, sides of the body, and lower tail-coverts of a
reddish-white, marked with a great number of black longi-
tudinal streaks ; throat, middle of the belly, and abdomen
white ; depressed base of the bill reddish-grey, point black ;
feet of a greenish-grey. Length 6 inches 4 or 6 lines."

Habits. — M. Temminck states that this species extends
from the north of Europe to the islands of the Indian
Archipelago, and is reported to occur also on the continent
of India. He says it is pretty common on the lakes of
Switzerland, especially in spring, but has never been ob-
served in Holland ; and states that it inhabits the marshes
of the north of Europe and America. It is not, however,
included among the birds of the latter continent by its orni-
thologists. Although it has been met with in Germany,
France, and Italy, it appears to be of very rare occurrence
anywhere, unless during the breeding season in Norway and
Lapland, where its habits have been in some measure ob-
served by Mr. Daun, whose account of them is given by
Mr. Yarrell, in his History of British Birds : — " On its first

Q

226 TRINGA PLATYRHYNCHA.

appearance it is Avild and shy, and similar in its habits to
the other species of the genus, feeding on the grassy borders
of the small pools and lakes in the morasses. On being dis-
turbed it soars to a great height in the air, rising and falling
suddenly like the Snipe, uttering the notes too-icho, which
are rapidly repeated. As the weather becomes warm its
habits totally change, skulking and creeping through the
dead grass, and allowing itself to be followed within a few
yards ; and when flushed, dropping again a short distance
off. It seems to lay its eggs later than others of this tribe
generally. I found the eggs not sat upon on the 24th of
June, and the last week in July the young were unable to
fly, a period when all other Sandpipers are on the move
south. The eggs were of a deep chocolate colour, and its nest,
like that of the Snipe, was on a hummocky tuft of grass."

In the tenth volume of the Magazine of Natural History
is a notice, by the late Mr. F. D. Hoy, of a specimen of this
rare species that was killed in Norfolk : — " The flat-hilled
Sandpiper, Tringa platyrhyncha, and Becasseau platyrinque
of M. Temminck's Manual, was shot on the 25th of May,
1836, on the muddy flats of Breydon Broad. It was in
company with some Dunlins and Ring-Plovers. From the
season of the year it had probably acquired its summer
plumage, and it very closely agrees with the description of
the nuptial garb of the species as given by M. Temminck.
Tins bird is rather inferior in size to the Dunlin, but may
be always readily distinguished from that species by the
peculiar form of the bill, as well as considerable difference in
plumage. This specimen was preserved by a friend of mine,
who did not notice the sex."

Remarks. — This Sandpiper, and the Pectoral and Buff-
breasted, bear more resemblance to the Snipes, Scolopax,
than any of the other species, and might with some pro-
priety constitute a genus by themselves. The present species
has, in fact, by some authors been itself made a genus of.
On the other hand, it is so like Tringa Cinclus as to be
liable to be confounded with it, and in description is difficult
to be distinguished from Tringa subarquata. It is probably
not so rare on our eastern coasts as is supposed.

227

TRINGA MINUTA. THE LITTLE SANDPIPER.

Little Sandpiper. Tringa pusilla. Mont. Ornith. Diet. Young.
Becasseau echasse. Tringa rainuta. Temra. Man. d' Ornith. II. 625.
Minute Tringa. Tringa rainuta. Selb. Illustr. II. 147.
Tringa rainuta. Little Stint. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 212.
Little Sandpiper. Tringa rainuta. Gould, Birds of Europe.
Pelidna minuta. Bonap. Comp. List, 50.

Bill about the same length as the head, straight, slender,
scarcely enlarged at the end; tail doubly emarginate ; tarsus
ten-twelfths long ; bill and feet black. Plumage in winter
brownislt-grey above, each feather with a dusky streak; the
sides of the neck paler, of its lower part tinged with brown ;
the throat, fore neck, breast, and abdomen, white ; the middle
tail-coverts dusky, the lateral white ; the tail-feathers ash-grey
edged ivith ivhite, the tivo middle greyish-brown. In summer
the upper parts yelloicish-red, spotted with brownish-black ;
the throat, breast, and other lower parts ivhite ; the lower an-
terior and lateral parts of the neck reddish-grey streaked with
brown ; a dusky loral band, and a whitish streak over the eye.
Young with the upper parts variegated with brownish-black and
yellowish-red ; the forehead and cheeks brownish-white, the loral
space brown ; the lower part of the sides of the neck brownish-
grey ; the throat, fore-neck, and other lower parts ivhite.

This species, which, in form and proportions closely re-
sembles Tringa Cinclus and Tringa Schinzii, although much
inferior in size, and somewhat more slender, I have not met
with alive, nor even in the entire state after being killed.
The following descriptions are therefore necessarily taken
from prepared skins.

Male in Winter. — The body, neck, and head are of the
usual form. The bill of the same length as the head, straight,
slender, rather higher than broad at the base, tapering,

228 TRLNGA MINUTA.

scarcely enlarged at the end ; both mandibles laterally
grooved nearly in their whole length. Nostrils linear, a
twelfth long ; eyes small. Legs slender ; the tibia bare for
four-twelfths of an inch ; the tarsus ten-twelfths long, Avith
twenty scutella. The first toe very diminutive, with four
scutella, the second with eighteen, the third twenty-six, the
fourth twenty ; the anterior toes entirely destitute of basal
webs. The claws rather long, very slender, compressed,
tapering, arched, acute.

The plumage is very soft and blended ; the feathers on
the back ovato-oblong, and rather compact. The wings
are very long, with twenty-five quills ; the first primary
longest, the rest rapidly graduated ; the secondaries incurved,
the inner very elongated and tapering. The tail is short,
doubly emarginate, the lateral feathers being a little longer
than the next, and the middle feathers considerably longer
than they.

The bill and feet are black. The general colour of the
upper parts is brownish-grey, each feather with a dusky
medial line, and the margins somewhat paler; the sides of the
head of a lighter grey ; those of the neck streaked with
whitish, and on its lower part tinged with brown. There
is a dusky-grey loral band, and a whitish-grey streak passes
over the eye. The throat, fore neck, breast, abdomen, lower
tail-coverts, axillars, and lower wing-coverts, are white, with
the exception of the coverts along the margin of the wing,
which are dusky unless on the edges. The quills and greater
coverts are greyish-black, the latter faintly tipped with white.
The middle tail-coverts are greyish-brown, the lateral white ;
the two middle tail-feathers dark greyish-brown, the rest
ash-grey, all narrowly edged with white.

Length to end of tail 6 inches ; wing from flexure 4-jL- ;
tail 1TV ; bill along the ridge -ff , along the edge of lower
mandible -Lf ; bare part of tibia -yV ; tarsus \% ; first toe -fe,
its claw a half-twelfth ; second toe -^j, its claw -^ ; third
toe -fe, its claw -^ ; fourth toe ^V, its claw -fe.

Female in Winter. — The female is similar to the male,
but slightly larger.

LITTLE SANDPIPER. 229

Male in Summer. — The bill and feet black. The upper
part of the head variegated with brownish black and yellow-
ish-red, the margins of the feathers being of the latter colour.
The feathers of the back and the scapulars, are similarly
marked, the latter margined with brighter red; the middle
tail-coverts and tail-feathers brownish-black, margined with
light red ; the lateral tail-coverts white, with a medial dusky
streak, the other tail-feathers grey, edged with white. The
sides of the head and neck are reddish-grey, streaked Avith
brown ; the throat white ; the loral band dusky, the streak
over the eye whitish. Extending across the lower part of the
fore neck in front is a broad band of reddish-grey, streaked
with brown. The breast and other lower parts are white.

Female in Summer. — Like the male.

Habits. — This species, which some have supposed to
breed in the Arctic regions, occurs in autumn, winter, and
spring, chiefly on the margins of rivers and lakes, in Ger-
many, France, and Switzerland. In the early part of autumn,
it is seen, according to M. Temminck, in great numbers, in
the salt marshes of Dalmatia. From its not having been
found in North America, nor on the north-western coasts of
Europe, wThile it appears to be not uncommon in Italy, and
has been procured in India, some have supposed its summer
residence to be more probably in the eastern parts of Europe,
and in northern Asia. It is, however, as reasonable to suppose
that the small flocks seen on the coasts in early autumn may
have come from the interior, perhaps no great distance. As
the Dunlin breeds extensively on our heaths, the Little Sand-
pipers seen on the southern coasts of England may be purely
indicolous. However, as yet nothing appears to be known
respecting the breeding of this species. Mr. Jenyns, and after
him, Mr. Gould, describe the egg as an inch and a twelfth in
length, nine-twelfths in breadth, reddish-white, spotted and
speckled with dark reddish-brown. Although so many
specimens have been obtained along the southern and eastern
coasts of England, as to induce us to suppose that it may be
not very uncommon on our northern shores, it being found in

230 TRINGA MINUTA.

Scandinavia in summer, no authentic instance of its occur-
rence in Scotland has hitherto been recorded. It is men-
tioned, however, as having been observed in the neighbour-
hood of Montrose ; and in January 1849, a small flock,
probably of this or the next species, was seen near the mouth
of the Don, by my son Paul, who is well acquainted with our
shore birds. Several flocks of very small Tringae have re-
peatedly been seen on the sandy coast of Aberdeenshire.
From one of them, an individual was shot by Mr. Peppe, in
the autumn of 1841, and presented to me, in a prepared
state, by Dr. Dickie, who also informed me that his brother
saw a flock, in August of the same year, but failed to secure
any. This specimen may be described as follows : —

Bill shorter than the head, straight, slender, black ; feet
brownish-black. Tail doubly emarginate, the outer tail-
feathers on each side being longer than the next. Upper
part of the head brownish-black, the feathers margined with
pale greyish-red ; forehead and a band from it on each side
over the eye greyish-white ; loral spaces greyish-brown ; hind
part and sides of neck pale grey, faintly streaked with
darker ; feathers of the back, wing-coverts, and scapulars
brownish-black, margined with light red, changing to reddish-
white toward the end of some of the scapulars ; those of the
hind part of the back greyish-black, as are the middle tail-
coverts ; the lateral white. Primary quills and their coverts
greyish-black ; shafts of the primaries white, as are the outer
margins of the inner six ; an oblique band of white including
the bases of the inner primaries, and extending on the secon-
daries so as to include the greater part of the ninth, white ;
the remaining inner secondaries like the scapulars ; the tips
of the first row of small coverts also white ; the two middle
tail-feathers blackish-grey, margined at the end with greyish-
red ; the rest ash-grey, very narrowly margined with white ;
the outer paler. Throat white ; fore-neck and sides of breast
reddish-white, the latter variegated with broAvn ; the rest of
the lower parts white, some of the feathers on the sides with
small faint grey markings ; the lower wing-coverts partly
dusky; axillar feathers white. It appears to be a young
bird in its first autumnal plumage.

LITTLE SANDPIPER. 231

Length. 5\± inches ; wing from flexure 3-^- ; bill -£j- ;
bare part of tibia -^ ; tarsus -pj ; middle toe -^j, its claw 11J.

Mr. Thompson marks it " a regular autumnal visitant to
Ireland, appearing in extremely limited numbers ;" and gives
several instances of its occurrence in Belfast Bay, and other
parts of that country.

Young. — Two specimens from the south of England,
which I have examined, agree with the young in their first
plumage, as described by M. Temminck, being as follows : —
The bill and feet black. The feathers on the upper part of
the head brownish-black, edged with greyish-yellow ; the
loral space brownish-grey ; the forehead and cheeks whitish,
as is a streak over the eye. The hind-neck pale yellowish-
grey streaked with brown ; the fore part of the neck at the
sides similar ; the throat and all the lower parts white ; the
lower marginal wing-coverts alone being dusky, with white
edges. The feathers of the upper parts are blackish-brown,
edged with yellowish-red, the outer margins of the scapulars
reddish-white. The quills are brownish-black, the larger
coverts tipped with yellowish-white ; the inner secondaries
like the scapulars. The middle tail-feathers similar, the rest
brownish-grey, edged with white.

It is to the bird in this state that Montagu's description
of the Little Sandpiper, in the Supplement to his Ornitho-
logical Dictionary, belongs : — " Length about six inches. Bill
and irides dusky. The forehead and cheeks round the eyes
very pale, nearly white ; throat and all beneath white, except
across the breast, where it is mixed with light brown ; the
crown of the head, back, scapulars, and coverts of the wings
dusky black, more or less margined with pale rufous, but
the margins of some of the scapulars nearly white. These
marginated feathers give the bird a spotted appearance. The
back of the neck brown, mixed with cinereous ; the quills
and greater coverts dusky, very slightly tipped with white ;
the coverts more largely and the primaries externally mar-
gined with white, except the two first ; the shaft of the first
quill white. The middle feathers of the tail are, like the
tedials, dusky, bordered with fenuginous ; the others cine-
reous, palest on the margins. The legs dusky."

232

TRINGA TEMMINCKII. TEMMINCK'S
SANDPIPER.

Tringa Tcmminckii. Loisler. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 622.

Tringa pusilla. Flem. Brit. Anim. 112?

Tringa Tcmminckii. Temminck's Tringa. Gould, Birds of Eur. pt. XVII.

Temminck's Stint. Tarr. Brit. Birds, II. 647.

Tringa Temminckii. Selby, Illustr. II. 144.

Pelidna Tcmmincki. Bonap. Comp. List, 50.

BiU a little shorter than the head, slender, scarcely en-
larged, but a little decurved at the end ; tail feathers graduated ;
larxti* eight-twelfths long; hill dusky, feet greenish-broum.
Plumage in winter deep brown above, each feather with a
blackish-broivn central space ; fore part of the neck and a
portion of the breast reddish- grey ; throat and lower parts
white; lateral tail-coverts white; outer tail-feathers exter-
nally white. In summer the feathers of the upper parts deep
black, margined with red; fore part of the neck reddish-grey,
finely streaked with black ; throat and, lower parts white, as
arc the lateral tail-feathers.

Tins species, the most diminutive of those which occur
in Britain, is distinguishable from the last, not so much by
its smaller size as by its somewhat wedge-shaped tail and
much shorter tarsus.

Adult in Winter. — The form and' proportions as in the
other small species. The bill somewhat shorter than the
head, straight, slender, rather higher than broad at the base,
tapering, scarcely enlarged at the end ; both mandibles late-
rally grooved nearly in their whole length. Nostrils linear,
a twelfth long ; eyes small. Legs very slender ; the tibia
bare for four-twelfths of an inch ; the tarsus eight-twelfths

TEMMINCK'S SANDPIPER. 233

long ; anterior toes rather long, slender ; claws moderately
arched, rather acute.

The plumage very soft and blended ,• the feathers on the
back ovato-oblong, and rather compact. The wings very
long, with twenty-five quills, the first primary longest, the
rest rapidly graduated ; the secondaries incurved, the inner
very elongated and tapering. The tail is short, with the
middle feathers elongated and tapering, the outermost feather
on each side shorter than the next.

The bill is black ; the feet greenish-brown. The feathers
of the upper parts blackish-brown, bordered with reddish-
brown ; the sides of the head and neck pale-grey ; the fore
part of the neck pale brown, steaked with dark brown ; chin
and lower parts white, as are the axillar feathers ; primaries
dusky-brown, with white shafts; outer secondaries greyish-
brown, tipped with white ; the elongated inner secondaries
like the back. Tail-coverts dusky-brown, as are the middle
tail-feathers, the rest ash-grey, the outer three on each side
nearly white.

Length to end of tail 5-^- inches ; wing from flexure 3^ ;
bill -^y ; bare part of tibia -^ ; tarsus -^5- ; middle toe -f^, its
claw -frr.

In Summer. — According to M. Temminck, all the
feathers of the upper parts deep black in the middle, with a
broad border of a deep red ; forehead, fore part of the neck
and breast reddish-grey with very small longitudinal black
spots ; throat lower parts and lateral tail feathers pure white,
the two middle feathers of the tail blackish-brown, bordered
with deep red.

Habits. — Very little has to be stated under this head.
It is said to breed in the arctic regions ; M. Nilsson says on
the shores of the seas of northern Europe, but this is very
improbable. It is seen on its vernal and autumnal migra-
tions in Germany, France, and Switzerland. Specimens
have been received from India and its archipelago. No
doubt it runs, flies, feeds, and breeds very much in the
manner of several other Tringas ; but, although a probable

234 TRINGA TEMMINCKIL

history of it could bo made up from analogies, ornithologists
are obliged to confine themselves to facts, and thus are
sometimes accused by popular writers of a decided want of
imagination. These people are ignorant of the use of that
faculty, which, however, may be applied with advantage to
every branch of natural history, though certainly not in
supplying the lack of observed facts.

Specimens have been obtained in Cornwall, Devonshire,
and here and there all along the eastern coast of England as
far north as Yorkshire ; and Mr. Heysham, of Carlisle,
states their occurrence in Rock-cliff salt marsh. Scotland
has hitherto yielded none, and, according to Mr. Thompson,
Ireland as yet boasts of only one, " shot by W. Purdon, Esq.,
at a fresh-water pool close to the town of Tralee, and the
one bird only was seen."

235

CALIDRIS. SANDERLING.

This genus is formed of a single species, which in all
respects agrees precisely with the genus Tringa, and might
stand next to the Dunlin, had it not "been deprived of its
hind toe. The presence or absence of this member seems to
be of very little importance in the economy of the Waders,
as no appreciable difference exists in the mode of walking of
the Sanderling and Dunlin, or of the Golden and Grey
Plovers.

Bill of the length of the head, straight, slender, soft and
somewhat flexible ; upper mandible with the dorsal line
straight, the ridge narrow, towards the end flattened, the tip
a little enlarged, obtuse, and somewhat exceeding that of the
lower, the nasal groove extending nearly to the end, and
filled by a concave bare membrane ; lower mandible with
the angle very long and narrow, the sides grooved, the tip a
little enlarged and obtuse. Tongue very long, slender, tri-
gonal, channelled above, pointed. Upper mandible within
concave, with a double row of reversed pointed papilla) ;
lower deeply concave. Fauces extremely small. (Esophagus
narrow, without dilatation ; proventriculus small, its glands
oblong ; gizzard large and muscular ; its cuticular lining
rugous ; intestine long ; coeca moderate, cylindrical.

Nostrils small, linear, pervious, basal, close to the margin.
Eyes small ; both eyelids feathered. Aperture of ear rather
large, roundish. Feet rather short, very slender ; tibia bare
at its lower part ; tarsus with numerous anterior scutella ;
toes small, first wanting, second a little shorter than fourth,
third not much longer, all with numerous scutella above,
laterally marginate. Claws small, curved, compressed, obtuse.

Plumage moderately full, soft, and blended ; but on the
back and wings rather compact. Wings very long, pointed ;

236 CALIDEIS. SANDERLING.

quills twenty-five ; primaries tapering, the first longest ;
secondaries short, incurved, but the inner elongated, one of
them not much shorter than the first primary when the
wing is closed. Tail short, of twelve narrowed feathers, and
somewhat doubly emarginate.

The only species of this genus known to me has the
habits of the Dunlin, to which also it is nearly allied in
structure and form. How any one, misled, perhaps, by the
absence of a hind toe, should place it in connection with the
Plovers, it would be difficult to say. They who give it a
station between the Turnstone and the Oyster-catcher, from
both of which it widely differs, may possibly consider such
remarks " uncalled for." Very interesting, too, it would be
to know the physiological facts and logical arguments, by
which the Ardeida? are made to occupy a station intermediate
between Plovers and Snipes.

237

CALIDRIS ARENARIA. THE COMMON
SANDERLING.

CURWILLET. TOWILLY. SAND LARK. OX-BIRDS.

Fig. 19.

Tringa arenaria. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 255.

Ckaradrius calidris. Linn. Syst. Nat. f. 25-5.

Charadrius calidris. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 741.

Charadrius rubidus. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 740.

Sanderling. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Sanderling variable. Calidris arenaria. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 524.

Calidris arenaria. Common Sanderling. Flem. Brit. Anim. 112.

Common Sanderling. Arenaria Calidris. Selb. Ulustr. II. 208.

Calidris arenaria. Sanderling. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 183.

Calidris arenaria. Bonap. Conip. List. 50.

In winter the upper parts pale grey, with dusky lines ; the
lower white ; wings black and grey with a white band. In
summer the upper parts variegated with black and red; the
lower red anteriorly, white behind. Young with the upper
parts black, and variegated ivith yellow and white ; the lower
white.

The Sanderling is a lively little bird, very similar to the
Dunlin, in winter not easily distinguishable from it at a dis-
tance, but readily known when procured by its wanting the

238 CALIDltIS AHENARIA.

hind toe. It varies so much in colour, that scarcely two
individuals can be found precisely alike. The appearance
which it presents at various seasons may be thus described: —

Male in Winter. — Bill black, iris dusky, feet greenish-
black. The upper part of the head, the hind part and
sides of the neck and the back, pale grey, each feather with
a darker medial streak. The forehead, cheeks, fore part of
the neck, and all the under parts pure white. The small
coverts margining the wing, the alula, primary coverts, and
primary quills are greyish-black ; the secondary quills paler,
as are their coverts ; the inner secondaries and the middle
coverts light grey. The primary and secondary coverts are
tipped with Avhite ; a great portion of the shafts of all the
quills is of that colour, and all the quills are white at the
base, the portion so coloured extending from the first pri-
mary to the tenth secondary, which is entirely white, or
with a slight grey mark. Tail-feathers grey, margined with
white, the outer feathers paler.

Length to end of tail 7f inches ; extent of wings 16 ; bill
along the ridge 1, along the edge of lower mandible 1 ; bare
part of tibia ^ ; tarsus \± ; second toe -fe, its claw -Jj ; third
toe TV, its claw TV ; fourth toe yV, its claw yV ; wing from
flexure 5-^ ; tail 2-fe.

Female in Winter. — The female is similar to the male
in colour, but somewhat larger.

Length 8 inches; extent of wings 16; bill along the
ridge 1 ; tarsus 1 ; middle toe yV, its claw yV-

Variations. — The colour of the upper parts may be
greyish-white, pale grey, or pale brownish-grey, with the
shaft-streaks narrower or broader, and of a darker or lighter
tint. But the principal variations are owing to an intermix-
ture of new and old feathers, there being a constant succes-
sion, and the full winter plumage not being obtained until
the middle or end of November.

Male in Summer. — The bare parts as in winter. The

COMMON SANDERLING. 239

feathers of the upper part of the head are black, margined
with light red and white ; the cheeks, neck, fore part of the
breast and sides greyish-red, streaked with black ; the rest
of the lower parts white. The feathers of the back and the
scapulars are black in the centre, light red toward the edges,
which are white, the larger spotted with red ; the tail-feathers
grey, excepting the two middle, which are black, margined
with light red. The wing-coverts are brownish-black, bor-
dered, and the inner marginally spotted with light red ; the
quills and large coverts as in winter.

Female in Summer. — Similar to the male.

Habits. — The Sanderlings appear in small flocks on our
northern coasts, on both sides of the island, as early as
the beginning of September. Their numbers gradually in-
crease, until in winter, when they are met with in all parts ;
they collect into large bands, which frequent the sandy shores
and muddy estuaries, often mingling with various species of
Tringa, but especially with the Dunlins. In searching for
their food, which consists of small worms, testacea, and some-
times insects, they run with rapidity when following the
margin of the wave, but more sedately in other circumstances,
patting and probing the soft sand or mud with their bills,
which they seldom introduce to any depth. It is pleasant to
watch a flock so occupied, the liveliness of the little creatures,
and their clean and beautiful plumage, together with the
mutual goodwill and forbearance which they exhibit, render-
ing them most agreeable companions. When alarmed, they
fly off in a body, uttering occasionally a shrill cry, move with
great rapidity, iioav all inclining to one side, now to the other,
and performing various evolutions. In sunshine they may
be perceived at a very great distance by the glancing of their
white under parts. At first they are not shy, and may easily
be approached ; but after being molested, they become rather
vigilant. At high water they repose on the sands or in their
neighbourhood, sometimes by themselves, but often in com-
pany with Dunlins and Ringed Plovers. Like these species
they also feed by moonlight. Individuals are sometimes seen

240 CALIDMS ARENARIA.

on various parts of the coast during summer ; but it does not
appear that this species breeds in any part of Britain.

At that season it has been found in the arctic regions of
both Europe and America. In winter it extends southward
along the shores, and is very generally dispersed, being, it is
said, observed in Africa and India. In autumn it is extremely
fat, and affords delicate eating.

Young. — In their full plumage the young, when they
arrive on our coast are as follows : — The bill and feet are
black, as in the adult. The forehead, a band over the eyes,
the throat, and all the lower parts are white ; thei'e is a
dusky loral band, and the cheeks are faintly marked with
dark grey, of which there is a patch on the ear-coverts ; the
hind part and sides of the neck are whitish-grey, finely
streaked Avith darker ; the sides of the breast dotted with the
same. The feathers of the upper parts are black, margined
Avith greyish-white, the larger variegated with yellowish spots.
The wings are nearly as in the adult ; the inner elongated
secondaries grey, with white and dusky spots toward the
end. The feathers on the hind part of the back grey, darker
toward the end ; the tail-feathers grey on the outer, nearly
white on the inner web, the two middle darker, all bordered
with white.

Remarks. — With one who looks to the general form,
structure, and habits of birds, rather than to some insignifi-
cant conventional or artificial characters, there can be no
doubt whatever as to the direct affinity of the Sanderling to
the Dunlin and the Tringae. It is, in fact, a Tringa desti-
tute of hind toe, just as Phalaropus platyrhinchus is a Tringa
with the margins of the toes enlarged.

241

NUMENIUS. CUKLEW.

The Curlews are birds of moderate size, especially re-
markable for the great length and curvature of their bill,
which is at least twice as long as the head, slender, arcuate,
larger at the base, tapering to the end. Upper mandible
with its dorsal outline arcuate, the ridge broadly convex, the
sides slightly sloped, the edges involute, with a very narrow
groove ; the tip elliptical, obtuse, and extending beyond that
of the lower ; the nasal groove very long and narrow. Lower
mandible with the angle very narrow, extending to the
middle, and bare anteriorly ; the dorsal line concave, the
ridge broadly convex, the sides of the crura a little inflected,
and having a longitudinal groove.

Both mandibles very thick, internally having a narrow
central groove, not occupied by the tongue, which is short?
sagittate, narrow, tapering, grooved above, acute. Palate
with a central and two lateral ridges. Throat very narrow.
(Esophagus very long, of nearly equal diameter throughout ;
proventriculus oblong, completely encircled by large oblong
glandules. Stomach a large and powerful gizzard, having
the muscles distinct, the tendons radiated, and the inner
coat rugous. Intestine long, of moderate width ; coeca rather
slender, cylindrical, rather short : rectum cylindrical ; cloaca
globular.

Eyes rather small ; eyelids feathered. Nostrils linear,
pervious, basal. Aperture of ear moderate, roundish. The
feet are long and slender ; the tibia bare below, reticulated
all round with angular scales ; tarsus long, similarly reticu-
late, but having for two-thirds of its length anteriorly a
series of short scutella; toes rather short, slender, with
numerous scutella above, broad and flat with flattened

R

242 NUMENIUS. CURLEW.

papillae in transverse rows beneath ; the anterior webbed as
far as the second joint ; the hind toe very small. Claws
small, slightly arched, compressed, obtuse ; that of the
middle toe curved outwards, with, a dilated edge.

Plumage moderately full, soft, blended, the feathers
oblong or lanceolate. Wings very long, narrow, pointed,
with about thirty quills ; first primary longest, the rest
rapidly graduated ; secondaries slightly incurved, rounded,
and acuminate ; some of the inner much elongated and
tapering ; tertiaries seven, concealed by the very long sca-
pulars. Tail rather short, rounded, of twelve acuminate
feathers, the two middle considerably longer.

The genus Numenius is very nearly allied to Tantalus
on the one hand, and to Limosa on the other. It is com-
posed of species varying in size from that of a Domestic
Fowl to that of the Woodcock. They are generally distri-
buted, of migratory habits, present a great uniformity of
appearance, frequent the shores in winter and spring, breed
on the moors, laying four pyriform mottled or clouded eggs,
and seldom associate with other species. Shy, easily alarmed,
and extremely vigilant, they are with difficulty approached.
They run with great celerity ; have a powerful, light, and
rapid flight ; and feed on insects, larva?, mollusca, and
Crustacea. Their flesh is excellent, being sapid, savoury,
and highly-flavoured ; and their eggs are delicious.

The only character in which the Curlews differ from the
Tringinse is their having a very short tongue, that organ being
elongated and pointed in the other species of this family.
In this respect they resemble the Tantalinse, to which they
are further allied in the form of the bill ; but from which
they differ in that of the wings, the general style of colouring
of the plumage, and in having a more muscular gizzard, with
longer coeca.

Two species occur in Britain — the Curlew, properly so
called, and the Whimbrel ; the former indigenous, the latter
partially so, but for the most part migratory.

243

XI MENIUS ARQUATA. THE GREAT CURLEW.

WIIAAP. WHAUP. STOCK WHAAP. WHITTEPJCK.

Scolopax Arquata. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 242.

Numenius Arquata. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 710.

Common Curlew. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Grand Courlis cendre. Numenius Arquata. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 603.

Common Curlew. Numenius Arquata. Selb. Illustr. II. 62.

Numenius Arquata. Common Curlew. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 195.

Numenius Arquata. Bonap. Comp. List, 49.

Length from twenty-three to twenty-eight inches ; bill
from Jive to seven inches. Plumage of the head, neck, and
fore part of the back light reddish-grey , streaked with blackish-
brown ; the hind part of the back white, with narrow longi-
tudinal dark marks ; the tail white, xoith twelve black bars ;
the breast, sides, and abdomen white, with lanceolate black
spots and bars.

Male. — The Great or Common Curlew is generally dis-
tributed, familiarly known in most districts, and indeed one

244 NUMENIUS ARQUATA.

of the most remarkable of our native birds, enlivening the
wild heaths in summer, and in winter giving interest to the
sands and muddy bays of the sea-shore. Its body is ovate,
and rather full ; its legs long and slender ; its neek also
long ; its head rather small, oblong, anteriorly rounded. The
bill is extremely long, slender, arched, tapering, blunt ; the
tip of the upper extending about two-twelfths of an inch
beyond that of the lower mandible, which is at the base a
little broader than the upper. Owing to the great thickness
of the mandibles, their internal cavity is reduced to a narrow
groove, which is not occupied by the tongue ; that organ
being very short, sagittate, tapering, grooved above, and
sharp-pointed. The throat is very narrow ; the oesophagus
eleven inches long, of nearly equal diameter throughout ;
the proventriculus oblong, an inch and a half in length, its
glandules cylindrical. The gizzard is elliptical, a little com-
pressed, two inches long, its muscles very thick, its radiated
tendons very large, measuring an inch across. The intestine
is four feet six inches long, at its upper part six- twelfths of
an inch in diameter, at the cceca three-twelfths. The rectum
is four inches long ; the cceca four inches and a quarter,
their diameter three-twelfths.

The eyes are rather small, the diameter of their aperture
being four-twelfths. The nostrils are linear, pervious, placed
in the nasal membrane near the base. The aperture of the
ear measures four-twelfths across. The tibia has its bare
part reticulated with angular scales. The tarsus has for
two-thirds of its length anteriorly a series of twenty-six
narrow scutella, the upper part and the sides reticulated.
The fore toes are webbed as far as the second joint, the outer
web largest : the first toe with ten, the second with twenty-
five, the third with thirty-three, the fourth Avith twenty-
seven scutella. The claws are small, slender, arched, com-
pressed, obtuse.

The plumage is soft, on the upper part of the head rather
compact, on the neck blended. On the fore part of the
back the feathers are longish, oblong, and rounded ; on the
rest of the back small and oblong ; on the lower parts also
oblong and blended. The tibiae are feathered nearly two-

GREAT CURLEW. 245

thirds of their length. The wings are very long, narrow,
and pointed ; the quills thirty ; the first longest, the other
primaries rapidly graduated ; the secondaries slightly in-
curved with a minute tip, some of the inner much elon-
gated and tapering. There are seven stiffish tertiaries,
concealed hy the scapulars. The tail is short, rounded,
of twelve acuminate feathers, the two middle considerably
longer.

The base of the lower mandible and basal margins of the
upper are flesh-coloured, the rest black. The iris is brown.
The feet are bluish-grey ; the claws black. The head and
neck are light yellowish-red, tinged with grey, each feather
having a central blackish-brown streak, darker and broader
oh the upper part of the head. The fore part of the back
and the scapulars are darker, their central black markings
broader and continued to the tip ; the scapulars with serri-
form yellowish-red spots on the edges. The small wing-
coverts are lighter, but similarly marked ; the primary
coverts brownish-black, with the tip white ; the primaries
deep brown, the shaft of the first Avhite, of the rest hair
brown ; the first five quills unspotted on the outer web, the
rest with serriform white spots on the outer, and all with
similar larger spots on the inner wreb ; the secondary coverts
and first series of smaller coverts similarly marked. The
back is white, with narrow longitudinal black marks ; the
upper tail-coverts barred with black. The tail is white,
towards the end tinged with red, and having twelve brownish-
black bands. The breast, sides, and abdomen are white ; the
first with lanceolate spots, the second with broader lanceolate
spots and bars, the last nearly pure ; the lower tail-coverts
with narrow lanceolate spots ; the tibia white, with a few
narrow streaks ; the lower wing-coverts white, spotted and
barred with dusky.

Length to end of tail 25 inches, to end of wings 23f , to
end of toes 27f ; extent of wings 42 ; bill along the ridge
6|-, along the edge of lower mandible 6^ ; wing from flexure
12£; tail 4^; tarsus 3-^; first toe -fe, its claw^-; second
toe 1-j^-, its claw-^; third toe If, its ckw -fa ; fourth toe
1^, its claw 135-.

246 XUMENIUS ARQUATA.

Variations. — Individuals of both sexes vary greatly in
size, the males measuring from twenty-seven to twenty-four
inches in length ; the females from twenty-four to twenty-
one. Some have more of the rufous tint on the head, neck,
and back ; but in other respects the variations are not
remarkable.

Changes of Plumage. — The moult commences in June,
and is completed by the end of October. As the summer
advances the reddish tint disappears, and the feathers become
worn, ragged, and pointed, those portions of their margins
on which are the white spots generally coming off, as if they
had been eaten out by an acid. This appearance is pre-
sented by all the birds of this family which have the feathers
margined with white spots.

Habits. — With the history of the Curlew might be con-
nected, and not inappropriately, not only much of the wild
scenery of Britain, but somewhat of the progress of civiliza-
tion amongst us ; but as these subjects have received ample
illustration from individuals better qualified to do them justice,
it seems advisable for us not to wander from our proper course.

We may suppose that in the middle of October we are
traversing the extensive mud fiat that stretches at low water
from the village of Cramond to the ruins of Barnbogle Castle,
on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Many Gulls
are scattered over the sands, small flocks of Ducks are swim-
ming in the river, straggling bands of Terns hover and
scream along the edge of the water, here and there may be
seen a solitary Gannet gliding past, and far out at sea are
some dusky birds, which may be Cormorants or Red-throated
Divers. On that shoal is a vast multitude of small birds,
probably Dunlins ; farther on are some black and white
waders, which are reasonably conjectured to be Oyster-
catchers ; and here, scattered over the miry flat, are very
many grey-backed, long-legged, long-necked, and long-billed
birds — those, in fact, of which we are in search. They
observe us ; one utters a loud shrill cry, to which another
responds, and presently all are on wing. Mark how they

GREAT CURLEW. 247

fly, at a moderate height, with contracted neck, outstretched
bill, feet folded back, wide-spread wings moved in regular
time. Away they speed, one screaming now and then, and
alarming the Gulls and other birds in their course ; nor do
they stop until arriving at a suitable spot, a quarter of a
mile off, they perform a few circling evolutions, and alight
by the margin of the sea, into which some of them wade,
while the rest disperse over the sand. All we can see or say
of them here is, that at this season they have arrived on the
sea-shore, where they frequent the beaches, searching for
food in the same way as the Godwits, Longshanks, and
Sandpipers ; but in what precise manner they procure it, or
of what it consists, remains to be discovered. To see these
vigilant and suspicious birds at hand, we must find some
place resorted to by them, in which we may draw near
without being perceived. Let us imagine ourselves in such
a place.

Here is a low tract of sandy pasture, with a shallow pool
upon it, and extending along a large ford or expanse of sand,
covered by the tide, and laid bare when it recedes. Many
Curlews and Golden Plovers, a few Ringed Dotterels, two
or three Mallards, and doubtless hundreds of Snipes, are
dispersed over the plashy ground. That old turf fold, in
which the cattle have been milked in summer, will enable
us to approach the birds unseen, unless some of the Curlews
should happen to fly overhead and discover us, when they
will be sure to sound an alarm. Now crawl this way, and
see that the muzzle of your gun is not filled with sand.
From this slap in the wall, cautiously raising our heads
until we can bring our eye to bear on them, we may observe
their motions. This is one of the few occasions on which a
low forehead would be of decided advantage. There, twenty
paces off, stalks an old Curlew, cunning and sagacious, yet
not conscious of our proximity. He has heard, or fancied
that he has heard, some unusual sound ; and there he moves
slowly, with raised head and ear attent ; but some ajjpear-
ance in the soft sand has attracted his notice, and forgetting
his fears, he thrusts or rather works his bill into it, and
extracting something, which he swallows, withdraws it, and

248 NUMENIUS ARQUATA.

proceeds, looking carefully around. Now from the surface
he picks up a snail, of that small kind named Helix erice-
torum, which, raising his head, and moving it rapidly back-
wards and forwards, at the same time slightly opening and
(losing his mandibles, he gradually brings within reach of
his tongue, when he swallows it. There he has dragged a
worm from the sand, and again has obtained a small crab or
insect. But now two others have come up ; they are all
within range ; let me fire : — there they are, two dead, the
other with broken wing runs off screaming loudly. Curlews,
Plovers, Redshanks, Dotterels, Ducks, and Snipes, all rise,
and move to a distance corresponding to their fears, the
Curlews flying out of sight, the Snipes coming back to the
same spot, and the Plovers alighting about two hundred
yards off.

The Curlew is extremely shy and suspicious, so that at
this season, unless by some stratagem or accident, one can
very seldom obtain a shot at it. In Harris, I once shot three
from a cattle-fold in the manner described above. On another
occasion, having a musket with large shot, I let fly at one
feeding in a field as I was passing, hit it in the wing, and on
measuring the distance found it to be seventy-five yards. In
the Hebrides I have heard it said, that to kill seven Curlews
was enough for a life-time ; but one, by lying among the
rocks on a point frequented by them, might, I doubt not,
shoot as many in less than a week. This method, however,
I have never tried, it being much more pleasant to be moving
about than lying jammed into the crevice of a cliff. When
alarmed they spread out their wings, run rapidly forward
some paces, and springing into the air, uttering their loud
cries, fly off at a rapid rate. When looking for food they
generally walk sedately, — unlike the Redshank, which is con-
tinually running, stooping, or vibrating, — but sometimes run.
Dry pastures, moist ground, and shallow pools are equally
frequented by them, and they may be seen wading in the
water up to the tarsal joint.

Towards the end of March they generally leave the
shores, where they have resided in flocks from September,
and separating in pairs, betake themselves to the interior,

GREAT CURLEW. 249

where, in the higher and less frequented moors, they deposit
their eggs and rear their young.

It is now the beginning of May. The sunny banks are
covered with primroses, the golden catkins of the willow
fringe the brooks, while the spikes of the cotton-grass orna-
ment the moss-clad moor. Let us ascend the long glen, and
wandering on the heathy slopes, listen to the clear but
melancholy whistle of the Plover, the bleating of the Snipe,
and the loud scream of the Curlew. Here is a bog, inter-
spersed with tufts of heath, among which is a profusion of
Myrica Gale. Some Lapwings are coming up, gliding and
flapping along ; a black-breasted Plover has stationed him-
self on the top of that mound of green moss, and a Ring
Ouzel has just sprung from the furze on the brae. See !
what is that ? a Hare among our feet ? No, a Curlew, flut-
tering along the ground, wounded, unable to escape ; run !
she has been sitting. Here is the nest, in a hollow, under
shelter of two tufts of heath and a stunted willow. It is
composed of dry grass, apparently eriophora, eleocharis pa-
lustris, scirpus ccespitosa, some twigs of heath, and perhaps
portions of other plants, not very neatly disposed. It is very
shallow, and internally about a foot in diameter. The eggs
are four, pyriform, excessively large, three inches long, an
inch and ten-twelfths across, light olive or dull yellowish-
brown, or pale greenish-grey, blotched and spotted with
umber-brown, the markings crowded in the larger end.
They vary considerably in size and form, some being only
two inches and three quarters in length. Those of the nest
before us are of the largest size, very darkly coloured, and so
little contrasting with the surrounding objects that, unless
the bird had sprung up among our feet, we should scarcely
have observed them.

Far up on the hill-side you hear the loud cry of the
Curlew, which is presently responded to from the opposite
slope ; in another place a bird commences a series of modu-
lated cries, and springing up, performs a curved flight, flap-
ping its wings and screaming as it proceeds. Presently the
whole glen is vocal, but not with sweet sounds, like those of
" the Mavis and Merle." But it is in vain to pursue the

2,30 NUMENIUS ARQUATA.

birds, for these are the males ; and at this season you will
find them fully as shy as they were in winter on the sea-
shore. Some weeks hence, when the young are abroad, the
females, and even the males, will flutter around you, if you
approach the spot where their unfledged brood lie concealed
among the herbage, and will attempt, by feigning distress,
to lead you into a vain pursuit. Like all the other birds of
this genus, the young are covered with long, stirhsh down,
and run about presently after exclusion from the egg, squat-
ting to conceal themselves from their enemies. Up to the
age of three weeks they are still unfeathered ; their forehead,
throat, and under surface yellowish-grey ; their upper parts
of the same colour with patches of dark brown ; the bill not
longer than the head. That organ gradually elongates as
the feathers spread, and by the end of about seven weeks
they are able to fly.

At this season old and young feed on insects, larva?, and
worms. The latter are very fat, but the former are not in
good condition until the middle of autumn : about which
period the Curlews unite into small flocks, gradually dis-
perse, and betake themselves to the shores. Their flesh is
delicate and well-flavoured, and they are not unfrequently
to be seen in our markets. I am not aware of any difference
produced in the quality of their flesh as an article of food by
their change of residence.

Montagu has given, in the Supplement to his Ornitho-
logical Dictionary, an account of a tame bird of this spe-
cies : — " One that was shot in the wing was turned amongst
aquatic birds, and was at first so extremely shy, that he was
obliged to be crammed with meat for a day or two, when he
began to eat worms ; but as this was precarious food, he was
tempted to eat bread and milk like Ruffs. To induce this
substitution worms were put into a mess of bread mixed
with milk, and it was curious to observe how cautiously he
avoided the mixture, by carrying every Avorm to the pond,
and well washing it previously to swallowing. In the course
of a few days this new diet did not appear unpalatable to
him, and in little more than a week he became partial to it ;
and from being exceedingly poor and emaciated, got plump

GREAT CURLEW. 251

and in high health. In the course of a month or six weeks,
this bird became excessively tame, and would follow a person
across the menagerie for a bit of bread or a small fish, of
which he was remarkably fond. But he became almost
omnivorous ; fish, water-lizards, small frogs, insects of every
kind that were not too large to swallow, and (in defect of
other food) barley with the ducks was not rejected. This
very great favourite Avas at last killed by a rat, as it was
suspected, after a short life of two years in confinement;
but he had in that time fully satisfied our inquiries into his
natural habits."

The Curlew breeds on all our elevated moors that are of
considerable extent, from Cornwall and Devonshire to the
northern extremity of Scotland ; but its nests are much
more numerous in the latter country than in England. On
the range of high grounds extending from the Mull of Gal-
loway to St. Abb's Head, Curlews are more abundant in
summer than in the Grampian Eange. It is not generally
in marshes that they nestle, but on dry moorland on the
sides of the hills. In Orkney and Shetland it occurs all the
year round. It would be difficult to determine whether our
summer birds advance southward in winter or not, leaving
their places to be occupied by immigrants from the north.
It has been conjectured that the birds which winter in the
south of England betake themselves in summer to the
Grampians, and that the breeders in England come over
from France. But it seems in no way improbable that the
broods, with their parents, merely shift from the hills to the
sea-shores and back again, according to the season, as is the
case with the Golden Plover and Lapwing.

This species has not been found in America, but is dis-
persed over the greater part of Europe, and probably of Asia,
from many parts of which skins have been transmitted.
China, Japan, India and its islands, are mentioned as
inhabited by it ; and in Africa it extends even to the Cape
of Good Hope.

Young. — The young are at first covered with down,
variegated with grey and dusky.

252 XUMENIUS ARQUATA.

Progress toward Maturity. — When the first plumage
is perfected, the bird scarcely differs from the adult, except
in having the light tints paler, and the bill much shorter
and more flexible. That organ, however, rapidly elongates,
and in the second year appears to obtain its full size,
although it presents great differences in individuals, some
having it an inch or more longer than others.

Remarks. — There are extensive tracts of hill and moor
in the counties of Aberdeen and Banff, to which Curlews
were not known to resort twenty years ago, but which are
now more or less frequented by them during the breeding
season. Yet these tracts have not undergone any perceptible
change, except that of being better protected by gamekeepers.
It is remarkable that, though at most, perhaps all, seasons of
the year, Curlews are to be seen along the shores of the
Outer Hebrides, none bred there, or were to be met with on
the hills or moors in summer, thirty years ago, though the
case may be different now. The hill ranges of the south of
Scotland are all much more frequented by them than those
of any other tract that I have visited.

253

NUMENIUS PHAEOPUS. THE WHIMBREL
CURLEW.

WHIMBREL. LITTLE CURLEW. TAXG WHAAP. MAYFOWL. HALF-CURLEW.
CURLEW-JACK.

Scolopax Phoeopus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 243.

Xnmenius Phaeopus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 711.

"Whimbrel. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Courlis Corlieu. Numenius Phaeopus. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 604.

"Whimbrel Curlew. Nurnenius Phaeopus. Selby, Illustr. II. 6.3.

Numaenius Phaeopus. Bonap. Comp. List, 49.

Length from nineteen to sixteen inches ; bill little more
than three inches. Upper part of the head dark-brown, with
a medial and tico lateral whitish bands, streaked with dusky ;
neck all round pale brownish-grey, streaked icith brown;
feathers of the fore part of the back, scapulars, and wing-
coverts, dusky, xcith marginal whitish spots ; hind part of
back white, tail and coverts greyish-white barred with dusky ;
chin, hind j)art of breast, and abdomen white ; fore part of
breast streaked, sides and lower wing-coverts barred with
dusky.

Male. — The Whimbrel, or Little Curlew, although much
inferior in size to the other British species, is very similar
not only in form, but in colouring. Its body is ovate, and
rather full ; the neck long ; the head rather small, oblong,
and rounded above. The bill is twice the length of the head,
slender, considerably arcuate, tapering, blunt, with the tip
of the upper mandible extending a little beyond that of the
lower, which at the base is a little wider than the upper.
The nostrils are linear, pervious, sub-basal ; the eyes rather
small ; the aperture of the ear large. The legs are long and
slender ; the bare part of the tibia reticulated ; the tarsus
also reticulated, but with anterior scutella in the lower two-

254 NUMENIUS PHJEOPUS.

thirds of its length. The fore toes are webbed as far as the
second joint, the outer web largest; the hind toe small, the
anterior rather short ; all scutellate. The claws small,
slender, arched, compressed, rather obtuse.

The plumage is soft, on the sides of the head and on the
neck blended, on the fore part of the back oblong, on its
hind part small, on the lower parts rather blended and
oblong. The wings are very long, narrow, and pointed ;
the quills twenty-eight ; the first longest, the other primaries
rapidly decreasing; the secondaries a little incurved, some
of the inner much elongated and tapering. The tail of
moderate length, rounded, of twelve acuminate feathers, the
two middle considerably longer.

The bill is black, excepting the base of the lower man-
dible, which is pale brown. The iris brown. The feet light
greyish-blue, the claws black. The upper part of the head
from the bill to the occiput is dark brown, with a medial
streak of brownish-white variegated with dusky, and on each
side a streak of the same passing over the eye to the occiput ;
the lore dusky brown, the eyelids and chin whitish ; the
sides of the head, and the neck all round, greyish-white,
streaked with brown ; the breast and sides brownish-white,
the former with longitudinal the latter with transverse dusky
streaks, which gradually diminish, leaving the middle of the
breast and the abdomen white ; the lower wing-coverts white,
barred with dusky ; the lower tail-coverts with a medial
brown streak and bars. The feathers of the fore part of the
back, the scapulars, and wing-coverts, are dusky, marginally
spotted with brownish-white ; the primary coverts dusky,
excepting the first tipped with white; secondary coverts dusky,
marginally spotted with white ; quills dusky, spotted along
both margins Avith white, excepting the outer five, which are
so marked on their inner edges only, and the inner elongated
secondaries, which have no spots on their inner webs. The
rump is white ; the tail-coverts white, spotted and barred
with dusky ; the tail-feathers brownish-white, or pale green-
ish-brown barred with dusky, and tipped with white, the
outer feather on each side edged with pure white.

Length to end of tail 17 inches ; extent of wings 30 ;

WHIMBREL CURLEW. 255

wing from flexure 9f ; tail 4; bill along the ridge 3-^-;
along the edge of lower mandible 3-^ ; tarsus 2^- ; middle
toe 1-j^ ; its claw -^j.

Female. — The female, which is larger, resembles the
male in colour.

Length to end of tail 19£ ; extent of wings 33^ ; bill
along the ridge 3f , along the edge of lower mandible 3f .

The above descriptions are taken from fresh specimens ;
one of them, the female, shot by myself in the Island of
Harris, on the 9th of May, 1818, and minutely described at
the time.

Habits. — In the beginning of May, a few individuals of
this species make their appearance here and there on the
sandy pastures bordering the west coast of the long range of
the outer Hebrides, from one end to the other. Their num-
bers daily increase, until in about a week they are in many
places very abundant. At first they are not in the least shy,
and may easily be shot ; but in a short time they become
almost as wary as the Common Curlew. They keep by
themselves in flocks of from three or four to twenty, not
associating even with the Curlews which also frequent the
pastures, search exclusively the sandy pasture grounds, show-
ing no preference for wet places, and never betaking them-
selves to the fords or pools, although occasionally they may
be seen in damp places. Their food consists of Bulimus
acutus and Helix ericetorum, which are very abundant there.
They walk for the most part sedately, but sometimes with
alacrity, having their neck bent forward, and their regards
fixed on the ground. If alarmed, they stand, elevate their
heads, emit a shrill tremulous cry, and perhaps fly off, or
presently resume their search. If surprised they are clamor-
ous in their flight, but usually alight at no great distance,
unless shot at. When on wing they display the white part
of the back conspicuously, and have a beautiful appearance.
Their flight is similar to that of the Curlew, but quicker.
They remain about four weeks, the 26th of May being the
latest date in my Journal of 1818, and thus have obtained

2j6 numenius pileopus.

the name of May-fowls ; but possibly the individuals which
arrived first may give place to others, so that during that
period there may be a succession of flocks. During their
stay they enliven these sandy pastures, and their departure
always seemed to me to leave a blank, not to be filled up
until next May, for they neither breed in any of those
islands, nor re-appear on their return southward. Their flesh
is delicate, superior in flavour to that of the Curlew, which
however is excellent, and more tender. I regret that I have
nothing more to say of them from personal observation, but
that they occur on the east coast of Aberdeenshire, both in
May and in autumn, but in small numbers.

It appears from the statements of authors that this species
is met with in spring and the early part of summer along the
coasts of both sides of Britain, and again in autumn. Several
persons allege that it remains in diminished numbers through
the winter. It does not, however, appear that any occur at
that period in Scotland. Its occurrence inland in summer
must be very rare, as I have never met with an individual
elsewhere than on the sandy pastures along the sea-shore.
Mr. Selby informs us that it was seen on the margin of Loch
Sheen, in Sutherland, in the summer of 188-1 ; and others
have spoken of its visits to the Grampians. Mr. Low, who
does not distinguish it specifically from the Curlew, speaks
of it as common in Orkney, where it has since been observed
by Mr. Salmon. Dr. Fleming, Mr. Hewitson, and Mr. Dunn
state that it breeds in Shetland, whence it departs when the
breeding season is over.

The eggs, which I have not seen, are described by Mr.
Yarrell as " four in number, of a dark olive-brown, blotched
with darker brown, pear-shaped, and very much like those
of the Curlew, but smaller, measuring two inches five lines
in length, by one inch eight lines in breadth."

From Iceland, Norway, Lapland, Sweden, and Denmark,
where it breeds, it extends southward to Africa, being found
in the intermediate places in the course of its migrations.
It is probable that its distribution in Asia is very extensive,
as it has been found in the Caucasus, Japan, and various
parts of India.

WHIMBHEL CURLEW. 257

Remarks. — Numenius hudsonicus of America is so very
similar to this species in size and colour, that in description
they can hardly be distinguished, and were it to be met with
would most probably be considered as the Whimbrel. In
that species, however, no part of the back is entirely white,
the rump being all barred with brown, and the tail much
darker. This Hudsonian Curlew M. Temminck considers as
identical with our Whimbrel, alleging that the individuals
which he has received from North America do not differ
from those killed in Europe. But in more than twenty
instances he has made similar assertions, which the more
correct comparisons of others have obliged him to withdraw.
Mr. Selby follows him in considering the Hudsonian Curlew
as identical with the Whimbrel. I have examined and
described both, and agree with the Prince of Canino and
Mr. Audubon in considering them distinct.

208

LIMOSA. GODWIT.

A difference greater than that between Pluvialis and
Charadrius, Glottis and Totanus, Totanns and Actitis, pre-
sents itself among the birds which the more recent authors
have referred to the genus Limosa. Thus Limosa rufa has
the bill re-arcuate, Limosa melanura straight; the tibia of
the former has not half so much bare space as that of the
latter, its tarsus is a third shorter, its toes are rather short
and broad, while those of the other bird are rather long and
slender ; and the claws of the two species are considerably
different, that of the middle toe being short and rounded in
the one, while in the other it is long, tapering, and serrated.
Differences much less than these make genera, in the opinion
of many of our modern ornithologists. But in this case,
seeing that the bill is of the same form, although more or
less curved, the plumage exactly similar, and the feet varying
only in their degree of elongation, it is hardly necessary to
break up the established genus, which, in respect to the
variations exhibited by its species, is similar to Tringa.

The birds of which this genus is composed have the body
moderate ; the neck long and rather slender ; the head
rather small, oblong, compressed, rounded above, narrowed
and sloping anteriorly. The bill, twice the length of the head
or more, is slender, higher than broad at the base, tapering,
toward the end rather depressed, and generally in its whole
length slightly curved upwards ; both mandibles flexible,
grooved almost to the end, with the tips firm and bluntish,
that of the lower being shorter ; the edges soft, blunt, and
grooved. The mouth very narrow ; the upper mandible in-
ternally with a deep medial groove ; the tongue long, slender,
fleshy at the base, then horny, trigonal, grooved above, and
tapering to a fine point. (Esophagus narrow, uniform ;
stomach elliptical, compressed, with strong lateral muscles,

LIMOSA. GODWIT. 2o9

and thin, dense, longitudinally rugous epithelium. Intestine
of moderate length, narrow ; coeca small and cylindrical.

Eyes small; eyelids feathered. Nostrils basal, direct,
linear. External aperture of ear rather large. Legs slender,
of moderate length or long; tibia bare about a third of its
length ; tarsus scutellate, before and behind ; toes four, short ;
the first very small and elevated ; the anterior scutellate,
marginate, flattened beneath, with basal webs, of which the
outer is much larger. Claws small, arched, compressed, at
the end convex, and obtuse.

Plumage of the head, neck, and lower parts very soft and
blended ; of the upper parts rather compact. Wings long,
narrow, pointed, of thirty quills ; the first longest, the other
primaries rapidly decreasing ; the inner secondaries much
elongated and tapering, but rounded. Tail short, nearly
even, of twelve rounded feathers.

The Godwits are very intimately allied to the Curlews
from which they differ, however, in having the bill recurved
or straight, in place of being rearcuate ; the tongue long in-
stead of short ; the tarsi scutellate instead of being reticulate
in part. They also differ in moulting twice every year, and
in assuming in spring colours different from those of autumn
and winter. Unless during the breeding season, they fre-
quent the muddy and sandy shores of estuaries ; but in
summer they resort to marshes and the margins of lakes and
rivers, where they feed on insects, larvae, worms, and mol-
lusca. They form a slight nest, or deposit in a cavity their
four pyriform, spotted eggs. In searching for food they dip
their bill into the soft mud or sand. That organ, although not
so soft, nor so copiously supplied with nervous filaments at
the end, is very similar to the bill of the Snipes ; to which
the Godwits are also allied, though they have not the same
crouching and skulking habits. They are generally shy,
but not so readily alarmed as the Curlews, Longshanks, or
Tatlers. They walk rather sedately, but also run with great
speed on occasion; have a moderately rapid, light, direct
flight ; emit loud shrill cries ; and in feeding often mingle
with other shore birds. Species of this genus occur in all
climates. Two are met with in Britain.

'.60

LIMOSA RUFA. BAR-TAILED GODWIT.

GODWIT. YARWHELP. STONE PLOYER. POOR WILLIE.

Fig. 21.

Scolopax Lapponica. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 246.

Scolopax Lapponica. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 718.

Scolopax leucophcea. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 719.

Red-breasted Snipe. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Common Godwit. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Limosa rufa. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. II. 668.

Limosa rufa. Bar-tailed Godwit. Flem. Brit. Anim 107.

Red Godwit. Limosa rufa. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 9

Limosa rufa. Bar-tailed Godwit. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 202.

Limosa rufa. Bonap. Comp. List, 52.

Bill about four inches long, bent upwards ; male about
fifteen, female seventeen inches long ; tarsus about two itiches
and two-twelfths; bill flesh-coloured, dusky in its terminal
half ; feet greyish-blue; toes darker ; claws black, short,
blunt, that of the middle toe loithout serrature. In winter
the head and neck pale grey, with small brownish-grey
streaks; a broad band over the eye, the throat, breast, and
other lower parts white; feathers of the fore part of the back
and scapulars grey, with a central brown streak; hind part

BAR-TAILED GODWIT. 261

of back white ; tail ivhite, with eight dusky bar's. In summer
the upper part of the head blackish-brown, streaked with
reddish; band over the eye light red; cheeks, throat, and
lower parts light yellowish-red; feathers of the fore part of
the back and scapulars blackish-brown, mottled with reddish-
yellow and light grey ; hind part of back white, with yelloxo
spots ; tail ivhite, barred ivith brown. Young with the upper
part of the head blackish-brown, streaked with pale brownish-
grey ; band over the eye white dotted with brown; cheeks and
neck all round light brownish-grey , streaked with grey ; lower
parts white; upper variegated with blackish-brown and pale
reddish-grey ; hind part of back white, with dusky spots ; tail
white, barred with dusky.

When seen flying at a moderate distance, this bird so
much resembles the Whimbrel, Numsenius Phseopus, that I
have several times mistaken it for that species. Not only is
the flight similar, but the colours, and especially the white
on the hind part of the back, indicate a close affinity.

Male in Winter. — This species is, like the rest, of
rather elegant form, its body being moderately stout ; its
neck long and rather slender ; the head rather small, oblong,
compressed, rounded above, but narroAved and sloping ante-
riorly. The bill is about tAvice the length of the head,
tapering, higher than broad at the base, but toward the end
rather depressed ; in its whole length slightly curved upwards.
One at first would hardly suspect that the curve is so small ;
but when a line is drawn from the base of the ridge to the
tip, and a line run from it at right angles to the most distant
part of the concavity, the latter line measures only a twelfth
and a half, or one-eighth of an inch. Both mandibles are
flexible in a considerable degree, covered with soft skin until
near the end, when it becomes dense, laterally grooved
nearly to the points, which are slightly enlarged and obtuse.
The upper mandible has the ridge flattened at the base, then
narrowed for half its length, again flattened, and at the tip
convex ; the lower has the angle long and very narrow, the
dorsal line slightly ascending ; the edges of both are soft,

262 LIMOSA RUFA.

blunt, and grooved. The mouth is very narrow, measuring
only four-twelfths and a quarter across. The palate is flat,
with two rows of papillae on each side of the linear-oblong
posterior nasal aperture, and three anterior rows. The
tongue is two inches and eleven-twelfths long, emarginate
and papillate at the base, fleshy for half-an-inch, then
horny, trigonal, grooved above, tapering to a fine point.
The oesophagus is seven and a half inches long, narrow,
having a nearly uniform width of four-twelfths ; the proven-
triculus oblong. The stomach is an elliptical compressed
gizzard, an inch and four-twelfths in length, an inch and
one-twelfth in breadth, with the muscles rather large and
distinct; the epithelium dense, flesh-coloured, and longi-
tudinally rugous. The intestine, forty-two inches long, varies
from three-and-a-half-twelfths to two-twelfths in width; the
cceca half-an-inch long, a twelfth-and-a-half in breadth, and
two inches from the extremity.

The eyes are small, their aperture measuring three-
twelfths across ; that of the ear four-and-a-half-twelfths, but
the meatus transverse and narrow ; nostrils basal, direct,
linear, four-and-a-half-twelfths long. The feet are slender,
of moderate length ; the tibia bare for rather more than a
third ; the tarsus with twenty-eight scutella. The toes are
short ; the first very small, elevated, with eight scutella ; the
second with twenty-two, the third with thirty, the fourth
tAventy-six. They are broad beneath and marginate ; the
outer connected with the third by a rather large basal web,
which runs out narrowing to the end of both toes ; the inner
web much smaller. The claws are very small, arched, com-
pressed, at the end convex and obtuse.

The feathers of the head and neck are oblong and
blended ; of the body rather compact, ovate, and rounded.
The wings when closed reach to the tip of the tail, and are
long, narrow, and pointed ; of thirty quills ; the first longest
and very slightly curved, the other primaries rapidly gra-
duated ; the secondaries slightly incurved, obliquely rounded,
with a minute tip ; some of the inner much elongated,
tapering, but rounded. There are seven stiffish tertialss
concealed by the scapulars, which are long. The tail is

BAR-TAILED GODWIT. 263

short, of twelve rounded feathers, almost even, the four
middle feathers being slightly longer.

The bill is dull flesh-coloured, dusky toward the end,
more of the lower mandible being of the former colour.
The iris is brown. The tarsi and toes are dull greyish-blue ;
the claws black. The upper part of the head, its sides, and
the neck all round are pale grey, with numerous small
longitudinal brownish-grey streaks. A broad band of white
from the bill over the eye. The throat, breast, sides,
abbomen, and lower tail-coverts are white ; as are the lower
wing-coverts, excepting those bordering the wing, which
have a grey central patch. The feathers of the fore part of
the back and the scapulars are grey, with an oblong brown
central streak ; the rest of the back white, as are the upper
tail-coverts, some of which, however, have two or three
dusky bands. The tail-feathers have eight dusky bars, the
intervals and margins white. The primary quills, coverts,
and alular feathers are greyish-black, margined, except a
few of the outer, with white ; the secondary quills are more
grey, the inner like the feathers of the back, all margined
with white ; the secondary coverts greyish-brown, with broad
white margins ; the smaller coverts dusky, margined with
greyish-white.

Length to end of tail 15 inches ; extent of wings 30 ; bill
along the ridge 3-j-|, along the edge of lower mandible 3\%;
wing from flexure 8^-; tail 3^; bare part of tibia 1; tarsus
S-j2^-; first toe ^-, its claw 123-; second toe -J-1, its claw^-;
third toe 1-^, its claw -^ ; fourth toe 1-J^, its claw -^.

Female. — The female resembles the male, but is con-
siderably larger.

Length to end of tail 17^ inches ; extent of wings 31 ;
bill along the ridge 4 ; wing from flexure 9£ ; tail 3 ; bare
part of tibia 1-^ ; tarsus 1-^- ; middle toe 1^-, its claw ^.

Changes of Plumage. — Not having met with this species
in summer, during which season it seems to absent itself
from Britain, I translate the following account of it from
M. Temminck's Manual.

2G4 LIMOSA RUFA.

Male in Summer. — " Upper part of the head and occiput
blackish-brown, mixed with streaks of reddish-yellow ; a
band of the latter colour over the eyes ; lore blackish-brown ;
cheeks and throat of a yellowish-red ; all the lower part of
the body, including the under tail-coverts, pale yellowish-
red ; upper part of the back and scapulars blackish-brown,
marbled with reddish-yellow and whitish-grey ; lower parts
of the back and rump white, marked with longitudinal
yellowish-red spots ; the tail marked with brown and white
bars, those of the latter tint irregularly distributed, and dis-
posed more or less longitudinally ; quills black from their
tip, the remaining part toward the base is entirely blackish-
brown, but with their inner webs whitish-grey, marbled
with pale brown ; the secondaries grey, with the shafts and
margins white. Bill much recurved, the greater part of its
base yellowish-brown. Length from fourteen inches to six
or seven lines more."

Female in Summer. — " The head and lore as in the
male ; throat white, marked with greyish-red ; cheeks and
neck very light reddish, with numerous broAvn streaks, which
become broader, and form small transverse brown and white
bars on the sides of the breast ; the latter and the belly
marbled with white and very pale reddish ; the abdominal
part white ; the lower tail-coverts reddish-white, with light
brown bars. Length sixteen inches two or three lines."

Habits. — This Godwit arrives in small flocks on the
eastern coasts of the northern and middle divisions of Scot-
land early in September. Considerable numbers may fre-
quently be seen in the Bay of Cromarty, and in the estuaries
of the Ythan, South Esk, and Tay. To the north of Aber-
deen they appear to remain but a fewT weeks. I have also
seen them in the beginning of September on the shores of
the Firth of Forth, when they frequent more especially the
muddy parts at the mouths of streams. At the estuary of
the Esk at Musselburgh, it is not uncommon in September
and October, generally keeping in small flocks of from six to
ten or twelve, most of the individuals being young birds.

EAR-TAILED GODTVIT. 2G5

For some time after its arrival it is not shy, but when
feeding allows a near approach. I have known six killed in
one week in September, two of them by a young friend. After
October they become scarcer and more shy ; but individuals
occur until April, when they disappear. Their flight is
moderately rapid, light, somewhat buoyant, and greatly re-
sembles that of the Curlew, and especially the Whimbrel.
They emit a loud shrill whistle, and on rising utter a lower
modulated sound, somewhat like that of the bird just men-
tioned. Walking for the most part sedately, but sometimes
running, they tap and probe the mud and sands in search of
worms and other small animals, frequently mingling with
Sandpipers and Ring-Plovers, along with which they often
repose on the sands and neighbouring pastures at high
water.

It has been alleged that the bill of the Limosae is not
recurved when the bird is alive, but bends presently after it
is killed. One day in September, 1840, observing a bird of
this species on the edge of the tide at high water, I walked
slowly toward it until exactly eleven paces distant, when,
after some hesitation, it flew away, but not until I very dis-
tinctly saw that the bill was recurved. All the specimens
examined by me soon after death had it equally bent up-
wards. When it begins to dry, however, it curves con-
siderably more than in the natural state, which is also the
case with the bills of the Tringee, although in the opposite
direction.

As might be expected, it occurs in autumn along the
whole eastern coast of England, and extends to Devonshire
and Cornwall. Whether it migrates also along the western
coasts of Scotland and England cannot well be affirmed,
although Mr. Heysham has recorded the shooting of one
near Bowness in October. From its frequenting the shores
of the continent, and occurring in Germany, Switzerland,
and on the shores of the Caspian Sea, its course of migration
had been considered more to the eastward than that of the
Black-tailed Godwit ; but Mr. Thompson notes it as a regular
autumnal visitant in Ireland, where it occasionally remains
until spring.

2G6 LIMOSA RUFA.

" The number of Godwits varies remarkably in different
years, in some being scarce, in others abundant. The first
that I met with was, when a young shooter, in 1822; in
which year large flocks appeared on the 7th of September,
on the short pasture and the sandy beach at Holy wood
rabbit-warren, Belfast Bay. Their tameness surprised me.
Of all birds that I had ever seen they most freely admitted
the approach of the fowler, who had only to walk directly
towards them, and choose his distance from which to fire, as
they were feeding or reposing on the strand. After a
number were killed from a flock on the ground, the re-
mainder, though taking wing on hearing the report, would
sometimes pitch again among the dead and wounded before
the perpetrator of the deed of blood, having again charged
his gun, could reach the spot to lift them ; when a second
volley would, in addition, lay some of the others low. The
pockets of a shooting-jacket at that time usually sufficed to
hold the few birds that might fall to my gun ; but the
number of Godwits proved too great for them, and, not-
withstanding all that could be done in the way of squeezing
and pressing, the long bills and legs of the poor victims
could not be concealed, but kept dangling outside, thus
serving as an announcement to the shooters in the village,
when I returned homeward, of the easy prey that awaited
them. At a different part of the shore, on the same day,
thirty-one Godwits were killed by two persons shooting in
company ; a number which would probably have been
doubled had one of the guns not missed fire at the best shot
offered during the day. This was at ' the great flock of
from 200 to 300,' which from a distance of four or five
yards, with the gun resting on a ditch-bank, was sought to
be fired at ; the birds were so close together, that less than
thirty could hardly have fallen had the gun been discharged.
This being on a Saturday, the report of the number of these
birds seen had time to spread widely before Monday morning,
when the field — or rather shore — was taken by so many
shooters, that the execution done on the poor Godwits was
very great; about twenty or thirty birds were killed by
single guns. For several davs thev continued in consider-

BAR-TAILED GODWIT. 267

able numbers ; but experience teaching them like other
bipeds, they became gradually less easy of approach. They
were in very good condition, and sold at this time in Belfast
at sixpence a couple. Godwits remained later than usual in
the bay that season, and occasionally fell to my gun until
the 24th of October. At the beginning of September, when
these birds appeared in such numbers in Belfast Bay, they
were very abundant in Larne Lough, the next inlet of the
sea northward — and of a similar oozy nature — on the Antrim
coast,"

The numbers that appear in spring along the east coast
of Britain are much less than those of autumn, and the birds
do not seem to attract much attention at that season. Indi-
viduals are sometimes seen so late as the middle of May, by
which time they have assumed their summer clothing.

It does not appear that this species breeds in any part of
Britain. On their arrival, however, the young are in their
first plumage, which I am enabled to describe from two
recent specimens.

Young. — Bill dull flesh-coloured, with the ridge dusky,
and the terminal half black. Iris dusky ; tibia and tarsus
dull greyish-blue ; toes almost black, as are the claws. The
upper part of the head is blackish-brown, streaked with pale
brownish-grey ; over the eyes a broad band of white minutely
streaked with brown. The sides of the head and the neck
all round, with a portion of the breast and sides of the body,
pale brownish-grey, streaked with dark grey ; the fore-neck,
with low markings, and tinged with cream-colour. The
rest of the lower parts white ; the axillars, some of the
feathers of the sides, and the lower tail-coverts barred or
spotted with blackish-grey. The lower marginal wing-coverts
are white, with a blackish-grey spot ; the larger coverts are
white, variously marked with pale grey. The feathers of
the lower hind-neck, fore part of the back, and scapulars are
blackish-brown, margined with pale greyish-red, the mar-
ginal bands of the large feathers indented. The middle and
hind part of the back white, each feather spotted or broadly
barred with greyish-black ; the upper tail-coverts with four

268 LIMOSA RUFA.

bars. The tail is white, tinged with red toward the end,
each feather with eight dusky bars. The smaller wing-
coverts are blackish-brown, broadly margined with pale
brownish-grey ; the alular feathers and primary coverts
brownish-black, margined with white ; the secondary coverts
blackish-grey, margined with yellowish-white ; the primary
quills greyish-black, with white shafts and margined with
white, the inner web paler, and dotted or marbled with
white ; the secondaries have the outer web darker, a central
white streak, and white margins ; the inner and their coverts
like the scapulars, with indented marginal spots. The fol-
lowing are the dimensions of the two individuals : —

Length 16£ inches; extent of wings 29^; bill along the
ridge 3^; wing from flexure 8j ; tail %\%; tarsus 2-^;
middle toe l-j2^, its claw -^j.

Length 16f ; extent of wings 30 ; bill along the ridge
3-jV ; wing from flexure 9 ; tail 3^ ; tarsus 2-^ ; middle toe
l-j^rr, its claw -^j.

The first of these I found to be a male. Its gizzard
contained a great quantity of small stones, mud, and frag-
ments of shells, but no animal substances. The account of
its digestive organ I have transferred to the article in which
the adult male is described.

269

LIMOSA IEGOCEPHALA. THE BLACK-TAILED
GODWIT.

Scolopax Limosa. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 245. Winter.

Scopolax iEgocephala. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 246. Summer.

Scopolax Lhnosa Lath. Incl. Orn. II. 719. Winter.

Scopolax iEgocephala. Linn. Syst. Nat. II. 719. Summer.

Bed Godwit. Mont. Omith. Diet. Summer.

Jadreka Snipe. Mont. Oru. Diet, and Supplt. Winter.

Barge a queue noire. Limosa melanura. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 664.

Limosa iEgocephala. Black-tailed Godwit. Flem. Brit. Anini. 107.

Black-tailed Godwit. Limosa melanura. Selb. Illustr. II. 94.

Limosa melanura. Black-tailed Godwit. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 203.

Limosa iEgocephala. Bonap. Comp. List. 52.

Tail slightly emarg incite ; bill about three and a half
inches long, straight ; tarsus about two inches and three-
quarters long ; bill orange, dusky at the end; feet broxonish-
black ; claws slender, rather pointed, that of the middle toe
serrated ; tail black, white at the base ; wings tvith a con-
spicuous white band. In winter the tipper parts greyish-
brown, streaked with dusky ; fore part of neck, breast, and
sides, pale grey ; middle of breast, abdomen, base of quills,
secondary coverts, and tail feathers white. In summer the
neck, breast, and sides bright red, dotted and barred with
dusky ; fore part of the back and scapulars black, variegated
with light red. Young tvith the feathers of the upper parts
blackish-brown, margined with light red ; the neck pale red-
dish-grey.

The Black-tailed Godwit is rather inferior in bulk to the
Bar-tailed, but has the bill and legs much longer.

270 LIMOSA .EGOCEPHALA.

Male in Winter. — The body is moderately stout, the
neck long and slender, the head rather small, oblong, com-
pressed, rounded above, narrowed and sloping anteriorly.
The bill is more than twice the length of the head, tapering,
higher than broad at the base, toward the end rather de-
pressed, almost quite straight in its whole length ; both
mandibles flexible, covered with soft skin until near the end,
laterally grooved nearly to the points, which are slightly en-
larged and obtuse. The upper mandible has the ridge con-
vex in its whole length, unless at the tip, where it is flat-
tened ; the lower has the angle long and very narrow ; the
edges of both are soft, blunt, and grooved.

The nostrils are linear, four-twelfths long, basal, in the
fore part of the short bare sinus. The eyes are small, their
aperture measuring three-twelfths across; that of the ear
four-twelfths. The legs are long and very slender ; the
tibia bare for more than a third, and scutellate before and
behind ; the tarsus with thirty-eight scutella. The toes are
of moderate length, slender, marginate, flattened beneath ;
the first very small and elevated, with ten scutella ; the
second with twenty-eight, the third forty, the fourth thirty-
eio-ht ; the inner web extremely small, the outer moderate,
but running out narrowing to the end of both toes. The
claws are rather long, slender, little arched, compressed;
the inner thin edge of that of the third toe with five
serratures.

The feathers of the head and neck are oblong and blended ;
of the body rather compact, ovate, and rounded. The wings,
when closed, reach nearly to the tip of the tail, and are long,
narrow, and pointed, of thirty quills ; the first longest, and
slightly curved, the other primaries rapidly decreasing ; the
secondaries slightly incurved, obliquely rounded ; some of
the inner much elongated and tapering. The tail is short,
almost even, of twelve rounded feathers, of which the lateral
are nearly two-twelfths longer.

The bill is orange-yellow for two-thirds of its length, the
remaining part black. The iris is brown. The feet are
greyish-black, the claws black. The head, and neck all
round, are pale brownish-grey, streaked with greyish-brown ;

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT. 271

the throat, a streak over the eye, breast, sides, abdomen, and
lower tail-coverts white, as are the lower wing-coverts, ex-
cepting those bordering the wing, which have a grey central
patch. The feathers of the fore part of the back, and the
scapulars, are brownish-grey, darker in the middle ; those on
the hind part of the back darker, passing into blackish-
brown ; the upper tail-coverts white, tipped with black ; the
tail black, at the base white, the latter colour occupying
rather more than a third of the middle feathers, and two-
thirds of the outer ; most of the feathers also tipped with
white. The wing-coverts, and inner secondaries, are greyish-
brown, with paler margins ; the quills brownish-black,
slightly tipped with white. A broad band of white extends
across the wing, commencing on the fourth primary, extend-
ing, larger, as far as the inner secondaries, and including the
ends of the secondary coverts.

Length to end of tail 16 inches ; bill along the ridge
4 inches, along the edge of lower mandible 3|4 > wing from
flexure 8f ; tail 3^ ; bare part of tibia I fa ; tarsus 2^- ; hind
toe fa, its claw fa ; second toe 1-^, its claw -fa ; third toe
I fa, its claw fa ; fourth toe 1^, its claw fa.

Female. — The female resembles the male, but is con-
siderably larger.

Length to end of tail 17f inches ; bill along the ridge
4^ ; wing from flexure 9| ; tail 3 fa ; bare part of tibia
1^ ; tarsus 3 fa ; middle toe lfa, its claw -j^-.

Male in Summer. — The upper part of the head is longi-
tudinally streaked with brown and light red, the margins of
the feathers being of the latter colour ; a reddish-white band
from the bill over the eye; the loral band brown ; the cheeks
pale red, the throat white ; neck all round light red, with
minute brown specks; its lower part and the sides of the
body light red, with transverse curved bands of brownish-
black, there being several, generally four, of these bands on
each feather ; the middle of the breast, abdomen, and lower
tail-coverts, white ; the former and latter with some dusky
bands. The feathers of the fore part of the back and the

272 LIMOSA /EGOCEPHALA.

scapulars black, tipped and marginally barred or spotted with
light red ; the wings, tail, and its coverts as in winter.

Female in Summer. — Similar to the male.

Habits. — The Black-tailed Godwit, which is rather in-
aptly named, inasmuch as its tail has as much white as black,
is of much less frequent occurrence in England than the Bar-
tailed, and apparently still rarer in Scotland, although, as
Mr. Selby states that it is not unfrequently seen on the
coasts of Northumberland and other northern districts, it is
very probably not extremely uncommon on the east coast of
the southern and middle divisions of that country. It is
stated in the Statistical Account, to be one of the birds that
frequent the Montrose Basin, and to have been shot at Logie
and Kinnordy in the same county. In Aberdeenshire one
individual, at least, has been shot. The Rev. Mr. Smith,
Monquhithcr, writes me : — " In the end of July, 1826, — an
unusually hot year, by the way — I saw a very fine specimen
of the Black-tailed Godwit shot, as it rose from among the
reeds surrounding the Loch of Strathbeg. Instead of being
preserved, it was cooked, and proved to be excellent eating."
In Mr. Thompson's Natural History of Ireland, it is said to
" frequent the coast in autumn and winter — more especially
at the former season — in very limited numbers." Its habits
have not apparently been subjected to very close scrutiny ; but
it is easy to say, and probable enough, that they resemble those
of the other species. " The food of the Black-tailed Godwit,"
Mr. Selby says, " consists of insects and worms, obtained by
probing the mud and soft sand with its long bill ; and it is
then frequently seen wading tolerably deep in the water,
immersing the head at intervals, and searching the deposit
beneath. This habit accounts for the great development of
that gland, which appears to secrete a fluid for lubricating
and protecting the eyes of such birds as are accustomed to
have the head frequently sub-merged; and it accordingly
exists to the greatest extent in the order Natatores, or true
Water Birds." I apprehend, however, that this cannot be
the use of the gland in question, because its duct passes into

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT. 273

the nasal cavity, so that its secretion has no access to the
eyes. This species is said to nestle sometimes in the fens of
the eastern districts of England, laying four large eggs of a
light olive tint, spotted with brown. On the continent it
makes its appearance at the periods of its autumnal and
vernal migrations, and is especially abundant in Holland.

Young. — According to M. Temminck, the young, pre-
viously to their first moult, have a " band from the
upper mandible to the eye, the throat, base of the tail-
feathers, upper part of the quills, the belly, and abdomen
pure white ; the feathers of the upper part of the head
brown, bordered with light red ; the neck and breast of a
light greyish-red ; the feathers of the back and the scapulars
blackish, surrounded by a light red band ; the wing-coverts
grey, bordered and terminated by a large reddish-white
space ; the tip of the tail-feathers bordered with white ; the
point of the bill brown.

274

MACRORHAMPHUS. LONGBEAK.

The bird named by Gmelin Scolopax grisea and Scolopax
Novseboracensis, the Red-breasted Snipe and Brown Snipe
of English ornithologists, has been referred by many recent
authors to the restricted genus Scolopax, or Snipe, solely on
account of the bill being scrobiculated toward the end,
although this character is not peculiar to the Snipes, but
presents itself, though in a less degree, in the Sandpipers
and several other genera. Its feet, however, resemble those
of Limosa and Totanus, the toes being shorter than in the
Snipes, and the outer two connected at the base by a pretty
large membrane. Its plumage, also, differs from that of the
Snipes, and resembles, in colouring and in its periodical
changes, that of the Godwits ; while its habits are similar to
those of the Tringina? generally. Dr. Leach, taking these
differences into consideration, and viewing the bird as inter-
mediate between the Scolopaces and Limosa?, referred it to a
separate genus, which he named Macroramphus ; and which
may be thus characterized.

Only one species is known. It has the body ovate and
compact ; the neck rather short ; the head rather small,
convex above, and narrowed in front. Bill very long,
straight, subulate, compressed for more than half its length,
then depressed ; both mandibles grooved to near the end,
where it is a little enlarged, and terminating in a narrow
but blunt point. Digestive organs as in the genus Tringa.

Nostrils basal, sub-marginal, linear, pervious. Eyes of
moderate size ; as are the apertures of the ears. Legs of
moderate length, slender ; tibia bare for a third of its length ;
tarsus compressed, scutellate before and behind; hind toe
very small and slender; anterior toes of moderate length,
the outer two connected by a web nearly reaching to the
second joint of the outer, and margining both to the end.

Plumage soft and blended, but firm. Wings long, narrow,
pointed ; the inner secondaries much elongated. Tail rather
short, nearly even.

275

MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS. THE GREY
LONG-REAK.

RED-BREASTED SNIPE. BROWN SNIPE. GREY SNIPE.

Scolopax grisea. Gmel. Syst. Nat. I. 658.

Scolopax grisea. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 724.

Scolopax Novseboracensis. Gmel. Syst. Nat. I. 658.

Scolopax Novseboracensis. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 723.

Brown Snipe. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Becassine Ponetuee. Scolopax grisea. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 679.

Brown Long-beak. Macroramphus griseus. Sclby, Dlustr. vol. II. p. 103.

Scolopax grisea. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 207.

Red-breasted Snipe. Scolopax Noveboracensis. Audub. Ornith. BiogT.

III. 474.
Macroramphus griseus. Bonap. Comp. List, 52.

Bill twice the length of the head; tail nearly even, of
twelve feathers; outer and middle toes connected by a basal
web. In u'inter, the plumage of the upper part of the head
and hind-neck broivnish-grey ; the fore part of the back of the
same colour, spotted with dusky; the rump and tail white,
transversely barred with blackish-brown ; the lower parts
white; the sides and lower tail-coverts barred with dusky.
In summer, the upper parts variegated with brownish-black
and light reddish-yellow ; the lower light yellowish-red, more
or less spotted and barred with dusky.

Male. — The Grey Snipe, which is, properly speaking, a
native of America, ranks in Britain merely as an accidental
straggler. In form and proportions it is not unlike the
Common Snipe and several other species, from which in
these respects it differs, however, in having the middle and
outer toes connected by a basal web extending as far as the

276 MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS.

second joint of the latter, these toes being in other Snipes
free. Such a difference might not of itself be viewed as of
much importance, and its occurrence in other genera has not
been considered as sufficient to render a separation of species
necessary. Thus Charadrius Hiaticula of Europe differs
from Ch. semipalmatus of America chiefly in this very cir-
cumstance ; and yet the persons who separate the Grey
Snipe from the Brown Snipe generically place these Plovers
in the same genus, whatever name they give to it. But the
habits are quite different, and indicate an affinity to the
Tringinse.

This species is somewhat larger than the Common Snipe.
Its body is ovate and compact ; its neck rather short ; its
head rather small, oblong, convex above, and narrowed in
front. The bill is twice the length of the head, straight,
subulate, compressed for more than half its length, depressed
toward the end ; the sides of both mandibles grooved, the
ends of both a little enlarged, and terminating in a narrow
but blunt point. The mouth is very narrow, the gape-line
straight ; the eyes of moderate size, as are the apertures of
the ears ; the nostrils small, linear, basal ; the nasal groove
narrow.

The roof of the mouth is flat, with three longitudinal
series of papillae ; the lower mandible deeply concave ; the
tongue marginate and papillate at the base, slender, tapering
to. a point, two inches and a quarter in length. The oeso-
phagus is three inches and three quarters long, a quarter of
an inch in diameter, without dilatation. The proventriculus
oblong, four-twelfths across, with cylindrical glandules. The
stomach is an oblong gizzard, an inch in length, and eight-
twelfths in breadth ; its lateral muscles strong, the inferior
distinct, the tendons large ; the epithelium dense, tough,
longitudinally rugous, and of a dark red colour. The intes-
tine, Avhich is twenty inches and a half in length, is of con-
siderable width, its diameter being a quarter of an inch at
the upper part. The coeca are an inch and three quarters
long, one-twelfth in diameter at the commencement, two-
tAvelfths toward the end. The digestive organs are thus, in
all respects, similar to those of the other Snipes.

GREY LONG-BEAK. 277

The legs are of moderate length and slender ; the tibia
bare for eight-twelfths ; the tarsus moderate, compressed,
covered with numerous scutella before and behind, with sub-
hexagonal scales on the sides. The hind toe is very small
and slender, with six scutella, and a small compressed claw
about half its length; the middle toe with its claw about
the same length as the tarsus, and connected with the outer
toe, which is very slightly longer than the inner, by a web
nearly reaching to the second joint of the outer toe, and
running along the edges of both to the end. The claws are
small, slightly arched, slender, compressed, acute.

The plumage is soft and blended, but firm. The wings
long, narrow, and pointed; the primaries tapering to an
obtuse point, the first longest, the rest rapidly diminishing ;
the secondaries short, incurvate, obliquely terminated, the
inner web extending beyond the outer ; the inner elongated,
one of them reaching to half-an-inch of the tip of the longest
primary. Tail rather short, nearly even, of twelve rounded
feathers.

The bill is dusky, tinged with green ; the iris brown ;
the feet yellowish-green. The upper part of the head and
the hind-neck are brownish-grey, with a dusky streak on
each feather. The fore part of the back, scapulars, wing-
coverts, and inner secondaries brownish-grey, the centre of
each feather dusky ; the hind part of the back and the tail
white, transversely banded with dark greyish-brown. Alula,
primary coverts, and primary quills blackish-brown ; the
shaft of the first primary and the terminal margins of the
inner five white ; the secondaries and their coverts broAvnish-
grey, margined and tipped with white. Over the eye, from
the bill, is a broad streak of white ; the loral space dusky ;
the cheeks and lower part of the fore-neck grey, streaked
with dusky ; the throat, sides, axillars, and lower tail-coverts
white, with transverse dark grey bands ; the lower wing-
coverts dark grey, with the centre and margins white ; the
middle of the breast and the abdomen white.

Length to end of tail 10£ inches ; extent of wings 18 ;
wing from flexure 5-^-; tail 2|-; bill along the ridge 2^,
along the edge of lower mandible 2^-; tarsus 1^-; first

278 MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS.

toe f\-, its claw -f^; second toe J-f, its claw -^ ; third toe I,
its claw fV ; fourth toe 44-, its claw -fa.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but some-
what larger.

Length to end of tail lOf inches ; wing from flexure 6 ;
tail 2% ; bill 2\ ; tarsus 1 -fe; middle toe and claw 1^-.

Habits. — Of the habits of this species, considered as a
British bird, nothing is known. Montagu first recorded its
occurrence in England, having obtained a male which was
shot in the beginning of October on the coast of Devonshire.
Another specimen has since been killed in the same county ;
a third near Carlisle, in 1835; a fourth at Yarmouth, in
1836; and, together with these, two more are mentioned by
Mr. Yarrell as having been obtained at Norfolk in 1840. I
am not aware of its having been seen in Scotland, aud Mr.
Thompson does not include it among the birds of Ireland.
Greenland and Sweden are said to be inhabited by it, and it
is very abundant in North America. Mr. Audubon, after
stating that he met with it in large flocks at the mouths of
the Mississippi, in April, 1837, and all along to Galveston
Bay, gives the following account of its habits : —

" Although much more abundant along the coast and in
its vicinity, the Red-breasted Snipe is not uncommon in
many parts of the interior, especially in autumn ; and I have
procured many individuals along the muddy margins of
lakes, more than three hundred miles in a direct line from
the sea. Its migratory movements are performed with un-
common celerity, as many are observed along the coast of
New Jersey in April, and afterwards on the borders of the
Arctic Sea, in time to rear young, and return to our eastern
and middle districts before the end of August.

" This bird exhibits at times a manner of feeding which
appeared to me singular, and which I repeatedly witnessed
while at Grande Terre, in Louisiana. While watching their
manner of walking and wading along sand-bars and muddy
fiats, I saw that as long as the water was not deeper than
the length of their bills, they probed the ground beneath

GREY LONG-BEAK. 219

them precisely in the manner of the American Snipe, Sco-
lopax Wilsoni ; but when the water reached their bodies,
they immersed the head and a portion of the neck, and
remained thus sufficiently long to satisfy me that, while in
this position, they probed several spots before raising their
heads to breathe. On such grounds as are yet soft, although
not covered with water, they bore holes as deep as the soil
will admit, and this with surprising rapidity, occupying but
a few moments in one spot, and probing as they advance. I
have watched some dozens at this work for half-an-hour at a
time, when I was completely concealed from their view.
Godwits, which are also borers, probe the mud or moist
earth often in an oblique direction ; whilst the Woodcock,
the Common Snipe, and the present species thrust in their
bills perpendicularly. The latter bird also seizes many
sorts of insects, and at times small fry, as well as the
seeds of plants that have dropped into the water. Dr.
Richardson informs us that ' individuals killed on the
Saskatchewan plains had the crops filled with leeches and
fragments of coleoptera.'

" The flight of this bird is rapid, strong, and remarkably
well-sustained. When rising in large numbers, which they
usually do simultaneously, they crowd together, are apt to
launch upwards in the air for a while, and after performing
several evolutions in contrary directions, glide towards the
ground, and wend their way close to it, until, finding a suit-
able place, they alight in a very compact body, and stand for
a moment. Sometimes, as if alarmed, they recommence their
meandering flight, and after a while return to the same spot,
alighting in the same manner. Then is the time when the
gunner may carry havoc amongst them ; but in two or three
minutes they separate and search for food, when you must
either put them up to have a good shot, or wait the arrival
of another flock at the same place, which often happens, for
these birds seldom suffer any of their species to pass without
sending them a note of invitation. It is not at all uncommon
to shoot twenty or thirty of them at once. I have been
present when 127 were killed by discharging three barrels,
and have heard of many dozens being procured at a shot.

280 MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS.

When wounded and brought to the Avater, they try in vain
to dive ; and on reaching the nearest part of the shore, they
usually run a few steps and squat among the grass, when
it becomes difficult to find them. Those which have
escaped unhurt often remain looking upon their dead
companions, sometimes waiting until shot at a second time.
When they are fat they afford good eating, but their flesh
is at no time so savoury as that of the common American
Snipe.

" The cry of this species when on wing is a single and
rather mellow weet. When on the ground I have heard
them emit a continued guttural rolling sound, such as is on
certain occasions given out by the species just mentioned.
Their call-note resembles the soft and pleasing sound of a
whistle ; but I have never heard them emit it while travelling.
Nothing is known respecting their breeding, and yet there
can be little doubt that many of them must rear young
within the limits of the Union."

Adult in Summer. — The bill, eyes, and feet as in
winter. The upper parts are brownish-black, varied with
light brownish-red, the feathers being margined or spotted,
the scapulars and inner secondaries obliquely barred with
the latter colour. The hind part of the back and the tail
are reddish-white, barred with dusky. The wing-coverts
are greyish-brown, darker in the centre, the larger barred or
spotted with yellowish -red ; the quills as in winter, some of
the secondaries barred with white. A reddish-white band
over the eye, loral space dusky ; lower parts light yellowish-
red, with streaks of dusky on the neck, spots on the breast,
and bars on the sides and lower tail-coverts.

Eemarks. — For opportunities of examining this species
I am indebted to Mr. Audubon, who, besides allowing me
the use of his dried specimens, presented me with some
preserved in spirits.

281

PHALAROPIN^E.

PHALAROPES AND ALLIED SPECIES.

The next two genera have by some ornithologists been
formed into a family, Phalaropida?, and placed in connexion
with the Coots. Their affinities, however, are with the
Tringina? and Totanina?, their general form being similar,
and their digestive organs the same. Their lobed toes and
natatorial habits have given rise to this misapprehension.
In accordance with their habits, they have the tarsi much
compressed and the plumage dense. Whether they ought
to form a separate family or not, their proper place is
between the Tringinae, which one of the genera resembles in
its bill, and the Totatinse, to which the other genus approxi-
mates in the form of that organ. They are small or diminu-
tive birds, remarkable for being often met at a great distance
from land, where they alight among floating sea-weed, and,
it would appear, for their extreme but ill-placed confidence
in man, at least during their residence on fresh-water.

SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. PHALAROPUS.

Bill rather longer than the head, almost straight, slender,
with the ridge flattened, the nasal groove extending to two-
thirds, the breadth considerably enlarged toward the end,
the tip obtuse. Nostrils basal, oblong, with an elevated

282 PHALAROPINjE. PHALAROPES, &e.

margin. Legs short, extremely slender ; tarsus much com-
pressed, anteriorly scutellatc ; first toe diminutive ; anterior
toes of moderate length, connected at the base by webs, and
laterally margined with a lobed membrane Wings long,
pointed ; tail short, rounded.

1. Phalaropus lobatus. Grey Phalarope. In winter, the
back pale blue ; the occiput and a line down the back of the
neck greyish-black ; the lower parts, forehead, and cheeks
white. In summer, the upper parts dark brown, the feathers
edged with yellowish-red ; the lower parts light red.

GEXTJS II. LOBIPES. LOBE-FOOT.

Bill rather longer than the head, straight or very slightly
bent upwards, very slender, depressed, tapering, the ridge
convex, flattened at the base, the nasal groove extending
nearly to the end, the tip slender and pointed. Nostrils
basal, linear. Legs of moderate length, slender ; tarsus
much compressed, thin-edged anteriorly ; first toe diminu-
tive ; anterior toes of moderate length, connected at the base
by webs, of which the outer is longer, and laterally margined
with a lobed and pectinated membrane. Wings long,
pointed ; tail rather short, much rounded.

1. Lobipes hyperboreus. Red-necked Lobe-foot. In winter,
the back greyish-black, streaked with white ; upper part of
the head, a narrow band along the hind-neck, and a band
below the eyes blaekish-grey ; lower parts white. In summer,
the upper parts blackish-grey, the feathers edged with light
red ; of which colour are the sides and fore part of the neck ;
sides grey, with a white band ; the rest of the lower parts
white.

283

PHALAROPUS. PHALAROPE.

The only species of this genus known to me is a small
bird about the size of the Purple Sandpiper, and which at
first sight might be taken for a Tringa, although its feet
differ so much as to refer it to a separate genus. The body
is rather slender ; the neck of moderate length ; the head
small, compressed, with the forehead elevated and rounded.

Bill rather longer than the head, almost straight, slender,
sub-cylindrical ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight,
the ridge flattened, the nasal groove extending to two-thirds,
the breadth considerably enlarged toward the end, the tip
obtuse ; lower mandible with the angle long and extremely
narrow, the sides erect and grooved, the tip rather acute.

Eyes rather small ; nostrils basal, oblong, with an elevated
margin ; aperture of ear roundish, and of moderate size.
Feet short, extremely slender ; tibia bare to a considerable
extent ; tarsus short, much compressed, anteriorly scutellate,
posteriorly thin-edged ; the first toe diminutive ; the anterior
toes of moderate length, the second slightly shorter than the
fourth, which is not much exceeded by the third ; the three
connected at the base by webs, and laterally margined with
a lobed membrane. Claws very small, arched, compressed,
rather sharp.

Plumage full, soft, blended ; the feathers oblong, and
much curved. Wings long, pointed, the first and second
quills longest ; secondaries fifteen, rather short, incurved,
the inner very long and tapering. Tail short or of moderate
length, rounded, of twelve feathers.

The dense plumage, impervious to water, and the ex-
panded margins of the toes, indicate an affinity to the
aquatic birds. Phalaropus may, in fact, be said to be a
Tringa adapted for swimming. Another genus of small
birds, having their toes similarly webbed and lobed, seems
to approach more to the Totaninse than the Tringinse, they
being of a more slender form, with the bill much attenuated.

284

PHALAROPUS LOBATUS. THE GREY
PHALAROPE.

11ED PHALAROPE. GREY PIIALAROPE. COOT-FOOT.

Tringa lobata. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 249. "Winter.

Phalaropus lobatus. Lath. Ind. Orn II. 776. Winter.

Tringa fulicaria. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 249. Summer.

Phalaropus glacialis. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 776.

Grey Phalarope. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Phalarope platyrinque. Phalaropus platyrinchus. Temm. Man. d'Orn.

II. 712.
Phalaropus lobatus. Grey Phalarope. Flem. Brit. Anim. 100.
Grey Phalarope. Phalaropus lobatus. Selb. Illustr. II. 162.
Phalaropus lobatus. Grey Phalarope. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 215.
Phalaropus fulicarius. Bonap. Comp. List, 54.

In winter the hack pale blue; the occiput and a line down
the hack of the neck greyish-black ; the forehead, sides of the
head, neck, and lower parts white. In summer the upper
parts dark brown; the feathers edged with yellowish-red; the
lower parts light red.

This beautiful bird is so seldom met with that recent
specimens cannot be procured by the ornithologist, whenever
he wishes to describe it. The only individual that came
unmutilated into my hands was killed in the beginning of
winter, and, being a male, has supplied the following
notice : —

Male in Winter. — About the size of the Purple Sand-
piper, with the body moderately full, the neck rather long,
the head small, compressed, and rounded above. The bill is

GREY PHALAROPE. 283

rather longer than the head, almost straight, being very
slightly recurved, sub-cylindrical, a little larger at the base,
obtuse ; the upper mandible dilated near the end, and having
its tip slightly decimate, while that of the lower is obtusely
pointed ; both mandibles laterally grooved, the upper having
its ridge flattened. The nostrils are basal, lateral, oblong,
small, with a rather prominent margin. The eyes are rather
small, with both eyelids feathered. The feet are rather
short and slender ; the tibia bare below ; the tarsus com-
pressed, having a projecting margin before and another
behind, both scutellate. The hind toe is very small, with a
membranous margin ; the fore toes are joined at the base by
membranes, and margined on each side with rounded lobes,
each of which corresponds to an articulation. The claws are
small, arched, compressed ; that of the second toe is merely
a minute blunt knob.

The plumage is close and blended on the head, neck, and
especially the lower parts. On the back the feathers are
distinct, but weak. The wings are long, narrow, and
pointed, with twenty-five quills ; the second primary longest,
but the first scarcely shorter ; the secondaries are oblique,
excepting the inner, which are very long and pointed. The
tail is small, much rounded, of twelve delicate, acute
feathers.

The bill is black ; the iris dusky ; the feet pale brown,
the lobes of the membranes grey, dark toward the end ; the
claws black. The forehead, sides of the head, neck, and
lower parts are pure white. The occiput and a broad line
down the back of the neck are greyish-black, and there are
some dusky spots beneath the eye. The general colour of
the back is a fine pale purplish-blue; the wing-coverts
blackish, as are the primary quills, and some of the very
elongated and pointed inner secondaries. The shafts of the
quills, and the margins and tips of the secondary coverts,
and the tips of the primary coverts, are white. The middle
tail-feathers are deep brown, margined with white, the lateral
shaded into ash-grey.

Length to end of tail 85- inches ; extent of wings 15f ;
bill along the ridge \%, along the edge of lower mandible 1 j

286 PHALAROPUS LOBATUS.

wing from flexure 5 ; tail 2-fV; tarsus \^ : middle toe 9 and
a half-twelfth, its claw -fj.

Female in Winter. — The female is said to he similar
to the male ; but I have not examined a specimen known
to be such.

Male in Summer. — At this season the bird has a very
different appearance, it having undergone a change of
plumage, and assumed a red colour. As it does not occur
with us in summer, I have taken my description from an
arctic specimen. The bill is yellow, with the point dusky :
the feet greyish-blue. The upper part of the head is black ;
the fore part of the back, the scapulars, and inner secon-
daries black, margined with light red; the wing-coverts
greyish-black, tipped with white ; the quills greyish-black.
The basal part of the outer web of the primaries, and the
tops of the primary and secondary coverts, being white, a
band of that colour is conspicuous on the extended wing.
The upper tail-coverts are partly dusky brown, partly light
red ; the rump white, with dusky streaks ; the tail deep
grey, dusky toward the end. The forehead is dusky ash-
grey ; the sides of the head white ; the fore-neck, breast,
abdomen, and loAver tail-coverts light red.

Length to end of tail 8 ; wing from flexure 5 ; tail
2_a_ • tin along the ridge ^4- ; bare part of tibia yV; tarsus
Uf ; third toe if, its claw -fe.

Female in Summer. — The female resembles the male, but
has the lower parts tinged with grey, and of a paler red.

Habits. — The Grey Phalarope has seldom been seen
alive in Britain by any person capable of describing its
habits. Montagu states that he once met with one " swim-
ming in a small pool of water left by the tide on the Sussex
coast. It was continually dipping its bill into the water, as
if feeding on some insects, and so intent as to suffer us to
approach within a few yards. It never attempted to dive,
and when disturbed flew only a small distance, very like the

GREY PHALAROPE. 287

Purre." It is chiefly to the arctic navigators that we are
indebted for our knowledge of the habits of this species,
which in summer extends as far northward as Melville
Peninsula, and is said also to be abundant in the eastern
parts of the north of Europe. Although it searches the
shores of the sea, lakes, and rivers in the manner of Tringas,
it is frequently seen at a great distance from land, walking
on masses of floating sea-weeds, or swimming in the open
ocean. With reference to this part of their economy, M.
Temminck remarks : — " I do not see how birds having man-
ners and forms so dissimilar could be associated with the
Tringee and Totani." In these respects, hoAvever, it is
obvious they are precisely analogous to the Dippers, which,
although very closely allied to the Thrushes, are essentially
aquatic. The terrestrial Corncrake and the aquatic Water-
hen afford a similar example of affinity. Mr. Audubon, who
met with the Grey Phalarope on the Ohio in the end of
antumn, states that a large flock, of which he was in pursuit,
" swam beautifully, played about, picked up substances
floating on the water, now dispersed, and again came close
together, until at length coming opposite to a small sand-bar
stretching out from the shore to the distance of a few yards,
they directed their course towards it, and waded out. When
just landing, they were so close to each other that I could
not Avithstand the temptation, and so levelled my gun, pulled
both triggers, and saw that I had made considerable havoc
among them. Those which had not been hitten flew off in a
compact body, while the birds that had been but slightly
wounded made for the water, and swam away so fast that
they seemed to be running on the surface." " Their flight
was rapid, resembling that of the Red-backed Sandpiper,
Tringa alpina ; and they performed vaiious evolutions, some-
times skimming over the water, when they kept more apart
than either when rising at first or when they reached a
certain height ; on attaining which they pursued their course
with alternate inclinations to either side. According to
Captain J. C. Ross, these birds breed in great numbers far
north. The eggs, of which he has favoured me with some,
measure an inch and a quarter by seven-eighths ; their

288 PHALAROPUS LOBATUS.

ground colour is dull greenish-yellow, irregularly blotched
and dotted with reddish-brown." Specimens from Parry's
second expedition, brought by Mr. Fisher, are an inch and
two-eighths long, seven-eighths in breadth, oil-green, clouded
over the large half with umber-brown, spotted with the
same in the smaller ; they are broadish oval, approaching to
pyriform, with the broad end hemispherical, the other rather
abruptly rounded.

289

LOBIPES. LOBEFOOT.

It appears that only three species of this genus are
known. One of these I have not seen. From the other
two, which I have carefully examined, I derive the following
generic characters. They are small birds, of slender form,
with the body somewhat elongated ; the neck rather long
and slender ; the head small, compressed, with the forehead
elevated and rounded.

Bill rather longer than the head, straight or very slightly
bent upwards, very slender, depressed, tapering ; upper man-
dible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge convex, flattened
at the base, the nasal groove extending nearly to the end,
the tip slender and pointed ; lower mandible with the angle
long and extremely narrow, the sides sloping outwards and
grooved for three-fourths, the tip acute. Mouth extremely
narrow ; tongue long, emarginate and papillate at the base,
presently contracted, extremely slender, horny, trigonal,
grooved above, tapering to a fine point ; oesophagus narrow,
nearly uniform ; proventriculus oblong ; stomach elliptical,
with strong lateral muscles, large tendons, and dense, longi-
tudinally rugous epithelium ; intestine of moderate length
and width ; coeca of moderate length, cylindrical, contracted
at the base.

Eyes small ; nostrils basal, linear ; aperture of car
roundish, and of moderate size. Feet of moderate length,
slender ; tibia bare to a considerable extent ; tarsus mode-
rate, much compressed, thin-edged anteriorly ; the first tpe
diminutive ; the anterior toes of moderate length, the second
slightly shorter than the fourth, which is not much exceeded
by the third ; the three connected at the base by webs, of
which the outer is longer, and laterallv margined with a

290 LOBITES. LOBEFOOT.

lobed and pectinated membrane. Claws very small, curved,
compressed, pointed.

Plumage full, soft, blended ; the feathers oblong and
much curved. Wings long, pointed, the first quill longest ;
secondaries fifteen, rather short, incurved, the inner very
long and tapering. Tail rather short, much rounded, of
twelve feathers.

Lobipes differs from Phalaropus chiefly in having the bill
more slender, depressed, and tapering to a point, instead of
becoming enlarged toward the end. There is, however, little
difference in their habits. These birds resemble the Tringse
and Totani in their modes of walking and flying, as well as
in their food, which consists of insects, Crustacea, and mol-
lusca ; but they are often seen swimming in lakes, and even
in the open sea, sometimes many leagues from land. They
have not, however, the faculty of diving ; in which respect
they differ from the Coots and Grebes, with which some
have associated them, merely on account of their scalloped
toes. They moult twice in the year, their summer plumage
being more variegated and more brightly coloured than that
of winter ; and are said to breed in marshy places and on
the edges of lakes, laying four pyriform spotted eggs.

Independently of other considerations, the structure of
the digestive organs is sufficient to point out the affinities of
these birds.

Fig. 22.

291

LOBIPES HYPERBOREUS. THE RED-NECKED
LOBEFOOT.

RED PHALAROPE. BROWN PHALAROPE. HYPERBOREAN PIIALAROPE.

r-

i <<fy*$

Fig. 23.

Tringa hyperborea. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 249.

Phalaropus hyperboreus. Latb. Ind. Orn. II. 775.

Pbalaropus fuscus. Latb. Ind. Orn. II. 776. Young.

Eed Pbalarope. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Phalarope hyperbore. Phalaropus hyperboreus. Temra. Man. d'Orn. II. 70i».

Red Lobefoot. Lobipes hyperborea. Selb. Illustr. II. 16G.

Lobipes hyperboreus. Bonap. Corup. List. 54.

In winter the forehead, cheeks, fore-neck, and all the lower
parts tvhite; the upper part of the head, a band below the
eyes, and a narrow band along the hind-neck blackish-grey ;
upper parts of the body greyish-black, streaked with white;
wings with a white band. In summer the upper parts blackish-
grey; the feathers of the back and the scapulars edged ivith
light red; of which colour are the sides and fore part of the
neck; throat, breast, and abdomen white; sides grey; wings
with a white band. Young with the upper parts blackish-
brown, the feathers bordered with liglit red; quills and wing-
coverts brownish-black, edged and tipped with white; forehead,
throat, fore-neck, breast, and abdomen white; sides of neck
tinged with reddish- yellow.

292 LOBIPES HYPERBOREUS.

Tins species having come under my observation only
once in winter, I shall first describe its appearance in
summer. It is inferior in size to the Dunlin, but nearly of
the same form, though rather more slender. Being much
more numerous with us than the Grey Phalarope, I have
had opportunities of examining many specimens.

Male in Summer. — Body rather slender; neck rather
long ; head small, and much rounded above. Bill a little
longer than the head, very slender, depressed, tapering ; the
ridge convex, but flattened at the base ; the grooves on both
mandibles extending to more than three-fourths ; the tips
attenuated, the upper slightly deflected. The mouth is very
narrow, having a breadth of only two-twelfths and a half;
the tongue ten-twelfths long, extremely slender, horny,
channelled above, tapering to a point. The legs are of
moderate length ; the tarsus compressed, thin-edged ante-
riorly, with about twenty scutella. The hind toe is ex-
tremely small, a little elevated, with a small inferior mem-
branous lobe ; the anterior toes slender, webbed at the base,
and having their margins expanded into crenate lobes ; on
the second toe are two internal and one external lobe ; on
the third two internal and two external ; on the fourth one
internal and four external. The clawrs are extremely small,
much curved, compressed, and pointed.

The plumage is very soft and blended; the feathers of
the back, and especially the scapulars, elongated. The
wings are long and pointed ; the first quill longest, the
second scarcely shorter, the other primaries rapidly gradu-
ated ; the inner secondaries tapering and elongated, one of
them being nearly as long as the outer primary when the
wing is closed. The tail is rather short, and much rounded.
The bill is black ; the iris dusky ; the feet dark bluish -
grey ; the claws black. The upper part and sides of the
head, with the hind-neck, blackish-grey ; the rest of the
upper parts greyish-black ; the sides and fore part of the neck
light red ; some of the feathers of the back and the scapulars
broadly margined with yellowish-red. The wing-coverts and
quills are greyish-black ; the tips of the larger small coverts

RED-NECKED LOBEFOOT. 293

and of the outer secondary coverts, the margins of the inner,
and the shafts of the qnills white. The tail-feathers grey,
margined with white, the four middle blackish-grey; the
lateral upper tail-coverts broadly barred with white and
blackish-grey. The throat and lower part of the cheeks
white ; of which colour also is part of the upper eyelid ; the
lower part of the neck in front and the sides of the body
dark grey ; the rest of the lower parts white ; the marginal
wing-coverts dusky grey, with broad white margins.

Length to end of tail 7 inches ; extent of wings 14; bill
along the ridge -^4, along the edge of lower mandible 1 ;
wing from flexure 4^- ; tail 2^ ; tarsus ^4 ; first toe -fj, its
claw a half-twelfth ; second toe -j^, its claw -jV ; third toe ^-,
its claw -fj ; fourth toe ^, its claw 11?.

Female in Summer. — The female resembles the male,
but has the dark parts more grey, the red lighter and less
extended, the fore -neck with more grey intermixed with thc-
red, the grey on the sides of greater extent. The digestive
organs of an individual which I examined for Mr. Audubon
were as follows : — The palate straight, with two longitudinal
ridges, and three anterior series of papillae. The tongue ten-
and-a-half-twelfths long, emarginate and papillate at the
base, presently contracted, extremely slender, channelled
above, tapering to a point. The oesophagus three inches and
a half long, two-twelfths in width ; the proventriculus four-
twelfths in breadth. The stomach roundish or broadly ellip-
tical, oblique, eight-twelfths long, seven-twelfths in breadth,
with the lateral muscles large and distinct, the lower promi-
nent and thick; the epithelium of moderate thickness, dense,
with numerous longitudinal ruga?. The intestine eleven
inches and a quarter in length, three-twelfths in breadth,
diminishing to a twelfth and a half; the cceca ten-twelfths
long, one-twelfth in width, but at the base only a quarter of
a twelfth ; the rectum an inch and a quarter long, the cloaca
five-twelfths in width. The digestive organs are thus ex-
actly similar to those of the Tringpe and Totani.

Length to end of tail 7f inches ; extent of wings 14£ ;
bill along the ridge \^ ; wing from flexure 4^- ; tail 2^ ;

294 LOBIPES HYPERBOREUS.

bare part of tibia -f^ ; tarsus |4 ; first toe -^, its claw -jL ;
second toe -fe, its claw T'T ; third toe -f$, its claw -^ ; fourth
toe -^j, its claw -f^.

Adult in Winter. — At this season I have seen only one
individual, of which the sex was not determined. The bill
black ; the feet dark bluish-grey. The forehead, cheeks,
sides and fore part of the neck, breast, abdomen, and lower
tail-coverts white ; the sides streaked with grey ; the upper
part of the head, a band below the eyes, and a band down
the hind-neck blackish-grey; the back greyish-black, the
larger feathers and scapulars margined with white; the
wings and tail as in summer.

Habits. — The Red-necked Lobefoot has long been known
as an inhabitant of the Orkney Islands. Pennant makes
mention of a specimen shot on the island of Stronsay, in
May, 1769. Mr. Simmonds, in the Transactions of the
Linnaean Society, refers to six females and two males, ob-
tained, in 1803, in Sanda and North Ronaldsha. Mr. Bullock,
in a letter to Montagu, says : — " I found the Red Phalarope
common in the marshes of Sanda andWestra in the breeding
season, but which it leaves in the autumn. This bird is so
extremely tame that I killed nine without moving out of the
same spot, being not in the least alarmed at the report of a
gun. It lays four eggs of the shape of that of a Snipe, but
much less ; of an olive colour, blotched with dusky. It
swims with the greatest ease, and when on the water looks
like a beautiful miniature of a Duck, carrying its head close
to the back, in the manner of a Teal." Mr. Salmon, in the
Magazine of Natural History, gives the following account of
it, as observed by him in Orkney in 1831 : — " This beautiful
little bird appeared to be very tame ; although we shot two
pairs, those that were swimming about did not take the least
notice of the report of the gun ; and they seemed to be much
attached to each other, for when one of them flew to a short
distance, the other directly followed ; and while I held a
female that was wounded in my hand, its mate came and
fluttered before my face. "We were much gratified in watching

RED-NECKED LOBEFOOT. 295

the motions of these elegant little creatures, as they kept
swimming about, and were for ever dipping their bills into
the water ; and so intent were they upon their occupation,
that they did not take the least notice of us, although within
a few yards of them. The female has not that brilliant bay
colour upon the sides of the neck and breast, so conspicuous
in the male. After some little difficulty, we wrere fortunate
in finding their nests, which. were placed in small tufts of
grass growing close to the edge of the loch ; they wrere
formed of dried grass, and were about the size of that of a
Titlark, but much deeper. The eggs are considerably smaller
than those of the Dunlin, and beautifully spotted all over with
brown. They had but just commenced laying (June 13), as
we found only from one to two eggs in each nest ; but we
were informed by a boy, whom we engaged in our service,
that they always lay four, and are called by the name of
Half-web." Mr. Dunn, in his Ornithologists' Guide to Orkney
and Shetland, says : — " I have never seen this bird in Shet-
land. I got several in Orkney ; but it is not plentiful. It
arrives in the month of July, and departs on the approach of
winter. It breeds in August, and builds its nest in swampy
situations close to the edge of the wrater ; sometimes on small
green islands in the middle of the lakes. The places where
I procured their eggs, and found the birds most numerous,
are in a small sheet of water three or four miles from the
lighthouse of Sanda, a lake near Nunse Castle, in Westra,
and at Sandwich, near Stromness."

Southwards, it has been obtained in the Firth of Forth
and on the coasts of Northumberland, Yorkshire, and Norfolk.
It probably occurs in the Hebrides, although I never saw it
there. M. Nillson mentions its occurrence in Sweden and
Norway. Mr. "W. Proctor found it in Iceland. Dr. Richard-
son says it breeds on all the arctic coasts of America; and
Mr. Audubon found it at Boston, and from thence to Labrador.
Its southward migrations appear limited, New York and
Italy being mentioned as its extreme stages. According to
Mr. Thompson, it has not been observed in Ireland.

Mr. Audubon found the American birds more wary than
ours have been represented : — " While at Eastport, in Maine,

296 LOBIPES HYPERBOREUS.

my son John shot several out of flocks of sixty or more. At
one time a flock consisting of more than a hundred was seen
in the Bay of Fundy. They were exceedingly shy ; and the
gunuers of Eastport, who knew them under the name of
Sea Geese, spoke of them as very curious birds.

" They procure their food principally upon the water, on
which they alight like Ducks, float as light as Gulls, and
move about in search of food with much nimbleness. The
sight of a bank of floating sea- weeds or garbage of any kind,
induces them at once to alight upon it, when they walk
about as unconcernedly as if on land. Their notes, which
resemble the syllables tweet, tweet, tweet, are sharp and clear;
and in their flight they resemble our common American
Snipe. At the approach of an enemy they immediately close
their ranks, until they almost touch each other, when great
havoc is made among them ; but if not immediately shot at,
they rise all at once and fly swiftly off, emitting their shrill
cries, and remove to a great distance. These Phalaropes
congregate in this manner for the purpose of moving north-
wards to their breeding grounds ; although some remain and
breed as far south as Mount Desert Island. I have met with
them in equally large flocks at a distance of more than a
hundred miles from the shores. They were feeding on great
beds of floating sea-weeds, and in several instances some Red
Phalaropes were seen in their company.

" Whilst in Labrador I observed that the Hyberborean
Phalarope occurred only in small parties of a few pairs, and
that instead of keeping at sea or on the salt-water bays,
they were always in the immediate vicinity of small fresh-
water lakes or ponds, near which they bred. The nest was
a hollow scooped out among the herbage, and covered with a
few bits of dried grass and moss. The eggs are always four ;
they measure at an average an inch and three-sixteenths in
length, seven-eighths in their greatest diameter ; are rather
pointed at the smaller end, and are more uniform in their
size and markings than those of most water birds. The
ground colour is a deep dull buff, and is irregularly marked
with large and small blotches of dark reddish-brown, which
are larger and more abundant at the crown. The birds

EED-NECKED LOBEFOOT, 297

shewed great anxiety for the safety of their eggs, limping
before us, or running with extended wings, and emitting a
feeble melancholy note as if about to expire. When we
approached them they resumed all their natural alacrity,
piped in their usual manner, flew ofF, and alighted on the
water. Captain Emery and myself followed some nearly an
hour, assisted by a pointer dog-, in the hope of tiring them
out ; but they seemed to laugh at our efforts, and when
Dash was quite close to them, they would suddenly fly off in
another direction, and with great swiftness, always leading
us farther from their nests. The young leave the nest
shortly after they are hatched, and run after their parents
over the moss, and along the edges of the small ponds ;
but I saw none on the water that were not fully fledged.
Both young and old had departed by the beginning of
August.

" I have never procured this species in any part of the
interior, although I have procured the Red Phalarope and
Wilson's Phalarope in many parts to the west of the
Alleghany Mountains, at a distance of more than a thousand
miles from the sea-coast."

Young. — The young, when its plumage is completed,
differs in several respects from the adult, although coloured
in the same manner. The upper part of the head, loral
spaces, a band under the eyes, and the hind-neck are dark
brown, streaked with dull light yellowish-brown ; on the
forehead some of the feathers are nearly white, and the
upper eyelid is of that colour. On each side of the neck
behind is a broad longitudinal band of light red, streaked
Avith dusky. The upper parts of the body are greyish-
black; the feathers of the fore part of the back and the
scapulars margined with pale yellowish-red ; the wings as in
the adult, but with the white band narrower ; the tail dull
ash-grey, with the two middle feathers darker. The throat
and lower part of the cheeks are white ; the fore-neck, with
a portion of the breast and the sides, dark grey, the feathers
margined with white, the rest of the lower parts white.
The bill is black ; the feet greenish-grey, part of the webs

298 LOBIPES HYPERBOREUS.

yellow. The differences in the young merely amount to
this : — The tints are lighter ; the red on the neck is reduced
to a band of pale reddish-yellow, streaked with dusky ; the
light red margins of the dorsal feathers and scapulars are
paler ; and the head and hind-neck, instead of being uniform,
are streaked and paler. This description is from a specimen
obtained in Shetland.

2dd

TOTANIN^E.

TATLERS AND ALLIED SPECIES.

The Tringinse are so intimately allied to the Totaiiina?,
that most authors consider them as forming one family ; in
which they also place the Snipes, or Scolopacina?. They
certainly differ little in their general appearance, and their
digestive organs are the same. But while the Tringinse
have the body moderately stout, the legs mostly of ordinary
length, and the bill, though long, soft and blunt at the end,
the Totaninse are remarkable for their slender body, very
elongated legs, and extremely slender bill, attenuated at the
end, pointed, and in its terminal half firm, though elastic.
They may be characterized as follows : —

The body ovate, compact, rather slender ; the neck long ;
the head small, compressed, rounded in front. The bill
long, straight, sometimes re-arcuate, or bent a little upwards,
acute. The mouth is extremely narrow; the tongue very
slender, trigonal, tapering, horny toward the end, pointed.
CEsophagus narrow, with an oblong or bulbiform proven tri-
culus ; stomach elliptical or roundish, with the lateral muscles
moderately thick; the epithelium dense and longitudinally
rugous ; intestine long and of moderate width ; cceca of
moderate length and narrow.

Nostrils linear, small, pervious, sub-basal. Eyes rather
small. Aperture of ear rather large. Legs very long,
Aender ; tibia bare to a great extent ; tarsus slender, com-
pressed, anteriorly and posteriorly scutellate ; toes four, the
hind toe very small and elevated ; or three only, slender, of
moderate length, webbed at the base ; claws small, slightly
arched, compressed, rather obtuse.

Plumage very soft and blended ; on the upper parts
rather compact. Wings very long, pointed, with the first

300 TOTANIN^E.

quill longest ; inner secondaries elongated and tapering.
Tail short, rounded, of twelve rather soft feathers.

These birds, which are most strictly littoral and true
waders, frequent the margins of the sea, estuaries, rivers,
and lakes, or marshy grounds. Their food consists of mol-
lusca, insects, Crustacea, and other animals, which they obtain
in the water or on the ground, sometimes also by probing
the mud or soft sand. Gregarious in winter, they then
collect into small bands, and frequent chiefly the estuaries.
They run with great celerity, but not so continuously as the
Tringina?, their mode of searching being more desultory than
theirs ; and are remarkable for vibrating or balancing their
body when standing. Their flight is rapid, light, and rather
buoyant and wavering ; and their cries are loud and shrill,
and under excitement reiterated. Most of the species are
more or less migratory. Their nests are slightly constructed,
or merely a hollow, with some vegetable fibres ; the eggs
four, pyriform, and spotted. The young, covered with down,
are active from the first, but usually conceal themselves by
crouching. Their flesh is equally esteemed with that of the
Trin gime.

Fig. 24,

SYNOPSIS OF TEE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES

GENUS I. RECURVIROSTRA. AVOSET.

Bill more than twice the length of the head, very slender,
depressed, tapering to a point, and slightly recurved ; the

TATLERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. .301

edges of both mandibles thick and grooved. Nostrils basal,
linear. Legs very long, slender; tibia bare for half its
length ; tarsus reticulated ; hind toe extremely small and
elevated ; anterior toes rather short, and connected by very
deeply emarginate webs. Wings long, rather narrow, pointed.
Tail short, nearly even.

1. Recurvirostra Avocetta. Black-and-white Acoset. Bill
black ; feet greyish-blue ; plumage white ; upper part of
head, hind-neck, some of the scapulars, the smaller wing-
coverts, and the primary quills and coverts black.

GENUS II. HIMANTOPUS. STILT-SHANK.

Bill about twice the length of the head, almost straight,
being very slightly recurved, very slender, roundish, tapering ;
the edges of both mandibles sharp and infiexed. Nostrils
sub-basal, linear. Legs extremely long, slender ; tibia bare
for more than half its length ; tarsus compressed, reticulated ;
no hind toe ; toes of moderate length, slender ; the inner
connected with the middle toe by a very slight web, the
outer by a web extending nearly to the second joint. Wings
extremely long, exceeding the tail, acute ; tail short, nearly
even.

1. Himantopus melanopterus. Black-winged Stilts/tank.
Bill black ; feet vermilion ; plumage white, the breast tinged
with rose-colour ; upper part of head and nape greyish -
black ; fore part of back, scapulars, and wings black, glossed
with green ; tail ash-grey.

GENUS III. GLOTTIS. LONG-SHANK.

Bill about half as long again as the head, beyond the
middle slightly inclined upwards, very slender, roundish,
tapering ; the edges of both mandibles infiexed. Nostrils
sub-basal, linear. Legs very long, slender ; tibia bare for
nearly half its length ; tarsus compressed, scutellate before
and behind ; toes four, anterior of moderate length, slightly
webbed at the base. Wings very long, pointed. Tail short,
somewhat rounded.

302 TOTANINJ-;.

1. Glottis Cliloropus. Green-legged Long-shank. Bill
greenish-brown, black toward the end; feet greenish-grey.
In winter, the lower parts white; the fore part of the back,
scapulars, and wing-coverts greyish-brown, the feathers edged
with whitish. In summer, the fore neck and breast white,
with oblong black spots ; the fore part of the back, and the
scapulars black, the feathers margined with whitish.

GENUS IV. TOTANUS. TATLER.

Bill about a third longer than the head, straight, very
slender, the tip of the upper mandible slightly decimate,
narrowed, blunt, a little exceeding the lower ; edge of both
mandibles thick, with a linear groove. Nostrils basal, linear.
Legs long, very slender ; tibia bare to a considerable extent ;
tarsus scutellate before and behind ; toes small, the first
diminutive, anterior with basal webs, of which the outer is
larger. Wings long, pointed. Tail short, rounded.

1. Totanus fuse us. Dusky Redshank Tatler. Bill red
in its basal half, the other brownish -black ; feet orange-red ;
secondary quills black, barred with white.

2. Totanus Calidris. Common Redshank Tatler. Bill
red in its basal half, the other brownish-black ; secondary
quills black at the base, white toward the end.

3. Totanus ochropus. Green Tatler. Bill dusky above,
reddish below ; feet greyish-blue, tinged with brown ; tail
nearly even, white, the four middle feathers with three
blackish-brown bars toward the end, the outermost feather
plain.

4. Totanus Glareola. M'ood Tatler. Bill dusky, greenish
at the base ; feet greenish-grey ; tail doubly emarginate,
white, all the feathers barred to the base with blackish-
brown ; the outermost with the inner web plain.

GENUS V. ACTITIS. WEET-WEET.

Bill not longer than the head, straight, very slender, the
tip of the upper mandible slightly decimate, narrowed,
bluntish, a little exceeding the lower ; edges of both man-

TATLEES AND ALLIED SPECIES. 303

dibles thin and sharp. Nostrils basal, linear. Legs of
moderate length, very slender ; tibia bare to a considerable
extent ; tarsus scutellate before and behind ; toes small ; the
anterior webbed at the base. Wings long, pointed. Tail
short, rounded.

1. Actitis Hypoleucos. White-breasted Weet-weet. Bill
dusky ; feet greenish-grey ; upper parts glossy greenish-
brown, transversely banded and undulated with dark brown ;
lower parts white, excepting the fore part and sides of the
neck, which are greyish, with faint dusky lines.

2. Actitis macular ia. Spotted Weet-weet. Bill dusky at
the point, greenish-brown above, yellow beneath ; upper
parts glossy greenish-brown, transversely banded with dark
brown ; lower parts white, marked all over with roundish
dusky spots.

30i

RECUIlVmOSTRA. AVOSET.

The Avoccts form a genus of birds remarkable for having
their long" and very slender bill considerably curved upwards.
Although in all other respects very similar to the Totani,
their anterior toes are connected by Avebs of large extent.
Their body is compact, ovate, rather slender ; the neck long ;
the head small, ovate, compressed, rounded above.

Bill more than twice the length of the head, very slender,
depressed or broader than high, tapering to the point, slightly
recurved : upper mandible with the dorsal line straight for
half its length, then curved upwards, the ridge flattened, the
nasal groove very narrow and extending to a third, the point
slightly decurved ; lower mandible with the angle long and
very narrow, the dorsal line slightly curved upwards, the
point very slender and curved a little upwards, the edges
of both mandibles thick and grooved. Two longitudinal
series of blunt reversed papilla? on the palate. Tongue
slightly emarginate and papillate at the base, slender, taper-
ing, pointed, flattened above, horny beneath. (Esophagus
narrow, dilated a little about the middle ; proventriculus
with oblong glandules. Stomach an oblong gizzard of mode-
rate strength, with distinct muscles, large tendons, and
dense, longitudinal rugous epithelium. Intestine rather
long and of moderate width ; cceca rather long, cylindrical,
narrow.

Eyes small ; nostrils basal, linear, perforated ; aperture
of ear roundish, rather large. Leg very long, slender ; tibia
bare for half its length, reticulated ; tarsus very long, com-
pressed, reticulated with hexagonal scales ; hind toe ex-
tremely small and elevated ; anterior toes rather short, the
outer a little longer than the second, all scutellatc, and con-

RECURVIROSTItA. AVOSET. 305

nected by webs, which are very deeply emarginate, but run
to the end ; claws very small, almost straight, compressed,
tapering, obtuse.

Plumage very soft and blended ; wings long, rather nar-
row, pointed ; the first quill longest ; the primaries tapering,
rapidly graduated ; the secondaries broad, incurved, the inner
elongated and tapering ; tail short, nearly even, of twelve
rather narrow feathers.

Of the very few species belonging to this genus one
occurs in Europe, and is sometimes met with in England.
They resemble the Totani in their habits, but are more
addicted to wading, and are occasionally seen to swim. The
American species is described by Mr. Audubon as searching
the soft mud with a lateral wriggling motion of the head, in
the manner of the Spoonbill. The eggs are four, pyriform,
and spotted.

By overlooking the structure of these birds, some authors
have entirely misplaced them in their systems. They are
evidently most closely allied to the Himantopi, Totani, and
other genera of that group.

306

EECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA. THE BLACK-AND-
WHITE AVOCET.

8COOPING AVOSET. SCOOPER. CROOKED-BILL. COBLER'S-AWL. YELPER.

Fig. 25.

Recurvirostra Avocetta. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 156.

Recurvirostra Avocetta. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 786.

Scooping Avoset. Mont. Om. Diet.

Avocette a nuque noir. Recurvirostra Avocetta. Temrn. Man. d'Orn. II.

590.
Recurvirostra Avocetta. Scooping Avocet. Flem. Brit. Anim. 101.
Scooping Avocet. Recurvirostra Avocetta. Selb. Illustr. II. 90.
Recurvirostra Avocetta. Scooping Avoset. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 201.
Recurvirostra Avocetta. Bonap. Comp. List. 54.

Upper part of the head and hind neck for half its length
black ; the rest white, excepting some of the scapulars, the
smaller icing -coverts, and the primary quills and coverts,
which are black.

Male. — This beautiful bird, which is easily distinguished
among our waders by its semipalmated feet, is of a slender
form, with the body moderate, the neck long, the head small
and much elevated in front ; the bill is more than twice the
length of the head, very slender, tapering, depressed, recurved

BLACK-AND-WHITE AVOCET. 307

beyond the middle, with the tips very small and curved
toward each other. The nostrils are small and linear ; the
eyes also small, with the eyelids feathered. The tibia is bare
for nearly half its length ; the tarsus slender, compressed
and reticulated. The hind toe is extremely small and
elevated ; the fore toes of moderate length, or rather short,
semipalmated or connected by webs, which extend to their
ends, but have their anterior margin concave, as if cut out
for half their length. The claws are very small, almost
straight, tapering obtuse.

The plumage is very soft and blended on the head and
neck ; rather compact on the back and wings ; the latter long
and pointed, the first quill being longest, and the other pri-
maries rapidly graduated ; the inner secondaries tapering,
and some of them, when the wing is closed, reaching to
within an inch of the outer primary. The tail is short,
nearly even, of twelve rather narrow, rounded feathers.

The bill is black ; the feet greyish-blue, the toes darker,
the claws black. All the upper part of the head, including
the loral space, a small band under the eye, and the hind
neck for half its length, are brownish-black ; the rest of the
neck, all the lower parts, the under wing-coverts, the middle
and hind part of the back, and the tail are white. On
the fore part of the back on each side is an oblique band of
black, including most of the scapulars ; the smaller wing-
coverts are black, the larger white, but the inner with a
blackish-brown ^patch. The primary quills and their coverts
are white at the base, brownish-black in the rest of their
extent ; the secondary quills white, as is the alula.

Length to end of tail 18 inches; bill along the ridge 3^ ;
wing from flexure 9^ ; tail 05- ; bare part of tibia 1-pj ; tarsus
2-L-V ; first toe -fj, its claw -^ ; second toe lyV, its claw -fj ;
third toe 1^, its claw -^5- ; fourth toe 1^, its claw 12J.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but some-
what smaller.

Habits. — Not having seen this bird alive, I can give no
certain account of its habits, which most authors seem to

308 RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA.

have inferred from its structure, rather than actually observed.
Mr. Selby merely repeats, with the necessary amplification,
what Montagu relates ; and Mr. Moody, after informing us
" in what time would the productive power of a single pair
of fishes, if it could act unrestrained, convert the matter of
the whole solar system into fish," gives a very particular
account of its mode of proceeding, but omits the very essen-
tial declaration of his having seen and watched the bird
scooping " alternately left and right, with ease, with effect,
and even with a grace, almost unparelled in the action of
birds." All that seems to be authentic in the accounts given
by authors may be reduced to few words.

The Avocet, which is now of rare occurrence in any part
of the country, still bred in Montagu's time in the fens of
Lincolnshire, and in Romney Marsh, in Kent ; but appears
now to rank in England only as a casual visitant, or winter
resident. Assembling in small flocks, in winter, it frequents
the shores and estuaries of the south-eastern coasts, and
feeds on worms, insects, and mollusca, which it obtains, it is
said, not by patting or probing, but by an alternating lateral
motion of the bill among the soft mud. The use of its webs
seems to be chiefly to support it on the yielding surface, for
it has not been observed to swim. It wades out in the water,
runs with rapidity, vibrates its body when standing, has a
powerful flight, and a long shrill cry. According to M. Tem-
minck, it forms a small cavity among the grass or in the
sand, and lays two, seldom three, eggs, of an olivaceous grey
colour, sprinkled with numerous blackish spots. It is said
to resemble the Totani and other birds of this family, in its
attempt to decoy intruders from its nest or young.

It is met with in Africa, various parts of Asia, and in
Europe as far north as SAveden. In England it is now scarce,
and I have not seen a specimen obtained in Scotland ; but
the Hev. Mr. James Leslie, of Coul, and Dr. Dickie, of Bel-
fast, inform me that " one was shot in the Old Town Links,
Aberdeen, in 1841." Mr. Thomson mentions several speci-
mens met with in Ireland.

Young. — The young, when their plumage is complete,

BLACK-AND-WHITE AYOCET. 309

differ little from the adult, the colours being similarly dis-
tributed, but the black shaded with brown.

Remarks. — In relating the history of Recurvirostra Ameri-
cana, Mr. Audubon, who met with several individuals about a
pond in Indiana, presents, among others, the following state-
ments : — " On alighting,whether on the water or on the ground,
the American Avoset keeps its wings raised until it has fairly
settled. If in the water, it stands a few minutes balancing
its head and neck, somewhat in the manner of the Tell-tale
Godwit. After this it stalks about searching for food, or
runs after it, sometimes swimming for a yard or so while
passing from one shallow to another, or wading up to its
body, with the wings partially raised. Sometimes they would
enter among the rushes, and disappear for several minutes.
* * * They search for food precisely in the manner of the
Roseate Spoonbill, moving their heads to and fro sideways,
while their bill is passing through the soft mud; and in
many instances, when the water was deeper, they would
immerse their whole head and a portion of the neck, as the
Spoonbill and Red-breasted Snipe are wont to do. When,
on the contrary, they pursued aquatic insects, such as swim
on the surface, they ran after them, and on getting up to
them, suddenly seized them by thrusting the lower mandible
beneath them, while the other was raised a good way above
the surface, much in the manner of the Black Shearwater,
which, however, performs this act on wing. They were also
expert in catching flying insects, after which they ran with
partially expanded wings."

310

HIMANTOPUS. STILT-SHANK.

The importance of the hind toe in the Grallatores has
been much over-rated, otherwise the Himantopi, which in
all essential characters are most intimately connected with
the Totani and Recurvirostrse, would never have been placed
in connection with the Plovers, with which they have very
little affinity. A similar error has been committed by M.
Temminck, when, on account of their agreeing in having
scolloped margins to their toes, he places together, to consti-
tute his family of Pinnatipedes, birds so essentially different
in structure as the Coots, Phalaropes, and Grebes, separating
the first from the Gallinules, which differ very little from
them, the last from the Divers, with which they are inti-
mately connected, and the Phalaropes from the Tringse and
Totani, which are their natural allies. Thus it is that arti-
ficial distinctions give rise to unnatural associations.

The Himantopi are of a singularly slender form, with
legs so extremely elongated as to suggest the idea of a bird
walking on stilts. The body, however, is rather compact,
and possessed of considerable muscularity ; but the neck is
very long and slender ; the head small, compressed, and
much rounded above.

Bill about twice the length of the head, almost straight,
being very slightly recurved, very slender, roundish, taper-
ing ; upper mandible with the ridge convex, rather flattened
at the base, the sides convex, the nasal groove extending
half its length, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip very
narrow, rather acute, and slightly decurvate ; lower man-
dible with the angle long and extremely narrow, the sides
grooved nearly as far as the angle, the edges sharp and
inflected, the tip extremely narrow, and just at the end
turned a little upwards. Both mandibles are concave within,

HIMANTOPUS. STILT-SHANK. 311

the groove thus formed being extremely narrow, that of the
lower deeper. Tongue scarcely half the length of the bill,
very slender, tapering, emarginate and papillate at the base,
pointed. (Esophagus narrow : proventriculus oblong. Sto-
mach elliptical, with its lateral muscles moderately thick,
the epithelium dense, and longitudinally rugous. Intestine
of moderate length, narrow ; cceca rather short, very narrow.

Eyes rather small. Nostrils rather long, linear, sub-
basal, pervious. Aperture of ear roundish, rather large. Legs
extremely long and slender ; tibia bare for more than half
its length ; tarsus very slender, compressed, reticulated with
elongated hexagonal scales ; toes of moderate length, slender,
scutellate unless toward the base ; no hind toe ; the outer a
little longer than the inner, and connected with the third by
a web extending nearly to the second joint, and forming
narrow margins to the two toes ; the inner with a very
slight web. Claws small, slightly arched, compressed, obtuse.

Plumage of the head, neck, and lower parts very soft and
blended ; of the back and wings compact. Wings extremely
long, exceeding the tail, narrow, acute, of twenty-eight
quills ; the primaries tapering, the first longest, the rest
rapidly graduated ; the secondaries rather narrow, incurved,
some of the inner tapering and elongated. Tail short, nearly
even, of twelve feathers.

These birds entirely resemble the Totani in their habits,
fly with rapidity, are remarkably vociferous, walk and run
with celerity, vibrate their body when standing, search the
mud and sands for worms, insects, Crustacea, and mollusca,
often wading far into the water. The eggs are four, piri-
form, and spotted. The males are larger than the females,
as in all the Limosinse.

It is stated by Montagu, that " six of this species were
shot out of seven in a flock, in the month of April, at the
verge of a lake not very far distant from Farnham, in
Surrey. One of them was preserved by the late Rev. Mr.
White, of Selborne," and was seen by Montagu with Mr.
WThite, of Fleet Street. It was " wholly white, except the
wings and back as far as the rump, which were black."

312

HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTERUS. THE BLACK-
WINGED STILT-SHANK.

STILT. LONGSHANK. LONG-LEGGED PLOVEK. LONG-LEGS.

Fig. 26.

Charadrius Himantopus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 25-5.
Charadrius Himantopus. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 741.
Long-legged Plover. Charadrius Himantopus. Mont. Omith. Diet, and

Supplt.
Echasse a manteau noir. Himantopus melanopterus. Temm. Man.

d'Ornith. II. 528 ; III. 350.
Himantopus Plinii. Long-legs. Flem. Brit. Anim. 112.
Black-winged Stilt. Himantopus melanopterus. Selb. Illustr. II. 247.
Himantopus melanopterus. Black- winged Long-shanks. Jen. Brit. Vert.

An. 201.
Himantopus melanopterus. Bonap. Comp. List, 54.

In summer the bill black; the feet vermilion; forehead,
cheeks, neck, lower parts and sides of the body, with the
greater part of the back, ivhite; the breast tinged ivith rose-
colour; upper part of head and nape greyish-black ; fore
part of back, scapulars and wings black, glossed with green ;
tail ash-grey.

BLACK-WINGED STILT-SHANK. 313

Male. — This bird, of which the limbs are so dispropor-
tionably elongated and attenuated, and the whole form so
slender, that one might suppose it liable to be blown over
or swept away by a moderate blast of wind, exhibits the
distinctive characters of the Limosinse in their highest
development. Yet Mr. Selby places it between the genera
Charadrius and (Edicnemus, to neither of which has it any
other resemblance than that caused by the want of a hind
toe. Its ovate, rather slender body is elevated upon ex-
tremely elongated, slender, compressed, stilt-like legs, of
which the skin is very thin and reticulated ; the tibia bare
for three inches, or more than half its length ; the toes pro-
portionally short and very slender, with the outer web rather
large, the inner scarcely apparent; the claws small and
rather blunt. The bill is twice the length of the head, very
slender, and slightly recurved. The head much rounded
above, compressed, and small; the neck long and slender.
The nostrils are linear, four-and-a-half-twelfths long; the
aperture of the eyes also four-and-a-half-twelfths in diameter.
In all other respects the generic character will afford a correct
idea of the proportions.

The plumage is very soft and blended on the head and
neck; somewhat blended on the lower, rather compact on
the upper parts of the body. The wings exceed the tail by
two inches ; the primaries are very narrow and tapering, the
first longest, the second half-an-inch shorter, the rest rapidly
decreasing; the longest inner secondary two inches and a
half shorter than the longest primary. The tail, which is
short, and of twelve narrow feathers, is somewhat emargi-
nate, but with the middle feathers projecting a little.

The bill is black ; the iris crimson ; the feet vermilion ;
the claws black ; the forehead, cheeks, throat, neck all round,
lower parts of the body, middle and hind part of the back,
are white, the breast slightly tinged with rose-colour. The
upper part of the head and the nape are greyish-black ; the
fore part of the back, the scapulars, and inner secondaries
with their coverts brownish-black glossed with green ; the
wing glossy greenish-black ; the lower wing coverts deep
black, the lower surface of the quills greyish-black ; the tail

314 HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTERUS.

is dark grey, as are some of its upper coverts, the outer tail
feathers nearly white.

Length to end of tail 14 inches ; bill along the ridge
2-jV, along the edge of lower mandible 2^ ; wing from
flexure 9| ; tail 3-j% ; bare part of tibia 3^ ; tarsus 4-1^ ;
second toe 1, its claw -fa; third toe 1-^-, its claw -fe ', fourth
toe l-j1^-, its claw -f^.

Female. — The female resembles the male, but is some-
what smaller, and with the black of the back less glossy.

Variations. — The principal variations which I have seen
are confined to the tints of the back and scapulars, which
are more or less tinged with brown, and to the extent of the
dark colour on the nape, which also varies from greyish-
black to dark grey. Two specimens which I have received
from India, along with Totanus glottis, Totanus stagnatilis,
Tringa subarquata, and other birds, all in their winter
plumage, seem to me to be also winter birds. It does not
appear that authors have been aware of any seasonal change
of plumage in this species ; but analogy might lead us to
believe that the Himantopi resemble the Totani in this re-
spect. This is certainly not the young bird in its first
plumage, as none of the dark feathers are in the slightest
degree margined.

Adult in Winter. — Bill and feet as in the summer.
Forehead, a band over the eyes, fore part of neck, breast,
sides, abdomen, lower tail coverts, and the greater part of
the back, white. Upper part of the head, nape, and a line
below the eye, with the ear coverts, ash-grey; the whole
hind part of the neck pale grey, its sides tinged with the
same. The tail feathers and upper coverts pale ash-grey.
The fore part of the back, the scapulars, and the inner
elongated secondaries, with their coverts brown, the latter
glossed with greenish ; the rest of the wing black strongly
glossed with green ; the lower wing coverts brownish-black.

Habits. — All that I can learn of this species is merely

BLACK-WINGED STILT-SHANK. 315

such as might be expected from ornithologists who seem to
consider the habits of birds as of little importance. It is
said to be plentiful in many parts of Asia, and the south-
eastern portions of Europe, whence it migrates into Germany,
France, and Italy. It feeds on worms and insects ; and,
according to M. Temminck, nestles on a small eminence
formed in the marshes, laying four eggs of the size and form
of those of the Avocet, dull greenish, marked with numerous
grey spots, and dotted with middle-sized and very small spots
of a reddish-brown.

Young. — According to the same author, the young have
the feet of an orange colour, the feathers of the back and
wings brown, with whitish margins ; those of the upper part
of the head, occiput, and nape blackish-grey, with whitish
borders.

316

GLOTTIS. LONGSHANK.

The birds of this genus are intimately allied to the
Himantopi on the one hand, and the Totani on the other.
Their bill is extremely similar to that of the former birds,
and may therefore be described precisely in the same terms.
If one could take a Stiltshank, shorten its wings consider-
ably, and diminish the length of its preposterous-looking legs,
leaving them still long enough to exceed those of the Totani,
and add a very small hind toe, he would have a Longshank.
The genus is not very definite, in one direction at least, for
some birds, without showing more caprice than some orni-
thologists, might claim a place in it to-day, and in Totanus
to-morrow, just as some philosophers have one year indig-
nantly scouted the idea of separating them, and the next
year have put them down as distinct, without troubling their
readers with reasons. The Longshanks may be known by
the following characters : —

Their body is ovate and rather slender, their neck long
and slender, their head small, oblong, compressed , with the
upper part much rounded.

Bill about half as long again as the head, very slender,
compressed towards the end, roundish, tapering, beyond the
middle slightly inclined upwards ; upper mandible with the
ridge convex, as are the sides beyond the middle, the nasal
groove extending nearly half its length, the edges inflected
with a narrow groove, the tip narrowed, slightly decurved,
and somewhat obtuse ; lower mandible with the angle long
and extremely narrow, the sides grooved nearly as far as the
angle, the dorsal line slightly ascending, the edges inflected,
with a narrow groove, the tip narrow, rather obtuse, and very
slightly directed upwards, Tongue about half the length of
the bill, very slender, tapering, emarginate and papillate at

GLOTTIS. LONGSHANK. 31 7

the base, horny toward the end, pointed. Both mandibles
concave within, the groove formed by the lower extremely
narrow. Mouth very narrow ; oesophagus narrow ; proven-
triculus oblong. Stomach elliptical, with its lateral muscles
moderately thick, the epithelium dense and longitudinally
rugous. Intestine rather long and of moderate width ; coeca
of moderate length and narrow.

Eyes rather small. Nostrils rather long, linear, sub-
basal, pervious. Aperture of ear roundish, rather large.
Legs very long and slender ; tibia bare for nearly half its
length ; tarsus very slender, compressed, anteriorly and pos-
teriorly scutellate ; hind toe very small and elevated ; ante-
rior toes of moderate length, slightly webbed at the base,
the inner a little shorter than the outer. Claws small,
slightly arched, compressed, obtuse.

Plumage of the head, neck, and lower parts very soft
and blended ; of the back and wings rather compact. Wings
very long, pointed, with twenty-five quills ; the primaries
tapering, the first longest, the rest rapidly graduated ; the
secondaries incurved, some of the inner tapering and elon-
gated. Tail short, a little rounded, of twelve feathers.

These birds are of moderate size or small. They frequent
the shores of the sea, lakes, marshes, and rivers ; feed upon
worms, insects, Crustacea, and mollusca, along with which
they swallow sand or gravel ; run with great celerity, vibrate
their body when standing, especially if alarmed ; emit a loud
shrill reiterated cry ; and have a rapid, though light and
rather buoyant flight. Their nest is a slight hollow among
sand or herbage ; their eggs four, very large, pyriform, and
spotted. The young, at first covered with longish down,
presently run about, and conceal themselves by squatting.
Some species of the genus are found in all parts of the globe.
In Britain only one occurs. The most characteristic, from
which I have derived the above characters, are Glottis chlo-
ropus, Glottis melanoleuca, Glottis semipalmatus, and Glottis
stagnatilis.

It is ludicrous to see the tenacity with which people
adhere to the vernacular, while they are perpetually changing
the scientific nomenclature, as if the one were sacred, and

318 GLOTTIS. LONGSHANK.

the other to be dealt with according to caprice. If at one
time there is a genus named Scolopax in Latin and Snipe in
English, and at another time the species of that genus be
formed into several genera, as Scolopax, Totanus, Limosa,
these new genera surely ought not to be called Snipe, Snipe,
Snipe. If at one time some species of the genus Tringa are
called Sandpipers, while some of another genus, Totanus,
are also called Sandpipers, being considered to be Tringas,
surely when Totanus and Tringa come to be well denned,
the species of the one should have a different English name
from those of the other. It is an established rule that every
genus must have a name. I say every genus must have in
every country two names, a Latin name and a vernacular
name. Is it possible to adduce a reason to the contrary :'
Well, then, Totanus of old used to be called in English
Greenshank, Redshank, Yellowshank, Sandpiper, Plover,
Tatler, Willet, Weet-weet, Snipe, &c. But my Totanus I
call simply Tatler ; my Glottis, Longshank ; and my Actitis,
Weet-weet. Let who will name them to his mind.

319

GLOTTIS CHLOROPUS. THE GREEN-LEGGED
LONGSHANK, OR GREENSHANK.

GREEN-LEGGED HORSEMAN. GREATER PLOVER. GREENSHANK SNIPE.

Fig. 27.

Scopolax Glottis. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 245.

Scopolax Glottis. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 720.

Greenshank. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Chevalier Aboyeur. Totanus Glottis. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 659.

Totanus Glottis. Greenshank. Flem. Brit. Anim. 104.

Greenshank. Totanus Glottis. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 86.

Totanus Glottis. Greenshank. Jen. Brit. Vert. An; 200.

Glottis Chloropus. Bonap. Comp. List. 51.

Adult in Whiter with the bill greenish-brown at the base,
black toward the end, the feet greenish-grey ; the head, hind
part and sides of the neck, greyish-white, streaked with
brown ; the fore part of the back, scapulars and wing coverts
greyish-brown, the feathers edged with whitish; the hind part
of the back, the fore part of the face, and all the lower parts
white, but with faint grey markings on the fore part of the
sides, and on the lower wing coverts ; tail white, barred with
greyish-brown. Adult in summer with the fore neck and
breast marked with oblong black spots ; the fore part of the
back and the scapulars black, the feathers margined with
whitish .

320 GLOTTIS CHLOROPUS.

Male. — The Greenshank, which is the only species of
the genus Glottis that occurs in Britain, is of a very slender
form, having the body rather elongated, the neck long, the
head small, oblong, narrowed before, and much rounded in
front. The bill is half as long again as the head, very
slender, compressed toward the end, straight until beyond
the middle, when it inclines slightly upwards. The nasal
groove and that of the lower mandible extend nearly to the
middle ; the upper mandible has the ridge rather flattened
at the base, but with the sides convex beyond the groove,
the edges inflected, with a narrow groove, the tip narrowed,
and slightly decurved; the lower mandible with the angle
long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line slightly ascending,
the edges inflected, with a narrow groove, the tip narrow.

Internally both mandibles present a narrow and deep
groove, their sides being thick. The tongue is narrow,
grooved above, sagittate and papillate at the base, horny
toward the end, thin-edged, and pointed ; its length an inch
and a quarter. The mouth is very narrow ; the oesophagus
six inches and a half long, of the nearly uniform width of four-
twelfths ; the proventriculus oblong, with cylindrical glan-
dules. The stomach is elliptical, an inch long, ten-twelfths
in breadth, compressed, with the lateral muscles very large,
the epithelium dense and rugous. The intestine is three
feet two inches long, and varies from four-and-a-half-twelfths
to two-and-a-half-twelfths in width ; the coeca are cylin-
drical, two inches and a half in length, and two-twelfths in
width.

The eyes are rather small, their aperture measuring two-
twelfths and a half! The nostrils are linear, direct, per-
vious, two-twelfths and a half long. The aperture of the
ear is elliptical, three twelfths and a half in its greatest
diameter. The feet are very long and slender; the tibia
bare for an inch and a quarter, with thirteen anterior scu-
tella ; the tarsus compressed, with thirty scutella ; the hind
toe very small and elevated, with six scutella ; the anterior
toes are very slightly webbed at the base, flattened beneath,
marginate ; the inner, which is slightly shorter than the
outer, with twenty-four, the middle toe with thirty-five,

GKEEN-LEGGED LONGSHANK. 321

the outer with thirty-two scutella. The claws are small,
slightly arched, compressed, laterally grooved at the base,
with the tip rather blunt.

The plumage is blended, very soft, and on the upper
parts a little glossed ; the feathers oblong, narrow, and
rounded ; those on the fore part of the head short. The
Avings are very long and pointed, with twenty-five quills ;
the primaries tapering, the first longest ; the secondaries
short, incurvate and rounded, except the inner, which taper,
and of which one is scarcely an inch shorter than the longest
primary when the wing is closed. The tail is short, and a
little rounded.

The bill is greenish-brown at the base, black toward the
end ; the iris brown ; the feet greenish-grey. The anterior
part of the forehead, the space before the eye, the throat,
fore part of the neck, all the lower parts of the body, and
the middle and hind part of t-he back white. Part of the
loral space is marked with small oblong brownish-grey spots.
The sides of the neck below and a small part of the breast
are faintly barred with grey, and the lower wing-coverts
have a central mark of dusky. The feathers of the upper
part of the head, and of the hind part and sides of the neck,
have a longitudinal dusky streak in the middle, with broad
greyish-white margins. The scapulars and inner secondary
quills are greyish-brown, margined with greyish-white, and
spotted with dusky toward the edges ; the smaller wing-
coverts brownish-grey, the larger darker toward the margin,
and edged with whitish, as are the outer secondaries ; the
primaries and their coverts dusky brownish-grey, the outer
quill with its shaft white. The tail is white, transversely
undulated with greyish-brown, the outer four feathers on
each side with only a series of spots on the outer edge, and
the outermost with merely narrow longitudinal streaks on
the outer web ; the middle feathers grey toward the end.

Length to end of tail 14^ inches; extent of wings 28;
bill along the ridge 2-^, along the edge of lower mandible
2-fe ; wing from flexure 7£ ; tail o-^ ; bare part of tibia 1^ ;
tarsus 2^j ; first toe -fj, its claw -^ ; second toe \±, its claw
-2^ ; third toe 1^, its claw -fj ; fourth toe -fj, its claw 1^-.

x

322 GLOTTIS CHLOROPUS.

Female. — The female is slightly smaller, but does not
differ from the male in colour.

Habits. — The Greenshank is generally dispersed in
England and some of the southern parts of Scotland during
the winter, when it is seen in small flocks here and there
along the sea-shore, by the margins of rivers, and in marshy
places ; but it is nowhere common, and in most districts of
very rare occurrence. By the beginning of summer it has
disappeared from its winter haunts, and advanced north-
wards, individuals or pairs remaining here and there in the
more northern parts of Scotland, while the rest extend their
migration.

In the Outer Hebrides it is seen early in summer, and
generally departs in October, although I have seen indi-
viduals there in November. Previous to the commencement
of the breeding season, and after the young are fledged, it
resorts to the shores of the sea, frequenting pools of brackish
water at the head of the sandfords, and the shallow margins
of bays and creeks. Its habits are very similar to those of
the Redshank, with which it associates in autumn. It is
extremely shy and vigilant, insomuch that one can very
seldom shoot it, unless after it has deposited its eggs.
Many individuals remain during the summer, when they are
to be found by the lakes in the interior, of which the number
in Uist, Harris, and Lewis is astonishing. At that season
it is very easily discovered, for when one is perhaps more
than a quarter of a mile distant, it rises into the air with
clamorous cries, alarming all the birds in its neighbourhood,
flies round the place of its nest, now Avhecling off to a
distance, again advancing, and at intervals alighting by the
edge of the lake, when it continues its cries, vibrating its
body all the while.

I once found a nest of this bird in the island of Harris.
It was at a considerable distance from a small lake, and
consisted of a few fragments of heath and some blades of
grass, placed in a shallow cavity scraped in the turf, in an
exposed place, — that is, on a slight eminence, — covered
chiefly with moss, lichens, and some carices and short heath.

GREEN-LEGGED LONGSHAXK. 323

The nest, in fact, resembled those of the Golden Plover,,
Lapwing, and Curlew. The eggs, placed with their narrow
ends together, were four in number, pyriform, larger than
these of the Lapwing, and smaller than those of the Golden
Plover, equally pointed with the latter, but proportionately
broader and more rounded at the larger end than those of
either. The dimensions of one of them, still in my collection,
are two inches exactly, by one inch and three-eighths. The
ground colour is a very pale yellowish-green, sprinkled all
over with irregular spots of dark brown, intermixed with
blotches of light purplish-grey, the spots, and especially the
blotches, more numerous on the larger end. Although in
summer these birds may be seen in many parts of these
islands, they are yet very rare, a pair being to be met with
only at an interval of several miles.

These observations made many years ago, I communi-
cated to a foreign ornithologist, by whom they were pub-
lished in 1835. In the following spring Mr. Selby, in his
List of Birds Inhabiting the County of Sutherland, gave the
following statement : — " The Grcenshank, whose nest had
never before been found in Britain, we detected breeding in
various parts of the country, generally in some swampy-
marsh, or by the margin of some of its numerous lochs. It
is very wild and wary, except when it has tender young, at
which time, when first disturbed, it sometimes approaches
pretty near, making a rapid stoop, like the Redshank, at the
head of the intruder. If fired at and missed, which is fre-
quently the case, even by a good marksman, as the stoop is
made with remarkable rapidity, it seldom, at least for that
day, ventures again within range. A pair which had their
nest in a marsh near Tongue, after being once fired at, could
not again be approached ; but we obtained one of the young,
apparently about a fortnight old, by means of a water-dog.
Another pair were shot near Scourie, by the margin of a
small loch, where, from their violent outcries and alarm, they
evidently had their nest or young, though we were unable to
find either."

In ordinary circumstances, the Greenshank searches the
shores, in muddy places, for food, often walking out into the

324 GLOTTIS CHLOROPUS.

water until it reaches nearly to the tarsal joint. It generally
advances with rapidity, running rather than walking, and
almost continually vibrating its body. On being disturbed
it stands with upraised neck, emits a succession of loud and
shrill cries, and, though there should be little danger, flies
off to a distance. Its flight is rapid, gliding, and devious,
and it alights abruptly, runs to some distance, stands and
vibrates. Its food no doubt consists of worms and small
shells ; but I have neglected to take note of the contents of
the stomach of the few individuals which I have examined.

It appears from the accounts of authors, to be very ex-
tensively dispersed. Skins of it are very common in collec-
tions from India and its islands ; and it has been found on
the coast of the United States of North America.

Young. — Young birds have the feathers of the fore part
of the back, the scapulars, and the larger secondary coverts,
margined with brownish-black spots with the edge white,
the upper tail coverts and tail barred with brown, the lower
wing coverts and axillar feathers greyish-Avhite, marked with
grey in bands parallel to the margin ; the other parts nearly
as in the adult in winter.

325

TOTANUS. TATLER.

The Tatlers are very nearly allied to the Longshanks and
Weetweets, betAveen which they may be considered as in most
respects intermediate. Their general habits and food are
similar, although they present some peculiarities, and several
of the species are so similar to the latter birds, that they might
be placed in either genus. Their body is ovate and rather
slender, their neck slender and longish, their head small,
oblong, and compressed, with the forehead considerably
rounded.

Bill about a third longer than the head, straight, very
slender, soft and flexible at the base, hard and elastic at the
end. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the
ridge convex, the sides grooved to beyond the middle, after-
wards convex, the edges thick with a linear groove, the tip
slightly decimate, narrowed, blunt, and a little exceeding the
other ; lower mandible with the angle long and extremely
narrow, the sides grooved to the middle, afterwards convex,
the dorsal outline straight or slightly concave, the edges thick
Avith a linear groove, the tip narrowed and a little obtuse.
The gape-line straight. Throat Arery narrow.

Both mandibles internally Avith a A*ery narrow and deep
grooAre ; palate Avith a double row of papilla?. Posterior aper-
ture of the nares linear, margined Avith papilla?. Tongue
linear, emarginate at the base Avith three lateral papilla?,
channelled above, acute. (Esophagus narrow, and without
dilatation ; proventriculus AArith oblong glandules ; gizzard
rather large, oblong, Avith very poAverful distinct muscles, its
inner coat rugous. Intestine long ; coeca of moderate length,
cylindrical.

Nostrils small, linear, pervious, basal, close to the margin.
Eyes rather small ; both eyelids closely feathered. Aperture
of ear rather small, roundish. Feet long, very slender ; tibia

326 TOTANUS. TATLER.

bare to a considerable extent ; tarsus with numerous broad
scutella anteriorly, blunt and scutellate behind ; toes small ;
the anterior flattened beneath and marginate ; first very small
and elevated ; lateral toes about equal, connected with the
third by a basal web, of which the outer is larger. Claws
small, compressed, slightly curved, obtuse.

Plumage moderately full, very soft, rather blended, and
glossy above. Wings long and pointed ; quills about twenty-
five ; primaries tapering, obtuse, the first longest ; secon-
daries short, incurved, but the inner elongated, one of them
not much shorter than the third primary when the wing is
closed. Tail short, straight, rounded, of twelve narrow,
rounded feathers.

The Tatlers are birds of small or moderate size. Their
long, slender legs, and rather short flattened and marginate
toes, correspond with their habit of running on the mud or
sand of the shores of the sea, of lakes, or of streams. Their
long, slender bill, elastic and hardened towards the end,
enables them to pick up small or minute objects from the
surface, as well as from beneath it. Their food consists of
insects, larvoe, worms, mollusca, and Crustacea, along with
which they swallow sand and gravel. All the species are
remarkable for the vibratory or balancing motion of their
body, which is especially observable when they are alarmed,
or utter their cries, which are loud, shrill, and generally
reiterated. They are mostly of solitary habits, and are ex-
tremely shy, and in danger clamorous. Their flight is rapid,
somewhat undulated, and as if vacillating. They moult
twice in the year, but generally undergo little alteration of
colour. Their nest is a slight hollow, generally among sand,
gravel, or stone, sometimes among the herbage ; their eggs
four, very large, pyriform, spotted. The young, at first
covered with longish down, run about from the first, and
conceal themselves by squatting, the old birds exhibiting
much anxiety for their safety, as expressed by their hurried
desultory flight and clamorous cries. Some species of the
genus are found in all parts of the globe. Four are reckoned
inhabitants of this country ; but of these only one is common
or generally distributed.

TOTANUS. TATLER. 327

Formerly, when the genera Tringa and Totanus were
united, the species composing them were designated in
English by the generic name Sandpiper. That name being
with propriety assigned to Tringa, it becomes necessary to
apply another to Totanus ; and I can find none more appli-
cable than that of Tatler, employed by Mr. Nuttall. It is
true that term is applicable, in a greater or less degree, to
other genera; but so is Sandpiper, as well as almost any
other expressive of any circumstance relative to their form
or habits.

3123

TOTANUS FUSCUS. THE DUSKY REDSHANK
TATLER.

SPOTTED SNIPE. SPOTTED REDSHANK. RED-LEGGED GODWIT. CAMBRIDGE
GODWIT. DUSKY SANDPIPER. DUSKY SNIPE. DUSKY REDSHANK.

Scolopax fusca. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 243.

Scolopax fusca. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 724. Summer.

Tringa atra. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 738. Summer.

Scolopax Cantabrigiensis. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 721. Winter.

Scolopax Curonica. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 724. "Winter.

Scolopax Totanus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 721. Young.

Cambridge Godwit. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Spotted Snipe. Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Supplt.

Chevalier Arlequin. Totanus fuscus. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. II. 639.

Totanus fuscus. Flem. Brit. Anim. 102.

Dusky Sandpiper. Totanus fuscus. Selby, Illustr. II. 69.

Totanus fuscus. Dusky Sandpiper. Jen. Brit. Yert. Anim. 196.

Totanus fuscus. Bonap. Conrp. List, 51.

Adult with the basal half of the bill red, the other half
brownish-black ; the feet orange-red ; the secondary quills
black, barred with white. In winter the upper part of the
head and hind-neck brownish-grey ; the fore part of the back
greyish-brown, streaked with dusky, its hind part white/ the
fail and its coverts barred with white and dusky ; the cheeks
and fore-neck greyish-white, faintly streaked with grey; the
rest of the lower parts white. In summer the head, neck, and
lower parts greyish-black, the feathers slightly edged with
whitish; those of the fore part of the back and the wing-
coverts blackish-brown, marginally spotted with black and
white ; the other parts as in winter. Young xcith the base of
the upper mandible dusky ; the feet orange; the upper parts
blackish-brown, the feathers edged with triangular white
spots; the hind part of the back white, streaked with dusky.

DUSKY REDSHANK TATLER. 329

Male. — This species, which is of rare occurrence in
Britain, may be compared to the Grey Plover as to size,
although of a more slender form, having the body compact,
the neck rather elongated, the head oblong, compressed,
rounded above, and rather small. The bill is long, ex-
ceeding the head by about two-thirds, very slender, tapering,
compressed, and straight, or having a very slight inclina-
tion upwards. The upper mandible has the dorsal line
straight, the ridge convex, a little flattened at the base,
the nasal groove extending a little beyond the middle,
the sides then convex, the end enlarged in a very slight
degree, the tip narrowed, obtuse, and a little declinate.
The lower mandible with the intercrural space and lateral
grooves extending as far as the nasal grooves of the
upper, the dorsal line straight, the tip narrow and rather
acute.

The nostrils are small, two-twelfths in length, linear,
basal. The eyes are also small, their aperture measuring
nearly three-twelfths. The legs are long and very slender ;
the tibia bare for nearly an inch; the tarsus compressed,
Avith about thirty anterior and a greater number of posterior
scutella. The hind toe is very small and elevated, with six
scutella ; the anterior toes rather short, distintly marginate,
flattened beneath, with two basal webs, of which the outer
is larger; the second toe with twenty scutella, the third
thirty, the fourth twenty-eight. The claws are small, com-
pressed, laterally grooved, slightly curved, acute.

The plumage is very soft, blended, on the back and
wings compact and glossy ; the feathers oblong, narrow,
and rounded. The wings are long, pointed, with twenty-
five quills ; the primaries tapering, the first longest, the
second a little shorter, the rest rapidly decreasing; the
secondaries incurvate and rounded, the inner elongated and
tapering. The tail short, and doubly emarginate.

The bill is brownish-black, with the basal half of the
lower mandible yellowish-red, and that of the upper similar,
but of a darker tint. The irides are brown. The feet
yellowish-red; the claws black. The upper part of the
head, the hind part and sides of the neck are dull light

.330 • TOTANUS FUSCUS.

brownish -grey ; the fore part of the back and the scapulars
glossy greyish-brown : as are the inner secondaries and the
wing-coverts, which are margined with alternate spots of
dark brown and white. The rest of the back is pure white ;
the tail and its upper coverts white, barred with greyish-
black, the two middle feathers tinged with brown. The
outer primaries are blackish-brown, paler on the inner web ;
the shaft of the first white ; the inner five primaries white
toward the end, barred with dusky ; the secondaries barred
with dusky and white, forming one of the best distinctive
characters of the species ; these quills being in Totanus fuscus
dusky for half their length, and then white; the inner
secondaries like the back. A white streak from the bill to
the eye ; a dusky loral band. The cheeks and fore part of
the neck are greyish-white, with faint grey markings ; the
rest of the lower parts white.

Length to end of tail \2 inches ; extent of wings 23 ;
wing from flexure 6f ; tail 3; bill along the ridge 2^,
along the edge of lower mandible 2-^; bare part of tibia 1 ;
tarsus 2^; hind toe -fa, its claw -f^; second toe -fi, its
claw -fc; third toe l-fe, its claw -fa; fourth toe 1-J^, its
claw 12j.

Female in Winter. — The female differs only in being a
little larger.

Length to end of tail 12^ inches ; extent of wings 24 ;
bill 2\ ; tarsus 2^ ; middle toe 1-^, its claw -fa.

Male in Summer. — Although in winter this species so
closely resembles the next as to be with difficulty distin-
guishable, the case is very different in summer, when the
plumage of the head, neck, fore part of the back, and all the
lower parts assume a uniform greyish-black tint ; the scapu-
lars and wing-coverts brownish-black, margined with black
and white spots ; the quills, tail-feathers, tail-coverts, and
hind part of the back as in winter. The feathers of the
breast and abdomen are very narrowly edged with greyish-
white, and the lower tail-coverts barred with white. The
bill and feet are coloured as in winter.

DUSKY REDSHANK TATLER. 331

Female in Summer. — The female differs from the male
only in size.

Habits. — Not having met with this bird alive, nor even
having examined a recently killed and entire specimen, the
above descriptions being- taken from skins, and the works of
Temminck, Selby, Montagu, and Gould, I am unable to
present an original account of its manners and distribution.
It is said, or rather supposed, to breed in the arctic regions,
and to appear on the coasts of Europe in the course of its
migrations. M. Temminck asserts that the species is abso-
lutely the same in North America; but neither it nor the
next species is admitted into the Fauna of that continent by
those who have submitted its winged inhabitants to the
most careful examination. It is also reported by him to
occur in Bengal. In Europe it has been traced from Scan-
dinavia to Denmark, Holland, France, Spain, Switzerland,
and Italy. Its habits, in so far as they are known, are
similar to those of the next species, the places to which it
resorts being the muddy and sandy shores of the seas, rivers,
and lakes or marshes ; and its food consisting of worms,
mollusca, and insects. In Britain, although many indi
viduals have been obtained, it is of rare occurrence. Corn-
wall, Devonshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, North-
umberland, Cumberland, and Anglesey are mentioned as
having afforded specimens. It appears to be more frequent
in autumn than in spring, and in summer to be extremely
rare. Being in its winter plumage so very similar to the
next species, it is very likely to be often confounded
with it.

Young. — When they appear on our coasts in autumn,
the young are as follows : — The basal half of the lower man-
dible is red, that of the upper dusky; the rest of the bill
brownish-black. The feet light orange-red ; the claws
dusky. The upper part of the head and the hind-neck are
light brownish-grey, the feathers edged with greyish-white ;
the fore part of the back blackish-brown; the scapulars,
wing-coverts, and inner secondary quills of a darker tint, all

332 TOTANUS FUSCUS.

the feathers edged with large triangular white spots and
intervening blackish bars. The quills brownish-black, the
secondaries and inner primaries marginally spotted with
white. The hind part of the back white, streaked with
dusky; the tail-coverts and tail-feathers white, the latter
tinged with grey, barred with blackish-grey. The loral
band dusky, the space above it white ; the fore part of the
neck, the breast, and sides greyish-white with faint undu-
lating transverse lines of greyish-brown ; the rest of the
lower parts white ; but the marginal wing-coverts dusky,
and the lower tail-coverts barred with grey.

333

TOTANUS CALIDRIS. THE COMMON REDSHANK
TATLER.

POOL SNIPE. SANDCOCK. REDSHANK. RED-LEGGED SNIPE.

Fig. 28.

Scolopax Calidris. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 245.

Tringa Gambetta. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 248.

Scolopax Calidris. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 722.

Tringa Gambetta. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 728.

Tringa striata. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 733. Young.

Chevalier Gainbette. Totanus Calidris. Temm. Man. d'Ornitb. II G43.

Totanus Calidris. Redshank. Flern. Brit. Anini. 102.

Redshank Sandpiper. Totanus Calidris. Selb. Illustr. II. 72.

Totanus Calidris. Redshank Sandpiper. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anini. 196.

Totanus Calidris. Bonap. Comp. List. 51.

Adult with the basal half of the bill red, the other half
brownish-black y the feet orange-red ; the secondary quills
black at the base, white toward the end. In winter the upper
part of the head and hind-neck brownish-grey; the fore part
of the back greyish-brown, streaked xoith dusky, its hind part
white; the tail a?,d its coverts barred with white and dusky
grey ; the fore part and sides of the neck pale grey, streaked
with dusky, as are the sides ; the rest of the lower parts
white. In summer the cheeks and fore-neck greyish-white ,

334 TOTANUS CALIDRIS.

streaked with dusky ; the rest of the lower parts white, the
sides with angular dusky markings; the upper parts of a
deeper tint than in winter. Young icith the base of the
upper mandible dusky ; the feet orange; the upper parts
brown, the feathers margined with yellowish; the hind part
of the back white, but streaked with dusky.

Male. — This species, usually named the Common Bed-
shank, is about equal in size to the Golden Plover, hut less
robust than that bird, being of a slender and delicate form,
with the neck rather elongated, the head oblong, compressed,
rather small, and rounded above. The bill is long, exceed-
ing the head by about a half, very slender, tapering, com-
pressed, and almost perfectly straight, being very slightly
bent upwards. The upper mandible has the dorsal line
straight, the ridge convex, a little flattened at the base, the
nasal groove extending a little beyond the middle, the sides
then convex, the end enlarged in an almost imperceptible
degree, the tip narrowed, obtuse, a little decimate, and ex-
tending beyond the lower. The intercrural space and lateral
grooves of the lower mandible extend as far as the nasal
grooves of the upper, its dorsal line is straight, and it gradu-
ally narrows to the point, which is rather acute. Internally
both mandibles present a narrow and deep groove, their
sides being thick, and marked with a depressed line. The
tongue is narrow, emarginate and papillate at the base,
grooved above, acute, and an inch in length. The fauces
are very narrow ; the oesophagus five inches and a half long,
with an average width of three-twelfths of an inch ; the pro-
ventriculus seven-twelfths long, its glandules cylindrical.
The stomach is of an irregular elliptical form, compressed,
eleven-twelfths of an inch long, nine-twelfths in breadth ;
its muscles very large, its inner coat rugous. The intestine
is thirty-two inches long, and varies in width from four-
twelfths to two-twelfths and a half. The coeca, which arise
at the distance of two inches from the end, are cylindrical,
two inches and a quarter in length, and two-twelfths in
width.

The nostrils are linear and small, being only two-twelfths

COMMON REDSHANK TATLEH. 335

in length. The eyes are also small, their aperture measuring
two-twelfths and a half. That of the ear is elliptical, and
three-twelfths long. The legs are long and very slender ;
the tibia bare for nearly three-fourths of an inch ; the tarsus
compressed, with thirty anterior, and about forty posterior
scutella. The hind toe is very small and elevated, with six
scutella ; the anterior toes are rather short, distinctly mar-
ginate, flattened beneath, with two basal webs, of which the
outer is larger, but does not extend as far as the second joint
of the outer toe ; the second toe with twenty -four, the third
thirty, the fourth thirty scutella. The claws are small, com-
pressed, laterally grooved, slightly curved, obtuse.

The plumage is very soft, blended, on the back and wings
glossy ; the feathers oblong, narrow, and rounded, those on
the fore part of the head short. The wings are long, pointed,
of twenty-five quills ; the primaries tapering, the first longest,
the second two-twelfths of an inch shorter, the rest rapidly
decreasing ; the secondaries short, incurvate, and rounded,
the inner elongated and tapering, one of them reaching to
about three-fourths of an inch from the tip of the longest
primary, when the wing is closed. The tail is short, and
doubly emarginate, but only in a slight degree.

The bill is brownish-black, with the basal half of the
lower mandible yellowish-red, and that of the upper similar,
but of a duller tint. The irides are brown. The feet
yellowish-red ; the claws black. The upper part of the
head, and the hind part and sides of the neck, are dull light
brownish-grey ; the fore part of the back and the scapulars
are glossy greyish-brown ; as are the inner secondaries and
the wing-coverts, which are for the most part margined
with small dusky spots having the interspaces grey. The
rest of the back is pure white ; the tail and its upper coverts
white, barred with greyish-black, the two middle feathers
tinged with brown. The number of dark bars on the tail is
fifteen. The outer primaries are blackish-brown, paler on
the inner web ; the shaft of the first white ; the inner five
primaries white toward the end, barred and dotted with
dusky ; the secondaries, except the inner, black at the base,
with the rest white, a few of the inner barred or spotted

336 TOTANUS CALIDRIS.

with black ; the inner elongated secondaries, which are
coloured like the back, have also their margins spotted with
dusky. The primary coverts are brownish-black ; the secon-
dary coverts are greyish-brown, white at the end, and barred
with dusky. The sides of the head are light brownish-grey,
streaked with darker grey ; the lore of a deeper tint ; and a
pale band over the eye. The throat is whitish ; but the
sides and fore part of the neck, and the sides of the breast,
are pale grey, each feather with a slender medial streak of a
deeper colour ; the rest of the lower parts white ; but the
feathers of the hind part of the sides and the lower tail-
coverts barred with dusky grey.

Length to end of tail 11^- inches; extent of wings 21;
wing from flexure 6^; tail 2\^ ; bill along the ridge 1^,
along the edge of lower mandible ly^; bare part of tibia \%;
tarsus 1\% ; hind toe ^j, its claw -^ ; second toe if, its claw
-fa > third toe 1 jV? its claw -^ ; fourth toe lj1^, its claw 12J.

Female in Winter. — The female, which is a little
larger than the male, presents no external characters by
which she may be distinguished.

Length to end of tail 12 j inches ; extent of wings 22 ;
bill along the ridge l^j-, along the edge of lower mandible
1-j^ ; wing from flexure 6^ ; tail 3 ; tarsus l^-1 ; first toe -^j,
its claw -j2y; second toe \^, its claw ^j; third toe 1-,^, its
claw -j3^; fourth toe \^, its claw -^.

In another individual the length is 12^ inches; extent
of wings 23; bill along the ridge lyV; wing from flexure
6 j-| ; tail -^ ; bare part of tibia \% ; tarsus 1-j-1 ; middle toe
l-j%, its claw -j3^.

Variations. — Adult individuals vary little in colour,
unless in the degree of distinctness of the dusky markings.
The wing-coverts and scapulars are always more or less
margined with dark spots. Many individuals have the
upper parts of the head and neck quite free of dusky streaks,
and the hind part of the back purely white. Considerable
differences in size are observed.

COMMON REDSHANK TATTER. 337

Changes of Plumage. — In spring a change of plumage
takes place, in consequence of which the birds present the
following appearances : —

Male in Summer. — The bill and feet are coloured as in
winter, but with the red of a somewhat brighter tint. The
head and hind part of the neck are of a darker tint than in
winter, as are the back and wings ; the scapulars, wing-
coverts, and inner secondaries margined with decided
brownish-black spots or bars, alternating with white. The
sides of the head and neck are greyish-white, with dusky
streaks, as is the fore part of the neck; on the sides the
markings are angular, or in the form of bars ; the middle of
the breast and the abdomen pure white ; the other parts
nearly as in winter. The principal difference, then, in
summer is, that the lower parts are white or less shaded
with grey, and marked with decided dusky streaks, spots,
and angular bars.

Female in Summer. — The female shows no remarkable
difference in colour.

Habits. — In the northern parts of Scotland this species
is not very frequently met with in winter, unless in particu-
lar localities ; but in the southern, especially along the firths
and inlets, and on the coasts of England, it is not uncommon,
although seldom anywhere very abundant. From the middle
of autumn to the end of spring, it is to be found in suitable
places along the shores, seldom in flocks, indeed rarely in
greater numbers than two or three together. They may,
however, occasionally congregate in particularly favourable
situations. Thus, a writer in the Naturalist says they are
very numerous in Dublin Bay, where so many as two
hundred may sometimes be seen in a flock. But it is perhaps
not quite certain that the birds were of this species, as they
exhibited a kind of action which I have not observed in it.
These Irish Redshanks, it is said, " dart their bills into the
sand nearly its whole length, by jumping up, and thus giving
it a sort of impetus by the weight of their bodies pressing it

Y

338 TOTANUS CALIDRIS.

downwards." Muddy shores at the mouths of rivers, shallow
pools left hy the tide, and the sands in rocky creeks, are its
favourite places of resort. Its food consists of insects, worms,
small Crustacea, and mollusca, which it picks from the sur-
face, frequently wading for that purpose up to the ancles. It
also prohes the mud and soft sand in the manner of the Dun-
lin. Much more vigilant and suspicious than the Sandpipers
and Plovers, it does not allow a person to approach within
shot, but, on his advancing, first exhibits its alarm by run-
ning about, pivoting its body incessantly, and uttering its
shrill cries, and then flies off, repeating its screams in a series
of sharp notes, and alarming all the birds in the neighbour-
hood. Its flight is light, rapid, wavering, and as if unde-
cided, and being performed by quick jerks of the wings,
bears some resemblance to that of a pigeon. Alighting
again at a great distance, along the edge of the water, it runs
a short way, stands, vibrates its body, utters its cry, and thus
continues until its alarm has subsided. It runs with great
celerity, and is in every way remarkable for its activity,
which becomes almost ludicrous when it is picking up its
food on a beach washed by a high surf, its movements being
then executed with astonishing rapidity, as it follows the
retiring and retreats before the advancing waves.

In summer it is found near the heads of the unfrequented
creeks, among fens or salt-marshes, and not unfrequently
by pools and lakes, not far from the sea, but often also in
the interior. At this season should a person come within a
quarter of a mile of its habitation, it is sure to greet him
with its clamorous cries, and to advance towards him on
wing, wheeling round, gliding to either side, and exhibit-
ing its alarm lest he should discover its nest or young. I
have found it breeding in the Hebrides, but not in great
numbers. Mr. Selby met with it in summer on the marshy
margin of Loch Doulich, near Lairg, and at the head of Loch
Naver, in Sutherlandshire. Here and there it may be seen
in the middle and southern districts of Scotland, especially
in the former, in many tracts of which it is common. In the
marshes of the eastern parts of England it also frequently
breeds, according to the statements of various observers.

COMMON REDSHANK TATLER. 339

The nest, which is placed on a tuft in marshy ground, or on
a dry spot in a meadow, is composed of a few blades of grass
carelessly arranged in a slight hollow. The eggs, four in
number, are pyriform, an inch and seven-twelfths in length,
an inch and two-twelfths in breadth, pale greenish-grey,
spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and blackish-brown.
The young, which I have never met with, are said to have
the back of the neck without feathers, like that of the Bit-
tern, and usually to keep the head sunk back between the
shoulders.

The flesh of this bird is not inferior as an article of food
to that of the Godwits and Sandpipers. It is not unfre-
quently seen in the markets.

In the eastern parts of the middle divisions of Scotland,
it is by no means a very rare bird at any season of the year.
In summer it is found among fens or salt-marshes about the
mouths of some of the rivers ; the Ythan, for example, above
Newburgh, where great numbers breed. It is also to be seen
by lakes and about marshes in the interior, as at the upper
end of the Loch of Skene, and even in the midst of the
central mountains, as by Loch Muic and Loch Callader.
It leaves the interior in the end of July or the beginning of
August, and returns in the beginning of April. On the 23d
of that month, in 1849, I observed very large flocks at the
upper end of the Montrose Basin, where they were feeding
along with Knots and Dunlins. On the 26th I saw more
than forty individuals, mostly in pairs, dispersed along the
shingly and flat sea coast extending from John's Haven to
Gurdon, in Kincardineshire. In such places, it is scarcely
possible to obtain a shot, for, although they often fly up to
an intruder, and sweep around, reiterating their shrill cries,
they keep at a safe distance.

Mr. Burnett informs me that they arrive in his neigh-
bourhood, on the river Don, during the last week of March,
coming in small parties or singly, and resting on the shingly
margins till they become numerous, when, after three weeks
or a month, they disperse, and resort to low marshy spots.
" In such places and on soft moors they are very numerous,
and reside together with the Common Snipe. The Bed-

340 TOTAXUS CALIDRIS.

shank has a rapid short whistle, and also repeats a clicking
note. It is very shy, though in the breeding season it flies
in wide circles round one's head. I have seen it perch on a
paling rail. The nests, I think, must be covered up, other-
wise I cannot understand how they are so seldom found.
For all my searching last season, I could find but one —
April 22nd. It was on a strip of mud between two pools,
and formed of fragments of equiseta, with but little of hollow
visible. There Avere only three eggs ; but they had not
been sat upon, and probably one would have been added.
The Redshanks feed much upon caddis-cases, and discharge
the straws in pellets, commonly found in their haunts."

In Ireland, according to Mr. Thompson, it " is common
around the coast ; but a small proportion only of those seen
during the autumn and winter breed in the island." This is
probably the case in Scotland also. In some parts of Ireland,
the Redshanks usually breed, as is stated by the same emi-
nent naturalist, on the shingly beaches of sea islands. I
have not heard of its doing so with us ; but circumstances
induce so many changes in the habits of some birds, that
there is nothing surprising in the fact. Mr. St. John says : —
" The Redshank does not breed on the stones or bare ground,
but in some spot of rough grass ; their motions are very
curious at this time of the year, as they run along with great
swiftness, clapping their wings together audibly above their
heads, and flying about, round and round any intruder with
rapid jerks, or hovering in the air like a hawk, all the time
\ittering a loud and peculiar whistle. They lead their young
to the banks of any pool or ditch at hand, and they conceal
themselves in the holes and corners close to the waters'
edge."

Young. — When fully fledged, the young have the basal
half of the lower mandible dull reddish ; the feet orange, the
claws dusky. The upper part of the head greyish-brown, the
feathers edged with whitish ; the hind part of the neck grey ;
the fore part of the back, the scapulars, and inner secondaries
greyish-brown, the feathers margined with an undulated band
of yellowish-white ; the smaller wing coverts similar, but

COMMON REDSHANK TATLER. 341

barred with dusky on the edges ; the quills as in the adults,
as is the tail ; the hind part of the back white, with dusky
streaks. The sides of the head, the sides and fore part of
the neck, the fore part of the breast, and the sides of the
body, are light grey, streaked with dusky ; the hind part
of the sides, and the lower tail-coverts undulated or barred
with the same.

Progress toward Maturity. — The difference between
the young and the adult not being remarkable, it is unneces-
sary to enter into the minute details by which they may be
distinguished. Old birds are recognised by their having the
base of their bills bright red, the hind part of the back pure
white, and the lower parts of a lighter tint than in the
young.

Remarks. — This species may in all stages be distin-
guished from Totanus fuscus by the secondary quills, which
are white in their terminal half. The specific character
given by M. Temminck to Totanus fuscus, viz. — base of the
lower mandible red ; rump pure Avhite ; upper tail-coverts
banded with white and dusky, is precisely applicable to the
present species, and therefore apt to deceive.

The next two species are of a more slender form. Their
bills are like those of Totanus Calidris, but more slender;
their toes longer, but their basal webs much smaller.

342

TOTANUS OCIIROPUS. THE GREEN TATLER.

GIIEEN SANDPIPER.

Tringa ochropus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 250.

Tringa ochropus. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 729.

Green Sandpiper. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Chevalier cul-blanc. Totanus ochropus. Tenim. Man. d'Orn. II. 651.

Totanus ochropus. Green Sandpiper. Flem. Brit. Anim. 103.

Green Sandpiper. Totanus ochropus. Selh. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 75.

Totanus ochropus. Green Sandpiper. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 197.

Totanus ochropus. Bonap. Comp. List, 51.

Tail nearly even, white, the four middle feathers with
three blackish-brown bars toward the end, the outermost
feather plain; upper part of head and hind-neck brownish-
grey; back, scapulars, and inner secondaries greenish-brown,
with marginal ivhitish and dusky spots; neck greyish-white,
with longitudinal dusky lines; the breast and abdomen white;
lower wing-coverts, axillars, and some of the hypochondrial
feathers angularly barred, ivith brown,- bill dusky above,
reddish beneath; feet greyish-blue, tinged with green.

Male. — This very elegant species is much larger than
the Common or White-breasted Weet-weet, which it however
closely resembles in form and proportions, the body being
ovate and rather elongated ; the neck slender and rather
long ; the head small, oblong, and compressed. The bill is
straight, very slender, with the nasal groove extending
beyond the middle, the upper mandible a little declinate at
the tip, the lower straight. The legs are rather long and
very slender ; the tibia bare for eight-twelfths of an inch ;
the tarsus compressed and slender, with thirty-four anterior
and thirty-six posterior scutella. The anterior toes are long,
very slender, and marginate ; the outer longer than the

GREEN TATLER. 343

inner, and connected with the middle toe by a pretty large
basal web ; the hind toe very small and elevated, with eight
scutella; the second with twenty-five, the third with thirty-
two, the fourth with thirty. The claws are small, declinate-
arcuate, compressed, rather blunt

The plumage is extremely soft, on the back and wings
glossy. The wings when closed extend to two-twelfth? of
an inch from the tip of the tail, and are narrow, of twenty-
five quills, of which the first is longest. The tail is rather
short, slightly emarginate, and at the sides a little rounded.

The bill is dusky above, reddish below ; the eyes dusky ;
the feet greyish-bine, tinged with green, especially on the
heel, or hind part of the tibio-tarsal joint, and the sole ; the
claws brownish-black. The upper part of the head and
the hind-neck are brownish-grey ; the back, scapulars, and
inner secondaries greenish-brown, with marginal whitish and
dusky spots ; the feathers of the rump white toward the
end ; the tail-coverts white, but most of them barred at the
base. The quills, primary and secondary coverts, alula, and
outer small coverts blackish-brown ; the shaft of the first
quill brown. The lower surface of the quills is a little
paler ; the lower coverts dusky brown, tipped and barred
with whitish ; as are the axillar feathers, and a few of the
hypochondrial. A broad Avhite band extends over the eye,
and a narrow dusky band along the lore. The throat is
greyish-white ; the cheeks and fore-neck greyish-white,
tinged with brown, and longitudinally streaked with dusky.
The breast and all the lower parts of the body, as Avell as
the rump, are pure white. The tail-feathers are white, all
excepting the outer barred with blackish-brown; the four
middle with three bars on both webs and a spot on the outer
web, the next with two bars and a spot, the next with one
bar and a spot, the next with only a spot, and the outermost
plain.

Length to end of tail 10T'T; extent of wings 17^; tail
2^ ; wing from flexure 5T8Y ; bill along the ridge 1|-, along
the edge of lower mandible 1-^- ; tarsus 1TV; first toe -^, its
claw TV ; second toe |4, its claw -^ ; third toe \±, its claw
-fa ; fourth toe -^, its claw -j^.

344 TOTANUS OCHllOPUS.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but some-
what larger.

Length to end of tail 11^; extent of wings I83-; wing
from flexure 5-L^-; bill along the ridge 1^, along the edge of
lower mandible l-fj ; bare part of tibia -^j; tarsus 1| ; middle
too 1 -yj, its claw 137.

The above descriptions are from fresh specimens, both
shot in the south of Scotland — the male in January, 1837;
the female in November, 1835. I have not met with the
bird in summer, and therefore borrow its description from
M. Tenrminck : —

Adult in Summer. — " The summer plumage differs from
that of winter only in having the upper parts darker and
more glossed with green, in there being a greater number of
small dots on these parts, and in the spots on the fore part
of the neck being guttiform, there being one along the shaft
of each feather."

Habits. — It does not appear that this elegantly formed
bird ever breeds in Britain. In England it is merely a
winter visitant, arriving about the middle of September, and
departing toward the end of April. According to Montagu,
it frequents pools and small shallow streams, is solitary, but
sometimes pairs before leaving us ; and when disturbed,
makes a very shrill whistling note as it flies. M. Temminck
states that it is dispersed over the greater part of Europe
during its autumnal and vernal migrations ; appears on the
margins of streams, more particularly limpid brooks, pretty
often in marshes, and feeds on small worms, flies, and other
soft-winged insects. He also informs us that it nestles in
the sand or among the grass near the water, and lays from
three to five eggs of a whitish-green marked with brown
spots. Both Montagu and Mr. Selby have met with it in
August. The latter says : — It runs with great activity,
flirting its tail in the same manner as the Common Sand-
piper, Totanus hypoleucos. When flushed it utters a shrill
whistle, and generally flies low, skimming over the surface
of the water, and following with precision all the bends and

GREEN TATLEIt. 345

angles of the stream. It is very rarely met with on the east
coast of Scotland in autumn and spring. According to the
New Statistical Account, it has been seen near Montrose.
As it has not, I believe, been found breeding in Scotland,
the following notice with which I have been favoured by the
Rev. Mr. Smith is very interesting: — "I saw a beautiful
specimen of the Green Sandpiper, Totanus ochropus, shot,
in July, 1826, on a muddy rivulet near to the Loch of
Strathbeg. I am told that it may be found in that locality
almost every summer." In Ireland, according to Mr.
Thompson, " it is only known as a rare visitant, but has
occurred at all seasons of the year.

Young.— In autumn the young, according to M. Tem-
minck, " differs only in having all the upper parts of a
lighter tint, with fewer small dots, which have a yellowish
colour ; the nape tinged with grey ; the sides of the breast
coloured like the feathers of the back, and marked with
white spots ; all the fore part of the neck and the middle of
the breast with brown lanceolate spots ; the white space at
the base of the tail of less extent, and the black bars of the
middle feathers broader."

Variations. — The tint of the upper parts varies con-
siderably, as do the markings on the tail. In an individual
from England, the two middle feathers have four bands, and
on the outer web an additional spot ; the next two have two
bands and a spot ; the next a spot only on the outer web ;
the outermost a faint mark on the outer web.

34G

TOTANUS GLAREOLA. WOOD TATLER.

-WOOD SANDPIPER.

Tringa Glarcola. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 250.

Tringa Glarcola.' Lath. Ind. Ore. II. 730.

Wood Sandpiper. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Chevalier Sylvain. Totanus Glarcola. Tcnim. Man. d'Ornith. II. 654.

Totanus Glarcola. Wood Sandpiper. Flem. Brit. Anim. 103:

Wood Sandpiper. Totanus Glarcola. Selb. Illustr. II. 77.

Totanus Glarcola. Wood Sandpiper. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 198.

Totanus Glarcola. Bonap. Comp. List, 51.

Tail doubly emarginate, white, all the feathers barred to
the base with blackish-brown, the outermost feather with the
inner web plain; upper part of head greyish-brown; back,
scapulars, and inner secondaries dark purplish-brown, with
marginal whitish and dusky sjwts ; neck greyish-white, with
longitudinal dusky lines; the breast and abdomen white;
lower wing-coverts dusky, edged with white; a xillar feathers
and some of those of the sides narrowly and irregularly barred
with brown; bill dusky, greenish at the base; feet greenish-
grey.

Male. — This species is of a still more slender form than
the last, to which it is considerably inferior in size, and has
the legs proportionally longer. It is so intimately allied,
however, both in form and in colour, to that species, that a
careless observer is very apt to confound the two; and I
have seen them misnamed, and even an American species,
Totanus chloropygius, mistaken for them. The bill is
straight, very slender, with the nasal groove extending
beyond the middle ; the tip of the upper mandible a little
declinate, that of the lower straight. The legs are long and

WOOD TATLER. 347

very slender ; the tibia bare for ten-twelfths of an inch ; the
tarsus compressed, with thirty-six anterior scutella. The
anterior toes are long, very slender, and marginate ; the
outer longer than the inner, and connected with the middle
toe by a pretty large basal web ; the hind toe very small
and elevated, with eight scutella ; the second with twenty-
five, the third with thirty-two, the fourth with thirty scu-
tella. The claws are small, decimate, arcuate, compressed,
rather blunt.

The plumage is extremely soft, on the back and wings
slightly glossed. The wings, which when closed extend
nearly to the end of the tail, are narrow, with twenty-five
quills, of which the first is longest. The tail is rather short
and doubly emarginate, the outermost feather being a little
longer than several of the rest, but nearly a quarter of an
inch shorter than the two middle feathers, which are rather
pointed.

The bill is dusky, tinged with green in its basal half;
the eyes dusky ; the feet greenish-grey. The upper part of
the head is greyish-brown, the feathers edged with greyish-
white ; a broad streak of white from the bill over the eye ; a
dusky loral band; the neck all round greyish-white, streaked
with greyish-brown. The back, scapulars, and inner secon-
daries are dark brown, somewhat glossed with purple ; the
feathers edged with white and black spots, the former larger
than those of Totanus ochropus. The quills, primary and
secondary coverts, alula, and outer small coverts blackish-
brown ; the first quill with its shaft white. The lower
surface of the quills is a little paler ; the lower coverts
dusky, margined with white ; the axillar feathers and those
of the upper part of the sides white, narrowly and irregu-
larly barred with brown, the bars not angularly disposed,
nor nearly so broad, as in Totanus ochropus. The throat is
greyish-white ; the breast, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts
white, the latter with a medial brown line ; the hind part of
the rump and the upper tail-coverts white, the latter marked
along the shafts with brown. The tail is white, barred with
dusky in its whole length, there being eight dark bars on
the outer webs of all the feathers, seven on the inner webs

348 TOTANUS GLAREOLA.

of the middle feathers, on the rest fewer, and on the inner
web of the outer none.

Length to end of tail 9 inches ; extent of wings 15 ; bill
along the ridge 1-fj, along the edge of lower mandible 1-fe >
Aving from flexure 5-^ ; tail 2-^ ; tarsus 1-^- ; hind toe -f\;
its claw -fj ; second toe \^, its claw -^ ; third toe 1^, its
claw -^ ; fourth toe -LL, its claw -fj.

Female. — The female resembles the male, differing only
in being a little larger.

Variations — The principal variations that occur are in
the tint of the upper parts, and the size of the spots mar-
gining the feathers. The tail varies in the number of bands
on most of the feathers, but those on the outer webs of the
middle and lateral feathers are generally uniform.

Adult in Summer. — " The top of the head and the nape
longitudinally streaked with brown and whitish ; the cheeks,
fore part of the neck, breast, and sides nearly pure white,
longitudinally streaked with dark brown ; all the feathers of
the back have a very large black spot in their centre, and on
each side of the webs two whitish spots ; the scapulars on
being raised are found to be marked with broad blackish
bands; the other parts as in winter." — Temminck.

Habits. — This species occurs accidentally, as it were, on
the southern and eastern coasts of England, in the course of
its autumnal and vernal migrations ; and is still less fre-
quently met with than Totanus ochropus, insomuch that I
have never obtained it in a recent state. It is said to be
pretty common in the southern and eastern parts of Europe,
but to be seldom met with in France and Germany. I have
seen specimens from Southern India, and Mr. Selby says he
has some from the Cape of Good Hope. Of its food, general
habits, and nidification nothing is known with certainty.

Young. — The young in autumn have the bill as in the
adult ; the feet of a lighter tint. The upper part of the

WOOD TATLER. 349

head is dark brown, the feathers narrowly edged with reddish-
brown ; a broad band of white over the eye, finely streaked
with brown ; the throat white ; the hind part and sides of
the neck greyish- white, with brown streaks ; the lower parts
white ; the sides undulated with brown, as are the axillar
feathers ; the lower tail-coverts with a central brown streak.
The upper parts are dark brown, glossed with purple ; the
feathers with a reddish-white spot on each side near the
end ; the feathers of the hind part of the back dark greyish-
brown, terminally edged with greyish-white ; the rump and
upper tail-coverts wdiite, the latter with a longitudinal streak
or series of spots of dark brown. The quills are brownish-
black, the shaft of the first white, and the secondaries edged
with yellowTish-white. The tail is white, barred with
brownish-black, the bars less regular than in the adult, and
those of the outer feathers confluent at the base.

Remarks. — There is as close a resemblance between
Totanus Glareola of Europe and Totanus solitarius, other-
wise named Chloropygius, of North America, as between
Scolopax Gallinago and Scolopax Wilsoni of these countries.
A character by which Totanus solitarius may at once be dis-
tinguished is that of the middle tail-feathers being similar to
the back, they being merely spotted with white on the
edges.

As the genus Totanus differs very little from Glotlis, so
on the other hand it passes directly into xlctitis, of which the
species, having the bill and feet shorter, seem to be very
nearly allied to some species of Tringa.

350

ACTITIS. WEET-WEET.

The birds which constitute this genus agree with the
Totani in their general form ; but differ in having the bill
not longer than the head, with the margins of the mandibles
but faintly grooved, and the feet also shorter. The two
genera, however, are most intimately connected. The Weet-
weets are very delicately formed, and of a lively and active
disposition. Their body is ovate and slender ; their neck of
moderate length ; their head small, oblong, and compressed,
with the forehead rounded.

Bill of the same length as the head, straight, very
slender, soft and flexible at the base, hard and elastic at the
end ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge
narrow and convex, the sides grooved for three-fourths of its
length, the edges thin and sharp, the tip slightly declinate,
narrowed, bluntish, and a little exceeding the other ; lower
mandible with the angle long and extremely narrow, the
sides grooved to the middle, afterwards convex, the dorsal
outline straight, the edges thick and faintly grooved, the tip
narrowed and somewhat obtuse. The gape-line straight ;
the throat very narrow.

The digestive organs are similar to those of the Totani ;
as are the organs of sense and the limbs, the feet being pro-
portionally shorter. The plumage is also similar.

The Weet-weets are small migratory birds, which fre-
quent the sandy and muddy margins of lakes, rivers, and
estuaries. They are especially remarkable for the vibratory
motion of their body, and their shrill cries. They feed on
insects, larva?, worms, and mollusca ; have a rapid, some-
what undulated, and vacillatory flight ; and run with great
celerity. Their nest is a slight hollow ; their eggs four, very
large, pyriform, spotted. The young, at first covered with
longish down, run about and conceal themselves by squatting.
Only two species are found in Britain : one of them common
and generally distributed ; the other extremely rare, and
properly an American species, of which a few stragglers
sometimes find their way to Europe.

351

ACTITIS HYPOLEUCOS. THE WHITE-BREASTED
WEET-WEET.

COMMON SANDPIPER. WILLYWICKET. WATER JUNKET. FIDDLER.

Fio. 29.

Tringa Hypolcucos. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 250.
Tringa Hypolcucos. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 734.
Common Sandpiper. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Chevalier Guignette. Totanus hypolcucos. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 657.
Totanus Hypolcucos. Common Sandpiper. Flem. Brit. Anim. 104.
Common Sandpiper. Totanus Hypoleucos. Selb. Illustr. II. 81.
Totanus Hypolcucos. Common Sandpiper. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 199.
Actitis Hypoleucos. Bonap. Comp. List, 51.

The bill dusky; the feet greenish-grey ; upper parts glossy
greenish-brown, transversely banded and undulated with dark
brown; lower parts tvliite, excepting the fore part and sides of
neck, which are greyish, with faint dusky lines. Young with
the upper jxirts lighter, the feathers margined with dusky and
reddish; the feet ochraceous.

Male. — This delicate and lively little bird, which in size
6carcely exceeds the Dunlin, exhibits in its form the usual
characters of the genus, its body being rather slender, its

352 ACTITIS HYPOLEUCOS.

legs and neck longish, its head small and compressed. The
bill is not much longer than the head, and in all respects
very closely resembles that of the bird named above, being
straight, slender, compressed, laterally grooved on both man-
dibles for two-thirds of its length, soft and flexible. The
tongue is linear, channelled above, emarginate and papillate
at the base, with the tip pointed. The fauces are very nar-
row ; the oesophagus three inches long, and two-twelfths in
diameter ; the gizzard somewhat elliptical, eight-twelfths of
an inch long, its muscles moderately large, its inner coat
rugous ; the intestine fourteen inches in length, and varying
in diameter from two and a half to one and a half twelfths.

The eyes are of moderate size ; the aperture of the ear
elliptical, and two and a half twelfths long; the nostrils
linear, pervious, and only one-twelfth long. The tibia is
bare for four-twelfths of an inch ; the tarsus has numerous
anterior and posterior scutella. The hind toe is very small
and elevated ; the anterior toes are webbed at the base, the
inner web much smaller, flattened beneath, and marginate.
The claws are small, compressed, and blunt.

The plumage is soft, blended, glossy and somewhat com-
pact on the upper parts. The wings are long ; the prima-
ries narrowish, the first longest, the second almost equal ;
the secondaries longish, rounded and acuminate, the inner
tapering. The tail is of moderate length, and considerably
rounded.

The bill is dusky above, brownish-grey beneath. The
irides are brown. The feet greyish, tinged with green ; the
claws black. The upper part of the head and the hind neck
are brownish-grey ; an indistinct whitish line passes over the
eve, and the loral space is dusky. The rest of the upper
parts glossy greenish-brown, transversely banded and un-
dulated with dark brown. Some feathers on the edge of the
wing, the margins of the alular feathers, the tips of the pri-
mary and secondary coverts are white. A bar of the same
colour crosses the wing, including the inner margins of the
primaries, excepting the first, appearing on the first secon-
dary, and reflecting along the tips of the secondaries, one or
two of which are entirely white. The lateral tail-feathers

WHITE-BREASTED WEET-WEET. 353

are white, barred with dusky ; the inner become gradually
darker. The throat, breast, sides, belly, and lower tail-
coverts are white ; the sides and fore part of the neck light
brownish-grey, streaked with dusky, each feather having a
triangular tip of that colour.

Length to end of tail 8^ inches ; extent of wings 14 ; bill
along the ridge lfa, along the edge of lower mandible 1T2^ ;
wing from flexure 4-fa ; tail 2 fa ; tarsus -Li ; first toe fa, its
claw fa ; second toe -fa, its claw -f^; third toe \%-, its claw
■fa ; fourth toe fa, its claw -fa.

Female. — The female is precisely similar to the male.

Variations. — I have not observed any remarkable vari-
ations in colour or size in adult individuals.

Changes of Plumage. — As the bird is only a summer
resident, and departs in autumn, before much progress has
been made in moulting, I am unable to describe its winter
plumage. Towards the end of the season of its sojourn, the
leathers are often very ragged, and the glossy brown of the
upper parts has considerably faded.

Habits. — This elegant little bird arrives in England
about the middle of April, and in the south of Scotland
towards the end of that month, betaking itself immediately
to the sandy or gravelly shores of lakes and rivers, where it
procures its food, and remains until its departure in Sep-
tember. The species is generally distributed, being found in
all the northern districts of Scotland, and in all the larger
Hebrides, as well as in most parts of England and Wales ;
but the individuals never congregate, although a brood and
their parents, amounting to six, or occasionally two or three
families, may be seen keeping together in the end of summer.
In August and September some may be met with on the
sea-shore, and especially on that of the muddy estuaries of
our rivers ; but the species is decidedly lacustrine and fluvia-
tile, and is nowhere more plentiful than on the pebbly shores
of the Highland lakes.

354 ACTITIS HYPOLEUCOS.

The flight of this species is rapid, and in its course it
moves in various directions, somewhat in the manner of the
Snipe. When flying over the surface of the water, which it
often does so low as almost to touch it with its wings, it
now and then spreads out and bends downwards those
organs, keeping them apparently rigid and motionless at
intervals, and thus proceeding by alternate starts, flapping
and sailing in a manner peculiar to itself. When resting, it
keeps the body nearly horizontal and the legs quite straight,
like the King Plover and many other birds of this order. It
runs with as much celerity as the Sandpipers, to which it is
most intimately allied, but from which it differs in exhibiting
the peculiar irritability and mobility of body observed in all
the species of this genus.

These birds enliven the solitary shores of the moorland
lakes and streams, where they may be seen running with
great activity along the beaches, or skimming over the water.
In general, however, one is apprised of their presence sooner
by the sense of hearing than by that of sight, for they are
vigilant and suspicious, and on being alarmed commence
their shrill piping, which is continued in the breeding season
until the disturber of their quiet takes his departure. They
employ the same artifice as the Ring Plover and Dunlin to
decoy a person from their nest or young. It is by no means
difficult to procure specimens of this species, for although
thus suspicious, it conceives itself safe enough at times
within shooting distance, or skims past on wing unaware of
its danger.

The nest is merely a slight hollow in the sand or among
pebbles, with a few blades of withered grass. Like most of
the birds of this family, it lays four pyriform eggs, which are
placed with the narrow ends together, so as to occupy less
room. They are so disproportionably large that one on
finding them is apt to marvel how so small a bird could have
laid them, their average length being an inch and four-
twelfths, and their greatest breadth an inch. They are
reddish-white or cream-coloured, glossy, and covered with
dots and small spots of dark purplish-brown and greyish-
purple.

WHITE-BREASTED WEET-WEET. 35.3

The young run about immediately after exclusion from
the egg, conceal themselves by squatting motionless among
the stones, and are anxiously tended by their parents. If
discovered and pursued, they sometimes betake themselves
to the water, and swim like young gulls in similar circum-
stances. The old birds, too, should they drop into the
water when wounded, float and swim as if it were their
proper element.

From the manner in which this bird continually vibrates
its body, as if on a pivot, joined with its piping notes, the
Hebridians name it the Little Fiddler. Its food consists of
insects of all kinds, and the gizzard usually contains sand or
small stones.

Mr. Thompson notes it as " a regular summer visitant to
the lakes, rivers, and brooks throughout Ireland."

Young.- — At first the young are covered with long stiffish
down of a brownish-grey colour above, with a brownish-
black band down the back, the lower parts white. When
fledged they are light greyish-brown above, the feathers
margined with two bands, the one dusky, the other reddish.
The fore part and sides of the neck are greyish, with faint
dusky lines ; the rest of the lower parts white, excepting
the lower tibial feathers, which are dusky. The wings and
tail are coloured as in the adult; the feet more yellow, and
the bill bluish.

356

ACTITIS MACULARIA. THE SPOTTED WEET-
WEET.

spotted sandpiper.

Tringa macularia. Lath. Ind. Om. II. 734.

Spotted Sandpiper. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Chevalier Perle. Totanus macularia. Tenim. Man. d'Ornith. II. 656.

Spotted Sandpiper. Totanus macularius. Selb. Illustr. II. 84.

Totanus Macularia. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 199.

Actitis macularius. Bonap. Comp. List. 51.

The bill dusky at the point, greenish-brown above, yellow
beneath; upper parts glossy greenish-brown, the head longi-
tudinally streaked, the rest transversely banded with dark
brown; lower parts white, marked all over with roundish
dusky sjwts. Young icith the upper parts lighter ; the feathers
of the head margined with dusky ; the back and icings icith
more numerous dusky bars; the lower parts brownish- white,
unspotted.

Male. — This beautiful species is a little smaller than the
White-bellied, which it precisely resembles in form, as well
as in the general tint of its upper parts ; but from which it
is readily distinguishable on account of the spots on its
lower surface. The bill is in length and form almost exactly
the same as that of the species just named, being scarcely
longer than the head, straight, slender, compressed, laterally
grooved on the upper mandible for two-thirds of its length,
on the lower for one-half, soft and flexible. The eyes are of
moderate size ; the nostrils linear, pervious, two-and-a-half-
twelfths of an inch long. The tibia is bare for four-twelfths
of an inch ; the tarsus has thirty anterior and about the
same number of posterior scutella. The hind toe is very

SPOTTED WEET-WEET. 357

small and elevated; the anterior toes are webbed at the
base, the outer web much larger, flattened beneath, and
marginate ; the first toe with ten, the second with twenty-
four, the third with thirty-five, the fourth with forty scutella.
The claws are slender, slightly arched, compressed, and
rather acute.

The plumage is soft, blended, glossy, and somewhat
compact on the upper parts. The wings are long; the
primaries narrowish, the first longest, the second almost
equal ; the secondaries longish, incurved, obliquely rounded
and acuminate, the inner very long and tapering, one of
them only four-twelfths of an inch shorter than the first
primary when the wing is closed. The tail is of moderate
length and much rounded.

The bill is greenish-brown above, yellowish-flesh-coloured
beneath, the extremity of both mandibles blackish. The feet
flesh-colour, tinged with yellow. The general colour of the
upper parts is greyish-brown, tinged with green and glossy ;
the head, hind-neck, and fore part of the back with small
longitudinal dusky lines ; the other parts with distant trans-
verse bars. Some feathers on the edge of the wing, the
margins of the alular feathers, the tips of the primary and
secondary coverts are white. The alula, primary coverts,
and primary quills are dusky, glossed with green ; the secon-
dary quills lighter ; all the quills, except the inner elongated
secondaries and the outer primary, tipped with white, which
on the secondaries form a conspicuous band. When the
wing is extended it is crossed by a bar of the same colour,
which includes the inner margins of the primaries except
the first and the bases of the secondaries, on which, how-
ever, it is concealed by the coverts. The tail is of the same
colour as the back, tipped with white, that colour margined
anteriorly by a dusky bar ; the feather next to the outer is
paler, with several dark bands on its outer web ; that of the
outermost white, with four dusky bands. The lower parts
are pure white, marked all over with roundish, brownish-
black spots, which are larger on the breast and sides.

Length to end of tail 8 inches ; bill along the ridge \%,
along the edge of lower mandible l-^; wing from flexure

358 ACTITIS MACULARIA.

4-^ ; tail 2 ; tarsus \± ; first toe -^V, its claw ^ : second toe
-j^, its claw -^g- ; third toe -f^, its claw -^ ; fourth toe -fe,
its claw -fiy.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Remarks. — This species is abundant in many parts of
North America, where it is migratory, and frequents the
margins of rivers and pools. Its habits, as described by the
ornithologists of that country, are similar to those of our
White-bellied Tatler, which it resembles so closely in form.
Individuals have been shot on the continent of Europe, and
a few are recorded to have been obtained in Britain — the first
in September, 1839.

I have not met with it in any part of Scotland, and state-
ments as to its occurrence must generally be received with
doubt, as persons unacquainted with it are apt to mistake
for it the young of Tringa Cinclus, which have the lower
parts somewhat similarly spotted. It is, however, included
in the list of birds observed near Montrose, given in the
Statistical Account of Forfarshire.

559

SCOLOPACINiE.

SNIPES AND ALLIED SPECIES.

Many ornithological writers include the Tringina?, Tota-
ninse, and Scolopacinae, as here characterized under the
family of Scolopacida? ; and it is certain that they all agree
in many respects, although the groups which I have indi-
cated are natural and intelligible ; and a family containing
all the species belonging to them seems to me rather un-
wieldy and improvable by division. The birds properly
called Snipes, and some others intimately allied to them,
including the Woodcocks, have a family likeness ; and when
viewed collectively, present some peculiar characters by
which they may be distinguished. Some of them, however,
are so closely allied to several of the Tringinae, that in
description they cannot be very clearly distinguished ; and
thus, as is usually the case with very closely connected
groups, it is scarcely possible to mark with certainty the
limits of the two families. In practice, however, a Scolo-
pacine is always readily distinguishable from a Tringine
bird. The general characters of the Scolopacinaa may, I
think, be expressed thus : —

Birds of small size, with the body ovate, compact, rather
full ; the neck of moderate length ; the head rather small,
much compressed, and rounded above. The bill very long,
straight, slender, flexible, compressed until toward the end,
where it becomes enlarged, depressed, and is there, as well
as in its Avhole extent, covered with a soft skin, and has in
its terminal part numerous nervous filaments, the position of
which is indicated, when the parts become dry by little
depressions or scrobiculi ; the extreme tips of both mandibles,

360 SCOLOPACIN^E.

however, are hard, narrowly obtuse, the upper extending
beyond the lower, and receiving it into a wide groove
beneath, in such a manner as to prevent its offering any
impediment to the easy intrusion of the bill into the mud.
This character, however, also presents itself in some of the
Tringina?.

The mouth is extremely narrow ; the tongue elongated,
very slender, channelled above, and acutely pointed ; on the
palate are numerous short, pointed papilla?, directed back-
wards, and arranged in two series. The oesophagus is
narrow ; the stomach a roundish, compressed, very muscular
gizzard, with a dense plicate epithelium ; the intestine of
moderate length and width ; the coeca rather long.

The nostrils very small, linear, basal. Eyes moderate,
generally placed higher than in other birds. The aperture
of the ear large and roundish. The legs are short ; the bare
part of tibia very limited ; the tarsus short, anteriorly scu-
tellate ; the toes four, the first very small and elevated ;
the anterior long, slender ; the fourth a little longer than
the second ; the third much longer ; the claws rather long,
slender, little arched, acute.

The plumage moderately compact ; the wings long or
moderate, rather broad, but pointed ; the first quill, how-
ever, not much exceeding the second ; the inner secondaries
generally much elongated, sometimes moderate and rounded.
The tail short, of from twelve to twenty or more soft, narrow
feathers.

These birds are of more bidding habits than the Trin-
gina? and Totaninse which frequent open places, and render
themselves conspicuous by searching the open shores or
exposed places, by their free unsneaking flight, and often by
their clamorous cries. They, on the contrary, seek the
retirement and security of swamps, marshes, ditches, and
brooks. There they search for their food in the quietest pos-
sible manner, proceeding singly and sedately, and thrusting
their long, delicately sensitive, probe-like bills into the mud,
whence they extract the worms and larva?, sucking them up
as it were, and swallowing them with still immersed bill.
They never, I think, pick up insects from the surface, nor

SNIPES AND ALLIED SPECIES.

361

search the open sands unless at night, hut keep in conceal-
ment ; and when alarmed, sit close and motionless. When
surprised they do not run, hut spring on wing, and then
generally emit loud cries. They walk well, glide with ease
among the herbage, have a very rapid flight, alight abruptly,
feed by night apparently more than by day ; nestle on the
ground, and in a slight hollow, more or less lined or covered
with fragments of herbage ; lay four very large, pyriform
eggs, patched and spotted with dark tints. The young,
covered with dense parti-coloured down, presently leave the
nest, squat to conceal themselves, and soon begin to search
for their food. The females are larger than the males, and
seldom differ from them in colouring. The prevailing colours
are dusky, light red, reddish-yellow, and white, disposed in
bars and streaks. Their flesh is much esteemed, and greatly
superior to that of the Totaninse.

The scrobiculation of the extremity of the bill, so obvious
in the birds of this family, and assumed by many writers as
distinctive of them, is not at all peculiar, but presents itself,
though less conspicuously, in many of the Tringinae and
Totaninse.

Fig. 30.

SYNOPSIS OF TUP: BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. SCOLOPAX. SNIPE.

Bill about twice the length of the head, straight, slender,
compressed ; both mandibles grooved, and in their termina 1

362 SCOLOPACIN^E.

third scrobiculate, and more or less enlarged, with the tips
hard and narrowed, hut obtuse, that of the lower shorter.
Legs rather short, slender ; tibia bare for nearly a fourth ;
tarsus compressed, scutellate before and behind; anterior
toes long, slender, free ; claws slender, slightly arched, acute.
Wings long, narrow, pointed ; inner secondaries very long.
Tail short, of from twelve to twenty-four soft feathers.

1 . Scolopax major. Great Snipe. Tail of sixteen feathers ;
bill twice the length of the head ; three lateral tail-feathers
on each side white ; lower parts greyish-white, barred with
brown.

2. Scolopax Gallinago. Common Snipe. Tail rounded,
of fourteen feathers ; bill twice the length of the head ;
abdomen white ; lower tail-coverts light red, varied with
dusky.

3. Scolopax Sabini. Sabine's Snipe. Tail of fourteen
feathers ; bill twice the length of the head ; lower parts dull
light red, undulated with dusky.

4. Scolopax Gallinula. Jack Snipe. Tail pointed, of
twelve feathers ; bill about a fourth longer than the head ;
sides longitudinally streaked with brown.

GENUS II. RTJSTICOLA. WOODCOCK.

Bill about half as long again as the head, straight, slender,
compressed, tapering ; both mandibles grooved, and in their
terminal half inconspicuously scrobiculate, not enlarged at
the end, the tips hard and obtuse, that of the lower shorter.
Legs short, rather slender ; tibia entirely feathered ; tarsus
roundish, with very broad anterior scutella; middle toe
long, lateral short, free ; claws small, slightly arched, acute.
Wings rather long, broad, somewhat pointed ; inner secon-
daries of moderate length, rounded. Tail short, rounded.

1. Rusticola sylvestris. Common Woodcock. Above
variegated with brownish-black, light red, and pale reddish-
yellow ; beneath yellowish-grey, narroAvly barred with dark
brown.

363

SCOLOPAX. SNIPE.

The birds of this genus, varying in size from that of the
Ruff to that of the Dunlin, and generally so similar in
colour as in some cases to be with difficulty distinguishable,
have the body ovate and somewhat compressed ; the neck of
moderate length ; the head small and rounded above. The
bill about twice the length of the head, flexible, straight,
slender, compressed, tapering, with both mandibles grooved
for two-thirds of their length, in their terminal third some-
what enlarged and scrobiculate, with the tips hard and nar-
rowed, but blunt ; that of the lower considerably shorter.

Mouth very narrow, its roof with two or three longi-
tudinal series of pointed and reversed papilla?. Tongue
very long, slender, channelled above, tapering to a point.
(Esophagus rather narrow, with an oblong proven triculus ;
stomach roundish, very muscular, with dense rugous epithe-
lium ; intestine of moderate length and width ; coeca mode-
rate, cylindrical, narrowed at the commencement.

Nostrils linear, lateral, basal. Eyes rather small. Aper-
tures of ears rather large. Legs rather short, slender ; tibia
bare for nearly a fourth ; tarsus compressed, scutellate before
and behind ; first toe very small, slender, and elevated ;
anterior toes rather long, slender, free ; claws rather long,
slender, slightly arched, compressed, acute.

Plumage rather firm. Wings long, narrow, pointed ; the
first quill longest ; the inner secondaries very long. Tail
short, of from twelve to twenty -four soft feathers.

The Snipes inhabit marshy places, in which they search
for their food in a hideling manner, They nestle on moors,
in moist pastures, meadows, and marshes. The nest is of
slight construction, and the eggs are four, very large, pyri-
form, olivaceous or yellowish, blotched with dusky. Species
are found in most parts of both continents adapted to their
habits.

364

SCOLOPAX MAJOR. GREAT SNIPE.

SOLITARY SNIPE. WOODCOCK SNIPE. DOUBLE SNIPE.

Scolopax major. Gmel. Syst. Nat. I. 661.

Scolopax major. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 714.

Great Snipe. Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Supplt.

Grande ou Double Becassine. Scolopax major. Temm. Man. d'Omith. II

675.
Scolopax major. Great Snipe. Flem. Brit. Anim. 105.
Great Snipe. Scolopax major. Selby, Illustr. II. 115.
Scolopax major. Great Snipe. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 205.
Gallinago Montagui. Bonap. Comp. List. 52.

Tail rounded, of sixteen feathers ; bill twice the length of
the head; two longitudinal black bands on the head separated
by a narrower medial reddish-white band, and on each side a
yelloicish- white band; the upper parts variegated with black
and light red, with four longitudinal yelloicish white bands;
wing-coverts tipped with white; three lateral tail-feathers on
each side white; sides transversely barred with dusky; axillar
feathers white, barred with greyish-black.

Male. — This species is considerably larger than our
common Snipe, which it, however, so closely resembles, that
one might readily mistake a specimen of it for a large indi-
vidual of that species. The body is ovate, compact, and
rather full ; the neck of moderate length ; the head small,
oblong, compressed, much rounded above. The bill is nearly
twice the length of the head, slender, straight, compressed
until near the end, where it is depressed ; the upper man-
dible with the ridge narrow but rounded, towrard the end
sulcate, the lateral grooves extending nearly to the end, the
edges rather sharp, the tip blunt ; the lower mandible with
the angle extremely long and continued into a groove, which

GREAT SNIPE. 365

extends to the tip, its sides erect, the tip blunt, and two-
twelfths of an inch shorter than that of the upper mandible.

The eyes of moderate size ; the aperture of the ear large ;
the nostrils very small, basal, linear. The legs rather short ;
the tibia bare for five-twelfths of an inch ; the tarsus short,
with twenty scutella ; the anterior toes rather long, slender,
compressed ; the claws rather long, arcuate, much com-
pressed, acute.

The plumage is moderately compact ; those of the back
and the scapulars much elongated. The wings rather long,
of twenty-five quills ; the primaries slightly incurved, the
first longest ; the secondaries incurved, rounded at the end,
the inner straight, elongated, rather obtuse. The tail short,
somewhat doubly emarginate, of sixteen obtuse feathers.

Bill yellowish-brown at the base, dusky toward the end.
Irides brown. Feet pale bluish-green ; claws black. From
the bill to the occiput two broad bands of blackish-brown,
slightly variegated with light red, and separated by a nar-
rower band of pale reddish-brown ; from the bill over each
eye a band of pale brown ; the loral band dark brown. The
neck all round pale brown, each feather darker in the
middle ; the chin pale yellowish-brown. The elongated
feathers of the back and the scapulars are brownish-black ,
variegated with yellowish-brown, externally margined with
buff, of which there are thus four longitudinal bands on the
back. On the hind part of the back and rump the feathers
are barred with pale brownish-yellow and dark brown, as
are the upper tail-coverts. The tail-feathers are brownish-
black, toward the end with a broad irregular band of
chestnut-red, succeeded by a narrow band of black, the tip
white ; the outer four feathers on each side nearly all white.
The smaller wing-coverts are black, tipped with pale brown ;
the larger black, tipped with white ; the quills greyish -black,
with the shafts white ; the secondaries largely tipped with
white ; the inner secondaries banded like the back. The
middle of the breast and the abdomen brownish-white, barred
with brown ; the sides undulated and barred with dusky and
pale brown; the axillaries white, with blackish-grey bars.

Length to end of tail 12 inches; extent of wings 18;

366 SCOLOPAX MAJOR.

wing from flexure 5£ ; tail 2^ ; bill along the ridge 2£ ;
tarsus 1^; hind toe -fa, its claw ^-; middle toe -f^, its
claw 13J.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — This species has been found breeding in Nor-
way, Sweden, and some parts of Germany. It has been
observed in Holland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary,
and the Caucasus. In Britain, — it has not hitherto, I believe,
been found in Shetland; but in the Historia Naturalis
Orcadensis it is stated that " this bird appeared several
times in marshy ground in Sanday, in September, 1815."
In Scotland it appears to be very rare. Mr. St. John says
he never saw but one there, and that was in Sutherland. I
have not seen an individual, dead or alive, that had the
honour of standing on Scottish ground ; but several reports
of its occurrence along the east coast have come to my ears.
Mr. Selby states that several instances of its occurrence in
Northumberland had come to his knowledge within the
eight or ten years preceding 1833, and was informed that
five or six had been shot, in 1826, in a morass in the county
of Durham. Montagu relates that individuals had been
killed in the counties of Kent, Wilts, and Lancaster ; and
other localities have since been given. Mr. Yarrell says it
is now by no means uncommon in England, but occurs more
frequently in autumn than in any other season; and Mr.
Thompson notes it as occasionally obtained in Ireland,
though he " never could meet with one among the thousands
of Snipes exposed for sale during the autumn and winter in
Belfast." Considering its comparative scarcity as an autumnal
visitant, Mr. Selby's remark that " the immediate direction
of their latitudinal flight is much to the east of the longitude
of the British Islands," is probably correct. The course of
that flight, however, does not appear to have as yet been
determined by observation.

The habits of the Great Snipe may be tolerably well
made out by comparing the various statements and notices
given by authors. It arrives in the northern countries in

GREAT SNIPE. 367

the beginning of summer, and presently commences the
business of propagation. Mr. Greiff gives such an account
of their habits at this period as would lead us to assimilate
them to those of the Ruff: — " I was an old sportsman of
thirty years' standing before it came to my knowledge that
Double Snipes had their leh, or playing-ground. I heard
their cry a whole spring, which was in a marsh where I had
a good orr-lek, but never observed them, and therefore be-
lieved it to be some frogs or reptiles ; but at last I discovered
they were Double Snipes, which ran like rats among the
hillocks. Their cry commences with a sound resembling the
smack of the tongue, and thereupon four or five louder
follow." According to Mr. Hoy, " the nest is similar to,
and placed in the same situation as, that of the common
species. The eggs are four in number." Mr. Yarrell adds,
" These are of a yellow olive-brown, spotted with two shades
of reddish-brown ; the length one inch nine lines, by one
inch and two lines in breadth." After breeding, these birds
remain in the north until toward the end of September, and
they and their young become extremely fat, and afford the
most delicious eating ; for which reason, and the amusement
they afford, they are much sought after, and, being easy to
shoot, are, in some places killed in great numbers.

The flight of the Great Snipe is less rapid than that of
the Common species. It rises in silence, flies steadily and
heavily, with the tail expanded like a fan, and usually pro-
ceeds but a short distance before alighting.

368

SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO. THE COMMON SNIPE.

MOOR, OR MIRE SNIPE. HEATIIER-BLITER, BLEATER, OR BLUTTER. NAOSG.
JAN-GHURAG.

Flo. 31.

Scolopax Galliuago. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 244.

Scolopax Galliuago. Lath. Ind. Orn. II.

Common Snipe. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Becassine ordinaire. Scolopax Gallinago. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 676.

Scolopax Gallinago. Common Snipe. Flem. Brit. Anim. 106.

Common Snipe. Scolopax Gallinago. Selb. Ulustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 121.

Scolopax Gallinago. Common Snipe. Jen. Brit. Yert. An. 205.

Gallinago scolopacinus. Bonap. Comp. List, 52.

Tail rounded, of fourteen feathers; secondary quills
rounded; bill twice the length of the head; on the head two
longitudinal black bands separated by a narrower medial red-
dish-white band, and on each side a reddish-white band ; the
upper parts variegated with black and light red, with four
longitudinal yellowish-white bands; sides transversly barred
with dusky ; axillar feathers white barred with greyish-black ;
lower tail-coverts light red, barred with dusky.

COMMON SNIPE. 369

Male. — This species, which is somewhat inferior in size to
the last, and greatly exceeds the next, is of the ordinary form
in this genus, its body being compact and rather full ; the
neck of moderate length, the head rather small, oblong, com-
pressed, and rounded above. The bill is twice the length of
the head, slender, straight, compressed until near the end,
where it is depressed ; the upper mandible with the ridge
narrow but obtuse, toward the end sulcate, the lateral groove
extending nearly to the end, the edges rather sharp, the tip
blunt ; the lower mandible with the angle extremely long
and continued into a groove, which extends to the tip, its
sides erect, the tip blunt and two-twelfths of an inch shorter
than that of the upper mandible.

The eyes are moderate, their aperture being three-
twelfths. That of the ear four-twelfths. The nostrils very
small, basal, linear, a twelfth and a half long. The legs are
short ; the tibia bare for a third of an inch ; the tarsus short,
with eighteen scutella. The hind toe has eight, the inner
eighteen, the third thirty, the fourth twenty-eight scutella ;
the fore toes entirely separated. The claws are small,
arcuate, much compressed, laterally concave at the base,
pointed.

The plumage is moderately compact ; the feathers oblong ;
those of the fore part of the back and the scapulars much
elongated. The wings rather long, of twenty-five quills ;
the primaries slightly incurved, the first longest ; the secon-
daries incurved, rounded at the end, the inner straight,
elongated, rather acute. The tail is short, somewhat doubly
emarginate, of fourteen obtuse feathers.

Bill greyish-blue at the base, dusky in the rest of its
extent, but with two-thirds of the ridge flesh-coloured.
Irides brown. Feet pale greenish-blue ; claws black. From
the bill to the occiput two broad bands of black, slightly
variegated with pale red, and separated by a narrow band of
reddish- white ; from the bill over each eye a band of reddish-
white ; the loral band dusky ; then a band of reddish-white
dotted with brown to behind the eye, and beneath it an
obscure band of dusky spots. The throat is reddish- white ;
the neck all round variegated with reddish- white tinged with

A A

070 SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO.

grey and dusky. The elongated feathers of the back and
the scapulars are deep black, variegated with light red,
externally margined with reddish-white, of which there
are thus four longitudinal bands on the back. On the hind
part of the back and rump the feathers are barred with
dusky and light red, as are the upper tail-coverts, of which
the light bars incline to white. The tail is brownish-black,
toward the end irregularly barred or spotted with reddish-
white, succeeded by a curved narrow bar of black, the tip
light red, the lateral feathers much paler. The smaller
wing-coverts are black glossed with purple, and tipped with
reddish-grey ; the quills greyish-black ; the outer web of the
first white, its shaft brownish-white, the primaries slightly,
the secondaries largely tipped with white ; the inner secon-
daries banded like the back; the larger coverts similar to
their respective quills. The middle of the breast and the
abdomen are white ; the sides undulated and barred writh
dusky ; the axillaries white, with greyish-black bars ; the
lower wing-coverts greyish-dusky, margined with white.
The lower tail-coverts are pale red barred with dusky.

Length to end of tail lOf inches ; extent of wings 16 ;
wing from flexure 5^; tail 2-fa; bill along the ridge 2-fa,
along the edge of lowrer mandible %fa ; tarsus 1^- ; hind
toe -fa, its claw -fa ; second toe -j-1, its claw -fa ; third toe
l^r, its claw -fa : fourth toe 1, its claw -fa.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, generally
has the dusky bars of the sides more extended, and is
considerably larger.

Length to end of tail \\\ inches; extent of wings 17^;
wing from flexure 5-^ ; tail 2-fa ; bill along the ridge 21fa,
along the edge of lower mandible 2|4 ; tarsus 1-fa ; bare
part of tibia -fa ; hind toe -fa, its claw -fa ; second toe 1, its
claw -fa; third toe 1^, its claw -fa; fourth toe 1^, its claw -fa.

Vakiatioxs. — Adult birds vary considerably in size, and
especially in the length of the bill. Individuals pure white
or yellowish-white, or white variegated with red and dusky,
or more frequently of the ordinary colours, with some white

COMMON SNIPE. 371

feathers, are sometimes, but in this country very seldom, met
with. The colour of the feet varies.

Changes of Plumage. — There is no remarkable differ-
ence between the summer and winter plumage, the latter
when fresh being as richly coloured as the former. Toward
the end of summer the colours are greatly faded, the wings
have lost their purple gloss, and the reddish tints are much
paler.

Habits. — Beautiful are those green woods that hang
upon the craggy sides of the fern-clad hills, where the
heath-fowl threads its way among the tufts of brown heath,
and the Cuckoo sings his ever-pleasing notes as he balances
himself on the grey stone, vibrating his fan-like tail. Now
I listen to the simple song of the mountain Blackbird,
warbled by the quiet lake that spreads its glittering bosom
to the sun, winding far away among the mountains, amid
whose rocky glens wander the wild deer, tossing their
antlered heads on high as they snuff the breeze tainted with
the odour of the slow-paced shepherd and his faithful dog.
Inj that recess formed by two moss-clad slabs of mica-slate,
the lively Wren jerks up its little tail, and chits its merry
note, as it recalls its straggling young ones that have wan-
dered among the bushes. From the sedgy slope, sprinkled
with white cotton-grass, comes the shrill cry of the solitary
Curlew ; and there, high over the heath, wings his mean-
dering way the joyous Snipe, giddy with excess of unalloyed
happiness.

There another has sprung from among the yellow-flowered
marigolds that profusely cover the marsh. Upwards slant-
ingly, on rapidly vibrating wings, he shoots, uttering the
while his shrill two-noted cry. Tissick, tissick, quoth the
Snipe, as he leaves the bog. Now in silence he wends his
way, until at length having reached the height of perhaps a
thousand feet, he zigzags along, emitting- a louder and
shriller cry of zoo-zee, zoo-zee, zoo-zee ; which over, varying
his action, he descends on quivering pinions, curving toward
the earth with surprising speed, while from the rapid beats

372 SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO.

of his wing the tremulous air gives to the ear what at first
seems the voice of distant thunder. This noise some have
likened to the bleating of a goat at a distance on the hill-
side, and thus have named our bird the Air-goat and Air-
bleater. The sound, I think, is evidently produced by the
rapid action of the wings, which, during its continuance,
are seen to be in tremulous motion. It comes on the ear
soon after the bird commences its descent, and ceases when,
having gained the lowest part of the curve, it recovers itself,
and ascends with a different and ordinary motion of its
wings. I have never heard it under any other circum-
stances. Were it produced by the voice it might be emitted
when the bird is on the ground, or during its ordinary
flight ; but should one hear it on the moor, he will invari-
ably find that it proceeds from on high. In this manner
the Snipe may continue to amuse itself for, perhaps, an hour
or more ; and sometimes, in the clear sky, one may trace it
until at length it mounts so high as to be no longer
perceptible.

This drumming noise of the Snipe commences in April,
and is continued through the summer. It is altogether a
solitary act, although several individuals may often be heard
at the same time, and may be an expression of the happiness
of the bird, or an intimation of its presence to its mate while
sitting upon her eggs. We have no means of ascertaining
its object, nor has it been determined whether it be per-
formed by the male only, or by the female also. When the
bird has gone through his evolutions, he descends, often
with astonishing velocity, on partially extended and appa-
rently motionless wings, diminishes his speed a little as he
approaches the ground obliquely, and alights abruptly.

In winter this species is dispersed over the whole of
Britain, and in summer many remain to breed even in the
most southern parts, where there are suitable places ; but in
England the number is very inferior to what is met with in
Scotland ; on all the moist heaths of which, but especially
on those of the northern parts and the Hebrides, it is
extremely abundant. The multitudes that rear their young
in the bogs of Lewis, Harris, and the Uists are truly

COMMON SNIPE. 373

astonishing. There the nests are found in various situations ;
often in the grassy pastures, but more frequently on the
unfrequented moors, from the level of the lakes to the height
of two thousand feet. A slight hollow, lined with bits of
heath and grass or sedge, and situated on a dry tuft, or
among stunted heath or moss, receives the eggs, which are
usually four in number, although I have often found only
three, pyriform, placed with the small ends together, gene-
rally an inch and seven-twelfths long, an inch and one-twelfth
in breadth, of a greyish-yellow colour, tinged with greenish-
blue, and marked with irregular spots and patches of dark
brown and brownish-grey, more numerous toward the larger
end. They vary considerably in form, size, and colour.

The young, which are at first covered with extremely
soft, tufty down, of a brownish-red colour, spotted with
dusky broAvn and white on the head and upper parts, leave
the nest presently after emerging from the eggs, and accom-
pany their parents in search of food. Whether they are at
first fed by them, or from the beginning seek out their food
of themselves, has not been determined. They conceal
themselves by squatting when in apprehension of danger,
and are anxiously tended by their mother, who flies around
the intruder on their haunts, alights, and feigns lameness, in
the manner of the Dunlin, Golden Plover, and other birds of
this order. When they are fledged they disperse, and the
parents usually nestle a second time.

When the nights become cold after the middle of autumn,
the Snipes betake themselves to the marshy parts of the
lower grounds, and later in the season they almost entirely
leave the moors, especially those that are elevated ; but in
all parts of Scotland individuals are met with on the moors
during the whole winter. Usually they remain in the more
unfrequented parts during the day, part of which they pass
in repose ; and in the evening resort to the low grounds,
where they may be seen arriving singly in favourite places,
and where they remain all night searching for food. In
such places in the Hebrides, as in marshy meadows and by
the sides of pools, I have started hundreds of them at night.
By moonlight I have seen them in surprising numbers on

374 SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO.

the margins of these pools, and even frequently wading a
little way into the shallow water. Early in the morning
they may be obtained in such situations in great abundance ;
but after a few shots have been fired, they generally fly off
singly or in small parties to a great distance.

In winter, especially during frost, they often betake
themselves in great numbers to marshy places on the coast
liable to be overflowed by the tide. During snow they
resort to the unfrozen rills, brooks, ditches, and the sides of
rivers, as well as to the sea-shore. On a bank from which a
number of springs oozed, in the island of Harris, I have, in
the time of long-continued snow, seen several hundreds of
them crowded together in search of a precarious morsel of
food. So intent were the famished birds on their search,
that when a shot was fired very few of them flew off, and
the spot on which they were was presently occupied by
others which unexpectedly arrived. Even in these northern
parts, I think the number of Snipes is not much diminished
in winter. On the other hand, it is vastly increased at that
season in most parts of England ; but whether that increase
arises from the immigration of individuals from the conti-
nent, or merely from the descent of our resident birds from
the central and northern moors, is not apparent. That they
leave many of our moors in winter I am well assured, for at
that season I have traversed places that abounded with
them in summer without meeting with any.

At all times the Snipe is sly and suspicious ; but, instead
of flying off when under apprehension of danger, it lies close
to the ground, draws in its neck, and inclines its bill down-
wards, expecting to escape notice ; and one may come within
a few feet of it before it rises, for on such occasions it is
almost impossible to perceive it. On rising, it invariably
utters a shrill lisping cry of two sharp notes, flies low or
obliquely upwards, with a zigzag motion, for about eighty or
a hundred yards, and then assumes a more direct flight.
Although this undulating motion continues so long, the
deviation to either side is not so great as to render it very
difficult to shoot it, when one has become accustomed to this
kind of sport. The ordinary flight of this bird is rapid and

COMMON SNIPE. 375

direct, and, when it is proceeding to a distant place, elevated.
It is very seldom that two or more individuals are seen
together on wing, unless when a shot has been fired in a
place where they are very numerous.

The food of the Snipe consists of worms, insects, and
delicate fibrous roots of plants. On alighting it stands for a
short time, apparently for the purpose of looking around ;
then proceeds in search of food with its bill obliquely
inclined toward the ground, which it rapidly probes to a
variable depth, sometimes inserting the bill to its base. By
the peaty or muddy edges of ditches, rills, and small water-
runs, the marks thus left are frequent. It also wades in the
water, keeping itself as high as possible on its legs. In
feeding it cannot be properly said to associate with any
other bird, although occasionally in summer the Dunlin, and
in winter the Water Rail and Jack Snipe may be found in
the same place.

I have many times watched the Snipe while feeding by
unfrozen rills and in oozy ground, when there was snow on
the ground, as well as on ordinary occasions, when, however,
it is very difficult to observe it, or when it is met with, to
avoid alarming it. Proceeding in a crouching manner, it
thrusts its bill rapidly into the mud, often up to the base,
seems to be groping with it for a moment or two, then as
rapidly withdraws it, and thus goes on, advancing slowly
and making many thrusts in some places, in others moving
quickly and making few trials. I have never seen it extract
anything to be subsequently swallowed, prehension and deglu-
tition being apparently performed while the bill is immersed.
It proceeds in silence, and if alarmed stops, crouches close
to the ground, sometimes allowing a very near approach ; or
if in a soft muddy or very wet place, flying off from a con-
siderable distance.

Its flesh being delicate and savoury, the Snipe is in much
request, and is common in our markets. For this and other
reasons it is a favourite with sportsmen. It is also caught
with springes set in its usual runs, in the same manner as
the Woodcock. It is a general, but, I think, a filthy
practice, to prepare Snipes for the table without removing

o76 SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO.

their digestive organs or their contents, which are relished
by persons who would turn with loathing from meat in
which a worm had been seen. At the same time, the few
insects and crawling things that may happen to be in a
Snipe's stomach can do no harm, although they are not so
agreeable as the beans from a Wood-pigeon's crop, which I
have seen eaten.

This species of Snipe is generally dispersed over the
continent, in the northern parts of which it is migratory. It
also occurs in various parts of Asia, but has not been met
with in America.

Remarks. — A species of Snipe, Scolopax AVilsoni, occurs
in North America, so very similar in size, proportions, and
colours to ours, that on placing the two together one can
hardly discover any distinctive characters. That species,
however, has sixteen feathers in the tail, whereas ours has
only fourteen, and is said to differ in its notes and some of
its habits.

M. Temminck gives as a distinctive character of our
Common Snipe a brown shaft to the outer as well as the
other quills ; but that shaft is always white for a fourth of its
length, and in the rest of its extent sometimes pale brown,
sometimes brownish-white, and occasionally entirely white.

377

SCOLOPAX SABINI. SABINE'S SNIPE.

Scolopax Sabini. Vigors, Linn. Trans. XIV. 556.

Scolopax Sabini. J aid. and St-lby, Illustr. of Ornith. pi. XXVII.

Scolopax Sabini. Flem. Brit. Anim. 105.

Scolopax Sabini. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 204.

Scolopax Sabini. Temm. Man. d'Ornitb. IV. 432.

Scolopax Sabini. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornitb. II. 118.

Scolopax Sabini. Gould, Birds of Eur. pt. XVI.

Gallinago Sabini. Bonap. Comp. List, 52.

Tail rounded, of fourteen feathers ; bill more than twice
the length of the head ; upper part of the head and hind-neck
brownish-black, spotted xoitli dull chestnut-brown ; back and
wings black, barred and spotted with chestnut-red ; tail black
for half its length, then chestnut-red, barred with black;
lower parts dull light red, undulated with dusky.

Adult. — This species, of which I have no specimen for
description, is characterized by its peculiar style of colouring,
as indicated above. Otherwise it is very intimately allied to
the Common Snipe, of which it might be supposed a variety,
were the colouring of all the individuals hitherto obtained
not the same. It cannot be better introduced to notice than
in the words of its first describer, the late Mr. Vigors, who
announced its discovery in the fourteenth volume of the
Transactions of the Linnsean Society : —

" This species is at once distinguished from every other
European species of Scolopax, by the total absence of white
from its plumage, or of any of those lighter tints of ferru-
ginous yellow, which extend more or less in stripes along
the head and back of them all. In this respect it exhibits
a strong resemblance to the Scolopax saturata of Dr. Horse-

378 SCOLOPAX SABINI.

field, from which, however, it sufficiently differs in its general
proportions ; and I find no description of any other extra-
European species of true Scolopax which at all approaches
it in this character of its plumage. In the number of the
tail-feathers, again, which amount to twelve, it differs from
Scolopax major, which has sixteen, and agrees with Scolopax
Gallinula, which also has hut twelve ; hut it never can be con-
founded with that bird, from the great disproportion between
the essential characters of both, the bill alone of Scolopax
Sabini exceeding that of the latter species by one-third of its
length. In the relative length and strength of the tarsi, it
equally differs from all. These members, although stouter
than those of Scolopax Gallinago, fall short of them by
three-twentieths of an inch : they are much weaker, on the
other hand, than those of Scolopax major, although they
nearly equal them in length. In general appearance it bears
a greater resemblance to Scolopax rusticola than to the other
European Scolopaces, but it may be immediately recognized
as belonging to a different station in the genus ; the two
exterior toes being united at the base for a short distance, as
in the greater number of the congeneric species ; while those
of Scolopax rusticola are divided to the origin."

" This bird was shot in the Queen's County, in Ireland,
by the Rev. Charles Doyne, of Portarlington, in that county,
on the 21st of August, 1822, and was obligingly communi-
cated to me the same day. I have named the species in
honour of the Chairman of the Zoological Club of the Lin-
nsean Society, whose zeal and ability have thrown so much
light upon the ornithology of the British Islands."

Another individual is announced by Mr. Vigors in a
note : — " Since this communication was read to the Society,
I have been enabled to record a second instance of this bird
having been met with in the British Islands. On the 26th
of October, 1824, a female of this species was shot on the
banks of the Medway, near Rochester, and is preserved in
the valuable collection of Mr. Dunning, of Maidstone. The
specimen was kindly communicated to me by that gentleman,
and was exhibited to the Zoological Club on the 23rd of
November, 1824. It accords in every particular with the

SABINE'S SNIPE. 379

specimen first obtained, with the exception of being some-
what smaller. This difference of size most probably indicates
the difference of sex."

Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, afterwards exhibited to the
Zoological Society of London a second Irish specimen, shot
by Captain Bontram, in the end of 1827, about a mile from
Garvagh, in the county of Londonderry. In 1833, Mr.
Selby " received a fresh specimen of this rare Snipe from
Morpeth, possessing all the characteristics of Mr. Vigors's
bird. The under parts, perhaps, a little darker, having
fewer bars or undulations of the lighter tint." Several
specimens are mentioned by Mr. Thompson as occurring in
various parts of Ireland, all the individuals recorded by him
as occurring in that country amounting to ten. " Not so
many," he continues, " have been procured in England, and
in Scotland none at all. (Jard., Macg.) This bird is not
known out of the British Islands, and there only as one of
which a few individuals have fallen beneath the guns of
Snipe-shooters." Mr. Thompson mentions two specimens
having thirteen tail-feathers, the true number being thus, no
doubt, fourteen, as in Scolopax Gallinago.

380

SCOLOPAX GALLINULA. THE JACK SNIPE.

JUDCOCK. JID.

Scolopax Gailinula. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 244.

Scolopax Gailinula. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 715.

Jack Snipe. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Becassine Sonrde. Scolopax Gailinula. Temni. Man. d'Oniith. II. 678.

Scolopax Gailinula. Jack Snipe. Flem. Brit. Anim. 106.

Jack Snipe. Scolopax Gailinula. Selb. Illustr. II. 125.

Scolopax Gailinula. Jack Snipe. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 206.

Gallinago Gailinula. Bonap. Comp. List, 52.

Tail pointed, of twelve feathers ; secondary quills acutely
pointed; bill about a fourth longer than the head. A longi-
tudinal black band, slightly variegated with red on the head,
and on each side a reddish-white band, in part divided by a
dusky line; on the back three longitudinal bands of black
glossed with purple and green and variegated with red, and
four bands of pale yellowish-red; sides longitudinally streaked
with brown, axillar feathers white, with some faint grey
elongated lines.

Male. — This species, the smallest of those that occur in
Britain, is nearly of the same form as the last, having the
body compact and rather full, the neck of moderate length,
the head much compressed and rounded above. The bill is
proportionally shorter and stouter at the base, being only
about a fourth longer than the head, straight, nearly twice
as high as broad at the commencement, but suddenly nar-
rowing, and toward the end depressed ; the upper mandible
with the ridge narrow but obtuse, toward the end sulcate,
the lateral groove extending nearly to the end, the edges
sharp but soft and inflected, the tip blunt ; the lower man-
dible with the angle extending almost to the tip, the sides

JACK SNIPE. 381

erect, the edges soft, the point blunt. The tongue is an
inch and ten-twelfths long, slender, soft, thin, canaliculate
above, horny beneath, acutely pointed. Along the whole
length of the upper jaw is a double series of short, pointed,
reversed papillse ; the oesophagus is three inches and a
quarter in length.

The eyes are moderate, their aperture being two-twelfths
and a half. That of the car is large, being three-twelfths.
The nostril is very small, linear-oblong, only one-twelfth
long. The legs are rather short ; the tibia bare for a third
of an inch; the tarsus short, with eighteen scutella. The
hind toe has six, the inner eighteen, the third thirty, the
fourth twenty-six scutella ; the fore toes entirely separated.
The claws are small, arcuato-declinate, much compressed,
laterally concave at the base, pointed.

The plumage is moderately compact; the feathers oblong;
those of the fore part of the back and the scapulars much
elongated. The wings rather long, of twenty-five quills ;
the primaries slightly incurved, the first longest ; the secon-
daries incurved, acuminate, the inner straight, elongated,
tapering. The tail is short, of twelve narrow, pointed
feathers.

Bill greyish-blue at the base, dusky in the rest of its
extent, but with two-thirds of the ridge flesh-coloured.
Trides dark brown. Feet pale greenish-blue ; claws brownish-
black. From the bill to the nape a brownish-black band, at
first very narrow and gradually enlarging, all the feathers
slightly margined with brownish-red ; on each side from the
bill to the nape a broad band of reddish-white, in part
divided by a dusky line ; a dusky loral band, then a band of
reddish-white to behind the eye, and another of dusky. The
throat is reddish-white ; the neck all round variegated with
reddish-white and dusky. The elongated feathers of the
back and the scapulars are deep black partly glossed with
purple, variegated with light red, externally broadly mar-
gined with pale yellowish-red, internally with glossy green.
There are thus four longitudinal pale red bands on the back.
Along the middle of the hind part of the back the feathers
are small, black glossed with purple, and very narrowly

382 SCOLOPAX GALLINULA.

tipped with greyish-Avhite, which latter is the prevailing
colour on the sides of the back. The upper tail-coverts and
rump-feathers are dusky, variegated with light red, and
broadly margined with pale yellowish-red. The tail-feathers
are dusky, on the outer web toward the end undulated with
dull light red, all margined with light red. The wings are
dusky ; the coverts and quills tipped with greyish-white, the
middle coverts with reddish ; the inner secondaries and their
coverts barred with light red on the outer web. The breast
and abdomen are white ; the upper part of the sides streaked
with dusky and red ; the loAver tail-coverts with a slight
reddish central streak. The lower wing-coverts deep grey,
edged with greyish- white.

Length to end of tail 8^ inches ; extent of wings 144 ;
bill along the ridge l^V, along the edge of lower mandible
1^- ; wing from flexure 4^ ; tail 2-fe ', tarsus \^ ; hind toe
-fe, its claw -y^- ; second toe T6Y, its claw T2-j ; third toe 1TV,
its claw -^ ; fourth toe \±, its claw -f^.

Female. — The female resembles the male.

Habits. — The Jack Snipe arrives about the beginning of
October, sometimes earlier, and departs in March. It is
generally dispersed over the country, residing in marshy
places, by the margins of rivers and lakes, in ditches, and,
in short, in the same kind of places as our Common Snipe.
Unless occasionally in time of snow, when attracted by
unfrozen patches of water, individuals never congregate, this
species being more solitary than even the other.

Although not nearly so numerous, it is not at all rare in
many districts, and is generally dispersed over Britain. In
Scotland the proportion of Jack Snipes to Common Snipes
cannot, I think, be greater than as one to a hundred ; but
in Ireland, according to Mr. Thompson, who calculates from
actual facts, Jack Snipes would seem to be in the proportion
of about one-fourth to the common species." He states that
it has " greatly increased in numbers of late years in the
north of Ireland ; and gives, from Mr. E. Jackson, game-
keeper, several instances of its breeding in that country. In

JACK SNIPE. 383

Scotland and England it lias only, in a very few instances,
been known to breed.

It is considered a lazy bird, as it seldom rises until one is
close upon it ; but this is scarcely an indication of sluggish-
ness, and may rather be attributed to a desire of concealing
itself in the apprehension of danger. On being raised or
flushed, as the sportsmen say, it flies off" low, in a slightly
zigzag manner, and without emitting any cry, until about
seventy or eighty yards distant, when it ascends, generally
proceeds but a short way, and comes down with rapidity in
the first suitable place that occurs.

As to its distribution on the continent, it will suffice to
state that, according to various authorities, it extends from
Norway to the south of Europe, and has been found in some
parts of Asia. Its habits in the breeding season are not
described. Mr. Yarrell states that " the egg is of a yellowish-
olive, the larger end spotted with two shades of brown ; the
length of the egg one inch three lines, by ten lines in
breadth."

Young. — The young in winter differ from the old birds
only in having much less glossy purple and green on the
back.

Remarks. — Independently of colour and size, this species
is easily distinguished from any other by its cuneate tail and
acuminate secondary quills. M. Temminck and some others
assert that it occurs in North America ; but this statement is
erroneous.

384

RUSTICOLA. WOODCOCK.

The Woodcocks differ from the Snipes in having the
body fuller, the tibia? feathered to the joint, the tarsi shorter,
the wings broader, and the bill firmer and less scrobicular.
Their habits, although essentially similar, are in some re-
spects different. These birds are also of larger size than the
Snipes. The head is of moderate size, very convex above,
not much compressed, with the eyes rather large, placed
very high and farther back than usual.

Bill longer than the head, straight, slender, tapering,
compressed, with both mandibles grooved nearly to the end,
scarcely enlarged there, scrobiculate beyond the middle, with
the tips hard and obtuse, the upper projecting beneath into
a considerable sulcate knob, into the depression behind
which that of the lower is received.

Mouth very narrow; its roof with series of reversed
pointed papillae. Tongue very long, slender, channelled
above, tapering to a point. (Esophagus rather narrow, with
an oblong proventriculus ; stomach roundish, very muscular,
with dense rugous epithelium ; intestine of moderate length
and width ; coeca moderate, cylindrical.

Nostrils sub-basal, sub-linear. Eyes rather large ; as are
the apertures of the ears. Legs short, rather strong ; tibia
feathered in its whole length ; tarsus roundish, with very
broad anterior seutella; first toe small, a little above the
level of the anterior, of which the medial is long, compressed,
marginate, the outer a little longer than the inner ; claws
short, obtuse, that of the middle toe only being of moderate
length and rather acute.

Plumage firm. Wings long, broad, pointed; the first
quill slightly longer than the second; the outer primaries
considerably incurvate, all the primaries rounded at the

RUSTICOLA. WOODCOCK. 385

end ; the inner secondaries broad and not much elongated.
Tail short, rounded.

These birds inhabit marshy places, moors, and woods ;
rest for the most part by clay, and at night search for food
in the same manner as the Snipes, by thrusting their bill
into the mud or soft earth. Their nest is slightly con-
structed ; the eggs four, pyriform, but less so than those of
the Snipes, and blotched with dusky.

H B

386

RUSTICOLA SYLVESTRIS. THE COMMON
WOODCOCK.

Fig. 32.

Scolopax Eusticola. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 243.

Scolopax Eusticola. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 713.

"Woodcock. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Becasse ordinaire. Scolopax Eusticola. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 673.

Scolopax Eusticola. Woodcock. Flera. Brit. Anim. 105.

"Woodcock. Scolopax rusticola. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 107.

Scolopax Eusticola. Woodcock. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 204.

Scolopax Eusticola. Bonap. Comp. List, 53.

Upper parts variegated with blackish-brown, chestnut-red,
and pale brownish-yellow ; lower parts yellowish-grey, barred
with brown.

Male. — A great favourite with the sportsman, and in
several other respects one of the most interesting of the
Grallatorial birds, the Woodcock demands special attention
from the ornithologist, whose descriptions, however, ought
not on any occasion to degenerate into such statements as
have reference solely or principally to the mode of procuring
game, and the quantities of it obtained. A sportsman's
diary is not an ornithologist's guide-book, although it may

COMMON WOODCOCK. 387

supply useful particulars. They who separate the Wood-
cock generically from the Snipes do well ; for it has a more
bulky form, with shorter limbs, a larger and less com-
pressed head.

The bill is about half as long as the head, slender,
straight, tapering and compressed for half its length, then
sub-cylindrical or slightly depressed, scarcely at all enlarged
toward the end, scrobiculate in its terminal half, but incon-
spicuously; upper mandible with the nasal grooves filled
with a membrane at the base, extending to near the end ;
the ridge, at first narrow and convex, becoming broader
toward the end, with a medial groove ; the tip hard and
obtuse, with a prominence beneath ; lower mandible with
the sides sloping outwards, and having a shallow groove in
the greater part of their extent; the tip depressed and
obtuse.

The mouth is very narrow ; the palate with several rows
of very small pointed, reversed papillae ; the oesophagus
narrow ; the stomach a roundish, compressed, muscular
gizzard ; the intestine of moderate length ; the cceca rather
long and cylindrical.

Nostrils basal, sub-marginal, small, linear. Eyes rather
large, placed higher and far back. Apertures of ears rather
large. Legs short ; tibia feathered to the joint ; tarsus
rather stout, roundish, with about fifteen very broad scu-
tella, the sides reticulated, the hind part with two series of
very small scales. The hind toe small, not much above the
level of the rest, and with a short, convex, obtuse claw ; the
anterior toes compressed, the medial greatly exceeding the
lateral, and with a much longer, gently arched, compressed,
rather acute claw ; the outer toe a little longer than the
inner, with a shorter, more curved claw.

The plumage is rather firm and compact ; the feathers
broadly rounded. The wings are long, rather broad; the
quills twenty ; the primaries rather broad and rounded ; the
outer considerably incurvate ; the first and second of about
equal length, the rest slowly decreasing; the inner secon-
daries not much elongated, broad, and rounded. Tail short;
rounded, of twelve rather soft feathers.

388 RUSTICOLA SYLVESTRIS.

The bill is flesh-colour, tinged with bluish-grey, becoming
dusky toward the end ; the feet livid flesh-colour ; the claws
brown. The plumage, which is intricately coloured, may be
described as variegated on the upper parts with blackish,
brown, chestnut-red, grey, and pale brownish-yellow\ The
forehead is grey or yellowish-grey ; the upper and hind part
of the head very deep brown or blackish-brown, with three
transverse narrow pale red bands. There is a distinct
blackish-brown loral band. The sides and fore part of the
neck are light yellowish-brown, fading on the breast, and
changing on the abdomen into pale yellowish-grey ; all with
narrow transverse bars of dusky brown ; the lower wing-
coverts and axillar feathers similar. On the lower part of
the side of the neck is a large patch of blackish-brown ; the
wing-coverts are chestnut-red, barred with grey and dusky ;
the rump and upper tail-coverts of a lighter red, also barred
with dusky. Primary quills, their coverts, and the alula
brownish-black, barred on the outer web with triangular
spots of light red, paler or whitish, and often continuous, on
the first quill, and on the inner web marginally barred with
paler red. The first primary covert stiff and pointed. Tail-
feathers brownish-black, marginally barred with red, and
having a large round terminal spot, which is grey above and
white beneath.

Length to end of tail 13^ inches ; extent of wings 24 ;
wing from the flexure 7^ ; bill along the ridge 1-fV ; tarsus
1-j^- ; hind toe y5¥, its claw -^ ; middle toe 1T4¥, its claw -fa.

Female. — Larger than the male ; similarly coloured, but
with little or no grey on the back ; the lower parts of a
redder tint ; the outer web of the first quill barred in its
whole extent.

Length to end of tail 14^ inches ; extent of wings 25 ;
wing from flexure 8j ; bill along the ridge 2T87; tarsus 1-fV;
hind toe -fa, its claw T'Y ; middle toe 1^, its claw -fe,

Variations. — Individuals vary considerably in the tints
of their plumage. Some have been seen of a yellowish-grey
colour, faintly mottled with darker ; and others with v\ hite

COMMON WOODCOCK. 389

patches. Some entirely white individuals are also recorded.
They also vary much in size.

Habits. — Several excellent accounts of the habits of the
Woodcock have been given by British writers, especially by
Mr. Selby, Mr. Yarrell, and Mr. Thompson. This celebrated
bird arrives on our eastern coasts, often in very great
numbers, in the end of September and the beginning of
October. It has been met with at that season along the
whole extent of coast from Caithness to the Land's End.
Although, in correspondence with a fancied course of mi-
gration", it has been stated that Woodcocks are more abun-
dant in the south of England and Ireland, and generally
arrive at an earlier period in the southern than in the
northern parts of England, it does not appear, from recorded
facts, that this is the case. In Shetland, although they
arrive sometimes as early as anywhere else, they seldom
remain long, these islands being not well adapted to their
habits, but are supposed to proceed southward. In Orkney
they are said, in mild winters, to remain until the period of
their spring migration. In Lewis and Harris they appear
early in October, sometimes not till near the end of that
month, and continue there all the winter, although there is
no wood in these islands. One could hardly suspect their
presence there in any considerable numbers, as they are
seldom met with ; but one very severe winter, when the
snow lay many weeks on the ground, and vast numbers of
Rock Pigeons, Thrushes, and other birds were to be seen
lying dead, the frozen brooks presented surprising quantities
of Woodcocks that had perished from want of food. All
along the east coast of Scotland they alight at the season of
the autumnal migration, generally pass a few days not far
from the shore, and then proceed inward. In winter and
early spring scarcely any are to be found there, they having
retired into the interior, where they are most plentiful in the
wooded tracts in the hilly districts. As they have never
been seen arriving on our coasts, nor setting out from them
on their northward migration, it is concluded that they
travel by night. Mr. Selby, however, says : — " A respect-

390 RUSTICOLA SYLVESTRIS.

able person who lived upon the coast, and who, being a keen
pursuer of wild fowl, was in the habit of frequenting the
sea-shore at an early hour in the morning, assured me that
he had more than once noticed the arrival of a flight of
Woodcocks coming from the north-east just at day-dawn.
His notice was first attracted by a peculiar sound in the air
over his head, that, upon attending to, he found proceeding
from birds descending in a direction almost perpendicular ;
and which, upon approaching the shore, separated and flew
towards the interior." Some of them which alighted in
hedges not far off he pursued and shot, and found them to
be what he had supposed. Mr. Selby infers from the above
statement that " they fly at a considerable altitude, to avoid,
it is presumed, the currents of air so frequent near the
surface of the earth." Mr. St. John remarks : — " No bird
seems less adapted for a long flight across the sea than the
Woodcock, and it is only by taking advantage of a favour-
able wind that they can accomplish their passage. An
intelligent master of a ship once told me, that in his voyage
to and from Norway and Sweden he has frequently seen
them, tired and exhausted, pitch for a moment or two with
outspread wings in the smooth water in the ship's wake ;
and having rested themselves for a few moments, continue
their weary journey."

I do not see why writers on birds do not give the names
of the " respectable persons " and " intelligent masters of
ships " from whom they obtain information. When a lord,
baronet, squire, or even a poor professor supplies a fact, of
little value it may be, his name, title, and designation are
carefully recorded. But the Woodcock, which receives no
favours from respectable persons more than poachers, tries
to conceal itself the best way it can, all day long, in some
thicket or wood, resting quietly under a bush or tree, until
toward night, when it leaves its retreat and flies off to some
neighbouring field, meadow, or moor to search for food.
During the day it sits very close, and is not in general to be
flushed without the aid of a dog, or beating the bushes.
When it has cleared the trees, it flies off in an easy manner,
and requires no particular dexterity to shoot it. Frequently

COMMON WOODCOCK. 391

it flies to no great distance, for, whenever a suitable spot
presents itself, it drops suddenly down, and looks for a place
of repose. Woodcocks, hoAvever, do not always doze all day
long ; for I have more than once found them in full activity,
searching for food, along brooks and ditches, in woods and
by hedges.

The common earth-worm appears to be the favourite food
of this bird. To obtain it the bill is thrust into the ground
to its full length, as appears from the holes made where it
has been feeding. Coleopterous insects are also found in its
stomach, and sometimes vegetable fibres. According to M.
Lesson, " the Woodcocks live on insects, worms, slugs, and
other small animals ; for which they search among the grass
and in moist ground, or beneath fallen leaves." The ordinary
flight of the Woodcock is moderately quick, sedate, and
unlike that of the Snipe, which is rapid, undulated, and,
performed by quick beats of the wings. It walks with ease,
and on occasions quickly ; but is not addicted to running or
much wading, although it readily goes into the water.

It forms its nest in various situations — in woods, about
the margins of thickets, or in open places. It is a slight
hollow, lined with bits of twigs and leaves. The eggs, four
in number, are obtusely pyriform, an inch and three-fourths
in length, an inch and a third in breadth, yellowish-white,
clouded and spotted with grey and reddish-brown or dusky.
Very considerable numbers breed in Scotland, as well as in
England ; fewer in the latter country, it would appear.
Previous to the beginning of the present century, either the
bird did not breed with us, or it had been considered alto-
gether migratory ; and reports as to nest or young were
neglected. But of late years so many instances have been
recorded, that we cannot doubt its perennial residence in
Britain, and have ceased to consider a Woodcock's nest as a
wonderful thing. Indeed, many more cases are known than
have been recorded of the Redshank. Sir F. Mackenzie sent
to the Zoological Society, in July, 1832, an account of the
breeding of some Woodcocks at Conan, in Ross-shire. In
the Magazine of Natural History for 1837, are accounts of
Woodcocks breeding at Brahan Castle, in the same county,

392 RUSTICOLA SVLVESTMS.

and at Castle Forbes, in Aberdeenshire. The Rev. Mr.
Gordon states that " some pairs breed in the larger woods
(of Moray), as at Darnaway and at Cawdor." At the latter
place a nest was found " on the ground at the foot of a fir
tree, formed of the leaves of the Scots fir, and with four
eggs." I have been favoured with interesting statements by
the Rev. Mr. Smith, and Mr. Burnet of Kemnay.

" During the day-time," Mr. Smith writes, " the Wood-
cock repairs to the elevated and dry parts of the woods,
where it reposes snugly beneath the stunted Scottish firs, to
which it seems partial, — probably because the ground below
them is generally less damp than that below the spruce and
other kinds of fir. The Hill of Alvah, towards its summit,
is surrounded by a belt of stunted and bush-like firs of this
kind, beneath which the ground is dry and comparatively
warm. I recollect once accompanying Lord Fife's game-
keeper to this particular spot, and in the course of going
round the hill, in the line of these firs, we raised at least
twenty Woodcocks. On being alarmed, they uttered, if I
mistake not, a rather sharp quack, consisting of two notes.
During unusually severe weather, the Woodcock, contrary
to his habits when the season is of an ordinary character,
may sometimes be observed, during the day, feeding at such
small springs and boggy patches in the woods as have
yielded to the frost. This operation he performs by boring
to a great depth with his bill in the mud. While he is thus
employed, his head is driven backward and forward with a
rapidity which, to one who has not witnessed the perform-
ance, would almost exceed belief. So soon, however, as he
becomes aware of your presence, he ceases his efforts, draws
in his bill upon his breast, lowers his shoulders, squats close
upon the ground, and continues perfectly motionless. In
such a position, it is not a little difficult to distinguish him
from the hues of the surrounding ground, covered as it gene-
rally is by ferns, and such withered leaves as, in their
winter tints, harmonize remarkably with the colours of his
plumage."

Mr. Burnet's statement is as follows : — " In my neigh-
bourhood the Woodcock is not uncommon, especially in the

COMMON WOODCOCK. 393

woods about the Barmkin of Edit and the Loch of Skene.
At night I have sometimes raised it on elevated moors. In
some seasons, however, it is more abundant than in others.
In the spring there seems an accession to their numbers,
and from April to the end of July they are to be seen every
night passing, sometimes in small parties of old and young,
over the tree tops in the woods they frequent. They fly
steadily and rapidly on such occasions, uttering a sound like
the word vessop, accompanied by several strange low croaks,
like those of a frog. I have seen some briskly pass me one
evening within a small space at the edge of a planting. In
these motions they seem to take regular rounds, passing the
same spots for many successive nights, as I have taken pains
to observe. They breed twice in the year : first, very early,
as I got remains of a young bird pretty far fledged in the
month of April. The only nest I ever got was in a thick
plantation, near the Loch of Skene, on July 1st, the bird
fluttering off at my feet as if wounded. There was merely a
cavity at the root of a tree, with a few rir leaves in a sort of
form. The four eggs I presented to you. In the bilberry
season the Woodcock resorts to the places where that fruit
grows, and eats great quantities of it. Its dung has then
the purple colour of that of all birds feeding on the same
berry. This species leaves our part of the country about the
month of August, few or none being found betwixt that and
the beginning of October."

The eggs alluded to are broadly ovate, rather pointed,
not depressed at the broader end ; the largest an inch and
ten-twelfths in length, an inch and five-twelfths in breadth ;
the smallest an inch and nine-twelfths by an inch and four-
twelfths ; pale yellowish-grey, densely blotched and spotted
with umber-brown and purplish-grey at the larger end,
sparsely over the other parts, with some faint purplish-grey
markings.

Mr. St. John's account of the Woodcock as observed in
Morayshire is less that of a mere sportsman than of a lover
of nature and an observer of the habits of birds. After
stating that a nest with three eggs was brought to him on
the 9th of March, 1846, and that in the second week of

394 RUSTICOLA SYLVESTKIS.

April a boy brought him a young bird nearly fledged, he
remarks that it must be about the first bird to hatch in the
country. " A few years ago it was supposed that none re-
mained in Britain after the end of winter, except a few
wounded birds, which were unable to cross the sea to their
usual breeding-places. However, since the great increase of
fir plantations, great numbers remain to breed. In the
woods of Altyre and Darnaway, as well as in all the other
extensive plantations in the country, during the whole
spring and summer, I see the Woodcocks flying to and fro
every evening in considerable numbers. As early as six or
seven o'clock they begin to fly, uttering their curious cry,
which resembles more the croak of a frog than anything
else ; varied, however, by a short shrill chirp. Down the
shaded course of the river, or through the avenues and
glades of the forest, already dark from the shadow of the
pine-trees, the Woodcocks keep up a continual flight, passing
and repassing in all directions, as if in search of each other.
As the twilight comes on, in the open part of the country*
they leave the shade of the woods, and fly down to the
swamps and pools near the sea -shore and elsewhere to feed
during the night. When watching in the evening for wild
Ducks or Geese near the swamps by the shore, I have con-
stantly seen them pitch close to me, and commence feeding
in their peculiar manner. These birds must probably come
from the Altyre woods, the nearest point of which is at a
distance of two or three miles. In the evening the Wood-
cock's flight is rapid and steady, instead of being uncertain
and owl-like, as it often is in the bright sunshine. I con-
sider their vision to be peculiarly adapted to the twilight,
and even to the darker hours of night, this being the bird's
feeding time. In very severe and protracted snow-storms
and frosts I have seen them feeding at the springs during
the day-time ; but in moderate weather they pass all the
light hours in the solitary recesses of the quietest parts of
the woods, although occasionally one will remain all day in
the swamp, or near the springs on the hill-side, where he
had been feeding during the night."

Several statements have been made, from which it would

COMMON WOODCOCK. 395

appear that the Woodcock, habitually or occasionally, carries
its young from one place to another — some say with its bill,
others with its feet, the latter mode of conveyance more
numerously attested than the former ; but more observations
are necessary on this point.

Woodcocks vary much in size and remarkably in weight,
from seven or eight, it is stated, to twenty or even more
ounces. As an article of food or of luxurious gastric indul-
gence, no bird is held in more estimation; and in this
respect it deserves all the encomiums bestowed upon it. Its
price is accordingly high, and poor people are neither per-
mitted to shoot nor can afford to eat Woodcocks, which are
quite aristocratic in their final tendencies. They afford
prime sport, too, to idle people, who expatiate with delight
upon the pleasures of " cock-shooting." It is very inte-
resting, it would appear, to be informed that the Earl of
Claremont shot fifty couple in one day, Captain Donnan
thirty, and a field-officer of the Tipperary Militia saw fifty
couple bagged by an acquaintance. This happened in Ire-
land, where, if shooting Woodcocks would prevent people
from shooting each other, it would be politic and humane to
give " the finest peasantry " in the world the free range of
the bogs and thickets, and set the gentry to dig potatoes or
preach popery out of the island.

The Woodcock is, properly, a regular winter resident in
Great Britain and Ireland ; and it does not appear that the
number of those which make their abode there in summer
and breed, bears any considerable proportion to that of the
individuals which leave us in spring for the northern parts
of Europe. They depart in March, and in the end of that
month or the beginning of the next arrive in Scandinavia,
some of them proceeding to the extreme north. They are
also said to breed in Russia and Siberia ; some in various
more southern countries. Their southern migration extends
to Egypt and Cashmere. They are also stated to inhabit
various parts of India. This species has not hitherto been
observed anywhere in America ; but in the northern parts of
that continent a smaller Woodcock occurs, to which, on
account of its shorter rounded wings and some other pecu-

396 RUSTICOLA SYLVESTIUS.

liarities, a separate genus has been assigned. It is named
Microptera Americana, and was by Linnaeus called Scolopax
minor.

Young. — The young when fledged differ from the adult
only in having the tints deeper.

Remarks. — The second quill is said by some authors to
be longer than the first. I find it very slightly shorter ;
and if these quills, which are considerably incurvate, be
straightened, the first becomes decidedly longer.

397

XV. ACUPATORES. STALKERS.

Stately and sedate birds, as most of those which constitute
this order are, they differ as much from the rambling and
lively Tentatorial tribes as can well be conceived. Many of
them are of a very large size, some quite small, the majority
of moderate dimensions. Their body is much compressed,
sometimes rather robust, generally light, and often very thin.
The head oblong, compressed, flattened above. The bill is
large, generally compressed, and conical, but varying con-
siderably in form, and sometimes elongated, tapering, sub-
cylindrical, or flattened and expanded at the end.

Their digestive organs, adapted for animal food, and
especially for fishes and reptiles, differ from those of the pre-
ceding orders : the oesophagus being wide ; the stomach large,
roundish, with the muscular coat thin, the epithelium soft ;
the intestine very long and narrow ; the cceca wanting or
small.

The legs are usually long and slender ; the tibia bare to
a large extent ; the tarsus generally scutellate ; the toes four,
the hind toe large, and placed on the same level as the rest.

The plumage is various, mostly rather loose, with some
of the feathers elongated, and having .disunited filaments.
The wings large and broad ; the tail short.

These birds feed on fishes, reptiles, Crustacea, and othei
aquatic animals. They frequent the shores of the sea, estu-
aries, rivers, and lakes, or reside in marshy places, among the
rank herbage. Their flight is light or buoyant, but mostly
slow. They walk in a sedate and rather graceful manner,
often wade upon the mud and sand, and sometimes stand for

398 AUCUPATORES. STALKERS.

hours in the water, watching for their prey. Most of them
are shy and suspicious, either removing- by flight from the
approach of man, or concealing themselves among the herbage.
They form very large, generally slovenly and flat nests, which
they place on the ground or on trees, and lay few, from two
to five, light-coloured eggs. The young, at first scantily
clothed with down, remain in the nest or its neighbourhood,
until able to fly.

The Herons, Ardeinae, the typical birds of this order, are
in external aspect very distinct from all the other Grallato-
rial tribes; but the Tantalinse, the only other birds belonging
to it, have some affinity to the Tringinse, and resemble the
Curlews. The species are much more numerous in tropical
than in temperate countries ; but even in the colder some
occur, at least in the breeding season. Most of them are
more or less migratory, and some perform long journeys.
Very few are permanently resident in Britain ; but, with
stragglers, we make up a pretty considerable list.

399

AKDEIN^.

HERONS AND ALLIED SPECIES.

The genera which collectively constitute the family of
Ardeinse are Ciconia, Argala, Mycteria, Ardea, Egretta,
Nycterodius, Botaurus, Anastomus, Scopus, Cancroma, and
some others formed of sections of the genus Ardea of the
older writers, that is, of those who nourished thirty or forty
years ago. It is chiefly in the skeleton, digestive organs,
wings, and feet that these genera present easily appreciable
characters of general application. The hill, although differing
little in form in three-fourths of the genera, varies consider-
ably, even in them, as to length, thickness, and other circum-
stances ; and in the rest exhibits remarkable peculiarities.

A Heron at first sight seems to have little affinity to the
other groups of the birds usually called Waders or Gralla-
tores ; but a closer inspection discloses gradations of specific
forms by which it is connected with them. Thus, our
common Heron is obviously allied to the common Stork.
This latter is very similar in form and plumage to Anas-
tomus, which, however, has the bill considerably modified,
and the toes and claws longer; Anastomus resembles (Edi-
cnemus magnirostris in its bill, and does not differ widely from
it in plumage. Now (Edicnemus belongs to the family of
Charadriinse, or Plovers, which are allied to the Bustards,
and these latter in several respects resemble the Perdicinse.
Some Cranes so much resemble Storks or Herons that most
authors have referred them to the same group, although they
present well-marked distinctive characters. In the general
form, and especially in the structure of the legs, toes, wings,

400 AKDEIN^

and tail, the connection of Ardea with Tantalus is obvious.
Even the bill of the latter has a considerable resemblance to
that of the Ardeina?, while the bareness of its head more par-
ticularly indicates an affinity to the Storks. The Tantali
almost blend with the Spoonbills and Ibises, and the latter
are scarcely distinguishable from the Curlews, which belong
to the family of Scolopacinse or Snipes. Some of the smaller
Ardeina?, of the Bittern genus, seem in structure and habits
to be related even to the Rails and Gallinules, which are of
themselves allied to some of the Rasores. But, to explain
these relations fully would require a larger space than can
well be afforded in a Avork on the birds of a particular
country. What has been said, however, will shew that the
Ardeinae are by no means so isolated as they might at first
seem to be.

In like manner, it may be remarked, the affinities of any
particular group, family, or genus of the Grallatorial Birds
might be shewn to have complex affinities with other groups.
The Herons themselves, from feeding chiefly on fish, and
having a very wide oesophagus, are allied to the piscatorial
swimming birds. But, without entering into such extended
considerations, I think it must be obvious to most persons,
who are not authors of systems founded on superficial cha-
racters, or partizans blinded by prejudice and obstinate from
pride, that internal structure must be studied before a natural
arrangement can be discovered.

The ArdeinaB cannot be defined by many characters
equally applicable to all the species. Perhaps the following
general features may afford a sufficiently definite idea of
them : —

They are birds of very large, moderate, or very small
size. The body seems large when viewed laterally, but is
much compressed, and in the smaller species extremely nar-
rowed ; the neck long and generally slender ; the head
oblong, much compressed, flattened in front. The bill is
long, straight, stout, tapering, compressed ; the upper man-
dible with its dorsal line nearly straight, the ridge broad at
the base, narrowed in the rest of its extent, the sides sloping
outwards, the edges thin, the tip acuminate. The mouth is

HERONS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 401

rather wide, and capable of being much dilated in conse-
quence of the flexibility of the crura of the lower jaw. The
palate is convex, anteriorly with two papillate ridges, and a
median prominent line which runs to the point of the man-
dible. The posterior aperture of the nares is linear. The
tongue long, slender, trigonal, tapering, sagittate at the
base, with a large pointed papilla on each side, the tip
acute. Although there is a large gular sac, the skin on the
throat is feathered. The oesophagus is very wide in its
whole length, with its walls thin, and its inner coat longi-
tudinally plicate ; the proventriculus very wide, its glands
forming a broad belt, at the upper margin of which are
numerous large mucous crypts in groups. The stomach, a
very large rounded sac, of which the muscular coat is ex-
tremely thin, and formed of very slender fasciculi, with the
inner coat thin, soft, and smooth. Attached to it is a glo-
bular pyloric lobe. The intestine is very long and extremely
narrow ; at the commencement of the rectum is an oblong
small caput coecum, but no lateral coecal appendages ; the
cloaca very large and globular.

The trachea, which is composed of numerous, very thin
rings, is considerably flattened and gradually narrowed; the
last four rings dimidiate. A pair of cleido-tracheal muscles
pass from the thyroid bone to near the middle of the furcula.
The lateral muscles, thin and slender at the upper part,
become thicker below, and extend over the whole surface
before and behind. A slip from them, on each side, extends
to the last half-ring. The bronchi are wide, of numerous
half-rings, their membrane large.

The eyes are of moderate size, generally surrounded with
a bare space. The nostrils linear, in the small nasal mem-
brane, from which a groove extends anteriorly, but in some
genera is obsolete. The aperture of the ear is small and
roundish.

The tibiae are very long, and generally bare to a great
extent ; the tarsi long and rather stout ; the toes four, of
which the first is slender, and placed nearly on a level with
the anterior, which are long and rather slender, scutellate
above, flattened beneath, and connected by basal membranes.

c c

402 ARDEENLE.

The claws are short or of moderate length, arched, generally
compressed, and pointed ; the thin edge of that of the third
toe often moderate.

The plumage is generally full, soft and blended on the
neck and lower parts, as well as on the hind part of the
back. The feathers, which vary in form, have a small down-
plumule. Those on the head, nape, lower part of the neck,
fore part of the back and scapulars, are more or less elon-
gated. The wings are very large, broad, somewhat rounded ;
some of the inner secondaries about the length of the longest
primary when the wing is closed. The tail is always short,
and of twelve or ten weak, rounded feathers.

The skeleton varies in the proportion of its parts ; but in
the common Heron, Ardea cinerea, may be briefly described
as follows : — The cranium is oblong, flattened anteriorly,
with a strong transverse ridge on the occiput ; the bony
septum between the eyes with a large vacant space ; three
large spaces filled with membrane only at the base of the
skull anteriorly. The jaws are straight and elongated ; the
nasal vacuity oblong and of small extent. The cervical ver-
tebrae are very elongated and much compressed ; the upper
five long and peculiarly articulated, the lower part of each
upper vertebra passing far over the joint behind, while the
upper anterior part of the lower vertebra passes upwards.
There are in all forty-three vertebra?, of which sixteen are
cervical, nine dorsal, eleven sacral, and seven coccygeal.
The ribs are very slender, the first rudimentary, the second
incomplete, the last two without medial processes. The
sternum is very short ; its body of moderate breadth, con-
cave, with two deep sinuses behind ; the carina very promi-
nent, thin, with a curved convex outline. The clavicles or
coracoid bones long and of moderate strength ; the furcula
articulated to the tip of the carina, of moderate width, rather
stout, with a small process projecting upwards in its angle.
The scapulee are slender and arcuate ; the humeral bone
very long and stout ; the cubital bones about a fourth
longer ; two carpal bones ; the pollical bone slender ; the
two metacarpal bones long and united at the end ; the outer
first digital bone large and broad ; the terminal bone slender ;

HERONS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 403

the inner digital bone very small. The pelvis of moderate
size, with the ischiatic bone united, the pubic bone slender and
free, unless at the base. The femur is very short ; the tibia
extremely long; the fibula slender, united, and extending
half-way down ; the tarsus long, slender, of greater breadth
than depth ; the digits long and slender ; the first toe on the
same plane, with two phalanges and a basal bone ; the
second with three ; the third with four ; the fourth five.

The skeleton thus differs considerably from that of the
Gruinse. The skull is more elongated, and flattened instead
of being convex above ; the nasal sinus short, instead of
being very long ; the upper cervical vertebra? are very long
in the Herons, short in the Cranes ; the sternum short, and
of moderate breadth in the former, long and narrow in the
latter ; the furcula articulated in the Herons, united in the
Cranes ; the pelvis moderate in the former, very large in
the latter ; besides other differences.

The affinities of the genera being complex, it is impos-
sible to arrange them in a circular or quinary order, unless a
single organ be taken as supplying characters. It is amusing
to. see those who profess to take the whole organization into
account, usually forced to confine their regards to a few
organs. Thus Mr. Swainson betakes himself to the bill ; for
although the feet in several instances, and other parts in
others, are spoken of, the bill is the only organ adduced in
all his generic characters. He has, besides, thrust among
the Ardeinse two genera, Platalea and Hoematopus, which
belong to two distinct families. None but the most super-
ficial observer could think of placing an Oyster-catcher
beside a Heron, differing as they do in structure and habits.
Hoematopus having three toes, while the rest have four, is
assumed by him as the " Grallatorial type," it being neces-
sary, in a quinary arrangement, that such should be. Yet,
not at all strange to tell, in another part of the same volume,
Hoematopus is assumed as belonging to the " Charadriadse,"
or family of Plovers. It is disheartening to find nature
thus perverted by ignorant pretenders to science, and weari-
some to point out their errors.

The Ardeina? are essentially carnivorous, and more espe-

404 ARDEIN^E.

dally ichthyophagous, as is shown by the structure of their
digestive organs, as well as by their habits. They feed also
on Crustacea, mollusca, worms, insects, occasionally reptiles,
small quadrupeds, and young birds. Those of the Stork
kind, especially if domesticated or allowed to frequent cities,
devour with Vulturine appetite any animal substance they
can find. They walk sedately, often gracefully ; wade into
shallow water in search of prey ; often stand patiently wait-
ing its arrival, when they suddenly jerk out their previously
retracted neck, seize it with their strong-pointed bill, and
generally swallow it entire. They have a quiet, seemingly
heavy, but in reality buoyant flight, capable of being pro-
tracted to great distances. Their voice is generally a harsh,
grating scream, without modulation, or a kind of guttural
croak ; but some emit a booming or drumming noise. They
nestle on the ground or on trees, often in large communities,
forming a large flat nest of twigs and other rude materials,
and lay from two to five eggs, of a broadly elliptical form,
and generally of a light greenish-blue colour. The young,
at first bare or scantily clothed with coarse down, remain in
the nest until able to fly, unless attacked, Avhen they often
leave it ; but are incapable of running with the speed of the
young Cursitores. On being pursued or surprised, the old
birds do not squat or run, but fly off. Species occur in all
countries, but are more numerous toward the equator. They
frequent marshes, the shores of lakes, rivers, and even the
sea. Only one species is common in Britain ; but eleven
others occur there, most of them as accidental or occasional
visitants.

SYNOPSIS OF TEE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. BOTAITRTJS. BlTTEItN.

Bill longer than the head, slender, straight, compressed,
tapering to a fine point, and with the edges sharp and serru-
late. Legs of moderate length ; tibia bare for a short space

HERONS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 405

only, or entirely feathered ; tarsus with very broad anterior
scutella; toes long, with long slender claws. Feathers of
the sides and lower part of the neck much elongated; on
the former directed obliquely backwards, so as to cover the
downy part of the neck behind. Wings large, with the
third and second quills longest ; tail very short, of ten soft
feathers.

1. Botauras stellaris. European Bittern. Length about
thirty inches ; one inch of the tibia bare. Plumage light
reddish-yellow, variegated with dusky; the upper part of
the head and the greater portion of the scapulars purplish-
black.

2. Botaurus lentiginosus. The American Bittern. Length
about twenty-six inches ; one inch of the tibia bare. Plumage
variegated with yellowish-brown, dark brown, and reddish ;
a broad band of brownish-yellow from the cheek to the
nape, and beneath it an oblique band of black.

3. Botaurus minutus. The Little Bittern. Length about
fourteen inches ; tibia entirely feathered. Upper part of the
head, back, scapulars, and tail glossy greenish-black ; lower
parts and smaller wing-coverts light reddish-yellow.

4. Botaurus comatus. The Squacco Bittern. Length
about eighteen inches ; tibia entirely feathered. Upper part
of the head pale yellow, with dusky lines ; an occipital
plume of long, linear, acuminate white feathers, each with
two black lines.

GENUS II. NYCTICORAX. NIGHT-HERON.

Bill scarcely longer than the head, stout, nearly straight,
compressed, tapering to a point, and with the edges sharp.
Legs of moderate length ; tibia bare for about a fourth of its
length ; tarsus scutellate above, reticulate below ; toes rather
long, with moderate compressed claws ; wings broad, with
the second and third quills longest, the first a little shorter ;
tail short, even, of twelve broad feathers

1. Nycticorax Ardeola. The Grey Night- Heron. Three
white, black-tipped, linear occipital feathers ; crown, nape,
fore part of back, and scapulars greenish-black.

406 ARDEIN^.

GENUS III. ARDEA. HERON.

Bill longer than the head, stout, straight, compressed,
tapering to a point, and with the edges sharp and serrulate.
Legs very long, rather slender ; tibia bare for more than a
third of its length ; tarsus anteriorly scutellate ; toes very
long ; claws moderately arched, compressed, acute. Wings
ample, the outer four quills nearly equal. Tail short, nearly
even, of twelve feathers.

1. Arclea cinerea. The Grey Heron. Upper parts and
sides bluish-grey ; forehead white ; pendent occipital crest
black ; fore-neck white, with longitudinal black spots.

2. Ardea purpurea. The Purple Heron. Upper parts
light greyish-blue ; edge of wing light red ; neck longitudi-
nally banded with greenish-black and light red ; tail black
toward the end.

GENUS IV. EGRETTA. EGRET.

Bill much longer than the head, strong but rather
slender, straight, compressed, tapering to a point, and with
the edges sharp and often serrulate. Legs extremely long,
slender ; tibia bare for half its length or more ; tarsus ante-
riorly scutellate ; toes long, slender ; claws arched, com-
pressed, acute. Wings ample, the outer three quills nearly
equal. Tail short, nearly even. Four longitudinal series of
very elongated feathers on the back.

1. Egretta nigrirostris. Black-billed Egret. Length about
forty-four inches. Bill black; bare preocular space verdi-
gris-green ; plumage white.

2. Egretta alba. Yellow-billed White Egret. Bill yellow ;
bare preocular space verdigris-green ; plumage white.

3. Ardea Garzetta. Little White Egret. Length about
twenty-four inches. Bill black ; bare preocular space green ;
plumage white.

4. Egretta russata. Buff-backed Egret. Hair-like fea-
thers of hind-head and neck and dorsal plumes reddish-
yellow ; fore part of breast and back pale cream-colour ; the
rest of the plumage white.

HERONS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 407

GENUS V. CICONIA. STORK.

Bill much longer than the head, straight, stout, conical,
moderately compressed. Legs very long, rather slender ;
tibia bare for about half its length ; tarsus reticulated ;
anterior toes of moderate length, webbed at the base ; claws
short, obtuse. Wings long, ample, the third quill longest.
Tail rather short, rounded.

1. Ciconia alba. White Stork. Bill and feet red; plu-
mage white ; scapulars, quills, and larger coverts black.

2. Ciconia nigra. Black Stork. Bill and feet red ; plu-
mage brownish-black, glossed with purple and green ; breast
and abdomen white.

40S

BOTAURUS. BITTERN.

The Bitterns are generally distinguishable from the other
birds of this family by the extreme compression of their
body, their shorter legs and proportionally longer claws, the
great elongation of the feathers of the neck, which is bare
behind nearly in its whole length ; their oblong, extremely
compressed head ; and very slender, straight bill. The
genus, however, is not clearly separated from the others,
into all of which it graduates. Ardea stellaris and Ardea
minor of authors may be assumed as among the most cha-
racteristic species ; while Ardea speciosa, Ardea minuta,
Ardea exilis, and other small species are allied to the Night
Herons. It is by these smaller species that an apparent
transition is made to the family of Rails, Water-hens, and
Jacanas, which they greatly resemble in form, often in
colouring, and not a little in habits, although the internal
structure of the two groups is quite distinct, there being no
blending of either the skeleton or the digestive organs. The
little Bitterns have by some been formed into a genus, to
which the name of Ardeola has been given ; but this sepa-
ration I think unnecessary. The general characters of the
Botauri seem to be the following : —

Bill longer than the head, slender, straight, compressed,
tapering to a fine point : upper mandible with the dorsal
line almost straight, being but slightly decimate toward the
end ; the ridge flattened for a short space, then narrow ; the
nasal groove deep and extending to near the end ; the sides
convex ; the edges sharp, serrulate, with a notch close to the
acute tip ; lower mandible with the angle very long and ex-
tremely narrow ; the dorsal line almost straight and slightly
ascending ; the sides slightly concave and nearly erect ; the

BOTAURUS. BITTERN.

409

tip acuminate ; the gape-line - straight, being deflected only
at the base.

Tongue long, slender, trigonal ; oesophagus very wide ;
stomach roundish, with very thin walls and a round pyloric
lobe ; intestine long, narrow ; ccecum oblong.

Nostrils linear. Eyes large. Aperture of ears rather
small. Legs of moderate length ; tibia bare for a short
space or entirely feathered ; tarsus with very broad anterior
scutella ; toes long, the first strong, the second much longer
than the fourth, the outer two connected by a small basal
web ; claws long, slender, that of the first toe stouter and
more arched, of the middle toe with the inner edge pectinate.

Plumage very full and soft ; the hind part of the neck
covered only with down, but concealed by the very elon-
gated feathers of its sides and lower part, which are directed
obliquely backwards. Wings large, of twenty-eight quills,
of Avhich the second and third are longest ; inner secondaries
nearly as long when the wing is folded. Tail very short,
nearly even, of ten soft feathers.

The Bitterns reside in marshes, and by the sides of lakes
and streams, where, in a hideling manner, they search for
reptiles, fishes, and other aquatic animals. The males, in
the breeding season, make a loud booming or bellowing
noise. The eggs, from three to five, are elliptical, of one
colour, generally grey, olivaceous, or white. The young
remain in the nest until fledged.

410

BOTAURUS STELLAHIS. THE EUROPEAN
BITTERN.

COMMON BITTERN. MIREDRUM. BUMPY-COSS. BUTTER-BUMP. BITTER-
BUM. BOG-BUMPER. BUMBLE.

Fig. 34.

Ardea stellaris. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 239.

Ardea stellaris. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 680.

Ardea stellaris. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 329.

Bittern. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Heron Grand Butor. Ardea stellaris. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 580.

Ardea stellaris. Flem. Brit. Anim. 95.

Common Bittern. Ardea stellaris. Selb. Illustr. II. 30.

Ardea stellaris. Common Bittern. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 190.

Botaurus stellaris. Bonap. Comp. List, 48.

Length about thirty inches; one inch of the tibia bare.
Adult light reddish-yellow, with the upper part of the head
and the greater portion of the scapulars purplish-black; the
rest of the upper parts transversely undidated with dusky;
the lower parts paler, with the markings on the fore-neck
larger and more brown, those along the middle of the breast
black and longitudinal. Young similar.

Male. — Although the Bittern has a very bulky appear-
ance compared with that of many other species of this
family, it is in reality a very slender bird, its size being

EUROPEAN BITTERN. 411

chiefly made up of feathers. It is much smaller and of a
less elongated form than the Grey Heron. Its body is ex-
tremely compressed behind ; the neck long and of moderate
thickness ; but both seem large on account of the elongation
and arrangement of the feathers. The head is oblong and
compressed.

The bill, which is about the same length as the head, or
a little longer, is straight, rather slender, compressed, and
tapering to a point ; the upper mandible with the dorsal line
straight for nearly two-thirds, then slightly decimate ; the
ridge flattened at the base, then narrowed and convex, the
groove extending nearly to the end ; the sides flat at the
base, little convex in the rest of their extent ; the edges
sharp, serrulate, with a notch close to the tip, which is
acute ; the lower mandible with the angle very long and
extremely narrow ; the dorsal line straight and ascending ;
the sides slightly convex ; the edges sharp, serrulate ; the
tip acuminate ; the gape-line almost straight.

Internally the upper mandible is considerably concave,
with three longitudinal ridges. The tongue is an inch and
ten-twelfths long, deeply emarginate at the base, narrow,
trigonal, tapering to the point. The oesophagus is seven-
teen inches long ; for two inches of the width of an inch and
a half, then contracting to eight-twelfths, but presently en-
larging to an inch and two-twelfths, and so continuing until
its entrance into the thorax, when it enlarges to an inch and
ten-twelfths ; its walls very thin. The stomach is large,
thin, rounded, with a roundish pyloric lobe. The intestine
is six feet seven inches in length, from three-twelfths to two-
twelfths in width ; the rectum wider, with an oblong coecal
head ; the cloaca globular. The lobes of the liver are very
unequal, and the gall-bladder is an inch and a half long,
but only three-twelfths in breadth.

The nostrils are linear, seven-and-a-half-twelfths long.
The eyes large. The aperture of the ear rather small, its
greatest diameter being four-twelfths. The feet are of
moderate length, stout ; the tibia bare for the space of only
an inch ; the tarsus with very broad scutella before, reticu-
late behind. Toes long, stout, scutellate above, flattened

412 BOTAURUS STELLARIS.

beneath ; the first strong, the second much longer than the
fourth, which is connected with the third by a small basal
web ; the first with twelve, the second twenty-two, the third
thirty-four, the fourth twenty-four scutella. The claws are
long, slender ; that of the first toe stouter and more arched,
the rest being but slightly so ; all compressed, tapering ; the
inner edge of the third pectinate, with about thirty teeth.

The plumage is very full and soft ; the feathers oblong
or ovate, obtuse, with loose margin ; those of the head and
nape oblong and elongated ; of the sides and lower part of
the neck also much elongated, and on the former directed
obliquely backwards, so to cover the hind-neck, which is
covered with down only in its whole length ; the scapulars
long, but not remarkably so ; the feathers on the hind part
of the back rather downy. The wings are large, extending
nearly to the end of the tail when closed, of twenty-eight
quills, of which the third and second are longest, the first
almost equal ; the inner secondaries nearly as long as the
outer primaries in the closed wing. The tail is very short,
nearly even, of ten soft feathers.

The bill is greenish-yellow, with the ridge of the upper
mandible brown; the bare spaces on the head greenish-
yellow ; the irides light yellow ; the legs, tarsi, and toes
anteriorly greenish-brown, posteriorly yellowish green ; the
claws brown. The upper part of the head and occiput are
purplish-black. The general colour of the plumage is light
reddish-yellow, variegated with brown and black, the mark-
ings transverse and undulated on the sides and hind part of
the neck, upper and lower wing-coverts, and the part of the
back behind the scapulars. On these and the fore part of
the back the predominant colour is black, tinged with
purple, the edges of the feathers only being indented with
yellowish-red. The quills are blackish-brown, tinged with
greyish-blue, and undulatingly barred with yellowish-red.
The tail is lighter and more narroAvly barred. On the fore-
neck the markings are larger, more brown, and assume
somewhat of a longitudinal direction. The fore part and
middle of the breast are longitudinally streaked with
brownish-black.

EUROPEAN BITTERN. 413

Length to end of tail 30 inches ; extent of wings 46 ;
bill along the ridge 3, along the lower mandible 4 ; wing
from flexure 13^ ; tail 4j ; tarsus 3-^- ; hind toe 1|4, its
claw 1-j2j ; second toe 2^, its claw 1^ • third toe 3^, its
claw 1-j2^-; fourth toe 2-jV, its claw -jV.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — The Bittern, which is said to be abundant in
most of the marshy districts on the Continent, and to have
formerly been plentiful in England, is now of rare occur-
rence in any part of Britain, and especially in Scotland,
where I have, however, seen many specimens, and even
obtained one for dissection. Montagu states that " in the
breeding season it is only found in the less frequented reedy
marshes and swampy moors well clothed with rushes, where
it forms a nest on some tump, by collecting a quantity of
sedge or other coarse plants together. It lays four or five
eggs of a light olive-green colour, inclining to cinereous.
At this season the male makes a singular bellowing noise,
vulgarly supposed to be produced by the bird putting his
bill into a reed. It is roused with difficulty from its lurking-
place, flies heavily, and frequently lights again at a small
distance ; so that it becomes an easy prey to the sportsman.
We are informed, however, that sometimes it soars to a pro-
digious height in the air with a spiral ascent, making at the
same time a singular noise. In the winter these birds leave
the more mountainous swamps, where it is probable the
greater part breed, and become more scattered in the low
moist situations ; and in severe weather, are found on the
sedgy banks of rivers and streams of water. It is, however,
become much more scarce than formerly, since its flesh has
been accounted a delicacy; and the poulterers value it at
not less than half-a-guinea. The principal food of this bird
is small fish, frogs, and insects ; the warty lizard also
becomes its prey, as we have found by dissection."

The booming or bellowing noise emitted by this bird has
given rise to a great deal of fanciful conjecture. I have
never heard it,*- and cannot pretend to account for it. Mr.

414 BOTAURUS STELLARIS.

Mudie, avIio appears to consider himself quite familiar with
it, describes it thus : — He is wandering in the twilight by
the side of a bog, and hears a rustle among the reeds,
" accompanied by the brush of a rather powerful wing.
You look round the dim horizon, but there is no bird ;
another rustle of the wing, and another, still weaker and
weaker, but not a moving thing between you and the sky
around. You feel rather disappointed — foolish, if you are
daring ; fearful, if you are timid. Anon a burst of uncouth
and savage laughter breaks over you, piercingly or rather
gratingly loud, and so unwonted and odd, that it sounds as
if the voices of a bull and a horse were combined, the former
breaking down his bellow to suit the neigh of the latter, in
mocking you from the sky. That is the love-song of the
Bittern, with which he serenades his mate; and uncouth
and harsh as it sounds to you, that mate hears it with far
more pleasure than she would the sweetest chorus of the
grove ; and when the surprise with which you are at first
taken is over, you begin to discover that there is a sort of
modulation in the singular sound. As the bird utters it he
wheels in a spiral, expanding his voice as the loops widen,
and sinking it as they close; and though you can just
dimly discover him between you and the zenith, it is worth
while to hie down on your back and watch the style of his
flight, which is as fine as it is peculiar. The sound comes
better out, too, when you are in that position ; and there is
an echo, and, as you would readily imagine, a shaking of the
ground; not that, according to the tale of the poets, the
bird thrusts his bill into the marsh, and shakes that with
his booming, though (familiar as I once was for years with
the sound and all the observable habits of Bitterns) some
kindly critic, on a former occasion, laboured to convert me
from that heresy. A quagmire would be but a sorry instru-
ment even for a Bittern's music; but when the Bittern
booms and bleats overhead, one certainly feels as if the earth
were shaking; but it is probably nothing more than the
general affection of the sentient system by the jarring upon
the ear — an affection which we more or less feel in the case
of all harsh and grating sounds, more especially when they

EUROPEAN BITTERN. 415

are new to us." What a pleasant thing it is to be able to
write copiously and with ease on a subject about which one
knows nothing ! Mr. Mudie's Bittern is evidently the off-
spring of his fine imagination, and its booming is the drum-
ming of a Snipe. That he has mistaken one thing for
another is very evident; for when attempting to describe
the noises made by the Snipe, he quite mismanages.

The Bittern is an unsocial bird, deriving its chief enjoy-
ment from an exclusive attention to its own interests ; and
thus its habits present nothing particularly pleasing. It
reposes by day, concealed among the reeds or other tall
aquatic plants, standing with its neck bent, and its head
drawn back between its shoulders. When so situated, it
alloAvs a person to come quite close upon it before it takes
wing; and when it flies off, it proceeds but to a short
distance, and then alights. It pairs in February, and at
that season has a mode of expressing its tender feelings
quite in correspondence with its uncouth manners. In the
evening twilight it rises on wing in a spiral direction, emit-
ting at intervals a bellowing noise, which, however, it also
gives out when on the ground. Its nest, which is concealed
among the long herbage is a bulky and rudely-constructed
mass of sticks, reeds, and sedges. The eggs, four or five in
number, are of a pale yellowish-green colour. The young
continue in or about the nest until they are able to fly. A
few instances of its breeding in England are given. It is
probable, however, that by far the greater number of indi-
viduals that are found in Britain are visitants only. In
some years they are said to be more numerous than in
others. Thus, Mr. Selby remarks that, in the winter of
1830, "a more than usual number of Bitterns has been
killed in various parts of the kingdom ; and I am credibly
informed, that no less than ten were exposed for sale in one
morning at Bath." Mr. Heysham also states that, " during
the months of December, January, and February last (1830-
31), no less than eight specimens of the Bittern were killed
in this part of the county (Carlisle.)" This is the more
remarkable, as only a single specimen has been met with in
the same district for the last ten or twelve years. It would

416 BOTAURIS STELLAHIS.

appear from the public journals, that about the same period
of the year others were killed in Durham, Yorkshire, Devon-
shire, &c. Sir William Jardine observes : — " In the south
of Scotland a similar comparative abundance occurred ;
several were brought to me in Dumfriesshire ; and, on a
visit to Edinburgh, it was found that the bird-preservers
there had obtained also a more than usual number of speci-
mens." Mr. Thompson, after giving a long list of specimens
killed in Ireland, remarks : — " It will have been observed
that, in the winter of 1830-31, Bitterns were more than com-
monly frequent in Dublin and the neighbouring country —
in Waterford and perhaps in Down ; thus implying an
unusual migration to the island."

The Bittern is said to visit Scandinavia in summer, and
to be found in Russia and Siberia. Thence it extends
southward over the whole of Europe, and in Asia as far as
India, China, and Japan. In our own country it is not
quite so rare as is commonly supposed. There is no recent
account of its visiting Shetland or Orkney, and I have not
heard of its occurrence in the outer Hebrides. The Rev.
Mr. Gordon says it is " occasionally met with as stragglers
about the Loch of Spynie and other marshes." I have seen
specimens obtained at the Loch of Strathbeg, in Fyvie, and
near Aberdeen, and one near Banff. The Rev. Mr. Smith
writes : — " I have known at least three specimens of the
Bittern being shot, at distant intervals, among the reeds
surrounding the Loch of Strathbeg. About eighteen years
ago, a very fine specimen was shot on the farm of Raltic,
near Banff." In the county of Kincardine it appears to be
extremely rare ; but in that of Forfar of not very unfrequent
occurrence, and especially near Forfar and on the Tay. In
the southern division of Scotland it has frequently been
killed. In England it has occurred in almost every district ;
and Mr. Thompson gives many instances of its mishaps in
Ireland. Like every other rare bird, everyone's hand is
against it. I never knew a person addicted to zoological
pursuits who did not destroy ten times more living creatures
than he needed ; and I know only one keen and accurate
observer of birds who never shot at all.

417

BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSIS. THE AMERICAN
BITTERN.

FRECKLED HEROX.

Heron lentigineux. Ardea lentiginosa. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. IV. 381.
American Bittern. Botaums Mokoho. Selby, Illustr. II. 34.
American Bittern. Ardea minor. Wils.Amer. Ornith.VIII. 35, PI. 65, f. 3.
Freckled Heron. Ardea lentiginosa. Mont. Ornith. Diet. Supplt.
Ardea Mokoho. Wagler. Syst. Avium.

American Bittern. Ardea minor. Audub. Arner. Ornith. Biogr. IV. 296.
Ardea lentiginosa. American Bittern. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 191.
Botaurus lentiginosus. Bonap. Comp. List. 48.

Length about twenty-six 'niches, one inch of the tibia bare •
the upper part of the head greyish-brown ; a light yellowish
streak over the eye, a dusky streak from behind it, a broad
band of brownish-yellow from the cheek to the nape, and
beneath it an oblique band of black; the upper parts of the
body variegated with yellowish brown, dark-brown, and red-
dish, the margin of the feathers closely undulated and trans-
versely barred; the throat white, with brown markings, the
fore part of the neck, and the lower parts of the body pale
yellowish, ivith numerous elongated streaks of reddish-brown,
dotted and edged ivith darker. Young similar, but ivith the
colours duller.

Male. — This species, although much inferior to the last
in size, bears a close resemblance to it in form, and is not
very dissimilar in colouring. Its body is extremely com-
pressed ; the neck long and thick ; the head small, oblong,
and much compressed. The bill is longer than the head,
moderately stout, much compressed, tapering to the point ;
the upper mandible with the dorsal line straight for nearly

D D

418 BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSIS.

two-thirds, then slightly decimate, the ridge broad and some-
what flattened at the base, then gradually narrowed and
convex, the nasal sinus oblong, basal, with a groove extend-
ing nearly to the end, the sides erect and flattened at the
base, convex in the middle, the edges sharp, somewhat
serrulate towards the end, the tip narrow, with a distinct
notch on each side ; the lower mandible with the angle very
long and narrow, the lower outline of the crura straight, their
sides flattened and sloping a little outwards, the dorsal line
ascending, the edges sharp, direct, obscurely serrulate, the
tip finely acuminate; the gape-line nearly straight.

Internally the upper mandible is considerably concave,
with three longitudinal ridges ; the lower deeply concave,
with its crura very elastic, so that the mouth, which measures
ten-twelfths of an inch across, may be greatly expanded.
The tongue is two inches long, slender, trigonal, flattened
above, saggitate at the base, with a single pointed papilla on
each side, its tip slender and bluntish. The oesophagus is
fifteen inches long, two inches wide at the commencement,
gradually contracting to half an inch, but within the thorax
an inch in width ; its walls extremely thin ; the proventri-
culus very wide, with a belt of oblong glandules, ten-twelfths
in breadth. The stomach is of moderate size, an inch in
diameter, roundish, membranous, with circular tendinous
spaces, and smooth inner coat. The intestine is four feet
seven inches in length, extremely narrow, its breadth in the
duodenal part being only two-twelfths, and toward the
ccecum one-twelfth and a half. The rectum, which is four
inches long, has its anterior extremity rounded, with a
minute papilliform termination. The cloaca very large and
globular.

The nostrils are linear, seven-twelfths long. The eyes
four-twelfths in breadth. The legs are rather long, and
stout ; the tibia bare for the space of an inch ; the tarsus
rather short, roundish, with about eighteen very broad
anterior scutella; the toes very long, slender, marginate,
the third and fourth connected by a basal web ; the first
large, with nine scutella, the second, which is longer than
the fourth, with eighteen, the third thirty-two, the fourth

AMERICAN BITTERN. 419

twenty-two. The claws are long, slender, compressed, taper-
ing, slightly arched ; that of the hind toe much larger and
more curved ; the inner edge of the third pectinate, with
about twenty-four teeth.

The plumage is full, soft, loose, and blended ; the feathers
oblong or ovate ; those of the head and nape oblong and
elongated ; of the sides and lower part of the neck also much
elongated, and on the former directed obliquely backwards,
so as to cover the hind neck, which is bare in its whole
length ; the scapulars oblong and rounded. The wings are
large, broad, convex, of twenty-six quills, of which the pri-
maries are broad and rounded, except the first, which is
pointed ; the third longest, the second scarcely shorter, and
but slightly exceeding the first ; the secondaries very broad
and rounded, the inner elongated so as to be about the same
length as the outer primaries when the wing is closed. The
tail is very short, nearly even, of ten soft feathers.

The bill is greenish-yellow, with the ridge of the upper
mandible brownish-black toward the end, but paler at the
base ; the bare spaces on the head brownish-yellow ; the
irides reddish yellow ; the feet dull yellowish-green ; the
claws brown. The upper part of the head and occiput are
greyish-brown. A streak of pale buff passes over the eye to
behind the ear ; a dusky band extends from behind the eye ;
the cheek and an oblique band on the neck are light brownish-
yellow ; a dusky band from the base of the lower mandible
passes under the cheek, and is continued into a black band,
which passes along the side of the neck. The fore part of
the neck is yellowish-white, the throat with a medial longi-
tudinal line of yellowish-brown spots ; on the rest of the neck
each feather has an elongated yellowish-brown medial stripe
edged with darker brown ; the lower parts of the body dull
yellowish-white, each feather with a medial brown streak ;
the abdomen and lower tail-coverts uniform dull buff. The
upper parts are yellowish-brown, variegated with dark brown
and reddish, the margins of the feathers undulatingly and
transversely barred and dotted. The wing-coverts dull red-
dish-yellow, finely undulated with dusky, the alula, primary
coverts, and quills, deep bluish-grey, with their tip barred

420 BOTAURUS LENTIGIXOSUS.

with reddish-brown, that colour gradually extending on the
secondary quills. The tail-feathers are greyish-brown, un-
dulated with reddish.

Length to end of tail 26 inches, to end of wings 25 ;
extent of wings 45; wing from flexure 12^; tail 4^; bill
along the ridge 3-^, along the edge of lower mandible 4^ ;
tarsus 3 f ; hind toe 1 j, its claw 1-^ ; second toe 2^, its claw
-j^-; third toe 3-^, its claw -^ ; fourth toe 1\^, its claw ^.

Female. — The female differs from the male only in being
somewhat smaller.

Habits. — This Bittern being a native of America, it is to
that continent that they who would describe its habits from
personal observation must betake themselves. Not having
had an opportunity of studying the bird in the living state,
although I have examined various entire specimens and skins
of it, I must have recourse to the writings of those ornitholo-
gists who are more or less familiar with it.

Mr. Audubon informs us that in winter it resides chiefly
to the southward of the United States, the only districts in
which he has then met with it being the peninsula of Florida
and its islands, and the lower parts of the valley of the
Mississippi. He says that, although it migrates by night,
and seeks its food then also, it yet occasionally at least feeds
by day. " That they are extremely timid," he continues, " I
well know, for on several occasions, when I have suddenly
come upon them, they have stood still from mere terror, until
I have knocked them down with an oar or a stick. Yet,
when wounded, and their courage is raised, they show great
willingness to defend themselves, and if in the presence of a
dog, they never fail to spread out to their full extent the
feathers of the neck, leaving its hind part bare, ruffle those
of their body, extend their wings, and strike violently at their
enemy. When seized they scratch furiously, and endeavour
to bite, so that, unless great care be taken, they may inflict
severe wounds. I never saw one of them fly farther than
thirty or forty yards at a time ; and on such occasions, their
movements were so sluggish as to give opportunities of easily

AMERICAN BITTERN. 421

shooting them ; for they generally rise within a few yards of
you, and fly off very slowly in a direct course. Their cries
at such times greatly resemble those of the Night and Yellow-
crowned Herons. My friends, Dr. Bachman and Mr. Nuttall
have both heard the love-notes of this bird. The former
says, in a letter to me, i their hoarse croakings, as if their
throats were filled with water, were heard on every side ;'
and the latter states that e instead of the bump or hoomp of
the common Bittern, their call is something like the uncouth
syllables of pump-au-gah, but uttered in the same low, bel-
lowing tone.' An egg presented by Dr. Brown, of Boston,
measures two inches in length, by one inch and a half, and is
of a broadly oval shape, rather pointed at the smaller end,
and of a uniform dull olivaceous tint."

In summer, it is said to extend as far northward as the
shores of Hudson's Bay, and, according to Dr. Richardson,
" is a common bird in the marshes and thickets of the inte-
rior of the fur countries up to the fifty-eighth parallel. Its
loud booming, exactly resembling that of the Common
Bittern of Europe, may be heard every summer evening, and
also frequently in the day. When disturbed, it utters a
hollow croaking cry," According to Hutchins, it nestles in
the swamps, laying four cinereous-green eggs. Its food is
said to consist chiefly of fishes and aquatic reptiles, and its
flesh, when in good condition, is by many considered, excel-
lent.

The first individual of this species met with in England,
was described by Montagu, who states that it " was shot by
Mr. Cunnigham, in the parish of PiddletOAvn in Dorsetshire,
in the autumn of 1804." This gentleman relates, that when
in pursuit of some pheasants, amongst the high banks,
between the broad ditches of some rich water-meadows, about
half a mile distant from the river Froome, this bird rose, and
he shot it. Mr. Cunningham further remarks, that its flight
was rather rapid, and that it made a noise something like the
tap on a drum, which induced him to believe it was the com-
mon Bittern, and as such he sent it to Colonel George, of
Penryn, in Cornwall, who at that time was making a col-
lection of birds." It was afterwards purchased by Montagu,

422 BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSIS.

and, with the rest of his collection, is now in the British
Museum.

Dr. Edward Moore, in his Catalogue of the Wading Birds
of Devonshire, in the Magazine of Natural History, vol. x.,
p. 320, says he obtained a specimen, shot at Mottrecombe,
near Plymouth, on the 22nd December, 1829. Two or three
other instances are recorded by Mr. Yarrel. In the Zoologist
for February, 1846, Mr. James Cooper, of Preston, gives an
account of one that had been killed about the 8th of Decem-
ber, 1845, in the vicinity of Fleetwood, Lancashire. About
the middle of October, 1844, one was killed on the estate of
Sir William Jardine, in Dumfriesshire. I have not heard of
any other instance of the occurrence of this species in Scot-
land. Mr. Thompson, in the Annals of Natural History,
vol. xvii., published in 1846, records its having been once
shot in Ireland, by Mr. WTm. R. Robinson, on the 12th of
November, 1845, in a bog, a mile from Armagh. It does
not appear that it has ever been met with on the Continent
of Europe.

Young. — When fully fledged, the young have the bill
greenish-yellow, with the ridge of the upper mandible brown,
darker toward the end ; the bare spaces on the head brownish-
yellow ; the feet greenish-brown, the claws light brown.
The upper part of the head is reddish-brown, with blackish
streaks ; there are the same markings on the sides of the
head and neck as in the adult, but the black band is faint ;
the fore neck is yellowish-white in its whole length, with
longitudinal series of reddish-brown streaks, mottled and
margined with darker ; the sides of the neck greyish-yellow,
with brown streaks. The other parts nearly as in the adult,
but of duller tints, the sides and tibiae more freckled.

Remarks. — Wagler states that the tail feathers are
twelve, but in all the specimens examined by me they are
ten. Individuals vary greatly in size, but little in colour.

423

BOTAURUS MINUTUS. THE LITTLE BITTERN

BOONK. LONG-NECK.

Fig. 35.

Ardea minuta. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 240.

Ardea minuta. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 683.

Little Bittern, Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Heron Blongios. Ardea minuta. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. II. 584.

Little Bittern. Botaurus minutus. Selh. Illustr. II. 36.

Ardea minuta. Little Heron. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 189.

Ardeola minuta. Bonap. Comp. List, 48.

Length about fourteen inches ; tibia entirely feathered.
Male with the upper part of the head, the back, scapulars,
and tail glossy greenish-black ; the sides of the head, the
neck, lower parts, and smaller tving-coverts light reddish-
yellow. Female similar, but with the tints less deep. Young
with the upper part of the head dark brown ; the feathers of
the back dark brown, edged with yellow ; the fore-neck yel-
loioish-white, streaked with dusky ; the sides of the head,
hind part of the neck, icing -coverts, and breast brownish-red,
streaked with dusky and brown.

424 BOTAURUS MINUTUS.

Male. — This Bittern, which is the smallest European
bird of the family of Ardeinse, is most closely allied to a still
smaller American species, Ardea exilis of Wilson, Ardeola
t xilis of the Prince of Canino, from which, considering their
form and colours, it is difficult to distinguish it. Viewed as
a British bird, however, it runs no risk of being mistaken.
Its body is extremely compressed ; the neck long ; the head
oblong and very narrow.

The bill is about a third longer than the head, slender,
but strong, straight, compressed, and tapering to a fine
point ; its upper outline decimate toward the end, the lower
straight and ascending, the edges serrulate, the tips slender
and acuminate ; the gape-line almost straight. The tongue
is an inch and two-twelfths in length, trigonal, fleshy,
grooved near the base, convex toward the end, deeply sagit-
tate at the base, with a long acute papilla on each side, the
tip acute. The oesophagus is eight inches long and very
wide ; the stomach roundish, of moderate size, with their
parietes.

The nostrils are linear ; the eyes of moderate size. The
legs rather long ; the tibia feathered almost to the joint ; the
tarsus with anterior scutella ; the toes long, slender ; the
first with eight, the second eighteen, the third twenty-eight,
the fourth twenty-two scutella ; the inner toe considerably
longer than the outer. The claws are rather long, very
slender, compressed, little arched, finely pointed, the inner
thin edge of the middle toe serrate, with about thirty teeth.

The eyelids and loral spaces are bare. The hind-neck is
destitute of feathers, or even down, of which there is none
on any part of the body, excepting two small stripes on the
fore part of the breast, and a patch on each side of the
rump. The plumage is soft and blended ; the feathers on
the upper part of the head elongated ; those on the fore-
neck of moderate length, but on the sides large and curved
backwards, so as to cover the extended bare space behind ;
and on the lower parts elongated. The wings are rather
large, of twenty-six quills ; the second longest, but scarcely
exceeding the first ; the inner secondaries much shorter than
the longest primaries when the wing is closed. The tail is

LITTLE BITTERN. 425

very short, rounded, of ten decurved feathers, which are not
stronger than the scapulars.

The hill is yellow, with the exception of the ridge and
point of the upper mandible, which are dusky. The iris
bright yellow. The feet dull greenish-yellow ; the claws
light brown. The upper part of the head, the back, scapu-
lars, and tail are glossy greenish-black ; the sides of the
head and neck yellowish-brown ; the rest of the neck of a
light ochraceous tint ; the lower parts white ; the sides
ochraceous ; the anterior feathers of the breast brownish-
black, with yellowish margins ; the lower wing-coverts
white. The smaller upper wing-coverts are ochraceous,
those next the body dark reddish-brown ; the primary coverts
black ; the secondary coverts greyish-white ; the quills black,
glossed with green, and toward the end tinged with greyish-
brown.

Length to end of tail 14^ inches ; extent of wings 22 ;
wing from flexure 6^ ; tail 2 ; bill along the ridge 2, along
the edge of lower mandible 2-^ ; bare part of tibia -f^ ;
tarsus 1-J4- ; hind toe -fy, its claw ■j'V ; second toe 1^, its
claw -fa; third toe ly^, its claw -^-, fourth toe l^, its
claw -j^-.

Female. — The female resembles the male, but has the
tints less intense, and is of somewhat smaller size.

Habits. — The Little Bittern, which is extensively dis-
tributed, having been found at the Cape of Good Hope, in
Barbary, the south-western parts of Asia, the southern
countries of Europe, and various districts of that continent,
extending as far north as Sweden, is rather of accidental or
occasional than of regular occurrence in Britain, where it
has not hitherto been observed to breed, although many in-
dividuals have been found there in summer, as well as at
other seasons. Dr. Fleming makes mention of one that was
shot at Sanda, in Orkney ; but I am not aware of its having
been obtained on any part of the mainland of Scotland,
although a few individuals are said to have been killed
in Northumberland, Yorkshire, and Cumberland. In the

426 BOTAURUS MINUTUS.

southern, and especially the south-eastern counties of Eng-
land, it has frequently hecn procured, yet not so often as to
raise it from the rank of a very rare visitant. In corre-
sponding latitudes on the continent it is a summer bird
only, inhabiting marshy places, the swampy sides of lakes
and rivers, and, in general, situations in which a profuse
vegetation of reeds, sedges, flags, or willows afford it con-
cealment, while they harbour its prey, which consists of
small fishes, young frogs, newts, aquatic insects, worms, and
mollusca. Its nest, which is placed upon the ground, is
formed of withered blades of grasses or carices; and the
eggs, four or five in number, are white, broadly elliptical, an
inch and five-twelfths in length, an inch and a twelfth in
breadth. The male is said to emit a loud barking cry ; but
the habits of this species are very imperfectly known, none
of the continental ornithologists having extended their ob-
servations on birds in any degree approaching to that pre-
sented by the labours of those of North America, especially
Wilson and Audubon ; and in Britain opportunities of study-
ing the manners of this bird are wanting. Although its
nest has not been met with in England, it very probably
sometimes breeds there, as individuals have been shot in the
summer months and early in autumn. Mr. Thompson men-
tions several cases of its occurrence in Ireland.

Young. — In their first winter the young have the bill
pale flesh-colour, with the ridge brown ; the iris pale yellow ;
the feet pale bluish-green ; the claws pale brown. The upper
part of the head is dull brownish-black ; the feathers of the
upper parts of the body and the scapulars dusky, edged with
light brownish-yellow ; the wing-coverts dull yellow ; the
quills and primary coverts greyish-black, with a tinge of
green ; the outer web of the first quill reddish-brown ; the
tail dusky. The lower parts are pale yellow, streaked with
dusky ; the breast brownish. The following are the dimen-
sions of the individual described, which was procured in a
recent state : —

Length to end of tail 14 inches ; extent of wings 21 ; bill
along the ridge 1^-, along the edge of lower mandible 2f ;

LITTLE BITTERN. 427

wing from flexure 5-^- ; tail 1£ ; tarsus 1^- ; first toe -j^, its
claw -^ : second toe 1^, its claw -fa ; third toe lfa, its
claw fa, with 14 teeth ; fourth toe l-fa, its claw fa.

Progress toward Maturity. — At the second moult,
according to M. Temminck, the longitudinal spots begin to
disappear ; the feathers on the back are then margined witli
light red, and the quill and tail-feathers become black.

428

BOTAURUS COMATUS. SQUACCO BITTERN.

Ardea comata. Pallas. Beis. II. 715.

Ardea comata. Squacco Heron. Perm. Brit. Zool. II. 26.

Ardea comata, Squaiota, and castanea. Lath. Ind. Ornith. 686, 687.

Heron crabier. Ardea Ealloides. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 581.

Ardea Ealloides. Flem. Brit. Anim. 96.

Squacco Heron. Ardea Ealloides. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 25.

Ardea Ealloides. Squacco Heron. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 189.

Buphus Ealloides. Bonap. Comp. List, 48.

Bill slender, blue at the base, dusky toward the end ; feet
greenish-yellow ; upper part of the head pale yellow, with
dusky lines; on the occiput eight or ten white feathers, having
a black line along their margins ; upper parts pale reddish-
brown; icings, rump, and tail white; as are the loiver parts,
which, however, are more or less tinged with buff.

Adult. — This beautiful species, remarkable for its long
occipital plume of white feathers, each with two sub-mar-
ginal black lines, is of the usual form and proportions of the
Egrets, but with the legs less elongated. The bill is about
a fourth longer than the head, slender, tapering, straight,
compressed ; the upper mandible with the dorsal line straight
until toward the end, the sides convex, the groove extending
to a fifth from the end, the edges sharp, the tip acute ; the
lower mandible with the angle very long and extremely
narrow, the dorsal line very slightly ascending, the sides
concave, the edges sharp, the tip acuminate ; gape-line
commencing behind the eye.

Nostrils linear in the lower and fore part of the nasal
membrane. Eyes large. Aperture of ear rather small,
rounded.

SQUACCO BITTERN. 429

Feet long, rather slender. Tibia feathered to the joint.
Tarsus of moderate length, reticulated with hexagonal
scales. Toes rather long, slender, scutellate above, flat
beneath ; first toe large, second a little shorter than the
first. Claws rather long, arched, compressed, acute ; that of
the middle toe serrate on its inner thin edge.

Plumage full, soft, blended ; occipital feathers elongated,
linear, forming a decumbent plume or crest ; those of the
fore part and sides of the neck long, with the filaments dis-
united toward the end; dorsal feathers much elongated,
with disunited filaments ; wings and tail rounded.

The bill is greenish-blue, becoming dusky toward the
end ; the loral spaces green ; the legs yellowish-brown ; the
toes umber-brown ; the claws black. The upper part of the
head is pale yellowish-brown streaked with darker, the
feathers gradually elongated behind, those of the occiput pale
yellow or white on the margins, with a submarginal black
line ; the sides and fore part of the neck buff-yellow ; the
back is anteriorly yellowish-brown ; the elongated plumes
pale reddish-yellow. The wings are white, the tips of the
inner secondaries and some of the coverts tinged with
brownish-yellow ; the hind part of the back and the tail are
white ; the throat, lower parts of the body, and under surface
of the wings are also white.

Length to end of tail 18 inches ; wing from flexure 9 ;
bill along the ridge 2j.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — This species, which is said to inhabit the sides
of rivers and lakes, marshes, and maritime pastures, but of
the habits of which little seems to be known, is extensively
distributed in Western Asia, and the countries about the
Caspian and the Mediterranean seas. Its migrations, how-
ever, do not extend northward beyond the Baltic. It is
said by Temminck to feed on small fishes, insects, and tes-
taceous mollusca, and to nestle on trees.

Several specimens have been obtained in the southern
and south-eastern counties of England. Scotland has not

430 BOTAURUS COMATUS.

been honoured with a visit, and even in the Green Isle only
one has been met with.

Young. — According to M. Temminck, " the young, be-
fore the age of two years, are without the long occipital
feathers ; the whole of the head, the neck, and the wing-
coverts are brownish-red, with large longitudinal spots of a
deeper tint ; throat, rump, and tail pure white ; feathers of
the wings white on the inner Avebs, but grey externally and
toward the end ; upper part of the back and scapulars of a
more or less deep brown ; upper mandible brown and
greenish, lower greenish-yellow; bare skin about the eyes
green ; feet greenish -grey ; iris very pale yellow."

431

NYCTICORAX. NIGHT-HERON.

The Night-Herons, of which Ardea Nycticorax, Ardea
caledoniea, and Ardea violacea of authors may be considered
as among the most characteristic species, are of a more
robust form than the Herons, or other genera of this family,
with the feet shorter, the neck thicker and less elongated,
and the bill stouter and shorter than in most of them.
Some of the species, however, indicate a transition to the
Herons and Bitterns.

Bill scarcely longer than the head, stout, nearly straight,
compressed, tapering to a point ; upper mandible with the
dorsal line straight and decimate for two-thirds, then slightly
decurved, the ridge flattened or convex for a short space,
then narrowed, the nasal depression elongated-triangular,
with a groove extending to near the end, the sides convex,
the edges sharp, with a notch close to the tip, which is
acute ; lower mandible with the angle very long and very
narrow, the dorsal line direct or slightly ascending, the sides
concave and sloping outwards, the edges sharp and scutel-
late, the tip acuminate; gape-line slightly arched, com-
mencing behind the eye.

Mouth rather wide and expansile ; upper mandible con-
siderably concave, with three longitudinal ridges, the lower
deeply concave. Tongue of moderate length, emarginate at
the base, trigonal, flat above, tapering to a point. (Esophagus
very wide in its whole length ; proventriculus dilated.
Stomach roundish, compressed, thin, with a small roundish
pyloric lobe. Intestine long and very slender ; rectum with
an oblong coecum ; cloaca globular.

Nostrils linear in the lower and fore part of the nasal
membrane. Eyes large. Aperture of ear rather small,
roundish.

432 NYCTICORAX. NIGHT-HERON.

Feet long, moderately stout. Tibia bare for about a
fourth of its length, and reticulated. Tarsus of moderate
length, covered anteriorly above with scutella or large scales,
below with hexagonal scales. Toes rather long, rather
slender, scutellate above, flat beneath ; first toe stout, second
a little shorter than the first. Claws small or of moderate
size, arched, compressed, narrowed beneath, acute, that of
the middle toe serrate on its inner thin edge.

Plumage full, soft, blended. Feathers on the upper part
of the head and nape elongated, oblong ; some of those on
the occiput very long, linear, forming a pendent, erectile
crest ; on the neck, especially its hind part, rather long, and
inclined obliquely backwards ; those of its lower part in
front elongated and rounded ; on the back ovato-oblong ;
those on its fore part elongated, the rest small and somewhat
downy; on the lower parts long and rather loose. Wings
broad, of about twenty-six quills ; the second and third
longest, the first a little shorter. Tail short, even, of twelve
broad, rounded feathers.

Species of this genus occur on both continents. They
are more active than the Herons, and less graceful in their
motions than the Egrets. Their food is the same as that of
those genera. They nestle on the ground, or on trees or
bushes, laying three or four broadly elliptical pale blue eggs.

Only one species is found in Britain, where it is of very
rare occurrence.

433

NYCTICORAX GARDENI. THE GREY NIGHT
HERON.

NIGHT HERON. NIGHf RAVEN.

Fig. 36.

Ardea Nycticorax. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 23o. Adult.

Ardea grisea. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 239. Immature.

Ardea Nycticorax. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 678. Adult.

Ardea obscura, badia, and Gardeni. Lath. Toung.

Bihoreau a manteau noir. Ardea Nycticorax. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 577.

Night Heron, and Gardenian Heron. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Ardea Nycticorax. Night Heron. Fleni. Brit. Vert. Anim. 96.

Common Night Heron. Nycticorax Europceus. Selb. Illustr. II. 39.

Ardea Nycticorax. Common Night Heron. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 191.

Nycticorax Gardeni. Bonap. Comp. List. 48.

Adult with three white, black-tipped, linear occipital
feathers ; the crown and nape, with the fore part of the back
and the scapulars greenish-black ; the icings and tail bluish-
grey ; the lower parts white. Young without elongated occi-
pital plumes ; upper part of the head and nape, with the fore
part of the back and the scapulars dull brown, with pale red
longitudinal streaks ; wing coverts greyish-brown, with yel-
lowish-white spots ; throat and lower parts whitish, tinged
with grey and streaked with brown.

E E

434 NYCTICORAX GARDEN!

Male. — The Night Heron, -which is pretty generally dis-
persed over Europe, occurs so seldom in Britain, that I have
not had an opportunity of examining a recent specimen, or of
seeing one alive. The following description is therefore
taken from a very beautiful individual preserved in the
Museum of the University of Edinburgh. It was shot in
1823, near Coldstream, by the Earl of Home. The general
form is that of the common Heron, but with the neck and
legs shorter. The head is large, ovate-oblong, compressed.

The bill is of equal length with the head, robust, a
little higher than broad at the base, much compressed toward
the end, tapering to a point ; the upper mandible with the
dorsal line straight for two-thirds, then deflected, the ridge
broadly convex at the base, but presently narrowed, the nasal
groove strongly marked, the sides convex, the edges sharp,
with a notch close to the acute tip ; lower mandible with the
angle very narrow, the sides concave, toward the end some-
what convex, the edges sharp, the tip acuminate ; the gape-
line a little arched. Upper mandible considerably concave,
with three parallel slender ridges.

The nostrils are straight and linear ; the eyes large, sur-
rounded by a bare space, which extends to the bill. The
tibia is covered to three-quarters of an inch from the joint ;
the tarsus rather short, with broad hexagonal scales before,
and smaller scales of the same form on the sides. The toes
are rather long, slender ; the first with twelve, the second
sixteen, the third thirty-four, the fourth thirty scutella ; the
fourth a little longer than the second, and connected with
the third by a pretty large basal web. The claws are of
moderate length, arched, slender, much compressed, acute ;
that of the middle toe pectinate.

The plumage is full, very soft, and rather blended. The
feathers on the upper part of the head, occiput, and hind-
neck are elongated, pointed, and silky. Three feathers,
about seven inches long, linear, acuminate, with inflected
webs, arise from the occiput, forming a decurved erectile crest,
extending narrow nearly half-way down the neck. On the
neck the feathers are curved obliquely, and elongate towards
its hind and lower parts. The wings are large ; the third

GREY NIGHT HERON. 435

quill longest, the second almost equal, the first nearly as
long as the fourth. When folded the wings reach to nearly
an inch from the tip of the tail, which is very short, slightly
rounded, of twelve arched, weak, rounded feathers.

The bill is black, toward the base of the lower mandible
yellowish-brown. The bare spaces on the head are yellowish-
green. The iris, according to authors, is orange-yellow.
The feet greenish-yellow ; the claws black. The elongated
glossy feathers on the upper part of the head and the nape
are greenish-black, or rather of a very deep green ; the three
linear feathers Avhite, with the tip black. A white band
extends from the forehead over the eyes. The sides of the
neck are very pale purplish-grey ; the throat, fore-neck, and
the lower parts of the body white, with a tinge of purplish.
The fore part and middle of the back, with the scapulars,
are deep green, like the head, appearing black at a distance.
The back of the neck, hind part of the back, tail-coverts,
and tail are pale purplish-blue ; the wings similar, with a
tinge of brown, the outer edge of the first quill whitish.

Length to end of tail 21 inches ; bill along the ridge 2-J4,
along the edge of lower mandible 3\% ; wing from flexure
12 ; tail 5 ; bare part of tibia -j^-; tarsus 2^-; hind toe 1^,
its claw -f^ > second toe lf%, its claw T8^- ; third toe 2-^-, its
claw -j^; fourth toe 1-Li, its claw ■£%.

Female. — The female is similar, but with the elongated
nuchal feathers shorter, and the tints somewhat duller.

Habits. — All the species of this family feed occasionally,
if not habitually, by night ; and although the present has
been distinguished in this respect from the rest, it is no
more a nocturnal prowler than the Bittern, or even the
common Heron. It frequents the margins of lakes, pools,
or rivers, preferring those which are plentifully furnished
with reeds, sedges, and other aquatic plants, among which it
may search for its food in comparative security. Like the
other birds of the group to which it belongs, it feeds on
fishes, reptiles, mollusca, and worms. The nest is placed on
the ground, and the eggs, three or four in number, are of

436 NYCTICORAX GARDENI.

the usual pale greenish-blue colour. It occurs so seldom in
this country, that opportunities of observing its habits are
not to be expected by the ornithologist; and thus I have
nothing to add to the above particulars, derived from other
sources of information than those to which I usually have
recourse. A few specimens have been obtained in Scotland,
and in England it is not much more numerous. Mr. Thomp-
son records two instances of its having been obtained in
Ireland. It is rare even in Holland, but becomes of more
frequent occurrence as we advance southward. Its distri-
bution is very extensive, it being common in many parts of
India and its islands. I have compared with ours the
American bird said by some to be of the same species, but
by others to be distinct, and could observe no appreciable
differences ; but not having specimens at hand, I am unable
to speak with certainty on the subject.

Young. — The young bird, when its plumage is com-
pleted, differs so much from the adult, that the older writers
considered it as a distinct species. The bill is yellowish-
green, with the ridge and tip of the upper mandible and the
terminal portion of the lower black ; the loral space yellowish-
green ; the iris brown ; the feet dull greenish-yellow. The
feathers are shorter and of looser texture, and the long
occipital plumes have not appeared. The upper parts are
greyish-brown, all the feathers, excepting those on the hind
part of the back, having an oblong or triangular medial and
terminal spot of pale yellowish-red; the wings and tail
bluish-grey, with a tinge of brown ; the wing-coverts and
secondary quills with a white triangular spot at the end.
The throat and the lower parts are white, tinged with
greyish-brown, and longitudinally streaked with dusky. In
this state it is the Gardenian Heron of authors.

Progress toward Maturity. — After the second moult
the bill is darker, the iris lighter ; the streaks on the neck
less numerous ; the lower parts more white, with the sides
pearl-grey ; the upper parts of a greyer tint, with the spots
on the Avings smaller ; the head tinged with brown, and the

GREY NIGHT HERON. 437

fore part of the back and scapulars with green. At the third
moult the colours are nearly perfected. The long feathers
on the nape fall off in autumn, and are renewed in spring.

Remarks. — On the principle of retaining the Linnsean
specific names, a different generic name ought to be given to
this group ; but as I find it extremely difficult to render the
nomenclature in this family at all rational, I must be content
with that given by Mr. Stephens, and generally adopted.
Mr. Swainson, who is not willing to allow any but himself
or a quinarian to alter names, proposes to substitute Nycti-
ardea for Nycticorax, that is, Night Heron for Night Crow.
The new word ought to be Nycterodius.

438

ARDEA. HERON.

The Herons, properly so called, are among the larger
and more robust species of the family to "which they give
name. Their body is moderately large, but much com-
pressed ; the neck very long and of considerable thickness ;
the head oblong and much compressed.

Bill longer than the head, stout, straight, compressed,
tapering to a point ; upper mandible with the dorsal line
almost straight, the ridge broad and convex at the base,
gradually narrowed to the point, the nasal depression narrow-
oblong, with a groove extending from it to near the end, the
sides convex, the edges sharp, serrulate, with a notch close
to the tip, which is very acute ; lower mandible with the
angle very long and extremely narrowed, the dorsal line
ascending and slightly convex, the sides concave and sloping
outwards ; the edges direct, sharp, serrulate ; the tip acumi-
nate ; gape-line straight, commencing under the eye.

Mouth rather narrow, but extensile ; the upper mandible
slightly concave, with three longitudinal ridges, the lower
deeply concave. Tongue emarginate and papillate at the
base, long, slender, trigonal, tapering to a point. (Esophagus
very wide in its whole length; proventriculus dilated.
Stomach a hemispherical sac, with a round pyloric lobe.
Intestine very long and extremely slender ; no cceca, but an
oblong sac at the commencement of the rectum ; cloaca large
and globular.

Nostrils linear in the lower and fore part of the nasal
membrane. Eyes of moderate size. Aperture of ear small,
roundish.

Feet very long, rather slender. Tibia bare for more than
a third of its length, covered with hexagonal scales. Tarsus
very long, covered with hexagonal scales, anteriorly with

ARDEA. HERON. 439

scutella, posteriorly with an inner row of scutella. Toes
very long, rather slender, scutellate ahove, flattened beneath ;
the first large, the second a little shorter than the fourth,
which is connected with the third by a basal web. Claws
moderate, arched, compressed, narrowed beneath, acute ;
that of the middle toe with a serrate inner edge.

Plumage soft and full. Feathers on the head elongated
and pointed, generally forming a decurved crest ; on the
neck moderate, inclined backwards, on its fore part below
elongated and tapering ; on the fore part of the back much
elongated, with close barbs, which are separated toward the
end. Wings ample ; the outer four quills nearly equal. Tail
short, nearly even, of twelve feathers.

Species of this genus occur on both continents, Ardea
Herodias of America and Ardea cinerea of Europe being
among the most characteristic species. They feed on fishes,
frogs, insects, sometimes small mammalia, and young birds ;
nestle on trees or bushes, sometimes on the ground, laying
three or four broadly elliptical light blue eggs ; have a
sedate, heavy flight ; and are generally shy and suspicious.
The Night-Herons on the one hand, and the Egrets on the
other, are intimately connected with this genus, of which
the limits are, in fact, incapable of being strictly determined.

Two species occur in Britain — one resident and generally
dispersed, the other an accidental visitant.

440

ARDEA CINEREA. THE GREY HERON.

HERON. HERONSHAW. COMMON HERON. CRESTED HERON. CORA-GHRIACH-

Fio. 37.

Ardea major. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 236. Adult.
Ardea cinerca. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 236. Young.
Ardea cinerea. Lath. Ind. Orn. IT. 691.
Heron cendre. Ardea cinerea. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 567.
Ardea cinerea. Common Heron. Flem. Brit. Anirn. 95.
Common Heron. Ardea cinerea. Selb. Ulustr. II. 11.
Ardea cinerea. Common Heron. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 1S6.
Ardea cinerea. Bonap. Comp. List, 47.

Adult with the forehead white; a black pendent occipital
crest; the fore-neck xohite, with longitudinal black spots ; the
upper parts and sides bluish-grey ; the breast black, with a
white patch in front; the abdomen and lower tail-coverts
white; the tarsus much longer than the middle toe and claw.
Young with the upper part of the head dusky grey ; the occi-
pital crest short; the upper parts and sides bluish-grey; the
lower white; the fore-?ieck white, with dark spots.

GREY HERON. 441

Male. — The Common or Cinereous Heron, which in
many respects is one of the most interesting of our native
birds, is at least as worthy as most of a minute description,
although there is little risk of its being mistaken by the
student for any other bird. Its body is rather large, but
much compressed, so as to be very light ; the neck very long
and of considerable thickness ; the head rather large, oblong,
and much compressed.

The bill is about half as long again as the head, stout,
straight, compressed, tapering, and pointed ; the upper man-
dible with the dorsal line almost quite straight, being but
slightly decimate toward the end, the ridge broadly convex
at the base, but gradually narrowed ; the nasal space oblong
and filled by a membrane, with a narrow groove extending
to near the end, the edges sharp and irregularly serrulate,
the tip acute ; the lower mandible with the angle very long
and extremely narrow, the dorsal line ascending and con-
siderably convex, the sides concave and ascending, the edges
direct and serrulate, the tip acuminate. The roof of the
mouth is slightly concave, with three prominent longitudinal
ridges. The posterior aperture of the nares wide, margined
with small papillae. The aperture of the glottis without
papillae on its edges. The tongue is sagittate and slightly
papillate at the base, long, narrow, trigonal, fleshy, flat
above, pointed, with the tip horny ; its length three inches
and two-twelfths. The mouth is rather narrow, but dilatable
from the flexibility and elasticity of the crura of the lower
jaw. The oesophagus, which is twenty-two inches long, is
very wide, being, when inflated, two inches in diameter at
the upper part, and in the rest of its extent an inch and a
half. The proventricular portion is still wide, and with the
stomach forms a large sac of an oblong form, three inches and
a quarter in length and two inches in width. The breadth
of the band of oblong proventricular glandules varies from
an inch to an inch and a half. The walls of the oesophagus
are very thin ; the muscular coat of the stomach is also thin,
its fibres pale, its tendons small, the posterior one inch, the
anterior half-an-inch in diameter ; the inner coat even, soft,
and smooth. The pylorus is one-twelfth in width, and pre-

442 ARDEA CINEHEA.

ceded by a semi-oblong lobe capable of admitting the point
of the finger. The intestine, which is seven feet four inches
in length, varies in diameter from three-twelfths to two-
twelfths, or the thickness of a goose quill. The rectum,
which is wider and eight inches long, has at its commence-
ment a single short wide coecum, six-twelfths long, three-
twelfths broad at the base, and terminating in a small
papilla. The cloacal dilatation globular. The lobes of the
liver are very unequal, one being two inches in length, the
other seven-twrelfths more ; the gall-bladder oblong, an inch
and three-fourths in length. The two biliary ducts enter
together, close to the pancreatic.

The nostrils are linear, four-and-a-half-twelfths long.
The eye rather large, the Avidth of its aperture being five-
twelfths. The external ear circular, and three-twelfths in
diameter. The legs are long and rather stout; the tibia
bare for more than a third, and covered with hexagonal
scales ; the tarsus long, considerably compressed, with hexa-
gonal scales, and about twelve scutella ; the toes long,
slender; the first proportionally shorter, with twelve scu-
tella ; the second with twenty-two, the third thirty-five, the
fourth thirty; the third and fourth connected by a basal
web. The claws are rather small, arched, compressed, acute,
but blunted by use ; the edge of the middle claw purely
serrate.

The plumage is full, soft, and rather blended. The
feathers on the upper part of the head are elongated, lanceo-
late ; some of those on the occiput more than five inches
long, slender, and decurved. On the neck the feathers are
oblong, directed obliquely backwards ; those at its lower
part with an elongated narrow tapering point, and forming a
pendent tuft. On the lower parts in general they are ovato-
oblong, elongated, soft, and blended. On the fore part of
the back they are rather blended, on its hind part downy,
but concealed by numerous elongated, ovate feathers, Avith
their filaments disunited tOAvard the end, AArhich proceed
from the fore part of the back in four series. Behind those
of the outer series are elongated scapulars of the ordinary
texture. Wings long and very broad, extending Avhen

GREY HERON. 443

closed to two inches beyond the tail ; the second quill
longest, the first and third slightly shorter. Tail short,
somewhat rounded, of twelve decurvate weak feathers. The
ventral feathers are soft and tufty; the crural short and
somewhat compact. On the breast is a large space, and
behind the thigh on each side a smaller space, covered with
slender down tufts. On the other parts the down is lax,
and of ordinary texture.

The bill is yellow, with the ridge of the upper mandible
broAvn toward the end; the bare space between the bill and
the eye green. The iris is yellow ; the feet dull green ; the
tibia yellow ; the claws black. The fore and upper parts of
the head are greyish-white. From the eyes to the occiput
the feathers are black, tinged with blue and glossy. The
neck in general is whitish, tinged with reddish-purple,
passing below into purplish-grey. A band of numerous
oblong black spots on a white ground down the fore part of
the neck, and commencing about three inches from the bill.
The upper parts in general are ash grey or bluish-grey : the
acuminations of the scapulars bluish-white. The alular
feathers and quills are deep indigo-black, tinged with ash-
grey, the secondaries becoming ultimately of the latter
colour. The edge of the wings is white, their lower surface
bluish-grey. From the shoulders a broad band of bluish-
black to the abdomen ; the feathers in the angle or on the
fore part of the breast white, with some black spots ; the
sides ash-grey ; the tibial feathers whitish ; the lower tail-
coverts white. The tail ash-grey, of a darker tint toward
the end.

Length to end of tail 39^ inches ; extent of wings 72 ;
bill along the ridge 4, along the edge of lower mandible 6^ ;
wing from flexure 18 ; tail 6^ ; bare part of tibia 2j ; tarsus
6-Jj ; first toe 1 j, its claw ^-| ; second toe 2^-, its claw -fe ;
third toe 3^, its claw T8^- ; fourth toe 3, its claw ^-.

A very large individual, shot on the coast of Kincardine-
shire, has the bill entirely yellow ; the occipital plume seven
inches long ; the elongated feathers on the fore part of the
neck from six to seven inches. The principal measurements
of this specimen are as follows : — Length 40 inches ; bill

444 ARDEA CINEREA.

along the ridge 5, along the edge of lower mandible 61 ;
wing from flexure 19^ ; tail 7^ ; bare part of tibia 2^ ; tarsus
5^ ; hind toe 1^, its claw T7^; middle toe 3T7¥, its claw -^-.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but some-
what smaller, and with the occipital crest less elongated.

Habits. — The cold blasts of the north sweep along the
ruffled surface of the lake, over whose deep waters frown the
rugged crags of rusty gneiss, having their crevices sprinkled
with tufts of withered herbage, and their summits crowned
with stunted birches and alders. The desolate hills around
are partially covered with snow, the pastures are drenched
with the rains, the brown torrents seam the heathy slopes,
and the little birds have long ceased to enliven those deserted
thickets with their gentle songs. Margining the waters
extends a long muddy beach, over which are scattered blocks
of stone, partially clothed with dusky and olivaceous weeds.
Here and there a Gull floats buoyantly in the shalloAvs ;
some Oyster-catchers repose on a gravel bank, their bills
buried among their plumage : and there, on that low shelf,
is perched a solitary Heron, like a monument of listless
indolence — a bird petrified in its slumber. At another time,
when the tide has retired, you may find it wandering, with
slow and careful tread, among the little pools, and by the
sides of the rocks, in search of small fishes and crabs ; but,
unless you are bent on watching it, you will find more
amusement in observing the lively Tringas and Turnstones,
ever in rapid motion ; for the Heron is a dull and lazy bird,
or at least he seems to be such ; and even if you draw near,
he rises in so listless a manner, that you think it a hard
task for him to unfold his large wings and heavily beat the
air, until he has fairly raised himself. But now he floats
away, lightly though with slow flappings, screams his harsh
cry, and hies to some distant place, where he may remain
unmolested by the prying naturalist.

Perhaps you may wonder at finding him in so cold and
desolate a place as this dull sea-creek, on the most northern
coast of Scotland, and that, too, in the very midst of winter ;

GREY HERON. 445

but the Heron courts not society, and seems to care as little
as any one for the cold. Were you to betake yourself to the
other extremity of the island, where the scenery is of a very
different character, and the inlets swarm with Ducks and
Gulls, there, too, you would find the Heron, unaltered in
manners, slow in his movements, careful and patient, ever
hungry and ever lean, for even when in best condition he
never attains the plumpness that gives you the idea of a
comfortable existence.

Far away through the green valley winds the silver
Tweed, now rolling its waters over the white pebbles, then
gliding placidly between banks covered with fresh herbage
and gaudy florets of many hues. The hum of the wild bee
draws your eye toward those beautiful tufts of purple trefoil ;
the Weet-weet, ever vibrating its body as if delicately
balanced on its slim legs, runs along the sunny beach,
spreads out its pointed wings, and skims over the pool.
There, in the water, nearly up to the knees, is the Heron,
patiently waiting an opportunity of seizing some giddy trout.
Those ducklings that swim so beautifully, and dive with
such marvellous quickness, he seems to eye with hungry
glance ; but their watchful protectress is in the midst of
them. That wary old water-rat is equally safe, as he nibbles
the grass at the mouth of his hole, and at intervals trims
his whiskers with his little paws. In short, go where you
will, in summer or in winter, to the shores of the sea or the
far inland lake, the source or the estuary of the hill-born
streams, you may here and there find a solitary Heron.

But this bird, usually so careless of companionship, finds
it meet to join its fellows, to select a mate, and ply its archi-
tectural labours in the midst of a busy crowd. About the
middle of March individuals assemble in certain places, and
soon after resort to their breeding stations, which are not in
the rushy marshes nor on unfrequented islands, as one might
expect, but on tall trees, sometimes in large woods, but more
frequently in places near some old family mansion, where
they are not always sure of protection. The nests, which
are very large, nearly flat, and rudely constructed of sticks,
with a lining of grass, wool, and similar materials, are

446 ARDEA CINEREA.

sometimes crowded together in great numbers, generally
on the highest trees in the place, but in some instances on
such as one might think not Avell selected for security, or
even on an isolated tree of no great height. The eggs, from
three to five in number, are of a light bluish-green colour,
broadly elliptical, or having both ends nearly equally rounded*
two inches and a quarter in length, an inch and nine-twelfths
in breadth. Incubation continues about twenty days ; and
the young, at first sparsely covered with tufts of down,
remain about six weeks in the nest.

It is stated by Mr. Yarrell, that " sometimes Herons
build on precipitous rocks near the coast, as at South Stack
Lighthouse, near Holyhead, mentioned by Mr. Eyton, and
at the Great Orme's Head; they are said also to build
occasionally on the ground, among reeds and rushes." Mr.
St. John, in his Field Sports of the Highlands, p. 123,
mentions a heronry on the rocks at the entrance of the Bay
of Cromarty : — " Above our heads, and in every direction,
were Herons' nests ; some built in the clusters of ivy, and
others on the bare shelves of rocks. The young ones were
full-grown (early in June), but still in the nests, standing
upright and looking gravely at us. Though I thought it a
shame to make any of them orphans, I took the opportunity
of killing three fine old male Herons, whose black feathers
I coveted much for my salmon flies." Mr. Thompson, in
his Natural History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 146, gives an
account of a heronry placed on the ground, in the Island of
Islay: — "On the 15th of January, 1849, I visited this
heronry, which is not more than three miles from Ardimersy
Cottage, where I was staying. It was difficult of discovery,
from being amid brushwood and much broken rocky ground
of similar character ; and I might have been long hunting
for the exact site, had not six or seven Herons, by rising
from the heath, guided me to the spot. The locality is at
the seaward top of a bank raised by rock, greensward, and
heath, and rising somewhat precipitously to the height of
perhaps eighty feet above a beautifully secluded little inlet
of the sea. The nests are built on the ground, about the
roots of large plants of heath, and are formed of pieces of

GREY HERON. 447

light stick. Three of them are about two and a half yards
distant from each other. They are all perfectly accessible to
any person walking over the ground ; but, fortunately, the
birds are not disturbed when breeding. The birds are said
to frequent the site on stormy days throughout the year,
flying to it when the wind blows strong upon the neigh-
bouring shore."

After the breeding season the Herons disperse, and are
to be seen along the sea-coast and in the estuaries, as well
as here and there by the rivers and inland ponds or lakes.
On the east coast of Scotland the estuaries of the Findhorn,
Ythan, South Esk, Tay, and Forth are favourite places of
resort ; but even on the exposed rocky coasts they are here
and there to be met with, and in some places in great
numbers. Thus, about two miles north of Stonehaven, I
have repeatedly seen more than twenty in a single small bay
at low water. It is to this tract that the following note by
my friend Mr. Thomas Jamieson refers : —

" Several Herons frequent this part of the coast, searching
for their food amongst the low weed-covered rocks and pools
of water left by the receding tide. In autumn, when they
appear to be most numerous, I have seen a hundred and
twenty or more together, their numbers being made up
probably in great measure by young birds of the year.
When disturbed from one spot, they betake themselves round
some corner of the rocks to a neighbouring bay, flying
heavily along, generally within gunshot of the water's surface.
During high tide they rest on detached rocks a short distance
from the land, and occasionally on the face of some of the
heughs (or high sea-banks). When coming from the inland
parts they keep at a considerable height, moving along with
sedate and regular flight till they pass the heughs a short
distance, and then strike slantingly down to the rocks. I
do not think they keep in company on these occasions,
though two or three may be seen at once coming from the
same direction. I have seen them make their descent to the
rocks by an awkward zigzag movement. Though they gene-
rally fly high, yet, when coming from the sea, in the evening
more especially, they will sometimes pass within shot of the

448 ARDEA CINEREA.

ground, though they will likely rise higher as they get from
the coast. Once or twice I have seen them in the fields. I
recollect of one forenoon seeing four of them standing in a
ploughed field, in most grotesque attitudes, reminding one
of a consultation of Avitches more than anything else. They
appear to feed by night ; but I do not think they see objects
so wrell in the dusk, for I have seen two or three pass
overhead within shot, whilst I was quite unconcealed. On
another occasion, when I was down amongst the rocks by
moonlight, one alighted close beside me (not a dozen yards
distance, I suppose), and did not seem to be aware of me till
I frightened it off. When looking for food, they stand by
or in the pools of water, with partially outstretched neck,
anxiously intent for their prey, stepping slowly about now
and then, and taking a short flight for a few yards to some
more likely spot, or leaving the bay altogether for some
neighbouring one. They form a fine object in the landscape
on their journey to their distant nests, as

" ' "With expanded wings they steer their flight
Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air.'

" A few breed in the woods of Feteresso ; and I have been
told there is a heronry at Inglesmaldie, in the south corner of
the parish of Fettercairn, in this county, and in a straight
line, I suppose, about twenty miles from this."

Heronries are numerous in the tract of country forming
the eastern half of the middle division of Scotland. The
most celebrated of them is that on the banks of the
Findhorn.

The Grey Heron frequents the margins of rivers, pools,
and lakes, as well as the shores of inlets of the sea, where it
may often be observed patiently watching for its prey, or
slowly walking among the mud or weeds. It seems to be
possessed of little activity, and in this respect to contrast
with the Curlew and other birds of the Scolopaceous family,
which are incessantly in motion while looking for food.
Perched on a stone by the water, reposing on one foot, with
its neck retracted, it remains motionless for hours, until a
fish, or frog, or other object attract its attention, or it is
roused by the apprehension of danger. At low water, how-

GREY HERON. 449

ever, it assumes more activity, and wanders among the stones
and in the shallows in quest of small fishes, crabs, and
shrimps. It also feeds by moonlight, and is said to be in
best condition when the moon is full. Although it is seldom
plump, it is remarkable for its voracity and the rapidity of
its digestion. Its food consists of fishes, frogs, newts, Crus-
tacea, insects, occasionally young birds and small mammalia,
which it kills by striking them with its bill, and generally
swallows entire. In performing this latter operation it
ssmetimes finds great difficulty — in the case of an eel, for
instance, which often slips from it. This circumstance has
given rise to the popular belief of the eel's repeatedly passing
through the intestine of the Heron, which, however, is a feat
impracticable, the alimentary tube being in a great part of
its length not thicker than the quill of a goose. Mr. Scott
MoncriefF informed me that a Heron with an eel twisted
round its neck was found dead in the Duke of Buccleuch's
park at Dalkeith Palace, it having been unable to swallow
or cast off its victim.

The Heron is generally shy and vigilant, so as to be
almost inaccessible to the sportsman in open countries.
Unless in the breeding season, it is unsocial, seldom appearing
in company even with those of its own kind ; and if it
occasionally mingles with Curlews or Gulls, keeps them at
a respectful distance. The sound which it utters is a grating
scream, which, at night especially, comes harsh on the ear.
In rising from the ground, it first spreads out its large
wings, flaps them, then retracts its neck, and gradually
stretches its legs out behind. Its flight is sedate and
buoyant, but seems heavy, on account of its slowness. In
moving to a distance it usually flies high, sailing at inter-
vals with motionless wings, and, on account of its great size,
forms an interesting object in the landscape.

" In the midland counties," Mr. Harley writes to me,
" we have only three heronries, and they are not very
large. At Lord Warwick's, I believe about eighty pairs
nestle annually, and their young go away after they are
fledged. The other breeding-places are at Colwick, near to
Nottingham, and at Harringworth, near to Oundle, in

F F

450 ARBEA CINEREA.

Northamptonshire. About 1815, a pair or two used to nestle
in a tall Scotch fir tree, in Mere-Hill Wood, near to Lough-
borough ; but the keeper shot them down. I recollect taking
eggs from thence, and I have seen young birds brought from
the same place.

" Lord Warwick's heronry is not more than a mile from
the town from which he takes his title, and is situated
within the confines of a spacious park, well wooded with oak,
elm, ash, and horse-chestnut. The classic Avon, whose
glassy stream has been sung by the immortal Shakspere,
flows silently along, laving castle and cottage, and bearing
on its bosom the joyous Coot, the flirting Water-hen, the
wary Wild Duck, and the stately Swan. Let us seat our-
selves beneath this wide-spreading beech, and inhale the
breath of summer morn. Yon towers betoken wealth, splen-
dour, and fame. Yet there dwell not in the venerable
mansion of the renowned Warwicks hearts so happy as those
that now surround us, nor are there heard in those turrets
voices so sweet as those that mingle their morning songs in
gratitude to their great Creator. The Cushat cooes lovingly
to his mate, the note of the Green Woodpecker is heard,
and those wandering Nuthatches, Creepers, Tits, and Fly-
catchers, as they flit past us, enliven the scene. Not far off
the Kestril hangs on tremulous wing, and over head a pair
of Buzzards are describing their ever-varied circles. A lake
of considerable size adorns the park, part of which is open
and exposed, while the rest has its banks overgrown with
shrubs, brambles, and rushes. The Heron appears partial
to the elm, although we find nests on the horizontal boughs
of the cedar, pine, and spruce. On some of the elms are
twelve or fourteen nests, large and unsightly ; some very
loosely put together, but others more firmly compacted.
When the nests are on the elm, they are on those trees
which are lofty and of great magnitude ; but when on the
cedar, Scotch fir, and spruce, they are not at a greater height
than twenty-five or thirty feet. Mr. Wallis, head game-
keeper to Lord Warwick, informs me that the Heron some-
times nestles on the ground. He says that in 1839 a pair
built their nest in a thick sedge beside the lake. It was

GREY HERON. 451

large, composed externally of sticks, but lined with rushes
and fine fibrous roots. Five eggs were laid, and in due time
hatched. In passing, a few days afterwards, he discovered
the mangled remains of the parent bird, she having fallen a
prey to some prowling fox ; and found the young ones
huddled together in the bottom of the nest, as cold as any
stone. Of the obstinacy with which this species adheres to
certain localities, we have an illustration before us. Part of
the margin of the lake is abrupt, rocky, and covered with
scrubs and underwood. In one place are a few low firs and
cedars, which were surrounded with a dense thicket. Well,
although the woodman cleared away the brushes that sur-
rounded the trees on which some Herons had their nests,
and plashed up nearly to the branches on which they were,
yet the birds nestled on, and reared their young.

" The Heron is very voracious. In 1828, I saw one
opened at Loughborough, which had in its gullet a full-
grown water-rat. With us it is not numerous, although far
from being uncommon. Being very destructive to fish, it
falls a prey to gamekeepers, and is often found among the
trophies which ornament the gable-end of the woodman's
cottage, or the side of the village barn. There, in company
with the pretty Kestril, the Barn Owl, and the Carrion
Crow, its carcase bleaches in the sun and rain."

This species is generally distributed in Britain, and in
winter rather plentifully even in the northern islands of
Scotland, where, however, I never heard of its breeding.
Unless when occupied with the cares of rearing its young, it
seems to shift about from one place to another, and, in par-
ticular circumstances, considerable numbers may be seen
together. It is impossible, I think, to determine whether
individuals visit this country from the continent or on mi-
grations; but the number and extent of the heronries in
Scotland and England suffice to account for the numerous
Herons seen dispersed over the island in winter. It is at
least equally common in Ireland. Mr. Thompson states
that, " owing to the many suitable bays around the coast,
and the prevalence of water in the island, it is particularly
abundant."

452 ARDEA CINEREA.

It is said to visit Norway, Faroe, and Iceland in summer ;
to be found in Sweden, Russia, and Siberia ; to extend from
tbence over tbe whole continent of Europe. The north and
even the south of Africa are visited by it ; and in Asia, the
Caucasus, India, Java, and Japan are included in its range.
It is nowhere found in America.

Young. — "When fully fledged, the young bird has the
plumage less compact than the adult. The occipital crest is
short ; the feathers on the fore part of the neck, although
longish, are not acuminate ; and those on the back are of
the ordinary form. The upper mandible is dusky brown,
dull greenish-yellow toward the edges ; the lower mandible
yellow ; the iris yellow ; the feet dusky, tinged with yellow.
There is no white on the forehead, but the whole upper part
of the head is dusky, with a mixture of ash-grey. The
hind-neck is light grey; the back and wing-coverts deep
grey ; the quills and tail as in the adult. The fore part of
the neck is white, with a band of longitudinal black spots,
less numerous than in the adult ; and the lower parts of the
body are white, with some dusky streaks, except the sides,
which are ash-grey.

Progress toward Maturity. — At the first moult the
plumage is as described in the adult.

453

ARDEA PURPUREA. THE PURPLE HERON.

Ardea purpurea. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 236.

Ardea purpurea. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 697.

Purple Heron. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Heron pourpre. Ardea purpurea. Tenim. Man. d'Orn. II. 570.

Ardea purpurea. Flem. Brit. Anim. 96.

Crested Purple Heron. Ardea purpurea. Selb. Illustr. II. 15.

Ardea purpurea. Purple Heron. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 186.

Ardea purpurea. Bonap. Comp. List, 47.

Middle toe and claw longer than the tarsus. Adult with
a longitudinal occipital crest of acuminate decurved feathers ;
neck longitudinally handed with greenish-black and light red;
plumage of the body greyish-blue, dark green, and light red;
bill yellow; feet yellow, with the scutella and claws dusky.
Young without elongated feathers on the head, back, or fore-
neck; the forehead black ; occiput reddish ; fore-neck yellow-
ish-white, spotted with black; feathers of the back dusky
grey, margined with light red; legs whitish; bill yellow, with
a great part of the upper mandible dusky.

Male. — The Purple Heron, which is somewhat less than
the common species, is also of a more slender form, being in
this and in some other respects intermediate between the
Herons and Egrets. Its body is of moderate size, com-
pressed ; the neck very long and slender ; the head rather
small, oblong, and much compressed. The bill is very long,
being nearly double the length of the head, stout, com-
pressed, tapering ; the upper mandible with the dorsal line
almost straight, being but slightly decimate toward the end,
the ridge broad at the base, narrowed beyond the nostrils, a
groove from the latter to near the end, the edges sharp,
toward the end irregularly serrulate, the tip pointed ; lower
mandible with the angle very long and extremely narrow,

454 ARDEA PURPUREA.

the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the sides con-
cave and ascending, the edges direct, the tip acuminate.
The gape-line straight, commencing below the eye, and a
little declinate at first. A large bare space on each side
from the bill to behind the eye.

Nostrils Linear, ten-twelfths of an inch long. Eyes small.
The legs long and slender ; the tibia feathered for more than
half its length, scutellate before and behind ; tarsus long,
rather stout, a little compressed, with about twenty anterior
scutella, the sides and hind part with large scales ; toes long,
slender ; the first large, with eighteen scutella ; the second a
little shorter than the fourth, with twenty-four ; the third
with forty ; the fourth with thirty-eight, and connected with
the third by a basal web. Claws long, very slender, a little
arched, compressed, acuminate, that of the middle toe with
upwards of thirty teeth.

On the upper part of the head the feathers tapering, and
forming a short occipital crest ; on the neck short, unless at
its lower part, where they are elongated, tapering, with loose
filaments. On the fore part of the back ovate, behind short
and downy. Four tufts of elongated feathers on the back ;
the two middle shorter than the outer ; all ovato-oblong, but
with the filaments, although numerous, disunited toward the
end. Behind the lateral tufts are elongated scapulars of
ordinary structure. On the fore part of the breast and along
its middle the feathers are very long, curved, with loose
filaments. On the middle of the breast anteriorly is a large
space covered with short, buff-coloured, down-plumelets ;
and there is a smaller patch of the same nature, on each
side, behind the thigh-joint. The wings are long, broad, of
twenty-six quills, besides the humerals ; the inner secon-
daries as long as the outer primaries when the wing is
closed ; the second, third, and fourth quills about equal ; the
first a little shorter. The tail is short, even, of twelve
feathers.

The bill is bright yellow, with the ridge brown ; the bare
preocular space yellow ; the bare part of the tibia, the hind
part of the tarsus, and the soles yellow ; the rest brown ; the
claws black. The upper part of the head and a line from

PURPLE HERON. 455

the occiput to the middle of the neck, a line on each side
from the angle of the mouth to the occiput, and another
from the cheek to the middle of the neck, bluish-black. The
throat white, a band of light red down the fore-neck, with
the medial feathers having a longitudinal black line, the
sides of the neck reddish-white, and a band of the same from
the eye to the occiput ; on the hind-neck from the middle a
band of bluish-grey expanding below. The elongated feathers
in front black along the inner web, white on the outer, with
the margin red. Upper parts light greyish-blue ; the middle
of the back darker, with a greenish gloss ; the outer elon-
gated plumes light blue, with the extremity light red. The
edge of the wing light red ; the quills externally light blue ;
toward the end and on the inner webs black. The tail blue
at the base, black toward the end. Elongated feathers on
the fore part of the breast of a rich reddish-purple colour ;
those along the middle of the breast greenish-black, tinged
with grey, and with red on their outer webs ; a longitudinal
band of dull red on each side of the breast ; the sides light
bluish-grey. The lower suface of the wings light red, ex-
cepting the larger coverts, which are light blue, as is%the
under surface of the quills ; the outer primaries obliquely and
irregularly banded with blue and black toward the end.
Feathers of the tibiae light red ; lower tail-coverts greenish-
black, with some white.

Length to end of tail 36 inches ; bill along the ridge 5£,
along the edge of lower mandible 6f ; wing from flexure
15^- ; tail 6 ; bare part of tibia 3^ ; tarsus 5£ ; first toe 2, its
claw 1-^- ; second toe 3-^, its claw 1^ ; third toe 4^, its
claw 1^ ; fourth toe 3^-, its claw \%.

Female. — The female resembles the male.

Habits. — The Purple Heron appears to be very exten-
sively distributed, being found in India, the Philippine Isles,
the borders of the Red Sea, those of the Caspian Sea, the
coasts of Africa, and the south of Europe. It extends north-
ward as far as Holland, where it is not uncommon ; and has
several times been obtained in England, where, however, it

456 ARDEA PURPUREA.

can rank only as an accidental straggler. Its food is said to
consist of frogs, fishes, small quadrupeds, and young birds.
M. Temminck states that it nestles among reeds or on bushes,
seldom on trees, and lays three eggs. One in my collection
is much inferior in size to those of the common Heron ; of a
broadly elliptical form, having both ends alike, its length
two inches and a twelfth, its greatest breadth an inch and
seven-twelfths, its colour pale greenish-blue.

Young. — According to M. Temminck, " the young are
destitute of crest, or have only slightly elongated reddish
feathers in place of it. The elongated feathers at the lower
part of the neck and those on the back are also wanting.
The forehead is black ; the nape and cheeks pale red ; the
throat white; the fore part of the neck yellowish-white,
with numerous longitudinal black spots ; the feathers of the
back, scapulars, wings, and tail blackish-grey, bordered with
light red ; the belly and tibiae whitish ; a large portion of
the upper mandible blackish ; the lower, the bare skin
around the eyes, and the iris of a very pale yellow."

Remarks. — The numerous errors into which the older
writers fell with regard to this bird, which some of them
have described in its different stages as forming several dis-
tinct species, it is hardly worth while to point out. My
description of the adult has been taken from a Bengal speci-
men in my collection. The toes of this Heron are propor-
tionally more elongated than those of the other species, and
resemble those of the Bitterns, although in other respects it
agrees with the true or typical Herons.

Specimens of this species have been obtained in the
southern and eastern coasts of England — in Cornwall, Devon-
shire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. In the Magazine of Natural
History, vol. x. p. 116, Mr. Hore states that, " some time in
the month of November, 1835, a Purple-crested Heron was
obtained on the borders of a large piece of water, known by
the name of the King's Fleet, near the mouth of the Wood-
bridge river, in Suffolk. I know of two other instances of
this species of Heron occurring in this county ; I have also

PURPLE HERON. 457

known two or three individuals to have been met with in
Norfolk within a few years. One instance only of its occur-
rence in Scotland is mentioned : it is recorded in the
Zoologist for July, 1849, p. 2497, by the Rev. James Smith,
who, on the 18th of June of that year, on returning a skin
of the Purple Heron which I had lent him for comparison,
wrote as follows : — " I have now ascertained beyond a doubt
that a specimen of the Purple Heron was shot in a small
marsh adjoining a farm-house in this parish (Monquhitter)
some time about the beginning of March, 1847. It came
from the south-east when it alighted. It was a beautiful
specimen, and measured five feet from tip to tip of the
extended wings. As the individual by whom it was shot
had never seen a Heron like it before, he sent it to a neigh-
bouring village to be stuffed. While there it attracted
general attention and admiration, all declaring that no such
bird had come under their notice before. The stuffer having
to be from home for a considerable time before he could get
the process properly completed, he found to his mortification,
on his return, that the specimen had been all but gnawed to
pieces by rats." Enough, however, remained to enable Mr.
Smith to ascertain the species. Mr. Thompson has recorded,
in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1834, and in
the second volume of his Natural History of Ireland, p. 155,
the occurrence of one in Ireland.

458

EGRETTA. EGRET.

The Egrets differ from the Herons chiefly in being of a
more slender form, with the neck and legs extremely elon-
gated, and the latter having a larger portion of the tibia
bare. The bill is also generally longer and more attenuated,
with its dorsal outline a little deflected toward the end.
Many of the species are also furnished with very long dorsal
plumes, of which the filaments are disunited. But all the
species are not equally marked by these characters, some of
them approaching to the Herons on the one hand, and to
the Bitterns on the other. The most characteristic may be
described as follows : —

Bill much longer than the head, strong but rather
slender, straight, compressed, tapering to a point ; upper
mandible with the dorsal line straight until toward the end,
when it is a little deflected, the ridge broad and convex at
the base, gradually narrowed to the point, the nasal depres-
sion narrow-oblong, with a groove extending from it to near
the end, the sides convex, the edges sharp, often serrulate,
with a notch close to the tip, which is very acute ; lower
mandible with the angle very long and extremely narrow,
the dorsal line slightly ascending and almost straight, the
sides concave and sloping outwards ; the edges direct, sharp,
often serrulate ; the tip acuminate ; gape-line straight, com-
mencing under the eye.

Mouth rather narrow, but extensile ; the upper mandible
slightly concave, with three longitudinal ridges, the lower
deeply concave. Tongue emarginate and papillate at the
base, long, slender, trigonal, tapering to a point. (Esophagus
very wide in its whole length; proventriculus dilated.
Stomach a hemispherical sac, with a round pyloric lobe.
Intestine very long and extremely slender ; no caeca, but an

EGRETTA. EGRET. 459

oblong sac at the commencement of the rectum ; cloaca large
and globular.

Nostrils linear in the lower part of the nasal membrane.
Eyes rather small. Aperture of ear small, roundish.

Feet extremely long, slender. Tibia bare for half its
length or more, covered with hexagonal scales, tarsus very
long, covered with hexagonal scales, anteriorly with scutella.
Toes long, slender, scutellate above, flattened beneath ; the
first large, the second a little shorter than the fourth, which
is connected with the third by a basal web. Claws moderate,
arched, compressed, narrowed beneath, acute ; that of the
middle toe with a serrate inner edge.

Plumage soft and full. Feathers on the head more or
less elongated ; on the neck short, oblong, inclined back-
wards, on its fore part below considerably elongated ; on the
hind part of the back quite downy ; four longitudinal dorsal
series of very elongated feathers, generally having distantly
placed filaments, and often extending boyond the tail.
Wings ample, of about twenty-eight quills, besides humerals,
the outer three nearly equal. Tail short, nearly even, of
twelve feathers.

Species of this genus occur on both continents — Egretta
Leuce, candidissima, and Ludoviciana of America, and
Egretta nigrirostris, alba, flavirostris, and Garzetta of the
Old Continent being among the most characteristic. They
feed on fishes, reptiles, Crustacea, insects, small quadrupeds,
young birds, and other animals. They are remarkable for
their graceful movements, and in activity greatly surpass the
Herons. Their flight is sedate, but buoyant. They nestle
generally on trees or bushes, sometimes on the ground,
laying three or four broadly elliptical light blue eggs.
Equally shy and suspicious with the Herons, they are with
great difficulty approached, unless during the breeding
season.

None of the species are resident in Britain, but two or
three have been met with there.

460

EGRETTA NIGRIROSTRIS. THE BLACK-BILLED

EGRET.

Fig. 38.

Egretta nigrirostris. Bonap. Comp. List, 47. (?)

Length about three feet and two-thirds ; occipital feathers
very slighly elongated ; dorsal plumes with the shaft stiffish,
straight, and extending a little beyond the tail; plumage
white; bill black, with the tip dull greenish-grey ; bare pre-
ocular space verdigris green; feet dingy flesh-coloured, but
the tarsal and digital scutella dusky.

Male. — This species is superior in size to the Common
Heron, which it greatly exceeds in elegance of form. The
hody is of moderate size, much compressed ; the neck very
long and slender ; the head rather small, oblong, and much
compressed. The bill is long, stout, compressed, tapering ;
the upper mandible with the dorsal line straight for two-
thirds from the base, then slightly declinato-convex, the
ridge broad at the base, narrow but convex in the rest of its
extent ; the nasal depression narrow, elongated, with a
groove from its fore part extending nearly to a third from
the tip, the sides convex, the edges direct and sharp ; lower

BLACK-BILLED EGRET. 461

mandible with the angle long and extremely narrow, the
dorsal line slightly ascending, the sides sloping outwards
and concave, the edges sharp, the tip acute. The gape-line
straight, commencing under the centre of the eye, at first
somewhat sinuate, and toward the end slightly deflected. A
large bare space on each side of the head, extending from
the base of the bill to a little behind the eye and angle of
the mouth.

The roof of the mouth is slightly concave, with three
longitudinal sharp ridges ; the palate convex ; the lower
mandible with a groove and ridge on each side, and a central
ridge. Tongue very slender, sagittate at the base, tapering
to the point, which is acute. The mouth is rather narrow,
measuring only seven-and-a-half-twelfths across, but, in con-
sequence of the flexibility of the crura of the lower man-
dible, is dilatable to an inch and a half. The oesophagus is
twenty-eight inches long, an inch and a half in wridth at the
top, about a third down an inch, afterwards an inch and a
half, and at the proventriculus two inches and a quarter.
The proventricular belt is one inch and three quarters in
breadth ; its glandules very numerous, oblong, about a
twelfth and a half in length ; at its upper margin are several
groups of large mucous crypts having wide apertures. Be-
yond the proventriculus the stomach forms a sac two inches
in diameter, its muscular coat very thin, being formed of
slender muscular fibres converging toward two roundish
tendinous spaces ; its inner coat thin, soft, and smooth.
Appended to the stomach is a pyloric lobe, ten-twelfths in
diameter, internally smooth, its aperture half-an-inch in
width. The intestine is nine feet one inch in length, its
width varying from three to two-twelfths ; the rectum five
inches long, with a coecal appendage at its commencement ;
its globular dilatation an inch and three-fourths in diameter.
The lobes of the liver are very unequal, the right being
three inches and a quarter in length, the left two inches and
a half.

The nostrils are linear, half-an-inch long. The eyes are
rather small, the diameter of their aperture four-twelfths
and a half. The legs are very long and slender ; the tibia

462 EGRETTA NIGRIKOSTRIS.

feathered for nearly half its length ; in the rest of its extent
considerably compressed, and covered with large elongated
hexagonal scales ; the tarsus long, compressed, rounded
before and behind, with twenty large anterior scutella ; a
posterior series of large scales on the inner, and of two rows
of smaller on the outer side ; on the tarsal joint the scutella
become very narrow, and finally divided. The hind toe is
moderate, with eight scutella ; the second a little shorter
than the fourth, and with twenty-three scutella ; the third
very long, with thirty-three scutella ; the fourth with twenty-
seven, and connected with the third by a basal web. The
claws are moderate, arched, compressed ; that of the middle
toe serrate, with thirty teeth.

The feathers on the head and neck are of moderate
length, oblong or sub-ovate, of rather loose texture, excepting
those on a longitudinal band along the fore part of the neck,
which are small and more compact. The occipital feathers
are very slightly elongated, the longest being an inch and a
half in length ; but they scarcely form a crest. On the
lower part of the neck the feathers are considerably elon-
gated. On the lower parts of the body they are long and of
loose texture, especially on the anterior portion of the breast,
margining and covering a large space, which is bare in the
centre, and on each side has a broad longitudinal band of
singular downy plumules of a buffy colour, about three-
fourths of an inch in length, with a long orange-coloured
shaft, and extremely feeble so as to be easily torn across.
On the sides and lower parts the down is of the ordinary
kind ; but on each side of the abdomen, behind the femur, is
a patch of bufiy down. On the fore part of the back the
feathers are large and ovate ; on the hind part perfectly
downy. From the fore part of the back arise four bunches
or series of very elongated feathers, having rather firm,
though slender, straightish shafts, with widely separated,
deflected, barbulate filaments. In each of the two middle
series are twelve, in each of the lateral about eight long
feathers, besides smaller. Posterior to the lateral series, on
each side, are six very long, broad, and roundish scapulars,
which extend beyond the closed wing. The longest plumes

BLACK-BILLED EGRET. 463

extend two inches and a half beyond the tail, and are sixteen
inches in length. The wings are long, broad, and rounded,
of twenty-eight quills, besides eight humerals. The third
quill is longest ; the fourth a twelfth and a half shorter ; the
first five-twelfths shorter than the second, which is five-
twelfths shorter than the third. The tail is short, of twelve
broad, rounded, rather weak feathers ; the lateral only
three-and-a-half-twelfths shorter than the medial.

The bill is black ; the tip of each mandible greenish-
horn-colour to the extent of an inch ; the base and the bare
space on each side of the head verdigris green. The inside
of the mandible is black ; the fore part of the palate yellow,
its hind part flesh-coloured. Tongue dusky, at the base
flesh-coloured. Iris light yellow. The bare part of the
tibia and the upper part of the surface are flesh-coloured :
the scutella of the tarsus and toes dusky brown ; its hind
part and the soles dusky flesh-coloured. The claws are
brownish-black. The plumage is white, with a faint tinge
of yellowish.

Length to end of tail 44^ inches ; extent of wings 66 ;
head and bill 8 ; ridge of upper mandible 4^- ; gape-line
6^ ; height of bill -ff , its breadth -^ ; wing from flexure
18£ ; tail 7 ; bare part of tibia 5^ ; tarsus 7^-; first toe 1-^,
its claw 1^2 ; second toe 3, its claw -j^-; third toe 4^, its
claw -j8^ ; fourth toe 3-^-, its claw -fa.

The individual above described was undoubtedly adult,
its bones being well ossified, and its plumage perfect. The
testes were highly developed, oblong, unequal, the right one
inch, the left an inch and a quarter in length. It was killed
by Mr. Martin, gamekeeper to the Earl of Haddington, on
Tyningham Sands, on the 9th June, 1840. It had never
been observed before that day, and was approached with
difficulty. It having been sent to Mr. Macduff Carfrae to be
prepared, I was favoured by him with a minute examination
of it, in its recent state, and afterwards with an inspection of
the body.

Mention has been made by various writers on British
Birds of a White Heron or Great White Egret, which,
according to report, had been several times seen, but never

464 EGRETTA NIGRIROSTRIS.

obtained. Without showing that these birds were not albino
varieties of the common Heron, most of our Faunists have
admitted them as Ardea alba of Linnaeus and Wagler, Ardea
Candida of Brisson. No individual had examined a large
white Egret obtained in Britain until the specimen above
described came into my hands, fortunately in a recent state.

On comparing it with a stuffed skin from France, and
with the accurate descriptions of Brisson and Wagler, I find
some differences which seem sufficient to indicate a species
distinct from the bird described by them. In the adult Ardea
alba or Candida, the bill is yellow, or pale brown, or yellowish-
brown, with the ridge blackish, and the bare space at its
base dull green. In the young bird it is described as greenish-
black or blackish-green tinged with yellow. In the indivi-
dual which I have described the bill is of a decided black,
with the tip dusky horn-colour. As to the feet, it is probable
that no reliance can be placed upon the descriptions of
authors, as they have not examined fresh specimens ; and the
other details which they give are applicable to several species
alike. My specimen may, after all, be identical with Ardea
alba or Candida, but until that bird is more correctly described,
I prefer considering the individual examined by me, adult as
it certainly is, as the representative of a species, to confound-
ing it with that obscurely indicated by the discordant accounts
of authors.

465

EGRETTA ALBA. THE YELLOW-BILLED WHITE

EGRET.

GREAT WHITE HERON.

Ardea alba. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 239.

Ardea alba. Latb. Ind. Ornitb. II. 695.

Great White Heron. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Heron Aigrette. Ardea Egretta. Temm. Man. d'Ornitb. II. 672.

Great White Heron. Ardea alba. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 18.

Ardea alba. Great White Heron. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 187.

Egretta alba. Bonap. Comp. List. 47.

Length nearly three feet and a half ; occipital feathers
very slightly elongated ; dorsal plumes with the shaft stiffish,
straight, and extending a little beyond the tail ; plumage
white; bill yellow ; bare preocidar space verdigris green;
feet black.

Male. — This species, although slightly inferior in size to
the Black-billed Egret, is so very similar to it, that the one
can be distinguished from the other only by the colour of the
bill, and some differences in the length of the tarsi and the
bare part of the tibiae. The bill is long, stout, compressed,
tapering ; the upper mandible with its dorsal line straight
for two-thirds from the base, then slightly declinato-convex,
the ridge broad at the base, narrow but convex in the rest of
its extent, the nasal depression narrow, elongated, with a
groove from its fore part extending nearly to a third from the
tip, the sides convex, the edges direct and sharp ; lower
mandible with the angle long and extremely narrow, the
dorsal line slightly ascending, the sides sloping outwards and
concave, the edges sharp, the tip acute. The gape-line
straight, commencing under the centre of the eye, at first

G G

466 EGRETTA ALBA.

somewhat sinuate, and toward the end slightly deflected. A
large bare space on each side of the head extending from the
base of the bill to a little behind the eye and angle of the
mouth.

The nostrils are linear, six and a half twelfths long. The
eyes are rather small. The legs are very long and slender ;
the tibia feathered for nearly half its length ; in the rest of
its extent considerably compressed, and covered with large
elongated hexagonal scales ; the tarsus long, compressed,
rounded before and behind, with fourteen large anterior
scutella ; a posterior series of large scales on the inner, and
of two rows of smaller on the outer side. The hind toe is
moderate with nine scutella, the second considerably shorter
than the fourth, and with twenty scutella ; the third very
long, with thirty scutella ; the fourth with twenty-eight, and
connected with the third by a basal web. The claws are
moderate, arched, compressed, that of the middle toe serrate,
with about thirty teeth.

The feathers on the head and neck are of moderate length,
oblong, or rather subovate, of rather loose texture, excepting
those on a longitudinal band along the fore part of the neck,
which are small and more compact. The occipital feathers
are very slightly elongated, the longest being an inch and
four twelfths, scarcely forming a crest. On the lower part of
the neck the feathers are considerably elongated. On the
lower part of the body they are long and of loose texture,
especially on the anterior portion of the breast margining
and covering a large space, which is bare in the centre, and
on each side has a broad longitudinal band of singular downy
plumules of a huffy colour, about three-fourths of an inch in
length, with a long orange-coloured shaft, and extremely
feeble, so as to be easily torn across. On the sides and lower
parts, the down is of the ordinary kind ; but on each side of
the abdomen, behind the femur, is a patch of buffy down.
On the fore part of the back the feathers are large and ovate,
on the hind part perfectly downy. From the fore part of the
back arise four series of very elongated feathers, having
rather firm, though slender, straightish shafts, with widely
separated, deflected, barbulate filaments, the longest extend-

YELLOW-BILLED WHITE EGRET. 467

ing a little beyond the tail, and fourteen inches in length.
The wings are long, broad, and rounded ; the first quill
three-twelfths of an inch shorter than the second, which
exceeds the third by one-twelfth. The tail is short, even,
of twelve broad, rounded, rather weak feathers.

The bill is yellow, the tip slightly dusky. The bare space
on each side of the head verdigris green. The feet are black.
The plumage is white, with a faint yellowish tinge.

Length to end of tail 40 inches ; head and bill 8 ; ridge
of upper mandible 4-^ ; gape-line 5^-f ; height of bill -Li, its
breadth -^ '> wing from flexure 16 ; tail 6% ; bare part of
tibia 3^- ; tarsus 6^ ; first toe 1^, its claw ^k > second toe
%Y2, its claw -^ ; third toe 3^, its claw -j% ; fourth toe 2|^-,
its claw -j^-.

The above description is from a preserved specimen. Com-
pared with Ardea nigrirostris, it has the bill a little higher
at the base, the wing shorter, the tail even instead of being
rounded, the legs much shorter, as are the toes ; but other-
wise there is no perceptible difference, excepting the colour
of the bill. The two individuals are adult, with the dorsal
plumes in the same state.

Remarks. — The only detailed description of a White
Heron killed in Britain that has hitherto been given is that
of Egretta nigrirostris presented in this work. I have else-
where remarked, and have now no reason to retract it, that
" were the description of authors so detailed as those in my
History of British Birds, one might easily refer to its species
any individual bird that he might obtain ; but this is by no
means the case, insomuch that even the most recent works,
namely, those of Mr. Gould and Mr. Yarrell, contain de-
scriptions and figures of the Great White Egret so imperfect
as to be useless for comparison with very nearly allied species.
That bird has the shaft of the dorsal plumes straight ; and
yet they are represented in both works as arcuate or
decurved, but in Mr. Gould's with the tip a little recurvate.
The bill in both works is bounded by right lines, which is
not the case in any Egret known to me. The descriptions
are, I regret being obliged to say it, good for nothing."

468 EGRETTA ALBA.

In my Manual of British Birds I named the Tyningham
Egret Erodius Victoria?, supposing it to be new, or at least
of the species called Egretta nigrirostris by Mr. Grey and
the Prince of Canino, but of which I could not find a
description. This latter name is quite appropriate, however,
and until it be determined what species it really is, I think
it better to adopt it.

Egretta nigrirostris is much larger in all its principal
dimensions than Egretta alba, which exceeds Egretta Leuce.
Length 44^- inches ; extent of wings 66. The bill is long,
stout, compressed, tapering, the dorsal line straight for two-
thirds, then slightly declinato-convex, deep black, with the
tips greenish-grey or horn-colour to the extent of an inch,
the base as far as the nostrils verdigris-green, as is also a
large bare space on each side of the head, extending from
the base of the bill to a little behind the eye and angle of
the mouth. The occipital feathers very slightly elongated,
being an inch and a half in length. The dorsal plumes
have rather firm, though slender, straightish shafts, the
longest extending two inches and a half beyond the tail, and
sixteen inches in length. The bare part of the tibia and the
upper part of the tarsus are flesh-coloured ; the scutella of
the tarsi and toes dusky brown ; the hind part of the tarsus
and the soles dusky flesh-colour ; the claws brownish-black.
The plumage white, with a faint tint of yellowish.

Egretta alba, which is about 40 inches in length, has the
bill long, stout, compressed, tapering, the dorsal line straight
for two-thirds from the base, then slightly declinato-convex.
A large bare space on each side of the head, extending from
the base of the bill to a little behind the eye and angle of
the mouth, said by authors to be pale green. Mr. Yarrell
says the bill is " yellow at the base, black towards the
point." Mr. Gould says it is " deep brown, tinged with
yellow about the nostrils." No two authors agree on this
subject. It was in the stuffed specimen above described
yellow, with the tip slightly dusky. The occipital feathers
very slightly elongated, the longest being an inch and four-
twelfths in length. The dorsal plumes have rather firm,
though slender, straightish shafts, the longest extending two

YELLOW-BILLED WHITE EGRET.

469

inches beyond the tail, and fourteen inches in length. The
tibia, tarsus, toes, and claws are black. The plumage white,
with a faint yellowish tinge.

Now the only differences in the above descriptions are in
the general size, the colour of the bill, and that of the feet ;
but in the measurements of the bill and feet, as will pre-
sently be seen, the difference is great ; and while the one
has twenty tarsal scutella, the other has only fourteen.

Egretta Leuce, an American species, is smaller than
Egretta alba. The bill is long, stout, compressed, tapering,
its dorsal line straight for two-thirds, then slightly declinato-
convex. The bill bright yellow, as is the bare space between
it and the eye. The occipital feathers are slightly elon-
gated. The dorsal plumes have very slender, slightly de-
curved, and slightly undulated shafts, the longest extending
about ten inches beyond the end of the tail. The tibia,
tarsus, toes, and claws black. The plumage white.

Some of the measurements of three individuals of these
three species are here given : —

Nigrirostris

Length 44 6

Extent of wings . . 66 0
Bill along the ridge 4 9

Gape-line 6 2

Height of bill 0 101

Wing from flexure .18 3

Tail 7 0

Bare part of tibia . . 5 6

Tarsus 7 9

Third toe 4 6

Its claw 0 8

Alba.
40 0

4 7i

0 101

16 0

6 6

3 8

6 5

3 6

0 7^

Leuce.
37 0
55 0

4 7

5 5
0 11

16 6

6 3
3 6
6 1
3 11
0 9

It will be seen how greatly Egretta nigrirostris exceeds the
others in the bare space on the tibia, in the tarsus, and in
the middle toe. All the individuals described were adult,
with the dorsal plumes in the same state.

It is clear that Egretta nigrirostris exceeds Egretta alba
in size, as much as the latter exceeds Egretta Leuce. Its
bill, however, is more slender than that of either, and its

470 EGRETTA ALBA.

tarsi and toes much longer ; while the bare part of the tibia
greatly exceeds that of the rest. I have examined the
digestive organs of Egretta nigrirostris and Egretta Leuce,
but not of Egretta alba. Of the first, the oesophagus was
28 inches long, 2^- inches wide at the proventriculus ; sto-
mach 2 inches in diameter, with a pyloric lobe 10 twelfths
in breadth ; intestine 9 feet 1 inch long, from 8 to 2 twelfths
in breadth. Of the second, the oesophagus was 26 inches
long, H inch wide at the proventriculus ; stomach 1^ inch
in diameter, with a pyloric lobe 8 twelfths in breadth ; intes-
tine 6 feet 7 inches long, its average width 2 twelfths.

471

EGRETTA GARZETTA. LITTLE WHITE EGRET.

Ardea Garzetta. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 937.

Ardea Garzetta. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 694.

Egret. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Ardea Garzetta. Flem. Brit. Anim. 96.

Heron Garzette. Ardea Garzetta. Tenrm. Man. d'Orn. II. 574.

Ardea Garzetta. "Wagler, Syst. Avium.

Little Egret Heron. Ardea Garzetta. Selb. Illustr. II. 21.

Ardea Garzetta. Little Egret Heron. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 187.

Egretta Garzetta. Bonap. Comp. List. 47.

Length about two feet ; plumage soft and blended; occi-
pital feathers considerably elongated; three of them very long,
slender, tapering, compact ; those of the lower part of the
neck similarly elongated and tapering; dorsal plumes with
the shaft very slender, straight, recurved at the end; plumage
white; bill black; bare preoadar space green; bare part of
tibia and upper half of tarsus black; lower part and toes
greenish-yellow. Young white, without occipital or dorsal
plumes; the bill yellow for more than half its length.

Male. — This beautiful Egret, which is inferior in size to
Egretta russata, is of a very slender form, having the body
much compressed, the neck very long and slender, the head
rather small, oblong, and much compressed. The bill is
about double the length of the head, straight, rather slender,
tapering ; the upper mandible with the dorsal line straight
for three-fourths from the base, then slightly declinate-
convex ; the ridge narrow, unless at the base ; the nasal
depression narrow, elongated, with a groove from its fore
part extending nearly to a third from the tip; the sides
convex ; the edges inflected and sharp, with a notch close
to the narrow, rather blunt tip ; lower mandible with the
angle long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line straight

472 EGRETTA GARZETTA.

and very slightly ascending, the sides sloping oufavards and
a little concave, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute.
The gape-line straight, commencing under the hind part of
the eye, at first somewhat sinuate.

The nostrils are linear, four-twelfths of an inch long.
The eyes of moderate size. The feet are very long; the
tibia bare for half its length, and covered with large hexa-
gonal scales ; the tarsus long, compressed, rounded before
and behind, with eighteen large anterior scutella. The hind
toe is moderate, with ten scutella ; the second a little shorter
than the fourth, with eighteen ; the third with twenty-six ;
the fourth with twenty-four scutella, and connected with
the third by a basal web. The claws are rather long,
arched, compressed, acute; that of the middle toe serrate,
with twenty teeth.

The plumage is very soft and blended. The feathers of
the occiput and nape elongated; three of them very long,
slender, tapering, compact, decurved or pendent ; the longest
measuring five inches. On the lower part of the neck ante-
riorly are numerous elongated, slender, tapering, compact
feathers ; the longest four inches and a half. From the fore
part of the back arise four series of very elongated feathers,
having their shafts very slender, straight, but toward the
end recurved ; and their filaments long, distant, and pendent.
The wings are long and broad, with the third quill longest,
but scarcely exceeding the first two ; one of the inner secon-
daries is only a quarter of an inch shorter than the longest
primary when the wing is closed. The tail is short, nearly
even, of twelve weak, rounded feathers, Part of the breast
covered with down only ; and the same patches of oily brittle
down as in the other species occur in this.

The bill is black ; a small part of the base and the bare
space on each side of the head light green. The bare part
of the tibia, the upper half of the tarsus, and its anterior
scutella are black; the rest of the tarsus and the toes
greenish-yellow ; the claws black. The plumage is entirely
white.

Length to end of tail 24 inches ; extent of wings 38 ;
wing from flexure lOf ; tail 3f ; bill along the ridge 3^,

LITTLE WHITE EGRET. 473

along the edge of lower mandible 4-^, its height T7¥ ; bare
part of tibia 2^- ; tarsus 4^ ; first toe ^-L, its claw -^- ; second
toe 1^, its claw -fe ; third toe 2-^g-, its claw -^ ; fourth toe
lJ-f, its claw ^-.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but a
little less.

Habits. — This species is said to occur in Japan, India,
the countries bordering on the Red Sea, Egypt, various parts
of Asia, the eastern portions of the south of Europe, as well
as Turkey, Italy, Sicily, France, and Germany; being of
rare occurrence, however, in the latter countries, where it is
migratory. In England it is merely an accidental visitant,
and in Scotland has not, I believe, been met with. Its
habits may be supposed similar to those of other Herons ;
for I am not aware of anything very definite being known
respecting them.

474

EGRETTA RUSSATA. THE BUFF-BACKED
EGRET.

Ardea russata. "Wagler Syst. Av.

Little White Heron. Ardea aequinoctialis. Mont. Orn. Diet. Supplt.

Buff-backed Heron. Ardea russata. Selb. Illustr. II. 24.

Ardea russata. Buff-backed Heron: Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 188.

Bupbus russatus. Bonap. Comp. List. 47.

Bill stout, tail slightly emarginate. Adult with the
feathers of the hind head and neck elongated, hairlike, and
reddish-yellow ; dorsal plumes slender, decomposed, and of
the same colour ; fore part of breast and back tinged with
cream-colour ; the rest of the plumage white ; bill pale yellow ;
feet dusky anteriorly, yellowish behind. Young without
elongated feathers, pure white, except the head, which is
tinged with yellow ; bill pale yellow ; feet dusky green.

This beautiful Egret, of which only a single specimen has
been obtained in England, has the bill proportionally stouter,
the neck and legs shorter, and the toes longer than in many
other species ; but these, and other characters which it pre-
sents, do not seem to me sufficient to justify Boie and the
Prince of Musignano in referring it to a genus by itself.
Egretta candidissima and rufescens, both referred by the
latter author to the same genus as Egretta Leuce and alba,
differ from these species and from each other, quite as much
as they differ from the present. In short, were this arbitrary
formation of genera tolerated, every single species of the
family ought to constitute a genus.

Male. — Much inferior in size to Egretta Garzetta, and
about equal to Egretta candidissima, although differing from

BUFF-BACKED EGRET. 475

both in its proportions, in which it conies near to Ardea
speciosa, the adult of this species may be described as having
the body moderate, the neck long and rather thick, the head
ovato-oblong. The bill is about a fourth longer than the
head, rather stout, straight, compressed, tapering; upper
mandible with the dorsal line straight until toward the end,
when it becomes considerably decurved, the sides convex,
the groove extending to a fifth from the end ; the edges
sharp, serrulate ; the tip acute ; the lower mandible with
the angle very long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line
very slightly ascending, the sides concave, the edges sharp
and serrulate, the tip acuminate, the gape-line slightly
arched.

The feet, although long and slender, are much shorter
than those of some other species of about the same size,
Egretta candidissima, for example. The bare part of the
tibia is also scutellate in front, it being reticulate in most
species ; the tarsus has very broad anterior scutella ; the
toes are long, slender, scutellate ; the claws long, very
slender, tapering, compressed, arcuate ; that of the middle
toe serrate.

The plumage is soft and moderately full. The feathers
on the upper part of the head, nape, and the hind part of the
neck are elongated, with stifnsh, hair-like glossy filaments ;
and there is a bare space at the base of the neck behind. On
the fore part of the neck the feathers are moderate, but at the
lower part enlarged, with the filaments disunited toward the
end. On the breast and behind the thighs are yellow greasy
down-plumelets, as in the other species. From the back
arise four series of plumes, having disunited hair-like fila-
ments, some of them extending nearly to the end of the tail.
The other feathers on the fore part of the back are ovate,
those on its hind part downy. The wings are long and
broad; the third quill longest, the second half-a-twelfth
shorter, and exceeding the first by only two-twelfths. The
tail is a little emarginate, the lateral feathers being a twelfth
and a half longer than those in the middle. The wings
when folded are slightly longer than the tail, which is short
and slightly emarginate.

476 EGRETTA RUSSATA.

The bill and loral spaces are pale yellow ; the bare part
of the tibia is yellowish ; the anterior part of the tarsus and
toes dusky ; their hind part tinged with yellow ; the claws
black. The general colour of the plumage is white ; but the
feathers on the upper part and sides of the head, those on
the hind part and lower fore part of the neck, are of a
golden-ochrey tint ; as are the elongated plumes of the back,
of which the fore part is also tinged with the same colour ;
the fore part and sides of the neck are of a tint approaching
to cream colour, as is the fore part of the breast.

Length to end of tail 20 inches ; bill along the ridge 2-^,
along the edge of lower mandible 3-^ ; wing from flexure
9-fg- ; tail 3^- ; bare part of tibia 1^ ; tarsus 3|- ; middle
toe 2^z, its claw -^.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — This species, according to Wagler, occurs in
Greece, Spain, and Italy ; in Persia, Egypt, Nubia, Cyprus,
and Senegambia ; is not unfrequent in Southern Africa,
common in Java, and, as it would appear, in New Holland.
Of its habits I find no account.

Young. — An individual from Bengal in my collection is
as follows : — The general form and the proportions of the
parts are as described above. On the tibia are eight scu-
tella, on the tarsus eighteen, on the hind toe ten, on the
second eighteen, the third twenty-eight, the fourth twenty-
four. The claws are long, very slender, and finely pointed ;
the edge of the third with twenty -five teeth.

The feathers are oblong or ovate, and rather blended.
There are no elongated decomposed plumes on the back.
The quills are thirty, besides eight numerals ; the third
longest, the second half a twelfth shorter, the first a twelfth
and three-fourths shorter than the second. When the wing
is closed, one of the inner secondaries is only two-twelfths of
an inch shorter than the longest primary. The tail is a
little emarginate, the lateral feathers being a twelfth and a

BUFF-BACKED EGRET. 477

half longer than those in the middle. The wings when
folded are slightly longer than the tail.

The bill is pale yellow, with the ridge light brown toward
the end. The plumage is white ; but the upper part of the
head, a portion of the back, and the fore part of the breast,
are tinged with cream-colour.

Length to end of tail 20 inches ; bill along the ridge 2^,
along the edge of lower mandible 3^; wing from flexure
9-j^- ; tail 3-fe ; bare part of tibia 1^- ; tarsus 3^ ; first toe
1^, its claw -fi- ; second toe l-^, its clstw -fa ; third toe 2^,
its claw -j^ ; fourth toe 1\%, its claw ^-.

Remarks. — The only specimen of this bird obtained in
Britain is a female, shot near Kingsbridge, in the end of
October, 1805, and presented to Montagu by Mr. Nicholas
Luscombe of that place. The description, taken from the
Supplement to the Ornithological Dictionary, is as follows: —

The length is about twenty inches ; the bill two inches
long to the feathers on the forehead, and of an orange yellow ;
the lore and orbits the same ; irides pale yellow. The whole
plumage is snowy white, except the crown of the head, and
the upper part of the neck before, which are buff : legs three
inches and a half long, and one inch and a half bare space
above the knee ; these parts are nearly black with a tinge of
green ; the toes and claws are of the same colour, the middle
claw pectinated.

On the back of the head the feathers are a trifle elongated,
but scarcely to be called a crest ; on the lower part of the
neck before, the feathers are more elongated, and though not
slender, hang detached over the upper part of the breast : the
tail when closed is in a slight degree forked, and so short as
to be entirely covered by the wings when folded.

This elegant little species of Heron had been seen for
several days in the same field attending some cows, and
picking up insects, which were found in its stomach. It was
by no means shy, but suffered a bungling marksman to fire
twice before he could kill it. The situation where it was
shot was the southernmost promontory of Devon, very near
the coast, between the Start and the Prawl.

478 EGRETTA RUSSATA.

Montagu mistook it for Ardea sequinoctialis of Linnseus ;
but the error was detected after it had, along with his collec-
tion, been transferred to the British Museum. Its dimen-
sions, taken by Mr. Jenyns are as follows : —

Entire length 20^- inches; length of the bill from the
forehead 2-^, from the gape %\% ; of the tarsus 3 ; of the
naked part of the tibia 1^ ; of the middle toe, claw included,
2^2 ; of the tail 4 ; from the carpus to the end of the
wing 10.

479

CICONIA. STORK.

The Storks resemble the Herons, from which, however, they
are distinguished by their more robust form, larger bill, and
shorter toes, with convex and obtuse claws, that of the
middle toe without serrature. They are also larger and more
portly birds, some of them even gigantic. Their body, how-
ever, is compressed, the neck long and rather thick; the
head ovate, convex above, moderately compressed.

Bill much longer than the head, straight, stout, conical,
moderately compressed, tapering to a sharp point; upper
mandible with the dorsal line nearly quite straight, the sides
sloping and somewhat convex, the ridge obtuse, no nasal
sinus or groove, the edges sharp and direct, the tip acute ;
lower mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the
dorsal line ascending and very slightly convex, the sides in-
clined outwards and somewhat convex, the edges sharp, the
tip acute ; the gape-line straight, commencing under the eye.

Nostrils oblong, perforated in the bill near the ridge.
Eyes small, surrounded by a bare space. Aperture of the ear
roundish, rather large.

Legs very long, rather slender ; tibia bare for about half
its length, reticulated ; tarsus long, compressed, reticulated ;
hind toe short, and slightly elevated ; anterior toes of mode-
rate length, webbed at the base, scutellate, but at the base
reticulate ; claws short, convex, obtuse.

Plumage moderately full, generally compact, sometimes
glossy ; feathers of the head and neck oblong, of the lower
part of the neck elongated ; scapulars very large and broad.
Wings long, ample, of thirty quills, the third longest. Tail
rather short, rounded, of twelve feathers.

The Storks belong chiefly to the warmer climates of the

480 CICONIA. STORK.

old continent ; but some of them perform very extended
migrations, betaking themselves to more northern countries
in summer. They reside chiefly in marshy places, where
they feed on fishes, frogs, lizards, occasionally small quad-
rupeds and young birds. Some of the larger species are in a
manner omnivorous, their vulturine appetite being pleased
with any kind of garbage, dead animals, and vegetable sub-
stances. In migrating, they fly in continuous or angular
lines, but chiefly by night. They nestle on the ground, or
in high places, and lay three or four elliptical bight-coloured
eggs.

481

CICONIA ALBA. THE WHITE STORK.

Ardea Ciconia. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 235.

Ardea Ciconia. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 677.

White Stork. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Cicogne blanche. Ciconia alba. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 560.

Ciconia alba. "White Stork. Flem. Brit. Anim. 97.

"White Stork. Ciconia alba. Selb. Illustr. II. 45.

Ciconia alba. "White Stork. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 192.

Ciconia alba. Bonap. Comp. List. 46.

Bare part of the sides of the head very small and
smooth ; lor at spaces feathered ; bill and feet red ; plumage
white; the quills, larger coverts, alula, and scapulars black.

Although the White Stork is of very rare occurrence in
Britain, I have been so fortunate as to obtain for description
an individual shot in Shetland, from which the following
particulars are taken : —

Male. — This stately bird has the body large and com-
pressed, the neck long and rather thick, the head ovate and
moderately compressed.

The bill is about twice the length of the head, straight,
stout, conical, moderately compressed, tapering to a point ;
the upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, very
slightly decimate at the end, the sides sloping and a little
convex ; the ridge, which is obtuse, not separated by grooves ;
the edges sharp and direct, the tip acute ; the lower man-
dible with the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line
ascending and very slightly convex, the sides inclined out-
wards and somewhat convex, the edges sharp, the tip acute ;
the gape-line straight, commencing under the eyes.

The nostrils are ten-twelfths long, direct, sub-basal, per-
forated as it were in the bill, near the ridge. The eyes are
small, surrounded by a bare space of small extent. The
aperture of the ear roundish and rather large.

H H

482 CICONIA ALBA.

The legs are very long and rather slender ; the tibia bare
for about half its length, reticulated with hexagonal scales ;
the tarsus long, compressed, reticulated all round. The hind
toe is short and slightly elevated ; the anterior toes of mode-
rate length, webbed at the base, scutellate, but at the base
reticulated. On the first toe are ten, on the second fifteen,
the third twenty-five, the fourth twelve scutella. The claws
are short, convex above, broadly rounded at the end ; the
inner edge of the third thin, but not serrate.

The plumage is moderately full, and in general compact.
The loral spaces are not bare as in the Herons ; but there is
a narrow longitudinal space, very slightly feathered, on each
side of the throat. The feathers of the head and neck are
oblong ; those of the lower anterior part of the neck elon-
gated, but rather compact, the longest measuring five inches
and a half. On the anterior part of the back they are
broadly ovate, rounded, compact, and glistening ; on the
hind part of the back smaller, but compact ; on the lower
parts of the body of looser texture. Seven of the scapulars
are very large, broad, rounded at the end, the largest twelve
inches in length. The wings are long and broad, of thirty
quills, and when closed reach the end of the tail ; the first
quill two inches and two-twelfths shorter than the second,
the third longest, exceeding the second by an inch and a
twelfth, and the fourth by an inch and a half. The secon-
daries are very broad and rounded ; some of the inner elon-
gated, one of them being only two inches and a half shorter
than the longest primary when the wing is closed. The
tail is rather short, a little rounded, the outer being an inch
and two-twelfths shorter than the middle feathers. The
down is soft and of ordinary texture; but there are no
patches of oily, brittle down, as in the Herons.

The bill, tibiae, tarsi, and toes are coral red ; the claws
reddish-brown ; the iris brown ; and the bare skin around
the eyes and throat vermilion. The general colour of the
plumage is white; but the primary and secondary quills,
their coverts, the alula, and the elongated scapulars are
black, with a purplish-blue gloss. Some of the quills have
a greyish-white tinge on part of their extent.

WHITE STORK. 483

Length to end of tail 42 inches ; extent of wings 76 ;
bill along the ridge 7^, along the edge of lower mandible 9,
its height 1-f^ ; wing from flexure 25 ; tail t ; bare part of
tibia 4f ; tarsus 8-^ ; hind toe 1 , its claw -^ ; second toe
2^, its claw -^ ; third toe 3, its claw -^ ; fourth toe 2^,
its claw -fe.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — It is not in Britain that the habits of the
White Stork can be studied, its occurrence there being, in
so far as is known, limited to a very few instances. I must
therefore refer to the continental writers for the following
particulars : — In the temperate parts of Europe the Storks
arrive toward the end of spring, and depart in October,
travelling in large flocks, and betaking themselves to Africa
and Asia. In winter they are especially abundant in Egypt.
Their northward migration extends as far as the Baltic,
occasionally beyond it ; yet in Britain their appearance is
irregular and accidental.

In most countries, being unmolested on account of their
usefulness in destroying reptiles, they are quite fearless of
man, frequently residing in the towns, and nestling on
chimneys and other elevated parts of buildings. The nest
is flat, composed externally of sticks and twigs, internally of
straws and dry herbage. The eggs, three or four in number,
are of a yellowish-white colour, two inches and three-fourths
in length, two inches in breadth. Incubation continues
thirty days, the male occasionally assisting. The young are
at first covered with brownish down, and remain in the nest
till the end of summer. Their parents accompany them in
their first attempts at flying ; and from this circumstance,
and their assiduity in procuring food, as well as other indi-
cations of affection for their offspring and for each other,
these birds have generally been considered as patterns of
conjugal fidelity and fraternal love. In these respects the
Storks are probably not superior to many other birds,
although from their great size, confidence in man, and re-
markable habits, they attract more notice in places where

484 WHITE STORK.

they are common. In Holland, Flanders, and some parts of
Germany, wooden boxes or frames are placed on the tops of
towers and chimneys to induce them to nestle there ; and he
who has a Stork's nest on his house is esteemed a fortunate
mortal. In England, on the other hand, where the Stork's
habits are unknown, the possession of all the virtues
imaginable would not suffice to protect it from the prowling
gamekeeper and bird-stuffer.

The only individual known to me as having been ob-
tained in Scotland was shot in Mainland, Shetland, and
presented by Mr. M. Cameron to Professor Jameson, who
has deposited it in the Museum of the University of Edin-
burgh. Mr. Yarrell states that one specimen has been killed
in Scotland, communicated to him by Thomas M. Grant,
Esq., and that two examples are said to have been killed in
Shetland. The Rev. Mr. Smith, Monquhitter, informs me
that " during the unusually severe winter of 1837-8, a
specimen of this rare bird was shot in a moss in the upper
part of the parish of Lonmay. It was nailed to a barn-door,
where it speedily went to decay. The people who obtained
it compared its red legs to Turkey leather." In the New
Statistical Account of the Parish of Craig, in Forfarshire, it
is stated by the late Mr. Thomas Molison, Montrose, that
" a Stork was lately (1835) seen in the basin, and after-
wards shot at Ethic House." Montagu states that one was
shot near Salisbury, in February, 1790 ; another at Sand-
wich, in Kent, in 1805 ; and a third in Hampshire, in 1808.
Since the latter period several instances of its occurrence
have been noted, chiefly in the southern and eastern parts of
England. One instance of its having been obtained in Ire-
land is recorded, it being stated by Dr Harvey, of Cork, in
the Annals of Natural History, vol. xviii. p. 70, that a fine
specimen was shot in the summer of 1846, near Fermoy, in
the county of Cork.

Young. — When fledged, the young differ from the adult
only in having the bill of a duller tint, and the black parts
of the plumage tinged with brown, and less glossy.

485

CICONIA NIGRA. THE BLACK STORK.

Ardea nigra. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 23-5.
Ardea nigra. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 677.
Black Stork. Mont. Linn. Trans. XII. 19.
Cicogne noire. Ciconia nigra. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 561.
Ciconia nigra. Black Stork. Flem. Brit. Anim. 97.
Black Stork. Ciconia nigra. Selb. Illustr. II. 48.
Ciconia nigra. Black Stork. Jen. Brit. Vert. An, 193.
Ciconia nigra. Bonap. Comp. List. 46.

Bare part of the sides of the head very small, and smooth ;
loral spaces partly bare ; bill and feet red ; plumage brownish-
black, glossed with purple and green ; breast and abdomen
ivhite.

The Black Stork being of so very rare occurrence in Britain
that only four individuals are recorded as having been
obtained there, I have been obliged to have recourse to a
foreign specimen for the following description : —

Male. — This species is inferior in size to the White
Stork, and proportionally less robust. The bill is more
slender, straight, stout, conical, considerably compressed,
tapering ; the upper mandible with the dorsal line straight,
the sides sloping and convex, the ridge convex, the lateral
grooves faint and extending to about a third from the end,
the edges sharp and direct, with a slight notch close to the
small deflected tip ; the lower mandible with the angle very
long and narrow, the dorsal line ascending and slightly
convex, the sides inclined outwards and somewhat convex,
the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute ; the gape-line
straight, commencing under the eyes.

The nostrils are nine-twelfths long, direct, sub-basal,
perforated as it were in the bill, near the ridge. The eyes

486 CICONIA NIG11A.

are small, surrounded by a bare space of small extent. The
aperture of the ear roundish and rather large.

The legs are very long, and rather slender ; the tibia bare
for about half its length, reticulated with hexagonal scales ;
the tarsus long, compressed, reticulated all round. The
hind toe is small and slightly elevated ; the anterior toes of
moderate length, webbed at the base, the outer web much
larger ; all scutellate, but at the base more or less reticulate.
On the first toe are six, on the second sixteen, on the third
thirty, on the fourth twenty-eight scutella. The claws
are small, arcuato-declinate, compressed, toward the end
depressed, obtuse ; the inner edge of the third not serrate.

The plumage is moderately full, generally compact. The
loral spaces are partially bare. The feathers of the head and
neck are small and oblong ; those of the lower anterior part
of the neck moderately elongated ; on the other parts large
and ovato-oblong ; some of the scapulars very large, broad,
and rounded. The wings are long and broad, of thirty quills,
and when closed reach to the end of the tail ; the first quill
nearly an inch shorter than the second, the second and third
longest ; the secondaries very broad and rounded, the inner
elongated. The tail is of moderate length and rounded.

The bill and bare space around the eyes are orange-red ;
the iris brown ; the feet orange-red, the claws brown. The
head, the neck all round, the back, wings, and tail, are
brownish-black, glossed with purple and green, the lower
parts white.

Length to end of tail 38 inches ; wing from flexure 20^ ;
tail 8 ; bill along the ridge 7^, along the edge of lower man-
dible 8 j ; bare part of tibia 4£, tarsus 8j ; first toe \4y, its
claw -ft ; second toe 2^, its claw -fa ; third toe S-fa, its claw
■fj ; fourth toe 2]±, its claw -j3j.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — This species is generally dispersed over the
eastern and middle parts of the continent, and occurs occa-
sionally in the northern and western. It is said to live in
wooded marshes, and to feed on fishes, frogs, and insects.

BLACK STORK. 487

According to M. Temminck, it nestles on the tallest pines
and firs, laying two or three eggs of a dull white shaded with
green, and sometimes marked with a small number of brown
spots. Wagler states that it is " not very rare in France,
Hungary, Poland, Austria, Bavaria, Switzerland, Prussia,
but never occurs in Holland. Frequent in Persia, as well as
Nubia, Senagambia, and Caffraria. It prefers marshy places
in forests, seldom betaking itself to the shores of rivers and
marshes, nestles in extensive woods, building its ample nest
on the tops of the trees, and laying two or three dull white
eggs, tinged with green, and sometimes marked with a few
dusky spots. It feeds on small fishes, frogs, locusts, and
other insects, and is of a very timid disposition."

Young. — According to M. Temminck, the young have
the bill, the bare skin about the eyes, that on the throat, as
well as the feet, olive-green ; the head and neck brownish-
red, with reddish borders ; the body, wings, and tail blackish-
brown, with slight bluish and greenish reflections.

488

TANTALIN^l.

TANTALI AND ALLIED SPECIES.

The Tantalinae, of which there are only three genera, Tan-
talus, Ibis, and Platalea, are birds of large or moderate size,
which in external aspect combine the characters of the
Herons or Storks and Curlews, and in their internal
organization are intermediate between these groups. They
have the head bare in front, sometimes over its whole
extent ; rather large in the Tantali, but small in some of
the Ibises. The neck is always elongated and slender.
The tongue extremely short, triangular, flattened ; the
oesophagus generally wide; the stomach moderately mus-
cular ; the intestine long, and having two generally very
small coeca, in which respect it differs from that of the
Herons.

The legs are long, rather stout in some, slender in
others ; the tibia bare to a large extent ; the tarsus reticu-
late, but sometimes scutellate in front ; the four toes articu-
lated on the same level, the anterior long and webbed at the
base ; the claws arched, compressed, and rather obtuse.

The plumage is blended, on the upper parts compact ;
its colouring in masses. The wings ample, with the second
or third quill longest. The tail short, of twelve feathers.

The species belong exclusively to warm climates, and
none of them migrate to very cold countries for the purpose
of breeding. Their nests resemble those of the Heron
family, being rudely constructed, and placed on trees or on
the ground. Their eggs are few in number, oval or sub-
elliptical, and spotted. The young remain in the nest or its
vicinity until they are able to fly. Fishes, reptiles, crus-

TANTALIN^E. 489

tacea, mollusca, insects, and other small animals form the
food of the Tantalinse, of which a few individuals only of
two species are rarely met with in this country.

SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. IBIS. IBIS.

Head small, compressed, oblong, bare before the eyes,
often to a greater extent. Bill very long, tapering, slender,
compressed, arcuate, obtuse ; the ridge convex, broader
toward the end, the sides with a deep narrow groove ex-
tending to the tip. Legs very long, slender ; tarsi reticulate,
sometimes scutellate ; anterior toes connected by membranes
at the base. Wings ample, with the second quill longest.

1. Ibis Falcinellus. Glossy Ibis. Neck, breast, and
lower parts chestnut-red ; back, wing, and tail glossy green,
with purple tints.

GENUS II. PLATALEA. SPOONBILL.

Head of moderate size, flattened above, bare before the
eyes. Bill very long, depressed, contracted in the middle,
at the end expanded into a large obovate flat disk. Legs
long, rather stout ; tarsus reticulate ; anterior toes connected
by membranes at the base. Wings ample, with the second
quill longest.

1. Platalea Leucorodia. Wliite Spoonbill. Plumage
white ; the crest tinged with yellow ; the lower part of the
neck and a portion of the breast buff-coloured.

490

IBIS. IBIS.

The birds of which this genus is formed are intermediate
between the Tantali and Numenii, some of the larger species
approaching the former, while some of the smaller are very
similar to the latter. They are also most intimately allied
to the Spoonbills, which, in fact, are Ibises with the bill
singularly flattened and expanded. The gradation from Ibis
Falcinellus, the only British species, to Numenius Arquata,
is almost so direct as to leave room for no intermediate form.
The digestive organs and many of the habits of these birds
are similar, and it does not appear that any unprejudiced
person could refuse to admit that the Ibises are very closely
allied to the Scolopacina?, although they also have an affinity
to the Ardeinae, the gradation to which is completed by the
intervention of the genus Tantalus. They are generally of
moderate size, with the body ovate, robust in the larger
species, rather slender in the smaller ; the neck long and
slender ; the head small, oblong, and compressed.

Bill very long, slender, rather thick at the base, arcuate,
tapering, compressed, toward the end somewhat cylindrical
and slightly enlarged at the end, which is obtuse ; upper
mandible with the dorsal line arched, the ridge rather narrow,
more convex toward the end, separated from the sides by a
narrow groove, which extends from the base to the tip ; the
sides, which at the base are erect and flat, toward the end
narrowed and convex, the edges sharp and direct or somewhat
inflected, the tip rather blunt and scarcely longer than that
of the other; lower mandible with the angle long, very
narrow, with a groove extending from it to the tip, the sides
erect or a little inclined inwards, and fiat or somewhat con-
cave, beyond the middle convex, the edges inclinate and
sharp, the tip obtuse ; the gape-line arcuate, commencing
before the eyes.

Mouth rather narrow ; palate flattened, with an anterior

IBIS. IBIS. 491

longitudinal ridge ; upper mandible little concave, with
two or four prominent lines. Tongue extremely short, tri-
angular, flat, thin, broadly emarginate and papillate at the
base, its tip obtuse. (Esophagus wide, proventriculus mode-
rate ; stomach large, broadly elliptical ; its muscular coat
very thick, with the lateral and inferior muscles distinct and
strong ; the epithelium thick, dense, longitudinally rugous ;
intestine rather long, of moderate width ; cceca very small
and cylindrical ; cloaca globular.

Nostrils linear or oblong, sub-basal, in the fore part of
the narrow bare nasal membrane. Eyes rather small. Aper-
ture of ear very small. Feet long and rather slender ; tibia
bare for a considerable space, and reticulated with hexagonal
scales ; tarsus rather long, reticulate in the larger species,
scutellate in the smaller, or partially reticulate and scutel-
late ; toes rather long, moderately stout ; the first more
slender, articulated on the same plane as the rest; the
second a little shorter than the third ; all scutellate in their
whole length, flattened beneath ; the anterior webbed at the
base. Claws short or moderate, slender, compressed, slightly
arched, acute, that of the middle toe with the inner edge
thin.

In young birds the head is feathered, except the loral
spaces and the skin between the crura of the lower man-
dible ; but in old birds, one species excepted, more or less of
the head, sometimes the face and throat, sometimes the
whole head, and sometimes nearly the whole neck besides,
are denuded. Plumage moderate ; feathers of the head and
neck slender, on the other parts ovate and of moderate
length. Wings long or of moderate length, broad, of about
twenty-five quills ; primaries firm, broad, rounded, the outer
three somewhat sinuate on the inner web, the third gene-
rally longest, the second a little shorter, and not much
exceeding the first ; secondaries broad and rounded, some of
the inner about as long as the longest primary when the
wing is closed, or longer, decurved, with the filaments loose.
Tail short or moderate, even or rounded, of twelve broad,
rounded feathers.

From Tantalus to Ibis the transition is evident, while

492 IBIS. IBIS.

between Ibis and Numenius there is scarcely any interval.
With respect to the digestive organs, the Ibises nearly cor-
respond with the Numenii, and differ entirely from the
Herons, their oesophagus being the only part that in width
approaches to theirs. In the Herons the stomach is large,
round, and membranous, the intestine very long and ex-
tremely slender, the cceca wanting; whereas in the Ibises
the stomach is of small capacity, but very muscular, the
intestine of moderate length and rather wide, and the cosca
present, although very small. The tongue of the Ibises is
shorter than that of the Curlews, and resembles that of the
Spoonbills, but differs entirely from that of the Herons.

The sexes are similar, the female being only a little
smaller. The young, however, are differently coloured. The
Ibises belong to the tropical and warmer regions of both
continents, or if some reside also in the temperate parts,
they migrate southward in autumn. While in the form
of the feet, and also in some measure in that of the
wings and tail, they bear a considerable resemblance to the
Herons, they also resemble them somewhat in their mode
of walking and flying. According to M. Savigny, the two
species which occur in Egypt feed on worms and small
fresh-water mollusca, but never attack serpents, as had long
been believed. They are generally gregarious. Both have
a powerful and elevated flight, their pectoral muscles being
very thick ; they fly with the neck and feet extended hori-
zontally, and at intervals simultaneously emit low and very
hoarse cries. When they have alighted on newly uncovered
places, they may be seen for hours in the same spot,
unceasingly thrusting their bill into the mud. They never,
like our Curlews, start off and run with rapidity, but always
advance step by step. M. Audubon states that the White
Ibis nestles in trees or bushes, like some Herons, laying
three spotted eggs. The young, at first covered with thick
down, often leave the nest long before they are able to fly,
and are easily caught. The flight of this species, he says,
is rapid and protracted, and at times, like the Red Ibis and
Tantalus Loculator, it rises to a great height, performing
various evolutions. It feeds on crayfish, worms, and mollusca.

493

IBIS FALCINELLUS. THE GLOSSY IBIS.

Fw. 39.

Tantalus Falcinellus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 241.

Tantalus Falcinellus. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 707.

Tantalus igneus, T. viridis. Gmel. Lath. Young.

L'Ibis noir. Savigny. Hist. Nat. et Mith. de l'lbis. p. 36.

Glossy Ibis. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Ibis falcinelle. Ibis Falcinellus. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 598.

Glossy Ibis. Ibis Falcinellus. Selb. Illustr. II. 194.

Ibis Falcinellus. Glossy Ibis. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 194.

Ibis Falcinellus. Bonap. Comp. List, 49.

Head feathered, excepting the loral spaces. Adult with
the feathers of the head and neck lanceolate and glossy ; the
neck, breast, and fore part of the back, deep chestnut-red ;
the hind part of the back, wings, and tail green, glossed with
bronze and purple, the plumage generally icith silky lustre.
Young with the feathers of the head and neck oblong, soft,
without gloss, each with two marginal white streaks ; the lower
parts deep dull brown, the upper glossy, green tinged with
bronze and purple.

Maie. — The Glossy Ibis, the only species of its genus
that has been found in Britain, is one of those which approach
nearest to the Numenii, and recede farthest from the Tantali.
It is about the same size as our common Curlew, which it

494 IBIS FALCINELLUS.

greatly resembles in form, although it differs in several
respects, as will be seen on comparing the description of the
two species. The body is rather slender ; the neck long,
the head rather small, oblong, and compressed.

The bill is very long, slender, arcuate, tapering, com-
pressed ; the upper mandible with the dorsal line arcuate,
the ridge rather narrow, more convex toward the end,
separated by a narrow groove, extending to the point, from
the sides, which at the base are nearly erect, but toward the
end very narrow and convex, the edges sharp and inflected,
the tip obtuse, but thin-edged and not probe-pointed as in
the Curlews or Snipes ; the lower mandible more slender,
with the angle long, very narrow, with a groove extending
from it to the tip, the sides erect and fiat at the base, with a
slight longitudinal groove, beyond the angle convex, the
edges inclinate and sharp, the tip obtuse, the gape-line
arcuate, commencing before the eyes.

The upper mandible is fiat within, but extremely narrow,
with a groove and median prominent line in its basal half,
and four prominent lines toward the end ; the lower mandible
still narrower internally, with two prominent lines.

The legs are very long and slender ; the tibia bare and
reticulated for nearly half its length ; the tarsi long, slender,
compressed, anteriorly covered with twenty-eight broad
scutella, behind and on the sides with small scales. The
toes are rather long, compressed, scutellatc above, flattened
beneath, the anterior connected at the base by membranes,
of which the outer is larger ; the hind toe rather long, the
second a little shorter than the fourth. The claws are rather
small, slender, slightly arched, compressed, rather acute, that
of the middle toe with the inner edge thin.

A bare space extends on each side from the bill to a little
behind the eye. The plumage is moderate ; the feathers of
the head and neck slender and tapering, of the upper parts
of the body ovate and compact, of the lower parts blended ;
those of all the upper parts glossy with silky lustre. The
wings are long and broad, of twenty-three quills, the first
quill is a quarter of an inch shorter than the second, which
is scarcely exceeded by the third, and longer than the fourth,

GLOSSY IBIS. 495

the outer two a little sinuate on the inner web. Some of the
inner secondaries, Avhen the wing is closed, reach to about an
inch of the end of the longest primary. The tail is short,
even, or very slightly emarginate.

The bill is greenish-black, toward the end tinged with
brown ; the bare space on the sides of the head green ; the
hides brown ; the feet greenish-black ; the claws dusky.
The upper parts in general are glossy dark purplish-green.
The upper part and sides of the head dark purplish-brown ;
the neck all round, the fore part of the back, anterior margin
of the wings, breast, abdomen, and tibial feathers, dark
brownish-red ; the lower wing-coverts dark green.

Length to end of tail 24 inches ; bill along the ridge 51-,
along the edge of lower mandible 5-^ ; wing from flexure
11^; tail 4^; bare part of tibia 2^; tarsus 3^- ; hind toe
i-i, its claw -fa ', second toe 1\%, its claw -fe ; third toe 2yV,
its claw -fe ; fourth toe l\% , its claw -^ .

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — The Glossy Ibis is very extensively distributed
on the old continent, being found from India and Egypt to
Siberia, and the northern parts of Europe. Wagler states
that it is frequent in Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Austria,
Bavaria, Switzerland, many parts of Germany and Italy ;
also in the Uralian Desert, about the Caspian and Black Seas,
in Siberia and the countries bordering upon it ; as well as in
Egypt and some of the Indian Isles. Several individuals
have been obtained in various parts of England, from Corn-
wall and Devonshire to Northumberland ; but in that country
it is merely an occasional or accidental visitant ; and, I
believe, has very seldom .been seen in Scotland, although I
have seen skins of two individuals shot there : one in Ayr-
shire, the other near Banchory, Kincardineshire. It is not,
it appears, permanently resident in any part of Europe, but
migrates to Asia in the end of autumn. It is said to fre-
quent the shores of rivers and lakes, and to feed upon insects,
worms, mollusca, and vegetable substances.

Like the White Ibis, this species was held in high vene-

496 IBIS FALCINELLUS.

ration by the ancient Egyptians, and is not unfrequently
found preserved in their sepulchres. It was distinguished
from that bird by the name of " Black Ibis," as is shown by
Savigny, who, in his Histoire Naturelle et Mythologique de
l'lbis, presents us with the following account of it : — " There
is in Egypt another Numenius, which is as much attached
to that country as the white species, and is even more
numerous there. This second species, inferior in size to the
first, is distinguished from it especially by the want of white
in its plumage, and by the feathers with which the neck and
head are always well clothed. All the upper part of the
body is black with very rich green and purple reflections ; all
the lower part of a greyish-black, which also reflects the
tints, but in a less degree ; and these two colours are nearly
the same as those seen in the decomposed feathers, and at
the tips of the large quills of Numenius Ibis, It happens,
however, that in the old individuals, the belly and thighs
take a deep chestnut tint, which sometimes extends over the
breast. The feathers of the head and the whole neck are
blackish, slightly bordered with whitish, darker on the top
of the head and on the nape, which are glossy. The bill and
feet have exactly the same form as those of Numenius Ibis ;
only they are not so thick. They seem at first black, but on
being more closely examined show a greyish-olive colour.
The feet are also proportionally longer, and the bill is a little
shorter. The tongue is smaller, somewhat lanceolate, and
very obtuse ; the irides are brown. In other respects the
two species are very similar ; and the only differences which
the Egyptians consider as presented by them, and which may
be remarked at a glance, and when the birds are not looked at
closely, is that the one is black and white, and that the other
appears entirely black. These two Numenii are the only
species that regularly arrive in Egypt at certain periods.
That of Belon, with the head, bill, and feet red, is so seldom
seen there, that the people can only have the most imperfect
idea of it. They are of a certainty the only species which
the present inhabitants know, and are named by them ; and
in the course of more than three years, when the French
army was in Egypt, neither I, nor any person whom I know,

GLOSSY IBIS. 497

saw any other species. Let it now be remembered that the
ancient Egyptians honoured two species of Ibis; that the
essential distinction established by Herodotus between these
birds is equally obvious in ours, and moreover that which the
Arabs still remark in them ; that the White Ibis was very
black on the head, neck, tips of the wings, and the rump,
while the Black Ibis was very black all over ; an expression
which the Greek historian employs only with doubt and by
contrast, and, in all cases, which he has evidently used to
designate a black colour with rich reflections, and even a
greyish-black, since both of these colours exist in the plumage
of the White Ibis : let all this be remembered, and we shall
be forced to agree that our second species of Numenius is
also the Black Ibis of which the ancients have made mention.
We come to this conclusion with perfect strictness, unless we
reject all that we may consider as previously proved, namely,
that our White Ibis is the true White Ibis of the ancient
Egyptians. If it were necessary to add another proof to these
various considerations, I would take one which would of
itself confirm the opinion that I have just advanced : the
bird which I present as the Black Ibis has not lost its ancient
Egyptian name, that of Leheras or leheras, which Aristotle
has recorded, and which recurs as it were without alteration
in the Arabian name El hareiz, also pronounced El hareis,
and even El hereis, which this bird receives at Menzala,
Damietta, Rosetta, and in the whole of the Delta, from the
Egyptians of the present day.

" The Black Ibis, as is known, occurs not only in Egypt,"
but in Europe, for example, in Denmark, Germany, and
especially in Italy, where it is migratory, and arrives in
spring in great numbers, according to Mauduit, who has
given its colours in detail, but says nothing of its habits.
However, I do not believe that it ever entered the mind of a
European that this bird preys on serpents ; and when I affirm
the contrary, I assuredly have no fear of being contradicted
by the naturalists who, engaging after me in the same subject,
may easily judge of the accuracy of these first statements by
their own observations. The anatomical inspection of the
Black Ibis made me at first think that it had a nearly as

i i

498 IBIS FALCLNELLUS.

exclusive taste for fresh-water shell-fish as the White Ibis ;
and this was afterwards demonstrated to me, since in fact,
nothing else was found in the gizzard of more than twenty
individuals which I successively opened, only the bird selects
shell-fish sufficiently small for the width of its gullet ; for, as
all its external forms are slender, and have not so much
breadth as those of the White Ibis, its internal organs have
been correspondingly contracted. The oesophagus is narrower,
the gizzard, although still very muscular, is less thick, the
intestines are more slender, the cceca more attenuated; but
these slight differences do not prevent the organization and
the appetites from being the same in the two species."

The same author has described this species as feeding
chiefly on small univalve fluviatile shells, of the genera
planorbis, ampullaria, cyclostoma, and others, which abound
in the canals and ditches along the Nile. Its mode of nest-
ling has not been ascertained.

Young. — The young in the second year are thus described
by Wagler : — " Closely resembling the adult, with the head
and upper part of the neck blackish-brown, with slender
longitudinal white streaks ; the lower part of the neck, the
breast, belly and tibia? greyish-black (at a more advanced age
more or less approaching to chestnut), the upper part of the
back and scapulars of a more or less deep and bright chest-
nut-brown." The young in the first year, he says, have the
head and neck marked with broader and more numerous
white streaks, the lower parts of the body verging more
toward blackish-grey.

In a young individual, from Bengal, in my collection, the
feathers of the head and neck are very small, oblong, soft,
blended, without lustre, but of a dull dark brown colour, each
with two marginal slender streaks of white ; the lower parts
deep sooty brown, without gloss, excepting the sides ; the
upper parts glossy blackish-green with bronze and purple
tints ; the primary quills and some of the secondaries deep
green. The bill is shorter and more slender than in the adult.

Remarks. — In this species, the tarsi, which are about

GLOSSY IBIS. 499

the same length as, or very little longer than, the middle toe
with its claw, are covered anteriorly with scutella in their
whole length, excepting about half an inch at the upper part.
Ibis rubra and Ibis alba, in which the bill is a little thicker,
have the tarsi similarly proportioned as to length, but stronger,
and with transverse rows of scales below as well as above.
Ibis religiosa has the bill and tarsi much stouter, and the latter
without any scutella, but in place of them hexagonal scales.
Wagler says that both these species, and Ibis Macei, which
differs extremely little, if at all, from Ibis religiosa, have scu-
tella in the middle of the tarsus ; but in my specimens the
acrotarsia, are entirely reticulate, as is also the case in Savigny's
figures of the Egyptian Ibis. All these Ibises differ in the
extent of the bare space on the head, it being in one confined
to the lores, and in another extending over the whole head,
and even the neck almost to its base. Now if, notwith-
standing, all these birds are of one genus, certainly, a fortiori,
scutella te tarsi and reticulate tarsi may exist in the same
family. On the principle of the very minute division adopted
by some, every single species of Ibis ought to form a genus.
It is very strange that neither Mr. SAvainson, nor the Prince
of Musignano, both famous for instituting genera on slight
grounds, should not have separated the Ibis religiosa, with
its bare head and neck, decomposed and decurved secon-
daries, and reticulate acrotarsia, from Ibis falcinellus, which
has not one of these characters. Surely the differences
are much greater than those between Tringa and Pelidna,
Squatarola and Charadrius, Picus and any one of its dismem-
berments, Astur and Accipiter. Ibis Fulcinellus has, how-
ever, been made the type of a genus ; and, I think, without
much impropriety.

500

PLATALEA. SPOONBILL.

The Spoonbills may be said to be Ibises, Avith the bill flat-
tened and expanded toward the extremity. They are birds
of rather large size, having the body ovate, the neck long
and rather slender, the head of moderate size, ovate, and
flattened above, but little compressed.

Bill very long, being at least three times the length of
the head, nearly straight, extremely depressed, being, when
viewed from above, nearly as broad as the head at the base,
gradually narrowed toward the middle, then expanding into
an obovate disk much broader than the head ; but when
viewed laterally extremely slender, unless at the base ; upper
mandible with the dorsal line at first descending, then nearly
straight to the end, where it is decurved ; the ridge ex-
tremely broad and flat, gradually widening beyond the nos-
trils ; the sides rather broad, convex, and transversely rugose
at the base, gradually narrowed to the middle, then widened,
and again narrowed toward the tip, forming, as it were, in
its whole length a margin to the flattened ridge, from which
they are separated by a narrow groove ; lower mandible with
the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line indicated by
a groove, which is straight until at the end, where it is
decurved, the crura narrow, gradually flattened, then ex-
panded into a disk, similar to that of the upper mandible,
the edges thin and obtuse. Both mandibles are covered
with a thin and soft skin ; the gape-line nearly straight.

Mouth rather narrow, its roof behind with two rows of
obtuse papillaj ; both mandibles internally flattened, with a
medial groove, and beautifully marked with very narrow
elevated lines and grooves parallel to the margins. Tongue
extremely small, broader than long, at the base emarginate
and papillate. There is a dilatable gular sac of small extent,

PLATALEA. SPOONBILL. 501

analogous to that of the Ibises and Cormorants. The oeso-
phagus is rather wide ; the proventriculus bulbiform, with
large cylindrical glandules. The stomach is rather large,
roundish, with the muscular coat thick, its fibres disposed in
large fasciculi ; the central tendons very large ; the epithe-
lium very thick, rather soft. The intestine is very long and
of moderate width, or rather narrow ; there are two ex-
tremely short cceca, and the cloaca is large and globular.

The nostrils linear-elliptical, sub-basal, vertical. Eyes
small, in a bare space, which extends to the bill. Aperture
of ear rather small and roundish.

Legs long, rather slender ; tibia bare in its lower half,
and reticulated with hexagonal scales ; tarsus rather long,
stoutish, roundish, also reticulated all round with similar
scales ; toes rather long, moderately stout ; the first more
slender, articulated on the same plane as the rest; the
second considerably shorter than the third ; all scutellate,
unless at the base, flattened beneath ; the anterior connected
by basal webs. Claws small, slightly arched, compressed,
tapering, pointed, that of the middle toe with a thin
inner edge.

The bare space on the head varies, being in one species
confined to the loral spaces and gular sac, in another in-
cluding the head and a portion of the neck ; whence it is
apparent that this character is of no value as indicative of
distinct genera among birds otherwise similar; for which
reason it cannot apply to the Herons. Plumage moderate ;
feathers of the head and neck slender ; on the other parts
ovate and of moderate length. Wings long, broad, of about
thirty quills ; primaries firm, broad, rounded, the outer three
somewhat sinuate on the inner web, the second longest, the
third next, the first and fourth nearly equal; secondaries
very broad and rounded. Tail short, even, of twelve broad,
rounded feathers.

Now, with regard to external form, the Spoonbills are
obviously nearest to the Ibises, and also approximate to the
Curlews. Their sternum is precisely similar to that of the
Scolopacime ; their cervical vertebrae have no resemblance
to those of the Herons, from which they differ also in

502 PLATALEA. SPOONBILL.

having two lateral coeca, these birds having none but a caput
coecum. The oesophagus and proventriculus are similar to
those of the Curlews ; the stomach has some resemblance to
that of a Heron, it having the muscular fasciculi similarly
disposed, but differs in being much thicker ; and the intes-
tines are much wider, and have thicker walls, than those of
the Herons. In short, the most direct affinity of Platalea is
to Ibis and Tantalus, while it approximates also to Numenius
and other Scolopacinse ; or, as I have elsewhere remarked,
" the compact form of the body, its great muscularity, the
form of the legs, the length and slenderness of the neck,
the form and bareness of the head (in one specimen at least),
and the elongation of the bill, especially when it is laterally
viewed, all indicate an affinity to the Tantali and Numenii.
But the Spoonbills are also allied in various degrees to the
Herons and even the Pelicaninse, which latter they resemble
in the bare gular sac especially ; so that they clearly present
one of those remarkable centres of radiation, demonstrative
of the absurdity of quinary and circular arrangements,
founded merely on a comparison of skins."

It is very remarkable that the trachea differs greatly in
the two species known to me, it being in the American or
Roseate divided high up on the neck, the bronchi being
thus of extreme length; while in the European it is not
divided so high, but on reaching the furcula bends upon
itself, and then in entering the thorax divides.

I have thought it necessary to make the above remarks
on the structure of the birds of this genus, because of the
erroneous ideas of affinity to which the arrangement of
writers ignorant of the subject give rise.

503

PLATALEA LEUCORODIA.
SPOONBILL.

THE WHITE

I
1 I

Fio. 40.

Platalea Leucorodia. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 231.

Platalea Leucorodia. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 667.

White Spoonbill. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Platalea Leucorodia. Spatule blanche. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 595.

White Spoonbill. Platalea Leucorodia. Selb. Illustr. II. 51.

Platelea Leucorodia. White Spoonbill. Jen. Brit. Vert, An. 193.

Platalea Leucorodia. Bonap. Comp. List, 48.

Adult with a large occipital crest of linear feathers; the
loral spaces and throat bare; the bill black, variegated with
grey or dull yellow ; a large portion of the expanded part of
the upper mandible yellow; the plumage white; the crest
tinged with yellow ; the lower part of the neck and a portion
of the breast buff -coloured. Young crestless, with the bill
darker, the plumage white, without yellow on the neck, and
with the shafts of the quills and the tips of the primaries and
their coverts black.

Male. — The White Spoonbill, which is about equal in
size to the Egyptian Ibis, occurs so rarely with us, that I am

504 PLATALEA LEUCORODIA.

obliged to take the folloAving description from a specimen
procured from Holland, where it is plentiful : — The body is
ovate, rather full and muscular ; the neck long and slender ;
the head ovate, flattened above and a little compressed.
The bill is about four times the length of the head, straight,
extremely flattened ; the upper mandible an inch and two-
twelfths in breadth at the base, gradually narrowed to nine-
twelfths, and enlarged at the end to two inches, forming
there an obovate plate ; the dorsal line descending to beyond
the nostrils, then straight, decurved at the tip, which is
obtuse and formed by a broad short unguis having several
prominent rugse ; the sides at the base transversely undu-
lated ; the margins as well as the terminal part of the plate
finely scrobiculate ; the lower mandible with the angle very
narrow, a groove from it to the tip, which is slightly
decurved ; the crura narrow, gradually flattened, the ex-
tremity forming an obovate plate. Internally, both man-
dibles are marked with fine ridges and grooves, which may
be said to be more or less parallel with the margins. On
the upper are two longitudinal series of obtuse protube-
rances, and the inner edge of the crura of the lower is
similarly marked.

The nostrils are linear-oblong, six-twelfths in length,
sub-basal, vertical in the narrow grooves between the ridge
and sides. The eyes are small, three-and-a-half-twelfths in
width. The aperture of the ear is also small and roundish.
The legs are rather long, somewhat slender ; the tibia bare
for nearly half its length, and with the tarsus reticulated
with sub-hexagonal scales ; the toes rather long and slender ;
the first very slender, with twelve scutella ; the second con-
siderably shorter than the fourth, with twenty-two, the
third with thirty-six, the fourth with twenty-four scutella,
besides basal scales ; the anterior largely webbed. The
claws are small, little arched, tapering, much compressed,
rather blunted.

The skin of the throat is bare to the length of two inches
and a quarter, forming a kind of sac, and from thence for
three inches more along a narrow space. The loral spaces,
circumference of the eyes, and narrow frontal margin are

WHITE SPOONBILL. 505

also bare. The plumage is moderately full; the feathers
with a rather large downy plumule ; those of the head and
neck narrow and blended, of the body ovate and rounded.
On the occiput is a large crest, of numerous linear feathers,
having the webs deflected or decurvate, and the filaments
disunited ; the longest five inches. The wings are long and
broad, of thirty quills ; the primaries broad, tapering, but
rounded ; the outer three sinuate on the inner web ; the
second longest, exceeding the third by a twelfth and a half,
and the first by eight-twelfths ; the secondaries very broad
and rounded. The tail is short, even, or very slightly emar-
ginate and rounded ; the feathers broad.

The bill is black, transversely variegated with bluish ;
the margins dusky toward the end, but about an inch in
length of the expanded ridge or plate yellow ; that of the
lower mandible dusky, as is part of the intercrural membrane.
The iris is red ; the skin of the gular sac reddish-yellow ;
that of the loral space pale yellow behind, dusky before.
The bare part of the tibia, the tarsi, and toes are dusky ; the
claws black. The plumage is white ; but there is a large
buff-coloured patch on the lower part of the neck and fore
part of the breast, and the feathers of the crest are tinged
with yellow.

Length to end of tail 32 inches ; bill along the ridge 8^,
along the edge of lower mandible, following the curves, 9-^ ;
wing from flexure 151- ; tail 5; bare part of tibia 3^ ; tarsus
5-j^ ; first toe 1^, its claw ^ ; second toe Q-fe, its claw -^ ;
third toe 3, its claw 3^V ; fourth toe ^-, its claw -f^.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, differing
only in having the crest considerably smaller, and less buff
on the breast.

Length to end of tail 30 inches ; bill along the ridge 7-^,
its breadth at the end 1-ff ; wing from flexure 15; tail 4f ;
tarsus 5^ ; middle toe 3-J^, its claw -^ .

An adult female, shot on the 16th of March, 1807,
near Kingsbridge, is thus described by Montagu : — " This
beautiful bird weighed three pounds three ounces ; measured
thirty-one inches to the end of the tail, and thirty-eight

506 PLATALEA LEUCORODIA.

inches to the end of the middle toe ; length of the bill from
the feathers on the forehead seven inches and a quarter ;
breadth of the spoon nearly two inches ; the colour dusky,
with transverse undulated ridges of black ; the margin
formed by a groove running from the nostrils, and sur-
rounding the bill, is punctured; the point, which for an
inch is nearly smooth, is of an orange-yellow ; on the inside
of both mandibles near the base are several protuberances
on each side ; from the bill to the eye, and the orbits bare of
feathers, and of an orange-yellow, without any fine down,
described by some authors. The whole plumage is white,
except the lower part of the neck, which is yellowish-buff,
becoming faint behind ; the feathers on the top of the head
increase in length by degrees ; those of the hind head are
from three to five inches long, forming a most beautiful
flowing crest of slender yellowish-white feathers. The trachea
is somewhat compressed, and the cartilaginous rings are
very fine and tender ; at the lower part is a flexure, reflecting
and again returning, two inches or more in length, before it
enters the cavity of the breast."

Variations. — In adult birds differences occur in size, in
the length of the bill, that of the crest, and in the extent of
yellow on the neck. Frequently the shafts and tips of the
primary quills and primary coverts are more or less black.

Habits. — The White Spoonbill is said by authors to be
extensively distributed over the temperate and warmer parts
of Europe, and to be especially abundant in Holland, where
it is migratory. It resides on the margins of rivers and
estuaries, feeding on small fishes, mollusca, worms, and
insects. Montagu found in the female above described
several half-digested small fishes, and some stickle-backs
entire. According to M. Temminck, it nestles on trees or
bushes, or among the rushes near the margins of the sea or
large lakes, seldom far inland, laying two or three white
eggs, marked with very scattered faint rust-red spots, or
sometimes entirely white.

This beautiful bird is of rare and irregular occurrence in

WHITE SPOONBILL. 507

England. A flock is mentioned by Pennant as having
betaken themselves to marshes near Yarmouth, in April,
1774. Montagu states that it had sometimes been seen on
the coast of South Devon, and that a young individual was
shot in November, 1804, near Kingsbridge, and an adult
female on the 16th of March, 1807, in the same neighbour-
hood. It has been killed in some of the southern counties
of England, but I am not aware of its having been seen in
Scotland.

Young. — When fledged the young have the plumage of
a looser texture, the feathers of the head oblong, those on
the hind part not elongated. The bill is much shorter than
in the adult, and of a dusky greyish colour. The plumage
is white, but the shafts and tips of the primary quills and
their coverts are black. According to M. Temminck, " the
iris is grey, and the bare parts about the head dull white ;"
that on the throat less extended.

508

XVI. LATITOEES. SKULKERS.

The birds of which this order is composed approximate
in some respects to certain species of the Easorial type.
The Crakes, for example, are not very unlike some Quails
and Partridges ; and the Water-hens, both in form and in
some of their habits, bear an obvious resemblance to the
female of the domestic fowl. Some, however, having an
elongated bill, which suggests an affinity to the Snipes,
might be considered as approximating the group to the
Tentatores. It is difficult, in fact, to determine their natural
j>osition, and, without pretending to have apprehended their
relations, I have thought it expedient to place them here, at
the end of the wading and at the commencement of the
swimming birds. They who consider families as forming
circular series, may be pleased with an arrangement which
places them in relation to the Cursores, some of which are
almost Rasorial. But, however this may be, they all agree
in having the body much compressed, the neck of moderate
length, the head small, oblong, and much compressed.

The bill varies from short to long, from stout to slender ;
is more or less tapering, with rather large nasal sinuses,
and hard, thin-edged tips. The mouth is narrow ; the
oesophagus without crop ; the proventriculus thick ; the sto-
mach a very muscular gizzard; the intestine of moderate
length and width ; the cceca rather large.

The nostrils are generally small, as are the eyes, and the
aperture of the ears. The feet generally very large ; the toes
four, the first small, the anterior very elongated, compressed,
slender, scutellate, sometimes margined, or even lobed ; the
claws slender, long, tapering, little arched.

LATITORES. SKULKERS.

509

The plumage is firm ; the wings short or moderate ; the
tail very small.

They inhabit moist meadows, marshes, and the sides of
lakes and rivers. Some of them are strictly terrestrial ; but
by far the greater number readily betake themselves to the
water, and many habitually reside upon it. They run with
great speed, and make their way with wonderful ease among
the rank and dense herbage, where they conceal themselves,
and from which they are with difficulty raised. Their flight
is heavy, but rather quick, and usually not extended, so that
they seem unfitted for long migrations, which, however, some
of them perform. They construct bulky nests, which are
placed on the ground, or raised amidst shallow water ; and
lay numerous spotted eggs. The young are covered with
stifnsh down, and are active from the first. Seeds, insects,
worms, and other small animals, form their food. They are
more numerous in warm climates, but one species or other is
met with everywhere, and a few occur in the coldest.

They can scarcely be disposed into families, their mutual
affinity being so obvious that a separation of them into groups
would be merely arbitrary. The genera Aramus and Rallus,
however, have the bill so elongated, and so different in form
from the short, thick, strong bill of the other genera, that
they seem to constitute a group apart. At all events, a

510

LATITORES. SKULKERS.

division into the two families of Rallinse and Gallinulinae
would not be productive of the least confusion, or give rise to
any misapprehension of importance. Of the first of these
groups, however, we have only one species in Britain, and,
as the propriety of a division is doubtful, I shall consider all
the birds of this order as forming a single family, of which
the typical genus appears to me to be Parra.

Fio. 42.

Fig. 43.

511

JACANAS AND ALLIED SPECIES.

Considered collectively the birds of this family bear a general
modified resemblance to the Rasores, or rather to the Perdi-
cinse. Our Corn Crake is not very unlike some Partridges,
and our Water-hen has been so named on account of its
manifest similarity to the female of the domestic fowl. The
genera of which it is composed, namely, Aramus, Rallus,
Parra, Crex, Gallinula, Porphyrio, and Fulica, present the
following characters : —

Their body is always much, often extremely compressed ;
their wings short, convex, and rounded, with a prominent
sometimes horned knob on the head of the metacarpus ; their
feet very large, their toes are excessively elongated; their
neck of moderate length ; their head small, oblong, and much
compressed.

The bill is of moderate length, straight, stout, much com-
pressed ; the upper mandible with its dorsal outline sloping,
convex toward the end, the edges sharp, slightly inflected,
with an obscure notch close to the hard rather acute tip,
lower mandible with the angle narrow and long, the dorsal
line ascending and straight, the sides nearly perpendicular,
the nasal groove long, rather wide, and bare, or obliterated.
The gape-line nearly straight.

Both mandibles are concave within, the lower more
deeply ; the palate fiat and papillate. The tongue fleshy,
oblong or slender, with a few short papillae at the base, the
tip thin, obtuse and lacerate. Throat narrow ; oesophagus
of moderate capacity, without crop or remarkable dilatation ;
proventriculus oblong, with large oblong glandules ; stomach

512 PARPJN^E.

a powerful gizzard, like that of a gallinaceous bird, with very
large distinct muscles, and thick rugous cuticular lining;
intestine long, of moderate width ; coeca rather large, being
about an eighth of the length of the intestine ; rectum wider,
with an elliptical cloaca.

Nostrils direct, pervious, varying from linear to circular,
in the fore and lower part of the nasal groove. Eyes rather
small ; eyelids feathered. External aperture of the ear
roundish and rather small. Feet long and stout ; tibia bare
for a considerable space below; tarsus large, compressed,
covered anteriorly with curved scutella, posteriorly with two
rows of large scales ; toes very long, slender, free, the first
directed backwards and very small, the outer longer than the
inner, the third longest; claws generally long, straight or
little arched, compressed, acute.

Plumage soft and usually blended, on the head very
short, on the sides long; the feathers oblong, narrow,
rounded. Wings rather short, moderately convex, broad, and
rounded, of about twenty-four quills, the proximal seconda-
ries long and pointed. Tail very short, much rounded, of
twelve narrow, rounded, decurved, weak feathers.

The skeleton of the Parrinae more resembles that of the
Partridges than of any other tribe, although the differences
are great, especially in the form of the feet. The skull is
rather small, oblong, and narrow ; the orbits of moderate
size, incomplete below, their upper margins not elevated as in
the Charadriinse ; the intermaxillary bones linear, as are the
maxillary, an oblong interval being left between them. The
lower jaw is slightly arched, entire, and very thin. The cervical
vertebras are generally thirteen, the dorsal nine, the lumbar
and sacral twelve, the caudal nine. The ribs are nine, very
slender and compressed, the first incomplete. The sternum
(Figs. 41, 42, 43) is of a very singular form, being of mode-
rate length, anteriorly of ordinary breadth, but narrowing
backwards so as to end in a point, and from above the middle
sending out two very long lateral processes; its ridge of
moderate height, anteriorly concave. The coracoid bones
are moderately stout and spreading ; the furcula extremely
slender and rather narrow; the scapula very slender and

JACANAS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 513

uniform. The wings are short ; the cubitus shorter than the
humerus, in which respect these birds differ from those of all
the other families. The knob on the head of the metacarpus
generally compressed and rounded, but in the Jacanas
elongated and covered with horn ; the first finger has two
phalanges, the second a large metacarpal bone and two
phalanges, the third a slender metacarpal bone and one
phalanx, both however united to those of the second finger.
The pelvis is extremely narrow ; the sacrum distinct, as is
the pubes, which is linear. The os femoris is of moderate
size ; the tibia long ; the fibula about three-fourths of its
length; the tarsus rather short; the toes extremely long
and slender ; the first with a basal bone and two phalanges,
the second with three, the third with four, the fourth
with five.

The Parrinse are generally distributed, some species being
found in every part of the globe, excepting the most frigid
regions. They reside among reeds, sedges, rushes, flags, or
other aquatic plants, or among grass or corn ; are peculiarly
fitted, by the extreme compression of their body, for making
their way among the herbage, and by the great length of
their toes and claws for supporting themselves upon the
stalks or blades of vegetables floating upon the water or
growing out of it. They all float lightly, and, with the
exception of a few species, swim with ease ; some of them
even move about in the exposed parts of rivers, lakes, and
inlets of the sea, proceeding with nearly as much speed as
Ducks or Grebes. They fly heavily, with their legs at first
dangling, and afterwards stretched out behind them. In
open places they run with considerable speed, and in their
ordinary walk advance in a sedate manner, raising their feet
high, and keeping their body nearly horizontal.

Many of them have frontal plates or appendages of a
vascular tissue covered by the ordinary integument or by a
horny cuticle, and becoming more tumid and often more
highly-coloured in the breeding season. The nest is placed
among reeds or other thick herbage, and is of great size,
clumsily constructed of dry plants of various kinds, especially
graminese and cyperaceae. The eggs are numerous, from

K K

514

PARRIN^E.

four to ten or twelve, oval, light-coloured, and spotted,
dotted, or speckled all over with dusky. The young are at
first covered with long, generally black down, and are im-
mediately after birth capable of running about with great
celerity, and even of swimming. They conceal themselves
by squatting, but more frequently by diving and betaking
themselves to the cover of leaves or tufts of grass, where
they can thrust up their heads unperceivcd. The adult
birds have the same habit.

Some of the Parrinae are solitary, others in a great
measure gregarious. Their food is various, consisting of
worms, mollusca, insects, blades of grass, and seeds, espe-
cially of gramina. They use a large quantity of sand and
gravel, like the gallinaceous birds, to whose digestive organs
theirs are very similar, although they differ in Avanting the
crop, and in having the cceca much smaller.

The plumage is changed in autumn. The colours are
various, and in many species extremely beautiful. The

Fig. 44.

males and females are similar in most cases, and in general
the young differ little from the adult. Their flesh is white,
and affords delicate eating.

The genera may be briefly characterized as follows : —
1. Pallus has the bill most elongated and slender, with the
nasal groove extending to two-thirds of its length, the ridge
scarcely enlarged at the base. 2. Parr a has the bill of

JACANAS AND ALLIED SPECIES.

515

moderate length, deeper than that of Rallus ; the ridge with
a loose or free expansion at the base ; the feet very large,
the claws extremely long and straight, or a little recurvate.

3. In Crex the bill is shorter than the head, tapering, its
ridge slightly ^

enlarged and
angular at the
base, the nasal
groove long.

4. Gallinula
has the bill a little longer
and stouter than Crex, the
nasal groove still large,
the ridge expanded into a
plate covering the fore-
head, toes marginate. 5. Porphyrio has
the bill short and stout, the ridge form-
ing a frontal plate, the nasal groove
obliterated, so that the nostrils, which
are round or elliptical, seem perforated
in the bone, the toes slightly margined.
6. Fulica has the bill similar to that of
Porphyrio, the nasal cavity partially
obliterated, the nostrils linear, the ridge
expanded into a large frontal plate, the
toes broadly margined with scolloped
membranes. Porphyrio is more grani-
vorous than the rest, Rallus more ver-
mivorous, Crex more insectivorous, Gal-
linula more omnivorous, and Fulica, gra-
nivorous like Porphyrio, is the most
aquatic ; while Parra, with its exces-
sively elongated toes and claws, is the
best adapted for walking upon the
aquatic plants. For this reason, and
because it is intermediate in structure

between the rest, I have assumed it as the genus which
ought to give its name to this very distinct family, which is
in a manner connected by Rallus with the Scolopacinse, by

516 PARRINiE.

Crex and Gallinula with the Perdicinse and Phasianinse,
and by Fulica with the Colymbinse.

In Britain there are no representatives of the genera
Parra and Porphyrio, which belong especially to warm and
temperate climates.

SYNOPSIS OF TEE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. RALLUS. RAIL.

Bill long, slender, tapering, very slightly arched, much
compressed ; upper mandible with the ridge a little flat-
tened, rounded but not enlarged at the base, the edges in-
flected near the tip, the nasal groove extending to two-thirds
of its length. Nostrils sub-basal, linear. Toes extremely
compressed, not margined.

1. Rallus aquaticus. Water Rail. Upper parts oliva-
ceous, streaked with dusky ; fore-neck and breast purplish-
grey ; sides and abdomen barred with black and white.

GENUS II. CREX. CRAKE.

Bill not longer than the head, rather stout, tapering,
much compressed ; upper mandible with the ridge narrow,
very slightly enlarged and angular at the commencement,
the edges slightly inclinate, the nasal groove large. Nostrils
linear-oblong, medial, sub-marginal. Toes much compressed,
not margined.

1. Crex pratensis. Corn Crake. Yellowish -brown,
streaked with dusky above, paler beneath, the sides barred
with light red and whitish, the wings light red.

2. Crex Porzana. Spotted Crake. Olive-brown, with
dusky streaks and white spots above ; greyish-brown, spotted
with Avhite beneath ; the wings olive-brown.

3. Crex Baillonii. Baillon's Crake. Yellowish-brown,
spotted with white, and undulated with black above ; sides
and abdomen barred with black and white.

JACANAS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 517

4. Crex pusitta. Little Crake. Olive-brown, with a few
white streaks above, bluish-grey beneath ; sides and abdomen
faintly barred with brown and white.

GENUS III. GALLINULA. GALLINULE.

Bill not longer than the head, rather stout, tapering,
much compressed ; upper mandible with the ridge narrow,
enlarged at the base into a soft tumid oblong plate covering
the forehead, the edges direct, those of the lower mandible
inclinate. Nostrils linear-oblong, medial, sub-marginate ;
the nasal groove large. Toes compressed, marginate.

1. Gallimda Chloropus. Green-footed Gallinule. Head,
neck, and lower parts dark grey ; back and wings deep
olive-brown ; lower tail-coverts white.

GENUS IV. FULICA. COOT.

Bill about the length of the head, strong, compressed ;
upper mandible with the ridge convex, and expanded into a
large plate covering the forehead ; edges direct, as are those
of the lower mandible. Toes margined with a broad mem-
brane contracted at the joints.

1. Fulica atra. Bald Coot. Head and neck greyish-
black ; upper parts dark bluish-grey, lower dark brownish-
grey ; tip of the bill and frontal plate white.

518

RALLUS. RAIL.

The Rails are small birds, varying in size between the
Woodcock and Jack Snipe, and having a slender, extremely
compressed body, with a rather long neck, and small, oblong,
much compressed head.

Bill longer than the head, slender, firm, straightish, being
slightly arcuate, compressed in its whole length, slightly
tapering ; upper mandible, with its dorsal outline slightly
decimate at the base, straight in the middle, a little decimate
towards the end, the ridge convex, having a slightly enlarged
angular commencement, the sides nearly erect, the edges
sharp, hard, and slightly inflected ; lower mandible, with the
angle extremely long and narrow, the dorsal outline nearly
straight, the edges slightly inflected, the tips narrow, but
obtuse. The gape-line almost straight ; the nasal groove
extending to two-thirds of the length of the bill. Internal
concavity of the mandibles very deep ; palate extremely-
narrow, with a single row of compressed papilla?.

Eyes small, eyelids feathered. Nostrils sub-basal, linear,
pervious. Aperture of ear small. Feet large ; tibia muscular,
its lower part bare ; tarsus of moderate length, large, com-
pressed, anteriorly covered with broad curved scutella ; toes
very long, slender, much compressed ; the first proportionally
small, the second considerably shorter than the fourth, the
third longest. Claws long, slender, tapering, slightly arched,
much compressed.

Plumage blended ; the feathers on the head very short,
those on the forehead with strong bristle points, of the body
oblong and broadly rounded. Wings short, concave, rounded ;
quills twenty-two ; primaries weak, broad, rather rounded,
the first much shorter than the second, which is about the

RALLUS. RAIL.

519

same length as the third, the fourth a little shorter, the sixth
about the length of the first. Tail extremely short, arched,
much rounded, of twelve very weak, rather broad, rounded
feathers.

The Rails are very intimately allied to the Gallinules and
Crakes, from which they differ chiefly in having the bill
more elongated and slender, in which respect, on the other
hand, they approximate to the Snipes. They inhabit the
seedy and grassy margins of lakes and rivers, where they
habitually conceal themselves. As in their form and the
structure of their digestive organs, they manifest an affinity
to the Scolopacinse, on the one hand, and to the Rasores, on
the other, so is their food a mixture of that appropriate to
each of these families, being composed of worms, mollusca,
small Crustacea, insects, and seeds of reeds and other plants.
They are capable of swimming, and even of diving on
occasion.

All the species are more or less aquatic, and it is among
sedges or reeds that they form their large bulky nest, com-
posed chiefly of grass. The eggs are four or five, or some-
times more. The young run about, swim, and dive while yet
covered with down, and when fledged differ little from the
old birds. The females are similar to the males.

The Rails are separated from the Crakes and Gallinules

520 RALLUS. RAIL.

by no precise line, for the principal distinction between these
genera lies merely in the length of the bill, which in the former
is longer than the head, and in the latter shorter. The Galli-
nules in like manner pass into the genus Porphyrio, and the
latter into Fulica.

Only one species of Rail occurs in Britain.

521

RALLUS AQUATICUS. THE WATER RAIL.

BILCOCK. RUNNER. SKIT. SKIDDY-COCK.

Fio. 47.

Eallus aquaticus. Linn. Sys. Nat. I. 262.
Rallus aquaticus. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 755.
Rail, or "Water- Rail. Mont. Orn. Diet.
Rale d'eau. Rallus aquaticus. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 683.
Rallus aquaticus. Water Rail. Flem. Brit, Anim. 98.
Common Rail. Rallus aquaticus. Selb. Illustr. II. 172.
Rallus aquaticus. Water Rail. Jen. Brit. Vert, An. 217.
Rallus aquaticus. Bonap. Comp. List, 53.

Plumage above olivaceous, streaked with brownish-black ;
fore neck and breast didl greyish-blue ; sides and haunches
barred with brownish-black and white ; abdomen pale reddish-
yellow ; proximal lower tail-coverts white, the rest banded with
black.

Male. — The Rail is about the size of the Corn Crake, and
nearly of the same form, its body extremely compressed, its
head small and very narrow, its wings flattened to its sides,
its bill and feet also compressed ; in short, it looks as if it had
been squeezed almost flat, and we cannot choose but admire

522 KALLUS AQUATICUS.

this adaptation of its structure to its habits, nor fail to per-
ceive that were it as broad as a Partridge, it could not thread
its way among the stiff reeds with that facility which seems
to us so admirable. The details of its exterior will be found
to agree with the generic character, so that little remains
here to be said of it. The tarsi have thirteen anterior
scutella, the first toe ten, the second twenty, the third twenty-
six, the fourth also twenty-six. The claws are rather long,
slender, tapering, compressed, acute, little arched. The
plumage is blended, but the feathers of the back are a little
stiff, and those of the forehead have their shafts enlarged and
elongated. The wings are short, broad, and rounded, with
twenty-three quills ; the primaries very broad, rounded, and
weak, the first as long as the seventh, seven-twelfths of an
inch shorter than the second, which is longest, but scarcely
exceeds the third ; the secondary quills are long, broad, and
rounded, the inner elongated. The tail is short, much
rounded and arched, the feathers narrow and feeble.

The bill is dark brown, with the edges of the upper and
two-thirds of the lower mandible light red. The iris red.
The feet are light reddish-browrn, approaching to flesh-colour ;
the claws greyish-brown. The upper parts are olive brown,
streaked with brownish-black, the middle of each feather
being of the latter colour. The alula, primaries, and outer
secondaries are dusky, tinged with olive ; some of the small
feathers on the edge of the wdng barred with white and black.
The tail feathers and inner secondaries are like those of the
back. A small portion of the throat is greyish-white ; the
fore part of the neck and the breast of a dull greyish-blue ;
the abdomen and inner part of the tibia cream-coloured ; the
sides and haunches, as wrell as the lower wing-coverts, barred
with white and black ; and the smaller lower tail-coverts
cream-coloured at the end, but barred with black ; the proxi-
mal or large coverts white.

Length to end of tail llf inches; extent of wing 16;
wing from flexure 5 ; tail 2| ; bill along the ridge 1-^- ; along
the edge of lower mandible 1^4 ; tarsus 1-^ ; first toe fa,
its claw fa ; second toe 1-j^-, its claw fa ; third toe 1-j-^, its
claw -fa ; fourth toe 1^, its claw -fa.

WATER RAIL. 523

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but with the
tints paler ; the red of the bill less bright, and the legs tinged
with green.

Length to end of tail 11 inches ; extent of wings 151
inches ; bill along the ridge 1-/^.

Variations. — In adult individuals I have not observed
any remarkable variations of colour.

Changes of Plumage. — The moult takes place in
autumn, and is completed by the middle of November, but
induces very little change in the colours, which merely become
a little fainter towards the end of summer.

Habits. — The Water Rail, although generally distributed,
is nowhere common. Various authors mention its occurrence
in most parts of England, and it extends to the very northern-
most parts of Scotland. I have even found it in the island of
Lewis, as well as in Harris, on both occasions in winter. It
frequents moist meadows, the sides of ditches, brooks, or
streams overgrown with sedges, seeds, and other rank plants,
as well as marshes, especially those abounding in the yellow
iris. Concealed by the vegetation it there pursues its avoca-
tions, never venturing into the open fields or pastures, and
seldom rising on wing even when close pressed, but running
with great celerity, and threading its way through the most
apparently impenetrable thickets of reeds. When forced to
take wing, it flies slowly and rather awkwardly, with its legs
dangling, and seldom proceeds far, but alights and skulks.
Unlike the Corn Crake, which greatly resembles it in habits,
it remains with us all the year. Its food consists of worms,
slugs, helices, lymnese, insects, and seeds of graminese.

Its nest, which I have not had the good fortune to meet
with, is described by Montagu as " made of sedge and coarse
grass, amongst the thickest aquatic plants, frequently in
willow beds. In such a situation," he continues, " we found
one with six eggs of spotless white, and very smooth, rather
larger than those of a Blackbird, the shape a short oval, with
both ends nearly alike." By Temminck, however, the eggs

524 RALLL'S AQUATICUS.

are said to bo " yellowish, marked with reddish-brown spots ;"
and Mr. John Smith, of Yarmouth, in a notice printed in the
Annals of Natural History, vol. ii., p. 78, gives the following-
detailed account of the nest and eggs : — " The bird had
selected for her nest a thick tuft of long grass, hollow at the
bottom, on the side of the reed pond '; the nest about an inch
and a half thick, was composed of withered leaves and rushes ;
it was so covered by the top of the grass, that neither bird,
nest, nor eggs, could be seen ; the entrance to and from the
nest was through an aperture of the grass, directly into the
reeds, opposite where any one could stand to see the nest.
The length of the eggs, on an average, were one inch and a
half, some near a tenth more, others near a tenth less ; weight,
seven drachms ; colour, light cream, thickly spotted at the
larger ends with bright rusty red, intermixed with sunk faint
lilac spots, thinly and finely spotted at the lesser ends with
the same colours, with a blush of pink over the whole egg,
but more towards the lesser ends ; the yolk a bright blood-
red, brighter than any egg I ever opened, and I think that the
pink tint of the shell is owing to the redness of the yolk, for
after emptying the eggs it was hardly perceptible. On the
20th of June I found another nest in the same reed pond ;
the eggs were destroyed ; this nest was built among the reeds,
and very near the water. On the 10th of July I obtained a
third nest from the same place, of eleven eggs, within two or
three days of hatching ; the nest and situation much like the
last." It is very probable that the white eggs found by
Montagu were those of the Little Bittern.

Young. — The young are first covered with black hair-like
down. When fledged they differ little from the adult, and
might be described in the same terms, with the following
slight exceptions : — " The bill is more dusky, the red of the
lower mandible and edges of the upper being less bright, and
the tarsi are of a dull greenish-brown tint. The white on the
throat is more extended ; the greyish-blue of the fore neck
and breast paler, and most of the feathers narrowly tipped
with yellowish-white ; of which colour are the middle of the
breast, the abdomen, and the inner part of the legs.

525

CREX. CRAKE.

The Crakes, which are intermediate in form between the
Rails and Water-Hens, are generally of small size, the
largest not exceeding that of the Grey Partridge. Their body
is slender, and very much compressed, the neck of moderate
length, the head oblong, compressed and rather small.

Bill not exceeding the head in length, rather stout, taper-
ing, much compressed ; upper mandible with the dorsal out-
line decimate, towards the end convex, the ridge narrow, very
slightly enlarged and angular at the commencement, the sides
sloping, towards the end erect and convex, the edges a little
inclinate, the tips somewhat deflected, with a slight notch ;
the nasal groove large ; lower mandible with the angle long
and slender, the dorsal outline very short and ascending, the
sides sloping outwards and convex, the edges soft and blunt
at the base, sharp and a little inflected towards the end, the
tip narrow and rather sharp. The gape-line nearly straight.
Upper mandible internally concave, with a central prominent
line ; lower deeply concave.

Eyes rather small ; eyelids feathered, with a bare crenate
margin. Nostrils linear-oblong, perforated, medial, sub-
marginal. Aperture of ear roundish, of moderate size. Feet
large, tibia muscular, its lower part bare ; tarsus of moderate
length, large, compressed, anteriorly covered with broad
curved scutella ; toes very long, slender, compressed, the first
very small, the third longest, the fourth a little longer than
the second ; claws of moderate length, slender, compressed,
acute, slightly arched.

Plumage blended, but with the barbs rather stiff, especi-
ally on the upper parts ; the feathers on the head very short.
Wings short, concave, rounded ; quills twenty -four ; prima-
ries rather weak, very broad, rounded, the first much shorter

526 CREX. CRAKE.

than the second, which is slightly longer than the third, the
fifth about the length of the first. Tail extremely short,
arched, much rounded, of twelve very weak, narrow, rounded
feathers.

The Crakes inhabit meadows, corn-fields, marshes, and
in general places covered with a rank growth of gramineae
and cyperacese, among which they conceal themselves. They
run with great speed, but seldom rise on wing, unless closely
pursued, when they fly off in a heavy manner, with their legs
dangling. Their food consists of worms, mollusca, insects,
and seeds. Most of them swim and dive with ease, but some,
and especially our common species, confine themselves to dry
places.

They nestle on the ground, forming a shallow cavity, in a
place overshadowed by herbage. The nest is large, and rudely
constructed. The eggs are numerous, oval, light coloured,
dotted, spotted, or freckled with darker.

Four species occur in Britain, but of these three are very
rarely met with, while the other, the Corn Crake, is generally
distributed and familiarly known.

527

CREX PRATENSIS. THE CORN CRAKE

LAND RAIL. LAND-HEN. DAKER-HEN. CORN CRAKER. DREAUN.

Fig. 48.

Rallus Crex. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 261.

Gallinula Crex. Lath. Ind. Om. II. 766.

Crake Gallinule. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Poule-d'eau de Genet. Gallinula Crex. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 686.

Ortygometra Crex. Corn Crake. Flem. Brit. Anim. 98.

Meadow or Corn Crake. Crex pratensis. Selb. Illustr. II. 176.

Crex pratensis. Corn Crake. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 217.

Crex pratensis. Bonap. Comp. List, 53.

Plumage of the upper parts dull yellowish-red, streaked
with brownish-black; wing-coverts light red ; sides of the head
grey ; lower parts pede reddish; lower tving-coverts, axillaries,
and sides, light red, barred with white.

Male. — The Corn Crake, which although it rarely comes
under the observation of unprofessional admirers of nature, is
yet familiarly known by its cry, insomuch that to most people
it is vox et prceterea nihil, claims our especial regard, as of all
the species of the genus which visit us, it is the most easily
studied. Its body is much compressed ; the neck rather long
and slender; the head small and compressed. The bill is
direct, shortish, compressed, and in all respects as described

528 CREX PRATENSIS.

in the generic character. The tongue is rather short, fleshy,
emarginate and papillate at the base. The oesophagus is six
inches long, of nearly uniform diameter ; the stomach round-
ish, compressed, large, an inch and a quarter long ; its muscles
very large ; the intestine tAventy-five inches long ; the coeca
three and a quarter.

The tibia are bare for about five-twelfths of an inch ; the
tarsus has eighteen anterior, and about the same number of
posterior scutella ; the first toe eight, the second twenty, the
third twenty-six, the fourth twenty-four. The claws are
small, slightly curved, compressed, rather acute.

The plumage is blended, very short on the head, gradually
more elongated on the hind parts; the feathers oblong, curved,
with a slender plumule. The wings are rather short, broad,
and rounded ; the second primary longest, the third almost as
long, the first four-twelfths of an inch shorter, and about the
same length as the fifth ; the secondaries fourteen, long,
broad, rounded, the inner much elongated, slender, and like
the scapulars. The tail is very short, much rounded, of
twelve feathers, which are narrow, rounded, and considerably
induplicate.

The bill is light brown, the lower mandible whitish at the
end. The iris is light hazel. The feet bluish flesh-colour.
The upper parts are light yellowish-brown, each feather
marked with an oblong central spot of brownish-black, and
laterally tinged with grey. The wing-coverts are light red,
some of them imperfectly barred with white. A broad band
of ash-grey passes over and behind the eye and ear, and the
cheeks are tinged with the same. The face, fore part and
sides of the neck, are light yellowish-brown, tinged with
grey ; the sides and breast barred with light red and white ;
the lower wing-coverts and axillar feathers light red ; the
chin and abdomen brownish-white. Quills and primary
coverts light brown, their outer webs tinged with light red ;
the edge of the wing and outer web of the first alular feather
and first quill, reddish white ; the inner secondaries and tail
feathers like the back.

Length to end of tail 10| inches ; extent of wings 18 ;
Aving from flexure 6 ; tail 2 ; bill along the ridge ^4; along

CORN CRAKE. 529

the edge of lower mandible lyV ; tarsus 1^ ; first toe y\-, its
claw -fe ; second toe 1-^, its claw -f^ ; third toe 1-fe, its claw
f\ ; fourth toe lfV, its claw -j^.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.
Length to end of tail 10^ ; extent of wings 17J.

Variations. — I have not observed any remarkable varia-
tions.

Change of Plumage. — The Corn Crake arrives in this
country with its plumage complete, and does not moult before
leaving it.

Habits. — Having made this interesting bird a special
object of study, I hope to be able to present a correct account
of its habits. Let us imagine ourselves strolling over those
flowery pastures that skirt the sandy shores of the tlebrides,
anticipating the rising of the sun, and listening, as we proceed
in the grey twilight, to the cries of the distant gulls, and the
loud crash of the little wavelet, whose fall on the sandy beach
produces, it seems, a louder noise in the perfect calm than
the rushing of the mighty billow would do in a storm. The
bleating cry of the Snipe is heard on the hill-side, and already
has the Lark sprung from its sandy couch to warble its merry
notes over the corn-field. Here let us crouch behind the
turf-wall, in view of that thicket of iris, and watch the Crakes,
which I have often seen resort to it. There already, dimly
seen, one is quietly walking along the grassy ridge, lifting high
foot after foot, and sometimes stooping as if to pick up some-
thing. Now it stops, stands in a crouching posture, but on
unbent legs, and commences its curious but monotonous song.
Another is observed threading its way among the short grass
of the adjoining piece of meadow-land. The ruddy streaks
in the east betoken the sun's approach to the horizon.
There along tidemark some dark-coloured bird approaches ; it
perceives us, wheels round, and comes up, announcing itself
by its croak as the Hooded Crow. The Crakes seem to
understand the warning, and immediately betake themselves

L L

530 CREX PRATENSIS.

to the thicket, whence we can easily start them. Yet they
sometimes allow you to come within a yard or two before they
rise, and so closely do they sit that I have once or twice seen
a small pointer, which I had trained to bird-nesting, spring
upon and seize one.

The Corn Crake visits us in the latter part of April, or
early in May. It may seem strange that a bird apparently
so ill adapted for continued flight, should yet be capable of
performing the long journeys necessary for its annual visits.
Its ordinary haunts are fields of corn and grass, and in the
less cultivated parts of the country the large patches of flags
and other tall herbaceous plants, which occur in moist places.
It runs with great celerity, so much so that I think a man
could hardly overtake it, and it seems extremely averse from
flying, for it seldom rises until one gets quite close to it.
When it has started it flies heavily, with considerable speed,
allowing its legs to hang, and soon alights.

In an oat-field in Harris I once shot at a Rail that sud-
denly rose among my feet, when, apparently not having been
hit, it flew off in a direct course to the sea, about four hundred
paces distant, where, to my surprise, it alighted and floated
motionless, sitting lightly on the Avater, like a Coot or Gal-
linule. Soon after a Black -backed Gull coming up, spied it,
and, uttering a loud chuckle of delight, descended with
rapidity, and carried it off in its bill. In this case I think
the bird was so frighted, although not hurt, that it entirely
lost its presence of mind.

At all times of the day, but more especially in the early
morning, and towards twilight, it utters its singular and
well-known cry, resembling the syllables crek, crek, repeated
at short intervals, and often continued for many minutes,
probably a quarter of an hour or more, if the bird is not dis-
turbed. It has the reputation of being an expert ventrilo-
quist, and, whether or not it deserves that title, it is certain
that one is very apt to be mistaken as to the spot in which
the bird is when he listens to its cry, which is at one time
loud, at another low, now seems to indicate a close proximity,
now a remote position, and even appears to come from various
directions. I have heard the Thrush and the Robin so sing,

CORN CRAKE. 531

close at hand, that I imagined them to be far away, and it is
probable that other birds have the same faculty, which seems
to depend upon the elongation or contraction of the trachea.
When uttering its cry, the Corn Crake usually remains still,
standing with its neck considerably drawn in. I have
watched it so employed through a hole in the wall. But I
have also often seen it walk leisurely along at the time. As
to its neck being " stretched perpendicularly upwards," as
alleged by Mr. Selby, I never had the pleasure of observing
it perform in this manner. At the period when the nights
are shortest I have heard it commence its cry so early as one
in the morning.

Although not gaudily attired, the Corn Crake is richly
coloured, and when observed in its wild haunts has an appear-
ance of great elegance. It moves in a graceful manner, and
when proceeding leisurely, walks with what might be called
sedateness, lifting its feet rather high, jerking up its short
tail, and bending its neck backwards and forwards at every
step, like the Water-Hen. If alarmed, either while walking,
or while uttering its cry, it instantly ceases, stands still or
crouches, and if it judges it expedient, starts off, throwing its
neck out and its body forward. It is not gregarious at any
period of its residence with us, although in favourable situa-
tions, such as extensive meadows, many individuals may
sometimes be found not far from each other. Its food con-
sists of worms, tastaceous mollusca, and insects, especially
lcpidoptera.

Soon after it arrives it begins to form its nest, which is
composed of a few straws, laid in a slight hollow, among
corn, or herbage of any kind. The eggs, which are of an
elongated oval form, and of a light cream-colour, or pale-
greyish-yellow, patched, spotted, and dotted with umber or
brownish-red, and light-purplish blue or grey, are generally
about ten, or from eight to twelve. In colour they bear a
remarkable resemblance to those of the Mistle Thrush. Their
average length is two inches and one- twelfth, their greatest
breadth an inch and four-twelfths. The young are at first
covered Avith long hair-like down, of a blackish colour, and
leave the nest immediatety after they burst the shell, to follow

532 CREX PKATENSIS.

their mother among the grass or corn. When only a few
days old they run with amazing celerity, and scatter about,
so that when one falls in with a flock, it is very difficult to
catch more than one or two of them. On such an occasion
I have seen the old bird come up and run about in great
distress.

Towards the middle of July, the Crake ceases to utter its
cry, and one might suppose that it then leaves the country ;
but the period of its departure is protracted to the beginning
of September. I have seen young birds in the end of that
month, and instances of their having been shot in winter have
occurred in various parts of the country.

The flesh of this bird is white, and affords delicate eating ;
but this sort of game is not easily obtained in the more highly
cultivated tracts. In the Hebrides and "West Highlands,
however, few birds are more common, insomuch that there is
hardly a patch of the yellow iris, or meadow-sweet, of the
nettle, dock, or other tall weed, in which a Crake or two may
not be found. Several individuals of my acquaintance in
Harris have caught them alive, and I once secured one in the
same manner, and afterwards allowed it to fly off. Hearing
it utter its notes in an old deserted garden full of weeds and
grass, I went up and peeped through a hole in the lower wall,
when I, of course, had an excellent opportunity of observing
it, as it stood half crouching, with its neck moderately re-
tracted. I then rose up suddenly and leaped upon the Avail,
when the bird instantly squatted. Keeping my eye upon it,
I pulled off my jacket, and crouching, advanced to within a
yard or so, spread out the garment, and flinging it over the
Crake, followed and secured the prize. Boys in the Hebrides
also sometimes kill it by throwing a stick at it in a horizontal
direction, at which they are rather expert. In those islands
it is not uncommon to see it standing on a turf-wall or other
eminence, and uttering its cry. Even " within a mile of
Edinburgh," on the stone-wall of a park not far from Gar-
dener's Crescent, I, one Sunday afternoon, saw one walking
very deliberately along, until, some people coming up, it flew
among the wheat.

The cry of the Crake may be so successfully imitated by

CORN CRAKE. 533

smartly drawing an edged stick along the teeth of a comb, or
a thin piece of bone along another which has been notched by
a saw ; that by this artifice the bird will sometimes be induced
to come up. Pennant and Montagu state that on its first
arrival it is very lean, but before its departure becomes exces-
sively fat. I have never, however, seen any great difference
in this respect, birds obtained early in the season being in as
good condition as afterwards. In some parts of Scotland the
Corn Crake ranks with the Red Grouse and Sky Lark, as a
" blessed bird."

Young Fledged. — The young when fully fledged differ
from the old birds chiefly in wTanting the bluish-grey markings
on the head and neck. The description of one shot at Auch-
terarder, Perthshire, in August 1831, is as follows : — The bill
is light brown ; the iris light brown ; the feet bluish- flesh-
colour. The upper parts are dull yellowish-brown, each
feather with an oblong central spot of brownish-black, the
spots more elongated on the hind parts. The lower surface
is lighter ; the chin and abdomen pale ; the lateral feathers
barred with pale brownish-red, as are the lower tail feathers.
The wing-coverts are bright brownish-red ; the quills and
primary coverts dusky, their outer webs reddish, the inner
secondaries like the back. The lower wing-coverts are of a
delicate red, paler than that of the upper ; the edge of the
wing and the outer web of the first alular feather and first
quill reddish-white ; the shafts of the quills brownish-black.

Length to end of tail 10| inches ; extent of wings 17^ ;
bill -fV ; tarsus 1^ ; middle toe 1^.

Remarks. — Instances of the occurrence of a solitary Corn
Crake in winter have been recorded, and one has been reported
to me from Elgin. In some parts of Scotland, the people,
observing this bird to be a bad flier, and not seeing either its
arrival or its departure, believe that it hibernates, alleging
that it creeps into holes in turf- walls, and remains there until
spring. Were it really to choose such retreats, the weasels
would leave very few for next season. Some, it is said, have
declared that they have seen them dug out alive ; but I never

534 CREX PRATENSIS.

met with any of these persons, and had considered the state-
ment made as discredited by all well-informed people, until,
in the Historia Naturalis Orcadensis, published in 1848, I
found the story solemnly repeated : — " There is good reason
for believing that this bird remains the whole year in Orkney.
This idea is supported by the fact that Land-Rails, even in
good condition, as in harvest, are unequal for long flights, and
on their first appearance in summer are so lean, and in such a
weakly state, as to be unable to fly beyond a few yards. More-
over, they have never been observed taking their departure,
as is the case with other birds of passage. Besides, we have
the positive proof, that they have been frequently seen here
during winter. One was observed at Lopness, in December,
1812, and another in Ronsay, in February, 1847 ; and upon
several occasions, when digging up old turf-dykes, Land-
Rails have been found in them in a torpid condition." A
still more extraordinary " vulgar error " is cherished in Ire-
land, it being there, according to Mr. Thompson, " believed
that the Corn Crake becomes a Water-Hen in winter."

535

CREX PORZANA. THE SPOTTED CRAKE.

SPOTTED BAIL, SPOTTED WATER-RAIL. SPOTTED WATER-HEN. SKILTY.

Fig. 49.

Eallus Porzana. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 262.

Gallinula Porzana. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 772.

Spotted Gallinule. Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Supplt.

Poule-d'eau Marouette. Gallinula Porzana. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 688.

Gallinula Porzana. Spotted Gallinule. Flem. Brit. Anim. 99.

Spotted Crake. Crex Porzana. Selhy, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 179.

Crex Porzana. Spotted Crake. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 219.

Ortygometra Porzana. Bonap. Comp. List, 53.

Length nine inches; hill along the ridge nine-twelfths ;
upper parts olive-brown, with oblong black spots and numerous
white specks margined with black; those on the scapulars
being linear and longitudinal, on the inner secondaries trans-
verse; a greyish-blue band dotted with white over the eye;
the fore part and sides of the neck greyish-olive, spotted with
dull white; the sides of the body olivaceous, barred with white
and black; the axillar and lower wing-coverts barred with
black and white; the lower tail-coverts pale buff.

Male. — This species differs in form from the last in no
appreciable degree, nor is its style of colouring so dissimilar

536 CREX PORZANA.

as to justify any attempt to separate the two species gene-
rically. It is, however, much inferior in size, and somewhat
more slender. Its body is deep and extremely compressed ;
the neck of moderate length ; the head oblong, much com-
pressed, and small. The bill is a third shorter than the
head, straight, rather stout, much compressed, tapering.
The upper mandible has the dorsal line decimate and straight
for half its length, then convexly declinate ; the nasal sinus
large, extending to half its length ; the ridge narrow and
convex, a little enlarged and angular at the base ; the edges
slightly inclinate, the tip narrow, but bluntish. The lower
mandible has the intercrural space rather long and very
narrow, the dorsal line ascending and straight, the sides
erect, the edges inclinate, the tip narrow; the gape-line
nearly straight, toward the end a little decurved.

The nostrils are linear, sub-basal, three-twelfths long ;
the eyes small. The legs are of moderate length, rather
stout ; the tibia bare for nearly five-twelfths of an inch ; the
tarsus compressed, with twelve very broad anterior and more
numerous posterior scutella; the hind toe with eight, the
inner twenty, the third twenty-five, the outer twenty-eight
scutella. The claws are rather small, little curved, extremely
compressed, acute.

The plumage is blended, very short on the head, gra-
dually more elongated on the hind parts ; the feathers oblong,
broadly rounded. The wings are rather short, broad, and
rounded ; the primaries broad and rounded, the second
longest, the first almost half-an-inch shorter ; the secondaries
twenty-three ; the inner much elongated and pointed, one of
them being only five-twelfths shorter than the longest pri-
mary when the wing is closed. There is a distinct rudi-
mentary bare blunt knob or spur at the flexure. The tail is
very short, much rounded, of twelve narrow, rounded, and
considerably induplicate feathers.

The bill is brownish-yellow, brighter at the base. The
iris reddish-brown. The feet yellowish-green. The upper
part of the head, the hind-neck, back, and scapulars are
olive-brown, streaked with black, each feather having an
oblong medial patch of the latter colour ; the feathers of the

SPOTTED CRAKE. 537

neck with marginal roundish, the scapulars with linear, the
feathers of the hind part of the hack with very small oblong
white markings. The wings are of a lighter olive-brown,
their margin and the outer edge of the first quill white ;
some of the secondary and smaller coverts with small spots,
white in the middle, black at each end ; the inner secon-
daries and coverts obliquely barred with white, their inner
webs yellowish-olive and unspotted. The tail-feathers black,
broadly margined with olive. Over the eye is a broad
bluish-grey band, dotted with white. The forehead, throat,
and cheeks bluish-grey, the latter speckled with black. The
fore part and sides of the neck, with the anterior portion of
the breast, pale greyish-olive spotted with white ; the sides
of the body olivaceous, barred with white and black ; the
middle of the breast and the abdomen greyish-white ; the
lower tail-coverts buff-coloured ; the axillar feathers and
lower wing-coverts barred with black and white.

Length to end of tail 9^ inches ; extent of wings 15^;
wing from flexure 4^- ; tail 2-fe ', bill along the ridge -fj,
along the edge of lower mandible -±-f ; tarsus 1^- ; hind toe
-fV, its claw -fj ; second toe \%, its claw -^ ; third toe 1 £,
its claw ^-; fourth toe 1, its claw 13?.

Female. — The female is similar to the male.

Habits. — The Spotted Gallinule differs materially from
the Crake in its habits, as it resides in marshes and by the
margins of pools, lakes, and rivers overgrown with rank
herbage, among which it searches for its food, betaking itself
to the water on occasion, and swimming with ease. It feeds
on worms, insects, and mollusca ; is seldom to be seen, as it
runs and skulks, like all the other species, and is with diffi-
culty put up. In its mode of flight it resembles the Corn
Crake, from which it is not easily distinguishable on wing. It
is not quite certain that it does not reside with us all the year
round, although it is generally understood to be migratory.
Montagu says he has met with it in Devonshire as early as
the 14th of March, and as late as the 23rd of October ; and
Mr. Jenyns states that it is certainly to be met with from

538 CREX PORZANA.

early in March to the middle of November. Although gene-
rally dispersed in England, it is nowhere numerous ; and in
Scotland is of rare occurrence. I have, however, seen many
specimens obtained in Forfarshire, in the neighbourhood of
Aberdeen, and in various parts of that county, as well as in
Banffshire. Dr. Farquharson mentions it as breeding in
Alford. The nest is said to be of very large size, formed of
decayed aquatic plants, and often surrounded by water,
being placed among the reeds. The eggs, from seven to ten,
are ovato-oblong, an inch and a fourth in length, from ten
and a half to eleven-twelfths in breadth, pale reddish-grey,
spotted with umber or deep reddish-brown and brownish-
grey. The young, at first covered with black down, are
said to betake themselves at once to the water. I have
never met with this species, however, and therefore am very
reluctantly obliged to be content with a second-hand account
of its manners. Its flesh, according to Mr. Selby, is sweet
and well-flavoured, like that of the Corn Crake ; and " in
autumn it becomes loaded with fat, a layer of nearly a
quarter of an inch in thickness covering the whole surface
of its body.

Young. — When fledged, the young differ from the adult
only in having the tints duller, the cheeks and throat
yellowish-white, the former faintly marked with brown, the
abdomen with more greyish-white, the bill of a lighter tint,
and the legs paler.

539

CREX BAILLONII. BAILLON'S CRAKE.

Poule-d'eau Baillon. Gallinula Baillonii. Tcmm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 692.
Crex Baillonii. Jard. and Selby, Illustr. of Ornith. part I. fol. 15.
Baillon's Crake. Crex Baillonii. Selby. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 182.
Crex Baillonii. Baillon's Crake. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 219.
Ostygometra Bailloni. Bonap. Comp. List, 53.

Wings ending at the middle of the tail; bill dark green;
feet Jlcsh-colour ; a great number of white spots on the back
and icings. Female scarcely differing from the male.

Having neglected the opportunities which I have had of
taking descriptions from skins or stuffed specimens of the
two species of this genus that remain to be described, and
not having any in my own collection, with the exception of
a single specimen of Crex Baillonii from India, or being in
a place well adapted for this kind of research, I must confine
my account of them to a translation of that given by M.
Temminck, and a few additional observations.

Male. — " Throat, a streak over each eye, sides of the
neck, breast, and belly bluish-grey, shaded on the sides of
the body with olivaceous, these parts marked with a multi-
tude of white spots ; upper parts of a light olivaceous red,
varied on the top of the head with black streaks ; on the
back and on all the wing-coverts are numerous white spots
of various forms, and which are all surrounded with deep
black ; flanks, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts transversely
marked with broad bands of deep black and narrow bands of
pure white ; bill very dark green ; iris reddish ; feet flesh-
colour. Length 6 inches 7 or 8 lines.

Female. — "The female differs from the male only in
having less bright and less pure tints.

540 CREX BAILLONII.

Young. — " The young resemble the adults in the colour
of their upper parts ; but their throat and the middle of the
belly are white, undulated with grey and olivaceous zigzag
lines ; the flanks are olivaceous, marked with numerous
spots of pure white ; the bill is of a greenish-brown.

Habitation. — " It inhabits the same places as the Little
Gallinule, but almost always in marshy lagoons; and is
extensively distributed in the eastern parts, but is more
common toward the south, in the neighbourhood of Genoa.
It is also found in several provinces of France, and in the
whole of Italy.

Food. — " Insects, small slugs, aquatic plants, and their
seeds.

Propagation. — " It always nestles as near as possible to
water, without ever frequenting the fields ; and lays seven
or eight eggs, of the shape of olives, and of an olivaceous-
brown colour."

It has several times been met with in England : near
Cambridge, Beccles, and Derby ; at Dilham and Barton, in
Norfolk ; and at Weston-super-Mare, on the Bristol Channel,
as related with details by Mr. Yarrell. I am not aware of
its having been found in Scotland. A single instance of its
occurrence in Ireland, in a bog at Clay Castle, near Youghal,
is mentioned by Mr. Thompson.

541

CREX PUSILLA. THE LITTLE CRAKE.

Rallus pusillus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 761.

Little Gallinule. Gallinula niinuta. Mont. Ornith. Diet. Supplt.

Olivaceous Gallinule. Gallinula Foljambei. Mont. Ornith. Diet. App. to

Supplt.
Poule-d'eau poussin, Gallinula pusilla. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. II. 690.
Gallinula pusilla. Little Crake. Selby, Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 185.
Crex pusilla. Little Crake. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 219.
Ortygometra pusilla. Bonap. Comp. List. 53.

" Wings extending to the end of the tail; bill and feet of
a beautiful light green; feathers of the middle of the back
marked with a very few small white spots. Female differing
much from the male.

Male. — " Throat, a streak over each eye, breast, and
belly bluish-grey, without spots ; upper parts olivaceous-
grey, but all the feathers blackish in the middle ; on the
fore part of the back a large black space varied with some
white marks, which are very thinly distributed; abdomen
and flanks marked with rather indistinct white and brown
bands ; lower tail-coverts black, barred with white ; bill of a
beautiful green, reddish at the base ; feet bluish-grey, with-
out any spot; iris red. Length 6 inches 9 lines, rarely
7 inches.

Female. — " The female has the eye-streaks and the sides
of the head of a light grey ; throat whitish ; fore part of the
neck, breast, and belly reddish-grey; thighs and abdomen
grey ; lower tail-coverts tipped with white ; upper parts
reddish-brown ; the large blackish space of the fore part of
the back variegated with a small number of white spots ;
wing-coverts olivaceous-grey.

542 CREX PUSILLA.

Young. — " The young have the tints paler ; nearly the
■whole of the throat is whitish ; the white marks of the fore
part of the back are in very small number, and the feathers
of the flanks are brown with white bands.

Habitation. — " It inhabits the same places as the last
species, but more habitually marshes ; often visits the fields,
where it is met with rather commonly ; lives in great num-
bers in the eastern countries of Europe ; pretty common in
Germany ; rare in the provinces of the north of France ;
more abundant towards the south ; common in Italy ; acci-
dentally in Holland.

Food. — " Insects, small slugs, aquatic plants, and theii
seeds.

Propagation. — " Constructs its nest in the marshes,
upon broken canes, rushes, and water plants ; lays seven or
eight yellowish eggs, sprinkled with longitudinal olivaceous
spots."

Montagu, who, for his time, added more to the know-
ledge of British birds than, I think, any of the several
estimable ornithologists who succeeded him, was the first to
make known an instance of the occurrence of this bird in
England. The specimen alluded to was shot near Ash-
burton, in Devonshire, in 1809, and was sent to him by
Mr. Tucker. He considered it as appearing " not only to be
new as British, but to be a nondescript species, and named
it the Little Gallinule, Gallinula minuta." In the Appendix
to the Supplement, he describes another individual, " dis-
covered by Mr. Foljambe in a poulterer's shop, early in
May, 1812, together with some other valuable birds, which
had recently been received from the fens in Norfolk." He
considered it also a new species, and named it " Olivaceous
Gallinule, Gallinula Foljambei." It is thus described: —
" The length is seven inches and a half; breadth ten inches
and a half. The bill is nearly three quarters of an inch
long, of a greenish-yellow colour, the base red; irides and

LITTLE CRAKE. 543

orbits light red, inclining to orange ; cheeks and forehead
dusky cinereous ; sides of the neck and throat pale cinereous ;
breast, belly, and thighs plain dark cinereous or slate-colour,
like the Water-Rail, without spots or markings of any kind ;
the back of the head deep olive-brown ; hind-neck lighter,
being of a yellowish-olive ; the feathers of the back have a
mixture of olive-brown and dusky black, the margins being
mostly of the former colour, with paler edges ; scapulars
dusky black, with broad olive margins ; coverts of the wings
olive-brown ; quills dusky, the outer webs edged with olive ;
rump and upper coverts of the tail very dark olive-brown,
with a mixture of dusky black ; the feathers of the tail are
of a deep dusky brown, the shafts paler and the lateral ones
margined with olive-yellow ; vent and under coverts of the
tail dusky cinereous, some of the feathers deeply margined
with sullied white ; sides behind the thighs olive, slightly
margined as the last ; the legs, toes, and knees olive."

About the same time, as stated by Montagu, Mr. Plasted,
of Chelsea, procured another that was shot there on the
banks of the Thames. Several other individuals have since
been obtained in various parts of England ; near Arkrigg, in
Yorkshire ; near Cambridge, Manchester, Yarmouth, Shore-
ham, and Scarborough. It does not appear to have been
met with in Scotland or Ireland.

544

GALLINULA. GALLINULE.

The Gallinules differ in no very essential respect from the
Crakes, as will be seen on comparing two species of these
respective genera, or the generic characters here given. They
are of moderate size, not exceeding that of a domestic fowl.
Their body is slender aud much compressed, the neck of
moderate length, the head oblong, compressed, and rather
small.

Bill not exceeding the head in length, rather stout, taper-
ing, much compressed ; upper mandible with the dorsal out-
line slightly decimate, towards the end convex, the ridge
narrow, considerably enlarged at the base, and forming a soft
tumid oblong plate, which varies in extent, sometimes extend-
ing to the crown of the head, the sides sloping, towards the
end erect and convex, the edges direct, the tip somewhat
deflected, with a very slight notch, the nasal groove large ;
lower mandible with the angle long, and very narrow, the
dorsal outline very short and ascending, the sides nearly erect,
the edges soft and blunt at the base, sharp and a little in-
flected towards the end, the tip narrow and rather sharp.
The gape-line nearly straight.

Both mandibles internally concave, the lower more deeply
so. Palate flattish, papillate, as is the nasal slit. Tongue
fleshy, oblong, nearly flat above, having a few short papillae
behind, the tip thin, rounded, and lacerated. Aperture of
glottis smooth, papillate behind. (Esophagus uniform in
diameter ; proventricular glands oblong. Stomach large, its
muscles of great size, and distinct, its inner coat with very
numerous and small ru^se. Intestine disposed in numerous
close parallel folds, very long ; the coeca large, cylindrical,
with a slender curved tip.

Eyes rather small, eyelids with the margin bare. Nostrils

GALLINULA. GALLINULE.

545

linear-oblong, perforated, medial, submarginal. Aperture of
ear roundish, rather small. Feet large ; tibia muscular, its
lower part bare ; tarsus of moderate length, large, compressed,
anteriorly covered with broad curved scutella, posteriorly
with two rows of scutella; toes very long, slender, com-
pressed, anteriorly covered with numerous scutella, beneath
flattened and distinctly marginate ; the first very small, the
third longest, the fourth a little longer than the second ; claws
long, slender, slightly arched, compressed, acute.

Plumage blended, soft, glossy above ; on the head very
short, gradually elongated backwards, on the sides long, on
the tibiae short ; the feathers narrow, oblong, with a longish,
narrow plumule. Wings short, concave, rounded; quills
twenty-two ; primaries rather weak, very broad, rounded, the
first considerably shorter than the second, which is the
longest, being slightly longer than the third ; the fifth about

Fig. 50.

the length of the first. Tail very short, arched, much rounded,
of twelve weak, narrow, rounded feathers.

The Gallinules, so named from their resemblance to the
domestic hen, differ from the Crakes chiefly in having the
base of the ridge of their upper mandible expanded into an
oblong plate, which covers a greater or less extent of the
forehead ; and in the flattened soles of their toes, which are
expanded into two narrow margins. They differ from the
genus Porphyrio in a very slight degree, it having the bill
much higher, the nostrils roundish, and the toes not laterally
margined, but with a single projecting margin. But these
differences are very slight, and the so-called genera Por-

M M

546 GALLINULA. GALLINULE.

phyrio, Ortygometra, and Gallinula, might with great pro-
priety be considered as sections of one and the same genus.

The species of this genus inhabit meadows, marshes, and
especially swampy places on the edges of rivers, lakes, or the
inlets of the sea, covered with reeds, sedges, and other strong
herbage. They run with great speed, seldom rise on wing,
unless closely pursued, when they fly off in a heavy manner,
with their legs at first dangling. Their food consists of
worms, mollusca, insects, and seeds, chiefly of gramina, in
search of which they make excursions into the neighbouring
pastures. They swim and dive with ease, and when in dan-
ger, conceal themselves by diving and rising under a bank,
or merely projecting their head under cover of the herbage.

They nestle on the ground among the reeds, or on a tuft
of dry ground or a decayed tree, forming a very bulky nest of
reeds, straws, or similar materials. The eggs are numerous,
five or more, light coloured, dotted, spotted, or freckled with
darker.

Only one species occurs in Britain.

547

GALLINULA CHLOROPUS. THE GREEN-FOOTED
GALLINULE, OR WATER-HEN.

MOOR-HEN. MARSH-HEN. STANK-HEN.

Fig. 52.

Fulica Chloropus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 258. Adult.

Fulica fusca. Linn. Syst Nat. I. 257. Young.

Gallinula Chloropus. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 770. Adult.

Gallinula fusca. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 771. Young.

Poule d'Eau ordinaire. Gallinula Chloropus. Temm. Mann. d'Orn.

Gallinula Chloropus, Common Gallinule, or "Water Hen. Flem. Brit.

Anini. 99.
Common Gallinule. Gallinula Chloropus. Selb. Illustr. II. 188.
Gallinula Chloropus, Common Gallinule. Jen. Brit. Vert., An. 220.
Gallinula Chloropus, Bonap. List. 53.

Plumage of the head, neck, and lower parts dark grey, of
the back and wings deep olive-brown ; edge of the wing and
lower tail-covert white. Young similar, but with the feathers
of the lower part edged with white.

Male. — The Green-footed Gallinule, when seen running
along the banks of a stream or pool, invariably calls to mind

548 GALLINULA CHLOROPUS.

the idea of a young bird of the domestic fowl, its form and
attitudes being extremely similar. The body, although much
compressed, is rather full anteriorly ; but the proportions, as
well as the plumage, being such as have been described in
the generic character, it is unnecessary here to enter into
details respecting them, farther than to state a few parti-
culars which have been purposely omitted. The bill is about
the same length as the head; the frontal plate oblong,
rounded above, extending nearly as far as over the anterior
edge of the eye. Tarsus with fifteen anterior scutella ; first
toe with eleven, second with twenty-four, third toe with
thirty-eight, fourth with thirty-four. The claws are long,
slightly arched tapering, much compressed, and, until worn,
acute. The plumage is very soft and blended, on the lower
part dull, on the back glossy. The wings short, of twenty-
two quills ; the third quill longest, the second scarcely
shorter, the fourth nearly as long as the third, the first as
long as the sixth, and nine-twelfths shorter than the second.
The tail is very short, much rounded, of twelve arched,
rounded feathers.

In the end of autumn, when the moult has been com-
pleted, the bill is greenish-yellow beyond the nostrils, the
basal part and frontal plate crimson red, the latter somewhat
paler. The iris, which is very narrow, seems red at a dis-
tance, but is composed of three rings, the outer hazel, the
middle dusky, the inner bright red. The feet are dull green,
with a ring of bright red above the tibio-tarsal joint ; the
claws dusky, the head, the neck, and the lower parts in general,
are of a deep, dark, greyish blue, the abdomen tinged with
pale grey, and the uppermost hypochondrial feathers, which
are very long, have a longitudinal band of white on the outer
web. The back and smaller wing-coverts are of a deep olive
brown. The quills, alula, and primary coverts are dark
brown, the secondary coverts the same, tinged with olive
brown, the first quill and first alular feather with the outer
edge white, of which colour also is the edge of the wing. The
tail is blackish-brown ; the proximal under tail-coverts white,
and a tuft of feathers under the middle of the latter deep black.

The oesophagus is seven inches long, its average diameter

GREEN-FOOTED WATER-HEN. 549

half an inch. The proventricular glands are oblong, compa-
ratively few, as in a gallinaceous bird, and forming a belt an
inch in breadth. The stomach is a powerful gizzard, obliquely
situated, an inch and ten and a half twelfths broad, an inch and
a half long, the right lateral muscle ten twelfths and a half,
the left nine twelfths thick ; the cuticular lining thick, with
longitudinal rugae. The intestine is thirty-one inches long,
varying in diameter from three-twelfths to a twelfth and a half.
The rectum is two inches and three quarters long; and the cceca
are four inches and a half in length, their greatest diameter
four and a half twelfths, half an inch of their extremity in-
curved. There is considerable analogy in the digestive organs
to those of the Rasores. The stomach is precisely similar,
the rectum is of the same form, the cceca approximate ; but
there is no crop, and the intestine is more slender. In an
individual killed at Duddingston Loch, in April 1835, the
dimensions of the digestive organs were somewhat different.
(Esophagus six and a half inches long; stomach an inch and
three quarters in diameter ; intestine forty-one inches long ;
the cceca six inches in length, and coming off at the distance
of four inches from the extremity.

The flesh is white in autumn and the beginning of winter,
when there is a layer of fat under the skin. It affords good
eating, not much inferior to that of the partridge.

The frontal plate is of a brighter red than the bill, yellow-
ish at its upper margin. It is larger in the male than in the
female. Its surface is smooth and glossy, being formed of
cuticle continuous with that of the bill. The external
pellicle is colourless, the inner layers tinged with red ; but
the principal seat of the colour, both of this plate and of the
bill, is the rete mucosum, which is of dense texture. Beneath
it is a pad of dense cellular tissue, of which the minute in-
terstices are filled with adipose matter. This part has the
appearance of being glandular, and resembles the substance of
the uropygial gland, but has no duct, and is certainly con-
densed adipose tissue, the oil obtained from it being very
pure. The colour of the frontal plate is not, then, as some
assert, caused by its vascular texture, although it becomes
brighter in spring than at any other season.

C50 GALLLNULA CHLOROPUS.

Length to end of tail, 13^ inclies, extent of wings, 22£,
wing, from flexure, 7 ; tail 3-^ ; bill, along the ridge, including
the frontal plate, If, along the edge of lower mandible, I5-;
bare part of tibia, 4^ ; tarsus, 2 ; first toe, li, its claw, -^ ;
second toe, 1-^, its claw, -^ ; third toe, 2-^-, its claw, -^ ;
fourth toe, 1-f1, its claw, T%.

Female. — The female differs slightly in size, being some-
what smaller, but the difference in the colours of the plumage
is inconsiderable, the head, neck, and especially the sides,
being merely a little paler, the black beneath the tail less
deep, and the abdomen with rather more white. The frontal
plate is much smaller.

Length to end of tail, 12 j inches ; extent of wings, 20^ ;
bill and frontal plate, 1 ^ ; tarsus, 2 ; middle toe and claw, £| ;
hind toe and claw, 1^- ; wing, from flexure, 7 ; tail, 2^.

Variations. — In size there is considerable difference be-
tween individuals, some being twelve inches in length, while
others are fourteen. In many the middle toe has its claw
obliquely truncate, while in some it is unworn and very long ;
and I have seen it worn on one foot and entire on the other,
in the same individual. In birds several years old, the tints
are deeper and purer, and in younger individuals the deep,
greyish-blue parts are more or less tinged with grey, and
there is more white on the abdomen.

Changes. — As the plumage becomes old, its colours fade
a little, but the change produced by the Aveather is small.
The moult is completed by the beginning of November. In
spring, the frontal plate assumes a brighter tint, approaching
to vermilion.

Habits. — The Water-Hen is found in all parts of Scotland
and England that are adapted to its nature. It frequents
marshy places, pools, lakes, still streams, mill-dams, and even
ditches, where it searches for food chiefly among the reeds
and other aquatic plants along the shores. It swims with
great ease and elegance, sitting lightly on the water, with its

GREEN-FOOTED WATER-HEN. 551

neck erect, and its tail obliquely raised. It dives with equal
facility, and in travelling among the reeds, sedges, and other
aquatic plants, makes its way with surprising ease, owing to
the compression of its body, and its elongated toes. When
surprised in a narrow stream or ditch, it usually dives, and
conceals itself among the plants or beneath the banks, often
remaining for a long time submersed, with nothing but the
bill above the water. I have seen it thus betake itself to the
margin, when, on my going up to the spot, thinking the motion
among the grass had been produced by a water rat, it sprung
up from under the water, and flew away. On other occa-
sions I have traced it under the overhanging earth, in a hole
among the stones, and behind a waterfall. When disturbed
in a large pool or lake, it either swims out to the open water,
or betakes itself to the reeds or sedges, among which it re-
mains concealed until the danger is over ; and from its hiding-
place it is not easily scared, for as its power of flight is not of
a high order, it prefers the asylum of the water.

In swimming, it moves its head backward and forward,
as a pigeon does when walking, a circumstance which be-
comes remarkable in this and some other birds, when com-
pared with the Swan, Geese, and Ducks, which keep the
head steady while advancing on the water. In general, it is
not so ready on being disturbed to betake itself to the open
water as the Coot, but prefers skulking along the shores.
W7hen a shot is fired at one, and has not hit, it often flies off,
but often also keeps steadily swimming on. Being one even-
ing with a friend at Seaton Marsh, on the Don, near Aber-
deen, I started a Water-hen, and fired at it, on which it
alighted at a very short distance, and concealed itself. My
companion, however, having discovered it, took it up, when we
could see no injury inflicted on it. We carried it home, and
having satisfied ourselves with observing its form and atti-
tudes, carried it back next day, and let it loose, when it flew
directly off to a great distance. It had evidently been para-
lyzed by terror, as was the case with the Corn Crake al-
ready mentioned. I have seen another, when swimming
right down the wind, after a shot had been fired near it, raise
up the hind part of its body, and spread out its tail like a fan,

552 GALLINULA CHLOROPUS.

which thus answered the purpose of a sail, and would have
carried the bird on at a good rate, even if it had not made
use of its oars.

It often perches on the stumps or trunks of willows grow-
ing in the water or hanging over it, or rests on a tuft of turf,
where it may be seen standing on one foot, with its neck
drawn in. Its ordinary position when reposing, resembles
that of the Heron, the body being oblique, the legs straight,
the head retracted ; and in walking, it raises its feet high,
probably to prevent its long toes from being entangled. Early
in the morning, often even at any time of the day, if it sus-
pects no danger, it makes excursions into the fields or pas-
tures adjoining its watery retreat, and walks along precisely
with the air of a domestic fowl, searching for food. It is ex-
tremely vigilant when on shore, and on the least alarm, runs
off with great speed, throwing its body forward, and stretch-
ing out its neck. Its flight is heavy, straight, performed by
regular flappings, and very similar to that of the Corn Crake.
When flying over a short space, it allows its legs to dangle,
and when alighting on the water, enters it at a very low
angle, splashing it up with its wings, as is the manner of the
Coot and most species of the Duck tribe. In rising, also, it
moves a considerable way before fairly quitting the water,
which it strikes with its wings like the Gannet and most
aquatic birds.

It is curious to observe with what facility the Water-hen
makes its escape, in circumstances in which one might at first
suppose it impossible for it to get off in security. Thus you
may come upon one feeding in a narrow ditch filled with
water. It instantly dives or flies off a short way, and when
you run up to the place where it has just alighted, and think
you are sure of it, you find no traces of its existence. Watch
as long as you please, no bird makes its appearance ; it has
sunk, and concealed itself somewhere along the margin, and
there it will remain, with nothing but its bill above the sur-
face, until you have departed, for it would require an eye
shaper than that of a lynx to discover it. Although, when
accustomed to the molestation of man, it is very vigilant,
easily alarmed, and always prepared for flight, it is less wary

GREEN-FOOTED WATER-HEN. 553

in remote and unfrequented places. In some of the rushy
lakes of the Island of Harris and North Uist, I have found it
easier to get within shooting distance than in the mill-dams
and streams of the lower districts of Scotland, where, should
it observe you, even at a great distance, it is sure to be off in-
stantly, and by the time you get to thefdace, it has concealed
itself.

From the middle of April to the beginning of May, when
vegetation has made some progress, but in the northern and
more exposed parts of the country not until the middle of
that month, the Water-hen commences the construction of its
nest, which it places in the midst of a tuft of rushes or sedges,
or fixes among reeds, or builds on a sedgy spot close to the
water, or even sometimes on the trunk of a decayed or fallen
willow. It is bulky, and composed of blades of reeds, grasses,
fragments of decayed rushes or flags, and other aquatic plants.
The eggs, which sometimes amount to eight or even ten, vary
in form from regular ovate to nearly elliptical, and have a
pale, dull, brownish-grey, or greyish-yellow ground, with
irregularly dispersed spots and dots of a deep brown colour,
varying in size from the smallest perceptible by the human
eye, to a diameter of nearly a quarter of an inch. Their
average length is an inch and three quarters, their breadth
an inch and a quarter. The young, which are at first covered
with long, stiffish black down, leave the nest soon after they
are hatched, and follow their mother. The sight of a flock is
interesting, especially if you come suddenly upon it, for then
the young scatter about in all directions, dive and conceal
themselves, the old bird meanwhile lingering, and displaying
the greatest anxiety, until her brood is safe, when she, too,
dives, and is no more to be seen.

To these observations of my own I have the pleasure of
adding the following, kindly supplied by Mr. Harley, of
Leicester : — " The Water-hen is a truly British bird, widely
distributed and generally well known. Although in many
parts of this island it bears the name of Moor-hen only, yet
that appellation is not strictly true, as we may find it far
away from the moor or marsh or sedgy swamp, the haunt of
the Bittern, Curlew, and Snipe, affecting alike the expanded

554 GALLINULA CHLOROPUS.

lake, the glassy pool, and the flowing river, even down to its
estuary, where its waters mingle with the mighty ocean, or
high up at its rise, where it wells and ripples from the foot
of the heath-clad hill or lichen-crowned rock. Rather
domestic in its habits for a free denizen of nature, this bird
becomes easy of approach where its species is protected and
its haunts undisturbed. We may then find it feeding in
company with the domestic Duck, and sometimes even with
poultry. It is rather an early breeder, setting about the
work of nidification towards the close of April or the begin-
ning of May, and has two if not three broods in the year.
Its nest is a rude structure, composed externally of rushes
and flags, and internally lined with fine grass or bents, and
may very generally be found placed on a hassock or osier
stump, or amongst the roots of reeds or carices, in the imme-
diate vicinity of water. But, although these spots are very
generally chosen by this bird for nestling in, yet I have
found its nest sometimes affixed to the stump or horizontal
bough of the white willow, about two or three feet from the
surface of a river or pool The eggs, from five to eight, are
dull white or yellowish, irregularly blotched with rust-
coloured spots. The period of incubation lasts about twenty-
one days, and the young soon follow their parents upon the
surface of the water, or sport among the aquatic plants, pur-
suing various kinds of insects, which no doubt constitute
almost their chief food. When they first come abroad, I
have observed that they are incapable of diving, and, in
their attempts to disappear under the water, when alarmed
by the sudden approach of a person, make a very grotesque
appearance, bobbing their heads up and down beneath the
surface, and exposing their hind parts, in the manner of
drowning puppies. This incapability of diving, which, per-
haps, may result from a yet imperfect state of the respiratory
organs, is not, however, of long continuance. The reason
why I think there are two broods yearly is, that I have
observed the young in this state late in August.

" There are several circumstances which tend very mate-
rially to prevent the increase of the species, which otherwise
would become very abundant. As it almost invariably nestles

GREEN-FOOTED WATER-HEN. 555

close to the water's edge, the nest and eggs are often
destroyed by floods ; and it is not uncommon to notice many
nests, both of this bird and of the Little Grebe, floating on
the swollen and turbid stream, and often containing eggs, or
sometimes young, which perish either from the absence of
the parent, or from their being unable to contend with the
current. The Water-hen has also various enemies, the more
destructive of which to the young birds are the Heron, the
Carrion Crow, the Moor Buzzard, and the Pike.

" I know few sights more pleasing than that of a brood
of young Water-hens, led forth by their parents to feed and
sport along the silent margins of a lake or pool, thickly
studded with water-lilies. The lime and walnut are begin-
ning to shed their fragrance, hardly surpassed by that of the
citron groves of Andalusia, or the odours of 'Araby the
blest.' Yon castellated mansion, once the seat of lordly
baron or gallant knight, but now hoary with age and crum-
bling into ruins, gives solemnity to the scene. The setting
sun flings his golden rays across the lake, skirting the green
woods, and tinting here and there the crested turret, the
overhanging cliff, and the moss-crowned height. Beside
yon pollard willows the cows crop the fresh grass, while
forth sails the stately swan, giving her ample bosom to the
watery expanse, now ruffled by the evening breeze. There
too, afar, stands the Heron, watching his finny prey ; the
garrulous Wild Ducks chequer the little islands, the Coot
cries from amidst the sedge, the Sandpiper wails along the
shingly beach, and the sonorous croak of the Carrion Crow
is heard from the distant wood. Other sights and sounds
mingle with these, reminding us that we are in happy
England, but leading us to forget the object of our contem-
plation,— the Water-hen. Often this bird, partly crepuscular
in its habits, startles the evening wanderer with its sharply
reiterated chuck. In autumn it will haunt stubbles, for the
purpose of feeding on different kinds of small seeds, which
are found in abundance lying on the ground after the fields
are cleared by the husbandman. I have repeatedly seen it
perch on lofty trees after being flushed, and have known it
to frequent the branches of willows and other shrubs growing

556 GALLINULA CHLOROPUS.

near the water. When pursued, it shews great adroitness in
keeping its body beneath the water, leaving only its bill ex-
posed, so that it may obtain the necessary supply of air until
its enemies are past. In such cases I have more than once
caught it by dragging it out of the water by the feet, when I
have been trammelling for tench or carp. When domesti-
cated it becomes pugnacious, and will drive away domestic
poultry from their feeding-places, manifesting a disposition
widely different from -vvhat might be expected from the
timidity which it evinces when in its native liberty."

Young. — When fully fledged the young have the bill
oil-green, without any red ; the exposed part of the tibia of
the same colour ; the tarsus and toes as in the adult. The
upper part of the head and the hind-neck are dull greyish-
brown ; the sides of the head the same, mottled with greyish-
white ; the chin of the latter colour ; the throat mottled with
that and dark greyish-blue. The breast and sides are pale
purplish-grey, the white marks on the latter duller than in
the old bird ; the abdomen greyish-white ; the lower tail-
coverts yellowish-white ; the central black feathers lighter.
The upper parts, quills, and tail are nearly as in the adult,
but paler.

Progress toward Maturity. — After the first moult the
red of the bill and legs appears, and the bird assumes the
colours of the adult ; but the lower parts are much paler,
most of the feathers being tipped with whitish, and the head
is still tinged with brown. At the second autumnal moult
the colouring is complete, although still not so pure as in
older birds.

557

FULICA. COOT.

The Coots differ from the Gallinules chiefly in having
their toes furnished with a broad scalloped membrane. They
are of moderate size, their body compressed but full, the neck
of ordinary length, the head rather small and compressed.

Bill not exceeding the head in length, stout, tapering,
much compressed; upper mandible with its dorsal outline
declinate-convex, the ridge narrow, convex, enlarged at the
base into an elliptical soft tumid plate, which covers the fore
part of the head to beyond the eye, the sides sloping at the
base, convex towards the end ; the nasal groove large ; the
edges hard, sharp ; the tip small, with a rather distinct notch ;
lower mandible with the angle long and narrow, the dorsal
outline ascending and nearly straight, the sides erect at the
base, sloping outwards at the end; the edges of both man-
dibles direct and meeting. The gape-line nearly straight.

Both mandibles internally concave, the lower more deeply.
Palate papillate. Aperture of the posterior nares linear,
margined with papillae. Tongue fleshy, oblong, nearly flat
above, emarginate with a few lateral papillae at the base, the
tip thin, rounded, and lacerated. Aperture of the glottis
smooth, papillate behind. (Esophagus uniform in diameter,
of moderate width ; pro ventricular glands oblong. Stomach
large, its muscles of great size, its inner coat with numerous
small rugae. Intestine disposed in numerous close parallel
folds, very long ; the coeca large.

Eyes rather small ; eyelids with the margins bare.
Nostrils linear-oblong, in the fore and lower part of the nasal
groove. Aperture of the ear roundish, rather small. Feet
large ; tibia muscular, its lower part bare ; tarsus of moderate
length, large, compressed, anteriorly covered with broad

558

FULICA. COOT.

curved scutella ; toes very long, slender, compressed, covered
above with numerous scutella, beneath flat laterally expanded
into a broad membrane, which is contracted at the joints, and
thus scalloped, each scallop having five series of plates, gra-
dually diminishing outwards ; the first toe small, the second
a little shorter than the fourth, which is considerably exceeded
by the third. Claws long, slender, much compressed, taper-
ing, acute.

Plumage soft, full, blended, glossy above, dull beneath,
on the head very short, gradually elongated backwards, on
the sides long, on the tibia? short ; the feathers much curved,
narrow, oblong, broadly rounded, with a moderate plumule.

Fio. 53.

Wings short, concave, rounded ; quills twenty-four ; prima-
ries strong, broad, tapering, the first considerably shorter than
the second, which is about the same length as the third, the

FULICA. COOT. 559

sixth equal to the first. Tail extremely short, arched, much
rounded, of twelve very weak, narrow, rounded feathers.

The Coots are proportionally stouter than the Gallinules,
and decidedly aquatic. Their feet are accordingly better
adapted for swimming, and they move on the suface of the
water, and dive with as much dexterity and ease as many
ducks and other palmipede birds. Their residence is on
lakes, pools, rivers, and inlets of the sea, among the weeds,
sedges, and other tall aquatic plants, and their food consists
of mollusca, worms, insects, and especially seeds. They
build a very large nest of grasses, flags, and other plants, in
which are deposited from five to ten oval light-coloured eggs,
dotted and spotted with dusky. The young, at first covered
with stifiish black down, run about and swim immediately
after they are hatched.

The species of this genus are few in number, and gene-
rally of dark and uniform colours. In Britain there is only
one, which is extensively distributed, but much more abundant
in the southern districts.

5G0

FULICA ATRA. THE BALD COOT.

COMMON COOT. CUTE. QUEET. BALD DUCK.

Fig. 54.

Fulica atra. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 257.

Fulica atra. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 777.

Common Coot and Greater Coot. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Foulque macroule. Fulica atra. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 706.

Fulica atra. Common Coot. Flem. Brit. Anim. 100.

Common Coot. Fulica atra. Selb. Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 193.

Fulica atra. Common Coot. Jen. Brit. Vert, Anim. 221.

Fulica atra. Bonap. Comp. List, 53.

The head and upper part of the neck greyish-black; the
upper parts dark bluish-grey , the lower broionish-grey ; the
frontal plate xvhite, as are the ends of the mandibles.

Male. — The Coot, which is the largest British bird of
the Parrine family, is very similar in form to the Water-hen.
Its body is bulky, but compressed ; its neck of moderate
length ; its head rather small and oblong. The bill is about
the length of the head, straight, stout, compressed, tapering,

BALD COOT. 561

its extremities hard and glossy. The frontal plate is broadly
oblong, and extends to the top of the head, beyond the eyes.

The nostrils are linear, four-twelfths of an inch long ; the
aperture of the eyes four-twelfths ; that of the ears three-
twelfths. The roof of the mouth is narrow, flattened, with
two medial series of acute reversed papillae, and two lateral
elevated lines. The tongue fleshy, thick, an inch long, con-
cave above, its tip narrowed, but rounded. The oesophagus
is about nine inches long, rather narrow, with the proventri-
culus somewhat bulbiform. The gizzard is very large, with
extremely thick muscles, transversely elliptical, oblique, an
inch and three-fourths long, two inches and three-fourths in
breadth. The epithelium is dense, and forms two large
grinding plates. The intestine, which is long and wide, has
the duodenal fold very elongated, and is then convoluted in
an elliptical form ; its length is five feet, its width seven-
twelfths in the duodenal part. The coeca are extremely
elongated, being thirteen inches in length, very narrow for
about two inches, then from four to five-twelfths in width,
but again narrowed toward the end ; the rectum of uniform
width, without cloacal dilatation.

The legs are of moderate length ; the tarsi with twenty-
four anterior scutella ; the first toe with fourteen, the second
twenty-eight, the third thirty-eight, the fourth thirty-eight.
The claws are long, slender, slightly arched, compressed,
tapering, flat beneath, acute.

The bill is pale red at the base, white at the end ; and the
frontal plate is bluish-white. The iris crimson. The feet
bluish-grey, tinged with olive ; the bare part of the tibia
orange ; the claws olivaceous. The head and neck are
greyish-black ; the lower part of the neck and the upper
parts of the body generally are of a dark bluish-grey, seeming
black at a distance ; the lower parts are dull brownish-grey.
The edge of the wing, and the outer margin of the first
alular feather and first quill, are whitish.

Length to end of tail 16 inches ; extent of wings 22 ;
wing from flexure 8f ; tail 2\ ; bill along the ridge, in-
cluding the frontal plate, 2\, along the edge of lower man-
dible 1^- ; tarsus 1-^ ; first toe \\, its claw -fe ; second

N N

562 FULICA ATRA.

toe 2-^j, its claw TV ; third toe %jj>, its claw -^ ; fourth toe
2^, its claw -f^.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, the tints
only not quite so pure, and the size somewhat less.

Variations. — Slight differences in the tints of the plu-
mage may be seen, some individuals being darker than
others ; but in general there is little variation. A very re-
markable variety, however, is not very unfrequently met
with, in which the colour is of a light brownish-grey, or
even brownish-white.

Habits. — In summer the Coot is generally distributed in
Britain, being found in suitable localities in all parts from
the southern counties of England to the extreme north of
Scotland, as well as in the remote Hebrides and the Orkney
Islands ; but in winter it retires from the northern districts,
and accumulates in favourable places in the south. Viewed
with reference to the whole of Britain, it is a permanently
resident bird, though in most districts it is only a summer
visitant. In spring the great flocks that have collected
along the southern and eastern shores of England disperse.
In the south of Scotland it arrives in April, but in the north
not until the beginning of May. Its favourite places of
resort are large pools, lakes, or rivers, overgrown or mar-
gined with reeds, flags, sedges, water-lilies, and other aquatic
plants, among which it swims about in search of its food,
which consists of seeds, fresh blades of grass, mollusca, and
insects. In shallow pools or marshes densely covered with
Equisetum limosum I have seen paths made by it, from which
others diverged in all directions. Sometimes it makes ex-
cursions into the neighbouring fields, where it walks and
runs precisely in the same manner as the Water-hen, and
with equal ease, the lobes of its feet forming no impediment
to its free action ; but it is not so ready as that bird to quit
its safe retreat on the waters. It is extremely shy and vigi-
lant, instantly betakes itself to flight when approached, but
very seldom flies off unless one come suddenly upon it, or a

BALD COOT. 563

shot be fired at it, when it rises at a very low angle, splashing
up the water with its wings and feet, proceeds but to a short
distance, and alighting conceals itself among the reeds or
equiseta, and remains there until the danger be over. Its
vigilance and distrust of man render it diificult to approach
other birds, such as Ducks or Grebes, that may be on the
same pool, it being almost sure to alarm them by its cries
and flight. It floats lightly on the water, swims sedately,
jerking its tail, and moving its neck backwards and forwards.
When much disturbed it often prefers swimming off" to a
distance from the shore, and there, when the water is exten-
sive enough for its safety, it may frequently be seen remaining
for hours, even apparently after it has ceased to be appre-
hensive of danger from the land. It dives with ease, and
sometimes eludes pursuit by retreating under the surface of
the water to emerge in a concealed part. In summer it
emits a very loud, abrupt cry, resembling the note of a
trumpet.

Its nest, which is extremely large, and composed of
decayed flags, reeds, equiseta, and other plants, is placed
among reeds, equiseta, or willows, or sometimes in shallow
water, being built up to a considerable height. Sometimes
the nests are placed on small islands covered with herbage,
or in unfrequented places on the shores. Mr. Hewitson,
from personal inspection, says : — " They are large, and appa-
rently clumsy at first sight, but are amazingly strong and
compact ; they are sometimes built on a tuft of rushes, but
more commonly amongst reeds ; some are supported by those
that lie prostrate on the water, whilst others have their
foundations at its bottom, and are raised till they become
from six to twelve inches above its surface, sometimes in a
depth of one and a half or two feet. So firm are some of
them that, whilst up to the knees in water, they afforded me
a seat sufficiently strong to support my weight. They are
composed of flags and broken reeds, finer towards the inside,
and contain from seven to eight eggs." The materials vary
according to the locality, and frequently the nests are formed
entirely of equisetum limosum. " These birds," says Mon-
tagu, " place their nest amongst the flags upon the surface

664 FULICA ATRA.

of the water ; but by heaping a large quantity of the same
materials together, raise the fabric sufficiently above water
to keep the eggs dry. In this buoyant state a sudden flood,
attended by a gale of wind, has been known to drive them
from their moorings ; and we are assured by an intelligent
observer of nature, that he has seen a nest floated from one
side of a large piece of water to the other, with the bird upon
it." The eggs, which vary in number from six to ten, are
much larger than those of the Water-hen, but very similar,
being of an elongated oval light yellowish-grey or stone-colour,
"marked all over with dots and small spots of brownish-black ;
their average length two inches and one- twelfth, their greatest
breadth an inch and five-twelfths. The young are at first
covered with stiflish black down, tipped with white ; the hind
part of the head yellow ; the frontal membrane blood-red ;
the feet dusky-green.

In the more exposed and colder parts of Britain, the Coots
leave their summer haunts toward the end of autumn. Mon-
tagu remarks that " the vast flocks seen in Southampton
River, and other salt-water inlets, in winter, most probably
breed farther north, at least a great part of them ;" and this
is no doubt the case, for there are many breeding places of the
Coot in Scotland, which are entirely deserted in winter.
Nor are Coots usually in that country to be seen even in the
estuaries or on muddy sea shores, as in England and Ireland.
In the Hebrides, however, I have seen them remain all winter,
betaking themselves to the sea when the reedy lake to which
they resort was frozen ; and on Duddingston Loch, near
Edinburgh, some continue all the year.

Although the flesh of the Coot does not afford an agree-
able food, delicate and white as it appears, and often plenti-
fully mixed with fat, which, however, has an unpleasant taste,
vast numbers are shot on the coast of England in winter, not
only for the markets, but as a pleasant and gentlemanly
amusement. " The plan that I have found best," says
Colonel Hawker, " for slaughtering the Coots by wholesale
is, either to listen for them before daylight, and rake them
down at the grey of a white frosty morning, or watch them
at some distance in the afternoon, and set in to them as late

BALD COOT. 563

in the evening as you can see to level your gun, taking care,
if possible, to keep them under the western light." The
same respectable person informs us how to prepare them for
cooking : — " The recipe for this is, after picking them, to
take off all the black down, by means of powdered resin and
boiling water, and then to let them soak all night in cold and
spring water, by which they are made to look as white and as
delicate as a chicken, and to eat tolerably well ; but, without
this process, the skin in roasting produces a sort of oil, with a
fishy taste and smell ; and if the skin be taken off, the bird
becomes dry, and good for nothing."

In Shetland the Coot is seldom met with ; but in Orkney
it is not unfrequent, and is said to breed and remain through
the year. In the Outer Hebrides it occurs in a few lakes in
Lewis and Harris, and is plentiful in the Uists. It is also
met with in Skye, as Mr. Robert Jamieson informs us. On
the mainland, from the extreme north to the English border,
it is found breeding in ponds, lakes, and marshes. In Eng-
land it is generally distributed, as we learn from the state-
ments of authors, and in many localities continues all the
year. In Ireland also, according to Mr. Thompson, it is
general. On the continent of Europe it extends from Norway
to the Mediterranean. In Asia it is said to occur in India,
China, and Japan. In America it has not been met with ;
but a species very similar, though smaller, occurs there. Its
habits, as described by Audubon, are almost precisely the
same as those of the European Coot.

" Although the curious form of their feet, and the situa-
tion of their legs, might induce one to suppose these birds
incapable of moving on land with ease, experience proves the
contrary, for they not only walk with freedom, but can run
with great speed when necessary. They are accustomed to
leave the water, too, and resort to open lands on the margins
of streams and lakes, for the purpose of feeding, both in the
morning and in the evening. While ascending the Missis-
sippi, being about fifty miles above New Orleans, on the 21st
of March, 1822, the weather cloudy, I had the pleasure of
seeing about six or seven hundred of these birds feeding on
the grass of a savannah bordering the river. I took them

566 FULICA ATRA.

while at some distance for a great flock of Guinea Fowls.
Their movements were brisk, they often struck at each other
in the manner of the domestic fowl, and ran with surprising
celerity. As I approached nearer, I plainly saw them nibble
the tender grass, in the same manner as poultry ; and having
found a place of concealment behind a rise of the ground, I
laid myself flat, and observed their motions at leisure ; but
during twenty minutes spent in that situation, I did not hear
a single note from the flock. I fired among them and killed
five ; on which the rest, after running a few steps, all rose and
flew off with speed towards the river, mounted high in the
air, came curving over me, their legs hanging behind, their
wings producing a constant whir, and at length alighted on a
narrow channel between the shore, where I was, and a small
island. Following them with caution, I got sufficiently near
to some of them to be able to see them leap from the water to
seize the young leaves of the willows that overhung the
shores. While swimming, they moved with ease, although
not with much speed, and used a constantly repeated move-
ment of the head and neck, corresponding to that of the feet.
Now, twenty or thirty of them would close their ranks, and
swim up the stream in a lengthened body, when they would
disperse, and pick up the floating substances, not one of them
diving all the time. On firing at a large group of them that
had approached me, they started off in various directions,
patting the Avater with their feet, and rushing with extended
wings, for thirty or forty yards, but without actually flying."

Young. — When fledged, the young have the bill of a
greyish-green ; the frontal plate, which is very small, being
of the same colour ; the iris brown ; the feet dusky-green, the
upper parts are dark green, the lower light dull brownish-grey.

Progress towards Maturity. — After the first autumnal
moult, the bill is still dusky, and the frontal plate greenish.
The upper parts are more grey, the lowrer pure ash-grey ;
the head and upper part of the neck blackish-grey. In spring
the frontal plate becomes white, and the yellow band appears
on the tibia.

567

REMAKES ON THE SWIMMING BTEDS.

CRIBRATORES. URINATORES.
MERSATORES.

In the simple, but not altogether physiologically correct
division of the feathered tribes into Land Birds and Water
Birds, the species which have been described in this volume
are usually referred to the latter, those of the order Cursores,
although not of aquatic habits, being included in that series
on account of their general resemblance to the Tentatores.
The Water Birds themselves have by most authors been
sectioned into Littoral and Natatory, Shore Birds and Swim-
ming Birds, Waders and Swimmers. Those which peculiarly
deserve the name of Littoral Birds and Waders, are the Ten-
tatores and Aucupatores, while the Cursores might be referred
to the Terrestrial, and the Latitores, while they present affi-
nities of structure and habits to the Rasores, are in many
instances as aquatic as a large proportion of the birds peculi-
arly so called. The Waders of authors are thus transitional,
being placed between the series of truly terrestrial and that of
truly aquatic birds.

If the Littoral Birds are thus incapable of being strictly
defined, the case is different with those of which the species

568 REMARKS ON THE SWIMMING BIRDS.

that occur in the British seas and fresh waters remain to be
described. They all agree in possessing one obvious common
character, that of having their digits connected by flexible
membranes, formed by an upper and lower layer, or indupli-
cation of the skin, modified so as to adapt the feet for swim-
ming by converting them into paddles. The instrument thus
formed may be more or less complete, all the digits being
connected in some, the anterior three only in most, and the
webs being extended to the full length of the^e flexible shafts,
or shortened by excision, as it were, of their anterior part, or
even partially cut into lobes ; and birds of other groups may
have feet partially webbed, so as to fit them in various degrees
for the same office ; but all of them are web-footed, and all
swim. They can all walk on the water — for the natation of
a bird that floats on the surface is but a kind of walking,
though the feet be immersed in the liquid. Gradation on
land they are also in some measure adapted for, some in a
very efficient manner, others very imperfectly, a few so ill
that they are usually described as incapable of walking. But
these Palmipede or Natatory Birds present no other common
character, excepting those which belong alike to all the
groups, their organization differing so as to render it impos-
sible to include them all in one ordinal category. And why,
it may reasonably be asked, should all the web-footed birds
form a single order, when those that are free-toed form several ?
If they did, it would be contrary to analogy.

If an order be anything else than a mere arbitrarily
limited aggregation of specific forms, surely a bird that has a
broad bill covered with a thin dense skin, and furnished on
the inner sides of the upper mandible, and the outer sides of
the lower, with series of parallel plates, of a peculiar kind of
cutaneous tissue, arranged like the laminae of a whale's baleen,
presents in these very features of its organization characters
so different from those of all other Water Birds, as to merit for
them, not family, but ordinal distinction, especially as no
gradation is presented between them and any other groups
whatever, they being as perfectly isolated as the Parrots or
the Pigeons.

REMARKS ON THE SWIMMING BIRDS. 569

These birds, which some, considering them as a family,
name Anatida?, others Lamellirostres, constitute the order
Cribratores. Others, essentially Divers, and feeding on
fish, are named Urinatores. A third ordinal series, consist-
ing of birds incapable of diving in pursuit of their prey, though
they occasionally plunge or dip into the water, to obtain it,
may be named Mersatores. Of these three orders, which
are all into which the extensive series of Water Birds
admits of being divided, the characters will be given else-
where at considerable length. Here it is only necessary
to present short definitions, sufficient to enable a person
who may have obtained a web-footed bird to refer it to its
peculiar order. •

Cribratores. Sifters. Bill covered with soft skin,
obtuse, and furnished with internal or marginal lamellae.
Tongue large, fleshy, lamellate or papillate on the sides.
(Esophagus narrow ; stomach an extremely muscular gizzard.
Intestine long, rather wide ; cceca large. Feet with four toes ;
the anterior rather long, the hind toe small and free. Wings
convex ; tail short.

Urinatores. Divers. Bill strong, tapering, compressed,
pointed, opening rather widely, and dilatable at the base.
Tongue slender, pointed. (Esophagus wide ; stomach rather
large, roundish, with the muscular coat rather thick. Intes-
tine long, and rather wide, with moderate coeca. Tarsus
extremely compressed. Wings narrow, pointed; tail ex-
tremely short, or of moderate length.

Mersatores, Plungers. Bill generally stout, straight,
compressed, opening to beneath the eyes. Tongue fleshy,
tapering, pointed. (Esophagus very wide ; stomach small,
muscular. Intestine rather long, narrow ; coeca very small,
cylindrical. Tarsus not much compressed. Wings very
long, much pointed.

The accompanying figure represents the foot of a Cor-

570 REMARKS ON THE SWIMMING BIRDS.

morant, and is here introduced as typical of the perfect
webbed foot.

571

XVII. CRTBRATOBES. SIFTEES.

By the ordinal name of Cribratores I designate the
extensive, beautiful, and to man very important, and there-
fore very interesting group of birds, which Cuvier has named
Lamellieostres, — his appellation being indicative of struc-
ture, while mine, in this as in other cases, is descriptive of
function. It is, in fact, the lamellated bill that renders them
Sifters, and the structure and function of that organ are
peculiar and distinctive, being found in no other birds. Nay,
more, they belong to every species of the entire series,
although, of course, presenting considerable modifications.

The birds of which this order is composed are known by
the familiar names of Geese, Swans, Ducks, Teals, Wigeons,
Pochards, Shovellers, and others ; together with the Flamin-
goes and Mergansers. These all agree in having the bill
covered with soft skin, the only hard or horny parts being
the two ungues or nail-like bodies situated one at the tip of
each mandible, and in the presence of numerous transverse
or oblique elevated lamellae on the inner sides of both man-
dibles ; at the margins of which they are generally enlarged,
and assume various forms in the different species, of which
the bill may thus be described as marginally lamellate, pec-
tinate, serrate, or denticulate. It is impossible to mistake
any member of the family, and therefore much time needs
not be occupied with its distinctive characters ; but a single
genus and a small group seem, at first sight, to stand aloof
from the rest. Of the group alluded to, that of the Mer-
gansers, the characters will subsequently be given in detail ;
and the genus, that of the Flamingoes, with which, as stu-

572 CRIBRATORES. SIFTERS.

dents of British Ornithology, we are not concerned, I have
shewn, by the description of its digestive organs, in the fifth
volume of Mr. Audubon's Ornithological Biography, to be
nothing else, as some would say, than " a modified Goose."
Setting aside these for the present, let us take a general view
of the main body.

The species generally known as Swans, Geese, and
Ducks appear to form a single, well-defined family, of which
the members present various gradations. Thus, the bill may
be as long as the head, or a little longer, or shorter in all
degrees to half its length. It is always higher than broad at
the base, but it may be of the same uniform breadth to the
end, or it may become narrower, or in a few instances
broader. Its terminal unguis may be round, elliptical,
oblong, obovate, triangular or linear, very convex or nearly
flat; moderately, much, or abruptly decurved, sometimes,
though very rarely, so much as to have its edge directed
backwards. The margins of the upper mandible may be
arched, sinuate, or straight. The lamellae may be large or
small, distant or close, prominent or scarcely elevated, and
their outer ends may be rounded, triangular, tooth-like, or
sometimes acicular or capillary, projecting far beyond the
margin, or moderately, or slightly, or not at all. So is it
with the other organs. The legs may be long, short, or very
short; the tarsi roundish or compressed. The hind toe,
always small and elevated, may be free, or with a slight
membrane, or having a membranous lobe, connecting it in
some degree with the base of the two-lobed membrane of
the inner toe. The interdigital membranes may be full, even
at their margin, or emarginate in various degrees, or in a
few instances dimidiate. The claws, never large, may be
compressed or flattened, acute or obtuse. The wings may
be long, of moderate length, or very short, convex in various
degrees, and with a varying number of quills ; the tail ex-
tremely short, short, moderate, or long, with from twelve to
twenty-four feathers. The digestive organs vary less in their
general characters, but yet exhibit differences of considerable
amount. The trachea, however, presents extraordinary pecu-
liarities, being sometimes nearly of uniform width, some-

CRIBRATORES. SIFTERS. 573

times having enlargements of various forms ; the lower larynx
small or moderate, compressed, or bulging out into curiously
varied bony sacs or cells.

Differences in habits are also conspicuous. Thus some,
as the Geese and Swans, feed entirely on vegetable sub-
stances ; others, as the Pochards, chiefly on shell-fish. Some
resort to fresh-water marshes, lakes, or rivers, while others
are peculiarly marine. Most of them nestle on the ground,
but some on rocks, and even on trees, or rather in their
decayed cavities. Some make a plain nest of rushes, grass,
and other plants ; but others line the nest with down which
the female plucks from her breast. Some are easily domesti-
cated, while others seem untameable. Their flesh, too, varies
in quality, depending on the nature of the food.

As the species graduate into each other, both in form and
in habits, from the grass-eating Geese to the fish-eating
Harelds, it is difficult, notwith standing the facility of de-
scribing species afforded by the diversities above alluded to,
to divide this large group into sections. In fact, neither
families nor genera can be strictly defined among them ; so
that, were it not to facilitate the examination of a group,
numerous and rather difficult sometimes to be individually
distinguished, it might be expedient to leave it undivided.
At first sight a Goose seems sufficiently different from a
Duck, to induce one to suppose that Geese and Ducks form
distinct families ; but, then, birds present themselves which
one may call a Goose, another a Duck, and a third neither.
However, I think we may venture on assuming four fami-
lies— Geese, Swans, Ducks, and Pochards.

The Geese, Anserine, have the body ovate, large, and
full ; the neck long ; the head small ; the bill stout and
somewhat conical ; the legs rather long ; the wings of great
length and breadth. They feed entirely on vegetable sub-
stances.

So do the Swans, Cygnin^:, which, however, have the
body very large and elongated ; the neck excessively long,
but the feet very short and thick ; the bill rather long, and
of equal breadth throughout.

The Ducks, properly so called, or Anatin^e, have a rather

574 CRIBRATORES. SIFTERS.

elongated, elliptical body, a moderate neck, large but com-
pressed head, longish bill, depressed, and rather narrow or
not very broad, with short or moderate feet, of which the
hind toe has merely a compressed rudimentary expansion
beneath, not sufficiently developed to be called a web. They
are radicivorous, graminivorous, granivorous, insectivorous,
reptilivorous ; in short, some of them eat almost anything
eatable.

The Pochards, or Diving Ducks, Fuligulin^e, differ from
the rest, which never dive in search of food, in being habitual
divers. They have the body shorter, broad, being flattened
or depressed ; the neck short, the head large, the bill gene-
rally short and broad or thick, the feet very short and placed
farther back, the hind toe with a lobiform membrane. They
feed on mollusca, Crustacea, and fish, occasionally only on
vegetable matters.

A " typical " Goose seems quite distinct from a typical
Duck; yet not even their skeletons shew very tangible
characters.

In the Geese the skeleton is strongly constructed. The
skull rather broad, the interorbital space wide, the max-
illary bones large and stout, the lower strong, both concave
and rounded at the end. The neck is long, with eighteen
vertebras ; the dorsal ten, the lumbar and sacral sixteen,
the coccygeal seven. The pelvis long and of moderate
breadth, its bones leaving two large oblong interspaces ;
the pubes slender, enlarged and decurved toward the end.
There are ten flattened ribs, the first not reaching the
sternum, and both it and the three last without processes.
The sternum large, broad, with a prominent carina, its pos-
terior margin even, with two deep notches. The clavicles
stout, short, moderately spreading ; the furcula strong, wide,
and much curved. The bones of the wing stout, the humerus
and cubitus of equal length, the pollex tapering, the meta-
carpals united at both ends, two digits, the outer with two
bones, the inner of one. The femur stout and short ; the
tibia long, with the fibula partially united ; the tarsus mode-
rate, broad below ; the digits with two, three, four, five
phalanges.

CRIBKATORES. SIFTERS. 575

In the Swans the skeleton is also strong. The skull is
more elongated, the interorbital space broader, the maxillary
bones longer and less strong, both more concave. The neck
is extremely long, with twenty-two vertebrae ; the dorsal
ten, the lumbar and sacral fifteen, the coccygeal seven. The
pelvis is longer and narrower. There are ten flattened ribs,
the first and four last without processes, and the last not
connected with either the spine or the sternum. The latter
is narrower than in the Geese, but otherwise similar, only
the carina is generally hollowed for the reception of a curve
of the trachea ; in which case there is a hollow on the fork
of the furcula, which is more slender, narrower at the fork,
and more curved than in the Geese. Unless as to length,
the wings and feet are as in them.

The Ducks have the skeleton proportionally less stout,
with the head more like that of the Swans than of the
Geese, the skull less elevated, and the jaws more flattened.
There are from fourteen to sixteen cervical vertebras, eight
dorsal, fourteen lumbar and sacral, seven coccygeal. Of the
nine slender ribs the first and two last have no processes,
and the last has an appendage projecting backwards from
the upper end of its sternal portion. The pelvis is long, as
in the Swans. The sternum of moderate length, broadish,
with two deep notches behind. The furcula is moderately
stout and arched. The cubital bones a little shorter than
the humerus.

The Diving Ducks have the body shorter, as is the neck,
in which, however, the vertebras are from fourteen to sixteen.
The jaws are shorter and broader. The dorsal vertebrae
eight, the lumbar and sacral twelve, the coccygeal seven.
The pelvis is shorter and broader, as is the sternum. The
furcula less curved. Of the ten ribs the first and two last
have no processes. The tarsal bone is shorter and narrower
than in the Ducks ; but the bones of the wing are similar.

One skeleton graduates into another, as is the case with
the exterior generally, and the organs in particular. With-
out attempting to define the groups by unvarying characters,
let us see in what respects they agree.

The body in all is large, full, and muscular, with a thick

576 CRIBRATORES. SIFTERS.

tough skin, attached to which is a considerable layer of adi-
pose tissue ; the head oblong, compressed. The bill never
very long, and sometimes short, is always covered with soft
skin, and furnished with internal marginal lamellae. The
tongue is fleshy, papillate at the base, medially grooved, late-
rally ciliated or furnished with reversed bristles, and having
a flattened, thin, roundish tip. The oesophagus is narrow,
without crop, but sometimes considerably dilated at the lower
part of the neck. The stomach is always an extremely mus-
cular gizzard, with a dense epithelium, having two grinding
plates. The intestine is long, and rather wide, with two long
and moderately wide coeca ; the rectum cylindrical. The
trachea in the female is uniform, of moderate bony rings ; but
in the males are diversiform enlargements at its lower extre-
mity. The contractor muscles, which are very large, give off
two slips, which are attached to the clavicle, and end in two
others, which go to the sternum, there being no inferior
laryngeal muscles.

The skin is covered with a fine close elastic down. The
feathers are of moderate size, ovate or oblong, curved, with
the basal filaments very downy, and a downy plumule of con-
siderable length ; the feathers of the head and neck very
small, slender, in the male blended and glossy. The quills
are strong, and the tail feathers generally firm.

All the species form a regular, though not generally
neatly constructed nest. The eggs are always numerous,
nearly elliptical, smooth, and of a uniform light tint, white,
or light greenish or cream-colour. The young, clothed with
thick stifnsh down, run, swim, and dive from the first. I
know of no other general characters. Those peculiar to the
different groups will be given in order.

The Cribratores, among the swimming birds, are appa-
rently analogous to the Rasores among the Land Birds, and
have generally been considered as such. Next to the Galli-
naceous Birds they are those which are most directly useful
to man. To this series belong some of our most important
domesticated species : the Common Goose, the Duck, the
Swan, and several others of less value. Their feathers, supe-
rior to those of other birds in elasticity and softness, afford

CRIBRATORES. SIFTERS. 577

the best materials for beds and pillows ; the down of some
species is used in the colder countries for quilts and coverlets ;
the skin with the down attached affords articles of clothing ;
and the quills of others, especially the Grey Goose, have
supplied for ages the instruments by which the philosopher,
the historian, and the poet, have communicated to their con-
temporaries and transmitted to posterity their discoveries and
thoughts. Many species afford most savoury food, and of
some the flesh is lauded by the epicure as superlative ; but,
in general, they are inferior to the Gallinaceous Birds as
articles of food, at least to persons not of robust habit, or
not engaged in laborious occupations.

In the wild state, all the birds of this family are very shy
and vigilant, but several of them are very easily domesticated ;
and it appears strange that we should not have reduced more
of them to a state of servitude, The reason, however, seems
to be that the common Goose and Duck, already subjugated,
answer nearly all the purposes that could be accomplished by
the domestication of other species. Their sense of sight and
hearing are moderately acute ; their smell we have no means
of estimating ; but their taste and touch, if we may judge
from the size and distribution of the nerves with which the
bill, covered by soft skin, is furnished, and the fleshy nature
of the tongue, must be superior to that of most birds. Their
instincts are varied and remarkable. In flying to a distance,
and especially when migrating, they have a tendency to form
files or angular lines ; they are all in some degree gregarious,
living together in the greatest harmony, and communicating
their feelings by repeated cries and modula tions of their voice ;
when their wants are satisfied they exhibit a great degree of
sportiveness, especially when on the water, shooting along,
diving, and splashing with their wings. Their intellectual
faculties, if not of a high order, are not inferior to those of
most Water Birds. Like the ass, and all submissive drudges,
however useful, the Goose has obtained a character for stupi-
dity by no means merited, its intellect being far superior io
that of the Domestic Fowl, Turkey, or Peacock.

This order may be divided into six subordinate groups or
families : — The Flamingoes, Geese, Swans, Ducks, Pochards,

o o

578

CRIBRATORES. SIFTERS.

and Mergansers, respectively named, according to the mode
of speech employed by the naturalist, Phoenicopterinae, An-
serinse, Cygninae, Anatinae, Fuligulinae, and Merganserinae ;
of all which, the first excepted, representatives occur in
Britain. The Phcenicopterinae, of which only three species
are known, are characterized by a very peculiar formation of
the bill, which is suddenly deflected in the middle, and by
the extreme elongation of the neck and legs, insomuch that
these birds have by many ornithologists been placed among
the Waders. The Merganserinse are distinguished by an
attenuated bill, of which the lamellae are dentiform, resemb-
ling the teeth of a saAv. But even these groups blend with
the rest, Phoenicopterus being connected with the Geese by
the genus Cereopsis, and Merganser passing into the Fuligu-
linae by means of the genus Mergus. The other families are
so connected that it is impossible strictly to define them ; and
therefore in giving their characters, I shall confine myself to
general and comprehensive terms, applicable only with some
latitude.

579

ANSERINE.

GEESE AND ALLIED SPECIES.

The birds popularly known by the names of Geese,
Swans, and Ducks, although so intimately connected by the
complex modification of their organs, as to render it impos-
sible to institute well denned sections among them, are too
numerous to be considered as forming a single family, their
analogical relations to other groups rendering it necessary to
subdivide them into families and genera. In instituting these
sections it seems to me that we must be guided more by the
general form than by the modifications of particular organs.
Were we, for example, to place together all the species which
have the bill short, and in some degree tapering or conical,
then those in which it is longer and of nearly equal breadth
throughout, and those distinguished by an elongated bill,
enlarged toward the end, we should find our groups composed
of birds in other respects very unlike each other. A similar
result would ensue from our associating the species furnished
with long legs, placing those with moderate legs in another
group, and those with short legs in a third. But if, on the
other hand, we take all the large-bodied, long-necked, mode-
rate-legged, and strong-billed species, and place them together,
we constitute a group of which all the members have a great
mutual resemblance, although many of them may differ in
some respects, one having the feet larger, another the bill
broader, and the third the neck longer than the standard or
typical species. According to this latter method then, we
may associate all the very large, full-bodied species, known by
the names of Geese and Bernicles, forming them into a family,
to which the name of Anserinse may be given, and of which
the general characters seem to be the following : —

The body is ovate, or elliptical, very large and full, of

580 ANSERINiE.

nearly equal height and breadth ; the neck long, or extremely
elongated, and rather slender ; the head rather small, oblong,
compressed, and arched above. The bill is stout, short, or of
moderate length, much higher than broad at the base, gradu-
ally depressed toward the end, narrowed or of equal breadth
throughout, with large convex ungues. The upper mandible
internally concave, with a median tuberculate ridge, one or
two series of tubercles on each side, then a series of flattened
lamellae, and along the margin numerous lamella?, often
enlarged at the end, but varying in form. The tongue is
fleshy, thick, margined with pointed papillae or fibres. The
oesophagus long, narrow, enlarged at the lower part. The
stomach an extremely developed, oblique, transversely ellip-
tical gizzard, having the lateral muscles excessively thick, the
tendons large, and the epithelium forming two circular, some-
what concave, thick grinding plates. The intestine is long,
rather narrow, in numerous folds ; the cceca long, narrow at
the base, then enlarged and nearly cylindrical. The trachea
of numerous broad, considerably flattened rings, has no
remarkable dilatations, and the inferior larynx is simple, that
is, destitute of labyrinth, and compressed in the typical
genera ; but in those which graduate into the Anatinse is
usually furnished with an enlargement.

The nostrils are small, or moderate, submedial, oblong ;
the eyes small; the aperture of the ear rather small. The
legs, placed considerably forward, so as to balance the body
in a horizontal or little inclined position, are very strong, but
vary in length. The toes are four ; the hind toe very small,
either rounded beneath, or with a small thickened lobe ; the
anterior toes rather long, the outer little shorter than the
medial ; the interdigital membranes full ; the claws short,
rather compressed, obtuse.

The plumage is rather full, close, and firm, unless on the
head and neck, where it is short, soft, more or less blended.
The wings are very long and broad ; the humerus and cubitus
proportionally shorter than the outer part ; the primaries
decurved, the second and third longest, the first little shorter.
The tail short, rounded, of from sixteen to twenty-four
feathers.

ANSERINyE. 581

These birds inhabit chiefly the arctic and antarctic regions
in summer, migrating in autumn toward the equator. They
are all decidedly gregarious, fly in lines when journeying,
have a strong and rapid flight, usually keep at a great height,
and being conspicuous by their size and loud cries, as well as
important in an economical point of view, gladden the inha-
bitants of the colder regions by their annual appearance as
the harbingers of summer. Their nests are bulky, placed on
the ground, in marshy situations ; their eggs numerous,
ovate or elliptical, white, or tinged with various hues, but
always of one colour. They walk slowly, but swim with ease,
although they never dive, unless in sport or when wounded,
and feed entirely on vegetable substances, chiefly grass and
seeds. Their quills, feathers, and down, are employed for
various purposes, and their flesh is savoury and nutritious,
although rather difficult of assimilation. Next to the Swans
they are the largest birds of the order to which they belong,
and those small species which some consider as Geese in
miniature are in reality Ducks.

Those which occur in Britain may be arranged and briefly
characterized in the following manner : —

SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. ANSER. GOOSE.

Bill as long as the head, or considerably shorter, stout,
straight, sub-conical, of much greater height than breadth at
the base, narrowed toward the end, where it is somewhat
depressed, and broadly rounded, with a large, very convex,
firm-edged unguis ; the lamella? of the upper mandible exter-
nally triangular, dentiform, and projecting ; tarsus strong,
moderately compressed, reticulated all round with small
angular scales ; hind toe free, flattened beneath, anterior
toes rather long, scutellate, unless toward the base ; interdi-
gital membranes full ; claws short, strong, arched, obtuse ;
feathers of the neck oblong, convex, arranged in oblique

582 ANSERINJE.

ridges ; wings long, broad, of twenty-six quills, the second
longest ; tail short, rounded, of sixteen rounded feathers.

1. Anserferus. TJiich-billed Grey Goose. About thirty-
two inches long; with the bill very thick, as long as the head,
yellowish-orange, with the unguis grey or white ; tarsus three
inches long, flesh-coloured ; head and neck greyish-brown ;
hind part of back light ash-grey.

2. Anser segetum. Narrow-hilled Grey Goose. About
thirty inches long ; with the bill moderately thick, nearly as
long as the head, yellowish-orange, with the base and unguis
black ; tarsus three inches long, orange-yellow ; head and
neck greyish-brown ; hind part of back blackish-brown.

3. Anser brachyrhynchus. Short-billed Grey Goose.
About twenty-eight inches long ; with the bill shorter than
the head, carmine, with the base and unguis black ; tarsus
two inches and a half long, pale purplish pink ; head and
neck greyish-brown ; hind part of back deep ash-grey.

4. Anser albifrons. White-fronted Goose. About
twenty-eight inches long ; with the bill thick, short, carmine ;
with the unguis white ; tarsus orange-red ; forehead white,
with a black band behind ; lower parts greyish- white, irregu-
larly patched with black.

5. Anser Canadensis. Canada, Goose. About forty-two
inches long ; with the bill moderate, black ; the tarsi and
toes black ; the head and two-thirds of the neck black ; a
broad band of white across the throat ; upper parts greyish-
brown, lower greyish-white.

GENUS II. BERNICLA. BERNICLE GOOSE.

Bill much shorter than the head, moderately stout,
straight, sub-conical, higher than broad at the base, narrowed
toward the end, where its breadth does not exceed its height,
rounded, with the unguis large, very convex, and firm-edged ;
the lamellse of the upper mandible rounded, and scarcely
projecting ; tarsus stout, moderately compressed, reticulated
all round ; hind toe free, flattened beneath, anterior toes
rather long, scutellate, unless toward the base ; interdigital
membranes full ; claws short, arcuate, rather depressed,

ANSERINE. 583

obtuse ; feathers of the neck narrow, flat, not arranged in
ridges ; wings long, broad, of twenty-eight quills, the second
longest ; tail short, rounded, of sixteen rounded feathers.

1. Bernicla leucopsis. White-faced Bernicle Goose.
About twenty-six inches long ; with the fore part and sides
of the head and the throat white ; the hind head and neck
glossy black ; scapulars and wing-coverts ash-grey, banded
with black.

2. Bernicla Brenta. Black-faced Bernicle Goose. About
twenty-four inches long ; with the head and neck glossy
black, a patch of white dotted with black on each side
of the upper neck ; scapulars and wing-coverts brownish-
grey.

3. Bernicla ruficollis. Bed-necked Bernicle Goose. About
twenty-two inches long ; with the throat, upper part of the
head, and a band down the neck, black ; a white spot before
the eye, behind it a white space inclosing a brownish-red
patch ; fore neck red ; breast black.

GENUS III. CHENALOPEX. FOX-GOOSE.

Bill nearly as long as the head, stout, straight, sub-coni-
cal, of not much greater height than breadth at the base,
slightly narrowed toward the end, where it is broadly rounded,
with the unguis large, very convex, much decurved, and
strong-edged ; the lamella? of the upper mandible externally
thin and concealed ; tarsus stout, moderately compressed,
reticulated with small angular scales ; hind toe free, with a
thick narrow lobe beneath ; anterior toes rather long, scutel-
late unless toward the base ; claws short, strong, little arched,
rather compressed, obtuse ; wings rather long, broad, with
the second quill longest ; tail short, rounded, of fourteen
rounded feathers.

1. Chenalopex JEgyptiacus. Egyptian Fox-Goose. About
twenty-eight inches long ; with a prominent margin at the
base of the upper mandible, and a bare knob on the wing ;
the bill reddish flesh-colour, with the unguis and part of the
margin of the upper mandible black ; a roundish space about
the eye light chestnut-red ; the wing-coverts white, the

584 ANSERINjE.

secondary coverts with a transverse black band near the end ;
the lower parts cream-coloured, with a large chestnut-red
patch on the breast.

GENUS IV. PLECTROPTERUS. SPUR-WINGED GOOSE.

Bill nearly as long as the head, stout, straight, sub-conical,
of nearly equal height and breadth at the base, where there is
a protuberance broadly rounded at the end, with the unguis
large, very convex, much decurved, and strong-edged; the
lamellae of the upper mandible externally thin and concealed ;
tarsus stout, moderately compressed, reticulated ; hind toe
with a thick narrow lobe ; anterior toes rather long ; claws
short, strong, aicuate, obtuse ; wings rather long, broad, with
a projecting pointed spur on the tarsal joint ; tail short,
rounded.

1. Plectropterus Gambensis. Gambo Spur-winged Goose.
Bill reddish-yellow ; feet orange ; upper part of head and
neck brown ; lower part of the neck, sides of the breast, and
upper parts, black, glossed with green ; lower parts white.

585

ANSER. GOOSE.

The Geese, properly so called, are birds of large size,
having the body remarkably full, ovate, rather higher than
broad ; the neck long and slender ; the head rather small in
proportion to the general size, arched above, oblong, and
compressed.

Bill as long as the head or considerably shorter, stout,
straight, sub-conical, of much greater height than breadth at
the base, narrowed toward the end, where it is somewhat
depressed and broadly rounded ; upper mandible with the
lateral and superior basal margins semicircular, forming two
short, moderately pointed angles ; the ridge broad and flat-
tened at the base, gradually narrowed and convex ; the
dorsal line decimate and straight to near the unguis, which is
round, very convex, decurved, and strong, with a firm edge,
the sides sloping and convex, the nasal space oblong from
near the base to the middle, covered by the soft membrane
of the bill; the edges soft, arcuate, denticulate with the
triangular projecting outer ends of the oblique lamella?;
lower mandible with the intercrural space long, rather wide,
its membrane anteriorly bare, the short dorsal line convex,
the crura long, rather narrow, their lower outline somewhat
re-arcuate, their sides sloping outwards and convex ; the
edges elevated, inclinate, denticulate with the short outer
extremities of the numerous oblique lamellae ; the unguis
roundish and moderately convex; the gape-line arcuate,
commencing under the upper basal angle of the mandible.

Mouth of moderate width. Anterior palate concave,
with a lateral series of flattened papillae on each side, sepa-
rated by a groove from the marginal lamellae, a medial row
of prominent tubercles, and on each side of it one or two

586 ANSER. GOOSE.

series of scattered papilla?. The tongue is fleshy, thick,
rather narrow, convex, with a deep median groove above,
furnished with straight suh-acicular papilla? at the base,
laterally margined with numerous slender, acuminate, re-
versed, horny papilla? ; its tip thin, concave, rounded, and
horny. (Esophagus long, narrow, with the lower part en-
larged ; the glandular belt broad. Stomach an extremely
developed, oblique, transversely elliptical gizzard, of which
the lateral muscles are excessively thick, their tendons large
and radiated, the lower muscle narrow and prominent, the
epithelium forming two circular, very thick, smoothish,
marginally grooved, slightly concave, grinding plates. The
intestine is long, rather narrow, arranged in about ten or
twelve oblique folds ; the cceca long, slender at the base,
then of moderate width, somewhat narroAved toward the
end, which is obtuse.

The trachea, of numerous broad, considerably flattened
rings, enlarges a little toward the furcular space, where it
forms a slight curve, then contracts, and becomes much
compressed at the end ; the bronchi very short and wide.

Nostrils moderate, oblong, sub-medial, in the lower and
fore part of the nasal groove. Eyes small, eyelids feathered,
with bare crenulate margins. Aperture of ear rather small.
Feet rather short or moderate, strong, placed well forward,
so that the body is nearly horizontal ; tibia bare for a very
short space ; tarsus moderately compressed, reticulated with
small angular scales. Hind toe very small, elevated, thick
and scabrous beneath ; anterior toes rather long, the outer
little shorter than the third, the second considerably shorter;
all scaly at the base, but with numerous scutella in the rest
of their extent ; the interdigital membranes reticulate, full,
the outer more or less emarginate, the second or inner toe
with a narrow, slightly two-lobed marginal web. Claws
short, arched, rather compressed, obtuse, that of the third
toe curved outwards, with the inner side expanded and the
tip rounded.

Plumage full, close, firm, unless on the head and neck.
Feathers of the head very small and oblong; of the neck
narrow, arranged in oblique series into ridges and grooves,

ANSER. GOOSE. 587

of its lower part broad and rounded ; those of the fore part
of the back and the larger wing-coverts very broad and
abruptly terminated, of the hind part of the back ovate and
rounded, of the breast small, but of the sides very large,
much curved, and abrupt ; the scapulars very large ; the
numerals eight or ten, narrow, rounded. The wings long,
broad, with twenty-six quills and pointed, the first quill
being slightly shorter than the second, which is longest, the
outer four or five quills more or less cut out toward the
end ; the secondaries broad and rounded ; the inner elon-
gated. Tail short, rounded, of sixteen rather broad, rounded
feathers.

Yellow, orange, or red are the predominant colours in
the feet, as well as in the bill, which is sometimes partially
black. Grey, brown, and white prevail in the plumage.

The Geese inhabit chiefly the temperate and arctic
regions of both continents. They reside mostly in marshes,
but frequently betake themselves to dry pastures and fields.
Their food consists of vegetable substances, chiefly grasses,
but also the leaves, stems, and roots of various herbaceous
plants, as well as seeds. Although they feed chiefly on
land or in marshy places, and walk strongly, generally in a
sedate manner, they also, when swimming in shallow water,
pull up the submersed parts of vegetables by immersing the
head and neck ; but in searching for food they never dive.
The strong-curved, thin-edged ungues, of which the inner
surface is grooved or scrobiculate, are the instruments used
in cuttting plants for food ; and the action of the gizzard is
aided by a great quantity of fine quartz sand. They sit
lightly on the water, and swim with considerable speed,
keeping the neck erect. Their flight is strong, moderate as
to speed, sedate, with short movements of their outspread
wings, the neck stretched forward. When flying to a dis-
tance they arrange themselves in lines, either continuous or
angular, and when migrating keep at a great height. Their
cries are strong, harsh, and creaking, but not disagreeable
when coming from a distance. They are at all seasons
gregarious. The nest, composed of grass and other herbage,
is placed in marshes or on islands. The eggs, numerous,

588 ANSER. GOOSE.

elliptical, and white, variously tinged. The male remains
■with the female and young. The Geese appear to moult
only once yearly, in the end of summer. Their flesh is
highly esteemed, although difficult to be digested. As no
two species agree precisely in the form of the bill, I see no
reason for separating the Snow Goose from this genus, of
which five species are met with in Britain.

589

ANSER FERUS.

THE THICK-BILLED GREY
GOOSE.

WILD GOOSE. MARSH GOOSE. GREY LAG. GREY-GOOSE. FEN GOOSE.

Fio. 57.

Anas. Anser. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 197.

Anas Anser. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 841.

Grey Lag Goose. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Oie cendree ou premiere. Anas anser ferus. Temm. Man. d'Om. II. 818.

Anser ferus. Temm. Man. d'Orn. IV. 517.

Grey Lag Wild Goose. Anser palustris. Selb. Illustr. II. 261.

Anser ferus. "Wild Goose. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 222.

Anser cinereus. Bonap. Comp. List, 55.

Male thirty -three inches long ; bill very thick, as long as
the head, two inches and a half in length, an inch and a half
in height at the base, ten-and-a-half-twelfths in breadth be-
hind the circular unguis, yellowish-orange, with the unguis
ivhite or bluish-grey ; the tarsus three inches long, flesh-
coloured ; the wings scarcely shorter than the tail ; feathers
of the neck linear -oblong , disposed in ridges ; head and neck
greijish-brown ; upper parts grey and brown, barred with the
tohitish terminal margins af the feathers ; hind part of back
ash-grey ; lower parts pale broionish-grey , becoming white
behind. Female similar, but smaller. Young with the tipper
parts darker, the head and neck of a lighter brown.

590 ANSER FEELS.

Male in Winter. — The Wild Goose, although not of an
elegant form, has none of the awkward appeai'ance of our
domestic species, which is generally supposed to owe its origin
to it, being a strong, vigourous, and moderately active bird.
The body is very large and full ; the neck long, at its upper
part slender ; the head proportionally small, ovate-oblong,
and compressed.

The bill is about the length of the head, much larger than
in any other of our species, higher than broad at the base ;
the upper mandible with the ridge broad and flat at the base,
gradually narrowed and convex toward the end, terminated
by a nearly circular convex unguis ; the dorsal line sloping,
on the unguis arcuato-decurvate, the sides sloping, the edges
arcuate, marginate, with eighteen oblique lamella?, of which
the outer ends are dentiform, rather acute, and prominent ;
the lower mandible with the intercrural space rather narrow,
rounded anteriorly, extending nearly to the unguis, which is
smaller than the upper, but of the same form ; the lower out-
line of the crura considerably convex, their sides rounded, the
edges sloping inwards, and having thirty lamella?.

The mouth is an inch and a half in width. The anterior
palate concave, with two lateral rows of short laminae, sepa-
rated from the marginal laminoe by a groove, and five rows of
small dentiform papilla?. The tongue is fleshy, narrow, with
marginal series of spicular horny papilla? directed backwards,
and a rounded, concave, thin, horny tip. The oesophagus is
eighteen inches long, of nearly uniform width ; the pro ventri-
cular part a little dilated. The gizzard is extremely large and
muscular, transversely elliptical ; its epithelium dense, of a
cartilaginous hardness, rugous, with distinct oblique fibres.
The lateral muscles of extreme size, with large radiating
tendons, of which the fibres are interlaced at their junction.
The intestine is eight feet long ; one of the cceca eight, the
other nine inches in length.

The nostrils are oblong, four and a half twelfths in length,
about the middle of the bill, in the anterior and lower part of
the oblongo-elliptical nasal space, which is covered by mem-
brane, and parallel to the ridge. The eyes are rather small,
their aperture being four-twelfths. The legs rather short and

THICK-BILLED GREY GOOSE. 591

strong ; the tibia bare for about nine- twelfths of an inch; the
tarsus compressed, covered all round with angular scales, of
which the anterior are sub-hexagonal, flat, with a small cen-
tral circular prominence, the posterior rhomboidal. The toes
are large, except the first, which is very small, elevated, and
free ; the third a little longer than the fourth ; the second
considerably shorter; the middle toe with thirty narrow
scutella extending nearly its whole length, the lateral simi-
larly scutellate, but with small scales on the first phalanx ;
the inner having eighteen, the outer thirty-two scutella. The
soles flattened and rough ; the inner toe with an expanded,
thin-edged, two-lobed membrane ; the interdigital membranes
with roundish scales, the inner with its margin straight, the
outer concave. The claws are short, strong, slightly curved,
obtuse, that of the middle too dilated internally, and rounded.
The feathers of the head are very small and short, rounded,
and blended ; of the upper part of the neck small linear-
oblong, imbricated, and arranged in ridges, with deep inter-
vening grooves. The feathers of the fore part of the back
and wings very close, large broad, abrupt ; the scapulars
very large ; the feathers of the hind part of the back short,
rounded, flatter, and less close ; those of the breast ovate,
rather small ; of the sides very large and abrupt. The
wings are rather long, reaching nearly to the end of the
tail, broad ; the quills twenty-six ; the numerals ten, narrow,
and rounded ; the secondaries broad, abruptly and obliquely
rounded. The second primary is longest, the first three-
fourths of an inch shorter, the third a quarter of an inch
shorter than the first, the second and third slightly cut out
externally, the first and second cut out toward the end inter-
nally. The tail is very short, direct, rounded, of sixteen
broad, rather rounded but acuminate feathers ; the lateral
half an inch shorter than the medial.

The bill is yellowish-orange, with the upper unguis bluish
grey, nearly white, the lower darker. The iris brown. The
feet flesh-coloured ; the claws purplish-grey. The head and
neck are greyish-brown, the fore-neck and breast gradually
shaded into paler, the latter fading into greyish-white ; the
hind part of the abdomen and lower tail-coverts, the sides of

592 ANSER FERUS.

the rump, and the upper tail-coverts white. The smaller
wing- coverts, the secondary coverts, the primary coverts,
alula, and lower wiug-coverts, are pale bluish-grey ; the
middle and hind part of the back of the same colour, more
tinged with blue. The anterior dorsal feathers, scapulars,
secondary coverts, and four rows of larger wing-coverts, are
dark brown, grey in their concealed parts, and narrowly mar-
gined with pale reddish-brown, or greyish-white. The pri-
maries are blackish-brown, the outer grey toward the base,
all with the shafts Avhite ; the secondary quills brownish-black,
the inner dark brown, grey toward the base ; the middle tail
feathers are dark grey, with narrow white margins, the white
gradually increases on the rest, enlarging more on their inner
webs, so that the outer is entirely of that colour ; the breast
is faintly barred, the edges of the feathers being paler ; on
the sides, under the wings, the feathers are greyish-brown,
edged with pale grey ; the tibial feathers are pale grey ; and
on the breast are two or three feathers which are black to-
ward the end.

Length to end of tail, 33 inches ; extent of wings, 64 ;
bill, along the ridge, 2j, along the edge of lower mandible,
2h, its height at the base, 1^, breadth just behind the unguis,
li; wing, from flexure, 17^-; tail, 5± ; tarsus, 3; hind toe,
-14, its claw, -yV; second toe, 1-^, its claw, -1; third toe, 3,l,
its claw, -i- ; fourth toe, 2^-, its claw, ^-.

Female. — The female is considerably smaller, but other-
wise similar.

Habits. — Whatever may have been the case formerly,
when it was said to be Aery abundant, and permanently resi-
dent in England, this species is not noAv of common occur-
rence in any part of Britain, and does not remain to breed
with us. In Ireland it " is of occasional but rare occurrence
in winter." Not being able to distinguish it at a distance
from the Bean and Short-billed Geese, I can say nothing re-
specting its peculiar habits, and, for the same reason, even
those which are common to it and them, cannot be spoken of
Avith certainty. However, this much may be said : — It makes

THICK-BILLED GREY GOOSE. 593

its appearance in various parts of the country toward the be-
ginning of winter, and departs in the end of April. It resorts,
not to marshy places only, but to open pastures and cultivated
fields ; its food consisting of the root-stems of aquatic grasses,
young corn, clover, and other green herbage. Being very
shy and vigilant, it is not easily shot, and when feeding in
the fields, on the alarm being given by some individual, they
all erect their necks, run forward, and uttering their loud
grating cries, spring into the air. Their flight is rather
heavy and sedate, performed at a great height, when they are
proceeding to a distance, the birds on such ocaasions ad-
vancing in a line, or in two lines forming an acute angle.
The flesh of this species is savoury, having a higher flavour
than that of the tame Goose ; but it is not often seen in our
markets, the " Common " Goose of which is the next species.
According to M. Temminck, it " inhabits the seas, coasts,
and marshes of the eastern countries ; seldom advances
northward beyond the fifty-third degree ; is abundant in
Germany and towards the centre of Europe ; and occurs only
on its migrations, and in very small numbers, in Holland
and France." It has not been met with in any part of Ame-
rica."

Remarks. — By the older writers, this species was con-
founded with the two next. The three are so very similar
in plumage, that, until one has compared specimens of them,
it is not easy to determine them separately. The present
may, however, be knowm by its much larger bill, which is
flesh-coloured, with its unguis whitish.

The common Domestic Goose appears to be the civilized
offspring of the Grey Goose, to which, in bulk and propor-
tion, it bears the same relations as other tame animals to
their prototypes : as a short-horned ox to a Devonshire ox, or
a domestic drake to a mallard. Mr. Yarrell is of opinion that
the White-fronted Goose has concurred with the Grey Lag
in producing our domestic race. It is impossible to say what
proportion it bears to the other species in Scotland ; but that
it occurs there is certain, for in the end of September 1843, I
inspected three specimens from Dee-side, in the Aberdeen

p p

594 ANSER FERUS.

market, and have also seen it in the Edinburgh market in
winter and spring. Mr. St. John represents Wild Geese as
very numerous in the lower parts of Morayshire ; but he does
not appear to distinguish between this and the Bean Goose.
In the Natural History of Orkney, it is stated that " Wild
Geese of this species visit Orkney every winter, but not in
great numbers. They always leave in spring, and have never
been known to breed. Others occasionally touch here in
spring, during their journey north.

595

ANSER SEGETUM. THE NARROW-BILLED GREY

GOOSE.

WILD GOOSE. BEAN GOOSE. SMALL GREY GOOSE.

Anas Anser. Linn. Sys. Nat. I. 197.

Anas segetum. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 843.

L'Oye Sauvage. Anser Sylvestris. Briss. Ornith. VI. 265.

Bean Goose. Mont. Orn. Diet.

Oie vulgaire ou sauvage. Anas segetum. Temm. Man. d'Orn. III.

Anser segetum. Temm. Man. d'Orn. IV. 517.

Bean Goose. Anser Ferus. Selb. Illustr. II. 263.

Anser segetum. Bean Goose. Jen. Brit. Vert, Anim. 222.

Anser segetum. Bonap. Comp. List, 55.

Male thirty inches long ; bill moderately thick, nearly as
long as the head, two inches and a third in length, and an
inch and two tivelfths in height at the base, nine tioelfths in
breadth behind the circidar unguis, yellowish-orange, with the
base and unguis black ; tarsus three inches long, dull orange-
yellow ; the wings longer than the tail; feathers of the neck
linear-oblong, disposed in ridges; head and neck greyish-
brown ; upper parts dark brown and grey, barred with the
whitish terminal margins of the feathers ; hind part of back
blackish-brown ; loiver parts pale brownish-grey , becoming
xohite behind. Female similar, bid smaller. Young with the
upper parts darker, the head and neck of a lighter brown, three
small patches of white feathers at the base of the bill.

Male in Winter. — This species is in most respects very
similar to the last, from which it differs in being somewhat
smaller, in having the bill more slender, although not much
shorter, the hind part of the back dark brown, and in other
particulars noted in the specific character. The body is very
bulky, the neck long and slender, the head oblong, much
compressed.

596 ANSER SEGETUM.

The bill, similar in form to that of the last species, but
smaller, is about the length of the head, higher than broad at
the base ; the upper mandible with the ridge broad and rather
convex at the base, gradually narrowed and convex towards the
end, terminated by a circular convex unguis, the dorsal line
sloping on the unguis, arcuato-decurvate, the sides sloping,
the edges slightly arched, marginate, with twenty-four oblique
lamellae, of which the outer ends are dentiform and rather
acute ; the lower mandible with the intercrural space rather
narrow, rounded anteriorly, extending nearly to the unguis,
which is smaller and less convex than the upper, the lower
outline of the crura a little convex, their sides rounded, the
edges sloping inwards, and having about forty lamellae.

The nostrils are medial, lateral, longitudinal, oblong,
pervious in the anterior and lower part of the narrow oblong
nasal space, which is covered by membrane, and parallel to
the ridge. The eyes are small, their aperture being four-
twelfths. The legs rather short and strong ; the tibia bare
for about eight-twelfths of an inch ; the tarsus compressed,
covered all round with angular scales, of which the anterior
are sub-hexagonal, flat, with a small central prominence, the
posterior rhomboidal. The first toe is very small and free,
the anterior toes large, the third considerably longer than the
fourth, the second shorter than the latter; the middle toe
with thirty narrow scutella extending to near the base, the
inner with eighteen, the outer twenty-eight scutella. The
margin of the inner expanded, thin, somewhat two-lobed, the
interdigital membranes with roundish scales. The claws are
short, strong, slightly curved, obtuse, that of the middle toe
dilated internally, and rounded.

The feathers of the head are very small and short, oblong,
rounded, and blended ; of the upper part of the neck small,
linear-oblong, imbricated, and arranged in lines so as to pre-
sent deep intervening grooves ; the feathers of the fore part
of the back and wings very close, large, broad, abrupt, and
curved ; the scapulars very large ; the feathers of the hind
part of the back smaller, flatter, rounded at the end, and less
close ; those of the breast ovate, rather small, of the sides
very large and abrupt. The wings are broad, and rather

NARROW-BILLED GREY GOOSE. 597

long, extending, when closed, a little beyond the tail ; the
quills twenty-six ; the second primary longest, the first half
an inch shorter, and with the third slightly cut out externally.
the first and second cut out toward the end internally ; the
secondaries broad, the outer abruptly rounded ; the humerals
ten, narrow, and rounded. The tail is very short, direct,
rounded, of sixteen broad, rounded feathers, the lateral an
inch shorter than the medial.

The bill is orange, with the unguis of both mandibles, the
basal half of the lower, and the ridge of the upper, with a
streak on each side as far as the nostrils, black. The iris
hazel. The feet dull orange-yellow, the claws dusky. The
head and neck are gx-eyish-brown ; the fore neck and breast
gradually shaded with pale wood-brown, the latter fading
into greyish-white ; the hind part of the abdomen, and lower
tail-coverts, the sides of the rump, and the upper tail-coverts,
white. The feathers of the fore part of the back, the scapu-
lars, and the wing-coverts, are deep greyish brown, narrowly
edged with brownish-white ; those of the middle and hind
part of the back blackish-broAvn. The edge of the wing and
the primary coverts are ash-grey, the outer secondary coverts
tinged with the same, and terminally margined with greyish-
white. The primaries are blackish-brown, the outer grey
toward the base, all with the shafts white ; the secondary
quills brownish-black, the inner dark brown, grey toAvard the
base. The tail feathers greyish-brown, tipped with white,
the lateral almost entirely white. The large feathers of the
sides, under the wings, are greyish-brown, margined with
pale brownish-grey ; the lower wing-coverts purplish-brown.

The mouth is an inch and two-twelfths in width. The
anterior palate concave, with two lateral rowrs of close-set,
strong, blunted protuberances, between each of which rows
and the marginal series of lamellae of its own side is a distinct
groove, into which the marginal lamellae of the lower jaw
enter. Besides these rows, there are on the arched roof five
rows of small, short, conical, distantly set, hard protuberances.

Length to end of tail, 31 inches; extent of wings, 64;
wing, from flexure, 18^; tail, 5^; bill along the ridge, 2^,
along the ridge of lower mandible, 2-^, its height at the base,

598 ANSER SEGETUM.

1^, its breadth behind the unguis, -fe; tarsus, 3-^; hind
toe, -^y, its claw, -fa ; second toe, -^j, its claw, -^ ; third toe,
3, its claw, -j% ; fourth toe, 2-L§-, its claw, -fe.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but smaller-

Variations. — The differences in the colours of the plu-
mage are not remarkable. The bill varies in having the
black at its base more or less extended. I have a specimen
in which none remains unless on the ridge, as far as the
nostrils. It appears that the orange colour is more extended
the older the individual is.

Habits. — This species occurs in various parts of Britain
during the winter and spring, and in Ireland " is a regular
winter visitant." It does not breed in any part of England,
or in the southern and middle divisions of Scotland. In
the outer Hebrides, however, flocks are seen in summer and
autumn. I find by one of my journals that, in 1819, I ex-
amined four individuals that had been shot by my uncle's
shepherd in the small island of Copay, on the west coast of
Harris, where I have often in autumn gathered the quills
that had been shed by them, as they fed undisturbed on the
rich pasturage. But, although I have been informed that
they breed on several islands there, especially on Gasker,
which is farther out in the ocean, and a favourite resort of
seals, I never found its nest, or met with unfledged young.
In early autumn, when the barley begins to ripen, flocks
commit great havock among it in unfrequented places, often
at night, but mostly at early dawn. It is almost impossible
to approach them while thus feeding, however irregular the
ground may be, as they see at night much better than their
enemy. In the end of autumn, when they often feed at
night in the pools and shallow lakes, I have often tried to
steal upon them in the dark ; but, although creeping among
sand-banks, never succeeded. Once, when, after long crawl-
ing in the most cautious manner, I got within what I con-
ceived to be the proper distance, hearing the geese puddling
in the water before me, I let fly into the thickest part of the

NARROAV-BILLED GREY GOOSE. 599

flock, on which they flew off in haste, uttering their loud
trumpet-like cries. Rushing into the water, gun in hand,
to secure my prizes, I found that I had shot into the midst
of some tall weeds, which I had mistaken for the geese. A
worse mistake was made by a man in Harris, who, hearing
the geese on the marsh of Nisbost close to his house, went
out in the dark, and having shot across a narrow creek
where he conceived them to be, returned. In the dawn,
when he went to pick up the geese, he found dead on the
opposite bank his own horse, which had been reposing
there.

From my own observation I have little more to say of
the Bean or Corn Geese than that they sit lightly on the
water, floating beautifully with their heads to the wind, like
a fleet of merchantmen ; swim with good speed ; but rise
heavily, striking the water with their large wings, which,
when rising from the ground, they spread out and flap,
running forward some paces; that they feed chiefly by
night, unless in remote places, eating the soft pasture-grass,
and frequently the long juicy root-stems of agrostrides, gly-
cerise, and arundines that occur in the pools and by the
margins of lakes ; that their flight is heavy and rather slow,
the birds disposing themselves in lines, now straight, now
angular, or waving, when they are proceeding to a distance ;
and that their loud cries, rather harsh and grating when
heard at hand, are pleasant to the ear when coming from a
distance, especially in the stillness of night. In the begin-
ning of winter most of them leave those northern isles ; but
I have seen them there until as late as Christmas, and am
informed that many remain in South Uist all the year.

In the eastern and southern parts of Scotland they
appear in October, betaking themselves to particular locali-
ties, generally open pastures or large fields. There they
feed on grass, young wheat, clover, and other plants. In
March and April they visit the newly-ploughed fields to
pick up the oat-seed, beans, pease, and roots of Potentilla
anserina, and various grasses. It is tantalizing on such
occasions to see them so far from any wall or bush, and so
vigilant, as to be quite secure. Although flocks remain in

600 ANSER SEGETUM.

the south of Scotland all the winter, these birds are much
more numerous there in spring ; and great numbers are
brought to the markets in March and April, when they are
on their way northward.

Vast numbers frequent the Montrose Basin in winter,
betaking themselves to the water by day, and feeding in the
fields at night. All over the extended plain country stretch-
ing from the Tay to Inverness flocks are to be met with here
and there from October to April, but in much greater
number at the periods of the autumnal and vernal migra-
tions. In the large open fields they there feed mostly by
day, at night betaking themselves to marshy places or to
estuaries. In the Bay of Findhorn multitudes are seen
coming from the surrounding country to repose at night.
Early in the morning they betake themselves to the fields,
where they feed until evening if not disturbed. It thus
appears that their habits vary in different circumstances, at
least as to the times of repose and feeding. They are very
cautious in alighting, and fly over and around the intended
place several times, until, observing nothing suspicious, they
come down irregularly, usually run together, stand for some
time with their necks erected, and then disperse or proceed
in a line, an individual always acting as sentinel or observer,
and giving instant warning of danger, instantly responded
to by all the members of the flock, which come running up
to him, and after satisfying themselves as to the cause of
alarm, fly off or resume their previous occupation.

As this species has been confounded with the next, I
think little more can be said respecting its habits; for I
must refrain from following the example of those who, with-
out having seen a Goose's nest, or alluding to any one who
has, describe both it and the eggs as minutely as those of a
Sparrow or Chaffinch.

Mr. Selby, however, has, in his account of the quadrupeds
and birds observed by him in Sutherland in the summer of
1834, furnished some very acceptable information on this
subject : — " We were agreeably surprised to find that the
Bean-Goose annually breeds upon several of the Sutherland
lakes. The first intimation we received of this interesting

NARROW-BILLED GREY GOOSE. 601

fact was at Lairg, where we were informed that a few pairs
bred upon some islands about twelve miles up Loch Shin.
We accordingly took boat the following morning, and upon
arriving at the place discovered a single pair, attended by
four or five young goslings. None were obtained, as the old
birds, being wild, escaped seemingly uninjured, although
repeatedly fired at ; and the goslings immediately dived, and
escaped into the reeds and other herbage. Upon Loch
Naver we also found several pairs attended by their young,
seemingly about a fortnight or three weeks old, one of
which, after a severe chase, we procured. Upon the islands
of Loch Laighal from thirty to forty pairs, we were in-
formed, annually had their nests. We saw several old birds
and the nests that had been used, which are concealed in
heath upwards of three feet in height that covers the islands.
The eggs were all hatched, and most of the young had
betaken themselves to the neighbouring moors, where they
continue till able to fly, secreting themselves, when dis-
turbed, in the highest heather. At Tongue we saw some
goslings about a month old (following a hen), which had
been hatched from eggs taken at Loch Laighal. We were
told that they became nearly as tame as common Geese, but
refuse to intermix or breed with them. The eggs, from five
to seven in number, are smaller than those of the common
Goose, but of a similar shape and colour." Mr. St. John
also mentions their breeding in Loch Shin, and other lonely
and unfrequented pieces of water in Sutherland.

Young. — The young in winter have the head and neck
of a lighter tint, approaching to yellowish-grey ; the feathers
there of a softer texture, almost silky, with numerous small
bristle plumelets projecting on the cheeks. There are three
narrow, semilunar, white spots at the base of the upper
mandible, the small feathers there being of that colour, and
those immediately behind them dark brown ; so that one,
not attending to the form of the bill, might imagine them to
be the young of the White-fronted Goose. The upper parts
are darker than in the adult, and the lower less white.

602

ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS. THE SHORT-
BILLED GREY GOOSE.

WILD GOOSE. PINK-FOOTED GOOSE.

" Anser bracbyrbyncbus. Baill. Mem. de la Soc. d'Emul. d' Abbeville, 1833."
Oie a bee court. Anser bracbyrhyncbus. Temm. Man. d'Orn. IV. 520.

Male tic enty -eight inches long ; bill (comparatively) very
small, shorter than the head, nearly two inches in length, an
inch and two-twelfths in height at the base, seven-and-a-half -
twelfths in breadth behind the tmguis, bright carmine, with the
broadly elliptical unguis, and the base of both mandibles black ;
the tarsus two inches and a half long, pale purplish pink-
colour ; the wings a little longer than the tail ; feathers
of the neck linear-oblong , disposed in ridges ; head and neck
greyish-broicn ; upper parts ash-grey, barred with the whitish
terminal margins of the feathers ; hind part of back deep ash-
grey ; lower parts pale grey, becoming white behind. Female
similar to the male, but smaller. Young with the upper parts
brownish-grey, barred with brownish-white; the lower hind-
neck reddish-brown, the loiver parts more grey.

Male in "Winter. — If the name of " Grey Goose " could
with propriety be claimed by any one of our three Grey
Geese, it is this species to which it ought to be given, it
having more grey on the upper parts than even the thick-
billed Goose. It is scarcely inferior in size to the Bean Goose,
with which it has generally been confounded, although easily
distinguishable by its small and differently coloured bill. In
its general form and proportions it closely resembles the two
species above-named, having the body very large and full, the
neck long and slender, the head rather small, ovate-oblong,
compressed, and much rounded above.

SHORT-BILLED GREY GOOSE. 603

The bill is shorter than -the head, higher than broad at
the base, tapering rapidly toward the end, where it is more
depressed than in the other species ; the upper mandible with
the ridge broad and flattened at the base, rapidly narrowed
and convex toward the end, terminated by a broadly elliptical
very convex unguis, the dorsal line rapidly sloping, on the
unguis arcuato-decurvate, the sides sloping, the edges mode-
rately arcuate, marginate, with twenty-four flattened laminae,
of which the outer ends are dentiform, and little prominent ;
the lower mandible with the intercrural space anteriorly
pointed, extending nearly to the unguis, which is of the same
form as the upper, but much smaller ; the lower outline of
the crura considerably convex, anteriorly ascending and rather
concave, their sides rounded, the edges sloping inwards, with
forty-five lamellae, of which the dentiform tips are small and
rounded.

The roof of the mouth is concave, Avith five longitudinal
series of flattened tubercles. The tongue is fleshy, rather
narrow, convex and grooved above, at the base with a slender
papilla, a large double papilla on each side, and several
smaller ; the lateral margins with slender, flattened, acumi-
nate, horny, reversed papillae ; the tip thin, concave, and
horny. The width of the mouth is an inch and a twelfth.

The nostrils are linear-oblong, three-twelfths and a quarter
in length, about the middle of the bill, in the anterior and
lower part of the oblong-elliptical nasal space, which is
covered by membrane, and parallel to the ridge. The eyes
are small, their aperture three-twelfths and a half; that of
the ear nearly three-twelfths. The legs are short and strong ;
the tibia bare for half an inch ; the tarsus compressed, covered
with hexagonal scales, of which the anterior are larger, flat,
with a small central circular prominence ; the hind toe is
very small and elevated, with four scutella ; the second with
fourteen, the third with twenty-five, the fourth with sixteen
scutella ; the fourth nearly as long as the third ; the second
with a thin expanded two-lobed margin ; the outer interdigital
membrane emarginate, the inner even. The claws are short,
moderately arched, compressed, obtuse, that of the middle toe
internally expanded, and rounded at the end.

604 ANSEtt BRACHYRHYNCHUS.

The feathers of the head are very small and oblong ; of
the upper part of the neck linear-oblong, rather acute, imbri-
cated, and arranged in lines so as to present deep intervening
grooves ; of the fore part of the back, scapulars, and wings,
very close, large, broad, and abrupt ; the scapulars very large ;
the feathers of the hind part of the back smaller, natter,
oblong, and rounded ; those of the lower part of the neck and
fore part of the breast large and broadly rounded, of the sides
still larger and more abrupt, of the rest of the lower parts
gradually smaller and oblong. The wings are broad and
rather long, extending about half an inch beyond the end of
the tail ; the quills twenty-seven ; the numerals eight, narrow,
and rounded ; the second primary is longest, the first half an
inch shorter ; the first and second cut out on the inner web,
the second and third on the outer; the secondaries broadly
rounded, the inner elongated. The tail is very short, direct,
rounded, of sixteen broad, rounded feathers, of which the
lateral are an inch shorter than the medial.

The ridge, nasal spaces, and a portion of the sides at the
base of the upper mandible are black, that colour terminating
anteriorly with three rounded points ; more than half of the
lower mandible, and the unguis of both, also black ; the
space not thus coloured is bright carmine. The iris is brown.
The feet are pale lake, or purplish pink ; the claws black,
bluish-grey at the base, the outer with a white ridge. The
head and neck are brown, the latter of a lighter tint, gradu-
ally becoming paler, at its lower part above changing to red-
dish-brown ; the breast greyish-white, or faintly barred with
pale grey and greyish-white, with a tinge of brown anteriorly;
the large feathers of the sides ash-grey, with two terminal
narrow bars, the inner light brown, the outer grey ; the
inner margins of the upper white ; the feathers of the tibia?
light ash-grey. The abdomen, sides of the rump, and lower
tail-coverts pure white. The axillars and lower wing-coverts
ash-grey. All the upper parts of the body are ash-grey, as
are the wing-coverts, which are of a much lighter tint, while
the hind part of the back is darker. The feathers of the back
and the scapulars have two narrow terminal bars, the inner
brown, the outer white. The secondary coverts are rather

SHORT-BILLED GREY GOOSE. 605

largely tipped with white, the middle coverts narrowly, the
smaller coverts and primary coverts without white. All the
quills have white shafts, and are greyish-black, but the
primaries are grey to some extent from the base, and the inner
secondaries tinged with brown, and narrowly margined exter-
nally with white. The sides of the rump and the upper tail-
coverts are white ; the tail feathers ash-grey, largely tipped
with white, that colour gradually enlarging from the middle
of the tail outwards.

The oesophagus is seventeen inches long, eleven-twelfths
in width until it reaches the furcula, when it contracts consi-
derably, but enlarges on entering the thorax, and from the
proventricular belt to the stomach has a width of an inch and
three-fourths. The proventriculus itself is an inch and a half
in external diameter, an inch and three-fourths in length.
The stomach is an extremely muscular gizzard, situated
obliquely, transversely oval, its breadth being three inches
and three-fourths, its length two inches ; the left muscle
an inch and ten-twelfths thick, the other an inch and a
half; the epithelium forming two very thick lemon-yellow
smoothish, somewhat concave plates, about an inch in dia-
meter. The intestine is five feet nine inches long, from nine-
twelfths to four-twelfths in breadth, arranged in thirteen folds;
the duodenum six inches to the first curve. The coeca are
nine inches and a half in length, their greatest width half an
inch. One of the lobes of the liver is three inches and three-
fourths in length, the others two inches and three-fourths.

Length to end of tail 28 inches ; extent of wings 62 ;
wing from flexure 17^ ; tail 5f ; bill along the ridge 1{-^ :
along the edge of lower mandible l^f ; its height at the base
1-Jj ; its breadth behind the unguis -^ ; tarsus 2|- ; hind toe
-fe, its claws T3-j; second toe 1-L-L, its claw -^ ; third toe 2T7-2,
its claw -^j ; fourth toe 2^, its claw -fe.

Another adult male, shot in February, 1835, had the bill
orange, tinged with carmine anterior to the nostrils and along
the edges to near the base of the upper mandible, the base
and unguis of both mandibles black. The eyes hazel. The
feet orange-red, tinged with carmine. The head and upper-
neck dark greyish-brown, the lower part pale yellowish-

606 ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS.

brown, the breast much paler and tinged with grey ; abdomen
and lower tail-coverts white, as are the sides of the body
behind, and the upper tail-coverts. The feathers of the sides
are dark ash-grey, the anterior terminally margined with light
yellowish-brown, the posterior with white. The feathers of
the fore part of the back and the scapulars are ash-grey, termi-
nally edged with brownish-white ; those of the hind part of
the back deep ash-grey. The wing-coverts, alula, and primary
coverts are light ash-grey, the former margined with white,
as are the secondary coverts, of which the inner are darker.
The primaries are grey at the base, greyish-black toward the
end ; the secondaries black, narrowly margined with white,
the inner five grey, more broadly margined. The tail feathers
are ash-grey, largely terminated, and narrowly edged with
white ; nearly the whole of the outer feathers of the latter
colour.

Length to end of tail 31 inches ; extent of wings 58 ; bill
along the ridge 2 ; along the edge of lower mandible 2| ; wing
from flexure 18 ; tail 5j ; tarsus 2^ ; hind toe and claw £ ;
second toe and claw 2j ; third toe and claw 3 ; fourth toe and
claw 2f .

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but smaller.

Length to end of tail 26 inches ; extent of wings 60 ; wing
from flexure 16^ ; bill along the ridge 1^- ; tarsus 2£ ; middle
toe 2^, its claw -j^-.

Variations. — Considerable variations occur as to size.
In adult birds the plumage varies little, the tints being merely
a little darker or lighter. Frequently there are some white
feathers close upon the base of the upper mandible in adult
as well as young birds. The bill varies in tint from bright
carmine to purplish-red, and the black at its base is of vari-
able extent, sometimes being confined to the ridge of the
upper and the basal part of the lower mandible ; the unguis
always remaining of a black tint. The colour of the feet is
bright carmine, or carmine with an orange tint, or purplish-
red. The claws have more or less greyish-blue, or whitish,
at the base.

SHORT-BILLED GREY GOOSE. 607

Habits. — As this species has by some been confounded
with the Anser segetum, and by others entirely overlooked,
very little can be said of its habits or distribution. It has
been met with in various parts of England, and not very
uncommonly in the south of Scotland, it being frequently
seen in the Edinburgh market. The first specimen described
above as an adult male was shot about the 20th of November,
1840 ; the second was killed in 1835 ; but it is more fre-
quently obtained in February and March, as is the case with
both the other species. Two specimens in the Montrose
Museum were shot in the neighbourhood of that town, and I
have seen it in winter in Aberdeen market.

Mr. John MacGillivray, in his notes on the Zoology of
the Outer Hebrides, published in the Annals and Magazine
of Natural History, vol. viii., p. 13, has the following very
instructive notice respecting this species : — " The Pink-footed
or Short-billed Goose breeds in great numbers in the small
islands of the Sound of Harris, as well as those of the interior
of North Uist. This bird was seen in flocks so late as the
beginning of May, was observed in pairs among the islands
in the sound about the middle of the month, and had the
young fully fledged and strong upon wing about the end of
July ; it had again collected into flocks by the beginning of
August, for late in the night of the 8th of that month, as
I was riding in great haste towards the ferry-boat for Ber-
neray, while crossing the sandy margin of a shallow pool, I
came suddenly upon a flock of Geese, amounting to several
hundreds, judging from their cries, which startled my horse,
and, I may add, myself also."

My friend, Mr. Thomas Jamieson, who has favoured me
with a list of birds observed by him in Skye,in 1850, makes the
following statement : — " Pink-footed Goose. I shot a Goose
in the month of April, out of a party of six that had frequented
a locality on Monkstadt for some time. It turned out on
examination to belong to this species, and not to be a Bean
Goose. On the farm of Monkstadt there was once a shallow
lake, now imperfectly drained by open ditches, which used to
be frequented during winter by great numbers of Swans,
Geese, and Ducks, of various descriptions. Throughout the

608 ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS.

winter a few Geese may still haunt the spot, and a stray Duck
or two, hut no Swans. They, on the year it was dried up,
are said to have come and hung over the well-known spot,
uttering melancholy cries, and then sailed slowly away to
seek some as yet undisturbed placid lake, where they might
rest their wing unmolested by any drainage speculations ; and
it is thought that it would have been as Avell for his Lord-
ship's purse to-day if he had turned his cash to some other
improvements and let the Swans float still on the bosom of
St. Columba's Loch. Geese come to the islands of Ascrib
and Fladda in the autumn, before they arrive in Skye, settling
in great numbers to feed on the grass of those unfrequented
spots. The first Geese I saw in autumn were on the 24th of
September, when I saw about half a dozen, but observed no
large flock pass until the beginning of October. They breed
in Uist, I was informed by those who had seen them there."

Remarks. — Among the various distinctions between the
Bean Goose and the Short-billed, is a very remarkable one
derived from the knobs on the roof of the upper mandible ;
the former having five series besides the two lateral rows sepa-
rated each by a deep groove from the marginal series of
lamella? ; whereas the latter has only three series of knobs,
besides the two lateral rows of shorter and more flattened
knobs, separated each by a very shallow groove from the
marginal lamellae.

In a paper read to the Zoological Society, on the 11th
December, 1838, Mr. Bartlett first distinguishes this species as
British, giving it the name of Anser phcenicopus, Pink-footed
Goose. I think the dimensions which he gives are rather small,
for, although I have seen a specimen which measured only
twenty-eight inches in length, fifty-four in extent of wing,
with the bill an inch and three-fourths along the ridge, yet
the average size is larger ; and to give the smallest measure-
ment in one case, and the largest in the other, is apt to mis-
lead the student. The shorter and much more slender bill of
the present species, shorter and proportionally thicker tarsi,
and ash-grey instead of dark-brown rump, enable one at once
to distinguish it from the Bean Goose.

609

ANSER ALBIFRONS. THE WHITE-FRONTED
GOOSE.

LAUGHING GOOSE. BALD GOOSE.

Anas erythropus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 197.

Anas albifrons. Gmel. Syst. Nat. I. 509.

Anas albifrons. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 842.

"White-fronted Goose. Mont. Ornith. Diet.

Anas albifrons. Oie rieuse ou a front blanc. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 821.

Oie rieuse. Anser albifrons. Temm. Man. III. 518.

White-fronted Wild Goose. Anser erythropus. Selby, Illustr. II. 266.

Anser albifrons. White-fronted Goose. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 223.

Anser albifrons. Bonap. Comp. List. 55.

Male twenty-eight inches long; bill thick, short, an inch
and two-thirds in length, an inch in height at the base, car-
mine red, with the unguis white; tarsus three inches Jong,
bright orange-red, the claws whitish ; the icings longer than
the tail ; feathers of the neck linear -oblon g , disposed in ridges ;
head and neck greyish-brown ; forehead white, with a black
band behind; up>per parts brownish-grey , barred with the
whitish terminal margins of the feathers ; hind part of back
deep grey ; lower parts pale greyish-white, irregularly patched
with black, and becoming pure ivhite behind. Female similar
to the male, but smaller. Young with the upper parts darker,
the head and neck of a lighter broivn, the white band on the
forehead very narrow, and tinged tvith orange.

Male in Winter. — This, which is considerably inferior
in size to our other species, has, like them, the body large
and full, the neck long and slender, the head rather small,
oblong, and compressed.

The bill is shorter than the head, much higher than
broad at the base ; the upper mandible with the ridge broad

Q Q

610 ANSER ALBIFRONS.

and flattened, but presently narrowed and convex, the dorsal
line sloping to the unguis, which is circular, convex, and
decurved ; the sides sloping ; the edges arched, marginate,
with twenty-eight oblique lamellse, of which the outer ends
are dentiform and triangular ; the lower mandible with the
intercrural space long and rather narrow, the lower outline
of the crura a little convex, the edges sloping inwards, and
having about forty lamellse.

The nostrils are medial, lateral, longitudinal, narrow-
elliptical, four-twelfths long, pervious, in the anterior and
lower part of the oblong nasal space, which is covered by
membrane, and parallel to the ridge. The eyes are small,
their aperture three-twelfths. The legs are rather short and
strong ; the tibia bare for half-an-inch ; the tarsus com-
pressed, covered all round with sub-hexagonal scales, of
which the anterior are larger. The first toe is very small
and free, the third longest, the fourth little shorter; the
anterior scaly on the first joint, scutellate in the rest of their
extent, the outer with a thick margin, the inner edged with
a thin two-lobed expansion ; the outer interdigital membrane
emarginate, the inner straight on the edge. The claws are
small, arcuate, rather compressed, obtuse, that of the middle
toe dilated internally and rounded.

The feathers of the head and upper neck are very narrow,
on the latter disposed into ridges and grooves ; those of the
fore part of the back and wings large, broad, abrupt, and
curved ; the scapulars very large ; of the hind part of the
back smaller, flatter, ovate, and less close ; of the breast
ovate and rather small ; of the sides very large, much curved,
abruptly terminated. The wings are broad and rather long,
extending a little beyond the tail, of twenty-six quills ; the
second primary longest, the first a quarter of an inch shorter ;
the first and second cut out on the inner web, the second
and third on the outer ; the secondaries broad and rounded,
the inner elongated. The tail is very short, rounded, of
sixteen broad, rounded feathers, the lateral an inch shorter
than the medial.

The bill is orange-carmine, with both the ungues white-
The iris hazel, the edges of the eyelids orange. The feet

WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 611

are orange-red, the claws greyish-white. The head and
neck are greyish-brown, the upper part of the former of a
darker tint, becoming black anteriorly, that colour forming
a ring, anterior to which the feathers are white on the fore-
head. The general colour of the back is deep brownish-
grey, the feathers of its fore part terminally margined with
brownish-grey ; those of its hind part pure dark grey. The
smaller coverts toward the edge of the wing, and the primary,
are light ash-grey ; the other coverts are brownish-grey,
edged with white. The basal part of several of the outer
primaries is ash-grey, the rest greyish-black, the secondaries
black, the shafts of all the quills white ; the fore part of the
neck is light greyish-brown, the breast is of a paler tint
passing into greyish-white, but irregularly patched with
black ; the feathers of the sides grey, terminally margined
with brown and white ; the hind part, sides of the rump,
and upper tail-coverts pure white. The tail-feathers are
brownish-grey, broadly tipped with white, that colour in-
creasing from the middle outwards.

Length to end of tail 28 inches ; extent of wings 54 ;
wing from flexure 17; tail 5^; bill along the ridge ly^-,
along the edge of lower mandible lf\ ; tarsus 3 ; third toe 3,
its claw T6¥.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but smaller.

Variations. — Individuals differ considerably in size, as
well as in colour. On the upper parts of the body brown
sometimes prevails over grey, and sometimes the reverse ;
and on the breast the black transverse patches, usually large
and numerous, are sometimes reduced to a few. The white
on the fore part of the head also varies in extent, and is
sometimes tinged with orange or brown.

Habits. — The White-fronted Goose makes its appearance
with us in the end of October, disperses over the country,
remains all winter, and departs about the beginning of
April. Its habits are similar to those of the other species,
but have not been studied with sufficient care. Montagu

612 ANSER ALBBIFRONS.

states that he " found this species in general more plentiful
than the Bean Goose. It visits the fenny parts of this
country in small flocks in winter ; is killed on the coast, as
well as on our rivers, in severe weather ; and not uncom-
monly brought to market and sold for the common Wild
Goose." Mr. Selby says, " it varies from the Bean Goose in
preferring low and marshy districts to the upland and drier
haunts of that bird, and in these localities subsists on the
aquatic grasses, being very seldom seen to frequent corn or
stubble-fields. A specimen sent to me (and which was killed
near Alnwick, in Northumberland) had its stomach gorged
with the tender shoots and leaves of the common clover
(Trifolium pratense), upon which it was feeding on the
breaking up of a severe snow-storm."

I believe little more can be said as to its distribution in
Europe than that in winter it is dispersed over the temperate
parts, and in summer betakes itself to the regions bordering
on the arctic circle. It occurs equally in America, where in
winter it advances as far as the Gulf of Mexico, and in
spring was seen by Dr. Richardson travelling over the fur
countries at the same time as the Snow Geese, but in sepa-
rate flocks. He states that they breed in the woody districts
skirting Mackenzie's River, to the north of latitude sixty-
seven degrees, as well as on the islands of the arctic sea.
According to Mr. Audubon, the eggs are dull yellowish-
green, with indistinct patches of a darker tint of the same
colour, their length two inches and three quarters, their
breadth an inch and three quarters.

According to Messrs. Baikie and Heddle it is an occa-
sional winter visitant in Orkney, and not so rare there as
the Bean Goose. Mr. St. John informs us that the White-
fronted Goose makes its appearance in the lower parts of
Morayshire at an earlier period than the other species. It
is never seen there, he says, in large flocks, but in small
companies of from eight or nine to twenty birds ; appears to
be wholly graminivorous ; and, when undisturbed, usually
rests at night in any grass field where it may have been
feeding in the afternoon, whereas the Grey Goose betakes
itself every night to Findhorn Bay. I have seen a specimen

WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 613

shot in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, in the end of
September, 1843 ; another in the Dundee Museum, shot on
the estuary of the Tay, and it is mentioned by Mr. Molison
in the list of birds that frequent the Montrose Basin in
winter. Mr. Thompson states that it " is a regular winter
visitant to Ireland."

Remarks. — It is clear enough that this species is the
one named Anas erythropus, or Red-footed, by Linnaeus. It
was subsequently, by Gmelin and Latham, named Anas
albifrons, or White-fronted ; and this name has been more
frequently used by later writers than the former. I retain it
because, although erythropus is correct and has the priority,
it does not point to a character distinctive of the species,
" red-footed " applying equally, or in some measure, to Anser
br achy rhy nchus .

614

ANSER CANADENSIS. THE CANADA GOOSE.

CRAVAT GOOSE.

Anas Canadensis. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 198.

Anas Canadensis. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 852.

Anser Canadensis. Flem. Brit. Anim. 128.

Cygnus Canadensis. Canada Swan. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 227.

Canada Goose. Anser Canadensis. Audub. Orn. Biogr. III. 1 ; V. 607.

Anser Canadensis. Bonap. Comp. List. 55.

Male about forty-two inches long ; bill and feet black ;
head and two-thirds of the neck, all round, glossy black, as are
the rump and tail feathers ; a broad band of ichite across the
throat, ascending to behind the eyes ; tipper parts greyish-
brown ; wing-coverts ash-grey ; all the feathers margined
with pale brown ; lower parts greyish-ivhite ; sides pale
brownish-grey ; the feathers ma?*gined with white ; abdomen
pure white.

This species, which in its form, and especially in the
elongation of its neck, somewhat resembles the Swans, and in
its colouring the Bernicles, is admitted into the British Fauna
with hesitation, because, as is alleged, many perfectly wild
individuals have been seen, and some shot, in various parts
of England, where, however, individuals are often kept in a
tame or semi-domesticated state. Its native country is North
America; and as many birds of that country occasionally
visit Britain, the Canada Goose may come at times as a
straggler, or winter visitant.

It is of larger size than the species already described ; with
the body bulky, rather elongated, and somewhat depressed ;
the neck long and slender ; the head rather small, oblong,
compressed ; the bill shorter than the head, rather higher
than broad at the base, depressed toward the end, rounded at

CANADA GOOSE. 615

the tip ; the marginal lamellae short, about thirty on each side
in both mandibles ; the upper unguis obovate, convex, denti-
culate on the inner edge ; the lower unguis roundish, slightly
convex ; the feet short, stout, placed rather back ; the tarsi
reticulated ; the toes scutellate only toward the end ; the
claws small, arched, rather compressed.

The plumage is close, compact on the upper part, blended
on the neck and lower parts ; the wings, which are of mode-
rate length, extend when closed to about an inch from the end
of the tail ; the second quill longest ; the tail very short,
rounded, of eighteen stiff, rounded, acuminate feathers.

The bill, feet, and claws, black. Head and two-thirds of
the neck, glossy black ; forehead, cheeks, and throat, tinged
with brown ; a broad band of white across the throat to
behind the eyes ; lower eyelid white ; upper parts greyish-
brown, shaded with ash-grey on the wing-coverts ; all the
feathers margined with very pale brown ; rump and tail
black ; lower parts greyish-white ; the sides pale-brownish-
grey ; the feathers terminally margined with white ; abdomen
pure white ; as are the sides of the rump and the upper tail-
coverts.

At page 607 of the fifth volume of Audubon's Ornitholo-
gical Biography, is a short account of the digestive and respi-
ratory organs, derived from the dissection of a specimen
brought from Boston. I have there shown that the stomach
and intestines differ in no essential respect from those of the
Swans ; that the sternum also is very similar ; that the
trachea " at first inclines a little to the left side, then on the
anterior concave curve of the neck passes gradually to the
right side, along which it proceeds as far as the lower part of
the convex curve, when it separates in front from the neck,
and forms a loop or abrupt curve, which is attached to the
anterior part of the sternum, between the coracoid bones,
thus approximating to the trachea of the Swans, but not
entering the crest of the sternum. It then passes directly
along the spine to behind the middle of the heart, where it
bifurcates. In this respect also it is singular, in being more
elongated than in the other species, of which the bifurcation
is considerably anterior to the heart. At the commencement

616 ANSER CANADENSIS.

its breadth is six-twelfths ; presently after it enlarges to
eight-twelfths, then contracts to six-twelfths, and so continues
until it begins to form the loop, on which its breadth is again
eight-twelfths ; after this it gradually tapers, so as to be only
two-and-a-half-twelfths wide at the inferior larynx, where its
depth, however, is five-twelfths. The form of that part is
much the same as in the Swans, there being a similar ele-
vated, bony, curved edge on each side, projecting beyond the
commencement of the membrane of the bronchus, which is
half an inch in length before the first ring appears. These
membranes form a pretty large sac of triangular form ; and
the continuation of the bronchus is extremely diminutive,
with only ten very small and slender cartilaginous half-rings.
The lateral muscles are large ; their anterior part gives off the
sterno-tracheal at the distance of 2% inches from the inferior
larynx ; but the posterior part, which is much larger, runs
down one inch farther, and then terminates in a pointed form,
not extending so far as to constitute an inferior laryngeal
muscle. The rings of the trachea are broad, very firm, con-
siderably flattened, 220 in number."

Length to end of tail 42 inches ; extent of wings 64 ; bill
2|- ; tarsus 3-fj ; middle toe and claw 4^-.

Female. — The female is considerably smaller, but resem-
bles the male in colouring.

Habits. — This species is represented by those who have
had opportunities of seeing it in the wild state, in its native
country, as occurring in great numbers, during the breeding
season, in the northern states of North America, and especi-
ally in Labrador, and other desert tracts. In autumn they
migrate southward, and disperse in flocks all over the middle
and southern states. Their habits, however, present nothing
very remarkable, but are similar to those of other Geese, their
migrations being performed in lines varying in form, their
food consisting of grass, corn, and other herbage, and their
nests bulky, and placed among rank grass or sedges, or under
a bush. It is, however, a bird of considerable importance to
the inhabitants of Arctic America. Its arrival in the fur

CANADA GOOSE. 617

countries, Dr. Richardson remarks, " is anxiously looked for,
and hailed with great joy by the natives of the woody and
swampy districts, who depend principally upon it for subsist-
ence during the summer. It makes its first appearance in
flocks of twenty or thirty, which are readily decoyed within
gun-shot by the hunters, who set up stuffed skins, and imi-
tate its call. Two or three, or more, are so frequently killed
at a shot, that the usual price of a Goose is a single charge of
ammunition. One Goose which, when fat, weighs about
nine pounds, is the daily ration for one of the Company's
servants during the season, and is reckoned equivalent to two
Snow Geese, or three Ducks, or eight pounds of buffalo and
moose meat, or two pounds of pemmican, or a pint of maize
and four ounces of suet. About three weeks after their first
appearance, the Canada Geese disperse in pairs throughout
the country, between the 50th and 67th parallels, to breed,
retiring at the same time from the shores of Hudson's Bay.
They are seldom or never seen on the coasts of the Arctic
Sea. In July, after the young birds are hatched, the parents
moult, and vast numbers are killed in the rivers and small
lakes, when they are unable to fly. When chased by a canoe
and obliged to dive frequently, they soon become fatigued and
make for the shore, with the intention of hiding themselves,
but as they are not fleet, they fall an easy prey to their pur-
suers. In the autumn they again assemble in flocks on the
shores of Hudson's Bay for three weeks or a month, previous
to their departure southwards. It has been observed, that in
their migration, the Geese annually resort to certain passes
and resting-places, some of which are frequented both in the
spring and autumn, and others only in spring. The Canada
Goose generally builds its nest on the ground, but some pairs
occasionally breed on the banks of the Saskatchewan in trees,
depositing their eggs in the deserted nests of ravens or fishing
eagles."

According to Mr. Audubon, when it remains to breed in
the United States, it begins to form its nest in March, con-
structing it carefully of dry plants of various kinds, and rais-
ing it to the height of several inches. The eggs are generally
about six, the greatest number nine. They are of a very dull

618 ANSER CANADENSIS.

yellowish-green colour, thick-shelled, rather smooth, three
and a half inches long, The period of incubation is twenty-
eight days. The young very soon accompany their parents to
the water, but pass the nights on land, under their mother.
The parents remain with their brood until the following
spring.

Having been long fostered in England, in some parts of
which it is not uncommon in a tame or semi-domesticated
state, it is said occasionally to attempt a free life, and to roam
in small flocks ; sometimes, however, it appears perfectly
wild, and, possibly enough, individuals may occasionally mig-
rate into England. I am not aware of its having been met
with in a state of liberty anywhere in Scotland.

619

BERNICLA. BERNICLE GOOSE.

The Bernicles, or " Tree Geese," as they have been
named from a foolish notion, long entertained by the learned
and not yet entirely renounced by the illiterate, of their
being produced from a kind of shells adhering to trees or
wood floating in the sea, differ little from the true Geese,
unless in having the head smaller, the bill short and more
conical, the feathers of the neck not arranged into grooves
and ridges, those of the breast much larger, and in the pre-
dominance of black in their plumage, bills, and feet. From
Anser brachyrhynchus to Bernicla leucopsis, the transition
as to form in the head and bill is perhaps slight ; but so it
is from the genus Anser to several other genera, and, ac-
cording to the system of subdivision now generally adopted,
we can hardly avoid separating the Bernicles from the Geese,
they being, I think, as different from them as the smaller
Gulls are from the larger, or Budytes from Motacilla.

The body is full, ovate, of nearly equal height and
breadth ; the neck long and slender ; the head small, oblong,
compressed.

Bill much shorter than the head, moderately stout,
straight, subcorneal, higher than broad at the base, narrowed
toward the end, where its breadth does not exceed its height ;
upper mandible with the lateral and superior basal margins
angular, the ridge broad and flattened for a short space at
the base, then convex, the dorsal line declinate and straight
to the unguis, which is round or broadly obovate, very
convex and much decurved, with a thin but strong edge,
the sides sloping and convex, the nasal space elliptical from
near the base to the middle, covered by the soft membrane
of the bill; the edges soft, straight, denticulate with the
rounded outer ends of the lamellae, which are scarcely

620 BERNICLA. BERNICLE GOOSE.

apparent from without ; lower mandible with the intercrural
space long, rather wide, and partially hare, the short dorsal
line convex, the crura rather narrow, their lower outline
straight, their sides sloping outwards and convex, the edges
elevated, inclinate, denticulate with the short outer extremi-
ties of the numerous lamellae; the unguis roundish and
moderately convex ; the gape-line straight, commencing under
the upper basal angle of the mandible.

Mouth of moderate width. Tongue, digestive organs,
and trachea as in the genus Anser.

Nostrils moderate, oblong, submedial. Eyes small, eye-
lids feathered, with bare crenulate margins. Aperture of
ear rather small. Feet rather short or moderate, strong,
placed well forward ; tibia bare for a very short space ;
tarsus moderately compressed, reticulated with small angular
scales. Toes as in the genus Anser, but with fewer scutella,
there being more of the basal space occupied with scales ;
membranes similar. Claws small, arcuate, rather depressed,
obtuse, that of the middle toe broadly rounded, and with its
inner edge expanded.

Plumage full, close, firm, very soft, and glossy. Feathers
of the head short, of the neck narrow, blended, and not dis-
posed into ridges ; those of the lower parts larger than in the
Geese ; but the plumage in other respects similar. Quills
twenty-eight, the second longest, the first slightly shorter.
Tail short, rounded, generally of sixteen broad, rounded
feathers.

The bill and feet are black, and that colour predominates
on the head and neck, as well as partially obtains on the
back ; the other principal colours are grey and white.

The Bernicles inhabit the temperate and cold climates of
both continents in winter, and in summer betake themselves
to the arctic regions, where they breed, forming their nests
of grass and other herbage in the marshes or on islands, and
laying numerous elliptical white or greenish eggs. They
are gregarious, like the Geese, which they resemble in their
habits, feeding like them on vegetable substances, but are
more strictly maritime, and derive the greater part of their
nourishment in winter from Zostera marina and Alga?. They

BERNICLA. BERNICLE GOOSE. 621

are more active than the Geese, and their flesh is still more
highly esteemed.

To this genus belong the Canada Goose and Hutchins's
Goose of North America, as well as two species common to
it and Europe, and which occur plentifully in Britain during
winter. Another species also has several times been met
with there.

Although the name Bernicla, first given by Mr. Stephens
to this genus, is barbarous, I feel unwilling to adopt another,
simply because I cannot find a better. The Anas Bernicla
of Linnseus seems to include both the Bernicle Goose and
Brent Goose of British authors ; and as some have taken
the former to be Anas erythropus of Linnseus, while others
name it Anser leucopsis, and the Brent Goose Anser Ber-
nicla ; and as the extrication of all this confusion is worth
no one's while, seeing the birds are common and can be
described at length, and named anew or reasonably, I think
it best to call the Bernicle, Bernicla leucopsis, as Bechstein
and Temminck have done, and the Brent, Bernicla Brenta,
as some have named it, although melanopsis would be a much
better name, it having an entirely black head and face. With
such names, all others being discarded, it is quite impossible
that the student should fall into any mistake.

622

BERNICLA LEUCOPSIS. THE WHITE-FACED
BERNICLE-GOOSE.

CLAIKIS. CLARIS. CLAIK-GOOSE. BARNACLE. WHITE-CHEEKED BARNACLE.
LAND BARNACLE.

Fig. 58.

Anas Bernicla. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 198.
Anas erythropus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 843.
Bernicle Goose. Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Supplt.
Oie Bernache. Anas leucopsis. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. II. 823.
Oie Bernache. Anser leucopsis. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. IV. 520.
Bernicle Goose, or Clakis. Anser Bernicla. Selby, Illustr. II. 268.
Anser leucopsis. Common Bernicle. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 224.
Bernicla leucopsis. Bonap. Comp. List, 55.

Male tiventy -seven inches long; bill small, much shorter
than the head, an inch and a third in length, black ; tarsus
two inches and ten-tic elf ths in length, black; the fore part of
the head, its sides, and the throat white; hind head and neck
glossy black; fore and hind parts of back black; its middle
part, the scapidars, and wing-coverts ash-grey, banded with
black; the loiver parts white, the sides faintly barred with
ash-grey, Female similar, but smaller.

WHITE-FACED BERNICLE-GOOSE. 623

Male in Winter. — This very beautiful Goose, much in-
ferior in size to any of the preceding species, and consider-
ably larger than the next, has the body full, the neck long,
slender toward its upper part, the head small, oblong, and
compressed.

The bill is much shorter than the head, of greater height
than breadth at the base, somewhat conical, at the end con-
siderably depressed ; the upper mandible with the dorsal
line straight and sloping as far as the unguis, which is
roundish and very convex, the ridge flattened at the base,
presently narrowed and convex, the sides sloping, the edges
almost straight, soft, and marginate, with about thirty
oblique lamellae, of which the outer dentiform extremities
are scarcely apparent ; the lower mandible with the inter-
crural space long, rather wide, anteriorly rounded, the lower
outline of the crura nearly straight, their sides convex,
sloping outward, with a groove along the margin, the
lamellae about forty, the unguis roundish, slightly convex.

The nostrils are medial, lateral, longitudinal, oblong,
three- twelfths and a quarter in length, pervious, in the
anterior part of the large, elliptical nasal space, which is
filled by membrane. The eyes are small. The feet short
and stout ; the tibia bare for half-an-inch ; the tarsus rather
short, compressed, covered all round with small angular
scales. The hind toe is extremely small, elevated, with two
scutella ; the second toe with fourteen, the third with
twenty, the fourth with six scutella, a great part of their
extent being covered with scales ; the hind toe with a slight
inferior web ; the inner with an expanded, thin, two-lobed
margin ; the interdigital membranes reticulated, the outer
with its margin concave. The claws are small, arcuate,
rather depressed, obtuse, that of the middle toe with its
inner side expanded and the tip rounded.

The mouth is of moderate width; the tongue fleshy,
convex, and medially grooved above, with the sides parallel
and serrated, the tip thin, horny, and rounded. The oeso-
phagus is twelve inches long, and has a general width of
about an inch, but is somewhat wider toward the lower part
of the neck. The stomach is transversely oblong, its greatest

624 BERNICLA LEUCOPSIS.

diameter three inches, its lateral muscles extremely large,
with large tendons ; the epithelium dense, with two thick,
somewhat concave grinding plates. The intestine is seven
feet nine inches in length, its duodenal portion twelve
inches, the rectum six. The duodenum is three-fourths of
an inch in width, the rest of the intestine half-an-inch, but
toward the cceca gradually enlarged to eight-twelfths. The
coeca are seventeen inches long, for three inches only a
quarter of an inch in width, then enlarging to an inch and a
half, and toward the end narrowed, but terminating ob-
tusely ; their aperture two-twelfths in width.

The plumage is full, close, very soft, and glossy ; on the
head, neck, and lower parts blended ; the feathers on the
head small and oblong, on the neck narrow, on the fore part
of the back and wings broad and abruptly rounded, on the
hind part smaller and broadly rounded, on the lower parts
moderate, on the sides very large and abrupt. The wings
are long, extending almost to the end of the tail, broad,
with twenty-eight quills ; the primaries strong, tapering ;
the first and second distinctly cut out on the inner, the
second and third on the outer web ; the second longest, the
first four-twelfths of an inch shorter, the rest rapidly de-
creasing ; the secondaries broad and rounded, the inner elon-
gated, with their outer webs somewhat undulated. The tail
is very short, rounded, of sixteen broad, rounded feathers, of
which the outer are an inch shorter than the longest.

The bill is black; the iris hazel; the feet black. The
anterior half of the head, the sides of its hind part, the
cheeks, ear-coverts, and the throat, to the length of two
inches and a quarter from the bill, are white ; some of the
feathers margining the upper mandible, the loral space, and
both eyelids brownish-black ; the posterior half of the head
and the neck are glossy black, that colour ending abruptly
below ; the lower parts of the body greyish- white, the sides
barred with pale ash-grey ; the tibial feathers brownish-
black; the axillar feathers and lower wing-coverts grey.
The fore part of the back is glossy black continuously with
the neck, the feathers grey at the base ; farther back the
grey appears, is succeeded by a broad band of black and a

WHITE-FACED BERNICLE-GOOSE. 625

terminal narrow band of greyish-white ; the grey most ap-
parent on the scapulars. The middle, concealed part of the
back is grey and black, its hind part black ; the sides of the
rump and the upper tail-coverts white ; the tail black. The
wing-coverts are light grey, with a band of black and
greyish-white narrow margin ; the primary coverts ash-grey,
black at the end. The quills are grey at the base and along
the outer web, black toward the end, that colour gradually
diminishing on the inner ; the shafts of all dusky.

Length to end of tail 27£ inches ; extent of wings 55 ;
wing from flexure 17; tail 5\%; bill along the ridge 1^,
along the edge of lower mandible 1TV; tarsus 2-L|; hind
toe 5-, its claw -fa ; second toe 1^, its claw -f^ ', third toe 2^,
its claw -f*j ; fourth toe 2, its claw -j^.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but con-
siderably less.

Length 24 inches ; extent of wings 52 ; bill along the
ridge 1-fc; wing from flexure 16 ; tarsus 2-,^-; middle toe
1^, its claw -^j.

Variations. — Considerable differences as to size occur.
The grey on the feathers of the upper parts is more or less
extended, the white of the lower more or less pure.

Habits. — This very beautiful bird occurs in the Northern
Hebrides, Shetland and Orkney Islands, where it arrives in
October and remains until April. It there more frequently
retires to the sea than to the lakes during its periods of
repose, or when driven from its feeding grounds. A large
flock then presents a beautiful spectacle as the birds sit
lightly on the water, and when advancing elevate their
necks. Not less beautiful do they seem when on wing, now
arranged in long lines, ever undulating, at one time ex-
tending in the direction of their flight, at another obliquely
or at right angles to it, sometimes in an angular figure, and
again mingling together. Their voice is clear and rather
shrill, and comes agreeably on the ear when the cries of a
large flock come from a considerable distance.

R R

626 BERNICLA LEUCOPSIS.

The Islands of Ensay and Religray, in the Sound of
Harris, used to be much frequented by these birds. In
December, 1823, hearing that a large flock had taken up its
residence in the former of these islands, I went to see it ;
and on arriving soon found the birds, five or six hundred in
number, dispersed over a flat piece of ground, intersected by
the ridges and furrows of the lazy bed system of agriculture
which so disfigure the pastures there ; but on reconnoitering
found it impossible to get within a reasonable distance of
them. However, having watched them until dusk, when
they seemed to have settled themselves for repose, I crept
along a low wall forming an angle about two hundred yards
from them. Finding that I could not get nearer, I fired at
the thickest part of the flock, aiming very high, having in
the obscurity over estimated the distance, and on running
up found a single bird which had been hit by a single grain
in the eye. Next day I walked all over the island without
seeing the Bernicles, and amused myself with chasing the
Redshanks, which were not uncommon along the western
beach. At length the birds arrived, and alighted on a gentle
slope in an open place, to which there seemed no access
without exposure. Being there in apparent security they
soon began to feed ; on seeing which I crept up to an emi-
nence, and finding the nearest birds not more than five
hundred paces distant, I cocked my musket, suddenly
started, and ran down the declivity with all speed. Before
the birds were well on wing I was almost up to them, and
as they flew over head I fired into a group, on which three
came with a thump to the ground. Two were quite dead,
but the third presently got on his feet, and with flapping
wings, of which the tip of one was damaged, ran off. I
tried to overtake him, but failed, and therefore charged,
pursued, fired without hitting, ran, charged, fired a second
time to as little purpose, but at length, after a chase of
nearly half-a-mile, shot him dead. Having thus obtained
my object, I left the island with four Bernicles and a
Northern Diver, which I had killed the day before.

It thus appears that these birds can on occasion run with
very considerable speed. In ordinary cases they walk se-

WHITE-FACED BERNICLE-GOOSE. 627

dately and prettily, being more active than the larger Geese.
Their food consists of grass, especially the juicy stems of
Agrostis alba, as well as the blades and roots of other plants.
They also feed in marshes, and by the margins of pools and
small lakes. I have not seen them betake themselves to the
sand-shoals' covered with sea-grass at low water, nor have I
had any other opportunity of seeing them, unless at a dis-
tance, when I could not distinguish them from the Black-
faced Bernicle. The oesophagus of the individual whose
intestinal canal is described above was packed full of grass
in its whole length, none of it in the least macerated ; the
duodenal contents were greenish, and the coeca filled with a
pulpy fluid of a yellowish-green colour.

I am not aware of any good account of its habits given,
from his own observation, by any British ornithologist.
Some of our writers, in speaking of it, endeavour to conceal
their ignorance, or to atone for it, by amusing their readers
with the once prevalent notion of its deriving its origin from
the Bernicle shell, the Lepas anatifera of Linnseus. This
curious fancy, which no doubt arose from the slight resem-
blance of the filaments of that animal to the sprouting
feathers of a young bird, is still entertained by many persons
along our coast; but, like the milking propensity of the
Goatsucker and the winter submersion of Swallows, it might
now, I think, be allowed to rest in its grave.

According to the statements of authors, the White-faced
Bernicles arrive and depart at the same periods as the Brent
Geese, frequent the same situations, and have similar habits,
but are of less frequent occurrence ; and being usually con-
founded with them by those whose ornithological knowledge
is not very perfect, they do not attract particular regard.
Dr. Edmondston informs us that they are only occasionally
seen in Shetland ; but Messrs. Baikie and Heddle state that
numbers arrive in September and October, and remain until
spring, at which time they receive considerable additions
from flocks migrating northwards. They have been seen in
the Clyde and Solway friths, as well as on the Lancashire
coast, but seem to be rare in England. On the east coast of
Scotland I have seen a few indiduals shot at Peterhead and

G28 BERNICLA LEUCOPSIS.

Aberdeen. It is included by Mr. Molison in the list of birds
frequenting the Montrose Basin ; and Mr. Lamb, taxidermist
at Perth, informs me he has several times had it from the
estuary of the Tay. In Ireland it " is a regular winter
visitant to the coast."

Dispersing in winter along the shores of Europe, they
repair in summer to the arctic regions, whence to return in
autumn with their young. They have also been found in
the glacial regions of North America. The nest is said to
be formed of grass, and to contain six or eight eggs. I have
examined several specimens from Parry's Arctic Expeditions.
Of two presented to Professor Jameson by Mr. Edwards, one
is two inches and seven-eighths long, an inch and eleven-
twelfths broad ; the other two inches and six-eighths long,
an inch and seven-eighths in breadth. They are of an ellip-
tical form, the two ends equal, and of a greyish- white tint.

629

BERNICLA BRENTA. THE BLACK-FACED
BERNICLE-GOOSE.

BRENT GOOSE. BRAND GOOSE. BARNACLE. BLACK-HEADED BARNACLE.

RING-NECKED BARNACLE. CLATTER GOOSE. HORRA GOOSE.

WARE GOOSE.

Anas Bernicla. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 198.

Anas Bernicla. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 844.

Brent Goose. Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supplt.

Oie cravant. Anas Bernicla. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 824.

Oie cravant. Anser Bernicla. Temm. Man. d'Orn. IV. 522.

Brent Goose. Anser Brenta Selb. Illustr. II. 271.

Anser torquatus. Brent Bernicle. Jen. Brit. Vert., An. 224.

Bernicla Brenta. Bonap. Comp. List. 56.

Male twenty-four inches long ; bill small, much shorter
than the head, an inch and a half in length, black ; tarsus two
inches and a quarter long, black ; head and neck glossy black ;
a 'patch of white, dotted with black, on each side of the upper
part of the neck ; the upper parts of the body brownish- grey,
the lower greyish -white, the sides barred with ash-grey.
Female similar, but smaller.

Male in Winter.— The "Brent Goose " is much inferior
in size to the " Bernicle Goose," and easily distinguishable
from it by its having the head entirely black. In form and
proportions, however, it is very similar to that species. The
body is full ; the neck rather long, slender toward its upper
part ; the head small, oblong, and compressed.

The bill is much shorter than the head, of greater height
than breadth at the base, somewhat conical, considerably
compressed, at the end a little depressed ; the upper mandible
with the dorsal line nearly straight and sloping, the ridge
flattened at the base, presently narrowed and convex, the
sides sloping, the edges almost straight, soft and marginate,
with about twenty-five oblique lamellae, of which the outer

630 BERNICLA BRENTA.

dentiform extremities are scarcely apparent, the unguis
nearly circular, very convex ; the lower mandible with the
intercrural space very long, rather wide, anteriorly rounded,
the lower outline of the crura slightly convex, their sides
convex, the edges soft, with about forty lamella?, the unguis
roundish, moderately convex.

The nostrils are medial, lateral, longitudinal, oblong,
three-twelfths in length, pervious, in the anterior part of the
elliptical nasal space, which is filled by membrane. The eyes
are small ; the feet short and stout ; the tibia bare for a third
of an inch ; the tarsus short, compressed, covered all round
with small angular scales. The hind toe is extremely small,
elevated, with two small scutella; the second toe with
eighteen scutella, and much shorter than the third, which
has thirty-two, while the outer, a little shorter, has about
twenty-four, they being all scaly at the base. The hind toe
has a slight inferior web, the second an expanded thin two-
lobed margin ; the interdigital membranes reticulated, the
outer with its margin concave. The claws are small, arcuate,
rather depressed, obtuse, that of the middle toe with its inner
side expanded.

The plumage is close, compact, and glossy ; on the head
and neck the feathers blended, small, oblong ; on the fore
part of the back and wings broad and abruptly rounded ; on
the hind part smaller and ovate ; on the lower parts large,
broadly rounded ; on the sides very large. The wings are
long, extending a little beyond the tail, broad, with twenty-
eight quills ; the primaries strong, tapering, the first and
second much cut out on the inner web, the second and third
on the outer ; the second longest, the first slightly shorter,
the rest rapidly decreasing ; the secondaries broad and
rounded, the inner elongated, with their outer webs some-
what undulated. The tail is very short, rounded, of sixteen
moderately broad, rounded feathers.

The bill is black ; the iris hazel ; the feet black. The
head and neck are glossy black, tinged with blue. There is
a small semilunar white mark on the lower eyelid, and on
each side of the upper part of the neck an obliquely elliptical
patch of the same colour, the two patches almost meeting

BLACK-FACED BERNICLE-GOOSE. 631

behind. The feathers on these species are not entirely
•white, but have a broad band of that colour near the
end. The general colour of the upper parts is brownish-
grey, but the feathers are terminally margined with light
greyish-brown. The quills are greyish-black, with brown
shafts, the inner secondaries lighter ; the primary coverts
grey, becoming blackish toward the end ; the secondary
coverts dull grey. The breast and sides are pale brownish-
grey, transversely interruptedly barred with greyish-white,
the terminal edges of the feathers being of the latter colour ;
the tibial feathers grey, as are the axillary, and the lower
surface of the wing ; the abdomen, lower and upper tail-
coverts, white. The tail-feathers are greyish-black.

Length to end of tail 25 inches ; extent of wings 48 ;
wing from flexure 13^; tail 4^; bill along the ridge lj,
along the edge of lower mandible 1^ ; tarsus 2^ ; hind
toe oyL, its claw -^ ; second toe 1^-, its claw TV ; third
toe 1{-|, its claw -^ ; fourth toe 1 -fa, its claw T4Y.

Female. — The female is somewhat smaller, but otherwise
differs from the male only in having the upper parts more
tinged with brown.

Length to end of tail 23 inches ; extent of Avings 46 ;
wing from flexure 13 ; tail 4 J ; bill along the ridge 1-fa ;
tarsus 2j ; middle toe 1^, its claw -fa.

Habits. — This species is very abundant on many parts of
our coasts, from the end of October to the middle of April.
I have seen it in the Hebrides, both on the sea and on fresh-
water. Being in the Bay of Cromarty, in the middle of
March, 1837, I met with some very large flocks, dispersed
over the shoals of mud and sand, which were covered with a
luxuriant crop of Zostera marina, the rhizomata of which
being juicy and saccharine, affords them a nutritious food.
When the banks were covered by the tide, they floated in
repose over the bay, or flew off to a distant part. Several
thousands were seen, but their numbers were said to have
been greatly diminished. I have also met with them, in
smaller numbers, in the Beauly Frith, the Montrose Basin,

632 BERNICLA BRENTA.

the Firth of Tay, and other parts. In those to the south-
ward, on both sides of Scotland, they are to be seen during the
winter. Very considerable numbers are sent to the Edinburgh
market, where they are in some request, their flesh being not
unsavoury, and rather tender.

According to Mr. Selby, " a very large body of these birds
annually resorts to the extensive muddy and sandy flats that
lie between the mainland and Holy Island, and which are
covered by every flow of the tide." He states that they there
feed on " the leaves and stems of a species of grass that grows
abundantly in the shallow pools left by the tide," and on
various algae, remaining until the end of February, when they
migrate in successive flocks, the whole disappearing before
April.

It may readily be conceived, that the numbers in the
different places of resort may vary according to circumstances.
" The late Mr. Boys of Sandwich," says Montagu, " informed
us, that in the year 1739-40, when these birds Avere so abundant
on the Continent, especially on the coast of Picardy, where
the inhabitants were raised en masse in order to destroy them,
they were so plentiful on the coast of Kent, that they were
in so starving a condition as to suffer themselves to be
knocked down with stones and sticks ; and were carried in
carts to the neighbouring towns, where a purchaser was
allowed to pick and choose for sixpence a-piece. We learn
from the same respectable source, that in the year 1803 they
were innumerable about Sandwich ; and were so miserably
poor and debilitated as not to be able to rise after alighting,
and many were taken by hand. ' It is remarkable,' says
Mr. Boys, 'not a Bernicle, Grey-Lag Goose, nor Bean Goose,
have been seen with this superabundance of Brent Geese,
and yet the weather has been sufficiently severe to compel
the Hooping Swan so far south.' It is a curious circumstance
that such occasional excesses in migration of some particular
species should occur so locally. Thus, when the Brent was
so plentiful on the eastern coast of the kingdom, not a single
instance occurred in the west, to our knowledge ; yet in the
year 1800, about Christmas, they were common, contiguous
to the coast of South Devon."

BLACK-FACED BERNICLE-GOOSE. 633

It does not appear that any remain with us during the
breeding season, even in our most northern islands. In
summer, they are found in the arctic regions of both conti-
nents, and in winter are dispersed along the coasts of
America, as well as Europe. The nest, which is placed in
marshy ground, is formed of withered herbage. Of two eggs,
from Parry's second expedition, presented to Professor
Jameson by Mr. Fisher, one is two inches and a half in
length by an inch and five and a half eighths, the other two
inches and five eighths by an inch and six and a half eighths.
They are of a nearly elliptical form, the broadest part being
almost central, and one end a little larger than the other ;
the colour of one asparagus-green, or pale greyish-green, of
the other paler, and approaching to apple-green,

Mr. Thomson, who states that it is abundant in Ireland,
occurring on both sides of the island, wherever there is plenty
of its favourite Zostera marina, gives a very lengthened account
of its habits as observed in Belfast Bay. They generally
arrive there by the first week of September, and sometimes
remain until May. Strictly marine, they fly to the deep
water in the afternoon, and remain there during the night
at sunrise return to their feeding grounds, generally proceed-
ing in small flocks, and alighting altogether about the same
place. They are very wary, and avoid in their flights
objects with which they are not familiar. Their mingling
cries, heard from a distance, resemble those of a pack of
hounds. They swim quickly, but are not expert at diving,
and remain but a short time under water. " The food con-
tained in Brent Geese from the loughs of Larne, Belfast, and
Strangford, examined by myself, was always Zostera, of which
were portions of the leaf from one to two feet in length, as
well as of the root : in addition to the plant, there was always
sand. An observant shooter and bird-preserver (Mr. Darragh),
who has looked to the food in a considerable number of these
geese, never found anything but Zostera. This was generally
in pieces about a foot in length, which, when so long, were
always folded neatly up, sometimes as much so as a ribbon,
but short pieces were not so arranged."

634

BERNICLA RUFICOLLIS. THE RED-NECKED
BERN1CLE-GOOSE.

RED-BREASTED BERNICLE.

Anas ruficollis. Gmel. Syst. Nat. I. 511.

Anas ruficollis. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 841.

Red -breasted Goose, Mont. Orn. Diet.

Oie a. cou ronx. Anas ruficollis. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 826.

Red-breasted Goose. Anser ruficollis. Selb. Illustr. II. 275.

Anser ruficollis. Red-breasted Bernicle. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 225.

Bernicla ruficollis. Bonap. Comp. List, 56.

Male twenty-two inches long ; bill small, an inch and a
fourth in length, reddish-brown, with the unguis black ; tarsus
two inches and a half in length, brownish-black ; throat, upper
part of the head, and a narrow band down the neck behind,
black ; a patch between the bill and the eye, behind the latter
a large oblong space, enclosing a brownish-red patch, and
becoming narrow along the neck, white ; fore-neck brownish-
red, margined below icith a narrow band of black, which is
succeeded by a white ring; breast black; sides banded with
black and white ; the rest of the lower parts and the rump
white ; upper parts brownish-black ; the larger wing-coverts
tipped with white.

Male. — This beautiful bird, which is somewhat inferior
in size to the Black -faced Bernicle, but similar in form, has
occurred so seldom in Britain, that I have not seen an indivi-
dual obtained there. The body is full, as in the other species ;
the neck long and rather slender at its upper part ; the head
small, oblong, compressed, arched above.

The bill is much shorter than the head, of greater height
than breadth at the base, somewhat conical, at the end a little
depressed ; the upper mandible with the dorsal line straight

RED-NECKED BERNICLE-GOOSE. 635

and decimate as far as the unguis, which is roundish and
convex, the ridge flattened at the base, presently narrowed
and convex, the edges almost straight, the ends of the lamellae
not apparent ; the lower mandible with the intercrural space
long and rather wide ; the lower outline of the crura almost
straight ; the unguis roundish, slightly convex.

The nostrils are sub-medial, lateral, oblong, three-twelfths
in length. The eyes small. The legs short and stout ; the
tibia bare for nearly half an inch ; the tarsus compressed,
covered with small angular scales. The hind toe is extremely
small and elevated, with two scutella, the second with four-
teen, the third with twenty, the fourth with eight, a great
part of their extent being covered with scales ; the mem-
branes reticulated, with their margin concave. The claws
are small, arcuate, rather depressed, obtuse, that of the middle
toe with its inner edge expanded, and the tip rounded.

The plumage is full, close, soft, and glossy; on the head and
neck blended, on the latter linear-oblong, those behind some-
what elongated ; on the fore part of the back and wings broad
and abruptly rounded, on the sides very large and rounded.
The wings are large, and when closed extend almost to the
end of the tail ; the primaries strong, tapering, the second
longest. The tail is very short, rounded, of sixteen broad,
rounded feathers.

The bill is reddish-brown, with the unguis black ; the iris
reddish-brown ; the feet brownish-black. The throat, upper
part of the head, and a narrow band along the hind-neck, are
black. A large patch between the bill and the eye is white.
Behind the eye is an ovate-oblong, brownish-red patch, sur-
rounded by a white band, which runs down the neck in a
narrow streak. The fore part of the neck is bright brownish-
red. At the lower part of the neck the red is bordered with
a narrow band of black, beyond which is a white ring. The
breast and upper parts are brownish-black; the feathers of
the sides, and the larger upper wing-coverts tipped with
white. The hind part of the breast, abdomen, lower tail-
coverts, and rump, are white. The tail is brownish-black,
like the quills.

Length to end of tail 22 inches ; wing from flexure 14 ;

636 BERNICLA RUFICOLLIS.

tail 4^ ; bill along the ridge 1^ ; along the edge of lower
mandible 1£ ; tarsus 2*- ; hind toe -^, its claw -fa ; second
toe li, its claw -fa ; third toe 2^fa, its claw -fa ; fourth toe
3-Li, its claw -fa.

Female. — Is said to be similar to the male.

Habits. — The Red-necked Bernicle, according to M.
Temminck, inhabits the arctic regions of Asia, and occasion-
ally makes its appearance in various parts of Europe. In
Britain it is only known as a very rare and accidental visitant,
not more than about a dozen instances of its occurrence being
on record. Dr. Latham informs us that, in the severe frost of
1766, one was shot in the neighbourhood of London. Montagu
states that another was taken alive in Yorkshire about the
same time. Mr. Selby says a third, shot near Berwick-on-
Tweed, was sent to Mr. Bullock ; and, according to Mr.
Stephens, several were killed in Cambridgeshire in the severe
winter of 1813. A few other instances are mentioned of its
occurrence in Norfolk and Devonshire. The only instance of
its appearance in Scotland known to me is related in a notice
with which I have been favoured by the Rev. Mr. Smith of
Monquhitter : — " Many years ago, an individual of this rare
and beautiful species, was seen, for several days, in the imme-
diate vicinity of the Loch of Strathbeg. It was recognised by
more than one individual well conversant with ornithology.
There was, however, no opportunity obtained of securing it."

637

CHENALOPEX. FOX-GOOSE.

This genus appears to me to be intermediate between
those of Anser and Tadorna, resembling the former in some
resrjects and the latter in others. From the Geese properly
so called, the Egyptian Fox-Goose, the best-known represen-
tative of this genus differs very little in form, and in colour
approaches to the Shiel Ducks, of which the bill is very diffe-
rent. In few words Chenalopex may be defined as similar in
form to Anser, but with the bill somewhat more depressed
toward the end, and less narrowed, with the nail more curved,
the lamellae not apparent externally, the wings with a promi-
nent rounded knob on the flexure, the colours of the plumage
more varied than in the Geese.

Bill of nearly the same length as the head, stout, straight,
sub-conical when viewed laterally, but when seen from above
little narrower toward the end than at the base, where it is
not much higher than broad ; upper mandible with the lateral
and superior basal margins forming a small segment of a
circle, the angles between them short and rather obtuse, the
basal margin thickened aud fleshy, the ridge rather broad and
flattened at the base, gradually narrow and convex, the dorsal
line decimate, between the nostrils and unguis rather con-
cave, the sides convex, the edges soft and marginate, with the
outer ends of the oblique lamellae thin and not projecting, the
unguis roundish, at the base somewhat angular, very convex,
and much decurved ; lower mandible with the intercrural
space long, rather wide, its membrane bare unless at the base,
the short dorsal line little convex, the crura long, narrow,
their lower outline straight, the edges elevated, inclinate,
externally ridged, and above denticulate with the short outer
extremities of the numerous, oblique lamellae, the unguis
broad, roundish, and transversely convex.

638 CHENALOPEX. FOX-GOOSE.

Nostrils rather small, elliptical, sub-medial, in the lower
and fore part of the oblong, sub-basal, nasal sinus. Eyes
small ; eyelids feathered. Feet of moderate length, stout,
placed well forward ; tibia bare for a short space ; tarsus
moderately compressed, reticulated with small angular scales,
of which, however, the anterior are scutelliform. Hind toe
very small, elevated, with a thick scabrous lobe beneath, the
outer a little shorter than the third, the inner considerably
shorter ; all scaly at the base, but with numerous scutella ;
the interdigital membranes reticulate, full, the outer emargi-
nate, the inner toe with a slightly two-lobed thick web. The
claws short, strong, little arched, rather compressed, obtuse,
that of the third toe with the inner side expanded, and the tip
rounded.

Plumage full, close, firm, blended. Feathers of the head
very small, oblong ; of the neck narrow, not arranged in
oblique ridges and grooves as in the Geese ; those of the back
oblong and rounded ; of the lower parts ovate and rounded,
as are the elongated feathers of the sides ; the scapulars very
large, oblong. The wings of moderate length, broad, rather
pointed, the second quill being longest, and the first little
shorter, the outer five having their outer web narrowed
toward the end ; the secondaries broad and rounded, the
inner elongated, broad, and also rounded. The tail short,
rounded, of fourteen broad, rounded feathers.

The female is similar to the male, but with the colours
duller.

639

CHENALOPEX ^EGYPTIACUS. THE EGYPTIAN
FOX-GOOSE.

EGYPTIAN GOOSE.

Anas iEgyptiaca. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 197.

Oie iEgyptienne. Anser iEgyptiacus. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 523.
Anser iEgyptiacus. Egyptian Goose. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 225.
Chenalopex iEgyptiaca. Bonap. Comp. List, 56.

About twenty-eight inches long ; with a prominent margin
at the base of the upper mandible, and a bare knob on the
ivings ; the bill red ; the unguis and part of the tipper man-
dible black ; a roundish space about the eye light chestnut-red ;
the wing-coverts white ; the secondary coverts with a transverse
black band near the end ; the lower parts cream-coloured, with
a large chestnut-red patch on the breast.

Male in Winter. — This beautiful bird is easily distin-
guishable from any British species of the Goose family, on
account of its more gaudy plumage, in the colouring of which
it somewhat resembles the Shiel Duck, the prominence at the
base of its upper mandible, and the obtuse bare knobs at the
flexure of the wings. In its general appearance it differs
very little from the Geese, properly so called, and is about
equal in size to the White-faced Bernicle. The body is full ;
the neck rather long, and somewhat slender ; the head oblong,
compressed.

The bill is a little shorter than the head, stout, sub-
conical, of nearly equal breadth throughout, being a little
narrowed toward the end ; the upper mandible with a promi-
nent basal margin, the dorsal line sloping, a little concave
between the nostrils and the unguis, which is roundish, at
the base angular, very convex, and much decurved, the sides

640 CHENALOPEX ^EGYPTIACUS.

nearly erect at the base, then sloping, a little concave about
the middle, convex toward the end, the margins soft, con-
cealing their lamella?, their outline nearly straight, the nasal
sinus oblong, sub-basal near the ridge ; the lower mandible
straight, with the intercrural space long and of moderate
width, the edges a little inclinate, with little elevated exter-
nal lamellae, the unguis broad, roundish, little convex.

Internally the upper mandible is broadly concave, and
covered with small scattered papilla?, with a medial papillate
ridge, and on each side a series of small depressed lamella?,
separated by a slight groove from the lateral lamella?, which
are oblique, little elevated, flattened, curved, and tapering
toward the outer end, which is thin and not prominent, their
numbers about forty-five. The marginal lamella? of the lower
mandible very small, about sixty, the outer nearly forty.

The nostrils are elliptical, sub-medial, two-twelfths and a
half long. The aperture of the eye four-twelfths. The feet
are strong ; the tibia bare for nearly an inch ; the tarsus a
little compressed, with sub-hexagonal scales, and an anterior
series of larger scales, hardly, however, deserving the name of
scutella. The hind toe is small, elevated, with five scutella,
and an inferior thick lobe ; the anterior toes rather long, the
inner with twelve scutella, the middle toe with thirty, extend-
ing almost to the base, the outer with twenty-three ; both it
and the inner being scaly toward the base ; the interdigital
membranes a little emarginate, that of the inner toe narrow.
The claws are short and stout ; that of the hind toe nearly
straight and blunt, the rest a little arched, the lateral obtuse,
that of the middle toe considerably dilated and rounded.

The plumage is full, soft, and elastic ; on the head short
and imbricated ; on the upper-neck short and blended, the
feathers narrow ; those on the lower neck all round, the
breast, and the rest of the lower parts soft and blended, and
as well as those on the fore part of the back ovate and rounded,
but on the rest of the back short and imbricated. The wings
are of ordinary length, broad, and rather pointed ; the prima-
ries ten, slightly curved, tapering, but rounded ; the secon-
daries sixteen, broad, rounded, the outer curved inwards ; the
second quill longest, the third scarcely shorter, the first

EGYPTIAN FOX-GOOSE. 641

slightly longer than the fourth. The tail is short, much
rounded, of fourteen nearly straight, rounded feathers, the
shaft of which is prolonged a little beyond the terminal fila-
ments. The lower corerts reach to within an inch of the tip
of the tail.

The prominent roundish tubercle on the wing is not horny,
but covered by skin.

The bill is of a reddish flesh-colour, with the unguis and
part of the margins of the upper mandible black ; that of the
lower dusky brown. The eyes are orange-red. A roundish
space about the eye, with a band from thence to the base of
the bill, and the feathers along the margin of the latter light
chestnut-red ; the rest of the head cream-colour, shaded with
glossy brownish-red along the hind part of the neck for half
its length, where it enlarges and passes across the neck in
front ; the throat reddish cream-colour. The lower part of
the neck all round is pale reddish, minutely undulated with
transverse dusky lines. The fore part of the back and the
scapulars brownish-red, undulated with dusky and grey, the
larger scapulars chiefly red. The rest of the back and the
tail feathers glossy black. The smaller wing-coverts are
white ; the secondary coverts with a transverse black band
near the end. The primary quills are black, with a tinge of
brown ; the secondary quills greyish-black, but with part of
their outer webs of a glossy deep green, and four of the inner
grey internally and light red on the outer web. The lower
parts cream-coloured, paler in the middle, on the sides finely
undulated with brownish-grey. On the fore part of the breast
is a large patch of deep chestnut-red ; the feathers under the
tail are pale yellowish-red ; the axillary feathers and most of
the lower wing-coverts white.

Length to end of tail 28 inches ; extent of wings 58 ;
wing from flexure 5f ; tail 5^ ; bill along the ridge 2^ ;
along the edge of lower mandible ly^- ; tarsus 3 ; hind toe
-^j, its claw -^j ; second toe 2, its claw -fe 1 third toe 2j, its
claw -^ ; fourth toe 2-^, its claw -^.

Female. — The female, which is considerably smaller, is
less richly coloured than the male, but otherwise similar.

s s

642 EGYPTIAN FOX-GOOSE.

Habits. — The claims of this species to be admitted as a
British bird are somewhat similar to those of the Pheasant.
Its proper country is Africa, over the whole extent of which
it is said to occur, as well as occasionally in the south-eastern
parts of Europe. But, having been introduced into this
country on account of its beauty, it thrives remarkably well
in a semi-domesticated state, and being always apt to stray,
individuals have withdrawn themselves from the protection of
man, and in some parts are said to have become completely
Avild, and to breed as in their original country. Specimens
are thus often obtained at great distances from any place where
they are fostered. Even large flocks are met with, which it
would be difficult to show to be even naturalized. Thus, in
1832, I was permitted by Captain Sharp, of the Hoyal Navy,
to take a drawing and description from one which was shot on
the 3d November, by Mr John Hay, on the banks of the river
Tyne, near Tyningham, the seat of Lord Haddington, in East
Lothian. The flock consisted of nineteen, flying in a line
from the sea to the southward, in stormy weather. The one
killed was the leader, and the largest of the string. On
being shot at they turned and flew to sea. It would be
useless to indicate particular instances of its occurrence in
England, where it is more common in the semi-domesticated
state than in Scotland. It has also " occasionally been shot
on the coast of Ireland."

643

PLECTROPTERUS. SPUR-WINGED GOOSE.

This genus differs very little from the preceding, except in
presenting, instead of a soft, or skin-covered knob, on the
tarsi, a projecting, pointed, hard spur, analogous to that so
conspicuous in the Jacanas and some members of the Plover
family.

The bill is nearly as long as the head, stout, straight, of
nearly equal height and breadth at the base, where there is a
protuberance, and becoming depressed toward the end, which
is broadly rounded, with the unguis large, very convex, much
decurved, and strong-edged ; the lamellae of the upper man-
dible externally thin and concealed. The general aspect is
that of an ordinary Goose ; the legs, however, rather longer ;
the wings rather long and broad ; the tail short and rounded.

644

PLECTROPTERUS GAMBENSIS. GAMBO SPUR-
WINGED GOOSE.

Spur-winged Goose. Bew. Brit. Birds, II. 296.

Plectropterus Gambensis. Stepli. in Shaw's Gen. Zool. XII. pt. II. 6.

Anser Gambensis. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 226.

Bill reddish-yellow ; feet orange ; upper part of the head
and neck brown; lower part of the neck, sides of the breast,
and zipper parts black, glossed with green; lower parts
white.

Of this species, which is indigenous to Northern and
Western Africa, a specimen Avas killed near St. Germains, in
Cornwall, in June, 1821, and, after being mutilated, was
sent to Mr. Bewick, who thus describes it : — " The bill is
reddish-yellow, with a jointed protuberance at the base of
the upper mandible. The upper part of the head and neck
are dingy brown ; the auriculars and sides of the throat are
white, spotted with brown ; the lower part of the neck,
sides of the breast, and all the upper plumage appear black,
but this colour is lost, particularly in the scapulars and
tertials, which are most resplendently bronzed and glossed
with, brilliant green, and most of the outer webs of the
feathers partake of the same hue ; on the bend of the wing
or wrist is placed a strong white horny spur, about five-
eighths of an inch in length, turning upwards and rather
inwards ; the whole of the edges of the wing from the alula
spuria to the elbow and shoulder are white, all the under
parts the same. This beautiful bird is nearly of the bulk of
the Wild Goose, but its legs and toes are somewhat longer,
and of a red or orange-yelloAv."

Mr. Mewburn, of St. Germains, who sent the skin to

GAMBO SPUR-WINGED GOOSE. 645

Mr. Bewick, has supplied the following particulars respecting
its capture to Mr. Fox, in whose Synopsis of the contents of
the Newcastle Museum they are recorded : — " When first
seen it was in a field adjoining the cliffs at Port Wrinkle, a
small fishing-place about four miles from St. Germains, near
which it remained for two or three days. Being several
times disturbed by attempts to shoot it, it came more inland,
to a low situated farm called Pool, and there associated with
the common Geese ; but was wild, and immediately took
wing upon being approached. Here it kept to and fro for a
day or two, but being much disturbed, left, and came down
upon the shore of the St. Germains river or estuary, when
the following day, the 20th of June, 1821, it was shot by
John Brickford in a wheat-field at Sconnor, about a mile
from St. Germains. When killed it was in the most perfect
state, having only one shot in the head. Some gentlemen
who saw it the following day requested him to let me have
it, which he promised : but though he knew I was a bird-
stuffer he had a wife, who, from some strange infatuation,
thought she could stuff it ; but being soon convinced of her
inability she cut off the wings for dusters, and threw the
skin away ; and it was not till three weeks afterwards that I
heard of the circumstance, when I sent a servant, who
brought it covered with mud, the head torn off, but luckily
preserved, as also one wing, when I had it washed, and put
it together as well as I was able." The skin, on being sent
to Mr. Bewick, was reset by Mr. R. Wingate, and is now in
the Newcastle Museum.

646

CYGNINJE.

SWANS AND ALLIED SPECIES.

The small group of very large birds commonly known
by the name of Swans presents forms intermediate between
those of the Anserinse and Anatinae, although to the ordinary
observer they seem much more allied to the former than to
the latter.

They have the body of an elongated, somewhat elliptical
form ; the neck very long ; the head of moderate size, oblong,
compressed, flattened in front; the bill rather longer than
the head, high at the base, depressed toward the end, of
nearly equal breadth throughout, and rounded at the end ;
the upper mandible internally concave, with a middle row of
prominent blunt tubercles, a row of flattened tubercles, and
a row of slender, little elevated lamellae on each side. The
tongue is fleshy, thick, with the edges thin, fringed with
slender, flattened papilla?, under which is a smaller row of
filaments. The oesophagus is narrow, a little dilated at the
lower part of the neck ; the stomach transversely elliptical,
extremely muscular ; the intestine long, rather narrow, with
long cylindrical coeca. The trachea has the inferior larynx
laterally compressed.

The eyes are small : the nostrils elliptical, medial. The
legs, placed a little behind the centre of equilibrium, are
short, stout, with the tibia bare for a short space ; the tarsus
considerably compressed ; the toes four, the first very small
and free, the anterior longer than the tarsus, the outer a
little shorter than the third ; the webs full ; the claws strong,
arched, compressed, rather obtuse.

The plumage of the head and neck is soft and blended,
of the other parts full, close, and firm. The wings very

SWANS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 647

long, rather broad, convex, the second and third quills
longest, the first little shorter ; the tail short, rounded, of
from eighteen to twenty-four feathers.

Gregarious, migratory, flying in] lines when journeying.
They feed on vegetable substances, swim with ease and very
gracefully, keeping the neck curved and the wings somewhat
raised. They have a strong and rapid flight, never dive
when searching for food, and walk slowly and rather un-
gracefully. They differ little from the Anserinae and Anatinse>
from which, however, they are easily distinguishable by their
great size, together with their comparatively short legs and
very elongated neck, as well as their large and peculiarly
shaped bill, of which the breadth is nearly uniform. A
curve or loop of the trachea, which is contained in a cavity
in the substance of the sternum, exists in most of the
species.

SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES.

GENUS I. CYGNUS. SWAN.

Bill rather longer than the head, large, higher than
broad at the base, gradually becoming depressed, of nearly
equal breadth throughout, and rounded at the end; a bare
space between the eye and the base of the bill ; tarsus short,
stout, considerably compressed, reticulated with small angular
scales ; hind toe free, very small, elevated, compressed be-
neath ; anterior toes longer than the tarsus, reticulate as far
as the second joint ; interdigital membranes full ; claws
strong, arched, compressed, rather obtuse ; feathers of the
head very small and oblong, of the neck narrow and soft, of
the other parts ovate and rounded ; wings very long, with
about thirty-two quills, the second and third longest ; tail
short, rounded, of from eighteen to twenty-four rounded
feathers.

1. Cygnus immutabilis. Changeless Swan. About sixty
inches long; bill orange-red, with the unguis and a compressed

648 CYGNINjE.

knob at the base black ; feet dull grey ; plumage pure white,
as is that of the young

2. Cygnus musicus. Whooping Swan. About sixty inches
long ; bare space on the forehead, and between the eyes and
bill, bright yellow, as is the base of both mandibles, that
colour extending in an angular form on the sides of the
upper mandible to beyond the nostrils, the rest black ; feet
black ; plumage pure white, the head tinged with orange-
red.

3. Cygnus Bewickii. Bewictts Swan. About forty inches
long ; bare space on the forehead, and between the eyes and
bill, bright yellow, as is the base of the upper mandible, that
colour extending in an angular form, but not reaching the
nostrils, the rest black ; feet black ; plumage pure white, the
head and neck tinged with orange-red.

4. Cygnus Aniericanus. American Swan. About forty-
four inches long ; bill and bare space on the fore part of the
head black, with an oblong orange patch, never more than
an inch in length, between the eye and the base of the bill ;
feet black ; plumage pure white, the head tinged with
orange-red.

649

CYGNUS. SWAN.

This genus is formed of a small number of species,
remarkable for tbeir great size, they being the largest birds
of the order to which they belong, and distinguishable from
the Geese and other allied genera by the extreme bulk of
their ovato-oblong, full, and somewhat depressed body ; their
excessively elongated and slender neck ; and short, consider-
ably compressed tarsi. The head is of moderate size, oblong,
compressed, and rather flattened in front.

The bill rather longer than the head, large, higher than
broad at the base, gradually becoming more depressed, of
nearly equal breadth throughout, and rounded at the end ;
upper mandible with the lateral and superior basal margins
at first semicircular, forming two short angles, but ulti-
mately obliterated by the disappearance of the feathers, which
leave a large space extending to the eye bare ; the ridge
broad and flattened at the base, gradually narrowed, convex
toward the end, the dorsal line sloping, a little concave at
first, the sides nearly erect at the base, gradually more de-
cimate and convex toward the end ; the unguis generally
roundish, large, and convex ; the edges soft, marginate, and
scrobiculate, straight, and concealing the narrow, blunt tips
of the slender, little elevated lamellae ; lower mandible with
the intercrural space very long, of moderate width, its mem-
brane bare for two-thirds, the short dorsal line convex, the
crura long, narrow, their lower outline slightly re-arcuate,
their sides sloping outwards and convex, the edges elevated,
inclinate, denticulate Avith the short outer extremities of the
lamellae, the unguis roundish and little convex ; the gape-
line nearly straight, commencing anteriorly to the margin of
the feathers on the forehead.

650 CYGNUS. SWAN.

Mouth of moderate width. Anterior palate deeply con-
cave, with a lateral series of obscure flattened lamellae on
each side, not separated by a groove from the slender, little
elevated marginal lamella?, a medial row of prominent blunt
tubercles, and an intermediate oblique series of flattened
tubercles. The tongue is fleshy, thick, with the sides
parallel, the base with a dorsal row of conical papillae, a soft
large prominence near it ; a deep medial groove, having on
each side acute, flat, spreading papilla?, the edges thin,
fringed with slender flattened papillae, of which the posterior
are large and serrulate, the anterior small ; and under this
series a smaller row of filaments extending behind the base
of the tongue. (Esophagus extremely long, narrow, dilated
a little toward the furcula, then contracted, but with the
lower part enlarged. The stomach an extremely developed,
oblique, transversely elliptical gizzard, of which the lateral
muscles are excessively thick, their tendons large, the lower
muscle distinct, with its tendons passing under the others ;
the epithelium forming two very thick, considerably concave,
smoothish grinding surfaces. The intestine is long, rather
narrow, arranged in about sixteen folds ; the coeca long,
narrow at the base, then of moderate width and cylindrical ;
the cloaca globular.

The trachea of very numerous, broad, considerably flat-
tened rings, in some species curved and entering the sternum
before passing into the thorax, in others following the usual
course. The inferior larynx laterally compressed, with its
last rings united. Appended to the last or semilunar ring
on each side is a narrow membrane, terminated by a very
slender half-ring, and standing free from the large membrane
intervening between the last tracheal and first bronchial
rings. The bronchi short, wide, varying in form in the
different species.

Nostrils elliptical, medial, near the ridge, in the fore part
of the oblong nasal sinus. Eyes small; eyelids feathered,
with bare crenulate margins. Aperture of ear small. Feet
short, stout, placed a little behind the centre of equilibrium ;
tibia bare for a short space ; tarsus considerably compressed,
reticulated with small angular scales. Hind toe very small,

CYGNUS. SWAN. 651

elevated, compressed beneath ; anterior toes longer than the
tarsus, the outer a little shorter than the third, all reticulate
as far as the second joint, then scutellate ; the inner with a
broad, somewhat two-lobed margin, that of the outer thick
and narrow; the interdigital membranes reticulate, full.
Claws strong, arched, compressed, convex above, rather ob-
tuse, that of the third toe with the inner side expanded and
the tip rounded.

Plumage moderately full, close, firm, unless on the head
and neck. Feathers of the head very small and oblong, of
the neck narrow and soft, of the other parts ovate and
rounded. The scapulars large ; the numerals eight or ten.
The wings very long, rather broad, convex, with about
thirty-two quills ; the outer four or five quills more or less
cut out toward the end, the second and third longest, the
first little shorter ; the secondaries broad and rounded. The
tail is short, rounded, of from eighteen to twenty-four rather
broad, rounded feathers. In each species the number is not
very definite. Thus, in Cygnus Bewickii, it is generally
eighteen, but sometimes twenty.

The Swans inhabit chiefly the temperate and cold regions
of the globe. Eight species are known, of which some have
a bare fleshy knob at the base of the upper mandible above,
while in others that part is flat or concave. Another remark-
able difference occurs with respect to the trachea, which in
some follows the usual course, while in others it first enters
the sternum, forming a loop, in the same manner as in the
Cranes. Notwithstanding these differences, it seems inju-
dicious to separate the group into distinct genera, as the
species otherwise agree in all essential respects. Nor do
their habits appear to be affected by these modifications of
structure. Hence we may infer that in other cases, when
two birds resemble each other in form, the presence of a
frontal knob in one is not sufficient to induce its generic
separation. Similar differences in the windpipe occur in the
genus Platalea.

The Swans reside in marshes, on lakes, pools, and rivers.
They frequently search for food in the pastures close to the
Avater, walking slowly and heavily ; but in general they

652 CYGNUS. SWAN.

obtain it while swimming. It consists of soft grass, seeds,
and especially the roots and stems of grasses and other
plants, which they pull up from the mud, immersing their
long necks for the purpose, elevating the hind part of the
body, and maintaining their position by means of their feet,
in the same manner as the Geese and graminivorous Ducks.
Like the former, they utter a hissing sound when irritated,
and strike with their wings. They float rather lightly, swim
with considerable speed, but are incapable of diving. In
swimming they sometimes keep the neck erect, like the
Geese, and sometimes curved, like the Ducks. Their flight
is direct, strong, rapid, with short undulating movements of
their outstretched wings, the neck extended to its full
length. During their migrations they usually fly at a vast
height, in files or angular lines, the individual at the head
of the string retiring to the rear after a time. Their cries
are loud, trumpet-like, and, wrhen proceeding from a dis-
tance, clear, mellow, and resembling the sounds from a
distant band of music. They are described as having a
peculiarly exciting effect on the human mind, especially in
desert regions, and to give rise to the most agreeable feelings
in those who depend chiefly upon the chase for their sub-
sistence. This I can well understand, having experienced
the like on seeing and hearing a flock of Wild Swans in
the Hebrides. They are at all seasons gregarious. The
nest, very bulky, and composed of grass and herbage, with
fragments of turf, peat, or other light substances, is placed
on the ground, in marshes or on islands. The eggs, ellip-
tical, and generally of a greenish-grey tint, are not very
numerous. The male remains with the female and young,
and after the breeding season the families unite into flocks.
The Swans moult only once in the year, in the end of
summer. The sexes are coloured alike ; the young at first
grey ; the males larger than the females. Their flesh, as an
article of food, is similar to that of the Geese, but is not
now held in much esteem, although that of young indi-
viduals is tender and sapid, having a peculiar rich flavour.

The Common Tame Swan, Cygnus Olor, is admitted by
Mr. Yarrell into the series of British Birds ; but, as there

CYGNUS. SWAN. 653

appears no evidence of its having ever been shot or caught,
in a truly wild state, in any part of Britain, I am con-
strained to omit it. I have known an instance of its occur-
rence, during a snow-storm, on the coast, in the neighbour-
hood of Aberdeen; but as tame Swans often wander in
stormy weather, and in many cases are scarcely half domes-
ticated, I do not see how a truly wild individual could be
recognized.

054

CYGNUS IMMUTABILIS. CHANGELESS SWAN.

POLISH SWAN.

Cygnus immutabilis. Polish Swan. Yarrell. Proceed, of Zool. Soc. p. 9

Brit. Birds. III. 131.
Cygnus immutabilis. Bonap. Comp. List, 55.

Adult male about sixty inches in length ; ninety-eight in
extent of wings ; bill from the joint to the tip of the upper
mandible four inches and two-twelfths, from the knob three
and a half, from the eye five and four-twelfths, its greatest
breadth one and four-and-a-half-twelfths ; the forehead ele-
vated, with a compressed, fleshy, ivrinkled lobe occupying the
upper basal angle of the bill ; tarsus four inches and a quarter;
middle toe five inches and eight-twelfths, its claw an inch ; tail
of twenty-four feathers, rounded ; bare space on the forehead
and between the eyes and bill black; the bill orange-red, except
the unguis, which is black, and of a narrow oblong form ; feet
dull grey ; plumage pure zvhite. Female similar to the male,
but considerably smaller. Young white in their first plumage .

Male in Winter. — The following description is taken
from an individual, kept for some time in the Edinburgh
Zoological Garden, but respecting the capture of which I can
obtain no other information than that afforded by its fractured
and reunited humerus, which shows that it has probably been
shot.

The body is of an elongated form, rather depressed ; the
neck extremely long and slender ; the head rather small,
oblong, compressed, anteriorly elevated above, and furnished
in front with a thick bulging compressed fleshy knob,
covered with corrugated skin. The bill is longer than the
head, straight, of nearly equal breadth throughout ; the

CHANGELESS SWAN. 655

upper mandible with its outline declinate and concave, at the
end decurved, the sides slightly sloped at the base, gradually
more inclined and convex toward the end, the edges soft and
marginate, with the lamellae projecting a little, the unguis
oblong, broad at the end, convex, deciirved, strong-edged ;
the lower mandible very slightly rearcuate, its unguis trian-
gular.

On the concave roof of the mouth is a medial series of
large flattened tubercles, and on each side at the base an
oblique row of similar tubercles, then a lateral series of very
slender, inconspicuous elevated lines and grooves, and fifty-
two marginal lamellae, of which the outer extremities are
compressed and obtuse. On the lower mandible are about
fifty external lamellae, of which about twenty-two only are
very distinct, and ninety marginal lamellae. The tongue is
three inches and a quarter in length, ten-twelfths in breadth,
fleshy, with the sides parallel, the base with a double semi-
circular series of conical papillae, a large soft prominence
above, a deep medial groove having on each side flat, acute,
spreading papillae, the edges fringed with papillae, of which
the posterior are large, the anterior small, and an inferior
series of filaments, extending behind the base of the tongue.
The oesophagus, thirty-eight inches long, varies in width from
eight-twelfths to an inch and a quarter, being dilated at the
lower part of the neck. The proventriculus is an inch and
eight-twelfths in breadth. The stomach is obliquely situated,
three inches and a half in length, four inches and a quarter
in breadth, a little compressed, less oblong than in the other
species, with extremely developed lateral muscles, very large
tendons, and rugous epithelium, with two concave grinding
surfaces. The intestine is sixteen feet and a half in length ;
its duodenal part an inch in width, the rest six-twelfths.
The duodenum curves at the distance of eight inches, and
receives the gall-ducts at that of twenty. The rectum is nine
inches and a half in length, at first nine-twelfths in width, at
the end dilated to an inch and a half. The coeca are fifteen
inches long, for five inches only two-twelfths and a half wide,
then enlarged to ten-twelfths, and toward the end decreasing
to five-twelfths.

656 CYGNUS IMMUTABILIS.

The trachea, on reaching the intrafurcular space, forms a
slight curve outwards, and then directly enters the thorax.
Its width at first is seven-twelfths, then six-twelfths, at the
lower part of the neck nine-twelfths. It is composed of a
hundred and ninety rings, and five united rings forming the
inferior laryngeal bone, which is moderately compressed, its
breadth being six-twelfths, and its posterior margin, which
is very oblique, almost an inch in height. It differs from
that of the other species in having the terminal margin thus
oblique, and in wanting the external, lateral, narrow, free
membranes, there being in this species none besides those
intervening between the last tracheal and first bronchial
rings, about the middle of which, however, is seen the very
slender bone appended to the narrow membrane in the others.
The bronchi are very short, only an inch and a half in length,
Avith fifteen incomplete, slender, and feeble rings.

The skin at the base of the bill, including the frontal
knob, and the large triangular space from the lateral base of
the upper mandible to the eye, and surrounding it, is bare.
The nostrils are oblong, patulous, seven-twelfths in length,
in the lower anterior part of the oblong nasal sinus. The
eyes are very small, their aperture measuring five-twelfths
and a half. The legs are very short and strong ; the tibia
bare for an inch and a quarter ; the tarsus compressed and
reticulate. The first toe very small, with an inferior slight,
compressed lobe, reticulated above, but having also four scu-
tella ; the second toe with eighteen, the third twenty -five, the
fourth thirty-one scutella ; the inner with a broad margin or
web ; the interdigital membranes full. The claws stout,
moderately arcuate, rather obtuse, that of the middle toe
dilated and rounded.

The plumage rather full, dense, soft, and elastic ; on the
head and neck the feathers oblong, obtuse, blended ; on the
other parts ovato-oblong. The wings are very long, of mode-
rate breadth, convex ; the quills thirty-five ; the primaries
strong, decurved, the outer three strongly simiate on the
inner web, the second and third longest and about equal. The
tail is short, rounded, of twenty-four feathers.

The bill is orange-red, with the margins of the upper

CHANGELESS SWAN. 657

mandibles and unguis black ; the lower mandible yellow in
the middle only. The bare space at the base of the tail
black. The feet dusky grey, on the inner side light grey; the
membranes darker ; the claws brownish-black, pale at the
base. The plumage pure white.

Length to end of tail 64 inches ; extent of wings 96 ; wing
from flexure 25 ; tail 8 ; bill from joint 4^ ; from the knob
3j ; from the eye 5^- ; its height at the base, including the
knob 2yV ; breadth 1-^; tarsus 44; ; first toe 1^-, its claw -fa;
second toe 4^, its claw 1 ; third toe 5T8¥, its claw 4^- ; fourth
toe 5-^, its claw \%.

Female. — There having been a great mortality among
the birds of the Zoological Garden in Edinburgh, I obtained
in March, 1841, an inspection of a female, the mate or com-
panion of the male above described. As represented by that
individual, the female differs from the male only in being
smaller, and in having but a very slight protuberance in place
of the elevated knob at the base of the bill. The bare space
between it and the eye is greyish-black ; the bill orange-red,
with the nasal space, the margins and unguis of the upper
mandible, and a great part of the lower, black. The bare
part of the tibia, the tarsus, and the toes, are pale bluish-grey;
the webs blackish-grey ; the claws black, light-coloured at the
base. The plumage white.

Length to end of tail 58 inches ; extent of wings 88 ;
wing from flexure 22 ; tail 7^ ; bill from the joint along the
ridge 3T8Y ; from the eye 5-^j ; its height at the base 1^ ;
breadth at the base 1-^ ; middle 1^- ; behind the unguis
Ixj ; bare part of the tibia 14-; tarsus 4T2¥; hind toe 1^, its
claw -^ ; second toe 4^, its claw 4J- ; third toe 5-^, its claw
4J- ; fourth toe 5^, its claw -fe.

Habits. — This species which, being very similar to the
Common or Tame Swan, had been confounded with it, was
first distinguished and described by Mr, Yarrell. He states
that " the London dealers in birds have long been in the
habit of receiving from the Baltic a large Swan, which they
distinguish by the name of the Polish Swan." " During the

T T

658 CYGNUS IMMUTABILIS.

severe weather of January, 1838, several flocks of these Polish
Swans were seen pursuing a southern course along the line of
our north-east coast, from Scotland to the mouth of the
Thames, and several specimens were obtained. The circum-
stance of these flocks being seen, without any observable dif-
ference in the specimens obtaiued, all of which were distinct
from our Mute Swan ; the fact also, that the Cygnets, as far
as observed, were of a pure white colour, like the parent birds,
and did not assume, at any age, the grey colour borne for the
greater part of the first two years by the young of the other
species of Swans ; and an anatomical distinction in the form
of the cranium, which was described by Mr. Pelerin in the
Magazine of Natural History, induced me to consider this
Swan entitled to rank as a distinct species, and, in reference
to the unchangeable colour of the plumage, I proposed for it
the name of Cygnus immutabilis."

659

CYGNUS MUSICUS. THE WHOOPING SWAN.

HOOPER. WILD SWAN. WHISTLING SWAN. ELK.

Fio. 59.

Anas Cygnus ferus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 194.

Anas Cygnus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 833.

Whistling or Wild Swan. Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Supplt.

Cygne a bee jaune ou sauvage. Anas Cygnus. Temm. Man. d'Orn. II. 828

Whistling Swan. Cygnus ferus. Selhy, Illustr. II. 278.

Cygnus ferus. Whistling Swan. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 227.

Cygnus musicus. Bonap. Comp. List, 55.

Adult male about sixty inches long, ninety -Jive in extent of
wings; bill from the joint to the tip of the upper mandible
three inches and a half, its greatest width about the middle an
inch and a quarter; from the eye to the tip of the bill five

660 CYGNUS MUSICUS.

inches and two-twelfths; tarsus four inches and two-ticelfths ;
middle toe four inches and ten-twelfths, its claw an inch; tail
of twenty feathers, rounded; bare space on the forehead, and
between the eyes and bill, bright yellow, as is the base of both
mandibles, that colour extending in an angular form on the
sides of the upper mandibles to beyond , the nostrils; feet
black; plumage pure white, the head tinged with orange-red.
Female similar to the male, but considerably smaller. Young
with the bill dusky at the end, reddish toward the base, the
partially bare skin at its base flesh- colour ; the feet reddish-
grey ; the plumage pale bluish-grey.

Male. — The body of this, the largest wild bird, except
the Polish Swan, that occurs in Britain, is of an elliptical,
rather elongated, and somewhat depressed form ; the neck
extremely long and slender ; the head of moderate size,
oblong, compressed. The bill is rather longer than the
head, straight, higher than broad at the base, gradually de-
pressed, of nearly equal breadth throughout, being very
slightly narrower toward the end ; upper mandible with the
dorsal line, not including the space behind the joint, de-
scending, and almost sraight to the unguis, then decurved,
the ridge broad and flat at the base, gradually narrowed,
beyond the nostrils convex, the sides nearly erect and some-
what concave at the base, gradually sloping and becoming
more convex, the margins soft, the unguis large, obovato-
triangular, convex, thick-edged, and internally grooved.
The lower mandible with the intercrural space very long
and of moderate width, its membrane bare for more than
two-thirds, the crura convex beneath, with their lower out-
line very slightly re-arcuate, the laminated margins incli-
nate, the unguis very large, obovato-triangular, little convex,
with a wide groove on each side ; the gape-line slightly
re-arcuate.

The upper mandible deeply concave, with a medial pro-
minent papillate ridge, and on each side an oblique series of
transverse flattened tubercles, a submarginal series of incon-
spicuous slender lamella3, and a marginal series of transverse,
more or less oblique, slender, little elevated, obtusely termi-

WHOOPING SWAN. 661

nated lamella?, not projecting beyond the margin. The lower
mandible has an external and an internal series of lamellae.

The mouth is an inch and four-twelfths in width. The
tongue three inches and two-twelfths long, ten-twelfths in
breadth, fleshy, with the sides parallel ; the base with a
double row of conical papillae arranged in a circular manner,
and a soft large prominence above ; the upper surface with a
deep longitudinal median groove, having on each side acute,
flat, spreading papillae ; the edges fringed with flattened
tapering papillae, of which the posterior are large and serru-
late, the anterior small, together with an inferior series of
filamentary papillae. Behind the aperture of the glottis a
large pad of acuminate papillae. The oesophagus is thirty
inches long, very narrow, about half an inch in width, but
at the lower part of the neck dilated into a peculiar kind of
crop, averaging an inch in width, and in this individual
compactly filled with roots and blades of Zostera marina ;
the proventriculus an inch and a half in breadth. The
stomach, obliquely situated, is an extremely developed giz-
zard, of an elliptical form, three inches and a fourth in
length, five inches in breadth, the right lateral muscle two
inches thick, the left an inch and three-fourths ; the epithe-
lium thick, dense, with two smoothish, considerably concave
grinding surfaces. There is a large pyloric sac. The intes-
tine, thirteen feet long, has a width of from an inch to
eight-twelfths, and forms sixteen turns. The duodenum, in
curving along the edge of the stomach, forms three-fourths
of a circle. The rectum is ten inches in length, enlarges
from nine-twelfths to an inch and three-fourths, which is
the width of the cloaca. The cceca are thirteen inches and
a half long, for four inches about three-twelfths wide, then
enlarging to one inch, and toward the end diminishing to
four-twelfths.

The trachea, three feet two inches in length, has at first
a breadth of nine-twelfths, gradually contracts to six-twelfths,
then enlarges to eight-twelfths, and is considerably flattened
until about six inches from the furcula, when it becomes
nearly cylindrical, seven-twelfths in diameter, enters a cavity
formed in the crest of the sternum, along which it passes to

662 CYGNUS MUSICUS.

the length of three inches and a half, bends upon itself ver-
tically, returns, emerges from the cavity, bends upwards and
backwards, and ends on the anterior edge of the sternum.
In this part it is cylindrical, at first seven-twelfths and a
half in width, on emerging ten-twelfths. The inferior larynx,
composed of several united rings, is laterally much com-
pressed, measuring in height an inch and two-twelfths, and
in breadth only two-twelfths. Appended to the last or
semilunar ring on each side is a narrow membrane, to which
is attached an extremely slender half-ring. Within this
small membrane, and separate from it, is a large membrane
extending to the first bronchial ring. The bronchi, com-
posed of about thirty branched bony rings, curiously united
by processes so as to have a reticulated appearance, are very
large, and four inches in length; for two inches seven or
eight-twelfths in diameter, then enlarged to nine-twelfths,
and ultimately contracted to four-twelfths. The rings of
the trachea are osseous, firm, flattened, alternately narrowed
on one side, in the part within the sternal cavity much
broader, thinner, and anchylosing like the bronchial rings,
but in a less degree. The lateral or contractor muscles do
not accompany that part which enters the sternum, but pass
over to join it as it emerges, and continue to the commence-
ment of the large terminal compressed ring, at which place
come off the sterno-tracheales. The inferior larynx thus has
no muscles.

The nostrils are oblong, seven-twelfths in length, direct,
medial, in the lower anterior part of the oblong nasal sinus.
The eyes are very small, their aperture measuring five-
twelfths. That of the ear round, four-twelfths in diameter.
The legs are short, very stout ; the tibia very muscular, bare
for an inch and four-twelfths ; the tarsus short, considerably
compressed, reticulated with angular scales, of which the
anterior are large and rounded ; the hind toe very diminu-
tive, and not reaching the ground; the middle toe longer
than the tarsus ; the outer much longer than the inner, and
reticulated to the third joint, the inner as far as the second
joint, the middle toe nearly as far ; the hind toe with four
scutella, the inner with twenty, the next thirty-five, and the

WHOOPING SWAN. 663

outer twenty-five ; the interdigital webs full, reticulate, the
marginal web of the inner toe slightly bilobate. The claws
are strong, arched, compressed, convex above, rather acute,
that of the middle toe with the inner edge dilated and the
tip rounded.

A portion of the forehead, and the space between the bill
and the eyes denuded. The plumage rather full, dense, soft,
elastic ; on the head and neck the feathers oblong, obtuse,
blended, and very soft ; on the lower parts rather small,
much curved, ovato-oblong ; on the upper parts larger,
broader, and little curved ; the scapulars large. The wings
are very long, of moderate breadth, convex ; the humerus and
cubitus proportionally longer ; the quills thirty-five, together
with eight humerals ; the primaries strong, decurved, the
outer three strongly sinuate on the inner web, the first eight-
twelfths shorter than the second, which exceeds the third by
two-twelfths. When the wing is closed, some of the inner
secondaries extend considerably beyond the longest primary.
The tail is very short, rounded, of twenty stifnsh rounded
feathers, of which the lateral are an inch and three fourths
shorter than the medial.

The bare space on the forehead, and from the base of the
upper mandible to the eyes, is bright yellow, as is the basal
part of the bill, that colour occupying about an inch of the
ridge, and passing in a pointed form along the sides of the
upper mandible to beyond the nostrils ; part of the base of
the lower mandible, and its intercrural membrane, also yel-
low ; the rest of the bill black. The iris brown. The feet
and claws black. The plumage entirely pure white.

Length to end of tail 60 inches ; extent of wings 95 ;
wing from flexure 25| ; tail 7£ ; bill along the ridge, includ-
ing the bare space on the forehead 4-^, from its tip to the
eye-joint 3^, to the eye 5^, its height at the joint 1|, breadth
at the middle 1^, toward the end 1-^ ; bare part of tibia 1T4¥ ;
tarsus 4^ ; first toe -fe, its claw -^ ; second toe S\, its claw 1 ;
third toe 5-jL- ', its claw l-^> ; fourth toe 4|i, its claw \%.

Female. — The female differs from the male only in being
smaller.

664 CYGNUS MUSICUS.

Length to end of tail 56 inches ; extent of wings 88 ; bill
along the ridge, from the joint 3-^, to the eye 5-jL- ; tarsus 4 ;
middle toe and claw 6-^.

An individual killed in the south of Scotland, in February
1841, had the oesophagus twenty-eight inches in length,
about half an inch in width, at the lower part of the neck
enlarged to an inch, then contracted ; the proventriculus an
inch and a half in breadth. The stomach obliquely situated,
transversely elliptical, three inches and two-twelfths in
length, five inches in breadth. The intestine eleven feet and
a half long ; the widest part of the duodenum one inch, gra-
dually contracting to eight-twelfths, and in some parts half
an inch. The coeca are, one eleven inches and a half, the
other twelve inches in length, their width for four inches
three-twelfths, then enlarged to ten-tAvelfths, toward the end
contracting to four-twelfths, and finally three-twelfths. The
rectum is nine inches long, at first ten-twelfths wide, gra-
dually enlarging to an inch and three-fourths. The intestine
is simply convoluted in an oblique direction, with sixteen
turns. The duodenum returns on itself at the distance of
eight inches and a half, and receives the biliary ducts at that
of nineteen inches.

The trachea, having at its lower part a diameter of seven-
twelfths, enters the crest of the sternum to the depth of three
inches, returns, and terminates on the edge of the sternum,
in an extremely compressed inferior larynx, of which the
narrowest part is only two-twelfths-and-a-quarter in breadth,
the lower edge being one inch in height. The structure of
this part is the same as in the male. The bronchi are four
inches and a quarter in length, at first eight-twelfths in
height and four-twelfths in breadth, then round and five-
twelfths in diameter, afterwards suddenly enlarged to nine-
twelfths, and finally contracted ; the number of rings forty-
two, slender, and most of them anchylosed.

The extreme compression of the inferior larynx, and the
elongated bronchi, are peculiar to this species, and by these
characters, together with the entrance of the trachea into the
crest of the sternum to the distance of from three to four

WHOOPING SWAN. 665

inches only, never into its hind part, the bird may always be
distinguished.

Length to end of tail 52 inches ; extent of wings 85 ; wing
from flexure 23£ ; tail 1\ ; bill along the ridge, including
the bare space on the forehead 4j, from its tip to the joint 3-^,
to the eye 4-L§- ; its height at the joint of upper mandible 1-^,
breadth toward the end 1^ ; bare part of tibia 1^ ; tarsus 4 ;
hind toe -^-, its claw -^ ; second toe 3-fe, its claw ±± ;
third toe 4\^, its claw \^ ; fourth toe 4f , its claw ^-.

Variations. — Adult individuals vary in size, and in
having the head white or tinged with dull orange-red. The
size of the stomach, and the length of the digestive organs, as
well as the diameter of the trachea, and the extent to which
it enters the crest of the sternum, also vary.

Habits. — As this species was not until recently distin-
guished from two others, the one belonging to Europe, the
other to North America, its habits and distribution as given
by authors cannot be considered as satisfactorily known.
Formerly it was considered certain that it regularly visited
the Orkney Islands, and some of the outer Hebrides, on
which it remained during the winter ; but until it be ascer-
tained that this species, and not Bewick's Swan, is the one
which frequents these Islands, we can only say that they are
visited by wild Swans, probably of both species. I have seen,
in Harris, a flock come in from the Atlantic after a gale, and
listened with delight to their loud and clear trumpet-like cries,
as they sped their way in lengthened files ; but whether they
were of this species or not I cannot affirm. In South Uist a
vast number remain from October to May on some of the
lakes, and in Lewis and Harris they are frequently seen in
winter ; but these are certainly not the birds that in severe
weather are found dispersed over Scotland and England. In
England, when the winter is mild, few, or perhaps none, may
be met with, whereas in boisterous weather they appear in
flocks, dispersed here and there, chiefly on the estuaries and
rivers. It is the same in Scotland, where in some seasons
great numbers are killed, and they may be procured even in

666 CYGNUS MUSICUS.

the markets, while at other times the ornithologist who wishes
to obtain a recent specimen will fail in his endeavours.
Under these circumstances, it appears that very little can be
said of the peculiar habits of this species. The substances
whidh I have found in its stomach were roots and rhizomata,
together with some herbage, and, in the case of the adult
male described above, which I obtained in February 1838,
the roots and leaves of Zostera. Along with the food is
always found a large quantity of fine quartz sand. Instead
of fairly admitting their utter ignorance of the habits of this
bird, our ornithologists interlard its obscure and imperfect
history with conjectures and disquisitions of various kinds.
Mr. Thomson, however, who states that it visits Ireland
occasionally in winter, gives a good deal of information
respecting its habits ; and Mr. St. John, in his Wild Sports
of the Highlands, has an excellent description of the manners
of "Wild Swans in Scotland.

Montagu relates that a female Whistling Swan, shot near
Bridgewater in 1805, got the better of her wound, and was
kept by Mr. Stone with his Geese for nearly two years, in
which time she laid an egg. That gentleman presented her
to the naturalist, who thus further details her history: —
" This beautiful and docile bird is now alive and in high
health, living with many sorts of Ducks in the greatest
harmony. Towards the spring she becomes more clamorous,
and impatient of confinement ; but at all times will approach
those persons in the habit of feeding her, and will take food
from the hand, at the same time uttering those plaintive and
harmonious notes for which the species has been remarkable,
and which are always attended with a singular jerk of the
head. She usually carries her neck straight and erect, either
upon the water or when stationary on land ; but in walking
the head is lowered, and the neck reclining over the back.
In the season of love she frequently flaps along the surface of
the water, and would undoubtedly fly, if the precaution of
annually cutting the feathers of one wing was omitted, for
whatever might have been the wound that was the cause of
captivity, nature has performed a perfect cure. Her nature
is gentle, timid, and sociable ; she will follow those with

WHOOPING SWAN. G67

whom she is acquainted from one side of the menagerie to
the other, especially ladies of the family dressed in white ; is
often turned out of her course by a pugnacious male Shiel-
drake, and acts only offensively when food is the object, and
then only when resentment is not expected. She eats but
little grass on land, but will devour aquatic plants occasion-
ally. Barley, however, is her principal food, and she never
attempts to touch bread, which is sometimes thrown to other
birds ; nor will she devour small fish, which some of the
diving Ducks greedily eat.

" The egg is very small in proportion to the bird, being
not near so large as that of a China Goose, and is regularly
oval, about three inches long, and of a ferruginous colour,
with some white blotches about the middle, appearing as if
artificially stained." This, however, was an egg produced
under unfavourable circumstances ; for, as described by Mr.
Jenyns, the egg is " dull white, faintly tinged with greenish,
four inches one line in length, two inches eight lines in
breadth."

Dr. Edmondston represents it as an occasional visitant in
Shetland in autumn and spring. Messrs. Baikie and Heddle
state that " Swans arrive in Orkney in October, and remain
until the end of March. When there has been a severe
winter north, they are occasionally seen so late as the end
of April. During the severe season of 1838, several Swans
were found dead, probably from the extreme cold. "While
here they frequent the loch of Stennis, and are also abun-
dant in Ronsay, in Sanday, and some other islands. For-
merly they used to breed on some of the small islets in the
loch of Stennis, but they have not been known to breed
there for many years." Mr. St. John states that they frequent
the estuary of the Findhorn, and feed in various retired
places of Morayshire. They are also sometimes seen on the
loch of Spynie, near Elgin. I have seen specimens of this
species killed at Peterhead, New Deer, Fy vie, Aberdeen, and
Montrose. Swans often appear on the Loch of Strathbeg,
the Lochs of Skene, Achlossan, and Cannar, in Aberdeen-
shire ; not unfrequently in the Basin of Montrose, and in
severe winters in the estuary of the Tay.

668 CYGNUS MUSICUS.

Young. — The young are brown in their plumage for the
first year. One examined on the 6th of March, 1809, and
which measured three feet eight inches in length, and
weighed eight pounds and a quarter, had the bill flesh-colour
at the base ; the irides dusky ; the feathers on the forehead
and before the eyes dull orange ; the rest of the head and
upper neck behind, brown ; the under parts white, tinged
with rufous ; the lower neck behind, the upper parts of the
body, scapulars, coverts, and tail, cinereous-grey.

669

CYGNUS BEWICKIL BEWICK'S SWAN.

New species of Swan. "Wingate. Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. North. Durh. and

Newcastle 1.1.
Cygnus Bewickii. Yarrel, Trans. Linn. Soc. XVI. 446.
Cygnus Bewickii. Selby, Trans. Nat. Hist. North. Soc. Durh. and Newc.

I. 17.
Cygnus Bewickii. "Wingate, Bewick's Swan. Jard. and Selb. Illustr. of

Ornith. II. pi. xcv.
Cygne de Bewick. Cygnus Bewickii. Tenim. Man. d'Orn. IV. 527.
Bewick's Swan. Cygnus Bewickii. Selby, Illustr. II. 284.
Cygnus Bewickii. Bewick's Swan. Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 228.
Cygnus Bewickii. Bonap. Comp. List, 55.

Male about forty-Jive inches long ; seventy-two in extent of
wings ; bill from the joint to the tip of the upper mandible
three inches, its greatest breadth toward the end an inch and
a twelfth ; from the eye to the tip of the bill four inches and
five-twelfths ; tarsus three inches and nine-twelfths ; middle
toe four inches and a half, its claw ten-twelfths ; tail of
twenty {often eighteen) feathers, much rounded ; bare space on
the forehead, and between the eyes and bill, bright yellow, as
is the base of the upper mandible, that colour extending in an
angular form, but not reaching the nostrils ; feet black ;
plumage pure white, the head and neck tinged with orange-red.
Female similar to the male, but considerably smaller. Young
with the bill dusky at the end, flesh-coloured toward the base,
the partially bare skin at its base flesh-colour ; the feet reddish-
grey ; the plumage pale bluish-grey , the upper part of the
head darker.

Male in Winter. — This species, which is about a third
less than the Whooping Swan, differs little from it in its
general appearance, but presents peculiarities by which it may
easily be distinguished. The body is of an ovato-elliptical
form, rather depressed, especially at its fore part ; the neck

670 CYGNUS BEWICKIL

extremely long and slender ; the head of moderate size,
oblong, compressed. The bill is slightly longer than the
head, straight, higher than broad at the base, gradually de-
pressed, of almost equal breadth throughout, very slightly
enlarged near the end, which is rounded. The upper man-
dible has the dorsal line sloping, the ridge at first broad and
flattened, gradually narrowed, toward the end convex, the
unguis broadly obovate, large, and convex, the edges soft,
marginate. The loAver mandible with the intercrural space
very long, and of moderate width, its membrane bare for two-
thirds, the crura convex beneath, with their lower outline
slightly rearcuate, the laminated margine inclinate, the unguis
very large, obovato-elliptical ; the gape-line slightly rearcuate.
The upper mandible deeply concave, with a medial tuber-
culate ridge, and on each side an oblique series of flattened
tubercles, a sub-marginal series of inconspicuous slender
lamellae, and a marginal series of about thirty-five oblique,
slender, little elevated, obtusely terminated lamellae, not pro-
jecting beyond the margin. The lower mandible has about
twenty-two external, and sixty internal lamellae. The tongue
is tAvo inches and seven-twelfths in length, nine-twelfths in
breadth, fleshy, with the sides parallel, at the base a double
row of conical papillae arranged in a someAvhat semi-circular
manner, a large soft prominence near the base, a deep medial
groove, having on each side acute, fiat, spreading papillae ;
the edges thin, fringed Avith tapering flattened papillae, of
which the anterior are small, the posterior large and serrulate ;
and beneath this series a smaller of filamentary papillae,
extending behind the base of the tongue. The oesophagus
extremely long and slender, its length tAventy-six inches, for
fifteen inches its Avidth eight inches, then dilated for a short
space to ten-twelfths, and Avithin the thorax contracting to
five-tAvelfths. The proventriculus two inches long, and an
inch and two-twelths in its greatest breadth. The gizzard
oblique, sub-elliptical, sub-compressed, tAvo inches and a half
in length, three inches and three-fourths in breadth; with
extremely thick muscles, very large tendons, and rugous epi-
thelium, having tAvo slightly concave grinding surfaces. The
intestine eight feet and a half in length, ten-twelfths in width

BEWICK'S SWAN. 671

in part of the duodenum, gradually contracting to five-twelfths.
The coeca come off at the distance of seven inches from the
extremity, and are ten inches in length, at the commence-
ment two-twelfths and a half in width, their greadest breadth
eight-twelfths, narrowed to four-twelfths.

The trachea at first eight-twelfths in breadth, contracts to
five-twelfths, then enlarges to seven-twelfths ; it is consider-
ably flattened until near the furcula, when it becomes cylin-
drical, enters a cavity formed in the crest of the sternum, and
is continued into a vacant space beyond it, and extending to
within half an inch of the posterior extremity of the bone, in
which it forms a horizontal loop, returns, becomes vertical,
and curving in the furcula enters the thorax to the length of
three inches. The inferior larynx, composed of several united
rings, is laterally compressed, measuring at the end in height
an inch, and in breadth six-twelfths. Appended to the last
or semi-lunar ring on each side is a narrow membrane, to
which is attached an extremely slender half-ring. Within
this small membrane is a larger extending to the first bron-
chial ring. The bronchi, composed of about twenty thin
bony rings, some of which are united by processes, are two
inches in length, enlarged beyond the middle into a some-
what globular sac, half an inch in breadth, and ultimately
contracted to four-twelfths.

The nostrils are oblongo- elliptical, five-twelfths and a
half in length, direct, medial. The aperture of the eyes four-
twelfths and a half. The legs are short, very stout ; the tibia
bare for an inch and a quarter ; the tarsus considerably com-
pressed, reticulated ; the hind toe very diminutive, the outer
reticulated to the third joint, the middle toe nearly as far as
the second joint, the inner to that joint, their scutella respec-
tively thirty-five, thirty-three, and twenty ; the membranes
full. The claws of moderate size, strong, arched, compressed,
rather acute, that of the middle toe with its inner edge
dilated, and the tip rounded.

A portion of the forehead, and the space from the bill to
the eyes, and margining them, bare. The plumage as in the
other species ; the wings very long, with thirty-three quills,
the second and third equal and longest, the outer three deeply

672 CYGNUS BEWICKII.

sinuate on the inner web ; the tail short, much rounded, of
twenty feathers.

The bill is black, with the exception of a bright yellow
triangular space on each side at the base, not extending so
far forward as the nostrils ; the bare skin at its base orange-
yellow. The iris brown. The feet black. The plumage
pure white ; the head and neck tinged with reddish-yellow.

Length to end of tail 45 inches ; extent of wings 74 ;
wing from flexure 20^ ; tail 5 J ; bill along the ridge 3^ ;
from the joint 3 ; from the eye to the tip 5^ ; its height at
the base 1^- ; its breadth near the end l-^ ; bare part of
tibia 1-^ ; tarsus 1^ ; hind toe T7T, its claw -fe ', second toe
3^-, its claw -f^ ', third toe 41, its claw \% ; fourth toe 4-^,
its claw -j2^.

Female. — The female is similar to the male, but smaller.
The digestive organs of an individual examined in Edinburgh,
in January, 1836, were as follows : — The tongue two inches and
a half in length, three-fourths in breadth. The oesophagus
twenty-five inches long, for fifteen inches and a half averag-
ing half an inch in width, but in two places dilated to ten-
twelfths, and at the lower part of the neck forming a kind of
diminutive crop ; within the thorax contracted to three-
twelfths ; the proventriculus two inches long, and one inch
in its greatest breadth. The gizzard three inches and a half
in breadth, two and a quarter in length, sub-elliptical, convex
on the sides, with the edges rather thin. Immediately after
the pylorus the intestine enlarges to half an inch, soon
after to three-fourths, and so continues to the entrance of the
biliary ducts, at eleven inches from the pylorus, after which
it gradually contracts to the coeca, where it is four-twelfths and
a half. The rectum, at the commencement six-twelfths and
a half in width, gradually enlarges, and at the end forms an
oblong cloaca. The coeca come off at the distance of six
inches and a half from the end ; one is nine inches and a half
in length, the other eight, at the commencement only two-
twelfths in breadth, but enlarging to seven-twelfths, then
gradually narrowing to four-twelfths, their termination
rounded ; one much smaller there than the other. The heart

BEWICK'S SWAN. 673

two inches and ten-twelfths in length, two inches and
three-fourths in breadth at the base. The right lobe of
the liver three inches and a half, the left two and a half in
length.

The dimensions of this individual, if taken at the time,
have been lost.

Habits. — This species had been confounded with the
Common Wild Swan until Mr. Richard Wingate of New-
castle-on-Tyne, in a paper read before the Literary and Phi-
losophical Society of that city, showed the difference between
the two species, which were further particularly described by
Mr. Yarrell, who disclosed the anatomical differences between
them, and by Mr. Selby. Subsequently, it was considered
the same as the smaller species of Swan common in many
parts of North America, which, however, has been shown to
be distinct by Dr. J. T. Sharpless of Philadelphia, in an
elaborate paper published in the twenty-second volume of the
American Journal of Science and Arts. These circumstances
I here mention only as introductory to the remark, that the
habits of Bewick's Swan, although they may not differ
materially from those of either Cygnus musicus or Cygnus
Americanus, have not hitherto been made a subject of obser-
vation. Since its discovery it has been frequently shot in
England, and in several instances found in collections. In
1836 I had an adult female, and in 1888 a male, both ob-
tained in Edinburgh, and no doubt shot in Scotland. All
that I can learn respecting its habits is, that it appears to
visit us annually in winter, and to be more numerous, or more
easily obtained, during severe or long-continued snow-storms,
when it betakes itself to estuaries or the open sea-coast. We
may presume that it is gregarious, has a rapid direct flight,
and in these, as well as in other respects, resembles the larger
species. Like them it feeds on the roots of aquatic plants.
Mr. Thomr)son finds it more common than the Hooper in
Ireland. " In addition to my own observations on the sub-
ject, Mr. Pv. Ball considers that four-fifths of the Wild Swans
brought to Dublin market are C. Bewickii. A similar pro-
portion, too, occurred in Connaught, to Mr. G. Jackson,

u u

674 CYGNUS BEWICKII.

gamekeeper, as of about forty or fifty Wild Swans killed there
by him during several winters, all excepting five or six were of
this species. It is the only Swan which has been observed on
the coast of Kerry, where it appears in very severe winters."
M. Temminck says it " inhabits Iceland, migrating south-
ward."

67.5

CYGNUS AMERICANUS. THE AMERICAN SWAN.

Cygnus Americanus. American Wild Swan. Dr. Sharpless, Amer. Journ.

Sc. and Arts, vol. XXII.
American Swan. Cygnus Americanus. Audubon, Amer. Ornith. Biogr.

V. 133; Birds of America, pi. 411.

Adult male about fifty-four inches long, eighty-five in
extent of wings ; bill from the joint to the tip of the upper
mandible three inches and f our -twelfth s , its greatest width
near the end an inch and a quarter ; from the eye to the tip
of the bill four inches and nine-twelfths ; tarsus four inches;
middle toe four inches and three-fourths, its claw ten-twelfths ;
tail of twenty feathers, moderately rounded; bill and bare
space on the fore part of the head black, with an oblong
orange patch, never more than cm inch in length, between the
eye and the base of the bill; feet black; plumage pure white,
the head tinged with orange-red. Female similar to the male,
but considerably smaller. Young at first with the bill reddish-
white, brown at the end; the feet light grey ; the plumage of
a deep leaden tint. In winter with the bill flesh-coloured,
dusky toivard the end; the feet dusky, the plumage light
bluish-grey ; the upper part of the head dusky grey, the
feathers margining the forehead and cheeks reddish.

The occurence of a single individual of this species, an
immature male, in the south of Scotland, has induced me to
present a somewhat detailed history of it, such as may prove
useful to those who may chance to meet with other speci-
mens. The following descriptions are entirely original, being
taken from an adult male presented to me by Mr. Audubon,
and an entire female preserved in spirits : —

Male in Winter. — The body is of an elliptical, some-

676 CYGNUS AMERICANUS.

what depressed form ; the neck extremely long and slender ;
the head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. The bill is
rather longer than the head, straight, higher than broad at
the base, gradually depressed, a little wider toward the end ;
upper mandible with the dorsal line, not including the con-
cave space beyond the joint, descending and very slightly
convex to beyond the nostrils, then slightly concave, and
ultimately decurved ; the ridge broad and flat at the base,
gradually narrowed, beyond the nostrils convex, the sides
nearly erect and somewhat concave at the base, gradually
sloping, and becoming more convex ; the margins soft, nearly
parallel, but toward the end widening a little ; the unguis
large, broadly obovate, convex, thick-edged, and internally
grooved. The lower mandible with the intercrural space
very long and of moderate width, its membrane bare for
more than two-thirds, the crura convex beneath, with their
lower outline slightly re-arcuate, the laminated margins in-
clinate, the unguis very large, obovato-elliptical, with a wide
groove on each side ; the gape-line slightly re-arcuate.

The upper mandible deeply concave, with a medial pro-
minent papillate ridge, and on each side an oblique series of
transverse flattened tubercles, a submarginal series of incon-
spicuous slender lamellae, and a marginal series of about
thirty-five transverse, more or less oblique, slender, little
elevated, obtusely terminated lamellae, not projecting beyond
the margin. The lower mandible has twenty-two external
and about sixty internal lamellae.

The nostrils are oblong, nearly half an inch in length,
direct, medial, near the ridge, in the lower anterior part of
the oblong sinus. The eyes are very small, their aperture
measuring five-twelfths. That of the ear round, four-twelfths
in diameter. The legs are short, very stout, placed a little
behind the centre of the body ; the tibia very muscular, bare
for nearly an inch and a half; the tarsus short, considerably
compressed, reticulated with angular scales, of which the
anterior are large and rounded ; the hind toe very diminu-
tive, with a slight thickened lower margin ; the middle toe
longer than the tarsus ; the outer considerably longer than
the inner, and reticulated to the third joint, the inner reticu-

AMERICAN SWAN. 677

lated as far as the second joint, the middle toe nearly as far ;
the inner with twenty, the middle toe thirty-three, the outer
twenty-five scutella ; the interdigital webs full, reticulate,
the marginal web of the inner toe slightly bilobate. The
claws are of moderate size, strong, arched, compressed, con-
vex above, rather acute, that of the middle toe with the
inner edge dilated and the tip rounded.

A portion of the forehead, and the space between the bill
and the eyes, denuded. The plumage moderate or rather
full, dense, soft, and elastic ; on the head and neck the
feathers oblong, obtuse, blended, and very soft ; on the
lower parts rather small, much curved, ovato-oblong ; on
the upper parts larger, broader, and little curved ; the sca-
pulars large. The wings are very long, of moderate breadth,
convex ; the humerus and cubitus proportionally longer than
the digital portion ; the quills thirty-five, together with
eight numerals ; the primaries of moderate length, decurved,
the outer three strongly sinuate on the inner web, the second
longest, exceeding the first by eight-twelfths of an inch, but
not more than half a twelfth longer than the the third ; the
secondaries of moderate breadth and rounded. The tail is
very short, rounded, of twenty stiffish, rounded feathers, of
which the lateral are an inch and eight-twelfths shorter than
the medial.

The bill is black, as is the bare space on the fore part of
the head, with the exception of an orange-yellow oblong
patch from the anterior angle of the eye, nearly an inch in
length ; the erect sides of the lower mandible and the inside
of the mouth yellowish flesh-colour. The iris brown. The
feet and claws black. The plumage entirely pure white.

Length to end of tail 54 inches ; wing from flexure 252^ ;
tail 7^ ; bill along the ridge, including the bare space 4,
from its tip to the eye 4^ ; hind toe ^-, its claw -^ > second
toe 8^, its claw \% ; third toe 4^, its claw Yk > ft>ul'th toe
4T8^-, its claw if.

Dimensions of an individual described by Dr. Sharp-
less : — Length 54 ; bill from the edge of the forehead 4|,
from the eye 5 ; extent of wings 86 ; wing from flexure 23 ;
middle toe 6.

678 CYGNUS AMERICAXUS.

Female in Winter. — The female is similar to the male,
but considerably smaller. An individual dissected by me, as
detailed in Mr. Audubon's work, had about forty lamellae on
each side of the upper mandible, about sixty inner and twenty-
two outer on each side of the lower. The width of the mouth
one inch five-twelfths. The diameter of the aperture of the
eyes five-twelfths, of that of the ears four-twelfths. The
heart three inches two-twelfths in length, two inches ten-
twelfths in breadth. The oesophagus twenty-six inches long,
only four-twelfths wide, but at the lower part of the neck
dilating to eight-twelfths ; the proventriculus an inch and
two-twelfths in breadth. The stomach, which is obliquely
situated, is an extremely developed gizzard, of an elliptical
form, two inches and a half in length, three inches and ten-
twelfths in breadth ; the right lateral muscle an inch and
three fourths, the other an inch and a third in thickness ; the
epithelium thick, dense, with two smoothish, considerably
concave grinding surfaces. There is a large pyloric sac, from
which the duodenum comes off. The intestine measures
eleven feet five inches in length. It first curves round the
edge of the stomach to the length of eight inches and a half,
reaching the sixth rib, then returns, enclosing the pancreas
to before the stomach, passes along the spine nearly to the
end of the abdomen, returns to the edge of the stomach, forms
a small loop, comes forward, then backward, forward, back-
ward, and forward, becomes anterior, curves parallel to the
duodenum to the seventh rib, passes backward, curving up
to the liver, returns, comes back, then stretches nearly to the
cloaca, where it becomes accompanied by the coeca, comes
forward on the right side to the anterior edge of the stomach,
and bends abruptly backwards, forming the rectum. There
are thus sixteen bends or eight folds. The average width is
half an inch. The rectum seven inches long, eight-twelfths
in width ; the coeca eleven inches long, for three inches only
two-twelfths wide, then expanded to from three-twelfths to
four-twelfths-and-a-half ; the cloaca of moderate size and
globular.

The trachea, twenty inches in length, has at first a breadth
of nine-twelfths, gradually contracted to seven-twelfths, and

AMERICAN SWAN. 679

is much flattened, until about six inches from the furcula,
when it gradually becomes cylindrical, and seven-twelfths in
diameter, on reaching the curve of the furcula bends a little
upwards, enters a cavity formed in the crest of the sternum,
along which it passes to the length of six inches, bends upon
itself horizontally, forming a loop, returns, emerges, bends
upwards and backwards, entering the thorax. The inferior
larynx, composed of several united rings, is laterally com-
pressed. Appended to the last or semilunar ring, on each
side, is a narrow membrane, terminated by an extremely
slender half ring. Within this small membrane, and separate
from it, is a large membrane extending to the first bronchial
ring. The bronchi are very short, at first compressed, then
enlarged into a roundish cavity seven-twelfths-and-a-half in
diameter, afterwards cylindrical ; their entire length an inch
and three fourths ; the right bronchus with twenty-three, the
left with twenty-one slender rings, a few of which anastomose.
Length to end of tail 50 inches ; bill along the ridge 4£,
from its tip to the eye 4-j-£ ; lower mandible, along the edge
3^-, its height at the basal angles of the mouth 1T9T, breadth
at the nostrils 1-^, near the end 1^-.

Variations. — In the adult state, the principal variations
are in size, and in the extent of the orange-red, or rusty tint
on the head and neck. According to Dr. Sharpless, the
trachea in young birds forms a vertical fold within the keel
of the sternum, but in those of more advanced age, in which
a cavity forms in the body of the sternum, makes a horizontal
loop, which varies in size, until in very old birds it has a
width of two inches or more. Of three sterna figured by him
to show these gradations, one, in which the trachea has only
a vertical fold — the bird being very young — the length of the
sternum was six inches and a half, the length to which the
tracheal loop extended three inches and a half; in another,
the length of the sternum was six inches and a half, that ot
the loop, horizontal at the end, four inches and three fourths ;
in the third the sternum was seven inches and a half in
length, the loop circularly expanded at the end, and extend-
ing to the posterior edge of the sternum.

680 CYGNUS AMERICANUS.

Habits. — This species, the common Swan of North
America, long confounded with the common Wild Swan of
Europe, and afterwards with Bewick's Swan, was first accu-
rately distinguished and described by Dr. Sharpless, in a
paper read before the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila-
delphia, on the 7th of February 1832, and printed in the
twenty-second volume of the American Journal of Sciences
and Arts. In the first volume of the Cabinet of Natural
History, published, in 1831, in Philadelphia, he has also
given a detailed and most agreeable account of its habits,
respecting which, however, it is not expedient to present
more than the following epitome : —

The Swans leave the shores of the Polar Sea about the
1st of September, and resort to the lakes and rivers in about
the latitude of Hudson's Bay, where they remain until Octo-
ber, when they collect into flocks of twenty or thirty, and in
favourable weather commence their southward flight, mount-
ing high in the air, in the form of a prolonged wedge.
" When mounted, as they sometimes are, several thousand
feet above the earth, with their diminished and delicate out-
line hardly perceptible against the clear blue of heaven, their
harsh sound softened and modulated by distance, and issuing
from the immense void above, assumes a supernatural charac-
ter of tone and impression that excites, the first time heard, a
strangely peculiar feeling." In flying, they extend their
necks to their full length, advance with an undulating motion
of their outspread wings, and, when favoured by a moderate
wind, proceed at the rate of an hundred miles an hour. In
October and November they reach their winter homes, gene-
rally arriving in the night, and making the shores ring with
their vociferous congratulations. The Chesapeake Bay is a
great resort during the winter, flocks of from one to five hun-
dred feeding on the flats near its western shores. They
always select places where they can reach their food by the
length of their necks, they being never seen to dive. The
food to which they are most partial is the Valisneria Ameri-
cana, worms, insects, and shell-fish. They are exceedingly
watchful, so as to be with difficulty approached ; but seldom
fly off, even from the pursuit of a boat, unless very closely

AMERICAN SWAN. 681

followed. While feeding and dressing, they make much
noise, and through the night their vociferations can be heard
for several miles. " Their notes are extremely varied, some
closely resembling the deepest base of the common tin horn,
whilst others run through every modulation of false note of
the French horn or clarionet. They are often killed by rifle-
balls from the shore, as well as by sailing down upon them
whilst feeding, or as they pass a point of land between two
feeding coves, and sometimes by means of a boat covered with
ice, and paddled or allowed to drift among them at night."
When wounded in the wing only, a large Swan will readily
beat off a dog, and is more than a match for a man in four
feet water ; a stroke of the wing having broken an arm, and
the powerful feet almost obliterated the face of a good-sized
duck-shooter.

"This species requires five or six years to reach its
perfect maturity of size and plumage, the yearling Cygnet
being about one-third the magnitude of the adult, and
having feathers of a deep leaden colour. The smallest Swan
I have ever examined weighed but eight pounds. Its plu-
mage was very deeply tinted, and it had a bill of a very
beautiful flesh-colour, and very soft. By the third year the
colour of the bill becomes black, and the colour of the
plumage less intense, except on the top of the head and back
of the neck, which are the last parts forsaken by the colour.
Swans of the sixth year have assumed all the characters of
the adult. When less than six years of age, these birds are
very tender and delicious eating, having the colour and
flavour of the Goose; the latter quality, however, being
more concentrated and luscious."

In the paper published in the American Journal of
Science and Arts, he states that the youngest and smallest
specimen he had met with " had a very soft reddish-white
bill, with a brown point, and measured three inches from the
point of the beak to the forehead, six inches and one-eighth
to the occiput, and the usual position of the coloured spot
was covered to one inch and three-eighths in front of the
eye, with small orange feathers, which extend down to the
gape. The plumage, to the end of the tail and primaries,

682 CYGNUS AMERICANUS.

was of a deep leaden tint, and the feet and legs were of a
light grey colour. This specimen measured six feet and
eight inches between the points of the extended wings, four
feet two inches from the point of the beak to the tail, and
weighed eleven pounds," the greatest weight of an adult
being about twenty-one pounds.

This species has not hitherto been known to visit any
part of Europe, although the occurrence there of a bird
capable of flying a hundred miles an hour would not be
surprising.

In February, 1841, having been informed that there was
in a poulterer's in Edinburgh a Swan, somewhat remarkable
on account of the dark colour of its head and small size, I
went to see it ; but not being at the time engaged with
birds of this family, did not purchase it. However, a gentle-
man having bought it on my account, I found that it pre-
sented some of the characters of Bewick's Swan, but was
considerably larger than even adults of that species. It was
a young bird in pale grey plumage, with the upper part of
the head dusky, the bill partially flesh-coloured, the feet
black, and the tail-feathers eighteen. This latter circum-
stance induced me to incline to the opinion of its being
Cygnus Bewickii ; and on dissecting it I found the vertical
bend of the trachea, and the form and position of the inferior
larynx and bronchi, to agree with that species ; but the
sternum was larger, the stomach vastly superior in size, and
the intestine longer and wider. I then compared it with a
stuffed adult specimen of the American Swan, and a pre-
pared head and bill of a young bird of the same species,
together with my notes and drawings of dissections of Cygnus
musicus, Bewickii, and Americanus, and became satisfied of
its belonging to the latter species. Its description is as
follows : —

The body is of an ovato-elliptical form, rather depressed,
especially at its fore part ; the neck extremely long and mode-
rately thick ; the head of moderate size, oblong, and com-
pressed. The bill is slightly longer than the head, straight,
higher than broad at the base, gradually depressed, of almost
equal breadth throughout, being bowever a twelfth of an inch

AMERICAN SWAN. 683

•wider toward the end, which is rounded. The upper man-
dible has the dorsal line sloping, the ridge at first flat and
broad, but gradually narrowed to beyond the nostrils, then
convex, the sides nearly erect at the base, gradually sloped
and more convex, the unguis broadly obovate, large, and con-
vex, with the edge strong and internally striated, the edges
soft, marginate, and scrobiculate. The lower mandible with
the intercrural space very long and of moderate width, its
membrane bare for two-thirds, the crura convex beneath,
their lower outline slightly rearcuate, the laminated margins
inclinate, the unguis very large, obovato-elliptical, with a
broad groove at each side ; the gape-line slightly rearcuate.

The upper mandible is deeply concave, with a medial
papillate ridge, and on each side an oblique series of trans-
verse flattened tubercles, a sub-marginal series of inconspicu-
ous, slender lamellge, and thirty-five oblique and transverse
slender, elevated, obtusely terminated laminse, of which the
slightly elevated free tips do not project beyond the margin.
On each side of the lower mandible are about twenty-two
external and sixty-five internal lamellae. The oesophagus,
thirty-three inches and a half in length, averages ten-twelfths
in width, but toward the lower part of the neck is enlarged to
one inch, and in the proven tricular part measures an inch
and a half in breadth. The stomach, which is placed very
obliquely on the left side, measures three inches in length,
four inches and eight-twelfths in breadth, being of a trans-
verse elliptical form, a little compressed, with the lateral
muscles extremely developed, the tendinous fibres covering
nearly the whole surface, the tendons very narrow in the
middle; the inferior muscle distinct and small. The intestine,
eleven feet ten inches in length, varies in width from an inch
and a quarter in the first part of the duodenum to eight-
twelfths of an inch. The duodenum curves round the edge of
the stomach in three- fourths of a circle, returns at the distance
of nine inches, receives the biliary ducts at nineteen inches
from the pylorus, then passes along the right side, near the end
of the abdomen, ascends, forms several curves beneath the
kidneys, and then forms several nearly transverse parallel
folds, extending from the duodenal fold to the anus, after

684 CYGNUS AMERICANUS.

which it curves to above the stomach, and proceeds nearly
straight to the end, forming in all sixteen curves. The rec-
tum is ten inches in length, eleven-twelfths in breadth, and
at the end is expanded into a cloacal dilatation, an inch and a
half in width. The cceca are fifteen inches long, for four
inches and a half only three-twelfths in breadth, then enlarg-
ing to one inch, and toward the end contracting to four-
twelfths. The right lobe of the liver is five inches in length,
the left three inches, the gall-bladder elliptical, an inch and
a half. The spleen is only ten-twelfths in its greatest dia-
meter. The heart two inches and ten-twelfths in length, an
inch and ten-twelfths in breadth.

The trachea, formed of about two hundred and eighty
flattened rings, is at first nine-tAvelfths in breadth, then con-
tracts to six-twelfths, and becoming round enlarges to seven-
twelfths, and entering the cavity in the crest ef the sternum
to the distance of three inches, forms a vertical loop, returns,
curves in the furcula, and enters the thorax to the distance of
two inches. The syrinx is formed of five united rings, and is
compressed, being half an inch in breadth, and an inch in
depth. Appended to the last half ring on each side is a nar-
row membrane terminating in a very slender half ring, and
external to the large membrane between the last tracheal and
first bronchial half ring. The bronchi are very short, an inch
and a half in length, at first compressed, half an inch in
height, then round, and half an inch in diameter, finally
cylindrical and narrower. The rings are slender, incomplete,
a few anchylosed ; the right bronchus with twenty, the left
twenty-four.

The nostrils are linear-oblong, nearly half an inch in
length, situated beyond the middle, in the fore part of the
oblong nasal space. The eyes are small, their aperture only
four-tAvelfths and a half. That of the ear round, four-twelfths
in diameter. The legs are short, very stout ; the tibia very
muscular, bare for an inch and a quarter ; the tarsus short,
considerably compressed, reticulated with angular scales, of
which the anterior are larger and rounded ; the hind toe very
diminutive, with a slight thickened lower margin, the middle
toe longer than the tarsus ; the outer considerably longer than

AMERICAN SWAN. 685

the inner ; the inner with twenty, the middle toe with thirty-
three, the outer with twenty-seven scutella ; the interdigital
wehs full, reticulate, the marginal web of the inner toe slightly
bilobate. The claws are small, strong, arched, compressed,
convex above, obtuse, that of the middle toe much larger,
with the inner edge dilated, and the tip rounded.

The parts at the base of the bill, which ultimately become
bare, that is, the space between the frontal angles above, and
those between the lateral sinuses and the eye, are sparsely
covered with very small, somewhat downy feathers. The
plumage is moderate, soft, dense, and elastic. On the head
and neck the feathers are oblong, obtuse, blended, and very
soft ; on the lower parts ova to-oblong, much curved ; on the
upper larger, broader, and little curved. The wings long, of
moderate breadth ; the quills thirty-five, besides eight nume-
rals ; the primaries rather short, decurved, the outer three
strongly sinuate on the inner web, the second and third equal
and longest, the first nine-twelfths of an inch shorter. The
tail is very short, rounded., of eighteen rounded feathers, of
which the lateral are about an inch shorter than the medial.

The bill is reddish flesh-colour, gradually shaded into
dusky, and at the end blackish. Part of the partially bare
space between the base of the bill and the eye of a dull lemon-
yellow. The intercrural space is flesh-coloured, as is the
interior of the mouth. The iris dusky-brown. The feet are
black, but on the tibia anteriorly is a small flesh-coloured
patch; the claws purplish-grey, paler at the base. The
general colour of the plumage is a very pale ash-grey, seeming
a soiled white at a distance; the breast and abdomen greyish-
white. The head and neck are dusky-grey, that colour being
deeper on the upper part of the head, gradually fading on
the neck, paler on the throat and lower eyelids. When
closely examined, each feather on the head, and part of the
neck, is found to be marginally tipped with paler. Some of
the minute feathers on the fore part of the head are yellow-
ish. The larger wing-coverts, quills, scapulars, and tail-
feathers are nearly pure white at the base, with a dusky
tinge at the end.

Length to end of tail 46£ inches ; extent of wings 80 ;-

686 CYGNUS AMERICANUS.

wing from flexure 20£ ; tail 5^ ; bill along the ridge 3^-,
from the joint 3-^, from the eye 4-^, its height at the base
1-^, its breadth near the end lg-, about the middle l-p-?; Dare
part of tibia 1-^ ; tarsus 4 ; hind toe T87, its claw -pV ; second
toe 3-fe, its claw T8o- ; third toe 4^, its claw -fe ; fourth toe
4-j^-, its claw 4.

Remarks. — The tail, although apparently complete, hav-
ing only eighteen feathers, induced me at first to consider
this bird as a Bewick's Swan ; but its length and extent of
wing, it being obviously a young bird, being considerably
greater than those of an adult male of that species — the
former being 46^ to 45, the latter 80 to 73, and young Swans
being in their first winter a third less than adults — I con-
ceived it might prove merely the young of Cygnus musicus.
On dissecting it, however, I found reason to alter my opinion.
There are three Swans — Cygnus Buccinator, Americanus,
and Bewickii — of which the trachea, after forming a fold
within the sternum, enters the thorax to a considerable dis-
tance, and terminates in very short bulging bronchi. Now,
as will be seen from the description of the trachea given
above, this was the case with the bird in hand. The syrinx
of Cygnus musicus scarcely enters the thorax, being situated
on the anterior edge of the sternum, while the bronchi are so
much elongated as to reach their usual place of insertion in
the other species. Cygnus Buccinator is so very much larger
that it could not belong to that species, and Cygnus Bewickii
so much smaller that its belonging to it seemed scarcely
probable. Its tongue half an inch longer, its gizzard an inch
broader, the intestine much longer and wider, and the tra-
chea, instead of being almost uniform, considerably dilated
below, seemed all in favour of its belonging to Cygnus
Americanus. On comparing its sternum with that of an
adult Cygnus Bewickii, I found it nearly an inch longer, and
of considerably greater breadth, while it agreed in all respects
with that of an adult female Cygnus Americanus, excepting
that it formed no horizontal loop, this circumstance depend-
ing merely on age. A stuffed head of a young Cygnus
Americanus in my collection was found to be precisely similar

AMERICAN SWAN. 687

in every respect, with the exception of its having more buffy
or rufous feathers ; and the bills of the two showed not the
slightest difference in form, measurements, or lamellae. In
fact, so perfect an agreement could not take place in two
different species. The wings also agreed as to the number
and form of the quills — which, however, were smaller — with
those of an adult Cygnus Americanus, and the tail was pre-
cisely similar to that of a young bird in my collection, only
that the one had eighteen the other twenty feathers. The
tarsi and toes were exactly similar ; the scutella the same in
number and form ; but the claws of my young bird were
shorter and paler than those of the adult. As to the tail-
feathers, M. Temminck, Mr. Blythe, and others, have found
them to vary as to number in Swans generally, and Mr.
Thompson and others have shown that even of Cygnus
Bewickii, the normal number is not eighteen but twenty.
If it, then, should frequently have eighteen, there is no
reason to suppose that Cygnus Americanus may not also
sometimes have two less than usual.

On the whole, then, the result of my examination is,
that the individual in question is shewn by the structure
and curve of its trachea to be similar to Cygnus Americanus
and Cygnus Bewickii ; that, although a young bird, it
greatly exceeds the adult of the latter species in all its
dimensions, and especially in those of its digestive and respi-
ratory organs ; and that it agrees in all essential respects
with the former species, its identity being especially estab-
lished by the perfect agreement of the bill and head with
those of a young bird of that species ; finally, that if not
Cygnus Americanus, it is a species not hitherto described,
differing from it only in having eighteen instead of twenty
tail-feathers. But as the variation of the tail-feathers in
Swans is notorious, this circumstance appears to be of no
importance whatever.

The proventriculus of this individual contained some
fleshy roots and rhizomata, with quartz sand. In the ante-
rior half of the intestine was a great number, forty or fifty,
slender tape-worms. Probably the examination of these
animals might be of importance, as each species of Swan

G88

CYGNUS AMERICANUS.

may be infested with a particular species of tape-worm. The
flesh of this bird, judging from a portion of the muscles of
the leg roasted on the tongs in the dissecting-room, is
tender, and of exquisite flavour ; but to give it justice, one
■would require to have it better cooked, and eaten under
more favourable circumstances. It is certainly far superior
to the best beef.

The number of ribs in this individual is eleven, which
also is the number in an American specimen dissected by
me ; whereas in Bewick's Swan, as well as in Cygnus
musicus, I find the number to be ten.

PI. ATE XX111

VIGSSTTVX OIX'AKS OF Ti:\'T.JTIJJIB.S

S'u/ 2 JJu/ilm 0 .

PLATE XXIV

. . ■

PL, ATE XX"V

lll:.t :HT1VK O ROASTS OF OREA.T -white EtBEI

l'l.ATK XXVI

plSESXZfjB OR.&A2TS OF SErOX.EElus

Fig Z Cool

1 '

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

Plate I. Digestive Organs of Probers. The same letters
refer to the same parts in all.

Fig. 1. Digestive Organs of the Lap-
wing, Vanellus cristatus.

a, b, c, the oesophagus.

b, e, proventriculus.
d, stomach.

d, e, f duodenum.
g, rest of intestine.

h, coeca.

i, j, cloacal dilatation of the rectum.

Fig. 2. Digestive Organs of the Dunlin,
Tringa Cinclus.

Fig. 3. Digestive Organs of the Gray
Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus.

Plate II. Digestive Organs of Probers.

Fig. 1. Digestive Organs of the Oyster-catcher, Damatopus Ostralegus.
Fig. 2. Digestive Organs of the Curlew-billed Sandpiper, Tringa suibarquata.
Fig. 3. Digestive Organs of the Red-shank, Totanus Galidris.

Plate III. Digestive Organs of Stalkers.

Fig. 1. Digestive Organs of the Black-billed Egret, Egretta nigrirostris.

The great width of the oesophagus, the roundish thin stomach, its pyloric
lobe, the very slender elongated intestine, destitute of coecal appendages,and the
large globose cloaca, are characteristic of this order.

Plate IV. Digestive Organs of Skulkers.

Fig. 1. Digestive Organs of the Corn-Crake, Crex pratensis.
Fig. 2. Digestive Organs of Bald Coot, Fulica atra.

The powerful gizzard and large coeca agree with those organs in the
Rasores, but the oesophagus differs in having no crop or dilatation.

VOL. IV. XX

INDEX TO THE SPECIES DESCRIBED.

The Approved Names only are employed, the Synonymes and Provincial Names
being excluded.

Actitis Hypoleucos,

macularia, .

American Bittern,

Swan,

Anser albifrons,

brachyrhynchus,

— i— Canadensis,

ferus,

segetnm,

Ardea cinerea,

purpurea,

Ash-coloured Sandpiper,
Avocet, black-and-white,

Baillon's Crake,
Bald Coot,
Bar-tailed Godwit, .
Bernicla Brenta,

leucopsis, .

ruhcollis,

Bernicle-Goose, Black-faced,

Bed-necked,

White-faced,

Bewick's Swan,

Bittern, American, .

European,

Little,

■ Squacco,

Black-and-white Avocet,
Black-faced Bernicle-Goose,
Black-billed Egret, .
Black- breasted Sandpiper,
Black Stork,

Black -tailed Godwit,
Black-winged Stilt-shank,

Page 351
356
417
675
609
602
614
589
595
440
453
185
306

539
560
260
629
622
634
629
634
622
669
417
410
423
428
306
629
460
203
485
269
312

Botaurus comatus,

lentiginosus,

minutus,

— ■ stellaris, .

Buff-backed Egret,
Bustard, Great,

Little,

Calidris arenaria, .
Canada Goose,
Changeless Swan,
Cbaradrius Cantianus,

Hiaticula,

Chenalopex iEgyptiacus,
Ciconia alba, .

nigra,

Collared Pratincole,

Turnstone,

Common Redshank Tattler,

Ring-Plover,

Ruff,

— ■ Sanderling,

Snipe,

Woodcock,

Coot, Bald,

Corn Crake,

Courser, Cream-coloured,

Crake, Corn,

Baillon's,

Little,

Spotted,

Crane, Grey,
Crested Lapwing,
Crex Baillonii,

Page 428
417
423
410
474
30
35

237
614
654
125
116
129
639
481
485

49
143
333
116
171
237
368
386
560
527

42
527
539
541
535

20
133
539

UD2

INDEX TO SPECIES.

Crex pratensis, . Page 527

Grey Long-beak, . Page Tib

pusilla,

541

Night-Heron,

433

.forzana, .

535

Phalarope,

284

Curlew-billed Sandpiper,

215

Plover, .

86

Curlew, Great,

243

Snipe,

275

253
42

Vi lilliJICI.. • .

Cursorius Europasus,

Hcematopus Ostralegus,

152

Cygnus Auiericanus,

6

Heron, Grey, .

440

Pewickii,

669

Grey Night,

433

ininiutabilis,

654

• Purple,

453

659

Himantopus melanopterus,

oin

ULlUolCUb*

oil

Dotterell Plover,

104

Ibis Falcinellus,

493

Dunlin,

203

Glossy, .

493

Dusky .Redshank Tatler,

328

Jack Snipe,

380

Egret, Black-billed,

460

■ Puff-backed,

474

Kentish Ring-Plover,

125

Little White,

471

Knot,

185

Yellow-billed White,

465

Egretta alba,

465

Lapwing, Crested, .

133

Garzetta,

471

Limosa iEgocephala,

269

460
474
639

rata,

Little Pittern, .
Bustard,

Oftfi

1 1 1 g 1 11 US II IS,

ZOU

Egyptian Fox-Goose,

35

Eui'opean Bittern,

410

Crake, .

Ping-Plover, .

541
12S

Plat- billed Sandpiper,

224

Sandpiper,

227

Pox- Goose, Egyptian,

639

— . — White Egret,

471

Pulicaatra,

560

Lobefoot, Ped-necked,
Lobipes hyperboreus,

291
291

Gallinula Chloropus,

547

Long-beak, Grey,

111

Gallinule, Green-looted, .

547

Gambo Spur-winged Goose,

644

Machetes pugnax, .

171

Glareola Jfratincola,

49

Macrorhanrpkus griseus, .

27t

Glossy Ibis,

493

Glottis Chloropus,

319

Narrow-billed Grey Goose,

59c

Godwit, Par-tailed,

260

Night Heron, Grey,

43[

269

Numenius Arquata,
Phaeopus,

24!

Golden Plover,

94

25,

Goose, Canada,

614

Nycticorax Gardeni,

43

Gambo Spur- winged,

644

Narrow-billed Grey,

595

(Edicnenius crepitans,

7

SinrtT't" r*ilif*rl ItTPV

602

Otis "1 nrd.3>

3

■ 1 niflr liili ('(l (tTPV

589

i ^ otriix

3

■ X UiVli" UilltU UlCVj

AAOn to fVni ^tffl

609

Oyster- catcher, Pied,

15

Great Bustard,

30

■ Curlew,

243

Pectoral Sandpiper,

19

Snipe, .

364

Pied Oyster-catcher,

15

Green-footed Gallinule,

547

Phalarope, Grey,

28

547

Phalaropus lobatus,

28

Green-legged Longshank,

319

Platalea Leucorodia,

50

Greenshank, .

319

Plectropterus Gambensis,

64

Green Tatler,

342

Plover, Dotterel,

10

Grey Crane,

20

Golden,

9

Goose, Narrow-billed,

595

8

uri vy ,

Goose, Short-billed,

602

Pluvialis aurea,

9

Goose, Thick-billed,

589

Morinellus,

10

440

Sq uitarola

8

Heron, •

INDEX TO SPECIES.

693

Pratincole, Collared,
Purple Heron,.
Sandpiper, .

Rail, Water,
Rallus aquaticus,
Recurvirostra Avocetta,
Ped-necked Bernicle- Goose,
Red-necked Lobe-foot,
Ring-Plover, Common, .

Kentish,

Little,

Ruff, Common,
Rusticola sylvestris,

Sabine's Snipe,
Sanderling, Common,
Sandpiper, Ask-coloured,

Black-breasted,

■ — — ■ — — ■ Curlew-billed,

Flat-billed, .

— Little, .

Pectoral,

Purple, .

— — Schinz's,

— Temminck's,

Scolopax Gallinula,

Gallinago,

major,

Sabini,

Short-billed Grey Goose,
Snipe, Common,

Great,

Jack,

Sabine's,

Spoonbill, White, .
Spotted Crake,

■ Weet-weet,

Squacco Bittern,
Stilt-shank, Black-winged,
Stone Thick-knee,
Stork, Black,

White, .

Strepsilas Interpres,
Swan, American,

ge 49
453
197

521
521
306
634
291
116
125
129
171
386

377
237
186
203
215
224
227
190
197
222
232
380
368
364
377
602
368
364
380
377
503
535
356
428
312
77
485
481
143
675

Swan, Bewick's, . Page 669
— — — Changeless, . 054
Whooping. . 659

Tatler, Common Redshank, . 333

— ■ D usky Redshank, 328

Green, . . 342

Wood, . . 346

Temminck's Sandpiper, . 232

Thick-billed Grey Goose, 589

Thick-knee, Stone, 77

Totanus Calidris, 333

fuscus, . , 328

— Glareola, . 346

— - ochropus, . . 342

■ Tringa Canutus, . 185

Cinclus, . . 203

— maritima, . 197

minuta, . . 227

pectoralis, . 190

platyrhyncha, . 224

Schinzii, . 222

— ■ subarquata, . . 215

Temminckii, . 232

Turnstone, Collared, . 143

Vanellus cristatus, . . 133

Water-Hen, Green-footed, . 547

Water Rail, . . 521

Weet-weet, Spotted, . 356

White-breasted, 351

Whimbrel, Curlew, . 253

White-bi-easted Weet-weet, 351

White Egret, Little, . 471

Yellow-billed, 465

White-faced Bernicle-Goose, . 622

White-fronted Goose, . 609

White Spoonbill, . . 503

White Stork, . . 481

Whooping Swan, . . 659

Woodcock, Common, . 386

Wood Tatler, . . 346

Yellow-billed White Egret, . 465

GENERAL INDEX

Actitis, 350.

Hypoleucos, 351.

macularia, 356.

American Bittern, 417.

Swan, 675.

Anser, 585.

albifrons, 609.

■ brachyrhynckus, 602.

■ Canadensis, 614.

segetum, 595.

ferus, 589.

Anserinae, 579.
Ardea, 438.

cinerea, 440.

— : purpurea, 453.

Ardeinae, 399.

Ash-coloured Sandpiper, 185.
Aucupatores, 10, 397.
Austrian Pratincole, 49.
Avocet, Black-and- White, 306.

Bald Coot, 560.
—Duck, 560.

Goose, 609.

Baillon's Crake, 539.
Barnacle, 622, 629.

Black-headed, 629.

Ring-necked, 629.

White-cheeked, 622.

— Land, 622.

Bar-tailed Godwit, 260.
Bean Goose, 595.
Bernicla, 619.

Brenta, 629.

leucopsis, 622.

ruficollis 634.

Bernicle Goose, 619.

Black-faced, 629.

Red-breasted, 634.

Red-necked, 634.

White- faced, 622.

Bewick's Swan, 669.
Bilcock, 521.

306.

Bittern, 408.

American, 417.

Common, 410.

European, 418.

■ Little, 423.

Squacco, 428.

Black-and- White Avocet.
Black-billed Egret, 460.
Black-breasted Sandpiper, 203.
Black-faced Bernicle-Goose, 629.
Black-headed Barnicle, 629.
Black Stork, 485.
Black-tailed Godwit, 269.
Black- winged Stiltshank, 312.
Bleater, 368.
Blutter, 368.
Bog-bumper, 410.
Boonk, 423.
Botaums, 408.

comatus, 428.

lentiginosus, 417.

minutus, 423.

stellaris, 410.

116.

Brand'Goose, 629.
Brent Goose, 629.
Brown Phalarope, 291.

Snipe, 275.

Buff-backed Egret, 474.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 194.
Bull-head, 86.
Bumble, 410.
Bumpy-coss, 410.
Bustard, 28.

Great, 30.

Little, 35.

Thick-kneed, 77.

Bustards and allied species, 2-">.
Butter-bump, 410.

Calildris, 235, 237.

arenaria, 237.

Cambridge Godwit, 328.

696

GENEKAL INDEX.

Canada Goose, til 4
Changeless Swan, 65-1.
Charadrius, 114.

Cantianus, 125.

Hiaticula, 116.

minor, 129.

Chenalopex, 637.

iEgyptiacus, 639.

Cholldrick, 152.
Ciconia, 479.

alba, 481

nigra, 485.

Cobler's-awl, 306.
Collared Pratincole, 49.

Turnstone, 143.

Common Bittern, 410.

Crane, 20.

— • Heron, 440.

Redshank Tatler, 333.

Ring-Plover, 116.

Ruff, 171.

Sanderling, 237.

Sandpiper, 351.

Snipe, 368.

Thick-Knee, 77.

Woodcock, 386.

Claik-Goose, 622.
Claikis, 622.
Coot, 557.

Bald, 560.

■ foot, 284.

Common, 560.

Cora-ghriach, 440.
Corn Crake, 527.
Courser, 40.

Cream-coloured, 42.

Crake, 525.

Baillon's, 539.

Com, 527.

Little, 541.

Spotted, 535.

Crane, 17.

Cranes, and allied species, 15.

Common, 20.

Grey, 20.

Cravat Goose, 614.
Cream-coloured Courser, 42.

Plover, 42.

Crested Heron, 440.

Lapwing, 133.

Crex, 525.

Baillonii, 539.

pratensis, 527.

pusilla, 541.

Porzana, 535.

Cribratores, 571.
Crooked-bill, 306.
Curlew, 241.
billed Sandpiper, 215.

Curlew, Great, 243.

Jack, 253.

Little, 253.

Stone, 77.

Whirnbrel, 253.

Curochdag, 133.
Cursores, 9, 12.
Cursorius, 40.
Cursorius Europaeus, 42.
Curwillet, 237.
Cute, 560.
Cygninae, 646.
Cygnus, 649.

Americanus,

Bewickii, 669.

immutabilis, 654.

musicus, 659.

Daker Hen, 527.

Divers, 569.

Dotterel, Little Ringed, 129.

• Plover, 104.

Ring, 116.

Double Snipe, 364.

Dunlin, 203.

Dul willy, 116.

Dusky Redshank Tatler, 328.

Dusky Sandpiper, 328.

Dusky Snipe, 328.

Dreaun, 527.

Egret, 458.

Black-billed, 450.

Buff-backed, 474.

Little White, 471.

Yellow-billed White, 465.

Egretta, 458.

alba, 465.

Garzetta, 471.

■ nigrirostris, 460.

russata, 474.

Egyptian Fox-Goose, 639.
Egytian Goose, 639.
Elk, 659.
European Bittern, 410.

Feadag, 94.
Fen-Goose, 589.
Fiddler, 351.

Flat-billed Sandpiper, 224.
Fox-Goose, 637.

Egyptian, 637.

Freckled Heron, 417.
Fulica, 557.
Atra, 560.

Gallinula, 544.
Gallinule, 544.
Gallinula Chloropus, 547.

GENERAL INDEX

697

Gambo Spur-winged Goose, 644.
Gallinule, Green-footed, 547.
Geese and allied species, 579.
Glareola, 46.

Pratincola, 49.

Glossy Ibis, 493.
Glottis, 316.

Chloropus, 319.

Godwit, 258, 260.

— Bar-tailed, 260.

Black-tailed, 269.

Cambridge, 328.

Red-legged, 328.

Golden Plover, 94.
Goose, 585.

— ■ Bald, 609.

— — - — Bean, 595.

Brand, 629,

Brent, 629.

Canada, 614.

— - — ■ — Cravat, 614.
— — Fen, 589.

Gambo Spur-winged, 644.

Grey, 589.

Laugbing, 609.

Marsh, 589.

Narrow-billed Grey, 595.

Pink-footed, 602.

Small Grey, 595.

Short-billed Grey, 602.

Thick-billed Grey, 589.

White-fronted, 609.

Wild, 589, 595, 602.

Great Bustard, 30.

Curlew, 243.

Great Plover, 77.

Snipe, 364.

White Heron, 465.

Greater Plover, 319.
Green-footed Gallinule, 547.

Water-Hen, 547.

Green-legged Horseman, 319.

Longshank, 319.

Green Plover, 133.

Sandpiper, 342.

Greenshank, 319.

Snipe, 319.

Green Tatler, 342.
Grey Crane, 20.

Goose, 589.

Goose, Narrow-billed, 595.

Goose, Thick-billed, 589.

Goose, Short-billed, 602.

■ Heron, 440.

Lag, 589.

Long-beak, 275.

Night Heron, 433.

Phalarope, 284.

Plover, 86.

VOL. IV.

Grey Sandpiper, 86, 185.

Snipe, 275.

Gruinae, 15.

Grus, 17.

Grus cinerea, 80.

Hsematopus, 149.

Ostralegus, 152.

Half-Curlew, 253.
Heather-bliter, 368.
Heron, 433.

Common, 440.

Freckled, 417.

Grey, 440.

Grey Night, 433.

Night, 433.

Purple, 453.

Herons and allied species, 399.
Heronshaw, 440.
Himantopus, 310.

melanopterus, 312.

Hooper, 659.

Horseman, Green-legged, 319.

Hyperborean Phalarope, 291.

Ian-ghurag, 368.
Ibis, 490.

Falcinellus, 493.

Glossy, 493.

Jacanas and allied species, 511.
Jack Snipe, 380.
Jud, 380.
Judcock, 380.

Kentish Plover, 125.

Ring-Plover, 125.

Knot, 185.

Lag, Grey, 589.
Land Barnacle, 622.

Hen, 527.

Rail, 527.

Lapwing, 131.

Crested, 133.

Lark, Sand, 116, 237.
Latitores, 10, 508.
Laughing Goose, 609.
Laverock, Sandy, 116.
Limosa, 258.

iEgocephala, 269.

rufa, 260.

Little Bittern, 423.

Bustard, 35.

— - Crake, 541.

Curlew, 253.

Ringed Dotterel, 129.

Ringed Plover, 129.

Sandpiper, 227.

Y Y

689

GENERAL INDEX.

Little White Egret, 471.
Lobe-foot, 289.

Red-necked, 291.

Lobipes, 289.

hyperboreus, 291.

Long-beak, 274.

Grey, 275.

Long-legged Plover, 312.
Longlegs, 312.
Longneck, 423.
Longshank, 312, 316.

Machetes, 169, 171.

pugnax, 171.

Macrorhamphus, 274, 275.

griseus, 275.

Marsh Goose, 589.

Hen, 547.

Mayfowl, 253.
Mersatores, 569.
Miredrum, 410.
Mire Snipe, 368.
Moor Hen, 547.

Naosg, 368.

Narrow-billed Grey Goose, 595.

Night Heron, 431, 433.

Grey, 433.

Raven, 433.

Norfolk Plover, 77.
Numenius, 241.

Arquata, 243.

Phseopus, 253.

Nycticorax, 431.
Gardeni, 433.

(Edicnemus, 75.

crepitans, 77.

Otinse, 25.
Otis, 26, 28.

Tarda, 30.

Tetrax, 35.

Ox-birds, 237.
Oyster-catcher, 149.
Pied, 152.

Parrinse, 511.
Pectoral Sandpiper, 190.
Peeseweep, 133.
Pewit, 133.
Phalarope, Brown, 291.

Grey, 284.

Hyperborean, 291.

Red, 284, 291. _

Phalaropes and allied species, 281.

Phalaropinae, 281.

Phalaropus lobatus, 284.

Pianet, 152.

Pied Oyster-Catcher, 152.

Pie, Sea, 152.
Piet, Sea, 152.
Pink-footed Goose, 602.
Platalea, 500.

Leucorodia, 503.

Plectropterus, 643.

Gambensis, 644.

Polish Swan, 654.
Pool Snipe, 333.
Poor Willie, 260*
Plover, 83.

Cream-coloured, 42.

Dotterel, 104.

Golden, 94.

Great, 77.

Greater, 319.

Green, 133.

Gray, 86.

Kentish, 125.

Long-legged, 312.

Norfolk, 77.

Ring, 116.

Stone, 77, 116, 260.

Whistling, 94.

Yellow, 94.

Plovers and allied species, 66.
Plungers, 569.
Pluvialinae, 66.
Pluvialis, 83.

aurea, 94.

Morinellus, 104.

Squatarola, 86.

Pratincole, 46.

Austrian, 49.

Collared, 49.

Probers, 9, 54.
Purple Heron, 453.
Purple Sandpiper, 197.

Queet, 560.

Rail, 518.

Spotted, 535.

Water, 521.

Rallus, 518.

aquaticus, 521.

Raven, Night, 433.
Recurvirostra, 304.

Avocetta, 306.

Red-breasted Bernicle, 634.

Sandpiper, 185.

Snipe, 275.

Red-legged Godwit, 328.

Snipe, 333.

Red-necked Bernicle Goose, 634.
Red Phalarope, 284, 291.

Sandpiper, 185.

Redshank, 303.
Dusky, 328.

GENERAL INDEX.

699

Redshank, Spotted, 328.

Reeve, 171.

Remarks on the Swimming Birds, 567.

Ring Dotterel, 116.

Ringed Plover, Little, 129.

Ring-necked Bernicle, 629.

Ring-Plover, 114, 116.

Common, 116.

Little, 129.

Kentish, 125.

Ruff, 169, 171.

Common, 171.

Runner, 521.
Runners, 9, 12.
Rusticola, 384.
sylvestris, 386.

Sabines' Snipe, 377.
Sandcock, 333.
Sanderling, 235, 237.

Common, 237.

Sand Lark, 116, 237.
Sandpiper, 183.

Ash-coloured, 185.

Black-breasted, 283.

Buff-breasted, 194.

Common, 351.

Curlew-billed, 215.

Flat-billed, 224.

■ Green, 342.

— Grey, 86, 185.

Little, 227.

Pectoral, 190.

Purple, 197.

Red, 185.

Red-breasted, 185.

Schinz's, 222.

Temminck's, 232.

Sandpipers and allied species, 161.
Sandy Laverock, 116.

Loo, 116.

Schinz's Sandpiper, 222.
Scolopacinae, 359.
Scolopax, 363.

— — Gallinago, 368.

— Gallinula, 380.

major, 364.

Sabini, 377.

Scooper, 306.

Scooping, Avocet, 306.

Sea Pie, 152.

— Piet, 152.

Short-billed Grey Goose, 602.

Sifters, 571.

Skidding Cock, 521.

Skilting, 535.

Skit, 521.

Skulkers, 508.

Small Grey Gooose, 595.

Snipe, Brown, 275.

Common, 368.

Double, 364.

Dusky, 328.

Great, 364.

Greenshank, 319.

Grey, 275.

Jack, 380.

Mire, 368.

Moor, 368.

Red-breasted, 275.

Red-legged, 339.

Sabine's, 377.

Solitary, 364.

Spotted, 328.

— "Woodcock, 364.

Snipes and allied species, 359.
Solitary Snipe, 364.
Spoonbill, 500.
Spoonbill, White, 503.
Spotted Crake, 535.

Rail, 535.

— Redshank, 328.

Sandpiper, 356.

Snipe, 328.

Water-Rail, 535.

— Weet-weet, 356.

Spur-winged Goose, 643.
Squacco Bittern, 428.
Stalkers, 10, 397.
Stank-Hen, 547.
Stilt, 312.
Stilt-Shank, 310.

Black- winged, 312.

Stock Whaap, 243.
Stone Curlew, 77.
Hatch, 116.

Plover, 116, 260, 77.

Thick-knee, 77.

Strepsilas, 141.

— — Interpres, 143.

Stork, 479.
Black, 485.

- White, 481.
Swan, 649.

— — American, 675.

Bewick's, 669.

Changeless, 654.

Polish, 654.

Whistling, 659.

Whooping. 659.

Wild, 659.

Swans and allied species, 646.

Tang Whaap, 253.

Tantalina3, 488.

Tantali and allied species, 488.

Tatler, 325.

Common Red-shank, 333.

700

GENERAL INDEX.

Tatler, Dusky Redshank, 328.
Green, 342.

Wood, 346.

Tatlers and allied species, 299.
Temminck's Sandpiper, 232.
Tentatores, 9, 54.
Thick-billed Grey Goose, 589.
Thick-knee, 75.

Common, 77.

Bastard, 77.

Stone, 77.

Totaninae, 299.
Totanus, 325.

Calidris, 333.

fuscus, 328.

Glareola, 346.

— Ochropus, 342.

Towilhy, 237.
Trillachan, 152.

. Traghaid, 152.

Tringa, 183.

Canutus, 185.

Cinclus, 203.

maritima, 197.

minuta, 227.

pectoralis, 190.

platyrhyncha, 224.

rufescens, 194.

Schinzii, 222.

subarquata, 215.

Temminckii, 232.

Tringinae, 161.

Tuchit, 133.
Turnstone, 141.

Collared, 143.

Uriuatores, 569.

Vanellus, 131.
Cristatus, 133.

Ware Goose, 629.
Water Hen, 535.

— Hen, Green-footed, 547.

Junket, 351.

Rail, 521.

Spotted, 535.

Weet-weet, 350.

■ — Spotted, 356.

White-breasted, 351.

Whaap, 243.
Whaup, 243.
Whimbrel, 253.

— — Curlew, 253.

Whistling Plover, 94.

Swan, 659.

Whitterick, 243.
White-breasted Weet-weet, 351.
White-cheeked Bernicle, 622.
White Egret, Little, 471.

Yellow-billed, 465.

White-faced Bernicle Goose, 622.

White-fronted Goose, 609.

White Heron, Great, 465.

White Spoonbill, 503.

White Stork, 481.

Wild Goose, 589, 595, 602.

Swan, 659.

Willy wicket, 351.
Woodcock, 384.

Common, 386.

Snipe, 364.

Wood Sandpiper, 346.

Tatler, 346.

Whooping Swan, 659.

Yarrwhelp. 260.

Yellow-billed White Egret, 465.

Plover, 94.

Yelper, 306.

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