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The game birds and 


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050 264 


3 1924 000 


mann 


SHEFFIELD: 


PRINTED BY MESSRS. PAWSON AND BRAILSFORD, HIGH STREET AND MULBERRY STREET. 


The Game Birds and Wild Fowl 


OF 


The British Islands. 


By CHARLES DIXON, 


AUTHOR OF 


‘“ RURAL BIRD-LIFE,” ‘‘EVOLUTION WITHOUT NATURAL SELECTION,” ‘‘OUR RARER BIRDS,” 
‘ANNALS OF BIRD-LIFE,” ‘‘ STRAY FEATHERS FROM MANY BIRDS,”’ 
‘IDLE HOURS WITH NATURE,” ‘‘ THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES,” ‘‘ THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS,” 
‘(THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS,” ETC., ETC. ; 
PART AUTHOR OF ‘‘ A HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS.” 


Second Edition, enlarged, improved and thoroughly revised by the Author. 


WITH 


44 COLOURED PLATES, representing 56 COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS drawn specially 
for this Edition 


By CHARLES WHYMPER. 


SHEFFIELD: 
Pawson & BratwsForp, Pusuisuers, High Street anD MULBERRY STREET. 
1900. 
+m 


Preface to the Second Edition. 


INCE the first edition of the present work was published, our knowledge of 
various species contained therein has been considerably increased. Not 
only have several new species been added to the British list (abnormal migrants), 
but much information has been obtained relating to their geographical distribu- 
tion and their affinities. The completion of the British Museum Catalogue of 
Birds, and the publication of many important books and memoirs bearing upon 
the present subject, have also enabled me to give a more complete account of 
British Game Birds and Wild Fowl than had hitherto been possible. 

The present edition has to a very large extent been rewritten: the 
necessary information has been added to bring the book fairly up to date. The 
classification remains practically the same; but many generic changes have been 
made, and a more or less exhaustive account of the various orders and families has 
been added. The treatment of each species is much the same as in the first edition, 
but a short synonomy has been appended to each, which may prove of service to 
the student anxious to consult the literature of the subject. Since the first 
edition was published I have devoted much time and study to the Migration and 
Distribution of Birds, with the result that many previously held opinions have 
been discarded, and the geographical distribution and migration of the various 
species have been dealt with in accordance with a suggested new law of dispersal. 
A short introductory chapter on Distribution and Migration has been inserted. 
The old set of drawings has been entirely replaced by a series of coloured 
plates, the original designs for which have been specially prepared by my 
friend, Mr. Charles Whymper; whilst it is equally satisfactory to be able to 
state that the lithography and letterpress printing, together with every detail 
connected with the issue of this new edition, are the work of the celebrated 
Yorkshire firm whose imprint the present volume bears. 

My thanks are specially due (among many other friends) to Mr. H. L. Popham, 
the fortunate finder of the nest and eggs of the Curlew Sandpiper, who most 
obligingly furnished me with particulars of his discovery; also to Mr. F. H. 
Waterhouse, who has rendered me much bibliographical assistance whilst the book 
has been passing through the press. 


CHARLES DIXON. 
Paignton, S. Devon, February, 1900. 


Preface to the First Edition. 


VERY naturalist may not be a sportsman, but there are certainly very few 
sportsmen that are not, or do not eventually become, ardent naturalists. 
The habits and economy of birds are specially the naturalist’s own province ; but 
then, on the other hand, no sportsman worthy of the name is indifferent to the 
life-history of the birds and beasts that are the object of his chase. A man 
who would be a successful sportsman must be familiar with the ways of the 
creatures that furnish his sport ; not only so, the constant chase of bird and beast, 
in nine cases out of ten, creates a desire for knowledge, and a wish to know 
something more of their economy. 

The present volume has been written with the object of furnishing the 
naturalist and sportsman with concise yet fairly complete, and I hope accurate, 
information respecting the Game Birds and Wild Fowl of the British Islands, 
and their allied races and species in other parts of the world. I have sought to 
bring this information up to date, not only by including several species new to 
our avi-fauna, but by dealing with these birds from an evolutionary point of view, 
and according to modern ideas on and recent discoveries in that particular branch 
of natural knowledge which is embraced by Darwinian Ornithology. Hence it 
has been my constant care to discard insular and narrow study, which only too 
often leads to pedantry and error,and to treat the birds incorporated in the 
following pages on broad, evolutionary lines, and from a more cosmopolitan point 
of view. The inevitable result of such treatment has been the recognition of 
local races, subspecies, or climatic varieties, into which many of our British Game 
Birds and Wild Fowl have been separated by the endless segregating process of 
Evolution, working as surely at the present day as it has undoubtedly worked in 
past ages, and will continue to work in ages yet to come. 

Of course, in a work of the present nature, I have had to rely much upon the 
labours of other naturalists ; but in every case where such has been necessary I 
have sought the highest, the latest, and the most trustworthy authorities for the 
information required ; whilst my own more than twenty years’ experience in the 
study of Ornithology, both from the scientist’s and the field naturalist’s point of 
view, has been of incalculable service in assisting me to separate the sound wheat 
of reliable knowledge from the unstable chaff of ignorance and error. The last 
twenty years have been eventful ones for Ornithology, fraught with discoveries 


PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. vil 


and pregnant with importance, not only respecting the economy of British 
species, but with the past history of all birds, much light having been thrown on 
their affinities and origin. The classification of birds is still in a most unsatis- 
factory state, although the great and ever-increasing attention that the subject is 
receiving must ultimately result in some uniformity of opinion. At present no 
two recognised authorities agree in their estimation of the taxonomic value of 
respective characters. Among the latest systems elaborated may be mentioned 
those of Dr. Sclater, Professor Newton, the late Mr. Forbes, the late Professor 
Garrod, Dr. Reichenow, Professor Coues, Dr. Stejneger, Mr. Seebohm, and last, 
and perhaps most important of all, the great work of Professor Fiirbinger. 
I have had an opportunity of studying each of these important avian classifica- 
tions, and it is quite needless to remark the wide, nay almost hopeless and 
bewildering divergence of opinion expressed by their talented authors and 
compilers. Until some sort of uniformity of opinion is arrived at, the arrange- 
ment of species in a work like the present appears to me to be a matter of little 
importance ; for the classification of yesterday that you may adopt to-day is out of 
date and antiquated to-morrow. The whole subject of classification, at present, 
is in a violent state of eruption; one would think that scientists had “lost their 
heads.” Fortunately the scope of the present volume calls for no elaborate 
classification, and the species dealt with are units of fairly well-defined groups, 
about which, as groups, systematists are on the whole pretty well agreed. 

The number of species and races of Game Birds and Wild Fowl which may 
fairly claim to be included in the British avi-fauna is 127. The majority of these do 
not breed within our limits, but are either regular winter visitors, or accidental 
stragglers on migration, of varying degrees of rarity, to the United Kingdom. 
The British and foreign geographical area of each of these has been traced, and 
the various allied forms noted, with their distribution and distinguishing charac- 
teristics. The habits, notes, food, nest, and eggs have been described as fully as 
space allowed, or as completely as our knowledge extends; whilst the diagnostic 
characters of each will enable the naturalist or sportsman readily to identify the 
various British species, and are in my opinion infinitely preferable to long, 
tedious, detailed descriptions of plumage. 

Little need be said of the sport that our British Game Birds and Wild Fowl 
yield, or of the healthy invigorating recreation derived from the pursuit of that 
sport. Field and covert shooting is not without its excitements and delights, 
even in these degenerate days of breech-loaders and battues; but, to my mind, 
the cream of all gun sport is skimmed by the wildfowler and the shore-shooter. 
There is a charm about the chase of Wild Fowl which no covert-shooting 
can excel or equal; for the incomparable skill demanded in punting up to the 
flocks of wary Ducks and Geese, in stalking the shy Waders on the muds and 
marshes, or in ‘getting on” to the fleeting Fowl with deadly effect as they 
pass like arrows over your cold and lonely ambush during flight time, is very 


vill PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 


different from that required for the work of even a warm corner in some highly 
preserved cover. Then there is the charm of uncertain expectancy which is the 
shore-shooter’s and wildfowler’s own—the delicious feeling of never knowing 
what the next shot may be, as fen and marsh are traversed. Away from the 
mere pleasure of killing, which, alas, seems inherent in male human nature, there 
is the greater pleasure of watching the ways of the wary Fowl, of studying their 
habits and economy. Sportsmen have it in their power to render incalculable 
service to Natural History, if they are only put in the way of making observations. 
No better proof of this is furnished than that of the army of Indian sportsmen, 
who, encouraged and directed by that great ornithologist and sportsman, Allan 
Hume, have done so much for the Ornithology of our Eastern Empire, and set 
an example to sportsmen at home which might be followed with inestimable 
profit to British Ornithology. By their aid the magnificent and unrivalled 
collection of Indian birds was formed, which now, thanks to the noble generosity 
of Mr. Hume, forms a part of our National Collection at South Kensington. 

Should the present volume be the means of creating a taste for observation 
among those sportsmen who have hitherto been neglectful of the scientific side 
of their pursuit, to the advantage of Natural History, or prove of some help to the 
naturalist in his studies of this important and interesting group of birds, the 
labour involved in writing it will ever be recalled with pleasure. 

I desire also to place on record my great appreciation of the work of my 
contemporaries, and my sincere thanks for the profit of their experience ; also to 
acknowledge my gratitude to many friends for valued information. My thanks 
are specially due to my old friend Mr. F. H. Waterhouse, the courteous Librarian 
to the Zoological Society of London, whose bibliographical assistance from time 
to time has been invaluable. 


CHARLES DIXON. 
January, 1893. 


SYSTEMATIC INDEX. 


Order COLUMBIFORMES.—THE PIGEONS 


Family COLUMBIDA.—Tue Typican PicEons 
Genus CotumBa, or Grey Pigeons 


Columba palumbus.—Ring Dove ... 
5 eenas.—Stock Dove 
‘i livia.—Rock Dove 


Genus Ecroristss, or Passenger Pigeons 
Ectopistes migratorius.—Passenger Pigeon... 


Family PERISTERIDA.—Tue Grounp PicEons 
Subfamily Turrurina.—Tue Turtue Doves 
Genus Tuartur, or Turtle Doves 


Turtur auritus.—Turtle Dove : 
»  orientalis.—EHastern Turtle Dove 


Order PEDIOPHILI.—THE SAND-GROUSE 


Family PTEROCLID.—Tue Sanp-GRousE ts 
Genus SyRRHAPTES, or Three-toed Sand- Gidaee 
Syrrhaptes paradoxus.—Pallas’s Sand-Grouse 


Order GALLIFORMES.—THE GAME BIRDS 


Family TETRAONIDA.—Tue Grouse 
Genus Lacgorus, or Moor Grouse 


Lagopus mutus.—Ptarmigan 
hi scoticus.—Red Grouse 


Genus Trrrao, or Wood Grouse 
Tetrao urogallus. —Capercaillie 
" tetrix.—Black Grouse 
: Family PHASIANIDA.—Tue Tyrican Game Birps 
Genus PHasianus, or True Pheasants ... 
Phasianus colchicus.—Pheasant 
Genus Prrpix, or True Partridges 
Perdix cinerea.—Partridge 
Genus CaccaBis, or Rock Partridges ... 
Caccabis rufa.—Red-legged ose 
Genus CorTuRnNix, or Quails ... 
Coturnix communis.—Quail 


PAGE 


OCmw pnd 


12 
13 


17 
17 
18 


19 
22 


24 


25 
25 
26 


30 


31 
31 


32 
35 


39 
40 
44 
47 
47 
48 
53 
54 
57 
58 
61 
62 


SYSTEMATIC INDEX. 


Order RALLIFORMES.—THE RAILS anp FINFOOTS 
Family RALLIDA).—Tue Ratts 94 
Subfamily Ratuinz.—Tue Puain-TrorEp Rais 
Genus Crex, or Crakes 


Crex pratensis.—Corn Crake 
», porzana.—Spotted Crake 
», carolina.—Carolina Crake 
», bailloni.—Baillon’s Crake 
» parva.—Little Crake 


Genus Rauuus, or Typical Rails 
Rallus aquaticus.—Water Rail 
Genus GALLINULA, or True Water Hens 
Gallinula chloropus.— Water Hen... 
Subfamily Funicinz.—Tue Losr-torp Rains 
Genus Fuuica, or Coots 
Fulica atra.—Common Coot 


Order GRUIFORMES.—THE CRANES anp tHErR ALLIES 
Family GRUIDAi.—Tue Cranes 
Genus Grus, or Cranes 


Grus cinerea.—Common Crane 
» virgo.—Demoiselle Crane 


Order CHARADRIIFORMES.—THE BUSTARDS, PLOVERS, &c. ... 


Family OTIDIDA..—Tue Busrarps ... 
Genus Otis, or Typical Bustards 


Otis tarda.—Great Bustard 
» tetrax.—Little Bustard 


Genus Hovusara, or Ruffed Bustards ... 
Houbara macqueeni—Macqueen’s Bustard ... 
Family G@DICNEMIDA.—Tue Stone CurtEws 
Genus Cipicnemus, or Typical Stone Curlews ... 
Cidicnemus crepitans.—Stone Curlew 
Family CURSORIIDA.—Tuer Courssers, PratincobEs, ETC. 
Genus Cursorius, or Typical Coursers i 
Cursorius gallicus.—Cream-coloured Courser 
Genus GuaREoLA, or Typical Pratincoles 
Glareola pratincolan—Common Pratincole ... 


Subfamily Hamatopopinz.—THE OysTER-CATCHERS 
Genus Hmuaropus, or Oyster-catchers 
Hematopus ostralegus.—Common Oyster-catcher 
Subfamily CuarapRrina.—Tue Typican PLovers 
Genus Aciauitis, or Typical Ringed Plovers 


Agialitis minor.—Little Ringed Plover 
i major,—Greater Ringed Plover 


PAGE 
65 
66 
66 
66 


67 
70 
72 
74 
76 


78 
79 
82 
83 
86 
86 
87 


90 
91 
91 


92 
95 


98 
99 
99 


100 
103 


105 
106 
108 
108 
109 
112 
112 
113 
116 


7117 
Family CHARADRITDA).—Tue Purovers, SANDPIPERS, AND Snipes 


120 
121 
121 
122 
125 
125 
126 
129 


SYSTEMATIC INDEX. 


Order CHARADRIIFORMES.—BUSTARDS, PLOVERS, &c.—Contd. 


AXgialitis hiaticula.— Ringed Plover 
Fr cantianus.—-Kentish Plover 


Genus OxyrcHus, or Wedge-tailed Ringed Plovers 
Oxyechus vociferus.—-Killdeer Plover 


Genus OcHtTHoDROMUs, or Red-breasted Ringed Plovers ... 


Ochthodromus asiaticus.—Caspian Plover ... 
Genus Evupromias, or Dotterels 
$ Eudromias morinellus.—Dotterel ... 
Genus CHARADRIUS, or Golden Plovers 


Charadrius pluvialis—Golden Plover 
fulvus.—Asiatic Golden Plover ... 
‘i dominicus.—American Golden Plover 


Genus SquaTaRoLA, or Grey Plovers ... 
Squatarola helvetica.—Grey Plover 
Genus VANELLUS, or Typical Lapwings 


Vanellus cristatus.—Lapwing : 
5 gregarius.—Sociable Lapwing 


Subfamily Hrmanroropin#.—TuHE Stints anp AvocEetTs 
Genus Himanropus, or Stilts... ees 
Himantopus melanopterus.—Common Stilt... 
Genus RecurRviIRostRA, or Avocets oe 
Recurvirostra avocetta.—Common Avocet ... 
Subfamily Strersinina.—Tue TurnsTones 
Genus SrrRepsitas, or Turnstones 
Strepsilas interpres—Turnstone 
Subfamily PHauaropina.—THE PHALAROPES 
Genus PHaaRopus, or Phalaropes 


Phalaropus fulicarius—Grey Pharalope 
a hyperboreus.—Red-necked Phalarope 


” 


Subfamily Toranina.—TuHE SEMI-WEB-FOOTED SANDPIPERS, or 


TATLERS : 
Genus NuMENIUS, or Cui: 


Numenius arquata.—Common Curlew 
pheopus.—Common Whimbrel ... 
7 borealis.—Eskimo Whimbrel 


Genus Limosa, or Godwits 


Limosa rufa.—Bar-tailed Godwit ... 
re melanura.—Black-tailed Godwit 


Genus MacrorHampuHus, or Snipe-billed Sandpipers 
Macrorhamphus griseus.—Red-breasted Snipe 
Genus Barrramia, or Long-tailed Sandpipers ... 
Bartramia longicauda—Bartram’s Sandpiper 
Genus Macuetes, or Ruffs 
Machetes pugnax. —Ruff ... 


” 


xi 


PAGE 


132 
134 


137 
138 
140 
141 
143 
144 
147 


148 
151 
154 


157 
158 
161 


162 
165 


167 
167 
168 
171 
172 
175 
175 
176 
179 
179 


180 
184 


187 
187 


188 
192 
195 


197 


198 
202 


205 
206 
209 
210 
212 
213 


xii SYSTEMATIC INDEX. 


PAGE 

Order CHARADRIIFORMES.—BUSTARDS, PLOVERS, &c.—Continued, 
Genus Hetopromas, or Green Sandpipers da ... 216 
Helodromas ochropus.—Green Sandpiper ... .. Q17 
4 solitarius.—Solitary Sandpiper . ... 219 
Genus Toranus, or Hard-billed Sandpipers... .. 221 
Totanus hypoleucus.— Common Sandpiper ... ... 222 
»  macularius.—Spotted Sandpiper ... .. 225 
i glareola.—-Wood Sandpiper ; ... 228 
»  flavipes.—Yellow-legged Sandpiper ». 231 
»,  ¢alidris.—Common Redshank .... .-. 233 
i fuscus.—Dusky Redshank a .. 236 
»  glottis—Greenshank ize — ... 239 

Subfamily Sconopacin#2.—THE CLEFT-FOOTED SANDPIPERS AND 

SNIPES.. : 2 w- 242 
Genus TRINGA, or Typical Sundin... ae - 242 
Tringa canutus.—Knot ... ee .. 243 
9 subarquata.—Curlew Sandpiper bs .. 247 
7 alpina.—Dunlin ... 2 ... 250 
»  maritima.—Purple Sandpiper : .. 2838 
»  platyrhyncha.-—Broad-billed Sandpiper ... 256 
Genus Hereropyeia, or Pectoral Sandpipers... .. 258 
Heteropygia fuscicollis—Bonaparte’s Sandpiper .. 259 


Pe maculata.—American Pectoral Sandpiper 261 
3 acuminata.—Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper 264 


Genus Limonires, or Stints ... yi i es ... 266 

Limonites minuta.—Little Stint ... an ... 267 

55 minutilla.— American Stint nen we 21 

Pe temmincki.—Temminck’s Stint ... we Bos 

Genus Trineites, or Buff-breasted Sandpipers ... .. 276 

Tringites rufescens.—Buff-breasted Sandpiper done AGT 

Genus Caxrpris, or Sanderlings 288 es ie 279 

Calidris arenaria,—Sanderling ay ne ... 280 

Genus ScoLopax, or Woodcocks ue, cess ... 283 

Scolopax rusticulan—Woodecock _... a . «284 

Genus GALLINAGO, or Snipes ... bay wen .. 289 

Gallinago major.—Great Snipe... doa ... 290 

55 scolopacina.—Common Snipe... ... 298 

Genus LimyocryPTes, or Jack Snipes ... ais we BOT 

Limnocryptes gallinula.—Jack Snipe 386 .- 298 
Order ANSERIFORMES.—TuE SCREAMERS, FLAMINGOES, SWANS, 

GEESE, DUCKS, anp MERGANSERS _... . 3801 

Family ANATIDA).—Tuer Swans, Grrsr, Ducks, anp ‘ienainenns 303 

Subfamily Cyenina.—TuE Swans... ai — .. 808 

Genus Crenus, or Swans a ox se .. «©3804 

Cygnus musicus.—Whooper Swan me w. 805 

» bewicki.—Bewick’s Swan ... Pee ... 808 


»,  olor.—Mute Swan Sad ie .. 310 


SYSTEMATIC INDEX. 


Order ANSERIFORMES—SCREAMERS, SWANS, GEESE, &e.—Contd. 


Subfamily ANsERINe].—THE GEESE 
Genus CHEN, or Snow Geese ... 


Chen hyperboreus.— Lesser Snow ows 
», nivalis.—Greater Snow Goose 


Genus AnseEr, or Typical Geese 


Anser segetum.—Bean Goose : 
»» brachyrhynchus.— Pink- footed Goose .. 
», ¢@inereus.—Grey Lag Goose ... 
», albifrons.— White-fronted Goose ; 
», erythropus.—Lesser White-fronted Goose 


Genus Branta, or Brent Geese 


Branta bernicla.—Brent Goose _... 
glaucogaster.— White-bellied Brent Goose 
leucopsis —Bernacle Goose 

»,  ruficollis.—Red-breasted Goose 


Subfamily AnatiIn=.—THE SHELDRAKES AND Non-pivina Ducks 
Genus Taporna, or Sheldrakes 
Tadorna cornuta..-Common Sheldrake 
Genus Casarca, or Ruddy Sheldrakes ... 
Casarea rutila.—Ruddy Sheldrake .. 
Genus CHAULELASMUS, or Gadwalls 
Chaulelasmus streperus.—Gadwall 
Genus Dariua, or Pintails 
Dafila acuta—Pintail Duck 
Genus Margca, or Wigeons ... 


Mareca penelope—Wigeon 
»  americana— American Wigeon 


Genus Nertion, or Teals 


Nettion crecca—Common Teal 
oy carolinense—American Teal 


Genus QUERQUEDULA, or Garganeys 


Querquedula circia— Garganey 
- discors— Blue-winged Garganey 


Genus SpatuLa, or Shovelers 
Spatula clypeata—Shoveler 
Genus Anas, or Typical Ducks 
Anas boschas—Mallard is 
Subfamily Furigunrina.—Tue Divine Ducks AND — 
Genus Nerta, or Red-crested Pochards 
Netta rufina—Red-crested Pochard 
Genus Nyroca, or Pochards . 


Nyroca africana—White- -<yed Boohavdl 
»,  ferina—Pochard . : 
Genus FuLicuna, or Scaups wad Tufted Dicks. 
Fuligula marila—Scaup . 


ig cristata—Tufted Duck... 
collaris—Ring-necked Duck 


” 


” 


xiv SYSTEMATIC INDEX. 


PAGE, 

Order ANSERIFORMES.—SCREAMERS, SWANS, GEESE, &e.— Contd. 
Genus CHarironetta, or Buffel-headed Ducks ... .. 404 
Charitonetta albeola—Buffel-headed Duck ... .. 405 
Genus CrianGuua, or Golden-eyes ae se .. 407 
Clangula glaucion—Golden-eye ... wea ... 408 
Genus Cosmonetra, or Harlequin Ducks ee .. 411 
Cosmonetta histrionica—Harlequin Duck ... .. 412 
Genus Harepa, or Long-tailed Ducks su . 415 
Harelda glacialis—Long-tailed Duck 2 .. 416 
Genus CHipEmtia, or Scoters ... le uae .. 419 
Cidemia nigra—Common Scoter ... is ... 420 
ii fusca—Velvet Scoter sie _ .. 428 
i perspicillata— Surf Scoter aia ... 426 
Genus Heniconetta, or Rufous-breasted Eiders a. 429 
Heniconetta, stelleri—Steller’s Hider — ... 480 
Genus Somateria, or Hiders .. es sid w. 432 
Somateria mollissima— cee idee sil .. 4838 
‘i spectabilis—King Eider ues ex A437 
Subfamily Mercina2—THe M@RGANSERS ... ats ... 440 
Genus Mrercanser, or Typical Mergansers s4 .. 440 
Merganser castor--Goosander : we 441 
3 serrator—Red-breasted Merganser w. 444 
Genus LopHopytEs, or Hooded Mergansers _... .. 447 
Lophodytes cucullatus—Hooded Merganser .. 448 
Genus Meraus, or Smews ... an nae ... 4650 
Mergus albellus—Smew ... ia 38 .. 461 


Nors.—-For Alphabetical Index see page 458. 


List of Plates. 


Puate I. 
RING DOVE. 


CoLUMBA PALUMBUS. 


Puate V. 
PTARMIGAN. 
LAGOPUS MUTUS. 


Puate II. 
STOCK DOVE. 


Puate VI. 
RED GROUSE. 


COLUMBA NAS. LAGOPUS SCOTICUS. 


ROCK DOVE. CAPERCAILLIE. 


| 
Puate ITA. (see Hrrata, p. 457). | Puate VII. 
| 
| 
COoLUMBA LIVIA. TETRAO UROGALLUS. 


| 
Prave III. Piare VII. 


TURTLE DOVE. | BLACK GROUSE. 
TURTUR AURITUS. | TETRAO TETRIX. 
| 
Puate IV. | PratE IX. (FRONTISPIECE.) 


| 
| 
PALLAS’S SAND-GROUSE. PHEASANT. 


SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS. PHASIANUS COLCHICUS. 


xvi LIST OF PLATES. 


PLATE X., 


JAPANESE PHEASANT. RING-NECKED PHEASANT. 
PHASIANUS VERSICOLOR. PHASIANUS TORQUATUS. 


Puate XI. 


PARTRIDGE. 
PERDIX CINEREA. 


Puate XIa. (see Errata, p. 457). 


RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 
CACCABIS RUFA. 


Prats XII. Prate XIV. 
CORN CRAKE. COMMON CRANE. 
CREX PRATENSIS. | GRUS CINEREA. 

| 

PLATE XIII. | Pratt XV. 

WATER RAIU. ; GREAT BUSTARD. 
RaLLUS AQUATICUS. OTIS TARDA. 


PuateE XVI. 


MACQUEEN’S BUSTARD. 
HOUBARA MACQUEENI. 


Puate XVII. 


COMMON PRATINCOLE. SOCIABLE LAPWING. 
GLAREOLA PRATINCOLA. VANELLUS GREGARIUS. 


Puate XVIII. 


OYSTER-CATCHER. 
H4&MATOPUS OSTRALEGUS. 


Puate XIX. 


LITTLE RINGED PLOVER. KILLDEER PLOVER. 
ANGIALITIS MINOR. OXYECHUS VOCIFERUS. 


LIST OF PLATES. Xvli 


PuatE XX. 


CASPIAN PLOVER. 
OCHTHODROMUS ASIATICUS. 


Puate XXI. 


DOTTEREL. 
EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS. 


Puate XXII. 


GOLDEN PLOVER. 
CHARADRIUS PLUVIALIS. 


GREY PLOVER. 
SQUATAROLA HELVETICA. 


Puate XXIII. 


LAPWING. 
VANELLUS CRISTATUS. 


Puatze XXIV. 
COMMON AVOCET. 


COMMON STILT. 
RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA. 


HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTERUS. 


PLATE XXYV. 


GREY PHALAROPE. RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 


PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS. PHALAROPUS HYPERBOREUS. 


Puate XXVI. 
COMMON REDSHANK. 


BAR-TAILED GODWIT. 
TOTANUS CALIDRIS. 


LIMOSA RUFA. 


Puate XXVILI. 


BARTRAM’S SANDPIPER. BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 


BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA. TRINGITES RUFESCENS. 


Puate XXVITI. 
CURLEW .SANDPIPER. SIBERIAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 


TRINGA SUBARQUATA. HETEROPYGIA ACUMINATA. 


Xviil LIST OF PLATES. 


PLATE XXIX. Pratt XXX. 
WOODCOCK. GREAT SNIPE. 
SCOLOPAX RUSTICULA. GALLINAGO MAJOR. 
PuatE XXXI. 
COMMON SNIPE. JACK SNIPE. 
GALLINAGO SCOLOPACINA. LIMNOCRYPTES GALLINULA. 


PuaTe XXXII. 


LESSER SNOW GOOSE. BRENT GOOSE. 
CHEN HYPERBOREUS. BRANTA BERNICLA. 


RED-BREASTED GOOSE. COMMON SHELDRAKE. 


Puate XXXITI. | PLATE XXXIV. 
BRANTA RUFICOLLIS. TADORNA CORNUTA. 


PuatTeE XXXV. (see Errata, p. 457). 


PINTAIL DUCK. WIGEON. 
DAFILA ACUTA. MARECA PENELOPE. 
PLATE XXXVI. PuaTtE XXXVII. 

SHOVELER. MALLARD. 


SPATULA CLYPEATA. ANAS BOSCHAS. 


PuaATE XXXVITII. 
TUFTED DUCK. RED-CRESTED POCHARD. 
FULIGULA CRISTATA. NETTA RUFINA. 


PLATE XXXIX., 


COMMON HIDER. KING EIDER. STELLER’S EIDER. 
SoOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS. HENICONETTA STELLERI. 
Puarte XL. 

GOOSANDER. HARELEQUIN DUCK. 


MERGANSER CASTOR. COSMONETYTA HISTRIONICA. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF 
GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 


E intend to devote the opening pages of the present volume to a brief 
introductory chapter on the geographical distribution and migration of 

Game Birds and Wild Fowl. In our opinion the science of avine distribution, 
or dispersal, is still most imperfectly understood, notwithstanding the vast, 
progress that has already been made during the latter half of the present century. 
The geographical distribution of Life, if we mistake not, is governed by law, and 
therefore subservient to certain definite influences, and is not the fortuitous 
process that naturalists, almost without exception, believe it to be. We have 
too much evidence to suggest, if we come to study the phenomenon in a critical 
manner, that the dispersal of life over the globe is not without a plan. The 
phenomenon of migration (so inseparably associated with geographical distri- 
bution) appears also to be as little understood, and we fear that this will remain so 
as long as naturalists decline to accept this apparently unquestionable conclusion. 
In certain directions naturalists have much to congratulate themselves upon. 
With the dawn of the Darwinian epoch the importance of the distribution of 
living forms began to be recognised as a factor throwing unexpected light upon the 
evolution of species. With the stimulus given to the new science of geographical 
dispersal by Dr. Sclater, who sketched out the world into six great faunal 
regions, guided largely by the avine facies of the Continental areas, great things 
have been accomplished. Dr. Sclater’s scheme was followed a few years later by 
that of Huxley, in which the earth was separated into four primary regions, the 
divisions being latitudinal instead of longitudinal. Eight years later still Wallace 
published his monumental work on the geographical distribution of animals, 
perhaps best, described as a detailed elaboration of Dr. Sclater’s scheme. It is 
unnecessary here to allude to the labours of other naturalists, for beyond slight 
modifications the general ideas of Dr. Sclater and Huxley have been adopted. 
Neither can more be said for that branch of the subject concerning the means of 
dispersal, all writers hitherto regarding these as more or less fortuitous, and in 
a great measure dependent upon the physical mutations of the earth’s surface. 
These views involve the acceptance of Polar Dispersal, or, in other words, that 
Life has gradually spread in endless forms from the poles to the equator, 
influenced from time to time by glacial epochs. It is perhaps unnecessary here 
to add anything to what I have already written upon the subject of avine 


XX INTRODUCTION. 


dispersal in my two volumes on the migration of birds. An introductory chapter 
in a work like the present does not afford the necessary facilities for the discussion 
of such a complicated question, but I hope shortly to elaborate my views in a 
special volume devoted to the geographical history of avine life. It is sufficient 
here to say that, in my opinion, all the available evidence tends to show that 
Life is of equatorial origin, and that from such a vast centre living forms have 
drifted in strict accordance to law north and south towards the poles. That law, 
briefly stated, is that species spread in the direction of the poles and towards 
points of least resistance in the struggle for existence. Following Huxley to 
some extent, I have divided the world into three realms. First, an Intertropical 
or Primogeean realm, with northern and southern limits marked tentatively by 
the tropics; second, an Arctogeean or Northern realm, which embraces the 
entire world north of the Tropic of Cancer; third, a Notogsean or Southern 
realm, which in like manner includes the entire world south of the Tropic of 
Capricorn. We need scarcely have alluded to this law of dispersal in the present 
volume, but the reader will find many instances of its application in the 
geographical ranges of the various species dealt with in the following pages. 
This is more especially the case when we come to treat with the various species 
of Waders—birds with extended areas of distribution in both the northern and 
southern hemispheres. The reader will find that I have endeavoured to deal with 
many problems of distribution in a manner opposed to the generally accepted 
views of ornithologists. In many of these cases we are unfortunately without 
sufficient data to furnish absolute proof of our contention, but we wait with every 
confidence the exploration of the Antarctic and high Southern regions, and the 
accumulation of additional facts relating to the habits and movements of certain 
species in the Southern hemisphere, to support the views we hold on these 
important questions. We will now proceed to glance in detail at the general 
features of the geographical distribution of the several orders dealt with in the 
present volume. 

Our first order consists of the Columbiformes or Pigeons. The Pigeons are 
a widely distributed group, but the four hundred and seventy or so species that 
compose it are very unequally dispersed, even in those warmer portions of the 
globe that they chiefly affect. They are by far the least abundant in cold northern 
latitudes, and perhaps reach their highest degree of development, and certainly 
their preponderance in numbers, in the Australian region—an area, be it 
remarked, abounding in islands and offering those facilities for isolation so 
favourable to the establishment of new species—the number of known species 
therein nearly equalling those in all other parts of the world combined. The 
Nearctic and Palearctic regions are the poorest in species; the Ethiopian region 
comes next; whilst the Oriental and Neotropical regions, next to the Australian 
region, are nearly equal in their number of Columbine forms and abundantly 
represented. The Pigeons belonging to the British genera, Columba and Turtur, 


INTRODUCTION. XX1 


are the most widely distributed of the Columbiformes, an order which is singularly 
remarkable for the localness of its genera. 

Following the Pigeons we have now to glance at the distribution of the Pedio- 
phili or Sand-Grouse. This very small and very distinct order is exclusively con- 
fined to the Old World, becoming most abundantly represented in the arid desert 
districts of the Ethiopian region and in similar areas in the central Palearctic region. 
They are most sparsely represented in the Oriental region and in South Europe. 
Next in the order of our sequence come the Galliformes or Game Birds. There 
is perhaps no other group of birds more thoroughly cosmopolitan in their distri- 
bution, being represented amidst the snows and the ice of the Arctic regions 
upon the lofty mountains, in the woodlands and plains and valleys of temperate 
latitudes, to the jungles and forests of the Tropic zone, and southwards beyond to 
Temperate regions again. The Game Birds are divisible into several well-defined 
families, which to a great extent are geographical. Thus the Grouse are confined 
to the Northern hemisphere, the Partridges and Quails together are separable 
into groups which are both of them representative of the New World and the 
Old World respectively, the Pheasants are chiefly Asiatic, the Turkeys are as 
exclusively American as the Guinea Fowls are African, the Hemipodes are confined 
to the Eastern hemisphere, the Megapodes are almost exclusively peculiar to the 
Australian region,’ and, lastly, the Guans and Curassows are indigenous to the 
American continents. 

Another cosmopolitan group is the Ralliformes or Rails, universally distri- 
buted with the exception of the Polar regions, and some of the species remarkable 
for their enormous areas of dispersal. Here again we have a group singularly 
rich in island species, some of them having entirely lost the power of flight. 
It is a most significant fact that some of the genera or families are indigenous to 
the tropic zone right round the world—a phenomenon of distribution that is 
utterly opposed to any theory of Polar dispersal. Following these in the arrange- 
ment adopted in the present volume we have the Gruiformes, or Cranes and allied 
birds. The various families that form this somewhat heterogenous group are to 
a great extent geographical. The true Cranes are by far the most cosmopolitan, 
and, with the exception of the Neotropical region, are found distributed over all 
the great land masses of the globe. On the other hand, the Guaraiinas (Aramidee) 
and the Trumpeters (Psophiide) are exclusively Neotropical, whilst the Kagu 
(Rhinochetide), the most local of all, is confined to the island of New Caledonia. 

Our next order is the Charadriiformes, which includes all the remaining 
land birds dealt with in the following pages. This order we have divided 
into nine fairly well-defined families, four (which has inadvertently been 
given as five on page 98) of which are represented in the British Islands. 


1 In the account of the Order Galliformes (p. 30) the statement that Game Birds are cosmopolitan with 
the exception of the Australian region is somewhat ambiguous. It should there have been 
explained that the Order is represented by the Megapodes only. 


xxii INTRODUCTION. 


First of these come the Bustards (Otidide). This is another family confined 
exclusively to the Old World. SBustards are a decidedly Ethiopian type, 
being most abundant in species in Africa. The typical Bustards range over the 
Palearctic, Oriental and Ethiopian regions; whilst the Ruffed Bustards, in 
addition to these areas, penetrate to the Australian region. The Stone-Curlews 
(CHdicnemidz), although a family containing few species, have a comparatively 
wide area of distribution, including the temperate and tropical portions of the 
Old World and the Neotropical portion of the New World. The Coursers, 
Pratincoles and allied forms associated in the family Cursoriide are another small 
and exclusively Old World group distributed over the southern portions of the 
Palearctic region, throughout the Ethiopian region, the Oriental region and the 
Australian region. The Plovers, Sandpipers, and Snipes (Charadriide) form a 
much more extensive group, and, moreover, a cosmopolitan one, the range 
extending almost from one pole to the other. Of the ten subfamilies into which 
this family may be divided no fewer than seven are represented in the British 
list. The geographical distribution of this family furnishes us with some of the 
most significant and remarkable facts in support of the suggested new law of 
equatorial dispersal. Many of these facts have been pointed out as opportunity 
presented when the geographical distribution of the various species has been 
dealt with. These we need not stay to repeat. It will be sufficient here to 
allude to the significant distribution of the Quail, the Avocet, the Common Sand- 
piper, Bonaparte’s Sandpiper, the Turnstone, some of the Oyster-catchers, the 
Yellowshank, the Hudsonian Godwit and the Sanderling, to mention but a few 
instances of species breeding in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, 
starting from and returning to an equatorial base, to illustrate the strong 
confirmation of our hypothesis that no migratory bird normally crosses the Tropics 
to breed or to winter in either hemisphere. Of the subfamilies with British 
representatives we have first the Oyster-catchers (Haematopodine) which are 
practically cosmopolitan in their distribution. Following these come the typical 
Plovers (Charadriine), another cosmopolitan assemblage of species ranging over 
the entire earth almost from pole to pole. Many of the genera, however, are 
confined to certain areas ; and the geographical area of many species is consider- 
ably more restricted during the breeding season than in winter. The third 
subfamily in our order of sequence is composed of the Stilts and Avocets 
(Himantopodine), a group of small extent, yet almost cosmopolitan in distri- 
bution, with the exception of high northern and southern latitudes. The fourth 
subfamily consists of the Turnstones (Strepsiline), a group although restricted 
to a couple of species only of practically cosmopolitan distribution, and one with 
an Intertropical or Primogzean focus. Another remarkably small subfamily, and 
yet a very distinct one, is that of the Phalaropes (Phalaropine). Phalaropes are 
decidedly Northern hemisphere birds confined to the arctic and temperate portions 
of the Nearctic and Palearctic regions, by some authorities linked together under 


INTRODUCTION. xxiii 


the term Holarctic region, and conforming somewhat closely to our own 
Arctogean realm (supra). Our next subfamily consists of the Semi-web-footed 
Sandpipers or Tatlers (Totanine), another widely dispersed group, but most 
abundantly distributed over the Arctic and Temperate portions of the Northern 
hemisphere especially during summer. Some of the genera as well as not a few 
species appear to have a northern and southern dispersal from an equatorial 
focus, notably in Totanus, Actiturus and Limosa. Some of the genera are 
strictly geographical—Machetes is confined to the Old World, Bartramia as 
exclusively to the New World. Our last subfamily contains the Cleft-footed 
Sandpipers and Snipes (Scolopacinez). These are birds of almost cosmopolitan 
distribution, but, as in the preceding subfamily, they are to a great extent 
dominant in the Arctic regions during summer. We also find some of the genera 
with a Primogsean focus (as for instance Tringa, Calidris, and Scolopax). Of the 
British genera, Gallinago and Scolopax are the two most thoroughly cosmopolitan. 

The last order with which we have to deal is the Anseriformes, which 
includes the somewhat heterogeneous assemblage of Screamers, Flamingoes, 
Swans, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers. Of the three suborders, two are not 
represented in the present volume, but the third, the Ducks (Anseres), is rich in 
British species. The non-British suborders may be briefly dismissed. The 
Screamers (Palamedes) are exclusively a New World group, confined to the 
Neotropical region ; whilst the Flamingoes (Phcenicopteri) are much more cosmo- 
politan, and occupy the tropical areas of Asia (with South Europe), Africa, and 
America, but are not represented in Australia. The Anseres are all contained in 
a single family (Anatids), divisible into some eleven subfamilies, of which no less 
than five find British representatives. The Ducks and their allies are absolutely 
cosmopolitan in their distribution—a fact which may be largely due to their 
exceptional facilities for dispersal. Reviewing the British subfamilies in their 
order of sequence, we have first to consider the Swans (Cygninw). The distribu- 
tion of these birds is somewhat remarkable owing to its being discontinuous. 
Swans are distributed over the Arctic and Temperate portion of the Northern 
hemisphere and the Temperate portion of the Southern hemisphere—a fact 
which seems to suggest a dispersal from the Primogean realm, north and 
south, at a sufficiently remote era to have produced generic differences in 
Australia, the most isolated area. Next in succession we have the Geese 
(Anserine). Of these, the three British genera are exclusively confined to 
the Northern hemisphere, Chen and Branta being chiefly Arctic in distribution. 
The typical Geese are northern birds, no species being found south of the 
equator. Our next subfamily contains the Sheldrakes and Non-diving Ducks 
(Anatine). These may fairly be described as cosmopolites, but many of the 
genera are significantly geographical Thus Dendrocygna (non-British) is 
Tropical, and is found right round the world; Chenalopex ranges over Africa 
and South America; Tadorna and Casarca (Sheldrakes) are Old World; 


xxiv INTRODUCTION. 


Chaulelasmus is confined to the Northern hemisphere; Poecilonetta is com- 
mon to South America and Africa, south of the Great Desert; Elasmonetta, 
peculiar to New Zealand; Nesonetta, to the Auklands; Malecorhynchus, to 
Australia and Tasmania; Heteronetta to the Southern portions of South 
America. The cosmopolitan genera are Nettion, Anas, and Spatula; whilst 
Querquedula is found over the Northern hemisphere and South America, and 
Dafila is a cosmopolite with the exception of Australia and New Zealand. 
Following these, we have the Diving Ducks and Hiders (Fuliguline). These 
Ducks are almost exclusively Northern hemisphere birds, with the exception of 
the genus Nyroca which is cosmopolitan; Metopiana (one species) which is 
confined to South America, one of the five species of Fuligula which inhabits 
New Zealand, the Aukland and Chatham Islands, and Tachyeres (one species) 
inhabiting the Strait of Magellan and the Falklands. Many of the species are 
arctic or sub-arctic in distribution during summer, as details of their geographical 
area in the present volume will show. Our last British subfamily contains the 
Mergansers and Smews (Mergine). Of the three genera that compose it, 
Lophodytes (one species) is confined to North America, Mergus (one species) is 
exclusively Palearctic, whilst Merganser (seven species) is of wide distribution, 
ranging over the Palearctic and Nearctic regions, and portions of the Neotropical 
and Oriental regions, together with the Aukland Islands in the South Pacific. 
Some of the other subfamilies are remarkable for their geographical distribution, 
such as the Merganettine with representatives in New Zealand and the Andes. 

Now as regards the ‘migrations of the Game Birds and: Wild Fowl. Taking 
the various groups of birds dealt with in the present volume in their sequence, 
we have first to consider the migrations of the Pigeons. So far as concerns the 
few British species we have little of exceptional interest to record, although the 
annual movements of some birds of the Pigeon tribe in other parts of the world 
are upon such a scale that elevate them to the highest class of migrational 
phenomena. To illustrate this we have only to allude to the marvellous migra- 
tions of the Passenger Pigeon of the New World. Unfortunately the progress of 
civilization in North America has been synchronous with the almost complete 
extermination of this interesting bird, which now only manages to survive in the 
least populated areas, and even there in numbers that can only be described as 
remnants. This species is an abnormal migrant to the British area, and we have 
already dwelt at some length upon its migrational movements. The typical 
Pigeons can scarcely be classed as birds of strong migrational movement, season- 
flight perhaps reaching its greatest development in the Turtle Dove and allied 
forms. Migration becomes much more pronounced amongst the Sand-Grouse, 
and in these birds it is often of a strongly marked nomadic or irruptic character. 
Two of the species are known as cold season visitors to India, and one or two of 
the South African Sand Grouse appear to have well-defined migrations. 

There is more regular migration among the Game Birds than is perhaps 


INTRODUCTION. XXV 


generally supposed. Much of this migration is of a nomadic character, or is 
displayed in the form of vertical migration in so many mountain species. Many 
of these movements are at present little understood, and the data concerning 
them is of the most meagre character. The migrations of some of the Grouse 
are exceptionally interesting. Thus the Prairie Hen (Tympanuchus americanus) 
is sald by competent observers to migrate as regularly as the Canada Goose. In 
November and December large flocks of this Grouse come from Northern Iowa 
and Southern Minnesota to winter in Northern Missouri and Southern Iowa. 
The return migration is performed in March and April. It is a curious fact that 
the migratory individuals are said to be females only, but this is possibly not 
universal, and may be similar to the movements of the Chaffinch. The most 
typical migrant amongst the Game Birds is the Quail. Its seasonal movements 
are not only regular, but take place over wide areas of country, often in vast 
numbers. In the next group, the Rails, we have species of much more pro- 
nounced and regular migration (our own Corn Crake furnishes a capital example). 
Even more strongly of migratory habits are the Cranes, although it may be 
remarked that the allied Trumpeters and the Kagu are eminently sedentary. 

We now come to the most thoroughly typical migrants of all the land birds 
treated in the present volume, the great cosmopolitan order of the Charadrii- 
formes. It is true that many of the species that compose it are of sedentary 
habits, but the majority of them are birds of passage. Every kind of migrational 
movement finds its representative in this order, from the nomadic or vertical 
migrant to the feathered pilgrim that crosses half the world in its annual 
passage. The Coursers, Pratincoles and Phalaropes may be classed among the 
most sedentary species, as the Sandpipers, Turnstones and Plovers rank as the 
greatest migrants. Little less famous as migrants are the Ducks and their allied 
forms, the annual movements of so many of these birds being too familiar to 
require description in detail here. We may remark, however, that if the 
migrations of birds of the Duck tribe are regular and pronounced, they are not 
so extended as in the preceding order ; whilst there can be little or no doubt that 
a much greater percentage of the species are sedentary, especially in the tropics 
and the Southern hemisphere. 

We now propose to bring the present chapter to a conclusion by a brief 
description of the spring and autumn aspects of the migrations of the British 
species of Game Birds and Wild Fow] as they are presented in our area. So far 
as our Islands are concerned, migration is very sparsely demonstrated by Game 
Birds and Pigeons. Some of our Grouse are certainly subject to marked if 
slight vertical migration, and there appears to be some amount of nomadic 
movement during winter. The Quail is the sole strictly migratory species. Our 
Pigeons are all sedentary in the sense of not crossing the seas, but large numbers 
of Ring Doves and smaller numbers of Stock Doves visit us in autumn and 
winter from Continental areas. The Turtle Dove is the only migratory species, 


xxv INTRODUCTION. 


and will be again alluded to when we deal with the months of its arrival and 
departure. It will, perhaps, be most convenient to deal with the migrational 
phenomena as they occur from month to month. During the depth of winter 
true migration may be at perfect rest, but at this season there is an immense 
amount of movement in progress amongst Wild Fowl. This is largely dependent 
upon the prevailing state of the weather and the vicissitudes of food supply. In 
February migration may be justly said to commence among Wild Fowl. During 
that month we have evidence of movement among Geese, Swans, and Ducks, 
especially of the more boreal species, the first signs of their spring migration 
northwards from our waters. Migration among wading birds is not, however, so 
pronounced at this period, although Golden Plovers, Lapwings, Grey Phalaropes, 
Woodcock, Common and Jack Snipes, Redshanks, and Curlews show unmistak- 
able signs of moving north, north-east, or east. With the advent of March 
migration reaches a much stronger phase. Ring Doves and Stock Doves are 
migrating back to Continental districts; almost without exception every species 
of British Duck, Goose, or Swan is now passing from our islands or coasting 
over them towards the breeding grounds, a state of things that will continue 
with increasing frequency for weeks. The Smew closes its passage this month. 
Greater migrational activity also prevails among Waders. Golden Plovers and 
Lapwings continue to migrate out of our area; Grey Plovers begin their 
northern movement, and numbers of this latter species also pass along our 
coasts ; perhaps the greater number of our Snipes migrate north during March. 
Curlews and Redshanks are still leaving us, and this month the Dunlin begins to 
move out of the country as well as to pass along the coasts; the Purple Sand- 
piper also initiates its passage. Towards the end of March the Garganey 
appears. The migration north of Ducks continues throughout April, as also does 
the departure of the Ring Dove and Stock Dove. During this month we remark 
the first. appearance of those Waders that have wintered south of our area. Now 
the Stone Curlew arrives, the first of the Kentish Plovers, and Dotterels, 
the Red-necked Phalarope, the Ruff, the Common Sandpiper, the Wood and 
Green Sandpipers, the Greenshank, the Whimbrel, and the Black-tailed Godwit. 
Ringed Plovers are passing north along our coast, Avocets are seen, and Bar- 
tailed Godwits are coasting us. Now also appear the first of the Little and 
Temminck’s Stints, the Curlew Sandpiper, and the Knot: Sanderlings are now 
in strong movement. Towards the end of April, Quails, Corn Crakes, and Spotted 
Crakes arrive in our Islands to breed, and the Turtle Dove in small numbers 
makes its appearance. These four latter species are, however, better classed as 
May migrants. By the end of April the migrations of the Bean and Pink- 
footed Geese are practically over, but all the other British species of Geese, 
together with the Swans, prolong their movements into early May, mostly 
coasting migrants. Among the Ducks, Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Long- 
tailed Duck, and Golden-eye complete their passage practically in April, but the 


INTRODUCTION. xxvii 


other species prolong theirs into May. 'l'here is a good deal of coasting migration 
over the British Islands during May amongst Wild Fowl of most species, and in 
not a few instances this is continued into June, especially with birds that breed 
in the far north, such as Knots, Grey Plovers, Turnstones, Curlew Sandpipers, 
Sanderlings, Whimbrels, and Bar-tailed Godwits. Among the Ducks, Brent 
Geese, Teal, and Wigeon may be instanced as prolonging their passage into 
June. This month, however, brings to a close the spring migration northwards 
of our British Wild Fowl. Vertical migration commences fairly early, as soon 
as the uplands are sufficiently open to furnish food, with the passage of Lapwings 
in February, the Golden Plover, the Curlew, and the Dunlin, for instance, in 
March. In our islands this vertical migration ceases in May. 

We have scarcely remarked the last departing fowl northwards in spring and 
early suinmer before signs of the returning birds begin to be apparent. Among 
the Ducks we occasionally have indications of a southern migration in July, with 
such species as Brent Geese, Mallards, and Common Scoters; among Wading 
birds with such species as Grey Plovers, Golden Plovers, Lapwings, Turnstones, 
Redshanks, Curlews, Bar-tailed Godwits, Knots, and Sanderlings. In August, 
the migration of birds of the Duck tribe becomes slightly more apparent by the 
earliest arrivals of Bernacle Geese, Whoopers, Teals, Wigeons, Scaups, and Velvet 
Scoters. These individuals, however, are but pioneers of the hosts that are to 
arrive during the few succeeding months. During August, a few Corn Crakes, 
Spotted Crakes, and Stone Curlews, leave their British breeding grounds and 
draw south; the Turtle Dove is also in movement this month; whilst the 
numbers of Grey Plovers, Golden Plovers, Lapwings, Turnstones, Redshanks, 
Curlews, Knots, and Sanderlings, perceptibly increase. Migration is also com- 
menced by the Grey Phalarope, the Woodcock, the Common Snipe, the Ruff, and 
the Dunlin, in August; whilst Whimbrels, Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshanks, 
Wood and Green Sandpipers, are also leaving us, or in movement coasting south. 
In September, migration rapidly increases in intensity. To the list of arrivals 
must now be added (in small numbers) the Pink-footed Goose, the Pintail, the 
Pochard, the Tufted Duck, and the Golden-eye. Among Waders, we may 
mention that the Jack Snipe and the Purple Sandpiper begin to return to their 
British winter haunts. Among the departures of our summer migrants may be 
instanced the Garganey, the Turtle Dove, and the Quail, the passage of all three 
species being prolonged into the following month. The Corn Crake, the Spotted 
Crake, and the Stone Curlew are also migrating strongly now. Coasting migrants 
perceptibly increase in numbers, especially Plovers, Sandpipers, Whimbrels, 
Godwits, and the first of the Stints. The Red-necked Phalarope now begins to 
leave its summer quarters, and the Avocet, and the Green and Wood Sandpipers, 
complete their autumn passage. 

So far as the Duck tribe is concerned, October inaugurates migration on the 
grandest scale. The migration of every species is strongly marked, birds pouring 


XXVill INTRODUCTION. 


into our area from the north and east. This month brings the first of the White- 
fronted and Bean Geese, Bewick’s Swans, and Mute Swans, Gadwalls, Long- 
tailed Ducks, Goosanders, and Smews. The migration of the Spotted Crake 
draws to a close this month, also that of the Garganey. Not only are the various 
species of wild fowl coming into our Islands and seas in vast numbers, but similar 
multitudes are coasting south. The Dotterel completes its migration in October, 
as also do the Red-necked Phalarope, the Common Sandpiper (except in a few 
isolated instances), the Greenshank, the Whimbrel, and the Black-tailed Godwit. 
November brings the normal autumn migration of Wild Fowl to a close. Geese, 
Swans, and Ducks continue to arrive in our area or to pass our Islands to still 
more southern haunts. Ring Doves and Stock Doves are still migrating into this 
country, a few Corn Crakes, Stone Curlews, and Kentish Plovers are still moving 
out of it; whilst many Plovers and Sandpipers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Purple Sand- 
pipers, Knots, and Sanderlings, still coast us on their way south. Vertical migra- 
tion commences in July and August among such species as Lapwings, Golden 
Plovers, Curlews, Dunlins, Redshanks, and Mallards, and is continued until 

_ October, when the uplands are practically cleared of their wading birds of passage. 
7 We have not space here to describe in detail the actual movements of these 
various species of Wild Fowl. There is something intensely interesting, and at 
times most impressive, about their seasonal movements, more often than not 
performed under the cover of darkness. Their wild expressive cries when on 
passage across the night sky, the rush of their rapidly moving wings in the dark- 
ness overhead, their visits to the light-houses when lost and bewildered by adverse 
atmospheric conditions, are all of exceptional interest, and combine in forming a 
demonstration of avine migration of a most impressive kind. The reader who 
might care to pursue this fascinating subject further, may be referred to our two 
volumes on migration, as well as to Giitke’s monumental work on the Birds of 
Heligoland. 


The Game Birds and Wild Fowl 


OF 


The British Islands. 


ORDER COLUMBIFORMES.—THE PIGEONS. 


HE Pigeons form a homogeneous, well-defined, and important group of 
birds, closely allied to the Game Birds (GanzLirormEes)—through the 
Sand-Grouse (PEDIOPHILI)—and to the Plovers (CHARADRIIFORMES). Their 
sternum, which varies in shape, generally contains two notches on each side of the 
posterior margin, the interior pair being small, the exterior pair wide and deep. 
In the modification of their cranial bones they are schizognathous, whilst their 
nostrils are schizorhinal. In their pterylosis, myology, and digestive organs they 
show considerable affinity with the Plovers and the Game Birds. 

The external characteristics of the Pigeons are their somewhat Plover-like 
bill, enlarged at the tip and covered at the base with soft skin, in which are 
placed the nostrils, partly concealed by an incumbent valve; their small hind toe ; 
and their dense, compact plumage. The oil gland is nude or absent. The contour 
feathers are without an aftershaft, or only possess arudimentary one. The primary 
quills are eleven in number, the fifth secondary is absent; but the rectrices are 
variable in this respect (from twelve to twenty). The Pigeons are, so far as is 
known, double-moulted; the young are hatched blind, but clothed with thin, 
yellowish down. 

About 470 species of Pigeons are known. Count Salvadori, the most recent 
monographer of the Columbiformes, has divided the existing species of Pigeons 
into five families, of which two only are represented in the British Islands. The 
Pigeons are cosmopolitan in their distribution with the exception of the Polar 


regions, but are probably most abundant in the Australian region. 
Z 


2 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family COLUMBIDE.—The Typical Pigeons. 


The birds comprising this division of the order may be distinguished by their 
somewhat short metatarsus—in most cases less than the middle toe in length—and 
by the number of their tail feathers, whichis twelve. In this group the soles of the 
feet are of moderate breadth, and the skin on the side of the hind toe only is 
exceptionally expanded. Count Salvadori, somewhat needlessly, we consider, has 
divided the present family into no less than three subfamilies, one of them 
containing but a single species, the Passenger Pigeon. 


Genus COLUMBA, or Grey. Pigeons. 
Type, COLUMBA ZENAS. 


Columba, of Linnzus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their prevailing slate-grey plumage, glossed chiefly on the head, 
neck, and breast with metallic hues. The wings are long, broad, and rather 
pointed, the first primary considerably longer than the sixth ; the tail, which is 
shorter (or not longer) than the wing, is composed of twelve feathers, nearly even. 
The metatarsus is short, scutellated in front, reticulated behind, and feathered 
on the upper portion, but never more than for half its length. The bill is 
moderately stout, straight at the base, and compressed. There are three toes 
in front, cleft to the base; one toe behind. 

This genus is composed of about sixty more or less defined species, which are 
inhabitants of the Palearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, Nearctic and Neotropical 
regions. Three species are resident in the British Islands. 

The Grey Pigeons are dwellers on rock-bound coasts, inland precipices, groves, 
and forests. They are birds of sustained and rapid flight, and progress on the 
ground by running and walking. Their notes are full and soft, but possess little 
sweetness or variety. They subsist chiefly upon grain and vegetable substances. 
Their nests are slight platforms of twigs, placed on rocks or trees ; and their eggs, 
never more than two, are white or creamy-white, and oval. These birds pair for 
life, and are remarkably prolific. Their flesh is highly and justly esteemed for 
the table. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 3 


Family COLUMBIDA. Genus CoLUMBA. 


RING DOVE. 
COLUMBA PALUMBUS.—Linneus. 


Prats I. 


Columba palumbus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 282 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 259 
(1887) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 3, pl. 456 (1878) ; Yarrell, Brit. B., ed. 4, iii. p.1 
(1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii, p 396 (1884); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 
xxi. p. 299 (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 344 (1893); Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxii. (1896); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 157, pl. 47 
(1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 242 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Ring Dove is a resident 
throughout the wooded districts of the British Islands; most abundant in well- 
cultivated localities. To the Outer Hebrides and to St. Kilda it is only known as 
an occasional visitor. Its range is steadily increasing with the planting of trees. 
Foreign: Western Palearctic region. It ranges from Scandinavia east to the 
Ural Mountains and the Caucasus. It is a resident except in the extreme north, 
where it breeds as high as lat. 654° in the west and lat. 60° in the extreme east. 
It breeds locally throughout the basin of the Mediterranean, but is here best 

' known as a migrant during winter. To the Azores and Faroes it is an abnormal 
migrant only. 


Allied forms.—Columbda casiotis, an inhabitant of Persia, Turkestan, 
and Afghanistan as far east as Gilgit, on the frontiers of Cashmere. Differs from 
the Ring Dove in having the light patches on the neck buff instead of white. 


Habits.—The Ring Dove is certainly the best known of its tribe in our 
islands, and a bird that is almost everywhere on the increase. It is a resident, 
and frequents the woodland districts, parks and shrubberies, as well as the open 
fields. It is more or less gregarious throughout the year, and though one of the 
shyest of birds, soon becomes trustful and tame in districts where it is not 
molested, as witness the extraordinary confidence of the Ring Doves that of late 
years especially have taken to frequenting some of the London parks. The flight of 
the Ring Dove is rapid and powerful, and the white patches on the wings and on the 
neck are very conspicuous as the bird hurries along. The Ring Dove is a silent 
bird during winter, but early in spring it regains its note, which is continued more 
or less freely into the following September, and less frequently into October. This 


4 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


note is a loud, full coo-ro0-coo, most frequently repeated when the bird is in the 
act of paying court to its mate. In autumn vast flights of this bird congregate in 
chosen localities, migrants from Scandinavia, which fraternise with our indigenous 
birds, and frequent the open fields during the day, seeking the fir plantations at 
dusk to roost, where their homeward flight oft affords good sport to the gunner. 
The Ring Dove drinks frequently, and is very fond of repairing to salt water. It 
is a most voracious feeder, and in some districts commits great havoc on the crops of 
beans and grain and the tender shoots of clover. During spring and summer it 
feeds largely on shoots of herbage, mollusks, and seeds, and, as the autumn 
advances, grain of all kinds, peas, acorns, beech-mast, fruits, berries, and even nuts 
are devoured. In winter it has been known to feed on the tender shoots of turnips, 
and even on pieces of the turnips themselves. At this season it will frequent 
those places in the game coverts where maize is spread for the pheasants; and 
here good sport may often be obtained by lying in wait for the gluttonous pilferer. 
This species does not frequent the coast anything nearly so much as the Stock Dove. 
Vast numbers of Ring Doves occasionally visit the British Islands in late autumn 
from continental Europe; although it is interesting to remark that at Heligoland 
the bird is seldom seen in large flights, but is observed in straggling parties and 
singly both in spring and autumn. 


Nidification.—¥rom what I have observed I am of the opinion that the 
Ring Dove pairs for life, and yearly nests in the same locality if not disturbed. 
This species is an early and a prolonged breeder, commencing in March or 
April and continuing to rear brood after brood until the autumn. The nest is 
placed in a great variety of situations, both in evergreen and in deciduous trees 
‘(the latter often before they are in leaf), and in bushes and amongst ivy on cliffs 
or tree-trunks. Woods, plantations, odd trees in the hedgerows or trees in the 
open fields, are selected without choice of situation, and the nest is placed at 
varying heights. Mr. Witherby has recorded (Zoologist, 1895, p. 232) a very 
interesting and remarkable instance of this bird nesting on the ground amongst 
heather on a small island in Lough Cong, co. Galway, although suitable trees 
were available. T'wo nests were discovered in such a situation; and this fact 
seems forcibly to illustrate how a species may initiate a change in its nesting 
habits. It is worthy of remark that these curious nests were on islands, safe from 
predatory animals ; and the habit, therefore, has every chance of becoming a more 
general and permanent one. Mr. J. J. Armistead (op. cit. p. 275) records nests 
‘‘ not a foot from the ground,” in blackthorns, in the south of Scotland. The nest of 
the Ring Dove is merely a few dead twigs arranged basket-like in a flat and almost 
a shapeless mass. The eggs are normally two, but exceptionally one or three in 
number, oval in form, and pure and spotless white. They are on an average 1°6 
inch in length by 1:25 in breadth. They are sometimes laid one on each successive 
day, but often a day is missed between each. Incubation lasts from seventeen to 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 5 


twenty days. Both parents assist in the task, and in ministering to the wants of 
the young. It should be remarked that in all the species of this family the 
excreta of the young are never removed, and, caking together, soon form a firm 
platform with the twigs, on which the heavy nestlings rest secure. The young 
are brought to maturity by being fed with half-digested food regurgitated from 
the crop of the old birds. The Ring Dove has been known to breed in confine- 
ment, and also to hybridise with the domestic Pigeon. 


Diagnostic characters.— [Adult] Columba, with a conspicuous white 
bar on the wings, and white patches on the sides of the neck; [Young] with a 
white wing bar, neck patches absent. Length, 16 to 17 inches. It might here 
be remarked that the irides of this bird, as is the case with many other species, 
change in colour with age. Thus in the young bird they are very dark, nearly 
black, whilst in the adult they are brilliant yellow. 


6 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family COLUMBIDL. Genus CoLUMBA. 


STOCK DOVE. 


COLUMBA ANAS.—Linneus. 
Puate II., Fig. 1. 


Columba znas, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 279 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 287 (1837) ; 
Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 23, pl. 458 (1876); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 8 (1883) ; 
Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 401 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xx. (1891) ; 
Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 261 (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 846 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 158, pl. 47 (1896); Sharpe, 
Hanb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 244 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Stock Dove is a resident 
throughout England and Wales both inland and near the coast, but more locally 
distributed than the Ring Dove. It is very rare and local in Ireland and Scotland, 
but its range is steadily increasing. Foreign: West Palearctic region. It 
ranges from Scandinavia east to the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, 
Turkestan and Afghanistan. It is a summer visitor only to the northern portions 
of its range, which extends in the west up to lat. 62° and in the east up to 
lat. 57°. It breeds throughout Central and Southern Europe and North-west 
Africa. It is rare in Palestine, and doubtfully recorded from Egypt. 


Allied forms.—Columba eversmanni, an inhabitant of Central Asia. 
Differs from the Stock Dove in having a pale rump, a vinous crown, and a black 
base to the bill, and is slightly smaller. The Stock Dove is represented on the 
North Atlantic African islands by several allied but quite distinct species. 


Habits. —Although so common and widely distributed throughout the year, 
the Stock Dove is much less known to sportsmen and naturalists than is the 
preceding species. It is also often confused with the Rock Dove, in spite of the 
fact that the two species are very different in appearance. Although this species 
may be met with frequently on the coast (in Tor Bay it is the only Pigeon of the 
cliffs, but practically deserts these places during winter), and even in quarries and 
on moors and downs, yet it is most abundant in wooded districts, especially where 
the timber is aged and hollow. To many sportsmen it is known by the name of 
‘“Rockier.” It is a shy and wary bird, and rarely allows a near approach unless 
it considers itself unseen ; and will then often remain in trees or on the cliffs until 
it is well within gun-shot. The Stock Dove flies rapidly and impetuously, having 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 7 


wonderful command over itself in the air, and is able to dart and twist in and out 
of the branches, defying all but the quickest shots to bring it down. Like the Ring 
Dove it frequents the fields and more open country to feed and to dust itself ; 
but when alarmed it hurries to the nearest cover, and always repairs to its 
accustomed roosting-place in thick plantations or on the ivy-clad cliffs at the 
approach of dusk. It may frequently be seen running along the horizontal limbs 
of trees, especially during the pairing season. The note of this bird, persistently 
kept up all the spring and summer, is much harsher than that of the Ring Dove, 
and may be aptly expressed as a grunting coo-oo-up. At all times of the year the 
Stock Dove is socially inclined, and in autumn becomes gregarious, the flocks then 
assuming large size. Many of these birds are migrants from Scandinavia. All 
through the autumn and winter the flocks frequent the stubbles and fields of 
newly-sown grain, flying at nightfall to the woods and coppices, where they roost. 
Ring Doves very often mingle with them. The food of this species largely 
consists of grain during the time that fare is available; but seeds of weeds, clover, 
and grasses are often eaten. This bird is also partial to acorns and ‘‘ mast,” and 
even consumes blackberries. Peas and beans are favourite fare, and in severe 
weather, when snow is about, it will eat shoots of grain and clover and the leaves 
and sprouts of turnips. Although it frequents the ocean cliffs it is rarely seen on 
the beach below, except to drink the salt water, of which it is particularly fond ; 
but searches for its sustenance on the fields near by, or often flies to some distance 
where favourite fare chances to be plentiful. This bird in some districts is looked 
upon as a pest by agriculturists, owing to its depredations among the grain and 
green crops, yet its good offices in ridding the fields of weeds is some recompense 
for its pilferings. 


Nidification.—The Stock Dove pairs for life, and returns yearly to breed 
in some favourite spot even in spite of much disturbance. What is also remark- 
able is its sociability, even gregariousness, during this period, numbers of nests 
often being placed quite close together. This may be in some measure because 
suitable sites are rare elsewhere. Like its congeners it begins to breed early, and 
is remarkably prolific, continuing to rear brood after brood from March or April 
onwards to September and October. I have in November shot young Stock 
Doves not many days out of the nest, with filaments of down clinging to the head. 
The nest is placed in a variety of situations, yet always well concealed. A 
covered site of some kind is always preferred. Holes in trees, the deserted nests 
of Magpies and Crows, the old dreys of squirrels, amongst ivy on trees and 
cliffs, even in holes of the latter, and in church steeples—these are all favourite 
places; whilst in more exposed districts rabbits’ burrows are often chosen for the 
like purpose. I have known this bird nest several yards up a fissure in the ironstone 
cliffs of a quarry. The nest is slight, and in many instances dispensed with 
altogether. A few twigs or roots carelessly interlaced, or a handful of straw, are 


8 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


the sole provision ever made. The two eggs (three have been said to have 
been found, but never in my own experience) are creamy-white in colour, oval in 
form, and measure on an average 1:4 inch by 1:2 inch. Incubation lasts from 
seventeen to eighteen days, and both birds assist in the task, as they also do in 
rearing the young. These are brought to maturity in a similar manner to those 
of the preceding species, and are deserted as soon as they can leave the nest. 


Diagnostic characters.—Columba, with a rudimentary wing bar, no 
white patches on the sides of the neck, the rump uniform in colour with the 
back, and the axillaries and under wing coverts grey. Length, 13 inches. 


iam. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 9 


Family COLUMBID. Genus CoLUMBA. 


i 
\ 


ROCK DOVE. 
COLUMBA LIVIA.—Bonnat. 
Prats II., Fig. 2. 


Columba livia, Bonnat, Tabl. Encycl. Méthod. i. p. 227 (1790 ex Brisson); Macgill. 
Brit. B. i. p. 268 (1837); Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 11, pl. 457 (1879) ; Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4, ili. p. 13 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 405 (1884); Salvadori, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 252 (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 348 (1893) ; 
Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 158, 
pl. 47 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 247 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Rock Dove is found 
throughout the rocky coasts of the British Islands, extending to St. Kilda. 
Colonies of white-rumped Doves occur in many inland districts on rocks and the 
sides of quarries, and are unquestionably composed of tame or domestic Doves 
which have become feral. Foreiyn: Palearctic region. Wild birds are 
apparently confined to the coasts; inland colonies are descendants of tame birds. 
The Rock Dove is a resident on the Faroes, but only one breeding-place is known in 
Scandinavia, in the Stavanger Fjord. It breeds in the Pyrenees and in the 
Sierra Nevada, as well as on all the Atlantic Islands, including St. Helena. It is 
a resident on the rock-bound coasts of the Mediterranean, Black and Red Seas, 
and on the mountain chains adjacent. Feral Rock Doves, intricately intermingled 
with tame birds, are found from Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia, through Asia 
Minor and Persia, Beloochistan, Cashmere, and the Altai, across South Siberia 
to North China and Japan, examples from the latter country being very dark 
in colour (Seebohm). 


Allied forms.—Colwmba intermedia, an inhabitant of India and Ceylon. 
Differs from the Rock Dove in having the rump dark. C. rupestris, an 
inhabitant of the Eastern Palearctic region, from Turkestan to North China, 
and from the Altai to the Himalayas. Differs from the Rock Dove in having a 
broad subterminal white band across the tail. All these Doves interbreed 
wherever their range impinges. 


Habits.—The Rock Dove, the original stock from which the endless 
varieties of the domestic Pigeon have descended, is a resident in the British Islands; 
and there is much evidence to prove that its numbers are increased in autumn 


10 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


by migrants. Indeed, our information is decidedly negative in this respect, for the 
Rock Doves in the Faroes and in Scandinavia are said to be resident, and their 
appearance at Heligoland is decidedly irregular and abnormal. The Rock Dove 
is closely associated with the sea, and dwells on the ocean cliffs and in the country 
in their immediate vicinity all through the year. There are many inland colonies 
of Rock Doves—Doves with the rump white and the wings barred, but these 
unquestionably are descendants of tame Pigeons which have become feral. The 
true wild Rock Dove is found only on the coast and the country nearathand. This 
pretty species is readily identified by its white rump, as it dashes from the cliffs. 
It is ever shy and alert, although unwilling to take wing so long as it thinks 
itself unseen. Its flight is rapid and powerful, performed by quick beats of the 
wings, the bird often going long distances to feed. By the inhabitants of St. Kilda 
it is generally believed that Rock Doves breeding on those rock-bound isles 
visited the Hebrides, some seventy miles away, daily, for food. The Wild Pigeon 
of North America, better known to English readers as the Passenger Pigeon, is 
said in some cases to fly a hundred miles each day for food. All through the 
year the Rock Dove is gregarious, and during autumn especially gathers into 
flocks at the feeding grounds. I have often seen very large flocks of this species 
in the fields near Flamborough and on the farms at North Berwick. This bird 
has a great antipathy to trees, never alights in them, and when disturbed from the 
pastures and stubbles either hurries off to the cliffs at once, or takes a more or 
less extended flight to another part of the fields. Upon the ground it runs about 
in true Pigeon style, with quick, short steps and bobbing motion of the head. It 
is ever on the alert, and stops from time to time to scan the surrounding ground, 
rarely admitting of a close approach. These birds often fly in a very regular 
manner to and from the caves where they roost, and good sport may be obtained 
by waiting their return, or by visiting (usually in a boat) the cliffs they frequent. 
It requires all a man’s resource, as he rolls about in a dancing boat, to bring down 
a Rock Dove going at full speed from the caves. The note of the Rock Dove 
is a soft and full coo-roo-coo, variously modulated when the bird is under sexual 
excitement. This note commences very early in spring, a week or so before the 
actual nesting season, and is continued into the autumn. The food of this 
species consists largely of grain ; but seeds of many kinds of weeds, the buds and 
shoots of herbage, and the roots of the couch-grass are also eaten. The bird is 
said also to eat great quantities of small land shells. It drinks freely and often, 
and is fond of sea water. It has been said even to alight on the surface of a 
river to drink, but I, for one, doubt the statement. 


Nidification.—Like its two congeners the Rock Dove is an early breeder, 
afew pairs commencing to lay in March, but nesting does not become general 
before April and May. It is also wonderfully prolific, and goes on rearing brood 
after brood until the following October. The nest is always placed on the rocks, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. i 


either in clefts and fissures of the cliffs or in caves, those being preferred which 
are always inaccessible to man save by the use of a boat. In the latter situations 
the nest is placed in the clefts and crannies of the rugged roof, or on ledges and 
prominences of the walls. Numbers of birds breed in company, the size of the 
colony depending to a great extent on the suitability and resources of the site 
chosen. The nest is slight enough—a few bits of grass or seaweed, a few roots or 
twigs, or dry stems of weeds ; whilst even green grass has been known to be used. 
The eggs are two in number, oval in form, and pure white in colour. They 
measure on an average 1:4 inch in length, and 1°2 inch in breadth. These birds 
pair for life, use the same nesting-places year after year, and both parents assist 
in the duties of incubation—which lasts from sixteen to eighteen days—and in the 
care of the young. These are brought to maturity in a similar manner to their 
congeners, and are deserted as soon as they leave the nest. 


Diagnostic characters.—Columba, with two well-defined black wing 
bars, a pure white rump, and white axillaries and under wing coverts. Length, 
11 to 12 inches. 


12 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus ECTOPISTES, or Passenger Pigeons. 


Type, ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIUS. 


Ectopistes, of Swainson (1827).—The Passenger Pigeon presents 
characteristics so widely differing from other members of the Columbide that 
Count Salvadori elevates it to sub-family rank in that group. Generic distinction, 
however, is all that we feel disposed to accord to it. The birds in the present 
genus are characterised by having the tail longer than the wing, the feathers 
being narrow and acuminated. 

But one species of Passenger Pigeon is known, and this is confined to the 
Nearctic Region from Hudson’s Bay south and west to the Great Plains. Details 
of its distribution and habits are given in the account of the species. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 13 


Family COLUMBID. Genus ECTOPISTES, 


PASSENGER PIGEON. 
ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIUS (Linnaeus). 


Columba migratoria, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 285 (1766) ; Fleming, Hist. Brit. An. p. 145 
(1828) ; Eyton, Hist. rarer Brit. B. p. 30 (1836). 


Ectopistes migratorius (Linn.), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 28 (1883); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 414 (1884); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 369 (1898) ; 
Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 360 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 160, pl. 47 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 250 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British : No less than five examples of 
the Passenger Pigeon are known to have been shot within the British area, but 
it is impossible to say how many—if indeed any—of these had escaped from 
confinement, or reached us on abnormal flight. The bird formerly used to be 
kept commonly in captivity, whilst we know that individuals have actually been 
imported and turned loose in our islands. On the other hand there is nothing 
exceptionally remarkable in such a bird of powerful flight reaching our shores 
unaided ; and when we also bear in mind the extraordinary wanderings of this 
Pigeon in its native country we seem fully justified in giving it the benefit of the 
doubt, and admitting it into the British list. To say the least, there are several 
other species retained therein without question, possessing less claim to the 
distinction. The British occurrences are as follows:—Scotland: Fifeshire 
(December), Berwickshire (October) ; England: Yorkshire (October), Cambridge- 
shire (July); Ireland: Co. Kerry. Foreign: Eastern Nearctic region. This 
Pigeon is now very locally distributed through the deciduous forest regions of 
eastern North America, from northern Maine west to northern Minnesota, and 
in the Dakotas and the eastern and middle portions of Canada northwards to 
Hudson Bay. According to the late Captain Bendire this species still breeds in 
scattered pairs in the New England States, northern New York, Pennsylvania, 
Michigan and Wisconsin, and in a few other localities further south. Winter 
area, south of lat. 36°. 


Allied forms.—As previously remarked the present species is the sole 
surviving member of the genus, and has no allies sufficiently close to demand 
notice here. 


14 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—A melancholy interest attaches to the present species, for it is 
threatened with speedy extinction. Years ago, when North America was in the 
sole occupation of the red man, the Passenger Pigeon (known familiarly in the 
States as the Wild Pigeon) must have been one of the most numerous of known 
birds ; and many early writers on America, naturalists and others, have testified 
to its vast abundance. Wilson estimated a flock seen by him to consist of 
upwards of 2,230 millions! One of the latest writers on this species, the late 
Captain Bendire, now informs us that ‘‘the extermination of the Passenger 
Pigeon has progressed so rapidly during the past twenty years, that it looks now 
as if their total extermination might be accomplished within the present century.” 
The vast colonies of this species that formerly bred in various parts of the 
country, and which have been so graphically described by Wilson and others, 
have all disappeared, and scattered pairs are now all that remain. This dispersal 
may be the means of saving the species from extirpation, provided legal protection 
be accorded in time to these survivors. 

Although the Passenger Pigeon is addicted to much wandering, apparently in 
an aimless manner, like the Waxwing and the Rose-coloured Pastor, its migrations 
are normal and regular. Its passage north in spring commences about the 
middle of March and is continued until the third week in May. The return 
migration begins about the middle of September and lasts until the first week of 
October. There can be no doubt that formerly this Pigeon was one of the most 
gregarious of birds, but its numbers have now so greatly decreased that this 
characteristic appears almost to have vanished. The few scattered pairs unite into 
flocks in autumn, and possibly remain gregarious until the following spring, but 
the vast hordes that once used to roam over the land are things of the past. 
The favourite haunts of the Passenger Pigeon are open woodlands and districts 
that are well studded with groves surrounded by more open country, as well as 
well-timbered valleys. Except when actually breeding this species seems ever to be 
wandering about the country (of course within certain well-defined limits which 
constitute its normal area of dispersal) in quest of food; and, it is said, districts that 
abound with birds one season may be quite deserted the next. Audubon’s 
graphic account of his meeting with this Pigeon in countless hordes, as he was 
crossing the barrens between Henderson and Louisville, has been questioned for 
its accuracy, but there can be little doubt of its truth. He tells us (it was in the 
year 1813) how he observed them flying south-west in larger numbers than he 
had ever observed before; how he attempted to count them as they passed in 
successive flocks, but was obliged to give up the task as impossible ; and how the 
light of noonday became dimmed as in an eclipse as the hordes of flying Pigeons 
obscured the sky. Then he goes on to describe the aerial evolutions of the vast 
flocks, especially when pressed by a Hawk in quest of prey ; how the flocks sped 
on with a roar suggestive of thunder from the rapid beats of innumerable wings, 
darting forward or swooping to the earth with marvellous velocity, and rising 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 15 


again almost perpendicularly in huge columns, wheeling and gyrating in the air 
like the coils of a vast serpent. These aerial movements were particularly 
fine as the flocks were about to settle upon ground where food was abundant, 
the birds passing in circles lower and lower over the woods, and at length 
alighting, only to rise again immediately as if suddenly alarmed or fearful of 
some hidden danger. Dr. Brewer writes that ‘‘ when at last settled upon the 
ground, they industriously search among the fallen leaves for the acorns and 
beech mast, the rear flocks continually rising, passing over the main body, and 
re-alighting. These changes are so frequent that at times the whole collection 
appears tobein motion. A large extent of ground is thus cleared in a surprisingly 
short space of time, and cleared with a completeness that is described as incredible. 
They are usually satiated by the middle of the day, and ascend to the trees to 
rest and digest their food. On these occasions the Pigeons are destroyed in 
immense numbers, and their abundance in large extents of the country has been 
very sensibly reduced.” The food of the Passenger Pigeon consists of grain, 
berries of various kinds, wild fruits, beech mast and acorns, as well as angle 
worms and hairless caterpillars. The birds’ devastations amongst crops used 
formerly to be very serious. The note of this Pigeon during the breeding season 
is described as a short coo-coo ; and its ordinary call note as a treble kee-kee-kee, 
the first louder, and the last softer than the middle one. 


Nidification.—The Passenger Pigeon has been known to commence 
nesting in Wisconsin and Iowa as early as the first week of April, and in Connec- 
ticut and Minnesota as late as the first half of June. This species used formerly 
to breed in vast colonies, but of late years these enormous gatherings have ceased, 
owing to the wholesale slaughter of the nesting birds. Passenger Pigeons used 
formerly to arrive from the south in certain districts—the choice often varying 
from year to year—and to settle down to the business of reproduction. Some of 
these colonies were of enormous dimensions. Mr. W. Brewster, who has devoted 
much attention to this species, was informed by Mr. Stevens, a veteran Pigeon 
netter, that the largest “ nesting” of this Pigeon that he ever visited was in 
1876 or 1877, in Michigan. He informed him that the Pigeons arrived in two 
separate flocks, one coming directly from the south over land, the other following 
the east coast of Wisconsin, and crossing Lake Michigan by way of Manitou 
Island. He watched the latter flock come in from across the lake about three 
o’clock in the afternoon—a vast compact mass of Pigeons at least five miles long 
and one mile wide! The birds began to build whilst the snow was still twelve 
inches deep in the woods, and the vast colony spread rapidly from the neighbour- 
hood of Petosky in a north-easterly direction for twenty-eight miles, and on an 
average four or five miles in width. It is said that nesting usually begins in 
deciduous woods, but the colony rapidly spreads as the birds begin building in rapid 
succession, and no choice of tree is shown. In this particular ‘‘nesting”’ the first 


16 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


eight miles was in hard-wood timber, then it crossed a river bottom clothed with 
arbor-vite trees, and for the next twenty miles extended through woods of white 
pine. Over the whole of this vast tract of wooded country every tree of any size 
contained nests in varying numbers, and many trees were filled with them. Itis 
said, however, that none were placed less than fifteen feet from the ground. The 
Passenger Pigeon is described as being very noisy whilst building, the sound of 
such a multitude of voices resembling the croaking of wood frogs. The nest 
is merely a slight platform of twigs. Two eggs are frequently laid, but it 
is said that one is by far the most common number. They are elliptical oval in 
shape, glossy in texture, and pure white, and measure on an average 1:2 inch in 
length by ‘9 inch in breadth. Incubation is performed by both sexes, the males 
usually in the fore part of the day, the females during the latter part and at 
night. The sitting bird does not quit the nest until the bill of its incoming mate 
nearly touches its tail, the eggs thus being constantly covered. Several broods 
are reared in the season, but a different nesting ground is chosen for each, the old 
birds moving from twenty to one hundred miles for the purpose. It is said that 
five weeks are occupied by each ‘‘ nesting,’’ when the young are driven from the 
nests by the parents often several days before they can actually fly. There can 
be little doubt that many pairs of this Pigeon breed solitarily in the woods, not 
joining the vast colonies for the purpose. 


Diagnostic characters.—Ectopistes, with the tail longer than the 
wing, and wedge-shaped. Length, 14 to 16 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 17 


Family PERISTERIDAE.—The Ground Pigeons. 


The birds in the present family are characterised by having the tarsus equal 
to or longer than the middle toe. The number of tail-feathers varies from twelve 
to twenty. As in the typical Pigeons, the bill is not hooked, and the nostrils are 
linear and parallel to the tomia of the upper mandible. Count Salvadori divides 
the present family into no less than seven subfamilies; but it seems to be 
doubtful whether the characters relied upon for their separation are, in some 
cases at any rate, of more than generic value. 


Subfamily TURTURINAZ.—The Turtle Doves. 


The Turtle Doves may be distinguished from the other members of the present 
family by the absence of hackles from the neck, as well as by the more or less 
metallic black spot below the ear coverts, which is characteristic of the Zenaidinz 
alone. They are further distinguished by the absence of metallic spots from the 
wings. The tail, which is rather broad, consists of twelve feathers ; the metatarsus 
is naked on the upper portion; and the neck is decorated with a more or less 
distinct dark collar of scale-like feather patches on either side. This subfamily 
contains but one genus, although it has been subdivided by Count Salvadori into 
five tolerably well-marked subgenera. 


18 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus TURTUR, or Turtle Doves. 
Type, TURTUR AURITUS. 


Turtur, of Selby (1835).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their prevailing brown and non-metallic plumage, by their more 
or less conspicuous black collar, comparatively small size, and slender, graceful 
form. The wings are long and rather pointed; the tail is composed of twelve 
feathers, and is graduated. The metatarsus is shorter than the middle toe, naked 
on the upper portion, and scutellated in front. The bill is slender; nostrils basal, 
and covered with two soft, tumid, bare substances. Three toes in front, cleft to 
the base, one behind. 

This genus is composed of about twenty-eight species, which are confined to 
the Eastern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the southern Palearctic, Ethiopian, 
and Oriental regions, and the Austro-Malayan division of the Australian region. 
Two species are British: one a regular summer migrant; the other an abnormal 
migrant. 

The Turtle Doves are dwellers in woodland districts. They are birds of 
sustained and powerful flight, and progress on the ground by walking or running. 
Their notes are full and soft, but with little pretension to variety or sweetness. 
They subsist chiefly on grain and vegetable substances. Their nests are slight 
platforms of twigs, placed in trees and bushes, and their eggs, never more than 
two in number, are white or creamy-white, and oval. These birds pair for life. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 19 


Family PERISTERID. Genus TURTUR. 
Subfamily TUuRTURINZ. 


TURTLE DOVE. 


TURTUR AURITUS.—Gray. 
Prater ITI. 


Columba turtur, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 284 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. i. p 291 (1837). 

Turtur vulgaris, Eyton; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 39, pl. 462 (1876). 

Turtur communis, Selby; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 21 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. 
B. pt. xxviii. (1894). 

Turtur auritus, Gray ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 411 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 350 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 159, pl. 47 (1896). 


Turtur turtur (Linn.), Salvad. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 396 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. 
B. Gr. Brit. iv. p. 254 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Turtle Dove is generally 
distributed during summer throughout England and Wales, but becomes rarer in 
Wales, in the extreme south-west of England, and north of the Humber. It 
occurs only as a straggler on migration in Scotland, although it passes the 
Shetlands regularly on passage. It has not been observedin the Outer Hebrides, 
and only breeds locally in Ireland. Foreign: West Palearctic region during 
summer. It is found throughout suitable districts in Scandinavia and Russia 
south of lat. 60°, eastwards to Turkestan, the Altai and Northern Cashmere, 
southwards through Afganistan, Persia, and Asia Minor, westwards to Central 
and Southern Europe. It passes through Palestine and North Africa on 
migration, many remaining behind in spring to breed. To the Canaries it is a 
common summer visitor, but it is rare in Madeira. Its winter quarters are in 
Central Africa, 


Allied forms.—Turtur isabellinus, a summer migrant to North-east Africa. 
Differs from the Turtle Dove in having the head buffish-brown instead of grey, 
and in being slightly smaller (length of wing 6 inches, instead of 7 as in the Turtle 
Dove). TZ. ferrago, inhabiting South-western Turkestan and India. Differs 
from the Turtle Dove in having the light patches on the neck bluish-grey instead 
of white, and the breast not so pink. It is also a larger bird. T. orientalis, 
inhabiting India, South-east Siberia, China, and Japan. Differs from the Turtle 
Dove in having the under tail coverts and the light tips of the tail feathers slate- 
grey instead of white. These two latter birds appear only to be subspecifically 


20 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


distinct, intermediate forms occurring in India, where the geographical area of 
each impinges. . ferrago is not known, however, to cross with the Turtle Dove 
in Turkestan, where the range of the two species meets. Pale eastern examples 
of the common Turtle Dove have been described as Turtur arenicola. 


Habits.—The Turtle Dove isa summer migrant. The usual date of its 
appearance is the first week in May, a period which marks its entry into Kurope 
at Gibraltar in greatest abundance; but individuals are occasionally seen during 
the latter part of April. Its return journey is taken in September, although odd 
birds are met with from time to time at much later dates. The haunts of this species 
are woods and plantations, as well as parks and fields which are well timbered, 
or in the vicinity of trees. It is a shy and retiring bird, far more often heard 
than seen; although when I was in Algeria, on the borders of the Great Desert, 
in the oasis of Biskra, I found it a most tame and confiding species. Here they 
frequented the tops of the date palms, hiding amongst the foliage, where they 
roosted at night. I also observed that they were very regular in visiting the Oued 
to drink, going in the early morning to quench their thirst and to bathe. Whilst 
perched in a tree the Turtle Dove will often allow a near approach, but it keeps 
so quiet that it is almost impossible to detect its whereabouts until it dashes out 
with almost a whirr, and in erratic flight dodges between the branches and trunks, 
and soon conceals itself again amongst the foliage. As may readily be inferred, 
a bird of such extended migrations is a good flyer, and passes rapidly through the 
air. Itis often seen on the ground, in the open fields, where it goes to feed ; and 
here it runs to and fro with Pigeon-like gait, yet always alert and ready to dash 
off to the trees the moment danger threatens. The arrival of this bird in our 
English woods is soon persistently proclaimed by its note. This is a gentle, soft, 
and rich coo-r-r-coo-r-r-r, each coo more or less gutturally prolonged, as if the bird 
laboured under quite an effort to produce it. The male bird, as usual, calls the 
most, and is particularly noisy during the season of courtship. This note is 
maintained all through the summer, but begins to wane in August, and by the 
time of the bird’s departure for the south is practically suspended. The food of 
the Turtle Dove is composed of grain of all kinds, the seeds of a great variety of 
weeds, tender shoots of herbage, fruit, and even snails and insects. In autumn 
it becomes more or less gregarious again, and in flocks frequents the stubbles, 
clover-fields, and turnips. It frequently goes long distances to feed on favourite 
pastures, and is much attached to its roosting-place. 


Nidification.—I am of opinion that the Turtle Dove pairs for life; and 
even in Algeria, before the northern flight was taken, I saw them sitting in pairs 
on the palm-tops. Soon after its arrival in England the nesting season begins, 
and the first eggs are generally laid late in May, in more backward seasons the 
first week in June. The nest is as a rule made much nearer the ground than that 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 21 


of the Ring Dove; and trees are not so often used as tall bushes. Sometimes a 
thick hedge is selected; whilst white-thorns, hollies, and laurels are often chosen. 
It is a flat, basket-like structure made of a few slender dead twigs, through which 
the eggs are often visible from below. The eggs are two in number, oval, and 
creamy-white in colour. They are on an average 1°2 inch in length and ‘91 inch 
in breadth. Incubation lasts about sixteen days, and both parents assist in the 
task as well as in tending the young. Sometimes two broods are reared in the 
summer, but this is exceptional; and the existence of late broods of this species 
may often be attributed to the fact that the first nest has been robbed. I have 
not observed much social tendency during the breeding season in this species. 


Diagnostic characters.—Turtur, with black tipped with pale lavender 
(nearly white) patches on the side of the neck, and with the under tail coverts 
and tips of the rectrices white. In young birds the neck patch is absent, and the 
feathers are edged with brown. Length, 11 to 12 inches. 


22 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family PERISTERIDA. Genus TURTUR. 
Subfamily TurTURINz. 


EASTERN TURTLE DOVE. 
TURTUR ORIENTALIS.—(Latham). 


Columba orientalis, Latham, Ind. Orn. ii. 606 (1790). 

Turtur orientalis (Lath.), Salvad. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi.p. 403 (1893); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 331 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 
159 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gr. Brit. iv. p. 256 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: A single example of the Eastern 
Turtle Dove has been obtained in the British Islands in Yorkshire. On the 23rd 
of October, 1889, an example in the plumage of the first autumn (without the 
pied patches on the neck) was shot at a small stream running from Oliver’s Mount, 
near Scarborough. The specimen was exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological 
Society of London. Conf. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1890, p. 861. Foreign: The Eastern 
Turtle Dove is almost as great a stranger in Continental Europe, but it has been 
twice recorded (in immature plumage) from Northern Scandinavia. It inhabits 
India, from the central provinces northwards to the lower ranges of the Hymalayas 
(4000 to 6000 feet), from Afghanistan to Sikhim. It is also found in South-east 
Siberia, and occasionally in Mongolia and Thibet; whilst it ranges through Burma 
and China, to the Loo-Choo Islands, Japan, and the Kuriles. Stejneger has 
separated examples from the Loo-Choo group under the name of Turtur stimpsont, 
but the darker colour, upon which the distinction is based, does not appear to be a 
reliable character. 


Allied forms.—See remarks on the allied forms of the Turtle Dove. 


Habits.—In its habits the Eastern Turtle Dove does not differ much 
from its West Palearctic representative 


Nidification.—Of the breeding habits of this species, I have written in my 
work on the nests and eggs of non-indigenous British birds, as follows: In most 
parts of its northern area of dispersal the Hastern Turtle Dove is migratory, and 
even in the south is subject apparently to much local movement during the non- 
breeding season. Capt. Hutton states that it arrived in its summer quarters at 
Mussoorie in April, leaving again in October. In its habits it is not known to 
differ in any important respect from the nearly allied European Turtle Dove. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 23 


It probably pairs for life, but makes a new nest for each brood. It cannot be 
regarded as gregarious during the breeding season, but numbers of pairs nest 
within comparatively small areas of suitable country, and as soon as the young 
are reared the birds begin to flock. Its favourite haunts are wooded mountain 
sides, pine forests, groves and clusters of trees. The note in the breeding season 
is described as a thrice-repeated gutteral coo, and unlike that of other Doves. 
The nest is generally placed not far from the extremity of a horizontal branch, 
and is a circular, flat, mat-like structure of neatly arranged twigs, the cavity in 
the centre being somewhat deep. Hume states that the nest is rather more 
substantial than that of many other Turtle Doves. Of the actions of the birds 
at the nest I find nothing of special interest recorded. The eggs of the Hastern 
Turtle Dove are two in number, oval in form, glossy, and pure white. They are 
on an average 1°2 inch in length, by ‘92 inch in breadth. Incubation is performed 
by both sexes, and lasts about sixteen days.”’ 


Diagnostic characters.—Turtur, with the under tail coverts and the 
pale tips to the rectrices slate-grey. Length, 12 inches. 


24 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


ORDER PEDIOPHILI.—THE SAND-GROUSE. 


HAVE adopted Bonaparte’s term PrpIoPHILI for the present order in 
preference to that of Pr#rocLEeTES suggested by Dr. Sclater, not only 
because, as Professor Newton points out, the latter is based on a grammatical 
misconception, but because the former possesses the additional claim of priority. 
The Sand-Grouse form a remarkably isolated group of birds, showing affinities 
(especially in the digestive organs) with the Game Birds, and (in their osteological 
characteristics) with the Pigeons; being, as was pointed out by Huxley thirty 
years ago, so completely intermediate between these groups that they cannot be 
included within either of them without destroying its definition, although perfectly 
definable themselves. Some systematists, as for instance Sclater and Stejneger, 
elevate them to the rank of a separate order; and all things considered this seems 
to be the wisest course: others, as Reichenow and Fiirbringer, regard their 
characters of only sufficient importance to rank as a sub-order. Some naturalists 
include them in the great natural order of the CoLUMBIFORMES; others, with 
equal authority, include them in the equally distinctive group of GALLIFORMES. 
The Sand-Grouse are one of the few ancient surviving links in the now broken 
chain of avine descent; and it seems impossible, in the present state of our 
knowledge, to say to which existing group of birds they are most closely allied. 
Their double-spotted egg (having underlying as well as surface markings) and 
precocious nestling, gives the casting vote in favour of placing them in closest 
proximity to the GAaLLIFORMES, although on the other hand their pterylosis is 
similar to that of the COLUMBIFORMES. 

In the Sand-Grouse the sternum contains two notches on each side of the 
posterior margin, the inner one in some instances being reduced to an aperture or 
foramen. In the modification of their cranial bones the Sand-Grouse are 
schizognathous, whilst their nostrils are schizorhinal; although this latter is a 
variable character and thus apparently of comparatively;small taxonomic value. 
Amongst their external characters may be mentioned the following: oil-gland 
nude; hallux, small, rudimentary, and sometimes absent; body feathers with 
well-marked after-shafts; fifth secondary absent. So far as is known the Sand- 
Grouse moult only in autumn; the young are hatched covered with down, and 
able to run almost as soon as they break from the shell. 

Sixteen species of Sand-Grouse are at present known to science, and these are 
all contained in a single family. These birds are all confined to the Old World. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 25 


Family PTEROCLIDAE.—The Sand-Grouse. 


As this order contains but a single family, the characters that distinguish the 
latter will be the same as those already given for the former. As supplementary 
characters, however, may be mentioned the bill of the Sand-Grouse, which 
resembles that of the Game Birds; the long and pointed wings ; and the feet, which 
are more or less covered with dense short plumes. The family is divisible into 
two, if not three, fairly-marked genera, only one of which is represented in the 
British avifauna, and that by a single species as an abnormal visitor. 


Genus SYRRHAPTES, or Three=-toed Sand=Grouse. 
Type, SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS. 


Syrrhaptes, of Illiger (1811).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are distinguished by the absence of the hind toe. The wings are very long and 
pointed, the outermost primary having the shaft terminating in an attenuated 
filament; the tail is cuneate, and the two central rectrices are much longer than 
the rest. The metatarsus is very short, and clothed with feathers to the toes. 
The bill is small and short, decurved from the base to the tip; the nostrils basal and 
almost hidden by feathers. Three toes in front and covered with feathers; soles 
of feet rugose. 

This genus contains but two species, which are confined to the Eastern 
Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the plains and deserts of Asia. One of these 
species is an abnormal and irruptic migrant to Hurope and the British Isles. 

These Sand-Grouse are dwellers on salt plains and deserts. They are birds 
of sustained and powerful flight, and progress on the ground by running and 
walking with short quick steps. They are given to much wandering within their 
normal areas of dispersal. Their notes are said to be rather melodious. They 
subsist chiefly on grain, seeds, and vegetable substances. Their nests are mere 
depressions in the ground, and their eggs, usually three in number, are double 
spotted and oval in form. Pairing habits unknown. 


26 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family PTEROCLIDA. Genus SYRRHAPTES. 


PALLAS’S SAND=GROUSE. 
SYRRHAPTHS PARADOXUS— (Pallas). 
Puate IY. 


Tetrao paradoxa, Pall. Reis. Russ. Reichs. ii. p. 712, pl. F. (1778). 

Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Pall.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 75, pl. 468 (1876); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 31 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 419 (1884); Lilford, 
Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xvii. (1891); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 351 (1893); 
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 2 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 
160, pl. 47 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 260 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: Pallas’s Sand-Grouse, like the 
Waxwing and other species of irregular migrations, appears in our islands at long 
and uncertain intervals and in varying numbers. It was first noticed as a British 
bird in 1859, one example each being obtained in Norfolk, Kent, and North Wales. 
In 1863 it again occurred, when numbers found their way to almost every county 
of Great Britain, and to the north-west of Ireland, to the Scilly Islands, the 
Shetlands, and even tothe Faroes. <A further visitation was remarked in 1872, 
a flock visiting Northumberland, and a smaller party the south of Scotland 
(Ayrshire); whilst in 1876 the birds were observed at Winterton, in Norfolk, in 
May, and in county Wicklow in October. In 1888 there was an invasion of 
extraordinary proportions, the numbers visiting the British Islands being so great 
that no exact estimate could be formed. So far as is known the first pioneer of 
this irruption of Sand-Grouse was remarked on one of the Farne Islands, on the 
6th of May, and within a few days almost every part of our area had been invaded. 
Parties of half a dozen, and flocks of thirty or more individuals, were remarked in 
districts most suited to their requirements. Nearly all these birds had apparently 
paired, and in some cases attempts were made to nest. Two nests with eggs 
were obtained in Yorkshire, and two young birds were caught on the Culbin Sands, 
in Moray, one in 1888 and another the following year. Although some efforts 
were made to protect these interesting visitors, all finally disappeared. In the 
autumn of 1888 flocks of Sand-Grouse were still in existence, but by the following 
spring most of the birds had been killed, although there is evidence to suggest 
that survivors still existed in our islands until 1892. Foreign: Pallas’s Sand- 
Grouse is just as irregular and uncertain in its visits to continental Europe as to 
our islands. The first recorded occurrence in Europe was in the winter of 1848, 
when an example was obtained at Sarepta. In 1859 half a dozen birds were 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 27 


secured in Europe, of which three were shot in the British Islands. In 1860 
another example was procured at Sarepta, and in the autumn of the same year 
an invasion of the plains of China is recorded; whilst in 1863 a large band 
invaded the west, and birds were obtained in most parts of Europe, from 
Scandinavia in the north to Italy in the south. The normal breeding area of 
this Sand-Grouse is in Central Asia, on the vast steppes and salt plains of North- 
east Turkestan, Mongolia, and Dauria; whilst in winter it includes West 
Turkestan, the Kirghiz Steppes, and North China. 


Allied forms.—None very closely related, with the exception of Syrrhaptes 
tibetanus, an inhabitant of the tablelands of Thibet, a much larger species (the 
largest of the order), with no black patch on the abdomen. 


Habits.—We may appropriately preface our account of the habits of this 
species by quoting what we have already written respecting its irruptic movements, 
in our volume on the migration of birds.* These irruptic movements of birds 
cannot be classed either as normal migration or as nomadic migration, although 
many naturalists appear to think that they are nothing but variations of one or 
other of these habits. Irruptic movements are entirely abnormal movements and 
only occur at irregular intervals: waves of avine life that burst from certain 
centres, eventually exhausting themselves, and ultimately ending in dissolution 
and death. Giatke classes these irruptic movements as phenomena of migration, 
and attributes them to meteorological influences, probably of an exceptional 
character; but I should be disposed to attribute them to an excess of population 
flowing from an overcrowded area, taking of course the direction of the normal 
migration at whichever season the movement may be initiated. As an example 
of this irruptic movement we have the intensely interesting wanderings of Pallas’s 
Sand-Grouse, from Central Asia, that have from time to time extended to 
Western Europe with startling suddenness. This species for the past fifty years 
or so has evidently been in a highly restless and disturbed state, and from time to 
time great waves of individuals have been thrown out, apparently to relieve a 
congested area of distribution. Pallas’s Sand-Grouse normally is an inhabitant 
of the vast plains or steppes that stretch continuously from North-east Turkestan 
and South Siberia to Mongolia. In the north it is a migratory bird, and the 
winter range base extends into North China in the east, and the Kirghiz Steppes 
north of the Aral Sea in the west. Until 1859 this species was practically 
unknown to western ornithologists, although Russian naturalists had met with it 
from time to time in its far eastern habitat. In that year, however, the first signs 
of the coming irruptions broke into Europe, and examples of the Sand-Grouse 
were obtained in Poland, Jutland, Holland, and in the British Islands. It is 
interesting to note that the evident direction of this avine wave followed a north- 
westerly course from the Kirghiz Steppes, almost exactly corresponding with the 


* The Migration of Birds, pp. 257-260 (Amended Edition). 


28 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


normal north-easterly route. Four years later (in 1863) a much more important 
irruption took place, this time consisting probably of thousands of individuals, 
and very much the same route was followed; although, as might be expected in 
such a great rush of birds, the wave spread wider and further, extending to Italy 
and the Pyrenees in the south, to Scandinavia and Archangel in the north, and 
throughout the British Islands to the Faroes. Many birds endeavoured to breed 
in places that were best adapted to their requirements. In 1888 another and even 
more important wave of Sand-Grouse spread westward over Europe, the par- 
ticulars of which will be still fresh in the mind of the reader. Thisinvasion was 
undoubtedly the most successful of all; and so well did the birds appear to be 
established, that in our islands a special Act of Parliament was passed (in 1888, 
but not becoming law until early in the following year) for their protection. 
Giitke has recorded a vast irruptic wave of Jays (Garrulus glandarius) that 
swept over and past Heligoland during three successive days in October, 1882. 
This irruption was estimated to number millions, and curiously enough since that 
year down to the present one solitary Jay only has been seen at the island. As 
the Jay does not range further east than the Urals and the Volga, where all these 
birds came from is a question which appears to defy solution. Gdtke also records 
a similar irruptic wave of Mealy Redpoles (Linota linaria), which, during the 
4th and 5th of November, 1847, had attained such proportions “that the whole 
island was literally covered with them.” Similar irruptic waves of Goldcrests 
(Regulus cristatus) are occasionally remarked. Now nothing can more clearly 
indicate the abnormal character of these irruptic movements than the fact. that 
they are utterly abortive, either as a means of preserving the individuals under- 
taking them (for in no case is a corresponding permanent increase of the species 
remarked in the areas invaded) or as a means of colonising new districts with the 
surplus population from old ones. To class them either with normal migration 
or with range expansion is therefore erroneous. We must bear in mind the 
fact that these waves of avine life are drifting into districts already tenanted with 
a bird population as large as conditions of life will allow, or into areas where the 
conditions of existence are quite different from those they have proceeded from. 
It is a sadly significant fact that these vast bird waves never show any sign of 
areturn ebb. Like leaves scattered by the autumn wind, the birds composing 
them perish, for Nature’s edicts are inexorable: her delicate balance cannot be 
disregarded with impunity. 

This Sand-Grouse appears to be more or less a migratory species, a nomadic 
migrant, but one whose wanderings normally take place within the usual area of 
dispersal. They are apparently early birds of passage, for Radde states that they 
arrived at their breeding grounds before the end of March, during very cold 
weather, the thermometer falling nearly thirty degrees below zero at night. A 
month later they were nesting. All through the year this bird appears to be more 
or less gregarious, and to breed in colonies which are scattered here and there 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 29 


over the vast plains. In summer they appear to be very fond of basking in the 
sun in cavities scratched out of the sand, where they lie on their side and dust 
themselves. Their flight is described as exceedingly rapid, their quickly-beating 
long wings, which move very regularly and in a Plover-like manner, making a 
whirring sound as they go. Upon rising they utter what is described as a 
melodious chuckle ; but this note is often heard as they stand upon the ground. 
Their short legs make them walk and run somewhat clumsily, with little steps, 
the body swaying from side to side. The food of this bird is composed of 
seeds and the tender shoots of plants growing on the steppes. After feeding they 
repair very regularly to certain chosen spots to drink, salt-lakes or wells; but fresh 
water is said to be taken by preference. They are remarkably wary, and when once 
flushed, never appear to alight again until they have carefully scrutinised the 
selected spot by describing a circle over it. They are said to drink quickly, and to 
fly for very long distances to the water, especially in the morning. In autumn 
this bird appears to become even more gregarious, and it then forms into vast 
flocks, which lead a more or less nomadic kind of life until the following spring, 
apparently going but short distances from their summer quarters unless driven 
away by snowstorms. During winter flocks of Sand-Grouse occasionally reach 
Northern China; and here, according to Swinhoe, the natives take them in clap 
nets baited with small beans. 


Nidification.— Whether this bird pairs for life or not is difficult to say, 
but being so very Pigeon-like in its affinities it may probably do so. It is an early 
breeder, and the eggs are said by Radde to be laid in April: that naturalist, in 
fact, took nests in April and saw the chicks by the middle of May. The nest is 
nothing but a little hollow in the sand, with a few bits of grass or weed arranged 
round the margin. Even this slight addition is often dispensed with. The eggs 
are usually three, but sometimes four in number, very oval and Pigeon-like in 
shape, but olive or brownish-buff in ground-colour, profusely spotted with dark 
brown and underlying markings of grey. They are, on an average, 1'7 inch in 
length by 1:1 inch in breadth. The female sits lightly, and soon flies from her 
nest if threatened by danger, leaving the eggs to the concealment afforded by 
their protective colour. The hot sun also assists largely in incubation, and as 
soon as it is sufficiently high above the horizon to dispense its genial warmth 
the nests are said to be left, and the parent birds to go off in pairs to feed and 
drink. Incubation lasts a month, and the young, as soon as they are hatched, 
are able to run and forage a good deal for themselves. Two broods are supposed 
to be reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.— Syrrhaptes, with the legs and toes feathered 
to the claws, with no hind toe, with the first primary and the two central rectrices 
finely pointed, and with a large black patch on the abdomen. The latter 
characters are not so pronounced in the female or young. Length, 15 to 20 inches. 


30 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


ORDER GALLIFORMES.—THE GAME BIRDS. 


HE Birds comprising the present order, and popularly known as ‘“‘Game 
Birds,” constitute a large and important group, but somewhat ill-defined 

on what may be termed the boundaries. The most simple way of showing their 
possible affinities is to place them in the centre of a circle, round which must be 
grouped in varying proximity the Pigeons, the Sand-Grouse, the Plovers, Cuckoos, 
Bustards, Rails, Cranes, Hemipodes, Touracous, and the Hoactzin. Their sternum 
contains two very deep notches on each side of the posterior margin: the 


episternal process is perforated to receive the base of the coracoids. In the 
modification of their cranial bones they are schizognathous, whilst their nostrils 


are holorhinal. Amongst their external characters may be mentioned the 
following. The oil-gland is generally tufted (although nude in the Megapodes, 
and absent in Argus) ; the hallux or hind-toe is always present, varying, however, 
in size and position; the body feathers have well-marked after-shafts. The bill 
is always comparatively short and stout, curved and wide at the base, the upper 
mandible overhanging the lower one. The primaries are ten in number; the 
wings rounded; rectrices variable in number. The young are hatched covered 
with down, and able to run and feed almost directly they break from the shell. 
They begin to develop quills soon after they are hatched, and are able to fly in 
the juvenile stage of their existence, their wing feathers being changed repeatedly, 
so that by the time they are fully grown they have had three, four, or even five 
sets of quills. The Game Birds have one complete moult in autumn. Some 
species have a partial moult in spring; others change their feathers more or less 
completely several times during the year, and in some cases a change takes place 
in the colour or pattern of the feather without a moult at all. Perhaps in no 
other group is the change of plumage more complicated. In no other order do 
birds exhibit more diversity in their external characters. The great variety and 
brilliancy of the wattles, combs, and excrescences that adorn the head; the 
development of spur, the magnificent colour of the plumage, and the wonderful 
modification of the tail feathers and coverts, all being of exceptional interest. 

Mr. Ogilvie Grant, a high authority on the present order, includes therein about 
four hundred species and subspecies of Game Birds. The Galliformes are 
divisible into at least four fairly well-defined families, and these again into three 
subfamilies. Two of these families are represented in the British Islands. The 
Game Birds are cosmopolitan in their distribution, with the exception of the 
Australian region. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 31 


Family TETRAONIDAE.—The Grouse. 


The birds in the present family are characterised by having the hallux raised 
above the level of the front toes; the nostrils entirely and the feet partially or 
wholly concealed by feathers; the toes are either plumed or naked and pectinate; 
spurs absent. 


Genus LAGOPUS, or Moor Grouse. 
Type, LAGOPUS ALBUS. 


Lagopus, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterized by their densely feathered metatarsi and toes. The wings are 
remarkably rounded and short; the tail is composed of sixteen feathers, generally 
nearly even. The bill is very short; nostrils basal, shielded by an arched 
membrane, and concealed by feathers. Space above the eye naked. Three toes in 
front, one behind very short, and only just reaching the ground. 

This genus is composed of about half-a-dozen species, which are confined to 
the Northern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the Palearctic and Nearctic regions. 
Two species are resident in the British Islands. 

The Moor Grouse are dwellers on 1oors, tundras, and mountains. They are 
birds of rapid flight, which, however, is seldom Jong sustained, and on the ground 
they progress by running and walking. Their notes are loud and unmusical. 
They subsist chiefly on fruits, berries, seeds, grains, shoots of herbage, and 
insects. Their nests are rudely made, placed on the ground, and their eggs are 
numerous and single-spotted. These birds pair annually. Their flesh is highly 
esteemed for the table. 


32 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family TETRAONIDA. Genus LaGopvs. 


PTARMIGAN. 
LAGOPUS MUTUS.—Montin. 
Puate V. 
Tetrao mutus, Montin, Phys. Salsk. Hand. i. p. 155 (1776-86); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. 
B. ii. p. 424 (1884); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 271, pl. 59 (1896). 


Lagopus cinereus, Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 187 (1837). 


Lagopus mutus (Montin), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 157, pls. 477, 478 (1874); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 83 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. iii. (1888); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs, Brit. B. p. 364 (1893); Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 44 (1893); 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 271 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Ptarmigan is an inhabitant 
of Scotland, principally the Highlands, extending to the Outer Hebrides, and 
the mountains as far south as Arran, but is absent from the Orkney and Shetland 
Islands. Foreign: Circumpolar. The Ptarmigan, in one of its several forms, 
inhabits the moors and tundras above the limit of forest growth of Europe, Asia, 
and America, and is found in certain localities further south at high elevations 
where a similar climate and conditions prevail. It frequents the Dovre-fjeld, the 
Pyrenees, the Alps, the Urals, the mountains of South Siberia, Japan, and the 
Kurile Islands. It also inhabits Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla. On the 
American Continent it frequents the Rocky Mountains south to lat. 55°. 


Allied forms.—LZagopus leucurus, an inhabitant of the Rocky Mountains 
and their western spurs in British Columbia and Washington territory. Differs 
from the Ptarmigan in having the tail white at all seasons. LL. mutus var. 
hyperboreus, an inhabitant of Spitzbergen, is perhaps subspecifically distinct, 
owing to its larger size (length of wing, 8°9 to 8°6 inches, against 7°9 to 7°2 inches 
in the typical form) and greater amount of white on the basal portion of the tail 
feathers. The Ptarmigan inhabiting Iceland and the regions north of the Arctic 
circle in both hemispheres have been called L.mutus, var. rupestris, in consequence 
of their wanting the dark breast which characterises examples from more southern 
latitudes. Professor D. G. Elliot has described a new species of Ptarmigan from 
Attu Island, one of the Aleutian Chain, under the name of Lagopus eversmanni, 
‘distinguished from all the Ptarmigans of the western hemisphere by its entire 
white and black plumage.”’ He has also described a new subspecies from Kyska 


Plate V. 


e 


WD BRAILSFORO. LITH. SHEFFIE 


S 


Id Fowl of the British Island 


Game Birds & Wi 


wy 


qopus mutu 


rs) 


| 
td 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 33 


and Adak Islands from the Aleutian archipelago. It is more than probable that 
all these races of Ptarmigan are nothing more than representative forms or 
climatic varieties of one polymorphic species. 


Habits.—of all our Game Birds the Ptarmigan is the wildest. It is a 
resident in our islands, confined to the summits of the mountains, wandering 
nomadically a little lower during the non-breeding season. Its haunts are barren 
and wild in the extreme; rough, broken, wind-swept summits, where the surface 
is either bare and stony, or covered sparsely with ling and heath and ground fruits, 
strewn with boulders, and for the greater part of the year picked out with spotless 
snow. Here the plumage of the Ptarmigan is so eminently protective, and the bird 
itself so skulking in its habits, that the observer often wanders all unconsciously 
through a pack of birds, never dreaming of their proximity until they rise 
here, there, and everywhere around him from the ground which often seems too 
bare to conceal a mouse. Ptarmigan afford one of the best known instances 
of protective colouration. With each recurring season a different dress is assumed 
to meet the changing hues of their surroundings. In spring these birds are 
clothed in a dress of dark brown, mottled with yellowish brown, to assimilate in 
colour with the mosses and lichens. In autumn they change this dress for one of 
pale grey, vermiculated with black—or rather they are slowly changing colour all 
the summer through with the changing aspect of their haunts, the latter tints 
being emphasized at a time when the mosses and lichens are burnt up and 
beginning to fade. Then in winter, when the mountain-tops are wreathed in 
snow, the browns and greys are doffed and plumage of spotless white assumed in 
their stead. The Ptarmigan is a thorough ground bird, and never uses its wings 
unless compelled by various circumstances to seek the air. Then, however, it can 
fly fast and far, and often goes from one mountain-top to another on rapid-beating 
wings, or skims over brows and shoulders of the hill-tops with pinions held arched 
and stiff. Itis very fond of sitting on rocks and boulders, apparently basking in 
the sun; whilst on the ground it walks and runs about in true Game Bird style, 
and is very fond of lying on its side and taking a dust bath. Many ofits resorts 
and movements are similar to those of the Red Grouse, but the note is very 
different. It is nothing near so loud or distinct, and may be best described as a 
low croak or grunt. The food of this species is principally composed of the 
tender green tops of ling and heath, but buds, seeds, and shoots of various 
mountain plants are eaten; and in autumn, ground fruits, such as bilberries and 
cloud-berries. A small quantity of grit is invariably contained in the stomach to 
assist digestion; and according to Macgillivray, the bird eats its fill of food and 
then goes off to some quiet nook to digest it. Early in autumn, sometimes at the 
end of July or the beginning of August, Ptarmigan begin to pack, especially 
if the season be stormy and unsettled, but during very mild and genial weather 
this operation is somewhat delayed. These flocks keep to the lower summits, and 


3 


34 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


during winter, birds are scarcer on the highest tops and said to be smaller in size. 
Although subject to the same disease as the Red Grouse, this is never so virulent, 
the sterner conditions of existence probably doing much to stamp out its tendency 
to spread and recur. 


Nidification.—The Ptarmigan is monogamous and pairs early in the year, 
although the eggs are not laid before the beginning or even the end of May, 
according to the state of the season. The nest is little more than a hollow in 
the ground, sometimes beneath the shelter of a bush or beside a rock boulder, 
sparsely lined with twigs of heather, and perhaps a little dead mountain grass 
and a few bilberry leaves. The eggs are from eight to twelve in number, buffish- 
white or buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with rich liver-brown. 
They are, on an average, 1°7 inch in length by 1‘1 inch in breadth. The hen-bird 
sits closely, often allowing herself to be nearly trodden upon before rising. The 
young chicks run soon after they are hatched, and are very well able to take 
care of themselves, scattering and hiding amongst the stones and vegetation the 
moment danger threatens or when the watchful mother sounds the note of 
warning. The hen alone appears to incubate the eggs, sitting about three weeks 
for the purpose. One brood only is reared each season. 


Diagnostic characters.—Lagopus, with the primaries white with dark 
shafts, and the wing less than 8 inches in length. Length, 15 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 35 


Family TETRAONID/L, Genus Lacorus, 


RED GROUSE. 
LAGOPUS SCOTICUS—(Latham). 
Prats VI. 


Tetrao scoticus, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 290 (1787 ex Brisson); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. ii. p. 428 (1884) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 272, pl. 59 (1896). 

Lagopus scoticus (Lath.), Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 169 (1837); Dresser, B. Hur. vii. 
p- 165, pl. 479 (1873); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 73 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xviii. (1891); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 362 (1893) ; Grant, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 35 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 2638 
(1897). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Red Grouse is confined 
to the British Islands, where it inhabits the wild moorland districts throughout 
Great Britain and Ireland, except those counties of England that lie south and 
east of a line drawn from Bristol to Hull. Although inhabiting the Hebrides and 
the Orkneys, it is absent from the Shetlands. Foreign: No extra-British 
distribution. 


Allied forms.—Lagopus albus, the continental representative of the Red 
Grouse, an inhabitant of the tundras above the pine region in the willow and 
birch zones of Arctic Europe, Asia and America. Differs from the Red Grouse 
in having a white winter dress, and in having the primaries and secondaries white 
at all seasons. 


Habits.—British sportsmen may well pride themselves upon the exclusive 
possession of such a thorough Game Bird and true sport-furnishing species as the 
Red Grouse or Moor Fowl. It is one of the most sedentary of Game Birds, and 
never wandersfrom its native heath except under very exceptional circumstances. 
The great haunts of the Red Grouse are the vast expanses of heath-clothed waste 
that stretch in almost one unbroken line from Wales to the Orkneys and Shet- 
lands. This district is wild and romantic enough, and the great diversity of its 
physical aspect counteracts the impression of monotony that the sameness of 
the vegetation which clothes them is apt to inspire. Hills and dales, vast plateaux, 
swamps, lakes, and streams, ridges and peaks break the surface of the moors, and 
patches of coarse grass, dense fields of rushes and sedges, of bracken and gorse, 
and clumps of broom and mountain ground fruits relieve the monotony of the 
otherwise interminable stretches of heath and ling. Here, all the year round, the 


36 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Red Grouse is the one dominant bird, cherished and protected everywhere with 
the greatest solicitude for the unrivalled sport it yields. The Red Grouse is a 
thorough ground bird, although it may occasionally be seen sitting in the stunted 
willow, birch, and thorn trees, and is fond of perching on boulders or on the 
rough, ‘‘ dry”’ walls that divide the moors from the highways and upland pastures. 
In spite of the bird’s abundance it does not make itself very conspicuous, and the 
inexperienced observer may wander over miles of moor without seeing many 
Grouse. They skulk in the heather, and generally prefer to run out of harm’s 
way instead of taking wing. They are wary enough, too, and are ever on the 
outlook for approaching danger, craning their heads high above the cover, and 
looking warily about in all directions. When flushed, however, they will be found 
to fly well and with great speed, although seldom rising very high. Like the 
Ptarmigan, they often skim on stiff arched wings for a long distance over a ridge 
or bank, and if much disturbed will prolong their flight across a wide valley, or 
along the hillsides for a mile or more. At all times of the year the Red Grouse 
is socially inclined, and in autumn becomes to a great extent gregarious, 
“packing”? towards the end of August, when it becomes more wary and wild. 
Previous to stormy weather these packs are found on the highest ground, but 
when the change arrives they seek the sheltered hillsides. During severe snow- 
storms the Red Grouse will burrow into the snowdrifts for shelter. The note of 
the Red Grouse is very loud and highly characteristic, most frequently heard as the 
bird rises startled from the heather. It may best be expressed as a loud, clear, 
go-bac go-bac bac-bac-bac. Its crow, heard during the pairing season, and 
especially in the early morning, is slightly modified into a loud and clear cok-ok-ok. 
The cry of the female is little more than alow croak. The food of the Red Grouse 
is chiefly composed of the green, tender tops of the ling (Calluna) and the heather 
(rica); but various ground fruits are eagerly devoured in autumn (the birds’ 
droppings at this season staining the rocks dark purple) as well as the seeds of 
weeds; whilst during harvest and severe weather the birds will visit oat stubbles 
and even stack-yards at some distance from their usual haunts. I have known 
Red Grouse to be taken in the streets of Sheffield during severe winters, and 
great numbers to be shot on farms and near dwelling-houses several miles from 
the moorlands. As some misapprehension may arise respecting this apparent 
“retreat” of species from adverse conditions, I may here repeat what I have said 
concerning it in the volume dealing with the migration of British birds. Scores 
of similar instances might be given; and in some continental districts, where the 
weather has been far more severe than with us, still more extraordinary cases 
have occurred of wild birds visiting civilized places to seek for food. Now, in 
the first place, it may be remarked that however unusual the locality may be in 
which such species may appear under these exceptional circumstances, it is always 
within the normal area occupied by that species. A Nutcracker will never come 
to an English cottage door for food, any more than a Robin will ever appear at the 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 37 


threshold of a Canadian settler. In the second place, the straying of a species 
from its accustomed haunts is purely abnormal—a struggle for life, in fact, of an 
individual, and such an action in the majority of cases would not save the species 
from extermination if it succeeded in saving that individual. The conditions for 
successful reproduction, found only in the normal haunts of the species, would be 
wanting, and the inevitable result would be a more or less rapid extinction 
throughout the area affected. Little need be said concerning Grouse-shooting. 
The sport yielded by driven Grouse is certainly not equalled by any other winged 
game; and the man who can satisfactorily account for his cartridges after shooting 
for an hour or so from the “butts,” at birds that thunder by like sky-rockets, 
need not be afraid to boast of his prowess. Very large bags are sometimes made 
both over dogs and at the butts. The Red Grouse is singularly subject to what 
may well be termed a mysterious disease, seeing that its causes and nature are 
but imperfectly understood. This disease (which is said to have been traced to 
a parasitic worm, Strongylus pergracilis, breeding in the throat and rapidly 
spreading to the other organs), appears specially to attack the liver and the 
intestines ; but whether the worm is the primary cause of the disorder seems by 
no means certain, for parasites of this character, if not of the same species, are 
often common in healthy birds. Space forbids discussion of this disease here; 
but I might remark that in the opinion of an old gamekeeper friend of mine, 
it is very closely connected with the moulting of the birds. I offer this merely 
as a hint to investigators. On the other hand, over-stocking of moors, both with 
birds and with sheep, causes a short food supply, and brings the Grouse low 
in condition, and makes them less likely to withstand incipient disease. Attempts 
have been made to introduce the Red Grouse in some of the eastern and southern 
counties—at Sandringham, Holt, and other places. It is said that of fourteen 
brace turned out at Sandringham in 1878, enough remained to produce three 
broods in 1881. The small extent of moorland in these places seems fatal to the 
success of the efforts. 


Nidification.—The Red Grouse is monogamous, and pairs early in the 
spring. At this period the cock-birds stand on some bit of rising ground and 
crow defiance to their rivals and invitation to the hens, sometimes accompanying 
this call by jumping into the air or flapping their wings. Once paired, however, 
there is no evidence to show that the cock ever mates with more than one hen. 
The nest is slight enough, always on the ground, either among the ling and heath, 
under the shelter of a boulder, or even amongst grass and rushes. Sometimes 
it is made in frequented places, a yard or so from the highway or footpath; 
whilst favourite nesting-grounds are near the patches of burnt heather—burnt 
for the purpose of furnishing a supply of young shoots for the Grouse—where 
doubtless the abundance of food influences the choice. The nest is merely a hollow 
scratched out in the peaty soil and strewn with a few bits of withered ling, heath, 


38 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


dry grass, or dead leaves. The Red Grouse is a rather early breeder, birds on 
sheltered low ground going to nest early in April, but those inhabiting higher and 
more exposed districts are several weeks later. The state of the season also 
considerably affects the time of laying; and sometimes a late fall of snow will 
overtake the brooding or laying birds and cause great mischief. The eggs, too, 
vary considerably in number in different years. If wet and cold, the clutches vary 
from five to nine eggs; if warm and dry, twelve or fifteen are frequently found. 
They are creamy-white in ground-colour, very thickly spotted and blotched with 
rich reddish-brown, in some cases almost crimson-brown. The colouring matter 
is easily rubbed from newly-laid eggs, and during wet weather the feet of the 
sitting bird spoil much of their beauty. They are, on an average, 1°8 inch in 
length by 1:25 inch in breadth. The Red Grouse is a close sitter, and will remain 
brooding until almost trodden upon. The female performs the entire duties of 
incubation, which lasts twenty-four days; but when the young are hatched both 
parents assist in tending them. The young broods are generally led by their 
parents to the wettest parts of the moors, doubtless for the sake of some particular 
kind of food. One brood only is reared in the season, but if the first clutch of 
eggs be destroyed it is usually replaced by another of smaller number. 


Diagnostic characters.—Lagopus, with the primaries uniform dark 
brown. Length, 14 to 16 inches. Hybrids are occasionally found between this 
Grouse and the Black Cock, and sometimes, it is said, the Ptarmigan; whilst 
Mr. J. G. Millais has recorded and figured (Game Birds pp. 43-62) a hybrid 
between the Red Grouse and a Bantam Fowl. More or less perfect albino Red 
Grouse have been recorded. For one of the most remarkable, conf. Zoologist, 
1898, p. 126. 


Note.—The Red Grouse is a species subject to considerable variation in the colour of its 
plumage. Mr. Ogilvie Grant, who has made a very exhaustive study of the question, states that 
the male Grouse present three distinct types of plumage—a red form, a black form, and a white 
spotted form. The first of these is principally confined to the low grounds of Ireland, the West 
Coast of Scotland, and the Outer Hebrides. The second form appears to have no special locality; 
whilst the third form is found most emphasised on the high grounds of the North of Scotland. 
In the female no less than five types are definable—the red, black, white-spotted, buff-spotted, and 
buff-barred. Of these Mr. Grant states that the first two are the rarest; the white-spotted occurs 
as in the male; the fourth is the commonest and most usually met with; whilst the fifth is found 
in the South of Ireland. Another interesting peculiarity of this species is that both male and 
female have two distinct moults in the year, but in the male they take place in autumn and winter, 
and in the female in summer and autumn. The males have no distinct summer, and the females no 
distinct winter, plumage, These changes of plumage have been exhaustively worked out by Mr. 
Grant. (Conf. Annals of Scottish Nat. Hist. 1894, pp. 129-140, pls. v., vi.). 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 39 


Genus TETRAO, or Wood Grouse. 
Type, TETRAO UROGALLUS. 


Tetrao, of Linneus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their feathered metatarsi and bare toes. The wings are rounded 
and short; the tail is composed of eighteen feathers, and varies considerably in 
shape.* The bill is short and stout, and arched from the base to the tip; nostrils 
basal, shielded by an arched membrane, and almost concealed by feathers. 
Space above the eye naked. Three toes in front, one behind, the latter short ; 
edges pectinated. , 

This genus is composed of about half-a-dozen species, which are confined to 
the Northern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the Palearctic region. Two 
species are resident in the British Islands. 

The Wood Grouse are dwellers in forests and on the broken ground near 
them. They are birds of rapid if somewhat laboured flight, and on the ground 
they progress by running and walking. Their notes are loud, and, in the males, 
considerably varied. They subsist chiefly on the buds and leaves of conifers, 
also on fruit, berries, grain, seeds, andinsects. Their nests are rudely made, placed 
on the ground, and their eggs are numerous and single-spotted. These birds 
are polygamous, and the female takes sole charge of the eggs and young. Their 
flesh is highly esteemed for the table. 


*Mr. Grant separates the Black Grouse under the generic title of Lyrurus, the chief character 
being the curved outermost tail feathers, but as this distinction applies only to male birds we fail 
to recognise its generic importance. 


40 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family TETRAONIDA. Genus TETRAO. 
CAPERCAILLIE. 
TETRAO UROGALLUS.—Linneus. 
Puate VII. 


Tetrao urogallus, Linn, Syst. Nat. i. p. 273 (1766); Maegill. Brit. B. i. p. 188 (1837) ; 
Dresser, B. Bur. vii. p. 223, pl. 490 (1873); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 45 (1883); 
Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 440 (1884); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 359 
(1893); Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 60 (1893); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. 
pt. xxviii. (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 274, pl..59 (1896); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 276 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: Bones of the Capercaillie testify 
to its former residence in the north of England, such having been found in the 
caves of Teesdale and amongst the Roman remains at Settle, in West Yorkshire. 
During the latter half of the last century it was exterminated from Scotland and 
Ireland, Pennant stating that a few were to be found about Thomastown, in 
Tipperary, about the year 1760, and mentions an example obtained north of 
Inverness; so that it would seem that the bird became extinct in Scotland and 
Treland simultaneously. Its successful introduction into Scotland from Sweden 
commenced in 1837-38 by Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, althongh an attempt had 
been made some ten years previously at Mar Lodge. From Taymouth, in Perth- 
shire, the centre of its restoration, it has spread during the past fifty years over 
the greater part of this county and Forfarshire, as well as into Stirlingshire. The 
extension of its range appears now only to be a matter of time. Foreign: Western 
Palearctic region. It inhabits the pine forests of Hurope and Asia; in Scandinavia 
as far north as lat. 70°; in Russia and Siberia as far north as lat. 67°. Its eastern 
limit appears to be the valley of the Yenisei up to Lake Baikal. Returning west- 
wards it is found in South Siberia, in the Altai Mountains, and in North-eastern 
Turkestan up to an elevation of 10,000 feet. It appears not to inhabit the 
Caucasus and Southern Russia, but is a dweller in the pine forests of the 
Carpathians, on the Italian slopes of the Alps, the Spanish slopes of the Pyrenees, 
and throughout the Cantabrian ranges. It is still found, but in apparently 
decreasing numbers, in Poland and in Northern and Central Germany. 


Allied forms.—aA pale subspecies of the Capercaillie has been described 
from the Urals under the name of T'etrao wralensis by Professor Nazarov. Tetrao 
parvirostris, an inhabitant of Hast Siberia, ranging from the valley of the Yenisei, 
through Mantchooria, southward into Northern China. Differs from the Caper- 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 41 


caillie in having the head and neck metallic purple and green, more white on the 
wing- and upper tail-coverts, but with no white on the tail itself, and in having 
a longer and more graduated tail. The Capercaillie from Kamtschatka, T. 
kamtschaticus, is said to be intermediate in size, and to have the shoulder feathers 
so boldly tipped with white as to form a conspicuous band along each side of the 
back. 


Habits.—This magnificent Grouse is one of the rarest and most local of 
those birds which are classed under the head of Game. Its haunts are chiefly in 
the forests of spruce fir and larch, although it frequently wanders from these 
localities into birch and oak woods, and on to the bare expanses of moor, or the open 
parts of the forest where the broken ground is strewed with bracken and with 
various kinds of ground fruit. It is most partial to the large pine woods, more 
especially those that are broken up into swampy ground in places, and where 
small lakes occur. In these wild districts where the Capercaillie is present it is 
often very conspicuous, as the massive creature sits poised on some topmost 
point of a pine tree, his huge form showing out clearly against the sky. Here 
it is very wary, and seldom allows a near approach, although when sitting 
amongst the lower branches, where it considers itself well concealed, the observer 
is often allowed to walk quite closely past it. The Capercaillie is far more of a 
tree bird during winter than in summer ; but it always prefers to roost in a tree, 
and to retire to a tree to sit and digest its meal. It is everywhere a resident, 
although it is given much to wandering up and down the country side in an aim- 
less sort of way; females and young males especially so. The flight of the 
Capercaillie is very powerful, yet the bird seldom flies far, unless it be to cross 
over a valley from one wood to another ; nor is it very loud and whirring, except 
when he rises almost at your feet, or dashes unexpectedly from the branches 
where he has been watching you intently. The food of the Capercaillie in 
summer consists of the leaves and buds of various plants and trees, such as the 
alder, birch, and hazel, the leaves of the fir and larch, and less frequently of the 
spruce. ‘To this fare is added all the various ground fruits that flourish in or near 
the haunts of the bird, as well as acorns: insects, especially ants and their eggs, 
and beetles, are also sought for, as are also worms. In winter the needles of the 
pine-trees are almost the exclusive food. At all times of the year the male feeds 
more on these spines or needles than the female, who spends more of her time 
on the ground. Consequently the flesh of the latter is more palatable than that 
of the male, whose carcase is frequently too strongly flavoured with turpentine 
or resin to be pleasant to the taste. Grain is never eaten in great quantities. 
It is said that during severe weather this bird will bury itself in a snowdrift for 
shelter. The statements that the Capercaillie is detrimental to the presence of 
Black Game and Pheasants by its pugnacity and habit of appropriating their 
nests, do not appear to be borne out by evidence carefully collected for the purpose 


42 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


of ascertaining their truth. That it may do considerable damage to small forests 
where it may chance to be abundant is by no means improbable ; the crop of one 
bird shot in November containing the extraordinary number of two hundred and 
sixty-six shoots and buds, besides a large handful of leaves, of the Scotch fir! 
For furthur information on this important subject, as well as for full particulars 
concerning the introduction of this species into Scotland, I must refer my 
readers to Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown’s exhaustive treatise entitled The Capercatllie 
in Scotland, a book that should be on the shelves of every sportsman and naturalist. 


Nidification.—The Capercaillie becomes most interesting, perhaps, to the 
naturalist in the breeding season. It is a polygamous species, and like most of 
such birds, indulges in various grotesque and interesting habits during that period. 
This portion of their economy has been most carefully studied and described by 
Lloyd, and from his important work on Scandinavian Game Birds the following 
particulars have been obtained. Pairing commences in April and continues through 
May. The male chooses some point of vantage in his haunts, generally a pine 
tree in the more open part of the forest, or a huge piece of rock with a level 
surface. Here he takes his stand in the morning just before sunrise, and again 
in the evening directly after sunset, and from his perch on a bare or dead branch 
of the tree, or the summit of the rock, he puffs out his plumage, and with extended 
neck, drooping wings, and erected tail spread out to the fullest extent, he begins 
to utter his “‘spel,” or love music. This consists of three very distinct notes, 
pellep, klickop, and hede, the first and last several times repeated. These antics 
and notes occupy a period of several minutes, and are often repeated at once, 
during which time the bird works himself up to such a pitch of amorous excite- 
ment as to be utterly oblivious of impending danger. The natives take advantage 
of this, and by advancing during each “‘spel”’ or ecstasy, creep up within gunshot. 
The females respond to this curious exhibition by uttering a harsh croak, advancing 
to attract his attention, until he finally descends from his perch and pairs with 
each in turn, These “aking places” are frequented every spring with great 
regularity by numerous cocks and still more numerous hens, and are usually all 
in the same neighbourhood of their haunts. Much fighting takes place, the 
young and weaker birds being driven out, and not allowed to ‘“‘spel” or “play.” 
The love notes are often uttered so loudly as to cause the tree on which the bird 
is sitting sensibly to vibrate to the touch, and may be heard for a long distance 
through the silent forest. A second “‘spel’’ is said to take place towards the end 
of September or early in October. The female takes all charge of the eggs and 
young. She makes a scanty nest amongst the bilberry wires and heather in a 
clearing of the forest, merely a hollow scraped out, and lined with a few dry leaves 
or scraps of grass. The eggs are from eight to twelve in number, the smaller 
clutches being the produce of the younger hens. They are brownish-buff in 
ground-colour, thickly spotted with reddish-brown, and a few larger markings of 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 43 


the same colour. They measure on an average 2°2 inches in length by 1°6 inch 
in breadth. One brood only is reared in the year, and incubation lasts from 
twenty-six to twenty-eight days. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tetrao, with the tail nearly square, and the 
wing more than 12 inches in length. Length, 35 inches (male); 25 inches 
(female). Hybrids are pretty frequent in a wild state between the Black Cock 
and the female Capercaillie, the latter being much given to wandering from their 
usual haunts and pairing with Black Game during these peregrinations. Hybrids 
have also been known between the female Capercaillie and the male Willow 
Grouse, and the species is said occasionally to cross with the Pheasant. 


44 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family TETRAONIDAL. Genus TETRAO. 


BLACK GROUSE. 
TETRAO TETRIX.—Linneus. 
Prate VIII. 


Tetrao tetrix, Linn, Syst. Nat. i. p. 274 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 145 (1837) ; 
Dresser, B. Eur vii. p. 205, pl. 487 (1873); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii, p. 60 
(1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 435 (1884) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. vii. 
(1888) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 360 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 273, pl. 59 (1896). 

Lyrurus tetrix (Linn), Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 53 (1393); Sharpe, Handb. 
B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 273 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Black Grouse was formerly 
widely distributed throughout Great Britain, but it has been exterminated in 
many localities,in some of which, however, it has been introduced. It is resident 
locally in all counties south of the Thames, perhaps with the exception of Kent. 
It is locally distributed in Wales, the Midlands, and in the vicinity of Sandring- 
ham, in Norfolk; thence in every county north of Nottingham up to the Border. 
It is more widely and generally distributed throughout Scotland, including 
some of the Inner Hebrides, but has not succeeded in establishing itself on 
the Orkneys or Shetlands. It is not indigenous toIreland. Foreign: Palearctic 
region. It inhabits the pine and birch forests of Europe and Asia; in Scandi- 
navia as far north as lat. 693°; in Russia and Siberia as far east as the Yenisei, 
as far north as lat. 68°, but in the valley of the Lena not beyond lat. 63°. East 
of the latter valley in North Siberia it has been found as far as the Kolima river, 
and in the south of that country it ranges eastwards into the Amoor Valley to the 
Ussuri and Mantchooria. Returning westwards we find it to be an inhabitant of 
South Siberia and North-eastern Turkestan, onwards throughout Central Europe 
as far south as the Alps und the Northern Apennines. It is said to occur in the 
Eastern Pyrenees. 


Allied forms.—Tetrao milokosiewiczi, an inhabitant of the Caucasus. 
Differs from the Black Grouse in having no white in the plumage, in being some- 
what smaller, and in having a very differently-shaped tail. The female of this species 
is greyer than the female Black Grouse, and the vermiculations on the plumage 
are less coarse. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 45 


Habits.—The Black Grouse is a bird of the trees, but not quite as much of 
a forest species as the Capercaillie. It loves wild, broken country on the border 
of the moors, in birch and fir plantations, and the romantic hollows below the level 
plateaux of heath and ling, where the ground is clothed with bracken and bramble, 
strewn with rocks, and traversed by dancing streams which sometimes widen out 
into expanses of rush-grown bog and cotton-grass. In our southern counties 
favourite haunts of this bird are the wild commons and small isolated tracts of 
moorland, where pine woods are in close proximity, and plenty of underwood and 
trees are to be found. The Black Grouse is extremely partial to districts where 
water abounds, either swampy ground or pools and streams. It is a skulking, 
shy, and wary bird, seldom being seen until it is flushed, either from the ground 
or the trees; and even when feeding on the bare hillsides, which it often does, 
some distance from the plantations, it is ever on the alert, and runs and conceals 
itself the moment it is alarmed. I have seen Black Cocks take refuge in clumps 
of rushes growing on the hillside, running from one tuft to another until the 
plantation was reached. The flight of the Black Grouse is powerful and rapid, 
but the bulk of the bird seems to lend it a laboured character. The Black Cock, 
except during the moulting season, in July and August, spends much of his time 
in the trees, and always prefers to roost in a tree ; but the Grey Hen is more of a 
ground bird. I have often remarked the partiality of this species for tall bracken 
in autumn; and at that season it also wanders from the covers to the stubbles. 
During long-continued snowstorms it sometimes burrows into the drifts for shelter. 
The food of the adult Black Grouse is almost exclusively of a vegetable nature. 
In summer the seeds of rushes and the tender tops and leaves of ling and heath 
and other plants are the birds’ favourite fare ; in autumn, grain and wild fruits and 
berries are partaken of; whilst in winter, willow twigs, birch catkins, alder buds, 
and leaves of the ling and heath are eaten. Black Game, like Red Grouse, always 
seem bewildered and stupid during misty weather, and then often allow a much 
nearer approach as they sit on the half-leafless trees. I might also remark for the 
benefit of any sportsman unaware of the circumstance, that while Red Grouse 
always endeavour to fly down wind, Black Game seek to fly up wind. The 
formation of the tail may have some influence on this. When much shot at, 
Black Game generally mount up high into the air, and fly right away to some 
distant cover. This species also appears to have an antipathy to flying up- 
hill, and when flushed on a slope they usually pass to a lower level. 


Nidification.—In the matter of its reproduction the Black Grouse very 
closely resembles the Capercaillie. It is polygamous, and the Black Cocks perform 
much the same peculiar antics during the pairing season to charm the Grey Hens 
as we have already described in the preceding chapter. Certain meeting or “‘laking”’ 
places are chosen in their haunts, to which numbers of males resort early in April ; 
and here battles are of frequent occurrence for the females, which are attracted by 


46 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


the love notes, or “spel,” and charmed by the grotesque attitudes assumed by the 
cocks. The ‘‘spel’’ or song consists of two very distinct notes, one a kind of coo, 
the other a hiss, both so loudly uttered that they may be heard for a mile or more 
across the silent wilderness. During the progress of the ‘‘lek”’ the females creep 
up to the place with drooping wings, uttering a low note and apparently watching 
the proceedings with great interest, waiting to pair with the most successful males. 
A second ‘‘spel”’ is said to take place in autumn, and during this period the cocks 
keep in companies by themselves. The female takes all charge of the domestic 
arrangements. About the first week in May the Grey Hen goes to nest. This is 
always placed on the ground, under a clump of dead bracken or matted bramble 
and fern, or amongst heather or ling, rushes, or bilberry wires. It is merely a 
hollow into which is scraped a few bits of dry grass, broken fern-fronds, or dead 
leaves of the bilberry, and fallen pine-needles. The eggs, from six to ten in 
number, are brownish-buff, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown of various 
shades of intensity. They measure on an average 20 inches in length, by 1:4 inch 
in breadth. Occasionally a single nest will contain as many as sixteen eggs, the 
produce of two hens which sit together amicably enough and bring up the 
numerous progeny in company. This usually occurs in localities where the Black 
Grouse are thick upon the ground. The Grey Hen is a close sitter, and her 
plumage is remarkably inconspicuous amongst the dead fern and undergrowth. 
Incubation lasts about twenty-six days. One brood only is reared in the season. 
The young are reared with difficulty, wet seasons being especially fatal to them ; 
and many nests are washed away by being made too near the bank of some 
mountain stream, which rapidly becomes a torrent and overflows its banks during 
long-continued rain. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tetrao, with the tail lyre shaped (male), and 
the wing 11 inches in length or less. Length, 22 inches (male), 15 inches (female). 
The Black Cock hybridises with the female Red Grouse occasionally, and has been 
known to interbreed with Willow Grouse, Hazel Grouse, the hen Capercaillie, 
and the Pheasant. Mr. J. G. Millais figures an interesting example of a Black 
Cock which has assumed the dress of the Grey Hen. (Game Birds and Shooting 
Sketches.) 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 47 


Family PHASIANIDAE.—The Typical Game Birds. 


The birds in the present family are characterised by having the nostrils bare, 
never concealed by feathers; the metatarsi partially or entirely naked, and in 
many cases armed with spurs; the toes bare and never pectinate. Attempts 
have been made to divide this large group into several subfamilies, but with very 
unsatisfactory results, the characters relied upon being artificial and inconstant. 
Further research may show how to subdivide the group in a natural manner, 
but up to the present time no characters of any scientific value have been 
discovered by which we may so class the 270 or so species and subspecies of 
which it is composed. 


Genus PHASIANUS, or True Pheasant. 
Type, PHASIANUS COLCHICUS. 


Phasianus, of Linneus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by the absence of any occipital crest, and by their long wedge- 
shaped and graduated tail. The wings are short and rounded, the first primary 
about equal to the eighth and much longer than the tenth; the tail is long and 
wedge-shaped and composed of eighteen feathers. The metatarsus is moderately 
long, and armed in the male witha conical, sharp spur. The bill is of medium 
length, the upper mandible convex, the tip bent downwards; nostrils basal, and 
shielded by a membrane. Three toes in front, one behind; hind toe articulated 
upon the metatarsus. 

This genus is composed of about eighteen species and several subspecies, 
which are confined to the Hastern hemisphere, being inhabitants of the south- 
eastern portions of the Palearctic region and the northern portions of the Oriental 
region. One species is resident in the British Islands. 

The true Pheasants are dwellers in woodland districts, where plenty of 
cover affords them shelter. They are birds of rapid flight, and progress on the 
ground by running and walking. Their notes are harsh and discordant. They 
subsist chiefly on grain, seeds, fruits, berries, tender shoots, insects, larve, and 
worms. Their nests are slight, and made upon the ground, and their eggs are 
numerous, unspotted brown or green. They are polygamous. Their flesh is 
highly esteemed for the table. 


48 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 
Family PHASIANID/. Genus PHASIANUS. 


PHEASANT. 


PHASIANUS COLCHICUS—Linneus. 
Puates IX. (Frontispiece) and X. 


Phasianus colchicus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 271 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 114 
(1837); Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 85, pl. 469 (1879); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 91 
(1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 445 (1884); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. 
B. p. 357 (1893); Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 320 (1893); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. part xxxiii. (1896); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 275, pl. 59 (1896); 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 291 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Pheasant was probably 
introduced into the British Islands by the Romans. Itis aresident throughout 
all parts of the country where it is preserved, even in some of the wildest districts 
of the Outer Hebrides, the presence of cover being all that is required in 
addition to artificial feeding during severe weather. Foreign: Although intro- 
duced into most parts of Europe (with the exception of Spain and Portugal), and 
of recent years into North America, the true habitat of this species is in Western 
Asia, in the western parts of the basin of the Caspian Sea, and the southern 
and eastern portions of the basin of the Black Sea. It is a resident in the 
valleys of the Caucasus up to 3,000 feet above sea-level, and inhabits the country 
along the Caspian, from the Volga in the north to Asterabad on the southern 
shore; it is found in the northern districts of Asia Minor, south to Ephesus, 
and is aresident on the island of Corsica. 


Allied forms.—The various species and races which are most closely 
allied to the Pheasant of Western Asia and Europe (the typical English species) 
are by no means clearly defined, and it is probable that further research may prove 
that several of these forms are merely the result of interbreeding. A table showing 
their geographical distribution and points of distinction is inserted at the end of 
the present chapter. 


Habits.—The almost uninterrupted interbreeding which has been going 
on between the Ring-necked Pheasant from China and the typical Pheasant 
from Colchis for the past ninety years has so far contaminated the original 
stock that few, if any, pure-bred birds are to be found in the British Islands. 
Again, in more recent years, another species (figured with the Ring-necked 
Pheasant on Plate X.) has been introduced into our islands and has crossed 
with these two species, viz., the Japanese or Green Pheasant, Phasianus 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 49 


versicolor (Conf. Table, p. 52), the hybrid, which is perfectly fertile, being not 
only a singularly handsome bird but considerably larger. It is said that these 
crosses with P. versicolor are specially adapted for stocking covers, as they not 
only show a disinclination to wander from home—a very excellent trait—but 
are less addicted to running; whilst their power of wing is stronger, which is a 
most important consideration from the sportsman’s point of view. In very few 
localities in this country does the Pheasant exist in anything approaching a 
thoroughly wild state. Wherever it is fostered and protected by man, suitable 
cover being provided, its natural enemies kept in check, and a certain amount of 
food being supplied during severe weather, there the Pheasant flourishes and 
multiplies apace. The habits, therefore, of such a semi-domesticated bird need 
not be dwelt upon at any great length. As previously remarked, cover is one of 
the Pheasant’s chief requirements. The Pheasant is not only a ground bird but 
a shy one, and is seldom seen far from cover of some kind. It thrives best in 
places where the woods contain plenty of undergrowth, and where there is 
feeding accommodation in the shape of fields near by. It is ever shy and wary, 
and although often seen in the open, hurries off to the nearest cover the moment 
danger threatens, or crouches close to the ground amongst the friendly herbage 
until the cause of its alarm has passed. It is capable of running with marvellous 
speed amongst the herbage and undergrowth, and when flushed rises with a 
startling whirr, and with rapidly-beating wings mounts above the underwood and 
threads its way among the trees to safer quarters. Asa rule the flight of the 
Pheasant is not very prolonged, but sometimes the bird will go for several miles 
before alighting. Like other Game Birds, it is fond of dusting its plumage, and 
not only drinks often but is fond of bathing, so that water is one of the essentials 
of a good pheasantry. In spite of the fact that this bird spends most of its time on 
the ground, it prefers to roost in trees, except occasionally in summer, when it 
sleeps on the ground; evergreens being favourite situations, especially in winter. 
It is most active early in the morning and towards sunset, when it leaves the 
covers and wanders out into the open in quest of food. This consists of a 
great variety of substances. Grain of all kinds perhaps forms its staple support, 
but to this must be added many kinds of seeds and berries, acorns, beech-mast, 
and tender shoots of various kinds. It also feeds largely on worms and insects, 
especially ants and their larvee, and consumes great numbers of grubs and wire- 
worms. In most preserves a great deal of maize and other food is scattered in 
the woods, either on the bare ground under certain trees, or upon the drives, or 
placed upon platforms of branches raised several feet from the earth in the woods. 
Patches of buckwheat and beans are also sown close to the covers in many places 
for the sole benefit of the Pheasants, the thick growth affording concealment as 
well as food. The note of the male Pheasant is a short, harsh crow, sounding 
something like cor-r-k. The bird becomes most noisy at nightfall just before 
retiring to roost, and each successive crow is followed by a flapping of the wings. 


4 


50 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Nidification.—Semi-domestication appears to have caused the Pheasant 
to become monogamous, like domesticated descendants of the Wild Duck. Inits 
native wilds the Pheasant is strictly monogamous, but in this country the male bird 
generally associates himself with several females, as many as his prowess or his 
charms can keep or attract, and upon them devolves all care of the eggs and 
young. Instances, however, are on record where cock Pheasants in our islands 
have been known to assist, not only in the duties of incubation but in attending 
to the brood. The Pheasant does not appear to have been polygamous long 
enough to have certain recognised pairing stations or ‘‘laking”’ places, but towards 
the end of March the cock-birds begin to crow and fight for the hens, each 
collecting and maintaining as many as he can. The hens go to nest in April 
and May. The inherent timidity or shyness of this species causes it to 
breed in seclusion, and the great nesting grounds are well in the cover 
of plantations and woods, although many odd birds nest wide amongst growing 
crops, or in the hedge bottoms. Sometimes the nest is placed, by strange caprice, 
in an old squirrel’s drey, or on the top of a stack; and I have known it in the 
centre of a tuft of rushes within a couple of yards of a much-frequented footpath. 
Each female makes a scanty nest, under the arched shelter of brambles or dead 
bracken, and often beneath heaps of cut brushwood which has been left upon 
the ground all winter. It is little more than a hollow, in which a few bits of 
dry bracken or dead leaves and scraps of grass are collected. The eggs are usually 
from eight to twelve in number; sometimes as many as twenty are found; and I 
have known of an instance in which a single hen has brought off twenty-six 
chicks from as many eggs! They vary from brown through olive-brown to bluish- 
green in colour, and are unspotted. Some years ago, in Northumberland, accom- 
panied by the late Mr. Seebohm, jun., I took a clutch of thenormal colour, amongst 
which was one of a delicate greenish-blue. They measure on an average 1°8 inch 
in length by 1:4 inch in breadth. Incubation lasts, on an average, twenty-four 
days. The Pheasant rears only one brood in a year; but if the first clutch is 
unfortunate, others are laid, as hens have been known to sit as late as September. 
When leaving her nest for a short time to feed, the hen carefully covers her eggs 
with leaves, and flies from her home when she quits it voluntarily, returning 
in the same manner. The young are seldom fully grown before the end of 
July. 


Diagnostic characters.—Phasianus, with no white collar, and with 
reddish-brown wing coverts, and purplish-red rump (typical colchicus). Length: 
male, 30 to 37 inches, including tail; female, about 24 inches, including tail. 
The two central rectrices of the cock Pheasant vary considerably in length, 
according to the age of the bird, old ones being often met with in which 
these feathers measure upwards of 24 inches. The Pheasant has been known to 
hybridise not only with several of its allies, but with the Black Grouse, and the 


Guinea Fowl, with the Domestic Fowl and the Capercaillie. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 


61 


Old females some- 


times assume the plumage of the male, whilst in extremely rare instances the 


male has been known to assume that of the female. 


(Conf. Ibis, 1897, p. 488). 


Males subject to considerable variation in colour, ranging from pure white through 


every intermediate stage to the normal colour. 


females in July and August. 


Males moult in June and July; 


Phasianus colchicus and Allies. 


Species ok RAcr. | 


GEOGRAPHICAL AREA. 


Points oF DIstTINcTION 
(Maes). 


Phasianus colchicus ... 


Phasianus colchicus tal- 
ischensis 


Phasianus persicus 


Phasianus principalis.. 
Phasianus zerafshani- 


cus ... 


Phasianus shawi 


Phasianus tarimensis... 


Phasianus chrysomelas 


Basin of the Caspian Sea, and 
southern and eastern por- 
tions of basin of Black Sea : 
Corsica 


Talisch, Mazanderan, southern 
coast of Caspian 


North-east Persia 


North-west Afghanistan and 
North-east Persia. 


Valley of the Zarafshan, Turk- 
estan ie aes aie 


Chinese Turkestan 
Tarim Valley, Eastern Turk- 
estan io ee eee 


Oxus Valley ... 


Wing coverts reddish-brown; 
rump and upper tail coverts 
purplish-red; middle of 
breast and flanks dark pur- 
plish-green. 


Middle of breast and flanks 
purplish-carmine ; _ breast 
feathers with purple margins 


Lesser and median wing cov- 
erts white ; middle of breast 
and flanks as in preceding. 


Wing coverts white; rump 
bronze-red ; breast feathers 
broadly tipped with purplish- 
bronze. 


No dark greenish-purple mavr- 
gins to the scapulars; mar- 
ging to breast feathers 
narrow. 


Lesser and median wing cov- 
erts white or pale buff; 
breast feathers margined 
with dark green; centre of 
breast and the flanks dark 
green. 


Lesser and median wing cov- 
erts yellowish-brown ; breast 
feathers without marginal 
bands. 


Mantle having triangular spots 
of dark green at the point of 
each feather; those of the 
breast and flanks widely 
tipped with the same colour. 


52 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Phasianus colchicus and Allies.—continied. 


Spreciges on RAcE. 


GEOGRAPHICAL AREA. 


Points or DistTincTIon 
(Maes). 


Phasianus mongolicus 


Phasianus mongolicus 
semitorquatus 


Phasianus torquatus ... 

Phasianus  torquatus 
satscheunensis 

Phasianus _ torquatus 


formosanus... 


Phasianus decollatus... 


Phasianus strauchi 


Phasianus vlangalii oer 


Phasianus versicolor ... 


Phasianus elegans 


Basins of Lakes Saisan, Balk- 
ash and Issik Kul, Central 
Asia... uae uh ce 


Irenkhabirga Mountain district 
Central Asia re 


Valley of Lower Amoor, Mant- 
chooria, China, south to 
Canton, Corea, Tsu-sima, 
Eastern Mongolia ... 


Sa-tschen, north of Nan-shan 
Mountains ... 


Formosa Island 


Western China 


North-western Kansu 
Tsaidam north to Koko-nor... 


Peculiar to Japan, with the 
exception of Yezo. 


South-western China... 


Similar to P. persicus but with 
a broad white neck ring, 
broken in front. 


Metallic portions of plumage 
glossed with dull green 
instead of purple-carmine 
as In preceding race. 


Lower back, rump, and upper 
tail coverts, greenish-slate 
colour; white ring round 
the neck. 


Pale form of preceding, scap- 
ulars margined with sandy- 
brown instead of brownish- 
red. 


Similar to P. torquatus, but 
with the ground-colour of 
the mantle and flanks pale 
yellow, instead of orange- 
buff. 


Similar to P. torquatus, but 
with no white ring or only 
traces of one (probably the 
result of inter-breeding); 
margins to breast feathers 
dark green instead of purple. 


Feathers of chest and sides of 
breast glowing orange-red 
margined with purplish- 
green; no white ring. 


Mantle and scapulars sandy- 
red; flanks golden-butff; 
chest dark green ; no white 
ring. 


Under-parts unspotted metal- 
lic green. 


Similar to preceding, but has 
the flanks golden-brown 
barred with black. 


Note.—In compiling the above Table I have toa great extent followed Mr. Grant's admirable 
arrangement of the group in the British Museum Catalogue of Birds, in which the Pheasants have 
been most recently monographed. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 53 


Genus PERDIX, or True Partridges. 
Type, PERDIX CINEREA. 


Perdix, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their bare metatarsi, scutellated in front, reticulated behind, by 
their short rectrices (sixteen or eighteen in number), and rounded wings, the first 
primary being intermediate in length between the seventh and eighth, and the 
fourth the longest. The bill is short and stout, the upper mandible curved from 
the base to the tip; nostrils basal, shielded by an arched membrane or scale, and 
bare of feathers. Three toes (long) in front, one behind, small and elevated ; 
spurs absent. 

This genus is composed of about half-a-dozen species and varieties, which are 
confined to the Eastern hemisphere, being inhabitants of the Palearctic region. 
One species is resident in the British Islands. 

The True Partridges are dwellers in open country, cultivated districts, grain 
lands and prairies. They are birds of rapid but seldom long-sustained flight, and 
sedentary in their habits. Their notes are shrill and unmusical. They subsist 
on grain, seeds, fruits, shoots of herbage, insects and larve. Their nests are 
rudely made, placed upon the ground, often under the shelter of bushes, and 
their eggs are numerous, whitish or buffish-olive in colour, unspotted in all known 
instances. These birds, so far as is known, are monogamous. Their flesh is 
highly esteemed for the table. 


54 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 
Family PHASIANIDA. Genus PERDIX. 


PARTRIDGE. 


PERDIX CINEREA.—Latham. 
Puate XI, Fig. 1. 


Tetrao perdix, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 276 (1766). 

Perdix cinerea, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 290 (1787); Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 218 
(1837); Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 181, pl. 475 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, ii. 
p. 105 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 452 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. 
pt. ix. (1888); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 355 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. 
Eggs Brit. B. p. 276, pl. 59 (1896). 


Perdix perdix (Linn.), Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 185 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. 
B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 282 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Partridge is a resident 
throughout the agricultural districts of the British Islands wherever it is preserved. 
Ii is absent from the Outer Hebrides, but has been introduced into the Orkneys. 
Foreign: West Palearctic region. Itis local in Scandinavia up to lat. 66°; West 
Russia, north to lat. 60°; Hast Russia, north to lat. 58°; West Siberia, north to 
lat. 57°, in which locality it is a migrant, wintering in North Turkestan. South- 
wards its range extends into Central Asia, North Persia, and the Caucasus: whilst 
westwards into Europe it includes North Turkey and Austria, the lowlands of 
Italy, North Spain, France, Germany, Holland, and Denmark. 


Allied forms.—Perdixz cinerea, var. robusta, an inhabitant of the Altai 
Mountains. Differs from the Common Partridge in being greyer in colour, and 
larger. P. daurica, an inhabitant of East Russian Turkestan, South-east Siberia, 
East Mongolia, North-east Thibet, and North China. Differs from the Common 
Partridge in having the horseshoe-shaped mark on the breast black instead of 
chestnut, and the feathers on the throat elongated; it is also a smaller and paler 
bird. Two more distantly allied species, possessing eighteen instead of sixteen 
tail feathers, are Perdix hodgsonie from Southern Thibet and the extreme north of 
India, and Perdix sifanica from Kansu. Perdiz damascena, from the mountains 
of Central Europe, does not appear to us to be even subspecifically distinct from 
the Common Partridge; further investigation is necessary. A peculiar chestnut 
variety (obtained alike in England, Scotland, and on the continent) has been 
described by Brisson as distinct under the name of Perdix montana. Another 
local small form has been described from Galicia by Dr. Seoane under the name 
of Perdix cinerea charrela, and by Dr. Reichenow as Perdia hispaniensis, but 
whether the variations are sufficiently important to warrant such a separation seems 
doubtful. Possibly they are of subspecific value only. (Conf, Ibis. 1894, pp. 575-577). 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 55 


Habits.—The great strongholds of the Partridge are the well-cultivated 
districts where the fields are not too large, the hedges dense and affording cover 
during the breeding season, and where grain is grown in abundance. It may be 
aptly described as a bird of the farm-lands, although it is by no means rare in 
many moorland districts, and in some counties is fairly plentiful on commons and 
rougher ground. It showsno partiality for wooded districts, and is so thoroughly 
a ground bird that the known instances of its perching in trees are remarkably 
few. The Partridge lives upon the ground, and at all times shows more or less 
reluctance to fly. Should danger threaten, it prefers to squat close to the earth 
or to run with great quickness to the shelter of standing crops or thick hedges, 
where its movements are so rapid as to enable it to elude pursuit with ease. 
When flushed, however, it not only rises quickly and suddenly but flies well and 
with no small speed, its rounded wings as they rapidly beat the air making a loud 
whirring noise. Sometimes the bird holds its wings stiff and arched and skims 
along for ashort distance before alighting. The Partridge obtains its food on the 
ground, and is most active in search of it during morning and early evening. 
In the hottest part of the day it is fond of lying close in cover, and frequently 
resorts to some bare spot in the fields to dust its plumage and to bask in the sun. 
Tis food consists of shoots and leaves of herbage, insects and their larve, snails, 
grain and seeds, and various wild fruits. From the time the broods are grown 
until they are thinned down by the sportsman, the Partridge lives in coveys of 
varying size, which feed and sleep in company. At night each covey has a 
particular resort to which the birds retire to rest, usually sleeping in a circle on 
the ground, each with its head turned outwards so that approaching danger is 
readily observed. The note of the Partridge, which is uttered by both sexes, is a 
peculiarly shrill kir-r-rrrick, most frequently uttered towards evening and in the 
pairing season. In districts where the birds are not persistently chased by 
the sportsman the Partridge shows gregarious tendencies durmg autumn and 
winter, several coveys joining into a flock. During severe weather the Partridge 
will visit the rick-yards, and is occasionally met with in very unusual localities, 
tempted thither by food. When fired at this bird has been known to fly out to 
sea for a considerable distance, returning to land in a very exhausted condition. 
Before the introduction of the modern reaping machine and turnip drill, when 
the weedy stubbles were left long by the sickle, and turnips were sown broadcast, 
Partridges were shot over pointers and setters; but now, when the straw 
is shaved off almost flush with the ground, and the stubble ploughed as soon as 
the crop is harvested (unless sown down with clover), and root crops are grown 
in rows or “ ridges,” dogs are of little service, and driving has been resorted to. 
This is regretted by some sportsmen of the old school chiefly, but certainly 
preferred by the more modern gunner ; especially so as this method of Partridge 
shooting serves to prolong the season of sport and to furnish birds in prime 
condition. 


56 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Nidification.—The Partridge is one of the earliest birds to separate into 
pairs, but although it often does so in February, its nest is seldom found until a 
couple of months later. It is a monogamous species, and may even probably 
pair for life, although the old cocks are often very pugnacious and fight freely 
with the younger birds. The Partridge goes to nest in England about the 
beginning of May, butin Scotland itis nearly a month later. The female makes a 
scanty nest in a dry hedge bottom or a ditch, amongst growing corn or clover, or 
dense herbage on rougher ground, often in places most exposed, and in some 
instances in unlikely situations. For instance, I have known it bring off a 
brood from the top of a bean-stack. The nest is simply a hollow, scratched out 
in the ground and lined with a few bits of withered herbage. The eggs vary, 
according to the age of the hen, from ten to fifteen or twenty in number, although 
occasionally much larger clutches are found, which may be the produce of several 
females. A nest containing thirty-three eggs is on record, twenty-three of which 
hatched safely, and the chicks got away with their parents. The eggs are uniform 
pale olive-brown, exactly similar to those of the Pheasant. White and pale green 
varieties are sometimes met with. They measure on an average 1'4inch in length by 
1:15 inch in breadth. Although the male Partridge keeps close and constant watch 
over his mate and nest, the female incubates the eggs, which usually take from 
twenty-one to twenty-four days to hatch. As soon as the brood are out both 
parents tend them, and are solicitous for their safety, and boldy defend them 
from predaceous creatures. The female is a close sitter, and covers her eggs 
when leaving her nest voluntarily. One brood only is reared in the year, and I 
am of opinion that if the first clutch of eggs be destroyed no others are laid that 
season. If the birds continue to call into June and July it is a bad omen, and a 
sure sign that the nests have been unfortunate. 


Diagnostic characters.—Perdiz, with the horse-shoe mark on the 
belly dark chestnut, and with the wing averaging 6 inches in length; tail with 
eighteen feathers. Length, 12 to 13 inches. Has been known to hybridise with 
the Red-legged Partridge. Subject to considerable local variation (especially in 
the young), and it is said that in some districts (notably in Yorkshire and Oxford- 
shire), the tendency to develop a white instead of a chestnut horse-shoe on the 
belly is increasing. Mr. Ogilvie Grant, who has made several most interesting 
discoveries relating to the plumages of Game Birds, points out that an unfailing 
distinction in the plumage of the sexes of the Common Partridge is to be found 
on the lesser and median wing coverts. These in the male are sandy-brown, 
blotched on the inner web with chestnut, and with only buff shaft streaks; in 
the female they are brownish-black, with conspicuous buff cross bars. (Conf. 
Field, 21 Nov., 1891, and 9 April, 1892). 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 57 


Genus CACCABIS, or Rock Partridges. 
Type, CACCABIS SAXATILIS. 


Caccabis, of Kaup (1829).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their nearly uniform upper plumage, conspicuous gorget, and 
barred flanks. The wings are rounded and short, the first primary nearly equal 
to the sixth, the third slightly the longest; the tail is short, and composed of 
fourteen feathers. The metatarsus is scutellated in front, reticulated behind, 
and armed in the male with tubercles or spurs. The bill is short and stout, the 
upper mandible arched from the base to the tip; nostrils basal, shielded with an 
oblong horny scale, but bare of feathers. Three toes in front; one behind, small 
and elevated. 

This genus is composed of about half-a-dozen species and varieties, which are 
confined to the Hastern hemisphere, being inhabitants of the Southern Palearctic 
region and extreme northern portions of the Oriental region. One species has 
been introduced into the British Islands, where it is a local resident. 

The Rock Partridges are dwellers in bare and mountainous country, scrub- 
covered hillsides and thickets. They are birds of rapid but never long-sustained 
flight, and on the ground run and walk with great ease. Their notes are loud 
and harsh. They subsist chiefly on grain, seeds, fruit, berries, shoots of herbage, 
and insects. Their nests are rude, and made on the ground; their eggs are 
numerous, and more or less spotted. Their flesh is of comparatively inferior 
quality. 


58 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family PHASIANIDA. Genus CaccaBIS. 


RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 
CACCABIS RUFA—(Linneus). 
Puate XI., Fig. 2. 


Tetrao rufa, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 276 (1766). 

Perdix rubra, Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 215 (1837 ex Brisson). 

Caccabis rufa (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 103, pl. 471, fig. 1 (1875); Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. viii (1888); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 354 (1893); 
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 118 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 
280 (1897). 

Perdix rufa (Linn.), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 115 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. 
ii. p. 457 (1884); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 276, pl. 59 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Red-legged Partridge was 
introduced into England in 1770 by the then Marquis of Hertford and Lord 
Rendlesham, who turned out chicks in Suffolk. It is chiefly distributed over the 
eastern counties of England: Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, and Sussex; only 
occasionally elsewhere, owing to its partiality for dry, sandy soils; but there is 
evidence of it increasing its area over the Midlands, Lincolnshire, and the higher 
grounds north of the Thames Valley. Attempts have been made to introduce 
this bird into Scotland and Ireland, but with small success, climatic conditions 
probably being the principal cause of failure. Foreign: South-west Europe. It 
is most commonly distributed in South and Central France, Portugal, Spain, the 
Balearic Islands, Corsica, Elba, North and Central Italy, Switzerland, and Savoy. 
It becomes much more local and rare in Northern France, Belgium, and the 
districts lying round its usual habitat. It has been introduced into Madeira and 
the Azores, and is found in Gran Canaria. 


Allied forms.—Caccabis petrosa, an inhabitant of North-west Africa, the 
Canaries, Gibraltar, and Sardinia. Differs from the Red-legged Partridge in 
having the nape and collar brown. C. saxatilis, with vars. chukar and magna, 
range from the Alps to North China. Differs from the Red-legged Partridge in 
being larger and paler, and in having the throat and lores buff (chukar); neck-band 
double; throat buff, but lores black (magna). A darker and more richly coloured 
form of the Red-legged Partridge, occurring in Spain, has been separated under 
the name of Caccabis rufa hispanica. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 59 


Habits.—In many of its habits this handsome Partridge differs considerably 
from the preceding species. It is much more arboreal in its tastes, and shows a 
decided preference for rougher ground, such as commons, the open, treeless parts 
of woods, and strips of heathy land covered with gorse and rush and bramble. 
Nevertheless, it is met with quite commonly on the fields in haunts affected by 
its British ally, but is always even more skulking, and ever tries to run and 
hide amongst the cover rather than use its wings. Another pecularity sure to be 
impressed upon the observer is the bird’s habit of frequently perching in trees, on 
corn-stacks, or on hedges and fences; whilst during snowstorms it often quits the 
open fields entirely, and seeks shelter amongst bushes and brushwood. Itis a 
shy and wary bird, ever on the watch for danger, craning out its neck and 
peering in all directions at the least alarm, and continuing to do so as it runs 
quickly towards the cover. It flies well and strongly, with rapidly beating wings 
which make a loud, whirring noise, whilst on the ground it is capable of running 
with amazing speed. The note of the Red-legged Partridge is a shrill treble 
crtk-ik-tk, which is said to be common to both sexes. Its food is not known to 
differ in any important respect from that of the Common Partridge, and its habits 
from the time the broods are reared, onwards through the autumn, are very 
similar. It lives in coveys, which sometimes join into flocks, but which soon 
scatter when alarmed, each bird making off to some refuge. In consequence of 
this peculiarity, the Red-legged Partridge affords poor sport. It will not lie close 
in the cover until flushed by the gunner, but is ever on the run, so that driving 
is absolutely necessary to obtain a decent bag. 


Nidification.—The Red-legged Partridge pairs early in April, sometimes 
towards the end of March, and during this period it becomes rather pugnacious, 
and combats are of frequent occurrence between the cock-birds. The female goes 
to nest rather earlier than the Common Partridge, the eggs usually being laid 
towards the end of April, or early in May. The nest is slovenly and slight, placed 
amongst the dense herbage of a hedge bottom or a dry ditch, or amongst growing 
grain, clover, or mowing grass. Sometimes it is placed amongst the thatch of a 
stack, or even in the side, and not unfrequently in a very exposed situation by 
the side of a footpath or highway. It is merely a hollow into which a few bits of 
dry herbage and leaves are scraped. Here the hen lays from twelve to eighteen 
eggs, pale brownish-yellow in ground-colour, spotted and speckled with dark 
brown. They measure on an average 1°6 inch in length by 1:2 inch in breadth. 
Very often the hen lays at irregular intervals. Incubation, which is performed 
by the female, lasts about twenty-four days. As soon as the brood is hatched 
the male assists his mate in bringing up the chicks. Eggs of the Pheasant and 
the Common Partridge are occasionally found in the nest of this species. I have 
known instances where the Red-legged Partridge has destroyed an entire brood of 
the Common Partridge; and, in spite of oft-repeated statements to the contrary, 


60 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


I am firmly of opinion that the two birds are better apart. I would not advise 
the introduction or the encouragement of the Red-legged Partridge in any district 
where the Common Partridge is already flourishing. There may be, however, 
many wild districts unsuitable to the latter species where the former might be 
established with advantage. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Caccabis, with the gorget and lores black, the 
throat white, and the feathers of the upper breast brown, spotted with black. 
Length, 13 to 14 inches. Hybrids between this species and the Rock Partridge, 
C. saxatilis, have been recorded. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 61 


Genus COTURNIX, or Quails. 
Type, COTURNIX COMMUNIS. 


Coturnix, of Bonnaterre (1790).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by their long-pointed wings, the first primary being about equal 
to the third, and the second generally a trifle the longest; axillaries Jong and 
white. Rectrices extremely short, less than half the length of the wing, and 
ten or twelve in number. All the species are birds of small size. The meta- 
tarsus is scutellated in front, reticulated posteriorly, and spurless. The bill is 
short and stout, the upper mandible curved from base to tip; nostrils basal, and 
semi-closed by a horny membrane. Three toes in front; one behind, short and 
elevated. 

This genus is composed of about six species and doubtful races, which are 
confined to the Eastern hemisphere, being inhabitants of all the great zoological 
regions with the exception of Arctic latitudes. One species is a partial resident 
in the British Islands. 

The Quails are ground birds, and dwellers in open country, cultivated districts, 
grain lands, and plains. They are birds of prolonged and rapid flight, and 
progress on the ground by running and walking. Their notes are shrill and not 
quite unmusical. They subsist on grain, seeds, shoots of herbage, and insects. 
Their nests are rude structures placed on the ground, and their eggs are 
numerous and spotted. They are both polygamous and monogamous. Their 
flesh is highly esteemed for the table. 


62 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family PHASIANIDZE. Genus CoTURNIx. 


QUAIL. 
COTURNIX COMMUNIS.—Bonnaterre. 


Tetrao coturnix, Linn, Syst. Nat. i. p. 278 (1766). 


Coturnix dactylisonans, Meyer; Macgill. Brit, B. i. p. 233 (1837). 

Coturnix communis, Bonnat.; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 143, pl. 476 (1878); Yarrell 
Brit. B. ed. 4 ui. p. 123 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 462 (1884); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Brit. B.p. 352 (1893); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1893) 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 277, pl. 59 (1896). 


Coturnix coturnix (Linn.), Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 231 (1893); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 287 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Quail is a summer visitor 
to most parts of the British Islands, extending to the Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys, 
and Shetlands, but appears to be nowhere common. A few winter in the south of 
England and in Ireland: in the latter country the bird is said to be slowly becoming 
extinct. Foreign: Palearctic region, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Quail 
is a summer visitor to Europe south of lat. 64°. It occurs throughout North 
Africa, Palestine, and Asia Minor, but in the basin of the Mediterranean is 
chiefly known on passage, although a few remain to breed and a few remain to 
winter in that district, whilst in the Azores and the Canaries it is a resident. 
The majority of the West Palearctic birds winter in the African portion of the 
Intertropical realm. Hastwards the Quail visits Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan 
(where a few remain to winter), Siberia, and the north island of Japan in summer, 
wintering in Arabia, throughout India, Burma, and China, south to the Tropic of 
Cancer. It has also been recorded from Mayotte and the Grand Comoro Islands 
in the Indian Ocean. 


Allied forms.—The Common Quail is another species presenting con- 
siderable variation, but whether these differences are sufficiently constant 
geographically to warrant specific or even subspecific distinction is by no means 
clear. Beginning in the West Palearctic region, Mr. Meade Waldo states (Ibis, 
1889, p. 517) that in the Canary Islands there are two races of Quail, one coming 
to the islands to breed, the other wintering there. This latter, he says, is smaller. 
darker, and more brightly coloured than the migrants, with brilliant yellow legs, 
those of the former being flesh-coloured. The Quails of SouthAfrica have been 
described as distinct under the name of Coturnia capensis, being somewhat 
smaller in size, and having the sides of the head, the chin, and the throat, bright 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 63 


chestnut. This latter form is said to occur in the Canaries, Madeira and Azores, 
whilst the typical form certainly inhabits South Africa; a fact, bearing in mind 
the suggested new law of geographical distribution propounded by us, which goes 
far to prove that these differences are of no specific value whatever. As we 
suggested in The Migration of Birds (amended edition), the Quail is an equatorial 
species, one set of individuals of this species moving north to breed in the 
Palearctic region ; another set moving south to breed in South Africa; both sets 
returning to winter in the Intertropical realm. Returning north again we find 
that the east Palearctic Quails have also been described as distinct species of 
climatic races, under the somewhat misleading name of Coturnix japonica, 
seeing that they are found in Eastern Siberia and North China, as well as in 
Japan. These individuals have no trace of black on the throat, which is uniform 
dull brick-red. As this form is said also to occur in South Europe, it seems 
probable that the differences are not even of subspecific value, but due to age, 
sex or season. The Quail question is by no means yet finally cleared up. 


Habits.—The Quail is a late bird of passage to the British Islands, arriving 
in May amongst the last of our summer visitors. The passage of this species 
from Africa across the Mediterranean into Europe is most interesting, and tens of 
thousands are caught each migration period for food. The return migration is 
undertaken during September and October. In some localities this species is 
said to migrate by night during spring, but by day during autumn : whether this 
is the general order of passage remains to be seen. During its sojourn with us 
the Quail is one of our most skulking birds, far more often heard than seen, but 
it is a persistent caller, and its characteristic note of clik-a-lik soon proclaims 
its whereabouts. It is much attached to certain haunts, and appears to return 
to them each season. Its favourite resorts in this country are the grain 
and grass fields, and rough, hummocky pasture lands. Here it keeps close 
amongst the growing herbage, rarely using its wings, spending most of its 
time in the cover, and running with great quickness out of the way of impending 
danger. When flushed it flies quickly, but at no great height, with rapidly beat- 
ing wings, and always seems intent on dropping into the herbage at the first 
favourable spot. Sometimes it may be seen to skim on motionless wings for a 
considerable distance over a hedge or a bare bit of ground, just before alighting. 
It is nevertheless fond of frequenting bare spots in the fields, where it can dust 
its plumage and bask in the sun. During the hottest part of the day it does not 
move much, being most active in early morning and towards evening. The food of 
the Quail consists largely of grain and such small seeds as those of the plantain and 
chickweed. Insects and small snails are also eaten by the bird in some abundance. 
The Quail is for the most part solitary in its habits until the time of migration 
arrives, although the broods and their parents keep closecompany. The birds that 
are stationary in our islands never seem to pack, or to fraternise with other species. 


64 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Quail shooting is a favourite sport in many districts. Tuckell, referring to their 
abundance in India, says that under certain circumstances shooting them is mere 
slaughter. He writes: ‘“Where birds get up at every step, dogs or beaters are 
worse than useless, and where the game is so plentiful, search after » wounded 
bird is seldom thought worth the trouble. It is usual to be provided with two or 
three guns (this was in the pre-breech-loader days), to be loaded, as fast as emptied, 
byaservant. With one gun only it would be necessary to wash out the barrels two 
or three times in the course of an afternoon, or at all events to wait every now 
and then for them to coo]. A tolerably good shot will bag fifty to sixty brace in 
about three hours, and knock down many others that are not found. I remember 
one day getting into a deyra, or island formed by alluvial deposit, in the Ganges, 
between Patna (Bankipore) and Sonepore, which was sown almost entirely over 
with grain (chunna), and which literally swarmed with Quail. I do not exaggerate 
when I say they were like locustsin number. Every step that brushed the covert 
sent off a number of them, so that I had to stand every now and then like a 
statue and employ my arms only, and that in a stealthy manner, for the purpose 
of loading and firing. A furtive scratch of the head, or a wipe of the heated 
brow, dismissed a whole bevy into the next field; and in fact, the embarras de 
richesse was nearly as bad as if there had been no birds at all.” 


Nidification.—In localities where there is an excess of hens the Quail is 
decidedly polygamous, but in others where the sexes are about equally dispersed, 
the male pairs with one female only, and assists her in bringing up the brood. 
During the pairing season the Quail is most pugnacious, each cock beating off all 
intruders from his own particular haunt; and about this period the merry note of 
the male sounds incessantly and defiantly from the cover. The female is late in 
going to nest, the eggs seldom being laid before June. The nest is scanty, a mere 
hollow amongst the corn or clover, or the rough grass of the weedy pastures, into 
which a few bits of dry grass and leaves are scraped. In districts where the cocks 
run with several hens, the nests are often placed not many yards apart. The eggs 
vary a good deal in number. I have known nests contain twenty eggs, but from 
eight to twelve is the usual clutch. They are buffish-white or yellowish-olive in 
ground-colour, boldly blotched and spotted with various shades of brown, ranging 
from very pale olive to nearly black. They measure on an average 1'1 inch in length 
by ‘91 inch in breadth. The hen bird alone incubates the eggs, which are hatched in 
about twenty-one days. The young are soon able to run with their parents and to 
forage largely for themselves. It is said that the Quail sometimes rears two broods 
or bevies in the season, but this must be under very exceptional circumstances; my 
experience is that if the first nests be taken no other attempts are made. 


Diagnostic characters.—Coturniz, with the outer webs of the primaries 
irregularly barred with buff, with the general colour of the plumage buff, and the 
chin and throat nearly black in the male and buff in the female. Length, 7 inches, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 65 


ORDER RALLIFORMES.—THE RAILS AND FINFOOTS. 


HE Rails and their allies form a comparatively well-defined and somewhat 
isolated group, the affinities of which are by no means clearly determined. 
They have been more or less closely associated with other groups, such as the 
Bustards, the Cranes, the Game Birds, the Sand-Grouse, the Grebes, and so on, 
according to the importance attached to certain characters by various system- 
atists. Their sternum contains one notch only on each side of the posterior 
margin; but, unlike the Galliformes, the opisternal process is not perforated to 
receive the base of the coracoids. In the modification of their cranial bones 
they are schizognathous, whilst their nostrils are holorhinal. The dorsal 
vertebre are heteroccelous. Amongst their external characters may be men- 
tioned the following :—The oil-gland is tufted; the aftershaft is in most 
cases present; the toes are long and slender, sometimes furnished with 
webs and scallops, the hallux slightly elevated; the metatarsus is rather 
short. The bill varies considerably in size and shape. The primaries are ten 
in number; the rectrices vary from twelve to eighteen in number. So far as 
is known the young are hatched covered with down, and able to run and swim 
shortly after leaving the shell; although in the Finfoots (Heliornithide) the 
young are reputed to be hatched naked. Nothing definite, however, appears to 
be known relating to this portion of their economy. Moult variable—in some 
species once in autumn only; in others in spring and autumn. In the single- 
moulted species the nuptial plumage is assumed by abrasion and increased 
brilliancy. 

The birds in the present order number upwards of two hundred species and 
subspecies. These have been divided into two well-marked families by Dr. Sharpe, 
the most recent monographer of the group: one of these is well represented in 
the British Islands. It seems probable, however, that the Mesitide (containing 
but one species) of Madagascar will have to be included in the present order. 
These birds are cosmopolitan with the exception of the Polar regions. 


5 


66 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family RALLIDAZ.—The Rails. 


The birds comprising this, by far the largest division of the order, may be 
distinguished, in addition to the characters already given, by their having an after- 
shaft to the body feathers and twelve rectrices. The present family is divisible 
into two fairly well-defined subfamilies, both of which are represented in our area. 


Subfamily RALLIN4Z.—The Plain=-toed Rails. 


The Plain-toed Rails may be distinguished from other members of the present 
family by the absence of lobe-like processes from the toes. It includes by far 
the greater number of species, and has been subdivided by a recent monographer 
into what we consider to be an unwarrantable number of genera. 


Genus CREX, or Crakes. 
Type, CREX PRATENSIS. 


Crex, of Bechstein (1803).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their short, thick bill, shorter than the head, and by having the 
forehead covered with feathers to the base of the culmen. The wings are 
moderately long but rather rounded; the tailisshort. The metatarsus is compara- 
tively short, the lower part of the tibia devoid of feathers. The bill is short and 
compressed ; nostrils linear and oblong. Three toes in front, one behind, the 
former long and slender ; claws curved and sharp. 

This genus is composed of about twenty species, which are confined to the 
Eastern hemisphere, being inhabitants of all the great zoological regions with 
the exception of Arctic latitudes. Four species are either resident in or visitors 
to the British Islands. 

The Crakes are dwellers amongst the dense and humid vegetation of swamps 
and marshes, but some species are more terrestrial than others. They are birds 
of somewhat slow and laboured flight, and on the ground progress by running 
and walking. Their notes are shrill and harsh. They subsist chiefly on insects, 
seeds, and tender shoots. Their nests are large, and made of aquatic vegetation, 
and their eggs are numerous and double-spotted. They are monogamous. The 
flesh of some species is highly esteemed, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 67 


Family RALLIDZ:. Genus CREX. 
Subfamily RaLLinaz, 


CORN CRAKE. 
CREX PRATENSIS.—Bechstein. 
Prate XII. 


Rallus crex, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 261 (1766). 

Crex pratensis, Bechst., Macgill. Brit. B. vi. p, 527 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vii. 
p- 291, pl. 499 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 157 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. ii. p. 535 (1884) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B., pt. 14 (1890) ; Dixon, Nests 
and Higgs British B. p. 334 (1893; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 83, pl. 22 
(1896). 

Crex crex (Linn.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 82 (1894); Sharpe, Handb. B. 
Gt. Brit. iv. p. 220 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.— British : Tho Corn Crake is generally 
distributed during summer throughout the British Islands, extending even to the 
Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys and Shetlands, and the Channel Islands. It is an 
occasional visitor to St. Kilda. Its numbers locally vary considerably. Foreign: 
West Palearctic region, summer; Ethiopian region, winter. It is an occasional 
summer visitor to the Faroes. It breeds in Scandinavia as far north as the Arctic 
circle, and has been obtained even three degrees higher. In West Russia it does 
not appear to range north of Archangel (lat. 64° 32’N.); in East Russia not 
beyond lat. 60°. Hastwards it is common in the Altai Mountains, and in the 
valley of the Yenisei ranges as far north as lat. 592°. Its eastern limit appears to 
be the valley of the Lena. Although of only accidental occurrence in North-west 
India, it is common in Afghanistan, and has been found in North Persia. Itis a 
common visitor to Russian Turkestan and the Caucasus; is said to be resident in 
Palestine and Asia Minor; but is only known on passage in Egypt, and is resident 
in Algeria. It also breeds throughout Central Europe and Southern Europe, with 
the exception of the Spanish Peninsula, Southern Italy, and Greece, where it is 
known on passage only. It winters in Africa in the Intertropical realm, and is 
occasionally found at that season in the Transvaal and the Cape Colony as an 
abnormal migrant. The Corn Crake is a great wanderer, and is an accidental 
visitor to the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores, and even to the Bermudas, the 
east coast of the United States, Greenland, Australia (Records, Aust. Mus. ii. 
p. 82) and, it is said, New Zealand. 


Allied forms. 


None very closely related. 


68 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The migrations of the Land Rail, or Corn Crake, both in spring 
and autumn, extend over aremarkable length of time. The bird begins its entry 
into Europe as early as February, and continues to arrive through March and April 
until nearly the end of May. It arrives in the south of our islands towards the 
end of April, but in the northern districts it is a week or so later. Odd birds have 
been known to spend the winter in our area. Its return migration in autumn 
begins in August and September, and lasts over October. The haunts of the 
Corn Crake are hay meadows and grain fields, both dry and swampy localities 
being frequented, the bird showing little or no partiality in this respect. I have, 
in Devonshire, remarked its partiality for osier-beds, especially such as are clothed 
with a rank undergrowth of grass and weeds. Soon after its arrival it wanders 
about a good deal, and then frequently visits less suitable places, or remains in 
them from necessity until the cover in its more usual haunts is sufficiently dense. 
No bird is more skulking in its habits or more loth to take wing. It always prefers 
to hide in the dense cover and remain motionless until the danger has passed, or 
to run with wonderful speed to a safe nook. The arrival of the Corn Crake is 
very soon proclaimed by the bird’s rasping cry, which sounds from the meadows 
most persistently, especially during night. This loud, harsh note, which I con- 
sider is confined to the male, may be easily imitated by drawing a knife-blade 
smartly across the teeth of a stout comb. It is usually uttered twice, one after 
the other, then a pause, and then repeated. It has also been known to call as 
it flew from one field to another, evidently under sexual excitement, and eager 
either to meet a female or a rival. The note ceases in August, and for the 
remainder of its stay the Corn Crake is a silent bird. Soon after arrival this 
Crake wanders about from farm to farm, especially at night, and seems to be 
exploring all the country-side in quest of a suitable haunt. When this choice is 
made, however, the bird rarely wanders more than a field or so from home until 
it departs southward in autumn. The Corn Crake lives upon the ground, keeping 
close to the herbage, and only venturing into the open when all is quiet. It is 
flushed with the greatest difficulty, rarely indeed a second time, and flies in a slow, 
laboured manner, with legs held drooping down. This bird, when lured by a 
call, occasionally flies from the grass and perches for afew moments on the top of 
a hedge. In the late summer, when the grass is cut for hay and the clover crops 
have been cleared off, the Corn Crake frequently hides itself amongst the standing 
corn or in the turnip-fields. It may then often be watched upon the bare pastures, 
where it strays to feed, running from the cover through the hedge on to the grass. 
Here it walks about in true Rail style, ever and anon raising its head and looking 
warily around. At the least alarm it runs back into the hedge, where it skulks 
until all is quiet again, and then comes out once more, and has been known 
to feign death in an astonishingly realistic manner. The food of this species is 
composed of worms, snails, and insects, especially small beetles, the tender shoots 
and ends of herbage, and various small seeds. It feeds the most in the early 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 69 


morning, or at dusk, and during the night—a period, by the way, which is also 
selected for its migrations. 


Nidification.—The Corn Crake pairs soon after its arrival. Until this 
event takes place it is a remarkably restless species, but as soon as mating has 
taken place it becomes much more sedentary. The eggs are laid according to 
latitude and the state of the season, either at the end of May or during the first half 
of June. The somewhat elaborate and neatly-formed nest is placed on the ground, 
usually amongst the mowing grass, less frequently in growing corn. It is made 
externally of dry grass and withered leaves, and neatly lined with fine grass, often 
much of it nearly green. Although this species, so far as is known, is strictly 
monogamous, and not at all gregarious, I have known a couple of nests within a 
few yards of each other; whilst it is not uncommon to find several nests in 
the same field. The eggs are from eight to twelve in number, and range from 
pale buff through cream-white to very pale blue in ground-colour, sparingly 
spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and violet-grey. A pale blue egg is not 
unfrequently found in a clutch of the usual colour. They measure on an average 
1:4 inch in length by 1:1 inch in breadth. The first egg is often sat upon as soon 
as laid, and incubation lasts from twenty-one to twenty-four days. This species 
has been known to remove its eggs when the nest has been left exposed by the 
mowers. The hen sits closely, and slips quietly off her nest. The young (covered with 
black down) are ready to follow their parents soon after they are hatched. One 
brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are grown they appear 
to be deserted by the old birds; for during all the period of its stay in our islands 
the Corn Crake is a solitary and unsociable bird. 


Diagnostic characters.—Crez, with the general colour brownish-buff, 
spotted with black on the upper parts, and with the axillaries chestnut. Length 
between 10 and 11 inches. 


70 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family RALLIDA. Genus CREX. 
Subfamily RALLINZA. 


SPOTTED CRAKE. 


CREX PORZANA—(Linneus). 


Rallus porzana, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 262 (1766). 

Crex porzana (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 5385 (1852); Seebohm, IJist. Brit. B. i. 
p. 540 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B., pt. xvii. (1891); Dixon, Nests and 
Eggs Brit. B. p. 335 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 84, pl. 22 (1896). 

Porzana maruetta (Leach); Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 267, pl. 496 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4 iii. p. 143 (1884). 

Porzana porzana (Linn.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 93 (1894); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 226 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Spotted Crake is fairly 
distributed in suitable districts in Great Britain, but owing to land reclamation and 
improvement it has sadly decreased. It is found principally in the eastern 
counties of England, between the Humber and the Thames, but it becomes more 
local in the southern counties and in Wales. It is, however, known to breed in 
Durham, Northumberland and Cumberland. On the east of Scotland it breeds 
as far north as Elgin, but on the west not north of Dumfriesshire. In Ireland 
it is principally known on autumn passage, but it has been found breeding in 
Roscommon and Kerry, and has occurred in the Orkneys and Shetlands. Foreign: 
Western Palearctic region. It breeds in Scandinavia as far north as lat. 65°; in 
West Russia up to lat. 64°. In the Ural Mountains its range does not extend 
beyond lat. 58°, whilst in West Siberia it falls still lower to lat. 55°, South of 
these limits it is found in summer in Turkestan, as far east as Yarkand, and as far 
north as Gilgit on the frontiers of Cashmere. It is said to be a partial resident 
in Persia, but to the Caucasus and South Russia it is only a summer migrant. 
It is a resident in the basin of the Mediterranean, but a summer visitor only to 
Central and Northern Europe. In winter it is found throughout Northern Africa, 
as far south as Abyssinia, and may possibly breed in Egypt. During winter it is 
found throughout India, occasionally wandering into Burmah. Stray birds have 
been obtained in Greenland, and it is said to be a fairly frequent winter visitor to 
the Canaries. 


Allied forms.—Crex carolina, an American species, which, as it has 
visited the British Islands, is described in the following chapter. Crex fluminca an 
inhabitant of Australia, distinguished by having the axillaries barred with white, 
and the vent black, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 71 


Habits.—The Spotted Crake is another late migrant to our islands, appa- 
rently delaying its arrival until the cover it frequents is sufficiently dense to 
afford it ample concealment. It usually arrives in May and leaves us again in 
October, but it would appear that odd individuals occasionally remain behind and 
spend the winter with us. The haunts of the Spotted Crake are fens, marshes, 
and bogs—places where there is plenty of cover, in the shape of reeds, rushes, 
flags, and other aquatic vegetation, and sufficient water in stagnant pools. Here, 
like all its kindred, the Spotted Crake skulks close amongst the cover, only 
venturing out on to the more open spaces when all is still, especially at night, 
and hurrying back to its marshy fastnesses the moment it is threatened by 
danger. Although excessively loth to take wing, it is occasionally compelled to 
do so, and will then be observed to fly in a slow and laboured manner close to 
the ground, with legs hanging down, and ready to drop into the first likely spot 
which affords concealment. When hard pressed, either by man or dog, it will 
sometimes take refuge in a hedge, or amongst briars, just like the Corn Crake 
will do. In spite of its abundance in some localities, it 1s very rarely seen. It 
sometimes leaves its reedy haunts at dusk, and may then be seen swimming 
across the open pools of calm water from one thicket to another, or threading its 
way, shadow-like, through the herbage. It is a very unsociable species. The 
call-note of the Spotted Crake is a rather liquid whit. Its food consists of worms, 
small snails, and insects, especially beetles, the tender buds and shoots of herbage, 
and small seeds. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Spotted Crake commences in 
May, and the eggs are laid towards the end of that month or during the first 
half of June. The nest is rather bulky, and placed in the recesses of the reed- 
beds or in a tuft of rushes, often entirely surrounded by shallow water. The 
materials consist of bits of reed, rush, and other plants, all in a more or less 
rotten state, the cup containing the eggs being lined with drier and finer matter. 
The eggs vary from eight to twelve in number, and range from buff to very pale 
green in ground-colour, spotted and speckled with pale and dark brown, and 
underlying markings of grey. The markings are bold, large, and distinctly 
defined, a character which, in conjunction with their green-tinged interior when 
held up to the light, is sufficient to distinguish them from the eggs of any other 
British species. They measure on an average 1°35 inch in length, by ‘9 inch 
in breadth. Incubation, performed principally by the female, lasts twenty-one 
days. The young follow their parents and take to the water shortly after they 
are hatched : one brood only appears to be reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Crez, with the general colour of the upper 
parts olive-brown streaked with darker brown, and spotted with white; with the 
flanks barred white and brown ; the centre of the throat grey. Length, 9 inches. 


72 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family RALLIDA. Genus CREX. 
Subfamily RALLINZA. 


CAROLINA CRAKE. 
CREX CAROLINA.—(Linneus). 


Rallus carolina, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 363 (1766). 

Crex carolina (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 541 (1884); Dixon, Nests and 
Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 359 (1894). 

Porzana carolina (Linn.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 97 (1894); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 230 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: Naturalists, for some inscrutable 
reason, decline to admit the Carolina Crake to be an established British species; 
but the known wandering habits of birds of this family, in addition to the fact of 
its occurrence in Greenland, seems strong evidence in favour of its having 
reached our islands voluntarily. An example of this Crake was shot near Newbury, 
in Berkshire, on the river Kennet, and was exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological 
Society, on the 14th of February, 1865, by Professor Newton (Conf. Proc. Zool. 
Soc., 1865, p. 196). Foreign: Nearctic and Northern Neotropical regions. The 
Carolina Crake is a summer migrant to the Northern United States and to Canada, 
up to lat. 62°; it winters in the Southern States, in Mexico, Central America, the 
West Indies, and the northern parts of South America. 


Allied forms.—None more closely allied than Crea porzana and Crex 
jluminea, already mentioned in the preceding chapter. 


Habits.—The spring migrations of this Crake appear to last about a month 
or six weeks, commencing early in April and ending about the third week in May. 
Professor Cooke, in his interesting, systematic report of bird migration in the 
Mississippi Valley during the years 1884 and 1885, has recorded in connection 
with the passage of this Crake that it formerly passed unobserved over the town 
of Winona, until in the former year an electric light was erected. The result was 
most marked. On the night of the 21st of May they were the most numerous of 
the many birds that were killed or wounded by striking the light tower, and 
were counted in hundreds fluttering round the brilliant lamp. The fall migration 
begins during the first half of August and is continued until the beginning 
of October. As in so many other species, its numbers are most marked in 
autumn. The Carolina Crake is just as secretive in its habits as its British 
ally, and spends most of its time skulking in reed beds and swamps, rarely 
presenting itself to view, save when flushed, or when crossing some more open 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 73 


part of its haunt, or when wandering from the cover for a little way in quest of 
food. The general habits, actions in the water and on the land, and flight, are 
all very similar to those of the preceding species. Its food consists of worms, 
insects, mollusks, the buds, shoots and seeds of marine plants, and especially 
wild rice, and when specially feeding upon the latter this Crake becomes remark- 
ably fat, its flesh acquiring a delicious flavour, much prized by epicures. Of 
its habits Dr. Brewer thus writes:—‘‘ Karly in August, when the reeds have 
attained their full growth, the Sora Rail resorts to them in great numbers to feed 
on the seeds, of which it is very fond. This reed (the Zizania clavulosa of 
Michaux) grows up from the soft, muddy shores of the tide water, where the 
surface is alternately bare and covered with four or five feet of water, and attains 
a height of ten feet, covering tracts of many acres in extent, the stalks growing 
so closely together that a boat, except at high water, can hardly make its way 
through them. The seed of this plant is long and slender, white in colour, sweet 
to the taste and very nutritious. When the reeds are in fruit the Rails in great 
numbers take possession of them. At this season a person walking along the 
banks of the river may hear their cries in every direction. Ifa stone is thrown 
among the reeds, there is a general outcry, and a reiterated kuk-kuk-kuk, like the 
scream of a Guinea Fowl. Any sudden noise produces the same effect. None 
of the birds, however, can be seen except at high water. When the tide is 
low they keep secreted, and a man may walk where there are hundreds of them 
without seeing a single one.” Rail-shooting in the fall is a sport much sought 
by American gunners. This sport is followed in a narrow boat, and appears to be 
sufficiently exciting from one cause or another to attract a large number of guns. 
The marshes are entered while the tide admits, and considerable skill is required 
not only in navigating the dense forests of reeds, but in balancing the narrow, 
lurching boat. This feeling of insecurity giving rise to the expression that ‘‘ you 
must part your hair in the middle” to avoid an upset. The best sport is obtained 
on the first day of the shooting, before the birds have been disturbed and scattered. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Carolina Crake is in May and 
June. The nest, a somewhat bulky structure made amongst the reeds and often 
surrounded by water, is a mere heap of decaying aquatic vegetation, lined with 
bits of dry reed, rush and coarse grass. The eggs are from seven to twelve 
(occasionally it is said fourteen) in number, pale buff in ground-colour, spotted 
and speckled with pale and dark brown, and with underlying markings of grey. 
They measure on an average 1°25 inch in length by ‘9 inch in breadth. Incuba- 
tion lasts about three weeks. But one brood appears to be reared in the season. 


Diagnostic characters.—Crez, with the general colour of the upper 
part olive-brown, streaked with darker brown and spotted with white; with 
the flanks barred white and brown; and with the centre of the throat, fore 
cheeks and lores black. Length, 8 inches. 


74 THR GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family RALLIDA. Genus CREX. 
Subfamily RALLINA. 


BAILLON’S CRAKE. 
CREX BAILLONI—(Vieillot). 


Rallus bailloni, Vicill. N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxviii. p. 548 (1819). 

Crex bailloni (Vieill.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 539 (1852); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 
543 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit B. pt. xx. (1891); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. 
B. p. 337 (1893), Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 84, pl. 22 (1896). 

Porzana bailloni (Vieill.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 275, pl. 497 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4 ili. p. 154 (1883). 

Porzana intermedia (Hermann); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 103 (1894); 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 232 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: Baillon’s Crake is an irregular 
visitor to our islands, chiefly on spring and autumn migration, most frequently 
observed in the south. The evidence of its breeding in England appears to rest 
upon two reputed nests and eggs obtained in Cambridgeshire during June and 
August, 1858, and two more taken near Hickling, in Norfolk, during June and 
July, 1866. It has been most frequently observed in Norfolk, but has occurred in 
Suffolk, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, the Isle of Man, Somerset, and Cornwall. 
Scotland boasts two instances—one in Sutherlandshire in 1841, and another in 
Dumfriesshire in 1842. Ireland can also claim but two cases of its occurrence. 
Foreign: Southern Palearctic region, and Ethiopian region. It is a summer 
visitor to Central Europe, but does not extend beyond the Baltic; in Kast Russia 
it is found breeding as far north as lat. 56°. It breeds in the Spanish Peninsula, 
the marshes of France, in Northern Italy, Hungary, and the Black Sea basin. In 
Asia it appears to range as far east as Lake Baikal, but its limits in this direction 
are imperfectly known. It is a resident throughout Africa and Madagascar, 
and is a winter visitor to the Canaries and the Persian Gulf. 


Allied forms.—Crexz affinis, an inhabitant of New Zealand and the 
Chatham Islands, differing only in being paler in colour, and in having a longer bill; 
Crex pusilla, the eastern representative of Baillon’s Crake, an inhabitant of Mast 
Siberia and Japan, China, India, Burma, the Philippine Islands, and Borneo, 
distinguished by having a reddish-brown streak along the upper margin of the car 
coverts; Crex palustris, an inhabitant of Australia, very similar to Baillon’s Crake, 
but decidedly paler in colour, and with the lower throat and abdomen white. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 75 


Habits.—Baillon’s Crake differs but little from its allies in its habits and 
economy and in the localities it frequents. It haunts the dense aquatic vegetation on 
the banks of pools, and is a dwellerin marshes and fens. Like all its kindred, it is 
remarkably shy and retiring inits habits, keeping well concealed amongst the vege- 
tation during most of the day-time, venturing out a short distance from cover during 
the hours of dusk and darkness. It swims to and fro in the secluded reed-fringed 
pools, now in and out amongst the rushes and water-flags, then out into the more 
open water, where, if it be surprised, it dives with remarkable swiftness, and under 
water hurries to the shelter of the reeds. It is only flushed with the greatest diffi- 
culty, and then flies in a slow, laboured manner with legs drooping, and drops 
into the nearest cover as soon as possible. Even when hard pressed by enemies on 
land it always seeks to evade them by running only, using its wings as a last resource. 
The call-note of Baillon’s Crake is a shrill but not very loud kik-ik-ik. The food 
of this species consists principally of insects and their larve, small snails, and scraps 
of vegetable substances. It is said that this Crake frequently catches insects as 
they flit by whilst it floats upon the water, but whether it ever dives for food is not 
known. Baillon’s Crake sometimes flies round and round above its haunt at night, 
from time to time uttering its shrill note, just as the Water Hen is wont to do. 


Nidification.—There can be little doubt that some nests of Baillon’s Crake 
have been overlooked in the British Islands, where it is more than probable 
it still continues to breed. When we bear in mind its remarkable skulking 
habits, the nature of the haunts it frequents, and its small size, we cease to 
wonder how much it is overlooked, In Europe the breeding season of Baillon’s 
Crake appears to begin about the middle of May, and the eggs are laid towards 
the end of that month or early in June. In India, however, it breeds much later, 
laying in June and July in Cashmere, and in July and August on the plains of 
Upper India. In Europe its nest is placed amongst the reeds and sedges, often a 
floating structure like the Coot’s; but in India the rice swamps are its favourite 
breeding places. The nest is made of bits of aquatic vegetation, loosely yet strongly 
put together, and rather large for the size of the bird. Hume states that in India 
the nests are made of rush and weed, and are placed amongst rushes and water- 
grass very little above the level of the water. The eggs are from five to eight 
in number, pale olive or rich buff in ground-colour, indistinctly mottled, blotched, 
and freckled with olive-brown and grey. They measure on an average 1-1 inch in 
length by ‘8 inch in breadth. Incubation lasts about three weeks. The female 
is a close sitter, and leaves her nest quietly when disturbed. 


Diagnostic characters.—Crex, with the secondaries shorter than the 
primaries by not as much as the length of the inner toe and claw, with no white 
spots on the sides of the throat and the breast, with the ear coverts bluish-grey 
or ashy-grey, with the under tail coverts and flanks black barred with white, and 
with a white margin to the outer web of the first primary. Length, 7 inches. 


76 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family RALLIDA, Genus CREX. 
Subfamily RALLINZ, 


LITTLE CRAKE. 
CREX PARVA.—(Scopolt). 


Rallus parvus, Scop. Ann. IJ. Hist. Nat. p. 108 (1769). 


Crex pusilla, Macgill, Brit. B. iv. p. 541 (1852 nec Pallas) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. 
pts. xx., xxvii. (1891, 1893). 


Porzana parva (Scop.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 283, pl. 498 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. 
ed. 4 iii. p. 148 (1883). 

Crex parva (Scop.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 457 (1884); Dixon, Nests and Eggs 
Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 330 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 85, pl. 22 (1896). 


Zapornia parva (Scop.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit, Mus. xxiii. p. 89 (1894); Sharpe, Handb. 
B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 223 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Little Crake is a rare 
visitor to the British Islands on spring and autumn passage. There is no 
evidence of its having nested in this country, although odd pairs may remain 
behind in spring to breed, and stray individuals may occasionally stay through 
the winter. It has been most frequently observed in Norfolk, and recorded from 
Suffolk, Cambridge, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Cumberland, Lancashire, Oxfordshire, 
Middlesex, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. Scotland 
claims one; Banff, March, 1852: Ireland another; Balbriggan, March, 1854. 
Foreign: Western Palearctic region. It breeds in Europe as far north as 
Holstein, and along the southern coast of the Baltic to Livonia; thence across 
Russia to Astrakhan and the Caucasus, and eastwards through Persia and 
Afghanistan to Russian Turkestan. Many Asiatic examples pass down the Indus 
Valley to winter in Western Scinde and North-east Africa. Westwards, it 
appears to be a resident in Algeria, an abnormal migrant to the Canaries, to pass 
through Denmark, Spain and Greece on migration, and to breed in Italy and 
Sicily, Savoy, the valley of the Rhone, Central France, Southern Germany, 
Poland, and Austro-Hungary. It is said to have nested in South Sweden. 


Allied forms.—None more closely related than Baillon’s Crake and its 
allies already described in the previous chapter. 


Habits.—The Little Crake, in many of its habits and in the localities it 
frequents, somewhat closely resembles the preceding species. It is, however, not 
quite so shy or skulking, and may be far more frequently observed in the open. 
It frequents marshes, swamps and reed-beds, and pools of stagnant water; and, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 77 


though fond of swimming, is often seen on land. It has the same reluctance to 
take wing, and always tries to escape danger by running to the nearest cover or by 
diving. When in Algeria I met with the Little Crake in the beautiful oasis of | 
Biskra, on the northern limits of the Great Desert. It had its haunts among 
the short reeds that fringed the margin of a small pool. I first of all saw a 
female floating amongst the reeds a few yards from shore, but as I approached 
it swam gently towards the vegetation and hid itself in the cover. It floated 
buoyantly, for such a tiny bird, and every now and then seemed to pick an insect 
from the stems, and anon buried its head amongst the grass-like weed floating 
on the surface. As I approached nearer, and walked round the wet mud at the 
edge of the pool, a cock-bird rose from the reeds in a slow, fluttering manner, 
with legs hanging down, and flew towards the other side of the pool. Ag he rose 
he uttered the usual clicking note of this species, a shrill kik-ik-ik, and I shot 
him as he went. When I dissected this specimen, which an Arab up to his 
breast in mud and water had fetched from the pool, I found the remains of 
beetles in its stomach, and a few bits of gravel. Hume states that he found this 
Crake very common on the “‘dhunds” in Scinde. He never flushed them from 
the sedge or reed, but found them everywhere, either running about the water- 
lily or lotus-leaves, or swimming from leaf to leaf, jerking their tails and nodding 
their heads like Water Hens. The same observant naturalist remarked that 
this species is more insectivorous than Baillon’s Crake. The food of the 
Little Crake consists principally of insects and their larve, especially beetles. 
The bird also eats small seeds and scraps of vegetable substances. 


Nidification.—The Little Crake begins nest-building about the middle of 
May, and its eggs are laid at the end of the month. The nest is artfully con- 
cealed amongst the aquatic vegetation, and is sometimes placed a foot or more 
above the surface of the water, occasionally under the shelter of a tuft of sedge. 
Like that of all the Crakes, the nest is large for the size of the bird, and made of 
reed and flag, dry grass, and other aquatic herbage. The eggs are seven or 
eight in number, yellowish-brown in ground-colour, marbled and blotched with 
olive-brown, and occasionally specked with very dark brown. They measure on 
an average 1°2 inch in length by ‘85 inch in breadth. One brood only is reared 
in the year, and incubation is said to last from twenty-one to twenty-four days. 
At the nest the actions of this species are very similar to those of allied species. 
The young chicks, clothed in glossy greenish-black down, are able to swim and 
follow their parents shortly after they are hatched. 


Diagnostic characters.—Crez, with the secondaries shorter than the 
primaries by as much as the length of the inner toe and claw, the white 
spots on the upper parts confined to the centre of the back, the flanks slate- 
grey, the under tail coverts black tipped with white, and no white margin to the 
outer web of the first primary. Length, 7 inches. 


78 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus RALLUS, or Typical Rails. 
Type, RALLUS AQUATICUS. 


Rallus, of Linnezus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their long, slender bill, longer than the head or the middle toe 
and claw, and by having the forehead covered with feathers to the base of the 
culmen. ‘The wings are moderately long, but rather rounded; the tail is short. 
The legs are rather long, the lower part of the tibia devoid of feathers, the 
metatarsus shorter than the middle toe and claw. The bill is long, and slightly 
decurved ; nostrils longitudinal, placed in a long groove, and partly shielded by a 
membrane. Three toes in front, long, cleft to the base; hind toe small and 
articulated. 

This genus is composed of about ten species and nearly twice as many sub- 
species, which are nearly cosmopolitan, being inhabitants of all the great zoological 
regions, with the exception of the Australian region and Polar latitudes. One 
species is a partial resident in the British Islands. 

The Rails differ very little from the Crakes in their habits and economy, and 
in the localities they affect. They are birds of the swamps and marshes, of slow 
and laboured flight, making bulky nests of aquatic vegetation amongst the herbage 
of their haunts, and their eggs are numerous and double-spotted. Their notes are 
shrill and unmusical. They are monogamous. Their food is very similar to 
that of the Crakes. 


Ee, 


Sees 


: 
: 
i 


WI ay 
LAMKD 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 79 


Family RALLIDA. Genus RALLvs. 
Subfamily RaLLinaz. 


WATER RAIL. 
RALLUS AQUATICUS.—Linneus. 
Prats XIII. 


Rallus aquaticus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 262 (1766); Macgill, Brit. B. iv. p. 521 (1852); 
Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 257, pl. 495 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 159 
(1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 552 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xx 
(1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs, Brit. B. p. 338 (1893) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 
xxiii. p. 20 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 86, pl. 22 (1896); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. 216 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Water Rail is a partial 
migrant in our islands, although it may be found at all seasons widely dis- 
tributed throughout suitable localities, extending even to the Outer Hebrides, the 
Orkneys, and the Shetlands. It is perhaps most abundant in the Norfolk Broads. 
In some districts it is most abundant in summer; in others, during winter. 
Foreign: West Palearctic region. It is a resident in Iceland, and occurs on 
autumn passage on the Faroes; whilst a single example has been obtained on 
the island of Jan Mayen (lat 71°), the most northern limit of its recorded range. 
It is a summer migrant to Scandinavia up to lat 63°, and is said to be resident near 
Bergen in Norway and to be occasionally observed during winter in the extreme 
south-west of Sweden. It breeds in West Russia up to Riga, and accidentally 
strays to St. Petersburg; in East Russia its limits are aboutthe same. Although 
apparently absent from West Siberia, it breeds in Russian and Chinese Turkestan 
as far east as Yarkand. It passes Cashmere on migration, and winters in North- 
west India. Returning westwards, it is chiefly known in Afghanistan, Persia, 
Asia Minor, Palestine, Greece, and Egypt south to Abyssinia as a winter visitor, 
but a few remain to breed in many localities. It is a resident in Central and 
Southern Europe, and also in Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco, but is most 
abundant in winter in the south and east, and in summer in the north and west. 


Allied forms.—Rallus indicus, an inhabitant, in summer, of the Lake 
Baikal district in South-east Siberia, the valley of the Amoor, Japan, and Northern 
China; and of Southern China, Burma, East and South India, and Ceylon, in 
winter. Differs from the Water Rail (from which it is probably only subspeci- 
fically distinct) in having the slate-grey of the underparts more or less suffused 


80 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


with brown, black lores, a brown streak below and behind the eye, and the under 
tail coverts more barred with black. It is also slightly larger than its western 
representative. 


Habits.—The Water Rail is another of those shy and skulking birds which are 
apt to be looked upon as rarer than they really are, owing to its disinclination to 
be observed. There are few marshes where the cover is dense that do not conceal 
Water Rails in summer ; but in winter, when much of the aquatic vegetation dies 
down, its haunts are certainly more restricted. The Water Rail is par excellence 
a bird of the reed-beds, amongst which it spends most of the hours of daylight, 
shrinking from the view of man and other enemies. It becomes most active 
towards dusk, and may then be watched timidly straying from the reeds on to the 
more exposed ground, or swimming out from the aquatic cover into the open 
water. If surprised in these places it will always try to escape by running on 
land with marvellous adroitness through the tangled vegetation, or diving with an 
audible flop under the water, and thence swimming below the surface to a place 
of concealment. Its flight is heavy and laboured, and the legs are allowed to 
hang down as if broken. It is unsociable and solitary in its habits, and save 
during the breeding season almost invariably keeps to itself. The Water Rail 
also indulges in the singular habit of flying about the air at night, often in circles, 
occasionally uttering its shrill, harsh note, which Naumann describes as a melodious 
kreek. The call-note during the breeding season is a shrill whit, but likened by 
other observers to a groaning cry, locally known as ‘‘sharming,”’ most frequently 
uttered at night. The food of the Water Rail consists of insects and their larvee, 
snails, worms, the buds and shoots of aquatic vegetation, and small seeds. Like 
the Corn Crake, this species has been known to alight in the branches of trees. 


Nidification.—It is not improbable that the Water Rail mates for life, and 
each pair of birds appear to keep to a certain spot, from which they wander little 
during the entire breeding season. This begins early, eggs having been known in 
the first week of April, although the more usual period is about a month later. 
The nest is made amongst the aquatic vegetation, on the bank of the pool or under 
the arching shelter of a tuft of rushes and reeds. It is a difficult nest to 
find, and is far more often stumbled upon by accident than found by design. It 
is almost invariably well concealed, and is made of the stems and flat leaves of 
reeds, and lined with bits of dry rush, and perhaps a few dead leaves. The usual 
number of eggs is from five to seven, although clutches of nine and eleven have 
been found. They are pale buff or creamy-white in ground-colour, somewhat 
sparsely spotted and speckled with reddish-brown and violet-grey. They measure 
on an average 1°4 inch in length by 1:0 inch in breadth. Incubation lasts about 
three weeks. The bird sits very closely; but, notwithstanding, she is rarely flushed 
from the eggs, slipping quietly off them as soon as danger threatens, gliding 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 81 


through the surrounding herbage, where she remains until all is safeagain. The 
young chicks, clothed in jet-black down, take to the water immediately, and are 
accompanied by both parents. They may sometimes be seen running over the 
broad, floating leaves of the water-lily and the “candock.” It is probable that 
this species rears two broods in the year, as fresh eggs are not unfrequently found 
in July, although, of course, these may be the produce of birds where the earlier 
clutch has been destroyed. 


Diagnostic characters.—Rallus, with the wing coverts brown and the 
breast uniform grey, with no black streak through the eye, with the upper parts 
olive-brown streaked with darker brown, the under parts slate-grey, shading into 
black on the abdomen, flanks and axillaries, all of which are barred with white. 
Length, 11 inches. 


82 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus GALLINULA, or True Water Hens. 
Type, GALLINULA CHLOROPUS. 


Gallinula of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their long, slender toes, which are free from lobes, but bordered 
by a very narrow membrane, and by their small, red frontal shield. The wings 
are nearly four times the length of the metatarsus (the secondaries shorter than the 
primaries) and armed with a small recumbent spine. The tail is short, and com- 
posed of twelve feathers. The legs are long, and the lower part of the tibia 
devoid of feathers. The bill is short, stout, compressed, slightly swelling towards 
the tip; the culmen extended, and expanding into an oblong frontal plate; 
nostrils oval, situated in a groove, pierced in a membrane. Three toes in front, 
long and slender, cleft to the base ; hind toe moderately long; claws sharp. 

This genus 1s composed of about nine species and subspecies, which are 
distributed over all parts of the world except the Polar latitudes. One species is 
resident in the British Islands. 

The True or typical Water Hens are dwellers on the banks of lakes and rivers, 
frequenting the reeds and coarse vegetation by the water side. They are shy 
birds, of slow and laboured flight, making bulky nests amongst the aquatic 
vegetation, and their eggs are numerous and double-spotted. Their notes are shrill 
and unmusical. They run and walk with a peculiar jerking movement of the tail. 
Their food consists of worms, insects, seeds, herbage, grain, and fruits. They.are 
monogamous. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 83 


Family RALLIDA. Genus GALLINULA. 
Subfamily RaLLINA. 


WATER HEN. 
GALLINULA CHLOROPUS—(Linneus). 


Fulica chloropus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 258 (1766). 

Gallinula chloropus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 547 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vii. 
p. 313, pl 503 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 164 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. ii. p. 557 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Brit. B. p. 340 (1893); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 171 (1894) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 87, pl. 22 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. 
Brit. p. 234 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Water Hen is commonly 
distributed over all suitable localities throughout the British Islands, extending to 
the Outer Hebrides and the Orkneys, but only accidentally to the Shetlands. It 
visits the Channel Islands on migration, a few, perhaps, remaining to breed. 
Foreign : Including allied forms, almost cosmopolitan. It occurs accidentally on 
the Faroes, and breeds in suitable localities throughout Europe, in Scandinavia 
up to lat. 63°, in West Russia up to lat. 58°, and in Hast Russia up to lat. 56°, 
becoming more sparingly dispersed towards these northern limits. At present it 
remains unrecorded from West Siberia, but breeds in Turkestan and the Baikal 
district. It is also a summer visitor to Northern China, the north island of 
Japan, but a resident in the main island of Japan and in Southern China. It is 
also a resident in the Philippine Islands, Celebes, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, the 
Burmese Peninsula, and throughout India, but only of accidental occurrence in 
Ceylon; whilst it has been recorded from the Seychelles. It also inhabits all 
suitable parts of South-western Asia, and Africa, including Madagascar, Bourbon, 
the Seychelles, the Atlantic Islands, and the Azores. In America it is found 
breeding from the Southern States in the north to South Brazil in the south. 


Allied forms.—Gallinula tenebrosa, an inhabitant of Australia, dis- 
tinguished from the Water Hen by having no white stripes on the flanks, and 
being somewhat larger. The Water Hen varies considerably in length of wing 
and size of the frontal plate. Typical western Palearctic examples range from 
7 to 64 inches in length of wing, and the frontal plate barely extends as far back 
as the eye. In all the other forms this frontal shield frequently extends beyond 
the eye. Indian and western South African examples are smaller, ranging in 


84 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


length of wing from 64 to 5} inches; American examples (G. galatea) are larger, 
ranging in length of wing from 73 to 6} inches. It is said that the Water Hen 
of Madagascar (G. pyrrhorrhoa) is a fairly separable form. 


Habits. — This common and well-known species is a resident on all lakes and 
slow running streams, where the banks or shallows are covered with sufficient 
vegetation to afford it concealment. In a great many localities this species lives 
in an almost domesticated state, so tame as to pay little attention to the presence 
of man, and coming to his threshold for food during severe weather when its 
haunts are sealed by frosts. I have known this species to frequent a small stream 
by the wayside not four feet across, and repeatedly to wander on the highway in 
quest of food. The Water Hen is just as much at home on land as in water, and 
walks about the grass lands and the banks of the pool in a singularly graceful 
manner, flicking its tail up and down every few moments. It swims with equal 
grace, with a peculiar nodding motion of the head, and is equally expert at diving 
and progressing under water for considerable distances. Although by no means 
shy, it is wary and alert enough, often diving at the flash of a gun and hurrying 
away under water to the shelter of the reeds or flags, where, with its body sub- 
merged and only its bill protruding, it waits until all is safe again before allowing 
its body to be uncovered. It is equally at home in a tree or a hedge, and I have 
known it repeatedly to roost amongst evergreens during long continued frosts. 
Its flight is not very strong, being slow and laboured, and the Jong legs are 
allowed to dangle down as if broken and useless. Nevertheless, it often mounts 
into the air at night and flies about for an hour or more, uttering its shrill cry at 
intervals. At all times this species seems pugnaciously inclined, and not only 
fights with its own kind but with other water fowl that may chance to intrude 
too closely upon its haunt. The note of the Water Hen is a singularly shrill and 
piercing kik-ik-ik often modulated into ker-7-r-r-k, and is most frequently uttered 
at dusk or even during the night. The food of this species consists of worms, 
snails, insects and their larve, buds, shoots and seeds of water plants, grass, grain, 
and even berries, especially of the wild rose and the hawthorn, to obtain which 
the bird frequently alights in trees and thickets. When in a semi-domesticated 
state it will eat almost anything that may be thrown down for water fowl; and 
it has been known to kill and eat ducklings and pheasant chicks. I have known 
it try to eat dead mice and rats, and to pick a bone. Although at all times more 
or less soviably inclined, it is never so gregarious as the Coot, and even in the 
severest weather seldom visits salt water. When hard pressed for food it will 
often wander considerable distances from the frozen lakes and ponds, even 
visiting farmyards and gardens. 


Nidification.—The Water Hen, especially when living under semi- 
domestic conditions, is one of the earliest birds to breed. I have known it to 
commence nest building in such cases by the beginning of March, long before 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 85 


the flags were high enough to conceal the nest. The nest, however, is not 
generally ready for eggs before the middle of April, and in cold, backward 
seasons, it is often a fortnight later. The nest is placed in a great variety of 
situations, and, as I believe this bird pairs for life, certain spots are chosen year 
after year. It is most frequently placed among the rushes, reeds, and flags 
growing near the side of the water, and is often a floating structure made many 
yards from shore. Sometimes it is built amongst the exposed roots of trees grow- 
ing on the bank, or even on a flat drooping branch above the water. Branches of fir 
trees are frequently selected, sometimes as much as twenty feet from the ground. 
In such situations the chicks must be carried down in the parents’ claws. The 
nest is a large bulky structure of rotten aquatic vegetation, loosely put together 
but trampled down into a rather firm mass. The cavity containing the eggs is 
rather flat and shallow, and is lined with finer and drier material. Some nests 
are much higher than others, and many are increased in bulk as incubation pro- 
gresses. I have known nests added to daily to repair damage caused by the 
incessant lap of the waves. The eggs are from six to ten in number, sometimes 
as many as twelve. They are buffish-white or pale reddish-buff in ground-colour, 
spotted and speckled with reddish-brown and grey. Some eggs are much more 
handsomely marked than others. They measure on an average 1'7 inch in length 
by 1:2 inch in breadth. The hen sits closely, attended by the cock, the latter 
taking the smaller share of incubation, which lasts from about twenty to twenty- 
four days. When the sitting bird leaves the nest, it covers the eggs with bits of 
vegetation. This statement has receritly been questioned (Zoologist, December, 
1898). It is, however, confirmed by such careful field naturalists and authorities 
as Bewick, Waterton, Naumann, Stevenson, Seebohm and Stanley—the latter 
giving a most interesting instance in his well-known History of Birds, p. 299. 
There may, of course, be exceptions to the rule; but even in these cases the bird 
was possibly surprised and driven from the nest before the eggs could be 
covered. Although the bird sometimes flies to and from the nest, it usually slips 
quietly off into the water. Several broods are reared in the year; young chicks 
have been found as late as the end of August. The young, clothed in jet-black 
down, take to the water at once with their parents, which often lead them to 
running streams near. They are well able to take care of themselves in the 
moment of danger, and hide in holes and corners directly harm threatens them. 


Diagnostic characters.—Gallinula, with the general colour above 
olive-brown, below slate-grey, shading into brown on the flanks, which are 
broadly striped with white. Frontal plate rounded at the top, scarlet ; in young, 
greenish-brown. Base of under mandible, scarlet. Length, nearly 13 inches. 


NotEe.—Three species of exotic Gallinule have been recorded as British, but there can be no 
doubt whatever that in each case the examples obtained were escaped birds. All three are strictly 
sedentary species. They are the Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio cavuleus, found in Italy, Spain, and North- 
west Africa; the Green-backed Gallinule, Porphyrio smavagdonotus, found throughout Africa, with the 
exception of the north-west, where it is replaced by the preceding species ; and the Martinique Gallinule, 
Porphyvio martinicus, found in tropical and sub-tropical America. They require no further notice in a 
work on British birds, 


86 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Subfamily FULICINAE.—The Lobe-toed Rails. 


The Lobe-toed Rails may be distinguished from other members of the present 
family by the scalloped lobe-like membranes on the toes. It does not contain 
probably more than a dozen species and subspecies, all of which are included 
in a single genus. 


Genus FULICA, or Coots. 
Type, FULICA ATRA. 


Fulica, of Linneus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the toes united at the base, and furnished with lateral 
extensions of the membranes which form lobes, or scalloped processes. The 
wings are moderately long; the tail is short, rounded, and composed of twelve 
feathers. The legs are long, and the lower portion of the tibia is devoid of 
feathers. The bill is short, stout and compressed, the culmen extending and 
expanding into a broad frontal plate; nostrils longitudinal, situated in a 
groove. Three toes in front, one behind; claws sharp. 

This genus is composed of about twelve species, which are distributed in all 
parts of the world except the Polar latitudes. One species is a resident in the 
British Islands. 

The Coots closely resemble the typical Water Hens in their habits and in the 
localities they frequent. They are, however, more partial to salt water. They 
swim and dive with great ease, and walk and run with equal facility. Their 
flight is rather slow and laboured. They are more or less gregarious. They make 
bulky nests amongst the aquatic vegetation, and their eggs are numerous and 
spotted. Their notes are loud and discordant. Their food consists of insects, 
worms, mollusks, buds, and shoots of plants and seeds. They are monogamous. 
Their flesh is of indifferent quality. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 87 


Family RALLIDA. Genus FULICA. 
Subfamily FULICINZE. 


COMMON COOT. 
FULICA ATRA.—Linneus. 


Fulica atra, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 257 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 560 (1852) ; 
Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 827, pl. 504 fig. 2 (1879); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4. iii. p. 171 
(1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 564 (1884); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 842 (1893); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxxi. p. 211 (1894); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 87, pl. 22 (1896) ; 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iv. p. 238 (1897). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Coot is less common and 
more locally distributed than the Water Hen, but numerous enough in all 
suitable localities throughout the British Islands, extending to the Outer 
Hebrides and the Orkneys. To the Shetlands and the Channel Islands it is 
an accidental visitor only. Drainage and reclamation of waste, marshy grounds 
have caused its numbers to decrease in some districts, especially in the 
eastern counties; although there is considerable evidence of its increase in 
others. Foreign: Including allied forms, almost cosmopolitan. It is generally 
distributed throughout Europe, breeding in the west as far north as lat. 60° in 
Scandinavia and West Russia, but in the Ural Mountains up to lat. 57° only ; 
whilst in West Siberia it reaches lat. 55° only. It is a summer migrant to East 
Siberia, the Baikal country, the valley of the Amoor, Hast Mongolia, Northern 
China, and the north island of Japan; but is a resident in the main island of 
Japan, South China, Formosa, Java, and the Philippines. It is a resident 
throughout the Burmese Peninsula, India, and Persia; but only a summer 
migrant to Russian Turkestan, and passes Afghanistan on migration. Tracing 
its distribution westwards, we find it to be a resident in Asia Minor, Palestine, 
North Atrica, and the Azores. It is known on the Canaries and Madeira on 
migration, and during winter is found on the African continent as far south as 
Senegambia in the west, and the Blue Nile in the éast. It is also a bird of 
regular passage over the Faroes, occurs accidentally in Iceland, and has been 
known once to stray to Greenland. In the southern portions of its range it is 
more abundant in winter than in summer, owing to the influx of birds from the 


northern limits. This is especially noticeable in the basin of the Mediterranean 
and in India. 


88 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Fulica cristata, an inhabitant of the whole of Africa 
and the south of the Spanish Peninsula. Differs from the Common Coot in 
having no white on the wing, and two crimson caruncles on the frontal shield. 
F. americana, an inhabitant of North America. Differs from the Common Coot 
in having a large amount of white on the under tail coverts. F. australis, 
an inhabitant of Australia and Tasmania. Distinguished by the absence of white 
tips to the outer secondaries and by the smooth frontal shield. 


Habits.—In many of its habits the Coot somewhat closely resembles the 
Water Hen, although it is much more partial to salt water, and rarely frequents 
such small streams and pools as so often content that species. It shows a decided 
preference for broad open waters and the slow running reaches of the larger 
rivers. Like its ally, the Water Hen, it lives in many places in a semi- 
domesticated condition, and is then nothing near so wary as in a wilder state. 
It is then one of the wariest of birds, and by its excessive watchfulness repeatedly 
gives the alarm to other wild fowl. As it feeds principally in the daytime, it 
is on the alert when such species as Geese and Ducks are sleeping ; consequently 
these birds often seek the company of the Coot during the day, as if conscious 
that they could rest in safety in its vicinity. Although the Coot is graceful 
enough on land, and can perch in trees with ease, even roosting in them 
at night, it is far more at home in the water. It swims well, and dives with 
wonderful skill, disappearing below the surface almost with the rapidity of 
thought. In swimming it has the same bobbing motion of the head as the 
Water Hen, and, like that bird, frequently dives and progresses under water to a 
safe retreat when menaced by danger. Although it is flushed with difficulty, it 
flies well and quickly, yet in an apparently somewhat laboured manner. Just as 
it rises, the legs are allowed to hang down as if broken, but if the flight be 
at all protracted they are drawn up and stretched out behind. At night it 
frequently rises into the air and flies round and round above its haunts, uttering 
its loud note at intervals. This note is a clear, far-sounding kd. At all seasons 
the Coot is a remarkably sociable bird, and in autumn and winter frequently 
gathers into enormous flocks. These congregations of Coots are by far the largest 
on salt water, and then consist of many birds that have been driven from inland 
waters by long-continued frosts. It is said that great numbers of Coots also visit 
our islands from more northern and eastern lands, and swell the ranks of the 
flocks gathered on our low-lying coasts, taking their departure in March; 
although it is worthy of remark that the bird is very rarely observed at Heligo- 
land, and Gatke did not know of more than eight examples during the whole 
course of his wonderful experience. Coots afford considerable sport, and vast 
numbers are occasionally shot during some grand battue. I have known cart- 
loads of Coots shot in such a manner on the renowned Slapton Ley, in South 
Devonshire—one of the greatest haunts of this species in our islands. The food 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 89 


of the Coot consists of meadow grass, buds, shoots, leaves, and seeds of various 
aquatic plants, grain, insects, snails, worms, and small fish. Much of its food 
is obtained whilst diving. During severe weather it sometimes wanders from the 
water to farmyards and shrubberies, and it will then make a meal of hawthorn 
berries, and the hips of the wild rose. The flesh of this species is by no means 
unpalatable, if obtained for the table from fresh water and during the time food 
is plentiful. 


Nidification.—The Coot breeds much later than the Water Hen, its eggs 
seldom being laid before the beginning of May. The nest is a large bulky 
structure, sometimes placed among reeds, rushes, and flags some distance from 
the shore, where it floats, moored to the vegetation ; at others it is built amongst 
the aquatic herbage growing on the banks of the pool or stream. Most of the 
nest is little more than a heap of wet, rotten aquatic vegetation, which often 
rises some eight or ten inches above the level of the water. At the top of this a 
shallow cavity, lined with drier and finer materials, is formed for the eggs. 
These are from six to twelve in number—seven or eight being an average clutch— 
buffish-white in ground-colour, sprinkled, speckled, and dusted over most of the 
surface with blackish-brown. They measure on an average 2'1 inches in length 
by 1°3 inch in breadth. Incubation lasts from twenty-one to twenty-three days. 
Both parents assist in this duty, and the young are soon able to leave the nest 
and take to the water with the old birds. They dive well, and seek to elude 
enemies by hiding in any nook or cranny when pursued. According to Stevenson 
and other observers, odd eggs of the Water Hen are sometimes found in the nest 
of this species. Two broods are reared in the season. 


Diagnostic characters.—Fulica, with the general colour slate-black, 
a white wing bar caused by pale tips to the outer secondaries, and with a broad 
white frontal shield. Length, 16 inches. 


90 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


ORDER GRUIFORMES.—THE CRANES AND THEIR 
ALLIES. 


HE Cranes and their allies constitute a somewhat isolated and heterogeneous 
group, more or less distantly allied to the RALLIFORMES, variously asso- 
ciated by different systematists with the Herons, the Plovers, the Bustards, and so 
on. Their sternum contains no notch on the posterior margin. In the modification 
of their cranial bones they are schizognathous, whilst their nostrils are schizorhinal 
(except in a single family, the Psophiide, in which the nostrils are holorhinal). 
The dorsal vertebree are heteroccelous. Their external characters vary con- 
siderably in the various families, with one of which only we are concerned in the 
present volume, and which will be described in detail below. So far as is known 
the young are hatched covered with down, and able to run soon after breaking 
from the shell. As the method of nidification is yet unknown in some of the 
families, it is impossible to say whether this is general or not. The birds 
contained in the family represented in our avifauna are double-moulted, but 
whether this is universal in the order 1s not yet known. 

The birds in the present order number about twenty-seven species. These 
may be subdivided into four families, viz., the Gruide, the Aramid, the 
Rhinochetide, and the Psophiide. But one of these is represented in the British 
Islands. The birds in this order are almost cosmopolitan continentally ; but the 
Rhinochetide (with a single species) is restricted to New Caledonia. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 91 


Family GRUIDAE.—The Cranes. 


The Cranes form by far the largest and most widely dispersed family in the 
present order. They are characterised by having the sternum perforated anteriorly 
to receive the convolutions of the trachea. The rectrices are twelve in number, 
the wings are long and ample, the inner secondaries (which are rather longer 
than the primaries) generally composed of drooping plumes which partially 
conceal the tail. The legs are long, the hallux short, and considerably elevated 
above the plane of the rest of the toes. The bill is stout, about as Jong as the 
head; the nostrils are enclosed by a membrane behind, and the nasal groove 
extends more than half the length of the upper mandible. Dr. Sharpe (Cat. 
B. Brit. Mus.) has divided the nineteen known species of Cranes into no less 
than nine genera: a most arbitrary and needless course, when we find that six 
of these contain but a single species, and two others three each! 


Genus GRUS, or Cranes. 
Type, GRUS CINEREA. 


Grus, of Pallas (1767).—The birds comprising the present genus—and the 
only one in the family—are separated by the same characteristics as those that 
define the Grurp# from surrounding groups. It is true this small and compact 
family has been subdivided into numerous genera, but the characters upon which 
they are based do not appear to me to be of sufficient importance and value. By 
placing all the known species therefore in one genus, the number of species 
is the same as that already given in the remarks on the family. Cosmo- 
politan continentally, with the exception of the Neotropical region. Two species 
are accidental visitors to the British Islands. 

The Cranes are dwellers on large plains and in swamps, and are remarkable 
for their extended migrations. Their flight is powerful and sustained. Their 
notes are loud and trumpet-like. They make their nests on the ground in 
swamps, and their eggs are usually two, but sometimes three in number, and 
handsomely spotted. Their food consists of grain, seeds, shoots of herbage, 
lizards, snakes and small animals. They are monogamous. 


92 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family GRUIDA. Genus GRUS. 


COMMON CRANE. 


GRUS CINEREA.—Meyer and Wolf. 
Puate XIV. 

Ardea grus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 234 (1766). 

Grus cinerea, Meyer and Wolf, Taschenb. ii. p. 350 (1810) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p, 20 
(1852); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 570 (1884); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. 
B. p. 155, pl. 46 (1896). 

Grus communis, Bechstein, Naturg. Deutsch. iii. p. 60 (1793); Dresser, B. Eur. vii. 
p. 387, pl. 505 (1873); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4. iii. p. 178 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xii. (1890) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 212 (1893). 

Grus grus (Linn.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 250 (1894) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. 
Brit. iii. p. 111 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : For more than three hundred 
years the Crane has ceased to breed in our islands, and for little less a period has 
ceased to visit them in winter with its wonted regularity. Its only stronghold in 
England appeared to be the swamps and fens of the eastern counties. It is now 
only a rare and accidental wanderer on migration to England, of less frequent 
appearance on the mainland of Scotland, and of still less in Ireland. It is of 
frequent occurrence in the Orkneys, and still more in the Shetlands. The year 
1869 was remarkable for the visits of this bird to our islands. As regards recent 
Trish appearances, a male was shot in County Down in May, 1882, and two were 
seen (one of which was shot) in County Mayo in January, 1884. During the 
twelfth and fourteenth centuries it is said to have bred commonly in the bogs of 
the Emerald Isle. Foreign: Palearctic region; parts of the Oriental region in 
winter. It breeds in localities suited to its requirements throughout Hurope and 
Northern Asia. It is occasionally seen at the Faroes on passage. In Scandinavia 
and Russia it breeds locally up to lat. 68°; in West Siberia no higher than the 
Arctic circle; whilst in the valley of the Yenisei it does not appear to have been 
met with beyond lat. 60°. Although not met with hitherto in Eastern Siberia, it 
is recorded from Kamtschatka by Pallas, and breeds in Russian Turkestan, the 
Baikal country, and the Amoor valley. On passage it occurs in Mongolia and 
North China, but doubtfully in Japan, and is a winter visitor to South China 
and Northern India. Once more returning to the west we find it wintering in 
Persia and Palestine, in various parts of South Europe, in Abyssinia, Egypt, Nubia, 
and Algeria. South of the limits already traced in Europe it breeds in Russia, 
Turkey, the valley of the Danube, Austro-Hungary, Italy, Andalusia, North 
Germany, Poland, and the Baltic Provinces. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 93 


Allied forms.—None with which it is likely to be confused. Eastern 
examples of the Crane have been described as a distinct species under the name 
of Grus lilfordi, because of their alleged paler colouration. "Whether, however, 
they are entitled to subspecific rank even appears very doubtful, and for the 
present, at any rate, it seems the wisest course to keep them united. 


Habits.—It is the British ornithologist’s misfortune that the habits of this 
magnificent bird can be studied no longer in these islands, which were once its 
home. The haunts of the Crane are in extensive swamps, where lakes, and 
bogs, and rough ground, clothed with scrub, and heath, and rushesabound. Some 
of these haunts are surrounded by forests, but the Crane shows no partiality for 
trees, and never appears to alight in them. In my opinion its affinity to the 
Bustards is manifested in this singular habit. At all times it is an excessively 
shy bird, detecting danger from afar as it stands in its treeless, open wilderness, 
and unfolding its broad wings and soaring away long before harm can reach it. 
At all times of the year it is more or less gregarious, but becomes most so during 
winter. To Northern Europe the Crane is a bird of regular passage, and 
performs its migrations in companies, which fly at an enormous height, usually 
in the shape of a Vor W. These flocks appear to migrate by day. Cranes are 
birds of somewhat early passage, those that have wintered in Africa beginning to 
return in February and March, reaching their breeding grounds in Central 
Europe towards the end of that month or early in April, but not arriving in the 
Arctic regions before May. The return journey is undertaken during October. 
The flight of this species is powerful and rapid, with slow and regular beat of 
wing, the long neck extended and the legs held out behind. It walks about the 
ground in a very graceful manner, and wades in the stagnant waters in quest of 
its food. This consists of a great variety of substances, but mostly of a 
vegetable character; grain of all kinds, grass, the buds and shoots of aquatic 
plants, acorns, insects, lizards, frogs, and, according to Hume, small fish. The 
same authority states that in India its favourite food is the young pods and 
yellow pea-like flowers of an arborescent pulse (Cajanus indicus), and that it is 
addicted to water melons, boring into these fruits not only to obtain the pulp and 
seeds, but also to quench its thirst. When feeding, Cranes are very wary birds, 
and usually post sentinels to give timely warning of the approach of danger. In 
India, where this bird is very common during the cold season, and swarms in the 
rice fields, Hume states that they feed principally in the early morning, but often 
pay other yet shorter visits to the grounds during the day and night. On 
returning from their meal they fly round and round above their usual resting- 
place as if surveying the ground before alighting, all the time calling loudly, and 
then generally descend in graceful sweeps, with their long legs hanging down 
some little time before they reach the earth. The Crane sleeps standing on ove 
leg, with the head and neck buried amongst the dorsal plumes. Here, towards 


94 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


the afternoon, they often congregate in vast flocks. They usually spend the night 
on a sandbank surrounded by water, where they are comparatively safe from 
harm. The note of the Crane is a loud trumpet-like cry, which may be heard 
for an immense distance under favourable conditions. This note is variously 
modulated during the breeding season. The flesh of the Crane is by no means 
unpalatable, when the bird is killed under favourable conditions for the table. 


Nidification.—The Crane begins to breed rather early in the year, 
although the actual time varies a good deal with the latitude of the nesting 
grounds. Thus in Central Europe its eggs are laid about the end of April or the 
beginning of May, but in Lapland they are about a month later. The nest is usually 
built in the fastnesses of a swamp, and is sometimes a huge bulky structure from 
two to five feet across. It is most probable that the Crane pairs for life; indeed, 
there is direct evidence that the same nest is used annually in many cases. It is 
made of sedges, rushes, branches of heath, and twigs, and lined with grass. 
Some nests tower high above the shallow water or swampy ground, others are 
almost level with the surrounding surface. If the nest is small—as it usually is 
when made on a dry hummock in the swamps—it is little more than a trampled 
hollow, lined with bits of dry vegetation. The eggs are generally twoin number, 
but instances are on record where three have been found. They vary from 
brownish-buff to greenish-buff in ground-colour, blotched and spotted with rich 
reddish-brown, pale brown, and violet-grey. The shell israther rough and pitted. 
They measure on an average 3°9 inches in length by 2°5 inches in breadth. 
Incubation is said to last a month, and appears to be performed by the female. 
She is very wary in leaving and returning to her nest, and the male keeps 
sentinel over the place ready to give the alarm at the approach of danger, and to 
defend his home against intruders weaker than himself. One brood only is 
reared in the year, and the young, clothed in brown down, are soon able to follow 
their parents. They appear to keep together until the migration period arrives, 
when more gregarious instincts are developed, and for the remainder of the 
autumn and winter live in flocks of varying size. 


Diagnostic characters.— Grus, with the general colour of the plumage 
slate-grey, including the inner secondaries ; the throat slate-grey like the cheeks ; 
the sides of the neck white, and the tertials black, developed into elongated, 
curly, bushy plumes. Occipital region bare of feathers and covered with scarlet 
warty skin (adult). Length, about 43 inches, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 95 


Family GRUIDZ, Genus GRUS. 


DEMOISELLE CRANE. 
GRUS VIRGO—(Linneus). 


Ardea virgo, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 234 (1766). 

Grus virgo (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 353, pl. 506 (1879); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 
ili. p. 192 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 275 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xii. (1890) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 214 (1893) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit, B. p. 156, pl. 46 (1896). 

Anthropoides virgo (Linn.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 269 (1894); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 114 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Demoiselle Crane is a 
very rare visitor on migration to the British Islands. Its claim to this distinction 
rests on one solitary recorded occurrence. On the 14th of May, 1863, a pair were 
observed, one of which, a male, was shot at Deerness, East Mainland, Orkney. 
Foreign: Palearctic region, summer ; parts of the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, 
winter. The only known European breeding places are in Southern Spain, on the 
western shores of the Black Sea, and the steppes of South Russia between lat 50° 
and the Caucasus. In Asia it breeds in Turkestan and South-west Siberia as far 
north as lat. 58°, in Dauria, the Baikal country, Eastern Mongolia, and the north- 
west of China. Its winter quarters are on the plains of India; it also passes up 
the Nile valley to winter in Sennar, south to lat. 12°. During its migrations it 
has accidentally wandered into Scandinavia, Germany (including Heligoland), 
Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. 


Allied forms. —None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


Habits.—The Demoiselle Crane is just as regular in its migrations to and 
from its breeding grounds as the preceding species. Like that bird it journeys in 
large flocks which usually assume an angular formation like the letter V or W. 
They fly at enormous altitudes, sometimes beyond the range of human vision. 
In Europe the Demoiselle Crane arrives at its breeding grounds during March 
and April, whilst further east, where the season is later, it appears at about the 
same time. It leaves its summer quarters during September and October. Its 
flight is very similar to that of the Common Crane, rapid, but performed with 
slow and regular beats of the mighty wings, and the neck and legs are out- 
stretched. The note of this species is a harsh kurr-kurr-kurr, and is not at all 


96 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


trumpet-like. The Demoiselle Crane is a dweller in sandy districts, steppe 
country, and on vast plains, but it does not appear to frequent swamps during 
the breeding season. It is always wary and watchful, seldom allowing any one to 
approach it closely unless by stratagem or under cover of some kind. It walks 
about the plains and round the edge of the pools in a very graceful manner, and 
often wades into the water and stands motionless with head to wind. The food 
of this species is composed principally of vegetable substances, grain and seeds, 
buds and shoots of herbage, insects, worms, lizards, and snakes, but not apparently 
any fish. In some parts of India its favourite food appears to be the safflower oil 
seed (Carthamus tinctorius). Whilst in its winter quarters in this country it is 
described as ‘‘by far the most suspicious and un-get-overable bird in existence.”’ 
Their chief feeding time is in the morning and evening, and when satiated with 
food they repair to some large sandbank in a river, or the shallow margin of tanks 
and pools, where, in a dense flock, they rest and preen their plumage. They 
drink regularly, and usually sleep on a bare open plain ranged in a long single 
line, over which ever-watchful sentinels keep jealous guard. The flocks of this 
bird vary considerably in size, almost from day to day. Thus at the roosting 
places the numbers are often large, but at daybreak they separate into smaller 
parties to feed. Hume states that the flocks of Demoiselle Cranes are constantly 
splitting up into smaller ones and reuniting, and that they are somewhat 
capricious in the choice of a haunt, and rarely remain in a district for many 
weeks together. When wounded, this Crane will seek to escape by trying to 
swim, and when brought to bay will fight fiercely, although with nothing near 
the power of the Common Crane. They are very noisy birds, and the confused 
uproar that begins when an enormous flock of several thousands of birds has been 
surprised and fired at, is indescribable ; the din of throbbing wings and screaming 
birds being so loud that it may be heard a couple of miles away! In some parts 
of Southern India this Crane is held sacred by the Brahmins, and small patches 
of grain are left in the fields for it to feed upon after its arrival in autumn. 
This bird is said by Taczanowski to be found near Biskra in the Northern Sahara, 
but I failed to find it there. 


Nidification.—Although so gregarious during the cold season, at the 
approach of spring the large flocks begin to disperse at the breeding grounds into 
pairs. The gregarious instincts, however, do not appear to be entirely suspended, 
for all the summer through it shows social tendencies, and small parties often feed 
in company. During the pairing season this species indulges in various grotesque 
antics, which have been described by some observers as ‘‘ dancing.” These 
dances take place just before nest-building commences, and are thus aptly 
described by Nordmann. The Demoiselle Cranes ‘‘dance and jump towards 
each other, bowing themselves in a most burlesque manner, bending their necks 
forward, extending the plumes on the neck, and depressing their wings; others, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 97 


again, in the meanwhile, run races, and on arrival at the goal, return striding 
along gravely and quietly, whilst the rest of the assembly greet them with 
reiterated cries, inclinations of the head, and other demonstrations.’’ Curious as 
these antics undoubtedly are, however, we may fairly presume that the worthy 
professor has allowed his imagination to assist him not a little in penning the 
above notes. The nest of this Crane is always made on the ground, either 
amongst grain or grass, or, according to Dybowski, on the rocky banks of a 
river. It is only a slight affair, a mere hollow trodden in the ground, and lined 
with a few bits of herbage. The latter naturalist states that the nest is made 
of small stones fitting close to each other, the surface of the nest being flat, 
and deepening towards the centre. The two eggs are laid about the end of April, 
or the first half of May, although Dybowski states that he has seen them in June 
*. and until the middle of July. They are pale buff or olive-brown in ground- 
colour, spotted and blotched with umber-brown and grey. The shell is rather 
coarse, and full of small pores. They measure on an average 3°5 inches in length 
by 2:0 inches in breadth. Both male and female are said to assist in the duty of 
incubation, which lasts about a month. The bird which chances to be off the 
eggs is usually placed sentinel-like close by the nest, ready to give the alarm and 
to take part in driving off predaceous birds or animals. The Demoiselle Crane 
appears to rear one brood only in the year, and the young chicks are soon able to 
leave the nest and follow their parents. 


Diagnostic characters.—Grus, with the general colour of the 
plumage pale slate-grey, the feathers of the throat elongated, the tertials long and 
pointed, but not curled, and a tuft of long white feathers on each side of the head, 
which is neither crested nor bare of feathers. Length, 31 to 36 inches. 


Note.—An example of the Soudan Crane, Grus pavonia, has been obtained in the British Islands 
(Ayrshire, 17th September, 1871), but as it is said to be a sedentary species, and one often kept in 
confinement, there can be little doubt that the individual in question had escaped from captivity. The 
date of capture and the area inhabited by the species (Central and West Africa) preclude any possibility 
of a normal visit to us. 


q 


98 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


ORDER CHARADRIIFORMES.—THE BUSTARDS, 
PLOVERS, &c. 


HIS somewhat extensive group of birds contains not only the typical 
Bustards (which form a link with the RaLLIFORMES on one hand, and 
through the Stone Curlews with the typical Plovers on the other), Plovers, 
Sandpipers, and Jacanas (Parripm), but such evidently generalized and 
ancient forms as the Crab-Plover (DromaDID), the Sheathbills (CHI0NIDID2), 
and the somewhat Sand-Grouse-like birds (I H#INOCORYTHID&)—uumbering few 
species, some of them highly localised, and probably indicating the last surviving 
relics of what were once dominant and widely distributed groups. There can be 
no doubt that the most nearly surviving relations of the majority of the birds 
included in the present order are the Gulls, which are associated with them by 
some systematists. In the Ca4raprimrorMEs the sternum usually contains two 
notches on each side of the posterior margin, but in a few species one notch only 
is found. In the modification of their cranial bones they are schizognathous ; 
whilst their nostrils are almost universally schizorhinal (@n the families 
THINOCORYTHIDH, CHDICNEMID#, and Oripip.zZ, and the genus Pluvianus, 
the nostrils are holorhinal). Some of the other characters are not common to 
the order, and these will be alluded to in the account of the several families 
which are represented in the British avifauna. The primaries are eleven in 
number ; the fifth secondary absent ; rectrices variable innumber. The oil gland 
when present is tufted ; the body feathers have an aftershaft. The toes are either 
partially webbed, or have the webs entirely absent; the hallux is absent in most 
species, present in some, and, if present, always connected with the flexor longus 
hallucis. The young are hatched covered with down, and able to run almost as 
soon as they break from the shell. 

The birds in the present order number nearly three hundred species and sub- 
species. These may be divided into nine fairly well-marked families (some, 
however, of very small extent), of which five are represented in the British islands. 
The birds in this order are practically cosmopolitan in their distribution, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 99 


Family OTIDIDAE.—The Bustards. 


The birds in the present family are characterised by having the nostrils 
holorhinal, and the dorsal vertebree hetéroccelous. The episternal process is not 
perforated, and the oil-gland is absent. There is an aftershaft to the contour 
feathers. In their pterylosis, myology, and digestive organs the Bustards show 
close affinity with the Rails and Cranes. Amongst their external characters may 
be mentioned the short, stout, and somewhat flattened bill, the ovate and pervious 
nostrils, the feathers of the forehead reaching to their posterior margin; the 
moderately long, stout legs, the metatarsus longer than the middle toe and claw, 
and reticulated, and the absence of the hallux. The wings are long and ample, the 
primaries ten in number and very little longer than the secondaries ; the tail is 
short, the rectrices varying from sixteen to twenty in number. Moult complete 
in autumn, partial in spring. Young hatched covered with down, and soon able 
to run and to feed.. There are about thirty species in the present family, all 
confined to the Old World, and most abundant in the Ethiopian region. The 
present family has been subdivided by Dr. Sharpe, in our opinion quite need- 
lessly, into no less than twelve genera, three of- which contain but a single species, 
and four others but two each! In the present volume two genera only will be 
recognized, each with a British representative. 


Genus OTIS, or Typical Bustards. 
Type, OTIS TARDA. 


Otis, of Linnzus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
distinguished by the various characters that have already been specified in the 
account of the family ; and, in addition, they may be separated from the members 
of the following genus (Houbara) by the absence of any ruff or feather shield 
on the lower throat and foreneck overhanging the crop.. 

This genus is composed of some twenty-three species (and, according to some 
authorities, two subspecies), which are inhabitants of the Palearctic, Oriental, 
and Ethiopian regions, and most abundantly represented in the latter. 

The Bustards are dwellers on the open plains and steppes. They are birds of 
powerful and rapid flight, but are most addicted to the ground, where they walk 
and run with ease. Their notes are neither very loud nor very musical. They 
make slight nests on the ground, and their eggs are from two to four or five in 
number, and spotted. Their food consists of grain, seeds, buds and leaves of 
plants, and insects. The flesh of some is highly esteemed. 


100 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family OTIDIDA. Genus OTIS. 


GREAT BUSTARD. 
OTIS TARDA.—Linneus. 


Prats XV. 


Otis tarda, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 264 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 30 (1852); Dresser, 
B. Eur. vii. p. 369, pl. 508 (1872); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 193 (1884); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 581 (1884); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs non-indig. Brit. B. p. 216 (1894); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. 
p. 284 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 88, pl. 23 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. 
B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 116 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Great Bustard was for- 
merly a locai resident in Great Britain confined to the steppe or down districts: 
the Merse of Berwickshire, the wolds of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, the warrens 
and heaths of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire, and the downs of Dorset, 
Wilts, Hants, and Sussex. For half a century or more it has ceased to breed in 
this country, and can now only be classed as an irregular winter visitor. It is 
not known to have visited Ireland. This magnificent bird, although for years 
gradually dwindling in numbers, managed to retain its place as an indigenous 
species to the British Islands until the earlier portion of the present century, 
disappearing at varying times from certain haunts : thus, from Wiltshire, about 
1810; Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, about 1826; Suffolk, 18382; Norfolk, about 
1838. Their extinction must be attributed to a variety of causes. Of these, 
probably one of the most important, was the rapid increase of plantations, which 
covered the birds’ steppe-like haunts with a series of ambuscades ; and another, 
the introduction of improved machinery in farming, especially for tilling the open 
corn lands on which the birds delighted to nest, and the use of which led to the 
wholesale destruction of its eggs. This species is now but an abnormal migrant 
to our shores, although we believe there has lately been some steps taken to 
introduce the bird on the Yorkshire moors—an experiment scarcely likely to 
succeed. As previously stated the Great Bustard is an irregular visitor to 
our islands, occurring at intervals in unusual numbers. Such invasions were 
remarked in the winters of 1870-71, in 1879-80, and again in 1890-91. During 
the latter winter no less than seven of these birds—-all females—were recorded 
from various parts of the South of England. (Conf. Field, 28th February, 1891.) 
Foreign: South Palearctic region from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It breeds in 
suitable districts in Denmark, Russia (south of lat. 55°), Germany, Italy, Spain, 
the steppes of the Danube, and Turkey. It is now very rare in France, Greece, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 101 


and North-west Africa, and completely exterminated in Scandinavia. It is also 
known as an accidental visitor to Asia Minor and North Persia, and as a straggler 
to North-west India. Eastwards its range includes Turkestan and Northern 
Afghanistan, but the precise limits are at present undetermined. 


Allied forms.—tIn East Siberia (south of Omsk and the Amoor), Mant- 
churia, Corea, and Japan, south to the Yangtze Kiang basin (where Mr. Styan 
records it as common in winter), the Great Bustard is replaced by Otis dybowskii, 
a very nearly allied species, which differs in being smaller in size (total 
length, 34 inches), with a smaller and more slender bill, paler head and hind 
neck, and grey lesser wing coverts. The Great Bustard has no other very close 
allies; and whether this eastern bird deserves specific rank seems somewhat 
questionable. 


Habits.—The haunts of the Great Bustard are the vast plains and steppes 
which stretch across Europe and Asia, the great grain lands which extend in 
some parts of Asia for thousands of miles, treeless and bare, where the noble 
bird can scan a wide horizon and note the approach of enemies. The Great 
Bustard is a thorough ground bird, and is rarely or never seen near trees. It is 
a shy and wary creature, ever careful not to allow a close approach, is capable of 
running quickly, and flies in a somewhat heavy, laboured manner, with slow and 
regular beats of its ample wings. At all seasons the Great Bustard is a social 
bird, but in winter it becomes more or less gregarious, and joins into flocks which 
wander about the plains in quest of food. It is said that during the winter the 
sexes separate, and that the males live in flocks by themselves. Even during 
the breeding season several pairs of birds will feed in company, and all the 
summer the immature and non-breeding birds remain gregarious. It is an early 
migrant, in such districts where it is a bird of regular passage, reaching its 
summer haunts in March or April. The food of the Great Bustard is almost 
entirely composed of vegetable substances, grain, seeds, and the leaves and 
shoots of herbage; the bird, however, also eats insects, mice, lizards, and frogs. 
The note of the male is likened by Mr. Seebohm to the syllable prunt; and he 
also states that, when alarmed, both sexes make a kind of hiss, although at other 
times the female appears to be a remarkably silent bird. 


Nidification.—Although the Great Bustard has been said to be poly- 
gamous, there appears to be no direct evidence in confirmation of the statement ; 
and Naumann, the great German ornithologist, who had ample opportunities of 
observing this species, avers that it pairs early in spring. The male, when under 
sexual excitement, elevates and draws the tail forward over his back, the head 
and neck at the same time being retracted along the back, the wings are drooped, 
all the smaller feathers being erected until the tail, head, and neck are almost 
entirely concealed by the bristling plumage—almost every feather on end—and 


102 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


the swollen breast. Some males, but not all, of this species have an inflatable 
gular pouch, which appears to be used either for the utterance of a singular note 
or for increasing the size of the throat and rendering the covering of feathers 
more imposing. This display is accompanied by various movements. The 
nesting season begins in May, and the eggs are laid towards the end of that 
month. The nest is sometimes made in a bare situation on the open steppe, or 
in a field of growing corn. It is little more than a slight hollow trampled by the 
female, which in some cases is lined with a few scraps of dry herbage, and is 
about eighteen inches across. The eggs are generally two in number, but some- 
times three, and vary from olive-green to olive-brown and pale buff in ground- 
colour, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and grey. On some specimens 
a few blackish-brown streaks occur. Like the eggs of the Crane, they are rather 
coarse in texture, and the shell is full of minute pores. They measure on an 
average 3'0 inches in length by 2°2 inches in breadth. The female alone appears 
to incubate the eggs, the time taken ranging from three weeks to a month. At 
the approach of danger she slips very quietly off the nest, and hurries away for a 
little distance on foot, especially when the cover is dense, but sometimes she 
rises from it into the air and flies slowly away. During the breeding season, 
especially about the pairing period, the males are very pugnacious. One brood 
only is reared in the year, and the young are soon able to quit the nest and 
follow their parents. Several instances of the Great Bustard breeding in cap- 
tivity have been recorded. Details of one of these instances are given in the 
Zoologist for 1880 (p. 254), and were originally published in the Bull. Soc. Imp. 
Acclim. Paris, 1861 (p. 818). A second instance occurred in the Gardens of the 
Zoological Society of London, in June, 1893. In the former case three eggs 
were laid, the hen incubated, and one young bird was hatched ; in the latter two 
eggs were laid, and the cock bird was not observed to take any share in the task 
of incubation (Ibis, 1893, p. 476). A female again laid in the Zoological Gardens 
in the season of 1895. The flesh of the Great Bustard is by no means unpalat- 
able, especially that of the female and the young. An old male will often weigh 
over thirty pounds. 


Diagnostic characters.—Otis, with the head grey, and a tuft of white 
bristly feathers at the base of the bill, the upper parts chestnut-buff barred with 
black, the wings white, except the primaries, which are blackish-brown, the 
breast banded with chestnut and grey, the belly white. Length, about 45 inches 
(male). In the female the bristles and chest bands are absent. Length, about 
33 inches. According to Mr. Howard Saunders this bird is incapable of flight 
when moulting its quills. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 103 


Family OTIDIDA. Genus OTIS, 


LITTLE BUSTARD. 


OTIS TETRAX—Linneus. 


Otis tetrax, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 264 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 35 (1852); Dresser, 
B. Eur. vii. p. 382, pl. 509 (1872) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 216 (1883); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 587 (1884) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit, B. pt. xxiv. (1893) ; Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 218 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. 
B. p. 89, pl. 23 (1896). 

Tetrax tetrax (Linn.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 289 (1894); Sharpe, Handb. 
B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 120 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Little Bustard is an acci- 
dental visitor to the British Islands chiefly in autumn and winter, rarely in 
breeding plumage, and at no period known to have bred within them. It has 
most frequently been captured in the eastern and southern counties, especially 
in Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Cornwall. Four examples have been obtained on the 
east coast of Scotland, and three in Ireland. This species was exceptionally 
numerous in our Islands during the winter of 1874-75. Foreign: West Pale- 
arctic region. To Germany, Denmark, and South Scandinavia, and the country 
north of the valley of the Danube, the Little Bustard is an accidental straggler 
only. It breeds in suitable districts in Spain, Portugal, and France, and is 
common on the steppes of the Danube, Turkey, and Southern Russia. It passes 
through Italy and Greece on migration, but is resident in Sardinia and Sicily. 
It breeds in North-west Africa, and winters in the Sahara. It also breeds in 
Russia, and West Siberia as far north as lat. 55°, and eastwards as far as Lake 
Saisan. It is a winter visitor to Egypt, occurs in Palestine and Asia Minor, 
and is a summer resident in North Persia and Russian Turkestan, wintering in 
the valley of the Indus. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to merit allusion. 


Habits.—Many Little Bustards winter in the Mediterranean district, but 
the greater number retire to Africa for the cold season. Vast flocks of these birds 
return north to their breeding grounds in Europe during April, the southern 
flight being made in October. In autumn the flocks are much larger than in 
spring, and in South-eastern Europe they are said to cross the steppes lying 
south of the Caucasus literally in millions. In its choice of a haunt the Little 
Bustard resembles its allies, being only found on wide treeless plains and steppes. 
It is perhaps more easy to approach than the Great Bustard, often remaining 


104 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


skulking in the cover until it is flushed within easy gunshot. Its flight is 
straightforward and rapid, and the wings are moved so quickly that a whirring 
sound is audible as the bird hurries away, often soaring to a vast height. In 
this respect it is very different from the Great Bustard, as its flight is not so 
deliberate, and more like that of a Game Bird. Its movements on the ground 
partake more of those of birds of that order, and it-runs quickly, the females 
being the most difficult to flush. The presence of the Little Bustard is often 
betrayed by the utterance of its curious note, which resembles the syllable spwrrtz 
or prut. The food of this species is mostly of a vegetable nature, such as grain, 
seeds, and the tender buds and shoots of herbage, but the bird also devours 
insects, snails, frogs, and, it is said, even field mice. Although so gregarious just 
upon its arrival at its breeding grounds, the flocks soon disperse, and as soon as 
pairing is over there appears to be not even a social tendency until after the 
young are reared. As this species breeds in its first spring, no flocks of immature 
non-nesting birds are ever noticed in the summer haunts, as is almost always the 
case with the Great Bustard. 


Nidification.—Although many of the actions of the Little Bustard during 
the pairing season would seem to prove that this species is polygamous, such is 
not the case. In the pairing season numbers of birds congregate at certain spots, 
and the males appear to go through a sort of “lek,” like many Game Birds, 
showing off their charms in various ways to the apparently admiring females, for 
which conflicts take place between the rivals. Once paired, however, these 
gatherings disperse, and each male goes off with his mate to assist in the cares of 
bringing up the brood. About the middle of May the female makes a rude nest 
on the ground amongst the herbage ; it is little more than a hollow, lined with a 
few bits of dry grass and weed, and measures seven or eight inches across. The 
eggs are usually four, sometimes three, and, more rarely, five in number, and 
vary in ground-colour from olive-brown to olive-green, indistinctly mottled with 
pale reddish-brown. The shellis glossy and smooth, the pores being very slightly 
defined. They measure on an average 2'0 inches in length by 1°5 inch in 
breadth. The female appears to incubate the eggs, but the male is in close and 
constant attendance upon his mate. In some cases it would appear that two 
broods are reared in the year, a second clutch being laid about the end of J: uly, 
although there is no evidence to show that these late nests are not the produce 
of birds whose earlier efforts may have been unfortunate. 


Diagnostic characters.—Otis, with the general colour above buffish- 
brown, vermiculated with black in the male in summer, blotched with black in the 
female at both seasons, and in the male in winter, with two black and two white 
gorgets in the male in summer. Length, 17 inches, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 105 


Genus HOUBARA, or Ruffed Bustards. 


Type, HOUBARA UNDULATA. 


Houbara, of Bonaparte (1831).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are distinguished by the various characters that have already been specified in 
the account of the family; and, in addition, they may be separated from the 
members of the preceding genus (Otis) by having a ruff or feather shield on 
the lower throat and fore neck overhanging the crop. 

This genus is composed of seven species, which are inhabitants of the Pale- 
arctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions. 

The Ruffed Bustards very closely resemble the typical Bustards, both in their 
general habits and the country they inhabit. 


106 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family OTIDIDA. Genus HovuBaRa. 


MACQUEEN’S BUSTARD. 


HOUBARA MACQUEENI—(Gray and Hardw). 
Prats XVI. 


Otis macqueenii, Gray and Hardw. Illustr. Ind. Orn. ii. pl. 47 (1834); Dresser B. 
Hur. vii. p. 395, pl. 511 (1876); Yarrell, Brit. B., ed. 4, ili. p. 221 (1884) ; Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 591 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 219 
(1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxv. (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit, 
B. p. 30 pl. 23 (1896). 

Houbara macqueenii (Gray and Hardw.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p 318 
(1894); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 123 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: Four examples of this Eastern 
Bustard have been obtained on our Islands. The fact of their visits being made 
in autumn—all four occurred in October—and that the northern range of this 
species in Asia is sufficient to bring the birds within the influence of the western 
stream of migration, which sets in at that time into Europe (where Macqueen’s 
Bustard has from time to time been captured, is strong presumptive evidence of 
their legitimate occurrence in a wild state in this country. The first example 
was shot at Kirton-in-Lindsey, in Lincolnshire, on the 7th of October, 1847. It 
is now preserved in the museum of the Philosophical Society at York. The 
second was shot near Marske, on the north-east coast of Yorkshire, on the 5th of 
October, 1892. It was apparently an adult male in beautiful plumage, and is 
now preserved in the museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne. The third example, a 
young male, was shot at Easington, near Spurn; on the Yorkshire coast, on the 
17th of October, 1896. The fourth, a female, was shot in Aberdeenshire, on the 
24th of October, 1898. Foreign: South-west Asia. It breeds in Turkestan, South- 
west Siberia, east to Lake Saisan, southwards into Afghanistan, Persia, and the 
eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, and winters in South Persia, Baluchistan, the 
Punjaub, and Scinde. It has occurred accidentally in Germany, Holland, 
Schleswig, Sweden (Oeland), Poland, Silesia, Finland, Livonia, and Italy. 


Allied forms.—Houbara undulata, an inhabitant of Armenia, Palestine, 
and North Africa, westward to the Canaries. Differs from Macqueen’s Bustard 
in having the crest feathers and the elongated feathers of the throat pure white, 
the long feathers of the lower throat grey instead of white, the upper parts more 
rufous, and the vermiculations coarser. A form of this Bustard, apparently 
peculiar to Fuerteventura—an island of the Canary group—has recently been 
described as distinct under the name of H. fuerteventure. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 107 


Habits.—The present species is another bird of the wide, vast plains, and 
resembles in its habits the preceding species. But little is known of the economy 
of Macqueen’s Bustard during its residence in Turkestan and Siberia, whither it 
retires in summer to breed, but its habits have been carefully studied during its 
sojourn in India, where it is a common bird during the cold season, arriving in 
September and leaving in March or April. Here it frequents by preference the 
slightly undulating sandy and semi-desert plains, which are studded with patches 
of scrub, amongst which salsolas, lemon grass, and acacia bushes are conspicuous. 
On these vast plains this Bustard may be observed running about in the morning 
and evening, resting under the shelter of a bush during the hottest part of the 
day. It always prefers to run rather than to fly, and is capable of threading its 
way through the tangled scrub with great speed. Where the cover is short it 
runs with head and neck held low, but when it reaches the higher bushes it stops 
and stretches out its neck to look round at its pursuers. Sometimes the bird will 
then squat close to the ground and remain motionless, where its brown plumage 
so effectually conceals it from detection that it allows the observer to pass and 
repass within a very few paces without making a movement. Macqueen’s Bustard 
is often stalked with the aid of a camel, that animal being so familiar to the bird 
that it takes but little notice of its approach. By riding round the Bustards in 
ever narrowing circles, the hunter is enabled to get within shot. Sometimes the 
birds squat to the ground, and remain so until the camel walks almost over them, 
when they rise in a slow, heavy manner, and afford an easy shot. Sometimes a 
Bustard, instead of squatting, will hide behind a bush and walk round and round 
as the hunter does, always contriving to keep the bush between itself and the 
enemy. Macqueen’s Bustard is said to be a very silent species; and Hume 
never heard it utter a sound under any circumstances whatever. The food of 
this species is almost entirely of a vegetable character, and Hume states that of 
hundreds he examined, lizards or snakes were never found in its stomach. In 
India it feeds largely on the fruit of the ber, the berries of the grewia, and the 
tender shoots of the lemon grass and other herbs, varying this fare with insects 
and small snails. 


Nidification.— Of the habits of Macqueen’s Bustard during the breeding 
season little or nothing is known, and the nest has never been described. Eggs 
obtained by collectors employed by Herr Tancré on the Altai Mountains are 
buffish or olive-brown in ground-colour, blotched and spotted with rich dark 
brown, pale brown, and dull grey. They measure on an average 2°55 inches in 
length by 1:75 inch in breadth. 


Diagnostic characters.—Houbara, with the upper parts buff, finely ver- 
miculated with black, tail crossed with three dark bars, the head crested and the 
neck ruffed. Length, 28 inches. 


108 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family GEDICNEMIDAe.—The Stone Curlews. 


The birds in the present family are characterised by having the nostrils 
holorhinal, as in the Bustards, but the dorsal vertebre are opisthocelous, and the 
basipterygoid processes are absent. The toes are not webbed; the hallux is 
wanting ; and the metatarsus is reticulated both before and behind. The bill is 
moderately long, in all the species the genys is very pronounced, and with two 
exceptions the dertrum is well marked. The legs are rather long, but the toes 
are short and Bustard-like. Moult single, in autumn. This family contains, at 
present, eleven species and races distributed over the warmer parts of the Pale- 
arctic region, throughout the Ethiopian region, the Oriental region, parts of the 
Australian region, and the northern portions of the Neotropicai region. The 
present family has been subdivided into no less than four genera by Dr. Sharpe, 
three of them containing but a single species each. Possibly two may be 
admitted, one of which contains a British representative. 


Genus GEDICNEMUS, or Typical Stone Curlews. 
Type, G@DICNEMUS CREPITANS. 


(Edicnemus, of Temminck (1815).—The birds comprising the present 
genus are characterised by having the bill shorter than the head, and the angle 
of the genys rising gradually. The outer rectrices are an inch or more shorter 
than the central ones. The black tips to all but the central rectrices and the 
white pattern on the webs of the first three primaries are also characteristic of 
this group. The wings are moderately long, and the tail of twelve feathers is 
much graduated. 

This genus is composed of nine species and races, which are distributed over 
various parts of Temperate and Southern Europe, Australia, and Temperate and 
Tropical Asia and Africa, and Tropical America. One species is a summer visitor 
to the British Islands. 

The Stone Curlews are dwellers in similar country to that frequented by the 
Bustards, which birds they resemble in their habits. They are more or less 
nocturnal. Their flight is rapid and well sustained. Their notes are loud and 
harsh. They subsist chiefly on worms, frogs, small animals, and insects, They 
make no nest, laying their eggs (two or three in number, and double-spotted) on 
the bare ground. They are monogamous. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 109 


Family GADICNEMIDA. Genus CHDICNEMUS. 


STONE CURLEW. 
CEDICNEMUS CREPITANS.—Temminck. 


Charadrius cedicnemus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 255 (1766). 

(Edicnemus crepitans, Temm. ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p.77 (1852) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. 
B.ii. p. 596 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 251 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. 
Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 90, pl. 23 (1896). 

CEdicnemus scolopax (8. G. Gmel.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 401, pl. 512 (1876); 
Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 225 (1884) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895). 

(Edicnemus cedicnemus (Linn.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 4 (1896); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 127 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. — British : The Stone Curlew is a summer 
visitor to the heaths and wolds of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and 
Cambridgeshire, southwards through Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Bucks, Oxford- 
shire, Berks, Wilts, Dorset, Hants, Sussex, and Kent. Elsewhere it can only be 
regarded as an accidental visitor chiefly on migration, although it has been known 
to breed in Worcestershire, Rutland, and Notts, and a few are known to winter 
in Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. It has once occurred in Scotland, and once 
or twice at the mouth of the Tyne, during winter, whilst six or eight examples 
have been detected in Ireland chiefly at that season. Foreign: Western Pale- 
arctic region. It breeds south of the Baltic in the west of Europe, and of lat. 
50° in the east. It is aresident throughout the basin of the Mediterranean, the 
Canary Islands, and Madeira, but is only a summer visitor to France, Holland, 
Belgium, Germany (but according to Hartert it does not breed in East Prussia), 
and South Russia. Itis also a resident throughout North Africa, but much more 
numerous in winter than in summer. It is a summer migrant to Russian Tur- 
kestan and West Siberia as far north as lat. 48°, but a resident in Palestine, 
Asia Minor, and Persia, and a winter visitor to the Red Sea basin and India. 


Allied forms.—Cdicnemus crepitans indicus, a resident race inhabiting 
Beloochistan, India, Ceylon, and Burma. Its specific distinctness is barred by 
the presence, according to Seebohm, of intermediate forms in Persia, Asia Minor, 
and throughout North Africa. Differs from the Common Stone Curlew in having 
a shorter wing (8 inches to 9 inches, against 9 inches to 10 inches in the European 
race), in having white patches almost invariably on the third primary, and in 


110 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


having the white on the outer web of the seventh much more developed. These 
characters, so far as colour is concerned, do not appear to be absolutely constant, 
but the separation of the two forms certainly seems warranted. C. senegalensis, 
a species which ranges across Africa, south of the Great Desert from Senegambia 
in the west, across the Soudan to Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia in the east. 
Differs from the Common Stone Curlew in having the medium wing coverts 
uniform grey with dark shaft lines, and in having one bar only (the lower) across 
the wing. 


Habits.—In many of its habits the Stone Curlew resembles the Bustards, 
although it is somewhat intermediate in this respect between those birds and the 
Plovers. It is a summer visitor, as previously remarked, to our islands, arriving 
in its old haunts about the middle of April, retiring south again in October. Its 
haunts in our islands are heaths and commons, rough untilled country, downs and 
warrens. Although in no sense an arboreal species, many of its favourite 
haunts are surrounded by trees. However, like the Bustards, it is a bird of the 
open, and never found on wooded ground. It runs with great speed, and flies 
quickly, often at some height in the air above its haunts, especially at night. 
The Stone Curlew is a decidedly nocturnal bird, and at the approach of dusk 
becomes particularly lively and noisy as it seeks its favourite feeding grounds. 
This may be especially remarked during bright moonlight nights. Its note is a 
loud, clear, but somewhat plaintive cry. The food of the Stone Curlew is chiefly 
of an animal nature, such as snails, worms, and insects, especially nocturnal 
beetles, frogs, lizards, and mice. This bird has been accused of devouring the 
chicks of Game Birds, but I am not aware that there is any positive evidence to 
confirm the assertion. During the night the Stone Curlew frequently leaves its 
native heath and seeks the turnip fields and pastures adjoining to search for food. 
During the summer it appears not to be even social, but towards autumn, when 
the broods are strong upon the wing, it becomes gregarious, and probably migrates 
in flocks. Much of its time is spent upon the ground, where, at the approach of 
danger, it often crouches low and motionless, trusting to the protective colour of 
its plumage to shield it from observation. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Stone Curlew begins in May, 
and the eggs are laid from about the middle of that month onwards to the end, 
according to the state of the season. This species appears never to make any 
nest beyond a mere hollow in some part of the heath where the ground is bare of 
vegetation, and often strewn with stones. Hume, however, states that in India 
the hollow is sometimes lined with a few scraps of grass. The eggs are two in 
number in this country, although in India three are sometimes found. They are 
various shades of pale buftish-brown in ground-colour, blotched and spotted 


or streaked with light and dark brown, and violet-grey. Some cgys are finely 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 111 


blotched, others have the colouring matter displayed in nearly black streaks and 
scratches. They measure on an average 2°1 inches in length by 1°5 inch in 
breadth. The male assists the female in the duty of incubation, especially during 
the day. This, according to Naumann, lasts about seventeen days; but other 
writers state a month. When the nest is approached, the sitting bird quits the 
eggs at the first alarm, and leaves them to the safety their eminently protective 
colours ensure, gererally running for several yards before taking wing. One 
brood only is reared in the season, but if the first clutch of eggs comes to grief, 
another clutch is usually laid. The young chicks are able to run almost directly 
they are hatched, and soon follow their parents in quest of food. 


Diagnostic characters.— Cdienemus, with no vermiculations on the 
upper parts, with the breast conspicuously streaked, a pale and a dark wing bar 
across the smaller wing covert, and with the greater wing coverts tipped with 
white. Length, 16 to 17 inches. 


112 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CURSORIIDAE.—The Coursers, Pratincoles, &c. 


The birds in the present family are characterised by. having schizorhinal 
nostrils (with the sole exception of the genus Pluvianus, containing a single 
species, in which they are holorhinal, as in the Stone Curlews ) ; the basipterygoid 
processes are also absent, as in the latter birds. The hallux is wanting in the 
Coursers, but present in the Pratincoles and Crab Plover; whilst the metatarsus 
is scutellated in all. The bill is somewhat short and curved, the genys and 
dertrum not being especially prominent. In the Coursers the legs are long, but 
in the Pratincoles they are generally comparatively much shorter. Moult, 
apparently single, in autumn. This family contains, so far as is at present known, 
twenty-six species and races, distributed over the southern portions of the 
Palearctic region, throughout the Ethiopian region, the Oriental region, and the 
Australian region. Dr. Sharpe, the most recent monographer of the CH4R4DRII- 
FORMES, subdivides the present family into eight genera, three of which contain 
but a single species. The validity of some of these genera seems open to question. 
The Coursers and the Pratincoles are both represented in the British list. 


Genus CURSORIUS, or Typical Coursers. 
Type, CURSORIUS GALLICUS. 


Cursorius, of Latham (1790)——The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having no nasal groove, the nostril being situated in a 
depression no more elongated than the opening. They are further characterised 
by having the tail unforked, and no hind toe. The wings are rather long and 
pointed, the primaries reaching to the end of the tail; the tail is rounded. The 
tarsus is long, the lower portion of the tibia devoid of feathers, the claw on the 
middle toe is pectinated along the inner margin. The bill is a little shorter than 
the head, nearly straight to the nasal orifice, then both mandibles arched to the tip. 

This genus is composed of six species and subspecies, confined to the Eastern 
hemisphere, being inhabitants of the Ethiopian, Southern Palearctic, and 
Oriental regions. One species is a rare straggler to the British Islands. 

The Coursers are dwellers on sandy plains and deserts. Their flight is rapid 
and well-sustained, but they are birds of skulking habit, and live principally on 
the ground, where they walk and run with ease. Their notes are harsh. They 
subsist principally on insects and their larve. They make no nest, but deposit 
their two or three rotund eggs in a depression in the ground; these are spotted. 
They are monogamous, and more or less social all through the year, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 113 


Family CURSORIID&, Genus CURSORIUS, 


CREAM-COLOURED COURSER. 
CURSORIUS GALLICUS—(Gmelin). 


Charadrius gallicus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 692 (1788). 


Cursorius europzeus, Latham ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 42 (1852) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 
4, iii. p. 238 (1883). 

Cursorius gallicus (Gmel.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 425, pl. 544 (1875); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 63 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 221 
(1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1894); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. 
iu. p. 131 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 34 (1896); Seebohm, Col. 
Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 128 pl. 36 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Cream-coloured Courser 
isa rare strageler on autumn migration to England and Wales. Only one instance 
of its occurrence in Scotland (in Lanarkshire) ; none in Ireland. About a score 
examples have been met with up to the present time, in the following counties: 
Northumberland, Cumberland, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, 
Suffolk, Middlesex, Kent, Hants, Wilts (one example as recently as October, 1896), 
Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Cardigan, and in ‘‘ North Wales.” Foreign : 
Southern and Western Palearctic, and the extreme north-eastern portion of the 
Ethiopian regions. Of accidental occurrence only in Europe: Holland, Germany, 
France, Spain, Italy, and South-east Russia. It breeds from the Canary Islands 
and possibly the Cape Verd in the west, right across the sand plains and plateaux 
of Northern Africa, southward on to the Sahara, and in Kordofan, and possibly 
Abyssinia, in the east. Thence northwards it probably breeds throughout Arabia, 
the Trans-Caucasian steppes, Persia, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, the Punjaub, 
Scinde and Rajputana. . 


Allied forms.— Cursorius gallicus bogolubovi, an inhabitant of the 
Murgab district on the Persian frontiers of Russian Turkestan. Of doubtful 
distinctness, but said to be larger than the ordinary form, and to have the under 
wing coverts of a different colour. C. somalensis, known only from a single 
specimen obtained on Somali Land, the eastern horn of Africa. Differs from the 
Cream-coloured Courser in being much smaller (length of wing 5°3 inches instead 
of 6°0 to 63 inches). Other important characters are the axillaries and inner- 
most under wing coverts, which are greyish-buff instead of nearly black, and the 


114 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


sub-terminal black bands on the tail are nearly twice as: broad. C. rufus, an 
inhabitant of South Africa, below the Tropic of Capricorn. May be readily dis- 
tinguished from the Cream-coloured Courser, when adult, by the black on the 
belly, and at all ages by the grey hinder head and the colour of the middle 
secondary, which is white, except the basal two-thirds of the outer and the basal 
third of the inner webs, which are brown. 


Habits.—Although I have spent some time in the country districts where 
Canon Tristram informed me he had met with this species, I never had the good 
fortune to obtain even a glimpse of the Cream-coloured Courser. It is one of the 
thoroughly characteristic birds of the desert, frequenting the sand-hills and ridges 
where scarcely a blade of vegetation struggles for life in the bitter, ungenerous 
soil. I was informed that its favourite haunts were amongst the sand-dunes, and 
on the wide, sun-scorched arid plains, and that it rarely or never frequented 
scrub, but dwelt in the open. It is said to be usually met with in pairs; but 
after the breeding season is over, broods and their parents keep company, and in 
winter they become more gregarious, roaming about the desert in flocks of vary- 
ing size. It is a thorough ground bird, apparantly with a great disinclination to 
take wing, always seeking to evade pursuit by running with great speed and 
squatting close to the ground, or concealing itself in the shelter of a bush 
ora stone. Here its buff-coloured plumage harmonises so closely with the colour 
of the ground, and it remains so still, that discovery is almost impossible. No 
one who has not witnessed the truly marvellous way in which desert birds can 
conceal themselves on sand almost as level as a billiard table can have any idea 
how closely these creatures assimilate with surrounding objects. The Cream- 
coloured Courser is said usually to run for a little way before taking wing, and 
seldom to fly very high above the ground, often skimming with extended motion- 
less wings, or twisting and turning in an erratic manner. When in flocks the 
birds cover a wide area of ground, scattering themselves over the desert in their 
quest for food. They are then very wild, and very Lapwing-like in their general 
movements. The note of this bird, at least when in confinement, is said by 
Favier to resemble the syllables rererer ; and the same authority states that its 
alarm note is similiar to that of a Plover, which, all things considered, is a very 
safe if a very unsatisfactory remark. On the other hand, Mr. Whitaker describes 
the note of the wild bird, uttered on the ground, as a short sharp weet, also as 
weet-quot ; whilst Mr. Meade-Waldo says that the ery, when the birds are with 
their young, is a low qua-qua. The food of this species, so far as is known, 
consists of insects and snails; in confinement birds have been fed, and apparently 
have thriven, on grasshoppers and the larvee of beetles. 


Nidification.—The pairing habits of the Cream-coloured Courser almost 
exactly resemble those of the Great Bustard. It is a monogamous species, 


pairing every season, but as soon as the eggs are laid the males apparently flock 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 115 


by themselves until the young are hatched, when they rejoin their mates and 
assist in rearing the offspring. The date of laying varies considerably. In the 
Canary Islands (where in the spring of 1891 Mr. Meade-Waldo states that about 
a thousand eggs were taken) young birds are said to have been obtained towards 
the end of March; in Algeria the breeding season is given by authorities as May 
and June; in Egypt, Von Heuglin says that it is in March and April; and Hume 
informs us that in the Punjaub district the bird lays principally in July; but, 
varying with the state of the rains, eggs may be obtained from March to August. 
The first authentic eggs of this bird were obtained by Canon Tristram, on the 
Sahara. In Africa the nest is said to be merely a hollow in the sand, which is 
either selected ready made or scratched out by the parent bird; but in India it is 
sometimes made amongst stubble, under a bush, or amongst jungle, and is a small 
hollow, about five inches across and two inches deep, sometimes lined with a 
little dry grass. The nests are extremely difficult to find, the birds slipping off at 
the first alarm and going right away, leaving the eggs to the safety which their 
decided protective colours ensure. The eggs are two or three in number, 
according to Hume the former number being the regular clutch. They are pale 
buff in ground-colour, spotted, blotched, and freckled with buffish-brown and 
marbled with underlying markings of grey. Those from the Punjaub are 
much smaller and darker than those from the deserts of North Africa. They 
measure on an average 1°2 inch in length by 1:0 inch in breadth. The period of 
incubation and the number of broods are unknown. 


Diagnostic characters.—Cursorius, with no black patch on the belly, 
with the axillaries and under-wing coverts nearly black, and the outer web of the 
secondaries buff. Length, 9 to 10 inches. 


116 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus GLAREOLA, or Typical Pratincoles. 
Type, GLAREOLA PRATINCOLA. 


Glareola, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having no nasal groove, the nostril being situated in a depression 
no more elongated than the opening. They are further characterised by having 
a more or less forked tail and a hind toe. The wings are long and pointed, 
reaching the tip of the tail or even beyond it. The tail is deeply forked, and is 
composed of twelve feathers. The legs are moderately long and slender, the 
lower part of the tibia devoid of feathers; the claw on the middle toe is 
pectinated on the inner margin. The bill is short and curved, compressed 
towards the point. 

This genus is composed of three species, confined to the Eastern hemisphere, 
being inhabitants of the Ethiopian, southern Palearctic, Oriental, and eastern 
Australian regions. One species is an accidental visitor to the British Islands. 

The Pratincoles are dwellers on sandy plains, marshes, the banks of rivers, 
and the shores of lakes and lagoons. They are birds of remarkably powerful 
and long-sustained flight, and on the ground they progress by running and 
walking. Their notes are shrill and unmusical. They subsist chiefly on insects, 
which they capture whilst flying up and down in a Swallow-like manner. No 
nest is made, and they lay their two or three rotund eggs, which are richly 
spotted, in a slight depression. These birds are monogamous, and gregarious 
throughout the year. 


oe 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 117 


Family CURSORIIDAL. Genus GLAREOLA. 


COMMON PRATINCOLE, 
GLAREOLA PRATINCOLA— (Linneus). 
Puatze XVII. 


Hirundo pratincola, Linn. Syst, Nat. i. p. 345 (1766). 

Glareola pratincola (Linn.), Macegill. Brit. B. iv. p. 49 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Hur. vii. 
p. 411, pl. 513, fig. 1 (1874); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 231 (1883) ; Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 69 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B, p. 223 
(1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1894); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. 
iii. p. 183 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 53 (1896); Seebohm, Col. 
Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 128, pl. 36 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Common Pratincole is a 
rare visitor in spring and autumn—individuals, doubtless, that have overshot the 
mark in spring whilst on their way to their breeding grounds in Spain or the 
Balearic Islands, or in autumn that have wandered westwards with the 
tide of migrants from the east. It was first noticed by ornithologists in 1807, 
when examples were obtained almost simultaneously in Lancashire and Cumber- 
land. Since this date it has been captured in the following counties: Yorkshire 
(three examples), Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk (four examples), Wilts, 
Hants, Surrey, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. A Pratincole was 
observed, but not obtained, in Breconshire; another was shot, but not preserved, 
half a century ago, in Co. Cork, so that it is impossible to say whether the bird 
was rightly identified. A solitary example hails from Scotland, killed on Unst, 
one of the Shetland group. Foreign: Southern and Western Palearctic region 
in summer; Ethiopian region, summer and winter; and accidentally in parts of 
Oriental region in winter. It breeds in the basin of the Mediterranean, and in 
Spain and France, as also in the lower valley of the Danube. North of these 
limits, in the extreme north of France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and 
Germany, it is as accidental as in the British Islands. Eastwards it is a 
summer visitor to the basins of the Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas, the salt lakes 
of Russian Turkestan as far as Ala-Kul, on the frontiers of Mongolia, and, 
southwards, to Persia and Palestine. The birds that breed in Europe and North 
Africa winter in the Intertropical portion of the Ethiopian region, and there is 
evidence to suggest that other individuals of this species migrate from this area 
south to breed in Cape Colony, Natal and elsewhere. We have elsewhere sug- 


118 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


gested that this species, as well as all other migrants, never normally crosses the 
Tropics either to breed or to winter. Those breeding further east winter in 
Nubia and Abyssinia, whilst abnormal migrants even penetrate (probably 
stragglers from the birds breeding in the Thian-Shan range) to Scinde and 
Northern India. 


Allied forms.—Glareola melanoptera, an inhabitant in summer of South- 
eastern Europe, especially the Kirghiz steppes, north to lat. 55° in West Siberia, 
and east to Ala-Kul. Passes through Persia, Armenia, Asia Minor, Turkey, 
Egypt, and Nubia on migration, and winters in the Intertropical portion of 
Africa. "We shall most probably find that in this case again a second set of 
individuals migrate south from the equator to breed in South Africa. It is easily 
distinguished from the Common Pratincole by its black axillaries and deeply 
forked tail. G. orientalis, an inhabitant of India and Ceylon, the Burmese 
Peninsula, East Mongolia, Dauria, China, Sumatra, Java, the Malay Archipelago, 
the Philippines, and North Australia. Has been recorded from Japan. Resident 
in the south, migratory in the north. Distinguished from the Common Pratin- 
cole by its combining the following characters: chestnut axillaries, white basal 
half of outer web of tail feathers, absence of white tips to the secondaries, and 
only slightly forked tail. 


Habits.—The Pratincole is a bird of somewhat early passage, arriving at 
its breeding grounds in North Africa and South Europe in April, and its haunts are 
in marshes, on bare plateaux and sandy plains, sometimes in cultivated districts, 
lagoons, and low, flat islands. Unlike other Plovers, it is much more of an aérial 
bird than a ground one, although it is capable of running with great speed, 
and not unfrequently wades in the shallow waters of its haunts. The most 
characteristic feature of the Pratincole’s economy is the bird’s curious and pro- 
longed flight. It spends much of its time in the air, flying to and fro in quest of 
food, skimming along just above the ground or water, turning and twisting here 
and there in its busy quest. This singular habit probably had great influence 
with Linneeus when he placed the Pratincole in his genus Hirundv, and may 
well serve as an excuse for the great naturalist’s curious error. The food of the 
Pratincole, which is principally secured whilst the bird is on the wing, consists of 
insects, especially beetles, grasshoppers, and locusts; and the bird is said to be 
most assiduous in obtaining it towards evening, a time when such creatures are 
abroad in greatest abundance. The note of this species is described as a rattling 
kr or kia, rapidly and persistently repeated. When on the ground the Pratin- 
cole often elevates its wings and runs a little distance both before and after flight. 
It returns to its African winter haunts in autumn, when the young are all safely 
reared, and then becomes more gregarious, although at all times it is more or less 
sociable, and usually breeds in scattered colonies. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 119 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Pratincole commences in May, 
and fresh eggs may be found almost throughout that month. An island seems 
to be preferred to the mainland, where choice is possible, and the bare, dry mud 
is selected rather than ground covered with herbage. Colonies of these birds, 
visited by Seebohm in Greece and Asia Minor, were established on low islets 
in the lagoons, and the eggs were deposited on the dry mud, amongst no other 
herbage but straggling plants of Salsola. Nest there is none, the eggs being laid 
generally on the bare ground, without even a hollow to hold them. They are 
two or three in number, in rare instances as many as four, very fragile, and oval 
in shape. They vary from buff to grey in ground-colour, spotted, blotched, and 
streaked over most of the surface with blackish-brown, and marbled with under- 
lying markings of greyish-brown. They measure on an average 1:2 inch in 
length by ‘9 inch in breadth. The period of incubation is unknown, but one 
brood only is reared in the year. When their breeding grounds are invaded by 
man the Pratincoles become very restless and noisy, and often indulge in various 
antics, even shamming death, or broken limbs, to lure intruders away. Even 
before the eggs are laid the Pratincole is addicted to these strange antics. 
Many nests may be found within a comparatively small area, although the birds 
can scarcely be regarded as universally gregarious at the breeding grounds. In 
some localities they nest in solitary pairs, but in others in large colonies. 


Diagnostic characters.—Glareola, with the axillaries chestnut, the 


secondaries broadly tipped with white, and the tail deeply forked. Length, 9 to 
10 inches. 


120 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDAE.—The Plovers, Sandpipers 
and Snipes. 


The birds in the present family are characterised by having the nostrils 
schizorhinal, the basipterygoid processes present, and the dorsal vertebree opis- 
thocelous. In their pterylosis they show much affinity with the LarIroRMES. 
The chief external characteristics of the Plovers and their allied forms are the 
almost universally prevailing long pointed wings adapted in most cases for 
prolonged migrations, comparatively short tail and long legs; their webbed, or 
semi-webbed, or lobed feet; the hind toe is small, in some cases wanting, and 
elevated above the plane of the rest. Primaries ten in number; rectrices very 
variable in this respect. Moult double in most (Gf not in all) species. The 
autumn or winter plumage in a great many species is much less gaudy than that 
of summer, whilst differences in sexual colour are as a rule not very marked. 
The young in first plumage more or less closely resemble adults in summer 
plumage. These young birds, however, do not retain the bright colours of their 
first plumage long, but proceed to change at the beginning of autumn into a dress 
which closely resembles the winter plumage of their parents—not by a moult, but 
by an actual change in the hue of the feather, the most worn, abraded, or ‘‘ dead ” 
feathers only being replaced. During the following spring these immature 
birds moult into summer plumage, resembling that of adults, only the wing 
coverts retain their rich summer hue all the winter until the next autumn moult, 
when they are changed for the greyer ones of winter. The wing coverts of adults 
seem only to be moulted once, in autumn, and this portion of their plumage is 
always the same colour after the bird reaches the adult stage of its existence. 
Young hatched covered with down, and able to run shortly after they leave the 
shell. There are about two hundred species and races in the present family, 
which is practically a cosmopolitan one. For the sake of convenience the 
CHARADRIIDZ may be subdivided into ten subfamilies, no less than seven of 
which have representatives in the British list. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 121 


Subfamily HAEMATOPODIN-E.— The Oyster-catchers. 


The Oyster-catchers may be distinguished from other members of the 
CHARADRIID& by the peculiarities of the bill, which exhibits no dertrum or 
swelling near the tips of the mandibles, and the genys or angle of the lower 
mandible is situated near the base. The bill in this subfamily is further 
characterised by being greatly compressed, and the nasal groove, as in all the 
typical Plovers, does not extend beyond half the length of the culmen. A 
further character is the reticulated metatarsus. This subfamily contains but a 
single genus. 


Genus HA:MATOPUS, or Oyster-catchers. 
Type, HAMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS. 


Hzematopus, of Linnzus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by their combining a finely reticulated metatarsus with a nearly 
straight bill, which is longer than it. The wings are long and pointed, the tail is 
nearly square. The metatarsus is rather short, and the lower portion of the 
tibia is devoid of feathers. Three toes in front, all directed forward; hind toe 
absent. The bill is straight, strong, and compressed at the point, forming a 
wedge ; truncate at the tip, clumsy, and very variable in outline; nostrils basal, 
linear, and situated in a groove. 

This genus is composed of twelve species and subspecies, which are distributed 
throughout the world. One species is a common resident in the British Islands. 

The Oyster-catchers are dwellers on the coasts of seas and on the banks of rivers 
and lakes. Their flight is rapid and well-sustained ; they are able to swim; and 
run and walk with ease. Their notes are loud and piercing, and they subsist on 
mollusks, marine worms, and insects, small fish, and littoral plants. Mere 
hollows in the sand or shingle serve for nests, and their eggs, three or four in 
number, are double-spotted. They are monogamous, are more or less social 
throughout the year, but always excessively wary and shy. 


122 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIID. Genus H&MATOPUS. 
Subfamily H#MATOPODINA. 


COMMON OYSTER=CATCHER. 
HAIMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS.—Linneus. 
Puate XVIII. 


Hzmatopus ostralegus, Linn. Syst. Nat.i. p. 257 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 152 
(1852) ; Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 567, pl. 533 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 294 
(1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 4 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xii. 
(1890); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 262 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. 
iii. p. 181 (1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 119, pl. 38 (1896); Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 107 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Oyster-catcher breeds on 
the Scilly Islands and in all suitable localities north of Yorkshire and Lancashire, 
round the entire coast-line of Scotland and the adjacent islands, even extending 
to St. Kilda, where I have taken its eggs. It is equally widely dispersed round the 
Irish coasts, as well as on some of the inland loughs, and it also breeds on the shores 
of the inland lochs and on the banks of large rivers in Scotland. During winter 
it is widely dispersed on all our coasts, except in the extreme northern districts, 
where it is only a bird of summer. Foreign: West Palearctic region. Chiefly 
a coast bird in the west, but east of E. long. 40° it breeds only on the shores of 
lakes and the banks of rivers. It breeds on the coasts of North-western Europe, 
round to the White Sea; thence it becomes an inland species, frequenting the 
rivers Volga, Kama, Petchora, and Obb. To the shores of the Baltic it is a 
summer visitor only, but a resident on the coasts of Germany and France. In 
East Prussia, however, it is very rare on passage. On migration it passes the 
Mediterranean basin, but some remain to breed, and afew remain to winter in the 
Rhone delta and along the Adriatic coast. It is a resident in the Caucasus, but 
only a summer visitor to the Don, the Volga, the waters of West Siberia and 
Turkestan, and it winters in Southern Arabia, on the Mekran coast, the west coast 
of India, south to Ceylon, and on both coasts of Africa, to the Intertropical realm. 


Allied forms.—Hematopus osculans, an inhabitant of the coasts of North 
China, Japan, the mouth of the Amoor, and thence round the shores of the Sea of 
Okhotsk to Kamtschatka in summer; in winter, of the coasts of South China, 
accidentally wandering across country to Burma. Of doubtful specific rank; but 
appears constantly to differ from the Common Oyster-catcher in having much 
less white on the quills, the white on the outer web of the primaries beginning 


eager 


spat 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 123 


on the sixth feather instead of on the third, and on the inner web commencing 
on the second feather instead of on the first; more variable characters are, 
in adults, the upper tail coverts tipped with black, and slightly longer bill. The 
young of the Common Oyster-catcher have the longest upper tail coverts tipped 
with black and buff. This race should be looked for, especially in autumn, on 
the British coasts. H. longirostris, an inhabitant of the coasts of New Zealand, 
Tasmania, Australia, and the southern shores of New Guinea. Distinguished by 
its white rump and absence of white from the primaries. 


Habits.—Although the Oyster-catcher is met with on the banks of inland 
waters, and even breeds in such localities, its true home is the sea-shore. 
Here it prefers a rocky coast, which is varied here and there with long reaches 
of sand and shingle, and broken with quiet bays and creeks and lochs where 
a considerable amount of beach is uncovered at low water. It is also partial 
to low, rocky islands and headlands where there is a beach. It is one of the 
wariest birds of the shore, seldom allowing a near approach, unless stalked with 
scrupulous care and patience. As it is regular in its flights to certain feeding 
grounds, which are visited as soon as the rocks and beach begin to be exposed by 
the receding tide, it may be waited for with advantage by the gunner stationed in 
a suitable spot. During high water, especially in localities where there is little 
beach, it spends the time between the tides on small islands, and even on rocks sur- 
rounded by the sea. Even during summer the Oyster-catcher is somewhat 
sociably inclined ; but in winter, when many of the birds draw southwards, it 
often forms into flocks, which roam the coasts for miles in quest of food. In 
autumn its numbers are increased by migrants from Continental Europe, and it 
is often caught in the flight nets on the Wash during October. The Oyster- 
catcher may be watched running and walking very daintily about the sands and 
over the seaweed-covered rocks, sometimes wading through the shallows, but it 
never appears to swim unless wounded. The long, chisel-shaped beak is thrust 
into the crevices of the rocks or probed into the sand in quest of prey, and the 
limpets, tightly as they cling to the rocks, are wrenched off with ease. The 
Oyster-catcher is much attached to its mate, and I have seen it fly round and 
round above a fallen companion in a touching manner. The flight of this 
bird is rapid and powerful, full of impetuous dash, performed by quick and 
regular strokes of the long wings, but sometimes before alighting the bird 
skims along for a few yards on stiff and motionless pinions. Its actions in the 
air are often erratic, the flight being full of sudden turns and twists. The 
note of the Oyster-catcher is characteristic, and cannot readily be confused 
with that of any other species on the coast. It is a loud, shrill heep-heep heep, 
usually uttered by the bird during flight, often as it rises in haste from the beach, 
and alarming all other fowl within hearing. I have often had a long, patient 
stalk after Curlew, spoiled, just when success seemed certain, by the warning pipe 


124 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


of the Oyster-catcher. The food of this bird is principally mussels, whelks, 
limpets, annelids, crustaceans, and small fish, but the tender buds and shoots 
of various marine plants are also eaten. Its flesh, as I can testify, is not at all 
unpalatable, especially to a hungry sportsman amidst the wilds of the Outer 
Hebrides. 


Nidification.—The flocks of Oyster-catchers begin to disband in March, 
early in April the birds are paired, and by the beginning of May eggs may be 
found, although laying does not become general until towards the end of that 
month or early in June. Its breeding places are shingly beaches, low islands, 
and rock-stacks. The nest, when on the beach, is just above high-water mark, 
often in the line of drifted rubbish cast up by unusually high tides. Several 
nests.are often made by the bird before it is satisfied. I have seen as many as 
half a dozen of these mock nests within a few yards of the one that contained 
the eggs. The nest scarcely deserves the name, as it is only a little hollowin the 
shingle, in which small pebbles and bits of broken shells are smoothed into a 
bed for the eggs. Sometimes the eggs are found deposited ona heap of drifted, dry 
sea-weed. Various curious sites, however, have been recorded, they having been 
found in a deserted nest of a Herring Gull, in a meadow far from the sea, and in a 
cavity at the top of afelled pine tree. I have seen them at the top of rock-stacks 
fifty feet above the water, also amongst boulders in a little bay, and in the cliffs which 
could only be reached with a boat. The eggs are usually three in number, some- 
times four, and exceptionally only two. They are pale buff in ground-colour, 
blotched, spotted, and streaked with blackish-brown, and underlying markings of 
grey. They measure on an average 2°2 inches in length by 1°5 inch in breadth. 
Both parents attend the young, but the female incubates the eggs, the period 
being from twenty-three to twenty-four days. One brood only is reared in the 
season, but if the first eggs are taken another clutch will be laid. The male gives 
warning to the female of the approach of danger, and she leaves her eggs at once 
to the safety ensured by their protective colour. The old birds become noisy 
when their breeding grounds are invaded, especially if the young are hatched, 
and no one who has not heard a dozen or more Oyster-catchers screaming 
together overhead can imagine the din these birds can make. The broods and 
their parents seem to keep much together through the autumn and winter. 


Diagnostic characters.—Hematopus, with the lower back, rump, and 
upper tail coverts white, and the white pattern on the primaries well developed on 
the outer webs of the fourth and fifth. Length, 16 to 17 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 125 


Subfamily CHARADRIINAE.—The Typical Plovers. 


The Typical Plovers may be distinguished from other members of the 
CHARADRIID& by their combining a well-marked dertrum to the bill with a 
reticulated metatarsus. The nasal groove does not extend beyond half the length 
of the culmen. Dr. Sharpe, the most recent monographer of the present order, 
divides the present subfamily into no less than twenty-four genera—a multipliation 
of names which assuredly the majority of ornithologists must regret, especially 
as they are founded in many cases upon characters of a very trivial nature. 


Genus AEGIALITIS, or Typical Ringed Plovers. 
Type, ZZGIALITIS HIATICULA. 


AEgialitis, of F. Boie (1822).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by the absence of a hind toe. The wings are long and pointed, the 
first primary the longest; the tail is somewhat rounded and short, not exceeding half 
the length of the wing, and consists of twelve feathers. The metatarsus (longer 
than the middle toe and claw) is reticulated, the lower portion of the tibia devoid 
of feathers. The bill is much shorter than the head, and less than the middle 
toe and claw, slender, and nearly straight to the end of the nasal groove, then 
slightly raised and arched to the tip; nostrils small and linear. Toes three in 
number, pointed forward, the outer and middle toe with little or no web at the base. 

This genus is composed of about twenty species and subspecies, which are 
nearly cosmopolitan. Four species and one subspecies are included as British. 

The Typical Ringed Plovers are dwellers principally on the banks of rivers and 
lakes, although some species also affect the coast. They are birds of rapid and 
sustained flight, and progress on the ground by running and walking with great 
facility. Their notes are shrill and monotonous. They subsist on insects, 
crustaceans, worms, etc. They make no nest, but deposit their pyriform eggs in 
a cavity in the bare ground. These are four in number, and spotted. They are 
monogamous and gregarious, especially in autumn and winter. 


126 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus ANGIALITIS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINZ. 


LITTLE RINGED PLOVER. 


AIGIALITIS MINOR—(Wolf and Meyer). 
Puare XIX. 


Charadrius dubius, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. ii. p. 93 (1786). 


Charadrius minor (Wolf and Meyer), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 128 (1850); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 16 (1885); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 120, pl. 40 (1896). 


€gialitis curonicus (Gmel.), Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 491, pl. 524 (1876); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 262 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895). 


Egialitis minor (Wolf and Meyer), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 229 
(1894). 


Egialitis dubia (Scop.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gr. Brit. iii. p. 162 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. 
B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 263 (1896). : 


Geographical distribution. — British : The Little Ringed Plover is an 
accidental wanderer to England; not known to have visited Scotland or Ireland. 
It has been obtained in Sussex (two examples), Middlesex (two examples), Hants 
(one example), and Scilly Isles (one example). Foreign: Palearctic region from 
Atlantic to Pacific. It breeds throughout Europe and Palearctic Asia south of 
lat. 60°. It is a resident throughout the basin of the Mediterranean, as far 
south as the Great Desert, but a migrant north of that basin and throughout its 
breeding area in Asia, wintering south of the Saharain Africa in the Intertropical 
realm, and in Asia in most parts of the Oriental region; Asia south of the 
Himalayas, and the Malay Archipelago as far east as Borneo. In the Australian 
region it has occurred in Celebes and New Guinea, and it is also an abnormal 
migrant to North America. North of lat. 60°, up to the Arctic circle, it is an 
accidental visitor only. 


Allied forms.—Agialitis minor jerdoni, an inhabitant of Ceylon, India, 
Burma, and Cochin China. Differs from the Little Ringed Plover in having the 
basal half of the lower mandible yellow and the orbits corrugated. It is also a 
smaller bird, 4. placidus, an inhabitant of Mantchooria, Corea, Japan, the valley 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 127 


of the Yangtse and Nepal. Differs from the Little Ringed Plover in being much 
larger (length of wing 54 inches), and in having a more graduated tail (outer tail 
feather ‘5 inch instead of less than ‘25 inch shorter than the middle ones). 


Habits.—-The Little Ringed Plover is not nearly as much a marine species 
as the Ringed Plover, and its haunts are chiefly the banks of rivers and inland 
lakes and pools. It often wanders ‘up rivers great distances inland, and shows 
a special preference for those in which numerous sandbanks occur and where the 
shores are pebble-strewn. Water, however, does not always seem essential to 
this species: it is sometimes met with on dry fallows and desert plains some 
distance from that element. It is a thorough ground bird, and spends most of its 
time running about the gravel and the sand in quest of food. From time to time 
it indulges in short flights, just above the ground or water, which are moderately 
quick, and performed by rapid and regular beats of the long and somewhat arched 
wings. It is said to be more shy than its larger congener, but certainly this is 
not my experience. I met with these charming little birds in the rapidly drying- 
up Oued, at Biskra, on the confines of the Great Desert. It was in May, and all 
were in pairs, apparently for the breeding season. They frequented the pebble- 
strewn dry bed of the river as well as the strips of sand in mid-stream, and I 
repeatedly saw them soaring above scrub-clothed ground at some little distance 
from the actual bed of the stream. The note of the Little Ringed Plover is a 
loud, clear, and somewhat plaintive pee, rendered by Naumann as ded, rapidly 
repeated when the bird is alarmed. In spring, during the pairing season, the 
male also utters a by no means unmusical trill as it soars up like a Lark, and 
gradually descends again. The males I noticed at Biskra kept the air for some 
little time, careering about after they reached the zenith of their flight just as the 
Sky Lark so frequently does. The food of this species is composed largely of 
insects, especially beetles, grubs, and worms. Even during winter this bird is 
never as gregarious as the Ringed Plover, and as often as not is met with alone, 
although others are usually in the immediate neighbourhood. 


Nidification.—The Little Ringed Plover arrives at its European breeding 
grounds in April, but the eggs are seldom laid before the middle or end of May, 
and sometimes not until the beginning of June. The eggs are laid in a little 
hollow in the sand or shingle, which the parent bird scratches out for their 
reception, and no lining ever appears to be inserted. Mr. Abel Chapman states 
that he frequently found the eggs deposited in a slight hollow, scraped in dry 
cattle-droppings. They are four in number, very pyriform, buff in ground-colour, 
speckled and streaked with various shades of brown and ink-grey, most numerous 
on the larger end of the egg. They measure on an average 1°15 inch in length 
by ‘85 inch in breadth. As the watchful, wary parent bird is careful to leave 
them when danger approaches the eggs are difficult to find, bearing, as they do, 


128 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


such a close resemblance to the ground on which they rest. The young soon 
after they are hatched follow their parents in quest of food. If the chicks are 
menaced by danger the old birds often become very demonstrative, and keep up 
an incessant chorus of shrill notes as they fly about the air above the head of the 
intruder until he leaves them in peace. One brood only is reared in the year, and 
the young and their parents keep together for some time after the former can fly. 


Diagnostic characters.— Agialitis, with the outer tail feather less 
than a quarter of an inch shorter than the central ones, the scapulars the same 
colour as the back, and the shaft only of the first primary white. Length, 

* 6°5 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 129 


Family CHARADRITDA. Genus ANGIALITIS. 
Subfamily CH4RADRIINZ. 


GREATER RINGED PLOVER. 
AAGIALITIS MAJOR—(Tristram). 


Charadrius hiaticula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 253 (1766 partim.) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. 
p. 116 (1850 partim). 

Charadrius major, Tristram, fide Gray, Hand-l. B. iii. p. 15 (1871); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 20 (1885). 

€gialitis hiaticula (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. p. 467, pl. 525 (1876 partim); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 257 (1883 partim) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xx. (1891 partim). 

€gialitis hiaticula major (Tristram), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 260 (1894) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 121, pl. 40 (1896). 


ABgialitis hiaticola (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 158 (1896 partim) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 256 (1896 partim). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Greater Ringed Plover is 
widely distributed and resident throughout the British Islands, in many inland 
districts as well as on the sandy portions of the coast. It extends to the Outer 
Hebrides (but not to St. Kilda, as no part of the coast there is suited to its needs), 
the Orkneys, Shetlands, and the Channel Islands. Foreign: The extra-British 
range of this form of Ringed Plover appears to be very restricted so far as can at 
present be determined, the bird being confined to the adjoining coasts of France 
and Holland. Further research may probably show it to be an inhabitant of all 
the coasts of the North Sea. 


Allied forms.— £gialitis hiaticula, the small race, which will be treated 
of in the following chapter. The Greater Ringed Plover is, in its typical form, a 
much more robust bird, and has the upper parts paler in colour. The wings on 
an average are longer (5°5 to 5‘0 inches instead of 5°2 to 4°8 inches). As may be 
remarked from these figures, the two races completely intergrade. Atgialeus 
semipalmatus, an inhabitant in summer of Arctic and Subarctic America, from 
Greenland to Alaska, and the north-eastern coasts of Asia, and in winter of 
tropical America. As this bird is found at least as far south as Patagonia, it may 
prove another example of a species with an equatorial winter base migrating north 
and south to breed in the temperate and polar regions of the Northern and 
Southern hemispheres, Although the bird is generically distinct from both races 
of the Ringed Plover because of the web between the outer and middle toes 
es to the second joint, its great resemblance in every other external 


130 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


aspect to its old-world allies should make examination of the feet of all Ringed 
Plovers killed on our coasts imperative, as it is more than probable that the 
Semipalmated Plover occasionally visits the British Islands, especially in autumn. 


Habits.—The most usual haunts of the Greater Ringed Plover are the 
sandy coasts, although exceptionally it frequents, especially during the breeding 
season, the shores of some inland lakes, as well as warrens and dunes at some 
considerable distance from the sea. It is, however, a bird of the sand and 
a bird of the coast. It is especially attached to the low coasts, not the mud- 
flats, but the long broad reaches of sand and shingle, and to these haunts it keeps 
throughout the year. This active little bird is incessantly in motion, but, pro- 
vided due care be exercised, will admit of a sufficiently close approach to observe 
its every action with ease. It runs with great speed across the wet sands just 
out of the reach of the waves, picking here and picking there, now pausing a 
moment, then darting forward to probe into the soft brown sand in quest of prey. 
It follows the retreating waves, and searches the wet foam-flecked sand, and 
again runs shorewards as each succeeding wave breaks upon the beach. It 
is most attached to its feeding grounds; and in autumn and winter, when the 
birds have taken up their residence on some particular stretch of sand, they 
may be fired at repeatedly, always flying out to sea for a little way, and 
returning inshore to another part of the sand. As they fly in a more or less 
compact bunch a chorus of double notes is uttered, and the moment they alight 
they begin searching for food as if they had never been disturbed. Sometimes 
in inland localities this bird may be seen running along the tops of walls, or even 
on weirs and sluices. The flight of this Plover is rapid, and performed by quick 
and regular beats of the wings. It usually flies along at no great distance from 
the ground or water, but when seriously alarmed often mounts up to a good 
height. Sometimes a flock will perform various graceful evolutions in the air, 
turning and twisting with as much precision as though moved by a common 
impulse. When just about to alight, the wings are frequently held stiff and 
arched, the bird skims along for a little way, and often the pinions are held 
open for a short time after it has alighted. Ihave often marked the reluctance 
of this bird to take wing, as it ran before me until absolutely compelled to rise, 
The alarm note of the Ringed Plover is a loud shrill too-it, quickly repeated, but 
the call-note is a rather harsh twrr. During the pairing season this double note 
as the bird rises and falls in the air is often repeated so quickly as to become a 
not unmusical trill. ‘This bird feeds principally upon small sand-worms, shrimps, 
sand-hoppers, and the inhabitants of tiny shells. It also eats many insects, and 
I have taken the remains of vegetable substances from its stomach. Throughout 
the year the Ringed Plover is decidedly social, and in autumn and winter congregates 
into flocks of varying size. It frequently associates during the latter periods with 
Sanderlings and Dunlins, and I have also remarked that during high water the flock 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 131 


often visits the higher banks of shingle, and remains almost stationary until 
the tide begins to ebb. Young and old flock together during autumn and winter. 


Nidification.—Rarly in April the flocks of Ringed Plovers begin to 
disband and disperse over the breeding grounds, although the eggs are not laid 
until May or early June. Many pairs may often be found breeding in one 
locality. The majority of the birds stick to the sandy stretches of coast during 
the summer, but others retire to the banks of inland waters, and sometimes the 
nest is made at a considerable distance away from water. The nest is nothing but a 
little hollow in the sand, and very often even that slight provision is dispensed 
with, and the eggs rest upon the flat surface. They are always laid well above 
high water mark, and, as a rule, on the fine sand rather than on the coarser 
shingle. Several nests may be found quite close to each other. The eggs 
are four in number, pale buff in ground-colour, spotted with blackish-brown and 
ink-grey. The markings are generally very small and evenly distributed, although 
sometimes most numerous and largest on the big end of the egg. They measure 
onan average 1:4 inch in length by 10 inch in breadth, and are pyriform in shape 
and smooth in texture. One brood only is reared in the year, but if the first clutch 
be removed others will be laid. I have taken the eggs of this species towards 
the end of June: other naturalists have found them as late as the beginning 
of August. The bird sits little during the day, especially if the sun be shining 
brightly ; and when the breeding grounds are invaded by man the parent Plovers 
manifest little concern, as if fully conscious that the highly protective colours of 
the eggs will shield them from harm. Incubation lasts from twenty-one to 
twenty-three or even twenty-four days. When the young are hatched, however, 
the old birds become much more anxious, and strive by various artifices to lure 
an intruder away from their helpless offspring. The broods frequent the shingle 
more than the sand, and are adept at hiding themselves when threatened by 
danger. We may here call attention to a statement made in some recent works 
on ornithology claiming the authority of personal observation, to the effect that 
Plovers of various species frequently indulge in alluring actions to draw a human 
intruder from the vicinity of their eggs. So far as our experience extends they 
rarely, if ever, do this, but leave their eggs to that protection which their harmony 
of colour with surrounding objects affords, and reserve their feigned lameness 
and other wiles to divert attention from their helpless young. Certain Sandpipers, 


however, unquestionably seek to lure an intruder from their eggs by these 
artifices. 


Diagnostic characters.—Agialitis, with the underparts white, except 
the lores, and a dark breast band (black in adult male, brown in female and 
young), with the central half of the outer webs of the innermost primaries white, 


and the base of both mandibles orange yellow. Length of wing, 57 to 5:0 
inches. Total length, 8 inches. 


132 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus ANGIALITIS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINZA. 


RINGED PLOVER. 
AKGIALITIS HIATICULA—(Linneus). 


Charadrius hiaticula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 253 (1766 partim) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. 
p. 116 (1850 partim); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 20 (1885). 

Egialitis hiaticula (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. p. 467, pl. 525 (1876 partim); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 257 (1883 partim); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xx (1891 
partim) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 227 (1894). 

Egialitis hiaticola (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 158 (1896 partim) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 256 (1896 partim). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The small, dark race of the 
Ringed Plover appears only to pass the British Islands on migration, although 
there is some confirmatory evidence that a few pairs remain to breed on the 
coasts of Kent and Sussex. During passage in spring (May and June) and 
autumn (August, September, and October) it frequents most parts of the British 
coasts suited to its requirements, and often follows the course of rivers for con- 
siderable distances inland, and visits sheets of water far from the coast. Foreign: 
Western Palearctic region and North-eastern portion of Nearctic region. It 
breeds in Cumberland Bay, on the American coast of Davis Strait ; on the coasts 
of Greenland up to lat. 79°; in Iceland, Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, and probably 
Franz Joseph Land. In summer it is found in suitable districts throughout 
Europe north of the Alps, and breeds in Madeira, the Canaries (although Mr. 
Meade Waldo records it as passing on migration only), and North Africa ; whilst in 
winter it is found almost everywhere in the latter continent : although in the south 
of that continent the explanation of this may be that a second set of individuals 
migrate south from the tropics to breed, and are not northern individuals atall. In 
Asia it is found in summer as far east as the Taimur Peninsula* in the north, 
and Lake Baikal in the south, and breeds in Turkestan and Western Siberia. 
The Asiatic birds pass south-west, by routes hitherto undiscovered, to the basin of 


* By some authorities this species is said to range east to Behring Straits, but the evidence is not 
satisfactory, A2gialeus semipalmatus probably being mistaken for it. There can also be little doubt that 
the Ringed Plover breeding in the extreme south of Greenland is Egialeus semipalmatus. The Nearctic 
breeding range of the Ringed Plover requires much more careful definition, Possibly the bird may be a 
Circumpolar one during summer, and confined to the Old World during winter. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 133 


the Mediterranean and Africa to winter. Von Heuglin is of opinion that the 
Ringed Plover breeds on the coasts of the Red Sea; Gould says that he received 
an example from Australia ; and some writers have asserted that the bird occasion- 
ally visits Northern India. All these statements require confirmation. 


Allied forms.— Zgialitis major, and Agialeus semipalmatus. For par- 
ticulars of which see preceding chapter. 


Habits.—The habits of the small race of the Ringed Plover are not known 
to differ in any important respect from those of its largerally. It is a rather late 
migrant, probably because it spends the summer in the Arctic regions, where the 
season is later than in more southern latitudes. It is said to leave its winter 
quarters in Africa during April and May, and to pass along our coasts during May 
and the beginning of June. Many birds cross Continental Europe and Western 
Asia, following the great river valleys to and from the Arctic haunts. In 
the valley of the Petchora Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown noted the arrival 
of the Ringed Plover at Ust Zylma on the 26th of May, about a week after 
the ice on the great river began to break up and midsummer had suddenly 
displaced midwinter. Further east, in the valley of the Yenisei, the bird appears 
to be a little later, and Mr. Seebohm did not observe it until the 8th of June. 
Nearly ten degrees further north it is probably later still in its arrival. This race 
is said to migrate in flocks which do not mix with the larger form. It frequents 
the banks of rivers, sandbanks, and the margins of lakes, as well as the flat, sandy 
coasts. Itis not known to differ from the larger race in the manner of its flight, 
its food, or its notes. The southern migration commences at the end of August, 
and lasts until October. 


Nidification.—The small race of Ringed Plover is not known to differ in 
any respect from its larger ally in the matter of its nesting arrangements. Of 
course, this may be owing to the neglect of observers, who, having the means of 
studying this portion of its economy, have confused the two races. It is a rather 
remarkable fact that Colonel Feilden found a nest of this race lined with the green, 
fleshy leaves and stems of Atriplex littoralis, a fact which suggests, if it does not 
actually prove, a difference of habit. It may be that in the high north some sort 
of lining is added to the sandy nest for the purposes of warmth. The eggs of this 
race are four in number, and although they do not differ in colour they are 
constantly and very perceptibly smaller. One brood only, it appears, is reared in 
the year, and as soon as the young can fly the short, hot Arctic summer is well- 
nigh waning, and the southern migration begins. 


Diagnostic characters.— Agialitis, with the upper parts slightly darker 
than those of the preceding race, otherwise the characters (excepting the following) 
are the same :—length of wing, 5:2 to 4'8 inches ; total length, 7 inches. 


134 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDZ. Genus ANGIALITIS. 
Subfamily Cy4aRADRIINZE. 


KENTISH PLOVER. 
AEGIALITIS CANTIANUS—(Latham). 


? Charadrius alexandrinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 258 (1766). 


Charadrius cantianus (Latham), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 125 (1852) ; Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 25 (1885); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 122, pl. 40 (1896). 

€gialitis cantianus (Latham), Dresser, b. Eur. vii. p. 483, pl. 523 (1876); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 267 (1883); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 259 (1893) ; 
Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (18965). 

€gialitis alexandrina (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 166 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 275 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Kentish Plover is one of the 
most local of British birds, its only known breeding places being upon the sandy 
portions of the coasts of Kent and Sussex. Even here the greed of collectors is 
rapidly exterminating it as a nesting species. It is a summer visitor to the 
British Islands, and has occurred accidentally only in all districts except the two 
above mentioned. It has been observed on the east coast of England as far 
north as Flamborough, and on the south coast as far west as Cornwall. It is 
unknown in Scotland, and of very rare occurrence in Ireland. It breeds freely 
upon the Channel Islands. Foreign: The Kentish Plover breeds only upon the 
coasts and salt lakes of the Palearctic region; Ethiopian and parts of the 
Oriental regions in winter. It is a summer visitor to the coasts of Western 
Europe from the south of Sweden to France, but rare on the Baltic coasts. It is 
a resident on the coasts and lagoons of the Spanish Peninsula, the Azores, 
Canaries, Madeira, and both the north and south coasts of the Mediterranean. 
Eastwards it visits in summer the salt marshes of South Russia, the shores of 
the Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas, the salt lakes of Turkestan, South Dauria, 
and Mongolia. The migratory European individuals winter on the coasts of 
Africa, south to the Intertropical realm ; whilst the migratory Asiatic individuals 
winter on the Mekran coast, in India, Ceylon, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, 
China, and Japan. 


Allied forms.—Zgialitis minutus, an inhabitant, so far as is at present 
known, of the southern shores of the Red Sea and Ceylon. Differs from 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 135 


the Kentish Plover in being smaller, and in having paler legs. Length of 
wing 4:2 to 3°7 inches, instead of 4°5 to 4°1 inches. A. dealbatus, a resident 
on the coast of South China, Hainan, and Formosa. Differs from the Kentish 
Plover in being a little larger, and in having pale instead of black legs, although 
the latter is said not to be a constant character. Both these races more or less 
intergrade, and can only be regarded as subspecifically distinct from the Kentish 
Plover. 4. nivosus, resident on the shores of Great Salt Lake and the adjoining 
coast of California (from about lat. 40°), southwards along the Pacific coasts to 
Chili. Differs from the Kentish Plover in having pale legs and white lores. It 
is also on an average a smaller bird (wing 4°4 to 4:0 inches). 


Habits.—The Kentish Plover is even more attached to the sand than the 
Ringed Plover, and is rarely, if ever, found far from salt water, either on the shores 
of the sea or estuaries, or on the banks of salt lakes at considerable distance 
inland. The few birds of this species that breed on our islands arrive in their 
accustomed haunts towards the end of April or the beginning of May, and although 
odd birds have been picked up during winter, the main number begin to retire 
again south in August, the migration lasting into the first half of September. 
Its haunts in our islands are certain favoured sandy beaches, where the fine sand 
is varied with patches of coarser shingle and strewn with pebbles. In its habits 
it does not differ in any remarkable manner from the Ringed Plover, and searches 
for its food on the margin of the waves, running quickly about the wet sands, 
and occasionally wading for a little way into the receding waves in chase of a 
crustacean or sand-hopper. Even during the summer it is by no means unsociable, 
and gathers into small parties to feed. It is also by no means a shy bird during 
the breeding season, and permits a close approach, especially when its eggs are 
laid. Its flight is rapid, and very similar to that of the Ringed Plover. It also 
possesses the same habit of gliding along before alighting, with wings held arched 
and rigid, and, like that species, frequently elevates its wings as it runs, both 
before and after flight. Its alarm note is a shrill, harsh ptirr; but. the usual call- 
note is a sharp, clear whit, which during the pairing season is uttered by the 
male so quickly as to form a trill as the bird soars and flies round and round above 
his mate. The food of the Kentish Plover consists of sand-worms, crustaceans, 
mollusks, and insects. Much of this is sought amongst the drift near high-water 
mark as well as near the ebbing or flowing tide. 


Nidification.—soon after its arrival at its breeding grounds the Kentish 
Plover begins nesting, and the eggs are laid by the end of May, or, at latest, the 
beginning of June. This species makes no nest beyond merely scraping a little 
hollow in the sand or shingle, although it is said the eggs are sometimes laid on 
dry, drifted seaweed, above the usual high-water mark. Numbers of nests may 
be found quite close together, especially in places where the bird is common. 


136 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


The eggs are usually three, but in some cases four, in number, various shades of 
buff in ground-colour, spotted, scratched, and blotched with blackish-brown and 
slate-grey. The scratchy character of the markings on the eggs of this species is 
noteworthy. The eggs measure on an average 12 inch in length by ‘9 inch in 
breadth. The sitting bird usually receives timely notice of the advance of an 
enemy, and slips quietly off the nest, leaving the eggs to the protection their 
colours ensure, for they resemble most closely the ground on which they rest. 
When the young are hatched the parents become more demonstrative, and 
seek by various antics to lure an intruder away. It is said that the eggs are 
sometimes nearly buried in the sand, but whether for warmth or concealment it 
is difficult to say. Dr. Sharpe, who has had an enviable experience of this rare 
bird, thus writes respecting the young :—‘‘I have, however, captured several 
nestlings by resting my head on the shingle, when the little creatures become 
distinctly visible against the sky-line as they run along with wonderful swiftness 
for such tiny objects. I could never bring myself to kill any of these fluffy little 
balls of down, with their great dark eyes and abnormally long legs ; and, later in 
the autumn, I have been rewarded by seeing flocks of Kentish Sand Plovers 
feeding on the green herbage which skirts the harbours after the tide has receded. 
I once saw, from behind my shelter of a mud-bank, more than forty of these 
pretty birds feeding on the green moss near Romney Hoy, and a more interesting 
sight can scarcely be imagined.” As will be seen from the foregoing particulars, 
the Kentish Plover becomes gregarious in autumn, as so many other kindred 
species do. One brood only is reared in the year, and young and old keep in 
company until the time of departure south. 


Diagnostic characters.—Zgialitis, with the nuchal collar white, a 
dark patch on the sides of the breast, but not extending round the neck, and with 
a white patch on the central portion of the shaft of the third primary. Legs 
black. Length, 6 to 7 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 137 


Genus OXYECHUS, or Wedge-tailed Ringed Plovers. 
Type, OXYECHUS VOCIFERUS. 


Oxyechus, of Reichenbach (1852).—The birds comprising the present 
genus are characterised by having two dark bands separated by a white one across 
the breast, an exceptionally long and wedge-shaped tail, more than half the 
length of the wing—and the inner web of the two outermost tail feathers crossed 
with one or more dark bands. The hind toe is absent ; the metatarsus is moderate 
in length, never exceeding twice the length of the culmen. The wings are 
long and pointed. 

This genus contains four species, confined to the Ethiopian region and the 
Nearctic and Neotropical regions. Three of these are residents in the former, 
and one other is distributed over the two latter. The New World species is a 
very rare abnormal migrant to the British Islands. 

The Wedge-tailed Ringed Plovers are dwellers on the banks of inland rivers 
and lakes, salt swamps, and inland tidal flats, rather than on coasts, although 
they appear on the latter to some extent. They resemble the Ringed Plovers in 
their habits, food, flight and general movements, and are in fact very closely 
allied to those birds. Three of the species are sedentary, but the fourth—the 
New World representative of the genus—is migratory. Their nests are little more 
than hollows in the ground, and their eggs are double-spotted. So far as is 
known they are monogamous and gregarious, especially during the non-breeding 
season. 


138 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRITDAL. Genus OXYECHUS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINZE. 


KILLDEER PLOVER. 


OXYECHUS VOCIFERUS—(Linneus). 
Pratt XIX. 


Charadrius vociferus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 253 (1766); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iu. 
p. 28 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 123, pl. 39 (1896). 

Egialitis vocifera (Linn.), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 266 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xxv (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 226 (1894). 


Oxyechus vociferus (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 155 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 242 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : Two instances of the occur- 
rence of the Kildeer Plover have been recorded, one of which must be viewed 
with the greatest doubt. This latter concerns an example which was said 
to have been killed in April, 1857, near Christchurch, in Hampshire (Sclater, 
Ibis, 1862, p. 275). A second example appears to be genuinely British. It was 
shot by Mr. Jenkinson on the 15th of January, 1885, at Tresco, in the 
Scilly Islands, and was identified by Mr. Howard Saunders (Zoologist, 1885, 
p. 118.) Incidentally we may remark that on the 7th of September, 1898, 
we flushed an example of the Killdeer Plover on Paignton Sands. The 
bird rose at our very feet, and we had ample opportunity of fully identifying 
this characteristically marked species. It was not obtained, and its record, 
of course, is worthless from a strictly scientific point of view. Foreign: 
Nearctic region, and parts of the Neotropical region in winter. It breeds 
throughout the United States, north to South Canada, and on the plains 
of the Saskatchewan. It is a resident in the Southern States and California, but 
migratory in the north, passing the Bermudas on abnormal migration, and win- 
tering in the West Indies, Mexico (where a few remain to breed), Central America, 
and South America, as far south as the Intertropical realm (Colombia and Peru). 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to require notice, the 
three other species all being inhabitants of Africa. 


Habits.—In many parts of its range the Killdeer Plover is sedentary, but 
in the colder portions it is more or less migratory, although it often lingers even 
in them until late in the autumn, and appears again very early in the following 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 139 


spring. It differs very considerably, however, from the Ringed Plover in the 
choice of a haunt, shunning the sea coasts almost entirely, and, like the 
Dotterel, living in inland districts, on the banks of lakes, pools, and rivers, and in 
swamps. It may be sometimes met with near brackish back-waters and lagoons; 
but the open sandy coasts appear to have no attraction. The flight of this species 
is rapid, performed by regular and quick beats of the wings; but sometimes the 
bird holds its pinions arched and stiff and skims for some distance. It also 
frequently keeps them elevated for a second or so after it has alighted, and some- 
times unfolds them when in the act of running. It is said to frequent fallows 
and grass lands in search of food, and not unfrequently to wade into the water 
for a little distance when running quickly round the margin with bobbing head 
and flicking tail. The food of the Killdeer Plover consists of insects, worms, and 
crustaceans, and the bird may sometimes be noticed following the plough and 
searching the newly-turned earth for these creatures. Its note is a loud, clear, 
whistling ¢iit-tit-tiit, which probably becomes a trill during the pairing season, 
and is drawn out into too-it, something like that of our Ringed Plover, when the 
bird is alarmed. This latter has been likened to the syllables kill-dee (the dee 
often repeated singly several times in succession), whence the English name of 
the bird has been derived by American sportsmen, who are apt to dislike the 
Killdeer because its shrill note often disturbs more important game. It is said to 
be a very noisy bird, especially if much disturbed or threatened by danger. In 
autumn the Killdeer Plover becomes more gregarious, migrates in companies, it 
is said generally at night and often at a great altitude, and spends the winter in 
flocks of ‘varying size, just as our own Ringed Plovers do. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Killdeer Plover varies a good 
deal, according to the latitude of the nesting grounds. In southern haunts the 
beginning of April appears to be the time; in the central portion of its distribu- 
tion not until May; whilst at the northern limits of its summer range breeding 
does not commence until June. The nest is merely a hollow in the ground, lined 
with a few bits of dry grass or other herbage, but in many cases even this slight 
provision is omitted. The eggs are four in number, pale buff in ground-colour, 
blotched and spotted with blackish-brown, and underlying markings of brownish- 
grey. They measure on an average 1°6 inch in length by 1:1 inch in breadth. 
Both parents assist in hatching the eggs, and become demonstrative when 
the young are hatched, feigning lameness, and trying to lure the intruder away by 
cunning devices. One brood only appears to be reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Ozxyechus, with the lower back, rump, and 
upper tail coverts chestnut-buff. Length, 9 to 10 inches. 


140 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus OCHTHODROMUS, or Red-breasted Ringed Plovers. 
Type, OCHTHODROMUS WILSONI. 


Ochthodromus, of Reichenbach (1852).—The birds comprising the present 
genus are characterised by having a chestnut band across the breast, mixed with 
black in O. wilsoni, and the culmen about equal in length to the middle toe and 
claw. The hind toe is absent. The wings are long and pointed. The birds 
forming this genus are obviously closely allied to the typical Ringed Plovers, but 
they are all larger, and have a much stouter bill. 

This genus contains eight species and races, distributed over most parts of the 
world with the exception of Western Europe, Western Africa, the southern limits 
of South America, and the Pacific Islands. One species is a very rare abnormal 
migrant to the British Islands. 

The Red-breasted Ringed Plovers are dwellers on sandy plains, grassy uplands, 
the banks of rivers, salt lakes and inland seas, and the coasts of oceans. They 
are birds of rapid and sustained flight, and run and walk with ease. Their 
notes are shrill and monotonous, and they subsist upon insects, crustaceans, sand- 
worms, &c. Their nests are slight, mere depressions in the ground, and the eggs, 
pyriform in shape and three or four in number, are double spotted. They 
are monogamous and gregarious, especially during the non-breeding season. 


ec mc tL TOE TL TCL AIT AL Gee 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 141 


Family CHARADRIIDZ. Genus OcHTHODROMUS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINE. 


CASPIAN PLOVER. 


OCHTHODROMUS ASIATICUS—(Paillas). 
Puate XX. 


Charadrius asiaticus, Pallas, Reis. Russ. Reichs. ii. p. 715 (1773).; Seebohm, Col. 
Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 122 (1896). 

Egialitis asiatica (Pall.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 479, pls. 520, fig. 1, 522 (1878) ; 
Butler, Ibis, 1890, p. 463; Southwell, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1890, p. 461; Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892). 

AEgialophilus asiaticus (Pall.), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 231 
(1894). 

Ochthodromus asiaticus (Pall.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 150 (1896); 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 280 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. — British : At a meeting of the Zoological 
Society on June 17th, 1890, the secretary, Dr. P. L. Sclater, exhibited on behalf 
of Mr. T. Southwell a mounted specimen of the Caspian Plover, the first and 
only example known to have been killed in the British Islands. Mr. Southwell’s 
communication was as follows :—‘‘On the evening of the 23rd May I received 
from Mr. Lowne, of Yarmouth, the fresh skin of a handsome full-plumaged male 
of Aigialitis asiatica, sent me for identification. Subsequently I learned the 
following particulars with regard to this interesting occurrence. During the 
morning of the 23rd of May two strange birds were seen in a large market 
garden bordering on the North Denes, at Yarmouth, which attracted the atten- 
tion of the occupier of the gardens, but he had no opportunity of a shot till 
about 5.30 p.m., when they were on the golf ground which forms a portion of 
the Denes. He tried to get both birds in a line for a double shot; that being 
unsuccessful he selected the brighter of the two, its companion being at the time 
about six yards distant from it. When he fired, the paler bird, presumably the 
female, flew off in a westerly direction and was no more seen. Very shortly 
after the bird was purchased of the shooter by Mr. H. C. Knights, by whom it 
was taken the next morning to Mr. Lowne for preservation, who, as before 
stated, forwarded the skin to me for identification. The weather at the time was 
very warm, and Mr. Lowne, seeing that it was a valuable bird, would not risk 
sending it to me in the flesh ; hence it was that I saw only the skin, but I may 
mention that it had all the appearance of having been very recently removed, and 


142 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


that there were still many living parasites remaining on the feathers. The 
sternum Mr. Lowne sent to Professor Newton. The total length of the bird in 
the flesh was 8 inches and its weight 2}0z. Mr. Knights was good enough to 
give me the first offer of the bird, and through the liberality of some friends of 
the Norwich Museum I was enabled to purchase this latest addition to the many 
local rarities for that institution.” (Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1890, p. 461.) Foreign : 
South central Palearctic region; Ethiopian region in winter. The range of this 
Plover is remarkably restricted, the bird in the breeding season being apparently 
confined to the basins of the Caspian and Aral Seas. It passes Arabia and the 
Upper Nile Valley on migration, and winters in Africa in the Intertropical realm. 
There can be little doubt that this is another species which migrates north and 
south from an equatorial base. That it breeds in South Africa seems to be sug- 
gested by the fact that examples in full breeding dress—dated from November to 
February—have been obtained there, and are now in the National Collection. It 
is also a rare visitor to Western India, and is also a straggler to Heligoland and 
Italy ; whilst an immature bird was taken six hundred miles from land in the 
Indian Ocean. 


Allied forms.—None with which it is likely to be confused. 


Habits.—But little is known of the habits of this Plover; and from the 
few fragments recorded in the [dis and elsewhere I do not find anything of special 
interest. 


Nidification.—aA reputed egg of this species taken on the Kirghiz Steppes 
is described by Mr. Dresser (B. of Europe) as oval and tapering, warm buff, with 
a faint tinge of green in ground-colour, and the spots nearly black. This descrip- 
tion appears to be a doubtful one. Von Middendorff figures an egg of this bird 
in his Reise in Nord. und Ost. Sibiriens, i1., pl. xix., fig. 4. It measures 1:25 inch 
in length by 1:07 inch in breadth. 


Diagnostic characters.—Ochthodromus, with no black markings on 
the head and neck, with the lores white, and the legs and feet pale brown. 
Length, 7°5 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 143 


Genus EUDROMIAS, or Dotterels. 
Type, EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS. 


Eudromias, of Brehm (1831).— Although very closely allied to the birds in 
the preceding genus, the Dotterel presents certain characteristics which to some 
extent warrant its generic exclusion. The single species in the present genus is 
characterised by having the tibia almost entirely feathered, and the culmen less 
than the combined length of the middle toe and claw. The hind toe is wanting 
and the wings are long and pointed. 

This genus contains but a single species which is confined to the Palearctic 
region in summer, and in winter is found also in the Ethiopian portion of the 
Intertropical realm. It is a summer visitor to the British Islands, and passes 
them on spring and autumn migration. 

The Dotterel is an inland species rather than a dweller on the coasts, and in 
its habits and economy closely resembles its allies. Full particulars will be given 
in the following chapter. 


144 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus HUDROMIAS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINAE. 


DOTTEREL. 
EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS—(Linneus). 
PuateE XXI. 


Charadrius morinellus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 254 (1766); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. 
p. 30 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 123, pl. 39 (1896). 

Pluvialis morinellus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 104 (1850). 

Eudromias morinellus (Linn.), Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 507, pl. 526 (1875); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, ili, p. 246 (1883); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 257 (1893) ; 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 152 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. 
p. 234 (1896) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxiv. (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British: In England the Dotterel is 
chiefly met with on spring and autumn passage, more frequently in the eastern 
counties than in the western. A few perlaps may still breed in the Lake District 
and on the Cheviot Hills. Probably it may have formerly bred on some of the 
chalk ranges in the south, but if so it has long ceased todo so. It is of very rare 
occurrence in Wales, but this may probably be owing in a great measure to 
insufficient observation. It is rarer in Ireland than in England, and is not known 
to have nested there. Scotland is its headquarters in the British Islands, and 
there it is said to breed on the hills of Dumfriesshire, on the Grampians in 
North Perthshire, on the borders of Inverness-shire and in Ross and Banffshire. 
It has been found nesting on the Orkneys, but only passes the Shetlands on 
migration. In the west of Scotland it is rare, and has not hitherto been noticed 
in any of the Outer Hebrides. Foreign: Palearctic region during the breeding 
season; western Palearctic region and Ethiopian region in winter only. It 
breeds on the tundras above forest growth across Kurope (including Nova Zembla) 
and Asia; passes Central Hurope (where a few remain to breed on the Alps, in 
Bohemia, in Transylvania, and further north on the mountains of Scandinavia), 
West Siberia, Turkestan, and Persia on migration, and winters in Palestine, 
Egypt, and North-west Africa, although a few remain during that season on the 
northern shores of the Mediterranean. It is an occasional visitor to the Canaries, 
and has been recorded from Japan. 


Allied forms.—Ochthodromus veredus, a somewhat distantly related and 
generically distinct species, which breeds in Mongolia, and winters from Java to 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 146 


Australia. Differs from the Dotterel, amongst other characters, in having a 
white belly in summer plumage, and in its small foot (middle toe without claw 
shorter than bill, and less than half the tarsus.—Seebohm.) 


Habits.—The migrations of the Dotterel are by no means the least 
interesting portion of the bird’s economy. The story of its journeying from North 
Africa to Arctic Europe in the space of a single night is unquestionably the 
wildest of romance. This extraordinary story seems to receive confirmation by 
the fact that during spring, of the tens of thousands of Dotterels that leave 
Africa for the Arctic tundras, comparatively few birds are seen in the intervening 
country, in Central and Southern Europe, but this is unquestionably because 
Dotterels (as well as most, if not all other migrants) are far less prone to alight 
en route in spring, travel quicker, and often at a much greater altitude than they 
do in autumn.* The Dotterel is a late migrant, not reaching our islands until 
the end of April or beginning of May, and the Arctic regions a month or 
more later. The passage south in autumn is undertaken much more slowly, 
beginning in September and lasting in the extreme south of Europe through 
October into November; indeed, an example has been shot in the British Islands 
as late as the 23rd of the latter month. The Dotterel isin no sense a coast bird, 
but loves to haunt the upland fallows, and the bare downs and mountains, and 
rough, barren pastures. In the Arctic region it frequents the tundra—a district 
very similar to our own moorlands, treeless, but covered with a great variety of 
herbs and heaths, shrubs and flowers. All through the summer the Dotterel is 
more or less gregarious, and in autumn and winter becomes especially so. Upon 
its arrival it is one of the tamest of birds, and admits of a very close approach, 
but persecution soon teaches it wariness, Its remarkable trustfulness has gained 
for it the name of “ foolish” Dotterel—the latter word in olden times being the 
equivalent for a ‘foolish, dull person.” The Dotterel spends most of its time on 
the ground, running hither and thither about the rough, hummocky wastes, or 
over the newly-ploughed fields and baredowns. Its rather short neck and plump 
body is apt to lend it the appearance of sluggishness, but when flushed it flies 
rapidly enough, in true Plover style, with quick, regular beats of the long wings. 
Its call-note is a prolonged and plaintive diit, varied sometimes into drr, the two 
occasionally being uttered together as drr-diit. This note in the pairing season 
becomes a trill, but whether uttered by the male or female, or by both, remains to 
be ascertained. The food of the Dotterel consists of insects, worms, and grubs, and 
the tender buds and shoots of plants. In Palestine, Canon Tristram observed 
this species feeding on various species of small white snails. During winter 
the Dotterel often congregates into very large flocks, which frequent the various 
southern steppes and plains, and here they are described as being just as tame as 
in the breeding-places. 


*1(Conf. The Migration of Bivds and The Migration of British Birds.) 
10 


146 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Nidification.—From the nature of the country it frequents the Dotterel is 
a rather late breeder, and even in our islands the eggs are seldom laid before the 
end of May or the first week in June. In higher latitudes they are, of course, 
later still. There is much of interest attached to the nesting of the Dotterel. 
In the first place the hen is larger and more handsomely coloured than the cock,* 
and, as is usual in such very exceptional cases, the male bird not only performs the 
greater part of the duty of incubation, but takes the largest share in the task 
of bringing up the young. The nest is merely a slight hollow amongst the 
moss and lichen or grass near the mountain-tops, or on the open tundra. The 
eggs are invariably three in number, and very handsome objects, varying from 
yellowish-olive to pale buff in ground-colour, richly blotched and spotted with 
dark brown, and, much more sparingly, with slate-grey. They measure on an 
average 1:6 inch in length by 1:1 inch in breadth. Incubation lasts from 
eighteen to twenty-one days. At the nest the old birds are very wary, if some- 
what tame, and run about or fly from place to place, tiring all but the most 
patient watcher, and only returning to the eggs when the intruder is considered 
by the watchful owners to be at a sufficiently safe distance. When the young are 
discovered the parent oftens feigns lameness, and seeks to lure an intruder away 
by various cunning artifices. One brood only is reared in the year. Fresh eggs 
of this species have been found on the Cumberland hills as late as July, probably 
the produce of birds that had lost their first clutch. 


Diagnostic characters.—Eudromias, with the axillaries grey, and the 
bill shorter than the middle toe without the claw. In breeding plumage this 
species is easily recognised by its rich chestnut breast and flanks and black belly. 
Length, 9 inches. 


* This has recently been denied by Dr. Sharpe, who states that the series of skins in the British 
Museum does not confirm the suggestion. Equally good authorities, however, maintain the contrary. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 147 


Genus CHARADRIUS, or Golden Plovers. 
Type, CHARADRIUS PLUVIALIS. 


Charadrius, of Linnezus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the innermost secondaries very long and pointed, and 
the under parts black in breeding plumage. The upper parts are spotted with 
golden yellow at all seasons. The hind toe is absent. The bill is shorter than 
the head, and rather slender; the nostrils are sub-basal and linear. The lower 
portion of the tibia is naked. 

This genus is composed of three species, and is almost cosmopolitan, but the 
species are most abundant in the high northinsummer. One species is acommon 
resident in the British Islands, whilst the remaining two are abnormal migrants 
to them. 

The Golden Plovers are dwellers on mountains, tundras, and plains, as well 
as on the sea coast. They are birds of rapid and prolonged flight, and progress 
on the ground by walking andrunning. Their notes are loud, and not unmusical. 
They subsist on insects, worms, mollusks, small seeds, mountain fruits, and 
shoots of herbage. Slight nests are made on the ground, and their eggs, pyriform 


in shape and four in number, are richly spotted. They are monogamous; social 
in summer, gregarious in winter. 


148 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIID/A.. Genus CHARADRIUS. 
Subfamily CHaRADRIINA. 


GOLDEN PLOVER. 
CHARADRIUS PLUVIALIS.—Linneus. 
Puate XXII. 


Charadrius pluvialis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 254 (1766); Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 435, 
pl. 515, fig. 1 (1871); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 271 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 35 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1891); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Brit. B. p. 255 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 143 (1896) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 124, pl. 389 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. 
Mus. xxiv. p. 191 (1896.) 


Pluvialis aurea (P. L. 8. Miller), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 94 (1852). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Golden Plover breeds 
locally in England south of Derbyshire, and in Wales, in fact it follows the moun- 
tains. A few breed in Devon and Somerset; and on the heights of Breconshire, 
amongst other localities, in the Welsh area. From the moors of North Derby- 
shire and South Yorkshire it becomes more plentiful, and from thence is pretty 
generally distributed in all suitable localities northwards throughout Scotland, 
including the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and Shetlands. It occasionally visits 
St. Kilda. During the winter it is widely dispersed along most of our coast-line 
and in many inland districts. In Ireland it is widely distributed, breeding on 
the moors, and frequenting the coasts in winter. Foreign: It breeds on the 
Faroes and in Iceland, and has occurred on Jan Mayen and Nova Zembla, but is 
erroneously recorded as from Greenland. The principal breeding grounds are the 
Norwegian fells, and the tundras of Northern Russia and Siberia, as far east as 
the valley of the Lena; and it breeds in smaller numbers on the moors of Holland, 
Belgium, and Germany, but to the rest of Central and Southern Europe it is 
known on passage only, a few remaining in these districts to winter. The birds 
that breed on the Siberian tundras pass through Turkestan and Baluchistan on 
migration, a few remaining to winter in the latter country, but the majority 
passing on to spend that season in Africa in the basin of the Mediterranean, the 
grand winter home of this species. It is a regular winter visitor to the Canaries, 


a straggler to Madeira, and occasionally wanders in Africa as far south as Cape 
Colony and Natal. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 149 


Allied forms.—None more closely allied than Charadrius fulvus, and its 
American representative, C. dominicus, treated fully in the two following chapters. 


Habits.—The Golden Plover, like many other birds, is a species that 
changes its haunts according to season. In summer it is an inhabitant of the 
moors and mountain heaths, the rough upland pastures and the tundras; in 
winter it quits these places and takes up its residence on the lowland marshes, 
the pastures and rough saltings near the sea, and the low flat coasts and mud 
banks. For the greater part of the year it is a social bird: even in the breeding 
season I have seen parties of half-a-dozen or so: but towards autumn it becomes 
much more gregarious, and lives in flocks of varying size throughout the winter. 
The flight of this species is rapid and steady, especially during migration, or 
when the bird is passing from place to place, performed by regular and quick beats 
of the wings. This Plover also frequently indulges in various erial evolutions, 
and flocks often assume the shape of a V or a W during flight. Most of its foodis 
obtained during winter on the mud-flats and saltings, and it very often retires to 
some inland spot between the tides to sleep, or to rest and wait until the muds 
are exposed again. Vast flights of Golden Plover—the Plover of the coast— 
make their appearance on our low-lying coasts in autumn, many of which con- 
tinue along our shores and cross the sea again to winter further south, but 
others remain with us for that season. Inno part of the British Islands can the 
migration of this species be better remarked than in the neighbourhood of the 
Wash. For days and nights, about the end of October and early in November, . 
this Plover has been known to fly over from continental Europe in almost one 
incessant stream, the flocks succeeding each other so quickly as to form a nearly 
unbroken throng. This Plover may frequently be noticed in company with 
Dunlins, Lapwings, and Curlews, and occasionally a few Grey Plovers mix with 
them. As its flesh is very palatable great numbers are shot in the autumn and 
winter. It has been repeatedly noticed that just before stormy weather the Golden 
Plover becomes restless and unsettled, and often leaves a district entirely before 
the change arrives. Much of its food is obtained during the night, especially if 
there be a moon, but I do not think it moves much on very dark nights. The 
food of the Golden Plover varies a good deal according to season. In winter it 
consists of beetles, small mollusks, sand-worms, hoppers, and, occasionally, small 
seeds; but in summer, insects and grubs, as well as earth-worms, and towards 
autumn various kinds of ground fruits. In summer this species has been known 
to feed upon the maggots (presumably the larvee of the common blue-bottle) 
infesting a dead sheep. Various vegetable fragments and gravel are also found in 
its stomach. The alarm note of the Golden Plover is a plaintive 6, but the call- 
note is double, and sounds something like klee-wee, sometimes prolonged into 
three syllables, klee-ce-wee. These notes are uttered both on the ground and 
whilst the bird is in the air. During the pairing season the male utters a rather 


150 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


musical trill, a variation of the double or treble call-note. The whistle of this 
Plover is one of the most characteristic sounds of the mud-flats or the moors, 
and on a calm still day may be heard for a very long distance. 


Nidification.—The Golden Plovers begin to retire to their inland breeding 
grounds early in April, and by the end of that month or early in May the eggs 
are deposited. Although the vast flocks soon break up, either before the moors 
are reached or shortly after arrival, the bird continues more or less sociable, and 
many nests may be found within a comparatively small area on suitable ground. 
This species is very conspicuous on the bare moors, and is remarkably fond of 
proclaiming its presence either by standing perched on the top of a little hillock, 
or rising into the air, uttering its piping note the moment its solitudes are invaded 
by man. It is in Spring much more tame than in winter, and often flies up to 
the observer and wheels above his head, or stands quietly watching his approach. 
Before the flocks finally disperse, however, this bird is almost as wary as when 
on the coast. The well-known note sounds near and far, as it is uttered by 
answering birds all over the wilderness, and here, there, and everywhere the 
showy Plovers in their brazen spotted upper plumage and black underparts rise 
and fall in airy grace. The Golden Plover appears to pair annually, and the nest 
is very slight, a mere hollow, scantily lined with a few bits of withered herbage 
peculiar to the moor. It is generally made on a tuft of herbage, or beneath the 
shelter of a clump of cotton-grass, more rarely in barer situations, amongst 
short wiry grass and heath. The eggs are four in number, pyriform, buff of 
various shades in ground-colour, boldly and richly spotted and blotched with 
purplish-brown and brownish-black, and more sparingly with grey. Most of the 
colouring is generally distributed on the larger end of the egg. They measure on 
an average 20 inches in length by 1'4 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in 
the duty of incubation, which lasts sixteen to twenty days. The birds are 
remarkably watchful at the breeding grounds, and the sentinel bird quickly 
conveys the signal of alarm to its mate, which slips quietly off the eggs, and often 
both rise into the air and wheel round and round above them. Sometimes they 
run anxiously to and fro about the moor, occasionally uttering a mournful note ; 
and as soon as the nearly hatched eggs are discovered they commence a series of 
antics to draw all attention upon themselves. When the young are hatched these 
actions are even more demonstrative. The young chicks, clothedin yellow down, 
spotted and blotched with black, are quick to conceal themselves at the ap- 
proach of danger, and remain crouching to the ground, which so closely resembles 


their own protective dress, until all is still and safe again. One brood only is 
reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Charadrius, with all the rectrices barred and 
the axillaries white. Length, 10 to 11 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 151 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus CHARADRIUS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINZ. 


ASIATIC GOLDEN PLOVER. 
CHARADRIUS FULVUS.—Gmelin. 


Charadrius fulvus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p 687 (1788) ; Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 443, 
pls. 516, 517, figs 2, 3 (1871); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 276 (1883); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 40 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 234 
(1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 125, pl. 39 (1896). 


Charadrius dominicus, (P. L. 8. Miiller), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 147 
(1896 partim) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p.195 (1896 partim). 


Geographical distribution.—British : At least two examples of the 
typical Asiatic Golden Plover have been known to occur in the British Islands, 
but one of these is doubtful from the fact of having been obtained in Leadenhall 
Market, a centre to which many Continental examples of waders find their way 
during the season. This—the first reputed British example—was said to have 
been sent with a number of Golden Plovers from Norfolk in December, 1874 
(Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 518). However probable this may be, it was always open 
to the doubt of having been sent from the Continent, and accidentally mixed with 
the Norfolk batch of Plovers. It sufficed, however, to put British naturalists on 
the look-out, and thirteen years later (November 26th, 1887) an example was 
obtained at Stennis, in Orkney, round which no doubt of any kind appears to 
dwell (J. G. Millais, Field, 1887). Foreign: Hastern Palearctic region and North- 
western Nearctic region in summer, Oriental and Australian regions in winter. 
Of accidental occurrence only in Europe and South-west Asia: on Heligoland 
and Malta, in Malaga, Poland, and on the Mekran coast. It breeds on the tundras 
of Kast Siberia from the valley of the Yenisei to the Pacific coast, and in Alaska, 
where Dr. Stejneger says it occupies the whole shore line of Behring Sea. It 
passes through South Siberia, Mongolia, Behring Island, and Japan, on migra- 
tion, to winter in India, Burma Peninsula, China, the Malay Archipelago, 
Australia, New Zealand,* and the Polynesia, but there can be little doubt that 
the individuals visiting the temperate latitudes of the southern hemisphere do so 
to breed, or are abnormal migrants far south of their usual limits. + 

* The Asiatic Golden Plover was discovered breeding on Portland Island, off New Zealand, by Mr. 


Robson, in January, 1883. This is a most interesting and important fact, supporting our suggested new 
Law of dispersal. 


+ Conf. Migration of Birds; p. 218. 


152 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Charadrius pluvialis and C. dominicus, treated in the 
preceding and following chapters. 


Habits.—The habits of the Asiatic Golden Plover are not known to differ 
much from those of its European ally. During summer it is a bird of the 
tundras, the vast expanses of Arctic moors above the limits of forest growth ; 
but in winter it migrates for thousands of miles to the south, and spends that 
season principally on the flat, mud-bound coasts and rough lands near the sea. In 
China, however, Swinhoe observed it frequenting the dry rice fields and sweet 
potato gardens as well as the sea shore ; whilst at its winter quarters in Borneo it 
is said to haunt the places where buffalos wallow, probably for the purpose of 
catching insects and worms. It is equally gregarious and sociable, especially 
during winter, and then consorts with other wading birds; and in Ceylon is 
said to be generally in the company of the Mongolian Red-breasted Ringed Plover. 
Many of its gatherings during winter are of very large dimensions, which 
frequent the muds, whilst smaller parties are said to haunt the bare fields. 
Captain Legge states that in Ceylon, where it is very common during winter, it 
has a habit of running a little distance when approached, then pausing for a 
moment, with its body turned away from the observer and its head twisted on 
one side. If it be still pursued it spreads its wings and runs for a little way, 
then takes flight. A flock when disturbed will frequently fly swiftly towards the 
ground, then rise again. It walks and runs about the ground, and flies in a 
similar manner to the Golden Plover. The note of the Asiatic Golden Plover is 
described by Seebohm as a plaintive kd; the double note is a whistling kl-ee, 
which is sometimes prolonged into three syllables, kl-ee-ké. The food of this 
species consists of various small marine animals, such as mollusks, crustaceans, 


and the like, worms, snails and insects, and probably various ground fruits of the 
tundra. 


Nidification.—By far the best account of the breeding habits of the Asiatic 
Golden Plover is that given by Seebohm, who met with this species and obtained 
its eggs and downy young on the Siberian tundras in the valley of the Yenisei. 
These eggs and nestlings are perhaps the only authentic ones known to science, 
with the exception of the eggs obtained by Mr. H. L. Popham in the same 
area. The earliest examples of this species arrived in the Arctic regions during 
the first week in June, in lat. 663°, and it was observed on the Koorayika 
during its passage north to the tundras. It was not again observed until the open 
tundra was reached in lat. 693°, just beyond the limits of the growth of trees. 
Here the pine trees had disappeared, and the birch trees had become nothing 
more than stunted bushes about a foot high; but the alders and the willows still 
grew luxuriantly on the banks of the great river. The tundra here was hilly, full 
of lakes and swamps, covered with mosses and lichens, here and there varied with 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 153 


bare patches of pebble-strewn ground, and little plains where gay flowers and the 
various fruits of the tundra flourished. A pair of Plovers soon made their appear- 
ance during an excursion on the 14th of July, and after much fruitless watching 
one of them, the male, was shot. The nest was found shortly afterwards 
amongst the moss and lichen, containing the full complement of eggs. At Gol- 
cheeka this Plover is very common, but unfortunately Seebohm was too late 
for eggs (20th of July), and here obtained a nestling only. The nest was merely 
a slight depression lined with broken stalks of reindeer moss. The eggs are 
almost precisely similar to those of the European Golden Plover, but are slightly 
smaller and paler in ground-colour. Those obtained by Seebohm varied from 
1:92 to 1°85 inch in length by 1°32 to 1:27 inch in breadth. In the same valley 
Mr. H. L. Popham found this species more numerous than the Golden Plover, 
and remarked the difference in the note of the two birds, which rendered their 
identification an easy task. The eggs obtained by Mr. Popham varied in length 
from 2°04 to 1°96 inch, and were 1:33 inch in breadth. One brood only is reared 
in the year, and both parents appear to assist in domestic duties. 


Diagnostic characters.—Charadrius, with the rectrices barred, and 
the axillaries smoke-grey. Length of wing, 60 to 6°7 inches. Total length, 
9 inches. 


154 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus CHARADRIUS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINA. 


AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER. 
CHARADRIUS DOMINICUS.—P. LZ. S. Miiller. 


Charadrius dominicus, P. L. 8. Miller, Syst. Nat. Anhang, p. 116 (1776); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii, p. 147 (1896 partim); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. 
p. 195 (1896 parti). 


Charadrius virginicus (Licht.), Gurney, Ibis, 1883, p. 198; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. 
p. 41 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 125, pl. 89 (1896). 


Charadrius fulvus americanus (Schlegel), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. 
B. p. 236 (1894). 


Geographical distribution.—British : Two examples of the American 
Golden Plover have been obtained in the British Islands, although, unfortunately, 
the same remarks apply to one of them as to one of the examples of the Asiatic 
species, viz., that it was obtained in Leadenhall Market (10th of November, 1882) ; 
whence actually obtained, a mystery (Gurney, Ibis, 1883, p. 198). Fortunately a 
second example is much more satisfactory, Mr. J. G. Millais recording (Zoologist, 
1886, p. 26) a specimen obtained in Perthshire on the 38rd of August, 1883. 
There can be little doubt that eventually others will be obtained, now that the 
attention of naturalists and sportsmen is specially drawn to the subject. Foreign: 
Northern Nearctic region and Southern Neotropical region in summer ; Intertropical 
realm in winter. Ofaccidental occurrence only in Europe ; Heligoland (Seebohm, 
Ibis, 1877, p. 165). It breeds in the Arctic regions of North America, above the 
limits of forest growth on the tundras from Alaska to Greenland ; passes Canada, 
the States, Bermudas (abnormally), West Indies, and, in smaller numbers, Cali- 
fornia, on migration, and winters in the Neotropical portion of the Intertropical 
realm. The breeding area of this species in temperate South America is not yet 
determined, but there can be little doubt that the bird migrates southward to nest.* 


Allied forms.— Charadrius pluvialis, and C. fulvus, already treated of 
in the two preceding chapters. 


Habits.—The habits of the American Golden Plover somewhat closely 
resemble those of its Asiatic ally. Mr. E. W. Nelson writes as follows respecting 
the present species during its summer sojourn in Alaska: ‘The males are 
conspicuous objects as they stand like silhouettes, their black and white breasts 
and sides of neck presenting a sharp, clear-cut outline on the brown and grey 

* Conf. The Migration of Birds, p. 218. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 155 


background. At intervals, their clear, mellow, and melancholly note rises for a 
moment, and then the bird apparently sinks into a day-dream, and remains 
motionless for some time, until he is prompted to assure his partner of his presence 
by another call. The male at this season has a brighter plumage than the 
female, and in places little frequented by man he becomes very unsuspicious : 
near villages, however, he is always on the look-out, and is difficult to approach 
even when he is found by his nest. Towards the end of May and during the 
first weeks of June the males utter a clear, rich song, which is frequently heard 
during the twilight of the short Arctic nights. When I was camping at the 
Yukon mouth during the last of May and the first part of June, 1879, these birds 
were scattered all about in the vicinity of the tent, and frequently during the 
middle of the night the song was heard close by, and was exceedingly sweet and 
musical. One night in particular I remember lying awake. listening to the usual 
continuous faint clicking among the disintegrating ice in the river, which seemed 
to make the silence still more marked, when, suddenly, just at the back of the 
tent, arose the clear, plaintive note of the Golden Plover, which may be 
represented by the syllables too-lee-e. Soon after, in the same sweet, musical 
tone, was uttered a marvellously harmonious succession of notes, which I wrote 
down at the time, listening to the song as it was repeated again and again, and 
ascertaining the exact number of syllables. These, I find, are only imperfectly 
represented as follows: Téé-léé-léé, tiu-léé-lee, wit, wit, wit, weé-u% wit, ché lee-a 
too léé-é. The last three syllables are the ones most commonly uttered, serving 
as a call-note; but the song in full is only repeated on special occasions, as 
before remarked, being oftener heard during the still hours of the night than 
during the day, if, indeed, it can be called night when the sun disappears below 
the horizon for little over an hour.” The American Golden Plover occurs on 
migration throughout the Mississippi Valley and Manitoba as well as along the 
coasts, on its way to and from its breeding grounds in the Arctic regions. Its 
northward migration appears to begin in March, and to be continued until 
the first week in May. The southward migration commences as early as the 
middle of July in some years and lasts until the close of October or early in 
November. Further south, Colonel Feilden records some very interesting par- 
ticulars relating to the migrations of the American Golden Plover on the island 
of Barbadoes. He writes,* “ Stragglers arrive as early as July and the beginning 
of August, but the main flights come with the first heavy weather after the 27th 
of August, and long experience and observation proves that this date is kept year 
after year with wonderful accuracy. The course of all the migratory Charadriide 
across Barbadoes in the autumn is from the north-west to south-east, and if the 
wind blows from south-east the birds are brought down to the island, for it 
appears to be a well-established observation that birds prefer migrating with a 
‘beam’ wind. A shift of wind from the north-east, with squally weather to the 


* Ibis, 1589, pp. 490, 491. 


156 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


south-east, is ardently longed for by the Barbadoes sportsmen towards the end of 
August, as this forces the migratory hosts to alight instead of passing over at a 
great height, as they are seen to do when the wind is from the north-east. The 
first arrivals of this species are invariably black-breasted birds, showing that the 
old birds precede the young, and the first comers are nearly all males. The 
young birds without black on the breast appear about the 12th of September, and 
continue to pass till the end of October; sometimes stragglers are as late as 
November.” It is not known that the food of this species differs in any 
important respect from that of the preceding species; whilst the localities it 
frequents are similar, and are inland as well as maritime. 


Nidification.—The American Golden Plover reaches its nesting places on 
the ‘barren grounds” of Arctic America at the end of May or early in 
June. Its nesting habits very closely resemble those of the Asiatic species. 
MacFarlane describes the nest as a mere hollow in the moss or lichen-clothed 
ground, carelessly lined with afew scraps of herbage; whilst Mr. Nelson says it 
is a slight structure lined with dry grass and dead leaves of the dwarf willow. 
The eggs are four in number ; although MacFarlane has recorded an instance in 
which five were found. They so closely resemble those of the Asiatic species 
that a detailed description of them is unnecessary. MacFarlane writes of the 
breeding habits of this Plover as follows* :—‘‘ This beautiful species is very 
numerous in the barren grounds, from the outskirts of the forest to the shores 
of the Polar Sea. The nests were precisely similar to those of C. squatarola. 
They were also as difficult to detect, and for the same reason, a harmonizing 
resemblance of the egg markings to the surrounding soil and a timeous departure 
of the female bird from her nest. In a very few instances where she happened 
to be surprised by a close approach, she would pretend lameness, and flutter 
away from our very feet. On one occasion our party spent half an hour in a 
close but fruitless search, during which the female resorted to various manceuvres 
to hide the nest; but on our withdrawal to a short distance she at last revealed 
it by settling down upon her eggs. I find one hundred and seventy nests 
recorded among my notes. Except when there was reason to believe that the 
full number had not been deposited, four eggs were always met with. In one 
instance, however, there was as many as five, and in another but one, the 
contents of which were found in a well-developed condition. Foxes also destroy 
many eggs and young of this and other species during the season of nidification. 
The frequently varying but sweetly clear and melodious notes of this Plover are 
almost constantly heard whilst traversing their usual breeding grounds.” One 
brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Charadrius, with the rectrices barred and the 
axillaries smoke-grey. Length of wing, 6°8 to 7°5 inches. Total length, 9 to10 
inches. * Proceedings U. S. Nat. Museum, xiv., pp. 429, 430 (1891). 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 157 


Genus SQUATAROLA, or Grey Plovers. 
Type, SQUATAROLA HELVETICA. 


Squatarola, of Leach (1816).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the innermost secondaries very long and pointed, and 
the under parts black in breeding plumage. The upper parts are spotted with 
black and white at the same season. The most characteristic feature is the 
presence of a hind toe. The bill is shorter than the head and rather slender ; 
the nostrils are sub-basal and linear. The lower portion of the tibia is naked. 

This genus is composed of a single species, the range of which is almost 
cosmopolitan, from the Intertropical realm northwards to the Arctic regions. 
It is a well known visitor on spring and autumn migration to the British 
Islands, and some numbers remain to winter. 

The Grey Plovers are dwellers on the open moors, tundras, and barren grounds 
of the high north during summer ; frequenters of the sea coast during winter. They 
are birds of rapid and prolonged flight; upon the ground they progress by 
walking and running. Their notes are loud and musical. Their food consists of 
insects, worms, mollusks, small seeds, mountain fruits, and shoots of herbage. 
Slight nests are made upon the ground, and their richly-marked, double-spotted 
eges are fourinnumber. They are monogamous; sociable in summer, gregarious 
in winter. 


158 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIID. Genus SQUATAROLA. 
Subfamily CHaRADRIINE. 


GREY PLOVER. 


SQUATAROLA HELVETICA.—(Linneus). 
Puate XXII. 


Tringa helvetica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 250 (1766). 
Pluvialis squatarola (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 86 (1852). 


Squatarola helvetica (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 455, pls. 515, fig 2, 517, fig. 2, 
518, fig. 2 (1871); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 278 (1883); Sharpe, Handb. B. 
Gt. Brit. iii. p. 188 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 182 (1896). 


Charadrius helveticus (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ili. p. 44 (1885); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Non.-indig. Brit. B. p. 232 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 126, pl. 39 (1896). 


Squatarola cinerea Fleming ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xviii. (1891). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Grey Plover is most abun- 
dant on autumn passage along the coasts of the British Islands, but numbers 
remain to winter; and in spring a considerable stream of migrants, returning 
north to breed, pass over our shores. It is most abundant on our eastern 
coasts, but smal] numbers regularly visit the west of Scotland. In Ireland 
it is less numerous than in England, and becomes rare on the Outer Hebrides. 
Foreign : Circumpolar in summer; Palearctic, Nearctic (?), Neotropical, Oriental, 
and Australian regions in winter. The only known breeding grounds of the Grey 
Plover are situated on Kolguev Island, in the lower valleys of the Petchora and 
Yenisei, on. the Taimur Peninsula, and the delta of the Lena, in Alaska, on the 
banks of the Anderson River, and on Melville Peninsula, all districts of the 
tundra above the limits of forest growth. It passes Central and Southern 
Europe, the Canaries, South Siberia, Turkestan, Mongolia, Behring Island, and 
Japan on migration, and winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, in Arabia, 
Africa, India, South China, the Malay Archipelago, Australia, New Guinea, and 
the Solomon group and adjacent isles. In the New World it passes the Bermudas on 
abnormal migration, and winters in the West Indies and in South America as 
far south as Peru and Brazil. It has been recorded from Aruba Island, off the 
north coast of Venezuela as late as the 24th of June; whilst in the Old World 
it is recorded from Reunion, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. There is no 
evidence to suggest that this species normally extends in winter beyond the 
limits of the Intertropical realm in either hemisphere. I note that odd individuals 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 159 


are observed practically resident in Tasmania ; but the reader may consult what 
I have already written on the subject of “lost birds” (The Migration of Birds, 
pp. 184, 185). 


Allied forms.—None more nearly related than Charadrius pluvialis 
and C. fulvus, with allied races (generically distinct), all of which have been 
treated of in the preceding chapters. 


Habits.—The Grey Plover is a well-known bird on the British coasts 
between the months of October and May, and although many of the individuals 
that arrive in autumn pass on to more southern lands, a great number remain 
with us for the winter. The young birds mostly are the first to make their 
appearance, sometimes arriving on our coasts with bits of down still adhering to 
their plumage. In August they begin to arrive, and continue to do so into Sep- 
tember, only a few old birds in their company. During October and November 
it is said the great bulk of the old birds arrive. The return migration begins in 
May, and by the end of that month the majority have passed north, although a 
few linger into June, and odd immature non-breeding birds are sometimes met 
with in July. During its sojourn in our islands the Grey Plover is almost 
exclusively confined to the low-lying coasts and salt marshes. It is especially 
fond of the wide expanses of mud at the mouths of rivers. During winter it does 
not appear to gather into such large flocks as the Golden Plover, and may often 
be met with in odd pairs, or in small parties, whilst now and then stray individuals 
attach themselves to flocks of Dunlins, Knots, or other Waders. In its actions 
and flight it very closely resembles its congeners. It feeds much at night, 
especially during moonlight. The food varies according to season, and consists of 
various marine animals found on the shore, and worms, insects, and grubs, and 
probably ground fruits during summer on the tundras. Seebohm describes the 
usual alarm note of the Grey Plover as a long-drawn, plaintive, whistling kép ; 
the call-note, common to both sexes, is a kl-ee or kleep. The bird has also a treble 


note which appears to be a combination of the call and alarm note, sounding like 
kl-ee-kop. 


Nidification.—Previous to 1875 the breeding habits of the Grey Plover 
were but little known, and the bird’s eggs were very rare in collections. The first 
authentic eggs of this species were obtained by the Russian naturalist and traveller, 
Von Middendorff, in 1848, 0n the Taimur Peninsula. In 1864 MacFarlane obtained 
eggs on the tundras near the Arctic Ocean in North America; whilst in 1875 
Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown discovered the breeding grounds of this 
bird in Europe on the tundras above the limit of forest growth, in the valley of 
the Petchora in North-east Russia. Between June the 22nd and July the 12th 
these two naturalists took no less than ten nests of the Grey Plover, and carefully 
identified the parents of each. The nest of the Grey Plover is merely a slight 


160 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


hollow in the moss or lichen-covered ground, into which is placed by way of 
lining a few twigs, scraps of reindeer moss, and other vegetable refuse. The 
hollow of the nest is described as perfectly round and rather deep. The eggs 
are four in number, and intermediate in colour between those of the Golden 
Plover and the Lapwing, being neither quite as olive as the latter nor as buff as 
the former in ground-colour, but the markings are similar in every respect. 
They measure on an average 2'0 inches in length by 1°4in. in breadth. For nesting 
duties the part of the tundra most favoured by the Grey Plover is the flat bog, 
intersected with tussocky ridges. The birds were observed to indulge in rather 
curious flights as they rose from their nests, tossing their wings in the air somewhat 
like the action of a Tumbler Pigeon. After being driven from their home the female 
was generally the first to return, but she invariably came less conspicuously than 
the male. She generally made her appearance on a distant ridge of the tundra, 
then, after looking round her for a short time, she would run quickly to the next 
ridge, and again look round, calling at intervals to her mate with a single note. 
To this, however, the male was observed seldom to reply, but when he did so it 
was with a double note. .After the female had run about thus for some time the 
male began to move, but he generally joined his mate by boldly flying up to her. 
On the other hand the female rarely took to her wings. She was very cautious, 
and passed and repassed her nest several times, until she finally settled upon it. 
All the time that the nest was being watched the female was restless and ran 
about a good deal, but the male generally remained stationary on a hillock or 
a ridge, apparently watching the movements of his mate. When the young are 
hatched the old birds perform various alluring antics to try and draw an 
intruder away. Seebohm gives a very remarkable instance of a female Grey Plover 
dropping as if dead after being fired at, but when he was about to pick her up she 
flew away, apparently uninjured. One brood only is reared in the season. Since 
1875 the eggs of the Grey Plover have been taken on the island of Kolguev, in 
1895, by the Messrs. Pearson, who obtained seven clutches. They remarked 
that the birds did not nest in close company, each pair appearing to take possession 
of about a mile of country. During the same summer Mr. H. L. Popham 
made the very interesting discovery that the Grey Plover bred in the valley of the 
Yenisei, and he obtained four nests near Golchika. 


Diagnostic characters.—Squatarola, with the axillaries black, and a 
small hind toe. Length, 11 to 12 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 161 


Genus VANELLUS, or Typical Lapwings. 
Type, VANELLUS CRISTATUS. 


Vanellus, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the innermost secondaries broad and rounded at the 
tips, and the rectrices with broad white bases succeeded by a black subterminal 
band, broken on the outermost feathers. The hind toe is present. The tail is 
moderately long and nearly square. The bill is typical in shape; nostrils placed 
In a deep groove. 

This genus is composed of two species, confined to the Palearctic and Oriental 
regions, and the north-eastern portion of the Ethiopian region. Both species are 
British, one a common resident in and the other a very rare straggler to our 
Islands. 

The Lapwings are dwellers on the open plains, birds of the moors and 
commons, fields and downs, but are more maritime during winter. They are 
birds of somewhat slow and irregular flight, and progress on the ground by 
running or walking. They are somewhat nocturnal in their habits. Their notes 
are shrill and plaintive. They subsist on worms, mollusks, insects, larve, &c. 
They make scanty nests on the ground, and their eggs, pyriform in shape and 
four in number, are richly spotted. They are monogamous; and more or less 
gregarious, and sociable always. 


11 


162 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus VANELLUS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINA. 


LAPWING. 


VANELLUS CRISTATUS.—Wolf and Meyer. 
Pratz XXIII. 


Tringa vanellus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 248 (1766). 


Vanellus cristatus Wolf and Meyer, Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 1383 (1852); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 57 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 253 (1898) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 126 pl. 40 (1896). 

Vanellus vulgaris Bechstein, Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 545, pl. 531 (1875); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 283 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891). 


Vanellus vanellus (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 170 (1896); Sharp, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 166 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Lapwing is widely and 
generally distributed throughout the British Islands, in all suitable districts 
including the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. It is commonest in 
Scotland and Ireland, and more widely spread in winter than in summer, during 
the former season visiting the Channel Islands. Foreign: Palearctic region, 
encroaching on the Nearctic region in the extreme west and east; parts of the 
Oriental region in winter. It isan accidental visitor to Greenland and Jan Mayen, 
a summer visitor to Iceland and the Faroes. It breeds in localities suited to its 
requirements throughout Europe, south of the Arctic circle, and in small numbers 
in North Africa as far south as Egypt. It is a resident in Europe south of 
the Baltic; but the birds that breed further north are migratory, and winter in 
Asia Minor, the basin of the Mediterranean (including Africa north of the Great 
Desert), the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores, whilst it has been known to 
stray as far as Barbadoes (fide Col. Feilden). In Asia it does not appear to 
range further north than lat. 55° (although, according to Bogdanow, it reaches 
ten degrees further north: a circumstance which seems probable, as it is an 
occasional wanderer to Alaska), but it is a common summer migrant to South 
Siberia, Turkestan, Mongolia (including the Thian-Shan range up to 11,000 feet), 
and may probably breed in the north island of Japan. The Asiatic birds winter 
in Persia, North India (south to 25° N. lat.), China, and Japan. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 163 
Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to require notice. 


Habits.—The Lapwing is by far the best known and most widely distributed 
of the Plovers frequenting the British Islands. It is aresident, but changes its 
ground a good deal with the season, and in autumn its numbers are largely 
increased by the arrival of migrants from Continental Europe. The haunts of the 
Lapwing are rough, unenclosed lands, moors, pastures and fallows, commons and 
heaths, marshes, broads, and saltings. At all seasons it is a shy, wary species, 
but becomes much tamer than usual during the nesting season, when its great 
solicitude for its young causes it to suspend its habitual caution. The most 
characteristic feature of the Lapwing is its singularly erratic and prolonged 
flight. The wings are broad and rounded, and move in a slow, deliberate, and 
regular manner. I cannot express this bird’s movements more aptly now than I 
did eighteen years ago in my Rural Bird Life. The moment an intruder appears 
in their haunts the watchful Lapwings rise one by one, and with ever flapping 
pinions begin to sail about high overhead. Now the birds soar seemingly 
without effort, then on flapping wings they wheel round and round. Anon they 
dart rapidly down, as if hurling themselves to the ground, and then, mounting 
the air again with easy grace, they fly in ever-changing course, darting, wheeling, 
tumbling, and reeling, as though beating time with their pinions to their wailing 
and expressive cries. As the cause of their alarm retreats the birds soon settle 
again, each bird generally keeping its long wings expanded and elevated for a 
moment before gracefully folding them. The Lapwing both runs and walks 
well, but it rarely wades. All through the year the Lapwing is to a certain 
extent gregarious, and usually breeds in more or less scattered colonies. In 
winter, however, its gatherings are the largest, and during this season immense 
flocks may often be seen retreating before a coming storm, or shifting their 
ground from one district to another from a variety of causes. This bird is also 
very nocturnal, even in summer, and all night long its peculiar notes may be 
heard in its haunts. It often becomes particularly noisy and active just after 
dusk. Flocks of flying Lapwings usually pass through the air in a scattered 
throng, but as arule the advance guard present a very even line. The note of 
this Plover is a peculiar mewing or nasal pee-weet, variously modulated into 
weet-a-weet pee-weet-weet ; whilst during the pairing season the male still further 
modulates this note into several distinct cries. In autumn the Lapwing becomes 
more gregarious, and most of the summer stations on high exposed ground are 
deserted for the winter. The bird then often becomes remarkably numerous in 
littoral districts, on the wild saltings and rough marshes where an abundant 
supply of food can be obtained in almost all weathers. Great numbers of these 
Plovers are killed at this season for the table, but they do not command either 
the higher price or the ready sale of the Golden Plover, and their flesh is not only 
dark but often accompanied by an unpleasant taste. Shot during early autumn, 


164 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


however, they are far from unpalatable. The food of the Lapwing consists of 
worms, snails, grubs, insects, seeds, and tender shoots and various ground fruits 
growing in the bird’s more upland haunts. 


Nidification.—The Lapwing is an early breeder. As a rule, if the season 
be fairly forward, the first eggs are laid at the end of March, but fresh eggs may 
be found in greatest abundance throughout April, less frequently in May, and 
occasionally in the beginning of June. Birds breeding in warm, sheltered 
southern localities are of course much earlier than those living in more exposed 
and northern districts. The nest is either made on the moors, near the shelter 
or even in the centre of a tuft of rushes, on the top of a mole-hill, on the bare 
ploughed land, or on the grass. It is merely a hollow, into which a few scraps 
of dry herbage are collected, and in many cases no provision whatever is made. 
The eggs are normally four in number, but I have been reliably informed of a 
clutch of five. At least two other similar instances have been recorded. They 
vary from buff to olive in ground-colour (in rare instances very pale blue), 
blotched and spotted with blackish-brown and grey. They measure on an 
average 1‘9 inch in length by 1°3 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the 
task of incubation, which lasts from twenty-five to twenty-six days. The hens will 
continue laying from time to time after their eggs are taken, but one brood only 
is reared in the year. The eggs of this Plover are a highly-prized table delicacy, 
and are much sought after for the markets, the earliest of the season often 
commanding as much as twelve shillings a dozen retail. Numbers are sent to 
this country from the continent, and the eggs of other species are not unfrequently 
passed off for them by unscrupulous dealers. The Lapwing as a rule does not 
manifest much concern for the safety of its eggs, apparently well aware that 
their protective colour will shield them from discovery; but when the young are 
hatched the old birds often become very demonstrative, and will reel and tumble 
along the ground, or sweep round an intruder’s head, all the time uttering wailing 
notes of alarm. 


Diagnostic characters.—Vanellus, with along crest, the upper plumage 
loricated with metallic tints, with no white on the wing coverts, and with the 
upper and under tail coverts chestnut. Length, 13 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 165 


Family CHARADRIIDA:. Genus VANELLUS. 
Subfamily CHARADRIINA. 


SOCIABLE LAPWING. 


VANELLUS GREGARIUS—(Pallas). 
Puate XVII. 


Charadrius gregarius, Pall. Reis. Russ. Reichs. i. p. 456 (1771). 

Chettusia gregaria (Pall.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 527, pl. 528 (1875). 

Vanellus gregarius (Pall.), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 225 (1894) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 127 (1896). 


Chetusia gregaria (Pall.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 173 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 174 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: One example only of the 
Sociable Lapwing has been recorded as British, which, through an error of 
identification, was overlooked for nearly thirty years. It appears to have been 
shot from a flock of Lapwings near St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, in Lancashire, in 
the autumn of 1860, where it remained in a case with other birds as a Cream- 
coloured Courser, even being recorded as such (Yarr. Brit. B.,ed. 4, i. p. 241). It 
subsequently changed owners, and eventually was correctly identified, and ex- 
hibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society by Seebohm on November 20th, 
1888. Foreign: South-central Palearctic region. It is of accidental occurrence 
only in Western Europe ; in Italy (four examples), Spain (one, probably), Poland 
(two, seen and identified by Professor Taczanowski). It breeds on the steppes 
of South-eastern Russia, from the Crimea, north to Sarepta (Seebohm), and to 
lat. 58° (Bogdanow), and south to Astrakhan and the Caucasus; on the plains of 
South-west Siberia and Turkestan, as far east as the Lake Saisan basin in the 
province of Semipolatinsk, and Western Mongolia. It winters in Arabia, Egypt, 
Nubia, and Abyssinia, and on the plains of India, abnormally wandering south to 
Ceylon. 


Allied forms.—Euhyas leucwra, an inhabitant in summer of the steppes 
of Western Turkestan, and in winter of North-east Africa and North India. 
Accidental in Europe : South-east Russia, Malta, south of France. Differs from the 
Sociable Lapwing not only generically, but amongst other important characters, 
in having a white tail. 


166 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The habits of the Sociable Lapwing during its summer sojourn 
on the steppes of Central Asia are imperfectly known; but of the bird’s life- 
history during its winter residence in India we are fortunately much better 
acquainted, thanks to the observations of Hume, Butler, Irby and others. It is 
said to be a dweller on the sand plains, especially common in Oudh and Kumaon, 
and is always observed in parties or large flocks. Hume states that in Scinde its 
favourite haunts are waste uplands near to cultivated districts, and that it keeps 
together in flocks of from twenty toa hundred. It is by no means a shy bird, 
but very fearless until repeatedly fired at. On the ground, Irby remarks that it 
looks very similar to a Golden Plover, but on the wing it resembles more closely 
allied birds, and flies near to the ground, unlike the typical Plovers. Colonel 
EH. A. Butler says that it frequents open sandy and grass maidans and bare or 
uncultivated ground. Its food is said to be of an insectivorous nature—grass- 
hoppers, locusts, spiders, beetles and larve. Its note is described as a peculiar 
cry, which is not uttered frequently. 


Nidification.—Of the habits of the Sociable Lapwing during the nesting 
season nothing whatever is known. It is said to frequent the steppes and plains 
for breeding purposes, but its nest has never been described. All that is known 
respecting its eggs is contained in Dresser’s Birds of Hurope. That naturalist 
writes :—‘‘ A single egg sent to me by Mr. Méschler, who informs me that it was 
obtained by his Sarepta collector, with the birds, closely resembles eggs of the 
Common Lapwing (Vanellus cristatus), but is, if anything, rather paler in ground- 
colour, and a trifle more sparingly marked with spots and blotches.”’ 


Diagnostic characters. —Vanellus, with no crest, with the greater wing 
coverts white, with brown bases, and with the tail coverts white. Length, 12 
inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 167 


Subfamily HIMANTOPODINAE.—The Stilts and Avocets. 


The Stilts and Avocets may be distinguished from other members of the 
CHARADRIID& by the absence of a dertrum from the bill, which is long, slender, 
and either straight or curved upwards. The bill is further peculiar in having the 
nasal orifice situated in the basal fourth, as measured from the frontal feathers. 
The metatarsus is finely reticulated, and never less in length than twice that of 
the middle toe. This subfamily contains three well-marked genera. 


Genus HIMANTOPUS, or Stilts. 
Type, HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTERUS. 


Himantopus, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having a long, slender, nearly straight bill, only slightly webbed 
feet, and no hind toe. The wings are long and pointed, the first primary being 
the longest; the tail is rounded. The metatarsus is long, more than twice that of 
the middle toe and claw ; a great portion of the tibia is devoid of feathers. The 
bill is long, slightly recurved at the point ; nostrils lateral, linear, and elongated. 

This genus is composed of seven species, one of which (H. Picatus) appears to 
be of doubtful distinctness, locally distributed in the Australian, Neotropical, 
Ethiopian, southern Palearctic and Nearctic, and Oriental regions. One species 
is an accidental visitor to the British Islands. 

The Stilts are dwellers in salt marshes, on low-lying coasts, and on the banks 
of lakes. Their flight is rapid, graceful and sustained, and on the ground they 
walk and run with elegant ease. Their notes are clear and loud. They subsist 
principally on insects and small univalves. They make scanty nests near the 
water on the ground, and their eggs are usually four in number, and spotted. 
They are monogamous, and at all times of the year are more or less gregarious, 
usually breeding in colonies. 


168 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus HIMANTOPUS. 
Subfamily HimaNTopoDIN2Z. 


COMMON STILT. 
HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTERUS.—Meyer. 
Puate XXIV. 


Charadrius himantopus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 255 (1766). 

Himantopus melanopterus Meyer; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 312 (1852); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 79 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1890); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 237 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. 
B. p. 129, pl. 38 (1896). 

Himantopus candidus Bonn.; Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 587, pls. 535, 536 (1877); 
Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 305 (1883). 

Himantopus himantopus (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 188 (1896) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 310 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Common Stilt is an 
occasional straggler on migration to the British Islands, chiefly individuals that 
have overshot the mark on their way to their European breeding grounds in 
spring, but occasionally stray birds that have joined the western stream of 
migration in autumn. It has been known as an accidental visitor to our shores 
for upwards of two hundred years. It is most frequently observed on the south and 
east coasts of England, especially in Norfolk (twelve examples) ; but occasionally 
met with inland, in Notts, Oxford, Somerset, etc. Itis very rare in Scotland, where, 
however, it has been met with as far north as the Orkney and Shetland Islands. 
In Ireland about half-a-dozen examples are on record. Foreign: Southern and 
Western Palearctic region, Oriental and Hthiopian regions. It is a summer visitor 
to the marshes of Southern Spain and Portugal, the delta of the Rhone, Sicily, the 
Danube valley (Neusiedler See, near Vienna), and the lagoons of the Black Sea. 
Elsewhere in Europe it is only an accidental straggler on migration, visiting 
Northern France, Holland, Denmark, and Germany. It is a resident in many 
parts of Africa, where it has been found breeding as far south as the Berg river, 
and is said to do so on the coasts of Madagascar. It is most abundant in the 
Ethiopian region during winter, its numbers being then increased by migrants 
from the northern shores of the Mediterranean : but it is said to be a resident in 
Algeria, and is an abnormal migrant to the Canaries. Hastwards it is a summer 
visitor to the Kirghiz and Kalmuk Steppes, Asia Minor, Palestine, North Persia, 
Turkestan, and Afghanistan, the birds breeding in this area wintering in Africa, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 169 


India, and Burmah; whilst stragglers at that season have been known to wander 
into North China, Cochin China, Timor, the Philippines, Borneo, and New 
Zealand. The most extensive breeding grounds appear to bein India and Ceylon, 
where the bird is a resident, although, as previously stated, its numbers are 
increased during the cold season. 


Allied forms.—Himantopus leucocephalus, breeding in Australia and 
wintering in the Malay Archipelago, Borneo, New Guinea, etc. Differs from the 
Common Stilt in having the entire head white and the back of the neck black, 
separated from the black of the back by a white collar. The New Zealand Pied 
Stilt has been separated from the foregoing under the name of H. picatus, and 
is apparently an intermediate form, the result of interbreeding between H. leuco- 
cephalus and H. melas, the Black Stilt of New Zealand. The representative species 
in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions are: H. mexicanus, breeding in the southern 
half of South America, wintering in the northern half of that continent ; resident in 
the central districts. Distinguished by having the black on the back of the neck ex- 
tending over the crown and joining the black on the mantle. 4. brasiliensis, breed- 
ing in the Chilian subregion, many wintering in Southern Brazil. Distinguished 
by having the black on the back of the neck separated from that of the mantle by 
a white collar, and extending underneath the eye, but not on to the crown. 


Habits.—The passage of the Common Stilt into Europe begins at the end 
of March and lasts till the middle of April. It migrates in small flocks, probably 
the birds of a breeding colony journeying in company. Its stay in Europe is 
seldom prolonged after the middle of November. The colonies of these birds 
which breed in India are much more extensive than those in Europe. Its 
principal haunts are salt marshes, especially lagoons, and low, muddy islands. 
There are few such graceful birds as the Common Stilt: its every movement, 
either on land or in air, is easy and elegant in the extreme. It may often be 
watched walking about the mud-banks or standing in the shallow water, tripping 
lightly over the slimy, treacherous ooze, or sitting with long legs folded beneath 
it on some dry spot, as if basking in the hot sunshine. They are by no means 
shy birds, yet if too closely pursued they soon take to the air, often running a 
little way with wings open before rising. Their flight is slow and straight, the 
neck outstretched, and the long legs pressed close to the body under the tail, 
beyond which they project for some distance. The wings are beaten with slow 
and regular motion, and during flight the bird from time to time droops its legs 
as if about to alight, although high above the ground. They are said to be tame 
and rather quiet birds, but when their breeding places are invaded they soon 
become noisy in their anxiety for their eggs and young. The usual call- 
note is a clear kee-kee-kee, and the alarm notes may be syllabled as kit-kit-kit and 
a rattling peur-r-ree. The food of the Common Stilt consists of mollusks, and 
such aquatic insects as beetles, gnats, dragon-flies, etc. 


170 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Nidification.—The date of the breeding season of the Common Stilt 
varies a good deal according to locality. In Spain, Stilts commence laying by the 
end of April or first few days of May. In the valley of the Danube, near the 
Black Sea, they are more than a month later ; whilst in India the greater number 
of eggs are laid in June, but the birds begin to lay about the same time as those 
that breed in Spain. This bird breeds in colonies of varying size, some consisting 
of a few pairs only, others of several hundreds. The nest is made in a great 
variety of situations, and varies considerably in size and materials. If the ground 
be wet the nest is more bulky than when made in drier situations. Some nests 
are quite in the water, amidst heaps of dead reeds and other aquatic vegetation, 
rising from two to three inches above the water-level: others are made on the 
mud, and are smaller. A great breeding station of this bird is situated at some 
salt works near Delhi, in Upper India. These works consist of many acres 
of shallow pools lined with lime, and divided from each other by strips of ground 
from one to six feetin breadth. On these narrow strips, and in the shallowest of 
the pools, the birds make their nests. These are remarkably curious structures— 
little platforms made of pieces of lime, raised about three inches high and from 
seven to twelve inches across, on which is strewn a small quantity of dry grass as 
a bed for the eggs. Many nests are made close together, and the birds are 
remarkably tame, allowing the workmen to pass them closely as they sit on their 
eggs. When disturbed at the colony the birds rise from their eggs, or run from 
them with elevated wings before taking flight. The eggs are four in number, 
pyriform, and pale buffish-brown in ground-colour, streaked, spotted, and blotched 
with blackish-brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They measure on 
an average 1°7 inch in length by 1:2 inch in breadth. But one brood is reared in 
the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Himantopus, with the head and neck white 
(adult). -Immature birds have the back of the neck and the crown black. In 
first plumage the dark parts are brown, mottled with buff. Length, 13 to 14 
inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 171 


Genus RECURVIROSTRA, or Avocets. 
Type, RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA. 


Recurvirostra, of Linneus (1766).—The birds comprising the present 
genus are characterised by combining a long, slender, deeply recurved bill with 
webbed feet and a hind toe. The wings are long and pointed, the first primary 
being the longest ; the tailis rounded. The metatarsus is long, but not more than 
twice that of the middle toe and claw; a great portion of the tibia is devoid of 
feathers. The bill is long, weak, and flexible, and recurved for its entire length ; 
nostrils linear and elongated. 

This genus is composed of four species, which are locally distributed in the 
Australian, southern Nearctic, Palearctic, Ethiopian, and Neotropical regions; 
Oriental region in winter. One species formerly bred in, but is now a rare 
straggler to, the British Islands. 

The Avocets are dwellers on flat, sandy coasts, marshes, lagoons, and mud- 
banks. Their flight is airy, graceful, and well-sustained, and on the ground they 
walk and run with elegant ease. They swim and wade. Their notes are shrill 
and monotonous. They subsist principally on worms, crustaceans, and aquatic 
insects. They make scanty nests on the ground, and their eggs, three or four 
in number, are spotted. They are monogamous, sociable, and gregarious. 


172 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus RECURVIROSTRA. 
Subfamily HIMANTOPODINZ. 


COMMON AVOCET. 
RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA.—Linneus. 
Puate XXIV. 


Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 256 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. iv, p. 306 
(1852) ; Dresser, B. Bur. vii. p. 577, pl. 534 (1875); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 
299 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1890); Dixon, Nests and Eggs 
Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 239 (1894) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 185 (1896); 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 326 (1896). 

Himantopus avocetta (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iti. p. 74 (1885); Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 129, pl. 38 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Avocet is now an irregular 
straggler on migration to England, still more accidental elsewhere. A melancholy 
interest attaches to the Avocet, inasmuch that this curious bird once bred 
regularly in the British Islands, but has long been exterminated as a nesting 
species by the destruction of its favourite haunts and the persecution of man. 
For nearly seventy years the Avocet has ceased to breed in this country. It 
formerly bred in the marshes and on those parts of the coast suited to its 
requirements, in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, and Sussex; and it is to 
these old haunts the occasional visitors seem most attracted, usually making 
their appearance in spring, as was once their regular practice ; less frequently in 
autumn. Still earlier records show that it frequented the Severn district and 
Staffordshire. The last colony of Avocets of which we have any evidence was 
near Salthouse, in the fens (1822—25). This was destroyed by the taking of the 
eggs for puddings, and the birds for their plumage to make artificial flies for 
fishermen! The bird appears to have been an accidental visitor only elsewhere, 
especially in the north and west. About half-a-dozen examples only have been 
recorded from Scotland, where it has been met with, however, as far north as the 
Orkneys and Shetlands, and even in the Outer Hebrides. It is of only accidental 
occurrence in Ireland, chiefly in the south, though once recorded from the estuary 
of the Moy in the north-west. Foreign: Southern Palearctic and Ethiopian 
regions, Oriental region in winter. It breeds in Europe on some of the islands 
off the Dutch and Danish coasts, on the marshes at the delta of the Rhone, in the 
marismas of Southern Spain, the valley of the Danube, notably, it is said, in the 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 173 


Neusiedler See, near Vienna, and in the lagoons of the Black Sea. To the remain- 
der of the continent, as far north as Southern Scandinavia, it is only an abnormal 
visitor on migration. South of the Mediterranean it is supposed to breed in suit- 
able localities throughout the African continent, and in Madagascar, where it 
probably may do so. EHastwards it is a bird of passage across Asia Minor, a few 
remaining to winter, and a resident in Palestine and Persia, but a summer 
visitor only to Northern Turkestan, South-west Siberia, South-east Mongolia, and 
South Dauria, wintering in India (sometimes in Ceylon) and China, including 
the islands of Formosa and Hainan. Blakiston and Pryer include the Avocet 
in their list of the birds of Japan, whilst Temminck and Schlegel had long 
previously included it in their list in the Fauna Japonica, but until an example 
has been obtained and identified by competent authorities it seems probable that 
the American Avocet may be the species that occasionally visits these islands. 


Allied forms.—Recurvirostra americana, an inhabitant of North America, 
from Great Slave Lake in the north to Texas in the south, the more northern 
birds wintering in the West Indies and Central America. Differs from the 
Common Avocet in having the secondaries white, the major part of the outer web 
brown ; and in breeding plumage in having the head and neck dull chestnut. 
R. rubricollis (R. nove hollandie, of many authors) an inhabitant of Australia, 
occasionally occurring in Tasmania, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and New Guinea. 
Differs from the Common Avocet in having a chestnut head and neck during the 
breeding season, and in having the combination of the secondaries white on both 
webs, much white on the scapulars, but none on the tertials. 


Habits.—The habits of the Avocet resemble very closely those of the 
Common Stilt. Like that species it is a migratory bird, arriving at its European 
breeding places in April and May, and leaving them again in September. Its 
haunts are low, sandy coasts, salt marshes, lagoons, and muddy islands. In 
these places it frequents the waterside, and not only wades in the shallows but 
swims well and lightly whenever it has occasion to do so. It runs quickly over 
the treacherous muds, and walks with graceful steps hither and thither in quest 
of food. Although conspicuous enough on the bare muds and sands, or on the 
short turf of the salt marshes, it is said not to be very shy, but it is careful to 
keep well out of harm’s way notwithstanding. Its flight is similar to that of 
of the Stilt, the neck and legs being outstretched, and in the air the bird’s strongly 
contrasted black and white plumage gives it a very singular appearance. Like the 
Stilt it is also more or less gregarious, especially in winter, when the flocks are 
sometimes very large ; and it also possesses the habit of running for a little way 
either just before or after flight. This species frequently alights upon the sea, 
but although it swims well it is not known to dive. The food of the Avocet is 
composed of small worms, crustaceans, and various kinds of aquatic insects and 


174 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


their larvee. Much of this food is obtained as the bird scoops or draws its long, 
slender, upturned bill from side to side across the surface of the soft mud or 
sand. The bill is never probed into the surface. Occasionally an insect is 
caught as it sits upon the water or flits slowly by. The Avocet often feeds 
whilst wading in the shallows, and sometimes its head is actually pushed under 
the surface. When food is captured the bird generally swallows it by tossing up 
the head. The note of this bird is a somewhat low yet clear td-2¢, tdi-it, most 
persistently uttered when its breeding grounds are invaded. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Avocet commences early in 
May in Jutland; but in the valley of the Danube, where all birds for some 
unknown reason (possibly influenced by the annual inundations of the great 
river) nest later, the eggs are not laid until the beginning of June. This bird 
breeds in colonies of varying size, and all through the nesting season is most 
sociable. The nests are either placed on the bare sand or mud or on the short 
herbage of the marshes, and are little more than hollows into which a few 
scraps of withered herbage are collected. The eggs are generally three or four in 
number, but in rare cases five are said to have been found. They are pyriform 
in shape, and pale buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with blackish-brown, 
and with underlying markings of grey. They measure on an average 1:95 inch 
in length by 1'4 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the duty of incubation, 
which according to Naumann lasts from seventeen to eighteen days. One brood 
only is reared in the year, after which event the birds become even more 
gregarious. The exact manner in which the old birds, with their long, recurved 
beaks, convey food to the young is still undetermined. Even in the nestling stage 
of its existence the bill of the Avocet is distinctly recurved. 


Diagnostic characters.—Recurvirostra, with the forehead, crown, and 
hind neck black, and the innermost secondaries white (adult) ; brown in young in 
first plumage, the secondaries barred with white. Length, 18 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 175 


Subfamily STREPSILIN4Z.—The Turnstones. 


The Turnstones may be distinguished from other members of the CH4R4- 
DRIID# by the absence of a dertrum from the bill, and by having the nasal orifice 
extending beyond the basal fourth of the bill. The metatarsus is scutellated in 
front on the lower half; the remainder reticulated both before and behind. The 
toes are cleft to the base. In some respects the Turnstones form a connecting 
link between the Plovers and the Sandpipers. This subfamily contains but a 
single genus. 


Genus STREPSILAS, or Turnstones. 
Type, STREPSILAS INTERPRES. 


Strepsilas, of Illiger (1811)—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the toes cleft to the base, and the nasal orifice reaching 
beyond the basal fourth of the bill. The wings are long and pointed, the first 
primary the longest; tail rather short and nearly even, composed of twelve 
feathers. The metatarsus is scutellated in front, reticulated behind ; the tibia just 
above the tarsal joint devoid of feathers. The bill is short, thick at the base, 
tapering to the point, somewhat conical ; nostrils basal, lateral, partially shielded 
by amembrane. Toes, three in front, one behind short and elevated. 

This genus is composed of two species, and is practically cosmopolitan. One 
species is a common visitor to the British Islands on passage, rarer during winter. 

The Turnstones are dwellers on the sea-coast, rocky coasts by preference. They 
are birds of powerful and sustained flight, performing extended migrations; and 
they walk and run with equal facility. Their notes are clear and shrill, some not 
unmusical. They subsist principally on small crustaceans, sand-worms, the 
animals in small shells, etc. They make scanty nests on the ground, and the 
four pyriform eggs are spotted. They are monogamous, and more or less 
gregarious and sociable, even during the breeding season. 


176 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDZ. Genus STREPSILAS. 
Subfamily STREPSILINA. 


TURNSTONE. 
STREPSILAS INTERPRES—(Linneus). 


Tringa interpres, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 248 (1766). 

Strepsilas interpres (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 143 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Bur. vii. 
p. 555, pl. 5382 (1875); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii, p. 289 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xiv. (1890); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 259 
(1894). 

Charadrius interpres (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 12 (1885); Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 119, pl. 38 (1896). 


Arenaria interpres (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 176 (1896); Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 92 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Turnstone is most abun- 
dant on the British coasts during spring and autumn passage, a few only remaining 
to winter. It is commonest on the Scotch and Irish coasts, and probably breeds 
on the Hebrides and the Orkney and Shetland groups. Foreign: Circumpolar 
region, and widely dispersed, breeding as far north as land extends, but in 
the Northern hemisphere, apparently in Europe,not south of the Baltic, although 
there is some evidence to suggest that it may do so in the Canaries and the 
Azores; and Heuglin seems to have discovered it breeding on the shores of the 
Red Sea. In winter it is practically cosmopolitan south of the Arctic circle, and a 
visitor to the coasts of both hemispheres down to the Intertropical realm. The 
Turnstone is another species with an equatorial base, migrating north and south 
to breed, although its nesting places are fewer and much less known in the 
Southern than in the Northern hemisphere. It has been met with inland, 
amongst other places on the highlands of Yarkand in Central Asia, and on the 
shores of Lake Nyassa in Central Africa. 


Allied forms.—Strepsilas melanocephalus, an inhabitant of the coasts 
of Western America from Alaska to Mexico. Differs from the Common Turnstone 
in having the chestnut replaced by black, and in the absence of white on the 
head and neck, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 177 


Habits.— Although occasionally met with inland on migration the Turn- 
stone is eminently a coast bird, and at all times of the year lives either on the 
shore or in the immediate vicinity of the sea. It is best known on passage in our 
Islands, although a few odd birds occasionally remain with us during the winter, 
and it would appear that immature non-breeding individuals occasionally stay 
behind in the winter quarters during summer, or at a considerable distance south 
of the nesting grounds, although we are convinced that in many cases this is by 
no means the correct explanation of the phenomenon. Young Turnstones begin 
to make their appearance on our coasts at the end of July, and the migration 
continues through August and September, by which latter date most of the birds 
have passed south. They arrive on their northern passage in our Islands at the 
end of April, and the spring flight lasts about a month; even in the high north 
they appear early in June. The Turnstone prefers a rocky or shingly beach to a 
mud one, and during autumn and winter usually lives in flocks of varying size. 
Many odd birds, however, may be met with at these seasons, sometimes consorting 
with other Waders. Most of its time is spent upon the beach in restless quest of 
food. It is ever running about amongst the pebbles and drifted rubbish on the 
shore. It indulges in the peculiar habit of turning over shells, pebbles, or other 
small objects on the beach—hence its trivial name—in search of the small marine 
animals that often lurk under them; and it is said occasionally to use its breast 
as well as its singularly shaped beak for the purpose. It not only runs about the 
dry shore, but frequently wades, and Hume states that he has seen it swimming 
on the sea just outside the breakers, rising from time to time and flying a little 
way, then settling on the water again. Its flight is not particularly rapid, and as 
it generally flies straight and not very far from the ground it is a somewhat easy 
bird to shoot. It is also fond of sitting on an elevated spot, and Swinhoe states 
that in China he has seen numbers of this bird perched on stakes and on the ropes 
suspended between them. The note of the Turnstone is a shrill whistle, resem- 
bling the syllable kee¢ ; the bird also utters a double note, which some authorities 
syllable as kitter, and sometimes the two are uttered in succession, making a 
treble note. During the love season these notes are uttered so quickly by the 
male as to form a somewhat musical trill. The food of this species consists of 
sand-worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and other small marine animals. An example 
I dissected during the autumn of 1893 had its stomach crammed with dozens of 
minute shells. It is said that this bird is easily tamed, and according to 
Dr. Finch is kept in confinement on Pleasant Island (one of the Gilbert group) 
for fighting purposes. 


Nidification.—The Turnstone breeds in June; and although not gre- 
garious during the nesting season, several pairs not unfrequently hatch their eggs 
in the same immediate neighbourhood. Its breeding grounds are close to the sea, 
often on low rocky islands. The nest is usually placed amongst the scanty 


12 


178 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


herbage of the coast, amongst tufts of grass or bushes, and is simply a hollow, 
often under the shelter of a plant or bush, lined with a few scraps of vegetable 
refuse. The eggs are four in number, glossy in texture, and vary from pale olive- 
green to pale buff in ground-colour, boldly blotched, spotted, and clouded with 
olive-brown and dark reddish-brown and with underlying markings of violet-grey. 
They are rather pyriform, and measure on an average 1°6 inch in length by 
11 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the duty of incubation and one brood 
only is reared in the year. As soon as the chicks are hatched the broods and 
their parents repair to the shore, and very soon afterwards the migration south 
begins. In the high north the entire breeding season lasts about a couple of 
months only. 


Diagnostic characters.—Strepsilas, with the chin and throat white. 
The mottled black, white and chestnut plumage of this species is very charac- 
teristic. Length, 9 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 179 


Subfamily PHALAROPINAZ.—The Phalaropes. 


The Phalaropes may be distinguished from other members of the CHara- 
DRIIDH by having the toes furnished with scalloped webs or lateral lobes, and 
the planta tarsi serrated, as in the Grebes, a peculiarity, we believe, first pointed 
out by Dr. Sharpe. The toes are united by a web at the base; whilst the meta- 
tarsus is scutellated before and behind. The nasal groove extends along the greater 
part of the upper mandible. This subfamily contains but a single genus, although 
some recent authorities have sought needlessly to split up the three known species 
into as many genera. 


Genus PHALAROPUS, or Phalaropes. 
Type, PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS. 


Phalaropus, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having lateral lobes to the toes, and laterally compressed 
metatarsi. The wings are long and pointed, the first quill the longest; the 
tail is short and somewhat rounded. The metatarsus is scutellated posteriorly and 
anteriorly; the tibia just above the tarsal joint devoid of feathers. The bill is 
moderately long and straight, depressed and weak. Nostrils basal, oval with an 
elevated border. Toes three in front, one behind articulated. 

This genus is composed of three species confined to the northern and tem- 
perate portions of the Palearctic and Nearctic regions. Two species are British, 
one of which is a local summer visitor, and the other a nomadic migrant to the 
British Islands. 

The Phalaropes are dwellers on the sea coasts and more inland lakes and 
tarns. They are the most aquatic of the CHARADRIIDm, and swim well and 
lightly, often going hundreds of miles out to sea. They are birds of powerful 
and well-sustained flight, and walk and run with equal facility. Their notes are 
shrill and piercing. They subsist principally on insects, crustaceans, and worms. 
They make scanty nests on the ground, and their pyriform eggs are four in num- 
ber and double-spotted. They are monogamous; but the males perform the 
duties of incubation. They are more or less gregarious and social, and often 
build in scattered colonies. 


180 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus PHALAROPUS. 
Subfamily PHALAROPINA. 


GREY PHALAROPE. 
PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS—(Linneus). 
Puate XXV. 


Tringa fulicaria, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 249 (1766). 

Phalaropus lobatus (nec Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 284 (1852). 

Phalaropus fulicarius (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 606, pl. 538 (1874); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 8310 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 85 (1885) ; Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 243 (1894); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. 
pt. xxx. (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 130, pl. 38 (1896). 


Crymophilus fulicarius (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 193 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 693 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Grey Phalarope is a rare 
and irregular visitor, chiefly in autumn and winter, and is generally met with 
sparingly almost every year, occasionally appearing in great ‘‘ rushes,” or ‘‘visita- 
tions,” after the manner of the nomadic migrants, in which class it must be 
placed. It has been most frequently observed on the southern coasts of Eng- 
land; on the eastern coasts least frequently north of the Wash. In Scotland it 
appears to have been met with from Berwick to the Orkneys, and has been 
obtained in the Outer Hebrides. It has occurred in Wales, but is altogether 
rarer on our western coast-line ; whilst in Ireland it is of very infrequent appear- 
ance, although several were captured in the south during the exceptional visitation 
of 1886. The last exceptional visitation appears to have been in 1891. By far 
the most extensive visitation took place in the autumn of 1866, when it has been 
estimated that upwards of five hundred birds were taken, nearly half of this vast 
number in Sussex! Twenty years previously, in the autumn of 1846, another 
irruption took place, which curiously enough again favoured Sussex in a remark- 
able degree. By a noteworthy coincidence, twenty years later than the great 
visitation, namely, in the autumn of 1886, another and smaller one occurred; 
whilst in 1869 it is said an irruption took place of some importance, both of which 
were almost confined to the south. Many of these visitors wandered from the 
coast to inland districts. Foreign: Circumpolar region, but not known to breed 
on any part of Continental Europe. Like the Knot, the Curlew Sandpiper, and 
some few other Arctic birds, it appears to be very local during the breeding 


Va ¥ NOSMY 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 181 


season, and may possibly, like the Waxwing and Rose-coloured Pastor, change 
its breeding places periodically. There are certain spots favoured by this species 
on the islands as well as on the mainland of the coasts of Arctic Asia and 
America, extending to at least as far north as lat. 824°, and probably to all existing 
land suited to its requirements in the Polar basin. Among these may be instanced 
Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, Golcheeka near the mouth of the Yenisei, the 
Taimur Peninsula, the delta of the Lena, the Tchuski Land north of Kamts- 
chatka,* Alaska, the Parry Islands, and Grinnell Land. ‘To the mainland of 
Kurope it is an accidental straggler only, and is of still less frequent occurrence 
in North Africa. Although its normal routes across Asia are yet untraced, it 
appears to cross that continent on migration, many, perhaps, by way of the 
Pamir, where Severtzow, the Russian ornithologist, says it is a rare visitor, and 
to winter on the Mekran coast and in Scinde. A straggler has been met with 
even as far to the south-east as Calcutta. In the far east, Kamtschatka and the 
Kurile Islands appear to be winter resorts of this species. It has been obtained 
in Japan (Owari Hondu), as recorded by Dr. Stejneger ; whilst it has been known 
to wander as far as New Zealand. In the New World its wanderings are much 
the same as in the Old World, and it has been met with on both the eastern and 
western coasts of America as far south as lat. 40°; and inland, Audubon speaks of 
a flock of about a hundred birds on the banks of the Ohio, in lat. 88° ; whilst more 
recently the late Mr. Salvin and Dr. Sclater have each recorded it from Chili! 


Allied forms.—Phalaropus hyperboreus, also a British species, and fully 
treated of in the following chapter. P. wilsoni, an inhabitant of America: in the 
Nearctic region, breeding on the shores of the lakes as far north as Winnipeg, and 
south to Great Salt Lake and Lake Michigan ; in the Neotropical region, ranging 
from Mexico in the north to Patagonia in the south, although its nesting area is 
not yet traced. Readily identified from the only two other Phalaropes known by 
the long, slender bill, which is more than an inch in length. This latter species 
has been recorded as British from Leicestershire, but the evidence is not suffi- 


ciently conclusive to merit its inclusion in the British avifauna.—See Proc. Zool. 
Soc. 1886, p. 297. 


Habits.—The migrations of the Grey Phalarope are, as a rule, neither very 
extended nor very regular. When the birds’ northern haunts are disturbed by 
unusually severe tempests, or long-continued frosts, it draws southwards, often 
in considerable numbers, but such movements are not made every year, and the 
Grey Phalarope must be classed as a bird that winters as far north as it possibly 
can with safety. Except during the breeding season, this bird is not seen 
much on land, but spends the greater part of its time on the sea, where it is 


* Dr. Stejneger met with a flock of Phalaropes, wkich he identified as the present species, several 
miles at sea near Behring Island, off the coast of Kamtschatka, on the 21st of August, 1882. No examples, 
however, were obtained. 


182 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


frequently met with hundreds of miles from shore, even following in the wake of 
whales for the sake of catching the various marine animals that are disturbed 
each time those mighty creatures “blow.” This singular habit has acquired for 
the Grey Phalarope the name of ‘‘ Whale Bird.” Sabine states that he has seen 
this species swimming about amongst icebergs, miles from shore. It is most 
expert at swimming, floating very lightly on the water, with a peculiar bobbing 
motion of the head, but it is not known to dive. At all times it appears to prefer 
to swim out of danger rather than to fly. Itis also remarkably social, and during 
winter gathers into flocks, sometimes of very large size. Mr. Nelson, writing of 
this species in Alaska, in June, before the flocks had dispersed to the breeding 
places, says :—‘‘ A little later in the day, as their hunger became satisfied, they 
began to unite into parties, until fifteen or twenty birds would rise and pursue 
an erratic course over the flat. As they passed swiftly along, stray individuals 
and pairs might be seen to spring up and join the flock. Other flocks would rise 
and the smaller coalesce with the larger until from two hundred to three or even 
four hundred birds were gathered in a single flock. As the size of the flock 
increased, its movements became more and more irregular. At one moment 
they would glide straight along the ground, then change to a wayward flight, 
back and forth, twisting about with such rapidity that it was difficult to follow 
them with the eye. Suddenly their course would change, and the compact flock, 
as if animated by a single impulse, would rise high over head, and after a series 
of graceful and swift evolutions, come sweeping down with a loud rushing sound 
to resume their playful course near the ground. During all their motions the 
entire flock moved in such unison that the alternate flashing of the under side of 
their wings and the dark colour of their back, like the play of light and shade, 
made a beautiful spectacle. When wearied of their sport the flock disbanded and 
the birds again resumed their feeding.” The call-note of the Grey Phalarope is 
a shrill weet, and the alarm note, uttered chiefly during flight, has been described 
as a rapidly repeated bick-a bick-a. The Grey Phalaropes that have from time 
to time visited our Islands were very tame and confiding, doubtless because they 
had had little experience of man; but Hume states that in Scinde they were 
wary enough, and the flocks rose simultaneously as soon as a boat approached 
them. The food of this species consists principally of insects, but crustaceans, 
small worms, and scraps of vegetable substances are also eaten. 


Nidification.—The Grey Phalarope is a late breeder. It resorts to the 
breeding grounds in May, pairs towards the end of that month, and the eggs are 
usually laid during the first half of June. They make their nests on the swampy 
margins of the Arctic pools and lakes, in much the same sort of places as those 
selected by the Red-necked Phalarope. The nest is merely a hollow in the 
moss or lichen-covered ground, but sometimes a few dry leaves are added as a 
lining. The eggs are four in number, pale buff with an olive tinge in ground- 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 183 


colour, heavily blotched and spotted with rich dark brown, and a few underlying 
markings of pale brown. They measure on an average 1°25 inch in length by ‘87 
inch in breadth. In this species the female bird is the more brilliant in colour, 
and she not only conducts the courtship, but leaves the male to incubate the 
eggs. The young are hatched early in July, and about a month or six weeks 
after this event the breeding places are deserted, and the birds repair to the open 
sea, forming into flocks for the winter. 


Diagnostic characters.—Phalaropus, with the bill short and wide (the 
culmen equal to the metatarsus in length), and the central rectrices more than 
half an inch longer than the outermost ones. In breeding plumage the entire 
underparts are rich chestnut. Length, 8 inches. 


184 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus PHALAROPUS. 
Subfamily PHAaLAROPINA. 


RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 
PHALAROPUS HYPERBOREUS—(Linneus). 
Puate XXV. 


Tringa hyperborea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 249 (1766). 

Lobipes hyperboreus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 291 (1852). 

Phalaropus hyperboreus (Linn.), Dresser, B. Bur. vii. p. 597, pls. 537, 589, fig. 2 
(1874); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii, p. 815 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 89 
(1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 276 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 


Brit. B. p. 181, pl. 88 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 197 (1896) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 698 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Red-necked Phalarope is 
now only known to breed in a few favoured spots in the Shetlands, the Orkneys, 
and the Outer Hebrides (North and South Uist, Benbecula, etc.) It formerly 
bred in Sutherlandshire, Inverness-shire, and Perthshire. To the mainland of 
Scotland and England, and other island localities, it is now only known as 
a rare visitor on migration, chiefly in autumn. It is rare on the eastern coast of 
Scotland, and perhaps most frequent in Norfolk. It has been observed once in 
Ireland—in November, 1891. Foreign: Circumpolar region above the limits of 
forest growth ; Oriental and Southern Palearctic and Nearctic regions in winter. 
It is a summer visitor to Southern Greenland, the Faroes, Iceland, Northern 
Scandinavia, and to the tundras of the Dovrefjeld in lat. 62°, Nova Zembla, and 
eastwards across Siberia as far north as land extends, but rarely south of the 
Arctic circle, except in the far cast, where Middendorff observed it breeding on 
the west coast of the Sea of Okhotsk as far south as lat. 55°; whilst Stejneger 
records it as one of the commonest breeding summer birds on Behring Island, off 
the east coast of Kamtschatka. South of these limits in the Old World it is 
a winter visitor to the coasts of Hurope, becoming rare in the Mediterranean 
basin; being absent altogether, apparently, from North-east Africa, Asia Minor, and 
Palestine. It passes across Asia on most of the known internal routes of migra- 
tion, and winters in Persia, on the Mekran coast, and, perhaps, less frequently 
in Northern India. It is also known on the Japanese coasts on migration, and 
winters in China and the Malay Archipelago southwards to New Guinea. ‘he 
New World individuals pass south to winter in the United States, Mvxico, and 
Central America, and occasionally wander as far to the cast as the Bermudas. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 185 


Allied forms.—Phalaropus fulicarius, already treated of in the preceding 
chapter, and P. wilsoni also mentioned in the allies of that species (see p. 181). 


Habits.—Although the migrations of the Red-necked Phalarope are not 
very extended in the western Palearctic region, they are much more so in other 
parts of the world, as may be gathered from the remarks on the geographical 
distribution of this bird. It is a bird of the sea, and though it does not appear to 
wander so far from shore as the Grey Phalarope, it does not visit the land much 
except during the breeding season. It is a tame and confiding little bird, as 
T have often remarked, especially when on the pools and lakes where it nests ; 
and at all times it is extremely social. Parties of Red-necked Phalaropes may 
be seen all the summer through swimming in company. This bird swims 
remarkably well and buoyantly, scarcely raising a ripple, nodding its head as 
it progresses, usually in a zigzag direction, across the pool, and picking insects 
from the water, or snapping at them as they flit by as it goes. It also runs 
daintily about the swampy margins of the water, and I have seen it walk lightly 
over floating masses of weed. The Red-necked Phalarope spends most of its 
time on the water, rarely taking wing, although it can fly both rapidly and well. 
The note of this species is a rather low but shrill weet. Its food consists largely 
of insects and their larve; but worms, crustaceans, and other small marine 
animals are also eaten. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of this species commences in May 
in Scotland, but in more Arctic latitudes it is several weeks later. Its breeding 
grounds are returned to each season. These are usually situated on marshy 
moors, generally in the neighbourhood of pools and not far from the sea. In 
the valley of the Petchora, Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown found the nest 
amongst long grass in the centre of a thick tuft a foot or more from the ground; 
but in Scotland it is usually made on the ground. This nest is sometimes very 
slight—merely a hollow lined with a few bits of dry grass and rush; but at other 
times more substantial and neatly made. The eggs are four in number, buff of 
various shades or pale olive in ground-colour, blotched and spotted with umber- 
brown, blackish-brown and pale brown, and underlying markings of grey. They 
measure on an average 1:linch in length by ‘82inch in breadth. The male, as 
in the preceding species, performs the duties of incubation, and takes the greatest 
share in bringing up the brood : the female (the most brilliantly-coloured) taking 
the initiative in the courtship, and, as Mr. Nelson remarks, possessing “all the 
rights demanded by the most radical reformers.” Messrs. Pearson and Bidwell 
have recorded (dis, 1894, p. 234) some remarkable facts respecting the breeding 
habits of this Phalarope. They say: “In most instances where we saw this 
species there were three birds—two males and one female. Twice we saw parties 
of three birds each on the sea, feeding just behind the breakers; repeatedly we 


186 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


noticed three birds together on the wing; and, nearly every time we came upon 
them in the small lakes of the tundra, the party consisted of two males and one 
female. Can this species be polyandrous?’’ When the breeding place is invaded 
the birds leave their nests and settle on the adjoining pools, displaying little 
concern for their safety. As soon as the young are reared the birds of a colony 
(for many nests are often made within a small area) betake themselves to the 
sea, and as autumn advances the southern movements are commenced. One 
brood only is reared in the season. 


Diagnostic characters.—Phalaropus, with the bill tapering from the 
base to the tip and less than one inch in length. Length, 7 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 187 


Subfamily TOTANINAZ.—The Semi-web-footed 
Sandpipers, or Tatlers. 


The Semi-web-footed Sandpipers may be distinguished from other members 
of the CHARADRIIDH by having the middle and outermost toes connected by a 
web at the base, and a similar but smaller web connecting the inner and middle 
toes. The nasal groove extends along the greater part of the upper mandible, 
but the nasal orifice is situated within the basal fourth of it. The metatarsus 
is scutellated in front, and in the majority of species behind as well. This 
subfamily has been recently subdivided into no less than seventeen genera by 
Dr. Sharpe, but probably not more than a third of these are worthy of distinction. 


Genus NUMENIUS, or Curlews, 
Type, NUMENIUS ARQUATUS. 


Numenius, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the metatarsus scutellated in front and reticulated 
behind, and the bill sufficiently arched for the point to be considerably lower 
than the plane of the gape.* The wings are long and pointed; tail nearly 
square. The metatarsus is rather long and slender, the lower portion of the tibia 
devoid of feathers. The bill is long, slender, and decurved; nostrils lateral, 
linear, and situated within the basal fourth part of the bill. 

This genus is composed of ten species and subspecies confined to the 
Palearctic and Nearctic regions during summer, but more cosmopolitan during 
winter. Three species are included as British, one a very rare abnormal migrant, 
one a common resident, and one best known on passage and in winter. 

The Curlews are dwellers on moors, marshes, and upland wastes in summer, 
of sea coasts during winter. They are birds of rapid and well sustained flight, 
and walk and run with ease. Their notes are clear, loud, and not unmusical. 
They subsist on worms, mollusks, insects, and fruit. They make slight nests on 
the ground, and their pyriform eggs are four in number and double-spotted. 
They are monogamous; during winter they are gregarious, and even in summer 
somewhat sociable. They are shy and wary, and their flesh is not unpalatable. 


* Not having had access to a very large series of specimens of Numenius, I cannot speak with 
absolute certainty, but probably the plane of the gape does not extend beyond the basal half of the 
upper mandible. 


188 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus NUMENIUS. 
Subfamily Toraninz. 


COMMON CURLEW. 
NUMENIUS ARQUATA.—(Linneus). 


Scolopax arquata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 242 (1766). 

Numenius arquatus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 248 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. 
viii. p. 243, pl. 578 (1873); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 499 (1883); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 94 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 272 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 317 
(1896 ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 132, pl. 45 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. 
Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 341 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Curlew breeds on most 
of the moors and mountains of the British Islands, and on some of the heaths 
and wild lands in less romantic districts, as for instance in Wilts, Hants, Lincoln- 
shire, and the Isle of Man. Its breeding grounds extend from the highlands of 
Cornwall to the ‘‘moors’’ of Devon, and the hills of Somerset and Dorset; thence 
northwards over the Welsh mountains and adjoining uplands, through the Peak 
and the entire Pennine chain to the Cheviots. North of the Border suitable 
districts increase, and it becomes even more widely distributed, extending to the 
Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. The same remarks apply to 
Ireland, where it is equally generally dispersed. In winter it seeks the coasts, 
and is then widely distributed on all parts of the sea-board suited to its needs, 
including the Channel Islands. Foreign: Western Palearctic region, Ethiopian 
region in winter. It is an accidental visitor to Iceland and the Faroes ; a sum- 
mer resident in Scandinavia, and breeds in Russia as far north as Riga in the 
west, and the Volga basin in the east. Southwards it breeds in Poland, North 
Germany, Denmark, and Holland, and is said to do so in Flanders and Brittany ; 
whilst in the east it does so on the Kirghiz and Caucasian Steppes. It passes 
Europe south of these limits, Asia Minor, and Persia on migration, and winters 
in Arabia and Africa. If this species visits temperate South Africa normally, 
there can be little doubt that it breeds there, migrating from a winter base 
in the Ethiopian portion of the Intertropical or Primogean realm. It is an 
occasional wanderer to the Azores, and the Canaries: and has becn recorded 
from the Seychelles and Aldabra Island,,as well as from Réunion, Rodriguez, 
Ayirantes, and Providence Bank. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 189 


Allied Forms.—Numenius arquatus lineatus, an inhabitant in summer of 
Siberia, in the west as far north as the Arctic circle; but in the east only as far 
as Dauria and the southern valleys of the Amoor, passing through Turkestan on 
migration and wintering in India, Ceylon, Burmah, and the Malay Archipelago, 
abnormally wandering to the eastern coast of Africa. It is the eastern form 
of the Common Curlew, only subspecifically distinct ; none of the diagnostic 
characters being constant, and with intermediate forms very frequent. Typical 
examples differ from the Common Curlew in having the lower back uniform 
white without spots, the axillaries uniform white, the margins of the scapulars 
white, and the bill seven to eight inches in length. N. cyanopus, an inhabitant 
in summer of East Siberia, passing the Amoor Valley and the coasts of China and 
Japan on migration, and wintering in Australia. Another set of individuals of 
this species appear to migrate south from a base in the Intertropical realm, to 
breed in South Australia and Tasmania, although the nest has not yet been 
discovered in these latter areas. N. longirostris, an inhabitant in summer of 
temperate North America ; and of Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies 
in winter, though resident in some of the central districts. Both these Curlews 
differ from the Common Curlew in having the rump uniform in colour with the 
rest of the upper parts. The former bird jn addition is characterised by its 
nearly white axillaries, barred and streaked with brown. The latter in addition 
is characterised by its uniform rich buff axillaries, and nearly uniform buff 
underparts. 


Habits.—The haunts of the Curlew vary considerably with the change of 
season. This species is a resident in our Islands, although its numbers are 
increased during the colder periods of the year by migrants from more northern 
latitudes. In summer, however, it frequents inland moors and wild, rough 
uplands ; in winter it descends to the coast, and is then widely distributed on all 
parts of the shore where sand, mud, and broken rocks are to be found at low 
water. During high water in many localities the birds retire inland to moors 
and pastures, returning with remarkable punctuality as soon as the tide begins 
to ebb. In other districts they visit shingle-banks and low islands to pass the 
time between the tides. All the year round many parts of the coast are never 
deserted altogether by Curlews, the young non-breeding birds it is said not 
visiting the breeding grounds, but remaining behind in the usual winter haunts. 
Curlews are the very essence of wariness, the shyest and the easiest alarmed 
birds upon the coast, and perhaps the most difficult to stalk. On bare ground it 
is simply impossible to get near them, and the only way to make a successful 
shot is to station oneself on their usual line of flight, and take one’s chance as 
they fly over on their way to and from their feeding grounds. Sometimes odd 
birds may be successfully stalked whilst feeding amongst the rocks at low water, 
but the process is a rough and tedious one, and the gunner may well be proud of 


190 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


his bird ¢f he be fortunate or skilful enough to creep up and make a lucky shot. 
When feeding, the birds are seldom still, but run and walk about searching for 
their food in the sand and rocks close to the waves, and all the time sentinels seem 
ever on the watch to sound the warning note, which sends the big speckled birds 
hurrying away to safer haunts. If fired at, the flock often rises to a good height 
and flies about in a restless manner, the birds calling to each other all the time. 
When on regular flight, a flock of these birds usually assumes the shape of the 
letter V, and as they pass along at great speed the leading bird from time to time 
drops out of position, and its place is taken by another in turn. During moon- 
light nights when the state of the tide admits, the Curlew is as active as by day, 
and feeds on the flats and saltings; and even during summer on the inland 
moors their wild, mournful notes may be heard through every hour of darkness. 
The flight of this bird is rapid and strong, the neck is outstretched, and the long 
legs are pressed close to the body and extend beyond the tail. The long wings 
are beaten with great speed and regularity, but very often just before the bird 
alights they are held stiff and expanded. I have often noticed that this species 
runs a little way with wings half open before rising into the air. It is frequently 
seen to wade in the shallows, but never, I think, swims unless wounded, whilst 
it has been known to perch in trees. The usual note of the Curlew is very 
characteristic—a shrill, far-sounding curlee, cwrlee; and during the breeding 
season the bird also utters a very peculiar rippling note, almost like bubbling 
water, which may he expressed as wiw-i-wiw-i-wiw, rapidly repeated. For the 
greater part of the year the Curlew is more or less gregarious, and also associates 
with many other shore birds; but during the breeding season, although many 
pairs often nest on the same moor or upland waste, they are not very social. 
The food of the Curlew varies a good deal according to season. In summer, 
worms, insects and their larve, and various ground fruits and berries are eaten ; 
in winter, sandworms, crustaceans, and mollusks are the principal fare, and 
various vegetable fragments have been found in the birds’ stomach during the 
latter period. Although a resident with us, the Curlew is a regular bird of passage 
in many Continental districts, coming to its summer quarters in April and May, 
and returning during September and October. 


Nidification.—In March the Curlew begins to return to its inland breed- 
ing places, and the eggs are laid during April and May. Its great breeding 
grounds are the wild, swampy moors at a considerable elevation above sea-level ; 
but many birds nest on the rough fallows near the moors, and I have known 
their eggs to be broken during spring tilling. The nest is generally made on 
some dry patch of the moor, often under the shelter of a little bush or tuft of 
cotton-grass or rush, or yet again on the bare earth of the fallows, sometimes in 
a footprint of a horse or cow. This nest is very slight, merely a hollow about 
ten inches in diameter and two inches in depth, sparingly lined with a few scraps 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 191 


of dead herbage or dry leaves; in some cases no nest whatever is made. The 
eggs are four in number, pyriform in shape, and various shades of olive-green or 
buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with olive-brown and pale grey. 
Sometimes a few streaky scratches of blackish-brown occur. They measure on 
an average 2°7 inches in length by 1°85 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in 
the task of incubation, which lasts about a month. When its breeding grounds 
are invaded by man, the Curlew becomes very noisy, usually flying into the air 
long before the spot where the nest is situated is reached. One bird is usually 
on the look-out and conveys the warning to its mate; the cry is taken up by 
other birds, and soon the whole moor is in a state of commotion. One brood 
only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Numenius, with no pale mesial line, with 
the lower back and rump white, and with the metatarsus more than three 
inches in length. Length, 21 to 26 inches. 


192 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus NUMENIUS. 
Subfamily ToraninZ, 


COMMON WHIMBREL. 
NUMENIUS PHAOPUS—(Linneus). 


Scolopax pheeopus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 243 (1766). 

Numenius pheeopus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 253 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. viii. 
p. 227, pl. 576 (1873); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 507 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 100 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 274 (1893) ; Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 322 (1896); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 133, pl. 45 


(1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 355 (1896); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. 
pt. xxxii. (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Common Whimbrel is 
known only to breed on the Orkneys and Shetlands, most numerous on the latter, 
and on North Ronay in the Hebrides. Elsewhere in the British Islands it 
occurs on migration, and during the spring and autumn flights is pretty generally 
distributed along the coasts. Comparatively few remain with us through the 
winter, whilst immature and non-breeding birds may be seen in still smaller 
numbers during the summer. I have met with them on St. Kilda during June. 
Foreign : Northern and western Palearctic region in summer; Ethiopian region 
in winter. It breeds in the Faroes and Iceland, and occurs accidentally in 
Greenland. It is a summer visitor to Scandinavia, breeding on the fells and 
moors above forest growth; thence it appears to be locally distributed at this 
season through Lapland and the remainder of North Russia, and is said by 
Sabanaeff to be common on the Ural Steppes. It passes along the entire coast- 
line of Europe during migration, as well as by some of the inland routes, and 
also occurs on passage in Northern Africa, wintering in Arabia, the Azores, 
Canaries (where it is observed all the year round), Madeira, and on the coasts of 
tropical Africa, as well as in some few interior districts. It is said that a few 
young non-breeding birds are found in their African winter quarters during the 
northern summer, but the southern limits of the Whimbrel are by no means 
accurately determined, and possibly the bird visits these remote antipodean areas 
to breed from a winter base in the Primogean realm. 


Allied forms.—Numenius pheopus variegatus : Eastern Palearctic region 
in summer ; Oriental and Australian regions in winter. Breeding range not very 
definitely known, but probably extends from the valleys of the Obb and the 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 193 


Yenisei in Western Siberia, eastwards to Kamtschatka, whilst the bird has been 
known to occur on Behring Island, east of the latter country. This Whimbrel 
probably passes through Turkestan on migration, although it appears not to have 
yet been observed there, for it is known to winter in India and Ceylon. Birds 
breeding further east pass through Dauria, China, and Japan on migration, and 
winter in Burmah, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. It is probably examples 
of this race that have been recorded from various islands in the Indian Ocean 
Amirante, Aldabra, Madagascar, Réunion, Mauritius, Rodriguez, Seychelles, Pro- 
vidence Bank, Gloriosa, Assumption, and Grand Comoro). It is the eastern 
form of the Common Whimbrel, only subspecifically distinct, a complete inter- 
gradation existing between eastern and western examples of each race. Typical 
examples differ from the Common Whimbrel in having the rump streaked with 
dark brown, a peculiarity only observed, and even then not to such a marked 
extent, in the young of the latter. N. hudsonicus, the American representative, 
breeding in the Arctic portion of the Nearctic region and in undiscovered areas in 
the far south of the Neotropical region (Patagonia, and possibly still further south), 
wintering in the American portion of the Intertropical or Primogean realm. It 
differs from the Common Whimbrel in having the axillaries and under wing 
coverts pale chestnut, and the rump uniform in colour with the back. N. 
tahitiensis (most closely allied to the preceding), an inhabitant of Alaska during 
the breeding season, wintering in the Pacific Islands, on some of which it is sup- 
posed to breed. It differs from the Common Whimbrel in having the rump 
uniform in colour with the back, the axillaries and under wing coverts pale 
chestnut, and in having hair-like plumes extending beyond the feathers on the 
thighs. 


Habits.—Although the Whimbrel is a much more northern bird, and is 
best known in our Islands on passage, its habits very closely resemble those of the 
Curlew. Owing to the remarkable regularity of appearance of this species in 
spring it is known in many districts of England as the ‘“ May bird,” usually 
“arriving on our coasts during the last days of April and the beginning of May. 
It is observed crossing the Mediterranean from its winter quarters in Africa 
during April. The return migration begins at the end of July in our Islands and 
the flight is continued through August and September, the Mediterranean again 
being crossed during September and October. In autumn, however, the birds fly 
much higher past our coasts and do not alight in such numbers as in spring. 
The migrations of the Whimbrel are one of the most impressive known to me, 
the birds being not only remarkably regular, but very noisy as they hurry across 
the night sky. A few birds, it should be stated, remain on our coasts all the 
summer, non-breeding individuals that stop short of the breeding grounds, whilst 
others lag behind the rest in autumn and spend the winter with us. The 


Whimbrel migrates in flocks, and these generally pass our coasts at night, often 
13 


194 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


at an immense altitude, only their faintly-sounding call-notes informing us of 
their presence overhead. During their stay with us they frequent much the same 
localities as the Curlew, mud-banks, salt marshes, and flat, low-lying coasts. At 
first they are by no means shy, as is usual with birds breeding in the Arctic 
regions, where they are seldom or never molested by man, but the gunners of the 
coast soon teach them wariness. Their actions on the coast are very similar to 
those of their larger congener. Their flight is equally rapid and well-sustained, 
and they possess the same habit of flying about the air, uttering repeated cries 
when alarmed. Perhaps they do not feed so much on the actual beach as the 
Curlew, being more partial to the swampy salt marshes, full of streams and pools 
left by the tide. They wade repeatedly, and are said even to swim occasionally ; 
and they have been observed to be very fond of bathing, throwing the water over 
themselves as they stood breast-deep in the sea. In autumn and winter the Whim- 
brel appears to be just as gregarious as the Curlew, but does not associate with 
other wild fowl to the same extent. The notes of this bird are very similar to 
those of the Curlew. The bird also possesses the same rippling or bubbling cry— 
a shrill tet-ty tet-ty tet-ty tet, which is heard repeatedly in the air, and has gained 
for the Whimbrel the local name of ‘ Titteral.”” During summer the Whimbrel 
occasionally perches in trees. The food of this species consists of insects, worms, 
snails, various ground fruits, and berries in summer, and of crustaceans, sand- 
worms, and other small marine animals during winter. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Whimbrel begins about the 
middle of May, and the eggs are laid from the end of that month until the end of 
June. Its breeding grounds are the elevated moorlands in the vicinity of the sea. 
The nest is merely a hollow in the ground amongst heath or other rough herbage, 
usually in a dry part of the moor, lined with a few bits of dead grass and dry 
leaves. The eggs are four in number, olive-green of various shades or pale buff in 
ground-colour, spotted and blotched with olive-brown and reddish-brown, and 
with underlying markings of pale grey. They measure on an average 2°3 inches 
in length by 1°6 inch in breadth. At its breeding grounds the Whimbrel is both 
courageous and pugnacious, and drives off such intruding birds as Gulls and Skuas 
with a chorus of angry cries. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Numenius, with a pale stripe down the 
centre of the dark crown, and with the lower back much paler than the mantle 


(white in adult birds, streaked with brown in immature examples). Length, 
16 to 18 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 195 


Family CHARADRITD/E. Genus NUMENIUS. 
Subfamily ToranInz. 


ESKIMO WHIMBREL. 


NUMENIUS BOREALIS—U. BR. Forster). 


Scolopax borealis, Forst. Phil. Trans. lxii. pp. 411, 431 (1772). 


Numenius borealis (Forst.), Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 712 (1790); Dresser, B. Hur. viii. 
p- 221, pl. 575 (1873); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 512 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 104 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892) ; Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 241 (1894); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 326 
(1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 183, pl. 45 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. 
Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 368 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Eskimo Whimbrel is a very 
rare straggler to the British Islands, on autumn migration. The following occur- 
rences are on record :—England: Suffolk (two examples), November, 1852; Scilly 
Isles (one example), September, 1887. Scotland : Kincardineshire (two examples), 
September, 1855 and 1880; Aberdeenshire (one example), September, 1879. Ireland: 
Sligo (one example), October, 1870. Foreign: Northern Nearctic and Southern 
Neotropical region in summer; American portion of the Primogean realm in 
winter. It breeds on the tundras, above the limits of forest growth, from Alaska to 
the shores of Hudson Bay and Davis Strait. On the west it is said occasionally 
to wander across Behring Strait to the north-eastern coast of Asia, whilst in 
the east it appears accidentally to stray to Greenland. Its remote southern 
breeding grounds in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands are not yet discovered ; 
but there can be no doubt, if the species visits the southern temperate latitudes 
normally, thatit nests in them. It crosses the United States, east of the Rockies, 
on migration ; visits the Bermudas abnormally, and winters in South America. 


Allied forms.— Mesoscolopax minutus, an inhabitant during summer of 
Eastern Siberia, passing through Dauria, Japan, and China on migration, and 
wintering in the Malay Archipelago and Australia; but how far south normally 
remains to be determined. It closely resembles the Eskimo Whimbrel in general 
appearance, but is generically distinct, having the back of the metatarsus scutellated 


like the front—covered before and behind with narrow transverse plates instead 
of hexagonal scales. 


Habits.—Like its congener, the Common Whimbrel, the present species is 
a migratory bird and a northern one. Its migrations are also performed about 


196 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


the same time. It passes across the United States in flocks with great regularity 
during May, appearing at the beginning of that month sometimes before the 
snow has all melted, and frequenting the inland plains as well as the salt marshes 
and mud-flats on the coast. A few birds begin to return about the end of July, 
and the autumn migration extends from that date to the end of October. It has 
been remarked by observers that this Whimbrel shows more preference for the 
sea coasts than inland districts in autumn and winter, probably because the 
supply of food is more regular and constant. Like its allies it is a shy, wary bird, 
and seldom admits of a close approach unless carefully stalked. In autumn and 
winter, up to the arrival on the breeding grounds in the following spring, the 
Eskimo Whimbrel is gregarious, but there is no evidence to show that it is any 
more social than its allies during the nesting season. The flight of this bird is 
rapid, and during migration especially is made at a considerable altitude. The 
bird also possesses the characteristic habit of gliding on motionless pinions before 
alighting, and elevating them for a moment before they are folded close to the 
body. Its note is described by Dr. Coues as a soft, mellow whistle, oft repeated; 
as a chattering cry when on flight; and, when wounded, as a harsh scream. The 
Eskimo Whimbrel is much attached to certain haunts where its favourite food 
chances to be abundant, often continuing to frequent the place after being 
repeatedly shot at. Its food in summer consists of insects, worms, and various 
kinds of berries and ground fruits, whilst on the coast it is chiefly composed of 
small mollusks, crustaceans, and other marine creatures. 


Nidification.—The breeding grounds of the Eskimo Whimbrel are situated 
on the barren grounds or tundras of the Arctic regions beyond the limits of forest 
growth. Like all other Arctic Waders it breeds late, not being able to do so until 
the ground is free from snow towards the end of June. The nest is placed on 
the ground of the tundra, and is a mere hollow lined with a few scraps of dry 
herbage and withered leaves. The eggs are normally four in number. They 
range from brownish or greyish-buff to greenish-olive in ground-colour, blotched 
and spotted with brown of various shades, and with pale underlying markings of 
ereyish-brown. They are pyriform, and measure on an average 2°0 inches in 
length by 1'4 inch in breadth. Although MacFarlane, Richardson, and others 
have had ample opportunity of observing the breeding habits of the Eskimo 
Whimbrel, there are many points still unknown. How long the period of incu- 
bation lasts, whether both sexes sit, or male or female alone, whether more than 
one brood is reared, all remain to be determined. MacFarlane states that the 
hen bird, as a rule, glided from the nest whilst he was still at some distance, so 
that the eggs were discovered with great difficulty, as they closely resemble 
surrounding objects in colour. 


Diagnostic characters.—Numenius, with a pale mesial stripe, and with 
the primaries unbarred. Length, 14 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 197 


Genus LIMOSA, or Godwits. 
Type, LIMOSA MELANURA. 


Limosa, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
closely allied to the typical Totani, but appear to differ in the formation of the 
sternum. In the Godwits the apex of the profile of the keel retreats from the 
furculum, whilst in the Totani, as in the Snipes, it advances towardsit. They are 
further characterised by having the metatarsus scutellated in front, the bill long, 
exceeding the tail in length, slightly recurved, expanded and hard and smooth at 
the tip; and the frontal feathers not extending beyond the gape. The wings are 
long and pointed, the first quill the longest; the tail is short and nearly even, and 
composed of twelve feathers. The metatarsus is long and slender, the lower por- 
tion of the tibia devoid of feathers. Toes, three in front, one behind articulated. 

This genus is composed of six species and subspecies. In the Northern hemi- 
sphere they are distributed over the Arctic and temperate portions of the Palearctic 
and Nearctic regions during summer, but more cosmopolitan in winter; in the 
Southern hemisphere the distribution of the genus is not only misunderstood but 
comparatively little known. That certain species migrate south from the 
Intertropical realm to breed seems to be unquestionable. Two species are 
visitors to the British Islands. 

The Godwits are dwellers on the moors and tundras and marshes during 
summer, the sea-coasts during migration time and winter. They are birds of 
powerful and rapid flight, run and walk with ease, and habitually wade. Their 
notes are loud and expressive. They subsist on worms, insects, mollusks, etc. 
Their nests are slight and made on the ground, and their eggs are four in number 
and double-spotted. They are monogamous, and more or less sociable and gre- 
garious during winter. 


198 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus Limosa. 
Subfamily Toranin zi. 


BAR=TAILED GODWIT. 
LIMOSA RUFA—(Linneus). 
Puate XXVI. 


Scolopax lapponica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 246 (1766). 


Limosa rufa, Briss; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 260 (1852); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non- 
indig. Brit. B. p. 256 (1894). 

Limosa lapponica (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 203, pl. 573, fig. 1 pl. 574, fig. 2 
(1872) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 494 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxii. 
(1892) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 809 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 
xxiv. p. 873 (1896). 

Totanus rufus (Briss.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 156 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. 
Eggs Brit. B. p. 142, pl. 42 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Bar-tailed Godwit is a well- 
known visitor on spring and autumn migration, most numerous during the vernal 
flights on the coasts of the eastern counties of England south of the Humber. It 
is most abundant and widely distributed in autumn, and commonest on the 
eastern coast line. It passes the Orkneys and Shetlands, the Outer Hebrides, 
and the Channel Islands on migration; but is commonest in Ireland during 
autumn and winter, especially on the west coast. By far the greater number of 
birds that visit us in autumn pass south, but a few remain to winter on our coasts, 
especially in the east of England ; upon the sole authority of Mr. Abel Chapman 
they are said to occur in thousands even during the hardest winters on the. coasts 
of Northumberland, which is contrary to my own experience on the Lincolnshire 
coast, as well as to that of most other competent observers. Perhaps some other 
species has been mistaken for them. Joreign: Northern and western Palearctic 
region in summer; small part of Oriental region in winter. It breeds on the 
tundras above the limits of forest growth from Lapland in the west across 
Northern Europe and Siberia, probably as far east as the valley of the Yenisei. 
It is an accidental wanderer to the Faroes, and passes the western coasts of 
Europe on migration to winter in the basin of the Mediterranean, principally in 
Northern Africa, and occasionally straying to the Canaries. Gambia on the west, 
and the Somali Country on the east appear to be the southern limits. The birds 
breeding in West Siberia appear to migrate down the valleys of the Tobol and 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 199 


the Ural into the Caspian basin, thence across country to the Mekran coast 
to North-east Africa, and occasionally to the extreme north-west of India, the 
great mountain chains of Central Asia apparently turning the tide of migrants 
westwards from the Yenisei Valley into this area. 


Allied forms.—Limosa rufa wropygialis, northern and eastern Palearctic 
region insummer; Australian region during antipodean summer. It breeds on the 
tundras of Northern Siberia above forest growth, probably from the Taimur 
Peninsula eastwards to the sea of Okhotsk and across Behring Strait into Alaska. 
It passes Japan, Mantchooria, and China on migration, and winters in the islands 
of the Malay Archipelago and Australia. In the present state of our knowledge 
it is impossible to say whether this race of Godwit furnishes another instance of 
a species breeding in the Northern and Southern hemispheres and having an 
Intertropical base. This Godwit is known to visit Norfolk Island, New Zealand, 
parts of Southern Australia and Tasmania during summer in those regions; but, 
possibly, its appearance may be abnormal. On the other hand, future research 
may show that the bird breeds in those latitudes. ‘This is the eastern form of 
the Bar-tailed Godwit, only subspecifically distinct, and completely intergrading 
with its western representative. Typical examples differ from the Bar-tailed 
Godwit in having the prevailing colour of the rump browner, caused by the dark 
centres of the feathers being larger and more numerous. This form should be 
looked for on the British coasts, especially during the autumn flights. L. fedoa, 
the America representative of the Bar-tailed Godwit, breeding as far north as 
Lake Winnipeg, and wintering as far south as the coast of Peru. Distinguished 
from the Bar-tailed Godwit by having the axillaries and under wing coverts 
chestnut. 


Habits.—The Bar-tailed Godwit begins to leave its winter quarters in 
North Africa in February, and the stream of migrants slowly percolates into 
Europe from that date until the end of April. This stream of migrating Godwits 
breaks upon our coasts towards the end of April and during the first half of May, 
but does not appear to extend north of Spurn Point, whence the German Ocean 
is crossed, and the Arctic breeding grounds are reached towards the end of 
that month or early in June. Birds on the return journey—mostly young—are 
observed on the British coasts at the end of August, and the autumn flight 
continues from that date to the end of October or the first week in November. 
Hume states that in India the earliest occurrence of this species known to him 
in autumn was the 29th of September, and the latest in spring on the 28rd of 
March. The birds that pass our coasts in spring are mostly adults on their way 
north to breed, and excessively wary; but in autumn the flocks are largely com- 
posed of young birds which are just as remarkably tame. I have often been 
allowed to approach within a few feet of single birds on the mud-flats of the 


200 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Wash, without their showing the least alarm—only greeting me with what 
I should say were expressions of astonishment. Probably I was the first human 
being they had ever seen. During their sojourn on our coasts these birds confine 
themselves principally to low coasts, where a considerable area of mud is exposed 
at low tide. They are very fond of frequenting the little creeks and dykes that 
intersect salt marshes, and during high water often repair short distances inland 
to wait for the ebb. The Bar-tailed Godwit during autumn and winter is 
generally a gregarious species, and sometimes unites into very large flocks at the 
feeding grounds; but these gatherings are easily dispersed, and the birds divide 
into parties and often fly off in various directions. Hume records similar habits 
in the winter quarters of this species in Kurrachee Harbour. This Godwit 
usually walks about the soft muds and marshes, but can, when occasion requires, 
run with considerable swiftness. Its flight is rapid and often rather unsteady at 
first, and, like most Waders, the bird frequently skims for a short distance before 
it alights. When reposing on some mud-bank the long neck is usually drawn in 
close to the body, and one leg is often held up. It moves about a good deal at 
night, and is often taken in the flight nets of the Wash at that time. It wades 
frequently ; but never attempts to swim or dive unless wounded. The food of 
the Bar-tailed Godwit during autumn and winter consists of insects, crustaceans, 
snails, and sand-worms. Hume remarks that birds shot in India which he 
dissected had been feeding on what appeared to be minute acephale or jellyfish. 
In summer the bird subsists largely on insects and their larve, worms, and 
possibly ground fruits and berries. The flesh of this species is not very palatable, 
especially when the birds are shot in winter, or after long residence on the coast. 
A young bird, shot soon after its arrival in our islands in autumn, is in the 
best condition for the table. The note of this Godwit resembles the syllables 
kyd-kyd-kyd, often very persistently uttered as the birds fly up and down the 
mud-flats. During the pairing season the male utters a trill. 


Nidification.—No thoroughly trustworthy observations of the breeding 
habits of the Bar-tailed Godwit have been recorded until Mr. H. L. Popham 
published his Yenisei experiences of this species in the Ibis last year (1897). Its 
breeding grounds are on the swampy moors of the Arctic regions, and apparently 
very local. Eggs of this bird were obtained by Wolley in Finland on the 29th of 
May, and he states that it breeds in marshes, and that the nests are hard to find. 
Mr. Popham met with this Godwit in fair numbers between lat. 69° and 72° 
in the valley of the Yenisei. He states that never more than one pair occupies 
the same district when nesting. Like Wolley he experienced great difficulty in 
finding the nests, which he describes as a slight hollow on the high-lying tundra. 
These were met with on the 27th of June and the 8rd of July, in each case being 
in the vicinity of a nest belonging to Buffon’s Skua. Both birds take part in the 
incubation of the eggs. The one upon the nest keeps very close, seldom leaving 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 201 


it until almost touched by the hand, whilst its mate flies out to meet an intruder 
at least a mile from the spot, screaming all the time, both in the air and upon 
the ground, and never leaving him until he is clear of the sacred neighbourhood. 
The call-note of this Godwit at the nest is described by Mr. Popham as koo-wak. 
The eggs are four in number, olive-green of various shades in ground-colour, 
spotted and blotched with darker brown, and with underlying markings of grey. 
They measure on an average 2°1 inches in length by 1°45 inch in breadth. It is 
impossible to distinguish them from eggs of the Black-tailed Godwit. Probably 
this species rears one brood only in the season. 


Diagnostic characters.—Limosa, with the lower back, rump, under 
wing coverts, and axillaries white, obscurely marked with brown, the tail barred 
with black and white. Length, 15 to 16 inches. 


202 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDZ:. Genus Limosa. 
Subfamily TOTANINZ, 


BLACK-TAILED GODWIT. 
LIMOSA MELANURA—Leisler. 


Scolopax limosa, Linn. Syst. Nat i. p. 246 (1766). 

Limosa egocephala (Linn.), apud: Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p, 269 (1852); Dresser, B. 
Eur. viii. p. 211, pl. 574 (1872); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 488 (1883); Lilford, 
Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1893). 

Totanus melanurus (Leisler); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 162 (1885); Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 148, pl. 42 (1896). 

Limosa melanura, Leisler; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 254 (1894). 

Limosa limosa (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 313 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. 

Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 381 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : Although the Black-tailed God- 
wit formerly bred in the eastern counties of England, it is now much rarer than 
the preceding species. It is half a century ago since the last eggs were taken in 
Norfolk. It occurs sparingly, but fairly regularly, on spring and autumn passage, 
on the low-lying coasts of the east of England, south of the Humber; much less 
frequently elsewhere, although it is said to visit the coast of Lancashire every 
autumn. It is very much rarer in Scotland, even on the eastern coasts; but it 
has been observed as far north as the Shetlands; on the west coast it is only 
accidental. It is of rare occurrence in Ireland, chiefly in autumn. It occasionally 
strays inland to large sheets of water, and a few laggards are sometimes met with 
in winter. Foreign: Western Palearctic region; Oriental region occasionally in 
winter. It breeds in Iceland and the Faroes. On Continental Europe it breeds 
in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Scandinavia (occasionally up to the Arctic circle), 
Poland, North Germany, and Central and Southern Russia. In Asia it breeds in 
Western Turkestan and South-western Siberia up to lat. 60°, and as far east as 
the western tributaries of the Obb. It passes Western Europe both by way of 
the coasts and across inland districts on migration, and winters on the Spanish 
littoral and in the basin of the Mediterranean, occasionally wandering to the 
Canaries and Madeira, and down the Red Sea to Abyssinia. The birds breeding 
in the east appear to pass West Turkestan on migration to winter in the basin 
of the Caspian, in the Persian Gulf, and in India and Ceylon, those visiting the 
latter country crossing the Himalayas on passage. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 203 


Allied forms.—Limosa melanura melanuroides, an inhabitant of the 
eastern Palearctic region ; Oriental and northern Australian regions in winter. 
It breeds from the eastern tributaries of the Yenisei, through the Altai Mountains 
and the Baikal basin to the valley of the Amoor, apparently not occurring north 
of lat. 55° in Hast Siberia. It passes Mongolia and Japan on migration, and 
winters in China, Burmah, the Malay Archipelago, Northern Australia, and many 
of the Pacific Islands. This is the eastern form of the Black-tailed Godwit, only 
subspecifically distinct. In spite of the fact that the area of distribution during 
the breeding season appears to be discontinuous, the eastern and westerm forms 
completely intergrade, a fact owing probably to the winter quarters of each 
impinging. As may be seen, this is exactly reversed in the Bar-tailed Godwit, in 
which the breeding area of the two forms overlaps, but the winter area is discon- 
tinuous. Typical examples differ from the Black-tailed Godwit only in size, 
measuring in length of wing from 7:0 to 8:0 inches, instead of from 8°0 to 
9:0 inches as in the western race, and in length of tarsus from 2°25 to 3°0 inches, 
instead of from 3°0 to 3°75 inches. This form should be looked for on the British 
coasts, especially in autumn. L. hudsonica, the American representative of the 
Black-tailed Godwit, breeding on the tundras of Arctic America from Alaska to 
Baffin Bay, and probably in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, wintering in the 
American portion of the Intertropical realm. It is distinguished from the Black- 
tailed Godwit by having the axillaries and under wing coverts dark brown instead 
of white. 


Habits.—Flocks of Black-tailed Godwits begin to leave their winter quarters 
south of the Mediterranean in February, and continue to do so until the middle 
of March. These birds do not appear to be in any great hurry to reach their 
breeding grounds, as they pass slowly up the coasts of Western Europe, not 
reaching our Islands before April and May, which is also the date of their arrival 
in Denmark. The return migration begins in Denmark and the British Islands 
in August, and lasts into September; in France it begins in September and 
continues into October. In Upper India this species does not arrive in any great 
numbers before the end of October, and most of the birds have departed again by 
the end of March; but Hodgson states that in Nepal it arrives in September, 
stays a month before passing south, and returns in March and April. This bird 
not only frequents the mud-flats and saltings, but more inland marshes and the 
wet, boggy parts of moors. Atits winter quarters in India it is found inland near 
broads and swamps, usually in the vicinity of rice fields and on the banks of the 
larger rivers ; but in more littoral districts it affects the mud-flats of estuaries by 
preference. This Godwit usually walks with rather slow, deliberate steps, but it 
is capable of running very quickly, and often wades in the shallows. Sometimes 
it sleeps while standing in water up to the breast, with the long neck and bill 
nestled in the dorsal plumage. In India they are said to be much more easily 


204 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


approached when in flocks than when in pairs or alone; but curiously enough 
the reverse is often the case on our coasts. It may frequently be seen in marshy 
meadows, and occasionally frequents long grass almost as tall as itself. This 
Godwit, whilst on passage, is remarkably restless, and shifts its ground a good 
deal, but when once fairly settled in its winter quarters it continues to visit 
certain feeding grounds for many weeks in succession. Hume states that in 
India although they have certain spots, especially rice stubbles and fields and 
patches of wild rice, to which they resort for several hours during the day to feed, 
they also feed at other times in places to which they resort for the remainder of 
the day. The food of the Black-tailed Godwit consists of worms, insects and 
their larvee, crustaceans, sand-worms, and snails. In summer this food is varied 
with shoots and roots of aquatic plants; and in winter, according to Hume, rice, 
whenever available, both cultivated and wild, is this Godwit’s favourite food, in 
additon to which it eats great quantities of millet seed, and the seeds of grass and 
sedges. Its kind of food, this writer informs us, depends a good deal on what 
may chance to be to hand, and its gizzard is usually crammed with one variety 
alone. The call-note of the Black-tailed Godwit resembles the syllables tyzi-dt, 
but its alarm note is a loud and clear tyii, tytt, most persistently uttered when the 
breeding grounds are invaded by man. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Black-tailed Godwit commences 
at the end of April or in May, in Poland and Jutland, a little later in higher 
latitudes, and the young may be seen fully fledged towards the end of June. 
Although not strictly gregarious during this period, numbers of nests may be 
found within a small area of the marshes and swampy meadows on which this 
species breeds. The nest, found with difficulty, is usually well concealed amongst 
the herbage, and is often placed in a tussock of sedgy grass, the wettest ground 
generally being preferred. It is merely a hollow about three inches deep, some- 
times but not always rather neatly lined with dry grass and other vegetable 
refuse. The eggs are four in number, various shades of olive-brown in ground- 
colour, spotted and blotched with darker olive-brown, and with underlying 
markings of pale brown and grey. They are pyriform, and measure on an average 
2°15 inches in Jength by 1°5 inch in breadth. As soon as the breeding haunts are 
invaded the Godwits rise and fly to and fro with noisy clamour, rarely if ever 
remaining on their nests until approached; and when the young are hatched they 
become more bold, and venture within a few feet of the intruder’s head. They 
are said to be very pugnacious at this period, and will even attack cattle that 
chance to stray on to their haunts, and pursue with great fierceness any wan- 
dering Crow or Hawk that invades their quarters. One brood only is reared in 
the year, and as soon as the young can fly the move southwards begins. 


Diagnostic characters.—Limosa, with the retrices black with white 
bases, and the axillaries white, sometimes obscurely barred with brown. Length, 
16 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 205 


Genus MACRORHAMPHUS, or Snipe=billed Sandpipers. 
Type, MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS. 


Macrorhamphus, of Leach (1816).—The birds comprising the present 
genus are characterised by having a long Snipe-like bill, nearly straight, expanded 
near the tip which is covered by a soft pore-studded skin ; whilst the groove on 
the lower mandible reaches nearly to the tip, whereas in the Godwits it does not 
extend beyond half the length. They form a somewhat isolated group, presenting 
characters similar to those of the Cleft-footed Sandpipers and Snipes (in the bill) 
and to the Totani in the structure of the foot, which is partially webbed at the 
base of the toes. The wings are long and pointed. The metatarsus is long; the 
tibia for some considerable distance bare of feathers. The nostrils are lateral 
and basal; the toes, three in front, one behind somewhat elevated. 

This genus is composed of three species and races distributed over the Eastern 
Palearctic and the Nearctic regions in summer and the Neotropical and Oriental 
regions in winter. One species is a rare straggler to the British Islands. 

The Snipe-billed Sandpipers do not differ in their general habits and the 
localities they frequent from their near allies. Their eggs and mode of nidification 
are also normal Totanine. 


206 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus MACRORHAMPHUS. 
Subfamily Toraninz. 


RED-BREASTED SNIPE. 
MACRORHAMPHUS GRISHUS—(Gmelin). 


Scolopax grisea, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 658 (1788). 


Macrorhamphus griseus (Gmel.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 275 (1852); Dresser, B. 
Eur. viii. p. 187, pl. 571 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 8357 (1883) ; Lilford, 
Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1894); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 306 (1896); 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 394 (1896). 

Ereunetes griseus (Gmel.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 168 (1885); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 257 (1894): Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 148, pl. 41 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The recorded occurrences on 
which the claim of the Red-breasted Snipe to rank as ‘‘ British” is based are as 
follows :—England: Devonshire (three examples), October, 1801, 1837, and 
“previous to 1857”; Cumberland (one example), September, 1835; Norfolk 
(three examples), October, 1836, October, 1840, October, 1845; Middlesex (two 
examples), one ‘‘ previous to 1866”; Scilly Isles (one example), October, 1857 ; 
Lincolnshire (one example), August, 1882; Lancashire (one example). Scotland: 
Fifeshire (one example), September, 1867 ; Lanarkshire (one example), “‘ previous 
to 1870.” Ireland: Queen’s Co. (one example), November, 1893; Tipperary (one 
example), November, 1893. It is by no means improbable that some of these 
examples may belong to the nearly allied Asiatic species about to be mentioned ; 
it is also impossible to say, without examining each specimen, whether all or 
part belong to the eastern or western form of the American species. It is 
said, however, that the two Irish examples did actually belong to the western 
race. Foreign: Nearctic region except extreme north-west; Northern Neotropical 
region in winter. It occurs accidentally in Greenland and in Continental Europe. 
It breeds throughout the Arctic regions of North America from the Rockies in the 
west to Baffin Bay in the east, and south to Hudson Bay, and probably the 
Great Lakes in about lat. 44°. It passes by inland routes, as well as along the 
Atlantic coasts, and abnormally over the Bermudas on migration, and winters in 
the West Indies, Central America, and South America, as far south as Bahia in 
Brazil, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 207 


Allied forms.— Macrorhamphus griseus scolopaceus, an inhabitant of the 
North-western Nearctic region; Northern Neotropical region in winter. Probably 
breeds from the valley of the Saskatchewan, northwards through the lake region 
and the Mackenzie Valley to Banks Land, and westwards to Alaska and the 
extreme north-east of Asia, in the Tchuski Land and Kamtschatka. It passes 
down the Pacific coasts, and inland almost in a line with the Rocky Mountains, 
and winters in Central America. It occasionally wanders to the Atlantic coasts ; 
has been recorded inland in Asia as far east as the valley of the Lena; and occurs 
accidentally in Japan. This is the western form of the Red-breasted Snipe, 
Only subspecifically distinct, and completely intergrading with its more eastern 
representative. Typical examples differ from the Red-breasted Snipe in being 
less spotted on the underparts in breeding plumage, and in having the lower back 
less spotted in summer and winter alike. It is also said to be on an average a 
slightly larger bird. M. taczanowskit, an inhabitant, probably, of the valley of 
the Lena in Siberia during summer, passing through Dauria and Mongolia on 
migration, and wintering in China, Borneo, Burmah, and India. It differs from 
both forms of the Red-breasted Snipe in having the middle toe united at the 
base by a web to both the adjoining toes, and the bill more than three inches 
in length. 


Habits.—The Red-breasted Snipe is a rather late migrant, passing the 
northern United States from the latter half of April to about the middle of May, 
and arriving at its Arctic breeding grounds towards the end of that month. As is 
the case with most Waders in which the young birds do not breed in their first 
spring, many individuals pass the summer considerably south of the breeding 
grounds, or even do not migrate north at all in spring, but remain during the 
summer in their winter quarters. The return migration commences to a great 
extent with the young birds that leave their birth-place almost as soon as they 
can fly. These reach even such southern localities as the West Indies by the 
end of July. During August and September the great bulk of birds pass south, 
and then this species literally swarms in districts suited to its requirements. As 
is usual, the autumn passage is made much more leisurely than the spring one, 
and the migrating parties of a dozen or more individuals often remain for several 
weeks in a district where food is abundant before passing on again. They are 
said to be very tame birds whilst on passage, probably because most of them are 
young and ignorant of man’s persecutions. During autumn and winter the Red- 
breasted Snipe principally frequents the low, flat, muddy coasts, where abundant 
food can be obtained, but less frequently it is found near inland swamps and 
marshes. On the muds it runs about in the usual Sandpiper style, occasionally 
wading through the shallows, and even swimming when it chances to get out of 
its depth. When alarmed, the flock rises en masse, and settles again in the same 
manner. The flight of this bird is quick and well-sustained, but is not characterised 


208 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


by the unsteady, wavering movements that are so remarkable a feature in that of 
the true Snipes. The usual note of the Red-breasted Snipe is said to be a whistle, 
easily imitated by the sportsman, who often thus lures the bird to its doom. The 
alarm note is described by Coues as a soft weet, uttered as the bird is about to 
take flight; whilst in the love season the male utters a musical trill, usually 
whilst hovering above his mate on quivering wings. The food of this bird con- 
sists principally of worms and insects, but seeds and various ground fruits are 
eaten. On the shore it obtains crustaceans, mollusks, and other small marine 
animals. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Red-breasted Snipe begins in 
June, and fresh eggs may be obtained throughout that month. The nesting 
grounds of this species are situated on the Arctic tundras, the marshy portions of 
these interminable northern moors, or “‘ barren grounds,” as the Americans term 
them, where pools are frequent. Sometimes its breeding grounds are close to the 
sea, at others considerable distances inland. The nest is made upon the ground, 
often in a tuft of marsh grass, or amongst the short vegetation on the shores of 
the moorland lakes. It is merely a hollow, scantily lined with a few dead leaves 
or bits of withered herbage. The eggs are four in number, and vary in ground- 
colour from pale greenish-brown to pale buffish-brown, blotched and spotted with 
dark reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of pale greyish-brown. Some- 
times a few very dark streaks occur. They are pyriform, and measure on an 
average 1°7 inch in length by 1:15 inch in breadth. One brood only is reared in 
the year, and as soon as the young can fly they begin to draw southwards with 
their parents on their way to their winter quarters. 


Diagnostic characters.—Macrorhamphus, with no web between the 
middle and inner toes,.and with the lower back much whiter than the mantle. 
Length, 10 to 11 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 209 


Genus BARTRAMIA, or Long-tailed Sandpipers. 
Type, BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA. 


Bartramia, of Lesson (1831).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the tail much graduated, the outermost feathers less 
than the central ones by as much as the length of the hind toe and claw. The 
metatarsus is very long, being twice the length of the innermost toe and claw. 
The bill is short, and slightly swollen near the tip. The tibia is bare of feathers 
for a considerable distance. The wings are long and pointed; toes, three in 
front, and one behind somewhat elevated. 

This genus is composed of a single species, which is distributed over the 
Nearctic and Neotropical regions, and is an abnormal migrant to the British 
Islands. 

Unlike so many of the Totani, the Long-tailed Sandpiper is a dweller on plains 
and uplands, and appears rarely to be seen near water, and to pass the coasts on 
migration only. Its food, habits, mode of nesting, migrations, etc., are described 
in the account of this species. 


14 


210 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus BARTRAMIA. 
Subfamily, ToTaNINz. 


BARTRAM’S SANDPIPER. 


BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA—(Bechst). 
Puate XXVIII. 
Tringa longicauda, Bechstein, Kurze Uebersicht, p. 453 (1811). 


Bartramia longicauda (Bechst.), Yarrell, Brit, B. ed. 4, iii. p. 440 (1884); Lilford, 
Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxix. (1894); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 267 (1896); 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 509 (1896). 

Totanus bartrami (Wilson), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 110 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 245 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 
134, pl. 44 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : Bartram’s Sandpiper is a very 
rare straggler to the British Islands on autumn migration. The following 
occurrences are on record :—England: Warwickshire (one example), October, 
1851; Cambridgeshire (one example), December, 1855 ; Somerset (one example), 
no date recorded, some forty-five years ago; Cornwall (two examples), November, 
1865, October, 1883 ; Northumberland (one example), November, 1879 ; Lincoln- 
shire (one example), October, 1880. Ireland (one doubtful occurrence), autumn, 
1855. Foreign: Central Nearctic region, Neotropical region. In North America 
Bartram’s Sandpiper breeds in Alaska, Ruperts Land, and the northern United 
States, from Pennsylvania westwards to the foot of the Rockies, but appears to 
be very rare on the Pacific coast. It passes along the inland routes of migration 
as well as down the Atlantic coasts, and abnormally over the Bermudas, and 
winters in the Southern States, Mexico, the West Indies, and throughout the 
South American portion of the Intertropical realm. In the Southern hemisphere 
the breeding grounds of this Sandpiper are not yet defined. Itis found in summer 
—from September to May—in the Argentine, and appears undoubtedly to breed 
on the plains of that region, and possibly further south in Patagonia. It has 
been known to wander to Australia, and there are several instances on record of 
its occurrence in Europe outside of the British Islands: Italy, Malta, Holland, 
Germany. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to need mention. 


Habits.—Bartram’s Sandpiper is a well-known and very regular bird of 
passage across the eastern United States. The ‘‘ Prairie Pigeon,” as this species 
is locally named, crosses the boundless prairies which extend from the Mississippi 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 211 


to the Rocky Mountains, in countless hosts, on its way north to breed, returning 
in greater numbers to its winter quarters when the duties of reproduction are 
over. Great numbers also pass along the coast. The migration north commences 
in April and lasts into May, by the end of the latter month all the birds breeding 
in higher latitudes having sped away, only those remaining that breed on the 
more northern prairies of the States. The return migration commences in 
August, and by the end of September the most northerly breeding grounds are 
deserted. When on actual passage this species is said to migrate by night. It is 
a bird of rapid, powerful flight, and during the breeding season alights on trees 
and posts, where, with wings elevated, it utters a prolonged note, like the 
whistling or sighing of the wind. The usual note of Bartram’s Sandpiper is 
described as a mellow whistle; and, when disturbed from the nest, the sitting bird 
utters an oft-repeated harsh scream. The prolonged whistling note is said often 
to be heard at night. Bartram’s Sandpiper, for the greater part of the year, is 
a very gregarious bird; and, even in the breeding season, numbers of pairs nest 
close together. The food of this species consists principally of insects, such as 
grasshoppers and beetles; but worms and snails are also eaten. In summer and 
autumn the bird also eats various kinds of ground fruits and berries, seeds, and 
the buds and shoots of certain plants growing on the prairies. Its flesh is highly 
esteemed for the table, especially in early autumn, when it is very fat and in 
good condition. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of Bartram’s Sandpiper begins 
towards the end of May or early in June, and, even in northern localities, the 
eggs are usually laid by the middle of that month. The nest is made upon the 
ground, amongst the grass of the prairies and uplands, sometimes near the. 
margin of a small pool, or in an open swampy spot near a wood. It is merely 
a hollow, into which a few bits of dry grass or dead leaves are collected 
asa lining. The eggs are four in number, varying from pale greyish-buff to pale 
buffish-brown in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown, paler 
brown, and underlying markings of grey. They measure on an average 1’8 inch 
in length by 1‘3inch in breadth. Several nests may often be found quite close 
to each other, so that as soon as the birds belonging to one are disturbed the 
others breeding in the vicinity become alarmed, and general confusion prevails. 
The female incubates the eggs; but the period taken up by this is still unrecorded 
by American naturalists. She sits closely, and is said to indulge in various 
alluring antics when scared from the nest. As soon as the broods are grown, 
Bartram’s Sandpiper again begins to join into large flocks, which roam about the 
uplands in quest of suitable feeding places, until the period of departure for the 
south or (in the Southern hemisphere) north. But one brood is reared in the season. 


Diagnostic characters.—Bartramia, with the inner webs of the 
primaries conspicuously barred, and the tail wedge-shaped. Length, 12 inches. 


212 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus MACHETES, or Ruffs. 
Type, MACHETES PUGNAX, 


Machetes, of Cuvier (1817).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the tail much graduated. The metatarsus is very long, 
exceeding the bill in length, and the bare part of the tibia is about equal to the 
metatarsus in length. The bill is short; the wings long and pointed; toes three 
in front, one behind, elevated. The sternum contains one notch only on the 
posterior margin. In the male, during the breeding season, the face is bare of 
feathers and warty, and the body is decorated with a large breast shield and ruff. 

This genus is composed of a single species, which is distributed over the 
Palearctic region in summer and the Ethiopian and Oriental regions in winter. 
It is a rare visitor to the British Islands in summer, but fairly common during 
the two seasons of passage. 

The Ruff does not differ in its general habits or in the localities it frequents 
from allied birds. Its eggs and mode of nidification are also normal Totanine ; 
but there are several features connected with its reproduction of exceptional 
interest, and which will be described in the account of the species. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 213 


Family CHARADRITDAL. Genus MAcHETES. 
Subfamily TorANINz. 


RUFF. 
MACHETES PUGNAX—(Linneus). 


Tringa pugnax, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 247 (1766). 

Machetes pugnax (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 171 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. viii. 
p. 87, pls. 557, 558 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 426 (1883); Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xvii. (1891). 

Totanus pugnax (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 113 (1885); Dixon, Nests and 
Eggs Brit. B. p. 264 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 135, pl. 42 (1896). 

Pavoncella pugnax (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 270 (1896); Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 500 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Ruff formerly bred in 
many of the English marshes; a few pairs still continue to do so in Norfolk and 
Lincolnshire, although Professor Newton says that there is but one locality left. 
Itis most abundant on spring and autumn passage, but of less frequent occurrence 
on the west coasts than on the east. It occurs on the Orkneys, and Shetlands, 
and the Outer Hebrides. It is of regular appearance in Ireland on migration. 
Foreign: Northern Palearctic region, Ethiopian and Oriental regions in winter. 
It breeds from the highest known land across Europe and Asia as far east as the 
Taimur Peninsula, south to Belgium, Germany, and the valley of the Danube 
in Kurope; and south to the Kirghiz Steppes, Western Dauria, and perhaps the 
valley of the Amoor in Asia. It passes through the basins of the Mediterranean, 
Black, Caspian, and Aral seas on migration, and winters in the African portion 
of the Intertropical realm, in Northern India, and in Burmah. Whether the Ruff 
breeds in South Africa is not yet known, but it is significant that Captain Shelley 
records a male and female from Nyasaland in August. Abnormal migrants of this 
species have occurred in Ceylon, Borneo, Japan, Kamtschatka, Behring Island, 
Canada, the Hastern United States, Spanish Guiana, the Faroes, and Iceland. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to need mention. 


Habits.—The Ruff is rather a late bird of passage. According to Irby the 
migration of this species at Gibraltar commences in January, and continues until 
the end of May ; but as the bird does not arrive in Germany or Holland until the 
beginning of May it must progress very slowly. It does not reach its breeding 


214 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


grounds in the Arctic regions before the end of May, or the first week or ten days 
of June. The return migration begins in August, and continues through September 
into October. A few linger on the British coasts throughout the winter. Both 
on migration and in its winter quarters the Ruff is decidedly gregarious, and not 
only frequents the mud-flats and salt marshes on and near the coast, but many 
inland haunts. The flight of this bird is rapid and well-sustained. It both runs 
and walks during its search for food, occasionally wading in the shallows. During 
its short sojourn on the British coasts it seems to prefer mud-flats, and is 
especially numerous in many of the marshy districts of East Anglia—once a 
favourite breeding place of this species. The Ruff is a remarkably silent bird, 
even at the breeding grounds, but it is said to utter a low whit whilst on 
migration. This I have never heard, although I have had many Ruffs under my 
observation in autumn, both on the south coast and the low-lying eastern counties. 
The food of the Ruff consists of insects and their larve, worms, snails, small 
seeds, rice, and various vegetable substances. 


Nidification.—By far the most interesting portion of the Ruff’s economy 
is that relating to its reproduction. It is a polygamous bird, probably because 
for some unknown reason the females are greatly in excess of the males, estimated 
by several competent authorities to preponderate in the ratio of three to one. 
Like most polygamous birds the male Ruffs are very pugnacious, and during the 
‘‘hilling”’ or mating season congregate at certain chosen spots to engage in 
combat for the favours of the females. The “hills,” or fighting places, are 
generally small patches of open elevated land, where the herbage is short and five 
or six feet across. These “hills”? are resorted to yearly, and have been known 
to continue in use for fifty years! Here the rival males engage in what seem to 
be furious and deadly conflicts, although little harm seldom happens to the 
combatants. ‘The excitement is intense enough, and the weaker birds are driven 
from the ‘‘ hills,” the birds rushing at each other with their ruffs expanded, 
jumping into the air and giving thrust after thrust with their bills, which are 
frequently held pointing downwards for some moments while the collar is 
displayed. Several duels often take place at the same time on one “hill,” and 
the meets generally take place in the early morning. These combats are of 
more or less frequent occurrence until the females begin to sit, a period of nearly 
six weeks’ incessant warfare, and which lasts until the ruffs or collars (assumed 
about April) are either worn away or begin to fall off. Hach male pairs with 
several females, but takes no share in the duties of incubation or in bringing up 
the brood. The breeding grounds are the swampy moors and fens covered with 
long grass, either close to the sea or some distance inland. Here the birds are by 
no means gregarious as soon as the “‘hilling” season is over, although they are 
conspicuous enough in their gay, varied plumage. The Reeve makes a slight nest 
on the ground in the swamps, usually in the centre of a tuft of sedge or coarse 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 215 


grass, where its discovery is very difficult. It is a slight affair, a hollow lined 
with a few bits of dry withered herbage. The eggs are four in number, greenish- 
grey in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown, and with under- 
lying markings of greyish-brown. They measure on an average 1°7 inch in length 
by 1°2 inch in breadth. One brood only is reared in the year. Incubation, 
according to Tiedemann, lasts sixteen days. The Reeve is a close sitter; perhaps 
because she has no watchful mate near by to warn her of coming danger. 


Diagnostic characters.— Machetes, with the axillaries white, but with 
no white on the quills or central upper tail coverts. Adult males subject to 
considerable amount of variation, especially in the colour of the ruff or collar. 
Length, 12 inches male; 10 inches female. 


216 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus HELODROMAS, or Green Sandpipers. 
Type, HELODROMAS OCHROPUS. 


Helodromas, of Kaup (1829).—The Green Sandpipers are very closely 
allied to the Hard-billed Sandpipers but present several characteristics which 
seem to warrant their generic separation. Possibly the most important of these 
is an osteological one. The Green Sandpipers are remarkable for possessing two 
notches only in the posterior margin of the sternum. They are further charac- 
terised by having the tarsus but slightly longer than the middle toe. 

This genus is composed of two species, one of which is distributed over the 
greater part of the Palearctic region during summer, and parts of the Ethiopian 
and Oriental regions during winter; the other breeding in the extreme northern 
and southern portions of the Nearctic and Neotropical regions and wintering in 
the American portion of the Intertropical realm. One species is a not unfrequent 
visitor on passage to the British Islands, the other is a rare abnormal migrant 
to them. 

The Green Sandpipers very closely resemble the Hard-billed Sandpipers in 
their general habits, but in the manner of their nesting differ in certain important 
particulars, noticed fully in the chapters dealing with them. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 217 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus HELODROMAS. 
Subfamily ToraNninz. 


GREEN SANDPIPER. 
HELODROMAS OCHROPUS—(Linnaus). 


Tringa ochropus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 250 (1766). 

Totanus ochropus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 342 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. viii. 
p. 135, pl. 564 (1875); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4. iii. p. 457 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 126 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxvi. (1893); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 248 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 187, pl. 42 (1896). 

Helodromas ochropus (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 290 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 437 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Green Sandpiper occurs 
not unfrequently on spring and autumn migration in our islands, a few remaining 
over the summer, and a few lagging behind the rest in winter. It becomes rarer 
in the nothern and western parts of Scotland, whilst in the west of Ireland it is 
even rarer still. It is not yet recorded from the Hebrides nor from the Orkneys 
and Shetlands. It may possibly breed in Norfolk, Yorkshire, Sussex, and else- 
where, but hitherto it has not absolutely been detected doing so. On the other 
hand, the birds lingering behind in spring may be immature and non-breeding 
ones. Foreign: Palearctic region; Ethiopian and Oriental regions in winter. 
It breeds in the forest swamps from about the latitude of the Arctic circle from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific. It passes Central Europe on migration, but numbers 
find a suitable climate at high elevations in which to breed, on the Pyrenees, the 
Alps, the Carpathians, and the Caucasus. Eastwards its southern breeding range 
is Turkestan, and the South Siberian mountains. Dr. Abbott obtained it at the 
end of July in Eastern Turkestan at an elevation of 13,000 feet. The European 
birds winter in the basin of the Mediterranean, and in the African portion of the 
Intertropical realm ; whilst those breeding in Northern Asia pass that season in 
Arabia (where it occurs in immense flocks), Persia, India, Ceylon, Burmah, China, 
and Japan. There can be little doubt, if this bird visits South Africa normally, 
that it actually breeds there, its unusual mode of nesting contributing to the fact 
being undetected. 


218 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Totanus solitarius, the American representative of the 
Green Sandpiper, which as it has occurred in the British Islands will be dealt 
with fully in the following chapter. 


Habits.—The Green Sandpiper arrives at its breeding grounds in Pome- 
rania at the beginning of April, but in the Arctic regions it is nearly two months 
later. The return journey commences in August, and is undertaken rather 
slowly, and continues through September into October. The haunts of this 
species are swamps and marshes in forests, the banks of wooded streams, and 
lowland dykes. It is not much of a coast bird, even in winter. It is a solitary 
species, seldom seen even in small parties except during early autumn before the 
broods have got separated, nor does it appear to associate with other Waders. 
Its flight is rapid and well-sustained ; and wherever there is any cover it is by 
no means a shy bird. Its food is principally composed of insects, but small 
worms and snails are also eaten. The note of the Green Sandpiper is a rather 
low and musical tyé-tyé-tyé, modulated under alarm or excitement into tyiik- 
tytik-tytik. Whether the bird has any trill during the pairing season has not 
been recorded. 


Nidification.—The breeding habits of the Green Sandpiper are remark- 
ably interesting, inasmuch as the bird, instead of making a nest on the ground, 
lays its eggs in trees, usually at the deserted homes of other species. In some 
localities the eggs are laid as early as the middle of April, but they are of course 
produced much later in higher latitudes. During the breeding season the Green 
Sandpiper is as often to be seen in the trees and bushes as on the ground. A 
deserted nest of a Blackbird or Thrush, a Jay, or a Ring Dove, or even a Crow, 
is often selected by the female in which to deposit her eggs. As a rule old nests 
are selected from three to twelve feet from the ground, but the eggs have been 
taken from an old drey of a squirrel as many as thirty feet from it, whilst others 
have been found in a hole in a fallen tree, and on the stump of a tree which had 
either been felled or blown down. The eggs are sometimes laid in a broad fork 
on a lodgment of drifted leaves and lichen. Almost invariably the nests or sites 
selected are close to waters of some kind, and often in marshes. The eggs are 
four in number (seven are on record, doubtless the produce of two pairs of birds), 
and vary from creamy-white sometimes tinged with olive, to pale buff in ground- 
colour, spotted with dark reddish-brown, and underlying spots of pale greyish- 
brown. They measure on an average 1°55 inch in length by 1:1 inch in breadth. 
When the young are hatched the parents become very anxious, and flit about the 
trees and bushes in a remarkable and excited manner. 


Diagnostic characters.—Helodromas, with the rump and upper tail 
coverts white, and the axillaries brown, narrowly barred with white. Length, 
94 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 219 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus HELODROMAS. 
Subfamily Toraninz. 


SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 
HELODROMAS SOLITARIUS—( Wilson). 


Tringa solitaria, Wilson, Amer. Orn. vii. p. 53, pl. 58, fig. 3 (1818). 

Totanus solitarius (Wilson), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 130 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxvi. (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. app. 1, 
p. 336 (1894) ; Seebohm. Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 188 (1896). 

Helodromas solitarius (Wilson), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 292 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 444 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : Three recorded occurrences 
establish the claim of the Solitary Sandpiper to rank as “‘ British.” They are as 
follows: Lanarkshire (one example), some years previous to 1870; Scilly Isles 
(one example), September, 1882; Cornwall (one example), October, 1884. Foreign: 
Nearctic region; Neotropical region in winter. It breeds in the northern United 
States from about lat. 44° up to the limits of forest growth near the Arctic circle. 
Passes the United States, the Bermudas (abnormally), Mexico, Central America, 
and the West Indies on migration, and winters in the American portion of the 
Intertropical or Primogean realm. If this Sandpiper normally visits the tem- 
perate portions of South America, it most probably breeds there, and is another 
of those species which migrate north and south to breed from an Equatorial base. 


Allied forms.—Helodromas ochropus, the Old World representative of 
the Solitary Sandpiper, a British species, and dealt with fully in the preceding 
chapter. Some nine years ago, Brewster described a form of this Sandpiper from 
the Pacific coast of North America, under the name of Totanus solitarius 
cinnamomeus. It is said to differ in being larger, the wings greyer, and the pale 
spots on the upper parts brownish-cinnamon instead of buftish-white. These 
characters, however, do not appear to be constant. 


Habits.—The Solitary Sandpiper arrives at its summer quarters in the 
northern United States in May; a little later in higher latitudes. The return 
journey commences as early as the end of July, and in the extreme south lasts 
into October. In its habits the Solitary Sandpiper very closely resembles its Old 
World ally the Green Sandpiper. It is of an equally solitary disposition, only 


220 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


being noticed in small parties shortly after the broods are reared. It is not 
specially a coast bird, but prefers to run about the margins of pools and streams, 
occasionally wading through the shallows, and frequenting tidal creeks and salt 
marshes. Its food is not known to differ from that of the Green Sandpiper, and 
its note is described as a shrill whistle. 


Nidification.—It is a most extraordinary fact that the nesting habits 
and the eggs of the Solitary Sandpiper are absolutely unknown, for the nest 
discovered by Mr. Richardson, made upon the ground, does not seem to us suffi- 
ciently authenticated. Its breeding grounds are neither unknown nor inaccessible, 
nevertheless its eggs remain undiscovered. This is most probably because 
American naturalists have not searched for them in trees. There can be no 
possible doubt that the Solitary Sandpiper breeds in a similar way to its Old 
World representative, and lays its eggs in the deserted nests of other birds. 
During the breeding season it frequents similar localities, forest swamps, and 
pools. Its eggs, probably, closely resemble those of the Green Sandpiper. 


Diagnostic characters.—Helodromas, with the axillaries brown 
narrowly barred with white, and the rump and central upper tail coverts dark, 
the same colour as the back and rump; primaries unbarred. Length, 9 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 221 


Genus TOTANUS, or Hard-billed Sandpipers. 
Type, TOTANUS CALIDRIS. 


Totanus, of Bechstein (1803).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the frontal feathers extending beyond the line of the 
gape, and the bill so nearly straight that it is practically on the same plane as the 
gape. The wings are long and pointed, the first quill the longest ; tail variable in 
shape and, to some extent, in the number of rectrices, even in closely allied species. 
The metatarsus is scutellated anteriorly and posteriorly ; the tibia above the meta- 
tarsal joint devoid of feathers. The bill is moderately long and nearly straight, 
hard at the point ; nostrils lateral, linear. Toes, three in front, one behind, small 
and elevated. The difference between summer and winter plumage is generally 
trifling, differing considerably in this respect from the Typical Sandpipers, 

This genus is composed of eleven species, distributed over the Palxarctic, and 
Nearctic regions ; more cosmopolitan in winter. Ten species are British ; some 
accidental wanderers, some resident, some winter visitors. 

The Hard-billed Sandpipers are dwellers on moors, tundras and marshes in 
summer, on sea coasts in winter. They are birds of powerful, well-sustained flight, 
and perform extended migrations. On the ground they run and walk with ease, 
and frequently wade. Their notes are shrill and some not unmusical. They 
subsist on insects, mollusks, fruit, &c. They make scanty nests, generally placed 
on the ground, and their pyriform eggs are four in number and double-spotted. 
They are monogamous, and more or less gregarious and social, especially during 
winter. 


222, THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus ToTANus. 
Subfamily TOTaNINA. 


COMMON SANDPIPER. 
TOTANUS HYPOLEUCUS—(Linneus). 


Tringa hypoleucus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 250 (1766). 

Actitis hypoleucus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 351 (1852). 

Totanus hypoleucus (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 127, pl. 563 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4, iii. p. 446 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 117 (1885); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Brit. B. p. 266 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 136, pl. 43 
(1896). 

Tringoides hypoleucus (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 283 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 456 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. — British: The Common Sandpiper passes 
the Channel Islands on spring and autumn migration. It breeds in the moor- 
land districts of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, and northwards through Wales 
to the Peak. Thence it becomes widely distributed in the upland districts, 
throughout the north of England, and Scotland up to the Orkneys and Shetlands, 
and west to the Outer Hebrides. From the wild nature of the country and its 
suitability to the requirements of this species, the bird is widely distributed in 
Ireland. Elsewhere in England it is chiefly known on spring and autumn 
passage, but a few occasionally remain on our southern coasts all the winter, as 
I have recently proved. Foreign: Palearctic region. It breeds throughout 
Scandinavia, and across Europe and Asia as far north as the Arctic circle. In 
Europe it breeds as far south as the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, the 
Balkans, the hills of Greece, and the Caucasus ; whilst in Asia its summer range 
extends to Turkestan, Cashmere, China, (where it is a common resident in the 
Lower Yangtse basin) and Japan. The European birds winter in the African 
portion of the Intertropical realm, but a few are said to be found all the year 
round in the basin of the Mediterranean ; whilst others, probably immature or 
abnormal migrants from South Africa, have been noticed to remain during 
summer in Teneriffe and North-east Africa. The Asiatic birds winter in Arabia, 
India (although it appears to breed in the Calcutta district), Ceylon, Burmah, the 
Malay Archipelago, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the northern half of 
Australia, Whether this species is a normal migrant to the southern half of 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 223 


Australia and to Tasmania, for breeding purposes is yet unknown. There can, 
however, be no doubt that the Common Sandpiper breeds in South Africa, and is 
another of those species with a northern and southern migration from an 
equatorial base. This Sandpiper has been recorded from Aldabra Island, 
Réunion, Mauritius, the Seychelles, and Anjuan. 


Allied forms.—Totanus macularius, the American representative of the 
Common Sandpiper, an abnormal visitor to the British Islands, and dealt with 
fully in the following chapter. 


Habits.—During summer the Common Sandpiper is the best known and 
most widely distributed species in the present genus. It is a common bird on 
the banks of inland lakes and pools, rivers and lochs, especially those where the 
banks are at all muddy and stretches of gravel are frequent. It is, however, a bird 
of the wilder districts, and does not haunt the waters of the low-lying counties. 
It arrives at its breeding grounds in England about the middle of April, passing 
Gibraltar in its northern flight during March and April, but it seldom arrives in 
Scotland before the end of April or the beginning of May. In the high north it 
does not arrive until June. The return migration commences in England as 
early as the end of July, and continues through August to the end of September. 
At Gibraltar the autumn flight commences in August and lasts till October. The 
Common Sandpiper is an active little bird, fond of tripping round the waterside 
over the mud and sand, and occasionally wading into the shallows. It is not a 
shy bird, and may be closely approached and watched as it runs about the shore. 
It often runs with surprising quickness, and whenever it stops for a moment 
the tail is beaten rapidly up and down several times. It flies well and quickly, 
usually close to the water, its wings often striking the surface; and during flight 
it often glides for a little distance, and elevates its wings for a moment just after 
it drops on to the ground. Yearly it returns to the same haunts, and will make 
its nest in one particular spot in spite of continual disturbance. Like many other 
Waders it may often be seen running on walls or palings during the season of 
courtship, and has been known to perch in trees. The male bird also soars at 
this period, and utters a short but not unmusical trill. The usual note is a shrill 
but not very loud weet, rapidly repeated when the bird is excited or alarmed, and 
almost invariably uttered as it rises from the ground. The food of this species is 
composed of insects and their larvee, worms, various ground fruits, and in autumn 
and winter of crustaceans and other small marine animals. Parties of Common 
Sandpipers may be met with on the sea-coast at the end of July, and during the 
period of the autumn ‘passage they are fairly numerous on the rocks at low water, 
but never occur in very large flocks. Here they are just as active and lively as at 
their inland mountain haunts, and are by no means shy or difficult to approach. 
They prefer the rocky beach either to mud-flats, sands, or shingle, and are very 


224 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


fond of frequenting patches of seaweed as soon as the tide has ebbed. It is said 
that the Common Sandpiper swims well, but I am of opinion that it only does so 
when wounded. I have known a bird of this species when winged take to the 
sea, and dive with remarkable skill, flying under water and remaining below the 
surface for more than a minute at a time. 


Nidification.—In our Islands the breeding season of the Common Sand- 
piper begins in the middle of May, and fresh eggs may be obtained from that date 
in southern localities to the middle of June in the more northerly ones. I am of 
opinion this bird pairs for life. It arrives in pairs in spring, and may be seen in 
pairs with the brood on the sea-coast in autumn just previous to its departure for 
the south. For many years in succession I have also taken its eggs from one or 
two strips of ground which were used alternately. The nest is generally not far 
from the water-side, on a strip of scrubby ground where tufts of wiry grass and 
little heather bushes occur; but sometimes it is on the banks of one of the 
streams which fall into the lake; whilst more rarely it is some considerable 
distance from any water at all. The nest is merely a little hollow, usually under 
the shelter of a bush or tuft of grass, lined with scraps of dead heath, withered 
bents, leaves, and sometimes pine needles. The eggs are always four in number, 
laid with their pointed ends together, and very pyriform in shape. They are pale 
creamy-buff or yellowish-white in ground-colour, richly blotched and spotted 
with pale and dark reddish-brown and with underlying markings of violet-grey. 
They measure on an average 1°5 inch in length by 1'1 inch in breadth. Both 
parents assist in the task of incubation, but the female sits most frequently. 
The period of incubation is about three weeks. The parent bird is a rather close 
sitter, and often remains brooding on the nest until almost trodden upon. It 
then rises in a hurried manner and commences to reel and tumble along the 
ground as if wounded, seeking to decoy the intruder from its home. The eggs are 
very difficult to see, being coloured so much like surrounding objects. Very often 
I have noticed the sitting bird run for several yards after leaving the nest and 
then commence its antics. The young are said to remain in the nest for several 
hours after they are hatched. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Totanus, with the axillaries white, patches 
of white on most of the primaries and on all of the secondaries, but with no white 
on the rump or upper tail coverts. Eighth and ninth secondaries mottled with 
brown, not barred; lower throat and upper breast streaked. Length, 74 to 
8 inches, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 225 


Family CHARADRIIDAL. Genus ToTanus. 
Subfamily ToTaNINz. 


SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 


TOTANUS MACULARIUS—(Linneus). 


Tringa macularia, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 249 (1766). 
Actitis macularia (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 356 (1852). 


Totanus macularius (Linn.), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 452 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 122 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 246 (1894); 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 136, pl. 48 (1896). 


Tringoides macularia (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 287 (1896); Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 468 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. — British : In working out the geogra- 
phical distribution of the Spotted Sandpiper for A History of British Birds, 
Seebohm and myself came to the conclusion that of some twenty recorded 
occurrences in the British Islands seven were apparently genuine ; an eighth 
has now to be added. They are as follows: Yorkshire (one example), March, 
1849 ; Lancashire (two examples), May, 1863; Sussex (two examples), Octo- 
ber, 1866; Aberdeenshire (two examples), August, 1867; Co. Longford (one 
example), February, 1899. It is most important to point out the fact that all 
these wanderers with the exception of the Irish example appear to be adult, 
and in breeding plumage with the underparts spotted. Without wishing to 
call in question the bond fides of these seven examples, I desire to point out 
the extreme improbability of so many adult Spotted Sandpipers reaching this 
country in autumn, at any rate, in breeding dress. Not only so, but because 
the Spotted Sandpiper is so different in appearance from the Common Sand- 
piper, its Old World ally, in breeding plumage, and so very similar in winter 
plumage, it is perfectly obvious that in the case of attempted fraud on the 
part of unscrupulous dealers to palm off American examples as British-killed, 
the greatest chance of success would be to select adult birds in spotted breeding 
plumage for the purpose. It is the young and inexperienced birds—the birds 
that have never migrated before—that are the most likely to lose their way, and 
wander from their usual habitat. Old birds, comparatively speaking, know the 
route too well to wander from it; and of the great number of birds that stray 


every spring and autumn, during the latter season especially, the great majority 
15 


226 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


(probably ninety per cent.) are birds of the year, and new to the road. That the 
Spotted Sandpiper has visited the British Islands there can be no doubt. I will 
go further, and say that is is probable the bird comes here much more frequently 
than is supposed; but it reaches us in first winter plumage, with white unspotted 
underparts, when it bears so close a resemblance to the Common Sandpiper of the 
Old World that ninety-nine men out of a hundred upon shooting one would 
declare it to be of the British species, and not worth preserving. Until the 
autumn of 1891, I was under the impression that the Spotted Sandpiper could 
be readily distinguished from its Old World ally by having all the secondaries 
uniformly barred. During the month of August I shot an example of a Sand- 
piper in Tor Bay, which appeared to comply with these conditions, and I thought 
we had got a genuine Spotted Sandpiper at last. I sent the bird to Seebohm, 
and he very kindly compared it with a large series of both species; but he 
informed me, after careful examination, that he felt convinced this example was 
a Common Sandpiper only. The character of the barred secondaries appears, 
therefore, to be unreliable; and, failing this, I know of no other by which Spotted 
Sandpipers can be distinguished from Common Sandpipers in winter plumage, or 
in that of birds of the year. The character of pale legs and feet (in the flesh), 
I think, is common to both, and I do not attach much importance to the streaked 
or unstreaked lower throat and breast, although I have given it as a diagnostic 
character—drowning men will clutch at straws! and bewildered ornithologists 
are often very glad to seize even the most shady character, rather than be left 
with none. I am, however, still disposed to regard my example as belonging to 
the American species. It appears that Seebohm succeeded in finding out of 
a large series one other specimen only, similar to mine, shot at Brighton, and 
which I am inclined to refer also to 7. macwlarius, which will then avert the 
difficulty of the secondaries not being a constant character. This seems to me 
the most logical treatment of the case, at least until more information is obtained 
on the subject of specific distinction. (Conf. Ibis, 1892, p. 97.) I may add that 
the Tor Bay example is now in the museum of the Torquay Natural History 
Society. The Irish example above mentioned has certainly no better claim to be 
regarded as a genuine Spotted Sandpiper, seeing that it was obtained in winter, 
than the Tor Bay specimen, although it has been recorded by Howard Saunders 
in the new edition of his Manual of British Birds. Indeed this specimen has 
induced him to devote to the species a separate article, whilst the Tor Bay example 
is completely ignored. Foreign: Nearctic region ; Northern Neotropical region in 
winter. It breeds throughout the United States and British North America up 
to about lat. 60°; passes the Bermudas on migration; winters in Mexico, the 
West Indies, Central America, and the northern portions of South America. 


Allied forms. —Totanus hypoleucus, the Old World representative, a British 
species, and treated fully in the preceding chapter, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 227 


Habits.—It is not known that the habits of the Spotted Sandpiper differ in 
any important respect from those of its Old World ally. The bird frequents similar 
haunts, the banks of rivers and the margins of lakes. In autumn it gathers into 
little parties, probably the broods and their parents, and these appear to migrate 
in company. Its call-note is very similar, and most persistently uttered as the 
bird rises alarmed from the ground. It possesses the same habit of beating the 
tail up and down and nodding the head. It feeds on similar substances, and, like 
the Common Sandpiper, appears never to be very gregarious and often seen 
solitary. 


Nidification.—tIn its habits during the breeding season, and in the choice 
of a locality for its nest, it also resembles the Common Sandpiper. Audubon, 
however, states that in Labrador it made a somewhat elaborate nest of moss, 
grasses and feathers, built under the ledges of the rocks; but, like a good many 
more of this naturalist’s statements, this one is open to the gravest doubt. The eggs 
of the Spotted Sandpiper are four in number and pale buff in ground-colour, spot- 
ted, and more rarely blotched with very dark reddish-brown, and with underlying 
markings of pale grey. They measure on an average 1°3 inch in length by 
1:0 inch in breadth. The eggs are smaller than those of the Common Sandpiper, 
and the markings are smaller, darker, and more clearly defined. It is not known 
that more than one brood is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—The same diagnosis as that given for the 
preceding species, but with all the secondaries uniformly barred. It should be 
remarked, however, that the adult in summer plumage is spotted with black on 
the underparts. Length, 74 to 8 inches. 


228 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIID/. Genus ToTANUs. 
Subfamily Toraninz. 


WOOD SANDPIPER. 
TOTANUS GLAREOLA—(Linneus). 


Tringa glareola, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 250 (1766). 


Totanus glareola (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 346 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. viii. 
p. 148, pl. 565 (1877) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 463 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 183 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxvi. (1893); Dixon, Nests and 
Eggs Brit. B. p. 267 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 138, pl. 42 (1896). 

Rhyacophilus glareola (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 275 (1896); Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 491 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Wood Sandpiper is an 
irregular straggler on spring and autumn passage, most frequent in the east and 
south ; occasionally met with inland. It has been several times obtained in Ireland : 
(Co. Wicklow (one example), August, 1885 ; two more examples, August, 1896 ; 
Co. Mayo (one example), September, 1898. It has with certainty been known to 
breed in the now drained Prestwick Car in Northumberland, and doubtless con- 
tinues to do so occasionally in Norfolk and other suitable districts without attracting 
notice. Its eggs are said to have been obtained in the neighbourhood of Elgin, 
but throughout Scotland it is of much rarer occurrence than in England, but few 
examples only being recorded from the west—the Clyde and Loch Lomond. 
Foreign : Palearctic region ; Ethiopian and Oriental regions in winter. It breeds 
throughout Europe in suitable localities from the valley of the Danube north- 
wards, but is a straggler only to the Faroes. Eastwards it breeds in Siberia, 
probably as far north as land extends, and southwards in Turkestan, Mongolia, the 
north of China, and Kamtschatka. The European birds are well known on pas- 
sage south of the Danube, and winter in the basin of the Mediterranean, and 
throughout the African portion of the Intertropical realm. If this species visits 
South Africa normally we should infer that it breeds there. An example has 
been obtained on Aldabra Island; whilst Captain Shelley records a female from 
Karonga, North Nyasaland, shot in June. The Asiatic birds winter in Persia, 
Beloochistan, India, Ceylon, the Burmah Peninsula, and the Malay Archipelago, 
but are known in Japan and South China on passage only. 


Allied forms.—Totanus flavipes, the American representative of the 
Wood Sandpiper, which as it has occurred in the British Islands will be dealt 
with fully in the following chapter. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 229 


Habits. —The Wood Sandpiper has comparatively small right to its trivial 
name, the true “‘ Wood” Sandpiper being the Green Sandpiper, the present species 
frequenting moorlands and tundras where thickets of willows fringe the pools 
and swamps. ‘The Wood Sandpiper is a rather late bird of passage, passing 
Gibraltar from about the middle of March to the beginning of May, and arriving 
in Germany from the beginning of April to the early part of June (which is about 
the date of its appearance on the British coasts), birds coming at the latter date 
being on their way to the Arctic regions. This species was first observed in the 
valley of the Petchora near the Arctic circle by Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie- 
Brown on the 26th of May; but in the same latitude in the valley of the 
Yenisei, it did not arrive until the 6th of June. As with most late migrants in 
spring the return journey commences early in autumn, beginning with August 
and lasting through September into October. The Wood Sandpiper whilst on 
passage is said to be very tame, and was observed by Messrs. Seebohm and 
Harvie-Brown actually near the pools of snow water in the streets of Ust Zylma. 
A week later the birds were again met with thirty miles to the north at Habariki, 
where they were feeding by the edges of the marshes and forest streams, and 
occasionally perching on the topmost branches of the larch-trees. The Wood 
Sandpiper at its winter quarters is said not to frequent the coast, but confines 
itself to the marshes and inland streams and pools. It is not gregarious, is 
usually met with in pairs or alone, and is seldom seen even in parties. In Ceylon 
it frequents the rice fields, even whilst they are being tilled, running about in 
quest of food with little show of fear for man. Its food consists principally of 
insects and their larve, small worms, and snails. The alarm note of the Wood 
Sandpiper is a softly-uttered tyi-tyii. During the mating season the male utters 
a somewhat musical but monotonous trill as he descends on elevated wings after 
soaring, which begins in a soft and slow strain, but becomes quicker and louder as 
he reaches a perching place on a tree or a fence, or on the ground, and when his 
quivering pinions almost touch above his head. This trilling note sounds some- 
thing like ta-il-d. 


Nidification.—Towards the southern limits of its breeding area the Wood 
Sandpiper begins to nest early in May, and fresh eggs may be obtained from about 
the middle to the end of that month. Further north the eggs are laid much later. 
The nest is generally made on a patch of dry ground close to the swamps, amongst 
heath, sedge, and coarse rank grass, and often in the immediate neighbourhood 
of a small willow thicket, in which the parent birds from time to time alight. It 
is only a hollow in the ground, carelessly lined with a few scraps of withered 
herbage. In the valley of the Yenisei, Mr. H. L. Popham found the Wood 
Sandpiper breeding in the deserted nests of other birds, and actually shot a 
sitting bird from its eggs in the old nest of a Fieldfare. He also remarked that 
all the birds shot from their nests were males. The eggs are four in number, 


230 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


creamy-white, pale buff, or very pale olive in ground-colour, boldly blotched and 
spotted with rich reddish-brown, and with a few underlying markings of pale 
brown. They measure on an average 1°45 inch in length by 1:0 inch in breadth. 
The bird sits closely, usually remaining on its eggs until the last moment. One 


brood only is reared in the year, and both parents tend the chicks with equal 
solicitude. 


Diagnostic characters.— Totanus, with the lower back nearly the same 
colour as the mantle, and the prevailing colour of the upper tail coverts, axillaries, 


and under wing coverts, white. Length of wing, 4°5 to 5:1 inches. Length, 
84 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 231 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus ToTaNvs. 
Subfamily ToraniInz. 


YELLOW-LEGGED SANDPIPER. 


TOTANUS FLAVIPES—(Gmelin). 


Scolopax flavipes, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 659 (1788). 

Totanus flavipes (Gmel.), Yarrell, Brit. B., ed. 4, iii. p. 480 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 136 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 250 (1894) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 139, pl. 44 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. 
Brit. iii. p. 303 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 431 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : One doubtful and two well- 
authenticated occurrences establish the claim of the Yellow-legged Sandpiper to 
rank as ‘‘ British.” They are as follows :—Nottinghamshire (one example), no 
exact date; Yorkshire (one very doubtful example), October, 1858; Cornwall 
(one example), September, 1871. Foreign: Nearctic and Neotropical regions. It 
breeds across the North American continent, from the Yukon Valley, in Alaska 
in the west, to the Hudson Bay territory and Greenland in the east. Its 
southern breeding range appears to extend to about lat. 44°. It passes through 
the United States, the Bahamas, West Indies, and Trinidad on migration, a few 
remaining to winter in the Southern States, but the majority passing on to the 
American portion of the Intertropical realm. We may, however, remark that 
Mr. Ambrose A. Lane (Ibis 1897 p. 311) states that this species breeds in Northern 
Chili (Tarapaca) about December! There can be little doubt that this Sandpiper 
has a northern and southern migration from an equatorial base and that it breeds 
in the temperate portion of South America, from the Argentine to Patagonia. 


Allied forms.—Totanus glareola, the Old World representative of the 
Yellow-legged Sandpiper, a British species, and dealt with fully in the preceding 
chapter. T'. melanolewcus, an inhabitant of nearly the same range as the Yellow- 
legged Sandpiper. Differs from both these allied forms in being larger (wing 8°0 
to 7°3 inches, instead of 6°7 to 6:1 inches in T. flavipes, and 5:1 to 4°5 inches in 
LT. glareola). 


Habits.—Like all its allies, the Yellow-legged Sandpiper is a migratory 
bird. It arrives at its more southerly breeding grounds in North America in 
May, but is nearly if not quite a month later in the extreme northern limits of 


232 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


its distribution. Its habits do not differ in any important respect from those of 
its allies. It frequents moors and tundras during summer, and in autumn and 
winter muddy creeks, streams, and the shores of Jakes and pools, and frequently 
wades in the shallows. The note of this species is described as an oft-repeated 
shrill cry, which is imitated by the sportsman, who thus lures the bird within 
shot whilst on its spring or autumn flights. The food of the Yellow-legged Sand- 
piper consists of insects and their larve, worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and, it is 
said, small fish. In the north the return migration begins in July and lasts 
through August and September. 


Nidification.—The nest of the Yellow-legged Sandpiper is placed upon 
the ground, either on the borders of a marsh or near the margin of a pool in the 
open treeless country. Very often it is under the shelter of a bush. It is simply 
a little hollow, sometimes, but not always, lined with a few dead leaves and twigs. 
MacFarlane found nests as early as the 2nd of June, even in the Arctic regions, 
and in some instances the eggs were hatched by the 19th of June. The eggs are 
four in number: creamy-white or pale greyish-brown in ground-colour, spotted 
and blotched with dark reddish-brown, and with large and conspicious underlying 
markings of grey and greyish-brown. They measure, on an average, 1°65 inch in 
length by 1-linch in breadth. As soon as the young are hatched the old birds 
become very anxious for their safety when approached by man. MacFarlane 
observed the male bird perch in a tree near the nest, and both parents flew from 


tree to tree for a considerable distance, as if enticing him from the vicinity 
of their treasures. 


Diagnostic characters.—Totanus, with the lower back nearly the same 
colour as the mantle, with the prevailing colour of the upper tail coverts white, 
and the axillaries and under wing coverts white sparsely marked with brown. 
Length of wing, 61 to 6°7 inches. Length, 103 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 233 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus ToTaNvs. 
Subfamily Toraninez. 


COMMON REDSHANK. 


TOTANUS CALIDRIS—(Linneus). 
Pratt XXVI. 


Scolopax calidris, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 248 (1766). 

Totanus calidris (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 333 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 157, 
pl. 568, fig. 1, pl. 569, fig. 2 (1875); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 469 (1883); 
Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 140 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xviii. (1891) ; 
Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 269 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 
299 (1896); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 140, pl. 44 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. 
B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 414 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Redshank is generally 
though locally distributed over the marshes of the British Islands during summer, 
becoming more common in the eastern counties of England, and throughout 
Scotland, where it extends to the Orkneys and Shetlands as well as to the Outer 
Hebrides. It is fairly distributed over suitable localities in Ireland during summer. 
It becomes more numerous during autumn, as great numbers then resort to the 
coasts on passage, and many remain to winter on them. Foreign: Southern 
Palearctic region; Ethiopian and Oriental regions in winter. It breeds through- 
out Europe, including Iceland and the Faroes, with the exception that east of 
long. 40° its range gradually becomes more southerly, until in the Urals the 
limits do not extend beyond lat. 58°. It is a resident throughout the basin of the 
Mediterranean, breeding in North Africa; but to the African portion of the Inter- 
tropical realm, and to the Canaries it is a winter visitor only. If the Redshank 
be a normal migrant to South Africa, we should infer that it breeds there. 
Notwithstanding Seebohm’s statement that this species is a winter visitor to the 
“entire south coast of the continent,” we may remark that the British Museum 
collection does not contain a single example from that vast district. THast- 
wards it breeds in Siberia as far north as lat. 55°, and on the mountain ranges of 
the south of that country as well as in Turkestan, and possibly on the highlands 
of Persia. It passes through Mongolia on migration, and winters in Arabia, 
India, Ceylon, Burmah, China, and the Malay Archipelago, and has been recorded 
from Japan. 


234 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 
Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to require notice. 


Habits.—The Redshank is another of those wading birds that changes its 
haunt according to season, frequenting littoral districts during autumn and 
winter, but retiring more or less inland to breed. Directly after the breeding 
season is over the nesting grounds are deserted, and for the remainder of the 
year the Redshank haunts the coast. In autumn the resident birds are largely 
increased in numbers by individuals from higher and colder latitudes, and in 
places suited to their requirements they are the commonest species of Wader on 
the coast. Great numbers of these Redshanks do not remain over the winter, 
but only pass along our coasts on their way to more southern haunts ; and during 
passage in October a great many are caught in the flight nets of the Wash. At 
all times of the year the Redshank is a remarkably social bird, and is more or 
less gregarious in autumn and winter, frequently consorting with other small 
birds of the shore. Their favourite haunts are the flat muddy coasts and salt 
marshes, but odd birds are often flushed from the weed-covered rocks at low 
water. They are active, lively birds, almost constantly in motion when on the 
feed, wary and watchful, and amongst the very first to take wing as danger 
approaches. During residence on the coast the Redshank feeds on crustaceans, 
sand-worms, mollusks, and other small marine creatures ; but in summer it eats 
worms, insects and their larve, small snails, and various kinds of ground fruits 
and berries. It wades a good deal when feeding, and has been observed to swim 
across the shallows between the mud-banks, and when wounded it will seek to 
escape by diving. Its flight is rapid and most unsteady, especially just as the 
bird rises frightened from the shore ; the long wings are beaten quickly, and the 
white bar across them is very conspicuous when they are outspread. The usual 
note of the Redshank is a loud shrill tyii-tyii, most persistently repeated when 
the bird is excited or alarmed, when it sounds more like the syllables tyik-tyik. 
During the breeding season the male utters a musical trill, not only when in the 
air, but as he runs about the ground, or along a fence or even perches in a tree. 


Nidification.—The Redshank is one of the first birds to leave the coast in 
spring and to retire to its breeding grounds. The first individuals to leave are 
those that nest on the broads and fens and swampy moors close to the sea, 
retiring to these places even in February ; those that breed further inland delay 
their departure until March or early April. It is most attached to certain haunts, 
visiting them yearly, and in some instances is known to return and breed in 
favourite spots even after the marshes have been reclaimed and turned into 
fields. The usual summer haunts of the Redshank are broads and fens, swampy 
moors, and the wet ground surrounding mountain lochs and streams. It is just 
as wary here as on the coast, and the moment its haunts are invaded by man it 
rises into the air, uttering its shrill notes of alarm; here and there a few more 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 235 


venturesome birds than the rest remain standing daintily poised on some little 
hillock, or in the bed of the stream, often swaying their elegant bodies up and 
down as if full of nervous excitement and undecided as to which course to follow, 
to remain on the ground or join the noisy birds careering about high in air above 
them. In southern districts the Redshank begins to lay early in April, but in 
the north of Scotland it is more than a month later, whilst in the Arctic regions 
fresh eggs may be found up to the end of June. Numbers of pairs nest in close 
proximity, and all through the breeding period parties of birds may be observed 
feeding and flying together. The nest is well concealed, often placed beneath an 
arched tuft of herbage, or in the centre of a hummock of grass, or under the 
shelter of a bush or large weed. But little, if any, nest is made ; the site selected 
is trampled into a little hollow, which may or may not be lined with a few scraps 
of dry vegetable refuse. The eggs are four in number, ranging from pale to dark 
buff in ground-colour, handsomely spotted and blotched with rich dark brown, and 
underlying markings of paler brown and grey. Occasionally a few streaks occur. 
They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an average 1°75 inch in length by 
12 inchin breadth. Many eggs of this bird are gathered for the table during the 
season. One brood only is reared in the year. Incubation is said by Naumann 
to last from fourteen to sixteen days, but experiments have elicited the fact that 
the eggs of this bird placed in an incubator did not hatch until the twenty-third 
day. The parent birds adopt the usual alluring antics when their young are 
threatened. As soon as the latter are safely reared a movement to the coasts is 
made. 


Diagnostic characters.—Totanus, with the lower back and rump 
white, and the secondaries white, marbled with brown at the very base. Length, 
10 to 11 inches. 


236 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus TOTANUS. 
Subfamily ToraninZ. 


DUSKY REDSHANK. 


TOTANUS FUSCUS—(Linneus). 


Scolopax fusca, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 243 (1766). 


Totanus fuscus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 328 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 165, 
pls. 568, 569 (1875); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, ili. p. 474 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 145 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 252 (1894) ; 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 295 (1896); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 141, pl. 44 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 409 (1896) ; Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxiv. (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Dusky Redshank is a rare 
straggler on spring and autumn migration, most frequently the latter, to the east 
coasts of England, south of the Humber. It becomes much rarer in the south, 
and of still less frequency in the west. It has occurred inland as far as Notts, as 
well as several times on the east coast of Scotland, but not in the west if we 
except Mr. Services’ record from the Scotch shores of the Solway, or in the 
Hebrides, although it has been recorded from the Orkneys. Several examples 
have been killed in Ireland, one near Belfast and others in the Moy estuary, during 
autumn and winter, and several on the coast of Co. Dublin. Foreign: Northern 
Palearctic region; Ethiopian and Oriental regions in winter. It breeds on the 
tundras of Europe and Asia, above the limit of forest growth, but nowhere 
apparently south of the Arctic circle (unless it be at high elevations on the 
mountains of Turkestan, where similar climatic conditions prevail), from Lapland 
in the west to the Tchuski Land in the east. It passes the European and Pacific 
coasts, including Japan, as well as across country on migration, and winters in 
the basin of the Mediterranean, in Africa north of the equator (a few wandering 
abnormally as far south as the Cape Colony*), in India, Burmah, and China. It 
has also been said to wander to Ceylon and to the Aleutian Islands, and occasionally 
winters in such temperate latitudes as Holland. 


Allied forms.—Perhaps most nearly allied to Totanus glottis and T..calidris, 
both of which are well-known British species. 


* A single example was obtained by Layard in the Cape Colony. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 237 


Habits.—Except during the period of its migration the Dusky Redshank is 
rarely seen on the coast, and it is only on passage that the bird congregates into 
flocks of any considerable size. It is rather a late bird of passage, probably 
because its breeding grounds are situated in the high north above the latitude of 
the Arctic circle. It begins to cross the Mediterranean in March, and continues 
to do so until the middle of May, which latter month and the end of April are the 
dates of its appearance on our coasts. The young with a few old birds begin to 
arrive from the north in August, and the return migration lasts through September 
and October. Throughout that period it may be observed irregularly on the 
British coasts. The principal haunts of the Dusky Redshank are inland marshes 
and swamps and the banks and partially dry beds of rivers, but in the breeding 
season it affects more wooded localities, bogs and open parts of the northern 
forests, sometimes at considerable distances from water. In its habits it does not 
differ very much from its allies. It both runs and flies quickly, often wades, and 
is said to swim readily with a bobbing motion of the head. It is equally as shy as 
the Common Redshank, just as noisy, but nothing near so social or gregarious at 
any time. The note of the Dusky Redshank is described by Naumann as tywit, 
and by Wolley as tjewty. This note is most persistently uttered when the haunts 
of the bird are intruded, and it is said the Finnish hunters have a great antipathy 
to this species because its noisy cry disturbs the game they are stalking. The food 
of this Redshank is composed of worms, insects and their larve, crustaceans, 
snails, the ova of fish and frogs, and various ground fruits and berries. 


Nidification.—The only British naturalist who has ever compiled an 
account of the nidification of the Dusky Redshank from his own observations is 
John Wolley. This great field naturalist was the first to bring the eggs of the 
Dusky Redshank before British ornithologists, and an account of his important 
discoveries, with accurate figures of the eggs he obtained, were published in 
Hewitson’s charming work on the Eggs of British Birds. He found that this 
species arrived at its summer quarters as soon as the ground was free from snow, 
and that it began to breed almost at once. He remarked that its favourite nesting 
places were in the open parts of the forest, not necessarily near water, and 
especially in places where the trees had been burnt and the vegetation was scanty. 
Even here the Dusky Redshank was by no means a common bird, being so thinly 
scattered up and down the country that a few pairs only could be met with during 
the course of the day. He found the nests generally on rising ground, near the 
tops of hills, in open clearings amongst the pines where the ground was clothed 
with heath and reindeer moss. They were mere hollows in the ground, lined 
with a few dead “needles” of the Scotch fir. In these slight nests four eggs are 
laid at the end of May, or in higher latitudes than Lapland towards the middle 
of June. They vary from pale brown to pale green in ground-colour, handsomely 
and heavily blotched and spotted with rich dark brown, and with underlying 


238 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


markings of pale brown and ink-grey. They are pyriform in shape and measure 
on an average 1°85 inch in Jength by 1°3 inch in breadth. Wolley remarked that 
the parent bird sat closely, although its white rump was very conspicuous as it 
brooded over the eggs with its long neck drawn in. When flushed it either ran 
for a little way before taking wing or flew into the air at once, and wheeled round 
and round, uttering its note at intervals; but sometimes it perched on the top of 
a tree near by. As soon as the young were hatched he found that the old bird 
became even more demonstrative, sometimes standing close to him, snapping its 
bill and nodding its head. Although it sits so closely it is said to be very wary 
in returning to its nest. One brood only is reared in the season, and as soon as 
the young are hatched they are conducted to the neighbouring marshes by their 
parents. 


Diagnostic characters.— Totanus, with the secondaries white, barred 
on both webs with grey. In breeding plumage the head, neck, and underparts 
are very dark slate-grey. Length, 12 to 13 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 239 


Family CHARADRIIDA, Genus TOTANUS. 
Subfamily TOTANINZE, 


GREENSHANK. 
TOTANUS GLOTTIS—(Linneus). 


Scolopax glottis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 245 (1766). 

Glottis chloropus (Meyer); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 319 (1852). 

Totanus canescens (Gmel.); Dresser, B. Hur. viii. p. 173, pl. 570 (1871); Yavrrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 483 (1883). 

Totanus glottis (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 149 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xviii. (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 271 (1893) ; Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 141, pl. 41 (1896). 


Glottis nebularius (Gunner); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 280 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 481 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Greenshank is a regular 
visitor on spring and autumn migration to our islands, both inland and on the 
coast, most numerous on the eastern seaboard in England, and in Ireland a few 
remaining over the winter, although it is not known to breed in that country. 
Most of the birds that visit us are on their way to or from their breeding grounds 
in Northern Europe, but a few spread over parts of the north and west of Scotland 
to spend the summer. Here it breeds sparingly in the Hebrides, and in greater 
abundance over Inverness, Argyle, Perthshire, Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness, 
but not apparently in the Orkneys or Shetlands, which is a matter for surprise. 
Foreign: Northern Palearctic region; Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian 
regions in winter. It breeds on the tundras of Scandinavia and Lapland, in 
Northern Russia and Siberia up to lat. 66°, and as far south as lat. 60°, eastwards 
to the Stanavoi Mountains, north of the Sea of Okhotsk, Kamtschatka, and the 
Kurile Islands. It passes the European and Pacific coasts, including those of 
Japan, as well as along internal routes on migration, and winters in the basin of 
the Mediterranean, on the coasts and central lakes of Africa, in India, Ceylon, 
Burmah, China, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. The presence of the 
Greenshank, during our winter, in such temperate regions of the southern 
hemisphere as Cape Colony, South Australia, and Tasmania suggests that the 
bird breeds in them although direct proof of the fact is yet wanting. As is the 
case with so many birds belonging to this family, it is a great wanderer during 
winter, and stragglers have occurred at that season on Norfolk Island and 
Mauritius, Aldabra Island, Gloriosa, Amirantes, and the Seychelles, in Florida, 
Buenos Ayres, and Chili, 


240 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Totanus fuscus, treated of in the preceding chapter. 
T. stagnatilis,* an inhabitant in summer of the southern Palearctic region, from 
the basin of the Mediterranean in the west to the Amoor Valley in the east ; 
wintering in South Africa, India, and South China. Differs principally from the 
Greenshank in being much smaller (length of wing, 5°5 inches instead of 7°5 
inches.) TJ. guttiferus, an inhabitant in summer of the Amoor, Kamtschatka 
and Behring Island, and in winter of Burmah and India. Distinguished from 
all other members of the genus by its combining a white lower back and axillaries, 
and having the middle toe united by a well-developed web to the other toes. 


Habits. —It is during its passage to and from its northern breeding grounds in 
spring and autumn that the Greenshank is best known in our Islands, and during 
those periods it may be met with, not only on the coast, but in the vicinity of 
many inland waters. It is a bird of very regular passage, beginning to leave its 
winter quarters early in spring, often the first week in March. It arrives on our 
coasts from the end of April to the first week or so in May, and reaches Norway 
during the latter half of May. The return journey begins in August in Holland, in 
September in our Islands, and lasts through October. During migration it may 
sometimes be observed in small flocks, especially in Autumn, when the broods 
and their parents appear to journey in company, but it is most frequently seen in 
pairs or even alone, and with other Waders. Its actions on the coast are very 
similar to those of the other Totani. It runs about the muds and amongst the 
weed-draped rocks at low water, and often wades into the shallows, being always 
very wary and suspicious, taking wing long before it is within gunshot. Its flight 
is quick and wavering, and the bird has a habit of dropping suddenly, running a few 
paces with wings half open, and then, after closing them, shaking its body in a 
peculiar manner. It frequently perches in trees at its breeding grounds. The 
food of the Greenshank consists of insects and their larve, especially beetles, 
for which the bird sometimes searches amongst the droppings of cattle in the 
wet meadows. The bird is also said to eat small frogs and tadpoles, and the ova 
of fish. On the shore it eats crustaceans, and other small marine creatures ; and in 
inland districts worms and snails are sought. The late Mr. Swaysland on one 
occasion showed me half-a-dozen small minnows, which he had just taken from 


* The only claim of the Marsh Sandpiper (Totanus stagnatilis—Bechstein) to rank as “ British” 
rests upon a single example reputed to have been shot by Mr, Rothschild near the Tring reservoirs, in 
Hertfordshire, in October, 1887, I am informed by the Hon. Walter Rothschild that the reputed 
example obtained at Tring reservoir has been lost or destroyed. I see no reason why stray individuals 
of this Sandpiper should not reach our area, but for the present it is perhaps the wisest course to exclude 
the species from the British list. It is distributed over the Southern Palearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental 
and Australian regions in winter. It breeds from the delta of the Rhone eastwards through the valley of 
the Danube, South Russia, North Persia (where it is said to be a resident), Turkestan, and South 
Siberia. North of these limits it is an accidental wanderer only, but an example has been obtained on 
Heligoland. It is found on the coasts of China during migration, and in winter is an inhabitant of Africa, 


India, Ceylon, Burmah, and the Malay Archipelago. To South Africa and Australia it can only be 
regarded as an abnormal migrant, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 241 


a dead Greenshank. Probably at its breeding grounds various ground fruits are 
eaten. The note of this bird, uttered most persistently during flight, I should 
describe as a shrill chee-weet oft repeated, but other observers attempt to express 
it as tyti, tyi. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Greenshank varies a little 
according to latitude. In Scotland, as I know from personal experience, the birds 
return in pairs to their accustomed haunts early in May, and the eggs are laid 
towards the end of that month. In the Arctic regions they are from a fortnight 
to three weeks later. It is not at all a social bird, and the pairs are scattered up 
and down over a wide range of country. Its breeding grounds in our islands are 
on the marshy moors, sometimes quite close to the sea, and a district where lochs 
and little pools abound is chosen by preference. In other countries it is said to 
breed in marshy clearings of the pine forests. The nest, which is not found 
without much search, unless stumbled upon purely by accident, is made on the 
ground amongst the heath and other herbage, either close to the water’s edge or 
in a dry tuft of grass in the swamp. It is merely a hollow lined with a few bits 
of dry vegetable refuse. The eggs are four in number, and vary from buff to very 
pale buff in ground-colour, handsomely blotched and spotted with rich dark 
brown, and underlying markings (many of them large) of pinkish-brown and 
grey. They are pyriform, and measure on an average 1°9 inch in length by 1.35 
inch in breadth. One brood only is reared in the year. The parent birds become 
excessively anxious and clamorous when their solitudes are invaded, especially 
after the young are hatched, but as a rule they keep at a safe distance, and often 
run about the moor bewailing the intrusion of their haunt. As soon as the young 
are reared a movement is made to the nearest coasts suited to their requirements, 
and the passage south shortly after begins, the birds travelliy much more 
leisurely than in spring. 


Diagnostic characters.—Totanus, with the bill upturned, the lower 
back white, and the secondaries nearly uniform grey; with the wing about seven 
inches long, and the tarsus over two inches long. Length, 18 to 14 inches. 


16 


242 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Subfamily SCOLOPACINAE.—The Cleft-footed Sandpipers 
and Snipes. 


The Cleft-footed Sandpipers and Snipes may be distinguished from other 
members of the CHARADRIIDZ by having the toes cleft to the base, without any 
webbing between them. The nasal groove, as in the preceding subfamily, extends 
along the greater part of the upper mandible. The metatarsus is scutellated in 
front and behind. Dr. Sharpe recognises no less than nineteen genera, eleven of 
which contain one species only; whilst Seebohm admitted but four genera, if we 
exclude the Turnstones. Certainly not more than a dozen appear to be necessary 
for all that systematists actually require. 


Genus TRINGA, or Typical Sandpipers. 
Type, TRINGA CANUTUS. 


Tringa, of Linneus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the culmen longer than the tarsus and the eye situated 
well in front of the auricular orifice. The metatarsus is rather short, the tibia 
just above the joint devoid of feathers. The bill is sometimes decurved, narrow, 
slightly compressed and rugose towards the tip. The nostrils are lateral and 
situated in a groove. Toes, three in front; one behind, small and elevated. 

This genus is composed of eight species and subspecies, confined during the 
breeding season to the northern parts of the Palearctic and Nearctic regions, but 
at other times distributed more widely and then reaching the Intertropical or 
Primogzan zone. Five species are British, but one only breeds within our area. 

The typical Sandpipers are dwellers on tundras, marshes, the banks of streams, 
and in winter on the sea-coasts. They are birds of rapid flight and extended 
migration, run and walk with ease, and frequently wade. Their notes are clear 

-and shrill, some of them not unmusical. They subsist on insects, worms, 

crustaceans, mollusks, and ground fruits, etc. They make scanty nests on the 
ground, and the four eggs are pyriform in shape and spotted. They are mono- 
gamous, gregarious in winter, more or less social during the breeding season, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 243 


Family CHARADRITDAS. Genus TRINGA. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINE. 


KNOT. 


TRINGA CANUTUS—Linneus. 


Tringa canutus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 251 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 185 (1852) ; 
Dresser, B. Kur. viii. p. 77, pls. 555, 556 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 413 
(1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 174 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xii. 
(1890) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. app. i. p. 337 (1894); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 232 (1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 144, 
pl. 43 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 593 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Knot is a common winter 
visitor to the British Islands, most abundant on the low-lying coast of the eastern 
counties of England south of the Humber, and only less so in suitable districts on 
the south coast. It becomes rarer on the more rocky western coasts, but is 
abundant on many parts of the low shores of Lancashire and Cumberland. In 
Scotland it is much rarer on the west coast than on the east ; but is commonly 
distributed round the Irish coasts during winter. Many birds only pass along the 
British coasts bound further south in autumn, or on their way north in spring, 
whilst in severe winters our northern coasts are almost deserted. Foreign: 
Circumpolar region; Ethiopian, Australian, Nearctic, and Neotropical regions in 
winter. The breeding grounds of the Knot are very restricted, and probably lie 
north of lat. 75° in the Western hemisphere, and north of lat. 80° in the Hastern 
hemisphere. No great amount of land is known north of these limits, and what 
little has been explored has failed to reveal the grand summer home of the tens 
of thousands of Knots that pour southwards from the “ nightless north ”’ in early 
autumn. The few scattered localities where the Knot has been met with breeding, 
almost invariably in small numbers, are as follows :—New World: Melville Is- 
land, lat. 80° by Sabine in 1820; (?) Melville Peninsula, lat. 67°, Grinnell Land, 
lat. 825° and lat. 81$°, by Feilden and Hart (young in down secured). Old World: 
Not a single known breeding place ; although, judging from the birds’ vast abun- 
dance in Europe during winter, at least one, if not the only, grand breeding place 
is on undiscovered land north of Franz Joseph Land and the Liakoff Islands, or 
New Siberia, if not actually upon the latter archipelago. The Knot has been obser- 
ved in summer on many points much further south on Continental Asia, but there 
is not the slightest evidence forthcoming that these odd birds were breeding. It 
has been obtained in Alaska and Greenland. It was observed in the Dwina delta, 


244 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


near Archangel, by Hencke; Middendorff saw an odd bird or so on the Taimur 
Peninsula in May, and at the mouth of the Uda, in the Sea of Okhotsk, in July ; 
Schrenck obtained examples in autumn at the mouth of the Amoor, and it has 
been obtained at that season near Lake Baikal, and on migration in the valleys 
of the Obb and the Kama. It passes Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroes on 
migration, and occurs on passage on the entire coast line of Western Europe, and 
winters on the west coast of Africa as far south as the Ethiopian limits of the 
Primogean realm. It is rare in the Mediterranean during winter, but common 
on spring and autumn passage. It is of accidental occurrence only in India, but 
passes, although in comparatively small numbers, the west coast of the Pacific, 
China, and Japan, on migration, and occurs probably only abnormally in Australia 
and New Zealand. It does not appear to pass the Pacific coast of America, but 
migrates commonly down the Atlantic coasts as well as along some of the internal 
routes, and winters in the southern States, probably Mexico, and some of the 
West Indies, and has been known to wander as far south as Brazil. 


Allied forms.—Tringa crassirostris, which possibly breeds in North- 
eastern Siberia, although the precise locality still remains unknown, and passes 
down the Ussuri valley, the coasts of China and Japan (where, however, it 
has been observed in summer) on migration, and winters in the East Indian 
Archipelago and North Australia. It has visited the Andaman Isles, and, more 
remarkable still, the coast of Scinde, the latter in considerable numbers. It is 
distinguished from the Common Knot by its white upper tail coverts and by its 
black breast and flanks, and absence of all chestnut from the underparts in breed- 
ing plumage. It is also a slightly larger bird (length of wing, 7 to 74 inches, 
instead of from 6% to 623 inches). 


Habits.—Although great numbers of the Knots that visit our coasts in 
autumn pass on in a few weeks to more southern haunts, a by no means small 
proportion remain behind and winter on the various coasts of the British Islands. 
The migrations of the Knot are very marked and regular. Small numbers, 
principally young birds, begin to arrive in our Islands early in August, and from 
that date onwards to the end of October a slowly increasing stream of birds 
is almost constantly reaching the British coasts, attaining its highest tide in 
September. As previously stated, many of these individuals do not remain long 
with us, but spend their winter on the mud-flats of Western Africa. These begin 
to pass north again in April and May, by the end of which latter month most 
have quitted the British coasts and retired to the unknown breeding grounds in 
the North Polar basin. The migrating Knots appear chiefly to follow the coast 
line, although small numbers occasionally cross inland; and in spring, as is the 
case with the Bar-tailed Godwit, the flight across the North Sea is taken about 
the neighbourhood of Spurn Point, probably following an ancient coast line, as 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 245 


Mr. Cordeaux suggests. A few odd birds remain in the south all the summer, as 
is usual with many species of Waders. The great haunts of the Knot during its 
stay in our Islands are the low-lying shores of the east coast of England, the vast 
mud-flats and estuaries, salt marshes and sandy reaches which afford the bird an 
ample and constant supply of food. Great numbers are caught in the flight nets 
of the Wash during October, as they fly low across the shallow sea; many 
others visit the lighthouses during migration. Upon their arrival they are 
often absurdly tame, especially the odd birds that have got separated from 
the flocks, and I have actually caught them with the hand in the narrow 
dykes that spread like nets over the muds and marshes. They are very gre- 
garious and social birds, and often mingle with Dunlins. The Knots keep well 
together whilst feeding, with heads all turned in the same direction, and cover a 
good stretch of shore in a very short time, as they are always on the move. If 
the flock be very large, some of the birds are almost constantly in the air, flying 
over the heads of their companions, as if eager to get the first look over the 
ground. They seldom admit of a very close approach, and when alarmed rise 
almost simultaneously, and often wheel about, or go out to sea for a little way 
before alighting again. The Knot more frequently runs with short quick steps 
than walks, and flies rapidly and well. When their appetite is satisfied, the entire 
flock often stand for a long time on a certain spot and preen their plumage, but 
even then they are restless, and it is very rarely that all the birds are still at once. 
They feed as much by night as by day, especially when there is a bright moon, 
and shift their ground a good deal according to the state of the tide. They are 
remarkably silent birds, although the note at the breeding quarters is described 
by Captain Feilden as a wild Curlew-like cry. The food of the Knot is composed 
of crustaceans, sand worms, insects, mollusks, and other small marine animals. 
In summer it chiefly consists of insects and their larve, buds of the saxifrage, bits 
of alge, and probably ground fruits. The flesh of the Knot is very palatable, as I 
know from oft-repeated experience, and in autumn the bird is often surprisingly fat. 


Nidification.—The eggs of the Knot are unknown to science; but the 
downy young were obtained by Mr. Hart, the naturalist attached to the Discovery, 
during the last British Polar Expedition. The Knot evidently arrives at its 
nesting grounds in flocks, for a party of fourteen were noticed by Captain Feilden 
near Knot Harbour, in Grinnell Land, on June 5th. They are described as being 
always wild and difficult to approach. Pairing began immediately after their 
arrival, and two males were occasionally seen in chase of a female. During this 
period they indulged in flights something like those of the Common Snipe, and 
when descending elevated their wings and beat them together, making a whirring 
sound, and occasionally uttering a flute-like whistle. |The birds were observed at 
some distance from the coast, feeding near the swamps and pools of this desolate 
land. The young chicks were hatched by July 11th; and when menaced by 


246 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


danger the old birds feigned lameness, and sought by various antics to draw all 
attention to themselves. One nest is described as being placed under a flat 
stone which was resting on two other stones, and consisted of a few leaves and 
bits of dry grass loosely arranged; two others were on the banks of a stream 
several miles from the sea. Richardson, who derived his information from Surgeon 
Hutchins, describes the egg of the Knot as ‘‘dun-colour, fully marked with reddish 
spots,” but no credence can be put on the statement. It always seems to the 
present writer a most unpardonable and incredible piece of neglect on the part of 
the naturalist attached to the latest British Polar Expedition to have missed the 
eggs of the Knot. The bird was observed to arrive at its breeding places, to pair, 
and then actually to be lost sight of until the eggs were hatched! Several 
reputed eggs of the Knot are in collections, but none of them are authenticated. 
The reputed egg obtained by the Greely Expedition near Fort Conger is 
unidentified, and apparently too small (11 inch in length by 1:0 inch in breadth). 
The egg which was in the possession of the late Mr. Seebohm (which I have 
examined), although unauthenticated, is more likely to be genuine so far as size 
is concerned, being similar to that of the Common Snipe, but paler in ground- 
colour. This egg was obtained at Disco, in Greenland ; in my opinion a locality 
much too far south. This, however, is not the most southerly locality at which 
reputed eggs of the Knot have been obtained. Mr. Raine, in his Bird-nesting in 
North-west Canada, figures and describes what he asserts to be two eggs of this 
bird, taken on the 20th of June, 1889, at Reedodavmsi, in Iceland! The account 
is circumstantial enough, but, unfortunately, the parent birds appear not to have 
been obtained or even identified. It is only fair to say that Mr. Raine’s eggs 
agree apparently in colour with that obtained by Lieutenant Greely, but are larger 
in size and, certainly, judging from the illustrations, very abnormal in appearance. 
The nest is described as a depression lined with bits of drift weed, the eggs as 
having the ground-colour pale pea-green, finely speckled with ashy-brown; size, 
1‘5 inch in length by 1:0 inch in breadth (op. cit. p. 188, Pl. IL., Figs. 1 and 2). 
Mr. Raine’s collectors seem to have been fully aware of the importance of their 
discovery, and were too anxious to wait, after finding the nest with two eggs, for 
the full complement to be laid. I can only repeat that without authentication 
the eggs must be rejected by scientific naturalists as valucless. I might also 
remark that the Grey Phalarope breeds in Iceland, and that in nuptial plumage 
it bears a somewhat close resemblance to the Knot in breeding dress, both 
species having the under-parts rich chestnut during summer. The Knot rears 


one brood only in the year, and as soon as the young can fly they and their 
parents migrate south. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tringa, with the ground-colour of the upper 
tail coverts white, the wing from 6°8 to 62 inches in length, and the bill from 
1°5 tol‘l inch in length. Length, 10 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 247 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus TRINGA. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINZ. 


CURLEW SANDPIPER. 
TRINGA SUBARQUATA—(Giildenstddt). 
Puate XXVIII. 


Scolopax subarquata, Guldenst., Nov. Comm. Petrop. xix. p. 471 (1775). 

Tringa subarquata (Guldenst.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 215 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. 
viii. p. 59, pl. 553 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iii. p. 403 (1883); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 180 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxv. (1893); Dixon, 
Nests and Eiggs non-indig. Brit. B. Appendix i. p. 337 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. 
Eggs, Brit. B. p. 144 (1896). 

Ancylochilus subarcuatus (Guldenst.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 240 (1896) ; 
(spelt subarquatus), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 586 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Curlew Sandpiper is a 
fairly common visitor on spring and autumn migration to our islands, most 
frequent during the latter season, and commonest at all times on the lower-lying 
coasts, notably those of the eastern counties of England south of the Humber, 
and westwards to Devon and Cornwall. It is rarer on the western coast line of 
Great Britain than the eastern, and accidental only in the Orkneys and Shetland. 
It is occasionally met with inland. In Ireland it is of regular occurrence in 
autumn, a few remaining on the southern coasts during the greater part of the 
winter. Foreign: Eastern half of the Circumpolar region in summer ; Ethiopian, 
Oriental, and Australian regions in winter; Palearctic region principally on 
migration. The breeding grounds of the Curlew Sandpiper are almost entirely 
unknown, and are probably chiefly situated on undiscovered land north of Franz 
Joseph Land and the Liakoff Islands. Indeed, it is not improbable that the 
bird may breed on these islands, as it was observed very late in summer by 
Seebohm both in the valleys of the Petchora and the Yenisei, in which latter 
valley its only known nesting places occur; whilst it has been obtained in 
summer at Archangel and on the Taimur Peninsula, and has been observed on 
migration in the Lena delta, near Behring Strait by the Vega Expedition, and 
at Point Barrow, in Alaska. It passes along the coasts of Europe, and crosses 
the interior of the continents of Europe and Asia, as well as the coasts of China 
and Japan on migration. Those which migrate across Europe winter in Africa, 


248 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


both inland and on the coast; and afew appear to do so in the basin of the 
Mediterranean. Those which migrate across Asia winter on the Mekran coast, 
in India, Ceylon, the Andaman Islands, Burmah, the Malay Archipelago, and the 
Australian portion of the Intertropical or Primogean realm. It can only be 
regarded as an abnormal migrant to South Australia, Tasmania, and South 
Africa. An example in fullest breeding plumage was obtained in the Phillipine 
Islands on the 18th of May. A small flock was met with on Aldabra Island, 
north-west of Madagascar; whilst it has also been recorded from Mauritius and 
Anjuan Island in the Indian Ocean and abnormally elsewhere. 


Allied forms.—T. canutus with its ally 7. crassirostris, and Heteropygia 
fuscicollis with allied species appear to be the most nearly allied, most of which 
will be treated of elsewhere (see pp. 244, 259). 


Habits.—The Curlew Sandpiper is a late migrant, probably because it breeds 
in the high north only. Great numbers of this species cross the Straits of 
Gibraltar, and pass along other recognised routes in the Mediterranean district 
about the end of April, travelling in small parties, sometimes in the company 
of Knots and Dunlins, and these northern flights continue almost unceasingly 
until the end of May. A few reach the British coasts in March or April, but the 
majority pass in May, scattered individuals lingering behind the rest until 
early June. The southern flight, begins in August and continues through 
September into October, by the end of which month most have continued their 
journey south to Africa again. Whilst with us the Curlew Sandpiper chiefly 
frequents the coast, although it sometimes visits inland pools in the immediate 
neighbourhood, as well as the marshes some distance from the sea. It loves the 
mud-banks and wide open salt marshes, and is almost equally fond of estuaries, 
but less so of sand-banks. Its habits differ little from those of the Dunlin; its 
flight is similar, and like that species it feeds both by day and by night, especially 
during the period of a full moon. During high water, like many other Waders, 
it frequently retires to some inland meadow or field or swamp, and there waits 
for the ebb. The note is said to be louder than that of the Dunlin, and is 
described by Legge as being like that of the Little Stint, but louder. Its food 
consists of crustaceans, small worms, insects, mollusks, the roots of marsh plants, 
and probably during summer of various ground fruits. 


Nidification.—Much less is known of the habits of the Curlew Sandpiper 
during the breeding season than even of the Knot. Legge observed a pair of 
these birds performing acts of courtship even in their winter quarters in Ceylon, 
so that it is not improbable many individuals mate before they migrate. Its 
creat breeding grounds, I am inclined to think, are in the North Polar basin, in 
undiscovered land north of Continental Asia—some El Dorado where the Knots 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 249 


also retire in countless numbers to rear their offspring. Odd birds have been 
shot on the Siberian tundras during summer. Some of these were evidently 
non-breeding individuals that had lingered south of the nesting grounds ; but the 
bird obtained by Middendorff on the Taimur Peninsula, with a partially shelled 
egg in the oviduct, most probably, in the light of recent evidence, was actually 
breeding there. The few examples, however, seen on the Siberian tundras are 
utterly insignificant in comparison with the vast numbers that are known to pass 
north each spring. It is with great pleasure we have now to record the discovery 
of the eggs of the Curlew Sandpiper during the summer of 1897 in the valley of 
the Yenisei by that fortunate and most persevering naturalist Mr. H. L. Popham. 
Mr. Popham has most obligingly communicated to me for the purposes of the 
present work the following note on his grand discovery: ‘‘I found the nest on 
one of the islands near the mouth of the Yenisei river on the 8rd of July, 1897. 
The birds were very scarce there, and this was the only nest discovered ; so that 
I suppose I was on the extreme western fringe of their breeding grounds. As 
you may imagine we spent several days in the unsuccessful hunt for another 
nest. The nest was a rather deep hollow in an open space among the coarse 
grass and reindeer moss on a slight ridge somewhat dryer than the surrounding 
swampy ground. The eggs, four in number, are like those of the Common Snipe 
but smaller [average measurements, 1:45 by 1 inch] ; and also resemble some 
eggs of the Purple Sandpiper. They have been figured for the Proceedings of 
the Zoological Society (1897, p. 490, pl. li., figs. 1—4]. The bird at the nest 
behaved somewhat like a Dunlin, with the exception that, as far as I could 
ascertain, it was silent. The female was sitting on the eggs, which were found by 
watching the bird until it returned to them.” 


Diagnostic characters. 
tail coverts white. Length, 7 to 8 inches. 


Tringa, with the bill decurved, and the upper 


250 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIID. Genus TRINGA. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINE. 


DUNLIN. 
TRINGA ALPINA.—Linneus. 


Tringa alpina, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 249 (1766); Dresser, B. Hur. viii. p. 21, pl. 548 
(1876); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4. iii. p. 377 (1888) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iti. p. 184 
(1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxiv. (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. 
B. 278 (1893) ; Seebohm, Ool. Fig. Eggs brit. B. p. 144, pl. 48 (1896). 


Tringa cinclus, Linn. ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 203 (1852). 


Pelidna alpina (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 228 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. 
Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 602 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Dunlin is a fairly common 
resident on the British Islands, but greatly increases in numbers during spring 
and autumn, and is more numerous on the coasts in winter than in summer, at 
which season the adult resident birds retire inland to breed, leaving the immature 
examples behind in the usual winter haunts. It breeds sparingly in Cornwall, 
Devon, Somerset, the marshes of the Dee, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumberland, 
Northumberland, and throughout the west of Scotland, including the Outer 
Hebrides, north to Sutherlandshire, the Orkneys, and Shetland. In Ireland it 
breeds in a few suitable places in the Midlands and the wild north-west. Although 
its eggs have been taken in Lincolnshire, it can scarcely be regarded as more than 
an accidental breeder in that county; whilst in Wales it may probably breed 
regularly, but its nest does not appear yet to have been found. Foreign: Cir- 
cumpolar, Palearctic, and Nearctic regions; Oriental and extreme north of 
Neotropical regions in winter. It breeds throughout the Arctic regions of both 
the Old and New Worlds almost as far north as land extends. Southwards in 
Europe, it breeds in Denmark, Finland, and the Baltic Provinces, and instances 
are on record of its having done so in Southern Spain and Northern Italy. Further 
eastwards its breeding range does not appear to extend quite so far south, as 
Seebohm did not meet with it in the valley of the Yenisei below lat. 69°; nor 
does it appear to frequent the Baikal district or the Amoor Valley, except near the 
coast. Its southern breeding range on the American continent appears not to be 
accurately determined. It passes the coasts of Europe, down the valley of 
the Volga, across Turkestan, along the eastern coasts of Siberia, North China, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 251 


Japan, and both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America on migration ; 
and winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, North Africa (to the Canaries in 
the west and Zanzibar in the east), the basin of the Caspian, Arabia, the Mekran 
coast, occasionally Northern India, South China, Formosa, Borneo, Java, the 
Southern States of America and the West Indies. 


Allied forms.—American ornithologists have separated sub-specifically 
the Dunlins of that continent from those of the Old World under the name of 
Tringa alpina pacifica, on the ground of their being larger and more rufous in 
breeding plumage ; but as the differences are so trivial and so completely inter- 
grade, it seems wisest, at any rate for the purposes of the present work, to treat 
the two races as one.* The Dunlin has probably no other ally closer than the 
Purple Sandpiper, a British species dealt with elsewhere. 


Habits.—Of all our small Waders the Dunlin is the most widely distributed, 
the most numerous, and the best known. It is more or less gregarious at all times, 
some of the flocks in autumn and winter being composed of thousands of birds, 
whilst even in the breeding season parties of varying size regularly congregate 
at the feeding places. It is also a social species, and not only joins flocks of 
other small Sandpipers, but allows many other odd birds to live in flocks of its 
own kind. Its haunts vary a good deal with the season; in autumn and winter 
the bird principally frequents mud-flats, estuaries, and salt marshes, not showing 
much propensity for sands unless mud-banks are near them; whilst in summer 
the old birds retire more or less inland to swampy moors and marshes for the 
purpose of rearing their young. A great many Dunlins simply pass along our 
coasts in autumn and spring (in September and May) from and to their Arctic 
haunts, but vast numbers also stay upon them throughout the winter. The Dunlin 
chiefly migrates down coast lines, but a few parties cross by internal routes 
down great river valleys. This is especially the case with individuals breeding on 
the Siberian tundras; although in America, coast lines are chiefly followed, as 
in the Western Palearctic region. On our coast the Dunlin is not particularly 
a shy bird, except when congregated in large flocks, which are usually approached 
with difficulty. Odd birds may often be watched feeding amongst the dykes on 
salt marshes at a distance of a few feet. The Dunlin is an active little creature, 
almost incessantly in motion, running about the muddy shore at the margin of 
the water, and often wading through the shallow tide-pools, or amongst the 
broken receding waves. Its flight is rapid, but does not differ in any important 
respect from that of other small Waders. Flocks of Dunlins often indulge in 
various graceful aerial evolutions, spreading out like a net, closing up again, 

*Some naturalists assert that two races of Dunlins frequent the British Islands, one small and 


bright-coloured, the other large and not so vivid; but nothing satisfactory seems yet to have been 
determined. 


252 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


wheeling and advancing with a common impulse, just like the autumn flights 
of Starlings. The food of the Dunlin consists of crustaceans, sand-worms, 
mollusks, etc., on the shore; but insects and their larve, small worms, ground 
fruits, and various vegetable fragments are eaten insummer. Its note is a rather 
harsh purr—hence one of its trivial names—but at the breeding grounds it utters 
a long-drawn peezh, something like the well-known cry of the Greenfinch. The 
male trills repeatedly during the pairing season, like most other Sandpipers. 


Nidification.—The Dunlin begins to arrive at its breeding grounds towards 
the end of April, and in southern haunts its eggs are laid during May, but in the 
Arctic regions they are about a month later. The nest is always well concealed, 
often by the side of a little moorland pool amongst the rush tussocks, or beneath 
a bush of bilberry or heather, and even more frequently in a tuft of cotton grass 
or other coarse herbage. It is simply a hollow with a scanty lining of dry leaves 
and grass, and perhaps a few twigs round the margin. The eggs are four in 
number, and vary in ground-colour from pale olive to pale brown and buff, blotched 
and spotted with rich reddish and blackish-brown, and with a few obscure under- 
lying markings of grey. They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an average 
1°3 inch in length by ‘95 inch in breadth. The parent bird sits lightly, leaving 
the nest at the least alarm. Incubation, performed by the female, lasts from 
twenty-one to twenty-two days. One brood only is reared in the year, and 
as soon as the young can fly a movement is made to the adjoining coasts. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tringa, with a great deal of white on the 
innermost secondaries, but little or none on the upper tail coverts, and with black 
legs and feet. Length, 8 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 253 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus TRINGA. 
Subfamily ScOLOPACINE. 


PURPLE SANDPIPER. 
TRINGA MARITIMA—Gmelin. 


Tringa maritima, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 678 (1788) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 197 (1852) ; 
Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 192 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. 
Brit. B. p. 262 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 146, pl. 43 (1896). 

Tringa striata (nec Linn.) ; Dresser, B. Hur. viii. p. 69, pl. 554 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4, iii. p. 408 (1883); Lilford. Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxiv. (1893). 

Arquatella maritima (Gmel.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 237 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 578 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Purple Sandpiper is a fairly 
common winter visitor to the British Islands, locally distributed on all parts of 
the coast suited to its requirements, including the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and 
the Shetlands, and equally as well known in Ireland as in the rest of the United 
Kingdom. Many birds may probably pass our coasts in spring and autumn; 
some few remain in the British Islands through the summer—a fact which has 
given rise to the belief that this species occasionally nests with us; but no 
authentic instance has yet been recorded. It is not improbable that an odd pair 
may do soin the Orkneys and Shetlands, or in the Outer Hebrides. Young birds, 
scarcely fledged, have, it is said, been obtained on the Farne Islands; but this 
proves nothing, for young Knots, with flakes of down still adhering to their 
plumage, have been observed on the British coasts. The Purple Sandpiper is 
much rarer some years than others, especially during mild northern winters ; 
and at no time are the migrations of this species very extended. Foreign: Cir- 
cumpolar region. It breeds in Iceland, the Faroes, Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, 
on the Taimur Peninsula, on the coast of Behring Strait, and across Arctic 
America to Greenland. In the extreme north of its range it appears to be 
migratory, but in the southern limits, as, for instance, in South Greenland, Iceland, 
the Faroes and the coast of Norway, it is resident. It winters on the southern 
coasts of the North Sea, and in small numbers on the northern shores of the 
Mediterranean and on the Kurile Islands, south of Kamtschatka. The American 
birds appear to winter round the Great Lakes and on the shores of New Bruns- 
wick, occasionally wandering to the Bermudas and the Azores; whilst one 
example has been obtained in South Africa. 


254 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Tringa maritima couesi, an inhabitant of the Aleutian 
Islands, and 7. maritima ptilocnemis, an inhabitant of the Prybilof Islands, in 
Behring Sea, during summer, wandering in winter to the Kurile Islands and the 
coast of Alaska. So utterly slight are the characters upon which these subspecies 
of the Purple Sandpiper are based, that I feel small hesitation in ignoring them, 
and consider it much the wiser to treat the three forms as one until more 
reliable and substantial characters are discovered. The Purple Sandpiper is 
probably most closely allied to the Dunlin, a British species dealt with elsewhere. 


Habits.—A few Purple Sandpipers make their appearance on our coasts 
early in September, but the great majority of birds arrive towards the end of that 
month and during October. Many are taken in the flight nets of the Wash, or 
used to be twenty years ago, in the first week of November. They remain with 
us for the most part, comparatively few prolonging their flight to the south, until 
the following May, when the return migration north is undertaken. Although 
this species is decidedly partial to a rocky coast, a shore where huge boulders 
shelve down into the water and are left bare at low tide, it is by no means un- 
commonly observed on mud-flats and salt marshes. A favourite haunt of this 
kind is in the Wash, and there I have repeatedly shot this bird from flocks of 
Dunlins and Knots, and observed it very frequently running over the bare mud 
round the margins of the big tide-pools at low water. At other times it frequents 
the rock-bound coast, and seeks its food upon the wet weed-draped boulders as 
the waves break over them and spread them with the food it loves. I have seen 
it running over the rocks almost before the big waves have spent their force and 
broken into seething drifts upon them; and so venturesome is the little bird that 
it runs along the very edge of the waves, where each one that breaks upon the 
shore seems certain to sweep it away. It is by no means a shy bird, especially 
when by itself, and always seems to prefer to run along just out of harm’s way 
rather than to take wing. It swims well and frequently, and occasionally alights 
on the sea after it has been flushed. The food of the Purple Sandpiper consists 
of crustaceans, mollusks, sand-worms, insects, and the seeds of various marine 
plants. Most of this food is obtained as the tide is dashing over the rocks in its 
ebb or flow, and during the period of high water the bird not unfrequently retires 
inland a little way, or to a rocky islet or point to await the turn. The flight of 
this bird is rapid and straightforward, but except during migration it is seldom 
taken very high, and even then I am inclined to think that the bird, as a rule, 
journeys close to the water. The note of this Sandpiper is a shrill and quickly 
uttered tee-wit. 


Nidification.—In its more southerly breeding stations, as for instance at 
the Faroes, where the influence of the Gulf Stream causes a comparatively early 
spring, the Purple Sandpiper commences to breed in the second week of May; 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 255 


further north and east it is at least amonth later. Its breeding grounds are rarely 
far from the sea, either in the immediate neighbourhood of the beach amongst 
broken ground covered with scanty herbage, or in marshy districts at the summit 
of adjoining hills. In the Faroes both Wolley and Captain Feilden found it 
nesting on the fells, the latter observer taking its eggs before the snow had 
melted from the sheltered hollows and the tops of the hills. The Purple Sand- 
piper, if it does not actually pair for life, seems much attached to its nesting 
place, and appears yearly to frequent the same spot. Wolley had the eggs for 
two successive years from a nest made on the same piece of ground on which a 
colony of Skuas were breeding. The nest of the Purple Sandpiper, like that of most 
Waders, is merely a hollow in the ground, lined with a few dry bits of vegetable 
refuse, such as moss and grass. The eggs are four in number, and vary in 
ground-colour from pale olive to buffish-brown, very handsomely spotted and 
blotched, mottled and streaked with dark blackish-brown, reddish-brown, and 
with numerous and well-defined underlying markings of pale brown and violet- 
grey. They are pyriform, and measure on an average 1°5 inch in length by 
1:05 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the duties of incubation, and one 
brood only is reared in the year. Sometimes the sitting bird remains brooding 
on the eggs when just about to hatch until nearly trodden upon, and then 
hurriedly rises and begins to feign lameness to allure the intruder away. In spite 
of the fact that this species often breeds at some distance from the sea, the birds 
appear always to come to the coast to feed. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tringa, with the rump and upper tail coverts 
nearly black, and the seventh to the ninth secondaries nearly white. Length, 
8 inches. 


256 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIITDA. Genus TRINGA. 
Subfamily ScOLOPACINaE. 


BROAD=-BILLED SANDPIPER. 
TRINGA PLATYRHYNCHA.—Temminck. 


Tringa platyrhyncha, Temminck, Man. d’Orn. p. 398 (1815)* ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. 
p. 224 (1852); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 197 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs 
Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 264 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 147, pl. 40 
(1896). 

Limicola platyrhyncha (Temm.), Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 3, pl. 545 (1876); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 862 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxiv. (1893) ; 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 223 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. 
p. 612 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Broad-billed Sandpiper 
is a rare straggler to our Islands on spring and autumn passage. The claim of 
this species to rank as ‘‘ British’ rests on the following recorded instances of 
its occurrence. England: Norfolk (five examples), May, 1836, May, 1856, 
April, 1858, September, 1891, August, 1895; Sussex (four examples), October, 
1845, August, 1887, Autumn, 1895, Autumn, 1896; Yorkshire (one example), 
April, 1863. Scotland: No instance of its occurrence on record. Ireland: 
(one example), Belfast Bay, October, 1844. Foreign: Palearctic region ; 
Oriental region in winter. This Sandpiper is very locally distributed during 
summer ; and although found from the Atlantic to the Pacific, its breeding area 
is comparatively unknown. It breeds commonly on the Scandinavian fells as 
far south as lat. 60°, and in Finland. These are apparently the only known 
breeding grounds of this species, but it has been met with near Lake Baikal and 
on the southern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk. It occasionally occurs on the coasts 
of Europe and Japan on migration, and winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, 
North Africa (extending to Egypt, and occasionally to Madagascar, although we 
may remark that it is not included in Mr. Sibree’s list of birds of that island), 
the Mekran coast, and Northern India (accidentally to Ceylon and the Andaman 
Islands). It also visits during the cold season, Burmah, the Malay Peninsula, 
Java, the Philippine Islands, Formosa, and China. Perhaps a more unsatisfac- 
tory bit of geographical distribution cannot be found throughout the class Aves ! 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


* Spelt platyvincha in the work here referred to. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 257 


Habits.—Of the habits of the Broad-billed Sandpiper during winter but 
little has been recorded. It is found during that season either in flocks of 
varying size, roaming about alone, or mingling with Dunlins and other small 
Sandpipers. It frequents the coasts, preferring those that are muddy, but some- 
times haunts the sands. It runs about in the usual quick, restless manner of its 
kind, and in its flight is said to resemble the Dunlin. Its note in winter is 
apparently undescribed, but during the breeding season the late Richard Dann re- 
marked that its cry when disturbed was a rapid too-woo, uttered whilst the bird rose 
and fell in the air like a Snipe. The food of the Broad-billed Sandpiper is composed 
of crustaceans, small worms, insects and their larve, and probably ground fruits. 


Nidification.—Admirable descriptions of the breeding habits of the Broad- 
billed Sandpiper were furnished by Richard Dann to Yarrell, and by John Wolley 
to Hewitson, by whom they were publised. The former naturalist met with this 
bird breeding in small colonies in the grassy morasses and swamps at the head of 
the Bothnian Gulf, and in the swamps of the Dovrefjeld, three thousand feet 
above sea-level. It arrived at its breeding stations about the end of May, being 
very wild and wary just after its return, and feeding on the banks of the pools 
and lakes. Later in the season it became more skulking in its habits, creeping 
through the long grass, and when flushed dropping again almost at once. It 
began laying about the 24th of June, and the young were still unable to fly a 
month later. The nest resembled that of a Snipe, and was made in a tuft of 
grass. Wolley remarked that its favourite nesting places were soft open spots in 
the marshes, where the ground was clothed with bogmoss and sedge, and the 
nests were often placed on grass tufts just above the water. He found that the 
eggs were laid about the third week in June; and that the nests were rounded 
hollows lined with a little dry grass. The sitting bird was observed not only to 
run from the eggs but to fly from her nest, and when incubation was far advanced 
she became very tame'and confiding. Other nests, observed by Mr. Mitchell on 
the Dovrefjeld, contained eggs during the latter half of May. These nests were 
in open parts of the marshes, and were made more elaborately than is usual 
amongst this order of birds, the hollow being deeper and more carefully lined. 
He also remarked that the lining in each nest resembled the colour of the eggs it 
contained, the darker varieties being laid on withered leaves of the willow, the paler 
ones on dry grass. The eggs are four in number, buffish-white in ground-colour, 
densely mottled and spotted with rich chocolate-brown and paler brown, and with 
underlying markings of grey. They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an 
average 1°3 inch in length by ‘9 inch in breadth. Both birds assist in the task of 
incubation, and one brood only is reared in the year. As soon as the young are 
reared the broods and their parents form into small flocks. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tringa, with the bill very flat and wide, and 
more than a fourth of the length of the wing, and with little or no white on 
the secondaries and upper tail coverts, Length, 6} inches. 


17 


258 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus HETEROPYGIA, or Pectoral Sandpipers. 
Type, HETEROPYGIA FUSCICOLLIS. 


Heteropygia, of Coues (1861).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the culmen and metatarsus equal in length, but the 
latter longer than the middle toe and claw combined, and also by having a hind 
toe. The wings are long and pointed. The nostrils are lateral, and situated in 
a groove. The tibia just above the metatarsal joint is devoid of feathers. 

This genus (omitting H. Cooperi, a doubtful species) is composed of four 
species, three of which are confined to the Nearctic and Neotropical regions, two 
of them migrating north and south from a range base in the Primogzan realm; 
and one distributed over the eastern Palearctic, Oriental and Australian regions, 
according to season. Three species are abnormal migrants to the British Islands. 

The Pectoral Sandpipers closely resemble allied species in their habits, migra- 
tions and nidification. In summer they frequent tundras to breed, often at no great 
distance from the sea ; on passage, and during winter they are dwellers on coasts. 
They are social and gregarious, especially during the non-breeding season. They 
feed upon insects, worms, crustaceans, mollusks, ground fruits, etc. They are 


monogamous, making a slight nest upon the ground, and their double-spotted eggs 
are four in number. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 259 


Family CHARADRIIDZ. Genus HETEROPYGIA. 
Subfamily ScoLoPacina. 


BONAPARTE’S SANDPIPER. 
HETEROPYGIA FUSCICOLLIS—(Vieillot). 


Tringa fuscicollis, Vicill, N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxxiv. p. 461 (1819); Dresser, B. 
Eur. viii. p. 15, pl. 547 (1873); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 261 
(1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxiv. (1897). 


Tringa schinzii, Bonaparte (nec Brehm); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 222 (1852); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 373 (1883). 

Tringa bonaparti, Schlegel ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 189 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. 
Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 145, pl. 43 (1896). 


Heteropygia fuscicollis (Vieill.), Sharpe, Hanb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 242 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 574 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: Bonaparte’s Sandpiper is an 
accidenta] straggler to our area on autumn migration, having occurred chiefly 
in October and November. Its claim to rank as British rests on the following 
recorded instances. England: Shropshire (one example), Sussex (two examples), 
Middlesex (one example), Devonshire (four examples), Cornwall (three examples), 
Scilly Isles (two examples). Scotland : Not been obtained. Ireland : One example 
said to have been shot near Belfast, and now preserved in the museum of that 
town. Foreign: Nearctic and Neotropical regions. In the Northern hemisphere 
Bonaparte’s Sandpiper breeds throughout Arctic America from Greenland in the 
east to the Mackenzie River in the west. Itis of only accidental occurrence west 
of the Rocky Mountains, two examples having been obtained at Point Barrow, 
the most northerly land in Alaska; whilst another has been recently recorded 
from Franz Josef Land. It passes the United States, inland as well as along 
the coast, and the Bermudas (abnormally) on migration, and winters in the 
West Indies, Central America, and throughout the South American portion of the 
Intertropical realm. There can be little or no doubt that in Bonaparte’s Sandpiper 
we have another instance of a species migrating north and south from an 
equatorial base. In the Southern hemisphere this Sandpiper appears unquestion- 
ably to breed in the Argentine, in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, although 
the nest has not yet been actually discovered, and statements made by Durnford 
and Abbott respecting its breeding in these localities have been derided. 


260 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Tringa subarquata, already dealt with, and the species 
in the present genus described in the following chapters. 


Habits.—The habits of Bonaparte’s Sandpiper very closely resemble those 
of the Dunlin, although during the breeding season the bird is rather more of an 
Arctic one. Its migrations are regular, and not only taken along the coast, but 
inland down the great river valleys. It is equally as gregarious as the Dunlin, 
indeed often flocks with that species as well as with other small Sandpipers. It 
is described by American naturalists as being remarkably tame and trustful, and 
runs about the rocky beaches in the presence of an observer with little show of 
fear. Bonaparte’s Sandpiper is a rather late bird of passage, even for an Arctic 
species, passing along the coasts of the United States and up the valley of the 
Mississippi during May, and reaching its breeding grounds towards the end of 
that month or early in June. Odd birds make their appearance in the Northern 
States near the end of July, but the majority pass southwards during September 
and October. Its actions on the shore are very similar to those of the Dunlin. 
The bird runs about the wet sands and muds, and over the weed-grown rocks in the 
usual restless manner. Its flight is rapid, yet rather wavering, and it often wades 
breast-deep into the water in its eager quest for food. The flocks often wheel 
and gyrate in the air when disturbed. The note of Bonaparte’s Sandpiper is said 
by Coues to be a low, soft weet, unlike that of any of the bird’s congeners. Its 
food is said to consist of insects, worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and other small 
marine animals, and during summer various ground fruits are eaten. 


Nidification.—The breeding grounds of Bonaparte’s Sandpiper are the 
Arctic tundras in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea. But little has been 
recorded of its habits during the nesting season. A nest discovered by Mac- 
Farlane was merely a hollow in the ground, lined with a few dead leaves. The 
eggs are four in number, and vary in ground-colour from olive to greyish-buff, 
blotched and spotted with dark reddish-brown and pale brown, and with under- 
lying markings of grey. They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an average 
1:25 inch in length by ‘9 in breadth. It is said that one brood only is reared in 
the year, and, like the Dunlin, as soon as the young are fledged they with 
their parents begin to migrate slowly south. 


Diagnostic characters.—Heteropygia, with the upper tail coverts white, 
more or less streaked with brown, and the bill under one inch in length. Length, 
73 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 261 


Family CHARADRITDA. Genus HETEROPYGIA. 
Subfamily ScOLOPACINE. 


AMERICAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 
HETEROPYGIA MACULATA—(Vieillot). 


Tringa maculata, Vieill. N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxxiv. p. 465 (1819) ; Dresser, B. Eur. 
viii. p. 11, pl. 546 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 868 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiv. (1890). 

Tringa pectoralis (Say); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 190 (1852) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. 
ili, p. 201 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 148, pl. 43 (1896). 

Tringa accuminata pectoralis (Say), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. 
p. 266 (1894). 

Heteropygia maculata (Vieill.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii p. 247 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 562 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The American Pectoral Sand- 
piper is a rare stragegler on migration to our Islands, chiefly in autumn. The 
claim of this species to rank as “ British” rests upon the following recorded 
occurrences. England: Scilly Isles (four examples, one in May), Cornwall 
(one example), Devonshire (two examples), Sussex (one example), Kent (one 
example), Suffolk (our examples), Norfolk (eight examples), Lincolnshire (one 
example), Yorkshire (five examples), Durham (two examples), Cumberland (one 
example), Northumberland (two examples, one in June). Scotland: Dumbar- 
tonshire (one example), Aberdeenshire (one example), Orkneys (one example). 
Ireland: Co. Galway (one example). With the two solitary exceptions noticed, 
these occurrences have all been in autumn, during August, September, October 
and November. Foreign: Nearctic and Neotropical regions. In the Northern 
hemisphere it breeds in the Arctic regions of America above the limits of 
forest growth, from Alaska in the west to Davis Strait in the east, and has 
wandered as far as Greenland. It passes the United States, the Bermudas 
(abnormally) and the Bahamas on migration, and winters in the West Indies, 
Mexico, Central America, and the South American portion of the Intertropical 
realm. In the Southern hemisphere it unquestionably breeds in Patagonia, 
and possibly the Argentine, although the nest has not yet been actually discovered. 


262 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Heteropygia acuminata, which since the first edition of the 
present work was published has become a “ British” species, and will be dealt with 
fully in the following chapter. H. bairdi, an inhabitant of Alaska, and the valley 
of the Mackenzie, passing through the Western United States on migration, and 
wintering in the South American portion of the Primogean realm, occasion- 
ally straying even as far as South Africa. Distinguished from the Pectoral 
Sandpiper by its black legs and feet (those of the Pectoral Sandpiper are buff), 
and by having the central tail feathers no longer than the outer ones. 


Habits.—During its migrations this Pectoral Sandpiper passes along the 
coasts as well as by inland routes up the river valleys of the United States 
during April and May. It begins to return from its Arctic breeding grounds in 
August, and the autumn flight continues through the two following months. It 
frequents by preference low sandy or muddy coasts, swampy meadows and salt 
marshes, running about in a restless, active manner, tame and trustful. Like the 
Dunlin, it is sometimes observed in large flocks and parties, and is often met with 
solitary or inthe company of other Waders. Its flight is rapid, sometimes rather 
wavering, and when in flocks the birds often perform graceful evolutions after 
they are flushed. The birds of a flock scatter about a good deal whilst feeding, 
but when alarmed they soon form into a compact body in the air, and often rise 
to a considerable height after being fired at. It is much attached to its feeding 
grounds, resembling the Ringed Plover in this respect, and continues to haunt 
certain spots in spite of much disturbance. The food of the Pectoral Sandpiper 
consists of small mollusks, crustaceans, insects of various kinds, notably beetles, 
scraps of alge, and seeds. In summer the bird doubtless eats ground fruits. The 
call-note of this species is a single tweet, only repeated under exceptional cases 
when the bird is alarmed or excited ; but at the breeding grounds the male often 
indulges in short flights with the wings elevated and beaten rapidly together, the 
throat expanded to the utmost, uttering meanwhile a guttural note which has been 
syllabled as hoo-hoo-hoo. Before uttering these notes the bird fills the esophagus 
with air, thus distending the throat and breast like a Pouter-Pigeon. Adams was 
the first observer to record this peculiarity forty years ago; whilst much more 
recently (in 1879) Mr. Nelson remarked the same thing of this species in Alaska. 
The latter naturalist states that the skin of the throat and breast become flabby 
and loose during the pairing season, the esophagus soft and distensible. The 
male may frequently be seen running along close to the female with this enor- 
mous air-sac inflated, the head drawn back and the bill pointed forward; or flitting 


just above the ground with head upraised and tail depressed, uttering the singular 
hollow booming notes. 


Nidification.—Nothing appears to have been known respecting the breed- 
ing habits of the Pectoral Sandpiper until its eggs were obtained by Lieutenant 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 263 


Ray’s expedition to Point Barrow in Alaska in 1882—83. The birds were 
observed to arrive at their nesting places on the Arctic tundras or barren grounds 
at the end of May, and early in June they began to pair. The nest is stated to 
be always placed amongst the grass in a dry part of the tundra. The nest has 
not been described minutely, but the eggs are four in number. These vary in 
ground-colour from pale olive-brown to pale buff, blotched and spotted with rich 
reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They are pyriform in 
shape, and measure on an average 1°5 inch in length by 1‘1 inch in breadth. One 
brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are fledged they begin 
to congregrate into parties for migration, but some of the old birds linger and 
skulk until they have completed their moult, before starting south. 


Diagnostic characters.—Heteropygia, with the rump and upper tail 
coverts blackish ; with little or no white on the secondaries, and with the central 
rectrices ‘25 inch longer than the next; by the greater amount of brown on the 
throat and chest, streaked with dark brown. Length, 83 inches. 


264 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDZ. Genus HETEROPYGIA. 
Subfamily ScoLOPACINZ. 


SIBERIAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 


HETEROPYGIA ACUMINATA—(Hors/.) 
Pruate XXVIII. 


Totanus acuminatus, Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soe. xiii. p. 192 (1820). 

Tringa acuminata (Horsf.), Ground, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1892, p. 581 ; Southwell, Zoolo- 
gist, 1892, pp. 356, 405; Seebohm, Ibis, 1893, pp. 181—185, pl. 5; Dixon, Nests 
and Eges Non-indig. Brit. B. Appendix i. p. 336 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 146 (1896). 

Heteropygia acuminata (Horsf.); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 244 (1896) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 566 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The suggestion we made in the 
first edition of the present work that possibly some of the examples of H. maculata 
recorded as British might prove to belong to the present species, has been justified 
by the discovery that at least one specimen has been so confused with the American 
Pectoral Sandpiper. This example is said to have been obtained near Yarmouth, 
in September, 1848, remaining for nearly half-a-century unidentified in the 
Norwich museum. Curiously enough, with that strange coincidence of occurrence 
remarkable in not a few of the rare birds obtained in our Islands, a second 
example of this species was shot near the same locality on the 29th of August, 
1892, by Mr. T. Ground. Both these examples are in adult plumage. They were 
recorded by Seebohm (Ibis, 1893, p. 181, pl. 5), who gives (in conjunction with 
Dr. Sclater) an exhaustive account of the species. Mr. Ground’s specimen (the 
example figured in the [dis) when shot was in the company of several Dunlins and 
a Ringed Plover. Foreign: Eastern Palearctic region; Oriental and Australian 
regions in winter. Although the exact breeding grounds of this Sandpiper remain 
to be discovered, there can be little doubt that they are located in North-eastern 
Siberia, in Dauria, the Tchuski Land, and Kamtschatka. It is, however, worthy 
of remark that Dr. Stejneger, during his visit to the latter country, only obtained 
young examples during autumn migration on Behring Island. It passes the 
coasts of China and Japan on migration, and winters in the Malay Archipelago, 
and in the Australian portion of the Intertropical or Primogean realm. It is a 
species of wide abnormal imigration, and has been met with in Alaska (where it 
possibly breeds), at Gilgit, in the Indus Valley, in South Australia, the Friendly 
Islands and New Zealand. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 265 


Allied forms.—Heteropygia maculata, the American representative of 
the Pectoral Sandpiper—also an abnormal migrant to the British Islands, and 
the other species in the present genus already dealt with in the preceding chapters. 


Habits.—Buit little of interest has been recorded concerning the habits of 
the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper, and doubtless its economy very closely resembles 
that of allied and better known species. Like most birds breeding in the high 
north, this Sandpiper migrates late in spring and retires south early in autumn, 
probably as soon as the young can fly. Swinhoe found it abundant on the Chinese 
coasts in August, whilst Mr. Styan records it as passing through Shanghai in 
fair numbers in April and May. The autumn migration, however, must be some- 
what prolonged, because Dr. Stejneger states that these birds were observed on 
Behring Island from the middle of September onwards for three weeks. He met 
with them both on the tundra near the lake and on the rocky beach. He speaks 
of them as being very shy, occurring singly or in small parties, never in large 
flocks. Mr. Nelson met with this Sandpiper near North Cape, on the north shore 
of Siberia, scattered about the wet grass flats near the coast as early as the first of 
August. The birds were seeking for food amongst the reindeer tracks with which 
the ground was covered. Curiously enough these individuals were the reverse 
of shy, and allowed Mr. Nelson and his companions a close observation as they 
circled round about his party. This naturalist states that the birds usually make 
their first appearance on the shores of Norton Sound at the end of August, and soon 
become very common. Sometimes they remained in this locality up to the 12th of 
October; and Mr. Nelson informs us that he has seen them searching for food 
along the tide-line when the ground was covered with a couple of inches of snow. 
Their tameness was remarkable, and if a flock was fired at the birds returned 
again and again to the same spot. I find little or nothing recorded respecting the 
flight, notes, or general habits of this interesting bird ; but Dr. Stejneger states 
that its food partly, at all events, consists of gammarids. 


Nidification.—The nest and eggs of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper are 
at present unknown to science. 


Diagnostic characters.—Heteropygia, with the central rectrices ‘1 inch 
longer than the next, with squamate markings on the belly and flanks (adult in 
summer) ; and by the lesser amount of brown on the throat and chest, spotted 
with dark brown. 


266 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus LIMONITES, or Stints. 
Type, LIMONITES MINUTA. 


Limonites, of Kaup (1829).—-The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the culmen and metatarsus equal in length, but the 
latter is no more than about equal to the middle toe and claw combined, and also 
by having a hind toe. The wings are long and pointed. The nostrils are lateral 
and situated in a groove. The tibia just above the metatarsal joint is devoid of 
feathers. 

This genus is composed of five species, distributed over the northern portions 
of the Palearctic and Nearctic regions (Arctogeean realm) in summer, and the 
Neotropical, Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions (Primogean realm) in 
winter. Three species are visitors to the British Islands, two on spring and 
autumn passage, and one on abnormal migration. 

The Stints resemble allied species in their habits and general economy. In 
summer they frequent tundras and open grounds; in autumn and winter, sea 
coasts. They are social and gregarious, especially during the non-breeding season. 
They feed on insects, larvee, worms, crustaceans, mollusks, ground fruits, etc. 
They are monogamous, making a slight nest upon the ground, and their eggs, 
four in number, are richly marked with a double class of spots. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 267 


Family CHARADRIIDZ. Genus LIMONITES. 
Subfamily ScoLopaciné, 


LITTLE STINT. 


LIMONITES MINUTA—(Leisler) . 


Tringa minuta, Leisler, Nachtr. Bechst. Naturg. Deutsch]. i. p. 74 (1812; Macgill. 
Brit. B. iv. p. 227 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. viii. p. 29, pl. 549, fig. i (1871) ; 
Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 386 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iti. p. 204 (1885) ; 
Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix, (1891); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. 
Brit. B. p 267 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 148, pl. 44 (1896). 


Limonites minuta (Leisler), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 250 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 538 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Little Stint is a fairly 
common visitor on spring and autumn migration, most abundant during the latter 
period. It is principally found on the eastern coast of England, more rarely on the 
south coast, and still less frequently on the east coast of Scotland as far north as 
the Shetlands. It is practically unknown on the west coast of Scotland, and is 
rare on the west coast of England, chiefly affecting Lancashire and the Solway dis- 
trict. It visits Ireland sparingly every autumn, most frequently on the north-east 
and eastern coast, and passes the Channel Islands on migration. Foreign : Western 
Palearctic region ; Ethiopian region, and Indian subregion of Oriental region in 
winter. This Stint breeds locally on the Arctic tundras of Europe and Asia from 
the North Cape in the west to the Taimur peninsula in the east, including 
Kolguev, Nova Zembla and Waigatz Island. It has been found breeding at 
Kistrand in Northern Norway, on the Kola peninsula in Lapland, in the delta of 
the Petchora in Russia, on the Yalmal peninsula, in the valley of the Yenisei, 
and on the Taimur peninsula in the Siberian province of Yeniseisk. It passes 
the coasts of Europe, the valleys of the Kama and the Volga, Western Siberia and 
Turkestan on migration, and winters sparingly in the basin of the Mediterranean, 
tropical Africa,* (including the valley of the Nile and the Central Lakes), Arabia, 


* We cannot admit that this Stint is a normal migrant to South Africa, nor that it anywhere crosses 
the tropics to winter. 


268 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Persia, India, Ceylon.and Burmah. The Little Stint has also been recorded 
from the Seychelles and Providence Bank, in the Indian Ocean. 


Allied forms.—Limonites ruficollis, an inhabitant of Eastern Siberia, 
from the valley of the Lena to the Tchuski Land and the Commander Islands 
passing the Baikal region, China, and Japan on migration, and wintering in the 
Malay Archipelago and Australia. Possibly this bird may breed in the Southern 
hemisphere. Gould records it as doing so in Australia in the Houtmans Abrolhos 
in December. It also visits Tasmania and the smaller islands. We may rest 
assured that if this Stint normally crosses the tropics it breeds in south temperate 
or even antarctic latitudes. The eastern representative of the Little Stint, 
possibly distinct although completely intergrading with its western representative. 
Typical examples in breeding plumage differ from the Little Stint in having the 
underparts, from the chin to the breast inclusive, unspotted chestnut, and the 
two central tail feathers uniform brownish-black. In the Little Stint the chin 
and throat are white, and the breast is streaked with chestnut. The two 
forms are, however, almost if not quite indistinguishable in winter plumage. 
L. minutilla and L. damacensis treated of in the next chapter. 


Habits.—British naturalists and sportsmen only have the opportunity of 
meeting with the Little Stint during the period of its autumn and spring migrations 
along our coasts. In autumn it begins to arrive in August, but the majority 
appear in September and remain until October before passing on still further to 
the south. It is a late bird of passage in spring with us, not arriving before May 
in any numbers, lingering with us often until the middle of June, then starting 
north for the Arctic tundras where it breeds. During its sojourn on the British 
coasts it chiefly frequents the low shores where mud-flats abound, and broad 
reaches of sand supply it with haunts where food is ever plentiful. It also 
frequents salt marshes, and is partial to the wide estuaries of East Anglia. Here 
it is frequently to be met with in the company of Dunlins and other little birds of 
the shore. It usually migrates in flocks of varying size which, when alarmed, 
perform various graceful evolutions in the air before settling again. Even during 
the breeding season the Little Stint is a remarkably social bird, and small 
parties collect round the shores of the moorland pools to feed. The immature 
non-breeding birds appear to keep in large flocks in the summer quarters 
throughout their stay; and whilst the brooding birds are busy incubating, their 
mates often form into considerable bands. Its habits when on the coasts of our 
Islands are very similar to those of the Dunlin. Like that bird it is almost 
constantly in motion, running hither and thither about the mud and sand in a 
restless manner, and even wading through the shallows, but it appears never to 
swim nor dive. The food of this Stint consists of insects and their larvae, 
crustaceans, worms, and various small marine creatures; whilst in the Arctic 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 269 


regions the bird may also eat ground fruits and small seeds. Its note at the 
nesting place is a rather shrill whct, but in autumn and winter it utters a chirping 
ery. This species probably has a trill during the pairing season; but as Messrs. 
Seebohm and Harvie-Brown did not reach the breeding grounds of the Little 
Stint until after this event was over, they probably did not hear it. 


Nidification.—Von Middendorff was the first naturalist to discover the 
breeding grounds of the Little Stint. Nearly fifty years ago he met with it 
nesting on the Taimur peninsula, at the eastern limit of its known range. ‘ In 
1875 Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown discovered nesting places of this Stint 
at the delta of the Petchora, and their interesting accounts of the breeding of this 
bird in Europe were the first made known to British ornithologists. Since their 
discoveries, other breeding places have been found in various parts of Arctic 
Europe, extending as far west as the Porsanger fjord and the North Cape in 
Northern Norway. At the mouth of the Petchora the breeding grounds of the 
Little Stint were situated on a comparatively dry and gently sloping part of the 
tundra close to the inland sea, at the mouth of the great river. Here the tundra 
was thickly studded with tussocks of grass, and the swampy ground was almost 
concealed by cotton-grass. These grass tufts were covered with green moss and 
smaller patches of reindeer moss, the whole almost hidden with a thick growth 
of cloud-berry and carices, dwarf shrubs, and sundry Arctic flowers. Several 
of the nests discovered were quite close together. Other nests were found where 
the ground was more sandy and full of small pools, and covered with short grass 
and plants. Thenest of the Little Stint is merely a slight hollow in the ground, 
lined with a few dead leaves of the cloud-berry and other scraps of vegetable 
refuse. The eggs are four in number, and vary in ground-colour from pale 
greenish-grey to pale brown, spotted and blotched with rich reddish-brown, and 
with underlying markings of paler brown and grey. Most of the spots and 
blotches are on the larger end of the egg, as is usual with those of all Waders. 
They are pyriform, and measure on an average 1:1 inch in length by ‘8 inch in 
breadth. They are laid towards the end of June, or early in July. Incubation 
appears to be performed by both sexes, and one brood only is reared in the yeayr. 
In some cases the female alone appears to frequent the nest, and when this is 
approached she makes little demonstration and is remarkably quiet. It should 
be remarked, however, that Mr. Pearson found the male bird at the nests he 
discovered. Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown state that the tameness of 
the hen bird was sometimes most extraordinary. The former gentleman states 
that at one nest the female approached within eighteen inches of his hand as 
he sat beside the eggs, and when his hand was stretched towards her she quietly 
retreated a couple of feet; but the moment he left the vicinity of her home she 
changed her tactics at once, and began fluttering along the ground with quivering 
wings and outspread tail as if dying. After having a glove thrown at her and 


270 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


being fired at, she concluded that men were not to be trusted, and she finally 
flew away. It is sad to read that after all she returned, faithful to her beloved 
eggs, and fell a martyr to science! In the summer of 1895 Mr. C. E. Pearson 
succeeded in obtaining fifteen sets of eges of the Little Stint on the island of 
Kolguev, between the 6th and the 15th of July. All were placed at no great 
distance from tidal water. 


Diagnostic characters.—Limonites, with the wing under 4 inches in 
length, the bill broadest at the base, and the legs and feet black. Length, 6 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 271 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus LIMoNITES. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINA. 


AMERICAN STINT. 
LIMONITES MINUTILLA—(Vieillot). 


Tringa minutilla, Vieill. N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. xxxiv. p. 452 (1819); Dresser, B. Eur. 
viii. p. 51, pl. 552, figs. 2, 3 (1871); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 396 (1883) ; 
Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 213 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 149, 
pl. 44 (1896); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt xxxv. (1897). 


Tringa subminuta minutilla, Vieill., Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non.-indig. Brit. B. 
p. 270 (1894). 


Limonites minutilla (Vieill.); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 255 (1896); Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 548 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. —British : The American Stint is a very 
rare straggler on autumn migration to our area, but is one that is doubtless fre- 
quently overlooked. The claim of this species to rank as ‘‘ British” rests upon the 
following occurrences :— England : Cornwall (one example), October, 1853 ; Devon- 
shire (two examples), September, 1869, and August, 1892. Foreign: Northern 
Nearctic region; Neotropical region in winter. It breeds in the Arctic regions 
of America from Alaska to Labrador and Newfoundland, south to Nova Scotia. 
It passes the United States, from California in the west to the Atlantic coast in 
the east, on migration, occurring abnormally on the Bermudas, a few wintering 
in the Southern States, but the majority in Mexico, the West Indies, Central 
America, the Galapagos (doubtless abnormally), and the northern portions of 
South America. 


Allied forms.—Limonites damacensis, an inhabitant of Eastern Siberia, 
south of the Arctic circle, from the valley of the Lena to the coasts of the Sea of 
Okhotsk, Behring Island, and the islands off Alaska. It passes through the Baikal 
region, the valley of the Amoor, and along the coasts of China and Japan on migra- 
tion, and winters in the Malay Archipelago, North Australia, India, Ceylon, and 
Burmah. The Old World representative of the American Stint only sub- 
specifically distinct, and completely intergrading with its New World repre- 
sentative. Typical examples differ from the American Stint in having a larger 
foot (length of middle toe and claw ‘85 to ‘95 inch, instead of ‘8 to ‘85 inch). 
L, minuta and L. ruficollis treated of in the preceding chapter. 


272 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The American Stint is as well known and abundant in the United 
States during its seasons of migration as the Little Stint is in Western Europe. 
Unlike that bird, however, it appears to migrate across inland districts as well as 
along the coast line. They begin to arrive in the Southern States in April, 
slowly travel on to New England early in May, reach North Carolina towards the 
end of the latter month, but do not appear on the Arctic tundras where they 
breed until early June, when the snow is melted, and the ‘‘ barren ”’ grounds no 
longer deserve the name but teem with life. Notwithstanding the fact that many 
follow an inland course, the favourite haunts, both on passage and in winter, are 
the mud-flats of the low-lying coasts. Here in the wide marshes behind the 
actual beach, amongst the creeks and mud-fringed streams, the American Stint 
may be watched in flocks of varying size tripping about the slimy soil, picking 
here and probing there in quest of its food. The return migration commences 
with the immature and non-breeding birds towards the middle of July ; in August 
many of the young appear, but the great flights arrive during September. When 
in flocks the American Stint is rather a silent bird, but when flushed solitary or 
in little parties, it usually utters a sharp whit as it hurries away. It is very tame 
when on the coast. Flocks of this bird when flushed often perform various 
graceful evolutions in concert before alighting again. Like al] its congeners it is 
a restless, active little bird, ever tripping about in quest of food, and very 
frequently associates with other small Waders. The food of the American Stint 
consists of insects and their larve, small worms, crustaceans and mollusks, 
seeds, and various ground fruits. Some of this food is sought on the weed- 
covered rocks at low water, or even on masses of drifting seaweed. 


Nidification.—Hges of the American Stint may be found towards the 
end of June or early in July. Its breeding grounds are on the Arctic tundras, 
sometimes near the coast, more frequently a short distance inland on the margins 
of the lakes and pools. The nest is merely a slight hollow in the ground, lined 
with a little withered grass and dead leaves, and is often made under the shelter 
of a bush or a stone. The eggs are four in number, pale buff in ground-colour, 
spotted and blotched with reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of paler 
brown and grey. They very closely resemble those of the preceding species. 
They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an average 1:0 inch in length by 
°8 inch in breadth. The female is very tame and trustful at the nest, but 
sometimes seeks to lure an intruder away by feigning lameness. One brood 
only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young can fly they and their 
parents begin to draw southwards. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tringa, with the outer rectrices erey, the 
legs and feet pale brown, and the wing less than 4 inches long. Length, 
54 to 6 inches, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 273 


Family CHARADRIID. Genus LIMONITES. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINA, 


TEMMINCK’S STINT. 
LIMONITES TEMMINCKI— (Leisler). 


Tringa temminckii, Leisler, Nachtr. Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. ii. p. 78 (1812) ; 
Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 230 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 45, pl. 549, fig. 1; 
pl. 555, fig. 2 (1871); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 398 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 217 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 272 
(1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. 
B. p. 149, pl. 44 (1896). 

Limonites temmincki (Leisler), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii, p. 257 (1896) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 555 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: Temminck’s Stint is a rare 
but regular visitor to our Islands on spring and autumn migration ; most frequent 
on the east and south coasts of England from the Humber to the Scilly Isles, 
and especially soin Norfolk. North of the Humber it is rare, and has once only or 
twice been recorded from Scotland. It is very rare on the west coast of England ; 
whilst one example only has been recorded from Ireland, and this in January, the 
sole known instance of this species being found in our Islands during winter. 
It occasionally wanders inland—Middlesex, Cambridgeshire, Notts, and Lanca- 
shire. Foreign: Northern Palearctic region; Oriental region in winter. It 
breeds on the tundras above the limits of forest growth, from Scandinavia in 
North-western Europe to the Tchuski Land in North-eastern Asia, and in suit- 
able localities on river banks as far south as lat. 65° on the White Sea and 
Bothnian Gulf, and lat. 55° on the coasts of the Okhotsk Sea. It has been said 
to breed on the lofty Siberian Mountains, but the evidence is unsatisfactory, 
although the record of a male bird obtained on the 26th of May from Tagdum- 
bash Pamir, at an elevation of 14,000 feet, is very suggestive. It passes the 
European coasts, and along internal routes both of Europe and Asia, and the 
coasts of China (accidentally in Japan), on migration, and winters in the basin of 
the Mediterranean, in Northern Africa, and on both eastern and western coasts 
as far south as lat. 10°, India, Ceylon, Burmah, South China, and the Malay 
Archipelago. 


Allied forms.—None nearer than the Stints already dealt with, and to 
which it is only distantly related. 
18 


274 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The British Islands are evidently situated on the extreme outer 
fringe of the spring and autumn migration of Temminck’s Stint. This is probably 
because the bird’s line of flight is more inland, not so maritime as that of the 
Little Stint, and taken down the great river valleys which extend almost due 
north and south between the tundras where it breeds and the countries where it 
winters. The few individuals that do stray so far to the westward as our coasts 
usually make their appearance in May and September, and the great majority of 
the birds reach their Arctic haunts during the last week of May in Europe and 
the first week of June in Siberia. It is much more addicted to inland lakes and 
rivers than to the coast, and always prefers a muddy shore to a sandy one. 
During passage and in its winter quarters Temminck’s Stint is generally met with 
in flocks, but occasionally in scattered pairs or alone, and odd birds are frequently 
met with in the gatherings of other Waders. Its habits and movements on the 
mud-flats do not differ in any important respect from those of its congeners. Its 
flight is rapid and the small bunches of birds frequently gyrate in the air after 
being disturbed from their feeding places, each movement being performed with 
such precision that a common impulse seems to control the entire number of 
individuals. The food of Temminck’s Stint is composed principally of insects 
and their larvee, worms, and various small marine animals; particles of vegetable 
matter have been noticed in the stomach of this bird. Its call-note is a shrill 
ptirr, very different from the whit of the Little Stint. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of Temminck’s Stint is in June. 
Wolley was the first naturalist to furnish detailed information of the nest and 
eggs of this species. He found it breeding sparingly in the marshes to the north 
of the Bothnian Gulf. Although several nests may be found quite close together, 
it is said that Temminck’s Stint is not gregarious at the breeding grounds, keep- 
ing in pairs during that period. During the pairing season this Stint frequently 
perches on the small trees in its haunts, or stands on a post or fence, vibrating its 
wings and trilling lustily. This musical trill, however, is generally uttered whilst 
Temminck’s Stint is wheeling round and round or hovering and floating in the air, 
although it is sometimes heard as the bird runs along the ground with uplifted 
wings. The nest is usually made near to water, often on low islands which are 
clothed with willows and long grass at the delta of a river. It is merely a hollow 
amongst the sedge, rushes, or grass, scantily lined with dry grass and withered 
leaves. The eggs are four in number, ranging from pale buff to pale olive in 
ground-colour, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and dark brown, and 
with underlying markings of paler brown and grey. On some eggs a few dark, 
nearly black, streaks occur. They are pyriform in shape, and measure on an 
average 1:1 inch in length by ‘85 inch in breadth. When its breeding grounds 
are invaded Temminck’s Stint becomes exceedingly demonstrative and noisy, and 
often betrays the whereabouts of its nest by careering wildly about above it, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 275 


When the nest is actually discovered the bird becomes much quieter, and its 
actions closely resemble those of the Little Stint under similar conditions. 
Incubation seems in many cases to be performed by the male (although instances 
are on record where the female has been shot from the nest), and it is usually he 
that is so excited and alarmed when the nest is threatened by danger. One brood 
only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are able to fly the breeding 
grounds begin to be deserted. 


Diagnostic characters. 
Length, 6 inches. 


Limonites, with the outer rectrices pure white. 


276 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus TRINGITES, or Buff=breasted Sandpipers. 
Type, TRINGITES RUFESCENS. 


Tringites, of Cabanis (1856).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the metatarsus longer than the culmen, and the central 
retrices extending beyond the others. The bill is short, the culmen less than the 
metatarsus in length. The wings are long and pointed, and the black mottling 
on the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries 1s very noteworthy and 
peculiar to the genus. The nostrils are lateral and situated in a groove. The 
tibia just above the metatarsal joint is devoid of feathers: the hind toe is 
present. 

This genus is composed of a single species only, distributed over the American 
Continent from the Arctic regions south to the Primogean realm. It is an 
abnormal migrant to the British Islands. 

The habits, food, migrations, nidification, notes, etc., of this single species 
are described in the following chapter. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 277 


Family CHARADRIID. Genus TRINGITES. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINZE. 


BUFF=BREASTED SANDPIPER. 


TRINGITES RUFESCENS—(Viedllot). 
Puatz XXVIII. 

Tringa rufescens, Vieill. N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxxiv. p. 470 (1819); Macgill. Brit. 
B. iv. p. 194 (1852); Gilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891); Dixon, Nests and 
Eggs Non-indig Brit. B. p. 276 (1894). 

Tringites rufescens (Vieill.), Dresser, B. Hur. viii. p. 111 pl. 561 (1876); Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4, iii. p. 485 (1883). 

Tryngites rufescens (Vieill ), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 226 (1885); Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 151, pl. 43 (1896). 

Tringites sub-ruficollis (Vieill.); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 264 (1896) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 521 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Buff-breasted Sandpiper 
is a rare straggler to the British Islands, chiefly on autumn migration, as is 
usually the case with abnormal migrants from the New World. The claim of 
this species to rank as ‘‘ British’ rests on the following recorded occurrences :— 
England: Cambridgeshire (one example), Norfolk (four examples), Sussex (one 
example), Cornwall and Scilly Isles (four examples), Lundy Isle (one example), 
Lancashire (one example), May, 1829; Cumberland (one example). Scotland: 
Caithness (one very doubtful example). Ireland: Co. Dublin (one example), 
Antrim (two examples). All have occurred in autumn with the exception of the 
Lancashire example, the date of which is open to some doubt. Foreign: 
Northern Nearctic region, and probably extreme north-east of Palearctic region ; 
Northern Neotropical region in winter. It breeds in the Arctic regions of 
America, from Alaska probably to Baffin Bay, although it is unrecorded from 
Greenland. Westwards it appears to range to the Siberian coasts of Behring 
Strait, and has been obtained on the southern shore of the Okhotsk Sea. It passes 
the United States and the Bermudas (abnormally) on migration, and winters in 
Mexico, the West Indies, and the northern portion of South America. A single 
example has been obtained on Heligoland in May, a date, by the way, which 


tends to confirm that of the Lancashire example, whilst it has been recorded from 
Japan. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to require notice. 


Habits.—The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a Sandpiper that eschews the 
sands. It is not a coast bird, and prefers the prairies to the mud-flats, and the 


278 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


wide grassy wastes to the shore. Its migrations to and from its breeding grounds 
are consequently chiefly taken across inland districts, but small parties occasion- 
ally frequent the shore. It passes across the prairies of the United States in 
spring, and arrives at its Arctic breeding grounds during the first week in June, 
and the return migration commences in August and lasts through the autumn. 
In many of its habits it resembles Bartram’s Sandpiper, and like that species it 
is fond of frequenting the wagon tracks and bare spots on the plains, where it 
runs about in quest of food. It is said to be a very tame bird, seldom flying far 
after being fired at. Its flight is rapid and straightforward. The note of the 
Buff-breasted Sandpiper is described by Dr. Heermann as a low, oft-repeated 
tweet. The food of this species consists principally of insects, especially cole- 
optera, for which the bird searches amongst the droppings of animals and the 
herbage of its haunts. Worms, and when on the shore, crustaceans and 
mollusks, are also eaten, and during summer various ground fruits and berries. 
During migration the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is more or less gregarious, but 
whether these flocks continue through the winter appears to be unknown. 


Nidification.—But little has been recorded of the habits of the Buff- 
breasted Sandpiper during the breeding season. Mr. Elliot states that the males 
go through various antics during the pairing season, sometimes sparring with 
each other like game cocks and then soaring into the air. MacFarlane found 
this bird breeding in abundance in the Anderson River district in the north-west 
of America, and obtained a remarkably fine series of eggs; but unfortunately he 
neglected his splendid opportunities of observing and recording details of the 
nesting habits of this and many other Waders, and the few facts he has furnished 
only bring out in stronger contrast his unpardonable neglect. He informs us that 
the nest is always on the ground, and scarcely distinguishable from that of the 
Golden Plover (Charadrius fulvus). His series of eggs was obtained between 
the 26th of June and the 9th of July. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was also 
met with breeding at Point Barrow, in Alaska by Mr. Murdoch. He states that 
it frequented the dry portions of the tundra, and that the nest was a shallow 
depression lined with a little moss. The eggs are four in number, and vary in 
ground-colour from pale to rich buff, sometimes tinged with olive, handsomely 
blotched and spotted with rich reddish-brown and blackish-brown, and with 
numerous underlying markings of ink-grey. They measure on an average 1°45 inch 
in length by 1‘0 inch in breadth. The parent birds are said to be very tame at 
the nest, only flying away for a little distance when flushed from the eggs. But 
one brood is reared in the season, and the southern flight commences shortly 
after the young can fly. 


Diagnostic characters.—1;ingites, with the under surface of the wings 
buff, mottled with black and white, and the tail graduated. Length, 7 to 8 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 279 


Genus CALIDRIS, or Sanderlings. 
Type, CALIDRIS ARENARIA. 


Calidris, of Iliger (1811).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the metatarsus and culmen about equal in length, com- 
bined with the absence of a hallux or hind toe. The bill is short and stout, the 
culmen about equal to the metatarsus in length. The wings are long and pointed. 
The nostrils are lateral, and situated in a groove. The tibia, just above the 
metatarsal joint, is devoid of feathers. 

This genus is composed of a single species only, which has a range base in 
the Primogean realm, migrating north to breed, apparently as far as land extends 
in the Northern hemisphere (Arctogean realm), and south to unknown limits, 
possibly for a similar purpose, although its breeding grounds in the Southern 
hemisphere (Notogeean realm) are still undiscovered. It is a common visitor to 
the British Islands on migration, and a few remain to winter within our limits. 

The habits, food, migrations, nidification, notes, &c., of this single species are 
described in the following chapter. 


280 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus CALIDRIS. 
Subfamily ScoLoPAcIna”. 


SANDERLING. 
CALIDRIS ARENARIA—(Linneus). 


Tringa arenaria, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 251 (1766); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non- 
indig. Brit. B. p. 274 (1896). 

Calidris arenaria (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 237 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. viii. 
p- 101, pls. 559, 560 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, ili. p. 420 (1883) ; Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii, p. 221 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 150, pl. 41 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. 
Gt. Brit. i. p. 260 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit, Mus, xxiv. p. 526 (1896). 


Geographical distribution,.— British : The Sanderling is a common 
visitor to our area on spring and autumn migration, most abundant during the 
latter, a few remaining behind in the fall to winter, especially in the mild climate 
of the south. It visits all the islands as well as the mainland coasts, including 
the Orkneys and Shetlands, the Hebrides and the Channel Islands; and occa- 
sionally occurs some distance inland, especially near to large sheets of water. 
Foreign: Circumpolar region in summer, Palearctic and Nearctic regions chiefly 
on passage ; Ethiopian, Oriental, and Neotropical regions in winter. It probably 
breeds in suitable localities on all the shores of the Arctic Ocean, although its 
known breeding grounds are remarkably few. In the Old World its eggs appear 
only to have been taken in Iceland (lat. 65°), although it is to be met with 
during summer on Spitzbergen, as was recently ascertained by Mr. Pike, on the 
Golaievskai Islands in the Petchora Gulf, the Waigats, Nova Zembla, the delta 
of the Yenesei, the Taimur peninsula, and the Laikov Islands. In the New 
World portion of the Circumpolar region its eggs have been taken on the 
Anderson River (lat. 68°), on the Parry Isles (lat. 78°), in Grinnell Land (lat. 
823°), and in Greenland on the west coast near Smith Sound (lat. 79°), and 
Godthaab (nestlings) (lat. 63°), on the east coast, Sabine Island (lat. 743°). It is 
also a common bird during summer in Alaska. It passes the coasts of Europe, 
Asia, and America, as well as along many internal routes, on migration, and 
winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, on the coasts of Africa, Arabia, and 
the Mekran coast, but becomes rare in India, Ceylon and Burmah. Dr. Abbott 
states that this species is ‘‘common” on Aldabra Island, north-west of Mada- 
gascar, whilst four examples are recorded from it by Ridgway. Further east it 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 281 


is a winter visitor to China, Japan, and the Malay Archipelago (Java, Borneo), 
and has been recorded from Australia. During that season it visits all the coasts 
of South America within the tropics, the Galapagos, the West Indies, and the 
Bermudas. In the New World the Sanderling is found as far south as Terra del 
Fuego ; in the Old World down to Cape Colony. If these visits are normal, then 
the species breeds in southern latitudes. 


Allied forms. 


None of sufficient propinquity to demand notice. 


Habits.—A few Sanderlings, probably individuals that have not been 
breeding, appear on the British coasts at the end of July, but the majority of 
birds arrive during August and the early days of September. By the middle of 
the latter month many have passed on towards the south ; by the end of October 
comparatively few are left, and some of these linger with us throughout the 
winter. The return migration of the Sanderling commences on our coasts in 
April, and lasts into May and early June. It is said to be one of the first 
migrants to arrive in the Arctic regions, even reaching such high latitudes as the 
extreme north of Siberia by the 4th of June, and Grinnell Land, upwards of eight 
degrees further north, one day later. That the Sanderling migrates by night 
there can be little doubt, for I have repeatedly become aware of its arrival in the 
Wash in autumn by taking as many as half-a-dozen birds from a single flight net 
as soon as the tide had ebbed, and before sunrise. I do not think they fly very 
high whilst on passage, for these birds must have struck the net at the half-ebb, 
when only a part of it was exposed above water. The Sanderling is a gentle, trust- 
ful little creature, not only fond of the sandy reaches, but the mud-flats and shores 
of the creeks and streams in salt marshes and in the estuaries of rivers. Whilst 
on passage and in its winter quarters the Sanderling gathers into flocks of varying 
size, but many pairs frequent the coast by themselves, or attach themselves to 
parties of other small Waders. I have especially remarked the partiality of this 
little bird for the company of Ringed Plovers. Here in Devonshire most large 
bunches of that Plover contain a few Sanderlings during the period of the latter 
bird’s migrations. Its actions on the sand are very similar to those of the Ringed 
Plover. It does not appear to run in such fits and starts, but steadily searches 
the ground after the manner of a Dunlin or a Stint. In many localities I have 
repeatedly observed that during high water the Sanderling skulks on the higher 
shingle, returning to the actual beach as soon as the sands begin to be exposed. 
Here it follows the receding tide, running about the edge of the waves as they 
break on shore, and occasionally wading through the shallow water. The white 
breast of the Sanderling makes it a very conspicuous bird on the dark sands, and 
the effect produced of a scattered flock all standing head towards the observer is 
very pretty. It isa remarkably tame little creature upon its first arrival, but 
becomes more wary later. ‘lhe food of this species consists of crustaceans, sand- 


282 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


worms, and various insects, as well as of great quantities of minute shells. In 
summer the Sanderling is much more insectivorous, and also feeds on the buds 
of the Arctic saxifrages. The note of this Wader is a sharp, shrill whit ; whether 
it utters a trill or any other cry at the breeding grounds observers who have had 
ample opportunities of noticing omit to inform us. 


Nidification.—Only meagre details concerning the breeding habits of the 
Sanderling are on record. MacFarlane appears to have been the first naturalist 
to take the nest of this bird, he killing a female from her eggs on the tundras 
near the Arctic Ocean in North-west America, on the 20th of June, 1863. This 
nest was merely a hollow scantily lined with dry grass and leaves. Thirteen 
years afterwards, almost to the very day (24th June), Captain Feilden found a 
nest of the Sanderling, close to Cape Union in Grinnell Land, on the shores of 
the Arctic Ocean at the very northern limit of known animal life. This nest was 
made on a ridge of gravel several hundred feet above sea-level, and was merely a 
slight hollow in the centre of a bent-down willow plant, lined with a few dead 
leaves and withered catkins. By the 8th of August he observed the young able 
to fly, yet still in company with their parents. The eggs of the Sanderling are 
four in number, buffish-olive in ground-colour, densely mottled and spotted with 
pale olive-brown, and with underlying markings of ink-grey. They measure on 
an average 14 inch in length by 1:0 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in the 
task of incubation, and one brood only is reared in the season. It is rather an 
unusual circumstance in this group of birds for the adults to migrate south 
before completing their autumn moult ; but this the Sanderling does, and I have 
repeatedly shot adults in breeding dress in the first week in August. 


Diagnostic characters.—Calidris, with no hind toe, and the legs 
and feet black. Length, 8 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 283 


Genus SCOLOPAX, or Woodcocks. 
Type, SCOLOPAX RUSTICULA. 


Scolopax, of Linnzus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the culmen longer than the tarsus (twice its length), 
and the prominent eye situated so far back in the head as to be only just in front 
of the auricular orifice. The metatarsus is somewhat short, and the tibia is 
feathered in three species, bare just above the metatarsal joint in one other. The 
bill is long and straight, swollen laterally, and softened towards the tip, which is 
rugose or pitted. The nostrils are lateral, basal, and covered with a membrane. 
The wings are more rounded than in the Sandpipers, the long innermost 
secondaries not so long as the primaries, the black markings on the head are 
transversely situated, the tail is tipped with silvery white spots on the under 
surface; and the summer and winter plumage are similar in colour. Sternum 
so far as is known abnormal, with two notches only in the posterior margin. 

This genus 1s composed of four species, one of which is peculiar to the 
Moluccas ; two others distributed over the Palearctic and Oriental regions ; and 
a fourth confined to the Nearctic region. One species is common in the British 
Islands. 

The Woodcocks are dwellers in woodland swamps. They are birds of rapid 
and powerful, if somewhat erratic, flight, displayed to a remarkable degree during 
courtship. They run and walk with ease; are shy and retiring, skulking close 
amongst the cover, from which they rarely wander far. Their food consists of 
worms, insects, and larve. Their nests are made upon the ground amongst 
herbage, and their double-spotted eggs are, so far as is known, less pyriform in 
shape, paler, and less richly marked than the Snipes, and four in number. They 
are monogamous, and for the most part solitary in their habits, except perhaps 
during migration and in the pairing season. 


284 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus ScoLoPaXx. 
Subfamily ScoLoPacinz. 


WOODCOCK. 


SCOLOPAX RUSTICULA—Linnaus. 
Puate XXIX. 


Scolopax rusticula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 243 (1766); Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 616, 
pl. 540 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 320 (1883); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. 
iii. p. 231 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pts. viii. (1888), xiv. (1890); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 280 (1893); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 205 
(1896) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 152, pl. 41 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. 
Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 671 (1896). 


Rusticola sylvestris (Brehm) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 386 (1852). 


Geographical distribution.—British : In the British Islands the 
Woodcock is a local resident, but most abundant during winter and on spring and 
autumn migration, especially the latter. It breeds sparingly throughout the 
British Islands (including the Shetlands), except perhaps on the Orkneys and 
Hebrides. It has, however, been recorded as having bred on the Long Island 
and other similar districts where suitable cover is wanting. Foreign: Palearctic 
region ; Oriental region in winter. It breeds in the forest districts of Scandinavia 
as far north as the Arctic circle, in West Russia up to about lat. 65°, and in Hast 
Russia and Siberia not much beyond lat. 60°. Southwards it breeds as low as 
the Azores, the Canaries, and Madeira, and at considerable elevations in the 
Alps, the Carpathians, the Balkans, and the Caucasus. Its southern breeding 
range in Asia reaches the Himalayas at an elevation of ten thousand feet, the 
mountains of the Baikal district, Mongolia, and the mountains of Japan. In the 
southern portion of its breeding area it is probably a resident, but the birds 
breeding in the north pass southwards to the basin of the Mediterranean, Persia, 
India (occasionally straying to Ceylon), Burmah, and China for the cold season ; 
breeding, however, in the latter country in Western Szechuen at an altitude of 
from ten thousand to twelve thousand feet. It has occurred on the Faroes, and 
is an accidental wanderer to the Azores, Newfoundland, New Jersey, and 
Virginia. 


Allied forms.—Scolopax minor, an inhabitant of North America from 
about lat. 50° in the north to Texas in the south, and as far west as the Rocky 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 285 


Mountains. It is a resident in the south, but migratory in the north of this area. 
This species is distinguished by its attenuated first three primaries, and nearly 
uniform buff underparts. S. rochusseni, an inhabitant of the Moluccas, distin- 
guished by its unbarred breast, and primaries marked with rudimentary bars ; 
and S. saturata, an inhabitant, so far as is known, of Java and New Guinea, 
much smaller than the Common Woodcock and with the primaries barred on the 
outer webs only. These are all the true Woodcocks at present known to science. 


Habits.—Speaking from a naturalist’s point of view, and with a full know- 
ledge of the habits of birds during the moulting season, I should say emphatically 
that the Woodcocks breeding in the British Islands are stationary, that is, in the 
sense of not crossing the seas. Iam glad to say that this opinion is confirmed 
by several intelligent gamekeepers, on whose grounds the bird breeds in fair 
numbers every season. After the breeding season is over the Woodcock is a 
most skulking bird until its moult is completed; in this respect it resembles the 
Snipe. Not only so, but many of these resident Woodcocks are actually breeding 
even before the return migration of this species in spring, when the birds that 
breed further north pass our Islands on their way thither. The migrations of the 
Woodcock are both marked and regular. The bird may be traced leaving its 
winter quarters in the Mediterranean basin at Gibraltar in the west during the 
latter half of February, and in Asia Minor in the east during the first half of 
March. We find it inthe British Islands on its way north in March, and it 
reaches Scandinavia by the end of that month or early in April. The return 
migration in autumn, which is much more pronounced and noticeable than the 
vernal one, begins early in October, and continues with varying intensity through 
the month into the first half of November. Asia Minor is reached towards the 
end of October, but in the west of the Mediterranean the birds are about a fort- 
night later. The Woodcock almost invariably migrates by night, up wind, and 
at a considerable elevation. This species is seldom or never caught in the flight 
nets, because it continues its lofty course until over dry land, and then drops 
down almost perpendicularly into the cover below. I have met with great 
numbers of tired-out Woodcocks in the early morning before actual sunrise on 
the shores of the Wash, skulking in the hedge-bottoms amongst the drifts of 
autumn leaves, or on the sea banks amongst the long dry grass. Here they 
generally remain, if not much disturbed, until the evening, and then, under the 
cover of darkness, continue their flight inland to their favourite and more suitable 
winter haunts. Many migrating Woodcocks come to grief at the lighthouses, 
attracted by the glare of the lanterns. The Woodcock very often arrives on our 
coasts, especially in autumn, in considerable numbers, or “‘ rushes,’’ but the bird, 
notwithstanding, is eminently a solitary one, even on passage, and these unusual 
arrivals are caused by a prolonged spell of unfavourable weather detaining them 
on Continental Europe and causing them to accumulate whilst waiting for a 


286 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


favourable passage. As soon as this is presented all start off, eager to get to 
their journey’s end, and consequently arrive simultaneously on our coasts, but as 
soon as they reach land they separate and each bird, or at most a pair, retire to 
their own particular haunts. Even in districts where the Woodcock is common 
during winter no gregarious tendencies are ever observed, and the birds are flushed 
with rare exceptions one after the other from certain favoured spots. Its habits 
are quite as solitary as those of the Snipes, and like those birds it is ever changing 
its ground, sometimes for no apparent cause. Woodcock-shooting is a sport that 
should never be put off till to-morrow ; if plenty of birds chance to be in the 
covers they should be looked after at once, for very often if a night is allowed 
them they have taken their departure. The favourite haunts of the Woodcock 
are plantations of young trees and spinneys with plenty of long grass and under- 
growth, and the borders of woods where similar cover abounds, especially hollies, 
under which the bird loves to skulk during the day. Its feeding grounds are 
marshes, swamps, and the bogey banks of streams, even turnip fields, and these 
are often some considerable distance from the haunts it frequents during the day- 
time. The Woodcock feeds principally at night, and it retires to its favourite 
pastures with great regularity about dusk, following a certain track to and from 
them ; when its feeding places are close by it always prefers to walk down to 
them. Even whilst feeding it is ever a shy and cautious bird, and I have heard 
dozens of men whose daily lives have been spent in the woods and other haunts 
of this species remark, when questioned on the subject, that they had never seen 
a Woodcock feeding or running about in a purely voluntary manner. The 
occasions on which I have seen Woodcocks stirring of their own free will could 
easily be counted on the fingers of one hand. I have seen odd birds during a 
bright moonlight night whilst sitting near the swamps, certainly not watch- 
ing for them, wandering about probing the mud with their long beaks, and 
looking very big and round and plump in the uncertain light, and disappearing 
like phantoms, as it were, into the very ground the moment they were alarmed. 
I remember one of these occasions was in the depth of winter and all the country- 
side was deep in snow, except the little swamp in question. The food of the 
Woodcock consists principally of earth-worms and grubs, but beetles and other 
insects are eaten, and vegetable fragments have been found in the bird’s stomach. 
It has also been known to eat shellfish. Its flight is quick, but somewhat 
laboured, the bird carrying its long bill depressed. Sometimes when flushed the 
Woodcock hurries off at first in a very eractic manner, dipping and gliding or 
turning and twisting from side to side, and it is surprising how deftly the bird 
will thread its way between the tree-trunks and network of branches. It makes 
a very distinct whirr with its wings as it rises and at the same time occasionally 
utters a croaking sound, which I will not attempt to syllable, although some 
naturalists have done so with that of skaych. The Woodcock has been known 
to perch in trees, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 287 


Nidification.—As previously inferred, the breeding season of the Woodcock 
is an early one. Even in the north of Scotland its eggs have been taken on the 
9th of March; a week earlier still in the north of England. The majority of the 
eggs are laid during April. The Snipes are birds remarkable for their peculiar 
flight and for the singular sounds they produce during the love or pairing season. 
The Woodcock, although somewhat aberrant, is not wanting in this curious 
performance. With the approach of the pairing season the habits of the male 
undergo considerable change. From being one of the shyest and most skulking 
of birds he suddenly changes, for a certain time each day, into a bold and 
obtrusive one. For a quarter of an hour in the early morning and again at night 
the male birds fly slowly to and fro along certain routes, usually a ‘“‘ drive”’ or an 
open glade in the woods or along the borders of the plantations and spinneys, 
uttering two peculiar notes, sometimes in succession, at others only one of them. 
One of these notes is a harsh, guttural r-r-r-r-k, the other a cry between a whistle 
and a hiss, impossible to express on paper. Whilst ‘‘roding,” as it is termed, 
should rival males meet each other a chase and a combat very often occur, incited 
more probably by invasion of haunt rather than the favour of the female. The 
nest is made in a dry secluded corner of the wood or spinney, where plenty of 
cover is to be found in the form of last year’s withered bracken, tall dry grass, 
brambles, and drifts of fallen leaves. It is merely a hollow in the ground, rather 
thickly lined with dry grass and withered leaves, and is usually sheltered more or 
less with surrounding vegetation, but sometimes in a bare spot at the foot of a 
tree. The lining materials are occasionally increased whilst incubation is in 
progress. The eggs of the Woodcock are four in number, and vary in ground- 
colour from very pale yellowish-brown to buffish-brown, rather sparingly spotted 
and blotched with reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They 
measure on an average 1°7 inch in length by 1°35 inch in breadth. Incubation 
lasts about three weeks. The Woodcock is a close sitter and usually remains 
upon the eggs until the last moment; rarely, if ever, are both parents seen near 
the nest together. Whether the eggs are ever covered when they are left 
voluntarily I cannot say, but I strongly suspect that such will prove to be the 
case. Although this species is solitary enough during the breeding season, as at 
most other times, several nests may frequently be found within a small area, 
especially in districts where suitable sites are not very common. One brood only 
is usually reared in the year, but instances are on record where fresh eggs have 
been found in July and August. St. John states that this species is double- 
brooded in Scotland, and this is also the experience of Hume in India. There can 
be no question that the female Woodcock very often removes her brood from place 
to place, carrying the chicks one at a time between her legs and pressed close to 
the body with her bill. It has even been stated that where the favourite feeding 
grounds are some distance from the nesting place the chicks are carried to them 


288 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


at night and brought back to the woods at dawn. The flesh of the Woodcock is 
not excelled by that of any other bird. 


Diagnostic characters.—Scolopax, with silvery tips to the under 
surface of the rectrices, with the breast barred and with the primaries marked 
with rudimentary bars on both webs. Length, 18 to 14 inches. The Woodcock 
is subject to considerable variation in size, weight, and plumage. Average 
weight, 11 to 120z.; more rarely 14 to 16 oz. ; an example is on record weighing 
27 oz. Indian individuals are said by Hume to be constantly smaller and lighter 
than British ones. Birds with the ground-colour of the plumage white or 
yellow are not very uncommon. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 289 


Genus GALLINAGO, or Snipes. 
Type, GALLINAGO MAJOR. 


Gallinago, of Leach (1816).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the culmen longer than the metatarsus (twice its length) 
and the long innermost secondaries equal in length to the primaries. The bill is 
long and straight, swollen laterally, and softened towards the tip, which is rugose 
or pitted. The nostrils are lateral, basal, and covered with a membrane. The 
black or dark markings on the head are longitudinal, not transverse as in the 
birds in the preceding genus. The number of rectrices varies to an enormous 
extent—from fourteen in the common British species to twenty-six in Gallinago 
stenura! The summer and winter plumage are similar in colour. Sternum, as 
far as is known, abnormal, with two notches only in the posterior margin. 

This genus is composed of twenty-two species and subspecies, and may be 
described as almost cosmopolitan in distribution. Two species are British, one 
of which breeds within our Islands, and the other is a somewhat rare visitor, 
chiefly in autumn. 

The Snipes are dwellers in marshes and woodland swamps. They are birds 
of rapid, powerful, and well-sustained if somewhat erratic flight, and run and 
walk with ease. They are more or less nocturnal in their habits. Their notes 
are loud, some of them not unmusical. They subsist on worms, insects and 
larve, etc. They make slight nests on the ground and their pyriform eggs are 
four in number and double-spotted. They are monogamous. They are almost 
solitary, never gregarious, save perhaps during migration or courtship. Their 
flesh is highly esteemed for the table. 


19 


290 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus GALLINAGO. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINA. : 


GREAT SNIPE. 
GALLINAGO MAJOR— (Gmelin). 
Puate XXX. 


Scolopax major, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 661 (1788; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 364 (1852) ; 
Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 237 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. 
Brit. B. p 278 (1894); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxviii. (1894); Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit, B. p. 152, pl. 41 (1896). 

Gallinago major (Gmel.), Dresser, B. Hur. vii. p. 631, pl. 541 (1876); Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4, iii. p. 336 (1883) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 211 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 626 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Great Snipe is a rare 
straggler, chiefly on autumn migration, to our Islands, and most frequently 
observed in the eastern and southern counties. It is very rare in Scotland, 
perhaps not more than a dozen authentic instances of its occurrence being 
known, two of which were in May—a fact which more likely proves the bird 
occasionally to winter with us than to wander here in spring. In Ireland it is of 
even rarer occurrence still, probably not more than four examples having been 
recorded. Foreign: Western Palearctic region; Ethiopian region in winter. 
It breeds more or less frequently in Holland, Denmark, North Germany, Poland, 
throughout Scandinavia, and Russia south to about lat. 50°, and north to the 
coast. In West Siberia it is found as far north as lat. 673° in the valley of the 
Obb, but only to lat. 663° in the valley of the Yenisei, which appears to be the 
eastern limit of its range. It passes the remainder of Europe (east of the Rhone 
valley), the Caucasus, and Persia on migration, a few wintering in the basin of 
the Mediterranean, but the majority passing on to the Ethiopian portion of the 
Intertropical realm for the cold season. It is said that the Great Snipe crosses 
the tropics to winter in South Africa, but possibly the present species has been 
confused with Gallinago equatorialis ; if found there it is either as an abnormal 
migrant or as a summer visitor for breeding purposes. 


Allied forms.—Gallinago megala, an inhabitant in summer of South-east 
Siberia and the north island of Japan, passing China on migration, and wintering 
in the Malay Archipelago. It is distinguished from the Great Snipe by having 
twenty tail feathers instead of sixteen, the outermost being narrow and banded 
with brown, instead of being broad and pure white for at least the terminal half. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 291 


G. australis, an inhabitant of Japan in summer, passing the coast of China and 
the Philippine Islands on migration, and wintering in the Australian portion of 
the Intertropical realm. The individuals of this species visiting South Australia 
and Tasmania most likely breed there, or, on the other hand, must be classed as 
abnormal migrants. Distinguished from the Great Snipe by having eighteen tail 
feathers, the two outermost only being narrow, and by having the wing six inches 
or over in length. G. equatorialis, an inhabitant of Africa south of the Great 
Desert. Distinguished from all other birds of this genus by its having the ground- 
colour of the four outer tail feathers on each side white, and the medium wing 
coverts narrowly tipped with buff. 


Habits.—Although the Great Snipe is but accidental in its visits to our 
islands, its migrations (undertaken at night) in Continental Europe and in Asia 
are very marked and regular. It crosses the Mediterranean during March and 
April—a month earlier in the east than the west (which is an exceptional passage) 
—and arrives at its breeding grounds in Norway and Sweden from the middle to 
the end of May. Seebohm found that it was one of the latest birds to arrive 
in the latitude of the Arctic circle, not doing so in the Petchora Valley until 
the 3rd of June, and eight days later still in the Yenisei Valley in Siberia. The 
haunts of the Great Snipe are in swamps, especially those where patches of 
bare mud or sand occur; and the marshy margins of rivers and lakes, where tall 
rank grass, sedges, and other aquatic vegetation furnish plenty of cover. Its 
habits are very similar to those of its congeners. Ii delights to skulk amongst 
the herbage, remaining buried under the grass and sedge until almost trodden 
upon before it rises. Its flight, however, is neither so erratic nor so rapid as 
that of the Common Snipe, and the tail is much more expanded ; the bird makes 
a considerable whirr as it rises. Like that bird, however, it feeds principally at 
dusk or by the light of the moon, then wandering from its favourite cover on to 
the more open parts of its haunts, where it struts about in a timorous kind of 
way in search of food, at the least alarm hiding amongst or behind the nearest 
tuft of vegetation. Its food consists principally of worms, but insects and their 
larvee, as well as slugs, are also eaten. Whilst in quest of food the Great Snipe 
often wanders into districts which it does not usually frequent—turnip fields, 
and grass lands, and dry commons. Seldom more than a pair of these birds are 
flushed in one particular spot during autumn and winter, but on migration and 
in the pairing season much more gregarious tendencies are developed. 


Nidification.—In the pairing season parties of male birds appear often to 
collect and go through various strange antics on the ground and in the air. 
Seebohm, who has had exceptional opportunities of observing this species at 
its nesting grounds, relates how he has often watched them at a distance of 
from fifteen to twenty yards, whilst concealed among willow bushes, “‘ stretch 


292 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


out their necks, throw back the head almost upside down, and open and shut 
their beaks rapidly, uttering a curious noise like that produced by running the 
finger along the edge of a comb.” Sometimes these notes were uttered just 
after the bird had taken a short flight, or spread its wings and tai]. As many as 
six birds were counted in the air together, during this singular tournament, in 
another locality. The nest of the Great Snipe is either made amongst the long 
coarse grass which the bird frequents, or in the centre of a tussock of rush or 
sedge. It is merely a shallow depression lined with dry grass and sometimes a 
little moss. The eggs are four in number, and vary in ground-colour from olive 
and greyish-buff to brownish-buff, handsomely and heavily spotted and blotched 
with rich dark brown and pale brown, and with numerous and large underlying 
markings of violet-brown and grey. Most of the blotches are obliquely dis- 
tributed, and on some eggs many streaks are to be seen. They are pyriform, 
and measure on an average 1°8 inch in length by 1:25 inch in breadth. The 
eggs are laid at the end of May in some localities, nearly a month later (the 
middle to the end of June) in others. Incubation lasts from seventeen to eighteen 
days. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Gallinago, with the major portion of the four 
outer rectrices on each side white, and with broad white tips to the median wing 
coverts. Length, 103 to 114 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 293 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus GALLINAGO. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINE. 


COMMON SNIPE. 


GALLINAGO SCOLOPACINA.—Bonaparte. 
Prate XXXI. 


Scolopax gallinago, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 244 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 368 
(1852) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 241 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 282 (1893); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895); Seebohm, Col. Fig. 
Eggs Brit. B. p. 153, pl. 40 (1896). 

Gallinago czlestis (Frenzel) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 641, pls. 542, 543, fig. 1 (1880) ; 
Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 342 (1883). 

Gallinago gallinago (Linn.); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iti. p. 215 (1896); Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 633 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Common Snipe is a 
common resident in our islands, breeding wherever suitable localities occur ; most 
numerous in Scotland, and especially so in Ireland. It is more abundant in 
winter than in summer, its numbers being largely increased during the cold 
season by arrivals from higher latitudes. Foreign: Palearctic region ; Oriental 
region and northern confines of Ethiopian region in winter. It breeds throughout 
Northern and Central Europe (including Iceland and the Faroes) north to the 
Arctic Ocean, and south to the Alps and South Russia. Hastwards it breeds 
throughout Siberia, south of lat. 70°; southwards to the lofty heights of Turkestan 
and South-east Mongolia. The northern birds pass the intermediate country on 
migration, and winter in the basin of the Mediterranean and North Africa (south 
to about lat. 10° on both east and west, and including the Azores, Madeira, and 
the Canaries); in Persia, India, Ceylon, Burmah, China, Formosa, and the 
Philippine Islands. It has once been recorded from the Malay Peninsula, and is 
said to have visited South Greenland. 


Allied forms.— Gailinago wilsoni, northern Nearctic region in summer; 
southern Nearctic and extreme north of Neotropical regions in winter. Breeds 
throughout North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as far north as the 
Arctic circle, and as far south as the northern United States to about lat. 40°. 
It winters in Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and the northern limits 
of South America, and is an abnormal migrant to the Bermudas. The New 


294 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


World representative of the Common Snipe. Typical examples are distinguished 
from the Common Snipe by having sixteen tail feathers instead of fourteen, by 
having the axillaries barred with brown instead of pure white, and the breast 
marked with transverse bars instead of longitudinal streaks. The outer tail 
feathers are crossed by five dark bars instead of three, and the bill is appreciably 
shorter, varying from 2°3 to 2°7 inches instead of from 2°5 to 30 inches. Inter- 
mediate forms are said to be common in India, and birds possessing some of the 
characteristics of the American Snipe are often met with in England and 
elsewhere, but hitherto no Snipe combining all the characters of the New World 
race has been detected in the Eastern hemisphere. The G. sabinii of Vigors, 
practically confined to the British Islands, is now universally admitted to be 
nothing but a melanistic variety of the Common Snipe, with no specific value. 


Habits.—Like many other birds that may be found in the British Islands 
throughout the year, the Common Snipe is migratory elsewhere, even in such 
countries as Denmark and Germany. It is, however, an early migrant, reaching 
its summer quarters in Central Europe by the middle or towards the end of 
March. Finland is reached by the end of April; Lapland not until the end of 
May; whilst further north and east it is at least a week later still. Hume states 
that in India this species leaves the plains towards the end of March, but in the 
north it lingers a month or six weeks longer, which is a fair corresponding date 
for its arrival in Siberia. The return journey commences in Europe about the 
middle of August, and continues for at least two months. In Indiait is later, the 
earliest arriving at the end of August, but the greater number in September, and 
in the south in October. Oates states that in Burmah it does not arrive until 
December. In our islands the Common Snipe is certainly a solitary bird, but in 
India Hume distinctly states that it is eminently gregarious, and arrives and 
departs en masse. By this, however, he does not appear to infer that the 
birds when flushed rise in flocks, although three or four will rise from the same 
spot where they had evidently been feeding in company. In our Islands no 
matter how thick Snipe may be on the ground, they are almost invariably put up 
a yard or so apart; and this is Hume’s experience in India, where it should be 
remarked the Common Snipe is probably more abundant in winter than in any 
other known locality. The Snipe is nocturnal in many of its habits; it migrates 
at night; becomes most active at dusk, and obtains the greater part of its food 
between sunset and sunrise. In its skulking habits it does not differ from its 
congeners. No birds are more retiring, or more persistently hide themselves 
away, and unless flushed they are rarely seen on the wing except in the breeding 
season. The usual haunt of the Snipe is never far away from marshy ground, 
either in a swamp or a bog, but never on the mud-flats or bare sands. Cover is 
imperative ; rough herbage such as sedges, rushes, and coarse grass, being the 
usual vegetation amongst which the bird delights to hide. From this cover it 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 295 


strays to the bare spots in the marshes, to the banks of the sluggish streams, 
and the margins of the pools where the ground is soft, to feed. Hume states 
that in India during winter, the Common Snipe may be found in every swamp 
and marsh, on the banks of rivers, ponds, and lakes, wherever the foreshore is 
mud, protected by short grass, rushes, or reeds. Here their favourite vegetation, 
and amongst which they are sure to be found if in the locality at all, is the round- 
stemmed rush (Scirpus carinatus). Snipe never rest much in swamps covered 
with water; they may and do feed in such localities, but rarely or never squat 
in them; they invariably skulk in a comparatively dry spot where their under 
plumage is free from contact with water. Hume remarks that many Snipe often 
rest at midday on large floating masses of water weed, the birds keeping close 
until the boat pushes against the patch of vegetation, which may be as much as 
half a mile from land. The flight of the Common Snipe, just after the bird 
rises, is very rapid and uncertain, full of sudden unexpected twists and turns 
which baffle the best of shots, but it soon becomes steadier, and is rarely far 
prolonged. The Common Snipe occasionally perches in a tree, and has been 
known to utter its peculiar pairing notes whilst sitting on the topmost spike of a 
bare larch seventy feet from the ground. The Common Snipe, except during 
the breeding season, is a very silent bird, but sometimes as it rises it utters a 
long-drawn guttural note as impossible to express on paper as that of the Wood- 
cock. The pairing notes will be described later. The food of the Common 
Snipe consists of worms, grubs, aquatic insects and their larve, and small water- 
snails. Much of this food is obtained whilst the bird probes the soft mud with 
its extremely sensitive bill, which is full of small thread-like nerves connected 
with the brain. This complicated nervous plexus renders the bill of the Common 
Snipe so sensitive that the bird is enabled to feel its prey when buried deep and 
out of sight in the soft mud. Much difference of opinion has been expressed 
respecting the best method of shooting Snipe, some sportsmen preferring to work 
their ground “‘ off the wind” or down wind; whilst others are equally attached to 
working against the wind. Both methods are to be recommended according to 
circumstances, but light charges and a gun held straight rarely fail to answer for 


Snipe, however worked. A hundred couple a day have been known to fall to a 
single gun in India. 


Nidification.—In the British Islands the breeding season of the Snipe 
commences towards the end of March, and fresh eggs may be obtained through 
April and May. In more northern latitudes the eggs, of course, are laid much 
later. During the pairing season especially, and less frequently even up to the 
time the young are hatched, the male Snipe spends a good deal of his time in the 
air. All the old love of skulking in the marshes seems relinquished for the time 
being, and high in the air the bird careers about, uttering his love notes and 
making the sound popularly known as “drumming” or “bleating.” These flights 


296 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


may be witnessed at all hours of the day, but are most persistently and frequently 
indulged in towards evening. The bird rises to a considerable height, often 
uttering his note of tchik-tchak, tchik-tchak, or tyik-tywk, tyik-tyuk, as he goes. 
Then when at the zenith of his course, which may be almost if not quite beyond 
the limits of human vision, he suddenly descends with great velocity on vibrating 
Wings and outspread tail, making the drumming noise. Sometimes this descent 
is continued until the ground is reached, but more often the bird stays its course 
at varying heights, the drumming ceases, and he flies off in another direction 
uttering his monotonous tchik-tchak as he goes. Much difference of opinion has 
been expressed concerning the “drumming” of the Snipe. Some writers assert 
that the sound is a vocal one, others maintain that the vibration of the wings is 
responsible for its production ; whilst others yet again hold that it is caused by 
the rush of air through the outspread tail. Stejneger maintains that the sound 
originates from the throat, a view of the question which was suggested to him by 
the actions and voice of the Aleutian Sandpiper, which he observed sitting upon 
a tussock with puffed plumage and pendant wings and producing a loud bleating 
sound like that of the Common Snipe. The vocal organs must be dismissed, 
because the Snipe has been heard to utter its love notes whilst drumming, 
although this is exceptional. I am inclined to adopt Colonel Legge’s explanation, 
based as it was on much careful observation and experiment, which he minutely 
described to me some years ago, and that is the drumming is produced by the 
combined action of the wings and tail. He informed me (as he also published in 
his magnificent work on the Birds of Ceylon) that the vibrations of sound were 
exactly coincident with the beats of the wings, and that the air-waves are driven 
by the powerful wing-beats through the expanded and rigid tail feathers. The 
nest of the Common Snipe is usually placed in the centre or under the side of a 
tuft or tussock of coarse grass and rush in the swamps. It is merely a slight 
depression lined with dry grass and bits of dead aquatic herbage. The eggs are 
four in number, and vary from buff of different shades to olive of different shades 
in ground-colour, heavily and handsomely blotched and spotted with rich dark 
brown, occasionally streaked with blackish-brown and with numerous large 
underlying markings of pale brown and grey. They are pyriform and measure 
on an average 1°6 inch in length by 1:1 inch in breadth. Incubation, principally 


performed by the female, lasts from sixteen to twenty days. But one brood is 
reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Gallinago, with fourteen rectrices, with dark 
streaks (not bars) on the breast, and with the axillaries white, more or less marked 
with dark grey. Length, 10} inches. Albinos and fawn-coloured varieties are 
not uncommonly met with, especially in India. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 297 


Genus LIMNOCRYPTES, or Jack Snipes. 
Type, LIMNOCRYPTES GALLINULA. 


Limnocryptes, of Kaup (1829).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the culmen longer than the metatarsus (twice its 
length), and the long innermost secondaries equal in length to the primaries. 
The most important distinction between the Jack Snipes and the Snipes is an 
osteological one, the latter birds having two notches only in the posterior margin 
of the sternum, whilst the former have four notches, the normal number in the 
present family. The Jack Snipes further differ from the Snipes in having twelve 
tail feathers only, instead of fourteen and upwards. In most, if not all, other 
respects the Jack Snipes resemble the birds in the preceding genus. 

This genus is composed of a single species only, which is distributed over the 
northern portions of the Palearctic region in summer, drawing southwards in 
autuinn and winter, when it visits the Oriental region. It is a common winter 
migrant to the British Islands. 

The Jack Snipe closely resembles the Snipes in its habits and economy, 
which will be fully dealt with in the following chapter. 


298 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family CHARADRIIDA. Genus LIMNOCRYPTES. 
Subfamily SCOLOPACINA. 


JACK SNIPE. 


LIMNOCRYPTES GALLINULA—(Linneus). 
Prats XXXI. 


Scolopax gallinula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 244 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 380 
(1852); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 247 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non- 
indig. Brit. B. p. 280 (1894) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895); Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 154, pl. 41 (1896). 

Gallinago gallinula (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 653, pl. 544 (1877); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 851 (1883). 


Limnocryptes gallinula (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 220 (1896) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 665 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. — British: The Jack Snipe is a common 
winter visitor locally distributed throughout the British Islands, including the 
Orkneys, the Shetlands, and the Hebrides. Owing to the fact of odd birds having 
been met with in early summer, it has been surmised that the Jack Snipe may 
occasionally breed within our limits, but there is no decided evidence whatever 
that such is ever the case. Foreign: Northern Palearctic region; southern 
Palearctic region and Oriental region in winter. It breeds locally above the 
limits of forest growth, on the Dovrefjeld and the tundras of Lapland, and in 
Western Russia as far north as St. Petersburg. In Asia it appears to breed as 
far north as lat. 70°, and about as far south as lat. 60°; eastwards possibly to the 
Pacific. It passes Europe, south of the above limits, on migration, and winters 
in the basin of the Mediterranean, in North Africa as far south as the Great 
Desert, and is said to penetrate down the Nile Valley to Abyssinia. The birds 
breeding in Asia are known to pass South-west Siberia, Turkestan, and less 
frequently China and Japan on migration; and probably cross other central 


districts, though as yet undetected, and winter in Persia, Afghanistan, India, 
Ceylon, and Burmah. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


Habits.—A few Jack Snipes make their appearance in our Islands during 
the latter half of September, but the great bulk of the birds arrive in October 
and the beginning of November. The return migration begins in March and 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 299 


continues into April. Birds which breed in the highest Arctic limits of the 
European range of this species do not appear to pass our Islands at all; those 
that winter with us breed in Scandinavia most probably; those that pass later 
in spring through Central Europe nest in Northern Russia. Jack Snipes arrive 
in India as a rule at the end of September or early in October, and leave later 
than the Common Snipe, in April and May. Middendorff noted their arrival in 
North Siberia on the 8th of June. The Jack Snipe frequents almost precisely 
the same kind of haunts as its larger ally, but it is frequently found in much 
smaller bogs. A few square yards of marshy ground, provided there is cover 
and a snug corner in which to nestle, will content a Jack Snipe; and haunts 
that are tenanted one year are invariably filled the next, either by the same bird, 
if it is fortunate enough to escape the sportsman, or by another individual that 
in some strange manner only known to themselves becomes aware that the 
eligible haunt is vacant. Jack Snipes migrate at night, obtain much of their 
food by night, and change their ground—say when frozen out during continued 
frosts—at the same time. It is always a mystery to me how these birds can 
spot a tiny bog in the darkness when newly arrived in this country; the sense 
that guides them must be one totally unknown to man. The Jack Snipe at all 
times is a very solitary species, but whether it migrates in company is entirely 
unknown to me. If the birds do journey together (and Hume seems to infer that 
they do) they must separate at once; and though many may be flushed from one 
bog, each seems concerned with its own affairs. It isa skulking bird enough, 
and usually remains squatting close in the herbage, often behind a tuft, until 
nearly trodden under foot. When put up it flies at first in a very unsteady 
manner, but after going some distance the flight becomes steadier, and the bird 
pitches again almost directly. It may be flushed time after time in this manner, 
as it is one of the easiest birds to mark down. Much has been said about the 
difficulty of shooting Jack Snipe; but if the gunner can only control himself, 
and wait until the critical moment, when the zig-zag flight is changed into a 
steadier course, and which usually happens when the bird is just a nice distance 
from the gun, a moderate marksman should rarely miss. The Jack Snipe whilst 
with us is remarkably silent, and never, so far as my experience goes, utters a 
sound as it rises, nor is the whirr of its wings very perceptible. As Hume very 
aptly remarks, the favourite haunt of a Jack Snipe is a corner; the bird loves a 
cosy nook in which to nestle, a sheltered secluded spot where the cover is ample 
and where there is just enough bog to ensure a comfortable living. In such a 
retreat a Jack Snipe will remain the entire winter through—unless it is shot, of 
course. The food of this species consists of worms, insects and their larvee, 
mollusks and crustaceans, and a considerable amount of vegetable substances, 
such as smail seeds, bits of green weed, club-moss, and grass. In the manner of 
its search for food the Jack Snipe resembles its congeners. During the heat of 
the day this Snipe keeps very close and sleeps; but it has been shot, in the 


300 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


absolute act of feeding, rather late in the morning and long before sunset. The 
flesh of the Jack Snipe is excellent, and even in very severe weather, when 
Common Snipe have been woefully out of condition, I have remarked that Jack 
Snipe continue to remain as plump and fat as ever. 


Nidification.—It is rather remarkable that so little has been recorded of 
the breeding habits of the Jack Snipe. Every writer has to depend upon the 
information gathered by Wolley, and this in a great measure is meagre and 
vague. It would be interesting to hear the accounts of other naturalists. The 
Jack Snipe begins to breed towards the end of June. Wolley found the first 
nest on the 17th of that month, and four others on the 18th. From his account 
we are left in ignorance as to whether the male bird drums like the Common 
Snipe during the nesting season; indeed, the facts appear to be against it. He 
describes the bird careering about the air over the marshes of Muonioniska, 
uttering a sound like the distant canter of a horse over a hard road. This 
evidently refers to the note, which is compared by Naumann to the clicking of 
the death-watch beetle, and undoubtedly not to drumming or bleating. He 
found the nests placed in dry spots amongst the sedge and grass close to the 
borders of the more open swamps. They were mere hollows lined with a little 
dry grass, equisetum, and dead withered leaves of the dwarf birch. The eggs are 
four in number, ranging from buff to olive in ground-colour, blotched and spotted, 
and sometimes streaked with rich blackish-brown, and with underlying markings 
of pale brown and grey. They are pyriform, very large for the size of the bird 
(a clutch weighs nearly as much as the hen herself), and measure on an average 
1°5 inch in length by 1°0 inch in breadth. The female is a close sitter, and 
remains brooding over her eggs until the last moment; Wolley was allowed to 
approach one nest within six inches before the parent rose. One brood only is 
reared in the year, so far as is known. 


Diagnostic characters.—Limnocryptes, with the mantle glossed with 
purple, and the inner webs of the scapulars with metallic green; rectrices twelve 
in number. Length, 73 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 301 


ORDER ANSERIFORMES.— 


THE SCREAMERS, FLAMINGOES, SWANS, GEESE, 


DUCKS, AND MERGANSERS. 


HE birds comprising the present order constitute a fairly well-defined group, 
possibly most nearly related to the Storks by way of the Flamingoes, and 

to the Rails by way of the Screamers. They are perhaps also more remotely 
allied to the Raptores and the Pelicans. They form the order to which the name 
of CHENOMORPH@ was applied by Huxley; and Count Salvadori, the most 
recent monographer of the group, recognises what are certainly three very 
natural suborders, viz., the PALAMEDEZ, or Screamers ; the PH#NICOPTERI, or 
Flamingoes; and the ANSE#RES, or Ducks and allied forms. The birds in these 
three groups have the palate desmognathous, and the spinal feather tract not 
defined upon the neck: the young are also hatched covered with down, and able 
to forage for themselves soon after breaking the shell. Other characters common 
to the order (as shown by Count Salvadori) are the long neck, the tufted oil 
gland, the incomplete internasal septum (nares pervie), the coalescing of the 
maxillo-palatines across the middle line, the presence of the ambiens muscle and 
the leading of the flexor perforans digitorum to all three anterior digits but not 
to the hallux. With the Flamingoes and the Screamers we are not concerned in 
the present work. So far as the Ducks and their allies are concerned the regular 
moult is a single one in autumn. In the Ducks the males moult their small 
feathers twice during twelve months; the Geese, Swans, and possibly all the 
Sheldrakes have one moult only. The quills are moulted so rapidly as to 
incapacitate the bird for flight. The progress of the young to maturity seems to 
be as follows: In the Geese the young do not differ very remarkably from their 
parents in colour, except in those species where the adults are characterised by 
violent contrasts of colour ; in the Ducks the young in first plumage very closely 
resemble the old female, and acquire (males) nearly adult plumage after their first 


302 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


autumn moult; in the Swans in first plumage the colour is greyish-brown, a 
plumage which they appear to lose in their first autumn, when the adult attire is 
almost completely assumed. So far as concerns the white species a few brown 
markings occur on the scapulars. Males appear to assume the white dress sooner 
than females; whilst the young of both sexes, even when a year old, are very 
perceptibly smaller. 

The birds in the present order number upwards of two hundred species and 
subspecies. Of these but nine are included amongst the Flamingoes and 
Screamers; the remainder (the Ducks) forming one large family, which is 
practically cosmopolitan in its distribution and well represented in the British 
Islands. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 303 


Family ANATIDAE.—The Swans, Geese, Ducks, 


and Mergansers. 


The birds comprising this by far the largest division of the order may be 
distinguished by their peculiar laminated bill, short legs, and webbed feet. They 
are characterised by having the basipterygoid processes placed as far forward as 
possible and by the metatarsus being about equal in length to the fermur, 
reticulated behind and generally in front. Their sternum contains one notch 
only on each side of the posterior margin. The tongue is large and fleshy, the 
edges serrated. The bill is generally broad and flat, and has a nail at the tip of 
the upper mandible. Count Salvadori (whose arrangement as elaborated in the 
Catalogue of Birds in the National Collection we propose chiefly to follow) divides 
the present family into eleven fairly well-defined subfamilies, five of which are 
represented in our area. 


Subfamily CYGNINAE, or Swans. 


The birds included in the present subfamily are distinguished from their allies 
by having the lores (space between the eye and the bill) bare of feathers. Their 
reticulated metatarsus further distinguishes them from the Ducks, whilst the 
shortness of that member (not so long as the middle toe) is a point of distinction 
from the Geese. The hind toe is not lobed; the neck is extremely long. The 
sexes are nearly alike in colour. One moult in autumn. 

This subfamily is composed of seven species, referable to three genera. 


304 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus CYGNUS, or Swans. 
Type, CYGNUS MUSICUS. 


Cygnus, of Bechstein (1803).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the lores devoid of feathers, the metatarsi reticulated, and 
shorter than the middle toe. The wings are long, but rather rounded, secondaries 
long and broad, the first four primaries being of nearly equal length, the tertials 
and scapulars normally smooth ; the tail is short and rounded. The predominant 
colour of the plumage is white. The bill is moderately long and of equal breadth, 
higher than wide at the base, depressed at the tip; nostrils oblong, lateral and 
central. The neck is long and slender. Three toes in front webbed, hind toe 
small. 

This genus is composed of six species, which are confined to the Palearctic, 
Nearctic, and Neotropical regions ; more widely distributed in winter than in 
summer. Three species are British, but one only is resident, and breeds in our 
Islands in a semi-domesticated state. 

The Swans are dwellers on lakes and inland waters in summer; more mari- 
time in winter. They are birds of very powerful and sustained flight, and swim 
and walk with ease. Their notes are loud and trumpet-like. They subsist 
chiefly on vegetable substances, insects, and mollusks. They make large and 
bulky nests on the ground, and their eggs are oval, three to twelve in number, dull 
white and unspotted. They are monogamous, and probably pair for life. More 
or less social and gregarious, especially in winter. Their flesh was formerly held 
in high repute for the table. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 305 


Family ANATIDA5. Genus CYGNUS. 
Subfamily CY@ninz. 


WHOOPER SWAN. 


CYGNUS MUSICUS—Bechstein. 


Anas cygnus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 194 (1766 partim). 

Cygnus musicus, Bechstein; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 659 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. 
p. 433, pl. 419, fig. 4 (1880); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 308 (1885) ; Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 480 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxv. (1893) ; Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs, Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 144 (1894); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 
xxvii. p. 26 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 29, pl. 7 (1896); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 247 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Whooper Swan, upon the 
authority of Low, is said to have bred in the Orkneys upwards of a hundred years 
ago. It is now a winter visitor only, passing the Shetlands on migration, and is 
found more or less commonly round the Scotch coasts, including St. Kilda, the 
Orkneys, and the Hebrides. To England it is not so common a visitor, but it 
occurs in most suitable districts from Northumberland to Devonshire, inland as 
well as on and off the coasts, Slapton Ley, in South Devon, being one of its 
many favourite resorts. The same remarks apply to Ireland, although this 
species is never seen in such enormous quantities as its smaller ally, Bewick’s 
Swan. Foreign: Northern Palearctic region; southern Palearctic region in 
winter. Itis an accidental straggler to Greenland, visits the Faroes on migration, 
and breeds commonly in Iceland. It breeds throughout Arctic Europe and Asia, 
in the former not below the Arctic circle in Norway, but four degrees further 
south in Sweden, Finland, and North Russia. In Asia it does not appear to nest 
commonly below the Arctic circle, and ranges above that limit eastwards to 
Behring Strait. In Hurope it wanders south during winter to the basin of the 
Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, as far as the lakes of Algeria, Lower 
Egypt, and Palestine. The Asiatic birds pass South Siberia and Mongolia on 
migration, and spend the cold season in J apan and on the coasts of China as far 
south as Shanghai. It is said to have wandered abnormally to Nepal. 


Allied forms.—None nearer than Cygnus bewicki, a British species 
treated fully in the following chapter. 


20 


306 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The Whooper migrates to and from its Arctic haunts in flocks of 
varying size, and sometimes in pairs, not only at night but during the day, as nay 
easily be learned from its loud notes uttered during flight. It begins to leave its 
winter quarters in the south in spring, and reaches the Arctic regions about the 
middle of May, just as the ice in the great rivers is about to break up and the 
snow to melt from the grounds where it breeds. At first only a few pairs make 
their appearance, but soon the migration is in full swing, and continues until the 
early days of June. The migration south in autumn commences soon after the 
moult is completed ; in fact, whilst it is in progress the birds begin to wander 
down the great rivers towards their winter quarters, which are reached in October 
and November. Migrating flocks of this species usually assume the form of a 
wedge, and fly at an immense elevation. The flight is rapid enough when the 
bird gets fairly under weigh, and the swish, swish of the long wings beating 
regularly can be heard for long distances; the head and neck are stretched out in 
a straight line. The Whooper spends much of its time on the water, searching 
round the banks and in the shallows for food. It is nothing near so graceful in 
its movements as the Mute Swan, and the neck is never so beautifully curved, 
being almost always held up straight except when the bird is feeding. Like 
most big birds it is excessively wary and shy, and during its sojourn in our Islands 
is very careful to keep well in the centre of the pool or lake, or at some distance 
from shore, when not actually feeding. When disturbed from the water it rises 
with apparent difficulty, and the long wings beat the surface for some distance as 
the bird attempts to reach the air. The Whooper feeds a good deal whilst on dry 
land, and is very fond of swimming round the banks of a deep pool, from time to 
time plunging the head and neck under water to explore the mud and the roots 
of the herbage growing at the bottom. The food of this species is principally of 
a vegetable nature—herbs, grasses, weeds, flowers and seeds, roots, stems, buds, 
and leaves—but water insects and mollusks are also eaten. The note of the 
Whooper once heard can never be forgotten or confused with that of any other 
British species. It is a short, loud, clear, far-sounding trumpet-blast, uttered 
several times in succession, and when mellowed by distance sounds far from 
unpleasant, but at close quarters is ear-splitting and discordant. Nothing in bird 


life to my mind sounds so inspiring as the distant yet clear calls of migrating 
Swans, one to the other, as they cross the night sky. 


Nidification.—tThe chief breeding grounds of the Whooper are beyond the 
Arctic circle on the islands in the deltas of the great rivers that flow into the 
northern seas, or near the big lakes of the tundras, or the creeks that run some 
distance inland from the parent stream. The birds pair for life. The nest is 
usually placed on an island well covered with willow-trees and other dense scrub, 
or at others amongst the tall rank grass and reeds that fringe the pool. Itisa 
huge pile of coarse grass, sedge, and other herbage built upon the ground, and 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 307 


probably carried to such a height in anticipation of any sudden rise in the water 
near by. As incubation proceeds it often increases in bulk, the birds adding 
materials from time to time. In Northern Russia from two to four eggs form a 
clutch ; in Iceland five are frequently found; and old females are said occasionally 
to lay as many as seven. The eggs are laid towards the end of May in some 
districts, a fortnight later in others. They are creamy-white in colour, rough in 
texture, and nearly oval in shape. They measure on an average 4'5 inches in 
length by 2°8 inches in breadth. Incubation lasts from five to six weeks, and 
according to Dr. Palmén the young mature slowly. One brood only is reared in 
the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Cygnus, with the tail short and rounded, and 
with the lores and the basal portion of the bill extending below the nostrils 
yellow, remainder black. Length, 60 inches. 


308 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus CYGNUS. 
Subfamily, Cr@NnINz. 


BEWICK’S SWAN. 
CYGNUS BEWICKI—Yarrell. 


Cygnus bewickii, Yarrell, Trans. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 445 (1833); Macgill. Brit. B. iv. 
p. 669 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 441, pl. 419, fig. 3 (1880); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 484 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 315 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxv. (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 145 
(1894) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 29 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 29, pl. 8 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 252 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. —British : Bewick’s Swan is a winter 
visitor to the coasts and many inland waters of the British Islands. It is most 
abundant on the wild broken coast of the west of Scotland and the lakes and 
western coasts of Ireland. It is, however, fairly well known as a frequent winter 
visitor on the east coast of Scotland and the coasts of England. Foreign: Northern 
and Eastern Palearctic region; southern Palearctic region in winter. But little 
is known of the breeding grounds of this species, and until the visit of Messrs. 
Seebohm and Harvie-Brown to the valley of the Petchora in the summer of 1875 
the eggs were absolutely unknown to science. It breeds on the tundras above 
the limit of forest growth, on the eastern shores of the White Sea, on the islands 
of Kolguev and Nova Zembla, and in the deltas of the Petchora, Obb, Yenisei, 
and Lena; on the Liakov Islands and the tundras of North-Eastern Siberia, 
possibly to Behring Strait. It is only an accidental visitor to Norway and Fin- 
land, and the coasts of the Baltic, Denmark, Holland, and France; one example 
is recorded from Nepal. It passes the great river valleys from the Kama and the 
Volga eastwards, down those of the Obb, the Yenisei and the Lena, and crosses 
Turkestan and Mongolia on migration, and winters in the basin of the Caspian, 
and on the coasts of Japan and China as far south as Shanghai. Mr. Styan 
records them in flocks of at least a thousand at the head of the Poyang Lake, 
whilst he states that large flocks frequent the low islands and mudflats at the 
mouth of the Yangtse. 


Allied forms.—None nearer than Cygnus musicus, a British species, 
treated fully in the preceding chapter. 


Habits. —Bewick’s Swan resembles the Whooper very closely in its habits. 
It is a bird of regular passage to and from the Arctic regions, arriving at its 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 309 


breeding grounds just as winter is about to give way to the short, hot northern 
summer, and the ice on the great rivers is breaking up, towards the end of May. 
It is a gregarious bird on passage, and journeys in herds of varying size, which 
usually assume a wedge-shaped formation as they fly. It migrates by day as 
well as by night, and like its larger ally is a very noisy bird on passage, the 
individuals of the party calling to each other at intervals. This note is neither 
so loud nor so harsh as that of the Whooper, and is aptly described by Sir Ralph 
Payne-Gallwey as tong, short but musical. Both at its summer quarters and 
whilst in our Islands during winter Bewick’s Swan is a remarkably shy and 
cautious bird, difficult to approach either on the sea or on an inland lake. During 
winter it is a very gregarious species, sometimes congregating on certain favoured 
waters in flocks, hundreds or even thousands strong. Its food is obtained in a 
very similar manner to the Whooper, and consists of the roots, stems, buds, flowers, 
seeds, and leaves of herbs and aquatic plants, and of grass, insects and their 
larve, and worms. The bird, perhaps, feeds more whilst on land than the 
Whooper, and is more partial to enclosed waters than the open sea. Its flight is 
just as rapid and powerful, the long wings beat regularly with a loud noise, and 
the bird’s neck is outstretched. 


Nidification. —Very little is known of the breeding habits of Bewick’s Swan, 
and although its eggs have been obtained, few naturalists have yet been fortunate 
enough to see them in situ, or to examine the nest. Messrs. Seebohm and 
Harvie-Brown, when in the valley of the Petchora in 1875, had eggs of this bird 
brought to them by a Russian fisherman, which were obtained on the island of 
Pyonin in the delta of that river. Other eggs were brought to the former gentle- 
man during his visit to the valley of the Yenisei two years afterwards, which had 
been obtained from an island, and on the mainland of the delta of that river. 
Mr. Trevor Battye discovered the nest of this Swan on the island of Kolguev—a 
huge pyramid of moss, with a cup at the apex for the eggs, whilst the young in 
down were obtained there more recently by Mr. H. J. Pearson’s expedition. The 
nest resembles that of the Whooper, and is built in a similar situation. The 
number of eggs in a clutch is not known with certainty, but more than three 
have not yet been found in one nest. They are smaller than those of the 
Whooper, whiter on an average, and not so glossy. They measure on an average 
4:0 inches in length by 2°6 inches in breadth. 


Diagnostic characters.—Cygnus, with the tail short and rounded, and 
with the lores and the basal portion of the bill (but not extending below the 
nostrils) yellow, remainder black. Length, 50 inches. 


310 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus CYGNUS. 
Subfamily CYGNINz. 


MUTE SWAN. 
CYGNUS OLOR—(Gmelin). 


Anas olor, Gmelin, Syst. Nat i. p. 501 (1788). 

Cygnus olor (Gmel.), Vieillot, N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. ix. p. 37 (1817); Dresser, B. Eur. 
vi. p. 419, pl. 418 (1880); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 324 (1885); Seebohm, 
Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 476 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 222 (1893); 
Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 38 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. 
p- 28, pl. 7 (1896); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 254 (1896) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xxxv. (1897). 


Geographical distribution.—British : Whether the Mute Swan was 
introduced into the British Islands (as some writers affirm it was by Richard I. 
from Cyprus) or not is a question somewhat difficult to decide. It is rather 
remarkable that such an explanation should ever have been put forward, for there 
is nothing extraordinary in a bird which, in a wild state, is a regular summer 
visitor to Denmark and North Germany, extending its migrations to our Islands. 
Its exceeding beauty and gracefulness probably led very early in the history of 
our civilisation to its domestication, which has finally brought it to its present 
condition of a semi-wild resident species. It is to be met with more or less 
abundantly throughout the United Kingdom, wherever man affords it protection, 
some of the Swanneries being very ancient and extensive. Foreign: Western 
Palearctic region ; occasionally in the extreme north-west of the Oriental region 
during winter. It breeds in South Sweden (but is an accidental visitor only to 
Norway), Denmark, Germany west of the Rhine, Central and South Russia, the 
valley of the Danube, Transylvania and Greece, Turkestan and Mongolia. It 
occasionally wanders into Dauria and to North-west India during the cold season. 
In the basin of the Mediterranean, and throughout most of Europe south of the 
above limits, it is best known as a winter visitor, and during that season it is also 
found in the southern districts of the Caspian. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to demand notice. In 1838 
Yarrell described a Swan under the name of Cygnus immutabilis (Proc. Zool. 
Soc. 1838, p. 19). It was said to differ from the Mute Swan in having the 
tubercle at the base of the upper mandible smaller, the legs lead colour instead 
of black. A further specific distinction was that the young birds had a paler 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 311 


bill, and the plumage of the upper parts pure, unsullied white. Although this 
bird received the trivial name of “ Polish” Swan, it appears to have been confined 
to the British Islands with the exception of a single example captured on the 
Haarlem Lake, in Holland, during December, 1840. The alleged characters of 
the “adult”? appear only to depend on age—the older the bird the larger the 
frontal tubercle, and the darker the legs. As regards the white plumage of the 
young, it appears to be nothing but an exceptional albinism, the result probably 


of semi-domestication, and from a similar cause as that which has originated 
white Ducks and poultry. 


Habits.—The Mute Swan is too well known in a domesticated state to re- 
quire any lengthy description of its habits in our Islands. There can be little doubt 
that a few really wild birds visit the British Islands from time to time in winter, 
but it is utterly impossible to identify them, as domesticated birds often wander 
about a good deal from one sheet of water to another where they are allowed to 
live unpinioned. In the northern portions of its range the Mute Swan is a 
regular bird of passage, appearing in its summer quarters in March, and leaving 
them with its brood in October. Like its congeners, it migrates in flocks of 
varying size by day and by night, in the same wedge-shaped formations. Its 
haunts in summer are large lakes, especially those that contain islands with 
plenty of low cover, amongst which it can make its nest safe from enemies. 
During winter wild Mute Swans frequent the coast as much as their congeners 
do; and in India they haunt the tanks and lakes, but are rare visitors. The 
flight of this bird is powerful and rapid, and the noise of the mighty wings may 
be heard a long distance, especially across water on a calm, still day. Although 
tame and confiding enough with us in a semi-domesticated state, when wild it is 
excessively shy and wary, rarely admitting of a close approach. When fired at, 
however, instances are on record where the flock has returned again and again, 
flying over their fallen companions, and showing the greatest reluctance to quit 
the place. The Mute Swan is a much more graceful bird in the water than either 
of its two preceding congeners, and its neck is often curved into beautiful lines. 
It feeds, however, in much the same manner, both whilst on land and swimming 
in the water. This food consists of aquatic plants and grass, insects and their 
larve, mollusks, and frogs. The bird is also said to eat fish spawn, and I have 
known it to devour small fish. In a state of domestication the Mute Swan, as its 
name implies, is a very silent bird, only making a low, hissing noise, especially 
when excited or angry; but wild individuals are said to utter a loud, trumpet- 
like cry, similar to the note of the Whooper. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of wild Mute Swans commences in 
April or May. Both tame and wild birds appear to pair for life, and to return 
each season to a favourite nesting place, although they usually make a new nest 


312 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


every year, but in some cases repair the old one. This is usually made on the 
ground on an island in a dense thicket, or amongst tall grass and other aquatic 
vegetation, and consists of a huge pile of dead grass, rushes, reeds, and any other 
rubbish the birds can collect in the neighbourhood. As incubation advances the 
nest is increased in bulk, especially when in a district subject to sudden inundation. 
Many nests are said to be built together in some localities. The eggs are from 
five to eight in number, old birds laying from eight to twelve. They are greenish- 
white or very pale green, rough in texture, and with little or no gloss. They 
measure on an average 4'5 inches in length by 3:0 inches in breadth. Incuba- 
tion, performed by the female, lasts from five to six weeks. One brood only is 
reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters. —Cygnus, with the tail wedge-shaped and long, 
and with the lores and frontal tubercle black. Length, 60 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 313 


Subfamily ANSERINAE, or Geese. 


The birds included in the present subfamily are distinguished from their allies 
by the absence of a cere, having the lores covered with feathers and the metatarsus 
reticulated all round. They are further distinguished from the Swans by their 
longer metatarsus (longer than the middle toe) and much shorter neck ; whilst 
from the Ducks, their short, robust, sub-conical (and in many cases higher than 
broad at the base) bill is an additional distinction. The sexes are nearly alike in 
colour. 

This subfamily is divisable into about half-a-dozen genera. 


Genus CHEN, or Snow Geese. 


Type, CHEN HYPERBOREUS. 


Chen, of Boie (1829).—The birds in the present genus are characterised, 
according to Count Salvadori, by having the serrations on the cutting edge of 
the upper mandible visible externally for the greater part of the tomium. The 
bill is exceptionally stout, the height through the base being equal to considerably 
more than half the length of the culmen. The species are further characterised 
by their white or bluish body plumage and their black wings. 

This genus is composed of four species and races, which are confined to the 
Arctic regions. One of these is an abnormal migrant to the British Islands. 

The Snow Geese are inhabitants of the Arctic seas and the open tundras or 
barren grounds in their immediate vicinity. Their habits are but little known. 
They feed on both vegetable and animal substances. Their nests are mere 
hollows in the ground lined with down. Their eggs are white. 


314 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus CHEN. 
Subfamily ANSERINZ. 


LESSER SNOW GOOSE. 


CHEN HYPERBOREUS—(Pallas). 
Pratt XXXII. 


Anser hyperboreus, Pallas, Spicil. Zool. vi. p. 25 (1769); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. 
p. 490 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 30, pl. 11 (1896). 


Anser albatus, Cassin.; Saunders, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871 p. 519. 

Chen albatus (Cassin), Dresser, B. Eur. iv. p. 409, pl. 417, fig. 2 (1878). 

Chen hyperboreus (Pallas), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 275 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xxvi. (1898) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 147 (1894) ; 


Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 84 (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. 
p. 225 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Lesser Snow Goose is a 
very rare straggler to Ireland on autumn migration, and has been observed in 
England. The claim of this species to rank as ‘‘ British” rests on the following 
occurrences :—Ireland: Lake Tacumshane, south coast of County Wexford (two 
immature examples purchased in Leadenhall Market, one example shot at the 
same time and place but not preserved), November, 1871; Termoncarra, Co. Mayo 
(flock of seven seen, one of which was shot and another trapped), October, 1877. 
The two examples said to have been captured in Ireland, and afterwards placed 
in Lord Derby’s menagerie at Knowsley, and which subsequently were sold by 
auction to Castang, the bird and animal dealer of London, have too dubious a 
pedigree to share the honour of positive evidence. England: Coast of Cumber- 
land (one adult example, “‘identified but not obtained”’), August, 1884; others 
noticed in Yorkshire (1691), Northumberland and elsewhere, but no examples 
obtained. Foreign: Northern Nearctic region; more southerly in winter. It 
breeds, as far as is known, in the Arctic regions of North-west America ; probably 
also breeds in the extreme north-east of the Palearctic region, and winters as far 
south as California in the west and the Valley of the Mississippi in the east, and 
visits Japan at that season, a fact which strongly confirms the suggestion that it 
breeds in Asia. Owing to the two races of this species being confused, it is 
difficult to trace the geographical area of the smaller form in any more detail 
with accuracy. 


Allied forms.—Chen nivalis, only known to breed in Hudson Bay terri- 
tory, but is probably circumpolar, as it has occurred on migration in various 


Lig 
UP ney 


mips 
es 


te 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 315 


localities throughout the Palearctic region, especially in Japan and China. It 
winters in the United States south to Texas, and is an occasional visitor to 
Greenland and the Bermudas. The large form of the Snow Goose, and possibly 
only superficially distinct. Typical examples measure from 17 to 18°5 inches in 
length of wing, instead of from 15 to 17°5 inches, and in length of bill from 2°38 
to 2°65 inches, instead of from 1°95 to 2°28 inches. 


Habits.—But little has been recorded of the habits of the Lesser Snow 
Goose. It is a migratory bird, breeding on the tundras or barren grounds above 
the limit of forest growth, reaching its summer quarters towards the end of May 
and returning to its winter haunts in September and October. During winter 
the Lesser Snow Goose appears seldom to stray far from large sheets of water, 
but visits inland localities as well as the coast. The food of this species consists 
largely of grass and rushes, but ground fruits and berries are also eaten, as well 
as insects and small mollusks. During winter the Snow Goose becomes gre- 
garlous, and not only flocks with the larger race but with other kindred species. 
The note of this species is nowhere clearly described to my knowledge. 


Nidification.—The Lesser Snow Goose breeds on the tundras on the 
banks of the northern lakes, or on small islands in the Arctic Ocean not far from 
the mainland. Again MacFarlane, with his splendid opportunities, only records 
the barest details of the nesting habits of this interesting bird. He says that the 
nests were mere hollows in the sandy ground, warmly lined with down. The 
eggs are generally five in number, dull white in colour. They measure on an 
average 3°4 inches in length by 22 inches in breadth. The young can fly by the 
middle of August, and about a month later begin their southern journey. One 
brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Chen, with the primaries black and the 
remainder of the plumage white, with the wing 17 inches or less in length. 
Length, 23 inches. 


316 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus ANSER, or Typical Geese. 
Type, ANSER CINEREUS. 


Anser, of Bechstein (1803).—As Bechstein was the first naturalist properly 
to define the Geese, he has far more claim to the genus than Brisson, whose 
Anser is a confused and bewildered mass of distantly related species. The birds 
comprising the present genus are characterised by the absence of a cere, having 
the lores feathered and the metatarsus reticulated. The wings are long and 
ample, but not acutely pointed ; the tail is short and rounded, and said to contain 
sixteen feathers. The billis nearly as long as, not longer than, the head, and has 
a strongly defined unguis or nail at the tip; the inner edge of the mandibles is 
crooked and the lamelle are conspicuous; nostrils lateral. The neck is much 
shorter than in Cygnus. Three toes in front webbed, one behind small and 
elevated. 

This genus is composed of about ten species, which are distributed throughout 
the colder and temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere; more cosmopolitan 
in winter than in summer. Six species and subspecies are British, but one only 
of these breeds within our Islands. 

The typical Geese are dwellers on moors and marshes and more or less 
cultivated plains, but in winter they become more maritime. They are birds of 
rapid if somewhat laboured flight, swim well, and walk with equal facility. Their 
notes are loud and unmusical. They subsist chiefly on vegetable substances. 
They make bulky nests upon the ground, and their eggs are numerous and 
creamy-white in colour. They are monogamous, and probably pair for life, the 
male assisting the female in family duties. They are gregarious in winter, and 
more or less social even in the breeding season. Their flesh is palatable. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 317 


Family ANATIDA. Genus ANSER. 
Subfamily ANSERINA. 


BEAN GOOSE. 


ANSER SEGETUM—(Gmelin). 


Anas fabalis, Latham, Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 297 (1787). 

Anas segetum, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 512 (1788). 

Anser segetum (Gmel.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 595 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. vi. p. 
363, pl. 412 (1879) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 265 (1885) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. 
iii. p. 493 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxvi. (1898); Dixon, Nests and 
Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 148 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 30, 
pl. 8 (1896). 

Anser fabalis (Lath.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 99 (1895); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 232 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Bean Goose is a common 
visitor on spring and autumn migration, most abundant during the latter, but 
great numbers remain to winter in our Islands. It is not known to breed in any 
part of the British area, although widely dispersed on the mainland of Scotland 
and some of the adjoining islands, but only a straggler to the Orkney and Shet- 
land Islands, and on the Outer Hebrides it appears to be quite unknown. In 
England it is most frequent on the southern and western coasts south of Lanca- 
shire, becoming rarer on the east; whilst in Ireland it appears to be generally 
distributed and abundant, but less common on the southern coast than the 
White-fronted Goose. Foreign: Northern and, at high elevations, central 
Palearctic region ; southern Palearctic region in winter. Accidental in Iceland. 
It breeds in Scandinavia north of lat. 64°, in North Russia as low as Archangel, in 
the delta of the Petchora, on Kolguev, Waigats, and Nova Zembla, in the valley of 
the Yenisei above forest growth, and southwards on the mountains of the Baikal 
district, eastwards to the Stanavoi Mountains, and the Arctic tundras of Eastern 
Siberia northwards to the coast. It passes Europe south of the limits already 
given to winter on both shores of the Mediterranean (with the exception of 
North-east Africa) ; but in mild winters many remain on the coasts of Denmark 
and France, and more rarely those of Spain, whilst it has been known accidentally 
to wander as far south as Madeira. Vast numbers also winter in the south of 
Russia and in the basin of the Caspian. Further east it passes South-west 


318 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Siberia, Mongolia, and the valley of the Amoor on migration, and winters in 
North-east Turkestan, China, and Japan. 


Allied forms.—Anser serrirostris, the eastern form of the Bean Goose; 
only apparently subspecifically distinct, the two races intergrading. As we have 
already noticed, in treating of the entire range of both forms, it is an inhabitant 
of Eastern Siberia from the Baikal district to the Pacific. Typical examples 
differ from the Bean Goose in being larger, especially the bill and feet (length of 
bill from frontal feathers to tip 3'4 to 2°4 inches, instead of from 2°5 inches to 
1-7 inch). The head and neck are buffish-brown instead of brownish-grey. A. 
brachyrhynchus, a fairly distinct island race, a British species, and A. neglectus, 
both dealt with in the following chapter. 


Habits.—Great numbers of Bean Geese simply pass along our coasts in 
autumn for more southern haunts, and repass them on their way north again in 
spring ; still many remain with us throughout the winter. This species, like most 
of its congeners, begins to arrive in its northern haunts with the first signs of 
departing winter. Small parties reach the neighbourhood of the Arctic circle, both 
in Europe and Asia, during the second half of May, but these are often compelled 
to retire some distance south again owing to a late frost. When once the great 
rivers break through their bonds of ice, and the south wind brings summer to the 
Arctic regions, the Bean Geese arrive in full force, flock after flock pouring in 
from the south, following in the wake of the open water. As soon as the young 
are half-grown, and the short summer begins to wane, these Geese again unite 
into flocks to complete their moult, and then in early autumn the grand flight 
south commences. In our Islands the Bean Goose lives in flocks of varying size, 
which wander about a good deal, according to the state of the weather and the 
supply of food. Some of these gatherings are very large, and at all times difficult 
to approach, although the birds are certainly less wary at night. The Bean 
Goose usually frequents the sea and the coast during the night, coming inland to 
stubbles and fields of newly-sown grain in the day to feed. During long-continued 
frost they keep more to the coast, but in rough, stormy weather they are more 
partial to remaining in inland districts, from which, however, they soon depart 
at the first sign of recurring frost. The flight of this Goose is rapid and strong, 
and the birds when passing from place to place usually assume a wedge-shaped 
formation. Its note whilst staying in our Islands is the familar gag-gag variously 
modulated. Bean Geese when feeding on the inland fields usually post sentinels 
here and there to give timely warning of the approach of danger. Upon the 
water the Bean Goose swims well and buoyantly, but it rises with apparent 
labour with a great flapping of wings until well into the air. The food of this 
species consists of grass, the tender shoots of grain, and the roots of various 
plants. In autumn the bird picks up a great quantity of grain of all kinds from 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 319 


the stubbles, and also frequents the newly-sown fields at that season and in 
spring to dig up the seed-corn as well as beans. Much of this food is sought 
at dawn. 


Nidification.—The breeding grounds of this bird are situated on the 
northern tundras beyond or near the limits of forest growth, in the vicinity of 
lakes and pools. The nest is made early in June, and is usually placed amongst 
the tall rank grass and sedge of an islet in the lake or on a hillock on the bank. 
It is merely a slight hollow lined with dry grass and other vegetable refuse, with 
down from the old bird’s body. The eggs are three or four in number, creamy- 
white in colour, and rather rough in texture. They measure on an average 3°2 
inches in length by 2°15 inches in breadth. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Anser, with the central portion of the bill 
orange-yellow, black at the base and on the nail, and with the legs and feet 
orange-yellow. Length, 34 inches. 


320 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDAL. Genus ANSER. 
Subfamily ANSERINA, 


PINK-FOOTED GOOSE. 
ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS—Baillon. 


Anser brachyrhynchus, Baillon, Mém. de la Soc. roy. d’ém. d’Abbev. 1833. p. 74; 
Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 602 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 369, pl. 413 (1878) ; 
Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 270 (1885) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 498 (1885) ; 
Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxv. (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. 
Brit. B. p. 150 (1894); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 103 (1895) ; Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 31, pl. 10 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 234 
(1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Pink-footed Goose is a 
common winter visitor, found most abundantly on the east coast of England and 
Scotland, more sparingly on the west coast of Scotland, and locally in the Outer 
Hebrides, and on the south coast of England. Singularly enough this species 
has but once been obtained in Ireland, nor has it been observed in the Shetland 
Islands. Foreign: Extreme north-western Palearctic region ; accidental in the 
Oriental region during winter. The only known breeding places of this very 
doubtfully distinct species are on the islands of Spitzbergen, probably on Iceland, 
and possibly on Nova Zembla and Franz-Josef Land. It is found on the coasts 
of Scandinavia, Denmark, and Holland during the autumn and spring migrations, 
and during winter has been observed on the coasts of Belgium and France. So 
far as is known, the British Islands are the grand headquarters of this Goose 
during winter. It has been obtained in Northern India. Among other occur- 
rences may be mentioned a pair shot in the Jumna by Hume during January, 
1864. 


Allied forms.—Anser segetwm, probably the parent form, a British species, 
and treated fully in the preceding chapter. Whether the Anser neglectus, recently 
described by Sushkin from the government of Ufa, be distinct from the Pink- 
footed Goose and the Bean Goose we are not as yet prepared to admit. It is 
said to be larger than, and to differ somewhat in colour from, the former. (Conf. 
Ibis 1897, pp. 5—8. 


Habits.—The habits of the Pink-footed Goose are not know to differ in any 
very important particular from those of the closely allied Bean Goose; indeed, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 321 


further investigation may yet prove that the two birds are only subspecifically 
distinct. The note of the Pink-footed Goose, however, is said to be sharper and 
more quickly repeated. The flocks of this Goose that visit our Islands every 
autumn frequent the stubbles, fields, and marshes inland during the day and on 
moonlight nights to feed, and retire to the coast at the approach of darkness to 
sleep, generally frequenting some low island or sandbank for the purpose. The 
flight of this Goose is very similar to that of the Bean Goose, and the bird also 
subsists on precisely similar fare. Referring to the peculiar habit of the Bean 
Goose of squatting close to the ground in the same manner as a Norfolk Plover 
when alarmed, Mr. Trevor-Battye remarks: ‘“‘ The Pink-footed Geese of Spitz- 
bergen behave in the same way if they have their young with them. Provided 
the ground is not too steep, they run for long distances, sometimes even along the 
edge of the water without entering it. Pink-footed Geese are remarkably quick 
upon their legs, and the young birds when half-grown can run as fast as the old 
ones; the latter, if hurried, run with outstretched wings, which hinder them 
against the wind, but if too closely pressed the goose which leads (the gander 
brings up the rear) will suddenly drop, and the whole party follow her example. 
You can then walk up and look at them lying there, all in precisely the same 
attitude, with bodies flattened down and necks outstretched on the ground, so 
that you must stir them up in order to start them off again.”’ 


Nidification.—But little is known of the breeding habits of the Pink- 
footed Goose. Early in the summer it frequents its breeding grounds in small 
flocks, but these eventually separate into pairs. The eggs are laid in June, and 
the young are hatched about the middle or towards the end of the following 
month. They are said to make their nests on low rocks near the sea, or in 
higher cliffs either in the fiords or at some distance inland, but Mr. Trevor-Battye 
remarks that in Spitzbergen it seldom nests by the sea, but retires inland, choosing 
as a site some elevated point overlooking a stream or lake, but occasionally it 
selects a small island. The nest is not known to differ from that of the pre- 
ceding species. The eggs are four or five in number, white or creamy-white in 
colour, and somewhat smooth in texture. They measure on an average 3°15 
inches in length by 2°15 inches in breadth. Incubation, performed by the female, 
lasts twenty-eight days. The male keeps constant watch close to the nest, to 
warn or defend his mate. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Anser, with the central portion of the bill 
usually pink, but sometimes orange-yellow, black at the base and on the nail, and 
with the legs and feet flesh-colour, Length, 28 inches. 


21 


322 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDAE. Genus ANSER. 
Subfamily ANSERINZ. 


GREY LAG GOOSE. 
ANSER CINEREUS—Meyer. 


Anas anser, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 197 (1766). 

Anser ferus, Schaeff.; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 589 (1852); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 
xxvii. p. 89 (1895). 

Anser cinereus, Meyer; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 355, pl. 411 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. 
ed. 4, iv. p. 253 (1885); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 500 (1885); Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxvi. (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 224 (1893); 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 32, pl. 8 (1896). 


Anser anser (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 227 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Grey Lag Goose is most 
probably the original form from which the domestic Goose was derived. It 
formerly bred in the fens and marshes of East Anglia, but for nearly a hundred 
years now has ceased to do so, the reclamation of so much of the swampy wastes 
in this district causing it to forsake its ancient strongholds. Its only breeding 
places now are in the north of Scotland, especially in the Outer Hebrides, as I 
know from personal experience, in Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness. In Ireland 
a colony of birds in a half-domestic state have their breeding place on the lake at 
Castle Coole, the seat of Lord Belmore, in Co. Monaghan. It is a winter visitor 
to the British Islands, accidental in the Orkneys and Shetlands, rare on the east 
coast of Scotland, more abundant on the east coast of England, but rare on the 
south. It is rare on the west coasts of England and Scotland, and very local in 
Ireland, mostly in the central counties and the sea lough at the mouth of the 
Shannon. Foreign: Palearctic region; northern Oriental region in winter. It 
breeds throughout Scandinavia and Denmark, and Russia below the Arctic circle 
in all suitable localities south to the Caucasus. It also breeds sparingly in North 
Germany, and still more rarely in Holland and South-western Spain; and is 
known to do so in the valley of the Danube. LEastwards it may probably breed 
in Central Persia and in the valley of the Obb as far north as the Arctic circle, 
but in the remainder of Siberia it does not appear to extend north of Lake Baikal. 
Tt breeds in the upper valley of the Amoor, in Mongolia, and Turkestan. On 
migration it occurs in the Faroes, and is said to breed in Iceland. It visits 
Holland, Belgium, and France on passage, sometimes remaining to winter 


OF FHE BRITISH ISLANDS. 323 


during mild seasons, and is also known on migration in Central Europe, and is a 
winter visitor to both coasts of the Mediterranean and the Spanish Peninsula. 
The Asiatic birds winter in China south to Shanghai and in Northern India. 


Allied forms. —Anser rubrirostris. Eastern examples of the Grey Lag 
Goose are said to be rather larger than those from western localities, and to have 
more black on the underparts and less grey on the wing coverts, but whether 
these differences are of sufficient constancy and importance to merit subspecific 
rank is still an open question. A. albifrons and A. erythropus, British species, 
dealt with fully in the following chapters. 


Habits.—The Grey Lag Goose does not go so far north to breed as the 
preceding species, and consequently its migrations are performed earlier in spring, 
and in some localities the return south is also much sooner than is usually the 
case with birds that seek their summer quarters early. The return migration 
begins early in March, both in Europe and in Asia. Naumann states that they 
arrive in Germany at the end of February or early the following month. Hume 
says that they begin to leave India early in March, and continue to do so 
throughout that month; whilst Scully observed them at Yarkand, in Turkestan, 
flying due north at a corresponding date. The return migration is said by 
Naumann to begin in Germany towards the end of July, and a month later most 
of the birds have gone; but in Upper India this Goose is not observed until the 
end of October, and in the south a week or so later still. In its winter quarters 
it is a very gregarious bird, and often congregates into large flocks of many 
hundreds, which, when passing from one distant place to another, or during 
migration, fly high either in a single line or in the shape of a V or W, but when 
simply changing their feeding grounds progress in scattered order. Although so 
gregarious, it is rather a remarkable fact that the Grey Lag Goose seldom consorts 
with other Wild Geese, yet it is ready enough to fraternise with its domesticated 
descendants. Normally this Goose is a day feeder, but in districts where it is 
much persecuted it changes its habits and searches for its food at night. In 
India, where the days are very hot, it does not feed much after nine in the 
morning until about four in the afternoon, spending the interval in sleep in some 
safe and convenient spot. In our Islands many Grey Lag Geese repair to the 
coast towards evening and sleep on some sandbank or low island; others resort 
to wild marshes and uplands to spend the hours of repose. This Goose does not 
frequent the water much unless alarmed or during the helpless period of its 
moult; then the flocks often go for some distance out to sea to rest. It swims 
well and buoyantly, and when wounded is even known to dive, although it cannot 
remain under water long. Hume remarks that in India it always prefers rivers, 
and is rarely seen on lakes and pools. Although a wary bird it is by no means a 
shy one, and if proper means are adopted can often be approached with little 


324 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


difficulty. The stalker, instead of advancing directly towards the flock, should 
approach in a sidelong manner as if about to pass them. The flight of the Grey 
Lag Goose is rapid and powerful, and often very graceful, especially as a big 
flock of birds survey the ground previous to alighting. When satisfied that all 
is safe the birds often descend with great velocity, circling and turning, and 
alighting on the earth almost directly below them. The call-note of this Goose 
is a loud, far-sounding gag-gag, which is uttered not only when the birds are 
migrating, but when they are congregated on the ground, or just after they are 
disturbed. The din of gag-ing sounds, and the rattle of wings as a big flock 
struggle into the air after being fired at, is almost deafening. This note is 
variously modulated during sexual excitement or surprise. The food of the Grey 
Lag Goose consists largely of grass and the tender shoots of growing corn. 
Grain of all kinds is also eaten, both on the stubbles and the newly-sown fields, 
whilst buds and leaves and roots of various aquatic plants are sought. 


Nidification.—The Grey Lag Goose is an early breeder; in southern 
localities the eggs are laid late in March or early in April, but further north they 
are from three to five weeks later. This Goose pairs for life, as probably all 
other of its congeners do, and during the breeding season is more or less gregarious, 
numbers of nests often being made in a comparatively small area. The breeding 
grounds of this bird are wild moors and swamps. The nest is made on the 
ground, amongst tall heather or the rank, coarse vegetation of the swamps, and 
is a huge structure sometimes more than a foot in height and three feet in 
diameter. The materials of which it is composed vary a good deal according to 
locality—branches of dead heath, rushes, reeds, dry grass, bracken, leaves and 
turf, lined, as incubation progresses, more and more thickly with down and 
feathers plucked from the breast of the female. The eggs are six or eight in 
number, but in rare instances it is said twelve or fourteen have been found. 
They are creamy-white, and exhibit little or no gloss. They are oval in form, 
and measure on an average 3°45 inches in length by 2°35 inches in breadth. 
Incubation is performed by the female, and lasts twenty-eight days. The male 
keeps close in the neighbourhood of the nest, ready to warn his mate or to fight 
fiercely if the eggs are threatened by any marauding bird or beast. One brood 
only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are sufficiently fledged a 
move to the sea is usually made. The young are said to return at night and 
sleep in the nest for some time, covered by the wings of the female. Flocks of 
immature, non-breeding birds may often be observed in the neighbourhood of the 


breeding grounds, waiting until the young are reared, when they flock with the 
rest for the winter. 


Diagnostic characters.—Anser, with the rump and wing coverts slate- 
grey, with the bill flesh-coloured, the nail white, and with the legs and feet flesh- 
coloured. Length, 35 inches (male) ; 80 inches (female), 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 325 


Family ANATIDZE. Genus ANSER. 
Subfamily ANSERINZ. 


WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 
ANSER ALBIFRONS—(Scopoli). 


Branta albifrons, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 69 (1769). 

Anser albifrons (Scop.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 609 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 
375, pl. 414 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 261 (1885) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. 
B. iii. p. 505 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. x. (1889); Dixon, Nests and 
Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 151 (1894); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 92 
(1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 32, pl. 10 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. 
Gt. Brit. ii. p. 230 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The White-fronted Goose is a 
winter visitor, local in distribution, and much more abundant some seasons than 
others. It is found in small numbers on the east coast of Scotland, but is for the 
most part very rare in the Shetlands, and is even more local on the west, where its 
chief strongholds are the Outer Hebrides, notably Islay. It is rare on the east coast 
of England and in Wales, but much more common—in some seasons remarkably 
abundant—on the south and south-west. It is commonest in Ireland, its principal 
haunts being in the north-west, west, and south. Foreign: Palearctic region ; 
some parts of the Oriental region in winter. It is an accidental visitor to the 
Faroes and Iceland, but breeds regularly in Arctic Russia and across Siberia to 
Behring Strait. It passes the coasts of West Europe, the river valleys of Russia 
and Siberia, and Turkestan on migration. It winters off the coast of France, and 
occasionally wanders as far south as Gibraltar, Italy, and Transylvania. Other 
parties of migrants crossing inland routes winter in Greece, South Russia, Asia 
Minor, North-east Africa, the Persian coasts of the Caspian, and North-west 
India. In the far east the migrants follow the coast as in the west, and winter 
in Japan and China as far south as Shanghai. 


Allied forms.—Anser erythropus. The small form of the White-fronted 
Goose, a ‘‘ British” species, and dealt with fully in the following chapter. A. 
gambeli, an inhabitant of Arctic America as far north as lat. 72°, ranging from 
Alaska to Greenland, wintering in the United States as far south as the Gulf 
of Mexico. The Nearctic form of the White-fronted Goose, perhaps only 


326 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


subspecifically distinct. Typical examples are distinguished by their large size 
(total length, 29 inches), much darker wing coverts, and greater amount of black 
on the underparts. <A. cinereus, a British species, to which the present Goose 
and its several forms are most nearly related. 


Habits.—Remarkably little of any value has been recorded concerning the 
economy of the White-fronted Goose. It is by no means common in our Islands, 
but here its habits are certainly very similar to those of the allied Geese. Unfor- 
tunately it is a rare bird in India, and Hume has little to tell us of its habits there 
in winter. Captain Shelley, however, remarked its abundance in Egypt during 
the cold season, where it remains until March, usually in flocks. They visit their 
feeding grounds with great regularity, taking one particular line of flight each 
day and frequenting particular places, but if shot at soon quit the neighbourhood 
altogether. Thé birds that Hume obtained in India had been feeding on wild rice 
and tender shoots of grass or corn. The note of this Goose is said to be rather 
more harsh and cackling than that of the preceding species, hence the bird’s 
name in India and other districts of ‘‘ Laughing ’’ Goose. 


Nidification.—Von Middendorff met with this Goose breeding in great 
numbers on the tundras of the Taimur Peninsula, the most northerly land of 
Continental Asia, and states that the nest was built on a grass-covered mound. 
It was simply a hollow on the top of a mound, lined with plenty of down from the 
body of the female. Dall, in Alaska, describes nests he found on the banks of 
the Yukon as depressions in the sand, but this was probably before the full clutch 
of eggs was laid and no down had been added; for MacFarlane discovered nests on 
the Anderson River warmly made of dry grass and well lined with down and 
feathers. The eggs are from five to seven in number, but ten have been found, 
creamy-white in colour, and measure on an average 3°0 inches in length by 2°0 
inches in breadth. The period of incubation is unknown, and doubtless one brood 
only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Anser, with the bill orange-yellow and the 
nail white, with the legs and feet orange-yellow, and with a variable amount of 
white feathers at the base of the upper mandible, but not reaching a line between 
the eyes. Adults much mottled with brownish-black on the breast. Length. 
27 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 327 


Family ANATIDA. Genus ANSER. 
Subfamily ANSERINZE. 


LESSER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 
ANSER ERYTHROPUS.—(Linneus). 


Anas erythropus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 197 (1766). 

Anser erythropus (Linn.), Newton, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, p. 341; Dresser, B. Eur. 
vi. p. 383 (1879); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 263 (1885); Salvadori, Cat. B. 
Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 97 (1895). 

Anser albifrons minutus, Naumann; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 505 (1885): 


Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 153 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. 
Eggs Brit. B. p. 33, pl. 12 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : There can be no possible doubt 
that the Lesser White-fronted Goose—the small race of the White-fronted 
Goose—is a regular visitor to the British Islands during winter, although never 
apparently so numerous as its larger relation. Be this as it may, there is an old 
saying by an ornithologist now passed away, ‘‘What is hit is history, and what 
is missed is mystery,’ which applies not only to this species but to all other rare 
birds that pay us their uncertain and irregular visits, and the only claim of this 
small Goose to rank as ‘‘ British”’ rests, so far as] am aware, upon one recorded 
occurrence. England: Northumberland, Holy Island (one example), September, 
1886. Foreign: Northern Palearctic region ; more southerly in winter. It breeds 
in the northern districts of Scandinavia, and thence across Arctic Russia and 
Siberia at least as far as the valley of the Yenisei. The range of this species, 
however, both in summer and winter and during migration, is very imperfectly 
known, bui, so far as it can be traced, it appears to be almost identical with that 
of the large form of this Goose. 


Allied forms.—<Anser albifrons, the large race of the White-fronted 
Goose, a British species, and dealt with fully in the preceding chapter. A. 
gambeli, the Nearctic representative race, previously alluded to (Conf. p. 325). 


Habits.—Owing to the confusion of the two races, the information con- 
cerning the habits of the Lesser White-fronted Goose is even more scanty than 
that respecting the economy of the preceding race. Hume states that in India, 


328 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


where it is a rare straggler, it is not so shy as the other Geese, probably because 
it is so much smaller. Its flight is said to be much quicker, and the bird has 
more command over itself in the air, owing to the wings being proportionately 
longer and more pointed. It is also less noisy than the other Geese, and is fond 
of the society of other species, but neither feeds nor flies in their immediate 
company. It is said also to be more aquatic in its habits, but its food is not 
known to differ from that of its congeners. 


Nidification.—Little or nothing is known of the breeding habits of this 
species. The nest is said to resemble that of the other allied Geese and to be 
placed in a similar position. The eggs are from five to seven in number, creamy- 


white in colour, and measure on an average 2°9 inches in length by 2:0 inches in 
breadth. 


Diagnostic characters.—<Anser, with the bill very small, orange-yellow 
in colour, white on the nail; with the legs and feet orange-yellow, and with a 
considerable amount of white plumage on the forehead extending backwards on 


to the crown. Adults as in preceding race, but dark markings more clearly 
defined. Length, 20 to 24 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 329 


Genus BRANTA, or Brent Geese. 
Type, BRANTA BERNICLA. 


Branta, of Scopoli (1769).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their short subconical bills, much shorter than the head. The 
inner edge of the mandibles is nearly straight, and the lamelle are concealed. 
The strongly contrasted colours of the plumage are also very characteristic. The 
wings are long and ample and more pointed than in Anser ; the tail is short and 
rounded. The bill is higher than broad at the base, the unguis ovate; nostrils 
oval and nearly central. Three toes in front webbed, the webs not deeply 
excised; hind toe small, elevated. 

This genus is composed of about eight species and subspecies confined to the 
northern portions of the Palearctic and Nearctic regions, slightly more widely 
dispersed during winter. Four species and subspecies are visitors to the British 
Islands, but none breed within our area. 

The Brent Geese are maritime in their haunts during winter, but in summer 
little is known concerning them. They are birds of sustained and rapid flight, 
and swim and walk with ease. Their notes are loud and sonorous. They subsist 
chiefly on vegetable substances. They are said to make bulky nests on the 
ground, and their eggs are numerous, and creamy-white in colour. They are 
monogamous, and probably pair for hfe. During winter they are remarkably 
gregarious. Their flesh is not unpalatable. 


330 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA., 
Subfamily AwseRINZz. 


Genus BRANTA. 


BRENT GOOSE. 
BRANTA BERNICLA—(Linn.) 
PuatTe XXXII. 


Anas bernicla, a, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 198 (1766). 


Anser brenta, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-As. ii. p. 229 (1811); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. 
p. 508 (1885) ; Seebohm. Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 33, pl. 10 (1896). 

Bernicla brenta (Pall.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 629, (1852); Dresser, B. Eur vi. p. 389, 
pl. 415, fig. 2 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 290 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xxiv. (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 154 (1894). 


Branta bernicla (Linn.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 119 (1895); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 239 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Brent Goose is a common 
winter visitor to the British Islands, perhaps the most abundant species of Goose 
upon our coasts during the cold season, universally distributed, especially on the 
east and south, becoming rarer, however, in the Orkneys and Shetlands, the 
Hebrides, and along the entire western shores of Scotland. In Ireland it is 
equally abundant and widely distributed. Foreign: North-west Palearctic 
region ; more southerly in winter. The typical form of the Brent Goose breeds 
on Spitzbergen, Franz-Josef Land, and Nova Zembla, but how far to the east 
is unknown, possibly to the Taimur Peninsula. It was not found by Mr. Popham 
in the valley of the Yenisei south of Jat. 72° N., where young in down were 
obtained. It passes the Faroes, the coasts of Scandinavia, and the shores of the 
Baltic on migration, and winters on the coasts of Denmark, Holland, Belgium, 
North Germany, and France. During the cold season it occasionally visits the 
Mediterranean basin, the Black Sea, and the Nile delta. It has been shot as 
far south as Mogador, in Morocco, by Mr. A. C. Payton. Of the breeding of this 
species in Iceland there is not a shred of positive evidence. 


Allied forms.—Brania glaucogaster, an inhabitant of the northern 
Nearctic region, breeding from the Arctic Archipelago in the east to the west 
coast of Greenland in the west, and as far north as land is known to exist. It 
winters on the Atlantic coasts of North America as far south as Texas. The 
American form of the Brent Goose, only subspecifically distinct, a ‘ British” 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 331 


species more or less intergrading with its Old World ally, and dealt with fully in 
the following chapter. B. nigricans, an inhabitant of Siberia as far east as the 
Lena and North-west America, west of the Rocky Mountains. It is distinguished 
from the Brent Goose by having the white of the neck meeting in front and 
forming a nearly uninterrupted collar, and the black of the breast reaching to 
the belly. 


Habits.—Brent Geese are seldom very common in our Islands before 
October, but from that date onwards, through the winter up to the end of March, 
they are far and away the most numerous species of the present subfamily to be 
found on the British coasts. Vast flocks accumulate in certain favoured districts, 
among which I may specially mention the Wash, where I have seen gatherings 
of these birds covering many acres of mud-flat, and whose noisy clamour in the 
still hours of early morning could be heard for a mile or more across the salt 
marshes. The Brent Goose whilst with us is decidedly a coast bird, rarely seen 
inland, but spending its time either on the sea or the great mud-banks adjoining. 
It is a very gregarious bird, and the young and adults flock together; but it has 
frequently been remarked that in some winters few, if any, young birds made 
their appearance, a fact which apparently suggests a great misfortune at the 
breeding grounds. It is a remarkably wary bird, seldom allowing a near approach 
on shore, and requiring the most skilful management on the part of the sports- 
man to creep up within range on the sea, The principal food of the Brent Goose 
consists of the grass-wrack (Zostera marina) and laver (Ulva latissima), which 
grow plentifully on certain mud-banks, and to these banks the Geese resort as 
soon as the tide recedes sufficiently for them to reach the plants, which are torn 
up and eaten. If approached at these times the adult birds usually fly off to sea 
well out of harm’s way, but the young birds are more trustful, and simply rise 
and settle again, as if loth to leave the feast, and this greediness or inexperience 
costs the lives of a good many every year. During the period of high water the 
Brent Goose usually retires some distance out to sea, but I have known great 
flocks settle on low islands, and pass the time between the tides in sleeping or 
preening their plumage. The Brent Goose feeds principally during the day, but 
often visits the banks at low water for that purpose during a bright moonlight 
night. In addition to the food already mentioned, Feilden records that at their 
breeding grounds Brent Geese feed on the buds of a saxifrage, a substance which 
is only taken whilst the birds are ashore rearing their young. Grass and possibly 
animal food may also be eaten then. The flight of this bird is rather laboured 
but regular. Its note is a loud and oft-repeated hank, or honk, which is uttered 
not only on the ground, but when the birds are flying. 


Nidification.—tThe breeding habits of the Brent Goose have been carefully 
observed by Colonel Feilden during the Nares Arctic expedition. This informa- 


332 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


tion, strictly speaking, applies to the White-bellied Brent Goose, but possibly does 
not differ to any important extent in the two races. He noticed its arrival at the 
breeding grounds near Knot Harbour in lat. 823° N. on the 9th of June, and eggs 
were laid by the 21st of that month. Shortly after its arrival the male and 
female were observed rising in spiral flight to a great elevation, toying and 
playing with each other meanwhile. Some of the nests were made on the hill 
sides between the snow-line and the sea, others were placed on an island, beyond 
the line of open water, and separated from the mainland by rough hummocks of 
snow and ice. The nests were made in hollows in the ground, and were com- 
posed of grass, moss, and saxifrages, and warmly lined with down. The eggs are 
four or five in number, creamy-white in colour, and rather smooth and glossy. 
They measure on an average 2°75 inches in length by 1°85 inch in breadth. As 
with other species, the male keeps watch near the nest whilst the female is 
incubating, ready to warn her or assist in defending the eggs. One brood only 
is reared in the year, and by the end of July most of the Brent Geese were 
moulting their quills so quickly as to be incapable of flight. When alarmed, 
however, they ran quickly to the nearest water for safety. 


Diagnostic characters.—Branta, with the head and neck black, and 
a small white patch on the sides of the latter. Length, 22 to 24 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 333 


Family ANATIDAS. Genus BRANTA. 
Subfamily ANSERINZ. 


WHITE-BELLIED BRENT GOOSE. 
BRANTA GLAUCOGASTER—(Brehm). 


Bernicla glaucogaster, Brehm, Vég. Deutschl. p. 849 (1831). 

Anser brenta glaucogaster (Brehm), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 508 (1885) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 33, pl. 10 (1896). 

Bernicla brenta glaucogaster (Brehm), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. 
p. 156 (1894). 


Geographical distribution. — British : The White-bellied Brent Goose, 
which with some hesitation we have separated specifically from the Brent Goose, 
is a winter visitor to the coasts of the British Islands, where its distribution is 
not known to differ from that of the typical Brent Goose, although the bird is a much 
rarer one. Intermediate forms between the two races occur on our coasts, and 
are perhaps more numerous than the thorough-bred white-bellied race. Foreign : 
Northern Nearctic region ; more southerly in winter. It breeds on the coasts and 
islands north of lat. 72°, from the Arctic archipelago to the east coasts of Baffin 
Bay and north to the limits of known land. It has recently been observed on 
Nova Zembla and Kolguev, so that its normal geographical area may prove 
to be circumpolar. Captain Feilden, during the Nares Arctic expedition, found 
this Goose breeding in Jat. 823°, near Knot Harbour. It winters on the Atlan- 
tic seaboard of North America as far south as Texas, the birds appearing on our 
coasts in winter, reaching our shores by way of Spitzbergen and Franz-Josef Land. 


Allied forms.—Branta bernicla, the typical race of Brent Goose, a British 
species already dealt with in the preceding chapter. B. nigricans, the American 
representative of that species, and previously alluded to (Conf. p. 331). 


Habits.—It is not known that the habits of the White-bellied Brent Goose 
differ in any important respect from those of the typical form. It is just as 
northerly in its distribution during summer, and comes south in winter to the 
coasts of temperate America. It is equally gregarious, and often mingles in 
small numbers with flocks of the preceding race. 


Nidification.—The breeding habits, the nest, and the eggs of the White- 
bellied Brent Goose have been already described in the previous chapter. 


Diagnostic characters.—Branta, with the underparts below the breast 
nearly white, and with the head and neck black, with a small white patch on the 
sides of the latter. Length, 22 to 24 inches. Intermediate forms between the 
two extreme races are frequently met with in the British Islands. 


334 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus BRANTA. 
Subfamily ANSERINA. 


BERNACLE GOOSE. 
BRANTA LEUCOPSIS—(Bechstein). 


Anas leucopsis, Bechstein, Orn. Taschenb. ii. p. 424 (1803). 


Bernicla leucopsis (Bechst.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 622 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. 
p. 397, pl. 415, fig. 1 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 286 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 157 (1894). 

Anser leucopsis (Bechst.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 512 (1885); Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xi. (1889) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 34, pl. 10 (1896). 


Branta leucopsis (Bechst,), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 117 (1895) ; Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 236 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Bernacle Goose is a winter 
visitor to the British Islands, most abundant during severe seasons. It is least 
common on the eastern coast line of Scotland and England, rare on the south 
coast, but becoming much more frequent on the west, from Cornwall northwards. 
It is abundant in the Solway district and on the coasts of Lancashire, and com- 
monly distributed throughout the west coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides. 
It passes the Orkneys and Shetlands on migration. It is locally distributed 
in Ireland, where it is most abundant on the north and north-west coasts, 
and, as might naturally be expected, in one or two favoured districts on the 
east. This Goose frequently wanders inland, and winters on large sheets of 
water, especially where it is afforded protection. Foreign: North-west Pale- 
arctic region; more southerly in winter. Although the Bernacle Goose has 
been well known for the past three hundred years and more, its breeding grounds 
remain undiscovered, and authentic eggs laid by the bird in a wild state 
are unknown. All that can be said is that it has been met with during the 
breeding season in Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, Kolguev, and Nova Zembla. 
Collett states that this bird breeds on the Loffoden Islands, off the coast of 
Norway, in lat. 68}°; but inasmuch as the evidence is second-hand, only the 
eggs being sent, with a meagre description of the parents (by the proprietor of 
the island), it is unwise to accept it. It should also be remembered that these 
“Black Geese”’ are birds of the high north, and seem to require far different 
climatic conditions for their reproduction than those prevailing in these compara- 
tively low and Gulf Stream-encircled islands. It occurs sparingly in the White 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 335 


Sea, and regularly along the coasts of Scandinavia, on passage, and winters in 
the Baltic and on the coasts of Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and North France, 
accidentally straying as far south as the Spanish Peninsula and Foggia, in the 
Italian province of Capitanata. A pair were seen some ten years ago by Mr. C. A. 
Payton, near Mogador, in Morocco, in company with Ruddy Sheldrakes. It 
occurs as a straggler in the Shetlands and the Faroes, and has been known to 
wander as far as the extreme southern shore of Hudson Bay. 


Allied forms.—Branta canadensis and its allied forms, all inhabitants of 
the New World, from which the Bernacle Goose is readily distinguished by its 
white instead of black forehead, and black instead of white upper breast. 


Habits.—Probably owing to its much more shy disposition, the Bernacle 
Goose frequents wilder haunts than the Brent Goose, nor is it so much addicted 
to the low shore or mud-banks. It is by far the most abundant, perhaps, from 
the neighbourhood of the Solway northwards, along the wild, secluded coasts of 
the Hebrides and the Scotch mainland. The Bernacle Goose is just as gregarious 
as the Brent Goose during its sojourn in the British Islands, but, unlike that 
species, it sometimes frequents inland waters, returning to them regularly every 
year. Owing to the different nature of its food, the Bernacle Goose is much 
more of a land bird than the Brent Goose, whilst, instead of feeding by day, it is 
decidedly anight feeder. I am of opinion that this nocturnal habit is ancestral but 
intensified through the bird’s habitual shyness impelling it to select the time when 
it is least likely to attract observation during its visits to land, especially in 
civilised countries. Even when much disturbed at night, it is ready enough - 
to come ashore during the day. The Bernacle Goose frequents the mud-flats to 
sleep and rest, but it does not feed much whilst there. Its food consists 
principally of marsh grass, to obtain which the bird comes up from the sea to 
the littoral saltings, and the banks of lakes and tidal rivers. The flight of this 
Goose is quick and powerful, and the bird not only swims well, but is capable 
of running very fast when wounded or during the helpless period of its moult. 
The note of this species is a short, loud, and trumpet-like clang, variously 
modulated. A flock of Bernacle Geese, whilst feeding, will keep up a constant 
chatter among themselves, and it should be stated that sentinels are stationed to 
keep watch, and to give the alarm in case of danger approaching. 


Nidification.—It is rather remarkable that nothing absolutely is known of 
the breeding habits of this Goose. The nesting grounds of the great flocks that 
come south in winter are still undiscovered. It has, however, repeatedly been 
induced to breed in captivity, and by this means its eggs are known. They are 
creamy-white, rather rough in texture, and without gloss. They are rather 
larger than those of the Brent Goose, and measure on an average 2°85 inches in 


336 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


length by 1:95 inch in breadth. It may safely be inferred that the Bernacle 
Goose rears one brood only in the year, and the eggs are probably laid early in 
June, seeing that the birds have been discovered in full moult and incapable of 
flight on the 22nd of July in Spitzbergen. 


Diagnostic characters.—Branta, with the hind half of the head and 
the neck black, and with the fore half of the head white, except the lores and the 
feathers at the base of the upper mandible, which are black. Length, 25 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 337 


Family ANATIDAS. Genus BRANTA. 
Subfamily ANSERINZ. 


RED-BREASTED GOOSE. 
BRANTA RUFICOLLIS—(Pallas). 
Prate XXXII. 


Anser ruficollis, Pall. Spicil. Zool. vi. p. 21, pl. v. (1769) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii., 
p- 515 (1885) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 35, pl. 11 (1896). 

Bernicla ruficollis (Pall.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 634 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. 
p. 403, pl. 416 (1876) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 281 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 158 (1894); 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 243 (1896). 


Branta ruficollis (Pall.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 124 (1895). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Red-breasted Goose is an 
accidental straggler during autumn and winter to our area. Among many more 
than doubtful records, the following instances are apparently thoroughly trust- 
worthy :—England: Near London (one example), 1776. Quite an historical 
interest attaches to this specimen. It was recorded by Tunstall, formed the 
subject of one of Bewick’s plates, and is still preserved in the Newcastle Museum. 
Yorkshire (one example), probably got about the same time as Tunstall’s 
specimen; Caithness (one example); Northumberland (one example), 1818 ; 
Devonshire (two examples), 1828, 1837; Essex (one example), January, 1871. 
Foreign: Extreme .north-central Palearctic region; more southerly in winter. 
It is only known to breed above the limits of forest growth in the valleys of the 
Obb, the Yenisei, and the Boganida. Middendorff obtained the first authenti- 
cated eggs of this Goose on the Boganida, and was assured that the bird was 
still more numerous at the mouth of the Piasina, some miles further west. 
An egg with the parent bird which had been obtained from an island in the delta 
of the Yenisei was brought to Seebohm; whilst Finsch found it fairly numerous 
in the valley of the Obb. More recently (1896) Mr. H. L. Popham found four 
nests in the valley of the Yenisei. The migration of this species appear to be 
across the plains of the Tax, between the Yenisei and the Obb, and down the 
valley of that river into the Irtish valley, thence into that of the Tobol and the 
Ural, onwards to the Caspian. This route takes the bird through South-western 
Siberia and Northern Turkestan to its winter quarters in the basin of the 
Caspian. Hastwards this species has wandered as far as Lake Baikal, whilst 
westwards it has occurred in every country of Europe, except the Spanish 
Peninsula. The only evidence of this bird extending its wanderings southwards 


22 


338 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


to Africa is that it is figured with unmistakable accuracy on some of the ancient 
Egyptian papyri, and on the tombs of her kings; whilst coming to modern times 
an example of the Red-breasted Goose, labelled “ Alexandria,” is in the Lilford 
collection, whilst Mr. Saunders records skins on sale in 1884 said to have come 
from Algeria. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


Habits.— Although the habits of this beautiful Goose are but little known, 
they appear to resemble very closely those of allied species. The Russian 
naturalist Radde states that it winters in great numbers on the southern coasts 
of the Caspian Sea, and that during this season and whilst on migration it con- 
gregates into large flocks. It is shy and very difficult to approach. The Red- 
breasted Goose is a day feeder like the Brent Goose, but comes inland to do so 
like the Bernacle Goose. Radde states that the flocks visit the inland pastures 
during the day, but at the approach of night return to the sea, and pass that 
period at some considerable distance from land. During heavy falls of snow 
which cover its feeding grounds, great numbers of this Goose are caught in nets 
spread on places where the snow has been cleared away for the purpose. Many 
birds are also shot during their migration as the thousands of flocks pass along 
certain routes towards the Arctic regions where they rear their young. The food 
of this Goose consists principally of grass, and the leaves and shoots of other 
herbage. The flight note is described by Pallas and other naturalists as resem- 


bling the syllables shak-voy, but when feeding a short trumpet-like cry is uttered 
somewhat similar to that of the Brent Goose. 


Nidification.—Von Middendorff obtained the first authentic eggs of the 
Red-breasted Goose on the banks of the Boganida, in Northern Siberia, on the 6th 
of July. In more recent times another nest was discovered on July 1st, on an island 
in the delta of the Yenisei, containing two eggs, one of which was broken, as the 
female was shot upon them, and the other was brought to Seebohm, then on his 
visit to the valley of that river. The nest was described as being like that of the 
Bean Goose, only not so large. A month later that gentleman observed broods of 
Red-breasted Geese and their parents on the banks of the river a few miles to the 
south of the locality where the nest had been discovered. The nests found by 
Mr. Popham were placed at the foot of a cliff, occupied by either a Peregrine or a 
Rough-legged Buzzard, and were well supplied with down of a creamy-white 
colour. The eggs, from seven to nine in number, are creamy-white in colour, 
somewhat smooth in texture, very fragile, and measure on an average 2°75 inches 


in length by 1°8 inch in breadth. There can be little doubt that this species 
rears one brood only in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Branta, with the forehead black, the lores 
white, and the throat and breast rich chestnut. Length, 22 inches, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 339 


Subfamily ANATIN4AE, or Sheldrakes and 


Non=diving Ducks. 


The birds included in the present subfamily are distinguished from their allies 
by having the metatarsus scutellated in front, and only a narrow. membrane attached 
to the hind toe. The bill is rather flat and broad. None of the species contained 
in this group ever dive for their food, which they search for on land or in shallow 
water, only submerging the fore half of the body whilst probing and sifting the mud 
and weeds for sustenance. In the Sheldrakes the sexes are nearly alike in colour, 
but in the Ducks there is usually considerable sexual difference in this respect. 
The Sheldrakes moult once in autumn, but the Non-diving Ducks have one com- 
plete moult in autumn, and the males of many species moult their small feathers 
twice—once in early summer and once in autumn. 

This subfamily is composed of upwards of seventy species, divisible into about 
a score fairly well-defined genera. 


340 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus TADORNA, or Sheldrakes. 
Type, TADORNA CORNUTA. 


Tadorna, of Fleming (1822).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by their white carpal region of the wing, which is also swollen into 
a hard feathered protuberance ; by their rather long metatarsus (nearly as long as 
the middle toe and claw), and by their prevailing and usually strongly contrasted 
colours of black, white, and chestnut. The wings are long and ample, the second 
primary the longest. The bill is broader towards the tip than at the base, the 
lamellee equally developed along the inner edge of the upper mandible, those on 
the lower mandible not projecting outwardly ; the unguis decurved and hooked ; 
nostrils oval, sub-basal. Three toes in front webbed; hind toe small. Sexes 
similar in colour. 

This genus is composed of two species, breeding in the temperate portions of 
the Palearctic region, and in the Australian region ; Oriental region chiefly in 
winter. One species is British, a common resident in our Islands. 

The Sheldrakes are dwellers on sea-coasts, and on salt lakes and marshes. 
They are birds of rather slow and laboured flight, progressing by slow, regular 
beats of the wings, like Swans. They also swim and walk with ease. Their 
notes are harsh and unmusical. They subsist on both animal and vegetable 
substances. They breed in holes of trees, in rocks, or in the ground, and their 
eggs are numerous and creamy-white. They are monogamous, pair probably for 
life, and the male bird shares the duty of tending the eggs and young. They are 
more or less gregarious and sociable, especially during winter. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 341 


Family ANATIDA. Genus TADORNA. 
Subfamily ANATINZE. 


COMMON SHELDRAKE. 
TADORNA CORNUTA—\S. G. Gmelin). 
Prate XXXIV. 


Anas tadorna, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 195 (1766). 

Tadorna vulpanser, Fleming; Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 22 (1852). 

Tadorna cornuta (S. G. Gmelin), Dresser, B. Hur. vi. p. 451, pl. 420 (1878); Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 352 (1885); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 520 (1885) ; Lilford, 
Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxvii. (1893); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 225 (1893) ; 
Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 171 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. 
B. p. 36, pl. 16 (1896). 


Tadorna Tadorna (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 258 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Common Sheldrake is a 
resident in and widely dispersed throughout the British Islands. It breeds in 
all suitable places on the east and west coasts of England, but is very much more 
local in the south during the breeding season. It breeds in many localities on 
the east of Scotland, notably in the Forth, and the same remarks apply to the 
west, including the Hebrides. It also breeds sparingly and locally round the 
Trish coasts, but is most abundant during winter, as it also is on the eastern coast 
line of Great Britain. Foreign: North-western and southern Palearctic region ; 
northern Oriental region in winter. It breeds throughout Europe in all suitable 
localities, but in the basin of the Mediterranean, where it nests sparingly on both 
shores, it is best known as a winter visitor, whilst in the north it does not 
extend beyond lat. 69° in Norway, lat. 60° in the Baltic, and lat. 56° in the Urals. 
In Asia it does not appear to breed north of lat. 52° in the west, and the valley 
of the Amoor in the east. The birds breeding in the northern portions of this 
range, including Turkestan and Mongolia, are migratory, but in the basin of the 
Black and Caspian Seas they are resident, as they also appear to be in Japan. 
To the coasts of China and to India, as far south as the Tropic of Cancer, it is a 
winter visitor. A single example has been recorded from the Faroes. 


Allied forms.—Tadorna radjah, an inhabitant of the Moluccas, Papuan 
Islands, and Australia. It differs from the Common Sheldrake in having no knob 
at the base of the bill and in having the head and neck white, the tail black. 


342 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The Sheldrake is a thorough bird of the coast, and only under 
exceptional circumstances frequents inland waters, and even then when they are 
salt. Although it is a resident with us in all the colder portions of its range, it 
is a bird of passage, drawing south in October and retiring north again in March. 
Its numbers are consequently increased in our Islands during winter. In India 
it arrives later in autumn, during the latter half of November, and appears to 
linger longer in spring, till nearly the middle of April, probably because at its 
breeding grounds in Mongolia and South Siberia the summer is much later than 
in Europe. The Sheldrake prefers sandy coasts to mud-flats, and low beaches 
and dunes are its favourite resorts. It is ever a shy and wary bird, difficult to 
approach, and usually takes alarm before any other wild fowl that may by 
chance be in its vicinity. At all times the Sheldrake is a rather sociable bird, but 
never appears to congregate into very large flocks, being usually met with in 
small parties or scattered pairs. It changes its ground a good deal according to 
season, and in winter visits many parts of the coast where it is entirely absent 
in the breeding season. The flight of the Sheldrake is regular and straight- 
forward, not performed with rapid beats like that of the typical Ducks, but with 
slow and measured strokes, which lend the bird’s movements a laboured appear- 
ance, more apparent than real. The flight is seldom taken very high, usually 
close to the water, and is often considerably prolonged ; but when on migration, 
the bird rises much higher. The food of this species consists of grass, and the 
stems and leaves of various plants growing in or near the water; of insects, 
crustaceans, worms, mollusks, and small fish. The young, in their downy stage 
of existence, feed almost exclusively on sand-hoppers, which they are very expert 
at catching, even shortly after they are hatched. None of this food is obtained 
by diving, but whilst the bird is wandering about the shore, paddling in the 
shallows, or swimming in water just deep enough to allow it to reach the bottom 
when the fore part of the body is submerged, and the hind quarters are held 
almost perpendicular. The Sheldrake swims well and lightly, and on land walks 
more elegantly than the typical Ducks. It seldom wanders far from the water, 
but: occasionally visits the pastures close to its haunts, and wanders to the turf 
amongst the dunes. As soon as the young are reared the broods and their parents 
frequently go out to sea, only coming on shore to feed, but not always to sleep. 
The call-note of the Sheldrake is a harsh quack ; in the pairing season an oft- 
repeated, tremulous whistling or chirping note is uttered, and when the young 
are abroad a hoarse korr or kurr is heard. Hume states that, when surprised, 
both sexes utter a whistle of alarm. 


Nidification.—The breeding grounds of the Sheldrake are near the sea, 
either on the sandy coasts of the mainland or on low islands. In our Islands the 
birds gather at their breeding places in March, but the eggs are usually laid 
during May; in other localities they are a little earlier or later according to 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 343 


circumstances. The Sheldrake pairs for life; at all seasons the duck and drake 
may be observed in company, and in many cases the old nesting site is tenanted 
yearly. This Duck cannot be termed gregarious in the breeding season, and 
although many pairs may nest within a small reach of the coast, each appears to 
keep apart from the rest. The nest is usually placed at the end of a burrow, 
especially a rabbit hole ; sometimes it is under rocks, and has been known in a 
very dense furze thicket. The Sheldrake may occasionally dig its own burrow, 
and this is then said to be nearly circular, but I do not think that such is often the 
case, at least in our Islands. The nest is a simple one, and consists of a little dry 
grass and an abundant lining of down from the bird. The eggs are from six to 
twelve in number, but larger clutches are on record, and in cases where they have 
been judiciously removed as many as thirty have been taken from a single nest. 
They are creamy-white in colour, smooth in texture, very brittle, and possess 
considerable gloss. They measure on an average 2°7 inches in length by 1°9 inch 
in breadth. The down is lavender-grey. Incubation is performed by both male 
and female (but the latter sits the most), and lasts about a month. The nest is 
very difficult to find unless the birds are watched at morning and evening when 
the sitting bird is relieved by its mate. The male is seldom seen near the nest, 
and both birds are remarkably cautious when leaving or approaching it. One 
brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are hatched they are 
taken by their parents to the beach. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tadorna, with the head and neck green (brown 
in young or first plumage), below which is a broad white collar. Length, 25 
inches, 


344 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus CASARCA, or Ruddy Sheldrakes. 
Type, CASARCA RUTILA. 


Casarca, of Bonaparte (1838).—Count Salvadori, whose general arrange- 
ment of the ANSERIFORMES we intend to follow in the present work, characterises 
the birds in the present genus by their having more or less prominent lamelle to 
the edges of the bill, which is not broader towards the tip than at the base. 
The culmen is almost straight and the lamelle are equally developed along the 
inner edge of the upper mandible; the lamelle on the lower mandible projecting 
outwardly. In this genus the sexes are, to a more or less extent, dissimilar in 
colour. 

This genus is composed of four species, distributed over the Southern Pale- 
arctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions. One species is an abnormal 
migrant to the British Islands. 

The Ruddy Sheldrakes are, strictly speaking, more fresh-water than maritime 
in their haunts, and to a large extent frequenters of the land. They are gregarious 
during the non-breeding season, but appear to nest in pairs only. Some of the 
species, at least, often nest far from water. They breed in holes of cliffs or trees, 
as well as in the ground, choosing covered sites for their nests. Their eggs are 
numerous and creamy-white. Their food consists partly of vegetable and partly 
of animal substances. Their notes are harsh. Their flight is stately and 


deliberate. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 345 


Family ANATIDAL. Genus CASARCA. 
Subfamily ANATINE. 


RUDDY SHELDRAKE. 
CASARCA RUTILA—(Pailas). 


Anas casarca, Linn. Syst. Nat. iii. p. 224 (1768). 

Anas rutila, Pallas, Nov. Comm. Petrop. xiv. 1, p. 579, tab. 22, fig. 1 (1770). 

Tadorna casarca (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. vy. p. 19 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. vi. p. 461, 
pl. 421, (1875); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iv. p. 347 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. 
pt. xx. (1891); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 160 (1894). 

Tadorna rutila (Pallas), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 524 (1885); Seebohm, Col. Fig. 
Eggs Brit. B. p. 36, pl. 16 (1896). 

Casarca rutila (Pallas), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 177 (1895). 

Casarca casarca (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 263 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Ruddy Sheldrake is a very 
rare straggler to us on autumn migration and in winter ; but many of the records 
of the occurrence of this species in the United Kingdom unquestionably relate to 
birds escaped from the semi-captivity in which the bird is commonly found in our 
Islands. As such I should feel disposed to class all the occurrences in summer. 
Among the most trustworthy instances may be mentioned the following :— 
England: Dorset (one example), winter, 1776; Suffolk (one example), January, 
1834; Kent (one example, shot from a party of four), September, 1884. Scot- 
land : Orkneys (one example), October, 1831. Ireland: Co. Kerry (one example), 
August, 1869; Shannon River (two examples}, summer, 1886. Others are 
reported to have been either seen or taken in Suffolk, Yorkshire, the “ south of 
England,” Caithness, Forfarshire, Waterford, and Wicklow. The year 1892 was 
remarkable for a large immigration of Ruddy Sheldrakes to the British Islands. 
Flocks of from ten to twenty birds were observed, between the middle of June 
and the middle of September, and many examples were obtained. (Conf. 
Zoologist, 1892, pp. 392—398.) Foreign: Southern Palearctic region ; Oriental 
region in winter. It is a resident in the basin of the Mediterranean and Black 
Seas, but not known to breed in Europe north of the Spanish Peninsula, the valley 
of the Danube, and South Russia; whilst to the lakes and waters of North Africa 
itis principally a winter visitor. To Greenland, Iceland, Sweden, the Baltic, West 
Russia, Germany, Denmark, and France it is, as to our Islands, an accidental visitor 
only. In Europe the Ruddy Sheldrake is mostly a resident species, but in Asia it 


346 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


is migratory, and there can be little doubt that the accidental wanderers to the 
extreme west of Europe are from this district. In Asia it breeds throughout 
Persia, Turkestan, and South Siberia, as far north as Lake Baikal and the valley 
of the Amoor. It possibly breeds in Japan, and is a regular summer visitor to 
Mongolia, but to China, Burmah, and India it is known as a migrant in autumn 
and winter only. 


Allied forms.—Casarca cana, an inhabitant of South Africa as far north 
as what is to be hoped will soon be the British Colonies of the Transvaal, and 
the Orange Free State. It differs from the Ruddy Sheldrake in having the head 
and neck ash grey. More distantly allied species are C. tadornoides, of Western 
and Southern Australia, including Tasmania, and C. variegata, of New Zealand. 


Habits. —The range of the Ruddy Sheldrake in Europe does not extend 
sufficiently far north to render the bird a migratory one, but in Asia, where the 
climate is much colder in winter, and where the limits of its distribution extend 
slightly higher, this Duck is a bird of regular passage. Hume states that it 
winters in India in countless myriads. It begins to arrive in Cashmere and on 
the southern slopes of the Himalayas at the end of September, which agrees with 
the date of its departure from South Siberia about the middle of September. By 
the end of October it is generally dispersed over Northern India, and during 
November it reaches the southern districts. It leaves the south towards the end 
of March, the north a little later, and reaches its breeding grounds in Siberia 
again towards the end of April. The Ruddy Sheldrake migrates in enormous 
flocks, but these soon separate, and distribute themselves in scattered pairs 
throughout the country. In spring it again unites into flocks, and is then more 
frequently seen on lakes than at any other time of its stay in India. These 
gatherings disperse at the breeding grounds. The Ruddy Sheldrake is a fresh- 
water Duck, and a shore bird rather than a water one, spending most of its time 
on or near the bank. In India its favourite haunts are the broad rivers where 
sandbanks break the stream into numerous channels, but the bird occasionally 
visits fields and flooded grounds at some distance from its usual retreats. It not 
only swims well, but often dives when wounded, and on the ground walks with a 
rather graceful, sedate step in a very erect manner. The flight of this species is 
easy and quick when once the bird is fairly on the wing, but it rises in a laboured 
manner and with apparent difficulty. The wings are flapped slowly rather than 
beaten rapidly. The food of the Ruddy Sheldrake consists of both animal and 
vegetable substances, the former, according to Hume, predominating. Of the 
vegetable element may be mentioned grass and sprouting corn, especially when 
growing near the edge of the water, water weeds of various kinds, and seeds; of 
animal substances, insects, the fry of fish, shrimps, small frogs, and all kinds of 
land and fresh-water snails. It has been said that this Sheldrake occasionally 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 347 


feeds on carrion in India, and consorts with Vultures; the evidence is certainly 
very conclusive. The usual note is a rather loud and monotonous kark; but the 
alarm note is described by Pallas as resembling the syllables d-owng, rendered by 
the Turks as au-gout. According to Jerdon there is a superstition in India among 
the natives that “the souls of erring lovers, who have loved not wisely but too 
well, pass into the forms of these Ducks, condemned thenceforth to pass the 
night, the season of their transgressions, apart, on opposite banks of some stream, 
each ever praying the other for permission to rejoin them, and each ever com- 
pelled sternly to refuse. ‘Chakwa, shall I come?’ ‘No, Chakwi!’ ‘ Chakwi, 
shall I come?’ ‘No, Chakwa!’” ‘This story,’ Hume continues, ‘ however, I 
fear belongs to a more poetical age than the present, and I myself have never 
met with a native in Upper India who knew of it except from Huropeans. 
Perhaps, too, the world is more virtuous, or celestial vigilance less keen, for 
certain it is that in these degenerate days, except in the case of very narrow 
rivers like the Hindon in Meerut, alike by day and night, Chakwa and Chakwi 
are to be found both on the same side of the water.” In India the Ruddy 
Sheldrake, or Brahminy Duck, as it is otherwise called, is nowhere held in 
reverence; but in Burmah it is the sacred and national bird of the natives; the 
Llamas of Mongolia also regard it as an object of religious respect. The Ruddy 
Sheldrake is a remarkably wary bird, rarely allowing any one to approach it 
within gunshot, and, owing to its restless, noisy habits, it is much disliked by the 
sportsman. Hume writes: ‘‘ Not only do they carefully provide for their own 
safety, but they seem positively to take a malicious pleasure in spoiling all sport. 
You are working down on a lump of fowl—a few minutes more and you will be 
within range. Suddenly the loud call of the Brahminy sounds, and rising out of 
a hollow in the sand where they have been squatting, you see a pair waddling to 
the water's edge. Again and again the pair call and answer (side by side as they 
are, one would think that save out of sheer spite they need not shout at each other 
thus), then with a rapid chuckle off they go, their wings clattering as they rise 
like a train on an iron culvert, and with them of course go all the Fowl. Further 
on are a lot of Geese; you work towards them; vain hope! The ruddy wide- 
awakes have alighted near these now, and duly put them up before you are 
within a hundred yards, and sometimes a pair will thus persecute you for a 
couple of miles before they finally turn up-stream to return to their proper beat.” 
The flesh of this Duck is hard and dry, with a rank and fishy flavour, but is 
rendered palatable if the bird be skinned before it is cooked. 


Nidification.—The Ruddy Sheldrake, like the preceding species, pairs for 
life, and the male and female are said to be tenderly attached to each other, and 
rarely stray far apart even during winter. At the breeding grounds in Mongolia, 
however, Prjevalsky states that the males often fight, not only with themselves 
but with other species. This Sheldrake is an early breeder, beginning to lay in 


348 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Persia early in May and in Dauria by the middle of that month. In Europe it is 
earlier still, and begins laying towards the end of April. The nest is made in 
various situations, but almost always in a covered site. Sometimes it is made in 
holes in cliffs, at others in holes and clefts in the ground, even in the middle of a 
corn-field; whilst holes in trees and logs, and the deserted nests of birds of prey, 
are also selected. Prjevalsky states that it is sometimes made in the fireplaces of 
houses in deserted Mongol villages; whilst it has been found amongst a colony 
of Griffon Vultures and near to nests of the Raven, the Black Kite, the Egyptian 
Vulture, and other cliff-haunting birds. It is often made at considerable distances 
from water, but more frequently in rocks that overhang a stream or lake. But 
little nest is made, although the eggs usually rest amongst a soft bed of down 
plucked from the parent’s body. The eggs are from eight to sixteen in number, 
more frequently the former than the latter. They are creamy-white in colour, 
smooth in texture, and very fragile. They measure on an average 2°7 inches in 
length by 1°8 inch in breadth. The colour of the down is undescribed. It is said 
that the male takes no part in incubating the eggs, but we doubt this. In the 
case of the young he is just ag assiduous as the female. Incubation in this 
species lasts thirty days. The young are carried from the nest to the nearest 
water by their parents, but in what manner is apparently unknown, some writers 
asserting in the beak, others on the back, others yet again in the feet. One brood 
only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Tadorna, with the general body-colour rufous- 
buff, and the wing coverts white. Length, 25 inches. Males in breeding 
plumage have a narrow black ring round the neck. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 349 


Genus CHAULELASMUS, or Gadwalls. 
Type, CHAULELASMUS STREPERUS. 


Chaulelasmus, of Bonaparte (1838).—The birds comprising the present 
genus are characterised by the bill, which is shorter than the head, not very 
broad, and somewhat compressed, whilst there is no fringe of soft membrane near 
the tip of the apical portion. The lamelle of the upper mandible are prominent. 
The central rectrices scarcely extend beyond the rest; and the speculum is black 
outwardly and white inwardly. 

This genus is composed of two species, one of which is distributed over the 
temperate and tropical portions of the Northern hemisphere, whilst the other is 
confined to the Fanning group of islands. 

The Gadwalls are frequenters of fresh waters rather than coasts and seas. 
One species is migratory, the other, so far as is known, sedentary. They are 
birds of rapid and sustained flight. Their notes are harsh and discordant. 
Their food is partly vegetable and partly animal substances. They are gregarious, 
especially during the winter, and to some extent social, fraternising with other 
Ducks. Their nests are rude and made upon the ground, warmly lined with 
down, and their eggs are numerous and buffish-white. 


350 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDZL. Genus CHAULELASMUS. 
Subfamily AwarInz. 


GADWALL. 
CHAULELASMUS STREPERUS—(Linneus). 


Anas strepera, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 200 (1766); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed 4, iv. p. 370 (1885) ; 
Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 530 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xv. (1890) ; 
Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 227 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 37, pl. 14 (1896). 

Querquedula strepera (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 59 (1852). 

Chaulelasmus streperus (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 487, pl. 424 (1873) ; Salvadori, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 221 (1895); Sharpe, Hand-b. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 273 
(1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Gadwall is a comparatively 
rare and local winter visitor to the British Islands, although many apparently 
pass our coasts on migration, especially in spring. It is found in small numbers 
in the Orkneys and Shetlands, thence down both the east and west coasts of 
Scotland including many of the Hebrides, becoming less common in England, 
where it occurs most frequently in the east. It is a fairly frequent visitor to 
Ireland, where it appears to be much overlooked. It breeds locally in Norfolk, 
originally a pair of pinioned birds only, but now their descendants together with 
apparently thoroughly wild birds which have been tempted to lag behind their 
companions in spring. The Gadwall is a fresh-water species, frequenting inland 
pools as well as those in the vicinity of the sea. Foreign: Circumpolar, 
Palearctic and Nearctic regions; Oriental region in winter. It breeds locally in 
Iceland. It is not known to breed in Norway, but does so in the south of Sweden, 
and more sparingly in North Germany, Eastern Prussia, and the Baltic provinces. 
Eastwards it ranges across Russia and Siberia to the Stanavoi Mountains, south 
of about lat. 60°, from east to west. In Europe it certainly breeds as far south 
as Spain, the valley of the Danube, the Crimea, and the Volga and Ural deltas 
in South Russia; whilst eastwards it breeds in Northern Turkestan, South-west 
Siberia, the Baikal district, and probably the valley of the Amoor. A few European 
birds winter in Holland, Belgium, France, and the Spanish Peninsula, but the 
majority do so in the basin of the Mediterranean, extending into the African 
Continent as far south as the Great Dessert, and down the Nile Valley to Nubia. In 
Asia it is known to pass Mongolia on migration, and to winter throughout India, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 351 


which appears to be its grand head-quarters in that continent during the cold season, 
although it then visits Northern Burmah, China and Japan, but in smaller 
numbers. In the Nearctic region it breeds in the Northern United States, and 
beyond as far north as about lat. 50° to Vancouver Island in the west, to Win- 
nipeg in the central portion, and to Nova Scotia (lat. 45°) in the east. It winters 
in the Southern United States, the West Indies, and Mexico. 


Allied forms.— Although the geographical area of the Gadwall appears 
to be discontinuous, it is not known that New World examples differ in any way 
from those of the Old World, which is a most interesting and remarkable fact. 
Chaulelasmus couest, an inhabitant of Washington Island and New York Island 
(Fanning Group) in the Pacific Ocean, is said to be the nearest allied form to the 
Gadwall. It is distinguished by being much smaller in size (length of wing 
8 inches, instead of 11 inches in C. streperus). 


Habits.—In spite of the fact that the Gadwall nowhere breeds in the 
Arctic regions proper, it is a migratory bird. In Europe its periods of passage 
are about the same as in India. It arrives at its breeding grounds early in April, 
and departs in September and October for its winter quarters. Its migrations 
are undertaken at night, and during flight the birds keep calling to each other, 
probably to keep their ranks together. The Gadwall is not a coast nor a salt-water 
Duck, but prefers inland fresh waters. When once these are assured, locality 
and extent seem of only minor importance, for mighty rivers are frequented just 
the same as small brooks, huge lakes equally as small pools and ponds, whilst 
tangled swamps with little open water in them are resorted to. As arule the 
the larger and more open the sheet of water the bigger the flock of birds, only 
small parties frequenting the smaller lakes and streams. For the most part the 
Gadwall is a night feeder, dozing during the day and retiring inland to feed at 
dusk. If much harassed the flocks seldom rest close inshore, but take up their 
position in the centre of the lake well out of harm’s way; but sometimes the 
birds are fond of skulking close amongst the dense vegetation. Occasionally the 
Gadwall may be seen feeding during the day, paddling about in the shallows and 
searching the bottom of the water, with the fore part of the body entirely under 
the surface and the hind quarters bolt upright. It swims well and buoyantly, 
and rises from the water with a single bound at a rather acute angle, continuing 
for several yards before hurrying away on a horizontal course. Its flight is rapid 
and straightforward, and the long, pointed wings make a peculiar whistling sound 
as they are beaten rapidly through the air. The note of the Gadwall very closely 
resembles the well-known quack of the Mallard, but is uttered oftener and is 
weaker and sharper in tone. It is a much more noisy bird than the Mallard, and 
whilst feeding in localities where it is not disturbed keeps up a shrill, feeble, and 
perpetual chatter. The present species is very sociable, and fraternises with all 


302 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


kinds of Water Fowl, even with Geese. It swims well and lightly, and walks on 
land in a rather graceful manner, sometimes running about the marshy ground in 
quest of insects. It dives easily when wounded, but never does so whilst feeding. 
The food of the Gadwall consists of the seeds, leaves, and buds of rushes and other 
aquatic plants, wild and cultivated rice, insects and their larve, worms, frogs, 
and small fish. Hume states that small butterflies and moths are caught by 
this Duck. The flesh of this Duck as a rule is very good, especially in India as 
long as the rice lasts, but it is of poor flavour if the bird has been feeding much 
upon an animal diet. 


Nidification.—The Gadwall usually begins to breed in May, and the eggs 
are laid towards the end of that month or early in June, both in the Old World 
and the New World. The nest is usually well concealed amongst the vegetation 
on the banks of the water, but occasionally it has been met with some distance 
from the pool or stream. It is merely a hollow in the ground strewn with dry 
grass and bits of dead vegetation, and warmly lined with down from the body of 
the female. The eggs are from six to thirteen in number, ten being an average 
clutch. They are buffish-white or cream-colour with a faint greenish tinge, very 
smooth in texture and somewhat glossy, and measure on an average 2°1 inches’ 
in length by 1°5 inch in breadth. The down is neutral grey, with scarcely per- 
ceptible white tips. Incubation, performed by the female, lasts, according to 
Naumann, from twenty-one to twenty-two days. One brood only is reared in 
the year, and the ducklings are conveyed to the water soon after they are hatched. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial Plumage), Chaulelasmus, with the 
alar speculum white, and the wing 11 inchesin length. Length, 20 to 21 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 353 


Genus DAFILA, or Pintails. 
Type, DAFILA ACUTA, 


Dafila, of Stephens (1824).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by the long tail, the central rectrices being pointed and considerably 
extended beyond the rest. The culmen is nearly straight. The speculum is 
broader than the light band at the tip of the secondaries. 

This genus is composed of three species, and may almost be regarded as a 
cosmopolitan one with the exception of the Australian region. One species is 
best known as a common winter visitor to the British Islands, although it breeds 
locally within our limits. 

The Pintails frequent both maritime and fresh water areas. Some of the 
species are migratory. They are gregarious, especially during winter. Their 
flight is rapid and well sustained. Their notes are harsh and unmusical. Their 
food consists of vegetable and animal substances. They swim well, but do not 
dive. They are gregarious and social, especially during the non-breeding season. 
Their nests are rude, and placed upon the ground, lined warmly with down. 
Their eggs are numerous, and greenish-grey. 


23 


354 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDAI, Genus DaFIna. 
Subfamily ANATINA 


PINTAIL DUCK. 


DAFILA ACUTA—(Linneus). : 
Pine Xxxy, oe 9 A 


Anas acuta, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 202 (1766) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 534 (1885) ; 
Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 229 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B p. 
38, pl. 13 (1896). 

Querquedula acuta (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 65 (1852). 

Dafila acuta (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 531, pls. 430, 431 (1873); Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4, iv. p. 380 (1885); Lilford. Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1890) ; Salvadori, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 270 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 287 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Pintail Duck is a fairly 
common winter visitor to our area, but breeds sparingly in Scotland and Ireland. 
It passes the Shetlands on migration, but winters in the Orkneys, and has occurred 
in every county of Scotland, although it becomes rarer in the west, especially in 
the Hebrides. It is also far from uncommon on the west coast of England, but 
becomes more plentiful on the east and especially the south coasts. It is rare in 
the north of Ireland, but from Galway and Meath southwards it is a regular 
winter visitor. Hg’gs of this species have been obtained by Mr. Harvie-Brown 
on Hysgeir, off the south coast of Skye, and I have every reason to believe that the 
bird breeds sparingly in the Firth of Forth. More recently (1898) nests have been 
found on Loch Leven by Mr. W. Evans. Hancock states that it formerly bred 
in the now drained Prestwick Car, in Northumberland. In Ireland, according to 
Sir R. Payne-Gallwey, several pairs breed at the duck preserves at Abbeyleix, in 
Queen’s County, and he has observed females with their broods on Loughs Mask 
and Corrib, in Co. Galway. It may also breed in some parts of Connemara. 
The Pintail is a fresh-water species, and often frequents inland pools as well as 
the coast. Foreign: Circumpolar, Palearctic and Nearctic regions ; Oriental and 
extreme north of Neotropical regions in winter. It breeds throughout the Arctic 
regions of Europe, Asia, and America at least up to lat. 70°, for in the valley 
of the Yenisei Mr. Popham met with it up to lat. 72°. In Europe it breeds 
much less abundantly south of lat. 60°, although it does so sparingly in North 
Germany, and Russia as far south as the Caucasus in the east, and the Carmargue 
in the west; whilst in Siberia it is said to breed as low as lat. 50°, which is 


practically the whole of that country south of lat. 72°, It passes down the coast of 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 355 


Europe and along the great river valleys to winter in the basin of the Mediter- 
ranean, Black, and Caspian Seas. It also passes Turkestan and Mongolia on 
migration, and winters in Persia, India, Ceylon, Burmah, China, Borneo, and 
Japan. In the New World it winters in all the Southern States, and in Mexico 
and Central America as far south as Panama. 


Allied forms.—Dajila eatoni, an inhabitant of Kerguelen and probably 
the Crozette Islands. It may be readily distinguished by its smaller size and by 
the colour of the sides of the neck, the breast, and the abdomen, which in the 
present species is grey ; in the Pintail these parts are white. 


Habits.—The Pintail Duck appears everywhere to be a migratory bird. It 
arrives at its summer quarters early in spring, as soon as it can be sure of finding 
open water, and in like manner lingers in them late in autumn. It arrives 
in its more southern breeding area about the middle of March, and leaves in 
October and November, but in the Arctic regions it makes its appearance towards 
the end of May, when the ice on the great northern rivers is just breaking up. 
Vast quantities of this Duck were observed in the valley of the Petchora by 
Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown, hundreds of thousands crowding the narrow 
belt of open water on each side of the ice in the river, and filling the air like 
swarms of bees. The Pintail is equally gregarious at its winter quarters, congre- 
gating in thousands in favourite localities, and it has been remarked that in India 
some of these large gatherings are composed entirely of males. Although this 
Duck breeds near fresh water, in winter and on passage it frequents the sea-coast 
a good deal, as well as large inland sheets of water. Hume states that in India 
its favourite haunts are sheets of comparatively open water studded here and 
there with patches of a long-leaved water plant (Sagittaria), which grows to a 
height of several inches above the surface, amongst which the bird can hide and 
sleep in safety. The flight of the Pintail is very rapid, and the wings make a 
peculiar swishing sound as they beat the air. It is always a shy and wary bird, 
and almost invariably flies right away to other haunts after being fired at once or 
twice. As they usually sit close when on the water, apunt gun often thins their 
ranks considerably, even at long range. The Pintail swims well and looks 
remarkably graceful in the water, but it is not known to dive much when 
wounded ; on the ground it walks freely, usually with long neck outstretched and 
tail raised. Pintail feed at night principally, and towards sunset may be observed 
in the shallows, with the fore half of their bodies entirely submerged and their 
long tails bent downwards parallel to the water. One or two birds of the flock 
are generally on the look-out for approaching danger whilst their comrades are so 
searching for food. Sometimes stubbles and grass fields are resorted to for the 
purpose of feeding, and mud-flats, as soon as they are left bare, or nearly so, are 
frequented. The food of the Pintail consists of grass and the leaves and shoots 


356 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


of aquatic plants, insects of all kinds, worms, and land and water shells, especially 
the small and fragile species ; grain and wild rice are also eaten in great quantities. 
Hume states that next to the Mallard the Pintail is the best Duck for the table 
in India, but the same remarks do not always apply to its flesh when killed in 
this country. The Pintail is not a very noisy bird, and during the day rarely 
utters a sound, except a very low chattering, which may be heard amongst a flock 
whilst feeding. When alarmed they utter a soft guack, much less strident than 
that of the Mallard, but audible for a long distance. The call-note is described 
by Naumann as a low kah, and during the love season the drake utters a deep 
cliik, preceded by a hiss and followed by a low grating note. 


Nidification.—According to latitude, and consequent state of the season, 
the eggs of the Pintail are laid early in May orearly in June. The favourite breed- 
ing grounds of this species are situated on the Arctic tundras near water of some 
description, or, in lower latitudes, on the margin of lakes and ponds, or in swamps 
and marshes. The nest is usually made on a dry bit of ground amongst shrubs 
or coarse vegetation, and is made of dead grass, withered sedges and rushes, and 
dry leaves, lined warmly with down mingled with a few curly feathers from the 
breast of the female bird. The eggs are from six to ten in number, pale buffish- 
green in colour, smooth in texture, but with little gloss. They measure on an 
average 2°15 inches in length by 1°5 inch in breadth. The down is sooty-brown 
distinctly tipped with white, but not so conspicuously as that of the Wigeon. 
One brood only is reared in the year. Incubation lasts from twenty-three to 
twenty-seven days. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage) Dajila, with the central 
tail feathers black, a narrow cinnamon band across the wing coverts, and the 
culmen more than 1°8 inch in length (male); with the tail feathers brown 


obliquely barred with white, and the culmen more than 1°8 inch in length (female). 
Length, 24 to 28 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 357 


Genus MARECA, or Wigeons. 
Type, MARECA PENELOPE. 


Mareca, of Stephens (1824).—The birds in the present genus are charac- 
terised by having the bill small, not very broad, and shorter than the head, 
gradually tapering towards the tip, whilst there is no fringe of soft membrane 
near the tip of the apical portion; the lamelle of the upper mandible are not 
prominent. The central rectrices are acuminate, and extend slightly beyond the 
outer ones. We may also mention that the general style of plumage is very 
characteristic, furnishing almost a sufficient generic character. 

This genus is composed of three species, one of which is confined to the 
Palearctic region, and the other two are dwellers in the Nearctic and Neotropical 
regions respectively. Two species are British, one of them indigenous to our 
Islands, the other an abnormal migrant to them. 

The Wigeons are found in both inland and maritime localities—on fresh 
water and salt water. They are of migratory habits. They are birds of rapid 
and sustained flight. Their notes are harsh and characteristic. They subsist 
partly on animal and partly on vegetable substances. They are social and 
gregarious, especially during migration and at their winter quarters. They are 
monogamous ; their nests being made upon the ground, rude in structure, yet 
warmly lined with down. Their eggs are numerous and buffish-white. 


358 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus MARECA. 
Subfamily ANATINEZ. 


WIGEON. 
MARECA PENELOPE—(Linneus). ef 


Prate XXX. 7 foe 


Anas penelope, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 202 (1766) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 539 
(1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 230 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 38, pl. 13 (1896). 


Mareca penelope (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 83 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 541, 
pls. 482, 433 (1876); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 397 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xv. (1890); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 227 (1895) ; Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 277 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Wigeon is a common 
winter visitor to the British Islands, frequenting inland swamps and waters as 
well as the coast. Many pass our coast lines on passage to still more southern 
haunts; and return along them in spring, so that the bird is generally most abun- 
dant in autumn. It frequents all parts of the United Kingdom suited to its 
requirements. A few remain behind to breed in Scotland, and frequent for this 
purpose Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Cromarty, Perthshire, and Selkirkshire, and 
the Orkneys and Shetlands. The nest does not yet appear to have been met with 
in the Hebrides. In Ireland it is said to have nested in Antrim, Armagh, Tyrone, 
and Mayo counties, but recent information is wanting. Although supposed to have 
bred in Norfolk, there is no actual proof of the fact, and the birds that recently 
bred in Yorkshire (near Scarborough) cannot be regarded as strictly wild. Foreign : 
Palearctic region, more southerly in winter ; Oriental region, and extreme western 
and eastern confines of Nearctic region in winter. It breeds throughout Arctic 
Europe and Asia from about lat. 70° southwards. Under ordinary circumstances its 
southern breeding range is lat. 60°; south of which it is only known to nest in 
exceptional conditions. These conditions appear to exist in France, Germany, 
Denmark, Bohemia, and the valley of the Danube in Europe, and in the Baikal 
basin in Asia, in all of which localities 1t is known to breed. It is said to breed in 
the Faroes, and certainly does so in Iceland; and is an accidental visitor to 
Greenland, and to the Atlantic coasts of North America; whilst on the eastern 
limits of its range it occasionally wanders across Behring Strait, where it has 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 359 


from time to time been found as an abnormal migrant on the Pacific coast from 
Alaska to California. It passes through Central Europe on migration, and 
winters on the coasts of Holland, Belgium, France and Spain, and throughout 
the basin of the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas, ranging as far south as 
Abyssinia in the east and Madeira and the Canaries in the west of the African 
Continent. The Asiatic birds pass through Turkestan and Mongolia on migration, 
and winter in India, Burmah, Borneo, China, and Japan. 


Allied forms.—Mareca americana, the New World representative of the 
Wigeon, a ‘‘ British” species, and dealt with fully in the following chapter. 


Habits.—The autumn migration of the Wigeon commences in the British 
Islands towards the end of September, and birds continue to arrive upon our 
coasts through October and the first half of November. The return migration 
begins in March, and lasts until the end of April. The Wigeon arrives at its Arctic 
haunts just as the ice is breaking up and winter is making way for summer. In the 
valley of the Petchora Seebohm remarked that this Duck arrived simultaneously 
with the break-up of the ice, on the 19th of May, but further east in the valley of 
the Yenisei it was much later, not appearing until the 6th of June, at which date the 
general summer thaw had commenced. Hume states that the Wigeon seldom 
arrives in India before the end of October, and leaves again in March and April. 
Whilst on migration, and in its winter quarters, the Wigeon is a very gregarious 
bird, and even in the breeding season is remarkably social, and consorts with various 
other Ducks that frequent the same districts for nesting purposes. Whilst in the 
British Islands the Wigeon is principally a coast bird, frequenting bays, lochs 
and estuaries, and occasionally visiting large sheets of fresh water in the vicinity 
of the sea. In India, however, this Duck is found on inland waters, but even 
here is most abundant on the coast, choosing by preference estuaries and creeks 
where the water is brackish. It is also very erratic in its choice of a haunt, 
being absent from some districts and present in others during different years. 
The flight of the Wigeon is swift and powerful, but not very loud, and often the 
bird will glide down from a considerable height to the water on arched and 
motionless wings, beating them rapidly just as it drops on the surface, as if to 
break the force of the contact. It also swims well, and is very adept at diving 
when pursued if wounded. This species is also seen a great deal on land, walking 
about the turfy banks of the water. They are rather shy and wary birds, evidently 
gifted with great powers of scent and hearing, and approached the most success- 
fully up wind. The note of the Wigeon is very characteristic, and not easily 
confused with that of any other British Duck. I describe it as a wild and loud 
mee-ow or wee-ow; others writers as méé-ydo or whéé-you. My experience is 
certainly different from that of Naumann, who states that this species utters a 
cry like that of the Shoveller as it rises. A note sounding like kr-r is said also 


360 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


to be occasionally uttered. The food of this species consists of grass, buds, 
leaves, and shoots of various aquatic plants, grass wrack, insects, shrimps, and 
mollusks. The bird feeds by day in some districts, by night in others, and both 
by night and day in localities where it is much harassed. Hume states that in 
India the Wigeon is more of a grass-eater than any other Duck. The flesh of this 
bird varies a great deal in quality, according to the food which has been lately 
eaten. British individuals are considered to be more palatable than those shot in 
India. 


Nidification.—The principal breeding grounds of the Wigeon are the 
wild districts, partly scrubby forest, partly swamp, studded with lakes and pools 
and intersected with rivers and streams—the border land, in fact, between the 
bare tundra and the limit of the growth of trees. The nests are made in May 
and June, according to locality, and are usually well concealed near the water- 
side, but sometimes a considerable distance from it, either among the long coarse 
grass and other vegetation or beneath the shelter of a bush. They are placed on 
the ground and made of dry grass and dead aquatic vegetation, rather deep, and 
warmly lined with down and a few feathers. The eggs are from six to ten or 
even, in rare instances, twelve in number, and are creamy-white in colour, some- 
times buffish-white.. They measure on an average 2°2 inches in length by 1°5 
inch in breadth. The down is sooty-brown with distinct white tips. According 
to Naumann, incubation lasts from twenty-four to twenty-five days. When 
leaving the nest the female carefully covers the eggs with down. One brood only 
is reared in the year, and the young are deserted as soon as they are able to fly. 


Diagnostic characters,—(Nuptial plumage) Mareca, with the upper 
tail coverts grey, the under tail coverts black, the upper part of the head buff 
(male) ; with the head chestnut spotted with black (female). Length, 18 to 20 
inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 361 


Family ANATIDA. Genus MARECA. 
Subfamily ANnaTInez. 


AMERICAN WIGEON. 


MARECA AMERICANA.—(Gmelin). 


Anas americana, Gmel., Syst. Nat. i. p. 526 (1788); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 
543 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 161 (1894); Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 39 (1896). 

Mareca americana (Gmel.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 90 (1852 ; Yarrell, Brit. B., ed. 4, 
iv. p. 403 (1885); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 233 (1895); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 281 (1896); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxiii. (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The American Wigeon is a very 
rare and accidental visitor to our Islands; its claim to rank as a ‘ British ”’ 
species being supported by most unsatisfactory evidence. It is with much 
hesitation that I have included this species in the present work, and my chief 
reason for doing so is to stimulate the interest of British sportsmen, and 
to put them on the gut vive in case examples chance to visit our Islands. 
That this bird does so from time to time is far from improbable ; but until we 
have more positive proof than that forthcoming, every careful student must feel 
dubious of its claim to rank as an accidental wanderer to our shores. The 
evidence is as follows: Leadenhall Market (one example, which may have been 
captured on the Continent and consigned with other fowl to London), winter of 
1837-38 ; coast of Essex (one example, not confirmed by any recognised authority), 
January, 1864; Devonshire (one example, not confirmed by any recognised 
authority), April, 1870; Yorkshire, one example, obtained at a game dealers in 
Leed, February, 1895; Scotland: Banffshire (one example, not preserved, and 
entirely unauthenticated), January, 1841. Ireland: Strangford Lough, Co. 
Down (one example, not preserved, and recorded by Thompson on hearsay 
evidence), February, 1844 (Conf. Thompson, B. of Ireland, iii. p. 112). One 
example is said to have occurred in France; and Mr. Howard Saunders records 
a specimen as being ina collection of birds at St. Michael’s, in the Azores. This 
together with the fact that the bird wanders to the Bermudas and is rarely or 
never kept in captivity in our Islands, is confirmatory evidence of its accidental 
occurrence in them. Foreign: Nearctic region, more southerly in winter ; 
northern limits of Neotropical region in winter. It breeds in the Arctic regions 
of America from Alaska to the Hudson Bay basin, as far north as lat. 70°, and 


362 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


probably as far south as Winnipeg. It has also been recorded by Dr. Stejneger 
from Bering Island. It passes the Northern States, both inland and along the 
coast, on migration, and winters in the Southern States, Mexico, the West Indies, 
and Central America. 


Allied forms.—Mareca penelope, the Old World representative of the 
American Wigeon, a British species, and dealt with fully in the preceding chapter. 


Habits.—The habits of the American Wigeon are not known to differ in 
any very important particular from those of its Palearctic congener. In the 
Southern United States, where it is extremely common during winter, it is known 
to sportsmen by the name of ‘“‘ Bald-Pate.” Like its Old World ally, it is said 
to frequent inland localities as well as the coast, and to visit rice-fields and rivers. 
Tts note is described as a low whistle, but probably it has others which resemble 
those of the Common Wigeon. Its food is composed of vegetable and animal 
substances, notably the succulent weed vallisneria and rice. The flesh of this 
bird is said to be excellent. 


Nidification.—The nest of the American Wigeon is placed on the earth 
amongst trees and bushes in swampy districts, but always on a dry bit of ground, 
and is made of dead grass, leaves, and other vegetable refuse, and lined with plenty 
of down and a few feathers plucked from the breast or flanks of the female. The 
eggs are from six to twelve in number, creamy-white in colour, and measure on 
an average 2°2 inches in length by 1°5 inch in breadth. The down is apparently 
the same in colour as that of the Common Wigeon. One brood only is reared in 
the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage) Mareca, with the upper 
tail coverts grey, the under tail coverts black, the upper part of the head whitish, 
sides of head and upper neck whitish, spotted with black (male); with the head 
and upper neck whitish spotted with black (female). Length, 19 to 20 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 363 


Genus NETTION, or Teals. 
Type, NETTION CRECCA. 


Nettion, of Kaup (1829).—The birds in the present genus are characterised 
by having the bill moderate in size, not very broad and shorter than the head, 
but not gradually tapering towards the tip, whilst there is no fringe of soft 
membrane near the tip of the apical portion; the lamelle of the upper mandible 
are not prominent. The central rectrices are acuminate, and extend slightly 
beyond the outer ones, whilst the scapulars and tertials are longer and narrower 
than in the Wigeons. 

Fifteen species of Teals are recognised by Count Salvadori, the most recent 
monographer of the ANATIDZ. The present genus may be regarded as practically 
a cosmopolitan one. Two species are British, one being indigenous to our 
Islands and the other an abnormal migrant to them from the Nearctic region. 

The Teals show a decided preference for fresh waters, and often frequent very 
small pools and streams. During winter they visit estuaries and other marine 
localities. Their flight is rapid and powerful. Their notes are shrill and 
unmusical. They subsist partly on animal and partly on vegetable substances, 
and are both day and night feeders. They are social and gregarious. They are 
monogamous, making their nests upon the ground, warmly lining these structures 
with down, and their eggs are numerous, and buff of varying shades in colour. 


364 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus NETTION. 
Subfamily A NaTInZ. 


COMMON TEAL. 
NETTION CRECCA—(Linneus). 


Anas crecca, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 204 (1766); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 545 
(1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 232 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 40, pl. 16 (1896). 

Querquedula crecca (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 48 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 
507, pl. 426 (1871); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iv. p. 387 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. viii. (1888). 

Nettion crecca (Linn.), Salvadori Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 243 (1895); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 283 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Teal is a common resident 
in, and breeds in all suitable localities throughout the British Islands, but becomes 
more abundant in the northern districts. The residents are largely increased in 
numbers during autumn, not only by birds passing our Islands on migration, but by 
individuals that remain all the winter. It frequents the coasts during winter as 
well as inland swamps and waters. Foreign: Palearctic region, more southerly 
in winter; Oriental region in winter. The Teal is a summer visitor to and 
breeds in Iceland. It breeds throughout Arctic Europe and Asia as far north as 
lat. 70°, but south of the Arctic Circle (lat. 664°) it becomes more local and rare. 
South of that limit, however, it breeds in the Azores and Madeira, very sparingly 
in South Europe, but more freely in Holland, Denmark, Germany, and Southern 
Scandinavia. During winter it is generally distributed throughout the more 
temperate and southern portions of Europe, and in Northern Africa, as far south 
as the Canaries in the west, and Abyssinia in the east. It also winters in con- 
siderable numbers in the basin of the Black and Caspian Seas. The Asiatic 
birds pass through Turkestan, Mongolia, and the Amoor Valley on migration (a 
few remaining to breed), and winter in Arabia, Persia, India, Ceylon, Burmah, 
China, and Japan. This Teal has been known to stray across Behring Strait into 
Alaska, where it has been captured in June; whilst on the east of America it 
occasionally visits Greenland, and the eastern coasts between Labrador and North 
Carolina. 


Allied forms.—Nettion carolinense, the Nearctic representative of the 
Common Teal, a “ British” species, and dealt with fully in the following chapter. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 365 


Habits. 
Islands, this Duck is by far the most common and widely dispersed in winter, 
when its numbers are increased by migratory individuals from more northern and 
colder latitudes. With us this Duck begins to arrive in September, and continues 
to do so through the following month. In India, where it is one of the com- 
monest Ducks during the cold season, they begin to appear in September in the 
north, but the heaviest flights arrive during October, whilst further south they 
are not observed until the north-east monsoon in November. They leave most 
parts of India about the end of April, although a few are seen even in May. In 
the valley of the Petchora, Teal arrived on the 18th of June with the general” 
smash-up of the ice on the river and the melting of the snow; in the Yenisei 
district its arrival was also coincident with the thaw. The Teal is much more 
partial to reed-fringed pools and small lakes than to the mud-banks and estuaries 
of the coast. In India, Hume remarks they may be met with anywhere, on 
fresh water of course, either on the village pond, in the marshy corner of a broad, 
on large lakes, or on sluggish rivers and dancing upland streams. The Teal is by 
no means a shy bird, yet it is very fond of skulking amongst the tall aquatic 
vegetation, remaining close until flushed by dogs or men. It is a gregarious bird, 
especially just previous to and on migration. In India bunches of from ten to 
thirty are most frequent, but much larger gatherings are on record, especially 
during Flight. Asarule the smaller the pond or lake, the fewer in number the 
birds will be. The flight of the Teal is rapid, and the bird has considerable com- 
mand over itself in the air, often escaping the swoop of a Falcon with a sudden 
dip or twist. This Duck has also a way of dropping suddenly into cover again 
soon after being flushed. It swims well and lightly, but never dives unless wounded, 
and even then makes but poor attempts to do so. The Teal is most frequently 
seen on the water, but occasionally it walks about the banks with a waddling 
gait, and may be often observed standing on one leg with its head drawn in, or 
even buried beneath the scapulars. The Teal is both a day and night feeder 
where left unmolested, but in districts where it is much disturbed it varies its 
time, and obtains most of its sustenance at night. Under these circumstances, 
especially if the flock be fairly large, the birds spend the day on some large sheet 
of water, and retire at night to the marshes and small ponds to feed. They 
usually change their quarters towards sunset, and as they follow certain routes 
backwards and forwards, afford fairly good sport on flight. The Teal obtains 
most of its food either whilst floating in the shallows, from time to time turning 
upside down in true orthodox Duck fashion, or when paddling round the weedy 
margin of the water. This food consists of grass and seeds, shoots, roots, and 
leaves of aquatic plants; grain, rice, insects and their larve, small mollusks, and 
worms. ‘The usual alarm note of the Teal is a rather weak but shrill guack, but 
the call-note, which may be heard incessantly as the pair of birds swim to and 
fro, is a harsh Rail-like errick. The flesh of the Teal is excellent for the table. 


Although a great many Teal are practically resident in the British 


366 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


In India great numbers of these birds are kept in confinement and fattened for 
food, especially by the Anglo-Indians, whom a hard fate condemns to residence 
on the sultry plains during the hot season. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Teal in the British Islands 
commences early in May, but is a month or more later in higher latitudes. In 
the Arctic regions this Duck makes its nest in similar localities to those selected by 
the Wigeon ; but with us itis usually placed amongst the dense vegetation, bram- 
bles, sedge, heather, or coarse grass growing by the waterside, but occasionally 
some distance from it. It is made on the ground, of dry grass, leaves, broken 
sedge and reeds, and warmly lined with down from the female. The eggs are 
from eight to ten in number, in rare instances up to fifteen, and vary from 
creamy-white to buffish-white, sometimes with a faint greenish cast. They 
measure on an average 1°7 inch in length by 1°3 inch in breadth The down is 
small and uniform dark brown without any white tips. Incubation, performed 
by the female, lasts from twenty-one to twenty-two days. One brood only 
is reared in the year, but if the first clutch of eggs be taken others will be 
laid. The old Teals are much attached to each other, and we should say 
undoubtedly pair for life. The male Teal assumes a brown moulting dress like 
allied species. 


Diagnostic characters.—Nettion, with the head partly metallic green, 
with the top of the head chestnut like the cheeks, with no white crescent on the 
sides of the breast and with the lower scapulars white, edged with black on the 
outer web (male) ; with the alar speculum black, and the wing under seven ne 

long (female). Length, 18 to 16 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 367 


Family ANATIDAL, Genus NETTION. 
Subfamily ANATINZE. 


AMERICAN TEAL. 
NETTION CAROLINENSE.—Gmelin. 


Anas carolinensis, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 533 (1788); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 
549 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 163 (1894) ; Seebohm, 
Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 40 (1896). 


Nettion carolinense (Gmel.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 250 (1895) ; Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 286 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The American Teal is a very 
rare accidental visitor to the British Islands. The claim of this species to rank as 
“ British ”’ rests upon the following recorded occurrences. England : Hampshire 
(one example of doubtful authenticity), about 1838; Yorkshire (one example), 
November, 1851; Devonshire (one example, the most satisfactory of the three), 
November, 1879. Foreign: Nearctic region, more southerly in winter; extreme 
northern limit of Neotropical region in winter. It breeds in the Arctic regions 
of America, from the Aleutian Islands and Alaska in the west to Greenland in 
the east. It passes the Northern States and Southern Canada on spring and 
autumn migration, but in these localities a few remain to breed and a few remain 
to winter; it also visits the Bermudas abnormally in autumn. It winters in the 
Southern States, Mexico, the West Indies, and Central America. 


Allied forms.—Nettion crecca, the Palearctic representative of the 
American Teal, a British species, dealt with fully in the preceding chapter. 


Habits.—The American Teal is not known to differ in its habits in any im- 
portant respect from the Common Teal. It is migratory in the higher and colder 
latitudes, sedentary in warmer districts, as the Old World Teal is with us. The 
haunts it frequents are very similar, both in summer and winter. Its flesh is 
highly esteemed for the table. 


Nidification.—tThe breeding habits of the American Teal—the situation 
and materials of the nest, the period of incubation, the number of eggs—are all 
similar in every important respect to those of the Palsarctic species. The eggs 


368 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


are the same creamy-white colour, and measure on an average 1°8 inch in length 
by 1°3 inch in breadth. The down is undescribed, but is probably precisely 
similar to that of the Common Teal, seeing that the females of the two species 
are entirely alike in colour. 


Diagnostic characters.—Nettion, with the head partly metallic green, 
with the top of the head chestnut like the cheeks, and with a broad crescentic 
band of white on each side of the breast, and with no white on the scapulars 
(male) ; similar in every external character to the female of the Common Teal 
(female). Length, 14 to 15 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 369 


Genus QUERQUEDULA, or Garganeys. 
Type, QUERQUEDULA CIRCIA. 


Querquedula, of Stephens (1824)..-The birds in the present genus, 
although closely allied to the Teals, are readily characterised by having the 
upper wing blue, in this respect showing considerable affinity with the Shovelers. 

Five species of Garganeys are at present recognised by ornithologists, four of 
which are distributed over the American Continents (two being Nearctic and two 
being exclusively Neotropical), and one is confined to the Palearctic region in 
the Old World during the breeding season becoming more southerly in its 
dispersal during winter. Two species are British, one being indigenous to our 
Islands, the other an abnormal migrant to them. 

The Garganeys closely resemble the Teals in their habits and economy. 
They are partial to fresh water during the breeding season, but become more 
maritime in their tastes during migration and in winter. Their flight is power- 
ful and comparatively silent. Their notes are harsh and unmusical. Their 
food, obtained mostly at night, is chiefly composed of vegetable substances, but an 
animal diet is sometimes resorted to. They are social and gregarious, especially 
during the non-breeding season. They swim well, but never dive except when 
wounded. They are monogamous, and make their nests upon the ground, often 
amongst herbage far from water, lining them with down. Their eggs are 
numerous, and various shades of buff in colour. 


24 


370 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus QUERQUEDULA. 
Subfamily Awarina. 


GARGANEY. 
QUERQUEDULA CIRCIA—(Linneus). 


Anas circia, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 203 (1766); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iti. p. 551 
(1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1890) ; Dixon, Nests and Higgs Brit. B. 
p. 234 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 41, pl. 16 (1896). 

Querquedula circia (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v, p. 55 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. vi. p. 
513, pl. 427 (1871); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 393 (1885); Salvadori, Cat. B. 
Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 293 (1895). 


Querquedula querquedula (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 291 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Garganey is a rare and 
exceedingly local visitor to our area on spring and autumn migration, a few 
remaining behind in spring to breed in suitable localities. It becomes rarer in 
Scotland than in England, of only accidental occurrence in the Orkneys and 
Shetlands, and entirely unknown in the Outer Hebrides. It breeds regularly, 
and it is said in increasing numbers, in Norfolk, less commonly in Suffolk, and 
perhaps in a few of the southern English counties. It used formerly to breed in 
Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, and in Prestwick Car in Northumberland, 
but the reclamation of its favourite haunts has driven it to seek nesting places 
elsewhere. It is said by Sir R. Payne-Gallwey to be the rarest of the ordinary 
Ducks in Ireland, and practically confined to the southern portion of the country 
where it has been met with very early in spring and even in winter. Foreign: 
Southern Palearctic region ; Oriental region in winter. It is a rare visitor to 
the Faroes and Iceland, and only known to have occurred twice in Norway. It 
breeds in Denmark, Sweden, the Baltic Provinces, Finland, and North-western 
Russia as far as Archangel. It also breeds throughout Central and Southern 
Europe (although rare in Portugal), the Caucasus, and eastwards through Tur- 
kestan and the extreme south of Siberia (Mr. Popham records it from as far north 
as Yeneseisk in the valley of the Yenisei), probably to the valley of the Amoor. 
It winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, extending 
southwards as far as Egypt and Arabia. The Asiatic birds appear to winter in 
India, Burmah and China (a few lingering to breed in these countries), in many 
parts of the Malay Archipelago, and in Japan, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 371 


Allied forms.—Querquedula discors, one of the two representative 
American species, which have occurred in our Islands, forms the subject of the 
following chapter. Q. cyanoptera, the second representative species of the New 
World. An inhabitant of Western America from the Columbia River to Chili, 
Buenos Ayres, and the Falkland Islands; of only accidental occurrence in the 
Eastern States. It is distinguished from the Garganey by having the under tail 
coverts black, and by the uniform chestnut head and neck. 


Habits. —The aversion of the Garganey to cold is displayed very decidedly 
in several ways. In the first place the birds’ geographical area nowhere extends 
into an Arctic climate; and, secondly, its migrations are performed much earlier 
in autumn and later in spring than those of most if not all other Palearctic Ducks. 
These remarks apply as much to the individuals breeding in Europe as to 
those breeding in Asia, where the climate is much more severe than with us. 
The Garganey leaves the northern limits of its range in Europe long before 
winter, and in India it is the earliest duck to arrive in autumn, large flights 
appearing towards the end of August, slowly reaching the southern districts in 
October and November. It lingers in India until the end of April or early May, 
beginning to leave the southern portions of that country in March. The Gar- 
ganey is decidedly a fresh-water species with us, but in its winter quarters in 
India and other places it is more maritime, frequenting creeks and estuaries as 
well as inland waters. Whilst on passage, and inits winter haunts, the Garganey 
is gregarious, forming into flocks of from a dozen to a hundred individuals, which 
as they invariably keep well together. afford most effective shots for the swivel 
gun. In India the Garganey affects by choice the rather large broads and 
swamps where plenty of aquatic herbage grows, shunning bare lakes, rivers, and 
small ponds. Itisneithera very wild nor avery wary species, and approached more 
easily in a punt than most other Ducks. It rises quickly from the water and its 
flight is rapid and strong, but almost silent, although when large flocks of birds 
pass directly overhead a very distinct swishing sound is produced. When flushed 
from dry ground, however, its first movements are rather clumsy and laboured. 
It not only swims well and lightly, sitting well out of the water, but dives readily 
when wounded. The food of the Garganey is chiefly of a vegetable nature inland, 
but on the coast an animal diet is more usual. It consists of the buds, leaves, 
shoots, seeds, and roots of various aquatic plants, and in India of rice, both wild 
and cultivated ; insects and their larve, frogs, worms, mollusks, and crustaceans. 
The Garganey is for the most part a night feeder, and at such times it has been 
known to visit rice-fields in such numbers as to destroy acres of the crop in a few 
hours. The call-note of the Garganey is a harsh quack, and is common to both sexes; 
but during the breeding season the drake makes a harsh Rail-like errick. It isnot 
a garrulous bird when in flocks. The flesh of this Duck is not very palatable, even 
when the bird has been obtained under the most favourable conditions as to diet. 


372 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Nidification.—The Garganey is a rather late breeder for a southern 
species, and its eggs are seldom laid before the end of April or the first half of 
May. The nest is placed in a great variety of situations, very often in places 
similar to those selected by the Teal. It is as often as not some distance from 
water, and has been found in open forests and amongst growing corn. Usually 
it is built on the ground amongst tall, thick grass or sedge, or amongst low heath. 
The nest is made of dry grass, dead rushes, leaves, and other vegetable refuse, 
warmly lined with down. The eggs are from eight to fourteen in number, and 
vary from cream-white to buffish-white in colour. They measure on an average 
1°8 inch in length by 1°35 inch in breadth. Thedown tufts are small and brown 
with long white tips. Incubation, performed by the female, is said by Naumann 
to last from twenty-one to twenty-two days. One brood only is reared in the 
year, and of this the female apparently takes the entire charge. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Querguedula, with the 
mantle unvermiculated, with the wing coverts pale blue, and with the under tail 
coverts white spotted with dark brown (adult male); with no metallic alar 
speculum, and the wing about 7 inches long (adult female). Length, 15 to 16 
inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 373 


Family ANATIDAS. Genus QUERQUEDULA. 
Subfamily ANATINA. 


BLUE-=WINGED GARGANEY. 
QUERQUEDULA DISCORS— (Linnaeus). 


Anas discors, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 205 (1766); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 551 
(1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 164 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col 
Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 42 (1896). 


Querquedula discors (Linn.), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 392 (1885) ; Salvadori, Cat. 
B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 800 (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 294 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Blue-winged Garganey 
is another dubious ‘“‘ British” species which we include in this volume with 
considerable hesitation. Its claim to rank as “ British’’ rests on a single 
occurrence, and even about this there has been considerable confusion. The 
late Mr. Gray, in his Birds of the West of Scotland, states that the example 
in question was killed in January, 1863; but Mr. Gibson, in recording the 
same specimen in the Naturalist for 1858, avers that it was obtained ‘‘a few 
weeks ago” in that year. The latter date appears to be the correct one. This 
example, a male, was obtained in Dumfriesshire by a Mr. Shaw. It passed through 
the hands of a local bird-stuffer into the collection of Sir William Jardine, and 
is now in the Edinburgh Museum. Other alleged occurrences have been 
recorded, but in every case identification has been found to be wrong. It has 
once been recorded from Continental Kurope—an adult male shot in Denmark in 
April, 1886. Foreign: Central and southern Nearctic region, more southerly in 
winter ; extreme northern limits of Neotropical region in winter. It breeds from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, south of lat. 60°, but becomes more local west of the 
Rocky Mountains. Southwards its breeding range extends to Florida and 
Mexico as far as the northern tropic. The northern birds pass south in autumn, 
abnormally visiting the Bermudas, and winter in Mexico, the West Indies, 
and the northern portions of Central America. 


Allied forms.—Querquedula circia, a British species, and dealt with fully 
in the preceding chapter. @Q. cyanoptera, an inhabitant of the Nearctic region. 
Distinguished from the Blue-winged Garganey by its uniform chestnut head 
and neck. 


374 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The habits of the Blue-winged Garganey are not known to 
differ in any important respect from those of allied species already described. 


Nidification.—In its nidification the Blue-winged Garganey resembles 
its congeners; the nest, site, number of eggs, are all similar in every respect. 
The eggs are creamy-white in colour, and measure on an average 1:9 inch 
in length by 1°83 inch in breadth. The down is apparently undescribed. 


Diagnostic character S.—(Nuptial plumage), Querquedula, with the 
under tail coverts black, with a white crescent between the eye and the bill, and 
with the shoulders or wing coverts bright blue (male); with a green speculum, 
and dull blue shoulders (female). Length, 16 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 375 


Genus SPATULA, or Shovelers. 
Type, SPATULA CLYPEATA. 


Spatula, of Boie (1822).—The birds in the present genus are characterised 
by having a spatulate bill, combined with the absence of a soft membrane at the 
sides of it near the tip, and the presence of blue wing coverts. 

Four species of typical Shoveler are at present known to ornithologists, and 
a fifth and somewhat aberrant species (confined to Australia and Tasmania) is 
generically separated under the term Malacorhynchus, remarkable for having 
the bill furnished with a soft membrane at the sides near the tip. The 
Shovelers are practically cosmopolitan in their distribution, although but one 
species is British. 

The Shovelers show a decided preference for fresh water, being especially 
partial to lakes, pools, and rivers with shallow muddy banks. Their flight is 
rapid and powerful when once fairly commenced. They walk with the usual 
waddling gait peculiar to most Ducks, but swim with ease although they never 
normally dive. They are social but not so gregarious as some other species in 
the present subfamily. Their notes are harsh, becoming gutteral during flight. 
They are almost omnivorous in their diet, feeding by night as well as by day. 
They are monogamous, making their rude nests, ultimately lined with down, 
upon the ground, and their numerous eggs are buffish or olive-white in colour. 


376 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDZ. Genus SPATULA. 
Subfamily ANATINE. 


SHOVELER. 
SPATULA CLYPEATA—(Linnaeus). 
Puate XXXVI. 


Anas clypeata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 200 (1766); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 554 
(1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. x. (1889); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. 
p- 235 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 42, pl. 13 (1896). 

Rhynchaspis clypeata (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 74 (1852). 

Spatula clypeata (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 497, pl. 425 (1873) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. 


ed. 4. iv. p. 375 (1885) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 306 (1895); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt Brit. ii. p. 265 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. — British: The Shoveler is a fairly 
common winter visitor to the British Islands, but practically resident in many 
localities, and is found both inland and on the coast. It becomes rarer in 
Wales, the southern and western districts of England, and the west of Scot- 
land, being very rare in the Outer Hebrides and on the Orkneys, and appears 
never to have visited the Shetlands. Its recorded breeding places are as 
follows. England: Shires of Dorset, Kent, Hertford, Cambridge, Norfolk, Lin- 
coln, Nottingham, Huntingdon, Stafford, York, Durham, Northumberland, and 
Cumberland. Wales: no reliable data. Scotland: Kircudbright, East Lothian, 
Dumbarton, Argyle, Elgin, Ross, Sutherland and the Orkneys, and the island of 
Tiree, one of the Hebrides. Ireland: Queen’s County, Galway (Lough Derg on 
the Shannon), Cos. Dublin, Antrim, Donegal, Fermanagh, Westmeath, Louth, Ros- 
common, Mayo, Sligo, and possibly in King’s County and Kerry. During winter 
also the Shoveler is much more frequent in the south of Ireland than the north. 
Foreign : Circumpolar, northern Nearctic and Palearctic regions, more southerly 
in winter; Oriental] and extreme northern limits of Neotropical regions in winter. 
It breeds throughout the Subarctic regions of Europe, Asia, and America, from 
about the latitude of the Arctic Circle south to lat. 50°. Below this latitude it 
becomes more local, and not so abundant during the breeding season, although it 
nests in small numbers in the west Palearctic region as far as the African shores 
of the Mediterranean, and in the east Palearctic region as far south as Turkestan 
and Mongolia; whilst in the Nearctic region it breeds very sparingly in the north 
of the United States. Its winter quarters in Europe are the basin of the Mediter- 
ranean and North Africa as far south as the Great Dessert and Abyssinia. Those 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 377 


in Asia are Persia, India, Ceylon, China and Japan. Those in America are the 
Southern States, the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America, south to Panama. 
A specimen has been obtained at Cape Town, another in the Canaries, whilst we 
find it also recorded from Borneo and Australia. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for special notice. 
Representative species occur as follows: Spatula platalea, Neotropical region ; 
8. capensis, Ethiopian region; S. rhynchotis, Australian region. 


Habits.—The migration of the Shoveler to our islands from more Arctic 
latitudes commences in September and continues through October to November. 
The return journey commences in April and lasts well into May, and in some 
countries continues right through the latter month into June. It was first noticed 
in the valley of the Petchora, near the Arctic Circle, by Messrs. Harvie-Brown 
and Seebohm on the 19th of June; and by the latter gentleman one day earlier 
in the valley of the Yenisei, in the same latitude. These dates are late even for 
the Arctic regions, and the species was probably overlooked upon its first arrival. 
It arrives at its winter quarters in India towards the end of October and the 
beginning of November, and leaves during April and May. Its migrations are 
almost invariably performed during night, and the bird does not appear to con- 
gregate in very large parties for the purpose. Although the Shoveler occasionally 
visits the low-lying coasts, it is a thorough fresh-water species, and loves to 
frequent lakes and large sheets of water, ponds and slow-running rivers. In our 
islands it is certainly a shy, suspicious bird, keeping well out in the centre of the 
water if human intruders be lurking about; but in India it is one of the tamest 
of Ducks. Hume states that in the North-west Provinces it may be met with 
in pairs on almost every village pond, even those of the filthiest description, little 
more than cesspools, being frequented until scarcely a drop of liquid filth remains 
as the hot season approaches. Here on these ponds it is often as tame as the 
domestic Ducks, and when approached merely waddies into the water and swims 
out from shore, seldom rising until fired at, and then usually returning after a 
circle or two in the air. The Shoveler is not very gregarious, and even when a 
flock is congregated on some certain favoured pool the birds are usually scattered 
about in pairs or in very small groups. This Duck almost constantly keeps to 
shallow water close inshore, only swimming farther out when alarmed, and may 
usually be seen dabbling about in the mud, or with head and neck under the 
surface seeking for food. The peculiar habit of a pair of birds feeding whilst swim- 
ming round in circles with their heads in the centre is graphically described from 
personal observation by Professor Newton. Sometimes they may be seen standing 
on the bank preening their plumage, or dozing with their head twisted round and 
nearly buried in the dorsal plumage. This species walks in the usual waddling 
manner, but the body is carried somewhat erect, and sometimes the bird runs rather 


378 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


quickly. Itswims fairly well, but rarely dives, and only when wounded. From the 
nature of the locality in which most of its food is obtained, the very shallow water, 
the Shoveler rarely turns upside down to feed; it has no need todoso. The Shoveler 
very often associates with other Ducks, but owing to its partiality for small muddy 
pools it is most frequently seen by itself. The flight of this species when once 
the bird is fairly launched is rapid and powerful, but it rises heavily and slowly 
from the water. The food of the Shoveler consists of grass, grain, shoots, buds, 
leaves, and roots of aquatic herbage, insects of all kinds and their larve, mollusks, 
frogs, small fish, in fact anything and everything edible. As Hume justly 
remarks, in some localities it would be difficult to say what this bird will not eat. 
Much of its food is obtained in the shallow water as it moves its broad spatulated 
bill from side to side, sifting every likely and unlikely bit of mud. It is both a 
day and night feeder, but obtains most of its food after dusk, leaving in many 
cases the haunts it has frequented during the day and flying for some considerable 
distance to places where its staple fare is abundant. The call-note of the Shoveler 
is a harsh quack; a lower guttural note is uttered during flight. It is a remark- 
ably silent bird, always apparently too intent on feeding to talk. Its flesh is of 
very variable quality, depending a good deal upon the diet of the bird. 


Nidification.—The Shoveler is a rather late breeder, and even in our 
Islands its eggs are not laid until the middle of May or later, whilst in more 
northern latitudes they are not laid before June or even early in July. The 
breeding grounds of the Shoveler are situated amongst lakes and swamps where 
plenty of aquatic vegetation grows on the banks, and where shallow water or 
sluggish streams choked with weed furnish plenty of feeding places. The nest is 
generally made on a bit of dry ground amongst the tall grass and sedge or heath, 
and is simply a hollow into which alittle dead grass, sedge, and a few dead leaves 
are collected, and warmly lined with down and feathers plucked from the female. 
The eggs are from seven to fourteen in number, nine or ten being an average 
clutch. They vary from pale buffish-white to very pale olive-green, fine in 
texture, and with some little gloss. They measure on an average 2'0 inches in 
length by 1°5 inch in breadth. The down tufts are moderate in size, neutral dark 
grey with large pale centres and very conspicuous white tips. Incubation, almost 
invariably performed by the female, lasts, according to Naumann, twenty-one to 
twenty-three days, but Tiedemann gives twenty-eight days as the period. The 
male Shoveler has been found sitting on the eggs in at least one well-authenticated 
instance. The young are usually able to fly a month after they are hatched, but 
until then they are assiduously tended by the female. One brood only is reared 
in the year, but, as is often the case, if the first eggs be taken others are laid. 


Diagnostic characters.—Spatula, with the head and upper portion of 
the neck rich glossy green. Length, 20 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 379 


Genus ANAS, or Typical Ducks. 
Type, ANAS BOSCHAS. 


Anas, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus are | 
characterised by having the tarsus scutellated in front, the tail feathers graduated 
and pointed at the tips, and the carpal region dull grey. The wings are long and 
pointed. The bill is broad, but not spatulate, and about the same length as the 
head. Three toes in front webbed; hind toe small and unlobed. Sexes different 
in colour. 

This genus contains about eighteen species and subspecies, and is almost 
cosmopolitan. One species is British, breeding in our Islands. 

The Non-diving Ducks are dwellers near inland waters and in fens and marshes 
in summer, but during their seasons of passage and in winter they are more 
maritime. They are birds of rapid if somewhat laboured flight, swim well, rarely 
if ever dive, and walk awkwardly with a waddling gait. Their notes are loud and 
unmusical. They subsist on both vegetable and animal substances, being practi- 
cally omnivorous. They make somewhat bulky nests, lined with down, upon the 
ground, or in holes of trees. Their eggs are numerous, and range from buff to 
pale greenish in colour, unspotted and-smooth. They are monogamous, and 
probably pair for life; the male taking no part in the rearing of the young. They 
are more or less gregarious, except in the breeding season. Their flesh is esteemed 
for the table. 


380 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus ANAS. 
Subfamily 4 naTinZz. 


MALLARD. 
ANAS BOSCHAS—(Linneus). 
Puate XXXVII. 


Anas boschas, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 205 (1766); Macgill, Brit. B. v. p..31 (1852) ; 
Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 469, pl. 422 (1873); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 559 
(1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. viii. (1888); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 237 (1893). 

Anas boscas (Forst. ex Linn.), Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4. iv. p. 858 (1885) ; Salvadori, Cat. 
B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 189 (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 269 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Mallard, or Wild Duck, is 
the commonest species of fresh-water Duck in our area, and generally distributed 
throughout the British Islands, breeding in every part suited to its needs, including 
the Orkneys and Shetlands, the Hebrides and Ireland. It is much rarer in the 
extreme north of Scotland during winter; otherwise it is even more widely dis- 
persed at that season, then extending to the Channel Islands, whilst its numbers 
are largely increased by migrants from more northern regions. It frequents the 
coasts as well as inland swamps and waters. Foreign: Palsearctic and Nearctic 
regions; Oriental and Neotropical regions in winter. It breeds throughout 
Europe south of the Arctic Circle, but only sparingly in the basin of the Mediter- 
ranean; and throughout Asia, south of that limit (but only locally and in small 
numbers) to Cashmere and probably Mongolia. In the Nearctic region it breeds 
from the Arctic Circle southwards to the United States. Its winter range in 
Europe extends to North Africa, as far south as Madeira, the Canaries, and the 
Azores (where a few pairs are said to breed) in the west, and to Nubia in the east. 
In Asia it is found during that season in Persia, Northern India, China, and 
Japan; and in America, in the Southern States, Mexico, the West Indies, and 
the extreme northern portion of South America. 


Allied forms.—Anas wyvilliana, an inhabitant of the Sandwich Islands, 
with a greenish blue speculum and the black under tail coverts (in the adult male) 
mottled with chestnut. A. laysanensis, an inhabitant of the Laysan Islands, 
distinguished by the ring of white feathers round the eyes. Both these species, 
together with the Mallard have the central tail feathers curled upwards. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 381 


Habits.—The Mallard is the commonest species of Duck in the British 
Islands, and may be met with almost everywhere according to season. Its usual 
haunts are secluded ponds, lakes, reservoirs, brooks, slow-running rivers, marshy 
moors and commons, and broads, mud-flats, salt marshes, drains and sluices. 
Except in the extreme northern and colder portions of its range, the Mallard isa 
resident, but its numbers are largely increased in our islands during winter, 
arriving in October and November. The same may be said of India, where, 
although enormous numbers breed in Cashmere, it is a winter visitor to the rest 
of the country, arriving at the end of October and leaving by the end of March or 
early in April. Although not very gregarious in India, where it is usually met 
with in parties of from three to ten, in other parts of the world, as for instance in 
our islands, it may frequently be observed in very large flocks, composed principally 
of migratory individuals and often accompanied by Wigeons and Pintails. The 
Mallard does not frequent deep water much, unless when alarmed. It is fond of 
the shallows, where it can feed whilst paddling round the margin, and where the 
water is not too deep for it to reach the muddy bottom with its bill as it turns 
upside down, keeping its hind quarters erect by incessant motion of the feet as if 
in the act of swimming. Few birds fly more rapidly than this species; Macgillivray 
computed its flight to be probably a hundred miles per hour. ‘The wings are 
beaten rapidly and make a whistling sound. As the bird rises from the water 
it flies in an oblique direction for some distance, but the angle with the level of 
the water is seldom very acute, either as the bird leaves or regains it. The 
Mallard swims well and lightly, but it never dives in quest of food, only when 
wounded or in playful chase of its mate or companions. For the most part this 
species is a night feeder, and that is the time selected not only for its migrations, 
but for its many wanderings across country in quest of fresh haunts. It may, 
however, often be seen feeding during the day. The Mallard is almost omnivorous; 
to mention the various substances on which it has been proved to feed would be 
to catalogue almost everything that a bird can eat. In its greedy quest this Duck 
often wanders far from the water, visiting stubbles, the open parts of forests, 
meadows, and even gardens. Its vegetable diet may be said to range from grain 
and grass to acorns ; its animal diet from insects to fish. The note of the Mallard 
is the all-familiar quack; but in the pairing season both sexes utter sounds 
impossible to express on paper. This Duck is remarkably wary and well able to 
take care of itself in the British Island; but in India it is said to be less wary and 
suspicious, allowing a near approach. Many Mallards and other Ducks are 
caught by the natives of India in a very ingenious manner. The fowler enters 
the pool and covers his head with a gourd or basket, then carefully walks under 
water towards the unsuspecting birds, the gourd apparently floating along the 
surface. As soon as he reaches the Ducks they are adroitly pulled under one by 
one, killed at once by a sharp twist of the neck, and slung into a cord worn round 


382 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


the waist. A skilful man will sometimes capture as many as twenty Ducks 
during one trip. Sometimes the skin of a Pelican is used instead of a gourd. 


Nidification.—The Mallard is an early breeder, in England commencing 
to lay in March or early April, but a month or six weeks later in Scotland. Far- 
ther north, of course, the bird is later, not beginning to lay unti] June in Finland, 
for instance; but in Cashmere it is also late, laying in May and the first half of 
June. We are of opinion that this species pairs for life,and the duck and drake are 
considerably attached to each other even in winter. The nest is built in a variety 
of situations, and not by any means always in the neighbourhood of water. I 
have seen the nests in open parts of the forest on ground covered with bracken 
and studded with clumps of thorn-trees, and also on the barest ground under 
heather on small islands in the Highland lochs. Occasionally it is built in the 
deserted nest of a Crow or Rook, under the shelter of a wall of peat, in a boat- 
house, amongst ivy, in a hollow tree-trunk, or on the top of a pollard; more 
frequently in a field of corn or a hedge bottom. Very often it is made amongst 
long coarse grass and sedge by the waterside. The nest is usually made in a 
hollow scraped in the ground and filled with dry grass, bracken, leaves, or any 
vegetable refuse easily obtainable, and warmly lined with down and a few small 
feathers from the breast and flanks of the female. The eggs are from eight to 
sixteen in number, twelve being an average clutch. They vary in colour from 
pale buffish green to greenish buff, are fine and smooth in texture, and with a faint 
gloss. They measure on an average 2°3 inches in length by 1°6 inch in breadth. 
The down tufts are large and neutral grey with very faint white tips. The female 
covers her eggs carefully whenever she leaves them; and if flushed usually flies 
close to the ground for some distance, hiding herself as soon as possible. She 
alone performs the task of incubation, which lasts from twenty-six to twenty-eight 
days. The drake takes no share whatever in bringing up the brood, one only 
being reared in the season, and is never seen in the nest. When surprised with 
her ducklings the female sometimes feigns lameness, and devotedly remains by 
her brood even in the presence of dogs. Numbers of nests of this Duck may be 
found close together; we have seen three within as many yards on one small islet. 
We have never observed any polygamous tendency in this species. 


Diagnostic characters.—Anas, with the predominating colour of the 
alar speculum purple; the central tail feathers curled up, and with no white ring 


round the eyes. Length, 21 to 24inches. The Mallard is the original species 
from which the domestic Duck has sprung. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 383 


Subfamily FULIGULINA, or Diving Ducks and Eiders. 


The birds included in the present subfamily are distinguished from their 
allies by having a pendant lobe or membrane attached to the hind toe, and the 
tarsus scutellated anteriorly. The bill is more or less depressed, and the tail 
feathers are not abnormally stiffened as in the HrismaTuriInm. All the species 
contained in this group habitually dive for their food, and are marvellously adept 
under water. The sexes are generally different in colour. The moult is similar 
to that of the Non-diving Ducks, single in females, partially double in males. 

This subfamily is composed of nearly forty species, divisible by Count Salvadori 
(whose arrangement we have followed) into some thirteen genera. 


Genus NETTA, or Red=crested Pochards. 
Type, NETTA RUFINA. 


Netta, of Kaup (1829).—The single species of Red-crested Pochard possesses 
sufficiently well-marked generic characteristics to warrant its separation from 
nearly allied birds in the present subfamily. Asin the Pochards (Nyroca) and 
the Scaups (Fuligula) the primaries are not uniform brown but marked or mirrored 
with grey; whilst in addition to this character the indentations of the upper 
mandible are prominent: the head is also finely crested, and the number of tail 
feathers is sixteen, against fourteen in Fuligula. 

As previously remarked but one species of Red-crested Pochard is known. It 
is an abnormal migrant to the British Islands, and its distribution, habits, and 
general characteristics will be dealt with fully in the following chapter. 


384 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANA'TIDA. Genus NETTA. 
Subfanuly FULIGULINA. 


RED-=CRESTED POCHARD. 
NETTA RUFINA—(Paillas). 
Puate XXXVIII. 


Anas rufina, Pallas, Reise, ii. app. p. 718 (1773). 

Aythya rufina (Pall.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 109 (1852). 

Fuligula rufina (Pall.), Dresser, B. Hur. vi, p. 559, pl. 435 (1878); Yarrell, Brit. B. 
ed. 4, iv. p. 403 (1885); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 567 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. x. (1889); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 166 (1894) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 43, pl. 14 (1896). 


Netta rufina (Pall.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p.328 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. 
B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 2 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Red-crested Pochard is a 
rare winter visitor to the British Islands, chiefly to England. Perhaps fifty 
examples have been either obtained or seen in the United Kingdom ; of these no 
less than eighteen were observed in a single flock on the Thames, near Erith. 
It is most frequently observed in the district lying between the Thames and the 
Humber, especially in Norfolk, which has contributed some eight or nine examples. 
Odd birds have been obtained as far west as Devon, Cornwall, and Pembroke, 
and as far north as Northumberland and Westmoreland. One example is recorded 
from Scotland (Argyllshire, January, 1862), and one from Ireland (Co. Kerry, 
January, 1881). Foreign: South-western Palearctic region ; Oriental region in 
winter. The Red-crested Pochard is of accidental occurrence only in the Baltic 
Provinces, Pomerania, Poland, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, and Switzer- 
land. It breeds locally in the Spanish Peninsula, chiefly in the east, in the 
Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily, Italy, Central and Southern Germany, the 
valley of the Danube, and Southern Russia. South of the Mediterranean it 
breeds on the lakes of Northern Africa, but becomes very rare in the east. In 
Asia it breeds in Turkestan, Kashmir, and North Persia. It is a rare winter 
visitor to the extreme east of the Mediterranean. The birds breeding in Turkestan 
and Persia pass through Afghanistan on migration, and winter in India. It has 
once been recorded from North America (New York Market, February, 1872). 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 385 


Habits.—In the warm districts of the Mediterranean basin the Red-crested 
Pochard is a resident, but farther east, in the much more rigorous climate of 
Russian Turkestan, it is a migrant, and in autumn retires southwards to India to 
spend the winter. These two countries are its great head-quarters; nowhere 
else is itso abundant. Its migrations into India begin towards the end of October, 
and gradually the bird spreads south through November, not reaching the extreme 
limits until early in December. It leaves the most southerly districts towards the 
end of March, and the northern provinces during the first half of April. The Red- 
crested Pochard is a thorough fresh-water Duck, and haunts by preference still 
deep broads and lakes where the bottom is full of weed and the shore covered with 
coarse grass, sedge, and rushes. It also frequents the wide slow-running reaches 
of rivers where plenty of submerged weeds grow near the shore. Hume states 
that it sometimes pays fleeting visits to any streamlet pool whilst on passage. At 
its winter quarters it is decidedly gregarious, usually forming into flocks of from 
ten to thirty birds, but sometimes they congregate thousands strong on very large 
sheets of water. This Duck is remarkably shy and wary, taking wing the moment 
danger threatens, and is considered by those sportsmen who have had much 
experience with it to be the most troublesome fowl to work. Very rarely flocks 
composed entirely of males have been seen, but as a rule the sexes congregate 
indiscriminately. The flight of this Pochard is strong and rapid, but the bird is 
slow to get under weigh, and flies rather heavily. The rustle made by the rapid 
beats of its short wing is a very characteristic rushing sound, enabling the 
experienced sportsman to identify the bird as it passes overhead in the darkness. 
The Red-crested Pochard is perhaps most at home in the deep water where it 
dives for its food, disappearing from time to time with remarkable speed, and with 
a pertinacity unsurpassed. It obtains most of its food by diving, and rarely 
visits land to feed, although Hume remarks that he has sometimes met with it 
walking about the banks a few yards from the water’s edge, searching for insects 
and grazing. Although it may be constantly seen feeding by day, much of its 
food is obtained at night, and many birds start off at dusk to visit localities where 
food is more plentiful than in the haunts they affect in the daytime. Itis at night, 
too, that it chiefly moves from place to place, as is proved by the frequency that 
it is killed by the flight shooter. The food of this beautiful Duck is principally 
composed of the roots, stems, leaves, and juicy rhizomes of aquatic plants, arrow- 
grass, sagittarias and horn-worts; but insects and their larvee, worms, mollusks, 
frogs, fish spawn, and occasionally small fish are eaten. The Red-crested Pochard 
is most active in search of food early in the morning, but during the great heat of 
the Indian day it frequently floats out into the centre of the water to sleep, and 
here it is usually very quiet. The call-note of this species is a deep grating 
kurr; but the male in addition now and then utters a whistling cry, both on the 
water and during flight. The flesh of this Duck varies considerably in quality for 
table purposes, probably a good deal owing to diet. 

25 


386 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Red-crested Pochard com- 
mences late in April or early in May in some localities, not before June in others. 
The nest is rarely made far from the water, and an island covered with flags and 
other aquatic vegetation is selected where possible. It is made amongst the 
herbage on the ground, of dead rushes, leaves, and other vegetable refuse, and 
lined with a warm bed of down from the female’s breast. Nests found by Canon 
Tristram in Algeria, are described as being like that of the Coot, but not so large. 
The eggs are from seven to ten in number, and described by Salvin as “a most 
brilliant fresh green colour when unblown; the contents were no sooner expelled, 
and the egg dry, than the delicate tints were gone, and their beauty sadly 
diminished.” They are greyish-olive after being in collections for some time, 
and measure on an average 2°3 inches in length by 1°6 inch in breadth. The 
down tufts are apparently undescribed. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Netta, with the head 
and upper neck chestnut, and the bill vermilion (adult male); with the axillaries 
white, with no white alar speculum, and with the head and neck yellowish-white 
speckled with black (adult female). Length, 20 to 22 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 387 


Genus NYROCA, or Pochards. 
Type, NYROCA AFRICANA. 


Nyroca, of Fleming (1822).—The birds in the present genus are charac- 
terised by having the primaries marked with grey, the indentations of the upper 
mandible prominent, the bill smooth at the base, and not widening out towards 
the tip. 

Ten species are included in the present genus, two of which, however, are at 
present of doubtful rank. The Pochards are practically cosmopolitan in their 
distribution. Two species are included as British, one indigenous to our Islands, 
and the other an abnormal migrant to them. 

The Pochards are found upon fresh water and in maritime localities, showing 
a decided preference for pools and lakes containing plenty of cover. Their 
movements on the Jand are awkward, but in the water these birds swim and dive 
with ease. They are social and gregarious, especially during the non-breeding 
season. Their flight is rapid and strong, if somewhat laboured at its commence- 
ment. They feed both by day and night on animal and vegetable substances, 
the diet varying a good deal in the several species. Their notes are harsh and 
unmusical. They are monogamous. Their rude, down-lined nests are made 
amongst the herbage or float some distance from shore amidst reeds and rushes. 
Their eggs are numerous, and various shades of grey or buff in colour. 


388 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDAL. Genus NyrRoca. 
Subfamily FunreuLinez. 


WHITE-EYED POCHARD. 


NYROCA AFRICANA (Gmelin). 


Anas nyroca, Gild. Nov. Comm. Petrop. xiv. p. 403 (1769). 

Fuligula nyroca (Gild.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 113 (1852); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. 
iii. p. 571 (1885); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 418 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. 
B. pt. xiv. (1890); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 167 (1894); 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 44, pl. 14 (1896). 

Nyroca ferruginea (Gmel.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 581, pl. 488 (1872). 

Nyroca africana (Gmel.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 345 (1895). 

Nyroca nyroca (Gild.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 9 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The White-eyed Pochard is 
a rare and irregular straggler to our area on spring and autumn migration, most 
frequently met with in the eastern counties of England. Norfolk heads the list 
with about a score examples; others have been obtained in Suffolk, Cambridge- 
shire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire. Northumberland, Cumberland, Lan- 
cashire and Dorset can each claim an example; Devon can now claim two 
examples ; Radnorshire another; and Oxfordshire no less than four. There are 
three occurrences on record for Scotland, and six for Ireland, Foreign: 
Southern Palearctic region ; parts of Oriental regionin winter. This Pochard is 
of only accidental occurrence in the Canaries, Denmark, and the Baltic Provinces. 
It breeds throughout Europe in suitable localities as far north as Holland, 
Germany, and in Russia up to Moscow, Kazan, and Ekaterinburg. It is found in 
summer only in the northern portions of this area, but is a resident in the basin 
of the Mediterranean (although it is not known to breed in Egypt), Black and 
Caspian Seas, its numbers being increased in winter. In Asia, Finsch is the 
only authority for the occurrence of this species in Siberia, where he states 
positively that he saw it as far north as the Arctic Circle, in the valley of the 
Obb. It breeds, however, throughout Turkestan and Cashmere, and most 
probably in Mongolia. Many of these Asiatic birds pass through Afghanistan on 
migration and winter in India and Northern Burmah. 


Allied forms.—Nyroca baeri an inhabitant of Eastern Asia from the 
valley of the Obb to Kamtschatka, southwards to China and Japan. The Eastern 
representative of the White-eyed Pochard having the head and upper neck black 


shot with green. Hleven examples of this Hastern Pochard were recently obtained 
(February, 1897) in the Calcutta Bazaar. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 389 


Habits.—The movements of the White-eyed Pochard are almost exactly 
similar to those of the preceding species. Like that bird, the present Duck is 
sedentary in the warm climate of the Mediterranean basin, but migratory further 
east in the colder regions of Turkestan. In Cashmere it is chiefly a resident, but 
to the remainder of India it is a well-known and abundant winter visitor, arriving 
towards the end of October and leaving in March and April. Its haunts are very 
similar to those of the Red-crested Pochard, moderately deep broads and lakes 
where weeds abound, and occasionally rivers and ponds. Hume states that in 
India it is very seldom seen in open water, clinging to the cover of the reeds 
and rushes, but certainly in other parts of the world it may as often as not be 
observed far out from shore in the exposed portions of its haunt. It is also loth 
to rise from its retreats, skulking close among the aquatic vegetation until 
compelled by the advancing boat to rise. Its flight is moderately quick, the bird 
rising with considerable effort, invariably against the wind, and very often after 
flying in a straight course for a little way dropping suddenly into cover again. 
This Duck is not seen much on land, and its waddling gait is said to be even 
more clumsy than that of its congeners. The water is the home of the White- 
eyed Pochard, and there it swims well and quickly, and dives, according to 
Hume, with Satanic speed. ‘Indeed,’ he writes, ‘‘ what becomes of them is 
often a puzzle; the instant that, wounded, they touch the water, they disappear, 
and not unfrequently that is the last you see of them; at most they only rise 
once or twice, and then disappear for good. It is a waste of time to pursue 
them ; if they do rise, give them instantly a second barrel.” In India this Duck 
is not very gregarious, the flocks, even when large, being scattered about here 
and there among the cover, never rising en masse, but individually or in twos and 
threes as the birds may chance to be flushed. In Egypt, however, the very 
reverse is the case. There Captain Shelley observed them in vast compact 
flocks, keeping to the centre of the lake, and the noise made by their beating 
wings and pattering feet striking the water as they rose, was audible for a 
distance of two miles! The White-eyed Pochard obtains most of its food by 
diving and bringing up the weeds to the surface, where they are eaten. Some- 
times it remains under the surface for nearly two minutes, but when feeding half 
that time is the usual period. Occasionally it feeds on the surface, picking at 
the floating weed or the insects and shells clinging to the leaves. It is for 
the most part a day feeder, and where plenty of food is available seldom wanders 
from its haunts; in districts, however, where the water is not very well stocked, 
it starts off at dusk to better quarters, but this appears to be quite exceptional. 
The food of this Duck is composed principally of vegetable substances, aquatic 
plants, seeds of grass, rushes, and sedge; but insects and their larve, small 
mollusks, shrimps, worms, grubs, and even tiny fish are eaten. The note of this 
Pochard is described as a harsh kirr kere kirr, invariably uttered as the bird 
rises startled from the cover. The flesh of the White-eyed Pochard is said by 


390 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Hume to be very inferior; but Irby, on the other hand, informs us that it is 
excellent. Hither this is purely a matter of taste, or due to a difference in 
the food of the bird. 


Nidification.—The White-eyed Pochard is a late breeder in the extreme 
eastern and southern portions of its range, not laying before June ; but in Spain 
and Central Europe it is at least a month or five weeks earlier. The nest is 
usually made among the reeds and rushes at the margin of the pool, either 
on land, or more or less floating on masses of rotten fallen vegetation or drifting 
weed. Occasionally, however, it is built on a tuft of sedge or rush; and it has 
been found carefully concealed in a bush several feet from the ground. It is 
made of dry rushes, sedge, and other vegetable refuse, the finer materials being 
used for the interior, which is again lined with down and a few feathers from 
the body of the female. The eggs are from eight to fourteen in number, ten 
being an average clutch, and are pale creamy-brown, a delicate café au lait hue, 
faintly tinged with green. They are smooth and fine in texture, but show little 
gloss, and measure on an average 2°] inches in length by 1°49 inch in breadth. 
The down tufts are rather small and very dark brown ; but the late Lord Lilford, I 
notice, describes the down as ‘‘ brownish-white ”’ in a nest from which the female 
was shot in Southern Spain. Incubation, performed by the female, is said by 
Favier to last thirty days; Naumann affirms twenty-two to twenty-three days. 
It is not known that more than one brood is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial Plumage), Nyroca, with the head, 
neck, and upper breast rich chestnut, with a white spot on the chin, with a 
white alar speculum, and with the bill dark lead-blue or bluish-black (adult 
male); with a white alar speculum, with the head and neck pale chestnut, 
and with the under tail coverts and axillaries white (adult female). Length, 
16 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 391 


Family ANATIDA. Genus NyrRoca. 
Subfamily FULIGULINA. 


POCHARD. 
NYROCA FERINA—(Linneus). 


Anas ferina, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 230 (1766). 
Aythya ferina (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 103 (1852). 


Fuligula ferina (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 551, pl. 434 (1878); Seebohm, Hist. 
Brit. B. iii. p. 575 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 413 (1885); Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1890); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 239 (1893); 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 45, pl. 14 (1896). 


Nyroca ferina (Linn.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 335 (1895); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 5 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British: The Pochard is a common 
winter visitor to the United Kingdom, but many remain in spring to breed in our 
Islands. It is abundant in Scotland, including the Orkneys and Shetlands, but 
rarer in the Outer Hebrides. It breeds very locally in South Perthshire and in Fife- 
shire, in Moray, Ross and Roxburghshire ; as well as in Hoy (Orkney), as recorded 
by Messrs. Evans and Buckley. Itis equally common in Ireland in winter, and has 
been said to breed in the counties of Sligo, Antrim, Tipperary, Galway, Roscom- 
mon, Westmeath, and Meath. It is commonly distributed in England between 
autumn and spring, and breeds in Lancashire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Norfolk, 
some of the midland counties, and Dorset. Foreign: West-central Palearctic 
region ; parts of Oriental region in winter. This Pochard is an accidental visitor to 
the Faroes, Iceland, and Scandinavia. It breeds across Europe and Asia from the 
British Islands in the west to Lake Baikal in the east, as far north as Lake Ladoga, 
and as far south as the Caucasus in Europe; but in Asia not further north than 
Lake Baikal, southwards to North-western Mongolia and the lakes and swamps of 
South-western Siberia. Great numbers of the European birds winter in the 
basin of the Mediterranean ; and it is said that a few used to breed in Spain and 
Algeria. The Asiatic birds pass Turkestan on migration, and winter in Asia 
Minor, Persia, Afghanistan, India, and China. It was observed by Prjevalsky 
on migration in South-eastern Mongolia, and occurs during winter in Japan. 


392 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Nyroca americana, an inhabitant of the Nearctic region, 
considered by some authorities to be of doubtful distinctness, but by others to be 
worthy of specific rank. It is distinguished from the Pochard by having the back 
greyer in colour, by its unvermiculated white belly, and reddish-purple gloss on 
the neck, and by having no black at the base of the bill. The famous Canvass- 
back (N. vallisneria) of North America is somewhat closely allied to the Pochard. 


Habits.—The Pochard is best known as a winter visitor to the British 
Islands, arriving in October and leaving in March and April. These dates also 
correspond very well with the bird’s arrival in and departure from India, although 
it is a few weeks later in the extreme southern limits of its distribution there. 
Although met with commonly enough in our Islands on the coast in winter, in 
other localities it is almost exclusively confined to fresh water during that season. 
In India it prefers reedy meres and broads of moderate depth, where there is a 
considerable breadth of open water. Here it congregates in vast flocks, often 
covering acres of water in extent. Like its congeners, the Pochard is a thorough 
water bird, spending most of its time swimming and diving. It is comparatively 
rarely seen on land, where it walks in an awkward, waddling manner, but in the 
water it is the embodiment of easy grace, swimming rapidly, if rather low, diving 
with as much skill as a Grebe or an Auk, or chasing its companions in sportive 
mood under and above the surface. When once the bird gets fairly under weigh 
its flight is rather quick, but at first its movements are rather slow and laboured, 
and it rises with some apparent difficulty, against wind if possible, the wings 
making a very characteristic rustle as they rapidly beat the air. The Pochard 
feeds both by day and by night, but perhaps the most regularly and persistently 
during the latter. Asis usual with many other species of Duck, a considerable 
flight is often undertaken at dusk by birds frequenting waters where food is not 
very plentiful to waters better stocked. This Pochard obtains the greater part of 
its food by diving and bringing up masses of weeds, which are eaten after they 
are brought to the surface. Itis principally a vegetable feeder, and water weeds 
and marine plants are its favourite fare. It also eats considerable numbers of 
insects, worms, small fresh-water shells, and young frogs ; and when frequenting 
the coast, crustaceans and mollusks. Shot from fresh water the Pochard is 
excellent for the table, but birds killed on the coast are rarely palatable, owing 
to the stronger nature of their food. The note of this Pochard is a rather 
loud and harsh hurr. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Pochard in our Islands is in 
May, and fresh eggs may be obtained all through that month and the first half 
of June; farther south they are nearly a month earlier still. The nest is always 
near to fresh water, amongst the coarse grass and sedge and flags growing round 
the margins of pools and lakes, and in many instances is a floating structure, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 393 


built on a mass of fallen vegetation many yards from shore, in moderately deep 
water, or in a tuft of sedge surrounded by shallow water. The nest is made of 
dry grass, sedge, broken rushes and flags, or any other aquatic vegetable refuse 
that may chance to be readily available, warmly lined with down and a few 
feathers from the body of the female. The eggs are from eight to twelve, or 
even fourteen in number, ten being an average clutch, and are greenish-grey in 
colour. They measure on an average 24 inches in length by 1°7 inch in breadth. 
The down tufts are large, greyish-brown in colour, with dull white centres. 
When the female leaves the nest she carefully covers the eggs ; and to her alone 
is left all care of the brood. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Nyroca, with the head 
and neck chestnut, and the lower back and scapulars white vermiculated with 
black (adult male) ; with the axillaries white, with a varying amount of white 
vermiculations on the upper parts, and with no white alar speculum (adult 
female). Length, 17 to 19 inches. 


394 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus FULIGULA, or Scaups and Tufted Ducks. 
Type, FULIGULA CRISTATA. 


Fuligula, of Stephens (1824).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having the bill smooth at the base and flat, somewhat wider 
near the end than at the base, rather broad and short and much rounded at the 
tip, furnished with lamelle, not with saw-like teeth, with the rectrices soft and 
pliable ; and with no patches of emerald green on the head, which in adult males 
is glossy-black. The former characters separate them from the Mergansers and 
the Spine-tailed Ducks (non-British), whilst the latter character diagnoses them 
from the Hiders. The wings are rather short but pointed; tail somewhat 
variable in shape and in number of feathers. Three toes in front webbed; hind 
toe moderate and lobed. 

This genus is composed of five species, which are mostly distributed in the 
Nearctic and Palearctic regions, but one inhabits New Zealand. Three species 
are British. 

The Scaups and Tufted Ducks frequent maritime as well as more inland waters, 
but are most commonly distributed on salt water during winter, though some 
frequent fresh water always. They are birds of rapid yet somewhat laboured 
flight ; swim and dive with marvellous skill, but walk clumsily. They make their 
nests, lined with down, either in the ground or in holes in trees, and their numerous 
eggs range from buff to olive-brown and green in colour. They are monogamous ; 
more or less gregarious in winter. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 395 


Family ANATIDAE. Genus FULIGULA. 
Subfamily FULIGULINA. 


SCAUP. 
FULIGULA MARILA— (Linneus). 


Anas marila, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 196 (1766). 

Fuligula marila (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 116 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. vi. p. 
565, pl. 4386 (1878); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 579 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. 
ed. 4, iv. p. 423 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xv. (1890); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 169 (1894); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. 
p. 356 (1895); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 46, pl. 14 (1896); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 16 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Scaup is a common 
winter visitor to our Islands, confined to the coasts and estuaries, where it is 
widely distributed. It is least common in the Hebrides, and rare on the south 
coasts of Ireland. It is occasionally seen in summer in the Shetlands and other 
parts of Scotland. The very circumstantial account of this species breeding on 
Loch Leven, by Mr. A. C. Stark, published in the Proceedings of the Royal 
Physical Society of Edinburgh (vii. p. 203), and quoted by Mr. Saunders in his 
Manual of British Birds (although afterwards corrected in his appendix), turns 
out to be a myth, there being no doubt whatever that the Tufted Duck had been 
confused with and mistaken for it! Foreign: Northern Palearctic and Nearctic 
regions, more southerly in winter; parts of Oriental region in winter. The 
Scaup breeds in the Faroes, and still more commonly in Iceland. It also does 
so throughout the Arctic regions of Europe and Asia, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific as far north as lat. 70°, and at high elevations on the mountains of South 
Scandinavia. In America it breeds as far north as 70° from east to west, but not 
lower than the Hudson Bay Territory. The European birds winter on the coasts 
of the Baltic, and those of the southern German Ocean not so commonly on the 
Spanish coasts and the basin of the Mediterranean, but becoming more frequent 
in the Black Sea and on the south coasts of the Caspian. In North-east Africa 
it has been met with as low as Abbyssinia. The Asiatic birds appear to winter 
in Persia, North-western India, the Lake Baikal district, China, Formosa, and 
Japan. The American birds winter on the great lakes and rivers of the interior 
as well as on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, down to 
Mexico and Central America. 


396 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—Fuligula afinis, a small race confined to the Nearctic 
region (measuring 1} inches less in length of wing than large European birds, 
and three-quarters of an inch less than small ones) and the head glossed with 
purple instead of green; of very doubtful distinctness. As the two forms inter- 
grade, and as their geographical area on the American continent is the same, the 
most that can be claimed for them is a subspecific distinction. According to Dr. 
Stejneger, the typical Scaup F. marila is confined to the Palearctic region. In 
the far east of this area, ‘‘ Pacific coast of Asia from Japan southward,” another 
subspecies is distinguished under the name of F. afinis mariloides (Vigors), a 
representative race of the Nearctic F. affinis ; whilst the second American form, 
the most nearly allied representative of I’. marila, is separated under the name 
of F. marila nearctica. Count Salvadori, however, is unable fully to support 
these conclusions. (Conf. Bulletin, U.S. Nat. Mus. No. 29, p. 161, 1885.) 


Habits.—The Scaup begins to arrive on the most northerly coasts of the 
British Islands in September, but is nearly a month later in the south. The 
return migration begins in March and lasts through April into May, the Scaup 
being among the last of the migratory Ducks to leave our coasts. In the Arctic 
regions it arrives with the break up of the ice towards the end of May, or early in 
June, The Scaup during winter is for the most part a dweller on or near the sea, 
resorting to quiet bays and estuaries, especially where a considerable amount of 
mud is exposed at low tide. It may, however, be frequently met with on fresh 
inland waters at that season, and in summer is fond of lakes and wild, swampy 
districts. During winter this Duck often congregates into large flocks, and 
associates with various other species, notably with Wigeon and Pintail ; whilst in 
summer it still remains very sociable and gathers into parties to feed. Like all 
its allies it is an accomplished diver, and spends most of its time on the water, 
where it swims well and rather high, but if alarmed it slowly sinks much lower. 
As a rule it prefers to dive rather than to fly in avoiding pursuit. When flushed 
it rises slowly and with considerable splashing effort, but when once well up it 
progresses with considerable speed, its short, quickly-beating wings making a 
whistling or rustling sound. The call-note of this Duck is a most harsh and 
discordant scawp, but an equally hoarse and grating kurr is uttered, especially 
during flight or under sexual excitement. The food of the Scaup, which is 
mostly obtained by diving, consists of mollusks, crustaceans, and great quantities 
of marine weeds growing in the haunts of the bird. Probably in summer 
it is more of a vegetable than an animal nature. Sometimes when diving for 
food the Scaup will remain under the surface for quite a minute. The Scaup 
feeds a good deal at night, and, like most other Ducks that habitually do so, it 
passes regularly from its usual haunts to its feeding grounds. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Scaup commences in May in 
some localities where the climate is open, but a month later in the colder regions 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 397 


of Northern Europe and Asia. It is most probable that this Duck pairs for life, 
as all the winter it may be noticed swimming in pairs, and even the large flocks 
are made up of about equal numbers of ducks and drakes. The nest is made by 
the waterside among willows and junipers, or on a bank where the ground is 
clothed with sedge tufts and various species of the order Ericacee, or bilberries, 
cranberries, and the like. In Iceland Proctor found it among large stones near 
the water’s edge. The nest is made in a hollow in the ground of dry grass, bits 
of sedge, and withered leaves, warmly lined with down as the eggs are deposited. 
The usual number of eggs is eight or nine; but where several females lay in the 
same nest, as is sometimes the case, Dr. Kruper found as many as twenty-two. 
They are pale greenish-grey, and measure on an average 2°6 inches in length by 
17 inch in breadth. The down tufts are large, dark brown in colour, with pale 
centres. One brood only is reared in the year, the female taking all charge. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Fuligula, with the crown 
and neck metallic-green and purple, and the lower back and scapulars white 
vermiculated with black (adult male) ; with a white alar speculum and axillaries, 
and with a varying amount of white vermiculations on the upper parts (adult 
female). Length, 18 inches. 


398 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDAL. Genus FULIGULA. 
Subfamily FULIGULINZ. 


TUFTED DUCK. 


FULIGULA CRISTATA--(Leach). 
Prats XXXVIII. 
Anas fuligula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 207 (1766). 
Fuligula cristata (Leach xec Gmel.), Macgill. Brit. B. v.p. 121 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Hur. vi. 
p. 573, pl. 437 (1879) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 583 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, 
iv. p. 430 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xiii. (1890); Dixon, Nests and Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 240 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 47, pl. 13 (1896). 


Fuligula fuligula (Linn.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 363 (1895) ; Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 12 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Tufted Duck is a fairly 
common winter visitor to most of the low-lying coasts as well as to many of the 
inland waters of the British area. It breeds locally throughout the British 
Islands, and in numbers which are steadily increasing in many districts. British 
breeding area :—England: Nottinghamshire (Newstead, Clumber, Rainworth, 
‘Welbeck, and Rufford), Norfolk, Sussex, Dorset, Devonshire, Hertfordshire, 
Shropshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Northumberland. Scotland: Roxburgh- 
shire, Perthshire, Kinross-shire, and Aberdeenshire. Ireland: Loughs Neagh 
and Beg and in some parts of Co. Monaghan; also, according to Mr. Ussher, in 
Fermanagh, Roscommon, and Sligo, and probably on the lakes in Longford and 
Westmeath. Foreign: Palearctic region; parts of Oriental region in winter. 
It is said to breed sparingly in the Faroes and to have occurred in Greenland. 
In Europe the regular breeding area of this species reaches little if any above the 
Arctic circle, although the bird has been obtained in Scandinavia up to lat. 70°. 
Southwards it breeds in all suitable localities to about lat. 50°. Hastwards its 
regular breeding area scarcely reaches the Arctic circle in the west, although the 
bird has been obtained in the valley of the Yenisei up to lat. 68°; whilst on 
the Pacific coast it drops down to lat. 62°. It breeds throughout Southern 
Siberia ; the Asiatic birds winter in Japan, China, and India, abnormal migrants 
even reaching Malaysia and Polynesia. The European birds winter in South 
Europe and Northern Africa as low as Abyssinia. 


Allied forms.— Fuligula collaris, an inhabitant of the Nearctic region and 
the New World representative of the Tufted Duck. A “ British” species and 
dealt with fully in the following chapter. Distinguished from the Tufted Duck by 
its much shorter crest, chestnut collar, and pale grey instead of white speculum. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 399 


Habits.—During its sojourn in our Islands the Tufted Duck is for the most 
part a coast bird, those that frequent inland waters being the resident individuals 
that breed with us or birds that have been enticed by them. The Tufted Duck 
makes its appearance in the British Islands towards the end of October or early 
in November, and remains until the following March or April. They arrive at 
their Arctic haunts with the thaw and leave in September or October. Their 
arrival in and departure from India is about at the same time as in England. 
The principal haunts of this Duck with us are the low-lying coasts, especially in 
the neighbourhood of mud-banks and estuaries. In India it prefers large sheets 
of water with plenty of weed at the bottom and plenty of reeds and rushes round 
the margin. Odd pairs and small parties also frequent the smaller ponds where 
food and cover are suitable; but the large flocks of this bird that congregate in 
that country in the cold season, sometimes ten thousand strong, are invariably 
found on the extensive sheets of water. The Tufted Duck migrates at night, 
generally in large flocks, and on passage will often pay a fleeting visit to some 
lake or pool en route. It is also nocturnal in its habits, seeking most of its food 
at night, in this country, but, curiously enough, Hume remarks that they are 
day feeders in India. The flight of this Pochard is rapid and well sustained, 
smooth and easy, but the rapidly-beaten wings make a characteristic rustling 
sound. In rising the bird strikes the water with its feet something like a Coot, 
so that when a large flock takes wing together the splashing can be heard for a 
long distance. It swims well and rapidly, sitting rather low in the water, and, 
of course, dives with marvellous speed and skill, sometimes remaining below for 
a minute or more. During the day the Tufted Duck usually keeps well out from 
shore, often sleeping and preening its plumage whilst in the centre of the lake. 
It rarely visits land, and always tries to evade pursuit by diving if possible; and 
Hume states that after a gun has been fired he has seen a large flock of several 
hundred birds dive simultaneously as if moved by a common impulse! The 
Tufted Duck is not a very noisy bird, especially during winter, but occasionally 
utters a harsh kurr-kurr as it rises alarmed from the water. The food of this 
species consists of aquatic insects, worms, grubs, lizards, frogs, spawn, and small 
fish ; whilst the roots, stems, leaves, and buds of water plants are also eaten. 
After having fed inland chiefly on vegetable diet the flesh of this Duck is by no 
means unpalatable, but birds shot on the coast are rank and fishy in flavour. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Tufted Duck commences about 
the middle of May in some localities, the end of May or early in June in others. 
Its favourite breeding grounds are on tbe banks of meres and lakes, and in 
marshy districts full of small ponds. This Duck may probably pair for life, as in 
districts where the fact can be observed the duck and drake swim and fly in 
company for the greater part of the year. The nest is either built amongst the 
rushes, in the centre of tufts of sedge, in long, coarse grass, or under a stunted 


400 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


bush, always, however, near to the water. It is merely a hollow in which is 
arranged a little dry grass or other vegetable refuse and lined with plenty of 
down from the female. The eggs are usually eight or ten in number, sometimes 
several more are found. They are greenish-buff, smooth in texture, and rather 
polished, and measure on an average 2'3 inches in length by 1°6 inch in breadth. 
The down tufts are small, dark greyish-black with obscure pale centres. But one 
brood is reared in the year, and the female takes sole charge of the young. 
Incubation lasts from twenty-five to twenty-eight days. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage) Fuligula, with the crown 
and neck metallic green and purple, with a conspicuous crest, and with only dust- 
like traces of vermiculations on the upper parts (adult male) ; with white axillaries 
and alar speculum, and with dark brown unvermiculated head, neck, and upper 
parts (adult female). Length, 16 to 17 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 401 


Family ANATIDA. Genus FULIGULA, 
Subfamily FULIGULINA. 


RING-NECKED DUCK. 
FULIGULA COLLARIS—(Donovan). 


Anas collaris, Donovan, Brit. B. vi. pl. exlvii. (1809). 
Anas fuligula (ec Linn.), Wilson, Am. Orn. viii. p. 66, pl. 67, fig. 5 (1814). 


Fuligula collaris (Donovan), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. pp. 584, 610 (1885) ; Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 355 (1894) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 
xxvii. p. 370 (1895). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Ring-necked Duck, like 
the American Bittern, was first made known to science from an example 
obtained in England. In connection with this matter we are not disposed to rob 
Donovan of the honour of his discovery by transferring it to Lewis and Clarke, 
by whom Dr. Coues endeavours to prove the bird had been previously obtained 
near the mouth of the Columbia River. For just upon a century ornithologists 
appear to have ignored the claim of this species to a place in the British list, 
whilst many other birds have been admitted upon much less slender evidence. 
We are at a loss to account for this, and shall here take the opportunity of 
reinstating the Ring-necked Duck to our list of abnormal migrants to the British 
Islands. It has certainly an equal, if not a better, right to be so included than 
such species as the Griffon Vulture and the Black-browed Albatross, both of 
which can only claim a similar single record. This solitary example of the 
Ring-necked Duck was obtained in Leadenhall Market in London some time in 
January, 1801. Foreign: Nearctic region; extreme north of the Neotropical 
region during winter. The Ring-necked Duck breeds sparingly, at least, as far 
south as Minneapolis in Minnesota, and at Clear Lake in Iowa; thence north- 
wards, in larger numbers, across Canada to the Arctic regions of America. Its 
principal breeding grounds are probably in the high north, although it is some- 
what remarkable that Macfarlane failed to meet with the nest of this Duck. It 
passes southwards over the United States to winter, extending, at that season, 
to Guatemala and the West Indies. It is an abnormal migrant to the Bermudas. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. It is 
probably most nearly allied to the Tufted Duck (Fuligula cristata) of the Old 
World, although very distinct from it. 

26 


402 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The migrations of the Ring-necked Duck are by no means the 
least interesting portion of the bird’s life history. In northern Minnesota this 
species is widely known as the “Fall Duck,” doubtless, because it is so abundant 
in that area during the fall or autumn migration. Its passage up the Mississippi 
Valley in spring takes place during March and April: the return migration is 
performed during October and November. According to Wilson this Duck shows 
more preference for inland waters than the open sea. Most meagre details of 
the habits of the Ring-necked Duck have been recorded, but they doubtless do 
not differ much from those of allied species. The favourite haunts of the Ring- 
necked Duck seem to be streams and lakes rather than the open coast. It does 
not appear to be anything like so gregarious during winter as its Old World 
representative the Tufted Duck, the flocks consisting of a dozen or twenty 
individuals—perhaps a brood and its parents. To the wild fowlers of Long 
Island this Duck is widely known as the ‘“‘ Bastard Broad-bill,” a term indicating 
the popular belief that the bird is a hybrid. Like kindred species, the Ring- 
necked Duck obtains most of its food by diving in deep water ; but it also seeks 
for sustenance by dabbling amongst the roots of grasses and other vegetation on 
the banks. Its food consists of aquatic insects, snails, worms, small fishes, frogs 
and the buds, seeds and leaves of various plants. It swims well and buoyantly, 
and, like the Scaup, is said to keep raising its head, erecting the bushy plumage 
of the occiput and uttering a note similar to the ‘“‘ sound produced by a person 
blowing through a tube.” It rises from the water or the land with little effort, 
and its flight is rapid and often lofty, the individuals of a flock frequently 
scattering when disturbed. During winter small parties of Ring-necked Ducks 
frequently associate with allied species, and these may often be seen flying quite 
close to the surface of the water. The flesh of this Duck is described as being 
of excellent quality, according to Audubon, tender and juicy, and without that 
fishy flavour that generally renders most ‘‘ Black Ducks” almost uneatable, 
especially when shot off salt water. 


Nidification.—I find but little recorded of the nesting habits of the Ring- 
necked Duck. Its favourite breeding-grounds appear to be in the vicinity of 
lakes and rivers. The bird is decidedly sociable during summer, and more than 
one observer has remarked several pairs breeding in company. The nesting 
season begins in May, the more northern breeding individuals being of course 
the latest. The nest, usually well concealed, is generally placed amongst reeds, 
dense grass and other vegetation on the margin of the water, sometimes in a 
bog, and is made of dry grass and leaves, to which down and feathers are added 
as the period of incubation advances. The eggs, ten or twelve in number, are 
described in Messrs. Baird, Brewer and Ridgway’s standard work on the birds of 
North America, to which I am largely indebted for my account of this species, 
as greyish ivory-white, sometimes the greyish tinge being replaced by buff. They 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 403 


measure on an average 2°1 inches in Jength, by 1°65 inch in breadth. One brood 
only appears to be reared in the season, but whether the male takes any share in 
the duty, observers fail to inform us. Doubtless the female alone takes sole 
charge of eggs and brood. The period of incubation, so far as I can ascertain, 
has not been recorded. Hybrids between this species and Nyroca americana 
have been recorded by Professor Newton (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1860, pl. clxvii.), and 
by Leverte (Journ. Orn. 1890, p. 224). 


Diagnostic characters.—Fuligula, with the speculum bluish-grey ; 
and in males in breeding dress with a varyingly distinct chestnut ring round the 
neck. Length, 17 inches. 


404 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus CHARITONETTA, or Buffel=headed Ducks. 
Type, CHARITONETTA ALBEOLA. 


Charitonetta, of Stejneger (1885).—Although perhaps the majority of 
ornithologists include the Buffel-Head with the Golden-eyes, under the generic 
term of Clangula, there can be no doubt that this species is quite as worthy of 
generic distinction as certain other members of the present subfamily. Among 
the more important characters of this genus pointed out by Stejneger as dis- 
tinctive from Clangula, may be mentioned the nostrils, which are situated in the 
anterior portion of the posterior half of the bill instead of the reverse; they are 
also rather narrow and the tubercle is visible. The outer toe without the claw 
is decidedly longer than the middle one; and lastly the tail is rather long, more 
than twice the length of the metatarsus. 

But one species of Buffel-headed Duck is known. It is an abnormal migrant 
to the British Islands, and its distribution, habits, and general characteristics 
will be fully described in the following chapter. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 405 


Family ANATIDA. Genus CHARITONETTA. 
Subfamily FunicuLinz, 


BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK. 
CHARITONETTA ALBEOLA—(Linneus). 


Anas albeola, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 199 (1766). 

Clangula albeola (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 185 (1852); Dresser, B. Hur. vi. p. 
589, pl. 439 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 442 (1885); Dixon, Nests and 
Eggs Non-indig. Brit, B. p. 178 (1894); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 385 
(1895) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx (1895). 

Fuligula albeola (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 588 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xi. (1889); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 48 (1896). 


Charitonetta albeola (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 24 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Buffel-headed Duck is a 
very rare straggler to our Islands. Its claim to rank as “ British” rests on the 
following evidence :—England: Norfolk (one example), winter, 1830; Yorkshire 
(one example), winter, 1864-65. Scotland: Aberdeenshire (one example), January, 
1865 ; Loch Strathbeg (one example), no date. Ireland: Although there is some 
evidence that this species has visited Ireland, nothing can be stated positively 
until an example be secured. Foreign: Northern Nearctic region ; more southerly 
in winter. It breeds throughout Arctic America up to the limit of forest growth, 
and as far south as Maine and Wisconsin. It winters in the United States, 
California, the West Indies, and Mexico, and occasionally visits the Bermudas on 
abnormal passage, whilst it has occurred in Greenland on the east and Behring 
Island on the west. 


Allied forms.— None nearer than Clangula glaucion and allied races, the 
former a British species, and dealt with fully in the following chapter. 


Habits.—So far as they are known the habits of the Buffel-headed Duck 
resemble very closely those of its near ally, the Golden-eye. Like that species it 
is much attached to inland waters, and only appears to seek the sea when its 
other retreats are sealed by ice. It flies well and strongly, swims quickly, and 
dives with such astounding speed that in some localities it is known by the name 
of “ Spirit Duck.’ Its note is a somewhat grating and feeble kur. The food of 


406 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


this species consists of the buds, roots, stems, and leaves of aquatic plants, worms. 
mollusks, crustaceans, etc. Most of this is obtained by diving. During winter 
this Duck usually consorts in small flocks, but sometimes gathers into greater 
numbers during severe weather when its feeding grounds are more restricted. 


Nidification.—According to latitude and climate the breeding season of 
the Buffel-headed Duck begins in May or June. Like the Golden-Eye it breeds 
in hollow trees, sometimes as much as twenty feet from the ground. No particular 
species of tree seems selected; all that is desired is a suitable hole. No nest is 
made, and the eggs are laid on the decayed powdered wood at the bottom of the 
hole, which is, however, eventually lined with down, plucked from the body of the 
female. They are from six to ten in number, and pale greenish-grey in colour. 
They measure on an average 2°0 inches in Jength by 1°45 inch in breadth. 
Although several observers have been very careful to inform us that the nest hole 
contained a quantity of down, none of them have deemed it sufficiently important 
to describe it ; it probably resembles that of the Golden-eye. "Whether the male 


takes any share in domestic duties is unknown, as is also the period of 
incubation. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage) Charitonetta, with the 
axillaries brown and with a large white patch on the side of the head, commencing 
behind the eye (both sexes). Length, 14 to 15 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 407 


Genus CLANGULA, or Golden-eyes. 
Type, CLANGULA GLAUCION. 


Clangula, of Leach (1819)—The birds in the present genus are charac- 
terised by having the primaries uniform brown or unmirrored with grey. The 
head is well crested; the bill strong; the edges of the upper mandible not bent 
inwardly ; the nostrils situated in the posterior portion of the anterior half, 
rather broad, and the tubercle invisible. The outer and middle toes are of equal 
length ; the tail is rather short, less than twice the length of the metatarsus. 

This genus contains but two species distributed over the northern portions of 
the Palearctic and Nearctic regions. One of these is a well-known British 
species, and the other has been included in our list but on unreliable evidence. 

The Golden-eyes are inhabitants of both fresh water and marine localities. 
They are more or less migratory. They swim and dive with marvellous skill, 
but their movements on the land are clumsy and their gait waddling. The are 
to some extent gregarious during winter and on passage. Their flight is power- 
ful, and accompanied by a peculiar rushing or whistling noise. Their notes are 
harsh and unmusical. Their food is chiefly of an animal character, but vegetable 
substances are also eaten. They are monogamous. They nest in holes of trees, 
and their numerous eggs are greyish-green in colour. 


408 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus CLANGULA. 
Subfamily FULIGULINE. 


GOLDEN-EYE. 


CLANGULA GLAUCION—(Linneus). 


Anas clangula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 201 (1766). 
Anas glaucion, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 201 (1766). 
Clangula chrysophthalma, Stephens; Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 174 (1852). 


Clangula glaucion (Linn.), Dresser, B. Hur. vi. p. 595, pl. 440 (1875); Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed. 4, iv. p. 485 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 179 
(1894) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 376 (1895). 

Fuligula clangula (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 590 (1885); Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xi. (1889); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 48, pl. 13 (1896). 


Clangula clangula (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 20 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Golden-eye is a common 
winter visitor to the coasts and inland waters of the British Islands, including 
the Orkneys and Shetlands, but in the Outer Hebrides it is perhaps less numerous. 
It is equally common in Ireland, both inland and on the coast. The statement 
that this bird has bred in a hollow tree in Sutherlandshire is still unconfirmed, 
as is also Saxby’s opinion that it bred in the Shetlands. Joreign : Northern 
Palearctic and Nearctic regions, more southerly in winter; small portion of the 
Oriental region in winter. The Golden-eye is rare in the Faroes, and has been only 
recently proved to inhabit Iceland. It breeds throughout the Arctic and Subarctic 
regions of Europe and Asia as far north as the limit of forest growth. In Europe 
it breeds as far south as Northern Germany, Pomerania, and the Caucasus; in 
Asia it does so throughout Siberia, south of the limits already given. During 
winter it visits the coasts of Western Europe and the basin of the Mediterranean, 
but is very rare on the southern shores. The basins of the Black and Caspian 
Seas are also winter quarters of this species. The birds breeding in Siberia 
pass Mongolia on migration (although those inhabiting the Baikal basin are 
said to be resident, and many remain to winter in Mongolia), and spend the 
cold season in Turkestan, Upper India, China and Japan. In the Nearctic 
region it breeds in British North America and Alaska, up to the limit of forest 
growth and winters in the Southern States, Mexico, and parts of the West 
Indies, 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 409 


Allied forms.—The Nearctic Golden-eyes have been separated from the 
Palearctic individuals by American ornithologists under the name of Clangula 
glaucion americana, because they are said to be a trifle larger. Whether 
this race is worthy of subspecific rank is yet by no means proved, Count 
Salvadori asserting that he is unable to distinguish the two races specifically. 
C. islandica, an inhabitant of much the same area in the Nearctic region as 
C. glaucion, but extending to Greenland and Iceland. It is distinguished from 
the Golden-eye by having the white on the sides of the head extending in the form 
of a crescent in front of the eye: females and young birds are indistinguish- 
able from those of the Old World species. This species has been included 
in the British list on the faith of a female example, said to have been shot 
at the mouth of the Derwent! There is no evidence whatever to confirm this. 


Habits.—The Golden-eye is certainly more addicted to fresh water than 
the sea, and so long as its inland haunts remain open it remains upon them; 
continued frost sends it to the coast, where it is most partial to low-lying 
muds and estuaries. This Duck arrives on the British coasts and inland 
waters about the middle of October and remains with us until the following 
April, although immature birds have been noticed as late as the end of May. 
Prjevalsky found small numbers of these birds wintering on Lake Hanka, on 
the open part of the river Sungatch in Mongolia (N. lat. 44°); but late in 
March and early in April they become very plentiful. At the large lake of 
Koko-Nor (N. lat. 37°), situated at an elevation of 10,000 feet, they arrived on 
the 4th of March and became numerous towards the middle of the month; 
whilst at Dalai-Nor (in N. lat. 43°) they arrived at the end of March and early 
in April, congregating on those parts of the lake that were free from ice. The 
migration south in autumn takes place in September and October. Stoliczka 
observed numbers at Lake Sirikul, on the Pamir, at an elevation of 10,000 feet, 
in May, when most of the water was covered with ice. From these facts it will 
be gathered that the Golden-eye is a hardy species, apt to linger in its favourite 
haunts until the frosts seal them and stop its food supplies, and returning as 
soon as open water is to be found. The Golden-eye is not a very gregarious 
bird, and its flocks are generally small, but in restricted feeding areas it is apt to 
congregate in larger numbers. Like all its congeners it dives with wonderful 
skill, swims well and lightly, but is apt to sink its body when alarmed. Its flight 
is strong and rapid, and the bird usually strikes its feet in the water several 
times until fairly off, especially when there is no wind; then, however, it is seen 
to get up with little effort. The wings as they rapidly beat the air make 
a peculiar rushing whistling sound, hence the bird’s Latin name of clangula. 
This Duck almost invariably seeks to escape sudden danger by diving and 
appearing again at a much safer distance. It is ever a vigilant bird, and even 
when a small flock is busy feeding they never all dive together, one or two 


410 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


remaining on the surface to watch over the rest. The Golden-eye does not 
visit the land much, and there its waddling gait is clumsy and awkward enough ; 
it spends most of its time on the water. At its breeding grounds, however, it 
frequently perches on trees, probably because it makes its nest in holes in their 
limbs and trunks. The note of the Golden-eye is a low, croaking kurr, uttered 
during flight as well as when at rest. The food of this species, which is mostly 
obtained by diving, consists of small fish, crustaceans, testaceous mollusks, 
insects, and various aquatic weeds and plants. Its flesh is not only dark in 
colour but unpalatable. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Golden-eye begins soon after 
the ice breaks up in its Arctic and subarctic haunts towards the end of May, and 
the eggs are laid from that date onwards until near the end of June. It is very 
probable that this Duck pairs for life and uses the same nesting site annually. 
The eggs are laid in holes of trees, often as much as twenty-five feet from the 
ground, although Naumann asserts (probably where suitable holes cannot be 
found) that this Duck frequently makes its nest amongst rushes and other 
aquatic vegetation, and on the top of a pollard, either near to the water or at some 
considerable distance from it. When ina hole, no nest is made beyond a warm 
and plentiful lining of down and a few feathers plucked from the body of the 
parent. It should be remarked that the Golden-eye never attempts to bore 
a hole for itself, but selects one ready for the purpose, often the deserted nest 
of a Black Woodpecker. The Lapp and Finnish peasants are in the habit of 
placing boxes and hollow trunks for this bird to breed in, and from which they 
regularly and judiciously remove the eggs. The partiality of this bird for 
a nesting site near a waterfall or quick-flowing stream has been noticed by 
several observers. The eggs are usually from ten to thirteen in number, but 
exceptionally as many as nineteen have been found. They are bright greyish- 
green, smooth in texture, and somewhat glossy, and measure on an average 
23 inches in length by 1°6 inch in breadth. The down tufts are moderate in 
size and pale lavender-grey in colour, with paler and obscure centres. The 
young are conveyed to the water one by one, pressed between the female’s bill 
and her breast. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Clangula, with the head 
and upper neck metallic green, with a white patch at the base of the bill, not 
extending above the eye, and with the scapulary region striped with white (adult 
male); with the axillaries brown, with a white alar speculum, and with the 
under tail coverts white (adult female). Length, 16 to 19 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 411 


Genus COSMONETTA, or Harlequin Ducks. 
Type, COSMONETTA HISTRIONICA. 


Cosmonetta, of Kaup (1829).—The Harlequin Ducks are distinguished 
by having the primaries uniform brown. The head is uncrested; the bill is 
conical, the base of the upper mandible overlapping the tomium, and the base of 
lower mandible for some distance being covered with a soft naked membrane. 
The peculiar colour-pattern of the plumage is another generic distinction of con- 
siderable importance. 

But one species of Harlequin Duck is known, and as this is a rare abnormal 
migrant to the British Islands its distribution, habits and characteristics will be 
fully described in the following chapter. 


412 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus COSMONETTA. 
Subfamily FULIGULINA. 


HARLEQUIN DUCK. 
COSMONETTA HISTRIONICA—(Linneus). 
Puate XL. 


Anas histrionica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 204 (1766). 

Clangula histrionica (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 169 (1852). 

Cosmonetta histrionica (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 609, pls. 600, 613 (1877); 
Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 452 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895) ; 
Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 395 (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ili. 
p. 31 (1896). 

Histrionicus minutus (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 613 (1877). 


Fuligula histrionica (Linn.), Séebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 594 (1885); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 171 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 
49, pl. 15 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Harlequin Duck is a very 
rare and accidental straggler to the British Islands. Out of a score or more 
examples recorded as ‘‘ British,” about half-a-dozen only have withstood the test 
of a searching inquiry into their antecedents. (Conf. Prof. Newton, Ibis, 1859, 
p. 162, and J. H. Gurney, Rambles of a Naturalist, p. 263). The claim of this 
species to rank as ‘‘ British’ rests on the following evidence, which appears to be 
thoroughly reliable :—Scotland: Lewis (?) (two examples, recorded by Montagu 
in 1802 and presented to Mr. Sowerby, by whom they were figured in his British 
Miscellany in 1806) ; Aberdeenshire (one example), 1858, a male in full adult 
plumage. England: Yorkshire, one trustworthy example, found dead in the 
autumn of 1862; Northumberland, off the Farne Islands (three seen, two 
secured, both young males), December, 1886. There isa male example of this 
Duck in the Torquay Museum, which may have been obtained in Tor Bay 
(Conf. Bird-Life in a Southern County, p. 290). Foreign: Eastern Palearctic 
and Nearctic regions. Probably a Nearctic species that has only comparatively 
recently extended its range into the Old World. It is a resident in Iceland 
and breeds in Greenland, south of the Arctic circle. It breeds across the North 
American Continent from about the Arctic circle south to lat. 45°. Thence it is a 
resident in the Aleutian Islands, and probably breeds in Kamitschatka, the 
Stanavoi Mountains, the valley of the Amoor, and the Baikal district. The 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 413 


evidence of the occurrence of this species further west is extremely meagre and 
unsatisfactory. Sabandeff states that it breeds in the Ural and Yaroslav; Evers- 
mann records it also from the Ural, and Nordmann from Finland. It is said 
by Hencke to be rare in summer near Archangel, and a single example has been 
obtained off the coast of Sweden. The birds breeding in Eastern Siberia draw 
south in winter to the Kurile Islands and Northern Japan; those breeding in 
America visit the Great Lakes and the Middle States during that season. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


Habits.—The migrations of the Harlequin Duck are not very regular or 
extended, and the bird appears to winter as far north as it can find open water. 
During summer it is for the most part an inland species attached to fresh water, 
but at the approach of winter it wanders seawards, and is then principally 
observed in thé sheltered bays and inlets of rocky coasts. In summer this Duck 
lives in scattered pairs, but in winter it congregates on the sea in considerable 
flocks. It swims well and is a most accomplished diver, some of its aquatic 
gambols being remarkably beautiful, as it swims amongst the surf like the Hider 
or darts through the waterfalls in sportive play or in quest of food. As is usual 
with these diving Ducks the present species always tries to evade pursuit by 
darting under the surface, and, when alarmed, sometimes sinks its body so low 
that little more than the head is exposed to view. Notwithstanding it flies well 
and rapidly, with wings beating the air so quickly as to make a characteristic 
whistling sound. The note of this Duck appears to be undescribed, except on 
hearsay evidence ; but most reliable authorities agree that the bird is remarkably 
silent at all times. It is said to be a rather tame and confiding species, numbers 
being easily killed. The food of the Harlequin Duck consists of insects, both 
marine and fresh water, crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish. This Duck does 
not appear to be much of a vegetable feeder, although some naturalists assert 
that it eats various aquatic plants and weeds. Its flesh by some authorities is 
said to be excellent, by others the reverse, doubtless owing to the nature of the 
food on which it has been living just previous to being killed. 


Nidification.—The breeding season of the Harlequin Duck commences 
towards the end of May or early in June, at the beginning really of the short 
Arctic summer. Its breeding haunts are on the banks of rivers, and the nest is 
placed on the ground close to the water. Messrs. Pearson have recorded some 
very interesting particulars relating to the nesting habits of this Duck in Iceland. 
They write :—‘‘ Generally speaking the nest is placed within six feet of the 
water, a rapid stream being preferred. On the 11th of July one of us visited 
some islands on ariver, the remains of an ancient flow of lava. The lava had 
formed a dam across the river, which had afterwards broken through, forming 
four channels, and down these the waters ran like a mill-race, so that it was 


414 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


difficult to find a place where even Iceland ponies could cross. On these islands 
were six nests with eggs, three of them only two feet from the water, and placed 
under the leaves of wild angelica, the others in holes in the banks close to the 
water, and protected by a screen of trailing plants. Many of the nests con- 
tained but little down, though several of the eggs were much incubated. The 
down of this Duck is much larger than that of most other species we have taken, 
individual pieces having sometimes a diameter of about 13 inch. There were 
many old nests in these holes, showing the islands to have been a favourite 
breeding-place for years. The dog putthe duck off a nest of seven eggs on the 
9th. This was placed about ten yards from the water, under a birch bush, but 
we are sure that this is a very unusual distance from water.’ The eggs are 
from eight to ten in number; they are creamy-white in colour, smooth, and 
rather glossy. They measure on an average 2°2 inches in length by 1°7 inch in 
breadth. The down tufts are large, light greyish brown with white centres and 
white tips. The broods and their parents in some cases apparently keep together 
all the winter; but it is not known whether the drake takes any share in 
bringing the young to maturity, and Messrs. Pearson observed flocks of more 
than thirty males on several occasions during the summer. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage) Cosmonetta, with a metallic 
purple alar speculum and the scapulary region striped with white, and with broad 
white crescentic bands across the lower neck and breast (adult male); with the 
axillaries grey, with the under tail coverts dark brown, with a white spot on the 
forehead and another behind the eye, and with the bill less than 1°5 inch in length 
(adult female). Length, 14 to 17 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 415 


Genus HARELDA, or Long-tailed Ducks. 
Type, HARELDA GLACIALIS. 


Harelda, of Stephens (1824).—The Long-tailed Ducks are distinguished 
by their uniform brown primaries. The head is fully crested ; the bill is strong 
and conical, but with no overhanging membrane at the base; the edges of the 
upper mandible bent inwards to some extent. The long-pointed central tail 
feather of the male is another well-marked characteristic of the genus. 

But one species of Long-tailed Duck is known, a British species, the dis- 
tribution, habits and characteristics of which will be fully ‘described in the 


following chapter. 


416 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus HARELDA. 
Subfamily FULIGULINE. 


LONG-TAILED DUCK. 
HARELDA GLACIALIS—(Linneus). 


Anas glacialis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 303 (1766). 

Harelda glacialis (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 192 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 
617, pls. 448, 444 (1875); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 446 (1885); Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 389 (1895) ; 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 26 (1896). 

Fuligula glacialis (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. ili. p. 598 (1885); Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 173 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 
50 pl. 15 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Long-tailed Duck is 
a fairly common winter visitor to the British Islands. It is only sparingly 
distributed round the English coasts, especially on the west and south; and in 
Ireland it is equally uncommon, being rare in the south and of irregular 
appearance in the west and north. It becomes most numerous in Scotland, 
both on the east and west, and in the Orkneys and Shetlands, examples having 
been met with in summer in the latter locality. Throughout the Hebrides it 
is a well-known and at times even abundant species. It sometimes visits us in 
unusual numbers, during exceptionally severe weather in the North Sea basin, 
as, for instance, during the winter of 1887-88. Foreign: Northern Palearctic 
and Nearctic regions, more southerlyin winter. It breeds throughout the Arctic 
zone above the limits of forest growth, and in a similar climate at high elevations 
in Scandinavia, in Iceland, and perhaps the Faroes. Its northern range appears 
to extend as high as land is known, and may possibly reach the North Pole. The 
winter migrations of this species are not very extended, but at that season it 
visits the Faroes, the Baltic, the North Sea basin, and much more rarely that 
of the Mediterranean Sea, where it has occurred on the Italian lakes and on the 
coasts of the Adriatic. Hastwards it visits, during winter, the Caspian Sea, Lake 
Baikal, North China, and Japan ; whilst on the American Continent it is found at 
that season as far south as the Great Lakes and the Northern United States. 


Allied forms,—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 417 


Habits.—Of all the Arctic Ducks none are more thoroughly Arctic than 
the present handsome species. It is late to arrive in British waters, and is 
seldom seen off even our northern coasts before November, later still in the 
south. It leaves us in April and reaches its Arctic haunts with the opening 
of the northern waters. Like most of its congeners it is gregarious in winter, 
but the flocks that frequent our seas are seldom very large; even in summer it is 
to a certain extent sociable, and numbers of nests may be found within a small 
area of suitable ground. Whilst with us it keeps principally to the sea, often 
wandering long distances from land, only approaching the shore during stormy 
weather, when it shows a decided preference for creeks and inlets on a wild, 
rocky coast. It is rarely or never seen on inland fresh water during winter, 
although in summer its favourite retreats are the northern lakes, often at some 
considerable distance from the sea. The flight of this Duck is remarkably quick 
and graceful, the long tail making the bird look very elegant as it careers along 
with wings beating the air so rapidly as to be almost invisible. It dives with 
even greater speed, so quickly as often to dodge the shot from a modern 
breech-loader, and under water it darts about and goes for Jong distances like 
a Grebe or an Auk, appearing far out of danger. The note of the Long-tailed 
Duck cannot easily be confused with that of any other species. It is a loud, 
clear cry of several syllables, the middle one being the longest and the loudest, 
rendered by some authorities as cow-cow-w-ie, col-goh’-y, or cal-loo-oo ; whilst in 
some parts of Scotland the sportsman has made a free translation of it into 
“ coal-an-can’le-licht.”” The food of this species consists of small mollusks, 
crustaceans, insects, minute marine animals, and the buds, roots and leaves 


of various water plants and weeds. Most of this is obtained whilst the bird is 
diving. 


Nidification.—The great breeding grounds of the Long-tailed Duck are 
on the Arctic tundras of the Old World and the barren grounds which extend 
from beyond the limit of forest growth to the frozen ovean in the New World. 
Here its haunts are the pools and lakes, often those studded with islands. Odd 
pairs are scattered up and down the small pools, whilst the larger sheets of 
water are the haunts of perhaps a dozen or twenty pairs. The breeding season 
commences at the end of May or early in June, and fresh eggs may be obtained 
throughout the latter month and the first half of July. The nest is usually 
placed in some sheltered nook, often among willow and birch scrub in the 
drifted rubbish left by the floods when the big northern rivers break up in spring, 
or among long grass. An island is usually selected when available in the lake or 
pool. The nest is merely a hollow among the herbage, plentifully lined with 
down and a few feathers from the breast of the female. The eggs are from 
seven to twelve in number, eight or nine being an average clutch. They are 
pale buffish-green or greenish-buff in colour, smooth, and with some gloss, and 

27 


418 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


measure on an average 2°1 inches in lengthby 1°5 inch in breadth. The down tufts 
are small in size, warm brown in colour, and without any white tips. The period of 
incubation is unknown. It is a noteworthy fact that the drake of this species 
assists the duck in bringing up the young, moulting much earlier than is usual in 
this group into his post-nuptial plumage, and remaining in this garb until the 
brood can fly. During the breeding season this Duck is very tame and most 
unwilling to take wing, generally swimming out into the centre of the large lakes 
for security. When the brood of ducklings is menaced, the female tries to get 
her offspring to follow her out into the open water, and is said to display great 
anxiety for their safety. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Harelda, with the pre- 
vailing colour of the head and neck white (but with an oval patch of brown on 
each side of the latter), with the tail (of 14 feathers) white, except the two 
central feathers, which are black and about five inches longer than the rest, and 
with the scapulary region striped with white (adult male); with the axillaries 
brown, with the sides of the head white, and the sides of the neck brown (adult 
female). Length, 22 to 26 inches inclusive of the tail in the male. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 419 


Genus CEDEMIA, or Scoters. 
Type, GDEMIA NIGRA. 


(Edemia, of Fleming* (1822).—The Scoters are distinguished by their 
uniformly coloured primaries, and by the uniform black plumage in the males 
and brown unbarred plumage in the females. There can be no doubt that these 
birds are as fully entitled to generic distinction as any other group in the present 
family, notwithstanding the fact that colour is always a more or less unsatisfactory 
character and should be avoided as far as possible. 

There are at present six species of Scoters recognised by ornithologists. 
These are distributed over the northern portions of the Palearctic and Nearctic 
regions, their range becoming more southerly in winter. Three species are 
British, two of them being indigenous, and a third an abnormal migrant to our 
Islands. 

The Scoters are thoroughly marine in their habits. Their flight is noisy and 
powerful. They keep well out to sea, rarely visiting the land except to breed. 
They are all more or less migratory, and exceptionally gregarious during passage 
and in winter. Their notes are harsh and unmusical. Their food, obtained by 
diving, is chiefly of an animal character, crustaceans, mollusks, fry, and insects. 
They are monogamous, making their rude but down-lined nests on the ground. 
Their eggs are numerous, and various shades of greyish-buff in colour. 


* Spelt Oidentia. 


420 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus CHDEMIA. 
Subfamily FuLiGuLIna. 


COMMON SCOTER. 


CGADEMIA NIGRA—(Linneus). 


Anas nigra, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 196 (1766). 

Oidemia nigra (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 140 (1852). 

(Edemia nigra (Linn.), Dresser, B. Hur. vi. p. 663, pl. 449 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. 
ed. 4, iv. p. 472 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xii. (1892); Salvadori, Cat. 
B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 401 (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 43 (1896). 


Fuligula nigra (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 602 (1885); Dixon, Nests and 
Eiges Brit. B. p. 242 (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 51, pl. 14 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. —British: This Scoter is a common 
winter visitor to our area, especially on the eastern coasts, from the Shetlands 
and Orkneys to the mouth of the Thames, in all suitable districts, and thence 
round the southern coast of England, although not in such vast numbers. 
Comparatively speaking it is much less common on our western coast line, the 
flat shores of Lancashire and the Solway district being its chief head-quarters. 
It is most abundant in the north of Ireland, becoming more sparingly distributed 
in the west and south. Small numbers of immature non-breeding birds frequent 
the British coasts during the summer, and a few pairs of adults are known to 
breed in the north of Scotland, in Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross-shire. It 
is also recorded as having bred in 1897 on the island of Tiree. This Duck 
is recorded (Science Gossip, 1891, p. 256) as having bred on Earnley Marshes, 
near Chichester, but further confirmation of the fact is much to be desired. 
Foreign: Northern and western Palearctic region, more southerly in winter. 
It breeds in the Arctic regions of Europe and Western Siberia, from Iceland 
to the Taimur Peninsula, as far north as lat. 74,° and as far south as the 
Arctic Circle, and in a few localities at high elevations below it where similar 
climatic conditions prevail. It is found during winter in the Baltic and the 
basin of the North Sea, exceptionally as far south as the Azores, and only very 
sparingly in the Western Mediterranean as far as Italy. It was said by Pallas 
to visit the Black Sea, and is reputed to be common in the Caspian Sea, whilst 
it has been obtained on the coasts of Palestine during winter. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 421 


Allied forms.—Cdemia americana, an inhabitant in summer of Kamts- 
chatka, the Kurile Islands and Arctic America eastwards to Hudson Bay, and in 
winter of Japan, the Pacific coast of America to Southern California, the Great 
Lakes, and the Atlantic coast as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. The American 
representative of the Common Scoter. It may be distinguished from the Common 
Scoter by having the tubercle at the base of the bill orange-yellow instead of 
black. This form should be looked out for on the British coasts, especially 
in autumn. 


Habits.—The Common Scoter is one of the best known, and one of the 
most common Ducks to be found on and off the British coasts during winter. 
In some parts its vast flocks literally blacken the water, and may be observed far 
away from land during moderately calm weather. No Duck is more gregarious 
or more exclusively marine in its habits. The great autumn migration of this 
species begins in September and lasts through October in our Islands, but many 
old birds are said to arrive in the Baltic during August. The return flight 
commences in April and lasts well into May. The line of migration is taken 
across country as well as along the coast, and though this Duck certainly 
migrates in flocks, these appear to break up into pairs as soon as the breeding 
grounds are reached. This, however, only applies to adults, for the immature 
birds do not appear to breed during their first spring, but to continue all the 
summer in the vast flocks they journeyed in from the south. These keep for 
the most part to the sea, hanging about the Arctic islands and the deltas of the 
great northern rivers. An immense flock, estimated at ten thousand strong, 
was observed by Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown in the middle of July, 
circling over the Golievsky Islands in the delta of the Petchora. Flocks of 
non-breeding Scoters also frequent our coasts all the summer as previously 
remarked. The Scoter is rather a late bird of passage in spring, and was 
not observed in the valley of the Petchora until the lst of June. This Duck is 
just as proficient a diver as its congeners, and swims with equal power ; on the 
land it is rather clumsy, waddling with an awkward gait, but in the air it is 
more at home, and flies with great speed. The note of this Scoter is a harsh 
kurr, but in the pairing season the drake is said to modulate it into a more 
musical cry, syllabled by Faber as an oft-repeated tw, that of the female at this 
season, according to the same authority, being a grating re-re-re. The food of 
this species consists of mollusks, crustaceans, and insects, and in summer the 
leaves, roots, and buds of weeds and aquatic plants. Its flesh is fishy in flavour 
and unpalatable. 


Nidification.—The Common Scoter is a late breeder, even in the com- 
paratively temperate climate of Iceland, not beginning to lay before the middle 
of June, and in Arctic Russia not until the end of that month or early in July. 


422 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


The favourite breeding grounds of this Duck are the lakes on the northern 
tundras and the banks of the rivers, at no great distance from the sea, especially 
in localities where dwarf willow and birch scrub is abundant. An island in the 
lake or river is selected where choice of such a situation admits. The nest is 
merely a hollow, in which is placed a little dry grass, sprigs of heath, withered 
leaves, or other such-like refuse, and warmly lined with down from the body of 
the female. The eggs are eight or nine in number and pale greyish-buff in 
colour, smooth, and with little gloss They measure on an average 2°5 inches 
in length by 1°8 inch in breadth. The down tufts are large, brownish-grey in 
colour, with pale centres. One brood only is reared in the season, of which the 
female apparently takes the entire charge. 


Diagnostic characters. — (Nuptial plumage), @demia, with the bill 
black with a yellow mark on the culmen in front of the basal knob, with the entire 
plumage bright black (adult male); with the axillaries brown, with the under 
tail coverts dark brown, with the culmen 1°5 inch or more in length, and with 
no alar speculum (adult female). Length, 20 to 21 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 423 


Family ANATIDAL. Genus CEDEMIA. 
Subfamily FULIGULINZ. 


VELVET SCOTER. 


CGIDEMIA FUSCA—(Linneus). 


Anas fusca, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 196 (1766). 
Oidemia fusca (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 134 (1852). 


(Edemia fusca (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 657, pl. 448 (1877); Yarrell, Brit. B. 
ed. 4, iv. p. 476 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxii. (1892); Salvadori, Cat. 
B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 406 (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 46 (1896). 
Fuligula fusca (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 605 (1885); Dixon, Nests and 


Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 175 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 52, 
pl. 15 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The Velvet Scoter is a regular 
winter visitor to our islands, but much less common than the preceding species. 
It occurs sparingly on the south and east coasts of England, chiefly in those 
localities frequented by the Common Scoter, becomes more frequent on the east 
coast of Scotland, but is decidedly rare in the Shetlands. It is much less 
common round the western coasts of Scotland, and is said to be rare in the 
Outer Hebrides. It is rare and local in the west of England and chiefly mixed 
with the common species. It is also rare in Ireland, chiefly met with at sea 
off the east and south coasts. According to Booth a few pairs may possibly breed 
in the north of Scotland, but no direct evidence is yet forthcoming. Foreign: 
Northern Palearctic region, more southerly in winter. This Scoter breeds in 
the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Europe and Asia from the Atlantic eastwards 
at least to the Yenisei, as far north as lat. 72°, and as far south as the Baltic 
Provinces in the west and lat. 55°in theeast. It winters in the basin of the North 
Sea, occasionally wandering as far south as Spain and the Mediterranean and 
Black Seas. To Turkestan it is a visitor on passage, and in winter it is found 
in the basin of the Caspian. It has once been obtained in Alaska, once in Green- 
land, and is an abnormal migrant to the Faroes. 


424 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Allied forms.—tThe Velvet Scoter of Eastern Asia has been specifically 
separated from the Western bird under the name of Gidemia carbo. It possibly 
breeds throughout Eastern Siberia, and winters off the coasts of China and Japan, 
occurring apparently as an abnormal migrant in Alaska. Ci. deglandi, an inhabi- 
tant in summer of Arctic America from west to east, and in winter of the 
Great Lakes and the Atlantic, and Pacific coasts as far south as the Gulf 
of Mexico and Lower California. This Scoter also visits the Pacific coasts 
of the Old World, and may be traced from Alaska, across the Aleutian Islands 
to Kamtschatka, the Kuriles, Japan and China. This race should be ]ooked 
out for on the British coasts, especially in autumn. The Velvet Scoter and 
these two allied species belong (as pointed out by Count Salvadori) to that 
division of the genus C@demia in which the length of the commissure is 
much more than the length of the inner toe without the claw, and the 
feathering of the head advances farther forward on the lores than on the 
forehead; the wing has also a white speculum. (. carbo and G. deglandi 
are distinguished from C. fusca by having the loral feathering separated 
from the nostrils by a space much narrower than the length of the nostril. 
In C. carbo the lateral outlines of the bill are nearly parrallel, and the 
knob on the bill of the male is very high, with the anterior outline concave, and 
the upper one horizontal. In @. deglandi the lateral outlines on the bill are 
convex, and the knob on the bill of the male with the anterior outline sloping 
backward. The female of G. carbo is distinguished from that of G. deglandt, 
by having the frontal feathering almost transverse, as in the female of @. fusca, 


from which it is readily separated by the peculiarity of the loral feathering 
already alluded to. 


Habits.—The habits of the Velvet Scoter do not differ in many important 
respects from those of the allied Common Scoter. It is, however, a bird more 
addicted to inland waters, and even during winter, although commonly met with 
at sea, often far from land, wanders up rivers and estuaries and visits lakes. Its 
breeding grounds also are as a rule situated at greater distances from the sea, 
and the nest is not unfrequently made a long way from any water at all. The 
flight of this Scoter is rapid and well-sustained, but except on migration the bird 
is loth to take wing, and almost invariably seeks to elude danger by diving. In 
the water it is extremely active, not only swimming well, but diving with 
amazing speed, and going not only to a considerable depth in quest of food, but 
for a long distance to escape an enemy, appearing again well out of harm’s way. 
It is seldom seen on land, and there its gait is waddling and clumsy, even for a 
Duck. In more favoured winter quarters there is no doubt that the Velvet 
Scoter congregates in large flocks, but in our seas it is rare to see more than a 
small company together, and is usually met with in odd birds or scattered pairs 
among flocks of the much more abundant Common Scoter. It appears in 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 425 


British waters and takes its departure about the same time as the preceding 
species, although odd (and probably immature) birds sometimes linger with us 
throughout the summer. The food of the Velvet Scoter consists principally of 
mollusks, crustaceans, and small fish in winter, but in summer there can be little 
doubt that vegetable substances, such as aquatic weeds, are eaten. Its note is 
said not to differ very much from that of the preceding species, and is a grating 
kurr. 


Nidification.—The Velvet Scoter is a late breeder, even for an Arctic 
species, and its eggs are not laid until the very end of June or early in July. It 
appears to separate into pairs as soon as the breeding grounds are reached, and 
the duck and drake keep close company until the eggs are laid, after which the 
latter leaves his mate to incubate them and take all care of the brood. Thenest 
is made amongst scrub or coarse tundra vegetation, either near a lake or river, 
or some dry part of the moor away from either. The nest is merely a hollow, 
often under some small stunted bush, into which a little dry grass, dead leaves, 
or other vegetable refuse is placed, and finally lined with down and a few 
feathers from the breast of the female. The eggs are eight or nine in number 
and pale greyish-buff in colour, smooth, and with little gloss. They measure on 
an average 2°8 inches in length by 1°9 inch in breadth. The down tufts are 
larger than those of the Common Scoter, brown, with a slight tinge of grey 
and with indistinct pale centres. One brood only appears to be reared in 
the season. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), @demia, with the loral 
feathers separated from the nostrils by aspace nearly or quite equal to the length 
of the nostrils, with the lower part of the swollen basal portion of the upper man- 
dible on sides unfeathered, with the basal portion of the culmen elevated, but not 
forming an abrupt knob (adult male) ; with the plumage greyish-brown and with 
no white on the head (adult female). Length, 21 to 22 inches. 


426 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus CHDEMIA. 
Subfamily FuLIGULIUNE. 


SURE SCOTER. 
C2DEMIA PERSPICILLATA—(Linneus). 


Anas perspicillata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 201 (1766). 

Oidemia perspicillata (Linn.), Macgill, Brit. B. v. p. 129 (1852). 

(Edemia perspicillata (Linn.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 669, pl. 450 (1877) ; Yarrell, 
Brit. B. ed 4, iv. p. 481 (1885) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 412 (1895) ; 
Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. (1895); Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ili. p. 48 
(1896). 

Fuligula perspicillata (Linn.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 607 (1885); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 176 (1894); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs 
Brit. B. p. 52, pl. 15 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. —British : The Surf Scoter is a rare 
straggler in winter to the British Islands, and known to be such for upwards of 
sixty years. It was first recorded by Blyth in 1838, from a somewhat doubt- 
ful example sent in the flesh to Bartlett, which may or may not have been 
captured in this country in a wild state. The other evidence of this bird’s claim 
to rank as ‘“‘ British” is as follows—England: Cumberland (one example), 
August, 1856; Yorkshire (one example), October, 1860; Lancashire (one 
example), December, 1882; Dorset (two examples), winter, 1851, December, 
1853; South Devon (three examples); Cornwall (one example), no exact date ; 
Scilly Isles (two examples), September, 1865, October, 1867. Ireland: Belfast 
Lough (two examples, one shot), September, 1846; Co. Dublin (one example), 
October, 1880; Co. Cork (one example), November, 1888; Achill Island (one 
example) Moy estuary (two examples. Scotland: Edinburgh Co. (one example), 
spring, 1852; Stornoway, Outer Hebrides (one example), winter, 1865; North 
Shetland (one example, said to have been seen by Mr. Dunn), June, 1847; The 
Orkneys are apparently the most favoured locality of this species in its erratic 
visits (six examples secured, many others seen and identified), March, 1866, 
February, 1872, 1876, October, 1880. Foreign: Northern Nearctic region, more 
southerly in winter. It breeds in the Arctic and Subarctic regions of America 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as far north as lat. 70°, and as far south as lat. 
50°. In winter it strays down the Pacific coasts as far as Lower California ; 
inland it is found at that season on the Great Lakes; whilst on the Atlantic 
coasts it extends as far as Florida, and occasionally visits the Bermudas and 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 427 


Jamaica. It is a rare straggler to Greenland and the Faroes, and has occurred 
on the coasts of Heligoland, Scandinavia, Germany and France, and inland as 
far as Switzerland. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


Habits.—The migrations and habits of this Nearctic Scoter very closely 
resemble those of the preceding species. Its grand summer quarters are in the 
Arctic and Subarctic regions of British North America. From the most northerly 
of these it begins to retire early in September, and as the autumn and winter 
advance it slowly works south, not only along the coast, but across country by 
way of the great lakes and river valleys, as it appears to be as much at home 
on inland waters, so long as they are open, as the sea. In April it begins to 
migrate north again, and reaches its highest Arctic haunts as the ice is breaking 
up, and summer is bursting with startling suddenness over the wild, lone land. 
It is just as gregarious as its allies, not only on migration and in winter, but in 
summer also; for as soon as the females have scattered up and down the 
breeding grounds and gone to nest, the males flock once more, and apparently 
keep gregarious until the following spring. The flight of the Surf. Scoter is 
strong and rapid, but the bird is said to rise with difficulty from the water. It 
is an expert and rapid diver, keeps principally to the water, where it swims 
equally well, and ever seeks to evade pursuit by diving out of reach of its 
enemies. It is not much of a land bird, and walks in a clumsy, waddling 
manner. The note of this bird is not known to differ from that of its allies, and 
the female is said to utter a hoarse cry as she rises startled from thenest, As is 
the case with both the other British Scoters, but more especially with the 
Common Scoter, many immature and non-breeding birds stay behind in their 
winter quarters, where they keep in large flocks. The food of the Surf Scoter, 
obtained almost entirely by diving, consists of mollusks, crustaceans, and small 
fish. It is not known whether this bird is a vegetable feeder in summer; but 
there can be little doubt that to a certain extent this is the case. Great flocks 
of this bird almost blacken the sea, and look like mud-banks in the distance, 
congregating in certain favoured haunts during winter, often in company with 
other Ducks, but as its flesh is fishy and unpalatable it is not much sought after 
by American sportsmen, by whom it is known in some districts as ‘‘ Surf Coot,” 
“‘Spéctacled Coot,” or “ Skunk-headed Coot.”’ 


Nidification.—The favourite breeding grounds of the Surf Scoter are the 
lake-studded northern tundras, and the banks of the winding rivers that join 
them into a more or less swampy paradise for aquatic birds. It is a late 
breeder, like its allies, laying towards the end of June or early in July. The 
nest is made near the water, in many cases amongst scrub and coarse vegetation ; 
but MacFarlane found one concealed under the drooping lower branches of a 


428 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


stunted pine-tree, and others have been observed in similar situations. It is 
merely a hollow in the ground, lined with any vegetable refuse that may chance 
to be near, and with an abundance of down from the body of the female. The 
eggs are from five to eight in number, pale greyish-buff in colour, smooth, and 
with little gloss. They measure on an average 2°3 inches in length by 1°65 inch 
in breadth The down tufts, so far as I am aware, are still undescribed. One 
brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Cidemia, with the 
feathering of the head advancing much farther forward on the forehead than on 
the lores, with the entire plumage glossy-black, except a broad patch of white on 
the forehead and another on the nape (adult male) ; with bare swellings at the 
base of the sides of the bill, with the frontal feathers extending about an inch 
beyond those at the sides of the bill, and with the white nape patch accu 
defined (adult female). Length, 21 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 429 


Genus HENICONETTA, or Rufous-breasted Eiders. 


Type, HENICONETTA STELLERI. 


Heniconetta, of Gray (1840)*——By many authorities Steller’s Hider, the 
sole member of the present genus, is associated with the typical Hiders, but the 
species possesses several characters which perfectly justify its removal from 
Somateria. Steller’s Hider belongs to that division in which the primaries are 
uniform in colour. The bill is very peculiar. The edges of the upper mandible 
are bent inwardly ; the lower mandible has the apical portion almost spatulated. 
“‘ Kspecially characteristic,” writes Stejneger, ‘‘are the soft lobes formed by the 
tomia of the upper mandible in the anterior half. When dried they roll up so 
as to enclose the lower mandible, and become hard, the lateral outline thereby 
being considerably changed, becoming unduly narrowed towards the tip.”” Both 
sexes exhibit a metallic alar speculum ; the tertials are more or less falcate, and 
on the head of the males are patches of stiff feathers. 

This genus contains but a single species, a rare abnormal migrant to the 
British Islands, the distribution, habits, and characteristics of which will be 
fully described in the following chapter. 


* Spelt Eniconetta. 


430 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus HENICONETTA. 
Subfamily FULIGULINZA. 


STELLER’S EIDER. 
HENICONETTA STELLERI—(Pallas). 


Anas stelleri, Pallas, Spic. Zool. vi. p. 35, tab. v. (1769). 

Stellaria dispar (Sparrm.), Macgill, Brit. B. v. p. 164 (1852). 

Somateria stelleri (Pall.), Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 649, pl. 447 (1871) ; Yarrell, Brit. 
B. ed 4, iv. p. 468 (1885); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 618 (1885); Dixon, 
Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 181 (1894) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. 
B. p. 63, pl. 9 (1896). 

Heniconetta stelleri (Pall.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 419 (1895); 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 34 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: Steller’s Hider is a very rare 
straggler to the British Islands in autumn and winter. The very slender claim 
of this species to rank as ‘‘ British’ is based upon the following occurrences— 
England: Norfolk (one example), February, 1830. Shot at Caistor, near 
Yarmouth, a nearly adult male, formed the subject of the illustration in Yarrell’s 
British Birds and is now preserved in the Norwich Museum; Yorkshire (one 
example), August, 1845. It was shot on the sea off Filey Brigg, a male assum- 
ing nuptial plumage, and is now in the collection of Lord Scarsdale. Foreign: 
North-eastern Palearctic region, and possibly the extreme north-west of the 
Nearctic region, more southerly and westerly in winter. The exact breeding 
range of this species is very imperfectly known. It has been found breeding in 
Kamtschatka, on the islands round about Behring Strait, the Aleutian Islands 
(although the fact is doubted by Stejneger), the delta of the Lena, the Taimur 
Peninsula, the coast of Russian Finmark, and in the Varanger Fjord. Mr. Nelson 
states that it breeds in tens of thousands along the north coast of Siberia. In 
winter it is found in Northern Norway, in the Baltic, in the Sea of Okhotsk, 
and off the coasts of the Kurile Islands. During this season it has been observed 
in Denmark, Heligoland, North Germany, and France. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


Habits.—But little has been recorded of the habits of Steller’s Hider. The 
bird appears, however, very closely to resemble its congeners in its economy, being 
eminently a sea Duck and almost sedentary, only wandering in winter from its 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 431 


usual haunts to the nearest open water. The adults probably live in pairs 
through the summer, but immature individuals remain in parties at that 
period ; whilst in autumn both old and young become more or less gregarious. 
Dr. Stejneger found this Duck very common during winter on Behring Island. 
They made their appearance in large flocks about the first of November, remain- 
ing about the rockiest parts of the coast where the breakers were most violent. 
In spring, especially during April, the number of Steller’s Eider greatly increased, 
and immense flocks covering many acres were watched floating on the sea within 
half-a-mile of the shore. Towards the end of April their numbers perceptibly 
decreased ; by the end of the month but few remained, and none were remarked 
after about the 25th of May. During its winter sojourn here Dr. Stejneger found 
it to be, next to the Golden-eye, the shyest of all the Duck tribe. The adult 
males generally keep apart from the adult females and young males, and, as is 
usual they did not as a rule come so near to the land. It is interesting to remark 
that Dr. Stejneger found the females of this Duck in full moult at the end of 
April while the males were not in such condition, and at that date not a single 
young male among many thousands observed showed even a trace of new white 
plumage. The food of this Eider is not known to differ from that of allied species, 
and is obtained in asimilar manner. Its noteis undescribed, but Von Middendorff 
states that the female when flying from the nest uttered a rattling cry. 


Nidification.—The only particulars concerning the breeding habits of 
Steller’s Hider, obtained from personal observation, appear to be those published 
by Von Middendorff, who met with this Duck breeding in some numbers on the 
Taimur Peninsula, the most northerly continental land on the entire globe. The 
eggs are apparently laid early in July, or at the very end of June. The nests 
were made on the tundra, and were merely deep hollows in the moss-clothed 
ground, lined with quantities of down plucked from the breast of the females. 
The eggs range from seven to nine in number, and are pale buffish-green in 
colour, smooth, but with little gloss. They measure on an average 2°35 inches 
in length by 1°55 inch in breadth. The down tufts are apparently undescribed. 
But one brood is reared in the year. The females are said to sit closely, and, as 
is usual with the Eiders, the drakes swim about in the neighbourhood of the 
nests, and probably join their mates when they leave the eggs and retire to the 
water to feed. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Heniconetta, with the 
back black and the falcated scapulars white on the inner and bluish-black on the 
outer webs (adult male) ; with the alar speculum purplish-blue, enclosed between 
two white bars (adult female). Length, 18 to 20 inches. 


432 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus SOMATERIA, or Eiders. 
Type SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. 


Somateria, of F. Boie (1822). The birds comprising the present genus 
are best characterised by having the scapulars long and falcated, and the head 
marked with emerald green. Unfortunately these distinctions apply to males 
only, and the following character must also be added to distinguish the females : 
feathers on the forehead and on the sides of the bill projecting in triangular 
patches nearly or quite as far as the nostrils. The wings are moderately long; 
the tail is short and consists of fourteen feathers. The bill is swollen and 
elevated at the base, extending on to the forehead, and the edges of the upper 
mandible are not bent inwardly; nostrils small and oval. Three toes in front 
webbed; hind toe moderate and lobed. 

This genus contains four species and subspecies which are confined to the 
northern portions of the Palearctic and Nearctic regions. Two species are 
British, one of which is a common resident in, and the other is an accidental 
visitor to, our Islands. 

The Eiders are dwellers exclusively on rocky coasts. They are birds of 
somewhat slow and laboured yet powerful flight ; they swim and dive well, but 
walk clumsily. They subsist on crustaceans, marine insects, and shell-fish. 
Their notes are harsh and grating. They make slovenly nests, which are lined 
with down, upon the ground, and their eggs are numerous and green of various 
shades, unspotted. They are monogamous, but the male takes no share in 
family duties. They are more or less gregarious and social at all seasons. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 433 


Family ANATIDA. Genus SOMATERIA, 
Subfamily FuLIguLina. 


COMMON EIDER. 
SOMATERIA MOLULISSIMA— (Linnaeus). 
Prats XXXIX. 


Anas mollissima, Lynn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 198 (1766). 

Somateria mollissima (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 147 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. 
p- 629, pl. 445 (1871) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 616 (1885); Yarrell, Brit. B. 
ed. 4, iv. p. 457 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxii. (1892) ; Dixon, Nests 
and Eggs Brit. B. p. 244 (1893); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 425 (1895) ; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 54, pl. 9 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. 
iii. p. 37 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Common Eider is a rare 
straggler in winter to the southern portions of the British Islands, including the 
west, east, and south coasts of England, and all the coasts of Ireland. It breeds 
from the Farne Islands locally northwards to the Orkneys and Shetlands, and 
along the west coast of Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides and St. Kilda, as 
far south on the mainland as Inverness-shire. Foreign: Northern and western 
confines of Palearctic region, and northern and eastern confines of Nearctic 
region, more southerly in winter. It breeds on the shores of the Kara Sea, 
Franz-Josef Land, Spitzbergen, Jan Mayen, the coasts of Norway and Denmark, 
the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland up to lat. 813°, thence across Baffin Bay and 
Davis Strait, along the coast of the mainland and on the islands in the Arctic 
Ocean as far east as Banks Land and the Coppermine River. Wherever the 
winters are sufficiently severe to seal the water it draws southwards, and is then 
found in the Baltic, the basin of the North Sea, and the English Channel, and 
in the New World as far south as the coast of Maine. It is said very exception- 
ally to wander as far south as the Mediterranean, and has been recorded on 
doubtful authority from the Swiss lakes. 


Allied forms.—Somateria dresseri, an inhabitant in summer of Labrador 
and Newfoundland, drawing south in winter as far as the coast of Maine. A 
mere local race said to differ from the Common Hider in having the feathers on 
the forehead prolonged in a narrow line only half as far as those on the side 

28 


434 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


of the bill, instead of almost as far. 8. v-nigruwm, an inhabitant of the coasts of 
East Siberia, the islands of Behring Sea, and the coast of Alaska. The Pacific 
representative of the Common Eider, closely allied but apparently specifically 
distinct. It differs from the Common Eider in being a larger bird, and in having 
a very distinct V-shaped mark on the throat, in this particular showing a close 
affinity with the King Hider. The Nearctic Hider Ducks have been separated 
from the typical Old World form under the name of S. borealis, but the slight 
differences, if constant, do not appear to warrant specific distinction. 


Habits.—This beautiful Duck is probably the most maritime of its family, 
and, except in the breeding season, spends nearly all its time on the sea. So 
closely is it attached to the sea, so thoroughly ‘‘ sea-faring”’ in its habits, that it 
rarely flies overland at all except to its nest, and prefers to follow a winding coast 
line rather than to cross even the narrowest of promontories. The Eider is 
practically a sedentary species, only wandering south a little way from its 
summer haunts either in quest of food or in prolonged severe and stormy weather. 
It loves the wild, rock-bound coasts, especially where plenty of precipitous 
islands occur and the shore line is broken up into sheltered bays and fiords. 
Sometimes it may be seen standing on the rocks close to the water’s edge, but 
usually it keeps well out to sea, and even sleeps on the water. At all times 
it is more or less gregarious, although never congregating into the vast flocks 
that many other sea Ducks do. It is generally observed in parties, in summer 
and winter alike, for the drakes swim in company whilst the ducks are incubating 
on shore, and when the latter come to the sea to feed all join into a scattered 
company. In summer the female Eiders are remarkably tame and confiding, but 
in winter they are wary enough, and at all times of the year the males are 
difficult birds to approach. The food of the Hider consists of minute marine 
insects, crustaceans, and shell-fish, especially mussels and small crabs. Most of 
this food is obtained by diving, the bird being remarkably expert at this, 
descending to considerable depths and remaining a long time under the surface. 
The Eider loves to draw shorewards with the flowing tide, and to swim just 
outside the breakers. It is most interesting to watch this bird swim clean 
through each mighty wave just before it turns over and breaks upon the beach. 
It may be watched gradually swimming towards the land in some sheltered bay, 
feeding as it comes, until the very edge of the breakers is reached. If alarmed, 
instead of diving it usually swims quickly out from shore, and when still further 
pursued or fired at, instantly takes wing, rising from the water at once and with 
little splash or fuss. So far as my experience extends the Hider is a day feeder, 
and during the breeding season at any rate passes the night on land. I never 
met with this bird at sea during the night amongst the coasts where it was 
breeding in considerable numbers, although Auks were common enough; still it 
is abroad and feeding by dawn. The flight of this Duck is, as a rule, not very 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 435 


quick, the wings being beaten very regularly ; but on occasion the bird can fly 
with astounding speed, as I have on many occasions learnt to my own humilia- 
tion. The Hider is a remarkably silent bird, its usual note being a not very loud 
kurr, but in the breeding season the drake makes a cooing noise when paying 
court to his mate, accompanying it with a bobbing motion of the head, usually as 
he swims round and round her, guarding her from the attentions of rivals. The 
Hider is not very social, and seldom mingles with other fowl. Its flesh, as I can 
testify from experience, is not unpalatable when prepared by a skilful cook. 


Nidification.—In our Islands the small flocks of Eiders begin to break up 
more distinctly into pairs towards the latter end of March, but the eggs are 
seldom laid until the middle or end of May, and in the Arctic regions not before 
the end of June. The nest, wherever possible, is built on a small uninhabited 
island, a rocky one by preference, moderately level, but covered with plenty of 
marine vegetation. In some places it is made among ruins, where the fallen 
masonry offers snug sites; at others it is on the top of the cliffs, or among the 
long heather of the hillsides that slope to the sea. I have seen it at the very top 
of cliffs several hundred feet in height on the Island of Doon, in the St. Kilda 
group. Usually it is not very far from the water, but reliable instances are on 
record where it has been discovered several miles from the sea, and at an elevation 
of one thousand feet above the sea level. The nest is generally made amongst 
sea campion or coarse grass, but often in a crevice of low rocks, or on a ledge of 
the same. Itis usually a bulky, well-made structure, composed of dry grass and 
bits of other marine herbage, sometimes twigs of heather, and is well and 
warmly lined with down plucked from the body of the female, gradually accumu- 
lated as the eggs are laid. The eggs are six or seven in number, sometimes eight, 
and vary in colour from cream-grey to greyish-green, smooth and wax-like in 
texture, but with little gloss. They measure on an average 3°1 inches in length 
by 2°0 inches in breadth. The down tufts are moderate in size, and vary 
from brownish-grey to greyish-brown with obscure pale centres. This down is 
the highly.prized article of commerce, used for stuffing quilts and other purposes, 
and valued, when cleaned, at about twenty shillings per pound. Each Duck 
produces about four ounces of down in the season. In Greenland, Iceland, and 
in some parts of Norway the birds are regularly farmed for this product. 
(Further particulars of this industry may be obtained in our work entitled, 
Stray Feathers from many Birds, p. 21.) Incubation, performed entirely by the 
female, lasts twenty-eight days. When suddenly flushed from the eggs, the 
female Hider almost invariably discharges excreta over them and the nest as 
she hurries away. Mr. Trevor-Battye remarked the same peculiarity amongst 
the Hiders (as well as the Long-tailed Duck) breeding on Spitzbergen. 
(Conf. Ibis 1897, p. 585.) When the young are hatched the mother soon 
conveys her brood-to the sea, carrying them in many cases one by-one in her bill. 


436 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Here the old bird will often take one or more of her ducklings on her back to rest 
and sleep, sinking her body low in the water to allow the little creature more 
easily to mount. One brood only is reared in the year. The male does not 
desert the female after the eggs are laid. He never comes near the nest, but is 
usually not far away on the sea close by, and when his mate leaves the eggs to 
feed he invariably joins her. I should remark that the Hider is gregarious during 
this period, and numbers of nests may be seen almost side by side, in some cases 
two females sharing the same nest. As soon as the young are reared the birds 
quit the land, and undergo their annual change of plumage for the most part out 
at sea. 


Diagnostic characters.— (Nuptial plumage), Somateria, with the upper 
back, mantle, and falcated scapulars white (adult male) ; with the feathers on the 
forehead only extending about half as far as those on the side of the upper 
mandible (adult female). Length, 25 inches. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 437 


Family ANATIDA. Genus SOMATERIA. 
Subfamily FuLIGULINE. 


KING EIDER. 
SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS—(Linneus). 
Pratt XXXIX. 


Anas spectabilis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 195 (1766). 

Somateria spectabilis (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 158 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. 
p. 643, pl. 446 (1877) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 621 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. 
ed 4, iv. p. 463 (1885) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 183 (1894) ; 
Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxx. (1895) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 
432 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 54, pl. 9 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. 
B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 41 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.— British : The King Hider is an acci- 
dental straggler to the British Islands, and so frequently observed during 
summer as to suggest the possibility of its breeding within our limits. It has 
been seen and obtained in various localities from Plymouth to the Orkneys and 
Shetlands, although it is much rarer in Ireland, where only four instances of its 
occurrence are on record. It has been observed at the Farne Islands in summer ; 
and we met with two pairs during June at St. Kilda. Foreign Extreme northern 
Palearctic and Nearctic regions, more southerly in winter. It breeds on the 
islands off the coast of Northern Siberia, Nova Zembla, Franz-Josef Land, 
probably Spitzbergen, Greenland, and the islands and coasts of Arctic America, 
perhaps as far north as land extends. It isa more or less accidental visitor in 
winter to the coasts of Norway, the Baltic, Denmark, Holland, and France, to 
the Faroes, Iceland, Labrador, New J ersey, the Great Lakes, and California. 


Allied forms.—None more closely allied than the Eider Duck and its 
representative forms treated of in the preceding chapter. 


Habits. —The King Eider, although it resembles the Common Hider very 
closely in its general habits, is not quite such an exclusively marine species, and 
is occasionally found on fresh water, yet only, so far as I can determine, on such 
vast expanses as the Great Lakes in North America. It is almost if not quite as 
sedentary as the Common Eider, and does not wander far beyond the limits of 
open water during winter. Most of those that do straggle south at that season 


438 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD] FOWL 


are immature birds. It is just as gregarious, perhaps more so, inasmuch as Ross 
often met with large flocks of adult males and others of adult females with their 
young in the open Atlantic. In its food, note, and mode of progression in the 
air and the water it does not differ in any important respect from the Common 
Eider. I had the good fortune to meet with the King Eider during my pro- 
longed visit to St. Kilda in the summer of 1884, and made the following note 
respecting its habits, which I transcribe verbatim from my paper on the birds of 
these Islands contributed to the Ibis: ‘ Ornithologists will ‘read with pleasure 
that the King Hider frequents St. Kilda. I first became aware of this interesting 
fact when trying to stalk the Common Hiders in the bay. For two hours I lay 
concealed behind a huge boulder, watching the little party of Ducks that were 
swimming just outside the breakers. Two of the pairs were King Eiders. In 
spite of all my efforts, both on this and subsequent occasions, I failed to secure 
an example. They were not more than seventy yards away from me several 
times, so that I had every opportunity of observing them; and on more than one 
occasion I carefully scanned them through a powerful glass. They mingled 
freely with the Common Eiders, and did not differ in any perceptible degree in 
their habits. It was a pretty sight to watch these rare and charming birds 
sporting in the heaving waves, the males and females swimming side by side. 
As the mighty rollers broke upon the shore the birds dived through the bright 
green wave just before it turned over. They were busy feeding on the small 
animals which were disturbed by the breaking waves. They floated light as 
corks on the heaving sea, now high up exposed to view, then deep down in 
the trough of the waves. As soon as they caught a glimpse of me they quickly 
swam farther from shore. Every day they might be observed in one particular 
part of the bay; and I have not the slightest doubt that they were nesting on 
the precipitous island of Doon. Of course the natives did not distinguish them 
from the Common Hider ; and they take but little interest in them, for they tell 
me the male Hider is the only bird of St. Kilda that they are unable to snare.’ 
I am pleased to be able to record that my opinion respecting the breeding of the 
King Eider in these islands is shared by others of much wider experience of the 
ornithology of this district than myself. Mr. John A. Harvie-Brown, the 
gentleman so frequently alluded to in these pages relative to the habits of some 
of the least known of the species, says im epistold: ‘I shall be glad if you 


succeed in getting undoubted King Eiders. Personally, I believe they breed on 
the Dun [Doon] every year.” 


Nidification.—The King Eider breeds even later than the Common 
Hider, probably because its summer range nowhere reaches quite so far to the 
south, and extends more to the north. Its eggs are laid during the first half of 
July. It appears to arrive at its most northerly breeding stations in flocks 
towards the end of June. The nests are made on islands as well as on the 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 439 


coasts of the mainland, and are placed in similar situations to those of the 
Common Hider. The nest is merely a depression in the ground, which may or 
may not contain a little vegetable refuse, but is always warmly lined with down 
from the body of the female by the time the full number of eggs is deposited 
The eggs, so far as is known, are six in number and pale greenish-grey in colour, 
smooth in texture, and with little gloss. They measure on an average 26 inches 
in length by 1°75 inch in breadth. The down tufts are similar in every respect 
to those of the préceding species. One brood only is reared in the year. The 
habits of this Hider during the nesting period and after the young are reared do 
not differ from those of allied species. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial Plumage), Somateria, with the 
upper back white and the falcated scapulars black, and with a black stripe on 
each side of the throat meeting on the chin, forming a V-shaped mark (adult 
male) ; with the feathers on the forehead extending beyond those on the side of 
the bill (adult female). Length, 24 inches. 


440 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Subfamily MERGIN4E.—The Mergansers. 


The Mergansers resemble the Diving Ducks and Hiders in having the hind 
toe broadly lobed; but the bill is compressed, the lower mandible without 
lamelle, but with the edges of both mandibles furnished with a series of very 
prominent tooth-like serrations. The moult is similar to that of the non-diving 
Ducks. 

This subfamily is composed of nine species, divisible into three fairly well 
defined genera. ; 


Genus MERGANSER, or Typical Mergansers. 
Type, MERGANSER CASTOR. 


Merganser, of Brisson (1760).—The birds comprising the present genus 
are characterised by having the culmen longer than the metatarsus, and the 
tooth-like serrations on both mandibles very prominent and inclined backwards 
at the tips. The wings are moderately long. The nostrils are lateral and 
central. Three toes in front connected with webs; hind toe moderate and lobed. 

This genus contains seven species, distributed over the Palearctic and 
Nearctic regions, Northern India, South-eastern Brazil, and the Auckland 
Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Two species are British. 

The typical Mergansers frequent both inland waters and maritime districts. 
They are birds of rapid flight, and swim and dive with exceptional skill. Their 
notes are harsh and unmusical. They subsist largely on fish, crustaceans, 
mollusks, etc. They make rude nests, either on the ground or in holes of trees 
and rocks. Their eggs are numerous and creamy-buff or olive-grey, unspotted. 
They probably pair for life, and are more or less gregarious and social. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 441 


Family ANATIDA. Genus MERGANSER. 
Subfamily Mzrcina. 


GOOSANDER. 
MERGANSER CASTOR—(Linneus). 
Pruate XL. 


Mergus merganser, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 208 (1766); Dresser B. Eur. vi. p. 685, 
pl. 452 (1875) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 625 (1885); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4 iv. 
p. 488 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 245 (1893); Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. B. pt. xxiii (1893); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 55, pl. 15 (1896). 
Merganser castor (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 207 (1852); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. 
Mus. xxvii. p. 472 (1895). 


Merganser merganser (Linn.), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 58 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Goosander is a fairly 
common winter visitor to the British Islands, both inland and on the coast. It 
is rare in the Orkneys and Shetlands, but more frequent on the east and west 
coasts of Scotland, especially the latter ; tolerably common on the eastern shores 
of England, but rarer on the south and west. It is rare in Ireland, although in the 
severe weather of 1880-81 an unusual visitation took place, and examples were 
obtained in all parts of the Island. It breeds sparingly in Scotland, in Suther- 
landshire, Argyllshire, North Perthshire, and a few other localities in the High- 
lands. Foreign: Palearctic region; northern limits of Oriental region in winter. 
It breeds in Iceland and Denmark, and throughout Scandinavia, but does not 
winter north of the Arctic Circle. It is said to breed in Switzerland, and has 
been recorded from Nova Zembla. Hastwards it is found during summer in 
Pomerania, and Russia as far north as the Arctic Circle, and as far south as lat. 
50° in the Ural and Volga districts. In Asia it breeds throughout Siberia south 
of the Arctic Circle, and in a similar climate at high elevations in Turkestan, 
and the Himalayas up to 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. It winters on 
the coasts and inland waters of Central and Southern Europe, but rarely crosses 
to the African side of the Mediterranean. It is also found at this season in the 
Black Sea, on the lower lands of Turkestan, in Northern India, Mongolia, China 
and Japan. 


Allied forms.—Merganser americanus, an inhabitant of the Nearctic 
region, breeding from about lat. 42° as far north as the limit of trees, and in winter 


442 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


of the United States, and occasionally the Bermudas. The American representative 
of the Goosander, and perhaps only superficially distinct. Typical examples may 
be distinguished from the Goosander by having a narrow black bar across the 
greater wing coverts. M. comatus, an inhabitant of Central Asia, including the 
Himalayas. Distinguished by being smaller in size, and in having the crest 
feathers fewer, narrower, and longer, the bill shorter, and (in the male) the black 
margins of the tertials broader, the lower back and rump paler grey, and much 
freckled with white. M. squamatus, from China (?), a doubtful species, described 
from an immature bird by Gould, possibly a hybrid between the Goosander and 
the Red-breasted Merganser. 


Habits.—During winter the Goosander with us is for the most part a coast 
bird, showing a preference for sea lochs and the quiet bays of a rocky shore, such 
as are so common On the west of Scotland, but it may be met with in estuaries, as 
well as on broads and inland lakes. In Lower India, however, it is almost 
exclusively confined during the cold season to rivers, and those where the bed is 
rocky or sandy are preferred to others which flow over clay or alluvial soil. It is 
a hardy bird, and lingers in its summer haunts until the waters are frozen, not 
leaving the pools and streams of the Himalayas until December, and quitting its 
southern retreats again in March. The same remarks apply to the individuals 
breeding at elevations of from 8,000 to 11,000 feet in Central Asia; they linger 
until driven down by the ice sealing their favourite haunts. The Goosander is a 
remarkably agile bird in the water, swimming and diving with wonderful skill. 
When going down stream it sits high on the water, but when swimming against 
the current its body is kept low, so that the oar-like feet may work to the best 
advantage. It is capable of diving a great depth, and remains under water for as 
much as two minutes at a stretch. It flies well and with great speed, but rises 
from the surface with difficulty, flapping along for several yards before it gets clear 
into the air. The Goosander does not spend much of its time on shore, but when 
gorged with food it will often sit and bask, like a Cormorant, on some rock 
rising out of deep water, resting with its body upright and with its wings half 
expanded. Itseldom rests far from the water’s edge, and when disturbed wriggles 
forward with its breast almost touching the ground, in a very Diver-like manner. 
It is a wary bird, much more so than the Red-breasted Merganser. The note of 
this species is aharsh kav, but on the whole it is a remarkably silent bird. The 
Goosander feeds almost exclusively on fish ranging from two to six inches in 
length, but aquatic insects, mollusks, and shell-fish are eaten, and the remains of 
vegetable substances have been found in its stomach. Most of these creatures 
are obtained by diving, and sometimes when feeding in flocks the entire party of 
birds will dive simultaneously, although it is more usual to see several individuals 
on the surface, asif acting as sentinels for the rest. The flesh of this Duck is 
said to be rank and fishy, and most unpalatable. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 443 


Nidification.—The favourite breeding grounds of the Goosander are open 
swampy forests, in which there are plenty of lakes and rock-bound streams and 
rivers. It is a somewhat early breeder, laying towards the end of April in the 
British Islands and in Denmark, and a month or six weeks later in Finland. 
Dybowsky states that it arrives at its breeding grounds near Lake Baikal by the 
middle of April, which is early for that cold region, and remains until December. 
The Goosander, wherever it can obtain one, prefers a hole in a tree, but in 
sparsely-wooded districts a cleft or hole in a rock or cliff not far from the water 
is used instead. It has been known to breed in an old nest of a Crow, or in the 
top of a pollard. According to Selby, Dresser, Dybowsky, and others, the nest is 
sometimes made on the ground amongst grass, but this must be highly excep- 
tional if the observers named were not actually in error in identifying the species. 
In Finland the Goosander readily avails itself of boxes or hollow logs placed in 
the trees by the peasants, and submits very patiently to the daily removal of its 
eggs to the number sometimes of ascore. The nest of this bird is slight, little 
more than the dust and refuse at the bottom of the hole selected, but warmly 
lined with plenty of down before the eggs are incubated. The eggs are from 
eight to twelve in number, creamy-white in colour, smooth in texture, and with a 
satin-like gloss. They measure on an average 2°7 inches in length by 1:8 inch in 
breadth. The down tufts are large and uniform greyish-white. Incubation lasts 
twenty-eight days. The young are carried to the nearest water one by one in the 
bill of the parent, and until they are considerably advanced towards maturity do 
not stray far from the shallow water. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Merganser, with the head 
(crested) and upper neck black, shot with green and purple, and with the lower 
neck and the whole of the underparts pure white, with a rosy tinge on the breast 
and belly (adult male); with the head (crested) and upper neck chestnut, and 
with the wing varying from 9°5 to 10°25 inches in length (adult female). Length, 
25 to 28 inches (male) ; 22 to 25 inches (female). 


444 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus MERGANSER. 
Subfamily Mzraing. 


RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 
MERGANSER SERRATOR— (Linneus). 


Mergus serrator, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 208 (1766); Dresser. B. Eur. vi. p. 693, pl. 453 
(1874) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 629 (1885); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed 4, iv. p. 494 
(1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxi. (1892) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Brit. B. 
p. 247 (1893) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 56 pl. 16 (1896). 


Merganser serrator (Linn.), Macgill, Brit. B. v. p. 216 (1852); Salvadori, Cat. B. 
Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 479 (1895) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 61 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British : The Red-breasted Merganser 
is a common resident in the north, but only a winter visitor in the south of our 
Islands. It is generally distributed along the English coasts and, in smaller 
numbers, on the inland waters, during winter, and breeds throughout Scotland 
in all suitable districts, both inland and on the coasts, north to the Orkneys and 
Shetlands, and west to the Outer Hebrides and St. Kilda. It is generally dis- 
tributed in Ireland, both inland and on the coast, and breeds most abundantly 
on the wild, broken coast of the west. Foreign: Northern Palearctic and 
Nearctic regions, more southerly in winter. It breeds in Greenland, Iceland, the 
Faroes, and throughout Scandinavia; thence across the basin of the Baltic and 
Russia, as far north as the Arctic Circle, and south to the Volga and Ural districts 
in lat. 50°. Hastwards it ranges across Siberia south of the Arctic Circle to the 
Pacific, but is not known to breed in Turkestan or the Himalayas. Its summer 
range in America extends a little lower, and during that season it ranges from 
about lat. 45° north to the Arctic Circle, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. 
During winter it is found on the inland waters and coasts of Central and 
Southern Europe as far south as the Mediterranean, but only accidentally on the 
African coast. It is also common at this season in the Black and Caspian Seas, 
in Turkestan, China, and Japan; whilst on the American Continent it ranges 
throughout the United States, and occasionally visits the Bermudas. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


Habits.—Our resident Red-breasted Mergansers are considerably increased 
in numbers in autumn by migratory individuals from higher latitudes, which 
return again in spring. A considerable southern movement also takes place 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 445 


among the birds breeding in Scotland and the north-west of Ireland, many of the 
former straying to English waters. Although common enough in many com- 
paratively inland districts, I should say that the favourite haunts of this species 
are on the coast, and that it is far more partial to marine localities than the 
preceding species. It loves a wild, rocky coast full of secluded bays and lochs 
and fiords, and studded with islands, and may frequently be observed where 
streams and rivers flow into the sea or loch. During winter it is gregarious, 
and flocks of varying size may then be met with at sea, or during rough weather, 
congregated in the sheltered bays and fiords. A long-continued spell of rough 
weather on the coast often drives this bird to inland waters and exceptional 
haunts. By the end of March most of these flocks are dispersed and the birds 
are in pairs at their usual breeding places. It is a shy and wary species, but 
owing to the rough nature of the banks of its favourite waters it may be easily 
stalked and watched. I know of few prettier sights than a pair of these 
Mergansers swimming all unsuspecting of danger in some quiet sea-loch. They 
swim side by side in the deep water close in shore, and from time to time dive 
and reappear some distance farther on. Then, perchance, they paddle in the 
shallows, or stand upon a rock an inch or two below the surface and preen their 
plumage, standing very upright, like a Cormorant or a Diver. In the pairing 
season I have often witnessed the aquatic gambols of these birds, the drake 
chasing the duck through the water or diving after her and churning the calm 
sea into bubbles and foam for a considerable area. The Merganser feeds prin- 
cipally by day, and will fly with great regularity to certain spots, timing its 
arrival to a nicety just when the rocks are beginning to be exposed by the 
ebbing tide, and remaining as long as the deep pools, in which many fish are 
stranded, remain isolated. It flies almost invariably in spring and early 
summer in pairs, sometimes one bird several yards behind the other, but always 
in company. The flight of this species is rapid and straightforward, the wings, 
which are beaten very quickly, making a whistling sound. It rises from the 
water in a rather laboured manner, often flapping along the surface for several 
yards before getting well on the wing; but during a high wind I have noticed it 
start up from the sea almost at once. It swims well, but sits low in the water, 
and dives head first like a Cormorant, descending to considerable depths, and 
often remaining under the surface for a minute or more. The note of this bird 
is aptly described by Naumann as a guttural hurr, uttered most frequently during 
flight. The food of the Red-breasted Merganser consists largely of fish, but 
crustaceans and small crabs are also eaten ; and I have known this bird feed on 
limpets and whelks which the Oystercatchers had only partly devoured. This 
food is mostly obtained by diving, and it will be remarked that each capture is 
almost invariably brought to the surface to be eaten, the bird drinking and often 
rising three parts out of the water and flapping its wings after doing so. The 
flesh of this bird is fishy in taste and unpalatable. Be this as it may, I knew an 


446 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


old Highlander who used to swear by a fat Merganser, which he partly boiled 
first and then baked or roasted! This bird always tries to elude pursuit by 
diving—at least, such is my experience—both when in pairs and in flocks, only 
taking wing when the chase has evidently become too hot. 


Nidification.—tIn the British Islands the breeding season of the Red- 
breasted Merganser begins in May, and the eggs are laid during the latter half 
of that month and the first half of June; but in more northern latitudes they 
are about a month later. This bird can scarcely be called gregarious during the 
breeding season, although many pairs may nest within a comparatively small 
area, especially in places where suitable sites are scarce. I should say they are 
distributed in more or less scattered pairs, each keeping much to itself. An 
island is preferred for a nesting-place, but where such is not available a quiet 
part of the mainland is chosen. All the nests that I have seen, and I have seen 
a good round number, were situated on rocky islets, except one, and that was on 
a portion of the shore which became an island at high water. The nest is 
usually made under a rock or bank; but rabbit burrows and crevices in walls 
are sometimes selected, and it is even placed among heather, bracken, and furze, 
at no great distance from the water in our Islands, but often some distance from 
the sea in wooded localities in other countries. The nestis scanty and in many 
cases is dispensed with altogether, the eggs lying on the ground until sufficient 
down accumulates to protect them. When a nest is made, it is merely a hollow 
into which a little dry grass and dried leaves are placed, finished off with a warm 
lining of down from the body of the female. The eggs are from eight to twelve 
in number and olive-grey of various shades in colour, smooth in texture, and 
with some little gloss. They measure on an average 2°6 inches in length by 1°7 
inch in breadth. The down tufts are large, pale brownish-grey in colour, with 
obscure pale centres and tips. Incubation, performed entirely by the female, 
lasts twenty-eight days. Sometimes she sits very closely, but generally slips off 
at the first sign of danger and goes right away at once. The male is never seen 
at the nest, but he is generally stationed on the sea close by, and joins his mate 
when she leaves her eggs to come and feed; whilst as soon as the young brood 
are abroad he retires to moult. The young soon take to the sea with their 
mother, and are remarkably active both in swimming and diving. One brood 
only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Merganser, with the head 
(crested) and upper neck black, shot with green and purple, with the lower neck 
and upper breast buff streaked with black, with black margins to the white 
feathers on the sides of the breast, and with the flanks strongly vermiculated 
with greyish-black (adult male); with the head (crested) and upper neck pale 
chestnut, and with the wing varying from 8°25 to 9 inches in length (adult 
female), Length, 24 to 26 inches (male) ; 22 to 23 inches (female). 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 447 


Genus LOPHODYTES, or Hooded Mergansers. 
Type, LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS. 


Lophodytes, of Reichenbach (1852.)*—The birds comprising the present 
genus are characterised by having the culmen longer than the metatarsus, and 
the tooth-like serrations on both mandibles are short and blunt, and not distinctly 
inclined backwards at the tips. The nostrils are lateral and central. The wings 
are moderately long. Three toes in front connected with webs; hind toe moderate 
and lobed. 

This genus contains a single species only, confined to the New World. It is 
an inhabitant of North America generally, from Alaska to Mexico and Cuba. It 
is an abnormal migrant to the British Islands. 

The habits of the single species in the genus are fully described in the 
following chapter. 


* ? 1850. 


448 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Family ANATIDA. Genus LOPHODYTES. 
Subfamily MzRGINZ. 


HOODED MERGANSER. 
LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS—(Linneus). 


Mergus cucullatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 207 (1766); Seebohm, Hist. Brit, B. ii. 
p. 663 (1885); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 509 (1885); Dixon, Nests and Eggs 
Non-indig, Brit. B. p. 185 (1894); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxxi. 1895; 
Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 57, pl. 16 (1896). 

Merganser cucullatus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 225 (1852). 


Lophodytes cucullatus (Linn.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 468 (1895) ; 
Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 56 (1896). 


Geographical distribution. — British: The Hooded Merganser is a 
rare and irregular straggler to the British Islands in winter. Several of the 
alleged occurrences of this species are unworthy of credence, but the reliable 
evidence on which its claim to be regarded as ‘‘ British”’ is founded may be briefly 
summarised as follows—England: Norfolk (two examples), winter of 1829, and 
winter of 1837-38. Wales: Menai Straits (one example), winter of 1880-81. 
Ireland: Co. Kerry, Dingle Bay (one example), about the year 1840; Co. Meath 
(one example), no data; Co. Cork, Cork Harbour (two examples), December, 
1878; Co. Kerry (one example), January, 1881; Co. Sligo (one doubtful example, 
not preserved), winter 1880-81. Foreign: Northern Nearctic region, more 
southerly in winter. It breeds in Arctic and North Temperate America from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, as far north asthe Arctic Circle, and as far south as about 
lat. 45°. During winter it visits most parts of the United States, extending its 
winter area to Mexico and the West Indies. It occasionally visits the Bermudas, 
but is not known to occur in Greenland, Iceland, or any part of Continental Europe. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


Habits.—The Hooded Merganser does not differ in its habits and economy 
from its congeners in any known important particular. It is perhaps more of an 
inland species than the preceding bird, attached to fresh water during summer 
like the Goosander, but resorting to the coasts in winter, where it prefers a 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 449 


deeply indented rocky shore to the more open sea. It is gregarious during the 
latter season, although the flocks are never very large, and not only frequents 
the sea, but visits inland waters, especially flooded tracts of country. Like its 
allies it is an accomplished diver, obtaining most of its food under the surface. 
_It also flies with great speed, but is clumsy enough on land, shuffling along in 
an awkward manner with its breast touching the ground or nearly so. The food 
of this Merganser is composed almost exclusively of fish, but crustaceans and 
various kinds of aquatic insects are also sought. It is said to be a shy, wary bird, 
preferring to elude pursuit by diving rather than flying, and so expert at this as 
to disappear very often at the flash of the gun, and rising again uninjured far out 
of range. The note of this species does not differ from that of allied birds. 
During winter the Hooded Merganser sometimes associates with other Ducks, 
andin our Islands has been observed to do so with its ally, the Red-breasted 
~ Merganser. 


Nidification.—The breeding grounds of the Hooded Merganser are lake 
and river districts where plenty of trees occur; in this respect it exactly resembles 
its two allies, the Smew and the Goosander. The nest is made in a hole of a 
tree or in a hollow fallen log. The eggs are at first laid on the powdered wood, 
but gradually a thick warm bed of down accumulates, plucked from the body of 
the female. The eggs are from five to eight in number, pure white in colour, 
smooth in texture, and remarkably rotund ; ‘the latter shape, it may be rémarked, 
is very prevalent among birds nesting in holes where space is limited. They 
measure on an average 2°1 inches in length by 1:7 inch in breadth. The down 
tufts are moderate in size, and very pale grey in colour. The female ‘performs 
the task of incubation, which is said to last thirty-one days. She then conveys 
her chicks to the water in her bill one by one, where they are remarkably active, 
swimming and diving with ease. It is not known that more than one brood is 
reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Lophodytes, with the head 
and upper neck black, ornamented with a very conspicuous crest, white margined 
with black, and with two black crescentic marks on each side of the breast (adult 
male); with the head (crested) and upper neck uniform brown, and the under- 
parts below the neck uniform white (adult female). Length, 17 to 19 inches. 


29 


450 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Genus MERGUS, or Smews. 
Type, MERGUS ALBELLUS. 


Mergus, of Linnzus (1766).—The birds comprising the present genus are 
characterised by having a straight, slender, narrow bill shorter than the meta- 
tarsus, furnished on both upper and lower mandible with saw-like lamellae. The 
wings are moderately long. The nostrils are lateral and central. The metatarsus 
is short; three toes in front, webbed; hind toe moderate and lobed. 

This genus contains but a single specie which is distributed over the northern 
portions of the Palearctic region, and is a winter visitor to our area. 

The Smews frequent both inland waters as well as maritime districts. 
They are birds of rapid, if laboured flight, and swim and dive with wonderful 
skill, but on the land they walk clumsily. Their notes are loud and unmusical. 
They subsist on fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and shell-fish. They make rude 
nests, which are lined with down, in holes of trees. Their eggs are numerous, 
and cream-white in colour. They are monogamous and probably pair for life. 
They are more or less gregarious, except in the breeding season, although social 
tendencies are even then observable. 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 451 


Family ANATIDA. Genus Mgravs. 
Subfamily Mzereinz. 


SMEW. 
MERGUS ALBELLUS—Linneus. 


Mergus albellus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 209 (1766); Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 233 (1852) ; 
Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 699, pls. 454, 455 (1874); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 
636 (1885); Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 449 (1885); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. 
xiv. (1891); Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 186 (1894) ; Salvadori, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 464 (1895); Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 58, 
pl. 15 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 52 (1896). 


Geographical distribution.—British: The Smew is a rare and 
irregular winter visitor to the British Islands, where, as one might naturally 
expect from the peculiarities of its normal geographical area, it is most 
frequently observed on our eastern seaboard. Adult males are nothing near so 
frequently observed as young males and females, and these are pretty generally 
dispersed along the south and east coasts of England and the east coast of 
Scotland. On the west of England and Scotland, including the Hebrides, it is 
much rarer. In Ireland it is also of rare and irregular appearance, principally in 
the north and central districts. Foreign: Northern Palearctic region, more 
southerly in winter; extreme north of Oriental region in winter. The Smew 
breeds in Russia as far west as Finnish Lapland, as far north as the Arctic 
Circle, and as far south as the Gulf of Finland in the west, and the valleys 
of the Kama and Lower Volga in the east. Thence it may be traced across 
Northern Siberia south of the Arctic Circle (some authorities say the limit of 
forest growth) to the shores of the Pacific. During migration or in winter it is 
an accidental wanderer to the Scandinavian coasts (both the Atlantic and the 
Baltic), but it is not known to visit the Faroes and Iceland. It is also found at 
this season along the coasts and on the inland waters of Central, Western, and 
Southern Europe, as far south as Morocco and the Mediterranean. It also visits 
the Black and Caspian Seas at this season. On migration it crosses Turkestan, 
Southern Siberia, and Mongolia, and winters in Northern India, China, and 
Japan. 


Allied forms.—None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 


452 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 


Habits.—The Smew is certainly the least maritime of the Mergansers, 
although it is most frequently met with on the coasts, and not inland, during its 
winter visits to the British Islands. Here, as elsewhere in the southern limits 
of its winter area, young birds are apparently most frequent, possibly because the 
old birds keep more out to sea. The Smew remains in its usual haunts as long as 
the water remains free from ice, and even in the exceptionally severe climate of 
Asia itis a bird of late passage. Hume states that even in Upper India it does 
not arrive until November, and that it leaves equally early in spring, most having 
left the country by the end of March. Not only so, but its appearances are rare 
and irregular, and mostly confined to immature individuals. Like all its allies it 
is a very gregarious bird during winter, and lives in flocks of varying size up to 
thirty or forty individuals. Its favourite haunts in India are large rivers and 
lakes, but it occasionally frequents smaller sheets of water. Where its haunts 
are extensive it usually remains the entire winter sedentary, but in the more 
restricted waters it is more restless, and generally deserts them altogether if much 
sought by the gunner. It 1s a wary bird, keeping well out from shore in the open 
water, and even when diving a few individuals remain on the surface to watch 
for danger. This it usually seeks to evade by swimming quickly away, its body 
low in the water, and when fired at dives at once, and reappears wel] out of 
range. The flock after having dived en masse, come up in scattered order, but 
each bird swims to a converging point, and all are soon bunched together again. 
If hard pressed the birds rise and circle in the air, again dropping perhaps several 
miles away. The Smew is said to be ever a restless, active bird, swimming to 
and fro and diving at intervals. It rarely visits land, and even sleeps upon the 
water. Its flight is quick but almost silent, and the bird rises out of the water 
with little effort or splash. The Smew is a most accomplished diver, and 
according to Hume its movements under water are even more rapid than those 
of the Cormorants or Grebes. The wings are used in diving, and the birds 
frequently go to a great depth, and remain under water for a minute at a time. 
The food of this Duck is composed principally of small fish, but frogs, aquatic 
insects, and crustaceans are also eaten. The bird is not known to eat anything 
of a vegetable nature. The note of the Smew is described as a harsh kurr, but 
it is a remarkably silent bird in its winter quarters. Jerdon states that it 
utters an oft-repeated bell-like call, probably at its breeding grounds, because this 
peculiar note has won for it the name of Bell Duck in Northern Asia. The flesh 
of this species is rank and unpalatable. 


Nidification.—The breeding grounds of the Smew are situated in the 
swampy forest districts of the Arctic regions where lakes and streams abound, 
where big swamps, studded with pools connected by streams, and surrounded by 
trees form a pleasant relief to the monotony of the northern forests. It isa 
rather late breeder, not laying until July or the very end of June. The nest is 


OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 453 


placed either in a hollow fallen log, or in a hole in the trunk of a tree or broken 
stump. The first eggs are laid on the powdered wood at the bottom of the hole, 
but as the clutch is completed a plentiful lining of down is added, plucked from 
the body of the female. The eggs are seven or eight in number, creamy-white in 
colour, smooth in texture, and with some gloss. They measure on an average 
20 inches in length by 1:47 inch in breadth. The down tufts are moderate in 
size and very pale greyish-white. The female usually conveys her chicks to the 
nearest water in her bill. One brood only is reared in the year, and it would 
appear that the duck and her young, or at least the young, keep company during 
the winter: 


Diagnostic characters.—(Nuptial plumage), Mergus, with the head 
(crested) and neck white, except a large spot between the eye and the bill, and 
another on each side of the nape, where they meet, which are black shot with 
green (adult male); with the feathers of the forehead, crown, and nape (the 
latter elongated into a crest) chestnut, and with a large black patch between 
the eye and the bill (adult female). Length, 17 to 18 inches (male); 15 to 17 
inches (female). 


454 


APPENDIX. 


Owine to the length of time which the present edition has necessarily taken in 
passing through the press, I find it necessary, in order to bring the information as 
nearly up to date as possible, to add the following records of abnormal migrants to the 


species named below :— 


Page 74—Baillon’s Crake (Crea bailloni): Add one, Renfrewshire, May, 
1893; one near Thurso, September, 1898. 


'92—Crane (Grus cinerea): Has been obtained in Ireland as recently as 


1896. 


” 


95—Demoiselle Crane (Grus virgo): Add one, Norfolk Coast, July, 
1899 (? an escaped bird). 


” 


103—Little Bustard (Otis tetrax) : Ireland can now claim six examples. 


117—Common Pyratincole (Glareola pratincola): Add a second Scotch 


example, Rocksands, Montrose, November, 1899. 


154—American Golden Plover (Charadrius domimieus): Add one, Co. 
Mayo, September, 1894. 


» 165—Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius): Add one (?), Co. Meath, 
August, 1899. 


» 210—Bartram’s Sandpiper (Bartranua longicauda): Add one Irish 
specimen, Co. Cork, September, 1894. 


,, 277—Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tringites rufescens): Add one (¢), 
Norfolk, September, 1899. 


315—Greater Suow Goose (Chen nivalis): Now a British species, of 


which an account is given on the two following pagos 
(pp. 455, 456). 


», 398—Tufted Duck (uligula cristata): Add to British breeding area, 
South-west Derbyshire. 


APPENDIX. 455 


Family ANATIDAL. Genus CHEN. 
Subfamily ANSERINZ. 


GREATER SNOW GOOSE. 
CHEN NIVALIS— (Forster). 


Anas nivalis, Forster, Phil. Trans. Ixii. p. 413 (1772). 

Chen hyperboreus (Pall.), Coues, Birds N.-West, p. 548 (1874 partim) ; Newton, Dict. 
Birds, p. 874 (1893 partim). 

Chen hyperboreus nivalis (Forst.), Baird, Brewer, and Ridg., Water-B. N. Amer. ii. 
p. 440 (1884) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 148 (1894). 

Anser hyperboreus nivalis (Forst.), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 490 (1885). 


Chen nivalis (Forst.), Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 86 (1895); Sharpe, 
Handb. B. Gt. Brit. ii. p. 227 (1896); Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Nov. (1899). 


Geographical distribution.—British : Providing the identification be 
correct, and of this there seems to be little or no doubt, so far as I am able at 
present to judge, the Greater Snow Goose (as recorded in Knowledge for 
February, 1900), must now be included as a rare abnormal migrant to the 
British Islands. Its claim to rank as ‘‘ British” rests upon a single occur- 
rence, though possibly some of the “Snow Geese” seen but not obtained 
both in England and Ireland may have belonged to the larger of the two 
races into which most scientific ornithologists agree in dividing them. It is a 
somewhat remarkable coincidence, and one which has frequently been noticed in 
the repeated appearance of abnormal migrants in certain areas, that Co. Mayo 
can claim the first record of the Greater Snow Goose. This example appears to 
have been shot near Belmullet in November, 1899. It was exhibited on behalf 
of Mr. R. J. Ussher (a gentleman long known in connection with Irish orni- 
thology) by Dr. Sharpe, at a meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Club, held 
on the 22nd of November of that year. Foreign: Northern portions of the 
Arctogean realm; more southerly in winter. The large race of the Snow Goose 
is only known to breed in the Hudson Bay territory, but its appearance in 
North-eastern Asia, especially in Japan and China, and its visits to Greenland, 
seems to suggest that its summer range is vastly more extenddd. I? we cannot 
at present exactly define the breeding area of this Goose, its wide extent is 
certainly indicated by the flocks of this species that visit during winter various 
localities in the Old World from Russia to Japan, and in the New World the 


456 . APPENDIX. 


United States as far south as Texas. This Goose must also be included in the list of 
abnormal migrants to the Bermudas. Macfarlane states (Proc. U. 8S. Nat. Mus. 
xiv. p. 423) that breeding grounds of this species are situated on the shores 
and islands of Esquimaux Lake and Liverpool Bay. 


Allied forms.—Chen hyperboreus, an abnormal migrant to the British 
Islands, and dealt with on pages 314 and 315. The small form of the Snow 
Goose, and possibly only subspecifically distinct. C. rossi, an inhabitant of 
Arctic America during summer, migrating south as far as California and Montana 
in winter. It differs from the two. preceding species in being much smaller in 
size, and in having, as pointed out by Count Salvadori, the bill comparatively 
weak, and the feathering at the base of the upper mandible, along each side, 
forming a nearly straight oblique line -instead of a very convex line, as in the 
other three species of Snow Geese. It forms the type of Elliot’s genus 
Exanthemops. C. cerulescens, an inhabitant of the interior of Arctic America 
east of the Rocky Mountains, drawing south in winter. It is distinguished by its 
greyish-brown plumage, becoming bluish-grey on the wing coverts and rump. 


Habits.—It is not known that the habits of the Greater Snow Goose differ 
in any important respect from those of the smaller race. Macfarlane states the 
belief that the Greater Snow Goose was some days later in arriving at its arctic 
haunts in spring. These appear to be reached in May and left again in 
September and October. It is chiefly found during winter on the Atlantic coast, 
not entering the Mississippi Valley in such numbers as its smaller ally. This 
Goose during winter frequents inland localities as well as maritime ones. Its 
food is largely of a vegetable character, grass, roots, ground fruits and berries, 
varied with insects and mollusks. It is gregarious during winter, and consorts 
with the smaller race as well as with other allied species. The note, so far as I 
can ascertain, has never been described. 


Nidification.—The information relating to the nidification of this Goose 
is of a most meagre description, but doubtless the nesting habits differ little 
from those of the smaller race. The eggs are similar in colour, and I know of 
no character by which they may be distinguished from those of the preceding 
form. One brood only is reared in the year. 


Diagnostic characters.—Chen, with the primaries black and the 
remainder of the plumage white, with the wing 17} inches or more in length. 
Length, 30 to 38 inches. 


Page 


2 


” 


” 


457 


ERRATA. 


6—Line 4, for Plate II., fig. 1, read Plate IT. 
9—Line 4, for Plate IT., fig. 2, read Plate ITa. 
50—Line 2, for monogamous, read polygamous. 
54—Line 4, for Plate XI., fig. 1, read Plate XI. 
58-—Line 4, for Plate XI, fig. 2, read Plate XIa. 
98—Line 29, for five families, read four. 
181—Line 39, for wkich, read which. 
218—Line 1, for Totanus solitarius, read Helodromas solitarius. 


247—Plate XXVIII.—Mr. Whymper has unfortunately omitted the 
squamate or arrow-shaped markings from the flanks that are 
such a characteristic feature of the Siberian Pectoral 
Sandpiper (Heteropygia acuminata). 


261—Line 10, for Tringa accuminata pectoralis, read Tringa acuminata 
pectoralis. 


315—Line 4, for superficially, read subspecifically. 


341—Line 13, for Tadorna Tadorna, read Tadorna tadorna. 


Pages 354, 358, Plate XXXV.—It has been thought advisable to omit this 


Plate, and to replace it by Plates IIa and XIa. The decision 
was made too late to delete the Plate number under the 
Pintail Duck and the Wigeon, or to make the necessary 
alterations in the numbering of the succeeding plates. 


Page 430—Add below line 4, ‘‘ Plate XX XIX.” 


458 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


Nore.—The names in black type are used for the British species in the present work. 


A 


Actitis hypoleucus ... 
Actitis macularia 
Actiturus oes 
AXgialeus semipalmatus 
Aigialitis wa 
AXgialitis alexandrina 
Aigialitis asiatica ... 
Agialitis cantianus 
AKgialitis curonicus 
Aigialitis dealbatus 
Aigialitis dubia... ... 
Aigialitis hiaticola 
Agialitis hiaticula 
Adgialitis hiaticula major ... 
ABgialitis major 
Agialitis minor 
ANgialitis minor jerdoni 
AXgialitis minutus ... 
Adgialitis nivosus ... 
fAgialitis placidus ... 
Aigialitis vocifera ... 
ZXgialophilus asiaticus 
American Pectoral Sandpiper 
American Stint 
American Teal 
American Wigeon ... 
Anas 

Anas acuta ... 

Anas albeola 

Anas americana 

Anas anser ... 

Anas bernicla 

Anas boscas... 

Anas boschas 

Anas carolinensis ... 
Anas casarca 

Anas circia ... 


222 
225 


. Xxiil 


129, 


129, 
129, 


XXIV, 


132 
125 
134 
141 
134 
126 
135 
126 
132 
132 
129 
129 
126 
126 
134 
135 
126 
138 
141 
261 
271 
367 
361 
379 
304 
405 
361 
322 
330 
380 
380 
367 
345 
370 


A 


Anas clangula 
Anas clypeata 
Anas collaris 
Anas crecca... 
Anas cygnus 
Anas discors 
Anas erythropus 
Anas fabalis 
Anas ferina ... 
Anas fuligula 


Anas fuligula (nec Linn.) ... 


Anas fusca ... 
Anas glacialis 
Anas glaucion 
Anas histrionica 
Anas laysanensis 
Anas leucopsis 
Anas marila 
Anas mollissima 
Anas nigra ... 
Anas nivalis 
Anas nyroca 
Anas olor 

Anas penelope 
Anas perspicillata ... 
Anas rufina ... 
Anas rutila ... 
Anas segetum 
Anas spectabilis 
Anas stelleri 
Anas strepera 
Anas tadorna 
Anas wyvilliana 
Anatida 
Anatinee 


Ancylochilus subarcuatus ... 


Anser 


408 
376 
401 
364 
305 
373 


. 827 


Xxill, 
Xxill, 


317 
391 
398 
401 
493 
416 
408 
412 
380 
334 
395 
433 
420 
455 
388 
310 
308 
426 
384 
345 
317 
437 
430 
350 
341 
380 
303 
339 
247 
316 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


A 
Anser anser... 322 
Anser albatus a w. 314 
Anser albifrons ... ...323, 325, 327 
Anser albifrons minutus w. 827 
Anser brachyrhynchus ... 318, 320 
Anser brenta ats ... 330 
Anser cinereus ... ing 822, 326 
Anser erythropus 323, 325, 327 
Anser fabalis 317 
Anser ferus... - mae a. 3822 
Anser gambeli she ah 325, 327 
Anser hyperboreus .. re 314 
Anser hyperboreus nivalis 455 
Anser leucopsis ae we 8384 
Anser neglectus... 1 318, 320 
Anser rubrirostris ... 323 
Anser ruficollis : = a. «680T 
Anser segetum _.... =~ 317, 320 
Anser serrirostris ... .. 3818 
“Anseres Bais cae ... Xxili, 301 
Anseriformes ie ... xxiii, 301 
Anserine ... ite .. xxiii, 313 
Anthropoides virgo... 95 
April, migration in XXv1 
Aramidee xxi 
‘Ardea grus ... 92 
Ardea virgo ... 95 
Arenaria interpres ... 176 
Arquatella maritima 253 
August, migration in . XXvil 
Avocet, Common 172 
Avocets 171 
Avoceis, Stilts aio 167 
Aythya ferina 391 
Aythya rufina 384 
B 
‘Bartramia ... .  xxilt, 209 
Bartramia longicauda . 240, 454 
Bean Goose... 317 
Bernacle Goose 334 


B 


Bernicla brenta se 
Bernicla brenta glaucogaster 
Bernicla glaucogaster 
Bernicla leucopsis ... 
Bernicla ruficollis ... 
Bewick’s Swan 
Blue-winged Garganey 
Bonaparte’s Sandpiper 
Branta 

Branta albifrons 

Branta bernicla ... 
Branta canadensis ... 
Branta glaucogaster 
Branta leucopsis ... 
Branta nigricans 

Branta ruficollis... 

Brent Geese 

Brent Goose : 

Brent Goose, White- bellied 
Broad-billed Sandpiper 
Buff-breasted Sandpiper ... 
Buff-breasted Sandpipers ... 
Buffel-headed Duck 
Buffel-headed Ducks 
Bustard, Great 

Bustard, Little 

Bustard, Macqueen’s 
Bustards 

Bustards, Ruffed 

Bustards, Typical ... 


Caccabis 

Caccabis petrosa 

Caccabis rufa 

Caccabis rufa hispanica 
Caccabis saxatilis ... 
Caccabis saxatilis var chukar 
Caccabis saxatilis var magna 
Calidris ce 
Calidris arenaria ... 
Capercaillie 


459 


330 
333 
333 
334 
337 
305 
373 

259 
xxiii, 329 
wee BOB 
330, 333 
835 
330, 333 
884 
331, 333 
337 
329 
330 
333 
256 
277 
276 
405 
404 
fea) 100 
103, 454 
106 
99 
105 
99 


57 

58 

58 

58 

58 

58 

. = 58 
xxiii, 279 
280 

40 


460 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


Cc 
Casarea xxill, 344 
Casarca cana oe Bar -.. 846 
Casarca casarca.... cet ... 3845 
Casarca rutila —..: a w. 845 
Casarca tadornoides a3 .. 846 
Casarca variegata ... ee .. 346 
Cheetusia gregaria ... ce .» 165 
Charadriidz xxii, 120 
Charadriiformes xxl, 98 
Charadriiformes, migrations of ... xxv 
Charadriinz xxii, 125 
Charadrius ... a ve .. 147 
? Charadrius alexandrinus we 1384 
Charadrius asiaticus shes .. 141 
Charadrius cantianus ie .. 184 


Charadrius dominicus 
149, 151, 152, 154, 454 


Charadrius dubius ... bcs ... 126 


Charadrius fulvus 
149, 154; 152, 154, 158 


Charadrius fulvus americanus ... 154 
Charadrius gallicus... re .. 118 
Charadrius gregarius a8 .. 165 
Charadrius helveticus ae ... 158 
Charadrius hiaticula 129, 132 
Charadrius himantopus _... ... 168 
Charadrius interpres wee .. 176 
Charadrius major ... a .. 129 
Charadrius minor ... iu .. =196 
Charadrius morinellus _... .. 144 
Charadrius cedicnemus ... .. 109 
Charadrius pluvialis 148, 152,154,158 
Charadrius virginicus re w. =154 
Charadrius vociferus bs ... 138 
Charitonetta ant an .. 404 
Charitonetta albeola_... .-. 405 
Chaulelasmus xxiv, 349 
Chaulelasmus couesi ied .. §=6851 
Chaulelasmus streperus 350, 351 
Chen ‘ies as .. -Xxill, 313 
Chen albatus ii mae wu. «314 
Chen ceerulescens ... : 456 


Chen hyperboreus 344, 455, 456 


Cc 


Chen hyperboreus nivalis 
Chen nivalis 

Chen rossi 

Chenalopex 
Chenomorphe 

Chettusia gregaria ... 
Chionidide ... 

Clangula 

Clangula albeola 


Clangula chrysophthalma... 


Clangula clangula ... 
Clangula glaucion 


Clangula glaucion americana 


Clangula histrionica 
Clangula islandica ... 
Columba 

Columba nas 
Columba casiotis 
Columba eversmanni 
Columba intermedia 
Columba livia 
Columba migratoria 
Columba orientalis... 
Columba palumbus 
Columba turtur 
Columbide ... 
Columbiformes 

Coot, Common 
Cosmonetita ... 


Cosmonetta histrionica... 


Coturnix 

Coturnix capensis ... 
Coturnix communis 
Coturnix coturnix ... 
Coturnix dactylisonans 
Coturnix japonica ... 


Courser, Cream-coloured ... 
Coursers, Pratincoles, «ec. ... 


Coursers, Typical ... 
Crab Plover... 
Crake, Baillon’s 
Crake, Carolina 


3154 
314, 455 
456 
. Xxill 
301 
165 
98 
407 
405 
408 
408 


405, 408, 409 


409 
412 
409 


XX, 


113 
112 
112 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


Cc 
Crake, Corn... 67 
Crake, Little 76 
Crake, Spotted 70 
Crakes = 66 
Crane, Common 92, 454 
Crane, Demoiselle ... 95, 454 
Cranes re 91 
Cranes and their siliga 90 
Cranes, migrations = XXV 
Crex.. 66 
Crex affinis Lae w. 4 
Crex bailloni 74, 454 
Crex carolina 70, 72 
Crex crex .. = 67 
Crex fluminea 70, 72 
Crex palustris 74 
Crex parva = 76 
Crex porzana 70, 72 
Crex pratensis 67 
Crex pusilla... se 74 
Crex pusilla (nec Pallas) ... 76 
Crymophilus fulicarius 180 
Curlew, Common 188 
Curlews Bee 187 
Curlew Sandpiper ... we 247 
Cursoriidz ... xxii, 112 
Cursorius 112 
Cursorius europeus 113 
Cursorius gallicus . 118 
Cursorius gallicus bogolubovi ... 113 
Cursorius rufus 114 
Cursorius somalensis .. 118 
Cygninez xxi, 303 
Cygnus .. 804 
Cygnus bewicki 305, 308 
Cygnus immutabilis .. 3810 
Cygnus musicus 305, 308 
Cygnus olor 310 
D 
Dafila xxiv, 353 


Dafila acuta 
Dafila eatoni 
Dendrocygna 


Diving Ducks and Hiders ... 


Dotterel 

Dotterels 

Dove, Eastern Turtle 
Dove, Ring ... 

Dove, Rock ... 

Dove, Stock... 
Doves, Turtle 
Dromadide ... ; 
Duck, Long-tailed ... 
Duck, Pintail 

Duck, Ring-necked... 
Duck, Tufted 

Ducks, Buffel-headed _ 
Ducks, Harlequin ... 
Ducks, Long-tailed... 
Ducks, migrations of 
Ducks, Spine-tailed 
Ducks, Typical 
Dunlin 

Dusky Redshank 


E 


Ectopistes 


Ectopistes ai gvatorlis Me 


Eider, Common 
Hider, King... 
Hiders 


Hiders, Diving Ties and 


Eiders, Rufous-breasted, 
Eider, Steller’s 
Elasmonetta 
Eniconetta ... 
Ereunetes griseus ... 
Eudromias ... 
Eudromias modnellus 
Euhyas leucura 
Exanthemops 


398, 454 
404 
411 
415 
XXV 
394 
379 
250 
236 


12 
13 
433 
437 
432 
383 
429 
430 
. XXiv 
429 
206 
143 
144 
165 
456 


462 


F 
February, migration in... » xxvi 
Finfoots, Rails and... se w= 65 
Fulica = ue = . 86 
Fulica americana: ... es «a. B88 
Fulica atra ae bs .. 87 
Fulica australis... ses .. 88 
Fulica chloropus... = . = 83 
Fulica cristata ses sis . 88 
Fulicine —... oH a .- 86 
Fuligula xxiv, 394 
Fuligula affinis 396 
Fuligula affinis mariloides 396 
Fuligula albeola 405 
Fuligula clangula ... .- 408 
Fuligula collaris . 398, 404 
Fuligula utistatas. 398, 401, 454 
Fuligula ferina 391 
Fuligula fuligula 398 
Fuligula fusea 423 
Fuligula glacialis ... 416 
Fuligula histrionica an “ALD 
Fuligula marila ... 395, 396 
Fuligula marila nearctica ... 396 
Fuligula nigra 420 
Fuligula nyroca 388 
Fuligula perspicillata 426 
Fuligula rufina . 3884 
Fuliguline ... xxiv, 383 
G 
Gadwall 350 
Gadwalls w. =849 
Galliformes ... xxi, 30 
Gallinago xxiii, 289 
Gallinago equatorialis 290, 291 
Gallinago australis ... 291 
Gallinago calestis ... 293 
Gallinago gallinula... 298 
Gallinago gallinago... 293 
Gallinago major ... 290 
Gallinago megala 290 
Gallinago sabinii 294 
Gallinago scolopacina 293 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX 


G 


Gallinago wilsoni 
Gallinula chloropus 
Gallinula galatea 
Gallinula pyrrhorrhoa 
Gallinula tenebrosa 


Game Birds and Wild Fowl, Seo 
graphical distribution and nanlgier 
tion of 


Game Birds, The typical .: 
Garganey 

Garganey, Blue- Joined 
Garganeys ... 
Garrulus glandarius 
Geese 

Geese, Brent 

Geese, Snow 

Geese, Typical 
Glareola : 
Glareola orientalis ... 
Glareola melanoptera 
Glareola pratincola 
Glottis chloropus 
Glottis nebularius ... 
Godwit, Bar-tailed ... 
Godwit, Black-tailed 
Godwits 

Golden-eye ... 
Golden-eyes.. ‘ 
Golden Plover, Awiatic 
Golden Plovers 
Goosander ... 

Goose, Bean 

Goose, Bernacle 
Goose, Brent 

Goose, Grey Lag 
Goose, Greater Snow 
Goose, Lesser Snow 
Goose, Red-breasted 
Goose, White-fronted 
Great Snipe ... 

Green Sandpiper 
Green Sandpiper 
Greenshank ... 

Grey Lag Goose 


117, 


293 
83 
84 
84 
83 


xix 
47 
370 
373 
369 
28 
3138 
329 
313 
316 
116 
118 
118 
454 
239 
239 
198 
202 
197 
408 
407 
151 
147 
441 
317 
334 
330 
322 
455 
314 
337 
325 
290 
217 
216 
239 
322 


Grey Plovers 

Grouse 

Grouse, Black 
Grouse, migrations of 
Grouse, Moor 
Grouse, Red... 


Grouse, Red, variations of 


Grouse, Wood 
Gruidee 
Gruiformes ... 
Grus... muy 
Grus cinerea 
Grus communis 
Grus grus 

Grus lilfordi... 
Grus pavonia 
Grus virgo... 


Hemetopodinze 
Hematopus... 
Hematopus longirostris 


Hzmatopus ostralegus ... 


Hematopus osculans 
Hard-billed Sandpipers 
Harelda ate 
Harelda glacialis ... 
Harlequin Duck 
Harlequin Ducks 
Heliornithide 
Helodromas... 2 
Helodromas ochropus 
Helodromas solitarius 
Heniconetita... 
Heniconetta stelleri 
Heteronetta... 
Heteropygia... 


Heteropygia acuminata... 


Heteropygia bairdi ... 


Heteropysgia fuscicollis ... 
Heteropygia maculata ... 


Himantopodine 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


157 

31 

44 

XXV 

31 

35 

38 

39 

“g- “ad 
xxi, 90 
= Oe 
92, 454 
92 

92 

93 

.. 97 
95, 454 


xxii, 121 
121 

123 

122 

122 

921 

415 

416 

412 

411 

65 

.. =216 
217, 219 
219 

429 

430 

. xxiv 
... 258 
264, 262 
... 262 
248, 259 
264, 265 
xxii. 167 


H 


Himantopus... 

Himantopus avocetita 
Himantopus brasiliensis 
Himantopus candidus 
Himantopus himantopus ... 
Himantopus leucocephalus 
Himantopus melanopterus 
Himantopus melas... 
Himantopus mexicanus 
Himantopus picatus 
Hirundo pratincola... 
Histrionicus minutus 
Hooded Merganser... 
Hooded Mergansers 
Houbara ve 
Houbara fuerteventuree 
Houbara macqueeni 
Houbara undulata ... 


Jacanas 

Jack Snipe .. 

Jack Snipes ... 

July, migration in ... 
June, migration in ... 


Lagopus 

Lagopus albus 
Lagopus cinereus 
Lagopus eversmanni 
Lagopus leucurus ... 
Lagopus mutus 


463 


167 
172 
169 
168 
168 
169 
168 
169 
169 
169 
117 
412 
448 
447 
105 
106 
106 
106 


98 

298 
297 

.. ¥XVil 


.. XXVii 


437 
243 


381 
31, 35 
32 

32 

32 

32 


Lagopus mutus var hyperboreus... 32 


464 
L 


Lagopus mutus var rupestris 


Lagopus scoticus .. 
Lapwing 

Lapwing, Siciable .. 
Lapwings, Tyniedlics 
Lariformes ... 


Lesser White- poke oe 


Limicola platyrhyncha 
Limnocryptes 


Limnocryptes sollintila.. ag 


Limonites 

Limonites damacensis 
Limonites minuta 
Limonites minutilla 
Limonites ruficollis 
Limonites temmincki 
Limosa 

Limosa zgocephala 
Limosa fedoa 

Limosa hudsonica ... 
Limosa lapponica... 
Limosa limosa 
Limosa melanura... 


Limosa melanura melanuroides ... 


Limosa rufa 


Limosa rufa europygialis ... 


Linota linaria 

Little Stint ... 

Lobipes hyperboreus 
Long-tailed Duck ... 
Long-tailed Ducks ... 
Lophodytes : 
Lophodytes cucullatus 
Lyrurus iis 
Lyrurus tetrix 


M 


Machetes i 
Machetes pugnax ... 


Macrorhamphus griseus... 


xxii, 197 


xxiv, 447 


By 

35 

.» 162 
165, 454 
161 

120 

327 

256 

297 


298 
266 


268, 271 


267, 271. 


268, 2741 
268, 271 
273 


202 
199 
203 
198 
202 
202 
203 
198 
199 

28 
267 
184 
416 
415 


447 
39 
44 


xxiii, 212 


213 
206 


Macrorhamphus griseus scolopaceus 207 


Macrorhamphus taczanowskii 


207 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


- oM 
Malecorhynchus xxiv, 205 
Mallard as oo iy ... 380 
March, migration in, es wee XXVI 
Mareca bes oo dale we «BOT 
Mareca americana 359, 364 
Mareca penelope ... 358, 362 
May, migration in ... di vee XXvii 
Merganettine oe ee .e. EXIV 
Merganser ... xxiv, 440 
Merganser americanus... ve 447 
Merganser castor ... any .. 441 
Merganser comatus is . 442 
Merganser cucullatus fs .. 448 
Merganser, Hooded aa . 448 
Merganser, Red-breasted .. we 444 
Merganser serrator oer w. 444 
Merganser squamatus oF we» 442 
Mergansers .. oe .. 440 
Mergansers, Hooded es .. 447 
Mergansers, Typical pee ... 440 
Mergine ... ain ... xxiv, 440 
Mergus vie vr ... xiv, 450 
Mergus albellus ... ies .. 461 
Mergus cucullatus ... ve w. 448 
Mergus merganser ... ve w. 441 
Mergus serrator... mh w. «444 
Mesitide .... si ve we. 65 
Mesoscolopax diets cf s. =195 
Metopiana ... xxiv 
Migrations of Gite Birds nd Wild 

Fowl sie 3 its we XXIV 
Mute Swan ... sha ass .. 810 

N 

Nesonetta ... sid dis se XXiv 
Netta ae wea ses .. 3883 
Netta rufina ae ig w. 384 
Nettion xxiv, 363 
Nettion oarolinense 364, 367 
Nettion crecca 364, 367 


Non-diving Ducks, Sheldrakes and 339 
November, migration in .., xxvili 


N 


Numenius an 187 
Numenius arquata ... 188 
Numenius arquatus lineatus . 189 
Numenius borealis 195 
Numenius cyanopus 189 
Numenius hudsonicus 193 
Numenius longirostris 189 
Numenius phzopus “192 
Numenius pheopus variegatus ... 192 
Numenius tahitiensis . 193 
Nyroca a xxiv, 387 
Nyroca africana ... 388 
Nyroca americana ... 392 | 
Nyroca baeri 388 
Nyroca ferina 391 
Nyroca ferruginea ... 388 
Nyroca nyroca 388 
Nyroca vallisneria ... 392 
O 
Ochthodromus por 140 
Ochthodromus asiaticus... 141 
Ochthodromus veredus 144 
October, migration in . XXVU 
Gidemia 419, 424 
Cidemia americana 421 
Cidemia carbo 424 
CEidemia deglandi w. 424 
Cdemia fusca 423, 424 
demia nigra sts 420 
Cdemia perspicillata ... . 426 
C&dicnemidee xxii, 108 
Cédicnemus ... : 108 
CEdicnemus crepitans .. 109 
Cidicnemus crepitans indicus ... 109 
Gidicnemus cedicnemus 109 
CHidicnemus scolopax 109 
Gidicnemus senegalensis ... 110 
Oidemia fusca 423 
Oidemia nigra 420 
Oidemia perspicillata 426 
Otididee xx, 99 


30 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


Otis mee 

Otis dybowskii 

Otis macqueeni 

Otis tarda ... 

Otis tetrax... 
Oxyechus : 
Oxyechus voniferus 
Oyster-catchers 


Oyster-catcher, Common ... 


P 


Palamedee ... 

Parridee 

Partridge 

Partridges 

Partridge, Red- Jegeed 
Partridges, Rock 
Pectoral Sandpipers 
Pediophili 

Pelidna alpina 

Perdix 

Perdix cinerea 
Perdix cinerea charrela 
Perdix cinerea var robusta 
Perdix damascena ... 
Perdix daurica 

Perdix hispaniensis... 
Perdix hodgsonie ... 
Perdix montana 
Perdix perdix 

Perdix rubra 

Perdix rufa ... 

Perdix sifanica 
Peristeride ... 
Pheenicopteri 
Phalarope, Grey 
Phalarope, Red-necked 
Phalaropes ... 
Phalaropine 
Phalaropus ... 
Phalaropus fulicarius 


Phalaropus hyperboreus... 


Phalaropus lobatus... 


465 


99 

101 

106 

.. 100 
108, 454 
137 

138 

121 

122 


xxili, 301 
98 

54 

53 

58 

57 

... 258 
xxi, 24 
250 

53 

54 

54 

54 

54 

54 

54- 

54 

54 

54 

58 

58 

54 

va AZ 
xxiii, 301 
180 

184 

.. 179 
xxii, 179 
ey 109 
180, 185 
181, 184 
180 


466 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


P 
Phalaropus wilsoni... an 181, 185 
Phasianide ... 25 ads we AT 
Phasianus ... 3 Sey we AT 
Phasianus chrysomelae sii a Oil 
Phasianus colchicus 26 48, 51 
Phasianus colchicus talischensis .... 51 
Phasianus decollatus ee we. (OD 
Phasianus elegans ... iS ate D2 
Phasianus mongolicus __... a = OB 
Phasianus mongolicus semitorquatus 52 
Phasianus persicus... sae ws  ‘B1 
Phasianus principalis - w =661 
Phasianus shawi ... ie .. =6~<Ol 
Phasianus strauchi... ee w. «62 
Phasianus tarimensis wie Ol 
Phasianus torquatus Sod w= 62 
Phasianus torquatus formosanus... 52 
Phasianus torquatus satscheunensis 52 
Phasianus versicolor _... 48, 52 
Phasianus vlangalii see w= «82 
Phasianus zerafshanicus ... we «OL 
Pheasant ... ea) a Ge. Gas 
Pigeons, Grey shi ape oe 2 
Pigeons, Ground ... ane toe. bleh 
Pigeon, Passenger ... sie . = 18 
Pigeons, Passenger oi Gio {AD 
Pintail Duck aes a .. «B54 
Pintails ee ; is .. 853 
Plover, American Golden a .. «154 
Plover, Asiatic Golden... .. 161 
Plover, Caspian... wa .. «141 
Plover, Golden ese se .. 148 
Plover, Greater Ringed... . 129 
Plover, Grey sis asi  =158 
Plover, Kentish ... ee .. =184 
Plover, Killdeer ... ad se 138 
Plover, Little Ringed eg .. 126 
Plover Ringed ae a . 182 
Plovers, Sandpipers and sures .. 120 
Plovers, Typical... 30s .. 125 
Pluvialis aurea ss uss .. 148 
Pluvialis morinellus = ww. «144 


Pluvialis squatarola as ws 1bS 


Pluvianus 

Pochard 

Pochard, White- oe 
Pochards 

Pochards, Red- shee 
Peecilonetta ... 

Polish Swan 
Porphyrio cruleus 
Porphyrio martinicus 


Porphyrio smaragdonotus... 


Porzana bailloni 
Pozana carolina 
Porzana intermedia 
Porzana parva 
Pratincole, Common 


Pratincoles, etc., The Coursers 


Pratincoles, Typical 
Psophiidee 
Ptarmigan ... 
Pteroclidee dg 
Purple Sandpiper ... 


Q 


Quail... 

Quails 

Querquedula 
Querquedula acuta ... 
Querquedula circia 
Querquedula cyanoptera 
Querquedula crecca 
Querquedula discors 


Querquedula querquedula ... 


Querquedula strepera 


R 


Rails.. fs 
Rails na intoote 
Rails, Lobe-toed 
Rails, migrations of 
Rails, Plain-toed 
Rails, Typical 
Rallidee 


98 

391 
388 
387 
383 

. XXiv 
311 

85 

85 

85 

74 

72 

74 
(0) 
417, 454 
112 

.. 116 
xxl, 90 
82 

25 

253 


62 

. =§661 

xxiv, 869 
.. §=854 

870, 373 

871, 373 

.. «6864 

371, 878 

370 

350 


66 
65 
86 
XXV 
66 
78 
66 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


Ralliformes ... 

Rallinze 

Rail, Water ... 

Rallus : 

Rallus aquaticus ... 
Rallus bailloni 

Rallus carolina 

Rallus crex ... 

Rallus indicus 

Rallus parvus 

Recurvirostra 

Recurvirostra americana ... 
Recurvirostra avocetta ... 
Recurvirostra novee-hollandiz 
Recurvirostra rubricollis ... 
Red-breasted Goose 
Red-breasted Merganser 
Red-crested Pochard 
Red-crested Pochards 
Redshank, Common 
Redshank, Dusky ... 
Regulus cristatus 
Bhinochetidee 

Rhyacophilus glareola 
Rhynchaspis clypeata 
Ring-necked Duck . si 
Ringed Plovers, mak ‘iastea 
Ringed Plovers, Typical 
Ringed Plovers, Wedge-tailed 
Ruddy Sheldrake 

Ruddy Sheldrakes ... 

Ruff ... 

Ruffs.. 

Rufous. breasted Biders 
Rusticola sylvestris 


S 
Sanderling ... 


Sanderlings ... 

Sand-Grouse 

Sand-Grouse, Pallas’s 
Sand-Grouse, Three-toed ... 
Sandpiper, American Pectoral 


xxi, 65 
66 
79 
78 
79 
74 
72 
67 
79 
76 

171 
173 
172 
173 
173 
337 
444 
384 
383 
233 
236 
28 
Xx1 
228 
376 
401 
140 
125 
137 
345 
344 
213 
212 
4929 
284 


280 
279 
25 
26 
25 
261 


Ss 


Sandpiper, Bartram’s 
Sandpiper, Bonaparte’s 
Sandpiper, Broad-billed 
Sandpiper, Buff-breasted ... 
Sandpiper, Common 
Sandpiper, Curlew ... 
Sandpiper, Purple ... 
Sandpiper, Siberian Pectoral 
Sandpiper, Solitary 
Sandpiper, Spotted 
Sandpiper, Wood ... ; 
Sandpiper, Yellow-legged ... 
Sandpipers, Bartram’s 
Sandpipers, Buff-breasted ... 


210, 


277, 


Sandpipers, Cleft-footed, and Snipes 


Sandpipers, Green... ae 
Sandpipers, Hard-billed ... 
Sandpipers, Long-tailed 
Sandpipers, Pectoral 
Sandpipers, Semi-web-footed 
Sandpipers, Snipe-billed ... 
Sandpipers, Typical 

Scaup 

Scaups and Tufted Dadliee, 
Scolopacinse 

Scolopax 

Scolopax arquata ... 
Scolopax borealis ... 
Scolopax calidris 

Scolopax flavipes ... 
Scolopax fusca 

Scolopax gallinago... 
Scolopax gallinula... 
Scolopax glottis 

Scolopax grisea 

Scolopax lapponica... 
Scolopax limosa 

Scolopax major 

Scolopax minor 

Scolopax pheopus ... 
Scolopax rochusseni 
Scolopax rusticula 
Scolopax saturata ... 


XXili, 
XXlil, 


467 


454 
259 
256 
454 
992, 
947 
253 
264 
219 
925 
228 
93t 
210 
276 
249 
216 
991 
209 
258 
187 
205 
249 
395 
394 
249 
283 
188 
195 
238 
231 
236 
293 
298 
239 
206 
198 
202 
290 
284 
192 
285 
284 
285 


468 


S 

Scolopax subarquata 247 
Scoter, Common 420 
Scoter, Surf .. 496 
Scoter, Velvet 493 
Scoters ides uae .. 419 
Screamers, Flamingoes, Swans, Geese, 

Ducks, and Mergansers .. 301 
September, migration in ... . XXvii 
Sheathbills ... 98 
Sheldrake, Common 341 
Sheldrakes .. : 340 
Sheldrakes and Non: divine Dudes 339 
Sheldrake, Ruddy . 345 
Sheldrakes, Ruddy. 344 
Shoveler 376 
Shovelers 375 
Smew 451 
Smews 450 
Snipe-billed dontiainens 205 
Snipe, Common 293 
Snipe, Great 290 
Snipe, Jack ... 298 
Snipe, Red-breasted 206 
Snipes 289 
Snipes, Jack 297 
Snipes, The Cleft-footed Bandpipars 

and oat sis ae w 242 
Snow Geese... 313 
Snow Goose, Greater 455 
Snow Goose, Lesser 314 
Somateria ‘ 4392 
Somateria borealis ... 434 
Somateria dresseri ... 433 
Somateria mollissima 433 
Somateria spectabilis 437 
Somateria stelleri 430 
Somateria v-nigrum 434 
Spatula xxiv, 875 
Spatula capensis 377 
Spatula clypeata ... 376 
Spatula platalea 377 
Spatula rhynchotis... 377 
Squatarola .. 157 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


S 

Squatarola cinerea ... 158 
Squatarola helvetica 158 
Stilts... 167 
Stilt, Common 168 
Stilts and Avocets ... 167 
Stint, American 271 
Stint, Little... 267 
Stint, Temminck’s 273 
Stints 266 
Stellaria dispar 430 
Steller’s Hider 430 
Stone Curlew 109 
Stone Curlews 108 
Stone Curlews, Typical 108 
Strepsilas 175 
Strepsilas intenpren 176 
Strepsilas melanocephalus 176 
Strepsiline ... xxii, 175 
Surf Scoter ... 426 
Swan, Bewick’s 305 
Swan, Mute... 310 
Swan, Polish 311 
Swan, Whooper 805 
Swans 303, 304 
Swans, Geese, ane and Mer- 

gansers 303 
Syrrhaptes . : 25 
Syrrhaptes paradoxus 26 
Syrrhaptes tibetanus 27 

T 

Tachyeres, ... XXiv 
Tadorna, xxiii, 340 
Tadorna casarca 345 
Tadorna cornuta ... 341 
Tadorna radjah 341 
Tadorna rutila 345 
Tadorna tadorna 341 
Tadorna vulpanser ... 341 
Tatlers 187 
Teals 363 


Teal, American .,. 


367 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


Teal, Common 
Temminck’s Stint ... 
Tetraonide ... 
Tetrao 

Tetrao coturnix 
Tetrao kamtschaticus 
Tetrao mlokosiewiczi 
Tetrao mutus 

Tetrao paradoxa 
Tetrao parvirostvis... 
Tetrao perdix 

Tetrao rufa ... 
Tetrao scoticus 
Tetrao tetrix 
Tetrao uralensis 
Tetrao urogallus .. 


Tetrax tetrax 

Thinocorythidee ae aie 
Totanine ... oe aes  XXiil, 
Totanus ae wea aie RAs 
Totanus acuminatus 

Totanus bartrami ... i Per 
Totanus calidris .. Bae 2338, 
Totanus canescens... — 
Totanus flavipes ... on 228, 
Totanus fuscus _... Se 236, 
Totanus glareola. ... .. 228, 
Totanus glottis... w. 236, 
Totanus guttiferus ... sae ds 
Totanus hypoleucus L222, 
Totanus macularius os 228, 


Totanus melanoleucus 
Totanus melanurus... 

Totanus ochropus ... 

Totanus rufus 


Totanus solitarius ... 3 218, 


Totanus solitarius clinnamomeus ... 
Totanus stagnatilis... iia 
Tringa oe Ses ve. XXili, 
Tringa cuminata ... 

Tringa acuminata pectoralis 

Tringa alpina 

Tringa alpina pacifica 


364 
273 
31 
39 
62 
4] 
44 
32 
26 
40 
54 
58 
35 
44 
40 
40 
103 
98 
187 
221 
264 
210 
236 
239 
234 
240 
231 
239 
240 
226 
225 
231 
202 
217 
198 
219 
219 
240 
242, 
264 
261 
250 
251 


Tringa. arenaria 

Tringa bonaparti 
Tringa canutus 
Tringa cinclus 

Tringa crassirostris... 
Tringa fulicaria 

Tringa fuscicollis 
Tringa glareola 

Tringa helvetica 
Tringa hyperborea ... 
Tringa hypoleucus ... 
Tringa interpres 
Tringa longicauda ... 
Tringa macularia 
Tringa maculata 
Tringa maritima ... 
Tringa maritima couesi 
Tringa maritima ptilocnemis 
Tringa minuta 

Tringa minutilla 
Tringa ochropus 
Tringa pectoralis 
Tringa platyrhyncha 
Tringa rufescens 
Tringa schinzii 

Tringa striata 

Tringa subarquata 
Tringa subminuta minutilla 
Tringa temminckii ... 
Tringa vanellus 
Tringites... ee 
Tringites rufesceu 
Tringites sub-ruficollis 
Tringoides hypoleucus 
Tringoides macularia 
Tryngites rufescens 
Tufted Duck sa 
Tufted Ducks, Scaups and 
Turnstone 

Turnstones ... 
Turturine 

Turtur 


“Turtur arenicola 


469 


280 
.. 259 
243, 248 
we 280 
944, 248 
180 
259 
928 
158 
184 
922, 
176 
210 
925 
261 
953 
954 
954 
267 
271 
217 
261 
956 
277 
259 
.. 253 
247, 260 
971 
273 
162 
.. 276 
277, 454 
277 
929, 
925 
277 
398 
394 
176 
175 
. 17 
xx, 18 
20 


470 


Turtur auritus 

Turtur communis ... 
Turtur ferrago 

Turtur isabellinus ... 
Turtur orientalis... 
Turtur stimpsoni ... 
Turtur turtur 

Turtur vulgaris 
Tympanuchus americanus 


Vv 


Vanellus ; 
Vanellus cristatus 

Vanellus gregarius 
Vanellus vanellus ... 
Vanellus vulgaris ... 
Velvet Scoter 


Water Hen ... 
Water Hens... 


165, 454 


19 
19 


... L9, 20 


19 


19, 22 


22 
19 
19 
XV 


161 
162 


162 
162 
423 


83 
82 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 


WwW 


Whimbrel, Common 
Whimbrel, Eskimo 
White-bellied Brent Goose 
White-eyed Pochard 
White-fronted Goose 
White-fronted Goose, Lesser 
Whooper Swan 

Wigeon 

Wigeon, American ... 
Wigeons 

Woodcock 

Woodcocks ... 

Wood Sandpiper 


Y 


Yellow-legged Sandpiper ... 


Zapornia parva 


192 
195 
333 
388 
325 
327 
305 
358 
361 
307 
284 
283 
228 


231 


67 


Printep By Messrs. Pawson AnD BrarusrorD, MutBerry StreEt, SHEFFIELD. 


471 


LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 


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PAPER EDITION. 


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472 


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Gaye Major-General D. 

Gillespie Major-General 
W. A. 

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473 


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474 


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Proctor John Henry 


Reading Public Library— 
per W. H. Greenhough 

Rees W. G. 

Rickards A. W. 

Rickman 8. 

Riddell The Lady Evelyn 

Rider W. H. 

Ritson U. A. 

Roberts Norman B. 

Ronaldson Thos. P. 

Roscoe William M. 

Ross Rev. James C., M.A. 

Rowe George D. 

Rowland Harry 

Rumley J. G. Mair 

Ruskin Museum ' 


Sampson-Way Major- 
General Nowell F. U.,c.s. 
Sandford-Thompson W. J. 
Satterthwaite Miss Violet A. 
Scarlett Harry 
Schmettau Ernest 
Schmettau George H. 
Selby Dr. Prideaux 
Sheffield Public Libraries— 
per Samuel Smith 
Sheffield School Board— 
per J. W. Iliffe 


Shorter J. 

Singer G. 

Slater William 
Smart Mrs. F. G. 
Smelt Sydney 


LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 


Smith Gerard 


Smith Commander Hamil- 
ton, R.N. 


Smith Herbert Le Blanc 

Smith Joshua, J.P. 

Smith-Barry Right Hon. 
A.H., M.P. 

St. Aubyn Edward 

St. Aubyn The Hon. Piers 

St. Martin’s Public Library 
—per Thomas Mason 

Stansfeld Raywood M. 

Steel Matthew, s.r. 

Stewart H. G. Murray 

Stokes Dr. John 

Stuart W. D. 

Swan C. A. 

Swithinbank Harold 


Talbot Major-General The 
Hon. R. 


Tasker R. Charles 
Tatton Thos. EH. 
Thomas Dr. G. Danford 
Thomas William 
Thomlinson Wm. 
Thompson J. Stanley 
Thompson Richard 
Thompson R. Heywood 
Tipler Wm. Francis 
Tite C. 

Toll Walter V. 

Tower Christopher J. H. 
Toynbee Walter T. 


Trail John Arbuthnott, m.a., 
LL.B., W.S. 


Trechmann Charles O.,J.P., 
PH.D., F.G.S8. 


Trevor Mrs. 

Turnbull Herbert M. 
Turner Benjamin, M.1.A. 
Turner Lieut.-Colonel H. 


Underhill Chas. F. 


Van-Kempen Chas. 
Vaux Edwin 


Venables Rowland George 
Vereker Captain J. W. 


Waddingham John 

Wade E. S. 

Wake Miss 

Wakeman Sir Offley, Barr. 
Walker James 

Wallace Edward I., u-p.,J.pP. 
Wallis W. L., g.p. 

Walter Godfrey 

Ward 8S. H. 

Watson Innes 


Watson Lieut.-Colonel 
J. Stanley 


Wayne R. §. 

Welby Edwd. M. E. 
Welch James Kemp 
Wheeley J. 8. 
White Edward 
White William 
Whitton R. 

Wiggin Henry A. 
Wightman A. 
Wilkins T. B. 
Wilkinson C. J. 
Williams M. Scott 
Williamson G. H. 
Wilmot-Sitwell E. S. 
Wilson Rey. Herbert 
Wilson James 
Wilson John George, M.A. 
Wintle Dr. Henry 
Wiseman Edmund 
Wood E. T. 

Wood J. B. 

Wood W. H. 
Woodiwiss T. W. 
Woods Herbert 


Worsfold T. Cato, F.R. HIST. 
s., &e. 


Wragg Joseph 


Young Harold E. 
Young Henry 
Young Henry 8. 


LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 


475 


IN ADDITION TO THE PREVIOUS LISTS THERE ARE 


TRADE SUBSCRIBERS, 


MANY OF WHOM TAKE A LARGE NUMBER OF COPIES. 


THE FOLLOWING ARE THE PRINCIPAL :— 


Annandale R. C., 9, Queen street, Hull. 
Army and Navy Co-operative Society 
Limited, London. 


Bagguley G.T., Newcastle-under-Lyme. 

Bain James, 1, Haymarket, London, W. 

Boardman A., Bishop’s Stortford. 

Brown William, 26, Princes Street, 
Edinburgh. 

Bumpus J. & H. Limited, 350 New 
Oxford Street, London. 

Brown A. & Co., 83, Union Street, 
Aberdeen. ‘ 


Coates E. W., Huddersfield. 
Commin James G., 230, High Street, 
Exeter. 


Cornish Bros.,37, New Street, Birmingham. 


Denny A. & F., 304, Strand, London, W.C. 

Dodgson Joseph, 68, Albion Street, Leeds. 

Douglas & Foulis, 9, Castle Street, 
Edinburgh. 

Dulau & Co., Soho Square, London, W. 


Eland Henry 8., High Street, Exeter. 
Elliot Andrew, 17, Princes Street, 
Edinburgh. 


Ellis & Elvey, 29, New Bond Street, 
London. 


Forrester Robert, 1, Royal Exchange 
Square, Glasgow. 


Goddard & Son, Hull. 
Goulden & Curry, Tunbridge Wells. 
Grant Bros , Kingussie. 


Harrison & Sons, 59, Pall Mall, London, 
W.C. 

Harwood James, Tenant Street, Derby. 

Hatchards, Piccadilly, London, W. 


Jackson Richard, 16 and 17, Commercial 
Street, Leeds. 

Johnston George P., 33, George Street, 
Edinburgh. 

Jones & Evans, 77, Queen Street, London, 
E.C. 

Joyce Charles, 52, High Street, Newport, 
Mon. 


Lebegue & Co., Bruxelles. 
Low Sampson, Marston & Co. Limited, 
St. Dunstan’s House, London, E.C. 


Marsden H. W., Clifton, Bristol. 


476 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 


Maurice A. & Co., Bedford Street, Strand, 
London. 
Mutton Fredk., Derngate, Northampton. 


Porter R. H., 7, Princes Street, London, W. 
Quaritch B., 15, Piccadilly, London. 


Ramage John & Co., 4, Creed Lane, 
London, E.C. 

Rhodes W. M., 113, Cannon Street, 
London, H.C. 

Robson & Co., 23, Coventry Street, 
Piccadilly, London. 


Sherratt & Hughes, St. Ann’s Street, 
Manchester. 

Simpkin, Marshall & Co. Limited, London. 

Smith William J., 41, North Street, 
Brighton. 

Sotheran H. & Co., 87, Piccadilly, London. 

Spineaux & Co., Bruxelles. 

Stanford E., 26 and 27, Cockspur Street, 
London, E.C. 

Suckling & Co. Garrick Street, London, 
W.C. 


Sugdon W. H., Wednesday Market, 
Beverley. 


Thomas Clifford, 202, High Street, Lincoln. 


Ward Rowland, Limited, 166, Piccadilly, 
London, W. 


Watkins & Doncaster, 36, Strand, London, 
W.C. 


Wheldon John & Co., 38, Great Queen 
Street, London, W.C. 

Whittaker James W., 67, Wellington 
Street, Accrington. 

Wigley J. M., 67, Market Street, Lancaster. 

Williams & Norgate, Edinburgh. 

Williams & Norgate, London. 

Winterburn George, 65, Deansgate, Bolton. 

Woodall Charles, 14, Nevill Street, 
Southport. 


Young Henry & Sons, 12, South Castle 
Street, Liverpool. 

Young’s Library, 36, Kensington High 
Street, London. 


peas