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A   DICTIONAEY    OF   BIEDS 


I 


/    (J  ' 


A 


DICTIONAKY  OF   BIRDS 


BY 

ALFRED  NEWTON 

ASSISTED    BY 

HANS  GADOW 


WITH  CONTRIBUTIONS   FROM 
RICHARD  LYDEKKER  CHARLES  S.  ROY 

B.A.,   F.R.S.  M.A.,   F.K.S. 

AND 

ROBERT  W.  SHUFELDT,  M.D. 

LATE    U>fITED   STATES'    ARliy 


CHEAP  ISSUE,   UNABRIDGED 


LONDON 

ADAM    AND    CHAELES    BLACK 

1893-1896 


Published  originally  iii  four  parts,  1893-96 
Cheap  issue  published  October  1899 


NOTE 

Those  who  may  look  into  this  book  are  warned  that  they  will 
not  find  a  complete  treatise  on  Ornithology,  any  more  than  an 
attempt  to  include  in  it  all  the  names  under  which  Birds,  even 
the  commonest,  are  known.  Taking  as  its  foundation  a  series 
of  articles  contributed  to  the  ninth  edition  of  the  '  Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica,'  I  have  tried,  first,  to  modify  them  into 
something  like  continuity,  so  far  as  an  alphabetical  arrange- 
ment will  admit;  and,  next,  to  supplement  them  by  the 
intercalation  of  a  much  greater  number,  be  they  short  or  long, 
to  serve  the  same  end.  Of  these  additions  by  far  the  most 
important  are  those  furnished  by  my  fellow-worker  Dr.  Gadow, 
which  bring  the  anatomical  portion  to  a  level  hitherto  un- 
attained,  I  believe,  in  any  book  that  has  appeared.  For  other 
contributions  of  not  less  value  in  their  respective  lines,  I  have 
to  thank  my  old  pupil  Mr.  Lydekker,  my  learned  colleague 
Professor  Eoy,  and  my  esteemed  correspondent  Dr.  Shufeldt, 
formerly  of  the  United  States'  Army.  Dr.  Gadow's  articles 
are  distinguished  by  their  title  being  printed  in  Italic  type: 
those  of  the  other  contributors  bear  their  author's  name  at  the 
end. 

For  my  own  part  I  have  to  say  that,  in  the  difficult  task 
of  choosing  the  subjects  for  additional  articles,  one  of  my  main, 
objects  has  been  to  supply  information  which  I  know,  from 


ii  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

enquiries  often  made  of  me,  to  be  greatly  needed.  Headers 
who  in  most  respects  are  certainly  not  ignorant  of  things  in 
general,  frequently  find  in  works  of  all  sorts,  but  especially 
in  books  of  travel,  mention  of  Birds  by  names  which  no 
ordinary  dictionary  will  explain ;  and,  on  meeting  with  a 
Caracara,  a  Koel  or  a  Paauw,  a  Leatherheacl,  a  Mollymawk 
or  a  Tom-fool,  are  at  a  loss  to  know  what  kind  of  bird  is 
intended  by  the  author.  On  the  other  hand  I  have  not 
thought  it  necessary  to  include  many  names,  compounded 
(mostly  of  late  years)  by  writers  on  ornithology,  which  have  never 
come  nor  are  likely  to  come  into  common  use — such  as  Crow- 
Shrike,  Crow -Titmouse,  Shrike -Crow,  Shrike- Titmouse,  Thrush- 
Titmouse,  Titmouse-Thrush,  Jay- Thrush  and  the  like.  Happily 
these  clumsy  inventions  are  seldom  found  but  in  technical 
works,  where  their  meaning,  if  they  have  one  that  is  definite, 
is  at  once  made  evident.  Their  introduction  into  the  present 
volume  would  merely  swell  its  bulk  with  little  if  any  com- 
pensating good.  On  this  account  I  have  also  kept  out  a  vast 
number  of  local  names  even  of  British  Birds,  which  could  have 
been  easily  inserted,  though  preserving  most  of  those  that 
have  found  their  way  into  some  sort  of  literature,  ranging 
from  an  epic  poem  to  an  act  of  parliament ;  but  I  confess  to 
much  regret  in  being  compelled  to  exclude  them,  because  the 
subject  is  one  of  great  interest,  and  has  never  been  properly 
treated.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  my  selection  of  names  to 
be  inserted  is  quite  arbitrary.  I  have  tried  to  make  it  tend  to 
utility,  and  whether  I  have  succeeded,  those  who  consult  the 
volume  will  judge. 

Thanks  to  the  complaisance  of  Messi's.  Longman  and 
Company  I  have  been  able  to  acquire  electrotypes  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  woodcuts  which  illustrated  Swainson's 


NOTE  iii 

'  Classification  of  Birds.'  These  figures  were  drawn  by  that 
admirable  ornithological  delineator,  and  most  of  them  for  truth 
of  detail  or  beauty  of  design  have  seldom  been  equalled  and 
rarely  surpassed.  I  am  also  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Sir 
Walter  BuUer,  K.C.M.Gr.,  F.R.S.,  for  the  use  of  electrotypes  of 
woodcuts  executed  for  his  '  Birds  of  New  Zealand,'  as  well  as 
to  the  Publication  Committee  of  the  Zoological  Society  of 
London,  to  the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum,  and  to  Dr. 
William  Francis  and  Mr.  Maxwell  Masters,  F.E.S.,  for  their 
consent  to  the  reproduction  of  other  figures,  which  will  be 
found  duly  acknowledged  in  the  following  pages. 

Lastly,  I  would  say  that  the  alphabetical  order  has  been 
deliberately  adopted  in  preference  to  the  taxonomic  because  I 
entertain  grave  doubt  of  the  validity  of  any  systematic  arrange- 
ment as  yet  put  forth,  some  of  the  later  attempts  being  in  my 
opinion  among  the  most  fallacious,  and  a  good  deal  worse  than 
those  they  are  intended  to  supersede.  That  in  a  few  directions 
an  approach  to  improvement  has  been  made  is  not  to  be  denied  ; 
but  how  far  that  approach  goes  is  uncertain.  I  only  see  that 
mistakes  are  easily  made,  and  I  have  no  wish  to  mislead  others 
•by  an  assertion  of  knowledge  which  I  know  no  one  to  possess  ; 
yet  with  all  these  drawbacks  and  shortcomings  I  trust  that  this 
Dictionary  will  aid  a  few  who  wish  to  study  Ornithology  in  a 
scientific  spirit,  as  well  as  many  who  merely  regard  its  pursuit 
as  a  pastime,  while  I  even  dare  indulge  the  hope  that  persons 
indifferent  to  the  pleasures  of  Natural  History,  except  when 
highly -coloured  pictures  are  presented  to  them  by  popular 
writers,  may  find  in  it  some  corrective  to  the  erroneous  impres- 
sions commonly  conveyed  by  sciolists  posing  as  instructors. 

A.  N. 
Cambridge.  March  1893 


Where  a  word  is  introddiced  in  small  capitals,  %vi(hout  apparent  necessity,  further 
information  concerning  it  may  he  sought  for  under  that  word  in  its  alplutbetical 
place. 


FRATRI  EDUARDO  CARISSIMO 

PER   ANNOS    PLUS    QUAM    QUINQUAGINTA 

IN    STUDIIS    OENITHOLOGICIS 

DOMI    PEREGRK    SUB    DIO    IN    ANTRIS 

DILIGENTISSIMO   CONDISCIPULO 

HOC    OPUS 

D.D. 

AUCTOR 


DIE   X.    NOVEMBRIS 
MDCCCXCVI. 


PEEFACE 

This  Dictionary  has  taken  me  far  longer  to  complete  than, 
when  I  began  it,  I  had  any  notion  that  it  would.  Yet  I  do  not 
regret  the  delay,  since  it  has  enabled  me,  though  very  briefly, 
to  shew  (Introduction,  page  10  8,  note)  that  the  latest  investi- 
gation has  proved  the  newly-announced  group  Stereornithes, 
which  seemed  at  first  so  important,  to  have  no  more  claim  to 
recognition  than  had  that  known  as  Odontornithes. 

The  articles  by  Dr.  G-adow  have  fully  sustained  the 
expectation  of  them  expressed  in  my  initial  Note.  Eead  with 
the  aid  of  the  cross-references  they  contain  and  the  Index  that 
follows,  they  cannot  fail  to  place  the  enquirer,  be  he  beginner 
or  advanced  student,  in  a  position  he  could  not  hope  to  occupy 
through  the  study  of  any  other  English  book,  and,  what  is 
better,  a  position  whence  he  may  extend  his  researches  in  many 
directions. 

It  has  been  my  object  throughout  to  compress  into  the 
smallest  compass  the  information  intended  to  be  conveyed. 
It  would  have  been  easier  to  double  the  bulk  of  the  work, 
but  the  limits  of  a  single  volume  are  already  strained,  and  to 
extend  it  to  a  second  would  in  several  ways  destroy  such 
usefulness  as  it  may  possess.  Still  I  cannot  but  regret  having 
to  omiu  any  special  notice  of  several  interesting  subjects  which 
bear  more  or  less  directly  upon  Ornithology.  To  name  only  a 
few   of  them — Insulation,  Isomorphism,    Reversion    and    the 


via  PREFACE 


Struggle  for  Existence,  as  illustrated  by  Birds,  were  tempting 
themes  for  treatment,  while  Nomenclature,  which  owing  to  its 
contentious  nature  I  have  studied  to  avoid,  and  Protection, 
about  which  so  much  deplorable  and  mischievous  misunder- 
standing exists,  might  well  be  said  to  demand  consideration. 
It  will  be  obvious  to  nearly  every  one  that  the  number  of 
names  of  Birds  included  in  a  work  of  this  kind  might  be 
increased  almost  indefinitely.  Whether  it  will  ever  be  pos- 
sible for  me  to  supply  these  additions,  and  others,  must  depend 
on  many  things,  and  not  least  on  the  reception  accorded  by 
the  public  to  the  present  volume. 


A.  N. 


Magdalene  College,  Cambridge, 
November,  1896. 


NOTANDA  ET  COERIGENDA 


Page  9,  line  10,  for  Molly-mauk  read  Mollymawk. 

„        „     23.     ALECTORIDES,  proposed  as  a  Family  of  Grallatores  by  Illiger 
in  1811,  is  the  same  group  as  Temminck's  of  1820,  with  the  addition 
of    Cereopsis ;    but  neither   has    anything  in   common   with    the 
Alectrides  of  Dumeril  in  1806. 
Insert  ALECTOROPODES,  Huxley,  P.Z.S.  1868,  pp.  296,  299,  and  see 
Peristekopodes,  page  707. 
„       11,  line  28.    Amadavats  {Anadavadasa,  or  Anadavad,  corrected  in  Index 
to  Amadavad)  had  been  brought  from  India  to  England  by 
1673  (WUlughby,  Orn.  p.  194,  Engl.  p.  266). 
14,    „    11, /or  cases  rmc?  causes. 
21,    ,,    39,  for  Harglta  read  Harg'da. 

30,  after  BEEF-EATER  insert  Pennant,  Oen.  B.  p.  9  (1773). 
34,  line  28,  for  Eurinorhynchus  read  Eurynorhynchus. 
38,    „      4,  dele  his  father. 
45,    „    27,  after  wintering  in  insert  Egypt. 
58,    „      1, /or  Oligomtodi  7-eaf?  Oligomyod^. 

78,    „    25,  after   printed    as    insert    "  Cassawarway,"  Coryat,   Crudities, 
Pref.  Verses,  1611  (iV.  E.  Diet.  ii.  p.  152),  and  then. 

101,  note  2,  for  Lammeegeier  read  Lammergeyer. 

102,  line  14, /or  back  read  beak. 

104,  ,,      37, /or   DeSMOGNATHOUS  rea(^   ^GITHOGNATHOUS. 

105,  „      1 ,  after  j;atofs—c?e^e  the  comma. 
108,    „    41,  a/ter  known  by  insert  Albin  {N.  H.  Birds,  ii.  pi.  53,  fig.  2),  and 

subsequently  by. 
118,    „      7,  after    p.     176)    insert    and    also     to    the    Crowned  -  Crane 

{Balearica). 
130,    „    26,  after  authors  insert  as  Pennant  in  1773  {Gen.  B.  p.  18). 
130,  add  CUT-THROAT,  see  Weaver-bird. 

136,    „    20,  for  Mouth  read  mouth. 

139.     To  explanation  of  Fig.  1  add — L.  follicle  at  base  of  villus. 
159,  line  15, /or  sixteen  reat^  fifteen. 
159,    „    17,   dele  De. 
162,  lines  18-21.     Lobivanellus  and  some  other  forms  have  the  structure  said 

to  be  peculiar  to  the  Dotterel  alone. 

165,  line  3,  for  Mussulmans  and   Christians   read   Christians  and  Mussul- 
mans. 

166,  ,,    last.     Drepanis  pacifica,  though  nearly  extinct,  proves  not  to  have 
been  so  when  this  sentence  was  written.     A  second  species,  D. 

b 


3  8659 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


funerea,  has  since  been  described  from  Maui  (P.Z.S.  1893,  p. 

690). 
Page  179,  line    9  from  bottom, /or  foramen  ovale  read  fenestra  ovalis. 
„     189,     „    32, /or  ark-line  read  ark-like. 
„     214,    „    1 0, /or  70  to  80  reac?  57. 
„     214,  lines  21-23.    Tbe  statement  needs  correction,  as  tbe  Rhea  also  swims 

rivers. 
„     215,  line    2,  after  ERNE  insert  A.-S.  Earn. 

„     218,    „      6,  for  Miserythrus  read  Erythrormtchus.     (See  page  764,  note  1.) 
„     221,    „    30,  after  In  insert  1809  Tucker  [Orn.  Danmon.  p.  lix. ),  and  in. 
„     222,    „      8.     Examples  are  now  known  to  have  been  killed  later  than  1852, 

see  Auk,  1894,  pp.  4-12. 
,,     223,    „      9,  for  thirty-eight  read  forty-two  or  forty-three. 
„     229,    „    43.     The  iris  in  Harelda  is  said  to  be  straw-colour  in  winter,  dark 

hazel  in  summer.      E.  A.  S.  Elliot,  Bull.  B.  0.  Olub,  20  May 

1896. 
„     235,  note  1.    Falco,  as  a  man's  name,  was  in  earlier  use.     Q.   Sosius  Falco 

was  a  Roman  Consul  circa  a.d.  193  ;  see  Capitolinus  in  Hist. 

August.  Script.  VI.  "  Pertinax  "  (Lugd.  Bat. :  1671,  p.  558). 
„     238,  line  28,  for  Luggur  read  Luggar. 

„     255,    „    20.     The  statement  as  to  nidification  of  Phoenicopterus  was  con- 
firmed by  D'Orbigny,  fide  I.  GeoflFroy  St.-HUaire. 

„     261,    „    2Q,for  45  per  cent  read  ~,  and  line  21 /or  16  per  cent  read  from 

7-57         10-55" 

„     269.     Fig.  8  is  accidentally  inverted  (c/.  Marey,  Vol  des  Ois.  p.  140). 

„     277,  line  28,  for  about  read  in  or  before. 

„     277,    „    30,  afier  and  insert  Dexter,  and  dele  Subsequently. 

„     277    „    34,  and  note  2.     Many  other  remains  from  this  deposit  have  been 

described   by  Prof.  Marsh,  Am.  Journ.  So.  (3)  xxxvii.  p.  331  ; 

xlii.  p.  267  ;  xliii.  p.  643  ;  and  xlv.  p.  169. 
„     278,    „      5,  for  discovered  read  made  known. 
„     279,-  „      4,  for  20  read  12. 
„     281,  note  2,  for  Ameyhino  read  Ameghino. 
„     284,  line  41,  for  Halimtus  read  Haliaettcs. 
„     289,    „    26.     The  statement  as  to  Gallus  ferrugineus  being  found  on  the 

Raj-peepla  hills  is  erroneous  {cf.  Blanford,  J.A.S.B.  xxxvi.  pt. 

2,  p.  199). 
„     291,    „    26,  for  1869  read  1862. 
„     293,    „    31,  for  the  elder  Brandt  read  Illiger. 
„     316,     „    17,  for  Prosthemadura  read  Prosthemadera. 
„     320,      „    21,  for  Loplwphanes  read  Lophophaps. 
„     323,     „      8, /or  Oligomyodi  reac^  Oligomtod^. 
„     327,     „      6,  for  Prionotdes  read  Prionotelus. 
„     338,  note  5,  for  Meado-Walde,  read  Meade-Waldo. 
„     349,    line  4,  after  Rhynchsea  add  ,  Rhynchops. 
„     370,    „    10, /or  American  reae?  Canadian. 
„     371.     Insert  GOONEY  (prov.  Engl,  for  a   stupid   or  awkward   person),  a 

sailors'  name  for  an  Albatbos. 
,,     376,  line  44,  for  Nettapus  read  Nettopus. 


NOT  AN  DA  ET  CORRIGENDA  xi 

Page  396,  note  2.  Mr.  0.  Grant  (fiat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xxii.  p.  498)  makes  the  Guan 
of  Edwards  to  be  Penelope  cristata. 

„  406,  lines  13  e<  seqq.  On  the  anatomy  and  affinities  of  Scopus,  cf.  Beddard, 
P.Z.S.  1884,  p.  543. 

„  415.  HEATHER-BLEAT,  a  corruption  of  the  A.-S.  Haefer-blgete,  or  Goat- 
like bleater  {Jide,  Skeat). 

„     428,  line  last,  for  Soldier-bird  read  Blood-bird, 

„     429,    „    12  and  beneath  figure,  for  Melithreptes  read  Melithreptus. 

„  434,  „  38,  after  habits  i7isert  except  what  Herr  Hartert  has  told  us 
(/./.  0.  1889,  pp.  366-368). 

„     456,  lines  1-3,  for  S.  read  I. 

„     456,  line  21,  after  known  insert ,  except  Comatibis, 

„     458,    „    37,  dele  and  best-. 

„     459,    „    29,  after  Ambulatores  insert  and  Scansores. 

„  465,  lines  20,  21,  transfer  the  latter  from  line  21  to  line  20  after  and,  insert- 
ing also  after  those  words. 

„     482,  line  4,  for  hiaticula  read  hiaticola. 

„     487,    „    27, /or  Syndactylism  reac?  Syndactylism,  c/.  Syndactyll 

„  496,  note  2  (in  early  copies),  after  A.  maxima  insert  (from  Stewart  Island), 
A.  haasti. 

„  513,  „  2.  The  derivation  of  Liverpool  is  now  said  to  be  from  the  A.-S. 
lafer,  a  rush  or  flag  {cf.  Britton  and  Holland,  Diet.  Engl. 
Pl-aM  Names,  p.  304). 

„     514,  line  4,  for  Lepelaer  read  Lepelaar. 

„     519,  note  2,  for  TouRACOO  read  Todraco. 

„  524,  lines  26  et  seqq.  Further  information  on  the  subject  is  given  by  Mr. 
Ramsay,  P.Z.S.  1868,  pp.  49  et  seqq. 

„  525,  note.  The  egg  of  M.  superha  has  been  figured  by  Mr.  North,  Nests 
and  Eggs  of  Australian  Birds,  pi.  x. 

,,  536,  line  11,  for  Curlew  or  Godwit  read  Godwit  or  to  Numenius  hud- 
sonicus  (Curlew). 

„     636,    „    16, /or  TurnbuU  read  Trumbull. 

„  553,  lines  13,  14  of  notes.  The  historic  nesting-place  of  Parus  cxruleus 
was  reoccupied  in  1895. 

„  562,  ,,  1-3.  Mr.  Clarke's  Digest  of  the  observations  will  be  found  in  iJe^'- 
Brit.  Association  (Liverpool  Meeting),  1896. 

„  563,  „  7-9.  Of.  Peal,  Rep.  Aeronaut.  Soc.  16,  pp.  10-17  (1881),  and 
Nature,  xxiii.  pp.  10,  11.  Additional  observations  of  Birds 
flying  at  great  heights  are  recorded  by  Bray,  op.  cit.  lii.  p. 
415,  and  West,  op.  cit.  liii.  p.  131. 

K  600,  line  18,  for  New  Zealand  read  Western  Australia.  The  Mountain- 
Duck  of  New  Zealand  is  Hymenolmmus  (page  843). 

„  616,  lines  28-35.  The  preparation  V,  c,  here  described,  and  diagrammatic- 
ally  figured  on  the  opposite  page,  proved  not  to  be  taken  from 
any  of  the  Trochilidse.  Cf.  Lucas  and  Gadow,  Ibis,  1895,  pp. 
298-300. 

„     654,  line    3,  for  Argusanus  read  Argusianus. 

„     686,    „    29,  for  Cyanorhynchus  read  Cyanorhamphus. 

„  687,  line  4.  Parrots  are  not  wanting  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  as 
asserted.     See  Nature,  li.  p.  367. 


xii  DICTION AR  Y  OF  BIRDS 

Page,  692,  note  1,  for  Tita  read  Tito. 

„     698,  line  8,  for  laryngeal  read  tracheal. 

„     700,  note  1.     In  the  Exhibition  of  Venetian  Art  at  the  New  Gallery  in 

Regent  Street,  1894-5,  No.  68  of  the  Catalogue  was  a  picture, 

attributed  to  Vittorio  Carpaecio,  containing  a  representation  of 

a  "japanned"  Peacock. 
„     703,  line  12,  dele  male's. 
„     703,  note  2.     The  first  of  the  three  derivations  assigned  was  the  suggestion 

"by  probability"  of  Selden  in  his  'Illustrations'  of  Drayton's 

poem  (p.  148).     Being  almost  impossible,  and  unsupported  by 

evidence,  it  is  the  derivation  most  popularly  accepted. 
„     711,  line  11,  and  p.  716,  last  line  of  text,  for  Sayornis  read  Umpidonax. 
„     732,  lines  16-18.     The  statement  as  to  old  feathers  changing  their  colour  is 

probably  erroneous  (see  Auk,  1896,  pp.  148-150  ;  Bull.  Am, 

Mus.  N.  H.  viii.  pp.  1-44). 
„     734,  line  18  of  notes,  for  Eurinorhynchus  read  Eurynorhynchus. 
„     743,    „    28,/orl73,  177reac?272,  277. 
„     744,    „      8, /or  anterior  reo^  posterior. 
„     754,    „      4,  after  Dutch  insert  name  for  the  Pintail. 
„     789,  note  2,  for  Acarthidositta  read  Acanthidositta. 
„     814,  line    6,/wp.  cxxxix.  read  pp.  xi.  cxxxix.  pi.  vii. 
„     814,    „    15.     The  term  OraiiAwr^  is  used  by  Ftirbringer,  see  Introduction, 

page  108. 
„     820,    „    11.     Qhauna  derbiana  is  the  true  C  chavaria  (Linn.),  while  the 

species  commonly  so  called  is  G.  cristata  {cf.  Salvadori,  Cat. 

B.  Brit.  Mus,  xxvii.  pp.  4-7). 
„  843,  „  2,  after  the  insert  Mountain-  or. 
„     887,    „    24,  after  for  insert  Myzantha  garrula,  M.  flavigula   and ;   for 

sanguinoleuta  read  sanguinolenta. 
„     893,  note  2.     Local  difference  in  Birds'  notes  was  noticed  in  1809  by  Tucker 

{Orn.  Danmon.  p.  Ixxxiv.) 
„     896,    „    1,  after  designation  add   ;  but  Mr.  Barrows  in  his  able  work  {The 

English   Sparrow    in   North  America.     Washington :    1889) 

continues  the  misleading  name. 
„     905,  line  34.     Clearing  away  the  matrix  of  the  specimen  has  since  shevra 

this  septum  [cf.  Introduction,  page  108,  note). 


WORLD 

shewing  approximately^ 
the  sixZoogeo^aphical  ~Re<^aDs 


\ 


INTEODUCTION 


Ornithology  in  its  proper  sense  is  tlie  methodical  study  and  consequent 
knowledge  of  Birds  with  all  that  relates  to  them  ;  but  the  difficulty  of 
assigning  a  limit  to  the  commencement  of  such  study  and  knowledge  gives 
the  word  a  very  vague  meaning,  and  practically  procures  its  application 
to  much  that  does  not  enter  the  domain  of  Science.  This  elastic  applica- 
tion renders  it  impossible  in  any  sketch  of  the  history  of  Ornithology  to 
draw  a  sharp  distinction  between  works  that  are  emphaticallj'  ornitho- 
logical and  those  to  which  that  title  can  only  be  attached  by  courtesy  ; 
for,  since  Birds  have  always  attracted  far  greater  attention  than  any  other 
group  of  animals  with  which  in  number  or  in  importance  they  can  be 
compared,  there  has  grown  up  concerning  them  a  literature  of  corre- 
sponding magnitude  and  of  the  widest  range,  extending  from  the  recondite 
and  laborious  investigations  of  the  morphologist  and  anatomist  to  the 
casual  observations  of  the  sportsman  or  the  schoolboy.  The  chief  cause 
of  the  disproportionate  amount  of  attention  which  Birds  have  received 
plainly  arises  from  the  way  in  which  so  many  of  them  familiarly  present 
themselves  to  us,  or  even  (it  may  be  said)  force  themselves  upon  our 
notice.  Trusting  to  the  freedom  from  danger  conferred  by  the  power  of 
flight,  most  Birds  have  no  need  to  lurk  hidden  in  dens,  or  to  slink  from 
place  to  place  under  shelter  of  the  inequalities  of  the  ground  or  of  the 
vegetation  which  clothes  it,  as  is  the  case  with  so  many  other  animals  of 
similar  size.  Beside  this,  a  great  number  of  the  Birds  which  thus  display 
themselves  freely  to  our  gaze  are  conspicuous  for  the  beauty  of  their 
plumage  ;  and  there  are  very  few  that  are  not  remarkable  for  the  grace  of 
their  form.  Some  Birds  again  enchant  us  with  their  voice,  and  others 
administer  to  our  luxuries  and  wants,  while  there  is  scarcely  a  species 
which  has  not  idiosyncrasies  that  are  found  to  be  of  engaging  interest  the 
more  we  know  of  them.  Moreover,  it  is  clear  that  the  art  of  the  fowler 
is  one  that  must  have  been  practised  from  the  very  earliest  times,  and  to 
follow  that  art  with  success  no  inconsiderable  amount  of  acquaintance 
with  the  haunts  and  habits  of  Birds  is  a  necessity.  Owing  to  one  or 
another  of  these  causes,  or  to  the  combination  of  more  than  one,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  observation  of  Birds  has  been  from  a  very  remote 
period  a  favourite  pursuit  among  nearly  all  nations,  and  this  observation 
has  by  degrees  led  to  a  study  more  or  less  framed  on  methodical  principles, 
finally  reaching  the  dignity  of  a  science,  and  a  study  that  has  its  votaries 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


in  almost  all  classes  of  the  population  of  every  civilized  country.  In  the 
ages  during  which  intelligence  dawned  on  the  world's  ignorance,  or  before 
experience  had  accumulated,  and  even  now  in  those  districts  that  have 
not  yet  emerged  from  the  twilight  of  a  knowledge  still  more  imperfect 
than  is  our  own  at  present,  an  additional  and  perhaps  a  stronger  reason 
for  paying  attention  to  the  ways  of  Birds  existed,  or  exists,  in  their 
association  with  the  cherished  beliefs  handed  down  from  generation  to 
generation  among  many  races  of  men,  and  not  infrequently  interwoven 
in  their  mythology.^ 

Moreover,  though  Birds  make  a  not  unimportant  appearance  in  the 
earliest  written  records  of  the  human  race,  the  painter's  brush  has 
preserved  their  counterfeit  presentment  for  a  still  longer  period.  What  is 
asserted — and  that,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  without  contradiction — 
by  Egyptologists  of  the  highest  repute  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  pictures  in 
the  world  is  a  fragmentary  fresco  taken  from  a  tomb  at  Maydoom,  and 
happily  deposited,  though  in  a  decaying  condition,  in  the  Museum  at 
Boolak.  This  picture  is  said  to  date  from  the  time  of  the  third  or  fourth 
dynasty,  some  three  thousand  years  before  the  Christian  era.  In  it  are 
depicted  with  a  marvellous  fidelity,  and  thorough  appreciation  of  form  and 
colouring  (despite  a  certain  conventional  treatment),  the  figures  of  six 
Geese.  Four  of  these  figures  can  be  unhesitatingly  referred  to  two  species 
(Anser  erythropus  and  A.  ruficollis)  well  known  at  the  present  day  ;  and  if 
the  two  remaining  figures,  belonging  to  a  third  and  larger  species,  were 
re-examined  by  an  expert  they  would  very  possibly  be  capable  of 
determination  with  no  less  certainty.^  In  later  ages  the  representations 
of  Birds  of  one  sort  or  another  in  Egyptian  paintings  and  sculptures 
become  countless,  and  the  bassi-rilievi  of  Assyrian  monuments,  though 
mostly  belonging  of  course  to  a  subsequent  period,  are  not  without  them  ; 
but  so  rudely  designed  as  to  be  generally  unrecognizable.^  No  figures  of 
Birds,  however,  seem  yet  to  have  been  found  on  the  incised  stones,  bones 
or  ivories  of  the  prehistoric  races  of  Europe. 

It  is  of  course  necessary  to  name  Aristotle  (b.c.  385-322)  as  the  first 
serious  author  on  Ornithology  with  whose  writings  we  are  acquainted,  but 
even  he  had,  as  he  tells  us,  predecessors ;  and,  looking  to  that  portion  of 
his  works  on  animals  which  has  come  down  to  us,  one  finds  that,  though 
more  than  170  sorts  of  Birds  are  mentioned,*  yet  what  is  said  of  them 
amounts  on  the  whole  to  very  little,  and  this  consists  more  of  desultory 

^  For  instances  of  this  among  Greeks  and  Romans  almost  any  work  on  "  Classical 
Antiquities  "  may  be  consulted,  while  as  regards  the  superstitions  of  barbarous  nations 
the  authorities  are  far  too  numerous  to  be  here  named. 

"  A.  facsimile  of  the  picture  is,  or  was  a  few  years  ago,  exhibited  at  the  Museum 
of  Science  and  Art  in  London,  and  the  portion  containing  the  figures  of  the  Geese  has 
been  figured  by  Mr.  Loftie  [Ride  in  Egypt,  p.  209).  I  owe  to  that  gentleman's  kindness 
the  opportunity  of  examining  a  copy  made  on  the  spot  by  an  accomplished  artist,  as 
well  as  information  that  it  is  No.  988  of  Mariette's  Catalogue. 

^  Cf.  W.  Houghton  'On  the  Birds  of  the  Assyrian  Monuments  and  Records,' 
Trans.  Soc.  Bibl.  Archasol.  viii.  pp.  42-142,  13  pis.  (1883).  The  author  being  but  a 
poor  ornithologist,  his  determination  of  the  figures  cannot  be  trusted.  As  to  the 
linguistic  value  of  his  labours  I  am  not  competent  to  speak. 

■*  This  is  Sundevall's  estimate  ;  Drs.  Aubert  and  Wimmer  in  their  excellent  edition 
of  the  'laropiai  wepl  ^i^uv  (Leipzig  :   1868)  limit  the  number  to  126. 


INTRODUCTION  3 


observations  in  illustration  of  his  general  remarks  (which  are  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  physiological  or  bearing  on  the  subject  of  reproduction) 
than  of  an  attempt  at  a  connected  account  of  Birds.  Some  of  these 
observations  are  so  meagre  as  to  have  given  plenty  of  occupation  to  his 
many  commentators,  "who  with  varying  success  have  for  more  than  three 
hundred  years  been  endeavouring  to  determine  what  were  the  Birds  of 
Avhich  he  wrote  ;  and  the  admittedly  corrupt  state  of  the  text  adds  to 
their  difficulties.  One  of  the  most  recent  of  these  commentators,  the  late 
Prof.  Sundevall — equally  proficient  in  classical  as  in  ornithological  know- 
ledge— was,  in  1863,  compelled  to  leave  more  than  a  score  of  the  Birds 
unrecognized.  Yet  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  in  what  survives  of  the 
great  philosopher's  writings  we  have  more  than  a  fragment  of  the  know- 
ledge possessed  by  him,  though  the  hope  of  recovering  his  ZwiKa  or  his 
'Avaro/itKa,  in  which  he  seems  to  have  given  fuller  descriptions  of  the 
animals  he  knew,  can  be  hardly  now  entertained.  A  Latin  translation 
by  Gaza  of  Aristotle's  existing  zoological  work  was  printed  at  Venice  in 
1503.  Another  version,  by  Scaliger,  was  subsequently  published.  Two 
wretched  English  translations  have  appeared.^ 

Next  in  order  of  date,  though  at  a  long  interval,  comes  Gaius  Plinius 
Secundus,  commonly  known  as  Pliny  the  Elder,  who  died  A.D.  79,  author 
of  a  general  and  very  discursive  Historia  Naturalis  in  thirty-seven  books,  of 
which  most  of  Book  X.  is  devoted  to  Birds.  A  considerable  portion  of 
Pliny's  work  may  be  traced  to  his  great  predecessor,  of  whose  information 
he  freely  and  avowedly  availed  himself,  while  the  additions  thereto  made 
cannot  be  said  to  be,  on  the  whole,  improvements.  Neither  of  these 
authors  attempted  to  classify  the  Birds  known  to  them  beyond  a  very 
rough  and  for  the  most  part  obvious  grouping.  Aristotle  seems  to 
recognize  eight  principal  groups : — (1)  Gampsomjches,  approximately 
equivalent  to  the  Accipitres  of  Linnseus  ;  (2)  Scolecophaga,  containing  most 
of  what  would  now  be  called  Oscmes,  excepting  indeed  the  (3)  Acantho- 
phaga,  composed  of  the  Goldfinch,  Siskin  and  a  few  othors ;  (4)  Scnipo- 
phaga,  the  Woodpeckers  ;  (5)  Peristeroide,  or  Pigeons  ;  (6)  Schizopoda,  (7) 
Steganopoda  and  (8)  Barea,  nearly  the  same  respectively  as  the  Linnsean 
Grallx,  Anseres  and  Gallinx.  Pliny,  relying  wholly  on  characters  taken 
from  the  feet,  limits  himself  to  three  groups — without  assigning  names  to 
them — those  which  have  "  hooked  tallons,  as  Hawkes  ;  or  round  long 
clawes,  as  Hennes  ;  or  else  they  be  broad,  flat,  and  whole-footed,  as  Geese 
and  all  the  sort  in  manner  of  water-foule  " — to  use  the  words  of  Philemon 
Holland,  who,  in  1601,  published  a  quaint  and,  though  condensed,  yet 
fairly  faithful  English  translation  of  Pliny's  work.^ 

About  a  century  later  came  jElian,  who   died  about  a.d.   140,   and 
compiled  in  Greek  (though   he   was   an    Italian  by  birth)  a  number  of 
miscellaneous  observations  on  the  peculiarities  of  animals.      His  work  is ' 
a  kind  of  commonplace  book  kept  without  scientific  discrimination.      A 


1  By  Thomas  Taylor  in  1809,  and  Cresswell  in  1862. 

-  The  French  translation  by  Ajasson  de  Grandsagne,  with  notes  by  Cuvier  (Paris : 
1830),  is  very  good  for  the  time.  An  English  translation  by  Bostock  and  Riley 
appeared  between  1855  and  1857.  Sillig's  edition  of  the  original  text  (Gotha  :  1851- 
1853)  seems  to  be  the  best. 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


considerable  number  of  Birds  are  mentioned,  and  something  said  of  almost 
each  of  them  ;  but  that  something  is  too  often  nonsense — according  to 
modern  ideas — though  occasionally  a  fact  of  interest  may  therein  be  found. 
It  contains  numerous  references  to  former  or  contemporary  writers  whose 
works  have  perished,  but  there  is  nothing  to  shew  that  they  were  wiser 
than  ^lian  himself. 

The  twenty-six  books  De  Animalibus  of  Albertus  Magnus  (Groot),  who 
died  A.D.  1282,  were  printed  in  1478  ;  but  were  apparently  already  well 
known  from  manuscript  copies.  They  are  founded  on  the  works  of 
Aristotle,  many  of  whose  statements  are  almost  literally  repeated,  and 
often  without  acknowledgment.  Occasionally  Avicenna,  or  some  other 
less-known  author,  is  quoted  ;  but  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  the 
additional  information  is  almost  worthless.  The  twenty-third  of  these 
books  is  De  Avibus,  and  therein  a  great  number  of  Birds'  names  make 
their  earliest  appearance,  few  of  which  are  without  interest  from  a  philo- 
logist's if  not  an  ornithologist's  point  of  view,  but  there  is  much  difficulty 
in  recognizing  the  species  to  which  many  of  them  apply.  In  1485  was 
printed  the  first  dated  copy  of  the  volume  known  as  the  Ortus  Sanitatis, 
to  the  popularity  of  which  many  editions  testify.  Though  said  by  its 
author,  Johann  Wonnecke  von  Caub  (Latinized  as  Johannes  de  Cuba),^  to 
have  been  composed  from  a  study  of  the  collections  formed  by  a  certain 
nobleman  who  had  travelled  in  Eastern  Europe,  Western  Asia  and  Egypt 
— possibly  Breidenbach,^  an  account  of  whose  travels  in  the  Levant  was 
printed  at  Mentz  in  1486 — it  is  really  a  medical  treatise,  and  its  zoological 
portion  is  mainly  an  abbreviation  of  the  writings  of  Albertus  Magnus,  with 
a  few  interpolations  from  Isidorus  of  Seville  (who  flourished  in  the 
beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  and  was  the  author  of  many  books 
highly  esteemed  in  the  Middle  Ages),  and  a  work  known  as  Physiologus.^ 
The  third  tradatus  of  this  volurae  deals  with  Birds — including  among 
them  Bats,  Bees  and  other  flying  creatures ;  but  as  it  is  the  first 
printed  book  in  which  figures  of  Birds  are  introduced  it  merits  notice, 
though  most  of  the  illustrations,  which  are  rude  woodcuts,  fail,  even  in 
the  coloured  copies,  to  give  any  precise  indication  of  the  species  intended 
to  be  represented.  The  scientific  degeneracy  of  this  work  is  manifested 
as  much  by  its  title  {Ortus  for  Hortus)  as  by  the  mode  in  which  the  several 
subjects  are  treated  ;  *  but  the   revival   of  learning  was   at  hand,  and 

^  On  this  point  see  G.  A.  Pritzel,  Botan.  Zeitung,  1846,  pp.  785-790,  and  Thes. 
Literal.  Botanicse  (Lipsise  :  1851),  pp.  349-352. 

^  I  owe  this  suggestion  to  my  late  good  friend,  the  eminent  bibliographer,  Henry 
Bradshaw. 

3  See  the  excellent  account  of  this  curious  work  by  Prof.  Land  of  Leydeu  [Encycl. 
Brit.  ed.  9,  xix.  pp.  6,  7). 

*  Absurd  as  much  that  we  find  both  in  Albertus  Magnus  and  the  Ortus  seems  to 
modern  eyes,  if  we  go  a  step  lower  in  the  scale  and  consult  the  "  Bestiaries  "  or 
treatises  on  animals  which  were  common  from  the  twelfth  to  the  fourteenth  century 
we  shall  meet  with  many  more  absurdities.  See  for  instance  that  by  Philippe  de 
Thaun  (Philippus  Taonensis),  dedicated  to  Adelaide  or  Alice,  queen  of  Henry  I.  of 
England,  and  probably  ^vTitten  soon  after  1121,  as  printed  by  the  late  Mr.  Thomas 
Wright,  in  his  Popular  Treatises  on  Science  written  during  the  Middle  Ages  (Loudon  : 
1841).  Perhaps  the  De  Naturis  Rerum  libri  duo  of  Alexander  Neckam  (oh.  1217), 
the  foster-brother  of  Kichard  Cceur  de  Lion,  may  be  excepted,  for  therein  (lib,  i. 


INTRODUCTION 


William  Turner,  a  Northumbrian,  while  residing  abroad  to  avoid  persecu- 
tion at  home,  printed  at  Cologne  in  1544  the  first  commentary  on  the 
Birds  mentioned  by  Aristotle  and  Pliny  conceived  in  anything  like  the 
spirit  that  moves  modern  naturalists.  ^  In  the  same  year  and  from  the 
same  press  was  issued  a  Dialogus  de  Avihus  by  Gybertus  Longolius,  and 
in  1570  Caius  brought  out  in  London  his  treatise  De  rarioruvi  animalnim 
atque  stirpium  historia.  In  this  last  work,  small  though  it  be,  ornithology 
has  a  good  share  ;  and  all  three  may  still  be  consulted  with  interest  and 
advantage  by  its  votaries.^  Meanwhile  the  study  received  a  great  impulse 
from  the  appearance,  at  Zurich  in  1555,  of  the  third  book  of  the  illustrious 
Conrad  Gesner's  Historia  Animalium  "  qvi  est  de  Auium  natura,"  and  at 
Paris  in  the  same  year  of  Pierre  Belon's  (Bellonius)  Histoire  de  la  nature 
des  Oyseaux.  Gesner  brought  an  amount  of  erudition,  hitherto  unequalled, 
to  bear  upon  his  subject  ;  and,  making  due  allowance  for  the  time  in 
which  he  wrote,  his  judgment  must  in  most  respects  be  deemed  excellent. 
In  his  work,  however,  there  is  little  that  can  be  called  systematic  treat- 
ment. Like  nearly  all  his  predecessors  since  -(Elian,  he  adopted  an 
alphabetical  arrangement,^  though  this  was  not  too  pedantically  preserved, 
and  did  not  hinder  him  from  placing  together  the  kinds  of  Birds  which  he 
supposed  (and  generally  supposed  rightly)  to  have  the  most  resemblance 
to  that  one  whose  name,  being  best  known,  was  chosen  for  the  headpiece 
(as  it  were)  of  his  particular  theme,  thus  recognizing  to  some  extent  the 
principle  of  classification.*  Belon,  with  perhaps  less  book-learning  than 
his  contemporary,  was  evidently  no  mean  scholar,  and  undoubtedly  had 
more  practical  knowledge  of  Birds — their  internal  as  well  as  external 
structure.  Hence  his  work  contains  a  far  greater  amount  of  original 
matter ;  and  his  personal  observations  made  in  many  countries,  from 
England  to  Egypt,  enabled  him  to  avoid  most  of  the  puerilities  which 
disfigure  other  works  of  liis  own  or  of  a  preceding  age.  Beside  this,  Belon 
disposed  the  Birds  known  to  him  according  to  a  definite  system,  which 
(rude  as  we  now  know  it  to  be)  formed  a  foundation  on  which  several  of 
his  successors  were  content  to  build,  and  even  to  this  day  traces  of  its 
influence  may  still  be  discerned  in  the  arrangement  followed  by  writers 
who  have  faintly  appreciated  the  principles  on  which  modern  taxonomers 
rest  the  outline  of  their  schemes.     Both  his  work  and  that  of  Gesner  were 

capp.  xxiii.-lxxx.)  is  a  good  deal  about  birds  -whicli  is  not  altogether  nonsense.  This 
work  was  edited  for  the  Rolls  Series,  in  1863,  by  the  same  Mr.  Wright. 

^^This  was  reprinted  at  Cambridge  in  1823  by  the  late  Dr.  George  Thackeray. 

2  The  Seventh  of  Wotton's  De  differentiis  animalium  Libri  Decern,  published  at 
Paris  in  1552,  treats  of  Bu'ds  ;  but  his  work  is  merely  a  compilation  from  Aristotle 
and  Pliny,  with  references  to  other  classical  ■writers  who  have  more  or  less  incidentally 
mentioned  Birds  and  other  animals.  The  author  in  his  preface  states — "  Veterum 
scriptorum  sententias  in  unum  quasi  cumulum  coaceruaui,  de  meo  nihil  addidi." 
Nevertheless  he  makes  some  attempt  at  a  systematic  arrangement  of  Birds,  which, 
according  to  his  lights,  is  far  from  despicable. 

■'Even  at  the  present  day  it  maybe  shrewdly  suspected  that  not  a  few  orni- 
thologists would  gladly  follow  Gesner's  plan  in  their  despair  of  seeing,  in  their  own 
time,  a  classification  which  would  really  deserve  the  epithet  scientific. 

*  For  instance,  under  the  title  of  "Accipiter  "  we  have  to  look,  not  only  for  the 
Sparrow-Hawk  and  Gos-Hawk,  but  for  many  other  birds  of  the  Family  (as  we  now 
call  it)  removed  comparatively  far  from  those  species  by  modern  ornithologists. 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


illustrated  with  woodcuts,  many  of  which  display  much  spirit  and  regard 
to  accuracy. 

Belon,  as  has  just  been  said,  had  a  knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  Birds, 
and  he  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  institute  a  direct  comparison  of 
their  skeleton  with  that  of  Man  ;  but  in  this  respect  he  only  anticipated 
by  a  few  years  the  more  precise  researches  of  Volcher  Goiter,  a  Frisian, 
who  in  1573  and  1575  published  at  Nuremberg  two  treatises,  in  one  of 
which  the  internal  structure  of  Birds  in  general  is  very  creditably  de- 
scribed, while  in  the  other  the  osteology  and  myology  of  certain  forms  is 
given  in  considerable  detail,  and  illustrated  by  carefully-drawn  figures. 
The  first  is  entitled  Externarum  et  internarum principalium  humani  corporis 
Tahulx,  &c.,  while  the  second,  which  is  the  most  valuable,  is  merely 
appended  to  the  Lediones  Gabrielis  Fallopii  de  partibus  similaribus  humani 
corporis,  &c.,  and  thus,  the  scope  of  each  work  being  regarded  as  medical, 
the  author's  labours  were  wholly  overlooked  by  the  mere  natural -historians 
who  followed,  though  Goiter  introduced  a  table,  '^ De  differentiis  Auium" 
furnishing  a  key  to  a  rough  classification  of  such  Birds  as  were  known  to 
him,  and  this,  as  nearly  the  first  attempt  of  the  kind,  deserves  notice  here. 

Gontemporary  with  these  three  men  was  Ulysses  Aldrovandus,  a 
Bolognese,  who  wrote  an  Historia  Naturalium  in  sixteen  folio  volumes, 
most  of  which  were  not  printed  till  after  his  death  in  1605  ;  but  the  three 
on  Birds  appeared  between  1599  and  1603.  The  work  is  almost  wholly 
a  compilation,  and  that  not  of  the  most  discriminative  kind,  while  a 
peculiar  jealousy  of  Gesner  is  displayed  throughout,  though  his  statements 
are  very  constantly  quoted — nearly  always  as  those  of  "  Ornithologus," 
his  name  appearing  but  few  times  in  the  text,  and  not  at  all  in  the  list  of 
authors  cited.  With  certain  modifications  in  principle  not  very  important, 
but  characterized  by  much  more  elaborate  detail,  Aldrovandus  adopted 
Belon's  method  of  arrangement,  but  in  a  few  respects  there  is  a  manifest 
retrogression.  The  work  of  Aldrovandus  was  illustrated  by  copper  plates, 
but  none  of  his  figures  approach  those  of  his  immediate  predecessors  in 
character  or  accuracy.  Nevertheless  the  book  was  eagerly  sought,  and 
several  editions  of  it  appeared.^ 

Mention  must  be  made  of  a  medical  treatise  by  Gaspar  Schwenckfeld, 
published  at  Liegnitz  in  1603,  under  the  title  of  Theriotropheum  Silesiae,  the 
fourth  book  of  which  consists  of  an  "  Aviarium  Silesiae,"  and  is  the  earliest 
of  the  ornithological  works  we  now  know  by  the  name  of  Fauna.  The 
author  was  acquainted  with  the  labours'  of  his  predecessors,  as  his  list  of 
over  one  hundred  of  them  testifies.  Most  of  the  Birds  he  describes  are 
characterized  with  accuracy  sufiicient  to  enable  them  to  be  identified, 
and  his  observations  upon  them  have  still  some  interest ;  but  he  was 
innocent  of  any  methodical  system,  and  was  not  exempt  from  most  of 
the  professional  fallacies  of  his  time.^ 

^  The  Historia  Naturalis  of  John  Johnstone  or  Jonston,  of  Scottish  descent  but 
by  birth  a  Pole  {Diet.  Nat.  Biogr.  xxx.  pp.  80,  81),  ran  through  several  editions 
during  the  seventeenth  century,  but  is  little  more  than  an  epitome  of  the  work  of 
Aldrovandus. 

^  The  Ilierozoicon  of  Bochart — a  treatise  on  the  animals  named  in  Holy  Writ — was 
published  in  1619. 


INTRODUCTION 


Hitherto,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  works  aforesaid  treated  of 
scarcely  any  but  the  Birds  belonging  to  the  orhis  veteribus  notus  ;  but  the 
geographical  discoveries  of  the  sixteenth  century  began  to  bear  fruit,  and 
many  animals  of  kinds  unsuspected  were,  about  one  hundred  years  later, 
made  known.  Here  there  is  only  space  to  name  Bontius,  Clusius, 
Hernandez  ^  (or  Fernandez),  Marcgrave,  Nieremberg  and  Piso,^  whose 
several  works  describing  the  natural  products  of  both  the  Indies — whether 
the  result  of  their  own  observation  or  compilation — together  with  those 
of  Olina  and  Worm,  produced  a  marked  effect,  since  they  led  up  to  what 
may  be  deemed  the  foundation  of  scientific  Ornithology .^ 

This  foundation  was  laid  by  the  joint  labours  of  Francis  Willughby 
(born  1635,  died  1672)  and  John  Ray  (born  1628,  died  1705),  for  it  is 
impossible  to  separate  their  share  of  work  in  Natural  History  more  than 
to  say  that,  while  the  former  more  especially  devoted  himself  to  zoology, 
botany  Avas  the  favourite  pursuit  of  the  latter.  Together  they  studied, 
together  they  travelled  and  together  they  collected.  Willughby,  the 
younger  of  the  two,  and  at  first  the  other's  pupil,  seems  to  have  gradually 
become  the  master  ;  but  dying  before  the  promise  of  his  life  was  fulfilled, 
his  writings  were  given  to  the  world  by  his  friend  Ray,  who,  adding  to 
them  from  his  own  stores,  published  the  Ornithologia  in  Latin  in  1676, 
and  in  English  with  many  emendations  in  1678.  In  this  work  Birds 
generally  were  grouped  in  two  great  divisions — "  Land-Fowl "  and 
"  Water-Fowl," — the  former  being  subdivided  into  those  which  have  a 
crooked  beak  and  talons  and  those  which  have  a  straighter  bill  and 
claws,  while  the  latter  was  separated  into  those  which  frequent  waters 
and  watery  places  and  those  that  swim  in  the  water — each  subdivision 
being  further  broken  up  into  many  sections,  to  the  whole  of  which 
a  key  was  given.  Thus  it  became  possible  for  almost  any  diligent 
reader  without  much  chance  of  error  to  refer  to  its  proper  place  nearly 
every  bird  he  was  likely  to  meet  with.  Ray's  interest  in  ornithology  con- 
tinued, and  in  1694  he  completed  a  Synopsis  Methodica  Avium,  which, 
through  the  fault  of  the  booksellers  to  whom  it  was  entrusted,  was  not 
published  till  1713,  when  Derham  gave  it  to  the  world.'' 

Two  years  after  Ray's  death,  Linnaeus,  the  great  reformer  of  Natural 
History,  was  born,  and  in  1735  appeared  the  first  edition  of  the  celebrated 
Systema  Naturse.     Successive  editions  of  this  work  were  produced  under 

^  The  earliest  work  of  Hernandez,  published  at  Mexico  in  1615,  copies  of  which 
are  very  scarce,  has  been  reprinted  and  edited  by  Dr.  Le6n  (8vo,  Morelia  :  1888). 

^  For  Lichtenstein's  determination  of  the  Birds  described  by  Marcgrave  and  Piso 
see  the  Ahhandlungen  of  the  Berlin  Academy  for  1817  (pp.  155  et  seqq.) 

^  The  earliest  list  of  British  Birds  seems  to  be  that  in  the  Pinax  Rerum  Naturalium 
of  Christopher  Merrett,  published  in  1666,  and  to  be  again  mentioned  presently.  In 
1668  appeared  the  Onomasticon  Zooicon  of  Walter  Charleton,  which  contains  some 
information  on  ornithology.  An  enlarged  edition  of  the  latter,  under  the  title  of 
Eoxrcitatimies,  kc,  was  published  in  1677  ;  but  neither  of  these  writers  is  of  much 
authority.  In  1684  Sibbald  in  his  Scotia  Ulustrata  published  the  earliest  Fauna  of 
Scotland. 

*  To  this  was  added  a  supplement  by  Petiver  on  the  Birds  of  Madras,  taken  from 
pictures  and  information  sent  him  by  one  Edward  Buckley  of  Fort  St.  George,  being 
the  first  attempt  to  catalogue  the  Birds  of  any  part  of  the  British  possessions  in 
India. 


3  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

its  author's  supervision  in  1740,  1748,  1758  and  1766.  Impressed  by 
tlie  belief  that  verbosity  was  the  bane  of  science,  he  carried  terseness  to 
an  extreme  which  frequently  created  obscurity,  and  this  in  no  branch  of 
zoology  more  than  in  that  which  relates  to  Birds.  Still  the  practice 
introduced  by  him  of  assigning  to  each  species  a  diagnosis  by  which  it 
ought  in  theory  to  be  distinguishable  from  any  other  known  species,  and 
of  naming  it  by  two  words — the  first  being  the  generic  and  the  second 
the  specific  term,  was  so  manifest  an  improvement  upon  anything  which 
had  previously  obtained,  that  the  Linnseau  method  of  differentiation  and 
nomenclature  established  itself  before  long  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  and 
in  principle  became  almost  universally  adopted.  The  opposition  came  of 
course  from  those  who  were  habituated  to  the  older  state  of  things,  and 
saw  no  evil  in  the  cumbrous,  half-descriptive  half-designative  titles  which 
had  to  be  employed  whenever  a  species  was  to  be  spoken  of  or  written 
about.  The  supj)orters  of  the  new  method  were  the  rising  generation  of 
naturalists,  many  of  whose  names  have  since  become  famous,  but  among 
them  were  some  whose  admiration  of  their  chief  carried  them  to  a  pitch 
of  enthusiasm  which  now  seems  absurd.^  Careful  as  Linnasus  was  in 
drawing  up  his  definitions  of  groups,  it  was  immediately  seen  that  they 
occasionally  comprehended  creatures  whose  characteristics  contradicted 
the  prescribed  diagnosis.  His  chief  glory  lies  in  his  having  reduced,  at 
least  for  a  time,  a  chaos  into  order,  and  in  his  shewing  both  by  precept  and 
practice  that  a  name  was  not  a  definition.  In  his  classification  of  Birds 
he  for  the  most  part  followed  Hay,  and  where  he  departed  from  his  model 
he  seldom  improved  upon  it. 

In  1745  Barrere  brought  out  at  Perpignan  a  little  book  called 
Ornithologise  Specimen  nouum,  and  in  1752  Mohring  published  at  Aurich 
one  still  smaller,  his  Avium  Genera.  Both  these  works  (now  rare)  are 
manifestly  framed  on  the  Linnsean  method,  so  far  as  it  had  then  reached  ; 
but  in  their  arrangement  of  the  various  forms  of  Birds  they  diff'ered 
greatly  from  that  which  they  designed  to  supplant,  and  they  obtained 
little  success.  Yet  as  systematists  their  authors  were  no  worse  than 
Klein,  whose  liistorix  Avium  Prodromus,  appearing  at  Liibeck  in  1750, 
and  Stemmata  Avium  at  Leipzig  in  1759,  met  with  considerable  favour 
in  some  quarters.  The  chief  merit  of  the  latter  work  lies  in  its  forty 
plates,  whereon  the  heads  and  feet  of  many  Birds  are  indifferently 
figured.- 

But,  while  the  successive  editions  of  Linnseus's  great  work  were 
revolutionizing  Natural  History,  and  his  example  of  precision  in  language 
was  producing  excellent  effect  on  scientific  writers,  several  other  authors 
were  advancing  the  study  of  Ornithology  in  a  very  different  way — a*,  way 
that  pleased  the  eye  even  more  than  his  labours  were  pleasing  the  mind. 
Between    1731    and    1743    Mark   Catesby   brought   out  in   London  his 

■*  Such  an  one  was  Rafinesque,  in  many  respects  a  fantastic  author.     Simple  as  _ 
the  principle  of  binomial  nomenclature  looks,  its  practice  is  not  so  easy,  and  there 
have  not  been  wanting  of  late  years  quasi-scientific  ■writers  to  mistake  it  wholly. 

*  After  Klein's  death  his  Prodromus,  written  in  Latin,  had  the  unwonted  fortune 
of  two  distinct  translations  into  German,  published  in  the  same  year,  1760,  the  one 
at  Leipzig  and  Liibeck  by  Behn,  the  other  at  Danzig  by  Reyger — each  of  whom 
added  more  or  less  to  the  original. 


INTRODUCTION 


Natural  History  of  Carolina — two  large  folios  containing  highly-coloured 
plates  of  the  Birds  of  that  colony,  Florida  and  the  Bahamas — the  fore- 
runners of  those  numerous  costly  tomes  which  will  have  to  be  mentioned 
presently  at  greater  length.^  Eleazar  Albin  between  1738  and  1740 
produced  a  Natural  History  of  Birds  in  three  volumes  of  more  modest 
dimensions,  seeing  that  it  is  in  quarto  ;  but  he  seems  to  have  been  ignorant 
of  Ornithology,  and  his  coloured  plates  are  greatly  inferior  to  Catesby's. 
Far  better  both  as  draughtsman  and  as  authority  was  George  Edwards, 
who  in  1743  began,  under  almost  the  same  title  as  Albin,  a  series  of 
plates  with  letterpress,  which  was  continued  by  the  name  of  Gleanings  of 
Natural  History,  and  finished  in  1760,  when  it  had  reached  seven  parts, 
forming  four  quarto  volumes,  the  figures  of  which  are  nearly  always 
quoted  with  approval.^ 

The  year  which  saw  the  works  of  Edwards  completed  was  still  further 
distinguished  by  the  appearance  in  France,  where  little  had  been  done 
since  Belon's  days,^  in  six  quarto  volumes,  of  the  Ornithologie  of  Mathurin 
Jacques  Brisson — a  work  of  very  great  merit  so  far  as  it  goes,  for  as  a 
descriptive  ornithologist  the  author  stands  even  now  unsurpassed  ;  but  it 
must  be  said  that  his  knowledge,  according  to  internal  evidence,  was  con- 
fined to  books  and  to  the  external  parts  of  Birds'  skins.  It  was  enough 
for  him  to  give  a  scrupulously  exact  description  of  such  specimens  aa 
came  under  his  eye,  distinguishing  these  by  prefixing  two  asterisks  to 
their  name,  using  a  single  asterisk  where  he  had  only  seen  a  part  of  the 
Bird,  and  leaving  unmarked  those  that  he  described  from  other  authors. 
He  also  added  information  as  to  the  Museum  (generally  Reaumur^s,  of 
which  he  had  been  in  charge)  containing  the  specimen  he  described,  act- 
ing on  a  principle  which  would  have  been  advantageously  adopted  by 
many  of  his  contemporaries  and  successors.  His  attempt  at  classification 
was  certainly  better  than  that  of  Linnaeus ;  and  it  is  rather  curious  that 
the  researches  of  the  latest  ornithologists  point  to  results  in  some  degree 
comparable  with  Brisson's  systematic  arrangement,  for  they  refuse  to  keep 
the  Birds-of-Prey  at  the  head  of  the  Class  Aves,  and  they  require  the 
establishment  of  a  much  larger  number  of  "  Orders  "  than  for  a  long  while 
•had  been  thought  advisable.  Of  such  "Orders"  Brisson  had  twenty-six, 
and  he  gave  Pigeons  and  Poultry  precedence  of  the  Birds  which  are 
carnivorous  or  scavengers.  But  greater  value  lies  in  his  generic  or  sub- 
generic  divisions,  which  taken  as  a  whole,  are  far  more  natural  than  those 
of  Linnaeus,  and  consequently  capable  of  better  diagnosis.  More  than  this, 
he  seems  to  be  the  earliest  ornithologist,  perhaps  the  earliest  zoologist, 
to  conceive  the  idea  of  each  genus  possessing  what  is  now  called  a  "  type  " 
— though  such  a  term  does  not  occur  in  his  work  ;  and,  in  like  manner, 
without  declaring  it  in  so  many  words,  he  indicated  unmistakably  the 
existence  of  subgenera — all  this  being  effected  by  the  skilful  use  of  names. 

1  Several  Birds  from  Jamaica  were  figured  in  Sloane's  Voyage,  &c.  (1705-1725), 
and  a  good  many  exotic  species  in  the  Thesaurus,  &c.  of  Seba  (1734-1765),  but 
from  their  faulty  execution  these  plates  had  little  effect  upon  Ornithology. 

^  The  works  of  Catesby  and  Edwards  were  afterwards  reproduced  at  Nuremberg 
and  Amsterdam  by  Seligmann,  with  the  letterpress  in  German,  French  and  Dutch. 

2  Birds  were  treated  of  in  a  worthless  fashion  by  one  D,  B.  in  a  Didionnaire 
raisonni  et  universel  des  animaux,  published  at  Paris  in  1759. 


10  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

Unfortunately  he  was  too  soon  in  the  field  to  avail  himself,  even  had  he 
been  so  minded,  of  the  convenient  mode  of  nomenclature  brought  into 
use  by  Linnaeus,  and  it  is  only  in  the  last  two  volumes  of  Brisson's 
Ornithologie  that  any  reference  is  made  to  the  tenth  edition  of  the  Systema 
Naturae,  in  which  the  binomial  method  was  introduced.  It  is  certain 
that  the  first  four  volumes  were  written  if  not  printed  before  that  method 
was  promulgated,  and  when  the  fame  of  Linnaeus  as  a  zoologist  rested  on 
little  more  than  the  very  meagre  sixth  edition  of  the  Systema  Naturm  and 
the  first  edition  of  his  Fauna  Suecica.  Brisson  has  been  charged  with 
jealousy  of,  if  not  hostility  to,  the  great  Swede,  and  it  is  true  that  in  the 
preface  to  his  Ornithologie  he  complains  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  Linnsean 
characters,  but,  when  one  considers  his  much  better  acquaintance  with 
Birds,  such  criticism  must  be  allowed  to  be  pardonable  if  not  wholly 
just.  This  work  was  in  French,  with  a  parallel  translation  in  Latin, 
which  last  (edited,  it  is  said,  by  Pallas)  was  reprinted  separately  at  Leyden 
three  years  afterwards. 

In  1767  there  was  issued  at  Paris  a  book  entitled  L'histoire  naturelle 
e'claircie  dans  une  de  ses  parties  principales,  V  Ornithologie.  This  was  the 
work  of  Salerne,  published  after  his  death,  and  is  often  spoken  of  as  being 
a  mere  translation  of  Ray's  Synopsis,  but  is  thereby  very  inadequately 
described,  for,  though  it  is  confessedly  founded  on  that  little  book,  a  vast 
amount  of  fresh  matter,  and  mostly  of  good  quality,  is  added. 

The  success  of  Edwards's  work  seems  to  have  provoked  competition, 
and  in  1765,  at  the  instigation  of  Buffon,  the  younger  D'Aubentou  began 
the  publication  known  as  the  Planches  Enlumin^ez  d'histoire  naturelle, 
which  appearing  in  forty -two  parts  was  not  completed  till  1780,  when  the 
plates  ^  it  contained  reached  the  number  of  1008 — all  coloured,  as  its  title 
intimates,  and  nearly  all  representing  Birds.  This  enormous  work  was 
subsidized  by  the  French  Government ;  and,  though  the  figures  are  devoid 
of  artistic  merit,  they  display  the  species  they  are  intended  to  depict 
with  sufficient  approach  to  fidelity  to  ensure  recognition  in  most  cases 
without  fear  of.error,  which  in  the  absence  of  any  text  is  no  small  praise.^ 

But  Buffon  was  not  content  with  merely  causing  to  be  published  this 
unparalleled  set  of  plates.  He  seems  to  have  regarded  the  work  just 
named  as  a  necessary  precursor  to  his  own  labours  in  Ornithology.  His 
Histoire  Naturelle,  g^n^rale  et  particuliere,  was  begun  in  1749,  and  in  1770 
he  brought  out,  with  the  assistance  of  Gu^nau  de  Montbeillard,^  the  first 
volume  of  that  grand  undertaking  relating  to  Birds,  which,  for  the  first 
time,  became  the  theme  of  one  who  possessed  real  literary  capacity.      It 

^  Tliey  were  drawn  and  engraved  by  Martinet,  who  himself  began  in  1787  a 
Histoire  des  Oiseaux  with  small  coloured  plates  which  have  some  merit,  but  the  text 
is  worthless.  The  work  seems  not  to  have  been  finished,  and  is  rare.  For  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  a  copy  I  was  indebted  to  my  kind  friend  the  late  Mr.  Guruey. 

^  Between  1767  and  1776  there  appeared  at  Florence  a  Storia  Naturale  degli 
Uccelli,  in  five  folio  volumes,  containing  a  number  of  ill-drawn  and  ill-coloured  figures 
from  the  collection  of  Giovanni  Gerini,  an  ardent  collector  who,  having  died  in  1751, 
must  be  acquitted  of  any  share  in  the  work,  which,  though  sometimes  attributed  to 
him,  is  that  of  certain  learned  men  who  did  not  happen  to  be  ornithologists  (cf.  Savl, 
Ornithologia  Toscana,  i.  Introduzione,  p.  v.). 

^  He  retired  on  the  completion  of  the  sixth  volume,  and  thereui^ou  Buffon 
associated  Bexon  with  himself. 


INTRODUCTION  ii 


is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Buffon's  florid  fancy  revelled  in  such  a  subject 
as  was  that  on  which  he  now  exercised  his  brilliant  pen ;  but  it  would  be 
unjust  to  examine  too  closely  what  to  many  of  his  contemporaries  seemed 
sound  philosophical  reasoning  under  the  light  that  has  since  burst  upon 
us.  Strictly  orthodox  though  he  professed  to  be,  there  were  those,  both 
among  his  own  countrymen  and  foreigners,  who  could  not  read  his 
speculative  indictments  of  the  workings  of  Nature  without  a  shudder  ; 
and  it  is  easy  for  any  one  in  these  days  to  frame  a  reply,  pointed  with 
ridicule,  to  such  a  chapter  as  he  wrote  on  the  wretched  fate  of  the  Wood- 
pecker. In  the  nine  volumes  devoted  to  the  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Oiseaux 
there  are  passages  which  will  for  ever  live  in  the  memory  of  those  that 
carefully  read  them,  however  much  occasional  expressions,  or  even  the 
general  tone  of  the  author,  may  grate  upon  their  feelings.  He  too  was 
the  first  man  who  formed  any  theory  that  may  be  called  reasonable  of 
the  Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals,  though  this  theory  was 
scarcely  touched  in  the  ornithological  portion  of  his  work,  and  has  since 
proved  to  be  not  in  accordance  with  facts.  He  proclaimed  the  variability 
of  species  in  opposition  to  the  views  of  Linn  sens  as  to  their  fixity,  and 
moreover  supposed  that  this  variability  arose  in  part  by  degradation.^ 
Taking  his  labours  as  a  whole,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  he  enormously 
enlarged  the  purview  of  naturalists,  and,  even  if  limited  to  Birds,  that, 
on  the  completion  of  his  work  upon  them  in  1783,  Ornithology  stood  in 
a  very  different  position  from  that  which  it  had  before  occupied.  Because 
he  opposed  the  system  of  Linnseus  he  has  been  said  to  be  opposed  to 
systems  in  general ;  but  that  is  scarcely  correct,  for  he  had  a  system  of 
his  own  ;  and,  as  we  now  see  it,  it  appears  neither  much  better  nor  much 
worse  than  the  systems  which  had  been  hitherto  invented,  or  perhaps 
than  any  which  was  propounded  for  many  years  to  come.  It  is  certain 
that  he  despised  any  kind  of  scientific  phraseology — a  crime  in  the  eyes 
of  those  who  consider  precise  nomenclature  to  be  the  end  of  science  ;  but 
those  who  deem  it  merely  a  means  whereby  knowledge  can  be  securely 
stored  will  take  a  different  view — and  have  done  so. 

Great  as  were  the  services  of  Buffon  to  Ornithology  in  one  direction, 
€hose  of  a  wholly  different  kind  rendered  by  our  countryman  John 
Latham  must  not  be  overlooked.  In  1781  he  began  a  work  the  practical 
utility  of  which  was  immediately  recognized.  This  was  his  General 
Synopsis  of  Birds,  and,  though  formed  generally  on  the  model  of  Linnseus 
greatly  diverged  in  some  respects  therefrom.  The  classification  was 
modified,  chiefly  on  the  older  lines  of  Willughby  and  Bay,  and  certainly 
for  the  better  ;  but  no  scientific  nomenclature  was  adopted,  which,  as  the 
author  subsequently  found,  was  a  change  for  the  worse.  His  scope  was 
co-extensive  with  that  of  Brisson,  but  Latham  did  not  possess  the  inborn 
faculty  of  picking  out  the  characters  wherein  one  species  difters  from  another. 
His  opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted  with  Birds  were  hardly  inferior 
to  Brisson's,  for  during  Latham's  long  lifetime  there  poured  in  upon  him 
countless  new  discoveries  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  but  especially  from 
the  newly-explored  shores  of  Australia  and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

^  See  Prof.  Mivart's  address  to  the  Section  of  Biology,  Hep.  Brit.  Association 
(Sheffield  Meeting),  1879,  p.  356. 


12  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

The  British  Museum  had  been  formed,  and  he  had  access  to  everything 
it  contained  in  addition  to  the  abundant  materials  afforded  him  by  the 
private  Museum  of  Sir  Ashton  Lever. ^  Latham  entered,  so  far  as  the 
limits  of  his  work  would  allow,  into  the  history  of  the  Birds  he  described, 
and  this  with  evident  zest,  whereby  he  differed  from  his  French  pre- 
decessor ;  but  the  number  of  cases  in  which  he  erred  as  to  the  determina- 
tion of  his  species  must  be  very  great,  and  not  unfrequently  the  same 
species  is  described  more  than  once.  His  Synopsis  was  finished  in  1785  ; 
two  supplements  were  added  in  1787  and  1802,^  and  in  1790  he  pro- 
duced a  Latin  abstract  of  the  work  under  the  title  of  Index  Ornithologicus, 
wherein  he  assigned  names  on  the  Linnsean  method  to  all  the  species 
described.  Not  to  recur  again  to  his  labours,  it  may  be  said  here  that 
between  1821  and  1828  he  published,  at  Winchester,  in  eleven  volumes, 
an  enlarged  edition  of  his  original  work,  entitling  it  A  General  History  of 
Birds  ;  but  his  defects  as  a  compiler,  which  had  been  manifest  before, 
rather  increased  with  age,  and  the  consequences  were  not  happy.  ^ 

About  the  time  that  Buffon  was  bringing  to  an  end  his  studies  of 
Birds,  Mauduyt  undertook  to  write  the  Ornithologie  of  the  Encyclopedic 
Me'thodique — a  comparatively  easy  task,  considering  the  recent  works  of 
his  fellow-countrymen  on  that  subject,  and  finished  in  1784.  Here  it 
requires  no  further  comment,  especially  as  a  new  edition  was  called  for  in 
1790,  the  ornithological  portion  of  which  was  begun  by  Bonnaterre,  who, 
however,  had  only  finished  320  pages  of  it  when  he  lost  his  life  in  the 
French  Revolution  ;  and  the  work  thus  arrested  was  continued  by  Vieillot 
under  the  slightly  changed  title  of  Tableau  encyclopMique  et  methodique  des 
trois  rignes  de  la  Nature — the  Ornithologie  forming  volumes  four  to  seven, 
and  not  completed  till  1823.  In  the  former  edition  Mauduyt  had  taken 
the  subjects  alphabetically  ;  but  here  they  are  disposed  according  to  an 
arrangement,  with  some  few  modifications,  furnished  by  D'Aubenton, 
which  is  extremely  shallow  and  unworthy  of  consideration. 

Several  other  works  bearing  upon  Ornithology  in  general,  but  of  less 
importance  than  most  of  those  just  named,  belong  to  this  period.  Among 
others  may  be  mentioned  the  Genera  of  Birds  by  Thomas  Pennant,  first 
printed  at  Edinburgh  in  1773  in  octavo,  and  very  rare,  but  well  known 
by  the  quarto  edition  which  appeared  in  London  in  1781  ;  the  Elementa 
Ornithologica  *  and  Museum  Ornithologicum  of  Schaffer,  published  at  Eatis- 
bon  in  1774  and  1784  respectively;  Peter  Brown's  New  Illustrations  of 
Zoology  in  London  in  1776;  Hermann's  Tabulae  Affinitatum  Animalium 
at  Strasburg  in  1783,  followed  posthumously  in  1804  by  his  Observationes 

^  In  1792  Shaw  began  the  Museum  Leverianum  in  illustration  of  this  collection, 
which  was  finally  dispersed  by  sale  in  1806,  and  what  is  known  to  remain  of  it  found 
its  way  either  to  the  collection  of  the  then  Lord  Stanley  (afterwards  13th  Earl  of 
Derby),  and  was,  at  his  death  in  1851,  bequeathed  to  the  Liverpool  Museum,  or  to 
Vienna  [Ibis,  1873,  pp.  14-54,  105-124;  1874,  p.  461).  Of  the  specimens  in  the 
British  Museum  described  by  Latham  not  one  exists.  They  were  probably  very  im- 
perfectly prepared. 

^  A  German  translation  by  Bechstein  subsequently  appeared. 

2  He  also  prepared  for  publication  a  second  edition  of  his  Index  Ornithologicus^ 
which  was  never  printed,  and  the  manuscript  is  now  in  my  possession. 

*  The  so-called  second  edition  (1779)  of  this  has  only  a  new  title-page. 


INTRODUCTION  13 


Zoologicae.  ;  J acquin's  Bey tracge  zur  Geschichte  der  Voegel  at  Vienna  in  1784, 
and  in  1790  at  the  same  place  the  larger  work  of  Spalowsky  with  nearly 
the  same  title  ;  Sparrman's  Museum  Garlsonianum  at  Stockholm  from 
1786  to  1789;  and  in  1794  Hayes's  Portraits  of  rare  and  curious  Birds 
from  the  menagery  of  Child  the  banker  at  Osterley  near  London.  The 
same  draughtsman  (who  had  in  1775  produced  a  bad  History  of  British 
Birds)  in  1822  began  another  series  of  Figures  of  rare  and  curious 
Birds} 

The  practice  of  Brisson,  Buffon,  Latham  and  others  of  not  giving 
names  after  the  Linnsean  fashion  to  the  species  they  described  gave  great 
encouragement  to  compilation,  and  led  to  what  has  proved  to  be  of  some 
inconvenience  to  modern  ornithologists.  In  1773  Philip  Ludvig  Statins 
Miiller  brought  out  at  Nuremberg  a  German  translation  of  the  Systema 
Naturse,  completing  it  in  1776  by  a  Supplement  containing  a  list  of 
animals  thus  described,  which  had  hitherto  been  technically  anonymous, 
with  diagnoses  and  names  on  the  Linnaean  model.  In  1783  Boddaert 
printed  at  Utrecht  a  Table  des  Planches  Enlumin^ez,'^  in  which  he  attempted 
to  refer  every  species  of  Bird  figured  in  that  extensive  series  to  its  proper 
Linnsean  genus,  and  to  assign  it  a  scientific  name  if  it  did  not  already 
possess  one.  In  like  manner  in  1786,  Scopoli — already  the  author  of  a 
little  book  published  at  Leipzig  in  1769  under  the  title  of  Annus  I. 
Historico-naturalis,  in  which  are  described  many  Birds,  mostly  from  his 
own  collection  or  the  Imperial  vivarium  at  Vienna — was  at  the  pains  to 
print  at  Pavia  in  his  miscellaneous  Deliciee  Florse  et  Faunae  Insubricae  a 
Specimen  Zoologicum^  containing  diagnoses,  duly  named,  of  the  Birds 
discovered  and  described  by  Sonnerat  in  his  Voyage  aux  hides  orientates 
and  Voyage  a  Ico  Nouvelle  Guinee,  severally  published  at  Paris  in  1772 
and  1776.  But  the  most  striking  example  of  compilation  was  that 
exhibited  by  J.  F.  Gmelin,  who  in  1788  commenced  what  he  called  the 
Thirteenth  Edition  of  the  celebrated  Systema  Naturae,  which  obtained  so 
wide  a  circulation  that,  in  the  comparative  rarity  of  the  original,  the 
additions  of  this  editor  have  been  very  frequently  quoted,  even  by  expert 
naturalists,  as  though  they  were  the  work  of  the  author  himself.  Gmelin 
availed  himself  of  every  publication  he  could,  but  he  perhaps  found  his 
richest  booty  in  the  labours  of  Latham,  neatly  condensing  his  English 
descriptions  into  Latin  diagnoses,  and  bestowing  on  them  binomial  names. 
Hence  it  is  that  Gmelin  appears  as  the  authority  for  so  much  of  the 
nomenclature  now  in  use.     He  took  many  liberties  with  the  details  of 

^  The  Naturalist's  Miscellany  or  Vivarium  Naturale,  iu  English  and  Latin,  of 
Shaw  and  Nodder,  the  former  being  the  author,  the  latter  the  draughtsman  and 
engraver,  was  begun  in  1789  and  carried  on  till  Shaw's  death,  forming  twenty-four 
volumes.  It  contains  figures  of  more  than  280  Birds,  but  very  poorly  executed.  In 
1814  a  sequel,  The  Zoological  Miscellany,  was  begun  by  Leach,  Nodder  continuing  to 
do  the  jjlates.  This  was  completed  iu  1817,  and  forms  three  volumes  with  149  plates, 
27  of  which  represent  Birds. 

^  Of  this  work  only  fifty  copies  were  printed,  and  it  is  one  of  the  rarest  known  to 
the  ornithologist.  Only  two  copies  are  believed  to  exist  in  England,  one  in  the 
British  Museum,  the  other  in  private  hands.  It  was  reprinted  in  1874  by  Mr. 
Tegetmeier. 


^  This  was  reprinted  iu  1882  by  the  Willughby  Society. 


14  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

Linnaeus's  work,  but  left  the  classification,  at  least  of  the  Birds,  as  it  was 
— a  few  new  genera  excepted.^ 

During  all  this  time  little  had  been  done  in  studying  the  internal 
structure  of  Birds  since  the  works  of  Goiter  already  mentioned  ;  ^  but  the 
foundations  of  the  science  of  Embryology  had  been  laid  by  the  investiga- 
tions into  the  development  of  the  chick  by  the  great  Harvey.  Between 
1666  and  1669  Perrault  edited  at  Paris  eight  accounts  of  the  dissection 
by  Du  Verney  of  as  many  species  of  Birds,  which,  translated  into  English, 
were  published  by  the  Royal  Society  in  1702,  under  the  title  of  The 
Natural  History  of  Animals.  After  the  death  of  the  two  anatomists  just 
named,  another  series  of  similar  descriptions  of  eight  other  species  was 
found  among  their  papers,  and  the  whole  were  published  in  the  M^moires 
of  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences  in  1733  and  1734.  But  in  1681 
Gerard  Blasius  had  brought  out  at  Amsterdam  an  Anatome  Animalium, 
containing  the  results  of  all  the  dissections  of  animals  that  he  could  find  ; 
and  the  second  part  of  this  book,  treating  of  Volatilia,  makes  a  respectable 
show  of  more  than  120  closely-printed  quarto  pages,  though  nearly  two- 
thirds  is  devoted  to  a  treatise  De  Ovo  et  Pullo,  containing  among  other 
things  a  reprint  of  Harvey's  researches,  and  the  scientific  rank  of  the 
whole  book  may  be  inferred  from  Bats  being  still  classed  with  Birds.  In 
1720  Valentini  published,  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  his  Amfhitheatrum 
Zootomicum,  in  which  again  most  of  the  existing  accounts  of  the  anatomy 
of  Birds  were  reprinted.  But  these  and  many  other  contributions,^  made 
until  nearly  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  though  highly  meritorious, 
were  unconnected  as  a  whole,  and  it  is  plain  that  no  conception  of  what 
it  was  in  the  power  of  Comparative  Anatomy  to  set  forth  had  occurred  to 
the  most  diligent  dissectors.  This  privilege  was  reserved  for  Georges 
Cuvier,  who  in  1798  published  at  Paris  his  Tableau  de'mentaire  de  Vliistoire 
naturelle  des  Animaux,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  a  thorough  and 
hitherto  unknown  mode  of  appreciating  the  value  of  the  various  groups 
of  the  Animal  Kingdom.  Yet  his  first  attempt  was  a  mere  sketch.* 
Though  he  made  a  perceptible  advance  on  the  classification  of  Linnreus, 
at  that  time  predominant,  it  is  now  easy  to  see  in  how  many  ways — want 
of  sufficient  material  being  no  doubt  one  of  the  chief — Cuvier  failed  to 
produce  a  really  natural  arrangement.  His  principles,  however,  are  those 
which  must  still  guide  taxonomers,  notwithstanding  that  they  have  in  so 
great  a  degree  overthrown  the  entire  scheme  which  he  propounded. 
Cuvier's  arrangement  of  the  Class  Aves  is  now  seen  to  be  not  very  much 

^  Daudin's  inifiuislied  Traite  elementaire  et  complet  cVOrnithologie  appeared  at 
Paris  iu  1800,  and  tlierefore  is  the  last  of  these  general  works  published  in  the 
eighteenth  century. 

^  A  succinct  notice  of  the  older  works  on  Ornithotomj^  is  given  by  Prof.  Selenka  in 
the  introduction  to  that  portion  of  Bronn's  Klassen  iind  Ordmmgen  des  Thierreichs 
relating  to  Birds  (pp.  1-9)  published  in  1869  ;  and  Prof.  Carus's  Geschichte  der 
Zoologie,  published  in  1872,  may  also  be  usefully  consulted  for  further  information 
on  this  and  other  heads. 

^  The  treatises  of  the  two  Bartholinis  and  Borrichius  published  at  Copenhagen 
deserve  mention  if  only  to  record  the  activity  of  Danish  anatomists  in  those  days. 

^  It  had  no  effect  on  Lacepede,  who  in  the  following  year  added  a  Tableau 
Methodique  containing  a  classification  of  Birds  to  his  Discours  d' OuvcHure  [Mem.  de 
VInstitut,  iii.  pp.  454-468,  503-519). 


INTRODUCTION  /j 


better  than  any  which  it  superseded,  though  this  view  is  gained  by  follow- 
ing the  methods  which  Cuvier  taught.  In  the  work  just  mentioned  few 
details  are  given ;  but  even  the  more  elaborate  classification  of  Birds 
contained  in  his  Lemons  d'Anatomie  Oompar^e  of  1805  is  based  wholly  on 
external  characters,  such  as  had  been  iised  by  nearly  all  his  predecessors  ; 
and  the  Regne  Animal  of  1817,  when  he  was  in  his  fullest  vigour,  afforded 
not  the  least  evidence  that  he  had  ever  dissected  a  couple  even  of  Birds  ^ 
with  the  object  of  determining  their  relative  position  in  his  system,  which 
then,  as  before,  depended  wholly  on  the  configuration  of  bills,  wings  and 
feet.  But,  though  apparently  without  such  a  knowledge  of  the  anatomy 
of  Birds  as  would  enable  him  to  apply  it  to  the  formation  of  that  natural 
system  which  he  was  fully  aware  had  yet  to  be  sought,  he  seems  to  have 
been  an  excellent  judge  of  the  characters  afforded  by  the  bill  and  limbs, 
and  the  use  he  made  of  them,  coupled  with  the  extraordinary  reputation 
he  acquired  on  other  grounds,  procured  for  his  system  the  adhesion  for 
many  years  of  the  majority  of  ornithologists.  Eegret  must  always  be 
felt  by  them  that  his  great  genius  was  never  applied  in  earnest  to  their 
branch  of  study,  especially  when  we  consider  that  had  it  been  so  the 
perversion  of  energy  in  regard  to  the  classification  of  Birds  witnessed  in 
England  for  nearly  twenty  years,  and  presently  to  be  mentioned,  would 
most  likely  have  been  prevented.^ 

Hitherto  mention  has  chiefly  been  made  of  works  on  General  Orni- 
thology, but  it  will  be  understood  that  these  were  largely  aided  by  the 
enterprise  of  travellers,  and  as  there  were  many  of  them  who  published 
their  narratives  in  separate  forms,  their  contributions  have  to  be  considered. 
Of  those  travellers,  then,  the  first  to  be  here  especially  named  is  Marsigli, 
the  fifth  volume  of  whose  Danuhius  Pannonico-Mysicus  is  devoted  to  the 
Birds  he  met  with  in  the  valley  of  the  Danube,  and  appeared  at  the 
Hague  in  1725,  followed  by  a  French  translatiou  in  1744.^  Most  of  the 
many  pupils  whom  Linna3us  sent  to  foreign  countries  submitted  their 
discoveries  to  him,  but  the  respective  travels  of  Kalm,  Hasselqvist  and 
Osbeck  in  North  America,  the  Levant  and  China  were  published  separ- 
ately.* The  incessant  journeys  of  Pallas  and  his  colleagues — Falk, 
Georgi,  J.  G.  and  S.  G.   Gmelin,  Giildenstiidt,  Lepechin  and  others — in 

'^  So  little  regard  did  he  pay  to  the  Osteology  of  Birds  that,  according  to  De 
Blainville  {Jour,  de  Phys.  xcii.  p.  187,  note),  the  skeleton  of  a  Fowl  to  which  was 
attached  the  head  of  a  Hornbill  was  for  a  long  tinae  exhibited  in  the  Museum  of 
Comparative  Anatomy  at  Paris  !  Yet,  in  order  to  determine  the  difference  of  struc- 
ture in  their  organs  of  voice,  Cuvier,  as  he  says  in  his  Lepns  (iv.  p.  464),  dissected 
more  than  150  species  of  Birds,  Unfortunately  for  him,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel, 
it  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  him  to  use  any  of  the  results  he  obtained  as  the  basis 
of  a  classification. 

-  It  is  unnecessary  to  enumerate  the  various  editions  of  the  Regne  Animal.  Of 
the  English  translations,  that  edited  by  Griffiths  and  Pidgeon  is  the  most  complete. 
The  ornithological  portion  of  it,  contained  in  three  volumes,  received  many  additions 
from  John  Edward  Gray,  and  appeared  in  1829,  but  even  at  that  time  must  have  been 
lamentably  deficient. 

^  Though  much  later  in  date,  the  Iter  per  Poseganam  Sclavonic  of  Piller  and 
Mitterpacher,  published  at  Buda  in  1783,  may  perhaps  be  here  most  conveniently 
mentioned. 

■*  The  results  of  Forskal's  travels  in  the  Levant,  published  after  his  death  by 
Niebuhr,  require  mention,  though  the  ornithology  they  contain  is  but  scant. 


1 6  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

the  exploration  of  the  recently  extended  Russian  empire  supplied  not  only 
much  material  to  the  Commentarii  and  Acta  of  the  Academy  of  St. 
Petersburg,  but  more  that  is  to  be  found  in  their  narratives — all  of  it  being 
of  the  highest  interest  to  students  of  Holarctic  Ornithology.  Nearly  the 
whole  of  their  results,  it  may  here  be  said,  were  summed  up  in  the  important 
ZoograpJiia  Rosso- Asiatica  of  the  first-named  naturalist,  two  volumes  of 
which  saw  the  light  in  1811, — the  year  of  its  author's  death, — but,  owing 
to  circumstances  over  which  he  had  no  control,  were  not  generally  accessible 
till  twenty  years  later.  Of  still  wider  interest  are  the  accounts  of  Cook's 
three  famous  voyages,  though  unhappily  much  of  the  information  gained 
by  the  naturalists  who  accompanied  him  on  one  or  more  of  them  seems  to 
be  irretrievably  lost :  the  original  observations  of  the  elder  Forster  were 
not  printed  till  1844,  and  the  valuable  series  of  zoological  drawings  made 
by  the  younger  Forster  and  William  Ellis  still  remain  unpublished  in  the 
British  Museum.  The  several  accounts  by  John  White,  Collins,  Phillip, 
Hunter  and  others,  of  the  colonization  of  New  South  Wales  at  the  end  of 
the  last  century,  ought  not  to  be  overlooked  by  any  Australian  orni- 
thologist. The  only  information  belonging  to  this  period  on  the  Orni- 
thology of  South  America  is  contained  in  the  two  works  on  Chili  by 
Molina,  published  at  Bologna  in  1776  and  1782.  The  travels  of  Le 
Vaillant  in  South  Africa  having  ended  in  1785,  his  great  Oiseaux 
d'Afrique  began  to  appear  in  Paris  in  1797  ;^  but  it  is  hard  to  speak 
patiently  of  this  work,  for  several  of  the  species  described  in  it  are 
certainly  not,  and  never  were  inhabitants  of  that  country — admittedly 
so  in  some  cases,  though  in  others  he  gives  a  long  account  of  the  circum- 
stances in  which  he  observed  them.- 

From  travellers  who  employ  themselves  in  collecting  the  animals  of 
any  distant  country  the  zoologists  who  stay  at  home  and  study  those  of 
their  own  district,  be  it  great  or  small,  are  really  not  so  much  divided  as 
at  first  might  appear.  Both  may  well  be  named  "  Faunists,"  and  of  the 
latter  there  were  not  a  few  who  having  turned  their  attention  more  or 
less  to  Ornithology  should  here  be  mentioned,  and  first  among  them 
Rzaczynski,  who  in  1721  brought  out  at  Sandomirsk  the  Historia  naturalis 
curiosa  regni  Polonise,  to  which  an  Auduariwrn  was  posthumously  published 
at  Danzig  in  1742.  This  also  may  be  perhaps  the  most  proper  place  to 
notice  the  Historia  Avium  Hungariee  of  Grossinger,  published  at  Posen  in 
1793.  In  1734  J.  L.  Frisch  began  the  long  series  of  works  on  the  Birds 
of  Germany  with  which  the  literature  of  Ornithology  is  enriched,  by  his 
Vorstellimg  der  Vogel  Teutschlands,  which  was  only  completed  in  1763,  and, 
its  coloured  plates  proving  very  attractive,  was  again  issued  at  Berlin  in 
1817.     The  little  fly-sheet  of  Zorn^ — for  it  is  scarcely  more — on  the 

1  lu  1798  he  issued  a  duodecimo  edition  of  this  work,  which  seems  to  be  little 
known.  Two  volumes,  extending  to  No.  117  of  the  folio  edition,  are  in  my  posses- 
sion, but  I  cannot  say  whether  more  appeared.  His  large  work  failed  to  obtain 
support,  and  finished  with  its  sixth  volume  in  1808. 

2  It  has  been  charitably  suggested  that,  his  collection  and  notes  having  suflfered 
shipwreck,  he  was  induced  to  supply  the  latter  li-om  his  memory  and  the  former  by 
the  nearest  approach  to  his  lost  specimens  that  he  could  obtain.  This  explanation, 
poor  as  it  is,  fails,  however,  in  regard  to  some  species. 

3  His  earlier  work  under  the  title  of  Petinotheologie  can  hardly  be  deemed  scientific. 


INTR  OD  UCTION  ly 


Birds  of  the  Hercynian  Forest  made  its  appearance  at  Pappenlieini  in 
1745.  In  1756  Kramer  published  at  Vienna  a  modest  Elenchus  of  the 
plants  and  animals  of  Lower  Austria,  and  J.  D.  Petersen  produced  at 
Altona  in  1766  a  Verzeichniss  halthisclier  Vogel ;  while  in  1791  J.  B. 
Fischer's  Versuch  einer  Naturgeschichte  von  Livland  appeared  at  Konigs- 
berg.  Next  year  Beseke  brought  out  at  Mitau  his  Beytrag  zur  Naturge- 
schichte der  Vogel  Kurlands,  and  in  1794  Siemssen's  Handbuch  of  the 
Birds  of  Mecklenburg  was  published  at  Rostock.  But  these  works, 
locally  useful  as  they  may  have  been,  did  not  occupy  the  whole  attention 
of  German  ornithologists,  for  in  1791,  Bechstein  reached  the  second 
volume  of  his  Gemeinniitzige  Naturgeschichte  Deutschlands,  treating  of  the 
Birds  of  that  country,  which  ended  with  the  fourth  in  1795.  Of  this  an 
abridged  edition  by  the  name  of  Ornithologisches  Taschenhuch  appeared  in 
1802  and  1803,  with  a  supplement  in  1812  ;  while  between  1805  and 
1809  a  fuller  edition  of  the  original  v/as  issued.  Moreover  in  1795 
J.  A.  Naumann  humbly  began  at  Cothen  a  treatise  on  the  Birds  of  the 
principality  of  Anhalt,  which  on  its  comjsletion  in  1804  was  found  to 
have  swollen  into  an  ornithology  of  Northern  Germany  and  the  neigh- 
bouring countries.  Eight  supplements  were  successively  published  be- 
tween 1805  and  1817,  and  in  1822  a  new  edition  was  required.  This 
Naturgeschichte  der  Vogel  Deutschlands,  being  almost  wholly  re-written  by 
his  son  J.  F.  Naumann,  is  by  far  the  best  thing  of  the  kind  as  yet  pro- 
duced in  any  country.  The  fulness  and  accuracy  of  the  text  combined 
with  the  neat  beauty  of  its  coloured  plates,  have  gone  far  to  promote  the 
study  of  Ornithology  in  Germany,  and  while  essentially  a  popular  work, 
since  it  is  suited  to  the  comprehension  of  all  readers,  it  is  throughout 
written  with  a  simple  dignity  that  commends  it  to  the  serious  and 
scientific.  Its  twelfth  and  last  volume  was  published  in  1844 — by  no 
means  too  long  a  period  for  so  arduous  and  honest  a  performance, — and  a 
supplement  was  begun  in  1847  ;  but,  the  author  dying  in  1857,  this 
continuation  was  finished  in  1860  by  the  joint  efforts  of  J.  H.  Blasius  and 
Baldamus.  In  1800  Borkhausen  with  others  commenced  at  Darmstadt  a 
Teutsche  Ornithologie  in  folio  which  appeared  at  intervals  till  1812,  and 
remains  unfinished,  though  a  reissue  of  the  portion  published  took  place 
between  1837  and  1841. 

Other  countries  on  the  Continent,  though  not  quite  so  prolific  as 
Germany,  bore  some  ornithological  fruit  at  this  period  ;  but  in  all 
Southern  Europe  only  four  faunal  products  can  be  named  : — the  Saggio  di 
Storia  Naturale  Bresciana  of  Pilati,  published  at  Brescia  in  1769  ;  the 
Grnitologia  dell'  Eurcpa  Meridionale  of  Bernini,  published  at  Parma 
between  1772  and  1776  ;  the  Uccelli  di  Sardegna  of  Cetti,  published  at 
Sassari  in  1776;  and  the  Romana  Ornithologia  oi  Gilius,  published  at 
Rome  in  1781 — the  last  being  in  great  part  devoted  to  Pigeons  and 
Poultry.  More  appeared  in  the  North,  for  in  1770  Amsterdam  sent  forth 
the  beginning  of  Nozeman's  Nedcrlandsche  Vogelen,  a  fairly -illustrated 
work  in  folio,  but  only  completed  by  Houttuyn  in  1829,  and  in  Scan- 
dinavia most  of  all  was  done.  In  1746  the  great  Linnaeus  had  produced 
a  Fauna  Svecicco,  of  which  a  second  edition  appeared  in  1761,  and  a  third 
revised  by  Retzius  in  1800.      In  1764  Briinuich  published  at  Copenhagen 


a 


i8  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

his  Ornithologia  Borealis,  a  compendious  sketcli  of  the  Birds  of  all  the 
countries  then  subject  to  the  Danish  crown.  At  the  same  place  appeared 
in  1767  Leem's  work  De  La-pponibus  Finmarchise,  to  which  Gunnerus 
contributed  gome  good  notes  on  the  Ornithology  of  Northern  Norway, 
and  at  Copenhagen  and  Leipzig  was  published  in  1780  the  Fauna 
Groenlandica  of  Otho  Fabricius. 

Of  strictly  American  origin  can  here  be  cited  only  Bartram's  Travels 
through  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Barton's  Fragments  of  the  Natural 
History  of  Pennsylvania}  both  printed  at  Philadelphia,  one  in  1791,  the 
other  in  1799  ;  but  J.  R.  Forster  published  a  Catalogue  of  the  Animals 
of  North  America  in  London  in  1771,  and  the  following  year  described  in 
the  Philosophical  Transactions  a  few  Birds  from  Hudson's  Bay.^  A 
greater  undertaking  was  Pennant's  Arctic  Zoology,  published  in  1785, 
with  a  supplement  in  1787.  The  scope  of  this  work  was  originally 
intended  to  be  limited  to  North  America,  but  circumstances  induced  him 
to  include  all  the  species  of  Northern  Europe  and  Northern  Asia,  and 
though  not  free  from  errors,  it  is  a  praiseworthy  performance.  A  second 
edition  appeared  in  1792.  The  Ornithology  of  Britain  naturally  demands 
greater  attention.  The  earliest  list  of  British  Birds  we  possess  is,  aa 
already  stated,  that  in  Merrett's  Pinax  Rerum  Naturalium  Britannicarum, 
printed  in  London  in  1666.^  In  1677  Plot  published  his  Natural  History 
of  Oxfordshire,  which  reached  a  second  edition  in  1705,  and  in  1686  that 
of  Staffordshire.  A  similar  work  on  Lancashire,  Cheshire  and  the  Peak  was 
sent  out  in  1700  by  Leigh,  and  one  on  Cornwall  by  Borlase  in  1758 — 
all  these  four  being  printed  at  Oxford.  In  1766  appeared  Pennant's 
British  Zoology,  a  well-illustrated  folio,  of  which  a  second  edition  in  octavo 
was  published  in  1768,  and  considerable  additions  (forming  the  nominally 
third  edition)  in  1770,  while  in  1777  there  were  two  issues,  one  in  octavo 
the  other  in  quarto,  each  called  the  fourth  edition.  In  1812,  long  after 
the  author's  death,  another  edition  was  printed,  of  which  his  son-in-law 
Hanmer  was  the  reputed  editor,  but  he  received  much  assistance  from 
Latham,  and  through  carelessness  many  of  the  additions  herein  made  have 
often  been  ascribed  to  Pennant  himself.  In  1769  Berkenhout  gave  to  the 
world  his  Outlines  of  the  Natural  History  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  which 
reappeared  under  the  title  of  Synopsis  of  the  same  in  1795.  Tunstall's 
Ornithologia  Britannica,  which  was  issued  in  1771,  is  little  more  than  a 
list  of  names.*  Hayes's  Natural  History  of  British  Birds,  a  folio  of  forty 
plates  and  corresponding  text,  shewing  much  ignorance  of  them  on  the 
part  of  the  author,  appeared  between  1771  and  1775.     In  1781  Nash's 

^  This  rare  book  has  been  reprinted  by  the  Willughby  Society. 

2  Both  of  these  treatises  have  also  been  reprinted  by  the  Willughby  Society. 

*  In  1667  there  were  two  issues  of  a  reprint  of  this  book  ;  one,  nominally  a  second 
edition,  only  differs  from  the  other  in  having  a  new  title-page.  In  anticipation  of  a 
revised  edition  Sir  Thomas  Browne  prepared  in  or  about  1671  (?)  his  "Account  of 
Birds  found  in  Norfolk,"  of  which  the  draught,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  was 
printed  in  his  collected  works  by  Wilkin  in  1835.  If  a  fair  copy  was  ever  made  its 
resting-place  is  unknown. 

•*  It  has  been  republished  by  the  Willughby  Society.  Of  similar  character  is 
Fothergill's  OrnWwlogia  Britannica,  a  a^ere  list  of  names,  Latin  and  English,  printed 
in  small  folio  at  York  in  1799. 


INTRODUCTION  ig 


Worcestershire  included  a  few  ornithological  notices  ;  and  Walcott  in  1789 
published  an  illustrated  Synopsis  of  British  Birds,  coloured  copies  of  which 
are  rare.  Simultaneously  William  Lewin  commenced  his  Birds  of  Great 
Britain,  in  7  quarto  volumes,  the  last  of  which  appeared  in  1794,  a 
re-issue  of  the  whole  in  8  volumes  following  between  1795  and  1801. 
In  1791  J.  Heysham  added  to  Hutchins's  Cumberland  a  list  of  birds  of 
that  county,  while  in  the  same  year  began  Thomas  Lord's  Entire  New 
System  of  Ornithology,  or  (Ecumenical  History  of  British  Birds,  the  un- 
grammatical  text  professedly  written,  or  corrected,  by  Dr.  Dupree,  a 
pretentious  and  worthless  work  of  which  38  parts  were  published  in  the 
course  of  the  next  five  years.  In  1794  Donovan  commenced  a  History 
of  British  Birds  which  was  only  finished  in  1819 — the  earlier  portion 
being  reissued  about  the  same  time.  Bolton's  Harmonia  Euralis,  an 
account  of  British  Song-Birds,  first  appeared  between  1794  and  1796. 
Other  editions  followed,  one  even  50  years  later.  ^ 

All  the  foregoing  British  publications  yield  in  importance  to  two  that 
remain  to  be  mentioned.  In  1767  Pennant,  several  of  whose  works  have 
already  been  named,  entered  into  correspondence  with  Gilbert  White, 
receiving  from  him  much  information,  almost  wholly  drawn  from  his  own 
observation,  for  the  succeeding  editions  of  the  British  Zoology.  In  1769 
White  began  exchanging  letters  of  a  similar  character  with  Barrington. 
The  epistolary  intercourse  with  the  former  continued  until  1780,  and  with 
the  latter  until  1787.  In  1789  White's  share  of  the  correspondence, 
together  with  some  miscellaneous  matter,  was  published  as  The  Natural 
History  of  Selborne — from  the  name  of  the  village  in  which  he  lived. 
Observations  on  Birds  form  the  principal  though  by  no  means  the  whole 
theme  of  this  book,  which  may  be  safely  said  to  have  done  more  to  pro- 
mote a  love  of  Ornithology  in  this  country  than  any  other  work  that  has 
been  written,  nay  more  than  all  the  other  works  (except  one  next  to  be 
mentioned)  put  together.  It  has  passed  through  a  far  greater  number  of 
editions  than  any  other  work  on  Natural  History  in  the  whole  world,  and 
has  become  emphatically  an  English  classic — the  graceful  simplicity  of 
its  style,  the  elevating  tone  of  its  spirit  and  the  sympathetic  chords  it 
strikes  recommending  it  to  every  lover  of  nature,  while  the  severely 
scientific  reader  can  find  few  errors  in  the  statements  it  contains, 
whether  of  matter-of-fact  or  opinion.  It  is  almost  certain  that  more  than 
half  the  zoologists  of  the  British  Islands  for  the  past  eighty  years  or  more 
have  been  infected  with  their  love  of  the  study  by  Gilbert  White  ;  and 
it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  his  influence  will  cease.^ 

•^  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  complete  accuracy  of  some  of  tlie  dates  given  above. 
They  have  puzzled  even  that  accomplished  bibliographer  Dr.  Coues.  It  was  nobody's 
business  in  those  days  to  record  the  precise  time  of  appearance  of  a  work  published 
in  parts,  and  the  date,  when  given  at  the  foot  of  the  plates,  cannot  always  be  trusted. 

^  Next  to  the  original  edition,  that  known  as  Bennett's,  published  in  1837,  which 
was  reissued  in  1875  by  Mr.  Harting,  was  long  deemed  the  best ;  but  it  must  give 
place  to  that  of  Bell,  which  appeared  in  1877,  and  contains  much  additional  informa- 
tion of  great  interest.  But  the  editions  of  Markwick,  Herbert,  Blyth  and  Jardine 
all  possess  features  of  merit.  An  elaborately  prepared  edition,  issued  in  1875  by 
one  who  gained  great  reputation  as  a  naturalist,  only  shews  his  ignorance  and  his 
vulgarity.  Since  that  time  several  popular  writers  have  essayed  other  editions, 
though  their  labour  may  have  been  limited  to  the  production  of  a  preface  in  which 


20  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


The  other  work  to  the  importance  of  which  on  Ornithology  in  this 
country  allusion  has  been  made  is  Bewick's  History  of  British  Birds. 
The  first  volume  of  this,  containing  the  Land-Birds,  appeared  in  1797^ — 
the  text  being,  it  is  understood,  by  Beilby — the  second,  containing  the 
Water-Birds,  in  1804.  The  woodcuts  illustrating  this  work  are  generally 
of  surpassing  excellence,  and  it  takes  rank  in  the  category  of  artistic 
publications.  Fully  admitting  the  extraordinary  execution  of  the  engrav- 
ings, every  ornithologist  may  perceive  that  as  portraits  of  the  Birds 
represented  they  are  of  very  unequal  merit.  Some  of  the  figures  were 
drawn  from  stuffed  specimens,  and  accordingly  perpetuate  all  the  imper- 
fections of  the  original  ;  others  delineate  species  with  the  appearance  of 
which  the  artist  was  not  familiar,  and  these  are  either  wanting  in  expres- 
sion or  are  caricatures  ;^  but  those  that  were  drawn  from  live  Birds,  or 
represent  species  which  he  knew  in  life,  are  worthy  of  all  praise.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  earlier  editions  of  this  work,  especially  if  they  be 
upon  large  paper,  command  extravagant  prices  ;  but  in  reality  the  copies 
on  smaller  paper  are  now  the  rarer,  for  the  stock  of  them  has  been  con- 
sumed in  nurseries  and  schoolrooms,  where  they  have  been  torn  up  or 
worn  out  with  incessant  use.  Moreover,  whatever  the  lovers  of  the  fine 
arts  may  say,  it  is  nearly  certain  that  the  "  Bewick  Collector  "  is  mistaken 
in  attaching  so  high  a  value  to  these  old  editions,  for  owing  to  the  want 
of  skill  in  printing — indifferent  ink  being  especially  assigned  as  one  cause 

many  of  the  earlier  issues  fail  to  shew  the  most  delicate  touches  of  the 

engraver,  which  the  increased  care  bestowed  upon  the  edition  of  1847 
(published  under  the  supervision  of  the  late  John  Hancock)  has  revealed, 
— though  it  must  be  admitted  that  certain  blocks  have  suffered  from  wear 
of  the  press  so  as  to  be  incapable  of  any  more  producing  the  effect  intended. 
Of  the  text  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  respectable,  but  no  more.  It  has 
given  satisfaction  to  thousands  of  readers  in  time  past,  and  will,  it  may 
be  hoped,  give  satisfaction  to  thousands  in  time  to  come. 

The  existence  of  these  two  works  explains  the  widely-spread  taste  for 
Ornithology  in  this  country,  which  is  to  foreigners  so  puzzling,  and  the 

tliey  generally  contrive  to  display  their  incompetence.  A  more  remarkable  feature 
is  the  publication  of  a  fairly  printed  edition  at  the  price  of  sixpence  !  A  curiously 
compressed  German  translation  by  F.  A.  A.  Meyer  appeared  at  Berlin  in  1792,  under 
the  title  of  Beytrage  zur  NaturgeschichU  von  England  ;  and  more  than  one  reprint, 
apparently  of  Lady  Dover's  "Bowdlerized"  edition  of  1833,  has  been  issued  in 
America  {cf.  Coues,  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  ii.  p.  429).  For  information  as  to  different 
editions  published  prior  to  and  including  that  of  Bell,  see  Notes  and  Queries,  ser.  5, 
vii.  pp.  241,  264,  296,  338,  471,  viii.  p.  304,  and  ix.  p.  150. 

The  imitators  of  Gilbert  White  are  countless.  More  than  one  has  admittedly 
produced  a  very  pretty  book  ;  but  on  essaying  a  second  the  falling  off  is  manifest. 
Others  at  once  shew  their  shallowness,  and  good  as  may  be  their  intention,  their 
observations,  however  pleasant  to  read,  are  utterly  valueless.  Such  writers  can 
seldom  rid  themselves  of  the  consciousness  of  their  own  personality,  the  absence  of 
which  is  so  charming  in  the  author  they  more  or  less  unconsciously  mimic. 

1  There  were  two  issues — virtually  two  editions — of  this  with  the  same  date  on 
the  title-page,  though  one  of  them  is  said  not  to  have  been  published  till  the  following 
year.  Among  several  other  indicia  this  may  be  recognized  by  the  woodcut  of  the 
"Sea  Eagle"  at  page  11  bearing  at  its  base  the  inscription  "  Wycliffe,  1791,"  and  by 
the  additional  misprint  on  page  145  of  Sahseniclus  for  Schainiclus. 

-  This  is  especially  observable  in  the  figures  of  the  Birds-of-Prey. 


INTRODUCTION  21 


zeal — not  always  according  to  knowledge,  but  occasionally  reaching  to 
serious  study — with  which  that  taste  is  pursvied. 

Having  thus  noticed,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  pretty  thoroughly,  the 
chief  ornithological  works  begun  if  not  completed  prior  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  century,  together  with  their  immediate  sequels,  those 
which  follow  will  require  a  very  different  mode  of  treatment,  for  their 
number  is  so  great  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  want  of  space  to  deal 
with  them  in  the  same  extended  fashion,  though  the  attempt  will  finally 
be  made  to  enter  into  details  in  the  case  of  works  constituting  the  founda- 
tion upon  which  apparently  the  superstructure  of  the  future  science  has 
to  be  built.  It  ought  not  to  need  stating  that  much  of  what  was,  com- 
paratively speaking,  only  a  few  years  ago  regarded  as  scientific  labour  is 
now  no  longer  to  be  so  considered.  The  mere  fact  that  the  principle  of 
Evolution,  and  all  its  admission  carries  with  it,  has  been  accepted  in  some 
form  or  other  by  almost  all  naturalists,  has  rendered  obsolete  nearly  every 
theory  that  had  hitherto  been  broached,  and  in  scarcely  any  branch  of 
zoological  research  was  theory  more  rife  than  in  Ornithology.  One  of  these 
theories  must  presently  be  noticed  at  some  length  on  account  of  the 
historical  importance  which  attaches  to  its  malefic  effects  in  impeding  the 
progress  of  true  Ornithology  in  Britain  ;  but  charity  enjoins  us  to  consign 
all  the  rest  as  much  as  possible  to  oblivion. 

On  reviewing  the  progress  of  Ornithology  since  the  end  of  the  last 
century,  the  first  thing  that  will  strike  us  is  the  fact  that  general  works, 
though  still  undertaken,  have  become  proportionally  fewer,  and  such  as 
exist  are  apt  to  consist  of  mere  explanations  of  systematic  methods  that 
had  already  been  more  or  less  fully  propounded,  while  special  works, 
whether  relating  to  the  ornithic  portion  of  the  Fauna  of  any  particular 
country,  or  limited  to  certain  groups  of  Birds — works  to  which  of  late 
years  the  name  of  "  Monograph "  has  become  wholly  restricted — have 
become  far  more  numerous.  But  this  seems  to  be  the  natural  law  in  all 
sciences,  and  its  cause  is  not  far  to  seek.  As  the  knowledge  of  any 
branch  of  study  extends,  it  outgrows  the  opportunities  and  capabilities  of 
most  men  to  follow  it  as  a  whole  ;  and,  since  the  true  naturalist,  by 
reason  of  the  irresistible  impulse  which  drives  him  to  work,  cannot  be 
idle,  he  is  compelled  to  confine  his  energies  to  narrower  fields  of  investiga- 
tion. That  in  a  general  way  this  is  for  some  reason  to  be  regretted  is 
true  ;  but,  like  all  natural  operations,  it  carries  with  it  some  recompense, 
and  the  excellent  work  done  by  so-called  "  specialists  "  has  over  and  over 
again  proved  of  the  greatest  use  to  advancement  in  different  departments 
of  science,  and  in  none  more  than  in  Ornithology.^ 

Another  change  has  come  over  the  condition  of  Ornithology,  as  of 
kindred  sciences,  induced  by  the  multiplication  of  learned  societies  which 
issue  publications,  as  well  as  of  periodicals  of  greater  or  less  scientific 
pretension — the  latter  generally  enjoying  a  circulation  far  wider  than  the 

^  The  truth  of  the  preceding  remarks  may  be  so  obvious  to  most  men  who  have 
acquaintance  with  the  subject  that  their  introduction  here  may  seem  unnecessary  ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  tlie  facts  they  state  have  been  very  little  appreciated  by  many 
writers  who  profess  to  give  an  account  of  the  progress  of  Natural  History  during  the 
present  century. 


22  DICTIONAR  V  OF  BIRDS 

former.  Both  kinds  increase  yearly,  and  the  desponding  mind  may  fear 
the  possibility  of  its  favourite  study  expiring  through  being  smothered  by 
its  own  literature.  Without  anticipating  such  a  future  disaster,  and  look- 
ing merely  to  what  has  gone  before,  it  is  necessary  here  to  premise  that, 
in  the  oljservations  which  immediately  follow,  treatises  which  have 
appeared  in  the  publications  of  learned  bodies  or  in  other  scientific 
periodicals  must,  except  they  be  of  prime  importance,  be  hereinafter 
passed  unnoticed  ;  but  their  omission  will  be  the  less  felt  because  the 
more  recent  of  those  of  a  "  faunal "  character  are  generally  mentioned  in 
the  text  (Geographical  Distribution)  under  the  different  countries  with 
■which  they  deal,  while  reference  to  the  older  of  these  treatises  is  usually 
given  by  the  vi^riters  of  the  newer.  Still  it  seems  advisable  here  to 
furnish  some  connected  account  of  the  progress  made  in  the  ornitho- 
logical knowledge  of  those  countries  in  which  the  readers  of  the  present 
volume  may  be  supposed  to  take  the  most  lively  interest — namely, 
the  British  Islands  and  those  parts  of  the  European  continent  which  lie 
nearest  to  them  or  are  most  commonly  sought  by  travellers,  the 
Dominion  of  Canada  and  the  United  States  of  America,  the  British  West 
Indies,  South  Africa,  India,  together  with  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 
The  more  important  Monographs,  again,  will  usually  be  found  cited  in 
the  series  of  special  articles  contained  in  this  work,  though,  as  will  be 
immediately  perceived,  there  are  some  so-styled  Monographs,  which  by 
reason  of  the  changed  views  of  classification  that  at  present  obtain,  have 
lost  their  restricted  character,  and  for  all  practical  purposes  have  now  to 
be  regarded  as  general  works. 

It  will  perhaps  be  most  convenient  to  begin  by  mentioning  some  of 
these  last,  and  in  particular  a  number  of  them  which  appeared  at  Paris 
early  in  this  century.  First  in  order  of  them  is  the  Histoire  Naturelle 
d'une  partie  d'Oiseaux  nouveaux  et  rares  de  VAme'rique  et  des  Indes,  a  folio 
volume  1  published  in  1801  by  Le  Vaillant.  This  is  devoted  to  the 
very  distinct  and  not  nearly-allied  groups  of  Hornbills  and  of  Birds 
which  for  want  of  .a  better  name  we  call  "  Chatterers,"  and  is  illus- 
trated, like  those  works  of  which  a  notice  immediately  follows,  by 
coloured  plates,  done  in  what  was  then  considered  to  be  the  highest  style 
of  art  and  by  the  best  draughtsmen  procurable.  The  first  volume  of  a 
Histoire  Naturelle  des  Perroquets,  a  companion  work  by  the  same  author, 
appeared  in  the  same  year,  and  is  truly  a  Monograph,  since  the  Parrots 
constitute  a  Family  of  Birds  so  naturally  severed  from  all  others,  that 
there  has  rarely  been  anything  else  confounded  with  them.  The  second 
volume  came  out  in  1805,  and  a  third  was  issued  in  1837-38  long  after 
the  death  of  its  predecessor's  author,  by  Bourjot  St.-Hilaire.  Between 
1803  and  1806  Le  Vaillant  also  published  in  just  the  same  style  two 
volumes  with  the  title  of  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Oiseavx  de  Paradis  et  des 
Rolliers,  suivie  de  celle  des  Toucans  et  des  Barhus,  an  assemblage  of  forms, 
which,  miscellaneous  as  it  is,  was  surpassed  in  incongruity  by  a  fourth 
work  on  the  same  scale,  the  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Promerops  et  des 
GuSpiers,  des  Couroucous  et  des  Touracos,  for  herein  are  found  Jays,  Wax- 

^  There  is  also  an  issue  of  this,  as  of  the  same  author's  other  works,  ou  large 
quarto  paper. 


INTRODUCTION  23 


wings,  the  Cock-of-the-Rock  (Rupicola)  and  what  not  besides.  The 
plates  in  this  last  are  by  Barraband,  for  many  years  regarded  as  the 
perfection  of  ornithological  artists,  and  indeed  the  figures,  when  they 
happen  to  have  been  drawn  from  the  life,  are  not  bad  ;  but  his  skill  was 
quite  unable  to  vivify  the  preserved  specimens  contained  in  Museums, 
and  when  he  had  only  these  as  subjects  he  simply  copied  the  distortions 
of  the  "  bird-stuffer."  The  following  year,  1808,  being  aided  by  Tem- 
minck  of  Amsterdam,  of  whose  son  we  shall  presently  hear  more,  Le 
Vaillant  brouglit  out  the  sixth  volume  of  his  Oiseaux  d'Afrique,  already 
mentioned.  Four  more  volumes  of  this  work  were  promised  ;  but  the 
means  of  executing  them  were  denied  to  him,  and,  though  he  lived  until 
1824,  his  publications  ceased. 

A  similar  series  of  works  was  projected  and  begun  about  the  same 
time  as  that  of  Le  Vaillant  by  Audebert  and  Vieillot,  though  the  former, 
who  was  by  profession  a  painter  and  illustrated  the  work,  had  died  more 
than  a  year  before  the  appearance  of  the  two  volumes,  bearing  date 
1802,  and  entitled  Oiseaux  dores  ou  a  reflets  m^talliques,  the  effect  of  the 
plates  in  which  he  sought  to  heighten  by  the  use  of  gilding.  The  first 
volume  contains  the  "  Colibris,  Oiseaux -mouches,  Jacamars  et  Pro- 
merops,"  the  second  the  "  Grimpereaux "  and  "  Oiseaux  de  Paradis " — 
associations  which  set  all  the  laws  of  systematic  method  at  defiance. 
His  colleague,  Vieillot,  brought  out  in  1805  a  Histoire  Naturelle  des  plus 
beaux  Ghanteurs  de  la  Zone  Torride  with  figures  by  Langlois  of  tropical 
Finches,  Grosbeaks,  Buntings  and  other  hard-billed  Birds;  and  in  1807 
two  volumes  of  a  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Oiseaux  de  I'Am^rique  Septen- 
trionale,  without,  however,  paying  much  attention  to  the  limits  commonly 
assigned  by  geographers  to  that  part  of  the  world.  In  1805  Anselme 
Desmarest  published  a  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Tangaras,  des  Manaldns  et 
des  Todlers,  which,  though  belonging  to  the  same  category  as  all  the 
former,  difters  from  them  in  its  more  scientific  treatment  of  the  subjects 
to  which  it  refers  ;  and,  in  1808,  Temminck,  whose  father's  aid  to  Le 
Vaillant  has  already  been  noticed,  brought  out  at  Paris  a  Histoire  Naturelle 
des  Pigeons,  illustrated  by  Madame  Knip,  who  had  drawn  the  plates  for 
Desmarest's  volume.^ 

Since  we  have  begun  by  considering  these  large  illustrated  works  in 
which  the  text  is  made  subservient  to  the  coloured  plates,  it  may  be 
convenient  to  continue  our  notice  of  such  others  of  similar  character  as 
it  may  be  expedient  to  mention  here,  though  thereby  we  shall  be  led 
somewhat  far  afield.  Most  of  them  are  but  luxuries,  and  there  is  some 
degree  of  truth  in  the  remark  of  Andreas  Wagner  in  his  Report  on  the 
Progress  of  Zoology  for  1843,  drawn  up  for  the  Ray  Society  (p.  60),  that 
they  "  are  not  adapted  for  the  extension  and  promotion  of  science,  but 
must  inevitably,  on  account  of  their  unnecessary  costliness,  constantly 
tend  to  reduce  the  number  of  naturalists  who  are  able  to  avail  them- 
selves of  them,  and  they  thus  enrich  ornithology  only  to  its  ultimate 

■^  Temminck  subsequently  reproduced,  with  many  additions,  the  text  of  this 
volume  in  his  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Pigeons  et  des  Gallinacees,  published  at  Am- 
sterdam in  1813-15,  in  3  vols.  8vo.  Between  1838  and  1848  Florent-Provost  brought 
out  at  Paris  a  further  set  of  illustrations  of  Pigeons  by  Mdme.  Knip. 


24  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

injury."  Earliest  in.  date,  as  it  is  greatest  in  bulk,  stands  Audubon's 
egregious  Birds  of  America,  in  four  volumes,  containing  435  plates, 
of  which  the  first  part  appeared  in  London  in  1827  and  the  last  in 
1838.^  It  seems  not  to  have  been  the  author's  original  intention  to 
publish  any  letterpress  to  this  enormous  work,  but  to  let  the  plates  tell 
their  own  story,  though  finally,  with  the  assistance,  as  is  now  known,  of 
William  Macgillivray,  a  text,  on  the  whole  more  than  respectable,  was 
produced  in  five  large  octavos  iinder  the  title  of  Ornithological  Biography, 
of  which  more  will  be  said  in  the  sequel.  Audubon  has  been  greatly 
extolled  as  an  ornithological  artist ;  but  he  was  far  too  much  addicted  to 
representing  his  subjects  in  violent  action  and  in  postures  that  outrage 
nature,  while  his  drawing  is  very  frequently  defective.^  In  1866  Mr. 
D.  G.  Elliot  began,  and  in  1869  finished,  a  sequel  to  Audubon's  great 
work  in  two  volumes,  on  the  same  scale — Tlie  New  and  hitherto  Unfigured 
Species  of  the  Birds  of  North  America,  containing  life-size  figures  of  all 
those  which  had  been  added  to  its  fauna  since  the  completion  of  the 
former. 

In  1830  John  Edward  Gray  commenced  the  Illustrations  of  Indian 
Zoology,  a  series  of  plates,  mostly  of  Birds,  from  drawings  by  native 
artists  in  the  collection  of  General  Hardwicke,  whose  name  is  therefore 
associated  with  the  work.  Scientific  names  are  assigned  to  the  species 
figured  ;  but  no  text  was  ever  supplied.  In  1832  Lear,  well  known  as  a 
painter,  brought  out  his  Illustrations  of  the  Family  of  Psittacidse,  a  volume 
which  deserves  especial  notice  from  the  fidelity  to  nature  and  the  artistic 
skill  with  which  the  figures  were  executed. 

This  same  year  (1832)  saw  the  beginning  of  the  marvellous  series 
of  works  by  which  the  name  of  John  Gould  is  likely  to  be  always  re- 
membered. A  Century  of  Birds  from  the  Himalaya  Mountains  was 
followed  by  The  Birds  of  Europe,  in  five  volumes,  published  between 
1832  and  1837,  while  in  1834  appeared  A  Monograph  of  the  Ramphas- 
tidse,  of  which  a  second  edition  was  some  years  later  called  for  ;  and  then 
the  Icones  Avium,, oi  which  only  two  parts  were  published  (1837-38), 
while  A  Monograph  of  the  Trogonidx  (1838),  also  reached  a  second  edition 
(1858-75).  In  1837-38  he  also  brought  out  the  first  two  parts  of  his 
Birds  of  Australia,  but  speedily  perceiving  that  he  could  not  do  justice 
to  the  ornithology  of  the  vast  island-continent  without  visiting  it,  he 
suspended  the  publication,  and  in  1838  sailed  for  New  South  Wales. 
Keturning  thence  in  1840,  he  at  once  cancelled  the  portion  he  had 
issued  and  commenced  anew  this,  the  greatest  of  all  his  works,  which  was 

^  In  contrast  to  this,  the  largest  of  ornithological  works,  I  may  mention  a 
Histoire  NatureUe  en  Miniature  de  de  [sic]  48  Oisemix  (96  pp.  Paris:  1816).  The 
only  copy  I  have  seen  appears  to  be  in  the  original  calf  binding,  and  measures  2'6  by 
2  "15  inches.     I  am  indebted  for  the  loan  of  it  to  Mr.  Robert  Service. 

-  On  the  completion  of  these  two  works,  for  they  mnst  be  regarded  as  distinct, 
an  octavo  edition  in  seven  volumes  under  the  title  of  The  Birds  of  America  was 
published  in  1840-44.  In  this  the  large  plates  were  reduced  by  means  of  the 
^'camera  lucida"  the  text  was  revised,  and  the  whole  systematically  arranged. 
Other  reprints  have  since  been  issued,  but  they  are  vastly  inferior  both  in  execution 
and  value.  A  sequel  to  the  octavo  Birds  of  America,  corresponding  with  it  in  form, 
was  brought  out  in  1853-55  by  Cassin  as  Illustrations  of  the  Birds  of  California, 
Texas,  Oregon,  British  and  Russian  America. 


INTRODUCTION 


35 


finished  in  1848  in  seven  volumes,  to  which  five  supplementary  parts, 
forming  another  volume,  were  subsequently  (1851-69)  added.  In  1849 
he  began  A  Alonograph  of  the  Trochilidx  or  Humming-birds,  extending  to 
five  volumes,  the  last  of  which  appeared  in  1861,  and  has  since  been 
followed  by  a  supplement  by  Dr.  Sharpe,  who  since  the  author's  death  in 
1881  has  completed  The  Birds  of  Asia,  in  seven  volumes  (1850-83),  and 
The  Birds  of  New  Guinea,  begun  in  1875.  A  Monograph  of  the  Odonto- 
phorinse  or  Partridges  of  America  (1844-50),  and  The  Birds  of  Great  Britain, 
in  five  volumes  (1862-73)  make  up  the  wonderful  tale  consisting  of 
more  than  forty  folio  volumes,  and  containing  more  than  3000  coloured 
plates.^  The  earlier  of  these  works  were  illustrated  by  Mrs.  Gould,  and 
the  figures  in  them  are  fairly  good  ;  but  those  in  the  later,  except  when 
(as  he  occasionally  did)  he  secured  the  services  of  Mr.  Wolf,  are  not  so 
much  to  be  commended.  There  is,  it  is  true,  a  smoothness  and  finish 
about  them  not  often  seen  elsewhere  ;  but,  as  though  to  avoid  the 
exaggerations  of  Audubon,  Gould  usually  adopted  the  tamest  of  attitudes 
in  which  to  represent  his  subjects,  whereby  expression  as  well  as  vivacity 
is  wanting.  Moreover,  both  in  drawing  and  in  colouring  there  is  fre- 
quently much  that  is  untrue  to  nature,  so  that  it  has  not  uncommonly 
happened  for  them  to  fail  in  the  chief  object  of  all  zoological  plates,  that 
of  afl^ording  sure  means  of  recognizing  specimens  on  comparison.  In 
estimating  the  letterpress,  which  was  avowedly  held  to  be  of  secondary 
importance  to  the  plates,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that,  to  ensure  the 
success  of  his  works,  it  had  to  be  written  to  suit  a  very  peculiarly  com- 
posed body  of  subscribers.  Nevertheless  a  scientific  character  was  so 
adroitly  assumed  that  scientific  men — some  of  them  even  ornithologists — 
have  thence  been  led  to  believe  the  text  had  a  scientific  value,  and  that  of 
a  high  class.  However  it  must  also  be  remembered  that,  throughout  the 
whole  of  his  career,  Gould  consulted  the  convenience  of  working  orni- 
thologists by  almost  invariably  refraining  from  including  in  his  folio 
works  the  technical  description  of  any  new  species  without  first  pub- 
lishing it  in  some  journal  of  comparatively  easy  access. 

An  ambitious  attempt  to  produce  in  England  a  general  series  of 
coloured  plates  on  a  large  scale  was  Eraser's  Zoologia  Typica,  the  first 
part  of  which  bears  date  1841-42.  Others  appeared  at  irregular  inter- 
vals until  1849,  when  the  work,  which  never  received  the  support  it 
deserved,  was  discontinued.  The  70  plates  (46  of  which  represent 
Birds)  composing,  with  some  explanatory  letterpress,  the  volume  are  by  C. 
Cousens  and  H.  N.  Turner, — the  latter  (as  his  publications  prove)  a  zoologist 
of  much  promise,  who  in  1851  died  of  a  wound  received  in  dissecting. 
The  chief  object  of  the  author,  who  had  been  naturalist  to  the  Niger 
Expedition,  and  curator  to  the  Museum  of  the  Zoological  Society  of 
London,  was  to  figure  the  animals  contained  in  its  gardens  or  described 
in  its  Proceedings,  which  until  the  year  1848  were  not  illustrated. 

The  publication  of  the  Zoological  Sketches  of  Mr.  Wolf,  from  animals 

^  In  1850  Mr.  F.  H.  Waterhouse  brought  out  a  careful  pamphlet  shewing  The 
Dates  of  Publication  of  some  of  Gould's  works,  and  in  1893  Dr.  Sharpe  an  Analytical 
Index  to  them.  It  is  books  of  this  kind  that  place  the  literature  of  ornithology  so 
far  in  advance  of  that  relating  to  auy  other  branch  of  zoology. 


26  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

in  the  gardens  of  tlie  Zoological  Society,  was  begun  about  1855,  with  a 
brief  text  by  Mitchell,  at  that  time  the  Society's  secretary,  in  illustra- 
tion of  them.  After  his  death  in  1859,  the  explanatory  letterpress  was 
rewritten  by  Mr.  Sclater,  his  successor  in  that  office,  and  a  volume  was 
completed  in  1861.  Upon  this  a  second  series  was  commenced,  and 
brought  to  an  end  in  1868.  Though  a  comparatively  small  number  of 
species  of  Birds  are  figured  in  this  magnificent  work  (17  only  in  the 
first  series,  and  22  in  the  second),  it  must  be  mentioned  here,  for  their 
likenesses  are  so  admirably  executed  as  to  place  it  in  regard  to  orni- 
thological portraiture  at  the  head  of  all  others.  There  is  not  a  plate 
that  is  unworthy  of  the  greatest  of  all  animal  painters. 

Proceeding  to  illustrated  works  generally  of  less  pretentious  size 
but  of  greater  ornithological  utility  than  the  books  last  mentioned, 
which  are  fitter  for  the  drawing-room  than  the  study,  we  next  have  to 
consider  some  in  which  the  text  is  not  wholly  subordinated  to  the 
plates,  though  the  latter  still  form  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  pub- 
lication. First  of  these  in  point  of  time  as  well  as  in  importance  is 
the  Nouveau  Recueil  des  Planches  Colorizes  d'Oiseaux  of  Temminck  and 
Laugier,  intended  as  a  sequel  to  the  Planches  Enlumin^es  of  D'Aubenton 
before  noticed,  and  like  that  work  issued  both  in  folio  and  quarto  size. 
The  first  portion  of  this  was  published  at  Paris  in  1820,  and  of  its  102 
livraisons,  which  appeared  with  great  irregularity  (Ihis,  1868,  p.  500), 
the  last  was  issued  in  1839,  containing  the  titles  of  the  five  volumes 
that  the  whole  forms,  together  with  a  "Tableau  Methodique,"  which 
but  indifferently  serves  the  purpose  of  an  index.  There  are  600  plates, 
but  the  exact  number  of  species  figured  (which  has  been  computed  at 
661)  is  not  so  easily  ascertained.  Generally  the  subject  of  each  plate 
has  letterpress  to  correspond,  but  in  some  cases  this  is  wanting,  while  on 
the  other  hand  descriptions  of  species  not  figured  are  occasionally  intro- 
duced, and  usually  observations  on  the  distribution  and  construction  of 
each  genus  or  group  are  added.  The  plates,  which  shew  no  improve- 
ment on  those  of  Martinet,  are  after  drawings  by  Huet  and  Pretre,  the 
former  being  perhaps  the  less  bad  draughtsman  of  the  two,  for  he  seems 
to  have  had  an  idea  of  what  a  bird  when  alive  looks  like,  though  he 
was  not  able  to  give  his  figures  any  vitality,  while  the  latter  simply 
delineated  the  stiff  and  dishevelled  specimens  from  museum  shelves. 
Still  the  colouring  is  pretty  well  done,  and  experience  has  proved  that 
generally  speaking  there  is  not  much  difficulty  in  recognizing  the  species 
represented.  The  letterpress  is  commonly  limited  to  technical  details, 
and  is  not  always  accurate  ;  but  it  is  of  its  kind  useful,  for  in  general 
knowledge  of  the  outside  of  Birds  Temminck  probably  surpassed  any  of 
his  contemporaries.  The  "  Tableau  Methodique "  offers  a  convenient 
concordance  of  the  old  Planches  Enlmninees  and  its  successor,  and  is 
arranged  after  the  system  set  forth  by  Temminck  in  the  first  volume  of 
the  second  edition  of  his  Manuel  d' Ornithologie,  of  which  more  presently. 

The  Galerie  des  Oiseaux,  a  rival  work,  with  plates  by  Oudart,  seems  to 
have  been  begun  immediately  after  the  former.  The  original  project  was 
apparently  to  give  a  figure  and  description  of  every  species  of  Bird  ;  but 
that  was  soon  found  to  be  impossible;  and,  when  six  parts  had  been  issued, 


INTRODUCTION  27 


with  text  by  some  unnamed  author,  the  scheme  was  brought  within  prac- 
ticable limits,  and  the  writing  of  the  letterpress  was  entrusted  to  Vieillot, 
who,  proceeding  on  a  systematic  plan,  performed  his  task  very  creditably, 
completing  the  work,  which  forms  two  quarto  volumes,  in  1825,  the  original 
text  and  57  plates  being  relegated  to  the  end  of  the  second  volume  as  a  sup- 
plement. His  portion  is  illustrated  by  299  coloured  plates  that,  wretched 
as  they  are,  have  been  continually  reproduced  in  various  text-books — a 
fact  possibly  due  to  their  subjects  having  been  judiciously  selected.  It  is 
a  tradition  that,  this  work  not  being  favourably  regarded  by  the  authorities 
of  the  Paris  Museum,  its  draughtsman  and  author  were  refused  closer 
access  to  the  specimens  required,  and  had  to  draw  and  describe  them 
through  the  glass  as  they  stood  on  the  shelves  of  the  cases. 

In  1827  Jardine  and  Selby  began  a  series  of  IllustratioTis  of 
Ornithology,  the  several  parts  of  which  appeared  at  long  and  irregular 
intervals,  so  that  it  was  not  until  1835  that  three  volumes  containing 
150  plates  were  completed.  Then  they  set  about  a  Second  Series,  which, 
forming  a  single  volume  with  53  plates,  was  finished  in  1843.^  These 
authors,  being  zealous  amateur  artists,  were  for  the  most  part  their  own 
draughtsmen  and  engravers.  In  1828  James  Wilson  began,  under  the 
title  of  Illustrations  of  Zoology,  the  publication  of  a  series  of  his  own 
drawings  (which  he  did  not,  however,  himself  engrave)  with  corresponding 
letterpress.  Of  tlie  36  plates  illustrating  this  volume,  a  small  folio,  20 
are  devoted  to  Ornithology,  and  contain  figures,  not  very  successful,  of 
several  species  rare  at  the  time. 

Though  the  three  works  last  mentioned  fairly  come  under  the  same 
category  as  the  Planclies  Enlumin^es  and  the  Planches  Oolorie'es,  no  one  of 
them  cair  be  properly  deemed  their  rightful  heir.  The  claim  to  that 
succession  was  made  in  1845  by  Des  Murs  for  his  Icoyiographie  Ornitho- 
logique,  which,  containing  72  plates  by  Prevot  and  Oudart^  (the  latter  of 
whom  had  marvellously  improved  in  his  drawings  since  he  worked  with 
Vieillot),  was  completed  in  1849.  Simultaneously  with  this  Du  Bus 
began  a  work  on  a  plan  precisely  similar,  the  Esqimses  Ornithologiques, 
illustrated  by  Severeyns,  which,  however,  stopped  short  in  1849  with  its 
37th  plate,  while  the  letterpress  unfortunately  does  not  go  beyond  that 
belonging  to  the  20th.  In  1866  the  succession  was  again  taken  up  by  the 
Exotic  Ornithology  of  Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin,  containing  100  plates, 
representing  104  species,  all  from  Central  or  South  America,  which 
are  neatly  executed  by  Mr.  Smit.  The  accompanying  letterpress  is  in 
some  places  copious,  and  useful  lists  of  the  species  of  various  genera  are 
occasionally  subjoined,  adding  to  the  definite  value  of  the  work,  which, 
forming  one  volume,  was  completed  in  1869. 

Lastly  here  must  be  mentioned  Eowley's  Ornithological  Miscellany,  in 
three  quarto  volumes,  profusely  illustrated,  which  appeared  between  1875 
and  1878.  The  contents  are  as  varied  as  the  authorship,  and,  most  of 
the  leading  English  ornithologists  having  contributed  to  the  work,  some 
of  the  papers  are  extremely  good,  while  in  the  plates,  which  are  in  Mr. 

^  Cf.  Sherborn,  lUs,  1894,  p.  326. 

^  On  the  title-jDage  credit  is  given  to  the  latter  alone,  but  only  two-thirds  of  the 
plates  (from  pi.  25  to  the  end)  bear  his  name. 


28  Die  TIO  NA  R  V  OF  BIRDS 

Keulemans's  best  manner,  many  rare  species  of  Birds  are  figured,  some  of 
them  for  the  first  time. 

All  the  works  lately  named  have  been  purposely  treated  at  some 
length,  since  being  costly  they  are  not  easily  accessible.  The  few  next 
to  be  mentioned,  being  of  smaller  size  (octavo),  may  be  within  reach  of 
more  persons,  and  therefore  can  be  passed  over  in  a  briefer  fashion  without 
detriment.  In  many  ways,  however,  they  are  nearly  as  important. 
Swainson's  Zoological  Illustrations,  in  three  volumes,  containing  182 
plates,  whereof  70  represent  Birds,  appeared  between  1820  and  1821, 
and  in  1829  a  Second  Series  of  the  same  was  begun  by  him,  which, 
extending  to  another  three  volumes,  contained  48  more  plates  of  Birds 
out  of  136,  and  was  completed  in  1833.  All  the  figures  were  drawn  by 
the  author,  who  as  an  ornithological  artist  had  no  rival  in  his  time. 
Every  plate  is  not  beyond  criticism,  but  his  worst  drawings  shew  more 
knowledge  of  bird-life  than  do  the  best  of  his  English  or  French  con- 
temporaries. A  work  of  somewhat  similar  character,  but  one  in  which 
the  letterpress  is  of  greater  value,  is  the  Centurie  Zoologique  of  Lesson,  a 
single  volume  that  though  bearing  the  date  1830  on  its  title-page,  is 
believed  to  have  been  begun  in  1829,^  and  was  certainly  not  finished 
until  1831.  It  received  the  benefit  of  Isidore  Geoff"roy  St.-Hilaire's 
assistance.  Notwithstanding  its  name  it  only  contains  80  plates,  but  of 
them  42,  all  by  Pretre  and  in  his  usual  stiff  style,  represent  Birds. 
Concurrently  with  this  volume  appeared  Lesson's  Traite  dJ  Ornithologie, 
which  is  dated  1831,  and  may  perhaps  be.  here  most  conveniently 
mentioned.  Its  professedly  systematic  form  strictly  relegates  it  to 
another  group  of  works,  but  the  presence  of  an  "  Atlas  "  (also  in  octavo) 
of  119  plates  to  some  extent  justifies  its  notice  in  this  place.  Between 
1831  and  1834  the  same  author  brought  out,  in  continuation  of  his 
Centurie,  his  Illustrations  de  Zoologie  with  60  plates,  20  of  which  represent 
Birds.  In  1832  Kittlitz  began  to  publish  some  Kupfertafeln  zur  Natur- 
geschichte  der  Vogel,  in  which  many  new  species  are  figured  ;  but  the  work 
came  to  an  end  wjth  its  36th  plate  in  the  following  year.  In  1845 
Eeichenbach  commenced  with  his  Praktische  Naturgeschichte  der  Vogel  the 
extraordinary  series  of  illustrated  publications  which,  under  titles  far  too 
numerous  here  to  repeat,  ended  in  or  about  1855,  and  are  commonly 
known  collectively  as  his  Vollstandigste  Naturgeschichte  der  Vogel.'^  Herein 
are  contained  more  than  900  coloured  and  more  than  100  uncoloured 
plates,  which  are  crowded  with  the  figures  of  Birds,  a  large  proportion  of 
them  reduced  copies  from  other  works,  and  especially  those  of  Gould. 

It  now  behoves  us  to  turn  to  general  an^  particularly  systematic 
works  in  which  plates,  if  they  exist  at  all,  form  but  an  accessory  to  the 
text.  These  need  not  detain  us  for  long,  since,  however  well  some  of 
them  may  have  been  executed,  regard  being  had  to  their  epoch,  and 
whatever  repute  some  of  them  may  have  achieved,  they  are,  so  far  as 
general    information    and    especially  classification    is    concerned,  wholly 

1  III  1828  he  had  brought  out,  uuder  the  title  oi  Manuel  d' Ornithologie,  two  handy 
duodecimos  which  are  very  good  of  their  kind. 

-  Techuically  speaking  they  are  in  quarto,  but  their  size  is  so  small  that  they  may 
be  well  spoken  of  here.     In  1879  Dr.  A.  B.  Meyer  brought  out  an  Index  to  them. 


INTRODUCTION  2Q 

obsolete,  and  most  of  them  almost  useless  except  as  matters  of  antiquarian 
interest.     It  will  be  enough  merely  to  name  Dumeril's  Zoologie  Analytique 
(1806)  and  Gravenborst's  Vergleichende  Uebersicht  des  linneischen  und  einiger 
neuern   zoologischen  Systeme    (1807);    nor    need  we    linger    over    Shaw's 
General  Zoology,  a  pretentious  compilation  continued  by  Stephens.     The 
last  seven  of  its  fourteen  volumes  include  the  Class  Aves,  and  the  first 
part  of  them  appeared  in   1809,  but,  the  original  author  dying  in  1815, 
when   only   two  volumes   of  Birds  were   published,  the   remainder  was 
brought  to  an  end  in    1826   by  his  successor,   who  afterwards  became 
well  known  as  an  entomologist.     The  engravings  which  these  volumes 
contain  are  mostly  bad  copies,  often  of  bad  figures,  though  many  are 
piracies  from  Bewick,  and  the  whole  is  a  most  unsatisfactory  performance. 
Of  a  very  different  kind  is  the  next  we  have  to  notice,  the  Prodromus 
Systematis  Mammalium  et  Avium  of  Illiger,  published  at  Berlin  in  1811, 
which  must  in  its  day  have  been  a  valuable  little  manual,  and  on  many 
points  it  may  now   be   consulted   to   advantage — the   characters   of  the 
genera  being  admirably  given,  and  good  explanatory  lists  of  the  technical 
terms  of  Ornithology  furnished.      The  classification  was  quite  new,  and 
made  a  step  distinctly  in  advance  of  anything  that  had  before  appeared.^ 
In  1816  Vieillot  published  at  Paris  an  Analyse  d'une  nouvelle  Ornithologie 
d^mentaire,  containing  a  method  of  classification  which  he  had  tried  in 
vain  to  get  printed  before,  both  in  Turin  and  in  London.^     Some  of  the 
ideas  in  this   are   said  to   have  been  taken   from  Illiger  ;  but  the  two 
systems   seem   to   be   wholly   distinct.      Vieillot's   was    afterwards    more 
fully  expounded  in  the  series  of  articles  which  he  contributed  between 
1816   and    1819   to  the    Second   Edition   of  the  Nouveau    Didionnaire 
d'Histoire  'Naturelle,  containing  much  valuable  information.     The  views 
of  neither  of  these  systematizers  pleased  Temminck,  who  in  1817  replied 
rather  sharply  to  Vieillot  in  some  Observations  sur  la  Classification  mdho- 
dique  des  Oiseaux,  a  pamphlet  published  at  Amsterdam,  and  prefixed  to 
the  second  edition  of  his  Manuel  d' Ornithologie,  which  appeared  in  1820, 
an  Analyse  du  Systeme  General  d' Ornithologie.     This  proved  a  great  success, 
and  his  arrangement,  though  by  no  means  simple,^  was  not  only  adopted 
by   many   ornithologists   of  almost    every   country,   but   still    has    some 
adherents.     The  following  year  Ranzani  of  Bologna,  in  his  Elementi  di 

^  Illiger  may  be  considered  the  founder  of  the  school  of  nomenclatural  purists. 
He  would  not  tolerate  any  of  the  "  barbarous  "  generic  terms  adopted  by  other  writers, 
though  some  had  been  in  use  for  many  years. 

2  The  method  was  communicated  to  the  Turin  Academy,  10th  January  1814,  and 
was  ordered  to  be  printed  (Mem.  Ac.  Sc.  Turin,  1813-14,  p.  xxviii.) ;  but,  through 
the  derangements  of  that  stormy  period,  the  order  was  never  carried  out  [Mevi.  Accad. 
Sc.  Torino,  xxiii.  p.  xcvii.).  The  minute-book  of  the  Linnean  Society  of  London  shews 
that  his  Prolusio  was  read  at  meetings  of  that  Society  between  15th  November  1814 
and  21st  February  1815.  Why  it  was  not  at  once  accepted  is  not  told,  but  the  entry 
respecting  it,  which  must  be  of  much  later  date,  in  the  "Register  of  Papers"  is 
"  Published  already."  It  is  due  to  Vieillot  to  mention  these  facts,  as  he  has  been 
accused  of  publishing  his  method  in  haste  to  anticipate  some  of  Cuvier's  views,  but  he 
might  well  complain  of  the  delay  in  London.  Some  reparation  has  been  made  to  his 
memory  by  the  reprinting  of  his  Analyse  by  the  Willughby  Society. 

^  He  recognized  sixteen  Orders  of  Birds,  while  Vieillot  had  been  content  with  five, 
and  Illiger  with  seven. 

d 


JO  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Zoologia — a  very  respectable  compilation — came  to  treat  of  Birds,  and 
then  followed  to  some  extent  the  plan  of  De  BlainviUe  and  Merrem 
(concerning  which  much  more  has  to  be  said  by  and  by)  placing  the 
"Struthious"  Birds  in  an  Order  by  themselves.^  In  1827  Wagler 
brought  out  the  first  part  of  a  Sy sterna  Avium,  in  this  form  never  com- 
pleted, consisting  of  49  detaclied  monographs  of  as  many  genera, 
the  species  of  which  are  most  elaborately  described.  The  arrangement 
he  subsequently  adopted  for  them  and  for  other  groups  is  to  be  found 
in  his  Natiirliches  System  der  Amphibien  (pp.  77-128),  published  in  1830, 
and  is  too  fanciful  to  require  any  further  attention.  The  several  attempts 
at  system-making  by  Kaup,  from  his  Allgemeine  Zoologie  in  1829  to  his 
Ueber  Classification  der  Vogel  in  1849,  were  equally  arbitrary  and  abortive  ; 
but  his  Skizzirte  Entwickelungs-Geschichte  in  1829  must  be  here  named,  as 
it  is  so  often  quoted  on  account  of  the  number  of  new  genera  which  the 
peculiar  views  he  had  embraced  compelled  him  to  invent.  These  views 
he  shared  more  or  less  with  Vigors  and  Swainson,  and  to  them  attention 
will  be  immediately  especially  invited,  while  consideration  of  the  scheme 
gradually  developed  from  1831  onward  by  Charles  Lucien  Bonaparte, 
and  still  not  without  its  influence,  is  deferred  until  we  come  to  treat  of 
the  rise  and  progress  of  what  we  may  term  the  reformed  school  of  Ornitho- 
logy. Yet  injustice  would  be  done  to  one  of  the  ablest  of  those  now  to 
be  called  the  old  masters  of  the  science  if  mention  were  not  here  made  of 
the  Conspectus  Crenerwrn  J.mwm,  begun  in  1850  by  the  naturalist  last  named, 
with  the  help  of  Schlegel,  and  unfortunately  interrupted  by  its  author's 
death  six  years  later.^  The  systematic  publications  of  George  Robert 
Gray,  so  long  in  charge  of  the  ornithological  collection  of  the  British 
Museum,  began  with  A  List  of  the  Genera  of  Birds  published  in  1840. 
This,  having  been  closely,  though  by  no  means  in  a  hostile  spirit, 
criticized  by  Strickland  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  vi.  p.  410  ;  vii.  pp.  26  and  159), 
was  followed  by  a  Second  Edition  in  1841,  in  which  nearly  all  the 
corrections  of  the  reviewer  were  adopted,  and  in  1844  began  the  publica- 
tion of  TJie  Genera  of  Birds,  beautifully  illustrated — first  by  Mitchell  and 
afterwards  by  Mr.  Wolf — which  will  always  keep  Gray's  name  in 
remembrance.  The  enormous  labour  required  for  this  work  seems 
scarcely  to  have  been  appreciated,  though  it  remains  to  this  day  one  of 
the  most  useful  books  in  an  ornithologist's  library.  Yet  it  must  be 
confessed  that  its  author  was  hardly  an  ornithologist  but  for  the  accident 
of  his  calling.  He  was  a  thoroughly  conscientious  clerk,  devoted  to  his 
duty  and  unsparing  of  trouble.  However,  to  have  conceived  the  idea  of 
executing  a  work  on  so  grand  a  scale  as  this— it  forms  three  folio  volumes, 
and  contains  185  coloured  and  148  uncoloured  plates,  with  references  to 
upwards  of  2400  generic  names — was  in  itself  a  mark  of  genius,  and  it 
was  brought  to  a  successful  conclusion  in  ]  849.^,    Costly  as  it  necessarily 

1  The  classification  of  Latreille  in  1825  {Families  Naturelles  du  Regne  Animal, 
pp.  67-88)  needs  naming  only,  for  the  author,  great  as  an  entomologist,  had  no  special 
knowledge  of  Birds,  and  his  greatest  merit,  that  of  placing  Opisthocomus  next  to  the 
Gallinse,  was  perhaps  a  happy  accident. 

2  To  this  indispensable  work  a  good  index  was  supplied  in  1865  by  Dr.  Finsch. 

^  Capt.  Thomas  Browne's  Illustration  of  the  Genera  of  Birds,  begun  in  1845  in 
imitation  of  Gray's  work,  is  discreditable  to  all  concerned  with  it.     It  soon  ceased  to 


INTRODUCTION  31 


was,  it  has  been  of  great  service  to  working  ornithologists.  In  1855 
Gray  brought  out,  as  one  of  the  Museum  publications,  A  Catalogue  of  the 
Genera  and  Subgenera  of  Birds,  a  handy  little  volume,  naturally  founded 
on  the  larger  works.  Its  chief  drawback  is  that  it  does  not  give  any 
more  reference  to  the  authority  for  a  generic  term  than  the  name  of  its 
inventor  and  the  year  of  its  application,  though  of  course  more  precise 
information  would  have  at  least  doubled  the  size  of  the  book.  The  same 
deficiency  became  still  more  apparent  when,  between  1869  and  1871,  he 
published  his  Hand-List  of  Genera  and  Species  of  Birds  in  three  octavo 
volumes  (or  parts,  as  they  are  called).  Never  was  a  book  better  named, 
for  the  working  ornithologist  must  almost  live  with  it  in  his  hand,  and 
though  he  has  constantly  to  deplore  its  shortcomings,  one  of  which 
especially  is  the  wrong  principle  on  which  its  index  is  constructed,  he 
should  be  thankful  that  such  a  work  exists.  Many  of  its  defects  are,  or 
perhaps  it  were  better  said  ought  to  be,  supplied  by  Giebel's  Thesaurus 
Ornithologise,  also  in  three  volumes  (1872-77),  a  work  admirably  planned, 
but  the  execution  of  which,  whether  through  the  author's  carelessness  or 
the  printer's  fault,  or  a  combination  of  both,  is  lamentably  disappointing. 
Again  and  again  it  will  afford  the  enquirer  who  consults  it  valuable 
hints,  but  he  must  be  mindful  never  to  trust  a  single  reference  in  it 
until  it  has  been  verified.  It  remains  to  warn  the  reader  also  that,  useful 
as  are  both  this  work  and  those  of  Gray,  their  utility  is  almost  solely 
confined  to  experts. 

With  the  excejition  to  which  reference  has  just  been  made,  scarcely 
any  of  the  ornithologists  hitherto  named  indulged  their  imagination  in 
theories  or  speculations.  Nearly  all  were  content  to  prosecute  their 
labours  ill  a  plain  fashion  consistent  with  common  sense,  plodding  steadily 
onwards  in  their  efforts  to  describe  and  group  the  various  species,  as  one 
after  another  they  were  made  known.  But  this  was  not  always  to  be, 
and  now  a  few  words  must  be  said  respecting  a  theory  which  was  pro- 
mulgated with  great  zeal  by  its  upholders  during  the  end  of  the  first  and 
early  part  of  the  second  quarter  of  the  present  century,  and  for  some 
years  seemed  likely  to  carry  all  before  it.  The  success  it  gained  was 
doubtless  due  in  some  degree  to  the  difl[iculty  which  most  men  had  in 
comprehending  it,  for  it  was  enwrajiped  in  alluring  mystery,  but  moi^e 
to  the  confidence  with  which  it  was  announced  as  being  the  long  looked- 
for  key  to  the  wonders  of  creation,  since  its  promoters  did  not  hesitate  to 
term  it  the  discovery  of  "  the  Natural  System,"  though  they  condescended, 
by  way  of  explanation  to  less  exalted  intellects  than  their  own,  to  allow 
it  the  more  moderate  appellation  of  the  Circular  or  Quinary  System. 

A  comparison  of  the  relation  of  created  beings  to  a  number  of  inter- 
secting circles  is  as  old  as  the  days  of  Nieremberg,  who  in  1635  wrote 
(Historia  Naturse,  lib.  iii.  cap.  3) — "  Nullus  hiatus  est,  nulla  fractio,  nulla 
dispersio  formarum,  invicem  connexa  sunt  velut  annulus  annulo  "  ;  but 
it  is  almost  clear  that  he  was  thinking  only  of  a  chain.  In  1806  Fischer 
de  Waldheim,  in  his  Tableaux  Synoptiques  de  Zoognosie  (p.  181),  quoting 

appear  and  remains  incomplete.  Had  it  been  finished  it  would  have  been  useless. 
The  author  had  before  (1831)  attempted  a  similar  act  of  piracy  upon  Wilson's 
American  Ornithology. 


32  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

Nieremberg,  extended  his  figure  of  speech,  and,  while  justly  deprecating 
the  notion  that  the  series  of  forms  belonging  to  any  particular  group  of 
creatures — the  Mammalia  was  that  whence  he  took  his  instance — could  be 
placed  in  a  straight  line,  imagined  the  various  genera  to  be  arrayed  in  a 
series  of  contiguous  circles  around  Man  as  a  centre.  Though  there  is 
nothing  to  shew  that  Fischer  intended,  by  what  is  here  said,  to  do  any- 
thing else  than  illustrate  more  fully  the  marvellous  interconnexion  of 
different  animals,  or  that  he  attached  any  realistic  meaning  to  his 
metaphor,  his  words  were  eagerly  caught  up  by  the  prophet  of  the  new 
faith.  This  was  William  Sharpe  Macleay,  a  man  of  education  and  real 
genius,  who  in  1819  and  1821  brought  out  a  work  under  the  title  of 
Horx  Entomologicse,  which  was  soon  after  hailed  by  Vigors  as  containing 
a  new  revelation,  and  applied  by  him  to  Ornithology  in  some  "  Observa- 
tions on  the  Natural  Affinities  that  connect  the  Orders  and  Families  of 
Birds,"  read  before  the  Linnean  Society  of  London  in  1823,  and  after- 
wards published  in  its  Transactions  (xiv.  pp.  395-517).  In  the  following 
year  Vigors  returned  to  the  subject  in  some  papers  published  in  the 
recently  established  Zoological  Journal,  and  found  an  energetic  condisciple 
and  coadjutor  in  Swainson,  who,  for  more  than  a  dozen  years — to  the 
end,  in  fact,  of  his  career  as  an  ornithological  writer — was  instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season  in  pressing  on  all  his  readers  the  views  he  had, 
through  Vigors,  adopted  from  Macleay,  though  not  without  some  modi- 
fication of  detail  if  not  of  principle.  What  these  views  were  it  would  be 
manifestly  improper  for  a  sceptic  to  state  except  in  the  terms  of  a 
believer.  Their  enunciation  must,  therefore,  be  given  in  Swainson's  own 
words,  though  it  must  be  admitted  that  space  cannot  be  found  here  for 
the  diagrams,  which  it  was  alleged  were  necessary  for  the  right  under- 
standing of  the  theory.  This  theory,  as  originally  propounded  by 
Macleay,  was  said  by  Swainson  in  1835  {Geogr.  and  Classific.  of  Animals, 
p.  202)  to  have  consisted  of  the  following  propositions  :^ — 

"  1,  That  the  series  of  natural  animals  is  continuous,  forming,  as  it  were,  a  circle  ; 
so  that,  upon  commencing  at  any  one  given  point,  and  thence  tracing  aU  the 
modifications  of  structure,  we  shall  be  imperceptibly  led,  after  passing  through 
numerous  forms,  again  to  the  point  from  which  we  started. 

"  2.  That  no  groups  are  natural  which  do  not  exhibit,  or  shew  an  evident  tend- 
ency to  exhibit,  such  a  circular  series. 

"  3.  That  the  primary  divisions  of  every  large  group  are  ten,  five  of  which  are 
composed  of  comparatively  large  circles,  and  five  of  smaller :  these  latter  being 
termed  osculant,  and  being  intermediate  between  the  former,  which  they  serve  to 
connect. 

"  4.  That  there  is  a  tendency  in  such  groups  as  are  placed  at  the  opposite  points 
of  a  circle  of  affinity  'to  meet  each  other.' 

"  5.  That  one  of  the  five  larger  groups  into  which  every  natural  circle  is  divided 
'bears  a  resemblance  to  all  the  rest,  or,  more  strictly  speaking,  consists  of  types 
which  represent  those  of  each  of  the  four  other  groups,  together  with  a  type  peculiar 
to  itself.' " 

As  subsequently  modified  by  Swainson  {torn.  cit.  pp.  224,   225),  the 

foregoing  propositions  take  the  following  form  : — 

^  I  prefer  giving  them  here  in  Swainson's  version,  because  he  seems  to  have  set 
them  forth  more  clearly  and  concisely  than  Macleay  ever  did,  and,  moreover,  Swain- 
son's application  of  them  to  Ornithology — a  branch  of  science  that  lay  outside  of 
Macleay's  proper  studies — appears  to  be  more  suitable  to  the  present  occasion. 


INTRODUCTION  33 


"  I.  That  every  natural  series  of  beings,  in  its  progress  from  a  given  point,  either 
actually  returns,  or  evinces  a  tendency  to  return,  again  to  that  point,  thereby 
forming  a  circle. 

"II.  The  primary  circular  divisions  of  every  group  are  three  actually,  or  five 
apparently. 

"III.  The  contents  of  such  a  circular  group  are  symbolically  (or  analogically) 
represented  by  the  contents  of  all  other  circles  in  the  animal  kingdom. 

"  IV.  That  these  primary  divisions  of  every  group  are  characterized  by  definite 
peculiarities  of  form,  structure  and  economy,  which,  under  diversified  modifications, 
are  uniform  throughout  the  animal  kingdom,  and  are  therefore  to  be  regarded  as  the 

PRIMARY  TYPES  OF  NATURE. 

"V.  That  the  difi'erent  ranks  or  degrees  of  circular  groups  exhibited  in  the 
animal  kingdom  are  nine  in  number,  each  being  involved  within  the  other." 

Though,  as  above  stated,  the  theory  thus  promulgated  owed  its 
temporary  success  chiefly  to  the  extraordinary  assurance  and  pertinacity 
with  which  it  was  urged  upon  a  public  generally  incapable  of  under- 
standing what  it  meant,  that  it  received  some  support  from  men  of 
science  must  be  admitted.  A  "  circular  system "  was  advocated  by  the 
eminent  botanist  Fries,  and  the  views  of  Macleay  met  with  the  partial 
approbation  of  the  celebrated  entomologist  Kirby,  while  at  least  as  much 
may  be  said  of  the  imaginative  Oken,  whose  mysticism  far  surpassed  that 
of  the  Quinarians.  But  it  is  obvious  to  every  one  who  nowadays  in- 
dulges in  the  profitless  pastime  of  studying  their  writings  that,  as  a 
whole,  they  failed  in  grasping  the  essential  difference  between  homology 
(or  "  aflinity,"  as  they  generally  termed  it)  and  analogy  (which  is  only  a 
learned  name  for  an  uncertain  kind  of  resemblance) — though  this  differ- 
ence had  been  fully  understood  and  set  forth  by  Aristotle  himself — and, 
moreover,  that  in  seeking  for  analogies  on  which  to  base  their  foregone' 
conclusions  they  were  often  put  to  hard  shifts.  Another  singular  fact  is 
that  they  often  seemed  to  be  totally  unaware  of  the  tendency  if  not  the 
meaning  of  some  of  their  own  expressions  ;  thus  Macleay  could  write, 
and  doubtless  in  perfect  good  faith  {Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xvi.  p.  9,  note), 
"  Naturalists  have  nothing  to  do  with  mysticism,  and  but  little  with 
a  priori  reasoning."  Yet  his  followers,  if  not  he  himself,  were  ever 
making  use  of  language  in  the  highest  degree  metaphorical,  and  were 
always  explaining  facts  in  accordance  with  preconceived  opinions. 
Fleming,  already  the  author  of  a  harmless  and  extremely  orthodox 
Philosophy  of  Zoology,  pointed  out  in  1829  in  the  Quarterly  Review 
(xli.  pp.  302-327)  some  of  the  fallacies  of  Macleay's  method,  and  in 
return  provoked  from  him  a  reply,  in  the  form  of  a  letter  addressed  to 
Vigors  On  the  Dying  Struggle  of  the  Dichotomous  System,  couched  in  lan- 
guage the  force  of  which  no  one  even  at  the  present  day  can  deny, 
though  to  the  modern  naturalist  its  invective  power  contrasts  ludicrously 
with  the  strength  of  its  ratiocination.  But,  confining  ourselves  to  what 
is  here  our  special  business,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  jaerhaps  the  heaviest 
blow  dealt  at  these  strange  doctrines  was  that  delivered  by  Eennie,  who, 
in  an  edition  of  Montagu's  Ornithological  Dictionary  (pp.  xxxiii.-lv.), 
published  in  1831  and  again  issued  in  1833,  attacked  the  Quinary 
System,  and  especially  its  application  to  Ornithology  by  Vigors  and 
Swainson,  in  a  way  that  might  perhaps  have  demolished  it,  had  not  the 
author  mingled  with  his  undoubtedly   sound   reasoning   much    that    is 


34  DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 

foreign  to  any  question  with  which  a  naturalist,  as  such,  ought  to  deal — 
though  that  herein  he  was  only  following  the  example  of  one  of  his 
opponents,  who  had  constantly  treated  the  subject  in  like  manner,  is  to 
be  allowed.  This  did  not  hinder  Swainson,  who  had  succeeded  in 
getting  the  ornithological  portion  of  the  first  zoological  work  ever  pub- 
lished at  the  expense  of  the  British  Government  (namely,  the  Fauna 
Boreali-Americana)  executed  in  accordance  with  his  own  opinions,  from 
maintaining  them  more  strongly  than  ever  in  several  of  the  volumes  treat- 
ing of  Natural  History  which  he  contributed  to  the  Cabinet  Gydopeedia — 
among  others  that  from  which  we  have  just  given  some  extracts — and  in 
what  may  be  deemed  the  culmination  in  England  of  the  Quinary  System, 
the  volume  of  the  "Naturalist's  Library"  on  The  Natural  Arrangement 
and  History  of  Flycatchers  (1838),  an  unhappy  performance  mentioned  in 
the  body  of  the  present  work  (p,  274,  note).  This  seems  to  have  been 
his  last  attempt  ;  for,  two  years  later,  his  Bibliography  of  Zoology  shews 
little  trace  of  his  favourite  theory,  though  nothing  he  had  uttered  in  its 
support  was  retracted.  Appearing  almost  simultaneously  with  that 
work,  an  article  by  Strickland  {Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  ser.  2,  iv.  pp.  219-226), 
entitled  Observations  upon  the  Affinities ~and  Analogies  of  Organized  Beings, 
administered  to  the  theory  a  shock  from  which  it  never  recovered, 
though  attempts  were  now  and  then  made  by  its  adherents  to  revive  it  ; 
and,  even  ten  years  or  more  later,  Kaup,  one  of  the  few  foreign  orni- 
thologists who  had  embraced  Quinary  principles,  was  by  mistaken  kind- 
ness allowed  to  publish  Monographs  of  the  Birds-of-Prey  (Jardine's  Contr. 
Orn.  1849,  pp.  68-75,  96-121  ;  1850,  pp.  51-80  ;  1851,  pp.  119-130  ; 
1852,  pp.  103-122  ;  and  Trans.  Zool.  Sac.  iv.  pp.  201-260),  in  which  its 
absurdity  reached  the  climax. 

The  mischief  caused  by  this  theory  of  a  Quinary  System  was  very 
great,  but  was  chiefly  confined  to  Britain,  for  (as  already  stated)  the 
extraordinary  views  of  its  adherents  found  little  favour  on  the  continent 
of  Eiirope.  The  purely  artificial  character  of  the  System  of  Linnaeus 
and  his  successors  had  been  perceived,  and  men  were  at  a  loss  to  find  a 
substitute  for  it.  The  new  doctrine,  loudly  proclaiming  the  discovery  of 
a  "  Natural "  System,  led  away  many  from  the  steady  practice  which 
should  have  followed  the  teaching  of  Cuvier  (though  he  in  Ornithology 
had  not  been  able  to  act  up  to  the  principles  he  had  laid  down)  and  from 
the  extended  study  of  Comparative  Anatomy.  Moreover,  it  veiled  the 
honest  attempts  that  were  making  both  in  France  and  Germany  to  find 
real  grounds  for  establishing  an  improved^  state  of  things,  and  conse- 
quently the  labours  of  De  Blainville,  Etienne  Geoftroy  St.-Hilaire, 
and  L'Herminier,  of  Merrem,  Johannes  Miiller  and  Nitzsch — to  say 
nothing  of  others — were  almost  wholly  unknown  on  this  side  of  the 
Channel,  and  even  the  value  of  the  investigations  of  British  ornithotom- 
ists  of  high  merit,  such  as  Macartney  and  Macgillivray,  was  almost 
completely  overlooked.  True  it  is  that  there  were  not  wanting  other 
men  in  these  islands  whose  common  sense  refused  to  accept  the  meta- 
phorical doctrine  and  the  mystical  jargon  of  the  Quinarians,  but  so 
strenuously  and  persistently  had  the  latter  asserted  their  infallibility, 
and  so  vigorously  had  they  assailed  any  who  ventured  to  doubt  it,  that 


INTRODUCTION  35 


most  peaceable  ornithologists  found  it  best  to  bend  to  the  furious  blast, 
and  in  some  sort  to  acquiesce  at  least  in  the  phraseology  of  the  self- 
styled  interpreters  of  Creative  Will.  But,  while  thus  lamenting  thia 
unfortunate  perversion  into  a  mistaken  channel  of  ornithological  energy, 
we  must  not  over-blame  those  who  caused  it.  Macleay  indeed  never 
pretended  to  a  high  position  in  this  branch  of  science,  his  tastes  lying  in 
the  direction  of  Entomology  ;  but  few  of  their  countrymen  knew  more 
of  Birds  than  did  Swainson  and  Vigors  ;  and,  while  the  latter,  as  editor 
for  many  years  of  the  Zoological  Journal,  and  the  first  Secretary  of  the 
Zoological  Society,  has  especial  claims  to  the  regard  of  all  zoologists,  so 
the  former's  indefatigable  pursuit  of  Natural  History,  and  conscientious 
labour  in  its  behalf — among  other  ways  by  means  of  his  graceful  pencil 
— deserve  to  be  remembered  as  a  set-off  against  the  injury  he  unwittingly 
caused. 

It  is  now  incumbent  upon  us  to  take  a  rapid  survey  of  the  orni- 
thological works  which  come  more  or  less  under  the  designation  of 
"  Faunee  "  ;  ^  but  these  are  so  numerous  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  limit 
this  survey,  as  before  indicated,  to  those  countries  alone  which  form  the 
homes  of  English  people,  or  are  commonly  visited  by  them  in  ordinary 
travel. 

Beginning  with  our  Antipodes,  it  is  hardly  needful  to  go  further 
back  than  Sir  Walter  Buller's  beautiful  Birds  of  New  Zealand  (4to, 
1872-73  ;  ed.  2,  2  vols.  1888),  with  coloured  plates  by  Mr.  Keulemans, 
and  the  same  author's  Manual  of  the  Birds  of  New  Zealand  (Svo,  1882), 
founded  on  the  former ;  but  justice  requires  that  mention  be  made  of 
the  labours  of  G.  R.  Gray,  first  in  the  Appendix  to  Dieffenbach's  Travels 
in  New  Zealand  (1843)  and  then  in  the  ornithological  portion  of  the 
Zoology  of  the  Voyage  of  H. M.S.  ^Erebus'  and  ^Terror,'  begun  in  1844, 
but  left  unfinished  from  the  following  year  until  completed  by  Dr. 
Sharpe  in  1876.  A  considerable  number  of  valuable  papers  on  the 
Ornithology  of  the  country  by  Sir  James  Hector  and  Sir  Julius  Von 
Haast,  Prof.  Hutton,  Mr.  Potts  and  others  are  to  be  found  in  the  Trans- 
actions arid  Proceedings  of  the  New  Zealand  Institute. 

Passing  to  Australia,  we  have  the  first  good  description  of  some  of  its 
Birds  in  the  several  old  voyages  and  in  Latham's  works  before  men- 
tioned. Shaw's  Zoology  of  New  Holland  (4to,  1794),  though  unfinished, 
added  that  of  a  few  more,  as  did  J.  W.  Lewin's  Birds  of  New  Holland 
(4to,  London  :  1808),  of  which,  under  the  title  of  A  Natxiral  History  of 
the  Birds  of  New  South  Wales,  a  second  edition,  with  26  instead  of  18 
plates,  appeared  in  1822,  the  year  after  the  author's  death,  and  a  third 
with  additions  by  Eyton,  Gould  and  others  in  1838.  Gould's  great 
Birds  of  Australia  has  been  already  named,  and  he  subsequently  repro- 
duced with  some  additions  the  text  of  that  work  under  the  title  of 
Handbook  to  the  Birds  of  Australia  (2  vols.  Svo,  1865).  In  1866  Mr. 
Diggles  commenced  a  similar  publication,  The  Ornithology  of  Australia, 
but  the  coloured  plates  are  not  comparable  with  those  of  his  predecessor. 
This  is  still  incomplete,  though  the  parts  that  appeared  were  collected  to 

^  A  very  useful  list  of  more  general  scope  is  given  as  the  Appendix  to  an  Address 
by  Mr.  Sclater  to  the  British  Association  in  1875  [B-ejiort,  pt.  li,  pp.  114.-133). 


S6  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

form  two  volumes  and  issued  (Brisbane:  1877)  with  title-pages.  Many 
notices  of  Australian  Birds  by  Dr.  Eamsay,  Messrs.  A.  J.  North,  K.  H. 
Bennett  and  others  are  to  be  found  in  the  Records  of  the  Australian 
Museum,  the  Proceedings  of  the  Linnsean  Society  of  New  South  Wales,  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  Victoria  and  of  that  of  Tasmania.^  Papers  by  Mr. 
Devis  on  the  ornithology  of  British  New  Guinea  have  appeared  in  the 
Annual  Reports  on  that  Dependency  presented  to  the  parliament  of 
Queensland,  and  in  their  original  form  are  hardly  accessible  to  the  ordinary 
ornithologist. 

Coming  to  our  Indian  possessions,  and  beginning  with  Ceylon,  we 
have  Kelaart's  Prodromus  Faunse  Zeylanicx  (8vo,  1852),  and  the  admirable 
Birds  of  Ceylon  by  CoL  Legge  (4to,  1878-80),  with  coloured  plates  by  Mr. 
Keulemans  of  all  the  peculiar  species.  One  can  hardly  name  a  book 
that  has  been  more  conscientiously  executed  than  this.  In  regard  to 
continental  India  many  of  the  more  important  publications  have  been 
named  in  the  body  of  this  work  (pages  356,  357),  but  Blyth's  Mammals 
and  Birds  of  Burma  (8vo,  1875)  ^  should  be  especially  noticed,  as  well  as 
the  fact  that  since  the  return  of  Mr.  Gates  to  the  East,  the  ornithological 
part  of  the  Fauna  of  British  India  is  being  continued  by  Mr.  Blanford, 
though  Jerdon's  classical  work  will  always  remain  of  value,  notwith- 
standing that  it  no  longer  reigns  supreme  as  the  sole  comprehensive  work 
on  the  Grnithology  of  the  Peninsula.^ 

In  regard  to  South  Africa  there  is  little  to  be  added  to  the  works 
mentioned  (pages  347,  351,  352) ;  but  in  1896  Capt.  Shelley  brought  out 
a  List  of  African  Birds,  which,  it  is  hoped,  may  be  the  forerunner  of  a 
series  of  volumes  on  Ethiopian  Grnithology.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted 
that  of  the  numerous  sporting  books  that  treat  of  this  part  of  the  world 
so  few  give  any  important  information  respecting  the  Birds. 

Gf  special  works  relating  to  the  British  West  Indies,  Waterton's 
well-known  Wanderings  has  passed  through  several  editions  since  its 
first  appearance  in  1825,  and  must  be  mentioned  here,  though,  strictly 
speaking,  much  of  the  country  he  traversed  was  not  British  territory. 
To  Dr.  Cabanis  we  are  indebted  for  the  ornithological  results  of  Richard 
Schomburgk's  researches  given  in  the  third  volume  (pp.  662-765)  of  the 
latter's  Reisen  im  Britisch- Guiana  (8vo,  1848),  and  then  to  Ldotaud's 
Oiseaux  de  Vile  de  la  Trinidad  (8vo,  1866).  Gf  the  Antilles  there  is  to 
be  named  Gosse's  excellent  Birds  of  Jamaica  (12mo,  1847),  together  with 
its  Illustrations  (sm.  fol.  1849)  beautifully  executed  by  him.     A  nominal 

^  Dr.  Ramsay  has  a  Tabular  List  of  Australian  Birds  (ed.  2,  Sydney :  1888). 
Mr.  North's  contributions  have  been  chiefly  on  Nidification  and  Oology,  though  the 
ornithology  of  the  recent  "Horn  Expedition  "  has  fallen  to  his  share.  Mr.  Archibald 
J.  Campbell's  Nests  and  Eggs  of  Australian  Birds  (Melbourne :  1883)  deserves 
especial  mention.  A  convenient  Manual  of  Australian  Ornithology  is  still  a  great 
want,  and,  if  supplied,  would  undoubtedly  advance  the  knowledge  of  the  wonderful 
bird-population  of  that  country,  and  induce  the  inhabitants  to  take  greater  interest 
in  it.     But  the  work  to  be  well  done  must  be  by  Australian  hands. 

^  This  is  a  posthumous  publication,  nominally  forming  an  extra  number  of  the 
Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society. 

^  A  multitude  of  papers,  some  very  important,  on  Indian  Ornithology,  appeared 
in  Stray  Feathers,  a  periodical  edited  between  1877  and  1882  by  Mr.  A.  0.  Hume, 
of  which  the  eleventh  and  last  volume  remains  unfinished. 


INTRODUCTION  37 


list,  with  references,  of  the  Birds  of  the  island  is  contained  in  the 
Handbook  of  Jamaica  for  1881  (jip.  103-117)  ;  while  in  1885  Mr.  Cory,i 
who  in  1880  had  brought  out,  at  Boston  (ed.  2,  1890),  a  work  on  the 
Birds  of  the  Bahama  Islands  (not  strictly  Antillean),  published  a  List  of 
the  Birds  of  the  West  Indies,  with  a  revised  edition  in  the  following  year, 
and  one  still  more  elaborate,  so  that  the  words  "  List  of "  were  dropped 
from  the  title,  in  1889. 

So  admirable  a  "  List  of  Faunal  Publications  relating  to  North 
American  Ornithology"  up  to  the  year  1878  has  been  given  by  Dr. 
Coues  as  an  appendix  to  his  Birds  of  the  Colorado  Valley  (pp.  567-784) 
that  nothing  more  of  the  kind  is  wanted  except  to  notice  some  of  the 
chief  separate  works  which  have  since  appeared,  for  so  prolific  are  our 
American  relations  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  mention  many. 
Among  those  that  cannot  be  overlooked  are  Mr.  Stearns's  New  England 
Bird  Life  (2  vols.  8vo,  1881-83),  revised  by  Dr.  Coues,  and  the  several 
editions  of  his  own  Check  List  of  North  American  Birds  (1882),  and  Key 
to  North  American  Birds.^  Then  there  is  the  great  North  American  Birds 
of  the  late  Prof.  Baird,  Dr.  Brewer  and  Mr.  Ridgway  (1874-84),  and  the 
Manual  of  North  American  Birds  (1887  ;  ed.  2,  1896)  by  the  last  of 
these  authors  ;  beside  Capt.  Bendire's  Life  Histories  of  North  American 
Birds  (4to,  Washington:  1892),  beautifully  illustrated  by  figures  of  their 
eggs.  Yet  some  of  the  older  works  are  still  of  sufficient  importance  to 
be  especially  recorded  here,  and  especially  that  of  Alexander  Wilson, 
whose  American  Ornithology,  originally  published  between  1808  and  1814, 
has  gone  through  many  editions,  of  which  mention  should  be  made  of 
those  issued  in  Great  Britain  by  Jameson  (4  vols.  16mo,  1831),  and 
Jardine  (3  vols.  8vo,  1832).  The  former  of  these  has  the  entire  text, 
but  no  plates  ;  the  latter  reproduces  the  plates,  but  the  text  is  in  places 
much  condensed,  though  excellent  notes  are  added.  A  continuation  of 
Wilson's  work,  under  the  same  title  and  on  the  same  plan,  was  issued  by 
Bonaparte  between  1825  and  1833,  and  most  of  the  later  editions 
include  the  work  of  both  authors.  The  works  of  Audubon,  with  their 
continuations  by  Cassin  and  Mr.  Elliot,  and  the  Fauna  Boreali- Americana 

^  In  the  same  year  Mr.  Cory  also  produced  the  Birds  of  Haiti  and  St.  Domingo, 
supplying  a  want  that  had  been  long  felt,  since  nothing  had  really  been  known  of 
the  ornithology  of  Hispaniola  for  nearly  a  century,  Gundlach,  Lembeye  and 
Poey  are  the  chief  authorities  on  that  of  Cuba,  while  the  first  has  also  treated  of  the 
Birds  of  Porto  Rico. 

2  The  second  and  revised  edition  (the  first  having  appeared  in  1872,  while  a  fifth 
is  now  in  preparation)  of  this  useful  work  was  published  in  1884,  and  contains  (pp. 
234,  235)  a  classification  of  North-American  Birds,  though  being  limited  to  them  will 
not  need  detailed  notice  hereafter  ;  but  I  may  remark  that  the  author  very  justly 
points  out  (p.  227)  the  dilference,  overlooked  by  many  writers  of  to-day,  between 
''  natural  analysis  "  and  the  "  artificial  keys  "  now  so  much  in  vogue,  the  latter  being 
merely  "  an  attempt  to  take  the  student  by  a  '  short  cut '  to  the  name  and  position  in 
the  ornithological  system  of  any  specimen  "  he  may  wish  to  determine.  Under  the 
title  of  Handbook  of  Field  and  General  Ornitliology,  the  two  portions  of  this  work 
most  valuable  to  the  non-American  reader  were  republished  in  London  in  1890,  and 
deserve  to  be  far  better  known  among  the  ornithologists  of  all  countries  than  they 
seem  to  be,  for  they  give  much  excellent  information  not  to  be  found  elsewhere. 
Many  writers  on  Birds  in  newspapers  and  magazines  would  be  often  spared  some 
silly  mistakes  were  they  to  make  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Coues's  little  book. 


j8  DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 

of  Richardson  and  Swainson  have  already  been  noticed  ;  but  they  need 
naming  here,  as  also  does  Nuttall's  Manual  of  the  Ornithology  of  the  United 
States  and  of  Canada  (2  vols.  1832-34  ;  vol.  i.  ed.  2,  1840);  the  Birds 
of  Long  Island  (Svo,  1844)  by  Giraud,  remarkable  for  its  excellent 
account  of  the  habits  of  shore-birds  ;  and  of  course  the  Birds  of  North 
America  (4to,  1858)  by  Baird,  with  the  co-operation  of  Cassin  and 
Lawrence,  which  originally  formed  a  volume  (ix.)  of  what  are  known 
as  the  "  Pacific  Railroad  Reports."  Apart  from  these  special  works  the 
scientific  journals  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Washington 
contain  innumerable  papers  on  the  Ornithology  of  the  country,  while  in 
1876  the  Bulletin  of  the  Nuttall  Ornithological  Club  began  to  appear,  and 
continued  until  1884,  when  it  was  superseded  by  The  Auh,  established 
solely  for  the  promotion  of  Ornithology  in  America,  and  numbering 
among  its  supporters  almost  every  American  ornithologist  of  repute,  its 
present  editors  being  Dr.  Allen  and  Mr.  F.  M.  Chapman. 

Of  Canada,  unfortunately,  not  much  is  to  be  said.  It  is  hard  to  under- 
stand why  zoological  studies  have  never  found  such  favour  there  as  further 
to  the  southward,  but  this  is  undoubtedly  the  fact,  and  no  ornithological 
work  can  be  cited  of  which  the  Dominion  as  a  whole  can  be  proud, 
though  Mr.  M'llwraithe's  Birds  of  Ontario,  of  which  an  enlarged  edition 
appeared  in  1894,  is  a  fair  piece  of  local  work. 

Returning  to  the  Old  World,  among  the  countries  whose  Ornithology 
will  most  interest  British  readers  we  have  first  Iceland,  the  fullest — 
indeed  the  only  full — account  of  the  Birds  of  which  is  Faber's  Prodromus 
der  islandischen  Ornithologie  (8vo,  1822),  though  the  island  has  since  been 
visited  by  several  good  ornithologists, — Proctor,  Kriiper  and  WoUey 
among  them.  A  list  of  its  Birds,  with  some  notes,  bibliographical  and 
biological,  has  been  given  as  an  Appendix  to  Mr.  Baring-Gould's  Iceland, 
its  Scenes  and  Sagas  (Svo,  1862) ;  and  Mr.  Shepherd's  North-west  Peninsula 
of  Iceland  (8vo,  1867)  recounts  a  somewhat  profitless  expedition  made 
thither  expressly  for  ornithological  objects. ^  For  the  Birds  of  the  Faeroes 
there  is  Herr  H.  C.  Miiller's  Fseroernes  Fuglefauna  (Svo,  1862),  of  which 
a  German  translation  has '  appeared.^  The  Ornithology  of  Norway  has 
been  treated  in  a  great  many  papers  by  Herr  CoUett,  some  of  which  may 
be  said  to  have  been  separately  published  as  Norges  Fugle  (Svo,  1868  ; 
with  a  supplement,  1871),  and  TJie  Ornithology  of  Northern  Norway  (Svo, 
1872) — this  last  in  English,  while  an  English  translation  by  Mr.  A.  H. 
Cocks  (London  :  1894)  has  been  published  of  one  of  the  author's  latest 
works,  a  popular  account  of  Bird-Life  in  Arctic  Norway,  communicated  to 
the  Second  International  Congress  of  Ornithology  in  1892.  For  Scandi- 
navia generally  the  latest  work  is  Herr  Collin's  Skandinaviens  Fugle  (Svo, 

1  Two  papers  by  Messrs.  Backhouse  and  W.  E.  Clarke,  and  Carter  and  Slater 
{Ibis,  1885,  p.  364  ;  1886,  p.  45)  should  be  consulted,  as  well  as  one  by  Messrs.  H. 
J.  and  C.  E.  Pearson  {oj).  cit.  1895,  pp.  237-249),  which  gives  a  list  of  the  species 
hitherto  recorded  there.  Herr  Grondal  has  also  a  list  and  an  ornithological  report  on 
Iceland  {Omis,  1886,  pp.  355,  601),  with  a  dissertation  on  birds'  names  (op.  cit.  1887, 
p.  587). 

2  Journ.  fur  Orn.  1869,  pp.  107,  341,  381.  One  may  almost  say  an  English 
translation  also,  for  Col.  Feilden's  contribution  to  the  Zoologist  for  1872  on  the  same 
subject  gives  the  most  essential  part  of  HeiT  Miiller's  information. 


INTRODUCTION  3q 


1873),  being  a  greatly  bettered  edition  of  the  very  moderate  Danmarks 
Fugle  of  Kjferbolling  ;  but  the  ornithological  portion  of  Nilsson's  Skandi 
navisk  Fauna,  Foglarna  (3rd  ed.  2  vols.  8vo,  1858)  is  of  great  merit; 
while  the  text  of  Sundevall's  Svenska  Foglarna  (obi.  fol.  1856-73),  un- 
fortunately unfinished  at  his  death,  but  completed  in  1886  by  Prof. 
Kinberg,  and  Herr  Holmgren's  Skandinaviens  Foglar  (2  vols.  8vo,  1866- 
75)  deserve  naming. 

Works  on  the  Birds  of  Germany  are  far  too  numerous  to  be  recounted. 
That  of  the  two  Naumanns,  already  mentioned,  and  yet  again  to  be  spoken 
of,  stands  at  the  head  of  all,  and  perhaps  at  the  head  of  the  "  Faunal '' 
works  of  all  countries.  For  want  of  space  it  must  here  suffice  simply  to 
name  some  of  the  ornithologists  who  in  this  century  have  elaborated,  to 
an  extent  elsewhere  unknown,  the  science  as  regards  their  own  country  : 
— Altum,  Baldamus,  Bechstein,  Berlepscli,  Blasius  (father  and  two  sons), 
Bolle,  Borggreve,  whose  Vogel-Faxma  von  Norddeutschland  (8vo,  1869) 
contains  what  is  practically  a  bibliographical  index  to  the  subject,  Brehm 
(father  and  sons).  Von  Droste,  Gatke,  Gloger,  Hintz,  Holtz,  Alexander 
and  Eugen  von  Homeyer,  Jackel,  Koch,  Konig-Warthausen,  Krliper, 
Kutter,  Landbeck,  Landois,  Leisler,  Leverkiihn,  Von  Maltzan,  Matschie, 
Bernard  Meyer,  Von  der  Miihle,  Neumann,  Tobias,  Johann  Wolf  and 
Zander.^  Were  we  to  extend  the  list  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the 
German  empire,  and  include  the  ornithologists  of  Austria,  Bohemia  and 
the  other  states  subject  to  the  same  monarch,  the  number  would  be  nearly 
doubled  ;  but  that  would  overpass  our  proposed  limits,  though  Von 
Pelzeln  must  be  named.  ^  Passing  onward  to  Switzerland,  we  must  con- 
tent ourselves  by  referring  to  the  list  of  works,  forming  a  Bibliographia 
Ornithologica  Helvetica,  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Stolker  for  Dr.  Fatio's  Bulletin 
de  la  Socide  Ornithologique  Suisse  (ii.  pp.  90-119);  but  the  latter  has 
already  published  a  Catalogue  Distributif  of  Swiss  Birds,  of  which  a  third 
edition  appeared  in  1892,  and  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Studer  is  bringing 
out  a  more  elaborate  work  on  the  ornithology  of  the  country,  of  which 
two  parts  have  appeared.  As  to  Italy,  we  have  to  name  here  the  Fauna 
d' Italia,  of  which  the  second  part,  Uccelli  (8vo,  1872),  by  Count  T. 
Salvadori,  contained  an  excellent  bibliography  of  Italian  works  on  the 
subject,  while  his  Elenco  degli  Uccelli  Italiani  (Gen ova:  1887)  is  drawn  up 
with  his  characteristic  thoroughness.  Then  there  is  the  posthumously 
published  Ornitologia  Italiana  of  Savi  (3  vols,  8vo,  1873-77).  But  the 
country  rejoices  in  what  may  be  called  an  official  Ornithology.  This  is 
the  Avifauna  Italica  of  Prof.  Giglioli,  and  consists  of  four  volumes  pub- 

^  This  is  of  course  no  complete  list  of  German  ornithologists.  Some  of  the  most 
eminent  of  them  have  written  scarcely  a  line  on  the  Birds  of  their  own  country,  as 
Cabanis  (editor  from  1853  to  1893  of  the  Jcwrnalfur  Ornithologie),  Finsch,  Hartlanb, 
Hartert,  Heine,  A.  Konig,  Prince  Max  of  Wied,  A.  B.  Meyer,  Nathusius,  Nehrkorn, 
Eeichenbach  and  Schalow  among  others.  In  1889  Dr.  Eeichenow,  of  whom  more 
hereafter,  published  a  convenient  Systemcdisches  Verzeichniss  der  Vogel  Deutschlands 
und  des  angrenzenden  Mittel-Europas. 

^  An  ornithological  bibliography  of  the  Austrian-Hungarian  dominions  was  printed 
in  the  Verhandlungen  of  the  Zoological  and  Botanical  Society  of  Vienna  for  1878, 
by  Victor  Bitter  von  Tschusi  zu  Schmidhofen.  A  similar  bibliography  of  Eussian 
Ornithology  by  Alexander  Brandt  was  printed  at  St.  Petersburg  in  1877  or  1S78. 


40  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

lished  at  Florence  between  1886  and  1891,  in  which  the  subject  is  treated 
in  the  greatest  detail,  owing  to  the  multitude  of  observers  by  whom  the 
author  was  assisted,  with  the  result  that  Ornithology  stands  in  Italy  on  a 
footing  different  from  that  which  it  occupies  in  any  other  nation.  But  it 
is  pleasing  to  observe  that  this  official  recognition  has  not  checked  inde- 
pendent work,  and  the  number  of  local  Italian  faunas  is  far  too  great 
to  be  here  particularized.^  Coming  to  the  Iberian  peninsula,  we  must  in 
default  of  separate  works  depart  from  our  rule  of  not  mentioning  contribu- 
tions to  journals,  for  of  the  former  there  are  only  Col.  Irby's  Ornithology 
of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  (8vo,  1875  ;  ed.  2,  1895)2  and  Mr.  A.  C.  Smith's 
Spring  Tour  in  Portugal  ^  to  be  named,  and  these  but  partially  cover  the 
ground.  However,  Dr.  A.  E.  Brehm  has  published  a  list  of  Spanish  Birds 
{Allgem.  deutsclie  Naturhist.  Zeitung,  iii.  p.  431),  and  The  Ibis  contains 
several  excellent  papers  by  Lord  Lilford  and  Ijy  Mr.  Saunders,  the  latter 
of  whom  there  records  (1871,  p.  55)  the  few  works  on  Ornithology  by 
Spanish  authors,  and  in  the  Bulletin  de  la  SociA^  Zoologique  de  France  (i. 
p.  315  ;  ii.  pp.  11,  89,  185)  has  given  a  list  of  the  Spanish  Birds  known 
to  him.4 

Returning  northwards,  we  have  of  the  Birds  of  the  whole  of  France, 
apart  from  Western  Europe,  nothing  of  real  importance  more  recent  than 
the  Oiseaux  in  Vieillot's  Faune  Frangaise  (8vo,  1822-29)  ;  but  there  is  a 
great  number  of  local  publications  of  which  Mr.  Saunders  has  furnished 
(Zoologist,  1878,  pp.  95-99)  a  catalogue.  Some  of  these  have  appeared  in 
journals,  but  many  have  been  issued  separately.  Those  of  most  interest 
to  English  ornithologists  naturally  refer  to  Britanny,  Normandy  and 
Picardy,  and  are  by  Baillon,  Benoist,  Blandin,  Bureau,  Canivet,  Chesnon, 
Degland,  Demarle,  De  Norguet,  Gentil,  Hardy,  Lemetteil,  Lemonnicier, 
Lesauvage,  Maignon,  Marcotte,  Nourry  and  Tasl^,  while  perhaps  the  Orni- 
thologie  Parisienne  of  M.  Rene  Paquet,  under  the  pseudonym  of  N^rde 
Qudpat,  should  also  be  named.  Of  the  rest  the  most  important  are  the 
Ornithologie  Provengale  of  Roux  (2  vols.  4to,  1825-29)  ;  Risso's  Histoire 
naturelle  .  .  .  .  des  environs  de  Nice  (5  vols.  8vo,  1826-27)  ;  the  Orni- 
thologie du  Dauphin^  oi  Bouteille.  and  Labatie  (2  vols.  8vo,  1843-44)  ;  the 
Ornithologie  du  Gard  (8vo,U840)  and  Faune  Meridionale  of  Crespon  (2  vols. 
Svo,  1844)  ;  the  Ornithologie  de  la  Savoie  of  Bailly  (4  vols.  8vo,  1853-54), 
and  Les  Bichesses  ornithologiques  du  midi  de  la  France  (4to,  1859-61)  of 
MM.  Jaubert  and  Barthelemy-Lapommeraye.  For  Belgium  the  Faune 
Beige  of  Baron  De   Selys-Longchamps   (8vo,    1842)  long  remained  the 

^  A  compendium  of  Greek  and  Turkish  Ornithology  by  Drs.  Kriiper  and  Hartlaub 
is  contained  in  Mommsen's  Griechische  Jahrzeiten  for  1875  (Heft  III.).  For  other 
countries  in  the  Levant  there  are  Canon  Tristram's  Fauna  and  Flora  of  Palestine 
(4to,  1884)  and  Capt.  Shelley's  Handbook  to  the  Birds  of  Egypt  (Svo,  1872). 

2  Mr.  Abel  Chapman's  Wild  Spain  (London :  1893)  contains  a  considerable 
quantity  of  ornithological  information,  chiefly  from  the  sportsman's  point  of  view. 

^  In  the  final  chapter  of  this  work  the  author  gives  a  list  of  Portuguese  Birds, 
including  beside  those  observed  by  him  those  recorded  by  Prof.  Barboza  du  Socage 
in  the  Gazeta  Medica  de  Lisboa,  1861,  pp.  17-21. 

■*  Certain  papers  published  at  Corunna  by  a  Galician  ornithologist  require  an 
explanation  (c/.  Sherborn,  Ann,  <&  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  6,  xiv.  p.  154),  which  has 
not  and  probably  never  will  be  given. 


INTRODUCTION  41 


classical  work,  though  the  Planches  colmees  des  Oiseaux  de  la  Belgique  of 
the  late  M.  Ch.  F.  Dubois  (8vo,  1851-60)  was  so  much  more  recent.  To 
this  followed,  in  1861-64,  a  supplementary  volume,  which,  by  including 
species  not  found  in  Belgium,  justified  an  extension  of  the  title  of  the 
whole  to  Planches  colorizes  cles  Oiseaux  de  I' Europe  ;  while  between  1876 
and  1887,  his  son.  Dr.  Alphonse  Dubois,  devoted  to  Birds  four  volumes 
of  his  Faune  illustree  des  Verte'bre's  de  la  Belgique  (gr.  8vo),  a  work  remark- 
able for  the  introduction  of  small  maps  shewing  the  author's  view  of  the 
geographical  range  of  the  several  species.  In  regard  to  Holland  we  have 
Schlegel's  De  Vogels  van  Nederland  (3  vols.  Svo,  1854-58;  ed.  2,  2  vols. 
1878),  besides  his  De  Dieren  van  Nederland:   Vogels  (8vo,  1861).^ 

Here  it  may  be  well  to  cast  a  glance  on  a  few  of  the  works  that  refer 
to  Europe  in  general,  the  more  so  since  most  of  them  are  of  Continental 
origin.  First  we  have  the  already-mentioned  Manuel  d' Ornithologie  of 
Temminck,  which  originally  appeared  as  a  single  volume  in  1815  ^  ;  but  was 
speedily  superseded  by  the  second  edition  of  1820,  in  two  volumes.  Two 
supplementary  parts  were  issued  in  1835  and  1840  respectively,  and  the 
work  for  many  years  deservedly  maintained  the  highest  position  as  the 
authority  on  European  Ornithology  —  indeed  in  England  it  may  almost 
without  exaggeration  be  said  to  have  been  nearly  the  only  foreign 
ornithological  work  known  ;  but,  as  may  well  be  expected,  grave  defects 
are  now  to  be  discovered  in  it.  Some  of  them  were  already  manifest 
when  one  of  its  author^s  colleagues,  Schlegel  (who  had  been  employed  to 
write  the  text  for  Susemihl's  plates,  originally  intended  to  illustrate 
Temminck's  work),  brought  out  his  bilingual  Revue  critiqxie  des  Oiseaux 
d'Europe  (8vo,  1844),  a  very  remarkable  volume,  since  it  correlated  and 
consolidated  the  labours  of  French  and  German,  to  say  nothing  of  Eussian, 
ornithologists.  Of  Gould's  Birds  of  Europe  (5  vols.  fol.  1832-37)  nothing 
need  be  added  to  what  has  been  already  said.  The  year  1849  saw  the 
publication  of  Degland's  Ornithologie  Europ^enne  (2  vols.  8vo),  a  work  fully 
intended  to  take  the  place  of  Temminck's  ;  but  of  which  Bonaparte,  in 
a  caustic  but  well-deserved  Revue  Critique  (12mo,  1850),  said  that  the 
author  had  performed  a  miracle  since  he  had  worked  without  a  collection 
of  specimens  and  without  a  library.  A  second  edition,  revised  by  M. 
Gerbe  (2  vols.  8vo,  1867),  strove  to  remedy,  and  to  some  extent  did 
remedy,  the  grosser  errors  of  the  first,  but  enough  still  remain  to  make 
few  statements  in  the  work  trustworthy  unless  corroborated  by  other 
evidence.  Meanwhile  in  England  the  late  Dr.  Bree  in  1858  began  the 
publication  of  The  Birds  of  Europe  not  observed  in  the  British  Isles  (4  vols. 
Svo),  which  was  completed  in  1863,  and  in  1875  reached  a  second  and 
improved  edition  (5  vols.).  In  1870-1  Dr.  Anton  Fritsch  brought  out  his 
Naturgeschichte  der  Vdgel  Europas  (8vo,  with  atlas  in  folio)  ;  and  in  1871 
Messrs.  Sharpe  and  Dresser  began  the  publication  of  their  Birds  of  Europe, 
which  was  finished  by  the  latter  alone  in  1879  (8  vols.  4to),  and  is  unques- 
tionably the  most  complete  work  of  its  kind,  both  for  fulness  of  informa- 
tion and  beauty  of  illustration — the  coloured  plates  being  nearly  all  by  Mr. 

^  There  are  several  important  papers  on  Dutch  Ornithology  by  Albarda,  Blaauw, 
Biittikofer,  Crommelin,  Jentink  and  others. 

^  Copies  are  said  to  exist  bearing  the  date  1814. 


42  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

Keulemans  or  Mr.  Neale.  In  so  liuge  an  undertaking  mistakes  and  omis- 
sions are  of  course  to  be  found  if  any  one  likes  the  invidious  task  of  seeking 
for  them ;  but  many  of  the  errors  imputed  to  this  work  prove  on  investi- 
gation to  refer  to  matters  of  opinion  rather  than  of  fact,  while  many  more 
are  explicable  if  we  remember  that  while  the  work  was  in  progress 
Ornithology  was  being  prosecuted  with  unprecedented  activity,  and  thus 
statements  which  were  in  accordance  with  the  best  information  at  the 
beginning  of  the  period  were  found  to  need  modification  before  it 
was  ended.  As  a  whole  European  ornithologists  liave  been  all  but 
unanimously  grateful  to  Mr.  Dresser  for  the  way  in  which  he  brought 
this  enormous  labour  to  a  successful  end.  A  ^ufflement  to  his  work  is 
now  nearly  finished.  The  late  M.  des  Murs  in  1886  completed  his 
Description  des  Oiseaux  d'Eui-ojje  (4  vols.  gr.  8vo),  with  coloured  figures  of 
the  Birds  and  of  their  eggs,  but  it  is  rather  a  popular  than  a  scientific 
work.  The  Contrihidions  a  la  Faune  ornithologique  de  I'Europe  Occidentale 
of  the  late  M.  Olphe-Galliard,  contained  in  41  fascicules  between  1884 
and  1892,  is  an  important  work,  involving  a  vast  amount  of  research,  and 
composed  in  a  highly  original  way.  The  author  was  well  read  in  orni- 
thological literature,  for  he  had  the  accomplishment,  rare  among  his 
countrymen,  of  a  good  acquaintance  with  modern  languages  not  his  own, 
and  was  especially  observant  of  the  doings  of  foreign  naturalists.  Yet 
the  work  cannot  be  called  wholly  successful,  and  this  chiefly,  it  would 
seem,  through  the  want  of  autoptical  acquaintance  with  many  of  the 
species  treated,  or  at  least  with  a  suflicient  series  of  specimens,  whereby 
he  has  been  led  to  rely  too  much  on  the  descriptions  of  others,  with  the 
usual  unsatisfactory  result.  Still  the  work  fully  deserves  attention,  and 
nothing  need  be  said  of  the  author's  fanciful  classification,  for  no  one  is 
likely  to  follow  it.  In  1890  Mr.  Backhouse  brought  out  a  convenient 
little  Handbook  of  Eurojpean  Birds.^ 

Coming  now  to  works  on  British  Birds  only,  the  first  of  the  present 
century  that  requires  remark  is  Montagu's  Ornithological  Dictionary  (2 
vols.  8vo,  1802  ;  supplement  1813),  the  merits  of  which  have  been  so 
long  and  so  fully  acknowledged,  both  abroad  and  at  home  that  no  further 
comment  is  here  wanted.  In  1831  Rennie  bi'ought  out  a  modified 
edition  of  it  (reissued  in  1833),  and  Newman  another  in  1866  (reissued 
in  1883)  ;  but  those  who  wish  to  know  the  author's  views  should  consult 
the  original.  Next  in  order  come  the  very  inferior  British  Ornithology  of 
Graves  (3  vols.  8vo,  1811-21  ;  ed.  2,  1821),  and  a  better  work  with  the 
same  title  by  Hunt^  (3  vols.  8vo,  1815-22),  published  at  Norwich,  but 
never  finished.  Then  we  have  Selby's  Illustrations  of  British  Ornithology, 
two  folio  volumes  of  coloured  plates  engraved  by  himself,  between  1821 
and  1833,  with  letterpress  also  in  two  volumes  (8vo,  1825-33),  a  second 

^  Herr  Gatke's  remarkable  Yogelwarte  Helgoland  (Braunschweig:  1891),  which 
treats  of  much  more  thau  European  ornithology,  has  been  elsewhere  (Migration,  p. 
562)  mentioned.  It  remaius  to  say  that  a  fair  English  translation  by  Mr.  Rosenstock, 
with  a  preface  by  Mr.  Harvie-BrowTi,  has  appeared  under  the  title  of  Heligoland 
as  an  Ornitliological  Observatory  (Edinburgh  :   1895). 

^  The  text  was  written,  I  was  told  by  the  late  Mr.  Joseph  Clarke,  by  R.  C. 
Coxe,  who  was  a  schoolboy  when  it  was  begun,  but  died  in  1863  Archdeacon  of 
liindisfarne. 


INTRODUCTION  43 


edition  of  the  first  volume  being  also  issued  (1833),  for  the  author,  having 
yielded  to  the  pressure  of  the  "  Quinarian "  doctrines  then  in  vogue, 
thought  it  necessary  to  adjust  his  classification  accordingly,  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  for  information  the  second  edition  is  best.  In  1828 
Fleming  brought  out  his  History  of  British  Animals  (8vo),  in  which  the 
Birds  are  treated  at  considerable  length  Qjp.  41-146),  though  not  with 
great  success.  In  1835  Jenyns  (afterwards  Blomefield)  produced  an 
excellent  Manual  of  British  Vertebrate  Animals,  a  volume  (8vo)  executed 
with  great  scientific  skill,  the  Birds  again  receiving  due  attention  ([)p. 
49-286),  and  the  descriptions  of  the  various  species  being  as  accurate  as 
they  are  ^terse.^  In  the  same  year  began  the  Coloured  Illustrations  of 
British  Birds  and  their  Eggs  of  H.  L.  Meyer  (4to),  which  was  completed  in 
1843,  whereof  a  second  edition  (7  vols.  8vo,  1842-50)  was  brought  out, 
and  subsequently  (1852-57)  a  reissue  of  the  latter.  In  1836  appeared 
Eyton's  History  of  the  rarer  British  Birds,  intended  as  a  sequel  to  Bewick's 
well-known  volumes,  to  which  no  important  additions  had  been  made 
since  the  issue  of  1821.  The  year  1837  saw  the  beginning  of  two 
remarkable  works  by  Macgillivray  and  Yarrell  respectively,  and  each 
entituled  A  History  of  British  Birds.  Of  the  first,  undoubtedly  the  more 
original  and  in  many  respects  the  more  minutely  accurate,  mention  will 
again  have  to  be  made,  and,  save  to  state  that  its  five  volumes  were  not 
completed  till  1852,  nothing  more  needs  now  to  be  added.  The  second 
unquestionably  became  the  standard  work  on  British  Ornithology,  a  fact 
due  in  part  to  its  numerous  illustrations,  many  of  them  indeed  ill  drawn, 
though  all  carefully  engraved,  but  much  more  to  the  breadth  of  the 
author's  views  and  the  judgment  with  which  they  were  set  forth.  In 
practical  acquaintance  with  the  internal  structure  of  Birds,  and  in  the 
perception  of  its  importance  in  classification,  he  was  certainly  not  behind 
his  rival ;  but  he  well  knew  that  his  public  in  a  Book  of  Birds  not  only 
did  not  want  a  series  of  anatomical  treatises,  but  would  even  resent  their 
introduction.  He  had  the  art  to  conceal  his  art,  and  his  work  was  there- 
lore  a  success,  while  the  other  was  unhappily  a  failure.  Yet  with  all  his 
knowledge  he  was  deficient  in  some  of  the  qualities  which  a  great 
naturalist  ought  to  possess.  His  conception  of  what  his  work  should  be 
seems  to  have  been  perfect,  his  execution  was  not  equal  to  the  conception. 
However,  he  was  not  the  first  nor  will  he  be  the  last  to  fall  short  in  this 
respect.  For  him  it  must  be  said  that,  whatever  may  have  been  done  by 
the  generation  of  British  ornithologists  now  becoming  advanced  in  life, 
he  educated  them  to  do  it ;  nay,  his  influence  even  extends  to  a  younger 
generation  still,  though  they  may  hardly  be  aware  of  it.  Of  Yarrell's 
work  in  three  volumes,  a  second  edition  was  published  in  1845,  a  third 
in  1856,  and  a  fourth,  begun  in  1871,  and  almost  wholly  rewritten,  was 
finished  in  1885  by  Mr.  Saunders,  who  in  1888  and  1889,  carrying  out 
the  suggestion  of  a  brother  ornithologist,  skilfully  condensed  the  whole 
into  a  single  volume,  forming  a  useful  Manual  of  British  Birds,  illustrated 
by  the  same  figures  as  the  larger  work.  Of  other  compilations  based  upon 
it,  without  which  they  could  not  have  been  composed,  there  is  no  need  to 

^  A  series  of  MS.  notes  which  he  gave  to  the  Cambridge  Museum  shews  that  he 
was  largely  aided  by  his  brother-in-law  Henslow,  the  botanist. 


44  DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 

speak.  1  One  of  the  few  appearing  since,  with  the  same  scope,  that  are  not 
borrowed  is  Jardine's  Birds  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  (4  vols.  8vo, 
1838-43),  forming  part  of  his  Naturalist's  Library  ;  and  Gould's  Birds 
of  Great  Britain  has  been  already  mentioned.^  Two  imposing  folios,  with 
very  good  plates  by  Mr.  Keulemans,  were  issued  with  the  title  of  Rough 
Notes  on  Birds  in  the  British  Islands  during  1881  to  1887,  by  the  late 
Mr.  Booth  (whose  "  Museum  "  is  one  of  the  popular  sights  of  Brighton), 
and  contain  a  great  number  of  personal  observations,  though  few  of  any 
novelty  or  value,  while  as  a  record  of  butchery  the  work  fortunately  stands 
alone.  Lord  Lilford's  Coloured  Figures  of  the  Birds  of  the  British  Islands, 
begvm  in  1885  and  now  nearly  completed,  has  given  great  pleasure  to 
many  lovers  of  Birds,  by  whom  such  a  series  of  plates  was  strongly 
desired,  for  they  are  generally  good,  and  some  of  the  latest,  by  Mr. 
Thorburn,  are  exquisite.^ 

The  good  effects  of  "Faunal"  works  such  as  those  named  in  the  fore- 
going rapid  survey  none  can  doubt.  "  Every  kingdom,  every  province, 
should  have  its  own  monographer,"  wrote  Gilbert  White,  and  experience 
has  proved  the  truth  of  his  assertion.      It  is  from  the  labours  of  mono- 

•'  Yet  two  of  them  have  attained  great  popularity,  and  have  exerted  such  an  in- 
fluence in  this  country,  that  as  a  matter  of  history  their  authors,  both  deceased,  must 
here  be  named,  though  I  would  willingly  pass  them  over,  for  I  have  not  a  word  to 
say  in  favour  of  either.  By  every  well-informed  ornithologist  the  History  of  British 
Birds  of  Mr.  Morris  has  long  been  known  to  possess  no  authority ;  but  about  Mr. 
Seebohm's  volumes  with  the  same  title  there  is  much  difference  of  opinion,  some  hold- 
ing them  in  high  esteem.  The  greater  part  of  their  text,  when  it  is  correct,  will  be 
found  on  examination  to  be  a  paraphrase  of  what  others  had  already  %vritten,  for 
even  the  information  given  on  the  author's  personal  experience,  which  was  doubtless 
considerable,  extends  little  or  no  further.  But  all  this  is  kept  studiously  out  of  sight, 
and  the  whole  is  so  skilfully  dressed  as  to  make  the  stalest  observations  seem  novel 
— a  merit,  I  am  assured,  in  some  eyes.  Of  downright  errors  and  wild  conjectures  there 
are  enough,  and  they  are  confidently  asserted  with  the  misuse  of  language  and  absence 
of  reasoning  power  that  mark  all  the  author's  writings,  though  the  air  of  scientific 
treatment  assumed  throughout  has  deluded  many  an  unwary  reader. 

^  Though  contravening  our  plan,  we  must  for  its  great  merits  notice  here  the  late 
Mr.  More's  series  of  papers  in  The  Jbis  for  1865,  "On  the  Distribution  of  Birds  in 
Great  Britain  during  the  Nesting  Season." 

^  Local  ornithologies  are  far  too  numerous  to  be  named  at  length.  Fortunately 
Mr.  Christy  has  published  a  Catalogue  of  them  {Zool.  1890,  pp.  247-267,  and 
separately,  London:  1891),  and  only  a  few  of  the  most  remarkable  and  the  most 
recent  need  here  be  mentioned.  'The  first  three  volumes  of  Thompson's  Natural 
History  of  Ireland  (1849-51)  cannot  be  passed  over,  as  containing  an  excellent 
account,  to  equal  which  no  approach  has  since  been  made,  of  the  Birds  of  that 
country,  though  there  are  many  important  papers  by  later  Irish  ornithologists,  as 
Messrs.  Barrett-Hamilton,  Blake-Knox,  H.  L.  Jameson,  R.  Paterson,  Ussher  and 
Warren,  and  conspicuously  by  Mr.  Barrington.  For  North  Britain,  Robert  Gray's 
Birds  of  the  West  of  Scotland  (1871),  and  the  series  of  district  Vertebrate  Faunas,  begun 
by  Messrs.  Harvie-Bro^vn  and  T.  E.  Buckley,  of  which  7  volumes  have  now  appeared — 
treating  of  (1)  Sutherland,  Caithness  and  West  Cromarty,  (2)  Outer  Hebrides,  (3)  Argyll 
and  Inner  Hebrides,  (4)  lona  and  Mull  (this  by  Graham),  (5)  Orkney  and  (6  and  7) 
Moray — while  others,  as  Dee  and  Shetland,  are  in  progress,  calls  for  especial  remark,  as 
does  Mr.  Muirhead's  Birds  of  Beru-ickshire  (2  vols.  1889-96)  ;  but  for  want  of  space 
many  meritorious  papers  in  journals,  by  Alston,  Dalgleish,  W.  Evans,  Lumsden  and  others 
must  here  be  unnoticed.  The  local  works  on  English  Birds  are  still  more  numerous, 
but  among  them  may  be  especially  named  the  oldest  of  all,  Tucker's  unfinished  Orni- 
thologia  Danmoniensis  (4to,  1809),  an  ambitious  work  of  which  not  even  the  whole  of 


INTRODUCTION  43 


graphers  of  this  kind,  but  on  a  more  extended  scale,  when  brought  together, 
that  the  valuable  results  follow  which  inform  us  as  to  Geographical 
Distribution.  Important  as  they  are,  they  do  not  of  themselves  con- 
stitute Ornithology  as  a  science ;  and  an  enquiry,  no  less  wide  and  far 
more  recondite,  still  remains — that  having  for  its  object  the  discovery  of 
the  natural  groups  of  Birds,  and  the  mutual  relations  of  those  groups, 
which  has  always  been  of  the  deepest  interest,  and  to  it  we  must  now  recur. 
But  nearly  all  the  authors  above  named,  it  will  have  been  seen,  trod 
the  same  ancient  paths,  and  in  the  works  of  scarcely  one  of  them  had 
any  new  spark  of  intelligence  been  struck  out  to  enlighten  the  gloom 
which  surrounded  the  investigator.  It  is  now  for  us  to  trace  the  rise  of 
the  present  more  advanced  school  of  ornithologists  whose  labours,  pre- 
liminary as  we  must  still  regard  them  to  be,  yet  give  signs  of  far  greater 
promise.  It  would  probably  be  unsafe  to  place  its  origin  further  back 
than  a  few  scattered  hints  contained  in  the  '  Pterographische  Fragmente ' 
of  Christian  Ludwig  Nitzsch,  published  in  the  Magazin  fiir  den  neuesten 
Zustand  der  Naturkunde  (edited  by  Voigt)  for  May  1806  (xi.  pp.  393-417), 
and  even  these  might  be  left  to  pass  unnoticed,  were  it  not  that  we  recog- 
nize in  them  the  germ  of  the  great  work  which  the  same  admirable 
zoologist  subsequently  accomplished.  In  these  "  Fragments,"  apparently 
his  earliest  productions,  we  find  him  engaged  on  the  subject  with  which 
his  name  will  always  be  especially  identified,  the  structure  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  feathers  that  form  the  proverbial  characteristic  of  Birds. 
But,  though  the  observations  set  forth  in  this  essay  were  sufficiently 
novel,  there  is  not  much  in  them  that  at  the  time  would  have  attracted 
attention,  for  perhaps  no  one — not  even  the  author  himself — could  have 
then  foreseen  to  what  important  end  they  would,  in  conjunction  with 
other  investigations,  lead  future  naturalists  ;  but  they  are  marked  by  the 
close  and  patient  determination  that  eminently  distinguishes  all  the  work 
of  their  author  ;  and,  since  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  return  to  this 

the  somewhat  turgid  Introduction  was  published  ;  but  the  two  parts  printed  shew  the 
author  to  have  been  a  physiologist,  anatomist  and  outdoor-observer  far  beyond  most 
men  of  his  time,  beside  being  of  a  philosophical  turn,  well  acquainted  with  literature, 
and  an  agTeeable  writer.  At  a  long  interval  follow  Dillwyn's  Fauna  and  Mora  of 
Stvansea  (1848) ;  Knox's  Ornithological  Rambles  in  Sussex  (1849)  ;  Mr.  Harting's 
Birds  of  Middlesex  (1866)  ;  Stevenson's  Birds  of  Norfolk  (3  vols.  1866-90,  completed 
by  Mr.  Southwell)  ;  Cecil  Smith's  Birds  of  Somerset  (1869)  and  of  Guernsey  (1879)  ; 
Mr.  CoTdea,nx's  Birds  of  the  Jlicmber  District  (1872)  ;  Hancock's  Birds  of  Korthu7nber- 
land  and  Durham  (1874) ;  The  Birds  of  Nottinghamshire  by  Messrs.  Sterland  and 
Whitaker  (1879) ;  Eodd's  Birds  of  Cornwall,  edited  by  Mr.  Harting  (1880) ;  the 
Vertebrate  Fauna  of  Yorkshire  (1881),  in  which  the  Birds  are  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Clarke  ; 
ChurchiU  Babington's  Birds  of  Suffolk  (1884-6)  ;  and  Mr.  A.  C.  Smith's  Birds  of 
Wiltshire  (1887).  Since  the  publication  of  Mr.  Christy's  Catalogue  a  few  more  have 
to  be  briefly  mentioned,  and  first  his  own  volume  on  the  Birds  of  Essex  (1890),  while 
those  of  Sussex  were  treated  in  1891  by  Mr.  Borrer  ;  Worcestershire  (1891)  by  Mr. 
Willis  Bund;  Devonshire  (1891)  by  Mr.  Pidsley  and  (1892)  by  Messrs.  D'Urban  and 
Mathew  (Suppl.  and  fed.  2,  1895);  Lakeland  (1892)  by  Mr.  H.  A.  Macpherson  ; 
Lancashire  (ed.  2,  1893)  by  Mr.  F.  S.  Mitchell  ;  London  (1893)  by  Mr.  Swann  ; 
Derbyshire  (1893)  by  Mr.  Whitlock,  and  finally  Northamptonshire  (2  vols.  1895)  by 
Lord  Lilford.  The  papers  in  journals  are  countless,  but  almost  all  up  to  the  time  of 
compilation  are  contained  in  the  excellent  List  of  Faunal  Publications  relating  to 
British  Birds,  published  in  1880  by  Dr.  Coues  [Proc.  V,  S.  Nat.  Mus.  ii.  pp, 
359-482). 


46  DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 

part  of  the  subject  later,  there  is  here  no  need  to  say  more  of  them.  In 
the  following  year  another  set  of  hints  —  of  a  kind  so  different  that 
probably  no  one  then  living  would  have  thought  it  possible  that  they 
should  ever  be  brought  in  correlation  with  those  of  Nitzsch — are  con- 
tained in  a  memoir  on  Fishes  contributed  to  the  tenth  volume  of  the 
Annales  du  Museum  d'histoire  naturelle  of  Paris  by  Etienne  Geoffroy  St.- 
Hilaire  in  1807.^  Here  we  have  it  stated  as  a  general  truth  (p.  100) 
that  young  birds  have  the  sternum  formed  of  five  separate  pieces — one  in 
the  middle,  being  its  keel,  and  two  "  annexes  "  on  each  side  to  which  the 
ribs  are  articulated — all,  however,  finally  uniting  to  foi'm  the  single 
"breast-bone."  Further  on  (pp.  101,  102)  we  find  observations  as  to  the 
number  of  ribs  which  are  attached  to  each  of  the  "  annexes  " — there  being 
sometimes  more  of  them  articulated  to  the  anterior  than  to  the  posterior, 
and  in  certain  forms  no  ribs  belonging  to  ^one,  all  being  applied  to  the 
other.  Moreover,  the  author  goes  on  to  remark  that  in  adult  birds 
trace  of  the  origin  of  the  sternum  from  five  centres  of  ossification  is 
always  more  or  less  indicated  by  sutures,  and  that,  though  these  sutures 
had  been  generally  regarded  as  ridges  for  the  attachment  of  the  sternal 
muscles,  they  indeed  mark  the  extreme  p)oints  of  the  five  primary  bony 
pieces  of  the  sternum. 

In  1810  appeared  at  Heidelberg  the  first  volume  of  Tiedemann's 
carefully-wrought  Anatomie  und  Naturgeschichte  der  Vogel — which  shews 
a  remarkable  advance  upon  the  work  which  Cuvier  did  in  1805,  and  in 
some  respects  is  superior  to  his  later  production  of  1817.  It  is,  however, 
only  noticed  here  on  account  of  the  numerous  references  made  to  it  by 
succeeding  writers,  for  neither  in  this  nor  in  the  author's  second  volume 
(not  published  until  1814)  did  he  propound  any  systematic  arrangement 
of  the  Class.  More  germane  to  our  present  subject  are  the  Osteographische 
Beitrdge  zur  Naturgeschichte  der  Vogel  of  Nitzsch,  printed  at  Leipzig  in 
1811 — a  miscellaneous  set  of  detached  essays  on  some  peculiarities  of  the 
skeleton  or  portions  of  the  skeleton  of  certain  Birds — one  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  which  is  that  on  the  component  parts  of  the  foot  (pp. 
101  - 105)  pointing  out  the  aberration  from  the  ordinary  structure 
exhibited  by  Caprimulgus  (Nightjar)  and  Cypselus  (Swift) — an  aberration 
which,  if  rightly  understood,  would  have  conveyed  a  warning  to  these  orni- 
thological systematists  who  put  their  trust  in  Birds'  toes  for  characters  on 
which  to  erect  a  classification,  that  there  was  in  them  much  more  of 
importance,  hidden  beneath  the  integument,  than  had  hitherto  been 
suspected  ;  but  the  ■warning  w^as  of  little  avail,  if  any,  till  many  years 
had  elapsed.  However,  Nitzsch  had  not  as  yet  seen  his  way  to  proposing 
any  methodical  arrangement  of  the  various  groups  of  Birds,  and  it  was 
not  until  some  eighteen  months  later  that  a  scheme  of  classification  in 
the  main  anatomical  was  attempted. 

This  scheme  was  the  work  of  Blasius  Merrem,  who,  in  a  communica- 
tion to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Berlin  on  the  10th  December  1812, 
and  i^ublished  in  its  Abhandbmgen  for  the  following  year  (pp.  237-259), 

1  In  the  Philosojohie  Anatomique  (i.  pp.  69-101,  and  especially  pp.  135,  136), 
■which  appeared  in  1818,  Geoflfroy  St.-Hilaire  explained  the  views  he  had  adopted  at 
greater  length. 


INTRODUCTION  4r 


set  forth  a  Tentamen  Systematis  yiaturalis  Avium,  no  less'modestly  entitled 
than  modestly  executed.  The  attempt  of  Merrem  must  be  regarded  as  the 
virtual  starting-point  of  the  more  recent  efforts  in  Systematic  Ornithology, 
and  in  that  view  its  proposals  deserve  to  be  stated  at  length.  Some  of  its 
details,  as  is  only  natural,  cannot  be  sustained  with  our  present  knowledge, 
resulting  from  the  information  accumulated  by  various  investigators  through- 
out more  than  eighty  years  ;  but  it  is  certainly  not  too  much  to  say  that 
Merrem's  merits  are  incomparably  superior  to  those  of  any  of  his  pre- 
decessors as  well  as  to  those  of  the  majority  of  his  successors  for  a  long 
time  to  come  ;  while  the  neglect  of  his  treatise  by  many  (until  of  late  it 
would  not  be  erroneous  to  say  by  most)  of  those  who  have  since  written  on 
the  subject  seems  inexcusable  save  on  the  score  of  inadvertence.  Premising 
then  that  the  chief  characters  assigned  by  this  ill-appreciated  systematist  to 
his  several  groups  are  drawn  from  almost  all  parts  of  the  structure  of  Birds, 
and  are  supplemented  by  some  others  of  their  more  prominent  peculiarities, 
we  present  the  following  abstract  of  his  scheme  :  ^ — 

I.  AVES  OARINAT^. 

1.  Aves  aereag. 

A.  Rapaces. — a.  Accipitres — Vultur,  Falco,  Sagittarius. 

h.   Strix. 

B.  Hymenopodes. — a.  Chelidones  : 

a.  C.  nocturnse — Caprimulgus. 

j3.   C.  diurnse — Hirundo. 
b.  Oscines : 

a.  0.  conirostres — Loxia,  Fringilla,  Eviberiza,  Tan- 
gara. 

p.  0.  tenuirostres  —  Alauda,  Motacilla,  Muscicapa, 
Todus,  Lanius,  Ampelis,  Turdus,  Paradisea, 
Buphaga,  Sturnus,  Oriolus,  Gracula,  Coracias, 
Corvus,  Pipra  ?,  Panis,  Sitta,  Certhiie  qusedam. 

C.  Mellisugse. — Trochilus,  Certhiw  et  Vp'upse  plurimse. 

D.  Dendrocolaptse. — Picus,  Yunx. 

E.  Breviliugues.  — a.  TJpupa  ;  h.  Ispidm. 

F.  Levirostres. — a.  Raniphastus,  Scythrops  1 ;  b.  Psittacus, 

G.  Coccyges. — Cuculus,  Trogon,  Bucco,  Crotophaga. 

2.  Aves  terrestres. 

A.  Columha. 

B.  Gallinse. 

3.  Aves  aquaticae. 

A.  Odontorhynchi :  a.  Boscades — Anas  ;  h.  Mcrgus  ;  c.  Phcenicopterus. 

B.  Platyrhynchi. — Pelicanus,  Phaeton,  Plotus. 

C.  Aptenodytes. 

D.  Urinatrices  :    a.  Cepplii  —  Alca,   CoZymSi  pedibus  palmatis  ;    b.   Podiccps, 

Golymbi  pedibus  lobatis. 

E.  StenorhjTichi. — Procellaria,  Diomedea,  Larus,  Sterna,  Rhyncliops. 

4.  Aves  palustres. 

A.  Rusticolae  :  a.  Phalarides — Rallus,  Fulica,  Parra ;  h.  Limosugse — Numenius, 

Scolopax,  Tringa,  Gharadrius,  Recurvirostra. 

B.  Grallse :  a.  Erodii — Ardeie  imgue  intermedio  serrato,  Cancroma  ;  b.  Pelargi 

■ — Ciconia,  Mycteria,    Tantali  quidam,  Scopus,  Platalea ;    c.    Gerani — 
Ardew  cristatse,  Orues,  Psophia. 

C.  Otis. 

II.  Aves  RATiTiE. — Struthio, 

^  The  names  of  the  genera  are,  he  tells  us,  for  the  most  part  those  of  Linnsens, 
as  being  the  best-known,  though  not  the  best.     To  some  of  the  Linneean  genera  he 


48  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

The  most  novel  feature,  and  one  tlie  importance  of  wliicli  most 
ornithologists  of  the  present  day  are  fully  prepared  to  admit,  is  of  course 
the  separation  of  the  Class  Aves  into  two  great  Divisions,  which  from  one 
of  the  most  obvious  distinctions  they  present  were  called  by  its  author 
Carinatse  ^  and  Eatitx,^  according  as  the  sternum  possesses  a  keel  or  not. 
But  Merrem,  who  subsequently  communicated  to  the  Academy  of  Berlin 
a  more  detailed  memoir  on  the  "flat-breasted"  Birds,^  was  careful  not 
here  to  rest  his  Divisions  on  the  presence  or  absence  of  their  sternal 
character  alone.  He  concisely  cites  (p.  238)  no  fewer  than  eight  other 
characters  of  more  or  less  value  as  peculiar  to  the  Carinate  Division,  the 
first  of  which  is  that  the  feathers  have  their  barbs  furnished  with  hooks, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  barbs,  including  those  of  the  wing -quills, 
cling  closely  together  ;  while  among  the  rest  may  be  mentioned  the 
position  of  the  furcula  and  coracoids,^  which  keep  the  wing-bones  apart ; 
the  limitation  of  the  number  of  the  lumbar  vertebrae  to  fifteen,  and  of  the 
carpals  to  two  ;  as  well  as  the  divergent  direction  of  the  iliac  bones, — the 
corresponding  characters  peculiar  to  the  Eatite  Division  being  (p.  259) 
the  disconnected  condition  of  the  barbs  of  the  feathers,  through  the 
absence  of  any  hooks  whereby  they  might  cohere  ;  the  non-existence  of 
the  furcula,  and  the  coalescence  of  the  coracoids  with  the  scapulae  (or,  aa 
he  expressed  it,  the  extension  of  the  scapnlte  to  supply  the  place  of  the 
coracoids,  which  he  thought  were  wanting)  ;  the  lumbar  vertebrse  being 
twenty  and  the  carpals  three  in  number  ;  and  the  parallelism  of  the  iliac 
bones. 

As  for  Merrem's  partitioning  of  the  inferior  groups  there  is  less  to  be 
said  in  its  praise  as  a  whole,  though  credit  must  be  given  to  his  anatomical 
knowledge  for  leading  him  to  the  perception  of  several  afiinities,  as  well 
as  diff'erences,  that  had  never  before  been  suggested  by  superficial 
systematists.  But  it  must  be  confessed  that  (chiefly,  no  doubt,  from 
paucity  of  accessible  material)  he  overlooked  many  points,  both  of  alliance 
and  the  opposite,  which  since  his  time  have  gradually  come  to  be 
admitted.  For  instance,  he  seems  not  to  have  been  aware  of  the  dis- 
tinction, already  shewn  by  Nitzsch  (as  above  mentioned)  to  exist,  between 
the  Swallows  and  the  Swifts ;  and,  by  putting  the  genus  Coracias  among  his 
Oscines  Tenuirostres  ^  without  any  remark,  proved  that  he  was  not  in  all 
respects  greatly  in  advance  of  his  age  ;  but  on  the  other  hand  he  most 
righteously  judged  that  some  species  hitherto  referred  to  the  genera 
Certhia  and  UpiqM  required  removal  to  other  positions,  and  it  is  much  to 

dare  uot,  however,  assign  a  place,  for  instance,  Buceros,  Heematopus,  Mero^js, 
Glareola  (Brisson's  genus,  by  the  way)  and  Palmnedea, 

^  From  carina,  a  keel. 

2  From  ratis,  a  raft  or  flat-bottomed  barge. 

2  "  Beschreibung  der  Gerippes  eines  Casuars  nebst  einigen  beilaufigeu  Bemer- 
kungen  iiber  die  fiachbriistigen  Vogel."  —  Abhandl.  der  Berlin.  Akademie,  Phys. 
Klasse,  1817,  pp.  179-198,  tabb.  i.-iii. 

*  Merrem,  as  did  many  others  in  his  time,  calls  the  cokacoids  "daviadw"  ;  but 
it  is  now  well  understood  that  in  Birds  the  real  daviculw  form  the  furcula. 

5  He  also  placed  the  genus  Todus  in  the  same  group,  but  it  must  be  Ijorne  iu  mind 
that  in  his  time  a  great  many  Birds  were  referred  to  that  genus  which  certainly  do 
uot  belong  to  it,  and  it  may  well  have  been  that  he  never  had  the  opportunity  of 
examining  a  specimen  of  the  genus  as  nov/adays  restricted. 


INTRODUCTION  4g 


be  regretted  that  the  very  concise  terms  in  whicli  his  decisions  were  given 
to  the  world  make  it  impossible  to  determine  with  any  degree  of  certainty 
the  extent  of  the  changes  in  this  respect  which  he  would  have  introduced. 
Had  Merrem  published  his  scheme  on  an  enlarged  scale,  it  seems  likely 
that  he  would  have  obtained  for  it  far  more  attention,  and  possibly  some 
portion  of  acceptance.  He  had  deservedly  attained  no  little  reputation 
as  a  descriptive  anatomist,  and  his  claims  to  be  regarded  as  a  systematic 
reformer  would  probably  have  been  admitted  in  his  lifetime.  As  it  was 
his  scheme  apparently  fell  flat,  and  not  until  many  years  had  elapsed  were 
its  merits  at  all  generally  recognized. 

Notice  has  next  to  be  taken  of  a  Memoir  on  the  Employment  of 
Sternal  Characters  in  establishing  Natural  Families  among  Birds,  which 
was  read  by  De  Blainville  before  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris  in 
1815,^  but  not  published  in  full  for  more  than  five  years  later  (Journ. 
de  Physique,  xcii.  pp.  185-215),  though  an  abstract  forming  part  of  a 
Prodrome  d'une  nouvelle  distribution  du  Regne  Animal,  appeared  earlier  {op. 
cit.  Ixxxiii.  pp.  252,  253,  258,  259  ;  and  Bull.  Soc.  Philomat.  Paris,  1816, 
p.  110).  This  is  a  very  disappointing  performance,  since  the  author 
observes  that,  notwithstanding  his  new  classification  of  Birds  is  based  on 
a  study  of  the  sternal  apparatus,  yet,  because  that  lies  wholly  within  the 
body,  he  is  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  such  outward  characters  as  are 
afforded  by  the  proportion  of  the  limbs  and  the  disposition  of  the  toes — 
even  as  had  been  the  practice  of  most  ornithologists  before  him  !  It  is 
evident  that  the  features  of  the  sternum  on  which  De  Blainville  chiefly 
relied,  though  he  states  the  contrary,  were  those  drawn  from  its  posterior 
margin,  which  no  very  extensive  experience  of  specimens  is  needed  to 
shew  are  of  comparatively  slight  value  ;  for  the  number  of  '^  ^chancrures" 
— notches  as  they  have  sometimes  been  called  in  English — when  they 
exist,  goes  but  a  very  short  way  as  a  guide,  and  is  so  variable  in  some  very 
natural  groups  as  to  be  even  in  that  short  way  occasionally  misleading.  ^ 
There  is  no  appearance  of  his  having  taken  into  consideration  the  far 
more  trustworthy  characters  furnished  by  the  anterior  part  of  the  sternum, 
as  well  as  by  the  coracoids  and  the  furcula.  Still  De  Blainville  made 
some  advance  in  a  right  direction,  as  for  instance  by  elevating  the  Parrots  ^ 
and  the  Pigeons  as  "  Ordres,"  equal  in  rank  to  that  of  the  Birds-of-Prey 
and  some  others.  According  to  the  testimony  of  L'Herminier  (for  whom 
see  later)  he  divided  the  "  Passereaux  "  into  two  sections,  the  "faiix  "  and 
the  "  vrais  "  ;  but,  while  the  latter  were  very  correctly  defined,  the  former 
were  most  arbitrarily  separated  from  the  "  Grimpeurs."  He  also  split  his 
Grallatores  and  Natatores  (practically  identical  with  the  Grallse.  and  Anseres 
of  Linnseus)  each  into  four  sections  ;  but  he  failed  to  see — as  on  his  own 
principles  he  ought  to  have  seen — that  each  of  these  sections  was  at  least 
equivalent  to  almost  any  one  of  his  other  "  Ordres."  He  had,  however, 
the  courage  to  act  up  to  his  own  professions  in  collocating  the  Rollers 

^  Nqt  1812,  as  has  sometimes  been  stated,  probably  on  his  own  authority  {loc.  cit. 
p.  110),  bat  this  seems  to  be  a  misprint  for  1815. 

2  Cf.  Philos.  Trans.  1869,  p.  337,  note. 

^  This  view  had  been  long  before  taken  by  Willughby,  but  abandoned  by  later 
authors. 


so  DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 

{Goracias)  with  the  Bee-eaters  (Merops),  and  had  the  sagacity  to  surmise 
that  Meiiura  was  not  a  Gallinaceous  Bird.  The  greatest  benefit  conferred 
by  this  memoir  probably  is  that  it  stimulated  the  efforts,  presently  to  be 
mentioned,  of  one  of  his  pupils,  and  that  it  brought  more  distinctly  into 
sight  that  other  feature  (page  ^S),  originally  discovered  by  Merrem,  of  which 
it  now  clearly  became  the  duty  of  systematizers  to  take  cognizance. 

Following  the  order  of  time  we  next  have  to  recur  to  the  labours  of 
Nitzsch,  who,  in  1820,  in  a  treatise  on  the  Nasal  Glands  of  Birds — a 
subject  that  had  already  attracted  the  attention  of  Jacobson  (Nouv.  Bull. 
Soc.  Philomat.  Paris,  iii.  pp.  267-269)— first  put  forth  in  Meckel's  Deutsches 
Archiv  fiir  die  Physiologie  (vi.  pp.  251-269)  a  statement  of  his  general 
views  on  ornithological  classification  which  were  based  on  a  comparative 
examination  of  those  bodies  in  various  forms.  It  seems  unnecessary  here 
to  occupy  space  by  giving  an  abstract  of  his  plan,i  which  hardly  includes 
any  but  European  species,  because  it  was  subsequently  elaborated  with  no 
inconsiderable  modifications  in  a  way  that  must  presently  be  mentioned 
at  greater  length.  But  the  scheme,  crude  as  it  was,  possesses  some 
interest.  It  is  not  only  a  key  to  much  of  his  later  work — to  nearly  all 
indeed  that  was  published  in  his  lifetime- — but  in  it  are  founded  several 
definite  groups  (for  example,  Passerinx  and  Picariee)  that  subsequent 
experience  has  shewn  to  be  more  or  less  natural ;  and  it  further  serves 
as  additional  evidence  of  the  breadth  of  his  views,  and  his  trust  in  the 
teachings  of  anatomy ;  for  it  is  clear  that,  if  organs  so  apparently 
insignificant  as  these  nasal  glands  were  found  worthy  of  being  taken  into 
account,  and  capable  of  forming  a  base  of  operations,  in  drawing  up  a 
system,  it  would  almost  follow  that  there  can  be  no  part  of  a  Bird's 
organization  that  by  proper  study  would  not  help  to  supply  some  means 
of  solving  the  great  question  of  its  affinities.  This  seems  to  be  one  of  the 
most  certain  general  truths  in  Zoology,  and  it  is  probably  admitted  in 
theory  to  be  so  by  most  zoologists,  but  their  practice  is  opposed  to  it ;  for, 
whatever  group  of  animals  be  studied,  it  is  found  that  one  set  or  another 
of  characters  is  the  chief  favourite  of  the  authors  consulted — each  gener- 
ally taking  a  separate  set,  and  that  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  instead 
of  effecting  a  combination  of  all  the  sets  and  taking  the  aggregate.  ^ 

That  Nitzsch  took  this  extended  view  is  abundantly  proved  by  the 
valuable  series  of  ornithotomical  observations  which  he  must  have  been 
for  some  time  accumulating,  and  almost  immediately  afterwards  began  to 
contribute  to  the  younger  Naumann's  excellent  Naturgeschichte  der  Vogel 
Deutschlands,  already  noticed.  Beside  a  concise  general  treatise  on  the 
Organization  of  Birds  to  be  found  in  the  introduction  to  that  work  (i.  pp. 

-  This  plan,  having  been  repeated  by  Schopss  in  1829  {op.  cit.  xii.  p.  73),  became 
known  to  Owen  in  1835,  who  then  drew  to  it  the  attention  of  Kirby  [Seventh  Bridge- 
water  Treatise,  ii.  pp.  444,  445),  and  in  the  next  year  referred  to  it  in  his  own  article 
"Aves"  (Todd's  Cyclop.  Anat.  i.  p.  226),  so  that  Englishmen  need  no  excuse  for  not 
being  aware  of  one  of  Nitzsch's  labours,  though  his  more  advanced  work  of  1829, 
presently  to  be  mentioned,  was  not  cited  by  Owen. 

2  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  Sijstema  Avium,  promulgated 
in  1830  by  Wagler  (a  man  with  great  knowledge  of  Birds)  in  his  Natilrliches  System, 
der  Am-phiUen  (pp.  77-128).  He  took  the  tongue  as  his  chief  guide,  and  found  it 
indeed  an  i:innily  member. 


INTRODUCTION  j/ 


23-52),  a  brief  description  from  Nitzsch's  pen  of  the  peculiarities  of  the 
internal  structure  of  nearly  every  genus  is  incorporated  with  the  author's 
prefatory  remarks,  as  each  passed  under  consideration,  and  these  de- 
scriptions being  almost  withoiit  exception  so  drawn  up  as  to  be  com- 
parative are  accordingly  of  great  utility  to  the  student  of  classification, 
though  they  have  been  greatly  neglected.  Upon  these  descriptions  he  was 
still  engaged  till  death,  in  1837,  put  an  end  to  his  labours,  when  his 
place  as  Naumann's  assistant  for  the  remainder  of  the  work  was  taken  by 
Rudolph  Wagner  ;  but,  from  time  to  time,  a  few  more,  which  he  had 
already  completed,  made  their  posthumous  appearance  in  it,  and,  even  in 
recent  years,  some  selections  from  his  unpublished  papers  have  through 
the  care  of  Giebel  been  presented  to  the  public.  Throughout  the  whole 
of  this  series  the  same  marvellous  industry  and  scrupulous  accuracy  are 
manifested,  and  attentive  study  of  it  will  shew  how  many  times  Nitzsch 
anticipated  the  conclusions  at  which  it.  took  some  modern  taxonomers  fifty 
years  to  arrive.  Yet  over  and  over  again  his  determination  of  the  affinities 
of  several  groups  even  of  European  Birds  was  disregarded  ;  and  his  labours, 
being  contained  in  a  bulky  and  costly  work,  were  hardly  known  at  all 
outside  of  his  own  country,  and  within  it  by  no  means  appreciated  so  much 
as  they  deserved  ^ — for  even  Naumann  himself,  who  gave  them  publication, 
and  was  doubtless  in  some  degree  influenced  by  them,  utterly  failed  to 
perceive  the  importance  of  the  characters  oftered  by  the  song-muscles  of 
certain  groups,  though  their  peculiarities  were  all  duly  described  and 
recorded  by  his  coadjutor,  as  some  indeed  had  been  long  before  by  Cuvier 
in  his  famous  dissertation  ^  on  the  organs  of  voice  in  Birds  {Legons  d'anat. 
com]),  iv.  pp.  450-491).  Nitzsch's  name  was  subsequently  dismissed  by 
Cuvier  without  a  word  of  praise,  and  in  terms  which  would  have  been 
applicable  to  many  another  and  inferior  author,  while  Temminck,  terming 
Naumann's  work  an  '■'■  ouvrage  de  luxe," — it  being  in  truth  one  of  the 
cheapest  for  its  contents  ever  published, — eff'ectually  shut  it  out  from  the 
realms  of  science.  In  Britain  it  seems  to  have  been  positively  unknown 
until  quoted  some  years  after  its  completion  by  a  catalogue-compiler  on 
account  of  some  peculiarities  of  nomenclature  which  it  presented.  ** 

Now  we  must  return  to  France,  where,  in  1827,  L'Herminier,  a  Creole 
of  Guadeloupe  and  a  pupil  of  De  Blainville's,  contributed  to  the  Ades  of 
the  Linnaean  Society  of  Paris  for  that  year  (vi.  pp.  3-93)  the  '  Recherches 
sur  I'appareil  sternal  des  Oiseaux,'  which  the  precept  and  example  of  his 
master  had  prompted  him  to  undertake,  and  Cuvier  had  found  for  him 
the  means  of  executing.  A  second  and  considerably  enlarged  edition  of 
this  very  remarkable  treatise  was  published  as  a  separate  work  in  the 
following  year.  We  have  already  seen  that  De  Blainville,  though  fully 
persuaded  of  the  great  value  of  sternal  features  as  a  method  of  classification, 
had  been  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  the  old  pedal  characters  so  often 

^  Their  value  was,  however,  understood  by  Gloger,  who  in  1834,  as  will  presently 
be  seen,  expressed  his  regret  at  not  being  able  to  use  them. 

^  Cuvier's  first  observations  on  the  subject  seem  to  have  appeared  in  the  Magazin 
EncyclopkliqiK  for  1795  (ii.  pp.  330,  358). 

^  However,  to  this  catalogue-compiler  my  gratitude  is  due,  for  thereby  I  became 
acquainted  with  the  work  and  its  merits. 


52 


DICTIONAR  V  OF  BIRDS 


employed  before  ;  but  now  the  scholar  had  learnt  to  excel  his  teacher,  and 
not  only  to  form  an  at  least  provisional  arrangement  of  the  various 
members  of  the  Class,  based  on  sternal  characters,  but  to  describe  these 
characters  at  some  length,  and  so  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  was  in 
him.  There  is  no  evidence,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  of  his  having  been  aware 
of  Merrem's  views  ;  but  like  that  anatomist  he  without  hesitation  divided 
the  Class  into  two  great  " coupes"  to  which  he  gave,  however,  no  other 
names  than  "  Oiseaux  Normaux "  and  "  Oiseaux  Anomaux" — exactly 
corresponding  with  his  predecessor's  Carinatse,  and  Batitx — and,  moreover, 
he  had  a  great  advantage  in  founding  these  groups,  since  he  had  discovered, 
apparently  from  his  own  investigations,  that  the  mode  of  ossification'in  each 
was  distinct ;  for  hitherto  the  statement  of  there  being  five  centres  of 
ossification  in  every  Bird's  sternum  seems  to  have  been  accepted  as  a 
general  truth,  without  contradiction,  whereas  in  the  Ostrich  and  the  Rhea, 
at  any  rate,  L'Herminier  found  that  there  were  but  two  such  primitive 
points,^  and  from  analogy  he  judged  that  the  same  would  be  the  case  with 
the  Cassowary  and  the  Emeu,  which,  with  the  two  forms  mentioned 
above,  made  up  the  whole  of  the  "  Oiseaux  Anomaux"  whose  existence  was 
then  generally  acknowledged.-  These  are  the  forms  which  composed  the 
Family  previously  termed  Cursores  by  De  Blainville  ;  but  L'Herminier 
was  able  to  distinguish  no  fewer  than  thirty-four  Families  of  "  Oiseaux 
Normaux,"  and  the  judgment  with  which  their  separation  and  definition 
were  effected  must  be  deemed  on  the  whole  to  be  most  creditable  to  him. 
It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  wealth  of  the  Paris  Museum, 
which  he  enj  oyed  to  the  full,  placed  him  in  a  situation  incomparably  more 
favourable  for  arriving  at  results  than  that  which  was  occupied  by  IMerrem, 
to  whom  many  of  the  most  remarkable  forms  were  inaccessible,  while 
L'Herminier  had  at  his  disposal  examples  of  nearly  every  type  then 
discovered.  But  the  latter  used  this  privilege  wisely  and  well — not,  after 
the  manner  of  De  Blainville  and  others  subsequent  to  him,  relying  solely 
or  even  chiefly  on  the  character  afforded  by  the  posterior  portion  of  the 
sternum,  but  taking  also  into  consideration  those  of  the  anterior,  as  well 
as  of  the  in  some  cases  still  more  important  characters  presented  by  the 
presternal  bones,  such  as  the  furcula,  coracoids  and  scapulae.  L'Herminier 
thus  separated  the  families  of  "  Normal  Birds  "  : — 


1.  "  Accipitres  " — Accipiires,  Linn. 

2.  "  Serpentaires "     —     Gypogeranus, 

Uliger. 

3.  "  Chouettes  " — Striz,  Linn. 

4.  "Touracos" — Opaetus,  Vieillot. 

5.  "Perroquets" — Psittacus,  Linn. 

6.  "Colibrls" — Trochilus,  Linn. 

7.  "Martinets" — Cypselus,  Illiger. 

8.  "  Engoulevents "    —    Caprimulgus, 

Linn. 

9.  "Concous" — Ouculus,  Linn. 


10.  "Couroucous" — Trogon,  Llnu. 

IL  "RoUiers" — Galgidus,  Brisson. 

12.  "Gugpiers" — Merops,  Linn. 

13.  "  Martins-Pecheurs  " — Alcedo,  Linn. 

14.  "Calaos" — Buceros,  Linn. 

15.  "Toucans" — Ramplmstos,  Linn. 

16.  "Pies" — Picus,  Linn. 

17.  "l^popsides" — Epopsides,  Vieillot. 

18.  "Passereaux" — Passeres,  Linn. 

19.  "Pigeons" — Columba,  hmn. 

20.  "  Gallinacds  "—  Gallinacea. 


^  This  fact  in  the  Ostrich  appears  to  have  been  known  already  to  GeoSroy  St.- 
Hilaire  from  his  own  observation  in  Egypt,  but  does  not  seem  to  have  been  published 
by  him. 

^  Considerable  doubts  were  at  that  time,  as  said  elsewhere  (Kiwi),  entertained  iu 
Paris  as  to  the  existence  of  the  Apteryx. 


INTRODUCTION  jj 


27.  "  Mouettes  " — Larus,  Linn. 

28.  "  Petrels  " — Procellaria,  Linn. 

29.  "Pelicans" — Pelecanus,  Linn. 

30.  "  Canards  " — Anas,  Linn. 

31.  "Grebes" — Podiceps,  Latham. 

32.  "  Plongeons  " — Colymbus,  Latham. 

33.  "PingouLns" — ^^ca,  Latham. 


21.  "Tinamous" — Tinamus,  Latham. 

22.  "Foulques     ou     Poules     d'eau" — 

Fulica,  Linn. 

23.  "  Grues  "—Grus,  Pallas. 

24.  "  Herodions  " — Herodii,  Illiger. 

25.  No  name  given,  but  said  to  include 

"les  ibis  et  les  spatules." 

26.  " Gralles  ou  J^chassiers " — Grallse.  34.   "Manchots" — Aptenodytes,Yoxs,ie.T. 

The  preceding  list  is  given  to  shew  the  very  marked  agreement  of 
L'Herminier's  results  compared  with  those  obtained  fifty  years  later  by 
another  investigator,  who  approached  the  subject  from  an  entirely  different, 
though  still  osteological,  basis.  The  sequence  of  the  Families  adopted  is  of 
course  open  to  much  criticism  ;  but  that  would  be  wasted  upon  it  at  the 
present  day  ;  and  the  cautious  naturalist  will  remember  that  it  is  generally 
difficult  and  in  most  cases  absolutely  impossible  to  deploy  even  a  small 
section  of  the  Animal  Kingdom  into  line.  So  far  as  a  linear  arrangement 
will  permit,  the  above  list  is  very  creditable,  and  will  not  only  pass 
muster,  but  cannot  easily  be  surpassed  for  convenience  even  at  this 
moment.  Experience  has  shewn  that  a  few  of  the  Families  are  composite, 
and  therefore  require  further  splitting  ;  but  examples  of  actually  false  group- 
ing cannot  be  said  to  occur.  The  most  serious  fault  perhaps  to  be  found  is 
the  intercalation  of  the  Ducks  (No.  30)  between  the  Pelicans  and  the 
Grebes — but  every  systematist  must  recognize  the  difficulty  there  is  in 
finding  a  place  for  the  Ducks  in  any  arrangement  we  can  at  present  con- 
trive that  shall  be  regarded  as  satisfactory.  Many  of  the  excellences  of 
L'Herminier's  method  could  not  be  pointed  out  without  too  great  a 
sacrifice  of  space,  because  of  the  details  into  which  it  would  be  necessary 
to  enter  ;  but  the  trenchant  way  in  which  he  shewed  that  the  "  Passereaux  " 
— a  group  of  which  Cuvier  had  said  "  Son  caractere  semble  d'abord 
purement  n^gatif,"  and  had  failed  to  define  the  limits — diff'ered  so 
completely  from  every  other  assemblage,  while  maintaining  among  its  own 
innumerable  members  an  almost  perfect  essential  homogeneity,  is  very 
striking,  and  shews  how  admirably  he  could  grasp  his  subject.  Not  less 
conspicuous  are  his  merits  in  disposing  of  the  groups  of  what  are 
ordinarily  known  as  Water-birds,  his  indicating  the  affinity  of  the  Rails 
(No.  22)  to  the  Cranes  (No.  23),  and  the  severing  of  the  latter  from  the 
Herons  (No.  24).  His  union  of  the  Snipes,  Sandpipers  and  Plovers  into 
one  group  (No.  26)  and  the  alliance,  especially  dwelt  upon,  of  that  group 
with  the  Gulls  (No.  27)  are  steps  which,  though  indicated  by  Merrem,  are 
here  for  the  first  time  clearly  laid  down ;  and  the  separation  of  the  Gulls 
from  the  Petrels  (No.  28) — a  step  in  advance  already  taken,  it  is  true,  by 
Illiger — is  here  placed  on  indefeasible  ground.  With  all  this,  perhaps  on 
account  of  all  this,  L'Herminier's  efi'orts  did  not  find  favour  with  his 
scientific  superiors,  and  for  the  time  things  remained  as  though  his  investi- 
gations had  never  been  carried  on.^ 

Two  years  later  Nitzsch,  who  was  indefatigable  in  his  endeavour  to 

■^  With  the  exception  of  a  brief  and  wholly  inadequate  notice  in  the  EdirJburgh 
Joxm-nal  of  Natural  History  (i.  p.  90),  I  am  not  aware  of  attention  having  been  directed 
to  L'Herminier's  labours  by  British  ornithologists  for  several  years  after  ;  but  con- 
sidering how  they  were  employing  themselves  at  the  time  (as  is  shewn  in  another 
place)  this  is  not  surprising. 


j^  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

discover  the  Natural  Families  of  Birds,  and  had  been  pursuing  a  series  of 
researches  into  their  vascular  system,  published  the  result,  at  Halle  in 
Saxony,  in  his  Ohservationes  de  Avium  arteria  carotide  communi,  in 
which  is  included  a  classification  drawn  up  in  accordance  with  the  varia- 
tion of  structure  which  that  important  vessel  presented  in  the  several 
groups  that  he  had  opportunities  of  examining.  By  this  time  he  had 
visited  several  of  the  principal  museums  on  the  Continent,  among  others 
Leyden  (where  Temminck  Uved)  and  Paris  (where  he  had  frequent  inter- 
course with  Cuvier),  thus  becoming  acquainted  with  a  considerable  number 
of  exotic  forms  that  had  hitherto  been  inaccessible  to  him.  Consequently 
his  labours  had  attained  to  a  certain  degree  of  completeness  in  this  direc- 
tion, and  it  may  therefore  be  expedient  here  to  name  the  different  groups 
which  he  thus  thought  himself  entitled  to  consider  established.  They  are 
as  follows  : — 

I.  AvES  Carinat^  [L'H.  "  Oiseaux  Normaux  "]. 

A.  Aves  CarinatEe  aerea;. 

1.   Accipitrinie  [VS.  1,  2  partim,  3]  ;  2.  Passerinw  [L'H.  18]  ;  3.  Alacrochires  [VH. 

6,  7]  ;  4.  Cuculinm  [L'H.  8,  9,  10  (qu.  11,  12  ?)] ;  5.  Picinm  [L'H.  15,  16] ;  6. 

Psittacinee  [L'H.  5] ;  7.  Lipoglossge  [L'H.  13,  14,  17]  ;  8.  Amphibolse  [L'H.  4]. 

B.  Aves  Carinatas  terrestres. 
1.  ColumUnse  [L'H.  19] ;  2.  Gallinaccns  [L'H.  20]. 

C.  Aves  Carinatae  aquaticae. 

Grallffi. 
1.  Aleetorides  (=  Dicholophus  +  Otis)  [L'H.  2  partim,  26  partim] ;  2.   GruinsR  [L'H. 
23]  ;  3.  Fulicariw  [L'H.  22]  ;  4.  Herodim  [L'H.   24  partim]  ;  5.   Pelargi  [L'H. 
24   partim,    25];    6.    Odontoglossi   (=: Phcenico2}terus)   [L'H.    26   partim];    7. 
Limicolas  [L'H.  26  paene  omnes]. 

Palmatffi. 
8.  LoTigipennes  [L'H.  27]  ;  9.  Nasutis  [L'H.  28]  ;  10.    Vnguirostres  [L'H.  30] ;  11, 
Steganopodes  [L'H.  29] ;  12.  Pygopodes  [L'H.  31,  32,  33,  34]. 

II.  Aves  Ratit^  [L'H.  "Oiseaux  Anomaux"]. 

To  enable  the  reader  to  compare  the  several  grouj^s  of  Nitzsch  with 
the  Families  of  L'Herminier,  the  numbers  applied  by  the  latter  to  his 
Families  are  suffixed  in  square  brackets  to  the  names  of  the  former  ;  and, 
disregarding  the  order  of  sequence,  which  is  here  immaterial,  the  essential 
correspondence  of  the  two  systems  is  worthy  of  all  attention,  for  it 
obviously  means  that  these  two  investigators,  starting  from  different  points,, 
must  have  been  on  the  right  track,  when  they  so  often  coincided  as  to  the 
limits  of  what  they  considered  to  be,  and  what  we  are  now  almost  justified 
in  calling.  Natural  Groups.^  But  it  must  be  observed  that  the  classifica- 
tion of  Nitzsch,  just  given,  rests  much  more  on  characters  furnished   by 

^  Whether  Nitzsch  was  cognizant  of  L'Herminier's  views  is  in  no  way  apparent. 
The  latter 's  name  seems  not  to  be  even  mentioned  by  him,  but  Nitzsch  was  in  Paris 
in  the  summer  of  1827,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  tliat  he  should  not  have  heard  of 
L'Herminier's  labours,  unless  the  relations  between  the  followers  of  Cuvier,  to  whom 
Nitzsch  attached  himself,  and  those  of  De  Blainville,  whose  pupil  L'Herminier  was, 
were  such  as  to  forbid  any  communication  between  the  rival  schools.  Yet  we  have 
L'Herminier's  evidence  that  Cuvier  gave  him  every  assistance.  Nitzsch's  silence,  both 
on  this  occasion  and  afterwards,  is  very  curious  ;  but  he  cannot  be  accused  of  plagiarism, 
for  the  scheme  given  above  is  only  an  amplification  of  that  foreshadowed  by  him  (as 
already  mentioned)  in  1820 — a  scheme  which  seems  to  have  been  equally  unknown  to 
L'Herminier,  perhaps  through  linguistic  difficulty. 


INTRODUCTION  js 


the  general  structure  than  those  furnished  by  the  carotid  artery  only. 
Among  all  the  species  (188,  he  tells  us,  in  number)  of  which  he  examined 
specimens,  he  found  only  four  variations  in  the  structure  of  that  vessel  , 
but  so  much  has  since  been  done  in  this  way  that  there  is  no  need  to 
dwell  on  his  particular  researches,  and  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  Dr. 
Gadow's  article  in  the  text  of  this  work  (pp.  76,  77). 

Considering  the  enormous  stride  in  advance  made  by  L'Herminier,  it 
is  very  disappointing  for  the  historian  to  have  to  record  that  the  next 
inquirer  into  the  osteology  of  Birds  achieved  a  disastrous  failure  in  his 
attempt  to  throw  light  on  their  arrangement  by  means  of  a  comparison  of 
their  sternum.  This  was  Berthold,  who  devoted  a  long  chapter  of  his 
Beitrage  zur  Anatomie,  published  at  Gottingen  in  1831,  to  a  consideration 
of  the  subject.  So  far  as  his  introductory  chapter  went — the  development 
of  the  sternum — he  was,  for  his  time,  right  enough  and  somewhat 
instructive.  It  was  only  when,  after  a  close  examination  of  the  sternal 
apparatus  of  130  species,  which  he  carefully  described,  that  he  arrived 
(pp.  177-183)  at  the  conclusion — astonishing  to  us  who  know  of  L'Her- 
minier's  previous  results — that  the  sternum  of  Birds  cannot  be  used  as  a 
help  to  their  classification  on  account  of  the  egregious  anomalies  that 
would  follow  the  proceeding — such  anomalies,  for  instance,  as  the 
separation  of  Gypselus  from  Hirundo  and  its  alliance  with  Trochilus,  and 
the  grouping  of  Hirundo  and  Fringilla  together.  He  seems  to  have 
been  persuaded  that  the  method  of  Linnaeus  and  his  disciples  was 
indisputably  right,  and  that  any  method  which  contradicted  it  must 
therefore  be  wrong.  Moreover,  he  appears  to  have  regarded  the  sternal 
structure  as  a  mere  function  of  the  Bird's  habit,  especially  in  regard  to 
its  power  of  flight,  and  to  have  wholly  overlooked  the  converse  position 
that  this  power  of  flight  must  depend  entirely  on  the  structure.  Good 
descriptive  anatomist  as  he  certainly  was,  he  was  false  to  the  anatomist's 
creed  ;  but  it  is  plain,  from  reading  his  careful  descriptions  of  sternums, 
that  he  could  not  grasp  the  essential  characters  he  had  before  him,  and, 
attracted  only  by  the  more  salient  and  obvious  features,  had  not  capacity 
to  interpret  the  meaning  of  the  whole.  Yet  he  did  not  amiss  by  giving 
many  figures  of  sternums  hitherto  unrepresented.  We  pass  from  him  to 
a  more  lively  theme. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  the  year  1832  Cuvier  laid  before  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris  a  memoir  on  the  progress  of  ossification  in 
the  sternum  of  Birds,  of  which  memoir  an  abstract  will  be  found  in  the 
Annales  des  Sciences  Naturelles  (xxv.  pp.  260-272).  Herein  he  treated 
of  several  subjects  with  which  we  are  not  particularly  concerned  at 
present,  and  his  remarks  throughout  were  chiefly  directed  against  certain 
theories  Avhich  Etienne  Geoff"roy  St.-Hilaire  had  propounded  in  his 
Philosophie  Anatomique,  published  a  good  many  years  before,  and  need 
not  trouble  lis  here  ;  but  what  does  signify  to  us  now  is  that  Cuvier 
traced  in  detail,  illustrating  his  statements  by  the  preparations  he 
exhibited,  the  progress  of  ossification  in  the  sternum  of  the  Fowl  and  of 
the  Duck,  pointing  out  how  it  difi'ered  in  each,  and  giving  his  inter- 
pretation of  the  difl^erences.  It  had  hitherto  been  generally  believed 
that  the  mode  of  ossification  in  the  Fowl  was  that  which  obtained  in  all 


S6  Die TIONA RY  OF  BIRDS 

Birds — the  Ostrich  and  its  allies  (as  L'Herminier,  we  have  seen,  had 
already  shewn)  exceiDted.  But  it  was  now  made  to  a|:)pear  that  the 
Struthious  Birds  in  this  respect  resembled  not  only  the  Duck,  but  a 
great  many  other  groups — Waders,  Birds-of-Prey,  Pigeons,  Passerines 
and  perhaps  all  Birds  not  Gallinaceous, — so  that,  according  to  Cuvier's 
view,  the  five  points  of  ossification  observed  in  the  Gallinge,  instead  of 
exhibiting  the  normal  process,  exhibited  one  quite  exceptional,  and  that 
in  all  other  Birds,  so  far  as  he  had  been  enabled  to  investigate  the 
matter,  ossification  of  the  sternum  began  at  two  points  only,  situated 
near  the  anterior  upper  margin  of  the  side  of  the  sternum,  and  gradu- 
ally crept  towards  the  keel,  into  which  it  presently  extended ;  and, 
though  he  allowed  the  appearance  of  detached  portions  of  calcareous 
matter  at  the  base  of  the  still  cartilaginous  keel  in  Ducks  at  a  certain 
age,  he  seemed  to  consider  this  an  individual  peculiarity.  This  fact 
was  fastened  upon  by  Geoffroy  in  his  reply,  which  was  a  week  later  pre- 
sented to  the  Academy,  but  was  not  published  in  full  until  the  following 
year,  when  it  appeared  in  the  Annates  du  Museum  (ser.  3,  ii.  pp.  1-22). 
Geofi'roy  here  maintained  that  the  five  centres  of  ossification  existed  in 
the  Duck  just  as  in  the  Fowl,  and  that  the  real  difi'erence  of  the 
process  lay  in  the  period  at  which  thej^  made  their  appearance,  a  cir- 
cumstance, which,  though  virtually  proved  by  the  preparations  Cuvier 
had  used,  had  been  by  him  overlooked  or  misinterpreted.  The  Fowl 
possesses  all  five  ossifications  at  birth,  and  for  a  long  while  the  middle 
piece  forming  the  keel  is  by  far  the  largest.  They  all  grow  slowly,  and 
it  is  not  until  the  animal  is  about  six  months  old  that  they  are  united 
into  one  firm  bone.  The  Duck  on  the  other  hand,  when  newly  hatched, 
and  for  nearly  a  month  after,  has  the  sternum  wholly  cartilaginous. 
Then,  it  is  true,  two  lateral  points  of  ossification  appear  at  the  margin, 
but  subsequently  the  remaining  three  are  developed,  and  when  once 
formed  they  grow  with  much  greater  rapidity  than  in  the  Fowl,  so  that 
by  the  time  the  young  Duck  is  quite  independent  of  its  parents,  and 
can  shift  for  itself,  the  whole  sternum  is  completely  bony.  Nor, 
argued  Geoffroy,  was  it  true  to  say,  as  Cuvier  had  said,  that  the  like 
occurred  in  the  Pigeons  and  true 'Passerines.  In  their  case  the  sternum 
begins  to  ossify  from  three  very  distinct  points — one  of  which  is  the 
centre  of  ossification  of  the  keel.  As  regards  the  Struthious  Birds,  they 
could  not  be  likened  to  the  Duck,  for  in  them  at  no  age  was  there  any 
indication  of  a  single  median  centre  of  ossification,  as  Geoffroy  had 
satisfied  himself  by  his  own  observations  made  in  Egypt  many  years 
before.  Cuvier  seems  to  have  acquiesced  in  the  corrections  of  his  views 
made  by  Geoffroy,  and  attempted  no  rejoinder  ;  but  the  attentive  and 
impartial  student  of  the  discussion  will  see  that  a  good  deal  was  really 
wanting  to  make  the  latter's  reply  effective,  though,  as  events  have 
shewn,  the  former  was  hasty  in  the  conclusions  at  which  he  arrived, 
having  trusted  too  much  to  the  first  appearance  of  centres  of  ossification, 
for,  had  his  observations  in  regard  to  other  Birds  been  carried  on  with 
the  same  attention  to  detail  as  in. regard  to  the  Fowl,  he  would  cer- 
tainly have  reached  some  very  different  results. 

In  1834  Gloger  brought  out  at  Breslau  the  first  (and  unfortunately 


INTRODUCTION  57 


the  only)  part  of  a  Vollstandiges  Handbuch  der  Naturgeschiclite  der  Vogel 
Eiiropa's,  treating  of  the  Laud-birds.  In  the  Introduction  to  this  book 
(p.  xxxviii.  note)  he  expressed  his  regret  at  not  being  able  to  use  as 
fully  as  he  could  wish  the  excellent  researches  of  Nitzsch  which  were 
then  appearing  (as  has  been  above  said)  in  the  successive  parts  of  Nau- 
mann's  great  work.  Notwithstanding  this,  to  Gloger  seems  to  belong 
the  credit  of  being  the  first  author  to  avail  himself,  in  a  book  intended 
for  practical  ornithologists,  of  the  new  light  that  had  already  been  shed 
on  Systematic  Ornithology  ;  and  accordingly  we  have  the  second  Order 
of  his  arrangement,  the  Aves  Passerirtee,  divided  into  two  Suborders  : — 
Singing  Passerines  (vielodusx),  and  Passerines  without  an  apparatus  of 
Song-muscles  (anomalse) — the  latter  including  what  some  later  writers 
called  Picariae.  For  the  rest  his  classification  demands  no  particular 
remark  ;  but  that  in  a  work  of  this  kind  he  had  the  courage  to 
recognize,  for  instance,  such  a  fact  as  the  essential  difference  between 
Swallows  and  Swifts,  lifts  him  considerably  above  the  crowd  of  other 
ornithological  writers  of  his  time. 

An  improvement  on  the  old  method  of  classification  by  purely 
external  characters  was  introduced  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Stock- 
holm by  Sundevall  in  1835,  and  was  published  the  following  year  in 
its  Handlingar  (pp.  43-130).  This  was  the  foundation  of  a  more 
extensive  work  of  which,  from  the  influence  it  still  exerts,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  treat  later,  and  there  will  be  no  need  now  to  enter  much 
into  details  respecting  the  earlier  performance.  It  is  sufficient  here  to 
remark  that  the  author,  even  then  a  man  of  great  erudition,  must  have 
been  aware  of  the  turn  which  taxonomy  was  taking  ;  but,  not  being 
able  to  divest  himself  of  the  older  notion  that  external  characters  were 
superior  to  those  furnished  by  the  study  of  internal  structure,  and  that 
Comparative  Anatomy,  instead  of  being  a  part  of  Zoology,  was  some- 
thing distinct  from  it,  he  seems  to  have  endeavoured  to  form  a  scheme 
which,  while  not  running  wholly  counter  to  the  teachings  of  Com- 
parative Anatomists,  should  yet  rest  ostensibly  on  external  characters. 
With  this  view  he  studied  the  latter  most  laboriously,  and  certainly  not 
without  siiccess,  for  he  brought  into  prominence  several  points  that  had 
hitherto  escaped  the  notice  of  his  predecessors.  He  also  admitted  among 
his  characteristics  a  physiological  consideration  (apparently  derived  from 
Oken  1)  dividing  the  class  Aves  into  two  sections  Altrices  and  Praecoces, 
according  as  the  young  were  fed  by  their  parents,  or,  from  the  first,  fed 
themselves.  But  at  this  time  he  was  encumbered  with  the  hazy 
doctrine  of  analogies,  which,  if  it  did  not  act  to  his  detriment,  was 
assuredly  of  no  service  to  him.  He  jDrefixed  an  '  Idea  Systematis '  to 
his  '  Expositio '  ;  and  the  former,  which  appears  to  represent  his  real 
opinion,  differs  in  arrangement  very  considerably  from  the  latter.  Like 
Gloger,  Sundevall  in  his  ideal  system  separated  the  true  Passerines  from 
all  other  Birds,  calling  them  Volucres ;  but  he  took  a  step  further,  for 
he    assigned    to    them    the  highest   rank,    wherein   nearly  every   recent 

■'  He  says  from  Oken's  Naturgeschichte  fur  Schulen,  published  in  1821,  but  the 
division  is  to  be  found  in  that  author's  earlier  Lehrbuch  der  Zoologie  (ii.  p.  371), 
which  appeared  in  1816. 


j<?  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

authority  agrees  with  him ;  out  of  them,  however,  he  chose  the  Thrushes 
and  Warblers  to  stand  first  as  his  ideal  "  Centrum  " — a  selection  which, 
though  in  the  opinion  of  the  present  writer  erroneous,  is  still  widely 
followed. 

The  points  at  issue  between  Cuvier  and  Etienue  Geotfroy  St.- 
Hilaire  before  mentioned  naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  L'Her- 
minier,  who  in  1836  presented  to  the  French  Academy  the  results  of 
his  researches  into  the  mode  of  growth  of  that  bone  which  in  the  adult 
Bird  he  had  already  studied  to  such  good  purpose.  Unfortunately  the 
full  account  of  his  diligent  investigations  was  never  published.  We  can 
only  judge  of  his  labours  from  an  abstract  (Gomptes  Eendus,  iii.  j^p.  12-20, 
and  Ann.  Sci.  Nat.  ser.  2,  vi.  pp.  107-115),  and  from  the  rej^ort  upon  them 
by  Isidore  Geoffrey  St.-Hilaire  {Comjytes  Rendus,  iv.  pp.  565-574),  to 
whom  with  others  they  were  referred,  and  which  is  very  critical  in  its 
character.  It  were  useless  to  conjecture  why  the  whole  memoir  never 
appeared,  as  the  reporter  recommended  that  it  should  ;  but,  whether,  as 
he  suggested,  the  author's  observations  failed  to  establish  the  theories  he 
advanced  or  not,  the  loss  of  his  observations  in  an  extended  form  is 
greatly  to  be  regretted,  for  no  one  seems-  to  have  continued  the  investi- 
gations he  began  and  to  some  extent  carried  out ;  while,  from  his  resi- 
dence in  Guadeloupe,  he  had  peculiar  advantages  in  studying  certain 
types  of  Birds  not  generally  available,  his  remarks  on  them  could  not 
fail  to  be  valuable,  quite  irrespective  of  the  interpretation  he  was  led  to 
put  upon  them.  L'Herminier  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that,  so  far 
from  there  being  only  two  or  three  different  modes  by  which  the  process 
of  ossification  in  the  sternum  is  carried  out,  the  number  of  different 
modes  is  very  considerable — almost  each  natural  group  of  Birds  having 
its  own.  The  principal  theory  which  he  hence  conceived  himself 
justified  in  propounding  was  that  instead  of  five  being  (as  had  been 
stated)  the  maximum  number  of  centres  of  ossification  in  the  sternum, 
there  are  no  fewer  than  7iine  entering  into  the  composition  of  the  perfect 
sternum  of  Birds  in  general,  though  in  every  species  some  of  these  nine 
are  wanting,  whatever  be  the  cojidition  of  development  at  the  time  of 
examination.  These  nine  theoretical  centres  or  "pieces"  L'Herminier 
deemed  to  l)e  disposed  in  three  transverse  ranks  (rang^es),  namely  the 
anterior  or  "  prosternal,"  the  middle  or  "  mesosternal,"  and  the  posterior 
"  metasternal " — each  rank  consisting  of  three  portions,  one  median 
piece  and  two  side-pieces.  At  the  same  time  he  seems,  according  to  the 
abstract  of  his  memoir,  to  have  made  the  somewhat  contradictory  asser- 
tion that  sometimes  there  are  more  than  three  pieces  in  each  rank,  and 
in  certain  groups  of  Birds  as  many  as  six.^ 

■^  We  shall  perhaps  be  justified  in  assuming  that  this  apparent  inconsistenc}',  and 
others  which  present  themselves,  would  be  explicable  if  the  whole  memoir  with  the 
necessary  illustrations  had  been  published.  It  would  occujiy  more  space  than  can 
here  be  allowed  to  give  even  the  briefest  abstract  of  the  numerous  observations  which 
follow  the  statement  of  his  theory  and  on  which  it  professedly  rests.  They  extend 
to  more  than  a  score  of  natural  groups  of  Birds,  and  nearly  each  of  them  presents 
some  peculiar  characters.  Thus  of  the  first  rank  of  pieces  he  says  that  when  all 
exist  they  may  be  developed  simultaneously,  or  that  the  two  side-pieces  may  precede 
the  median,  or  again  that  the  median  may  precede  the  side-pieces — according  to  the 


INTRODUCTION  jp 


Hithei'to  it  will  have  been  seen  that  our  present  business  has  lain 
wholly  in  Germany  and  France,  for,  as  is  elsewhere  explained,  the  chief 
ornithologists  of  Britain  were  occupying  themselves  at  this  time  in  a 
very  useless  way — not  but  that  there  were  several  distinguished  men  in 
this  country  who  were  paying  due  heed  at  this  time  to  the  internal 
structure  of  Birds,  and  some  excellent  descriptive  memoirs  on  special 
forms  had  appeared  from  their  pens,  to  say  nothing  of  more  than  one 
general  treatise  on  ornithic  anatomy.^  Yet  no  one  in  Britain  seems  to 
have  attempted  to  found  anj'  scientific  arrangement  of  Birds  on  other 
than  external  characters  until,  in  1837,  William  Macgillivray  issued  the 
first  volume  of  his  History  of  British  Birds,  wherein,  though  professing 
(p.  19)  "not  to  add  a  new  system  to  the  many  already  in  partial  use,  or 
that  have  passed  away  like  their  authors,"  he  propounded  (pp.  16-18)  a 
scheme  for  classifying  the  Birds  of  Europe  at  least  founded  on  a  "  con- 
sideration of  the  digestive  organs,  which  merit  special  attention,  on 
account,  not  so  much  of  their  great  importance  in  the  economy  of  birds, 
as  the  nervous,  Avascular  and  other  systems  are  not  behind  them  in  this 
respect ;  but  because,  exhibiting  great  diversity  of  form  and  structure, 
in  accordance  with  the  nature  of  the  food,  they  are  more  obviously 
qualified  to  aftbrd  a  basis  for  the  classification  of  the  numerous  species 
of  birds  "  (p.  5  2).  Experience  has  again  and  again  exjiosed  the  fallacy 
of  this  last  conclusion,  but  it  is  no  disparagement  of  its  author  to  say, 

group  of  Birds,  but  that  the  second  mode  is  much  the  commonest.  The  same 
variations  are  observable  in  the  second  or  middle  rank,  but  its  side-pieces  are  said  to 
exist  in  all  groups  of  Birds  without  exception.  As  to  the  third  or  posterior  rank, 
when  it  is  complete  the  three  constituent  pieces  are  developed  almost  simul- 
taneously ;  but  its  median  piece  is  said  often  to  originate  in  two,  which  soon  unite, 
especially  when  the  side-pieces  are  wanting.  By  way  of  examples  of  L'Herminier's 
observations,  what  he  says  of  the  two  groups  that  had  been  the  subject  of  Cuvier's 
and  the  elder  Geoifroy's  contest  may  be  mentioned.  In  the  Gallinw  the  five  well- 
known  pieces  or  centres  of  ossification  are  said  to  consist  of  the  two  side-pieces  of 
the  second  or  middle  rank,  and  the  three  of  the  posterior.  On  two  occasions,  how- 
ever, there  was  found  in  addition,  what  may  be  taken  for  a  representation  of  the 
first  series,  a  little  ^^  noyau"  situated  between  the  coracoids — forming  the  only 
instance  of  all  three  ranks  being  present  in  the  same  Bird.  As  regards  the  Ducks, 
L'Herminier  agreed  with  Cuvier  that  there  are  commonly  only  two  centres  of 
ossification — the  side-pieces  of  the  middle  rank ;  but  as  these  grow  to  meet  one 
another  a  distinct  median  ^^  noyau"  also  of  the  same  rank,  sometimes  ajjpears,  which 
soon  forms  a  connexion  with  each  of  them.  In  the  Ostrich  and  its  allies  no  trace 
of  this  median  centre  of  ossification  ever  occurs  ;  but  its  existence  seems  to  be 
invariable  in  all  other  Birds. 

^  Owen's  celebrated  article  'Aves,'  in  Todd's  Gyclopsedia  of  Anatomy  and 
Physiology  (i.  pp.  265-358),  appeared  in  1836,  and,  as  giving  a  general  %-iew  of  the 
structure  of  Birds,  needs  no  praise  here  ;  but  its  object  was  not  to  establish  a 
classification,  or  throw  light  especially  on  systematic  aiTangement.  So  far  from 
that  being  the  case,  its  distinguished  author  was  content  to  adopt,  as  he  tells  us,  the 
arrangement  proposed  by  Kirby  in  the  Seventh  Bridgewater  TreaAise  (ii.  pp.  445- 
474),  being  that,  it  is  true,  of  an  estimable  zoologist,  but  of  one  who  had  no  special 
knowledge  of  Ornithology.  Indeed  it  is,  as  the  latter  says,  that  of  Linnaeus, 
improved  by  Cuvier,  with  an  additional  modification  of  Uliger's — all  these  three 
authors  having  totally  ignored  any  but  external  characters.  Yet  it  was  regarded 
"  as  being  the  one  which  facilitates  the  expression  of  the  leading  anatomical  difi'er- 
ences  which  obtain  in  the  class  of  Birds,  and  which  therefore  may  be  considered  as 
the  most  natural  "  ! 


60  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

that  in  this  passage,  as  well  as  in  others  that  might  be  quoted,  he  was 
greater  as  an  anatomist  than  as  a  logician.  He  was  indeed  thoroughly 
grounded  in  anatomy,  and  though  undoubtedly  the  digestive  organs  of 
Birds  have  a  claim  to  the  fullest  consideration,  yet  Macgillivray  himself 
subsequently  became  aware  of  the  fact  that  there  were  several  other  parts 
of  their  structure  as  important  from  the  point  of  view  of  classification. 
He  it  was,  apparently,  who  first  detected  the  essential  difference  of  the 
organs  of  voice  presented  by  some  of  the  New-World  Passeres  (subsequently 
known  as  Clamatores),  and  the  earliest  intimation  of  this  seems  to  be 
given  in  his  anatomical  description  of  the  Arkansas  Flycatcher,  Tyrannus 
verticalis,  which  was  published  in  1838  (Ornithol.  Biog.  iv.  p.  425),  though 
it  must  1)6  admitted  that  he  did  not — because  he  then  could  not — perceive 
the  bearing  of  their  dift'erence,  which  was  reserved  to  be  shewn  by  the 
investigation  of  a  still  greater  anatomist,  and  of  one  who  had  fuller 
facilities  for  research,  and  thereby  almost  revolutionized,  as  will  presently 
be  mentioned,  the  views  of  systematists  as  to  this  Order  of  Birds.  There 
is  only  space  here  to  say  that  the  second  volume  of  Macgillivray's  work 
was  published  in  1839,  and  the  third  in  1840;  but  it  was  not  until 
1852  that  the  author,  in  broken  health,  found  an  opportunity  of  issuing 
the  fourth  and  fifth.  His  scheme  of  classification,  being  as  before  stated 
partial,  need  not  be  given  in  detail.  Its  great  merit  is  that  it  proved  the 
necessity  of  combining  another  and  hitherto  much-neglected  factor  in  any 
natural  arrangement,  though  vitiated  as  so  many  other  schemes  have 
been  by  being  based  wholly  on  one  class  of  characters.^ 

But  a  bolder  attempt  at  classification  was  that  made  in  1838  by 
Blyth  {Mag.  Nat.  Hist  New  Ser.  ii.  pp.  256-268,  314-319,  351-361, 
420-426,  589-601  ;  iii.  pp.  76-84).  It  was  limited,  however,  to  what  he 
called  Insessores,  being  the  group  upon  which  that  name  had  been  conferred 
by  Vigors  {Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xiv.  p.  405)  in  1823,  with  the  addition,  more- 
over, of  his  Raptores,  and  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  enter  into  particulars 
concerning  it,  though  it  is  equally  as  remarkable  for  the  insight  shewn 
by  the  author  into  the  structure  of  Birds  as  for  the  breadth  of  his  view, 
which  comprehends  almost  every  kijid  of  character  that  had  been  at  that  time 
brought  forward.  It  is  plain  that  Blyth  saw,  and  perhaps  he  was  the 
first  to  see  it,  that  Geographical  Distribution  was  not  unimportant  in 
suggesting  the  affinities  and  differences  of  natural  groups  (pp.  258,  259)  ; 
and,  undeterred  by  the  precepts  and  practice  of  the  hitherto  dominant 
English  school  of  Ornithologists,  he  declared  that  "  anatomy,  when  aided 
by  every  character  which   the   manner   of  propagation,  the   progressive 

1  This  is  not  the  place  to  dwell  on  Macgillivray's  merits  ;  but  I  may  perhaps  he 
excused  for  repeating  my  opinion  that,  after  Willughby,  MacgUlivi-ay  was  the  greatest 
and  most  original  ornithological  genius  save  one  (who  did  not  live  long  enough  to 
make  his  powers  widely  known)  that  this  island  has  produced.  The  exact  amount  of 
assistance  he  afforded  to  Audubon  in  his  Ornithological  Biography  \,'\\\  probably  never 
be  ascertained  ;  but,  setting  aside  "  all  the  anatomical  descriptions,  as  well  as  the 
sketches  by  which  they  are  sometimes  illustrated,"  that  on  the  latter's  own  statement 
(nj).  cit.  iv.  Introduction,  p.  xxiii.)  are  the  work  of  Macgillivray,  no  impartial  reader 
can  compare  the  style  in  which  the  History  of  British  Birds  is  written  with  that  of 
the  Ornithological  Biography  without  recognizing  the  similarity  of  the  two.  On  this 
subject  some  remarks  of  Prof.  Coues  {Bull.  Nutt.  Ornithol.  Club,  1880,  p.  201)  may 
well  be  consulted. 


INTRODUCTION  6i 


changes  and  other  physiological  data  supply,  is  the  only  sure  basis  of 
classification."  He  was  quite  aware  of  the  taxonomic  value  of  the  vocal 
organs  of  some  groups  of  Birds,  presently  to  be  especially  mentioned,  and 
he  had  himself  ascertained  the  presence  and  absence  of  cs^ca  in  a  not 
inconsiderable  number  of  groups,  drawing  thence  very  justifiable  infer- 
ences. He  knew  at  least  the  earlier  investigations  of  L'Herminier,  and, 
though  the  work  of  Nitzsch,  even  if  he  had  ever  heard  of  it,  must  (through 
ignorance  of  the  langiiage  in  which  it  was  written)  have  been  to  him  a 
sealed  book,  he  had  followed  out  and  extended  the  hints  already  given  by 
Temminck  as  to  the  differences  which  various  groups  of  Birds  display  in 
their  moult.  With  all  this  it  is  not  surprising  to  find,  though  the  fact 
has  been  generally  overlooked,  that  Blyth's  proposed  arrangement  in 
many  points  anticipated  conclusions  that  were  subsequently  reached,  and 
were  then  regarded  as  fresh  discoveries.  It  is  proper  to  add  that  at  this 
time  the  greater  part  of  his  work  was  carried  on  in  conjunction  with  Mr. 
Bartlett,  the  present  Superintendent  of  the  Zoological  Society's  Gardens, 
and  that,  without  his  assistance,  Blyth's  opportunities,  slender  as  they 
were  compared  with  those  which  others  have  enjoyed,  miist  have  been 
still  smaller.  Considering  the  extent  of  their  materials,  which  was 
limited  to  the  bodies  of  such  animals  as  they  could  obtain  from  dealers 
and  the  several  menageries  that  then  existed  in  or  near  London,  the 
progress  made  in  what  has  since  proved  to  be  the  right  direction  is  very 
wonderful.  It  is  obvious  that  both  these  investigators  had  the  genius  for 
recognizing  and  interpreting  the  value  of  characters  ;  but  their  labours  do 
not  seem  to  have  met  with  much  encouragement ;  and  a  general  arrange- 
ment of  the  Class  laid  by  Blyth  before  the  Zoological  Society  at  this 
time  1  does  not  appear  in  its  publications,  possibly  through  his  neglect  to 
reduce  his  scheme  to  writing  and  deliver  it  within  the  prescribed  period. 
But  even  if  this  were  not  the  case,  no  one  need  be  surprised  at  the  result. 
The  scheme  could  hardly  fail  to  be  a  crude  performance — a  fact  which 
nobody  would  know  better  than  its  author  ;  but  it  must  have  presented 
much  that  was  objectionable  to  the  opinions  then  generally  prevalent. 
Its  line  to  some  extent  may  be  partly  made  out — very  clearly,-  for  the 
matter  of  that,  so  far  as  its  details  have  been  published  in  the  series  of 
papers  to  which  reference  has  been  given — and  some  traces  of  its  features 
are  probably  preserved  in  his  Catalogue  of  the  specimens  of  Birds  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  which,  after  several  years  of 
severe  labour,  made  its  appearance  at  Calcutta  in  1849  ;  but,  from  the 
time  of  his  arrival  in  India,  the  onerous  duties  imposed  upon  Blyth, 
together  with  the  want  of  sufficient  books  of  reference,  seem  to  have 
hindered  him  from  seriously  continuing  his  former  researches,  which, 
interrupted  as  they  were,  and  born  out  of  due  time,  had  no  appreciable 
effect  on  the  views  of  systematizers  generally. 

Next  must  be  noticed  a  series  of  short  treatises  communicated  by 
Johann  Friedrich  Brandt,  between  the  years  1836  and  1839,  to  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  published  in  its  Memoires. 

^  An  abstract  is  contained  in  the  Minute-book  of  the  Scientific  Meetings  of  the 
Zoological  Society,  26th  June  and  10th  July  1 838.  The  Class  was  to  contain  fifteen 
Orders,  but  only  three  were  dealt  with  in  any  detail. 

/ 


62  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

In  the  year  last  mentioned  the  greater  part  of  these  was  separately  issued 
under  the  title  of  Beitritge  zur  Kenntniss  der  Naturgeschichte  der  Vdgel. 
Herein  the  author  first  assigned  anatomical  reasons  for  rearranging  the 
Order  ATiseres  of  Linnseus,  the  Natatores  of  Illiger,  who,  so  long  before  as 
1811,  had  proposed  a  new  distribution  of  it  into  six  Families,  the  defini- 
tions of  which,  as  was  his  wont,  he  had  drawn  from  external  characters 
only.  Brandt  now  retained  very  nearly  the  same  arrangement  as  his 
predecessor  ;  but,  notwithstanding  that  he  could  trust  to  the  firmer 
foundation  of  internal  framework,  he  took  at  least  two  retrograde  steps. 
First  he  failed  to  see  the  great  structural  difference  between  the  Penguins 
(which  Illiger  had  placed  as  a  group,  Impennes,  of  equal  rank  to  his  other 
Families)  and  the  Auks,  Divers  and  Grebes,  Pygopodes — combining  all  of 
them  to  form  a  "  Typus "  (to  use  his  term)  Urinatores ;  and  secondly  he 
admitted  among  the  Natatores,  though  as  a  distinct  "  Typus  "  Podoidse, 
the  genera  Podoa  (Finfoot),  and  Fulica  (Coot),  which  are  now 
known  to  be  allied  to  the  Ballidse.  At  the  same  time  he  corrected 
the  error  made  by  Illiger  in  associating  the  Phalaropes  with 
these  forms,  rightly  declaring  their  relationship  to  Tringa,  a  point  of 
order  which  other  systematists  were  long  in  admitting.  On  the  whole 
Brandt's  labours  were  of  no  small  service  in  asserting  the  principle  that 
consideration  must  be  paid  to  osteology  ;  for  owing  to  his  position  he  was 
able  to  gain  more  attention  to  his  views  than  some  of  his  less  favourably 
placed  brethren  had  succeeded  in  doing. 

In  the  same  year  (1839)  another  slight  advance  was  made  in  the 
classification  of  the  true  Passeres.  Keyserling  and  Blasius  briefly  pointed 
out  {Arch.f.  Naturgesch.  v.  pp.  332-334)  that,  while  all  the  other  Birds 
provided  with  perfect  song-muscles  had  the  "  planta  "  or  hind  part  of  the 
"tarsus"  covered  with  two  long  and  undivided  horny  plates,  the  Larks 
had  this  part  divided  by  many  transverse  sutures,  so  as  to  be  scutellated 
behind  as  well  as  in  front  ;  just  as  is  the  case  in  many  of  the  Passerines 
which  have  not  the  singing-apparatus,  and  also  in  the  Hoopoe.  The 
importance  of  this  singular  but  superficial  departure  from  the  normal 
strvicture  has  been  so  needlessly  exaggerated  as  a  character  that  at  the 
present  time  its  value  is  apt  to  be  unduly  depreciated.  In  so  large  and 
so  homogeneous  a  group  as  that  of  the  true  Passeres,  a  constant  character 
of  this  kind  is  not  to  be  despised  as  a  practical  mode  of  separating  the 
Birds  which  possess  it ;  and,  more  than  this,  it  would  appear  that  the 
discovery  thus  announced  was  the  immediate  means  of  leading  to  a  series 
of  investigations  of  a  much  more  important  and  lasting  nature — those  of 
Johannes  Miiller  to  be  presently  mentioned. 

Again  we  must  recur  to  that  indefatigable  and  most  original  in- 
vestigator Nitzsch,  who,  having  never  intermitted  his  study  of  the 
particular  subject  of  his  first  contribution  to  science,  in  1833  brought  out 
at  Halle,  where  he  was  Professor  of  Zoology,  an  essay  with  the  title 
Pterylographix  Avium  Pars  prior.  It  seems  that  this  was  issued  as  much 
with  the  object  of  inviting  assistance  from  others  in  view  of  future 
labours,  since  the  materials  at  his  disposal  were  scanty,  as  with  that  of 
making  known  the  results  to  which  his  researches  had  already  led  him. 
Indeed  he  only  communicated  copies  of  this  essay  to  a  few  friends,  and 


INTRODUCTION  63 


examples  of  it  are  comparatively  scarce.  Moreover,  he  stated  subsequently 
that  he  thereby  hoped  to  excite  other  naturalists  to  share  with  him  the 
investigations  he  was  making  on  a  subject  which  had  hitherto  escaped 
notice  or  had  been  wholly  neglected,  since  he  considered  that  he  had 
proved  the  disposition  of  the  feathered  tracts  in  the  plumage  of  Birds  to 
be  the  means  of  furnishing  characters  for  the  discrimination  of  the  various 
natural  groups  as  significant  and  important  as  they  were  new  and  un- 
expected.^ There  was  no  need  for  us  here  to  quote  this  essay  in  its 
chronological  place,  since  it  dealt  only  with  the  generalities  of  the  subject, 
and  did  not  enter  upon  any  systematic  details.  These  the  author  reserved 
for  a  second  treatise  which  he  was  destined  never  to  complete.  He  kept 
on  diligently  collecting  materials,  and  as  he  did  so  was  constrained  to 
modify  some  of  the  statements  he  had  published.  He  consequently  fell 
into  a  state  of  doubt,  and  before  he  could  make  up  his  mind  on  some 
questions  which  he  deemed  important  he  was  overtaken  by  death.^  Then 
his  papers  were  handed  over  to  his  friend  and  successor,  Burmeister, 
afterwards  and  for  many  years  of  Buenos  Aires,  who,  with  much  skill 
elaborated  from  them  the  excellent  work  known  as  Nitzsch's  Ptenjlographie, 
which  was  published  at  Halle  in  1840.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
editor's  duty  was  discharged  with  the  most  conscientious  scrupulosity  ; 
but,  from  what  has  been  just  said,  it  is  certain  that  there  were  important 
points  on  which  Nitzsch  was  as  yet  undecided — some  of  them  perhaps  of 
which  no  trace  appeared  in  his  manuscripts,  and  therefore  as  in  every 
case  of  works  posthumously  published,  unless  (as  rarely  happens)  they 
have  received  their  author's  '■^imprimatur"  they  cannot  be  implicitly 
trusted  as  the  expression  of  his  final  views.  It  would  consequently  be 
unsafe  to  ascribe  positively  all  that  appears  in  this  volume  to  the  result  of 
Nitzsch's  mature  consideration.  Moreover,  as  Burmeister  states  in  his 
preface,  Nitzsch  by  no  means  regarded  the  natural  sequence  of  groups 

^  It  is  still  a  prevalent  belief  that  feathers  grow  almost  uniformly  over  the  whole 
surface  of  a  Bird's  body  ;  some  indeed  are  longer  and  some  are  shorter,  but  that  is 
about  all  the  difference  perceptible  to  most  people.  It  is  the  easiest  thing  for  any- 
body to  satisfy  himself  that  this,  except  in  a  few  cases,  is  altogether  an  erroneous 
supposition  (see  Ptertlosis).  Before  Nitzsch's  time  the  only  men  who  seem  to  have 
noticed  this  fact  were  the  great  John  Hunter  and  the  accurate  Macartney.  But  the 
observations  of  the  former  on  the  subject  were  not  given  to  the  world  until  1836, 
when  Owen  introduced  them  into  his  Catcdogtte  of  the  Museum  of  the  College  of 
Surgeons  in  London  (vol.  iii.  pt.  ii.  p.  311),  and  therein  is  no  indication  of  the  fact 
having  a  taxonomical  bearing.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Macartney's  remarks,  which, 
though  subsequent  in  point  of  time,  were  published  earlier,  namely,  in  1819  (Rees's 
Cyclopiedia,  xiv.  art.  '  Feathers ').  Ignorance  of  this  simple  fact  has  led  astray 
many  celebrated  painters,  among  them  Landseer,  whose  pictures  of  Birds  nearly  always 
shew  an  unnatural  representation  of  the  plumage  that  at  once  betrays  itself  to  the 
trained  eye,  though  of  course  it  is  not  perceived  by  spectators  generally,  who  regard 
only  the  correctness  of  attitude  and  force  of  expression,  which  in  that  artist's  work 
commonly  leave  little  to  be  desired.  Every  draughtsman  of  Birds  to  be  successful 
should  study  as  did  Mr.  Wolf,  the  plan  on  which  their  feathers  are  disposed. 

"^  Though  not  relating  exactly  to  our  present  theme,  it  woiild  be  improper  to 
dismiss  Nitzsch's  name  without  reference  to  his  extraordinary  labours  in  investigating 
the  insect  and  other  external  parasites  of  Birds,  a  subject  which  as  regards  British 
species  was  subsequently  elaborated  by  Denny  in  his  Monograpliia  Anoplurorum 
Britanniw  (1842)  and  in  his  list  of  the  specimens  of  British  ^l/iOjoZwra  in  the  collection 
of  the  British  Museum. 


64  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

as  the  highest  problem  of  the  systematist,  but  rather  their  correct  limita- 
tion. Again  the  arrangement  followed  in  the  Pterylographie  was  of 
course  based  on  pterylographical  considerations,  and  we  have  its  author's 
own  word  for  it  that  he  was  persuaded  that  the  limitation  of  natural 
groups  could  only  be  attained  by  the  most  assiduous  research  into  the 
species  of  which  they  are  composed  from  every  point  of  view.  The  com- 
bination of  these  three  facts  will  of  itself  explain  some  defects,  or  even 
retrogressions,  observable  in  Nitzsch's  later  systematic  work  when  com- 
pared with  that  which  he  had  formerly  done.  On  the  other  hand  some 
manifest  improvements  are  introduced,  and  the  abundance  of  details  into 
which  he  enters  in  his  Ptenjlograjjhie  renders  it  far  more  instructive  and 
valuable  than  the  older  performance.  As  an  abstract  of  that  has  already 
been  given,  it  may  be  sufficient  here  to  point  out  the  chief  changes  made 
in  his  newer  arrangement.  To  begin  with,  the  three  great  sections  of 
Aerial,  Terrestrial  and  Aquatic  Birds  are  abolished.  The  "  Accipitres  " 
are  divided  into  two  groups,  Diurnal  and  Nocturnal ;  but  the  first  of  these 
divisions  is  separated  into  three  sections  : — (1)  the  Vultures  of  the  New 
World,  (2)  those  of  the  Old  World  and  (3)  the  genus  Falco  of  Linnseus. 
The  "  Passerinse,"  that  is  to  say,  the  true  Passer es,  are  split  into  eight 
Families,  not  wholly  with  judgment  ;  ^  but  of  their  taxonomy  more 
is  to  be  said  presently.  Then  a  new  Order  "Picarix"  is  instituted 
for  the  reception  of  the  Macrochires,  Cuculinae,  Picinx,  Psittacinas 
and  Aviphibolse  of  his  old  arrangement,  to  which  are  added  three  ^ 
others — Gaprimulgiiise,  Todidae,  and  Lipoglossae — the  last  consisting  of  the 
genera  Buceros,  Upupa  and  Alcedo.  The  association  of  Alcedo  with  the 
other  two  is  no  doubt  a  misplacement,  but  the  alliance  of  Buceros  to 
Upupa,  already  suggested  by  Gould  and  Blyth  in  1838  ^  (Mag.  Nat.  Hist. 
ser.  2,  ii.  pp.  422  and  589),  though  at  first  sight  unnatural,  has  been 
corroborated  by  many  later  systematizers  ;  and  taken  as  a  whole  the 
establishment  of  the  Picariee  was  certainly  a  commendable  proceeding. 
For  the  rest  there  is  only  one  considerable  change,  and  that  forms  the 
greatest  blot  on  the  whole  scheme.  Instead  of  the  Ratitx  of  Merrem 
being  recognized  as  before  as  a  Subclass,  they  were  now  reduced  to  the 
rank  of  an  Order  under  the  name  "  Platysternss"  and  placed  between  the 
"  Gallinacex  "  and  "  Grallx,"  though  it  was  admitted  that  in  their  pterylosis 
they  differ  from  all  other  Birds,  in  ways  that  the  author  is  at  great  pains 

^  A  short  essay  by  Nitzsch  on  tlie  general  structure  of  the  Passerines,  wiitten,  it  is 
said,  in  1836,  was  published  in  1862  [Zeitschr.  Ges.  Naturwissensch.  xix.  pp.  389- 
408).  It  is  probably  to  this  essay  that  Burmeister  refers  in  the  Pterylographie  (p. 
102,  note  ;  English  translation,  p.  72,  note)  as  forming  the  basis  of  the  article 
"  Passerinse "  which  he  contributed  to  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encyklopadie  (sect.  iii. 
bd.  xiii.  pp.  139-144),  and  published  before  the  PterylograpMe. 

-  By  the  numbers  prefixed  it  would  look  as  if  there  should  be  four  new  members 
of  this  Order  ;  but  that  seems  to  be  due  rather  to  a  slip  of  the  pen  or  to  a  printer's 
error. 

■^  This  association  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  whole  series  of  Blyth 's 
remarkable  papers  on  classification  in  the  volume  cited  above.  He  states  that  Gould 
suspected  the  alliance  of  these  two  forms  "  from  external  structure  and  habits  alone  ;  " 
otherwise  one  might  suppose  that  he  had  obtained  an  intimation  to  that  effect  on  one 
of  his  Continental  journeys.  Blyth  "arrived  at  the  same  conclusion,  however,  by  a 
difi'erent  train  of  investigation,"  and  this  is  beyond  doubt. 


INTRODUCTION  65 


to  describe,  in  each  of  the  four  genera  examined  by  him — Struthio,  Rhea, 
Dromxus  and  Casuarius}  It  is  significant  that  notwithstanding  this  he 
did  not  figure  the  pterylosis  of  any  one  of  them,  and  the  thought  suggests 
itself  that,  though  his  editor  assures  us  he  had  convinced  himself  that 
the  group  must  be  here  shoved  in  (eingeschoben),  the  intrusion  is  rather 
diae  to  the  necessity  vi^hich  Nitzsch,  in  common  with  most  men  of  his 
time  (the  Quinarians  excepted),  felt  for  deploying  the  whole  series  of 
Birds  into  line,  in  which  case  the  proceeding  may  be  defensible  on  the 
score  of  convenience.  The  extraordinary  merits  of  this  book,  and  the 
admirable  fidelity  to  his  principles  which  Burmeister  shewed  in  the 
difficult  task  of  editing  it,  were  unfortunately  overlooked  for  many  years, 
and  perhaps  are  not  sufficiently  recognized  now.  Even  in  Germany,  the 
author's  own  country,  there  were  few  to  notice  seriously  what  is  certainly 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  works  ever  published  on  the  science,  much 
less  to  pursue  the  investigations  that  had  been  so  laboriously  begun.  ^ 
Andreas  Wagner,  in  his  report  on  the  progress  of  Ornithology  {Arch.  f. 
Naturgesch.  vii.  2,  pp.  60,  61),  as  might  be  expected  from  such  a  man  as 
he  was,  placed  the  Pterylographie  at  the  summit  of  those  iiubldcations  the 
appearance  of  which  he  had  to  record  for  the  years  1839  and  1840, 
stating  that  for  "  Systematik  "  it  was  of  the  greatest  importance.  On  the 
other  hand  Oken  (Isis,  1842,  pp.  391-394),  though  giving  a  summary  of 
Nitzsch's  results  and  classification,  was  more  sparing  of  his  praise,  and 
prefaced  his  remarks  by  asserting  that  he  could  not  refrain  from  laughter 
when  he  looked  at  the  plates  in  Nitzsch's  work,  since  they  reminded  him 
of  the  plucked  fowls  in  a  poulterer's  shop — it  might  as  well  be  urged  as 
an  objection  to  the  plates  in  many  an  anatomical  book  that  they  called 
to  mind  a  butcher's — and  goes  on  to  say  that,  as  the  author  always  had  the 
luck  to  engage  in  researches  of  which  nobody  thought,  so  had  he  the  luck 
to  print  them  where  nobody  sought  them.  In  Sweden  Sundevall,  with- 
out accepting  Nitzsch's  views,  accorded  them  a  far  more  appreciative 
greeting  in  his  annual  reports  for  1840-42  (i.  pp.  152-160) ;  but  of  course 
in  England  and  France  ^  nothing  was  known  of  them  beyond  the  scantiest 
notice,  generally  taken  at  second  hand,  in  two  or  three  publications.* 

^  He  does  not  mention  Apteryx,  at  that  time  so  little  known  on  the  Continent. 

^  Some  excuse  is  to  be  made  for  this  neglect.  Nitzsch  had  of  course  exhausted 
all  the  forms  of  Birds  commonly  to  be  obtained,  and  specimens  of  the  less  common 
forms  were  too  valuable  from  the  curator's  or  collector's  point  of  view  to  be  subjected 
to  a  treatment  that  might  end  in  their  destruction.  Yet  it  is  said,  on  good  authority, 
that  Nitzsch  had  the  patience  so  to  manipulate  the  skins  of  many  rare  species  that 
he  was  able  to  ascertain  the  characters  of  tlieir  pterylosis  by  the  inspection  of  their 
inside  only,  without  in  any  way  damaging  them  for  the  ordinary  purpose  of  a 
museum.  Nor  is  this  surprising  when  we  consider  the  marvellous  skill  of  Continental 
and  especially  German  taxidermists,  many  of  whom  have  elevated  their  profession  to 
a  height  of  art  inconceivable  to  most  Englishmen,  who  are  only  acquainted  with  the 
miserable  mockery  of  Nature  which  is  the  most  sublime  result  of  all  but  a  few  "  bird- 
stuffers." 

^  In  1836  Jacquemin  communicated  to  the  French  Academy  {Comptes  Rendus, 
ii.  pp.  374,  375  and  472)  some  observations  on  the  order  in  which  feathers  are 
disposed  on  the  body  of  Birds  ;  but,  however  general  may  have  been  the  scope  of  his 
investigations,  the  portion  of  them  published  refers  only  to  the  Crow,  and  there  is  no 
mention  made  of  Nitzsch's  former  work. 

*  Thanks  to  Mr.  Sclater,  the  Bay  Society  was  induced  to  publish,  in   1867.  an 


66  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

The  treatise  of  Kessler  on  the  osteology  of  Birds'  feet,  published  in  the 
Bulletin  of  the  Moscow  Society  of  Naturalists  for  1841,  next  claims  a  few- 
words,  though  its  scope  is  rather  to  shew  differences  than  affinities  ;  but 
treatment  of  that  kind  is  undoubtedly  useful  at  times  in  indicating  that 
alliances  generally  admitted  are  unnatural  ;  and  this  is  the  case  here,  for, 
following  Cuvier's  method,  the  author's  researches  prove  the  artificial 
character  of  some  of  its  associations.  While  furnishing — almost  uncon- 
sciously, however — additional  evidence  for  overthrowing  that  classification, 
there  is,  nevertheless,  no  attempt  made  to  construct  a  better  one  ;  and  the 
elaborate  tables  of  dimensions,  both  absolute  and  proportional,  suggestive 
as  is  the  whole  tendency  of  the  author's  observations,  seem  not  to  lead  to 
any  very  practical  result,  though  the  systematist's  need  to  look  beneath 
the  integument,  even  in  parts  that  are  so  comparatively  little  hidden  as 
Birds'  feet,  is  once  more  made  beyond  all  question  apparent. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  Macgillivray  furnished  Audubon 
with  a  series  of  descriptions  of  some  parts  of  the  anatomy  of  American 
Birds,  from  subjects  supplied  to  him  by  that  enthusiastic  naturalist, 
whose  zeal  and  prescience,  it  may  be  called,  in  this  respect  merits  all 
praise.  Thus  he  (prompted  very  likely  by  Macgillivray)  wrote  : — "  I 
believe  the  time  to  be  approaching  when  much  of  the  results  obtained 
from  the  inspection  of  the  exterior  alone  will  be  laid  aside ;  when 
museums  filled  with  stuffed  skins  will  be  considered  insufficient  to  afford 
a  knowledge  of  bii-ds  ;  and  when  the  student  will  go  forth,  not  only  to 
observe  the  habits  and  haunts  of  animals,  but  to  preserve  specimens  of 
them  to  be  carefully  dissected"  (Orn.  Biogr.  iv.  Introduction,  p.  xxiv.) 
As  has  been  stated,  the  first  of  this  series  of  anatomical  descriptions 
appeared  in  the  fourth  volume  of  his  work,  published  in  1838,  but 
they  were  continued  until  its  completion  with  the  fifth  volume  in  the 
following  year,  and  the  whole  was  incorporated  into  what  may  be  termed 
its  second  edition.  The  Birds  of  America,  which  appeared  between  1840 
and  1844.  Among  the  many  species  whose  anatomy  Macgillivray  thus 
partly  described  from  autopsy  were  at  least  half  a  dozen  of  those  now 
referred  to  the  Family  Tyrant-birds,  but  then  included,  with  many  others, 
according  to  the  vague  and  rudimentary  notions  of  classification  of  the 
time,  in  what  was  termed  the  Family  "  Muscicapinse."  In  all  these 
species  he  found  the  vocal  organs  to  differ  essentially  in  structure  from 
those  of  other  Birds  of  the  Old  World,  which  we  now  call  Passerine,  or,  to 
be  still  more  precise,  Oscinine.  But  by  him  these  last  were  most 
arbitrarily  severed,  dissociated  from  their  allies,  and  wrongly  combined 
with  other  forms  by  no  means  nearly  related  to  them  (Brit.  Birds,  i.  pj). 
17,  18)  which  he  also  examined  ;  and  he  practically,  though  not  literally,^ 

excellent  translatiou  by  Dallas  of  Nitzsch's  Pterylography,  and  thereby,  however  tardily, 
justice  was  at  length  rendered  by  British  ornithologists  to  one  of  their  greatest  foreign 
brethren.  The  Society  had  the  good  fortune  to  obtain  the  ten  original  copper-plates, 
all  but  one  drawn  by  the  author  himself,  wherewith  the  work  was  illustrated.  It  is 
only  to  be  regretted  that  the  quarto  size  in  which  it  appeared  was  not  retained,  for 
the  folio  form  of  the  English  version  puts  a  needless  impediment  in  the  way  of  its 
common  and  convenient  use.  On  the  important  subject  of  the  pterylography  of  Birds' 
wings  see  the  works  cited  under  Remiqes  (page  781,  note). 

^  Not  literally,  because  a  few  other  forms  such  as  the  genera  Polioptila  and 


INTRODUCTION  67 


asserted  the  truth,  when  he  said  that  the  general  structure,  but  especially 
the  muscular  appendages,  of  the  lower  larynx  was  "  similarly  formed  in 
all  other  birds  of  this  family "  described  in  Audubon's  work.  Mac- 
gillivray  did  not,  however,  assign  to  this  essential  difference  any  systematic 
value.  Indeed  he  was  so  much  prepossessed  in  favour  of  a  classification 
based  on  the  structure  of  the  digestive  organs  that  he  could  not  bring 
himself  to  consider  vocal  muscles  to  be  of  much  taxonomic  use,  and  it 
was  reserved  to  Johannes  Mitller  to  point  out  that  the  contrary  was  the 
fact.  This  the  great  German  comparative  anatomist  did  in  two  com- 
munications to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Berlin,  one  on  the  26th  June 
1845  and  the  other  on  the  14th  May  1846,  which,  having  been  first 
briefly  published  in  the  Academy's  Monatsbericht,  were  afterwards  printed 
in  full,  and  illustrated  by  numerous  figures,  in  its  Abhandlungen,  though 
in  this  latter  and  complete  form  they  did  not  appear  in  public  until 
1847.^  This  very  remarkable  treatise  forms  the  groundwork  of  almost 
all  later  or  recent  researches  in  the  comparative  anatomy  and  consequent 
arrangement  of  the  Passeres,  and,  though  it  is  certainly  not  free  from 
imperfections,  many  of  them,  it  must  be  said,  arose  from  want  of  material, 
notwithstanding  that  its  author  had  command  of  a  much  more  abundant 
supply  than  was  at  the  disposal  of  Nitzsch.  Carrying  on  the  work  from 
the  anatomical  point  at  which  he  had  left  it,  correcting  his  errors,  and 
utilizing  to  the  fullest  extent  the  observations  of  Keyserling  and  Blasius, 
to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  Miiller,  though  hampered  by 
mistaken  notions  of  which  he  seems  to  have  been  unable  to  rid  himself, 
propounded  a  scheme  for  the  classification  of  this  group,  the  general  truth 
of  which  has  been  admitted  by  all  his  successors,  based,  as  the  title  of  his 
treatise  expressed,  on  the  hitherto  unknown  different  types  of  the  vocal 
organs  in  the  Passerines.  He  freely  recognized  the  prior  discoveries  of, 
as  he  thought,  Audubon,  though  really,  as  has  since  been  ascertained,  of 
Macgillivray  ;  but  Miiller  was  able  to  perceive  their  systematic  value, 
which  Macgillivray  did  not,  and  taught  others  to  know  it.  At  the  same 
time  Miiller  shewed  himself,  his  power  of  discrimination  notwithstanding, 
to  fall  behind  Nitzsch  in  one  very  crucial  point,  for  he  refused  to  the 
latter's  Picari^  the  rank  that  had  been  claimed  for  them,  and  imagined 
that  the  groups  associated  under  that  name  formed  but  a  third  "  Tribe  " 
— PiCARii — of  a  great  Order  Insessores,  the  others  being  (1)  the  Oscines 
or  Polymyodi — the  Singing  Birds  by  emphasis,  whose  inferior  larynx  was 
endowed  with  the  full  number  of  five  pairs  of  song-muscles,  and  (2)  the 
Tracheophones,  composed  of  some  South-American  Families.  Looking  on 
Mtlller's  labours  as  we  now  can,  we  see  that  such  errors  as  he  committed 
are  chiefly  due  to  his  want  of  special  knowledge  of  Ornithology,  com- 
bined with  the  absence  in  several  instances  of  sufficient  materials  for 
investigation.     Nothing  whatever  is  to  be  said  against  the  composition  of 

Ptilogonys,  now  known  to  have  no  relation  to  the  Tyrannidse,  were  included,  though 
these  forms,  it  would  seem,  had  never  been  dissected  by  him.  On  the  other  hand  he 
declared  that  the  American  Redstart,  Muscicapa,  or,  as  it  now  stands,  Setopliaga 
ruticilla,  when  young,  has  its  vocal  organs  like  the  rest — a  statement  corrected  by 
Miiller  in  a  Nachtrag  (p.  405)  to  his  paper  next  to  be  mentioned. 

1  Also  printed  separately  as  Ueber  die  Usher  unbekannten  typischen  Verschieden- 
heiten  der  Stimmorgane  der  Passerincn,  4to,  Berlin  :   1847. 


68  DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 

his  first  and  second  "  Tribes "  ;  but  the  third  is  an  assemblage  still  more 
heterogeneous  than  that  which  Nitzsch  brought  together  under  a  name  so 
like  that  of  Miiller — for  the  fact  must  nevei'  be  allowed  to  go  out  of 
sight  that  the  extent  of  the  Picarii  of  the  latter  is  not  at  all  that  of  the 
Picariae.  of  the  former.^  For  instance,  Miiller  places  in  his  third  "  Tribe  " 
the  group  which  he  called  Ampelidm,  meaning  thereby  the  peculiar  forms 
of  South  America  that  are  now  considered  to  be  more  properly  named 
Cotingidse  (Chatterer),  and  herein  he  was  clearly  right,  while  Nitzsch, 
who,  misled  by  their  supposed  affinity  to  the  genus  Ampelis  (Waxwing) — 
peculiar  to  the  Northern  Hemisphere,  and  a  purely  Passerine  form,  had 
kept  them  among  his  Passerinse,  was  as  clearly  wrong.  But  again  Miiller 
made  his  third  "  Tribe  "  Picarii  also  to  contain  the  Tyrannidse,  of  which 
mention  has  just  been  made,  though  it  is  so  obvious  as  now  to  be 
generally  admitted  that  they  have  no  very  intimate  relationship  to  the 
other  Families  with  which  they  are  there  associated.  There  is  no  need  here 
to  criticize  more  minutely  his  projected  arrangement,  and  it  must  be  said 
that,  notwithstanding  his  researches,  he  seems  to  have  had  some  mis- 
givings that,  after  all,  the  separation  of  the  Insessores  into  those  "  Tribes  " 
might  not  be  justifiable.  At  any  rate  he  wavered  in  his  estimate  of  their 
taxonomic  value,  for  he  gave  an  alternative  proposal,  arranging  all  the 
genera  in  a  single  series,  a  proceeding  in  those  days  thought  not  only 
defensible  and  possible,  but  desirable  or  even  requisite,  though  now 
utterly  abandoned.  Just  as  Nitzsch  had  laboured  under  the  disadvantage 
of  never  having  any  example  of  the  abnormal  Passeres  of  the  New  World 
to  dissect,  and  therefore  was  wholly  ignorant  of  their  abnormality,  so 
Miiller  never  succeeded  in  getting  hold  of  an  example  of  the  genus  Pitta 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  yet,  acting  on  the  clew  furnished  by  Keyserling 
and  Blasius,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  predict  that  it  would  be  found  to  fill 
one  of  the  gaps  he  had  to  leave,  and  this  to  some  extent  it  has  been  since 
proved  to  do.  The  result  of  all  this  is  that  the  Oscines  or  true  Passeres 
are  found  to  be  a  group  in  which  the  vocal  organs  not  only  attain  the 
greatest  perfection,  but  are  nearly  if  not  quite  as  uniform  in  their  structure 
as  in  the  sternal  apparatus ;  while  at  the  same  time  each  set  of  characters 
is  wholly  unlike  that  which  exists  in  any  other  group  of  Birds,  as  is  set 
forth  in  Dr.  Gadow's  article  Syrinx  in  the  text. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  muscles  just  defined  were  first  dis- 
covered by  Miiller ;  on  the  contrary  they  had  been  described  long  before, 
and  by  many  writers  on  the  anatomy  of  Birds.  To  say  nothing  of 
foreigners,  or  the  authors  of  general  works  on  the  subject,  an  excellent 
account  of  them  had  been  given  by  Yarrell  in  1829  {Trans.  Linn.  Soc. 
xvi.  pp.  305-321,  pis.  17,  18),  an  abstract  of  which  was  subsequently 
given  in  the  article  "Raven"  in  his  History  of  British  Birds,  and  Mac- 
gillivray  also  described  and  figured  them  with  the  greatest  accuracy  ten 
years  later  in  his  work  with  the  same  title  (ii.  pp.  21-37,  pis.  x.-xii.), 
while  Blyth  and  Nitzsch  had  (as  already  mentioned)  seen  some  of  their 
value  in  classification.  But  Miiller  has  the  merit  of  clearly  outstriding 
his  predecessors,  and  with  his  accustomed  perspicacity  made  the  way  even 

^  It  is  not  needless  to  point  out  this  fine  distinction,  for  more  tlian  one  modem 
author  would  seem  to  have  overlooked  it. 


INTRODUCTION  6g 


plainer  for  his  successors  to  see  than  he  himself  was  able  to  see  it.  What 
remains  to  add  is  that  the  celebrity  of  its  author  actually  procured  for 
the  first  portion  of  his  researches  notice  in  England  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  xvii. 
p.  499),  though  it  must  be  confessed  not  tlien  to  any  practical  purpose.^ 

It  is  now  necessary  to  revert  to  the  year  1842,  in  which  Dr.  Cornay 
of  Rochefort  communicated  to  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences  a  memoir 
on  a  new  Classification  of  Birds,  of  which,  however,  nothing  but  a  notice 
has  been  preserved  (Comptes  Eendus,  xiv.  p.  164).  Two  years  later  this 
was  followed  by  a  second  contribution  from  him  on  the  same  subject,  and 
of  this  only  an  extract  appeared  in  the  official  organ  of  the  Academy  (op. 
cit.  xvi.  pp.  94,  95),  though  an  abstract  was  inserted  in  one  scientific  journal 
{L'Institut,  xii.  p.  21),  and  its  first  portion  in  another  {Journal  des 
Be'couvertes,  i.  p.  250).  The  Revue  Zoologique  for  1847  (pp.  360-369) 
contained  the  whole,  and  enabled  naturalists  to  consider  the  merits  of  the 
author's  project,  which  was  to  found  a  new  Classification  of  Birds  on  the 
form  of  the  anterior  palatal  bones,  which  he  declared  to  be  subjected 
more  evidently  than  any  other  to  certain  fixed  laws.  These  laws,  as  for- 
mulated by  him,  are  that  (1)  there  is  a  coincidence  of  form  of  the  anterior 
palatal  bones  and  of  the  cranium  in  Birds  of  the  same  Order  ;  (2)  there  is  a 
likeness  between  the  anterior  palatal  bones  in  Birds  of  the  same  Order  ;  (3) 
there  are  relations  of  likeness  between  the  anterior  palatal  bones  in  groups 
of  Birds  which  are  near  to  one  another.  These  laws,  he  added,  exist  in 
regard  to  all  parts  that  ofi^er  characters  fit  for  the  methodical  arrangement 
of  Birds,  but  it  is  in  regard  to  the  anterior  palatal  bones  that  they  un- 
questionably off'er  the  most  evidence.  In  the  evolution  of  these  laws  Dr. 
Cornay  had  most  laudably  studied,  as  his  observations  prove,  a  vast 
number  of  difi"erent  types,  and  the  upshot  of  his  whole  laboi;rs,  though 
not  very  clearly  stated,  was  such  as  wholly  to  subvert  the  classification  at 
that  time  generally  adopted  by  French  ornithologists.  He  of  course  knew 
the  investigations  of  L'Herminier  and  De  Blainville  on  sternal  formation, 
and  he  also  seems  to  have  been  aware  of  some  pterylological  difi^erences 
exhibited  in  Birds — whether  those  disclosed  by  Nitzsch  or  those  by  Jacque 
min  is  not  stated.  True-  it  is  the  latter  were  never  published  in  full, 
but  it  is  conceivable  that  Dr.  Cornay  may  have  known  their  drift.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  he  declares  that  characters  drawn  from  the  sternum  or  the 
pelvis — hitherto  deemed  to  be,  next  to  the  bones  of  the  head,  the  most 
important  portions  of  the  bird's  framework — are  scarcely  worth  more,  from 
a  classificatory  point  of  view,  than  characters  drawn  from  the  bill  or  the 
legs ;  while  pterylological  considerations,  together  with  many  others  to 
which  some  systematists  had  attached  more  or  less  importance,  can  only 
assist,  and  apparently  must  never  be  taken  to  control,  the  force  of  evi- 
dence furnished  by  this  bone  of  all  bones — the  anterior  palatal. 

^  More  than  30  years  after  proper  tribute  was  rendered  to  one  who  by  his 
investigations  had  so  iriaterially  advanced  the  study  of  Ornithology,  since  in  1878 
Mr.  Sclater  procured  the  publication  at  Oxford  of  an  English  version  of  this  treatise 
under  the  title  of  Johannes  Miiller  on  Certain  Variations  in  the  Vocal  Organs  of  the 
Passeres  that  have  hitherto  escaped  notice.  It  was  translated  by  Prof.  Jeffrey  Bell, 
and  Garrod  added  an  appendix  containing  a  summary  of  his  own  continuation  of  the 
same  line  of  research.  By  some  unaccountable  accident,  the  date  of  the  original  com- 
munication to  the  Academy  of  Berlin  is  wrongly  printed.     It  is  rightly  given  above. 


70  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

That  Dr.  Cornay  was  on  the  brink  of  making  a  discovery  of  consider- 
able merit  will  by  and  by  appear  ;  but,  with  every  disposition  to  regard 
his  investigations  favourably,  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  accomplished  it. 
No  account  need  be  taken  of  the  criticism  which  denominated  his  attempt 
"  unphilosophical  and  one-sided,"  nor  does  it  signify  that  his  proposals 
either  attracted  no  attention  or  were  generally  received  with  indifference. 
Such  is  commonly  the  fate  of  any  deep-seated  reform  of  classification  pro- 
posed by  a  comparatively  unknown  man,  unless  it  happen  to  possess  some 
extraordinarily  taking  qualities,  or  be  explained  with  an  abundance  of 
pictorial  illustration.  This  was  not  the  case  here.  Whatever  proofs  Dr. 
Cornay  may  have  had  to  satisfy  himself  of  his  being  on  the  right  track, 
these  proofs  were  not  adduced  in  sufficient  number  nor  arranged  with 
sufficient  skill  to  persuade  a  somewhat  stiff-necked  generation  of  the 
truth  of  his  views — -for  it  was  a  generation  whose  leaders,  in  France  at 
any  rate,  looked  with  suspicion  upon  any  one  who  professed  to  go  beyond 
the  bounds  which  the  genius  of  Cuvier  had  been  unable  to  overpass,  and 
regarded  the  notion  of  upsetting  any  of  the  positions  maintained  by  him 
as  verging  upon  profanity.  Moreover,  Dr.  Cornay's  scheme  was  not  given 
to  the  world  with  any  of  those  adjuncts  that  not  merely  please  the  eye 
but  are  in  many  cases  necessary,  for,  thougTi  on  a  subject  which  reqixired 
for  its  proper  comprehension  a  series  of  plates,  it  made  even  its  final 
appearance  unadorned  by  a  single  explanatory  figure,  and  in  a  journal, 
respectable  and  well-known  indeed,  but  one  not  of  the  highest  scientific 
rank.  Add  to  all  this  that  its  author,  in  his  summary  of  the  practical 
results  of  his  investigations,  committed  a  grave  sin  in  the  ej^es  of  rigid 
systematists  by  ostentatiously  arranging  the  names  of  the  forty  types 
which  he  selected  to  prove  his  case  wholly  without  order,  and  without 
any  intimation  of  the  greater  or  less  affinity  any  one  of  them  might  bear 
to  the  rest.  That  success  should  attend  a  scheme  so  inconclusively 
elaborated  could  not  be  expected. 

The  same  year  which  saw  the  promulgation  of  the  crude  scheme  just 
described,  as  well  as  the  publication  of  the  final  researches  of  Miiller, 
witnessed  also  another  attempt  at  the  classification  of  Birds,  much  more 
limited  indeed  in  scope,  but,  so  •  far  as  it  went,  regarded  by  most  orni- 
thologists of  the  time  as  almost  final  in  its  operation.  Under  the  vague 
title  of  '  Ornithologische  Notizen '  Prof.  Cabanis  of  Berlin  contributed  to 
the  Archiv  fiir  Naturgeschichte  (xiii.  1,  pp.  186-256,  308-352)  an  essay  in 
two  parts,  wherein,  following  the  researches  of  Miiller^  on  the  syrinx,  in 
the  course  of  which  a  correlation  had  been  shewn  to  exist  between  the 
whole  or  divided  condition  of  the  planta  or  hind  part  of  the  "  tarsus " 
(first  noticed,  as  has  been  said,  by  Keyserling  and  Blasius)  and  the  presence 
or  absence  of  the  perfect  song-apparatus,  the  younger  author  found  an 
agreement  which  seemed  almost  invariable  in  this  respect,  and  he  also 
pointed  out  that  the  planta  of  the  different  groups  of  Birds  in  which  it 
is  divided,  is  divided  in  difl'erent  modes,  the  mode  of  division  being 
generally  characteristic  of  the  group.     Such  a  coincidence  of  the  internal 

^  On  the  other  hand,  Miiller  makes  several  references  to  the  labours  of  Prof. 
Cabanis.  The  investigations  of  both  authors  must  have  been  proceeding  simultan- 
eously, and  it  matters  little  which  actiially  appeared  first. 


INTRO  D  UC  TION  71 


and  external  features  of  Birds  was  naturally  deemed  a  discovery  of  great 
value  by  those  ornithologists  who  thought  most  highly  of  the  latter,  and 
it  was  unquestionably  of  no  little  practical  utility.  Further  examination 
also  revealed  the  fact  ^  that  in  certain  groups  the  number  of  "  primaries," 
or  quill-feathers  growing  from  the  manus  of  the  wing,  formed  another 
characteristic  easy  of  observation.  In  the  Oscines  or  Polymyodi  of  Miiller 
the  number  was  either  nine  or  ten — and  if  the  latter  the  outermost  of 
them  was  generally  very  small.  In  two  of  the  other  groups  of  which 
Prof.  Cabanis  especially  treated — groups  which  had  been  hitherto  more  or 
less  confounded  with  the  Oscines — the  number  of  primaries  was  invari- 
ably ten,  and  the  outermost  of  them  was  comparatively  large.  This 
observation  was  also  hailed  as  the  discovery  of  a  fact  of  extraordinary 
importance  ;  and,  from  the  results  of  these  investigations  taken  altogether. 
Ornithology  was  declared  by  Sundevall,  undoubtedly  a  man  who  had  a 
right  to  speak  with  authority,  to  have  made  greater  progress  than  had  been 
achieved  since  the  days  of  Cuvier.  The  final  disposition  of  the  "  Sub- 
class hisessores  " — all  the  perching  birds,  that  is  to  say,  which  are  neither 
Birds-of-Prey  nor  Pigeons — proposed  by  Prof.  Cabanis,  was  into  four 
"  Orders,"  as  follows  : — 

1.  Oscines,  equal  to  Miiller's  group  of  the  same  name. 

2.  Glamatores,  being  a  majority  of  that  division  of  the  Picariae  of 
Nitzsch,  so  called  by  Andreas  Wagner,  in  1841,-  which  have  their  feet 
normally  constructed. 

3.  Strisores,  a  group  now  separated  from  the  Glamatores  of  Wagner, 
and  containing  those  forms  which  have  their  feet  abnormally  constructed ; 
and 

4.  Scansores,  being  the  Grimpeurs  of  Cuvier,  the  Zygodactyli  of  several 
other  systematists. 

The  first  of  these  four  "  Orders  "  had  been  already  indefeasibly  estab- 
lished as  one  perfectly  natural,  but  respecting  its  details  more  must  pre- 
sently be  said.  The  remaining  three  are  now  seen  to  be  artificial  associa- 
tions, and  the  second  of  them,  Glamatores,  in  particular,  containing  a  very 
heterogeneous  assemblage  of  forms  ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  internal  structure  of  some  of  them  was  at  that  time  still  more  imper- 
fectly known  than  now.  Yet  even  then,  enough  had  been  ascertained  to 
have  saved  what  are  now  recognized  as  the  Families  Todidee  and  Tyran- 
nidse  from  being  placed  as  "  Subfamilies"  in  the  same  "  Family  Golopteridse" ; 
and  several  other  instances  of  unharmonious  combination  in  this  "  Order  " 
might  be  adduced  were  it  worth  while  to  particularize  them.  More  than 
that,  it  would  not  be  diflBicult  to  shew,  only  the  present  is  not  exactly  the 

^  This  seems  to  have  been  made  known  by  Prof.  Cabanis  the  preceding  year  to 
the  '  Gesellschaft  der  Naturforschender  Freunde '  {cf.  Miiller,  Stimmorgane  der  Pas- 
serinen,  p.  65).  Of  course  the  variation  to  which  the  number  of  primaries  was 
subject  had  not  escaped  the  observation  of  Nitzsch,  but  he  had  scarcely  used  it  as  a 
classificatory  character. 

^  Archiv  fur  Naturgeschichte,  vii.  2,  pp.  93,  94.  The  division  seems  to  have 
been  instituted  by  this  author  a  couple  of  years  earlier  in  the  second  edition  of  his 
Handbuch  der  Naturgeschichte  (which  I  have  not  seen),  but  not  then  to  have  received 
a  scientific  name.  It  included  all  Picariae  which  had  not  "  zygodactylous  "  feet,  that 
is  to  say,  toes  placed  in  pairs,  two  before  and  two  behind. 


y2  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

place  for  it,  that  some  groups  or  Families  which  in  reality  are  not  far 
distant  from  one  another  are  distributed,  owing  to  the  dissimilarity  of 
their  external  characters,  throughout  these  three  Orders. 

But  to  return  to  the  Oscines,  the  arrangement  of  which  in  the 
classification  now  under  notice  has  been  deemed  its  greatest  merit,  and 
consequently  has  been  very  generally  followed.  That  by  virtue  of  the 
perfection  of  their  vocal  organs,  and  certain  other  properties — though 
some  of  these  last  have  perhaps  never  yet  been  made  clear  enough — they 
should  stand  at  the  head  of  the  whole  Class,  may  be  freely  admitted,  but 
the  respective  rank  assigned  to  the  various  component  Families  of  the 
group  is  certainly  open  to  question,  and  to  the  present  writer  seems,  in 
the  methods  of  several  systematists,  to  be  based  upon  a  fallacy.  This 
respective  rank  of  the  different  Families  appears  to  have  been  assigned  on 
the  principle  that,  since  by  reason  of  one  character  (namely,  the  more 
complicated  structure  of  their  syrinx)  the  Oscines  form  a  higher  group 
than  the  Glamatores,  therefore  all  the  concomitant  features  which  the 
former  possess  and  the  latter  do  not  must  be  equally  indicative  of 
superiority.  Now  one  of  the  features  in  which  most  of  the  Oscines  differ 
from  the  lower  "  Order  "  is  the  having  a  more  or  less  undivided  planta, 
and  accordingly  it  has  been  assumed  that  the  Family  of  Oscines  in  which 
this  modification  of  the  planta  is  carried  to  its  extreme  point  must  be  the 
highest  point  of  that  "  Order."  Since,  therefore,  this  extreme  modification 
of  the  planta  is  exhibited  by  the  Thrushes  and  their  allies,  it  is  alleged 
that  they  must  be  placed  first,  and  indeed  at  the  head  of  all  Birds.  The 
groundlessness  of  this  reasoning  ought  to  be  apparent  to  everybody.  In 
the  present  state  of  anatomy  at  any  rate,  it  is  impossible  to  prove  that 
there  is  more  than  a  coincidence  in  the  facts  just  stated,  and  in  the 
association  of  two  characters — one  deeply  seated  and  affecting  the  whole 
life  of  the  Bird,  the  other  superficially,  and  so  far  as  we  can  perceive 
without  effect  upon  its  organism.  Because  the  Glamatores,  having  no 
song-muscles,  have  a  divided  planta,  it  cannot  be  logical  to  assume  that 
among  the  Oscines,  which  possess  song-muscles,  such  of  them  as  have  an 
undivided  ^iZante  must  be  higher  than  those  that  have  it  divided.  The 
argument,  if  it  can  be  called  an  argument,  is  hardly  one  of  analogy  ;  and 
yet  no  stronger  ground  has  been  occupied  by  those  who  invest  the 
Thrushes,  as  do  the  majority  of  modern  systematists,  with  the  most 
dignified  position  in  the  whole  Class.  But  passing  from  general  to  par- 
ticular considerations,  so  soon  as  a  practical  application  of  the  principle 
is  made  its  inefiicacy  is  manifest.  The  test  of  perfection  of  the  vocal 
organs  must  be  the  perfection  of  the  notes  they  enable  their  possessor  to 
utter.  There  cannot  be  a  question  that,  sing  admirably  as  do  some  of 
the  Birds  included  among  the  Thrushes,^  the  Larks,  as  a  Family,  infinitely 
surpass  them.     Yet  the   Larks  form  the  very  group  which,  as  elsewhere 

^  Prof.  Cabauis  would  liave  strengthened  his  position  had  he  included  in  the  same 
Family  with  the  Thrushes,  which  he  called  HJiacnemtdie.,  the  birds  commonly  known 
as  Warblers,  Sylviidaz,  which  tlie  more  advanced  of  recent  systematists  are  inclined 
with  much  reason  to  ^mite  with  the  Thrushes,  Turdidse  ;  but  instead  of  that  he, 
trusting  to  the  plant-ar  character,  segregated  the  Warblers,  including  of  course  the 
Nightingale,  and  did  not  even  allow  them  the  second  place  in  his  method,  putting 


INTRODUCTION  yj 


shewn  (Lark,  page  511),  have  the  flanta  more  divided  than  any  other 
among  the  Oscines.  It  seems  hardly  possible  to  adduce  anything  that 
\yould  more  conclusively  demonstrate  the  independent  nature  of  each  of 
these  characters^ — the  complicated  structure  of  the  syrinx  and  the  asserted 
inferior  formation  of  the  planta — which  are  in  the  Alaudidse  associated.^ 
Moreover,  this  same  Family  affords  a  very  valid  protest  against  the  ex- 
treme value  attached  to  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  outermost  quill- 
feather  of  the  wings,  and  in  this  work  it  is  also  shewn  {loc.  cit.)  that 
almost  every  stage  of  magnitude  in  this  feather  is  exhibited  by  the  Larks 
from  its  almost  abortive  condition  in  Alauda  to  its  very  considerable 
development  in  Mirafra.  Indeed  there  are  many  genera  of  Oscines  in 
which  the  proportion  that  the  outermost  "  primary  "  bears  to  the  rest  is 
at  best  but  a  specific  character,  and  certain  exceptions  are  allowed  by 
Prof.  Cabanis  (p.  313)  to  exist.^  Some  of  them  it  is  now  easy  to  explain, 
inasmuch  as  in  a  few  cases  the  apparently  aberrant  genera  have  elsewhere 
found  a  more  natural  position,  a  contingency  to  which  he  himself  was 
fully  awake.^  But  as  a  rule  the  allocation  and  ranking  of  the  different 
Families  of  Oscines  by  this  author  must  be  deemed  arbitrary.  Yet  the 
value  of  his  Ornithologische  Notizen  is  great,  not  only  as  evidence  of  his 
extensive  acquaintance  with  different  forms,  which  is  proclaimed  in  every 
page,  but  in  leading  to  a  far  fuller  appreciation  of  characters  that  cei-tainly 
should  on  no  account  be  neglected,  though  too  much  importance  may 
easily  be,  and  already  has  been,  assigned  to  them.'* 

This  will  perhaps  be  the  most  convenient  place  to  mention  another 
kind  of  classification  of  Birds,  which,  based  on  a  principle  wholly  different 
from  those  that  have  just  been  explained,  requires  a  few  words,  though  it 
has  not  been  productive,  nor  is  it  likely,  from  all  that  appears,  to  be  pro- 
ductive of  any  great  effect.  So  long  ago  as  1831,  Bonaparte,  in  his 
Saggio  di  una  distribuzione  metodica  degli  Animali  Vertebrati,  published  at 
Rome,  and  in  1837  communicated  to  the  Linnean  Society  of  London, 
'  A  new  Systematic  Arrangement  of  Vertebrated  Animals,'  which  was 
subsequently  printed  in  that  Society's  Transactions  (xviii.  pp.  247-304), 
though  before  it  appeared  there  was  issued  at  Bologna,  under  the  title  of 
Synopsis  Vertebratorum  Systematis,   a  Latin  translation  of  it.     Herein  he 

them  below  the  Family  called  by  him  Sylmcolidae,  consisting  chiefly  of  the  American 
forms  now  known  as  Mniotiltidse,  none  of  which  as  songsters  approach  those  of  the 
Old  World. 

^  It  must  be  observed  that  Prof.  Cabanis  does  not  place  the  Alavdidae  lowest  of 
the  seventeen  Families  of  which  he  makes  the  -Oscines  to  be  composed.  They  stand 
eleventh  in  order,  while  the  Corvidae  are  last — a  matter  on  which  something  may  be 
said  in  the  sequel. 

^  The  American  Family  Vireonidee  (Vireo)  presents  some  notable  CKamples,  though 
there  it  is  stated  that  the  tenth  primary  is  always  present,  but  often  concealed  by  the 
ninth  (cf.  Coues,  Key  N.  Am.  Birds,  ed.  2,  p.  331). 

^  By  a  curious  error,  probably  of  the  press,  the  number  of  primaries  assigned  to 
the  Paradiseidse  and  Corvidae  is  wrong  (pp.  334,  335).  In  each  case  10  should  be 
substituted  for  19  and  14. 

*  A  more  extensive  and  detailed  application  of  his  method  was  begun  by  Prof. 
Cabanis  in  the  3Iuseum  Heineanum,  a  useful  catalogue  of  specimens  in  the  collection 
of  the  late  Oberamtmann  Heine,  of  which  the  first  part  appeared  at  Halberstadt  in 
1850,  and  the  last,  the  work  being  still  unfinished,  in  1863.  A  Nomendator  of  the 
same  collection  was  printed  at  Berlin  1882-90  by  its  owner's  son  and  Dr.  Pieicheuow. 


7^  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

divided  fhe  Class  Aves  into  two  Subclasses,  to  which  he  applied  the  names 
of  Insessores  and  Grallatores  (hitherto  used  by  their  inventors  Vigors  and 
Illiger  in  a  different  sense),  in  the  latter  work  relying  chiefly  for  this 
division  on  characters  which  had  not  before  been  used  by  any  systematist, 
namely,  that  in  the  former  group  Monogamy  generally  prevailed  and  the 
helpless  nestlings  were  fed  by  their  parents,  while  the  latter  group  were 
mostly  Polygamous,  and  the  chicks  at  birth  were  active  and  capable  of 
feeding  themselves.  This  method,  which  in  process  of  time  was  dignified 
by  the  title  of  a  Physiological  Arrangement,  was  insisted  upon  with  more 
or  less  pertinacity  by  the  author  throughout  a  long  series  of  publications, 
some  of  them  separate  books,  some  of  them  contributed  to  the  memoirs 
issued  by  many  scientific  bodies  of  various  European  countries,  ceasing  only 
at  his  death,  which  in  July  1857  found  him  occupied  upon  the  unfinished 
Conspectus  Generum  Avium  before  mentioned.  In  the  course  of  this  series, 
however,  he  saw  fit  to  alter  the  name  of  his  two  Subclasses,  since  those 
which  he  at  first  adopted  were  open  to  a  variety  of  meanings,  and  in  a 
communication  to  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences  in  1853  (Gomptes 
Bendus,  xxxvii.  pp.  641-647)  the  denomination  Insessores  was  changed  to 
Altrices,  and  Grallatores  to  Preecoces — -the  terms  now  preferred  by  him 
being  taken  from  Sundevall's  treatise  of  1835  already  mentioned.  The 
views  of  Bonaparte  were,  it  appears,  also  shared  by  an  ornithological 
amateur  of  some  distinction,  Hogg,  who  propounded  a  scheme  which,  as 
he  subsequently  stated  {Zool.  1850,  p.  2797),  was  founded  strictly  in 
accordance  with  them  ;  but  it  would  seem  that,  allowing  his  convictions 
to  be  warped  by  other  considerations,  he  abandoned  the  original 
"physiological"  basis  of  his  system,  so  that  this,  when  published  in  1846 
{Edinh.  N.  Philos.  Journ.  xli.  pp.  50-71)  was  found  to  be  established  on  a 
single  character  of  the  feet  only,  whereon  he  defined  his  Subclasses  Con- 
strictipedes  and  Inconstridipedes.  The  numerous  errors  made  in  his  asser- 
tion hardly  need  pointing  out.  Yet  the  idea  of  a  "  physiological "  arrange- 
ment on  the  same  kind  of  principle  found  another  follower,  or,  as  he  thought, 
inventor,  in  Newman,  who  published  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1850,  pp.  46-48, 
and  Zool.  pp.  2780-2782)  a  plan  based  on  exactly  the  same  considerations, 
dividing  Birds  into  two  groups,  "'Hesthogenous  " — a  word  so  vicious  in 
formation  as  to  be  incapable  of  amendment,  but  intended  to  signify  those 
that  were  hatched  with  a  clothing  of  down — and  "  Gymnogenous,"  or 
those  that  were  hatched  naked.  These  three  systems  are  essentially 
identical  ;  but,  plausible  as  they  may  be  at  the  first  aspect,  they  have 
been  found  to  be  practically  useless,  though  such  of  their  characters  as  their 
upholders  have  advanced  with  truth  deserve  attention,  and,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  present  work,  Dr.  Gadow's  terms  Nidicolx  and  Nidifugx,  used  in  no 
systematic  sense,  express  with  greater  accuracy  what  is  needed.  Physiology 
may  one  day  very  likely  assist  the  systematist  ;  but  it  must  be  real 
physiology  and  not  a  sham. 

In  1856  Prof.  Gervais,  who  had  already  contributed  to  the  Zoologie 
of  M.  de  Castelnau's  Expedition  dans  les  parties  centrales  de  VAmerique  du 
Sud  some  important  memoirs  describing  the  anatomy  of  the  Hoactzin 
(page  421)  and  certain  other  Birds  of  doubtful  or  anomalous  position, 
published  some  remarks  on  the  characters  which  could  be  drawn  from  the 


INTRODUCTION  75 


sternum  of  Birds  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  Zoologie,  ser.  4,  vi.  pp.  5-15).  The  con- 
siderations are  not  very  striking  from  a  general  point  of  view  ;  but  the 
author  adds  to  the  weight  of  evidence  which  some  of  his  predecessors  had 
brought  to  bear  on  certain  matters,  particularly  in  aiding  to  abolish  the 
artificial  groups  "  Deodactyls,"  "  Syndactyls "  and  "  Zygodactyls,"  on 
which  so  much  reliance  had  been  placed  by  many  of  his  countrymen  ; 
and  it  is  with  him  a  great  merit  that  he  was  the  first  apparently  to 
recognize  publicly  that  characters  drawn  from  the  posterior  part 
of  the  sternum,  and  particularly  from  the  "  echancrures,"  commonly 
called  in  English  "  notches "  or  "  emarginations,"  are  of  comparatively 
little  importance,  since  their  number  is  apt  to  vary  in  forms  that 
are  most  closely  allied,  and  even  in  species  that  are  usually  associated 
in  the  same  genus  or  unquestionably  belong  to  the  same  Family,^  while 
these  "  notches,"  sometimes  become  simple  foramina,  as  in  certain  Pigeons, 
or  on  the  other  hand  foramina  may  exceptionally  change  to  "  notches," 
and  not  unfrequently  disappear  wholly.  Among  his  chief  systematic 
determinations  we  may  mention  that  he  refers  the  Tinamous  to  the  Rails, 
because  apparently  of  their  deep  "  notches,"  but  otherwise  takes  a  view  of 
that  group  more  correct  according  to  modern  notions  than  did  most  of  his 
contemporaries.  The  Bustards  he  would  place  with  the  "  Limicoles,"  as 
also  Dromas  (Crab-Plover)  and  Chionis,  (Sheathbill).  Phaethon  (Tropic- 
bird)  he  would  place  with  the  "  Larides  "  and  not  with  the  "  Pelecanides," 
which  it  only  resembles  in  its  feet  having  all  the  toes  connected  by  a  web. 
Finally  Divers,  Auks  and  Penguins,  according  to  him,  form  the  last  term 
in  the  series,  and  it  seems  fit  to  him  that  they  should  be  regarded  as  form- 
ing a  separate  Order.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  even  at  a  date  so  late  as 
this,  and  by  an  investigator  so  well  informed,  doubt  should  still  have 
existed  whether  Apteryx  should  be  refeiTed  to  the  group  containing  the 
Cassowary  and  the  Ostrich.  On  the  whole  the  remarks  of  this  esteemed 
author  do  not  go  much  beyond  such  as  might  occur  to  any  one  who  had 
made  a  study  of  a  good  series  of  specimens ;  but  many  of  them  are 
published  for  the  first  time,  and  the  author  is  careful  to  insist  on  the 
necessity  of  not  resting  solely  on  sternal  characters,  but  associating  with 
them  those  drawn  from  other  parts  of  the  body. 

Three  years  later  in  the  same  journal  (xi.  pp.  11-145,  pis.  2-4)  M. 
Blanchard  published  some  Becherches  sur  les  caraderes  osMologiques  des 
Oiseaux  appliquees  a  la  Classification  naturelle  de  ces  animaux,  strongly 
urging  the  superiority  of  such  characters  over  those  drawn  from  the  bill  or 
feet,  which,  he  remarks,  though  they  may  have  sometimes  given  correct 
notions,  have  mostly  led  to  mistakes,  and,  if  observations  of  habits  and 
food  have  sometimes  afi'orded  happy  results,  they  have  often  been  decep- 
tive ;  so  that,  should  more  be  wanted  than  to  draw  up  a  mere  inventory 
of  creation  or  trace  the  distinctive  outline  of  each  species,  zoology  without 
anatomy  would  remain  a  barren  study.  At  the  same  time  he  states  that 
authors  who  have  occupied  themselves  with  the  sternum  alone  have  often 

■^  Thus  he  cites  the  cases  of  Machetes  jpugyiax  and  Scolopax  nisticula  among  the 
"Limicoles,"  and  Larus  cataractes  among  the  "Larides,"  as  differing  from  their 
nearest  allies  by  the  possession  of  only  one  "notch"  on  either  side  of  the  keel  (c/. 
suprd,  page  4^). 


76  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

produced  uncertain  results,  especially  when  they  have  neglected  its 
anterior  for  its  posterior  part  ;  for  in  truth  every  bone  of  the  skeleton 
ought  to  be  studied  in  all  its  details.  Yet  this  distinguished  zoologist 
selects  the  sternum  as  furnishing  the  key  to  his  primary  groups  or 
"  Orders "  of  the  Class,  adopting,  as  Merrem  had  done  long  before,  the 
same  two  divisions  Carinatx  and  Batitee,  naming,  however,  the  former 
Tropidosteriiii  and  the  latter  Homalosternii?-  Some  unkind  fate  has 
hitherto  hindered  him  from  making  known  to  the  world  the  rest  of  his 
researches  in  regard  to  the  other  bones  of  the  skeleton  till  he  reached  the 
head,  and  in  the  memoir  cited  he  treats  of  the  sternum  of  only  a  portion 
of  his  first  "  Order."  This  is  the  more  to  be  regretted  by  all  ornithologists 
since  he  intended  to  conclude  with  what  to  them  would  have  been  a  very 
great  boon — the  shewing  in  what  way  external  characters  coincided  with 
those  presented  by  Osteology.  It  was  also  within  the  scope  of  his  plan 
to  have  continued  on  a  more  extended  scale  the  researches  on  ossification 
begun  by  L'Herminier,  and  thus  M.  Blanchard's  investigations,  if  com- 
pleted, would  obviously  have  taken  extraordinarily  high  rank  among  the 
highest  contributions  to  ornithology.  As  it  is,  the  32  pages  we  have  of 
them  are  of  considerable  importance  ;  for,  in  this  unfortunately  unfinished 
memoir,  he  describes  in  some  detail  the  several  differences  which  the 
sternum  in  a  great  many  different  groups  of  his  Tropidosternii  presents, 
and  to  some  extent  makes  a  methodical  disposition  of  them  accordingly. 
Thus  he  separates  the  Birds-of-Prey  into  three  gx'eat  groups — (1)  the 
ordinary  Diurnal  forms,  including  the  Falconidse,  and  Vulturidse  of  the 
systematist  of  his  time,  but  distinguishing  the  American  Vultures  from 
those  of  the  Old  World  ;  (2)  Gijpogeranus  (Secretary-bird)  ;  and  (3)  the 
Owls.  Next  he  places  the  Parrots,  and  then  the  vast  assemblage  of 
"  Passereaux  " — which  he  declares  to  be  all  of  one  type,  even  genera  like 
Pipra  (Manakin)  and  Pitta — and  concludes  with  the  somewhat  hetero- 
geneous conglomeration  of  forms,  beginning  with  Cypselus  (Swift),  that 
so  many  systematists  have  been  accustomed  to  call  Ficariae,  though  to 
them  as  a  group  he  assigns  no  name.'^ 

Important  as  are  the  characters  afforded  by  the  sternum,  that  bone 
even  with  the  whole  sternal  apparatus  should  obviously  not  be  considered 
alone.  To  aid  ornithologists  in  their  studies  in  this  respect,  Eyton,  who 
for  many  years  had  been  forming  a  collection  of  Bird's  skeletons,  began 
the  publication  of  a  series  of  plates  representing  them.  The  first  part  of 
this  work,  Osteologia  Avium,  appeared  early  in  1859,  and  a  volume  was 
completed  in  1867.  A  supplement  was  issued  in  1869,  and  a  Second 
Supplement,  in  three  parts,  between  1873  and  1875.  The  whole  work 
contains  a  great  number  of  figures  of  Birds'  skeletons  and  detached  bones  ; 
but  they  are  not  so  drawn   as   to  be  of  much  practical   use,  and   the 

^  These  terms  were  explained  in  his  great  work  L' Organisation  du  Regne  Animal, 
Oiseaux  (p.  16),  begun  in  1855,  and  unhappily  unfinished,  to  mean  exactly  the  same 
as  those  applied  by  Merrem  to  his  two  primary  divisions. 

-  M.  Blanchard's  animadversions  on  the  employment  of  external  characters,  and 
on  trusting  to  observations  on  the  habits  of  Birds,  called  forth  a  rejoinder  from  Mr. 
Wallace  [Ibis,  1864,  pp.  36-41),  who  successfully  shewed  that  they  are  not  altogether 
to  be  despised. 


INTRODUCTION  77 


accompanying  letterpress  is  too  brief  to  be  satisfactory.  A  somewhat 
similar  work,  Ahlildungen  von  Vogel-SJceletten,  was  begun  in  1879  by  Dr. 
A.  B.  Meyer,  and  is  stiU  in  progress,  210  plates  of  Birds'  skeletons  having 
already  appeared.  Some  of  these  are  excellent,  but  photography,  by 
means  of  which  they  are  all  represented,  is  an  unintelligent  art,  and  as 
the  sun  shines  alike  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  so  minor  characters  are  as 
faithfully  portrayed  as  those  which  are  of  importance,  and  indeed  the 
latter  are  often,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  obscure  or  even  indistinguish- 
able. Yet  we  may  be  sure  that  every  possible  care  was  taken  to  avoid 
the  disappointment  thus  caused.^ 

That  the  eggs  laid  by  Birds  should  offer  to  some  extent  characters  of 
utility  to  systematists  is  only  to  be  expected,  when  it  is  considered  that 
those  from  the  same  nest  generally  bear  an  extraordinary  family-likeness 
to  one  another,  and  also  that  in  certain  groups  the  essential  peculiarities 
of  the  egg-shell  are  constantly  and  distinctively  characteristic.  Thus  no 
one  who  has  ever  examined  the  egg  of  a  Duck  or  of  a  Tinamou  would 
ever  be  in  danger  of  not  referring  another  Tinamou's  egg  or  another 
Duck's  that  he  might  see  to  its  proper  Family,  and  so  on  with  many 
others.-  Yet,  as  is  stated  in  the  text  (p.  182),  the  expectation  held 
out  to  oologists,  and  by  them,  of  the  benefits  to  be  conferred  upon 
Systematic  Ornithology  from  the  study  of  Birds'  eggs,  so  far  from  being 
fulfilled,  has  not  unfrequently  led  to  disappointment.  But  at  the  same 
time  many  of  the  shortcomings  of  Oology  in  this  respect  must  be  set  down 
to  the  defective  information  and  observation  of  its  votaries,  among  whom 
some  have  been  very  lax,  not  to  say  incautious,  in  not  ascertaining  on  due 
evidence  the  parentage  of  their  specimens,  and  the  author  next  to  be 
named  is  open  to  this  charge.  After  several  minor  notices  that  appeared 
in  journals  at  various  times,  Des  Murs  in  1860  brought  out  at  Paris  his 
ambitious  Traits  general  d'Oologie  Omithologique  au  point  de  vue  de  la 
Classification,  elsewhere  mentioned  (Eggs,  page  191,  note),  which  contains 
(pp.  529-538)  a  'Systema  Oologicum'  as  the  final  result  of  his  labours. 
In  this  scheme  Birds  are  arranged  according  to  what  the  author  considered 
to  be  their  natural  method  and  sequence  ;  but  the  result  exhibits  some 
unions  as  ill-assorted  as  can  well  be  met  with  in  the  whole  range  of 
tentative  arrangements  of  the  Class,  together  with  some  very  unjustifiable 
divorces.  This  being  the  case,  it  would  seem  useless  to  take  up  further 
space  by  analysing  the  several  proposed  modifications  of  Cuvier's  arrange- 
ment which  the  author  takes  as  his  basis.  The  great  merit  of  the  work 
is  that  the  author  shews  the  necessity  of  taking  Oology  into  account  when 
investigating  the  classification  of  Birds,  but  it  also  proves  that  in  so  doing 
the  paramount  consideration  lies  in  the  thorough  sifting  of  evidence  as 
to  the  parentage  of  the  eggs  which  are  to  serve  as  the  building  stones  of 
the  fabric  to  be  erected  {Ibis,  1860,  pp.  331-335).  The  attempt  of  Des 
Murs  was  praiseworthy ;  but  in  effect  it  has  utterly  failed,  notwithstand- 

^  A  countless  number  of  osteological  papers  have  appeared  in  journals,  and  to 
name  them  would  here  be  impossible.  The  more  important  have  generally  been 
mentioned  in  the  body  of  this  work  in  connexion  with  the  species  or  group  of  species 
they  illustrate  ;  but  many  that  are  good  are  necessarily  passed  over. 

9 


78  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

ing  the  encomiums  passed  upon  it  by  friendly  critics  {Rev.  de  Zoologie, 
1860,  pp.  176-183,  313-325,  370-373).i 

Until  about  this  time  systematists,  almost  without  exception,  may  be 
said  to  have  been  wandering  with  no  definite  purpose.  At  leasttheirpurpose 
was  indefinite  compared  with  that  which  they  now  hare  before  them. 
No  doubt  they  all  agreed  in  saying  that  they  were  prosecuting  a  search 
for  what  they  called  the  True  System  of  Nature  ;  but  that  was  nearly 
the  end  of  their  agreement,  for  in  what  that  True  System  consisted  the 
opinions  of  scarcely  any  two  would  coincide,  unless  to  own  that  it  was 
some  shadowy  idea  beyond  the  present  power  of  mortals  to  reach  or  even 
comprehend.  The  Quinarians,  who  boldly  asserted  that  they  had  fathomed 
the  mystery  of  Creation,  had  been  shewn  to  be  no  wiser  than  other  men, 
if  indeed  they  had  not  utterly  befooled  themselves  ;  for  their  theory  at 
best  could  give  no  other  explanation  of  things  than  that  they  were 
because  they  were.  The  conception  of  such  a  process  as  has  now  come  to 
be  called  by  the  name  of  Evolution  was  certainly  not  novel ;  but  except 
to  two  men  the  way  in  which  that  process  was  or  could  be  possible  had 
not  been  revealed.^  Here  there  is  no  need  to  enter  into  details  of  the 
history  of  Evolutionary  theories  ;  but  the  annalist  in  every  branch  of 
Biology  must  record  the  eventful  First  of  July  1858,  when  the  now  cele- 
brated views  of  Darwin  and  Mr.  Wallace  were  first  laid  before  the  scientific 
world,^  and  must  also  notice  the  appearance  towards  the  end  of  the  follow- 
ing year  of  the  former's  Origin  of  Species,  which  has  eS'ected  one  of  the 
greatest  revolutions  of  thought  in  this  or  perhaps  in  any  century.  The 
majority  of  biologists  who  had  schooled  themselves  on  other  principles 
were  of  course  slow  to  embrace  the  new  doctrine  ;  but  their  hesitation  was 
only  the  natural  consequence  of  the  caution  which  their  scientific  train- 
ing enjoined.  A  few  there  were  who  felt  as  though  scales  had  suddenly 
dropped  from  their  eyes,  when  greeted  by  the  idea  conveyed  in  the  now 
familiar  phrase  "Natural  Selection";  but  even  those  who  had  hitherto 
believed,  and  still  continued  to  believe,  in  the  sanctity  of  "  Species "  at 
once  perceived  that  their  life-long  study  had  undergone  a  change,  that 
their  old  position  was  seriously  threatened  by  a  perilous  siege,  and  that  to 
make  it  good  they  must  find  -new  means  of  defence.  Many  bravely 
maintained  their  posts,  and  for  them  not  a  word  of  blame  ought  to  be 
expressed.  Some  few  pretended,  though  the  contrary  was  notorious,  that 
they  had  always  been  on  the  side  of  the  new  philosophy,  so  far  as  they 
allowed  it  to  be  philosophy  at  all,  and  for  them  hardly  a  word  of  blame  is 
too  severe.  Others  after  due  deliberation,  as  became  men  who  honestly 
desired  the  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  yielded  wholly  or  almost 
wholly  to  arguments  which  they  gradually  found  to  be  irresistible.      But, 

^  In  this  historical  sketch  of  the  progress  of  Ornithology  it  has  not  been  thought 
necessary  to  mention  other  oological  works,  since  they  have  not  a  taxonomic  bearing 
and  the  chief  of  them  are  named  elsewhere  (p.  188,  note),  but  to  them  must  be  added 
Mr.  Poyuting's  Eggs  of  British  Birds  (at  jiresent  confined  to  the  Limicolw),  the  figures 
of  which  are  excellent,  and  Capt.  Bendire's  work  mentioned  above  (page  37). 

^  Neither  Lamarck  nor  Robert  Chambers  (the  now  acknowledged  author  of  Vestiges 
of  Creation),  though  thorough  evolutionists,  rationally  indicated  any  means  whereby, 
to  use  the  old  phrase,  "  the  transmutation  of  species  "  could  be  effected. 

^  Journal  of  the  Proceedings  of  tlie  Linnean  Society,  iii.  Zoology,  pp.  45-62. 


INTRODUCTION  yg 


leaving  generalities  apart,  and  restricting  ourselves  to  wliat  is  here  our 
proper  business,  there  was  possibly  no  branch  of  Zoology  in  which  so 
many  of  the  best  informed  and  consequently  the  most  advanced  of  its  workers 
sooner  accej^ted  the  principles  of  Evolution  than  Ornithology,  and  of 
course  the  effect  upon  its  study  was  very  marked.  New  spirit  was  given 
to  it.  Ornithologists  now  felt  they  had  something  before  them  that  was 
really  worth  investigating.  Questions  of  Affinity,  and  the  details  of 
Geographical  Distribution,  were  endowed  with  a  real  interest,  in  comparison 
with  which  any  interest  that  had  hitherto  been  taken  was  a  trifling  pastime. 
Classification  assumed  a  wholly  different  aspect.  It  had  up  to  this  time 
been  little  more  than  the  shuffling  of  cards,  the  ingenious  arrangement  of 
counters  in  a  pretty  pattern.  Henceforward  it  was  to  be  the  serious  study 
of  the  workings  of  Nature  in  producing  the  beings  we  see  around  us  from 
beings  more  or  less  unlike  them,  that  had  existed  in  bygone  ages  and  had 
been  the  parents  of  a  varied  and  varying  offspring — our  fellow-creatures 
of  to-day.  Classification  for  the  first  time  was  something  more  than  the 
expression  of  a  fancy,  not  that  it  had  not  also  its  imaginative  side.  Men 
began  to  figure  to  themselves  the  original  type  of  some  well-marked  genus 
or  Family  of  Birds.  They  could  even  discern  dimly  some  generalized 
stock  whence  had  descended  whole  groups  that  now  differed  strangely  in 
habits  and  appearance — their  discernment  aided,  may  be,  by  some  isolated 
form  which  yet  retained  undeniable  traces  of  a  primitive  structure.  More 
dimly  still  visions  of  what  the  first  Bird  may  have  been  like  could  be 
reasonably  entertained ;  and,  passing  even  to  a  higher  antiquity,  the 
Reptilian  parent  whence  all  Birds  have  sprung  was  brought  within  reach 
of  man's  consciousness.  But  relieved  as  it  may  be  by  reflexions  of  this 
kind — dreams  some  may  pei'haps  still  call  them — the  study  of  Ornithology 
has  unquestionably  become  harder  and  more  serious  ;  and  a  corresponding 
change  in  the  style  of  investigation,  followed  in  the  works  that  remain  to 
be  considered,  will  be  immediately  perceptible. 

That  this  was  the  case  is  undeniably  shewn  by  some  remarks  of  Canon 
Tristram,  who,  in  treating  of  the  Alaudidm  and  Saxicolinie  of  Algeria 
(whence  he  had  recently  brought  a  large  collection  of  specimens  of  his 
own  making),  stated  {Ibis,  1859,  pp.  429-433)  that  he  could  "not  help 
feeling  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  views  set  forth  by  Messrs.  Darwin 
and  Wallace,"  adding  that  it  was  "  hardly  possible,  I  should  think,  to 
illustrate  this  theory  better  than  by  the  Larks  and  Chats  of  North  Africa." 
It  is  unnecessary  to  continue  the  quotation  ;  the  few  words  just  cited  are 
enough  to  assure  to  their  author  the  credit  of  being  (so  far  as  is  known) 
the  first  ornithological  specialist  who  had  the  courage  publicly  to 
recognize  and  receive  the  new  and  at  the  time  unpopular  philosophy.^  But 
greater  work  was  at  hand.  In  June  1860  the  late  Prof.  W.  K.  Parker 
broke,  as  most  will  allow,  entirely  fresh  ground,  and  ground  that  during 
his  life  he  continued  to  till  more  deeply  perhaps  than  any  other  man  by 
communicating  to  the  Zoological  Society  a  memoir  '  On  the  Osteology  of 
Balxniceps'  (SnoEBiLh),  subsequently  published  in  that  Society's  Transactions 
(iv.  pp.  269-351).      Of  this  contribution  to  science,  as  of  all  the  rest  which 

^  Wliether  Canon  Tristram  was  anticipated  in  any  other,  and  if  so  in  what,  branch 
of  Zoology  will  be  a  pleasing  enquiry  for  the  historian  of  the  future. 


8o  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

have  since  proceeded  from  him,  may  be  said  in  the  words  he  himself  has 
applied  {torn.  cit.  p.  271)  to  the  work  of  another  labourer  in  a  not  distant 
field  : — "  This  is  amodel  paper  for  unbiassed  observation, and  freedom  from 
that  pleasant  mode  oi  swpiyjsmg  instead  oi  ascertaining  v^h&t  is  the  true  nature 
of  an  anatomical  element."  ^  Indeed  the  study  of  this  memoir,  limited 
though  it  be  in  scope,  could  not  fail  to  convince  any  one  that  it  proceeded 
from  the  mind  of  one  who  taught  with  the  authority  derived  directly  from 
original  knowledge,  and  not  from  association  with  the  scribes — a  convic- 
tion that  has  become  strengthened  as,  in  a  series  of  successive  memoirs, 
the  stores  of  more  than  twenty  years'  silent  observation  and  unremitting 
research  were  unfolded,  and  more  than  that,  the  hidden  forces  of  the 
science  of  Morphology  were  gradually  brought  to  bear  upon  almost  each 
subject  that  came  under  discussion.  These  different  memoirs,  being 
technically  monographs,  have  strictly  no  right  to  be  mentioned  in  this 
place  ;  but  there  is  scarcely  one  of  them,  if  one  indeed  there  be,  that  does 
not  deal  with  the  generalities  of  the  study ;  and  the  influence  they  have 
had  upon  contemporary  investigation  is  so  strong  that  it  is  impossible  to 
refrain  from  noticing  them  here,  though  want  of  space  forbids  us  from 
enlarging  on  their  contents.  ^  Moreover,  the  doctrine  of  Descent  with 
variation  is  preached  in  all — seldom,  if  ever,  conspicuously,  biit  perhaps, 
all  the  more  effectively  on  that  account.  There  is  no  reflective  thinker 
but  must  perceive  that  Morphology  is  one  of  the  lamps  destined  to  throw 
light  on  the  obscurity  that  still  shrouds  the  genealogy  of  Birds  as  of  other 
animals  ;  and,  though  as  yet  its  illuminating  power  is  admittedly  far  from 
what  is  desired,  it  has  perhaps  never  shone  more  brightly  than  in  Parker's 

^  It  is  fair  to  state  that  some  of  Parker's  conclusions  respecting  Balieniceps  were 
contested  by  J.  T.  Reinhardt  [Overs.  K.  D.  Vicl.  Selsk.  Forhandlinger,  1861,  pp.  135- 
154  ;  Ibis,  1862,  pp.  158-175),  and  it  seems  to  the  present  writer  not  ineffectually. 
Parker  replied  to  his  critic  [Ibis,  1862,  pp.  297-299). 

^  It  may  be  convenient  that  a  list  of  Parker's  principal  works  which  treat  of 
ornithological  subjects,  in  addition  to  the  two  above  mentioned,  should  here  be  given. 
They  are  as  follows : — In  the  Zoological  Society's  Transactions — On  the  Osteology 
of  the  Gallinaceous  Birds  and  Tinamous,  v.  pp.  149-241  ;  On  some  Fossil  Birds  from 
the  Zebbug  Cave,  vi.  pp.  119-124  ;  On  the  Osteology  of  the  Kagu,  vi.  pp.  501-521  ; 
On  the  iEgithognathous  Bii-ds,  Pt.  I.  ix.  pp.  289-352,  Pt.  II.  x.  pp.  251-314.  In  the 
Proceedings  of  the  same  Society — 1863,  On  the  systematic  position  of  the  Crested 
Screamer,  pp.  511-518  ;  1865,  On  the  Osteology  oi Microglossa  alecto,  pp.  235-238.  In 
the  Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society — 1865,  On  the  Structure  and 
Development  of  the  Skull  in  the  Ostrich  Tribe,  pp.  113-183  ;  1869,  On  the  Structure 
and  Development  of  the  Skull  of  the  Common  Fowl,  pp.  755-807  ;  1888,  On  the 
Structure  and  Development  of  the  Wing  of  the  Common  Fowl,  pp.  385-398.  In  the 
Linnean  Society's  Transactions— Oii  the  Morphology  of  the  Skull  in  the  Wood- 
peckers and  Wrynecks,  ser.  2,  Zoology,  i.  pp.  1-22  ;  On  the  Structure  and  Development 
of  the  Bird's  Skull,  torn.  cit.  pp.  99-154  ;  1891,  On  the  Morphology  of  the  Gallinacem. 
In  the  Monthly  Microscopical  Jourrud  for  1872, — On  the  Structure  and  Development 
of  the  Crow's  Skull,  pp.  217-226,  253  ;  for  1873,  On  the  Development  of  the  Skull  in 
the  genus  Turdus,  pp.  102-107,  and  On  the  Development  of  the  Skull  in  the  Tit  and 
Sparrow  Hawk,  parts  i.  and  ii.,  pp.  6-11,  45-50.  In  the  Cunningham  Memoirs  of  the 
Royal  Irish  Academy,  No.  vi.  (Dublin  :  1890),  On  the  Morphology  of  the  Duck  and 
Auk  Tribes.  There  is  beside  the  great  work  published  by  the  Ray  Society  in  1868, 
A  Monograph  mi  tlie  Structure  and  Development  of  the  Shoulder-girdle  and  Sternum, 
of  which  pp.  142-191  treat  of  these  parts  in  the  Class  Aves  ;  and  the  first  portion  of 
the  article  '  Birds '  in  the  Encycl.  Brit.  ed.  9,  iii.  pp.  699-728.  Nearly  each  of  this 
marvellous  series  is  copiously  illustrated  by  figures  from  drawings  made  by  the  author. 


INTRODUCTION  8i 


hands.  The  great  fault  of  his  series  of  memoirs,  if  it  may  be  allowed  the 
present  writer  to  criticize  them,  is  the  indifference  of  their  author  to  for- 
mulating his  views,  so  as  to  enable  the  ordinary  taxonomer  to  perceive 
how  far  he  has  got,  if  not  to  present  him  with  a  fair  scheme.  But  this 
fault  is  possibly  one  of  those  that  are  "  to  merit  near  allied,"  since  it 
would  seem  to  spring  from  the  author's  hesitation  to  pass  from  observation 
to  theory,  for  to  theory  at  present  belong,  and  must  for  some  time  belong, 
all  attempts  at  Classification.  Still  it  is  not  the  less  annoying  and  dis- 
appointing to  the  systematist  to  find  that  the  man  whose  life-long 
application  would  have  enabled  him,  better  than  any  one  else,  to  declare 
the  effect  of  the  alliances  and  differences  shewn  to  exist  among 
various  members  of  the  Class,  should  yet  have  been  so  reticent,  or  that 
when  he  spoke  he  should  rather  use  the  language  of  Morphology,  which 
those  who  are  not  morphologists  find  difficult  of  correct  interpretation, 
and  wholly  inadequate  to  allow  of  zoological  deductions.^ 

For  some  time  past  rumours  of  a  discovery  of  the  highest  interest  had 
been  agitating  the  minds  of  zoologists,  for  in  1861  Andreas  Wagner  had 
sent  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Munich  {Sitzu7igsber.  pp.  146-154  ; 
Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  3,  ix.  pp.  261-267)  an  account  of  what  he  conceived 
to  be  a  feathered  Reptile  (assigning  to  it  the  name  Griphosaurus),  the 
remains  of  which  had  been  found  in  the  lithographic  beds  of  Solenhofen  ; 
but  he  himself,  through  failing  health,  had  been  unable  to  see  the  fossil. 
In  1862  the  slabs  containing  the  remains  were  acquired  by  the  British 
Museum,  and  towards  the  end  of  that  year  Owen  communicated  a  detailed 
description  of  them  to  the  Royal  Society  (Philos.  Trans.  1863,  pp.  33-47), 
proving  their  Bird-like  nature,  and  referring  them  to  the  genus  Archseopteryx 
of  Hermann  von  Meyer,  hitherto  known  only  by  the  impression  of  a 
single  feather  from  the  same  geological  beds.  Wagner  foresaw  the  use 
that  would  be  made  of  this  discovery  by  the  adherents  of  the  new 
Philosophy,  and,  in  the  usual  language  of  its  opponents  at  the  time, 
strove  to  ward  off  the  "  misinterpretations  "  that  they  would  put  upon  it. 
His  protest,  it  is  needless  to  say,  was  unavailing,  and  all  who  respect  his 
memory  must  regret  that  the  sunset  of  life  failed  to  give  him  that  insight 
into  the  future  which  is  poetically  ascribed  to  it.  To  Darwin  and  those 
who  believed  with  him  scarcely  any  discovery  could  have  been  more 
welcome  ;  but  that  is  beside  our  present  business.  It  was  quickly  seen 
— even  by  those  who  held  Archxopteryx  to  be  a  Reptile — that  it  was  a 
form  intermediate  between  existing  Birds  and  existing  Rej^tiles — while 
those  who  were  convinced  by  Owen's  researches  of  its  ornithic  afiinity  saw 
that  it  must  belong  to  a  type  of  Birds  w'holly  unknown  before,  and  one 
that  in  any  future  arrangement  of  the  Class  must  have  a  special  rank 
reserved  for  it.^  It  is  elsewhere  briefly  described  and  figured  in  this 
work  (Fossil  Birds,  pages  278-280).^ 

^  As  au  instance,  take  the  passages  in  wliich  Tur7iix  and  Thinocorys  are  apparently 
referred  ( Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  pp.  291  et  seqq.  ;  and  Encycl.  Brit.  ed.  9,  iii.  p.  700)  to 
the  jEgitlwgnathae,  a  view  which,  as  she'mi  by  the  author  {Trans,  x.  p.  310),  is  not 
that  really  intended  by  him. 

^  This  was  done  in  1866  by  Prof.  Hackel,  who  {Gen.  Morphol.  ii.  pp.  xi.,  cxxxix.- 
cxli.)  proposed  the  name  SAURlURiE  for  the  group  containing  it. 

^  It  behoves  us  to  mention  the  '  Outlines  of  a  Systematic  Keview  of  the  Class  of 


82  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1867  the  late  Prof.  Huxley,  to  the  delight 
of  an  appreciative  audience,  delivered  at  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons 
of  England  a  course  of  lectures  on  Birds,  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted 
that  his  many  engagements  hindered  him  from  publishing  in  its  entirety 
his  elucidation  of  the  anatomy  of  the  Class,  and  the  results  which  he 
drew  from  his  investigations  of  it ;  for  never  assuredly  had  the  subject 
been  attacked  with  greater  skill  and  power,  or,  since  the  days  of  Buffon,  had 
Ornithology  been  set  forth  with  greater  eloquence.  To  remedy,  in  some 
degree,  this  unavoidable  loss,  and  to  preserve  at  least  a  portion  of  the 
fruits  of  his  labours,  Huxley,  a  few  weeks  after,  presented  an  abstract  of 
his  researches  to  the  Zoological  Society,  in  whose  Proceedings  for  the  same 
year  it  will  be  found  printed  (pp.  415-472)  as  a  paper  '  On  the  Classifica- 
tion of  Birds,  and  on  the  taxonomic  value  of  the  modifications  of  certain 
of  the  cranial  bones  observable  in  that  Class.'  Starting  from  the  basis 
(which,  undeniably  true  as  it  is,  not  a  little  shocked  many  of  his 
ornithological  hearers)  "  that  the  phrase  '  Birds  are  greatly  modified 
Reptiles '  would  hardly  be  an  exaggerated  exj^ression  of  the  closeness " 
of  the  resemblance  between  the  two  Classes,  which  he  had  previously 
brigaded  under  the  name  of  Sauropsida  (as  he  had  brigaded  the  Pisces  and 
Amphibia  as  Ichthyopsida),  he  drew  in  bold  outline  both  their  likenesses 
and  their  differences,  and  then  proceeded  to  enquire  how  the  Aves  could 
be  most  appropriately  subdivided  into  Orders,  Suborders  and  Families. 
In  this  course  of  lectures  he  had  already  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the 
insufficiency  of  the  characters  on  which  such  groups  as  had  hitherto  been 
thought  to  be  established  were  founded  ;  but  for  the  consideration  of  this 
part  of  his  subject  there  was  no  room  in  the  present  paper,  and  the  reasons 
why  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  new  means  of  philosophically  and 
successfully  separating  the  class  must  be  sought  were  herein  left  to  be  in- 
ferred. The  upshot,  however,  admits  of  no  uncertainty  :  the  Class  Aves  was 
held  to  be  composed  of  three  "Orders" — Saurur^  (p.    814);  RATiTiE 

Birds,'  communicated  by  Prof.  Lilljeborg  to  the  Zoological  Society  in  1866,  and 
published  in  its  Proceedings  for  that  year  (pp.  5-20),  since  it  was  immediately  after 
reprinted  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and  with  that  authorization  has  exercised  a 
great  influence  on  the  opinions  of  American  ornithologists.  Otherwise  the  scheme 
would  hardly  need  notice  here.  This  paper  is  indeed  little  more  than  an  English 
translation  of  one  published  by  the  author  in  the  annual  volume  {Arsskrift)  of  the 
Scientific  Society  of  Upsala  for  1860  ;  and,  belonging  to  the  pre-Darwinian  epoch, 
should  perhaps  have  been  more  properly  treated  before,  but  that  at  the  time  of  its 
original  appearance  it  failed  to  attract  attention.  The  chief  merit  of  the  scheme  perhaps 
is  that,  contrary  to  nearly  every  precedent,  it  begins  with  the  lower  and  rises  to  the 
higher  groups  of  Birds,  which  is  of  course  the  natural  mode  of  proceeding,  and  one 
therefore  to  be  commended.  Otherwise  the  "principles  "  on  which  it  is  founded  are 
not  clear  to  the  ordinary  zoologist.  One  of  them  is  said  to  be  "  irritability,"  which 
is  explained  to  mean,  not  "muscular  strength  alone,  but  vivacity  and  activity 
generally,"  and  on  this  ground  it  is  stated  that  the  Passeres  should  be  placed 
highest  in  the  Class.  But  those  who  know  the  habits  and  demeanour  of  many  of 
the  Limicolm  would  no  doubt  rightly  claim  for  them  much  more  "  vivacity  and 
activity  "  than  is  possessed  by  most  Passeres.  •"  Irritability  "  does  not  seem  to  form 
a  character  that  can  be  easily  appreciated  either  as  to  quantity  or  quality  ;  in  fact  most 
persons  would  deem  it  quite  immeasurable,  and,  as  such,  removed  from  practical  con- 
sideration. Moreover,  Prof.  Lilljeborg's  scheme,  being  actually  an  adaptation  of  that 
of  Sundevall,  of  which  we  shall  have  to  speak  almost  immediately,  may  possibly  be 
left  for  the  present  with  these  remarks. 


INTRODUCTION  83 


(p.  766)  and  Carinat^e  (p.  76).  The  Saururae  have  the  metacarpals  well 
developed  and  not  ancylosed,  and  the  caudal  vertebrae  are  numerous  and 
large,  so  that  the  caiidal  region  of  the  spine  is  longer  than  the  body.  The 
furcula  is  complete  and  strong,  the  feet  are  very  Passerine  in  appearance. 
The  skull  and  sternum  were  at  the  time  unknown,  and  indeed  the  whole 
Order,  without  doubt  entirely  extinct,  rested  exclusively  on  the  celebrated 
fossil,  then  unique,  Archxoipteryx  just  mentioned.  The  Ratitee.  comprehend 
the  "Struthious"  Birds,  which  differ  from  all  others  now  extant  in  the  com- 
bination of  several  peculiarities,  some  of  which  have  been  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  pages.  The  sternum  has  no  keel,  and  ossifies  from  lateral  and 
paired  centres  only  ;  the  axes  of  the  scapula  and  coracoid  have  the  same 
general  direction  ;  certain  of  the  cranial  bones  have  characters  very  unlike 
those  possessed  by  the  next  Order — the  vomer,  for  example,  being  broad 
posteriorly  and  generally  intervening  between  the  basisphenoidal  rostrum 
and  the  palatals  and  pterygoids  ;  the  barbs  of  the  feathers  are  disconnected  ; 
there  is  no  syrinx  or  inferior  larynx  ;  and  the  diaphragm  is  better  developed 
than  in  other  Birds.^  The  Ratitse,  are  divided  into  five  groups,  separated 
by  very  trenchant  characters,  principally  osteological,  and  many  of  them 
afforded  by  the  cranial  bones.  These  groups  consist  of  (i.)  Struthio 
(Ostrich),  (ii.)  Rhea,  (iii.)  Casuarius  Cassowary,  and  Lrom3e.us  (Emeu), 
(iv.)  Dinornis  (Moa)  and  (v.)  Apteryx  (Krwi) ;  but  no  names  are  here 
given  to  them.  The  Carinatee  comprise  all  other  existing  Birds.  The 
sternum  has  more  or  less  of  a  keel,  and  is  said  to  ossify,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Stringops  (Kakapo),  from  a  median  centre  as  well  as  from 
paired  and  lateral  centres.  The  axes  of  the  scapula  and  coracoid  meet  at 
an  acute,  or,  as  in  Diclihs  (Dodo)  and  Ocydromus  (Weka),  at  a  slightly 
obtuse  angle,  while  the  vomer  is  comparatively  narrow  and  allows  the 
pterygoids  and  palatals  to  articulate  directly  with  the  basisphenoidal 
rostrum.  The  Carinatse  are  divided,  according  to  the  formation  of  the 
palate,  into   four    "Suborders,"   and  named    (i.)    DROM^EOGNATHiE,   (ii.) 

SCHIZOGNATH^,    (iii.)    DESMOGNATHiE     and    (iv.)    iEGITHOGNATH^.2        The 

Dromseognathx  resemble  the  Ratitse,  and  especially  Dromxus,  in  their 
palatal  structure,  and  are  composed  of  the  Tinamous.  The  Schizognathae 
include  a  great  many  of  the  forms  belonging  to  the  Linnoean  Orders 
GalUnse,  Grallse  and  Anseres.  In  them  the  vomer,  however  variable, 
always  tapers  to  a  point  anteriorly,  while  behind  it  includes  the 
basisphenoidal  rostrum  between  the  palatals  ;  but  neither  these  nor  the 
pterygoids  are  borne  by  its  posterior  divergent  ends.  The  maxillo- 
palatals  are  usually  elongated  and  lamellar,  uniting  with  the  palatals,  and, 
bending  backward  along  their  inner  edge,  leave  a  cleft  (whence  the  name 
given  to  the  "  Suborder  ")  between  the  vomer  and  themselves.  Six  groups 
of  Schizognathx  are  distinguished  with  considerable  minuteness  : —  (1) 
CharadriomorpHjB  ;     (2)     GERANOMORPHiE ;     (3)     Cecomorph^  ;     (4) 

^  This  peculiarity  had  led  some  zoologists  to  consider  the  "  Struthious  "  Birds 
more  nearly  allied  to  the  Mammalia  than  any  others. 

^  These  names  are  compounded  respectively  of  Drmnseus,  the  generic  name  applied 
to  the  Emeu,  ffxi-^o.,  a  split  or  cleft,  Sicfia,  a  bond  or  tying,  aiyidos,  a  Finch,  and,  in 
each  case,  yvddos,  a  jaw.  The  constitution  of  the  several  groups  is  explained  in  the 
body  of  this  work  under  n^mes  here  printed  in  small  capitals,  but  is  repeated  for  the 
convenience  of  the  reader. 


84  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

Spheniscomorph^  ;  (5)  Alectoromorph^  ;  and  finally  (6)  Peristero- 
MORPHiE.  In  the  third  of  these  "Suborders,"  the  Desmognathx,  the 
vomer  is  either  abortive  or  so  small  as  to  disappear  from  the  skeleton. 
When  it  exists  it  is  always  slender,  and  tapers  to  a  point  anteriorly.  The 
maxillo-palatals  are  bound  together  (whence  the  name  of  the  "  Suborder  ") 
across  the  middle  line,  either  directly  or  by  the  ossification  of  the  nasal 
septum.  The  posterior  ends  of  the  palatals  and  anterior  of  the  pterygoids 
articulate  directly  with  the  rostrum.  The  groups  of  Desmognathx  are 
characterized  as  carefully  as  are  those  of  the  preceding  "  Suborder,"  and 
are  as  follows  : — (1)  Chenomorph^  ;  (2)  Amphimorphje  ;  (3)  Pelargo- 

MORPHiE  ;  (4)  DySPOROMORPHiE  ;  (5)  AeTOMORPH^  ;  (6)  PsiTTACOMORPH^; 

and  lastly  (7)  CoccYGOMORPHiE,  containing  four  groups,  to  which,  however, 
names  were  not  given.  Next  in  order  come  the  Celeomorph^,  a  group 
respecting  the  exact  position  of  which  Prof.  Huxley  was  uncertain,^ 
though  he  inclined  to  think  its  relations  were  with  the  next  group, 
jEgithognatHjE,  the  fourth  and  last  of  his  "  Suborders,"  characterized 
by  a  form  of  palate  in  some  respects  intermediate  between  the  two  pre- 
ceding. The  vomer  is  broad,  abruptly  truncated  in  front,  and  deeply  cleft 
behind,  so  as  to  embrace  the  rostrum  of  the  sphenoid  ;  the  palatals  have 
produced  postero-external  angles  ;  the  maxillo-palatals  are  slender  at  their 
origin,  and  extend  obliquely  inwards  and  forwards  over  the  palatals,  end- 
ing beneath  the  vomer  in  expanded  extremities,  not  united  either  with 
one  another  or  with  the  vomer,  nor  does  the  latter  unite  with  the  nasal 
septum,  though  that  is  frequently  ossified.  Of  the  ^githognathx  two 
divisions  are  made — (1)  Cypselomorph^,  and  (2)  CoRACOMORPHiE,^ 
which  last  are  separable  into  two  groups,  one  (a)  formed  of  the  genus 
Menura  (Lyre-bird),  which  then  seemed  to  stand  alone,  and  the  other  (b) 
made  up  of  PoLYMYOD.ffi,  TRACHEOPHON.ffi  and  OLiGOMYODiE,  sections 
founded  on  the  syringeal  structure,  but  declared  to  be  not  natural. 

The  above  abstract  ^  shews  the  general  drift  of  this  very  remarkable 
contribution  to  Ornithology,  and  it  has  to  be  added  that  for  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  his  minor  groups  Huxley  relied  solely  on  the  form  of 
the  palatal  structure,  the  importance,  of  which  Cornay,  as  already  stated 
(page  69),  had  before  urged,  though  to  so  little  purpose.  That  the  palatal 
structure  must  be  taken  into  consideration  by  taxonomers  as  aflfording 
hints  of  some  utility  there  could  no  longer  be  a  doubt ;  but  the  present 
writer  is  inclined  to  think  that  the  characters  drawn  thence  owe  more  of 
their  worth  to  the  extraordinary  perspicuity  with  which  they  were 
presented  by  Huxley  than  to  their  own  intrinsic  value,  and  that  if  the 
same  power  had  been  employed  to  elucidate  in  the  same  way  other  parts 
of  the  skeleton — say  the  bones  of  the  sternal  apparatus  or  even  of  the 
pelvic  girdle — either  set  could  have  been  made  to  appear  quite  as  in- 
structive and  perhaps  more  so.     Adventitious  value  would  therefore  seem 

^  Prof.  Parker  subsequently  advanced  the  Woodpeckers  to  a  higher  rank  under 
the  name  of  SAUROGNATHiE  {Microscop.  Journ.  1872,  p.  219,  and  Tr.  Linn.  Soc.  ser. 
2,  Zoology,  i.  p.  2). 

2  By  mistake  this  group  was  referred  (page  104)  to  the  Desmognathous  Birds. 

-  This  is  adapted  from  one  {Record  of  Zool.  Lit.  iv.  ^p.  46-49)  which  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  author's  approval. 


INTRODUCTION 


85 


to  have  been  acquired  by  the  bones  of  the  palate  through  the  fact  that  so 
great  a  master  of  the  art  of  exposition  selected  them  as  fitting  examples 
upon  which  to  exercise  his  skill.i  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  stated 
this  selection  was  not  premeditated  by  him,  but  forced  itself  upon  him  as 
his  investigations  proceeded.^  In  reply  to  some  critical  remarks  {This, 
1868,  pp.  85-96),  chiefly  aimed  at  shewing  the  inexpediency  of  relying 
solely  on  one  set  of  characters,  especially  when  those  afforded  by  the 
palatal  bones  were  not,  even  within  the  limits  of  Families,  wholly 
diagnostic,  the  author  {This,  1868,  pp.  357-362)  announced  a  slight 
modification  of  his  original  scheme,  by  introducing  three  more  groups 
into  it,  and  concluded  by  indicating  how  its  bearings  upon  the  great 
question  of  "Genetic  Classification"  might  be  represented  so  far  as  the 
different  groups  of  Carinatas  are  concerned  : — 


Tinamomorphae. 

1 
Turnicomorphae. 

Charadriomorphse.                                                      Alectoromorphse. 

1                                i 
Cecomorphse.        Geranomorphse. 

1                    "  ■ 
Pteroclomorphae. 

Palamedea. 
1 

SpheniscomorphEe.     Aetomorphae. 

Peristeromorphae, 

Chenomorphae. 

:                       Heteromorphae. 

Amphimorphae. 

•                                                                     •                                                                        • 

Pelargomorphffi. 

Psittacomorphae Coccygo 

morphas ^githognathse. 

Dysporomorphae. 

The  above  scheme,  in  Huxley's  opinion,  nearly  represents  the  affinities  of 
the  various  carinate  groups, — the  great  difficulty  being  to  determine  the 
relations  to  the  rest  of  the  Goccygomorphse,  Psittacomorphx  and  ^githognathee, 
which  he  indicated  "only  in  the  most  doubtful  and  hypothetic  fashion." 
Almost  simultaneously  with  this  he  expounded  more  particularly  (Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1868,  pp.  294-319)  the  groups  of  which  he  believed  the 
Aledoromorphse  to  be  composed  and  the  relations  to  them  of  some  outlying 
forms  usually  regarded  as  Gallinaceous,  the  Turnicidge  (Hemipode)  and 
Pterodidee  (Sand-Grouse),  as  well  as  the  singular  Hoactzin,  for  all  three 
of  which  he  had  to  institute  new  groups — the  last  forming  the  sole  repre- 
sentative of  his  Heteromorphae.  More  than  this,  he  entered  upon  their 
Geographical    Distribution,  the  facts  of  which  important    subject  were, 

^  The  notion  of  the  superiority  of  the  palatal  bones  to  all  others  for  purposes 
of  classification  has  pleased  many  persons,  from  the  fact  that  these  bones  are  not 
unfrequently  retained  in  the  dried  skins  of  Birds  sent  home  by  collectors  in  foreign 
counti'ies,  and  are  therefore  available  for  study,  while  such  bones  as  the  sternum  and 
pelvis  are  rarely  preserved.  The  common  practice  of  ordinary  collectors,  until  at 
least  very  recently,  has  been  tersely  described  as  being  to  "  shoot  a  bird,  take  off  its 
skin  and  throw  away  its  characters." 

^  Perhaps  this  may  be  partially  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  Museum  of  the 
College  of  Surgeons,  in  which  these  investigations  were  chiefly  carried  on,  like  most 
other  museums,  contained  a  much  larger  series  of  the  heads  of  Birds  than  of  their 
entire  skeletons  or  of  any  other  portion  of  the  skeleton.  Consequently  the  materials 
available  for  the  comparison  of  different  forms  consisted  in  great  part  of  heads  only. 


86  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

almost  for  the  first  time,  since  the  attempt  of  Blyth  already  mentioned,^ 
brought  to  bear  practically  on  Classification,  as  has  been  previously 
hinted  (Geographical  Distribution,  page  313);  but,  the  subject  being 
treated  elsewhere  at  some  length,  there  is  no  need  to  enter  upon  it 
here. 

Nevertheless  it  is  necessary  to  mention  here  the  intimate  connexion 
between  Classification  and  Geographical  Distribi;tion  as  revealed  by  the 
palseontological  researches  of  Prof.  Alphonse  Milne-Edwards,  whose  mag- 
nificent Oiseaux  Fossiles  de  la  France  began  to  appear  in  1867,  and  was 
completed  in  1871 — the  more  so,  since  the  exigencies  of  his  undertaking 
compelled  him  to  use  materials  that  had  been  almost  wholly  neglected 
by  other  investigators.  A  large  proportion  of  the  fossil  remains  the 
determination  and  description  of  which  were  his  object  were  what  are 
commonly  called  the  "  long  bones ",  that  is  to  say,  those  of  the  limbs. 
The  recognition  of  these,  minute  and  fragmentary  as  many  were,  and  the 
referring  them  to  their  proper  place,  rendered  necessary  an  attentive 
study  of  the  comparative  osteology  and  myology  of  Birds  in  general,  that 
of  the  "  long  bones,"  whose  sole  characters  were  often  a  few  muscular 
ridges  or  depressions,  being  especially  obligatory.  Hence  it  became 
manifest  that  a  very  respectable  Classification  can  be  found  in  which 
characters  drawn  from  these  bones  play  a  rather  important  part.  Limited 
by  circumstances  as  is  that  followed  by  M.  Milne-Edwards,  the  details  of 
his  arrangement  do  not  require  setting  forth  here.  It  is  enough  to  point 
out  that  we  have  in  his  work  another  proof  of  the  multiplicity  of  the 
factors  which  must  be  taken  into  consideration  by  the  systematist,  and 
another  proof  of  the  fallacy  of  trusting  to  one  set  of  characters  alone. 
But  this  is  not  the  only  way  in  which  the  author  has  rendered  service  to 
the  advanced  student  of  Ornithology,  The  unlooked-for  discovery  in 
France  of  remains  which  he  has  referred  to  forms  now  existing  it  is 
true,  but  existing  only  in  countries  far  removed  from  Europe,  forms  such 
as  Collocalia,  Leptosomus,  Psittacus,  Serpentarius  and  Trogon,  is  perhaps 
even  more  suggestive  than  the  finding  that  France  was  once  inhabited  by 
forms  that  are  wholly  extinct,  of  which,  as  is  elsewhere  mentioned  (Fossil 
Birds,  pages  284,  288),  there  is  abundance  in  the  older  formations.  Un- 
fortunately none  of  these,  for  none  is  old  enough,  can  be  compared  for 
singularity  with  Archeeopteryz  or  with  some  American  fossil  forms  next  to 
be  noticed,  for  their  particular  bearing  on  our  knowledge  of  Ornithology 
will  be  most  conveniently  treated  here. 

In  November  1870  Prof.  Marsh,  by  finding  the  imperfect  fossilized 
tibia  of  a  Bird  in  the  Middle  Cretaceous  shale  of  Kansas,  began  a  series  of 
wonderful  discoveries  which  will  ever  be  associated  with  his  name,^  and, 
making  us  acquainted  with  a  great  number  of  forms  long  since  vanished 

^  It  is  true  that  from  the  time  of  Buffon,  though  he  scorned  any  regular  Classifi- 
cation, Geographical  Distribution  had  been  occasionally  held  to  have  something  to  do 
with  systematic  arrangement ;  but  the  way  in  which  the  two  were  related  was  never 
clearly  put  forth,  though  people  who  could  read  between  the  lines  might  have  guessed 
the  secret  from  Darwin's  Journal  of  Researches,  as  well  as  from  his  introduction  to 
the  Zoology  of  the  '  Beagle '  Voyage. 

2  It  will  of  course  be  needless  to  remind  the  general  zoologist  of  Prof.  Marsh's  no 
less  wonderful  discoveries  of  wholly  unlooked-for  types  of  Reptiles  and  Mammals. 


INTRODUCTION  .  87 


from  among  the  earth's  inhabitants,  has  thrown  a  comparatively  broad 
beam  of  light  through  the  darkness  that,  broken  only  by  the  solitary  spark 
emitted  on  the  recognition  of  Archceopteryx,  had  hitherto  brooded  over  our 
knowledge  of  the  genealogy  of  Birds,  and  is  even  now  for  the  most  part 
palpable.  Subsequent  visits  to  the  same  part  of  North  America,  often 
performed  in  circumstances  of  discomfort  and  occasionally  of  danger, 
brought  to  this  intrepid  and  energetic  explorer  the  reward  he  had  so 
fully  earned.  Brief  notices  of  his  spoils  appeared  from  time  to  time  in 
various  volumes  of  the  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts  (Silliman's), 
but  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  refer  to  more  than  a  few  of  them.  In  that 
Journal  for  May  1872  (ser.  3,  iii.  p.  360)  the  remains  of  a  large  swimming 
Bird  (nearly  6  feet  in  length,  as  afterwards  appeared)  having  some  affinity, 
it  was  thought,  to  the  Colymbiclse  were  described  under  the  name  of  Hesper- 
ornis  regalis,  and  a  few  months  later  (iv.  p.  344)  a  second  fossil  Bird  from 
the  same  locality  was  indicated  as  Ichthyornis  dispar — from  the  Fish-like, 
biconcave  form  of  its  vertebrfe.  Further  examination  of  the  enormous 
collections  gathered  by  the  author,  and  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Yale 
College  at  New  Haven  in  Connecticut,  shewed  him  that  this  last  Bird, 
and  another  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Apatornis,  had  possessed 
well-developed  teeth  implanted  in  sockets  in  both  jaws,  and  induced 
him  to  establish  for  their  reception  a  "  Subclass  "  Odontornithes  (page 
649)  and  an  Order  Ichthyornithes.  Two  years  more  and  the  origin- 
ally found  Hesperornis  was  discovered  also  to  have  teeth,  but  these  were 
inserted  in  a  groove.  It  was  accordingly  regarded  as  the  type  of  a  distinct 
Order  Odontolc^  {loc.  cit.),  to  which  were  assigned  as  other  characters 
vertebrae  of  a  saddle-shape  and  not  biconcave,  a  keelless  sternum  and 
wings  consisting  only  of  the  humerus.  In  1880  Prof.  Marsh  brought  out 
a  grand  volume,  Odontornithes,  being  a  monograph  of  the  extinct  toothed 
Birds  of  North  America.  Herein  remains,  attributed  to  no  fewer  than  a 
score  of  species,  which  were  referred  to  eight  different  genera,  are  fully 
described  and  sufficiently  illustrated,  and,  instead  of  the  ordinal  name 
Ichthyornithes  previously  used,  that  of  Odontotorm^  {loc.  cit.)  was  proposed. 
In  the  author's  concluding  summary  he  remarks  on  the  fact  that,  while  the 
Odontolcse,  as  exhibited  in  Hesperornis,  had  teeth  inserted  in  a  continuous 
groove — a  low  and  generalized  character  as  shewn  by  Reptiles,  they 
had,  however,  the  strongly  differentiated  saddle-shaped  vertebras  such 
as  all  modern  Birds  possess.  On  the  other  hand  the  Odontotormse, 
as  exemplified  in  Ichthyornis,  having  the  primitive  biconcave  vertebrae, 
yet  possessed  the  highly  specialized  feature  of  teeth  in  distinct  sockets. 
Hesperornis  too,  with  its  keelless  sternum,  had  aborted  wings  but  strong 
legs  and  feet  adapted  for  swimming,  while  Ichthyornis  had  a  keeled 
sternum  and  powerful  wings,  but  diminutive  legs  and  feet.  These  and 
other  characters  separate  the  two  forms  so  widely  as  quite  to  justify 
their  assignment  to  distinct  Orders,  and  the  opposite  nature  of  the 
evidence  they  afford  illustrates  one  fundamental  principle  of  Evolution, 
namely,  that  an  animal  may  attain  to  great  development  of  one  set  of 
characters  and  at  the  same  time  retain  other  features  of  a  low  ancestral 
type.  Prof.  Marsh  states  that  he  had  fully  satisfied  himself  that  Archse- 
opteryx  belonged  to  the  Odontornithes,  which  he  thought  it  advisable  for 


88  .  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

the  present  to  regard  as  a  Subclass,  separated  into  three  Orders — Odontolcee, 
Odontotormx  and  Saururse, — all  well  marked,  but  evidently  not  of  equal 
rank,  the  last  being  clearly  much  more  widely  distinguished  from  the 
first  two  than  they  are  from  one  another.  But  that  these  three  oldest- 
known  forms  of  Birds  should  differ  so  greatly  from  each  other  unmistak- 
ably points  to  a  great  antiquity  for  the  Class.  All  are  true  Birds  ;  but 
the  Keptilian  characters  they  possess  converge  towards  a  more  generalized 
type.  He  then  proceeds  to  treat  of  the  characters  which  may  be  expected 
to  have  occurred  in  their  common  ancestor,  whose  remains  may  yet  be 
hoped  for  from  the  Palseozoic  rocks,  or  at  least  from  the  Permian  beds  that 
in  North  America  are  so  rich  in  the  fossils  of  a  terrestrial  fauna.  Birds,  he 
believes,  branched  off  by  a  single  stem,  which  gradually  lost  its  Reptilian 
as  it  assumed  the  Ornithic  type  ;  and  in  the  existing  Ratitse  we  have  the 
survivors  of  this  direct  line.  The  lineal  descendants  of  this  primal  stock 
doubtless  at  an  early  time  attained  feathers  and  warm  blood,  but,  in  his 
opinion,  never  acquired  the  power  of  flight,  which  probably  originated 
among  the  small  arboreal  forms  of  Reptilian  Birds.  In  them  even  rudi- 
mentary feathers  on  the  fore-limbs  would  be  an  advantage,  as  they  would 
tend  to  lengthen  a  leap  from  branch  to  branch,  or  break  the  force  of  a 
fall  in  leaping  to  the  ground.  As  the  feathers  increased,  the  body  would 
become  warmer  and  the  blood  more  active.  With  still  more  feathers 
would  come  increased  power  of  flight  as  we  see  in  the  young  Birds  of 
to-day.  A  greater  activity  would  result  in  a  more  perfect  circulation.  A 
true  Bird  would  doubtless  require  warm  blood,  but  would  not  necessarily 
be  hot-blooded,  like  the  Birds  now  living.  Whether  Archgeopteryx  was  on 
the  Carinate  line  cannot  as  yet  be  determined,  and  this  is  also  to  be  said 
of  Ichthyornis  ;  but  the  biconcave  vertebrae  of  the  latter  suggest  its  being 
an  early  offshoot,  while  it  is  probable  that  Hesperornis  came  off  from  the 
main  "  Struthious  "  stem  and  has  left  no  descendants. 

From  this  bright  vision  of  the  poetic  past — a  glimpse,  some  may  call 
it,  into  the  land  of  dreams — we  must  relapse  into  a  sober  contemplation 
of  the  prosaic  present — a  subject  quite  as  difficult  to  understand.  The 
former  eftorts  at  classification  made  by  Sundevall  have  already  several 
times  been  mentioned,  and  a  return  to  their  consideration  was  promised. 
In  1872  and  1873  he  brought  out  at  Stockholm  a  Methodi  Naturalis 
Avium  Disponendarum  Tentamen,  two  portions  of  which  (those  relating  to 
the  Diurnal  Birds-of-Prey  and  the  "  Gichlomorphee"  or  forms  related  to 
the  Thrushes)  he  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  revising  and  modi- 
fying in  the  course  of  1874,  in  as  many  communications  to  the  Swedish 
Academy  of  Sciences  (K.  V.-Ak.  Fdrhandl.  1874,  No.  2,  pp.  21-30  ;  No. 
3,  pp.  27-30).  This  Tentamen,  containing  a  complete  method  of  classify- 
ing Birds  in  general,  naturally  received  much  attention,  the  more  so 
l^erhaps,  since,  with  its  appendices,  it  was  nearly  the  laft  labour  of  its 
respected  author,  whose  industrious  life  came  to  an  end  in  the  course  of 
the  following  year.  From  what  has  before  been  said  of  his  works  it  may 
have  been  gathered  that,  while  professedly  basing  his  systematic  arrange- 
ment of  the  groups  of  Birds  on  their  external  features,  he  had  hitherto 
striyen  to  make  his  schemes  harmonize  if  possible  with  the  dictates  of 
internal  structure  as  evinced   by  the    science   of   anatomy,    though    he 


INTRODUCTION  8g 


uniformly  and  persistently  protested  against  the  inside  being  better  than 
the  outside.  In  thus  acting  he  proved  himself  a  true  follower  of  his 
great  countryman  Linnaeus  ;  but,  without  disparagement  of  his  efforts  in 
this  respect,  it  must  be  said  that  when  internal  and  external  characters 
appeared  to  be  in  conflict  he  gave,  perhaps  with  unconscious  bias,  a 
preference  to  the  latter,  for  he  belonged  to  a  school  of  zoologists  whose 
natural  instinct  was  to  believe  that  such  a  conflict  always  existed.  Hence 
his  efforts,  praiseworthy  as  they  were  from  several  points  of  view,  and 
particularly  so  in  regard  to  some  details,  failed  to  satisfy  the  philosophic 
taxonomer  when  generalizations  and  deeper  principles  were  concerned,  and 
in  his  practice  in  respect  to  certain  technicalities  of  classification  he  was,  in 
the  eyes  of  the  orthodox,  a  transgressor.  Thus  instead  of  contenting  him- 
self with  terms  that  had  met  with  pretty  general  approval,  such  as  Class, 
Subclass,  Order,  Suborder,  Family,  Subfamily  and  so  on,  he  introduced 
into  his  final  scheme  other  designations,  "Agmen,"  "Cohors,"  "Phalanx" 
and  the  like,  which  to  the  ordinary  student  of  Ornithology  convey  an 
indefinite  meaning,  if  any  meaning  at  all.  He  also  carried  to  a  very 
extreme  limit  his  views  of  nomenclature,  which  were  certainly  not  in 
accordance  with  those  held  by  most  zoologists,  though  this  is  a  matter  so 
trifling  as  to  need  no  details  in  illustration.  It  is  by  no  means  easy  to 
set  forth  briefly,  and  at  the  same  time  intelligibly,  to  any  but  experts, 
the  final  scheme  of  Sundevall,  owing  to  the  number  of  new  names  intro- 
duced by  him,  and  there  is  no  need  here  to  make  the  attempt,  for  experts 
would  rather  consult  the  work  itself  or  the  English  version  of  it.^  Praised 
in  various  quarters  as  Sundevall's  perfected  System  was  on  its  appearance, 
the  present  writer  felt  from  the  first  that  it  would  speedily  be  seen  to 
what  little  purpose  so  many  able  men  had  laboured  if  arrangement  and 
grouping  so  manifestly  artificial — the  latter  often  of  forms  possessing  no 
real  affinity — could  pass  as  a  natural  method.  He  was  not  so  sanguine  as 
to  hope  that  it  might  be  the  last  of  its  kind,  though  any  one  accustomed 
to  look  deeper  than  the  surface  must  have  seen  its  numerous  defects,  and 
almost  every  one,  whether  so  accustomed  or  not,  ought  by  its  means  to  be 
brought  to  the  conclusion  that,  when  a  man  of  Sundevall's  knowledge 
and  experience  could  not,  by  trusting  only  to  external  characters,  do 
better  than  this,  the  most  convincing  proof  is  afforded  of  the  inability  of 
external  characters  alone  to  produce  anything  save  ataxy.  The  principal 
merits  it  possesses  are  confined  to  the  minor  arrangement  of  some  of  the 
Oscines  ;  but  even  here  many  of  the  alliances,  such,  for  instance,  as  that 
of  Pitta  with  the  true  Thrushes,  are  indefensible  on  any  rational  grounds, 
and  some,  as  that  of  Accentor  with  the  Weaver-birds,  verge  upon  the 
ridiculous,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  interpolation  of  the  American 
"Warblers,  Mniotiltidee,  between  the  normal  Warblers  of  the  Old  World 
and  the  Thrushes  is  as  bad — esjDCcially  when  the  genus  Mniotilta  is  placed, 
notwithstanding  its  differentwing-formula,  with  the  Tree-creepers,  Certhiidse. 
The  whole  work  unfortunately  betrays  throughout  an  utter  want  of  the 
sense  of  proportion.  In  many  of  the  large  groups  very  slight  differences 
are  allowed  to  keep  the  forms  exhibiting  them  widely  apart,  while  in 

^  Sundevall's   Tentamen.       Translated    into   English   with    Notes,    by  Francis 
Nicholson.     London:  1889. 


go  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

most  of  the  smaller  groups  differences  of  far  greater  kind  are  overlooked, 
so  that  the  forms  which  present  them  are  linked  together  in  more  or  less 
close  union.  Thus,  regarding  only  external  characters,  great  as  is  the 
structural  distinction  between  the  Gannets,  Cormorants,  Frigate-birds  and 
Pelicans,  it  is  not  held  to  remove  them  from  the  limits  of  a  single  Family  ; 
and  yet  the  Thrushes  and  the  Chats,  whose  distinctions  are  barely  sensible, 
are  placed  in  separate  Families.  Again,  even  in  one  and  the  same  group, 
the  equalization  of  characters  indicative  of  Families  is  wholly  neglected 
Thus  among  the  Pigeons  the  genera  Didus  and  Didunculus,  which  differ, 
so  far  as  we  know  it,  in  every  external  character  of  their  structure,  are 
placed  in  one  Family,  and  yet  on  very  slight  pretext  the  genus  Goura, 
which  in  all  respects  so  intimately  resembles  ordinary  Pigeons,  is  set  apart 
as  the  representative  of  a  distinct  Family.  The  only  use  of  dwelling  upon 
these  imperfections  here  is  the  hope  that  thereby  students  of  Ornithology 
may  be  induced  to  abandon  the  belief  in  the  efhcacy  of  external  characters 
as  a  sole  means  of  classification,  and,  seeing  how  unmanageable  they  become 
unless  checked  by  internal  characters,  be  persuaded  of  the  futility  of  any 
attempt  to  form  an  arrangement  without  that  solid  foundation  which  can 
only  be  obtained  by  a  knowledge  of  anatomy.  Where  Sundevall  failed 
no  one  else  is  likely  to  succeed  ;  for  he  was  a'  man  gifted  with  intelligence 
of  a  rare  order,  a  man  of  cultivation  and  learning,  one  who  had  devoted 
his  whole  life  to  science,  who  had  travelled  much,  studied  much  and 
reflected  much,  a  man  whose  acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  his 
subject  probably  exceeded  that  of  any  of  his  contemporaries,  and  a  man 
whose  linguistic  attainments  rendered  him  the  envy  of  his  many  friends. 
Yet  what  should  have  been  the  crowning  work  of  his  long  life  is  one  that 
all  who  respected  him,  and  that  comprehends  all  who  knew  him,  must  regret, 
though  apart  from  his  systematic  treatment  his  handiwork  is  admirable.^ 
Of  the  very  ojjposite  kind  was  the  work  of  the  two  men  next  to  be 
mentioned — Garrod  and  Forbes — both  cut  short  in  a  career  of  promise  ^ 

^  lu  1882  Dr.  Reichenow  prefixed  to  his  VOgel  der  Zoologisclien  Garten  another 
scheme  of  Classification,  which,  though  out  of  order,  may  here  be  mentioned,  from  its 
treatment  being  in  several  respects  similar  to  Sundevall's.  Its  author  gave  (i.  p.  viii.) 
the  representation  of  a  genealogical  tree  {Stammbaum)  shewing  the  descent  of  existing 
Birds  from  those  which  were  furnished  with  teeth  (of  which  more  presently)  by  four 
principal  stems^l.  " Kurzfliigler  ",  Brevipennes  ;  2.  speedily  dividing  into  "Schwimm- 
vdgel",  Natatores  and  "  Stelzvogel",  Grallatores  ;  3.  "Girrvogel",  Gyrantes  ;  and 
4.  "Fiinger",  Co^jtaiores,  "Paarzeber",  Fibulatores  and  "Ba,umvbge\",  Arbor icolw, 
which  succeed  one  another  in  the  order  named.  These  all  form  7  Series  (Reihe)  and  are 
split  into  17  Orders.  The  sense  of  proportion  seems  here  more  lamentably  wanting 
than  in  Sundevall's  Tentamen.  All  the  "  Struthious  "  Birds  form  one  Family,  and  the 
Oscines  contain  21 !  While  Series  5,  Gyrantes,  consists  only  of  the  Columbse,  Series 
6,  Captatores,  includes  Cryptnri,  Rasores  (all  Gallinm  and  Opisthocomus),  and  Rap- 
tatores — containing  Vultioridw  {Sarcorhampihinw,  Vulturinie  and  Gypastinm),  Fal- 
conidm  and  Strigidie.  This  will  shew  that  no  account  is  taken  of  any  structural 
characters  except  those  which  are  superficial ;  but  the  author's  tree  of  ornithic 
genealogy  may  be  regarded  as  an  important  feature,  having  been  anticipated,  so  far  as 
I  know,  only  by  that  of  Prof.  Hackel  {Geyi.  Morphol.  ii.  Taf.  vii.)  which  went  but  a 
short  way. 

-  Alfred  Henry  Garrod,  Prosector  to  the  Zoological  Society  of  London,  died  of 
consumption  iu  1879,  aged  thirty-three.  His  successor  in  that  office,  William 
Alexander  Forbes,  fell  a  victim  to  the  deadly  climate  of  the  Niger  in  1883,  and  in  his 
twenty-eighth  year. 


INTRODUCTION  gi 


that  among  students  of  Ornithology  has  rarely  been  equalled  and  perhaps 
never  surpassed.  The  present  writer  finds  it  difficult  to  treat  of  the 
labours  of  two  pupils  and  friends,  for  while  fully  recognizing  the  brilliant 
nature  of  some  of  their  researches,  he  is  compelled  very  frequently  to 
dissent  from  the  conclvisions  at  which  they  arrived,  deeming  them  to 
have  often  been  of  a  kind  that,  had  their  authors  survived  to  a  maturer 
age,  they  would  have  greatly  modified.  Still  he  well  knows  that  learners 
are  mostly  wiser  than  their  teachers  ;  and,  making  due  allowance  for  the 
haste  with  which,  from  the  exigencies  of  the  post  they  successively  held, 
their  investigations  had  usually  to  be  published,  he  believes  that  much  of 
the  highest  value  underlies  even  the  crudest  conjectures  contained  in  their 
several  contributions  to  Ornithology.  Putting  aside  the  monographical 
papers  by  which  each  of  them  followed  the  excellent  example  set  by  their 
predecessor  in  the  office  they  filled — Dr.  Murie  ^ — and  beginning  with 
Garrod's,^  those  having  a  more  general  scope,  all  published  in  the 
Zoological  Society's  Proceedings,  may  be  briefly  considered.  Starting 
from  the  level  reached  by  Huxley,  the  first  attempt  made  by  the  younger 
investigator  was  in  1873,  "  On  the  value  in  Classification  of  a  Peculiarity 
in  the  anterior  margin  of  the  Nasal  Bones  in  certain  Birds."  Herein  he 
strove  to  prove  that  Birds  ought  to  be  divided  into  two  Subclasses — one, 
called  "  HoLORHiNAL,"  in  which  a  straight  line  drawn  transversely  across 
the  hindmost  points  of  the  external  narial  apertures  passes  in  front  of  the 
posterior  ends  of  the  nasal  processes  of  the  preemaxillse,  and  the  other, 
called  "  ScHizoRHiNAL,"  in  which  such  a  line  passes  behind  those  processes. 
If  this  be  used  as  a  criterion,  the  validity  of  Huxley's  group  Schizognathse 
is  shaken  ;  but  there  is  no  need  to  enlarge  upon  the  proposal,  for  it  was 
virtually  abandoned  by  its  author  within  little  more  than  a  twelvemonth. 
The  next  subject  in  connexion  with  Systematic  Ornithology  to  which 
Garrod  applied  himself  was  an  investigation  of  the  Carotid  Arteries,  and 
here,  in  the  same  year,  he  made  a  considerable  advance  upon  the  labours 
of  Nitzsch,  as  might  well  be  expected,  for  the  opportunities  of  the  latter 
were  very  limited,  and  he  was  only  able,  as  we  have  seen  (page  55),  to 
adduce  four  types  of  structure  in  them,  while  Garrod,  with  the  superior 
advantages  of  his  situation,  raised  the  number  to  six.  Nevertheless  he 
remarks  that  their  "  disi^osition  has  not  much  significance  among  Birds, 
there  being  many  Families  in  which,  whilst  the  majority  of  the  species 
have  two,  some  have  only  one  carotid."  The  exceptional  cases  cited  by 
him  are  quite  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  condition  of  this  artery  has 
nearly  no  value  from  the  point  of  view  of  general  classification  (c/.  pages 
76,  77).     If  relied  upon  it  would  split  up  the  Families  Bncerotidae,  and 

^  Dr.  Murie's  chief  papers  having  a  direct  bearing  on  Systematic  Ornithology 
are: — in  the  Zoological  Society's  Transactions  (vii.  p.  465),  'On  the  Dermal  and 
Visceral  Structures  of  the  Kagu,  Sun-Bittern  and  Boatbill '  ;  in  the  same  Society's 
Proceedings — (1871,  p.  647)  'Additional  Notice  concerning  the  Powder-Downs  of 
Rhinochetus  jubatus\  (1872,  p.  664)  'On  the  Skeleton  of  Todus  with  remarks  as  to 
its  Allies',  (1879,  p.  552)  'On  the  Skeleton  and  Lineage  of  Fregilupus  varius'  ;  in 
The  lbis~{\872,  p.  262)  'On  the  genus  Colius',  (1872,  p.  383)  'Motmots  and  their 
affinities',  (1873,  p.  181)  'Relationships  of  the  Upupid^.' 

^  Garrod's  Scientific  Papers  were  collected  and  published  in  a  memorial  volumo 
edited  by  Forbes  in  1881.  There  is  therefore  no  need  to  give  a  list  of  them  here. 
Forbes's  papers  were  similarly  edited  by  Mr.  Beddard  in  1885. 


g2  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

Gypselidx,  whicli  no  sane  person  would  doubt  to  be  homogeneous  and 
natural.      The  femoral  vessels  formed  another  subject   of  investigation, 
and  were  found  to  exhibit  as  much  exceptional  conformation  as  those  of 
the  neck — for  instance  in  Centropus  phasianus,  one  of  the  Birds  known  as 
CouCALS,  the  femoral  artery  accompanies  the  femoral  vein,  though  it  does 
not  do  so  in  another  species  of  the  genus,  G.  rufipenrm,  nor  in  any  other 
of  the  GucuUdas  (to  which  Family  the  genus  Gentropus  has  been  always 
assigned)  examined  by  Garrod.      Nor  are  the  results  of  the  very  great 
labour  which  he  bestowed  upon  the  muscular  conformation  of  the  thigh 
in  Birds  any  more  conclusive  when  they  come  to  be  impartially  and 
carefully  considered.    Myology  was  with  him  always  a  favourite  study,  and 
he  may  be  not  unreasonably  supposed  to  have  had  a  strong  feeling  as  to 
its  efficacy  for  systematic  ends.     It  was  in  favour  of  an  arrangement  based 
upon  the  muscles  of  the  thigh,  and  elaborated  by  him  in  1874,  that  he 
gave  up  the   arrangement  he  had  published  barely  more   than   a  year 
before   based  upon   the   conformation   of  the  nostrils.      Nevertheless   it 
appears  that  even  the  later  of  the  two  methods  did  not  eventually  content 
him,  and  this  was  only  to  be  expected,  though  he  is  said  by  Forbes  (Ibis, 
1881,  p.  28)  to  have  remained  "satisfied  to  the  last  as  to  the  naturalness 
of  the  two  main  groups  into  which  he  there  divided  birds  " — Homalo- 
GONATiE  and  Anomalogonat^.      The  key  to  this  arrangement  lay  in  the 
presence  or  absence  of  the  ambiens  muscle,  "  not  because  of  its  own  intrinsic 
importance,  but  because  its  presence  is  always  associated  with  peculiarities 
in  other  parts  never  found  in  any  Anomalogonatous  bird. "     Garrod  thought 
that  so  great  was  the  improbability  of  the  same  combination  of  three  or 
four  different  characters  (such  as  an  accessory  femoro-caudal  muscle,  a 
tufted  oil-gland  and  cmca)  arising  independently  in  different  Birds  that 
similar  combinations  of  characters  could  only  be  due  to  blood-relationship. 
The  ingenuity  with  which  he  found  and  expressed  these  combinations  of 
characters  is  worthy  of  all  praise  ;  the  regret  is  that  time  was  wanting 
for  him  to  think  out  all  their  consequences,  and  that  he  did  not  take  also 
into  account  other  and  especially  osteological  characters.     Every  osteologist 
must  recognize  that  the  neglect  of  these  makes  Garrod's  proposed  classi- 
fication as  unnatural  as  any  that  had  been  previously  drawn  up,  and 
more  unnatural  than  many.     So  much  is  this  the  case  that,  with  the 
knowledge  we  have  that  ere  his  death  he  had  already  seen  the  need  of 
introducing  some  modifications  into  it,  its  reproduction  here,  even  in  the 
briefest  abstract  possible,  would  not  be  advisable.     Two  instances,  however, 
of  its  failure  to  shew  natural  affinities  or  differences  may  be  cited.     The 
first  Order  Galliformes  of  his  Subclass  Homalogonatse  is  made  to  consist 
of  three  "Cohorts" — Struthiones,  Gallinaceee  and  Psittaci — a   somewhat 
astonishing  alliance  ;  but  even  if  that  be  allowed  to  pass,  we  find  the 
second  "  Cohort "  composed  of  the  Families  Palamedeidse,  Gallinee,  Rallidee, 
Otididee  (containing  two  Subfamilies,  the  Bustards  and  the  Flamingoes), 
Musophagidse  and  Guculidse.     Again  the  Subclass  Anomalogonatse,  includes 
three  Orders — Piciformes,  Passeriformes,  Gypseliformes — a  preliminary  to 
which  at  first  sight  no  exception  need  be  taken  ;  but  immediately  we  look 
into   details  we  find  the   Alcedinidse.  placed  in  the  first  Order  and  the 
Meropidae  in  the  second,  together  with  the  Passeres  and  a  collection  of 


INTRODUCTION  gj 


Families  almost  every  feature  in  the  skeleton  of  which  points  to  a  separa- 
tion. Common  sense  revolts  at  the  acceptance  of  any  scheme  which 
involves  so  many  manifest  incongruities.  With  far  greater  pleasure 
we  would  leave  these  investigations,  and  those  on  certain  other  muscles, 
as  well  as  on  the  Disposition  of  the  deep  plantar  Tendons,  and  dwell  upon 
his  researches  into  the  anatomy  of  the  Passerine  Birds  with  the  view  to 
their  systematic  arrangement.  Here  he  was  on  much  safer  ground,  and 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  his  labours  will  stand  the  test  of  future 
experience,  for,  though  it  may  be  that  all  his  views  will  not  meet  with 
ultimate  approval,  he  certainly  made  the  greatest  advance  since  the  days 
of  Miiller,  to  the  English  translation  of  whose  classical  work  he  added  (as 
before  mentioned)  an  excellent  appendix,  besides  having  already  con- 
tributed to  the  Zoological  Proceedings  between  1876  and  1878  four 
memoirs  replete  with  observed  facts  which  no  one  can  gainsay.  As  his 
labours  were  continued  exactly  on  the  same  lines  by  Forbes,  who  between 
1880  and  1882  published  in  the  same  journal  six  more  memoirs  on  the 
subject,  it  will  be  convenient  here  to  state  generally,  and  in  a  combined 
form,  the  results  arrived  at  by  these  two  investigators. 

Instead  of  the  divisions  of  Passerine  Birds  instituted  by  Miiller,  Garrod 
and  Forbes  having  a  wider  range  of  experience  considered  that  they  had 
shewn  that  the  Passeres  consist  of  two  primary  sections,  which  the  latter 
named  respectively  Desmodacttli  and  Eledtherodactyli,  from  the  facts 
discovered  by  the  former  that  in  the  Euryleemidaz  (Broadbill),  a  small 
Family  peculiar  to  some  parts  of  the  Indian  Eegion,  and  consisting  of 
some  ten  or  twelve  species  only,  there  is  a  strong  band  joining  the  muscles 
of  the  hind  toe  exactly  in  the  same  way  as  in  many  Families  that  are  not 
Passerine,  and  hence  the  name  Desmodadyli,  while  in  all  other  Passerines 
the  hind  toe  is  free.  This  point  settled,  the  Eleutherodadyli  form  two 
great  divisions,  according  to  the  structure  of  their  vocal  organs  ;  one  of 
them,  roughly  agreeing  with  the  Clamatores  of  some  writers,  is  called 
Mesomtodi,  and  the  other,  corresponding  in  the  main,  if  not  absolutely, 
with  the  Oscines,  Polymyodi,  or  true  Passeres  of  various  authors,  is  named 
AcROMYODi — "  an  Acromyodian  bird  being  one  in  which  the  muscles  of 
the  syrinx  are  attached  to  the  extremities  of  the  bronchial  semi-rings,  a 
Mesomyodian  bird  being  one  in  which  the  muscles  of  the  syrinx  join  the 
semi-rings  in  their  middle."  Furthermore,  each  of  these  groups  is  sub- 
divided into  two  :  the  Acromyodi  into  "  normal "  and  "  abnormal,"  of  which 
more  presently  ;  the  Mesoviyodi  into  Homceomeri  and  Heteromeri, 
according  as  the  sciatic  or  the  femoral  artery  of  the  thigh  is  developed — 
the  former  being  the  usual  arrangement  among  Birds  and  the  latter  the 
exceptional.  Under  the  head  Heteromeri  come  only  two  Families,  but 
these  Garrod  was  inclined  to  think  should  not  be  considered  distinct. 
The  Homoeomeri  form  a  larger  group,  and  are  at  once  separable,  on  account 
of  the  structure  of  their  vocal  organs,  into  TracheojjJwnx  (practically 
equivalent  to  the  Tracheophones  of  Miiller)  and  Haploophon^  (as 
Garrod  named  them) — the  last  being  those  Passeres  which  were  by  Miiller 
erroneously  included  among  his  Picarii,  namely,  the  Tyrannidas.  (Tyrant) 
with  Rupicola  (Cock-of-the-Rock)  and  Pitta.  To  these  are  now  added 
Families  not  examined  by  him, — but  subsequently  ascertained  by  Forbes 

h 


94  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

to  belong  to  the  same  group, — Philefittidx  and  Xenicidse,  more  properly 
AcanthidositHdse  (Xenicus),  and  it  is  remarkable  that  these  last  three 
Families  are  the  only  members  of  the  Mesomyodi  which  are  not  peculiar 
to  the  New  World — nay  more,  if  we  except  the  Tyrannidee,  which  in 
North  America  occur  chiefly  as  migrants, — not  peculiar  to  the  Neotropical 
Region.  Tlie  Tracheophonae  are  held  to  contain  five  Families— Fitrnariidse 
(Oven-bird),  Pteroptochidse  (Tapaculo),  Dendrocolaptidse,  (Picucule), 
Gonopophagidse,  and  Formicariidse  (Ant-Thrush).  Returning  now  to  the 
Acromyodi,  which  include,  it  has  just  been  said,  a  normal  and  an  abnormal 
section,  the  latter  consists  of  Birds  agreeing  in  the  main,  though  not 
absolutely,  as  to  the  structure  of  the  syrinx  with  that  of  the  former,  yet 
differing  so  considerably  in  their  osteology  as  to  be  most  justifiablyseparated. 
At  that  time  only  two  types  of  these  abnormal  Acromyodi  were  known — 
Menura  (Lyre-bird)  and  Atrichornis  (Scrub-bird),  both  from  Australia, 
while  all  the  remaining  Passer es,  that  is  to  say,  incomparably  the  greater 
number  of  Birds  in  general,  belong  to  the  normal  section.  Thus  the 
whole  scheme  of  the  Passeres,^  as  worked  out  by  Garrod  and  Forbes,  can 
be  briefly  expressed  as  below ;  and  this  expression,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is 
probably  near  the  truth,  though  for  simplicity's  sake  some  of  the  inter- 
mediate group-names  might  perhaps  be  omitted  : — 

ELEUTHERODACTYLI, 
ACROMYODI, 

NOBMALES, 

Abnormales,  Menura,  Atrichornis. 
MESOMYODI, 

HOMOEOMERI, 

Tracheophouse, 

Furnariidm,    PteroptocMdse,    Dendrocolaptidae,   Conopophagidae,   Fot- 
micariidw. 
Haploophonae, 

Tyrannidm,  R^qncola,  Pittidse,  Philepittidie,  Xenicidas. 
Heteromeri,  Gotingidee,  Fijpridw. 
DESMODACTYLI, 

Eurylaemidm. 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  attempt  was  made  to  separate  the  Normal 
Acromyodians  into  Families.  Already,  in  The  Ibis  for  1874  (pp.  406- 
416),  Mr.  Wallace  had  published  a  plan,-  which,  with  two  slight  modifica- 
tions that  there  were  manifestly  improvements,  he  employed  two  years 
later  in  his  great  work  on  The  Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals,  and 
this  included  a  method  of  arranging  the  Families  of  this  division.  Being 
based,  however,  wholly  on  alar  characters,  it  has  of  course  a  great  simi- 
larity to  the  schemes  of  Prof.  Cabanis  and  of  Sundevall,  aud,  though 
simpler  than  either  of  those,  there  is  no  need  here  to  enter  much  into  its 
details.  The  Birds  which  would  fall  under  the  category  of  Garrod's 
Acromyodi   normales    are    grouped    in    three    series: — A.     "Typical    or 

^  It  is  right  to  observe  that  this  scheme  was  not  a  little  aided  by  a  consideration 
of  palatal  characters,  as  well  as  regard  to  the  disposition  of  some  of  the  tendons  of  the 
wiug-niuscles. 

-  Presenting  some  analogy  to  the  work  of  Garrod  and  Forbes,  though  mainly 
based  on  external  characters,  is  that  carried  on  in  regard  to  the  feathering  of  Birds' 
wings,  as  quoted  elsewhere  (Remiges,  p.  781,  note),  and  deserving  much  attention. 


INTRODUCTION  gj 


Turdoid  Passeres,"  having  a  wing  witli  ten  primaries,  the  first  of  which 
is  always  more  or  less  markedly  reduced  in  size,  and  to  this  21  Families 
are  allotted  ;  B.  "Tanagroid  Passeres,"  having  a  wing  with  nine  primaries, 
the  first  of  which  is  fully  developed  and  usually  very  long,  and  contain- 
ing 1 0  Families  ;  and  C.  "  Sturnoid  Passeres,"  having  a  wing  with  ten 
primaries,  the  first  of  which  is  "  rudimentary,"  with  only  4  Families. 
The  remaining  Families,  10  in  number,  which  are  not  normally 
acromyodian  are  grouped  as  Series  D.  and  called  "  Formicaroid  Passeres." 
In  The  Ibis  for  1880  (pp.  340-350,  399-411)  Mr.  Sclater  made  a 
laudable  attempt  at  a  general  arrangement  of  Birds,^  trying  to  harmonize 
the  views  of  ornithotomists  with  those  taken  by  the  ornithologists  who 
only  study  the  exterior  ;  but,  as  he  explained,  his  scheme  is  really  that 
of  Huxley  reversed,^  with  some  slight  modifications  mostly  consequent 
on  the  recent  researches  of  Parker  and  of  Garrod,  and  (here  may  be 
added)  a  few  details  derived  from  the  author's  own  extensive  knowledge 
of  the  Class.  Adopting  the  two  Subclasses  Carinatse  and  Ratitae,  he 
recognized  3  "Orders"  as  forming  the  latter  and  23  the  former — 
a  number  far  exceeding  any  that  had  of  late  years  met  with  the  ap- 
proval of  ornithologists.  First  of  them  comes  the  Passeres,  of  which 
Mr.  Sclater  would  make  four  Suborders  :— (1)  the  Acromyodi  normales  of 
Garrod  under  the  older  name  of  Oscines,  to  the  further  subdivision  of 
which  we  must  immediately  return  ;  (2)  under  Huxley's  term  Oligomyodi, 
all  the  Haploophonse,  Heteromeri  and  Desmodactyli  of  Garrod,  compre- 
hending 8  Families  —  Oxyrhamphidse,^  Tyrannidse,  Pipridse,  Gotingidse, 
Phytotomidse,  Pittidse,^  Pldlepittidse,  and  Eurylsemidse  ;  *  (3)  Tracheophonae, 
containing  the  same  groups  as  in  the  older  scheme,  but  here  combined 
into  3  Families  only — Dendrocolaptidse,  Formicariidee  and  Pteivptochidse  ;  ^ 
and  (4)  the  Acromyodi  abnormales  of  Garrod,  now  elevated  to  the  rank  of 
a  Suborder  and  unhappily  called  Pseudoscines.  With  regard  to  the 
Acromyodi  normales  or  Oscines,  Mr.  Sclater  takes  what  seems  to  be  the 
only  reasonable  view,  when  he  states  that  they  "  are  all  very  closely 
related  to  one  another,  and,  in  reality,  form  little  more  than  one  group, 
-equivalent  to  other  so-called  families  of  birds,"  going  on  to  remark  that 
as  there  are  some  4700  known  species  of  them  "it  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  subdivide  them,"  and  finally  proceeding  to  do  this  nearly  on  the 
method  of  Sundevall's  Tentamen,  merely  changing  the  names  and  position 
of  the  groups  in  accordance  with  a  plan,  of  his  own  set  forth  in  the 
Nomenclator  Avium  Neotrop)icalium,  which  he  and  Mr.  Salvin  printed  in 
1873,  making,  as  did  Sundevall,  two  divisions  (according  as  the  hind 
part  of  the  "  tarsus "  is  plated  or  scaled),  A.  Laminiplantares  and  B. 
Scutiplantares — but  confining  the  latter  to  the  Alaudidae  alone,  since  the 
other  Families  forming  Sundevall's  Scutelliplantares  are  not  Oscinine,  nor 

^  An  abstract  of  tliis  was  read  to  the  British  Association  at  Swansea  in  the  same 
year,  and  may  be  found  in  its  Report  (pp.  606-609). 

^  A  matter  of  no  moment  whatever,  provided  that  the  ascending  or  descending 
order  be  preserved  throughout,  and  not  intermixed  as  slovenly  writers  are  wont. 

**  Not  recognized  by  Garrod. 

*  To  these  Mr.  Sclater  has  now  ( Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiv.  p.  2)  added  Forbes's  Xeniddie. 

®  Mr.  Sclater  has  since  admitted  {op.  cit.  xv.  p.  2)  the  Coriopophagidm  of  Garrod 
.{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1877,  p.  452). 


g6  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

all  even  Passerine.  The  following  table  shews  the  result  of  a  comparison 
of  the  two  modes  as  regards  the  Laminiplantares,  and  may  be  found  conveni- 
ent by  the  reader  : — 

Mr.  Mater,  1880.  Sundevall,  1872-73. 

1.  Dentirostres,! —  practically  equal  to  1.  CiclilomorpliEe. 

2.  Latirostres/  .,  6.  Chelidonomorphae. 

3.  Curvirostres,  „  4.  Certhiomorphse.^ 

4.  Tenuirostres,  ,,  5.  Cinnyrimorphs. 

5.  Conirostres,  ,,  2.  Conirostres. 

6.  Cultrirostres,  ,,  3.  Coliomorphse. 

These  six  groups  Mr.  Sclater  thinks  may  be  separated  without  much 
difficulty,  though  on  that  point  the  proceedings  of  some  later  writers  (a 
notable  instance  of  which  he  himself  cites)  shew  that  doubt  may  still  be 
entertained  ;  but  he  rightly  remarks  that,  "  when  we  come  to  attempt  to 
subdivide  them,  there  is  room  for  endless  varieties  of  opinion  as  to  the 
nearest  allies  of  many  of  the  forms,"  and  into  further  details  he  does  not 
go.  It  will  be  perceived  that,  like  so  many  of  his  predecessors,  he  accords 
the  highest  rank  to  the  Dentirostres,  which,  as  has  before  been  hinted, 
seems  to  be  a  mistaken  view  that  must  be  considered  in  the  sequel. 

Leaving  the  Passeres,  the  next  "  Order "  is  Picarise,  of  which  Mr. 
Sclater  proposes  to  make  six  Suborders: — (1)  Pici,  with  2  Families; 
(2)  Cypseli,  with  3  ramilies,^  practically  equal  to  the  Macrochires  of 
Nitzsch  ;  (3)  Anisodcictylse,  with  12  Families — Coliidas,  Alcedinidse,  Bucero- 
tidx,  Upupidse,  Irrisoridee,  Meropid<e,  Momotidse,  Todidse,  Coraciidse,  Lepto- 
somidx,  Podargidse  and  Steatornithidse  ;  (4)  Heterodadylse,  consisting  only 
of  the  Trogons  ;  (5)  Zygodadylse,  with  5  Families,  Galbulidss,  Bucconidse, 
Bhampliastidse,  Capitonidse  and  Indicatoridx  ;  and  (6)  Coccyges,  composed 
of  the  two  Families  Cuculidee  and  Alusophagidae.  That  all  these  may  be 
most  conveniently  associated  under  the  name  Picarise  seems  likely  enough, 
and  the  first  two  "  Suborders "  are  probably  natural  groups,  though 
possibly  groups  of  different  value.  In  regard  to  the  rest  comment  is  for 
the  present  deferred.  The  Psittaci,  Striges  and  Accipitres,  containing 
respectively  the  Parrots,  Owls  and  diurnal  Birds  -  of  -  Prey,  form  the 
next  three  "Orders"  —  the  last  being  held  to  include  3  Families, 
Falconidx,  Cathartidee  and  Serpentariidx  (Secretary-bird),  which  is 
perhaps  the  best  that  can  be  done  with  them.  We  have  then  the 
Steganopodes  to  make  the  Sixth  "  Order,"  consisting  of  the  5  Families 
usually  grouped  together  as  by  Brandt  {supra,  page  62)  and  others,  and 
these  are  followed  naturally  enough  by  the  Herons  under  the  name  of 
Herodiones,  to  which  the  three  Families  Ardeidee,  Ciconiidee  (Stork)  and 
Plataleidse  (Spoonbill)  are  referred  ;  but  the  Flamingoes,  under  Nitzsch's 
title  Odontoglossx,  form  a  distinct  "  Order."  The  Ninth  "  Order  "  is  now 
erected  for  the  Palaniedeai  (Screamer),  which  precede  the  Anscres — a  group 

^  These  are  not  equivalent  to  Sundevall's  groups  of  the  same  names. 

2  Mr.  Sclater  (p.  348)  inadvertently  states  that  no  species  of  Sundevall's  Certhio- 
raorphse  is  found  in  the  New  World,  having  omitted  to  notice  that  in  the  Tentamen 
(pp.  46,  47)  the  genera  Mniotilta  (peculiar  to  America)  as  well  as  Certhia  and  Sitta 
are  therein  placed. 

2  Or  2  only,  the  position  of  the  Caprivmlgidae  being  left  undecided,  but  in  1883 
(see  next  note)  put  here. 


INTRODUCTION  g? 


that,  disencumbered  from  both  the  last  two,  is  eminently  natural,  and 
easily  dealt  with.  A  great  break  then  occurs,  and  the  new  series  is 
opened  by  the  Eleventh  "  Order,"  Cohimbse,  with  3  Families,  Carpophagidse, 
Columhidse  and  Gouridse,  "  or  perhaps  a  fourth,"  Didunculidse} — the  Dodos 
being  "held  to  belong  to  quite  a  separate  section  of  the  order."  The 
Twelfth  "Order"  is  formed  by  the  Pterocletes  [!]  (Sand-Grouse);  and 
then  we  have  tlie  very  natural  group  Gallinse,  ranking  as  the  Thirteenth. 
The  next  two  are  the  Opisthocorni  and  Hemipodii  for  the  Hoactzin  and 
the  Twnicidse,  (Hemipode)  respectively,  to  which  follow  as  Sixteenth  and 
Seventeenth  the  Fidicarise  and  Alectorides — the  former  consisting  of  the 
Families  Rallidae  (Rail)  and  Heliornithidae,  (Finfoot),  and  the  latter  of 
what  seems  to  be  a  very  heterogeneous  compound  of  6  Families — Aramidse, 
(Limpkin),  Eurypiigidx  (Sun-Bittern),  Gruidse.  (Crane),  Psophiidx  (Trum- 
peter), Gariamidx  (Seriema)  and  Otididse  ^  (Bustard).  It  is  confessedly 
very  puzzling  to  know  how  these  varied  types,  or  some  of  them  at  least, 
should  be  classed  ;  but  the  need  for  the  establishment  of  this  group,  and 
especially  the  insertion  in  it  of  certain  forms,  is  not  explained  by  the 
author.  Then  we  have  "  Orders  "  Eighteen  and  Nineteen,  the  Limicolee, 
with  6  Families,  and  Gavise,  consisting  only  of  Laridse,  (Gull),  which 
taken  in  their  simplest  condition  do  not  present  much  difficulty.  The 
last  are  followed  by  Tuhinares  (Petrels),  and  these  by  Pygopodes,  to 
which  only  2  Families  Golymhidx  (Diver)  and  Alcidse  (Auk)  are  allowed — 
the  Grebes  being  included  in  the  former.  The  Inipennes  (Penguin)  form 
the  Twenty-second,  and  Crypturi  (Tinamou)  complete  the  Carinate  Sub- 
class. For  the  Eatitx  only  three  "Orders"  are  allotted — Apteryges, 
Casuarii  and  Struthiones. 

As  a  whole  it  is  impossible  not  to  speak  well  of  the  scheme  thus 
sketched  out,  so  far  as  materials  for  it  existed  ;  and,  in  1884,  an  attempt 
was  made  {Encycl.  Brit.  ed.  9,  xviii.  j)p.  43-49)  to  indicate  those  points 
in  recent  Classifications  which  then  seemed  to  have  been  established  on  a 
pretty  sure  footing,  though  therein  the  writer  had  no  intention,  any  more 
than  he  now  has,  of  inventing  (as  has  sometimes  been  supposed)  a  new 
arrangement  of  Birds.  He  did,  however,  try  to  shew  that  some  positions 
which  had  been  taken  up  could  not  be  maintained,  and  among  other  things 
that  the  "  Subclass  "  Odontornithes,  founded  as  above  mentioned  (page  87)  by 
Prof.  Marsh,  was  artificial,  for,  while  Birds  yet  retained  the  teeth  they 
had  inherited  from  their  Reptilian  ancestors,  two  remarkable  and,  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  distinct  groups  of  the  Class  had  already  made  their 
appearance,  which  two  groups  persist  at  the  present  day  in  the  Aves 
Ratitse  and  Aves  Carinatse  long  ago  recognized  by  Merrem.  Furthermore, 
while  the  Ratite  type  (Hesperornis)  presents  the  kind  of  teeth  which 
indicate  (in  Reptiles  at  least)  a  low  morphological  rank,  the  Carinate 
type  (Ichthyornis)  is  furnished  with  teeth  set  in  sockets  and  shewing  a 
higher  development.  On  the  other  hand  this  early  Carinate  type  has 
vertebrse  whose  comparatively  simple,  biconcave  form  is  equally  evidence 
of  a  rank  unquestionably  low;  but  the  saddle -shaped  vertebrae  of  the 

^  In  the  eighth  edition  of  the  List  of  Vertehrated  Aniinals  in  the  Zoological 
Gardens,  which,  being  published  in  1883,  may  be  taken  as  expressing  Mr.  Sclater's 
later  views,  the  first  two  Families  only  are  recognized,  the  last  two  being  placed 
under  ColumUdee.  "  Wrongly  spelt  Otidse. 


g8  DICTION AR  Y  OF  BIRDS 

contemporary  Ratite  type  as  surely  testify  to  a  more  exalted  position. 
The  explanation  of  this  complicated  if  not  contradictory  state  of  things 
seemed  then  out  of  reach  ;  but  one,  as  will  directly  be  shewn,  has  since 
been  offered  by  Prof.  Fiirbringer.  Moreover,  the  uncertainty  which  then 
prevailed,  even  if  it  has  now  wholly  ceased,  among  the  best-informed 
ornithologists  as  to  the  respective  origin  of  Eatitse  and  Carinatee,  was  at 
that  time  considered  with  a  decided  leaning  to  the  view  that  the  last 
were  evolved  from  the  first.  The  labours  of  the  distinguished  zoologist 
just  named  have  now  shewn  the  strong  probability,  if  one  may  not  say 
the  certainty,  of  that  view  being  wrong  and  of  the  Ratite  being  a  degraded 
type  descended  from  the  Carinate.^  Still  further,  it  may  here  be  remarked 
that  there  is  now  no  need  to  presume  (as  was  then  presumed)  the  former 
existence  of  Ratites  with  biconcave  vertebrae,  since  all  Birds  had  most 
likely  acquired  saddle-shaped  vertebrse  before  any  forms  began  to  retro- 
grade in  the  direction  of  Ratitee,  while  the  ancestors  of  the  modern 
Garinatse  possibly  lost  their  teeth  as  their  biconcave  vertebrae  were 
improving  into  the  higher  form.^ 

Seldom  does  it  happen  that  in  a  professedly  popular  work  any 
novelty  is  shewn  unless  it  be  of  a  kind  essentially  unscientific  ;  but  the 
Fourth  Volume  of  the  Standard  Natural  History,  which  treats  of  Birds 
and  was  published  at  Boston  in  Massachusetts  in  1885,  is  a  notable 
exception.  Even  if  some  of  its  originality  may  be  said  to  lie  in  its 
eclecticism,^  no  one  will  refuse  Dr.  Stejneger's  labour  a  conspicuous  place 
in  a  historical  sketch  of  Systematic  Ornithology.  Though  not  sole  author 
of  the  book,  indeed  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the  title-page,  he  has 
admittedly  written  most  of  the  descriptive  portion,^  while  there  is  no 
question  of  the  taxonomy  being  all  his  own  and  its  basis  is  anatomical. 
The  whole  volume  compares  most  favourably  with  anything  of  the  kind 
that  has  appeared,  whether  before  or  since,  and  open  as  it  may  be  on 
many  points  to  criticism,^  all  who  have  used  it  must  regret  that  it  is  not 
better  known  in  this  coimtry.  Here,  however,  we  have  but  its  Classifica- 
tion to  deal  with  ;  and,  considering  the  many  new  ideas  and  terms  put 

1  It  now  seems  to  me  curious  that,  having  then  suggested  {tovi.  cit.  p.  44)  that 
Apteryx  and  Dinornis  were  degraded  descendants  of  earlier  Eatitse,  I  did  not  perceive 
the  possibility  of  those  very  Ratitie  being  degenerate  forms. 

2  Prof.  Marsh  [Am.  Journ.  Sc.  April  1879,  and  Odontornithes,  pp.  180,  181) 
stated  that  in  the  third  cervical  vertebra  of  Ichthyomis  "  we  catch  nature  in  the  act 
as  it  were  "  of  modifying  one  form  of  vertebra  into  another,  for  this  single  vertebra  in 
Ichthyomis  is  in  vertical  section  "moderately  convex,  while  transversely  it  is  strongly 
concave  ;  thus  presenting  a  near  approach  to  the  saddle-like  articulation."  He  pro- 
ceeded to  point  out  that  this  specialized  feature  occurs  at  the  first  bend  of  the  neck, 
and,  greatly  facilitating  motion  in  a  vertical  plane,  is  "mainly  due  originally  to  its 
predominance."  The  form  of  the  vertebrfe  would  accordingly  seem  to  be  as  miich 
correlated  with  the  mobility  of  the  neck  as  is  the  form  of  the  sternum  'vvith  the 
faculty  of  flight. 

^  Gf.  Gadow,  Thier-reich,  Vogel,  ii.  p.  48. 

•*  His  fellow-workers  were  Messrs.  Barrows  and  Elliot,  the  former  taking  the 

Accipitres,    and    the    latter    Opisthocomi,    GaUinie,  Pterodetes\_^^,    Columhie    and 

Trochilidae,  while  Dr.  J.  S.  Kingsley,  the  editor  of  the  whole  series,  supplied  the 
account  of  the  Psittaci. 

^  Especially  ou  matters  of  Nomenclature,  a  trifling  but  highly- contentious  subject, 

which  throughout  the  present  work  I  have  studiously  tried  to  avoid. 


INTRODUCTION 


99 


forth,  an  abstract  ^  of  Dr.  Stejneger's  scheme,  the  peculiarities  of  spelling 
being  observed,  seems  advisable  : — 


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^  I  have  thought  it  needless  to  occupy  space  by  adding  the  name  of  the  Families, 
which  in  nearly  every  case  will  be  readily  supplied,  though  where  there  is  more  than 
one  referred  to  any  higher  division,  I  have  inserted  the  number.  The  Family-names 
are  given  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Evans  (Zool.  Rec.  xzii.  Aves,  pp.  14-18),  by  Dr.  Sharpe 
{Attempts  to  classify  Birds,  pp.  24-29)  and  Dr.  Gadow  {ut  suprd,  pp.  46-48). 


100  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

Even  now  ornithologists  might  easily  invent  or  follow  worse  schemes 
than  that  of  which  the  outline  has  just  been  given.  It  looks  far  more 
complicated  at  first  sight  than  it  will  be  found  to  be  on  closer  inspection, 
and  close  inspection  it  thoroughly  deserves  ;  while,  granting  the  impossi- 
bility of  forming  a  linear  series,  the  result  is  remarkably  successful.  This 
is  owing  to  the  attention  paid  to  anatomical  facts,  shewing  to  what  good 
purpose  Dr.  Stejneger,  in  addition  to  his  own  investigations,  has  studied 
the  works  of  ornithotomists,  and  also  the  good  judgment  he  has,  in  most 
cases,  exercised  as  to  the  respective  value  of  characters,  whether  internal 
or  external — and  these  last  are  not  forgotten.  Had  he  published  his 
classification  in  a  technical  form,  concisely  stating  the  characters  on 
which  it  was  based,  instead  of  leaving  all  to  be  collected  by  the  reader  as 
he  goes.  Dr.  Stejneger  would  have  simplified  matters  very  much,  and 
perhaps  have  saved  some  useless  labour  on  the  part  of  others  ;  but  it  will 
assuredly  be  counted  to  him  for  righteousness  that  in  theory  at  least,  if 
not  always  in  practice,  he  has  held  to  morphological  principles  so  far  as 
they  had  been  made  known. 

Unquestionably  the  most  remarkable  recent  contribution  to  System- 
atic Ornithology  is  that  of  Prof.  Fiirbringer,.  in  the  Second  Volume  of  his 
magnificent  Untersuchungen  zur  Morphologie  uvd  Systematik  der  Vogel, 
published  in  1888  as  a  jubilee  work  by  the  well-known  'Natura  Artis 
Magistra '  Society  of  Amsterdam.  It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  either 
the  importance  or  the  amount  of  the  labour  bestowed  on  these  researches, 
of  which  the  systematic  results  are  but  a  comparatively  small  part, 
though  the  part  that  here  requires  most  notice,  for  they  render  doubtful 
much  that  had  before  been  deemed  fairly-well  established,  and  put  the 
Reptilian  pedigree  of  Birds  and  the  position  of  the  Eatitss  in  a  wholly 
new  light,  incidentally  proving  the  latter  to  be  derived  from  ancestors 
fully  endowed  with  wings.  This  last  position,  however,  does  not  upset 
Prof.  Marsh's  contention  that  the  first  Birds  had  not  the  faculty  of  flight. 
It  only  makes  evident  that  between  the  volant  forefathers  of  the  modern 
Ratitse  and  the  very  first  Birds,  there  intervened  an  indefinite  but  great 
number  of  forms  of  which  few  if  any  traces  are  known  to  us,  and  that  the 
origin  of  Birds  is  far  more  remote  than  we  had  been  inclined  to  suppose. 

Birds,  considers  Prof.  Fiirbringer  {pp.  cit.  p.  1563),  since  they  spring 
from  Reptiles,  must  have  begun  with  toothed  forms  of  small  or  moderate 
size,  with  long  tails  and  four  Lizard-like  feet,  having  distinct  metacarpals 
and  metatarsals,  beside  well-formed  claws,  while  their  bodies  were  clothed 
with  a  very  primitive  kind  of  down.  These  forms  he  terms  Protoherp- 
omithes  —  old  Reptilian  Birds  (JJrTcriechvdgel).  To  them  succeeded 
forms  wherein  the  down  developed  into  feathers,  and  the  fore  and  hind 
limbs  differed  in  build — the  former  becoming  organs  of  prehensiog^  and 
the  latter  the  chief  instruments  of  progression.  There  was  a  Dinosaur- 
like transformation  of  the  legs  and  pelvis,  with  by-and-by  a  coalescence 
of  the  metatarsals,  enabling  the  creature  to  become  bipedal.  These  were 
the  Protorthornithes  or  Prot-Aptenornithes — the  first  Birds  that  stood  erect, 
or  the  first  flightless  Birds — many  of  considerable  size,  but  flightless,  and 
they  may  have  left  their  footprints  (Ornithichnites,  page  277)  on  Triassic 
rocks,  and  to  them  may  have  belonged  (p.  1518)  Laopteryx  (page  280,  note 


INTRODUCTION  loi 


1).  Hitlaerto  all  these  ancient  animals,  whether  having  four  feet  or  two, 
moved  on  the  ground  or,  at  most,  and  this  especially  in  the  case  of  the 
smaller  forms,  climbed  trees.  Among  those  that  possessed  this  habit,  the 
befeathering  (which  as  yet  had,  like  the  hair  of  Mammals,  served  only 
foi  warmth)  presumably  entered  upon  a  higher  step,  the  feathers  becom- 
ing larger  on  certain  parts  of  the  body,  particularly  on  the  fore  limbs 
and  tail,  so  as  to  begin  to  act  as  a  parachute,  and  allow  of  a  safe  gliding 
descent  from  a  height.  By  successive  increase  in  stiffness  and  size  of  the 
feathers,  and  corresponding  modification  and  strengthening  of  the  skeleton 
and  muscles,  the  possibility  of  incipient  but  real  flight  was  afforded  to 
these  Birds,  the  Proto-Ptenornithes — the  first  flying  Birds  {Urflugvogel),  of 
which,  in  all  likelihood,  there  were  many  varied  forms,  though  Archee- 
oiAeryz  (page  278)  is  the  single  type  known  to  us.  The  faculty  of  flight, 
thus  acquired,  went  on  improving.  The  remiges  grew  stronger  and 
stronger,  and,  in  correlation  therewith,  the  distal  wing-bones  (the  meta- 
carpals coalescing)  gained  greater  rigidity,  and  the  muscles  connected 
with  them,  as  well  as  the  processes  giving  origin  and  insertion  thereto, 
increased  in  size.  In  proportion  as  the  fore  limbs  specialized  into  highly- 
developed  wings,  and  the  pectoral  arch  approached  the  Carinate  type,  the 
original  faculty  of  the  former  as  grasping  organs  was  lost.  Simultaneously 
as  the  remiges  acquired  strength,  the  tail  shortened  and  was  consolidated, 
the  posterior  vertebrae  becoming  united  as  a  pygostyle  (page  753).  Thus 
originated  those  forms  which  may  be  denominated  Deutero-Ptenornithes  or 
Euptenornithes — the  higher  or  better  Birds  of  Flight  (hohere  Flugvogel). 
This  type  was  already  established  in  the  Cretaceous  Ichthyornis  (page  652), 
and  includes  the  vast  majority  of  existing  Birds  commonly  grouped  as 
Garinatae, ;  but  these  only  in  later  times  developed  their  various  higher  modi- 
fications, which  were  rendered  possible  by  the  saving  of  material  and  weight, 
—more  elaborate  vertebrae ;  the  loss  of  teeth ;  the  gain  in  pneumacity 
of  the  body — especially  in  larger  forms  ;  the  suitable  configuration  of 
parts  of  the  skeleton,  and  the  greater  importance  of  smooth  muscle  com- 
pensating for  the  diminished  performance  of  striped  muscle  (page  602). 

During  the  period  in  which  the  Protoptenornithes  and  Deuterojoten- 
ornithes  were  difterentiated,  there  came  about,  as  almost  everywhere  in 
Nature^  retrograde  movement.  All  Birds  did  not  reach  the  highest  degree 
of  faculty  of  flight.  Many  stopped,  as  it  were,  half  way,  when  a  retro- 
gression of  the  power  already  attained  took  place  ;  or,  if  the  power  were 
reached,  it  could  not  be  maintained — an  easy  life  and  absence  of  rivalry 
inducing  an  increased  bulk  of  the  body,  until  the  utmost  exertion  of 
muscular  strength  could  no  longer  sustain  it  in  the  air.  Thus  when 
this  retrograde  development  began,  occasion  was  afl'orded  for  the  dwind- 
ling away  of  the  volant  power,  and  hence  arose  the  different  types  which 
are  commonly  grouped  as  Ratitse,  and  may  be  called  Deuter-Aptenornithes,  or 
secondary  Flightless  Birds  {secunddr  Jluglos  Vogel).  Again,  says  the  author, 
if  the  retrogression  extended  only  to  a  limited  degree,  as  in  recent  cases  like 
the  Impennes,  Alca  impennis,  certain  Eallidse,  the  Dididee,  Stringops  and 
others,  in  whose  structure  this  or  that  Carinate  character  is  very  apparent, 
these  form  the  Trit-Aptenornithes  or  Flightless  Carinates  (Jluglose  Carinaten). 
But  in  Nature  no  sharp  boundary  exists  between  the  Deuter-  and  Trit- 
Aptenornithes  ;  Cnemiornis  and  still  more  likely  Gastornis  and  Aptornis 


102  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

might  stand  midway.     Future  discoveries,  which  one  may  in  all  prob- 
ability expect,  will  still  more  efface  this  artificial  boundary  (p.  1564).^ 

The  great  novelty  of  Prof.  Fiirbringer's  treatment  of  the  Puititse.  is  not 
merely  denying  their  existence  as  a  distinct  Subclass,  for  that  had  been 
done  before  ^  ;  but  his  demonstration,  for  it  amounts  to  that,  of  their 
being  the  retrograde  descendants  of  volant  ancestors,  and  moreover  his 
opinion  that  they  diverged  at  different  epochs,  so  that  the  several  groups 
which  now  exist  are  not  homogeneous  but  each  had  an  independent 
pedigree.  This  not  only  carries  to  an  extreme  the  views  first  enunciated 
by  Huxley,  who  pointed  out  that  each  of  the  existing  Ratite  groups  was 
equivalent  in  rank  to  what  is  commonly  deemed  an  "Order"  among 
Birds  (though  he  himself  refused  them  the  title),  but  it  also  involves  an 
acceptance  of  the  doctrine  of  Isomorphism,  to  consider  which  would  lead 
us  quite  beyond  our  present  limits,  and  therefore  must  be  here  let  alone.^ 
It  should  be  said,  however,  that  this  conclusion  seems  to  have  been  slowly 
and  almost  reluctantly  adopted  by  Prof.  Fiirbringer,  who  in  the  fairest 
way  states  the  objections  that  may  be  taken  to  it,  though  finally  over- 
riding them  with  the  result  given  above.*  Among  the  great  merits  of 
this  great  work  are  the  representations  of  a  genealogical  "  tree  "  shewing 
the  descent  of  Birds  not  only  vertically,  and  that  on  two  sides,  but  also 
horizontally  at  three  different  epochs.  It  is  unfortunately  impossible 
here  to  reproduce  these  designs,  and  as  without  their  aid  no  correct 
impression  of  his  Classification  could  be  conveyed,  it  seems  better  to 
abstain  from  any  attempt  to  set  it  forth  imperfectly  in  a  linear  form,^ 

^  The  expectation  expressed  by  Prof.  Fiirbringer  in  this  last  sentence  is  a  truism 
and  need  not  alarm  any  true  believer  in  Evolution,  since  as  elsewhere  observed 
(Geographical  Distribution,  page  344)  it  is  obvious  that  if  all  creation,  past  and 
present,  stood  before  us  no  lines  of  demarcation  could  be  drawn.  The  taxonomer 
has  to  judge  by  the  comparatively  small  number  of  forms  left  to  us,  and  between 
them  are  gaps,  sometimes  (so  to  speak)  narrow  cracks  at  others  wide  chasms,  to  fill 
up  which  is  often  beyond  the  power  of  imagination,  though  we  know  that  filled  they 
once  were.  Those  gaps  form  not  only  convenient  but  the  sole  means  of  marking  off 
groups  of  beings,  whether  we  call  them  species  or  sub-kingdoms.  Experience  teaches 
us  to  expect  that  in  time  we  shall  partially  know  how  some  of  these  gaps  were  filled. 

^  It  has  been  likened  to  Owen's  treatment  of  them,  but  is  really  very  dilferent. 
Owen,  having  formerly  recognized  an  Order  Cursores  (by  no  means  equivalent  to  that 
of  lUiger),  in  1866  declared  {Anat.  Vertebr.  ii.  p.  12)  it  not  to  be  natural,  which  is 
quite  true  if  in  it  are  placed  the  heterogeneous  forms  he  then  assigned  to  it — 
Notornis,  Struthio,  Didus,  Apteryx,  Dincmiis  and  Palajpteryx,  which  last  three  he 
said  "bear  affinity  to  the  Megapodial  family  of  Gallinse,"  while  he  considered  that 
"the  Ostrich  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  Bustards  "  as  Notornis  to  the  Coots  ! 

^  This  doctrine,  like  that  of  the  Correlation  of  Growth,  is  one  that  may  be  made 
to  account  so  easily  for  many  difficulties,  otherwise  apparently  insuperable,  that  one 
is  inclined  always  to  view  its  application  with  suspicion,  and  to  be  loth  to  invoke  its 
aid  except  on  the  greatest  emergency. 

*  Quite  recently  Prof.  Milne-Edwards  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  ser.  7,  ii.  p.  134)  declares 
against  the  homogeneity  of  the  "Brevipennes,"  and  consequently  admits  the  isomor- 
phism of  some  New-Zealand  and  Mascarene  types. 

^  It  is  much  to  he  regretted  that  while  so  many  works  of  trifling  importance  are 
continually  being  reviewed  in  our  scientific  journals.  Prof.  Fiirbringer's  has  obtained 
but  little  notice  in  this  country.  An  excellent  abstract  by  Dr.  Gadow  was  published 
in  Nature  (xxxix.  pp.  150-152,  177-181)  for  the  13th  and  20th  December  1888,  and 
its  republication  in  an  accessible  form  would  be  most  tiseful,  since  no  translation  of 
the  original  could  be  hoped  for.  A  more  condensed  summary,  with  the  author's  own 
paradigm,  was  given  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Evans  {Zool.  Rec.  xxv.  Aves,  pp.  14-16),  while  Dr. 
Sharpe  {Attempts  at  Classif.  B.  pp.  39-43)  has  reproduced  the  original  plates  as  well 


INTRODUCTION  103 


and  merely  to  copy  his  diagrammatic  expression  of  the  relationships 
between  different  groups  taken  in  horizontal  section  across  the  tree's  main 
branches,  as  shewn  on  the  next  page.^ 

While  toiling  at  his  gigantic  task  Prof.  Fiirbringer  was  in  frequent 
communication  with  his  friend  Dr.  Gadow,  at  that  time  engaged  in 
completing  the  Ornithology  of  what  is  known  as  Bronn's  Thier-Reich. 
This  harmonious  intercourse  naturally  had  an  effect  on  the  opinions  of 
each.  On  the  termination  of  the  former's  labours  the  latter,  profiting  of 
course  by  them,  continued  his  own  investigations  in  order  to  work  out 
the  systematic  part  of  his  subject,  and  they  led  to  conclusions  which, 
though  for  the  most  part  agreeing  with  those  of  his  predecessor,  as  might 
be  expected  when  both  were  the  results  of  morphological  research, 
differed  from  them  in  several  rather  important  particulars.  In  1892 
Dr.  Gadow  contributed  to  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  (pp. 
229-256)  a  highly  condensed  summary  of  his  views  '  On  the  Classification 
of  Birds,'  which  in  the  following  year  he  elaborately  set  forth,  with  some 
slight  modifications,  in  the  Systematic  portion  of  the  work  above  named 
(pp.  61-282).  This  Classification  is  based  on  the  examination,  mostly 
autoptic,  of  a  far  greater  number  of  characters  than  any  that  had  pre- 
ceded it,  and,  moreover,  they  were  chosen  in  a  different  way,  discern- 
ment being  exercised  in  sifting  and  weighing  them,  so  as  to  determine, 
so  far  as  possible,  the  relative  value  of  each,  according  as  that  value  may 
vary  in  different  groups,  and  not  to  produce  a  mere  mechanical  "key" 
after  the  fashion  become  of  late  years  so  common.  Whether  the  upshot 
of  it  all  has  been  to  establish  a  Natural  Classification,  one  indicating  the 
true  descent  and  the  real  affinities  of  the  several  groups  known,  time 
alone  will  shew  ;  but  that  this  latest  attempt  has  been  made  according 
to  the  best  method  few  will  doubt.  Dr.  Gadow  recognizes  two  Sub- 
as  the  paradigm,  and  the  whole  has  been  preyed  upon  hy  one  of  the  most  successful 
of  modern  plagiarists. 

^  It  is  difficult  to  take  as  seriously  as  they  were  intended  the  two  alternative 
methods  simultaneously  presented  in  1890,  by  the  late  Mr.  Seebohm  {Classification 
of  Birds,  London  :  8vo),  while  a  somewhat  modified  arrangement  of  certain  groxips 
was  offered  in  his  Birds  of  the  Japanese  Empire,  which  appeared  a  few  months  later  ; 
but  hesitation  on  that  score  was  removed  by  his  publication  in  1895  of  a  fourth 
scheme  called  a  Supplement,  though  really  subverting  its  predecessors.  In  each  of 
these  works  the  language  of  science  is  professed,  but  the  author's  natural  inability  to 
express  himself  with  precision,  or  to  appreciate  the  value  of  differences,  is  everywhere 
apparent,  even  when  exercising  his  wonted  receptivity  of  the  work  of  others,  and 
especially  of  Dr.  Stejneger  and  Prof.  Fiirbringer.  Nevertheless  the  first  of  these 
works  formed  the  basis  of  Dr.  Sharpe's  arrangement  {Reviexo  of  Recent  Attempts  to 
Classify  Birds,  pp.  55-90)  propounded  in  1891  to  the  International  Ornithological 
Congress  held  that  year  at  Buda-Pest,  and  shortly  after  followed,  with  some  slight 
alteration,  in  his  Catalogue  of  the  osteological  specimens  of  Birds  in  the  Museum  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  of  England.  Dr.  Sharpe,  however,  is  not  the  only 
disciple  of  Mr.  Seebohm,  whose  method  commanded  the  admiration  of  Prof. 
Mivart  in  his  handy  volume  {Birds  :  The  Elements  of  Ornithology.  Loudon  :  [1892] 
p.  255),  which  is  pronounced  by  Mr.  Headley  {The  Structure  and  Life  of  Birds. 
London  :  1895,  p.  390)  to  be  "  The  best  book  for  beginners." 

The  year  1891  saw  also  the  Nouvelle  Classification  proposte  pour  les  Oiseaux  by 
Dr.  Alphonse  Dubois  {Mem.  Soc.  Zool.  de  la  France,  iv.  pp.  96-116),  grounded 
mainly  on  the  work  of  Sundevall,  though  modified  by  Huxley's  views.  The  author 
had  the  advantage  of  knowing  Prof.  Fiirbringer's  scheme  ;  but  hardly  of  appreciat- 
ing the  morphological  considerations  on  which  it  was  based.  The  chief  peculiarity  of 
Dr.  Dubois's  plan  is  a  revival  of  Bonaparte's  notion  as  to  the  primacy  of  the  Psittaci. 


I04  DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 


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Horizontal  Projection^  of  the  Genealogical  Tree  of  the  Subclass 
Aves  Ornithurm.     After  Fiirbringer  (op.  cit.  j).  1568.) 

^  Sir  William  Flower  [Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1869,  p.  37)  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
Zoologist  to  Tise  this  convenieut  way  of  expressing  relationships  by  thus  representing 
a  transverse  section  of  the  diverging  genetic  lines  or  branches  of  a  genealogical  tree. 
In  practice,  however,  it  comes  to  much  the  same  thing  as  the  Maps  of  Classification, 
described  by  Strickland  to  the  British  Association  in  1810  [Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  vi.  pp< 
190,  191,  pi.  viii. ),  of  which  a  large  one  designed  by  him  is  now  in  the  Cambridge 
Museum  ;  but  his  trees  were  of  course  only  metaphorically  genealogical,  and  so 
differed  in  principle. 


INTRODUCTION 


J05 


classes — Archseornithes,  of  which  Archaeopteryx  alone  can  be  said  to  be 
known,  and  Neornithes,  his  Classification  of  which,  according  to  the 
paradigm  given  by  himself  (pp.  299-302)  is  as  follows  : — 


Rheae  ;    Casuarii ;    Apteryges 


1.  Ratit^. 

Ratitm :   Struthiones 

nithes. 
Stereornithes :  Phororhacos,   Brontornis,  Stereornis,   &c. 

oruis,  Dasornis  ;  Gastornis. 

2.  Odontolc.?;  :  Hesperornithes  ;  Enaliornithes. 

3.  Caeinat^  :  [Orders.  ]  [Suborders.] 
f 

Ichthyornithes. 

Colymbiformes  : —     Colymbi,  Podicipedes. 
Sphenisciformes : —  Sphenisci. 
Procellariiformes : — Procellariae. 


Dinornithes  ;  ^pyor- 
Diatryma ;   Remi- 


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Anseriformes : — 
Falconi/ormes : — 


Steganopodes  (5)  ;   Ardeae 

copteri  (2). 
Palamedefe  ;  Anseres. 
Cathartae  ;  Accipitres  (4). 


I) ;   Ciconise  (2)  ;   Phceni- 


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Tinamiformes : —      Tinami. 

Galliformes  : —         Mesites  ;  Turnices  (2)  ;  Galli  (3)  ;  Opisthocomi. 

Oruifcrrmes :  .  .  .  .     (7). 

Charadriiformes  : —  Limicolae  (6)  ;  Lari  (2) ;  Pterocles  : 


'  Cuculifomes : — 
Coraciiformes : — 


PasseriforTnes : — 


o  v. 


ColumbEB  (2). 


Cuculi  (4)  ;  Psittaci  (6). 

Coraciae  (9) ;  Striges  (2) ;  Caprimulgi  (3) ;  Cypseli  (2) ; 

Colli ;  Trogones  ;  Picl  (7). 
P.  anisomyodi  : — Subclamatores  ;  Clamatores  (5). 
P.  diacromyodi : — Suboscines  (2)  ;  Oscines  (?). 


[The  number  suflSxed  to  the  name  of  the  Order  or  Suborder  indicates  the  number 
of  Families  and  Subfamilies  recognized,  when  there  is  more  than  one.] 

Dr.  Gadow's  Phylogeny  arranged  in  ordinary  fashion,  for  comparison 
with  those  used  before,  would  be  thus — 

Neornithes 
\ 


Ratitae. . .  AlectoromorphEe. 

I 
Coraciomorphse. 


Pelargomorphae  +  Colymbomorphae. .  .Odontolcae 


From  the  preceding  pages,  recounting  the  efforts  of  many  system- 
makers — good,  bad  and  indifferent — it  will  have  been  seen  what  a 
very  great  number  and  variety  of  characters  need  to  be  had  in  remem- 
brance while  planning  any  scheme  that  will  at  all  adequately  repre- 
sent the  results  of  the  knowledge  hitherto  attained,  and  the  best 
lesson    to    be   learnt  from    them    is    that   our    present  knowledge    goes 


io6  DICTION AR  Y  OF  BIRDS 

but  a  very  little  way  in  comparison  with  what  we,    or  our  successors, 
may  hope  to  reach  in  years  to  come.     Still  we  may  feel  pretty  confident 
that  we    are   on   the  right  track,  and,  moreover,    that  here    and    there 
we  can  plant  our  feet  on  firm  ground,  however  uncertain,  not   to   say 
treacherous,  may  be   the  spaces   that  intervene.     Now  that  geographical 
exploration  has  left  so  small  a  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  unvisited, 
we  cannot  reasonably  look  for  the  encountering  of  new  forms  of  extant 
ornithic  life  that,  by  revealing  hitherto  unknown  stepping  stones,  will 
(j^uicken  our  course  or  effectively  point  out  our  path.     Indeed,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  two  most  important  and  singular  tyj)es  of  existing  Birds — 
Balxnicej)s  and  Rhinochetus — that  in  the  latter  half  of  this  century  rewarded 
the  exertions  of  travelling  naturalists,  have  proved  rather  sources  of  per- 
plexity than  founts  of  inspiration.     Should  fortune  favour  ornithologists  in 
the  discovery  of  fossil  remains,  they  will  unquestionably  form  the  surest 
guide  to  our  faltering  steps  ;  but  experience  forbids  us  to  expect  much 
aid  from  this  quarter,  warmly  as  we  may  wish  for  it,  and  the  pleasure 
of  any  discovery  of  the  kind  would  be  enhanced  equally  by  its  rarity  as 
by  its  intrinsic  worth.     Even  the  startling  revelation  of  the  group  named 
Stereornithes  has  as  yet  done  little  except  to  add  to  our  knowledge 
a  number  of  ancient  types.^    However,  it  is  now  a  well-accepted  maxim  in 
Zoology  that  immature  forms  of  the  present  repeat  mature  forms  of  the 
past,  and  that,  where  Palaeontology  fails  to  instruct  us,  Embryology  may 
be  trusted  to  no  small  extent  to  supply  the  deficiency.      Unhappily  the 
embryology  of  Birds  has  been  till  lately  very  insufficiently  studied.     We 
liad  indeed  embryological  memoirs  of  a  high  value,  but  almost  all  were 
of  a  monographic  character,  and  were  only  oases  in  a  desert  of  ignorance. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  MorjDhology,  so  that  a  really  connected  and 
•continuous    series    of    investigations,    such    as    was  instituted  by   Prof. 
.  Fiirbringer,  marked  a  new  starting-point ;  for  it  seems  clear  that  hence- 
forth schemes  for  the  Classification  of  Birds,  as  of  other  groups,  will  be 
divided  into  those  which  are  based  on  Morphology,  and  those  which  are 
not — the  latter  falling  year  by  year  into  disrepute.      At  the  same  time, 
with  the  greatest  resi^ect  to  Morphologists,  it  must  be  held  that  they,  like 
other  men,  are  bound  by  the  rules  of  evidence  and  the  exercise  of  common 
sense.      Moreover,  as  the  discrepancies  between  the  schemes  of  diff'erent 
Morphologists  shew,  individual  opinion  will  have  to  be  reckoned  with  for 
some  time  to  come. 

Birds  are  animals  so  similar  to  Reptiles  in  all  the  most  essential 
features  of  their  organization  that  they  may  be  said  to  be  merely  an 
extremely  modified  and  aberrant  Reptilian  type.  These  are  almost  the 
very  words  of  Huxley  in  1866,^  and  there  are  now  but  few  zoologists 
to  dissent  from  his  statement,  which  by  another  man  of  science  has  been 
expressed  in  a  phrase  even  more  pithy — "  Birds  are  only  glorified 
Reptiles."  It  is  not  intended  here  to  enter  upon  their  points  of  re- 
semblance and  differences.     These  may  be  found  summarized  with  more 

^  Cf.  Andrews,  Rep.  Brit.  Association  {l^svdch.  Meeting)  1895,  pp.  714,  715  ;  and 
Jhis,  1896,  pp.  1-12. 

*  Lectures  on  the  Elements  o/  Comparative  Anatomy  p.  69  ;  see  also  Carus, 
.Ilandbuch  der  Zoologie,  i.  p.  192. 


INTRODUCTION  107 


or  less  accuracy  in  any  text-book  of  zoology,^  and  it  is  enough  to  remark 
that  by  the  naturalist  just  named  Birds  and  Reptiles  have  been  brigaded 
together  under  the  name  of  Sauropsida  as  forming  one  of  the  three 
primary  divisions  of  the  Vertebrata — the  other  two  being  Ichthyojjsida  and 
Mammalia.  Yet  Birds  have  a  right  to  be  considered  a  Class,  and  as  a 
Class  they  have  become  so  wholly  differentiated  from  every  other  group 
of  the  Animal  Kingdom  that,  among  recent  and  even  the  comparatively 
few  fossil  forms  known  to  us,  there  is  not  one  about  the  assignation  of 
which  any  doubt  ought  now  to  exist,  though  some  naturalists  have 
refused  a  place  among  Aves  to  Archseo2:iteryx,  of  which,  as  elsewhere  stated 
(pages  278-280),  the  remains  of  only  two  individuals — most  probably 
belonging  to  as  many  distinct  forms  ^ — have  been  discovered.  Yet  one  of 
them  was  referred,  without  much  hesitation,  by  Vogt  to  the  Class  Eejptilia 
on  grounds  which  seem  to  be  mistaken,  since  it  was  evidently  in  great 
part  if  not  entirely  clothed  with  feathers,^  and  scarcely  any  one  now 
doubts  that  its  Bird-like  characters  predominate  over  those  which  are 
obviously  Reptilian,  while  most  authorities  leave  the  genus  as  the  sole 
representative  as  yet  known  of  the  Subclass  Saurue^,  established  for  its 
reception  by  Prof.  Hackel.  The  great  use  of  the  discovery  of  Archeeo2)teryx 
to  naturalists  in  general  was  the  convincing  testimony  it  afforded  as  to 
what  is  well  called  "the  imperfection  of  the  Geological  Record."  To 
ornithologists  in  particular  its  chief  attraction  is  the  evidence  it  furnishes 
in  proof  of  the  evolution  of  Birds  from  Reptiles  ;  though,  as  to  the  group 
of  the  latter  from  which  the  former  may  have  sprung,  it  tells  us  little 
that  is  not  negative.  It  throws,  for  instance,  the  Pterodactyls  * — so  often 
imagined  to  be  nearly  related  to  Birds,  if  not  to  be  their  direct  ancestors 
— completely  out  of  the   line   of  descent.     Next  to   this   its  principal 

^  The  various  schemes  for  classifying  Birds  set  forth  by  the  autliors  of  general 
text-books  of  Zoology  do  not  call  for  auy  particular  review  here,  as  almost  without 
exception  they  are  so  drawu  up  as  to  be  rather  of  the  nature  of  a  compromise  than 
of  a  harmony.  The  best  and  most  notable  is  that  by  Prof.  Carus  in  1868  {torn, 
cit.  i.  pp.  191-368) ;  but  it  is  of  course  now  antiquated.  Among  the  worst 
schemes  is  that  by  Prof.  Glaus  in  1882  (Ormidziige  der  Zoologie,  ii.  pp.  318-388)  ;  but 
'Dv.'R.'B.%vivfig'sLehrbiK]iderZoologie[SQnsi,:  1892,  pp.  538-544)  is  quite  as  bad.  Of 
most  other  similar  text-books  that  have  come  under  my  notice,  the  less  said  the  better. 

^  See  Prof.  Seeley's  remarks  on  the  differences  between  the  two  specimens  (Geol. 
Mag.  1881,  p.  454). 

^  Vogt  laid  much  stress  on  the  absence  of  feathers  from  certain  parts  of  the  body 
of  the  second  example  of  A  rcheeopteri/x  now,  thanks  to  Dr.  Werner  Siemens,  in  the 
museum  of  Berlin.  But  Vogt  himself  shewed  that  the  parts  of  the  body  devoid  of 
feathers  are  also  devoid  of  skin.  Now  it  is  well  known  that  among  most  existing 
Birds  the  ordinary  "contour-feathers"  have  their  origin.no  deeper  than  the  skin,  and 
thus  if  that  decayed  and  were  washed  away  the  feathers  growing  upon  it  would 
equally  be  lost.  This  has  evidently  hajipened  (to  judge  from  photographs)  to  the 
Berlin  specimen  just  as  to  that  which  is  in  London.  In  each  case,  as  Owen  rightly 
suggested  of  the  latter,  the  remains  exactly  call  to  mind  the  very  familiar  relics  of 
Birds  found  on  a  seashore,  exposed  perhaps  for  weeks  or  even  months  to  the  wash  of 
the  tides  so  as  to  lose  all  but  the  deeply-seated  feathers,  and  iinally  to  be  embedded 
in  the  soft  soil.  Vogt's  paper  is  in  the  Revue  Scieyitijique,  ser.  2,  ix.  p.  241,  and  an 
English  translation  of  it  in  The  Ibis  for  1880,  p.  434. 

■*  Inl^QQ  Owen  {Anatomy  of  Vertebrates,  ii.  p.  13)  maintained  that  "  Derivatively 
the  class  of  Birds  is  most  closely  connected  with  the  Pterosaurian  order,"  i.e.  the 
Pterodactyls  ;  and  the  view  is  probably  still  held  by  many  persons. 


io8  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

advantage  is  to  reveal  the  existence,  at  so  early  an  epoch,  of  Birds  with 
some  portion  of  their  structure  as  highly  organized  as  the  highest  of  the 
present  day,  a  fact  witnessed  by  its  foot,  which,  so  far  as  can  be  judged  by 
its  petrified  relics,  might  well  be  that  of  a  modern  Crow.  The  fossil 
remains  of  most  other  Birds  are  too  imperfect  to  help  the  systematist 
much  ;  but  the  grand  discoveries  of  Prof.  Marsh,  spoken  of  above,  afford 
further  hints  as  to  the  taxonomy  of  the  Class,  and  their  bearing  deserves 
the  closest  consideration. 

And  now  to  review  as  briefly  as  possible  the  present  position  of  the 
taxonomy  of  Birds.  It  is  allowed  by  almost  all  that  Archseopteryx  and  its 
allies,  with  some  of  which  we  may  reasonably  hope  time  will  make  us 
acquainted,  must  stand  alone  whether  by  the  name  of  Saururse  or 
Archseornithes.  For  the  rest  we  may,  with  Prof.  Fiirbringer,  revive  Prof. 
Hackel's  designation  of  Ornithurse,  or  adopt  the  Neornithes  of  Dr.  Gadow  ; 
but  the  next  steps  of  the  latter  cannot  be  followed  without  misgivings. 
We  should  be  content  to  wait  further  discoveries  before  assigning  a  definite 
place  to  very  many  fossil  forms  of  which  our  knowledge  is  as  fragmentary 
as  are  the  specimens  on  which  it  is  based.  It  appears  impossible  yet  to 
correlate  the  Stereornithes,  Diatryma,  Gastornis  and  the  rest  ^  with  recent 
forms,  some  of  which  though  extinct  essentially  resembled  many  that  now 
exist,  and  confusion  can  only  arise  from  any  attempt  to  do  so.  Perhaps 
it  would  be  better  if  these  last  could  be  spoken  of  as  constituting  a  separate 
division,  for  which  Dr.  Stejneger  has  somewhat  unhappily  appropriated  Dr. 
Gill's  name  Eurhipidurx  (page  99)  ;  but  this  division  would  have  to  be 
immediately  subdivided  into  Carinatx  and  Ratitse,  for,  fi;lly  admitting 
that  Prof.  Fiirbringer  has  shewn  the  latter  to  be  degenerate  descendants  of 
the  former  (page  101),  it  seems  impossible  not  to  recognize  each  as  a  distinct 
group.  His  argument  in  favour  of  the  multiple  origin  of  the  Eatitse  is 
hardly  convincing.  We  can  well  believe  that  the  examples  he  cites  of 
Didus,  Stringops,  Gnemiornis  and  other  modern  flightless  Birds  are  highly 
instructive  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  Ratitx  have  been  brought  into  their 
present  condition  ;  but  the  characters  possessed  by  all  of  them  in  common, 
as  first  adduced  by  Huxley,  and  to  those  characters  others  have  been 
added  by  Dr.  Gadow,  point  indubitably  to  a  single  or  common  descent. 

Seeing  that  we  have  no  knowledge  of  the  presumed  Carinate  ancestors 
of  the  Ratitse,  it  might  be  thought  an  open  question  which  of  the  two 
existing  branches  should  be  first  considered  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  those 
ancestors,  being  the  collaterals  of  the  ancestors  of  the  modern  Carinatse, 

^  While  these  pages  are  under  revision  for  the  press,  a  renewed  investigation  of 
the  famous  South -American  fossils,  most  of  which  are  now  in  the  British  Museum, 
more  than  justifies  the  view  taken  when  I  wrote  the  above.  The  results  arrived  at  by- 
Mr.  Andrews  and  Dr.  Gadow,  as  briefly  announced  by  the  latter  {Ibis,  1896,  pp.  586, 
587)  are  that  Stereornithes  are  abolished  as  a  taxonomic  group.  Phororhacos,  of  which 
Stereoriiis  seems  to  be  a  synonym,  is  declared  to  belong  to  the  " Oruiformes"  and 
Pdecyornis  and  Liornis  are  likely  to  stand  near  it.  Dryornis  appears  to  belong  to  the 
"  Falconiformes,"  though  Mesembryomis  is  perhaps  a  forerunner  of  the  Rheidee,  and 
therefore  probably  Ratite.  More  important  is  the  fact  that  the  fossils  are  not  even 
Upper  Oligocene,  but  Miocene,  and  none  of  the  forms  has  any  relation  to  Gastornis. 
Recent  excavation  of  the  matrix,  as  Mr.  Andrews  has  been  so  good  as  to  shew  me, 
proves  that  Phororhacos  had  an  ossified  interorbital  septum,  which  had  before  been 
thought  to  be  wanting  (page  905). 


IN  TROD  UCTION  log 


must  have  been  morphologically  inferior  to  these  descendants,  which  on 
evolutionary  principles  have  gone  on  improving,  while  the  Ratite  branch 
retrograded.  That  this  last  branch  also  may  have  improved  and  under- 
gone specialization  is  true,  but  not  to  the  point,  for  it  can  hardly  have 
improved  up  to  the  level  at  which  was  the  parting  of  the  ways,  and  thus 
we  are  quite  justified  in  continuing  to  regard  the  BatitsR  as  the  lower 
branch,  and  in  beginning  with  them.  They  were  shewn  beyond  doubt 
by  Huxley  to  form  five  separate  groups,  which  we  shall  here,  as  before,^ 
dignify  by  the  name  of  Orders,  adding  to  them  a  sixth,  though  little  has 
as  yet  been  made  known  of  its  characteristics.  Of  this,  which  contains 
the  great  extinct  Birds  of  Madagascar,  he  did  not  take  cognizance,  as  it  is 
here  necessary  to  do.  In  the  absence  of  any  certain  means  of  arranging 
all  these  orders  according  to  their  affinities,  it  will  be  best  to  place  their 
names  alphabetically  thus — 

Ji^PYOBNiTHES.     Fam.  ^^injornithidae.  (Roc). 

Apteryges.     Fam.  A])terygidx  (Kiwi). 

Immanes.      Probably  two  Families  ^ — Dinornithidae  (Moa). 

Megistanes.  Fam.  i.  Casiiariidae  (Cassowary)  ;  Fam.  ii.  Dromseidse 
(Emeu). 3 

RHEiE.      Fam.  Rheidse  (Rhea). 

Struthiones.     Fam.  Struthionidx  (Ostrich). 

Some  systematists  think  there  can  be  little  question  of  the  Struthiones 
being  the  most  specialized  and  therefore  probably  the  highest  type  of 
these  Orders.  Nevertheless  the  formation  of  the  bill  in  the  Apteryges  is 
quite  unique  in  tlie  whole  Class,  and  indicates  therefore  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  specialization.  Their  functionless  wings,  however,  point  to 
their  being  a  degraded  form,  though  in  this  matter  they  are  not  much 
worse  than  the  Megistanes,^  and  are  far  above  the  Immanes — some  of 
which  at  least  appear  to  have  been  absolutely  wingless,  and  were  thus  the 
only  members  of  the  Class  possessing  but  a  single  pair  of  limbs. 

Turning  then  to  the  Carinatse,  their  subdivision  into  Orders  is  attended 
with  a  considerable  amount  of  difficulty ;  and  still  greater  difficulty  is 
presented  if  we  make  any  attempt  to  arrange  these  Orders  so  as  in  some 
way  or  other  to  shew  their  respective  relations — in  other  words,  their 
genealogy.  In  regard  to  the  first  of  these  tasks,  a  few  groups  can  no 
doubt  be  at  once  separated  without  fear  of  going  wrong.  For  instance, 
the  Crypturi  or  Tinamous,  the  Impennes  or  Penguins,  the  Striges  or  Owls, 
the  Psittaci  or  Parrots,  and  the  Passeres,  or  at  least  the  Oscines,  seem  to 
stand  as  groups  each  quite  by  itself,  and,  since  none  of  them  contains  any 

^  See  Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  4,  xx.  pp.  499,  500.  It  must,  however,  be  borne  in 
mind  that  what  here  is  meant  by  an  "  Order  "  of  Aves  is  a  very  different  thing  from 
an  "  Order  "  of  Reptilia. 

2  On  this  see  Prof.  T.  Jeffery  Parker's  most  instructive  paper  ( Traits.  Zool.  Soc. 
xiii.  pp.  373-431,  pis.  Ivi.-lxii.),  in  which,  though  admitting  only  a  single  Family,  he 
recognizes  three  Subfanjilies — Dinornithinx,  Anomalopteri/ginm  and  Emeinw. 

^  Since  this  was  in  type  Dr.  Stirling  has  announced  (Trans.  B.oy.  Soc.  S.  Austral. 
XX.  pp.  171-190)  that  fossil  remains  of  a  gigantic  bird,  Genymmis,  found  at  Calla- 
bonna  in  South  Australia,  prove  it  to  have  been  allied  to  the  Emeus,  in  which  case 
a  third  Family  of  Megistanes  will  probably  be  required. 

■*  Nor,  possibly,  than  the  jEijyornithes  {cf.  Andrews,  Ibis,  1896,  pp.  376-389,  pis. 
viii.  ix.). 


no  DICTION AR  Y   OF  BIRDS 

hangers-on  about  the  character  of  which  there  can  any  longer  be  room  to 
hesitate,  there  can  be  little  risk  in  setting  them  apart.  Next  comes  a 
category  of  groups  in  which  differentiation  appears  not  to  have  been 
carried  so  far,  and,  though  there  may  be  as  little  doubt  as  to  the  associa- 
tion in  one  Order  of  the  greater  number  of  forms  commonly  assigned  to 
each,  yet  there  are  in  every  case  more  or  fewer  outliers  that  do  not  well 
harmonize  with  the  rest.  Here  we  have  such  groups  as  those  called 
Fygojjodes,  Gavise,  Limicolse,  Gallinx,  Columbse,  Anseres,  Herodiones, 
Steganopodes  and  Accipitres.  Finally  it  has  been  sought  to  establish  two 
groujjs  of  types  presenting  characteristics  so  diverse  as  to  defy  almost  any 
definition,  and,  if  it  were  not  almost  nonsense  to  say  so,  agreeing  in  little 
more  than  in  the  differences.  These  two  groups  are  those  known  as 
Picarix  and  Aledorides  ;  but,  while  the  majority  of  Families  or  genera 
usually  referred  to  the  former  plainly  have  some  features  in  common,  the 
few  Families  or  genera  that  have  been  clubbed  together  in  the  latter  make 
an  assemblage  that  is  quite  artificial,  though  it  may  be  freely  owned  that 
with  our  present  knowledge  it  is  impossible  to  determine  the  natural 
alliances  of  all  of  them.^ 

That  our  knowledge  is  also  too  imperfect  to  enable  systematists 
successfully  to  compose  a  phylogeny  of  Carinate  Birds,  and  draw  out 
their  j^edigree,  ought  to  be  sufficiently  evident.  We  can  point  to  some 
forms  which  seem  to  be  collaterally  ancestral,  and  among  them  perhaps 
some  of  those  which  have  been  referred  to  the  group  ^^  Aledorides"  just 
mentioned  ;  and,  from  a  consideration  of  their  Geographical  Distribution 
and  especially  Isolation,  it  will  be  obvious  that  they  are  the  remnants  of 
a  very  ancient  and  more  generalized  stock  which  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  have  become  more  or  less  specialized.  The  very  case  of  the  New- 
Caledonian  Rhinochetus  (Kagu),  combining  features  which  occasionally 
recall  the  Eurypyga  (Sdn-Bittern),  and  again  present  an  unmistakable 
likeness  to  the  Limicolse,  or  the  Eallidee,  shews  that  it  is  without  any  very 
near  relation  on  the  earth,  and,  if  convenience  permitted,  would  almost 
justify  us  in  placing  it  in  a  group  apart  from  any  other,  though  possessing 
some  characteristics  in  common  with  several. 

If  we  trust  to  the  results  at  which  Huxley  arrived,  there  can  be 
little  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  beginning  the  Carinate  Subclass  with 
his  Dromseogyiathce,  the  Crypturi  of  Illiger  and  others,  or  Tinamous,  for 
their  resemblance  to  the  Ratitse  is  not  to  be  disputed  ;  though  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  their  mode  of  development  is  not  known,  and  that 
this  may,  when  made  out,  seriously  modify  their  position  ;  but  of  the 
sufficient  standing  of  the  Crypturi  as  an  Order  there  can  hardly  be  a 
question." 

1  It  should  have  been  stated  (page  9)  that  this  heterogeneous  assemblage  called 
an  "Order"  by  Temuiinck,  was  adapted  from  Illiger's  Family  of  the  same  name 
founded  in  1811,  and  then  including  in  addition  Cereopsis  ;  but  in  neither  group  was 
there  a  siugle  Cock-like  bird.  The  Alectrides  of  Dumeril  in  1806  consisted  of  the 
Bustards  and  Gallinx. 

2  We  have  seen  that  Huxley  would  derive  all  other  existing  Carinate  Birds  from 
the  Drommognatliee  ;  but  of  course  it  must  be  understood  in  this,  as  in  every  other 
similar  case,  that  it  is  not  thereby  implied  that  the  modern  representatives  of  the 
Dromseognathous  type  (namely,  the  Tinamous)  stand  in  the  line  of  ancestry. 


INTRODUCTION  iii 


Under  the  name  Impennes.  we  have  a  group  of  Birds,  the  Penguins, 
smaller  even  than  the  last,  and  one  over  which  until  lately  systematists 
have  been  sadly  at  fault ;  for,  though  we  as  yet  know  little  definite  as  tc 
their  embryology,  no  one,  free  from  bias,  can  examine  any  member  of  the 
group,  either  externally  or  internally,  without  perceiving  how  completely 
different  it  is  from  any  others  of  the  Carinate  division.  There  is  per- 
haps scarcely  a  feather  or  a  bone  which  is  not  diagnostic,  and  nearly 
every  character  hitherto  observed  points  to  a  low  morphological  rank. 
The  title  of  an  Order  can  scarcely  be  refused  to  the  Impennes. 

The  group  known  as  Pygopodes  has  been  often  asserted  to  be  closely 
akin  to  the  Impennes,  and  we  have  seen  that  Brandt  combined  the  two 
under  the  name  of  Urinatores,  but  of  their  essential  difference  there  can 
now  be  no  doubt,  and  indeed  it  is  hard  to  look  upon  Pygopodes  as  a  natural 
group,  so  many  are  the  differences  between  the  Podicipedidx  or  Grebes 
and  Colymbidee,^  or  Divers,  though  recent  morphologists  agree  to  unite 
them,  while  the  affinity  of  the  Divers  to  the  Auks  seems  to  be  still  more 
uncertain,  and  there  appears  to  be  ground  for  considering  the  Alcidae,  to 
be  much  modified  relatives  of  the  Laridee.  These  are  points  deserving 
of  still  more  attention  on  the  part  of  embryologists  than  they  have 
hitherto  received.  Under  the  improperly  applied  name  of  Gavias  the 
Gulls  and  their  close  allies  form  a  very  natural  section,  but  it  probably 
hardly  merits  the  rank  of  an  Order  more  than  the  Pygopodes,  for  its 
relations  to  the  large  and  somewhat  multiform  though  very  natural 
group  Limicolse  have  to  be  taken  into  consideration.^  The  Limicoline 
genera  Dromas  and  Ghionis  have  many  points  of  resemblance  to  the 
Laridx  ;  and  on  the  whole  the  proper  inference  would  seem  to  be  that 
the  Limicolse,  or  something  very  like  them,  form  the  parent-stock  whence 
have  descended  the  Gavise,  from  which  or  from  their  ancestral  forms  the 
Alcidse  have  proceeded  as  a  degenerate  branch.  If  this  hypothesis  be 
correct,  the  association  of  these  three  groups  would  constitute  an  Order, 
of  which  the  highest  Family  would  perhaps  be  Otididae,  the  Bustards, 
associated  with  the  foregoing  by  Prof.  Fiirbringer,  but  regarded  by  Dr. 
Gadow  as  allied  to  Cranes,  Gruidse,  and  until  further  research  shews 
which  view  can  be  maintained  the  matter  must  remain  in  doubt.  On 
the  other  hand  the  Petrels,  which  form  the  group  Tubinares,  seem  for 
several  reasons  to  be  perfectly  distinct  from  the  Gulls  and  their  allies,  and 
may  be  taken  to  rank  as  an  Order. 

Considerable  doubt  had  long  been  expressed  as  to  the  existence  of  an 
"  Order "  Aledorides,  and  it  has  just  been  stated  that  no  one  can  now 
regard  it  as  a  natural  group.  One  of  the  Families  included  in  it  by  its 
founder  is  Gariamidae  (Seriema),  the  true  place  of  which  has  been  a 
puzzle  to  many  systematizers.     There  is  nothing,  however,  here  to  add  to 

^  American  ornithologists  have  lately  used  this  term  for  the  Grebes,  to  the  great 
disturbance  of  nomenclature.  It  is  apparently  from  the  ancestors  of  the  Oolynxbidfe, 
before  they  lost  their  teeth,  that  Hesperornis  branched  off  as  a  degenerate,  bulky  and 
flightless  form. 

"  The  late  Prof.  Parker  long  ago  observed  [Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  v.  p.  150)  that 
characters  exhibited  by  Gulls  when  young,  but  lost  by  them  when  adult,  are  found 
in  certain  Plovers  at  all  ages,  and  hence  it  would  appear  that  the  "Oavim"  are  but 
more  advanced  LimicoliB. 


112  DICTION AR  Y  OF  BIRDS 

what  is  elsewhere  said  in  this  book  (pages  828,  829).  It  is  doubtless  a 
generalized  form,^  the  survival  of  a  very  ancient  type,  whence  several 
groups  may  have  sprung  ;  and,  whenever  the  secret  it  has  to  tell  shall 
be  revealed,  a  considerable  step  in  the  phylogeny  of  Birds  ought  to 
follow.  Allusion  has  also  been  made  to  the  peculiarities  of  two  other 
forms  placed  with  the  last  among  the  Alectorides — Eurypyga  and  Ehino- 
chelus — each  being  the  sole  type  of  a  separate  Family.  It  seems  that  they 
might  be  brought  with  the  Gruidae,  Psophiidx  (Trumpeter),  and  Aramidgt 
(Lijipkin)  into  a  group  or  Suborder  Grue.% — which,  with  the  Fulicariae  ^ 
of  Nitzsch  and  Mr.  Sclater  as  another  Suborder,  would  constitute  an 
Order  that  might  continue  to  bear  the  old  Linnaean  name  Grallse.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  some  members  of  both  these  Sub- 
orders exhibit  many  points  of  resemblance  to  certain  other  forms  that  it 
is  at  present  necessary  to  place  in  different  groups — thus  some  Eallidae 
to  the  Gallinae,  Grus  to  Otis,  and  so  forth  ;  and  it  is  as  yet  doubtful 
whether  further  investigation  may  not  shew  the  resemblance  to  be  one 
of  affinity,  and  therefore  of  taxonomic  value,  instead  of  mere  analogy, 
and  therefore  of  no  worth  in  that  respect. 

We  have  next  to  deal  with  a  group  nearly  as  complicated.  The  true 
Gallinse  are  indeed  as  well  marked  a  section  as  any  to  be  found  ;  but 
round  and  near  them  cluster  some  forms  very  troublesome  to  allocate. 
The  strange  Opisthocomus  (Hoactzin)  is  one  of  these,  and  what  seems  to  be 
in  some  degree  its  arrested  development  makes  its  position  almost  i;nique.^ 
It  must  for  the  present  at  least  stand  alone,  the  sole  occupant  of  a  single 
Order.  Then  there  are  the  Hemipodes,  which  have  been  raised  to 
equal  rank  by  Huxley  as  Tur7iicomoiyhai  ;  but,  though  no  doubt  the 
osteological  differences  between  them  and  the  normal  Gallinx,  pointed 
out  by  him  as  well  as  by  the  late  Prof.  Parker,  are  great,  they  do  not  seem 
to  be  more  essential  than  are  found  in  different  members  of  some  other 
Orders,  nor  to  offer  an  insuperable  objection  to  their  being  classed  under 
the  designation  Gallinae.  If  this  be  so  there  will  be  no  necessity  for 
removing  them  from  that  Order,  which  may  then  be  portioned  into  three 
Suborders — -Hemipodii  standing  somewhat  apart,  and  Aledoropodes  and 
Peristeropodes,  which  are  more  nearly  allied — the  latter  comprehending 
the  Megapodiidx  (Megapodes)  and  Cracidae  (Curassows),  and  the  former 
consisting  of  the  normal  Gallinse,  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  justify  the 
recognition  of  more  than  a  single  Family,  though  in  that  two  types  of 
structure  are  discernible. 

The  Family  of  Sand-Grouse,  Pteroclidee,  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
instructive  in  the  whole  range  of  Ornithology.  In  Huxley's  words 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868,  p.  303),  they  are  "  completely  intermediate  between 

1  Oariama  is  the  oldest  name  for  the  genus,  but  being  a  word  of  "barbarous" 
origin  it  was  set  aside  by  lUiger  and  the  purists  in  favour  of  Diclwlqphus,  under 
which  name  it  is  several  times  mentioned  in  the  present  work  {cf.  Index, 
page  1066). 

^  This  group  would  contain  three  families — Rallidw,  Heliornithidee  (the  FlN- 
FOOTS  of  Eastern  India,  Africa  and  South  America)  and  the  Mesitidw  of  Madagascar 
— for  which  an  at  least  approximate  place  has  been  found  by  M.  A.  Milne-Edwards 
{Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  ser.  6,  vii.  No.  6). 

^  Mcsites,  just  mentioned,  presents  a  case  which  may,  however,  be  very  similar. 


INTRODUCTION  113 


the  Aledoromorfh^-  \(jraUin3i\  and  the  Peristeromorphse.  [Gohimhx].  They 
cannot  be  inclnded  within  either  of  these  groups  without  destroying  its 
definition,  while  they  are  perfectly  definable  themselves."  Hence  he 
would  make  them  an  independent  group  of  equal  value  with  the  other 
two.  Both  Prof.  Fiirbringer  and  Dr.  Gadow  consider  the  Pigeon- 
alHance  the  strongest,  and  indeed  the  general  resemblance  of  most  parts 
of  the  osteology  of  the  two  groups,  so  well  shewn  by  M.  Milne-Edwards, 
combined  with  the  Pigeon-like  pterylosis  of  the  Sand-Grouse,  leaves  no 
room  for  doubt  ;  but  the  many  important  points  in  which  they  difter 
from  the  more  normal  Pigeons,  especially  in  the  matter  of  their  young 
being  clothed  with  down,  and  their  coloured  and  speckled  eggs,^  must  be 
freely  admitted.  Young  Sand-Grouse  are  not  only  "Dasypaedes"  but 
even  "  Preecoces "  or  Nidifugge.  at  birth,  while  of  course  every  one  knows 
the  helpless  condition  of  "  Pipers  " — that  is,  Pigeons  newly-hatched  from 
their  white  eggs.  Thus  the  opposite  condition  of  the  young  of  these 
two  admittedly  very  near  groups  inflicts  a  severe  blow  on  the  so-called 
"  physiological "  method  of  dividing  Birds  before  mentioned  (page  7 J/),  and 
renders  the  Pterodidx  so  instructive  a  form.  The  Columhse  considered  in 
the  wide  sense  suggested,  possessed  another  and  degenerate  subdivision  in 
the  Dodo  and  its  kindred,  though  the  extirpation  of  those  strange  and 
monstrous  forms  will  most  likely  leave  their  precise  relations  a  matter  of 
some  doubt  ;  while  the  third  and  last  subdivision,  the  true  Golumbee,  is 
much  more  homogeneous,  and  can  hardly  be  said  to  contain  more  than 
two  Families,  Golumbidx  and  Didunculidas — the  latter  consisting  of  a 
single  species  (the  absurdly -named  "Dodlet"),  and  having  no  direct 
connexion  with  the  Dididae,"  though  possibly  it  may  be  found  that 
the  Papuan  genus  Otidiphaps  presents  a  form  linking  it  with  the 
Golumbidse. 

The  Gallinse  would  seem  to  hold  a  somewhat  central  position  among 
existing  members  of  the  Carinate  division,^  whence  many  groups  di\^rge, 
and  one  of  them,  the  Opisthocomi  or  Heteromorphas  of  Huxley,  indicates, 
he  hinted,  the  existence  of  an  old  line  of  descent,  now  almost  obliterated, 
in  the  direction  of  the  Musophagidss  and  thence,  it  has  been  inferred,  to 
the  Goccygomorphse  of  the  same  authority.  But  these  "  Coccygomorphs  " 
would  also  appear  to  reach  a  higher  rank  than  some  other  groups  that 
we  have  to  notice,  and  therefore,  leaving  the  first,  we  must  attempt  to 
trace  the  fortunes  of  a  more  remote  and  less  exalted  line. 

It  is  impossible  with  our  present  knowledge  to  thread  the  maze  in 
which  the  taxonom€r  now  finds  himself.  The  Pelargomorphae,  of  Huxley 
will  be  seen  to  difi'er  much  from  Dr.  Gadow's  group  of  the  same  name  ; 
and,  though  it  has  been  shewn  that  "  Desmognathism "  must  be  aban- 
doned as  a  bond  of  union,  just  as  "  Schizognathism  "  has  to  be  relinquished 
as  a  broken  alliance,  the  difiiculty  of  finding  a  place  for  the  Anseres  seems 
as  hard  as  ever.      That  ancient  form,    Palamedea  (Screamer),  which  is 

^  This  fact  tells  in  favour  of  the  views  of  those  who  hold  the  Sand-Grouse  to  be 
allied  to  the  Plovers  ;  hut  the  eggs  of  the  Pigeons  tell  as  strongly  the  other  way,  as 
do  the  young. 

-  Phil.  Trans.  1867,  p.  349. 

3  Cf.  Parker  (Pkil.  Trans.  1850,  p.  755). 


114  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

doubtless  rightly  attached  to  them  does  not  help  us,  though  perhaps  the 
Flamingos  may.  From  fossil  remains  we  know  that  they  are  not  of 
yesterday  ;  and  both  to  Huxley  and  to  Dr.  Gadow  they  seem  intermediate 
between  the  Geese  and  the  Storks  and  Herons.  These  last  may  well 
be  considered  to  be  akin  to  the  Steganopodes,  which  in  their  turn  indi- 
cate some  relation  to  the  Accijiitres. 

Whatever  may  be  the  alliances  of  the  genealogy  of  the  Accipitres,  the 
Diurnal  Birds- of- Prey,  their  main  body  must  stand  alone,  hardly  divisible 
into  more  than  two  principal  groups — (1)  containing  the  Sarcorhamphidx 
or  the  Vultures  of  the  New  World  (page  1016),  and  (2)  all  the  rest,  though 
no  doubt  the  latter  may  be  easily  subdivided  into  two  Families,  Vulturidee 
and  Falconidse,  and  the  last  into  many  smaller  sections,  as  has  commonly 
been  done  ;  but  then  we  have  the  outliers  left.  The  African  Serpentariidx 
(Secretary-bird),  though  now  represented  only  by  a  single  species,^  are 
fully  allowed  to  form  a  type  equivalent  to  the  true  Accipitres  composing 
the  main  body,  and  in  it  we  may  possibly  see  a  trace  of  the  link  connecting 
the  Accipitres  with  the  Heriodiones. 

It  was  so  long  the  custom  to  place  the  Owls  next  to  the  Diurnal  Birds- 
of-Prey  that  any  attempt  to  remove  them  from  that  position  could  not  fail 
to  incur  criticism.  Yet  it  is  now  admitted  by  almost  every  investigator 
that  when  we  disregard  their  carnivorous  habits,  and  certain  modifications 
which  may  possibly  be  thereby  induced,  we  find  almost  nothing  of  value  to 
indicate  relationship  between  the  two  groups.  That  the  Striges  stand  quite 
independently  of  the  Accipitres  as  above  limited  can  hardly  be  doubted, 
and,  while  the  Psittaci  (Parrot)  form  a  very  distinct  group,  and  may 
on  some  grounds  appear  to  be  the  nearest  allies  of  the  Accipitres,  the 
nearest  relations  of  the  Owls  must  be  looked  for  in  the  multifarious  group 
PiCARiiE.  Here  we  have  the  singular  Steatornis  (Guacharo),  which,  long 
confounded  with  the  Gaprimidgidx  (Nightjar),  has  at  last  been  recognized 
as  an  independent  form,  and  it  may  possibly  have  branched  off  from  a 
common  ancestor  with  the  Owls.  The  Nightjars  may  have  done  the  like,^ 
for  there  is  really  not  much  to  ally  them  to  the  Gypseli  (Swift)  and 
Trochili  (Humming  -  bird),  the  Masrochires  proper,  as  has  often  been 
recommended.  However,  it  should  not  be  supposed  that  the  place  of 
the  Striges  is  under  the  Picarise  ;  and  the  last  are  already  a  sufficiently 
heterogeneous  assemblage.  Whether  the  Pici  (Woodpecker)  should  be 
separated  from  the  rest  is  a  matter  on  which  Prof.  Fiirbringer  and  Dr. 
Gadow  are  at  variance.  That  they  constitute  a  very  natural  and  easily 
defined  group  is  indisputable  ;  more  than  that,  they  are  j^erhaps  the  most 
diftereutiated  group  of  all  those  that  are  retained  in  the  "  Order  "  Picarise  ; 
but  it  does  not  seem  advisable  at  present  to  deliver  them  from  that  chaos 
when  so  many  other  groups  have  to  be  left  in  it. 

1  It  was  long  suspected  that  that  the  geuus  Polyhoroides  of  South  Africa  and 
Madagascar,  from  its  general  resemblance  in  plumage  and  outward  form,  might  come 
into  this  group,  but  that  idea  has  now  been  fully  dispelled  by  M.  A.  Milne-Edwards 
in  M.  Grandidier's  magnificent  Oiseaux  de  Madagascar  (i.  pp.  50-66).  . 

^  The  great  resemblance  in  coloration  between  Nightjars  and  Owls  is  of  course 
obvious,  so  obvious  indeed  as  to  make  one  suspicious  of  their  being  akin  ;  but  in 
reality  the  existence  of  the  likeness  is  no  bar  to  the  affinity  of  the  groups  ;  it  merely 
has  to  be  wholly  disregarded. 


INTRODUCTION  iij 


Lastly  we  arrive  at  the  Passeres,  and  here,  as  already  mentioned,  the 
researches  of  Garrod  and  Forbes  prove  to  be  of  immense  service.  It  was 
of  course  not  to  be  supposed  that  they  had  exhausted  the  subject  even  as 
regards  their  Mesomyodi,  while  their  Acromyodi  were  left  almost  untouched 
so  far  as  concerns  details  of  arrangement  ;  but  later  investigations  have 
produced  a  much  more  manageable  scheme,  and  so  far  as  it  is  goes  Dr. 
Gadow  seems  to  have  good  reason  for  the  groups  he  has  made,  even  though 
exception  be  taken  to  part  of  his  nomenclature. 

Thus  we  reach  the  true  Oscines,  the  last  and  highest  group  of  Birds, 
and  one  which,  as  before  hinted,  it  is  very  hard  to  subdivide.  Some  two 
or  three  natural,  because  well-differentiated.  Families  are  to  be  found  in 
it — such,  for  instance,  as  the  Hirundinidse  (Swallow),  which  have  no 
near  relations  ;  the  A  Imididx  (Lark),  that  can  be  unfailingly  distinguished 
at  a  glance  by  their  scutellated  planta,  as  has  been  before  mentioned  ;  or 
the  Meliphagidse  (Honey-eater),  with  their  curiously  constructed  tongue. 
But  the  great  mass,  comprehending  incomparably  the  greatest  number  of 
genera  and  species  of  Birds,  defies  any  sure  means  of  separation.  Here 
and  there  a  good  many  individual  genera  may  be  picked  out  capable  of 
the  most  accurate  definition  ;  but  genera  like  these  are  in  the  minority, 
and  most  of  the  remainder  present  several  apparent  alliances,  from  which 
we  are  at  a  loss  to  choose  that  which  is  nearest.  Four  of  the  six  groups 
of  Mr.  Sclater's  "  Laminiplantar  "  Oscines  seem  to  pass  almost  imperceptibly 
into  one  another.  We  may  take  examples  in  which  what  we  may  call  the 
Thrush-form,  the  Tree-creeper-form,  the  Finch-form,  or  the  Crow-form  is 
pushed  to  the  most  extreme  point  of  differentiation,  but  we  shall  find  that 
between  the  outposts  thus  established  there  exists  'a  regular  chain  of 
intermediate  stations  so  intimately  connected  that  no  precise  lines  of 
demarcation  can  be  drawn  cutting  off  one  from  the  other. 

Still  one  thing  is  possible.  Hard  though  it  be  to  find  definitions  for 
the  several  groups  of  Oscines,  whether  we  make  them  more  or  fewer,  it  is 
by  no  means  so  hard,  if  we  go  the  right  way  to  work,  to  determine  which 
of  them  is  the  highest,  and,  possibly,  which  of  them  is  the  lowest.  It  has 
already  been  shewn  (page  73)  how,  by  a  woeful  want  of  the  logical  appre- 
hension of  facts,  the  Turdidx  came  to  be  accounted  the  highest,  and  the 
position  accorded  to  them  has  been  generally  acquiesced  in  by  those  who 
have  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Keyserling  and  Blasius,  of  Prof.  Cabanis 
and  of  Sundevall.  Now  the  order  thus  prescribed  seems  to  be  almost  the 
very  reverse  of  that  which  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  requires,  and,  so  far 
from  the  Turdidae  being  at  the  head  of  the  Oscines,  they  are  among  its 
lower  members.  There  is  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  intimate  relation- 
ship of  the  Thrushes  {Turdidae)  to  the  Chats  (Saxicolinse),  for  that  is 
admitted  by  nearly  every  systematizer.  Now  most  authorities  on  classifica- 
tion are  agreed  in  associating  with  the  latter  group  the  Birds  of  the 
Australian  genus  Petroeca  and  its  allies  (Wheatear,  pp.  1035,  1036) — 
the  so-called  "  Robins  "  of  the  English-speaking  part  of  the  great  southern 
communities.  But  it  so  happens  that,  from  the  inferior  type  of  the  osteo- 
logical  characters  of  this  very  group  of  Birds,  the  late  Prof.  Parker  called 
them  (2Va?is.  Zool.  Soc.  v.  p.  152)  "  Struthious  Warblers."  Now  if  the 
Petrceca-gron-p  be,  as  most  allow,  allied  to  the  Saxicolinie,  they  must  also 


ii6  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

be  allied,  only  rather  more  remotely,  to  the  Turdidx — for  Thrushes  and 
Chats  are  inseparable,  and  therefore  this  connexion  must  drag  down  the 
Thrushes  in  the  scale.  Let  it  be  granted  that  the  more  highly-developed 
Thrushes  have  got  rid  of  the  low  "  Struthious  "  features  whicli  characterize 
their  Australian  relatives,  the  unbroken  series  of  connecting  forms  chains 
them  to  the  inferior  position,  and  of  itself  disqualifies  them  from  the  rank 
so  fallaciously  assigned  to  them.  Nor  does  this  consideration  stand  alone. 
By  submitting  the  Thrushes  and  allied  groups  of  Chats  and  Warblers  to 
other  tests  we  may  try  still  more  completely  their  claim  to  the  position 
to  which  they  have  been  advanced. 

Without  attaching  too  much  importance  to  the  systematic  value  which 
the  characters  of  the  nervous  system  aftbrd,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that, 
throughout  the  Animal  Kingdom,  where  the  nervous  system  is  sufficiently 
developed  to  produce  a  brain,  the  creatures  possessing  one  are  considerably 
superior  to  those  which  have  none.  Consequently  we  may  reasonably 
infer  that  those  which  are  the  best  furnished  with  a  brain  are  superior  to 
those  which  are  less  well  endowed  in  that  respect,  and  that  this  inference 
is  reasonable  is  in  accordance  with  the  experience  of  every  Physiologist, 
Comparative  Anatomist  and  Palaeontologist,  who  are  agreed  that,  within 
limits,  the  proportion  which  the  brain  bears  to  the  spinal  marrow  in  a 
Vertebrate  is  a  measure  of  that  animal's  morphological  condition.  These 
preliminaries  being  beyond  contradiction,  it  is  clear  that,  if  we  had  a  series 
of  accurate  weights  and  measurements  of  Birds'  brains,  it  would  go  far  to 
help  us  in  deciding  many  cases  of  disputed  precedency,  and  especially  such 
a  case  as  we  now  have  under  discussion.  To  the  dispraise  of  Ornithoto- 
mists  this  subject  has  never  been  properly  investigated,  and  of  late  years 
seems  to  have  been  wholly  neglected.  The  lists  given  by  Tiedemann 
{Anat.  und  Naturgesch.  der  Vogel,  i.  pp.  18-22),  based  for  the  most  part 
on  very  ancient  observations,  are  extremely  meagre,  and  the  practical 
difficulties  of  carrying  on  further  research,  though  not  insuperable,  are 
considered  to  be  great  ;  ^  but,  so  far  as  those  observations  go,  their  resvilt 
is  conclusive,  for  we  find  that  in  the  Blackbird,  Turdus  merula,  the  pro- 
portion which  the  brain  bears  to  the  body  is  lower  than  in  any  of  the 
eight  species  of  Oscines  there  named,  being  as  1  is  to  67.  In  the  Red- 
breast, Erithacns  rubecula,  certainly  an  ally  of  the  Turdidse,  it  is  as  1  to 
32  ;  while  it  is  highest  in  two  of  the  Finches — the  Siskin,  Garduelis 
spinus,  and  the  Canary-bird,  Serinus  canarius,  being  in  each  as  1  to  14. 
The  signification  of  these  numbers  needs  no  comment  to  be  understood. 

Evidence  of  another  kind  may  also  be  adduced  in  proof  that  the 
high  place  hitherto  commonly  accorded  to  the  Turdidse  is  undeserved. 
Throughout  the  Class  Aves  it  is  observable  that  the  young  when  first  fledged 
generally  assume  a  spotted  plumage  of  a  peculiar  character  ^ — nearly  each 
of  the  body-feathers  having  a  light-coloured  spot  at  its  tip — and  this  is 

^  One  of  the  latest  writers  on  the  brain  of  Birds  (Zeitschr.  fur  loissensch.  Zoolog. 
xxxviii.  pp.  430-467,  pis.  xxiv.  xxv.),  though  giving  tables  of  the  proportion  of  its 
several  parts  in  various  genera,  unfortunately  gives  none  of  the  proportion  of  the 
whole  to  the  body. 

^  Blyth  in  1833  seems  to  have  indicated  this  well-known  fact  as  affording  a 
character  in  classification  {Field  Nat.  i.  pp.  199.  200).  Nearly  50  years  after  it  was 
claimed  as  the  discovery  of  another  writer. 


INTRODUCTION  ii? 


particularly  to  be  remarked  in  many  groups  of  Oscines,  so  mvicli  so  indeed, 
that  a  bird  thus  marked  may,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  be  set  down  with- 
out fear  of  mistake  as  being  immature.  All  the  teachings  of  morphology 
go  to  establish  the  fact  that  any  characters,  not  specially  adaptive,  which 
are  peculiar  to  the  immature  condition  of  an  animal,  and  are  lost  in  its 
progress  to  maturity,  are  those  which  its  less  advanced  progenitors  bore 
while  adult,  and  that  in  proportion  as  it  gets  rid  of  them  it  shews  its 
superiority  over  its  ancestry.  This  being  the  case,  it  would  follow  that  an 
animal  which  at  no  time  in  its  life  exhibits  such,  marks  of  immaturity  or 
inferiority  must  be  of  a  rank,  compared  with  its  allies,  superior  to  those 
which  do  exhibit  these  marks.  The  same  may  be  said  of  external  and 
secondary  sexual  characters.  Those  of  the  female  are  almost  invariably  to 
be  deemed  the  survival  of  ancestral  characters,  while  those  peculiar  to  the 
male  are  in  advance  of  the  older  fashion,  generally  and  perhaps  always  the 
result  of  sexual  selection.^  When  both  sexes  agree  in  appearance  it  may 
mean  one  of  two  things — either  that  the  male  has  not  lifted  himself  much 
above  the  condition  of  his  mate,  or  that,  he  having  raised  himself,  the 
female  has  successfully  followed  his  example.  In  the  former  alternative, 
as  regards  Birds,  we  shall  find  that  neither  sex  departs  very  much  from  the 
coloration  of  its  fellow-species  ;  in  the  latter  the  departure  may  be  very 
considerable.  Now,  ajiplying  these  principles  to  the  Thrushes,  we  shall 
find  that  without  exception,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  young  have  their 
first  plumage  more  or  less  spotted  ;  and,  except  in  some  three  or  four 
species  at  most,^  both  sexes,  if  they  agree  in  plumage,  do  not  dift'er  greatly 
from  their  fellow-species. 

Therefore  as  regards  capacity  of  brain  and  coloration  of  plumage 
priority  ought  not  to  be  given  to  the  Turdidx.  It  remains  for  us  to  see 
if  we  can  find  the  groui^  which  is  entitled  to  that  eminence.  Among 
Ornithologists  of  the  highest  rank  there  have  been  few  whose  opinion  is 
more  worthy  of  attention  than  Macgillivray,  a  trained  anatomist  and  a 
man  of  thoroughly  independent  mind.  Through  the  insufiiciency  of  his 
opportunities,  his  views  on  general  classification  were  confessedly  imperfect, 
but  on  certain  special  points,  where  the  materials  were  present  for  him  to 
form  a  judgment,  one  may  generally  depend  upon  it.  Such  is  the  case 
here,  for  his  work  shews  him  to  have  diligently  exercised  his  genius  in 
regard  to  the  Birds  which  we  now  call  Oscines.  He  belonged  to  a  period 
anterior  to  that  in  which  questions  that  have  been  brought  uppermost  by 
the  doctrine  of  Evolution  existed,  and  yet  he  seems  not  to  have  been  with- 
out perception  that  such  questions  might  arise.  In  treating  of  what  he 
termed  the  Order  Vagatores,^  including  among  others  the  Family  Corvidas 
— the  Crows,  he  tells  us  {Brit.  Birds,  i.  pp.  485,  486)  that  they  "are  to 
be  accounted  among  the  most  perfectly  organized  birds,"  justifying  the 
opinion  by  stating  the  reasons,  which  are  of  a  very  varied  kind,  that  led 

•^  See  Darwin,  Descent  of  Man,  chaps,  xv.  svi. 

^  According  to  Seebohm  {Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mvs.  v.  p.  232)  these  are  in  his  nomencla- 
ture Merula  nigrescens,  M.  fuscatra,  M.  gigas  and  M.  gigantodes. 

^  In  this  order  he  included  several  groups  of  Birds  which  we  now  know  to  be  but 
slightly  if  at  all  allied  ;  but  his  intimate  acquaintance  was  derived  from  the  Corvidse 
and  the  allied  Family  we  now  call  Sturnidie. 


ii8  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

him  to  it.  In  one  of  the  earlier  treatises  of  the  late  Prof.  Parker,  he  has 
expressed  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  v.  p.  150)  his  approval  of  Macgillivray's  views, 
adding  that,  "  as  that  speaking,  singing,  mocking  animal,  Man,  is  the 
culmination  of  the  Mammalian  series,  so  that  bird  in  which  the  gifts  of 
speech,  song  and  mockery  are  combined  must  be  considered  as  the  top  and 
crown  of  the  bird-class."  Any  doubt  as  to  which  Bird  is  here  intended 
is  dispelled  by  another  passage,  written  ten  years  later,  wherein  (M. 
Microscop.  Journ.  1872,  p.  217)  he  says,  "The  Crow  is  the  great  sub- 
rational  chief  of  the  whole  kingdom  of  the  Birds  ;  he  has  the  largest 
brain  ;  the  most  wit  and  wisdom  ;"  and  again,  in  the  Zoological  Society's 
Transactions  (ix.  p.  300),  "  In  all  respects,  physiological,  morphological 
and  ornithological,  the  Crow  may  be  placed  at  the  head,  not  only  of  its 
own  great  series  (birds  of  the  Crow-form),  but  also  as  the  unchallenged 
chief  of  the  whole  of  the  '  Carinatye.'"^ 

It  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  opinion  so  strongly  expressed  in  the 
passage  last  cited  has  escaped  the  observation  of  many  systematizers  ;  for  he 
would  be  a  bold  man  who  would  venture  to  gainsay  it.  Still  Parker  has 
left  untouched  or  only  obscurely  alluded  to  one  other  consideration  that 
has  been  here  brought  forward  in  opposing  the  claim  of  the  Turdidse,  and 
therefore  a  few  words  may  not  be  out  of  place  on  that  point — the  evidence 
afforded  by  the  coloration  of  plumage  in  young  and  old.  Now  the  Corvidas 
fulfil  as  completely  as  is  possible  for  any  group  of  Birds  to  do  the  obliga- 
tions required  by  exalted  rank.^  To  the  magnitude  of  their  brain  beyond 
that  of  all  other  Birds  Parker  has  already  testified,  and  it  is  the  rule  for 
their  young  at  once  to  be  clothed  in  a  plumage  which  is  essentially  that 
of  the  adult.  This  plumage  may  lack  the  lustrous  reflexions  that  are 
only  assumed  when  it  is  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  the  race  that  the 
wearer  should  don  the  best  apparel,  but  then  they  are  speedily  acquired, 
and  the  original  difference  between  old  and  young  is  of  the  slightest. 
Moreover,  this  obtains  even  in  what  we  may  fairly  consider  to  be  the 
weaker  forms  of  the  Gorvidee — the  Pies  and  Jays.  In  one  species  of 
Gorvus,  and  that  (as  might  be  expected)  the  most  abundant,  namely,  the 
Rook,  G.  frugilegus,  very  interesting  cases  of  what  would  seem  to  be 
explicable  on  the  theory  of  Reversion  occasionally  though  rarely  occur. 
In  them  the  young  are  more  or  less  spotted  with  a  lighter  shade,  and 
these   exceptional   cases,  if  rightly  understood,  do  but  confirm  the   rule.^ 

1  Dr.  Stejneger  (Stand.  Nat.  Hist.  iv.  p.  482)  considers  that  Parker  liimself  has 
"partly  neutralized,  not  to  say  gainsaid  "  this  opinion,  citing  a  passage  from  the 
same  paper  [torn.  cit.  p.  304)  wherein  ?.s  the  assertion  that  the  Redstart,  Pluenicura 
ruticilla,  and  its  allies,  which  of  course  come  near  the  Thrushes,  "  are  of  the  highest 
and  purest  blood,"  with  more  to  like  effect.  But  Dr.  Stejneger  has  overlooked  the 
qualifying  words  "of  the  small  Passerines  "  at  the  beginning  of  the  paragraph,  which 
makes  all  the  difference,  seeing  that  the  Corvidtv  are  the  largest  of  them.  Moreover, 
the  drift  of  the  whole  passage  shews  that  Parker  was  therein  using  the  word 
"'Oscines,'  or  songsters,"  in  its  literal  and  not  its  techiiical  sense.  No  one  knows 
better  than  Dr.  Stejneger  that  Crows  are  not  exactly  song-birds. 

"  It  is  curious  to  remarlc,  not  that  it  can  :ifrect  my  argument,  that  this  was  also 
the  opinion  of  the  Quinarians  (cf.  Swainson,  in  1834,  Discourse  on  the  Study  of  Nat. 
Hist.  p.  262,  and  in  1835,  Treatise  on  the  Geogr.  and  Classific.  of  Atiimals,  p.  243). 

*  One  of  these  specimens  has  been  figured  by  Hancock  (N.  H.  Trans.  Northuvd). 
and  Durham,  vi.  pi.  3)  ;  see  also  Yarrell's  British  Birds,  ed.  4,  ii.  pp.  302,  303. 


INTRODUCTION  iig 


It  may  be  conceded  that  even  among  Oscines  ^  there  are  some  other  groups 
or  sections  of  groups  in  which  the  transformation  in  appearance  from 
youth  to  full  age  is  as  slight.  This  is  so  among  the  Paridae  ;  and  there 
are  a  few  groups  in  which  the  young,  prior  to  the  first  moult,  may  be 
more  brightly  tinted  than  afterwards,  as  in  the  genera  Phylloscopus  and 
Anthus.  These  anomalies  cannot  be  explained  as  yet,  bxit  we  see  that 
they  do  not  extend  to  more  than  a  portion,  and  generally  a  small  portion, 
of  the  groups  in  which  they  occur  ;  whereas  in  the  Crows  the  likeness 
between  young  and  old  is,  so  far  as  is  known,  common  to  almost  every 
member  of  the  Family.-  It  is  therefore  confidently  that  the  present 
writer  asserts,  as  Prof.  Parker,  with  far  more  right  to  speak  on  the 
subject,  has  already  done,  that  at  the  head  of  the  Class  Aves  must  stand 
the  Family  Corvidx,  of  which  Family  no  one  will  dispute  the  superiority 
of  the  genus  Corvus,  nor  in  that  genus  the  pre-eminence  of  Corvus 
corax — the  widely-ranging  Eaven  of  the  Northern  Hemisphere,  the  Bird 
perhaps  best  known  from  the  most  ancient  times,  and,  as  it  happens,  that 
to  which  belongs  the  earliest  historical  association  with  man.  There  are 
of  course  innumerable  points  in  regard  to  the  Classification  of  Birds 
which  are,  and  for  a  long  time  will  continue  to  be,  hypothetical  as  matters 
of  opinion,  but  this  one  seems  to  stand  a  fact  on  the  firm  ground  of  proof.^ 
A  perusal  of  the  foregoing  can  hardly  fail  to  confirm  the  doubts 
already  expressed  in  the  initial  '  Note '  (page  vii.)  as  to  the  validity  of 
any  Systematic  Arrangement  of  Birds  as  yet  put  forth.  Still  the  history 
of  Ornithology,  as  here  sketched,  gives  hope  of  the  ultimate  attainment 
of  the  object  sought  by  so  many  earnest  students  of  the  Science,  though 
a  long  time  may  yet  elapse  before  that  end  is  reached.  As  in  all  branches 
of  Zoology  accession  of  knowledge,  be  it  the  making  of  a  new  discovery 
or  the  solution  of  an  old  difficulty,  is  followed  by,  or  may  almost  be  said 
to  produce,  a  fresh  series  of  questions  of  a  kind  that  it  is  absolutely 
impossible  to  anticipate,  and  it  needs  only  the  application  of  experi- 
ence to  foresee  that  this  is  likely  to  continue.  But  slow  as  is  the  process 
of  eliminating  error,  it  is  certain  that,  notwithstanding  occasional  relapses, 
considerable  advance  has  been  made  in  the  right  direction.  It  is  even 
possible  that  progress  will  be  accelerated  by  some  unexpected  turn  of 

^  In  other  Orders  there  are  many,  for  instance  some  Humniiiig-birds  and  King- 
fishers ;  but  this  only  seems  to  sliew  the  excellence  in  those  Orders  attained  by  the 
forms  which  enjoy  the  privilege. 

-  The  Canada  Jay,  Dysornithia  canadensis,  as  rightly  noted  by  Dr.  Stejneger 
(torn.  cit.  p.  483),  is  apparently  the  only  exception,  and  I  do  not  attempt  to  acconnt 
for  it. 

^  Dr.  Stejneger  {loc.  cit.)  would  prefer  with  Sundevall,  who  certainly  was  not 
affected  by  morphological  considerations,  placing  the  Finches,  FringiUidse,,  at  the 
head  of  the  Passeres,  and  selects  as  his  example  the  Evening  Grosbeak,  Hesperi2Jhona 
vespertina,  of  North  America  to  demonstrate  his  position.  That  the  Finches  stand 
high  I  readily  admit,  but  I  fail  to  appreciate  the  force  of  the  argument  lie  adduces. 
Among  other  things  he  declares  that  in  them  "  the  plumage  of  the  young  is  essentially 
like  that  of  the  adults" — a  statement  which  will  hardly  be  accepted  by  most  ornitho- 
logists, and  especially  not  so  far  as  I  can  judge  {cf.  Audubon,  B.  Am.  iii.  pi.  207)  in 
the  example  of  his  choice,  which  seems  to  be  rather  an  unhappy  one,  seeing  that  in 
its  immature  plumage  it  dift'ers  so  much  from  the  adult  as  to  have  been  described  by 
a  fairly  good  authority  (Lesson,  Illiistr.  Zool.  pi.  xxxi. )  as  a  distinct  species  under  the 
name  of  Coccothraustes  bonapartii. 


J 20  DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 

research.  To  that,  however,  we  must  not  trust,  but  our  duty  is  to  proceed 
steadily  along  the  path  that  seems  the  straightest,  making  sure  of  every 
step  as  we  go.  In  this  way  we  may  be  confident  that  the  end,  however 
distant,  will  eventually  arrive.  The  triple  alliance  of  Morphology, 
Palseontology  and  Geographical  Distribution — when  this  last  is  rightly 
understood — can  be  trusted  to  keep  our  steps  from  wandering  and  to  guide 
us  to  the  goal  we  seek  so  far  as  the  genealogy  and  relations  of  the  several 
groups  of  Birds  are  concerned,  for  that  is  what  their  true  Classification 
means.  But  Ornithology  consists  of  much  more  than  even  a  perfect 
Taxonomy,  the  field  of  investigation  is  much  wider,  and  includes  subjects 
that  unfortunately  have  been  too  little  considered  by  the  higher  intellects, 
especially  of  late  years.  Though  there  is  no  fear  of  Morphology  or 
Palseontology  failing  to  be  attractive,  the  real  lessons  conveyed  by  the 
facts  of  Geographical  Distribution  have  been  greatly  neglected,  while  to 
name  only  two  other  subjects  of  which  our  ignorance  immeasurably 
exceeds  our  knowledge.  Migration  and  Variation  still  afford  mysteries 
that  have  scarcely  been  penetrated .  Hybridism  too,  which  will  probably 
lead  to  very  important  results,  has  never  been  investigated  by  a  scientific 
Ornithologist.  There  is  therefore  plenty  of  room  for  research,  observa- 
tion and  experiment,  so  that  no  honest  enquirer  in  any  branch  of  the 
study  need  feel  discouraged  by  the  prospect  before  him,  unless  indeed  he 
be  dismayed  by  the  very  vastness  of  the  unknown  regions  he  has  to 
explore. 


INDEX   TO   INTRODUCTION 


^LIAN,  3,  5 

Albarda,  4I 
Albertus  Magnus,  4 
Albin,  9 
Aldrovandus,  6 
Allen,  38 
Alston,  44 
Altum,  39 
Andrews,  106,  lOS, 

109 
Aristotle,  2,  5 
Aubert,  2 
Audebert,  23 
Audubon,  24,  25, 37 

60,  66,  67,  119 
Avicenua,  4 


Babington,  4S 
Backhouse,  38 
Baillon,  40 
BaUly,  40 
Balrd,  37,  38 
Baldamus,  17,  39 
Baring-Gould,  38 
Barraband,  23 
Barrere,  8 
Barrett-Hamilton, 

44 
Barrington,  19,  44 
Barrows,  98 
Barthelemy-Lapom  - 

meraye,  40 
Bartholini,  I4 
Bartlett,  61 
Bartram,  18 
Bechstein,  12, 17, 39 
Beddard,  91 
Behn,  8 
Beilby,  20 
Bell,  Jeffrey,  69 
Bell,  Thomas,  19, 20 
Belon,  5,  6,  9 
Bendire,  37,  78 
Bennett,  19,  36 
Benoist,  4O 


Berkenhout,  18 
Berlepsch,  39 
Bernini,  17 
Berthold,  3a 
Beseke,  17 
Bewick,  20,  29,  43 
Bexou,  10 
Blainville,i5, 5^,54, 

49,  51,  52,  54,  69 
Blake-Kuox,  44 
Blauchard,  75,  76 
Blandin,  4O 
Blanford,  36 
Blasius,  G.  I4 
Blasius,  J.  H.  17,39, 

62,  67,  68, 70, 115 
Blasius,  R.  39 
Blasius,  W.  39 
Blauw,  41 
Blomefield,  43 
Blyth,  19, 36, 60,61, 

64,  68,  116 
Bocage,  Barboza  du, 

40 
Bochart,  6 
Boddaert,  13 
Bolle,  39 
Bolton,  19 
Bonaparte,    30,    37, 

41,  73,  74,  103 
Bonnaterre,  12 
Bontius,  7 
Booth,  44 
Borggreve,  39 
Borkhausen,  17 
Borlase,  IS 
Borrer,  45 
Borrichius,  I4 
Bostock,  3 
Bourjot  St.-Hilaire, 

22 
Bbuteille,  4O 
Bradshaw,  4 
Brandt,  A.  39 
Brandt,    J.    F.    61, 

62,  96,  111 


Bree,  4i 

Brehm,  A.  E.  39,  40 
Brehm,  C.  L.  39 
Breidenbach,  4 
Brewer,  37 
Brisson,  9, 10, 11, 13 
Bronn,  I4 
Brown,  Peter,  12 
Browne,  Capt.  T.  30 
Browne,  Sir  T.  18 
Briinnich,  17 
Buckley,  E.  7 
Buckley,  T.  E.  44 
Biittikofer,  4i 
Buffon,  10    11,  12, 

13,  86 
BuUer,  35 
Bumm,  116 
Bund,  45 
Bureau,  4O 
Burmeister,  63,  64, 

65 


Cabanis,  36,  39,  70, 
71, 72, 73,  94, 115 
Caius,  5 
Campbell,  36 
Canivet,  40 
Carter,  38 
Carus,  14,  106,  107 
Cassin,  24,  37,  38 
Castelnau,  74 
Catesby,  8 
Caub,  4 
Cetti,  17 
Chambers,  78 
Chapman,  Abel,  4O 
Chapman,  F.  M.  38 
Charleton,  7 
Chesnou,  4O 
Child,  13 
Christy,  44,  45 
Clarke,  Joseph,  4^ 
Clarke,  W.  E.  38,  45 
Claus,  107 


Clusius,  7 

Cocks,  38 

Coiter,  6,  I4 

Collett,  38 

Collin,  38 

Collins,  16 

Cook,  16 

Cordeaux,  45 

Cornay,  69,  70,  84 

Cory,  37 

Coues,  19,  37,  45,  60 

Cousens,  25 

Coxe,  42 

Crespon,  40 

Cresswell,  3 

Crommelin,  4^ 

Cuba,  4 

Cuvier,  3,  I4, 15,  29, 
46,  51,  53,  54,  55, 
56,  58,  59,  66,  70, 
71 


Dalgleish,  44 
Dallas,  66 
Darwin,  78,  81,  86, 

117 
Daudin,  I4 
D.  B.,  9 
D'Aubenton,  10, 12, 

26 
Degland,  40,  4I 
Demarle,  4O 
Denny,  63 
Derby,  Lord,  12 
Derham,  7 
Desmarest,  23 
Des  Murs,  27,  42,  77 
D'Urban,  45 
Devis,  36 
Dieffenbach,  35 
Diggles,  35 
Dillwyn,  45 
Donovan,  19 
Dover,  Lady,  20 
Dresser,  4I 


122 


DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 


Droste,  39 

Dubois,    Alph.    4-?> 

103 
Dubois,  C.  F.  41 
Du  Bus,  27 
Dum6ril,  29,  110 
Dupree,  19 
Du  Verney,  14 


Edwards,  9. 10 
Elliot,  24,  37,  98 
Ellis,  16 
Ersch,  64 

Evans,  A.  H.  99, 102 
Evans,  W.  44 
Eyton,  35,  43,  76 


Faber,  38 
Fabricius,  18 
Falk,  15 
Fallopius,  6 
Fatio,  <?9 
Feilden,  38 
Fernandez,  7 
Finsch,  .?0,  39 
Fischer     de    Wald- 

beim,  31 
Fischer,  J.B.  17 
Fleming,  33,  43 
Florent-Provost,  23 
Flower,  104 
Forbes,  90,  91,  92, 

93,  94,  95,  115 
Forskal,  15 
Forster,  G.  16 
Forster,  J.  R.  16, 18 
Fothergill,  18 
Fraser,  25 
Frisch,  J.  L.  16 
Fritsch,  A.  41 
Flirbringer,  9^,  100, 

102,103,104,108, 

111,  113,  114 


Gadow,  55,  68,  74, 

98,  99,  102,  103, 

104,105,108,111, 

113,  114 
Gatke,  39,  42 
Garrod,  90,  91,  92, 

93,  94,  95,  115, 
Gaza,  3 
Gentil,  40 
Geoffroy  St.  -Hilaire, 

±  34,  46,  52,  55, 

56,  58,  59 
Geoifroy  St.  -Hilaire, 

I.  28,  58 


Georgi,  15 
Gerini,  10 
Gervais,  74 
Gesner,  5,  6 
Giebel,  31 
Giglioli,  39 
Gilius,  17 
Gill,  108 
Giraud,  38 
Gloger,  39,  51,  56, 

57 
Gmelin,  J.  F.  13 
Gmelin,  J.  G.  15 
Gmelin,  S.  G.  15 
Gosse,  36 
Gould,   24,  25,  28, 

35,  41,  44,  64 
Graudidier,  114 
Grandsagne,  3 
Graves,  4^ 
Gray,  G.  R.  30,  31, 

35 
Gray,  J.  E.  15,  24 
Gray,  R.  44 
Griffiths,  15 
Groot,  4 
Grossinger,  16 
Gruber,  64 
Giildenstadt,  15 
Gundlach,  37 
Gunnerus,  18 
Gurney,  sen.  10 


Haast,  35 
Hackel,  81,  90, 107, 

108 
Hancock,     20,    45, 

118 
Hanmer,  18 
Hardwicke,  24 
Hardy,  40 
Harting,  19,  45 
Hartlaub,  39,  40 
Harvey,  14 
Harvie  -  Brown,    4^, 

44 

Hasselqvist,  15 
Hayes,  13,  18 
Headley,  103 
Hector,  35 
Heine,  jun.  73 
Heine,  sen.  73 
Henslow,  43 
Herbert,  19 
Hermann,  12 
Hernandez,  7 
Hertwig,  107 
Heysham,  19 
Hintz,  39 
Hogg,  74 


Holland,  3 
Holmgren,  39 
Homeyer,    A.    von, 

39 
Homeyer,    E.    von, 

39 
Houghton,  2 
Houttuyn,  17 
Huet,  26 
Hume,  36 
Hunt,  42 
Hunter,  16,  63 
Hutchins,  19 
Huxley,  82,  84,  85, 

95, 102, 103, 106, 

108,109,110,112, 

113, 114 


Illiger,  29,  53,  59, 
62,  74,  102,  110, 
112 

Irby,  40 

Isidorus,.-^ 


Jacobson,  50 
Jacquemin,  65,  69 
Jacquin,  13 
Jackel,  39 
Jameson,  H.  L.  44 
.Jameson,  R.  37 
Jardine,  19,  27,  37, 

U 
Jaubert,  4^ 
Jentink,  41 
Jenyns,  4^ 
Jerdon,  36 
Jonston,  6 


Kalm,  15 
Kaup,  30,  34 
Kelaart,  36 
Kessler,  66 
Keulemans,  28,  35, 

36,  43,  44 
Kevserliug,  62,   67, 

68,  70,  115 
Kinberg,  39 
Kingsley,  98 
Kirby,  33,  50,  59 
Kittlitz,  28 
Kjaerbolling,  39 
Klein,  8 
Knip,  23 
Kuox,  45 
Koch,  39 
Kouig  -  Warthausen, 

39 
Kramer,  17 


Kriiper,  38,  39,  40 
Kutter,  39 


Labatie,  40 
Lacepede,  I4 
Lamarck,  78 
Land,  4 
Landbeck,  39 
Landois,  39 
Landseer,  63 
Langlois,  23 
Latham,  11,  12,  13, 

18,35 
Latreille,  30 
Laugier,  26 
Lawrence,  38 
Leach,  13 
Lear,  24 
Leem,  18 
Legge,  36 
L'Herminier,  34,  49, 

51,  52, 53,  54,  55, 

56,  58, 59,  61,  69, 

76 
Leigh,  18 
Leisler,  39 
Lembeye,  37 
Lemetteil,  4O 
Lemonuicier,  4O 
Leon,  7 
Leotaud,  36 
Lepechin,  15 
Lesauvage,  4O 
Lesson,  28,  119 
Le  Vaillant,  16,  22 

23 
Lever,  12 
Leverkiihn,  39 
Lewin,  J.  W.  35 
Lewin,  W.  19 
Lichtenstein,    7 
Lilford,  40,  44,  45 
Lilljeborg,  82 
Linna3us,  3,  7,  8,  9, 

10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 

34,  47,  59,  62 
Loftie,  2 
Longolius,  5 
Lord,  19 
Lumsden,  44 


Macartney,  34,  63 
Macgillivray,  24,  34, 

43,  59,  60,  60,  67, 

117 
M'llwraithe,  38 
Macleay,  32,  33,  34, 

35 
Macpherson,  45 


INDEX  TO  INTRODUCTION 


123 


MaignoD,  Jf-O 
Maltzan,  3d 
Marcgrave,  7 
Marcotte,  Jfi 
Marie tte,  2 
Markwick,  19 
Marsh,  86,  87,   97, 

98, 108 
Marsigli,  16 
Martinet,  10,  26 
Mathew,  45 
Mauduyt,  12 
Max  zu  Wied,  S9 
Meckel,  50 
Merrem,  30,  34,  46, 

47, 48,  49,  60,  62, 

64,  76 
Merrett,  7,  18 
Meyer,  A.  B.  28,  39, 

77 
Meyer,  Bern.  39 
Meyer,  F.  A.  A.  20 
Meyer,  H.  L.  4^ 
Meyer,  H.  von,  81 
Milne-Edwards,  86, 

102,     112,    113, 

114 
Mitchell,  F.  S.  45 
Mitchell,  W.  D.  26, 

30 
Mitterpacher,  15 
Mivart,  11,  103 
Mohring,  8    . 
Molina,  16 
Mommsen,  4O 
Montagu,  33,  42 
Montbeillard,  10 
More,  44 
Morris,  44 
Mtihle,  Von  der,  39 
Mviller,  H.  C.  38 
Mtiller,      Johannes, 

34,  62,  67, 68,  69, 

70,  71,  93 
Mtiller,  P.  L.  S.  13 
Muirhead,  44 
Murie,  91 


Nash,  18 
Nathusius,  39 
Naumann,  J.  A.  17, 

39 
Naumann,  J.  F.  17, 

39,  50,  51,  57 
Neale,  42 
Neckam,  4 
Nehrkorn,  39 
Neumann,  39 
Newman,  42,  74 
Nicholson,  89 


Niebuhr,  15 

Nieremberg,  7,  31 

Nilsson,  39 

Nitzsch,  34,  45^  46, 
48,  50,  51,  54,  67, 
61,  62,  63,  64,  65, 
66,  67,  68,  69,  71, 
96,  112 

Nodder,  13 

Norguet,  40 

North,  36 

Nourry,  4O 

Nozeman,  17 

Nuttall,  38 


Gates,  36 

Oken,  33,  67 
Olphe-Galliard,  42 
Ortus  Sanitatis,  4 
Osbeck,  16 
Oudart,  26,  27 
Owen,  50, 59,  63, 81, 
102,  107 


Pallas,  15 

Paquet,  4O 

Parker,  T.  J.  109 

Parker,  W.  K.  79, 
80,  84,  111,  112, 
113, 115, 118, 119 

Paterson,  44 

Pearson,  C.  E.  38 

Pearson,  H.  J.  38 

Pelzeln,  39 

Pennant,  12,  IS,  19 

Perrault,  I4 

Petersen,  17 

Petiver,  7 

Phillip,  16 

Physwlogiis,  4 

Pidgeon,  15 

Pidsley,  45 

Pilati,  17 

Piller,  15 

Piso,  7 

Pliny,  3,  5 

Plot,  18 

Poey,  37 

Potts.  35 

Poynting,  78 

Pretre,  26,  28 

Prevot,  27 


"  QuifiPAT,"  40 


Rafinesque,  8 
Ramsay,  36 


Ranzani,  29 
Ray,  7,  11 
Reaumur,  9 
Reichenbach,  28,  39 
Reichenow,   39,   73, 

90 
Reinhardt,  80 
Rennie,  33,  42 
Retzius,  17 
Reyger,  8 
Richardson,  38 
Ridgway,  37 
Riley,  3 
Risso,  40 
Rodd,  45 
Rosenstock,  ^? 
Roux,  40 
Rowley,  27 
Rzaczvnski,  16 


St.-Hilaire,    see 

Bourjot,       and 

Geoffrey 
Salerne,  10 
Salvadori,  39 
Salviu,  27,  95 
Saunders,  4O,  4^ 
Savi,  10,  39 
Scaliger,  3 
Schiitfer,  12 
Schalow,  39 
Schlegel,  30,  4I 
Schopss,  50 
Schomburgk,  36 
Schwenckfeld,  6 
Sclater,  26,  27,  35, 

66,  69,  95,  96,  97, 

112,  116 
Scopoli,  13 
Seba,  9 
Seebohm,    44,    103, 

117 
Seeley,  107 
Selby,  27,  42 
Selenka,  I4 
Selys  -  Longchamps, 

40 
Service,  24,  44 
Sharpe,  26,  35,  4I, 

99,  102,  103 
Shaw,  12, 13,  29,  36 
Shelley,  36,  4O 
Shepherd,  38 
Sherborn,  27,  40 
Siemssen,  17 
Sillig,  3 
Slater,  38 
Sloane,  9 
Smit,  27 
Smith,  A.  C.  4O,  45 


Smith,  Cecil,  45 
Southwell,  45 
Spalowsky,  13 
Sparrman,  13 
Stanley,  Lord,  12 
Stearns,  37 
Steineger,    98,     99, 

100,     103,     108, 

118,  119 
Stephens,  29 
Sterland,  4-5 
Stevenson,  45 
Stirling,  109 
Stolker,  39 
Strickland,    30,   34, 

104 
Studer,  39 
Sundevall,  2,  39,  67, 

65,  82,  88,  89,  90, 

94,  96,  116,  119 
Susemihl,  4I 
Swainson,     28,    30, 

32,    34,    35,    38, 

118 
Swaun,  45 


Tasle,  40 
Taylor,  3 
Tegetmeier,  13 
Temminck,  A.  J.  23 
Temminck,  C.  J.  23, 

26,  29,  41,  61,  64, 

110 
Thackeray,  6 
Thaun,  4 
Thompson,  44 
Thorburn,  44 
Tiedemann,  46',  116 
Tobias,  39 
Todd,  60,  69 
Tristram,  40,  79 
Tschusi  von  Schmid- 

hofen,  39 
Tucker,  44 
Tunstall,  18 
Turner,  K.  N.  25 
Turner,  W.  6 


USSHER,  44 


Valentini,  14 
Vieillot,  23,  27,  29 

40 
Vigors,  30,  32,  33 

35,  60,  74 
Vogt,  107 
Voigt,  4.5 


124 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Wagler,  30,  SO 
Wagner,  A.  23,  71 

81 
Wagner,  R.  51 
VValcott,  19 
Wallace,      76,     78, 

94 
Warren,  44 
Waterhouse,  25 


Waterton,  36 
Whitaker,  45 
White,   GUbert,  19, 

20,44 
White,  John,  16 
Whitlock,  45 
Wilkin,  18 
Willughby,    7,    11, 

49,  60 


Wilson,   Alexander, 

31,  37 
Wilson,      James, 

27 
Wimmer,  2 
Wolf,  Johann,  39 
Wolf,    Joseph,    25, 

30,  63 
Wolley,  38 


Wottou,  5 
Wright,  4,  5 


Yarrell,  43 
118 


Zander,  39 
Zorn,  16 


68, 


DICTIONARY   OF   BIRDS 


AASVOGEL  (Carrion-bird),  the  name  given  to  some  of  the  larger 
Vultures  by  the  Dutch  colonists  in  South  Africa,  and  generally- 
adopted  by  English  residents  (Layard,  B.  S.  Africa,  pp.  5,  6). 

ABADAVINE  or  ABERDUVINE  (etymology  and  spelling 
doubtful),  a  name  applied  in  1735  by  Albin  (Suppl.  Nat.  Hist.  B. 
p.  71)  to  the  Siskin,  but  perhaps  hardly  ever  in  use,  though  often 
quoted  as  if  it  were. 

ACANTHIZA,  the  scientific  name  given  in  1826  by  Vigors  and 
Horsfield  to  a  genus  of  birds  commonly  ranked  with  the  Sylviidse 
(Warbler),  and  used  as  English  since  Gould's  time  for  the  eight 
or  more  species  which  inhabit  Australia. 

ACCENTOR,  Bechstein's  name  for  a  genus  of  Sylviidx  (including 
the  Hedge-SPARROW  and  its  allies)  which  some  British  authors  have 
tried  with  small  success  to  add  to  the  English  language. 

ACCIPITRES,  the  name  given  by  Linnaeus  to  his  first  Order  of 
the  Class  Aves,  consisting  of  what  are  commonly  known  as  Birds-of- 
Prey,  namely,  the  Vultures,  the  Eagles  and  Hawks,  and  the  Owls  ; 
the  last  being  by  many  recent  authors,  whose  example  is  followed 
in  the  present  work,  separated  from  the  first  two. 

ACORN-DUCK,  a  name  given  in  some  parts  of  North  America 
to  the  Carolina  or  Wood-Duck,  u^x  sponsa. 

ACROMYODI,  Garrod's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  p.  507) 
for  a  group  of  birds  practically  the  same  as  the  OsciNES,  PoLY- 
]\rYODi  or  true  Passeres  of  various  authors,  "an  acromyodian 
bird,  being  one  in  which  the  muscles  of  the  syrinx  are  attached  to 
the  extremities  of  the  bronchial  semi-rings."  The  Acromyodi  are 
further  divided  into  two  groups,  one  (abnormales  or  Pseudoscines) 
consisting  of,  so  far  as  is  known,  only  the  genera  Atrichia  (ScRUB- 


A  DJUTANT—A  E  TOMORPH^ 


bird)   and   Menura   (Lyre-BIRd),    the   otlier    (normales)   containing 
all  the  rest  of  the  Oscines. 

ADJUTANT,  a  large  kind  of  Stork,  so  called  by  the  English 
in  India  and  elsewhere  "from  its  comical  resemblance  to  a  human 
figure  in  a  stiff  dress  pacing  slowly  on  a  parade-ground  "  (Yule  & 
Burnell,  Hobson-Jobson,  sub  voce).  It  belongs  to  the  genus  Leptoptilus, 
of  which  the  members  are  distinguished  by  their  sad-coloured 
plumage,  their  black,  scabrous  head,  and  their  enormous  tawny 
pouch,  which  depends,  occasionally  some  16  inches  or  more  in 
length,  from  the  lower  part  of  the  neck,  and  is  not  connected  as 
commonly  believed  with  the  digestive  system  (see  AlR-SACKS).  In 
many  parts  of  India  L.  dubius,  or  L.  argala  of  some  authors,  the 
largest  of  these  birds,  the  Harglla  as  Hindus  call  it,  is  a  most 
efficient  scavenger,  sailing  aloft  at  a  vast  height  and  descending  on 
the  discovery  of  ofFal,  though  frogs  and  fishes  also  form  part  of  its 
diet.  It  familiarly  enters  the  large  towns,  in  many  of  which  on 
account  of  its  services  it  is  strictly  protected  from  injury,  and, 
having  satisfied  its  appetite,  seeks  the  repose  it  has  earned,  sitting 
with  its  feet  extended  in  front  in  a  most  grotesque  attitude.  A 
second  and  smaller  species,  L.  javanicus,  has  a  more  southern  and 
eastern  range ;  while  a  third,  L.  crwnenifer,  of  African  origin,  and 
often  known  as  the  Marabou-Stork,  gives  its  name  to  the  beautifully 
soft  feathers  so  called,  though  our  markets  are  mostly  supplied  with 
them  by  the  Indian  species  (in  which  they  form  the  lower  tail- 
coverts),  if  not,  as  some  suppose,  by  Vultures.  Related  to  the 
Adjutants  are  the  birds  known  as  Jabirus. 

^GITHOGNATH^,  the  fourth  and  last  Suborder  of  Car- 
INAT^,  according  to  Prof.  Huxley's  arrangement  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1867,  pp.  450-456,  467-472),  founded  chiefly  on  palatal  characters, 
containing  two  groups,  the  CYPSELOMORPHiE  and  CoRACOMORPHiE, 
and  possibly  a  third,  the  Celeohorph^  (or  Gecinommyhse).  In 
the  true  segithognathous  structure  the  vomer  is  broad,  abruptly 
truncated  in  front  and  deeply  cleft  behind,  so  as  to  embrace  the 
rostrum  of  the  sphenoid ;  the  palatals  have  produced  postero- 
external angles,  the  maxillo- palatals  are  slender  at  their  origin, 
and  extend  obliquely  inwards  and  backwards  over  the  palatals,  ending 
beneath  the  vomer  in  expanded  extremities,  not  united  either 
with  one  another  or  ^vith  the  vomer,  nor  is  the  last  united  with  the 
ossification  of  the  anterior  part  of  the  nasal  septum — a  not  vm- 
common  condition.  As  a  whole  the  ^glthognathx  correspond 
pretty  well  with  the  Insessores  of  Vigors. 

AETOMORPH^,  Prof.  Huxley's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867, 
pp.  462-465)  for  that  group  of  his  Suborder  Desmognath^,  which 
includes  the  Birds -of -Prey,  commonly  so  called,  and  therefore 
practically  equivalent  to  the  Accipitres  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Rap- 


AFTERSHAFT—AIR-SA  CKS 


TORES  of  many  authors.  Prof.  Huxley  makes  four  divisions  of  the 
Aetomorphic  birds,  namely,  Strigidx  (OwLS),  Cathartidx  (Vultures 
of  the  New  World),  Gypaeiidse  (Vultures  of  the  Old  World, 
Eagles  and  Hawks),  and  Gypogemnidx  (formed  by  the  Secretary- 
bird  alone). 

AFTEESHAFT  or  hyporhachis  is  the  generally  small  counter- 
part of  a  typical  feather  which  springs  from  the  inner  surface  of 
the  quill  common  to  both.  The  aftershaft  is  of  the  same  size  as 
the  shaft  in  the  Cassowary,  Emeu,  and  in  the  Moa :  it  is  well 
developed,  but  forms  an  unimportant  part  of  the  whole  feather  in 
Parrots,  most  Birds-of-Prey,  Herons,  Gulls  :  it  is  very  small  and  feeble 
in  most  Passeres,  Gh-allx,  and  many  Gallinge  ;  and  absent  or  exti'emely 
small  in  the  Ostrich,  Rhea,  Kiwi,  Pigeons,  Owls,  Woodpeckers, 
Steganopodes,  Anseres,  and  others.  As  a  rule,  the  aftershaft  is  best 
developed  in  downs,  and  in  the  smaller  contour-feathers,  while  it 
is  wanting  or  minute  in  the  remiges  and  rectrices.  While  the 
absence  of  an  aftershaft  is  certainly  due  to  its  subsequent  reduction 
or  loss,  it  is  probable  that  its  great  size  in  the  Emeu  is  not  a 
primitive  but  a  secondary  acquired  feature,  because  the  feathers  of 
the  first  or  nestling  plumage  of  this  bird  consist  of  two  very  unequal 
halves  (see  also  Feathers). 

A  IE-SACKS  (or  Sacs)  are  membranaceous  receptacles  which 
•communicate  with  the  cavities  of  the  respiratory  organs  or  passages, 
and  can  through  them  be  filled  with  air.  According  to  their 
■connexions  we  distinguish  between  a  (I)  pulmonary  and  (II)  a  naso- 
pharyngeal system  of  air-sacs. 

I.  The  pulmonary  system  has  the  Avidest  distribution  in  the 
bird's  body.  The  sacs,  of  which  there  are  generally  five  large 
pairs,  begin  in  the  embryo  of  about  eleven  days  to  grow  out  as 
small  vesicles  from  the  surface  of  the  lungs,  as  dilatations  of 
branches  of  the  bronchial  tubes,  pushing  the  peritoneal  membranes 
before  them,  and  gradually  extending  as  enlarged  sacs  into  the  body 
cavity  between  the  various  intestines.  Each  sac  has  an  inner  layer, 
the  continuation  of  the  lining  membrane  of  the  bronchial  tubes,  and 
an  outer  layer  or  serous  membrane,  which  is  the  bulged-out  pleura 
•or  peritoneal  covering  of  the  lung.  The  pulmonary  openings  are 
beset  with  vibrating  cilise  like  the  bronchi.  The  outside  of  the  sacs 
frequently  possesses  a  covering  of  involuntary  or  of  voluntary 
muscles ;  for  instance,  in  Vultures,  Gannets,  and  Flamingos  a  thin 
fan-shaped  muscle  extends  from  the  furcula  over  the  interclavicular 
air-sac.  Through  contraction  of  these  muscles  the  cells  can  be 
emptied  of  air.     The  five  principal  pairs  of  air-sacs  are  : — 

1.  A  prebronchial  or  cervical  pair,  situated  in  front  of  or  "  head- 
wards  "  from  the  lungs  and  the  pulmonary  system.  They  are  sub- 
jected to  many  modifications.     They  form  on  each  side  a  single  sac 


AIR-SACKS 


in  the  Duck,  which  in  the  Fowls,  Gulls,  Gannets,  and  some  others, 
communicates  with  the  next  pair.  In  the  Stork,  Flamingo,  and 
Screamer  each  sac  is  elongated  and  divided  into  numerous  smaller 
cells.  Frequently  these  sacs  extend  far  up  the  neck,  even  into  the 
head,  and  small  side  branches  may  enter  any  of  the  neighbouring 
organs,  such  as  the  inside  of  the  vertebrae,  the  carotid  and  vertebral 
canals,  the  cervical  muscles,  the  cranial  cavities,  and  others.  Some- 
times they  form  large  inflatable  sacs  on  the  throat,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  Prairie-fowls. 

2.  A  pair  of  subbronchial  or  interclavicular  sacs.  They  are 
united  into  one  sac  in  Storks,  communicate  with  each  other  in  Ducks, 
are  subdivided  into  a  number  of  smaller  sacs  in  the  Swan  and  in  the 
Screamer :  in  Vultures  they  take  the  large  crop  between  them. 
Lateral  extensions  accompany  the  large  blood-vessels  and  form  axil- 
lary cells  penetrating  ultimately  the  humerus  and  other  bones  of  the 
wing ;  other  secondary  cells  penetrate  the  large  pectoral  muscles 
{e.g.  in  Myderia)  or  enter  the  body  and  the  keel  of  the  sternum. 

3,  4.  A  pair  of  anterior  and  posterior  intermediate  sacs, 
extending  more  or  less  far  into  the  abdominal  cavity,  covering 
chiefly  the  lower  portions  of  the  lungs  and  the  liver,  occasionally 
subdivided,  being  filled  through  several  openings  at  the  external 
edge  of  the  lungs,  and 'sometimes  continued  into  the  lateral  parts  of 
the  sternum. 

5.  A  pair  of  abdominal  sacs.  These  are  the  largest,  extend- 
ins:  with  irregular  subdivisions  between  the  intestines  into  the 
pelvis,  and  penetrating  the  femur  together  with  the  rest  of  the  bones 
of  the  sacrum,  and  the  legs. 

Besides  these  principal  air-sacs,  there  exist  numerous  smaller 
cells,  Avhich  enter  more  or  less  directly  from  the  lungs  into  the 
vertebrae  and  ribs,  between  the  muscles,  underneath  the  skin  and 
other  parts,  thus  making  the  skeleton,  and  sometimes  the  greater 
part  of  the  body,  pneumatic.  The  air-sacs  do  not  enter  the  bones 
before  a  considerable  portion  of  the  marrow  has  been  absorbed , 
an  extremely  small  hole  in  the  bone  is  sufficient  for  their  entrance ; 
the  cavity  of  hollow  bones  is  ultimately  lined  with  the  thin  mem- 
brane of  the  air-sac.  Generally  the  skeleton  is  most  pneumatic  in 
large  birds  that  fly  well,  like  Vultures,  Storks,  Swans,  Pelicans ; 
less  so  in  small  birds,  and  least  in  heavy  or  little-flying  water-birds. 
However,  there  are  many  exceptions.  While,  for  instance,  most 
of  the  bones  of  many  Passeres,  of  Swifts,  Divers,  Eails,  the  Kiwi, 
and  of  Terns,  are  solid,  and  air-cells  are  restricted  chiefly  to  the 
cranium,  many  parts  of  the  skeleton  of  the  large  liatitx  are  very 
pneumatic. 

The  greatest  development  of  pneumatic  cells  exists  in  the 
Screamers  and  Hornbills,  in  which  even  the  fingers  and  toes,  in  fact, 
any  part  of  the  skeleton,  are  hollow,  and  large  subcutaneous  air-sacs 


AIR-SACKS 


are  present  in  great  numbers  between  the  muscles  and  the  roots  of 
the  feathers.  These  birds  when  inflated  and  pricked  emit  a 
peculiar  hissing  noise  through  the  skin.  It  is  well  known  that  a 
bird  which  has  its  humerus  shattered  by  shot  can  for  some  time 
breathe,  although  its  beak  and  nostrils  be  tightly  closed,  and  thus 
be  submitted  to  unnecessary  excruciating  pain.  Compression  of 
the  thorax  and  abdomen  suffocates  a  wounded  bifd  better  than 
strangulation. 

II.  The  naso-pharyngeal  or  tympanic  system  of  air -sacs  is 
restricted  to  the  head,  extending  chiefly  into  the  occipital,  frontal, 
parietal,  quadi'ate,  and  mandibular  bones.  To  this  system  belong 
the  Eustachian  tubes  (see  Ear  and  Skull),  the  tympanic,  and  other 
cavities  which  communicate  with  the  nose.  The  most  curious 
dilatation  belonging  to  this  system  is  the  crop-like  pouch  of  the 
Adjutant.  This  sac  communicates  in  Leptoptilus  crumenifer  with  a 
large  cavity  below  the  orbit  and  the  pterygoid  bone  on  the  left  side 
of  the  basis  cranii,  opening  directly  into  the  nasal  cavity  and  extend- 
ing like  a  hei'nia  into  a  loose  fold  of  integument,  the  pouch  being 
divided  into  two  by  a  vertical  membrane  which  descends  to  the 
level  of  the  eighth  cervical  vertebra. 

Another  inflatable  sac  is  the  gular  pouch  of  Bustards.  It  seems 
to  be  developed  only  in  adult  males,  reaching  its  gi'eatest  size 
during  the  breeding  season,  and  again  shrivelling  up  during  the  rest 
of  the  year.  Its  opening  is  a  1-shaped  slit  in  front  of  the  frenulum 
of  the  tongue  and  below  this  organ ;  the  opening  can  be  closed  by 
muscles,  and  leads  into  a  large,  glandless  blind  sac  (about  8-10  inches 
long,  with  half  the  width),  which  is  a  dilatation  of  the  frenulum 
and  hangs  down  between  the  throat  and  the  skin  of  the  front  of 
the  neck.  It  seems  to  be  an  entirely  sexual  ornament,  inflating  the 
skin,  and  containing  neither  water  nor  food. 

A  similar  homologous  structure  exists  in  the  male  of  Blzmra 
lobata,  as  a  little  pouch  between  the  two  halves  of  the  frenulum, 
with  a  roundish  opening,  but  apparently  not  extending  into  or 
inflating  the  outer  cutaneous  wattle  or  fold  underneath  the 
mandibles. 

Lastly,  the  tracheal  pouch  of  the  Emeu  may  be  mentioned.  It 
is  a  large  unpaired  hernia-like  sac  of  the  tracheal  walls,  communi- 
cating with  the  trachea  through  a  longitudinal  slit  on  the  ventral 
side,  an  individually- varying  number  of  from  five  to  fourteen  car- 
tilaginous rings  being  known  to  be  deficient  in  the  middle  line.  In 
the  embryos  this  deficiency  is  already  shewn,  but  the  pouch  is 
developed  much  later,  and  attains  its  full  size  in  the  adults  of  both 
sexes.  This  organ  seems  to  act  as  a  resounding  bag  to  the  joeculiar 
drumming  noise  made  by  the  adult  birds. 

The  function  of  all  these  air-sacs  has  been  the  subject  of  many 
controversies.      Some  are  undoubtedly  subservient  to  sexual  orna- 


ALBA  TROS 


mental  purposes,  by  inflating  the  skin,  rustling  the  feathers,  or 
acting  as  resounding  bags  in  the  Prairie-fowls  and  in  the  Emeu. 
The  suggestion  that  the  warm  air  in  these  sacs  makes  the  bird 
lighter,  and  assists,  balloon-like,  the  flight,  is  void  of  practical 
value,  because  the  few  gi-ains  of  weight  lifted  up  by  the  whole 
amount  of  air-sacs  of  even  a  large  bird  would  be  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  a  few  grains  of  food  or  better-nourished  condition  of 
the  bird.  Nor  would  this  view  be  applicable  to  the  Ratitse,  with 
their  Avell- developed  air-sacs.  The  newer  researches  of  Sappey,^ 
Cam]3ana,2  and  Strasser  ^  make  it  probable  that  one  of  the  principal 
functions  of  the  air-sacs  consists  in  the  ventilation  of  the  lungs,  the 
latter  being  only  capable  of  very  limited  expansion  and  contraction 
in  birds.  No  exchange  of  gas  seems  to  take  place  in  the  sacs  them- 
selves, they  being  poor  in  blood-vessels ;  but  they  seem  to  be 
directly  connected  with  the  regulation  of  the  exhalation  of  aqueous 
vapour,  there  being  besides  no  perspiration  through  the  skin. 
Frequently  they  serve  also  as  reservoirs  for  air,  in  order  to  increase 
the  voice  ;  for  instance,  in  the  long-continued  song  of  the  Nightingale, 
or  still  more  so,  in  the  Lark  when  warbling. 

ALBATROS,  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
Alcatraz  or  Alcaduz  ^  by  which  name  the  Pelican  is  known  in  some 
parts  of  the  Iberian  peninsula  and  the  Spanish  colonies  in  the  West 
Indies ;  but  it  is  also  applied  vaguely  to  other  large  sea-birds.  By 
English  navigators  its  use  was  formerly  quite  as  indiscriminate, 
and  its  spelling  no  less  so,  the  forms  Alcatraza,  Alcati'aze,  Algatross, 
and  Albitross,  occurring  in  various  authors — the  last  being  that 
found  in  Shelvocke's  Voyage  (London:  1726),  wherein  (pp.  72,  73) 
is  recorded  the  incident  that,  on  Wordsworth's  suggestion,  Coleridge 
immortalized  in  his  Ancient  Mariner.  In  process  of  time  the  name 
has  become  definitely  limited  to  the  larger  species  of  Diomedeidse,^ 
a  family  of  the  group  Tubinares,  and  especially  to  the  largest  species 
of  the  genus,  Diomedea  exulans,  the  "  Man-of-war  bird  "  or  Wandering 

^  Compt.  Rend,  da  I' Acad,  des  Sciences,  xxii.  pp.  250,  508. 

-  Physiologic  de  la  respiration  cJiez  les  Oiseaux.     Paris  :  1875. 

^  Jenaischc  Zeitschrift,  xix.  pp.  174-327,  330-429. 

■*  The  word  is  Arabic,  al-eddous,  adopted  from  the  Greek  Kt£5os,  water-pot 
or  bucket  [cf.  Dozy  &  Engehnann,  Glossaire  des  mots  espagn.  et  2}ortug.  derives  de 
I'Arabe,  ed.  2,  p.  79),  and  especially  signifying  the  leathern  bucket  of  an  irrigating 
machine.  Thence  it  was  applied  to  the  Pelican,  from  the  resemblance  of  that 
bird's  pouch,  in  which  it  was  believed  to  carry  water  to  its  j'onng  in  the 
wilderness. 

^  The  Arcs  Diomedeai  of  Pliny  (lib.  x.  cap.  44),  whence  the  word  has  been 
preserved  in  Ornithology,  inhabiting  the  islands  of  the  same  name,  generally 
identified  with  Tremiti  off  the  Adriatic  coast  of  Italy  {cf.  Lachmund,  De  Ave 
Diomedea  disscrtatio.  Amstelodami ;  1672,  p.  23),  seem  to  have  been  Shear- 
WATEKS  of  some  sort. 


ALBATROS 


Albatros  of  many  authors.  Of  this,  though  it  has  been  so  long 
the  observed  of  all  observers  among  voyagers  to  the  Southern 
Ocean,  no  one  seems  to  have  given,  from  the  life,  its  finished  portrait 
on  the  wing,  and  hardly  such  a  description  as  would  enable  those  who 
have  not  seen  it  to  form  an  idea  of  its  look.  The  diagrammatic 
sketch  by  Captain  (now  Professor)  Hutton,  here  introduced,  is  prob- 


Albatbos.     (After  Hutton.     From  the  Philos.  Mag.  Aug.  1809,  with  the 
Editor's  permission.) 

ably  a  more  correct  representation  of  it  than  can  be  found  in  the  conven- 
tional figures  which  abound  in  books.  Writers  who  apply  to  its  flight 
the  epithets  graceful,  grand,  majestic,  and  the  like,  convey  thereby 
no  definite  meaning,  and  yet  by  all  accounts  its  appearance  must 
be  extremely  characteristic.  The  ease  Avith  which  it  maintains  itself 
in  the  air,  "  sailing  "  for  a  long  while  without  any  perceptible  motion 
of  its  wings,  whether  gliding  over  the  billows,  or  boldly  shooting  aloft 
again  to  descend  and  possibly  alight  on  the  surface,  has  been  dwelt 
upon  often  enough,^  as  has  its  capacity  to  perform  these  feats  equally 
in  a  seeming  calm  or  in  the  face  of  a  gale  ;  but  more  than  this 
is  wanted,  and  one  must  hope  that  a  series  of  instantaneous  photo- 
graphs may  soon  be  obtained  which  will  shew  the  feathered  aei'onaut 
with  becoming  dignity.  The  mode  in  which  the  "  sailing  "  of  the 
Albatros  is  efi'ected  has  been  much  discussed,  but  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  Professor  Hutton  is  right  in  declaring  (Ibis,  1865,  p.  296) 
that  it  is  only  "  by  combining,  according  to  the  laws  of  mechanics, 

^  The  most  vivid  description  is  perhaps  that  of  Mr.  Froude  {Oceana,  p^).  65,  66), 
and,  as  it  is  cited  with  approval  by  Sir  W.  Buller  {B.  New  Zeal.  ed.  2,  ii. 
p.  195),  a  part  may  here  be  quoted.  The  Albatros  "wheels  in  circles  round  and 
round,  and  for  ever  round  the  ship — now  far  behind,  now  sweeping  past  in  a  long 
rapid  curve,  like  a  perfect  skater"  on  an  imtouched  field  of  ice.  There  is  no  eflbrt ; 
watch  as  closely  as  you  will,  you  rarely  or  never  see  a  stroke  of  the  mighty 
]nnion.  The  flight  is  generally  near  the  water,  often  close  to  it.  You  lose  siglit 
of  the  bird  as  he  disappears  in  the  hollow  between  the  waves,  and  catch  him  again 
as  he  rises  over  the  crest ;  but  how  he  rises  and  whence  comes  the  propelling  force 
is  to  the  eye  inexplicable ;  he  alters  merely  the  angle  at  which  the  wings  are 
inclined  ;  usually  they  are  pai'allel  to  the  water  and  horizontal  ;  but  when 
he  turns  to  ascend  or  makes  a  change  in  his  direction  the  wings  then  point  at  an 
angle,  one  to  the  sky,  the  other  to  the  water. " 


8  ALBATROS 


this  pressure  of  the  air  against  his  wings  with  the  force  of  gravity, 
and  by  using  his  head  and  tail  as  bow  and  stern  rudders,  that  the 
Albatros  is  enabled  to  sail  in  any  direction  he  pleases,  so  long  as 
his  momentum  lasts."  Much  discrepancy,  at  present  inexplicable, 
exists  in  the  accounts  given  by  various  writers  of  the  expanse  of 
Aving  in  this  species.  We  may  set  aside  as  a  gross  exaggeration  the 
assertion  that  examples  have  been  obtained  measuring  20  feet,  but 
Dr.  George  Bennett  of  Sydney  {JVanderings,  &c.,  ii.  p.  363)  states  that 
he  has  "  never  seen  the  spread  of  the  wings  greater  than  fourteen 
feet."  Recently  Mr.  J.  F.  Green  {Ocean  Birds,  p.  5)  says  that,  out  of 
more  than  one  hundred  which  he  had  caught  and  measured,  the 
largest  was  1 1  feet  4  inches  from  tip  to  tip,  a  statement  exactly  con- 
firmed, he  adds,  by  the  forty  years'  experience  of  a  ship-captain  who 
had  always  made  a  point  of  measuring  these  birds,  and  had  never 
found  one  over  that  length. 

This  Albatros  is  too  well  known  by  description  in  countless 
books,  or  by  specimens  to  be  seen  in  almost  any  museum,  to  need 
many  words  as  to  its  chief  features.  In  the  adult  the  plumage  of 
the  body  is  white,  more  or  less  mottled  above  by  fine  wavy  bars, 
and  the  quill-feathers  of  the  wings  are  brownish-black.  The  young 
are  suffused  with  slaty-brown,  the  tint  becoming  lighter  as  the  bird 
gi-ows  older.  It  is  found  throughout  the  Southern  Ocean,  seldom 
occurring  northward  of  lat.  30°  S.,^  and  is  invariably  met  with  by 
ships  that  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  or  pass  the  Strait  of 
Magellan.  As  a  species  it  is  said  to  be  less  numerous  than  most  of 
its  smaller  congeners,  and  one  cannot  but  fear  that  it  will  become 
rarer  still,  if  not  extinct,  partly  because  of  the  senseless  slaughter  to 
which  it  is  subjected  by  the  occupants  of  almost  every  ship,  but 
especially  because  of  the  ravages  inflicted  upon  it  at  its  not  too  many 
breeding-places,  which  are  on  islands  mostly  small  and  remote,  where 
disastrous  havoc  can  be,  and  continually  is,  wrought  by  a  boat's  crew 
in  a  few  hours. 

In  the  North-Pacific  Ocean  are  found  two  other  large  species  of 
Albatros,  regarded  for  a  long  time  by  ornithologists  as  identical 
vdth.  D.  exulans,  but  now  recognized  as  being  distinct  species. 
They  have  also  been  confounded  with  one  another  by  some  authors, 
while  the  young  have  been  described  as  if  different  from  their 
parents,  so  that  their  nomenclature  presents  a  tangled  puzzle  which 
it  would  be  impossible  here  to  unravel.  Enough  to  say,  that  the 
one  of  them  which  is  most  like  B.  exulans,  and  has  over  and  over 
again  been  so  termed  by  authors,  is  the  D.  albatrus  of  Pallas,  its 
young  being  the  D.  derogata  of  Swinhoe.     This  seems  to  be  always 

^  Instances  are  recorded  of  its  occurrence  in  Europe  and  North  America,  and 
no  doubt  examples  of  some  species  of  Albatros  have  wandered  so  far  from  their 
usual  range  ;  but  whether  D.  cxvlaiis  is  one  of  them  seems  to  await  proof.  Fossil 
remains  of  Diomcdea  have  been  found  in  Suffolk  {Q.  J.  Gcol.  Soc.  1886,  p.  367)- 


ALBINO— ALLANTOIS 


distinguishable  by  its  yellow  or  light-coloured  legs,  while  the  other, 
the  D.  hrachyura  of  Temminck,  its  young  being  the  D.  nigripes  of 
Audubon,  has  those  limbs  dark  or  black.  Both  of  them  seem  to 
occur  in  summer  in  Bering  Sea,  Avhile  they  occasionally  appear 
along  the  shores  of  China  and  California  ;  but  nothing  can  yet  be  said 
as  to  their  precise  range.  It  remains  to  mention  the  smaller  species 
of  the  genus,  one  of  which,  D.  cauta,  described  by  Gould,  is  not 
much  infei'ior  in  size  to  the  preceding,  and  omng  to  its  wary 
disposition,  indicated  by  the  trivial  name  it  bears,  is  extremely  rare 
in  collections.  These  are  all  known  to  seafaring  men  as  Molly- 
y[/  mauks — a  corruption  of  Mallemuck — and  chiefly  frequent  the 
Southern  Ocean,  as  does  also  the  Sooty  Albatros,  which,  from  its 
wedge-shaped  tail,  has  been  placed  in  a  genus  of  its  own,  and  passes 
as  Phcebetria  fuUginosa. 

ALBINO  (coll.  n.  albinism).  A  case  of  Heterochrosis,  pro- 
duced by  the  partial  or  total  absence  of  the  normally-present  black 
pigment  in  the  feathers  and  other  parts.  In  complete  albinos  the 
pupil  and  iris  are  red,  owing  to  the  blood-vessels  shining  through 
these  otherwise  strongly  pigmented  parts.  A  lesion  of  the  pulp  of 
a  growing  feather  not  unfrequently  prevents  the  deposition  of  pig- 
ment therein,  but  the  pulp  recovers  as  a  rule  after  one  or  more 
moults  (see  Colour). 

ALECTOEIDES,  an  Order  proposed  by  Temminck  in    1820     c/. 
{Man.  d'Oni.  ed.  2,  i.  p.  xcv.)  to  contain  the  genera  Fsophia  (Trump-   /j/^    J 
eter),  Dkholophus  (Seriema),  Glareola  (Pratincole),  Palamedea,  and     '^  ^^-^'f^ 
Chauna  (Screainier).     Sundevall  subsequently  (A".  VeL  Acad.  Hand-  (^/Ja^^i/i 
lingar,  1836,  p.   120)  substituted  Otis  (Bustard)  for  Glareola,  but         // 
wholly  dropped  the  group  in  his  Tentamen  (1872-73)  wherein  these 
forms  are  differently  disposed.      The  Order  has,  however,  been  ad- 
mitted by  several  other  systematists,  and  among  them  by  Mr.  Sclater, 
Avho,  in  1880,  made  it  include  six  Families  (see  Introduction). 

0 

ALECTOEOMOEPH^,  according  to  Prof.  Huxley's  arrange- 
ment {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  i^p.  456,  459),  the  fifth  group  of 
SCHIZOGNATH^,  corresponding  practically  with  the  Gallin.-e  of 
Linnaeus ;  and,  omitting  the  genera  Opisthocomus  (Hoactzin)  and 
Menura  (Lyrp>bird),  with  the  section  Gallinacei  of  Illiger's  Easores. 

'  ALK,  the  old  and  apparently  the  more  correct  form  of  Auk. 

ALLANTOIS  (from  dAAas,  a  sausage).  A  sack-like  structure, 
which  during  the  very  early  development,  of  the  embryo  grows  out 
/  from  the  posterior  gut  into  the  body  cavity,  and  extends  rapidly  all 
round  the  embryo  in  the  space  enclosed  by  the  false  amnion,  forming 
then  with  the  latter  a  highly  vascular  inner  lining  of  the  eggshell. 
This  bag  receives  urine,  and  takes  on  respiratory  functions  in 
embryonic  Birds  and  Eeptiles.     Towards  the  end  of  incubation  the 


lo  ALP—ALTRICES 


allantois  shrivels  up,  and  is  cast  off  with  the  shell ;  its  stalk  or 
urachus,  from  the  cloaca  to  the  navel,  is  gradually  absorbed,  there 
being  no  urinary  bladder  in  Birds  (see  Embryology). 

ALP,  otherwise  ALPH,  AWBE,  or  OLPH,  a  word  of  unknown 
origin,  but  of  long  standing  (see  Chaucer,  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  circa 
1400),  and  still  locally  used  in  one  or  other  of  its  forms,  e.g.  "  Blood- 
Olph"  and  "Green-Olph"  for  the  Bullfinch  and  Greenfinch 
respectively. 

ALT  RICES,  the  name  given  by  Sundevall  [K.  Vet.  Acad.  Handl. 
1836,  p.  64)  to  his  first  section  of  the  Class  Aves,  comprehend- 
ing those  which  "  alu7d  puUulos"  (feed  their  young),  founded  on 
the  scheme  of  Oken  (Lehrb.  d.  Zoologie,  p.  371),  in  opposition 
to  Pr^ecoces,  the  birds  which  at  birth  are  more  or  less  able  to  feed 
themselves,  but  subsequently  abandoned  by  its  inventor  {Tentamen, 
p.  XX.,  Nicholson's  transl.  p   26). 

The  division  of  the  Class  thus  indicated  has  under  various 
names  been  advocated  by  several  authorities,  and  at  first  sight  has 
a  plausible  appearance ;  but  investigation  shews  that  it  cannot  be 
adopted.  Doubtless  the  original  Birds,  like  Keptiles,  were  Frsecoces, 
and  the  AUrices  are  of  later  date.  The  existence  of  the  numerous 
intermediate  forms  may  thus  be  explained ;  but  it  follows  that  we 
cannot  use  as  absolutely  valid  diff'erentiating  characters  such  as  are 
aff'orded  by  the  open  or  closed  eyes  of  the  young  at  birth,  by  their 
being  clothed  in  down  or  naked,  by  their  remaining  in  the  nest  or 
not,  by  their  way  of  feeding  themselves  or  being  fed.  It  is  possible 
that  the  transition  from  Prsecoces  to  AUrices  has  been  governed  by 
purely  external  circumstances,  which  may  still  be  in  action — such, 
for  instance,  as  the  nest  being  built  high  above  the  ground  or 
water.  There  are  many  AUrices  whose  whole  anatomical  structure 
proves  them  to  be  more  nearly  related  to  certain  groups  of  typical 
Prsecoces  than  they  are  to  other  AUrices.  These  circumstances  as 
fully  explained  (Jenaisch.  Zeitschrift,  1879,  p.  385,  and  Bronn, 
lliierreich,  Aves.  p.  701)  lead  to  the  following  divisions  of  birds  in 
regard  to  their  development : — 

1.  Pr.^coces  or  Nidifugx — hatched  with  eyes  open  ;  thickly  clad  in 

down  ;  able  to  run  at  once,  or  almost  at  once  ;  and  having  such 
an  amount  of  yolk  stored  in  the  abdomen  as  to  render  them  for 
some  time  more  or  less  independent  of  other  food  : — Ratitse, 
Crypturi,  Galling,  Laridse,  Liviicolie,  Pteroclidx,  Grallae,  Anseres, 
Pygopodes. 

2.  Altrices  or  Nidicolse — 

a.  Lower  Nidicolse — some  hatched  with  their  eyes  open,  others 
blind  ;  covered  or  not  with  down  ;  unable  to  leave  the  nest ; 
fed  by  the  parents  ;  amount  of  food-yolk  very  limited  : — 
Spheniscidae,  Steganopodes,  Tubinares,  Herodii,  Pelargi. 


AMAZON— AMNION  ii 

h.  Higher  Nidicolae, — liatclied  in  a  helpless  condition,  blind ; 
mostly  naked,  and  for  a  long  time  nursed  in  the  nest,  the 
food -yolk  having  been  used  up  at  birth: — Golumbse, 
Striges,  Accipitres,  Psittaci,  Coccyges,  Epopes,  Haley  ones, 
Cypselomorphsa,  Pici,  Passcres. 
The  two  series  a  and  b  stand  phylogenetically  parallel  to  each  other. 

AMAZON,  a  bird-fanciers'  name  for  a  certain  group  of  Parrots 
belonging  chiefly  to  the  genus  Chrysotis. 

AMBIENS  is  a  muscle  (so  called  by  Sundevall,  F'arhandl.  Skand. 
Naturf.  1851,  pp.  259-269  :  abstract  in  Rep.  Brit.  Assoc.  1855,  Trans, 
of  Sect.  p.  137)  which,  arising  from  the  pectineal  process  of  the  pelvis, 
runs  along  the  inner  surface  of  the  thigh,  passes  the  knee  as  a 
string-like  tendon,  and  then  forms  one  of  the  heads  of  the  deep 
flexor  muscle  of  the  second  and  third  toe.  The  taxonomic  value 
of  this  muscle  has  been  much  over-estimated  since  Garrod  (P.  Z.  S. 
1874,  pp.  111-123)  divided  the  Class  into  HoMALOGONAT^,  birds 
possessing  an  ambiens  muscle,  and  ANOMALOGONATiE,  or  birds 
without  such  a  muscle.  The  muscle  is  typically  developed  in 
Crypturi,  Gallinse,  Pteroclidse,  Gralla3,  Laridse,  Colymbidse,  Stegano- 
podes,  Impennes,  Anseres,  Accipitres,  Coccyges  ;  it  is  absent  in  all 
Striges,  Cypselomorphre,  Halcyones,  Epopes,  Trogonidse,  Pici,  Pas- 
seres,  Herodii,  Alcidse,  Podicipedidffi ;  it  is  very  variable  in  Eatitse, 
Pelargi,  Tubinares,  Columbse,  Psittaci  (see  also  Muscular  System 
and  Introduction). 

AJMIDAVAD,  otherwise  AMADAVAT,  or  AVADUVAT,  the 
name  given  to  a  well-known  favourite  cage-bird,  Estrilda  arnandava 
(see  Weaver-bird),  being  a  corruption  of  Ahmadabad,  the  name  of 
a  town  in  Goojerat  whence,  more  than  200  years  ago,  according  to 
Yvjev  {New  Account  of  East  India,  &c.,  London:  1698),  examples 
Avere  brought  to  Surat.  In  his  peculiar  style  he  tells  us  (p.  116) 
that  "  they  are  spotted  with  White  and  Red,  no  bigger  than  Measles, 
the  principal  Chorister  beginning,  the  rest  in  Concert,  Fifty  in  a 
cage,  make  an  admirable  Chorus." 

AMNION  (a  Greek  word  of  doubtful  derivation,  used  already 
by  Aristotle).  From  either  end  of  the  body  of  the  very  early 
embryo  grows  out  a  fold  which  passes  dorsally  over  the  embryo, 
and  unites  above  it  with  its  fellow  from  the  other  end ;  between 
the  two  layers  of  this  double  fold,  which  is  the  amnion,  extends 
the  body-cavity,  and  receives  the  rapidly-growing  Allantois  ;  the 
outer  membrane  of  the  allantois  fuses  with  the  outer  double  fold  of 
the  amnion,  and  forms  the  chorion,  lining  the  eggshell  (see  Embryo- 
logy). The  amnion  affords  one  of  the  principal  differentiating 
characters  in  the  vertebrata ;  Eeptiles,  Birds,  and  Mammals  are  as 
Amniota  (Haeckel,  Anthropogenie,  1874)  opposed  to  Amphibians 
and  Fishes  or  Anamnia 


1  J^isnes  or  Anamma.  .  .  /)       J        /    ^    /    ^    / 


12  AMPHIBOLY.— ANATOMY 

AMPHIBOL^^,  a  group  of  birds  so  called  by  Nitzsch  in  1829 
(Obsej-vationes  de  Avium  Carotids  communi,  p.  16)  comprising  the 
genera,  as  then  understood,  Musophaga  (TouRACO),  Colius  (Mouse- 
bird),  and  Opisthocomus  (Hoactzin)  ;  but  by  no  means  to  be  con- 
founded with  the 

AMPHIBOLI,  one  of  Illiger's  groups,  defined  in  1811  (Prodromus 
Systeniatis  Mammalium  ei  Avium,  p.  203),  and  composed  of  the 
genera  Crotophaga,  Scyfhrops,  Bucco,  Cuculus  and  Centropus — the 
third  of  which  is  treated  of  under  the  titles  of  Barbet  and  Puff- 
bird,  while  the  rest  will  be  found  under  those  of  Ani,  Channel- 
bill,  and  CUCKOW. 

AMPHIBOLIC  is  a  toe  which  can  be  reversed  at  will  either 
backwards  or  forwards.  The  outer  or  fourth  toe  is  amjDhibolic, 
and  can  be  turned  backwards  in  Pandion,  the  Striges,  Musophagidae, 
Leptosomatidae,  and  Coliidie.  This  feature,  when  retained,  forms 
the  true  zygodactyle  foot.  The  Mouse-birds  can  turn  the  first  toe 
forwards,  being  thus  enabled  temporarily  to  assume  the  condition 
of  some  of  the  Swifts,  or  that  of  zygodactyle  birds.  Reversion  of 
the  second  toe  backwards  has  produced  the  pseudo- zygodactyle  or 
heterodactyle  foot  of  the  Trogons  (see  Skeleton). 

AMPHIMOBPH.E,  the  name  given  by  Prof.  Huxley  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  460)  to  his  second  group  of  Desmognath^, 
which  consists  of  the  genus  Phcenicopterus  (Flamingo),  as  being 
"  so  completely  intermediate  between  the  Anserine  birds  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  Storks  and  Herons  on  the  other,  that  it  can  be 
ranged  with  neither  of  these,  groups,  but  must  stand  as  the  type 
of  a  division  by  itself." 

ANATOMY  (draro/xta,  dissection)  is  that  branch  of  zoology 
which  deals  with  the  description  of  the  organic  structure  of  animals  ; 
a  branch  of  this  zootomy  is  Histology,  the  knoAvledge  of  the  composi- 
tion of  the  tissues  of  the  various  organs.  The  object  of  Comparative 
Anatomy  is  the  explanation  of  the  features  exhiliited  by  the  animal 
organization.  The  comparative  method  examines  numbers  of  differ- 
ent animals  (or  plants)  with  reference  to  the  anatomical  structure 
of  their  various  organs,  putting  similar  conditions  together,  and 
separating  or  excluding  those  which  are  dissimilar.  By  observing 
in  such  organs  their  size,  number,  shape,  structure,  relative  posi- 
tion to  other  organs,  and  their  development,  we  ultimately  acquire 
a  knowledge  of  such  a  series  of  conditions  or  features,  exhibited 
by  one  and  the  same  organ,  which  in  their  extremes  may  appear 
totally  different,,  but  are  connected  with  each  other  by  numerous 
intermediate  stages.  By  proceeding  in  such  a  way,  we  are,  for 
instance,  enabled  to  understand  the  ankle-joint  of  Birds,  by  com- 
paring the    bones   of  their   hind   limbs   with   those   of    Mammals 


ANATOMY  13 


and  Reptiles,  and  by  concluding  that  the  avine  ankle-joint  is 
produced  by  the  fusion  of  the  proximal  tarsal  bones  with  the 
tibia,  and  of  the  distal  tarsals  with  the  metatarsals,  that  conse- 
quently this  joint  in  Birds  is  not  the  same  as  the  ankle-joint 
of  Mammals.  If  moreover,  as  is  the  case  here,  the  study  of  the 
embryonic  development  of  Birds  shews  that  this  fusion  actually 
does  take  place,  Ontogeny  corroborates  the  correctness  of  the 
conclusions  which  we  had  arrived  at  by  the  strictly  comparative  or 
phylogenetic  method. 

Fhylogeny,  then,  is  the  study  of  the  relationship  and  the 
descent  of  the  various  animals,  often  with  the  help  of  fossil  species, 
which  are  generally  in  some  ways  intermediate  between  other  recent 
forms.  For  instance,  through  comparison  of  the  skeleton  of  Birds 
with  that  of  other  Vertebrates,  we  find  that  Birds  resemble  Rep- 
tiles much  more  than  they  do  Fishes  or  Amphibia  or  Mammals  ; 
this  we  express  by  saying  that  Birds  are  rather  nearly  related  to 
Reptiles ;  the  extraordinary  resemblance  of  recent  Birds  with  the 
fossil  Archxopteryx,  which  at  the  same  time  has  still  many  truly 
Reptilian  characters,  links  the  two  classes  still  more  together.  We 
conclude  that  Reptiles  and  Birds  are  descendants  of  one  common 
Reptilian  stock.  Since  most  Reptiles  possess  teeth,  and  the  more 
than  half  avine  Archxoptenjx  also  has  teeth,  we  again  conclude 
that  the  earliest  Birds  likewise  possessed  such  organs,  and  that 
their  descendants  have  lost  them.  In  this  belief  we  are  not  shaken, 
although  the  most  careful  examination  of  embryonic  birds  has 
failed  to  reveal  even  the  smallest  traces  of  dental  germs.  The 
subsequent  discovery  in  American  cretaceous  deposits  of  Toothed 
birds,  like  Enaliornis  and  Hesperornis,  is  a  beautiful  corroboration  of 
the  soundness  of  the  method. 

Ontogmy,  on  the  other  hand,  includes  the  study  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  individual,  and  hence  is  often  called  Embryology.  What- 
ever organic  modifications  the  parents  have  acquired  during  their 
life,  subjected  to  the  struggle  for  existence,  be  it  through  natural  or 
sexual  selection,  or  be  it  through  spontaneous  variation,  will  be 
inherited,  at  least  partly,  by  their  offspring.  Ontogeny  is  therefore 
the  recapitulation  by  the  growing  individual  of  the  sum  total  of  the 
ever-changing  stages  and  conditions  through  which  the  whole  chain 
of  its  ancestors  has  passed  :  it  is  a  condensed  repetition  of  Phylo- 
geny.  This  repetition  is  often  so  much  condensed  that  many 
previous  stages  are  rapidly  passed  through,  or  may  even  be  appar- 
ently left  out,  or  they  have  become  modified  beyond  recognition 
through  the  development  of  organs  necessitated  by,  and  restricted 
to,  the  embryonic  stages.  Such  strictly  embryonic  organs  (for 
instance  the  Amnion  and  the  Allantois,  or  the  placenta)  are 
features  which  have  originally  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
adult,  because  we  know  of  no  Vertebrates  which  in   their  adult 


14  ANATOMY 


condition  live  Avitliin  such  bags.  Another  imperfection  of  the 
ontogenetic  record  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  sequence  in  which  the 
various  organs  are  developed  in  the  embryo  does  not  always 
correspond  with  the  temporary  succession  in  which  Ave  know 
them  to  haA'^e  been  acquired  during  the  phylogenetic  develop- 
ment of  the  animal  in  question ;  thus  feathers  begin  to  bud  while 
the  skeleton  of  the  embryo  is  still  cartilaginous.  Such  discrep- 
ancies between  the  ontogenetic  and  phylogenetic  development  have 
been  termed  "  caenogenetic "  by  Prof.  Hseckel  (from  /catvo?,  new). 
The  fact  of  their  frequent  occurrence  without  our  being  aware  of 
U^/  the  various  cases,  warns  us  to  be  extremely  careful  iu  interpreting 
the  various  features  exhibited  by  the  embrj'o.  In  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge  it  is  often  impossible  to  decide  the  taxonomic 
value  of  a  given  feature. 

Descriptive  Anatomy  requires  a  number  of  technical  terms  which 
shall  not  be  ambiguous,  or  permit  of  doubt  as  to  their  intended 
meaning.  For  instance,  terms  like  upper  and  lower,  anterior  and 
posterior,  inner  and  outer,  are  often  liable  to  be  misunderstood. 
In  ordinary  parlance  anterior  corresponds  Avith  ventral  in  Man 
(with  reference  to  whom  many  of  our  technical  terms  have  been 
invented),  but  the  head  though  at  the  anterior  end  of  the  animal 
is  not  ventral,  and  yet  the  anterior  surface  of  a  vertebra  may  mean 
its  ventral  surface.  In  fact,  these  vernacular  names  change  their 
meaning  according  to  the  starting-point  which  hajDpens  to  be 
used. 

It  seems  therefore  advisable  to  enumerate,  and  give  a  definition 
of,  those  terms  which  it  is  useful  to  apply  throughout  in  the 
description  of  the  various  organs  of  a  Bird. 

The  longitudinal  axis  of  every  bird  corresponds  with  its  vertebral 
column  :  one  end  is  marked  by  the  head,  the  other  by  the  tail,  thus 
giving  the  terms  cephalic  and  caudal ;  and  concerning  the  neck,  trunk, 
and  tail,  together  Avith  their  constituent  parts,  anterior  and  posterior. 
On  one  side  of  the  vertebral  column  or  axis  are  situated  the  heart, 
lungs,  and  digestive  organs  :  this  is  the  ventral,  in  opposition  to  the 
dorsal  side.  These  giA^e,  combined  Avith  anterior  and  posteiior,  right 
and  left.  An  axis  at  right  angles  with  the  longitudinal  one,  and  at 
the  same  time  running  right  and  left,  is  a  transverse  axis ;  beginning 
AAath  the  vertebral  axis  as  the  starting-point,  the  terms  2)roximal  and 
distal  are  applied  to  any  organ  or  part  which  is  referable  to  the 
longitudinal  axis.  These  tAvo  terms  are  chiefly  applicable  to  parts 
like  ribs  and  limbs  Avith  their  A'arious  elements.  The  proximal  end 
of  the  tibia  articulates  Avith  the  distal  end  of  the  femur ;  the 
proximal  end  of  a  rib  articulates  with  a  vertebra,  and  so  on.  The 
tip  of  the  Av^ing  marks  its  distal,  the  Axilla  its  proximal  end. 

With  reference  to  an  ideal  plane  through  the  longitudinal  axis, 
and  at  right  angles  to  the  transverse  axis,  are  applied  the  terms 


ANATOMY  15 


meditm  or  inner,  lateral  or  outer.  Lastly,  since  it  is  not  always 
obvious  to  which  axis  or  plane  a  given  organ  is  to  be  referred,  its 
parts  can  be  described  with  reference  to  its  neighbours.  Hence  Ave 
speak  of  the  tibial  and  fibular,  radial  and  ulnar  side  of  the  bones 
and  other  parts  of  the  extremities' ;  the  fourth  toe  is  on  the  fibular, 
outer,  or  lateral  side  of  the  foot,  the  first,  which  is  ordinarily  the 
hind  toe,  on  the  tibial,  inner,  and  posterior  side. 

The  basal  part  of  an  organ  is  generally  also  its  proximal  part  or 
root,  while  the  apex  corresponds  with  its  free  or  distal  end,  the 
latter  being  the  portion  most  removed  or  distant  from  the  region 
whence  it  grew.  Thus  we  speak  of  the  distal  tracheal  rings  as 
joining  the  bronchi,  while  proximally  the  trachea  is  attached  to  the 
larynx. 

In  comparing  the  various  parts  of  one  animal  with  each  other, 
or  with  those  of  another  animal,  we  call  the  organs  which  are 
morphologically  oi'  structurally  similar  homologous,  the  parts  which 
physiologically  or  functionally  correspond  are  analogous.  When  the 
comparison  is  restricted  to  one  individual,  the  homologies  are  general. 
The  different  vertebrae,  or  the  ribs,  or  the  anterior  and  posterior 
extremities  of  any  particular  Bird  are  serially  homologous  or  homo- 
dynamous  organs,  because  they  are  to  a  certain  extent  repetitions 
of  each  other,  although  not  necessarily  exactly  alike.  If  the 
comparison  refers  to  similar  organs  in  various  individuals,  no 
matter  if  these  belong  to  the  same  species,  genus,  family,  or  class, 
the  homologies  are  special,  and  these  again  may  be  complete  or  incom- 
plete. For  instance,  the  humerus  of  a  Bird  is  completely  homo- 
logous Avith  that  of  a  Mammal,  Reptile,  or  Amphibian ;  the  atlas 
or  first  vertebra  of  a  Crow  is  completely  homologous  Avith  the  same 
part  of  a  Dog.  On  the  other  hand,  the  wing  of  a  CroAv  is  only 
incompletely  homologous  with  the  arm  of  Man ;  nor  is  the  two-toed 
foot  of  the  Ostrich  completely  homologous  Avith  the  four-toed  foot 
of  a  Fowl,  although  the  various  bones  w.hich  compose  the  feet  in 
both  are  complete  homologues. 

Homologous  organs  are  consequently  developed  from  the  same 
parts  of  the  embryos  of  the  creatures  Avhich  are  under  comparison. 
Hence  the  number  of  existing  homologies  in  given  animals  indicates 
their  further  or  closer  relationship,  and  is  used  for  assigning  these 
animals  to  their  places  in  the  system.  It  folloAvs  from  this  con- 
sideration, that  the  animal's  place  in  the  system  depends  greatly,  or 
entirely,  upon  the  characters  or  organs  selected  for  this  purpose. 
Unless  all  the  organs  and  all  their  characters  are  carefully  considered, 
not  only  in  the  few  Birds  which  happen  to  occupy  our  attention  at 
the  time,  but  also  in  Birds  of  as  many  different  groups  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  examine,  our  attempts  to  produce  a  classification  of  Birds 
must  invariably  end  in  the  production  of  arbitrary  "keys."  It  is 
extremely  difficult,  often  hopeless,  Avith  the  present  state  of  our 


i6  ANATOMY 


knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  Birds,  to  decide  which  characters  and 
which  organs  are  of  extrinsic  taxonomic  value,  and  which  are 
not.  Nor  is  it  always  possible  to  see  why  certain  organs,  fully 
developed,  and  exhibiting  striking  and  constant  features  in  one 
group  of  Birds,  are  extremely  variable  in  another  otherwise  very 
circumscribed  and  apparently  natural  group.  Supposing  such  a 
character  to  be  absent  in  a  given  group,  is  it  absent  because  it  has 
not  yet  been  developed,  or  is  it  because  it  has  been  lost  ?  Has  it  been 
lost  by  the  ancestors  of  this  group,  or  has  it  been  abolished  within 
this  group  ?  In  the  former  case  the  absence  of  this  character  would 
probably  help  to  decide  the  relative  position  of  the  group ;  in  the 
latter  case  this  very  same  character  would  be  reduced  to  a  dia- 
gnostic point  within  the  group,  and  not  throw  any  light  upon  its 
relationship  or  systematic  position.  It  may  be  very  easy  to  dia- 
gnose genera  or  even  large  groups  of  birds,  but  this  ability  to  deter- 
mine them  by  the  helj)  of  mechanically  arranged  "keys"  does  not 
necessarily  aftbrd  us  more  than  an  occasional  glimpse  of  the  sunk 
avine  tree,  at  the  reconstruction  of  which  we  all  aim,  as  the  true 
representation  of  the  natural  affinities  of  Birds. 

It  is  occasionally  insisted  upon  that  "  tact "  will  help  us  to 
select  and  to  reject  characters,  and  thus  prevent  us  from  falling  into 
glaring  errors ;  but  tact  is  a  personal  feeling,  often  bias,  and  it  is 
proof,  not  inclination,  that  settles  scientific  cpiestions.  The  import- 
ance of  these  considerations,  •  often  expressed  before  in  abler  words, 
is  gaining  more  and  more  ground  among  ornithologists,  and  "w^ill 
therefore  permit  the  following  illustrations  of  the  ways  in  which 
we  may  or  may  not  apply  the  study  of  comparative  anatomy  to 
classification. 

The  presence  of  the  Ambiens  Muscle  is  a  Reptilian  feature ; 
among  Birds  it  exists  in  the  majority  of  the  lower  groups,  and  is 
absent  in  most  of  the  higher  members  of  the  Class.  We  conclude 
that  the  latter  have  lost  this  muscle,  and  not  that  it  has  not  yet 
been  developed  in  them.  Its  reduction  or  loss  is  still  going  on 
within  some  groiips,  such  as  Parrots  and  Pigeons.  This  loss  takes 
place  independently  in  widely  different  groups.  It  follows,  first, 
that  absence  of  this  muscle  does  not  always  indicate  relationship ; 
secondly,  that  we  can  derive  forms  that  are  without  it  from  a 
group  which  still  possess  it ;  but  that  the  reversed  conclusion  is  not 
possible.  We  know  of  no  organ  which  has  been  redeveloped  after 
it  has  once  disappeared  in  the  ancestors  of  the  animals  under  con- 
sideration. Therefore  the  absence  of  the  ambiens  muscle  in  all 
Owls,  which  apparently  use  their  hinder  extremities  in  the  same 
way  as  the  Falconidx  (which  possess  this  muscle),  indicates  that 
the  Owls  are  not  developed  from  the  Falconidse,  but  from  a  group 
which,  like  the  Macrochires,  had  already  lost  this  organ. 

Similar  arguments  apply  to  thq  C.ECA.     It  is  generally  admitted 


ANATOMY  17 


that  the  ancestral  bird-stock  did  possess  well-developed  caeca,  there- 
fore all  those  birds  which  are  now  found  without  casca  must  have 
lost  them  either  phylogenetically  or  even  during  their  embryonic 
development.  In  fact,  we  find  in  embryos  of  such  birds  as 
have,  when  adult,  only  very  small  or  rudimentary  caeca,  that  the 
germs  of  these  organs  are,  in  the  embryo,  just  as  well  developed  as 
in  birds  with  long  ca^ca ;  but  these  organs,  in  a  Pigeon  for  instance, 
do  not  grow  any  further.  They  are  in  early  life  stopped  in  their 
development,  and  thus  remain  in  a  rudimentary  state.  Again,  in 
all  those  birds  which  are  completely  devoid  of  ceeca,  their  suppres- 
sion is  simply  carried  out  to  the  extreme.  We  cannot  therefore,  as 
has  been  done  sometimes,  separate  Birds  into  those  with  and  those 
without  caeca  :  this  is  especially  wrong,  as  there  exist  many  forms, 
which,  although  undoubtedly  allied  to  each  other,  differ  greatly  in 
the  presence  or  absence  of  these  organs.  If  we  want  to  use  the 
cajca  as  a  differentiating  character,  we  must  consider  their  quality, 
and  enquire  whether  those  organs  are  functional  and  well  developed, 
or  are  they  now  without  function  ?  Consequently  birds  with 
rudimentary  caeca  have  to  be  grouped  together  with  those  which 
have  no  c^ca,  although  the  ancestors  of  both  had  functional  caeca ; 
and  since  we  know  that  these  organs  stand  in  close  correlation  with 
the  nature  of  the  food,  we  are  enabled  to  weigh  their  taxonomic 
value.  Hence  it  is  probable  that  the  Owls  are  related  to  the  caeca- 
possessing  Nightjars,  and  that  the  caecaless  Macrochires  (like  Swifts) 
are  a  recent  oftshoot  of  the  latter,  while  it  is  impossible  to  assume 
that  the  Owls  are  descendants  of  the  Diurnal  Birds-of-Prey. 

The  modifications  of  the  Carotid  Arteries  have  enabled  Prof. 
Fuerbringer  to  draw  a  very  ingenious  and  valid  conclusion  as 
to  the  probable  original  centre  of  the  Parrots.  While  the  Aus- 
tralian, Oriental,  and  African  Parrots  exhibit  almost  every  possible 
modification  of  these  arteries,  from  the  most  primitive  to  the  most 
specialised  conditions,  the  American  Parrots  possess  only  the  right 
deep  carotis  and  a  left  superficial  carotis,  an  arrangement  which  is 
a  decidedly  recent,  not  primary  feature.  Hence  the  conclusion  that 
the  American  Parrots  are  a  branch  of  the  Palaeotropical  stem ;  but 
however  fascinating  such  speculations  are,  we  must  not  forget  that 
they  hardly  ever  amount  to  definite  proofs. 

Supp'osing  we  divide  Birds  into  two  classes  (A  and  B),  according 
to  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  Ambiens  muscle.  As  a  second 
differentiating  character  let  us  take  the  functional  or  fully  developed 
(a)  and  the  absent  or  functionless  state  of  the  C^CA  (b) ;  and  as  a 
third  character  the  presence  (a)  or  absence  (/3)  of  an  Aftershaft. 
Then  using  the  ambiens  as  the  principal,  and  the  aftershaft  as  the 
tertiary  diff"erentiating  feature,  and  indicating  presence  or  absence 
by  the  signs  +  and  -  respectively,  we  get  the  following  eight 
divisions  : — ■ 


i8  ANATOMY 


A.  Ambiens  + 

a.  Cseca  + 

a.  Aftersliaft  +  e.g.  Gallinoe,  Impennes,  Phoenicopterus, 
Musophaga,  etc. 

j3.  Aftershaft  —  e.g.  Anseres,  etc. 
h.  Cseca  — 

a.   Aftersliaft  +  e.gr.  Accipitres,  Psittaci  partim. 

(3.   Aftershaft  —  e.g.  Columbae  partim. 

B.  Ambiens  — 

a.  Ceeca  + 

a.   Aftersliaft  +  e.g.  Alca,  Podicipes. 

/3.   Aftersliaft  —  e.g.  Striges. 
6.  Caeca  — 

a.  Aftershaft  +  e.^.  Psittaci  pt.,  Cypseli,  Trochili,  etc. 

(S.  Aftershaft  —  e.g.  Passeres,  Columb£B  pt.,  Herodii,  etc. 

Thus  the  Owls  in  this  arrangement  approach  nearest  to  the 
Auks  and  Grebes,  while  the  Parrots,  owing  to  their  variable 
ambiens  muscle,  are  grouped  either  with  the  Accipitres,  or  with  the 
Swifts  and  Humming-birds.  This  is  obviously  unsatisfactory,  per- 
haps owing  to  the  value  of  the  ambiens  muscle  being  overrated. 
Let  us  next  use  the  aftershaft  as  the  principal,  the  ambiens  as  the 
secondary  determining  character,  and  the  caeca  as  the  third.  Then 
the  Psittaci  approach  the  Gallinaceous  birds  and  also  the  Auks  and 
Grebes,  while  the  Owls  verge  into  the  neighbourhood  of  Pigeons, 
Herons,  and  Passerine  birds.  Again,  by  using  the  cseca  as  the  prin- 
cipal, and' the  ambiens  as  the  secondary  feature,  Psittaci,  Accipitres, 
and  Columbse,  Owls,  Auks,  and  Grebes  are  once  more  thrown  to- 
gether. The  same  or  very  similar  arrangements  result  from  a 
combination  of  the  cseca  "with  the  oil-gland,  or  of  the  ambiens  and 
cseca  Avith  the  conditions  of  the  palatal  bones.  But  these  per- 
sistent coincidences  will  never  induce  us  to  look  upon  them  as 
indicating  relationship  between  Owls,  Auks,  and  Grebes,  because 
this  conclusion  would  be  obviously  wrong  !  How  does  the  ques- 
tion stand  with  regard  to  other  combinations,  when  we  cannot  at 
a  glance  discern  a  glaring  error  ?  When,  e.g.  according  to  the 
muscles  of  the  thigh,  leaving  out  the  ambiens,  Striges,  Accipitres, 
and  Cypselidse  stand  closely  together  ?  Is  this  a  mere  coincidence 
or  does  a  deeper  meaning  underlie  this  Trias  ?  It  is  ob^dously  not 
due  to  a  superior  taxonomic  value  of  Garrod's  myological  formulse, 
because  application  of  the  same  principle  throws  Nightjars,  Storks, 
and  Parrots  together. 

It  is  hopeless  to  attempt  to  arrive  at  a  natural  classification  of 
Birds  by  a  mechanical  arrangement  of  even  a  great  number  of 
alleged  leading  characters.  More  may  be  expected  from  the  com- 
bination of  various  taxonomic  arrangements,  each  of  which  has 
been  based  upon  a  single  organic  system  without  reference  to  other 


AN  HIM  A  —ANSERES 


19 


organs.  Of  course  every  one  of  such  one-sided  attempts  will 
occasionally  shew  a  rather  perplexing  face,  but  each  of  them  Mdll 
bring  to  light  some  unexpected  points  of  resemblance  between 
certain  groups ;  and,  while  restricting  ourselves  to  one  organic 
system,  we  are  more  likely  to  understand  which  points  are  given 
to  modifications  through  mode  of  life,  food,  habit,  and  surroundings, 
and  which  remain  least  affected,  and  therefore  are  indicative  of 
relationship.  Let  us  then  combine  the  several  one-sided  arrange- 
ments. They  will  each  of  them  contribute  something  good  or 
certain,  and  thus  help  to  settle  the  great  question.  Reasoning  from 
a  broad  basis  of  facts  will  do  the  rest. 

ANHIMA  or  ANHINGA,  see  Snake-bird. 

ANI,  according  to  Marcgrave  {Rist.  Rer.  Nat.  Brasilia,  p.  193), 
the  Brazilian  name  of  what  is  the  Crotoj^haga  major  of  modern 
ornithologists,  who  have  ignorantly  misapplied  Linnaeus's  designa- 
tion, C.  ani,  to  its  smaller  congener,  an  inhabitant  of  the  Antilles 
and  part  of  the  Spanish  Main.  This  latter  is  known  to  most 
of  the  English-speaking  people  of  the  West  Indies  as  the  Black 
Witch  or  Savanna  Blackbird.  The  genus  Crotophaga  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  forms  of  the  CucuUdse  (CucKOW)  of  the  New 
World. 

ANISODACTYLI,  Vieillot's  name,  in  1816  {Analyse,  p.  29), 
for  the  second  tribe  of  his  second  Order,  comprehending  all  the 
Passeres  of  Linnajus  and  such  of  the  latter 's  PlC^  as  had  not  two 
toes  before  and  two  behind.  By  some  later  authors  the  name  has 
been  restricted  to  the  genera  which  are  not  Zygodactyli  and  are 
yet  placed  among  the  SCANSORES. 

ANKLE-JOINT.  The  true  ankle-joint  is  a  Mammalian  feature, 
being  the  articulation  of  the  tibia  with  the  astragalus,  and  therefore 
a  tibio-tarsal  joint.  In  Birds  the  so-called  ankle-joint  is  an  inter- 
tarsal  joint,  because  the  proximal  tarsal  bones,  of  which  the  astra- 
galus is  one,  are  fused  with  the  end  of  the  tibia,  and  the  distal 
tarsal  are  fused  Avith  the  metatarsal  bones  (see  Skeleton). 

ANOMALOGONATyE,  the  second  of  the  two  subclasses,  the 
other  being  called  Homalogonat^,  into  which  Garrod  at  one 
time  divided  Birds,  according  as  they  possessed  an  Ambiens 
muscle  or  not  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1874,  pp.  116-118).  In  the 
Homalogonatous  or  "  typically -kneed "  birds  "the  ambie^is  runs 
in  the  tendon  of  the  knee,"  though  there  are  some  of  them  in  which 
it  is  absent;  but  "there  cannot  be  any  Anomalogonatous  birds  in 
which  it  is  present."  For  the  grouj)s  which  are  contained  in  these 
categories,  see  Introduction. 

ANSERES,  the  third  Order  of  the  Class  Aves  according  to  the 
system  of  Linnaeus,  comprising  all  the  Web-footed  Birds  known  to 


20  ANT-THRUSH 


him  except  Phoenicopterus  (Flamingo)  and  Recurmrostra  (Avoset). 
If  the  term  be  used  at  the  present  day,  it  must  be  limited  to  the 
Geese  and  their  allies. 

ANT-THRUSH,  Latham's  rendering  in  1783  {Gen.  Synops.  ii. 
p.  87)  of  Buflbn's  Fourmilier  proprement  dit  (Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  \\. 
p.  473),  a  bird  figured  by  Daubenton  [PI.  enl.  700,  fig.  1)  as  the 
Fourmillier  de  Cayenne,  the  Formicarius  torquatusoi  Boddaert  in  1783, 
the  Turdus  formicarius  of  Gmelin  in  1788,  and  the  PJiopotrope 
torquata  of  modern  systematists  ;  for,  though  it  should  be  logicallj' 
recognized  as  the  type  of  the  genus  Formicarius,  Prof.  Cabanis  in 
1847  {Orn.  Notiz.  p.  227),  misled  probably  by  G.  E.  Gray,  removed 
it  to  one  of  his  own  making.  This  little  bird,  not  so  big  as  a 
Skylark,  is  very  beautiful,  notwithstanding  its  curious  figure,  with 
a  disproportionately  long  bill,  short  tail,  and  strong  legs,  and 
absence  of  bright  coloration,  for  the  black,  rich  brown,  sienna,  buft', 
grey  and  white  which  its  plumage  presents,  are  most  harmoniously 
contrasted  or  blended.  It  is  a  native  of  the  northern  parts  of 
South  America,  and  Buff"on  received  .it  from  Cayenne  through 
Manoncour,  the  little  we  know  of  its  habits  being  due  to  the  latter. 
It  is  a  mark  of  Buflbn's  insight  that  he  at  once  recognized  in  this 
species,  and  several  others  allied  to  it,  obtained  from  the  same 
source,  a  perfectly  distinct  group  of  birds  Avhich  he  designated 
Fourmlliers  from  their  feeding  (as  he  was  told)  chiefly  on  Ants.^ 
The  systematists  of  his  day,  Boddaert  and  Hermann  excepted,  were 
not  so  perceptive,  and  referred  these  birds  to  the  Thrushes  or  some 
of  them  to  the  Shrikes.  Their  distinctness  was  at  last  recognized, 
and  they  were  duly  regarded  as  forming  a  Family,  Formicariidse, 
which  is  now  known  to  contain  more  than  250  species,  and  by 
Mr.  Sclater  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xv.  pp.  176-328)  in  1890  has  been 
divided  into  3  subfamilies  —  Thamnophiliim,  often  known  as 
"Bush-Shrikes,"  containing  10  genera  and  at  least  80  species; 
Formicariinse,  the  true  Ant-Thrushes,  including  in  them  the 
Formicivorinae,  by  Swainson  -  called  "  Ant- Wrens  "  {Zool.  Journ.  ii. 
p.  146),  that  Mr.  Sclater  had  formerly  {P.  Z.  S.  1858,  pp. 
232-254)  recognized,  and  thus  enlarging  the  Forriucariinse  so  as  to 
comprise  18  genera  and  more  than  130  species;  while  the  third 
subfamily  Chxdlariinx  includes  5  genera  and  over  30  species.      In 

^  Mr.  Bates  {Nat.  Amazon,  ii.  p.  357)  says  that  the  first  signal  given  to  the 
pedestrian  of  meeting  with  a  train  of  Foraging  Ants  {Eciton)  is  the  twittering 
and  restless  movement  of  small  flocks  of  Ant-Thrushes  in  the  forest,  and  that  if 
he  disregards  their  warning  he  is  sure  to  be  attacked  by  the  ferocious  insects. 

-  Swainson  did  not  know  that  his  genus  Formicivora  had  been  anticipated  by 
Temminck,  who  in  1807  {Cat.  du  Cab.  p.  92)  used  the  name  Formicivorus,  in  a 
sense  equivalent  to  Boddaert's  Formicarius.  The  group  separated  by  Swainson  was 
in  1827  called  by  Gloger  Eriodora,  which  name  therefore  apparently  ought  to  be 
used  for  it. 


AORTA— ARGUS  21 


reality  but  few  of  these  birds  have  an  outward  resemblance  to  Shrikes, 
Thrushes,  or  Wrens,  and  all  belong  to  quite  a  different  division  of 
Passeres.  In  1847  Johannes  Midler  and  Prof.  Cabanis  justly 
placed  them  among  their  Clamatores,  and  subsequently  Garrod 
shewed  their  Mesomyodian  structure.  The  Formicariida}  are  one 
of  the  most  characteristic  Families  of  the  Neotropical  Region, 
abounding  in  the  forest-districts  of  its  middle  portion,  becoming 
less  numerous  in  Central  America,  and  still  scarcer  in  the  southern 
parts,  only  just  reaching  the  plains  of  La  Plata.  They  are  mostly 
small  birds  of  sober  hue,  some  not  bigger  than  Wrens  ;  but  members 
of  the  Genera  Batara  and  Grallaria  attain  the  stature  of  a  Jay.  The 
last  named  of  them  has  much  the  appearance  of  a  Pitta — a  distinct 
group  to  which  the  name  "Ant-Thrush"  has  also  been  applied. 
As  is  the  case  with  most  South- American  birds,  scarcely  anything  is 
known  of  their  habits.  The  large  genus  Thamnophilus,  containing 
upwards  of  50  species,  is  one  of  the  most 
important  of  the  so-called  "Bush-Shrikes," 
and  many  of  its  members  are  remarkable 
for  the  sexual  diversity  in  plumage,  that 
of  the  cocks  being  black  or  black  banded 
with  white,  while  that  of  the  hens  is 
rufous ;  but  in  some  other  groups  the 
black    or    black-and-white    plumage    is 

,        1      , 1  r\!    j_i  •  Ant-Thrush  (Thamnophilus). 

common  to  both  sexes.     Of   this   genus  ^^^^er  swainsonf) 

several  species  inhabit  British  Guiana,  at 

least  three  occur  in  Trinidad,  and  one  is  found  in  Tobago,  where  it 
is  known  as  the  Qua-qua  or  Cata-bird  {Ann.  N.  H.  xx.  p.  331),  their 
presence  in  these  two  islands  offering  one  of  the  many  strong 
proofs  of  their  fauna  belonging  to  that  of  continental  South 
America,  since  no  member  of  the  Family  is  found  in  the  Antilles 
proper. 

AORTA  (adj.  aortic),  the  principal  Artery  from  which  arise 
the  blood-vessels  supplying  the  trunk,  hind  limbs,  and  viscera  below 
or  behind  the  heart  (see  Vascular  System). 

APTERYX,  see  Kiwi. 

ARCH^OPTERYX,  see  Fossil  Birds. 

AREND,  the  Dutch  for  Eagle,  but  used  by  the  colonists  in 
South  Africa  for  the  Bearded  Vulture  or  Lammergeyer. 

ARGALA,  Hindoo  Harglla — said  by  Yule  to  be  the  K/yAa  of 
^lian  (xvi.  4) — a  name  of  the  Adjutant. 

ARGUS  or  ARGUS-PHEASANT,  the  name  originally  applied 
in  ornithology  to  the  extraordinary  and  beautiful  birds  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  Siam,  and  Borneo,  Avhich  are  not  distantly  related 
to   the  Peacock  ;  but  by  English  sportsmen  in  India  commonly 


22  ARTAMUS—A  UK 


used  for  the  species  of  the  genus  Ceriomis,  also  known  as  Tragopans, 
which  are  supposed  to  have  more  affinity  to  the  true  Pheasants. 
In  each  case  the  ocellated  j^himage  has  suggested  the  allusion  to 
the  well-known  personage  in  classical  mythology. 

AETAMUS,  a  genus  of  true  Passerine  birds  founded  by  Vieillot, 
and  of  late  use  as  an  English  word.  They  are  the  "  Wood- 
Swallows  "  or  "  Swallow-Shrikes "  of  some  authors,  and  by  many 
are  considered  to  be  the  nearest  neighbours  of  the  Hirundinidse 
(Swallow),  making  some  approach  to  them  in  their  long  Avings, 
and  habit  of  catching  insects  in  continuous  flights.  If  it  be  granted 
from  their  possessing  patches  of  Powder-down  that  they  should 
form  a  separate  Family  Artamidx,  its  true  alliance  must  still  be 
guessed  at.  Some  15  species  have  been  descril^ed,  more  than  half 
of  them  being  found  in  Australia,  while  one  inhabits  India. 

ABTEBY  (adj.  arterial).  Arteries  are  the  vessels  through 
which  the  blood  leaves  the  heart ;  no  matter  if  this  blood  be  arterial 
or  venous,  as,  for  instance,  is  that  which  flows  through  the  pul- 
monary arteries  (see  Vascular  System). 

ATTEAL,  ATTEILE  or  ATTILE,  a  word,  presumably  a  bird's 
name,  occurring  with  variations  of  spelling  in  many  old  Scottish 
records  (as,  for  example,  in  1600,  Act.  Jac.  VI.  cap.  23),  and 
apparently  used  in  Orkney  for  some  kind  of  Duck  so  lately  as  1848 
according  to  Baikie  and  Heddle  [Hist.  Nat.  Oread,  p.  79),  who, 
possibly  by  mistake,  apply  it  to  the  Pochard.  The  same  was  done 
in  1886  by  Mr.  Thomas  Edmondston  [Etymolog.  Glossary  of  the 
Shetland  and  Orkney  Dialect),  who  associates  it  Avith  the  old  Norsk 
Tjaldr,  which  he  calls  "  Turdus  marinus"  but  is  properly  the 
Oyster-CATCHER.  Of  unknown  etymology,  it  may  be  connected 
with  the  Scandinavian  Atteling-And  or  Atling,  which  again  may  be 
cognate  Avith  Taling,  the  Dutch  for  Teal. 

AUK  (Teutonic  Alk),  the  old  English  name  for  the  Razor-bill, 
and  perhaps  the  Guillemot,  of  modern  writers  ;  but  as  apj:)lied  to 

the  former  now  only  in  provincial  use, 
though  maintained  in  a  collective  sense  for 
members  of  the  Family  Alcid-iv.  With  the 
prefix  "  Great "  or  "  Little,"  it  signifies 
respectively  the  Gare-FOWL  and  the  bird 
so   well    known    to   Arctic   seamen  as   the 

EOTCHE. 

The  greatest  number  of  forms  belong- 
HoRN.BiLi.ED  Auk.    (After      ■      ^^  ^j^jg  family  inhabit  the  North  Pacific, 

and  have  been  separated  into  various  genera. 
Some  of  them  exhibit  the  seasonal  shedding  of  the  outgrowths  on 
the  sheath  of  the  bill  and  on  the  head  that,  as  in  the  Puffin,  are 


A  VADUVA  T—A  VOSET 


23 


only  assumed  in  spring.  Among  them  is  the  curious  Cerm'hyncha 
(or  Ceratorhina)  monocerata  which  by  shedding  the  horn-like  pro- 
tuberance rising  between  the  nostrils,  and  here  figured,  led  to  no 
few  mistakes  until  the  peculiarity  was  known. 

AVADUVAT,  a  corruption  of  Amadavat. 

AVIS,  the  ordinary  Latin  word  for  Bird,  and  in  its  plural  form, 
Aves,  the  scientific  name  of  the  Class  of  Vertebrate  Animals  which 
comprises  every  kind  of  Bird. 

The  want  of  an  adjective  derived  fi'om  Avis  and  Bird  is  one 
much  felt  both  in  Latin  ^  and  English.  In  the  latter  language 
remedy  is  hopeless,  for  'bird-like  is  not  enough,"  and  "  birdy  "  can 
only  be  regarded  as  jocose.  From  the  former  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  supply  this  defect  by  the  invention  and  use  by  some 
writers  of  "avian  " — a  form  which  scholars  declare  to  be  unclassical, 
though  they  allow  that  "avine"  might  jDerhaps  be  admitted.  Of 
Greek  origin  "  ornithic  "  is  quite  justifiable. 

AVOSET,  from  the  Ferrarese  Avosetta,'^  the  Recurvirostra  avocetta 


AvosET  (Recurvirostra  avocetta).    (After  Naumann.) 

of  ornithology,  a  bird  remarkable  for  its  bill,  which  is  perhaps  the 
most  slender  to  be  seen  in  the  whole  Class,  and  curving  upward 
towards  the  end,  has  given  it  two  names  which  it  formerly  bore  in 

^  Aviarius  exists  as  a  Latin  adjective,  but  its  precise  meaning  is  somewhat 
indefinite,  and  its  use  can  hardly  be  recommended. 

^  This  word  is  considered  to  be  derived  from  the  Latin  avis — the  termination 
expressing  a  diminutive  of  a  graceful  or  delicate  kind,  as  donnetta  from  donna 
(Prof.  Salvadori  in  epist.) ;  but  it  is  spelt  Avocetta  by  Prof.  Giglioli. 


24  A  VOSET 


England, — "  Cobbler's-awl,"  from  its  likeness  to  the  tool  so  called, 
and  "  Scooper,"  because  it  resembled  the  scoop  with  which  boatmen 
threw  water  on  their  sails.  The  legs,  though  long,  are  not  extra- 
ordinarily so,  and  the  feet,  which  are  webbed,  bear  a  small  hind  toe. 
This  species  was  of  old  time  plentiful  in  England,  though 
doubtless  always  restricted  to  certain  localities.  Charleton  in 
1668  says  that  when  a  boy  he  had  shot  not  a  few  on  the  Severn, 
and  Plot  mentions  it  so  as  to  lead  one  to  suppose  that  in  his  time 
(1686)  it  bred  in  Staftbrdshire,  while  Willughby  (1676)  knew  of  it 
as  being  in  winter  on  the  eastern  coast,  and  Pennant  in  1769  found 
it  in  great  numbers  opposite  to  Fossdyke  Wash  in  Lincolnshire,  and 
described  the  birds  as  hovering  over  the  sportsman's  head  like  Lap- 
wings. In  this  district  they  were  called  "  Yelpers "  from  their 
cry  ; '  but  whether  that  name  was  elsewhere  applied  is  uncertain. 
At  the  end  of  the  last  century  they  frequented  Eomney  Marsh  in 
Kent,  and  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century  they  bred  in 
various  suitable  spots  in  Suffolk  and  Norfolk, — the  last  place  known 
to  have  been  inhabited  by  them  being  Salthouse,  where  the  people 
made  puddings  of  their  eggs,  while  the  birds  were  killed  for  the 
sake  of  their  feathers,  which  were  used  in  making  artificial  flies  for 
fishing.  The  extirpation  of  this  settlement  took  place  between 
1822  and  1825  {cf.  Stevenson,  Birds  of  Norfolk,  ii.  pp.  240,  241).^ 
There  is  some  evidence  of  their  having  bred  so  lately  as  about 
1840  at  the  mouth  of  the  Trent  (c/.  Clarke  and  Eoebuck,  Vert. 
Fauna  of  Yorkshire,  p.  72).  The  Avoset's  mode  of  nesting  is 
much  like  that  of  the  Stilt,  and  the  eggs  are  hardly  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  those  of  the  latter  but  by  their  larger  size,  the 
bird  being  about  as  big  as  a  Lapwing,  white,  with  the  exception 
of  its  crown,  the  back  of  the  neck,  the  inner  scapulars,  some  of 
the  wing-coverts  and  the  primaries,  which  are  black,  while  the  legs 
are  of  a  fine  light  blue.  It  seems  to  get  its  food  by  working  its 
biU  from  side  to  side  in  shallow  pools,  and  catching  the  small 
crustaceans  or  larvae  of  insects  that  may  be  swimming  therein,  but 
not,  as  has  been  stated,  by  sweeping  the  surface  of  the  mud  or 
sand — -a  process  that  would  speedily  destroy  the  delicate  bill  by 
friction.  Two  species  of  Avoset,  R.  americana  and  R.  andina,  are 
found  in  the  New  World ;  the  former,  which  ranges  so  far  to  the 
northward  as  the  Saskatchewan,  is  distinguished  by  its  light 
cinnamon-coloured  head,  neck,  and  breast,  and  the  latter,  confined 
so  far  as  known  to  the  mountain  lakes  of  Chili,  has  no  white  on 
the  upper  parts  except  the  head  and  neck.     Australia  produces  a 

1  Of.  "Yarwhelp"  (Godwit)  and  "Yaup"  or  "  Wliaup "  (Curlew). 
"  Barker  "  and  "Clinker  "  seem  to  have  been  names  used  in  Norfolk. 

-  The  same  kind  of  lamentable  destruction  has  of  late  been  carried  on  in 
Holland  and  Denmark,  to  the  extirpation  probably  of  the  species  in  each 
country. 


AXILLA— BABBLER 


25 


fourth  species,  R.  novse  hollandim  or  rubricollis,  witli  a  chestnut  head 
and  neck ;  but  the  European  it.  avocetta  extends  over  nearly  the 
Avhole  of  middle  and  southern  Asia  as  well  as  Africa. 

The  proposal  {Ibis,  1886,  pp.  224-237)  to  unite  the  Avosets 
and  Stilts  in  a  single  genus  seems  to  have  little  to  recommend 
it  but  its  novelty,  and  Avill  hardly  meet  with  acceptance  by 
systematists. 

AXILLA  (adj.  axillary),  the  arm-pit,  whence,  or  from  the 
adjoining  part  of  the  arm,  arise  in  many  birds  some  elongated 
feathers  (axillaries  or  lower  humeral  coverts),  constituting  the 
hypoptcron.  In  most  water-birds,  especially  in  Numenkis,  and  Grus, 
but  also  in  a  few  others,  as  Coracias,  some  of  these  feathers  are 
very  long,  straight,  and  slender. 


B 


Pellorneum. 


Crateropus. 


BABBLER,  apparently  first  used  in  ornithology  in  1837,  by 
Swainson  (Glassif.  B.  ii.  233),  for  the  birds,  assigned  by  him 
to  the  subfamily  Crateropoclinse,  belonging  to  the  genera  Pellor- 
7ietim,  Crateropus, 
Grallina,  Malacocer- 
cus  (including  as  a 
subgenus  Timalia  of 
Horsfield)  and  Ptero- 
pitockus  (Tapaculo). 
With  the  exception 
of  the  third  and  the 
last  these  forms  are 
now  commonly  re- 
garded as  forming  part  of  the  Family 
Timeliidps  (often  but  less  accurately 
vrritten  Timaliidai),  which  no  system- 
atist  has  yet  been  able  to  define 
satisfactorily,  while  many  have  not 
unjustly  regarded  it  as  a  "refuge  for 
the  destitute" — thrustins;  into  it  a 
great  number  of  forms,  chiefly  Oscin- 
ine,   that,    with   a  bill  resembling  a  Cinclorhamphus. 

Shrike's,   a  Thrush's,   or   a  War-  (After  swainson.) 

bler's,  mostly  possess  very  short  and  incurved  wings,  and  cannot, 
in  the  opinion  of  some,  be  conveniently  stowed  elsewhere.  Two 
volumes   (vi.    and   vii.)   of    the    Catalogue   of  Birds    in    tJie  British 


26 


BABILLARD—BALDPA  TE 


Crinigeb.    (After  Swainson.) 


Museum  ^  are  devoted  to  this  mixed  multitude,  which  is  therein 
made  to  inckide,  beside  the  groups  usually  assigned  to  the 
Family,  others  more  or  less  well  defined,  such  as  Bower-birds, 
Mocking-birds,  and  AVrens,  with  certain  Bulbuls,  Shrikes, 
Thrushes,  and  Warblers.  Some  of  these,  such  as  the  first  three, 
to  say  nothing  of  Water -OuSELS,  Hedge -Sparrows,  and  some 
American  forms,  are  obviously  not  allied  to  the  rest ;  but,  after 
their  withdi-awal,  there  is  still  a  fine  field  left  for  a  systematic 
ornithologist  who  would  take  in  hand  what  remains  of  this  hetero- 
geneous assemblage,  and  introduce   even   the  semblance  of    order 

where  all  is  at  pre- 
sent confusion.  The 
birds  more  particu- 
larly called  Babblers, 
often  with  a  prefix 
such  as  Bush-Bab- 
bler, Shrike-Babbler, 
Tit-Babbler,  and  so 
forth,  l^elong  chiefly  to  the  Ethiopian  and  Indian  Regions,  and  many 
of  the  last  are  well  treated,  under  the  name  of  Crateropodidse,  by 
Mr.  W.  E.  Gates  {Faun.  Brit.  India,  Birds,  i.  pp.  70-297),  though  even 
he  has  perhaps  been  too  generous  in  receiving  some  forms.  Many 
of  these  Birds  originally  described  under  the  genus  Criniger  of 
Temminck,  but  since  subdivided  as  Tricholestes,  Xenocichla,  and  so 
forth,  are  remarkable  for  the  long  fine  bristles  that  spring  from 
the  nape  or  middle  of  the  back,  as  shewn  in  the  annexed  figure ; 
but  traces  of  this  feature  may  be  seen  in  many  other  forms,  and 
even  in  one  so  familiar  as  the  common  Song-THRUSH. 

BABILLARD,  a  French  name,  Anglified  in  1831  by  Rennie  in 
his  edition  of  Montagu's  Ornithological  Dictionary  (p.  15),  for  the 
bird  already  known  as  the  Lessee  Whitethroat  ;  but  one  that 
has  fortunately  not  taken  real  hold  in  our  language.  Had  he 
attempted  to  revive  the  old  English  "  Babelard,"  he  probably  would 
not  have  been  more  successful. 

BACBAKIRI,  one  of  the  short-Avinged  Shrikes,  the  Telephonus 
bacbakiri  of  South- African  ornithology,  and  so  named  of  the  colonists 
from  its  call-note  (Layard,  B.  S.  Africa,  p.  161). 

BALDPATE,  the  name  commonly  given  by  the  English-speak- 
ing residents  of  the  West  Indies  to  a  Dove,  the  Columha  Icuco- 
cephala,  from  its  white  head — though  most  inaccurately,  for  that 
])art  is  well  clothed  with  feathers.     It  may  here  be  observed  that 

^  The  second  of  these  volumes  possesses  one  great  merit :  it  does  not  pre- 
tend to  assign  an  English  name  to  birds  which  by  hardly  any  conceivable  chance 
will  need  one. 


BANTAM— BARBET  27 

the  epithet  "Bald"  is  apjilied  just  as  inaccurately  in  North  America 
to  an  Eagle,  the  Haliaetus  leucocephahis,  and  in  England,  though 
more  appositely,  to  the  Coot. 

BANTAM,  a  small  lireed  of  domestic  poultry,  so-called  under 
the  belief  that  it  came  from  the  part  of  Java  A\'hich  bears  that  name  ; 
but  apparently  it  originated  in  Japan  (cf.  Darwin,  Anim.  &  Plants 
under  Domest.  chap,  vii.)  Birds  of  this  breed  were  mentioned  in 
1698  by  Fryer  {Neiv  Account  of  East  India,  p.  116)  as  "  Champore 
cocks,"  coming  from  Siani.  Remarkable  for  their  diminutive  size, 
they  were  characterized  also  by  their  feathered  feet.  In  modern 
times  Sebright  established  a  sub-breed,  known  by  his  name,  in  which 
not  only  is  this  last  feature  wanting,  but  there  is  comparatively 
little  external  difference  between  the  cocks  and  hens. 

BARBET,  Pennant's  equivalent  in  1773  {Gen.  Birds,  pp.  13,  14) 
of  Brisson's  and  subsequently  Linna^us's  genus  Bucco  (a  word  coined  ■•■ 
in  1752  by  Moshi'ing,  though  applied 
by  him  to  the  Toucans)  ;  but  Brisson 
called  it  in  French  Barhu,  "from  its 
bristles,  a  sort  of  beard  "  with  Avhich 
the  beak  is  beset,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  figure,  and  hence  Pennant 
formed    his    word.-       The   type   of 

Brisson's    genus,     on    which    that    of        PoaoNORHYNcnns.    (After  Swainso^ ' 

Linnpeus   was   founded,    was    called 

by  the  latter  in  1766.  B.  capensis — most  unhappily  in  all  respects,  for 
the  former  had  expressly  given  Cayenne  as  its  habitat.^  The  birds 
originally  included  in  the  genus  are  now  recognized  as  belonging  to 
two  distinct  Families,  commonly  known  as  Bucconidx  and  Ca])itonidse, 
and  it  is  to  the  latter  of  these  that  the  name  "  Barbet "  is  restricted 
by  modern  ornithologists,  the  former  being  known  as  Puff-birds. 
The  Capitonidai,'^  or  "Scansorial"  Barbets  as  some  authors  designate 
them,  though  their  climbing  power  is  disputed,  form  the  subject  of 
a  beautifully  illustrated  Monograph  by  Messrs.  C.  H.  T.  and  G.  F.  L. 

^  From  the  Latin  bucca;  and,  as  explained  by  Pennant,  referring  to  "the 
fuhiess  of  the  cheeks." 

^  Barbet  had  long  existed  in  French  in  the  sense  of  a  shaggy  dog — a  poodle  or 
water-spanieh 

^  In  this  case  of  the  use  of  the  extraordinary  and  ungrammatical  adjective 
which  has  unfortunately  been  so  frequently  adopted,  one  can  hardly  doubt 
that  Linnaeus  meant  to  write,  and  very  likely  did  write  (in  an  abbreviated  form, 
as  was  his  habit),  cayensis  for  cayenncnsis,  which  he  afterwards  misread,  and 
unluckily  clenched  the  mistake  by  adding,  "  Hab.  ad  Cap.  b.  Spei." 

^  Garrod  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1879,  p.  935)  and  Forbes  (op.  cit.  1882,  p.  94)  used  this 
term  to  include  the  Toucans  and  Honey-guides  as  well  as  the  Barbets.  Of 
course  if  these  Families,  hidicatoridae,,  Ccqntonidw,  and  Hhamphasiidaz,  be  united 
in  one,  the  last  is  the  name  it  should  bear. 


28  BARGANDER—BASIPTERYGOID  PROCESSES 

Marshall  (London:  1870-71,  4to),  who  divide  the  Family  into 
three  subfamilies  : — Pogonorhyncliinai,  with  3  genera  and  15  species; 
Megalserninai,  with  6  genera  and  44  species ;  and  CapitoninEe,  with 
4  genera  and  18  species.  Since  the  appearance  of  that  work  one 
new  genus  and  some  thirty  new  species  have  been  described. 
Supposing  that  the  subfamilies  above  named  be  truly  established, 
it  would  seem  that  the  Gapitoninse,  of  which  members  are  now  to  be 
found  in  the  New  World  as  well  as  in  Africa  and  Asia,  may  from 
its  wide  distribution  be  regarded  as  the  most  ancient,  and  next  the 
Pogonorhynchinse,  inhabiting  both  America  and  Africa,  while  the 
Megalseminx,  restricted  to  Africa  and  Asia,  aj)pears  to  be  the  most 
modern  subfamily,  and  two  genera  belonging  to  it,  Megalsema  and 
Xantholszma  are  found  in  India  and  Ceylon.  They  are  birds  mostly 
of  a  bright  green  plumage,  some  of  them  variegated,  especially  on 
the  head,  with  scarlet,  violet,  blue,  or  yellow — though  others  are 
plainly  coloured.  All  of  them  seem  to  live  chiefly  on  fruit,  but 
insects  occasionally  form  part  of  their  food,  and  in  captivity  they 
become  carnivorous.  They  breed  in  holes  of  trees,  laying  white 
eggs,  and  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  utter  a  clear  ringing  note,  so  loud 
as  to  attract  general  attention.  The  cry  of  Xantholxma  indica  is 
especially  resonant  •  and,  being  accompanied  by  a  peculiar  motion 
of  the  head,  has  obtained  for  the  bird  in  some  of  the  native  languages 
a  name  signifying  COPPERSMITH,  by  which  English  rendering  it  is 
also  known  to  Anglo-Indians. 

BAKGrANDER  or  Bergander,  a  local  name,  of  uncertain  origin 
and  spelling,  of  the  Sheld-drake. 

BARKER,  a  name  locally  applied,  from  their  cry,  to  the  Black- 
tailed  GoDWiT  and  the  AvosET  in  the  days  when  they  inhabited 
England.  Albin,  a  very  poor  authority,  figured  under  this  name 
what  was  certainly  a  Greenshank,  though  Montagu  took  it  to  be 
Totanus  fuscus,  and  hence  an  error  has  found  its  way  {sub  voce)  into 
Dr.  Murray's  New  English  Dictionary. 

BARLEY-BIRD,  a  name  given  in  some  parts  to  the  Yellow 
Wagtail,  in  others  to  the  Wryneck — but  in  both  cases  from  their 
appearing  at  the  time  of  barley-sowing.  By  some  authors  it  is  said, 
but  obviously  in  error,  to  be  applied  to  the  Siskin. 

BARWING,  the  Anglo-Indian  name  for  birds  of  the  genus 
Actinodura,  from  the  black  bar  or  bars  which  the  wings  of  most  of 
them  present.  The  genus  is  usually  placed  in  the  ill-defined  Family 
Timeliidse. 

BASIPTEPvYGOID  PROCESSES  are  a  pair  of  bony  outgrowths 
on  the  right  and  left  side  of  the  body  of  the  basisphenoid,  forming 
the  principal  articulation  of  the  pterygoids  with  the  basis  cranii. 
Such   processes   are  well   developed    in  all   the   Ratitae,   Crypturi, 


BAYA— BEE-EATER  29 

Turnices,  and  Striges.  Similar  processes  spring  from  the  basi- 
sphenoidal  rostrum  in  many  other  Carinatse,  e.g.  Anseres,  Gallinse, 
Cokxmba3,  Pteroclidse,  Cathartidse,  and  Serpentarius  ;  while  in  many 
birds  these  processes  are  developed  in  the  embryo  but  are  resorbed 
finally,  or  they  are  never  developed,  the  anterior  ends  of  the 
pterygoids  in  either  case  articulating  with  the  palatine  bones  alone, 
or,  resting  directly  uj)on  the  basisphenoidal  rostrum,  as  in  Phoeni- 
copterus,  GralL'e,  Laridse,  Dicholophus,  Pygopodes,  Impennes, 
Steganopodes,  Falconidse,  Psittaci,  Cuculid^e,  Opisthocomus,  Macro- 
chires,  Pici,  and  Passeres.  In  the  Limicolae  and  Tubinares  these 
processes  are  very  variable.     For  illustrations  see  Skulj.. 

BAYA  (Hindoo  BaicL),  often  used  by  English  writers  for  the 
common  Weaver-bird  of  India,  Ploceus  haya,  the  builder  of  the  well- 
known  retort-shaped  nests. 

BAY-BIRD,  and 

BEACH-BIRD,  common  names  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  North 
America  for  several  of  the  Limicolx,  as  the  Sanderling,  Turn- 
stone, and  others.  {Cf.  Trumbull,  Names  ami  Portraits  of  Birds, 
pp.  186,  191  note.) 

BEAK,  see  Bill. 

BEAM-BIRD,  said  to  be  the  name  used  in  some  parts  of 
England  for  the  Spotted  Flycatcher. 

BEE-EATER,  a  name  apparently  first  used  in  1668  by  Charleton 
(Onomasticon,  p.  87)  as  a  translation  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  Merops, 
though  he  said  that  the  bird  was  rarely  or  never  found  in  England 
— the  Merops  ajnasfer  of  ornithology.  The  term  being  appropriate 
(as  is  shewn  by  its  equivalent  in  cognate  tongues — Danish,  Bixder ; 
German,  Bienenfresser)  has  been  continued  to  this  species,  and  sub- 
sequently extended  to  others  more  or  less  closely  allied  to  it,  form- 
ing a  small  but  natural  Family,  Meropidse,  admirably  monographed 
by  Mr.  Dresser  (London  :  1884-1886,  imp.  4to),  who  recognizes  five 
genera,  and  thirty-one  species.  They  belong  to  the  group  in  this 
work  termed  Picarige,  and  are  distinguished  for  their  brilliant  colora- 
tion, their  graceful  form,  and  their  active  habits,  since  every  species 
seems  to  obtain  its  living  by  catching  insects  as  they  fly.  The  Bee- 
eaters  are  birds  of  the  Old  World,  and  the  majority  (18)  of  the 
species  are  peculiar  to  the  Ethiopian  Region,  two  more  also  occurring 
^\athin  its  limits,  while  only  four  inhabit  the  Palsearctic  area,  one  of 
them  being  the  M.  apiaster  named  above,  which  appears  irregularly 
in  Northern  Europe  in  summer,  and  has  more  than  thirty  times 
visited  Great  Britain  since  its  first  recorded  occurrence  in  June 
1793,  when  a  flight  of  about  twenty  was  observed  in  Norfolk,  and 
a  specimen  obtained  at  that  time  is  still  preserved  in  the  Derby 
Museum  at  Liverpool. 


30  BEEF-EA  TER— BELL-BIRD 

It  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  beautifully-coloured  birds  ever 
found  in  these  islands,  and  no  one  who  has  once  seen  a  specimen 
will  forget  its  rich  chestnut  crown  and  mantle  passing  lower  down 
into  primrose,  its  white  frontal  band,  the  black  patch  extending 
from  the  bill  to  the  ear -coverts,  the  saffron  throat  bordered  with 
black,  while  most  of  the  rest  of  the  plumage  is  of  a  vivid  greenish- 
blue  or  bluish-green,  and  the  middle  pair  of  tail  feathers  are 
elongated  and  attenuated  in  a  way  that  is  not  seen  in  any  other 
British  land-bird.  This  formation  of  the  tail  characterizes  also  the 
single  species  of  the  genus  Meropogon,  while  Bicrocercus  has  the  tail 
deeply  forked,  and  in  Melittophagus  and  Nijdiornis  it  is  nearly  even, 
but  the  last,  containing  two  species— one  ranging  from  Burma  to 
Borneo,  and  the  other  (the  largest  of  the  whole  Family)  inhabiting 
India  as  well  as  Burma  and  Cochin  China — is  readily  distinguishable 
by  the  remarkable  elongated  feathers  of  the  gular  tract.  Six  species 
of  the  Family  shew  themselves  in  the  Cape  Colony  or  parts  imme- 
diately adjacent,  and  one,  Merops  ornatus,  occurs  over  almost  the 
whole  of  Australia. 

The  Meropidse  have  much  in  common  with  the  Camciidse 
(Roller),  Alcedinidse  (Kingfisher),  Momotidse  (Motmot),  and 
especially  with  the  Galhulidx  (Jacamar),  for  not  only  are  there 
many  anatomical  resemblances  between  the  birds  of  these  Families, 
but  nearly  all  of  them,  so  far  as  is  known — the  Rollers  perhaps 
being  the  chief  exceptions — breed  in  holes  made  by  themselves  in 
a  bank  of  earth,  and  the  Bee-eaters,  or  at  least  the  species  of  the 
genus  Merops,  it  would  seem,  nearly  always  in  society. 

BEEF-EATER,^see  Ox-pecker./ /ii.^w^-&~-/^.^/^  /;/5/ 

BELL-BIRD  is  the  English  name  given  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  to  very  different  species ;  but  always  from  the  resemblance 
of  the  sound  of  the  note  they  utter  to  that  of  a  bell.  In  Guiana, 
it  is  applied  to  the  Campanero  of  the  Spanish  settlers,  Chasmorhyn- 
chus  niveus,  belonging  to  the  Family  Cotingidx  (Chatterer),  of  which 
Waterton  wrote  {Wanderings,  2nd  Journey):  "He  is  about  the  size 
of  the  jay.  His  plumage  is  white  as  snow.  On  his  forehead  rises  a 
spiral  tube  nearly  three  inches  long.  It  is  jet  black,  dotted  all  over 
with  small  white  feathers.  It  has  a  communication  with  the  palate, 
and  when  filled  with  air,  looks  like  a  spire  ;  when  empty  it  becomes 
pendulous.^  His  note  is  loud  and  clear,  like  the  sound  of  a  bell, 
and  may  be  heard  at  the  distance  of  three  miles.   .  .  .   You  hear 

^  In  the  allied  species  from  Costa  Rica,  C.  tricarunculatus — so  called  from  its 
three  elongated  appendages,  which  in  appearance  call  to  mind  the  long  pendants 
of  an  orchid  (Oypripedmvi  caudatum) — Mr.  Salvin  records  his  impression  (Ibis, 
1865,  p.  93)  that  "no  inflation  takes  place,  and  that  the  bird  possesses  little  or 
no  voluntary  muscular  control  over  these  excrescences."  The  fact  that  the 
Brazilian  species,  C  nudicollis,  utters  a  note  which,  if  not  actually  "  bell-like  "  in 


BENGALI— BERNA  CLE 


his  toll,  and  then  a  pause  for  a  minute,  then  another  toll,  and  then 
a  pause  again,  and  then  a  toll,  and  again  a  pause.  Then  he  is  silent 
for  six  or  eight  minutes,  and  then  another  toll,  and  so  on."  In 
Ne^y  Zealand  the  name  is  given  to  the  Anthonm  melanura  of  the 
Family  MeU]j]iagklai  (Honey-sucker),  whose  melody  struck  the 
companions  of  Cook,  when  on  his  second  voyage  the  ship  was 
lying  in  Queen  Charlotte's  Sound,  as  being  "like  small  bells  most 
exquisitely  tuned  " — a  bird  which  owing  to  the  destruction  of  the 
forests  no  longer  exists  in  most  parts  of  that  country,  and  will 
speedily  become  extinct.  In  Australia,  according  to  Gould,  two 
species  of  birds — one  of  them,  Manorhina  vielanophrys,  belonging  to 
a  different  genus  of  the  Family  last-named,  and  the  other,  Oreoxa 
cristata,  possibly  to  the  Laniidee  (Shrike) — are  called  by  the  same 
name  for  the  same  reason. 


BENGALI,  the  dealers'  name  for  the  beautiful  little  African 
bird,  Fringilla  bengalus  of  Linnaeus,  and  some  of  its  allies,  belonging 
to  the  Ploceidx  (Weaver-bird),  and  referred  by  later  AVTiters  to 
the  genus  Estrilda,  Pytelia  or  Urxgnatkus.  The  name  originated 
with  Brisson  (Ornithol.  iii.  p.  203),  who  believed  these  birds  came 
from  Bengal. 

BERGHAAN  (Mountain-cock)  the  name  given  to  some  of  the 
larger  Eagles,  and  especially  to  the  beautiful  Helotarsus  ecaudatus 
(sometimes  known  as  the  "  Bateleur  "),  by  the  Dutch  colonists  in 
South  Africa,  and  often  adopted  by  English  residents  (Layard, 
B.  S.  Africa,  pp.  11,  18). 

BERNACLE,  apparently  the  right  way  of  spelling  the  word 
often  written,  in  accordance  with  its  pronunciation,  "Barnacle"  or 
"Barnicle."  Its  derivation  is  as  puzzling  to  the  etymologist  as  is 
to  the  ornithologist  the  discovery  of  the  breeding-grounds  of  the 
bird  it  denominates.  Dr.  Murray,  under  the  word  "  Barnacle  "  in 
the  New  English  Dictionary,  gives  as  the  oldest  known  English  form 
the   Bernekke   (Latinized   Bernaca)    of    Giraldus   Cambrensis    about 

tone,  has  a  clear  metallic  ring,  though  the  bird,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  figure,  has 
no  caruncle,  shews  that  this  feature  is  not  likely  to  be  connected  with  the  power 
of  producing  the  peculiar  sound.       A  fourth  species,    C.  variegatus,   inhabits 


Chasmoehynchus  nudicollis.    (After  Swainsou.) 

Trinidad  and  the  neighbouring  part  of  South  America.     Its  loud  note  is  likened 
by  Leotaud  {Ois.  Trinidad,  p.  260)  to  tlie  sound  of  a  cracked  bell. 


32  BILCOCK—BILL 


1175  ;  and  states  that  the  Cirriped  {Lepas  anatifera),  also  so-called, 
took  its  name  from  the  Bird,  a  kind  of  GooSE,  and  not  the  Bird 
from  the  Cirriped. 

BILCOCK,  said  to  be  a  local  name  for  the  Water-RAIL. 

BILL  or  BEAK,  in  Latin  Eostrum.  This  consists  of  an  upper, 
chiefly  premaxillary  and  maxillary,  and  of  a  lower,  or  mandibular, 
half.  The  horny  covering  is  to  a  certain  extent  moulded  after  the 
shape  of  the  supporting  bones.  The  soft  cutaneous  portion  of  the 
skin  is  frequently  restricted  to  a  thin  layer  between  the  periosteum 
and  the  Malpighian  layer  of  the  epiderm  ;  in  it  run  numerous  blood- 
vessels and  nerves,  the  latter  occasionally  penetrating  the  horny 
layer,  and  ending  in  tactile  or  sensory  corpuscles. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  very  stout  beaks,  the  cutaneous  layer 
forms  conical  elongations  which  project  into  the  thick  horny  parts, 
especially  into  the  ends  of  the  upper  and  lower  bill.  In  the  broad 
edge  of  the  mandible  of  Parrots  such  projections  are  particularly 
numerous  and  long ;  when  they  calcify,  as  cutaneous  structures 
are  liable  to  do,  they  bear  in  horizontal  sections  a  sixperficial 
resemblance  to  the  germs  of  teeth,  and  have  been  mistaken  as  such 
by  various  anatomists  (see  Teeth). 

The  horny  sheath,  or  rhamphotheca,  is  produced  by  the 
outer  layers  of  the  Malpighian  cells,  and  resembles  in  structure 
other  horny  parts,  as  Cl-A-WS,  nails,  and  spurs.  Sometimes,  as 
in  the  Anseres,  the  greater  portion  of  the  outer  sheath  of  the  bill  is 
soft,  and  only  the  tip  of  the  bill  is  transformed  into  a  thick  horny 
"  neb,"  which  contains  numerous  tactile  organs.  In  some  birds, 
especially  in  the  diurnal  Birds -of- Prey  and  in  the  Parrots,  the 
greater  portion  of  the  distal  end  of  the  upper  beak  is  hard,  while  the 
basal  portion  is  thick  and  soft — the  so-called  cere.  It  is  generally 
very  sensitive,  and  encloses  the  nostrils.  Though  mostly  bare, 
it  is  in  some  Parrots  thickly  covered  with  feathers,  and  then 
approaches  in  structure  the  ordinary  skin.  The  neighbourhood  of 
the  nostrils  is  often  soft,  and  produces  an  operculum  by  which,  in 
some  cases,  the  external  nares  can  apparently  be  closed,  although 
no  muscles  seem  to  exist  there.  Such  a  soft  and  swollen  operculum 
is  a  prominent  feature  in  Pigeons,  and  is  very  large  and  curled  in 
Khinochetus  (Kagu).  In  the  Petrels  each  operculum  forms  a  more 
or  less  complete  tube,  which  may  or  may  not  fuse  with  its  counter- 
part in  the  middle  line,  and  thus  produce  an  apparently  single  tube 
with  a  longitudinal  vertical  septum,  whence  the  name  "  Tubinares." 

A  leathery  operculum  or  valve  also  occurs  in  Plovers,  in 
Podargus,  many  Passeres  (especially  shewn  in  Meliphagidae),  and 
in  the  Humming-birds,  in  the  last  being  covered  with  feathers.  In 
Caprimulgus  each  nostril  is  produced  into  a  short,  narrow,  and 
quite  soft  tube. 

Another  differentiating  feature  in  connexion  with  the  nostrils 


BILL  33 

and  the  rostrum  is  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  complete  vertical 
iiiternasal  septum.  If  the  septum  is  complete,  which  seems  to 
be  the  primary  condition,  the  right  and  left  nasal  ca^dties  are 
completely  separated  from  each  other,  and  birds  having  this 
structui'e  are  said  to  possess  nares  impervige.  The  septum  either 
remains  cartilaginous,  or  it  ossifies  to  a  variable  extent.  Con- 
sequently in  macerated  skeletons,  where  only  the  bony  parts 
remain,  this  character  cannot  be  determined.  In  comparatively 
few  birds  is  the  ossification  complete,  but  this  occm's  in  the 
Owls,  in  Podargus,  in  some  Accipitres,  Parrots,  and  others.  When 
the  septum  is  incomplete,  the  right  and  left  nostrils  communicate 
with  each  other,  forming  nares  pervise,  as  in  Phaethon,  among  the 
Steganopodes,  in  the  Herons,  Grebes,  Divers,  Grallse  (except  Ehino- 
chetus),  Gavipe,  Limicolse,  Storks,  Flamingos,  Anseres,  Cathartidse 
(but  not  in  the  Vulturidse  and  Falconidse),  and  in  many  Passeres, 
especially  in  the  Meliphagidse.  In  some  Steganopodes,  for  instance 
in  the  Cormorants,  the  nostrils  are  reduced  to  naiTow  slits,  and  this 
condition  is  carried  to  an  extreme  in  the  Gannets,  the  external 
nostrils  being  absolutely  closed,  and  the  greater  portion  of  the  nasal 
cavity  obliterated  or  filled  with  cancellated  bony  tissue ;  how- 
ever, the  olfactory  apparatus  is  well  developed,  the  inner  nostrils  or 
ChoaN-E  being  very  ^vide,  and  in  open  communication  with  the 
mouth,  enabling  the  Gannet  to  smell  its  food  when  in  the  mouth. 

Various  parts  of  the  rostrum  have  received  special  names : 
ciilmen,  the  dorsal  ridge  of  the  upper  bill ;  apex  or  tip ;  dertrmn, 
in  which  it  often  terminates ;  goni/s,  or  more  correctly  genys,  the 
prominent  ridge  formed  by  the  united  halves  of  the  under  jaw, 
e.g.  in  Gulls ;  tomia,  the  cutting  edges  of  the  bill. 

The  form  of  the  bill  exhibits  almost  infinite  vai-iations  in  size, 
shape,  and  structure,  of  which  only  the  most  striking  modifications 
can  here  be  dealt  with.  Generally  shape  and  size  stand  in  obvious 
correlation  mth  the  mode  of  feeding,  but  sexual  selection  seems 
also  to  play  a  great  part,  and  leads  to  formations  which  it  is  often 
impossible  to  understand. 

The  horny  sheath  of  the  bill  sometimes  consists  of  a  number 
of  pieces  more  or  less  separate.  In  the  Ostriches  and  Tinamous 
there  is  a  lateral  pair  and  an  unpaired  piece  for  each  jaw ;  in  the 
Tubinares  on  the  upper  jaw  at  least  one  pair  of  lateral  or  maxillary 
pieces,  an  unpaired  piece  Avhich  covers  the  culmen  and  is  continued 
into  the  prolonged  nasal  tubes,  and  an  apical  hook,  strongly  curved 
and  pointed :  each  half  of  the  under  jaw  is  covered  by  one 
ventral,  one  dorsal,  and  one  terminal  piece,  the  latter  j^artly  fusing 
Avith  that  of  the  other  side  into  a  strong  scoop.  Indications 
of  such  a  compound  rhamphotheca  are,  however,  found  in  other 
birds,  especially  in  the  Steganopodes,  in  some  Herons,  like 
"Nycticorax  and  Scopus,  and  in  Penguins ;  the  culminar   or  dorsal 

VOL.  I.  3 


34  BILL 

unpaired  piece  being  more  or  less  separated  from  the  lateral 
pieces.  In  the  majority  of  birds  the  horny  covering  forms  one 
coherent  sheath. 

Frequently  the  edges  of  the  mandibles  and  of  the  maxillae  are 
serrated  to  secure  a  firmer  hold  upon  the  food,  for  instance  in 
Toucans.  In  the  Anseres  these  tooth-like  serrations  are  arranged  in 
the  shape  of  numerous  transverse  lamellse,  and  hence  the  name 
"  Lamellirostres, '  which,  especially  in  the  Shoveler,  form  an  elaborate 
sifting  apparatus. 

The  bill  of  the  Flamingos  is  likewise  furnished  with  such  sifting 
lamellse  ;  the  two  halves  of  the  under  jaw  are  considerably  enlarged, 
so  that  the  comparatively  narrow  upper  jaw  closes  upon  a  wide 
cavity.  In  addition  to  this  the  whole  bill  is  bent  downwards, 
in  some  species  rather  abruptly  ;  these  long-necked  birds  being  thus 
enabled  to  sift  the  soft  mud  of  lagoons  with  their  bill  in  an  inverted 
position,  the  dorsal  surface  of  the  bill  being  turned  towards  the 
bottom.  Undoubtedly  this  most  peculiar  bill  is  a  secondarily 
acquired  character,  referable  to  the  mode  of  feeding,  which  again 
is  connected  with  the  long  neck  and  legs.  This  view  is 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  very  young  Flamingos  still  have 
straight  and  short  bills,  which  very  gradually  and  only  compara- 
tively late  assume  the  final  shape. 

Fine  sifting  lamellse  occur  also  in  Prion  (Whalebird),  and  as  a 
dense  brushlike  mass  on  the  inside  of  the  premaxillary  region  in 
Anastomus.  The  jaws  of  this  genus  have  the  further  peculiarity 
that  they  do  not  shut  completely,  being  slightly  curved  in  opposite 
directions.  u 

In  the  Spoonbilled  Sandpiper,  Eurmorhynchus  pygmseus,  the 
end  of  the  upper  and  lower  bill  is  of  a  peculiar  spatulate  and  heart- 
shaped  form. 

The  broad  and  flattened  spatulate  bill  of  the  SPOONBILLS,  the 
boat  or  shoe-shaped  bill  of  the  Whale-headed  Stork,  Balxniceps,  and 
of  the  Cancroma  (Boatbill),  the  long  bills  of  the  Ibis  and  the 
Whimbrel,  curved  downwards,  and  upwards  in  the  Avoset,  need  no 
further  comment  but  that  they  all  are  illustrations  of  the  adapta- 
tion to  a  special  mode  of  life,  and  therefore  not  necessarily  indica- 
tive of  relationship,  as  rather  analogous  than  homologous  structures. 

The  beak  of  Parrots  is  extremely  strong,  and  well  adapted 
to  the  breaking  open  of  nuts  by  sheer  force.  The  mandible  ends 
in  a  transverse  blunt  edge,  which  presses  against  a  corresponding 
horny  prominence  of  the  upper  beak.  In  the  large  Microglossa 
(Cockatoo),  which  lives  on  the  stone-hard  fruit  of  the  kanari-tree 
(Canarium  commune),  the  beak  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  a 
sledge-hammer.  Transverse  ridges,  like  those  of  a  file,  are  common 
in  front  of  the  prominence  of  the  upper  jaw,  the  bird  using  them 
as  a  rasp — no  Parrot  s"\vallowing  anything   but  absolutely  com- 


BILL  35 

minuted  particles  of  hard  substance,  or  pulpy  and  soft  food — and 
also  for  filing  or  sharpening  its  mandible. 

In  the  Skimmer,  Rhyncliop^,  the  bill  forms  two  sharp  vertical 
blades,  which  somewhat  gape  asunder,  with  the  further  peculiarity 
that  the  mandibular  sheath  and  the  suppoiting  bone  itself  is  con- 
siderably larger  than  the  upper  portion.  A  vertically  compressed 
bill  is  also  common  in  the  Alcidoe,  and  is  often  vividly  coloured 
dui'ing  the  summer.  In  the  Puffins  the  outermost  bright  layers 
of  the  horny  sheaths,  and  the  horny  excrescences  at  the  gape  of 
the  mouth  and  above  the  eyes  are  cast  off  periodically,  these  parts 
being  developed  for  the  breeding  season  (Bureau,  Bull.  Soc.  Zool. 
France,  1877,  p.  377/.) 

In  many  birds  the  covering  of  the  bill,  especially  near  the  base 
of  the  culmen  and  the  forehead,  is  swollen,  and  forms  various  pro- 
tubei-ances,  horns,  knobs,  and  other  apparently  ornamental  excres- 
cences. In  the  Coots  and  in  Musophaga  (Plantain -eater) 
the  coating  of  the  culmen  is  produced  backwards  over  the  fore- 
head, overlapping  the  latter  as  a  conspicuous  white  or  yellow 
soft  plate.  Often  the  underlying  bones,  especially  the  nasals 
and  the  adjoining  premaxillary  parts,  are  also  swollen,  and 
form  a  light  and  extremely  spongy  meshwork  of  cancellated  bony 
tissue,  a  peculiarity  Avhich  attains  its  highest  development  in  the 
HORNBILLS  and  in  the  TouCANS.  Similar  swellings  are  the  knobs 
on  the  bill  or  on  the  forehead  of  the  ScoTER  and  Mute  Swan,  of 
Globicera  among  Pigeons,  of  certain  Cracidse,  and  of  Macrocephalon 
(Megapode).  In  most  of  these  cases  the  swellings  are  very  light ; 
rarely,  as  in  the  Helmet- Hornbill,  the  bones  of  the  forehead 
are  greatly  enlarged,  and,  although  much  cancellated,  of  great 
weight  and  strength ;  moreover,  the  horny  epidermal  covering  of 
the  forehead  is  three  quarters  of  an  inch  thick,  and  of  the  hardness 
and  weight  of  ivory. 

Another  deviation  is  constantly  found  in  the  Crossbill's  beak, 
the  sharply-pointed  and  hooked  ends  of  the  upper  and  lower  jaws 
crossing  each  other  in  an  individually  varying  way,  there  being  an 
equal  number  of  right  and  left -billed  specimens.  This  crossing 
begins  to  shew  itself  before  the  young  birds  are  fledged,  increases 
with  age,  and  ultimately  leads  to  an  asymmetrical  development  of 
the  masticatory  muscles  and  of  the  bones  of  the  occipito-quadrate 
region. 

In  Anarhynchus  frontalis  (Wrybill)  the  terminal  half  of  the 
bill  is  turned  towards  the  right  side,  an  abnormality  which  exists 
in  a  marked  degree  even  in  the  very  young  birds.  The  right 
edges  of  the  premaxilla  and  of  the  mandible  are  thin  and  strongly 
turned  inwards,  so  that  the  right  and  left  sides  are  asymmetrical 
in  section.  The  left  nostril  and  the  groove  which  is  continued 
towards   the  terminal   third   of    the    bill  remain  in  their  original 


36  BILL— BIRD 


position,  but  the  I'ight  nostril,  and  still  more  the  groove,  are 
perceptibly  slanting  towards  the  right,  as  can  be  ascertained  by 
viewing  the  bill  from  the  dorsal  side. 

Sexual  Dimorphism  is  mostly  restricted  to  peculiarly  shaped 
bills  ;  for  instance,  the  horn  of  the  male  Hornbills  is  often  larger, 
and  differs  in  shape  from  that  of  the  female.  In  the  males  of 
Pelicans  several  unpaired  excrescences  are  formed  entirely  by  the 
horny  coating  of  the  premaxilla ;  they  sometimes  reach  a  height  of 
three  to  four  inches,  and  are  again  cast  off  after  the  breeding 
season,  resembling  in  the  latter  feature  the  Auks,  as  described 
above. 

The  most  striking  example  of  dimorphic  bills  is  that  of  the  New- 
Zealand  HuiA,  Heterolocha,  the  bill  of  the  female  being  slender, 
about  four  inches  long,  and  much  curved,  while  that  of  the  male  is 
nearly  straight,  stout,  and  scarcely  half  that  length.  The  knobs  or 
swellings  in  the  Gallinse  are  mostly  restricted  to  the  males ;  the 
same  applies  to  Qi^demia  (Scoter).  Sexual  diflerences  in  colour 
are  common.  For  instance,  in  the  male  Scoter  the  bill  is  black  and 
orange,  in  the  young  and  in  the  female  It  is  simply  grey,  and  with- 
out the  knob.  The  bill  of  the  adult  male  Blackbird  is  orange- 
yellow  ;  that  of  the  young  of  both  sexes  and  of  the  adult  males  of 
Buceros  malayanus  (Hornbill)  is  white,  but  becomes  black  in  the 
adult  female,  forming  thus  an  interesting  exception  to  the  general 
rule  that  the  young  agree  with  the  females,  and  that  aberrant 
coloration  is  confined  to  the  males.  The  colour  of  the  bill  is 
deposited  as  a  dift'used  pigment  in  the  horny  cells  of  the  epidermal 
coat,  but  is  occasionally  restricted  to  the  deeper  layers,  or  even 
to  the  Malpighian  layer  itself,  then  shining  through  the  outer 
transparent  layers. 

In  connexion  with  the  bill  is  to  be  mentioned  the  "  egg-tooth," 
which  is  developed  in  the  embryos  of  all  birds  as  a  small  whitish 
protubei'ance  or  conglomeration  'of  salts  of  calcareous  matter, 
deposited  in  the  middle  layers  of  the  epidermis  of  the  tip  of  the 
upper  bill,  without  being  connected  with  the  premaxilla  itself. 
The  sharp  point  of  this  "  tooth  "  soon  perforates  the  upper  layers 
of  the  horny  sheath,  and  then  files  through  the  eggshell,  a  slight 
crack  in  the  latter  being  sufficient  to  enable  the  young  bird  to 
free  itself.  A  similar  egg-tooth  exists  in  Reptiles,  and  is,  as  in 
Birds,  cast  off  after  hatching.  The  wearing  away  of  the  growing  and 
constantly  renewed  horny  layers  of  the  bill  can  be  easily  observed 
in  the  pealing  beak  of  a  Parrot. 

BIRD  (etymology  unknown ;  but  in  Old  English  Brid),  origin- 
ally the   general  name   for  the   young  of  animals ;  ^  then,  as  the 

1  As  ill  Wyclif's  translation  of  Matth.  xxiii.  33,  "  eddris,  and  eddris  briddis  " 
(A.V.  "serpents"  and  "generation  pf  vipers");  Trevisa,  Barth  de  P.  E.  xii.  v. 


BIRD-OF-PARADISE  yj 

ancient  word  Fowl  became  specialized  in  meaning,  taking  its  place 
to  signify  what  cannot  be  more  tersely  expressed  than  by  the  saying 
that  "  A  bird  is  known  by  its  feathers."  This  proverb  is,  accord- 
ing to  our  present  knowledge,  also  a  scientific  definition,  for  no 
other  group  in  the  Animal  Kingdom  has  the  same  kind  of  clothing 
(see  Feathers),  though,  regarding  as  almost  certain  the  evolution 
of  Birds  from  Reptiles,  it  must  be  that  at  one  time  there  existed 
creatures  intermediate  between  them,  and  it  may  be  that  remains  of 
some  of  them  will  yet  be  discovered,  sheAving  that  plumage  was  worn 
by  animals  which  had  not  yet  dropped  all  the  characters  that  now 
distinguish  Eeptiles  from  Birds.  The  two  Classes  [Ecptilia  and  Aves) 
have  been  brigaded  together  by  Prof.  Huxley  under  the  name  of 
Sauropsida,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  are  essentially 
much  more  closely  allied  to  each  other  than  either  is  to  the  rest  of 
the  Vertebrates.  It  has  of  late  years  become  manifest  that  among 
Reptiles  the  forms  which  approach  most  nearly  to  Birds  are  those 
known  as  the  Dinosauria ;  but  of  them  there  is  not  one  yet  dis- 
covered respecting  the  rank  of  which  any  reasonable  doubt  may 
be  entertained,  though  certain  parts  of  the  skeleton,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  pelvic  arch,  present  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  the 
corresponding  parts  of  certain  Birds,  of  the  Ratit.e  especially.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  earliest  known  Bird,  Archseoj)teryx,  is  less  like 
the  Dinosaurs  than  are  the  modern  Ratitx.  The  gulf  between 
Birds  and  Mammals  is  much  wider  than  between  the  former  and 
Reptiles,  notwithstanding  that  the  lowest  of  existing  Mammals,  the 
Monotvemata,  possess  several  bird-like  characters  in  their  structure, 
and,  as  is  noAv  proved,  lay  eggs  (see  Anatomy,  Fossil  Birds,  and 
Introduction). 

BIRD-OF-PARADISE,  a  phrase  used  in  many  European  lan- 
guages since  the  return  (6  Sept.  1522)  of  the  first  expedition  for 
circumnavigating  the  globe,  commonly  known  as  Magellan's.  In 
December  1521  the  voyagers,  then  at  Tidore,  one  of  the  Moluccas, 
were  off'ered  by  the  ruler  of  Batchian,  as  a  gift  to  the  King  of  Spain, 
two  very  beautiful  dead  birds,  as  we  are  told  by  Antonio  Pigafetta 
the  chronicler  of  the  voyage  (Primo  Viaggio  intorno  al  Globo,  ed. 
Amoretti,  Milano  :  1800,  p.  156),  who  is  generally  believed  to  have 
been  the  first  to  introduce  these  birds  to  the  notice  of  Europeans ;  ^ 

41.0,  "  In  temperat  yeres  ben  fewe  byrdes  of  been  "  [  =  bees],  and  o^a  cit.  xiii.  xxvi. 
458  "All  fysshe  .  .  .  fade  and  kepe  tlieyr  byrdes  "  ;  Scots  Acts,  7  Jac.  I.  "  The 
Woolfe  and  Woolfe-birdes  [i.e.  cubs]  suld  be  slaine."  The  connexion  formerly 
thought  to  exist  between  bird  and  bj-eed  or  brood  is  now  denied  {JVeto  English 
Dictionary,  sub  voce),  but  no  approach  to  the  derivation  of  the  first  has  been 
made. 

^  Pigafetta's  account  contains  some  details  worthy  of  attention.  It  describes 
the  birds  as  being  as  big  as  Thrushes,  with  a  small  head,  a  long  bill,  and  slender 
legs  like  pens  used  for  writing,  about  as  long  as  a  palm.     They   had  no  wings 


^ 


38  BIRD-OF-PARADISE 

but  it  is  now  certain  that  he  was  anticipated  by  Maximilianus 
Transylvanus,  a  young  man  who  was  residing  in  the  Spanish  court 
on  the  arrival  of  the  survivors  of  Magellan's  comi^any,  and 
promptly  wrote  to  ^,  his  father^  the  Archbishop  of  Salzburg,  an 
account  of  their  discoveries  and  spoils,  sending  moreover  to  him 
one  of  the  wonderful  birds  they  had  obtained.  This  account  {De 
Moluccis  insuUs  &c.)^  was  published  at  Cologne  in  the  January 
following,  and  the  native  name  of  the  birds,  of  which  it  seems  that 
five  examples  were  brought  home,  is  given  as  Mamuco-Diata,  a 
variant  of  Manucodiata,  meaning  the  Bird  of  the  Gods,  a  name 
which  seems  to  be  still  in  use  (c/.  Crawfurd,  Malay  and  Engl.  Did. 
p.  97).  But  it  may  well  be  that  even  before  this  Birds-of-Paradise 
were  known  to  Europeans,  for  the  Portuguese  reached  the  Moluccas 
in  1510,  to  say  nothing  of  the  possibility  of  skins  being  imported 
by  Eastern  traders  at  a  much  earlier  period.  Belon,  who  travelled 
in  the  Levant  between  1546  and  1549,  mentions  (Observations 
de  plusieurs  singularitez  &c.  liv.  iii.  chap.  25),  among  the  feathery 
adornments  of  the  Janissaries,  plumes  which  could  hardly  be  other 
than  those  of  these  birds  ;  and  expressly  states  that  they  were 
obtained  from  the  Arabs.^  His  statement  was  first  published  in 
1553,  and  in  the  same  year  appeared  the  work  of  Cardanus,  De 
Subtilitate,  wherein  (lib.  x.)  the  Manucodiata,  as  the  Bird-of-Paradise 
now  began  to  be  called  (the  adoption  of  its  Malay  name  shewing 
that  knowledge  of  it  was  derived  from  Spanish  or  Portuguese  navi- 
gators), is  made  to  support  the  avithor's  argument.  In  1555  it  was 
again  treated  of  by  Belon,  as  well  as  by  Gesner,  who  figured  (p.  612) 
what  seems  to  have  been  a  specimen  of  Paradisea  minor,  both 
of  them  expressing  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of  the  stories  which  were 
already  rife  on  the  subject.  Some  of  these  were  touched  upon  in 
1557  by  J.  C  Scaliger  in  his  reply  (Exotericarum  exercitationum  Liber 
XV.  ccxxviii.  2)  to  Cardanus,  while  in  1599  Aldrovandus  (Ornithol. 

(which  were  doubt-less  cut  otf)  but  in  their  place  long  feathers  of  different  colours 
like  great  plumes  (joennacchi),  the  tail  like  a  Thrush's,  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
feathers,  the  wings  excepted,  of  a  dull  colour.  Much  of  this  description  fits  the 
only  species  of  Bird-of-Paradise  that  inhabits  Batchian,  the  ruler  of  which 
island,  as  above  stated,  gave  the  birds  ;  but  that  species  remained  unknown  to 
naturalists  until  Mr.  Wallace  procured  examples  in  October  1858  {Malay  Archi- 
pelago, ii.  pp.  40,  41),  and  it  was  subsequently  described  as  Seonioptera 
wallacii. 

^  I  have  not  seen  the  original,  but  a  fac-simile  reprint,  together  with  a  trans- 
lation of  it,  is  given  by  the  late  Mr.  Henry  Stevens  of  Vermont  in  his  Johann 
Schoner  &c.,  edited  by  Mr.  C.  H.  Coote  (London  :  1888). 

^  He  said  that  they  belonged  to  birds  called  Bhintaces,  which  some 
modern  writers  identified  with  the  Apus  of  classical  authors,  though  he  himself 
thought  they  were  tlie  feathers  of  the  Phccnix.  A  plausible  case  might  indeed 
be  made  out  for  connecting  the  legend  of  the  bird  last-named  with  that  of  the 
gods  and  of  paradise. 


BIRD-OF-PARADISE  39 

lib.  xii.),  rejoicing  of  course  in  these  absurd  fables,  severely  took 
to  task  some  of  those  who  doubted  them — among  them  Pigafetta 
himself,  who  is  rated  for  declaring  that  Birds-of-Paradise  had  legs, 
for  it  was  clear  from  the  authorities  cited  that  they  had  or  ought 
to  have  none.  Aldrovandus  professedly  figured  five  species,  but  only 
three  of  them  can  be  referred  with  any  certainty  to  the  genus 
Farad,isea. 

There  would  be  little  use  in  dwelling  upon  the  many  false 
assertions  made  by  some  of  the  older  wi'iters  concerning  these 
gorgeous  and  singular  birds,  nor  is  space  here  available  to 
recount  the  way  in  which  species  after  species  has  been  discovered. 
The  first  naturalist  who  was  able  to  observe  anything  of  them  in 
their  own  haunts  seems  to  have  been  Lesson,  who  in  July  and 
August  1824  passed  a  fortnight  at  Dorey  in  New  Guinea  ( Foy. 
Coquille,  Zoologie,  ii.  p.  436) ;  but,  though  his  remarks  have  in- 
terest, his  opportunities  are  not  worthy  to  be  named  with  those 
enjoyed  by  Mr.  Wallace,  who  in  the  course  of  his  long  sojourn 
and  wanderings  in  the  Moluccas  and  neighbouring  islands  made 
the  personal  acquaintance  of  nearly  every  species  then  known,  and 
indeed  first  brought  to  the  notice  of  naturalists  one  most  curious 
form,  Semioptera  wallacii.  His  admirable  account  of  their  habits 
may  be  read  in  one  of  the  most  accessible  of  books,  his  Malay 
Archipelago.  Varied  as  is  the  appearance  of  the  several  forms 
of  Paradiseidx,  most  of  them  are  sufficiently  well  known  to  require 
no  description  here.  In  1873  Mr.  Elliot  completed  a  fine  Mono- 
graph of  the  Family,  which  he  divided  into  3  subfamilies — 
Paradiseinx,  with  1 0  genera  and  1 7  species  ;  Epimachinse,  with  4 
genera  and  8  species  ;  and  Tedonarchinm — the  last  comprising  the 
Bower-birds,  and  including  in  all  36  species,  of  which  22  inhabit 
New  Guinea.  In  1881  Prof.  Salvadori  enumerated  39  species, 
which  he  disposed  of  in  21  genera,  as  occurring  within  the  scope 
of  his  elaborate  Ornitologia  della  Papuasia  e  delle  Molucche.  Eecent 
explorations,  mostly  by  German  naturalists,  and  especially  by  Dr. 
Hunstein,  have  considerably  increased  this  number,  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  two  very  distinct  and  beautiful  new  forms  Astrarchia 
stephanise  and  Paradisornis  rudolphi,  to  say  nothing  of  two  fine  species 
of  the  old  genus  Paradisea,  P.  gulielmi-ii,  and  P.  augiisfcX-vidorix, 
by  their  names  testify  to  the  loyalty  of  Drs.  Finsch,  A.  B.  Meyer, 
and  Cabanis,  who  have  described  them  (Zeitschr.  ges.  Orn.  1885, 
pp.  369-391,  pis.  xv.-xxii. ;  transl.  Ihis,  1886,  pp.  237-258,  pi.  vii. ; 
and  Journ.f.  Orn.  1888,  p.  119,  1889,  pis.  i.  ii.) 

The  Paradiseidm  are  admittedly  true  Passeres,  but  their  exact 

position  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  absolutely  determined,  though 

there   can   be    little    doubt    of   their   forming  part    of  the  group 

indefinitely  known  as  "  Austrocoraces  "  ^ — to  which  so  many  forms 

1  The  Noto-Coracomorphx  of  Parker  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  p.-  327). 


40  BIRD-  OF- PRE  Y— BITTERN 

of  the  Australian  Region  belong  —  and  the  precise  limits  of  the 
Family  must  still  be  regarded  as  uncertain  (see  Bo^yER-BmD, 
Manucode,  and  Rifleman-bird). 

BIRD -OF -PREY,  a  phrase  in  common  use,  signifying  any 
member  of  the  Order  AcciPiTKES  of  Linnajus  (the  Shrikes  being 
generally  excepted)  or  of  the  Raptores  of  many  later  systematists. 

BISHOP-BIRD,  or  Bishop-Tanager,  Latham's  rendering  {Gen. 
Synops.  ii.  p.  226)  of  the  French  V^Teqne,hy  which  a  species  inhabiting 
Louisiana  was,  according  to  Dupratz  {Hist,  de  la  Louisiane,  ii.  p.  140), 
originally  called,  as  stated  by  Buffon  (Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  iv.  p.  291). 
Dupratz's  bird  was  probably  the  S2nza  cyanea  of  modern  ornithology, 
the  Indigo-bird  or  Indigo-Bunting  of  the  English  in  North  Amei'ica  ; 
but  Buffon  confounded  it  with  his  Orgarmte  of  Santo  Domingo — 
a  very  different  species  figured  by  D'Aubenton  {PI.  enl.  809,  fig.  1 ) ; 
while  Brisson  {Orn.  iii.  p.  40)  had  already  applied  the  French 
name  {I'Evesque,  as  he  wrote  it)  to  a  third  species  from  Brazil, 
which  subsequently  became  the  Tanagra  .ejoiscojyus  of  Linnaeus,  and 
this  seems  to  be  the  only  one  now  knoAvn  (and  that  to  few  but 
"fanciers")  as  the  "Bishop-Bird"  or  " Bishop-TANAGER "  —  the 
colour  of  its  plumage  suggesting,  as  in  the  original  case,  the 
appellation.  Audubon,  himself  a  Louisianian,  makes  no  mention  of 
the  name  "Bishop-Bird";  but  says  {B.  Amer.  iii.  p.  96)  that  it  was 
known  to  his  countrymen  as  the  Petit  PapeUeu.  He  adds  that  the 
first  settlers  called  all  the  Buntings,  Finches  and  "  Orioles"  Papes. 


•■a"' 


BITTERN  (in  older  English  "Bittour,"  "Botor,"  and  "Buttour") 
cognate  with  the  French  Putor,  and  of  obscure  origin  says  Dr. 
Murray,^  though  Belon's  suggestion,  made  in  1555,  connecting  it 
with  a  bird  described  by  Pliny  (lib.  x.  cap.  xlii.),  which  imitates 
the  lowing  of  oxen  {bourn),  and  hence  was  called  taurus  in  the 
district  of  Arelate  "  (Aries),  may  be  correct ;  for  the  bird  is  the 
Botaurus  of  some  mediseval  writers,  and  their  name  is  still  kept 
by  systematists  as  that  of  the  genus  to  Avhich  the  Bittern  belongs. 
Turner,  in  1544,  gave  as  an  English  synonym  "  Miredromble " ; 
while  "Butter-bump  "  (corrupted  into  " Botley-bump ")  and  perhaps 
other  uncouth  forms  have  reference  to  the  booming  or  bellowing 
sound  for  which  this  species  Avas  famous. 

^  It  seems,  however,  not  to  be  connected,  as  he  thinks,  with  the  mediaeval 
Latin  Bitorius  for  that  is  generally  glossed  JFrmima  (Wren)  or  sometimes  as 
"  Earth  linger  "  or  "  Yrdling."  It  may  not  signify  a  bird  at  all,  but  a  Shrew- 
Mouse — Arancus,  in  English  a  "[\v]ranner."  Butio  seems  also  to  be  meant  by 
mediieval  writers  in  some  cases,  and  a  hopeless  confusion  has  been  established 
between  that  word  and  Butco,  a  BrzzAKD. 

"  According  to  Rolland  {Faun.  Pop.  France,  p.  376)  it  is  known  in  some  parts 
of  France  as  Bmuf  d'eau,  Taureau  d'6tang,  and  other  names  of  similar  import. 


BITTERN 


41 


The  Bittern  is  the  Botaurus  stellaris  of  ornithology,  belonging 
to  the  Family  Ardeida}  (Heron),  but  to  a  genus  fairly  separable, 
more  perhaps  on  account  of  its  almost  wholly  nocturnal  habits  and 
corres})on(lingly-adapted  coloration,  than  on  strictly  structural 
grounds,  though  some  differences  of  proportion  are  obserA^able.  It 
'  was  formerly  an  abundant  bird  in  many  parts  of  Britain  ;  but, 
since  the  reclamation  of  the  bogs  and  fens  it  used  to  inhabit,  it  is 
become  only  an  irregular  visitant,  —  though  not  a  Avinter  passes 


BITTEEX. 


without  its  appearing  in  some  numbers,  when  its  uncommon  asjDect, 
its  large  size,  and  beautifully  -  pencilled  plumage  cause  it  to  be 
regarded  as  a  great  prize  by  the  lucky  gun-bearer  to  whom  it  falls 
a  victim.  Its  value  as  a  delicacy  for  the  table,  once  so  highly 
esteemed,  has  long  vanished.  The  old  fable  of  this  bird  inserting 
its  beak  into  a  reed  or  plunging  it  into  the  ground,  and  so  causing 
the  booming  sound  Avith  which  its  name  will  be  always  associated, 
is  also  exploded,  and  nowadays  indeed  so  few  people  in  Britain 
have  ever  heard  its  loud  and  aAvful  voice,  Avhich  seems  to  be 
uttered  only  in  the  breeding-season,  and  is  therefore  unknown  in  a 


42  BLACKBIRD— BLACKCAP 

country  where  it  no  longer  breeds,^  that  incredulity  as  to  its  boom- 
ing at  all  has  in  some  quarters  succeeded  the  old  belief  in  this  as 
in  other  reputed  peculiarities  of  the  species.  The  Bittern  is  found 
from  Ireland  to  Japan,  in  India,  and  throughout  the  ■whole  of 
Africa — suitable  localities  being,  of  course,  understood.  Australia 
and  New  Zealand  have  a  kindred  species,  B.  looedloptilus,  and  North 
America  a  third,  B.  muffitans  or  B.  lentiginosus.  The  former  is  said 
to  bellow  like  a  bull,  but  authoi^ities  differ  as  to  the  vocal  powers 
of  the  latter,^  which  has  several  times  wandered  to  Europe,  and  is 
distinguishable  by  its  smaller  size  and  uniform  greyish -bi'own  prim- 
aries, which  want  the  tawny  bars  that  characterize  B.  stellaris. 
Nine  other  species  of  Bitterns  from  various  parts  of  the  world  are 
admitted  by  Schlegel  {3fus.  P.-B.  Ardese,  pp.  47-56),  but  some  of 
them  should  perhaps  be  excluded  from  the  genus  Botaunis ;  on  the 
other  hand,  Dr.  Reichenow  (Journ.  f.  Orn.  1877,  pp.  241-251),  by 
comprehending  the  birds  of  the  Group  Arietta, — commonly  known 
as  "Little  Bitterns,"  and  differing  a  good  deal  from  the  true 
Bitterns — makes  the  whole  number  of  species  twenty-two. 

BLACKBIRD,  the  common,  but  not  the  most  ancient,^  name  of 
the  Ousel,  the  Turdus  merula,^  of  Linnseus  and  most  ornithologists, 
one  of  the  best  known  of  British  birds ;  but  since  conferred  in  dis- 
tant countries  on  others  whose  only  resemblance  to  the  original 
bearer  lies  in  their  colour,  as  in  North  America  to  several  members 
of  the  Idericlx  (Grackle  and  Icterus),  in  the  West  Indies  to  the 
species  of  Crotophaga  (Ani),  and  perhaps  to  more  in  other  lands. 
Occasionally  too  in  translations  of  Scandinavian  works  it  is  used 
to  render  Svartfugl — the  general  name  for  the  Alcidm  (Auk) — of 
which  indeed  it  is  an  equivalent,  but  its  use  in  that  capacity  tends 
to  mistakes. 

BLACKCAP,  the  Sylvia  atriciipilla  of  ornithology,  one  of  the 
most  delicate  songsters  of  the  British  Islands,  and  fortunately  of 
general  distribution  in  summer.  To  quote  the  praise  bestowed 
upon  it  in  more   than  one  passage   by   Gilbert  White  would  be 

^  The  last  recorded  instance  of  the  Bittern  breeding  in  England  was  in  1868, 
as  mentioned  by  Stevenson  {Birds  of  Norfolk,  ii.  p.  164).  All  the  true  Bitterns, 
so  far  as  is  known,  lay  eggs  of  a  light  olive-brown  colour. 

2  Richardson,  a  most  accurate  observer,  positively  asserts  {Fauna,  Boreali- 
Americana,  ii.  p.  374)  that  its  booming  exactly  resembles  that  of  its  European 
congener,  but  few  American  ornithologists,  Mr.  Torrey  {Auk,  1889,  pp.  1-8) 
excepted,  seem  to  have  heard  it  in  perfection. 

^  Its  earliest  use  seems  to  be  in  the  Book  of  St.  Albans  in  1486,  where  it 
occurs  as  "blacke  bride." 

■*  By  some  unhappy  accident  the  order  of  these  words  is  reversed  in  Dr. 
Murray's  N'ew  English  Dictionary.  The  bird  has  been  named  Merula  atra,  but 
never  Merula  turdus  (as  therein  stated)  by  Linnseus  or  any  one  else. 


BLACKCOCK— BLOOD  43 

superfluous.  Enougli  to  say  that  its  tones  always  brought  to  his 
mind  the  lines  in  As  You  Like  It  (Act  ii.  sc.  5) : 

"  And  turn  his  merry  note 
Unto  the  sweet  bird's  throat." 

The  name,  however,  is  only  ai^plicable  to  the  cock  bird  of  this  species, 
who  further  differs  from  his  browncapped  mate  by  the  pure  ashy- 
grey  of  his  upper  plumage  ;  but  notwithstanding  the  marked  sexual 
difference  in  appearance,  he  shares  with  her  the  duty  of  incubation, 
and  has  been  declared  by  more  than  one  writer  to  sing  while  so 
employed — a  statement  that  seems  hardly  credible.  Closely  allied 
to  the  Blackcap,  which,  it  may  be  said,  is  a  regular  summer  visit- 
ant, though  examples  have  sometimes  occurred  in  winter  in  England, 
are  the  so-called  Garden-WARBLER,  Sylvia  salicaria  (S.  or  Gurruca 
hortensis  of  some  authors),  and  the  White-throat. 

But  the  name  Blackcap  is  also  applied  to  some  other  birds,  and 
both  in  this  country  and  in  North  America  especially  to  certain 
species  of  Titmouse  and  Gull  which  have  the  top  of  the  head 
black,  as  well  as  locally  to  the  Stonechat  and  Eeed-BuNTiNG. 

BLACKCOCK,  the  male  of  the  bird  to  which  the  name  Grows 
or  Grouse  seems  to  have  been  originally  given. 

BLEATER,  a  name  for  the  Snipe,  from  the  noise  it  makes  in  its 
love-flights,  the  cause  of  which  has  given  rise  to  much  discussion. 

BLIGHT-BIED,  see  Zosterops. 

BLOOD  is  the  fluid  which  circulates  through  the  heart,  arteries, 
and  veins.  It  is  mixed  with  lymph,  its  corpuscles  being  suspended 
in  a  fluid  called  blood-plasm.  The  arterial  blood  is  of  a  lighter 
red  than  the  venous,  which  is  more  purple  blood.  Blood  shews 
the  following  composition  : — 

1.  Red  blood-corpuscles,  oval,  flat  disks,  with  rounded-off  margins 
and  a  central  nucleus  which  forms  a  slight  swelling :  they  con- 
tain a  substance  known  as  haemoglobin,  which,  combining  with  the 
oxygen  of  the  blood,  causes  the  latter's  red  colour.  These  red 
corpuscles  are  present  even  in  a  small  drop  of  blood  in  innumerable 
numbers ;  they  are  largest  in  the  Cassowary,  smallest  in  Humming- 
birds, their  smallest  axis  measuring  about  mm.  -y]^  or  y^-g-,  their 
larger  axis  from  mm.  -^  to  ^wr- 

2.  White-hlood  or  lymph-coipuscles  ;  by  far  less  numerous,  colour- 
less, and  of  very  variable  size  (from  mm.  -g-i^  to  ^-q),  shewing  lively 
amoeboid  motions. 

3.  The  hlood-plasm,  consisting  of  fibrin  and  serum.  The  latter 
is  a  fluid,  frequently  yellowish,  and  is  composed  of  water,  albumen, 
and  various  salts. 


44  BLOOD-BIRD— BLUEBIRD 

The  function  of  the  blood  is  this  :  The  arterial  blood  in  the 
cajDillaries  of  the  body  gives  off  its  oxygen  to  the  tissues  of  the 
body ;  the  lymph,  charged  Avith  the  luitritive  elements  derived 
through  the  process  of  digestion,  bathes  the  same  tissues  by  leaving 
the  capillaries,  and  is  collected  again  into  lymphatic  vessels,  being 
ultimatelj^  emptied  into  the  big  veins  of  the  body,  to  be  mixed 
again  with  the  deoxydized  blood  returning  likewise  through  the 
veins  from  the  capillaries  of  the  whole  body.  All  this  exhausted 
blood  is,  together  with  the  lymph,  received  into  the  right  auricle  of 
the  heart,  thence  pumped  through  the  right  ventricle  and  the 
pulmonarj'-  arteries  into  the  capillaries  of  the  lungs,  there  to  give 
up  its  carbonic  acid,  and  to  be  charged  again  with  oxygen. 
Returning  through  the  pulmonary  veins  into  the  left  auricle,  and 
thence  into  the  left  ventricle,  it  is  forced  by  the  contraction  of  the 
latter  into  the  arteries  of  the  body  to  commence  its  circulation 
aneAv. 

The  lymijli  is  a  fluid  like  the  blood -plasm,  slightly  yelloAvish 
or  colourless  and  containing  only  white,  but  no  red,  blood- 
corpuscles. 

BLOOD-BIED,  one  of  the  species  of  the  genus  Myzomela, 
belonging  to  the  MeUphagidm  (Honey-sucker),  so  called  in  New 
South  Wales  —  M.  sanguinolenta  (Latham).  (Gould,  Handh.  B. 
Australia,  i.  p.  555.) 

BLOOD-OLPH,  a  not  uncommon  local  name  of  the  Bull- 
finch. 

BLOOD-PHEASANT,  the  Anglo-Indian  name  for  the  Ifhaginis 
cruentus  of  ornithologists,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  game-birds  of 
the  mountains  of  Eastern  Nepal  and  Sikkim,  so  called  from  the 
blood-red  blotches  with  which  its  otherwise  green  plumage  is 
diversified.  A  second  species  of  the  genus,  /.  geofroyi,  has  been 
described  from  Northern  China.  By  some  systematists  they  are 
referred  to  the  subfamily  Ferdicinse,  by  others  to  the  Phasianinas. 
(Jerdon,  B.  India,  iii.  p.  522.) 

BLUEBIRD,  in  North  America  the  appropriate  name  of  the  no 
less  familiar  than  favourite  Sialia  wilsoni,  or  sialis  of  ornithology, 
and  of  its  congeners  S.  mexkana  or  ocddpniaUs'^  and  »S'.  ardica  : — 
the  first,  with  a  chestnut  throat  and  breast,  being  an  abundant  bird 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  continent,  appearing  also  in  Bermuda ; 
the  second,  with  the  middle  of  the  back  and  breast  chestnut,  taking 

1  By  some  Avriteis  S.  mcxicana  is  regarded  as  distinct  from  S.  oecidentalis, 
and  there  seems  little  doubt  that  »S'.  azurea  of  Central  America  may  be  considered 
a  good  si)ecies.  Mr.  Seebohm  {Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus.  v.  p.  328)  places  in  this 
genus  the  Grandala  cxlicolor  of  the  Himalaya  and  other  mountain-ranges  in 
Asia. 


BL  UECAP—BOA  T-BILL  45 


its  place  further  to  the  south  and  westward ;  and  the  third,  of  a 
lighter  hue  and  with  no  chestnut,  being  the  north-western  form. 
The  genus  Sialia  is  one  of  those  that  are  midway  between  the  re- 
jDuted  Families  Sykiidx  (Warbler)  and  Turdidai  (Thrush),  and  with 
Monticola  and  some  others  shew  how  hard  it  is  to  maintain  any 
valid  distinction  between  them.  The  Bluebirds  of  North  America 
breed  in  holes  of  trees,  and  seem  all  to  lay  pale  blue  spotless  eggs. 
In  Western  India,  Ceylon,  and  Burma,  the  name  Bluebird  is  equally 
well  bestowed  on  the  Irena  -puella  of  modern  ornithologists,  which 
is  commonly  referred  to  the  chaotic  groups  Timeliidx  or  Crateropo- 
dida}  (Gates,  Fauna  of  British  India,  Birds,  i.  pp.  239,  240),  and  has 
several  representatives  in  the  Indian  Eegion  (Jerdon,  B.  India,  ii. 
p.  106) ;  but  the  precise  place  of  the  genus  must  be  regarded  as 
uncertain.  According  to  Mr.  Layard  (B.  S.  Afr.  p.  365),  in  the 
seas  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  name  is  applied  to  a  wholly 
different  kind  of  bird,  Diomedea  fuliginosa  (Albatros). 

BLUECAP,  a  common  name  of  the  Blue  Titmouse  Pairus 
cseruleus. 

BLUETHROAT,  the  English  name  by  which  the  beautiful  Mota- 
cilla  suecica  of  Linnaeus  is  now  generally  known.  By  some  systematists 
it  has  been  referred  to  the  genus  ButiciUa  (Redstart)  or  to  Erithacus 
(Redbreast),  and  by  others  regarded  as  the  type  of  a  distinct  genus 
Ctjanecula — the  last  view  being  perhaps  justifiable.  There  are  two, 
if  not  three,  forms  of  Bluethroat  in  which  the  male  is  cjuite  distin- 
guishable :—(l)  the  true  C.  suecica,  with  a  bright  bay  spot  in  the 
middle  of  its  clear  blue  throat,  breeding  in  Scandinavia,  Northern 
Russia,  and  Siberia,  and  wintering  in^byssinia^  and  India,  though 
rarely  appearing  in  the  intermediate  countries,  to  the  wonder  of  all 
who  have  studied  the  mystery  of  the  migration  of  birds  ;  next  there 
is  (2)  C.  leucocyanea,  with  a  white  instead  of  a  red  gular  spot,  a 
more  western  form,  ranging  from  Barl^ary  to  Germany  and  Holland  ; 
and  lastly  (3)  C.  wolji,  thought  by  some  authorities  (and  not  Avithout 
reason)  to  be  but  an  accidental  variety  of  the  preceding  (2),  with 
its  throat  wholly  blue, — a  form  of  comparatively  rare  occuiTence. 
The  first  of  these  is  a  not  unfrequent,  though  very  irregular  visitant 
to  England,  while  the  second  has  appeared  there  but  seldom,  and 
the  third  never,  so  far  as  is  known.  The  affinity  of  the  Bluethroat 
to  the  Redstart  is  undeniable  ;  but  it  is  not  much  further  removed 
from  the  Nightingale,  and  forms  a  member  of  that  group  which 
connects  the  so-called  Families  Sylviidds  (Warbler)  and  Turdidx 
(Thrush). 

BOAT-BILL,  the  Cancroma  cochlearia  of  most  ornithologists,  a 
native  of  Tropical  America,  and  the  only  species  of  its  genus.  It 
seems  to  be  merely  a  Night-HERON  (Nycticorax)  with  an  exaggerated 
bill,  so  much  v/idened  as  to  suggest  its  English  name,  and  its  habits, 


F. 


46 


BOA  TS  WAIN— BOB-LINCOLN 


so  far  as  they  are  known,  confirm  the  inference  derived  from  its 
structure.       The  wonderful   "  Shoe-bird  "  or  Whale-headed  Stork 


BOAT-BILL. 


{Balmniceps)  is  regarded  by  some  authorities  as  allied  to  Cancroma ; 
but  the  present  writer  cannot  recognize  in  it  any  close  affinity  to 
the  Ardddse. 

BOATSWAIN,  in  seamen's  ornithology,  is  a  name  applied  to 
several  kinds  of  birds,  and  was  perhaps  first  given  to  some  of  the 
genus  Stercorarms  (Skua),  though,  nowadays  most  commonly  used 
for  the  species  of  Phaethon  (Tropic-BIRd),  the  projecting  middle 
feathers  of  the  tail  in  each  being  generallj'-  likened  to  the  marline- 
spike  that  is  identified  with  the  business  of  that  functionary,  but 
probably  the  authoritative  chai-acter  assumed  by  both  Skua  and 
officer  originally  suggested  the  appellation. 

BOAT-TAIL,  a  common  name  applied  to  certain  North-Ameri- 
can birds  of  the  genus  Quiscalus,  belonging  to  the  Family  Ideridas 
(see  Grackle  and  Icterus),  from  the  power  they  have  of  holding 
the  tail  in  the  shape  of  a  boat  with  the  concavity  uppermost. 

BOB-LINCOLN,  BOBLINK,  and  BOBOLINK,  names  given  by 
the  English  in  North  America  to  what  is  commonly  called  in  books 
the  Rice-Bunting,  Doliclionyx  orijziiwa,  one  of  the  best-known  birds 
of  that  continent — valued  for  its  song  and  still  more  for  its  sapidity, 
in  which  last  respect  it  equals  if  it  does  not   surpass  the  famed 


BOB-  WHITE— BONE  47 

Ortolan.  Its  good  qualities  have  been  described  at  length  by  Alex- 
ander Wilson,  Nuttall,  and  Audubon,  to  say  nothing  of  more  recent 
writers  on  North-American  ornithology,  and  to  those  authors  must 
reference  be  made  for  its  description  and  an  account  of  its  habits. 
From  the  purely  scientific  point  of  view  the  form  is  one  of  consider- 
able interest,  as  it  seems  to  connect  the  Emherizidse  (Bunting) 
with  the  Ideridse  (Grackle,  Icterus)  ;  and,  though  generally  con- 
sidered to  belong  to  the  latter,  is  rather  a  divergent  member  of 
that  Family.  It  is  a  bird  that  performs  vast  migrations,  breeding 
as  high  as  lat.  54°  N.,  and  in  winter  visiting  the  Antilles  and 
Central  and  South  America  as  far  as  Paraguay. 

BOB- WHITE,  a  nickname  of  the  Virginian  QuAiL,  Ortyx  vir- 
ginianus,  aptly  bestowed  from  the  call-note  of  the  cock. 

BONE  or  osseous  tissue  consists  of  phosphate  and  carbonate  of 
lime,  salt,  and  a  few  other  earthy  substances.  Hollow  bones  contain 
marrow,  a  fatty  substance  with  delicate  connective  tissue,  except 
where  it  has  been  driven  out  by  the  penetrating  AiR-SAUS.  On 
the  surface  of  a  bone,  covered  by  a  fibrous  membrane,  the  periosteum, 
there  open  small,  often  microscopic,  holes,  Avhich  as  "  Haversian 
Canals  "  are  continued  through  the  walls  of  the  bone  into  larger  spaces 
or  cancelli,  and  ultimately  into  the  marrow  cavity.  These  render 
possible  the  entrance  of  blood-vessels,  air-cells,  and  nerves.  Bones 
which  have  their  entire  substance  or  diploe  between  the  outer  and 
the  inner  lamella  filled  with  cavities  and  cancelli  are  called  cancellated 
or  spongy ;  this  is  especially  the  case  in  the  bones  of  the  head  of 
Owls,  and  to  an  enormous  extent  in  the  "  horn  "  of  the  Hornbills. 
The  bony  substance  forms  consecutive  layers  around  the  Haversian 
canals.  The  layers  themselves  contain  numerous  irregular  lacunae, 
formerly  but  wrongly  called  bone -corpuscles,  from  w^hich  radiate 
numerous  extremely  fine  canaliculi ;  these  communicate  with  those 
of  neighbouring  lacunae  and  with  the  Haversian  canals,  securing 
thus  access  of  blood  and  lymph  to  any  part  of  the  bone. 

Bone  is  never  directly  formed  out  of  the  indifierent  embryonic 
tissue,  it  always  passes  through  a  stage  of  connective  tissue.  If 
this  tissue  ossifies  directly,  it  becomes  a  primary  or  membrane 
bone ;  if  the  tissue  is  cai-tilage  and  finally  supplanted  by  bony 
tissue,  the  latter  forms  a  secondary  or  cartilage  bone.  Most  of  the 
bones  of  a  bird's  skeleton  pass  during  their  development  through 
such  a  cartilaginous  stage.  Membrane  bones  are  principally  some 
of  those  forming  the  cranium,  as  the  parietal,  frontal,  maxillae,  and 
vomer.  Bones  which  are  developed  in  tendons  by  direct  ossification 
are  termed  sesamoid  bones,  as  the  brachial  and  the  crural  patella. 
Either  kind  of  bone  can  ossify  from  various  centres,  but  these 
"  centres  of  ossification  "  do  not  necessarily  indicate  that  the  bone 
in  question  is  composed  of   a  number  of  originally  separate  bones. 


48  BONXIE—BO IVER-BIRD 

In  long  bones  esjjecially  the  shaft  ossifies  first,  while  the  ends 
remain  for  a  long  time  cartilaginous  as  "  epiphyses  "  and  eventually 
ossify  often  from  a  centre  of  their  own,  and  are  only  in  the  adult 
completely  fused  with  the  shaft,  forming  the  articulating  facets, 
or  projecting  "  processes "  for  the  attachment  and  leverage  of 
muscles. 

BONXIE,  the  name  by  which  the  Great  Skua,  Stercorarius 
catarrhactes,  is  known  in  some  of  the  Shetland  Islands,  its  only 
British  habitat. 

BOOBY,  said  by  Prof.  Skeat  (Efymol.  Did.)  to  be  derived  from 
the  Spanish  or  Portuguese  hobo — a  fool,  and  that  from  the  Latin 
balbus — stuttering  or  inarticulate,  a  name  applied,  most  likely  by 
our  seamen  originalh^,  to  certain  birds  from  their  stupidity  in  alight- 
ing upon  ships  and  allowing  themselves  to  be  easily  taken  by  the 
hand.^  The  Boobies  are  closely  allied  to  the  Gannet,  and  indeed 
can  hardly  be  separated  from  the  genus  Sulci,  though  they  diff"er 
in  having  no  median  stripe  of  bare  skin  down  the  front  of  the 
throat,  and  they  almost  invariably  breed  iipon  trees  instead  of  rooks, 
and  are  inhabitants  of  warmer  climates.  One  of  them,  ;S'.  ajanops, 
Avhen  adult  has  much  of  the  aspect  of  a  Gannet,  but  aS'.  jnscator  is 
readily  distinguishable  by  its  red  legs,  and  S.  leucogaster  by  its  upper 
plumage  and  neck  of  deep  brown.  These  three  are  widely  distri- 
buted within  the  tropics,  and  are  in  some  places  exceedingly  abund- 
ant. A  fourth,  S.  variegata,  which  seems  to  preserve  throughout  its 
life  the  spotted  suit  characteristic  of  the  immature  S.  hassmui,  has  a 
much  more  limited  range,  being  as  yet  only  known  from  the  coast 
of  Peru,  where  it  is  one  of  the  birds  which  contribute  to  the  forma- 
tion of  guano. 

BOWEPi-BIRD,  Gould's  rather  poetical  name  for  some  inhabit- 
ants of  Australia  which,  while  he  was  in  that  country  he  ascer- 
tained,^ as  on  his  return  he  announced  (25  August,  18-iO)  to  the 
Zoological  Society,  to  have  the  extraordinary  habit  of  building  what 
the  colonists  commonly  called  "runs."  "These  constructions",  he 
rightly  said  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1840,  p.  94),  "are  perfectly  anomalous 
in  the  architecture  of  birds,  and  consist  in  a  collection  of  pieces  of 
stick  or  grass,  formed  into  a  bower ;  or  one  of  them  (that  of  the 
Chlamydera)  might  be  called  an  avenue,  being  about  three  feet  in 
length,  and  seven  or  eight  inches  broad  inside ;  a  transverse  section 
giving  the  figure  of  a  horse-shoe,  the  round  part  downwards.     They 

^  Thus  Purclias  in  liis  account  of  Davis's  Second  Voyage  to  India,  in  1604-5, 
tells  {Pilgrimcs,  I.  bk.  iii.  p.  132)  of  "fowles  called  Pashara  boues" — which 
correctly  spelt  would  be  Paxaros  bobos — at  the  island  of  Fernando  Norhona. 
Later  examples  are  too  numerous  to  cite. 

-  The  discovery  seems  to  have  been  mainly  due  to  the  late  llr.  C.  Coxen  of 
Brisbane. 


BO  WER-BIRD  49 


are  used  b}^  the  birds  as  a  playing-house  or  '  run,'  as  it  is  termed, 
and  are  used  by  the  males  to  attract  the  females.  The  '  run  '  of  the 
Satin-bird  is  much  smaller,  being  less  than  one  foot  in  length,  and 
moreover  differs  fi'om  that  just  described  in  being  decorated  with 
the  highly-coloured  feathers  of  the  Parrot-tribe  ;  the  Chlamydera,  on 
the  other  hand,  collects  around  its  'run'  a  quantity  of  stones,  shells, 
bleached  bones,  etc.  ;  they  are  also  strewed  down  the  centre  within." 

This  statement,  marvellous  as  it  seemed,  has  been  proved  by 
many  subsequent  observers  to  be  strictly  true,  and  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  these  structures,^  each  of  which  as  above 
described  he  next  year  (1  Sept.  1841)  figured  {B.  Austral,  iv. 
pis.  8,  10),  have  nothing  to  do  with  nests  of  the  birds — indeed, 
their  mode  of  nidification,  which  was  not  made  known  until  some 
years  later,  presents  no  extraordinary  feature.  Moreover,  the  birds 
will  build  their  "bowers  "  in  confinement,  and  therein  disport  them- 
selves, as  has  been  repeatedly  shewn  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  ^  by 
the  Satiu-bird  last  mentioned,  Ptilarhynchus  violaceus.  Subsequently 
it  was  found  that  the  Eegent-bird,  Sericuhis  melinus,  a  species  long 
before  known,  had  the  habit  of  making  a  "  bower  "  of  similar  kind, 
though  built,  so  to  speak,  in  another  style  of  architecture,  and  having 
for  its  chief  decoration  the  shells  of  a  small  species  of  Helix. 

The  account  of  these  curious  birds  which  may  be  most 
conveniently  consulted  is  that  in  Gould's  Handbook  to  the  Birds  of 
Australia  (i.  pp.  441-461),  published  in  1865;  but  since  that  time 
discoveries  still  more  wonderful  have  been  made.  A  bird  of  New 
Guinea,  originally  referred  to  the  genus  Ptilorhynchus,  but  noAv 
recognized  as  Amblyornis  inornatiis,  has  been  found  by  Sign.  Beccari 
to  present  not  only  a  modification  of  bower-building,  but  an 
appreciation  of  beauty  perhaps  unparalleled  in  the  animal  world. 
His  interesting  observations  (Annali  del  Mus.  Civ.  de  Storia  Nat. 
di  Genova,  ix.  pp.  382-400,  tav.  viii.)  shew  that  this  species,  which 
he  not  inaptly  calls  the  "Gardener"  (Gjardiniere),  builds  at  the  foot 
of  a  small  tree  a  kind  of  hut  or  cabin  (capanna)  some  two  feet  in 
height,  roofed  with  orchid-stems  that  slope  to  the  ground,  regularly 

^  Gould  brought  home  with  him  at  least  two  examples,  which  he  gave  to  the 
British  Museum.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  this  exti-aordinary  habit 
had  been  described  before  the  date  above  given,  or  that  the  name  "Bower-bird" 
had  been  previously  used,  and  yet  we  find  Trelawny  in  his  Memoirs  of  Shelley, 
published  in  1878,  referring  to  himself  (i.  p.  136)  as  saying,  in  a  conversation  not 
later  than  1822,  "You  two  have  built  your  nest  after  the  fashion  of  the  Aus- 
tralian bower-birds  "  ! 

-  The  ordinary  visitor  to  these  gardens  seems  to  regard  the  structures  of  the 
Bower-birds  without  any  intelligent  interest.  Pie  perhaps  supposes  that  they  are 
the  handiwork  of  one  or  other  of  the  keepers.  From  my  own  long  connexion 
with  the  Zoological  Society,  I  think  I  am  able  to  state  that  neither  in  this  nor  any- 
thing else  of  the  kind  is  any  deception  practised.  The  Bower-birds  are  supplied 
with  materials,  and  that  is  all. 


5° 


BOWER-BIRD 


radiating  from  the  central  sujiport,  which  is  covered  with  a  conical 
mass  of  moss,  and  sheltering  a  gallery  round  it.  One  side  of  this 
hut  is  left  open,  and  in  front  of  it  is  arranged  a  bed  of  verdant 
moss,  bedecked  with  blossoms  and  berries  of  the  brightest  colours. 
As  these  ornaments  wither  they  are  removed  to  a  heap  behind 
the  hut,  and  replaced  by  others  that  are  fresh.  The  hut  is 
circular,  and  some  three  feet  in  diameter,  and  the  mossy  lawn  in 


'G ardent"  of  Ajiblyorn-is. 
(After  Beccari.    From  TUt  Gardeners'  Chronicle,  N.S.,  vol.  ix.  p.  333.) 

front  of  it  of  nearly  twice  that  expanse.  Each  hut  and  garden  are, 
it  is  believed,  though  not  known,  the  work  of  a  single  pair  of 
birds,  or  perhaps  of  the  male  only ;  and  it  may  be  observed  that 
this  species,  as  its  trivial  name  implies,  is  wholly  inornate  in 
plumage.^  Not  less  remarkable  is  the  more  recently  described 
^  Another  species  referred  to  the  same  genus,  A.  suhalaris,  the  female  of 
which  was  originally  described  by  Mr.  Sharpe  {Journ.  Linn.  Soc.  xvii.  p.  40) 
as  being  still  more  dingy,  turned  out  to  have  the  male  embellished  with  a 
wonderful  crest  of  reddish-orange  (Fiusch  and  Meyer,  Zcitschr.  f.  cjcs.  Orn.  1885, 
p.  390,  tab.  xxii.). 


BRACHIAL  ARTERY— BRAIN  51 

"  bower  "  of  Prionodura,  a  genus  of  which  the  male,  like  the  Regent- 
bird,  is  conspicuous  for  his  bright  orange  coloration.  This 
structure  is  said  by  Mr.  Devis  (Trans.  Ruij.  Soc.  Queensland,  14  June 
1889)  to  be  piled  up  almost  horizontally  round  the  base  of  a  tree 
to  the  height  of  from  -4  to  6  feet,  and  around  it  are  a  number  of 
hut-like  fabrics,  having  the  look  of  a  dwarfed  native  camp.  Allied 
to  the  forms  already  named  are  two  others,  Scenopceus  and 
Ailuroedus,  which,  though  not  apparently  building  "  bowers,"  yet 
clear  a  space  of  ground  some  8  or  9  feet  in  diameter,  on  which  to 
display  themselves,  ornamenting  it  "with  tufts  and  little  heaps  of 
gaily  tinted  leaves  and  j'^oung  shoots "  (Ramsay,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1875,  p.  592).  The  former  of  them,  which,  according  to  Mr.  Lum- 
holtz  (Among  Cannibals,  pp.  139,  140),  covers  a  space  of  about  a 
square  yard  with  large  fresh  leaves  neatly  laid,  and  removes 
them  as  they  decay,  inhabits  Queensland,  and  to  the  latter  belongs 
the  "  Cat-bird,"  so  well  known  to  Australians  from  its  loud,  harsh, 
and  extraoi'dinary  cries. 

By  most  systematists  these  birds  are  placed  among  the  Para- 
diseidie  (B[rd-of-Paradise)  ;  but  in 
the  British  Museum  Catalogue  of 
Birds  (vi.  pp.  380-396)  they  are 
to  be  found  in  the  "limbo  large 
and  broad"  of  Timeliidic — though 
allowed  the  rank  of  a  subfamily 
"  Ptilonorhynchinx,"  the  name  being 
taken  from  the  feathered  and  not 
the    bare    (as    might    from    its    ety-  Ptilorhynchus  violaceus. 

1  1  1  J.     i\  T  (After  Swainson.) 

mology  liave    been   expected)  condi- 
tion of  the  base  of  the  bill  shewn  in  the  figure  of  that  part  in  the 
Satin-bird. 

BRACHIAL  ARTERY,  see  Vascular  System  -.  BRACHIAL 
PLEXUS,  see  Nervous  System. 

PEA  IN,  the  part  of  the  Central  Nervous  System  which  is 
enclosed  by  the  cranium,  and  in  Birds  consists  of  three  principal 
divisions,  named  after  their  position — Hind-  Mid-  and  Forebrain. 
The  hindbrain  is  composed  of  the  medulla  oblongata,  the  direct  and 
comparatively  little  modified  continuation  of  the  spinal  cord,  and  of 
the  cerebellum,  these  two  parts  being  connected  Avith  each  other 
by  the  pedunculi  or  crura  cerebelli.  The  midbrain  contains  the 
peduncles  of  the  great  or  forebrain,  and  the  cortex  or  rind  of  the 
optic  lobes.  The  forebrain  is  subdivided  into  the  thalamencephalon 
and  into  the  cerebral  hemispheres.  The  ventral  parts  of  the 
thalamencephalon  form  the  hypophysis  and  the  chiasma  or 
crossing  of  the  optic  nerves,  the  lateral  parts  contain  the  inner 
portions    of    the   optic   lobes,  which  are  partly   homologous   with 


52 


BRAIN 


the  corpora  bigemina  of  Mammals,  .and  the  optic  thalami ;  the 
dorsal  roof  forms  the  epiphysis  or  pineal  gland,  the  corpus  callosum 
and  the  anterior  commissure,  both  of  Avhich  consist  of  bundles  of 
white  nerve  fibres  and  connect  the  right  with  the  left  hemisphere. 
The  ventral  portion  of  the  hemispheres  consists  of  the  corpora 
striata,  Avhich  are  masses  of  grey  brain-substance,  and  of  the  olfactory 
lobes,  which  mark  the  anterior  end  of  the  brain. 

The  central  canal,  which  runs  through  the  spinal  cord,  is  con- 
tinued into  the  brain,  and  forms  the  fourth  ventricle  in  the  hind- 
brain,  extending  dorsally  into  the  cerebellum  ;  and  is  then  continued 
as  "  aquEeductus  Sylvii "  through  the  midbrain,  with  lateral  exten- 
sions into  the  optic  lobes.  The  dilatation  of  this  canal  in  the 
thalamencephalon  is  the  third  ventricle :  it  extends  ventrally 
towards   the  hypophysis  as   the    infundibulum,  in   a  similar  Avay 

Verticai,  section  in  the 
middle  line  through 

THE  BRAIN   OF  A  DuCK. 

Enlarged.  (After  H. 
F.  Osborne.) 
J,  Right  olfactory  nerve  ; 
JI,  Right  optic  nerve  and 
chiasma  ;  acm,  Anterior 
commissure  ;  cal.  Corpus 
callosum ;  cere6,  Cerebel- 
lum ;  It,  Lamina  termin- 
alis  ;  /?)i,  Foramen  Mon- 
ro! ;  Ixnn,  Right  hemi- 
sphere; ?tjj/i,  Hypophysis ; 
inf,  Infundibulum  ;  pew, 
Posterior  commissure ; 
pn,  Epiphysis  or  pineal 
gland. 


hem^ 


en 


a  em 


dorsally  towards  the  epii:)hysis,  and  communicates  through  the 
foramen  of  Monro  with  the  second  and  first  ventricles  ;  these  being 
the  cavities  of  the  two  hemispheres,. 

The  hypophysis  cerebri  or  pituitary  body  is  lodged  in  the 
"  sella  turcica,"  a  niche  or  recess  formed  by  the  anterior  and 
posterior  basisphenoid  bones.  This  peculiar  body  is  probably  the 
degenerated  remnant  of  a  special  sense-organ  in  the  mouth  of  early 
Vertebrata,  it  being  developed  partly  as  an  outgrowth  from  the 
roof  of  the  mouth  which  fuses  with  a  corresponding  growth  from 
the  brain  and  then  loses  its  connexion  with  the  mouth. 

The  epiphysis  cerebri  or  pineal  body  is  the  remnant  of  a 
sense-organ,  possibly  visual,  as  it  is  still  functional  in  many  Lizards 
possessing  a  lens,  a  retina-like  accumulation  of  black  pigment  and 
a  nerve,  but  quite  degenerated  in  all  Birds  and  Mammals. 

The  cereliellum  of  Birds  is  homologous  only  with  the  "Avorm" 
or  middle  portion  of  the  cerebellum  of  Mammals,  the  lateral  lobes 
being  absent,  althoiigh  a  pair  of  flocculi  are  present.  Externally 
it  exhibits  a  number  of  transversa  furrows,  which  divide  it  into 


BRAIN 


53 


lamellfe.  On  a  vertically  longitudinal,  or  "  sagittal,"  section,  it  has 
a  beautiful  tree -like  appearance.  From  the  walls  of  the  central 
cavity    branch -like 


white  medullary 
fibres  spread  out, 
surrounded  by  a 
layer  of  reddish 
ganglionic  cells,  fol- 
lowed by  larger 
ganglia  (Purkinje's 
layer),  and  exter- 
nally covered  by  a 
grey  mantle  of 
smaller  ganglionic 
cells.  Such  a  thin 
section,  especially 
when  stained  with 
carmine,  forms  a 
fascinating  object 
for  the  microscope, 
and  is  easily  made. 
The  surface  of 
the  cerebral  hemi- 
spheres in  Birds 
exhibits  no  convol- 
utions or  gyrations 
as  in  the  higher 
Mammals.  In  the 
Ratitse  and  in  many 
Passeres  the  surface 
is  entirely  smooth, 
but  in  Swimmers, 
Waders,  Pigeons, 
Fowls,  and  Birds- 
of-Prey,  there  is  a 


Twice  natural  size. 


Venteal  view  of  tiie  brain  of  a  Goose. 
(After  A.  Meckel.) 
I-XII,  thje  twelve  pairs  of  cranial  nerves ;  Ch.  Chiasma  of  the 
optic  nerves   cut  across ;  Fl.   Flocculus ;   H.  Hypophysis ;   X.o.' 
very    slight    furrOAV    Optlclobe;  Lq.  Laqueus;  F.S.  Sylvian  fissure;  Sp.I.  First  spinal 
1  •  1  •    1  ,        T        nerve. 

Avhich 


might 


be 


compared  with  the  Sylvian  fissure.  There  is  also  very  little  grey 
substance  in  the  suxiace  layers  of  the  hemispheres.  Various  attempts 
have  been  made,  by  Tiedemann,i  Serres,^  Leuret,^  and  Bumm,*  to 
compare  the  weight  of  the  whole  brain  Avith  that  of  the  body,  or 

1  Anatomie  unci  NaturgeschicMe  der  Vogel.     Heidelberg  :  1810. 
^  Aiiatomie  comparie  du  cerveau.     Paris:  1824. 
^  Anatomie  con^mree  du  systeme  nerveux.     Paris  :  1839-57. 
*  Das  Grosshirn   der  Vogel.      Zeitschr.  fur  wissensch.  Zool.   xxxviii.  (1883) 
pp.  430-466,  tabb.  xxiv.-xxv. 


54  BRAIN 


the  weight  of  the  hemispheres  with  that  of  other  parts  of  the  cen- 
tral nervous  system,  in  order  to  draw  conclusions  as  to  the  intelli- 
gence of  various  Birds.  When  Birds  are  arranged  according  to  the 
preponderance  of  the  hemispheres  over  the  rest  of  the  brain,  the  first 
place  is  taken  by  the  Passeres  and  Parrots  (2*7  or  2*0  to  1),  then 
follow  Geese,  Ducks,  Waders,  and  Birds -of -Prey,  lastly  Fowls  and 
Pigeons,  the  proportions  in  the  Common  Domestic  Pigeon  being 
0"95  to  1,  i.e.  the  forebrain  weighs  less  than  the  rest,  while  in  many 
Oscines  it  weighs  nearly  three  times  as  much.  The  attempts  to 
sort  Birds  according  to  the  proportion  of  brain  to  body  have  led 
to  no  practical  results,  chiefly  because  the  variable  conditions  of  fat 
and  lean  subjects  have  not  been  considered.  The  absolute  weight 
or  mass  alone  of  the  brain  is  not  a  safe  guide. 

There  are  twelm  pairs  of  cranial  or  brain-nerves  which  arise  from 
the  brain  and  leave  the  cranium  through  special  holes.  These 
pairs,  as  in  other  Classes  of  Vertebrates,  are  frequently  spoken 
of  by  their  number,  counting  from  the  nasal  region  backwards 
to  the  occiput. 

I.  N.  olfadorius  forms  the  anterior  and  ventral  continuation 
of  the  hemisphere  of  its  side,  but  arises  in  reality  from  ganglionic 
cells  in  the  thalamencephalon  and  the  midbrain.  It  leaves  the 
cranial  cavity  through  a  canal  in  the  dorsal  and  median  part  of  the 
orbit  and  ends  in  the  ganglionic  cells  of  the  olfactory  membrane  of 
the  nose. 

II.  iV".  opticus  arises  from  the  ganglionic  cells  of  the  mantle 
of  the  optic  lobes.  Immediately  in  front  of  the  hypophysis  is  the 
optic  chiasma,  produced  by  the  complete  crossing  of  the  fibres 
which  compose  the  two  optic  nerves,  those  from  the  right  optic 
lobe  passing  over  the  left,  and  those  from  the  left  lobe  to  the  right 
side.  From  the  chiasma  start  the  right  and  left  optic  nerves,  each 
leaving  the  cranium  by  the  large  optic  foramen  between  the  orbito- 
sphenoid  and  alisphenoid,  entering  the  orbit  near  the  posterior  and 
ventral  corner  of  the  orbital  septum  and  ultimately  forming  the 
retina  of  the  eye. 

III.  N.  oculortiotmius  arises  close  behind  the  hypophysis,  near 
the  medio-ventral  line,  from  the  midbrain,  enters  the  orbit  behind 
or  together  Avith  the  optic  nerve  (II),  and  supplies  most  of  the  ex- 
ternal muscles  of  the  eye,  namely  the  m.  rectus  superior,  inferior, 
internus,  and  obliquus  inferior.  A  ciliary,  partly  sympathetic, 
branch  supplies  the  eyeball  and  the  internal  muscles  (see  Eye). 

IV.  N.  trochlearis  or  patheticus  is  the  only  one  which  leaves  the 
brain  on  its  dorsal  surface,  namely  as  a  thin  thread  winding  its  way 
from  the  midbrain  upwards  between  the  cerebellum  and  the  optic 
lobes,  and  entering  the  orbit  through  a  fine  opening  close  to  the 
optic  nerve  (II)  in  order  to  supply  the  m.  obliquus  superior  of  the 
eyeball. 


BRAIN  55 


V.  N.  trigeminus  is  next  to  the  optic  the  thickest  nerve,  and  of 
a  complex  nature,  being  motory  and  sensory.  It  arises  from  the 
sides  of  the  mid-  and  hindbrain,  forms  the  large  Gasserian  ganglion 
in  the  wall  of  the  cranium,  and  leaves  the  latter  in  the  foi'm  of  three 
branches.  The  iirst  or  ophthalmic  branch  comes  directly  out  of  the 
ganglion  through  a  foramen  behind  the  optic  (II),  runs  along  the 
dorsal  corner  of  the  orbital  septum,  and  leaves  the  orbit  at  its 
inner  anterior  corner  in  order  to  supply  the  palate,  the  bill,  fore- 
head, and  the  lacrymal  gland.  It  is  chiefly  sensory,  and  con- 
sequently strongest  in  birds  with  tactile  bills,  Hke  Ducks  and 
Snipes.  The  second  or  upper  maxillary  branch  runs  along  the 
ventral  edge  of  the  orbital  septum,  and  besides  the  palatine  and 
maxillary  regions  supplies  the  eyelids  and  Harder's  gland.  The 
third  or  inferior  maxillary  branch  is  the  strongest  of  the  three ;  it 
leaves  the  cranium  together  with  the  second  through  a  foramen 
between  the  basi-alisphenoid  and  petrosal  bones  and  innervates  all 
the  masticatory  muscles,  the  parotid  gland,  and  the  whole  of  the 
under  jaw. 

VI.  N.  alducens  is  a  very  thin  nerve  arising  from  the  hindbrain 
near  the  medio-ventral  line,  entering  the  orbit  through  a  special 
foramen  latero-ventrally  from  the  optic  foramen,  and  supplying  the 
m.  rectus  externus  and  the  two  muscles  of  the  nictitating  membrane. 
It  is  entirely  motory. 

VII.  N.  facialis  arises  from  the  side  of  the  hindbrain,  possesses 
a  ganglion  (g."  geniculatum),  passes  through  the  petrosal  bone  into 
the  Fallopian  canal,  and  sends  the  sympathetic  sphenopalatine  branch 
to  the  second  branch  of  the  trigeminal  nerve  (V).  The  facial  nerve 
leaves  the  tympanic  cavity  behind  the  quadrate  bone,  supplies  the 
digastric  muscle  or  depressor  of  the  mandible,  the  little  stapedius 
muscle  of  the  ear-bones,  the  mylo-  and  stylohyoid  muscles  of  the 
tongue,  and  further  on  connects  itself  with  branches  from  the  first 
four  cervical  nerves  and  occasionally  with  branches  from  the  glosso- 
pharyngeal nerve  (IX),  ultimately  supplying  the  skin  on  the  front  of 
the  neck.  There  are  no  branches,  as  in  Mammals,  to  supply  the 
face,  nor  is  there  in  Birds  a  chorda  tympani,  i.e.  a  branch  of  the 
facial  nerve  joining  the  mandibular  branch  of  the  trigeminal  nerve  (V). 

VIII.  N.  acusticus  arises  dorsally  from  the  facial  nerve  (VII), 
of  which  it  is  the  sensory  portion.  It  is  very  short  and  thick, 
possesses  a  little  ganglion,  and  spreads  out  in  the  cochlea  of  the  Ear 
as  the  nerve  of  hearing. 

IX.  N.  glossopharyngeus  takes  its  origin  from  the  dorso-lateral 
sides  of  the  medulla  oblongata,  near  the  rhomboid  fossa.  It  leaves 
the  cranium  through  the  foramen  jugulare,  which  lies  between  the 
petrosal  and  the  lateral  occipital  bones,  and  also  serves  as  exit  for 
the  vagus  nerve  (X)  and  the  jugular  vein.  Here  the  ninth  nerve 
forms  a  big  swelling,  the  ganglion  jugulare,  and  is  connected  with  the 


56  BRAIN— BRAMBLE-FINCH 

ganglion  of  the  vagus  and  with  the  large  sympathetic  g.  cervicale 
supremum,  receiving  a  strong  branch  from  the  stem  of  the  vagus, 
and  dividing  into  two  branches  : — One,  the  pharyngeal  branch,  sup- 
plying the  upper  portion  of  the  pharynx  and  the  gustatory  papillae 
of  the  palate ;  the  other,  or  lingual  branch,  supplying  the  glottis, 
larynx,  and  the  tongue,  and  acting  chiefly  as  the  nerve  of  taste. 

X.  N.  vagus  or  pieumogastricus  arises  behind  the  glossopha- 
ryngeal (IX),  and  passes  likewise  through  the  jugular  foramen.  Its 
ganglion  is  connected  with  that  of  the  glossopharyngeal  and  with 
that  of  the  sympathetic  system.  The  stem  of  this  nerve  receives  a 
branch  from  the  hypoglossal  (XII)  and  takes  up  the  accessory  (XI). 
It  runs  down  the  side  of  the  oesophagus,  enters  the  thoracic  cavity 
between  the  brachial  nerve  plexus  and  the  carotid  artery,  then 
passes  between  the  bronchus  and  the  subclavian  artery  to  the 
ventral  side  of  the  proventriculus,  and  joining  its  fellow  from  the 
other  side,  spreads  out  to  supply  the  stomach.  Other  branches 
leave  the  principal  stem  of  each  vagus  at  the  level  of  the  bronchi 
to  supj^ly  the  liver,  heart,  and  lungs,  and  as  the  recurrent  laryngeal 
branch  also  supply  the  distal  portion  of  the  trachea  and  oesoj)hagus. 
Some  fibres  of  the  vagus  often  extend  beyond  the  stomach,  and  are 
connected  -with  the  sympathetic  nerves  of  the  trunk,  sujDplying  part 
of  the  intestinal  canal. 

XI.  iV.  accessorius,  a  little  nerve  taking  its  origin  between 
the  dorsal  and  .ventral  roots  of  the  third  cervical  nerve,  runs 
upwards  through  the  occipital  foramen  into  the  cranium,  and  joins 
the  ganglion  of  the  vagus  (X),  to  leave  the  cranium  with  the  latter 
and  to  supply  the  cucuUaris  muscle  or  constrictor  colli. 

XII.  N.  hypoglossus  arises  ventro- laterally  from  the  medulla 
oblongata,  and  leaves  the  cranium  by  two  foramina  in  the  lateral 
occipital  bone,  in  front  of  and  sidewards  from  the  occipital  condyle. 
It  supplies  the  m.  complexus,  forms  a  connecting  loop  with  the  first 
cervical  nerve,  innervates  some  of  the  cervical  muscles,  and  divides 
into  two  branches — one  of  which  supplies  most  of  the  muscles  of  the 
tongue  and  communicates  with  its  fellow  on  the  undersurface  of 
the  tongue,  Avhile  the  other  innervates  the  muscles  of  the  larynx, 
and  then  descends  along  the  side  of  the  trachea  to  the  syrinx  in 
order  to  supply  the  vocal  muscles  and  membranes. 

BRAMBLE-FINCH  or  BRAMBLING  (Germ.  Brdmling),  names 
of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  our  annual  visitors,  Fringilla  monti- 
fringilla,  which  has  its  home  in  the  birch-forests  of  Northern 
Europe  and  Asia,  whence  it  yearly  proceeds,  often  in  flocks  of 
thousands,  to  pass  the  winter  in  more  southern  countries.  It  is 
congeneric  with  the  Chaffinch,  but  is  still  more  brightly  coloured, 
especially  in  summer,  when  the  brown  edges  of  the  feathers  being 
shed,  it  presents  a  rich  combination  of  black,  white,  and  orange. 


BRANT— BROADBILL 


57 


Even  in  wintei",  hoAvever,  its  diversified  plumage  is  sufficiently 
striking. 

BRANT  or  BRENT,  words  of  doubtful  etymology:  the 
former  spelling  is  most  usually  adopted  by  American,  the  latter 
by  English  authors,  and  in  Britain  the  word  GoosE  is  generally 
added. 

BREASTBONE,  see  Sternum. 

BRISTLE-BIRD,  the  name  given  by  the  colonists  to  three 
species  of  the  genus  Sphcnnra  of  Lichtenstein  (as  now  restricted) 
which  inhabit  Australia,  from  the  two  or  three  pairs  of  strong 
recurved  bristles  which  project  laterally  from  the  gape.  They 
were  formerly  considered  to  belong  to  the  Sylviidx ;  but  latterly, 
like  many  others,  have  been  referred  (chiefly  on  account  of  their 
short  wings)  to  the  Timeliklx  by  Mr.  Sharpe  [Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus. 
vii.  p.  104).  Their  true  position  seems  yet  to  be  determined. 
They  mostly  conceal  themselves  in  thickets,  especially  in  marshy 
places,  flying  very  little,  but  running  very  quickly,  and  carrying 
the  tail  erect.  The  nest  is  built  of  dry  grass,  globular  in  form, 
and  is  of  large  size.  S.  hrachyptcra,  the  type  of  the  genus,  inhabits 
New  South  Wales,  and  the  two  others,  S.  longirostris  and  S. 
broadbenti,  are  found  in  Western  Australia  and  the  interior  of 
South  Australia  respectively.  Allied  to  Sphenura  is  Amytis,  with 
3  or  4  species,  also  Australian,  somewhat  Wren-like  in  form,  and 
having  the  gape  beset  with  five  pairs  of  bristles,  which,  however, 
are  directed  more  forwardly,  and  are  weaker. 

BROADBILL,  Swainson's  name,  appropriate  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  figure,  in  1837  (Classif.  B.  ii.  p.  80),  for  a  remarkable  group  of 
birds  comprehending 
the  genus  Burylmnus 
of  Horsfield  ( Trans. 
Linn.  Soc.  xiii.  p.  170) 
and  some  allied  forms, 
all  inhabiting  the 
Indian  Region,  and 
especially  developed 
in  Malacca,  Java,  Su- 
matra, and  Borneo ; 
but  found  also  in  the 
elevated  part  of  India, 
and  extending  to  the 
Philippines.  The  position  of  this  group,  which  was  in  1842 
recognized  by  Baron  de  Selys-Longchamps  as  forming  a  good 
Family,  Eurylsemidse,  had  long  been  doubtful,  some  authoi's  regard- 
ing it  as  allied  to  the  Muscicapidm  (Fly-catcher),  others  to  the 
Coraciidx  (Roller),    and   so   forth.      By  degrees  what  seems    to 


EURYL^MUS.  CaLYPTOMENA. 

(After  Swainson.) 


58  BRONCHI— BRUBRU 

— TTF 

be  its  true  place  as  belonging  to  the  OLiGOMYOl^r,  as  that  term  is 
used  in  this  work ;  but  the  Ewylsemidse,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
examined,  differ  from  all  other  Passeres  in  "  their  retention  of  a 
plantar  vinculum,"  as  first  noticed  by  Garrod  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1877,  p.  449),  which  fact  led  W.  A.  Forbes  to  propose  for  them 
further  separation  as  Desmodactyli  (op.  cit.  1880,  p.  390),  But 
what  seems  to  be  a  stronger  reason  for  separating  them  is  that,  as 
Mr.  Sclater  had  already  shewn  {Bis,  1872,  p.  179),  the  manubrium, 
or  anterior  projection  of  the  sternum,  is  not  forked  as  in  other 
Passeres.  According  to  him  in  1888  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiv.  pp. 
454-470)  the  Eurylxmidx  comprehend  two  subfamilies,  Calypto- 
meninse,  consisting  of  the  genus  Galy])tomena  only,  and  Eurylseminse, 
containing  six  genera,  two  of  which,  Psarisomus  and  Serilophus,^  are 
found  in  India,  while  examples  of  all  the  rest,  the  Philippine  Sarco- 
phanops  excepted,  occur  in  British  territory  further  to  the  eastward. 
They  are  nearly  all  birds  of  great  beauty,  and  the  two  species  of 
Calyptomena  are  remarkable  for  their  rich  green  plumage,  and  the 
way  in  which  the  frontal  feathers  project  upwards  and  forwards,  so 
as  almost  to  conceal  the  bill,  and  being  adpressed  form  a  disk-like 
prominence.  They  are  frugivorous,  but  the  Eurylxminss  seem  to 
be  insectivorous.  Not  much  is  recorded  of  their  habits,  but  they 
are  said  to  be  stupid,  songless  birds,  and  usually  keep  in  small 
flocks.     {Cf.  Gates,  B.  Br.  Burmah,  i.  pp.  422-431.) 

BRONCHI,  adj.  bronchial,  from  fSpoyxos,  the  windpipe.  The 
thoracic  end  of  the  Trachea  is  divided  into  a  right  and  a  left 
bronchus.  Each  bronchus  enters  the  lung  of  its  side  and  passes 
through  its  whole  length  as  mesobronchium,  from  which  go  off  about 
10  secondary  bronchi  towards  the  surface  of  the  LuNG.  In  almost 
all  birds — the  exceptions  being  the  Cathartidse,  true  Storks,  and 
Steatornis — the  bronchi  are  strengthened  by  cartilaginous  semirings  ; 
the  ends  of  these  rings  point  towards  the  median  line,  and  are 
closed  by  the  inner  tympaniform  membrane.  The  right  and  left 
membranes  are  connected  with  each  other  by  an  elastic  band,  called 
hronchidesmus.  All  the  rings  which  partake  of  the  formation  of 
the  pessulus  of  the  trachea  belong  to  the  latter,  the  pessulus  thus 
marking  the  beginning  of  the  bronchi  (see  also  Trachea  and  Syrinx). 

BRGNZE-WING,  the  name  given  in  Australia  to  several 
species  of  Pigeon  belonging  to  the  genera  or  so-called  genera 
Phaps,  Geophaps,  Lophophaps,  and  Ocyphaps,  from  the  lustrous  coppery 
or  bronze-like  spots  they  display  on  their  wings. 

BRUBRU,  the  name  (apparently  originating  with  Levaillant) 
of  a  conspicuously-coloured  Shrike,  the  Nilaus  hrnlru  or  N.  capensis 
of  modern  ornithology. 

^  The  style  of  plumage  in  this  genus  recalls  that  of  Ampelis  (Waxwing), 
but  no  affinity  thereto  can  be  thought  to  exist. 


BR  USH-  TURKE  Y—B  ULB  UL 

_f 


59 


Talegallus.     (After  Swainson.) 


BEUSH-TURKEY,  the  Australian  name  for  one  of  the  largest 
of  the  Megapodes,  Talegallus  lathami, 
which  has  frequently  made  its  mound, 
laid  its  eggs,  and  reared  its  young  in 
the  Zoological  Gardens,  after  the  manner 
described  many  years  ago  by  Mr.  Bart- 
lett  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1860,  pp.  426,  427). 
In  earlier  days  the  position  of  this  bird 
was  a  great  puzzle  to  some  ornitholo- 
gists, who  thought  from  the  form  of 
its  bill  that  it  was  a  Bii*d-of-Prey,  and  called  it  the  "  New-Holland 
Vulture." 

BUDJERIGAR  (spelling  doubtful)  a  corruption  of  Betcherrygah, 
given  by  Gould  as  the  native  name  of  the  pretty  little  Australian 
Parrakeet,  Melopsittaxits  undulalus,  that  is  now  so  favourite  a 
cage-bird.  Its  name  has  of  late  been  still  further  corrupted  into 
Beauregard ! 

BUFFLE-HEAD  {i.e.  Buffalo-head)  a  North-American  species 
of  Duck,  Clangula  albeola,  allied  to  the  Golden-eye. 

BULBUL,  from  the  Arabic  through  the  Persian,  in  the  poetry 
of  which  language  it  plays  a  great  part,  and  is  generally  rendered 
"Nightingale"  by  translators,  and  rightly  so  according  to  Blyth 
(Calcutta  Review,  No.  Iv.  March  1857,  p.  153),  who  says  that  it  "is 
a  species  of  true  Nightingale."  In  this  case  it  is  probably  that 
named  Daulias  liafizi,  in  honour  of  the  great  Persian  poet.^  But 
whatever    may    have    been    originally    intended,    and    Yule    says 


Pycnonotds. 


(After  Swainsou.) 


Phyllostrephus. 


(Hobson-Johson)  that  the  name  is  derived  from  the  bird's  note, 
the  word  has  for  a  good  many  years  been  applied  by  Anglo- 
Indians  to  various  species,  all  or  nearly  all  of  which  belong  to  a 
group  I'xida;  (otherwise  Brachijpodidse,  so-called  from  their  short  legs), 
and  usually  referred  to  the  ill-defined  "Family"  Tlmeliidie.  Of 
this  group  the  latest  authority,  Mr.  Gates  {Faun.  Br.  India,  Birds, 

^  Cj.  Blanford,  Zool.  aiid  Geol.  Persia,  p.    169,  pi.   x.  fig.   2  ;  and  Dresser, 
Ibis,  1875,  p.  338. 


6o  BULLFINCH— BUNTING 

i.  pp.  253,  254),  makes  sixteen  genera,  one  of  them,  3Iolpastes,  being 
that  which  he  considers  to  contain  what  may  be  called  the  genuine 
Bulbuls,  formerly  included  in  the  genus  Pycnonotus,  but  since 
separated  therefrom,  on  characters,  however,  which  seem  to  be  of 
the  slightest.  No  fewet  than  nine  species  are  now  recognized  as 
inhabiting  various  parts  of  the  Indian  Empire  and  Ceylon,  that 
found  in  Bengal  and  to  the  northward,  M.  pygseus  or  hengalensis, 
being  perhaps  the  best  known,  but  Madras,  the  Punjab,  Burma,  and 
Tenasserim  have  each  its  own  form  or  species.  They  are  said  to 
be  familiar  garden-birds,  and  are  usually  common,  going  about  in 
pairs  with  a  melodious  chirping. 

BULLFINCH,  doubtless  so  called  from  the  thickness  of  its 
head  and  neck,  when  compared  vnth  other  members  of  the  Family 
Fringillidse  (Finch),  to  which  it  belongs — the  familiar  bird,  Pyrrhula 
eiiropxa,  which  hardly  needs  description.  The  varied  plumage  of 
the  cock — his  bright  red  breast  and  his  grey  back,  set  off  by  his  coal- 
black  head  and  quills — is  naturally  attractive ;  while  the  facility 
with  which  he  is  tamed,  and  his  engaging  disposition  in  con- 
finement, make  him  a  popular  cage-bird, — to  say  nothing  of  the 
fact  (which  in  the  opinion  of  so  many  adds  to  his  charms)  of  his 
readily  learning  to  "  pipe  "  a  tune,  or  some  bars  of  one,  though  this 
perversion  of  his  natural  notes  is  hardly  agreeable  to  the  orni- 
thologist. B}''  gardeners  the  Bullfinch  has  long  been  regarded  as  a 
deadly  enemy,  from  its  undoubted  destruction  of  the  buds  of 
fruit-trees  in  spring-time,  though  whether  the  destruction  is  really 
so  much  of  a  detriment  is  by  no  means  undoubted.  Northern  and 
Eastern  Europe  is  inhabited  by  a  larger  form,  P.  major,  which 
differs  in  nothing  but  size  and  more  vivid  tints  from  that  which  is 
common  in  the  British  Isles  and  Western  Europe.  A  very  distinct 
species,  P.  murina,  remarkable  for  its  dull  coloration,  is  peculiar  to 
the  Azores,  and  several  others  are  found  in  Asia  from  the 
Himalayas  to  Japan.  More  recently  a  Bullfinch,  P.  cassini,  has  been 
discovered  in  Alaska,  being  the  first  recognition  of  this  genus  in 
the  New  World.  {Cf.  Stejneger,  Proc.  U.S.  Nat.  Mus.  1887,  pp. 
103-110.) 

BULLHEAD  and  BULLSEYE,  names  applied  chiefly  in 
Ireland  and  North  America  to  the  Golden  and  Grey  Plovers  ;  but 
the  former  also  given  locally  to  the  Golden-eye. 

BUNTING,  Old  English  "  Buntyle,"  Scottish  "Buntlin,"  a  word 
of  uncertain  origin,^  properly  the  common  English  name  of  the  bird 

1  Prof.  Skeat  (Etymol.  Diet. )  has  suggested  a  connexion  with  the  old  verb, 
still  extant  as  a  dialectic  form,  hunten  =  to  butt ;  but  this  is  not  very  apparent. 
He  has  also  cited  the  Scottish  word  buntin  =  short  and  thick,  or  plump,  which, 
however,   seems  as  likely  to  have  been  derived  from  the  bird,  for  the  clumsy 


BUNTING  6i 


called  by  Linnseus  Emheriza  miliaria^  but  now  used  in  a  general  sense 
for  all  members  of  the  Family  Emherizidx,  which  are  closely  allied 
to  the  Fringillidx  (Finch).  The  Buntings  generally  may  be  out- 
wardly distinguished  from  the  Finches  by  their  angular  gape, 
the  posterior  portion  of  which  is  greatly  deflected ;  and  most  of 
the  Old- World  forms,  together  with  some  of  those  of  the  New 
World,  have  a  bony  knob  on  the  palate — a  swollen  out  growth  of 
the  dentary  edges  of  the  bill.  Correlated  with  this  peculiarity 
the  maxilla  usually  has  the  tomia  siuuated,  and  is  generally 
concave,  and  smaller  and  narrower  than  the  mandible,  which  is 
also  concave  to  receive  the  palatal  knob.  In  most  other  respects 
the  Buntings  greatly  resemble  the  Finches,  but  their  eggs  are 
generally  distinguishable  by  the  irregular  hair-like  marldngs  on  the 
shell.  In  the  British  Islands  by  far  the  commonest  species  of 
Bunting  is  the  Yellow  Hamjvier,  E.  citrinella,  but  the  true  Bunting 
(or  Corn-Bunting,  or  Bunting-Lark,  as  it  is  called  in  some  districts) 
is  a  very  well  known  bird,  while  the  Reed-Bunting,  E.  schcenidus, 
frequents  marshy  soils  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  the  two  former. 
In  certain  localities  in  the  south  of  England  the  Cirl-Bunting,  E. 
cirlus,  is  also  a  resident ;  and  in  winter  vast  flocks  of  the  Snow- 
Bunting,  Plcdrophcmes  nivalis,  at  once  recognizable  by  its  pointed 
wings  and  elongated  hind- claws,  resort  to  our  shores  and  open 
grounds.  This  last  breeds  sparingly  on  the  highest  mountains  of 
Scotland,  the  fact  being  placed  beyond  doubt  by  the  discovery  of  a 
nest  and  young  in  188G  by  Messrs.  B.  N.  Peach  and  L.  N. 
Hinxman,  as  briefly  recorded  soon  after  by  Mr.  Harvie-Brown 
{Zoologist,  1886,  p.  336),  and  with  full  details  in  the  Vertebrate 
Fauna  of  Sutherland  by  that  gentleman  and  Mr.  Buckley  (pp. 
138-143,  pi.);  but  the  flocks  which  visit  us  come  from  northern 
regions,  for  it  is  a  species  which  in  summer  inhabits  the  whole 
circumpolar  area.  The  Ortolan,  E.  hortulana,  so  highly  prized  for 
its  delicate  flavour,  occasionally  appears  in  England,  but  this  island 
lies  outside  its  proper  range.  On  the  continent  of  Europe,  in 
Africa,  and  throughout  Asia,  many  other  species  are  found,  while 
in  America  the  number  belonging  to  the  Family  cannot  at  present 
be  computed.  As  already  stated,  the  beautiful  and  melodious 
Cardinal,  Cardinalis  virginianus,  often  called  the  Virginian 
Nightingale,  probably  has  to  be  included  in  this  Family,  but  doubts 
exist  as  to  the  Bobolink,  though  it  is  commonly  known  as  the  Rice- 
Bunting.  Whether  any  species  of  Emberizidse  inhabit  the  Austra- 
lian Region  is  yet  to  be  proved ;  but  it  would  seem  possible  that 
several  genera  of  Australian  birds  hitherto  classed  with  the  FriTir 
gillidx  may  have  to  be  assigned  to  the  Emlerizidse. 

figure  of  the  true  Bunting  is  very  evident  to  any  observer.  Any  connexion  with 
the  German  hunt  or  the  Dutch  bonte  ( =  pied  or  variegated)  is  said  to  be  most 
unlikely. 


62  B  URRO  W-D  UCK—B  USTARD 

BUEROW-DUCK,  a  common  local  name  of  the  Sheld-drake. 

BUSTAED  (corrupted  from  the  Latin  Avis  tarda,  though  the 
application  of  the  epithet  ^  is  not  easily  understood),  the  largest 
British  land-fowl,  and  the  Otis  tarda  of  Linnaeus,  which  formerly 
frequented  the  champaign  parts  of  Great  Britain  from  East 
Lothian  to  Dorset,  but  of  which  the  native  race  is  now  extirpated. 
Its  existence  in  the  northern  locality  just  named  rests  upon 
Sibbald's  authority  {circa  1684),  and  though  Hector  Boethius 
(1526)  unmistakably  described  it  as  an  inhabitant  of  the  Merse,  no 
later  writer  than  the  former  has  adduced  any  evidence  in  favour  of 
its  Scottish  domicile.  The  last  examples  of  the  native  race  were 
probably  two  killed  in  1838  near  Swaffham,  in  Norfolk,  a  district 
in  which  for  some  years  previously  a  few  hen-birds  of  the  species, 
the  remnant  of  a  plentiful  stock,  had  maintained  their  existence, 
though  no  cock-bird  had  latterly  been  known  to  bear  them 
company.  In  Suffolk,  where  the  neighbourhood  of  Icklingham 
formed  its  chief  haunt,  an  end  came  to  the  race  in  1832  ;  on  the 
wolds  of  Yorkshire  about  1826,  or  perhaps  a  little  later;  and  on 
those  of  Lincolnshire  about  the  same  time.  Of  Wiltshire,  Montagu, 
writing  in  1813,  says  that  none  had  been  seen  in  their  favourite 
haunts  on  Salisbury  Plain  for  the  last  two  or  three  years.  In 
Dorset  there  is  no  evidence  of  an  indigenous  example  having 
occurred  since  that  date,  nor  in  Hampshire  nor  Sussex  within  the 
present  century.  From  other  English  counties,  as  Cambridgeshire, 
Hertfordshire,  and  Berkshire,  it  disappeared  without  note  being 
taken  of  the  event,  and  the  direct  cause  or  causes  of  its  extermina- 
tion can  only  be  inferred  from  what,  on  testimony  cited  by  Mr. 
Stevenson  {Birds  of  Norfolk,  ii.  pp.  1-42),  is  known  to  have  led 
to  the  same  result  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk.  In  the  latter  the 
extension  of  plantations  rendered  the  country  unfitted  for  a  bird 
whose  shy  nature  could  not  brook  the  growth  of  covert  that  might 
shelter  a  foe,  and  in  the  former  the  introduction  of  improved 
agricultural  implements,  notably  the  corn-drill  and  the  horse-hoe, 
led  to  the  discovery  and  generally  the  destruction  of  every  nest, 
for  the  bird's  chosen  breeding-place  was  in  wide  fields — "brecks," 
as  they  are  locally  called, — of  winter-corn.  Since  the  extirpation 
of  the  native  race  the  Bustard  is  known  to  Great  Britain  only  by 
occasional  wanderers,  straying  most  likely  from  the  open  country 
of  Champagne  or  Saxony,  and  occurring  in  one  part  or  another 
of  the  United  Kingdom  some  two  or  three  times  every  three  or 
four  years,  and  chiefly  in  midwinter. 

An  adult  male  M-ill  measure  nearly  four  feet  from  the  tip  of 
the  bill  to  the  end  of  the  tail,  and  its  wings  have  an  expanse  of 

^  It  may  be  open  to  doubt  wbetber  tardaia  here  an  adjective.     Several  of  the 
medieeval  naturalists  used  it  as  a  substantive. 


BUSTARD 


63 


eight   feet   or    more— its   weight  varying   (possibly   through   age) 
from  22  to  32  pounds.     This  last  was  that  of  one  which  occurred 


Cock  Bustard.    (After  Wolf.) 


to   the  younger  Naumann,  the  best  biographer  of  the  bird  (Vogel 
Beutschlands,  vii.   pp.    12-51),   who,  however,  stated  in   1834   that 


Cock  Bustard.     (After  Wolf.) 

he  was  assured  of  the  former  existence  of  examples  which 
had  weighed  from  35  to  38  pounds.  The  female  is  considerably 
smaller.      Compared  with  most  other  birds  frequenting  open  places 


64  BUSTARD 

the  Bustard  has  disproportionately  short  legs,  yet  the  bulk  of  its 
body  renders  it  a  conspicuous  and  stately  object,  and  when  on 
the  wing,  to  which  it  readily  takes,  its  flight  is  not  inferior  in 
majesty  to  that  of  an  Eagle.  The  bill  is  of  moderate  length, 
but,  owing  to  the  exceedingly  flat  head  of  the  bird,  appears 
longer  than  it  really  is.  The  neck,  especially  of  the  male  in  the 
breeding-season,  is  thick,  as  shewn  in  the  first  figure,  and  the  tail, 
in  the  same  sex  at  that  time  of  year,  is  generally  carried  in  an 
upright  position,  being,  however,  in  the  paroxysms  of  courtship 
turned  forwards,  while  the  head  and  neck  are  simultaneously 
retracted  along  the  back,  the  wings  are  lowered,  and  their  shorter 
feathers  erected.  In  this  posture,  which  has  been  admirably  por- 
trayed by  Mr.  Wolf  {Zool.  Sketches,  pi.  45),  the  bird  presents,  as 
will  be  seen  by  the  second  figure,  a  very  strange  appearance, 
for  the  tail,  head,  and  neck  are  almost  buried  amid  the  upstand- 
ing feathers  before  named,  and  the  breasts  are  protruded  to  a 
remarkable  extent.  The  Bustard  is  of  a  pale  grey  on  the  neck 
and  white  beneath,  but  the  back  is  beautifully  barred  with  russet 
and  black,  while  in  the  male,  at  the  height  of  the  breeding-season, 
a  band  of  deep  tawny-brown — in  some  examples  approaching  a 
claret-colour — descends  from  either  shoulder  and  forms  a  broad 
gorget  on  the  breast.  The  secondaries  and  greater  wing-coverts 
are  white,  contrasting  vividly,  as  the  bird  flies,  with  the  black 
primaries.  Both  sexes  have  the  ear-coverts  somewhat  elongtited 
—  whence  doubtless  is  derived  the  name  Otis  (Gr.  wrt's) — and  the 
male  is  adorned  with  a  tuft  of  long,  white,  bristly  plumes, 
springing  from  each  side  of  the  base  of  the  mandible.  The 
food  of  the  Bustard  consists  of  almost  any  of  the  plants  natural 
to  the  open  country  it  loves,  but  in  winter  it  will  readily  forage 
on  those  which  are  grown  by  man,  and  especially  coleseed  and 
similar  green  crops.  To  this  vegetable  diet  much  animal  matter 
is  added  when  occasion  off'ers,  and  from  an  earthworm  to  a 
field-mouse  little  that  lives  and  moves  seems  to  come  amiss  to 
its  appetite. 

Though  not  many  birds  have  had  more  written  about  them 
than  the  Bustard,  much  remains  to  be  determined  with  regard  to 
its  economy.  A  moot  point,  which  will  most  likely  always  remain 
undecided,  is  whether  the  British  race  was  migratory  or  not, 
though  that  such  is  the  habit  of  the  species  in  most  parts  of  the 
European  continent  is  beyond  dispute.  Equally  uncertain  as  yet 
is  the  question  whether  it  is  polygamous  or  not — the  evidence 
being  perhaps  in  favour  of  its  having  that  nature.  But  one  of 
the  most  singular  properties  of  the  bird  is  the  presence  in  some 
of  the  fully-grown  males  of  a  pouch  or  gular  sack,  opening  under 
the  tongue.  This  extraordinary  feature,  first  discovered  by 
James   Douglas,   a   Scotch  physician,   and  made  known  by  Albin 


BUSTARD  65 


in  1740,  though  its  existence  was  hinted  by  Sir  Thomas  Browne 
sixty  years  before,  if  not  by  the  Emperor  Frederick  II,  has  been 
found  wanting  in  examples  that,  from  the  exhibition  of  all  the 
outward  marks  of  virility,  were  believed  to  be  thoroughly 
mature ;  and  as  to  its  function  and  mode  of  development  judgment 
had  best  be  suspended,  with  the  understanding  that  the  old  supjDOsi- 
tion  of  its  serving  as  a  receptacle  whence  the  bird  might  supply  itself 
or  its  companions  with  water  in  dry  places  must  be  deemed  to  be 
wholly  untenable.  The  structure  of  this  pouch — the  existence 
of  which  in  some  examples  has  been  well  established — is,  how- 
ever, variable  ;  and  though  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  one 
form  or  another  it  is  common  in  the  breeding-season  to  several 
species  of  the  Family  Otididm,  it  would  seem  to  be  as  inconstant 
in  its  occurrence  as  in  its  capacity.  As  might  be  expected,  this 
remarkable  feature  has  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention  [Journ. 
fur  Ornith.  1861,  p.  153;  1862,  p.  135;  Ibis,  1862,  p.  107;  1865, 
p.  143  ;  Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1865,  p.  747  ;  1868,  p.  471  ;  1869,  p.  140  ; 
1874,  p.  471),  and  the  researches  of  Garrod,  the  latest  investi- 
gator of  the  matter,  shew  that  in  an  example  of  the  Australian 
Bustard,  Otis  australis,  examined  by  him  there  was,  instead  of  a 
pouch  or  sack,  simply  a  highly  dilated  oesophagus — the  distention 
of  which,  at  the  bird's  will,  produced  much  the  same  appearance 
and  effect  as  that  of  the  undoubted  sack  found  at  times  in  the 
0.  tarda. 

The  distribution  of  the  Bustards  is  confined  to  the  Old  World 
— the  bird  so-called  in  the  Fur-Countries  of  North  America,  and 
thus  giving  its  name  to  a  lake,  river,  and  cape,  being  the  Canada 
Goose,  Bernida  canadensis.  In  the  Pala^arctic  area  we  have 
the  0.  tarda  already  mentioned,  extending  from  Spain  to  Mesopo- 
tamia at  least,  and  from  Scania  to  Morocco,  as  well  as  a  smaller 
species,  0.  tetrax,  Avhich  often  occurs  as  a  straggler  in,  but  was 
never  an  inhabitant  of,  the  British  Islands.  Two  species,  known 
indifferently  by  the  name  of  Houbara  (derived  from  the  Arabic), 
frequent  the  more  southern  portions  of  the  area.  One  of  them,  0. 
Jioubara,  inhabits  Mauritania  and  even  some  of  the  Canary  Islands, 
while  the  other,  0.  macqiieeni,  though  having  the  more  eastern  range 
and  reaching  India,  has  several  times  occurred  in  North-western 
Europe,  and  once  even  in  England.  In  the  east  of  Siberia  the  place 
of  0.  tarda  is  taken  by  the  nearly-allied,  but  apparently  distinct, 
0.  dyhovskii,  which  would  seem  to  occur  also  in  Northern  China. 
Africa  is  the  chief  stronghold  of  the  Family,  nearly  a  score  of  well- 
marked  species  being  peculiar  to  that  continent,  all  of  which  have 
been  by  later  systematists  separated  from  the  genus  Otis.  India, 
too,  has  three  peculiar  species,  the  smaller  of  which  are  there 
known  as  Floricans,  and,  like  some  of  their  African  and  one  if  not 
both  of  their  European  cousins,  are  remarkable  for  the  ornamental 

5 


66  BUTCHER-BIRD-BUZZARD 

plumage  they  assume  at  the  breeding-season.  Neither  in  Mada- 
gascar nor  in  the  Malay  Archipelago  is  there  any  form  of  this 
Family,  but  Australia  possesses  one  large  species  already  named. 
From  Xenophon's  days  {Anah.  i.  5)  to  our  own,  the  flesh  of 
Bustards  has  been  esteemed  as  of  the  highest  flavour.  The 
Bustard  has  long  been  protected  by  the  game-laAvs  in  Great  Britain, 
but,  as  will  have  been  seen,  to  little  purpose.  A  few  attempts 
have  been  made  to  reinstate  it  as  a  denizen  of  this  country,  but 
none  on  any  scale  that  would  ensure  success.  Many  of  the  older 
authors  considered  the  Bustards  allied  to  the  Ostkich,  a  most 
mistaken  view,  their  affinity  pointing  apparently  towards  the 
Cranes  in  one  direction  and  the  Plovers  in  another.  The  so 
called  Thick-kneed  Bustard  is  the  Stone-CURLEW. 

BUTCHER-BIED,  a  name  that  seems  at  one  time  to  have  been 
in  general  use,  though  latterly  usurj^ed,  except  locally,  by  Shrike, 
which  last  was  probably  ajii^lied  by  mistake.  The  former  takes  its 
origin  from  the  bird's  habit  of  impaling  its  prey  on  a  thorn  while 
eating  it,  and  leaving  the  remains  there  to  decay.  A  place  suitable 
for  this  purpose  is  often  used  many  times,  and,  reminding  people  of 
a  butcher's  shambles,  induced  the  English  name,  as  Avell  as  the  Latin 
Laniua,  conferred,  it  would  appear,  by  Gesner.  The  habit  is  carried 
out  when  the  bird  is  kept  in  confinement,  for  it  will  then  fix  its  food 
to  the  wires  of  its  cage.  One  species,  L.  excuhifor,  derives  its  trivial 
designation  from  the  use  made  of  it  as  a  sentinel  by  falconers  when 
catching  wild  Hawks.  The  mode  employed  is  well  described  by 
Hoy  {Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  iv.  p.  342),  but  can  be  only  briefly  mentioned 
here.  The  Hawk-catcher  lies  hidden  in  a  hut,  watching  through  a 
small  hole  the  Butcher-bird,  which  is  tethered  some  yards  oft',  and 
by  its  actions  not  only  gives  him  notice  of  the  approach  of  a  Bird- 
of-Prey,  but  also  indicates  of  what  kind  the  stranger  is.  Thus  the 
sentinel  is  but  slightly  troubled"  at  a  23''^ssing  Kite,  Eagle,  or 
Buzzard  ;  but  beats  itself  on  its  perch  Avith  screams  at  the  sight 
of  a  Harrier,  while  on  the  appearance  of  a  Falcon  or  Sparrow-Hawk 
it  drops  with  cries  of  distress  into  a  retreat  that  has  been  consider- 
ately prepared  for  it.  On  this  the  falconer,  by  pulling  long  strings, 
displays  first  one  and  then  a  second  tethered  Pigeon,  and  the 
instant  the  Hawk  clutches  this  last,  draws  a  bow-net  over  both, 
thus  securing  his  prize. 

BUTTON -QUAIL,  the  Anglo-Indian  name  for  a  little  bird, 
Turnix  sykesi,  and  one  if  not  more  of  its  congeners,  which,  though 
for  a  long  while  confounded  with  the  true  Quails,  really  belong  to 
a  very  distinct  group,  Tiirnicidx,  and  may  be  more  conveniently 
treated  under  the  title  of  Hemipode. 

BUZZAED,  a  word  derived  from  the  Latin  Buteo,  through  the 
French  Busard,  and  used  in  a  general  sense  for  a  large  gi'oup  of 


BUZZARD 


67 


contains,  among    many  others,    the 


Diurnal   Birds-of-Pre}',  which 

species  usually  known  as  the  Common  Buzzard,  Buteo  vulgaris,  of 

Leach,  though  the  English  epithet  is  nowadays  hardly  applicable. 

The   name   Buzzard,  however,  belongs   quite   as   rightfully  to  the 

birds   called   in  books  "  Harriers,"  and  by  it  one  of  them,  the 

Moor-Buzzard,  Circus  xruginosus, 

is  still  known  in  such  places  as 

it  inhabits.      "  Puttock  "   is  also 

another  name  used  in  some  parts 

of  the  country,   but    perhaps  is 

rather  a  synonym  of  the  Kite, 

Milvus  idinus.     Though  ornitho- 

losical  Avriters  are  almost  unani- 


mous in  distinguishing  the  Buz- 
zards as  a  group  from  the  Eagles, 
the  grounds  usually  assigned  for 
their  separation  are  but  slight,  and  the  diagnostic  character  that 
can  be  best  trusted  is  proljably  that  in  the  former,  as  the 
figure  shews,   the    bill    is    decurved  from   the   base,  Avhile  in  the 


Buzzard.    (After  Swainson.) 


a 
is 
a 


its  length 


straight 


third  of 
short   and  round,    Avhile 
general   Avay   Buzzards 


The   head, 

in    the   Eagles 

are  smaller  than 


are   several   exceptions    to   this    statement. 


latter  it  is  for  about 
too,  in  the  Buzzards 
it  is  elongated.  In 
Eagles,  though  there 
and  have  their  plumage  more  mottled.  Furthermore,  most  if 
not  all  of  the  Buzzards,  about  which  anything  of  the  kind  is 
with  cei'tainty  known,  assume  their  adult  dress  at  the  first  moult, 
while  the  Eagles  take  a  longer  time  to  reach  maturity.  The 
Buzzards  are  line -looking  birds,  but  are  slow  and  heavy  of 
•Hight,  so  that  in  the  old  days  of  falconry  they  were  regarded 
with  infinite  scorn,  and  hence  in  common  English  to  call  a 
man  a  "buzzard"  is  to  denounce  him  as  stupid.  Their  food 
consists  of  small  mammals,  young  birds,  reptiles,  amphibians, 
a.nd  insects — particularly  beetles — and  thus  they  never  could  have 
been  very  injurious  to  the  game-preserver,  though  they  have  fallen 
under  his  ban,  if  indeed  they  were  not  really  his  friends ;  but  at 
the  present  day  they  are  so  scarce  that  in  this  country  their  elTect, 
whatever  it  may  be,  is  inappreciable.  Buzzards  are  found  over  the 
Avhole  world  with  the  exception  of  the  Australian  Region,  and  have 
been  split  into  many  genera  by  systematists.  In  the  British 
Islands  we  have  two  species,  one  (the  i>.  vulgaris  already  mentioned) 
resident,  and  now  almost  confined  to  a  few  of  the  wilder  districts ; 
the  other  the  Rough-legged  Buzzard,  Arehibuteo  lagopus,  an  irregular 
winter-visitant,  sometimes  arriving  in  larse  bands  from  the  north 
of  Europe,  and  readily  distinguishable  from  the  former  by  being 
feathered  down  to  the  toes.     The  Honey-Buzzard,  Fernis  aykorus, 


a  summer-visitor  from  the  south, 


and  breeding, 


or  attempting  to 


68  BUZZARD— C^CA 


breed,  yearly  in  the  New  Forest,  does  not  come  into  the  sub- 
family Buteoninx,  but  is  probably  the  tj^pe  of  a  distinct  group, 
Perninse,^  of  which  there  are  other  examples  in  Africa  and 
Asia.  The  so-called  "  Turkey-Buzzard "  is  one  of  the  American 
Vultures. 


c 

Cu^CA,  a  pair  of  blindsacs  or  lateral  dilatations  of  the  gut, 
mai'king  the  beginning  of  the  rectum.  "When  the  caeca  are  large  the 
rectum  is  shut  off  from  the  ileum  or  small  intestine  by  a  valvular 
sphincter,  which  allows  the  faecal  matter  to  ascend  from  the  rectum 
into  the  caeca,  but  prevents  it  from  passing  back  into  the  ileum. 
The  caeca  vary  extremely  in  size  in  the  different  groups  of  Birds ; 
they  attain  their  greatest  size  in  those  that  are  herbivorous,  are 
small  or  hardly  functional  in  most  that  live  on  animal  food,  and  are 
altogether  absent  in  fruit-  and  grain-eaters.  There  are,  however,  so 
many  exceptions  to  this  broad  generalisation,  that  an  enumeration 
is  advisable,  especially  since  a  certain  taxonomic  value  cannot  be 
denied  to  these  organs. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  originally  all  Birds  possessed  caeca, 
and  that,  according  to  the  diet,  these  were  either  further  developed 
or  reduced  in  size  or  even  lost  ultimately.  Hence  the  mere 
presence  of  cseca  in  a  bird  is  of  less  taxonomic  value  than  their 
state  of  development ;  they  are  either  functional,  or  without  func- 
tion ;  their  absence  is  only  the  last  step  of  their  degeneration. 

1.  The  caeca  are  large  and  of  great  functional  importance  in 
Struthio,  Ehea,  Apteryx,  Ciypturi,  Gallina?,  Pteroclida?,  Grallae,  and 
Anseres,  i.e.  in  birds  which  are  chiefly  herbivorous  ;  also  in  many 
worm-eating  Limicolas,  for  instance  in  the  Avoset,  Lap"\\dng,  Ringed 
Plover,  GEdicnemus,  Thinocorys,  Attagis,  and  the  Corncrake  ;  lastly  in 
the  Owls,  Nightjars,  Boilers,  Bee-eaters,  and  Cuckoos,  i.e.  birds  which, 
■with  the  exception  of  the  first  group,  are  strictly  insectivorous. 

2.  The  caeca  are  distinctly  functional,  but  comjDaratively  short, 
in  Casuarius,  Dromaeus,  Grus,  Turnix,  many  Anatidi^e  (vegetable- 
eaters  with  a  great  predilection  for  animal  food),  Limicoke  and 
Eallidae,  like  the  Golden  Plover,  Numenius,  Totanus,  Gallinago, 
Chionis,  Porphyrio,  Porzana ;  the  piscivorous  Spheniscidte,  Peli- 
canus,  Podicipes,  Uria,  Colymbus ;  Merops,  and  Phoenicopterus. 

3.  The  caeca  are  quite  degenerated  and  functionless,  being 
either  {a)  reduced  to  small  wartlike  or  vermiform  appendages,  as 
in  some  Spheniscida?,  Herodii,  Pelargi,  Steganopodes,  Larida?,  Strep- 

^  The  name  Pernis  was  given  in  1817  by  Cuvier  {Rtgne  Anim.  i.  p.  322),  who 
said  it  was  used  by  Aristotle  ;  but  the  latter  has  only  -wTipvis  [Hist.  Anim.  ix.  36),, 


i 


C^CA  69 

silas,  Limosa,  Scolopax,  Parra,  Rhinochetus,  many  Columbse,  Acci- 
pitres,  and  Passeres  ;  or  (b)  they  are  entirely  absent,  as  in  many 
Columbie,  Psittaci,  Musophaga,  Corythaix,  Pici,  Alcedinidae,  Bucero- 
tidee,  Upupidie,  Colius,  Cypselidte,  and  Trochilidfe. 

4.  Sometimes  one  caecum  remains  in  a  rudimentary  condition 
and  the  other  one  has  disappeared ;  this  is  the  rule  in  almost  all 
Herodii  and  in  Procellaria,  but  occasionally  met  "with  in  Steganopodes, 
Podicipes,  Strepsilas,  and  in  Atrichia. 

The  greatest  development  of  the  c^eca  occurs  in  Struthio,  Rhea, 
Tinamus,  and  Meleagris,  their  aggregate  volume  ec|ualling  or  even 
surpassing  that  of  the  rest  of  the  intestinal  canal,  the  cseca  in  these 
cases,  especially  in  Ratitre,  shewing  numerous  transverse  constric- 
tions and  sacculations,  which  increase  the  absorbing  surface. 

A  certain  correlation  exists  between  the  caeca  and  the  length 
and  width  of  the  rectum. 

The  examples  enumerated  above  seem  to  shew  that  caeca  are 
not  required  for  the  digestion  of  meat,  fruit,  and  grain.  Fish-eating 
Ducks  have  considerably  shorter  caeca  than  their  strictly  vegetarian 
relations  ;  the  same  remark  applies  to  those  Waders  which  live  upon 
mollusks  and  other  soft-bodied  invertebrates.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  well-developed  cjeca  of  Coracias,  Caprimulgus,  Merops,  Cuculus, 
and  those  of  the  likcAvise  insectivorous  Todies  and  Bee-eaters,  make 
it  not  improbable  that  in  the  caeca  not  only  cellulosis  (as  in  Mam- 
malia) but  also  chitine  is  digested. 

Lastly,  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  ca^ca  being  thus  explained 
by  the  food,  a  clew  -will  occasionally  be  afforded  to  the  systematic 
position  of  birds  in  which  they  appear  against  reasonable  expectation. 
It  is  clear  that  change  of  diet  may  be  accomplished  in  a  much 
shorter  time  than  it  takes  to  modify  the  various  digestive  organs.  For 
instance,  the  exclusive  meat-diet  of  the  Birds-of-Prey  has  reduced 
their  caeca  to  mere  rudiments,  and  it  is  more  than  improbable  that 
the  insectivorous  habits  of  many  of  the  smaller  Falconidae  will  ever 
redevelop  these  organs,  especially  since  these  birds  throw  out  the 
indigestible  parts  in  pellets.  Owls  now  cannot  be  distinguished 
from  Diurnal  Birds-of-Prey  by  their  diet ;  they  possess  large  caeca, 
and  cannot  therefore  be  derived  from  the  Accipitres,  which  have  lost 
them,  nor  is  it  probable  that  Owls  and  Accipitres  came  from  one 
common  stock  and  are  collateral  branches,  because  in  this  case  both 
would  be  of  equal  age,  and  we  should  have  to  assume  that  the  meat- 
diet  had  in  one  branch  suppressed  and  in  the  other  branch  preserved 
or  even  increased  the  caeca.  We  can  only  conclude  that  the  Owls 
are  descendants  of  a  stock  of  birds  Avhich,  like  the  Nightjars,  lived 
on  chitinous  insects  (Beetles,  ]\Ioths),  and  that  they,  like  Podargus, 
as  shown  by  its  predilection  for  mice,  comparatively  recently  took 
to  the  flesh  of  vertebrates. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  members  of  any  large   and  much 


70 


CALANDER—CANAR  Y-BIRD 


diversified  group  of  birds,  like  Waders,  Pigeons,  Spheniscida?,  and 
others,  have  cteca  in  various  stages  of  development,  l:)Ut  it  would 
be  a  hopeless  attempt  to  explain  this  diversity  in  particular  instances 
by  reference  to  the  preponderance  of  animal  over  vegetable  diet,  of 
which  in  Avikl  birds  we  know  so  verj^  little. 

CALAXDER  ("  Chalaundre "'  and  "  Chelaundre,"'  Chaucer, 
Piomaunt  of  the  Bose),  Fr.  CaJandir,  and  Ital.  Calandra,  both  from  the 
Latin  caliendrum  (a  head-dress  of  false  hair),  a  species  of  Lark,  the 
Alauda  calandra  of  Linn?eus,  and  the  Melanoforypha  calandra  of 
later  waiters,  described  by  Willughl^y  after  Olina,  and  figured  by 
Edwards  {Gleaninr/s,  pi.  268)  as  coming  from  Carolina,  a  curious 
mistake,  for  the  bird  is  not  American,  but  a  well-known  inhabitant 
of  Europe,  though  no  proof  of  its  occurrence  in  Britain  has  been 
given.  It  may  easily  be  recognized  Ijy  its  large  size,  thick  bill, 
and  interrupted  l)lack  collar. 

CALAO,  the  name  under  which  some  old  writers  wrote  of  the 
HORNBILLS  ;  generally  adopted  for  then\  in  French,  and  found  also 
in  scientific  nomenclature. 

CALAW  or  CALLOO— generally  followed  by  ''Duck"— a 
>Shetlaud  name  of  the  Long-tailed  DucK. 

CALICO-BIED,  one  of  the  many  names  given  to  the  TURN- 
STONE on  the  east  coast  of  North  Ameiica  (Trumbull,  Xnmes  and 
Porir.  of  B.  p.  186). 

CAMPEPHAGA  (Caterpillar -eater),  the  scientific  name  of  a 
genus  of  l)irds  bestowed  by  Yieillot,   and  anglified  by  Gould  for 

certain  Australian 
foi'ms,  which,  if 
notbelonii'ini;'  to  the 
Laniidai  (Shrike), 
are  apparently  in- 
termediate be- 
tween that  Family 
and  the  Curvidx 
(Crow).  By  some 
Avriters  they  are 
regarded  as  a  separate  grouj),  Campepliagidx,  to  which  are  attached 
several  other  forms  that  inhal)it  not  only  Australia,  but  the  Indian 
and  Ethio]iian  Regions.  This  view  will  very  likely  prove  correct ; 
])ut  it  would  be  at  present  premature  to  trace  the  limits  of  the 
group,  of  which  Ceblepi/ris  may  be  an  extreme  example.  One  of 
their  characteristics  is  the  stiftened  shaft  of  the  rump-feathers,  so 
as  to  feel  spinous  to  the  touch  ((/.  also  Oxynotus). 

CANARY-BIRD,  a  Finch  so-called  from  the  islands  whence  it 
was  apparently  first  brought,  the  Fringilhi  canaria  of  Linn»us,  and 


Campephaoa. 


Ceblepyris.    (After  Swainsou. ) 


CANARY-BIRD  71 


Serimis  canarius  of  modern  A^Titers,  which  has  long  been  the  com- 
monest of  cage-birds  throughout  the  world.  It  abounds  not  only  in 
the  islands  whence  it  has  its  name,  but  in  the  neighbouring  groups 
of  the  Madeiras  and  Azores.  It  seems  to  have  been  imported  into 
Europe  very  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Turner  in  1-544 
speaks  of  the  birds  "  quas  Anglia  aues  canai'ias  uocat  "  ;  a  statement 
confirmed  by  the  poet  Gascoigne,  who  died  in  1577,  and  speaks 
{Complaint  of  Philomene,  1.  33)  of  "  Canara  byrds."  Gesner  had 
not  seen  one  in  155.5,  but  he  gave  an  account  of  it  {Ornitliol. 
p.  234),  communicated  to  him  by  Raphael  Seller  of  Augsburg,  under 
the  name  of  Suckeruogele.  The  wild  stock  is  of  an  olive-green, 
mottled  with  dark  brown,  above,  and  greenish  -  yellow  beneath. 
All  the  bright-hued  examples  we  noAv  see  in  captivity  have  been 
induced  by  carefully  breeding  from  any  chance  varieties  that  have 
shewn  themselves ;  and  not  only  the  colour,  but  the  build  and 
stature  of  the  bird  have  in  this  manner  been  greatly  modified.  The 
change  must  have  begun  early,  for  Hernandez,  who  died  in  1587, 
described  the  bird  (Hist.  Anim.  Nov.  Hkp.  cap.  xxviii.  p.  20)  as 
being  wholly  yelloAV  (tota  lutea)  except  the  end  of  its  ■\\dngs.^  Of 
late  the  ingenuity  of  "  the  fancy,"  which  might  seem  to  have 
exhausted  itself  in  the  production  of  topknots,  feathered  feet,  and 
so  forth,  has  brought  about  a  still  further  change  from  the  original 
type.  It  has  been  foiind  that  by  a  particular  treatment,  in  which 
the  mixing  of  large  quantities  of  cayenne-pepper  with  the  food 
plays  an  important  j)art,  the  ordinary  "  canary  yellow "  may  be 
intensified  so  as  to  verge  upon  a  more  or  less  brilliant  flame  colour. 
Birds  which  have  successfully  undergone  this  forcing  process,  and  are 
hence  called  "  hot  canaries,"  command  a  very  high  price,  for  a  large 
proportion  die  under  the  discipline,  though  it  is  said  that  they 
soon  become  exceedingly  fond  of  the  exciting  condiment.  But  it  is 
impossible  here  to  treat  of  this  species  in  its  domesticated  state. 
A  small  library  of  books  has  been  written  on  the  subject.- 

Very  nearly  resembling  the  Canary-bird,  but  smaller  in  size,  is 
the  Serin,  Serinus  hortulanus,  a  species  which  not  long  since  was 
veiy  local  in  Europe,  and  chiefly  known  to  inhabit  the  cou]itries 
bordering  on  the  Mediterranean.  It  has  of  late  years  pushed  its 
way  toAvards  the  north,  and  has  even  been  several  times  taken  in 
England  (Yarrell's  Brit.  Birds,  ed.  4,  ii.  pp.  111-116).  A  closely 
allied  species,  S.  canonicus,  is  peculiar  to  Palestine. 

In  many  difl'erent  parts  of  the  Avorld  the  word  "Canary  "is 

^  This  book  was  not  published  till  16-31,  and  of  course  there  is  a  possibility  of 
the  passage  being  an  interpolation,  but  I  know  no  reason  to  suspect  it. 

-  Those  most  to  be  commended  are  perhaps  The  Canary  Book  by  Robert  L. 
Wallace,  Canaries  and  Caijc  Birds  by  W.  A.  Blackston,  and  of  course  Darwin's 
Animals  and  Plants  under  DomesticafAon  (i.  p.  295).  An  excellent  monogi-aph 
of  the  wild  bird  is  that  by  Dr.  Carl  Bolle  {Journ.  fiir  Orn.  185S,  pp.  12.'.-151). 


CANVAS-BA  CK—CAPERCALL  Y 


applied  to  almost  any  small  bird  that  is  yellow,  and  not  unfrequently 
to  some  that  are  not.  Thus  in  the  Antilles  the  name  is  given  to 
certain  species  of  Dendrceca  (AVarbler),  in  the  Cape  Colony  to 
Serimis  canicollis,  the  "  Cape  Canary,"  and  some  of  the  Ploceidx 
(Weaver-bird),^  in  New  Zealand  to  the  Clitonyx  ochrocephala,  while 
in  some  districts  of  Australia  the  Budjerigar  is  known  as  the 
"  Canary-Parrot." 

CANVAS-BACK,  generally  with  the  addition  of  "  Duck,"  the 
A7ias  vallisneria  of  Wilson,  Fidigulci  or  ^-Ethyia  vallisneriana  of 
modern  ornithology,  the  North-American  bird  so  famous  for  its 
delicate  flavour — -nearly  allied  to  the  Pochard. 

CAPERCALLY  or  CAPERCAILLIE,  a  word  commonly 
derived  from  the  Gaelic  Cajmll,  a  horse  (or,  more  properly,  a  mare), 
and  Coille,  the  genitive  of  coll,  a  wood ;  but  with  greater  likelihood, 
according  to  the  opinion  with  which  I  was  favoured  by  Dr. 
M'Lauchlan,  from  Cahher,  an  old  man  (and,  by  metaphor,  an  old 
bird),  and  Coille — the  name  of  the  largest  species  of  Teiraonidx 
(G-ROUSE),  Tetrao  urogalhis,  Avhich  was  formerly  indigenous  to  the 
north  of  England,  to  Scotland,  and  to  Ireland.  The  word  is 
frequently  spelt  other'SA'ise,  as  Capercalze  and  Capercailzie  (the  z,  a 
letter  unknown  in  Gaelic,  being  pronounced  like  y),  and  the  English 
name  of  Wood-Grouse  or  Cock-of-the-wood  has  been  often  applied 
to  the  same  bird.  The  earliest  notice  of  it  as  an  inhabitant  of 
North  Britain  seems  to  be  by  Hector  Boethius,  whose  works  were 
published  in  1526,  and  it  can  then  be  traced  through  various 
Scottish  writers,  though  to  them  it  was  e\'idently  but  little 
known,  for  about  200  years,  or  may  be  more.-  However,  Bishop 
Lesly,  in  1578,  assigned  a  definite  habitat  to  it:  —  "In  Eossia 
quoque  Louquhabria  [Lochaber],  atque  aliis  montanis  locis "  (De 
Origine  Moribiis  et  rebus  gestis  Scotorum.  Romse  :  ed.  1675,  p.  24). 
Taylor,  the  water-poet,  in  his  Visit  to  the  Brea  of  Marr  (JForks, 
London:  1630,  p.  135)  mentions,  " caperkellies "  among  the  meats 
provided  for  the  guests  of  Lord  Erskine  in  1618;  and  The  Black 
Book  of  Taymoidh  tells  (pp.  433,  434)  of  one  that  was  sent  in  1651 
by  the  laird  of  Glenorchy  to  King  Chai^les  II,  who,  being  then 
at  Perth,  "accepted  it  weel  as  a  raretie,  for  he  had  never  seen 
any  of  them."  Pennant,  duiing  his  first  tour  in  Scotland,  found 
that  it  was  then  (1769)  still  to  be  met  with  in  Glen  Moriston  and 
in  the  Chisholm's  country,  whence  he  saw  a  cock-bird.  We  may 
infer  that  it  became  extinct  about  that  time,  since  Robert  Gi'ay 
{Birds  of  the  West  of  Scotland,  p.  229)  quotes  the  Rev.  John  Grant 

^  A  species  of  Laniarius,  one  of  the  Shrikes,  credited  with  preying  upon 
some  of  these  little  birds,  is  known  as  Canariebyter  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p.  164). 

-  For  particulars  the  reader  is  referred  to  Mr.  Harvie-Brown's  careful  volume 
Thx  Capercaillic  in  Scotland  (Edinburgh  :  1879). 


CAPERCALLY  -ji 


as  AVTiting  in  1794  : — "The  last  seen  in  Scotland  was  in  the  woods 
of  Sti'athglass  about  thirty-two  years  ago."  ^  Of  its  existence  in 
Ireland  Ave  have  scarcely  more  details.  If  we  may  credit  the 
Pavones  sylvcstrcs  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis  with  being  of  this  species, 
it  was  once  abundant  there,  and  Willughby  (1678)  was  told  that  it 
was  known  in  that  kingdom  as  the  "  Cock-of-the-Avood."  A  few 
other  writers  mention  it  by  the  same  name,  and  Eutty,  in  1772, 
says  {Nat.  Hist.  Dublin,  i.  p.  302)  that  "one  was  seen  in  the  county 
of  Leitrim  about  the  year  1710,  but  they  have  entirely  disappeared 
of  late,  by  reason  of  the  destruction  of  our  woods."  Pennant  also 
states  that  about  1760  a  few  Avere  to  be  found  about  ThomastoAvn 
in  Tipperary,  but  no  later  evidence  is  forthcoming,  and  thus  it 
Avould  seem  that  the  species  Avas  exterminated  at  nearly  the  same 
period  both  in  Ireland  and  Scotland. 

That  the  Cock-of-the-Avood  once  inhabited  England  is  a  dis- 
covery of  recent  date.  It  is  stated  in  The  Zoologist  for  1879  (p.  468) 
that  its  bones  had  been  found  among  Roman  remains  at  Settle 
in  Yorkshire,  though  the  authority  for  their  determination  is  not 
given  ;  but  the  present  Avriter  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  from 
Mr.  James  Backhouse  a  considerable  number  of  its  bones,  some  of 
them  unmistakable,  found  by  him  in  caves  that  he  Avas  investigating 
in  Teesdale,  and  of  confirming  the  conclusion  at  AA'hich  he  had 
already  arrived.  The  remains  w^ere  those  of  both  sexes,  and  were 
sufficiently  numerous  to  sheAV  that  the  species  had  been  common  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  had  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  food  of 
the  people  Avho  in  a  prehistoric  age  used  the  caA^es  as  dAvellings. 

When  the  practice  of  planting  Avas  introduced,  the  restoration 
of  this  fine  bird  to  both  countries  Avas  attempted.  In  Ireland  the 
trial,  of  Avhich  some  particulars  are  giA^en  by  Thompson  {B.  Ireland, 
ii.  p.  32),  Avas  made  at  Glengariff",  but  it  seems  to  have  utterly 
failed,  Avhereas  in  Scotland,  Avhere  it  AA'as  begun  in  earnest  at  Tay- 
mouth  in  1838,  it  finally  succeeded,  and  the  species  is  noAV  not 
only  firmly  established,  but  has  A^astly  increased  in  numbers  and 
range.  Lloyd,  the  Avell-knoAvn  author  of  seA^eral  excellent  works 
on  the  AA'ild  sports  and  natural  history  of  ScandinaAda,  supplied  the 
stock  from  SAveden,  but  it  must  be  ahvays  borne  in  mind  that  the 
original  British  race  Avas  AA'holly  extinct,  and  no  recent  remains  of 
it  are  knoAvn  to  exist  in  any  museum. 

This  species  is  AA'idely,  though  intermittently,  distributed  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  from  Lapland  to  the  northern  parts  of  Spain, 
Italy,  and  Greece,  but  is  alAA'ays  restricted  to  pine-forests,  Avhich 

^  Yet  Stephens  in  his  continuation  of  Shaw's  General  Zoology  (ix.  p.  268), 
writing  in  1819,  says  that  Montagu  was  present  "when  one  was  killed  near  the 
upper  end  of  Loch  Lomond  about  thirty-five  years  since."  This  would  mean  that 
the  species  survived  imtil  about  1784,  but  the  incident  is  not  mentioned  by 
Montagu  in  his  own  work,  and  the  assertion  may  be  doubted. 


74  CAPE-SHEEP— CARACARA 

alone  afford  it  food  in  winter.  Its  bones  have  been  found  in  the 
kitchen-middens  of  Denmark,  proving  that  country  to  have  once 
been  clothed  with  woods  of  that  kind.  More  lately  its  remains 
have  been  recognized  from  the  caves  of  Aquitaine.  Its  eastern  or 
southern  limits  in  Asia  cannot  be  precisely  given,  but  it  certainly 
inhabits  the  forests  of  a  great  part  of  Siberia.  On  the  Stannovoi 
Mountains,  however,  it  is  replaced  by  a  distinct  though  nearly 
allied  species,  the  T.  iirogolloides  of  Dr.  von  Middendorff  ^  Avhich  is 
smaller  with  a  slenderer  bill  but  longer  tail. 

The  Cock-of-the-wood  is  remarkable  for  his  large  size  and 
glossy-black  jDlumage.  He  is  polygamous,  and  in  spring  mounts  to 
the  topmost  bough  of  a  tall  tree,  whence  he  challenges  all  comers 
by  extraordinary  sounds  and  gestures  ;  while  the  hens,  Avhich  are 
much  smaller  and  mottled  in  colour,  timidly  abide  below  the  result 
of  the  frequent  duels,  patiently  submitting  themselves  to  the  victor. 
While  this  is  going  on  it  is  the  practice  in  many  countries,  though 
generally  in  defiance  of  the  law,  for  the  so-called  sportsman  stealthily 
to  draw  nigh,  and  with  Avell-aimed  rifle  to  murder  the  principal 
performer  in  the  scene.  The  hen  makes  an  artless  nest  on  the 
ground,  and  lays  therein  from  seven  to  nine  or  even  more  eggs. 
The  young  are  able  to  fly  soon  after  they  are  hatched,  and  towards 
the  end  of  summer  and  l^eginning  of  autumn,  from  feeding  on  the 
fi'uit  and  leaves  of  the  bilberries  and  other  similar  plants,  which 
form  the  undercovert  of  the  foi'ests,  get  into  excellent  condition 
and  become  good  eating.  "With  the  first  heavy  falls  of  snow  they 
betake  themselves  to  the  trees,  and  then,  feeding  on  the  pine-leaves, 
their  flesh  speedily  acquires  so  strong  a  flavour  of  turpentine  as  to 
be  distasteful  to  most  palates.  The  usual  method  of  pursuing  this 
species  on  the  Continent  is  by  encouraging  a  trained  dog  to  range 
the  forest  and  spring  the  birds,  which  then  perch  on  the  trees  ; 
while  he  is  baying  at  the  foot  their  attention  is  so  much  attracted 
by  him  that  they  permit  the  near  approach  of  his  master,  who  thus 
obtains  a  more  or  less  easy  shot.  A  considerable  number,  however, 
are  also  snared.  Hybrids  are  very  frequently  produced  between 
the  Capercally  and  the  Black  Grouse,  T.  tetrix,  and  the  oftspring 
has  been  described  by  some  authors  under  the  name  of  T.  niediii.%  as 
though  a  distinct  species. 

CAPE -SHEEP,  a  name  absurdly  given  by  sailors  to  the 
Albatros  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p.  363). 

CARACARA,  a  South-American  bird,  so  called  by  the  natives 
of  Brazil,  first  described  and  figured  b}''  Marcgrave  {Hist.  Nat. 
Brazil,  p.  211).  In  1782  it  became  the  Falco  tliarns  of  Molina 
{Sagg.   Star.    N'at.    Chili,   ix    264),   and    is    the   Polyhorus  thanis  of 

^  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  bird  so  named  previously  by  Nilsson,  which 
is  an  hvbrid. 


CARACARA 


75 


modern  ornithology, — the  representative  of  a  small  group  of  birds, 
Avhich  from  their  Falconine  structure  and  Vulturine  haljit,  to  say 
nothing  of  certain  peculiarities,  might  he  not  unfitly  regarded  as 
forming  a  distinct  Family.  Three  genera,  Ibycter  Avhich  is  arboreal, 
Milvago  "which  is  not,  and  Polyhorus  proper  are  usually  admitted  ; 
but  ]\Ir.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Miis.  i.  p.  34)  unites  the  first  two, 
though  as  the  figures  here  given  shew,  their  bills  are  very  differ- 
ently formed,  Avhile  he  jilaces  as  of  equal  rank  in  the  same  sub- 


MlLVAGO. 


(After  Swainson.) 


Ibycter. 


family  Cariama  (Seriema)  and  Serpentarius  (Secretary-bird). 
Mr.  Ridgway  in  a  careful  monograph  of  the  group  {Bull.  Geol. 
Geogr.  Surv.  Territ.  No.  6,  pp.  451-473,  pis.  22-26)  regards  a  fourth 
genus,  Phalcobxims,  as  necessary,  and  Gurney  {List.  Diurn.  B.  of 
Prey,  pp.  11-14)  would  have  six  genera.  These  birds,  with  some 
others,  are  the  "Carrion-hawks"  so  fi'equently  mentioned  in 
Darwin's  Voyage ;  but  the  fullest  description  of  the  habits  of  those 
frequenting  the  southern  part  of  South  America  is  by  Mr.  W.  H. 
Hudson  {Argent.  Ornithology,  ii.  pp,  74-88)  under  the  names  of 
"  Chimango  "  and  "  Carancho  " — the  former  belonging  to  Milvago 
and  the  latter  being  the  species  which  more  to  the  northward  is 
called  "  Caracara,"  namely  Polyhorus  tharus.  Still  further  north- 
Avard,  extending  throughout  Guiana  and  thence  to  Ecuador,  as 
Avell  as  to  Central  America,  California,  and  the  Gulf  States  of 
North  America,  besides  Cuba,  a  form  is  found  now  recognized  by 
many  as  a  distinct  species  under  the  name  of  P.  cheriivay  or  P. 
auduboni — the  last  being  applied  especially  to  examples  from  the 
northern  side  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  while  the  Guadelupe  Islands 
on  the  coast  of  Lower  California  possess  what  is  deemed  by  Mr. 
Eidgway  {uf  supra)  to  be  a  third  species,  P,  lutosus.  All  the 
members  of  this  group  are  said  to  walk  or  run  on  the 
a  peculiarity  not  possessed  in  perfection  by  any  of  the 
Falconine  birds  with  which  they  are  generally  associated, 
worthy  of  remark  that,  according  to  ]Mr.  Hudson  {ut  supra) 
the  introduction  of  large  herds  of  cattle  to  the  plains  of 
America  the  abundance  of  food  supplied  by  their  carcases 
produced  a  great  increase  in  the  numbers  of  these  birds. 


ground- 


other 

It  is 

since 

South 

has 


76  CARDINAL— CAROTIDS 

CARDINAL,  the  name  given  in  different  parts  of  the  world  to 
various  birds  from  their  scarlet  plumage,  but  perhaps  originally 
to  the  North-American  Loxia  canlinalis  of  Linnaeus,  the  Cardinalis 
virgiiiianus  of  modern  authors,  a  beautiful  and  favourite  cage-bird, 
M^hich,  according  to  Parker,  is  one  of  the  Emherizidx  (Bunting). 
It  is  also  known  as  the  "Virginian  Nightingale"  and  "Red  Bird." 
In  the  United  States  it  does  not  usually  occur  to  the  northward  of 
lat.  40°;  but  it  is  common  in  and  one  of  the  most  characteristic 
birds  of  Bermuda.  Other  birds  on  which  the  name  "  Cardinal " 
has  been  bestowed  belong  to  the  Finches,  Tanagers,  and  Weaver- 
birds. 

CARIAMA,  see  Seriema. 

CARINATu:E,  that  di\'ision  of  the  Class  AvES  possessing  a 
"  keel "  (carina)  to  the  sternum,  and  accordingly  so  named  by 
Merrem  in  1812  (Abhandl.  Akad.  JFissensch.  Berlin,  1812-13, 
Physik.  Kl.  p.  238) ;  but  generally  overlooked  by  systematists  until 
prominently  brought  forward  by  Prof.  Huxley  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1867,  p.  418)  as  one  of  the  three  "  Orders "  recognized  by  him, 
and  in  the  present  work  regarded  as  forming  a  Subclass  (see 
Introduction).  It  may  here  be  observed,  however,  that  among 
the  Carinatx  are  to  be  included  a  few  forms  such  as  Cnemiornis 
(Cereopsis),  Didus  (Dodo),  and  Strigops  (Kakapo),  in  Avhich  the 
keel  of  the  sternum  is  nearly  or  wholly  wanting,  presumably 
through  disuse  of  their  volant  powers. 

CAROTIDS  (from  K-apwrts)  are  the  principal  arteries  which, 
arising  from  the  brachiocephalic  arteries,  ascend  the  neck  and  supply 
the  head.  They  exhibit  several  modifications  which  have  been 
investigated  chiefly  by  Nitzsch  and  by  Garrod ;  but  their  taxo- 
nomic  value  is  limited.  They  shew  the  folloAving  seven  arrange- 
ments : — 

1.  The  right  and  the  left  carotids  converge  towards  the  middle 
line  and  run  side  by  side  (or  the  left  covering  the  right)  in  a  furrow 
along  the  ventral  surface  of  the  cervical  vertebras.  This  is 
their  normal  and  original  condition,  and  is  found  in  the  majority  of 
Birds. 

2.  The  two  carotids  fuse  into  one,  for  the  greater  length  of  the 
neck;  this  "carotis  conjuncta"  is  generally  imbedded  in  a  special 
median  osseous  canal  formed  by  the  vertebrae  ;  the  right  and  left 
root  or  basal  portions  are  both  functional,  although  one  of  them 
is  sometimes  weaker,  as  in  Herodii,  Phoenicopterus,  and  some  Old- 
World  Parrots. 

3.  There  is  one  carotis  conjuncta,  but  the  right  root,  i.e.  the 
basal  portion  of  the  original  right  carotis,  has  been  obliterated.  The 
artery  is  a  so-called  "  carotis  jDrimaria  sinistra."  Such  "  Aves  Ixvo- 
carotidinse  "  (Garrod)  are  very  frequent,  e.g.  Rhea  and  Apteryx  among 


CAROTIDS-CARPUS 


77 


the  Eatitse,  Podicipes,  several  Steganopodes,  Alca,  Otis,  Turnix, 
MegapodiidcV,  some  Old-World  Psittaci,  Merops,  Buceros,  Upupa, 
Trogonida?,  Cypselidse,  Colius,  all  the  Pici  and  Passeres. 

4.  One  carotis  conjuncta,  but  the  right  root  alone  is  present, 
the  left  being  obliterated.  "  This  carotis  primaria  dextra  "  is  likewise 
deeply  lodged,  as  in  the  2nd  and  3rd  cases,  and  has  hitherto  been 
observed  only  in  Eupodotis. 

In  the  following  three  cases,  one  or  two  collateral  and  super- 
ficially-placed arteries  take  the  place  of  one  or  both  deep  carotids. 

5.  A  carotis  primaria  s.  profunda  dextra  coexists  with  a  carotis 
sixperficialis  s.  collateralis  sinistra.  All  the  American  and  a  few 
Old-AVorld  Parrots  are  such  "  Aves  bicaroiidina}  ahnormales  "  (Garrod). 

6.  Two  superficial  carotids,  a  right  and  left,  are  present,  the 
deep  or  primary  vessels  being  entirely  obliterated.     Hitherto  only 


c.p.d.^   r^c.p.s. 


C.p.  c. 


c.s.s. 


su.s. 


A.  B.  C.  D. 

Diagrammatic  Repeesentation  of  some  of  the  Variations  of  the  Carotid  Arteries. 

Ao.  Aorta;  si(,f7.  A.  subclavia  dextra ;  su.s.  A.  subclavia  sinistra;  c.p.d.  A.  carotis  profunda 
dextra ;  c.p.s.  A.  carotis  profunda  sinistra ;  c.p.c.  A.  carotis  profunda  conjuncta ;  c.s.s.  A. 
carotis  snperficialis  sinistra. 

A.  normal  condition,  two  separate  deep  carotids  ;  B.  the  two  deep  carotids  fused  into  one, 
e.g.  Ardea ;  C.  the  same  as  B,  but  the  root  of  the  left  carotid  is  reduced,  e.g.  Phojnicopterus  ; 
D.  the  left  deep  carotid  is  lost,  but  supplanted  by  a  superficial  vessel,  e.g.  certain  Psittaci. 

observed  by  Ottley  {P.Z.S.  1879,  p.  461),  as  an  individual  varia- 
tion of  Bucorvus  abyssinicus. 

7.  The  only  carotis  is  a  c.  superiacialis  sinistra,  all  the  other 
vessels  being  lost,  observed  by  Forbes  in  Orthonyx  spinicauda  (not 
in  0.  ochrocephala),  this  being  the  only  exceptional  case  of  all  the 
Passeres  hitherto  examined. 

It  is  clear  that  the  2nd  case  is  directly  referal)le  to  the  1st,  that 
the  3rd  and  4th  are  each  independently  developed  from  the  2nd, 
and  that  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  cases  are  recent  and  very  qualified 
modifications.  The  undoubtedly  independent  acquisition  of  these 
carotid  characters  renders  them  valueless  for  taxonomic  purposes, 
except  Avithin  smaller  and  well-defined  groups,  e.g.  the  Parrots  (see 
also  Vascular  System). 

CARPUS  (adj.  carpal),  KapTro?  ;  the  wrist  or  articulating  region 
between  the  forearm,  or  ulna  and  radius,  and  the  hand.     In  adult 


78 


CARR-CRO  W—CASSO  WAR  Y 


Cashew-bird. 
(After  Swainsou.) 


birds  there  are  only  two  separate  carpal  bones,  one  radial,  on  the 
convex  or  anterior  bend  of  the  Avrist,  and  one  ulnar,  on  the  posterior 
or  inner  angle.  Originally  the  carpus  is  com2:)osed,  as  in  Reptiles 
and  Mammals,  of  a  greater  number  of  bones,  which  are  also 
present  in  the  embryos  of  Birds,  but  most  of  them  fuse  either 
with  each  other  or  Avith  the  adjoining  metacarpal  bones  (see 
Skeleton). 

CARE-CEOW  or  CARR-SWALLOAV,  the  name  used  in 
Lincolnshire  and  perhaps  other  parts  of  England  for  the  Black 
Tern  in  the  days  when  it  inhabited  this  country.  The  former 
was  Avritten  by  Willughby — on  the  authority  of  his  correspondent 
Johnson — "  Scare-crow." 

CARR-GOOSE,  an  old  name  for  the 
Great  Crested  Grebe  (Podicipes  cristatus). 

CASHEW  or  CUSHEW-BIRD,  so 
called,  according  to  Edwards  {Gleaninr/s,  ii. 
p.  181,  pi.  295)^  from  the  likeness  of  the 
blue  knob  on  its  forehead  to  the  cushew 
or  cashew- nut,  which  is  an  appendage  to 
the  fruit  of  Anacardium  occideiitale,  Linn. 
The  bird  is  the  Patixis  galcata  of  modern 
ornithology,  one  of  the  CuRASSOWS. 

CASSOWARY,  a  corrupted  form  of  the  INIalayan  Suicari 
(Crawfurd,  Gramm.  and  Did.  Malay  Languar/e,  ii.  pp.  178  and  25), 
apparently  first  printecl_as_6'asoflr'is  by  Bontius  in  1658  {Hist.  nat. 
et  mcd.  Ind.  Orient,  p.  71). 

The  Cassowaries  (Casuariidx)  and  Emeus  {Drommdx) — as  the 
latter  name  is  now  used — have  much  structural  resemblance,  and 
form  the  Order  Megistanes,^  which  is  peculiar  to  the  Australian 
Region.  Prof.  Huxley  has  shewri  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  jDp.  422, 
423)  that  they  agree  in  diifering  from  the  other  RatiT/E  in  many 
important  characters,  into  the  details  of  which  it  is  now  impossible 
to  enter  ;  but  one  of  the  most  obvious  of  them  is  that  each  contour- 
feather  appears  to  be  double,  its  hjporhachis,  or  AFTERSHATT,  being 
as  long  as  the  main  shaft — a  feature  noticed  in  the  case  of  either 
form  so  soon  as  examples  Avere  brought  to  Europe.  The  external 
distinctions  of  the  two  families  are,  however,  equally  plain.  The 
Cassowaries,  when  adult,  bear  a  horny  helmet  on  their  head,  they 
have  some  part  of  the  neck  bare,  generally  more  or  less  ornamented 
with  caruncles,  and  the  claw  of  the  inner  toe  is  remarkably 
elongated.  The  Emeus  have  no  helmet,  their  head  is  feathered, 
their  neck  has  no  caruncles,  and  their  inner  toes  bear  a  claw  of 
no  singular  character. 

^  Anil,  and  Mag.  A^'at.  Hist.  ser.  4,  xx.  p.  500. 


CASSOIVAJ^V 


79 


The  type  of  the  Casuariidx  is  the  species  named  by  Linnseus 
Struthio  casuarius  and  by  Latham  Ccisuarms  emeu.  Vieillot  sub- 
sequently called  it  C.  galeafus,  and  his  epithet  has  been  very 
commonly  adopted  by  writers,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  older  specific 
appellation.  It  seems  to  be  peculiar  to  the  island  of  Ceram,  and 
was  made  known  to  naturalists,  as  we  learn  from  Clusius,  in  1597, 


Ceram  CAasowARV.i 


by  the  first  Dutch  expedition  to  the  East  Indies,  when  an  example 
was  brought  from  Banda,  Avhither  it  had  doubtless  been  conveyed 
from  its  native  island.  It  was  said  to  have  been  called  by  the 
inhabitants  "  Emeu,"  or  "  Ema,"  but  this  name  they  must  have  had 
from  the  earlier  Portuguese  navigators.^     Since  that  time  examples 

^  The  figure  is  taken,  by  permission,  from  Messrs.  Mosenthal  and  Harting's 
Ostriches  and  Ostrich  Farming  (London  :  1877). 

-  It  is  known  that  the  Portuguese  preceded  the  Dutch  in  their  voyages  to 
the  East,  and  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  latter  were  assisted  by  pilots  of  the 


8o  CAT-BIRD— CECOMORPH^ 

have  been  continually  imported  into  Europe,  so  that  it  has  become 
one  of  the  best -known  members  of  the  subclass  Ratitse,  and  a 
description  of  it  seems  hardly  necessary.  For  a  long  time  its 
glossy,  but  coarse  and  hair-like,  black  plumage,  its  lofty  helmet, 
the  gaudily -coloured  caruncles  of  its  neck,  and  the  four  or  five 
barbless  quills  which  represent  its  wing-feathers,  made  it  appear 
unique  among  birds.  But  in  1857  Dr.  George  Bemiett  certified 
the  existence  of  a  second  and  perfectly  distinct  species  of 
Cassowary,  an  inhabitant  of  New  Britain,  where  it  was  known  to 
the  natives  as  the  Mooruk,  and  in  his  honour  it  was  named  by 
Gould  C.  bennetti.  Several  examples  were  soon  after  received  in 
this  country,  and  these  confirmed  the  view  of  it  akeady  taken. 
Nine  good  species,  with  the  possibility  of  a  tenth,  are  recognized 
by  Prof.  Sah'adori  in  his  gi'eat  work,  Ornithologia  della  Papuasia  e 
delle  Molucche  (iii.  pp.  473-503),  the  heads  of  all  of  them  having 
been  previously  figured  by  him  in  an  excellent  monograph  of  the 
genus  {Mem.  Accad.  Sc.  Torino,  1882),  from  various  localities  in  the 
same  Subregion.  Conspicuous  among  them  from  its  large  size  and 
lofty  helmet  is  the  C.  australis,  from  the  northern  parts  of  Queens- 
land. Its  existence  indeed  had  been  ascertained,  by  the  late  Mr. 
T.  S.  "Wall,  in  1854,  but  the  specimen  obtained  by  that  unfortunate 
explorer  was  lost,  and  it  was  not  until  1866  that  an  example  was 
submitted  to  competent  natui-alists  {Five.  Zool.  Sac.  1867,  p.  241). 

Not  much  seems  to  be  known  of  the  habits  of  any  of  the 
Cassowaries  in  a  state  of  nature  ;  but  Prof.  Salvadori  {ut  supra) 
has  collected,  with  his  usual  assiduity,  almost  everything  that  can 
be  said  on  the  subject.  Though  the  old  species  occurs  rather 
plentifully  over  the  Avhole  of  the  interior  of  Ceram,  Mr.  Wallace 
was  unable  to  obtain  or  even  to  see  an  example.  They  all  appear 
to  bear  captivity  well,  and  the  hens  in  confinement  frequently  lay 
their  dark  green  and  rough-shelled  eggs,  which,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  Batitx,  are  incubated  by  the  cocks.  The  nestling 
plumage  is  mottled  {Proc.  Zool.  Sue.  1863,  pi.  xlii.),  and  Avhen 
about  half-gi'own  they  are  clothed  in  dishevelled  feathers  of  a  deep 
tawny  colour. 

CAT-BIKD  in  North  America  is  the  name  of  a  common  and  fami- 
liar summer-visitant,  Mimus  carolinensis,  one  of  the  Mockincj-birds, 
Avhich  in  addition  to  the  mewing  and  harsh  cry  for  which  it  is 
notorious,  is  also  a  remarkably  good  songster ;  in  Australia  the 
birds  of  the  genus  Ailuroidus  (Bower-bird),  and  especially  A.  crassi- 
rostris,  or  smifhi  of  some  authors,  are  so  called  for  the  same  reason. 

CECOMOPtPH^,  the  third  group  of  Prof.  Huxley's  Suborder 
SCHIZOGNATH.E  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  457,  458),  composed  of 

former  nation,  whose  names  for  places  and  various  natural  objects  would  be 
imparted  to  their  emploj'ers  (see  Aleatkos,  Booby,  and  Dodo). 


CEDAR-BIRD— CEREOPSrS  8i 

the  Families  Laridai  (Gull),  Procellariidai  (Petrel),  Cohjmbidse 
(Diver),  and  Alcidai  (Auk). 

CEDAE-BIKD,  a  name  given  in  North  America  to  a  delicately- 
coloured  and  rather  common  bird  Ampelis  cedrorum,  or  caroUnensis  of 
some  authors,  for  a  long  while  confounded  with  its  larger  congener 
A.  garrulus  (Waxwing),  Avhich  it  much  resembles  in  appearance 
and  characters  —  among  them  the  dilatation  at  the  tip  of  the 
secondary  Aving-quills  looking  like  red  sealing-wax ;  but  it  is  much 
smaller  and  plainer  in  plumage. 

CELEOMORPH.E,  Prof.  Huxley's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867, 
p.  467)  for  the  group  containing  the  Picklai  (Woodpecker)  and 
lyngidx  (Wryneck),  to  which  he  found  it  difficult  to  assign  a 
place.  Parker  subsequently  {Trans.  R.  Microsc.  Soc.  1872,  p.  219) 
raised  them  to  a  higher  rank  as  Saurognath^e. 

CEIiE  or  CEPiOMA  (from  cera,  wax),  the  soft,  generally  some- 
what swollen  skin  which  covers  the  base  of  the  upj^er  bill,  especially 
well  defined  in  Parrots  and  Diurnal  Birds-of-Prey  (see  Bill). 

CEREOPSIS,  a  genus  founded  by  Latham  in  1801  {Suppl.  Ind. 
Orn.  p.  Ixvii.)  on  a  single  specimen  of  a  bird  received  from  Aus- 
tralia apparently  in  poor  condition,  and  placed  by  him  in  the  Order 
Grall.e.  a  truer  view  of  its  position 
was,  however,  taken  by  those  who  had 
observed  it  in  its  own  country,  where  it 
became  known  as  the  "Cape-Barren 
Goose  "  from  its  occurring  at  that  sj30t.^ 
However  abnormal  in  appearance  this 
bird  may  be  with  its  short  bill  thickened 
at  the  base,  its  i-ather  long  legs  and 
semipalmated  feet,  and  its  grey  plumage 

,  ,     1        -,  1     1  1      1  ,1  •  ,  Cereopsis.    (After  Swaiuson.) 

spotted  wath  black  on   the  Aving-coverts  ' 

and  scapulars  ;  in  its  internal  structure,  as  described  by  Yarrell  (Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1831,  pp.  25,  26),  it  does  not  difler  in  the  least  important 
character  from  other  Geese,  and  in  its  habits,  whether  at  large  or  in 
confinement,  is  a  thorough  GooSE.  It  has  been  introduced  into 
England  for  more  than  60  years,  examples  having  been  transferred 
from  Windsor,  where  it  had  bred  freely  in  the  menagerie  of  King 

^  According  to  Sonnini,  who  calls  it  "Le  Cygne  cendre  "  (iV.  Did.  d'hist.  nat. 
vii.  p.  68),  it  was  first  noticed  by  Labillardiere  in  Esperance  Bay  on  the  south 
coast  of  New  Holland,  during  the  search  by  D'Entrecasteaux  for  La  Perouse  in 
1792.  Collins  in  1802  {New  South  Wales,  ii.  p.  94)  ascribes  its  discovery  by  the 
English  settlers  to  one  of  the  company  of  the  '  Sydney  Cove, '  who  took  it  for  a 
Swan  ;  and  Flinders,  who  was  there  in  February  1798,  accordingly  named  from  it 
two  islands  on  the  north  coast  of  Van  Dienian's  Land.  Bass  orave  the  first  intel- 
ligible  description,  stating  that  it  "was  either  a  Brent  or  a  Barnacle  Goose  or 
between  the  two. " 

6 


82  CHA  CHALA  CA— CHAFFINCH 

George  IV,  to  the  Gardens  of  the  Zoological  Society  at  its  founda- 
tion. Indeed,  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  there  are  more  living 
examples  at  this  time  in  Europe  than  in  Australia,  where  even 
when  Gould  was  there  he  found  it  to  have  been  extirpated  in  places 
where  a  few  years  before  it  had  been  abundant. 

Additional  interest  is  imparted  to  this  by  the  discovery  in  New 
Zealand  of  remains  originally  attributed  by  Sir  R.  Owen  {Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1865,  p.  438)  to  the  Dinornithine  group  (Moa)  under  the 
name  of  Cnemiornis  calcltrans,  and  subsequently  fully  described  by 
him  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  v.  pp.  395-404,  pis.  Ixiii.-lxvii.).  The  acquisi- 
tion in  1872  of  a  further  collection  of  bones  of  this  extinct  bird 
enabled  Sir  James  Hector  to  recognize  in  it  a  lai'ge  Goose,  probably 
allied  to  Cereopsis  and  of  similar  habits,  but  in  which  the  power  of 
flight  had  become  obsolete,  and  as  such  he  described  it  before  the 
Wellington  Philosophical  Society,  18th  August  1873  (Trans.  N.  Zeal 
Inst.  vi.  pp.  76-84,  pis.  x.-xiv.A),  communicating  his  results  also  to 
the  Zoological  Society  of  London,  in  whose  Proceedings  for  the  same 
year  they  will  be  found  (pp.  763-771,  pis.  Ixv.-lxviii.),  as  well  as  to 
Sir  R.  Owen,  who  lost  no  time  in  preparing  an  additional  memoir 
on  the  subject,  subsequently  published  in  that  Society's  Transactions 
(ix.  pp.  253-272,  pis.  xxxv.-xxxix.),  and  acquiescing  in  Sir  James's 
determination  of  the  position  and  relations  of  this  remai'kable 
form.  A  good  many  more  of  its  bones  have  since  been  obtained, 
and  no  doubt  can  exist  on  the  subject,  though  the  precise  epoch  at 
which  it  became  extinct  cannot  be  regarded  as  settled. 

CHACHALACA  or  Chiacalacca,  so  called  in  Texas  from  its 
cry  (Coues,  Key  N.  Am.  B.  p.  573),  Ortalis  maccalli  (see  Guan). 

CHAFFINCH,  a  well-known  bird,  the  Fringilla  ccelehs  ^  of  orni- 
thology, which  may  be  regarded  as  the  type-form  of  the  Fringillidse 
(Finch).  This  handsome  and  spi"ightly  species,  which  is  so 
common  throughout  the  whole  of"  Europe,  requires  no  description. 
Conspicuous  by  his  variegated  plumage,  his  peculiar  call-note  -,  and 
his  glad  song,  the  cock  is  almost  everywhere  a  favoui'ite.  In 
Algeria  our  Chaffinch  is  replaced  by  a  closely-allied  species,  F. 
spodogenia,  while  in  the  Atlantic  Islands  it  is  represented  by  two 
others,  F.   tintillon  and  F.  teydea  —  all   of   which,  while  possessing 

^  This  fanciful  trivial  name  was  given  by  Linnaeus  on  the  supposition  (which 
later  observations  do  not  entirely  coniirni)  that  in  Sweden  the  hens  of  the  species 
migrated  .southward  in  autumn,  leaving  the  cocks  to  lead  a  celibate  life  till 
spring.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  in  some  localities  the  sexes  live  apart  during 
the  winter. 

-  This  call-note,  which  to  many  ears  sounds  like  "pink"  or  "  spink,"  not 
only  gives  the  bird  a  name  in  many  parts  of  Britain,  but  is  also  obviously  the 
origin  of  the  German  Fink  and  our  Finch.  The  similar  Celtic  form  Pine  is  said 
to  have  given  rise  to  the  Low  Latin  Pincio,  and  thence  come  the  Italian  Pineione, 
the  Spanish  Pinzon,  and  the  French  Pinson. 


CHAM.EA— CHANNEL-BILL  83 

the  general  appearance  of  the  European  bird,  are  clothed  in  soberer 
tints.     Another  species  of  true  Fringilla  is  the  Brahible-finch. 

CHAMPA,!  a  genus  instituted  by  Gambel  {Proc.  Ac.  N.  S. 
Philad.  1847,  p.  154)  for  a  cui-ious  little  bird  from  the  coast-district 
of  California  which  he  had  previously  described  (op.  cit.  1845,  p. 
265)  as  Farus  fasciatus  but  found  to  require  separation.  In  the 
difficulty  of  assigning  a  position  to  this  and  a  more  recently  dis- 
covered congeneric  form,  C.  henshawi,  from  the  interior  of  the  same 
country,  systematists  have  resorted  to  considering  the  genus  as  the 
type  and  sole  member  of  a  distinct  Family  Chamxidce,  which,  if  its 
validity  be  allowed,  proves  to  be  the  only  Family  of  Land-birds  that 
is  peculiar  to  the  Nearctic  area.  Thus  it  becomes  a  factor  of  some 
importance  in  determining  the  question  whether  that  area  should 
rank  as  a  Zoogeographical  or  at  least  as  an  Ornithogeographical 
Eegion.  It  is  impossible  here  to  give  details  of  a  matter  which  has 
agitated  the  best  ornithologists  of  North  America,  and  reference 
can  only  be  made  to  Dr.  Shufeldt's  paper  "  On  the  position  of 
Chamsea  in  the  System,"  published  in  1889  at  Boston  in  Massa- 
chusetts {Jourii.  Morphol.  iii.  pp.  475-502),  wherein  the  evidence  is 
very  carefully  weighed,  and  the  conclusion  reached  is  to  the  effect 
that  it  is  more  nearly  related  to  the  Colombian  Cinnicerthia  than  to 
any  other,  but  the  author  abstains  from  declaring  the  value  of 
ChamEeidse  as  a,  Family,  though  of  the  two,  to  one  or  other  of  which 
it  has  generally  been  referred — namely  the  Paridds.  (Titmouse)  and 
Troglodytidai  (Wren) — he  sees  most  resemblance  to  the  former.  So 
far  as  one  can  judge  from  the  habits  of  the  birds  as  described  by 
observers,  they  are  more  those  of  a  Wren  than  of  a  Titmouse ; 
while  the  blue  eggs  which  it  is  said  to  lay  removes  it  really  from 
the  category  of  either.  In  the  absence  then  of  any  very  strong 
reason  for  disputing  what  has  been  asserted  by  no  mean  authori- 
ties, it  would  seem  better  for  the  present  to  let  the  Family 
Chammdse  stand. 

CHANNEL-BILL,  Latham's  name  in  1802,  and  since  generally 
used,  for  a  bird  described  and  figured  by  Phillips  in  1789  (V01/. 
Botamj  Bay,  p.  165,  pi.)  as  the  "Psittaceous  Hornbill,"  and  by 
John  White  in  1790  (Jour/i.  Voy.  N.  S.  JFales,  p.  142,  pi.)  as  the 
"Anomalous  Hornbill,"  which  was  apparently  first  obtained  16th 
April  ^  1788,  and  therefore  not  long  after  the  foundation  of  the 
colony.     Latham  seeing  the  need  of  a  new  genus  for  it,  made  one, 

^  This  word  not  having  been  accepted  as  English  has  strictly  no  right  to  head 
an  article,  but  the  only  names  applied  to  the  birds  to  which  it  refers,  "Bush- 
Tit"  and  "Ground-Wren,"  have  not  enough  special  meaning  to  justify  their 
insertion,  while  the  form,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  text,  is  important  enough  to 
require  particular  notice. 

^  But  according  to  other  accounts  this  species  leaves  New  South  Wales  in 
January,  only  returning  in  October  to  breed. 


84 


CHAPARRAL-COCK 


Scythrops,  and  as  *S'.  novx-hollancUx  it  has  been  almost  always  recog- 
nized ever  since,  though  its  systematic  position  has  often  been 
disputed — its  large  and  curiously  grooved  bill  inducing  some  to 
refer  it  to  the  BucerotidiV  (Hornbill),  while  its  zygodactyl  feet 
caused  others  to  place  it  among  the  Blmmphastidx  (Toucan).  It  is 
now  generally  allowed  to  belong  to  the  Cuculidse  (CucKOw). 


CHAPAREAL-COCK,  so  called  from  the  chaparral  or  dwarf 
forest  which  it  frequents,  the  name  commonly  given  by  English- 
speaking  settlers  in  the  south-western  dis- 
tricts of  North  America  to  a  curious  form 
of  CuCKOW,  Geococcyx,  of  which  there 
are  two  species.  The  first,  described  by 
Hernandez  {Hist  Anlm.  Nov.  Hispan.  p. 
25,  cap.  lii.)  under  the  name  of  Hoitlal- 
lotl,  and  then  identified  by  Buffon  with 
the  Faraka  of  Barrere  (France  Equinox. 
p.  140),  was  mistaken  by  Latham  for 
the  Farraqua  figured  by  Bajon  in  1777 
(Mdm.  pour  I'hist  de  Cayenne,  i.  p.  374,  pi. 
i.),  and  became  the  Fhasicomis  mexicarms 
of  Gmelin.  This,  being  the  southern 
form,  is  presumably  that  which  is 
usually  called  G.  affiiiis.  The  second,  a 
larger  bird,  inhabits  New  Mexico  and  the 
adjacent  part  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and,  under  the  name  of  Sauro- 
fhera  calif oi'niana,  was  described  by 
Lesson  (Compl.  Buffon,  vi.  p.  420)  as  one 
of  the  most  interesting  discoveries  of 
modern  times.  The  habits  of  both  seem 
to  be  very  similar  and  very  remarkable. 
They  have  short  wings,  and  seldom  fly 
unless  suddenly  surprised,  but  run  with 
great  speed,  bearing  their  long  tail  erect. 
Like  others  of  their  Family  in  the  New 
World  they  liuild  their  own  nests,  though 
clumsily,  and  lay  therein  from  two  to 
four  white  eggs.  When  tamed,  as  these 
birds  often  are,  they  become  expert 
mousers,  but  are  so  mischievous,  says 
Mr.  Dresser  {Ibis,  1865,  p.  467),  as  hardly  to  be  suffered  in  a 
house.  The  name  Falsano  (countryman)  by  Avhich  this  species  is 
known  in  some  districts  is  said  to  be  a  corruption  of  Faisan 
(Pheasant).  "  Eoad-runner  "  is  another  name  frequently  given  to 
it.     The  osteology  of  the  species  has  been  minutely  described  by 


Chaparral-cock.  (.\fterSwaiiisoii.) 


CHARADRIOMORPH^—CHA  TTERER 


85 


>^' 


IcTERiA.    (After  Swainson.) 


Dr.  Shufeldt  {Journ.  Anat.  and  Physiol,  xx.  pp.  246-266,  pis.  vii.-ix., 
and  xxi.  pp.  101,  102). 

CHARADRIOMOKPH^,  the  first  group  of  Prof.  Huxley's 
Suborder  Schizognathx  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  457),  nearly  cor- 
responding with  the  Pressirostres  and  Longirostres  of  Cuvier,  and  the 
Limicolm  or  Scolopaces  of  Nitzsch — or  in  other  words  including 
almost  all  the  Scolopacidai  (Snipe)  and  Charadriidm  (Plover)  of 
other  systematists. 

CHAT,  in  England  generally  used  with  a  prefix  as  Stonechat, 
Whinchat,  but  in  the  valley  of  the  Thames 
said  of  itself  to  signify  the  Sedge-WARBLER. 
In  North  America  it  is  applied  to  the  two 
forms  of  the  genus  Ideria  (I.  virens  and 
/.  longicauda),  which  is  generally  referred  to 
the  Family  MniotUtidx,  or  American  War- 
blers, but  may  possibly  not  belong  to  them, 
its  stout  bill  being  very  unlike  that  possessed 
by  the  rest. 

CHATTERER,  a  word  that  has  been  used  by  ornithologists  in 
a  very  wide  sense,  and  wholly  irrespective  of  its  meaning.  Gesner's 
name  for  the  Waxwing,  Garrulus  Bohemicus  [i.e.  Bohemian  Jay), 
having  been  erroneously  rendered  by  Ray,  in  his  translation  of 
Willughby's  Ornithology  (p.  133),  "Bohemian  Chatterer";  and  that 
bird  being  also  the  Ampelis  of  Aldrovandus,  subsequent  writers. 
Pennant  and  Latham,  used  "  Chatterer "  as  the  equivalent  of 
Ampelis,  when  Linnaeus  had  founded  a  genus  with  that  name,  quite 
regardless  of  its  inapplicability.      This  genus  being  very  composite 

in  its  character 
was  naturally 
broken  up,  and 
the  name  Ampelis 
having  been  re- 
tained by  the  more 
accurate  writers  in 
its  original  sense 
for  the  Wax"\ving 
and  its  congeners, 
the  name  Chatterer 
has  been  generally 
a    group  of   birds,   one    of 

This 


COTINOA. 


(After  Swaiuson.) 


TiJDCA. 


conferred,  for  want  of  a  better,  on 
the  most  beautiful  of  which  Brisson  had  termed  Cotinga 
group,  all  the  members  of  which  inhabit  the  Neotropical  Region, 
is  a  very  natural  one,  and  has  long  been  regarded  as  a  separ- 
ate Family,  properly  called  Cotingidx,  though  it  is  closely  allied 
to    the    Pipridse    (Manakin),    and    together    they  form    the  divi- 


86 


CHEEPER— CHENOMORPH^ 


sion  Heteromeri  of  the  Mesomyodi  of  Garrod  and  Forbes  (see 
Introduction).  Mr.  Sclater,  who  adds  thereto  Rupicola  (Cock-of- 
the-Rock)  and  an  allied  genus,  which  Garrod  had  put  among  his 
Homceomeri,  divides  the  Cotingidai  into  five  subfamilies  {Cat.  B.  Br. 


Ampelion. 


(After  Swainson.) 


Pyroderus. 


Mus.  xiv.  pp.  326-405),  Tityrinm  with  3  genera,  Lipauginx  with  4, 
Attilinee  a,nd  Eupicolina}  each  with  2,  Cotinginx  with  11,  and  Gymno- 
derinse  with  7  (see  Bell-bird,  partim,  and  Umbrella-bird).  A 
considerable  number  of  these  birds  are  remarkable  for  the  extra- 
ordinarily abnornal  form  of  some  of  their  Aving  -  quills,  and 
occasionally  of  their  wing- coverts — a  feature  in  the  former  case 
observable  also  among  the  Pipridie,  and,  where  existing,  generally 
confined  to  the  male  sex.  Many  of  them  also  are  brilliantly 
coloured,  and  at  least  one,  Xipholena  pompadora — known  as  the 
Pompadour  ^  Chatterer,  is  of  a  hue  scarcely  to  be  seen  in  any  other 
bird. 

CHEEPER,  the  young  of  any  kind  of  bird  that  cheeps  or  utters 
a  low  plaintive  note,  especially  used  of  game-birds,  Grouse, 
Partridges,  or  Pheasants;  but  also  a  name  of  the  Tit  Lark, 
though  mostly  with  a  prefix,  as  Moss-Cheeper  or  the  like. 

CHEER  or  CHIR,  the  Anglo-Indian  name  of  Phasianus  wallklii, 
a  fine  but  plainly-coloured  Pheasant,  a  native  of  the  Western 
Himalayas. 

CHENOMORPH^,  the  first  group  of  Prof.  Huxley's  Suborder 
Desmognath^  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  460),  composed  of  the 
Anatidx  of  most  authors — the  DuCKS  and  their  allies,  among  which 
he  includes  Palamedea  (Screamer). 

^  So  named  by  Edwards  {Gleanings,  ii.  p.  275,  pi.  341)  after  the  celebrated 
Madame  de  Pompadour,  to  whom  it  and  other  birds  were  being  sent,  when  the 
ship  that  bore  them  from  Cayenne  fell  a  prize  to  a  British  cruiser. 


CHEPSTER— CHOUGH  87 

CHEPSTEE,  possibly  a  corruption  of  Shepster,  a  Starling. 

CHERRY-BIRD,  a  name  of  the  Cedar-Bird. 

CHERRY-PICKER,  the  Tasmanian  name,  according  to  Gould 
{Handb.  B.  Austral,  i.  p.  565),  of  a  species  of  Melithreptus  (Honey- 
Sucker. 

CHERRY-SUCKER,  a  name  absiu-dly  given  in  some  parts  of 
England  to  the  Spotted  Flycatcher. 

CHICKADEE,  a  North  American  name  for  various  species  of 
Titmouse — no  doubt  from  their  call-note. 

CHICKEN,  abbreviated  CHICK,  the  young  of  any  bird,  but 
generally  signifying  that  of  the  domestic  Fowl. 

CHIFFCHAFF,  occasionally  CHIPCHOP,  Phylloscopus  collyUta, 
or  ritfus  of  some  authors,  the  smallest  of  the  three  native  species  of 
the  genus,  which  are  often  called  collectively  Willow- Wrens. 
The  name  is  doubtless  an  attempt  to  syllable  the  bird's  ordinary 
cry  (see  Song),  and  seems  to  be  first  found  in  Gilbert  White's 
Observations  (p.  77)  published  in  1795  after  his  death  by  Aiken. 

CHOANjE  (xoavrj,  a  tube  or  funnel)  are  the  internal  openings 
of  the  nasal  cavities  into  the  mouth,  situated  on  the  palate  or  roof 
of  the  mouth,  generally  between  the  maxillo-palatine  and  pterygoid 
bones. 

CHOK,  a  name  used  in  the  Cape  Colony  for  one  of  the  Eagles, 
Aquila  rapax  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p.  10). 

CHOUGH,  a  bird  much  better  known,  generally  with  the  prefix 
"  Cornish,"  by  name  than  by  observation,  the  Pyrrhocorax  or  Fregilus 
gracuhis  of  ornithology,  one  of  the  Corvidm  (Crow),  and  formerly 
a  denizen  of  the  precipitous  cliffs  of  the  south  coast  of  England,  of 
Wales,  of  the  west  and  north  coast  of  Ireland,  of  the  south  of 
Scotland,  and  some  of  the  Hebrides,  but  now  greatly  reduced  in 
numbers,  and  only  found  in  such  places  as  are  most  free  from  the 
intrusion  of  man  or  of  the  Daav,  Corvus  monedula,  which  last  seems  to 
be  gradually  dispossessing  it  of  its  sea-girt  strongholds,  and  its 
present  scarcity  is  probably  in  the  main  due  to  its  persecution  by 
its  kindred.  In  Britain,  indeed,  it  would  appear  to  be  only  one  of 
the  survivors  of  a  more  ancient  fauna,  for  in  other  countries  where 
it  is  found  it  has  been  driven  inland,  and  inhabits  the  higher 
mountains  of  Europe  and  North  Africa.  In  the  Himalayas  a  larger 
form  occurs,  which  has  been  specifically  distinguished,  P.  hima- 
layanus,  but  whether  justifiably  so  may  be  doubted.  The  general 
colour  is  a  glossy  black  with  steel-blue  reflections,  and  it  has  the 
bill  and  legs  bright  red.^     Another  species,  P.  alpinus,  is  altogether 

^  Shakespear's  expression,  "  russet-pated  choughs  "  {Mids.- Night's  Dream,  act 
iii.  sc.  ii.)  has  much  exercised  his  commentators.     Some  see  in  it  that  "pated" 


88  CHUCK-WILnS-WIDOW—CITRIL 

a  mountaineer,  and  does  not  affect  a  sea-shore  life.  A  single 
example  has  occurred  in  England,  and  is  figured  in  Mr.  Aplin's 
Birds,  of  Oxfordshire,  but  the  possibility  of  its  having  escaped  from 
captivity  is  not  to  be  overlooked,  though  the  species  has  reached  a 
spot  so  distant  from  its  home  as  Heligoland.  The  Alj^ine  Chough 
is  somewhat  smaller  than  its  congener,  and  is  easily  distinguished 
by  its  shorter  and  bright  yellow  bill.  Remains  of  both  have  been 
found  in  French  caverns,  the  deposits  in  which  were  formed  during 
the  "  Reindeer  Age."  Commonly  placed  by  systematists  next  to 
Pyrrhocorax  is  the  Australian  genus  Corcorax,  represented  by  a  single 
species,  C.  melanorhatnphus,  but  osteologists  must  be  further  consulted 
before  this  assignment  of  the  bird,  which  is  chiefly  a  frequenter  of 
woodlands,  can  be  admitted  without  hesitation. 

CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW,  so  syllabled  in  North  America  from 
the  bird's  cry.  One  of  the  Caprimulgidse  (Goatsucker),  Antrostomus 
carolinus,  much  larger  than  but  congeneric  with  the  Whip-poor- 
will,  A.  vociferus. 

CHURN-OWL,  one  of  the  many  names  of  the  common  Night- 
jar of  Europe. 

CIBOULATION,  or  circulatory  system,  signifies  motion  of  the 
blood,  which  is  pumped  by  the  heart  through  the  blood-vessels. 
Birds,  like  Mammals,  possess  a  complete  double  circulation,  namely 
(1)  that  of  the  body,  from  the  left  ventricle  of  the  heart  into  the 
aortic  arch,  thence  through  the  arteries  of  the  body,  returning  by 
the  veins  into  the  right  auricle,  and  (2)  the  pulmonary  circulation, 
from  the  right  ventricle  into  and  through  the  lungs,  returning  by 
the  pulmonary  veins  into  the  left  auricle,  and  thence  into  the  left 
ventricle  (see  Vascular  System). 

CITRIL,  the  name  under  which  Ray  and  Wiliughby  in  1663 
became  acquainted  at  Vienna  with  a  Finch,  and  now  occasionally 
used  for  it  in  German,  though  it  is  more  commonly  known  as 
Citronenfink,  the  allusion  in  each  case  being  to  the  colour  of  its 
plumage,  which  some  consider  to  be  of  a  citron  hue,  but  is  mostly 
of  a  yellowish-green.  The  bird  is  the  Venturon  of  the  French,  the 
Chrysomitris  citrinella  of  modern  ornithology — a  common  species  in 
southern  and  parts  of  central  Europe,  but  seldom  occiu^ring  much 
further  northward  than  the  Black  Forest.  It  usually  frequents 
mountainous  districts,  keeping  to  the  neighbourhood  of  fir-trees, 
though  chiefly  feeding  on  the  seeds  of  grasses  and  other  lowly- 
growing  plants. 

meant  "patted"  or  footed  [cf.  the  heraldic  croix  patee),  and  that  therefore  it 
refers  to  this  bird  with  its  red  feet.  Others  maintain  that  "russet"  did  not 
necessarily  mean  red,  but  was  frequently  used  for  grey,  and  accordingly  that 
the  Daw  with  its  grey  head  was  intended. 


CLARIS— CLA  WS  89 


CLARIS,  a  Scottisli  name  for  the  Bernacle. 

CLAMATOEES,  the  third  Order  of  Birds  according  to  the 
arrangement  of  Andreas  Wagner  {Arch,  filr  Naturgesch.  1841,  ii.  p. 
93),  in  which  he  included  all  the  PiCARi^  of  Nitzsch  which  were 
not  Zygodactyl  or  Amphibolic.  Subsequently  Prof.  Cabanis 
{op.  cit.  1847,  i.  pp.  209-256,  and  ii.  pp.  336-345)  gave  in  greater 
detail  the  Families,  subfamilies,  and  genera  which  he  believed  the 
"  Order  "  should  comprise,  and  his  are  the  views  which  have  been 
adopted  by  most  of  the  systematic  "WTiters  who  have  recognized  it. 

CLAVICLES  (Lat.  davicula,  the  collar-bone).  Each  clavicle 
articulates  by  its  dorsal  end  with  a  process  on  the  median  side  of 
the  dorsal  end  of  the  coracoid,  or  with  the  scapula,  or  with  both ; 
the  ventral  ends  of  the  two  clavicles  generally  fuse  with  each  other, 
forming  the  FuRCULA,  and  approach  the  anterior  end  of  the  crest 
of  the  sternum.  Between  them  the  CEsoPHAGUS  and  the  Trachea 
pass  from  the  neck  into  the  thoracic  cavity  (see  Skeleton). 

CLAWS  or  NAILS  are  the  horny  sheaths  of  the  terminal 
phalanges  of  the  toes  and  fingers,  generally  curved,  and  often 
sharply  pointed.  They  are  produced  by  a  thickening  of  the  Mal- 
pighian  layer,  which  forms  the  "nailbed"  out  of  which  the  corneous 
cells  grow.  The  toes  of  most  birds  are  protected  by  claws  or  flat 
nails,  only  in  the  Ostrich  the  outer  toe  has  no  nail,  or  hardly 
any,  but  the  often  reduced  hallux  is  frequently  unprotected.  The 
inner  side  of  the  nail  of  the  third  toe  is  often  serrated  like  a  fine 
comb,  as  in  Cormorants,  Herons  (including  Scopus),  Ibis,  Dromas, 
Cursorius,  Glareola,  also  in  many  Nightjars  ;  in  Podicipes  the  distal 
margin  of  the  third  nail  is  serrated. 

Nilsson,  Meves,  Stejneger,  Collett,  and  Malmgren  {cf.  Dresser, 
B.  Eur.  Vii.  p.  189,  pi.  485)  have  described  the  periodical  shedding 
of  the  claws  in  Lagopus,  which  grow  to  a  consideralile  length  during 
winter,  the  seasonal  extension  dropping  oflf  in  spring  as  do  the 
horny  fringes  on  the  toes  in  the  Black  G-rouse,  Capercally,  and  allied 
birds. 

Claws  on  the  tips  of  the  fingers  are  much  rarer.  Archseopteryx 
had  a  well-developed  hooklike  claw  on  each  of  its  three  fingers.  In 
recent  birds  such  claws  are  restricted,  when  occurring  at  all,  to 
the  pollex  and  index,  being  sometimes  surprisingly  well  developed, 
although  hardly  functional.  They  occur  more  or  less  regularly  on 
the  first  two  fingers  in  Struthio  and  Rhea  (occasionally  as  embry- 
onic traces  even  on  the  third  finger),  also  in  Anseres  and  Birds-of- 
Prey  {e.g.  Milvus  and  Cathartes).  A  pollex  claAv  alone  has  been 
found  in  various  Anseres,  in  Callus,  Birds-of-Prey  (especially  well 
developed  in  the  Kestrel),  and  individually  in  the  Whitethroat 
and  in  the  Blackbird.  ^     An  index  claw  alone  occurs  in  Casuarius, 

^  Such  an  example  of  tlie  Whitethroat  is  in  Mr.  Seebohm's  collection,  and 


90  CLA  IVS—  CL  OA  CA 


Dromaius,  and  Apteryx.  Probably  many  more  birds  will  be  found 
in  which  such  fingernails  have  remained  dormant  as  latent  germs 
and  have  individually  been  revived ;  but  the  taxonomic  value  of 
these  ancestral  vestigial  structures  is  nil. 

Spurs  are  claws  and  nails  in  a  different  sense.  They  are 
generally  conical,  consisting  of  a  horny  sheath  which  surrounds  a 
bony  core  produced  by  the  supporting  bone.  Hereto  belong  those 
on  the  metatarsus  of  many  Phasianidse.  Similar  structures  occur 
on  the  bones  of  the  wrist  and  hand,  namely  a  long  and  sharp 
spur  with  strong  bony  core  on  the  radial  side  of  the  first  and 
one  on  the  second  metacarpal  bone  in  Chauna  derbiana ;  on  the 
first  metacarpal  in  Parra  and  in  Hydrophasianus  ;  and  on  the  radial 
carpal  bone  in  Plectropterus.  The  large  exostoses  of  the  size  of  a 
walnut  on  the  wrist  of  the  male  Pezophaps  were  probably  likewise 
covered  with  a  thickened  horny  layer,  and  were,  like  all  these 
structures,  used  as  weapons.  Young  spurs  can  be  easily  grafted  on 
various  parts  of  other  animals. 

CLOACA,  the  dilated  terminal  portion  of  the  alimentary  canal, 
which  opens  through  the  vent,  and  besides  the  faeces,  discharges 
the  urine  and  the  genital  products.  The  whole  cloaca  of  most  birds 
is  divided  by  transverse  folds  into  a  vestibulum,  a  urino-genital 
or  middle,  and  a  rectal  or  innermost  chamber. 

The  urino-genital  chamber  or  "  urodseum  "  is  small,  and  receives 
in  its  dorso-lateral  walls  the  ureters  and  the  genital  ducts,  which  are 
protected  by  papillse.  Above  their  orifices  is  a  circular  fold,  most 
prominent  on  the  ventral  side ;  below  them,  towards  the  vent,  is 
another  well-marked  circular  fold,  which,  towards  the  ventral 
aspect,  passes  into  the  coating  of  the  copulatory  organ,  when 
such  is  present.  The  space  between  this  fold  and  the  outer 
anal  opening,  which  is  closed  by  a  strong  sphincter  miiscle,  lodges 
the  copulatory  organ,  and  on  its  dorsal  wall  leads  through  a  wide 
opening  into  the  hirsa  Fahricn.  This  organ  is  peculiar  to  birds,  is 
most  developed  in  the  young  of  both  sexes,  and  often  becomes 
more  or  less  obliterated  in  the  adult ;  its  function  is  still  unknown  ; 
it  certainly  is  not  a  lymphatic  gland,  and  the  occurrence  of  sperma 
in  it  is  accidental. 

The  innermost  chamber,  or  "coprodaeum,"  is  situated  above  the 
urodgeum,  is  mostly  an  oval  dilatation  of  the  rectum,  and  is  of 
considerable  size  in  those  birds  whose  faeces  are  very  fluid,  as 
Accipitres,  Herodii,  and  Steganopodes.  In  Casuarius  and  Rhea 
it  passes  gradually  into  the  rectum  above,  but  in  many  Carinat?e, 
as  well  as  in  Struthio,  the  upper  end  is  marked  by  a  strong  circular 
fold,  and  the  inner  surface  of  the  walls  is  smooth  and  different  from 

one  of  the  Blackbird,  from  Syria,  was  described  by  Bonaparte  {Comptes  rcndus, 
1856,  xliii.  p.  412)  as  a  new  species  under  the  name  of  Morula  dadyloptera. 


CLOA  CA~COA  CHWHIP-BIRD 


91 


that  of  the  rectum  proper.  In  Struthio  this  chamber  is  followed 
by  another,  which  is  smaller  and  less  defined,  resembling  in  this 
respect  some  Saurians. 

It  follows  from  the  arrangement  described  above,  that  in  Birds 
the  urine  is  not  retained  in  the  small  urodiBum, 
but  that,  as  in  Saurians,  it  passes  into  the  next 
chamber  above.  Through  this  the  faeces  pass  ; 
if  they  are  very  fluid,  they  collect  in  the  then 
very  capacious  space,  together  with  the  urine, 
and  transform  the  chamber  into  a  physiological 
cloaca.  If  the  faeces  are  more  solid,  as  for 
instance  in  Geese,  they  are  retained  in  the 
rectum  proper,  and  simply  pass  through  the 
cloaca.  In  the  Ostriches  deftecation  and 
micturition  are  mostly  separate  acts,  especially 
when  the  largely-developed  and  persistent  bursa 
Fabricii  acts  as  a  physiological  bladder.  A 
true  urinary  bladder,  i.e.  a  ventral  dilatation  of 
the  urodseum,  is  absent  in  Birds. 


Diagram  of  the 
Cloaca  of  a  Bird. 


BF.     Bursa    Fabricii ; 
CD.  Coproda?um;    V.D. 


The  copulatory  organ  in  the  male,  and  the  urocig;um;P.i>.  Procto 
corresponding  part  in  the  female,  are  developed  ''^"™  >  ^-  Rectum ;  v. 
from  the  ventral  wall  of  the  vestibulum  or  ferens.' 
"  proctodteum."  It  is  present  in  two  different 
forms.  In  the  Ratitae,  except  Rhea,  it  consists  of  a  right  and  left 
united  half,  with  a  deep  longitudinal  furrow  on  the  dorsal  side,  and 
strongly  resembles  the  same  organ  in  Crocodiles  and  Tortoises  ;  it  can 
be  protruded  and  retracted  by  special  muscles  which  in  the  Ratitse 
are  partly  attached  to  the  pelvic  bones.  In  Rhea,  and  among  the 
Carinatse  in  the  Anseres  only,  the  copulatory  organ  consists  like- 
wise of  two  halves  with  a  longitudinal  furrow,  but  is  greatly  special- 
ized by  being  spirally  twisted  and  being  reversible  like  the  finger 
of  a  glove  ;  its  muscles  are  derived  solely  from  the  sphincter  muscle 
of  the  vent.  In  other  Carinatfe,  for  instance  in  the  Tinamidse, 
Cracidse,  in  Platalea,  Ciconia,  and  Phoenicopterus,  the  penis  is  much 
smaller  and  simpler  in  structure,  with  all  the  appearance  of  a 
degraded  organ.  In  the  majority  of  Birds,  especially  in  the  highest, 
it  has  disappeared,  and  the  primitive  way  of  everting  the  cloaca  is 
resorted  to  during  copulation  (H.  Gadow,  Phil.  Trans.  1887, 
p.  32). 

COACHWHIP-BIRD,  so  called  in  eastern  Australia  from  its 
loud  full  note,  ending  sharply  like  the  crack  of  a  whip,  the  Psophodes 
crepitans  of  ornithologists,  while  a  second  form,  P.  nigiigularis  takes 
its  place  further  westward.  Beside  this  cu.rious  utterance  it  has  a 
low,  inward,  melodious  song.  It  inhabits  the  thickest  brushwood, 
seldom  exposing  itself  to  view ;  but  when  seen  is  very  animated  in 


92  COALMO  USE—COCKA  TEEL 

all  its  actions,  raising  its  crest  and  spreading  its  tail.  Originally 
described  by  Latham  as  a  FLYCATCHER,  MuscicaiM,  Vigors  and  Hors- 
field  saw  the  need  of  founding  a  new  genus  for  it,  though  they 
admitted  their  ignorance  of  its  position.  Its  short  rounded  wings 
induced  G.  R.  Gray  to  place  it  among  his  Craterapodinse,  and  until  its 
internal  structure  has  been  examined  there  it  must  remain.  If,  how- 
ever, the  eggs  be  so  curiously  marked  as  they  are  described  by  Gould 
{Hunclh.  B.  Austral,  i.  p.  314),  it  would  seem  unlikely  to  belong  to 
that  group,  and  that  ornithologist  placed  the  genus  next  to  Menura 
(Lyre-bird) — not  that  any  affinity  thereto  follows  in  consequence. 

COALMOUSE  (sometimes  wrongly  spelt  "  Colemouse  "),  Germ. 
Kohhnelse,  the  Coal-TiTMOUSE,  Farus  ater,  or  as  some  would  have 
it  F.  hrifannicus. 

COBj  Dutch  Kaap  and  Kohhe,  according  to  Montagu  a  name  for 
the  Great  Black-backed  Gull,  Lams  marinus,  but  applied  in  the 
present  writer's  knowledge  to  almost  any  of  the  larger  species  of 
Sea-Gull.  Yarrell  says  {Br.  B.  ed.  1,  iii.  p.  130): — "In  the 
language  of  swanherds,  the  male  Swan  is  called  a  Cob,  the  female 
a  Pen :  these  terms  refer  to  the  comparative  size  and  grade  of  the 
two  sexes " ;  but  corroboration  of  the  first  statement  has  been 
sought  in  vain,  while  the  second  is  hardly  intelligible. 

COBBLER'S-AWL,  a  fanciful  name  given  to  the  Avoset  until  its 
extermination  in  the  country ;  and,  according  to  Gould  {Handh.  B. 
Austral,  i.  p.  551),  now  used  by  the  colonists  of  Tasmania  for  the 
Acanthorhjnchus  tenuirostris  one  of  the  Meliphagidse  (Honey-sucker), 
known  in  eastern  Australia  as  the  Spine-bill.  The  shape  of  the 
bill  has  in  both  cases  suggested  the  name,  but  it  is  far  less  appro- 
priate in  the  latter  than  in  the  former. 

COCCYGOMORPH^,  the  seventh  section  of  Desmognath/E 
according  to  Prof.  Huxley's  scheme  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  466, 
467),  comprehending  14  Families  which  are  arranged  in  four  groups, 
\dz.  a,  Coliidse  (Mouse-bird);  b,  Musophagidsc  (Plantain-eater  and 
TouRACo),  Cuculidse  (Cuckow),  Bncconidx  (Pufe-bird),  PJiam- 
phastidee  (Toucan),  CapUonidse  (Barbet),  Galhulidse  (Jacamar)  : 
c,  AlcedinidcX  (Kingfisher),  Bucerotidce  (Hornbill),  Upupid^e 
(Hoopoe),  Meropjidse  (Bee-eater),  Moviotidai  (IMotmot),  Coraciidx 
(Roller)  :  and  d,  Trogonidse  (Trogon) — all  of  which  are  in  the 
present  work  regarded  as  PiCARi^. 

COCKATEEL,  a  bird-fancier's  name  lately  invented  by  Mr. 
Jamrach,  and  now  in  common  use,  being  an  English  adaptation  of 
Kakatielje,  which  in  its  turn  is  supposed  to  be  a  Dutch  sailor's 
rendering  of  a  Portuguese  word,  CacatUho  or  Cacatelho,  meaning  a 
little  Cockatoo,  and  applied  to  the  Australian  Cockatoo-Parrakeet, 
C'alopsitta  ivjvx-hollandise,  a  favourite  cage-bird. 


COCK  A  TOO—COCK-OF-  THE-ROCK  93 

COCKATOO,  Malay  Kakcdua,  a  name  used  in  England  and, 
with  some  modification  of  spelling,  in  other  European  countries  for 
more  than  200  years,  and  undoubtedly  taken  from  the  cry  of  one  or 
other  of  the  Avell-known  birds  so  called,  though  it  would  be  impossible 
to  say  which  of  them.  With  the  exception  of  one  species  which 
inhabits  the  Philippine  Islands,  the  Cockatoos  are  peculiar  to  the 
Australian  Region,  and  are  especially  abundant  in  that  portion  of 
the  Malay  Archipelago  which  is  included  in  it,  but  they  do  not  go 
farther  eastward  than  the  Solomon  Islands.  They  seem  to  be  a 
very  natural  group  of  the  Order  Fsittaci  (Parrot),  and  some  writers 
would  regard  them  as  forming  a  Family  Cacatiddie  or  Plictohphidas, 
while  others  consider  the  lower  rank  of  a  subfamily  sufficient  for 
them.  Six  genera  are  pretty  generally  admitted,  Cacatua,  C'allo- 
cephalon,  Calopsitiacus  (Cockateel),  Calyptwhynchus,  Licmetis,  and 
Microglossa — the  first  containing  all  the  species  ordinarily  called 
Cockatoos  and  kept  in  confinement,  which  are  commonly  white  with 
yellow,  or  pink  crests.  The  second  genus  has  only  one  species,  an 
iron-grey  bird  with  a  bright  red  head.  The  fourth  contains  the  large 
black  species  of  Australia,  with  a  long  tail  banded  with  scarlet, 
yellow  or  cream-colour.  The  fifth  has  a  considerable  resemblance 
to  the  first,  but  the  birds  have  a  slender  bill,  while  the  sixth  com- 
prises the  largest  forms  to  be  found  in  the  Order,  birds  whose 
wholly  black  plimiage  is  relieved  by  their  bare  cheeks  of  bright  red. 
In  striking  contrast  to  these  last  some  systematists  would  place 
among  the  Cockatoos  the  smallest  of  the  Parrot-tribe,  members  of 
the  genus  Nasiterna,  from  New  Guinea  and  the  Solomon  Islands, 
but  that  as  Dr.  Murie  has  shewn  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1865,  p.  622), 
really  presents  no  sort  of  resemblance  to  them. 

'    COCK-OF-THE-PLAINS,   one    of    the    American    Tetraonidss 
(Grouse),  Centrocercus  urophasianus. 

COCK-OF-THE-ROCK,  a  "  familiar  name,"  according  to  Swain- 
son  in  1837  (Classif.  B.  ii.  p.  76),  "long  bestowed"  on  a  bird  from 
the  northern  parts  of  South  America ;  but  his  seems  to  be  the  first 
rendering  into  English  of  the  old  French  Coq-de-roche,  or  Coc-des-roches 
as  Barrere  (Fr.  Equinox,  p.  132)  has  it.  The  flat-sided  crest  borne 
by  the  bird  was  likened  by  the  colonists  to  that  of  the  Hoopoe,  and 
accordingly  he  in  1745  (Ornithol.  p.  46)  placed  it  in  the  genus 
Upupa,  while  Edwards  a  few  years  after  figured  its  head 
{Gleanings,  pi.  264)  as  that  of  the  "Hoopoe  Hen,"  having  received 
it  from  Surinam  under  the  name  of  Widdehop  (Hoopoe),  and  thus 
Linni3eus  was  oi'iginally  induced  to  follow  their  example,  though 
finally  he  referred  it  to  the  genus  Pipra  (Manakin)  ;  but  in  the 
meanwhile  Brisson,  who  first  gave  a  good  description  and  figure  of 
it,  made  it  in  1760  the  representative  of  a  new  genus  Pupicola.  In 
1769   Vosmaer  again  figured  it,   expressing  his  surprise  that  the 


94 


CO  CK-  OF-  THE-  J  VO  OD— COLIN 


Dutch  authors,  who  had  described  so  many  iDeautiful  creatures  from 
their  possessions  in  South  America,  had  never  mentioned  this 
remarkable  bird.  It  has  now  for  many  years  been  recognized  as 
liiqjicola  crocea,  the  type  of  the  genus,  and  is  common  enough  in 
museums,  where  its  almost  wholly  orange-coloured  plumage,  as  well 
as  its  disk-like  crest,  render  it  conspicuous.  It  inhabits  Guiana, 
and  the  lower  countries  of  the  Amazons  ;  but  further  to  the  west- 
ward it  is  replaced  by  the  more  deeply-tinted  li.  peruviana,  and  a 
third  species,  the  blood-red  R.  sanguinolenta  occupies  still  higher 
elevations  in  Ecuador.  The  genus  is  now  generally  placed  in  the 
Family  Cotingidse  (Chatterer),  though  Garrod,  on  account  of 
certain  diiferences  in  the  formation  of  the  ci'ural  arteries,  which 
seem  to  be  of  no  great  taxonomic  value  (see  Introduction),  had 
separated  it  from  them ;  but  it  may  well  be  regarded,  as  by  IV^i-. 

Sclater  (Cat.  B.  Br.  If  us.  xiv.  p.  366)  as  form- 
ing a  distinct  subfamily,  Bupkolina',,  the  only 
question  being  whether  it  is  not  as  much 
allied  to  the  Piprldx.  Next  to  Bnpicola  he 
places  Phcenicocerciis,  containing  two  species, 
F.  carnifex  from  Guiana  and  the  lower  Amazons, 
and  P.  nigricollis  from  the  upper  portion  of  the 
same  valley.  Each  of  these  genera  exhibits  a 
curious  modification  of  the  primary  quills, 
which  in  both  the  Families  just  named  are 
subject  to  so  much  abnormality.  In  the  males 
of  Phixnicocercus  the  fourth  quill  is  much 
shortened,  and  terminates  in  a  thickened  horny  process,  while 
in  Bupicola  the  first  quill  is  suddenly  attenuated  towards  the  tip. 

COCK-OF-THE-WOOD,  see  Capercally. 

CODDY-MODDY  (etymology  unknown),  a  local  name  of  con- 
siderable antiquity,  and  still  in  '  use  for  the  Black-headed  Gull 
(Larus  ridihundua). 

GOLDFINCH,  a  name  for  which  no  explanation  can  be  offered, 
unless  it  may  have  been  intended  for  Coalfinch,  but  used  so  long 
ago  as  Willughby's  time  for  the  Pied  Flycatcher. 

COLIN,  the  Mexican  word  ^  which  practically  signifies  Quail, 
though  the  Quails  of  the  New  World  have  long  been  held  to  form 
a  group  distinct  from  any  of  those  of  the  Old.  The  name  seems  to 
have  been  first  printed  in  1635  by  Nieremberg  {Hist.  Nat.  p.  232, 
cap.  Ixxii.);  but  he  says  he  took  it  from  Hernandez,  whose  work 
was  not  published  until  1651,  where  it  dvdy  occurs  {Hist.  Anim. 
Nov.  Hispan.  p.  22,  cap.  xxxix.).     Willughby  {Ornithol.  Lat.  p.  304, 

^  The  French  Colin,  an  ohl  nick-name  for  a  Gull,  given  in  1555  by  Belon 
{Ois.  p.  167),  has  no  connexion  witli  the  Mexican  word. 


Phcenicoceecus. 
(After  Swaiusou.) 


COLOUR  95 


Angl.  p.  393)  quoted  from  both,  and  thus  the  word  came  into 
English  use,  even  to  finding  its  Avay  into  an  Act  of  Parliament 
(43  and  44  Vict.  cap.  35).  In  the  Mexican  language  it  was  variously 
compounded,  as  Ococolin  (Mountain-Partridge),  Acolin  (Water-Quail), 
and  Cacacolin  (cf.  Hernandez,  op.  cit.  pp.  32,  42).  These  have  not 
all  been  determined  ;  but  it  is  generally  agreed  that  Colin  alone 
meant  some  species  of  the  genus  Ortyz. 

COLOUR,  as  perceived  in  the  various  parts  of  Birds,  is  produced 
by  pigment  or  by  structure  or  by  a  combination  of  the  two.  Three 
classes  of  colours  can  therefore  be  distinguished. 

I.  The  so-called  chemical  or  absorption  colours  are  always  due  to 
colouring  matter,  which  may  exist  in  the  form  of  a  solution  dif- 
fused in  the  coloured  parts,  or  in  the  form  of  pigTuented  corpuscles, 
distributed  in  and  between  the  cells  of  the  various  organs.  Such 
colours  do  not  vary  or  change  under  any  position  of  the  light  or 
eye ;  and  even  under  transmitted  light  a  red,  yellow,  brown,  or 
black  feather  will  always  appear  the  same.  Black,  red,  and  brown 
always  belong  hereto,  orange  and  yellow  mostly,  but  rarely  green, 
and  never  blue. 

The  principal  colour  pigments  are  : — 

Zoomelanin,  the  black  animal  colouring  matter,  distributed  in 
amorphous  little  corpuscles,  insoluble  in  Water,  Alcohol,  Acids, 
or  Ether,  but  dissolved  and  destroyed  when  boiled  in  Caustic 
Potash  and  then  treated  with  Chlor ;  it  consists  of  about  5  3  "5  % 
of  Carbon,  4'6  of  Hydrogen,  8'2  of  Nitrogen,  and  33*7  of  Oxygen. 

Zoonerythrin,  red,  hitherto  found  in  the  red  feathers  of  Cotinga, 
Phoenicopterus,  Ibis,  Cacatua,  Cardinalis,  and  others,  and  in  the 
"  rose  "  round  the  eyes  of  the  Tetraonidse.  It  is  soluble  in  Ether, 
Alcohol,  and  Chloroform,  but  not  in  Acids  or  in  Potash  ;  the  variable 
amount  of  fat  or  oil  in  the  feathers  of  the  Flamingo  causes  them 
to  be  more  or  less  intensely  coloured. 

Zooxanthin,  yellow,  can  be  extracted  by  boiling  in  absolute 
Alcohol,  and  is  a  diffused  pigment  which  tinges  the  shafts,  rami, 
and  radii  of  the  feathers,  and  is  possibly  the  same  in  the  yellow 
feet  and  bills  of  Birds -of -Prey  and  Anseres.  Like  Zoonerythrin 
it  is  a  coloui-ed  fatty  oil. 

Turacin  is  a  most  peculiar  pigment,  discovered  by  Church  in  1867 
{Phil.  Trans.  1869,  pp.  627-636)  in  the  red  feathers  of  the  Muso- 
phagidse,  and  seems  to  be  restricted  to  these  birds.  It  consists  of  the 
same  elements  as  Zoomelanin  with  the  addition  of  from  5  to  8%  of 
copper.  It  can  easily  be  extracted  by  weak  alkaline  solutions,  such  as 
Ammonia,  and  with  the  addition  of  Acetic  Acid,  it  can  be  filtered  oft' 
as  a  metallic  red  or  blue  powder.  The  presence  of  metallic  copper 
is  indicated  by  the  green  flame  of  the  red  feathers  when  burnt. 
These  birds  lose  the  red  colour  when  washed  by  the  rain,  but  regain 


96  COLOUR 


it  when  dry.     When  bathing  they  colour  the  Avater  red,  and  the 
red  feathers,  when  wet,  are  distinctly  shot  with  blue. 

Tiiracoverdin  is  the  only  instance  of  a  green  pigment,  and  is  only 
found  in  the  Musophagidae ;  it  contains  comparatively  much  iron, 
but  no  copper. 

Brown  is  the  result  of  a  mixture  of  red  and  black  colouring 
matter. 

JFhite  is  never  due  to  pigment ;  in  every  white  object  its  colour 
is  due  to  there  being  an  innumerable  number  of  interstices  between 
its  molecules,  or  the  air-cells  in  its  substance.  The  whole  substance 
of  a  white  feather,  the  "  ceratine,"  is  colourless,  but  its  texture  forms 
a  fine  network  which  diffracts  and  reflects  the  light. 

The  gloss  of  feathers,  independent  of  the  colour  itself,  is  the 
result  of  their  horny  surface  being  smooth  and  polished,  when 
rough  they  appear  more  or  less  dull. 

II.  Objective  structural  colours  are  those  which  are  produced  by 
the  combination  of  a  certain  pigment  with  a  special  structure  of 
the  superimposed  colourless  parts.  Hereto  always  belong  violet 
and  blue,  green  almost  always,  and  occasionally  yellow.  Such  a 
feather,  when  examined  under  transmitted  light,  i.e.  held  against 
the  light,  appears  only  in  the  colour  of  its  pigment.  For  instance, 
the  deep  blue  or  green  feathers  of  a  Parrot  will  then  appear  only 
grey  or  yellowish.  The  same  happens  when  their  polished  siu-face 
is  scratched  or  crushed,  the  blue  colour  instantly  disappears,  shew- 
ing only  the  blackish  underlying  pigment,  or  yellow  pigment  in 
green  feathers.  When  thoroughly  wetted  in  a  bath,  the  feathers 
of  the  back  of  an  Amazon  Parrot  appear  brown  without  a  trace  of 
green. 

Microscopical  examination  of  such  colours  reveals  the  following 
structures  : — 

Yellow.  The  radii  and  rami  of  many  yelloAV  feathers  are  in 
reality  without  pigment,  but  their  surface  shews  a  number  of 
longitudinal  ridges  and  furrows,  as  for  instance  in  Ara,  Ehaniphas- 
tus,  Ccereba,  Icterus,  Xanthomelas,  and  Picus.  Some  of  the  radii  of 
the  yellow  fluffy  pectoral  tufts  of  Arachnothera  have  a  diameter  of 
0'007  mm.;  their  surface  exhibits  irregular  ridges,  separated  by  as 
many  furrows;  the  width  of  one  ridge  is  less  than  0"0007  mm., 
and  the  distance  from  ridge  to  ridge  about  0*002,  so  that  the  theory 
of  colours  of  a  system  of  narrow  gratings  can  well  be  applied  to 
explain  these  colours. 

Orange  is  occasionally  produced  by  red  pigment  with  a  yellow 
superstructure. 

Green,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Musophagidae  mentioned  above, 
is  always  due  to  yellow,  orange,  or  greyish-brown  pigment  -with  a 
special  superstructure,  which  consists  either  of  narrow  longitudinal 
ridges,  as  in  Psittacula  and  in  Pitta,  or  else,  as  in  Chrysotis,  Pitta, 


COLOUR  97 


and  Megaloprepia,  the  surface  of  the  rami  and  radii  is  smooth 
and  quite  transparent,  while  between  it  and  the  pigment  exists  a 
]ayer  of  small  polygonal  bodies,  similar  to  those  of  blue  feathers. 

Blue  has  not  yet  been  discovered  as  a  pigment.  Blue  feathers 
contain  only  orange  or  brownish  pigment ;  the  blue  appears  only 
on  the  shafts  of  the  rami  and  lai-ger  radii.  The  structure  of  blue 
feathers  seems  to  be  always  the  same  :  (1)  a  transparent,  colour- 
less layer  of  ceratine,  from  0"004  to  0"007  mm.  in  thickness;  (2) 
a  layer  of  polygonal,  more  or  less  pyramidal,  and  often  hexagonal 
columnar  cells,  each  of  which  is  colourless  itself,  and  its  walls  are 
highly  refractory  and  not  unfrequently  striated  and  ridged ;  ^  (3) 
the  horny  narrow  cells  of  the  inside  of  the  radius,  with  brown, 
black,  or  orange  pigment  corpuscles. 

The  blue  naked  parts  of  the  skin  of  Cassowaries  contain  yellow 
or  black  pigment  covered  by  peculiai"ly  modified  epidermal  layers. 

III.  Subjective  structural,  prismatic,  or  metallic  colours. — These 
colours  change  according  to  the  position  of  the  light  and  the  eye 
of  the  observer,  and  they  always  change  in  the  order  of  those  in  the 
rainbow.  They  are  restricted,  as  a  rule,  to  the  radii  without  cilia, 
and  moreover  to  those  parts  of  the  feathers  which  are  not  covered  by 
others.  The  metallic  portions  of  the  radii  are  composed  of  one  row 
of  compartments,  which  often  partly  overlap  each  other  like  curved 
tiles.  In  the  inside  black  or  blackish-brown  pigment  is  collected ; 
and  each  compartment  is  covered  with  a  transparent  colourless  layer 
of  extreme  thinness,  e.g.  O'OOOS  mm.  in  Sturnus.  The  surface  of 
this  coat  is  either  smooth  and  polished  as  in  Nectarinia,  or  exhibits 
very  fine  longitudinal  wavy  ridges  when  the  feather  is  violet,  or 
numerous  small  dot-like  irregularities  as  in  Galbula.  The  coating 
seems  to  act  like  a  number  of  prisms,  as  indicated  in  the  first 
figure.  All  metallic  feathers  appear  black  when  their  surface  is 
parallel  to  the  rays  of  the  light  in  the  same  level  with  the  eye  and 
the  light.  To  the  eye  of  the  observer  at  A,  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  first  figure,  the  metallic  collar  of  Ptilorhis  magnifica  will 
appear  absolutely  black ;  the  eye  at  B  will  see  it  bright  coppery 
red,  and  at  C  rich  green ;  the  metallic  feathers  of  the  sides  of  the 
breast  in  the  same  bird  will  change  from  black  to  green  at  B,  and 
to  blue  at  C.  The  beautiful  Pharomacrus  mocinno  changes  from 
greenish  bronze  through  golden  green,  green,  and  indigo  to  violet. 
Oreotrochilus  chimborazo  in  position  B  exhibits  the  whole  solar 
spectrum,  namely,  violet  and  red  on  the  head,  folloAved  by  orange 
and  green  on    the   back,  blue,    violet,   and   lastly  purple    on   the 

■"  In  Pitta  moluecensis  I  calculated  the  following  measurements :  width  of 
one  polygon  0"001  mm.,  height  of  same  0'015  mm.,  thickness  of  its  transparent 
coating  about  0'0012  ;  distance  between  two  of  the  longitudinal  ridges  on  the 
surface  of  the  polygon  0-0005,  thickness  of  the  transparent  outer  layer  of  the 
radius  about  0'005  mm. 


98 


COLOUR 


long  tail  feathers.  The  red  colours  of  the  spectrum  lie  nearer 
towards  the  position  A,  the  blue  colours  towards  C  The  colours 
always  appear  in  the  same  order :  no  feathers  are  known,  Avhich 


Positions  for  observing  the  Colour  of,  "  Metallic  "  Feathers. 
(From  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society,  1SS2.) 

when  looked  at  from  B  towards  A,  change  from  the  red  towards 
the  blue  end  of  the  spectrum.  In  case  two  or  more  of  these  spectra 
(of  which  we  imagine  the  horny  coating  to  be  composed)  overlap  each 
other,  only  a  limited  number  of  colours  are  able  to  reach  the  eye 
of  the  observer.  Thus  in  the  theoretical  case  figured  red  only  will 
be  visible  besides  black. 

A  peculiar  case  is  that  of  Artamia  bicolor;  the  pure  white  feathers 


Diagrammatic  Section  THRoaoH  the  Barb  op  a  "Metallic"  Feather. 
(From  the  I'roccediiigs  of  the  Zoological  Society,  lbS2.) 

of  the  underparts  have  no  metallic  gloss,  but  nevertheless  they  seem 
to  be  prismatic,  because  in  position  A  the  underparts  appear  bluish- 
white,  in  B  delicately  pale  blue,  and  in  position  C  pale  gre}'. 

Deviation  from  the  normal  coloration  is  more  or  less  patho- 


COLOUR  99 


logical,  and  can  be  conveniently  expressed  by  the  term  Heterochrosk 
(from  the  Greek  erepos  and  ;^paio-tSj  colouring).  The  following  are 
the  chief  cases  : — 

Albinism,  caused  by  the  pathological  absence  of  the  black  pig- 
ment, and  often  locally  produced  by  a  lesion  of  the  pulp  of  the 
growing  feather ;  extreme  instances  are  white  Ravens  and  Black- 
birds. 

Melanism,  produced  by  the  superabundance  of  black  pigment, 
mostly  causing  the  feathers  to  assume  a  darker  or  more  sooty  colour. 
Melanistic  specimens  have  been  described  of  many  birds,  such  as 
Bullfinch,  Skylark,  and  in  particular  of  the  common  Snipe,  which 
in  this  phase  has  by  some  been  regarded  as  a  distinct  species, 
Scolopax  sabinii. 

Xanthochroism,  mostly  in  originally  red  or  orange  feathers ;  Avhen 
the  feathers  are  yellow  instead  of  green,  this  may  possibly  be  a 
reversional  step  or  a  case  of  arrested  development  because  of  the 
absence  of  the  green-making  superstructure. 

Erytlirism,  the  abnormal  occuiTcnce  of  red,  mostly  confined  to 
originally  yellow  or  orange  feathers,  occasionally  produced  by 
abnormal  food,  like  cayenne  pepper,  or  directly  by  the  colouring 
matter  of  Rubia  tindoria,  one  of  the  madder -worts.  A  certain 
correlation  between  green  and  red  is  exhibited  by  the  intensely 
green  adult  males  of  Eclectus  polychlorus,  the  females  being  bright 
red  and  the  young  of  both  sexes  being  reddish,  without  any 
indication  of  green  in  the  young  male. 

In  Brazil  "  contrafeitos"  of  the  various  species  of  Chrysotis  are 
fashionable.  These  are  produced  by  the  rubbing  in  of  the  cutaneous 
secretion  of  a  Toad,  Bnfo  tindorius,  into  the  budding  feathers  of 
the  head,  which  then  turn  out  yellow  instead  of  green. 

Concerning  the  literature  of  Albinism  and  Melanism  the  reader 
may  consult  Toppan,  Bull.  Ridgway  Club,  1887,  pp.  61-77,  and 
Deane,  Bull.  Nuttall  Orn.  Club,  1876,  pp.  20-24;  "Xanthochroism" 
in  Parrots:  Meyer,  Sitzber.  k.  Akad.  JFissensch.  Berlin,  1882,  pp. 
517-524;  and  a  general  account  by  Pelzeln  in  Verhandl.  zool.-bot 
Gesellsch.  Wien,  1865,  pp.  911-946.  For  fui^ther  information  con- 
cerning colours  see  (Bronn's)  Klassen  und  Ordn.  des  Thier-Reichs, 
Vogel,  pp.  575-588,  and  P.  Z.  S.  1882,  pp.  409-421,  pis.  27,  28. 

The  distribution  of  colour  in  the  feathers  and  the  colour-pattern 
of  the  plumage  require  some  notice. 

It  is  a  hitherto  unsettled  question  if  the  longitudinally  striated 
or  the  crossbarred  feathers  are  the  older  style  of  coloration. 
The  general  impression  of  the  coloration  of  a  bird  is  the  sum 
total  of  the  coloration  of  all  the  uncovered  parts  of  the  feathers. 
This  sounds  like  a  truism,  but  means  that  crossbarred  feathers 
can  never  give  the  general  impression  of  a  striated  plumage  and  vice 
versa.     Kerschner  believes  (Zeitschr.  wiss.  Zool.  1886,  p.   681)  that 


loo  COLOUR 


the  distribution  of  colouring  matter  in  transverse  lines  or  bars  is  the 
phylogenetically  older  method,  because  natural  and  sexual  selection 
cannot  Avell  have  affected  the  hidden  parts  of  the  feathers.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  striated  downy  or  first  plumage  of  the  Gallinae 
and  Eatita3  has  been  already,  by  Darwin,  taken  to  be  a  very  old 
stage.  This  appearance,  however,  as  in  Struthio,  is  not  due  to 
striation  of  the  single  feathers,  but  to  juxtaposition  of  colourless 
and  deeply  pigmented  downs.  To  judge  from  the  growth  of  a 
feather,  the  production  of  crossbars  seems  to  be  the  older  stage, 
since  they  will  result  from  the  intermittent  deposition  of  pigment, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  production  of  shaft-streaks  is  not  yet 
satisfactorily  explained.  At  any  rate,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  possibly  various  groups  of  birds  have  gone  independently 
through  such  stages,  and  that  what  is  primitive  or  archaic  in  one 
need  not  be  so  in  all.  But  a  strong  proof  of  the  soundness  of 
Darwin's  views  is  that  we  are  able  to  trace  the  pattern  of  the  most 
beautifully-adorned  feathers  of  the  Argus-Pheasant  or  of  the  Peacock 
step  by  step  backwards  to  longitudinal  stripes,  spots,  crossbars,  and 
lastly  to  insignificant  and  simple  irregular  little  dots. 

Natural  and  sexual  selection,  whether  combining  or  striving 
against  each  other,  have  worked  marvels  in  plumage.  Significant 
colours,  as  for  instance  total  blackness  or  whiteness,  could  be 
developed  only  when  higher  intellectual  qualities,  bodily  size  and 
strength,  or  occasionally  even  special  smallness,  guaranteed  the 
safety  of  the  bird.  The  females  and  the  young  mostly  retain  a 
more  sombre  garb,  and  thus  remain  on  a  phylogenetically  lower 
level.  It  takes  the  large  Gulls  several  years  to  change  from  a 
mottled  brownish  and  grey  appearance  into  the  beautifully  dark 
and  white  colours.  The  same  applies  to  the  white  shoulders  of 
certain  Eagles  \  and  many  other  instances,  too  well  known  to  be 
repeated  here,  shew  clearly  how.  the  changes  of  bygone  ages  of  the 
ancestors  are  recapitulated  in  the  yearly  moult  of  the  growing 
individual  until  with  maturity  its  present  stage  of  perfection  is 
reached — ^but  only  its  present  stage,  because  its  descendants  in  turn 
will  be  different,  either  still  more  beautiful  or  still  better  adapted 
to  the  ever-changing  conditions  of  life.  This  consideration  implies 
that  whole-coloured  birds,  like  Swans  and  Kavens,  have  reached  their 
limit  so  far  as  coloration  is  concerned ;  since  both  black  and  white 
are  very  conspicuous  and  are  correlated  with  a  considerable  amount 
of  intellectual  development.  The  very  early  assumption  of  the 
black  plumage  by  the  nestlings  of  Kavens  and  Crows  is  a  strong 
argument  for  their  relatively  highest  position  on  the  hypothetical 
avine  tree.  Albinos  are  notoriously  shy.  The  females  of  birds 
which  breed  in  holes,  as  Rollers,  Kingfishers,  and  Parrots,  are  fre- 
quently as  beautifully  coloured  as  the  males,  because  they  need 
no  protection  through  colour  while  sitting  on  the  nest.     In    the 


COLY— CONDOR  loi 


green  Amazons  beauty,  intelligence,  and  safety  by  protection  are 
combined.  The  often  surprising  adaptation  of  the  coloration  of  the 
plumage  to  the  surroundings  is  well  known.  Frequently  the  con- 
spicuously coloured  parts  are  hidden  when  the  bird  is  at  rest,  and 
are  only  exposed  or  shewn — occasionally  as  "  danger  signals,"  to 
use  Mr.  Wallace's  excellent  term— when  the  bird  is  on  the  wing. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  sense  of  colour  is  highly  developed 
in  birds,  perhaps  most  so  in  the  female  when  choosing  a  mate ; 
the  result  of  this  sexual  selection  being  constantly  regulated  by 
natural  selection  is  exhibited  most  by  the  male,  but  enjoyed  by  both 
sexes,  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  race, 

COLY,  Pennant's  rendering  of  the  French  Colioti,  adapted 
by  Binsson  from  Mohring's  Golkis  ;  which,  according  to  Cuvier,  is 
the  Greek  koAo6os  (see  Mouse-bird). 

CONDOR,  the  Spanish  way  of  writing  the  Peruvian  Cmitur,  the 
Vultur  grypkus  of  Linnseus  and  Sarcorhamphus  gryphus  of  recent 
authors,  one  of  the  largest  of  volant  birds.  The  accounts  given  by 
early  travellers  of  its  size  and  ferocity  were  so  obviously  exagger- 
ated that  the  cautious  Ray  would  not  admit  it  into  Willughby's 
Ornithology,  and  only  included  it  in  his  own  Synopsis  Avium  (p.  11) 
after  proof  that  such  a  bird  existed  had  reached  him  in  the  shape 
of  one  of  its  wing-quills  brought  by  Capt.  Strong  to  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  from  the  coast  of  Chili.  Nearly  a  century  passed  before 
European  ornithologists  saw  a  complete  specimen.  This  Avas  a 
female  which  Capt.  Middleton  brought  from  the  Strait  of 
Magellan  and  deposited  in  the  Leverian  Museum,  where  it  Avas 
figured  in  1791  by  Shaw  (Mtis.  Lev.  No.  1,  p.  4,  pi.)  Shortly 
after,  a  second  specimen,  this  time  an  adult  male,  found  its  way 
from  the  same  quarter  to  the  same  Museum,  and  was  also  figured 
in  1793  by  the  same  author  (op.  cit.  No.  6,  p.  4,  pl.)^  But  the 
species  was  little  known  on  the  continent,  until  in  1806  when 
Humboldt  communicated  his  classical  M6vioire  on  the  bird  to  the 
French  Institute,  and  as  he  was  certainly  the  first  scientific  man 
who  had  made  its  personal  acquaintance  in  life,^  his  account  of  it 
deserves  the  attention  with  which  it  has  met,  and  the  voracity, 
stupidity,  and  tenacity  of  life  of  this  huge  Vulture  have  through 
him  been  long  known  to  the  Avorld.  Its  habits  have  perhaps  been 
since  more  fully  described  by  Darwin  in  his  Journal,  though  that 
account  of  them  seems  to  have  been  unknown  to  the  latest  Avriter 
on  the  subject,  Taczanowski  (Ornifhol.  PSrou,  i.  pp.  75-80),  who 
quotes  only  from  D'Orbigny  and  Stolzmann.     Yet  a  good  many 

^  Both  these  specimens  passed  into  the  Museum  of  Vienna,  where  they  are 
now  preserved  (Von  Pelzeln,  Ihis,  1873,  p.  16). 

-  As  Broderip  well  remarks  Molina  can  hardly  have  seen  the  bird,  which  he, 
like  Buffon,  took  to  be  the  same  as  the  Lammergeiser. 


I02  CONIROSTRES—COOT 

years  passed  before  examples  became  at  all  common  in  museums, 
and  Temminck  writing  in  1823  {Rec.  d'Ois.  \\vr.  23)  was  only  able  to 
refer  to  a  single  one  at  Paris,  beside  the  two  originally  received  in 
England.  Seven  years  afterwaixls  he  figured  a  male  which  was 
alive  at  Paris,  and  says  there  was  another  in  Holland.  But  at  or 
about  the  same  time  the  species  was  exhibited  in  London  (Bennett, 
Gard.  and  Menag.  Zool.  Soc.  ii.  p.  8),  where  it  has  even  bred,  though 
the  only  young  bird  that,  after  an  incubation  lasting  from  7th  May 
to  30th  June  1846,  or  54  days,  was  hatched  lived  but  six  weeks 
(Broderip,  Leaves  from  the  Note-Book  of  a  Naturalist,  pp.  14-16). 
The  male  Condor  is  remarkal^le  among  birds 
T^  '  for  the  large  caruncle  which  crowns  his  head, 
like  an  exaggerated  cock's  comb,  and  falling 
down  on  the  culmen  of  the  back  often  leaves  an 
open  space  in  front  of  the  base.  This  and  his 
Condor.  have  head  and  neck  of    a  dull  reddish  colour, 

(After  Swainson.)  -iii-,  e   ^  ^  •         ^   • 

Avrnikled  into  many  lolds,*  give  nim  a  very  pecu- 
liar expression,  and  the  hard  dry  appearance  of  the  latter  contrasts 
with  the  ruft'  of  white  down  that  separates  it  from  the  glossy  black  of 
the  rest  of  the  plumage,  except  the  edges  of  the  Aving-coverts  and  the 
secondary  wing-quills  which  are  white.  The  range  of  the  Condor 
extends  from  near  the  mouth  of  the  Kio  Negro  on  the  east  coast  of 
Patagonia,  through  the  Strait  of  Magellan  and  along  the  Cordilleras 
of  the  Andes  to  about  lat.  8°  N.  It  is  possible  that  some  of  the 
older  Spanish  accounts  usually  taken  to  refer  to  the  Condor  Avere 
based  upon  the  equally-large  Vulture  of  North  America,  Cathartcs 
or  Pseudogryphus  californianus,  a  species  which  seems  to  be  rapidly 
becoming  extinct. 

CONIROSTEES,  the  fourth  Family  of  Passeres  in  Dumt^ril's 
arrangement  (Zoologie  analytique,  p.  43),  containing  Starlings, 
Finches,  and  several  other  groups ;  but,  though  admitted  by  him 
to  be  a  wholly  artificial  assemblage,  it  is  one  that  has  been  for  a 
long  while  recognized  by  systematic  writers. 

COOT,  a  well-knoAvn  British  water-fowl,  the  Fulica  atra  of 
Linnaius,  belonging  to  the  Family  llallida',  (Rail).  The  word  Coot, 
in  some  parts  of  England  pronounced  Cute,  or  Scute,  is  of  uncertain 
origin,  but  perhaps  cognate  with  ScoUT  and  ScOTEii — both  names  of 
aquatic  birds — a  possibility  which  seems  to  be  more  likely  since  the 
name  Macreuse,  by  which  the  Coot  is  known  in  the  south  of  France, 
being  in  the  north  of  that  country  applied  to  the  Scoter  (CEdcmia 
nigra)  shews  that,  though  belonging  to  very  difterent  Families,  there 
is  in  popular  estimation  some  connexion  between  the  birds.^     The 

^  It  is  owiii"  to  this  interchange  of  their  names  that  Yarrell  in  his  British 
Birds   refers   a   description,    assigned   to  Victor   Hugo  (who,   I    have  the    best 


COOT 


103 


Coot.    (After  Swaiuson.) 


Latin  Fulica  (in  polite  French,  Fotdqne)  is  probably  allied  to  fnligo, 
and  lias  reference  to  the  bird's  dark  colour.^  The  Coot  breeds 
abundantly  in  many  of  the  larger  inland  waters  of  the  northern 
parts  of  the  Old  World,  in  winter  commonly  resorting,  and  often 
in  great  numbers,  to  the  mouth  of  rivers  or  shallow  bays  of  the 
sea,  where  it  becomes  a  general  object  of  pursuit  by  gunners 
■whether  for  sport  or  gain.  At  other  times  of  the  year  it  is 
comparatively  unmolested,  and  being  very  prolific  its  abundance  is 
easily  understood.  The  nest  is  a  large  mass  of  flags,  reeds,  or 
sedge,  piled  together  among  rushes  in  the  water  or  on  the  margin, 
and  not  unfrequently  contains  as  many  as  ten  eggs.  The  young, 
when  first  hatched,  are  beautiful  little  creatures,  clothed  in  jet- 
black  down,  Avith  their  heads  of  a  bright  orange- scarlet,  varied  with 
purplish-blue.  This  brilliant  colouring  is  soon  lost,  and  they  begin 
to  assume  the  almost  uniform  sooty-black  plumage  which  is  worn 
for  the  rest  of  their  life  ;  but  a  characteristic  of  the  adult  is  a  bare 
patch  or  callosity  on  the 
forehead,  which  being 
nearly  Avhite  gives  rise 
to  the  epithet  "bald" 
often  prefixed  to  the 
bird's  name.  The  Coot 
is  about  18  inches  in  length,  and  ^\■\\\  sometimes  weigh  over 
2  lb.  Though  its  wings  appear  to  be  short  in  proportion  to  its 
size,  and  it  seems  to  rise  with  difficulty  from  the  water,  it  is 
capable  of  long-sustained  and  rather  rapid  flight,  which  is  performed 
with  the  legs  stretched  out  behind  the  stumpy  tail.  It  swims 
buoyantly,  and  looks  a  much  larger  bird  in  the  water  than  it  really 
is.  It  dives  with  ease,  and  when  wounded  is  said  frequently  to 
cKitch  the  weeds  at  the  bottom  with  a  grasp  so  firm  as  not  even  to 
be  loosened  by  death.  It  does  not  often  come  on  dry  land,  but 
when  there,  marches  leisurely  and  not  A\dthout  a  certain  degree  of 
grace.  The  feet  of  the  Coot  are  very  remarkable,  the  toes  being 
fringed  by  a  lobed  membrane,  which  must  be  of  considerable  assist- 
ance in  swimming  as  well  as  in  walking  over  the  ooze 
they  do  like  mud-boards. 

In  England  the  sport  of  Coot-shooting  is  pursued  to  some  extent 
on  the  broads  and  back-waters  of  the  eastern  counties,  and  in 
Southampton  Water,  Christchurch  Bay,  and  at  Slapton  Lay,  and  is 
often  conducted  battue-fashion  by  a  number  of  guns.  But  even  in 
these  cases  the  numbers  killed  in  a  day  seldom  reach  more  than  a 
few  hundreds,  and  come  very  short  of  those  that  fall  in  the  officially- 

authority  for  stating,  never  wrote  it),   of  the   "  chasse  aux  Macreuses  "  to  the 
Scoter  instead  of  the  Coot. 

^  Hence  also  we  have  Fulix  or  Fuligula  applied  to  a  Duck  of  dingy  a})pear- 
ance,  and  thus  forming  another  parallel  case. 


acting  as 


jk 


104  COPPERSMITH— CORMORANT 

organized  chasses  of  the  lakes  near  the  coast  of  Languedoc  and  Pro- 
vence, of  which  an  excellent  description  is  given  by  the  Vicomte 
Lonis  de  Dax,^  The  flesh  of  the  Coot  is  very  variously  regarded  as 
food.  To  prepare  the  bird  for  the  table,  the  feathers  should  be 
stripped,  and  the  down,  which  is  very  close,  thick,  and  hard  to 
pluck,  be  rubbed  with  powdered  resin ;  the  body  is  then  to  be 
dipped  in  boiling  water,  which  melting  the  resin  causes  it  to  mix 
vnth.  the  down,  and  then  both  can  be  removed  together  with 
tolerable  ease.  After  this  the  bird  should  be  left  to  soak  for  the 
night  in  cold  spring-water,  which  Avill  make  it  look  as  white  and 
delicate  as  a  chicken.  Without  this  process  the  skin  after  roasting 
is  found  to  be  very  oily,  with  a  fishy  flavour,  and  if  the  sldn  be 
taken  off  the  flesh  becomes  dry  and  good  for  nothing  (Hawker's 
Instructions  to  Young  Sportsmen;  Hele's  Notes  about  Aldeburgh). 

The  Coot  is  found  throughout  the  Palsearctic  area  from  Iceland 
to  Japan,  and  in  most  other  parts  of  the  world  is  represented  by 
nearly  allied  species,  having  almost  the  same  habits.  An  African 
species  {F.  cristata),  easily  distinguished  by  a  red  caruncle  on  its 
forehead,  is  of  rare  appearance  in  the  south  of  Europe.  The 
Australian  and  North  American  species  {F.  australis  and  F.  avieri- 
cana)  have  very  great  resemblance  to  our  own  bird ;  but  in  South 
America  half  a  dozen  or  more  additional  species  are  found  which 
range  to  Patagonia,  and  vary  much  in  size,  one  (F.  glgantea)  being 
of  considerable  magnitude.  The  remains  of  another  large  species 
have  been  described  by  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  ser. 
5,  Zool.  viii.  pp.  194-220,  pis.  10-13)  from  Mam-itius,  where  it  must 
have  been  a  contemporary  of  the  Dodo,  but  like  that  bird  is  now 
extinct. 

COPPERSMITH,  see  Barbet. 

COBACOID  (named  after  the  coracoid  process  on  the  human 
shoulder-blade,  which  was  likened  in  shape  by  mediaeval  anatomists 
to  a  Raven's  bill)  one  of  a  pair  of  strong  bones  which  connect  the 
anterior  or  basal  margin  of  the  sternum  with  the  scapula  and 
clavicle,  and  form  the  chief  articulation  of  the  humerus  with  the 
shoulder-girdle  (see  Skeleton). 

CORACOMORPH^,  Prof.  Huxley's  name  for  the  large  group 
of  BEaMOGNATHO¥^-4jirds — incomparably  the  largest  of  those  that 
now  exist,  and  for  the  most  part  equivalent  to  the  Passeres  of 
Linnaeus  and  Cuvier,  and  wholly  to  the  Volucres  of  Sundevall 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  468-472).     (See  Introduction.) 

CORMORANT  2 — from  the  Latin  coi-vus  marinus,  through  the 

^  "  La  Volee  aux  Macreuses."  Nouveaux  Soiovenirs  de  Chasse  et  de  la  Piche 
dans  le  midi  de  la  France,  pp.  53-65.     Paris  :  1860. 

'^  Some  authors,  following  Caius,  derive  the  word  from  corvus  vorans  and 
spell  it  Corvorant,  but  doubtless  wrongly. 


CORMORANT  105 


French  (in  some  patois,  of  which  it  is  still  "cor  marin,"'  and  in 
certain  Italian  dialects  "corvo  marin"  or  "corvo  marino ") — a 
large  sea-fowl  belonging  to  the  genus  Phalacrocorax  ^  {Carlo,  Halieus, 
and  Graculus  of  some  ornithologists),  and  that  group  of  the  Linnjean 
Order  Anseres,  now  pretty  generally  recognized  by  lUiger's  term 
Steganopodes,  of  which  it  with  its  allies  forms  a  Family  Phalacro- 
coracidx. 

The  Cormorant,  P.  carho,  frequents  almost  all  the  sea-coast  of 
Europe,  and  breeds  in  societies  at  various  stations  most  generally 
on  steep  cliffs,  but  occasionally 
on  rocky  islands  as  well  as  on 
trees.  The  nest  consists  of  a 
large  mass  of  seaweed,  and, 
with  the  ground  immediately 
surrounding  it,  generally  looks 

as     though      bespattered     with  Cormor.^>.t.    (After  Swainson.) 

whitejvash,  from  the  excrement 

of  the  bird,  which  lives  entirely  on  fish.  The  eggs,  from  four  to  six 
in  number,  are  small,  and  have  a  thick,  soft,  calcareous  shell,  bluish- 
white  when  first  laid,  but  soon  becoming  discoloured.  The  young 
are  hatched  blind,  and  covered  with  an  inky-black  skin.  They 
remain  for  some  time  in  the  squab-condition,  and  are  then  highly 
esteemed  for  food  by  the  northern  islanders,  their  flesh  being  said 
to  taste  as  well  as  a  roasted  hare's.  Their  first  plumage  is  of  a 
sombre  brownish -black  above,  and  more  or  less  white  beneath. 
They  take  two  or  three  years  to  assume  the  fully  adult  dress, 
which  is  deep  black,  glossed  above  with  bronze,  and  varied  in 
the  breeding-season  with  white  on  the  cheeks  and  flanks,  besides 
being  adorned  by  filamentary  feathers  on  the  head,  and  further 
set  off  by  a  bright  yellow  gape.  The  old  Cormorant  looks  as  big 
as  a  Goose,  but  is  really  much  smaller  :  its  flesh  is  quite  uneatable. 
Taken  when  young  from  the  nest,  this  bird  is  easily  tamed, 
and  can  be  trained  to  fish  for  its  keeper,  as  was  of  old  time  com- 
monly done  in  England,  where  the  Master  of  the  Cormorants  was 
one  of  the  officers  of  the  royal  household.  Nowadays  the  practice 
is  nearly  disused,  though  a  few  gentlemen  still  follow  it  for  their 
diversion.  When  taken  out  to  furnish  sport,  a  strap  is  fastened 
round  the  bird's  neck  so  as,  Avithout  impeding  its  breath,  to  hinder 
it  from  swallowing  its  captures.^  Arrived  at  the  Avaterside,  it  is 
cast  off".     It  at  once  dives  and  darts  along  the  bottom  as  swiftly  as 

^  So  spelt  since  the  clays  of  Gesner  ;  but  possibly  Phalarocorax  would  be  more 
correct. 

-  It  -was  formerly  the  custom,  as  we  learn  from  Willughby,  to  cany  the 
Cormorant  hooded  till  its  services  were  required,  by  which  means  it  was  kept 
quiet.  At  the  present  time  its  bearer  wears  a  wire-mask  to  2:)rotect  his  eyes  and 
face  from  the  bird's  beak. 


io6  CORMORANT 


an  arrow  in  quest  of  its  prey,  rapidly  scanning  every  hole  or  pool. 
A  fish  is  generally  seized  within  a  few  seconds  of  its  being  sighted, 
and  as  each  is  taken  the  bird  rises  to  the  surface  Avith  its  capture 
in  its  bill.  It  does  not  take  much  longer  to  dispose  of  the  prize  in 
the  dilatable  skin  of  its  throat  so  far  as  the  strap  \vill  allow,  and 
the  pursuit  is  recommenced  until  the  bird's  gular  pouch,  capacious 
as  it  is,  will  hold  no  more.  It  then  returns  to  its  keeper,  who  has 
been  anxiously  watching  and  encouraging  its  movements,  and  a 
little  manipulation  of  its  neck  effects  the  delivery  of  the  booty.  It 
may  then  be  let  loose  again,  or,  if  considered  to  have  done  its  work, 
it  is  fed  and  restored  to  its  perch.  The  activity  the  bird  displays 
under  Avater  is  almost  incredible  to  those  who  have  not  seen  its 
performances,  and  in  a  shallow  river  scarcely  a  fish  escapes  its  keen 
eyes  and  sudden  turns,  except  by  taking  refuge  under  a  stone  or 
root,  or  in  the  mud  that  may  be  stirred  up  during  the  operation, 
and  so  avoiding  observation.^ 

Nearly  allied  to  the  Cormorant,  and  having  much  the  same 
habits,  is  the  Shag,  or  Green  Cormorant  of  some  writei-s,  P.  graculus. 
The  Shag  (which  name  in  many  parts  of  the  world  is  used  in 
a  generic  sense)  is,  however,  about  one -fourth  smaller  in  linear 
dimensions,  is  much  more  glossy  in  plumage,  and  its  nuptial 
embellishment  is  a  nodding  plume  instead  of  the  white  patches  of 
the  Cormorant.  The  easiest  diagnostic  on  examination  will  be 
found  to  be  the  number  of  tail-feathers,  which  in  the  former  are 
fourteen  and  in  the  Shag  twelve.  The  latter,  too,  is  more  marine 
in  the  localities  it  frequents,  seldom  entering  fresh  or  indeed  inland 
waters. 

In  the  south  of  Europe  a  still  smaller  species,  P.  pygmxus,  is 
found.  This  is  almost  entirely  a  fresh -water  bird,  and  is  not 
uncommon  on  the  lower  Danube.  Other  species,  to  the  number 
perhaps  of  thirty  or  more,  have  been  discriminated  from  other  parts 
of  the  world,  but  all  have  a  great  general  similarity  to  one  another. 
A  large  and  very  richly -coloured  species,  P.  perspicillatus,  which 
formerly  frequented  Bering  Island  off  the  coast  of  Kamchatka,  was 
in  1882  ascertained  by  Dr.  Stejneger  to  have  been  extirpated  some 
thirty  years  before  {Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  1883,  p.  65).  A  specimen 
now  in  the  British  Museum  was  figured  by  Gould  {Voy.  ^Sulphur,' 
pi.  32)  and  two  others  (in  the  Museums  of  Ley  den  and  St.  Peters- 
burg respectively),  with  a  few  bones,  brought  to  Washington  by 
Dr.  Stejneger,  are  all  the  remains  of  it  known  to  exist.  New 
Zealand  and  the  west  coast  of  Northern  America  are  particularly 
rich  in  birds  of  this  genus,  and  the  species  found  there  are  the 
most  beautifully  decorated  of  any.  All,  however,  are  remarkable 
for  their  curiously -formed  feet,  the  four  toes  of    each  being  con- 

^  See  Capt.  Salvin's  chapters  on   "Fishing  with  Cormorants,"  appended  to 
his  and  Mr.  Freeman's  Falconry  (Loudon  :  1859). 


CORRIRA—COURSER  107 

nected  by  a  wel),  for  their  long  stiff  tails,  and  for  the  absence,  in 
tlie  adult,  of  any  exterior  nostrils.  When  gorged,  or  when  the 
state  of  the  tide  precludes  fishing,  they  are  fond  of  sitting  on  an 
elevated  perch,  often  with  extended  wings,  and  in  this  attitude 
the}'  will  remain  motionless  for  a  considerable  time,  as  though 
hanging  themselves  out  to  dry,  but  hardly,  as  the  fishermen  report, 
sleeping  the  while.  It  was  perhaps  this  peculiarity  that  struck  the 
observation  of  Milton,  and  i:)rompted  his  well-known  similitude  of 
Satan  to  a  Cormorant  {Farad.  Lost,  iv.  194);  but  when  not  thus 
behaving  they  themselves  provoke  the  more  homely  comparison  of 
a  row  of  black  bottles.     Their  voracity  is  proverbial. 

CORRIRA,  a  bird  so  named  and  described  by  Aldrovandus,  as 
occurring  in  Italy  ;  but  never,  so  far  as  is  known,  seen  since, 
and  apjiarently  fictitious. 

COTIXGA,  see  Chatterer. 

COUCAL,  Levaillant's  name,  compounded,  says  Cuvier  {Rhgne 
Anim.  p.  425,  note),  of  coucou  and  alouette,  adopted  by  several 
English  ornithologists,^  and  especially  by  Gould  (Handb.  B.  Austral. 
i.  pp.  634,  636),  as  the  equivalent  of  Illiger's  Centrojjus,  a  widely 
spread  group  of  Cumlidx  (CuCKOW),  chiefly  of  terrestrial  habit, 
and  having  the  hallux  terminated  by  a  straight  spine-like  claw, 
whence  the  name  and  that  of  "  Lark-heeled  "  Cuckows  applied  to 
them  absurdly  by  some  writers.  The  Coucals  may  be  taken  to 
form  a  very  distinct  subfamily,  Centropodinx,  and  have  been  divided 
into  half-a-dozen  genera  or  more.  They  inhabit  almost  all  parts  of 
the  Ethiopian  Region  from  Egypt  to  the  Cape  Colony,  as  well  as 
Madagascar :  one  species  occurs  in  India,  where  it  is  known  as  the 
"  Crow-Pheasant,"  and  others  range  to  the  eastward  as  far  as  China 
and  throughout  the  Archipelago  to  New  Guinea  and  Australia. 
They  build  their  own  nests,  and  lay  eggs  with  white,  chalky  shell. 

COULTERXEB,  a  common  name  of  the  Puffin,  from  the 
likeness  of  its  bill  to  the  coulter  of  a  plough. 

COURSER,  apparently  Lewin's  rendering  {B.  Gr.  Brit.  vi. 
p.  48)  of  Latham's  word  Ciirsorius,  a  genus  established  by  him  in 
1790  for  the  Coure-vtte  of  Buffon  {H.  N.  Ois.  viii. 
p.  128),  who  had  already  seen  that,  though  allied 
to  the  Plovers,  it  required  separation.  It  Avas  first 
known  from  an  example  taken  in  France  (whence  cursorius. 

Gmelin  called  it  Charadrius  gallicus),  and  Buffon  in      (^ft^^i'  Swainson.) 
1781  had  seen  only  one  other,  though  that  was  from  Coromandel  and 
was  of  a  distinct   species.     The  third  specimen,  which  was  of  the 

^  Mr.  Sharpe  (B.  S.  Afr.  ed.  2,  p.  161,  pi.  v.  fig.  1),  however,  has  bestowed 
the  name  on  a  species,  Ccuthinocheres  australis  {P.  Z.  S.  1873,  p.  609),  which 
apparently  does  not  possess  the  Lark-like  claAv^  whence  the  name  is  derived. 


[c- 


io8  CO  IV-BIRD—CO  IVR  Y-BIRD 

same  species  as  the  first,  was  killed  in  Kent,  not  later,  according  t-o 
Mr.  Saunders  (Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,  iii.  p.  239),  than  1785,  and  is  now 
in  the  British  Museum.  The  Coursers  form  a  small  group  of  some 
nine  or  ten  species,  belonging  to  the  Charadriidse  (Plover),  but  differ- 
ing from  all  except  the  PRATINCOLES  by  their  thick  and  decurved  bill. 
One  species  is  peculiar  to  the  Indian  Region,  the  rest  belong  to  the 
Ethiopian,  though  that  which  accidentally  visits  Eiu:'ope  breeds  in 
Mauritania  and  the  Canary  Islands,  as  well  as  in  India. 

CO  AY-BIRD,  in  England  the  yellow  "Wagtail,  Motacilla  raii; 
but  in  North  America  the  name  applied  to  two  very  distinct 
birds.  First  to  one  of  the  Cuckows  (Coccyzus  caroUnenis),  next  and 
far  more  commonly  as  an  abbreviation  of  Cowpen-bird,  according  to 
Catesby  (iV.  H.  Carolina,  i.  p.  34),  who  says  : — "They  delight  much 
to  feed  in  the  pens  of  cattle,  which  has  given  them  their  name,"  to 
a  species  which  is  also  spoken  of  as  Cow-Blackbird,  Cow-Bunting,- 
and  Cow-Troopial,  and  is  the  MoJohrus  pecoris,'^  one  of  the  Icteridx, 
and  particular  interest  attaches  to  it  from  its  parasitic  habits,  first 
recorded  in  1810  by  Alexander  Wilson  {Amer.  Orn.  ii.  pp.  145- 
160),  though,  as  he  was  careful  to  say,  they  had  "long  been  known 
to  people  of  observation  resident  in  the  country,"  .and  indeed  he 
cites  an  instructive  series  of  observations  by  Dr.  Potter  of  Balti- 
more, shewing  that  that  gentleman  had  for  some  time  made  the 
bird  his  study.  The  species  which  are  the  "\dctims  of  the  Cow- 
bird's  intruding  its  eggs  into  their  nests  are  hardly  less  numerous 
than  the  dupes  of  om*  own  Cuckow,  but  no  one  seems  to  have 
mtnessed  the  actual  displacement  of  their  rightful  owner's  progeny. 
Further  particulars,  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  reproduce 
here,  may  be  found  in  the  works  of  Nuttall  and  Audubon,  as  well 
as  in  the  North  American  Birds  of  Messrs.  Baird,  Brewer,  and  Eidg- 
way,  besides  Dr.  Coues's  Birds  of  the  North-JVest  (pp.  181-185).  In 
the  South  American  species  of  Molohrvs,  Mr.  W.  H.  Hudson,  whose 
remarks  {Argent.  Ornithol.  i.  pp.  72-97)  upon  them  deserve  the  best 
attention,  has  observed  that  the  old  Cow-birds,  both  male  and 
female,  destroy  many  of  the  eggs  in  the  nests  which  they  visit ; 
but  extraordinary  as  it  seems,  one  of  the  species,  M.  rufaxillaris,  is 
parasitic  upon  another.  If.  hadius,  which  makes  a  nest  for  itself, 
though  he  believes  that  this  last  will  not  foster  the  offspring  of  a 
third  and  eminently  parasitical  species,  M.  honariensis. 

COWRY-BIRD,  the  Fingilla  punctidata,  of  Linnaeus,  the  Amadina 
or  Mnnia  punctidata  of  modern  writers.  It  was  apparently  first 
made  known_bj.  Edwards  (N.  H.  Birds,  i.  p.   40),  who  figured  it 

^  The  word  was  originally  misprinted  Molothrus,  and  thongli  Swainson  (Faun. 
Bor.-Am.  ii.  p.  277)  was  at  the  pains  to  exjilain  this  meaning  of  it,  "qui  non 
vocatus  alienas  sedes  intrat,"  shewing  that  Molohrus  must  have  been  intended, 
the  majority  of  writers  prefer  following  the  error. 


CRAB-PLOVER— CRANE 


109 


from  aji  example  which,  he  was  told  had  come  from  the  East  Indies, 
where  it  "  was  called  a  Govxry  or  Oovn-ij  Bii'd,  they  being  sold  for  a 
small  shell  apiece,  called  a  Gowry."  It  is  a  common  cage-bii'd 
belonging  to  the  Floceidx  (Weaver-bird),  and  is  found  throughout 
India,  Ceylon,  and  Burma. 

CRAB-PLOVEPi,  the  Anglo-Indian  name  for  a  cmious  bird  of 
Avide  range,  frequenting  the  east  coast  of  Africa  from  the  Eed  Sea 
to  Natal,  as  well  as  the  northern  and  western  shores  of  the  Indian 
Ocean,  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  many  of  the  intervening  islands. 
It  was  described  and  figui^ed  by  Paykull  in  1805  (K.  Vet.- Acad.  N. 
Handl.  xxvi.  pp.  182-190,  pi.  viii.),  from  a  specimen  bought  by 
him  at  Amsterdam,  and  said  to  have  come  from  the  East  Indies, 
under  the  name  of  Dromas  ardeola,  which  it  has  since  generally 
borne.  Several  systematists  have  ui'ged  that  it  should  be  regarded 
as  an  aberrant  form  of  Tern  ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt, 
especially  after  the  researches  of  Van  der  Hoeven  (N.  Acta  Acad. 
L.-C.  Nat.  Cur.  xxxiii. ;  French  Transl.  Arch.  N4erl.  1868,  pp.  281- 
295),  that  it  properly  belongs  to  that  polymoi-phic  group  of  LiMi- 
COL.'E,  which  comprises  the  genera  Hsematopus  (Oyster-catcher), 
Himantojnis  (Stilt),  and  Recurvirostra  (Avoset) — the  last  of  which  it 
closely  resembles  in  general  coloration  and  in  its  webbed  toes,  while 
its  bill  is  as  hard  and  trenchant  as  in  any  member  of  the  first, 
though  of  a  different  form.  The  possibility  of  its  being  ^vith  Chionis 
(Sheathbill)  a  surviving  link  between  the  Charadriidie  and  the 
Laridse  is  very  great.  For  its  habit  of  breeding  in  burrows  in  sand- 
hills, see  Hume,  Nests  and  Eggs  of  Lidian  Birds,  ed.  2,  iii.  pp.  327-330. 

CRACIvER,  a  name  of  the  Pintail,  Dafila  acuta. 

CEAIvE  (Lat.  Crex),  generally  with  a  prefix,  as  Corn-CRAKE,  a 
common  name  of  the  Land-PAIL,  and  often  used  for  others  of  the 
Eallidse,  in  which  the  bill  is  comparatively  short. 

CEANE  (in  Dutch,  Kraan ;  Old  German,  Krstin ;  cog-nate,  as 
also  the  Latin  Grus,  and  consequently  the  French  Grue  and  Spanish 
Grulla,  Avith  the  Greek  yepavos),  the  Grus  comrnunls  or  G.  cinerea  of 
ornithologists,  one  of  the  largest  Wading-birds,  and  formerly  a 
native  of  England,  where  Turner,  in  1544,  said  that  he  had  very 
often  seen  its  young  ("  earum  pipiones  ssepissime  vidi  ").  Notwith- 
standing the  protection  aftbrded  it  by  sundry  Acts  of  Parliament, 
it  has  long  since  ceased  from  breeding  in  this  country.  Sir  T. 
Browne  (ob.  1682)  speaks  of  it  as  being  found  in  the  open  parts  of 
Norfolk  in  winter.  In  Kay's  time  it  was  only  known  as  occurring 
at  the  same  season  in  large  flocks  in  the  fens  of  Lincolnshire  and 
Cambridgeshire ;  and  though  mention  is  made  of  Cranes'  eggs  and 
young  in  the  fen-laws  passed  at  a  court  held  at  Revesby  in  1780, 
this  was  most  likely  but  the  formal  repetition  of  an  older  edict ;. 


no  CRANE 

for  in  1768  Pennant  "WTOte  that  after  the  strictest  enquiry  he  found 
the  inhabitants  of  those  counties  to  be  wholly  unacquainted  with 
the  bii-d,  and  hence  concluded  that  it  had  forsaken  our  island.  The 
Crane,  however,  no  doubt  then  appeared  in  Britain,  as  it  does  now, 
at  uncertain  intervals  and  in  imwonted  places,  shewing  that  the 
examples  occurring  here  (which  usually  meet  the  hostile  reception 
commonly  accorded  to  strange  visitors)  have  strayed  from  the 
migrating  bands  whose  movements  have  been  remarked  from  almost 
the  earliest  ages.  Indeed,  the  Crane's  aerial  journeys  are  of  a  very 
extended  kind ;  and  on  its  way  from  beyond  the  borders  of  the 
Tropic  of  Cancer  to  within  the  Arctic  Circle,  or  on  the  retm^n- 
voyage,  its  flocks  may  be  descried  passing  ovei-head  at  a  marvellous 
height,  or  halting  for  rest  and  refreshment  on  the  wide  meadows 
that  border  some  great  river,^  while  the  seeming  order  with  which 
its  ranks  are  marshalled  during  flight  has  long  attracted  atten- 
tion. The  Crane  takes  up  its  ivinter-quarters  under  the  burning 
sun  of  Central  Africa  and  India,  but  early  in  spring  retm-ns  north- 
ward. Not  a  few  examples  reach  the  chill  polar  soils  of  Lapland 
and  Siberia,  but  some  tarry  in  the  south  of  Europe  and  breed  in 
Spain,  and,  it  is  supposed,  in  Turkey.  The  greater  number,  how- 
ever, occupy  the  intermediate  zone  and  pass  the  summer  in  Eussia, 
North  Germany,  and  Scandinavia.  Soon  after  their  arrival  in  these 
countries  the  flocks  break  up  into  pairs,  whose  nuptial  ceremonies 
are  accompanied  by  loud  and  frequent  trumpetings,  and  the  respec- 
tive breeding-places  of  each  are  chosen. 

The  nest  is  formed  with  little  art  on  the  ground  in  large  open 
marshes,  Avhere  the  herbage  is  not  very  high — a  tolerably  dry  spot 
being  selected  and  used  apparently  year  after  year.  Here  the  eggs, 
which  are  of  a  rich  brown  colour  with  dark  spots,  and  always  two 
in  number,  are  laid.  The  young  are  able  to  run  soon  after  they 
are  hatched,  and  are  at  first  clothed  with  tawny  down.-  In  the 
course  of  the  summer  they  assume  nearly  the  same  grey  plumage 
that  their  parents  wear,  except  that  the  elongated  plumes,  which 
in  the  adults  form  a  graceful  covering  of  the  hinder  parts  of 
the  body,  are  comparatively  undeveloped,  and  the  clear  black, 
white,  and  red  (the  last  being  due  to  a  patch  of  papillose 
skin  of  that  colour)  of  the  head  and  neck  are  as  yet  indistinct. 
Duiing  this  time  they  keep  in  the  marshes,  but  as  autumn 
approaches  the  diff"erent  families  unite  by  the  rivers  and  lakes,  and 
ultimately  form  the  enormous  bands  which  after  much  more 
trumpeting  set  out  on  their  southward  journey. 

^  A  beautiful  picture,  representing  a  flock  of  Cranes  resting  by  the  Rhine,  is 
to  be  seen  in  Mr.  Wolf's  Zoological  Sketches. 

2  A  paper  "On  the  Breeding  of  the  Crane  in  Lapland"  {Ibis,  1859,  pp. 
191-198),  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Wolley,  is  one  of  the  most  pleasing  contributions 
to  Natural  History  ever  written. 


CRANE  1 1 1 

The  Crane's  power  of  uttering  the  sonorous  and  peculiar 
trumpet-like  notes,  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  is  commonly 
and  perhaps  correctly  ascribed  to  the  formation  of  its  trachea, 
which  on  quitting  the  lower  end  of  the  neck  passes  baclcAvard 
between  the  branches  of  the  furcula  and  is  received  into  a  hollow 
space  formed  by  the  bony  Avails  of  the  carina  or  keel  of  the  sternum. 
Herein  it  makes  three  turns,  and  then  runs  upwards  and  backwards 
to  the  lungs.  The  apparatus  on  the  whole  much  resembles  that 
found  in  the  Whooping  Swans,  Cygnus  musicus,  C.  hiiccinator,  and 
others,  though  differing  in  some  not  unimportant  details ;  but  at 
the  same  time  somewhat  similar  convolutions  of  the  ti'achea  occur 
in  other  birds  Avhich  do  not  possess,  so  far  as  is  kno\Aii,  the  faculty 
of  trumpeting.  The  Crane  emits  its  notes  both  during  flight  and 
while  on  the  ground.  In  the  latter  case  the  neck  and  bill  are 
uplifted  and  the  mouth  kept  open  during  the  utterance  of  the  blast, 
which  may  be  often  heard  from  bii'ds  in  confinement,  especially  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year. 

As  usually  happens  in  similar  cases,  the  name  of  the  once 
familiar  British  species  is  noAv  used  in  a  general  sense,  and  applied 
to  all  others  which  are  allied  to  it.  Though  by  many  systematists 
placed  near  or  even  among  the  Herons,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Cranes  have  only  a  superficial  resemblance  and  no  real  affinity  to 
the  Ardeidx.  In  fact  the  Gruidx  form  a  somewhat  isolated  group. 
Prof.  Huxley  has  included  them  together  with  the  Puillidse  in  his 
GeranomorpH-^  ;  but  a  more  extended  \deAV  of  their  various 
characters  would  probably  assign  them  rather  as  relatives  of  the 
Bustards — not  that  it  must  be  thought  that  the  two  Families 
have  not  been  for  a  very  long  time  distinct.  Grus,  indeed,  is  a 
very  ancient  form,  its  remains  appearing  in  the  Miocene  of 
France  and  Greece,  as  well  as  in  the  Pliocene  and  Post-pliocene  of 
North  America.  In  France,  too,  during  the  "  Reindeer  Period " 
there  existed  a  huge  species— the  G.  primigenia  of  M.  Alj^honse 
Milne-Edwards — which  has  doubtless  been  long  extinct.  At  the 
present  time  Cranes  inhabit  all  the  great  zoogeographical  Regions 
of  the  earth,  except  New  Zealand  and  the  Neotropical,  and  some 
sixteen  or  seventeen  species  are  discriminated.  In  Europe,  besides 
the  G.  communis  already  mentioned,  we  have  as  an  inhabitant  that 
which  is  generally  known  as  the  Numidian  Crane  or  Demoiselle. 
G.  virgo,  distinguished  from  every  other  by  its  long  white  ear-tufts. 
This  bird  is  also  Avidely  distributed  throughout  Asia  and  Africa, 
and  is  said  to  have  occurred  in  Orkney  as  a  straggler.  The  eastern 
part  of  the  PaliBarctic  area  is  inhabited  by  six  other  species  that  do 
not  frequent  Europe,  G.  antigone,  G.  viridirostris  or  japonensis,  G. 
monachus,  G.  leucauchen,  G.  nigricoUis,  and  G.  leucogeranus,  of  which 
the  last  is  perhaps  the  finest  of  the  Family,  with  nearly  the 
whole  plumage   of  a  snowy  white.     The   Indian   Region,  besides 


112  CRANIUM— CREST 

being  visited  in  winter  by  four  of  the  species  already  named, 
has  two  that  are  pecrdiar  to  it,  G.  coUaris  and  G.  antigone.  The 
Australian  Region  possesses  a  large  species  known  to  the  colonists 
as  the  "  Native  Companion,"  G.  australasiana ;  while  the  Nearctic 
area  is  tenanted  by  two  species,  G.  arnericana  and  G.  canadensis,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  possibility  of  a  fourth,  G.  schlegeli,  a  little-known 
and  somewhat  obscure  bird,  finding  its  habitat  here.  In  the 
Ethiopian  Region  Ave  have  two  species,  G.  paradisea  and  G.  carun- 
culata,  which  do  not  occur  out  of  Africa,  as  well  as  two  others 
forming  the  group  known  as  "  Crowned  Cranes  " — differing  much 
from  other  members  of  the  family,  and  justifiably  placed  in  a 
separate  genus,  JBalearica.  One  of  these,  J3.  j^ccvonina,  inhabits 
Northern  and  Western  Africa,  while  the  other,  B.  chrysopelargus  or 
regulorum,  is  confined  to  the  eastern  and  southern  parts  of  that 
continent.^ 

CRANIUM  (latinized  from  Kpaviov,  a  skull)  anatomically 
applied  to  the  bony  and  cartilaginous  parts  of  the  skull  "with- 
out the  jaws  and  the  palato-pterygo-quadrate  bones,  and  therefore 
practically  equivalent  to  those  parts  which  enclose  the  cranial  cavity 
and  the  three  principal  sense-organs  (see  Skeleton). 

CREEPER  (Dutch  Kruiper,  Swedish  Krypare,  Norsk  Kryher),  a 
term  employed  by  ornithologists  in  a  very  vague  sense,  but  chiefly 
to  render  Certhia  as  used  by  Linnaeus  and  his  immediate  successors, 
and  thus  including  forms  belonging  to  more  perfectly  distinct 
Families  than  can  here  be  named ;  for  it  was  customary  to  thrust 
therein  almost  every  outlandish  Passerine  bird  which  could  not  be 
conveniently  assigned  to  any  other  of  the  then  recognized  genera, 
provided  only  that  it  had  a  somewhat  attenuated  and  decurved  bill. 
Taken  by  itself,  "  Creeper  "  signifies  nothing  in  modern  ornithology, 
and  provincially  it  is  very  frequently  used  for  the  Nuthatch. 
With  a  prefix,  as  Tree -Creeper,  it  has  a  much  more  definite 
meaning,  and  in  England  is  the  Certhia  familiaris  of  Linnaeus. 

CREST.  Feathery  crests  need  no  further  comment  than 
that  they  seem  to  be  entirely  ornamental,  favourite  objects  of  sexual 
selection,  and  therefore  mostly  developed  in  the  male  sex ;  they  are 
generally  erectile  by  the  aid  of  cutaneous  and  subcutaneous  muscles, 
notably  by  the  musculus  cucullaris.  Horny  crests,  often  supported 
by  swollen  cancellous  outgrowths  of  the  maxillary,  nasal,  and 
frontal  bones  (as  in  Hornbills  and  Cassowaries),  have  been  de- 
scribed in  connexion  with  the  Bill.     Very  peculiar  are  the  entirely 

^  An  admirably  succinct  account  of  all  the  different  specie.s  was  communi- 
cated by  the  late  Mr.  Blyth  to  I'he  Field  newspaper  in  1873  (vol.  xl.  p.  631  ;  vol. 
xli.  pp.  7,  61,  136,  189,  248,  384,  408,  418),  which  has  since  been  published  in  a 
separate  form  with  additions  by  tlie  editor,  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  as  The  Natural 
History  of  the  Cruiies  (London  :  1881). 


CROCKER—CROSSBILL  1 1 3 

horny,  slender,  and  erectile  outgrowths  on  the  forehead  of  Pala- 
medea  coniuta ;  and  the  similar  erectile,  long  process  of  Chasmo- 
rhynchus,  which  is  partly  covered  with  very  small  feathers.  The 
soft  crest  or  comb  of  many  Phasianidse  consists,  like  the  wattles  of 
other  birds,  entirely  of  the  bare  skin,  and,  being  very  rich  in  nerves 
and  blood-vessels,  is,  as  swelling  organs,  erectile  in  a  different  sense. 
Prominent  ridges  of  bones,  serving  then  for  the  attachment  of 
powerful  muscles,  are  likewise  called  "crests," — for  instance  the 
crista  sterni. 

CROCKEE,  in  England,  according  to  Montagu,  a  name  for  the 
Black-headed  Gull,  Larus  ridibundus ;  but  in  North  America  (and 
perhaps  also  in  some  parts  of  Britain)  used  for  the  Brant-Goosb 
(Trumbull,  Portr.  and  Names  of  Birds,  p.  6). 

CROP,  or  ingluvies,  the  dilatation  of  the  oesophagus  before  its 
entrance  into  the  thorax.  The  walls  of  the  crop  seem  to  contain 
no  other  glands  than  the  ordinary  mucous  glands  of  the  oesophagus  ; 
the  crop  is  used  as  a  receptacle  for  the  food,  which  therein  is 
softened  and  acted  upon  by  water  and  the  saliva  and  warmth  of  the 
bird.  Between  a  narrow,  temporarily -dilated  oesophagus  and  a 
permanent  crop-like  dilatation  many  intermediate  stages  exist.  A 
distinct  sac -like  crop  is  present  in  most  seed -eating  birds,  as 
in  the  Gallinse,  Columbse,  Pteroclidse,  in  Opisthocomus,  Thinocorys, 
Attagis,  Psittaci,  and,  among  the  Passeres,  many  of  the  Fringillidge 
and  the  Drepanididas.  The  crop  is  less  marked  or  only  tem- 
porary in  the  Birds-of-Prey,  the  Cassowary,  the  Humming-birds,  in 
Mormon,  Pedionomus,  and  Panurus ;  and  is  represented  by  a  slight 
but  permanent  dilatation  in  the  Cormorant,  various  Ducks  and 
Storks,  and  in  the  Flamingo.  It  is  absent  in  all  other  birds.  It 
reaches  its  highest  development  in  the  Pigeons,  consisting  of  a  right 
and  a  left  globular  half  which  are  united  by  an  unpaired  portion ; 
the  inner  walls  possess  numerous  irregular  ridges,  and  shew  during 
the  breeding- season  an  extraordinary  activity,  the  cells  of  the 
mucous  membrane  proliferating  and  peeling  off  as  a  cheesy  matter, 
with  which  both  sexes  feed  their  nestlings  for  a  considerable  time. 

The  most  peculiarly  constructed  crop  is  that  of  Opisthocomus  ; 
the  oesophagus  is  much  widened  and  forms  a  long  doubled  loop, 
which  rests  upon  the  great  pectoi'al  muscles,  and  almost  suppresses 
the  anterior  part  of  the  keel  of  the  breastbone.  The  walls  are 
extremely  muscular,  and  are  inside  furnished  with  numerous 
furrows  and  ridges,  to  enable  the  HoACTZiN  to  squeeze  out  the  juicy 
leaves  of  the  tree,  Arum  arborescens,  upon  which  it  feeds. 

CROSSBILL  (Fr.  Bec-croisS,  Germ.  Kreuzschnabel),  the  name 
given  to  a  genus  of  birds,  belonging  to  the  Family  Fringillidx 
(Finch),  from  the  unique  peculiarity  they  possess  among  the 
whole  Class  of  having  the  horny  sheaths  of  the  bill  crossing  one 

8 


114  CROSSBILL 

another  obliquely,^  whence  the  appellation  Loxia  (ko^os,  obliquus), 
conferred  by  Gesner  on  the  group  and  continued  by  Linnseus.  At 
first  sight  this  singular  structui'e  appears  so  like  a  deformity  that 
■writers  have  not  been  wanting  to  account  it  such,^  ignorant  of  its 
being  a  piece  of  mechanism  most  beautifully  adapted  to  the  habits 
of  the  bird,  enabling  it  to  extract  with  the  greatest  ease,  from 
fir-cones  or  fleshy  fruits,  the  seeds  which  form  its  usual  and  almost 
invariable  food.  Its  mode  of  using  this  unique  instrument  seems 
to  have  been  first  described  by  Townson  (Tracts  on  Nat.  Hist. 
p.  116,  London  :  1799),  but  only  partially,  and  it  was  YarreU  who, 
in  1829  (Zool.  Journ.  iv.  pp.  459-465,  pi.  xiv.  figs.  1-7),  explained 
fully  the  means  whereby  the  jaws  and  the  muscles  which  direct 
their  movements  become  so  eff"ective  in  riving  asunder  cones  or 
apples,  while  at  the  proper  moment  the  scoop-like  tongue  is 
instantaneously  thrust  out  and  ^vithdrawn,  convejning  the  hitherto 
protected  seed  to  the  bird's  mouth.  Without  going  into  details  it 
may  be  observed  that  in  the  Crossbills  the  articulation  of  the 
mandible  to  the  quadrate-bone  is  such  as  to  allow  of  a  very 
considerable  amount  of  lateral  play,  and,  by  a  particular  arrange- 
ment of  the  muscles  which  move  the  former,  it  comes  to  pass  that 
so  soon  as  the  bird  opens  its  mouth  the  point  of  the  mandible  is 
brought  immediately  opposite  to  that  of  the  maxilla  (which  itself  is 
movable  vertically)  instead  of  crossing  or  overlapping  it — the  usual 
position  when  the  mouth  is  closed.  The  two  points  thus  meeting,  the 
bill  is  inserted  between  the  scales  or  into  the  pome,  but  on  opening 
the  mouth  still  more  widely,  the  lateral  motion  of  the  mandible  is 
once  more  brought  to  bear  with  great  foi'ce  to  wi'ench  aside  the 
portion  of  the  fruit  attacked,  and  then  the  action  of  the  tongue 
completes  the  operation,  which  is  so  rapidly  performed  as  to  defy 
scrutiny,  except  on  very  close  inspection.  Fortunately  the  birds 
soon  become  tame  in  confinement,  and  a  little  patience  vrill  enable 
an  attentive  observer  to  satisfy  himself  as  to  the  j)rocess,  the  result 
of  which  at  first  seems  almost  as  unaccountable  as  that  of  a  clever 
conjuring  trick. 

^  As  an  accidental  malformation,  however,  the  peculiarity  has  been  many 
times  observed  in  other  groups  of  birds,  and  especially  in  the  Crows  {Corvidae,). 
Such  cases  may  be  well  compared  to  the  monstrosity  often  seen  in  Rabbits  and 
other  members  of  the  Order  Glires,  wherein  the  incisor  teeth  grow  to  inordinate 
length'. 

-  The  special  animosity  of  De  Buftbu  on  this  point  may  perhaps  be  explained 
by  the  existence  of  a  mediaeval  legend  (of  which,  however,  be  it  said,  he  takes 
no  notice),  best  known  to  English  readers  by  Longfellow's  pretty  version  of 
Mosen's  poem,  to  the  effect  that  the  bird  acquired  its  peculiar  conformation  of 
bill  and  coloration  of  plumage  in  recognition  of  the  pity  it  bestowed  on  the 
suffering  Saviour  at  the  cruciiixion.  Schwenckfeld  in  1603  {Theriotropheicm 
SilesiiB,  pp.  253,  254)  gave  the  fable  in  the  Latin  verses  of  Johannes  Major,  which 
have  been  reprinted  in  Notes  aiid  Queries  (ser.  5,  vii.  p.  505). 


CROSSBILL  115 

The  Common  Crossbill  of  the  Palaearctic  area,  Loxia  cur- 
virostra,  is  about  the  size  of  a  Skylark,  but  more  stoutly  built. 
The  young  (which  on  lea^•ing  the  nest  have  not  the  tips  of  the  bill 
crossed)  are  of  a  dull  oKve  colour  with  indistinct  dark  stripes  on 
the  lower  parts,  and  the  quills  of  the  wings  and  tail  dusky.  After 
the  first  moult  the  difference  between  the  sexes  is  shewn  by  the 
hens  inclining  to  yellowish-green,  while  the  cocks  become  diversified 
by  orange-yellow  and  red,  their  plumage  finally  deepening  into  a 
rich  crimson-red,  varied  in  places  by  a  flame-colour.  Their  glowing 
hues  are,  however,  speedily  lost  by  examples  which  may  be  kept  in 
confinement,  and  are  replaced  by  a  dull  orange,  or  in  some  cases 
by  a  bright  golden-yellow,  and  specimens  have,  though  rarely, 
occuiTed  in  a  wild  state  exhibiting  the  same  tints.  The  cause  of 
these  changes  is  at  present  obscure,  if  not  unknown,  and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  their  sequence  has  been  disputed  by  some  excellent 
authorities,  but  the  balance  of  evidence  is  certainly  in  favour  of 
the  above  statement.  Depending  mainly  for  food  on  the  seeds  of 
conifers,  the  movements  of  Crossbills  are  irregular  beyond  those  of 
most  birds,  and  they  woiild  seem  to  rove  in  any  direction  and  at 
any  season  in  quest  of  their  staple  sustenance.  But  the  pips  of 
apples  are  also  a  favourite  dainty,  and  it  stands  recorded  by  the 
old  chronicler  Matthew  Paris  (Hist.  Angl.  MS.  fol.  252),  that  in 
1251  the  orchards  of  England  were  ravaged  by  birds,  "pomorum 
grana,  &  non-aliud  de  eisdem  pomis  comedentes" ;  which,  from  his 
description,  "  Habebant  autem  partes  rostri  cancellatas,  per  quas 
poma  quasi  forcipi  vel  cultello  dividebant,"  could  be  none  other  but 
Crossbills.  Notice  of  a  like  visitation  in  1593  was  published  by 
Wats  {Vit  2  Offar.  &c.  1640,  p.  263),  but  of  late  it  has  become 
evident  that  hardly  a  year  passes  without  Crossbills  being  observed 
in  some  part  or  other  of  England,  while  in  certain  localities  in 
Scotland  they  seem  to  breed  annually.  The  nest  is  rather  rudely 
constructed,  and  the  eggs,  generally  four  in  number,  resemble 
those  of  the  Greenfinch,  but  are  larger  in  size.  This  species 
ranges  throughout  the  continent  of  Europe,^  and,  besides  occurring 
in  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean,  is  permanently  resident  in 
Mauritania  and  in  the  fir-woods  of  the  Atlas.  In  Asia  it  would 
seem  to  extend  to  Kamchatka  and  Japan,  keeping  mainly  to  the 
forest-tracts. 

Thi'ee  other  forms  of  the  genus  also  inhabit  the  Old  World — 
two  of  them  so  closely  resembling  the  common  bird  that  their 
specific  validity  has  been  often  questioned.  The  first  of  these,  of 
large  stature,  the  Parrot-Crossbill,  L.  pityopsiUacus,  comes  occasion- 
ally to  Great  Britain,  presumably  from  Scandinavia,  where  it  is 

^  It  was  obtained  by  Dr.  Malmgi-en  on  the  desolate  Bear  Island  (lat.  74^°  N.), 
and  in  the  autumn  of  1889  enormous  flocks  were  observed  migrating  southward 
along  the  coast  of  Portugal  by  the  present  King  of  that  country. 


ii6  CROW 

known  to  breed.  The  second,  L.  himalayana,  whicli  is  a  good  deal 
smaller,  is  only  known  from  the  Himalaya  Mountains.  The  third, 
the  Two-barred  Crossbill,  L.  tsenioptera,  is  very  distinct,  and  its 
proper  home  seems  to  be  the  most  northern  forests  of  the  Russian 
empire,  but  it  has  occasionally  occurred  in  Western  Eiurope  and 
even  in  England. 

The  New  World  has  two  birds  of  the  genus.  The  first,  L. 
americana,  representing  our  common  species,  but  with  a  smaller  bill, 
and  the  males  easily  recognizable  by  their  more  scarlet  plumage, 
ranges  from  the  northern  limit  of  coniferous  trees  to  the  highlands 
of  Mexico,  or  even  further.  The  other,  L.  leucoptera,  is  the 
equivalent  of  the  Two -barred  Crossbill,  but  smaller.  It  has 
occurred  in  England  at  least  thrice. 

CROW  (Holland.  Kraai,  Germ.  Krahe,  Fr.  Corbeau,  Lat.  Corvus), 
a  name  most  commonly  applied  in  Britain  to  the  bird  properly 
called  a  Rook,  Corvus  frugilegus,  but  perhaps  originally  peculiar  to 
its    congener,    nowadays  usually   distinguished   as    the   Black    or 
Carrion-Crow,  C.  cmvne.     By  ornithologists  it  is  also  used  in  a  far 
M-ider  sense,  as  under  the  title  Crows,  or  Cwvidse,  is  included  a  A^ast 
number  of  birds  from  almost  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  this  family 
is  probably  the  most  highly  developed  of  the  whole  Class  Aves. 
Leaving  out  of  account  the  best  known  of  these,  as  the  Chough, 
Daw,  Jay,  Nutcracker,  Pie,  Raven,  and  Rook,  it  will  be  enough 
to  consider  here  the  species  of  the  Family  to  which  the  appellation 
is  strictly  applicable,  for    of  the  limits  and  subdivisions   of  this 
Family  it  is  at  present  desirable  to  speak  with  gi-eat  caution,  if  not 
doubt.    All  authorities  admit  that  it  is  very  extensive,  and  is  capable 
of  being  parted  into  several  groups,  but  scarcely  any  two  agree  on 
either  head.     Especially  must  reserve  be  exercised  as  regards  the 
group  Streperinx,  or  Piping  Crows,  belonging   to  the  Australian 
Region,  and   referred  by  some  writers  to  the  Shrikes,  Laniidse : 
since  it  is  highly  probable  that  Parker's  suggestion  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc. 
ix.  p.  327)  as  to  the  recognition  of  these  "  Austro-Coraces"  as  a 
distinct  Family  ^vill  prove  to  be  correct.     On  the  other  hand,  it 
seems  hardly  possible  to  admit,  as  some  have  done,  that  the  Jays 
require  raising  to  that  rank  or  even  to  separate  them  as  a  subfamily 
from  the  Pies,  Pica  and  its  neighboui-s,  which  lead  almost  insensibly 
to  the  typical  Crows,  Corvinx.     Dismissing  then  these  subjects,  we 
may  turn  to  what  may  be  literally  considered  Crows,  and  attention 
must  be  mainly  directed  to   the  Black   or  Carrion-Crow,  Corvvs 
corone,  and  the  Grey,  Hooded,  or  Royston  Crow,  C.  comix.     Both 
these  inhabit  Europe,  but  their  range  and  the  time  of  their  appearance 
are   very  different.     AVithout  going  into  minute    details,   it   will 
suffice  to  say  that  the  former  is,  spealdng  generally,  a  summer- 
visitant  to  the  south-western  part  of  this  quarter  of  the  globe,  and 


CROJV  117 


that  the  latter  occupies  the  north-eastern  portion — an  irregular  line 
drawn  diagonally  from  about  the  Firth  of  Clyde  to  the  head  of  the 
Adriatic  roughly  marking  their  respective  distribution.  But  both 
are  essentially  migrants,  and  hence  it  follows  than  when  the  Black 
Crow,  as  summer  comes  to  an  end,  retires  southward,  the  Grey 
Crow  moves  downward,  and  in  many  districts  replaces  it  during 
the  "winter.  Further  than  this,  it  has  now  been  incontestably 
proved  that  along  or  near  the  boundary  where  these  two  birds 
march,  they  not  infrequently  interbreed,  and  it  is  beKeved  that  the 
hybrids,  which  sometimes  wholly  resemble  one  or  other  of  the 
parents  and  at  other  times  assume  an  intermediate  plumage,  pair 
indiscriminately  among  themselves,  or  with  the  pure  stock.  Hence 
it  has  seemed  to  some  ornithologists  who  have  studied  the  subject, 
that  these  two  birds,  so  long  unhesitatingly  regarded  as  distinct 
species,  are  only  local  races  of  one  and  the  same  dimorphic  species. 
No  structural  difference — or  indeed  any  difference  except  that  of 
range  (already  spoken  of)  and  colour — can  be  detected,  and  the 
problem  they  offer  is  one  of  which  the  solution  is  exceedingly 
interesting  if  not  important  to  zoologists  in  general.^ 

The  views  here  briefly  expressed  have  been  set  forth  much  more 
fully  in  the  foiirth  edition  of  Yarrell's  British  Birds  (ii.  pp.  274-288) ; 
but  they  seem  to  be  highly  distasteful  to  some  writers,  whose  remarks, 
however,  shew  a  curious  inability  to  appreciate  the  admitted  facts  of 
the  question.  The  mode  of  life  of  the  Crows  needs  not  to  be 
described.  Almost  omnivorous  in  their  diet,  there  is  little  edible 
that  comes  amiss  to  them,  and,  except  in  South  America  and  New 
Zealand,  they  are  mostly  omnipresent.  The  number  of  species 
described  is  considerable,  but  doubtless  should  and  will  be  ruthlessly 
curtailed  when  a  revision  of  the  group  is  undertaken  by  any  orni- 
thologist working  with  proper  materials.  The  Fish-Crow  of  North 
America,  C.  ossifragus,  demands  a  few  words,  since  it  betrays  a  taste 
for  maritime  habits  beyond  that  of  other  species,  but  our  own 
Crows  of  Europe  are  not  averse  on  occasion  from  prey  cast  up  by  the 
waters,  though  they  will  hardly  draw  it  thence  for  themselves. 
The  so-called  "  Hooded  Crow "  of  India,  C.  splendens,  is  not  very 
nearly  allied  to  its  European  namesake,  from  which  it  can  be 
readily  distinguished  by  its  smaller  size  and  the  lustrous  tints  of 
its  darkest  feathers,  while  its  confidence  in  the  human  race  has  been 
so  long  encouraged  by  its  intercourse  with  an  unarmed  and  in- 
offensive population,  that  it  becomes  a  plague  to  the  European 
abiding  or  travelling  where  it  is  abundant.  Hardly  a  station  or 
camp  in  British  India  is  free  from  a  crowd  of  feathered  followers 

^  As  bearing  upon  this  question  may  be  mentioned  the  fact  that  the  Crow  of 
Australia,  C.  australis,  is  divisible  into  two  forms  or  races,  one  having  the  irides 
white,  the  other  of  a  dark  colour.  It  is  stated  that  they  keep  apart  and  do  not 
intermix. 


J aXi^  Jo  yde    6^  (TurtuJ-  i/itu^  (  /'MmAiea 


1 1 8        \  CRO  WN-BIRD—  C UCKO  W 


of  this  species,  ready  to  dispute  with  the  Kites  and  the  cooks  the 
very  meat  at  the  fire ;  and  when  any  lengthened  settlement  is 
established  the  Crows  will  build  their  nests  of  the  wire  from  the 
Englishman's  soda-water  bottles. 

CROWN-BIRD,  the  name  given  by  some  old  African  travellers 
to  one  or  more  species  of  Touraco  (c/.  Latham,  G&n.  Hist.  B.  v. 

CUBITALS  (or  Secondaries)  are  those  Remiges  which  are 
supported  by  the  upper  surface  of  the  ulna  or  cubitus  of  the 
anterior  extremity.  The  rational  way  of  counting  them  is  to 
begin  with  the  quill  nearest  to  the  wrist-joint,  because  reduction 
and  addition  in  numbers  takes  place  at  the  proximal  end  of  the 
ulna.  The  number  of  the  cubitals  is  reduced  to  6  in  the  Trochi- 
lidse  and  is  increased  to  30  and  more  in  some  Tubinares ;  it 
stands  in  direct  correlation  with  the  length  of  the  wing  bones. 
Archseopteryx  seems  to  have  possessed  10  cubitals,  which  probably 
approaches  closely  the  original  number  in  true  Birds.  Of  perhaps 
some  slight  taxonomic  value  is  the  presence  or  absence  of  the 
original  fifth  cubital  quill.  This  peculiarity  was  discovered  by 
Gerbe  {Bull.  Soc.  Zool.  France,  1877,  p.  289),  and  followed  up  by 
Wray,  G-adow,  and  Sclater  {P.Z.S.  1887,  p.  343  ;  1888,  p.  655  ; 
and  Ihis,  1890,  p.  77).  Contrary  to  expectation,  the  missing  fifth 
quill  shews  no  trace  of  its  former  existence  in  embryos,  there 
being  a  distinct  gap  between  the  fourth  and  sixth  quill,  while  the 
upper  and  lower  fifth  coverts  remain.  This  peculiarity  is  still 
unexplained.  Wray  proposed  to  call  the  birds  with  the  fifth  quill 
normally  developed  quincubital,  those  without  it  aquincubital ! 

Among  the  Ratitse  with  well -developed  cubitals,  are  Struthio, 
Rhea,  and  Apteryx  ;  and  among  the  Carinatse,  Psophia,  Dicholophus, 
and  Rhinochetus  ;  the  Gallinae  except  the  Megapodes ;  the  Turnices 
and  Crypturi ;  Opisthocomus,  all  the  Picariae  after  exclusion  of  the 
Psittaci;  all  the  Passeres,  Colius,  Trochilidae,  and  Caprimulginse 
possess  the  fifth  cubital.  In  the  Alcedinidse  and  some  Cypselidse 
it  is  variable. 

The  groups  with  typically-developed  remiges  that  have  no  fifth 
cubital  are  Anseres  (including  Palamedea),  Colymbidse,  Podicipedidse, 
Steganopodes,  Tubinares,  Herodii,  Pelargi,  Laro-Limicolse,  Grus, 
Aramus,  Eurypyga,  all  the  Fulicarise  (except  Psophia,  Dicholophus, 
and  Rhinochetus),  the  Pteroclidse,  Columbidse,  Accipitres,  Psittaci, 
and  Striges  (also  see  Pterylosis). 

CUCKOW,  or  Cuckoo,  as  the  word  is  now  genei-ally  spelt — 
though  without  any  apparent  warrant  for  the  change  except  that 
accorded  by  custom,  while  some  of  the  more  scholarly  English 
ornithologists,  as  Montagu  and  Jenyns,  have  kept  the  older  form — 
the  common  name  of  a  well-known  and  often-heard  bird,  the  Cuculus 


CUCKOW  119 


canorus  of  Linnpeus.  In  some  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom  it  is 
more  frequently  called  Gowk,  and  it  is  the  Greek  kokkv^,  the  Italian 
Ciiculo  or  Cucco,  the  French  Coucou,  the  German  Kuchik,  the  Dutch 
KoekkoeJc,  the  Danish  liukker  or  Gjog,  and  the  Swedish  Gok.  The 
oldest  English  spelling  of  the  name  seems  to  have  been  Cuccu. 

No  single  bird  has  perhaps  so  much  occupied  the  atten- 
tion both  of  naturalists  and  of  those  who  are  not  naturalists, 
or  has  had  so  much  written  about  it,  as  this,  and  of  no  bird 
pei^haps  have  more  idle  tales  been  told.  Its  strange  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  experience  of  most  people,  its  singular  habit  of 
entrusting  its  offspring  to  foster-parents  is  enough  to  account  for 
much  of  the  interest  which  has  been  so  long  felt  in  its  history ;  but 
this  habit  is  shared  probably  by  many  of  its  Old- World  relatives, 
as  well  as  in  the  New  World  by  birds  which  are  not  in  any  near 
degree  related  to  it  (cf.  Cow-bird).  In  giving  here  a  short  account 
of  this  species,  there  will  be  no  need  to  refute  much  of  the  nonsense 
about  it  which  has  found  access  to  works  even  of  respectable 
authority ;  but,  besides  the  known  facts  of  its  economy,  there  are 
certain  suppositions  in  regard  to  parts  of  its  history  that  are  un- 
known, which  suppositions  are  apparently  probable  enough  to 
deserve  notice. 

To  begin  with  the  known  facts.  The  Cuckow  is  a  summer- 
visitant  to  the  whole  of  Europe,  reaching  even  far  within  the  Arctic 
circle,  and  crossing  the  Mediterranean  from  its  winter-quarters  in 
Africa  at  the  end  of  March  or  beginning  of  April.  Its  arrival  is  at 
once  proclaimed  by  the  peculiar  and  in  nearly  all  languages  ono- 
matopoetic  cry  of  the  cock — a  true  song  in  the  technical  sense  of 
the  word,  since  it  is  confined  to  the  male  sex  and  to  the  season  of 
love.  In  a  few  days  the  cock  is  followed  by  the  hen,  and  amorous 
contests  between  keen  and  loud-voiced  suitors  are  to  be  commonly 
noticed,  until  the  respective  pretensions  of  the  rivals  are  decided. 
Even  by  night  they  are  not  silent ;  but  as  the  season  advances  the 
song  is  less  frequently  heard,  and  the  Cuckow  seems  rather  to  avoid 
observation  as  much  as  possible,  the  more  so  since  whenever  it 
shews  itself  it  is  a  signal  for  all  the  small  birds  of  the  neighbour- 
hood to  be  up  in  its  pursuit,  just  as  though  it  were  a  Hawk,  to 
which  indeed  its  mode  of  flight  and  general  appearance  give  it  an 
undoubted  resemblance — a  resemblance  that  misleads  some  beings, 
who  ought  to  know  better,  into  confounding  it  with  the  Birds-of- 
prey,  instead  of  recognizing  it  as  a  harmless  if  not  a  beneficial 
destroyer  of  hairy  caterpillars.  Thus  pass  away  some  weeks. 
Towards  the  middle  or  end  of  June  its  "  plain-song  "  cry  alters ;  it 
becomes  rather  hoarser  in  tone,  and  its  first  syllable  or  note  is 
doubled.  Soon  after  it  is  no  longer  heard  at  all,  and  by  the  middle 
of  July  an  old  Cuckow  is  seldom  to  be  found  in  these  islands, 
though  a  stray  example,  or  even,  but  very  rarely,  two  or  three  in 


120  CUCKOW 


company,  may  occasionally  be  seen  for  a  month  longer.  This  is 
about  as  much  as  is  apparent  to  most  people  of  the  life  of  the 
Cuckow  with  us.  Of  its  breeding  comparatively  few  have  any 
personal  experience.  Yet  there  are  those  who  know  that  diligent 
search  for  and  peering  into  the  nests  of  several  of  our  commonest 
little  birds — more  especially  the  Pied  Wagtail  (Motacilla  lugubris), 
the  Titlark  (Anthus  pratensis),  the  Eeed-Wren  {Acrocephalus 
streperus),  and  the  Hedge -Sparrow  (Accentor  modularis) — ^vill  be 
rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  the  egg  of  the  mysterious  stranger 
which  has  been  surreptitiously  introduced  therein,  and  waiting 
till  this  egg  is  hatched  they  may  be  witnesses  (as  was  the  famous 
Jenner  in  the  last  century  ^)  of  the  murderous  eviction  of  the 
rightful  tenants  of  the  nest  l^y  the  intruder,  who,  hoisting  them 
one  after  another  on  his  broad  back,  heaves  them  over  to  die 
neglected  by  their  own  parents,  of  whose  solicitous  care  he  thus 
becomes  the  only  object.  In  this  manner  he  thrives,  and,  so  long 
as  he  remains  in  the  country  of  his  birth,  his  wants  are  anxiously 
supplied  by  the  victims  of  his  mother's  dupery.  The  actions  of  his 
foster-parents  become,  when  he  is  full  grown,  almost  ludicrous,  for 
they  often  have  to  perch  between  his  shoulders  to  place  in  his 
gaping  mouth  the  delicate  morsels  he  is  too  indolent  or  too  stupid 
to  take  from  their  bill.  Early  in  September  he  begins  to  shift  for 
himself,  and  then  follows  the  elders  of  his  kin  to  more  southern 
climes. 

Of  the  way  in  which  it  seems  possible  that  this  curious  habit  of 
the  Cuckow  may  have  originated  something  will  be  found  else- 
where (Nidification).  But  in  connexion  with  its  successful  prac- 
tice a  good  deal  yet  remains  to  be  determined,  most  of  which, 
however  probable,  is  still  to  be  proved.  So  much  caution  is  used 
by  the  hen  Cuckow  in  choosing  a  nest  in  which  to  deposit  her  egg 
that  the  act  of  insertion  has  been -but  seldom  witnessed.  The  nest 
selected  is  moreover  often  so  situated,  or  so  built,  that  it  would  be 
an  absolute  impossibility  for  a  bird  of  her  size  to  lay  her  egg 
therein  by  sitting  upon  the  fabric  as  birds  commonly  do ;  and  there 
have  been  a  few  fortunate  observers  who  have  actually  seen  the 
deposition  of  the  egg  upon  the  ground  by  the  Cuckow,  who,  then 
taking  it  in  her  bill,  introduces  it  into  the  nest.  Of  these,  so  far  at 
least  as  this  country  is  concerned,  the  earliest  seem  to  be  two 
Scottish  lads,  sons  of  Mr.  Tripeny,  a  farmer  in  Coxmuir,  who 
informed  Weir,  as  recorded  by  Macgillivray  (Brit.  Birds,  iii.  pp. 
130,  131),  that  they  saw  most  part  of  the  operation  performed,  24th 
June  1838.  But  perhaps  the  most  positive  evidence  on  the  point 
is  that  of  Herr  Adolf  Miiller,  a  forester  at  Gladenbach  in  Darm- 

1  A  wholly  unjustifiable  attempt  has  lately  been  made  to  impugn  Jenner'a 
accuracy.  His  observations  as  printed  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1788 
(pp.  227  et  seqq.),  have  been  corroborated  by  others  in  the  most  minute  detail. 


CUCKOW  121 


stadt,  who  says  {Zoolog.  Garteu,  1866,  pp.  374,  375)  that  through  a 
telescope  he  watched  a  CuckoAv  as  she  laid  her  egg  on  a  bank,  and 
then  conveyed  the  egg  in  her  bill  to  a  Wagtail's  nest.  Cuckows 
too  have  been  not  unfrequently  shot  as  they  were  carrying  a 
Cuckow's  egg,  presumably  their  own,  in  their  bill,^  and  this  has 
probably  given  rise  to  the  vulgar,  but  seemingly  groundless,  belief 
that  they  suck  the  eggs  of  other  kinds  of  birds.  More  than  this, 
Rowley,  who  had  much  experience  of  Cuckows,  declared  {Ihis, 
1865,  p.  186)  his  opinion  to  be  that  traces  of  violence  and  of  a 
scuffle  between  the  intruder  and  the  owners  of  the  nest  at  the  time 
of  introducing  the  egg  often  appear,  whence  we  are  led  to  suppose 
that  the  Cuckow  ordinarily,  when  inserting  her  egg,  excites  the 
fury  (already  stimulated  by  her  Hawk-like  appearance)  of  the 
OAvners  of  the  nest  by  turning  out  one  or  more  of  the  eggs  that 
may  be  already  laid  therein,  and  thus  induces  the  dupe  to  brood  all 
the  more  readily  and  more  strongly  what  is  left  to  her.  Of  the 
assertion  that  the  Cuckow  herself  takes  any  interest  in  the  future 
welfare  of  the  egg  she  has  foisted  on  her  victim,  or  of  its  product, 
there  is  no  evidence  worth  a  moment's  attention. 

But  a  much  more  curious  assertion  has  also  been  made,  and  one 
that  at  first  sight  appears  so  incomprehensible  as  to  cause  little 
surprise  at  the  neglect  it  long  encountered,  ^lian,  who  flourished 
in  the  second  century,  declared  {De  Nat.  Anim.  III.  xxx.)  that  the 
Cuckow  laid  eggs  in  the  nests  of  those  birds  only  that  produced 
eggs  like  her  own — a  statement  which  is  of  course  far  too  general ; 
but  in  1767  currency  was  given  to  it  by  Salerne  (L'hist.  Nat.  Ois. 
p.  42),  who  was,  however,  hardly  a  believer  in  it ;  and  it  is  to  the 
effect,  as  he  was  told  by  an  inhabitant  of  Sologne,  that  the  egg  of 
a  Cuckow  resembles  in  colour  that  of  the  eggs  normally  laid  by  the 
kind  of  bird  in  whose  nest  it  is  placed.  In  1853  the  same  notion 
was  prominently  and  independently  brought  forward  by  Dr. 
Baldamus  (Naumannia,  1853,  pp.  307-325),  and  in  time  became 
known  to  English  ornithologists,  most  of  whom  were  sceptical  as  to 
its  truth,  as  well  they  might  be,  since  no  likeness  whatever  is 
ordinarily  apparent  in  the  very  familiar  case  of  the  blue-green  egg 
of  the  Hedge-Sparrow  and  that  of  the  Cuckow,  which  is  so  often 
found  beside  it.^  Dr.  Baldamus  based  his  notion  on  a  series  of  eggs 
in  his  cabinet,^  a  selection  from  which  he  figured  (op.  cit.  1854,  pi.  v.) 

^  The  earliest  instance  of  this  in  the  British  Islands  seems  to  be  that 
reported  by  Thompson  {B.  Irel.  iii.  p.  472) ;  another  was  recorded  in  1851 
{Zool.  p.  3145) ;  but  Le  Vaillant  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  discover  the  fact 
in  a  South  African  species  {Ois.  d'Afr.  v.  pp.  47,  48),  and  untrustworthy  witness 
as  he  was,  in  this  case  he  seems  to  have  spoken  truly. 

-  An  instance  to  the  contrary  was  recorded  by  Mr.  A.  C.  Smith  {Zoologist,  1873, 
p.  3516)  on  Mr.  Brine's  authority,  and  a  few  others  have  since  been  observed. 

^  This  series  was  seen  in  1861  by  the  writer. 


122  CUCKOW 


in  illustration  of  his  paper,  and,  however  the  thing  may  be  accounted 
for,  it  seems  impossible  to  resist,  save  on  one  supposition,  the  force  of 
the  testimony  these  specimens  afford.     This  one  supposition  is  that 
the  eggs  have  been  wrongly  ascribed  to  the  Cuckow,  and  that  they 
are  only  exceptionally  large  examples  of  the  eggs  of  the  birds  in  the 
nests  of  which  they  were  found,  for  it  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  some 
such  abnormal  examples  are  occasionally  to  be  met  "\\"ith.     But  it  is 
well  known  that  abnormally-large  eggs  are  not  only  often  deficient 
in   depth   of    colour,  but  still  more   often  in    stoutness   of   shell. 
Applying  these  rough  criteria  to  Dr.  Baldamus's  series,  most  of  the 
specimens   stand  the  test  very  well,  and,  though   no   doubt  more 
precise  and  delicate  examination,  than  any  to  which  they  seem  to 
have  been  submitted,  were  desirable,  there  are  some  other  consider- 
ations to  be  ui^ged.     For  instance,  Herr  Braune,  a  forester  at  Greiz 
in  the  principality  of  Reuss  {Naumannia,  1853,  pp.  307,  313),  shot 
a  hen  Cuckow  as  she  was  leaving  the  nest  of  an  Icterine  Warbler 
{Hypolais  iderina).     In  the  o\dduct  of  this  Cuckow  he  found  an  egg 
coloured  very  like  that  of  the  Warbler,  and  on  looking  into  the 
nest  he  found  there  an  exactly  similar  egg,  which  there  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  had  just  been  laid  by  that  very  Cuckow.     More- 
over, Herr  Grunack  {Jour,  fur  Orn.  1873,  p.  454)  has  since  found 
one  of  the  most  abnormally-coloured  specimens,  quite  unlike  the 
ordinary  egg  of  the  Cuckow,  to  contain  an  embryo  so  fully  formed 
as  to   shew  the   characteristic  zygodactyl  feet  of   the  bird,  thus 
proAdng  unquestionably  its  parentage.     Now  these  being  both  of 
them  extreme  cases,  Dr.  Baldamus  may  fairly  claim  attention  to  his 
assertion ;  for  short  of  absolutely  disbelieving  his  word  we  must 
admit  that  he  has  ground  for  it.     On  the  other  hand,  we  must 
bear  in  mind  the  numerous  instances  in  which  not  the  least  simi- 
larity can  be  traced — as  in  the  not  uncommon  case  of  the  Hedge- 
Sparrow  already  mentioned,   and  if  we  attempt  any  explanatory 
hypothesis  it  must  be  one  that  will  fit  all  round.     Such  a  one  then 
seems  to  be  this.     We  know  that  certain  kinds  of  birds  resent 
interference   mth   their  nests  much  less  than  others,  and  among 
them  it  may  be  asserted  that  the  Hedge-Sparrow  will  patiently 
submit  to  various  experiments.     She  will  brood  with  complacency 
the  egg  of  a  Redbreast  (Erithacus  rubeada),  so  unlike  her  own,  and 
for  aught  we  know  to  the  contrary  may  even  be  colour-blind.     In 
the  case  of  such  a  species  there  would  be  no  need  of  anything 
further  to  insure  success — the  terror  of  the  nest-OAvner  at  seeing  her 
home  invaded  by  a  Hawk-like  giant,  and  some  of  her  treasui'es 
tossed  out,  would  be  enough  to  stir  her  motherly  feelings  so  deeply 
that  she  would  without  misgiving,  if  not  -with  joy  that  something 
had  been  spared  to  her,  resume  the  duty  of  incubation  so  soon  as 
the  danger  was  past.     But  "SAdth  other  species  it  may  be,  nay  doubt- 
less it  is,  different.     Here  assimilation  of  the  introduced  egg  to 


CUCKOW  123 


those  of  the  rightful  owner  may  be  necessary,  for  there  can  hardly 
be  a  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of  Dr.  Baldamus's  theory  (the  only 
theory,  by  the  way,  he  has  put  forth),  as  to  the  object  of  the 
assimilation  being  to  render  the  Cuckow's  egg  "less  easily  recog- 
nized by  the  foster-parents  as  a  substituted  one."  But  in  this  place 
it  is  especially  desirable  to  point  out  that  there  is  not  the  slightest 
gi^ound  for  imagining  that  the  Cuckow,  or  any  other  bird,  can 
voluntarily  influence  the  colour  of  the  egg  she  is  about  to  lay. 
Over  that  she  can  have  no  control,  but  its  destination  she  can 
determine.  It  is  also  impossible  that  a  Cuckow  having  laid  an  egg, 
should  look  at  it,  and  then  decide  from  its  appearance  in  what 
bird's  nest  she  should  put  it.  That  the  colour  of  an  egg-shell  can 
be  in  some  mysterious  way  affected  by  the  action  of  external 
objects  on  the  perceptive  faculties  of  the  mother  is  a  notion  too 
■wild  to  be  seriously  entertained.^  Consequently,  only  one  explana- 
tion of  the  facts  can  here  be  suggested.  Every  one  who  has 
sufficiently  studied  the  habits  of  animals  will  admit  the  tendency  of 
some  of  those  habits  to  become  hereditary.  That  there  is  a 
reasonable  probability  of  each  Cuckow  most  commonly  putting  her 
eggs  in  the  nest  of  the  same  species  of  bird,  and  of  this  habit  being 
transmitted  to  her  posterity,  does  not  seem  to  be  a  very  violent 
supposition.  Without  attributing  any  wonderful  sagacity  to  her, 
it  does  not  seem  unlikely  that  the  Cuckow  which  had  once  success- 
fully foisted  her  egg  on  a  Reed- Wren  or  a  Titlark  should  again 
seek  for  another  Reed- Wren's  or  another  Titlark's  nest  (as  the  case 
may  be),  when  she  had  another  egg  to  dispose  of,  and  that  she 
should  continue  her  practice  from  one  season  to  another.  It  stands 
on  record  {Zoologist,  1873,  p.  3648)  that  a  pair  of  Wagtails  built 
their  nest  for  eight  or  nine  years  running  in  almost  exactly  the 
same  spot,  and  that  in  each  of  those  years  they  fostered  a  young 
Cuckow,  while  many  other  cases  of  like  kind,  though  not  perhaps 
established  on  authority  so  good,  are  believed  to  have  happened. 
Such  a  habit  could  hardly  fail  to  become  hereditary,  so  that  the 
daughter  of  a  Cuckow  which  always  put  her  egg  into  a  Reed- Wren's, 
Titlark's,  or  Wagtail's  nest  would  do  as  did  her  mother.  Further- 
more it  is  unquestionable  that,  whatever  variation  there  may  be 
among  the  eggs  laid  by  different  individuals  of  the  same  species, 
there  is  a  strong  family  likeness  between  the  eggs  laid  by  the  same 
indi\ddual,  even  at  the  interval  of  many  years,  and  it  can  hardly  be 
questioned  that  the  eggs  of  the  daughter  would  more  or  less 
resemble  those  of  her  mother.  Hence  the  supposition  may  be 
fairly  regarded  that  the  habit  of  laying  a  particular  style  of  egg  is 
also  likely  to  become  hereditary.  Combining  this  supposition  with 
that  as  to  the  Cuckow's  habit  of  using  the  nest  of  the  same  species 

^  The  misconception  of  the  unreasoning  mind  on  all  these  points  is  almost 
incredible. 


124  CUCKO  W 


becoming  hereditary,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  requires  but  an  applica- 
tion of  the  principle  of  "  Natural  Selection  "  to  shew  the  probability 
of  this  principle  operating  in  the  course  of  time  to  produce  the  facts 
asserted  by  -^lian,  by  the  anonymous  Solognot  of  the  last  century, 
and  by  Dr.  Baldamus  and  others  since.  The  particular  gms  of 
Cuckow  which  inherited  and  transmitted  the  habit  of  depositing  in 
the  nest  of  any  particular  species  of  bird  eggs  having  more  or  less 
resemblance  to  the  eggs  of  that  species  would  prosper  most  in  those 
members  of  the  gens  where  the  likeness  was  strongest,  and  the  other 
members  would  [cgsteris  paribus)  in  time  be  eliminated.  As  already 
shewn,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  all  species,  or  even  all 
individuals  of  a  species,  are  duped  with  equal  ease.  The  operation 
of  this  kind  of  natural  selection  would  be  most  needed  in  those 
cases  where  the  species  are  not  easily  duped, — that  is,  in  those 
cases  which  occur  the  least  frequently.  Here  it  is  we  find  it,  for 
observation  shews  that  eggs  of  the  Cuckow  deposited  in  nests  of 
the  Red-Backed  Shrike  (Lanius  coUurio),  of  the  Bunting  (Emberiza 
miliaria),  of  the  Redstart  (Ruticilla  phoenicura),  and  of  the  Icterine 
Warbler  approximate  in  their  colouring  to  eggs  of  those  species — 
species  in  whose  nests  the  Cuckow  rarely  (in  comparison  with 
others)  deposits  eggs.  Of  species  which  are  more  easily  duped, 
such  as  the  Hedge-Sparrow,  mention  has  already  been  made. 

More  or  less  nearly  allied  to  our  Cuckow  are  many  other  forms 
of  the  genus  from  various  parts  of  Africa,  Asia,  and  their  islands, 
while  one  even  reaches  Australia.  How  many  of  these  deserve 
specific  recognition  will  long  be  a  question  among  ornithologists 
which  need  not  be  discussed  here.  In  some  cases  the  chief  differ- 
ence is  said  to  lie  in  the  diversity  of  voice — a  character  only  to  be 
appreciated  by  those  acquainted  with  the  living  birds,  and  though 
of  course  some  regard  should  be  paid  to  this  distinction,  the  possi- 
bility of  birds  using  different  "  dialects  "  according  to  the  locality 
they  inhabit  (see  Song)  must  make  it  a  slender  specific  diagnostic. 
All  these  forms  are  believed  to  have  essentially  the  same  habits  as 
our  Cuckow,  and,  as  regards  parasitism,  the  same  is  to  be  said  of 
the  large  Cuckow  of  Southern  Europe  and  North  Africa,  Coccystes 
glandarius,  which  victimizes  Pies  (Pica  mauritanica  and  Cyanopica 
cooki)  and  Crows  (Corvus  corniz).  True  it  is  that  an  instance  of  this 
species,  commonly  known  as  the  Great  Spotted  Cuckow,  having 
built  a  nest  and  hatched  its  young  is  on  record,  but  this  is  a  mani- 
fest error  (c/.  Salvadori,  Uccelli  d' Italia,  pi.  42) ;  the  later  observa- 
tions of  Dr.  A.  E.  Brehm,  Canon  Tristram,  Stafford  Allen,  and 
others  leave  no  doubt  on  the  subject.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
the  eggs  of  this  bird  so  closely  resemble  those  of  one  of  the  Pies  in 
whose  nest  they  have  been  found,  that  even  expert  oologists  have 
been  deceived  by  them,  only  to  discover  the  truth  when  tha 
Cuckow's  embryo  had  been  extracted  from  the  supposed  Pie's  egg. 


CUCKO  W 


125 


«,  CucuLcs  ;  5,  OxYLOPHus  ;  c,  Chalsites  ;  d,  e,  Zaxclostoma, 
/,  PiAYA  ;  g,  Centropus.    (After  Swainson.) 


This  species  of  Cuckow,  easily  distinguishable  by  its  large  size,  long 

crest,  and   the   primrose  tinge  of  its  throat,  has  more  than  once 

made   its    appear- 
ance as  a  straggler 

in  the  British  Isles. 

Equally    parasitic 

are     many     other 

CuckoAvs,    belong- 
ing     chiefly      to 

genera  which  have 

been  more  or  less 

clearly  defined  as 

Cacomantis,  Chryso- 

C0CCIJX,  Euclynamis, 

Oxyloplms,  Phcenkophaes,  Pdlyphasia,  Surnicidus,  and  Zandostoma,  and 

inhabiting  parts  of  the  Ethiopian,  Indian,  and  Australian  Regions ;  ^ 

but  there  are  certain  aberrant  forms  of 
Old -World  CuckoAVS  which  unques- 
tionably do  not  shirk  parental  responsi- 
bilities. Among  these  especially  are 
the  l)irds  placed  in  or  allied  to  the 
genera  Centropus  (Coucal)  and  Coua — 
the  latter  bearing  no  English  name, 
and  limited  to  the  island  of  Madagascar. 
These  build  a  nest,  not  perhaps  in  a 
highly -finished  style  of  architecture, 
but  one  that  serves  its  end.- 
Respecting  the  Cuckows  of  America,  the  evidence,  though  it 

has    been    impugned,    is    nearly    enough   to   clear   them   from   the 

calumny  which  attaches  to  so  many  of  their  brethren  of  the  Old 

World.     There  are  two  species  very  Avell  known  in  parts  of  the 

United     States 

and     some     of 

the  West-Indian 

Islands,  Coccyzn^ 

americmms    and 

C.  erythrophthal- 

mus,    and    each 

_r       them       h'lS        Phcenicophaes.     Saueothera.    Dasylophus.    (After  Swainson.) 

occasionally  visited  Europe.  They  both  build  nests — remai'kably 
small  structures  Avhen  compared  with  those  of  other  birds  of  their 
size — and  faithfully  incubate  their  delicate  sea-green  eggs.  In  the 
south-western  States  of  the  Union  and  thence  into  Central  America 

^  Evidence  tends  to  shew  that  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  the  curious  Channel- 
bill,  Scythrops  nov^-luoUandiaz,  but  absolute  proof  seems  to  be  -wanting. 
2  See  Grandidier  and  Milne-Edwards  Olscaux  de  Madagascar  (p.  140). 


Coua.     (After  Swainson.) 


126  CUCKO  IV'S-LEADER—CURASSO  W 

is  found  the  curious  form,  Geococcyx  (Chapparal-COCk).  The  genera 
Keomorphus,  Diplopterus,  Saurothera,  and  Fiaya  (the  last  two  com- 
monly called  Rain-birds,  from  the  belief  that  their  cry  portends 
rain)  may  be  noticed — all  of  them  belonging  to  the  Neotropical 
Region ;  but  perhaps  the  most  cm'ious  form  of  American  Cuckows 
is  Crotophaga  (Ani),  of  which  three  species  inhabit  the  same  Region. 
The  best-kno\^Ti  species  {C.  ani)  is  found  throughout  the  Antilles 
and  on  the  opposite  continent.  In  most  of  the  British  colonies  it 
is  known  as  the  Black  Witch,  and  is  accused  of  various  malpractices 
— it  being,  in  truth,  a  perfectly  harmless  if  not  a  beneficial  bird. 
As  regards  its  propagation  this  aberrant  form  of  Cuckow  depai-ts  as 
much  in  one  direction  from  the  normal  habit  of  birds  as  do  so  many 
of  our  familiar  friends  of  the  Old  World  in  the  other,  for  several 
females  unite  to  lay  their  eggs  in  one  nest.  Full  details  of  its 
economy  are  wanting,  but  it  is  evident  that  incubation  is  carried  on 
socially,  since  an  intruder  on  approaching  the  rude  nest  Avill  disturb 
perhaps  half  a  dozen  of  its  sable  proprietors,  who,  loudly  complain- 
ing, seek  safety  either  in  the  leafy  branches  of  the  tree  that  holds 
it,  or  in  the  nearest  available  covert,  with  all  the ,  speed  that  their 
feeble  powers  of  flight  permit. 

CUCKOWS -LEADER  and  CUCKOWS  -  MATE,  common 
names  for  the  Wryneck. 

CURASSOW,^  the  ordinary  corruption  of  Cwagoa-hird,  as  the 
name  was  spelt  in  1756  by  Browne  {Civ.  and  Nat.  Hist.  Jamaica, 
p.  470),  and  doubtless  due  to  the  belief  that  the  birds  of  this  kind 
first  known  to  English  voyagers  came  from  the  island  so  called. 
They  form  the  Linnsean  genus  Crax,  and  the  Family  Cracidse,  which 
is  held  by  Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1870,  pp. 
504-544)  to  include  three  subfamilies — Cracinse  the  Curassows  proper, 
Fenelopinse  (GuAN),  and  Oreophasinse — the  last  consisting  of  but  a 
single  species,  the  beautiful  Oreophasis  derbianus  of  the  Volcan  de 
Fuego  in  Guatemala,  of  whose  haunts  and  habits  IVIr.  Salvin  has 
given  an  excellent  account  {Ibis,  1860,  pp.  248-253).  Prof.  Huxley 
has  shewn  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868,  pp.  294-319)  that  the  Cracidse 
with  the  Megapodiidse  (Megapode)  form  a  distinct  gi'oup  of 
ALECTOROMORPHiE  or  Gallinje,  to  which  he  applied  the  name 
Feristeropodes,    and  thereon  based  some   views   of  Geographical 

^  Danipier,  a  good  authority  on  many  things  but  not  on  orthography,  in  1699 
and  1703,  used  Corresso  and  Curreso  [Vorj.  ii.  pt.  2,  p.  67,  and  iii.  pt.  1,  p.  74)  ; 
Albin  in  1738  wrote  (iV.  H.  Birds,  ii.  p.  29)  of  birds  of  this  kind  (he  having 
figured  both  male  and  female),  "  They  are  generally  brought  from  Carassow,  from 
whence  they  take  their  name."  Sloane  in  1707  (Foi/.  p.  302)  used  Quirizao  for 
both  island  and  bird  ;  and  Linnaeus  in  1758  {Syst.  Nat.  ed.  10,  i.  p.  157)  used 
Gallus  curassivicus,  which  he  professedly  got  from  Aldrovandus,  in  \\hose  work, 
however,  I  have  failed  to  find  it.  He  figures  a  sx^ecies  of  Crax  as  Gallus  Indicus 
nib.  xiv.  cap.  10). 


CURASSO  W—CURLE  W 


127 


Distribution  which  are  considered  elsewhere.  But  at  present  to 
treat  of  the  Cracinai,  the  two  avithors  above  mentioned  recognize  4 
good  genera  : —  Crax  with  a  soft  cere,  and  the  nostrils  placed  in 
the  middle  of  the  maxilla,  while  the  remain- 
ing three  have  the  whole  of  the  bill  horny 
and  the  nostrils  at  its  base,  the  lores  being- 
bare  in  Nothocrax,  but  feathered  in  Pauxis 
(Cashew-bird)  and  3Iitua,  the  former  of 
Avhich    bears    the  - 


y^^ 


MiTL'A. 


Crax. 


curious  frontal 
knob  already 
mentioned,  while 
the  latter  has  the 
culmen  of  its  short 
and  greatly  com- 
pressed bill  ele- 
vated and  swollen. 
Many  further  par-  (^"er  Swainson.) 

ticulars  of  the  Curassows  may  be  gathered  from  two  other  papers 
by  Mr.  Sclater  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  pp.  273-288,  pis.  40-53,  and  x. 
pp.  543-546,  pis.  89-95),  which  are  illustrated  copiously  and  mostly 
from  living  examples,  for  these  birds  thrive  well  in  confinement, 
though  the  hopes  once  entertained  of  their  capacity  for  domestica- 
tion have  been  disappointed.^  The  Cracidse  are  one  of  the  most 
characteristic  Families  of  the  K^eotropical  Region,  outside  of  which 
but  few  of  them  and  none  of  the  Cradnix.  go,  and  are  especially 
abundant  in  Central  and  the  north  parts  of  South  America,  few 
l)eing  found  in  Paraguay,  and  none  in  Patagonia  or  Chili. 

CURLEW,  in  French  Courlis  or  Corlieu,  a  name  given  to  two 
])irds,  of  whose  cry  it  is  an  imitation,  both  belonging  to  the  group 
Limicola',  but  possessing  very  different  habits  and  features. 

1.  The  Long-billed  Curlew,  or  simply  Curlew  of  most  British 
writers,  the  Numenius  arquata  -  of  ornithologists,  is  one  of  the 
largest  of  the  Family  Scolopacidse,  or  Snipes  and  allied  forms.  It 
is  common  on  the  shores  of  the  United  Kingdom  and  most 
parts  of  Europe,  seeking  the  heaths  and  moors  of  the  interior  and 
more  northern  countries  in  the  breeding-season,  where  it  lays  its 
four  brownish-green  eggs,  suffused  with  cinnamon  markings,  in  an 
artless  nest  on  the  ground.  In  England  it  has  been  ascertained  to 
breed  in  Cornwall  and  in  the  counties  of  Devon,  Dorset,  Salop,  and 

^  On  this  see  E.  S.  Dixon,  The  Dovecote  and  the  Aviary,  pp.  223-279  (London  : 
1851). 

-  Some  authors  have  tried  to  improve  on  tliis  word  by  writing  arquatus, 
which  is  nonsense,  though  arcuatus  might  be  right.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  arquata 
is  a  substantive  and  tlie  name  of  tlie  bird  in  mediaeval  Latin,  which  of  course 
Linnaeus  knew. 


128  .  CURLEW 


Derby — though  sparingly.  In  Yorkshire  it  is  more  numerous,  and 
thence  to  the  extreme  north  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  throughout 
Ireland,  it  is,  under  the  name  of  Whaup,  familiar  to  those  who 
have  occasion  to  traverse  the  wild  and  desolate  tracts  that  best  suit 
its  habits.  So  soon  as  the  young  are  able  to  shift  for  themselves, 
both  they  and  their  parents  resort  to  the  sea-shore  or  mouths  of 
rivers,  from  the  muddy  fiats  of  which  they  at  low  tide  obtain  their 
living,  and,  though  almost  beyond  any  other  birds  wary  of 
approach,  form  an  object  of  pursuit  to  numerous  gunners.  While 
leading  this  littoral  life  the  food  of  the  Curlew  seems  to  consist  of 
almost  anything  edible  that  presents  itseK.  It  industriously  probes 
the  mud  or  sand  in  quest  of  the  worms  that  lurk  therein,  and  is 
also  active  in  seeking  for  such  crustaceans  and  mollusks  as  can  be 
picked  up  on  the  surface,  while  vegetable  matter  as  well  has  been 
found  in  its  stomach.  During  its  summer-sojourn  on  the  moor- 
lands insects  and  berries,  when  they  are  ripe,  enter  largely  into  its 
diet.  In  bulk  the  Curlew  is  not  less  than  a  Crow,  but  it  looks 
larger  still  from  its  long  legs,  wings,  and  neck.  Its  bill,  from  5  to 
7  inches  in  length,  and  terminating  in  the  deKcate  nervous 
apparatus  common  to  all  birds  of  its  Family,  is  especially  its  most 
remarkable  feature.  Its  plumage  above  is  of  a  drab  colour 
streaked  and  mottled  with  very  dark  brown ;  beneath  it  is  white, 
while  the  flight-quills  are  of  a  brownish  black. 

Nearly  allied  to  the  Curlew,  but  smaller  and  with  a  more 
northern  range,  is  the  Whimbrel,  N.  phmopus,  called  in  some  parts 
Jack-Curlew,  from  its  small  size — May-fowl,  from  the  month  in 
which  it  usually  arrives — and  Titterel  from  one  of  its  cries.^  This 
so  much  resembles  the  former  in  habit  and  appearance  that  no 
fiu-ther  details  need  be  given  of  it.  In  the  countries  bordering  on 
the  Mediterranean  occurs  a  third  species,  N.  tenuirostris,  the  home 
of  which  has  yet  to  be  ascertained.  Some  15  other  species,  or 
more,  have  been  described,  but  Mr.  Seebohm  (Geogr.  Distrib.  Chara- 
driidx,  p.  321)  admits  but  11  in  all  with  2  "subspecies."  The 
genus  Numenius  is  almost  cosmopolitan.  In  North  America  three 
very  easily  recognized  species  are  found — the  first,  N.  longirostris, 
closely  agreeing  with  the  European  Curlew,  but  larger  and  with  a 
longer  bill ;  the  second,  JV.  hudsmiicus,  representing  our  Whimbrel ; 
and  the  third,  N.  borecdis,  which  has  several  times  found  its  way  to 
Britain,  very  much  less  in  size.  All  these  essentially  agree  with 
the  species  of  the  Old  World  in  habit ;  but  it  is  remarkable  that 
the  American  birds  can  be  easily  distinguished  by  the  rufous  colour- 
ing of  their  axillary  feathers — a  feature  which  is  also  presented  by 
the  American  GoDWiTS  (Limosa).  A  very  singular  peculiarity  is 
afforded  by  N.  fahiticnsis  or  femoralis,  a  species  which  seems  to  have 

^  The  name  Spowe  (c/.  Icelandic  Sp6i)  also  seems  to  have  been  anciently  given 
to  this  bird  (see  Stevenson's  Birds  of  X  or  folk,  ii.  p.  201). 


CURLEW  129 


its  home  in  Alaska  and  Avinters  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  In  this 
bird  the  shaft  of  most  of  the  feathers  clothing  its  legs  is  produced 
into  a  lona;  a:listening  bristle. 

2.  The  Curlew  of  inlanders,  or  Stone-Curlew — called  also,  by 
some  \\Titers,  from  its  stronghold  in  this  country,  the  Norfolk 
Plover,  and  most  wrongly  and  absurdly  the 
Thick-Knee  or  Thick- Kneed  Bustard — is 
usually  classed  among  the  Clmradriidai,  \)\\t 
it  offers  several  remarkable  differences  from 
the  more  normal  Plovers.  It  is  the  Chara- 
drius  oedioiemus  of  Linnseus,  the  C.  scolopax  Stone-Curlew. 

of  Sam.  Gottl.  Gmelin,  and  the   (Edicnemus  ^^  wamson.) 

crepitans  of  Temminck.      With  much  the  same  cry  as  that  of  the 
Kumenii,   only  uttered  in  a  far  sweeter  tone,   it  is   as    fully    en- 
titled   to  the   name   of   CurleAv    as    the    bird    most    commonly   so 
called.       In     England     it    is     almost    solely    a    summer  -  visitor, 
though   an   example   will    occasionally    linger    throughout    a    mild 
winter ;    and  is    one  of    the    few  birds    whose    distribution    Avith 
us  is  affected  by  geological  formation,  since  it  is  nearly  limited  to 
the   chalk-country — the   open   spaces   of  which  it  haunts,  and  its 
numbers   have   of   late    years   been   sensibly   diminished    by   their 
enclosure.     The  most  barren  spots  in  these  districts,   even  Avhere 
but  a  superficial  coating  of  light  sand  and  a  thin  growth  of  turf 
scarcely  hide  the  chalk  below,  supply  its  needs  ;  though  at  night 
(and  it  chiefly  feeds  by  night)  it  resorts  to  moister  and  more  fertile 
places.     Its  food  consists  of  snails,  coleopterous  insects,  and  earth- 
Avorms,  but  larger  prey,  as   a  mouse   or   a  frog,   is    not    rejected. 
Without  making   the   slightest  attempt  at  a  nest,  it  lays  its  tAv^o 
eggs  on  a  level  spot,  a  bare  falloAV  being  often  chosen.     These  are 
not  very  large,  and  in  colour  so  closely  resemble  the  sandy,  flint- 
strewn  surface  that  their  detection  except  by  a  practised  eye   is 
difficult.      The  bird,  too,  trusts  much  to  its  OAvn  drab  colouring  to 
elude  observation,  and,  on  being  disturbed,  Avill  frequently  run  for 
a  considerable  distance  and  then  squat  Avith  outstretched  neck  so 
as  to  become  almost  invisible.     In  such  a  case  it  may  be  closely 
approached,  and  its  large  golden  eye,  if  it  do  not  pass  for  a  tuft  of 
yelloAv  lichen,  is  perhaps  the  first  thing  that  strikes  the  searcher. 
As  autumn  advances  the  Stone-CurleAv  gathers  in  large  flocks,  and 
then  is  as  wary  as  its  namesake.     ToAvards  October  these  take  their 
departure,   and  their  survivors  return,  often  with  wonderful   con- 
stancy, to  their  beloved  haunts  (see  Migration).    In  size  this  species 
exceeds  any  other  European  Plover,  and  looks  even  still  larger  than 
it  is.     The  bill  is  short,  blunt,  and  stout ;  the  head  large,  broad, 
and  flat  at  the  top.      The  wings  and  legs  long — the  latter  present- 
ing a   singular   enlargement  of    the'  tibio-tarsal  joint,  whence  the 
name  (Edicnemus  has  been  conferred.     The  toes  are  short  and  fleshy, 


I30  CURSORES—CYPSELOMORPH^ 

and  the  hind-toe,  as  in  most  Charadriiclx,  is  wanting.  This  Curlew 
seems  to  have  been  an  especial  favourite  ^^dth  Gilbert  White,  in 
whose  classical  writings  mention  of  it  is  often  made.  Its  range 
extends  to  North  Africa  and  India,  though  examples  from  the 
latter  country  have  been  regarded  as  requiring  specific  distinctions. 
Foiu-  other  species  of  CEdicnemtis  from  Africa  are  recognized  by  Mr. 
Seebohm  (op.  cit.  p.  71).  Australia  possesses  a  very  distinct  species, 
CE.  grallarius,  which  some  Avriters  have  raised  to  a  genus  Burhinus, 
and  there  are  3  species  in  the  Neotropical  Eegion,  GE.  bistriatus,  CE. 
dominicensis,  and  CE.  superciliaris.  The  analogy  of  all  these  birds  to 
the  Otididx  (Bustard),  is  manifest,  but  that  they  have  any  really 
close  affinity  to  that  Family  is  questionable.  An  exaggerated  form 
of  CEdicnemus  is  found  in  jEsacus,  of  which  two  species  have  been 
described,  one  ^.  recurvirostris,  from  the  Indian,  and  the  other,  JE. 
magnirostris,  from  the  northern  parts  of  the  Australian  Region. 

CURSORES,  an  Order  of  Birds  proposed  by  Illiger  in  1811 
[Prodrom.  Syst.  Mammal,  et  Avium,  pp.  246-250)  to  contain  the 
genera  Casuarius  (Cassowary),  StridMo  (Ostrich),  Rhea,  Otis 
(Bustard),  Charadrius  (Plover),  Calidris  (Sanderling),  Himantopus 
(Stilt),  Hxmatopus  (Oyster-catcher),  Tacliydromus  ( =  Cursorius, 
Courser),  and  Burhinus  (Stone- Curlew).  Notwithstanding  the 
obviously  artificial  nature  of  this  group,  several  authors  have 
accepted  it,  some  entirely,  but  others  with  so  many  modifications 
that  the  meaning  of  the  term  has  become  quite  indefinite. 

CURUCUI,  a  Brazilian  word  adopted,  through  the  French,  by 
yn        some  English  authorsJor  the  Trogons. 
i^  /^.^ cK^r t*-  '775  (  '/*^ •  <f-  /, , ^  ). 

CUSHAT,   a    common    name    for  the  Ring-DOVE    or  Wood- 

PiGEON. 

^/ 
/"    CYPSELOMORPH^,   Prof.    Huxley's  name   {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 

1867,  p.  468)  for  the  group  of  ^githognath^  containing  the 
Families  Cap'imulgidx  (Goatsucker),  Cypsclidx  (Swift),  and 
Trochilidx  (Humming-bird),  which  he  considers  to  be  "annectent 
forms  between  the  Coracomorph.e  and  the  Coccygomorph^." 


LJ-/'  7U(t^,     --^2^        M^^/Uy^-  ihJi.^' 


DABCHICK—DAKER-HEN  131 


D 

DABCHICK  or  DOBCHICK,  the  smallest  and  most  common 
Euroj^ean  species  of  Podicipes,  which  has  also  a  wide  range  in  the 
Old  World.  It  is  the  Little  Grebe  of  books,  and  the  Fodicijjes 
JiuoiatUis  or  miiiur  of  modern  ornithology.  In  most  parts  of  Britain  it 
resorts  in  spring  to  lakes  or  even  small  ponds,  building  there  a  nest 
of  aquatic  plants,  collected  in  the  pool  it  frequents,  and  either 
piled  up  from  the  bottom  near  the  margin  or  resting  on  the 
growing  Avater-weeds  themselves,  while  use  is  occasionally  made  of 
any  branch  of  a  tree  that  may  have  fallen  into  the  water.  In 
every  case  the  mass  of  materials  brought  together  is  large  compared 
Avith  the  size  of  the  bird,  and  is  always  in  a  moist  condition,  even 
to  the  upper  part,  Avhich  is  slightly  hollowed  out  in  the  form  of  a 
cup  to  receive  the  seven  or  eight  eggs  that  are  therein  laid.  These, 
as  is  generally  the  case  with  those  of  other  members  of  the  Family, 
are  symmetrical  in  form,  there  being  little  or  no  difference  between 
the  two  ends,  and  have  a  chalky  shell,  which  from  being  at  first  of 
a  pure  white  are  soon  stained  by  the  damp  weeds  forming  the  nest, 
some  of  which  are  carefully  drawn  over  it  by  the  parent  whenever  it  is 
left,  and  even  if  she  be  too  suddenly  disturbed  to  make  this  possible, 
she  will  stealthily  return  at  the  first  opportunity  and  cover  them. 

Few  birds  have  a  greater  faculty  of  escaping  observation  than 
this,  and  it  often  happens  that  a  pair  will  frequ.ent  a  small  weedy 
pond,  nigh  unto  a  human  habitation,  and  rear  their  young  there, 
without  their  existence  being  detected,  though  they  stay  for  the 
whole  of  a  summer.  In  winter  the  greater  part  emigrate,  and 
those  that  remain  betake  themselves  to  rivers,  brooks,  and  ditches 
near  the  sea,  which  except  in  very  hard  frost  are  free  from  ice — 
using,  as  a  last  resort,  the  tidal  waters. 

DACNIS,  a  genus  established  by  Cuvier,  Avith  the  conspicuous 
blue  and  black  Motacillfc  cai/aiuc  of  Linnoeus 
as  its  type,  belonging  to  the  Cairehidai.     Four- 
teen species  are    recognized    by  Mr.   Sclater 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xi.  pp.  18-27),  and  the  skins  ^^£-^^^ 
of  two  or  three  of  them,  remarkable  for  their  Dacnis. 

beautiful  blue  or  bluish-green  coloration,  are  (After  Swamscm.) 

among  the  commonest  of  those  sent  from  South  America. 

DAKER-HEN,  an  old  and  widely-spread  name  of  the  Land- 
E,AIL,  referring,  it  is  thought,  to  the  unsteady  flight  of  the  bird, 
for  to  "  dacker  "  (Frisian,  dakkerii,  M.  Dutch,  daeckeren),  signifying 
to  stagger,  totter,  or  hesitate,  is  a  well-known  word  in  Lincolnshire, 


132  DARK— DA  W 


and  perhaps  in   other    districts     {cf.    Cordeaux,     Zoologist.,     1883, 
pp.  228,  229). 

DARE,  a  local  name  applied  to  some  species  of  Tern. 

DARTER,  see  Snake-bird. 

DASSIE-V ANGER  (Coney -catcher),  the  Dutch  name  for  an 
Eagle  in  South  Africa,  adopted  by  English  i-esidents  —  the 
"Dassie"  being  Hyrax  capensis  (Layard,  JB.  S.  Africa,  p.  11). 

DAW  (Old  Low  Germ.  Doha),  doubtless  from  the  bird's  cry,  as 
seems  also  to  be  the  nickname  "Jack"  commonly  prefixed.^  The 
Jackdaw,  to  use  its  vulgar  and  redundant  name,  is  the  smallest  as 
it  is,  perhaps,  the  best  known  in  Britain  of  the  Corvidm  (Crow)  ; 
for,  though  much  less  numerous  than  the  RoOK,  it  inhabits  the 
outskirts  of  even  large  towns  as  well  as  the  country ;  and,  from  its 
diverting  manners,  and  its  aptitude  for  imitating  the  sounds  it 
hears,  is  often  kept  in  captivity  more  or  less  modified.  In  its 
natural  state  it  differs  from  most  of  the  Cormdai  in  the  choice  it 
makes  of  breeding-quarters,  nearly  always  placing  its  nest  in  some 
hollow  tree  or  convenient  corner  in  a  building — a  church-tower 
(from  its  being  seldom  ascended)  especially  aftbrding  a  secure  posi- 
tion. It  will  equally  make  itself  a  home  in  a  rabbit-burrow,  a  sea- 
girt cliff,  or  contrive  to  find  a  suitable  receptacle  for  its  progeny 
among  the  sticks  that  form  the  base  of  some  huge  Rook's  nest 
which  has  been  accumulating  for  years.  Gamekeepers  view  it  in 
great  despite,  for  it  is  undoubtedly  ready  to  rob  the  eggs  of  other 
birds  when  occasion  offers ;  but  it  is  as  omnivorous  as  a  Rook  in 
feeding,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  flock  of  that  species  that  is  not  at- 
tended by  more  or  fewer  Daws,  who  act  as  the  light  company  of 
the  heavier  regiment.  The  normal  glossy  black  plumage  of  the 
Corvidx  is  in  the  Daw,  when  adult,  diversified  by  its  having  the 
hinder  part  of  the  head  of  a  delicate  ashy -grey  colour,-  while 
examples  from  South-Eastern  Europe  and  Asia  Minor,  having  the 
nape  of  a  silvery  white,  have  been  called  C.  collaris,  and  further  to 
the  eastward  the  birds  have  not  only  the  collar  broader  and  of  a 
pure  white,  but  the  lower  parts  of  the  body  white  also.  These 
belong  to  the  species  called  by  Pallas  C.  dauuricus. 

^  Perhaps  the  earliest  instance  of  nicknaming  birds  is  to  be  found  in  Lang- 
land's  Piers  ilie  Plowman,  written  soon  after  1400,  where  the  Spap.row  is  called 
"Philip"  ;  but  the  practice,  as  all  know,  extended,  and  Swift  in  his  Descrip- 
tion of  a  SalamaTider  thus  mentions  it : — 

"  As  mastitf-dogs  in  moderu  phrase  are 
Call'd  Pompey,  Scipio,  and  Caesar  ; 
As  pyes  and  daws  are  often  stil'd 
With  Christian  nicknames  like  a  child." 

-  It  is  only  the  hinder  part  of  the  head  that  wears  this  light  tint,  a  fact 
which  renders  improbable  that  the  "  russet-pated  choughs  "  of  Shakespear  {Mids.- 
Night's  Bream,  Act  iii.  Sc.  2)  were  birds  of  this  species  (see  Chough). 


DAYAL— DEMOISELLE  •        133 

DAYAL,  or  more  correctly,  it  would  seem,  DHYAL  (corrupted 
into  Dial-bird^),  the  Hindostani  name  commonly  adopted  by 
Anglo-Indians  for  one  of  the  loudest-voiced  of  their  songsters,  the 
Gracula  saularis  of  Linnaeus,  and  Gopsychus  saularis  of  modern  orni- 
thology, whose  plumage,  black  and  white  in  the  male,  made 
Edwards  call  it  the  "Little  Lidian  Pye."  In  Nepal  it  is  kept  to 
exhibit  its  pugnacity,  and  a  bird  that  will  fight  well  is  highly  prized. 
Its  other  habits  have  been  recognized  by  the  best  ornithologists  as 
pointing  to  an  alliance  with  the  Saxicoline  group  of  Turdidse 
(Thrush)  or  SylviidcV  (Warbler),  nevertheless  a  recent  writer  (Cat. 
B.  Br.  Mils.  vii.  p.  60)  has  plunged  the  genus  Copstjclms  into  the 
cesspool  which  he  calls  Tinieliidx,  with  the  true  members  of  which 
it  has  little  in  common.  The  number  of  species  of  the  genus  is 
doubtful ;  but  one  is  certainly  peculiar  to  the  Philippine  Islands, 
and  another  to  the  Seychelles,  while  two  are  found  (to  say  nothing 
of  the  barely  separable  Gervaisia)  in  Madagascar.  Other  forms  are 
also  very  nearly  allied  to  Gopsychus,  and  among  them  may  be  men- 
tioned the  African  Gercotrichas,  and  Gittocmda  of  the  Indian  Region, 
of  which  G.  tricolor,  known  throughout  India  by  its  Hindostani 
name  of  Shdma,  is  a  favourite  song-bird,  and  deserves  mention. 

DEMOISELLE,  a  name  fancifully  given  by  the  French  to 
several  kinds  of  birds  -;  but  the  only  sense  in  which  it  has  been 
used  (and  that  for  nearly  200  years  ^)  by  English  writers  is  as 
applied  to  the  G^'us  or  Anihropoicles  ^  virgo,  otherwise  called  the 
Numidian  Crane,  though  it  is  only  a  winter  visitant  to  any  part  of 
Africa  ;  the  range  of  its  breeding-haunts  extending  from  the  valley 
of  the  Lower  Danube  eastward  through  Southern  Russia,  Turkestan, 
and  Siberia  to  China.  Examples  occasionally  stray  from  its  proper 
home  and  have  occurred  in  Germany,  Heligoland,  and  Sweden  ; 
while  two  were  seen,  and  one  of  them  shot,  in  Orkney  in  May  1863 

^  This  phonetic  spelling  has  naturally  given  rise  to  a  series  of  mistakes.  First 
used  by  Albin  in  1737  {Suppl.  N.  H.  Birds,  i.  p.  17,  pis.  xvii.  xviii.),  it  was  sup- 
posed by  Levaillant  {Ois.  d'Afr.  iii.  p.  50)  to  refer  to  the  ordinary  instrument  for 
ascertaining  the  time  of  day,  and  by  him  was  accordingly  rendered  Gadran.  Sub- 
sequently Jerdon  asserted  {B.  India,  ii.  p.  116),  that  Linnteus,  thinking  it  had  some 
connexion  with  a  sun-dial,  called  it  "Solaris,  by  lapsus pennae,  saularis."  Herein 
Jerdon  was  misled,  for  the  epithet  applied  by  Linnreus  is  but  the  Latinized  form  of 
*'  Saulary,"  the  name  under  which  a  cock  and  hen  were  sent  from  Madras  by  E. 
Buckley  to  Petiver,  whofirst  described  the  species  (Ray,  Synops.  Meth.  Avium,  p.  197). 

"  Bufibn,  Hist.  Nat.  Oiseaux,  iii.  p.  247 ;  v.  p.  437,  note,  and  vii.  pp.  313-316. 

^  The  Natural  History  of  Anir)ials  .  .  .  dissected  hy  the  Royal  Academy  oj 
Sciences  at  Paris  (London  :  1702,  pp.  205  et  seqq.) 

■*  This  name  was  given  by  Vieillot,  following  a  misapprehension  of  the  French 
Academicians,  Du  Veruay  and  Perrault,  whose  observations  were  translated  in 
the  work  mentioned  in  the  last  note.  On  the  questions  arising  out  of  the  various 
names  assigned  to  this  species,  see  Bennett,  Ga.rdens  and  Menagerie  of  the  Zoologi- 
cal Society,  ii.  pp.  231,  232. 


134         '  DENTIROSTRES— DIAMOND-BIRD 

(Zoologist,  p.  8692).  It  is  considerably  smaller  than  the  ordinary 
Crane,  G.  cowmnnis,  and  has  a  long  tuft  of  white  feathers  reaching 
backward  behind  each  eye,  while  the  })lack  plumes  of  its  breast  and 
the  grey  inner  secondaries  are  greatly  elongated — the  last  especially. 

DENTIROSTRES,  a  group  of  Birds  discriminated  by  Dumeril 
in  1806  (Zool.  Anulijt.  p.  41),  composed  of  the  genera  (as  then  re- 
garded) Buceros  (Hornbill),  Momotus  (Motmot),  and  PJii/totoma 
(Plant-gutter),  as  having  their  bills  scored  with  at  least  three 
notches  (dentelures) ;  but  in  1817  used  in  a  Avholly  different  sense  by 
Cuvier  (Begn.  Animal,  p.  336),  so  as  to  contain  Laniulx,  Tanagridx, 
Muscicajndai,  Ampelidai  [  =  Cotingklfe],  EdoUvs,  Turdidge,  Pyrrhocorax, 
Oriolidm,  Mi/iothera,  Cinclus,  Fhikdon,  Gracida,  ilfenura,  Fipra,  and 
MotariUa  ;  and  subsequently  adopted  with  more  or  less  modification 
by  a  great  number  of  systematists. 

DERTRUM,  the  hook  of  the  Bill. 

DESMODACTYLI,  the  name  proposed  by  Forbes  {Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1880,  p.  390)  for  a  group  of  Passeres,  consisting  oi  the  Euryliv- 
mida}  (Broadbill). 

DESMOGNATH JE,  Prof.  Huxley's  third  Suborder  of  Carinat^, 
composed  of  seven  groups  —  Chenomorph^,  Amphimorph^, 
Pelargomorph^,  Dysporomorph.e  Aetomorph^,  Psittacomor- 
PH^,  and  CoccYGOMORPH^ — in  all  of  which  the  vomer  is  often 
abortive  or  so  small  as  to  disappear ;  but,  when  existing,  it  is 
slender,  and  tapers  anteriorly  to  a  point,  Avhile  the  maxillo-palatals 
are  united  (whence  the  name  of  the  Suborder)  across  the  middle 
line,  either  directly  or  by  the  ossification  of  the  nasal  septum,  and 
the  posterior  ends  of  the  palatals  and  anterior  of  the  pterygoids 
articulate  directly  with  the  rostrum.  Moreover,  the  lower  larynx 
in  these  birds  is  never  formed  on  the  plan  of  the  Passeres.  It 
may  be  observed  that  nothing  approaching  to  this  association  of 
the  groups  above  named  had  ever  before  been  proposed  by  any 
taxonomer  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  435-448,  460-466). 

DEVIL-BIRD,  a  name  applied  by  the  English  in  Ceylon  to  a 
species  of  Owl,  Strix  or  Syrnium  indrani,  as  Avell  as  to  a  Goatsucker, 
Caprimulgus  kelaarti  (Legge,  B.  Ceyl.  y>\\  155,  337). 

DEVILING,  a  common  local  name  for  the  Swift. 

DHYAL  or  DIAL-BIRD,  see  Dayal. 

DIAMOND-BIRD,  the  name  bestoAved  in  Australia  on  the  mem- 
bers of  the  genus  Pardulotus  founded  in  1816 
by  Vieillot  {Analyse,  p.  31),  A^th  Pipra  punctata 
of  Latham  as  its  type,  for  which  in  our  present 
ignorance  it  is  hard  to  find  a  place.     Gould 

Diamond-bird.  {Handh.    B.    Austrul.    l.    p.    156)    put   it  Avith    a 

(.    er  wamson.)  niark  of  (loubt  Under  AmpelidcV,  in  AvhateA'-er 


DIAPHRAGM— DICTUM  135 

sense  (and  that  is  uncertain)  he  used  the  word.  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat. 
B.  Br.  Mm.  x.  pp.  3,  54  et  seqq.)  refers  it  to  the  Dkxidx — a  group 
which,  he  says,  "cannot  be  defined  in  exact  ierm^  "  {iom.  cif.  p.  2), 
and  the  genus  Pardalotus  is  made  to  consist  of  9  species.  If  this 
assignment  be  correct,  the  name  of  the  Family  should  be  changed, 
as  the  genus  Pardalotm  antedates  DlC^EUM,  and,  according  to  usage, 
the  Family  is  called  after  the  oldest  genus  it  contains. 

DIAPHRAGM  (Greek    8Lu.c{)pay[xa),   the    transverse    muscular 
partition  below  the  heart  and  lungs  and  above  the  liver,  stomach, 
and  rest  of  the  intestinal  canal,  fully  developed  in  Mammals  only. 
In  Birds  it  is  incomplete  and  rather  diflerently  arranged,  consisting 
(1)  of  the  pulmonary  or  transverse,  and  (2)  of  the  abdominal  or 
oblique  jDortion.      The  first  arises   from   the  second  to  the  sixth 
pairs  of  ribs  near  the  lateral  edge  of  the  lungs,  and  spreads  over 
their   ventral    surface   as    an   aponeurotic    membrane,   Avhile    it    is 
connected  with  the  vertebral  column  as  the  median  vertical  septum  ; 
completely  sej>arating  the  lungs  and  the  cervical  air-sacs  from  the 
rest  of  the   thoraco-abdominal   cavity.      Small  voluntary  muscles 
arising  from  the  ribs  and  from  the  sternum  extend  over  part  of  the 
aponeurosis.      The  second  or  oblique  half  is  entirely  membranous 
without  muscular  fibres  :  it  forms  the  continuation  of  the  ventral 
margin  of  the  vertical  median  septum,  and  is  connected  with  the 
pericardium  and  with  the  medio-ventral  portion  of  the  sternum, 
while  the  rest  extends  obliquely  through  the  abdominal  cavity  to 
the  posterior  and  ventral  margins  of  the  sternum.      The  space  thus 
enclosed  is  the  subpulmonary  chamber,  divided  into  a  right  and  a 
left  half  by  the  vertical  septum.      Three  transverse  septa  divide 
again  either  half  into  four  loculi,  into  each  of  which  one  of  the  three 
or  four  post-bronchial   AiR-SACS  extends   from  the   lungs.       Con- 
sequently the  whole  of  the  diaphragmatic  memljranes  divide  the 
entire    thoraco-abdominal    cavity    into    three    chambers:    (1)    the 
Pulmonary  chamber,  anteriorly  and  dorsally  from  the  pulmonary 
septum,    containing  the  lungs  and  cervical  air-sacs ;   (2)    the  Sub- 
pulmonary    chamber,   anteriorly   and   ventrally   from    the    oblique 
septum,    and  ventrally    from    the    pulmonary    septum,    containing 
most    of    the    air-sacs ;    and    (3)    the    Cardio-abdominal    chamber, 
posteriorly  from  or  below  the  oblique  septum,  containing  the  heart 
and  the  rest  of  the  intestines. 

DIC.EUM,  a  group   differentiated   by  Cuvier  in   1817   (B^gne 
Aniiii.  i.  p.  410)  for  the  Certhia  cruentata  of  Linnaeus 
and  its  allies,  several  of  which   inhabit  India,  and 
one  of  them — D.  Jiirundinaceum — Australia,  in  Avhich 
country  the   scientific   name   has   been   accepted  as  dicbum. 

English  (Gould,  Hcmdb.  B.  Austral,  i.  p.  581).      The    (After  Swainson.) 
group  has  since  been  recognized  as  entitled  not  only  to  generic  rank. 


136  DICK-CISSEL— DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM 


and  subdivided  into  several  sections  or  genera,  but  has  been  of  late 
advanced  to  the  dignity  of  a  Family,  Dicxida;,  for  which  much  might 
be  said  ;  but  several  forms  have  at  the  same  time  been  erroneously 
referred  to  it  (Sharpe,  Cat.  B.  Br.  Mns.  x.  pp.  9-84) — among  them 
the  Diamond-birds  above  mentioned.  The  Dicmidai  range  from 
Nepal  through  India  (where  they  have  been  called,  but  seemingly 
without  reason,  Flower-pickers)  and  the  Malay  Archipelago  to 
China  and  Australia  ;  but  to  this  Family  have  been  referred  a  good 
many  forms  which  Dr.  Gadow's  researches  prove  to  have  no  near 
relationship  to  DicR'um  proper. 

DICK-CISSEL,  the  nickname  familiarly  applied  to  the  Black- 
throated  Bunting  of  writers,  Spim  or  Empiza  americana,  a  species 
whose  recent  disappearance  from  localities  which  it  formerly  fre- 
quented has  not  yet  been  explained  by  North-American  ornitholo- 
gists (cf.  H.  M.  Smith,  Proc.  U.S.  Nat.  Mus.  xiii.  p.  171). 

DIDAPPER  or  DIVED APPEE,  an  old  name  (cf.  Shakespear, 
Fenus  and  Adonis,  line  86)  for  the  Dabghick  or  Little  GtREBE. 

DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM.  This  consists  chiefly  of  the  Ali- 
mentary Canal  and  its  glandular  appendages,  the  former,  beginning 
with  the  Mouth,  is  successively  made  up  of  the  CESOPHAGUS,  the 
Stomach,  the  small  intestine  or  "ileum,"  and  the  large  intestine 
or  "  rectum  "  (with  the  C^CA  when  present),  which  last  opens  into 
the  Cloaca.  The  glandular  appendages  are  either  proventricular 
and  other  mucous  glands,  imbedded  in  the  walls  of  the  Canal,  or 
salivary  glands,  LiVER,  and  Pancreas,  communicating  with  it 
through  special  ducts.  The  function  of  the  System  is  of  two 
separate  kinds  :  first  the  preparation  of  the  food,  which  is  effected 
in  part  mechanically  and  in  part  by  chemically -acting  secretions 
of  the  accessory  glands ;  and  secondly  the  absorption  of  the 
"  chyle,"  or  prepared  nutritive  fluid,  by  means  of  the  Lymphatic 
System. 

The  digestive  process  is  as  folloAvs  : — The  food  taken  into  the 
mouth  is  swallowed  and  passes  through  the  oesophagus  into  the 
stomach,  assisted  in  its  descent  by  the  secretions  of  the  salivary 
and  mucous  glands.  When  there  is  a  Crop,  it  is  therein  mixed 
with  saliva  and  water,  and  assisted  by  the  heat  of  the  body  is 
softened  and  acted  upon  in  a  preliminary  way.  It  then  enters  the 
stomach,  where  it  meets  with  the  secretions  of  the  proventricular  or 
gastric  glands.  But  beside  being  acted  upon  chemically  it  is 
crushed  and  triturated  in  the  gizzard,  especially  in  graminivorous 
and  granivorous  birds,  which  possess  a  strong  muscular  stomach. 
Thus  comminuted  it  is  knoA\ai  as  "  chyme,"  and  passes  through  the 
pylorus  into  the  small  intestine,  in  the  first  loop  of  which,  the 
"  duodenum,"  it  is  mixed  with  the  bile  and  pancreatic  juice,  these 


DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM  137 

two  fluids  being  the  secretions  of  the  liver  and  the  pancreas. 
Their  principal  action  is  to  convert  its  soluble  parts  into 
"  peptones,"  which  are  to  be  conveyed  into  the  Lymphatic  System, 
and  so  into  the  Blood.  Their  absorption  as  chjde  is  eftected  by 
numerous  "  villi "  or  projections  which  line  the  walls  of  the  whole 
Canal  from  the  pylorus  to  the  cloaca.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
rectum  the  cseca,  when  such  are  functional,  receive  the  remaining 
chyme,  and  it  is  probable  that  in  them  certain  hitherto  undissolved 
matter,  as  cellulose  and  possibly  chitin,  is  acted  upon  by  marsh- 
gas,  so  as  to  extract  as  much  nutrition  as  possible  from  the 
food.  After  remaining  a  due  time  in  the  caeca,  their  contents 
return  into  the  rectum,  and  are  finally  ejected  through  the  cloaca 
as  fseces. 

The  walls  of  the  Alimentary  Canal  are  composed  oi  fiwc  layers, 
of  which  the  innermost  only  is  of  "  endodermal "  origin,  the  rest 
being  "mesodermal"  (see  Embryology).  These  layers  are:  (1) 
the  tunica  serosa  or  adventitia,  which  is  outermost  and  consists  of 
partly  elastic  connective  tissue ;  (2)  a  layer  of  smooth  musculai 
fibres,  transversely  or  circularly  arranged ;  (3)  one  of  smooth 
muscular  fibres,  longitudinally  arranged ;  (4)  the  tunica  submucosa 
of  loose  connective  tissue,  which  contains  nerves,  blood,  and 
lymphatic  vessels ;  and  (5)  the  tvnica  mitcosa  or  innermost  lining, 
composed  of  epithelial  cells,  which  give  rise  to  mucous  and  various 
specific  digestive  glands.  It  is  noteworthy  that  Birds  and  Reptiles 
differ  from  Mammals  in  the  succession  of  the  two  muscular  layers 
(2  and  3),  since  in  the  last  the  circular  fibres  are  placed  on  the 
inside,  next  to  the  submucosa  (4),  while  the  longitudinal  fibres 
together  with  the  serosa  (1)  form  the  outer  wall.  These  layers 
vary  considerably  in  the  different  parts  of  the  Alimentary  Canal ; 
thus  the  thickening  of  the  walls  of  the  gizzard  is  due  to  the 
excessive  development  of  the  muscular  layers,  while  in  the 
oesophagus  the  mucosa  is  represented  chiefly  by  ordinary  epithelial 
cells,  comparatively  few  of  which  form  simple  mucous  glands, 
though  in  the  region  of  the  proventriculus  its  cells  are  transformed 
into  large  glands,  often  closely  packed  and  compressed,  constituting 
the  greater  part  of  the  thickened  walls.  Again,  in  the  gizzard  no 
such  specific,  but  only  mucous  glands  occur,  the  hardened  secretion 
of  which  invests  its  cavity  with  an  additional  cuticular  lining. 
Both  the  small  and  large  intestines  are  characterized  by  numerous 
villi,  protruding  into  the  canal  as  excrescences  of  the  two  innermost 
layers,  and  absorbing  the  prepared  nutritive  fluid.  Beside  the 
ordinaiy  mucous  glands  the  mucosa  gives  rise  to  two  masses  of 
specific  nature  which  as  LiVER  and  Pancreas  grow  out  of  the 
walls  of  the  duodenum,  and  thus  indicate  their  point  of  origin  only 
by  their  respective  ducts. 

The  intestine,  or  gut  proper,  begins  at  the  pyloric  end  of  the 


138 


DIGESTIVE   SYSTEM 


stomach  and  ends  at  the  cloaca.  It  may  be  conveniently  divided 
into  (1)  the  duudemim  or  first  loop,  (2)  the  ileum  or  narrowest  and 
longest  portion,  equivalent  to  both  the  jejunum  and  ileum  of  man, 
and  lastly  (3)  the  redum,  corresponding  Anth  his  large  intestine. 
The  transition  from  the  ileum  to  the  rectum  is  marked  by  a  more 
or  less  circular  valve  (the  "  ileo-csecal "),  so  placed  as  to  permit  its 
contents  to  pass  into  the  caeca  and  rectum,  but  to  hinder  their 
return — their  passage  throughout  the  whole  intestine  being  aided  by 
the  peristaltic  contractions  of  the  muscular  layers  of  its  walls.  An 
epithelium  of  cylindrical  cells,  forming  a  colourless,  structureless 
and  soft  cuticle,   lines  nearly  the  whole  of   the   intestine,  and  is 


P.G., 


Diagram  of  the  Digestive  Organs  of  a  Bird. 
T.  Tongue  ;  P.G.  L.G.  Parotid  and  salivary  glands  ;  Tr.  Trachea ;  I.Br.  r.Br.  left  and  right 
bronchus  ;  Cr.  Crop  ;  Pr.  Proventriculus  or  glandular  stomach  ;  g.  Gizzard  or  iimscular  stomach  ; 
Py.  Pylorus  ;  D.  Duodenum  ;  X.  Liver  with  gall-bladder  and  duct ;  Pa.  Pancreas  with  duct ; 
C.  Caeca  ;  E.  Rectum  ;  A'.  Kidney  with  Ureter  oiiening  into  the  middle  cloacal  chamber. 


perforated  by  numerous  small  pores,  oiiening  upon  their  interstices. 
In  many  parts  these  cells  form  very  simple  and  sometimes  tubular 
glands  ("  Lieberkiihn's "),  and  the  greater  portion  of  the  walls  is 
beset  with  the  villi  mentioned  above.  These  are  very  numerous, 
and  are  arranged  in  various  ways — being  either  uniformly  and 
thickly  spread  over  the  surface,  giving  it  a  velvety  appearance,  or 
are  longer  and  more  sparingly  distributed  in  lines,  which  may  be 
straight  or  zigzag,  transvei'se  or  longitudinal.  Their  arrangement 
is  occasionally  charactei'istic  of  different  groups  of  birds ;  but  it 
varies  also  in  different  parts  of  the  gut.  As  a  rule  they  are  largest 
and  most  numerous  in  the  duodenum,  but  sometimes  in  the  rectum 


DIGESTIVE   SYSTEM 


139 


as  well.  The  structure  of  these  small  hut  important  organs  will  be 
best  understood  by  reference  to  the  accompanying  figure.  Each 
villus  consists  of  a  finger-shaped  prolongation  of  the  tissue  of  the 
submucosa,  Avhich  contains  a  ramified  central  canal  conveying  the 
collected  chyle  into  the  lymphatic  vessels,  which  are  frequently 
connected  with  a  lymphatic  follicle  for  the  production  of  white 
BLOOD -corpuscles  or  lymph-cells.  A  pair  of  small  arteries  and 
veins  enter  the  villus,  forming  a  capillary  network,  while  fine 
unstriped  miiscles  in  its  walls  contract  it  and  force  the  chyle  into 
the  lymphatic  vessels.  In  the  figure,  on  one  side  of  the  villus  is 
shewn  a  Lieberkiihn's  gland,  since  such  are  generally  associated 
with  the  villi. 


Fig.  1.  Fig.  2. 

Fig.  1. — Diagram  of  an  Intestinal  Villus  with  the  Central  Absorbent,  Ramified  Canal. 
L.v.  its  duct ;  A  and  v.  Artery  and  vein  ascending  in  5m.  the  submucous  layer  ;  Fj.  Cylindrical 
cells  of  til  e  epitlieliuiii  of  tlie  mucous  layer,  which  at  L.G.  forms  a  Lieberkuhn  gland;  Lg.  and 
An.  Longitudinal  ami  annular  or  circular  muscular  fibres  ;  ,s'e.  Serosa  or  outer  layer  of  connective  A.       ., 
tissue,  together  with  the  investing  peritoneal  lamella  Pc,  which  forms  the  mesentery  J/,  in  Fig.  2.     jir^-r-<^ 

Fig.  2. — Diagram  of  a  Transverse  Section  through  the  Intestine. 
V.  Villi ;  jl/.  Mesentery  with  blood-  and  lymphatic  vessels. 


C0 

7  -.fn^  /^f 


The  capacity  of  the  Intestinal  Canal  depends  upon  the  nature 
of  the  bird's  food.  In  order  to  compare  its  length  in  different 
forms  we  require  a  unit  by  which  to  arrive  at  its  relative  propor- 
tions. The  length  of  the  whole  vertebral  column,  or  even  the  dis- 
tance from  the  tip  of  the  bill  to  that  of  the  tail,  has  been 
frequently  used ;  but  this  gives  only  faulty  results,  since  the 
length  of  the  neck  is  obviously  not  correlated  Avith  that  of  the  intes- 
tine. Numerous  measurements  and  comparisons  have  led  me  to 
adopt  as  the  unit  the  distance  from  the  first  thoracic  vertebra  {i.e. 
from  the  root  of  the  neck)  to  the  anus,  and  thus  the  quotient  of 
the  absolute  length  of  the  intestine  from  the  pylorus  to  the  anus  is 
the  relative  length  of  the  gut.  This  relative  length  is  very  con- 
stant in  a  species,  and  often  gives  results  of  considerable  taxo- 
nomic  value.       Of  course   "  short-gutted  "  and   "  long-gutted  "  are 


DIGESTIVE   SYSTEM 


arbitrary  expressions  ;  but,  if  we  assume  that  a  relative  length  not 
exceeding  5  indicates  a  short,  and  one  of  more  than  8  a  long  gut, 
we  find  that  the  Intestinal  Canal  is  very  short  in  all  purely  frugi- 
vorous  and  insectivorous  birds,  while  it  is  very  long  in  those  which 
live  upon  fishes,  carrion,  grain,  and  grass.  It  must,  however,  be 
remarked  that,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  food,  a  short  intes- 
tinal canal  is  often  compensated  by  its  Avidth  either  wholly  or  in 
part,  as  of  the  rectum,  or  by  the  presence  of  large  cseca.  Conse- 
quently all  these  points  have  to  be  considered  in  using  the  features 
of  the  intestine  for  taxonomic  purposes.  Gxteris  paribus,  the  rela- 
tive length  of  the  canal  is  as  good  a  character  as  many  others,  and 
occasionally  by  it  alone  closely -allied  species  can  be  determined. 
The  subjoined  table  shews  the  measurements  of  the  intestine  in  a 
few  forms  ;  but  for  fuller  information  the  reader  may  be  referred 
to  (Bronn's)  Kl  &  Ordn.  Thier-E.  Vogel,  pp.  590-661  and  700,  where 
the  respective  measurements  of  Jiearly  400  birds  will  be  found. 


dom 


Struthio  camelus    . 
Casufirius  indicus    . 
Splicniscus  minor  . 
Anser  cinereus,  var. 
Procellai'ia  leaehi    . 
Ardea  ciiierea     . 
Gallus  bankiva,  var.  dom 
Syrrhaptes  paradoxus . 
Columba  livia,  var.  dom 
Paudion  haliaetus  .     . 
Astnr  palumbarius .     . 
Corythaix  persa. 
Cypselus  apus    . 
Corvus  corax 
ivlanucodia  atra . 
Passer  domestieus  . 


Absolute  Length 
of' 
1  Csecum.      Rectum. 


■2 
•5 

20 


cm. 

70 

13 
2 

24 
0 
0 

17 

12 
0-8 
0-3 
0-7 
0 
0 

l*-4 
0-5 
0-2 


Length  of 

Intestinal  Canal. 

Absolute  :  Relative 


cm. 
820 
28 

7 
18 

1-5 
10 

8-11 
10 

4 

9 

7 


cm. 

1430 

ISO 

223 

260 

29 

212 

136-170 

SO 

108-132 

300 

108 

42 

17 

120 

29 

21 


20 

3-4 
16 
12 

5 
10 

8-10 

9 
Il- 
ls 

6 


13 


2-3 

5-6 


In  early  embryonic  stages  the  Intestinal  Canal  is  a  straight 
tube ;  but,  as  its  growth  proceeds  far  more  rapidly  than  that  of  the 
body-cavity,  it  is  necessarily  thrown  into  folds  or  loops.  Moreover, 
since  it  is  suspended  from  the  vertebral  column  by  the  mesentery,  or 
lining  of  the  body-cavity,  its  several  folds  are  thereby  connected 
with  one  another  in  various  ways,  and  their  number  and  shape 
depend  to  a  great  extent  upon  the  space  available  in  the  cavity,  as 
well  as  upon  the  shape,  size,  and  position  of  the  stomach  and 
neighbouring  organs ;  but  the  various  ways  in  which  the  small  in- 
testine is  stowed  away  in  different  birds  exhibit  types  so  definite 
and  constant  that  they  cannot  be  considered  accidental  or  meaning- 
less features.     On  the  contrary,  a  somewhat  exhaustive  study  of  its 


DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM  141 

convolutions  reveals  their  taxonomic  value,  and  enables  me  to  say 
that  the  Digestive  System,  taken  in  its  entirety — that  is  to  say, 
the  crop,  glandular  and  muscular  stomach,  liver,  gall-bladder  with 
its  ducts,  cteca,  and  the  relative  length  and  convolutions  of  the  in- 
testinal canal — aftbrds  more  diagnostic  features  than  any  other 
organic  system — the  osseous  excepted.  Moreover,  it  has  the  great 
advantage  that  through  reference  to  the  food  we  can  in  many  cases 
account  for  the  aberrant  features  of  the  digestive  organs  displayed 
by  birds  otherwise  closely  allied.  So  much  cannot  be  said  for  char- 
acters furnished  by  Pterylosis,  and  attempts  to  explain  taxonomic- 
ally  the  more  important  difierences  observable  in  the  Muscular 
System  have  hitherto  been  futile  because  of  the  complex  problems 
involved.  At  any  rate,  we  ought  not  to  treat  recent  birds  as  if  " 
they'  were  fossil  and  had  left  us  nothing  but  their  bones,  unless, 
indeed,  the  specimens  be  skinned  and  all  their  other  important  char- 
acters thrown  away. 

It  is  hoped  therefore  that  a  brief  general  account,  condensed 
from  a  paper  in  the  Zoological  Proceedings  for  1889  (pp.  303-316), 
of  the  chief  types  of  intestinal  structure  in  birds  may  here  have 
interest,  especially  as,  with  the  exception  of  Cuvier,  British  Ana- 
tomists only^  have  treated  the  subject,  and  since  the  days  of 
Macgillivray,  who  alone  attempted  it  systematically,  this  branch 
of  Ornithotomy  has  been  neglected,  perhaps  from  the  apparent  but 
not  real  difficulty  of  studying  these  easily-putrefying  organs. 

In  a  typical  loop  of  the  intestines  of  a  bird  we  distinguish 
between  a  descending  and  an  ascending  branch  ;  both  meet  at  the 
distal  end  or  apex  of  the  loop,  and  this  forms  its  turning-point. 
The  starting-point  is  the  pylorus,  the  goal  the  cloaca.  Each  looj) 
is  either  closed  or  open.  It  is  closed  when  both  the  descending 
and  the  ascending  branches  are  throughout  the  length  of  the  loop 
closely  bound  together  by  an  extension  of  the  mesentery  and  its 
vessels.  Of  these  vessels,  as  a  rule,  each  principal  loop  receives 
one  bigger  branch  from  the  middle  mesenteric  artery.  A  loop  is 
open  when  its  two  branches  are  not  closely  connected  by  mesentery 
and  vessels ;  the  mesentery  is  wider,  and  the  two  branches  of  the 
looji  may  receive  another  loop  or  intestinal  fold  between  them,  the 
latter  then  resting  upon  the  mesentery  of  the  former  open  loop. 

The  duodenum  is  always  a  typically-closed  loop.     Its  first  or 

^  E.  Home,  The  course  of  the  intestine  with  the  varieties  in  the  form  of  the 
caeca  in  carnivorous,  piscivorous,  and  granivorous  birds,  Phil.  Trans,  1814.  G. 
Cuvier,  Lemons  d'anatomie  comimree,  ed.  2,  1835.  K.  Owen,  Todd's  Cyclopmdia 
of  Anatomy  and  Physiologij,  article  "  Aves,"  1836.  W.  ]\Iacgillivray,  "Obser- 
vations on  the  Digestive  Organs  of  Birds,"  3£ag.  Zool.  and  Bot.  1837.  Occasional 
notes  on  the  intestinal  canal  are  extremely  numerous,  among  others  by  Burton, 
Crisp,  Duvernay,  Forbes,  Garrod,  Jobert,  Leuckart,  L'Herminier,  Martin,  Nitzsch, 
Pavesi,  Perrin,  and  Yarrell       , 


142 


DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM 


descending  branch  lies,  when  viewed  from  the  ventral  side,  to  the 
right  of  the  second  or  ascending  branch ;  both  invariably  enclose 
the  Pancreas. 

A  loop  which  runs  in  the  same  Avay-  as  the  duodenum  may  be 
termed  rifjld-handed,  and  one  running  in  the  opposite  way  is  left- 
handed,  i.e.  its  descending  branch  lies  to  the  left  of  the  ascending- 
branch.  Again,  if  the  intestine  forms  a  number  of  (mostly  closed) 
loops,  which  run  parallel  with  each  other  in  the  long  axis  of  the 
bod}'',  we  term  this  arrangement  orthoaelous,  or  straight-gutted. 


J 


d 


h 

DlAIIRAMMATIO   RePRKSENTATION   OF  THE    PRINCIPAL   RELATIVE    POSITIONS   OF   THE    INTESTINAL 

Loops  when  sees  from  the  right  side. 
■a.  Isoctflous.  T}.  Anticoelous.  c.  Anti-Periccelous.  d.  Iso-Pericoelous. 

e.  Cyclocwlous.  /,  </.  Plagiocoelous.  h.  Telogyrous. 

The  descending  branches  of  tlie  loups  are  marked  by  black  lines,  the  ascending  or  return- 
ing branches  ai'e  dotted. 

The  tirst  and  third  loops  in  fig.  h  are  "  right-handed,"  the  second  is  "left-handed  "  ;  iu  tig.  c 
tlie  second  is  "left-,"  the  third  "right-handed."  etc. 

(From  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Societij,  18S9.) 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  loops  form  a  spiral,  we  dis- 
tinguish this  formation  as  ci/rlanelous. 

Of  the  uiilioadons  type  the  following  modifications  deserve  espe- 
cial remark  with  reference  to  the  second  and  third  loops  ;  the  first, 
or  duodenal,  loop  is  invariably  right-handed,  and  therefore  needs 
no  further  comment. 

I.    Isorcehmx. — The  second  and  third,   and,   if  present,  also  the 

fourth  loop  are  all  closed  and   left-handed.      The  second  is  most 

■  dorsally  situated,  the   third  to  the  right  of  it,   the  fourth  to  the 


DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM  143 

right  of  the  latter,  between  it  and  the  duodenum.  The  ascending 
branch  of  one  loop  runs  side  by  side  with  the  descending  branch  of 
the  next  following  one. 

II.  Anticoelous. — The  second  and  third  loops  are  closed  and 
sharply  alternating ;  the  second  is  left-,  the  third  is  right-handed  ; 
the  second  lies  dorsally,  consequently  its  ascending  branch  runs  side 
by  side  with  that  of  the  third. 

III.  Plagiocodous. — The  second  and  often  more  loops  are  doubled 
or  turned  over  with  the  apices  like  a  horseshoe,  giving  the  loops, 
which  are  generally  open,  an  irregular  or  convoluted  appearance. 

IV.  Pericoelous. — The  second  loop  is  left-handed,  open,  and 
encloses  the  third  which  is  generally  straight  and  closed.  This 
formation  is  of  especial  interest,  because  it  leads  quite  gradually  to 
the 

V.  Cydocodous  formation  by  the  conversion  of  the  second  and 
third  loops  into  one  left-handed  spiral.  Such  a  conversion  of  the 
second  and  third  loops  into  a  spiral  occurs  in  the  Limicolse,  LaridcB, 
and  Golumhds.  Each  of  these  families  possesses  some  genera  in  which 
the  spiral  is  still  represented  by  long,  oval,  concentric  turns,  and 
even  some  genera  which  still  exhibit  the  pericoelous  type  with  the 
two  loops  in  question  still  separate,  distinct,  and  more  or  less 
straight. 

Not  every  spiral,  however,  is  formed  by  the  concentration  of 
two  loops.  In  many  instances  a  spiral  is  produced  by  one  loop 
being  curled  upon  itself,  its  apex  then  forming  the  centre  of  the 
spiral.  To  the  apex  is  attached  the  diverticulum  cajcum  vitelli ; 
this  shews  that  this  spiral  is  produced  by  the  primitive  fold  of  the 
embryonic  mid-gut. 

Such  is  the  case  in  all  the  Passeres,  and  since  there  are  only 
three  folds  formed  by  the  whole  gut,  the  spiral  represents  the 
middle  or  second  fold  ;  hence  this  arrangement  may  be  distinguished 
as  mesogijrous.  The  number  of  turns  in  such  a  spiral  depends 
directly  upon  the  length  of  the  intestine ;  while  in  the  short-gutted 
Sylvise  the  spiral  is  just  indicated,  there  are  in  the  Sparrow  (with 
an  intestinal  length  of  21  cm.)  1|  direct  and  1  retrograde  turn, 
and  in  Pinicola  enudeator  (which  possesses  an  intestine  of  99 
cm.  in  length)  there  are  many  direct  turns. 

It  is  clear  that  with  an  original  number  of  only  four  loops,  the 
conversion  of  the  two  middle  ones  into  a  single  spiral  will  cause 
such  birds  as  certain  Limicolse,  Laridx,  and  Colunibse  likewise  to 
assume  the  mesogyrous  feature ;  but  the  position  of  the  diverticle 
on  the  original  third  loop,  and  the  relations  of  these  birds,  e.g. 
Charadrius  and  Sterna,  shew  that  this  mesogyrous  formation  has 
been  brought  about  in  a  way  different  from  that  of  the  Passeres. 

Lastly,  the  distal  portion  of  any  loop  originally  straight  may  be 
coiled  up  into  a  spiral,  while  the  rest  of  the  loop  remains  straight. 


144  DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM 

This  feature  may  be  termed  telogyrous.  With  the  duodenum  this  is 
very  rare,  it  then  invariably  forms  a  right-handed  spiral,  e.g.  in 
Buceros,  Ciconia,  and  Milvus ;  the  duodenum  is  more  irregularly 
twisted  in  certain  Pelargi  and  Accipitres.  The  ends  of  the  second, 
third,  and  foixrth  loops  are  never  coiled  into  a  regular  spiral,  but 
rather  form  irregularly  coiled  masses,  in  many  Pelargi,  Accipitres, 
and  in  the  Psitfaci. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  cyclocoelous  (meso-  or  telogyrous)  feature 
by  itself  cannot  be  taken  as  a  character  which  indicates  the  affinity 
of  the  larger  groups  or  Orders  of  Birds,  unless  we  take  the  mode 
of  development  of  these  concentric  convolutions  into  consideration. 
In  fact,  the  cyclocoslus  formation  is  the  highest  mode  of  stowing 
in  the  smallest  compass  that  portion  of  the  gut  which  had  to  be 
increased  in  length,  the  relative  length  of  the  mid -gut  being 
dependent  upon  the  nature  and  composition  of  the  food.  In  strictly 
orthocoelous  birds  the  increased  length  of  the  gut  causes  the  formation 
of  secondary  folds  anywhere  between  the  previously  existing  loops, 
whereby  frequently  a  very  irregular  arrangement  of  all  the  convolu- 
tions is  caused.  A  similar  process  has  produced  the  plagiocoelous 
feature  (fig.  /),  which  was  probably  derived  from  an  orthocoelous 
basis. 

The  highest  and  perhaps  newest  mode  of  stowing  an  increased 
amount  of  intestinal  length  is  that  in  which  one  of  the  folds  already 
existing  is  lengthened  and,  owing  to  its  interstitial  growth,  turns 
into  a  spiral ;  in  this  way  the  other  loops  will  undergo  the  least 
possible  disturbance. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  here  a  long  and  detailed  enumeration 
and  description  of  the  intestinal  convolutions  as  they  occur  in  the 
numerous  Oi'ders  and  Families  of  birds,  because  this  has  been  done 
elsewhere.^ 

Secondary  shortening  and  widening  of  the  gut  (owing  to  the 
assumption  of  frugivorous  habits)  may  reduce  the  number  of  loops, 
and  may  render  the  original  arrangement  quite  untraceable,  as  in 
Carpophaga,  Ekamphastus,  and  Manucodia.  When  a  bird  has  acquired 
strictly  piscivorous  habits,  the  gut  is  considerably  lengthened  and 
narrowed  and  may,  as  in  Pandion  and  in  Haliaetus,  render  the  old 
formation  quite  unrecognizable.  These  are,  however,  exceptions, 
which  are  not  numerous  ;  as  a  rule  the  lengthening  of  the  pre- 
existing loops  and  the  additional  intercalation  of  new  ones  does  not 
disturb  the  typical  formation,  but  rather  throws  interesting  lights 
upon  the  lines  of  new  departure  along  Avhich  certain  birds  have 
become  developed,  e.g.  the  Alcedinidse  from  a  Coraciine  stock,  now 
modified  through  the  acquisition  of  carnivorous  and  piscivorous 
habits. 

1  Jenaische  Zeitschrift  f.  Naturwlss,  xiii.  pp.  92-117,  339-403,  pis.  iv.-ix.  aud 
xvi.  ;  P.  Z.  S.  1889,  pp.  303-316,  pi.  xxxii.  ;  Bronn's  Tkierreich. 


DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM  145 

All  the  Batitx  agree  in  having  the  second  loop  right-handed, 
and  the  thii'd  left-handed ;  this  is  a  feature  which  occurs  again  only 
in  the  Crypturi,  Gallinse,  OpistJiocomus,  and  in  the  Cuculidse.  More- 
over, as  with  the  exception  of  the  duodenum  none  of  the  loops  are 
closed  and  well  defined,  the  Picditx  represent  in  this  respect  the 
lowest  avine  type. 

The  Gallinse  form  a  well-defined  group  ;  lowest  among  them 
stand  the  Neotropical  Cracklx,  through  Avhich  they  lead  towards 
the  Crypturi.  The  Gallinse  have  also  an  unmistakable  resem- 
blance to  Opisthocomus  and  thence  to  the  Ciiculidm. 

The  Turnices,  to  which  belongs  undoubtedly  Pedionomus,  are 
traceable  to  a  Ralline  or  low  Gralline  stock,  with  assumed 
plagiocoelous  characters  of  the  second  loop. 

The  pericoelous  assemblage  is  large.  It  is  typically  represented 
by  the  Waders,  of  which  the  Limicolx  and  the  Pallidie  form  the 
principal  groups. 

The  Rallidx  with  Otis  and  Grus  are  connected  Avith  the  Turnices, 
more  distantly  with  the  Cryptnri,  and  still  more  so  with  Apteryx. 
Dicholophus  is  in  all  points  a  Gruine  form,  like  Fsophia,  and  cannot 
be  separated  from  them.  Bhinochetus  contains  Ealline,  Limicoline, 
and  Iliis-like  features ;  the  only  bird  which  it  resembles  somewhat 
closely  in  its  very  peculiar  intestinal  convolutions  is  Podica. 

The  Limicolx  agree  with  the  Laridse,  and  also  with  the  Columhai 
in  all  essential  points.  Each  of  these  three  groups  contains  a  number 
of  forms  Avhich  lead  in  an  unbroken  series  from  the  typically  peri- 
coelous birds  with  four  alternating  loops  to  the  typically  mesogyrous 
birds.  Most  Columbx  and  Laridx  are  mesogyrous,  but  Sterna  and 
its  allies  represent  pericoelous  or  lower  forms.  Neither  granivorous, 
nor  insectivorous,  nor  piscivorous  habits  have  exerted  any  appreciable 
influence  upon  their  intestinal  convolutions,  although  of  course  the 
stomach  and  the  cseca  are  affected.  The  presence  of  the  crop  of  the 
Columbm  is  repeated  in  the  granivorous  Limicoline  genera  Attagis 
and  Thinocorys. 

Numenius  approaches  in  various  ways  the  Ibises,  whence  a  con- 
tinuous line  can  be  traced  into  Platalea  and  Phoenicopteriis  on  the  one 
hand  and  into  the  Pelargi  proper  on  the  other. 

Eather  different  from  the  Limicohv  are  the  Pterodidse.  They 
have  four  loops,  which  are  all  closed,  lef1>handed,  i.e.  isocoelous,  and 
straight  ;  the  second  and  fourth  loops  have  their  apices  turned  back, 
and  especially  the  terminal  end  of  the  second  resembles  somewhat  a 
plagiocoelous  formation.  The  Pterodidse  have  consequently  various 
points  in  common  with  the  Pallidse,  Limicolse,  and  Cohtrnbx. 

The  Alcidai  are  pericoelous  and  strictly  orthocoelous  ;  they  agree 
with  the  Laro-Limicolai  in  the  configuration  of  their  first  three  loops, 
but  they  differ  from  them  in  the  number  of  loops,  Avhich  is  at  least 
six,  the  last  three  of  which  are  left-handed.     They  approach  in  this 

10 


146  DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM 

respect  the  Pygopodes.  These  {Colymhidx  and  Podicipedidx)  shew 
unmistakable  affinities  AAdth  what  may  be  called  generalized  or  low 
Gralline  forms  ;  their  four  or  five  loops  are  closed,  orthocoelous,  and 
alternating.  The  Pygopodes  connect  the  large  assemblage  of  the 
Waders  with  the  following  congregation,  of  which  the  Herodii, 
Steganopodes,  Tubinares,  and  Spheniscidx  are  all  divergent  types.  A 
very  close  connexion  exists  between  the  Herodii  and  the  Steganopodes, 
and  this  is  supported  by  numerous  other  characters.  The  Tubinares 
are  in  more  than  one  respect  the  most  specialized  outcome  of  this 
great  collective  Order,  and  reach  in  the  typically  mesogyrous 
Procellariinse  their  highest  development. 

The  Spheniscidx  are  very  specialized.  They  possess  undeniable 
characters  in  common  with  the  Pygopodes,  Steganopodes,  and  Tubinares ; 
they  are  on  the  whole  orthocoelous,  but  the  extreme  length  of  their 
gut  thrown  into  numerous  straight  and  oblique,  or  quite  irregular, 
convolutions  renders  comparison  very  difficult. 

The  Anseres,  to  which  belongs  Palamedea  as  a  probably  very  old 
member,  are  all  orthocoelous  and  combine  peri-  and  plagioccelous 
characters  in  their  second  loop.  The  five  or  six  principal  loops  are 
alternating  ;  the  last  four  are  closed  and  straight.  As  typically 
orthocoelous,  aquatic  birds,  and  as  Prsecoces  they  agree  with  the 
Pygopodes,  and  the  root  of  the  stock  of  the  Anseres  has  to  be  looked 
for  in  this  direction  alone. 

The  Pelargi,  containing  the  Hemiglottides  {Ibis  and  Platalea), 
Phcenicopterus,  and  the  Ciconim,  are  rather  diverging  forms,  which  can 
be  characterized  as  possessing  four  very  long  and  mostly  closed  loops 
(with  occasional  secondary  loops  intercalated),  of  which  the  first  three 
have  a  tendency  to  coil  their  apical  ends  into  more  or  less  irregular 
spirals  :  this  leads  sometimes  to  an  almost  mesogyrous  formation. 

The  Hemiglottides  approach  nearest  to  the  Limicolsc,  although 
their  points  of  resemblance  with  Ntimeniiis  may  possibly  be  cases  of 
convergence  only.  Very  closely  allied  to,  in  fact  inseparable  from 
the  Hemiglottides,  and  connecting  them  with  Tantalus,  and  thus  with 
the  Ciconide  proper,  is  Phcenicopterus ;  there  is  not  one  single  feature 
in  the  whole  of  the  Digestive  System  in  which  this  bird  difters  from 
the  Pelargi  or  resembles  the  Anseres  except  in  the  presence  of  small 
but  functional  c^ca,  which  are  nearly  lost  in  the  Pelargi.  But 
these  caeca  stand  in  direct  relation  to  the  food  of  the  Flamingoes, 
which  consists  of  the  confervae  in  the  mud  of  the  lagoons.  The 
zoophagous  Pelargi  have  lost  them,  the  phytophagous  Flamingoes 
have  preserved  them. 

The  Ciconiinse  proper,  represented  by  Ciconia,  and  connected  with 
the  former  genera  by  Tantalus,  are  essentially  telogyrous ;  their  second 
loop  is  right-handed,  and  accompanies  the  duodenum ;  this  is  a  rare 
feature,  and  is  of  taxonomic  value  for  the  diagnosis  of  the  subfamilies 
of  the. Pelargi. 


DIGESTIVE  SYSTEM  147 

The  Pelargi  are  often  classed  with  the  Herodii,  but  these  two 
Families  differ  from  each  other  in  almost  every  point  of  primary 
importance. 

There  are  also  certain  resemblances  between  the  Pelargi  and  the 
Accipitres,  the  chief  connexion  is  formed  by  the  telogyrous  character, 
the  mode  in  which  additional  loops  of  the  lengthened  gut  are  stowed 
away,  and  the  tendency  to  convert  some  or  one  of  the  principal 
loops  into  regular  spirals.  Among  the  Accipitres,  the  Old- World 
Vultures  especially  exhibit  striking  Ciconiine  similarities.  As 
regards  the  Cathartidas,  I  have  to  deplore  want  of  material. 

The  Psittaci  are  distinctly  telogyrous ;  all  their  five  principal 
loops  are  closed  and  alternating ;  this,  with  the  presence  of  a  crop, 
and  the  absence  of  functional  caeca,  are  features  which  occur  again 
together  only  in  the  Accipitres.  The  absolutely  vegetable  food  of 
the  Parrots  would  sufficiently  account  for  the  differences  which  exist 
between  them  and  the  entirely  zoophagous  Accipitres.  However, 
this  indication  of  a  possible  relationship  between  the  Birds-of-Prey 
and  Parrots  is  as  little  binding  or  satisfactory  as  other  suggestions 
based  upon  other  organic  systems. 

Of  the  Coccyges  the  Cuculidse  possess  four  intestinal  loops,  of 
which  the  first  and  second  are  right-handed.  The  loops  are  on  the 
whole  orthocoelous,  but  the  apices  of  the  two  middle  ones  are  often 
turned  up,  or  the  second  loop  is  plagiocoelous.  Moreover,  they 
possess  fully-developed  caeca.  In  all  these  respects  they  resemble 
to  a  great  extent  the  Gallinse;  and  this  hint  is  considerably 
strengthened  by  Opisthocomus,  which  is,  barring  special  features, 
exactly  intermediate  between  the  Cuculidae  and  the  Gallinaz.  The 
Mus&phagidx  seem  to  possess  but  three  loops,  the  original  second 
loop  having  been  suppressed  in  connexion  with  the  frugivorous 
habits  of  these  birds.  The  isocoelous  feature  of  the  Musophagidse  is 
therefore  reduced  to  a  secondarily  acquired  one,  and  to  a  case  of 
convergence  towards  the  typically  isocoelous  birds. 

The  Pici  {Picidm,  Capitonidse,  and  Rhamphastidse)  difi"er,  like  tho 
Epopes  {Bucerotidm,  and  Upupidse),  from  all  the  remaining  birds  in 
the  alternating  position  of  their  four  loops,  which  in  the  frugivorous 
Bliamphastidx,  as  well  as  in  the  extremely  short-gutted  genus  Upupa, 
are  reduced  to  three  by  the  suppression  of  the  original  second  loop. 
Xantholsema,  one  of  the  Capitonidae,  has  this  second  loop  still  indicated. 
The  total  absence  of  caeca  in  all  these  birds  is  a  coincidence,  while 
there  are  no  obvious  characters,  besides  the  anticoelous  convolutions, 
which  point  to  a  close  relationship  between  the  Pici  and  the  Epopes. 

The  remaining  birds  are  all  isocoelous.  Of  them  the  Coraciidse 
stand  nearest  to  the  hypothetical  ancestral  or  central  stock,  because 
they  are  the  most  generalized  group,  from  which  all  others  can  be 
derived.  The  Alcedinidse,  which  have  reached  a  truly  mesogyrous 
formation,  started  in  one  direction  from  or  out  of  the  Coraciidse. 


148  DIKKOP 


The  lengthened  gut  of  the  Kingfishers  in  conformity  Avith  their 
generally  piscivorous  habits,  forms  a  left-handed  spiral  by  its  second 
loop,  while  the  fourth  loop  is  long,  and  in  the  more  piscivorous 
members  widely  open  and  irregularly  placed.  The  affinity  between 
the  Coraciidse  and  the  Alcedinidx  in  opposition  to  other  groups  may 
be  expressed  by  the  term  Halcyones. 

The  Striges  verge  towards  the  plagiocoelous  type,  but  all  their 
affinities  rest  with  the  Coraciidse  and  Caprimulgidse  combined.  These 
three  Families  possess  long  caeca ;  the  Alcedinidx,  Cypselidae,  and 
Trochilidai,  have  lost  them,  the  first  of  these  because  of  their 
piscivorous  and  cancrivorous  habits. 

The  Cypselomorphm  (Caprimulgidse,  Cypselidx,  and  Trochilidai) 
agree  very  much  with  each  other.  They  all  have  only  three 
intestinal  loops,  which  are  short,  in  agreement  with  their  principally 
insectivorous  habits.  The  Trochilidse  differ  in  the  possession  of  a 
crop.  The  Cypselidm  and  Caprimulgidse  are  somewhat  more  closely 
related  to  each  other,  and  the  latter  (including  Podargus)  turn 
towards  the  Owls.  The  Cypselidx  are  sometimes  supposed  to  be 
somewhat  nearly  allied  to  the  Fasseres.  Their  alimentary  system 
does  not  altogether  favour  such  a  view ;  but  perhaps  the  ancestors 
of  Oolius  once  filled  this  gap,  leaving  their  existing  descendants 
now  in  a  solitary  position. 

The  Trogonidse  stand  on  a  lower  level  than  the  Cypselidse, 
Trochilidse,  and  Coliidx,  on  the  same  level  as  the  Caprimulgidse  and 
Coraciidse,  and  connect  them  all  with  each  other.  The  Trogons  still 
possess  well-developed  caeca  like  the  Coi-aciidse,  Caprimulgidse,  and 
Striges,  while  all  the  other  isocoelous  birds  have  lost  them,  or  have 
only  functionless  remnants  of  them. 

The  Passeres  are  a  very  uniform  group.  They  all  possess  only 
three  loops,  without  indications  of  more ;  the  second  and  third  are 
left-handed ;  the  second  becomes-  a  left-handed  spiral,  the  turns  of 
which  depend  upon  the  length  of  the  gut ;  the  third  loop  is  always 
open,  and  invariably  encloses  the  duodenum  between  its  descend- 
ing and  ascending  branches,  the  latter  branch  being  situated  on  the 
ventral  and  left  side  of  the  descending  branch  of  the  duodenum. 
This  arrangement  is  invariably  the  same,  even  in  the  Meso- 
myodians,  and  in  such  otherwise  aberrant  forms  as  Faipicola  and 
Pitta.  There  is  a  special  line  which  leads  from  the  Laniine  forms 
through  the  Austrocoraces  (Gymnorhina,  Ghrmcalus,  Strepera,  and  Para- 
diseidse)  into  the  Coi'aces  jiroper,  which  latter  have  produced  some 
special  modifications  of  the  intestinal  convolutions,  and  may  be 
looked  upon  as  the  last  and  highest  blossom  of  the  avine  tree. 

DIKKOP  (Thick-head),  the  Dutch  name  for  the  Stone-CURLEW 
of  South  Africa,  GEdicnemus  capensis,  used  also  by  the  English  in  that 
part  of  the  Avorld  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p.  288). 


DIMORPHISM  149 


DIMORPHISM,  a  term  originally  used  by  botanists  to  express 
the  fact  that  in  certain  plants  a  ditference,  whether  in  form  or  colour, 
more  or  less  considerable,  exists  between  individuals  belonging  to 
the  same  species,  this  difference  not  being  attributed  to  local  influ- 
ence or  of  the  kind  called  accidental,  but  yQt  one  that  is  constantly 
exhi1)ited.  As  analogous  cases  are  observable  in  animals,  the  term 
has  been  adopted  by  zoologists,  and,  disregarding  other  classes,  it 
will  be  at  once  perceived  that  among  Birds  there  are  two  kinds  of 
Dimorphism — -one  depending  upon  sex,  in  which  the  secondary 
sexual  characters  of  the  male  and  female  may  differ  in  very  many 
ways,  and  the  other  which  is  apparently  quite  independent  of 
sexual  distinction.  Of  this  last  kind,  which  seems  to  approach 
most  nearly  to  the  Dimorphism  of  botanists,  there  are  not  many 
undisputed  instances.  The  best  known  is  that  of  some  species  of 
Skua,  in  which  a  parti- coloured  bird  may  be  frequently  found 
mated  with  one  that  is  (so  to  speak)  whole-coloui'ed — in  some  cases 
the  former  being  the  male,  the  latter  the  female,  and  in  others  just 
the  contrary,  it  rarely  happening  that  both  partners  are  alike  in 
plumage.  A  similar  state  of  things  occurs  on  the  confines  of  the 
districts  respectively  occupied  by  the  Black  and  Grey  Crows  of 
the  Old  World,  but  here  we  are  met  by  the  difficulty  that  some 
ornithologists  consider  these  two  forms  to  be  distinct  species,  and 
the  produce  of  their  union  to  be  hybrids.  The  White-eyed  and 
Dark-eyed  Crows  of  Australia  present  a  phase  intermediate  between 
that  last  mentioned  and  the  first ;  for,  though  some  writers  have 
regai'ded  them  as  distinct  species,  locality  seems  to  have  no  influ- 
ence on  the  difference,  comparatively  slight  as  it  is,  observable 
between  them.  Another  case  more  resembling  the  first  is  that 
afforded  by  the  Guillemot,  for  at  nearly  every  one  of  its  breeding- 
resorts  a  portion  of  the  tenants  (perhaps  one  in  a  score)  will  be 
found  to  have  a  white  circle  round  the  eye  and  a  white  line  stretch- 
ing backward  from  it — these  Ringed  or  Bridled  Guillemots  being 
of  either  sex  and  apparently  paired  with  birds  of  normal  plumage, 
while  no  example  is  known  which  shews  any  intermediate  condi- 
tion.^ All  these  are  instances  in  which  Dimorphism  is  confined 
to  colour,  but  it  may  well  be  regarded  as  extending  also  to  size, 
though  here  we  again  meet  with  the  objection  that  numerous 
wi'iters  regard  the  smaller  or  larger  forms  as  cons'tituting  two  local 
races  if  not  species.  The  DuNLiN  furnishes  us  with  an  instance  of 
this  kind.     Ranging  throughout  the  Old  World,  but  in  far  fewer 

^  At  one  time  these  Ringed  or  Bridled  Guillemots  were  looked  upon  as  a 
distinct  species,  called  Uria  lacrymans,  but  that  view  has  of  late  been  wholly 
■abandoned.  Similarly  the  dark,  whole-coloured  examples  of  the  common  species 
of  Skua  were  originally  described  as  forming  a  separate  species,  Lestris  richard- 
soni,  but  though  the  name  has  by  many  writers  been  mistakenly  retained  none 
now  believe  the  birds  to  be  distinct. 


I50  DIMORPHISM 


numbers  than  the  ordinary  form,  Tringa  alpina,  is  a  smaller  one 
which  has  received  the  specific  name  of  T.  schinzi,  while  in  the 
New  World  our  common  T.  alpina  is  comparatively  scarce,  and  a 
larger  form,  the  T.  americana  of  some  authors,  is  the  more  abundant. 
It  is  difficult  to  determine  at  present  whether  this  is  a  case  of  local 
races  or  one  of  Dimorphism — though  here  Trimorphism  might  be 
the  more  proper  word. 

Among  birds  examples  of  sexual  Dimorphism  are  so  numerous 
as  to  make  it  almost  the  rule.  Yet,  as  already  stated  and  as  is 
widely  known,  this  kind  of  Dimorphism  manifests  itself  in  very 
many  ways — the  commonest  being  that  of  general  coloration,  in- 
stances of  which  will  occur  to  every  one;  but  apart  from  that  the 
coloration  of  particular  parts  is  scarcely  less  often  divergent  in  the 
two  sexes,  while  diff'erences  of  the  form  or  development  of  certain 
portions  of  the  plumage  are  also  very  abundant,  as  witness  the 
occipital  plumes  in  the  male  of  many  birds,  while  the  extraordinary 
elongation  of  the  feathers  of  the  lower  back  in  the  Peacock,  of 
those  on  the  side  of  the  breast  in  the  Bird  of  Paradise,  or  of  the 
tail  in  the  BLACKCOCK  are  notorious.  Passing  to  characters  which 
may  be  of  greater  signifiicance,  we  have  spurs  on  the  metatarsus  or 
near  the  wrist,  the  former  only  among  the  Gallinse,  but  the  latter 
found  in  birds  of  several  groups  that  are  not  nearly  allied.  These 
are  generally  and  justly  admitted  to  be  weapons,  and  hardly  less 
effective  are  the  knobs  which  occupy  the  like  position  in  other 
forms,  those  of  the  male  Fezophaps  being  perhaps  the  most  remark- 
able. Sexual  Dimorphism  of  the  Bill  has  been  already  noticed, 
and  it  extends  in  various  ways  to  the  head,  wattles,  frontal  plates, 
protuberances  that  are  permanent  or  only  temporarily  erectile,  which 
are  far  too  numerous  to  mention ;  but  other  much  more  special 
peculiarities  are  the  sublingual  bag  of  Bizmra  lobata,  the  seasonal 
pouch  of  the  Bustard,  and  the  inflatable  sacs  of  the  Prairie-foAvls 
(Grouse),  while  the  convolutions  and  enlargements  of  the  trachea 
in  many  birds  (e.g.  Manucode)  though  not  externally  visible  pro- 
duce an  audible  sexual  Dimorphism. 

Sexual  Dimorphism  in  size  is  also  manifested  among  birds — 
and  this  in  both  directions.  To  ourselves  it  may  seem  natural  that 
the  male  should  be  the  stronger  and  therefore  the  bigger  sex,  and 
among  Mammals  he  generally  is ;  but  in  Birds  this  is  by  no  means 
so  much  the  rule,  the  cock  being  very  considerably  larger  than  the 
hen  only  in  certain  Gallinaceous  and  Eatite  groups,  most  of  which 
are  polygamous,  and  hence  a  possible  explanation  may  be  afforded. 
On  the  other  hand,  though  a  case  in  which  the  female  is  larger 
than  the  male  is  hardly  to  be  found  among  Mammals,  instances 
occur  among  Reptiles  (notably  in  Tortoises  and  Snakes)  and  veiy 
frequently  among  Amphibians  and  Fishes.  Among  Birds  it  is 
almost  universal  with  the  Accipitres,  and  obtains  in  several  of  the 


DINORNIS— DIVER  151 


Limicolx,  as  the  Dotterel,  Godwit,  Phalarope,  and  Rhynchxa  or 
Painted  Snipe,  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  Turnicidse  (Hemipode). 
No  single  explanation  that  will  iit  all  these  cases  seems  possible ; 
but  in  those  of  the  LimicoliX,  just  mentioned,  it  is  to  be  remarked 
that  the  females  are  not  only  larger  but  are  more  conspicuously 
coloured  than  the  males,  which  latter  are  believed  to  perform 
exclusively  the  duty  of  incubation.  In  the  loAver  classes  of  Ver- 
tebrates the  production  of  the  often  numerous  eggs  may  be  the 
original  cause  of  the  gi-eater  size  of  the  females. 

DINOENIS,  see  Moa. 

DIPPER,  a  name  now  in  general  use  for  the  Water-OuSEL, 
but  apparently  invented  in  1804  by  the  author  of  Bewick's  British 
Birds  (ed.  1,  ii.  p.  17)  because  "it  may  be  seen  perched  on  the  top 
of  a  stone  in  the  midst  of  the  torrent,  in  a  continual  dipping  motion, 
or  short  courtesy  often  repeated,"  and  not  (as  commonly  is  sup- 
posed) from  its  habit  of  entering  the  water  in  search  of  its  food. 

DISHWASHER,  a  common  name  in  many  parts  of  England, 
especially  in  the  south,  by  which  the  Pied  Wagtail,  Motacilla 
lugubris,  is  known ;  and  given  also  in  Australia  to  Sisv/ra  inquieta 
(Flycatcher). 

DIVER,  a  name  that  when  applied  to  a  bird  is  commonly  used 
in  a  sense  even  more  vague  than  that  of  Loom,  several  of  the  Sea- 
DucKS  or  Fuligulinse  and  Mergansers  being  frequently  so  called, 
to  say  nothing  of  certain  of  the  Auks  or  Alcidse  and  Grebes  ;  but 
in  English  ornithological  works  the  term  Diver  is  generally  re- 
stricted to  the  Family  known  as  Colymhidse,  a  very  well-marked 
group  of  aquatic  birds,  possessing  great,  though  not  exceptional, 
powers  of  submergence,  and  consisting  of  a  single  genus  Cohjmhus 
(or  Eiidytes  of  some  wiiters)  '^  which  is  composed  of  three  or  four 
species,  all  confined  to  the  northern  hemisphere.  This  Family 
belongs  to  the  Cecomorph^e  of  Prof.  Huxley,  and  is  usually  sup- 
posed to  occupy  a  place  between  the  Alcidse  and  Podicipedidse ;  but 
to  which  of  those  gi'oups  it  is  most  closely  related  is  at  present 
undecided.  Brandt  in  1837  (Beitr.  Naturgesch.  Vogel,  pp.  124-132) 
pointed  out  the  osteological  differences  of  the  Grebes  and  the 
Divers,  urging  the  affinity  of  the  latter  to  the  Auks ;  while,  thirty 
years  later,  Prof.  Alphonse  Milne-Edwards  (Ois.  jfoss.  France,  i. 
pp.  279-283)  inclined  to  the  opposite  view,  chiefly  relying  on  the 
similarity  of  a  peculiar  formation  of  the  tibia  in  the  Grebes  and 
Divers,^  which  indeed  is  very  remarkable,  and,  in  the  latter  group, 

1  By  these  writers  the  name  Colymhus  is  generally  used  for  what  others  term 
Podiceps,  more  correctly  written  Podicipes.     Americans  of  late  prefer  Urinator. 

"  The  remains  of  Colymhoides  minutus,  from  the  Miocene  of  Langy,  described 
by  this  naturalist  in  the  work  just  cited,  seem  to  shew  it  to  liave  been  a  general- 
ized form.     Unfortunately  its  tibia  is  unknown. 


152  DIVER 


attracted  the  attention  of  Willugliby  more  than  two  hundred  years 
since.  On  the  other  hand,  Brandt,  and  Rudolph  Wagner  shortly 
after  (Naumann's  Vogel  Deutschlaiids,  ix.  p.  683,  xii.  p.  395),  had 
already  shewn  that  the  structure  of  the  knee-joint  in  the  Grebes 
and  Divers  differs  in  that  the  former  have  a  distinct  and  singularly- 
formed  jyatella  (which  is  undeveloped  in  the  latter)  in  addition  to 
the  prolonged,  pyramidally-formed,  procnemial  process — which  last 
may,  from  its  exaggeration,  be  regarded  as  a  character  almost 
peculiar  to  these  two  groups.^  The  evidence  furnished  by  oology 
and  the  newly-hatched  young  would  seem  to  favour  Brandt's  views ; 
and,  without  according  too  much  weight  to  such  evidence,  it  cer- 
tainly ought  to  be  considered  before  a  decision  is  reached.  The 
abortion  of  the  recfrices  in  the  Grebes,  while  these  feathers  are 
fairly  developed  in  the  Divers,  is  another  point  that  helps  to 
separate  the  two  Families ;  but  until  their  morphology  has  been 
worked  out  nothing  can  be  safely  averred  on  the  subject. 

The  commonest  species  of  Colymbus  is  C.  sepfentrionalis,  known 
as  the  Red-throated  Diver  from  an  elongated  patch  of  dark  bay 
colour  which  distinguishes  the  throat  of"  the  adult  in  summer-dress. 
Notwithstanding  this  ornament,  it  is  the  least  conspicuous,  as  it  is 
also  the  smallest,  species  of  the  genus,  the  back  and  upper  plumage 
being  of  a  blackish-brown  with  a  few  insignificant  white  spots, 
while  the  head  and  sides  of  the  neck  are  ash-coloured,  bounded  by 
a  long  nuchal  band,  which  lower  down  advances  towards  the 
breast,  of  feathers  marked  with  black,  grey,  and  white,  to  form 
regular  stripes.  Immature  birds  want  the  bay  patch,  and  have 
the  back  so  much  more  spotted  that  they  are  commonly  known  as 
"Speckled  Divers."  Next  in  size  is  the  Black-throated  Diver, 
C.  ardicus,  having  a  light  grey  head  and  a  gular  patch  of  purplish- 
black,  above  which  is  a  semi-collar  of  white  striped  vertically  with 
black,  while  two  patches  on  the  black  back,  between  the  shoulders, 
as  well  as  the  scapulars,  are  conspicuously  marked  with  large  sub- 
quadrangular  white  spots.  Still  bigger  is  the  Great  Northern 
Diver,  C.  glacialis  or  torquatus,  with  a  glossy  black  head  and  neck, 
two  semi-collars  of  Avhite  and  black  vertical  stripes,  and  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  black  back  and  upper  surface  of  the  wings  beautifully 
marked  with  white  spots,  varying  in  size  and  arranged  in  belts.  ^ 
Closely  resembling  this  bird,  so  as  to  be  most  easily  distinguished 
from  it  by  its  ivory-white  or  yellow  bill,  is  C.  adainsi,  the  specific 

^  GaiTod,  in  his  tentative  and  chiefly  myological  arrangement  of  Birds 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1874,  p.  117),  placed  the  Colymhidaz  and  Podicipedidje  in 
one  Order  (Anseriformes)  and  the  Alcidse  in  another  [Charadriifonnes) ;  but  the 
artificial  nature  of  this  assignment  may  be  realized  by  the  fact  of  his  considering 
the  other  Families  of  the  former  Order  to  be  Anatidas  and  Spheniscidas. 

^  The  osteology  and  myology  of  this  species  are  described  by  Dr.  Coues 
{Mem.  Boston  Soc.  Kat.  History,  i.  pp.  131-172,  pi.  5). 


DIVER  TIC  UL  UM  1 5 ; 


validity  of  which  is  not  yet  fully  recognized.  The  Divers  live 
chiefly  on  iish,  and  are  of  eminently  marine  habit,  though  invari- 
ably resorting  for  the  purpose  of  breeding  to  freshwater-lakes, 
where  they  lay  their  two  dark-brown  eggs  on  the  very  brink ;  but 
they  are  not  unfrequently  found  far  from  the  sea,  being  either 
driven  inland  by  stress  of  weather,  or  exhausted  in  their  migra- 
tions. Like  most  birds  of  their  build,  they  chiefly  trust  to  s\nm- 
ming,  Avhether  submerged  or  on  the  surface,  as  a  means  of  progress, 
but  once  on  the  wing  their  flight  is  strong  and  they  can  mount  to 
a  great  height,  whence  on  occasion  they  will  rush  downward  with 
a  velocity  that  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated,  and  this  sudden 
descent  is  accompanied  by  a  noise  for  which  those  who  have  wit- 
nessed it  will  agree  in  thinking  that  thundering  is  too  weak  an 
epithet.  In  winter  their  range  is  too  extensive  and  varied  to  be 
here  defined,  though  it  is  believed  never  to  pass,  and  in  few  direc- 
tions to  approach,  the  northern  tropic ;  but  the  geographical  dis- 
tribution of  the  several  forms  in  summer  requires  mention.  While 
C  septentrionalis  inhabits  the  north  temperate  zone  of  both  hemi- 
spheres, C.  ardicus  breeds  in  suitable  places  from  the  Hebrides  to 
Scandinavia,  and  across  the  Russian  empire,  it  would  seem,  to 
Japan,  reappearing  in  the  north-west  of  North  America,^  though 
its  eastern  limit  on  that  continent  cannot  yet  be  laid  down ;  but  it 
is  not  found  in  Greenland,  Iceland,  Shetland,  or  Orkney.  C. 
glacialis,  on  the  contrary,  breeds  throughout  the  north-eastern  part 
of  Canada,  in  Greenland,  and  in  Iceland.  It  has  been  said  to  do 
so  in  Scotland  as  well  as  in  Norway,  but  the  assertion  seems  to 
await  positive  proof,  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether,  with  the 
exception  of  Iceland,  it  is  indigenous  to  the  Old  World,  ^  since  the 
form  observed  in  Nerth-eastern  Asia  is  evidently  that  which  has 
been  called  C.  adamsi,  and  is  also  found  in  North-western  America ; 
but  it  may  be  remarked  that  three  examples  of  this  form  have 
been  taken  in  England,  and  two  in  Norway  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1859,  p.  206,  Nyt  Mag.  for  Naturvidenskaherne,  1877,  p.  218,  and 
Stevenson's  Birds  of  Norfolk,  iii.  pp.  268,  269). 

DIVERTICULUM  {d.  cajcum  \dtelli).  After  the  yolk-sac  has 
been  withdrawn  into  the  body-cavity  its  stalk  remains  in  connection 
with  the  small  intestine,  and  forms  an  appendix  to  it  like  a  little 
csecum,  which  often  persists  throughout  life  in  the  NmiFUGiE,  and 

^  Mr.  Lawrence's  C  pacificus  seems  hardly  to  deserve  specific  recognition. 

^  In  this  connexion  should  be  mentioned  the  remarkable  occurrence  in 
Europe  of  two  birds  of  this  species  which  had  been  previously  wounded  by  a 
weapon  presumably  of  transatlantic  origin.  One  had  "an  arrow  headed  with 
copper  sticking  through  its  neck,"  and  was  shot  on  the  Irish  coast,  as  recorded 
by  Thompson  {Nat.  Hist.  Ireland,  iii.  p.  201) ;  the  other,  says  Herr  H.  C. 
Miiller  {Vid.  Medd.  nat.  Forening,  1862,  p.  35),  was  found  dead  in  Kalbaksfjord 
in  the  Faeroes,  with  an  iron-tipped  bone  dart  fast  under  its  wing. 


154  DODLET 

occasionally,  as  in  the  Eatit^,  retains  a  small  quantity  of  de- 
generated yolk,  -while  in  the  NiDicoLiE  or  Altrices  it  is  generally 
absorbed  before  maturity. 

DODLET,  Sir  E.  Owen's  name,  intended  to  be  a  diminutive  of 
Dodo  (as  its  scientific  appellation  Didunculus  is  of  Didtis),  for  the 
Tooth-billed  Pigeon  of  the  Samoan  or  Navigators'  Islands,  the 
hooked  bill  of  which  presents  an  outward  resemblance  to  that  of  the 
celebrated  inhabitant  of  Mauritius ;  but  Didunculus,  though  by 
many  writers  placed  in  the  Family  Dididfe,,  differs  remarkably  from 
them,  and  is  really  much  more  allied  to  the  true  Columbidm  (Dove, 
Pigeon),  though  entitled  to  form  a  separate  Family,  Didunculidse 
{Phil.  Trans.  1869,  p.  349). 

The  name  given  by  Sir  E.  Owen  has  fortunately  not  been 
adopted,  but  for  convenience  sake  this  curious  bird  is  here  treated 
under  it.  The  species  must  have  been  first  observed  in  October  or 
November  1839,  when  the  Samoan  Islands  were  Adsited  by  the 
United  States'  Exploring  Expedition  under  Commander  Wilkes 
{Narrative,  etc.  pp.  87-116.  London:  1845),  and  Strickland  seems 
to  have  first  publicly  announced  the  discovery  at  the  meeting  of  the 
British  Association  held  at  York  in  September  1844,  when  he  stated 
{Report,  etc.  p.  189)  that  "among  other  rarities"  obtained  on  the 
voyage  by  Mr.  Titian  Peale,  the  naturalist  of  the  expedition,  was 
"  a  new  bird  allied  to  the  Dodo,  which  he  proposes  to  name  Didun- 
culus J'  The  earliest  description  of  it  that  appeared  was  accompanied 
by  a  figure,  and  was  published  by  Jardine  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  x\i.  p. 
175,  pi.  9),  just  a  year  after,  under  the  name  of  Ghmthodon'^  strigi- 
rostris,  from  a  specimen  which  had  been  sent  home,  probably  by  some 
missionary,  and  was  bought  in  a  sale  at  Edinburgh.  This,  and 
those  brought  by  the  American  explorers,  were  for  a  long  while  the 
only  specimens  knoA^oi  to  have  reached  any  civilized  country.  In 
1847  Eeichenbach  conferred  on  this  bird  a  new  generic  name, 
Pliodus,  for  an  invalid  reason  (see  his  Vog.  Neuholl,  ii.  p.  158,  note), 
but  courtesy  required  what  custom  has  acceded,  and  the  oldest 
generic  name  applied  to  it  has  been  commonly  adopted,  though  the 
full  title  of  the  Tooth-billed  Pigeon,  Diduncidus  strigirostris,  was  not 
bestowed  until  1848,  Avhen  Peale's  work  on  the  zoology  of  the 
Expedition  to  which  he  was  attached  put  matters  so  far  straight 
enough.  Of  late  many  specimens  have  been  brought  to  Europe, 
and  they  may  be  seen  in  many  museums.  Much  has  been  written 
of  the  habits  of  Didunculus  in  its  native  condition,  but  little  that  is 
to  the  purpose,  while  some  seem  to  have  confounded  it  with  the 
Carpopliaga  pacifica  or  oceanica,  which  also  is  peculiar  to  the  Samoan 
Islands.     The  interest  taken  in  this  species,  chiefly  because  of  its 

^  J.  E.  Gray  had  already,  in  1836,  forestalled  the  use  of  this  name  for  a  genus 
of  Mollusca. 


DODO  155 

supposed — but  really  very  slight — affinity  to  the  DoDO,  and  of  the 
belief  that  it  would  speedily  undergo  the  same  fate,  has  already 
caused  legends  about  it  to  spring  up,  and  statements  are  made  to 
the  effect  that  it  has  changed  its  habits  so  as  to  ensure  its  safety 
from  the  numerous  enemies  which  civilization  has  introduced.  I 
have  no  means  of  contradicting  such  assertions,  but  according  to  my 
own  experience  they  are  very  unlikely  to  be  true,  and  they  should 
be  verified  by  particular  observation  and  not  left  to  general  im- 
pression. Living  examples  have  several  times  been  taken  to 
Sydney,  and  3  have  been  exhibited  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  in 
London.  The  first  of  them,  obtained  through  the  care  of  Dr.  George 
Bennett  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1864,  p.  158),  laid  an  egg  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1867,  p.  164,  pi.  XV.  fig.  6)  which  was  of  the  normal  Columbine 
form  and  nearly  of  the  normal  Columbine  coloui\  It  must  be  con- 
fessed that  the  species,  the  speedy  extinction  of  which  seems  prob- 
able, was  not  lively  or  attractive  as  a  cage-bird. 

DODO,  from  the  Portuguese  Doudo  (a  simpleton  ^),  a  large  bird 
formerly  inhabiting  Mauritius,  but  now  extinct — the  Didus  ineptus  of 
Linngeus.  The  precise  year  in  which  that  island  was  discovered  by 
the  Portuguese  is  undetermined ;  but  M.  Codine  shews  {Mim.  Giogr. 
sur  la  Mer  des  Indes,  chap.  vii.  Paris  :  1868)  that  it  was  probably  in 
1507,  and  it  was  by  them  called  Cerne,  after  one  of  their  ships 
so  named  from  an  island  mentioned  by  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.  vi. 
36  ;  x.  9),  though  many  authors  have  insisted  that  it  was 
known  to  the  seamen  of  that  nation  as  Ilha  do  Cisne — 
perhaps  but  a  corruption  of  Cerne,  and  brought  about  by  their 
finding  it  stocked  with  large  fowls,  which,  though  not  aquatic,  they 
likened  to  Swans,  the  most  familiar  to  them  of  bulky  birds.  How- 
ever, that  early  experience  is  unfortunately  lost  to  us,  no  direct 
e^ddence  having  come  to  light,  and  nothing  positive  can  be  asserted 
of  the  island  or  its  inhabitants  (none  of  whom,  it  should  be 
observed,  were  human)  until  1598,  vi^hen  the  Dutch,  under  Van 
Neck,  arrived  there  and  renamed  it  Mauritius.  A  narrative  of 
this  voyage  was  published  in  1601,  if  not  sooner,  and  has  been 
often  reprinted.  Here  we  have  birds  spoken  of  as  big  as  Swans  or 
bigger,  with  large  heads,  no  wings,  and  a  tail  consisting  of  a  few 
curly  feathers.  The  Dutch  called  them  JFalghvogels  (the  word  is 
variously  spelt),  i.e.  "nauseous  birds,"  because,  as  is  said,  no 
cooking  made  them  palatable ;  but  another  and  perhaps  better 
reason,  for  it  was  admitted  that  their  breast  was  tender,  is  also 
assigned,  namely,  that  this  island-pai-adise  afforded  an  abundance 
of  superior  fare.  De  Bry  gives  two  admirably  quaint  prints  of 
the  doings  of  the  Hollanders,  and  in  one  of  them  the  Walclivogel 

1  Ale^-yn  and  Colle,  in  their  Woordensehat  der  tivce  Taalcn  Portugeesch  en 
Nederduitsch  (Amsterdam:  1714,  p.  362),  render  it  "Een  sot,  dwaas,  dol,  of 
uitzinni"  mensch." 


156 


DODO 


appears,  being  the  earliest  published  representation  of  its  unwieldy 
form,  with  a  footnote  stating  that  the  voyagers  brought  an  example 
alive  to  Holland.  Among  the  company  there  was  a  draughtsman, 
and  from  a  sketch  of  his  Clusius,  a  few  years  after,  gave  a  figure 
of  the  bird,  which  he  vaguely  called  "  Gallmaceus  Gallus  peregrinus," 
but  described  rather  fully.  Meanwhile  two  other  Dutch  fleets  had 
visited  Mauritius.  One  of  them  had  a  draughtsman  on  board,  and 
his  original  sketches  fortunately  still  exist  in  a  library  at  Utrecht. 
Thi'ee  or  four  of  them  represent  the  Dodo,  and  one  of  them  is  here 


Reduced  from  a  tracing  by  Prof.  Schlegel  of  the  original  drawing  in  a  MS.  journal  kept 
during  Wolphart  Harmanszoon's  voyage  to  Mauritius  (a.d.  1601-1002). 

reproduced,  for  the  first  time,  but  on  a  smaller  scale. ^  Of  the 
other  fleet,  a  journal  kept  by  one  of  the  skippers  was  subsequently 
published.  This  in  the  main  corroborates  what  has  been  before 
said  of  the  birds,  but  adds  the  curious  fact  that  they  'were  now 
called  by  some  Dodaarsen  and  by  others  Dronten.^ 

^  On  tlie  death  of  Prof.  Schlegel,  who  announced  his  intention  of  publishing 
these  sketches  in  fac-simile,  I  became  possessed  of  his  collection  of  drawings  of 
the  Dodo  and  other  extinct  birds  of  Mauritius,  which  includes  tracings  by  him 
of  these  curious  and  interesting  sketches  (c/.  Exteemixation). 

-  The  etymology  of  these  names  has  been  much  discussed.  The  former  has 
been  shewn  by  Prof.  Schlegel  ( Vcrsl.  en  Me.dcdeel.  K.  Akad.  Wdcnsch.  ii.  pp.  255 
et  seqq.)  to  be  the  homely  name  of  the  Dabchick  or  Little  Grebe,  FodicijKS 


DODO  157 

Henceforth  Dutch  narrators,  though  several  times  mentioning 
the  bird,  fail  to  supply  any  important  fact  in  its  history.  Their 
navigators,  however,  were  not  idle,  and  found  work  for  their 
naturalists  and  painters.  Clusius  says  that  in  1605  he  saw  at 
Pauw's  House  in  Leyden  a  Dodo's  foot,^  which  he  minutely  de- 
scribes. Of  late  years  a  copy  of  Clusius's  work  has  been  discovered 
in  the  high  school  of  Utrecht,  in  which  is  pasted  an  original  di'aw- 
ing  by  Van  de  Venne,  reproduced  in  fac-simile  by  Herr  H.  C. 
Millies  in  1868,  and  supersci"ibed  "Vera  effigies  huius  avis  Walgh- 
vogel  (quae  &  a  nautis  Dodaers  propter  foedam  posterioris  partis 
crassitiem  nuncupatur)  qualis  viua  Amsterodamum  perlata  est  ex 
Insula  Mauritii.  Anno  M.DC.XXVI."  Now  a  good  many  paint- 
ings of  the  Dodo  by  a  celebrated  artist  named  Eoelandt  Savery, 
who  was  born  at  Courtray  in  1576  and  died  in  1639,  have  long 
been  known,  and  it  has  always  been  understood  that  these  Avere 
drawn  from  the  life.  Proof,  however,  of  the  limning  of  a  living 
Dodo  in  Holland  at  that  period  had  hitherto  been  wanting.  There 
can  now  be  no  longer  any  doubt  of  the  fact ;  and  the  paintings  by 
this  artist  of  the  Dodo  at  Berlin  and  Vienna — dated  respectively 
1626  and  1628 — as  well  as  the  picture  by  Goiemare,  belonging  to 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  at  Sion  House,  dated  1627,  may  be 
Avith  greater  plausibility  than  ever  considered  portraits  of  a  captive 
bird.  It  is  even  probable  that  this  was  not  the  first  example 
Avhich  had  sat  to  a  painter  in  Eiirope.  In  the  private  library  of 
the  late  Emperor  Francis  of  Austria  is  a  series  of  pictures  of 
various  animals,  supposed  to  be  by  the  Dutch  artist  Hoefnagel, 
who  was  born  about  1545.  One  of  these  represents  a  Dodo,  and, 
if  there  be  no  mistake  in  Von  Frauenfeld's  ascription,  it  must 
almost  certainly  have  been  painted  before  1626,  while  there  is 
reason  to  think  that  the  original  may  have  been  kept  in  the 
vivarium  of  the  then  Emperor  Rudolf  II,  and  that  the  portion  of 
a  Dodo's  head,  which  Avas  found  in  the  Museum  at  Prague  aboiit 
1850,  belonged  to  this  example.  The  other  pictures  by  Eoelandt 
Savery,  of  which  may  be  mentioned  that  at  the  Hague,  that  in  the 

minor,  of  which  the  Dutchmen  were  remiuded  by  the  round  stern  and  tail  dimin- 
ished to  a  tuft  that  characterized  the  Dodo.  Tlie  same  learned  autliority 
suggests  that  Dodo  is  a  corruj^tion  of  Dodaars,  but,  as  will  j^resently  be  seen, 
we  herein  think  him  mistaken.  The  latter  of  the  two  names,  which  has  been 
naturalized  in  France  as  Bronte,  as  Dr.  Jentink  has  kindly  suggested  to  me,  may 
be  from  the  obsolete  Dutch  verb  dronten  (cognate  with  drenten  and  drinten),  to  be 
swollen  (c/.  Verwijs  and  Verdam,  Middehuderlmidsch  Woordenhoek,  ii.  col.  435), 
and  would  indicate  the  Dodo's  figure  as  represented  by  some  draughtsmen,  and  as 
described  by  Herbert. 

^  What  became  of  the  specimen  (which  may  have  been  a  relic  of  the  bird 
brought  home  by  Van  Neck's  squadron)  is  not  known.  Broderip  and  the  late 
Dr.  Gray  suggested  its  identity  with  that  now  in  the  British  iluseum,  but  on 
what  grounds  is  not  apparent. 


IS8  DODO 

possession  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London  (formerly  Broderip's), 
that  in  the  Schonborn  collection  at  Pommersfelden  near  Bamberg, 
and  that  belonging  to  Dr.  Seyffery  at  Stuttgart  are  undated,  but 
were  probably  all  painted  about  the  same  time  (viz.  1626  to  1628). 
The  large  picture  in  the  British  Museum,  once  belonging  to  Sir 
Hans  Sloane,  by  an  unknown  artist,  but  supposed  to  be  by  Roelandt 
Savery,  is  also  undated ;  while  the  still  larger  one  at  Oxford  (con- 
sidered to  be  by  the  younger  Savery)  bears  a  much  later  date, 
1651.  Undated  also  is  a  picture  said  to  be  by  Pieter  Holsteyn, 
and  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  A.  van  der  Willige  at  Haarlem  in 
Holland. 

In  1628  we  have  the  evidence  of  the  first  English  observer  of 
the  bird — one  Emanuel  Altham,  who  mentions  it  in  two  letters 
written  on  the  same  day  from  Mauritius  to  his  brother  at  home. 
These,  through  the  intervention  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  B.  Wilmot,  were 
brought  to  light.^  In  one  the  Avriter  says  :  "  You  shall  receue  .  .  . 
a  strange  fowle :  which  I  had  at  the  Hand  Mauritius  called  by  ye 
portingalls  a  Do  Do :  which  for  the  rareness  thereof  I  hope  wilbe 
welcome  to  you."  The  passage  in  the  other  letter  is  to  the  same 
effect,  with  the  addition  of  the  words  "if  it  Hue."  Nothing  more 
is  known  of  this  valuable  consignment.  In  the  same  fleet  with 
Altham  sailed  Herbert,  whose  Travels  ran  through  several  editions 
and  have  been  long  quoted.  It  is  plain  that  he  could  not 
have  reached  Mauritius  till  1629,  though  1627  has  been  usually 
assigned  as  the  date  of  his  visit.  The  fullest  account  he  gives  of 
the  bird  is  in  his  edition  of  1638,  and  in  the  curiously  affected  style 
of  many  writers  of  the  period.  It  will  Ije  enough  to  quote  the 
beginning  :  "  The  Dodo  comes  first  to  a  description :  here,  and  in 
Dygarrois  ^  (and  no  where  else,  that  ever  I  could  see  or  heare  of)  is 
generated  the  Dodo  (a  Portuguize  name  it  is,  and  has  reference  to 
her  simpleness),  a  Bird  which  for  shape  and  rareness  might  be 
call'd  a  Phoenix  (wer't  in  Arabia :)  " — the  rest  of  the  passage  is 
entertaining,  but  the  whole  has  been  often  reprinted.  Herbert,  it 
may  be  remarked,  when  he  could  see  a  possible  Cymric  similarity, 
was  weak  as  an  etymologist,  but  his  positive  statement,  corroborated 
as  it  is  by  Altham,  cannot  be  set  aside,  and  hence  we  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  assign  a  Portuguese  derivation  for  the  word.^  Herbert  also 
gave  a  figure  of  the  bird. 

1  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  IST'l,  pp.  447-449.  I  am  informed  that  on  the  death  of  Dr. 
Wilmot  these  interesting  papers  (which,  had  they  been  his  own  property,  he 
would  have  willingly  made  over  to  some  public  library)  were  burnt.  I  had, 
however,  taken  the  precaution  to  have  them  accurately  transcribed  while  they 
were  entrusted  to  my  keeping. 

2  I.e.  Rodriguez  ;  an  error,  as  we  shall  see. 

3  Hence  we  venture  to  dispute  Schlegel's  supposed  origin  of  "Dodo."  The 
Portuguese  must  have  been  the  prior  nomenclators,  and  if,  as  is  most  likely,  some  of 


DODO  159 

Proceeding  chronologically,  we  next  come  upon  a  curious  bit  of 
evidence.  This  is  contained  in  a  MS.  diary  kept  between  1626 
and  1640  by  Thomas  Crossfield  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  where, 
under  the  year  1634,  mention  is  casually  made  of  one  Mr.  Gosling, 
"  who  bestowed  the  Dodar  (a  blacke  Indian  bird)  vpon  ye  Anatomy 
school."  Nothing  more  is  known  of  it.  About  1638,  Sir  Hamon 
Lestrange  tells  us,  as  he  walked  London  streets  he  saw  the  picture 
of  a  strange  fowl  hung  out  on  a  cloth  canvas,  and  going  in  to  see  it, 
found  a  great  bird  kept  in  a  chamber  "  somewhat  bigger  than  the 
largest  Turkey  cock,  and  so  legged  and  footed,  but  shorter  and 
thicker."  The  keeper  called  it  a  Dodo  and  shewed  the  visitors 
how  his  captive  would  swallow  "  large  peble  stones  ...  as  bigge 
as  nutmegs." 

In  1651  Morisot  published  an  account  of  a  voyage  made  by 
Francois  Cauche,  who  professed  to  have  passed  sixteen  days  in 
Mauritius,  or  "I'isle  de  Saincte  Apollonie"  as  he  called  it,  in  1638. 
According  to  De  Flacourt  the  narrative  is  not  very  trustworthy, 
and  indeed  certain  statements  are  obviously  inaccurate.  Cauche 
says  he  saw  there  birds  bigger  than  Swans,  which  he  describes  so 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  his  meaning  Dodos ;  but  perhaps  the  most 
important  facts  (if  they  be  facts)  that  he  relates  are  that  they  had 
a  cry  like  a  Gosling  ("il  a  un  cry  comme  I'oison"),  and  that  they 
laid  a  single  white  egg,  "  gros  comme  un  pain  d'un  sol,"  on  a  mass 
of  grass  in  the  forests.  He  calls  them  "  oiseaux  de  Nazaret,"  per- 
haps, as  a  marginal  note  informs  us,  from  an  island  of  that  name 
which  was  then  supposed  to  lie  more  to  the  northward,  but  is  now 
known  to  have  no  existence. 

In  the  catalogue  of  Tradescant's  Collection  of  Barities,  preserved  at 
South  Lambeth,  published  in  1656,  we  have  entered  among  the 
"  Whole  Birds  "  a  "  Dodar  from  the  island  Mauritius ;  it  is  not  able 
to  flie  being  so  big."  This  specimen  may  well  have  been  the  em- 
balmed body  of  the  bird  seen  by  Lestrange  some  eighteen  years  before, 
but  any  how  we  are  able  to  trace  the  specimen  through  Willughby, 
Lhwyd,  and  Hyde,  till  it  passed  in  or  before  1684  to  the  Ashmolean 
collection  at  Oxford.  In  1755  it  was  ordered  to  be  destroyed,  but, 
in  accordance  with  the  original  orders  of  Ashmole,  its  head  and 
right  foot  were  preserved,  and  still  ornament  the  Museum  of  that 
University.  In  the  second  edition  of  a  Catalogtie  of  many  Natural 
Barities,  &c.,  to  be*seen  at  the  place  formerly  called  the  Music  House, 
near  the  West  End  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  collected  by  one  Hubert 
alias  Forbes,  and  published  in  1665,  mention  is  made  of  a  "  legge 

their  nation,  or  men  acquainted  witli  their  language,  were  employed  to  pilot  the 
Hollanders,  we  see  at  once  how  the  first  Dutch  name  Walghvogel  would  give 
way.  The  meaning  of  Doudo  not  being  plain  to  the  Dutch,  they  would,  as  is 
the  habit  of  sailors,  convert  it  into  something  they  did  understand.  Then 
Dodaers  would  easily  suggest  itself  (c/.  Albatros  and  Booby). 


i6o  DODO 

of  a  Dodo,  a  great  heavy  bird  that  cannot  fly ;  it  is  a  Bird  of  the 
Maiiricius  Island."  This  is  supposed  to  have  subsequently  passed 
into  the  possession  of  the  Royal  Society.  At  all  events  such  a 
specimen  is  included  in  Grew's  list  of  their  treasures  which  was 
published  in  1681,  and  it  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the  British 
Museum,  where  it  still  reposes.  As  may  be  seen,  it  is  a  left  foot, 
without  the  integuments,  but  it  diifers  sufficiently  in  size  from 
the  Oxford  specimen  to  forbid  its  having  been  part  of  the  same 
individual.  In  1666  Olearius  brought  out  the  Gottm-ffisches  Kunst 
Karnmer,  wherein  he  describes  the  head  of  a  Walglivogel,  which  some 
sixty  years  later  was  removed  to  the  Museum  at  Copenhagen,  and 
is  now  preserved  there,  having  been  the  means  of  first  leading 
zoologists,  under  the  guidance  of  the  late  Prof.  Johannes  Theodor 
Reinhardt  in  1843,  to  recognize  the  true  affinities  of  the  bird. 

Little  more  remains  to  be  told.  For  brevity's  sake  we  have 
passed  over  all  but  the  principal  narratives  of  voyagers  or  other 
notices  of  the  bird.  A  compendious  bibliography,  up  to  the  year 
1848,  Avill  be  found  in  Strickland's  classical  work,^  and  the  list  Avas 
continued  by  Von  Frauenfeld  -  for  twenty  years  later.  The  last 
evidence  we  have  of  the  Dodo's  existence  is  fui'nished  by  a  journal 
kept  by  Benj.  Harry,  and  noAv  in  the  British  Museum  (MSS.  Addit. 
3668,  11.  D).  This  shews  its  sm^vival  till  1681,  but  the  Avriter's 
sole  remark  upon  it  is  that  its  "  fflesh  is  very  hard."  The  successive 
occupation  of  the  island  by  different  masters  seems  to  have  destroyed 
every  tradition  relating  to  the  bird,  and  douljts  began  to  arise 
whether  such  a  creature  had  ever  existed.  Duncan,  in  1828,  proved 
how  ill-founded  these  doubts  were,  and  some  ten  years  later 
Broderip  with  much  diligence  collected  all  the  available  evidence 
into  an  admirable  essay,  which  in  its  turn  was  succeeded  by  Strick- 
land's monograph  just  mentioned.  But  in  the  meanwhile  little 
was  done  towards  obtaining  any  material  advance  in  our  knowledge, 
Reinhardt's  determination  of  its  affinity  to  the  Pigeons  (Columlm) 
excepted  ;  and  it  was  hardly  until  the  late  Mr.  George  Clai-k's  dis- 
covery in  1865  (Ibis,  1866,  pp.  141-146)  of  a  large  number  of  Dodos' 
remains,  that  zoologists  generally  Avere  prepared  to  accept  that 
affinity  Avithout  question.  The  examination  of  bone  after  bone  by 
Sir  R.  Owen  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  vi.  p.  49)  and  others  confirmed  the 
judgment  of  the  Danish  naturalist,  and  no  difterent  vieAv  can 
noAv  be  successfully  maintained.  In  1889,  at  the  instance  of  M. 
Sauzier,  researches  on  the  scene  of  Mr.  Clark's  successes  Avere  reneAved, 
this  time  by  the  Mauritian  Government,  and  a  vast  number  of  Dodos' 
and  other  bones  Avere  recovered  from  the  Mare  aux  Songes.      Some 

1  The  Dodo  and  its  Kiiidred.  By  H.  E.  Strickland  and  A.  G.  Melville. 
London  :  1848,  4to. 

-  Ncio  aiifgcfandcm  Ahbiklung  dcs  Bronte,  u.  s.  w.  Vou  Georg  Ritter  A'on 
Fraueufeld.     Wien  :  1868,  fol. 


DOE-BIRD— DOTTEREL  i6l 

of  these  specimens,  having  been  sent  by  M.  Sauzier  to  Sir  Edward 
Newton,  are  now  in  process  of  being  worked  out,  and  it  is  clear 
that  they  Avill  add  not  a  little  to  a  better  knowledge  of  the  osteo- 
logy of  the  species. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  extii-pation  of  this  ponderous 
Pigeon  are  elsewhere  discussed  (Extermination),  and  it  will  be 
remembered  that  the  Dodo  does  not  stand  alone  in  its  fate,  but 
that  two  more  or  less  nearly  allied  birds  inhabiting  the  sister 
islands  of  Reunion  and  Rodriguez  (Solitaire)  have  in  like  manner 
disappeared  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

DOE-BIRD  or  DOUGH-BIRD,  the  name  given,  according  to 
Nuttall  {llan.  Orn.  U.S.  and  Canada,  ii.  p.  102),  indiscriminately 
by  the  English  in  eastern  North  America  to  some  species  of  CuRLEW 
and  GODWIT;  but,  says  Mr.  Trumbull  (Names  and  Partr.  B.  p.  203), 
rightly  applied  to  the  small  species  of  the  former,  Numenius  hwealis, 
commonly  called  the  Esquimaux  Curlew. 

DOLLAR-BIRD,  the  Australian  name  for  Eunjstomus  pacificus, 
from  the  silvery  Avhite  spot  in  the  middle  of  the  wing,  which  is  dis- 
tinctly shewn  in  flight  (Gould,  Handh.  B.  Austral,  i.  p.  120).  The 
genus  Eurystomus,  which  is  one  of  the  Coraciidx  (Roller),  contains 
about  half  a  dozen  species,  belonging  to  the  Indian  or  Ethiopian 
Regions. 

DORR-HAAVK,  a  name  of  the  Nightjar,  from  its  feeding  on 
the  mischievous  "Dorr-Beetle"  (Meloloidha  solstitialis). 

DOTTEREL  (variously  spelt),  the  diminutive  of  Dolt,  a  bird 
so  called  from  its  alleged  stupidity ;  for,  as  asserted  by  many  old 
writers,  if  the  fowler  stretched  out  his  arm  or  his  leg,  so  did  the 
Dotterel  with  its  homologous  limb.  So  prone  is  mankind  to  believe 
any  silly  story  of  what  it  is  the  custom  to  call  "Animal  Instinct," 
that  this  foolish  notion  prevails  to  the  present  day  among  many 
who  pass  for  zoologists.  Yet  the  true  meaning  was  told  to 
Willughby  in  or  before  1676  :  one  Peter  Dent,  a  Cambridge 
apothecary,  having  Avritten  to  him  the  information  supplied  by  a 
gentleman  of  Norfolk  well  acquainted  with  the  "  sport "  of  catching 
these  birds,  to  the  eff"ect  that  instead  of  their  aping  the  gestures 
.of  the  men,  it  was  the  men  who  aped  those  of  the  birds,  as  the 
latter  were  being  driven  into  the  nets ;  for,  as  every  one  who  has 
watched  the  actions  of  Limicolse  must  know,  it  is  their  common 
habit  as  they  run  to  extend  a  wing  and  often  simultaneously  a  leg. 
This  belief  in  the  foolishness  of  the  species  has  been  fostered  also 
by  its  name  morinellus,  bestowed  by  Caius  with  a  double  meaning 
— being  a  diminutive  of  morus,  a  fool,  and  having  reference  to 
Morini,  the  ancient  name  of  the  people  of  Flanders,  where  he  had 

II 


i62  DOUCKER—DOVE 


found  the  bird  common  {Be  rar.  Anim.  atque  Stirp.  Hist.     Londini : 
1570,  fol.  21). 

The  Dotterel,  Charadrius  or  Eudromias  morineUus,  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  PLOVER-kind,  and  its  gradual  extinction  in 
Great  Britain  is  a  fact  much  to  be  regretted.  It  has  long  had  the 
credit  of  being  a  delicacy  for  the  table,  and  has  moreover  lain  under 
the  disadvantage  of  being  thought  to  be  in  better  condition  in 
spring,  or  early  summer,  when  it  arrives  in  this  island  on  its  way 
to  its  breeding-quarters  than  when  it  is  returning  southward  in 
autumn.  Consequently  it  has  been  for  years  ruthlessly  shot  down 
at  the  time  when  its  life  was  most  precious  for  the  continuance  of 
its  species,  and  with  the  result  that  always  attends  such  brutal 
practice.  It  used  formerly  to  breed  on  the  Cumberland  and  West- 
moreland fells,  but  seems  to  have  ceased  from  doing  so  for  some 
years,  the  birds  resorting  thither  having  been  destroyed,  and  its 
haunts  on  the  Scottish  mountains  appear  to  be  devastated  by  the 
/  "  collector  "  so  soon  as  they  are  discovered.     So  far  as  is  at  present 

{l}'^  .  j^  knownf^the  Dotterel  stands  alone  among  the  Charadriidx,  in  the 
facts  that  the  posterior  processes  of  the  sternum  extend  backward 
nearly  as  far  as  the  keel  does,  the  outer  pair  being  somewhat  everted, 
and  that  the  hen  birds  are  lai'ger  and  more  brightly  coloured  than 
the  cocks.  Furthermore,  the  Dotterel  lays  only  three  eggs,  four 
being  the  usual  number  in  the  Limicolx.  The  name  Dotterel  is 
often  applied,  with  or  without  a  prefix,  to  the  Ringed  Plover, 
jEgialitis  hiaticola,  and  some  of  its  relations,  to  all  of  which  it  is 
whoUy  inappropriate. 

DOUCKER  or  DUCKER  (Germ.  Taucher),  a  word  used  by 
many  old  writers  for  any  bird  that  "  ducks  "  or  dives,  and  wholly 
without  special  meaning. 

DOVE  (Dutch,  Duyve ;  Danish,  Due ;  Icelandic,  Dvfa ;  German, 
Taube),  a  name  which  seems  to  be  most  commonly  applied  to  the 
Bmaller  members  of  the  group  of  birds  by  ornithologists  usually 
called  Pigeons,  Columhx ;  but  no  sharp  distinction  can  be  drawn 
between  Pigeons  and  Doves,  and  in  general  literature  the  two 
words  are  used  almost  indifferently,  while  no  one  species  can  be 
pointed  out  to  which  the  word  Dove,  taken  alone,  seems  to  be 
absolutely  proper.  The  largest  of  the  group  to  which  the  name  is 
applicable  is  perhaps  the  Ring-Dove,  or  Wood-Pigeon,  also  called  in 
many  parts  of  Britain  Cushat  and  Queest,  Columba  palumbus,  a  very 
common  bird  throughout  these  islands  and  most  parts  of  Europe. 
It  associates  in  winter  in  large  flocks,  the  numbers  of  Avhich  (owing 
partly  to  the  destruction  of  predacious  animals,  but  still  more  to 
the  modern  system  of  agriculture,  and  the  growth  of  plantations  in 
many  districts  that  were  before  treeless)  have  of  late  years  increased 
enormously,  so  that  their  depredations  are  at  times  very  serious. 


DOVE  163 

In  former  days,  when  the  breadth  of  land  in  Britain  under  green 
crops  was  comparatively  small,  these  birds  found  little  food  in  the 
dead  season,  and  this  scarcity  was  a  natural  check  on  their  super- 
abundance.-^ But  since  the  extended  cultivation  of  turnips  and 
plants  of  similar  use  the  case  is  altered,  and  perhaps  at  no  time  of 
the  year  has  provender  become  moi-e  plentiful  than  in  winter.  The 
Ring-Dove  may  be  easily  distinguished  from  other  European  species 
by  its  larger  size,  and  especially  by  the  white  spot  on  either  side 
of  its  neckj  forming  a  nearly  continuous  "ring,"  whence  the  bird 
takes  its  name,  and  the  large  white  patches  in  its  wings,  which  are 
very  conspicuous  in  flight.  It  breeds  several  times  in  the  year, 
making  for  its  nest  a  slight  platform  of  sticks  on  the  horizontal 
bough  of  a  tree,  and  laying  therein  two  eggs — which,  as  in  all  the 
Columhidse,  are  white. 

The  Stock-Dove  (C.  cenas  of  most  authors)  is  a  smaller  species, 
with  many  of  the  habits  of  the  former,  but  breeding  by  preference 
in  the  stocks  of  hollow  trees  or  in  rabbit-holes.  It  is  darker  in 
colour  than  the  Ring-Dove,  without  any  white  on  its  neck  or  wings, 
and  is  much  less  common  and  more  locally  distributed.  Formerly 
scarce  or  unknown  in  the  north  of  England,  it  has  of  late  years 
been  found  to  extend  over  almost  the  whole  of  Scotland. 

The  Rock-Dove  {C.  livia,  Temm.)  much  resembles  the  Stock- 
Dove,  but  is  of  a  lighter  colour,  with  two  black  bars  on  its  wings, 
and  a  white  rump.  In  its  wild  state  it  haunts  most  of  the  rocky 
parts  of  the  coast  of  Europe,  from  the  Fseroes  to  the  Cyclades,  and, 
seldom  going  inland,  is  comparatively  rare.  Yet,  as  it  is  without 
contradiction  the  parent  -  stem  of  all  our  domestic  Pigeons,  its 
numbers  must  far  exceed  those  of  both  the  former  put  together. 
In  Egypt  and  various  parts  of  Asia  it  is  represented  by  what  Mr. 
Dar-svin  has  called  "Wild  Races,"  which  are  commonly  accounted 
good  "  species "  (C.  schimperi,  C.  affinis,  G.  intermedia,  C.  leuconota, 
and  so  forth),  though  they  differ  from  one  another  far  less  than  do 
nearly  all  the  domestic  forms,  of  which  more  than  150  kinds  that 
"  breed  true,"  and  have  been  separately  named,  are  known  to  exist. 
Very  many  of  these,  if  found  wild,  Avould  have  unquestionably 
been  ranked  by  the  best  ornithologists  as  distinct  "  species,"  and 

^  Yet  one  curious  fact  in  connexion  herewith  has  never  been  satisfactorily 
explained.  It  not  unfrequently  happens  that  after  Wood-Pigeons  have  abounded 
in  a  district  for  some  two  or  three  years,  so  as  to  be  a  perfect  plague,  their 
numbers  have  suddenly  dwindled  without  any  assignable  cause,  for  the  ordinary 
modes  of  destruction  prove  wholly  futile  in  checking  their  multiplication. 
Another  fact,  perhaps  worth  recording,  is  the  curious  increase  of  late  years — say 
from  1885,  or  possibly  a  little  earlier — of  this  species  in  St.  James's  Parle,  where 
it  is  now  as  numerous,  if  not  as  familiar,  as  in  what  used  to  be  the  Gardens  of 
the  Tuileries  in  Paris.  I  had  long  known  that  it  inhabited  the  singular  paradise 
afforded  by  the  gardens  of  Buckingham  Palace,  but  that  it  should  establish 
itself  even  nearer  to  the  centre  of  London  I  had  not  expected. 


i64  DOVE 

several  of  them  Avould  as  undoubtedly  have  been  placed  in  different 
genera.  These  various  breeds  are  classified  by  Mr.  Darwin^  in  four 
groups  as  follows  : — 

Group  I.  composed  of  a  single  Race,  that  of  the  "Pouters," 
having  the  gullet  of  great  size,  barely  separated  from  the  crop,  and 
often  inflated,  the  body  and  legs  elongated,  and  a  moderate  bill. 
The  most  strongh^  marked  subrace,  the  Improved  English  Pouter,  is 
considered  to  be  the  most  distinct  of  all  domesticated  pigeons. 

Group  II.  includes  three  Races: — (1)  " Carriers,"  with  a  long 
pointed  bill,  the  eyes  surrounded  by  much  bare  skin,  and  the  neck 
and  body  much  elongated;  (2)  "Runts,"  with  a  long  massive  bill, 
and  the  body  of  great  size ;  and  (3)  "  Barbs,"  with  a  short  broad 
bill,  much  bare  skin  round  the  eyes,  and  the  skin  over  the  nostrils 
swollen.  Of  the  first  four  and  of  the  second  five  subraces  are 
distinguished. 

Group  III.  is  confessedly  artificial,  and  to  it  are  assigned  j^2;e 
Races: — (1)  "  Fan-tails,"  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  develop- 
ment of  their  tails,  which  may  consist  of  as  many  as  forty-two 
rectrices  in  place  of  the  ordinary  twelve ;  (2)  "  Turbits "  and 
"  Owls,"  with  the  feathers  of  the  throat  diverging,  and  a  short  thick 
bill;  (3)  "Tumblers,"  possessing  the  marvellous  habit  of  tumbling 
backwards  during  flight  or,  in  some  breeds,  even  on  the  ground,  and 
having  a  short,  conical  bill ;  (4)  "  Frill-backs,"  in  which  the 
feathers  are  reversed ;  and  (5)  "  Jacobins,"  with  the  feathers  of 
the  neck  forming  a  hood,  and  the  Mdngs  and  tail  long. 

Group  IV.  greatly  resembles  the  normal  form,  and  comprises 
two  Races: — (1)  "Trumpeters,"  with  a  tuft  of  feathers  at  the  base 
of  the  neck  curling  forward,  the  face  much  feathered,  and  a  very 
peculiar  voice ;  and  (2)  Pigeons  scarcely  differing  in  structure  from 
the  wild  stock. 

Beside  these,  some  three  or  four  other  little-known  breeds  exist, 
and  the  whole  number  of  breeds  and  sub-breeds  almost  defies  com- 
putation. The  difterence  between  them  is  in  many  cases  far  from 
being  superficial,  for  Mr.  Darwin  has  shewn  that  there  is  scarcely 
any  part  of  the  skeleton  which  is  constant,  and  the  modifications 
that  have  been  effected  in  the  proportions  of  the  head  and  sternal 
apparatus  are  very  remarkable.  Yet  the  proof  that  all  these 
different  birds  have  descended  from  one  common  stock  is  nearly 
certain.  Here  there  is  no  need  to  point  out  its  bearing  upon  the 
doctrine  of  "  Natural  Selection  "  which  that  eminent  naturalist  and 
Mr.  Wallace  have  rendered  so  well  known.  The  antiquity  of  some 
of  these  breeds  is  not  the  least  interesting  part  of  the  subject,  nor 
is  the  use  to  which  one  at  least  of  them  has  long  been  applied. 
The  Dove  from  the  earliest  period  in  history  has  been  associated 

^  TTie  Variation  of  Animals  and  Plants  under  Domestication.     London  :  1868. 
Vol.  i.  rP-  131-224. 


.    DOVE  165 

with  the  idea  of  a  messenger  (Genesis  viii.  8-1 2),  and  its  employ- 
ment in  that  capacity^  developed  successively  by  Greeks,  Romans, 
(^MussSnaan^  ^ind~lQhristiansp  has  never  been  more  fully  made  avail- 
able than  in  our  own  day,  as  witness  the  "  Pigeon-post "  established 
during  the  siege  of  Paris  in  1870-71. 

Leaving,  then,  this  interesting  subject,  space  does  not  permit 
our  here  dwelling  on  various  foreign  species,  which,  if  not  truly 
belonging  to  the  genus  Colwnba,  are  barely  separable  therefrom. 
Of  these  examples  may  be  found  in  the  Indian,  Ethiopian,  and 
Neotropical  Regions.  Still  less  can  we  here  enter  upon  the  in- 
numerable other  forms,  though  they  may  be  entitled  to  the  name 
of  "  Dove,"  which  are  to  be  found  in  almost  every  part  of  the 
world,  and  nowhere  more  abundantly  than  in  the  Australian 
Region.  Mr.  Wallace  {Ibis,  1865,  pp.  365-400)  considers  that  they 
attain  their  maximum  development  in  the  Papuan  Subregion, 
where,  though  the  land-area  is  less  than  one-sixth  that  of  Europe, 
more  than  a  quarter  of  all  the  species  (some  300  in  number)  known 
to  exist  are  found — owing,  he  suggests,  to  the  absence  of  forest- 
haunting  and  fruit-eating  Mammals. 

It  would,  however,  be  impossible  to  conclude  this  article  with- 
out noticing  a  small  group  of  birds  to  which  in  some  minds  the 
name  Dove  will  seem  especially  applicable.  This  is  the  group 
containing  the  Turtle-Doves — the  time-honoured  emblem  of  tender- 
ness and  conjugal  love.  The  common  Turtle-Dove  of  Europe, 
Turtur  communis  or  auritus,  is  one  of  those  species  which  is  gradu- 
ally extending  its  area.  In  England,  not  much  more  than  a 
century  ago,  it  seems  to  have  been  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  known  in 
the  southern  and  western  counties.  Though  in  the  character  of  a 
straggler  only,  it  now  reaches  the  extreme  north  of  Scotland,  and 
is  perhaps  nowhere  more  abundant  than  in  many  of  the  midland 
and  eastern  counties  of  England.  On  the  continent  the  same  thing 
has  been  observed,  though  indeed  not  so  definitely ;  and  this  species 
has  within  the  last  forty  years  or  so  appeared  as  a  casual  visitor 
within  the  Arctic  Circle.  The  probable  causes  of  its  extension 
cannot  here  be  discussed ;  and  there  is  no  need  to  dwell  upon  its 
graceful  form  and  the  delicate  harmony  of  its  modest  colouring,  for 
they  are  proverbial.  The  species  is  migratory,  reaching  Europe 
late  in  April  and  retiring  in  September.  Another  species,  and  one 
perhaps  better  known  from  being  commonly  kept  in  confinement, 
is  that  called  by  many  the  Collared  or  Barbary  Dove,  T.  risorius — 
the  second  English  name  possibly  indicating  that  it  was  by  way  of 
that  country  that  it  was  brought  to  us,  for  it  is  not  an  African 
bird.  This  is  distinguished  by  its  cream-coloured  plumage  and 
black  necklace.  Some  uncertainty  seems  to  exist  about  its  original 
home,  but  it  is  found  from  Constantinople  to  India,  and  is  abundant 
in  the  Holy  Land,  though  there  a  third  species,  T.  senegalensis,  also 


i66 


DO  VEKEE—DREPANIS 


occurs,  which  Canon  Tristram  thinks  is  the  Turtle-Dove  of  Scrip- 
ture. 

The  "  Greenland  Dove  "  of  Arctic  seamen  and  of  some  writers 
in  the  last  century  is  the 

DOVEKEE  or  DOVEKEY  (often  written  affectedly  Dovekie), 
the  whalers'  name  for  what  is  called  in  most  hooks  the  Black 
Guillemot,  Uria  grylle  ;  but  sometimes  misapplied  to  the  Little 
Auk  or  Eotche. 

DRAW -WATER,  a  common  name  given  to  the  Goldfinch, 
which  in  captivity  learns  the  trick  of  pulling  a  small  bucket  or  cup 
of  water  from  a  reservoir  placed  below  its  cage,  the  cup  being  sus- 
pended by  a  string  or  light  chain. 

DREPANIS,  the  scientific  name  given  by  Temminck  {Man. 
(POrn.  ed.  2,  i.  p.  Ixxxvi.)  to  certain  birds  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 


Mamo,  Drepanis  pacifica. 

originally  referred  to  the  genus  CertJiia,  and  subsequently  regarded 
as  belonging  to  the  Family  Meliphagidx  (Honi:y-sucker),  but  lately 
ascertained  by  Dr.  Gadow  to  differ  from  the  latter  hy  possessing  a 
tongue  of  a  very  distinct  structure,  and  to  be  probaljly  more  nearly 
allied  to  the  Cxrehidx,  so  that  their  recognition  as  a  separate 
Family,  Drepanididx,  is  justifiable.  The  genus  Drepanis,  as  latterly 
resti-icted,  includes  but  a  single  species,  D.  pacifica,  now  according 
^^^"^1      to    all    accounts    extinct,^  owing,    it    is    believed,    to    the    way    in 


DROM^OGNA  TH^—DRONGO 


167 


which  it  was  destroyed  for  the  sake  of  its  rich  yellow  feathers, 
used  in  former  days  to  decorate  the  state  robes  of  the  chiefs.^ 
Specimens  were  brought  to  England  by  the  companions  of  Cook  on 
his  last  voyage,  when  the  Sandwich  Islands  were  discovered,  and 
one  of  them  exists  in  the  Museum  of  Vienna,  while  other  examples 
are  to  be  seen  in  Honolulu,  Paris,  Leyden,  and  Cambridge  ;  but 
probably  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  have  been  preserved.  Nearly 
allied  to  this  species  is  the  beautiful  Scarlet  Creeper  of  Latham, 
Vestiaria  coccinea,  which  also  provided  feathers  for  the 
adornment  of  the  natives,  but  has  escaped  the  fate  of  its  ^xJ^^^^^P 
relative,  beina:  still  one  of  the  most  characteristic  birds  '^  ^=^^ 
of  the  islands ;  and  to  the  same  Family  belong  several  , .  ^^^  esjiaria. 

'  -I  •   T       TT       ■        j7  •  1       •        (After  Swamson.) 

other   genera,   among    which    Menngnatlms,    with    its 
upper  mandible  in  some  species  monstrously  prolonged  beyond  the 
lower,  is  very  remarkable  (see  Wilson  and  Evans,  Birds  of  the  Sand- 
tvich  Islands). 

DROM^OGXATH^,  the  first  Suborder  of  Carinntx,  according 
to  Prof.  Huxley's  taxonomy  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  425,  456), 
consisting  of  the  Family  Tinamida}  (TiNAMOu),  or  Order  Crypturi  as 
some  would  have  it.  These  birds  have  a  completely  Struthious 
palate,  with  a  very  broad  vomer  meeting  in  front  with  the  broad 
maxillo -palatal  plates  as  in  Drorim'us  (Emeu),  while,  behind,  it 
receives  the  posterior  extremities  of  the  palatals  and  the  anterior 
ends  of  the  pterygoids,  which  thus  have  a  Eatite  conformation. 

DRONGO,  a  native  name  of  the  Edolius  forficains  of  Madagascar 
which  has  been  not  only  adopted  into  various  European  languages, 
but  also  used  generally  for  the  allied  species,  several  of  which  are 
referred  to  distinct  genera,  as  Bhringa,  ChajMa,  Chibia,  Dicrurus, 
Dissemurus,  Melanornis,  and  so  forth,  and  inhabit  Africa,  Asia,  the 

Eastern  Archipelago,  and 
Australia.  The  Drongos, 
known  as  "  King-Crows  " 
to  Anglo  -  Indians,  are 
commonly    placed    as    a 

Dicrurus.    (After  Swainson.)  subfamily       among        the 

Laniidm  (Shrike)  ;  but 
are  fully  entitled,  so  far  as  the  groups  of  Passeres  are  concerned,  to 
rank  as  a  Family,  Dkniridiv.      Their  colour  when  adult  is  almost 


^  Its  native  name  seems  to  have  been  JIamo,  which  was  thence  applied  to 
the  gorgeous  mantles  beset  with  its  golden  feathers.  As  the  species  became  rare, 
recourse  was  had  for  this  purpose  to  the  yellow  feathers  of  a  very  different  bird, 
the  0-0,  the  Aerulocercus  nohilis  of  modern  ornithologists,  belonging,  as  Dr. 
Gadow  has  shewn,  to  the  wholly-distinct  Family  Mcli-pluvgidaa  (Honey-sitcker). 
Cf.  Wilson  and  Evans,  op.  cit. 


i68  DUCK 

invariably  black/  and  they  have  but  10  feathers  in  their  tail,  the 
outer  rectrices  being  in  several  forms  much  prolonged  and  often 
more  or  less  involuted,  while  in  some  cases  the  outermost  pair  ai^e 
enlarged  at  the  end  in  a  racquet-like  form.  Many  are  crested,  and 
all  have  the  base  of  the  bill  beset  by  more  or  fewer  strong  bristles. 

The  Drongos  seem  to  be  wholly 
insectivorous,  and  are  usually  re- 
markable for  the  courage  with 
which  they  will  attack  and  drive 


, .  „^    „  off  larger  birds,  such  as  Kites  or 

Melanornis.     (After  Swamson.)  „  r^         -i         iitivt 

Grows,  bonsiderable  dimculty  is 
found  in  discriminating  the  specific  and  generic  forms  of  this  Family ; 
but  two,  Dicrurus  (or  JBuchanga)  assimilis  and  I),  ludwigi,  inhabit  the 
Cape  Colony,  Avhile  no  fewer  than  15,  referred  by  Mr.  Oates  (Faun. 
Br.  Ind.  Birds,  i.  pp.  308-326)  to  7  genera,  inhabit  various  parts  of 
our  Indian  possessions,  among  which  D.  ater  or  macrocerms  is  the 
King- Crow  proper,  ranging  from  Affghanistan  to  China,  though 
apparently  not  found  in  the  Malay  Peninsula.  Australia  is  graced, 
so  far  as  is  known,  with  a  single  species,  Chibia  hracfeata,  but  many 
are  found  in  Malasia  and  the  islands  of  the  Malay  Archipelago. 

DUCK,  a  word  cognate  with  the  Dutch  Duycker  (Germ.  Tauch- 
ente — and  in  Bavaria  ZJuck-antl),  the  general  English  name  for  a 
large  number  of  birds  forming  the  greater  part  of  the  Family 
Anatidai  of  modern  ornithologists.  Technically  the  term  Duck  is 
restricted  to  the  female,  the  male  being  called  Drake,  and  in  one 
species  Mallard  (Fr.  Mcdart). 

The  Anatidx  may  be  at  once  divided  into  six  more  or  less 
well-marked  subfamilies — (1)  the  Cygninx  (Swan),  (2)  the  Anser- 
ine (Goose) — which  are  each  very  distinct,  (3)  the  Anatinx  or 
Freshwater  Ducks,  (4)  those  commonly  called  Fuligidinx  or  Sea- 
Ducks  (Pochard),  (5)  the  Erismaturinx  or  Spiny-tailed  Ducks,  and 
(6)  the  Merginx  (Merganser).  Of  the  Anatinx,  Avhich  may  be  con- 
sidered the  typical  group,  Ave  propose  to  treat  here  only,  and 
especially  of  the  Anas  hoscas  of  Linnajus,  the  common  Wild  Duck, 
Avhich  from  every  point  of  A'icAV  is  by  far  the  most  important 
species,  as  it  is  the  most  plentiful,  the  most  Avidely  distributed,  and 
the  best  knoAvn — being,  wdthout  a  doubt,  the  origin  of  all  our 
domestic  breeds.  It  inhabits  the  greater  part  of  the  northern 
hemisphere,  reaching  in  Avinter  so  far  as  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  in 
the  NeAV  World,  and  in  the  Old  being  abundant  at  the  same  season 
in  Egypt  and  India,  Avhile  in  summer  it  ranges  throughout  the  Fur- 

1  G.  R.  Gray  placed  in  this  group  the  genus  l7-cne  (see  Bluebhid),  "most 
unfortunately,"  as  Jerdon  states  (B.  Ind.  ii.  p.  104),  and  herein  all  who  have 
any  knowledge  of  the  subject  agree.  The  position  of  the  genus  may  be  uncertain, 
but  among  Passcres  one  less  suitable  than  this  can  hardly  be  found. 


DUCK  169 

Countries,  Greenland,  Iceland,  Lapland,  and  Siberia.  Most  of  those 
which  fill  our  markets  are  no  doubt  bred  in  more  northern  climes, 
but  a  considerable  proportion  of  them  are  yet  produced  in  the 
British  Islands,  though  not  in  anything  like  the  numbers  that  used 
to  be  supplied  before  the  draining  of  the  great  Fen-country  and 
other  marshy  places.  The  Wild  Duck  pairs  very  early  in  the  year 
— the  period  being  somewhat  delayed  by  hard  weather,  and  the 
ceremonies  of  courtship,  which  require  some  little  time.  Soon  after 
these  are  performed,  the  respective  couples  separate  in  search  of 
suitable  nesting-places,  which  are  generally  found,  by  those  that 
remain  with  us,  about  the  middle  of  March.  The  spot  chosen  is 
sometimes  near  a  river  or  pond,  but  often  very  far  removed  from 
water,  and  it  may  be  under  a  furze-bush,  on  a  dry  heath,  at  the 
bottom  of  a  thick  hedge-row,  or  even  in  any  convenient  hole  in  a 
tree.  A  little  dry  grass  is  generally  collected,  and  on  it  the 
eggs,  from  9  to  11  in  number,  are  laid.  So  soon  as  incubation 
commences  the  mother  begins  to  divest  herself  of  the  down  which 
grows  thickly  beneath  her  breast-feathers,  and  adds  it  to  the  nest- 
furniture,  so  that  the  eggs  are  deeply  imbedded  in  this  heat-retain- 
ing substance — a  portion  of  which  she  is  always  careful  to  pull,  as 
a  coverlet,  over  her  treasures  when  she  quits  them  for  food.  She 
is  seldom  absent  from  the  nest,  however,  but  once,  or  at  most  twice 
a  day,  and  then  she  dare  not  leave  it  until  her  mate  after  several 
circling  flights  of  observation  has  assured  her  she  may  do  so  un- 
observed. Joining  him,  the  pair  betake  themselves  to  some  quiet 
spot  where  she  may  bathe  and  otherwise  refresh  herself.  Then 
they  return  to  the  nest,  and  after  cautiously  reconnoitring  the 
neighbourhood,  she  loses  no  time  in  reseating  herself  on  her  eggs, 
while  he,  when  she  is  settled,  repairs  again  to  the  waters,  and  passes 
his  day  listlessly  in  the  company  of  his  brethren,  who  have  the 
same  duties,  hopes,  and  cares.  Short  and  infrequent  as  are  the 
absences  of  the  Duck  when  incubation  begins,  they  become  shorter 
and  more  infrequent  towards  its  close,  and  for  the  last  day  or 
two  of  the  28  necessary  to  develop  the  young  it  is  probable 
that  she  will  not  stir  from  the  nest  at  all.  When  all  the  fertile 
eggs  are  hatched  her  next  care  is  to  get  the  brood  safely  to  the 
water.  This,  when  the  distance  is  great,  necessarily  demands  great 
caution,  and  so  cunningly  is  it  done  that  but  few  persons  have 
encountered  the  mother  and  offspring  as  they  make  the  dangerous 
journey.^  If  disturbed,  the  young  instantly  hide  as  they  best  can, 
while  the  mother  quacks  loudly,  feigns  lameness,  and  flutters  off  to 
divert  the  attention  of  the  intruder  from  her  brood,  who  lie  motion- 

^  When  Ducks  breed  in  trees,  the  precise  way  in  which  the  young  get  to  the 
ground  is  still  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  The  mother  is  supposed  to  convey  them 
in  her  bill,  and  very  likely  does  so,  but  further  obseiVation  on  this  point  is 
required. 


I70  DUCK 

less  at  her  warning  notes.  Once  arrived  at  the  water  they  are 
comparatively  free  from  harm,  though  other  perils  present  them- 
selves from  its  inmates  in  the  form  of  Pike  and  other  voracious 
fishes,  which  seize  the  Ducklings  as  they  disport  in  quest  of  insects 
on  the  surface  or  dive  beneath  it.  Throughout  the  summer  the 
Duck  continues  her  care  unremittingly,  until  the  young  are  full 
grown  and  feathered ;  but  it  is  no  part  of  the  Mallard's  duty  to 
look  after  his  offspring,  and  indeed  he  speedily  becomes  incapable 
of  helping  them,  for  towards  the  end  of  May  he  begins  to  undergo 
an  additional  MouLT,  loses  the  power  of  flight,  and  does  not  regain 
his  full  plumage  till  autumn.  About  harvest-time  the  young  are 
well  able  to  shift  for  themselves,  and  then  resort  to  the  corn-fields 
at  evening,  where  they  fatten  on  the  scattered  grain.  Towards  the 
end  of  September  or  beginning  of  October  both  old  and  young 
unite  in  large  flocks  and  betake  themselves  to  the  larger  waters, 
many  of  which  are  fitted  with  the  ingenious  appliances  for  catching 
them  known  as  decoys.^  These  are  worked  on  all  favourable 
occasions  during  the  winter,  but  the  numbers  taken  vary  greatly — 
success  depending  so  much  on  the  state  of  the  Aveather.  If  long- 
continued  frost  prevail,  most  of  the  Ducks  resort  to  the  estuaries 
and  tidal  rivers,  or  even  leave  these  islands  almost  entirely.  Soon 
after  Christmas  the  return-flight  commences,  and  then  begins  anew 
the  course  of  life  already  described. 

The  domestication  of  the  Duck  is  doubtless  very  ancient,  but 
evidence  on  this  head  is  exceedingly  imperfect.  Several  distinct 
breeds  have  been  established,  of  which  the  most  esteemed  from 
an  economical  point  of  view  are  those  known  as  the  Rouen  and 
Aylesbury ;  but  perhaps  the  most  singular  deviation  from  the 
normal  form  is  the  so-called  Penguin-Duck,  in  which  the  bird 
assumes  an  upright  attitude  and  its  wings  are  much  diminished  in 
size.  A  remarkable  breed  also  is  that  often  named  (though  quite 
fancifully)  the  "  Buenos-Ajnres  "  Duck,  wherein  the  whole  plumage 
is  of  a  deep  black,  beautifully  glossed  or  bronzed.  But  this  satura- 
tion, so  to  speak,  of  colour  only  lasts  in  the  individual  for  a  few 
years,   and   as  the  birds  grow   older  they  become   mottled   with 

^  The  origin  of  this  word  has  given  rise  to  a  good  deal  of  speculation,  but  it 
seems  to  be  simply  an  abbreviation  of  the  Dutch  "cende-coy  " — that  is  to  say,  duck- 
cage  or  netted  enclosure— and  it  is  admitted  that  the  use  of  Decoys  was  introduced 
into  this  country  from  Holland  (Spelman's  Posthumoius  Works,  ed.  Gibson,  ii. 
p.  153).  If  this  view  be  correct,  we  may  justifiably  speak  of  a  Decoy-Duck,  but 
the  expression  Duck-Decoy  is  an  intolerable  pleonasm.  Those  who  are  curious 
as  to  the  mode  of  using  Decoys  should  consult  Mr.  Southwell's  edition  of 
Lubbock's  Fauna  of  Norfolk  (1879),  and  Sir  R.  Payne-Gallway's  Book  of  Duck- 
Decoys  (1886),  which  last  is  an  almost  exhaustive  treatise  on  the  subject.  The 
ordinary  descriptions  and  even  figures  of  a  Decoy  met  with  in  popular  works  are 
almost  invariably  misleading — the  writers  having  no  knowledge  of  the  practice 
followed,  and  misrepresenting  it  accordingly. 


DUCKER—DULWILLY  171 

white,  though  as  long  as  their  reproductive  power  lasts  they 
"breed  true."  The  amount  of  variation  in  domestic  Ducks,  how- 
ever, is  not  comparable  to  that  found  among  Pigeons,  no  doubt 
from  the  absence  of  the  competition  which  Pigeon-fanciers  have  so 
long  exercised.  One  of  the  most  curious  effects  of  domestication  in 
the  Duck,  however,  is,  that  Avhereas  the  wild  Mallard  is  not  only 
strictly  monogamous,  but,  as  Waterton  believed,  a  most  faithful 
husband — remaining  paired  for  life,  the  civilized  Drake  is  notori- 
ously i3olygamous. 

Very  nearly  allied  to  the  common  Wild  Duck  are  a  consider- 
able number  of  species  found  in  various  parts  of  the  world  in 
which  there  is  little  difference  of  plumage  between  the  sexes — both 
being  of  a  dusky  hue — such  as  Anas  obscura  of  North  America,  A. 
superciliosa  of  Australia,  A.  poicUorhyncha  of  India,  A.  mcllcri  of 
Madagascar,  A.  xantkorhyncha  of  South  Africa,  and  some  others. 

It  would  he  impossible  here  to  enter  upon  the  other  genera  of 
Anatinse.  AVe  must  content  ourselves  by  saying  that  both  in 
Eui'ope  and  in  North  America  there  are  the  groups  represented 
by  the  Shovfxer,  Garganey,  Gadwall,  Teal,  Pintail,  and 
WiGEON — each  of  which,  according  to  some  systematists,  is  the 
type  of  a  distinct  genus.  Then  there  is  the  group  ^-Ex  with  its 
beautiful  representatives  the  Wood-Duck  {^E.  sjMnsa)  in  America 
and  the  Mandarin-Duck  (^-E.  galericulata)  in  Eastern  Asia.  Besides 
there  are  the  Sheld-drakes  (Tadorna),  confined  to  the  Old  World,^ 
and  remarkably  developed  in  the  Australian  Kegion  ;  the  Musk- 
Duck  (Cairina)  of  South  America,  which  is  often  domesticated,  and 


^x  SPONSA.  Dendrocygna. 

(After  Swainson.) 

in  that  condition  will  produce  fertile  hybrids  Avith  the  common 
Duck ;  and  finally  the  Tree-Ducks  {Dendrocygna),  which  are  almost 
limited  to  the  Tropics. 

DUCKER,  see  Doucker. 

DULWILLY,  said  to  be  a  local  name  of  the  Ringed  Plover, 
jEgialitis  hiaticola ;  and,  according  to  Prof.  Skeat,  signifying  dull 
of  will  or  stupid,  though  the  application  of  such  a  name  is  not 
obvious.      (See,  however,  Dotterel.) 

^  To  these  belong  apparently  the  genera  Chcnalopcx  and  Plectropterus,  though 
from  their  size  the  species  of  each  beai-s  in  English  the  name  of  Goose. 


172  DUNBIRD— DUNLIN 

DUNBIED,  DUNCUR  or  DUNIlER,  names  of  the  Pochakd. 

DUNLIN,  the  common  name  of  the  commonest  of  shore-birds, 
the  Tringa  alpina  and  T.  cinches  of  Linnseus,  who,  not  knowing  the 
great  seasonal  change  of  plumage  it  undergoes,  took  examples  in 
their  summer  dress  to  be  specifically  distinct  from  those  in  that 
which  it  wears  in  winter — an  error,  long  shared  by  many  writers, 
which  Montagu  in  1813  (Orn.  Diet.  Appendix)  was  perhaps  the 
first  to  suspect,  though  it  could  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  dis- 
pelled until  Temminck  in  1815  {Ma7i.  d'Orn.,  pp.  395-398)  boldly 
united  them,  calling  the  species  T.  variabilis.^  In  its  breeding-attire 
the  Dunlin  is  a  beautiful  bird,  of  a  rich  reddish-orange  above,  each 
feather  having  a  dark  brown  median  stripe,  with  a  broad  black 
gorget  contrasting  with  the  white  of  the  lower  plumage.  In  this 
condition  it  is  generally  known  to  professional  gunners  as  the 
PURRE  or  Stint,  though  the  last  name  is  by  authors  restricted  to 
two  or  three  smaller  species.  The  Dunlin  breeds  sparingly  on  the 
higher  hills  of  the  western,  midland,  and  northern  counties  of 
England,  and  far  more  abundantly  and  at  lower  levels  in  Scotland, 
as  well  as  on  the  continent  from  Holland  northwards.  The  ordin- 
ary form  of  Dunlin  from  the  New  World  has  been  described 
as  distinct  under  the  name  of  T.  americana,  and  examples  of  it  are 
constantly  larger  than  those  of  Einrope,  though  there  is  no  other 
diff'erence  between  them.  A  smaller  form  of  Dunlin,  by  some 
writers  accounted  a  species,  the  T.  schinzi  of  Brehm,^  also  occurs 
not  very  rarely  on  our  coasts,  and  generally  in  flocks  by  itself.  It 
is  said  to  breed  on  the  Cimbric  peninsula,  but  nothing  is  known  of 
the  limits  of  its  range,  and  at  present  it  cannot  be  deemed  with 
certainty  to  be  even  a  local  race.  In  the  pairing -season  the  cock 
Dunlin,  like  most  of  his  allies,  exercises  himself  in  peculiar  flights, 
and  in  the  course  of  them  utters  a  singular  whistle,  which  sounds 
like  the  for-a-time  continuous  ringing  of  a  small  bell  with  a  shrill 
note,  and  notwithstanding  its  high  pitch  is  pleasing  to  the  ear. 
The  nest  is  a  simple  depression  in  the  ground,  to  some  extent 
furnished  or  enclosed  by  grass,  leaves,  or  the  like,  as  incubation 
proceeds ;  and  therein  are  laid  four  eggs,  generally  of  great  beauty, 
with  varied  spots  or  blotches,  but  presenting  so  many  diflferences 
that  description  of  them  is  here  impossible.  Towards  winter  Dun- 
lins flock  in  thousands  to  our  shores,  especially  those  which  are 
fringed  by  extensive  mud-flats,  and  are  thus  exposed  to  much  per- 
secution on  the  part  of  fowlers,  both  by  the  gun  and  the  net.  In 
an  aviary  they  bear  confinement  well,  and  at  the  proper  season  will 
assume  their  nuptial  plumage. 

^  This  was  already  a  synonym  of  T.  alpina,  for  in  1810  Bernhard  Meyer  had 
so  applied  it  {Taschenb.  deutsch.  Vogel,  ii.  p.  397). 

2  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  T.  schinzi  of  Bonaparte,  now  known  as  T. 
bonapartii,  a  North- American  species  belonging  to  a  different  group  of  the  genus. 


DUNNOCK— EAGLE  173 

DUNNOCK,  a  local  name  of  the  Hedge-SPARROW. 

DUNTER,  generally  Avith  the  addition  of  "Goose,"  a  name  of 
the  EiDER-DuCK. 

DYSPOROMORPH.^,  the  third  "Family"  of  Desmognathous 
birds  according  to  Prof.  Huxley's  classification  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1867,  pp.  438-440,  461,  462)  answering  to  the  Steganopodes  of 
Illiger,  and  including  two  groups,  the  Pelicanidx  in  a  restricted  sense, 
and  then  all  the  rest — CORMORANTS,  Snake-birds,  Frigate-birds 
and  Tropic  Birds.  Whatever  be  the  shape  of  the  bill  in  all  these, 
and  it  varies  much,  the  exterior  nares  are  very  small,  there  are 
no  basipterygoid  processes ;  while,  behind  the  posterior  nares,  the 
palatals  unite  for  a  considerable  distance ;  and  other  characters  are 
recognizable. 


E 

EAGLE  (French  Aigle,  from  the  Latin  Aqiiila),  the  name 
generally  given  to  the  larger  diurnal  Birds-of-Prey  which  are  not 
Vultures ;  but  the  limits  of  the  subfamily  Aquilinm  have  been  very 
variously  assigned  by  different  writers  on  systematic  ornithology, 
and,  as  elsewhere  observed  (Buzzard),  there  are  Eagles  smaller 
than  certain  Buzzards.  By  some  authorities  the  L.^MMERGEIER  of 
the  Alps,  and  other  high  mountains  of  Europe,  North  Africa,  and 
Asia,  is  accounted  an  Eagle,  but  by  others  the  genus  Gypaetus  is 
placed  with  the  Vnlturidx,  as  its  common  English  name  (Bearded 
Vulture)  shews.  There  are  also  other  forms,  such  as  the  South- 
American  Harpy  and  its  allies,  which  though  generally  called 
Eagles  have  been  ranked  as  Buzzards.  In  the  absence  of  any 
truly  scientific  definition  of  the  Aquilinse,^  it  is  best  to  leave  these 
and  many  other  more  or  less  questionable  members  of  the  group — 
such  as  the  genera  Spizaetus,  Circaetus,  Spilornis,  Helotaraus,  and  so 
forth — and,  so  far  as  space  will  allow,  to  treat  here  of  those  whose 
position  cannot  be  gainsaid. 

Eagles  inhabit  all  the  Regions  of  the  world  except  New  Zealand, 
and  some  seven  or  more  species  are  found  in  Europe,  of  which  two 
are  resident  in  the  British  Islands.  In  England  and  in  the  Low- 
lands of  Scotland  Eagles  only  exist  as  stragglers ;  but  in  the 
Hebrides  and  some  parts  of  the  Highlands  a  good  many  may  yet 
be  found  ;  and,  though  one  species  is  verging  upon  extermination 
as  a   native,  the    numbers    of   the  other    appear   to   have    rather 

^  The  nearest  approach  to  a  characteristic  is  perhaps  that  afforded  by  the 
elongated  head,  and  bill  straight  at  the  base,  as  before  remarked  {supra,  p.  67) ; 
but  this  is  possibly  not  unfailing. 


174 


EAGLE 


inci'eased  of  late  years  than  diminished  ;  for  the  foresters  and  shep- 
herds, finding  that  a  high  price  can  be  got  for  their  eggs,  take  care 
to  protect  the  owners  of  the  eyries,  which  are  nearly  all  well 
known,  and  to  keep  up  the  stock  by  alloAving  them  at  times  to  rear 
their  young.  There  are  also  now  not  a  few  occupiers  of  Scottish 
forests  who  interfere  so  far  as  they  can  to  protect  the  "  king  of 
birds."  But  hardly  thirty  years  ago  resort  Avas  had  without  stint 
to  trapping,  poisoning,  and   other   destructive  devices,   and   there 


Sea-Eagle.    (After  Wolf.) 

was  then  every  probability  that  before  long  not  an  Eagle  of  any 
kind  would  be  left  to  add  the  wild  majesty  of  its  appearance  to 
the  associations  of  the  mountain,  the  cliff,  or  the  lake.-*^     In  Ireland 

^  The  late  Lord  Breadalbane  (John,  2nd  Marquess  of  the  first  creation,  and 
5th  Earl)  Avho  died  in  1862,  was  perhaps  the  fir.st  large  landowner  who  set  the 
example  that  has  been  since  followed  by  others.  On  his  unrivalled  forest  of 
Black  Mount,  Eagles — elsew^here  persecuted  to  the  death — were  by  him  ordered 
to  be  unmolested  so  long  as  they  were  not  numerous  enough  to  cause  consider- 
able depredations  on  the  farmers'  flocks.  He  thought,  and  all  who  have  an  eye 
for  the  harmonies  of  nature  will  agree  with  him,  that  the  spectacle  of  a  soaring 


EAGLE  175 

the  extirpation  of  Eagles  seems  to  have  been  carried  on  almost 
imaflfected  by  the  prudent  considerations  which  in  the  northern 
kingdom  have  operated  so  favourably  for  the  race,  and  except  in 
the  wildest  parts  of  Donegal,  Mayo,  and  Kerry,  Eagles  in  the 
sister-island  are  said  to  be  birds  of  the  past. 

Of  the  two  British  species  the  Erne  (Icel.  (J^rn)  or  Sea-Eagle 
(by  some  called  also  the  White-tailed  and  Cinereous  Eagle),  Hallaetus 
alhicilla,  has  of  late  years  suffered  severe  persecution,  so  that  at 
the  present  time  there  is  probably  not  a  single  pair  left  on  the 
mainland  of  Scotland,  while  not  fifty  years  ago  it  frequented  almost 
every  steep  headland  on  our  northern  shores.  Afiecting  chiefly  the 
coast,  mostly  building  its  nest  on  sea-clifts,  it  has  been  at  the 
mercy  of  any  adventurer,  and  in  the  absence  of  the  protection 
which  the  practice  of  deer-stalldng  has  afforded  the  other  native 
species,  it  has  been  ruthlessly  destroyed,  and  apparently  to  the 
benefit  of  nobody  in  particular,  for  the  species  lives  in  great  part 
on  the  fish  and  refuse  that  is  thrown  up  on  the  shore,  though  it 
not  unfrequently  takes  living  prey,  such  as  lambs,  hares,  and 
rabbits.  On  these  last,  indeed,  young  examples  mostly  feed 
when  they  wander  southward  in  autumn,  as  they  yearly  do,  and 
appear  in  England.  The  adults  are  distinguished  by  their  prevalent 
greyish-brown  colour,  their  pale  head,  yellow  beak,  and  white  tail 
— characters,  however,  wanting  in  the  immature,  which  do  not 
assume  the  perfect  plumage  for  some  three  or  four  years.  The 
eyry  is  commonly  placed  in  a  high  cliff  or  on  an  island  in  a  lake — 
sometimes  on  the  ground,  at  others  in  a  tree — and  consists  of  a 
vast  mass  of  sticks,  in  the  midst  of  which  is  formed  a  hollow  lined 
with  Luzula  sylvatica  (as  first  observed  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Wolley) 
or  some  similar  grass,  and  here  are  laid  the  two  or  three  white 
eggs.  In  former  days  the  Sea-Eagle  seems  to  have  bred  in  several 
parts  of  England — as  the  Lake  district,  and  possibly  even  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight  and  on  Dartmoor.  This  species  inhabits  all  the 
northern  part  of  the  Old  World  from  Iceland  to  Kamchatka, 
and  breeds  in  Europe  so  far  to  the  southward  as  Albania.  It 
is  also  found  in  Greenland ;  but  is  replaced  in  the  New  World 
by  the  White-headed  or  Bald  Eagle,  H.  leucocepkalus,  a  bird  of 
similar  habits,  and  the  chosen  emblem  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  In  the  far  east  of  Asia  occurs  a  still  larger  and  finer 
Sea-Eagle,  H.  pelagicus,  remarkable  for  its  white  thighs  and  upper 
wing-coverts.  South-eastern  Europe  and  India  furnish  a  much 
smaller  species,  H.  leucoryphus,   which   has  its   representative,   //. 

Eagle  was  a  fitting  adjunct  to  the  grandeur  of  his  Argyllshire  mountain-scenery, 
and  a  good  equivalent  for  the  occasional  loss  of  a  lamb,  or  the  slight  deduction 
from  the  rent  paid  by  his  tenantry  in  consequence.  How  faithfully  his  wishes 
were  carried  out  by  his  head-forester,  the  late  Peter  Robertson,  the  present 
writer  has  abundant  means  of  knowing. 


176 


EAGLE 


leucogaster,  in  the  Malay  Archipelago  and  Australia,  and,  as  allies 
in  South  Africa  and  Madagascar,  H.  vocifer  and  H.  vociferoides 
respectively.  All  these  Eagles  ^  may  be  distinguished  by  their  scaly 
tarsi,  while  the  group  next  to  be  treated  of  have  the  tarsi  feathered 
to  the  toes. 

The  Golden  or  Mountain-Eagle,  Aquila  chrysaetus,  is  the  second 
British  species.  This  also  formerly  inhabited  England,  and  a  nest, 
found  in   1668  in  the  Peak  of  Derbyshire,  is  well  described   by 


Golden  Eagle.    (After  Wolf.) 


Willughby,  in  whose  time  it  was  said  to  breed  also  in  the  Snowdon 
range.  It  seldom  if  ever  frequents  the  coast,  and  is  more  active 
on  the  wing  than  the  Sea-Eagle,  being  able  to  take  some  birds  as 
they  fly,  but  a  large  part  of  its  sustenance  is  the  flesh  of  animals 
that  die  a  natural  death.      Its  eyry  is  generally  placed  and  built 


like  that  of  the  other  British  species,-  but  the 


neighbourhood 


of 


^  Mucli    resembling    them   are   the  species   separated    to    form    the 


Ilaliastur,  wliicli  some  authorities  regard  as  more  nearly  allied  to  the  Kites. 
^  As  already  stated,  the  site  chosen  varies  greatly.     Occasionally  placed  iu  a 


EAGLE  177 

water  is  not  requisite.  The  eggs,  from  two  to  four  in  number, 
vary  from  a  pure  white  to  a  mottled,  and  often  highly-coloured, 
surface,  on  which  appear  different  shades  of  red  and  purple.  The 
adult  bird  is  of  a  rich,  dark  brown,  with  the  elongated  feathers  of 
the  neck,  especially  on  the  nape,  light  tawny,  in  which  imagination 
sees  a  "  golden  "  hue,  and  the  tail  marbled  with  brown  and  ashy- 
grey.  In  the  young  the  tail  is  white  at  the  base,  whence  in  this 
stage  it  has  been  often  called  the  Eing-tailed  Eagle,  and  the  neck 
has  scarcely  any  tawny  tint.  The  Golden  Eagle  does  not  occur  in 
Iceland,  but  occupies  suitable  situations  over  the  rest  of  the 
Palaearctic  area  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Nearctic — though 
the  American  bird  has  been,  by  some,  considered  a  distinct  species. 
Domesticated,  it  has  many  times  been  trained  to  take  prey  for 
its  master  in  Europe,  and  to  this  species  is  thought  to  belong  an 
Eagle  habitually  used  by  the  Kirgiz  Tartars,  who  call  it  Bergiit  or 
Bear  coot, ^  for  the  capture  of  antelopes,  foxes,  and  wolves.  It  is 
carried  hooded  on  horseback  or  on  a  perch  between  two  men,  and 
released  when  the  quarry  is  in  sight.  Such  a  bird,  when  well 
trained,  is  valued,  says  Pallas,  at  the  price  of  two  camels.  It  is 
quite  possible,  however,  that  more  than  one  kind  of  Eagle  is  thus 
used,  and  the  services  of  A.  heliaca  (which  is  the  Imperial  Eagle  of 
some  writers  ^)  and  of  A.  mogilnik — both  of  which  are  found  in 
Central  Asia,  as  well  as  in  South-eastern  Europe — may  also  be 
employed. 

Of  the  other  more  or  less  nearly  allied  species  or  races  want  of 
room  forbids  the  consideration,  but  there  is  a  smaller  form  on 
which  a  few  words  may  be  said.  This  has  usually  gone  under  the 
name  of  A.  nmna  or  Spotted  Eagle,  but  is  now  thought  by  the  best 
authorities  to  include  three  local  races,  or,  in  the  eyes  of  some, 
species.  They  inhabit  Europe,  North  Africa,  and  Western  Asia  to 
India,  and  five  examples  of  one  of  them — A.  clanga,  the  form  which 
is  somewhat  plentiful  in  North-eastern  Germany — have  occurred  in 
England.  The  smallest  true  Eagle  is  A.  pennata,  which  inhabits 
Southern  Europe,  Africa,  and  India.  Differing  from  other  Eagles 
of  this  genus  by  its  wedge-shaped  tail,  though  otherwise  greatly 
resembling  them,  is  the  A.  audax  of  Australia.     Lastly  may  be 

niche  in  what  passes  for  a  perpendicular  cliff  to  which  access  could  only  be 
gained  by  a  skilful  cragsman  with  a  rope,  the  writer  has  known  a  nest  to  within 
ten  or  fifteen  yards  of  which  he  rode  on  a  pony.  Two  beautiful  views  of  as  many 
Golden  Eagles'  nests,  drawn  on  the  spot  by  Mr.  Wolf,  are  given  in  the  Ootheca 
WoUeyana,  and  a  fine  series  of  eggs  is  also  figured  in  the  same  work. 

^  The  similarity  between  this  name  and  the  "Welsh  Barcud,  said  by  Pennant 
{Brit.  Zool.  Ed.  4,  ii.  pp.  620,  621)  to  be  Kite  or  Harrier,  hut,  as  Lord  Lilford 
informs  me,  really  equivalent  to  Buzzard,  is  worth  noting. 

-  Which  species  may  have  been  the  traditional  emblem  of  Roman  power,  and 
the  Ales  Jovis,  is  very  uncertain. 

12 


178  EAR 

noticed  here  a  small  gi'oup  of  Eagles,  characterized,  by  their  long 
legs,  forming  the  genus  Nisaetus,  of  which  one  species,  N.  fasciahiS 
or  honellii,  is  found  in  Europe.  The  OsPREY  (Pandion),  though 
placed  by  many  among  the  Aquiline,  certainly  does  not  belong  to 
that  subfamily. 

EAR.  The  whole  auditory  apparatus  is  divided  into  the  outer, 
middle,  and  inner  ear. 

The  outer  ear  or  "  auditory  meatus  "  is  a  short,  membranous,  and 
sometimes  partly  cartilaginous  tube.  The  outer  opening  is  generally 
covered  by  feathers,  and  rarely  naked  as  in  Vultures  and  Ostriches. 
The  feathers  which  surround  the  ear  are  often  more  or  less  reduced, 
and  occasionally  assume  the  shape  of  bristles.  There  is  no  external 
ear  or  "  concha  auris,"  but  a  more  or  less  prominent  fold  projects 
from  the  outer  margin  into  the  meatus,  and  seems  to  be  used  as 
a  sort  of  imperfect  valve,  especially  since  it  possesses  several  little 
muscles.  Such  a  valvular  fold  attains  its  largest  development  in 
Owls.  Many  of  these  birds  present  the  peculiar  anomaly  of 
having  the  outer  ears  very  asymmetrically  developed,  an  asym- 
metry which  often  affects  also  the  whole  of  the  temporal  region 
together  with  the  scjuamosal,  quadrate,  and  neighbouring  bones, 
so  that  the  whole  skull  assumes  a  lop  -  sided  shape.  Collett 
{Christiania  Videnskahs.  Forhandl.  1881,  No.  3,  pp.  1-38,  pis.  i.-iii.) 
has  examined  this  point  in  all  the  North-European  species  of  Owl. 
According  to  him  there  are  three  different  formations :  1.  Skull 
and  auditory  meatus  symmetrical,  ear-valve  absent :  Surnia 
funerea,  Glaucidium  passerinum,  Nyctea  scandiaca.  Bubo  ignavus. 
2.  Skull  symmetrical,  meatus  asj^mmetrical,  ear- valve  present :  Asio 
accipitrinus,  A.  otus,  Strix  aluco.  3.  Skull  and  meatus  asym- 
metrical, ear- valve  present :  Strix  uralensis,  S.  lapponica,  and 
Nyctala  tengmalmi.  Of  other,  riot  North -European,  Owls,  Aluco 
flammeus  belongs  to  the  first  group.  ^ 

Another  peculiar  modification  is  exhibited  by  the  Capercally. 
It  is  well  kno^vn  that  the  cock  for  several  seconds  towards  the  end 
of  his  rutting  ecstasy  is  completely  deaf  to  any  external  sounds. 
This  deafness  is  produced  by  an  erectile  fold  of  the  posterior  wall 
of  the  auditory  meatus ;  this  fold  or  flap  becomes  turgid  with 
blood  during  the  excitement  of  the  bird,  and  seems  moreover  to 
be  assisted  in  pressing  upon  the  opposite  margin  of  the  quadrate 
bone,  and  in  thus  effectively  closing  the  ear-passage,  by  the  action 
of  the  digastric  or  depressor  muscle  of  the  mandible  which  is 
always  widely  opened  during  this  stage.  The  harsh  and  loud 
sounds  emitted  by  the  cock,  and  the  blocked  ear-passage  render 
him  absolutely  indifferent  to   any  other  sounds.     (See  Graff  and 

1  A  large  number  of  figures  of  North- American  species  in  illustration  of  this 
point  is  given  by  Ridgway  {North  American  Birds,  iii.  pp.  97-102). 


EAR 


179 


Wurm,  Zeitschr.  f.  tviss.  Zoologie,  1885,  pp.  107-115,  Taf.  vii.,  and 
pp.  728-730.) 

The  middle  ear  consists  of  the  tympanic  cavity,  its  communi- 
cation with  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  through  the  "Eustachian  tube," 
and  the  sound-conducting  apparatus — the  "  tympanic  membrane  " 
and  the  "  columella  aui-is." 

The  tympanic  membrane  or  drum  is  thin  and  stretched  across 
the  Avails  of  the  inner  end  of  the  auditory  meatus,  and  shuts 
off  the  latter  from  the  tymi^anic  cavity.  This  cavity  communi- 
cates with  the  mouth  through  a  canal — the  Eustachian  tiibe,  Avhich 
passes  between  the  basisphenoid  and  basioccipital  bones,  and 
opens  upon  the  ventral  side  of  the  sphenoid  a  little  behind  the 
latter's  articulation  with  the  pterygoid  bone.      The  right  and  left 


Tb.Eust 


Hind  View  op  the  Osseous  Auditory  Organ  of  an  Owl  (J3m6o  mdrance). 

About  twice  the  natural  size. 

Cd.  Occipital  condyle ;   F.M.  Foramen  magnum  ;   L,  Lagena ;  Pter.  Bight  pterygoid  bone ; 

Q,  Quadrate  bone  ;  H,  S,  Horizontal  and  Sagittal  semicircular  canals  ;  Co,  Columella  auris,  its 

extra-columellar  portion  continued  towards  the  basis  of  the  quadrate  ;  Tb.Eust.  Eustachian  tube. 

canals  unite  in  the  middle  line  into  one  short  membranous  duct, 
which  opens  in  the  roof  of  the  posterior  part  of  the  mouth  cavity. 

The  columella  is  a  cartilaginous  and  partly  osseous  jointed  rod, 
which  fits  with  its  inner  slightly-swollen  and  disk-like  end  into  the 
"  foramen  ovale  "  of  the  capsule  of  the  inner  ear.  The  outer  end 
of  this  rod  sends  out  three  cartilaginous  processes ;  the  dorsal  ^* 
one  is  attached  to  the  upper  wall  of  *  the  tympanic  cavity  close  toM^/^» -^^  .^ 
the  drum ;  the  outermost  process  leans  against  the  middle  of  the  ecr\hii*^f^^ 
drum,  and  consequently  conveys  the  vibrations  of  the  latter 
through  the  Avhole  rod  into  the  inner  ear ;  the  venti-al  process  is 
directed  downwards,  and  runs  out  into  a  thin  thread  which  can  be 
traced  between  pterygoid  and  quadrate  into  the  inner  corner  of  the 
articular  portion  of  the  mandible. 


i8o  EAR 

Birds  possess  one  muscle  belonging  to  the  middle  ear ;  this 
muscle  acts  as  a  tensor  tympani ;  it  arises  near  the  occipital  con- 
dyle, passes  through  a  hole  into  the  tympanic  cavity,  attaches  its 
tendon  to  the  ends  of  the  columellar  processes,  and  also  spreads 
over  the  tympanum  itself. 

The  whole  columella  of  Birds  is  equivalent  to  the  chain  of  ear- 
ossicles  of  Mammals,  the  inner  end  of  the  columellar  rod  rej^re- 
senting  the  stapes,  while  the  outer  and  lower  processes  of  the 
tympanic  end  correspond  with  the  manubrium  and  the  long  process 
of  the  Mammalian  malleus.  The  quadrate  bone,  so  well  developed, 
and  functional  as  the  hinge  of  the  masticatory  apparatus  in  Reptiles 
and  Birds,  has  in  Mammals  lost  this  function,  and  in  them  is 
reduced  and  modified  into  the  comparatively  insignificant  tympanic 
ring,  acting  only  as  a  frame  for  the  tympanic  membrane. 

The  inner  ear  is  the  most  important  portion  of  the  whole  ear, 
because  it  contains  the  sound-perceiving  apparatus.  It  consists  of 
the  labyrinth  or  membranous  capsule  which  encloses  the  end-organs 
of  the  auditory  nerve,  and  of  the  cartilaginous  or  osseous  capsule 
which  surrounds  and  protects  the  membranous  organs.  The  outer 
capsule  is  consequently  more  or  less  a  cast  of  the  other,  and  repeats 
all  its  principal  complicated  configurations. 

The  membranous  ear  is  a  system  of  hollow  tubes  which  form 
various  labyrinthic  dilatations  and  canals,  all  of  which  communicate 
with  each  other.  The  whole  is  divided  into  — •  I.  'pars  superior, 
consisting  of  an  utriculus,  two  sinus,  three  ampullae,  and  three  semi- 
circular canals ;  each  canal  connects  one  ampulla  with  one  of  the 
two  sinus ;  the  anterior  canal  runs  in  a  vertical  and  longitudinal 
plane,  the  posterior  canal  lies  in  a  transverse  vertical  plane,  extend- 
ing from  right  to  left,  while  the  external  canal  stretches  out  in 
a  nearly  horizontal  direction  ;  II.  pars  inferior,  consisting  of  the 
cochlea  and  the  sacculus  with  the  endolymphatic  duct.  The  sac- 
culus  is  a  small  dilatation  or  apj)endix  of  the  utriculus ;  its  Avails 
are  continued  as  the  endolymphatic  duct  straight  into  the  cranial 
cavity,  ending  in  the  dura  mater  in  the  shape  of  a  flattened  sac. 
This  peculiar  arrangement  is  an  imperfect  remnant  of  previous  con- 
ditions ;  because  in  Selachians  the  endolymphatic  duct  of  each  ear 
opens  upon  the  top  of  the  head,  through  the  skin,  and  indicates  the 
way  by  which  the  primitive  ear-capsule  (itself,  like  all  the  higher 
sense-organs,  a  modification  of  ei^idermal  and  neural  cells)  has 
gradually  become  transferred  into  the  depth  of  the  skull. 

The  cochlea  ends  blindly,*with  its  apex  towards  the  occipital 
condyle ;  instead  of  being  curled  into  several  turns  as  in  Mammals, 
it  forms  in  Birds  never  more  than,  and  often  much  less  than, 
half  a  twist.  Its  internal  structure  is  most  complicated  and 
intimately  connected  with  the  perception  of  sound,  through  the 
possession  of   "  Reissner's  membrane "  and  the   "  organ  of  Corti." 


EA  R—EA  S  TERLING 


i8i 


The  position  of  these  parts  is  shewn  in  the  adjoining  figure. 
The  basal  portion  of  the  membranous  cochlea,  the  "  ductus  coch- 
learis,"  communicates  with  the  sacculus  by  a  canal,  the  dorsal  wall 
of  which  is  continued  into  the 

Per. 


tegmentum 


vasculosum  or 
membrane  of  Reissner,  Avhile 
the  ventral  wall  contains  the 
basilar  membrane,  with  its 
acoustic  papilla  or  organ  of 
Corti.  The  space  between  the 
periosteum  of  the  bony  wall  of 
the  cochlea  and  the  tegmentum 
is  called  "  scala  vestibuli  "  ; 
that  between  the  bone  and  the 
basilar  membrane  is  the  "  scala 
tympani." 

The  scalfe  are  part  of  the 
perilymphatic  space  between 
the  membranous  and  the  bony 
inner  ear,  and  are  filled  with 


Vertical  Median  Section  of  the  Cochlea 
OF  A  Pigeon,  magnified  30'times.    (After  Retzius.) 

B.g.  Blood-vessels ;  G.  Ganglia  in  the  ramus 
basilaris  of  the  cochlear  portion  of  the  acoustic 
nerve  ;  E.S.  JV.5.  Cartilaginous  frame  of  the  cochlea; 
M.h.  Merabrana  basilaris  ;  M.t.  Membrana  tectoria  ; 
F.a.b.  Papilla  acustica  basilaris  ;  Per.  Periost  of 
the  cochlea;  Sc.V.  Scala  vestibuli;  Set.  Scala 
tympani ;  T.v.  Tegmentum  vasculosum. 


the  perilymphatic  fluid. 

The  acoustic  nerve  enters  the  membranous  ear  near  the  base  of 
the  cochlea,  and  terminates  by  eight  maculae,  jDapillae,  and  crista? 
acusticte  in  the  ampulhe  and  various  other  dilatations.  The  cells  of 
these  terminating  nervous  spots  are  cylindrical,  and  end  in  one  or 
more  extremely  fine  filaments  or  hairs ;  they  extend  into  the 
endolymphatic  fluid,  which  fills  the  whole  membranous  ear,  and 
contains,  especially  in  the  sacculus,  numerous  small  otolithic  crystals 
of  carbonate  of  lime.  The  filamentous  and  hairy  cells  take  up  the 
vibrations  or  waves  of  sound  which  are  transmitted  from  the 
typanum  through  the  columella  to  the  endolymphatic  fluid,  and 
convey  them  through  the  acoustic  nerve  to  the  brain. 

The  whole  inner  ear  is  subject  to  comparatively  few  and  unim- 
portant variations,  and  does  not  throw  much  light  upon  the 
afltinities  of  the  various  groups  of  Birds,  the  differences  being 
restricted  chiefly  to  the  relative  size  of  the  cochlea  and  the  position 
and  size  of  the  semicircular  canals.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the 
faculty  of  hearing  is  highly  developed  in  Birds,  not  only  the  mere 
perception  of  sound,  but  also  the  power  of  distinguishing  or  under- 
standing pitch,  notes  and  melodies,  or  music. 

For  further  infoi'mation  concerning  the  minute  structure  of  the 
ear,  see  the  monumental  work  of  G.  Retzius  (Das  Geh'Ororgan  der 
WirheltUere,  Stockholm:   1884,  ii.  pp.  139-198,  pis.  15-20). 

EASTERLING,  according    to    Latham,   a  local    name    for   the 

WiGEON. 


1 82  EBB— EGGS 


EBB,  said  to  be  a  local  name  of  the  Great  Bunting. 

EBB-SLEEPER,  a  name  given  by  shore -gunners  to  various 
kinds  of  LiMicOLiE,  though,  except  on  the  principle  of  luc%s  a  non 
lucendo,  the  reason  why  cannot  be  explained,  for  these  birds  at  ebb- 
tide are  especially  active,  while  they  take  their  rest  as  high  water 
approaches ;  but  so  it  is. 

EDOLIER,  Levaillant's  name  for  a  South-African  Shrike  which 
some  writers  have  tried  to  Anglify. 

EEE-EVE,  in  modern  spelling  livji,  the  English  rendering  by 
many  voyagers  of  the  native  name  of  the  beautiful  scarlet  Vestiaria 
coccinea,  whose  feathers  were  largely  used  by  the  Sandwich-islanders 
in  the  making  of  their  magnificent  mantles  {cf.  Drepanis). 

EGG-BIRD,  the  name  given  by  many  voyagers  to  the  Sooty 
Tern,  Sterna  fuliginosa,  but  perhaps  occasionally  used  for  other 
species  whose  eggs  afforded  them  supplies. 

EGGS.  The  pains  bestowed  by  such  Birds  (incomparably  the 
most  numerous  of  the  Class),  as  build  elaborate  nests  (see  NiDiriCA- 
tion),  and  the  devices  employed  by  those  that,  not  doing  so,  display 
no  little  skill  in  providing  for  the  preservation  of  their  produce, 
invite  some  attention  to  the  eggs  which  they  lay.  This  attention 
will  perhaps  be  more  cheerfully  given  when  we  think  how  many 
naturalists,  not  merely  ornithologists,  have  been  first  directed  to 
the  study  of  the  animal  kingdom  by  the  spoils  they  have  won  in 
their  early  days  of  birds' -nesting.  With  some  such  men  the 
fascination  of  this  boyish  pursuit  has  maintained  its  full  force  even 
in  old  age — a  fact  not  so  much  to  be  wondered  at  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  hardly  any  branch  of  the  practical  study  of  Natural 
History  brings  the  enquirer  so  closely  in  contact  with  many  of  its 
secrets.  It  is  therefore  eminently  pardonable  for  the  victims  of 
this  devotion  to  dignify  their  passion  by  the  learned  name  of 
•'  Oology,"  and  to  bespeak  for  it  the  claims  of  a  science.  Yet  the 
present  writer — once  an  ardent  follower  of  the  practice  of  birds'- 
nesting,  and  still  on  occasion  warming  to  its  pleasui-es — must 
confess  to  a  certain  amount  of  disappointment  as  to  the  benefits 
it  Avas  expected  to  confer  on  Systematic  Ornithology,  though  he 
yields  to  none  in  his  high  estimate  of  its  utility  in  acquainting  the 
learner  with  the  most  interesting  details  of  bird-life — without  a 
knowledge  of  which  nearly  all  systematic  study  is  but  work  that 
may  as  well  be  done  in  a  library,  a  museum,  or  a  dissecting-room, 
and  is  incapable  of  conveying  information  to  the  learner  concerning 
the  why  and  the  wherefore  of  such  or  such  modifications  and 
adaptations  of  structure.  To  some — and  especially  to  those  who 
are  only  anatomists — this  statement  may  seem  preposterous,  but  it 


EGGS  183 

is  in  truth  no  such  thing.  What  engineer  can  be  said  to  understand 
his  business  if  he  knows  not  the  purpose  to  which  the  machines  he 
makes  are  to  be  applied  and  is  unacquainted  with  their  mode  of 
working  ?  We  may  investigate  thoroughly  the  organs  of  any 
animal,  we  may  trace  them  from  the  earliest  moment  in  which  they 
become  defined,  and  watch  them  as  they  develop  to  maturity,  we 
may  comprehend  the  way  in  which  every  part  of  a  complicated 
structure  is  successively  built  up ;  but,  if  we  take  not  the  trouble 
to  know  their  effect  on  the  economy  of  the  creature,  we  as  natui'al- 
ists  have  done  but  half  our  task,  and  abandon  our  labour  when  the 
fulness  of  reward  is  coming  upon  us.  The  field-naturalist,  properly 
instructed,  crowns  the  work  of  the  comparative  anatomist  and  the 
physiologist,  though  A^dthout  the  necessary  education  he  is  little 
more  than  an  empiric,  even  should  he  possess  the  trained  cunning 
of  the  savage  on  whose  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  wild  animals 
depends  his  chance  of  procuring  a  meal. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  scientific  triumph  of  oologists  lies  in  their 
having  fully  appreciated  the  intimate  alliance  of  the  LiMicOL^  (the 
great  group  of  Snipes  and  Plovers)  with  the  Gavije  (the  Gulls, 
Terns,  and  other  birds  more  distantly  connected  with  them)  before 
it  was  recognized  by  any  professed  taxonomer — L'Herminier,  whose 
researches  have  been  much  overlooked,  excepted ;  though  to  such 
an  one  was  given  the  privilege  of  placing  that  afiinity  beyond  cavil 
(Huxley,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  426,  456-458;  cf.  Ibis,  1868, 
p.  92).  In  like  manner  it  is  believed  that  oologists  first  saw  the 
need  of  separating  from  the  true  Passeres  several  groups  of  birds 
that  had  for  many  j'^ears  been  unhesitatingly  associated  with  that 
very  uniform  assemblage.  Diflidence  as  to  their  own  capacity  for 
meddling  with  matters  of  systematic  arrangement  may  possibly 
have  been  the  cause  which  deterred  the  men  who  were  content  to 
brood  over  birds'  eggs  from  sooner  asserting  the  validity  of  the 
views  they  held.  Following  the  example  furnished  by  the  objects 
of  their  study,  they  seem  to  have  chiefly  sought  to  hide  their  off- 
spring from  the  curious  eye — and  if  such  was  their  design  it  must 
he  allowed  to  have  been  admirably  successful.  In  enthusiastic  zeal 
for  the  prosecution  of  their  favourite  researches,  however,  they  have 
never  yielded  to,  if  they  have  not  surpassed,  any  other  class  of 
naturalists.  If  a  storm-swept  island,  only  to  be  reached  at  the  risk 
of  life,  held  out  the  hope  of  some  oological  novelty  there  was  the 
egg- collector  (Faber,  Isis,  xx.  pp.  633-688;  Proctor,  Naturalist, 
1838,  pp.  411,  412).  Did  another  treasure  demand  his  traversing 
a  bui-ning  desert  (Tristram,  Ibis,  1859,  p.  79)  or  sojourning  for 
several  winters  within  the  wildest  wastes  of  the  Arctic  Circle 
(Wolley,  Ibis,  1859,  pp.  69-76;  1861,  pp.  92-106;  Kennicott, 
Eep.  Smithson.  Inst.  1862,  pp.  39,  40),  he  endured  the  necessary 
hardships  to  accomplish  his  end,  and  the  possession  to  him  of  an 


1 84  EGGS 

empty  shell  of  carbonate  of  lime,^  stained  or  not  (as  the  case  might 
be)  by  a  secretion  of  the  villous  membrane  of  the  parent's  uterus, 
was  to  him  a  sufficient  reward.  Taxonomers,  however,  have  prob- 
ably been  right  in  not  attaching  too  great  an  importance  to  such 
systematic  characters  as  can  be  deduced  from  the  eggs  of  birds,  but 
it  would  have  been  better  had  they  not  insisted  so  strongly  as  they 
have  done  on  the  infallibility  of  one  or  another  set  of  characters, 
chosen  by  themselves.  Oology  taken  alone  proves  to  be  a  guide 
as  misleading  as  any  other  arbitrary  method  of  classification,  but 
combined  with  the  evidence  afforded  by  due  study  of  other  particu- 
larities, whether  superficial  or  deep-seated,  it  can  scarcely  fail  in 
time  to  conduct  us  to  an  ornithological  arrangement  as  nearly  true 
to  Nature  as  we  may  expect  to  achieve. 

The  first  man  of  science  who  seems  to  have  given  any  special 
thought  to  oology,  was  the  celebrated  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  of 
Norwich,  who  already  in  1671,  when  visited  by  John  Evelyn 
(from  whose  diary  we  learn  the  fact),  had  assigned  a  place  in  his 
cabinet  of  rarities  to  a  collection  of  birds'  eggs.  The  next  we  hear 
of  is  that  Count  of  Marsigli  who  early  in  the  eighteenth  century 
explored,  chiefly  for  this  kind  of  investigation,  the  valley  of  the 
Danube — a  region  at  that  time,  it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  remark, 
utterly  unknown  to  naturalists.  But  there  is  no  need  to  catalogue 
the  worthies  of  this  study.  As  they  approach  our  own  day  their 
number  becomes  far  too  great  to  tell,  and  if  very  recently  it  has 
seemed  to  dwindle  the  reason  is  probably  at  hand  in  the  reflexion 
that  most  of  the  greatest  prizes  have  been  won,  while  those  that 
remain  to  reward  the  aspiring  appear  to  be  just  now  from  one  cause 
or  another  almost  out  of  reach.  Perhaps  at  the  present  time  the 
Birds-of-Paradise  and  the  Fin-foots  form  the  only  groups  of  any 
recognized  distinctiveness  and  extent  of  whose  eggs  we  know 
absolutely  nothing — though  there  are  important  isolated  forms, 
such  as  Atrichia,  Eeteraloclia,  and-  others,  concerning  the  eggs  as 
well  as  the  breeding-habits  of  which  our  ignorance  is  absolute,  and 
the  species  of  many  Families  that  have  hitherto  defied  the  zeal  of 
oologists  are  very  numerous.  These  last,  however,  though  including 
some  common  and  some  not  very  uncommon  British  birds,  possess 
in  a  general  way  comparatively  little  interest,  since,  the  eggs  of 
their  nearest  allies  being  well  known,  we  cannot  expect  much  to 
follow  from  the  discovery  of  the  recluses,  and  it  is  only  to  the 
impassioned  collector  that  the  obtaining  of  such  desiderata  will 
afford  much  satisfaction. 

The  first  thing  which  strikes  the  eye  of  one  who  beholds  a  large 
collection  of  egg-shells  is  the  varied  hues  of  the  specimens.  Hardly 
a  shade  known  to  the  colourist  is  not  exhibited  by  one  or  more, 

^  A  small  proportion  of  carbonate  of  magnesia  and  phosphate  of  lime  and 
magnesia  also  enters  into  its  composition. 


EGGS  185 

and  some  of  these  tints  have  their  beauty  enhanced  by  the  glossy 
surface  on  Avhich  they  are  displayed,  by  their  harmonious  blending, 
or  by  the  pleasing  contrast  of  the  pigments  which  form  markings 
as  often  of  the  most  irregular  as  of  regular  shape.  But  it  would 
seem  as  though  such  markings,  which  a  very  small  amount  of 
observation  will  shew  to  have  been  deposited  on  the  shell  a  short 
time  before  its  exclusion,  are  primarily  and  normally  circular,  for 
hardly  any  egg  that  bears  markings  at  all  does  not  exhibit  some 
spots  of  that  form,  but  that  in  the  progress  of  the  egg,  through  that 
part  of  the  oviduct  in  Avhich  the  colouring  matter  is  laid  on,  many 
of  them  become  smeared,  blotched,  or  protracted  in  some  particular 
direction.  The  circular  spots  thus  betoken  the  deposition  of  the 
pigment  while  the  egg  is  at  rest,  the  blm^ed  markings  shew  its 
deposition  while  the  egg  is  in  motion,  and  this  motion  would  seem 
often  to  be  at  once  onward  and  rotatory,  as  indicated  by  the  spiral 
markings  not  uncommonly  observable  in  the  eggs  of  some  Birds-of- 
Prey  and  others — the  larger  end  of  the  egg  (when  the  ends  differ 
in  form)  making  way  for  the  smaller.^  At  the.  same  time  the  eggs 
of  a  great  number  of  birds  bear,  beside  these  last  and  superimposed 
markings,  more  deeply-seated  stains,  generally  of  a  paler  and  often 
of  an  altogether  different  hue,  and  these  are  e\ddently  due  to  some 
earlier  dyeing  process.  The  peculiar  tint  of  the  ground-colour, 
though  commonly  superficial,  when  not  actually  congenital  with  the 
formation  of  the  shell,  would  appear  to  be  suff'used  soon  after. 
The  depth  of  colouring  whether  original  or  supervening  is  obviously 
dependent  in  a  great  measure  on  the  constitution  or  bodily  con- 
dition of  the  parent.  If  a  l)ird,  bearing  in  its  oviduct  a  fully-formed 
egg,  be  captured,  that  egg  will  speedily  be  laid  under  any  circum- 
stances of  inconvenience  to  which  its  producer  shall  be  subjected, 
but  such  an  egg  is  usually  deficient  in  coloration  ^ — fright  and 
captivity  having  arrested  the  natural  secretions.  In  like  manner 
over  excitement  or  debility  of  the  organs,  the  consequence  of  ill 
health,  give  rise  to  much  and  often  very  curious  abnormality.  It 
is  commonly  believed  that  the  older  a  bird  is  the  more  intensely 
coloured  will  be  its  eggs,  and  to  some  extent  this  belief  appears  to 
be  true.  Certain  Falconidx,  which  ordinarily  lay  very  brilliantly- 
tinted  eggs,  and  are  therefore  good  tests,  seem  when  young  not  to 
secrete  so  much  colouring-matter  as  they  do  when  older,  and  season 
after  season  the  dyes  become  deeper,  but  there  is  reason  to  think 

^  That  the  larger  end  is  protruded  first  was  found  on  actual  experiment  by 
Mr.  Bartlett,  Superintendent  of  the  Gardens  of  the  Zoological  Society,  to  be  the 
case  commonly,  but  as  an  accident  the  position  may  be  sometimes  reversed,  and 
this  will  most  likely  account  for  the  occasional  deposition  of  markings  on  the 
smaller  instead  of  the  larger  end  as  not  unfrequentlj'  shewn  in  eggs  of  the 
.Sparrow-HAWK,  Accipiter  nisus.  The  head  of  the  chick  is  always  formed  at  the 
larger  end  (see  Embryology). 


i86  EGGS 

that  when  the  bird  has  attained  her  full  vigour  improvement  stops, 
and  a  few  years  later  the  intensity  of  hue  begins  to  decline.  It 
would  be  well  if  we  had  more  evidence,  however,  in  support  of  this 
opinion,  Avliich  is  chiefly  based  on  a  series  of  eggs  of  one  species — 
the  Golden  Eagle,  Aquila  chrysaehis,  in  the  A^nriter's  possession, 
among  which  are  some  believed  on  good  grounds  to  have  been  the 
produce  in  the  course  of  about  twelve  years  of  one  and  the  same 
female.  The  amount  of  colouring-matter  secreted  and  deposited 
seems  notwithstanding  to  be  generally  a  pretty  constant  quantity — 
allowance  being  made  for  individual  constitution ;  but  it  often 
happens — especially  in  birds  that  lay  only  two  eggs — that  nearly 
all  the  dye  will  be  deposited  on  one  of  these,  leaving  the  other 
colourless ;  it  seems,  however,  to  be  a  matter  of  inconstancy  which 
of  the  two  is  first  developed.  Thus  of  two  pairs  of  Golden  Eagles' 
eggs  also  in  the  possession  of  the  writer,  one  specimen  of  each  pair 
is  nearly  white  while  the  other  is  deeply  coloured,  and  it  is  known 
that  in  one  case  the  white  egg  was  laid  first  and  in  the  other  the 
coloured  one.  When  birds  lay  many  mottled,  and  It  fortiori  plain, 
eggs,  there  is  generally  less  difference  in  their  colouring,  and  though 
no  two  can  hardly  ever  be  said  to  be  really  alike,  yet  the  family- 
resemblance  between  them  all  is  obvious  to  the  pi'actised  eye.  It 
would  seem,  however,  to  be  a  peculiarity  with  some  species — and 
the  Tree-SPARROW,  Passer  montanus,  which  lays  five  or  six  eggs, 
may  be  taken  as  a  striking  example — that  one  egg  should  always 
differ  remarkably  from  the  rest  of  the  clutch.  In  addition  to  what 
has  been  said  above  as  to  the  deposition  of  colour  in  circular  spots 
indicating  a  pause  in  the  progress  of  the  egg  through  one  part  of 
the  oviduct,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  cessation  of  motion  at 
that  time  is  equally  shewn  by  the  clearly  defined  hair-lines  or 
vermiculations  seen  in  many  eggs,  and  in  none  more  commonly  met 
with  than  in  those  of  most  Buntings,  Emherizidx.  Such  marldngs 
must  not  only  have  been  deposited  while  the  egg  was  at  rest,  but 
it  must  have  remained  motionless  until  the  pigment  was  completely 
set,  or  blurred  instead  of  sharp  edges  would  have  been  the  residt.^ 

^  The  priucipal  oological  works  witli  coloured  figures  are  the  following : 
Thienemann,  Fortpflanzungsgeschichte  dcr  gesa7nmten  Vogel  (4to,  Leipzig  :  1845)  ; 
Lefevre,  Atlas  des  cevfs  des  oiseaux  d' Europe  (8vo,  Paris:  1845);  Hewitsoii, 
Coloured  Illustrations  of  the  Eggs  of  British  Birds  (8vo,  Ed.  3,  Loudon  :  1856)  ; 
Brewer,  Noi-th  American  Oology  (4to,  Washington  :  1859) ;  Taczanowski,  Oologia 
JPtakdw  Polskich  (8vo,  Warszawa :  1862) ;  Badeker,  Die  Bier  der  Europdischen 
Vogcl  (fol.  Leipzig  :  1863) ;  WoUey,  Ootheca  Wolleyana  (8vo,  London  :  1864) — 
some  of  which  have  never  been  completed.  The  above  is  not,  and  does  not 
profess  to  be,  an  exhaustive  list,  and  perhaps  some  others  deserve  inclusion  in 
it ;  but  there  are  works,  chiefly  on  British  oology,  which  have  unfortunately 
attained  considerable  notoriety,  though  really  unworthy  of  serious  notice,  either 
from  the  recklessly  inaccurate  statements  to  be  found  in  the  text  which  accom- 
panies the  plates,  or  the  misleatling  tendencies  of  the  plates.     I  prefer  passing 


EGGS  1S7 

The  composition  of  this  pigment  long  excited  much  curiosity, 
and  it  was  commonly  and  rather  crudely  ascribed  to  secretions  of 
the  blood  or  bile,^  but  unexpected  light  was  shed  upon  the  subject 
by  the  researches  of  Mi-.  Sorby  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1875,  pp.  351-365), 
who,  using  the  method  of  spectrum-analysis,  ascertained  the  exist- 
ence of  seven  well-marked  substances  in  the  colouring -matter  of 
eggs,  to  the  admixture  of  which  in  certain  proportions  all  their 
tints  are  due.  These  he  named  Oorhodeine,  Oocyan,  Banded 
Oocyan,  Yellow  Ooxanthine,  Ptufous  Ooxanthine,  a  sixth  substance, 
giving  narrow  absorption-bands  in  the  red — the  true  colour  of  which 
is  not  yet  decided,  and  lastly  Lichenoxanthine.  It  would  be  out 
of  place  here  to  particularize  their  chemical  properties,  and  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  they  are  closely  connected  either  with  hsemo- 
globin  or  bile-pigments,  and  in  many  respects  resemble  the  latter 
more  than  do  any  other  group  of  colouring-matters,  but  do  not 
actually  agree  with  them.  The  first  is  perhaps  the  most  important 
of  all  the  seven,  because  it  occurs  more  or  less  in  the  shells  of  so 
great  a  number  of  eggs  that  its  entire  absence  is  exceptional,  and 
it  is  of  a  very  permanent  character,  its  general  colour  being  of  a 
peculiar  brown-red.  The  second  and  third  seem  when  pure  to  be 
of  a  very  iine  blue,  but  the  spectrum  of  the  former  shews  no 
detached  bands,  while  that  of  the  latter  has  a  well-marked  detached 
absorbent-band  near  the  red  end,  though  the  two  are  closely  related 
since  they  yield  the  same  product  when  oxidized.  The  fourth  and 
fifth  substances  supply  a  bright  yellow  or  reddish-yellow  hue,  and 
the  former  is  particularly  characteristic  of  eggs  of  the  EaiEUS, 
Dromdsus,  giving  rise  when  mixed  Avith  Oocyan  to  the  fine  malachite- 
green  which  they  possess,  while  the  latter  has  only  been  met  with 
in  those  of  the  TiNAivious,  Tinamidse,  in  which  it  should  be 
mentioned  that  oorhodeine  has  not  been  found,  or  perhaps  in  those 
of  a  Cassowary,  Casuarius,  and  when  mixed  with  Oocyan  produces 
a  peculiar  lead-colour.  The  sixth  substance,  as  before  stated,  has 
not  yet  been  sufficiently  determined,  but  it  would  seem  in  combina- 
tion with  others  to  give  them  an  abnormally  browner  tint ;  and  the 
seventh  appears  to  be  identical  with  one  which  occurs  in  greater  or 
less  amount  in  almost  all  classes  of  plants,  but  is  more  especially 
abundant  in  and  characteristic  of  lichens  and  fungi.  There  is  a 
possibility,  however,  of  this  last  being  in  part  if  not  wholly  due  to 
the  growth  of  minute  fungi,  though  Mr.  Sorby.  believed  that  some 
such  substance  really  is  a  normal  constituent  of  the  shell  of  eggs 
having  a  peculiar  brick-red  colour.     He  was   further  inclined  to 

over  them  in  silence  to  exposing  their  inefficiency.  A  great  number  of  rare 
eggs  are  also  figured  in  various  journals,  as  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological 
Society,  Naumannia,  the  Journal fiir  Ornithologie,  and  The  Ibis. 

^  Cf.  "Wilke,   Naumannia,    1858,   pp.    393-397,   and    C.    Leconte,  Revue  el 
Magasin  de  Zoologie,  1860,  pp.  199-205. 


1 88  EGGS 

think  that  Oorhodeine  is  in  some  way  or  othei^  closely  related  to 
Cruentine,  being  probably  derived  from  the  red  colouring-matter 
of  the  blood  by  some  unknown  process  of  secretion,  and  likewise  that 
there  is  some  chemical  relation  between  the  Oocyans  and  the  bile. 

It  was  remarked  by  Hewitson  in  1838  {Brit.  Oology,  Introd.  p.  8), 
and  perhaps  he  was  not  the  first  to  make  the  observation,  that 
the  eggs  of  many  if  not  of  most  birds  which  breed  in  holes,  or 
even  in  covered  nests,  are  of  an  uniform  white  ;  but  the  number  of 
exceptions  is  so  great,  that  no  general  rule  can  be  laid  down  to  this 
effect.  Conversely,  the  numbei-  of  birds  which  lay  purely  white 
eggs  in  open  nests — the  multitudinous  species  of  Pigeon  being 
notorious  instances  of  the  fact^ — is  also  large,  and  in  some  respects 
quite  independent  of  their  taxonomic  relations,  as,  for  example,  the 
Little  Bittern  among  the  Ardeidx,  the  Virginian  Quail  among 
the  so-called  "  Odontophorinse,"  and  again  among  the  Gallinse,  even 
the  Common  Fowl,  though  some  of  its  breeds,  perhaps  acted  upon  by 
what  is  known  as  "  reversion,"  lay  coloured  eggs.  The  eggs  of  Owls 
are  always  white,  whether  the  species  be  one  that  breeds  in  holes, 
on  the  bare  ground,  or  in  an  open  nest  in  a  tree.  The  egg  of  the 
G  OS-Hawk  is  white,  but  that  of  its  small  relative  the  Sparrow- 
Hawk  is  always  blotched,  and  sometimes  richly,  with  pigment,  the 
nest  of  both  being  built  precisely  in  the  same  kind  of  position, — 
but  it  would  be  almost  endless  to  cite  similar  cases.  To  account 
for  some,  at  least,  of  these  anomalies,  an  ingenious  hypothesis  has 
been  set  forth  by  Dr.  M'Aldome,"  starting  on  the  assumption  "  that 
the  pigmentaiy  coat  on  birds'  eggs  came  into  existence  at  a  very 
early  period  in  their  life-history,  and  existed  in  the  eggs  of  the 
progenitors  of  all  the  extant  species."  It  is  further  taken  as  proved 
that  the  pigments  being  "  unstable  and  variable  "  makes  "  the  pro- 
cess of  change  and  decolorization  a  simple  one  ;  and  that  its 
primary  use  is  for  protection  from  the  solar  rays,  but  that  it 
afterwards  becomes  modified  for  concealment."  Finally,  it  is  main- 
tained "  that  eggs  acquire  a  highly  developed  pigmentary  layer, 
or  lose  their  pigment  entirely,  according  to  whether  they  are  ex- 
posed to  the  full  glare  of  the  sun  or  laid  in  situations  inaccessible 
to  its  rays,  and  that  the  intermediate  degrees  of  coloration  are  in 
direct  ratio  to  the  amount  of  light  to  which  the  eggs  are  exposed.^ 

^  Of  course,  Columha  livia,  and  its  allies  C.  schimperi  and  C.  intermedia, 
usually  breed  in  caves,  and  C.  cenas  generally  though  not  always  places  its  nest 
under  cover,  but  these  seem  to  be  the  only  exceptions  in  a  Family  comprising 
some  350  species. 

-  Observations  on  the  Development  and  the  Decay  of  the  Pigment  Layer  in 
Birds'  Eggs,  Joimi.  Anat.  and  Physiol,  xx.  (1886),  pp.  225-237. 

^  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  author  bases  his  h.ypothesis  on  a  study  of  the 
eggs  of  British  birds  only.  Considering  that  in  most  respects  the  most  instruc- 
tive forms  of  the  Class  do  not  belong  to  our  own  limited  fauna,  allowance 
must  be  made  for  the  imperfect  information  whence  his  results  are  drawn. 


EGGS  i89 

In  regard  to  the  almost  countless  cases  of  spotted  eggs  in  holes 
or  covered  nests,  of  which  so  many  groups  of  birds  fm-nish 
examples  either  Avholly  or  in  part,  the  only  supposition  that  could 
apparently  justify  the  last  statement  would  be  that  the  species 
in  question  have  taken  to  hiding  their  treasures  in  times  compara- 
tively recent,  and  have  not  yet  got  rid  of  the  ancestral  habit  of 
secreting  and  depositing  pigment.  In  support  of  such  an  argument 
might  be  alleged,  among  some  other  cases,  the  generally  pale  colour- 
ing of  eggs  of  the  Daw,  Corvus  mojiedula,  compared  with  those  of  its 
kindred,  as  indicating  a  step  in  this  direction,  while  a  more  con- 
clusive one  has  been  taken  by  those  members  of  the  Hlrundinidai  as  the 
Sand-Martin,  Cotile  riparia,  and  House-Martin,  Chelidon  urbica,  which 
breed  in  holes  or  build  close  nests — their  relative  the  Swallow, 
Hinindo  rustica,  though  its  nest  is  rarely  exposed  to  direct  light,  con- 
tinuing to  lay  eggs  that  are  conspicuously  spotted  with  two  or  three 
tints.  But  if  this  supposition  be  valid  some  other  one,  on  (it  Avould 
seem)  a  wholly  different  principle,  must  be  found  to  explain  why 
perhaps  the  eggs  that  are  at  once  the  most  delicately  and  most 
richly  coloured  laid  by  any  bird  are  those  of  the  Snow-BuNTiNG, 
Pledrophanes  nivalis,  which  except  in  rare  instances  are  so  sedu- 
lously concealed  as  to  be  almost  beyond  the  reach  of  reflected  light ; 
and  again,  why  the  several  species  of  Nuthatch,  Sitta,  which  must 
have  been  ages  in  learning  the  art  of  masonry  they  so  skilfully 
practise,  lay  eggs  more  deeply  dyed  than  those  of  their  felt-making 
brethren  the  Paridx  (Titmouse),  or  their  feather-bed  cousins  the 
Wrens  and  the  Treecreepers.  But  the  supposition  would  seem 
to  break  down  wholly  as  an  explanation  of  the  variable  colouring 
offered  by  eggs  of  the  Fantail- Warbler,  Cisticola  cursitans  or  schoeni- 
cola — whether  the  observations  of  M.  Lunel  (Bull.  Soc.  Ornithol.  Suisse, 
1865,  pp.  9-30,  pi.  7),  referring  the  marvellous  differences  they 
present  to  the  season  of  the  year  at  which  they  were  laid,  be  correct 
or  not,  for  the  ark-lii^  structure  of  the  nest  remains  constant.  No 
more  can  here  be  added  on  this  matter,  interesting  as  it  is,  and 
worthy  of  much  more  investigation  than  it  has  received.^ 

The  grain  of  the  egg-shell  offers  characters  that  deserve  far 
more  consideration  than  they  have  received  until  the  attention  of 
Herr  von  Nathusius  having  been  directed  to  the  subject  by  some 

^  Having  introduced  Hewitsou's  name  in  this  connexion,  and  having  pre- 
sently to  refer  to  him  again,  I  may  say  at  once  that  his  remarks  on  the  color- 
ation of  eggs,  and  some  other  subjects,  have  been  frequently  repeated,  of  course 
with  more  or  less  modification  and  verbose  addition,  by  various  plagiarists  who 
have  sometimes  forgotten  to  mention  the  source  of  their  information.  With  the 
greatest  regard  for  my  old  friend,  I  am  bound  to  say  that  the  principles  on  which 
he  wrote,  more  than  fifty  years  since,  are  such  as  no  man  of  science  can  accept 
now  ;  but  they  were  those  of  his  time,  and  the  more  recent  adaptors  of  them  are 
behind  theirs. 


I90  EGGS 

investigations  carried  on  by  Drs.  Landois  ^  and  Rudolf  Blasius,^  he 
brought  out  a  series  of  remarkable  papers  ^  in  which  he  arrived  at 
the  conclusion  that  a  well-defined  tjrpe  of  shell-structure  belongs  to 
certain  Families  of  birds,  and  is  easily  recognized  under  the  micro- 
scope. In  some  cases,  as  in  the  eggs  of  certain  SwANS  and  Geese 
{Cygnus  olor  and  C.  musicus,  Anser  cinereus  and  A.  segetum)  even 
specific  differences  are  apparent ;  but  more  than  this,  differences 
of  the  same  kind  are  observable  in  the  eggs  of  the  Grey  and  Black 
Crows  (Corvus  comix  and  C.  corone),  Vv^hich,  in  the  present  -writer's 
opinion,  are  only  forms  of  the  same  dimorphic  species,  and,  what  is  still 
more  wonderfid,  the  eggs  of  the  hybrids  or  mongrels  between  these 
two  forms  are  recognizable  under  the  microscope  by  the  structure 
of  the  shell,  while  yet  most  extraordinary  is  the  general  conclusion 
that  the  egg  laid  by  a  bird  mated  with  a  male  of  a  different  species 
is  recognizable  from  one  laid  by  the  same  bird  when  paired  with  a 
male  of  her  own.  The  bearing  of  these  researches  on  classification 
generally  is  of  considerable  importance  and  must  be  taken  into 
account  by  all  future  taxonomers.  Here  we  cannot  enter  into 
details,  it  must  suffice  to  remark  that  the  grain  of  the  shell  is  some- 
times so  fine  that  the  surface  is  glossy,  and  this  is  the  case  with  a 
large  number  of  PiCARLE,  where  it  is  also  quite  colourless  and  the 
contents  of  their  eggs  seen  through  the  semi-transparent  shell  give 
an  opalescence  of  great  beauty ;  but  among  the  TiNAMOUS,  TiTKi- 
midse,  colour  is  invariably  present  and  their  opaque  eggs  present 
the  appearance  of  more  or  less  globular  balls  of  highly-burnished 
metal  or  glazed  porcelain.  Most  birds  lay  eggs  with  a  smooth  shell, 
such  as  nearly  all  the  Gavise,  Limicolx,  and  Passeres,  and  in  some 
groups,  as  with  the  normal  Gallinse,  this  seems  to  be  enamelled  or 
much  polished,  but  it  is  still  very  different  from  the  brilliant  surface 
of  those  just  mentioned,  and  nothing  like  a  definite  line  can  be 
drawn  between  their  structure  and  that  in  which  the  substance  is 
dull  and  uniform,  as  among  the'  Alcidse  and  the  Accipitres.  In 
many  of  the  Ratitx  the  surface  is  granulated  and  pitted  in  an 
extraordinary  manner,*  and  in  a  less  degree  the  same  feature   is 

^  Zeitschr. /ilr  wissensch.  Zoologic,  xv.  pp.  1-31. 

2  Oi?.  cit.  xvii.  pp.  480-524. 

'^  Op.  cit.  xviii.  pp.  19-21,  pp.  225-270,  xix.  pp.  322-348,  xx.  pp.  106-130, 
xxi.  pp.  330-335,  xxx.  pp.  69-77.  A  summary  of  these  will  be  found  in  Journ. 
fur  Ornith.  1871,  pp.  241-260,  and  the  subject  has  been  continued  in  the  same 
periodical  for  1S72,  pp.  321-332,  1874,  pp.  1-26,  1879,  pp.  525-761,  1880,  pp. 
341-346,  1881,  pp.  334-336,  1882,  pp.  129-161,  225-315,  1885,  pp.  165-178  ;  as 
well  ns  in  Zool.  Anzeigcr,  1885,  pp.  413-415, 1886,  pp.  555-569,  1887,  pp.  292-296, 
311-316.  Some  critical  remarks  by  Dr.  Kutter  are  contained  in  Journ.  filr 
Orn.  1877,  pp.  396-423,  1878,  pp.  300-348,  1880,  j.p.  157-187';  and  Orn.  Certralbl. 
1881,  p.  68. 

*  It  is  curious  that  Ostriches'  eggs  from  North  Africa  are  to  be  readUy  dis- 
tinguished from  those  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  by  their  smooth  ivory-like 


EGGS  191 

observable  in  the  eggs  of  some  other  birds,  as  the  Storks,  Ciconiidx. 
Many  Water-fowls,  and  particularly  the  DuCKS,  Anaticlss,  lay  eggs 
-w-ith  a  greasy  or  oleaginous  exterior,  as  the  collector  who  wishes  to 
inscribe  his  specimens  with  marks  of  their  identity  often  finds  to 
his  inconvenience ;  but  there  are  other  eggs,  as  those  of  the  Anis, 
Crotophaga,  the  Grebes,  PodicipecUdx,  and  all  of  the  Steganopodes, 
except  Phaethon,  which  are  more  or  less  covered  with  a  cretaceous 
film,  often  of  considerable  thickness  and  varied  by  calcareous  pro- 
tuberances. 

In  form  eggs  vary  very  much,  and  this  is  sometimes  observable 
in  examples  not  only  of  the  same  species  but  even  from  the  same 
mother,  yet  a  certain  amount  of  resemblance  is  usually  to  be  traced 
according  to  the  natural  group  to  which  the  parents  belong.  Those 
of  the  Owls,  Strigidse,  and  some  of  the  Ficarm — especially  those 
which  lay  the  glossy  eggs  above  spoken  of — ai-e  often  apparently 
spherical,  though  it  is  probable  that  if  tested  mathematically  none 
would  be  found  truly  so — indeed  it  may  be  asserted  that  few  eggs 
are  strictly  symmetrical,  however  nearly  they  may  seem  so,  one 
side  bulging  out,  though  very  slightly,  more  than  the  other.  The 
really  oval  form,  with  which  we  are  miost  familiar,  needs  no  remark, 
but  this  is  capable  of  infinite  variety  caused  by  the  relative  posi- 
tion and  proportion  of  the  major  and  minor  axis.  In  nearly  all 
the  Limkolx  and  some  of  the  Alcidx  the  egg  attenuates  very  rapidly 
towards  the  smaller  end,  sometimes  in  a  slightly  convex  curve, 
sometimes  without  perceptible  curvature,  and  occasionally  in  a 
sensibly  concave  curve.  The  eggs  having  this  pyriform  shape  are 
mostly  those  of  birds  Avhich  invaidably  lay  four  in  a  nest,  and  therein 
they  lie  with  their  points  almost  meeting  in  the  centre  and  thus 
occupying  as  little  space  as  possible  and  more  easily  covered  hj  the 
brooding  parent.  Other  eggs  as  those  of  the  Sand-Grouse,  Ptero- 
deklx,  are  elongated  and  almost  cylindrical  for  a  considerable  part 
of  their  length,  terminating  at  each  end  obtusely,  while  eggs  of  the 
Grebes,  Podicipedidse,  which  also  have  both  ends  nearly  alike  but 
pointed,  are  so  wide  in  the  middle  as  to  present  a  biconical  appear- 
ance.^ 

The  size  of  eggs  is  generally  but  not  at  all  constantly  in  pro- 
portion to  that  of  the  parent.  The  GUILLEMOT,  Alca  trode,  and  the 
Eaven,  Corvus  corax,  are  themselves  of  about  equal  size ;  their  eggs 
vary  as  ten  to  one.  The  Snipe,  Scolopax  gallinago,  and  the  Black- 
bird, Turdus  merula,  differ  but  slightly  in  weight,  their  eggs  remark- 
ably.    The  eggs  of  the  Guillemot  are  as  big  as  those  of  an  Eagle ; 

surface,  without  any  punctures,  whereas  southern  specimens  are  rough  as  though 
pock-marked  {Ibis,  1860,  p.  74),  yet  no  other  difference  that  can  be  deemed  specifio 
has  as  yet  been  estalilished  between  the  birds  of  the  north  and  of  the  south. 

^  A  great  deal  of  valuable  information  on  this  and  other  kindred  subjects  ia 
given  by  Des  Murs,  TraiU  giniral  d'Oologie  ornithologiquc  (8vo,  Paris  :  1860). 


192  EGRET— EIDER 


and  those  of  the  Snipe  equal  in  size  the  eggs  of  a  Partridge,  Fer- 
dix  cinerea.  He\vitson,  from  whom  these  instances  are  taken, 
remarks  :  "  The  reason  of  this  great  disparity  is,  however,  obvious  ; 
the  eggs  of  all  those  birds  which  quit  the  nest  soon  after  they  are 
hatched,  and  which  are  consequently  more  fully  developed  at  their 
birth,  are  very  large."  ^  It  must  be  added,  though,  that  the  number 
of  eggs  to  be  covered  at  one  time  seems  also  to  have  some  relation 
to  their  size,  and  this  offers  a  further  explanation  of  the  fact  just 
mentioned  with  regard  to  the  Snipe  and  the  Partridge — the  former 
being  one  of  those  birds  which  are  constant  in  producing  four,  and 
the  latter  often  laying  as  many  as  a  dozen — for  the  chicks  of  each 
run  as  soon  as  they  release  themselves  from  the  shell  (see  Embry- 
ology, Incubation). 

EGRET  (French  Aigrette,  cognate  with  Italian  Aghirone,  and 
Provencal  Aigron — Latinized  Egretta),  a  white  Heron,  remark- 
able for  the  tufts  of  long  filiform  feathers  ^  which  spring  from  the 
middle  and  lower  part  of  its  back,  and  take  their  name  from  the 
bird  which  produces  them.  A  small  bundle  of  these  feathers  has 
long  been  used  among  eastern  nations  as  an  ornament,  and  worn 
in  front  of  the  turban,  caftan,  or  other  head-dress  by  personages  of 
high  rank,  being  occasionally  mounted  with,  or  its  form  imitated 
by,  precious  stones  ;  and  the  gift  of  an  "  egret "  so  bejewelled  has 
been  one  of  the  most  distinguished  marks  of  honour  that  could  be 
bestowed  by  an  oriental  ruler  upon  a  favourite  minister  or  successful 
leader.^  The  fashion  has  spread  among  western  nations,  and  in  the 
"plume"  that  surmounts  or  until  lately  surmounted  the  "busby" 
or  "  bearskin  "  of  our  artillery,  hussars,  and  certain  select  regiments 
of  foot,  it  verges  on  the  ridiculous,  all  the  grace  of  the  original 
being  lost  in  the  horsehair  that  counterfeits  its  form. 

In  Europe  Ave  have  two  species  to  which  the  name  Egret 
properly  belongs.  One  is  of  large  size,  the  Ardea  alba,  the  other 
much  smaller,  A.  garzetta.  The  ""Egrittes  "  of  Archbishop  Neville's 
Inthronization  feast  at  York  {temp.  Edw.  IV.)  were  no  doubt 
Lapwings. 

EIDER  (Icelandic,  ^Sw),  a  large  marine  Duck,  the  Somateria 
mollissima  of  ornithologists,  famous  for  its  down,  which,  from  its 

^  Hewitson,  o]}.  cit.  Iiitrod.  p.  x. 

^  These  feathers  consist  of  fine  barbs  alone,  without  barbules,  and  though 
soft  as  silk  keep  their  stiffness.  They  are  assumed  only  just  before  the  breeding- 
season,  and  hence  the  procuring  of  them  destroys  the  birds  at  a  most  critical 
moment  (see  Exterminatiox).  In  the  "plume  trade"  they  bear  the  name  of 
' '  Ospreys  "  ! 

"  The  "egret"  sent  by  the  Sultan  to  Nelson  after  the  battle  of  the  Nile  is 
almost  historical,  and  was  apparently  more  valued  by  the  hero  than  any  other 
gift  he  got. 


EIDER  193 

extreme  lightness  and  elasticity,  is  in  great  request  for  filling  bed- 
coverlets.  This  bird  generally  frequents  low  rocky  islets  near  the 
coast,  and  in  Iceland  and  Norway  has  long  been  afforded  every 
encouragement  and  protection,  a  fine  being  inflicted  for  killing  it 
during  the  breeding-season,  or  even  for  firing  a  gun  near  its  haunts, 
while  artificial  nesting-places  are  in  many  localities  contrived  for  its 
further  accommodation.  From  the  care  thus  taken  of  it  in  those 
countries  it  has  become  exceedingly  tame  at  its  chief  resorts,  which 
are  strictly  regarded  as  property,  and  the  taking  of  eggs  or  down 
from  them,  except  by  authorized  persons,  is  severely  punished  by 
law.  In  appearance  the  Eider  is  somewhat  clumsy,  though  it  flies 
fast  and  dives  admirably.  The  female  is  of  a  dark  reddish-brown 
colour  barred  with  brownish-black.  The  adult  male  in  spring  is 
conspicuous  by  his  pied  plumage  of  sable  beneath,  and  creamy- 
Avhite  above ;  a  patch  of  shining  sea-green  on  his  head  is  only  seen 
on  close  inspection.  This  plumage  he  is  considered  not  to  acquire 
until  his  third  year,  being  when  young  almost  exactly  like  the 
female,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  birds  which  have  not  attained 
their  full  dress  remain  in  flocks  by  themselves  without  going  to  the 
breeding-stations.  The  nest  is  generally  in  some  convenient  corner 
among  large  stones,  hollowed  in  the  soil,  and  fui'nished  with  a  few 
bits  of  dry  grass,  seaweed,  or  heather.  By  the  time  that  the  full 
number  of  eggs  (which  rarely  if  ever  exceeds  five)  is  laid  the  down 
is  added.  Generally  the  eggs  and  down  are  taken  at  intervals  of  a 
few  days  by  the  owners  of  the  "Eider-fold,"  and  the  birds  are  thus 
kept  depositing  both  during  the  whole  season ;  but  some  experience 
is  needed  to  insure  the  greatest  profit  from  each  commodity.  Every 
Duck  is  ultimately  allowed  to  hatch  an  egg  or  two  to  keep  up  the 
stock,  and  the  doAvn  of  the  last  nest  is  gathered  after  the  birds  have 
left  the  spot.  The  story  of  the  Drake's  fui*nishing  down,  after  the 
Duck's  supply  is  exhausted,  is  a  fiction.^  He  never  goes  near  the 
nest.  The  eggs  have  a  strong  flavoui",  but  are  much  relished  by 
both  Icelanders  and  Norwegians.  In  the  Old  World  the  Eider 
breeds  in  suitable  localities  from  Spitsbergen  to  the  Earn  Islands 
off"  the  coast  of  Northumberland — where  it  is  knoAvn  as  St.  Cuth- 
bert's  Duck.  Its  food  consists  of  mai-ine  animals  (mollusks  and 
crustaceans),  and  hence  the  young  are  not  easily  reared  in  captivity. 
The  Eider  of  the  New  World  differs  somewhat  from  our  own,  and 
has  been  described  as  a  distinct  species,  S.  dresseri.  Though  much 
diminished  in  numbei's  by  persecution,  it  still  inhabits  the  coast  of 
Newfoundland  and  thence  northward.  In  Greenland  Eiders  are 
very  plentiful,  and  it  is  supposed  that  three-fourths  of  the  supply 
of  down  sent  to  Copenhagen  come  from  that  country.  The  limits 
of  the  Eider's  northern  range  are  not  known,  but  the  last  British 

^  Eqnally  fictitious  is  the  often -repeated  statement  tliat  Eider-down  is  white. 
Mouse-colour  would  perhaps  best  describe  its  hue. 

13 


194 


ELE  UTHERODA  CTYLI—EMBR  YOLOG  V 


Kino-Duck,  (J  (After  Swainson.) 


Ai'ctic  Expedition  does  not  seem  to  have  met  with  it  after  leaving 
the  Danish  settlements,  and  its  place  is  taken  by  an  allied  species, 
the  King-Duck,  S.  spedabilis,  a  very  beautiful  bird  which  sometimes 
appears  on  the  British  coasts.  The  female  greatly  resembles  that 
of  the  Eider,  but  the  male  has  a  black  chevron  on  his  chin  and  a 

bright  orange  prominence  on 
his  forehead,  which  last  seems 
to  have  given  the  species  its 
English  name.  On  the  west 
coast  of  North  America  the 
Eider  is  represented  by  a 
species,  S.  v-nigrum,  with  a 
like  chevron,  but  otherAvise 
resembling  the  Atlantic  bird.  In  the  same  waters  two  other  fine 
species  are  also  found,  ^S*.  Jischeri  and  S.  sfelleri,  the  latter  of  which 
also  inhabits  the  Arctic  coast  of  Russia  and  East  Finmark,  and  has 
twice  reached  England.  The  Labrador  Duck,  S.  lahradoria,  which 
is  now  believed  to  be  extinct  (see  Extermination),  also  belongs  to 
this  group. 

ELEUTHERODACTYLI,  Forbes's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1880, 
p.  390)  for  all  the  Passeres  except  the  Desmodactyli  or 
Eurylasmidse  (Broadbill),  but 

ELEUTHERODACTYLOUS  is  sometimes  said  of  any  bird 
which  has  its  toes  free  and  not  connected  by  a  web,  or  otherwise 
bound  together  ;  equivalent  to  Fissipedal  of  some  older  authors. 

ELK  (Icelandic  Alft),  a  name  formerly  used,  but  perhaps  now 
obsolete,  for  the  ordinary  Wild  or  Whooper-SWAN. 

EMBER  (otherwise  IMMER)  GOOSE— Dan.  Imher  ■  Sw.  Immer, 
and  Emmer  •  Icel.  Himbririi — a  name  applied  in  the  northern  Islands 
of  Britain  to  the  Great  Northern 'Diver. 

EMBRYOLOGY,  from  Ijifipvov,  a  growth  within.  Very  few  types 
of  Birds  have  been  studied  embryologically,  and  for  obvious  reasons 
the  common  Fowl  has  always  been  the  favourite ;  but  recently 
the  early  development  of  the  Duck,  Goose,  Pigeon,  Starling,  Melo- 
psittacus,  and  Apteryx  has  also  been  investigated.^  Later  embryonic 
stages  being  more  easily  procured  and  preserved  by  field-ornitho- 
logists have  been  studied  in  a  greater  number  of  species,  such  as 
the  Ostrich,  Gulls,  Guillemots,  and  the  Rook,  besides  the  forms 
mentioned  above.  These  investigations  have,  however,  shewn  that 
the  variations  in  the  early  development  of  different  Birds  are  only 
of    general  importance.       Until  about    the   fifth   or   sixth   day  of 

^  M.  Braun,   "Die  Entwicklung  des  AVellenpapageis, "  Arbeit,  dcr  zool. -hot. 
Inst.  Wilrzburg  (1879),  v.  pts.  ii.  and  iii. 


EMBRYOLOGY  195 


incubation  the  embryos  of  the  most  different  Birds  still  so  much 
resemble  each  other  that  the  want  of  extensive  examination  need 
not  be  so  much  deplored.  Towards  the  end  of  the  first  week 
internal  and  external  differences  appear,  characteristic  of  the  Order 
and  Family  to  which  the  bird  belongs,  while,  with  exceptions,  the 
generic  differences  make  their  appearance  diiring  the  second  week  : 
specific  difference  can  hardly  be  expected  in  the  embryos.  Of  course 
the  seven  days'  embryo  of  a  Sparrow  is  more  advanced  than 
that  of  a  Duck,  which  requires  four  times  as  many  days,  or  than  that 
of  an  Ostrich,  which  requires  more  than  seven  weeks  of  incubation, 
but  their  several  characteristic  features  can  be  discerned  at  the  end 
of  the  first  third  of  the  whole  period  of  incubation.  A  comparative 
treatise  on  avine  embryology  which  is  to  render  valuable  taxonomic 
results  will  have  to  restrict  itself  to  the  latter  half  of  the  embryonic 
stages.  Such  a  treatise  is  still  a  desideratum,  and  cannot  be  under- 
taken until  a  large,  well-preserved,  well-named,  and  well-timed 
material  of  embryos  of  a  great  number  of  any  birds  is  at  hand. 
Prof.  Fiirbringer  has  incidentally  drawn  attention  to  the  probably 
considerable  help  which  may  be  derived  from  the  resemblances 
between  middle-aged  embryos  of  certain  Families,  before  their 
specialized  forms  of  bill  and  feet  are  fixed,  and  then  rather  obscure 
the  affinities  of  the  Birds  in  question.  He  mentions  the  striking 
similarity  between  Laridae  and  Limicolse  (the  affinities  of  which 
two  groups  it  took  Ornithologists  a  long  time  to  find  out),  between 
Picidce  and  Passeres,  Striges  and  Caprimulgidge,  and  so  on.  Very 
young  nestlings  of  Humming-birds,  kindly  sent  to  me  by  Col.  Feilden 
are  scarcely  distinguishable  in  general  appearance  from  young  Swifts, 
because  their  bills  are  still  quite  short  and  broad. 

Formation  of  the  Ovum  in  the  Ovary. — Each  ovum  is  a  globular 
yellow  body,  consisting  mainly  of  yellow  and  white  yolk,  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  follicular  membrane,  which  is  the  bulged -out 
continuation  of  the  stroma  of  the  ovary.  This  membrane  con- 
tains numerous  blood-vessels,  through  which  the  ovum  is  nour- 
ished and  enabled  to  grow.  Gradually  the  growing  ovum  draws 
the  follicular  capsule  out  into  a  stalk,  surrounds  itself  with  the 
vitelline  membrane,  and  ultimately  bursts  the  capsule,  whereupon 
it  falls  into  the  body-cavity,  or  rather  into  the  wide  funnel-shaped 
mouth  of  the  oviduct.  The  stalk  and  rest  of  the  burst  capsule 
shrivel  up,  and  are  gradually  absorbed  without  forming  a  corpus 
luteum,  as  is  the  case  in  Mammals.  The  ovum  is  now  ripe  and  ready 
for  fertilization.  It  shews  the  following  composition :  A  small 
amount  of  white  yolk,  consisting  of  small  vesicles  with  albuminous 
matter,  and  a  number  of  globular  highly-refractive  bodies,  forming 
a  small  mass  at  the  centre  of  the  ovum,  and  continued  to  the  sur- 
face by  a  stalk  expanding  into  a  funnel-shaped  disk,  the  edges  of 
which  are  continued  over  the  surface  of  the  ovum  as  a  delicate 


196 


EMBRYOLOGY 


layer.  Upon  the  top  of  the  funnel-shaped  disk  of  white  yolk  lies 
the  germinal  vesicle,  which,  like  the  Avhite  yolk,  consists  of  numerous 
protoplasmatic  spherules ;  part  of  the  contents  of  this  vesicle 
shrivels  up,  and  causes  the  vesicle  to  assume  the  shape  of  a  disk, 
the  "  germinal  disk."  The  rest,  the  greater  portion  of  the  ovum,  so 
far  as  it  is  surrounded  by  the  vitelline  membrane,  consists  of  yellow 
yolk,  composed  of  numerous  granular  globules  of  albuminous  and 
fatty  matter. 

Thi  Ovum  in  the  Oviduct. — The  ovum,  while  still  in  the  u]i})er 
i:)ortion  of  the  oviduct,  is  surrounded  by  the  spermatozoa  which 
have  worked  themselves  through  the  oviduct  from  the  cloaca. 
They  swarm  round  the  surface  of  the  vitelline  membrane,  and  one 
or  more  spermatozoa  find  their  way  into  the  germinal  vesicle,  and 
fuse  with  the  contents  of  the  latter.     Ui)on  this  impregnation  follows, 


S.M. 


DiAGEAMMATIC    SECTION   OF   A    FERTILIZED    EgG. 

A.  Air-chamber  at  the  V>lunt  pole  ;  lil.  Blastoderm  ;  Ch.  Chalazte  ;  S.  Shell ; 
.S.-V.  Shell  memljrane;  Vm.  Vitelline  membrane. 

while  the  ovum  is  still  within  the'  oviduct,  the  remarkable  process 
of  "  segmentation."  This  process  consists  of  the  division  of  the 
germinal  disk  by  successive  cleavages  into  a  number  of  cells,  which 
step  by  step  build  up  the  complex  mechanism  of  the  embryo.  This 
segmentation  being  restricted  to  the  germinal  disk  is  called  "  mero- 
blastic,"  in  opposition  to  "  holoblastic  "  segmentation,  where,  as  in 
the  ova  of  the  higher  Mammals,  the  whole  material  of  the  egg- 
becomes  segmented. 

The  egg,  having  been  received  into  the  oviduct,  is  2iroi)ellcd  in 
a  spiral  course  by  the  peristaltic  contractions  of  its  walls,  and 
receives  from  the  glands  of  its  lining  membrane  an  accessory  mantle 
of  albumen,  or  the  "  white  "  of  the  egg.  The  average  composition 
of  this  albumen  is  12  %  of  proteid  matter,  1"5  fat,  0*5  saline 
matter,  and  86  %  Avater.  The  albumen  is  rapidly  added,  and 
o\ving  to  alternating  denser  and  more  watery  layers,  has  a  spiral 


EMBRYOLOGY  197 


arrangement,  as  may  be  seen  in  hard-boiled  eggs.  Some  of  the 
layers  of  denser  albumen,  surrounding  the  fluid  layer  next  the 
vitelline  membrane,  extend  as  twisted  cords  or  "  chalazse  "  towards 
the  two  poles  of  the  egg.  They  do  not  quite  reach  the  outer  layer 
of  the  white,  although  the  cord  next  the  pointed  pole  of  the  egg 
ultimately  becomes  somewhat  superficially  attached  to  the  lining 
membrane  of  the  eggshell.  The  chalazse  serve  to  suspend  the  yolk 
by  acting  as  elastic  pads,  and  thus  keeping  it  in  position.  The 
interior  of  each  cord  presents  the  appearance  of  a  succession  of 
opaque  white  knots,  hence  the  name  of  chalazm  or  hailstones. 

When  the  egg  has  arrived  at  the  narrow  consti-iction  of  the 
oviduct  (which  seems  to  take  place  in  the  common  Fowl  in  from  four 
to  six  hours  after  its  entrance  into  the  infundibular  upper  end  of 
the  oviduct),  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  latter  produces  a  denser 
layer  of  albumen  mixed  with  several  laminae  of  felted  fibres,  which 
approach  the  nature  of  connective  tissue.  This  is  the  shell -mem- 
brane which  gives  the  egg  its  final  size  and  shape,  and  consists  of  an 
inner  and  an  outer  layer,  both  of  which  remain  permanently  in 
close  apposition  over  the  greater  part  of  the  egg,  and  adhere  to  the 
shell,  but  at  the  broad  end  they  tend  to  separate,  and  develop  an 
air-chamber  between  them.  This  chamber  does  not  exist  in  per- 
fectly fresh  eggs,  but  makes  its  appearance  and  increases  in  size  as 
the  white  of  the  egg  loses  in  bulk  from  evaporation. 

From  the  narrow  isthmus  the  egg  passes  into  the  uterine  or 
shell-forming  dilatation ;  here  it  remains  from  twelve  to  twenty 
hours.  The  whole  shell  is  deposited  as  an  accessory  sheath  by  the 
thickish  white  excretions  of  the  glandular  walls  of  the  uterus.  This 
excretion  forms  an  organic  basis  or  matrix,  impregnated  with  cal- 
careous mattei%  which  coagulates  and  crystallizes  partly  in  the  shape 
of  felted  strands.  The  shell  rests  with  so-called  mammillary  processes 
upon  and  partly  in  the  shell-membrane ;  the  mammillie  themselves 
are  comparatively  poor  in  inorganic  matter.  The  interstices  be- 
tween them  and  the  shell-membrane  are  continued  through  the 
calcareous  layer  of  the  hard  shell  as  vertical  canals.  These  canals 
are  branched  only  in  the  Ostrich,  and  converge  towards  the  bottom 
of  the  little  pits  on  the  surface  of  the  egg ;  in  the  Rhea  only  two 
canals  seem  to  open  into  each  pit ;  in  all  other  birds  each  pit  leads 
only  into  one  vertical  canal.  Besides  this  mammillary  and  the 
porous  layer,  the  shell  of  most  birds  possesses  a  cuticular  layer. 
This  outermost  layer  is  the  most  variable  part  of  the  shell ;  it 
is  apparently  structureless,  either  very  poor  in  calcine  salts,  and 
in  this  case  smooth  and  shiny,  or  considerably  infiltrated  with 
calcareous  matter,  and  then  exhibiting  the  well-known  chalky  and 
often  rough  appearance  of  the  eggs  of  the  Ani,  Coi"morants,  Grebes, 
and  Fk^mingos.  Even  when  well  developed,  this  cuticular  layer  is 
always  extremely  thin.     In  the  Ostrich  and  in  Rhea  it   is   very 


198  EMBRYOLOGY 


hard  and  brittle,  like  the  glaze  of  pottery ;  in  the  common  Fowl 
and  Turkey  it  is  parchment-like  ;  in  Auks,  and  apparently  in  Gulls, 
it  is  absent.  The  cuticle  is  spread  over  the  whole  surface  of  the 
egg,  extending  unbroken  over  and  into  the  pits  or  surface  ends  of 
the  air-canals,  which  are  therefore  closed  when  such  a  cuticle  is  pre- 
sent. The  latter,  however,  readily  admits  the  passage  of  air  when 
dry,  but  when  wet  or  moist  is  impermeable  to  air. 

The  colour  of  the  shell  is  produced  by  pigment-corpuscles,  which 
may  be  deposited  in  various  levels  of  the  shell.  Sometimes  the 
pigment  is  restricted  to  the  cuticular  membrane,  or  when  the 
latter  is  absent  it  is  deposited  on  the  surface  of  the  porous  or 
calcareous  layer.  In  most  eggs  pigment  exists  also  in  the  deeper 
strata  of  the  calcareous  layer ;  interrupted  deposition  produces 
the  spots,  those  which  are  deepest  being  naturally  modified  in 
appearance  through  the  superimposed  surface-colour,  or  they  may 
not  be  visible  at  all.  The  Gallinse  seem  to  be  the  only  birds  in 
which  the  spots,  when  such  occur  at  all,  are  restricted  to  one 
stratum,  while  the  spots  of  other  birds'  eggs  are  both  deep  and 
superficial.  In  many  eggs,  whether  spotted  or  plain,  the  deepest 
strata  of  the  porous  layer  of  the  shell  are  uniformly  coloured.  As 
a  rule  spots  are  more  frequent  and  larger  towards  the  blunt  pole 
of  the  egg,  and  there  exists  a  distinct  resemblance  between  the 
eggs,  even  between  those  of  successive  clutches,  laid  by  the  same 
bird  (see  Eggs). 

Abnormal  eggs,  occasionally  of  the  most  perplexing  shape,  are 
of  common  occurrence  in  domesticated  birds  where,  especially  in 
Fowls,  the  artificial  overproduction  of  eggs  tends  to  overstrain 
and  to  exhaust  the  oviduct.  Want  of  calcareous  food  may  explain 
the  soft-shelled  or  "  wind  "  eggs.  Sometimes  eggs  with  two  yolks, 
but  otherwise  normal,  are  met  with,  and  that  twins  have  been  hatched 
out  of  such  an  egg  has  been  observed  beyond  doubt  (see  also 
Monstrosities).  Eggs  which  contain  intestinal  worms,  blood  clots, 
inorganic  concretions,  and  similar  strange  enclosures  are  quite  abnor- 
mal. Such  substances,  when  once  inside  the  oviduct,  seem  to 
stimulate  its  walls  like  an  ovarian  egg  and  receive  the  ordinary 
albuminous  and  calcareous  supplementary  coatings. 

When  the  eggshell  is  completed,  the  egg  is  protruded  into  the 
cloaca  and  out  through  the  vent,  by  the  violent  contractions  of  the 
uterine  and  cloacal  walls,  head  foremost,  i.e.  the  blunt  pole  appears 
first  (c/.  p.  185,  note),  and  not  the  pointed  end,  as  some  have  stated. 
Controversies  have  often  arisen  on  this  point.  Mechanical 
reasons  plainly  indicate,  not  the  impossibility,  but  the  greater 
difficulty  of  an  egg  moving  with  its  pointed  end  forwards.  A 
wedge  or  a  cone  enclosed  within  or  driven  into  an  elastic  substance 
slips  out  towards  its  broad  basis,  not  in  the  direction  of  its  apex.^ 
1  Direct  observations  of  hens  when  in  the  act  of  laying  are  rare  and  not  free 


EMBRYOLOGY  199 


The  production  of  eggs  does  not  necessarily  depend  upon  previous 
fertilization  by  the  male,  as  shewn  by  numerous  instances  of  birds 
which  have  laid  eggs  although  they  had  been  kept  in  absolute 
celibacy. 

A  most  important,  but  still  unexplained,  allegation  is  that 
eggs,  containing  hybrids,  are  not  exactly  like  the  eggs  of  the  race 
or  species  of  the  female,  but  more  or  less  resemble  also  the  eggs  of 
the  race  or  species  to  which  the  fertilizing  male  belongs.  Instances 
of  such  mongrel  eggs  are  mentioned  by  Nathusius  {Zeitschrift  f. 
wissensch.  Zoologie,  xviii.  p.  229) ;  and  other  well -authenticated 
instances  would  form  valuable  contributions  to  any  of  our  scientific 
periodicals. 

During  the  descent  of  the  fecundated  egg  along  the  oviduct, 
where  it  is  exposed  to  the  temperature  of  the  bird  (about 
40°  C  =  104°  F.)  the  germinal  disk  has  already  undergone  important 
changes ;  repeated  divisions,  or  segmentation  having  transformed 
the  disk  into  a  large  number  of  small  rounded  masses  of  protoplasm, 
or  cells.  Between  this  segmented  disk  or  "  blastoderm  "  and  the  bed 
of  white  yolk  on  which  it  rests,  a  space  containing  fluid  makes  its 
appearance.  The  central,  greater  part  of  the  disk,  so  far  as  it 
overlies  the  fluid-containing  space,  is  transparent  and  distinguished 
as  the  area  pellucida  from  the  area  opaca  or  opaque  rim  of  the  disk, 
which  rests  immediately  upon  the  white  yolk  within  the  vitelline 
membrane. 

When  the  egg  is  laid  and  becomes  cold  these  changes  all  but 
entirely  cease,  and  the  blastoderm  remains  inactive  until,  under 
the  influence  of  the  higher  temperature  of  incubation,  the  vital 
activities  of  the  germ  are  again  brought  into  play,  ushering  in 
the  series  of  events  by  means  of  which  the  development  of  the 
individual  bird  is  accomplished.  No  better  description  of  them,  as 
they  occur  in  the  Common  Fowl,  can  be  found  than  that  given  in 
Foster  and  Balfour's  Elements  of  Embryology,  of  which  the  following 
is  a  condensed  account,  and  to  that  admirable  book  ^  the  student 
may  be  referred  for  further  detailed  information. 

It  is  convenient  to  begin  with  a  preliminary  general  sketch  of  the 
development  of  the  embryo.  The  embryo  itself  is  formed  entirely 
in  the  area  pellucida ;  the  structures  to  which  the  area  opaca  gives 

from  deception,  but  the  ingenious  and  simple  experiment  made  by  Mrs.  A.  Ernst 
(cf.  Zoologischer  Anzeiger,  viii.  1885,  p.  718)  could  easily  be  repeated.  The  birds 
were  kept  upon  moist  sand  and  charcoal,  and  when  the  cackling  of  a  hen  indi- 
cated her  safe  delivery,  the  egg  was  inspected  and  invariably  found  to  be  black- 
ened at  the  blunt  end.  Unless  it  be  assumed  for  argument's  sake  that  the  egg 
while  dropping  had  time  to  turn  round  with  its  heavier  pole  downwards,  this 
■test  seems  to  be  conclusive,  but  of  course  it  does  not  exclude  wrong  presentations. 
^  Chaps,  ii.-ix.  Second  edition,  revised  by  A.  Sedgwick  and  W.  Heape, 
London  :  1883. 


200 


EM  BR  YOLOG  Y 


rise  are  to  be  regarded  as  appendages  which  sooner  or  l^er 
disappear  or  are  ultimately  cast  off. 

The  blastoderm,  consisting  originally  of  two  layers,  is  soon 
transformed  into  three  fundamental  germinal  layers  ;  the  upper, 
middle,  and  lower  layers,  or  epiblast,  mesoblast,  and  hypoblast.  Three 
similar  germinal  layers  are  found  in  the  embryos  of  all  animals 
with  the  exception  of  the  lowest  invertebi^ate  forms,  and  their 
history  is  one  of  the  most  important  subjects  of  comparative 
Embryology. 

The  epiblast  gives  rise  to  the  epidermis  with  its  derivatives,  to 
the  whole  of  the  nervous  system,  and  to  the  most  important  parts 
of  the  sj^ecial  sense  -  organs.  The  hypoblast  furnishes  the  whole 
secretory  laj^er  and  epithelial  lining  of  the  alimentary  canal  and 
its  glands,  with  the  exception  of  part  of  the  mouth  and  anus,  which 
as  invaginations  of  the  outer  layer  are  lined  by  the  epiblast.  Out 
of  the  mesoblast  the  whole  of  the  vascular,  muscular,  and  skeletal 
systems,  and  the  connective  tissue  of  all  parts  of  the  body  are 
developed,  as  well  as  the  excretory  organs  and  the  generative  glands. 
The  blastoderm  gradually  and  uniformly  expands  as  a  thin 
circular  sheet  over  the  yolk  immediately  beneath  the  vitelline 
membrane.  At  last  by  the  end  of  the  seventh  day  of  incubation, 
the  Avhole  mass  of  the  3-elloAv  yolk  becomes  enclosed  in  a  bag 
formed  by  the  blastoderm.  This  bag  is  formed  chiefly  by  the  area 
opaca,  the  mesoblast  of  which  produces  numerous  blood-vessels  and 
becomes  transformed  into  the  area  vasculosa. 

The  embryo  itself  is  formed  by  a  folding-off  of  the  central  portion 
of  the  area  pellucida  from  the  rest  of  the  blastoderm  ;  a  semilunar 
groove  or  tucking-in  of  the  blastoderm  appearing  at  the  head  end  of 
the  future  embryo  is  spoken  of  as  the  "  headfold."  In  an  eggjDlaced 
before  us  with  its  blunt  end  towards  the  right-hand  side,  the  head- 


LONGITUDINAL   AND   VERTICAL   SECTIONS   THROUGH   TrUXK    OF   AS    EmERYO,  E  (shailed), 

ON  THE  Second,  Fourth,  and  Sixth  Days. 
a.A.V.  Anterior  amniotic  fold  ;  i^.A.¥.  Posterior  amniotic  fold  ;  c,  Plenro-peritoneal  cavity  ; 

y.s.  Yolk-sac  ;  Al.  Allantois. 

fold  invariably  looks  away  from  us,  and  the  longitudinal  axis  of 
the  future  embryo  stands  at  right  angles  to  the  long  axis  of  the 


EMBRYOLOGY 


20 1 


egg.  In  a  vertical  section  along  a  line  which  will  afterwards 
become  the  axis  of  the  embryo,  the  Avhole  headfold  is  in  the  shape 
of  an  8-  The  authors  named  above  ingeniously  suggest  the 
making  of  a  rough  model  in  order  to  render  the  somewhat  compli- 
cated matter  easier  to  comprehend.  Spread  a  cloth  out  flat  to 
represent  the  blastoderm,  and  by  placing  the  left  hand  underneath 
it  mark  the  axis  of  the  embryo,  and  then  tuck  in  the  cloth  from 
above  under  the  tips  of  the  fingers.  The  fingers,  covered  with  the 
cloth  and  slightly  projecting  from  the  level  of  the  rest  of  the  cloth, 
will  represent  the  head,  in  front  of  which  will  be  the  semicircular 
or  horseshoe-shaped  groove  of  the  headfold. 

A  similar,  but  shallower  fold,  appears  at  the  hind  end  of  the 
embryo.  This,  the  "tailfold,"  travelling  forAvards  and  the  "headfold" 
gradually  extending  backwards,  and  a  pair  of  lateral  folds  uniting 
the   two  and    moving  inwards,    ultimately  succeed    in    forming   a 


A.K 


A?n. 


Transverse  Sections  through  the  Trunk  ok  an  Embrvo  on  the  Third  and  Sixth  Days. 

A.F.  Anterior  amniotic  fold  ;  Al.  Allantois  ;  Am.  Amniotic  cavitj-;  Ch,  Chorda  dorsalis  ; 

m,  Spinal  marrow ;  Se.  Jlembrana  serosa. 

tubular  sac  seated  upon  and  connected  by  a  continually-narroAving 
hollow  stalk,  Avith  that  larger  sac  which  is  formed  by  the  extension 
of  the  rest  of  the  blastoderm  over  the  Avhole  yellow  yolk.  The 
smaller  or  upper  sac  contains,  or  rather  forms  the  embryo,  the 
larger  or  lower  sac  is  the  yolk-sac.  As  incubation  proceeds  the 
contents  of  the  yolk-sac  are  gradually  assimilated  by  nutritive 
processes  into  the  tissues  forming  the  growing  Avails  of  the  embry- 
onic sac.  Consecjuently  the  latter  becomes  larger  and  larger  at 
the  expense  of  the  former.  Within  a  feAv  days  of  the  hatching  of 
the  chick,  Avhen  the  embryo  is  nearly  complete,  the  j^olk-sac  is  still 
of  some  considerable  size,  and  is  slipped  into  the  body  of  the 
embryo  through  the  umbilicus  or  navel.  In  the  article  Altrices 
it  has  been  iiointed  out  that  in  the  Nidifugje  a  considerable 
amount  of  this  yolk  still  exists  Avhen  the  embryo  is  hatched,  Avhile 
in  the  Nidicolse  this  food-yolk  has  been  completely,  or  nearly  so, 
used  up  by  the  time  the  embryo  is  ripe. 

The  Avhole  mass  of  the  white  of  the  egg,  betAveen  the  shell  and 


202 


EMBRYOLOGY 


the  vitelline  membrane,  has  soon  after  the  beginning  of  incubation 
become  very  fluid  and  its  albumen  is  like  the  contents  of  the  yolk- 
sac  assimilated  into  the  tissues  of  the  growing  embryo.  Already 
a  few  days  before  hatching  it  is  used  up  completely,  so'  that  by 
this  time  the  embryonic  sac  and  its  enclosing  membranes  fill  up 
the  Avhole  egg. 

The  embryo,  as  explained  above,  is  formed  by  a  folding-off  of 
the  portion  of  the  blastoderm  from  the  yolk-sac.  The  tubular  sac 
of  the  embryo,  while  everywhere  acquiring  thicker  walls,  undergoes 
many  modifications  through  local  thickening,  budding,  and  folding, 
and  is  gradually  moulded  into  the  proper  shape  of  the  body  of 
the  chick. 

First  there  appears,  on  the  upper  side,  a  longitudinal  canal,  the 
neural  tube,  the  walls  of  Avhich  become  transformed  into  the  brain 
and  spinal  cord.  Below  and  parallel  Avith  this  tube  appears  an 
axis  rejDresented  by  the  vertebrae.  Underneath  this,  again,  is 
another  tube,  closed  in  above  by  the  axis,  and  on  the  sides  and 
below  by  the  body-walls.  Enclosed  in  this  second  tube,  and 
suspended  from  the  axis,  is  a  third,  tube,  consisting  of  the 
alimentary  canal  with  its  diverticular  appendages,  the  liver, 
pancreas,  lungs,  etc.  The  cavity  of  the  outer  tube  is  the  body-  or 
pleuro  -  peritoneal  cavity ;  it  also  contains  the  heart  and  other 
parts  of  the  vascular  system,  together  with  the  genital  glands  and 

the  kidneys,  which  are  all  folded  or  budded- 
ofF  portions  of  the  inner  walls  of  the  body- 
cavity. 

Thus  a  transverse  section  of  a  chick,  or  in 
fact  of  any  vertebrate  animal,  always  shews 
the  same  fundamental  structure ;  above  a 
single  tube,  below  a  double  tube,  the  latter 
consisting  of  one  tube  enclosed  within  another, 
the  inner  being  the  alimentary  canal,  the 
outer  the  general  cavity  of  the  body.  Into 
such  a  triple  tube  the  simple  tubular  embry- 
onic sac  of  the  chick  is  converted  by  a  series 
of  changes  of  a  remarkable  character. 

The  upper  or  neural  tube  begins  at  a 
very  early  period  by  the  raising  up  of  the 
epiblast  of  the  blastoderm  into  two  ridges, 


^R 


Diagrammatic,  Transverse 
Section  of  the  Body  of  any 
Vertebrate. 

Ao,  Aorta ;  c,  Peritoneal 
cavity;  g,  Gut -cavity;  G'j. 
Genital  glands  ;  A',  Kidneys  ; 


if,  Spinal  marrow  contained        *,  .,  i,,  ii  -i:-!. 

in  the  vertebral  column,  the     Avhlch  TUU    parallel    tO    the    long    aXlS    01    thC 

vertebra  and  ribs  being  future  embryo  and  euclose  a  shallow  longi- 
^''^'^''''''  tudinal    groove.  These    medullanj    folds 

eventually  meet  and  coalesce  dorsally  in  the  middle  line,  thus 
converting  the  groove  into  a  canal  Avhich  becomes  closed  at  either 
end.  The  cavity  of  the  tube  becomes  the  cerebro-spinal  canal,  its 
Avails  are  transformed  into  the  spinal  cord  and  through  thickenings 


EM  BR  VOL  OGY  203 


and  swellings  at  the  head -end  into  the  Brain.  Its  walls  are 
entirely  formed  of  epiblast. 

The  tube  of  the  alimentary  canal  and  that  of  the  general  body- 
cavity  are  formed  in  a  totally  different  way.  They  are,  broadly 
speaking,  the  result  of  the  junction  and  coalescence  of  the  funda- 
mental embryonic  folds,  the  head-,  tail-,  and  lateral  folds.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  folding  in  of  a  single  sheet  of  tissue,  such  as  we 
hitherto  considered  the  blastoderm  tube,  can  only  result  in  the 
production  of  a  sac  with  a  single  cavity,  and  woidd  not  explain 
the  formation  of  the  double  tube.  The  blastoderm,  however,  soon 
splits  throughout  its  greater  part  into  a  double  sheet,  an  upper  and 
a  lower  leaf.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  axis  or  future  vertebral 
column,  beneath  the  neural  tube,  this  cleavage  is  absent.  In  fact 
the  cleavage  begins  at  some  little  distance  on  either  side  of  the  axis, 
and  thence  spreads  through  the  mesoblast  horizontally  to  the 
margin.  The  upper  leaf  or  half  of  the  mesoblast  remains  united 
with  the  epiblast,  and  from  its  forming  the  body- walls,  is  called  the 
somatopleiire ;  the  lower  half  of  the  mesoblast,  together  with  the 
hypoblast,  forms  the  alimentary  canal  and  its  tributary  viscera,  and 
is  therefore  called  the  splanchnopleure.  The  space  between  the  two 
pleura  or  flaps  is  the  general  body-  or  pleuro-peritoneal  cavity. 

This  cleavage  of  the  mesoblast  into  a  somato-  and  splanchno- 
pleure is  not  confined  to  the  region  of  the  embryo,  but  extends  in 
time  over  the  whole  of  the  yolk-sac.  Hence  the  yolk-sac  comes 
ultimately  to  have  an  inner  splanchnopleuric  and  an  outer  somato- 
pleuric  coat,  and  since,  as  we  have  seen  above,  the  embryonic  sac  is 
connected  with  the  yolk-sac  by  a  continually  narrowing  hollow  stalk, 
this  stalk  must  be  likewise  double,  consisting  of  a  smaller  inner 
stalk  within  a  larger  and  outer  one.  The  narrow  space  between 
these  two  investments  of  the  yolk-sac  is  continuous  with  the  pleuro- 
peritoneal  cavity.  Long  before  hatching  the  inner  stalk  becomes 
obliterated,  so  that  the  material  of  the  yolk  can  no  longer  pass 
directly  into  the  alimentary  canal  (the  walls  of  which  were  con- 
tinuous with  the  walls  of  the  inner  stalk),  but  has  to  find  its  way 
into  the  body  of  the  chick  by  absorption  through  the  blood-vessels, 
which  by  this  time  have  spread  over  the  yolk-sac.  The  outer  or 
somatic  stalk  remains  widely  open  for  a  long  time  as  a  thin  and 
insignificant  continuation  of  the  somatopleure.  When  in  the  last 
days  of  incubation  the  greatly  diminished  yolk-sac,  with  its 
splanchnic  investment,  is  withdrawn  into  the  rapidly  enlarging 
abdominal  cavity  of  the  embryo,  the  walls  of  the  abdomen  (them- 
selves somatopleuric)  close  in  and  unite  without  regard  to  the 
shrivelled,  emptied,  somatopleuric  investment  of  the  yolk-sac,  which 
is  cast  off  as  no  longer  of  any  use.  The  place  where  this  has 
happened  is  the  outer  umbilicus  or  navel,  long  visible  on  the  middle 
of  the  belly  of  the  young  bird.     Remnants  of  the  stalk  between  the 


204  EM  BR  YOLOG  Y 


inside  of  the  navel  and  the  alimentary  canal,  sometimes  with  a  little 
degenerated  yolk,  persist  in  many,  chiefly  nidifugous,  birds  as  the 
Diverticulum  caecum  vitelli ;  it  is  attached  somewhere  to  the 
middle  of  the  small  intestine,  and,  especially  when  still  hollow,  rather 
closely  resembles  in  shape,  size,  and  colour  the  degraded  cseca  of 
Crows,  Storks,  and  diurnal  Birds-of-Prey. 

All  Birds,  Eeptiles,  and  Mammals  possess  in  their  embryonic 
state  an  AikiNiON  and  an  Allantois.  The  Amnion  is  a  peculiar 
membrane  enveloping  the  embryo  and  taking  its  origin  from  the 
somatopleure  only.  Its  development  is  closely  connected  with  the 
cleavage  of  the  mesoblast.  At  an  early  period  the  somatopleure 
forms  a  semilunar  fold  in  front  of  the  headfold  ;  it  consists  of  a 
very  thin  membrane  (epiblast  and  somatic  mesoblast),  which  in- 
creases in  height,  and  is  gradually  drawn  backwards  over  the 
developing  head  of  the  embryo.  At  the  same  time  a  similar  fold 
starts  behind  the  tail  and  extends  with  its  arms  sidewards  from  the 
embryo,  meeting  the  corresponding  lateral  continuations  of  the 
anterior  fold.  All  are  drawn  over  the  body  of  the  embryo,  or 
rather  the  embryo  seems  to  sink  into  these  folds,  which  ultimately 
meet  above  it,  and  completely  coalesce  Avith  each  other,  all  traces  of 
their  junction  becoming  absorbed.  Thus  the  united  folds  form  a 
sac,  within  which  the  embryo  lies.  The  sac  is  the  amnion ;  the 
cavity  between  the  embryo  and  the  inner  wall  of  the  amnion  is  the 
cavity  of  the  amnion.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  diagram  (p.  200), 
each  fold  of  the  amnion  consists  of  two  lamellae  or  flaps,  but  in  one 
the  epiblast  looks  towards  the  embryo,  while  in  the  other  it  looks 
away  from  it.  The  space  between  the  two  flaps  or  walls  of  the 
folds  is,  according  to  their  mode  of  formation,  part  of  the  cleft 
between  the  somato-  and  splanchnopleure,  and  consequently  continu- 
ous with  the  future  pleuro-peritoneal  cavity.  When  the  several  folds 
coalesce  above  the  embryo,  the  double  septum  of  their  junction 
becomes  absorbed,  so  that  the  jnner  flaps  of  each  fold  form  a 
continuous  inner  membrane  or  sac  round  the  body  of  the  embryo  ; 
this  is  the  amniotic  sac,  or  amnion  proper ;  Avhile  the  fluid  which 
collects  in  it,  and  in  which  the  embryo  lies,  is  the  liquor  amnii. 
The  space  between  this  inner  and  the  outer  sac  is,  of  course,  part 
of  the  general  mesoblastic  cleft.  The  Avail  of  the  outer  sac,  above 
the  embryo,  lies  closely  under,  and  fuses  Avith,  the  vitelline  mem- 
brane, while  marginally  it  is  continued  into  the  somatopleuric 
investment  of  the  yolk-sac,  as  has  been  described  above.  As  the 
white  of  the  egg  is  gradually  used  up,  the  outer  sac  or  false  amnion 
gradually  approaches  the  inner  shell  membrane,  and  ultimately 
lines  it. 

The  Allantois  is  a  diverticulum  of  the  alimentary  canal,  and 
opens  immediately  in  front  of  the  anus.  It  forms  a  flattened 
sac  or  bulging  out  of  the  splanchnopleure  of  the  ventral  Avail  of  the 


EMBRYOLOGY  205 


alimentary  canal,  and  is  consequently  lined  inside  by  hypoblast. 
The  sac  extends  forwards  into  the  peritoneal  cavity,  until  it  reaches 
the  stalk  connecting  the  embryo  with  the  yolk-sac,  whereupon  it 
grows  rapidly,  and  pushes  its  way  into  the  space  between  the  true 
and  false  amniotic  sacs.  Curving  over  the  embryo,  the  allantois 
comes  to  lie  partly  above  the  embryo,  separated  from  the  shell  by 
nothing  more  than  the  thin  false  amnion.  Being  thus  situated  most 
superficially,  and  in  close  proximity  to  the  air  which  penetrates  the 
porous  shell,  the  allantois,  besides  acting  as  a  receptacle  for  the 
urine,  becomes  highly  vascular,  and  i:)erforms  the  functions  of  a 
respiratory  organ.  Towards  the  end  of  incubation,  when  the 
embryo  is  already  able  to  breathe  through  its  lungs,  the  allantois 
shrivels  up  and  is  cast  off',  together  with  the  shell,  but  its  narrowed 
and  elongated  stalk,  from  the  gut  to  the  navel,  remains  for  some 
time  as  the  urachus  upon  the  inside  of  the  abdominal  wall. 

Chronological  and  Special  Account  of  the  Development  of  tJte  Embryo 

of  the  Common  Fowl. 

First  day.  \st  to  8th  hour  of  incubation. — Scattered  cells  appear 
between  the  epiblast  and  hypoblast,  as  the  beginning  of  the  middle 
layer  or  mesoblast ;  they  are  confined  to  the  posterior  part  of  the 
area  pellucida,  and  cause  this  part,  called  now  the  embryonic  shield, 
to  become  somewhat  opaque. 

8th  to  I2th  hour.- — The  three  embryonic  fundamental  layers 
are  more  distinctly  established  ;  the  embryonic  shield  grows  fainter, 
and  vanishes  after  there  has  appeared  within  it,  through  a  thicken- 
ing of  the  median  portion  of  the  blastoderm,  the  primitive  streak,  which 
is  a  structure  of  significance  still  little  understood.  The  hitherto 
pellucid  area  becomes  oval,  its  narrow  end  corresponding  Avith  the 
future  hind  end  of  the  embryo.  If  an  egg  be  placed  with  its  broad 
end  to  the  right  hand  of  the  observer,  the  head  of  the  embryo  will 
in  nearly  all  cases  be  found  pointing  away  from  him. 

I2th  to  16th  hour. — The  pellucid  area  becomes  pear-shaped;  the 
primitive  streak  is  marked  by  a  shallow  median  longitudinal  furroAv, 
known  as  the  primitive  groove. 

16^^  to  20th  hour. — An  important  structure,  the  notochoixl,  found 
in  all  vertebrate  animals,  makes  its  appearance  in  the  median  line 
in  front  of  the  primitive  streak.  The  axial  part  of  the  epiblast, 
above  the  notochord,  and  in  front  of  the  streak,  forms  two  longi- 
tudinal folds,  which  enclose  the  medullary  groove.  In  front  of  this 
groove  appears  the  semilunar  headfold,  and  in  front  of  this  again 
the  amniotic  fold  begins  to  make  its  appearance. 

20th  to  24:th  hour. — The  semilunar  headfold  enlarges  rapidly, 
and  rises  above  the  level  of  the  blastoderm ;  the  medullary  folds 
come  into  contact  with  each  other  on  the  dorsal  side,  and  tend  to 


2o6 


EMBRYOLOGY 


transform  the  groove  into  a  tube,  beginning  at  the  head  end,  while 
the  posterior  arms  of  the  medullary  folds  remain  asunder,  and  take 
the  front  end  of  the  primitive  streak  between  them.  In  the  mean- 
time the  cleavage  of  the  lateral  or  more  marginal  portions  of  the 

mesoblast  into  an  outer  and  an  inner 
layer  has  taken  place,  the  cleft  being 
the  future  pleuro-peritoneal  cavity  (r/. 
This  cleavage  does  not  ex- 


p.  203). 


tend    throughout 


the 


MC 


T.F. 


whole  of  the 
mesoblast,  but  stops  at  some  little 
distance  to  the  right  and  left  from 
the  medullary  groove  and  the  noto- 
chord.  These  uncleft  mesoblastic  por- 
tions are  called  the  A^ertebral  plates, 
in  opposition  to  the  lateral  plates  or 
split  portions  of  the  mesoblast.  At 
first  the  right  and  left  vertebi'al  plates 
remain  unbroken  along  their  length, 
but  soon  transverse  constrictions  ap- 
pear in  them,  and  cut  them  up  into 
a  series  of  cubical  masses.  These 
cubes  are  called  the  mesoblastic  som- 
ites or  protovertebrse ;  they  are  the 
basis  out  of  which  the  voluntarj^  mus- 
cles of  the  trunk  and  limbs,  and  the 
bodies  of  the  vertebrie  are  formed. 
The  first  pair  of  somites  rises  in  level 
of  the  anterior  end  of  the  primitive 
sti"eak,  the  next  pairs  are  added  on 
between  the  first  and  the  streak,  so 
that  the  latter  seems  continually  car- 

iNcuBATioN,  FROM  ABOVE.   Magnified    j^ed  back,  the  lengthenins;  of  the  em- 
fifteen  times.    (After  Balfour.)  °  ^ 

V.B.  MB,  HB,  Vesicles  of  the  fore-, 
mid-,  and  hind -brain  ;  O.V ,  Optic 
vesicle;  Au.P,  Auditory  Pit;  A. P. 
Area  pellucida  ;  Fv.  V,  Protovertebrae 
(mesoblastic  somites)  ;  MC,  Medullary 
canal    in    region    of    sacral    rhanboid     COrrespOuds    tO    the    future    head,     and 

sinus:  pr.s.  Rest  of  the  primitive    ^]^q  j.gg^  ^o  the  ueck,  bodv,  and  tail. 

streak;  r.F.  Tail-fold  of  the  amnion.        ta       •  n        i  i  ,i 

Durins?  ail  these  changes  the  area 
opaca  has  been  spreading  over  the  surface  of  the  yolk,  so  far  that 
the  whole  blastoderm  at  the  end  of  the  first  day  of  incubation,  has 
attained  the  size  of  a  sixpence.  Vessels  appear  in  the  area  opaca 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  embryo. 

Changes  during  the  2nd  day. — During  the  first  half  of  this  the 
medullary  folds  are  closing  rapidly ;  the  groove  is  converted  into 
the  neural  canal,  closed  in  front,  but  still  open  behind.     The  portion 


Pr.s. 


Embryo    of    the   Common   Fowl, 
from  thirty  to  thibty-six  hours  of 


bryo  always  taking  place  betAveen  the 
front  end  of  the  streak  and  the  last 
somite.  All  that  j^art  of  the  embryo 
which   is  in  front  of  the  first  somite 


EMBRYOLOGY  207 


of  the  tube  in  front  of  the  first  somite  forms  four  successive  swell- 
ings, the  cerebral  vesicles,  from  the  foremost  of  which  (the  forebrain) 
a  pair  of  lateral  processes  (the  optic  vesicles)  grows  out ;  near 
the  end  of  the  future  head  a  pair  of  shallow  pits  (the  auditory 
pits)  is  visible.  The  number  of  somites  increases  from  four  or 
five  to  as  many  as  fifteen  during  the  second  day.  Eventually  about 
fifty  are  present. 

Another  most  important  feature  of  the  first  half  of  the  second 
day  is  the  formation  of  the  heart  and  of  the  principal  blood-vessels. 
The  whole  heart  is  developed  out  of  the  inner  or  splanchnic  layer 
of  the  mesoblast  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  future  throat.  To 
understand  this  complicated  developmental  feature,  we  have  to 
remember  the  3-shaped  headfold,  with  the  sinus  below  the  head 
(c/.  p.  201),  and  have  also  to  resort  to  transverse  sections.  The  right 
and  left  splanchnopleuric  layers  bulge  inwards,  and  meet  each  other 
in  the  medio-ventral  line,  thus  shutting  off  a  space,  the  foregut  or 
anterior  end  of  the  alimentary  canal,  lined  with  hypoblast.  The 
mesoblastic  portion  of  the  walls  of  the  right  and  left  recesses,  below 
the  foregut  and  above  the  splanchnopleuric  extension  over  the  yolk- 
sac,  bulge  out,  thicken,  and  become  hollow ;  each  tube  being  con- 
tinued forwards  as  an  aorta,  and  backwards,  at  right  angles  to  the 
axis  of  the  embryo,  as  the  vitelline  vein.  Thus  the  heart  consists 
originally  of  a  right  and  a  left  tube ;  the  median  septum,  which 
separates  the  two,  becomes  absorbed,  and  the  now  single  heart 
begins  to  beat,  first  with  slow  and  rare  pulsations.  In  front  the 
two  primitive  aortse,  into  which  the  contractions  of  the  heart  pump 
the  fluid,  bend  upwards  round  the  sides  of  the  foregut,  and  then  run 
backwards  towards  the  tail ;  each  of  these  aortae  gives  off'  a  vitelline 
artery,  which  is  distributed  over  the  pellucid  and  vascular  areas  of 
the  blastoderm.  Round  the  margin  of  the  vascular  area  of  the 
blastoderm  runs  a  red  line,  the  vena  terminalis,  through  which  and 
other  vessels  spread  over  the  blastodermic  layer  of  the  yolk-sac 
the  blood  is  collected  into  the  two  vitelline  veins,  and  by  them  con- 
veyed into  the  hinder  or  venous  end  of  the  heart. 

Diiring  the  second  half  of  the  second  day  all  the  changes  initiated 
during  the  first  half  become  more  advanced  or  completed.  Besides 
the  headfold,  the  tailfold  appears ;  in  addition,  the  amnion  grows 
rapidly,  and  the  allantois  begins  to  be  formed  {cj.  p.  204). 

Changes  during  the  2rd  day. — This  is  the  most  eventful  day  of  the 
embryonic  chick,  because  the  rudiments  of  so  many  important 
organs  now  first  make  their  appearance.  The  blastoderm  spreads 
over  about  half  the  yolk.  The  white  of  the  egg  decreases  consider- 
ably, consequently  the  vessels  of  the  vascular  area  are  broiight  near 
the  shell,  and  act  as  the  chief  organ  of  respiration.  The  blood 
leaving  the  body  by  the  vitelline  arteries  is  carried  to  the  small 
vessels  of  the  vascular  area,  where  it  is  exposed  to  the  influence 


2o8  EMBRYOLOGY 


of  the  atmosphere ;  it  returns  through  the  vena  terminalis  into 
the  heart  as  oxidized  or  arterialized  blood.  Besides  this  complete 
circulation  of  the  yolk-sac,  the  body  of  the  embryo  itself  has  received 
a  circulation.  A  pair  of  anterior  and  posterior  cardinal  veins  collect 
the  blood  from  the  body,  and  convey  it  through  a  right  and  a  left 
Cuvierian  duct  into  the  heart.  The  two  primitive  aortse  are  united 
into  one  median  dorsal  aorta,  but  in  the  region  of  the  neck,  instead  of 
the  single  right  and  left  aortic  stems,  several  aortic  arches  appear — six 
on  each  side,  although  not  more  than  three  or  four  are  present  at 
the  same  time.  From  them  are  sent  off  the  carotid  arteries  into 
the  head ;  these  and  other  subsequent  impoi-tant  modifications  of 
the  aortic  arches  will  j^erhaps  best  be  understood  by  reference  to 
the  accompanying  diagrams.  The  first,  second,  and  fifth  transverse 
arches  obliterate  very  early ;  the  third  pair  is  continued  along  the 
neck  and  into  the  head  as  the  internal  and  external  Carotids 
and  also  sends  off  the  subclavian  ai'teries  for  the  anterior  extremities. 
The  fourth  arch  of  the  right  side  is  transformed  into  the  ascending 
arch  of  the  big  aorta,  while  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  left  side 
disappear.  The  last  or  sixth  pair  is  transformed  into  the  pulmonary 
arteries ;  the  connexion  of  the  right  pulmonary  with  the  aortic 
trunk  remains  for  some  time  as  the  "ductus  Botalli."  Simul- 
taneously with  these  changes  goes  the  transformation  of  the  simple 
tubular  heart  into  a  four-chambered  oi'gan.  The  heart-tube  assumes 
an  S-shaped  twist ;  a  septum  begins  to  grow  out  from  the  inner 
wall,  and  indicates  the  division  of  the  bulged-out  middle  portion  of 
the  heart  into  a  right  and  left  ventricle  ;  and  to  complete  this  part 
of  the  subject  it  may  be  added  that  this  division  is  completed  on 
the  fifth  day,  Avhen  a  similar  septum  separates  the  posterior  or 
venous  portion  of  the  heart  into  a  right  and  left  atrium,  each  with 
a  lateral  dilatation  or  auricle.  This  atrial  septum  is  not  completed 
before  the  twelfth  day,  the  right  and  left  atrium  communicating 
with  each  other  until  this  time  by  the  "foramen  ovale."  On  the 
fifth  day  a  longitudinal  continuation  of  the  ventricular  septum  into 
the  anterior  or  arterial  portion  of  the  heart  and  into  the  root  of  the 
ventral  aorta  divides  this  bulbus  arteriosus  into  a  truncus  arteriosus 
and  a  truncus  pulmonalis.  As  the  lungs  are  being  formed,  pul- 
monary veins  also  make  their  appearance,  and  become  connected 
with  the  left  atrium  of  the  heart.  By  the  end  of  the  fifth  day 
most  of  the  principal  arteries  and  veins  of  the  body  have  likewise 
been  developed. 

The  remaining  changes  on  the  3rd  day  are  as  follous  .• — 

The  apj^earance  of  the  vesicles  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres  ;  the 
separation  of  the  hindbrain  into  cerebellum  and  medulla  oblongata. 

The  lens  of  the  eye  is  formed  by  involution  of  the  optic  vesicle, 
and  the  eyeball  appears  as  the  secondar}^  optic  vesicle. 

First  appearance  of  the  nasal  pits. 


EMBRYOLOGY  209 


Cranial  and  spinal  nerves  appear  as  lateral  outgrowths  of  the 
central  nervous  system. 

The  foregut  and  the  hindgut  are  completed ;  the  former  is 
divided  into  oesophagus,  stomach,  and  duodenum,  the  hindgut  into 
large  intestine  and  cloaca. 

The  formation  of  the  lungs  from  a  ventral  diverticulum  of  the 
alimentary  canal  immediately  in  front  of  the  stomach. 

The  diverticular  outgrowths  from  the  duodenum  form  the  liver 
and  the  pancreas,  the  ducts  of  these  glands  being  the  lengthened 
stalks  of  the  outgrowths. 

A  pair  of  primitive  excretory  organs  appears  in  the  proximal 
corners  of  the  walls  of  the  pleuroperitoneal- cavity,  as  the 
"  Wolffian  "  ducts  and  bodies. 

The  embryo  itself  has  turned  over  so  that  it  now  lies  on  its  left 
side. 

Changes  during  the  Uh  day. — Owing  to  the  still  further 
diminution  of  the  white  of  the  egg,  the  embryo  lies  almost  in  im- 
mediate contact  with  the  shell  membrane.  The  vascular  area  is 
about  as  large  as  a  halfpenny,  and  the  whole  blastoderm  embraces 
more  than  half  of  the  yolk.  The  amnion  completely  encloses  the 
embryo,  which  by  this  time  has  been  so  much  folded-off  from  the 
yolk-sac,  that  the  connecting  stalk  is  much  constricted.  The  inner 
or  splanchnic  stalk  is  now  called  the  vitelline  duct. 

The  head  of  the  embryo  is  bent  ventralwards  at  more  than  a 
right  angle,  forming  the  cranial  flexure.  The  tail  is  curved  inwards 
and  forms  a  conspicuous  feature,  the  whole  embryo  being  somewhat 
spirally  curled  up  on  itself. 

The  anterior  and  posterior  extremities  make  their  appearance 
as  flattened  conical  buds. 

The  cerebral  hemispheres  and  the  optic  vesicles  have  enormously 
increased  in  size. 

The  nose,  ears,  and  jaws  become  more  distinct.  The  ovary, 
kidneys,  and  ureters  are  formed.  The  allantois  projects  as  a  small 
pear-shaped  bag  and  receives  allantoic  vessels  from  the  vitelline 
veins  and  from  the  dorsal  aorta. 

Changes  during  the  5th  day. — 

The  blastoderm  has  spread  over  the  whole  of  the  yolk-sac,  and 
the  yolk  is  thus  completely  enclosed  in  a  bag,  whose  walls,  however, 
are  excessively  delicate  and  easily  torn.  The  vascular  area  extends 
over  about  two-thirds  of  the  yolk.  The  splanchnic  stalk  or  vitelline 
duct  has  been  reduced  to  a  narrow  solid  cord.  The  allantois 
serves  already  as  the  chief  organ  of  respiration,  and  stretches  far 
over  the  right  side  of  the  embryo  in  the  cavity  between  the  two 
amniotic  layers.  The  embryo,  lying  on  its  left  side,  remains  ex- 
tremely curved,  so  much  that  the  head  and  tail  are  nearly  in 
contact.     The  fore-  and  hindlimbs  have  become  lengthened,  elbow 

14 


2IO 


EMBRYOLOGY 


and  knee  are  formed,  but  all  the  limbs  are  still  exceedingly  alike  in 
shape.  Most  of  the  skeletal  parts  make  their  appearance  as  car- 
tilages ;  especially  the  cartilaginous  cranium,  the  visceral  arches 
like  the  jaws  and  hyoids,  the  vertebrae  with  the  ribs,  and  the  frame- 
work of  the  limbs.  The  changes  affecting  the  vascular  system  have 
already  been  mentioned. 

Changes  from  the  6th  day  onwards. — 

The  sixth  day  marks  a  new  epoch  in  the  development  of  the 
chick,  for  distinctly  avine  characters  then  first  make  their  appear- 
ance, the  embryo  of  a  Bird  being  until  this  period  strikingly  like 
that  of  any  other  amniotic  vertebrate,  for  instance,  that  of  a  Mammal 
or  still  more  like  that  of  a  four-footed  Reptile.  The  avine  specializa- 
tion begins  of  course  very  gradually.     But  on  the  sixth  day  for  the 


Am. 


Embryo  of  Fowl  on  the  Sixth  Day.  Umbilical  Region  of  the  Same. 

Natural  size  and.  position.  Magnified. 

Am.  Amnion  ;  Al.  Allantois  ;  G,  Gut ;  T,  Tail ;  IF,  Wing  ;  y.s.  Tolk-sac. 

first  time  become  visible  the  main  features  of  the  characteristically 
avine  wing  and  foot ;  the  crop  and  the  intestinal  cseca  make  their 
appearance,  the  stomach  is  diff"erentiated  into  a  proventriculus  and 
a  gizzard ;  the  nose  begins  to  develop  into  a  beak  ;  and  the  com- 
mencing bones  of  the  skull  arrange  themselves  after  an  a"\ane 
type. 

During  the  seventh  day  the  amniotic  cavity  has  assumed  con- 
siderable dimensions,  the  fluid  increasing  Anthin  it ;  obvious  move- 
ments begin  to  appear  in  the  amnion  itself  as  slow  vermicular 
contractions  which  creep  rhythmically  over  it.  The  amnion  in  fact 
begins  to  pulsate  slowly  and  rhythmically,  and  by  its  pulsations  the 
embryo  is  rocked  to  and  fro  in  the  egg.  The  allantois,  which  at  a 
later  period  shews  similar  movements,  has  spread  out  rapidly  in 
all  directions  and  is  filled  A^ath  fluid.  The  vascular  area  loses 
its  terminal  sinus ;  both  vitelline  arteries  and  veins  now  pass  to 
and  from  the  body  of   the   chick  as   single   trunks,  assuming  more 


EMBRYOLOGY  211 


and  more  the  appearance  of  mere  branches  of  the  by  this  time 
advanced  mesenteric  vessels.  The  yellow  yolk  has  become  quite 
fluid,  and  its  bulk  has  increased  OA\ang  to  its  having  absorbed  much 
of  the  rapidly-diminishing  white  of  the  egg.  During  the  next  days 
the  yolk  diminishes  rapidly  in  bulk,  it  being  taken  up  by  the 
abundantly-developed  blood-vessels  ;  the  yolk-sac  becomes  flaccid, 
and  by  the  eleventh  day  is  thrown  into  a  series  of  internal  folds. 
The  intestine  has  by  elongation  formed  a  number  of  convolutions 
and  loops,  some  of  which  are  hanging  down  into  the  somatic  stalk, 
but  by  the  fifteenth  day  these  loops  are  gradually  withdrawn  into 
the  cavity  of  the  abdomen,  the  walls  of  which  have  by  this  time 
been  definitely  established  like  the  walls  of  the  chest.  The  allantois 
now  fills  most  of  the  amniotic  cavity  and  lies  close  under  the  shell, 
being  separated  from  the  shell  membrane  only  by  the  thin  false 
amnion  and  the  remains  of  the  vitelline  membrane,  with  which  it 
fuses.  When  the  egg  is  opened  the  pulsations  of  the  allantoic 
arteries  at  once  attract  attention.  By  the  nineteenth  day  the  white 
of  the  egg  has  entirely  disapj^eared,  and  the  yolk-sac  is  withdrawn 
into  the  abdomen. 

Concerning  the  changes  of  the  embryo  itself  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that  by  the  seventh  day  the  head,  which  is  still  disproj^ortion- 
ately  large,  ceases  to  grow  more  rapidly  than  the  body.  The 
tongue  appears  on  the  floor  of  the  mouth ;  the  visceral  clefts  on  the 
sides  of  the  now  more  distinctly-marked  neck  are  closed.  On  the 
eighth  day  a  white  patch  of  calcareous  matter  appears  on  the  tip 
of  the  nose  ;  the  latter  is  by  the  twelfth  day  transformed  into  a 
horny  but  still  soft  beak.  On  the  following  day  nails  are  visible 
at  the  ends  of  the  toes  and  some  of  the  fingers,  and  scales  on  the 
anterior  surface  of  the  feet  and  toes.  Beak,  claws,  and  scales  become 
harder  and  more  horny  by  the  sixteenth  day.  Feathei's  begin  to 
protrude  as  early  as  the  ninth  day  from  the  siu'face  of  the  skin  as 
papillae,  especially  prominent  on  the  middle  line  of  the  back  and  on 
the  thighs.  By  the  thirteenth  day  the  feathers  are  distributed  over 
most  parts  of  the  body,  and  acquiring  the  length  of  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  apjjear  to  the  naked  eye  as  feathers,  their  thin  horny  sheaths 
allowing  their  pigmented  contents  to  shew  through.  The  sheaths 
are  not  pierced  until  a  day  or  two  before  hatching,  when  some  of 
them  are  nearly  an  inch  in  length.  The  cartilaginous  skeleton  is 
completed  by  the  thirteenth  day,  and  the  muscles  can  be  made  out 
with  tolerable  clearness.  Ossification  begins  already  much  earlier 
in  various  parts  of  the  bones  of  the  limbs,  but  much  of  the  skeleton 
remains  cartilaginous  or  imperfectly  ossified  long  after  the  bird  has 
been  hatched.  The  Avhole  embryo  changes  its  position  on  the 
fourteenth  day  so  as  to  lie  lengthways  in  the  egg,  with  its  beak 
touching  the  shell -membrane  where  this  forms  the  inner  wall  of 
the  rapidly-increasing  air-chamber  at  the  broad  end.     On  about  the 


212  EMEU 

twentieth  day  the  beak,  furnished  with  the  hard  "  egg -tooth,"  is 
thrust  through  the  inner  shell  membrane,  and  the  bird  begins  to 
breath  the  air  contained  in  the  chamber.  Thereupon  the  pulmonary 
circulation  becomes  functionally  active  and  blood  ceases  to  flow 
through  the  umbilical  vessels  from  and  to  the  allantois.  The  latter 
shrivels  up,  the  navel  becomes  completely  closed,  and  the  chick  by 
repeated  filing  motions  pierces  the  shell  at  the  broad  end  of  the  egg 
Avith  its  egg-tooth.  A  small  crack  in  the  shell  is  sufficient  to  destroy 
the  surprising  strength  of  the  intact  egg,  the  chick  casts  off  the 
dried,  now  no  longer  useful,  remains  of  allantois  and  amnion,  and 
steps  out  into  the  world. 

The  length  of  the  'period  of  incubation  seems  to  depend  upon,  first, 
the  state  of  perfection  in  which  the  young  bird  leaves  the  egg,  the 
Nidifugae  requiring  a  much  longer  time  than  the  Nidicol^  ;  secondly, 
the  size  of  the  bird, — large  birds  requiring  more  days  than  small 
birds ;  thirdly,  climate  and  season,  because  an  occasional  slight 
cooling  of  the  eggs  retards  the  development  of  the  embryo.  The 
amount  of  cooling  will  naturally  be  greater  in  cold  than  in  hot 
climates,  while  the  temperature  of  the  sitting  bird  varies  within 
small  limits  only.  However,  there  seem  to  be  no  observations 
made  on  the  question  if  there  is  a  difference  in  the  length  of  in- 
cubation between  polar  and  tropical  individuals  of  the  same 
species.  Experience  with  artificial  incubators  has  shewn  that 
during  the  earliest  days  of  incubation  the  growth  of  the  embryo 
can  be  much  retarded  or  even  be  stopped  temporarily  by  a  tempera- 
ture below  the  normal  point ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  higher  than 
normal  temperature  does  not  shorten  the  time  of  incubation  but  is 
rather  detrimental  to  the  embryo's  life  (c/.  W.  Evans,  Ibis,  1891,  pp. 
52-93). 

EMEU,  evidently  from  the  Portuguese  Ema,^  a  name  which  has 
in  turn  been  applied  to  each  of  the  earlier-known  forms  of  Eatite 
Birds,  but  has  in  all  likelihood  -finally  settled  upon  that  which 
inhabits  Australia,  though,  until  less  than  a  century  ago,  it 
was  given  by  most  authors  to  the  bird  now  commonly  called 
Cassowary. 

^  By  Moraes  (1796)  and  Sousa  (1830)  the  word  is  said  to  be  from  the  Arabic 
Nddma  or  Ndema,  an  Ostrich  {Stnithio  camelus)  ;  but  no  additional  evidence  in 
support  of  the  assertion  is  given  by  Dozy  in  1869  {Glossaire  des  mots  espagnols  et 
portugais  dirivis  de  I'arahe.  Ed.  2,  p.  260).  According  to  Gesner  in  1555  (lib. 
iii.  p.  709),  it  was  the  Portuguese  name  of  the  Crane,  Grus  comviunis,  and  had 
been  transferred  with  the  qualifying  addition  of  "di  Gei"  {i.e.  Ground-Crane) 
to  the  Ostrich.  This  statement  is  confirmed  by  Aldrovandus  (lib.  ix.  cap.  2). 
Subsequently,  but  in  what  order  can  scarcely  now  be  determined,  the  name  was 
naturally  enough  used  for  the  Ostrich-like  birds  inhabiting  the  lauds  discovered 
by  the  Portuguese,  both  in  the  Old  and  in  the  New  World.  The  last  of  these 
are  now  known  as  Rheas,  and  the  preceding  as  Cassowaries. 


EMEU 


213 


Of  the  Emeus  (as  the  word  is  now  restricted)  the  best-known 
is  the  Cnsnarius  novx-hollandice  of  Latham,  made  by  Vieillot  the 
type  of  his  genus  Dromxus}  whence  the  name  of  the  Family, 
Dromxidm,  is  taken.  This  bird  immediately  after  the  colonization 
of  New  South  Wales  (in  1788)  was  found  to  inhabit  the  south- 
eastern portion  of  Australia,  where,  according  to  Hunter  {Hist. 
Journ.  etc.  pp.  409,  413),  the  natives  called  it  Maracry,  Marryang, 


Emeu.    (From  Mosenthal  and  Harting's  Ostriches,  etc.) 

or  Maroang ;  but  it  has  now  been  so  hunted  down  that  not  an 
example  remains  at  large  in  the  districts  that  have  been  fully 
settled.  It  is  said  to  have  existed  also  on  the  islands  of  Bass's 
Straits    and    in    Tasmania,   but  it    has   been  extirpated    in    both, 

1  The  obvious  misprint  of  Bromckus  in  this  author's  work  {Analyse  <fcc.', 
p.  54)  has  been  foolishly  followed  by  many  naturalists,  forgetful  that  he  corrected 
it  a  few  pages  further  on  (p.  70)  to  DromCi-ius — tlie  properly  latinized  form  of 
which  is  Dromxus. 


214  EMEU 


.40^ 


without,  so  far  as  is  known,  any  ornithologist  having  had  the 
opportunity  of  determining  whether  the  race  inhabiting  those 
localities  was  specifically  identical  with  that  of  the  mainland  or 
distinct.^  Next  to  the  Ostrich  the  largest  of  existing  birds,  the 
Emeu  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  more  open  country,  feeding  on 
fruits,  roots,  and  herbage,  and  generally  keeping  in  small  com- 
panies. The  nest  is  a  shallow  pit  scraped  in  the  ground,  and  from 
nine  to  thirteen  eggs,  in  colour  varying  from  a  light  bluish -green 
to  a  dark  bottle-green,  are  laid  therein.  These  are  hatched  by  the 
cock -bird,  the  period  of  incubation  lasting  from  70  to  80  days. 
The  young  at  birth  are  striped  longitudinally  with  dark  mark- 
ings on  a  light  gi'ound.  A  remarkable  structure  in  Dromxus  is  a 
singular  opening  in  the  front  of  the  windpipe,  communicating  with 
a  tracheal  pouch.  This  has  attracted  the  attention  of  several 
anatomists,  and  has  been  well  described  by  Dr.  Murie  {Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1867,  pp.  405-415).^  Various  conjectures  have  been  made  as 
to  its  function,  the  most  probable  of  which  seems  to  be  that  it  is 
an  organ  of  sound  in  the  breeding-season,  at  which  time  the  hen- 
bird  has  long  been  known  to  utter  a  remarkably  loud  booming 
note.  Due  convenience  being  afforded  to  it,  the  Emeu  thrives 
well,  and  readily  propagates  its  kind  in  Europe.  Like  the  South 
American  Rhea  it  will  take  naturally  to  the  water,  and  examples 
have  been  seen  voluntarily  swimming  a  wide  river.^ 

The  existence  in  Australia  of  a  second  species  of  Dromseus  had 
long  been  suspected,  and  Broderip  in  1842  stated  (Penny  Cyclop. 
xxiii.  p.  145)  that  Mr.  Gould  had  even  sujDplied  a  name  {D.  parvulus) 
for  it;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  suggestion  was 
founded  on  a  mistake.  However,  in  1859  Mr.  Bartlett  described, 
under  the  name  of  D.  irroratus,  what  has  since  been  generally 
admitted  to  be  a  good  species,  and  it  now  seems  certain  that 
this  fills  in  Western  Australia  the  place  occupied  by  the  older- 
known  form  in  the  eastern  part.  .  It  is  a  more  slender  bird,  and 
when  adult  has  the  feathers  barred  with  white  and  dark-grey 
ending  in  a  black  spot  which  has  a  rufous  margin,  while  those  of 
D.  iiovx-hollandix  are  of  a  uniform  blackish  grey  from  the  base  to 
near  the  tip,  which  is  black  with  a  broad  subterminal  rufous  band. 
Both  species  have  been  figured  from  admirable  drawings  by  Mr. 
Wolf  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  iv.  pis.  75,  76),  and  interesting  particulars 
as  to  their  domestication  in  England  are  given  by  Mr.  Harting 
{Ostriches  and  Ostrich  Farming,  pp.  131-174). 

^  Latham  [Gen.  Hist.  B.  viii.  p.  384,  pi.  138)  in  1823  described  and  absurdly- 
figured  what  he  called  "Van  Diemen's  Cassowary"  from  one  of  two  young  birds 
exhibited  alive  in  Loudon  ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  shew  that  they  really  came 
from  Tasmania,  and  as  they  were  apparently  the  only  Emeus  he  had  ever  seen, 
he  had  no  means  of  determining  whether  they  differed  from  the  Australian  form. 

^  See  also  Gadow  [Zoolog.  Jahrh.  v.  pp.  636-638),  and  above,  Air-sacs. 


EMMET-HUNTER— EXTERMINA  TION  2 1 5 

EMMET-HUNTER,  a  common  local  name  of  the  Wryneck. 

ERN  or  ERNE,^Scandin.  pm,  the  Sea-EAGLE ;  but  hardly  used   ^'^Voia^-i 
noAv  except  in  poetry  or  as  the  name  of  a  pleasure-yacht.  "  1   CiU^^-* 

ERODY  (corrupted  from  Herodias,  a  Heron)  Latham's  name 
{Gen.  Hist.  B.  ix.  p.  139)  for  Dromas  ardeola  (Crab-Plover). 

EROLIA,  a  genus  proposed  by  Vieillot  (Ncywv.  Anab.  p.  55), 
and  the  name  Englished  by  Stephens  in  1819  (Shaw's  Zoology,  xi. 
p.  497),  but  believed  to  be  founded  on  a  specimen  of  Tringa  suharguata 
(Sandpiper)  which  had  lost  its  hind  toes. 

ERYTHRISM,  the  abnormal  replacement  of  other  colours, 
generally  green  or  yellow,  by  red  (see  Colour  and  Heterochrosis). 

ESTRIDGER,  an  old  word  signifying  a  Falconer. 

EXTERMINATION,  literally  a  driving  out  of  bounds  or  ban- 
ishment, is  a  process  which,  intentionally  or  not,  has  been  and  still 
is  being  carried  on  in  regard  to  many  more  species  of  Birds  than 
most  people— not  excepting  professed  ornithologists— seem  to 
recognize,  and  one  that  has  frequently  led  to  the  Extinction,^  or 
dying  out,  of  the  species  affected.  The  inhabitants  of  islands  are 
especially  subject  to  this  fate.  In  them  each  species  has  long  been 
brought  into  harmony  with  its  circumstances,  and  relations  with  its 
fellow-creatures  have  so  far  become  mutually  adjusted  that  in  the 
long  run  the  balance  between  them  is  preserved,  and  the  stock  of 
each  remains  the  same  one  year  with  another.  But  the  appearance 
on  the  scene  of  man,  and  especially  of  civilized  man,  upsets  the  equili- 
brium. Even  if  he  do  not  immediately  begin  to  bring  the  virgin 
soil  under  cultivation  by  felling  the  primaeval  forest  or  burning  the 
brushwood,  he  almost  always  introduces  certain  animals  which 
make  war  on  the  aboriginal  population — directly  in  the  case  of 
Cats  and  Rats,  indirectly  in  that  of  Goats  and  Rabbits,  or  both 
ways  in  that  of  Hogs.  Against  such  enemies,  whether  forcibly 
attacking  them  or  insidiously  robbing  them  of  food,  the  most  part 
of  the  indigenous  species  are  unprepared  and  absolutely  helpless.  In 
the  majority  of  instances  each  of  the  islands  so  colonized  has  its  own 
peculiar  Fauna,  largely  consisting,  that  is,  of  species  not  found 
elsewhere,  and  if  the  island  be  small  it  is  soon  overrun  by  the 
newcomers,  and  its  ancient  inhabitants  with  difficulty  preserve  their 
existence,  or  wholly  succumb. 

The  best  known  if  not  the  most  remarkable  case  of  this  kind  is 
that  of  the  DoDO,  Didus  ineptus,  which,  on  the  rediscovery  of  Cerne, 

^  In  some  instances  the  still  stronger  word,  Extirpation,  or  rooting  out, 
might  be  appropriately  used  ;  but  this  would  be  most  applicable  in  those  where 
destruction  of  the  species  is  purposely  intended,  and  attempts  of  that  kind  have 
rarely  proved  to  be  successful,  unless  carried  on  for  a  long  period  of  time,  or  by 
poison. 


2l6 


EXTERMJNA  TION 


or  Mauritius,  by  the  Dutch  under  Van  Neck  at  the  end  of  the  1 6th 
century,  was  found  to  inhabit  that  island.  Voyagers  have  vied 
with  each  other  in  describing  or  depicting  its  uncouth  appearance, 
and  its  name  has  ahnost  passed  into  a  byword  expressive  of  all 
that  is  effete.  Clumsy,  flightless,  and  defenceless,  it  soon  suc- 
cumbed, not  so  much  to  the  human  invaders  of  its  realm  as  to  the 
domestic  beasts — especially  Hogs  ^ — which  accomjDanicd  them,  and 
there  gaining  their  liberty,  unchecked  by  much  of  the  wholesome 
discipline  of  nature,  ran  riot,  to  the  utter  destruction  (as  will  be 
seen)  of  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  Mauritian  fauna. 


Extinct  Crested  Parrot  of  Mauritius,  Lophopsittacus  maiiriUamis.  Adapted  from  a  tracing 
by  M.  A.  Milne-Edwards  of  the  original  drawing  in  a  MS.  Journal  kept  during  Woljjliart 
Harmanszoon's  voyage  to  Mauritius,  a.d.  1601-1602  (</.  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1875,  p.  350). 


But  the  Dodo  is  not  the  only  member  of  its  Family  that  has 
vanished.  The  little  island  which  has  successively  borne  the  name 
of  Mascaregnas,  England's  Forest,  Bourbon,  and  Reunion,  and  lies 
to  the  southward  of  Mauritius,  had  also  an  allied  Bird,  now  dead 

^  111  La  Roqiie's  account  of  the  Voyage  de  l' Arabic  Heureusc  (Paris:  1715)  in 
1708-10  (tlie  first  made  by  the  French)  it  is  stated  that  the  ships  touched  at 
Mauritius  in  September  1709  and  that  "de  I'autre  cote  de  I'isle  audela  des  mon- 
tagnes  on  ti'ouvoir  force  sangliers,  qui  faisoient  un  tel  degat,  qu'on  avoit  depuis 
peu  ordonne  une  chasse  generale  pour  les  detruire,  &  que  les  habitans  s'etant 
assemblez,  on  en  tua  en  un  jour  plus  de  quinze  cens  "  (p.  175).  A  few  days  after 
he  writes :  "en  me  promenant  dans  leur  jardin,  j'eus le  plaisir  de  voir  de  derriere 
la  haye  plus  de  quatre  niille  singes  dans  le  champ  voisin  "  (p.  183).     In  regard  to 


EX  TERMINA  TION  2 1 7 


and  gone.  Of  this  not  a  relic  has  been  handled  by  any  naturalist. 
The  latest  description  of  it,  by  Du  Bois,^  is  meagre  in  the  extreme, 
and  though  two  figures — one  by  Bontekoe  (circa  1646)  and  another 
by  Pierre  Witthoos  {oh.  1693)  have  been  thought  to  represent  it 
(Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  vi.  p.  373,  pi.  62),  their  identification  is  but 
conjectural.     Yet  the  existence  of  such  a  bird  is  indubitable. 

Far  to  the  eastward  of  these  two  sister  islands  lies  a  thiixl 
— Rodriguez.  Here  there  formerly  lived  another  Didine  bird, 
sufficiently  distinct  from  the  Dodo  of  Maiu-itius  to  form  a  genus  of 
its  own — Pezophaps  solitarkis,  the  Solitaire  of  Leguat,  a  Huguenot 
exile  who,  passing  some  time  in  1691-93  on  that  island,  has  left, 
with  a  very  inferior  figure,  a  charmingly  naive  account  of  its 
appearance  and  habits,  the  general  truth  of  which  has  been  amply 
substantiated  by  Sir  Edward  Newton's  discovery  in  large  numbers 
of  its  bones  (Fhil  Trans.  1869,  p.  327).  These  have  since  been 
supplemented  by  those  collected  by  Mr.  H.  H.  Slater  in  1874  {op.  cit. 
vol.  168,  p.  438),  and  now  nearly  complete  specimens  may  be  seen 
in  several  of  the  principal  Museums  of  this  country,  the  most 
perfect  being  one  of  each  sex  in  that  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge. 

Nor  does  this  group  of  Didine  birds  contain  all  the  lost  forms 
of  the  Mascarene  islands.  From  ]\Iauritius  have  disappeared  at 
least  two  species  of  Parrot,  a  Dove,-  a  large  Coot,  and  a  second 
Ralline  bird,  abnormal,  flightless,  and  long-billed — Aphanapteryx. 
A  painting  of  this  last  was  found  by  Von  Frauenfeld  in  the 
emperor's  library  at  Vienna,  and  some  of  its  bones  rescued  by  Sir 
Edward  Newton  from  the  peat  of  the  Mare  aux  Songes,  have  been 
fully  described  by  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards.  Remains  of  the  Coot 
and  one  of  the  extinct  Parrots  were  found  also  in  the  same  spot, 
while  skins  of  the  other  Parrot  and  of  the  Dove  still  exist  in  a  few 
museums.  Reunion,  also,  once  had  other  birds  now  lost,  and  so 
had  Rodriguez.  In  the  former,  a  somewhat  abnormal  Starling, 
Fregilupus,  existed  until  some  forty  years  ago,  and  its  skin  and 
skeleton    are    among    the    treasures    of   three    or  four   museums.^ 

this  last  statement  allowance  may  perhaps  be  made  for  some  exaggeration,  but 
a  Monkey,  the  Macacus  filccdus,  still  inhabits  Mauritius,  and  though  I  know  no 
record  of  its  introduction,  introduced  it  must  have  been  from  Ceylon,  to  which 
island  the  species  is  peculiar.  We  may  be  certain  that  there  were  no  Monkeys 
in  Mauritius  or  any  of  the  Mascarene  Islands  at  the  time  of  their  discovery. 

^  Les  Voyages  fails  far  le  Sieur  D.  B.  aux  Isles  DaupMne  ou  Madagascar,  & 
Bourbon,  ou  Mascarenne,  e's  ann6es  1669.70.  71.  &  72.  p.  170.     (Paris  :  1674.) 

^  Alectorcenas  nitidissima.  For  a  notice  of  the  specimen  in  the  Museum  of 
Science  and  Art  in  Edinburgh,  and  the  only  one  known  to  exist  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  see  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1879,  pp.  2-4. 

^  The  only  known  skeleton  is  in  the  Museum  of  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
and  has  been  minutely  described  by  Dr.  Murie  [Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1874,  pp.  474- 
488).     In  1889  the  British  Museum  obtained,  at  the  dispersal  of  the  Riocour 


2l8 


EXTERMINA  TION 


Perhaps,  also,  there  were  other  Ralline  birds,  but  the  evidence  on 
this  head  is  inconclusive.  From  Rodriguez,  the  greater  part  of  its 
original  Avifauna  has  vanished.  There  was  a  small  but  j^eculiar 
Owl,  Athene  murivora,  a  big  Parrot,  Necropsittacus  rodericanus,  a 
Dove,  Erythrcena  ( ?  sp.  ign.),  a  large  brevipennate  Heron,  Ardea 
megacephala,  and  a  singular  Rail,  described  as  Misenithrus  leguati, 
but  perhaps  not  generically  distinct  from  the  MaMritism' Aplianapteryx 
— besides  other  birds  of  which  we  know  from  old  voyagers,^  though 
their  remains,  from  the  numerous  caverns  of  the  island,  have  not 


Extinct  Starling  of  Reunion,  Fregiliqms  varius,  adapted  from  figures  by  Daubentoii, 
Levaillaut,  and  others.    Reduced. 

yet  been  determined,  as  those  of  the  species  above  mentioned  have 
been.  A  second  Parrot,  or  rather  Parrakeet,  Palseornis  exsul,  still 
exists,  but  in  very  small  numbers,  and  the  only  two  specimens 
known  to  have  been  obtained  are  in  the  Museum  at  Cambridge. 
(Ibis,  1872,  p.  31  ;  1875,  p.  342,  pi.  vii.) 

With  the  examples  of  these  Mascarene  Islands  before  us,  it  is 
not  without  reason  that  Ave  suppose  a  like  fate  to  have  befallen 
many  of  the  feathered  inhabitants  of  other  places  exposed  to  similar 

collection,  the  only  skin  believed  to  be  in  the  British  Islands.     For  a  notice  of 
other  specimens  see  Salvadori,  Afti  Soc.  Torino,  xi.  pp.  481-488. 
1  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1875,  pp.  39-42. 


EX  TERMINA  TION  2 1 9 


ravages.  We  cannot  read  the  accounts  not  merely  of  the  earliest 
voyages  to  the  Antilles,  but  even  of  those  performed  within  the  last 
hundred  years,  without  being  aware  that  the  ^vriters  met  with  many 
birds  which  are  not  now  known  to  inhabit  them.  These  lost 
species,  there  is  some  ground  for  believing,  were  mainly,  if  not 
wholly,  peculiar  to  the  locality,  and  after  having  made  good  their 
existence,  maybe,  for  ages,  fell  easy  and  helpless  victims  to  the 
forces  which  European  civilization  brought  into  play.  Chief  among 
these  forces  was  fire.  In  all  countries  and  at  all  times  it  has  been 
the  habit  of  colonists,  as  before  hinted,  to  burn  the  woods  surround- 
ing their  settlements — partly  to  clear  the  ground  for  future  crops, 
and  partly  (in  tropical  climates  especially)  to  promote  the  salubrity  of 
their  stations.  When  fire  was  set  to  the  forest  and  bush  of  a  small 
island,  the  whole  of  which  could  be  burned  at  once,  the  disastrous 
effect  on  its  Fauna  can  easily  be  conceived.  Even  the  animals  which 
happened  to  escape  the  conflagration  itself  Avould  speedily  starve, 
owing  to  the  at  least  temporary  destruction  of  the  native  Flora 
whence,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  they  derived  their  wonted 
sustenance.  Thus  in  certain  of  the  Virgin  Islands  the  "  dead " 
shells  of  many  species  of  terrestrial  Gasteropods  are  everywhere 
found  in  astounding  numbers,  while  not  a  living  individual  of 
several  of  the  species  has  ever  been  met  with  by  the  conchologists 
of  our  day.  The  only  assignable  cause  of  the  extinction  of  these 
creatures  lies  in  the  fact  that  these  islands  are  known  to  have  been 
laid  waste  by  fire.  The  shells  have  resisted  destruction,  but  how 
many  more  animals  have  perished  without  leaving  a  ti-ace  of  their 
existence  %  Even  at  the  present  time,  few  parts  of  the  world  so  over- 
run by  people  of  European  descent  are  from  a  naturalist's  point  of 
view  so  little  known  as  the  West-India  Islands.  Still  less  is  known 
of  their  state  a  century  ago ;  and  it  would  be  a  long  and  wearisome 
task  to  collect  from  old  voyages  the  meagre,  scattered,  and  often  inac- 
curate information  they  contain  as  to  the  zoology  of  these  islands. 
One  example  may,  perhaps,  be  sufficient.  Ledru  accompanied  an 
expedition  sent  out  in  1796  by  the  French  Government  to  the  West 
Indies.  In  his  work  he  gives  a  list  of  the  birds  he  found  in  the 
islands  of  St.  Thomas  and  St.  Croix  {Voyage  mix  Isles  de  Teneriffe,  &c., 
Paris:  1810,  ii.  p.  29).  He  enumerates  fourteen  kinds  of  birds  as 
having  occurred  to  him  there.  Of  these  there  is  now  no  trace  of 
eight  of  the  number ;  and,  if  he  is  to  be  believed,  it  must  be  supposed 
that  within  fifty  or  sixty  years  of  his  having  been  assured  of  their 
existence,  they  have  become  extinct.^     And  yet  the  period  just 


^  One  of  the  survivors  (a  Parrakeet),  now  regarded  by  Count  T.  Salvador!  as 
the  true  Conurus  2yertinax,  is  or  was  a  few  years  ago  restricted  to  a  single  hill-top 
in  St.  Thomas,  and  so  reduced  in  numbers  that  the  present  writer  was  ridiculed  by 
many  of  the  inhabitants  for  believing  that  such  a  bird  ever  existed  in  the  island. 
Found,  however,  it  was,  but  it  must  be  regarded  as  verging  upon  extinction. 


220  EXTERMINATION 


mentioned  was  long  subsequent  to  that  in  which  the  primaeval 
woods  of  the  islands  were  bm-nt.  What,  then,  must  not  have  been 
the  changes  which  the  forest-fires  produced  ? 

If  this  be  not  enough  we  may  cite  the  case  of  the  French 
islands  of  GuadeloujDe  and  Martinique,  in  which,  according  to  M. 
Guy  on  {Compies  Rendiis,  Ixiii.  p.  589),  there  Avere  once  found  six 
species  of  Psittaci,  all  now  exterminated ;  and  it  may  possibly  be 
that  the  Maccaws  stated  by  Gosse  (B.  Jamaica,  p.  260)  and  Mr. 
March  (Proc.  Acad.  N.  S.  PJiikid.  1863,  p.  283)  to  have  formerly 
frequented  certain  parts  of  Jamaica,  but  not  apparently  noticed 
there  for  many  years,  have  fallen  victims  to  colonization  and  its 
consequences.^ 

But  from  the  North  Atlantic  seas  two  species  have  disappeared 
within  the  lifetime  of  men  who  are  not  yet  very  old,  and  one  of  them 
was  a  truly  British  bird.  This  was  the  Gare-fowl,  or  Great  Auk, 
Alca  impennis,  whose  bones  have  been  found  in  the  kitchen-middens 
of  Denmark,  and  afterwards  in  similar  deposits  in  Caithness  and 
Oronsay,  and  in  a  cave  on  the  coast  of  Durham.  This  species 
seems  to  have  become  extinct  since  1844,  in  which  year  the 
last  two  examples  known  to  have  lived  were'  taken  on  a  rocky 
islet — one  of  a  group  called  Fuglask^r,  or  Fowl-skerries,  off  the 
south-west  point  of  Iceland.  Ten  years  before,  one  had  been 
caught  alive  at  the  entrance  of  Waterford  harbour;  and  in  1821 
one  was  taken  on  the  west  side  of  St.  Kilda,^  to  which  lonely 
island,  as  appears  from  old  authors,  the  bird  had  been  accustomed 
to  resort  in  the  breeding  season.  In  1811  and  1812  a  pair  were 
killed  at  Papa-Westray,  and  the  stuffed  skin  of  the  last  of  them  is 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  while  that  of  the  Waterford 
specimen  may  be  seen  in  the  museum  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
In  the  Faeroes  the  species  was  formei'ly  common,  but  it  certainly 
ceased  from  appearing  there  about  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century.  In  the  Iceland  seas  there  are  three  localities  called  after 
the  bird's  name,  but  on  only  one  of  them  has  it  been  observed  for 
many  years,  having  probably  been  as  long  extirpated  in  the  others  as 
in  the  Faeroes.  On  the  locality  where  it  continued  latest,  there  is 
ample  evidence  to  shew  that  it  once  was  plentiful.  There  Avas  a 
large  skerry — the  Geirfuglaskcir  proper — on  which,  in  1813,  the 
crew  of  a  Faeroese  vessel  made  a  descent  and  slaughtered  a  large 
number  of  Gare-fowls ;  but  this,  like  the  rest  of  the  group,  was  a 
place  very  difficult  of  access,  and  in  1821,  Faber,  the  well-known 
faunist  of  Iceland,  failed  to  land  upon  it,  though  some  of  his 
companions  reached  the  Geirfugladrangr,  a  smaller  islet  lying  further 

^  For  other  instances  of  extermination,  effected  or  threatened,  in  the  Antilles, 
see  note  at  p.  227,  infrd,. 

^  Another  one  seems  to  have  been  canght  and  killed  on  Stack  an  Armin,  about 
1840,  but  the  year  is  uncertain.     In  1887  I  saw  the  man  who  said  he  killed  it. 


EX  TERMINA  TION  2  2 1 


to  seaward.  In  1830  the  large  skerry,  through  a  submarine  volcanic 
eruption,  disappeared  beneath  the  waves,  and  immediately  after  a 
colony  of  Gare-fowls  was  discovered  on  another  rock  lying  nearer 
the  mainland,  and  known  as  Eldey.^  In  the  course  of  the  next 
fourteen  years,  not  fewer  probably  than  sixty  birds  were  killed  on 
this  newly-chosen  station,  and  a  nearly  corresponding  number  of 
eggs  were  brought  off ;  but  the  colony  gradually  dmndled  until,  as 
above  said,  in  1844  the  last  two  were  taken  {lUs,  1861,  p.  374). 

In  Greenland,  for  the  last  three  hundred  years,  the  Gare-f owl  has 
only  been  known  as  an  occasional  straggler,  but  it  would  appear 
that  in  1574  a  party  of  Icelanders  found  it  so  plentiful  at  a  spot  on 
the  east  coast — since  identified  with  Danell's  or  Graah's  Islands — 
that  they  loaded  their  boats  with  their  captives.  All  recent 
explorations  of  this  inhospitable  coast  prove  the  utter  vanity  of  the 
notion  that  the  Gare-fowl  is  able  there  to  find  an  asylum. 

But  it  was  in  the  seas  of  Newfoundland  that  this  species,  known 
to  the  settlers  and  fishermen  as  the  "Penguin," — a  corruption  of  the 
words  "pin-wing," — was  most  abundant,  as  a  reference  to  Hakluyt's 
and  similar  collections  of  voyages  will  prove.  In  1536,  or  forty 
years  after  the  discovery  of  the  country,  we  find  an  island  taking  its 
name  from  the  bird,  and  others  are  even  now  so  called.  English 
and  French  mariners  alike  resorted  to  these  spots,  driving  the 
helpless  and  hapless  birds  on  sails  or  planks  into  a  boat,  "  as  many 
as  shall  lade  her,"  and  salting  them  for  provision.  The  French 
crews,  indeed,  trusted  so  much  to  this  supply  of  victual,  as  to  take, 
it  is  said,  but  "  small  store  of  flesh  with  them."  This  practice,  we 
learn  from  Cartwright  {Journ.  Labrad.  iii.  p.  55),  was  carried  on 
even  in  1785,  and  he  then  foresaw  the  speedy  extirpation  of  the 
birds,  which  at  that  time  had  only  one  island  left  to  breed  upon.  a  /*  . 
In*^819,  Anspach  reported  their  entire  disappearance,  but  it  is  ^J'  ^'^'^:V 
possible  that  some  few  yet  lingered.  On  Funk  Island,  their  last 
resort,  rude  inclosures  of  stones  are,  or  recently  were,  still  to  be 
seen,  in  which  the  "  Pin-wings  "  were  impounded  before  slaughter  ; 
and  a  large  quantity  of  their  bones,  and  even  natural  mummies, 
preserved  partly  by  the  antiseptic  property  of  the  peat  and  partly 
by  the  icy  subsoil,  have  been  discovered.  One  of  the  last  has 
furnished  the  chief  materials  from  which  the  osteology  of  the 
species  has  been  described  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  v.  p.  317).- 

Far  less  commonly  known,  but  apparently  quite  as  certain,  is 
the  doom  of  a  large  Duck  which  until  1842  or  thereabouts  was 
commonly  found  in  summer  about  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence 


t 


^  Whether  on  the  subsidence  of  the  large  skerry  another  portion  of  the  birds 
which  frequented  it  colonized  the  outermost  islet  is  not  known,  for  this  spot  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  visited  by  any  naturalist  since  Faber's  time. 

'  The  latest  account  of  this  locality  and  of  the  deposit  of  Penguins'  bones 
thereon  found  is  by  Mr.  Lucas  [Rep.  U.S.  NaL-Mtcs.  1887-88,  pp.  493-529). 


EXTERMINA  TION 


fo^ 


and  the  coast  of  Labrador,  migrating  in  winter  to  the  shores  of  Nova 
Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  New  England,  and  perhaps  further  south- 
ward. There  is  no  proof,  according  to  the  best-informed  American 
ornithologists,  of  a  single  example  being  met  with  for  many  years  past 
in  any  of  the  markets  of  the  United  States,  where  formerly  it  was 
not  at  all  uncommon  at  the  proper  season,  and  the  last  known  to 
the  present  writer  to  have  lived  was  killed  by  Col.  Wedderburn  in 
Halifax  harbour  in  the  autumn  of  1852.^/^  This  bird,  the  Anas 
labradoria  of  the  older  ornithologists,  was  nearly  allied  to  the  Eider- 
Duck,  and  like  that  species  used  to  breed  on  rocky  islets,  where  it 


Pied  Ddck,  Somateria  labradoria,  Male  and  Female. 

^  It  is  needless  to  observe  that  no  one  at  that  time  had  any  notion  of  its 
approacliing  extinction.  The  skin  of  this  example  is  in  Canon  Tristram's  collec- 
tion, its  sternum,  which  was  figured  by  Rowley  (Orn.  Miscell.  pp.  205-223),  is  in 
the  Cambridge  Museum.  Mr.  Dutcher  [Auk,  1891,  pp.  208,  211)  reports  three 
specimens  supposed  to  have  been  obtained  between  1857  and  1861  ;  but  the  in- 
formation of  the  former  owner  of  two  of  them  points  to  an  earlier  time,  and  that 
respecting  the  third  is  somewhat  vague.  Still  more  uncertain  are  the  rumours, 
though  properly  printed  by  him  (pp.  214,  215),  of  exami)les  said  to  have  been 
obtained  in  1871  and  1878,  but  since  lost.  If  they  could  be  recovered,  a  mistake 
would  probably  be  found  to  have  been  made.  Modern  American  authors  profess 
their  inability  to  explain  the  extu'pation  of  this  species.  I  liave  little  doubt  that 
the  cause  mentioned  in  the  text  and  published  by  me  in  1875  is  the  true  one. 
The  shooting  down  of  nesting-birds,  witnessed  by  Audubon  Avhen  he  was  among 
the  islands  of  the  Labrador  coast,  and  year  by  year  carried  on  with  increasing 
intensity,  could  produce  uo  other  result. 


EXTERMINA  TION 


223 


was  safe  from  the  depredations  of  foxes  and  other  carnivorous 
quadrupeds.  This  safety  was,  however,  unavailing  when  man  began 
yearly  to  visit  its  Iweeding-haunts,  and,  not  content  with  plundering 
its  nests,  mercilessly  to  shoot  the  birds.  Most  of  such  islets  are, 
of  course,  easily  ransacked  and  depopulated.  Having  no  asylum  to 
turn  to,  for  the  shores  of  the  mainland  were  infested  by  the  four- 
footed  enemies  just  mentioned,  and  (unlike  some  of  its  congeners) 
it  had  not  a  high  northern  range,  its  fate  is  easily  understood. 
Some  thirty-eight  specimens  are  computed  to  exist  in  museums.  "^ 
A  very  similar  case   is  that  of  the  largest  known  species  of 


-/ 


Phillip-Island  Parrot,  Nestor  prochictiis. 

Cormorant,  Fhalacwcorax  j^o'sjncillntus,  Avhich  in  1S82  Dr.  Stej- 
neger  learned  from  the  natives  of  Bering  Island  in  the  North  Pacific 
had  become  extinct  some  thirty  years  before,  having  previously 
been  abundant  there.  It  is  said  to  have  been  killed  for  food,  and 
thus  its  fate  is  identical  with  that  of  its  better  known  countryman, 
Steller's  Manatee,  Rhjtina  gigas.  Four  skins  and  a  few  bones 
are  all  that  remain  of  this  fine  bird.  {Proc.  U.S.  Nat.  Mus.  vi.  p. 
65,  xii.  pp.  83-94;  Bull.  U.S.  Nat.  Mus.  No.  29,  pp.  180,  181.) 

Another  bird  which  became  extinct  about  the  middle  of  this 
century  is  one  of  a  group  of  Parrots  (Nestor)  peculiar  to  the  New- 
Zealand  Region,  and  though  some  of  its  congeners  still  exist  in  the 
less -frequented   and   alpine    parts   of    that   country,    this    sjjecies, 


224  EXTERMINATION 


N.  produdus,  seems  to  have  been  confined  to  Phillip  Island.  The 
last  known  to  have  lived,  according  to  information  supplied  to  the 
present  writer  by  Gould,  was  seen  by  that  gentleman  in  a  cage  in 
London  about  the  year  1851.  Not  many  more  than  a  dozen 
specimens  are  believed  to  exist  in  collections. 

In  respect  of  Extermination  leading  immediately  to  Extinction, 
the  present  condition  of  the  New-Zealand  Fauna  is  one  that  must 
grieve  to  the  utmost  every  ornithologist  who  cares  for  more  than 
the  stuffed  skin  of  a  bird  on  a  shelf.  In  the  Fauna  of  that 
Region  the  Class  Aves  holds  the  highest  rank^  (Geographical 
Distribution),  and  though  its  mightiest  members  (Moa)  had 
passed  away  before  the  settlement  of  Avhite  men,  what  was  left  of 
its  Avifauna  had  featui-es  of  interest  unsurpassed  by  any  others. 
It  was  indeed  long  before  these  features  were  appreciated,  and 
then  by  but  few  ornithologists,  yet  no  sooner  was  their  value 
recognized  than  it  was  found  that  nearly  all  of  their  possessors 
were  rapidly  expiring,  and  the  destruction  of  the  original  Avifauna 
of  this  important  colony,  so  thriving  and  so  intellectual,  is  being 
attended  by  circumstances  of  extraordinary  atrocity.  Under  the 
evil  influence  of  what  was  some  thirty  years  ago  called  "Accli- 
matization," not  only  were  all  sorts  of  birds  introduced,  which 
being  of  strong  species  speedily  established  themselves  ^  with  the 
usual  efiect  on  the  weak  aboriginals,  but  in  an  evil  day  Eabbits 
were  liberated.  These,  as  was  anticipated  by  zoologists,  soon 
became  numerous  beyond  measure  and  devoured  the  pasture 
destined  for  the  Sheep,  on  which  so  much  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
country  depended.  Allowing  for  a  considerable  amount  of 
exaggeration  on  the  part  of  the  Sheep-owners,  no  one  can  doubt 
that  the  Eabbit-plague  has  inflicted  a  serious  loss  on  the  colony. 
Yet  a  remedy  may  be  woi'se  than  a  disease,  and  the  so-called 
remedy  applied  in  this  case  has  been  of  a  kind  that  every  true 
naturalist  knew  to  be  most  foolish,  namely  the  importation  from 
England  and  elsewhere  and  liberation  of  divers  carnivorous  Mam- 
mals ^ — Polecats  or  Ferrets,  Stoats,  and  Weasels  !  Two  "vvrongs  do 
not  make  a  right  even  at  the  Antipodes,  and  from  the  most  authentic 
reports  it  seems,  as  any  zoologist   of  common   sense  would  have 

^  The  various  reports  of  an  indigenous  Mammal,  to  which  some  writers  have 
attached  importance,  seem  to  be  all  due  to  misconception  on  the  part  of  persons 
who  did  not  know  how  very  like  a  quadruped  a  Kiwi  or  a  Weka  can  look  when 
thick  herbage  or  broken  ground  hinders  a  clear  view. 

2  Sir  Walter  Buller  has  told  me  that  within  some  miles  of  the  larger  towns 
not  a  single  native  species  of  bird  is  now  to  be  seen,  while  foreigners  abound. 

^  Unhappily  when  the  idea  of  sending  out  these  predacious  creatures  was 
first  promulgated,  it  was  encouraged  by  one  who  passed  in  England  for  a  gi'eat 
naturalist.  Well-informed  persons  knew  better,  but  their  warnings  were 
slighted. 


EXTERMINATION  225 


expected,  that  the  bloodthirsty  beasts  make  no  greater  impression 
upon  the  stock  of  Rabbits  in  New  Zealand  than  they  do  in  the 
mother-country,  Avhile  they  find  an  easy  prey  in  the  heedless  and 
harmless  members  of  the  aboriginal  Fauna,  many  of  whom  are 
incapable  of  flight,  so  that  their  days  are  assuredly  numbered. 
Were  these  indigenous  forms  of  an  ordinary  kind,  their  extirpation 
might  be  regarded  with  some  degree  of  indifference ;  but  un- 
fortunately many  of  them  are  extraordinary  forms — the  relics  ol 
perhaps  the  oldest  Fauna  now  living.  Opportunities  for  learning 
the  lesson  they  teach  have  been  but  scant,  and  they  are  vanishing 
before  our  eyes  ere  that  lesson  can  be  learnt.  Assuredly  the 
scientific  natiu-alist  of  another  generation,  especially  if  he  be  of 
NeAv-Zealand  birth,  will  brand  with  infamy  the  short-sighted  folly, 
begotten  of  greed,  which  will  have  deprived  him  of  interpreting 
some  of  the  great  secrets  of  Nature,  while  utterly  failing  to  put  an 
end  to  the  nuisance — admittedly  a  great  one.^ 

Another  noticeable  case  though  free  from  the  culpable  blind- 
ness just  recounted  is  that  which  is  offered  by  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  where  it  appears  that  several  of  the  land-birds  are  actually 
extinct,  while  many  more  are  doomed  to  disappear  within  a  very 
few  years.  In  this  instance  the  reasons  assigned  are  the  destruction 
of  the  indigenous  Flora,  effected  directly  on  the  lowlands  by 
cultivation  of  sugar-canes  and  other  plants,  and  on  the  forest- 
covered  hills  by  the  large  stock  of  horned  cattle  which  not  only 
destroy  the  existing  brushwood  but  check  the  growth  of  young 
trees  to  replace  the  elders  that  yet  stand.  Of  the  species  of  birds 
known  to  be  extinct  one,  however,  has  met  its  fate  from  a  different 
cause.  This  is  the  Mamo  (Drepanis),  whose  beautiful  feathers, 
as  elsewhere  stated,  have  led  to  its  extirpation ;  but  no  such  cause 
can  be  assigned  for  the  extinction  (of  which  the  writer  is  assured) 
of  a  plain -coloured  bird  like  Chxtoptila  angustiplimia,  of  which 
perhaps  not  more  than  three  or  four  specimens  have  been 
preserved,  or  some  other  species  that  a  recent  collector  has  been 
unable  to  find. 

An  instance  of  apparent  extinction  more  unaccountable  than 
the  last  named  is  that  of  the  bird  described  and  figured  by  Latham 
{Gen.  Synops.  Birds,  iii.  p.  172,  pi.  82)  under  the  name  of  White- 
■vvinged  Sandpiper,  as  ha^dng  been  found  on  Cook's  last  voyage  on 
the  islands  of  Tahiti  and  Eimeo,  where  it  seems  to  have  been  not 
uncommon.  Though  it  has  been  often  sought  no  specimen  seems 
to  have  been  obtained  since,  and  indeed  the  only  one  known  is  in 
the  Museum  at  Leyden.  Placed  by  Bonaparte  in  a  separate  genus 
Frosobonia,  it  was  supposed  by  him  to  belong  to  the  Rallidx ;  but 

^  The  provoking  part  of  the  thing  is  that  as  shewn  by  Mr.  Sclater  [Nature 
xxxix.  p.  493)  there  exists  a  way,  the  discovery  of  Mr.  Rodier,  at  once  simple^ 
natural,  and  efficacious  of  reducing  the  Rabbit-pest. 

15 


J26  EXTERMINATION 


more  recent  Avriters  refer  it  as  Latham  did  to  the  Scolopacidse.  Its 
rediscovery,  should  it  still  survive,  would  therefore  be  of  some 
interest,  and  it  is  just  possible  that  the  localities  for  it  are 
erroneously  given. 

From  birds  which  have  recently  become  altogether  extinct  we 
naturally  turn  to  those  that  have  of  late  been  exterminated  in 
certain  countries  though  still  surviving  elsewhere.  Several  such 
instances  are  furnished  by  the  British  Islands.  First  there  is  the 
Crane  which  in  Turner's  time  (1544)  was  described  as  breeding  in 
our  fens.  Then  the  Spoonbill,  said  by  Sir  Thomas  Browne 
(1688)  to  breed  in  Suifolk,  as  it  formerly  had  done  in  Norfolk  and 
shewn  by  Mr.  Harting  {Zoologist,  1877,  p.  425  ;  1886,  p.  81 1)  to  have 
anciently  had  breeding-stations  in  Sussex  and  in  Middlesex.  The 
Capercally,  we  Icnow  to  have  frequented  the  indigenous  pine- 
forests  of  Ireland  and  Scotland.  In  the  former  it  had  most  likely 
become  extinct  soon  after  1760,  and  in  the  latter  not  much  later. 
Not  a  single  specimen  of  the  British  stock  of  this  bird  is  known 
to  exist  in  any  museum,  but  the  species  has  been  successfully 
introduced  from  Sweden  into  Scotland  during  the  last  forty  years, 
and  is  now  certainly  increasing  in  numbers.  The  Bustard,  which 
once  tenanted  the  downs  and  open  country  of  England  from  Dorset 
to  the  East  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  vanished  from  Norfolk,  its  last 
stronghold  as  a  British  Bird,  in  1838.  From  other  counties  it  had 
before  disappeared.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  three  of  the  four 
species  just  mentioned  were  protected  to  a  certain  degree  by  Acts 
of  Parliament,  but  these  laws  only  gave  immunity  to  their  eggs 
and  none  to  the  parent-birds  during  the  breeding- season,  thus 
shewing  how  futile  is  protection  to  the  former  when  compared  with 
the  safety  of  the  latter,  since  there  are  very  many  species  Avhose 
nests  from  time  out  of  mind  have  been  and  are  yearly  pillaged 
without  any  disastrous  consequences  arising  from  the  practice.^ 

It  would  be  impossible  here  to  name  the  many  Birds  which, 
once  numerous  in  the  British  Islands,  have  now  so  much 
diminished  as  to  be  rightly  considered  scarce,  or  to  recount  the 
various  causes  to  which  their  diminution  is  due.  The  persecution 
of  Birds-of-Prey  seems  to  have  begun  Avith  the  keepers  of  poultrj', 
to  whom  the  Kite,  and  the  Hen-HARRIER,  Circus  cyaneus,  were  a 
sore    trouble,^  but    it    has    been   actively    followed    up  by   game- 

^  The  singular  wisdom  of  tlie  old  command  (Dent.  xxii.  6) — the  most  ancient 
"game-law"  (using  the  term  in  its  widest  sense)  in  existence  —  has  here  a 
curious  exemplification. 

-  Schaschek,  a  Bohemian  who  visited  England  about  1461,  says  he  had 
nowhere  seen  so  many  Kites  as  around  London  Bridge  {Bibl.  Lit.  Ver.  Stuttgart, 
vii.  p.  40).  And  the  statement  is  confirmed  by  Belon,  who  in  the  later  editions 
of  his  Ohserxationes  (book  ii.  chap,  xxxvi.  note)  says  that  they  were  scarcely 
more  numerous  in  Cairo  than  in  London,  feeding  on  the  garbage  of  the  streets 


EXTERMINA  TION  227 


preservers,  and  this  to  their  own  cost,  as  the  ravages  of  the 
Grouse-disease  testify.^  To  the  reclaiming  of  waste  lands,  the 
enclosure  of  open  spaces,  and  the  greater  care  bestowed  on  timber 
trees  (by  removing  those  that  being  decayed  are  much  infested 
with  insects)  must,  however,  be  attributed  the  extermination  or 
rarification  of  far  more  species  than  the  direct  action  of  man  has 
been  able  to  effect.^  Still  what  we  lose  in  one  direction  we  gain 
in  another,  and  while  Birds -of -Prey  and  Wild -fowl  are  being 
banished,  the  smaller  denizens  of  the  woodlands,  gardens,  and 
arable  fields  are  unquestionably  more  numerous  than  ever.^  The 
change  is,  of  coiu-se,  not  satisfactory  to  the  naturalist  or  to  the 
lover  of  wild  scenery,  but  to  some  extent  it  seems  inevitable ;  yet 
well-directed  laws  for  the  protection  of  those  birds  which  suffer 
worst  in  the  unequal  contest  may  delay  their  impending  fate,  and 
preserve  to  our  posterity  the  most  pleasing  features  of  many  a 
landscape  and  the  grateful  opportunities  of  studying  many  a 
curious  and  interesting  species.  Thanks,  perhaps,  to  the  sti-onger 
constitution  of  most  Palsearctic  birds,  the  votaries  of  "acclimatiza- 
tion "  have  obtained  little  success  in  these  islands,  for  the  exotic 
species  which  it  has  been  attempting  to  introduce  have,  almost 
without  exception,  failed  to  establish  themselves.  The  efibrts 
made  in  some  British  colonies^ — especially  in  Australasia,  apart 
from  the  sinfulness  already  mentioned  in  regard  to  the  Eabbit- 
plague — are  unfortunately  too  likely  not  to  be  successful ;  and, 
when  their  own  peculiar  Fauna  has  been  half  extirpated,  our  fellow- 
subjects  at  the  Antipodes  will  probably  have  good  reason  to  lament 

and  even  of  the  Thames.  From  the  same  writer  {Hist.  Nat.  Oyseaux,  p.  131)  it 
would  seem  that  at  that  time  (1555)  they,  and  Ravens  also,  were  protected  by- 
law in  the  City  !  The  Hen-Harrier's  name  is  enough  to  shew  what  was  thought 
of  it  in  days  when  it  abounded. 

^  In  Transbaikalia,  the  Bearded  Vulture,  Gypaetus  barlatus,  which  was 
formerly  common,  has  of  late  been  completely  exterminated,  through  persecution 
prompted  by  the  desire  to  obtain  its  feathers,  which  are  highly  valued. — Von 
Aliddendorff,  Sibir.  Eeise,  iv.  p.  851. 

^  The  extermination  from  Europe  of  the  Fkancolin,  FrancoUnus  vulgaris,  has 
been  treated  at  some  length  by  Lord  Lilford  (Ibis,  1862,  p.  352)  without  his 
being  able  to  assign  any  cause  for  the  fact. 

^  Report  from  the  Select  Committee  on  Wild  Birds''  Protection,  d;c.  (House  of 
Commons),  1873.     Appendix,  pp.  188-193. 

*  Unintentionally,  it  would  seem,  a  carnivorous  Marsupial  has  been  in- 
troduced into  the  island  of  Dominica  and  there  appears  to  have  extirpated  one  of 
the  Petrels  which  formerly  bred  numerously  in  the  mountains,  where  it  was 
called  the  "  Diablotin "'  aud  is  known  to  have  been  (Estrclata  haesitata  [cf. 
Feilden,  Trans.  Norf.  Norw.  Nat.  Soc.  v.  pp.  24-39).  The  intentional  intro- 
duction of  the  Mongoose  is  said  to  be  likely  to  effect  the  destruction  there  of 
the  allied  species  (£".  jamaicensis.  It  has  already  greatly  diminished  the 
numbers  of  "John-Crow"  Vultures,  by  the  destruction  of  their  eggs  or  young, 
for  the  nests  are  placed  on  the  ground. 


228  EXTERMINA  TION 

the  extraordinary  sentiment  that  has  led  them  to  introduce  from 
other  countries  birds  which,  in  the  absence  of  their  natural  checks, 
will  be  nothing  else  than  a  positive  nuisance ;  for  so  reckless  is 
the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  imported,  that  sj^ecies 
possessing  few  or  exceedingly  doubtful  recommendations  to  begin 
"vvith  have  been  carried  over  in  abundance,  and  some  of  these 
cannot  fail  to  become  permanent  settlers  equally  with  those  for  the 
transportation  of  Avhich  the  would-be  "  acclimatizers "  might  find 
themselves  excused.  All,  however,  in  the  battle  of  life  will 
contribute  first  to  the  subdual  and  by  degrees  to  the  disappearance 
of  the  original  inhabitants,  which  had  hitherto  constituted  a  Fauna, 
from  a  scientific  point  of  vieAv,  perhaps  the  most  interesting  on  the 
face  of  the  globe. 

One  other  cause  which  threatens  the  existence  of  many  species 
of  birds,  if  it  has  not  already  produced  the  extermination  of  some, 
is  the  rage  for  wearing  their  feathers  that  now  and  again  seizes 
civilized  women  who  take  their  ideas  of  dress  from  interested 
milliners  of  both  sexes — persons  who,  having  bought  a  large  stock 
of  what  are  known  as  "plumes,"  proceed  to  make  a  profit  by 
declaring  them  to  be  "in  fashion."  The  tender-hearted  ladies  who 
buy  them  little  suspect  that  some  of  the  large  supplies  required 
by  the  "  plume-trade  "  are  chiefly  got  by  laying  Avaste  the  homes 
of  birds  that  breed  in  society,  and  that  at  their  very  breeding- 
time.  The  slaughter  which  formerly  took  place  at  many  of  the 
chief  resorts  of  sea-birds  on  the  British  coasts  was  fortunately 
checked  by  Act  of  Parliament  in  1869  ;  but  the  infamous  practice 
is  still  to  some  extent  surreptitiously  followed  in  secluded  places 
(and  they  are  not  so  few  in  number)  where  it  can  be  pursued  with 
impunity.  However,  no  havoc  in  these  islands  approaches  that 
which  is  perpetrated  in  some  other  countries,  especially,  it  is  surmised, 
in  India — though  there  now  contrary  to  law ;  and  the  account  of 
the  ravages  of  a  party  of  "  bird-plumers  "  at  the  breeding-stations  on 
the  coast  of  Florida,  given  by  Mr.  W.  E.  D.  Scott,^  who  in  former 
years  had  seen  them  thronged  by  a  peaceful  population,  is  simply 
sickening.  All  efforts  to  awaken  the  conscience  of  those  who 
tacitly  encourage  this  detestable  devastation,  and  thereby  share  in 
its  guilt,  have  hitherto  failed,  and  unless  laws  to  stop  it  be  not 
only  passed  but  enforced  it  will  go  on  till  it  ceases  for  want  of 
victims — Avhich  indeed  may  happen  very  shortly.     Then  milliners 

1  Aiik,  1887,  pp.  135-144,  213-222,  273-284;  1888,  p.  128.  This  series  of 
papers  is  the  more  valuable  because  Mr.  Scott  records  what  he  saw  and  learnt  on 
the  spot  in  the  calmest  language.  Did  we  not  know  what  his  feelings  were, 
one  might, '  in  reading  his  terrible  narrative,  lose  patience  with  him  for  not 
expressing  more  strongly  his  detestation  of  the  barbarities  he  recounts.  But 
his  abstention  is  doubtless  attributable  to  the  fact  that  his  narrative  appears  in  a 
strictly  scientific  journal,  where  sentimental  expressions  would  be  out  of  place. 


EYE  229 

will  doubtless  find  that  artificial  feathers  can  be  made,  even  as 
artificial  flowers  now  are,  and  there  will  be  a  fine  opening  for  the 
ingenious  inventor.     The  pity  is  that  he  does  not  at  once  begin. 

EYE.  The  eyeball  of  Birds  is  far  less  globular  than  that  of 
Mammals,  resembling  rather  the  tube  of  a  short  and  thick  opera- 
glass.  It  consists  externally  of  three  successive  portions.  A  basal 
or  posterior,  an  intermediate,  and  an  anterior  portion.  The  wall  of 
the  anterior  portion  is  formed  by  the  transparent  cornea,  and  is  more 
strongly  curved  than  that  of  the  basal  portion,  which  like  the  inter- 
mediate portion  is  formed  by  the  white  and  opaque  sclera.  Within 
the  walls  of  the  sclera  exists  cartilage  with  occasional  ossifications. 
Such  an  ossification,  the  posterior  sclerotic  ring,  surrounds  in  many 
birds,  especially  in  the  Pici  and  in  the  Passeres,  the  entrance  of  the 
optic  nerve.  Nearly  all  birds  possess  an  anterior  sclerotic  ring  which 
is  composed  of  from  10  to  17,  generally  from  13  to  15,  bony  scales 
\vhich  overlap  each  other  in  various  ways,  and  form  the  somewhat 
conical  intermediate  or  connecting  portion  of  the  walls  of  the  eye. 

The  outer  surface  of  the  cornea  is  covered  by  the  likewise  quite 
transparent  conjunctiva,  a  continuation  of  the  mucous  membrane 
lining  the  inside  of  the  eyelids.  The  inner  surface  of  the  cornea 
is  covered  by  the  "membrana  Descemeti,"  a  structureless  film 
Avhich  seems  to  be  the  continuation  of  the  chorioid  membrane. 

The  inner  surface  of  the  sclerotic  wall  is  covered  by  the  chorioid 
membrane,  a  thin  membrane,  which  is  rich  in  blood-vessels  and  is 
dark  or  black  owing  to  the  number  of  pigment-cells.  It  is  morpho- 
logically the  continuation  of  the  pia  mater  or  innermost  sheath  of 
the  optic  nerve,  which  enters  the  middle  of  the  posterior  segment 
of  the  eye  and  then  spreads  itself  out  as  the  retina  upon  the  inner 
surface  of  the  chorioid  membrane.  The  latter  is  consequently 
situated  between  the  sclera  and  the  retina.  Level  with  the 
junction  of  the  cornea  and  the  sclera,  i.e.  at  the  anterior  margin  of 
the  intermediate  portion  of  the  eye,  the  chorioid  membrane  leaves 
the  wall  of  the  eye  by  turning  away  at  a  right  angle  and  hanging 
like  a  circular  curtain,  the  iris,  over  the  anterior  surface  of  the  lens, 
into  the  anterior  chamber  of  the  eye.  The  central  hole  in  this 
diaphragma-like  curtain  is  the  pupil.  The  iris  is  a  thin  plate  of 
connective  tissue ;  its  hinder  surface  is  covered  like  the  chorioid 
with  a  layer  of  black  pigment,  while  its  anterior  side  is  coloured  in 
various  ways,  either  by  pigment  corpuscles  or  by  coloured  drops  of 
fat.  Often  beautifully  bright,  it  adds  much  to  the  expression  of 
birds  ;  it  is,  for  instance,  vividly  yellow  in  Lamprocolius,  Botaurus, 
and  Picus  martins  ;  red  in  Chrysotis  and  in  Nycticorax ;  green  in  ,//'.' 
the  Cormorant;  white  in  the  Grey  Parrot  and  in  Hareld';  grey  in  v  ^ 

Balearica  pavonina  and  in  Fratercula  ;  bluish  in  Cypselus  ;  black  in 
Cacatua,  and  so  on.     In  most  young  birds  the  colour  of  the  iris  is, 


230 


EYE 


A.ch 


however,  brown,  and  attains  brighter  tints  with  maturity  occasionallj- 
in  the  male  only  :  for  instance,  yellow  in  the  males  of  Ploceus,  but 

brown  in  the  females  : 
greyish -brown  in  the 
females  and  young  of 
the  Golden  Oriole,  and 
carmine-red  in  the  old 
males.  ^ 

The  iris  contains  a 
sphincter  and  a  dilator 
muscle.  The  sphincter 
consists  of  concentrical 
fibres  which  constitute 
a  considerable  portion 
of  the  whole  iris,  while 
the  fibres  of  the  dilator 
are  arranged  in  a  radi- 
ating way.  Those  of 
the  former  are  supplied 
by  branches   from  the 


N.O. 


Horizontal  Section  through  the  Bye  of  a  Bird-of- 

Prey.    About  twice  the  natural  size.    (After  H.  MiillerO 
A.ch.  Anterior  chamber;  P.ch.  Posterior  chamber;  C, 
Cornea  ;    Ch.  Chorioid ;   Co,  Conjunctiva ;   c.-ni.  Crampton'.s     oculomotory     Or     third 
muscle;  ^,  Iris:   L,  Lens  •    P,  P^-cten  :  ^^-O-  Optic  nerve;  -^  ^f    ^.^.^^j^j    ^^^ 

iJ,  Eetina ;  Sc.  Sclerotic,  with  embedded  osseous  ring.  -r  _        t-.-    i        • 

and  are  in  Birds,  in 
opposition  to  the  Mammalia,  under  the  control  of  the  will.  The 
dilator  muscle  is  .supplied  by  sympathetic  nerve  fibres.  Both 
sorts  of  nerve  fibres  enter  the  posterior  wall  of  the  eye,  ascend 
between  the  chorioid  and  sclera,  and  supply  these  parts  together 
Avith  the  iris  and  the  ciliary  muscle.  The  shape  of  the  pupil, 
when  fully  dilated,  is  round  in  all  birds  ;  when  partly  contracted 
it  is  either  likewise  round  in  most  birds,  or  obliquely  oval  as  in 
some  Gallinsei. 

The  cor])us  ciliare  is  that  part  of  the  chorioid  which  covers  the 

^  Numerous  notes  concerning  the  colour  of  the  iris  in  reference  to  age  and  sex 
have  been  published  by  Th.  A.  Bruhin  in  Zoolog.  Garten,  1870,  pp.  290-295.  A 
curious  observation  by  the  late  Mr.  J.  H.  Gurney  is  recorded  in  Mr.  Soutlnvell's 
continuation  of  Stevenson's  Birds  of  Ntrrfolk  (iii.  p.  207).  On  removing  a  living 
male  Pochard  {Fuligula  ferina)  from  one  pond  to  another,  while  the  bird  was  held 
in  the  hand  the  ordinary  cherry-colour  of  its  irides  was  seen  to  be  replaced  by 
yellow,  hardly,  if  at  all,  tinged  with  red.  When  this  bird  was  released,  the 
normal  colour  was  gradually  but  speedily  resumed.  In  this  species  it  ■will  be 
remembered  the  red  iris  is  peculiar  to  the  male,  that  of  the  female  being  of  a  dark 
brown. 

The  four  nearly-allied  species  of  the  genus  Hypsipctes  inhabiting  Madagascar 
and  the  Mascarene  Islands  differ,  according  to  the  observation  of  Sir  Edward 
Newton  {Orn.  Miscell.  ii.  p.  52,  pi.  xlii.),  in  the  colour  of  their  irides,  which  in  H. 
madagascarknsis  are  bright  red,  in  H.  horhonicus  whitish,  in  H.  olivaceus  (of 
Mauritius)  orange,  and  in  H.  crassirostris  (from  the  Seychelles)  dark  red. 


EYE  231 

anterior  sclerotic  ring  ;  it  is  thrown  into  numerous  radiating  folds, 
and  immediately  behind  the  base  of  the  iris  surrounds  the  margin 
of  the  lens,  which  it  connects  through  the  ligamentum  pectinatum 
Avith  the  anterior  margin  of  the  sclerotic  ring,  and  thus  holds  the 
lens  in  position. 

The  ciliary  muscle  is  of  importance  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
eye  to  varying  distances.  It  consists  of  numerous  striated  or  volun- 
tary muscular  fibres,  which  are  situated  partly  within  the  corpus 
ciliare.  The  whole  muscle  consists  of  several  j)ortions.  The 
anterior  one,  "  Crampton's  muscle,"  arises  from  the  anterior  margin 
of  the  sclerotic  ring  and  is  inserted  upon  a  small  circular  ridge  of  the 
cornea.  The  chief  portion,  "Miiller's  muscle,"  extends  from  the  same 
ridge  backwards  into  the  chorioid  ;  other  fibres  likewise  arising  from 
this  ridge  pass  into  the  ligamentum  pectinatum.  The  mechanism  of 
the  accommodation  of  the  eye  is  very  complicated ;  it  amounts  to 
this  that  it  can  be  most  rapidly  adjusted  to  difi"erent  distances,  not 
through  a  change  in  the  convexity  of  the  cornea  or  through  a  forward 
or  backward  motion  of  the  lens,  but  through  a  change  in  the  con- 
vexity of  the  lens  itself. 

The  jjecten,  comb  or  fan  of  the  eye,  is  a  peculiar  lamella  of 
the  chorioid  which  projects  from  the  entrance  of  the  optic  nerve 
far  into  the  posterior  chamber  of  the  eye.  It  is  present,  so  far 
as  known,  in  all  birds  except  Apteryx,  and  is  a  wedge -like  or 
rhomboid,  deeply-pigmented  black  lamella,  which  is  thrown  into  a 
variable  number  of  folds.  The  number  of  these  folds  (3  in  Capri- 
mulgus,  4  in  Dromseus,  14  to  20  in  Struthio,  20-30  in  Crows)  varies 
in  closely-allied  birds,  and  is  of  no  systematic  value.  The  use  of 
this  organ,  which  is  absent  in  Mammals  and  most  Eeptiles,  is  not 
the  screening  off  of  light,  but  the  vascular  supply  or  alimentation  of 
the  vitreous  humor. 

The  lens  is  a  biconvex  absolutely  coloiu'less  and  transparent  body 
of  considerable  refractory  power.  Its  broad  diameter  amounts  to 
about  1"3  of  its  axis;  the  anterior  surface  is  more  convex  than 
the  posterior ;  the  lens  is  composed  of  numerous  mostly  concentric- 
ally-arranged layers. 

The  lens,  being  held  in  position  by  the  ligamentum  pectinatum 
of  the  corpus  ciliare,  divides  the  whole  of  the  inner  space  of  the 
eye  into  an  anterior  and  a  posterior  chamber.  The  anterior  cham- 
ber is  filled  with  the  colourless  aqueous  humor,  while  the  vitreous 
humor,  which  fills  the  posterior  larger  chamber,  is  of  a  more 
gelatinous  but  likewise  colourless  consistency. 

The  retina  is  a  thin  expansion  of  the  optic  nerve  over  the  inner 
surface  of  the  chorioid  membrane,  and  extends  over  the  posterior 
or  basal  portion  of  the  eye,  ending  at  the  beginning  of  the  ciliary 
body.  The  retinal  membrane  is  scarcely  0"3  of  a  millimetre  in 
thickness,  and  is,  as  continuation  of  the  optic  nerve,  composed  of 


232 


EYE 


nerve  fibres,  with  the  addition  of  intercalated  ganglionic  cells,  each 
fibre  ending  either  as  a  "cone"  or  as  a  "rod."  Both,  cones  and 
rods,  look,  however,  outwards,  i.e.  away  from  the  inside  of  the  eye, 
being  inserted  into  the  pigment  layer  of  the  chorioidea. 

The  retina  is  transparent,  devoid  of  blood-vessels,  and,  except 
certain  cones,  colourless.  It  consists  of  the  following  nine 
layers : — 

1.  Membrana  limitans    interna,    an    extremely   thin   colourless 

membrane,  which  separates  the  retina  from 
the  corpus  vitreum,  and  sends  out  fine 
radial  fibres  between  the  retinal  fibres. 

2.  Layer  of  the  optic  fibres  ;  they  enter 
the  eye  at  the  fovea  cseca,  or  blind  spot,  indi- 
cated by  a  small  funnel-shaped  depression 
in  the  middle  of  the  optic  nerve,  whence 
they  spread  out  at  right  angles ;  the  fibres 
nearly  lose  their  myelin  sheaths,  and  con- 
sist chiefly  of  thin  axial  cylinders. 

3.  Layer  of  inner  ganglionic  cells,  inter- 
calated into  the  axial  cylinders. 

4.  Liner  molecular  or  granular  layer, 
a  molecular  substance,  penetrated  by  the 
nerve  fibres. 

5.  Middle  ganglionic  layer,  consisting 
of  small  cells  which  connect  the  3rd  with 
the  7th  layer. 

6.  Outer  molecular  or  granular  layer. 

7.  Outer  ganglionic  layer,  consisting  of 
bipolar  cells,  continued  through 

8.  Membrana  limitans  externa,  a  colour- 
less membrane,  into 

9.  A  layer  of  cones  and  rods  \  these 
elongated  cylindrical  bodies  are  the  real 
light -perceiving  end -organs  of  the  optic 
nerve  fibres.     Into  each  of   the  bodies   is 

intercalated  a  small  lens-like  body  which  possesses  a  higher  refractory 
poAver  than  the  surrounding  parts.  The  cones  contain  drops  of  fat, 
mostly  red  or  yellow  in  colour. 

Near  the  posterior  pole  of  the  eye,  but  somewhat  excentrically 
placed,  is  t\\Q  form  centralis  (the  "  yellow  spot "  of  Mammals),  a  slight 
depression  in  the  retina,  and  composed  chiefly  of  cones ;  it  is  the 
spot  of  most  acute  visuality.  Many  birds  possess  a  second  fovea 
more  towards  the  outer  or  temporal  side  of  the  eye.  One  pair 
of  these  fovese  seems  to  be  used  for  monocular  the  other  for  binocular 
sight,  so  that  the  whole  field  of  vision  of  birds  possesses  three 
points  where  vision  is  most  acute. 


Vertical  Section  through 
THE  Retina  of  a  Sparrow. 
Highly  magnified. 

i.e.  Membrana  limitans  exter- 
na, perforated  at  its  base  by  tlie 
rods  and  cones  ;  L.  i.  Membrana 
limitans  interna  ;  P.  Black  pig- 
ment on  the  top  of  the  rods  and 
cones  (3);  2,  Layer  of  the  fibres 
of  the  optic  nerve  ;  3,  5,  7,  Inner, 
middle,  and  outer  ganglionic 
layers ;  i,  6,  Inner  and  outer 
molecular  layers. 


EYE 


233 


The  muscles  of  the  eyeball  and  of  the  third  eyelid  ai^e  8  in 
number,  of  which  6  serve  to  move  the  eyeball.  Four  recti,  viz. 
superior,  inferior,  internus,  and  externus  arise  from  the  orbit  in  the 
vicinity  of  the   optic  nerve  ;  the  first  three  are  innervated  by  the 

J?,  inf. 


m.if. 


Left  Eye  or  the  Common  Fowl  froji  Front  and  Behind. 
O.if.  Musculus  obliquus  inferior;  H.if.  R.int.  E.s.  R.e.  M.  rectus  inferior,  internus,  superior, 
and  externus  ;  Q.  M.  quadratus  ;  P.  M.  pyramidalis. 

n.  oculomotorius  or  3rd  cranial  nerve,  and  the  externus  by  the  n. 
abducens,  or  6th  cranial  nerve. 

The  m.  obliquus  superior  arises  from  the  ethmoidal  margin  of 
the  orbit,  passes  between  the  olfactory  and  the  first  branch  of  the 
trigeminal  nerve,  is  supplied  by  the  n.  trochlearis  or  4th  cranial 
nerve,  and  is  inserted  upon  the  upper  and  inner  side  of  the 
eyeball. 

•  The  m.  oblicjuus  inferior  arises  below  the  optic  nerve,  and  is 
inserted  laterally  from  the  inferior 


P.U.Q 


R.exi. 


R.int. 


rectus  ;  it  is  supplied  by  the  3rd 
cranial  nerve. 

The  nictitating  membrane  is 
moved  by  two  muscles,  both  of 
which  are  innervated  by  the  6th 
cranial  nerve.  The  m.  cpiadratus 
is  a  trapezoid  muscle,  arising  with 
a  broad  base  from  the  hinder  sur- 
face of  the  eyeball,  and  forming 
with  its  narrow  margin,  which  is 
directed  towards  the  optic  nerve, 
a  pulley  for  the  long  tendon  of 
the  m.  pyramidalis.  The  latter 
arises  from  the  nasal  or  median 
surface  of  the  eyeball,  passes  into 
a  tendon,  which  runs  above  the    „   .  ,     ...       „.,.  ,  . 

,             ,      ,            .,  Bram);  ciiia  res,  Ciliary  nerves  supplying  the 

optic  nerve  through  the  pulley  and  internal  muscles  of  the  eye,  e.g.  Crampton's 

goes  over    on   the  anterior    side  of  muscle  ;— the  swelling  at  the  root  of  these 

the    eye    into    the   nictitating  mem-  nerves  is  the  ciliary  ganglion. 

Irane.  The  latter  is  a  transparent,  slightly  whitish  membrane, 
which  arises  with  a  broad  base  from  the  upper  outer  margin  of  the 
eye  as  a  duplication  of  the  conjunctiva.      Contraction  of  the  pyra- 


Vextral  View  of  the  Nerves  of  the 
Left  Eyeball  of  Rhea  americana. 

V.i.i.  First  branch  of  uervus  trigeminus  : 
VI,  Nervus  abducens,  innervating  the  mus- 
culus rectus  externus,  m.  pyramidalis,  and 
m.  quadratus ;  R.s.  R.inf.  R.int.  Obi.  inf. 
Branches  of  the  nervus  oculomotorius    (see 


234  EYE 

midal  muscle  pulls  the  nictitating  membrane  obliquely  over  the 
anterior  surface  of  the  eye,  from  the  outer  lower  towards  the  upper 
inner  angle.  Contraction  of  the  quadrate  muscle  adjusts  this 
motion,  and  at  the  same  time  prevents  pressure  of  the  optic  nerve. 
During  relaxation  of  the  muscles  the  nictitating  membrane  with- 
draws through  its  own  elasticity. 

The  wpipefr  and  lower  eyelids  are  simply  folds  of  the  skin,  being 
attached  to  the  orbital  margins  and  hanging  over  the  eye.  The 
outer  surface  of  these  lids  is  sometimes  covered  with  fine  down-liko 
feathers,  as  in  Sula,  more  frequently,  however,  it  is  naked.  The 
margins  of  the  lids  carry  sometimes  rudimentary  feathers  without 
barbs  ;  such  eyelashes  being  especially  well  developed  in  the  Ostrich, 
the  Amazon  Parrots,  in  the  Hornbills,  and  Crotophaga.  The  inner 
surface  of  the  lids  is  transformed  into  a  sort  of  mucous  membrane, 
and  is  continuous  with  the  conjunctiva.  In  most  birds  only  the 
lower  eyelid  is  movable,  and  contains  frequently  a  rather  large 
saucer -shaped  cartilage,  the  so-called  "  tarsus  palpebralis  " ;  the  latter 
is  large  in  liatitse.  Birds -of -Prey,  and  Gallinas ;  but  is  absent  in 
Parrots.  The  eyelids  are  moved  by  a  circulai-  sphincter,  a  levator, 
and  a,  depressor  muscle,  which  partly  arise  from  the  walls  of  the  orbit, 
and  are  supplied  by  the  oculomotor  and  trigeminal  nerves.  In  all 
birds  the  margins  of  the  upper  and  lower  eyelids  are  fused  to- 
gether during  the  greater  part  of  their  embryonic  stage.  The  lids 
become  separated  either  shortly  before  the  bird  is  hatched,  as  is 
the  case  in  most  Nidifugae,  or  the  blind  condition  prevails  during 
a  longer  or  shorter  time  in  the  young  Nidicolse. 

Glands  of  the  eye.  The  surface  of  the  cornea  is  kept  moist  and 
bathed  by  the  secretions  of  two  glands  situated  within  the  orbit. 

The  lacrymal  gland  rests  as  a  mostly  small  roundish  and  reddish 
body  upon  each  eyeball  near  the  outer  or  hinder  corner  of  the  eye, 
and  opens  upon  the  inner  wall  of  the  eyelids  through  a  small 
slit ;  the  secretion,  the  tears  spread  over  the  cornea,  and  are  col- 
lected near  the  inner  corner  of  the  eye  through  two  slits  into  the 
wide  naso-lacrymal  canal,  which,  situated  below  the  skin  and 
between  the  lacrymal  and  nasal  bones,  opens  into  the  nasal  cavity 
immediately  above  the  choange  or  inner  nares. 

Besides  these  lacrymal  and  the  Nasal  glands  (q.v.)  birds 
possess  a  pair  of  so-called  Harderian  glands,  which  produce  a  slimy 
fluid,  which  escapes  below  the  nictitating  membrane  at  the  inner 
corner  of  the  eye.  This  gland  is  yellowish  white,  always  placed 
within  the  orbit  upon  the  median  and  upper  surface  of  the  eyeball, 
and  is  of  an  irregular,  often  considerable  size. 


FALCON 


F 

FALCON  (Latin,  Falco  ;  ^  French,  Fcmcon ;  Teutonic,  Folk  or 
Valken),  a  word  now  restricted  to  the  high-couraged  and  long- winged 
Birds-of-Prey  which  take  their  quarry  as  it  moves ;  but  formerly  it 
had  a  very  different  meaning,  being  by  the  naturalists  of  the  last 
and  even  of  the  j^resent  century  extended  to  a  great  number  of 
birds  comprised  in  the  genus  Falco  of  Linnaeus  and  writers  of  his 
day,"-^  while,  on  the  other  hand,  by  falconers,  it  was,  and  still  is, 
technically  limited  to  the  female  of  the  birds  employed  by  them  in 
their  vocation,  whether  "  long-mnged  "  and  therefore  "noble,"  or 
"  short- winged "  and  "ignoble." 

According  to  modern  usage,  the  majority  of  the  Falcons,  in  the 
sense  first  given,  may  be  separated  into  Jive  very  distinct  groups  : 
- — (1)  the  Falcons  pure  and  simple  {Falco  proper) ;  (2)  the  large 
northern  Falcons  (Hierofalco,  Cuvier)  ;  (3)  the  "Desert  Falcons" 
[Gennsea,  Kaup) ;  (4)  the  Merlins  {j^salon,  Kaup) ;  and  (5)  the 
Hobbies  {HypotriorcMs,  Boie).  The  precise  order  in  which  these 
should  be  I'anked  need  not  concern  us  here,  but  it  must  be  mentioned 
that  a  sixth  group,  the  Kestrels  {Tinnunculus,  Vieillot),  is  often 
added  to  them.  This,  however,  appears  to  be  justifiably  reckoned 
a  distinct  genus,  and  its  consideration  may  for  the  present  be  de- 
ferred. 

The  typical  Falcon  is  by  common  consent  allowed  to  be  that 
cosmopolitan  species  to  which  unfortunately  the  English  epithet 
"  peregrine  "  {i.e.  strange  or  wandering)  has  been  attached.  It  is  the 
Falco  peregrinus  of  Tunstall  (1771)  and  of  most  recent  ornithologists, 
though  some  ^  prefer  the  specific  name  communis  applied  by  J.  F. 
Gmelin  a  few  years  later  (1788)  to  a  bird  which,  if  his  diagnosis 
be  correct,  could  not  have  been  a  true  Falcon  at  all,  since  it  had 
yellow  ix'ides — a  colour  never  met  with  in  the  eyes  of  any  bird  now 

^  The  earliest  use  of  this  word,  which  is  unknown  to  classical  writers,  is  mT  ( gih^aju 
said  to  be  by  Servius   Honoratus  (circa  390-480  a.d.  )  in   his   notes  on  ^n.   J  J 

lib.  X.  vers.  145.     It  seems  possibly  to  be  the  Latinized  form  of  the  Teutonic 
Folk,  though /afe  is  commonly  accounted  its  root. 

-  The  nomenclature  of  nearly  all  the  older  writers  on  this  point  is  extremely 
confused,  and  the  attempt  to  unravel  it  would  hardly  repay  the  trouble,  and 
would  undoubtedly  occupy  more  space  than  could  here  be  allowed.  What  many 
of  them,  even  so  lately  as  Pennant's  time,  termed  the  "Gentle  Falcon"  is  cer- 
tainly the  bird  we  now  call  the  Gos-Hawk  {i.e.  Goose-Hawk),  which  name  itself 
may  have  been  transferred  to  the  Astur  2}cclumbarius  of  modern  ornithologists, 
from  one  of  the  long- winged  Birds-of-Prey. 

•'  Among  them  Dr.  Sharpe,  who,  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Catalogue  of  the 
Birds  in  the  British  Museum;  has  besides  rejected  much  of  the  evidence  that  the 
experience  of  those  who  have  devoted  years  of  study  to  the  Falcons  has  supplied. 


236 


FALCON 


called  by  naturalists  a  "  Falcon."  This  species  inhabits  suitable 
localities  throughout  the-  greater  part  of  the  globe,  though  examples 
from  North  America  haA^e  by  some  received  specific  recognition  as 
F,  anatum — the  "  Duck-Hawk,"  and  those  from  Australia  have  been 
described  as  distinct  under  the  name  of  F.  melanogenys.     Here,  as 

in  so  many  other  cases, 
it  is  almost  impossible 
to  decide  as  to  Avhich 
forms  should,  and 
which  should  not,  be 
accounted  merely  local 
races.  In  size  not  sur- 
passing a  Raven,  this 
Falcon  is  perhaps  the 
most  poAverful  Bird-of- 
Prey  for  its  bulk  that 
flies,  and  its  courage  is 
not  less  than  its  power. 
It  is  the  species,  in 
Europe,  most  com- 
monly trained  for  the 
sport  of  hawking. 
Volumes  have  been 
written  upon  it,  and 
to  attempt  a  complete 
account  of  it  is,  within 
the  limits  now  avail- 
able, impossible.  The 
plumage  of  the  adult  is  generally  blackish-blue  above,  and  white,  with 
a  more  or  less  deep  cream-coloured  tinge,  beneath — the  lower  parts, 
except  the  chin  and  throat,  being  barred  transversely  with  black, 
while  a  black  patch  extends  from  .the  bill  to  the  ear-coverts,  and 
descends  on  either  side  beneath  the  mandible.  The  young  have  the 
upper  parts  deep  blackish-brown,  and  the  lower  Avhite,  more  or  less 
strongly  tinged  with  ochraceous-brown,  and  striped  longitudinally 
Avith  blackish-brown.  From  Port  Kennedy,  the  most  northern  part  of 
the  American  continent,  to  Tasmania,  and  from  the  shores  of  the  Sea 
of  Ochotsk  to  Mendoza  in  the  Argentine  territory,  there  is  scarcely  a 
country  in  which  this  Falcon  has  not  been  found.  Specimens  have 
been  received  from  the  Cape  of  Good  HoiDe,  and  it  is  only  a  ques- 
tion of  the  technical  differentiation  of  species,  whether  it  does  not 
extend  to  Cape  Horn.  Fearless  as  it  is,  and  adapting  itself  to 
almost  every  circumstance,  it  will  place  its  eyry  as  ecpially  on 
sea-washed  cliffs,  craggy  mountains,  or  (though  more  rarely)  the 
drier  spots  of  a  marsh  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  as  on  trees  (says 
Schlegel)  in  the  forests  of  Java,  or  in  the  waterless  ravines  of  Aus- 


Peregrine  Falcok.    (After  Wolf.) 


FALCON  237 


tralia.  In  the  United  Kingdom  it  was  formerly  very  common,  and 
hardly  a  high  rock  from  the  Shetlands  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  but  had 
a  pair  as  its  tenants.  But  the  British  gamekeeper  has  long  held 
the  mistaken  faith  that  it  is  his  Avorst  foe,  and  the  number  of  pairs 
which  are  now  allowed  to  rear  their  brood  unmolested  in  these 
islands  must  be  small  indeed.  Yet  its  utility  to  the  game- 
preserver,  by  destroying  those  of  his  precious  wards  that  shew  any 
sign  of  infirmity,  can  hardly  be  questioned  by  reason,  and  no  one 
has  more  earnestly  urged  its  claims  to  protection  than  Mr. 
G.  E.  Freeman  {Falconry  &c.  p.  1 0).^  Nearly  allied  to  this  Falcon 
are  several  species  of  which  it  is  impossible  here  to  treat  at  length, 
such  as  F.  harbarus  of  Mauritania,  F.  minor  of  South  Africa,  the 
Asiatic  F.  babi/lonicus,  F.  ])eregrinator  of  India — the  "  Shaheen,"  and 
perhaps  F.  cassini  of  South  America,  with  some  others. 

Next  to  the  typical  Falcon  comes  a  group  known  as  the  "  great 
northern "  Falcons  {Hierofalco).  Of  these  the  most  remarkable  is 
the  Gyrfalcon,  F.  gyrfalcn,  whose  home  is  in  the  Scandinavian 
mountains,  though  the  young  are  yearly  visitants  to  the  plains  of 
Holland  and  Germany.  In  plumage  it  very  much  resembles  F. 
peregrinus,  but  its  flanks  have  generally  a  bluer  tinge,  and  its 
superiority  in  size  is  at  once  manifest.  Nearly  allied  to  it  is  the 
Icelander,  F.  islandus,  which  externally  differs  in  its  paler  colour- 
ing, and  in  almost  entirely  wanting  the  black  mandibular  patch. 
Its  proportions,  however,  differ  a  good  deal,  its  body  being  elongated. 
Its  country  is  shewn  by  its  name,  but  it  also  inhabits  South  Green- 
land, and  not  unfrequently  makes  its  way  to  the  British  Islands. 
Very  close  to  this  comes  the  Greenland  Falcon,  F.  candicans,  a 
native  of  North  Greenland,  and  perhaps  of  other  countries  within 
the  Arctic  circle.  Like  the  last,  the  Greenland  Falcon  from  time 
to  time  occurs  in  the  United  Kingdom,  but  it  is  always  to  be  dis- 
tinguished by  wearing  a  plumage  in  Avhich  at  every  age  the  prevail- 
ing coloiu"  is  pure  white.  In  North-Eastern  America  these  birds 
are  replaced  by  a  kindred  form,  F.  labradorus,  first  detected  by 
Audubon,^  and  lately  recognized  by  Mr.  Dresser  (Orn.  Miscell.  i.  p. 

^  It  is  not  to  be  inferred,  however,  as  many  writers  have  done,  that  Falcons 
habitually  prey  upon  birds  in  which  disease  has  made  any  serious  progress.  Such 
birds  meet  their  fate  from  the  less  noble  Accipitres,  or  predatory  animals  of  many 
kinds,  their  death  being  often  caused  by  the  parasites  which  infest  them,  for  no 
sooner  is  the  condition  of  their  "  host "  lowered  than  they  gain  an  incieased  power 
and  multiply  in  numbers.  But  when  a  bird  is  first  affected  by  any  disorder,  its 
power  of  taking  care  of  itself  is  at  once  impaired,  and  hence  in  the  majority  of 
cases  it  may  become  an  easy  victim  under  circumstances  which  would  enable  a 
perfectly  sound  bird  to  escape  from  the  attack  even  of  a  Falcon. 

-  Recent  American  authors  call  this  form  F.  sacer,  identifying  it  with  the 
"Speckled  Partridge-Hawk"  of  J.  R.  Forster  {Phil.  Trans.  Ixii.  p.  383)  which 
he  wrongly  referred  to  the  '■'  Sacre"  of  Brisson  {Orn.  i.  p.  337),  though  stating 
that  its  "  irides  are  yellow  ",  a  fact  which  shews  it  to  have  been  a  Gos-hawk ! 


238  FALLO  W-CHA  T—FANTAIL 

135).  It  is  at  once  distinguished  by  its  very  dark  colouring,  the 
lower  parts  being  occasionally  almost  as  deeply  tinted  at  all  ages 
as  the  upper. 

All  the  birds  hitherto  named  possess  one  character  in  common. 
The  darker  markings  of  their  plumage  are  longitudinal  before  the 
first  real  moult  takes  place,  and  for  ever  afterwards  are  transverse. 
In  other  words,  when  young  the  markings  are  in  the  form  of  stripes, 
when  old  in  that  of  bars.  The  variation  of  tint  is  very  great, 
especially  in  F.  peregrinus ;  but  the  exj^erience  of  falconers,  whose 
business  it  is  to  keep  their  birds  in  the  very  highest  condition, 
shews  that  a  Falcon  of  either  of  these  groups  if  light- coloured  in 
youth  is  light-coloured  when  adult,  and  if  dark  when  young  is  also 
dark  when  old — age,  after  the  first  moult,  making  no  difference  in 
the  complexion  of  the  bird.  The  next  group  is  that  df  the  so- 
called  "  Desert -Falcons "  {Gennsea),  wherein  the  difference  just 
indicated  does  not  obtain,  for  long  as  the  bird  may  live  and  often 
as  it  may  moult,  the  original  style  of  markings  never  gives  way  to 
any  other.  Foremost  among  these  are  to  be  considered  the  Lanner 
and  the  Saker  (commonly  termed  F.  lanarius  and  F.  sacer),  both 
well  known  in  the  palmy  days  of  Falconry,  but  only  within  the  last 
fifty  years  or  so  re-admitted  to  full  recognition.  Both  of  these 
birds  belong  properly  to  South-eastern  Europe,  North  Africa, 
and  South-western  Asia.  They  are,  for  their  bulk,  less  powerful 
than  the  members  of  the  preceding  group,  and  though  they  may 
be  trained  to  high  flights  are  naturally  captors  of  humbler  game. 
The  precise  number  of  species  belonging  here  is  very  doubtful,  but 
among  the  many  candidates  for  recognition  are  especially  to  be 
named  the  Lugger,  F.  jugger,  of  India,  and  the  Prairie-Falcon, 
F.  mexicanus,  of  the  western  plains  of  North  America. 

The  systematist  finds  it  hard  to  decide  in  what  group  he  should 
place  two  somewhat  large  Australian  species,  F.  hypoleucus  and  F. 
subniger,  both  of  which  are  rare  in  collections — the  latter  especially  ; 
and,  until  more  is  known  about  them,  their  position  must  remain 
doubtful. 

FALLOW-CHAT,  a  local  name  of  the  Wheatear. 

F  ANT  AIL,  the  name  of  a  well-known  breed  of  domestic 
Doves,  but  also  given  by  the  English  in  India,  Australia,  and 
New  Zealand  to  several  species  of  the  genus  FJiijpidura  of  Vigors 
and  Horsfield,  supposed  to  belong  to  the  Family  Muscicapidx 
(Flycatcher),  and  containing  more  than  thirty  species  which  have 
the  habit  of  expanding  their  tail,  generally  a  much -developed 
feature,  by  a  sidelong  flirt.  By  some  the  Indian  and  Malayan 
forms  are  separated  as  a  genus  Leucocerca  {cf.  Jerdon,  B.  Ind.  i.  pp. 
450-454;  Gould,  Handb.  B.  Austral  i.  pp.  237-246).i 

^  Fantail-WARBLER  is  a  name  that  has  been  given  to  the  CisHcola  schoenicola 


FASCEDDAR— FEATHERS  239 

FASCEDDAR  (Gaelic  Fasgadair,  a  squeezer),  the  bird  first 
described  in  English  as  the  Arctic  Gull,  for  which  the  name  of 
Richardson's  Skua  has  been  commonly  but  wrongly  appropriated. 

FAUVETTE,  a  French  word  especially  applied  by  Bufitbn  (Hist. 
Nat.  Ois.  V.  p.  117)  to  Avhat  is  now  known  to  be  the  female  of  the 
Orphean  Warbler,  Sylvia  orpliea,  and  with  some  qualification  to 
several  other  allied  species.  In  1831  Rennie  in  his  edition  of 
Montagu's  Ornithological  Dictionary  (p.  176)  tried  to  make  it  the 
English  name  of  what  had  hitherto  and  since  been  known  as  the 
Garden-WARBLER,  S.  salicaria  or  hortensis. 

FEATHER-POKE  (i.e.  pocket  or  bag  of  feathers)  a  common 
and  not  inappropriate  name  of  the  nest  of  the  Long-tailed  Tit- 
mouse, whence  it  has  been  transferred  to  the  builder. 

FEATHERS,  like  Claws,  spurs,  and  hairs,  are  horny  products 
of  the  epidermal  cells  of  the  skin,  and  may  consist  of  the  following 
parts: — (1)  a  Barrel  or  calamus;  (2)  a  principal  Shaft  or  ?7iac/w'5 ; 
(3)  an  Aftershaft  or  hyporhachis ;  (4)  Barbs  or  rami ;  (5)  Barbules 
or  radii;  and  (6)  Barbicels  or  cilia,  some  of  which  last  may  end  in 
Hooklets  or  hamuli.  The  calamus,  together  Avith  the  rhachis,  is 
often  called  the  main  stem,  quill,  or  scapus,  while  the  rami,  radii, 
and  cilia  compose  the  inner  and  outer  web,  vane,  or  vezilhmi  of  the 
feather. 

(1)  The  calamus  is  hollow  and  transparent:  its  base  is  the 
umbilicus  inferior,  whence  a  series  of  colourless  horny  "caps"^ 
extends  to  the  umbiliciform  pit  or  umbilicus  superior,  which  marks 
the  point  of  junction  with  the  rhachis  and  hyporhachis. 

(2)  The  rhachis  is  opaque,  filled  Avith  a  pithy  substance,  and 
roughly  quadrangular  in  transverse  section,  with  a  longitudinal 
furrow  along  its  inner  surface,  or  that  which  is  toAvai'ds  the  body. 

(3)  The  hyporhachis  is,  according  to  its  development  and  posi- 
tion, the  "  ventral  "  counterpart  of  the  rhachis,  and  may  bear  rami 
and  radii,  though  no  cilia ;  but  it  varies  considerably  in  diflferent 
birds.  For '  reasons  presently  to  be  given,  it  is  probably  not  a 
primitive  feature  but  one  acquired  secondarily ;  Avhile  its  absence 
in  many  forms  is  certainly  due  to  reduction. 

(4)  The  rami  or  harhs  consist  each  of  a  slender  lamella,  the  thin 
end  of  which  is  turned  toward  the  body,  while  its  upper  margin  is 
thicker  and  rounded.  The  lamellae  of  the  outer  web  though  shorter 
are  higher  and  stronger  than  those  of  the  inner  Aveb.  Their  number 
of  course  depends  chiefly  on  the  length  of  the  whole  feather :  on 

of  the  Mediterranean  basin,  a  little  bird  that  builds  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
nests  known. 

^  This  series  of  "  caps  "  has  no  name  in  English.     In  German  it  is  known  as 
die  Seele,  that  is,  the  "soul"  of  the  feather. 


240 


FEA  THERS 


the  inner  web  of  one  of  the  primaries  of  a  Crane  (Gh'us),  38  cm. 

long,  I  found  about  650. 

(5)  The  radii  or  harhules  are  attached  in  two  opposite  rows  to  the 

thick  upper  rim  of  the 
rami,  and  like  them  point 
toward  the  tip  of  the 
feather.  Each  radius  is  a 
thin  lamella,  about  1  mm. 
in  length,  the  upper  sur- 
face of  which  is  not,  how- 
ever, thickened  like  that 
of  the  rami,  but  doubled 
up.  Their  number  is 
enormous :  every  ramus 
of  the  Crane's  feather  just 
mentioned  bore  about 
600  pairs — making  nearly 
800,000  radii  for  the 
inner  web  alone,  and  cer- 
tainly moi'e  than  a  million 
for  the  whole  feather. 

(6)  The  cilia  or  harhicels 
with  their  hamuli  or  hoolcs 
are  outgrowths  of  the  radii. 
The  hamuli  are  of  the 
greatest  importance  in 
regard  to  the  faculty  of 
Flight,  because  by  their 
means  alone  the  radii,  and 
consequent^  the  rami, 
are  connected  to  form  a 
coherent  almost  air-tight 
surface.  The  hamuli  grow 
only  on  the  distal  rows  of 
the  radii,  that  is,  the  rows 
which  look  toward  the  tip 
of  the  feather,  and  those 
of  one  radius  reach  over 
and  hook  on  to  thedoubled- 
up  margin  of  the  radii 
(themselves  bookless)  of 
the   proximal   row  of  the 

next  ramus,  as  she^vn  in  the  opposite  figures.     Cilia  which  are  not 


Contour-Peathee,  with  Afteeshaft. 
Part  of  the  barrel  has  been  cut  away  to  shew  the 
series  of  homy  cups  (p)  continued  (as  p')  through  the 
umbilicifonii   pit,    whence   arises    the   Aftershaft.      D, 
downy  portion  of  the  web. 


furnished  Avith  hooks  frequently  have  shapes  which  may  possibly 
})rove  to  be  characteristic  of  different  groups  of  birds. 

From   their  varying  forms  feathers  are    usually  divided    into 


FEA  THERS 


241 


"  contour  feathers  "  (pennx  or  plumai),  "  downs  "  {plumule),  "  half- 
downs  "  (semiplumai) and  "hairlike  feathers"  (filophmiai),  hnt  numer- 
ous intermediate  stages  connect  these  principal  forms  ;  and  there 
must  also  be  added  as  a  special  feature  the  nestling  feathers. 

The  "  Contour-feathers,"  as  their  name  implies,  are  those  Avhich 
apjjear  on  the  sui'face  of  the  bird.     As  a  rule  they  have  a  com- 


Perspective  View  of  a  portion  of  two  adjacent  Barbs  (B,  B)  looking  from  the  Shaft 

towards  the  edge  of  the  feather. 
hd,  distal  barbules ;  hp,  proximal  barbules. 


Oblique  Section  through  the  Proximal  Barbules  in  a  plane  parallel  to  the  Distal 

Barbules  of  the  last  Figure. 

Letters  as  before  ;  1,  2,  3,  Baibicels  and  hamuli  of  the  ventral  side  of  the  distal  barbule  ; 

4,  Barbicels  of  the  dorsal  side  of  the  same,  without  hamuli. 

From  The  This,  188T,  plate  xii. 

paratively  strong  shaft,  Avith  lioth  inner  and  outer  Avebs  complete, 
and  they  attain  their  fullest  development  as  rectrices  and  remiges. 
Many  Contour-feathers,  especially  those  which  are  ornamental,  have 
no  cilia,  and  therefore  no  hamuli,  while  occasionally  the  radii  are 
rare,  so  that  their  webs  are  disconnected  and  have  a  more  or  less 
"fluffy"  appearance,  such  as  is  shcAvn  by  the  pectoral  tufts  of  the 
Birds-of-Paradise,  the  dorsal  plumes  of  the  Egrets,  and  the  crest 
of  the  Peacocks  and  Crowned  Cranes.     The  cilia  of  "  metallic  " 

16 


242  FEA  THERS 


feathers  consist  of  a  series  of  flattened  and  comparatively  thick 
compartmQnts  (see  Colour).  The  distal  part  of  the  rami  is  often 
broadened  and  modified  into  a  blue -producing  structure,  bearing 
no  cilia.  The  rhachis  of  some  of  the  median  rectrices  of  certain 
Birds-of-Paradise,  the  Lyre-bird,  and  others,  has  no  Aveb,  and 
consists  of  the  shaft  alone,  while  the  same  applies  to  the  rictal 
bristles  of  most  birds  and  the  eyelashes  of  those  that  possess  them, 
and  to  the  peculiar  strong  and  black  quills  of  the  Cassowaries'  wings. 
The  expanded  tip  of  the  shaft  of  some  feathers  which  gives  the 
Waxwing  its  well-known  name,  and  the  similar  structure  of  the 
neck -hackles  of  some  Gallinm,  are  sjiecial  modifications.  Nitzsch 
having  stated  [Pterylographie,  p.  17;  Engl.  ed.  p.  13)  that  the 
Contour-feathers  of  Struthio  and  Rhea  have  no  cilia  or  hamuli,  and 
that  radii  ^  are  wanting  on  some  of  the  rami  in  Casuarius  and 
Dromxus,  the  assertion  has  been  often  repeated  as  shewing  an 
important  difierential  character  between  Carinatx  and  Puititse,  and 
assigning  a  more  primitive  stage  to  the  plumage  of  the  latter.  But 
Fiirbringer  has  pointed  out  (Beitrdge,  p.  1482)  that  the  statement 
needs  considerable  qualification.  In  fact,  the  remiges  of  Bhea  have 
numerous  though  small  cilia,  some  of  them  even  ending  in  hooklike 
nodules,  while  the  nestling-feathers  are  abundantly  furnished  with 
well-developed  cilia.  The  double  shafts  of  Dromseus  and  Casuarius 
carry  rami  only  on  their  distal  portion,  but  the  more  basal  rami 
of  both  webs  bear  numerous  radii.  The  same  applies  to  the 
plumage  of  the  Penguins.  We  have  therefore  to  conclude  that 
the  feathers  of  the  Eatitse  and  Spheniscidse  have  undergone  a 
degenerating  process  through  the  loss  of  hamuli,  cilia,  and  occa- 
sionally of  radii — a  reduction  that  is  most  apparent  on  the  remiges, 
but  finding  a  parallel  in  numerous  instances  of  reduced  Contour- 
feathers. 

The  "  Downs "  are  almost  always  concealed  by  the  Contour- 
feathers,  and  are  smaller,  more  fluffy,  and  more  numerous.  They 
may  be  characterized  by  the  absence  of  hamuli,  though  generally 
possessing  all  the  other  parts  of  a  typical  feather,  except  that  they 
frequently  have  no  rhachis,  in  which  case  all  their  long  rami  start 
at  the  same  level  from  a  short  calamus.  They  thus  approach  the 
condition  of  the  so-called  nestling-feathers  of  many  birds,  and  it 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  Downs  represent  a  lower  or  more  primi- 
tive stage  than  Contour-feathers,  although  of  course  many  Downs 
are  elaborate,  and  highly  specialized.  A  peculiarly  modified  kind 
are  the  Powder-downs. 

The  "  Filoplumes  "  consist  of  a  short  calamus  and  a  very  thin 

hairlike  rhachis  Math  few  or  no  rami.     Such  feathers  are  always 

associated  with  Contour-feathers,  close  to  the  base  of  which  one  or 

1  There  is  an  accidental  misprint  in  the  English  version  of  the  passage  {loc. 

cit.)  of  "barbicels"  for  barbules. 


FEA  THERS 


243 


more  Filoplumes  arise.  Their  development  shews  them  to  be 
degenerate  and  not  primitive  feathers.  In  most  cases  they  are 
concealed,  but  not  unfrequently  a  few  elongated  Filoplumes  project 
beyond  the  feathers  of  the  neck,  as  in  Fringilla,  Sylvia,  Turdus,  and 
above  all  in  Criniger.  According  to  Nitzsch,  the  delicate  white 
feathers  on  the  neck  and  thighs  of  the  Cormorant  in  breeding- 
plumage  are  comparatively  little  degenerated  and  rather  specialized 
Filoplumes. 

The  first  clothing  of  the  newly-hatched  bird  consists  of  more 
or  fewer  soft  feathers,  on  the  whole  resembling  the  Downs  of  adult 
birds ;  but  possessing  several  characters  which  make  it  advisable  to 
distinguish  them,  by  the  name  of  "  Neossop tiles  "  (veoo-o-os,  a  chick), 
from  those  feathers  which  subsequently  appear,  and  may  be  called 
"  Teleoptiles  "  (reAeos,  mature),  the  former  being  as  it  were  the  first 
generation  to  which  others  follow  in  constant  succession  (Moult),  so 
long  as  the  bird  lives. 

Neossoptiles  are  characterized  by  (1)  a  very  short  calamus,  (2) 
an  insignificant  or  ill-defined  rhachis — if  there  be  one  at  all,  (3) 
the  almost  universal  absence  of  cilia,  (4)  long  and  slender  rami,  and 
(5)  absence  of  an  aftershaft,  except  in  Dromseus.  To  the  combina- 
tion of  these  characters  is  due  the  soft  or  downy  structure  of  these 
feathers. 

Teleoptiles,  whether  Contour-feathers  or  Downs,  are  each  originally 
preceded  by  a  Neossoptile,  the  base  of  which  is  in  direct  continuity 
with  the  tips  of  the  rami  of  its  succeeding  final  feather ;  but,  owing 
to  a  shortened  process  of  development  or  csenogenetic  conditions 
(as  before  described,  p.  14),  many,  or  even  all  Neossoptiles  may 
occasionally  be  suppressed,  so  that  the  tips  of  the  first  feathers 
which  appear  are  actually  those  of  the  second  generation.  This  is 
the  case  with  Passeres,  and  many  of  the  other  NiDlCOL^  which  breed 
in  holes,  and  thus  seem  not  to  need  a  nestling  plumage.  In  these 
{Passeres  and  Psittaci  especially)  the  Neossoptiles,  complicated 
structures  as  they  are,  grow  on  but  a  few  parts — notably  on  the 
top  of  the  head,  the  humeral  and  spinal  tracts.  Subsequently  they 
appear  on  the  extremity  of  the  future  wing  and  tail-quills,  but 
they  are  very  sparse  on  the  ventral  surface.  In  the  Kingfishers 
and  Woodpeckers,  and  probably  in  other  PlCARliE,  the  Neossoptiles 
are  almost  Avholly  suppressed.  On  the  whole,  this  plumage  is  best 
developed  in  the  Nidifug^,  and  is  naturally  thickest  in  those  of 
them  which  early  take  to  an  aquatic  life ;  but  it  is  thick  at  the 
time  of  hatching  in  Piatitse,  Gallinx,  Spheniscidai,  Anseres,  Phoeni- 
coptenis,  Cohjmbo-Podicipedes,  Laro-Limicolae,  Pterocleidse  and  Gixdlse,  as 
well  as  in  Accipitres  and  Striges  among  the  Nidicolse,  while  on  the 
other  hand  in  the  majority  of  the  last — even  in  the  Pelargi, 
Herodii,  and  Steganopodes — it  is  at  birth  very  scanty  or  even  absent. 
Lastly,  in  the  Megapodiidie-  the  Neossoptiles  are  cast  off  before  the 


244 


FEA  THERS 


birds  are  hatched,  so  that  they  are  born  clothed  in  a  plumage  of 
the  second  generation. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  nesting  habits  and  various 
other  circumstances  are  closely  correlated  with  the  condition  of 
the  first  plumage,  and  that  this,  taken  as  a  Avhole,  can  only  be 
used  as  a  taxonomic  character  with  great  caution,  Avhile  its  con- 
stituent parts,  the  Neossoptiles  themselves,  are  far  less  adaptive 
and  therefore  afford  surer  characters. 

The  following  types  of  Neossoptiles  may  be  distinguished: — 
(1)  The  loAvest  and  most  primitive  type  is  that  of  the  Columhai, 
and  probably  of  various  Limkolae.     A  newly-hatched  Pigeon  looks 


Feather  of  Nestling  (Nycticorax).    Magnified. 

1.  Sh.  Horny  sheath,  not  wholly  shed,  enclosing  the  base  of  eleven  rami.     Natural  size. 

2.  Single  ramus  of  the  same,  supported  by  a  ramus  of  the  Teleoptile. 

very  naked  because  each  of  its  long  feathers  has  a  bristle-like 
appearance,  being  still  enclosed  in  its  sheath.  When  this  is  shed 
the  feather  spreads  out  in  form  of  a  brush,  composed  of  about  seven 
long  and  thin  uniform  branches,  beset  with  very  few  lateral  rays, 
and  all  springing  without  any  rhachis  from  a  short  cylindrical 
portion,  representing  the  calamus,  which  passes  into  the  tips  of  the 
as  yet  hardly  begun  Teleoptile. 

(2)  In  Ciconia,  Coli/mbus,  Nycticorax,  Plmnicopterns,t\\(i  Sjiheniscidx, 
and  in  Sxda,  the  Neossoptile  consists  of  a  very  short  calamus, 
whence  spring  about  a  dozen  long  and  delicate  rami,  each  of  which 


FEA  THERS  245 


is  beset  with  two  series  of  numerous  radii,  forming  a  fluffy  plumage 
which  is  still  more  characteristic  of  the  young  in  AccijLntres,  Fasseres, 
I'sittaci,  and  Striges. 

(3)  In  Gallinai  there  are  from  10  to  12  somewhat  stiff  radius- 
bearing  rami,  springing  from  a  slender  rhachis. 

(4)  In  Anseres  a  feeble  rhachis  bears  all  the  biserially  radiated 
rami,  forming  feathers  which  closely  resemble  the  Downs  of  mature 
birds,  and  are  devoid  of  an  Aftershaft. 

The  Neossoptiles  differ  much  in  the  various  groups  of 
liatitx.  In  Struthio  they  attain  a  length  of  10  cm.,  and  consist  of 
a  calamus  1  cm.  long,  which  may  carry  as  many  as  30  rami,  each 
biserially  beset  Avith  radii,  and  these  again  are  furnished  with  cilia. 
The  distal  part  of  some  of  the  rami  is  flattened  and  bears  no  radii. 
In  the  absence  of  any  trace  of  rhachis  these  feathers  agree  with 
our  second  type.  In  lihea  the  Neossoptiles  measure  6  cm.  in 
length  and  are  composed  of  a  feeble  shaft  carrying  numerous  rami 
with  their  radii — the  tips  of  the  former  being  split  into  two  or 
three  thickened  ends.  In  Casuarius  each  primitive  feather  consists 
of  a  long  and  slender  rhachis  bearing  two  series  of  rami,  and  con- 
sequently resembling  exactly  one-half  of  the  double  Final  feather. 
In  Dromaius  each  Neossoptile,  which  may  be  4  cm.  long,  has  a 
short  calamus  carrying  a  long  dorsal  rhachis  and  a  much  shorter 
ventral  Aftershaft — each  of  them  furnished  Avith  from  5  to  9  rami 
measuring  from  1  to  2  cm.  in  length,  and  these  again  beset  Avith 
numerous  radii  Avithout  cilia.  This  is  the  only  known  instance  of 
a  Neossoptile  with  an  appendage,  and  it  is  significant  that  the 
latter  is  smaller  than  the  principal  shaft,  and  only  in  its  final  stage 
equals  the  rhachis  in  size. 

If  Ave  consider  the  condition  of  the  various  types  of  Neosso- 
ptiles, above  described,  Avith  reference  to  the  presence  or  absence 
of  an  Aftershaft  in  the  Teleoptiles,  Ave  are  led  to  conclude  that 
this  appendage,  and  consequently  ,.,-t3=lfF^ 

also  the  double  feathers  of  certain  .y^^^^^^^y 

Ratitx,    are    secondarily    acquired  ^.^^^^^'-^'-^f^^cM^^'^ 

and  not  primitive  features.  ^2^5^^$^^;^'  .j'V^ 

The  first  indications  of  _f eathers  '^^^i^^^^^::^  ^ 
appear  about  the  fifth  or  sixth  day  'T    ^J^-^^i^x^s^  '-j^  ' 

of  incubation  as  slight  pimples  on  P       -^ 

the  still  semi-transparent  skin  of        longitudinal  Section  of  an  early 

,1  T  TT"      1         •         1      •  Feather-papilla.     Magnified. 

the  embryo.     ii,ach  pmiple  is  pro-        „„.,.,.         ,,,,,.  i. 

"'  ri  111  ^1  Bpitncnium ;    iV,   Malpighian  cells; 

duced  by  a  cluster  of  dermal  cells,  p_  puip  .  sx.  stratum  comeum ;  *,  Place 
covered    by     a     feAV    layers    of    epi-     wliere  the  Malpigluan  cells  grow  downward 

dermal    cells,    the    outermost    of    *«  form  the  foiiicie. 
which  forms  a  single  layer  of  flattened  cells,  the  epitrichium,  AA^hile 
the   rest,  the   stratum  Malpighii  projjer,    are   cylindrical  and   soon 
increase    to    form    several    layers.       All    the    cells    of    the    whole 


246 


FEA  THERS 


Sh. 


owing 
ward 


pimple  or  "  feather-papilla  "  multiply  rapidly  and  cause  it  to  take 

the  shape  of   a  cone, 
the    apex     of     which 
is  directed  backward. 
The  base  of  the  papilla 
then  sinks  more  deeply 
into  the   skin,  chiefly 
to    the    down- 
growth    of    the 
mass    of    Malpighian 
cells,    which    arrange 
themselves    into    two 
halves — an   ( 1 )   outer 
one,  lining  the  invagin- 
ated  mass  of  cells  of 
the  "feather -follicle" 
and  directly  continuous 
with   the    Malpighian 
stratum  at  the  surface ; 
and  (2)  an  inner  one 
which,  like  a  mantle, 
surrounds    the   whole 
central    mass.       This 
mass    or     "  pulp "    is 
wholly   a    product  of 
the  cutis,,  and  therefore 
of  mesodermal  origin, 
and  its  upper  portion 
meshwork     which    is 
the  nutrition  of  the 


Longitudinal  Section  of  a  very  young  Teleoptile 
OF  A  Pigeon.    Maguifled. 

C,  Cutis ;  E,  Epitrichium ;  M,  Malpighian  cells ;  JfiiVj, 
Middle  stratum  of  inner  half  of  the  Malpighian  mass  of  cells  ; 
M.F.  Outer  half  of  Malpighian  cells  forming  the  follicle  ;  P, 
Pulp  ;  R-ni,  Rami  ;  Sh.  Sheath  ;  ,5f.c.F. Stratum  corneum  of  the 
follicle  continued  into  St.c.  at  the  surface  of  the  skin. 

is    gradually    transformed    into    a    delicate 
filled  with  blood — the  plasma  necessary  for 
epidermal  parts.     In  fact,  the  pulp  is 
the    nutritive    organ    of    the    Avhole 
feather.  ,/'■• 

The  mantle  of  Malpighian  cells 
which  surrounds  the  pulp  differentiates 
itself  into  three  strata  of  unequal  thick- 
ness. The  innermost  and  thinnest 
sti'atum  forms  a  transparent  sheath  for 
the  pulp,  and  persists  ultimately  as 
the  series  of  "  caps  "  or  "  soul "  before 
mentioned.  The  middle  stratum  is 
the  thickest  and  becomes  the  feather 
itself,  while  the  outermost  forms  a 
transparent  and  coherent  cylindrical 
sheath,  which  encloses  the  grooving 
feather,  giving  it  its  well-known  spine-like  appearance,  until,  peehng 


Transverse  Section  of  the  same 
Feather  through  MiM-^.  Magnified. 
A.S.  Cells  forming  the  future  After- 
shaft  ;  C,  Cutis  ;  P.M.  Malpighian  cells 
of  tlie  follicle ;  P.S.  Cells  of  the  prin- 
cipal shaft ;  R,  Rami ;  .''/(.  Sheath  ; 
St.c.F.  Stratum  corneum  of  the  follicle. 


FEA  THERS  247 


off  as  scurf,  it  sets  free  the  rami  of  the  young  product.  While 
the  papilla  grows  to  the  length  the  young  feather  is  to  reach,  the 
cells  of  the  middle  stratum  arrange  themselves  in  longitudinal  rows, 
causing  the  pulp  to  assume  in  transverse  section  a  somewhat  star- 
shaped  appearance.  These  rows  are  transformed  into  the  hair-like 
rami  of  which  most  Neossoptiles  consist,  and  their  formation  pro- 
ceeds from  the  apex  downwards,  while  the  radii  seem  to  be 
produced  by  secondary  splitting.  Ultimately  all  the  rami  meet 
at  the  base  of  the  feather  and  there  form,  with  the  basal 
portion  of  the  sheath,  a  very  short  cylindrical  tube,  which  is  the 
calamus  of  the  Neossoptile,  while  the  pulp  having  fulfilled  its 
function  has  withdrawn  towards  the  base  of  the  follicle,  leaving 
only  its  horny  sheath  in  the  form  just  above  stated,  its  projecting 
portion. 

The  development  of  the  feathers  of  adults  is  merely  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  process  now  described,  because  each  Teleoptile  is 
produced  by  the  same  pulp  and  Malpighian  cells  as  gave  rise  to 
its  predecessor  of  the  first  generation.  '  The  short  calamus  of 
a  Neossoptile  is  not  closed  at  its  base,  but  is  again  split  into  a 
number  of  columns  of  cells,  which  though  not  yet  horny  are  the 
tips  of  the  rami  of  its  successor.  As  a  rule  the  whole  follicle 
sinks  deeper  into  the  skin,  and  thus  comes  to  lie  in  a  sort  of 
pocket,  which,  occasionally  reaching  the  periosteum  of  underlying 
bones,  produces  on  the  ulna  the  well-known  roughnesses  that 
correspond  with  the  number  of  cubital  quills. 

Those  papillae  which  give  rise  to  the  larger  feathers,  such  as 
the  rectrices,  become  much  thickened  and  greatly  elongated,  each 
being  surrounded  by  a  horny  sheath  which  peals  off  as  the  feather 
attains  maturity.  A  transverse  section  shews  nearly  the  same 
conditions  as  those  of  the  growing  Neossoptiles,  but  both  on  the 
dorsal  and  ventral  side  are  two  columns  longer  than  the  rest, 
and  especially  the  two  on  the  former  which  are  transformed  into 
the  rhachis,  while  the  two  on  the  latter  give  rise  to  the  hypo- 
rhachis.  The  intermediate  columns  and  their  secondarily -split 
parts  form  the  rami.  A  transverse  section  of  the  growing  feathers 
shews  that  both  rhachis  and  hyporhachis  pass  into  the  calamus, 
but  that  the  former  occupies  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  ring, 
or  the  whole  of  it  when  there  is  no  hyporhachis.  It  is  moreover 
observable  in  an  entire  quill  that  the  rami  of  both  outer  and  inner 
webs  converge  toward  the  ventral  side  and  ultimately  surround  the 
umbiliciform  pit.  In  fact,  the  rhachis  is  only  a  vast  elongation 
and  thickening  of  more  than  the  dorsal  half  of  the  growing  ^ 
calamus  which  during  its  rapid  increase  carries  with  it  most  of  the 
rami,  while  only  those  nearest  the  ventral  median  line  of  the  quill 
remain  in  their  original  position,  unless  an  hyporhachis  be 
developed  as    a   ventral    elongation   of   the   calamus.       The    pulp 


248  FEDOA— FEMUR 


extends  through  the  umbiliciform  pit  along  the  ventral  side  of  the 
rhachis  to  its  tip,  but  the  part  within  the  calamus  being  expanded 
shrivels  in  the  way  before  described.  When  the  apex  of  the 
feather  is  finished,  and  its  elements  have  become  horny  and  firm, 
the  outer  follicular  sheath  bursts  from  the  tip  backward,  so  as 
to  liberate  the  rami,  but  these  continue  to  carry  the  Neossoptile 
until  after  a  longer  or  shorter  time  it  is  rubbed  off".  Part  of  the 
withdrawn  follicle,  consisting  of  the  pulp  and  the  mantle  of  Mal- 
pighian  cells,  remains  in  a  dormant  condition  until  the  time  of 
Moult  awakens  it  to  renewed  action,  when  the  old  feather  is 
pushed  out  and  a  new  one  produced  in  its  place.  These  feathers 
from  the  second  generation  onward  are  not  in  direct  continuity 
mth  their  successors,  for  the  base  of  the  calamus  or  umhilicus 
inferio)-  becomes  more  or  less  constricted  and  is  closed  by  a  plug 
formed  by  the  lowest  caps  of  the  now  retired  pulp ;  though  in 
Dromxus  and  Casuarius  the  tip  of  each  new  feather  extends  into 
the  short  calamus  of  its  predecessor,  which  as  it  is  being  pushed 
out  still  adheres  to  its  successor,  so  that  these  birds  for  a  long  time 
Avear  their  old  coat  over  their  new  one.  The  reproductive  power 
of  this  follicle  seems  to  be  unlimited  unless  it  be  mechanically 
injured.  It  is  hardly  diminished  by  age,  but  is  affected  at  once  by 
want  of  food  or  wrong  diet.  It  is  well  known  that  the  action  of 
the  follicle  is  generally  revived  by  the  accidental  loss  of  a  feather, 
so  that,  regardless  of  its  being  in  the  season  of  Moult  or  not,  the 
missing  feather  is  speedily  replaced — a  matter  of  great  importance 
to  a  bird  Avhen  its  life  may  depend  upon  its  undiminished  power 
of  flight.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  so  generally  known  that 
the  enormously-developed  rectrices  of  the  Cocks  of  some  Japanese 
poultry  are  artificially  produced  by  the  Moult  being  checked,  in 
some  way  at  present  unknown  to  Europeans,  so  that  the  feathers 
instead  of  being  shed  go  on  continuously  growing  and  reach  the 
length  of  ten  or  twelve  feet. 

FEDOA,  the  Latinized  form  of  some  English  name  of  the 
GODWIT,  now  lost  apparently  beyond  recovery,  but  so  written  by 
Turner  in  1544.  From  him  the  word  got  into  ornithology,  where 
it  has  been  several  times  misapplied,  and  misunderstood.  The 
only  suggestion  as  to  its  origin  that  presents  itself  is  in  connexion 
with  the  fact  that  Godmts  used  to  be  caught  alive  and  fed  to 
fatten  them  for  the  table. 

FEMUR,  the  thigh-bone  made  up  of  the  globular  Head  articulat- 
ing with  the  acetabulum  of  the  pelvis,  and  connected  by  the  Neck 
with  the  Shaft,  which  terminates  in  an  outer  and  inner  Condyle  for 
articulation  with  the  TiBiA.  Between  these  condyles,  on  the  anterior 
side,  and  partly  imbedded  in  the  tendon  of  the  great  extensor 
muscle  lies  the  Patella.     On  the  median  side  of  the  proximal  end 


FERN-BIRD— FIELDFARE  249 

of  the   Shaft  there  is   often  a   small   pneumatic   foramen  for  the 
entrance  of  an  AlR-SAC  into  its  then  hollow  and  cancellated  interior. 

FERN-BIRD,  the  name  in  New  Zealand  of  SphencEacus  pundatus. 

FERN-OWL,  one  of  the  many  local  names  of  the  Nightjar. 

FIBULA,  the  bone  on  the  outer  side  of  the  Tibia,  thick  at  its 
proximal  end,  but  very  slender  and  pointed  towards  the  ankle-joint, 
which,  however,  is  never  normally  reached,  the  distal  portion  of  the 
Fibula  being  already  deficient  in  the  Embryo.  The  Fibula  and 
Tibia  are  frequently  more  or  less  coalescent. 

FIELDFARE,  Anglo-Saxon  Fealo-for  ( =  Fallow-farer),  a  large 
species  of  Thrush,  the  Turclus  pilaris  of  Linnaeus — well  known  as 
a  regular  and  common  autumnal  visitor  throughout  the  British 
Islands  and  a  great  part  of  Europe,  besides  Western  Asia,  and  even 
reaching  Northern  Africa.  It  is  the  Veldjakker  and  Veld-lyster  of 
the  Dutch,  the  JVachholderdrossel  and  Kramfsvogel  of  Germans,  the 
Litorne  of  the  French,  and  the  Cesena  of  Italians.  This  bii"d  is  of 
all  Thrushes  the  most  gregarious  in  habit,  not  only  migrating  in 
large  bands  and  keeping  in  flocks  during  the  winter,  but  even 
commonly  breeding  in  society — 200  nests  or  more  having  been 
seen  within  a  very  small  space.  The  birch-forests  of  Norway, 
Sweden,  and  Russia  are  its  chief  resorts  in  summer,  but  it  is  known 
also  to  breed  sparingly  in  some  districts  of  Germany.  Though  its 
nest  has  been  many  times  reported  to  have  been  found  in  Scotland, 
there  is  perhaps  no  record  of  such  an  incident  that  is  not  open  to 
doubt ;  and  unquestionably  the  Mistletoe-Thrush,  T.  viscivorus,  has 
been  often  mistaken  for  the  Fieldfare  by  indifferent  observers. 
The  head,  neck,  upper  part  of  the  back,  and  the  rump  are  grey ; 
the  wings,  Aving- coverts,  and  middle  of  the  back  are  rich  hazel- 
brown  ;  the  throat  is  ochraceous,  and  the  breast  reddish-brown — 
both  being  streaked  or  spotted  with  black,  while  the  belly  and 
lower  wing-coverts  are  white,  and  the  legs  and  toes  very  dark 
brown.  The  nest  and  eggs  resemble  those  of  the  Blackbird, 
T.  merula,  but  the  former  is  usually  built  high  up  in  a  tree.  The 
Fieldfare's  call-note  is  harsh  and  loud,  sounding  like  t'chat-t'cJiat : 
its  song  is  low,  twittering,  and  poor.  It  usually  arrives  in  Britain 
about  the  middle  or  end  of  October,  but  sometimes  earlier,  and 
often  remains  till  the  middle  of  May  before  departing  for  its 
northern  breeding-places.  In  hard  weather  it  throngs  to  the  berry- 
bearing  bushes  which  then  afford  it  sustenance,  but  in  open  winters 
the  flocks  spread  over  the  fields  in  search  of  animal  food — worms, 
mollusks,  and  the  larvae  of  insects.  In  very  severe  seasons  it  will 
altogether  leave  the  country,  and  then  return  for  a  shorter  or 
longer  time  as  spring  approaches.  From  the  author  of  JVilliam  of 
Palerne  to  the  writers  of  our  own  day  the  Fieldfare  has  occasionally 


250  FIG-EATER— FINCH 

been  noticed  by  British  poets  with  varying  propriety.  Thus 
Chaucer's  association  of  its  name  with  frost  is  as  happy  as  true, 
while  Scott  was  more  than  unlucky  in  his  well-known  reference  to 
its  "  lowly  nest "  in  the  Highlands. 

Structurally  very  like  the  Fieldfare,  but  differing  greatly  in 
many  other  respects,  is  the  bird  known  in  North  America  as  the 
"  Robin  " — its  ruddy  breast  and  familiar  habits  reminding  the 
early  Bi-itish  settlers  in  the  New  World  of  the  household  favourite 
of  their  former  homes.  This  bird,  the  Twrdns  migratorius  of 
Linnaeus,  has  a  ^nde  geographical  range,  extending  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  Greenland  to  Guatemala,  and, 
except  at  its  extreme  limits,  is  almost  everywhere  a  very  abundant 
species.^  As  its  scientific  name  imports,  it  is  essentially  a  migrant, 
and  gathers  in  flocks  to  pass  the  winter  in  the  south,  though  a  few 
remain  in  New  England  throughout  the  year.  Yet  its  social 
instincts  point  rather  in  the  direction  of  man  than  of  its  own  kind, 
and  it  is  not  known  to  breed  in  companies,  while  it  affects  the 
homesteads,  villages,  and  even  the  pai'ks  and  gardens  of  the  large 
cities,  where  its  fine  song,  its  attractive  plumage,  and  its  services  as 
a  destroyer  of  noxious  insects,  combine  to  make  it  justly  popular. 

FIG-EATER,  Ray's  rendering  in  1678  of  the  Italian  Beccafico, 
a  name  commonly  and  almost  indiscriminately  given  to  any  of  the 
little  birds  which  towards  autumn  resort  to  gardens,  whether  to  eat 
figs  or  not,  and  are  themselves  caught  by  various  devices,  to  be 
eaten  as  delicacies.  According  to  the  best  recent  authorities  the 
true  Beccafico  is  our  Garden-WARBLER,  Sylvia  salicaria  or  hortensis ; 
but  the  bird  which  Buffon  calls  by  the  corresponding  French  term, 
Bec-figue,  is  the  female  Pied  Flycatcher,  Miiscicapa  or  Ficedula 
atricapiUa — one  that  may  be  safely  said  never  to  eat  a  fig. 

FINCH  (German  Fink,  Latin  Fringilla),  a  name  applied  (but 
almost  always  in  composition — as  Bullfinch,  Chaffinch,  Gold- 
finch, Hawfinch,  and  so  forth)  to  a  great  many  small  birds  of 
the  Order  Fasseres,  and  now  pretty  generally  accepted  as  that  of  a 
group  or  Family — the  Fringillidx  of  most  ornithologists.  Yet  it  is 
one  the  extent  of  which  must  be  regarded  as  being  uncertain. 
Many  -writers  have  included  in  it  the  BUNTINGS  (Emherizidx), 
though  these  seem  to  be  quite  distinct,  and  the  gi'ounds  of  their 
separation  have  been  before  assigned,  as  well  as  the  Larks 
{Alaudidse),  the  Tanagers  (Tanagridx),  and  the  Weaver-birds 
(Ploceidse) — the  mode  in  which  these  last  three  differ  having  in  due 
time  to  be  shewn  in  these  pages.  Others  have  separated  from  it 
the  Crossbills,  under  the  title  of  Loxiidx,  but  without  due  cause, 

^  It  is  recorded  as  having  occurred  a  few  times  in  Europe,  and  once  even  in 
England  {Zool.  1877,  p.  14) ;  but  whether  in  any  case  it  has  been  a  voluntary 
visitor  is  doubtful. 


FINCH  251 

while  again  some  systematists  have  placed  among  the  Finches  the 
Mouse-birds  {Coliidx) — an  allocation  which  a  very  slight  study  of" 
osteological  characters  would  have  proved  to  be  unsound ;  and  a 
group  which  has  no  English  name,  including  probably  the  genei'a 
I'anurus  (the  so-called  Bearded  Titmouse),  Paradoxornis,  and,  per- 
haps, a  few  others,  has  also  been  occasionally  referred  to  the 
Finches,  but  to  all  appearance  erroneously.  The  difficulty  which 
at  this  time  presents  itself  in  regard  to  the  limits  of  the  Fringillidx 
arises  from  our  ignorance  of  the  anatomical  features,  especially 
those  of  the  head,  possessed  by  many  exotic  forms. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  Finches,  concerning  which  no  reasonable 
doubt  can  exist,  are  not  only  little  birds  with  a  hard  bill,  adapted 
in  most  cases  for  shelling  and  eating  the  various  seeds  that  form 
the  chief  portion  of  their  diet  when  adult,  but  they  appear  to  be 
mainly  forms  which  predominate  in  and  are  highly  characteristic  of 
the  Palaearctic  Subregion  ;  moreover,  though  some  are  found  else- 
where on  the  globe,  the  existence  of  but  very  few  in  the  Notogsean 
area  can  as  yet  be  regarded  as  certain. 

But  even  with  this  limitation,  the  separation  of  the  undoubted 
Fringillidx'^  into  groups  is  a  difficult  task.  Were  we  merely  to 
consider  the  superficial  character  of  the  form  of  the  bill,  the  genus 
Lozia  (in  its  modern  sense)  would  be  easily  divided  not  only  from 
the  other  Finches,  but  from  all  other  birds.  The  birds  of  this 
genus — the  Crossbills — when  their  other  characters  are  taken  into 
account,  prove  to  be  intimately  allied  on  the  one  hand  to  the 
Grosbeaks  (Finicola)  and  on  the  other  through  the  Redpolls 
{^Fgiothus)  to  the  Linnets  {Linota) — if  indeed  these  two  can  be 
properly  separated.  The  Linnets,  through  the  genus  Leucostide, 
lead  to  the  Mountain -Finches  (Montifringilla),  and  the  Redpolls 
through  the  Siskins  (Chrysomitris)  to  the  Goldfinches  (Carduelis) ; 
and  these  last  again  to  the  Hawfinches,  one  group  of  which  {Cocco- 
thraibstes)  is  apparently  not  far  distant  from  the  Chaffinches  (Frin- 
gilla  proper),  and  the  other  (HespeiHphona)  seems  to  be  allied  to  the 
Greenfinches  (Ligurinus).  Then  there  is  the  group  of  Serins 
(Serinus),  to  which  the  Canary-bird  belongs,  that  one  is  in  doubt 
whether  to  refer  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Greenfinches  or  that  of  the 
Redpolls.  The  Mountain-Finches  (before  named)  may  be  regarded 
as  pointing  first  to  the  Rock-Sparrows  (Fetronia)  and  then  to  the 
true  Sparrows  (Fasser) ;  while,  returning  to  the  Grosbeaks,  we 
find  them  passing  into  many  varied  forms  which  regard  to  space 
forbids  our  here  naming,  and  throwing  out  a  very  well  marked 
form — the  Bullfinches  (Fgrrhula).  But  the  ixader  must  be  pi'e- 
pared  to  take  all  this  as  problematical.  Some  of  the  modifications 
of  the  Family  are  very  gradual,  and  therefore  conclusions  founded 

^  About  200  species  of  these  have  been  described,  and  perhaps  150  may  really 
exist. 


252  FIN  FOOT 


on  them  are  likely  to  be  correct ;  others  are  further  apart,  and  the 
links  which  connect  them,  if  not  altogether  missing,  can  but  be 
surmised. 

FI?^FOOT,  Latham's  name  in  1824  {Gen.  Hid.  B.  x.  ix  10)  for 
two  birds  which  he  then  rightly  associated.  One  of  them  from 
America,  the  size  of  a  small  Teal,  had  been  long  known,  and 
formerly  referred  by  him  to  the  genus  Flotus  (Snake-bird),  while 
Pennant  in  1776,  in  Peter  Brown's  Illustrations  of  Zoology  (pi.  39, 
p.  98),  had  described  it  as  the  "  Surinam  Tern,"  and  it  was  figured 
by  Daubenton  (P/.  enl.  893)  and  described  in  1781  by  BufFon  as  the 

Grebe- Foidque.  In  1790  the  ill-fated 
Bonnaterre  established  the  genus  Heli- 
oniis  ^  for  it.  Its  affinities  remained 
uncertain  until  the  publication  in  1839 
of  Brandt's  Beitrclge  zuv  Kenntniss  cler 
NaturgeschicMe  der  Vogcl,  communicated 
to  the  Academy  of  St.  Petersburg, 
wherein  he  shewed  (pp.  117-122)  that 
Heliorn.s.   (After swainson.)       ^hey  Were  rather  towards  the  Rails; 

but  people  have  been  slow  to  admit  the 
force  of  his  osteological  evidence,  though  it  has  since  been  confirmed 
in  the  case  of  another  species  of  the  group  by  Jerdon  [B.  Iiul.  iii.  p. 
721).  In  the  meanwhile  Prince  Maximilian  of  Wied  had  in  1832 
published  his  observations  on  the  bird's  habits  (Beitr.  zur  Naturgesch. 
Brasilien,  iv,  pp.  827,  828),  and  very  curious  some  of  them  are,  for 
he  says  that  he  himself  had  shot  a  cock-bird,  under  the  wings  of 
which  were  two  newly-hatched,  naked  young.  The  old  birds  swim 
and  dive  adroitly,  but  their  flight  is  heavy,  though  they  run  swiftly 
on  land,  and  they  are  addicted  to  perching  on  trees.  The  proper 
name  of  this  species  is  Heliornis  fidica,  though  it  appears  in  some 
works  as  I'odoa  surinamensis.  It  has  an  extensive  range  in  the 
Neotropical  Region  from  Guatemala;  to  Paraguay  [Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1868,  p.  469);  but  it  is  not  found  in  the  Patagonian  Subregion. 

The  second  species  described,  as  above  stated,  by  Latham,  and 
as  he  thought  for  the  first  time,  is  a  much  larger  bird  from 
Western  Africa,  made  known  Ijy  Vieillot  in  1817  {K  Did.  d'Hist. 
Nat.  ed.  2,  xiv.  p.  277)  as  Heliornis  sevegnlensis,  but  in  1831  Lesson 
put  it  in  a  genus  by  itself  which  he  called  Podica.  The  differences 
between  them,  though  of  no  real  importance,  are  yet  sufficient  to 
warrant  the  separation ;  and  this  P.  senegalensis  is  said  to  be  repre- 
sented on  the  opposite  side  of  the  African  continent  by  a  yet 
bigger  species,  P.  2-)etersi  or  mosamlicana,  ranging  from  Xatal  north- 

^  This  name  seem;?  to  have  arisen  from  a  mistake  of  Latham's  {Synops.  B.  iii. 
p.  626)  who  ill  1785  .supposed  the  "  Oiscau  de  Soleil,"  so  translated  by  Fermin  in 
1769  (Bescr.  Surinam,  ii.  p.  192)  from  the  Dutch  Sonne-vogel,  to  be  the  present 
bird,  whereas  it  is  obviously  the  Euryjnjrja  (Sun-Bittern). 


\ 


FIRECREST— FLAMINGO  253 

ward.^  In  1848  another  species,  Avholly  distinct,  was  described  as 
P.  personata  by  G.  E.  Gray,  from  a  specimen  obtained  in  Malacca, 
and  it  has  since  been  found  to  inhabit  Tenasserim,  Burma,  and 
Assam,  though  not  yet  recognized  in  India  properly  so  called. 

These  birds  are  certainly  entitled  to  form  a  distinct  Family 
HeUornithidm,  allied  to  the  Rails,  but  probably,  as  their  geographical 
distribution  suggests,  a  more  ancient  and  therefore  more  general- 
ized group,  which  would  well  repay  further  anatomical  examination.^ 
Examples  are  by  no  means  common  in  museums,  though  it  can 
hardly  be  that  the  birds  are  not  in  their  own  haunts  sufficiently 
numerous ;  and  their  seeming  scarcity  may  be  attributed  to  their 
shyness  and  means  of  escaping  observation  {cf.  W.  Davison,  Stray 
Feathers,  vi.  p.  465).     Nothing  is  known  of  their  nidification  or  eggs. 

FIRECREST,  a  colloquial  abbreAaation  of  Fire-crested  Wren, 
Regulus  ignicapillus  (see  Goldcrest). 

FIRETAIL,  a  common  English  name  of  the  Redstart  ;  and, 
according  to  Gould  (Hand-b.  B.  Austral,  i.  p.  406),  given  in  Tas- 
mania to  Zonseginthus  bellus,  a  small  Finch-like  or  Weaver-bird. 

FISCAL,  the  name  given  in  the  Cape  Colony  to  a  Shrike, 
Lanius  collaris,  from  its  rapacity,  which  no  revenue -officer  could 
exceed  {cf.  Latham,  Gen.  Hist.  B.  ii.  p.  22  ;  Layard,  B.  S.  Afr. 
p.  157). 

FISH-HAWK,  a  name  for  the  Osprey,  especially  given  to  it 
in  North  America. 

FLAMINGO  (Portuguese  Flamingo,  Spanish  Flamenco),  a  bird 
conspicuous  for  the  bright  flame-coloured  or  scarlet  patch  upon  its 
wings,  and  long  known  by  its  classic  name  Phoinicopterus  as  an 
inhabitant  of  most  of  the  countries  bordering  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  in  some  of  which  it  is  still  far  from  uncommon.^  Other 
species   have    since   been    discovered,   and  both  its   common  and 

^  Dr.  Biittikofer's  evidence  {Notes  Lcyd.  3Ius.  x.  pp.  103-105)  is  to  the  effect 
that  there  is  only  one  species  in  Africa. 

-  Brandt's  investigations  above  mentioned  were  confined  to  the  head  and  feet 
of  Heliornis  ;  Jerdon  had  apparently  seen  the  whole  skeleton  of  P.  personata.  I 
myself  have  the  sternum  of  a  male  and  female  of  P.  petersi,  sent  to  me  by  Mr. 
Layard  from  Natal.  The  characters  of  this  part  of  the  skeleton  are  certainly 
Rail-like  in  a  general  way,  but  yet  offer  a  good  many  peculiarities.  The  result 
of  Mr.  Beddard's  examination  {Pj-oc.  Zool.  Soc.  1890,  pp.  441,  442)  of  P.  senegalcnsis 
is  to  shew  that  the  osteological  and  myological  charactei's  are  almost  in  antagonism : 
but  he  concludes  that  the  Heliornilhida^  form  a  distinct  Family  "which  has 
traversed  for  a  certain  distance  the  branch  leading  from  the  Rails  to  the 
Colymbidse  and  has  then  diverged  rather  widely  in  a  direction  of  its  own." 

^  In  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  however,  it  is  rare,  and  to  this  cause  is  most 
likely  to  be  attributed  Aristotle's  silence  concerning  it,  though  it  was  known,  by 
name  at  least,  to  Aristophanes. 


254 


FLAMINGO 


scientific  names  are  now  used  in  a  general  sense.  The  true  posi- 
tion of  the  Flamingos  {Phoenicopteridse)  has  been  much  debated,  and 
ornithologists  are  as  yet  by  no  means  agreed  upon  it.  Prof. 
Huxley  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  460)  considered  the  form  "so 
completely  intermediate  between  the  Anserine  birds  on  the  one 


'"■^^^^^^^-^-- 


Flamingo. 

side,  and  the  Storks  and  Herons  on  the  other,  that  it  can  be  ranged 
with  neither."  ^  And  he  put  it  by  itself  as  the  type  of  a  group 
Amphimorph.e  under  the  larger  assemblage  of  Desmognath.e. 
To  Prof.  Fiirbringer  and  Dr.  Gadow  its  affinity  to  the  Spoonbills, 

1  Thus  confirming  the  opinion  of  Linnaeus  a  century  old  {S7jst.  Nat.  ed.  12,  i. 
p.  230) :— "Medium  inter  Anscrcs  et  (Dallas,  si  quis  ad  pracedentem  ordinem 
referat,  forte  non  errat."     He  himself  places  it  among  the  latter. 


FLAMINGO  255 


Ibises  and  Storks  seems  to  be  the  strongest ;  but  that  it  should  stand 
as  a  distinct  Family  is  manifest. 

Though  not  a  few  birds  have  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  their 
body  very  long  legs  and  a  very  long  neck,  yet  the  way  in  which 
both  are  employed  by  the  Flamingo  seems  to  be  absolutely  singular. 
In  taking  its  food  this  bird  reverses  the  ordinary  position  of  its 
head  so  as  to  hold  the  crown  dovvTiwards  and  to  look  backwards. 
The  peculiar  formation  of  the  bill,  which  to  the  ordinary  observer 
looks  as  if  broken,  is  of  course  correlated  with  this  habit  of  feeding, 
as  well  as  the  fact  that  the  maxilla  is  (contrary  to  Avhat  obtains  in 
most  birds)  not  only  highly  movable,  but  is  much  smaller  than  the 
mandibvla — while  the  latter  is  practically  fixed.  Both  jaws  are, 
hoAvever,  beset  with  lamellx,  as  in  most  of  the  Duck-tribe,  and  the 
food  is  thereby  sifted  out  of  the  mud  as  the  Flamingo  wades  with 
its  long  neck  stretching  to  the  bottom  of  the  shallow  waters  it 
frequents.  Still  more  extraordinary  is  one  of  the  alleged  uses  of 
its  long  legs.  Dampier  asserts  as  of  his  own  observation  near 
Querisao  (i.e.  Cura9ao)  prior  to  1683^  that  the  hen  stands  upon  them 


while  performing  that  duty  which  in  other  birds  is  rightly  called 
"  sitting,"  and  the  statement,  being  confirmed  by  othe 
remained  unquestioned  for  a  century  and  a  half.  Crespon  in  1844  ( (fi^^'J'^' 
(Fauna  Mdrid.  ii.  p.  69)  was  one  of  the  first  to  raise  a  doubt  on  the 
subject,  though  he  had  before  (Ornithol.  du  Gard,  p.  397)  accepted 
what  was  and  still  is  the  prevalent  belief  in  Southern  France  (Ibis, 
1870,  p.  441);  but  he  now  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  Fla- 
mingos did  not  build  a  nest  at  all,  and  only  laid  their  eggs  on  a 

^  The  passage  is  too  quaint  and  interesting  not  to  be  quoted  : — "  They  build 
their  Nests  in  shallow  Ponds,  where  there  is  much  Mud,  which  they  scrape 
together,  making  little  Hillocks,  like  small  Islands,  appearing  out  of  the  Water, 
a  foot  and  a  half  high  from  the  bottom.  They  make  the  foundation  of  these 
Hillocks  broad,  bringing  them  up  tapering  to  the  top,  where  they  leave  a  small 
hollow  pit  to  lay  their  Eggs  in  ;  and  when  tliey  either  lay  their  Eggs,  or  hatch 
them,  they  stand  all  the  while,  not  on  the  Hillock,  but  close  by  it  with  their 
Legs  on  the  ground  and  in  the  water,  resting  themselves  against  the  Hillock,  and 
covering  the  hollow  Nest  upon  it  with  their  Rumps  :  For  their  Legs  are  very 
long  ;  and  building  thus,  as  they  do,  upon  the  ground,  they  could  neither  draw 
their  legs  conveniently  into  their  Nests,  nor  sit  down  upon  them  otherwise  than 
by  resting  their  whole  bodies  there,  to  the  prejudice  of  their  Eggs  or  their  young, 
were  it  not  for  this  admirable  contrivance,  which  they  have  by  natural  instinct. 
They  never  lay  more  than  two  Eggs,  and  seldom  fewer.  The  young  ones  cannot 
fly  till  they  are  almost  full  grown  ;  but  will  run  prodigiously  fast ;  yet  we  have 
taken  many  of  them." — Dampier,  New  Voyage  roiciid  the  World,  ed.  2,  corrected, 
i.  p.  71,  London  :  1699. 

-  Thus  Catesby  {Nat.  Hist.  Carol,  i.  p.  73),  though  apparently  got  from  the 
information  of  others  ;  but  Pallas  {Zoogr.  Ross.-Asiat.  ii.  p.  208),  obviously  from 
his  own  observation,  says  : — "Vera  est  Dampieri  observatio,  eos  in  stagnis  marinis 
vadosis  corradere  colles  sesquipedali  altitudine,  quorum  summitati  cavatae  ini- 
ponunt  ova  vulgo  bina,  quse  colli  adstantes  pectore  fovent." 


256  FLAMINGO 


slight  elevation  so  as  to  be  out  of  the  water,  sitting  upon  them  with 
their  legs  doubled  under  the  belly.  Part  of  this  assertion  was 
proved  to  be  false  by  Lord  Lilford  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1880,  pp.  446- 
450),  Avho  obtained  from  Andalusia  one  of  the  mud-built  nests  (just 
as  they  were  described  by  Dampier)  and  gave  it  to  the  British 
Museum,  where  it  may  be  seen ;  but  he  was  unable  to  offer  per- 
sonal evidence  as  to  the  position  of  the  bird  dui'ing  incubation, 
though  he  doubted  the  probabilit}^  of  its  being  with  the  legs 
"  stretched  out  behind,"  as  had  in  the  meanwhile  been  stated  [Ibis, 
1871,  p.  394).  Of  late  the  old  story  has  been  absolutely  contra- 
dicted both  in  regard  to  the  Mediterranean  species  and  that  of 
North  America.  Mr.  Abel  Chapman  described  and  figured  {op.  cit. 
1884,  p.  88,  pi.  iv.)  a  breeding- place  of  the  former  seen  by  him  in 
Andalusia,  and  then  Sir  Henry  Blake  gave  an  account  (oj).  cit.  1888, 
pp.  151,  152)  of  a  A-isit  paid  by  him  to  one  of  the  latter  on  Abaco  in 
the  Bahamas.  Both  of  these  observers  knew  of  the  prevalent  belief, 
and  seem  to  have  expected  to  find  it  borne  out ;  but  one  of  them 
"SAi'ites  of  the  birds  as  sitting  on  the  nests  with  their  "  long  red  legs 
doubled  under  the  body,"  while  the  other  states  that  "in  every 
instance  the  legs  were  folded  under  the  bird  in  the  usual  manner." 
Most  of  the  nests  seen  by  Mr.  Chapman,  and  all  apparently  that  Sir 
Henry  saw,  were  on  mud, — and  in  the  latter  case  they  were  only 
eight  inches  high,  so  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  birds  to  sit 
on  them  in  the  way  described — moreover,  none  of  Mr.  Chapman's 
contained  eggs,  and  therefore  he  did  not  'see  a  bird  actually 
incubating.  The  question  cannot  be  regarded  as  settled,  and 
further  observation  must  be  awaited.^ 

It  is  of  course  only  under  very  favourable  circumstances  that 
such  nests  as  these  can  be  built.  When  time  or  place  is  wanting, 
the  hens  seem  to  drop  their  eggs  at  random,  and  in  the  south  of 
both  France  and  Spain  years  seem  to  pass  when,  from  want  of 
sufficient  water,  or  the  persecution  of  the  people,  no  Flamingos  are 
able  to  breed,  so  that  more  than  one  beholder  of  the  magnificent 
sight  afforded  by  them  as  they  flock  has  wondered  in  vain  concern- 
ing their  birthplace.  Late  in  the  summer  the  adults  shed  all  their 
quill-feathers,  and  being  thus  rendered  flightless,  are  easily  cap- 
tured. Under  these  circumstances,  both  the  European  and  the 
North-American  species  may  be  expected  to  become  rare,  if  not 
extinct.  Flamingos  are  eminently  gregarious.  Their  favourite 
resorts  are  salt-lakes — indeed  these  may  be  said  to  be  a  prime 
necessity ;  and  when,  as  often  happens,  they  are  diminished  by 
drought,  the  birds  have  to  take  long  flights  in  quest  of  new  haunts. 
Thus  some  of  the  wanderers  occasionally  get  separated  from  the 

^  Since  tlie  above  was  in  type,  Mr.  Saunders  has  shewn  me  ]\lr.  Maynard's 
account  (Nat.  in  Florida,  1884,  Ko.  1)  of  a  breeding-place  in  the  Bahamas,  where 
among  hundreds  of  sitting  birds  none  had  its  legs  "  hanging  down." 


FLAMINGO  257 


main  body,  and  appear  in  various  unwonted  spots.^  On  the  wing 
the  Flamingo  is  described  as  presenting  a  singular  appearance,  its 
neck  and  legs  being  stretched  out  in  a  continuous  straight  line. 
When  feeding  or  at  rest,  a  flock  of  these  birds,  owing  to  their  red 
plumage,  has  often  been  likened  to  a  body  of  British  soldiers.  The 
young  appear  to  be  a  long  time  in  arriving  at  the  full  beauty  of 
their  plumage,  and  as  the  sexes  are  said  to  diff'er  greatly  in  size, 
some  of  the  difficulties  which  the  determination  of  species  in  this 
genus  presents  may  be  excused.  No  fewer  than  four  species  of 
Phcenicopterus  have  been  described  as  inhabiting  the  Old  World. 
There  is  the  large  bird  known  to  the  ancients,  Temminck's  P.  anti- 
quorum,  which  certainly  ranges  from  the  Cape  Verd  Islands  to  the 
Caspian  and  to  India,  if  not  further.  The  P.  erythrmis  of  Jules 
V^erreaux  has  been  described  as  diftering  in  its  brighter  plumage, 
and  is  supposed  to  be  a  native  of  Southern  and  Western  Africa,  but 
it  is  also  said  to  have  strayed  to  Eiu'ope.  Then  two  smaller  species 
(P.  mmoi;  Geoftroy,  and  P.  rubidiis,  Feilden) — the  one  from  Africa 
the  other  from  India — have  also  been  described,  but  whether  their 
existence  can  be  substantiated  remains  to  be  seen.  Four  species 
have  likewise  been  indicated  as  belonging  to  the  New  World. 
There  is  first  a  large  and  very  brilliantly-coloured  bird  to  which 
the  Linnaean  name  P.  ruber  ^  has  been  continued,  inhabiting  suitable 
localities  from  Florida  southwards  to  an  undetermined  latitude. 
To  this  species  Mr.  Salvin  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  p.  498)  refers  the 
P.  glyphorhynchus  of  G.  K.  Gray,  founded  on  a  specimen  from  the 
Galapagos.  Then  there  is  the  P.  chilensis  of  Gmelin  (P.  ir/rdpalliatus 
of  later  writers),  in  colouring  more  like  the  European  species,  and 
found  in  various  parts  of  South  America.  Lastly  comes  the  P.  cmdinns 
of  Philippi,  easily  distinguished  from  all  others  through  the  want 
of  a  back-toe,  and  regarded  by  Bonaparte  as  meriting  generic 
separation  under  the  name  of  Phmnicoparrus.  This  appears  to  have 
its  home  on  the  salt-lakes  of  the  elevated  desert  of  Atacama. 

The  fossil  remains  of  a  Flamingo  have  been  recognized  from 
Lower  and  Middle  Tertiary  beds  in  France,  and  the  species,  which 
appears  to  have  been  very  close  to  that  commonly  called  P.  anti- 
quorum,  has  received  the  name  of  P.  croizeti  from  Prof.  Gervais. 
But  a  more  interesting  discovery  is  that  by  Prof.  A.  Milne- 
Edwards  of  no  fewer  than  five  species  of  an  extinct  form  of 
Phcenicopteridx,  named  by  him  Palselodns  (Ois.  Foss.  de  la  France,  ii. 
p.  58).     These  are  from  lacustrine  deposits  of  the  Miocene  epoch. 

^  The  Flamingo  has  been  added  by  Mr.  Saunders  to  the  "British"  list  (Yarrell, 
Br.  B.  ed.  4,  iv.  p.  244)  from  examples  observed  at  several  places  in  England  ;  but 
the  evidence  to  shew  that  these  were  voluntary  visitors  is  weak. 

2  Linnaeus  referred  all  the  accounts  of  Flamingos  known  to  him  to  a  single 
species,  under  this  name,  wherein  he  was  decidedly  wrong,  but  the  reason  for 
assigning  it  to  an  American  species  has  yet  to  be  explained  by  ornithologists. 

17 


258  FLAX-BIRD— FLICKER 

The  same  distinguished  zoologist  also  refers  to  this  Family  remains 
designated  by  him  Agnopterus,  and  those  of  the  "  Eloi-nis  "  (properly 
Hehrnis)  of  M.  Aymard  (c/.  FossiL  Birds). 

FLAX-BIKD,  the  North-American  Goldfinch  or  "Yellow  Bird," 
Chrysomitris  iristis  (congeneric  with  our  Siskin),  so  "  called  in  the 
back  parts  of  Carolina  "  as  Latham  (Gen.  Hist.  B.  vi.  p.  120)  was 
informed  by  Abbot ;  but  the  name  seems  to  have  dropped  out  of  use. 

FLICKER,  one  of  the  most  characteristic,  common,  and  con- 
spicuous birds  of  the  greater  part  of  North  America,  the  Golden- 
winged  Woodpecker  of  books,  the  Picus  auratus  of  Linnaeus,  and 

Colaptes  auratus  of 
modern  ornithology. 
Its  habits  have  been 
well    described    by 

Colaptes.    (After  Swainson.)  Wilson,       Audubon, 

and  other  wiiters, 
but  there  is  no  space  here  to  dwell  upon  them,  engaging  as  the  topic 
is,  for  the  mention  of  this  bird  suggests  a  more  important  theme. 
AVidely  distributed  as  it  is  from  the  Atlantic  coast,  so  far  southward 
as  Louisiana,  to  Canada,  and  thence  across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
still  further  northward  to  Alaska,  its  place  is  taken  on  the  greater 
part  of  the  Pacific  side  by  a  species  which,  avoiding  Southern 
California,  reaches  the  tablelands  of  Mexico — a  species  more 
brilliantly  tinted,  for  ruby  appears  in  its  plumage  instead  of  gold,  the 
C.  'tnexicanus  or  rubricatus  ^  of  authors.  But  in  an  intervening  broad 
belt  running  north-westward  from  Texas  to  British  Columbia  there 
occur  birds  presenting  almost  every  combination  of  the  distinctive 
coloration  of  the  two  species  just  named,^  and  though  one  of  these 
intermediate  specimens  had  been  long  before  figured  and  described 
as  C.  ayresi  by  Audubon  {B.  Amer.  vii.  p.  348,  pi.  494),  yet  Baird 
was  so  much  persuaded  that  all  these  puzzling  birds  were  hybrids, 
that  he  used  (Expl.  dx.  Bailroad  Route,  ix.  p.  122)  the  name 
C.  hybridus  to  cover  the  whole  of  them.^     It  must  be  admitted  that 

^  By  some  writers  identified  with  the  P.  cafer  of  Gmelin,  founded  on  Latliam's 
description  of  a  specimen  said  to  have  come  from  South  America ;  but  most  likely 
the  locality  assigned  is  wrong. 

-  The  series  contained  in  the  Museum  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in 
1857  was  in  that  year  shewn  to  me  and  descanted  upon  by  my  highly  esteemed 
friend  the  late  Prof.  S.  F.  Baird.  He  did  not  convince  me  of  the  truth  of 
his  views,  and  I  afterwards  saw  greater  reason  to  doubt  their  correctness  ;  but 
they  were  probably  the  only  views  in  those  days  consonant  with  philosophy  to 
any  one  not  in  the  confidence  of  Mr.  Darwin,  whose  secret  was  not  revealed  till 
the  next  year. 

'  Cassin  at  that  time  was  inclined  to  believe  that  they  could  be  broken  up 
into  several  distinct  "species";  but  I  do  not  know  that  he  ever  published 
this  opinion. 


FLICKER  259 

this  is  a  view  which  cannot  at  present  be  disproved ;  but  it  also 
must  be  admitted  that  neither  has  it  been  proved.  Mr.  J.  A.  Allen 
was  supposed  to  explain  the  difficulty  {Bull.  Mus.  Harvard,  iii.  p.  118) 
as  arising  from  climatic  influences,  while  Dr.  Coues  was  formerly 
{B.  North-lVest,  p.  294)  inclined  to  support  that  view,  but  sub- 
sequently {Key  N.-Am.  B.  p.  492)  followed  Mr.  Ridgway's  suggestion 
{Orn.  Fortieth  Parallel,  p.  556,  note)  that  these  birds  might  be 
"remnants  of  a  generalized  form."  If  so,  a  case  would  be  found 
analogous  to  that  presented  by  certain  forms  of  Coracias  (Roller), 
and  a  good  many  of  the  Phasianidse,  to  say  nothing  of  other  groups — 
though  strictly  intermediate  forms  are  not  often  met  with.  So  much 
has  been  wTitten  on  what  is  called  the  "  interbreeding  "  of  species  by 
persons  who  seem  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  all  specialized  forms  must 
have  sprung  from  more  generalized  ancestors,  that  the  careful 
zoologist  will  abstain  from  invoking  a  theory  of  "  interbreeding  "  to 
account  for  every  difficulty  that  presents  itself  in  the  differentiation 
of  species.  Granted  that  most  of  these  generalized  forms  are  by  this 
time  become  extinct,  there  is  no  reason,  even  allowing  for  the  going 
on  of  specialization,  why  some  of  them  should  not  still  exist,  and 
thus  such  forms  of  Colaptes,  Coracias,  Euplocamus,  and  Fhasianus  sur- 
vive to  this  time.  Against  this  view,  however,  may  be  set  the  fact 
that  examples  of  C.  ayresi  or  hyhridus  offer  some  characters  so  very 
pronounced  ^  that  those  who  favour  the  hybrid  origin  have  appar- 
ently a  strongish  case.-  But  then  it  may  be  reasonably  alleged  that 
zoologists,  to  their  shame,  are  so  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  laws 
that  govern  hybridity  in  animals,  that  no  argument  can  be  founded 
on  a  presumption  that  has  positively  no  foundation — for  no  zoologist 
has  as  yet  carried  out  any  such  series  of  experiments  as  has  again 
and  again  been  done  by  botanists  to  the  very  great  advancement  of 
their  study.  Consequently  the  pheenomena  of  hybridity  in  animals 
can  only  be  interpreted — and  possibly  wrongly  interpreted — by 
those  observed  in  plants.  Among  the  few  experiments  hitherto 
made  in  regard  to  Birds,  some  unmistakably  shew  how  strongly  the 
principle  of  Reversion  works. 

Another  interesting  fact  relating  to  the  genus  is  that  at  least 
one  of  the  South- American  members  of  it,  C.  agricola,  inhabiting 
the  treeless  plains  of  La  Plata  and  Patagonia,  has  succeeded  in 
accommodating  itself  to  circumstances, — as  recorded  among  others  by 
Darwin  {Origin  of  Species,  chap,  vi.)  under  the  name  of  C.  campestris, 
which  seems  rightfully  to  belong  to  a  more  northern  form.  Since 
Azara's  time  it  has  been  known  to  frequent  the  open  country,  seek- 

^  For  instance,  an  example  may  be  all  mexicanus  on  one  side  and  all  auratus 
on  the  other  ! 

-  Since  this  was  in  type,  Mr.  Allen  has  published  [Bull.  Am.  Mus.  N.  H.  iv. 
pp.  21-44)  the  results  of  an  elaborate  investigation  which  he  says  "tend  strongly 
to  confirm  Baird's  startling  hypotheses  of  hybridization  on  a  grand  scale." 


26o 


FLIGHT 


ing  its  food  on  the  ground,  and  to  breed  in  holes  which  it  excavates 
in  clifts,  the  banks  of  streams,  or  in  old  walls ;  but  latterly,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Hudson  {Argent.  Ornithol.  ii.  p.  25),  it  has  taken  to  make 
its  nest  in  trees,  reverting  presumably  to  the  habit  of  its  ancestors. 
The  fact  rests  on  the  best  of  evidence,  but  any  inference  is  open  to 
criticism.  Curiously  enough,  a  very  similar  state  of  things  is  pre- 
sented by  an  apparently  cognate  bird  from  South  Africa,  Geocolaptes 
olivaceus  or  arator,  which  bears  a  strong  superficial  resemblance 
and  possibly  (though  this  has  not  yet  been  ascertained)  a  deep- 
seated  affinity  to  the  American  forms.  This  Woodpecker,  as  Mr. 
Layard  remarks  (B.  S.  Afr.  p.  239),  "never  pecks  wood,  but  bores 
its  way  into  the  banks  of  rivers,  sides  of  hills,  or  the  walls  of  mud- 
buildings,  in  search  of  its  prey,  and  for  a  home  for  its  young." 
Mr.  Buckley  states  {Ibis,  1874,  p.  369)  that  in  Natal  he  never 
noticed  it  among  trees ;  but  found  it  on  the  open  hills  and  sitting 
among  stones.  Considering  how  few  Woodpeckers  there  are  in  the 
Ethiopian  Region,  the  occurrence  at  its  southern  extremity  of  this 
simulacrum  of  a  New- World  type  raises  more  than  one  question  of 
the  deepest  interest. 

FLIGHT.^  Birds  have  three  chief  modes  of  flight,  each  differ- 
ing from  the  others  in  certain  important  particulars.     These  are — 

I.  By  gliding  or  skimming,  supported  on  the  extended  wings, 
which  do  not  flap  up  and  down.  Most  probably  all  birds  that  fly 
can  move  in  this  manner.  It  requires  a  certain  velocity  of  motion 
of  the  bird  through  the  air  (relative  velocity),  which  is  acquired 
(1)  by  previous  strokes  of  the  ■\vings,  (2)  by  descending  from  a 
higher  to  a  lower  level,  or  (3)  by  commencing  flight  in  a  Avind  of 
sufficient  velocity. 

II.  By  active  strokes  of  the  tvings.  The  manner  in  Avhich  this 
mode  of  progression  is  carried  out  varies  in  detail  in  different  birds, 
and  in  the  same  bird  at  different  times,  but  its  main  features  appear 
to  be  the  same  for  all. 

III.  By  sailing  or  soaring  with  motionless  extended  Avings.  This 
appears  to  be  only  possible  for  certain  birds,  and  is  not  described 
as  taking  place  except  in  a  wind  of  a  certain  minimum  velocity, 
and  differs  from  ordinary  gliding  in  the  fact  that  the  bird 
does  not  necessarily  lose  either  in  velocity  or  in  vertical  posi- 
tion, as  a  result  of  the  resistance  of  the  air  to  the  bird's  passage 
through  it. 

^  I  am  indebted  for  this  article  to  my  colleague  Prof.  Eoy,  wlio  remarks 
that,  in  it,  he  has  "sought  to  avoid  inaccuracy  of  fact  or  method  of  statement, 
the  main  object  being  to  put  the  matter  in  as  simple  a  form  as  possible,  so  as  not 
to  confuse  the  non-scientific  reader.  The  references  given  to  the  most  important 
authorities  on  the  subject  will  enable  those  who  wish  to  pursue  it  further  to  do 
so  "—A.  N. 


FLIGHT  261 

Before  analyzing  these  modes  of  aerial  locomotion,  it  is  desirable 
to  i*efer  to  some  of  the  conditions  under  which  birds  are  placed,  since 
these  must  be  taken  into  account  if  it  be  desired  to  understand  the 
problems  of  flight.  What,  in  the  first  place,  is  known  about  the 
relation  between  the  weight  of  birds  and  the  area  of  their  wings, 
and  how  do  birds  differ  from  one  another  in  this  respect  %  This 
subject  has  been  carefully  studied  by  MiillenhofF^  and  others.  It 
has  been  found  that  the  relation  of  the  wing-  or  rather  sail-area  to 
the  weight  of  the  bird  varies  greatly.  As  might  be  expected,  the 
greater  the  sail-area,  the  more  powerful,  other  things  being  equal, 
is  the  flight. 

Another  matter  in  which  birds  differ  greatly  is  the  strength  of 
the  muscles  which  move  the  wings.  It  may  be  assumed  that  the 
strength  of  these  muscles  corresponds  with  their  weight.  The 
relation  between  the  weight  of  the  pectoral  muscles  and  that  of  the 
AA^hole  bird  has  been  investigated  among  others  by  Legal  and 
Reichel,^  who  found  that  the  pectoral  muscles  weigh  on  an  average 
about  one-sixth  of  the  whole  bird  ;  but  that  in  different  types  of 
birds  there  may  be  considerable  difference  in  this  respect.  For 
instance,  in  a  House-Pigeon  the  proportion  was  ^_  per  cent,  while  /= 
in  a  Herring-Gull  it  was  only  16  per  cent.  Some  birds  therefore 
have  much  more  powerful  wing-muscles  than  others. 

The  shape  of  the  wing,  moreover,  varies  considerably  also  in 
different  birds.  Some,  like  the  Swallow,  have  long  and  narrow 
wings,  while  others,  like  the  Quail,  have  short  and  broad  wings. 
The  wings  of  some  soaring  birds,  as  Eagles  and  Vultures,  are 
rounded  at  the  points,  and  the  primary  feathers  are  separated  from 
one  another  at  their  tips,  giving  a  notched  appearance  to  the  end 
of  the  extended  wings.  A  typically  flying  bird,  such  as  a  Falcon,  on 
the  other  hand,  has  pointed  wings  with  little  separation  of  the  tips 
of  the  primary  feathers.  These  differences  correspond  to  differences 
in  the  power  and  mode  of  flight. 

Birds,  as  well  as  all  other  animals  that  fly,  may  be  divided  into 
categories  according  (a)  to  the  ratio  between  the  sail-area  and  the 
weight,  (^)  to  the  strength  of  the  pectoral  muscles,  and  (c)  to  the 
shape  of  the  wings.     Of  these  categories  or  "  types  "  Miillenhoff 

^  "Die  Grosse  der  Flugflachen."  Archiv  fur  die  gesammte  Physiologie 
(Pfliiger's),  xxxv.  (1885)  pp.  407  et  seqq.  Miillenlioff  follows  Harting,  Legal  and 
Reichel,  Marey,  and  others  in  estimating  tlie  ratio  between  the  sail-area  of  Birds 
and  their  weight  by  the  formula  A-/P^  =  a,  in  which  A  is  the  area  (in  square 
centimetres)  of  the  out  -  stretched  wings  and  tail  as  well  as  of  the  body, 
spread  out  on  a  flat  surface,  while  P  is  the  weight  of  the  bird  (in  gi-ammes). 
The  values  found  for  u-  in  different  birds  range  from  2  85  (Golden-Eye)  to  6735 
(Barn-Owl). 

-  Verhandlungen  der  Schlesischen  Gesellschaft  fur  vaterldnd-Cultur.  Breslau  : 
1882. 


262  FLIGHT 

distinguislies  s.ix, — namely  the  Quail,  Pheasant,  Sparrow,  Swallow, 
Vulture,  and  Gull. 

In  considering  birds  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  flying 
capacities,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  their  anatomical  structure 
is  such  as  to  give  them  great  stability  in  the  air.  The  wangs  are 
attached  to  the  highest  part  of  the  thorax,  so  that  the  centre  of 
gravity  of  the  bird  is  as  low  as  possible  beneath  the  centre  of 
suspension  on  the  wings,  and  also  that  the  same  object  is  assisted 
by  the  light  organs,  viz.  the  lungs  and  air-sacs,  being  placed  high, 
while  the  heavy  organs  of  digestion,  and  above  all  the  heavy 
pectoral  muscles,  are  placed  as  low  as  possible.  The  shape  of  a 
bird's  body,  moreover,  is  such  that  it  offers  little  resistance  to  its 
passage  through  the  air. 

We  must  here  say  something  about  the  resistance  offered  by 
the  air  to  the  passage  of  a  body  through  it.  As  Newton  first 
shewed,  this  resistance  increases  with  the  square  of  the  velocity  of 
the  body.  It  increases  also  directly  with  the  sectional  area  at 
right  angles  with  the  axis  of  motion  (the  geometrical  form  of  the 
body  being  similar),  and  this  velocity  and  area  multiplied  by  one 
another  and  by  a  numerical  coefficient  gives  the  resistance.^ 

Of  the  greatest  importance  for  the  flight  of  birds  is  the  fact 
that  the  resistance  offered  to  the  motion  of  a  flat  body  in  a 
direction  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  its  surface  is  very  greatly 
increased  if  it  be  made  to  move  at  the  same  time  through  the  air 
rapidly  in  a  direction  parallel  with  its  surface. 

As  a  clear  comprehension  of  this  matter  is  important,  an 
illustration  may  be  given  from  Sir  George  Cayley.^  Supposing  a 
flat  surface,  such  as  a  piece  of  cardboard,  with  a  superficial  area  of 
one  foot  and  inclined  at  an  angle  of  six  degrees  to  the  line  of 
movement,  be  carried  forwards  horizontally,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
wings  of  a  gliding  bird,  it  is  found  that  with  a  rapidity  of  2  3 '6 
feet  per  second  the  pressure  perpendicular  to  its  surface  is  "4  of  a 
pound,  while  if  the  speed  be  increased  to  2  7 '3  feet  per  second,  it  is 
equal  to  one  pound.  A  Rook,  whose  weight  and  wing-area  were 
found  by  Cayley  to  be,  roughly  speaking,  in  the  ratio  of  one  pound 
to  the  square  foot,  would  therefore  be  able  to  glide  horizontally 
whenever  it  had  a  velocity  of  2  7 '3  feet.     But  a  Rook  usually  flies 

^  Expressed  more  exactly,  the  resistance,  R,  offered  by  the  air  to  the  passage  of 

•       2 

a  flat  surface  through  it  may  be  stated  as  R  =  K  S  V  ^  -^ ; —  ;  K  being  the 

°  •'  4  +  TT  sin  a  * 

numerical  coefficient,  S  the  surface,   V  the  velocity,  p  the  density  of  the  air, 

and  a  the  angle  of  the  surface  with  the  line  of  motion.     It  must  be  understood 

here  that  the  resistance  is  to  the  fonvard  movement  of  the  surface,  i.e.  the 

resistance  in  the  line  of  motion. 

^  "  On  Aerial  Navigation."     Journal  of  Natural  Philosophy,  Chemistry,  and 

the  Arts  (Nicholson's),  xxiv.  p.  164  (1809). 


FLIGHT  263 

faster  than  this,  about  35  feet  per  second  according  to  Cayley,  and 
can  glide  horizontally  for  a  short  distance  whenever  it  likes.^ 

We  can  now  proceed  to  consider  the  different  modes  of  aerial 
locomotion  employed  by  birds,  and  in  doing  this  it  will  be  con- 
venient to  take  first  (I.)  gliding  flight,  as  this  is  the  simplest.  Its 
commonest  form  is  when  a  bird,  having  acquired  a  certain  velocity, 
intermits  the  flapping  of  its  wings,  and,  with  them  and  its  tail 
extended,  floats  or  skims  forward  in  the  air.  This  is  especially 
common  with  such  birds  as  Herons,  Storks,  Buzzards,  Gulls,  and 
others  Avith  a  relatively  large  sail -area.  The  required  velocity 
of  movement  may  be  obtained  by  descending ;  as  for  example, 
when  a  Pigeon  flies  from  the  roof  of  a  house  to  the  ground  below 
it  visually  glides  or  skims  down.  The  movement  is,  from  its 
nature,  a  temporary  one,  involving  as  it  does  a  loss  either  in 
vertical  height  or  in  relative  velocity,  i.e.  in  motion  through  the 
air.  The  direction  of  the  trajectory  may  be  up  as  well  as  down. 
In  the  case  of  a  Falcon,  which  swoops  down  on  its  quarry,  the 
altitude  which  is  lost  may,  in  case  of  its  missing  its  prey,  be  in 
great  part  recovered  by  gliding  upwards  on  extended  wings.  As 
was  long  ago  known  by  falconers,  these  swoops  involve  little 
exertion  on  the  part  of  the  birds,  which  do  not  pant  as  they  do 
after  severe  effort.  Here  the  velocity  acquired  by  descending  with 
the  wings  close  to  the  body  is  used  to  raise  the  bird  again.  If 
a  bird  moving  in  a  horizontal  line  seeks  to  glide  upwards,  the 
height  to  which  it  will  be  able  to  rise  Avill  correspond  Avith  the 
square  of  the  initial  velocity. 

We  can  get  some  idea  of  the  efficacy  of  this  mode  of  flight  by 
observations  on  the  rapidity  of  motion  of  birds  which  descend  in 
gliding  for  some  distance  obliquely  in  a  straight  line.  This  has 
been  done  by  Bretonnifere,^  who  found  that  Storks  Avere  in  the  habit 

^  This  illustration  is  given  because,  besides  being  of  historical  interest,  it  is 
clear  and  easily  comprehensible.  It  was  accurate  enough  for  the  time  when 
written,  but  is  now  open  to  criticism  from  several  points.  For  instance,  the 
sail-area  of  the  Rook  ought  to  include  an  allowance  for  the  area  of  the  body 
measured  in  the  plane  of  flight  as  well  as  the  area  of  the  wings.  The  support- 
ing force,  i.e.  the  thrust  upwards  on  the  Rook's  wings  and  body,  can  be  suffi- 
ciently accurately  expressed  by  the  formula 

j^j^j.gy,pjrsinacosa 
4  + IT  sin  a 
where  M  is  the  force  on  the  plane  at  right  angles  to  the  direction  of  motion, 
and  the  other  letters  are  as  before. 

By  some  curious  oversight,  Cayley  stated  that  an  increase  of  speed  from  23 '6 
ft.  to  27  "3  ft.  per  second  will  give  an  increase  in  the  supporting  force  sufficient  to 
raise  it  from  '4  of  a  pound  to  one  pound.  It  ought  to  be  37  "3  instead  of 
27-3. 

"  "Etudes  sur  le  vol  plane,"  L'Aironaute,  juillet  1889.  Reproduced  by 
Marey,  Vol  des  Oiseaux,  p.  296. 


264 


FLIGHT 


of  descending  obliquely  from  the  high  rock  on  which  the  town  of 
Constantine  is  built  by  a  gliding  flight ;  that  they  usually  followed 
a  straight  line,  and,  Avith  a  constant  velocity,  progressed  thus  more 
than  a  kilometre  before  reaching  the  ground.  The  rate  of  motion 
was  found  to  be  about  20  metres  per  second,  and  the  trajectory 
was  at  an  angle  of  10  degrees  with  the  horizon,  which  gives  a 
descent  of  about  1  in  5.  This  corresponds  Avith  other  observations. 
We  now  come  to  the  question  how  a  bird  guides  its  motion  during 
the  act  of  gliding,  and  here  we  must  refer  to  the  Law  of  Avanzini,^ 
illustrated  by  the  annexed  diagrams,  shewing  that  a  plate  (AB) 


* 


B     A 


AAAAA/N/N4\'|^ 


AAAAAAAAA 


B 


Fio.  1. 


Fio.  2. 


falling  vertically  through  the  air  (as  in  Fig.  1)  encounters  the 
maximum  of  resistance  (indicated  by  the  greater  length  of  the 
lower  series  of  arroAv-heads)  at  the  centre,  the  resistance  decreasing 
toward  the  margin,  whereas  if  the  direction  in  Avhich  the  plate  falls 
be  oblique  (as  in  Fig.  2),  the  maximum  of  resistance  is  no  longer 
at  the  centre  but  the  fore  end  of  the  plate,  which  therefore  has  a 
tendency  to  tilt  up.  In  the  case  of  a  bird  Avhich  has  no  horizontal 
motion,  but  is  falling  slowly  with  extended  wings,  it  is  knoAvn  that 
the  point  of  maximum  upward  pressure  by  the  air  on  the  lower 
surface  of  each  Aving  Avill  correspond  Avith  the  centre  of  its  area  ; 
and  the  same  is  the  case  when  a  bird  gives  a  downAvard  stroke  of 
the  wing,  if  the  bird  has  no  forAvard  motion  through  the  air.  If, 
hoAvever,  the  bird  be  gliding  forAvard,  the  point  of  maximum 
upward  pressure  is  changed  and  is  placed  nearer  the  anterior 
margin  of  the  extended  wing,  and  the  faster  the  bird  is  moving  the 
further  forAvard  is  the  position  of  maximum  upAA'ard  thrust.  The 
result  of  this  is  that  any  increase  of  velocity  tends  to  thrust  up  the 
front  part  of  a  gliding  bird's  Avings  ;   and  in  the   same  Avay  and 

^  "Resistenza  dei  fluidi,"  Mem.  Mil.  Nnz.  If.al.  Bologna,  i.  p.  199.  A  more 
recent  account  of  the  same  subject  is  that  by  Lord  Rayleigh  "  On  the  Resistance 
of  Fluids,"  Philos.  Mag.  ser.  5,  ii.  p.  430  (1876). 


FLIGHT 


26s 


for  the  same  reason  as  a  sheet  of  paper  which  is  allowed  to  fall 
tends  to  describe  curves  with  their  concavities  upwards,  so  also 
does  a  gliding  bird  tend  to  rise  in  the  air  whenever  its  velocity  is 
increased.  This  tendency  the  bird  can  counteract  in  various  ways. 
It  can,  in  the  first  place,  change  the  position  of  its  centre  of 
gravity  forwards  in  relation  to  the  position  of  its  centre  of  support 
by  the  outstretched  wings.  It  can  do  this  in  the  case  of  such  a 
bird  as  a  Heron  by  extending  its  neck,  which  is  usually  bent  Avith 
the  head  retracted,  biit  which,  Avhen  the  bird  strives  to  fly  fast,  is 
stretched  out  forward  to  the  full  extent.  In  the  case  of  most 
birds,  however,  the  short  neck  does  not  allow  of  this  means  of 
moving  forward  or  backward  of  the  centre  of  gravity,  and  what  the 
bird  does  is  to  move  forward  or  backward  the  extended  wings. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  had  been  noted  long  before  the  true  reason 


Fig.  3.    (From  Marey.) 

was  understood  that  birds  which  glide  slowly  (Fig.  3)  had  their 
wings  much  further  forward  than  the  partially  flexed  wings  of 
birds  which  glide 
rapidly  (Fig.  4) 
through  the  air.^ 

A  similar  effect  is 
obtained  by  spread- 
ing out  the  tail- 
feathers,  which 
moves  back  the  cen- 
tre of  the  plane  of 
suspension  formed 
by  the  wings,  body, 
and  tail,  thereby 
relatively  advancing  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  bird.  Change 
of   direction,  upward  or  downward,   can  in   this   way  be   obtained 

^  This  fact  (that  the  point  of  maximum  resistance  is  moved  forward  when  a 
flat  surface  strikes  a  fluid,  with  at  the  same  time  a  movement  parallel  with  the 
plane  of  the  surface)  seems  to  us  well  fitted  to  explain  why  it  is  that  the  shafts  of 
the  primary  wing-feathers,  which  during  extension  of  the  wing  make  a  great  angle 


Fio.  4.    (From  Marey.) 


266 


FLIGHT 


by  moving  backwards  or  forwards  the  centre  of  gravity  in  rela- 
tion to  the  centre  of  suspension,  and  this  does  not  involve  any 
change  in  the  angle  which  the  under  surface  of  the  wings  or 
tail  makes  with  the  line  of  flight.  It  involves,  moreover,  only 
slight  muscular  exertion,  and  therefore  comparatively  little  ex- 
penditure of  energy  on  the  part  of  the  bird  in  guiding  its  motion. 
By  raising  or  loAvering  the  expanded  tail  the  direction  can  also  be 
changed,  but  either  of  these  movements  tends  to  destroy  equilibrium, 
and  they  do  not  seem  to  be  used  in  ordinary  gliding.  In  order 
to  turn  to  the  right  or  left  a  gliding  bird  has  only  to  move  its 
centre  of  gravity  to  one  or  other  side  of  its  centre  of  suspension. 
This  it  can  do  in  a  variety  of  ways  ;  for  instance,  by  turning  its  head 
to  one  side,  when,  as  was  observed  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  the 
course  of  the  gliding  turns  in  the  same  direction.  A  still  more 
effective  way  is  to  change  the  centre  of  suspension  by  partially 
flexing  one  wing,  which  causes  the  bird  to  turn  towards  the  same 
side.  A  similar  effect  is  produced  by  raising  one  side  of  the 
extended  tail  and  lowering  the  other.  Any  or  all  of  these  move- 
ments give  the  bird  power  to  turn  to  either  side. 

We  should  not  have  considered  it  necessary  to  say  so  much 
about  the  gliding  flight  of  birds  had  it  not  been  that  what  we  have 
said  on  this  mode  of  aerial  locomotion  is  equally  true  when  the 
bird  moves  by  active  strokes  of  the  wings  or  by  sailing. 

with  the  line  of  flight,  are  placed  so  much  nearer  the  anterior  margin  of  the 
feathers  than  is  the  case  with  the  secondary  feathers,  which  lie  in  a  line  more 


Fig.  5.    (From  Marey.) 

nearly  parallel  with  the  axis  of  flight,  as  is  shewn  in  the  annexed  figure  (Fig.  5) 
of  a  fully  extended  eagle's  wing.  Were  it  otherwise,  the  outer  or  anterior  vane 
would  bend  upwards  more  than  the  posterior  vane  and  make  forward  movement, 
as  a  result  either  of  the  passive  extension  in  gliding  or  the  active  down  stroke, 
an  impossibility.  This  explanation  of  the  diff"erent  shape  of  the  primary  and 
secondary  feathers  of  the  wing  seems  to  have  been  hitherto  overlooked. 


FLIGHT  267 

II.  Flight  hy  active  strokes  of  the  wings.  It  is  very  much 
easier  for  a  bird  to  sustain  itself  in  the  air  by  active  flight,  if  it 
have  a  certain  initial  relative  velocity,  than  if  it  seek  to  begin  flying 
from  a  position  of  relative  rest  or  Avant  of  motion.  This  leads  all 
birds  to  rise  from  the  ground  with  their  heads  towards  the  wind. 
If  there  be  not  wind  enough,  the  bird  seeks  to  gain  initial  velocity 
by  running  or  springing,  or  both.  In  the  case  of  aquatic  birds 
the  velocity  is  obtained  in  part  by  striking  the  water  with  their 
wing-tips  during  the  first  few  strokes.  In  "hovering,"  which  is 
only  possible  for  very  powerful  flyers,  the  great  exertion  can  be 
seen  from  the  rapidity  with  which  the  wing-strokes  follow  one 
another.  Birds  ^Wth  short  legs  and  long  wings,  as  the  Condor  and 
Albatros,  cannot,  in  the  absence  of  wind,  rise  at  all  from  the 
ground  unless  they  have  room  to  run,  and  Condors  can  be  easily 
caught  by  tempting  them  with  food  within  a  narrow  enclosure. 
Even  the  strong-flying  Pigeon,  after  being  made  to  rise  from  the 
gi^ound  and  fly  a  short  distance  for  five  or  six  times  in  succession, 
refuses  to  rise  again,  and  remains  on  the  ground  panting  with  open 
beak.  Marey,  who  observed  this  in  his  own  Pigeons,  calculates 
that  the  energy  expended  per  second  in  a  Pigeon  when  taking 
flight  is  five  times  as  great  as  when  it  has  acquired  a  certain  velo- 
city. The  bird  at  starting  makes  rapid  strokes  Avith  its  wings, 
which  move  through  a  large  angle, — in  the  case  of  the  Pigeon 
striking  one  another  above  the  back  at  the  end  of  the  up  stroke, 
and  nearly  touching  with  their  tips  at  the  end  of  the  down  stroke. 
When  velocity  has  been  acquired,  the  flaps  are  slower,  and  the 
angle  which  they  describe  round  the  shoulder-joint  is  a  very  much 
smaller  one.  The  reason  why  so  much  more  energy  is  required  to 
fly  when  they  have  little  or  no  initial  velocity  relative  to  the  air  is 
due  to  the  increased  support  afforded  by  the  air  if  the  wing-surface 
which  strikes  it  be  at  the  same  time  travelling  through  the  air  in  a 
line  more  or  less  parallel  to  its  surface.  This  gain  in  resistance  to 
the  wing-stroke  increases,  as  we  have  already  pointed  out,  with  the 
square  of  the  velocity  of  the  wing  in  a  direction  parallel  with  the 
axis  of  flight. 

With  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  a  bird  uses  its  wings 
during  flight  we  are  indebted  chiefly  to  Marey,  who  employed 
much  more  exact  methods  of  observation  than  had  previously  been 
made  use  of.  As  can  be  seen  from  the  annexed  figure  (Fig.  6), 
which  shews  a  Gull  photographed  at  successive  intervals  of  one- 
fiftieth  of  a  second,  the  wings  during  the  down  stroke  move  forward 
as  Avell  as  downward.  It  can  be  shewn  that  the  outer  end  of  the 
humerus  describes  a  kind  of  ellipse  (Fig.  7)  round  a  straight  line  passing 
through  the  shoulder-joints,  the  long  axis  of  which  ellipse  is  inclined 
slightly  downwards  from  the  horizontal.  During  the  down  stroke, 
which  is  made  along  the  front  half  of  the  ellipse,  the  surface  of  the 


263 


FLIGHT 


remiges,  shewn  by  the  short   lines  in  the  figure,  taken  in  a  line 
parallel  to  the  trajectory  of  the  bird,  is  inclined  at  an  angle  with 


Fio.  6.    (From  Marey.) 

the  line  of    flight,  so   that  their   under  surface   looks  downwards 
and  backwards.     The  exact  angle  is  not  known,  but  it  is  certainly  a 

small  one,  and  probably 
varies  with  the  velocity  of 
the  bird's  motion.  Having 
made  the  down  and  forward 
stroke,  the  wing  moves 
backward,  being  still  ex- 
tended, and  still  inclined 
slightly  backwards.  The 
diagram  indicating  a  bird 
flying  from  left  to  right, 
though  not  to  be  taken  as 
more  than  approximately 
exact,  gives  an  idea  of  what 
is  knoAvn  regarding  the  tra- 
jectory of  the  wing  and  the  inclinations  of  its  plane  Avith  the  axis 
of  flight.  The  down  stroke,  it  should  be  added,  takes  a  longer  time 
than  the  up  stroke.  In  making  the  latter,  as  can  be  seen  from  the 
figure  (Fig.  8),  the  wing  passes  at  first  backwai'ds,  and  then,  becom- 
ing partially  flexed  Avith  a  whiplike  action,  it  rises  upwards,  the  plane 
of  the  wing  being  altered  during  the  up  stroke,  so  that  it  looks 
down  and  forward.  If  the  bird  be  flying  fairly  rapidly  through  the 
air,  the  up  stroke  is  mainly  a  passive  movement,  the  bird  continuing 
to  rest  on  the  wings,  and  the  velocity  of  the  forward  motion  of  its 
body  diminishing,  to  be  increased  again  with  the  next  down  stroke. 
At  starting,  and  before  the  bird  has  acquired  velocity,  the  up 
stroke  is  an  active  one,  and  the  primary  feathers  can  be  proved 
to  separate  from  one  another,  facilitating  thereby  the  movement 
by  reducing  the  resistance  offered  by  the  air  to  the  back  of  the 
wing.     The  above  description  applies  mainly  to  the  Pigeon  and 


Fio.  ".     (From  Marey.) 


FLIGHT  269 

Gull,  oil  which  the  observations  have  for  the  most  part  been  made, 
but  there  is  at  present  no  reason  for  supposing  that  the  active 
flight  of  other  birds  dift'ers  from  that  described  in  any  essential 


Fig.  8. — Photographic  trajectciky  of  the  tip  of  a  Crow's  Wing.    The  little  arrows  shew 
the  direction  of  the  tip's  movement.    (From  Marey.) 

particulars,  though  there  is  still  a  good  deal  to  be  learned  about  the 
mechanics  of  active  flight,  and  data  sufficient,  for  example,  to  enable 
us  to  calculate  the  work  done  by  a  bird  in  flying  through  the  air 
are  still  wanting.  AVe  have,  however,  in  the  above  given  only  a 
very  incomplete  sketch  of  what  has  already  been  learned  on  the 
subject. 

III.  "We  now  come  to  the  interesting  subject  of  soaring  or  sailinff. 
The  typical  soaring  birds  come  under  Miillenhoff's  ^  "  Vulture-type," 
■whose  sail-area  in  relation  to  the  total  weight  of  the  bird  is  a  large 
one.  In  this  category  come  such  birds  as  the  larger  Corvidx,  viz. 
the  Raven  and  Crow,  the  Falcons  and  Vultures,  the  Owls,  Pelicans, 
and  Storks.  Those  of  them  which  can  soar  are  mostly  large  birds, 
A\ath  a  relatively  large  wing-area,  and  few  of  them  are  commonly 
visible  in  this  country,  Avhich  is  possibly  one  reason  why  the  whole 
subject  of  soaring  flight  is  still  so  obscure. 

The  main  characteristics  of  the  soaring  flight  of  such  birds 
have,  however,  been  recorded  by  a  number  of  trustworthy 
observers,  and  are  no  longer  seriously  disputed.  A  certain 
amount  of  wind  appears  to  be  essential,  soaring  flight  not  being 
observed  in  a  dead  calm.  Observers  seem  to  agree  also  in  this, 
that  the  soaring  bird,  with  motionless  outstretched  wings  (having 
raised  itself  some  distance  from  the  ground  or  sea  b}'  active  wing- 
strokes),  describes  in  its  flight,  curves  or  circles  which  lead  it  to 
alternately  sail  up  the  wind  and  down  the  wind.  It  describes 
wide  curves,  and  loses  in  vertical  position  while  it  is  directed  down 

^  Tom.  cit.  p.  425. 


270  FLIGHT 

the  wind,  while  in  going  up  into  the  wind  it  rises  higher  in  the  air. 
The  bird  may,  in  describing  these  curves  or  circles,  rise  as  high  or 
higher  than  the  point  from  which  it  started,  and  may  be  as  far  or 
further  to  windward,  and  this  without  any  very  evident  expenditure 
of  mechanical  work  on  the  part  of  the  bird.  This  at  first  sight  looks 
sufficiently  startling,  and  one's  first  impulse  would  naturally  be  to 
question  the  facts.  There  appears,  hoAvever,  to  be  no  sufficient 
reason  for  doubting  the  main  points  above  stated.  Other  modes  of 
soai'ing  have,  indeed,  been  described,  but  it  is  unnecessary  to  go 
into  these  latter,  since  any  explanation  of  how  it  is  that  a  bird,  with 
what  may  be  described  as  little  or  no  mechanical  work  ^  on  its  part, 
can  not  only  keep  itself  up  in  the  air  but  can  actually  rise  higher, 
or,  keeping  about  the  same  level,  can  progress  to  windward,  Anil 
presumably  cover  all  the  varieties  of  soaring. 

Now  the  theories  with  which  we  are  acquainted  as  to  the 
mechanics  of  soaring  may  be  divided  into  tAvo  categories — those, 
in  the  first  place,  evolved  by  observers  Avho  have  noted  certain 
prominent  facts  and  have  sought  to  explain  these  by  reasonings 
Avhich  have  been  in  some  cases  Avildly  disregardful  of  the  elements 
of  dynamics.  Such  theories  may,  indeed  must,  be  put  to  one  side, 
although  the  facts  on  which  they  are  based  cannot  be  left  out  of 
consideration.  The  second  category  of  theories  are  those  made  by 
physicists  and  mathematicians,  and  Avhich  are  characterized  by 
being  in  harmony  Avith  what  is  known  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and 
also,  Avith  certain  important  exceptions  (to  be  presently  considered), 
by  being  inadequate  to  explain  facts  which  had  been  noted  by  a 
consensus  of  trustworthy  observers.  We  cannot  go  over  these  tAvo 
series  of  theories  in  detail,  and  can  only  find  room  to  consider  two, 
drawn  from  our  second  category.  These  are,  first,  the  theory  of 
upward  currents  of  air  ;  ^  and,  secondly,  the  theory  of  varying  velocity  of 
the  wind  at  different  heights  from  the  land  or  water.  There  is  a  good 
deal  to  be  said  for  both  of  these  possible  explanations — Avhich, 
of  course,  involves  the  conclusion  that  the  data  required  to  decide 
the  matter  are  still  wanting.  Nevertheless,  the  subject  is  too 
interesting  and  important  to  justify  us  in  seeking  to  eA^ade  the 
difficulties  of  the  problem  before  us,  and  we  aa^II  try  to  put  seriatim 
the  reason  for  and  against  these  two  (so  far  as  Ave  knoAV  only) 
possibilities. 

1  While  resting  on  its  motionless  extended  wings  a  bird  may  be  doing  no 
mechanical  work,  but  it  is  nevertheless  expending  energy  in  keeping  up  a  certain 
degree  of  contraction  of  its  pectoral  muscles.  This  work,  which  is  real  enough  of 
its  kind,  is  expended  in  the  muscles  themselves,  and  concerns  the  physiologist 
rather  than  the  mechanician.     It  is  called  internal  work  by  physiologists.     . 

-  W.  Froude,  Proc.  R.  Soc.  Edinh.  xv.  pp.  256-258  (19  March  1888).  [A  con- 
tinuation of  this  note  has  since  appeared  {op.  cit.  xviii.  pp.  65-72,  5  January 
1891).— A.  N.] 


FLIGHT  271 

Upward  currents  of  air  are  to  be  met  with,  when  there  is  a 
wind,  on  the  windward  side  of  a  sloping  mountain,  or  a  house, 
or  the  sail  of  a  ship,  or  as  a  result  of  the  inequalities  of  surface 
produced  by  waves  on  the  sea.  For  example.  Gulls  may  be 
seen  to  soar  for  a  prolonged  period  of  time  in  front  of  or  above 
cliffs  on  the  shore  when  the  wind  comes  from  the  sea.  This, 
however,  cannot  be  taken  as  an  example  of  soaring  proper,  seeing 
that  Gulls  can  only  remain  suspended  in  the  air  without  loss  of 
relative  horizontal  motion  under  special  conditions  which  do  not 
apply  in  the  case  of  the  typical  soaring  birds.  Gulls  are  not  seen 
to  soar  except  under  conditions  which  point  toward  upward  cur- 
rents, being  a  very  obvious  explanation  of  the  phenomenon.  In 
the  case,  on  the  other  hand,  of  typical  soaring  birds,  such  as  those 
named  above,  soaring  is  observable  under  conditions  and  at  heights 
where  there  is  no  sufficient  reason  to  assume  that  upward  cur- 
rents exist.  For  example.  Eagles  and  Adjutants  are  seen  to  rise 
continuously  by  soaring  for  miles  above  the  surface  of  the  ground 
or  sea.  To  explain  such  cases  as  being  due  to  upward  currents 
would,  we  are  of  opinion,  require  a  good  deal  more  evidence  of 
continuous  upward  currents  of  air  from  the  plains  or  seas  than  is 
at  present  available.  That  the  direction  of  the  wind  even  at  great 
heights,  and  above  a  comparatively  smooth  sea  or  plain,  is  by  no 
means  always  parallel  wdth  the  surface  of  the  globe  is  more  than 
probable ;  but  we  know  of  no  reason  for  assuming  that  the  upward 
ciurrents  are  sufficiently  predominant  over  the  downward  currents 
to  justify  us  in  looking  on  the  former  as  capable  of  explaining 
observed  facts  as  to  soaring.  In  other  words,  the  theory  of  upward 
currents  of  the  air  as  an  explanation  of  sailing  or  soaring  flight 
requires  more  support  in  the  way  of  facts  than  have  been  so  far 
produced. 

The  theory  of  unequal  velocity  of  the  air  at  different  heights  as  an 
explanation  of  soaring  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the  motion  of  a 
wind  is  retarded  by  the  surface  of  the  earth,  so  that  considerable 
variations  in  velocity  may  and  do  occur  at  different  heights  above  the 
ground.  The  matter  is  put  very  clearly  by  Hubert  Airy,^  although 
we  are  indebted,  in  this  country  at  all  events,  to  Lord  Eayleigh  for 
having  first  formulated  it.  Airy  says  :  "  Suppose  a  bird  at  the 
highest  point  of  one  of  its  gyrations,  when  it  has  mounted  against 
the  wind  and  is  wheeling  to  one  or  other  side  preparatory  to  the 
descent  with  the  wind.  .  .  .  Let  us  regard  the  air  at  the  level 
of  the  bird,  at  this  turning-point,  as  still.  Then,  relative  to  this 
point,  the  lower  strata  of  air  have  a  horizontal  velocity  in  the 
opposite  direction  to  the  wind  (as  perceived  on  earth) ;  and  the 
bird  in  falling  apparently  down  the  wind  will  really  be  meeting 
stronger  and  stronger  adverse  currents,  and  when  it  has  reached 
^  Nature,  xxvii.  pp.  .534  and  591. 


272  FLIGHT 

the  lowest  point  of  the  '  circle '  it  will  have  a  greater  horizontal 
velocity  relative  to  the  air  at  that  level  than  if  the  whole  air 
through  which  it  had  fallen  had  been  still.  .  .  .  Suppose  the  bird 
as  it  rises  wheels  gradually  round  and  faces  the  wind.  Then  in 
rising  it  will  enter  successive  strata  of  air,  having  successively 
greater  and  gi-eater  velocity  relative  to  itself  (the  bird)  than  if  the 
air  had  no  internal  movement,  and  therefore  the  air-resistance, 
which  is  the  lifting  force,  will  ever  be  greater  than  that  due  to 
(or  corresponding  with)  the  height  gained  by  the  bird  if  in  still 
air."  As  Rayleigh  noted,  the  gain  to  the  bird  corresponds,  not 
with  the  increments  in  velocity,  but  Avith  the  increments  in  the 
square  of  velocity. 

This  theory  fits  in  very  well  with  most  of  the  facts  noted  by 
different  observers  in  soaring  birds.  It  especially  agrees  with  the 
fact  that  soaring  birds  appear  always  in  making  their  horizontal 
curves  to  alternately  rise  and  descend  in  the  manner  above  de- 
scribed. Against  this  theory,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  fact  that 
birds  may  be  seen  to  soar  a  great  height  above  the  surface  of  the 
globe — too  high  to  justify  us  in  assuming  that  different  strata  of 
the  wind  travel  wdth  such  differences  in  velocity  as  have  been 
observed  nearer  the  earth.  This  is  a  matter,  however,  on  which 
we  have  as  yet  insufficient  information  ;  and  it  is  worth  noting 
that  any  local  variations  in  the  velocity  of  neighbouring  currents 
of  air  will  be  capable  of  being  of  use  to  a  soaring  bird  in  a  manner 
analogous  to  that  described  by  Airy. 

In  the  meantime  we  are  inclined  to  accept  Rayleigh's  theory  ; 
but  the  facts,  it  appears  to  us,  Avant  investigation  with  more  exact 
methods  than  have  hitherto  been  employed.  What  is  needed  is  to 
learn  exactly  the  course  of  a  soaring  bird  both  in  the  vertical  and 
horizontal  dimensions  in  each  part  of  its  course,  as  well  as  the 
exact  velocity  and  direction  of  the  wind  in  the  strata  of  air  through 
which  the  bird  progresses. 

Much  has  been  written  on  size  as  inttuencing  the  power  of  flight 
in  different  birds,  but  this  is  a  subject  into  Avhich  Ave  cannot  here 
enter.  Tavo  opposite  AdeAvs  regarding  it  Avill  l^e  found  stated  at 
length  by  Miillenhoft"  {o'p.  cif.)  and  Strasser.^ 

Finally,  it  is  important  to  note  that  frictional  resistance,  Avhich, 
as  the  late  Mr.  W.  Froude  has  sheAvn,  plays  so  great  a  i)art  in 
obstructing  the  movement  of  a  ship  through  Avater,  seems,  from 
recent  observations  by  Langley  -  and  Maxim,^  to  have  very  slight 
influence  in  hindering  the  passage  of  a  bird  through  the  air. 

Charles  S.  Roy. 

•'   Ueher  den  Plug  der  Vdgel,  pp.  404-417  (Jena  :  1885). 
^  Comptcs  Rcndus  de  I'Acad.  Sc.  cxiii.  pp.  59-63  (1891). 
3  Century  Magazine,  xlii.  pp.  829-836  (Oct.  1891). 


FL  ORICA  N—FL  YCA  TCHER  273 

FLORICAN  or  FLORIKEN/  the  Anglo-Indian  name  for  the 
smaller  Bustards,  the  origin  of  which  neither  Jerdon  {B.  Ind.  ii. 
p.  625)  nor  Yule  {Hobson  Johson,  p.  270)  can  trace.  The  latter 
shews  that  it  was  used  in  1780  (Munro,  Narrative,  p.  199),  and 
says  "  it  looks  like  Dutch  " ;  but  from  analogy  a  Portuguese  deriva- 
tion would  seem  more  likely. 

FLOWER-PECKER,  the  name  given  by  Indian  ornithologists 
to  species  of  the  genus  Dic^UM  and  others  supposed  to  be  allied  to 
it  (c/.  Jerdon,  B.  Ind.  i.  pp.  373-378 ;  Gates,  Fauna  Br.  Ind.  Birds, 
ii.  pp.  376-386). 

FLUSHER,  said  by  Ray  in  1674  {Coll.  Engl.  Words,  p.  83)  to 
be  a  name  given  in  Yorkshire  to  the  Butcher-BIRD  or  Red-backed 
Shrike  ;  but  he  probably  should  have  written  "  Flesher  " — that 
being  a  common  North-country  word  for  butcher. 

FLYCATCHER,  a  name  introduced  in  ornithology  by  Ray, 
being  a  translation  of  the  Muscicapa  of  older  authors,  and  applied 
by  Pennant  to  an  extremely  common  English  bird,  the  M.  grisola  of 
Linnaeus.  It  has  since  been  used  in  a  general  and  very  vague  way 
for  a  great  many  small  birds  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  which 
have  the  habit  of  catching  flies  on  the  wing,  and  thus  ornithologists 
who  have  trusted  too  much  to  this  characteristic  and  to  certain 
merely  superficial  correlations  of  structure,  especially  those  exhibited 
by  a  broad  and  rather  flat  bill  and  a  gape  beset  by  strong  hairs  or 
bristles,  have  associated  under  the  title  of  Miiscicapidse  an  exceed- 
ingly heterogeneous  assemblage  of  forms  that,  though  much  reduced 
in  number  by  later  systematists,  has  scarcely  yet  been  sufficiently 
revised.  Great  advance  has  been  made,  however,  in  establishing 
as  independent  Families  the  Todidfe  (Tody)  and  Eurylxmidse 
(Broadbill),  as  well  as  in  excluding  from  it  various  members 
of  the  Cotingidse  (Chatterer),  Tyrannidx,  Fireonidx,  Mniotiltidx 
(American  Warbler),  and  perhaps  others,  which  had  been  placed 
within  its  limits.  These  steps  have  left  the  Muscicapidse  a  purely 
Old- World  Family  of  the  Order  Passeres,  and  the  chief  difficulty 
now  seems  to  lie  in  separating  it  from  Campephaga,  with  its  rela- 
tions, and  from  the  Laniidx  (Shrike).  Every  ornithologist  must  own 
that  its  precise  definition  is  at  present  almost  imjDossible,  and  must 
await  that  truer  knowledge  which  comes  of  investigating  structural 
characters  more  deeply  seated  than  any  aff"orded  by  the  epidermis. 
But  here  want  of  space  forbids  the  pursuit  of  this  kind  of  enquiry, 

^  Some  form  of  this  word,  variously  spelt  by  authors,  doubtless  gave  rise  to 
"  Flercher,"  which  Latham  in  1787  said  {Syn.  B.  Suppl.  p.  229)  was  used  in 
India  "by  some  of  the  English,"  and  is  probably  due  to  a  misprint  or  wrong 
reading.  Jerdon  says  that  he  was  once  informed  that  the  Little  Bustard  was 
"  sometimes  called  Flandcrkin  "  ;  but  I  am  not  able  to  find  such  a  name  for  it. 
Way  Florican,  after  all,  arise  from  a  mispronunciation  of  Feancolin  ? 

18 


274  FL  YCA  TCHER 


and  for  the  same  reason  only  a  very  few  of  the  forms  of  Flycatchers 
(which,  after  all  the  deductions  above  mentioned,  may  be  reckoned 
to  include  some  60  genera  or  subgenera,  and  perhaps  250  species) 
c^in  be  even  named.  ^ 

The  best  known  bird  of  this  Family  is  that  which  also  happens 
to  be  the  type  of  the  Linnaean  genus  Miiscicapa — the  Spotted  or 
Grey  Flycatcher,  M.  grisola,  already  mentioned.  It  is  a  common 
summer  -  visitant  to  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  is  found 
throughout  Great  Britain,  though  less  abundant  in  Scotland  than 
in  England,  as  well  as  in  many  parts  of  Ireland,  where,  however, 
it  seems  to  be  but  locally  and  sparingly  distributed.  It  is  one  of 
the  latest  of  our  migrants  to  arrive,  and  seldom  reaches  these  islands 
till  the  latter  part  of  May,  when  it  may  be  seen,  a  small  dust- 
coloured  bird,  sitting  on  the  posts  or  railings  of  our  gardens  and 
fields,  ever  and  anon  springing  into  the  air,  seizing  -with  an  audible 
snap  of  its  bill  some  passing  insect  as  it  flies,  and  returning  to  the 
spot  it  has  quitted,  or  taking  up  some  similar  station  to  keep  watch 
as  before.  It  has  no  song,  but  merely  a  plaintive  or  peevish  call- 
note,  uttered  from  time  to  time  with  a  jerking  gesture  of  the  wings. 
It  makes  a  neat  nest,  built  among  the  small  t^ags  which  sprout  from 
the  bole  of  a  large  tree,  or  fixed  in  the  branches  of  some  plant 
trained  against  a  wall,  or  placed  in  any  hole  of  the  wall  itself  that 
may  be  left  by  the  falling  of  a  brick  or  stone.  The  eggs  are  from 
four  to  six  in  number,  of  a  pale  greenish-blue,  closely  blotched  or 
freckled  with  rust-colour.  Silent  and  inconspicuous  as  is  this  bird, 
its  constant  pursuit  of  flies  in  the  closest  vicinity  of  our  houses 
makes  it  a  familiar  object  to  almost  everj'-body.  A  second  British 
species  is  the  Pied  Flycatcher,  M.  atricapilla, — called  by  some 
writers  the  Goldfinch — a  much  rarer  bird,  and  in  England  not  often 
seen  except  in  the  hilly  country  extending  from  the  Peak  of  Derby- 
shire to  Cumberland,  and  more  numerous  in  the  Lake  district  than 
elsewhere.  It  is  not  common  in  Scotland,  and  has  only  once  been 
observed  in  Ireland.  ]\Iore  of  a  woodland  bird  than  the  former, 
the  brightly  -  contrasted  black  and  white  plumage  of  the  cock, 
together  with  his  agreeable  song,  readily  attracts  attention  where 
it  occurs.  It  is  a  summer  visitant  to  all  Western  Europe,  but 
further  eastward  its  place  is  taken  by  a  nearly  allied  species, 
M.  collaris,  in  which  the  white  of  the  throat  and  breast  extends 

'  Of  tlie  30  genera  or  subgenera  which  Swainson  included  in  his  Natural 
Arrangc7)ient  and  Relations  of  the  Family  of  Flycatchers  (published  in  183S),  at 
least  19  do  not  belong  to  the  Muscicapidse  at  all,  and  one  of  them,  Todus, 
not  even  to  the  Order  Passeres.  It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  name  any  ornitho- 
logical work  whose  substance  so  fully  belies  its  title  as  does  this  treatise,  Swain- 
son wrote  it  filled  with  faith  in  the  so-called  "  Quinary  System  "  (see  Introduc- 
tion), and,  unconsciously  swayed  by  that  bias,  his  judgment  was  warped  to  fit 
his  hypothesis. 


FL  YCA  TCHER  275 


like  a  collar  round  the  neck.  A  fourth  European  species,  M.  parva, 
distinguished  by  its  very  small  size  and  red  breast,  has  also  strayed 
several  times  to  the  British  Islands.  This  last  belongs  to  a  group 
of  more  eastern  range,  which  has  received  generic  recognition 
(possibly  well  deserved)  under  the  name  of  Erythrosterna ,  and  it  has 
several  relations  in  Asia  and  particularly  in  India,  while  the  allies 
of  the  Pied  Flycatchers  (Ficedula  of  Brisson)  are  chiefly  of  African 
origin,  and  those  of  the  Grey  or  Spotted  Flycatcher  (Muscicapa 
proper  ^)  are  common  to  almost  the  v/hole  Pakearctic  area. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  groups  of  Muscicapidai  is  that  known 
as  the  Paradise  Flycatchers,  forming  the  genus  TeipsipJwne  of 
Gloger  {Tchitrea  of  Lesson).  In  nearly  all  the  species  the  males 
are  distinguished  by  the  growth  of  exceedingly  long  feathers  in  their 
tail,  and  b}'  their  putting  on,  for  some  part  of  the  year  at  least,  a 
plumage  generally  Avhite,  but  almost  always  quite  difterent  from 
that  worn  by  the  females,  which  is  of  a  more  or  less  deep  chestnut 
or  bay  colour,  though  in  both  sexes  the  crown  is  of  a  glossy  steel- 
blue.  They  are  found  j^retty  well  throvighout  Africa  and  tropical 
Asia  to  Japan,  and  seem  to  affect  the  deep  shade  of  forests  rather 
than  the  open  country.  The  best-known  species  is  perhaps  the 
Indian  T.  jxiradisi ;  but  the  Chinese  T.  incii,  and  the  Japanese 
T.  princeps,  from  being  very  commonly  represented  by  the  artists 
of  those  nations  on  screens,  fans,  and  the  like,  are  hardly  less  so ; 
and  the  cock  of  the  last  named,  with  his  bill  of  a  pale  greenish- 
blue  and  eyes  surrounded  by  bare  skin  of  the  same  colour — though 
these  are  characters  possessed  in  some  degree  by  all  the  species — 
seems  to  be  the  most  beautiful  of  the  genus.  T.  bourbonnensis, 
which  is  peculiar  to  the  islands  of  Mauritius  and  K6union,  appears 
to  be  the  only  species  in  which  the  outward  difference  of  the  sexes 
is  but  sliij-ht.  In  T.  corvina  of  the  Seychelles,  the  adult  male  is 
wholly  black,  and  his  middle  tail-feathers  are  not  only  very  long 
but  very  broad.  In  T.  mutata  of  Madagascar,  some  of  the  males 
are  found  in  a  blackish  plumage,  though  with  the  elongated  median 
rectrices  white,  while  in  others  white  predominates  over  the  whole 
body  ;  but  whether  this  sex  is  here  actually  dimorphic,  or  whether 
the  one  dress  is  a  passing  phase  of  the  other,  is  at  present  undeter- 
mined. Some  of  the  African  species,  of  which  many  have  been 
described,  seem  always  to  retain  the  rufous  plumage,  but  the  long 
tail-feathers  serve  to  mark  the  males ;  and  the  whole  group  deserves 
more  investigation  than  it  has  yet  received,  as  it  is  likely  to  reveal 
facts  of  importance  in  regard  to  the  theory  of  "  Sexual  Selection." 

On  the  other  groups  of  the  Family  there  is  not  room  to  descant. 
A  few  are  distinguished  by  the  brilliant  blue  they  exhibit,  as 
Myiagra  azurea,  and  others,  as  Piczorhynehxis  chrysomelas,  by  their 

^  By  some  writers  this  section  is  distinguished  as  Butalis  of  Boie,  but  to  do 
BO  seems  contrary  to  rule. 


2/6 


FOOLS-CO  A  T—FORKTAIL 


golden-yellow.     Aues  has  the  skin  round  the  eyes  bare  and  of  some 
bright  colour.     The  Australian  forms  assigned  to  the  3'Iuscicapidx 


^^ti^-" 


a,  Cryptolopha  ;  h,  c,  d,  e,  Myiaora  ;  /,  Terpsiphoke  ;  g,  Muscicapa  ;  h,  Hyliota. 

(After  Swainson.) 

are  very  varied,  and  probably  require  much  further  scrutiny. 
Sisura  inqaieta,  for  instance,  has  some  of  the  habits  of  a  Water- 
Wagtail,  Motacilla,  and  hence  has  received  from  the  colonists  the 


PlEZORHYNCHDS    CHRTSOMELAS. 


Plattstira. 
(After  Swainson.) 


Arses  telescophthalmus. 


name  of  "  Dishwasher,"  bestowed  in  many  parts  of  England  on  its 
analogue;^  and  the  many  species  of  Ehipidura  or  Fantailed  Fly- 
catchers, which  occur  in  various  parts  of  the  Australian  Region, 
have  manners  still  more  singular — turning  over  in  the  air,  it  is 
said,  like  a  Tumbler  Pigeon,  as  they  catch  their  prey  ;  but  con- 
cerning the  mode  of  life  of  the  majority  of  the  Muscicapidx,  and 
especially  of  the  numerous  African  forms,  hardly  anything  is  known. 

FOOL'S-COAT,  according  to  Sir  Thomas  Browne  (JFnrh,  ed. 
Wilkin,  iv.  p.  323),  a  name  of  the  Goldfinch,  referring  of  course 
to  its  gaudy  and  particoloured  plumage. 

FOE  KT AIL,  of  old  time  used  in  England  for  the  Kitp:,  but 
now  applied  in  India  to  the  birds  of  the  genus  Henicunis,'-  a  small 
group,  the  position  of  which  has  long  been  doubtful,  several  system- 
atists  referring  it  to  the  Motacillidx  (Wagtail),  to  some  meml)ers 
of  which  there  is  undoubtedly  a  strong  outward  resemblance,  while 
other  methodists,  as  Blyth  {Cat.  B.  Mus.  Anat.  Soc.  p.  159),  Cabanis 
{Mas.  Ilein.  i.  p.  11),  and  Sundevall  (Tentam.  p.  5)  placed  it  next  to 

'  Anotlier  name  for  it  is  Orinder. 
-  Originally  and  even  now  sometimes  written  Enicurus,  but  incorrectly. 


FOR  T  Y-SPO  T— FOSSIL  BIRDS 


'-77 


Henicurus.    (After  Swainson.) 


Cindus  (Water-OuSEL),  and  Dr.  Sharpe,  as  usual  in  similar  cases 
of  difficulty,  has  put  it  {Cat. 
B.  Br.  Mus.  vii.  p.  312)  among 
the  TimeliidcB,  making  two 
other  genera,  Hydrocichla  and 
Mkrocichla.  These  are  adopted 
by  Mr.  Gates,  who  {Faun.  Br. 
Ind.  Birds,  ii.  p.  81)  refers  all 
to  the  Ruticilline  group  (Red- 
start) of  Turdklx.  With  but 
few  exceptions  their  plumage 
is  wholly  black  and  white ; 
and,  save  in  Mkrocichla,  the  forked  tail  which  is  constantly  in 
motion  is  a  marked  characteristic.  These  birds  are  found  along 
the  whole  of  the  Himalayan  range  and  its  eastward  extensions  to 
China  in  the  north,  and  further  south  in  the  mountains  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  Java,  Sumatra,  and  Borneo.  They  form,  says 
Mr.  Elwes  {Ibis,  1872,  p.  251)  "a  conspicuous  feature  in  Himalayan 
scenery,  being  usually  found  either  singly  or  in  pairs  flitting  from 
rock  to  rock  by  the  side  of  the  most  rapid  torrents."  They  are 
said  to  build  a  large  nest,  placed  under  a  stone  or  fallen  tree  close 
to  the  Avater,  and  their  eggs  are  of  a  dull  greenish-white  freckled 
with  rusty  brown. 

FORTY-SPOT,  the  name  in  Tasmania,  to  which  the  species  is 
peculiar,  of  Pardalotus  quadraginta  (Diamond-Bird). 

FOSSIL  BIRDS.^  Footprints  or  casts  of  footprints,  at  the  time  of 
their  discovery  and  long  afterwards,  supposed  to  be  those  of  Birds,  were 
found  about  the  year  1835  in  the  Triassic  sandstone  of  the  valley 
of  the  Connecticut  in  Xew  England,  and  were  described  by  Messrs.^ 
Deane  and  Marsh.  Subsequently  Prof.  Hitchcock  and  Mr.  Warren 
contributed  to  the  elucidation  of  these  tracks,  which  were  ascribed 
to  various  genera  of  the  Class  that  received  the  names  of  Amhlony.r, 
Argozo'um,  Brontozoum,  GraUator,  Ornithopus,  Flatypterna,  Tridentipes, 
and  others.  No  portion  of  any  of  the  animals  to  which  these  traces-  ^ 
are  due  seems  to  have  been  met  Avith,^  and  most  American  palae- 
ontologists are  now  inclined  to  attribute  them  rather  to  Dinosaurian 
Reptiles  than  to  Birds.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  rest,  it 
appears  that  the  creatures  designated  as  Platijpterna  and  Trulcntipes 
were  certainly  not  ornithic.     Brontozoum  must  have  been  a  colossal 

'  I  am  obliged  to  my  friend  j\Ir.  Lydekker  for  this  article,  which,  though 
founded  upon  one  that  ajipeared  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  has  been  by 
him  so  entirely  remodelled,  that  he  may  be  considered  its  sole  author. — A.  X. 

-  The  onl}'  known  bones  from  this  deposit  were  exhibited  by  Prof.  AV.  B.  / 
Rogers  at  the  lirst  meeting  of  the  British  Association  in  Bath  {Rep.  Br.  Ass. 
1864,  Trans.  Sect.  p.  66). 


r  /.  //rtV^(? 


■/. 


l/iAy~ 


278 


FOSSIL  BIRDS 


animal,  its  footprint  measuring  nearly  17  inches   in  length  and  its 
stride  some  8  feet. 

An  enormous  space  of  time  separates  these  reputed  Ornithich- 
nites,  as  they  are  called,  from  the  first  undoubted  fossil  Bird.  This 
was  discovered  in  1861  by  Andreas  Wagner  in  the  lithographic 
slate  of  Solenhofen  in  Bavaria,  belonging  to  the  Jurassic  system,  and 
is  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Arch^oj^fer'/.r,^  though  that  of 
Gryphosaiirus  was  given  by  him  to  the  original  specimen  now  in  the 


Slab  with  remains  of  Arch^opteeyx,  from  the  original  in  the  British  Museum.     Reduced. 

British  Museum,  Avhich  remained  unique  until  1877,  when  a  second, 
now  in  the  Museum  of  Berlin,'-^  was  found  in  the  same  locality.^    Since 

^  Hermann  von  Meyer  had  previously  described  a  fossil  feather  from  the 
same  formation,  to  the  owner  of  which  he  gave  this  name.  Its  specific,  generic, 
not  to  say  ordinal,  identity  with  the  creature  Avhose  remains  were  subsequently 
found  is  of  course  problematical,  but  the  received  laws  of  nomenclature  fully 
justify  the  common  usage. 

-  W.  Dames,  Uehcr  Archmojttcryx  {Pal.  Abhandl.  Band.  ii.  Heft  3),  Berlin  : 
1884  ;  and  Gcol.  Mag.  1884,  p.  410. 

*  Future  investigations  may  shew  that  the  two  specimens  belong  to  distinct 
species  if  not  genera  (cf.  Seeley,  Geol.  Mag.  1881,  p.  454). 


FOSSIL  BIRDS 


279 


these  tAvo  specimens  supplement  one  another  in  the  parts  that  are 
exposed,  we  can  form  a  fair  notion  of  what   the  animal  was  like- 


Portion  of  the  same  Slab,  biiEuiNG  iiif    I  xirvt.-Mii\   c  t   ihl  Bird-,  Tail      Natural  size. 

A])out  the  size  of  a  Rook,  its  most  obvious  peculiarity  is  a  long     ^ 

Lizard-like  tail  of  _20  vertebra?,  from  each  of  which  springs  a  pair  oi  ''f-  ^    ^' 

well-developed  rectrices.     The 

bill  was  short  and  blunt ;  the 

upper  jaw  being  furnished  with   / 

1 3,  and  the  lower  with  3  teeth  i , 

on  each  side,  all  implanted  in    '• 

distinct  sockets.    The  vertebra? 

of    the    neck    and    back   were 

biconcave,  the   sternum  seems 

to  have  been  keeled,  and  the 

manUS    had   3  free  digits.       The    Hkad  of  ARcn.^oPTERVX,fromtl.e  specimen  in  the 

o  Museum  of  Berlm.    Natural  size.    (After  Dames.) 

tibia  and   fibula   do   not   coal- 
esce,   and    the   former   was    furnished   with    a    series    of    feathers 
very  similar    to    those    of   the    tail.^      Though    presenting    many 
^  J.  Evans,  On  Portions  .  .  .  0/ the  Archseopteryx.     London:  1881. 


28o 


FOSSIL  BIRDS 


Reptilian   featui-es  which   cannot    he   here   noticed,   few  zoologists 
since  Sir  R.  Owen's  description  of  the  original  specimen  {Phil.  Trans. 

1863,  p.  33)  have 
hesitated  to  accept 
Archxnj^teryx,  as  a 
Bird  ;  but  to  suggest 
anything  of  its  more 
immediate  affinities 
or  habits  were  vain, 
except  that  the  form 
of  its  feet  indicates 
a  more  or  less  ar- 
boreal mode  of  life. 
It  is  not  easy  to  un- 
derstand the  use  of 
the      singular      tail, 


WiNO-BONEs  OF  Arch.coptervx.    (After  Vogt.) 

c,  Carpus  ;  h,  Humerus  ;  in,  m,  Metacarpals  ;  r,  Radius  ; 

u.  Ulna;  1,  2,  3,  first,  second,  and  third  Digits. 


which  appears  a  clumsy  appendage — a  notion  which  is  jierhaps 
justified  l)y  the  certainty  that  such  tails  had  disappeared  in  the 
birds  next  known  to  have  existed.^ 

These  belong  to  the  Cretaceous  epoch,  and  since  (with  the 
exception  of  the  Wealden)  freshwater  deposits  of  that  age  are  rare 
in  Europe,  true  ornithic  remains  are  there  uncommon.  Many  bones 
formerly  referred  to  Birds  have  since  proved  to  belong  to  Pterodac- 
tyls, and  among  them  Cimoliornis  from  the  English  Chalk,  Cretornis 
from  that  of  Bohemia,  and  the  so-called  Palmirnis  -  of  the  Sussex 
Wealden.  But  in  1858  Barrett  discovered  in  the  Upper  Green- 
sand  of  Cambridgeshire  remains  described  by  Professor  Seeley  in 
1866  {Ann.  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  3,  xviii.  p.  100)  under  the 
preoccupied  name  Pelagornis,^  bv;t  in  1867  renamed  Enaliornis 
{Index  to  Aves  and  Bep.  Camh.  Mus.;  Q.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc.  xxxii. 
p.  509).  These  indicate  a  bird  apjDarently  allied  to  Colymhus,  and 
not  improbably  to  Hesperornis,  of  which  more  presently.  Prof. 
Dames  (A".  Sv.  Vet.-Akad.  Handl.  Bihang,  xvi.  pt.  4,  No.  1)  has 
described  some  remains  from  the  Chalk  of  Southern  Sweden  under 
the  name  of  Scaniornis,  resembling  those  of  Palmlodiis,  to  be  again 
mentioned.  From  the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  North  America,  a  much 
lai'ger  number  of  Bird-fossils  have  been  described  by  Prof.  Marsh, 
by  whom  they  are  referred  to  seven  genera — Apatornis,  Baptornis, 


^  Certain  remains  from  the  Upper  Jurassic  of  Wyoming  being  regarded  as 
ornithic  have  received  the  name  Laopteryx  from  Prof.  Marsh  (Am.  Journ.  Sci. 
ser.  3,  xxi.  p.  341),  but  in  the  absence  of  full  description  and  figures  our  judg- 
ment may  be  suspended. 

^  Mantell,  Medals  of  Creation,  ed.  2,  p.  804  (1844) — not  to  be  confounded  with 
Paleeornis,  Vigors,  a  Parrakeet — an(\  =  Pterodadijlus  c/ifti,  Bronn,  Ltd.  Pal.  p.  895. 

^  This  name  had  already  been  given  by  Lartet  {Comptes  Pendns,  1857,  p.  740) 
to  a  different  fossil  noticed  below. 


FOSSIL  BIRDS  281 


Grraculavus,  Falxotringa,  Telmatornis,  Hesperornis,  and  Ir.hthyornis. 
The  last  two — occurring  in  the  Cretaceous  Shales  of  Kansas — are 
placed  by  him  in  a  distinct  "  Subclass  "  of  Birds,  Odontornithes.^ 
The  affinities  of  the  others  can  scarcely  yet  be  determined.  Baptornis 
seems  to  be  allied  to  Enaliwnis  ;  Graculavus  in  the  first  notice  was 
referred  to  the  Steganopodes  ;  and  Palseotringa  and  Telmatornis 
respectively  to  the  LiMlCOL^  and  Rallidse  ;  it  is,  however,  highly 
probable  that  all  were  toothed.  Laornis,  from  the  Cretaceous  Marls 
of  New  Jersey,  was  as  large  as  a  Swan. 

The  Lower  Eocene  furnishes  still  more  Ornitholites.  First  in 
point  of  size  are  those  of  Gastornis,  found  by  M.  Gaston  Plants  and 
soon  after  by  M.  Herbert  in  a  conglomerate  below  the  Plastic  Clay 
(Woolwich  beds)  of  Bas-Meudon.  It  has  lately  been  recognized  by 
Dr.  V.  Lemoine  in  beds  of  nearly  the  same  age  at  Rheims,  and  by 
Mr.  E.  T.  Newton  in  England  near  Croydon  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  xii. 
p.  143).  Much  difference  of  opinion  has  obtained  as  to  the  affinities 
of  this  bird,  which  was  far  larger  than  an  Ostrich,  but  it  was 
certainly  incapable  of  flight,  and  was  probably  one  of  the  Batitse. 
The  owner  of  an  imperfect  cranium  from  the  London  Clay,  for 
which  Sir  R  Owen  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  vii.  p.  145)  proposed  the 
name  Dasornis,  as  well  as  Prof.  Cope's  Diatryma  (Proc.  Ac.  N.  S. 
Pliilad.  1876,  p.  11)  seem  to  have  been  other  members  of  the  same 
gi'oup.  Phororhacos  and  Brontornis,  giant-birds,"  from  the  Lower 
Tertiary  of  South  America  should  also  be  named  here.  The 
London  Clay  of  Sheppey  has  likewise  supplied  some  long  but 
broken  humeri,  described  by  Sir  R.  Owen  (Q.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc. 
xxxiv.  p.  129)  as  Argillornis,  whose  nearest  affinities  seem  to  lie 
with  the  Steganopodes,  and  not,  as  had  been  supposed,  Avith  the 
Diomedeidai  (Albatros),  especially  if  a  skull  from  the  same  deposits 
be  rightly  referred.  To  the  same  bird  belong,  apparently,  remains 
described  under  the  preoccupied  names  of  Lithornis  and  Megalornis ; 
and  from  the  same  locality  the  zoologist  last-named  has  also  added 
{op.  cit.  xxix.  p.  511)  a  yet  more  remarkable  bird  in  the  Odontopteryx 
ioliapica,  the  edges  of  whose  jaws  were  serrated  like  those  of 
certain  Tortoises,  but  the  general  character  was  Steganopodous, 
with  a  similar  division  of  the  horny  sheath  of  the  mandible  into 
several  pieces.  A  small  skull,  also  from  Sheppey,  M^as  described  by 
him  as  Halcyornis,  and  regarded  as  allied  to  the  Kingfisher,  but  it 
seems  more  nearly  related  to  the  GuLLS,  further  evidence  to  this 
effect  being  afforded  by  an  undoubtedly  Larine  humerus  probably 
belonging  to  the  genus  described.  The  equivalent  beds  at  High- 
gate  have  supplied  the  sternum  of  a  HERON-like  bird,  for  which 
the  name  Proherodms  has  been  suggested  by  the  writer;  a  tarso- 

^  Am.  Journ.  Sci.  ser.  3,  x.  p,  403. 

2  See  Mercerat  and  Moreno,  An.  Mus.  La  Plata,  i.  (1891),  and  Ameyhino, 
Revist.  Argent.  Hist.  Nat.  i.  pp.  441-453.  " 


/ 


282 


FOSSIL  BIRDS 


metatarsus  from  the  London  Clay  near  St.  James's  Park  confirming 
its  Ardeine  relationship.  Several  associated  bones  of  a  bird  from 
Sheppey  were  described  by  Sir  R.  Owen  as  Lithornis  and  provision- 


Remains  of  Head  of  Odontopteryx,  from  the  original  in  the  British  Museum.    Side  view. 

3  natural  size. 


The  same,  seen  from  above. 

ally  referred  to  the  Accipifres.     The  shale  of  Plattenberg  at  Glarus 
has   produced  the  skeleton   of  a  bird  probably  belonging   to   the 

Fasseres,  and  called  by  Von  Meyer  Fro- 
iornis,  but  since  renamed  Osteornis  by  M. 
Gervais. 

The  bird-bones  of  the  Upper  Eocene 
of  the  Paris  Basin  deserve  fuller  notice. 
First  brought  to  light  towards  the  end 
of  the  last  century,  many  of  the  remains 
fell  under  the  notice  of  Cuvier,  by  whom 
they  were  more  or  less  exactly  determined. 
Following  his  investigations,  the  labours 
of  MM.  Gervais,  Blanchard,  and  Desnoyers 
added  considerably  to  our  knowledge  of  these  ornitholites,  till 
finally  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards,^  having  compared  all  the  specimens, 

^  I  cannot  let  the  name  of  this  distinguished  naturalist  pass  without 
acknowledging  the  very  many  tokens  of  friendship  received  at  his  hands  in  connec- 
tion with  the  present  subject.  His  magnificent  work  on  tlie  Fossil  Birds  of  France 
is  known  to  all,  and  together  with  his  article  on  Fossil  Ornithology,  in  the  second 
edition  of  D'Orbigny's  Dictionnaire  universelle  d'histoire  naturelle,  has  been  of 


The  same,  seen  from  behind. 


FOSSIL  BIRDS  283 


referred  them  to  the  genera  Agnopterus,  Coturnix,  Cryptornis,  Falco, 
Gypsornis,  Laurillardia,  Limosa,  Palsegithalus,  Palxocircus,  Palxortyx, 
Peiidna,  Phalacrocorar,  Rallus,  and  (?)  Tringa.  Of  these  the  extinct 
genera  are  the  first,  which  was  probably  distantly  allied  to  the 
Flamingos ;  the  third,  believed  to  be  a  HORNBILL  (A.  Milne- 
Edwards,  Ois.  Foss.  Fr.  ii.  p.  547):  the  fifth  a  Ealline  form;  the  sixth 
now  shewn  to  be  allied  to  Hartlaubia  of  Madagascar ;  ^  the  eighth 
(originally  identified  with  Sitta)  probably  connecting  Parus  (Tit- 
mouse) and  Sylvia  (Warbler)  ;  and  the  ninth  and  tenth  re- 
spectively referable  to  the  Accipitres  and  the  Gallinx.  The 
equivalent  beds  of  Hordwell  in  Hampshire  have  yielded  remains 
of  several  birds,-  including  an  Accipitrine,  Adiornis,  Agnojiterus  (1), 
Colymboides,  Elornis  (?),  Geranopsis,  Grus,  Ibidopsis,  of  which  the 
second  being  allied  to  the  Cormorants,  the  fifth  to  the  Cranes, 
and  the  last  to  the  Ibises,  are  peculiar  to  these  deposits.  The 
third,  fourth,  and  fifth,  are  mentioned  below.  Nothing  can  be 
said  as  to  the  affinities  of  the  bone  from  the  same  beds  described 
as  Macrornis  by  Prof.  Seeley.  Grus  {Palxogrus)  also  occurs  in  the 
Italian  Eocene.  The  Marl  beds  of  Aix  in  Provence,  belono-ing  to 
this  epoch,  have  yielded  fossil  eggs  and  feathers,  but  as  yet  no 
bones  of  Birds ;  and  to  the  same  period  must  probably  also  be 
assigned  the  lacustrine  calcareous  deposits  of  Armissan,  in 
Languedoc,  whence  M.  Cervais  recovered  remains  originally 
referred  to  Tetrao  (Grouse),  but  subsequently  to  a  distinct  though 
allied  genus  Taoperdix.  The  bird -bones  of  the  Upper  Eocene 
Phosphorites  of  Central  France,  although  numerous,  have  as  yet 
been  only  partially  described.  They  include  remains  of  Passeres, 
Picarise,  and  Accipitres,  together  with  Palxortyx,  the  Stork -like 
Propelargus,  and  jFgialornis,  the  last  being  apparently  allied  to  the 
Gulls,  but  with  a  shorter  wing.  From  the  Eocene  of  Wyoming 
Prof.  Marsh  {Am.  Journ.  Sci.  ser.  3,  iv.  p.  256)  has  described  five 
birds  varying  in  size  from  a  Flamingo  to  a  Woodcock,  all  of  which 
are  referred  to  an  extinct  genus  Aleiornis,  presumably  allied  to  the 
Gruidse  (Crane).  Remains  referred  to  Bubo  and  Charadrius,  as  well 
as  the  extinct  Uintornis,  referred  to  the  Picid.se  (Woodpecker)  and 
Palseospiza,  have  likewise  been  obtained  from  the  Eocene  of  the 
United  States.  Our  list  of  birds  of  this  epoch  closes  with  Palxett,- 
dyptes,  a  giant  Penguin  from  New  Zealand  described  by  Prof. 
Huxley  {Q.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc.  xv.  p.  670). 

The  freshwater  beds  of  Hempstead  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  as 
well  as  those  of  Ronzon  near  Puy-en-Velay,  form  a  transition  from 

the  greatest  use  in  preparing  the  present  summary.  To  Prof.  Seelej'  also  I  have 
owed  much  assistance. — A.  N. 

^  See  Flot,  3Iem.  Soc.  Geol.  France,  Pal.  i.  fasc.  6. 

2  These,  together  with  some  of  the  ornitholites  of  the  Phosphorites,  are  de- 
scribed in  the  Cat.  Foss.  Birds  Brit.  Mus.  1891. 


284  FOSSIL  BIRDS 


the  Upper  Eocene  to  the  Lower  Miocene.  The  coracoid  from  the 
former  described  by  Prof.  Seeley  {Ann.  ami  Mag.  N.  H.  ser.  3,  xviii. 
p.  109)  as  Ftenornis  cannot  be  definitely  placed.  From  the  Marls 
of  Ronzon  several  ornitholites  have  been  recognized  by  M.  Aymard, 
who  refers  them  to  the  genera  Camascehis,  Dolichopterus,  Elornis 
(3  spp.),  and  Teracus.  Of  these  the  first  was  declared  to  be  allied 
to  the  Plovers  {Charadriidse),  the  second  to  the  Gulls,  the  third  to 
the  Flamingos,  and  the  fourth  to  be  a  Falconine ;  but  Prof. 
Milne-Edwards  considers  the  first  and  second  to  be  probably 
identical.  From  the  same  beds  M.  Gervais  has  described  eggs  and 
imprints  of  feathers,  as  well  as  a  pelvis,  referred  by  him  to  Mergus, 
but  regarded  by  M.  Milne-Edwards  as  a  Sula.  This  naturalist  has 
also  described  from  the  typical  Lower  Miocene  beds  of  Allier  and 
Puy-de-D6me  an  enormous  number  of  ornitholites  (loc.  cit),  referring 
them  to  nearly  50  species.  Besides  the  already -mentioned 
Palxortyx  (3  spp.),  Limnatornis,  Palxohierax,  Pelargopsis,^  Ihidopodia, 
Elornis,  Palxlodus,  Hydrornis,  and  Colymboides,  are  the  extinct  genera 
described  by  him  ;  to  which  the  writer  (Cat.  Foss.  B.  Br.  Mus.  p.  169) 
has  added  Milnea.  Of  these  the  second  is  referred  to  the  Upupidx 
(Hoopoe);  Palxohierax  was  allied  to  Aquila;  Pelargopsis'^  was 
Stork -like ;  while  Ihidopodia  connects  the  Storks  and  Ibises ; 
Milnea  being  allied  to  CEdicnemus  (Stone-CuRLEw)  and  Eloi-nis  to 
Limicola.  The  remarkable  Palselodus  (5  spp.)  was  a  generalized 
form  to  which  the  Flamingo  is  allied,  but  having  shorter  legs. 
Hydrornis  was  an  aquatic  bird  of  uncertain  affinity ;  while  Colymboides 
may  be  placed  in  the  Colymbidse.  The  existing  genera  include  Anas, 
Aquila,  Bubo,  CoUocalia,  Columba,  Cypselus,  Fuligula,  Ibis,  Lanius, 
Larus,  Milvus,  Motacilla,  Pelecanus,  PJialacrocorax,  Phoenicopterus, 
Picus,  Psittacus,  Pterocles,  Phallus,  Serpientarius,  Strix,  Sula,  Totanus, 
Tringa,  and  above  all  Trogon.  In  addition  to  these,  remains  (as  yet 
undescribed)  referable  to  Himantopus,  Leptoptilus,  Otis,  and  Pujfinus, 
are  also  said  to  occur  in  these  beds.  Several  of  the  birds  of  the 
Allier  are  represented  in  equivalent  deposits  of  the  basin  of  Mainz. 
From  the  Middle  Miocene  of  Bordeaux  and  other  parts  of  the 
south  of  France  humeri  of  an  elongated  type,  described  as 
Pelagornis,  indicate  a  bird  closely  allied  to  the  Eocene  Argillm-nis. 
From  that  of  Sansan  in  the  Gers  we  have  as  extinct  forms 
Homolopus,  allied  to  the  Picidx,  Necrornis,  which  seems  to  belong 
to  the  Musophagidee — a  Family  now  limited  to  Africa — and  Palsso- 
perdix  (3  spp.)  a  Gallinacean  ;  Avhile  among  existing  genera  we  have 
represented  Aquila,  Haliaetus,  Strix,  Cortnis,  Phasianus  (2  spp.) — a 
genus  generally  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  into  Europe  in 
historic  times — Eallus,  Numenius,  Ardea,  and  Anas.  The  same 
Phasianus  and  a  species  of  Palxortyx  have  been  recorded  by  Dr. 
Dep6ret  from  the  equivalent  beds  of  Grive-St.-Alban  in  the  Isere  ; 
*  This  name  being  preoccupied,  the  writer  has  proposed  Pclargodes  in  its  place. 


FOSSIL  BIRDS  285 


while  from  Steinheim  and  other  places  in  Bavaria  we  have  several 
kinds  of  birds  recorded  by  Dr.  Oscar  Fraas,^  and  the  writer  {loc. 
cit.)  These  include  Anas,  Ardea,  Elornis,  Ihia,  Larus,  Otis,  Palse- 
lodus,  and  Pelecanus.  Anas  apparently  has  also  been  recorded  by 
Count  T.  ^alxeidori  (3fem.  Ace.  Torino,  ser.  2,  xxiv.  p.  225)  from  the 
Middle  Miocene  of  Monte  Bamboli  in  Italy ;  while  Chenm-nis 
described  by  Prof.  Portis  {op.  cit.  xxxvi.  art.  3,  p.  6)  from  other 
Miocene  beds  of  Ceva,  in  the  same  country,  may  belong  to  the 
Anseres.  From  the  Miocene  of  Kadaboj,  in  Croatia,  the  foot  of  a 
bird  has  been  assigned  by  Hermann  von  Meyer  to  Fiingilla ;  while 
a  humerus  from  that  of  Germany  has  been  made  the  type  of  the 
genus  Ardeacites  by  Haushalter,  being  apparently  allied  to  the 
Herons.  From  the  Upper  Miocene  of  CEningen,  on  the  border  of 
Baden  and  Switzerland,  we  have  remains  of  Anas,  Anser,  Phasianus, 
and  Totanus.  In  the  Miocene  of  Colorado  and  New  Jersey  Prof. 
Marsh  has  detected  bones  of  Meleagris,  Puffinus,  Sula,  and  Uria,  all 
existing  genera ;  but  the  first  being  especially  suggestive,  since  it 
is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  forms  of  the  New  World. 

The  Pliocene  ornitholites,  possibly  from  less  favourable  con- 
ditions for  their  preservation,  are  less  numerous  than  those  of  the 
Miocene.  From  Pikermi  in  Attica  Prof.  Gaudry  has  described  a 
Gallus,  somewhat  larger  than  G.  sonnerati  (the  grey  Jungle-FowL  of 
India),  a  Phasianus,  a  large  Grus,  and  an  undetermined  Stork. 
Amphipelargus  of  the  present  writer  (Cat.  Foss.  B.  Br.  Mus.  p.  68) 
is  a  large  Stork  from  the  equivalent  beds  of  Samos.  From  the 
Sivalik  Hills,  on  the  southern  flanks  of  the  Himalayas,  we  have  a 
Struthio  (Ostrich)  and  a  Ratite  with  three  toes,  to  which  he  has 
given  (op.  cit.  p.  354)  the  name  of  Hypselmiiis,  as  Avell  as  Leptoptihis, 
Pelecanus  and  Phalacrocorax.  The  fossil  egg  of  a  bird,  called 
Stnithiolithus  by  Prof.  Alexander  Brandt  {Bull.  Ac.  Sc.  PMersh. 
xviii.  pp.  158-161;  Ibis,  1874,  p.  4),  and  found  near  Cherson, 
possibly  belongs  also  to  Struthio.  Very  noteworthy  is  the  discovery 
of  Diomedea  (Albatros)  in  the  Suffolk  Crag  (Q.  Journ.  Geol.  See 
xliii.  p.  366).  From  the  Upper  Pliocene  of  the  Val  d'Arno  Prof. 
Portis  has  recorded  Fuligula,  Totanus,  and  Uria ;  but  from  that  of 
France  the  only  well-determined  form  is  a  Gallus  from  Auvergne, 
though  traces  of  other  birds  have  been  noticed.  From  the  Pliocene 
of  North  America  Prof.  Marsh  has  described  remains  of  Aquila, 
Grus,  and  Phalacrocorax ;  while  others,  among  them  a  Grouse, 
Palxotetrix,  are  reported  by  Dr.  Shufeldt. 

By  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  remains  of  Birds  from  the 
Plistocene  seem  to  be  generically  if  not  specifically  identical  with 
those  now  inhabiting  the  district  in  which  they  occur,  and  it 
must  suffice  here  to  mention  those  which  shew  a  former  range  more 
extensive  than  at  present,  or  have  become  extinct,  presumably  with- 
^  Die  Fauna  von  Steinheim.     Stuttgart :  1870. 


286 


FOSSIL  BIRDS 


out  human  intervention — those  that  are  known  to  have  met  their  fate 
at  the  hand  of  man  having  been  before  treated  (Extermination). 

At  an  uncertain  but  (geologically  speaking)  recent  epoch  there 
flourished  in  Madagascar  huge  birds  referable  to  the  BaHtse.  The 
first  positive  evidence  of  their  former  existence  was  made  known 
in  1851  by  Isidore  Geotfroy  St.-Hilaire,  who  gave  the  name  of 
^■Epyornis  maximus  to  a  species  represented  by  an  enormous  egg 
sent  a  short  time  before  to  Paris,  and  the  discovery  soon  after  of 
some  bones  of  corresponding  magnitude  proved  to  all  but  thc- 
prejudiced  the  kinship  of  the  producer  of  this  wonderful  specimen, 
which  not  unnaturally  recalls  the  Roc  of  Arabian  romance.^  Three 
species  of  the  genus  have  now  been  characterized  from  remains 
found  in  the  drifted  sands  of  the  southern  part  of  that  island. 

Next  we  may  turn  to  our  antipodes.  In  New  Zealand  Birds' 
bones  of  gigantic  size  seem  to  have  been  first  made  known  in  1838 
by  Polack,  who  resided  there  between  1831  and  1837,  and  in  1839 
the  fragment  of  one  Avas  placed  by  Mr.  Rule  in  the  hands  of  Sir  R. 
Owen,  by  whom  it  was  described  under  the  name  of  Dinornis,  as  will 
be  elsewhere  found  mentioned  (Moa).  In  the  same  formations  as 
those  which  hold  the  relics  of  this  Avonderf ul  bird  and  its  allies, 
have  been  found,  but  less  abundantly,  remains  of  others  scarcely  less 
remarkable,  Fsevdapteri/x,  near  akin  to  the  Kiwi ;  and,  belonging  to 
the  Carinatx,  there  is  Harpagornis,  a  Bird-of-Prey  of  stature  sufficient 
to  make  the  largest  Dinornis  its  quarry,  then  Cnemiornis,  a  big 
Goose,  flightless,  and  allied  to  Cereopsis,  together  with  Aptornis 
and  Notornis,  both  also  incapable  of  flight  and  belonging  to  the 
Rallidx  (Rail),  and  the  latter  still  maintaining  its  existence  in  the 
mountainous  tract  at  the  south-west  of  the  South  Island.  Here 
also  must  be  mentioned  the  Australian  Dromornis,  which  indicates 
a  distinct  group  of  Batitse,  {Cat.  Foss.  B.  Br.  Mus.  p.  35),  and  Fro- 
(joura,  allied  to  the  Crowned  Pigeons  (Goura). 

A  great  number  of  Birds'  bones  have  been  discovered  in  caves. 
Those  of  Minas  Geraes  in  Brazil  yielded  to  the  laborious  explora- 
tions of  Lund  a  vast  collection  now  in  Copenhagen,  which  has  been 
described  by  the  late  Dr.  0.  Winge  (Fugle  fra  Knoglelmler  i  Brasilien, 
Kjobenhavn  :  1887,  4to),  who  determined  at  least  12G  species,  of 
which  all  but  three  (and  those  of  existing  genera)  survive,  though 
some  two  dozen  no  longer  inhabit  the  district.  Results  more  im- 
j)ortant  follow  the  investigation  of  cave-bones  in  Europe.  From 
France  we  have  a  large  and  extinct  species  of  Crane,  G-rus  prirni- 

1  Sir  Henry  Yule  well  remarked  of  the  story  of  the  Roc,  Rue,  or  Rukh,  as  told 
hy  Marco  Polo,  that  the  circumstance  which  for  the  time  localized  it  in  Mada- 
gascar— the  fable  being  widely  spread — was  perhaps  some  rumour  of  these  great 
fossil  eggs.  Some  of  the  Malagasy  are  reputed  to  believe  that  the  bird  still 
exists,  but  as  they  also  attribute  to  it  great  power  of  flight,  the  belief  must  be 
an  invention  (c/.  The  Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo,  ii.  p.  350). — A.  N. 


FOSSIL  BIRDS  287 


genia,  Avith  which  the  Italian  G.  turfa  is  probably  identical ;  but 
more  interesting  than  that  are  the  very  numerous  relics  of  two 
species,  the  concomitants  even  now  of  the  Reindeer,  which  were 
abundant  in  that  country  when  this  beast  flourished  there  and  have 
followed  it  in  its  northward  retreat.  There  are  the  Willow-GROUSE, 
Lagopus  albus,^  and  the  Snowy  Owl,  Nydea  scandiaca — a  single  bone 
of  the  latter,  found  in  the  historic  deposits  of  Kent's  Hole  near 
Torquay,  giving  indication  that  a  similar  state  of  things  once 
existed  in  our  island,  while  yet  another  fact  quite  as  suggestive  is 
afforded  by  the  recognition  of  many  bones  of  the  Capercally, 
Tetrao  urogallus,  from  caves  explored  by  the  late  Messrs.  Backhouse 
in  Teesdale,  as  well  as  from  Kent's  Hole  by  the  present  writer.- 

It  is  not  a  little  singular  that  remains  of  the  species  last  men- 
tioned have  also  been  found  in  another  country  which  it  now  no 
longer  inhabits  and  under  circumstances  very  different ;  for  the 
next  ancient  Birds'  bones  that  have  to  be  mentioned  are  those  from 
the  kitchen-middens  of  Denmark,  among  which  occur  those  of  this 
bird,  shewing  the  co-existence  with  it  of  pine-forests  in  that  country, 
though  on  other  evidence  it  is  plain  that  such  forests  cannot  have 
existed  there  for  many  centuries.  Bones  of  the  G  A  re-fowl,  Alca 
impennis,  found  in  the  same  deposits  perhaps  do  not  jorove  more 
than  that  the  surrounding  seas,  though  cold,  were  free  from  ice  in 
the  summer-time.  The  Birds'  remains  hitherto  recovered  from  the 
ruins  of  the  Swiss  lake-dwellings  are  all  of  species  Avhich  now  occur 
more  or  less  commonly  in  the  same  neighbourhoods,  and  are  there- 
fore of  comparatively  little  interest. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Fens  of  East  Anglia  have  yielded  proofs 
of  a  form  now  extinct  not  only  in  England  but  even  in  Northern 
Europe.  This  is  the  Pelican,  of  which  two  humeri,  one  from 
Norfolk  and  the  other  most  likely  from  the  Isle  of  Ely,  are  pre- 
served in  the  Museums  of  Cambridge.  Whether  the  species 
be  identical  with  either  of  those  now  inhabiting  the  South  of 
Europe,  it  was  undoubtedly  a  true  Pelecanus,  and  apparently  only 
differed  from  P.  onocrotalus  by  its  larger  size.  The  immature  condi- 
tion of  one  of  the  specimens  leads  to  the  inference  that  the  bird 
Avas  a  native  of  the  locality. 

To  sum  up  this  brief  survey  of  our  present  imperfect  knowledge 
of  Fossil  Birds,  it  may  suffice  to  state  that  nearly  all  the  Plistocene 
species  still  survive,  at  least  on  continents,  for  the  exceptions  lie 

^  I  am  not  aware  of  any  difference  between  the  bones  of  L.  albus  and  L. 
scoticus.  It  may  well  be  that  those  from  the  caves  of  Teesdale,  and  naturally 
ascribed  to  the  latter,  may  be  those  of  the  former,  in  wliich  case  the  identity  of 
conditions  once  obtaining  in  England  and  France  could  be  more  clearly  made 
out ;  but  Reindeer  remains  are  rare  in  this  couutr}^ — A.  N. 

-  A  bone  from  the  Forest-bed  of  Norfolk  is  provisionally  referred  to  a  young 
example  of  this  species  {Cat.  Foss.  B.  Br.  Mits.  p.  133). 


288  FOSSIL  BIRDS 


chiefly  in  forms  confined  to  islands  ;  and  this  is  a  result  in  full 
accordance  with  that  already  attained  in  the  foregoing  treatise  on 
Extermination.  In  Europe  a  not  very  remote  glacial  epoch 
has  left  its  indubitable  trace  in  the  former  southerly  extension  of 
some  forms  Avhose  home  is  now  in  more  northern  districts.  The 
comparatively-few  known  Pliocene  Birds  are  mostly  referable  to 
existing  genera,  though  the  majority  of  the  species  are  extinct ; 
but  in  the  Lower  Miocene  we  meet  with  a  considerable  number  of 
extinct  genera;  while,  both  here  and  in  the  Upper  Eocene,  the 
occurrence  in  Europe  of  genera  either  identical  with  or  nearly 
allied  to  those  which  now  inhabit  only  the  tropics  or  lands  lying 
even  further  to  the  southward  is  particularly  instructive.  Some 
of  them  are  at  present  peculiar  to  the  Ethiopian  Eegion,  and  among 
these  are  especially  to  be  noted  Laurillardia,  Fsittacus  (Parrot),  and 
Serpentarius  (Secretary-bird),  with  perhaps  Cryptcn-nis — a  supposed 
HoRNBiLL,  and  Necrornis — referred  to  the  Plantain -eat1';r. 
Others  have  their  modern  representatives  in  Asia,  as  Gallus 
and  Fhasianus ;  while  others  again  have  now  a  still  Avider  range, 
though  no  longer  occurring  anywhere  in  the  temperate  zones, 
as  Collocalia  (Swift),  Leptoptilus  (Adjutant),  and,  perhaps  most 
suggestive  of  all,  Trogon,  for  the  Family  to  which  it  belongs, 
though  inhabiting  both  the  Ethiopian  and  Indian  Regions,  is  now 
more  largely  developed  in  the  Neotropical  Regions  than  elsewhere. 
This  last  case  is  in  some  measure  analogous  to  that  of  the  Tapiridm 
among  Mammals,  though  no  African  Tapir  is  known.  But  in  a 
general  way  all  the  lessons  which  Fossil  Ornithology  so  far  teaches 
seem  to  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  what  we  learn  from  a  study 
of  Fossil  Mammals  ;  and,  when  palaeontologists  generally  come  to 
admit  the  fact,  which  some  of  their  leaders  have  long  since  recog- 
nized,^ that  their  study,  though  one  of  infinitely  great  meaning  to 
the  geologist,  is  but  a  branch  of  Zoology,  no  one  can  doubt  of 
the  valuable  results  that  will  follow  from  their  co-operation. 
But  letting  this  pass,  it  is  important  to  notice  that  already 
in  the  Lower  Miocene,  if  not  in  the  Upper  Eocene  pei'iods, 
there  is  sufficient  evidence  to  shew  that  many  of  the  chief  groups 
of  Birds  as  we  now  know  them  had  been  already  established,  and 

^  The  views  of  the  elder  Agassiz  on  this  point  are  notorious  ;  those  of  Prof. 
Alphonse  Milne -Edwards  were  declared  prior  to  the  publication  of  his  great 
work,  which  itself  is  a  perpetual  witness  of  their  truth.  Prof.  Huxley  many 
years  ago  in  a  speech,  which  though  never  fully  reported  is  well  remembered 
by  some  of  those  who  heard  it,  most  rightly  asserted  that  "  Palseontology  is 
simply  the  biology  of  the  past ;  and  a  fossil  animal  differs  only  in  this  regard 
froni  a  stuffed  one,  that  the  one  has  been  dead  longer  than  the  other,  for  ages 
instead  of  for  days"(/iis,  1866,  p.  413).  The  present  petrified  condition  of 
some  geologists  requires  a  life-imparting  impulse,  and  they — be  it  said  with  all 
due  respect — need  bringing  into  touch  with  those  who  would  gladly  accept  their 
assistance  or  even  their  guidance. — A.  N. 


FOUR-O'CLOCK— FOWL  289 

perhaps  it  will  eventually  shew  that  nearly  all  were.^  It  is  also 
worth  remembering  that  it  was  during  these  epochs  that  the  Ratitse 
(just  as  the  Marsupials  among  Mammals)  were  represented  in  the 
European  Fauna.  In  the  Cretaceous  period  we  come  to  Birds 
differing  very  widely  from  existing  forms,  and  apparently  indicat- 
ing distinct  Ordinal  groups,  while  the  two  known  Jurassic  specimens 
clearly  belong  to  a  distinct  Subclass — Saurur^. 

ElCHARD    LyDEKKER. 

FOUR-O'CLOCK,  one  of  several  names  given  in  Australia  to 
Philemon  corniculatus  (Friar-bird). 

FOWL  (Danish  Fugl,  German  Vogel),  originally  used  in  the 
sense  that  Bird  now  is,  but,  except  in  composition — as  Sea-Fowl, 
Wild-Fowl,  and  the  like — practically  almost  confined  ^  at  present 
to  designate  the  otherwise  nameless  species  which  struts  on  our 
dunghills,  gathers  round  our  barn-doors,  and  stocks  our  poultry- 
yards — the  type  of  the  genus  Galliis  of  ornithologists,  of  which 
four  well-marked  species  are  known.  The  first  of  these  is  the  Eed 
Jungle-Fowl  of  the  greater  part  of  India,  G.  ferrugineus — called  by 
many  writers  G.  bankwa — which  is  almost  undoubtedly  the  parent 
stock  of  all  the  domestic  races  (c/.  Darwin,  Animals  and  Plants 
tinder  Domestication,  i.  pp.  233-246).  It  inhabits  Northern  India 
from  Sindh  to  Burma  and  Cochin  China,  as  well  as  the  Malay 
Peninsula  and  many  of  the  islands  as  far  as  Timor,  besides  the 
Philippines.  It  occurs  on  the  Himalayas  up  to  the  height  of 
4000  feet,  and  its  southern  limits  in  the  west  of  India  proper  are, 
according  to  Jerdon,  found  on  the  Raj-peepla  hills  to  the  south  of 
the  Nerbudda,  and  in  the  east  near  the  left  bank  of  the  Godavery, 
or  perhaps  even  further,  as  he  had  heard  of  its  being  killed  at 
Cummum.  This  species  greatly  resembles  in  plumage  Avhat  is 
commonly  known  among  poultry -fanciers  as  the  "  Black-breasted 
Game "  breed,  and  this  is  said  to  be  especially  the  case  with 
examples  from  the  Malay  countries,  between  which  and  examples 
from  India  some  dift'erences  are  observable — the  latter  having  the 
plumage  less  red,  the  ear-lappets  almost  invariably  white,  and 
slate-coloured  legs,  while  in  the  former  the  ear-lappets  are  crimson, 
like  the  comb  and  wattles,  and  the  legs  yello-\vish.  If  the  Malayan 
birds  be  considered  distinct,  it  is  to  them  that  the  name  G.  bankiva 
properly  applies.  This  species  is  said  to  be  found  in  lofty  forests 
and  in  dense  thickets,  as  well  as  in  ordinary  bamboo-jungles,  and 
when  cultivated  land  is  near  its  haunts,  it  may  be  seen  in  the  fields 

^  The  graphic  representations  given  by  Professor  Fiirbringer  in  his  great 
■work,  Untersuchungen  zur  MorpJiologie  und  Systematik  der  Vogel  (plates  xxix.  a 
and  B,  XXX.),  make  this  very  clear  to  the  eye. — A.  N. 

^  Like  Deer  (Danish  Dyr,  German  Thier).  Beast,  too,  with  some  men  has 
almost  attained  as  much  specialization. 

19 


290 


FOWL 


after  the  crops  are  cut  in  straggling  parties  of  from  10  to  20.  The 
crow  to  which  the  cock  gives  utterance  morning  and  evening  is 
described  as  being  just  like  that  of  a  Bantam,  but  never  prolonged 
as  in  some  domestic  birds.  The  hen  breeds  from  January  to  July, 
according  to  the  locality  ;  and  lays  from  8  to  1 2  creamy- white 
eggs,  occasionally  scraping  together  a  few  leaves  or  a  little  dry 
grass  by  way  of  a  nest.  The  so-called  G.  giganteiti^,  formerly  taken 
by  some  ornithologists  for  a  distinct  species,  is  now  regarded  as  a 
tame  breed  of  G.  ferrugineus  or  bankiva.  The  second  good  species  is 
the  Grey  Jungle-Fowl,  G.  sonnerati,  whose  range  begins  a  little  to 
the  northward  of  the  limits  of  the  preceding,  and  it  occupies  the 
southern  part  of  the  Indian  peninsula,  without  being  found  else- 
where. The  cock  has  the  shaft  of  the  neck-hackles  dilated,  forming 
a  horny  plate,  the  terminal  portion  of  which  is  like  a  drop  of 
yellow  sealing-wax.  His  call  is  said  to  be  very  peculiar,  being  a 
broken  and  imperfect  kind  of  crow,  quite  unlike  that  of  G.  ferni^ 
gineus,  and  impossible,  says  Jerdon,  to  describe.  The  two  species, 
where  their  respective  ranges  overlap,  occasionally  interbreed  in  a 
wild  state,  and  the  present  readily  crosses  in  confinement  Avith 
domestic  poultry,  but  the  hybrids  are  nearly  always  sterile.  The 
third  species  is  the  Cingalese  Jungle-Fowl,  G.  stardcyi  (the  G.  lafay- 
etfii  of  some  authors),  peculiar  to  Ceylon.  This  also  greatly 
resembles  in  plumage  some  domestic  birds,  but  the  cock  is  red 
beneath,  and  has  a  yellow  comb  with  a  red  edge,  and  purplish-red 
cheeks  and  wattles.  He  has  also  a  singularly  different  voice,  his 
crow  being  dissyllabic.  This  bird  crosses  readily  with  tame  hens, 
but    the    hybrids  are  said  to   be    infertile.       The  fourth    species, 

G.  varius  (the  G.  furcatus  of  some  authors), 
inhabits  Java  and  the  islands  eastwards 
as  far  as  Flores.  This  differs  remarkably 
from  the  others  in  not  possessing  hackles, 
and  in  having  a  large  unserrated  comb 
of  red  and  blue,  and  only  a  single  chin- 
wattle.  The  predominance  of  green  in 
its  plumage  is  another  easy  mark  of 
distinction.  Hybrids  betAveen  this 
species  and  domestic  birds  are  often 
produced,  but  they  are  most  commonly  sterile.  Some  of  them 
have  been  mistaken  for  distinct  species,  as  those  which  have  received 
the  names  of  G.  xneus  and  G.  temmincki. 

Several  circumstances  seem  to  render  it  likely  that  Fowls  were 
first  domesticated  in  Burma  or  the  countries  adjacent  thereto,  and 
it  is  the  tradition  of  the  Chinese  that  they  received  their  poultry 
from  the  West  about  the  year  1400  B.C.  By  the  Institutes  of 
Manu,  the  date  of  which  is  variously  assigned  from  1200  to 
800  B.C.,  the  tame  Fowl  is  forbidden,  though  the  wild  is  alloAved 


Gallus  varius.    (After  Swainson.) 


FRANCOLIN  291 


to  be  eaten — shewing  that  its  domestication  was  accomplished 
when  they  were  A^ritten.  The  bird  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament  nor  by  Homer,  though  he  has  'AAeKTwp  (Cock)  as  the 
name  of  a  man,  nor  is  it  figured  on  ancient  Egyptian  monuments. 
Pindar  mentions  it,  and  Ai'istophanes  calls  it  the  Persian  bird,  thus 
indicating  it  to  have  been  introduced  to  Greece  through  Persia, 
and  it  is  figured  on  Babylonian  cylinders  between  the  6th  and  7th 
centuries  B.C.  It  is  sculptured  on  the  Lycian  marbles  in  the 
British  Museum  {circa  600  B.C.),  and  Blyth  remarks  {Ibis,  1867, 
p.  157)  that  it  is  there  represented  with  the  appearance  of  a  true 
Jungle-Fowl,  for  none  of  the  wild  Galli  have  the  upright  bearing  of 
the  tame  breeds,  but  carry  their  tail  in  a  drooping  position. 

FRANCOLIN,  from  the  French,  and  that,  says  Littr6,  from  the 
Italian  Francolino,  which  others  think  is  cognate  with  the  Portuguese 
Frango  or  Frangao,  a  cockerel;  but  according  to  Olina,^  in  1622 
{Uccelliera,  p.  33),  whose  opinion  is  confirmed  by  Count  T.  Salvadori  in 
1887  {Elenco  Ucc.  Ital.  p.  198),  signifying,  as  Willughby's  translator 
indeed  has  it  {Ornithol.  ed.  Angl.  p.  174),  a  "Free  Fowl",  because 
princes  granted  it  freedom  of  living,  common  people  being  for- 
bidden to  take  it.  This  explanation,  had  not  the  accomplished 
Italian  author  last  named  given  his  adhesion  to  it,  might  be  justly 
set  aside  ;  but  he  has  suggested  that  the  species  was  not  improbably 
introduced  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades  from  Cyprus  into  Sicily,  an 
oj)inion  not  shared  by  Prof.  Giglioli  {Avifaun.  Ital.  p.  515).  How- 
ever this  may  be  matters  little  now,  for  by  all  accounts,  as  first  > 
shewn. by  Lord  Lilford  {Ibis,  1869,  pp.  352-356),  the  species  is,  fj-^^^'^^f 
and  has  been  for  some  time  past,  extinct  in  every  part  of  Italy,  ' 
though  the  cause  of  its  extinction  may  be  inexplicable.  The  word 
Francolin  seems  to  have  been  first  used  as  English  in  1757  by 
Edwards  {Glean.  N.  H.  i.  p.  75,  pi.  246),  who  figured  a  male  from 
Cyprus.  The  species  is  the  Tetrao  francolinus  of  Linnaeus,  and 
Francolinus  vulgaris  of  Stephens.  The  evidence  adduced  by  Lord 
Lilford  shews  that  it  was  once  numerous  in  Spain,  and  in  Barbary, 
fi-om  Tangier  to  Tunis,  as  well  as  in  Sardinia,  Sicily,  Italy,  and 
Greece,  but  its  most  western  limit  must  now  be  Cyprus,  and  even 
there,  he  thinks  {Ibis,  1889,  p.  335),  it  is  probably  "doomed  to 
extinction."  Mr.  Danford  also  states  (Dresser,  B.  Eur.  vii.  p.  1 24)  that 
it  seems  "  to  be  fast  disappearing  in  Asia  Minor."  It,  however, 
ranges  thence  through  Armenia,  Persia,  and  Beluchistan  to 
Northern  India,  where  it  is  well  known  to  the  English  as  the 
"  Black  Partridge,"  from  the  colour  of  the  throat  and  breast  of  the 
cock.      In    Southern    India    it    is   replaced    by   an    allied   species, 

■^  His  words  are  :  "  Credesi  con  I'allusione  alia  franchezza  de  viiier,  che  lia 
rispetto  alle  bandite,  e  rigorosi  editti,  che  per  couto  di  quelle  da  Prencipi  si 
fanno. " 


292  FRENCH  PIE— FRIAR-BIRD 

F.  pidus.  Specimens  from  Assam  are  said  to  be  specifically 
identical  with  those  from  Cyprus.  More  than  forty  species  of  the 
genus  (the  several  subdivisions  of  which  may  be  questioned)  have 
been  described,  a  number  probably  far  in  excess  of  those  that 
exist ;  but  still  there  are  undeniably  a  good  many — most  of  them 
belonging  to  the  Ethiopian  Region,  and  no  fewer  than  ten  being 
found  within  the  limits  of  the  Cape  Colony,  F.  levaillantl,  the 
"Redwing"  of  English  settlers,  being  especially  numerous.  They 
are  all  attractive  to  sportsmen. 

FRENCH  PIE,  given  by  Montagu  in  1802  {Orn.  Did.)  as  a 
local  name  of  Lanius  excubitor  (Shrike),  but  much  more  commonly 
applied  to  one  or  other  of  the  Pied  Woodpeckers,  Dendrocopus 
major  especially. 

FRIAR -BIRD,  an  Australian  species,  so  called  from  early 
colonial  days,  and  not  inaptly,  considering  its  bare  head,  the 
semblance  of  a  hood  about  its  shoulders,  formed  by  a  ruff"  of  soft 
recurved  feathers,  and  the  sad  hue  of  its  plumage.  According  to 
Latham  {Syiiops.  B.  Suppl.  ii.  p.  151)  it  was  first  brought  to  Eng- 
land by  Banks,  who  returned  with  Cook  in  1771,  but  it  was  not 
described  until  1790,  when  it  received  the  name  of  Merops  corni- 
culatus  from  Latham  (Ind.  Orn.  i.  p.  276),  and  "Knob-fronted  Bee- 
Eater"  from  John  White  {Voy.  N.  South  Wales,  p.  190),  Avho  also 
figured  it.  That  it  Avas  no  Bee-eater,  but  one  of  the  Meliphagidx 
(Honey-eater),  became  in  time  apparent,  and  Vigors  and  Horsfield 
(Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xv.  p.  323)  founded  for  it  a  new  genus,  Tropido- 
rhyndms,  not  knowing  that  Vieillot  had  anticipated  them  in  1816 
{Nouv.  Anal.  p.  47)  by  the  establishment  of  Philemon  with  a  species 
strictly  congeneric  as  its  type.  This  is  the  "  Polochion  "  of  Mont- 
beillard  (Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  vi.  p.  477)  found  by  Commerson^  in  Bouru, 
one  of  the  Moluccas,  and  hence  named  by  Gmelin  Merops  moluccensis. 
It  was  subsequently  redescribed  by  Mi\  Wallace  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1863,  p.  31,  and  Malay  Archifelago,  ii.  p.  151)  as  a  new  species, 
Tropidorhyndius  hourouensis,  and  mention  of  it  must  be  elsewhere 
made  (Mimicry).  Dr.  Gadow  in  1884  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  ix.  pp. 
269-281)  recognized  16  species,  with  two  subspecies,  of  the  genus 
Philemon,  to  which  another  has  since  been  added  by  Mr.  E.  P. 
Ramsay,  making,  according  to  the  latter's  views,  six-  which  inhabit 

^  Commerson  had  said  that  the  word  Polochion,  which  expressed  the  cry  and 
was  the  name  of  the  bird,  signified  "  baisons-nous,"  and  hence  proposed  to  call  it 
Philemon  or  Philedon.  Vieillot,  as  above  stated,  adopted  the  one,  Cuvier,  a  year 
later,  the  other. 

^  In  this  number  is  not  included  the  Merops  monachus  of  Latham  (Ind.  Orn. 
Suppl.  p.  34),  for  that  is  the  young  of  Philemon  corniculatus ;  but  it  is  in  con- 
nexion with  this  supposed  species  that  the  name  ' '  Friar  "  first  appears  (Synops. 
B.  Sii2'>pl.  ii.  p.  155). 


FRIG  A  TE-BIRD  293 


Australia,  Avhile  the  rest  are  natives  of  various  islands  from  Lom- 
bock  to  New  Caledonia.  With  their  stout  bill,  mostly  surmounted 
by  a  horny  excrescence,  and  their  head  and 
neck  frequently  bare  of  feathers  and  black, 
these  birds  seem  to  be  the  most  abnormal  ^^ 
forms  of  the  Family  ^leliphagida.',.  The  com- 
monest species  in  Australia,  which  is  found 
from  Rockingham  Bay  to  Victoria,  is,  accord-  (After  Swainson  ) 

ing  to  Gould   {Handb.  B.  Austral,  i.  p.  546), 

generally  dispersed,  and  may  be  seen  perching  on  the  top  of  high 
trees,  or  clinging  to  their  branches  in  every  variety  of  attitude, 
being  also  of  powerful  flight,  and  attacking  boldly  every  predatory 
bird  that  may  approach.  Its  loud  cries  have  given  it  thq  additional 
names  of  "Poor  Soldier,"  "Pimlico,"  and  "Four-o'clock,"  Avhich 
words  they  are  thought  to  resemble,  while  its  naked  head  and 
neck  have  also  suggested  those  of  "  Monk "  and  "  Leather-head." 
The  other  species  seem  to  have  similar  habits,  and  the  plumage  of 
all  is  of  an  almost  uniform  drab  colour,  though  the  young  exhibit 
more  or  less  of  a  yellow  tinge  on  some  parts  of  it.  Sevei'al  of 
them,  however,  have  the  head  feathered. 


FRIGATE-BIRD,  the  name  apparently  first  printed  by  Albin 
in  1739-40  {Nat.  Hist.  B.  iii.  p.  75),  but  now  commonly  given  by 
our  sailors,  on  account  of  the  swiftness  of  its  flight,  its  habit  of 
cruising  about  near  other  species  and  of  daringly  pursuing  them,  to 
a  large  Sea-bird  ^ — the  Frerjata  aquila  of  most  ornithologists — the 
Frigate  of  French  and  the  RaUhorcado  of  Spanish  mariners.  It  was 
placed  by  Linngeus  in  the  genus  Pelecaims,  and  its  assignment  to 
the  Family  Pelecanidse,  was  never  doubted  until  Prof.  Mivart  declared 
{Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  x.  p.  364)  that,  as  regards  the  postcranial  part  of 
its  axial  skeleton,  he  cannot  detect  sufficiently  good  characters  to 
unite  it  with  that  Family  in  the  group  named  by  the  elder  Brandt  c 
Steganopodes.  There  seems  to  be  no  ground  for  disputing  this 
decision  so  far  as  sepax'ating  the  genus  Fregata  from  the  Felecanidx 
goes ;  but  systematists  will  probably  pause  before  they  proceed 
to  abolish  the  Steganopodes,  and  no  doubt  the  Frigate -Birds 
form  a  distinct  Family,  FrcgatidiV,  in  that  gi'oup.  In  one  very 
remarkable  way  the  osteology  of  Fregata,  differs  from  that  of  all 
other  birds  known.  The  furcula  coalesces  firmly  at  its  symphysis 
with  the  carina  of  the  sternum,  and  also  with  the  coracoids  at  the 
upper  extremity  of  each  of  its  rami,  the  anterior  end  of  each  cora- 
coid  coalescing  also  with  the  proximal  end  of  the  scapula.  Thus 
the  only  articulations  in  the  Avhole  sternal  apparatus  are  where  the 

1  "  Man-of-war-Bird  "  is  also  sometimes  applied  to  it,  and  though  an  older  it 
is  a  less  distinctive  name,  some  of  the  larger  kinds  of  Albatros  being  so  called, 
while,  in  books  at  least,  it  has  generally  passed  out  of  use. 


294  FRIGA  TE-BIRD 


coracoids  meet  the  sternum,  and  the  consequence  is  a  bony  frame- 
work which  would  be  perfectly  rigid  did  not  the  flexibility  of  the 
rami  of  the  furcula  permit  a  limited  amount  of  motion.  That  this 
mechanism  is  closely  related  to  the  faculty  which  the  bird  possesses 
of  soaring  for  a  considerable  time  in  the  air  with  scarcely  a  per- 
ceptible movement  of  the  wings  can  hardly  be  doubted,  but  the 
particular  way  in  which  it  works  has  yet  to  be  explained. 

Two  species  of  Fregata  are  considered  to  exist,  though  they 
differ  in  little  but  size  and  geographical  distribution.  The  larger, 
F.  aquila,  has  a  wide  range  all  round  the  world  within  the  tropics, 
and  at  times  passes  their  limits.  The  smaller,  F.  minor,  appears  to 
be  confined  to  the  eastern  seas,  from  Madagascar  to  the  Moluccas, 
and  southward  to  Australia,  being  particularly  abundant  in  Torres 
Strait, — the  other  species,  however,  being  found  there  as  well. 
Having  a  spread  of  wing  equal  to  a  Swan's  and  a  comparatively 
small  body,  the  buoyancy  of  this  bird  is  very  great.  It  is  a  beau- 
tiful sight  to  watch  one  or  more  of  them  floating  overhead  against 
the  deep  blue  sky,  the  long  forked  tail  alternately  opening  and 
shutting  like  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  the  head,  which  is  of  course 
kept  to  windward,  inclined  from  side  to  side,  while  the  wings  are 
to  all  apiDeai-ance  fixedly  extended,  though  the  breeze  may  be  con- 
stantly varying  in  strength  and  direction.  Equally  fine  is  the 
contrast  afibrded  by  these  birds  when  engaged  in  fishing,  or,  as 
seems  more  often  to  happen,  in  robbing  other  birds,  especially 
Boobies,  as  they  are  fishing.  Then  the  speed  of  their  flight  is 
indeed  seen  to  advantage,  as  well  as  the  marvellous  suddenness 
with  which  they  can  change  their  rapid  coiu"se  as  their  victim  tries 
to  escape  from  their  attack.  Before  gales  Frigate-Birds  are  said 
often  to  fly  low,  and  their  appearance  near  or  over  land,  except  at 
their  breeding-time,  is  supposed  to  portend  a  hurricane.  ^  Generally 
seen  singly  or  in  pairs,  except  when  the  prospect  of  prey  induces 
them  to  congregate,  they  breed  in.  large  companies,  and  Mr.  Salvin 
has  graphically  described  (Ibis,  1864,  p.  375)  one  of  their  settle- 
ments off  the  coast  of  British  Honduras,  which  he  \dsited  in  May 
1862.  Here  they  chose  the  highest  mangrove-trees^  on  which  to 
build  their  frail  nests,  and  seemed  to  prefer  the  leeward  side.  The 
single  egg  laid  in  each  nest  has  a  white  and  chalky  shell  very  like 
that  of  a  Cormorant's.  The  nestlings  are  clothed  in  pure  white 
down,  and  so  thickly  as  to  resemble  puff-balls.  When  fledged,  the 
beak,  head,  neck,  and  belly  are  white,  the  legs  and  feet  bluish- white, 
but  the  body  is  dark  above.  The  adult  females  retain  the  white 
beneath,  but  the  adult  males  lose  it,  and  in  both  sexes  at  maturity 

^  Hence  another  of  the  names —  '  Hurricane-Bird  '  — by  which  this  species  is 
occasionally  known. 

"  Capt.  Taylor,  however,  found  their  nests  as  well  on  low  bushes  of  the 
same  tree  in  the  Bay  of  Fonseca  {Ibis,  1889,  pp.  150-152). 


FROG-MOUTH— FULMAR  295 

the  upper  plumage  is  of  a  vexy  dark  chocolate  brown,  nearly  black, 
with  a  bright  metallic  gloss,  while  the  feet  in  the  females  are  pink, 
and  black  in  the  males — the  last  also  acquiring  a  bright  scarlet 
pouch,  capable  of  inflation,  and  being  perceptible  when  on  the 
wing.  The  habits  of  F.  minor  seem  wholly  to  resemble  those  of 
F.  aquila.  According  to  Bechstcin  {Orn.  Taschenb.  pp.  393,  394), 
an  example  of  this  last  species  was  obtained  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Weser  in  the  winter  of  1792,  and  it  has  hence  been  included  by 
some  ornithologists  among  European  birds  ! 

FROG-MOUTH,  Jerdon's  rendering  (B.  Incl  i.  p.  189),  since 
adopted  by  Anglo-Indian  writers,  of  Gould's  Batrachostomiis,  a  genus 
which  he  instituted  in  1838  (Icones  Avium,  pt.  ii.)  for  some  Night- 
jars, apparentl}^  allied  to  Podargus  (Morepork),  and  found  in 
India  and  some  parts  of  the  Malay  Archipelago. 

FULFER,  a  corrupt  form  of  Fieldfare. 

FULMAR,  from  the  Gaelic  Falmair  or  Fuhnaire,  the  Fulmarus 
glacialis  of  modern  ornithologists,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  Pro- 
cellariidx  (Petrels)  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  being  about  the 
size  of  tjie  Common  Gull  {Larus  canus)  and  not  unlike  it  in  general 
coloration,  except  that  its  primaries  are  grey  instead  of  black. 
This  bird,  which  ranges  over  the  North  Atlantic,  is  seldom  seen  on 
the  European  side  below  lat.  53°  N.,  but  on  the  American  side 
comes  habitually  to  lat.  45°,  or  even  lower.  It  has  been  commonly 
believed  to  have  two  breeding -places  in  the  British  Islands, 
namely,  the  group  of  islands  collectively  known  as  St.  KJilda,  and 
South  Barra ;  but,  according  to  the  late  Mr.  Robert  Gray  (B.  TF. 
Scotl.  p.  499),  it  has  abandoned  the  latter  since  1844,  while  he  was 
assured  of  its  now  breeding  in  Skye.^  Northward  it  established 
itself  about  1838  on  Myggenaes  Holm,  one  of  the  Faeroes,  while  it 
has  several  stations  off"  the  coast  of  Iceland  and  Spitsbergen,  as 
well  as  at  Bear  Island.  Its  range  towards  the  pole  seems  to  be 
only  bounded  by  open  water,  and  it  is  the  constant  attendant  upon 
all  who  are  employed  in  the  whale-  and  seal-fisheries,  shewing  the 
greatest  boldness  in  approaching  boats  and  ships,  and  feeding  on 
the  offal  obtained  from  them.  By  our  seamen  it  is  commonly 
called  the  "  Molly  Mawk  "  ^  (corrupted  from  the  Dutch  Mallemugge), 
and  is  extremely  well  known  to  them,  its  flight,  as  it  skims  over 
the  waves  first  with  a  few  beats  of  the  wings  and  then  gliding  for 
a  long  way,  being  very  peculiar.  It  only  visits  the  land  to  deposit 
its  single  white   egg,   which    is   laid   on  a  rocky   ledge,   where   a 

^  Messrs.  Harvie- Brown  and  Buckley  {Vert.  Faun.  Out.  Eehrid.  p.  157) 
mention  a  report  of  a  settlement  of  the  species  having  been  eflfected  in  the 
Flannan  Islands,  but  proof  of  it  is  wanting.  There  is,  however,  reason  to  believe 
that  it  breeds  in  North  Eona. 

-  A  name  misapplied  in  the  southern  hemisphere  to  some  of  the  smaller 
species  of  Albatros  (see  Mallemuck). 


296  FURC  ULA  —FURZE-CHA  T 

shallow  nest  is  made  in  the  turf  and  lined  with  a  little  dried  grass. 
Many  of  its  breeding-places  are  a  most  valuable  property  to  those 
who  live  near  them  and  take  the  eggs  and  young,  which,  from  the 
nature  of  the  locality,  are  only  to  be  had  at  a  hazardous  risk  of 
life.  In  St.  Kilda  it  is  said  that  from  18,000  to  20,000  young  are 
killed  in  one  week  of  August,  the  only  time  when,  by  the  custom 
of  the  community,  they  are  allowed  to  be  taken.  These,  after  the 
oil  is  extracted  from  them,  serve  the  islanders  with  food  for  the 
winter.  This  oil,  says  Mr.  Gray,  having  been  chemically  examined 
by  Mr.  E.  C.  C.  Stanford,  was  found  to  be  a  fish-oil  and  to  possess 
nearly  all  the  qualities  of  that  obtained  from  the  liver  of  the  cod, 
with  a  lighter  specific  gravity.  It,  however,  has  an  extremely 
strong  scent,  which  is  said  by  some  who  have  visited  St.  Kilda  to 
pervade  every  thing  and  person  on  the  island,  and  is  certainly 
retained  by  an  egg  or  skin  of  the  bird  for  many  years.  Whenever 
a  live  example  is  seized  in  the  hand  it  ejects  a  considerable 
quantity  of  this  oil  from  its  mouth.  Though  abounding  in  certain 
seasons  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  where,  according  to 
Montagu  {Suppl.  Orn.  Diet),  it  was  called  by  the  fishermen  "John 
Down,"  it  seems  to  have  no  breeding-place  on  the  east  coast  of 
America,  but  it  has  several,  which  are  thronged,  on  either  side  of 
Baffin's  Bay.  The  Fulmar  is  said  by  Mr.  Darwin  (Origin  of  Species, 
ed.  4,  p.  78)  to  be  the  most  numerous  bird  in  the  world  ;  but  on 
whose  authority  the  statement  is  made  does  not  appear,  and  to 
render  it  probable  we  should  have  to  unite  specifically  with  the 
Atlantic  bird,  not  only  its  Pacific  representative,  F.  pacificus,  which 
some  ornithologists  deem  distinct,  but  also  that  which  replaces  it 
in  the  Antarctic  seas  and  is  considered  by  most  authorities  to  be  a 
perfectly  good  species,  F.  glacialioides.  The  differences  between 
them  are,  however,  exceedingly  slight,  and  for  Mr.  Darwin's 
purpose  on  this  particular  occasion  it  matters  little  how  they  are 
regarded.  It  is  a  more  interesting  question  whether  the  statement 
is  anyhow  true,  but  one  that  can  hardly  be  decided  yet. 

FURCULA,  a  name  for  the  two  Clavicles  when  coalescent,  as 
generally  is  the  case  among  Birds ;  in  English  commonly  known 
as  the  Merrythought  or  Wishbone.^  Some  very  pecvdiar  forms  of 
the  Furculaare  presented  in  certain  species  of  Crane,  Guinea-fowl, 
and  Swan,  chiefly  adaptations  to  convolutions  taken  by  the  Trachea, 
as  well  as  in  the  Frigate-bird,  Hoactzin,  and  some  others. 

FURZE-CHAT,  a  name  often  given  to  the  Stone-CHAT. 

^  Cotgrave,  in  his  BictioJiary  (1660),  explains  the  former  name  as  "  the  forked 
craw-bone  of  a  bird  which  we  use  in  sport  to  put  on  our  noses."  The  latter  comes 
from  the  practice  of  two  persons,  mostly  children,  each  holding  one  prong  of  the 
furcula  and  expressing  a  wish  before  breaking  it  asunder.  The  one  who  carries 
off  the  greater  portion  expects  the  fulfilment  of  his  or  her  wish. 


GABBLE-RATCHET— GADWALL  297 


G 

GABBLE  -  KATCHET.  In  many  parts  of  England,  but 
especially  in  Yorkshire,  the  cries  of  some  kind  of  Wild  GOOSE,^ 
when  flj^ing  by  night,  are  heard  with  dismay  by  those  who  do  not 
know  the  cause  of  them,  and  are  attributed  to  "  Gabriel's  Hounds," 
an  expression  equivalent  to  "  Gabble-ratchet,"  a  term  often  used 
for  them,  as  in  this  sense  gobble  is  said  to  be  a  corruption  of  Gabriel, 
and  that,  according  to  some  mediaeval  glossaries,  is  connected  with 
gabbara  or  gabares,  a  word  meaning  a  corpse  (cf.  Way,  Frompforium 
Parvulorum,  p.  302,  sub  voce  "Lyche");  while  ratchet  is  undoubtedly 
the  same  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  rsecc  and  Middle  English  ra,cche  or 
rache,  a  dog  that  hunts  by  scent  and  gives  tongue.  Hence  the 
expression  would  originally  mean  "corpse-hounds,"  and  possibly 
has  to  do  with  legends,  such  as  that  of  the  Wild  Huntsman,  on 
which  it  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  dwell.  The  sounds  are  at 
times  very  marvellous,  not  to  say  impressive,  when  heard,  as  they 
almost  invariably  are,  on  a  pitch-dark  night,  and  it  has  more  than 
once  happened  within  the  writer's  knowledge  that  a  flock  of  Geese, 
giving  utterance  to  them,  has  continued  for  some  hours  to  circle 
over  a  town  or  village  in  such  a  way  as  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  most  unobservant  of  its  inhabitants,  and  inspire  with  terror 
those  among  them  who  are  prone  to  superstition  {cf.  Atkinson, 
Notes  and  Queries,  ser.  4,  vii.  pp.  439,  440,  and  Cleveland  Glossary, 
p.  203  ;  Herrtage,  Catholicon  Anglicum,  p.  147;  Eobinson,  Glossary 
Whitby  (Engl.  Dial.  Soc),  p.  74  ;  and  Addy,  Glossary  Sheffield  (Engl. 
Dial.  Soc),  p.  83).  Mr.  Charles  Swainson  {Prov.  Names  Br.  B. 
p.  98),  gives  "Gabble-Ratchet"  as  a  name  of  the  NIGHTJAR;  but 
satisfactory  proof  of  that  statement  seems  to  be  wanting. 

GADWALL,  a  word  of  obscure  origin,^  the  common  English 
name  of  the  Duck,  called  by  Linnaeus  Amis  strepera ;    but,  from 

^  Presumably  the  Brant,  on  the  rare  occasions  when,  losing  its  way,  it  comes 
inland,  for  the  call-notes  proceeding  from  a  flock  of  this  species  curiously  resemble 
the  sound  of  hounds  in  full  cry  (Thompson,  B.  Irel.  iii.  p.  59),  though  some 
hearers  liken  them  to  the  yelping  of  puppies.  The  discrepancj'  may  to  some 
€xtent  depend  on  distance. 

-  Webster  gives  the  etymology  grati  well  ="  go  about  well  " — which  is  non- 
sense. The  late  Dr.  R.  G.  Latham  suggested  that  it  is  taken  from  the  syllables 
qicedul,  of  the  Latin  querquedula,  a  Teal.  The  spelling  "Gadwall"  seems  to  be 
first  found  in  Willughby  in  1676,  and  has  been  generally  adopted  by  later 
writers  ;  but  in  1667  Merrett  {Pinax  Rcrur/i  naturalium  Britannicarum,  p.  180), 
had  "Gaddel,"  saying  that  it  was  so  called  by  bird-dealers.  The  synonym 
"  Graj',"  given  by  Willughby  and  Ray,  is  doubtless  derived  from  the  general 
colour  of  the  species,  and  has  its  analogue  in   the  Icelandic  GrMnd,   applied 


298  GAD  WALL— CALL-BLADDER 

the  fine  comb-like  "  teeth  "  Avith  which  its  maxillae  are  furnished, 
considered  by  many  modern  ornithologists  to  require  removal  from 
the  genus  Anas  to  that  of  Chaulelasmus  or  Ctencn-hyndms,  of  which 

it  is  the  typical  species.  Its  geograph- 
ical distribution  is  almost  identical  with 
that  of  the  common  Wild  Duck  or 
Mallard,  since  it  is  found  over  the 
Gadwall.  (After  Swainson.)  greater  part  of  the  Northern  Hemi- 
sphere ;  but,  save  in  India,  where  it 
is  said  to  be  perhaps  the  most  plentiful  species  of  Duck  during  the 
cold  weather,  it  is  hardly  anywhere  so  numerous  ;  and  both  in  the 
eastern  parts  of  North  America  and  in  the  British  Islands  it  is  rather 
rare  than  otherwise.  Its  habits  also,  so  far  as  they  have  been  ob- 
served, greatly  resemble  those  of  the  Wild  Duck  ;  but  its  appear- 
ance on  the  water  is  very  different,  its  small  head,  fiat  back,  elongated 
form,  and  elevated  stern  rendering  it  recognizable  by  the  fowler 
even  at  such  a  distance  as  hinders  him  from  seeing  its  very 
distinct  plumage.  In  coloration  the  two  sexes  agree  much  more 
than  is  the  case  Avith  any  of  the  European  Freshwater-Ducks, 
Anatirice — one  only,  the  ^««s  marmorata,  excepted;  but  on  closer 
inspection  the  drake  exhibits  a  delicate  ash-coloured  breast,  and 
upper  -wing-coverts  of  a  deep  chestnut,  which  are  wholly  Avanting  in 
his  soberly  clad  partner.  She,  however,  has,  in  common  Avith  him, 
a  pure  Avhite  patch  on  the  AAangs,  Avhich  forms  one  of  the  most 
readily-perceived  distinctive  characters  of  the  species.  The  GadAvall 
is  a  bird  of  some  interest,  since  it  is  one  of  the  feAV  that  haA'e  been 
induced,  by  the  protection  afforded  them  in  certain  localities,  to 
resume  the  indigenous  position  they  once  filled,  but  had,  through 
the  draining  and  reclaiming  of  marshy  lands,  long  since  abandoned. 
In  regard  to  the  present  species,  this  fact  is  due  to  the  efforts  of  the 
late  Mr.  AndreAV  Fountaine,  on  Avhose  property,  in  West  Norfolk, 
and  its  immediate  neighbourhood^  the  GadAvall  has,  since  1850,^ 
annually  bred  in  constantly  increasing  numbers,  so  that  it  may 
again  be  accounted,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  Avord,  an  inhabitant 
of  England ;  and,  as  it  has  been  ahvays  esteemed  one  of  the  best  of 
Avdld  foAvl  for  the  table,  the  satisfactory  result  of  its  encouragement 
by  this  gentleman  is  not  to  be  despised.  A  second  species,  C.  couesi, 
from  Washington  Island,  one  of  the  Fanning  group,  has  been 
described  (Btill.  Nutt.  Orn.  Club,  i.  p.  46). 

GALL-BLADDER,  the  receptacle  of  the  bile  secreted  by  the 
Liver,  on  the  right  lobe  of  Avhich  it  is  situated,  betAveen  that  and 
the  proventriculus.     When  large  it  hangs  doAvn  on  the  right  side  of 

almost  indifferently,  or  with  some  distinguishing  epithet,  to  the  female  of  any  of 
the  Freshwater-Ducks,  and  especially  to  the  present. 

^  Stevenson  and  Southwell,  Birds  of  Norfolk,  iii.  pp.  160-162. 


GALLEY-BIRD— GAMBET  299 

the  stomcach  into  the  beginning  of  the  two  arms  of  the  duodenal 
loop.  It  is  present  in  most  Birds,  but  generally  absent  in  the 
Columhidse,  Psittaci^  and  Troddlidse,  as  also  in  Cuculus,  N'umida, 
StnUhio,  and  Bhsa.  Its  absence  has  also  been  noted  as  an  individual 
peculiarity  in  Griis,  Mergus,  Numenius,  Tringa,  and  others ;  while  as 
a  like  individual  peculiarity  it  has,  on  the  other  hand,  been  known 
to  occur  in  Cockatoos,  Cuculus,  Pigeons  (despite  the  almost  proverbial 
belief  to  the  contrary),  and  Bhea — a  fact  which  shews  it  to  be  of 
minor  importance.  Its  shape  is  very  variable,  and  in  the  Ca])itonldse, 
Picidx,  and  Ehamphastidse  it  is  very  peculiar,  being  a  long  narrow  blind 
sac,  accompanying  the  duodenum  far  down.  The  bile,  on  leaving 
the  liver,  enters  the  duodenal  loop  of  the  intestine  by  two  "  hepato- 
enteric  "  ducts  (of  which  that  coming  from  its  left  lobe  most  fre- 
quently opens  into  the  middle  of  the  loop  or  its  ascending  branch, 
and  but  rarely — as  in  Struthio  and  the  Columhidx — near  the  pyloric 
end) ;  while  the  right  duct  forms  by  its  dilatation  the  gall-bladder, 
and  consists  therefore  of  a  cysto-hepatic  and  a  cysto-enteric  duct. 
When  the  gall-bladder  is  absent  the  right  lobe  of  the  liver  is 
emptied  by  a  simple  hepato-enteric  duct.  Sometimes  one  of  these 
ducts  is  obliterated,  as  the  right  one  is  in  Stnithio,  or  one  of  them 
is  double,  as  in  certain  Craddse,  so  that  three  ducts  enter  the 
duodenum  (see  Digestive  System). 

GALLEY-BIRD,  given  as  a  Sussex  name  for  a  Woodpecker 
by  Mr.  Charles  Swainson  {Prov.  Names  Br.  B.,  pjD.  99,  100),  but 
not  mentioned  as  such  by  Mr.  Borrer  or  Mr.  Knox. 

GALLIN-^,  the  fifth  Order  of  the  Class  Aves  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  Linnaeus,  and  taken  as  a  whole  a  very  natural  one,  com- 
prehending all  that  are  commonly  known  as  Gallinaceous  Birds,  or 
those  allied  to  the  common  FowL  (Gallus).  Other  systematists 
have  varied  its  title  to  Gallinacese  or  Gallinacei,  and  it  is  practically 
equivalent  to  the  Alectoromorph^  of  Prof.  Huxley.  By  adding  to 
the  Order,  as  defined  by  Linnaeus,  the  Columbse  (Dove)  and  Cnjpturi 
(TiNAMOU),  Illiger  in  1811  formed  an  Order  which  he  called 
Rasores,  a  name  adopted  by  many  writers  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  but  now  generally  admitted  to  be  inadmissible. 

GALLINEY,  a  local  name  for  the  domestic  Guinea-Fowl. 

GALLINULE,  a  name  given  in  books  to  the  Moor-Hen,  and 
thence  occasionally,  with  qualification,  to  others  of  the  Ballidx 
(Rail). 

GAMBET,  Fr.  Gamhette,  Ital.  Gamhetta  (Lat.  ganiba),  which  last 
is  said  by  modern  Italian  writers  to  be  the  common  name  of  the 
Ruff.  The  word  was  anglified  by  Pennant,  and  applied  to  what, 
in  Montagu's  opinion  {Orn.  Did.  SuppL),  was  a  bird  of  that  species 


300  GANDER— GANNET 

in  one  of  its  varied  stages  of  plumage ;  but  it  has  since  been  used, 
especially  by  American  Avriters,  indiscriminately  for  several  Sand- 
pipers. 

GANDER  (Anglo-Saxon,  Gandra),  the  male  Goose, 

GANNET  (Anglo-Saxon,  Gemot)  or  Solan  Goose,^  the  Pelecanus 
bassanus  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Sula  bassana  of  modern  ornithologists, 
a  large  sea-fowl  long  known  as  a  numerous  visitor,  for  the  purpose 
of  breeding,  to  the  Bass  Rock  at  the  entrance  of  the  Firth  of  Forth, 
and  to  certain  other  islands  off  the  coast  of  Britain,  of  which  four 
are  in  Scottish  waters — namely,  Ailsa  Ci"aig,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Firth  of  Clyde ;  the  group  known  collectively  as  St.  Kilda ;  ^ 
North  Barra  or  Sulisgeir  (otherwise  Suleskerry),  some  40  miles 
north  of  the  Butt  of  Lewis ;  and  the  Stack,^  about  the  same  distance 
westward  of  Stromness.  It  appears  also  to  have  two  Irish  stations, 
the  Skellig  Islands  off  the  coast  of  Kerry,  and  the  Bull  Rock  off  that 
of  Cork,*  and  it  resorts  besides  to  Lundy  Island  in  the  Bristol  Channel 
— its  only  English  breeding-place,  though  in  Wales  a  considerable 
settlement  occupies  Grassholm,   off  the  coast  of  Pembrokeshire.^ 

^  The  phrase  ganotes  hied  (Gannet's  bath),  a  periphrasis  for  the  sea,  occurs  in 
the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  in  reference  to  events  which  took  place  975  a.d.,  as 
pointed  out  by  Prof.  R.  0.  Cunningham,  whose  learned  treatise  on  this  bird 
{Ibis,  1866,  pp.  1-23)  nearly  exhausts  all  that  could  then  be  said  of  its  history 
and  habits.  The  name,  like  Gander  and  Goose  in  English  and  German  Gans,  is 
from  an  old  base  gan,  which  also  supplied  the  Greek  xv",  and  the  Latin  anser. 
Solan  is  no  doubt  from  the  Scandinavian  Sula,  whatever  that  may  mean. 

Prof.  Cunningham  {ut  supr.  p.  15)  noticed  the  wonderful  mistake  of  Robert 
Browning,  which  surpasses  the  licence  ordinarily  taken  on  any  subject,  save 
natural  history,  by  poets.  In  Paracelsus  (part  iii.)  "  we  find  Festus  referring  to 
his  son  Aureole's  glee  when  some  stray  Gannet  builds  amid  the  birch  trees  by 
the  lake  of  Geneva  !  " 

2  Gannets  frequent  Rockall  in  the  breeding-season,  as  Basil  Hall,  in  his  well- 
known  account  of  that  distant  rock,  states,  and  as  the  late  Mr.  Gwj'n  Jeffrey  told 
me,  but  whether  they  breed  there  is  not  known. 

^  Cruising  round  this  place  in  June  1890,  my  companions  and  I  remarked  the 
large  proportion  (compared  with  what  we  had  seen  elsewhere)  the  birds  which 
had  not  attained  their  full  plumage  bore  to  those  perfectly  adult.  The  most  likely 
explanation  of  the  fact  seems  to  be  that,  the  station  being  so  rarely  visited  and 
its  inhabitants  so  free  from  molestation,  a  greater  number  of  young  would  yearly 
grow  up  ;  and  I  was  glad  to  find  afterwards  that  this  way  of  accounting  for  it  is 
thought  to  be  right  by  Mr.  Harvie-Brown,  whose  experience  is  far  greater  than 
that  of  any  one  else  [cf.  Buckley  and  Harvie-Brown,  Vertcbr.  Fauna  of  Orkney, 
p.  160). 

■*  This  last  seems  to  have  been  but  recently  colonized.  Whether  it  ever  bred 
upon  the  Stags  of  Broadhaven,  off  the  coast  of  Mayo,  as  has  been  stated,  is 
doubtful  (r/.  Barrington  and  Ussher,  Zool.  1884,  pp.  473-481). 

^  The  history  of  this  settlement  is  very  obscure.  Its  existence  was  practically 
unknown  to  ornithologists  until  1890,  when  a  wanton  massacre  of  its  inhabitants 


CAN  NET  30  X 


Further  to  the  northward  its  settlements  are  Myggenses,  the  most 
westerly  of  the  Faeroes,  and  various  small  islands  off  the  coast  of 
Iceland,  of  which  the  Vestmannaeyjar,  the  Eeykjanes  Fuglasker, 
and  Grimsey  are  the  chief.  On  the  western  side  of  the  Atlantic  it 
appears  to  have  now  but  three  stations,  and  on  them  the  population  is 
so  reduced  in  numbers  that  there  is  every  chance  of  the  species  ceasing 
to  exist  in  those  parts  unless  proper  steps  are  taken  to  protect  it. 
In  old  times  the  birds  existed  in  extraordinary  numbers,  and  even 
in  1860  the  late  Dr.  Bryant  reckoned  the  population  of  Gannets  on 
the  Great  Bird  Rock  at  50,000  ])a%rs.  In  1887  not  more  than 
10,000  lirds,  were  said  to  be  there,  and  the  numbers,  according  to 
Mr.  Lucas  {Auk,  1888,  pp.  129-135),  are  yearly  decreasing  both  there 
and  on  Bonaventure  Island,  the  only  other  considerable  settlement, 
owing  to  the  brutality  of  the  fishermen  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 
There  seems  to  be  no  recent  account  of  the  settlement  in  the  Bay 
of  Fundy.  On  all  these  places  the  bird  arrives  about  the  end  of 
March  or  in  April,  and  depai"ts  in  autumn  when  its  young  are  ready 
to  fly  ;  but  even  during  the  breeding-season  many  of  the  adults  may 
be  seen  on  their  fishing  excursions  at  a  vast  distance  from  their 
home,  while  at  other  times  of  the  year  their  range  is  greater  still, 
for  they  not  only  frequent  the  North  Sea  and  the  English  Channel, 
but  stray  to  the  Baltic,  and,  in  winter,  extend  their  flight  to 
Madeira,  while  the  members  of  the  species  of  American  birth 
traverse  the  ocean  from  the  shores  of  Greenland  to  the  Gvilf  of 
Mexico. 

Apparently  as  bulky  as  a  Goose,  and  with  longer  wings  and 
tail,  the  Gannet  weighs  considerably  less.  The  plumage  of  the 
adult  is  white,  tinged  on  the  head  and  neck  with  buff,  while  the 
outer  edge  and  principal  quills  of  the  wing  are  black,  and  some 
bare  spaces  round  the  eyes  and  on  the  throat  reveal  a  dark  blue 
skin.  The  first  plumage  of  the  young  is  of  a  deep  brown  above, 
but  paler  beneath,  and  each  feather  is  tipped  with  a  triangular 
white  spot.  The  nest  is  a  shallow  depression,  either  on  the  ground 
itself  or  on  a  pile  of  turf,  grass,  and  seaweed — which  last  is  often 
conveyed  from  a  great  distance.  The  single  egg  it  contains  has  a. 
white  shell  of  the  same  chalky  character  as  a  Cormorant's.  The 
young  are  hatched  blind  and  naked,  but  the  slate-coloured  skin  with 
which  their  body  is  covered  is  soon  covered  with  white  down, 
replaced  in  due  time  by  true  feathers  of  the  dark  colour  already 
mentioned.  The  mature  plumage  is  Relieved  not  to  be  attained  for 
some  three  years.  Towards  the  end  of  summer  the  majority  of 
Gannets,  both  old  and  young,  leave  the  neighbourhood  of  their 
breeding-place,  and,  betaking  themselves  to  the  open  sea,  follow  the 
shoals  of  herrings  and  other  fishes  (the  presence  of  which  they  are- 
attracted  attention.  Its  discovery  was  made  only  a  short  time  before  by  Ivlr.  J„. 
J.  Neale  (</.  T.  H.  Thomas,  Trans.  Cardiff  Nat.  Soc.  xxii.  part  2). 


302 


GANNET 


most  useful  in  indicating  to  fishermen)  to  a  great  distance  from  land. 
Their  prey  is  almost  invariably  captured  by  plunging  upon  it  from 
a  height,  and  a  company  of  Gannets  fishing  presents  a  curious  and 
interesting  spectacle.  Flying  in  single  file,  each  bird,  when  it  comes 
over  the  shoal,  closes  its  wings  and  dashes  perpendicularly,  and 


Gannet,  or  Solan  Goose. 

with  a  velocity  that  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated,  into  the  waves, 
whence  it  emerges  after  a  few  seconds,  and,  shaking  the  water  from 
its  feathers,  mounts  in  a  wide  curve,  orderly  taking  its  place  in  the 
rear  of  the  string,  to  repeat  its  headlong  plunge  so  soon  as  it  again 
finds  itself  above  its  i^rey.-^ 

1  The  large  number  of  Gannets,  and  the  vast  quantity  of  lish  they  take,  have 
been  frequently  animadverted  upon,  but  the  computations  on  this  last  point  are 


GA  RDENER-BIRD—  GA  RE-FO  WL  zo-^ 

Structurally  the  Gannet  presents  many  points  worthy  of  note, 
such  as  its  closed  nostrils,  its  aborted  tongue,  and  its  toes  all 
connected  by  a  web — characters  which  it  possesses  in  common 
with  most  of  the  other  members  of  the  group  of  birds  (Stegano- 
PODES)  to  which  it  belongs.  But  more  remarkable  still  is  the 
system  of  subcutaneous  air-cells,  some  of  large  size,  pervading 
almost  the  whole  surface  of  the  body,  communicating  Avith  the 
lungs,  and  capable  of  being  inflated  or  emptied  at  the  will  of  the 
bird.  This  peculiarity  has  attracted  the  attention  of  several 
writers — Montagu,  Sir  R.  Owen  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1831,  p.  90),  and 
Macgillivray  ;  but  a  full  and  particular  account  of  the  anatomy  of 
the  Gannet  is  still  to  be  desired. 

In  the  southern  hemisphere  the  Gannet  is  represented  by  tAvo 
nearly  allied  but  somewhat  smaller  forms — one  Sula  capensis,  in- 
habiting the  coast  of  South  Africa,  and  the  other,  S.  serrator,  the 
Australian  seas.  Both  much  resemble  the  northern  bird,  but  the 
former  seems  to  have  a  permanently  black  tail,  and  the  latter  a 
tail  the  four  middle  feathers  of  which  are  blackish-brown  with 
white  shafts. 

Apparently  inseparable  from  the  Gannets  generically  are  the 
smaller  birds  well  known  to  sailors  by  the  name  of  BoOBY,  which 
has  passed   into  an  English  byword,  though   few  know   its   Por 
tuguese  origin. 

GARDENER-BIRD,  see  Bower-Bird. 

GARE  -  FOWL  ^  (Icelandic,  Geirfugl ;  Gaelic,  Gearbhul).  the 
anglicized   form   of  the  Hebridean  name  of  a  large  sea-bira,  for- 

perhaps  fallacious.  It  seems  to  be  certain  that  in  former  days  fishes,  and 
herrings  in  particular,  were  at  least  as  plentiful  as  now,  if  not  more  so,  notwith- 
standing that  Gannets  were  more  numerous.  Those  frequenting  the  Bass  were 
reckoned  by  Macgillivray  at  20,000  in  1831,  while  in  1869  they  were  computed 
at  12,000,  showing  a  decrease  of  two-fifths  in  38  years.  On  Ailsa  in  1869  there 
were  supposed  to  be  as  many  as  on  the  Bass,  but  their  number  was  estimated  at 
10,000  in  1877  {Report  on  the  Herring  Fisheries  of  Scotland,  1878,  pp.  xxv.  and 
171), — being  a  diminution  of  one-sixth  in  eight  years,  or  nearly  twice  as  great  as 
on  the  Bass.  The  falling-off  has  since  been  still  greater,  but  I  have  no  means  of 
computing  it. 

^  "Avis  Gare  dicta,  Corvo  Marino  Similis,  Ovo  niaximo  "  is  included  iu 
Sibbald's  treatise  De  A'/iimalibiis  Scotim  (p.  22),  published  in  1684,  being  the 
first  printed  notice  of  this  bird  as  British,  and  apparently  on  information 
derived  from  a  MS.  description  of  the  Western  Islands  by  Dean  Munro,  dra\vn 
up  about  1549  (c/.  J.  A.  Smith,  Proc.  Soc.  Antiq.  Scotl.  xiii.  p.  84,  and  xiv. 
p.  436).  A  modified,  not  to  say  corrupt,  version  of  a  transcript  of  this  MS., 
now  in  the  Advocates'  Library  at  Edinburgh,  was  printed  in  1809  by  Pinkerton 
{Coll,  Toy.  end  Trav.  iii.  p.  730),  who  used  the  same  spelling.  In  1698  Martin 
[Voij.  to  St.  Kilda,  p.  48)  had  the  name  "Gairfowl."  Sir  R.  Owen,  in  1864, 
adopted  the  form  "  Garfowl,"  without,  as  would  seem,  any  precedent  authority. 
Mr.  Alexander  Carmichael  (Harvie-Brown  and  Buckley,    Vertebr.  Faun.  Outer 


.304 


G  ARE-FOWL 


merly  a  native  of  certain  remote  Scottish  islands,  the  Great  Auk 
of  most  English  book-writers,  and  the  Alai  impennis  of  Linnseus. 
Of  this  remarkable  creature  mention  has  been  already  made 
(Extermination),  but  since  the  species  has  a  mournful  history 
and  several  egregious  misconceptions  prevail  concerning  it,  a  few 
more  details  may  not  be  unacceptable.  In  size  it  was  hardly  less 
than  a  tame  Goose,  and  in  appearance  it  much  resembled  its 
smaller  and  surviving  relative  the  RazoR-BILL,  A.  tarda ;  but  the 


Gare-Fowl,  or  Great  Auk. 

glossy  black  of  its  head  was  varied  by  a  large  patch  of  white 
occupying  nearly  all  the  space  between  the  eye  and  the  bill,  in 

Hebrides,  p.  158)  gives  the  correct  Gaelic  spelling  as  Gearr  hhul  or  An  Gcarra- 
hhul,  meaning  "the  strong,  stout  bird  with  the  sj^ot"  ;  but  others  may  think 
the  word  to  be  a  rendering  of  the  old  Norsk  name.  According  to  Pennant, 
Carfil  is  the  generic  word  in  Welsh  for  any  of  the  Alcidas.  It  may  be  observed 
that  just  as  "  Penguin  "  (or  Pin-wing),  being  the  first  English  name  applied  to 
this  species,  on  its  discover}'  in  America,  has  been  transferred  to  birds  of  a  very 
different  Order,  so  also  has  Gorfou,  the  French  corruption  of  Geirfugl,  beeu 
applied  to  some  of  the  same. 


GA  RE-FOWL  305 


place  of  the  Kazor-bill's  thin  white  line,  while  the.  bill  itself  bore 
eight  or  more  deep  transverse  grooves  instead  of  the  smaller 
number  and  the  ivory-like  mark  possessed  by  the  species  last 
named.  Otherwise  the  coloration  Avas  similar  in  both,  and  there 
is  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  Gare-fowl's  winter-plumage  dif- 
fered from  that  of  the  breeding-season  just  as  is  ordinarily  the  case 
in  other  members  of  the  Family  AlcicL'B  to  which  it  belongs.  The 
most  striking  characteristic  of  the  Gare-fowl,  however,  Avas  the 
comparatively  abortive  condition  of  its  Avings,  the  distal  portions 
of  Avhich,  though  the  bird  was  just  about  tAvice  the  linear  dimen- 
sions of  the  Eazor-bill,  Avere  almost  exactly  of  the  same  size  as  in 
that  species — proving,  if  more  direct  evidence  Avere  Avanting,  its 
inability  to  fly. 

The  most  prevalent  misconception  concerning  the  Gare-foAvl  is 
one  which  has  been  repeated  so  often,  and  in  books  of  such  gener- 
ally good  repute  and  AAnde  dispersal,  that  a  successful  refutation 
seems  almost  hopeless.  This  is  the  notion  that  it  Avas  a  bird 
possessing  a  very  high  northern  range,  and  consecjuently  to  be 
looked  for  by  Arctic  explorers.  Hoav  this  error  arose  Avould  take 
too  long  to  tell,  but  the  fact  remains  indisputable  that,  setting 
aside  general  assertions  resting  on  no  evidence  Avorthy  of  attention, 
there  is  but  a  single  record  deserving  any  credit  at  all  ^  of  a  single 
example  of  the  species  having  been  observed  Avithin  the  Arctic 
Circle,  and  this,  according  to  the  late  Prof.  J.  T.  Keinhardt,  Avho 
had  the  best  means  of  ascertaining  the  truth,  is  open  to  grave 
doubt.^  It  is  clear  that  the  older  ornitholosrists  let  their  imasina- 
tion  get  the  better  of  their  knowledge  or  their  judgment,  and 
their  statements  have  been  blindly  repeated  by  most  of  their 
successors.  Another  error  which,  if  not  so  Avidely  spread,  is  at 
least  as  serious,  since  Sir  K.  OAven  {Encycl.  Brit.  ed.  8,  xAai.  p.  176  ; 
Falxontology,  p.  400)  unhappily  gave  it  countenance,  is  that  this 
Ijird  "has  not  been  specially  hunted  doAvn  like  the  dodo  and 
dinornis,  but  by  degrees  has  become  more  scarce."  Noaa^,  if  any 
reliance  can  be  placed  upon  the  testimony  of  former  observers,  the 
lirst  part  of  this  statement  is  absolutely  untrue.  Of  the  DODO  we 
knoAv  that  the  mode  of  its  extinction  is  open  to  conjecture,  a  strong 
suspicion  existing  that  though  indirectly  due  to  man's  acts  it  was 
accomplished  by  his  thoughtless  agents.  The  extinction  of  the 
Dinornis  (Moa)  lies  beyond  the  range  of  recorded  history,  and 
CAddence  that  the  Avhole  population  of  Moas  was  done  to  death  by 

^  I  cannot  attach  importance  to  the  later  statements  of  Herr  L.  Brodtkorb 
{Mitth.  Orji.  Ver.  Wien,  1884,  pp.  67-69).  His  story  Avas  sifted  nearly  30  years 
before  by  the  late  Mr.  WoUey. 

^  The  specimen  is  in  the  Musenm  of  Copenhagen  ;  the  doubt  lies  as  to  the 
locality  where  it  was  obtained,  whether  at  Disco,  which  is  within,  or  at 
Fiskernas,  which  is  without,  the  Arctic  Circle. 

20 


3o6  GARE-FO IV L 


man,  however  likely  it  may  seem,  is  wholly  wanting.  The  con- 
trary is  the  case  Avith  the  Gare-fowl.  \\\  Iceland  there  is  the 
testimony  of  a  score  of  witnesses,  taken  down  from  their  lips  by 
one  of  the  most  careful  naturalists  who  ever  lived,  the  late  John 
Wolley,  that  the  latest  survivors  of  the  species  wei-e  caught  and 
killed  by  expeditions  expressly  organized  Avith  the  view  of  sup- 
plying the  demands  of  caterers  to  the  various  museums  of  Europe. 
In  like  manner  the  fact  is  incontestable  that  its  breeding-stations 
in  the  western  part  of  the  Atlantic  Avere  for  three  centuries  regu- 
larly visited  and  devastated  with  the  combined  objects  of  furnish- 
ing food  or  bait  to  the  fishermen  from  very  early  days,  and  its 
final  extinction,  foretold  in  1792  by  Cartwright  {Labrador,  iii.  p.  55), 
was  due,  according  to  Sir  Richard  Bonnycastle  {Newfoundland  in 
1842,  i.  p.  232),  to  "the  ruthless  trade  in  its  eggs  and  skin." 
No  doubt  that  one  of  the  chief  stations  of  this  species  in  Icelandic 
waters  disappeared,  as  has  been  before  said  (pp.  220,  221),  through 
volcanic  action — 

*'  A  land,  of  old  upheaven  from  the  abyss 
By  fire,  to  sink  into  the  abyss  again  '' — 

and  that  the  destruction  of  the  old  Geirfuglasker  drove  some  at 
least  of  the  birds  which  frequented  it  to  a  rock  nearer  the  main- 
land, where  they  were  exposed  to  danger  from  which  they  had  in 
their  former  abode  been  comparatively  free ;  yet  on  this  rock 
(Eldey  =  fire-island)  they  were  "  specially  hunted  doAvn  "  whenever 
opportunity  offered,  until  the  stock  there  was  wholly  extirpated  in 
1844,  and  Avhether  any  remained  elsewhere  must  be  deemed  most 
doubtful. 

A  third  misapprehension  was  that  entertained  by  Gould  who, 
in  his  Birds  of  G-reat  Britairi,  said  that  "formerly  this  bird  Avas 
plentiful  in  all  the  northern  parts  of  the  British  Islands,  par- 
ticulai'ly  the  Orkneys  and  the  Hebrides.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  present  century,  however,  its  fate  appears  to  have  been 
sealed ;  for  though  it  doubtless  existed,  and  probably  bred,  up  to 
the  year  1830,  its  numbers  annually  diminished  until  they  became 
so  few  that  the  species  could  not  hold  its  own." 

Now  of  the  Orkneys,  we  know  that  Loav,  Avho  died  in  1795, 
says  in  his  posthumously-published  Fauna  Orcadcnsis  (p.  107)  that 
he  could  not  find  it  was  ever  seen  there  ;  ^  and  on  Bullock's  visit  in 
1812  he  was  told,  says  Montagu  {OriL  Did.  App.),  that  one  male 
only  had  made  its  appearance  for  a  long  time.  This  bird  he  saw  and 
unsuccessfully  hunted,  but  it  was  killed  in  the  following  year,  and  its 

^  However,  from  his  more  recently  published  (Kirkwall :  1879)  Tour,  made  in 
1774  at  the  instance  of  Pennant,  we  learn  that  lie  did  not  visit  Papa  Westray, 
the  only  locality  assigned  for  the  bird.  His  negative  evidence  is  therefore  not  to 
be  taken  as  conclusive. 


GARE-FO  WL  307 


stutied  skin  is  now  in  the  British  Museum/  while  its  mate  had  been 
killed  before  his  arrival.  None  have  been  seen  there  since.  As  to 
the  Hebrides,  St.  Kilda  is  the  only  locality  recorded  for  it,  and 
there  but  two  examples  are  believed  to  have  been  taken  during 
the  present  century,  one  being  a  living  bird  given  in  1821  by  Mr. 
Maclellan  of  Glass  to  Fleming,  who  not  being  aware  of  the  par- 
ticulars of  its  captru'e,  erroneously  recorded  them  (Edinh.  Phil. 
Journ.  X.  p.  96).  These  have  now  been  ascertained.  The  second 
was  Idlled  about  1840.^  That  the  Gare-fowl  was  not  plentiful  in 
either  group  of  islands  is  sufficiently  obvious,  as  also  is  the  im- 
possibility of  its  continuing  to  breed  "up  to  the  year  1830." 

But  mistakes  like  these  are  not  confined  to  British  authors. 
As  on  the  death  of  an  ancient  hero  myths  gathered  round  his 
memory  as  quickly  as  clouds  round  the  setting  sun,  so  have  stories, 
probable  as  well  as  impossible,  accumulated  over  the  true  history 
of  this  species,  and  it  behoves  the  conscientious  naturalist  to  exer- 
cise more  than  common  caution  in  sifting  the  truth  from  the  large 
mass  of  error.  Amei-icans  at  one  time  assei'ted  that  the  specimen 
which  belonged  to  Audubon  (now  at  Vassar  College)  was  obtained 
by  him  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  though  there  was  Macgilli- 
vray's  distinct  statement  {Brit.  Birds,  v.  p.  359)  that  Audubon 
procured  it  in  London.  The  account  given  by  Degland  {Orn. 
Ewop.  ii.  p.  529)  in  1849,  and  repeated  in  the  last  edition  of  his 
work  by  M.  Gerbe,  of  its  extinction  in  Orkney,  is  so  manifestly 
absm'd  that  it  deserves  to  be  quoted  in  full : — "  II  se  trouvait  en 
assez  grand  nombre  il  y  a  mie  quinzaine  d'ann^es  aux  Orcades ; 
mais  le  ministre  presbyt6rien  dans  le  Mainland,  en  offrant  une 
forte  prime  aux  personnes  qui  lui  apportaient  cet  oiseau,  a  et6 
cause  de  sa  destruction  sur  ces  iles."  The  same  author  claims  the 
species  as  a  visitor  to  the  shores  of  France  on  the  testimony  of 
Hardy  (Annuaire  Nonnand,  1841,  p.  298),  which  he  grievously 
misquotes  both  in  his  own  work  and  in  another  place  {Naumannia, 

^  Bullock's  own  accouut,  all  lie  ever  published  on  the  subject,  appeared  in 
1814  {Companion  to  the  London  Museum,,  ed.  16,  pp.  75,  76),  and  is  as  follows: 
"  Of  this  rare  and  noble  bird,  we  have  no  account  of  any  having  been  killed  on 
the  shores  of  Britain,  except  this  specimen,  for  upwards  of  one  hundred  years. 
It  was  taken  at  Papa  Westra  in  Orkney,  to  the  rocks  of  which  it  had  resorted  for 
several  years,  in  the  summer  of  1S13,  and  was  finely  preserved  and  sent  to  me  by 
Miss  Trail  of  that  island.  ...  I  had  the  pleasure  of  examining  this  curious  bird 
in  its  native  element ;  it  is  wholly  incapable  of  flight,  but  so  expert  a  diver  that 
every  effort  to  shoot  it  was  ineffectual."  Fuller  details  will  be  found  in  Messrs. 
Buckley  and  Hai-vie-Brown's  Vertebrate  Fauna  of  Orkney  (pp.  245-257).  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  breeding -place  of  this  last  pair  was  on  the  Holm 
of  Papa  Westray,  though  the  survivor  was  killed  on  the  main  island  of  that 
name. 

-  For  the  whole  story  see  Messrs.  Harvie-Brown  and  Buckley's  Vertebrate 
Fauna  of  the  Outer  Hebrides  (pp.  158-160). 


3o8  GA  RE- FOWL 


1855,  p.  423),  thereby  misleading  an  English  writer  {Nat.  Hist.  Rev. 
1865,  p.  475)  and  numerous  German  readers. 

In  further  addition  to  this  account  already  given  it  may  be 
here  mentioned  that  in  1874  Prof.  Milne  visited  Funk  Island,  the 
famous  resort  in  old  times  of  this  bird,  in  the  Newfoundland  seas, 
a  place  where  bones  had  before  been  obtained  by  Stuvitz,  and 
natural  mummies  so  lately  as  1863  and  1864,  and  landing  there 
at  the  risk  of  his  life,  he  brought  off  a  rich  cargo  of  its  remains, 
belonging  to  no  fewer  than  fifty  birds,  some  of  them  in  size 
exceeding  any  that  had  before  been  known.  His  collection,  since 
dispersed,  most  of  the  specimens  finding  their  way  into  various 
public  museums  in  this  country,  has,  however,  been  far  exceeded 
by  that  made  in  1887  by  Mr.  Lucas. ^ 

1  A  literature  by  no  means  inconsiderable  has   grown    up   respectinsi   the 
Gare-fowl.      Neglecting  vForks  of  general  bearing,   few  of  which   are   without 
many  inaccuracies,   and.  omitting  some  to  which  reference   has   been   already 
made,  the  following  treatises  may  be  especially  mentioned  : — J.  J.  S.   Steen- 
strup,    "  Et  Bidrag  til  Geirfuglens  Naturhistorie  og  sserligt  til  Kundskaben  cm 
dens  tidligere  Udbredningskreds, "  iN'aiwrTi..  For-en.  Videnslc.  J/efMeZcZser  [Copen- 
hagen], 185o,  p.  33  ;  E.  Charlton,    "On  the  Great  Auk,"  Trails.  Tyneside  A^at. 
Field  Gluh,  iv.   p.   Ill  ;  "Abstract  of  Mr.  J.  "Wolley's  Researches  in  Iceland 
respecting  the  Gare-fowl,"  Ibis,   1861,    p.   374;    W.    Preyer,    "Ueber  Flavins 
iriipcunis,"  Journ.  fur  Orn.   1862,  pp.  110,  337  ;  K.  E.  von  Baer,  "Ueber  das 
Aussterben  der  Thierarten  in  physiologischer  und  nicht  physiologischer  Hin- 
sicht,"  Bull,  de  VAcad.  Imp.  de  St.  Pitersi.  vi.  p.  513  ;  R.  Owen,   "Description 
of  the  Skeleton  of  the  Great  Auk,"   Trans.  Zool.  Soe.  v.  p.  317  ;  "The  Gare- 
fowl  and  its  Historians,"  yat.  Hist.  Rev.  x.  p.  467  ;  J.  H.  Gurney,  jun.,  "On 
the  Great  Auk,"  Zoologist,  2nd  ser.  pp.  1442,  1639  ;  H.  Reeks,  "Great  Auk  in 
Newfoundland,"  &;c.,  op.  cit.,  p.  1854;  V.  Fatio,  "  Sur  I'Alca  impennis,"  ^i<7/. 
Soc.  Orn.  Suisse,  ii.  pp.  1,  80,  147  ;   "On  existing  Remains  of  the  Gare-fowl,"' 
Ibis,   1870,   p.  256;   J.  Milne,   "Relics  of  the  Great  Auk,"  Field,   27  March, 
3  and  10  April  1875  ;  J.  A.  Allen,  "  The  Extinction  of  the  Great  Auk  at  the 
Funk  Islands,"  Am.   Nat.  1876,  p.  4§  ;    Robert  Gray,    "On  the  Great  Auk," 
Proc.  Hoy.  Soc.  Edinb.  x.  pp.  668-682  ;  Symington  Grieve,  "  Discovery  of  Remains 
of  the  Great  Auk  .  .  .  on  .  .  .  Oronsay,"  Journ.  Linn.  Soc.  (Zoology)  xvi.   pp. 
479-487,  Tlie  Great  Auk  or  Garefowl  (Edinburgh  :  1885,  4to)  [Reviews,  Nature, 
xxxii.  p.  545,  Atck,   1886,  p.  262],  "Recent  Notes  on  the  Great  Auk,"  Trans. 
Edinb.  Field  Nat.  and  Microscop.  Soc.   1888,  pp.  93-119;  W.   Blasius,   "  Uebev 
die  letzten  Vorkomnisse  des  Riesen-Alks,"  Ver.  f.  Naturw.  zu  Braunschweig,  iii. 
l)p.   89-115,   "  Zur  Geschichte  der  Ueberreste  von  Alca  impennis,"  Journ.  filr 
Orn.    1884,    pp.    58-176,    "Neue   Thatsachen    in    Betrelf    der   Ueberreste    von 
Alca    impennis,"   Tagebl.   Naturf.    Vers.    Magdeburg,   1884,    pp.    321-323  ;    R. 
Collett,   "Ueber  Alca  impennis   in  Norwegen,"  Mitth.   Orn.    Ver.   JFien,  1884, 
pp.  65-69,  85-89;  F.  A.  Lucas,   "Great  Auk  Notes,"  Auk,  1888,  pp.  278-283, 
"Expedition  to  the  Funk  Island,  with  Observations  upon    the   History  and 
Anatomy  of   the    Great  Auk,"  liep.    U.   S.  Nat.   3Ius.    1887-88,  pp.   493-529  ; 
F.  Hardy,  "Testimony  of  Some  Early  Voyagers  on  the  Great  Auk,  Auk,  1888, 
pp.  380-384;    P.  Leverkiihn,   "  Wann  starb  der  Grosse  Alk  aus  ? "  Monatsschr. 
Leutsch.  Ver.  Schutze  VogehveU,  1888,  pp.  388-390;  Baron  d'Hamonville,  "Note 


GARGANEY—GARROT  309 

GAEGANEY^  (North-Italian,  Gargandlo),  or  Summer- Teal, 
the  Anas  qnerqucdula  and  A.  circia  of  Linnaeus  (who  made,  as  did 
"Willughby  and  Ray,  two  species  out  of  one),  and  the  type  of 
Stephens's  genus  Querquedida.  This  is  one  of  the  smallest  of  the 
Anatklse,  and  has  gained  its  common  English  name  from  being 
almost  exclusively  a  summer-visitant  to  this  countrj',  where  nowa- 
days it  only  regularly  resorts  to  breed  in  some  parts  of  Norfolk, 
though  probably  at  one  time  found  at  the  same  season  throughout 
the  great  Fen-district.  About  the  same  size  as  the  common  Teal, 
A.  crecca,  the  male  is  readily  distinguished  therefrom  by  its 
peculiarly- coloured  head,  the  sides  of  which  are  nutmeg-brown, 
closely  freckled  with  short  whitish  streaks,  while  a  conspicuous 
white  curved  line  descends  backwards  from  the  eyes.  The  upper 
wing-coveils  are  bluish-grey,  the  scapulars  black  with  a  white  shaft- 
stripe,  and  the  wing-spot  {speculum)  greyish-green  bordered  above 
and  below  by  white.  The  female  closely  resembles  the  hen  Teal, 
but  possesses  nearly  the  same  wing-spot  as  her  mate.  In  Ireland 
or  Scotland  the  Garganey  is  very  rare,  and  though  it  is  recorded 
from  Iceland,  more  satisfactory  evidence  of  its  occurrence  there  is 
needed.  It  has  not  a  high  northern  range,  and  its  appearance  in 
Norway  and  Sweden  is  casual.  Though  it  breeds  in  many  parts  of 
Europe,  in  none  can  it  be  said  to  be  common  ;  but  it  ranges  far  to 
the  eastward  in  x4.sia — even  to  Formosa,  according  to  Swinhoe — 
and  yearly  visits  India  in  winter.  Those  that  breed  in  Norfolk 
arrive  somewhat  late  in  spring,  and  mostly  make  their  nests  in  the 
vast  reed-beds  which  border  the  Broads — a  situation  rarely  or  never 
chosen  by  the  Teal.  The  labyrinth  or  bony  enlargement  of  the 
trachea  in  the  male  Garganey  differs  in  form  from  that  described 
in  any  other  drake,^  being  more  oval  and  placed  nearly  in  the 
median  line  of  the  windpipe,  instead  of  on  one  side,  as  is  usually 
the  case. 

GAEROT,  a  French  name  of  the  Golden-eye,  which  some 
writers,  beginning  in  1829  with  Griffith  (Anim.  Kingd.  viii.  p.  609) 

sur  les  quatre  ceufs  d'Alca  impennis  appartenant  a  notre  coUectiou,"  3Iim.  Soc. 
Zool.  France,  1889,  pp.  224-227,  ''  Addition  a  une  Note,"  &c.  Bull.  Soc.  Zool. 
France,  1891,  pp.  105-109.  Lastly,  reference  cannot  be  omitted  to  the  happy 
exercise  of  poetic  fancy  with  which  Charles  Kingsley  was  enabled  to  introduce 
the  chief  facts  of  the  Gare-fowl's  extinction  (derived  from  one  of  the  above- 
named  papers)  into  his  charming  Water  Babies. 

1  The  word  was  introduced  by  Willughby  from  Gesner  {Orn.  lib.  iii.  p.  127), 
but,  though  generally  adopted  by  authors,  seems  never  to  have  become  other 
than  a  book-name  in  English,  the  bird  being  invariably  known  in  the  parts  ot 
this  island  where  it  is  indigenous  as  "Summer-Teal." 

-  I  have  found  no  mention  of  this  ijart  in  the  Blue-winged  Teal  of  North 
America,  A.  discors,  which  in  plumage  has  some  resemblance  to  the  Garganey  ; 
but  did  its  labyrinth  differ  from  the  ordinary  form,  I  think  some  one  w'ould  have 
noticed  the  fact. 


3 1  o  GA  ULDING—GA  VI.£ 

have  tried  to  make  an  English  word.  The  origin  of  the  French 
word  was  unknown  to  Littre ;  but  its  application  to  this  bird  is 
probably  due  to  its  rapid  flight,  one  meaning  of  garrot  being  a 
crossbow-bolt. 

GAULDING  or  GAULIN,  a  word  variously  spelt,  of  unknown 
etymology  and  originally  of  doubtful  meaning.  What  seems  to 
be  the  same  word  appears  as  "  Goldeine,"  "  Goldynis  "  (plur.),  and 
"Goldynhis"  in  an  Act  of  the  Scottish  Parliament  in  1555,  accord- 
ing to  Langmuir  and  Donaldson  (Jamieson's  Scott.  Did.  ed.  2),  but 
without  explanation,  though  a  connexion  is  suggested  with  the 
Icelandic  GuUnd,  which  is  the  Goosander.  In  an  Act  of  1600 
(16  Jac.  VI.  cap.  xxiii.)  it  stands  as  "Golding,"  and  there  at  pre- 
sent it  must  be  left;  but  "  Gaulding,"  most  generally  pronounced 
"  Gaulin,"  is  used  in  the  Antilles,  and  perhaps  elseAvhere,  for  any 
of  the  smaller  Ardeidx,  be  they  Bitterns  or  Herons. 

GAUNT,  said  to  be  applied  in  some  parts  of  England  to  the 
Great  Crested  Grebe,  and  possibly  corrupted  from  Gannet. 

GAVLE,  an  Order  of  the  Class  Aves,  proposed  by  Bonaparte 
in  a  Conspectus  Systematis  OrnitJwIof/ix,  which  appeared  in  a  tabular 
form  in  1850,  and  in  1853  was  published  in  a  more  convenient 
shape  in  the  Convptes  Eendus  (xxxvii.  pp.  64.3,  647),  as  well  as  in 
the  Annates  des  Sciences  Naturelles  (ser.  4,  i.  pp.  107,  142).  At 
first  it  was  made  to  include  two  tribes,  Totipalnii  (Steganopodes) 
and  Longipennes,  consisting  of  FroceUariidse,  Laridx,  and  "  Chionidse, " 
(Sheathbill),  but  to  these  was  afterwards  added  a  third,  Urin- 
atores,  formed  of  Alciclx,  Colymhidx,  and  "  Fodicipidx."  By 
some  recent  writers  the  term  Gavia3  has  been  restricted  to 
the  Gulls  and  Terns,  or  these  together  with  the  Auks  ;  but 
its  original  signification  should  be  always  borne  in  mind ;  and 
here  it  may  be  remarked  that,  almost  from  the  beginning  of 
Systematic  Ornithology,  the  woKl  Gavia  ^  has  been  used  in  several 
senses — for  instance,  in  1752,  by  Mohring  {Av.  Gen.  p.  66),  as 
equivalent  to  the  Linntean  Larus  \  in  1760  by  Brisson  (though 
not  generically)  for  the  middle-sized  and  smaller  Gulls,  together  Avith 
the  Noddy;  in  1788  by  J.  E.  Forster  (Enchirid.  Hist.  Nat.  p.  38) 
for  a  genus  of  Water-birds  of  which  he  did  not  specify  the  type;^ 
by  Boie  (Isis,  1822,  p.  563)  as  the  generic  name  of  the  short-legged 
Gulls,  Larus  eiurneus  and  L.  rissaf  and  by  Gloger  in  1842  (Hand- 
und  Eilfsh.f.  Naturgscli.  p.  433)  for  the  Lapwing  (Fanelhis)  and 

^  Gavia  seems  to  be  still  an  Italian  word  signifying  Gull,  though  the  deriva- 
tive Gaibiano  is  more  commonly  used. 

2  His  diagnosis  indicates  that  he  meant  what  is  most  commonly  called 
Colymbus  (Dialer). 

•"  Boie  subsequently  {Ms,  1822,  p.  876  ;  1826,  p.  980  ;  and  1844,  p.  191)  used 
the  word  in  other  senses. 


GEELBEC— GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION         311 

its  allies,  while  in  1834  Naumann  {Vog.  Deutsrld.  vii.  p.  248)  chose 
Gavix  as  the  name  of  a  group  consisting  of  the  Grey  Plover. 

GEELBEC  (Yellow  beak),  the  Dutch  name  used  by  Englishmen 
in  the  Cape  Colony  for  Anas  flavirostri,%  the  common  Wild  DuCK  of 
South  Africa. 

GELINOTTE,  diminutive  of  the  old  French  Geline  (Lat.  Gallim, 
a  Hen),  often  used  in  English  for  Avhat  is  otherwise  called  the 
Hazel-hen  or  Hazel-GROUSE — the  one  species,  perhaps,  whose  intro- 
duction, were  it  possible,  to  this  country  might  be  desirable. 

GEMITOKES,  Macgillivray's  name  (Br.  B.  i.  pp.  97,  249)  for 
the  Order  of  Birds  consisting  of  Pigeons. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTPJBUTION.  In  regard  to  no  group 
of  animals  did  the  desire  to  know  the  details  of  what  is  commonly 
styled  Geographical  Distribution  become  earlier  manifest  than  the 
Class  Aves.  One  probable  reason  of  this  is  the  obvious  fact  that 
no  group  as  a  whole  possesses  such  faculties  for  extensive  locomo- 
tion, and  the  appearance,  disappearance,  and  reappearance  of  species 
after  species,  whether  according  to  orderly  Migration  or  as  casual 
stragglers  to  any  particular  spot  or  country,  naturally  led  men  of 
enquiring  mind  to  wonder  where  the  resort  for  the  rest  of  the  year 
of  these  visitants  might  be.  By  degrees  this  wonder  gave  way  to 
scientific  investigation ;  and,  after  the  futile  attempts  (which  may 
here  be  passed  over)  of  students  or  quasi-students  of  other  branches 
of  Zoology,  it  was  with  lively  satisfaction  that  ornithologists  found 
the  first  reasonable  and  philosophical  explanation  of  the  subject 
furnished  by  one  of  their  own  body,  Mr.  Sclater.^  Though  here  and 
there  in  the  writings  of  his  predecessors  truths  are  doubtless  apparent, 
it  is  certain  that  no  one  had  hitherto  taken  the  question  seriously 
in  hand,  and  that  such  truths  as  had  been  reached  were  rather  by 
favour  of  fortune  than  by  application  of  knowledge ;  and  this  is 
markedly  shewn  even  in  the  brilliant  speculations  of  BufFon,  the  first 
Avriter  who  seems  to  have  formed  any  general  ideas  on  the  subject. 

Now  Mr.  Sclater's  success  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  method  in 
which  his  investigations  were  carried  on.  Instead  of  looking  at 
the  earth's  surface  from  the  point  of  view  hitherto  adopted  by  most 
writers,  mapping  out  the  world  according  to  degrees  of  latitude 
and  longitude,  determining  its  respective  portions  of  land  and 
water  regardless  of  their  products,  or  adhering  to  its  political  divi- 
sions, he  endeavoured  to  solve  the  problem  ^simply  as  a  zoologist 

^  Journ.  Proe.  Linn.  Soe.  (Zoology)  ii.  pp.  130-145.  Mr.  Sclater's  latest  views  on 
the  subject  may  be  read  in  The  Ibis  for  1891  (pp.  514-557),  being  a  modification 
of  an  Address  communicated  by  him  to  the  International  Ornithological  Congress 
held  at  Budapest ;  and,  like  an  Address  delivered  by  him  at  Bristol  in  1875  to  the 
Biological  Section  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  it 
has  an  Appendix  giving  a  very  useful  list  of  works  on  Geographical  Ornithology. 


312  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

should.  He  took  up  the  branch  of  the  subject  with  which  he 
Avas  best  acquainted,  and  pointed  out  and  defined  the  liegious 
of  the  globe  in  conformity  with  the  various  aspects  of  ornithic 
life  as  known  to  him.  But  herein  there  was  at  once  a  great  dii'ii- 
culty  to  be  met.  Birds  constituting  the  most  vagrant  Class  of 
animals  in  existence,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  eliminate  from 
consideration  those  groups  of  them,  be  they  large  or  small,  whicli 
are  of  more  or  less  universal  occurrence,^  and  to  ground  his  results 
on  Avhat  was  at  that  time  commonly  known  as  the  Order  Insessore^, 
comprehending  those  birds  that  are  now  generally  differentiated  as 
the  groups  or  Orders,  Fasseres,  Ficarm,  and  Fsittaci. 

On  this  basis,  then,  Mr.  Sclater,  after  dwelling  on  the  great 
distinction  he  thought  observable  between  the  Fauna  of  the  Old 
World  and  of  the  New,  was  enabled  to  set  forth  that  the  surface  of 
the  globe  exhibited  six  great  Regions,  each  in  a  marked  manner 
differing  from  all  the  rest,  though  the  difference  was  not  always 
equally  important.  These  Regions  he  termed  respectively  the 
Falxardic,  Ethiopian,  Indian,  Australian,  Neardic,  and  Neotropical — 
names  which,  so  far  as  may  be  possible,  it  is  convenient  to  preserve — 
and  proof  that  the  method  he  followed  was  the  true  one  is  afforded 
by  the  fact  that  these  Regions  have  met  with  very  general  acceptance 
at  the  hands  of  those  who  study  other  groups  of  animals.'^    Without, 

^  Not  but  that  even  in  the  most  widely-spread  groups  are  contained  others — 
subfamilies,  genera,  or  species — strictly  limited  to  certain  localities.  Some  of 
them  will  be  noticed  further  on. 

-  This  is  a  thing  on  which  few  writers  seem  to  have  dwelt  sufficiently.  What- 
ever be  the  causes,  and  it  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  discuss  them,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  what  may  be  taken  as  a  "law"  of  Geographical  Distribution  for 
one  group  of  beings  is  not  necessarily  applicable  to  other  groups.  Botanists 
have  shewn  no  disposition  to  accept  the  territorial  divisions  of  their  zoological 
brethren.  It  seems  difficult  to  defend  the  position  so  often  assumed  that  the 
boundaries  set  up  for  one  group  of  animals  are  true  for  another,  or  still  less  that 
they  are  universally  true.  This  fact  has  indeed  had  to  be  recognized  in  the  case 
of  some  marine  forms — for  instance,  Fishes,  which,  it  is  confessed,  cannot  be  made 
subject  to  the  limitations  of  terrestrial  fornis  {cf.  Giinther,  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  Fishes,  pp.  259,  260),  though  Dr.  Gill  {Ann.  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  4, 
XV.  pp.  254,  255)  recognizes  for  this  Class  what  are  practically  the  same  divisions 
as  those  of  Prof.  Huxley — Xew  ZLalaiid,  however,  being  placed  with  Australia. 
As  regards  the  Land-Mollusks,  malacologists  demur  to  the  general  principles  of 
Distribution  which  students  of  most  Classes  of  Vertebrates  accept,  while  even 
among  \'ertebrates  themselves,  and  eicludiug  Fishes,  what  is  the  best  division 
of  the  Earth's  surface  into  Regions,  Subregions,  Provinces  and  so  on,  for  Birds 
may  not  be  the  best  for  Mammals,  Reptiles,  or  Amphibians.  It  would  apjjear 
[)relcrable  to  consider  the  case  of  each  of  these  Classes  on  its  own  merits,  and 
thus  in  what  follows  the  territorial  divisions  adopted  are  in  accordance  with 
what  it  is  supposed  we  know  or  seem  to  know  of  the  Class  Aves,  and  it  ma}' 
even  be  open  to  question  whether  the  best  division  for  one  Subclass  or  Order  of 
Birds  is  the  best  for  another. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  313 

however,  troubling  ourselves  on  that  score,  or  attempting  a  com- 
plete history  of  the  subject  since  his  treatment  of  it,  it  is  proper  to 
remark  that  Prof.  Huxley  pointed  out  {Proc.  Zoo].  Sac.  1868,  pp. 
313-ol9)that  there  was  reason  to  divide  the  earth's  surface  lati- 
tudinall}-,  rather  than  longitudinally  as  Mr.  Sclater  had  done,  and 
that  jour  primary  Regions  were  better  than  m: — these  four  being  :  I. 
Ardogsea,  comprising  Mr.  8clater's  Indian,  Ethiopian,  Palaearctic, 
and  Nearctic  Eegions  :  II.  Austro-Colmnbia,  corresponding  Avith  the 
Neotropical  Region ;  III.  Audralasia ;  and  IV.  New  Zealand — this 
last  being  ctit  ofT  from  that  gentleman's  Australian  Region.  Eight 
years  later,  Mr.  Wallace  in  his  great  work,^  for  which  zoologists 
can  never  be  too  thankful,  disregarding  Prof.  Huxley's  scheme, 
adopted  with  some  very  slight  modifications  the  plans  of  Mr. 
Sclater,  Avhich  had  been  already  followed  in  the  main  by  many 
others,  and  among  them  by  the  present  AAi'iter  in  a  contribution 
to  the  Encydopsedia  Britannica.  In  the  coui'se,  however,  of  com- 
piling that  contribtition  a  considerable  number  of  doubts  arose  in 
his  mind.  Some  of  them  he  at  the  time  intimated ;  but  it  was  not 
until  several  years  after  that  he  saw  how  the  chief  est  of  them  should 
be  dispelled.  The  full  force  of  Prof.  Huxley's  reasoning  is  now 
evident  to  him,  and  he  has  to  m-ge  the  recognition  of  New  Zealand 
as  a  primary  division,  Avhile  the  recent  ornithological  investigation 
of  Alaska,  sheAving  that  it  is  peopled  in  summer  by  so  many  Fasseres 
hitherto  supposed  to  be  of  purely  PakTearctic  type,  has  convinced 
him  that  Prof.  Huxlev's  statement  of  the  Nearctic  area  being  far 
more  nearly  allied  to  the  Paltearctic  than  to  the  Neotropical 
Region  is  not  only  true  but  has  a  still  deeper  meaning,  for  that  it 
is  impossible  justifiably  to  separate  the  Paltearctic  and  Nearctic 
areas  as  "Regions,"  though  we  may  keep  the  epithets  as  con- 
veniently indicating  geographical  portions  of  one  enormous  but 
continuous  Region,  to  which  the  name  Holardic  may  be  fitly 
applied.-  Some  rectification  of  the  hitherto -accepted  frontier  of 
the  Neotropical  Region  may  thereby  be  recjuired,  but  that  is  a 
comparatively  unimportant  consideration,  and  it  is    not  proposed 

1  The  Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals.  2  vols.  London  :  1876.  j\I\- 
own  gratitude  to  the  author  for  allowing  me  at  a  critical  time  to  see  the  manu- 
script of  this  work  prior  to  its  publication  has  been  before  expressed  {ETicydo'p. 
Brit.  ed.  9,  iii.  p.  737) ;  but  will  never  be  forgotten. 

-  I  have  to  thank  Prof.    Heilprin,  who  had  originally  {Proc.  Ac.  Philad. 

1882,  p,  334)  bestowed  the  name  "  Triarctic  "  on  this  combination,  for  so  readily 
adopting  (i\'7n<U7-e,  xxvii.  p.  606)  my  suggestion  to  call  it  "Holarctic,"  under 
which  name  it  appears  in  the  excellent  defence  of  his  position  {Proc.  Ac.  Philad. 

1883,  pp.  266-275)  as  well  as  in  his  work  (IVte  Geographical  and  Geologicat 
Distribution  of  Animals.  New  York :  1887).  The  objections  raised  to  this 
combination  by  Mr.  Wallace  and  Dr.  Gill  will  be  found  in  Nature  (xxvii. 
p.  482,  xxviii.  ]..  124). 


314  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

liere  to  go  much  into  details.^  The  question,  often  mooted,  of 
recognizing  a  distinct  Circumpolar  Region  need  not  be  discussed, 
for  it  has  not  become  practical ;  and  whatever  ma}'  be  the  case 
as  regards  other  Classes,  it  seems  almost  impossible  for  the  orni- 
thologist reasonably  to  refuse  recognition,  as  regards  Birds,  of  the 
.s^a;  Geographical  Regions — New- Zealand,  Australian,  Neotropical, 
Holarctic,  Ethiopian,  and  Indian,  brigading,  if  he  so  please,  the 
first  three  as  Notogxa,  and  the  last  three  as  Ardogssa,  but  always 
bearing  in  mind  that  the  differences  between  each  of  the  component 
parts  of  the  former,  and  especially  the  differences  between  New 
Zealand  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  are  not  only  more  striking, 
but  far  more  essential  than  those  presented  b}^  the  component  parts 
of  the  latter. 

It  is  admitted  by  nearly  all  naturalists  that  the  study  of  the 
extinct  organisms  of  any  country  leads  the  investigator  to  a  proper 
appreciation  of  its  existing  Flora  or  Fauna  :  while  on  the  other  hand 
a  due  consideration  of  the  plants  or  animals  which  predominate 
within  its  bounds  cannot  fail  to  throw  more  or  less  light  on  the 
changes  it  has  in  the  course  of  ages  undergone.  That  is  to  say, 
the  Distribution  of  living  creatures  in  Time  is  so  much  connected 
with  their  Distribution  in  Space  that  the  one  can  hardly  be  con- 
sidered without  the  other.  Granting  this  as  a  general  truth,  it 
must  yet  be  acknowledged  as  a  special  fact  already  foreshadowed 
Avhen  treating  of  FossiL  Birds,  that  we  at  present  have  in  them 
but  scanty  means  of  arriving  at  precise  results  which  would  justify 
bold  generalization  as  regards  the  Distribution  of  the  Class.  Com- 
pared with  other  Vertebrates,  fossil  remains  of  Birds  are  exceedingly 
scarce,  and  have  been  until  lately  little  investigated.  However 
suggestive  be  the  discovery  in  Finance  of  somewhat  early  remains 
of  Birds  allied  to  those  which  we  at  present  only  know  as  living 
denizens  of  tropical  countries,  and  the  recognition  of  far  later 
remains  of  species  identical  Avith  those  that  now  flourish  in  arctic 
lands,  these  facts  merely  corroborate  what  is  from  other  sources 
within  the  cognoscence  of  every  geologist — the  vicissitudes,  namely, 
to  which  that  part  of  Europe  has  been  subjected.  Even  the  former 
existence  of  Ratita^  in  England  and  other  countries  Avhere  they  are 
not  now  found  only  proves  that  they  were  once  not  confined  to  their 
present  limits,  and  possibly  pervaded  the  greatest  part  of  the  earth. 
Almost  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  every  other  case,  and  perhaps  in 
the  whole  range  of  zoology  there  is  no  Class  from  the  fossil 
remains  of  which  we  learn  less  as  regards  the  physical  history  of 
oui"  planet  than  we  do  from  the  Birds.  We  therefore  have  to  turn 
to   the   other  side  of   the   question    and  try  to  find  whether  the 

1  Prof.  Heilprin  has  stated  {loc.  primo  cit.)  the  probability  that  "portions 
of  Californi;i,  Texas,  and  Florida  -will  have  to  be  relegated  to  the  Neotropical 
realm."     Mexico  would  naturally  follow  ;  but  hereon  more  will  be  said  hereafter. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  315 

evidence  which  is  from  one  point  of  view  so  evidently  deficient  may 
not  be  supplied  by  enquiry  into  existing  Avifaunse,  and  this  signifies 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  Geogi'aphical Distribution  of  living  or  recently 
extinct  Birds  becomes  a  matter  of  prime  importance  to  every  one 
who  would  exercise  intelligently  the  calling  of  an  Ornithologist. 

Of  the  six  Regions  above  adopted  it  seems  fitting  to  begin  with 
that  in  the  Fauna  of  which  Birds  play  the  principal  part,  since  of 
indigenous  terrestrial  Mammals  it  has  none,^  and  that  Class  is 
represented  only  by  Bats  or  Seals. 

I.  The  New- Zealand  Region  presents,  in  Mr.  Wallace's  words 
{Island  Life,  p.  442),  "  the  most  remarkable  and  interesting  of  insular 
Faunas,"  and  leads  to  the  inference  that  this  portion  of  the  globe 
shews  a  longer  period  of  isolation  than  any  other  of  equal  magni- 
tude— an  isolation  possibly  anterior  to  the  time  when  terrestrial 
INIammals  first  appeared,  or  at  least  appeared  in  any  land  which 
could  have  been  then  connected  with  it.  Beside  the  two  large 
islands  and  one  of  moderate  size  (Stewart".-;),  known  in  the  aggi'e- 
gate  as  New  Zealand,  numerous  satellites  belong  to  the  Region,  as 
Lord  Howe's,  Norfolk  and  Kermadoc  Islands,  Avith  the  Chatham, 
Auckland,  and  Macquarrie  groups,  as  well  as  Antipodes  Island.  It 
possessed  until  recently  two  perfectly  distinct  Orders  (or,  as  some 
rank  them,  Families)  of  Batitx — the  Immanes  -  (Moa)  and  Apteryges 
(Kiwi),  of  which  the  latter  still  exists,  while  the  former,  noAv 
extinct,  contained,  according  to  the  latest  revision  by  Mr.  Lydekker 
{Cat.  Foss.  B.  Br.  Miis.  pp.  219-351),  about  a  score  of  species  that 
may  require  5  genera  for  their  reception,  and  certainly  exhibit  no 
inconsiderable  modification  of  a  tolerably  uniform  structure,  while 
some  of  their  members  reached  a  stature  that  may  be  almost  called 
colossal.  Moreover,  these  two  Orders  seem  to  be  absolutely  peculiar 
to  the  Region.^ 

Turning  to  the  Carmaix,  we  have  a  very  remarkable  genus  in 
Ocydronius  (Weka)  which,  Ralline  as  it  is,  afibrds  in  the  loss  of  its 
power  of  flight  and  corresponding  structural  modification  e\adence 
of  considerable  antiquity.  The  Limicolx  present  a  quite  unique 
form  in  the  highly  specialized  AnarhyncJms  (Wrybill),  and  the 
Anseres  in  Cnemiornis,  a  large  flightless  Goose,  now  extinct  and 
apparently  allied  to  the  Australian  Ceeeopsis,  while  the  Accipitres 
shew  Harpagornis,  a  bird  half  as  big  again  as  an  Eagle,  and  stout 
enough  to  make  Moas  its  prey — indeed  it  possibly  owes  its  ex- 
tinction to  their  disappeai^ance,  finding  no  fit  quarry  when  they  and 
Cnemiornis  were  gone.     Sceloglaux  is  a  very  peculiar  genus  of  Striges 

^  See  above  (p.  224,  note  1 ). 

"  Ann.  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  4,  xx.  p.  400. 

"  Positive  assertion  to  this  effect  cannot  be  made,  since  a  portion  of  a  fossil 
femur  from  Queensland,  said  to  appear  indistinguishable  from  Dinornis,  has  been 
described  and  figured  {Proc.  R.  Soc.  Qucensl.  i.  p.  27,  pis.  iii.  iv.) 


t,v-4l 


316  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

(Owl),  and  the  Psittaci  have  in  Nestor  and  Stringops  (Kakapo) 
two  others  that  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  types  of  as  main- 
Families.  Very  noteworthy  also  is  the  presence  of  the  Famil}- 
Acanthidosittidx  (Spine-bill),  represented  by  two  genera,  Acantki- 
dositta  and  Xenicus,  proved  b}^  W.  A.  Forbes  to  belong  to  the  ]\Ieso- 
myodian  (Introduction)  section  or  suboi^der  of  Passer es,  which  is 
most  largely  developed  in  the  TsTeotropical  Region.  Of  the  higher 
Passeres,  or  what  appear  to  be  such,  there  is  a  proportionate  allowance, 
but  some  of  them  are  of  a  character  so  generalized  that  systematists 
strain  their  principles  when  bringing  them  under  Families  that  exist 
elsewhere.  Turnagra,  a  ver  v  generalized  Thi'ush,  has  been  permitted 
to  stand  as  the  type  of  a  separate  Family,  though  Gkmcopis  has  been 
referred  to  the  Corvidx;  Creadion  and  Heteralocha  (Huia),  not 
without  violence,  to  the  Sturnidai  (Starling)  ;  Miro,  Myiomomt, 
and  Gerygone  to  Muscicapidce  or  Sylviidsc ;  Certhiparus  to  ParidcH 
(Titmouse)  ;  Clitonyx  to  TimelUdse,  and  so  on.  With  less  hesitation 
(V  can  Prosthemad%^ra,  Anthwnis  (Bell-bird),  and  Pogonornis  (Stitch- 
bird)  be  placed  under  Meliphagidse;  so  largely  dispersed  throughout 
the  Australian  Region.  Alongside  of  these  we  have  the  cosmopolitan 
genus  Anthus  (Pipit),  almost  certainly  a  settler  of  comparatively 
recent  days,  since  it  has  undergone  so  little  modification ;  while  a 
species  of  Zosterops  has,  within  the  recollection  of  men  still  living, 
made  its  way  over  from  Australia,  and  shews  that  the  tendency 
to  colonize  is  not  confined  to  the  human  race.  Another  and 
apparently  modern  immigrant  is  offered  by  the  genus  Coturnix 
(Quail),  but  its  representative  has  been  long  enough  in  the  country 
to  become  specifically  difierentiated.  Though  abundant  not  many 
years  ago,  it  has  lately  buftered  so  much  from  the  practice  of  firing  the 
gxassy  plains  it  frequented,  that  some  believe  it  to  be  now  extinct. 
Notornis,  an  exaggerated  form  of  Porphyrio,  is  probably  another,  but 
a  more  ancient  settler,  since  it  has  lost  the  use  of  its  wings,  though 
it  possesses  the  pui'ple  plumage  oi  its  relatives.  It  is  remarkable 
for  being  a  bird  which  was  originally  described  from  fossil  remains, 
and  only  some  years  later  was  found  to  exist,  though  in  very  small 
numbers  and  in  certain  restricted  localities.  A  second  species  which 
inhabited  Norfolk  Island  seems  to  have  become  extinct  since  the  early 
years  of  this  century.  Its  white  plumage  is  likely  to  have  hastened 
its  doom.  Of  other  forms  there  is  not  space  here  to  treat,  but  it 
will  be  noticed  that  many  which  are  most  characteristic  of  the 
Australian  Region  are  wholl}^  wanting,  a  fact  that  helps  to  justify 
the  separation  of  New  Zealand  as  a  primary  Region  on  the  ground 
of  its  complete  isolation  from  a  very  remote  time.  Mention  has 
been  already  made  (Extermination)  of  the  unhappy  fate  which 
awaits  the  surviving  members  of  the  New-Zealand  Famia,  and  its 
inevitable  end  cannot  but  excite  a  lively  regret  in  the  minds  of  all 
ornithologists  who  care  to  know  huw  things  have  grown.     This 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  317 

regret  is  quite  apart  from  all  questions  of  sentiment ;  but  just  as 
we  lament  our  ignorance  of  the  species  which  in  various  lands  have 
been  extirpated  by  our  predecessors,  so  our  posterity  will  Avant  to 
know  much  more  of  the  present  avifauna  of  New  Zealand  than  we 
can  possibly  record,  for  no  one  can  pretend  to  predict  the  scope  of 
investigation  which  will  be  required,  and  rec|uired  in  vain,  by 
naturalists  in  that  future  when  New  Zealand  may  be  one  of  the 
great  nations  of  the  earth.  ^ 

II.  The  Australian  Eegion  has  but  little  intimate  connexion  Avith 
New  Zealand,  and  is  as  trenchantly  divided  from  the  Indian. 
Avhich  geographically,  and  possibly  geologically,  seems  to  be  conter- 
minous with  it,  by  the  nai-row  but  deep  channel  that  separates  the 
small  islands  of  Bali  and  Lombok,  and  will  be  found  to  determine 
the  boundary  betAveen  these  two  distinct  Regions.  MidAvay  along 
this  channel  we  may  draAv  an  imaginary  line,  and  produce  it  in  a 
north-north-easterly  direction  through  the  Strait  of  Macassar,  dividing 
Borneo  from  Celebes.  An  interchange  of  animal  forms  in  the  tAvo 
islands  last  named  is  indeed  to  be  observed,  and  even  a  slight  inter- 
mingling of  the  productions  of  the  two  former  seems  to  be  noAv 
going  on,  but  to  a  much  less  degree  than  obtains  between  any  other 
tAvo  Regions,  AA-hile  the  characteristic,  not  to  say  peculiar,  zoological 
types  Avhich  occupy  either  side  of  this  line,  are  so  divergent  that  it 
may  be  fairly  deemed  more  definite  than  any  to  be  found  elseAvhere. 
Between  Bali  and  Lombok,  as  above  stated,  it  has  been  sheAvn  by 
Mr.  Wallace  to  be  all  but  perfect,  and  in  his  honoui'  this  boundary 
Avas  most  justly  named  by  Prof.  Huxley  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868, 
p.  313)  "Wallace's  Line."-  As  it  proceeds  northAvard  it  becomes 
less  definite,  though  we  knoAv  it  to  run  betAveen  the  Philippine 
Islands  and  Sanguir,  and  again  between  the  former  and  the  Palau 
(PeleAv)  group,  its  further  progress  in  that  direction  being  to  the 
Avestward  of  the  Ladrones.  But  hereabouts  Ave  lose  it,  until  Ave 
reach  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  Fauna  of  Avhich,  in  deference  to 
usage,  may  perhaps  be  still  accounted  Australian,  though  apparently 
Neogjean  at  bottom,  and  subsequently  overlaid  by  Holarctic  foi'ms.^ 
Thence  the  line  must  be   draAvn  so  as  to  include  all  of  Avhat  is 

^  See  Sir  AValter  Buller's  Birds  of  New  Zealand.  London  :  1873,  -Ito  (with 
beautifully  coloured  plates) :  ed,  2,  London  :  1888,  2  \'ols.  fol.  ;  and  Manual  of 
the  Birds  of  New  Zealand.  ISevj  Zealand:  1882,  8vo,  as  Avell  as  many  pajjers 
by  various  authors  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Neiv  Zealand  Institute  from  1868 
onward. 

"  Its  existence  was  first  indicated  by  Mr.  Wallace  in  The  Ibis  ior  1859  (p.  450). 
He  subsequently  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1863,  p.  481)  insisted  on  its  importance,  which 
was  fully  shewn  in  his  Malay  Archipelago. 

^  Cf.  Dr.  Gadow's  "  Remarks  on  the  Structure  of  certain  Hawaiian  Birds  "  in 
Wilson's  Birds  of  the  Sandtvich  Islands.  A  similar  conclusion  had  been  before 
reached  by  Messrs.  Sharp  and  Blackburn  in  their  memoir  on  Hawaiian  Coleoptcra 
[Trans.  R.  Dubl.  Soc.  ser.  2,  iii.  part  6,  pp.  119-300). 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 


commonly  called  Polynesia,  avoiding,  however,  the  northern  outliei'S 
of  the  New-Zealand  Region,  and  so  return  to  encompass  Australia 
proper  and  Tasmania. 

Though  the  characteristic  Mammals  of  the  Australian  Region 
are  highly  remarkable,  comprehending  as  they  do  the  whole  of  the 
most  peculiar  {Ornithodelphia)  of  the  three  Subclasses  and  nearly  all 
of  a  second  {Didclphia),  by  far  the  largest  portion  of  the  area  it  covers 
is  weak  if  not  wanting  in  Mammalian  life,  and  its  zoological  features 
are  nearly  as  well  exhibited  by  its  Birds.  Nor  can  mention  be  hei'e 
omitted  of  the  remarkable  Ganoid  Fish,  Ceratodus,  a  genus  which 
has  come  down  to  us  unaltered  from  Mesozoic  times, — all  facts 
serving  to  shew  that  the  isolation  of  Australia  is  probably  the  next 
oldest  in  the  world  to  that  of  New  Zealand,  having  possibly 
existed  since  the  time  when  no  Mammals  higher  than  Marsupials 
had  appeared  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  ^ 

The  prevalent  zoological  features  of  any  Region  are  of  two  kinds 
—negative  and  positive.  It  is  therefore  just  as  much  the  business 
of  the  zoogeographer  to  ascertain  what  groups  of  animals  are  wanting 
in  any  particular  locality  (altogether  independently  of  its  extent)  as 
to  determine  those  which  are  forthcoming  there.  Of  course,  in 
the  former  case,  it  would  be  idle  to  regard  as  a  valuable  physical 
feature  of  a  district  the  absence  of  groups  which  do  not  occur  except 
in  its  immediate  neighbourhood ;  but  when  we  find  that  certain 
groups,  though  abounding  in  some  part  of  the  vicinity,  either 
suddenly  cease  from  appearing  or  appear  only  in  very  reduced 
numbers,  and  occasionally  in  abnormal  forms,  the  fact  obviously  has 
an  important  bearing.  Now,  as  has  been  above  stated,  mere 
geographical  considerations,  taken  from  the  situation  and  configrua- 
tion  of  the  islands  of  the  Indian  or  Malay  Archipelago,  would 
indicate  that  they  extended  in  an  unbroken  series  from  the  Strait  of 
Malacca  to  New  Guinea,  or  even  fui'ther  to  the  eastward.  Indeed, 
the  very  name  Australasia,  often  applied  to  this  part  of  the  world, 
would  induce  the  belief  that  all  those  countless  islands  were  but  a 
southern  prolongation  of  the  mainland  of  Asia— broken  up,  it  is  true. 
But  so  far  from  this  being  the  case  a  very  definite  barrier  is  inter- 
j)osed.  A  strait,  some  15  or  20  miles  wide,  dividing,  as  just  stated, 
the  two  otherwise  insignificant  islands  (Bali  and  Lombok),  makes 
such  a  frontier  as  can  hardly  be  shewn  to  exist  elsewhere.     The 


former  belongs  to  the  Indian  Region,  the  latter  to  the  Australian, 
and  between  them  there  is  absolutely  no  true  transition — that  is,  no 
species  are  common  to  both  which  cannot  be  easily  accounted  for 
by  the  various  accidents  and  migrations  that  in  the  course  of  time 

^  It  will  be  borne  in  nihid  that  fossil  remains  shew  that  Marsupials  once  in- 
habited Europe.  They  are  now  restri'^ted  to  Australia  with  the  exception  of  one 
group,  which  inhabits  the  Neotropical  Region,  a  single  species  ranging  also  over 
the  temperate  parts  of  North  America. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  319 

must  have  tended  to  mingle  the  productions  of  islands  so  close  to 
one  another.  The  Faunas  of  the  two  are  as  distinct  as  those  of 
South  America  and  Africa,  and  it  is  only  because  they  are  separated 
by  a  narrow  strait  instead  of  a  wide  sea  that  they  have  become 
slightly  connected  by  the  interchange  of  a  few  species  and  genera. 
This  narroAv  sti'ait,  it  scarcely  needs  to  say,  must  be  of  uncommon 
antiquity. 

Space  does  not  permit  our  dwelling  at  any  length  on  the  groups  of 
Birds  which  prevail  throughout  the  Indian  Region,  but  are  wholly 
wanting  in  the  Australian.^  It  must  here  be  enough  to  mention 
that  among  them  are  the  Ixidse  (Ixus),  Phylloiivithinai,  Megalseininae 
(Barbet),  V'liUuridx  (Vulture),  and  Phasianidm  (Pheasant).  Some 
would  add  Fringillidx,  but  the  real  position  of  the  so  -  called 
"  Finches  "  of  Australia  must  still  be  considered  doubtful,  and  it 
may  prove  that  they  are  the  less  -  modified  descendants  of  the 
generalized  group  M^hence  sprung  both  the  true  Fringillidai  and  the 
P/omt^^ (Weaver-Bird),  if  indeed  these  can  be  justifiably  separated. 
Then  of  forms  weaMy  represented  are  the  other\\dse  abundant 
Turdidse  ~  (Thrush),  and  above  all  the  Ficidse  (Woodpecker),  of 
which  some  4  or  5  species  out  of  more  than  350  just  ci'oss  the  boundary 
and  occur  in  Lombok,  Celebes,  or  the  Moluccas,  but  are  unknown 
elsewhere  in  the  Region. 

Turning  to  the  Families,  which  are  most  characteristic  of  the 
Region,  we  find  among  those  that  are  almost  but  not  absolutely 
peculiar^  to  it,  first  the  Meliphagidse  (Honey-Sucker),  one  that, 
though  not  so  polymorphic  as  has  often  been  alleged,  abounds  in 
genera  and  species  of  diverse  aspect,  while  only  3  of  the  former 
belong  to  the  New-Zealand  Region,  and  but  a  single  species — 
Ptllotis  limbata,  which  is  common  from  Timor  to  Lombok- — crosses 
the  sea  to  Bali  and  trespasses  upon  the  Indian  Region.  To  this 
may  be  added  the  Pachjcephalidse  (Thickhead),  Campephagidai 
(Campephaga),  Artamidx  and  Cacatuidse  (Cockatoo),  of  which  last 
but  a  single  species  ever  passes  the  line  by  appearing  in  the  Philip- 
pines, and  the  Megapodiidse  (Megapode),  though  they  have  a  repre- 
sentative in  the  group  last  named,  as  well  as  in  Borneo,  and  another 
in  the  Andaman  Islands  ;  but  are  otherwise  peculiar  to  the  Australian 

^  lu  this  and  other  like  cases  such  forms  have  been  called  ' '  lipotypes  "  by 
Mr.  Sclater  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  pp.  311,  312). 

-  It  is  almost  certain  that  no  satisfactory  limits  can  be  laid  down  between 
this  so-called  Family  and  Sylviidie  (Warbler),  but  as  the  latter  have  few  if  any 
members  in  the  Region  now  under  notice,  the  result  would  hardly  be  affected, 
indubitable  Thrushes  are,  however,  scattered  among  many  of  the  chief  groups 
of  islands  throughout  the  Pacitic  Ocean. 

*  It  may  be  proper  to  state  that  here,  and  wherever  the  subject  of  Geographical 
Distribution  is  concerned,  this  word  "peculiar"  has  the  technical  meaning  of 
"  not  occurring  elsewhere." 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 


Resrion  ;  while  the  Kinsrfishers  and  Doves  exhibit  a  wonderful  variety 
of  form  that  is  only  equalled  by  the  beauty  of  their  coloration. 
Of  the  Families  which  are  absolutely  peculiar  may  first  be  cited 
the  Casuariidse  (Cassowary)  and  Dromxidx  (EaiEu),  both  Ratite, 
and  together  forming  the  Order  MeC4ISTANES,  and  then  the  Rhino- 
chetklx  (Kagu),  a  very  generalized  type,  consisting  of  a  single 
genus  and  species  inhabiting  New  Caledonia,  and  having  appar- 
ently its  nearest  living  ally  in  the  Eurypyga  (Sun-Bittern)  of 
South  America.  The  Order  Columhie,  furnishes  a  very  distinct  and 
monotypic  Family  in  Didunculidge  (Dodlet)  and  the  Fsiftaci,  the 
gorgeous  brush-tongued  Parrots,  known  as  Loriidx  or  Trichoglossidge 
(Lory).  The  Families  of  true  Fasseres  are  at  present  so  ill-defined 
that  in  many  cases  to  cite  them  is  only  to  mislead,  but  one  is 
pretty  safe  in  relying  upon  the  DrepanididEe  (Drepanis)  and  Para- 
diseidse  (Bird -OF -Paradise)  as  good  examples  of  peculiar  groups, 
while  Australia  itself  furnishes  the  only  known  members  of  the 
section  of  Passeres  called  "  Pseudoscines  "  in  Atrichiidx  (Scrub-bird), 
and  Menuridse  (Lyre-bird).^  However,  the  number  of  peculiar 
groups  of  Passeres  proper  is  too  numerous  to  be  here  told,  and  there 
are  many  beautiful  and  singular  forms   of  Columhx,  such  as  Goura, 


Leucosarcia  (Wonga-wonga),  Lophophaj^,  Chrysoena,  and  others, 
while  among  the  most  curious  Land-birds,  beside  those  already 
named,  may  be  specially  recorded  Megacephalon,  Lipoa,  and 
Talegallus  among  the  Megapodes  ;  Tribonyx,  Pareudiastes,  and 
Hahroptila — the  two  last  brevipennate  Rails  ;  while  Pedionomus, 
the  position  of  which  has  long  been  disputed,  proves  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1889,  p.  310)  to  be  one  of  the  Turnkidx.  The  existence  of  a 
Bustard  (Eupodotis)  in  Australia  presents  a  suggestive  example  of 
interrupted  distribution,  since  none  of  the  Otididse  is  found  nearer 
than  the  Continent  of  India. 

The  Australian  Region  may  be  taken  to  include  3,  if  not  4, 
Subregions,  to  which  the  names  of  Papua,  Australia  proper,  and 
Polynesia  may  be  attached,  but  the  boundaries  of  the  first  and 
second  are  not  yet  to  be  clearly  defined,  and  the  Peninsula  of  Cape 
York,  though  a  part  of  Australia,  is  by  many  included  in  the  Papuan 
Subregion.  To  this  Subregion  may  be  assigned,  though  with  doubt, 
the  wonderful  island  of  Celebes,  presenting  perhaps  more  anomalies 
than  any  other  in  the  world,  and  yet  anomalies  which,  by  the  use  of 
strictly  scientific  inference  (as  Mr.  Wallace  has  shewn  us),  maj^ 
possibly  tell  a  story  that  sounds  so  romantic  and  yet  will  satisfy 
those  who  would  judge  it  most  severely. - 

1  The  precise  relation  of  these  two  forms  is  very  doubtful,  and  their  connexion 
with  others,  Grallina  for  example,  is.  as  I  write,  equall}'  uncertain. 

-  A  modern  work  on  the  Birds  of  Australia  is  much  needed,  Gould's  Handbook, 
good  for  the  time  it  appeared  (1865),  being  in  many  respects  obsolete,  and 
.Mr.  Diggles's  Ornithology  of  Aiistralia  leaviiig  much  to  be  desired.      Dr.  E.  P. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  321 

III.  The  Neotropical  Region  completes  the  great  division 
{Notogmi)  proposed  by  Prof.  Huxley.  It  presents  certain  alliances 
to  the  Australian,  and  some  to  New  Zealand  ;  but  these  are  of  a 
diflerent  kind,  and  there  is  no  community  between  them.  Looking 
to  the  extreme  remoteness  of  the  time  when  this  Region  could  even 
by  the  most  roundabout  route  have  been  connected  with  either  (if 
such  a  connexion  ever  existed),  it  is  perhaps  wonderful  that  any 
resemblance  remains.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  resemblance  lies  rather 
in  the  comparatively  low  rank  (morphologically  siDeaking)  that  is 
indicated  by  some  of  its  most  peculiar  and  at  the  same  time 
characteristic  forms  than  in  any  positive  affinity  that  they  display, 
for  it  must  be  evident  that  in  the  course  of  ages  the  ancient  types 
— at  that  epoch,  may  be,  the  most  highly  developed  of  their  kind  on 
the  earth — if  they  survive  at  all  to  the  present  day  must  have 
become  more  and  more  specialized  as  various  influences  came  to 
bear  upon  them.  Enough,  however,  remains  to  point  with  certainty 
to  the  fact  that  South  America,  that  is  to  say,  the  most  important 
part  of  the  Neotropical  Region,  retains  a  greater  proportion  of  these 
less-modified  descendants  of  generalized  ornithic  types  than  does  any 
other  portion  of  the  globe — the  two  Regions  before  mentioned  only 
excepted.  The  hint  attbrded  by  the  continued  existence  of  an 
Order  (or,  as  some  would  have  it,  only  a  Family)  of  Marsupials — 
the  Pedimana,  comprehending  the  animals  to  which  the  name 
Opossum  was  first  applied,  ought  to  suffice  for  this.  It  has  before 
been  suggested  that  there  seems  to  have  once  been  a  period  in 
which  the  Didelphia  formed  the  highest  group  of  Mammalian  and 
therefore  of  animal  life  on  the  globe,  and  pervaded  all  parts  of  it  that 
were  accessible.  New  Zealand,  as  has  been  indicated,  was  at  that 
time  already  cut  off,  and  the  Marsupials  had  no  means  of  reaching  it ; 
but  they  spread  over  what  is  now  represented  by  Australia  and  also 
arrived  in  South  America.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  in  each 
of  these  countries  they  differentiated,  and  in  Australia,  from  its  sub- 
sequent isolation,  flourished  in  the  way  that  has  there  produced  the 

Ramsay's  Tabular  List  of  the  species  known  to  him  in  1888  is  useful  in  shewing 
their  distribution,  but  gives  little  more  information.  The  Records  of  tJie 
Aust7-alian  Museum  as  well  as  some  other  journals  contain,  however,  many 
valuable  papers  by  him,  laying  the  foundation  of  future  work,  and  Mr.  A.  J. 
North's  Descriptice  Catalogue  of  the  Nests  and  Eggs  of  Australian  and  Tasmanian 
Birds  (Sydney  :  1889)  cannot  be  passed  over  in  silence. 

For  other  parts  of  the  Region  must  be  mentioned  the  Beitrag  zur  Fauna 
Centralpoly7iesiens  by  Drs.  Hartlaub  and  Finsch  (Halle  :  1867),  treating  of  the 
ornithology  of  Fiji,  Samoa,  and  Tonga,  but  very  much  has  since  been  done  in 
these  and  other  groups  of  islands  which  cannot  be  here  particularized,  while  the 
Ornitologia  della  Papuasia  e  delle  Mohicche  by  Count  T.  Salvador!  (Torino  : 
1880-82),  with  its  Aggiunte  (1889-91),  is  a  most  carefully  executed  work.  A 
complete  list  of  Polynesian  Birds  by  Mr.  L.  W.  Wiglesworth  appeared  in  1891 
at  Dresden. 

21 


322  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

numerous  forms  of  which  we  are  cognizant.  But  in  South  America 
a  direct  connexion  mth  the  northern  soil  must  haA-e  been  per- 
petuated, and  when  Monodelphians  appeared  in  what  we  now  call 
Ardogsea  they  must  have  made  their  way  further  south,  and  thus 
checked  the  efflorescence  of  the  older  stock,  restricting  it  in  the  New 
World  to  the  one  Order  which  we  now  find  there.  Without 
calling  in,  as  so  many  are  apt  to  do,  the  aid  of  a  Glacial  Epoch, 
it  seems  that,  granting  the  general  contin^Hfy^^  \mi^  between 
North  and  South  America,^  the  older  and  weaker  Marsupial  popula- 
tion would  give  way  before  the  newer  and  stronger  Placental 
population  that  had  become  developed  in  the  North.  Part  of  the 
latter  established  itself  in  the  South,  but  of  the  feebler  population 
which  it  dispossessed  only  a  scant  remnant  exists.  Now  we  may 
not  unfairly  suppose  that  the  same  kind  of  process  went  on  as 
regards  the  Birds.  It  is  justifiable  to  conceive  that  at  one  time  the 
whole  of  America  was  occupied  by  the  ancestors  of  those  forms 
that  we  now  find  chiefly  displayed  in  its  southern  portion,  no  incon- 
siderable proportion  of  which  still  yearly  seek  their  ancient  home, 
migrating  northward  every  spring,  and  returning  at  the  end  of 
summer  or  towards  the  fall  of  the  year,  their  original  seat  being 
occupied  by  the  higher  and  comparatively  recent  forms  that  con- 
stitute part  of  the  Holarctic  Fauna — of  whose  invasion  more  must 
presently  be  said.  The  consequence  of  all  this  is  that  each  of  the 
Americas  presents  a  mixed  population,  puzzling  to  account  for  until 
the  way  in  which  it  has  been  brought  about  is  perceptible.  On  the 
hypothesis  here  given,  however,  the  chief  difficulties  should  dis- 
appear, and  no  evolutionist  will  regard  it  as  unlikely,  forced,  or 
impossible — though  we  may  freely  grant  that  its  proof  requires 
further  evidence,  but  that  evidence  is  of  a  kind  that  the  marvellous 
success  which  has  attended  palseontological  research  in  North 
America  induces  one  to  hope  may  be  forthcoming. 

It  has  just  been  stated  that  the  general  character  of  the 
Neotropical  Fauna  is  morphologically  low.  In  regard  to  the  Class 
Ave&  this  is  shewn  by  the  presence  of  an  Order  of  Ratitx,  consist- 
ing of  3  species  of  Rhea,  and  next  by  the  fact  that  among  the 
Carinatx  the  Region  claims  all  the  Tinamidse  (TiNAMOu)— the 
Drom^ognath^  of  Prof.  Huxley,  which,  if  we  carry  out  his 
principles,  ought  to  be  regarded  as  the  equivalent  of  an  Order  in 
the  usually-accepted  sense — and  also  a  unique,  very  remarkable, 
and  generalized  form  Opisthocomus  (Hoactzin),  which  he  has  satis- 
factorily shewn  to  be  so  unlike  every  other  that  it  can  only  be 
conveniently  classed  by  itself  as  the  sole  representative  of  Hetero- 

^  There  can  be  hardly  auy  assumption  here.  The  existence  of  corals  on  the 
Atlantic  side  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  and  their  absence  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
shews  the  antiquity  of  that  bridge  between  the  continents,  even  though  it  may 
have  been  sometimes  broken  down. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  323 

MORPH^.  Both  the  Dromseognatlise  and  Heteromorphx  are  indubit- 
ably of  low  developmental  rank;  in  that  respect,  though  in  no 
other,  resembling  certain  Australian  and  New-Zealand  groups ;  but 
the  similarity  between  the  Avifaunas  of  the  three  Regions  composing 
his  Notogxa  seems  to  be  further  borne  out  by  the  same  fact  being 
observable  in  other  South -American  Families  forming  the  lower 
sections  or  suborders  of  Passeres,  to  which  the  names  of  Oligo-  ^  ,  ^ 
MYOD^  and  Tracheophon^  have  been  applied — the  Neotropical  y-  ^^^^^■''^ 
Region  haying  a  complete  monopoly  of  the  latter  and  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  former,^  according  to  our  present  knowledge.  Of 
the  species  of  Passeres,  belonging  to  the  Region,  we  find  that  a  little 
more  than  one-half  have  to  be  classed  under  the  highest  sections  of 
that  Order,  while  nearly  one-half  must  be  ranked  under  its  two  lowest 
sections.^  This  is  a  state  of  things  that  exists  nowhere  else,  and  it 
is  believed  that  much  the  same  result  would  appear  from  a  close 
scrutiny  of  other  Orders,  especially  of  the  Picarix.  But  more  than 
this,  if  we  examine  the  true  Passeres  we  find  similar  indications. 
Their  highest  group,  the  Corvidse,  is  only  just  represented  in  the 
northern  portion  by  its  highest  genus  Corvus,  and  even  its  lower  forms, 
belonging  to  the  subfamily  Garrulinm  (Jay),  only  occur  in  parts  of  the 
rest :  the  Fringillidgs  though  inhabiting  the  Region  are  vastly  out- 
numbered by  the  Tanagridx,  and  the  Mniotiltidse  occupy  the  position 
elsewhere  taken  by  the  Sylviidse. 

Leaving,  however,  this  question  as  in  some  degree  hypothetical, 
though  its  probability  can  hardly  be  denied,  we  have  as  genera, 
Families,  or  even  larger  groups,  a  great  many  remarkable  forms 
that  are  characteristic  of  or  peculiar  to  the  Neotropical  Region  in 
part  if  not  as  a  whole.  Of  Families  there  are  more  than  a  score 
absolutely  restricted  to  it,  beside  some  half-dozen  which,  being 
peculiar  to  the  New  World,  extend  their  range  into  the  Nearctic 
area,  but  are  there  so  feebly  develoj^ed  that  wherever  they  may 
have  originated  in  bygone  ages,  they  may  be  safely  ascribed  now 
to  South  America.  First  in  point  of  numbers  come  the  TrochiUdse 
(Humming-bird)  with,  according  to  some  systematists,  nearly  150 
genera,  of  which  perhaps  only  3  occur  in  the  Nearctic  area. 
Then  the  Tyrannidse  (King-BIRD)  with  above  70  genera,  yet  scarcely 
more  than  10  ranging  into  the  Holarctic  Region.  To  these  follow 
the  Tanagridm  (Tanager)  with  40  genera,  only  1  of  which  crosses 
the  border ;  and,  in  addition  to  those  before  mentioned  the  various 
Families  of  Conopopliagidx,  Cotingidm,  Dendrocolaptidse,  Formicariidx, 
Furnariidse   (Oven-bird),    Pipridse   (Manakin),   and   Pteroptochidse 

^  The  exceptions  are  Tyrannidx,  which  occur  in  comparatively  small  pro- 
portion in  North  America,  Pittidee,  Philepittidaz,  Acanthidosittidas,  and  Eurylm- 
•midaz. 

^  The  section  which  for  want  of  a  better  name  we  have  to  call  "  Pseudosdnes  " 
has  hitherto  been  found  peculiar  to  Australia. 


324  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

(Tapaculo) — all  of  them  low  Passeres,  which  are  absolutely  pecu- 
liai',  and  of  Picariie,  in  the  like  condition,  Galbulidx  (Jacamar), 
Moynotidse  (Motmot),  Rhamphastida}  (Toucan),  Steaforniihidx 
(Guacharo),  and  Todidse  (Tody)  ;  while  still  more  significant  are 
the  Palamedeidee  (Screamer),  Psophiidse  (Trumpeter),  certain  gen- 
eralized Limicolss  as  Atiagis  and  Thinocorys,  and  above  all  isolated 
forms  like  Cariama  (Seriema)  and  Eunjpyga  (Sun-Bittern).  We 
can  scarcely  be  wrong  also  in  attributing  to  the  Neotropical  Region 
the  Order  of  Impennes  (Penguin)  and  the  singularly  generalized 
form  Chionis  (Sheathbill),  though  both  have  a  wide  distribution 
in  the  South-polar  seas. 

Taking  the  Neotropical  Region  to  extend  from  Cape  Horn  over 
the  whole  continent  of  South  and  Central  America,  but  leaving  its 
northern  frontier,  if  it  can  be  defined  at  all,  to  be  delimited  by 
the  zoologists  of  the  Nearctic  area,^  there  is  hardly  one  that 
exhibits  more  variety  of  physical  features,  and  the  Subregions  into 
which  it  may  be  diAdded  cannot  be  easily  traced.  The  six  divisions 
suggested  to  the  present  Avriter  in  1875  {Encyd.  Brit.  ed.  9,  iii. 
p.  744)  by  Mr.  Salvin  seem  to  be  better  than  the  four  laid  down 
by  Mr.  Wallace  ;  and,  subject  to  some  uncertain  modification,  as 
just  hinted,  on  the  northern  boundary,  are  here  again  adopted ; 
but  the  confines  of  all,  except  one,  are  of  the  vaguest.  That  one 
is  the  Antillean,  composed  of  what  are  generally  known  as  the 
West -India  Islands,  with  the  omission  of  Trinidad  and  Tobago, 
whose  Fauna  is  distinctly  continental.  Beginning,  however,  at  the 
southern  point  of  the  Region,  we  seem  to  have  a  Subregion  extend- 
ing on  the  east  coast  to  somewhere  north  of  Bahia  Blanca,  whence 
its  boundary  runs  in  a  north-westerly  direction,  passing  to  the  east 
of  Mendoza,  and  then  northward  along  the  eastern  and  higher 
slopes  of  the  Andes,  and  after  trifurcating  on  either  side  of  the 
valleys  of  the  Magdalena  and  its  confluent  the  Cauca,  returns  along 
the  western  slope  of  the  Cordillera  until  it  trends  seaward  and 
reaches  the  Pacific  coast  about  Truxillo.  As  the  peculiarities  of 
this  Subregion  are  mainly  developed  in  Patagonia,  the  name 
"Patagonian"  has  been  applied  to  it,  though  its  northern  ex- 
tremity is  so  far  distant  from  its  eponymous  territory.  Next  we 
have  what  may  be  called  the  "  Brazilian "  Subregion,  marching 
with  the  foregoing  to  somewhere  near  Potosi,  whence  it  turns  to 
the  north-east,  and,  avoiding  the  basin  of  the  Amazons,  strikes 
the  Paranahyba,  thence  making  its  way  to  the  Atlantic.  Then 
comes  the  "  Amazonian,"  consisting  of  the  enormous  basin  of  the 

^  As  already  stated,  Prof.  Heilprin  proposes  to  annex  to  the  Neotropical 
Region  a  not  inconsiderable  portion  of  what  has  generally  been  referred  to  the 
so-called  "  Nearctic  Region,"  as,  for  instance,  the  lowlands  [tierras  calientes) 
on  either  side  of  the  Mexican  tableland,  Southern  California,  and  some  more  of 
the  territoi-v  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  325 

river  whence  it  has  its  name,  but  the  peculiarities  of  the  lower 
portion  not  being  observable  in  the  higher  tributaries  of  that 
mighty  flood,  its  upper  waters  must  be  regarded  as  draining  land 
that  belongs  to  another  Subregion,  which,  intervening  between  the 
Patagonian  and  first  the  Brazilian  and  next  the  Amazonian,  in- 
cludes all  that  is  left  of  South  America,  and  has  been  named  the 
"  Subandean."  To  this  also  belong  on  the  one  side  the  Galapagos 
— ever  memorable  as  the  place  where,  as  Darwin  has  told  us,  there 
first  dawned  on  him,  from  a  consideration  of  their  Birds,  the 
doctrine  of  Natural  Selection,  which  has  led  to  such  fruitful  and 
stupendous  results— and  on  the  other  side  Trinidad  and  Tobago, 
beside  the  islands  on  the  northern  coast  of  South  America.  This  Sub- 
region  reaches  the  "  Central  American  "  in  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
and  of  the  limits  of  this  last  none  can  yet  speak  with  certainty.^ 

The  difficulty  of  distinguishing  these  Subregions  is  very  great, 
and  the  close  alliance  between  all  but  the  Patagonian  and  Antillean 
will  be  plain  to  any  one  who  analyzes  the  differences  as  shewn  by 
the  prevalence  in  them  of  the  various  Families  of  Birds  peculiar 
to  the  whole  Region.^  That  the  most  characteristic  features  are 
exhibited  by  the  Patagonian  none  can  doubt,  and  indeed  therein 
we  find,  as  might  be  expected,  the  nearest  resemblance  to  the 
Fauna  of  New  Zealand  or  the  Australian  Region,  and  some  of  the 
best  evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  its  population.     These  are  the 

^  Messrs.  Godmau  and  Salvin,  and  there  can  be  no  better  authorities,  suscest 
{Ibis,  1889,  p.  242)  that  the  northern  limit  of  certain  species  of  Psittaci  "  may- 
be almost  said  to  define  the  boundary  between  the  Nearctic  [Holarctic]  and  Neo- 
tropical Regions."  They  also  point  out  that  the  same  limit  is  practically  that  of 
the  Trogonida&,  and  on  the  eastern  side  that  of  the  Momotidsa.  It  is  also  the 
termination  of  the  Cracidse,  with  the  exception  of  an  Ortalis,  and  of  the  Tinamidm, 
while  among  the  Passeres  the  same  boundary  confines  Pachyrhamphus,  one  of 
the  Cotingidse,  an  essentially  Neotropical  Family,  on  both  sides.  "  From  this  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two  regions,  so  fir  as  the 
birds  are  concerned,  is  capable  of  being  defined  with  some  precision,  and  will  be 
found  to  coincide  with  the  northern  limits  of  the  forests.  These  on  the  eastern 
side  leave  the  coast  a  little  north  of  Tampico,  and  continue  in  a  narrow  belt  along 
the  eastern  flank  of  the  mountains  in  a  nearly  northern  direction  almost  to 
Monterey.  On  the  western  side  a  similar  state  of  things  is  found,  and  we  meet 
with  a  number  of  southern  forms  extending  along  the  western  slope  of  the 
mountains  as  far  as  Alamos  "  in  Sonora. 

-  It  is  only  in  deference  to  Mr.  Salvin's  views  that  I  do  not  rank  the  Subandean, 
Brazilian,  Amazonian,  and  Central  American  areas  as  Provinces,  and  group  them 
to  form  a  single  Subregion.  Recognizing  of  course  the  Antillean  Subregion,  I 
hold  the  existence  of  a  Patagonian  Fauna  to  be  unquestionable,  whatever  be  its 
geographical  limits  ;  but  as  regards  the  rest  I  am  prepared  to  find  that  future 
consideration  will  justify  the  suggestion  just  made,  so  that  the  Neotropical 
Region  will  be  deemed  to  be  composed  of  three  Subregions  only,  the  Antillean,  the 
Patagonian,  and  one  which  (comprehending  the  four  areas  above  named),  for 
want  of  a  better  epithet,  might  perhaps  be  called  the  "  Columbian." 


326  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

Ratitse  (Rhea)  which  wander  over  its  solitudes/  and  the  Impennes 
(Penguin),  which  haunt  its  shores  and  those  of  the  Falkland 
Islands,  besides  the  generalized  Attagis,  Chionis,  and  TItinocorys,  the 
Cariamidse,  Palamedeidse,  Phytotomidas,  Pteroptoclddse,  and  other  forms 
which  are  wholly  or  nearly  peculiar,  while  some  of  the  most  char- 
acteristic Neotropical  Families,  Cserehidse,  MniotiUidx,  Tanagridm, 
and  Vireonidse,  are  but  poorly  represented  or  do  not  appear  at  all. 
The  Antillean  being  the  only  Subregion  whose  precise  boundaries 
can  be  definitely  laid  down,  its  Fauna,  small  as  it  is,  is  very  in- 
teresting. The  unbroken  chain  of  islands,  to  which  in  common 
speech  the  name  "  West  Indies "  is  wrongly  limited,  forms  geo- 
graphically a  second  connecting  line  between  the  two  halves  of  the 
American  continent,  and  at  once  suggests  a  former  communication 
by  land  with  Yucatan  at  one  end  and  Venezuela  at  the  other,  to 
say  nothing  of  a  possible  junction  with  Florida.  Yet  omitting 
other  considerations,^  the  peculiar  forms  of  Bird-life  manifested 
throughout  the  chain  shew  that  any  such  communication,  if  it  ever 
existed,  must  have  been  exceedingly  remote  in  point  of  time ;  for 
narrow  as  are  the  channels  between  Cuba  and  Central  America, 
between  the  Bahamas  and  the  south-western  peninsula  of  North 
America,  and  between  Grenada  and  Tobago  (the  latter,  as  already 
stated,  belonging  zoologically  to  South  America)  the  Fauna  of  the 
Antilles,  instead  of  being  a  mixture  of  that  of  the  almost  con- 
tiguous countries,  differs  much  from  all,  and  in  some  groups 
exhibits  a  speciality  which  may  be  not  unfitly  compared  with  that 
of  Oceanic  Islands.  One  might  have  expected  here  to  find  an 
extremely  varied  animal  population  ;  but  no  instance  perhaps  can 
be  cited  to  show  more  strildngly  the  difference  between  a  con- 
tinental and  an  insular  Fauna  ;  since,  making  every  allowance  for 
extinction  since  Europeans  settled  on  the  soil,  jDOSsibly  no  area  of 
land  so  highly  favoured  by  nature  is  so  poorly  furnished  with  the 
higher  forms  of  animal  life,  and  here  once  more  we  have  Birds 
constituting  the  supreme  Class — the  scarcity  of  Mammals  being 
the  normal  effect  of  insularity.  There  is  no  Family  of  Birds 
common  to  the  Nearctic  area  and  the  Antillean  Subregion  without 
occurring  also  in  other  parts  of  the  Neotropical  Region,  a  fact 
which  proves  its  affinity  to  the  latter.  Out  of  about  140  genera 
found  in  the  Subregion  about  30  are  peculiar  to  it,  and  these  are  all 
Land-birds,  being  a  ratio  very  nearly  approaching  that  found  in 
Madagascar,  but  in  no  other  subregional  district ;  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  some  of  the  peculiar  genera  is  very  limited,  for  19  out 
of  the  30  are  confined  each  to  a  single  island  or  nearly  connected 

^  Rhea  macrorhyncha,  however,  occupies  an  isolated  station  much  further  to 
the  north,  in  the  province  of  Parahyba  [Ibis,  1881,  p.  361). 

2  For  these  see  "  Three  Cruises  of  the  '  Blake,'  "  by  Alexander  Agassiz,  Bull. 
Mus.  Comp.  Zool.  Harvard  Coll.  xiv.  xv.  (Cambridge  [Mass.] :  1888). 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  327 

group  of  islands.  There  is  one  peculiar  Family,  Todidse,  already- 
mentioned,  and  that  consists  of  but  a  single  genus  with  4  or 
perhaps  5  species — one  limited  to  each  of  the  large  islands,  Cuba, 
Jamaica,  Hispaniola,  and  Porto  Rico — ^the  fifth  (if  it  exists)  being 
from  an  unknown  locality.^  Especially  worthy  of  record  is  the  *  .  , 
presence  of  2  species  or  even  genera  of  TiiOGON — Prionotelts  peculiar  v '  ^"'^■^"i'^ 
to  Cuba,  and  Temnotrogon  (which  exhibits  a  remarkable  similarity 
to  the  African  Hapaloclerma)  peculiar  to  Hispaniola.  Another  of 
many  singular  facts  that  might  be  noticed  did  space  admit  is  that 
while  Jamaica  has  no  Kestrel  at  all  (its  place  there  being  taken,  in 
winter  at  least,  by  the  American  form  of  Merlin)  Cuba  possesses  in 
addition  to  one  widely-ranging  species  of  the  genus  Tinnunculus,^ 
a  second  that  is  peculiar  to  it,  and  this  last,  T.  qjarverioides,  offers 
a  great  resemblance  to  the  species,  T.  gracilis,  which  is  peculiar  to 
the  Seychelles,  almost  at  its  antipodes.^  Speculation  as  to  the 
former  history  of  the  Antilles  would  be  at  present  vain.  There 
is  no  portion  of  the  world  that  has  been  so  long  colonized  by 
Europeans,  of  which  the  existing  Fauna  is  so  little  known,  and 
though  of  late  as  regards  the  British  possessions  something  more 
than  ever  had  been  done  has  been  attempted,  the  results  do  not 
justify  more  than  the  belief,  which  the  facts  already  given  may 
indicate,  that  there  must  have  been  no  ordinary  amount  of  geo- 
logical disturbance  to  account  for  the  present  distribution  of  the 
Fauna.* 

With  this  must  end  the  account  here  to  be  given  of  the  several 
Notogaean  Eegions,  since  at  present  we  have  few  means  of  deter- 
mining the  northern  limits  of  the  Neotropical  Avifauna,  nor  k   ow 

^  A  bird  of  this  group,  or  name  at  any  rate,  was  one  of  tliose  asserted  by 
Ledru  {Voyage  &c.  ii.  p.  39.  Paris:  1810)  to  have  formerly  inhabited  St. 
Thomas  in  the  Antilles  {cf.  Extermination,  p.  219). 

^  I  am  unable  to  agree  with  the  view  taken  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  i.  pp.  437-442) 
as  to  splitting  up  the  T.  sparverius  into  several  local  species  or  forms,  though  it 
was  approved  by  so  good  an  authority  as  the  late  Mr.  Gurney. 

^  This  fact  is  worth  consideration  relatively  to  the  similarity  or  asserted  aflBnity 
between  the  two  Mammalian  genera,  Solenodon  of  the  Antilles  and  Centctes,  with 
its  allies,  of  Madagascar,  while  a  splendid  genus  of  Lepidoptera,  Uranidia  or 
Urania,  which  has  two  species  peculiar  to  Cuba  and  one  to  Jamaica,  is  said  to 
have  its  nearest  ally  in  Chrysiridia  of  the  grand  African  island  and  of  Zanzibar. 

*  The  Neotropical  Avifauna  is  said  to  be  the  richest  in  the  world,  and  the 
literature  relating  to  it  is  no  less  abundant.  While  the  papers  in  journals  are 
almost  countless,  it  would  be  impossible  here  to  give  the  titles  of  even  the 
separately-published  works.  The  following  list  contains  the  names  of  the  chief 
authors  of  the  latter : — Azara,  Burmeister,  Castelnau,  Cory,  d'Orbigny,  Gay, 
Godman,  Gosse,  Gundlach,  Hernandez,  Hudson,  Lembeye,  Leotaud,  Marcgrave, 
Martins,  (Prince)  Maximilian  (of  Wied),  Molina,  Nierenberg,  Oustalet,  von  Pel- 
zeln,  de  Philippi,  Poey,  de  la  Sagra,  Salvin,  Sclater,  Sloane,  Spix,  Taczanowski, 
Tschudi. 


328  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

whether  it  melts  insensibly  into  that  of  the  Nearctic  area  of  the 
Holarctic  Region.  It  will  be  most  convenient  to  consider  that 
Region  next,  though  strong  doubts  may  be  entertained  as  to  the 
logical  propriety  of  such  a  course,  for  this  Holarctic  Region  seems 
to  have  the  most  highly  developed  Fauna,  in  that  it  is  one  from 
which  the  weakest  types  have  generally  been  eliminated,  though 
that  result  is  chiefly  seen  in  its  Palsearctic  area,  and  perhaps  espe- 
cially in  the  western  part  of  this,  shewing  the  truth  of  the  poet's 
line  happily  applied  by  Mr.  Sclater  in  his  classical  essay- — 

"  Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a  cycle  of  Cathay." 

IV,  The  Holarctic  Region. — As  has  been  stated  in  the  introduc- 
tory portion  of  this  article,  the  combination  intimated  by  this 
phrase,  though  sanctioned  in  spirit  by  Prof.  Huxley,  wholly  con- 
travenes the  opinion  expressed  by  two  of  the  leading  authorities 
on  the  subject — Messrs.  Sclater  and  Wallace.  The  arguments  of 
the  former  being  based  on  positive  facts,  or  at  least  on  what  seemed 
at  the  time  to  be  such,  must  be  met  by  corresponding  facts.  Those 
of  the  latter  having  a  more  hypothetical  foundation — the  notion 
that  each  of  the  primary  divisions  of  the  earth's  surface  should 
comprehend  about  the  same  extent — require  less  consideration. 
The  natural  philosopher  regards  quality  rather  than  quantity,  and 
things  must  be  weighed  as  well  as  measured,  analyzed  as  well  as 
surveyed.  Scarcely  any  systematist  nowadays  doubts  that  among 
Mammals  the  Monotremes,  of  which  only  two  living  Families  are 
known,  form  a  Subclass  at  least  as  important  as  the  Monodelphians, 
the  existing  members  of  which  may  number  nearly  fourscore  Families, 
even  if  there  be  not  an  opinion  that  Monotremes  are  of  equal  rank 
(in  one  sense  of  the  word)  with  the  Monodelphians  and  Didelphians 
thereto  added.  But,  not  to  wander  from  our  present  business,  no 
one  who  will  investigate  the  Avifauna  of  that  part  of  North  America 
lying  outside  the  boundary  (if  it  can  ever  be  traced)  of  the 
Neotropical  Region,  will  find  in  the  Nearctic  area  more  than  a 
single  Family  of  Birds  that  is  peculiar  to  it,  and  that  is  a  Family 
of  position  so  doubtful  that  some  of  those  who  have  most  closely 
stiidied  it  refer  it  to  one  or  another  of  well-known  Families — 
Paridm  or  Troglodytidss — both  of  which  are  widely  dispersed  and 
admittedly  contain  genera  that  differ  considerably.  If  by  way  of 
accommodating  these  dissentient  views  we  recognize  Chamxa  as  the 
type  of  a  distinct  Family — and  in  our  present  state  of  imperfect 
knowledge  no  other  course  seems  open — the  existence  of  such  a 
Family,  Chams&idx,  still  seems  precarious.  Every  other  Nearctic 
Family  is  common  to  the  Neotropical  Region  or  to  the  Paltearctic 
area,  or  to  both.  Of  the  Fasseres  common  to  the  Neotropical  Region 
and  the  Nearctic  area  4  Families  are  admittedly  better  represented 
in  the  latter — name] y,  Mniotiltidx  by  some  13  genera  and  about  50 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 


329 


species,  Vireomdse,  by  1  genus  and  1 4  species,  Ideridse  by  8  genera  and 
21  species,  and  Tyrannidai  by  10  genera  and  26  species.  The  first  of 
these,  however,  can  alone  be  regarded  as  eminently  characteristic  of 
the  area,  since  that  affords  a  home  to  all  but  3  of  the  genera,  but 
at  the  same  time  only  about  half  of  the  described  species  occur 
there.  None  of  the  rest  can  comj)are  with  it  in  this  respect,  Vir- 
eonidm  having  some  5  genera  and  50  species,  Ideridx  more  than  20 
genera  and  more  than  100  species,  and  Tyrannidm  some  70  genera 
and  over  300  species  in  the  Neotropical  Region. 

If  we  extend  our  investigation  from  the  Families  to  the  genera, 
we  shall  come  to  results  which  point  the  same  way.  It  is  confessedly 
difficult  to  make  any  accurate  comparison  owing  to  the  tendency 
(not  Avholly  modern)  of  ornithologists  to  propose  the  foundation  of 
genera  on  very  slight  excuse  ;  but,  taking  the  number  of  Nearctic 
genera  at  330,  which  was  a  very  liberal  estimate  toward  the  end  of 
the  period  signalized  by  the  labours  of  the  late  Prof.  S.  F.  Baird,  not 
more  than  two  dozen  of  them  seem  to  be  peculiar  to  the  Nearctic 
area,^  while  this  has  about  128  genera  in  common  Avith  the  Pal^earctic 
area  and  178  which  are  also  Neotropical.  The  genera  peculiar  to 
the  New  World,  occurring  both  in  the  Nearctic  area  and  in  the 
Neotropical  Region,  wdthout  appearing  in  the  Palaearctic  area,  must 
be  divided  into  two  categories  in  order  to  obtain  a  just  estimate  of 
the  relations  of  the  first  tAvo  districts.  These  categories  consist  of 
(1)  those  genera  which  being  only  Avinter  visitants  to  the  Southern 
Region  are  not  natives  of  it,  and  (2)  those  which  breeding  in  both 
districts  may  fairh"  be  called  common  to  both.  The  former,  some 
27  in  all,  must  of  course  be  considered  characteristic  of  the  Nearctic 
area,  and  might  indeed  be  appropriately  added  to  the  23  or  24 
genera  which  are  peculiar  thereto ;  but  if  this  be  done,  the  number  of 
peculiar  and  characteristic  genera  taken  together  reaches  only  51 — 
a  smaller  number  than  that  of  the  genera  of  Land-birds  alone  (57) 
which  are  common  to  the  Nearctic  and  Palfearctic  areas,  and  con- 
siderably less  than  half  the  number  of  all  genera  Avhich  are  found 
on  both,  Avhile  that  of  the  remaining  genera  which  are  common  to 
the  Nearctic  area  and  the  Neotropical  Region  is  much  larger  again, 
being  151.  Again,  the  total  of  peculiar  and  characteiistic  Nearctic 
genera  being  (as  just  said)  51,  cannot  compare  with  the  264  (or 
pei"haps  more)  genera  which  are  peculiar  to  the  Neotropical  Region  ; 
while  no  one  can  pretend  that  among  the  former  are  there  any 
types  of  such  significance  as  the  latter  abundantly  aftbrd.  Thus 
regarded  from  every  ornithological  aspect,  Avhat  has  been  called 
the  Nearctic  "  Region "  has  no  right  to  be  so  accounted,  since  its 


^  Of  these  2  belong  to  Turdidee,  1  to  Chameeidai,  Paridse,  Troglodytidss 
respectivelj^,  5  to  Erriberizidee,  2  to  Corvidse,  1  to  each  of  Picidsz,  Falconidsz, 
and  Colimibidie,  5  to  Tetraomdee,  and  1  to  Scolopaeidx,  Anatidse,  and  Laridse 
respectively. 


330 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 


peculiarity  is  numerically  of  less  importance  than  some  of  the 
Subregions  of  the  Neotropical  Kegion,  as  the  following  table  will  shew 
more  plainly  :  — 


Wliole  No. 

Peculiar 

Percentage  of 

of  Genera. 

Geuera. 

Peculiarity. 

Patagoiiian 

290 

46 

15-862 

Brazilian        ..... 

396 

43 

10-857 

Amazonian    ..... 

373 

27 

7-238 

Subandean     

469 

72 

15-33 

Central  American  .... 

464 

46 

9-913 

Antillean 

140 

30 

21-444 

Nearctic         ..... 

330* 

•24* 

7-272 

*  These  numbers,  calculated  according  to  the  formerly  received  boundaries  of 
the  Nearctic  "Region,"  are  certainly  overstated,  but  means  of  arriving  at  a  more 
accurate  computation  are  not  now  forthcoming. 

A  considerable  majority  of  the  Nearctic  Families  and  genera 
seem  to  be  generally  distributed  throughout  the  whole  area,  which 
we  may  fairly  call  a  Subregion,  and  consequently  its  division  into 
Provinces  is  not  easily  effected,  their  delimitations  resting  rather  on 
differences  of  species  than  of  higher  groups.  Of  the  many  attempts 
to  subdivide  the  Subregion,  that  of  Baird  ^  seems  to  be  the  most 
successful.^  He  long  ago  pointed  out  the  existence  of  three  Pro- 
vinces in  its  southern  portion,  the  most  easterly  of  which  may  be 
termed  the  "  Alleghanian,"  since  it  extends  from  the  Atlantic 
across  the  mountains  whence  it  is  named,  and  over  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  and  its  prairies  to  about  long.  100°  W.  where  the 
sterile  plains  begin.  Then  its  boundary  turns  northward,  crossing 
the    Platte    and    intersecting   the  Missouri   about   Fort   Lookout. 

^  "The  Distribution  and  Migrations  of  North  American  Birds,"  Am.  Journ. 
Sc.  aiidArts,  ser.  2,  xli.  pp.  78-90,  1S4-192,  337-347  (January,  March,  and  May, 
1866).  Reprinted  This,  1867,  pp.  257-293.  German  translation,  Journ.  f.  Orn. 
1866,  pp.  244-269,  338-352. 

"  I  make  this  assertion  though  aware  of  the  views  to  the  contrary  expressed 
by  Dr.  Merriam  in  his  "Results  of  a  Biological  Survey  of  the  San  Francisco 
Mountain  Region  and  Desert  of  the  Little  Colorado,  Arizona  "  {North  American 
Fauna,  No.  3.  Washington:  1890).  He  arrives  (p.  24)  at  the  conclusions  "that 
the  whole  of  extratropical  North  America  consists  of  but  two  primary  life  regions, 
a  Boreal  region,  which  is  circumpolar ;  and  a  Sonoran  or  Mcxicantable-land  region, 
which  is  unique."  The  first  of  these,  it  will  be  seen,  supports  my  contention  of 
the  essential  unity  of  the  Nearctic  and  Palsearctic  areas.  The  second  is  one  the 
probability  of  which  I  will  not  dispiite  ;  but  I  think  that  at  present  the  facts 
adduced  in  its  support  are  hardly  suflicient  to  warrant  its  adoption  by  naturalists, 
who,  not  being  Americans,  must  necessarily  be  acquainted  with  them  only  at 
second  hand,  especially  as  I  am  disposed  to  consider  that  Dr.  Merriam's  enumera- 
tion (pp.  26-28)  of  the  "causes  which  determine  distribution,"  however  well  they 
may  fit  the  area  of  which  he  treats,  ma}'  not  be  of  universal  application. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  331 

Reaching  the  eastern  frontier  of  Canada,  it  rapidly  inclines  west- 
ward and  loses  itself  in  the  Arctic  wilds.  But  this  Province  melts 
away  also  on  its  north-eastern  border,  and  cannot  there  be  sharply 
distinguished  from  what  may  be  named  the  "  Canadian,"  which 
occupies  the  north-eastern  portion  of  the  continent,  including  the 
eastern  half  of  the  Dominion,  and  it  must  be  held  to  extend  across 
Davis  Strait  to  Greenland,  though  it  only  fringes  the  shore  of  that 
ice-bound  country,  while  here  and  there  on  the  continent  it  follows 
the  higher  ranges  southward,  even  to  Fort  Burgwyn  near  lat. 
37°  N.  if  not  further.  Then  on  the  west  we  have  a  "  Calif ornian  " 
Province,  the  longitudinal  extent  of  which  is  very  indefinite. 
Prof.  Heilprin  would  cut  off  the  southern  portion,  annexing  it  to 
the  Neotropical  Region,  and  its  eastern  boundary  would  seem  to 
proceed  along  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the  Cascade  Mountains,  so 
that  it  is  restricted  to  a  mere  strip  of  coast  territory,  extending, 
however,  beyond  British  Columbia.  Between  this  Californian  and 
the  Alleghanian  Province  is  interposed  a  considerable  tract  of 
country  called  by  many  American  writers  the  "  Middle  Province," 
a  name  so  vague  that  it  would  seem  allowable  to  distinguish  it  as 
the  "  Missourian "  since  its  characteristic  vertebrates  culminate 
(so  to  speak)  in  the  wide  basin  of  that  greatest  of  tributaries  to 
the  Mississippi.^  Occupying  the  extreme  north-west  of  the  con- 
tinent, a  fifth  Province,  the  "Alaskan,"  must  be  recognized,  and 
this  from  a  zoogeographical  point  of  view  is  the  most  important 
of  all,  since  it  is  characterized  by  the  presence  of  Mammals  and 
Land-birds,  which  are  not  only  specifically  identical  with  those  of 
Asia,  but  among  them  some  individually  have  an  Asiatic  resort. 
The  list  of  Birds  observed  in  this  Province,  which  may  be  taken  as 
beginning  about  Cape  St.  Elias,  and  thence  extending  northward  to 
the  Icy  Sea,  seems  (after  such  revision  as  can  at  present  be  made) 
to  number  227,^  of  which  112,  or  very  nearly  one-half,  are  also 
Asiatic.  Dividing  the  whole  into  Water-birds  and  Land-birds,  we 
find  that  of  the  former  (127)  more  than  66  and  of  the  latter  (100) 
exactly  27  per  cent,  are  found  on  both  sides  of  the  Pacific.  More- 
over no  fewer  than  11  of  the  100  species  of  Land-birds,  belonging 

^  Indication  of  its  being  the  focus  (if  snch  a  thing  can  now  exist)  of  purely 
Nearctic  types  is  not  wanting,  since  here  we  find  at  least  one  generalized  or 
undifferentiated  genus,  Colaptes  (Flicker),  which  both  to  the  north  and  to  the 
south  separates  itself  into  specific  forms. 

-  The  gross  number  given  in  1887  by  Messrs.  Nelson  and  Henshaw  in  their 
Report  upon  Natural  History  Collections  made  in  Alaska  (pp.  19-226)  is  255,  but  28 
of  these  should  be  deducted  as  not  being  known  to  occur  to  the  northward  of  Cape 
St.  Elias  or  the  Alaska  Mountains,  where  apparently  a  very  natural  frontier  exists. 
This  Report  contains  a  useful  bibliography  of  Alaskan  ornithology.  In  making 
the  estimates  given  in  the  text  above,  all  the  subspecies  or  conspecies  recognized 
by  the  authors  have  been  treated  as  true  species.  Were  it  otherwise  the  results 
would  .still  more  favour  the  views  here  expressed. 


332  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

to  3  if  not  4  genera  of  Passeres,  are  found  nowhere  else  in  the  New 
World/  and  their  occurrence  there  does  not  preclude  us  from  set- 
ting them  down  as  essentially  Palsearctic  forms.  Indeed  they  all 
belong  to  genera  widely  distributed  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  Europe  and  Asia,  while  if  the  species  be  not  identical  they  are 
represented  by  others  that  are  closely  cognate — as  in  the  case  of 
the  Wagtails^  and  the  Bullfinch.  Some  are  summer  immigrants, 
and  therefore  must  yearly  cross  and  recross  Bering's  Sea,  since  they 
assuredly  do  not  "winter  upon  the  American  side.  To  these  last 
may  even  be  added  the  Wheatear,  Saxicola  mnanthe,  for  though 
that  species  is  known  as  a  regular  annual  visitant  to  Greenland^ 
and  Labrador  (where  it  breeds),  and  almost  annually  appears  as  a 
straggler  in  the  maritime  provinces  of  Canada,  in  Maine,  and  in 
New  England,  the  flocks  which  throng  the  stony  hill-tops  of  Alaska 
in  spring  are  not  likely  to  have  performed  a  north-west  passage 
from  Europe,  and  indeed  it  is  stated  that  specimens  from  Norton 
Sound  differ  considerably  from  those  obtained  in  Greenland.  All 
these  birds  are  unseen  in  British  Columbia,*  and  as  all  are  migratory, 
the  inference  that  they  make  some  part  of  Asia  their  winter  quarters 
is  almost  irresistible  ;^  but  the  point  to  be  observed  is  that  an  orni- 
thologist passing  in  summer  from  Kamchatka  or  the  eastern  extremity 
of  Siberia  would  on  landing  in  Northern  Alaska  find  himself  in  the 
midst  of  an  Avifauna  of  which  nearly  one-half,  namely  112  out  of 
227  species,  was  identical  with  that  which  he  had  left  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Paciiic.^ 

^  These  are  Pyrrhida  cassiiii,  Leucosticie  griseinucha,  Antlms  cervinus, 
Bmlytes  leucostriatus,  Motacilla  ocularis,  Parus  obtedus,  Phylloscopus  borealis, 
Cyaneciila  suecica,  Surnia  funerea,  Strix  lapponica,  and  Archibuteo  lagopus. 
The  purely  American  species  which  occur  aueidentally  in  Europe  are  of  course 
left  out  of  consideration.  It  is  to  be  remarked  that  at  present  there  is  no  trace 
of  the  accidental  occurrence  of  any  purely  American  species  in  Northern  Asia, 
though  such  are  quite  likely  to  come  .under  the  notice  of  future  observers. 

^  "Several  small  birds  of  the  water-wagtail  genus  "came  on  board  one  of 
Cook's  ships,  16  August  1778,  when  in  lat.  69.57  N.  and  long.  166.19  W.,  being 
then  off  Cape  Lisburn  on  the  northern  coast  of  Alaska  (W.  Ellis,  Narrative  of  a 
Voyage  kc.  i.  p.  340). 

^  Though  Messrs.  Nelson  and  Henshaw  {op.  cit.  p.  222)  state  that  the  present 
writer  "  assumes  that  the  bird  reaches  Nortli-west  America  by  the  way  of  Green- 
land," he  does  not  remember  having  entertained  or  expressed  any  such  opinion. 
On  the  contrary,  he  used  the  very  words  above  printed  in  his  article  "  Birds  " 
published  in  the  Encyclopsedia  Britannica  (ed.  9,  iii.  p.  753)  in  1875. 

■*  They  seem  not  to  occur  to  the  southward  of  Cape  St.  Elias,.  the  presumed 
limit  of  the  Province. 

'^  This  remark  must  be  taken  as  not  influencing  the  argument,  or  the  example 
of  Egypt  presently  to  be  cited  would  thereby  be  affected. 

®  It  may  be  observed  that  in  order  to  avoid  the  least  appearance  of  overstating 
the  case,  forms  like  the  Ti:ee-Creepeu  and  Osprey  have  been  counted  as  though 
distinct.     If  these  and  some  others  were  regarded  as  specificallj'  identical,  ami 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  ^^2, 

Perhaps  thei'e  is  nothing  very  surprising  in  this,  when  we  con- 
sider the  narrowness  of  the  channel  which  here  divides  America 
from  Asia,  and  furthermore  the  fact  that  the  water  of  Bering's 
Strait  is  shallow  suggests  a  still  closer  connexion  in  bygone  times 
of  the  two  continents.  The  Aleutian  Islands,  though  they  look 
like  a  series  of  stepping-stones  from  one  to  the  other,  do  not  seem 
to  furnish  a  route  of  communication,  for  Mr.  Dall  {Froc.  Californ. 
Acad.  Sc.  14  March  1874)  calls  special  attention  to  the  fact  that 
no  intrusion  of  Asiatic  forms  occurs  towards  the  western  end  of  the 
chain,  while  observing  that  its  Avifa^^na  is  reinforced  beyond 
Ounalaska  by  several  Arctic  species  not  possessed  by  the  more 
eastern  islands.  The  other  islands  belonging  to  the  Nearctic  Sub- 
region,  the  Prybilof  in  the  Northern  Pacific,  and  the  Bermudas 
nearly  in  the  middle  of  the  Northern  Atlantic  Ocean,  do  not  need 
any  particular  remark  here.  Greenland  may  be  regarded  as  coming 
almost  into  the  same  category,  and  though  there,  as  might  be 
expected,  the  influence  of  the  Old  World  is  strong,  that  of  the  New 
World  just  prevails,  since  of  the  45  genera  to  which  belong  the 
feathered  denizens  of  the  fringe  of  habitable  soil  on  its  western 
coast  (which  is  all  that  is  oft'ered  by  that  land  of  desolation) 
none  is  especially  characteristic  of  the  former,  while  one,  ZonotricJiia, 
is  peculiar  to  the  latter,  and  a  similar  result  follows  from  an  investi- 
gation of  the  species — a  bare  majority  being  Nearctic.^ 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  more  than  one -third  of  the 
genera  of  Nearctic  birds  are  common  also  to  the  Paloearctic  Sub- 
region.  If  we  take  the  number  of  Nearctic  species  at  700,  which 
is  perhaps  an  exaggeration,  and  that  of  Palsearctic  at  850,  we  find 
that,  exclusive  of  stragglers,  there  are  about  120  common  to  the 
two  areas.  Nearly  20  more  are  properly  Palsearctic,  but  occa- 
sionally occur  in  Amei'ica,  and  about  50  are  Nearctic,  which  from 
time  to  time  stray  to  Europe  or  Asia.^  This,  however,  is  by  no 
means  the  only  point  of  resemblance.  Of  many  genera,  the  so- 
called  species  found  in  the  New  World  are  represented  in  the  Old 
by  forms  so  like  them  that  often  none  but  an  expert  can  distinguish 
them,  and  of  such  representative  "  species "  about  80  might  be 
enumerated. 

this  the  writer  fully  believes  them  to  be,  more  than  one-half  the  Avifauna  of 
these  portions  of  the  two  continents  would  be  the  same. 

^  Any  one  at  all  curious  in  these  questions  should  consult  Prof.  Palmen's 
tables  at  the  end  of  his  contribution  to  the  ornithology  of  the  Siberian  coast, 
printed  in  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Scientific  Results  of  the  Voyage  of  the  '  Vega.' 

-  Baird,  in  the  essay  before  cited,  has  reasonably  accounted  for  this  dispro- 
portionate reciprocity  between  Europe  and  America  ;  but  perhaps  more  than  ho 
has  allowed  for  must  be  set  down  to  the  comparative  want  until  lately  of  records 
in  the  newer  country.  This  want  is  being  speedily  supplied  by  the  increased 
study  of  Ornithology  of  recent  years  in  Canada  and  the  United  States. 


334  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

Since,  as  above  indicated,  the  avifauna  of  the  Nearctic  Sub- 
region  shews  its  intimate  connexion  with  that  of  the  Palaearctic  by 
the  yearly  interchange  that  obtains  between  Alaska  and  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  Asia,  it  would  seem  most  fitting  to  begin  the 
^consideration  of  the  Palosarctic  Subregion  at  that  part  of  it.  As 
in  the  Nearctic  Subregion  difficulty  was  found  in  defining  the 
limits  of  its  several  Provinces,  so  there  is  difficulty  here,  and 
perhaps  it  is  even  greater  in  this  far  vaster  area.  The  very  fulness 
of  details  we  possess  in  regard  to  some  of  the  countries  of  our  own 
Subregion,  those  of  its  western  or  European  portion  especially, 
makes  the  scarcity  of  information  in  respect  of  others  all  the  more 
conspicuous,  and  renders  comparison  useless.  In  the  eastern 
portion,  its  southern  frontier  cannot  be  as  yet  determined.  Grant- 
ing that  it  includes  the  whole  of  Japan,  the  line  of  demarcation  on 
the  continent  is  open  to  much  doubt :  Mr.  Wallace  would  place  its 
commencement  about  Ningpo,  just  to  the  southward  of  Chusan, 
Avhence  it  would  have  to  enclose  the  basin  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang, 
and  then  turn  suddenly  northward  to  skirt  the  valleys  of  the  rivers 
which  drain  Cochin  China,  Siam,  and  Burma,  as  they  undoubtedly 
belong  to  the  Indian  Region.  Thence  it  would  make  for  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Himalayas,  on  reaching  which  its  course  becomes 
fairly  plain  so  far  as  the  Hindoo  Koosh  ;  here  it  trends  to  the 
southward  to  include  Afghanistan  and  the  greater  part  if  not 
the  whole  of  Beloochistan.  Skirting  the  northern  shore  of  the 
Persian  Gulf,  it  continues  westward,  passing  to  the  north  of  Arabia, 
but  comprising  Mesopotamia  and  Palestine,  with  a  remarkable 
exception  to  be  presently  noticed,  and  reaching  the  south-eastern 
corner  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Here  its  land-boundary  is  inter- 
rupted, but  it  may  be  taken  up  again  in  Tunis,  if  not  in  Tripoli, 
and,  including  all  the  ancient  Mauritania — that  is,  the  portion  of 
Africa  north  of  the  Great  Desert — meets  the  Atlantic  Ocean  about 
Mogador.  The  Subregion  includes  the  Atlantic  Islands  (Canaries, 
Madeiras,  and  Azores),  as  well  as  Iceland,  but  otherwise  its  western 
and  northern  limits  are  those  of  Em-ope  and  Asia,  with  the  more  or 
less  explored  Arctic  lands  lying  to  the  northward  of  them. 

Of  the  Provinces  into  which  this  vast  area  may  be  separated, 
there  is  first  the  "  Siberian,"  beginning  on  Bering's  Strait,  and 
extending  across  the  northernmost  part  of  Asia  to  the  confines  of 
Europe,  where  what  passes  for  the  Ural  Mountains  may  be  found 
a  convenient  though  probably  an  arbitrary  boundary.  Guided  by 
the  investigations  of  the  late  Capt.  Blakiston  and  Mr.  H.  Pryer,^  we 
find  that  the  Strait  of  Tsugaru,  between  Yezo  and  Nipon  (occa- 
sionally called  Hondo),  constitutes  a  boundary  between  two  Pro- 
vinces, the  more  northern  being  that  first  named,  while  the  more 

1  Trans.  Asiat.  Soc.  Japan,  x.  pp.  84-186  (1882),  and  Amended  List  of  the 
.Birds  of  Ja23an  {London  :   1884). 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 


335 


southern  lias  been  termed  the  "  Mongolian."  Where  the  line  just 
indicated  may  reach  the  continent  of  Asia  is  as  yet  very  doubtful. 
Some  would  make  it  round  the  Corean  peninsula  ;  but  a  careful 
scrutiny  of  all  that  is  known  of  the  ornithology  of  that  country,  as 
stated  by  Professors  Giglioli  and  Salvador!,  and  the  late  Dr. 
Taczanowski,^  forbids  it  being  so  drawn,  and  there  seems  a  prob- 
ability of  the  Stannovoi  first,  and  then  the  Altai  Mountains 
marking  their  respective  limits,  while  further  inland  the  great  deserts 
can  scarcely  fail  to  interpose  a  barrier  almost  impassable  for 
resident  birds.  The  "  Mongolian "  Province  may  be  taken  to 
extend  between  the  frontiers  thus  vaguely  sketched  until  it  reaches 
the  eastern  coast  of  the  Casj^ian  Sea,  but  the  chain  of  mountains  that 
forms  the  western  continuation  of  the  Himalayas,  separates  it  from  a 
third  Province,  which,  beginning  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Oman, 
includes  the  rest  of  Asia,  all  the  portion  of  Africa  that  lies  in  the 
Palfearctic  Subregion,  as  well  as  the  three  great  European  penin- 
sulas, so  that  the  northern  boundaries  of  its  western  part  would  be 
the  Pyrenees,  the  Alps,  and  the  Balkan  range.  Looking  to  the 
importance  of  the  sea  Avhich  penetrates  this  Province  more  than 
half  way  from  west  to  east,  the  name  "  Mediterranean  "  may  not 
inaptly  be  conferred  upon  it.  The  rest  of  Europe,  having  an  Avifauna, 
as  all  will  admit,  differing  enough  from  the  "  Mediterranean,"  will 
form  another  Province,  and  though  on  its  eastern  side  it  might  well 
have  a  more  decided  boundary,  we  must  accept  the  Ural  Mountains 
for  want  of  a  better,  and  the  Kirghiz  Desert,  while  the  Caspian  Sea, 
the  Caucasus,  and  the  Euxine  complete  its  circuit  on  the  south. 

That  a  desert  should  form,  as  just  hinted,  a  proper  boundary  to 
a  Fauna  will  not  be  gainsaid  by  any  one  who  takes  the  trouble  to 
consider  what  is  thereby  meant.  It  will  be  enough  to  point  out 
that  the  southern  border  of  the  western  portion  of  the  Paliearctic 
Subregion  has,  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Africa,  commonly  known  as 
the  Sahara,  a  boundary  hardly  inferior  to  a  coast-line  in  the  precision 
with  which  it  may  be  laid  down,  and  in  the  influence  which  it  exerts. 
That  indeed  may  be  an  extreme  instance,  but  the  existence  of  many 
others  more  or  less  nearly  approaching  it  is  certain.  Moreover,  some 
of  these  are  likely  to  lead  to  a  misapprehension,  against  which  it  is 
advisable  to  guard  the  unwary,  and  in  no  part  of  the  world  more 
so  than  in  relation  to  that  now  under  consideration.     It  is  well 

1  The  list  of  Corean  birds  by  the  first  two  authorities  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1887, 
pp.  580-596)  consists  wholly  of  species,  chiefly  Water-birds,  obtained  at  a  season 
when  the  migrants  from  the  north  would  predominate  over  the  actual  natives  ■ 
and  hence,  though  of  value  in  some  other  respects,  fails  to  shew  the  real  character 
of  the  Avifauna  of  Corea.  If  the  lists  of  the  third  writer  (op.  cit.  1887,  pp.  596-611 ; 
1888,  pp.  450-469)  be  closely  examined,  it  will  be  seen  that,  though  he  ascribes  a 
Siberian  character  to  the  avifauna,  the  species  obtained  by  the  collector  in  spring 
or  summer,  and  these  are  of  course  the  natives,  belong  to  the  Chinese  Fauna. 


JJ 


6  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 


known  that  wherever  there  are  deserts  they  are  inhaljited  by  what^ 
is  called  a  "  Desert  Fauna  "  consisting  of  animals  belonging  to  many 
Classes — Vertebi^ates  and  Invertebrates — which  are  especially  adapted 
to  their  surroundings ;  but  hitherto  there  has  been  no  need  to  notice 
this  fact  in  the  present  work.  However,  in  the  Palaearctic  Subregion, 
and  especially  in  its  eastern  portion,  as  well  as  in  the  Ethiopian 
Region,  next  to  be  treated,  deserts  are  so  extensive  that  some 
zoologists  have  been  inclined  to  deem  them  guides  in  the  matter  of 
Geographical  Distribution.  For  very  limited  districts  there  is 
perhaps  no  great  harm  in  so  doing,  though  there  is  always  the  risk 
of  thereby  confounding  what  botanists  have  long  since  seen  to  be 
essentially  different,  namely  station  and  habitat ;  but  a  wholly  wrong 
notion  would  be  conveyed  were  deserts  to  be  accounted  factors  in 
determining  the  value  of  geographical  areas.  These,  as  Mr.  Wallace 
has  laid  down  (Geogi:  Distr.  Anim.  i.  pp.  3  and  4),  do  not  depend  on 
physical  features,  though  physical  features  may  affect  them.  Further- 
more, it  is  observable  of  Desert  Faunas  that  most  of  the  animals 
composing  them  are  very  nearly  related  to  those  Avhich  inhabit  the 
country  bordeiing  on  the  desert — in  some  cases  the  difference 
between  the  two  is  only  that  of  tint  and  must  again  be  mentioned 
(Variation),  in  others  it  is  greater  and  may  extend  to  stature  or 
the  proportional  size  of  various  organs,  as  in  Birds  in  the  length  and 
thickness  of  the  Bill.  Again,  it  may  be  greater  still,  and  instead 
of  regarding  the  animal  as  a  local  race,  we  have  to  recognize  its 
specific  or  generic  validity  as,  among  Birds,  several  Larks, 
Sparrows,  Starlings,  and  Wheatears,  or  even  as  a  well-marked 
form  like  the  COURSERS,  a  Family  like  the  Sand-Grouse,  or  an  Order 
such  as  the  Ostrich  represents.  But  it  seems  clear  that  the  right 
way  to  regard  these  and  other  inhabiters  of  the  desert  is  to  view 
them  as  we  do  the  denizens  of  the  great  oceans.  We  do  not 
determine  the  Avifaima  of  Polynesia  by  the  oceanic  birds  which 
sweep  over  its  waters  or  even  lodge  upon  its  coral-reefs  ;  but  by  the 
birds  Avhich  inhabit  its  islands.  Noav  oases  are  to  deserts  what 
islands  are  to  oceans,  and  it  is  therefore  by  the  dwellei's  in  the 
oases  that  the  characteristic  fauna  of  a  tract  ^  which  includes  desert 
must  be  judged,  while  that  of  the  wastes  Avhich  surround  them  is 
but  the  result  of  local  causes.  Were  it  otherwise  we  should  have  to 
recognize  a  Desert  Province  (or  rather  a  Region,  even)  in  the  Old 
World,  which  starting  from  the  mountain  range  lying  to  the  west- 
ward of  Pekin  would  stretch  in  a  wide  belt  over  Asia,  and  crossing 
Arabia,  as  well  as  Africa  at  its  widest  part,  be  terminated  only  by 

^  Canon  Tristram  seems  to  be  the  first  who  drew  the  special  attention  of 
ornithologists  to  Desert  Forms,  the  precise  value  of  which  he  set  forth  admirably 
in  his  famous  remarks  [Ibis,  1859,  pp.  429-4-33) — too  long  to  be  here  quoted — 
on  their  bearing  on  the  then  half- revealed  Darwinian  hypothesis  of  Natural 
Selection. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  337 

the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  for  throughout  that  immense  tract  species 
of  Passeres  are  found  that  wear  the  Desert  uniform  and  scarcely  differ 
from  one  end  to  the  other. 

Having  already  indicated  the  component  parts  of  the  Subregion, 
it  is  time  to  say  somewhat  of  its  ornithic  characters.  Like  the 
Nearctic,  it  seems  to  produce  but  a  single  peculiar  Family  of  Birds 
— the  Panuridse,  the  type  of  which  is  the  beautiful  species  known 
to  most  Englishmen  as  the  Bearded  Titmouse,  Panurus  hiarmicus  ^ ; 
but  this  fact  need  excite  no  surprise  when  we  remember  that  along 
almost  the  whole  of  its  southern  frontier-,  extending  from  long.  120° 
E.  to  10°  W.,  it  is  conterminous  with  the  Indian  or  the  Ethiopian 
Region,  whereas  the  Nearctic  Subregion  presents  not  more  than  20° 
of  latitude  to  the  Neotropical  Eegion.^  Indeed,  the  wonder  rather  is 
that  the  Palaearctic  Subregion  should  have  even  a  single  peculiar 
Family,  for  we  ought  to  bear  in  mind  that  all  the  Families  of  the 
Holarctic  Region  consist  of  stronger  forms  than  those  inhabiting 
the  Regions  which  abut  upon  it,  so  that  the  faculty  of  extending 
their  range  is  possessed  in  a  greater  degree  by  the  former.  The 
whole  number  of  Palsearctic  Families  may  be  taken  to  be  67,  and  of 
the  genera  323,  about  which  there  can  be  little  doubt,  or  if  any 
exist,  it  is  that  the  number  is  understated.  Of  these,  as  before 
stated,  128  are  common  to  the  Nearctic  Subregion.  Species  of  51 
more  seem  to  occur  as  true  natives  within  the  Ethiopian  and  Indian 
Regions,  and  besides  these,  18  appear  to  be  common  to  the  Ethiopian, 
without  being  found  in  the  Indian,  and  no  fewer  than  71  to  the 
Indian  without  occurring  in  the  Ethiopian — a  result  that  might  be 
expected  from  geographical  considerations,  since  the  latter  Region 
is  cut  oiFby  a  wide  desert,  constituting  (as  above  stated)  a  barrier 
as  hard  to  pass  as  a  sea,  while  the  former  Region,  though  in  fact 
separated  by  one  of  the  highest  mountain-ranges  in  the  world,  is 
in  almost  its  whole  length  conterminous. 

Taking  the  Provinces  separately,  we  find  that  the  Siberian  has 
but  one  genus  peculiar  to  it — Eurynorhjnclius,  the  Spoon-billed 
Sandpiper,  a  bird  of  wide  wanderings,  whose  home  was  finally  dis- 
covered by  the  companions  of  Baron  Nordenskjold  on  the  mainland 
opposite  to  Burney  Island  (long.  174°  W.)  during  the  memorable 
voyage  of  the  'Vega.'^  The  Mongolian  seems  to  have  the  largest 
number  of  peculiar  genera  of  any  Palaearctic  Province,  there  being 
no  fewer  than  13,  which  may  be  assigned  as  follows — Fringillidse, 

^  This  bird  is  most  unhappy  in  its  names.  It  has  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  the  TiTMOtrsB-Family,  Paridae,  and  its  specific  title,  signifying  of  or  belong- 
ing to  Biarmia,  the  district  of  Perm  in  Russia,  is  just  as  inapt. 

2  As  the  southern  boundary  of  both  Subregions  lies  in  much  the  same  latitude 
(say  roughly  30°  N. ),  the  degrees  of  longitude  are  practically  equal  in  either  case. 

^  Palmen,  Bidrag  till  Kdnnedomen  om  SihirisTca  Ishafshustens  Fogelfauna. 
Vega-Expeditionens  vetenskapliga  lakttagelscr,  v.  pp.  326,  327. 

22 


338  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

3 ;  Sturniclx,  Panwidse,  Ixidse  and  Sylviidx,  1  each ;  Timeliidse  and 
Phaslanidse,  2  each ;  and  "  Fterodeidse "  ^  and  Anatidx,  1  apiece.- 
The  Mediterranean  Province  appears  to  have  peculiar  to  it  4 
genera  of  Sylviidx,  and  1  genus  of  Laridx;  but  some  23  more 
belong  to  it  and  to  no  other  part  of  the  Subregion,  though  having 
a  wider  range  outside  of  the  latter.  Of  these,  8  are  common  to  the 
Ethiopian  and  Indian  Regions,  while  confined  to  the  former  and  the 
Province  are  11,  and  having  the  same  relation  to  the  latter  2. 
Finally,  it  has  a  genus  of  Anatidse,  Erismatura,  which  is  represented 
in  Australia  and  America,  as  well  as  in  Africa. 

The  Atlantic  Islands,^  Avhich  must  be  regarded  as  belonging  to 
the  Mediterranean  Province,  ofier  some  peculiarities  of  great  interest. 
First  we  have  the  Azores,  the  subject  of  an  excellent  monograph  b}'' 
Mr.  Frederick  Godman,*  who  shews  that  there  is  a  general  tendency 
among  their  birds  to  vary  more  or  less  from  their  continental  repre- 
sentatives, especially  in  having  almost  always  a  darker  plumage,  a 
stouter  bill  and  stronger  legs,  and  in  one  instance,  a  Bullfinch, 
Pyrrliula  murina,  the  variation  justifies  its  specific  distinction.  The 
same  tendency  is  not  so  observable  in  the  Madeiras,  but  these  have 
at  least  two  peculiar  species,  and  recent  researches  in  the  Canaries  ^ 
prove  that  there  difierentiation  is  carried  on  to  a  still  greater  extent, 
and  that  certain  local  forms  are  often  confined  to  a  particular  island, 
while  again  there  are  some  species  that  occur  in  all  the  islands  "\vith 
little  or  no  sensible  variation.  It  is  almost  indubitably  proved  that 
all  those  groups  have  been  colonized  from  the  mainland  of  the 
Mediterranean  Province,  and  the  changes  which  the  colonists  have 
undergone  may  be  in  some  cases  a  measure  of  the  period  that  has 
elapsed  since  one  species  after  another  has  settled  upon  them.  In 
no  case  does  the  colonization  of  Land-birds  seem  to  be  very  ancient, 

-  By  strict  rule,  this  Family  should  be  called  Syrrhaptidse,  Syrrhaptes  being 
the  earliest-named  genus  belonging  to  it.  But  one  species  of  this  genus  overran 
Europe  in  astonishing  numbers  in  1863  and  again  in  1888,  both  times  bi'eeding  in 
its  new-found  quarters  (see  Sand-Grouse). 

2  Information  on  the  ornithology  of  this  Province  gathered  by  recent  Russian 
travellers  has  been  mostly  published  in  their  own  language.  Nevertheless,  Dr. 
Severzov's  notes  on  the  Birds  of  Turkestan  have  been  rendered  into  English  by 
Me.ssrs.  Cramers  and  Dresser  {Ibis,  1875,  pp.  96,  236,  332  ;  and  1876,  jip.  77, 171, 
319,  410),  and  an  English  translation  by  the  former  of  those  gentlemen  of  the 
ornithological  portion  of  Prjevalsky's  travels  was  given  by  the  late  Mr.  Rowley  in 
his  Ornithological  Miscellany,  vols.  ii.  and  iii. 

^  Among  these  Mr.  Wallace  groups  the  Cape-Verd  Islands  ;  but  whatever 
may  be  the  case  with  other  Glasses  of  animals,  their  Birds  shew  a  preponderance 
of  Ethiopian  forms,  and  here  they  must  be  referred  to  that  Region. 

*  Natural  History  of  the  Azores  or  Western  Islands.     London  :  1870. 
{(%  5  E.  G.  Mead^-Waldf,  Ibis,  1889,  pp.  1-13,  503-520  ;  1890,  pp.  429-438  ;  H.  B. 

Tristram,  op.  cit.  1889,  pp.  13-32  ;  and  A.  Kbnig,  Journ.  fiir  Orn.  1889,  pp.  199, 
263  ;  1890,  pp.  257-488,  tabb.  i.-viii. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  339 

as  no  indication  of  loss  of  wing-power,  which  is  one  of  the  effects  of 
protracted  isolation,  has  been  observed  among  them,  though,  as  is 
well  known,  many  of  the  Insects  are  said  to  shew  it  remarkably. 
Moreover,  the  colonization  seems  to  be  going  on  still,  and  it  happens 
not  unfrequently  that  when  an  island  has  a  well-established  local 
race  it  is  yet  more  or  less  regularly  visited  by  individuals  of  the 
normal  and  parental  form. 

The  European  Province  does  not  seem  to  possess  a  single  genus 
that  can  be  accounted  peculiar  to  it,  but  it  has  one  consisting  of  a 
single  species,  Mergulus  alle  (Rotche),  which  does  not  elsewhere 
occur  in  the  Palsearctic  Subregion,  though  it  inhabits  the  northern 
parts  of  the  Canadian  Province  of  the  Nearctic.  It  would,  how- 
ever, extend  too  far  for  the  present  article  to  dwell  upon  more 
than  a  very  few  of  the  curiosities  of  distribution  revealed  by  the 
continued  observation  of  birds  in  Europe.  There  is  no  need  to 
travel  out  of  our  own  island  to  meet  Math  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  among  them,  and  we  may  take  the  case  of  the  Night- 
ingale as  an  example.  In  England  the  western  limit  of  this 
incomparable  songster's  range  seems  to  be  formed  by  the  valley  of 
the  Exe,  which  is  only  overstepped  on  rare  occasions.  But  even 
in  the  east  of  Devon  it  is  local  and  rare,  as  it  also  is  in  the  north 
of  Somerset,  though  plentiful  in  other  parts  of  that  county.  Cross- 
ing the  Bristol  Channel,  it  is  said  to  be  not  uncommon  at  times 
near  Cowbridge  in  Gllamorganshire  ;  but  this  seems  to  be  an  isolated 
spot,  or  at  any  rate  there  is  no  evidence  of  its  being  found  else- 
where in  Wales,  or  between  that  place  and  Tintern  on  the  Wye, 
where  it  has  been  reported  to  be  plentiful.  Thence  there  is  more 
or  less  good  testimony  of  its  occurrence  in  Herefordshire,  Shrop- 
shire, Staffordshire,  Derbyshire,  and  so  on,  to  about  5  miles 
north  of  York,  but  not  further,  that  is  to  say  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  things,  for  Mr.  Wolley-Dod,  an  unquestionable  authority, 
recorded  one  that  he  heard  singing  at  Malpas  in  Cheshire  in  May 
1889.^  Along  the  line  thus  sketched  out,  and  immediately  to  the 
south  and  east  of  it,  the  appearance  of  the  Nightingale,  even  if 
regular,  which  may  be  doubted,  is  rare,  and  the  bird  is  very  local ; 
but  in  many  parts  of  the  midland,  eastern,  and  southern  counties 
it  is  abundant,  and  the  woods,  coppices,  and  gardens  ring  with  that 
thrilling  song  which  has  been  the  theme  of  writers  in  all  ages. 
There  are  many  assertions  of  its  occurrence  in  England  further  to 
the  northward,  but  some  of  them  rest  on  anonymous  authority 
only,  and  all  must  be  regarded  with  the  greatest  suspicion.  Still 
more  open  to  doubt  are  the  statements  which  have  been  made  as 
to  its  visits  to  Scotland,  while  in  Ireland  there  is  no  pretence  even 
of  its  appearance.      No   reasonable  mode   of  accounting  for   the 

^  Others  were  reported  to  have  been  heard  about  the  same  time  in  Flintshire 
and  near  Rhyl. 


340  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

partial  distribution  of  the  Nightingale  has  hitherto  been  pro- 
pounded ;  there  is  no  peculiar  kind  of  soil  which  it  especially 
affects,  or  none,  so  far  as  we  know,  that  it  especially  avoids ;  and 
the  same  may  be  said  of  its  relations  to  the  Flora  of  this  country. 
It  is  not  so  entirely  adscriptus  glehx  that  it  will  not  readily  betake 
itself  to  new  localities  suited  to  its  liking,  when  these  have  been 
formed  within  its  natural  limits,  though  they  may  be  miles  away 
from  its  ancient  haunts.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  often  one  of  the 
first  birds  to  establish  itself  when  a  heath  has  been  broken  up,  and 
plantations  of  trees  thereon  made  have  grown  sufficiently  to  aflford 
it  the  sheltering  covert  that  it  loves.  This  instance  taken  from  a 
bird  whose  habits  have  been  so  closely  studied  both  in  captivity 
and  at  large,  and  one  which  is  so  familiar  and  in  many  places  so 
numerous,  that  abundant  opportunities  are  given  for  observing  all 
that  can  be  observed  about  it,  shews  how  futile  would  be  the 
expectation  that  in  most  cases  we  could  at  present,  even  if  ever, 
satisfactorily  account  for  the  existing  causes  which  limit  the  dis- 
tribution of  species.  A  vast  majority  of  them,  we  know,  have 
each  its  bounds,  which  virtually  it  cannot  pass,  and  the  case  of  the 
Nightingale  in  England,  beyond  the  fact  that  its  distribution  is 
extremely  well  marked,  and  therefore  has  long  attracted  especial 
attention,  has  really  nothing  out  of  the  common  way  in  it.^  In 
Europe,  the  neighbourhood  of  Copenhagen  is  the  most  northern 
point  which  our  Nightingale  is  asserted  to  reach ;  but  on  the 
continent  its  range  is  less  extended,  and  though  abundant  in 
Mecklenburg,  it  is  not  found  in  that  part  of  Pomerania  which  lies 
to  the  north  of  the  Peene  valley,  nor  does  it  stretch  so  far  eastward 
as  Danzig.^  It  occurs,  however,  sparingly  on  the  Polish  frontier, 
near  Thorn,  and  is  observed  in  Austria,  Upper  Hungary,  and 
Galizia.  In  Russia  its  distribution  cannot  be  laid  down  with  any 
degree  of  accuracy,  but  it  does  not  reach  the  Governments  near 
the  Ural,  though  it  is  said  to  be 'plentiful  in  that  of  Kharkov,  and 
it  is  known  to  Adsit  the  Crimea.  Records  of  its  occurrence  still 
further  to  the  eastward  are  probably  incorrect,  as  it  seems  to  be 

^  When  the  history  of  the  earth  shall  be  really  well  and  minutely  under- 
stood, it  seems  quite  possible  that  as  much  light  will  be  shed  on  this  and  other 
particular  cases  of  the  same  kind  by  a  knowledge  of  the  various  changes  and 
displacements  which  sea  and  land  have  undergone  as  has  already  been  done  by 
the  same  means  in  regard  to  many  of  the  general  facts  of  Distribution.  The 
results  of  the  labour  of  the  geologist  are  doubtless  just  as  necessary  to  and 
closely  connected  with  the  work  of  the  biologist,  as  those  of  the  investigation  of 
the  historian  are  to  and  with  the  efficiency  of  the  statesman  ;  while,  in  return, 
the  researches  of  the  biologist  are,  or  ought  to  be,  of  the  greatest  use  to  the 
geologist.  The  history  of  the  earth  is  for  a  long  period  of  time  that  of  its 
inhabitants. 

2  From  the  Rhine  valley  eastward  the  range  of  the  other  European  species 
overlaps  that  of  the  present. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  341 

replaced  in  Circassia  and  Persia  by  another  form ;  but  southward 
of  this  imperfectly-drawn  line  our  Nightingale  may  be  found  as 
a  winter-visitant  in  Nubia  and  Abyssinia,  as  well  as  in  Algeria, 
where  it  is  reported  as  breeding,  and  it  would  seem  to  migrate 
thence  so  far  as  the  Gold  Coast.  It  is  abundant  in  Spain  and 
Portugal ;  but  it  is  a  stranger  to  Britanny,  the  western  penin- 
sula of  France,  just  as  it  is  to  the  western  peninsula  of  England.^ 

One  other  example  we  may  take,  and  this,  though  much  less 
familiar,  is  equally  instructive  as  exhibiting  some  of  the  as  yet 
unexplained  peculiarities  of  Distribution.  It  shall  be  that  of  a 
bird  belonging  to  a  very  different  Order  from  the  last,  having 
habits  entirely  dissimilar,  and  presenting  in  most  ways  a  great 
contrast.  The  Kentish  Plover,  j^gialitis  cantiana,  a  species  first 
determined  from  specimens  obtained  on  the  coast  of  that  English 
county  whence  it  takes  its  specific  name,  has  its  breeding-place 
in  Britain  Limited  to  the  pebbly  beach  between  Sandwich  and 
Hastings,  and  in  other  parts  of  this  kingdom  only  occurs  as  a 
chance  straggler.  Yet  this  species  has  a  very  wide  range,  breeding 
not  only  abundantly  along  the  greater  part  of  the  coasts  of  the 
temperate  and  warmer  portions  of  the  Old  World  north  of  the 
Equator,  but  also  occasionally  in  the  interior,  as  at  the  base  of  the 
Caucasus  and  in  the  chotts  of  the  North-African  plains ;  while 
in  its  regular  migration  it  wanders  to  the  Malay  Archipelago  and 
South  Africa,  and  is  hardly  to  be  specifically  separated  from  a 
Plover  which  inhabits  the  coast  of  China,  or  from  another  which  is 
found  on  the  west  coast  of  America  from  California  southward, 
though  the  former  has  been  described  as  distinct  under  the  name  of 
^.  dealbafa,  and  the  latter  under  that  of  ^.  nivosa. 

A  remarkable  case  of  restricted  range  is  that  of  the  Eed 
Grouse,  Lagopus  scoticus,  found — and  in  certain  districts,  as  every 
one  knows,  numerously — in  each  of  the  three  kingdoms,  as  well  as 
in  Wales.  The  details  of  its  local  distribution,  as  of  that  of  all 
other  birds  which  breed  in  Great  Britain,  were  carefully  and  con- 
cisely given  by  Mr.  More  (Ibis,  1865,  pp,  1-27,  119-142,  425-458), 
and  there  is  no  need  to  dwell  upon  them  here ;  but  what  is  worthy 
of  remark  is  that  this  particular  species  differs  in  no  other  essential 
character  save  coloration  from  the  Willow -Grouse,  L.  albus,  which 
is  an  abundant  bird  throughout  the  whole  of  the  northern  parts 
of  the  Holarctic  Region,  from  Norway  to  Kamchatka,  and  again 
from  Alaska  to  Newfoundland.  Its  remains,  as  before  stated 
(Fossil  Birds),  have  been  found  in  the  south  of  France  associated 
with  those  of  the  Snowy  Owl  and  the  Reindeer ;  and,  deferring  for 
the  present  any  hypothetical  discussion,  it  is  impossible  to  resist 
the  inference  that  our  own  bird,  though  fully  entitled  to  the  rank  of 
a  "  species,"  is  a  local  form  of  the  widely-spread  V»^illow-Grouse. 
1  Cf.  Yarrell  British  Birds,  ed.  4,  i.  pp.  315-318. 


342  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

Other  instances  there  are  in  which  British-born  examples  of 
species  common  to  the  Continent  are,  though  in  a  less  degree, 
distinguishable  from  those  of  neighbouring  countries.  The  Coal- 
TiTMOUSE  of  England  is  to  be  recognized  from  that  of  Europe,  Parus 
ater,  and  accordingly  by  some  ornithologists  it  is  regarded  as  a 
distinct  species,  P.  britannicus ;  but  the  scanty  remnants  of  the 
ancient  pine-forests  of  Scotland  are  inhabited  by  birds  between 
which  and  continental  specimens  no  difference  can  be  established. 
The  homebred  Bottle  -  Titmouse  of  Britain,  too,  has,  from  its 
darker  coloration,  been  accorded  specific  rank ;  but  it  is  now 
known  that  birds  of  this  species,  Acreclida  caudata,  from  southei-n 
and  central  Europe  vary  in  this  respect,  and  the  specific  validity 
of  the  British  form,  A.  rosea,  can  hardly  be  with  consistency  main- 
tained. Indeed,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  nearly  all  of  our  smaller  birds 
can  be  distinguished  by  an  expert  from  their  continental  brethren, 
and  this  mainly  through  the  duller  or  darker  plumage  of  the 
former.^  The  difference  is  by  no  means  so  great  as  obtains  in  the 
birds  of  the  Atlantic  Islands  above  mentioned,  but  it  exists  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  and  it  is  certain  that  an  analogous  state  of 
things  is  observable  in  regard  to  some  of  the  birds  of  Japan,  a 
country  which  is  subject  to  many  of  the  same  climatic  conditions 
as  the  British  Islands.  It  will  be  for  future  investigators  to  deter- 
mine the  cause  of  this  similarity,  it  is  enough  here  to  record  the 
fact ;  but  another  remarkable  instance  of  the  forms  of  the  western 
portion  of  the  Subregion  being  repeated  in  the  far  east  is  found  in 
the  range  of  the  two  kindred  species  of  the  genus  Cyanopica — • 
the  Blue  Pie  of  Portugal  and  Spain,  C.  cooki,  being  replaced  in 
Amoorland  and  Japan  by  one,  C.  cijana,  so  closely  allied  that  some 
authorities  have  refused  to  acknowledge  their  distinctness,  and 
yet  throughout  130°  of  longitude  no  representative  of  either  is 
found.- 

Here  it  would  be  convenient  to  refer  to  the  subject  oi  local 
variation,  which  is,  however,  of  general  application,  though  it  has 
naturally  received  most  notice  in  regard  to  the  Birds  of  the  Hol- 
arctic  Region.     The  questions  it  involves  were  treated  many  years 

^  The  difference  is  of  course  most  striking  if  specimens  of  brightly-coloured 
species  be  compared — for  example,  the  Chaffinch  or  the  Yellow-Hammer. 

■^  A  well-known  writer  has  declared  the  "obvious"  explanation  of  "this 
anomalous  fact"  to  be  "that  the  Chinese  Blue  Magpie  was  brought  from  China 
to  Spain,  precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Chinese  Ringed  Pheasant  was 
introduced  into  England."  No  evidence  in  support  of  this  assertion  being 
adduced,  charity  forbids  my  here  naming  the  author  or  his  work.  Should  he 
ever  turn  his  attention  to  Mammals  he  will  perhaps  account  for  the  interrupted 
distribution  of  the  genus  Tapirus  by  suggesting  that  the  Portuguese  carried 
T.  ivdicus  from  the  Malay  countries  to  Brazil,  where  "in  consequence  of  the 
greater  rainfall"  it  may  have  "become  browner"  and  the  adult  indeed  have  lost 
its  piebald  coloration  "by  protective  selection." 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  343 

since  by  Gloger,i  and  perhaps  as  satisfactorily  as  the  evidence  at 
his  command  would  permit.  In  North  America  the  late  Prof. 
Baird  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  turn  his  attention  to  this 
topic,  the  importance  of  which  gradually  impressed  itself  upon  him 
as  the  several  collections  of  specimens  made  diuing  the  explora- 
tions for  a  railway-route  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  came  under  his  eyes. 
He  was  content  to  register  the  results,  and,  so  far  as  the  ^vriter  knows, 
abstained  from  theorizing  upon  them.  His  example  was  followed 
by  many  of  the  enthusiastic  and  painstaking  ornithologists  who 
sprang  up  around  him,^  and  they,  rejoicing  in  a  wealth  of  speci- 
mens such  as  had  never  before  been  amassed,  have  undeniably 
shewn  that  it  was  not  lost  upon  them.  With  scarcely  an  excep- 
tion they  too  have  exhibited  as  much  caution  in  regard  to  specula- 
tions as  did  their  venerated  leader.  The  great  fact  was  established 
that,  given  a  species,  especially  of  a  Land-bird,  which  had  a  wide 
range  on  a  continent,  the  variation  exhibited  by  individuals  from 
different  localities  is  generally  so  considerable  that  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  predicate  its  amount,  while  almost  every  intermediate 
form  may  be  found  if  the  series  of  specimens  be  large  enough.^ 
One  of  the  first  results  which  naturally  followed  was  the  abolition 
of  a  great  number  of  what  had  hitherto  passed  as  distinct  "  species," 
and  the  recognizing  them  as  local  forms,  any  two  or  more  of  which 
should  be  united  under  one  heading.  It  is  of  course  true  that  to 
some  extent  naturalists  were  already  aware  of  the  fact  that  "  miss- 
ing links  "  were  from  time  to  time  found  between  what  had  borne 
an  unsullied  reputation  as  good  "  species  "  ;  but  this  had  happened 
in  a  comparatively  small  number  of  cases,  whereas  it  now  became 
plain  that  it  was  of  very  common  occurrence.  Moreover,  some 
"laws"  were  more  or  less  manifest — for  instance,  examples  of  a  set 

^  Das  Abandern  der  Vogel  durch  Einfiuss  des  Klimas.     Breslau  :  1833. 

-  These  are  too  numerous  to  name  ;  but  the  labours  of  Mr.  J.  A.  Allen  can- 
not be  passed  without  recognition.  His  essay  "On  the  Mammals  and  "Winter 
Birds  of  East  Florida,"  published  in  1871  {Bull.  Mus.  Comp.  Zool.  ii.  No.  3), 
entered  into  details  of  part  of  this  question  more  thoroughly  than  had  been 
before  attempted  ;  and  the  views  therein  expressed  have  been  confirmed  on 
additional  evidence  in  his  "Notes  of  an  Ornithological  Reconnaissance  of  por- 
tions of  Kansas,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  and  Utah  "  {op.  cit.  iii.  No.  6),  as  well  as 
in  his  "  Geographical  Variation  in  North  American  Birds"  [Proc.  Boston  Sac. 
Nat.  Hist.  XV,  pp.  212-219).  He  also  notices  the  fact,  since  observed  in  i-egard 
to  the  Eed  Grouse  in  Great  Britain,  that  considerable  variation  may  exist  inde- 
pendently of  locality. 

^  It  could  be  wished,  however,  that  the  North-American  ornithologists  had 
not  latterly,  by  many  innovations  in  the  established  theory  and  practice  of 
scientific  nomenclature,  rendered  so  much  of  their  excellent  work  unintelligible 
to  all  but  the  expert,  and  not  readily  understood  by  him.  This  proceeding  was 
the  more  extraordinary  as  it  is  so  contrary  to  the  practical  character  of  citizens  of 
the  United  States. 


344  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

of  several  species  of  different  genera  from,  say,  a  locality  in  the 
north  varied  in  the  same  way  from  examples  of  a  set  of  the  same 
species  from  the  south,  and  so  with  eastern  and  western  examples. 
In  principle  this  was  not  novel  or  unexpected.  Indeed  it  had  been 
noticed  in  some  instances  in  Europe,  particularly,  as  the  "WTiter  can 
testify,  by  the  late  Mr.  Gould  many  years  ago ;  but  the  small  size 
of  our  own  quarter  of  the  globe  compared  with  that  of  North 
America,  and  still  more  the  short  series  of  specimens  which  existed 
even  in  the  largest  of  our  collections,  forbade  the  generalizations 
that  at  once  became  possible  and  almost  suggested  themselves 
when  the  vast  aggregations  obtained  by  Baird  and  the  elder 
Agassiz  were  studied  and  compared.  In  the  meanwhile,  however, 
European,  and  especially  English,  ornithologists  had  been  growing 
dissatisfied  with  the  shortcomings  of  their  collections,  and  took 
pains  to  enlarge  them,  but  there  were  special  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  obtaining  specimens  from  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Palsearctic 
area,  and  Central  Asia  was  practically  an  unknown  country.  That 
their  efforts  were  more  or  less  successful  may  be  seen  by  Mr. 
Dresser's  Birds,  of  Europe,  the  publication  of  which  marked  an 
enormous  forward  stride,  but  still  the  dearth  of  sufficient  series  of 
specimens  from  Eastern  Europe,  and  particularly  from  the  Asiatic 
portion  of  the  Eussian  Empire,  continues  to  be  keenly  felt.  The 
zeal  shewn  by  Mr.  Seebohm  to  meet  this  want  deserves  high 
commendation,  and  of  late  Russian  ornithologists  have  turned  their 
attention  to  the  question  of  local  races.  The  immediate  effect  has 
been  no  little  confusion,  but  that  is  unavoidable,  and  none  can 
doubt  that  much  of  it  will  disappear,  so  that  we  may  hope  our 
knowledge  of  the  ornithology  of  the  Palaearctic  area  will  in  a  few 
years  be  on  a  level  with  that  which  Americans  possess  as  regards 
the  Nearctic.  But  a  word  of  warning  may  be  uttered  in  respect  of 
both.  Many  writers  on  natural  history  find  it  hard  to  realize  the 
fact,  undeniable  according  to  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  of 
Evolution,  that  if  all  the  individuals  of  any  genus  that  ever  existed 
could  be  set  before  a  naturalist,  he  would  be  unable,  even  though 
gifted  with  the  most  critical  eye,  to  separate  them  into  species,  for, 
however  unlike  the  extremes  might  be,  the  means  would  shew  an 
unbroken  series  between  them.  It  must  be  obvious  that  these 
intermediate  individuals  are  the  ancestral,  generalized  forms,  while 
the  rest  shew  a  greater  and  greater  tendency  to  specialization  in 
one  way  or  another.  In  the  course  of  ages  many  of  these  inter- 
mediate forms  disappear,  and  then  it  is  right  to  regard  those  that 
survive  without  near  relations  as  good  species.  But  others  there 
may  or  will  be  that,  however  they  may  vary  locally,  are  still  un- 
mistakably linked.  The  forms  that  connect  them  continue  the 
nearest  heirs  of  the  ancestral  stock,  and  present  its  more  general- 
ized features.     Thus  to  assume,  as  some  do,  that  these  connecting 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  345 

forms  are  the  result  of  interbreeding  between  the  extremes  is 
to  begin  at  the  wrong  end,  and  virtually  to  mistake  cause  for 
effect.^  In  reality  there  is  no  need  to  make  any  assumption  whatever. 
It  is  far  better,  certainly  at  the  present  time,  to  stick  to  the  plain 
facts  of  each  case,  so  far  as  we  can  acquaint  ourselves  "vvith  them, 
and  there  is  every  appearance  of  each  case  having  to  be  treated 
upon  its  own  merits.  But  opportimities  for  generalization  will,  of 
course,  come  at  last,  and  meanwhile  we  shall  possibly  not  be  far 
wrong  in  expecting,  as  one  result  of  the  facts  already  kno"\vn  and 
undoubtedly  to  be  multiplied  by  increased  observation,  an  elucida- 
tion of  what  has  seemed  to  so  many  an  insoluble  puzzle — the 
repetition,  so  to  speak,  of  similar  forms  in  "Western  Europe  and  in 
Eastern  Asia  without  their  appearance  in  the  intermediate  terri- 
tory, or  cases  of,  to  use  another  expression,  "  interrupted  distribu- 
tion " — be  the  interruption  as  in  that  of  Cyanopica,  already 
mentioned,  absolute,  or  modified  more  or  less  as  in  so  many  other 
instances. 

V.  The  Ethiopian  Region  is  by  no  means  easily  divided.  In 
treating  of  it  in  1875  {Encyclop.  Brit.  ed.  9,  iii.  pp.  757-760),  the 
present  writer  followed  in  the  main  the  guidance  kindly  afforded 
him  by  Dr.  Sharpe,  whose  knowledge  of  its  Avifauna  is  hardly,  if  at 
all,  exceeded  by  that  of  any  other  ornithologist,  and  recognized  five 
Subregions.  The  progress  of  geographical  discovery,  which  has  of 
late  years  laid  open  so  much  of  the  wilds  of  Central  Africa,  has 
shewn  a  much  greater  homogeneity  than  was  before  expected  in  the 
Faima  of  the  several  parts  of  that  continent,  though  it  is  true  that 
the  explorers  of  its  interior  have  in  few  cases  had  any  zoological 
knowledge  or  even  taste,  and  that  to  at  least  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated of  them  scientific  research  of  any  kind  is  repellent.  It  must 
also  be  remembered  that  nearly  all  of  those  few  zoological  explorers 
have  forfeited  their  life  ^  in  their  zeal  for  investigation,  and,  with 
the  notable  exception  of  Emin  Pasha,  scarcely  one  has  survived  to 
carry  on  his  observations  or  to  make  collections  for  any  length  of 
time.  Consequently  the  vast  area  of  Equatorial  Africa,  and  the 
districts  immediately  conterminous,  are  ornithologically  almost 
unknown.     Meanwhile    we    do   know   that   nearly   all    the    most 

^  The  seeming  inability  to  gi-asp  this  position  detracts  greatly  from  the 
value  of  nearly  all  that  Mr.  Seebohm  has  written  on  the  geographical  distribu- 
tion of  birds  in  the  Palsearctic  Subregion  and  elsewhere,  leading  him  to  con- 
clusions of  the  most  erroneous  kind,  which  have  been  uncritically  accepted  by 
several  other  writers. 

^  It  would  be  impossible  here  to  name  even  the  natm-alists  who  from  Mungo 
Park  downwards  have  fallen  victims  to  African  exploration  ;  yet,  in  an  ornitho- 
logical work,  William  Alexander  Forbes  must  be  especially  mentioned,  as  it  was 
the  pure  love  of  ornithology  that  led  him  i;p  the  Niger,  where  he  succumbed  to 
fever  in  the  very  prime  of  life. 


346  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

characteristic  types  of  the  continental  portion  of  the  Ethiopian 
Eegion  shew  themselves,  and  (so  far  as  we  can  judge)  dwell  alike  in 
the  southern  as  well  as  the  northern  parts,  the  eastern  as  well  as  the 
western — the  chief  differences  observable  being  not  even  generic,  but 
mostly  specific.  The  OSTRICH,  for  example,  extends,  or  extended, 
from  the  Karroo  to  the  Belka,  and  still  further  to  the  eastward,^ 
and  no  more  essentially  characteristic  form  of  the  continental  portion 
of  the  Ethiopian  Region  can  be  found  than  this  highly  specialized 
bird,  the  sole  representative  of  one  Order  of  the  subclass  Ratitse, 
for  whether  we  accept  the  difference  exhibited  by  the  Ostrich  of  the 
north  and  that  of  the  south  as  specific,  or  admit  the  validity  of  a  third 
alleged  species  in  Somaliland,  all  will  agree  that  these  differences 
are  in  quality  of  the  slightest.  When  this  is  to  be  said  of  a  bird 
having  the  peculiarity  of  habit  and  structure  possessed  by  Strufhio, 
it  seems  vain  to  talk  of  regarding  its  range  as  extending  over  Sub- 
regions.  The  highest  term  we  are  justified  in  applying  to  these 
portions  of  its  continental  area,  which  for  one  reason  or  another  it 
may  be  convenient  to  speak  of  sejDarately,  is  Province.  And  thus 
it  seems  better  to  merge  the  whole  of  Africa  and  that  part  of  Asia 
which  belongs  to  the  Ethiopian  Region  into  one  Subregion,  which 
may  be  called  the  "  African,"  unless  some  better  name  be  suggested, 
instead  of  breaking  it  up  into  four  as  was  done  formerly  by  the 
author,  or  into  three  as  has  been  done  by  Mr.  Wallace.  These 
districts,  be  they  four  or  three  in  number,  may  perhaps  be  termed 
Provinces,  and  thus  we  may  recognize  a  "  Libyan "  ^  Province 
extending  from  the  easternmost  border  of  the  Ethiopian  Region, 
wherever  we  may  place  that,  comprehending  the  whole  of  Ai'abia, 
Egypt,  and  all  Africa  from  Cape  Guardafui  in  the  east  to  Cape 
Verd  in  the  west,  reaching  northward  to  the  Mediterranean 
Province  of  the  Palsearctic  Subregion,  while  scarcely  an  approxima- 
tion can  be  made  to  tracing  its  southern  limits.  For  the  rest  of 
Africa,  seeing  that  we  have  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  birds  of  the 
seaboard,  and  for  some  distance  up  a  few  of  its  more  considerable 
rivers,  we  may  justifiably  divide  that  portion  which  lies  immediately 
to  the  southward  of  this  indefinite  area,  and  comprehending  the 
greater  part  of  its  equatorial  tract,  into  two  Provinces,  a  "  Guinean  " 
on  the  west,  and  a  "  Mosambican  "  on  the  east,  though  it  is  quite 
possible  that  these  two  may  with  the  progress  of  discovery  have  to  be 
united,  and  even  now  there  seems  nothing  to  indicate  any  boundary 
between  the  belt  they  would  form  if  combined  and  the  territory 

^  For  all  that  can  be  said  as  to  the  former  extent  of  the  Ostricli's  range  in 
Asia  see  the  Vogel  Ost-Afrikas  (pp.  597-607)  of  Drs.  Finsch  and  Hartlaub, 
forming  the  fourth  volume  of  Von  der  Decken's  Ecise  in  Ost-Afrika  (Leipzig  and 
Heidelberg  :  1S70).  Remains  of  Strutliio  not  to  be  distinguished  from  S.  camelus 
have  been  recognized  from  the  Sivalik  Hills  in  India  {ef.  Fossil  Birds). 

2  In  using  this  name  I  follow  Blyth  {Nature,  iii.  p.  428,  30  March  1871). 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  347 

lying  still  further  south  and  extending  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
However,  of  the  species  which  inhabit  part  of  this  territory,  the 
Cape  Colony  and  some  of  its  adjoining  lands,  we  may  say  that  our 
acquaintance  is  as  good  as  we  have  with  the  Avifauna  of  almost 
any  country  outside  of  Europe  and  North  America,  and  though  it 
has  some  clear  characteristics  at  its  extremity,  these  melt  away 
gradually  towards  the  north  and  seem  finally  to  be  lost.  Still  their 
existence  ought  to  be  taken  into  account,  and  therefore  we  may 
recognize  a  "  Caffrarian  "  ^  Province.  In  1884  Dr.  Sharpe,  when 
writing  the  preface  to  the  second  edition  of  Mr.  Layard's  Bird.s  of 
South  Africa,  considered  the  "  natural  limits "  of  what  he  termed 
the  "  South  African  Subregion  "  (which  is  practically  equal  to  the 
CafFrarian  Province  just  mentioned)  to  be  the  Zambesi  River  on 
the  east  and  the  Quanza  or  Coanza  on  the  west.  Now  it  ought  to 
be  obvious  that  no  river  (however  wide)  can  form  the  "natural 
limit"  of  any  zoological  area,^  and  indeed  the  cases  are  rare 
in  which  a  river  limits  the  range  of  any  species  of  land-animal. 
This  proposed  boundary,  therefore,  hoAvever  convenient  for  some 
purposes,  is  as  artificial  and  arbitrary  as  that  of  the  28th  parallel 
of  south  latitude  adopted  by  Mr.  Layard  in  1867  for  the  first  edition 
of  his  work,  and  indeed  it  is  pretty  evident  that  no  boundary 
is  yet  to  be  laid  down,  even  if  one  is  ever  to  be  found. ^ 

So  large  a  portion  of  the  Ethiopian  Eegion  lies  between  the 
Tropics  that  no  surprise  need  be  expressed  at  the  richness  of  its 
Fauna  relatively  to  that  of  the  Holarctic  last  considered.  Between 
50  and  60  Families  of  Land-birds  alone  are  found  within  its 
limits,  and  of  them  at  least  9 — Buphagidie,  Eiirycerotidx,  Fhilepittidse, 
Musophagidge,  Rhinopomastidse,  Leptosomidse,  Coliidm,  Serpentariidse,  and 
SirutJiionidm — are  peculiar ;  but  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  only  the 
first  three  of  them  belong  to  the  Order  Fasseres,  a  proportion  which 
is  not  maintained  in  any  other  Tropical  Region.  The  number  of 
peculiar  genera  is  too  great  for  them  to  be  named  here ;  some  of 
the  most  remarkable,  however,  especially  of  those  belonging  to  the 
insular  or  Madagascarian  Subregion,  where  Bird-life  has  been 
diflferentiated  to  a  degree  that  is  very  extraordinary,  will  presently 
be  mentioned. 

^  Again  following  Blyth  {loc.  cit.) 

^  Unless  indeed  the  river  be  a  channel  left  by  the  silting  up  of  an  inland  sea, 
as  is  said  to  be  the  case  with  the  lower  Amazon. 

^  Should  its  delimitation  be  ever  effected,  it  will  probably  be  done  by  taking 
cognizance  of  other  Classes  than  that  of  Birds.  The  extraordinary  diversity  of 
forms  shewn  by  certain  groups  of  Mammals,  and  especially  of  the  hollow-horned 
Ruminants,  generally  known  as  Antelopes,  towards  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  African  continent  can  hardly  fail  to  be  of  use  in  this  investigation,  coupled 
also  with  the  absence  of  so  well-marked  and  apparently  so  ancient  a  Family  of 
Edentates  as  the  Ifanidx,  and  the  non-occurrence  of  any  representative  of  the 
Ganoids  among  Fishes  in  the  more  southern  rivers  of  Africa. 


348  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

Further  subdivision  seems  only  possible  in  the  case  of  the  first 
of  these  four  Provinces  above  named — the  Libyan,  which  may 
perhaps  be  broken  up  into  four  subprovinces — an  Arabian,  an 
Egyptian,  an  Abyssinian,  and  a  Gambian;  but  no  boundaries  can  be 
assigned  for  any  but  the  first,  and  that  has  precisely  the  fewest 
possible  characteristics,  so  that  the  propriety  of  its  recognition, 
except  on  purely  geographical  grounds,  is  most  questionable.  We 
may  doubt  whether  it  has  more  than  half  a  dozen  peculiar  species 
if  we  exclude  from  the  number  those  of  the  Ghor,  or  the  valley  of 
the  Jordan  and  the  depressed  basin  of  the  Dead  Sea,  which  we 
must  regard  as  an  outlier  of  the  Province  ;  but  then  we  know  very 
little  of  the  zoology  of  any  part  of  Arabia,  save  the  peninsula  of 
Sinai,  the  desert  of  the  Tih,  and  a  few  places  on  the  sea-coast.^  The 
species  of  Birds  which  seem  to  be  peculiar  to  the  Jordan  basin  are 
said  to  be  eleven  in  number,  ^  many  of  them  showing  Indian  consan- 
guinity, though  the  Ethiopian  element  on  the  whole  predominates, 
and  especially  in  Amijdrus  tristrami,  the  name  of  which  commemor- 
ates the  naturalist  to  whom  we  owe  most  of  our  information  as 
to  the  Fauna  of  this  singular  district. 

The  Egyptian  subprovince,  so  far  "as  regards  the  valley  of  the 
Lower  Nile,  is  remarkable  for  being  overrim  by  migrants  from  the 
north  during  the  winter,  and  since  it  is  chiefly  from  the  observa- 
tions of  travellers  at  this  season  that  most  of  our  knowledge  is 
derived,  it  is  perhaps  not  very  wonderful  that  some  zoogeographers 
have  included  this  district  within  the  Palaearctic  area.  But  a  little 
reflexion  will  shew  that  to  obtain  a  right  estimate  of  the  Fauna  of 
any  country  we  should  take  count  of  the  animals  which  are  its 
natives  and  have  their  home  there  rather  than  of  those  which  resort 
to  it  as  visitors,  Vidthout  remaining  to  breed  within  its  limits.  Now 
the  number  of  species  of  Birds  which  appear  in  Egypt  and  Nubia, 
as  given  by  Captain  Shelley,^  who  is  still  the  latest  and  best  author- 
ity, is  352,  though  many  of  tljem,  he  says,  are  of  doubtful  occur- 
rence. Of  these  more  than  230  are  natives  of  the  Paleearctic 
Subregion,  but  only  between  50  and  60,  or  about  one-quarter  of 
them,  remain  to  breed  in  Egypt,  and  of  this  number  a  considerable 
proportion  do  not  breed  in  Europe,  but  only  in  the  Barbary  States. 
The  Palsearctic  species,  which  are  only  winter- visitors,  to  the  number 
say  of  1 80,  should  therefore  be  left  out  of  the  reckoning.  On  the  other 
hand,  more  than   70   species,  which   are  not  Palsearctic,  are  true 

^  Considering  our  ignorance  of  tlie  Fauna  of  Arabia,  I  have  not  been  able  to 
see  why  Mr.  Wallace  assigned  the  northern  extratropical  portion  of  it  to  the 
Palsearctic  area.  With  our  present  want  of  information,  any  line  of  demarcation 
drawn  across  the  country  must  he  purely  arbitrary,  for  I  am  not  aware  of  any 
evidence  favouring  such  a  division. 

-  Tristram,  Fauna  and.  Flora  of  Palestine  (pref.  pp.  ix.  x.)     London  :  1884. 

^  Handbook  to  the  Birds  of  Egypt.     London  :  1872. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  349 

natives  of  Egypt/  and  among  them  members  of  some   8  or  10 

good  genera,  not  a  species  of  which  rightly  belongs  to  the  northern 

area — such  as  Nectarinia,  Chrysococcyx,   Centropus,  Otogyps,  Tmitalus,       n/        1  t 

Ibis,  Chenalopex,  Etipodotis,  Phcvianus,  and  Ehjnchsea..    The  Ethiopian     /iAp>f/n^ 

character  of  the  truly  Egyj)tian  Avifauna  seems  to  be  thus  fully  ^z*  ^^i^^j^ti^ 

established.  '  f 

Respecting  the  Abyssinian  subprovince  very  full  particulars  are 
included  in  the  work  of  Von  Heuglin,^  supplemented  as  regards 
Shoa,  by  the  labours  of  Count  T.  Salvadori,^  based  upon  the 
explorations  of  Antinori  and  Dr.  Ragazzi,  but  the  precise  features 
of  its  Avifauna  are  not  easily  ascertained  from  the  former,  since  he 
has  not  discriminated  between  it  and  the  Egyptian.  Still  it  would 
seem  that  nearly  220  species  may  be  peculiar  to  this  part  of  the 
subprovince,  and  among  them  that  most  wonderful  form  Balseniceps 
(Shoe-bill).  A  remarkable  feature  in  the  Abyssinian  Avifauna  is  the 
occurrence  there,  not  as  migrants  but  as  actual  natives  of  its  moun- 
tains, of  several  birds  which  would  otherwise  be  deemed  purely 
Palsearctic,  as,  for  example,  both  the  Cornish  and  the  Alpine 
Chough  (Fregilus).  The  presence  of  these  northern  forms  in  the 
Abj^ssinian  highlands  induced  a  hope  that  some  of  them  might 
extend  to  the  still  loftier  lands  of  Kilima-njaro  and  its  neighbouring 
heights,  which  would  therefore  have  to  be  included  in  the  sub- 
province,  but  that  hope  has  been  disappointed  by  the  zoological 
survey  of  Mr.  Johnston  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1885,  pp.  219-239),  which 
unfortunately  produced  nothing  of  the  kind.  Indeed,  it  seems  as 
if  we  might  suspect  that  the  Fauna  of  this  district,  which  reaches 
the  highest  elevation  in  Africa,  may  have  greater  affinity  to,  if  it 
be  not  practically  identical  with  that  of  the  Caffrarian  Province  far 
away  to  the  southward.  To  the  Abyssinian  subprovince,  however, 
must  probably  be  assigned  the  island  of  Socotra,  whereon  out  of 
two  dozen  species  that  have  been  observed,  one-third — and  all 
of  them  Fasseres — seem  to  be  peculiar,  two  of  them  belonging  to  a 
peculiar  genus  Fhynchostruthus. 

Of  the  Gambian  subprovince  not  much  is  to  be  said.  M.  de 
Rochbrune^  has  enumerated  686  species  of  Birds  as  occurring  in 
the  French  portion  of  it,  but  none  of  them  are  peculiar,  while  423, 
or  more  than  sixty  per  cent.,  seem  to  be  common  to  the  north-east 
of  Africa,  112  to  the  Gaboon  district,  and  274  to  Angola,  thus 
leading  directly  to  the  Province  next  to  be  mentioned.  But  to  the 
Gambian  subprovince  belong  the  Cape  Verd  Islands,  which  out  of 

^  There  can  he  hardly  a  doubt  that  this  number  would  be  increased  were 
further  researches  carried  on  during  the  breeding-season. 

-  Ornithologie  Nordost  Afrika's.     Cassel :  1859-1875. 

^  Uccelli  dello  Scioa.  Genova:  1884;  and  Catalogo  di  mm  collezionediUcceUi 
dello  Scioa,     Genova  :  1888. 

*  Faune  de  la  Senigambie,  Oiseaux.     Paris  :  1884. 


350  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

17  or  18  Land-birds  enumerated  by  Dr.  Dohrn  {Journ.fur  Orn.  1871, 
pp.  1-10)  seem  to  have  2  peculiar  species,  both  of  the  Order 
Fasseres. 

The  "  Guinean  "  Province  occupies  what  is  commonly  called  the 
"  West  Coast "  of  Africa,  and  may  extend  from  Sierra  Leone  to  the 
south  of  the  Congo  valley.  Hitherto  no  catalogue  of  its  Birds  has 
been  published,  for  the  work  of  Dr.  Hartlaub  ^  comprehends  also 
those  of  the  subprovince  just  treated,  while  admirably  executed  as 
it  was  at  the  time  of  its  appearance,  so  much  has  since  been  done 
by  collectors  in  this  part  of  Africa,  and  by  those  who  in  Europe 
have  examined  their  collections,  especially  Prof.  Barboza  du 
Bocage,  Dr.  Biittikofer,  and  Dr.  Sharpe,  that  its  results  must  be 
regarded  as  out  of  date.  Yet  no  good  and  much  harm  would  follow 
from  any  attempt  to  generalize  on  the  facts  thus  recorded,  at  various 
times  and  in  various  publications,  except  it  were  made  by  one 
thoroughly  conversant  with  the  details  of  African  ornithology. 
Here  we  must  be  content  to  notice  as  very  characteristic  forms  of 
this  district,  Agelastes  and  Fhasidus,  both  allied  to  Numida  (Guinea- 
Fowl),  that  very  characteristic  form  of  the  whole  Ethiopian 
Region.  However,  the  first  of  the  three  naturalists  last  named  has 
published  an  excellent  ornithology  of  Angola  and  Loango,"  whence 
it  appears  that  out  of  698  species  about  220  are  peculiar,  but  he 
states  that  it  would  be  premature  to  establish  any  divisions.  The 
Avifauna  of  Loango  leans  to  that  of  Gaboon,  while  Angola  in  like 
manner  shews  an  affinity  to  South  Afiica — a  result  which  was  only 
to  be  expected.  Something  may  be  said  with  more  confidence  of 
the  islands  which  pertain  to  the  Province.  Of  them,  Fernando  Po 
was  once  believed  to  possess  a  very  remarkable  Avifauna,  but  further 
investigation  seems  to  prove  that  it  has  no  peculiar  species  what- 
ever. Prince's  Island  has  been  declared  to  have  6  peculiar  species, 
and  it  is  asserted  that  it  is  not  inhabited  by  any  Diurnal  Bird-of- 
Prey,  every  one  being  driven  -off  by  the  Grey  Parrots  (Psittacus 
erithacus)  which  there  abound.  The  island  of  St.  Thomas,  lying 
just  under  the  Equator,  is  also  said  to  have  6  peculiar  species 
besides  one  found  on  Prince's  Island  as  well,  but  nowhere  else. 

The  "  Caffrarian "  Province,  as  before  stated,  has  no  more 
definite  inland  boundary  than  either  of  the  preceding,  yet  its  dis- 
tinctive features  are  more  marked — a  fact  doubtless  due  to  so  large 
a  portion  of  it  lying  without  the  Tropic.  Though  this  part  of 
Africa  has  for  more  than  a  century  received  attention  from  ornitholo- 
gists,^ their  several  labours  in  its  various  districts  require  careful 

^  System  dcr  Ornithologie  West  Africa's.     Bremen  :  1857. 

-  Ornithologie  d' Angola.     Lisbonne  :  1881. 

*  Levaillant's  Oiseaux  d'Afrique  (Paris  :  1799-1808)  is  notorious  for  its  un- 
trustworthiness,  as  manifested  by  Sundevall's  critical  review  of  it  in  the 
Handlingar  of  the  Academy  of  Stockholm  (ii.   No.  3,  pp.    16-60).     Mr.  Salvia 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  351 

collation  and  comparison  before  their  bearings  can  be  understood. 
Such  results  as  have  been  obtained  are  quite  out  of  proportion  to 
the  extent  of  country  whence  they  have  been  gathered.  As  it  is, 
there  cannot  have  been  fewer  than  800  species  observed  in  what 
may  be  deemed  to  be  this  Province,  but  we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
the  number,  even  at  the  very  extremity  of  Africa,  is  swollen  by  the 
inclusion  of  many  which  have  their  home  in  the  Pal^earctic  Sub- 
region,  and  should  be  by  no  means  reckoned  as  belonging  to  the 
Ethiopian  Region.  These  are  not  limited  to  birds  of  Avell-known 
wandering  habit  like  the  Turnstone,  the  Whimbrel,  and  numerous 
Limicolx,  or  those  possessing  powers  of  endurance  like  the  CuCKOW 
or  the  Nightjar,  or  of  strong  and  speedy  flight  as  the  Swift 
and  the  Swallow,  but  they  include  many  of  the  more  weakly- 
winged  (as  commonly  considered)  of  our  summer -visitants,  the 
Sedge-bird,  the  Willow- Wren,  the  Garden-WARBLER,  and  others. 
Nor  is  this  seasonal  influx  confined  to  birds  of  European  birth, 
which  need  not  greatly  diverge  from  their  meridian  in  their 
journey ;  the  most  eastern  part  of  Asia  sends  its  representatives,  of 
which  Erythropus  amurensis  is  a  remarkable  example.  A  revised 
list  of  South-African  Birds  has  yet  to  be  made  out  before  Ave  can 
state  with  any  accuracy  Avhat  are  to  be  deemed  members  of  the 
Caffrarian  Avifauna. 

Only  one  island  can  with  certainty  be  affiliated  to  this  Province, 
and  that  is  St.  Helena,  Avhere  the  indigenous  Land-birds,  if  any 
there  were,  have  probably  been  extirpated  with  most  of  its  original 
and  peculiar  flora.  Yet  it  seems  to  be  a  curious  fact  that  this 
isolated  spot  possesses  a  peculiar  Water-bird,  albeit  of  a  group  that 
greatly  affects  dry  places.  This  is  the  so-called  Wire-bird,  a 
Ringed  Plover,  ^gialitis  sanctse-helense ;  and,  though  belonging  to  a 
genus  the  meihbers  of  Avhich  are  remarkable  for  very  Avide  distri- 
bution, it  is  not  knoAvn  to  have  occurred  ofl"  the  island.  Tristan  da 
Cunha,  commonly  assigned  to  this  Region,  and  therefore  to  this 
Province,  seems  to  have  at  least  as  much  affinity  to  the  Neotropical, 
and  Ascension  appears  to  have  no  indigenous  Land-birds  Avhatever, 
so  that  its  appropriation  must  remain  in  doubt. 

collected  the  ornithological  papers  contributed  by  the  late  Sir  Andrew  Smith  to 
The  South  African  Journal  between  1830  and  1834,  and  they  were  reprinted  in 
1880  by  the  Willughby  Society,  but  neither  these  nor  the  volume  containing 
the  Birds  in  the  Illustrations  of  the  Zoology  of  South  Africa,  published  by  that 
excellent  naturalist  (London :  1838  - 1849)  give  a  connected  account  of  the 
ornithology  of  this  Province.  The  most  comprehensive  work  is  that  by  Mr. 
Layard  before  mentioned,  and  next  to  it  Andersson's  Notes  on  the  Birds  of 
Damara  Land  (London :  1872),  edited  by  the  late  Mr.  Gurney,  who  also  com- 
municated to  The  Ibis  a  long  series  of  valuable  articles  on  the  Birds  of  Natal 
based  on  the  observations  and  collections  of  Mr.  Ayres.  Finally  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Beitrdge  zur  Ornithologie  Sudafricas,  by  HH.  Holub  and  von 
Pelzeln  (Wien :  1882). 


352.  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

The  "  Mosambican  "  Pro^dnce  next  follows ;  but  its  claims  for 
recognition  are  perhaps  more  shadowy  than  any  of  those  of  the 
preceding.  The  general  uniformity  of  distribution  which  obtains 
among  the  Birds  of  all  Tropical  Africa,  especially  noticed  by  Sir 
John  Kirk  {Ihis,  1864,  p.  307)  in  treating  of  those  of  Zambesia, 
requires  more  geographical  details  than  are  as  yet  available  to 
entitle  us  to  form  any  decided  opinion,  though  the  work  of  Drs. 
Finsch  and  Hartlaub  {ut  siiprb)  gives  ample  information  as  to  the 
literature  and  description  of  the  448  species,  which,  according  to 
them,  constitute  its  Avifauna.  Considerable  additions  have  been 
made  by  Dr.  Eeichenow  {Orn.  Centralhl.  1879,  pp.  107,  114,  138, 
155).  Lying  off  its  coast  are  three  considerable  islands,  Pemba, 
Zanzibar,  and  Monfia,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  expect  that  they 
are  of  any  very  great  importance  from  a  zoogeographical  point  of 
view.  Zanzibar  is  the  best  Icnowii,  and  that  seems  to  have  but  one 
species  peculiar  to  it,  Francolimis  kirki,  but  further  observation  may 
prove  that  it  also  occurs  on  the  mainland. 

There  remains  for  consideration  the  Subregion  formed  by 
Madagascar  and  its  satellite  islands,  the  remarkable  peciiliarities  of 
which  fully  deserve  the  attention  that  has  been  paid  to  them. 
Except  New  Zealand,  there  is  no  part  of  the  earth's  surface  of  like 
dimensions  that  can  compare  with  Madagascar  for  interest,  and  the 
latter  far  surpasses  the  former  in  the  wealth  and  multifariousness 
of  its  ornithic  population.  More  than  one  high  authority  has 
regarded  Madagascar  as  forming  a  distinct  primary  Eegion,  but 
of  that  something  must  be  said  hereafter.  It  once  possessed,  in 
jEpijornis,  a  form  of  Ratitm  which,  if  not  actually  gigantic,  greatly 
exceeded  the  Ostrich  in  size,  and,  though  some  writers  would  fain 
see  in  the  fossil  remains  of  this  bird  a  realization  of  the  fabulous 
Roc,  not  a  vestige  has  been  recovered  which  seems  to  belong  to  any 
period  that  history  or  even  legend  can  reach ^  (see  Fossil  Birds). 

This  Subregion  is  easily  divided  into  two  Provinces,  Madagascar 
itself,  to  which  the  Comoros  must  be  attached,  and  the  Mascarene 
Islands,  of  which  more  presently.  Long  studied  as  the  Birds  of 
Madagascar  have  been,  the  island  has  until  quite  recently  produced 
one  novelty  after  another,  and  some  of  them  of  the  most  unexpected 
kind.  It  would  perhaps  be  premature  to  saj^  that  the  supply  is 
exhausted,  but  since  the  completion  of  the  ornithological  portion  of 
M.  Grandidier's  magnificent  work^  little  or  nothing  of  importance 
has  come  to  light.  Herein  the  authors  enumerate  238  species  as 
belonging  to  the  island,  of  which  129  are  peculiar  to  it,  and  among 

1  Bianconi,  Memorie  delle  Accad.  dclle  Scienze  delV  Istituto  di  Bologna,  1862- 
1874. 

2  Histoire  physique,  naturelle  et  ■politique  de  Madagascar,  vol.  xii.  Histoire 
naturelle  des  Oiseaux  par  Mil.  Alplionse  Milue-Edwards  et  Alfred  Graudidier. 
Paris:  1875-84. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  353 

these  there  are  no  fewer  than  35  peculiar  genera.  Great  as  is  this 
amount  of  peculiarity,  the  present  writer  believes  it  to  be  rather 
understated  than  exaggerated ;  but  it  is  sufficient  to  shew  all  that 
is  here  needed,  though  he  would  add  that,  in  his  opinion,  at  least 
3  of  the  genei'a,  Euryceros,  Fhile^pitta,  and  Mesites,  must  be  regarded 
as  forming  the  types  of  as  many  distinct  Families,  the  first  belong- 
ing to  the  normal  Acromyodian  Fasseres,  the  second  to  the  Oligo- 
myodian  section  of  the  same  Order,  and  the  third,  though  of  kin  to 
the  Piollidse  (Rail),  can  hardly  be  kept  in  that  Family.  It  is  quite 
possible  too  that  FalcitUa,  Avhich  apparently  had  allies  in  Fregilupus 
and  Necropsar  (both  recently  extinct)  of  the  Mascarene  Islands, 
though  commonly  referred  to  the  Sturnidse  (Starling),  and 
Brachyptoracias,  with  Atelomis  and  GeoUastes,  which  are  generally 
included  among  the  CorarAidx  (Roller),  should  be  removed  from 
those  Families,  and  recognized  as  forming  distinct  Families,  which 
Avould  have  to  take  the  names  of  Fregilupidse  and  Brachypteraciidm 
respectively,  while  EeUodilus  is  an  Owl,  belonging  to  the  Strigine 
Family,  Aluconidse,  which  hitherto  had  but  one  known  repre- 
sentative, the  widely-spread  Aliico  flammeus.  But  the  Avifauna 
of  Madagascar  is  not  entirely  composed  of  such  singularities  as 
these.  We  have  homely  genera,  even  among  the  true  Fasseres, 
occurring  there — such  as  Alauda,  Acrocephalus,  Moiacilla,  and 
Fraticola,  while  the  Cisticola  madagascariensis  is  only  distinguishable 
from  the  well-known  Fan-tailed  Warbler,  C.  schoenicola,  of  Europe, 
Africa  and  India,  by  its  rather  darker  coloration.  But  there  are 
also  species,  though  not  Passerine,  which  are  absolutely  identical 
with  those  of  Britain — Aluco  flammeus,  Coturnix  communis,  F&rzana 
pygmsea,  and  Fodicipes  fluviatilis — all  of  them  common  and  apparently 
resident  in  the  island. 

The  Comoros,  as  might  be  expected,  are  influenced  by  their 
proximity  to  the  African  continent.  The  latest  list  of  their  Fauna, 
by  Messrs.  A.  Milne-Edwards  and  Oustalet^  in  1888  accords  them 
79  species  or  local  races,  of  which  59  are  Land-birds  —  but  at 
least  5  of  these  have  certainly  been  imported,  and  one  is  in- 
cluded by  mistake.  Of  the  remainder  2  are  common  to  South 
Africa,  22  to  Madagascar,  and  29  seem  to  be  peculiar,  one  forming  a 
peculiar  genus,  but  nearly  all  have  their  nearest  allies  in  Madagascar, 
and  with  them  have  doubtless  a  common  ancestry,  and  indeed 
the  Comoro  Islands  furnish  one  of  the  best  examples  in  the 
world  where  species  may  be  seen  in  the  process,  so  to  speak,  of 
specification. 

^  Nouv.  Arch,  du  Musium,  ser.  2,  x.  jjp.  219-298,  pis.  iv.-ix.  Earlier  notices 
by  the  same  naturalists  are  in  Cmnptes  Rendus,  ci.  pp.  218-222,  and  Ann.  Sc. 
Nat.  ser.  7,  ii.  pp.  213-238  ;  and  still  earlier,  by  other  hands,  are  Sclater,  Ibis, 
1864,  p.  292  ;  E.  Newton,  Proc.  ZooL  Soc.  1877,  pp.  295-302,  pis.  xxxiii.  xxxiv. ; 
and  Shelley,  0^.  cit.  1879,  pp.  673-679. 

23 


354  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

The  tkree  chief  Mascarene  Islands  have  had  their  original  Fauna 
so  largely  destroyed  by  colonization  (see  Extermination)  that  its 
peculiarities  can  hardly  yet  be  accurately  judged,  and  that  chiefly 
from  remains  which,  if  not  strictly  fossil,  have  been  recovered  from 
the  earth.  Maimtius  and  Reunion,  better  known  by  its  older  name 
Bourbon,  lying  within  sight  of  each  other,  and  possessing  about  the 
same  number  of  existing  species,  seem  to  have  not  more  than  three 
Land-birds  in  common,  and  there  is  one  genus,  OxYNOTUS,  peculiar 
to  these  two  islands  and  represented  in  each  by  a  distinct  species. 
Reunion  had  also,  Avithin  the  memory  of  men  yet  living,  two  peculiar 
genera,  a  Parrot,  Mascarinus,  and  Fregilupiis,  perhaps  allied  to  Falculia 
of  Madagascar,  and  still  more  nearly  to  Necropsar  of  Rodriguez. 
The  Avifauna  of  this  last  and  remote  island  has  been  so  reduced 
that  it  has  left  only  3  species  of  native  Land -birds  ;  these  are 
all  peculiar,  one  being  the  Parrakeet,  Palaearnis  exsul  before  men- 
tioned (p.  218)  as  being  on  the  verge  of  extinction,  and  another  an 
aberrant  form  of  Drymceca,  pointing  possibly  to  a  common  origin 
with  Indian  species.  The  Land-birds  of  Seychelles  which  have  not 
been  introduced  are  16  in  number,  and  of  these  14,  according  to 
Sir  Edward  Newton,^  are  peculiar,  but  there  is  perhaps  not  one 
good  genus  that  may  be  so  termed.  Taken  as  a  whole,  we  cannot 
but  be  struck  with  the  force  of  the  evidence  as  to  the  land-connexion 
which  seems  to  have  once  existed — though  not  necessarily  all  at 
once — between  the  various  units  forming  the  whole  Subregion. 
Even  the  scanty  remnant  that  is  left  shews  how  the  denizens  of 
its  most  distant  parts  represent  one  another,  a  clear  token  of 
their  long-continued  isolation  and  the  working  of  a  differentiating 
force. 

But  before  leaving  this  area  reference  must  be  made  to  an 
hypothesis  which  has  obtained  considerable  support  in  various 
quarters,  and  has  been  accepted  as  an  easy  solution  of  a  difficult 
problem.  By  dwelling  on  the  peculiarities  of  the  Fauna  of  Mada- 
gascar, regarding  it  as  perfectly  distinct  from  that  of  Africa,  and 
looking  to  the  fact  that  in  that  island  are  collected  in  great  abund- 
ance the  chief  forms  of  those  Mammals  kno^vn  as  Lemui's,  belonsrinir 
to  the  Suborder  Frosimia},  while  another  group  of  the  same  Sub- 
order occupies  the  Indo-Malay  Islands,  the  idea  was  conceived  of 
there  having  once  been  not  only  a  land-connexion  between  those 
countries,  but  that  they  must  be  the  relics  of  a  vast  continent  now 
submerged,  to  which  the  name  of  "Lemuria"was  assigned,  and 
it  has  been  counted  as  one  of  the  primary  Regions  of  the  earth's 
surface.  The  fallacy  of  the  argument  on  behalf  of  this  conjecture 
has  been  exposed  by  Mr.  Wallace,  who  has  not  only  shewn  that 
the  hypothesis  of  a  Lemurian  continent  was  alike  unnecessary  to 

^   "List  of  the  Birds  of  the  Mascarene  Islands,  including  the  Seychelles," 
Trans.  Norf.  and  Xonv.  Nat.  Soc.  iv.  pp.  548-554. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  355 

explain  one  portion  of  the  facts  presented  by  the  Fauna  of  Mada- 
gascar, and  inadequate  to  explain  the  rest ;  but  he  has  demonstrated, 
so  far  as  can  be,  that  the  existence  of  such  a  continent  was  impossible. 
Here  there  is  only  room  to  indicate  the  line  he  has  taken  {Island 
Life,  pp.  390-399).  He  incontestably  shews  (1)  that  Madagascar 
must  have  been  united  to  Africa  in  very  ancient  days,  (2)  that  it 
must  have  received  its  stock  of  Lemurs  thence  at  a  time  when 
Lemurs  inhabited  not  only  Africa  but  Europe  (for  Lemurian  remains 
have  been  found  fossil  in  France— if  not  in  England),  and  probably 
Asia,  (3)  that  Lemurs  made  their  way  to  the  Indo-Malay  Islands 
by  passing  through  Asia,  just  as  they  passed  through  Africa  to 
Madagascar,  (4)  that  Madagascar  must  have  been  separated  from 
Africa  before  the  now  prevailing  African  types  overran  that  con- 
tinent, and  (5)  finally,  that  the  Indinxi  fades  of  the  Fauna  of  Mada- 
gascar, which  is  chiefly  shewn  by  certain  Birds,  and  is  of  course 
very  striking  to  an  ornithologist,  is  caused  by  forms  of  existing 
Indian  genera,  and  by  species  very  closely  allied  to  those  of  India, 
this  last  fact  shewing  their  comparatively  recent  arrival  in  the 
Mascarene  Islands  and  Madagascar,  where  they  must  be  regarded 
as  colonists.  The  hypothesis  of  a  "Lemuria"  is  in  fact  exactly 
like  that  of  an  "  Atlantis,"  which  was  for  a  long  while  thought 
requisite  for  the  explanation  of  the  Fauna  of  the  Atlantic  Islands, 
but  has  proved  to  be  untenable  in  the  face  of  more  complete 
knowledge. 

VI.  The  Indian  Region'^  completes  our  survey  of  the  globe  ;  and 
its  boundaries,  so  far  as  they  can  be  defined,  have  been  already 
sketched  out  when  treating  of  the  adjoining  areas.  Large  as  is 
its  extent  and  varied  as  are  its  physical  features,  it  would  seem  to 
have  but  2  peculiar  Families  of  Birds,  Phyllornithidse  and  Eurij- 
Isenddse,  out  of  upwards  of  70  which  occur  within  its  limits.  There 
is  peculiar  difficulty  in  settling  the  Subregions  and  Provinces  into 
which  ■  it  should  be  separated.  While  the  Fauna  of  some  districts 
has  been  studied  so  that  we  possess  a  very  fair  knowledge  of  them, 
the  greater  part  is  no  better  known  zoologically  than  the  centre 
of  Afi-ica.  Yet  we  cannot  treat  this  Indian  Region  with  the  same 
audacity  of  ignorance  that  we  did  the  Ethiopian,  for  our  acquaint- 
ance with  it  is  such  as  to  shew  that  there  are  in  it  districts,  large 
or  small,  which  have  an  unmistakable  affinity  to  one  another  and 

^  It  must  be  mentioned  that  objection  has  been  taken,  and  not  without  show 
of  reason,  to  the  name  "  Indian  "  applied  to  this  Region,  since  what  is  correctly 
called  "India"  forms  but  a  small  and  perhaps  not  the  most  characteristic  part 
of  it.  Mr.  Wallace  has  used  the  name  "Oriental,"  against  which  it  may  be 
urged  that  it  errs  on  the  side  of  vagueness,  just  as  "  Indian  "  does  on  the  side  of 
particularity.  Though  in  this  use  he  has  had  several  followers,  it  seems  on  the 
whole  that  "  Indian,"  being  the  distinguishing  term  first  applied  to  this  Region, 
had  better  be  retained  for  it. 


356  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

yet  seem  to  be  cut  off  from  all  communication  "wath  their  neigh- 
bours. We  may  indeed  account  for  this  on  the  ground  that  the 
similarity  observed  is  due  to  corresponding  elevation  above  the 
sea-level,  and  that  throughout  the  whole  Eegion  the  hill-countries 
are  as  a  rule  disconnected  ;  but  such  an  explanation  does  not  make 
the  task  easier.  We  find  the  characteristics  of  the  Himalayan 
Avifauna  shewing  themselves  not  only  on  the  highlands  of  Southern 
India  and  Ceylon,  but  far  away  to  the  eastward  also  in  Formosa, 
Hainan,  and  Cochin  China,  and  again  repeated  in  a  lesser  but  still 
perceptible  degree  to  the  southward  in  the  mountains  of  Malacca 
and  Sumatra.  This  being  the  case,  it  seems  better  to  follow  for 
the  primary  divisions  a  scheme  set  forth  by  Mr.  Elwes  {Troc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1873,  pp.  645-682),  especially  as  in  the  main  it  has  the  approval 
of  Mr.  W.  T.  Blanford,^  whose  further  subdivisions,  so  far  as  they 
go,  it  would  be  wise  to  adopt.  In  this  way  we  have  three  Sub- 
regions — the  "Himalo- Chinese,"  the  "Indian"  (proper),  and  the 
"Malayan."  2 

The  Himalo-Chinese  Subregion,  according  to  this  view,  includes 
the  southern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas  from  their  base  to  the  limit 
of  the  growth  of  trees ;  and,  beginning  with  Cashmere,  extends 
through  Nepal  and  Bhotan,  thence  marching  with  the  as  yet 
undetermined  frontier  of  the  Mongolian  Province  of  the  Palffiarctic 
Subreo'ion  until  it  reaches  the  coast  of  China.  It  includes  all 
Burma  so  far  as  the  middle  of  Tenasserim,  and  for  the  rest  its 
southern  and  eastern  boundaries  are  those  of  the  Asiatic  con- 
tinent, while   to  its   Chinese  portion  also  belong  the    islands    of 

^  The  Fau7ia  of  British  India.  Mammalia.  London:  1888.  Introduction, 
pp.  iv.  V. 

^  Here  it  may  be  stated  that  since  want  of  space  forbids  the  enumeration  of 
the  many  publications  on  the  ornithology  of  the  British  possessions  and  pro- 
tectorates in  India,  it  would  be  still  less  possible  to  attempt  a  summary  of  the 
results  which  they  produce.  No  one  wishing  to  study  the  Avifauna  of  any 
portion  of  India  can  do  so  successfully  without  consulting  the  original  records, 
mostly  published  in  that  country.  The  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal 
(generally  quoted  as  J.  A.  S.  B.),  the  Calcutta  Journal  of  Natural  History,  the 
Madras  Journal  of  Literature  and  Science  have  each  contained  many  valuable 
papers  on  Indian  ornithology,  while  Stray  Feathers,  entirely  devoted  to  that 
subject,  and  edited  by  Mr.  Allan  Hume,  is  a  magazine  of  whicli  ten  volumes  and 
a  half  have  appeared  since  1873.  That  gentleman  also  published  in  1873-75 
Nests  and  Eggs  of  Indian  Birds,  of  which  a  second  and  enlarged  edition  was 
brought  out  in  1889-90  by  Mr.  Gates.  Jerdon's  Birds  of  India,  the  apj^ear- 
ance  of  which,  in  1862-64,  gave  new  life  to  the  study  of  ornithology  in  that 
country,  by  consolidating  the  scattered  work  that  had  been  before  done, 
is  never  to  be  mentioned  but  with  respect,  though  in  many  ways  it  will  be 
superseded  by  the  portion,  begun  by  Mr.  Gates,  of  The  Fauna  of  British 
India,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note.  While  mentioning  all  these,  the 
important  contributions  to  Indian  ornithology  by  Mr.  Hodson  and  Blyth  must 
not  pass  unnoticed. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  357 

Hainan  and  Formosa.  In  its  western  part  it  is  a  mere  strip  of 
territory,  and  this  alone  can  at  present  be  recognized  as  a  Pro- 
vince— the  "Himalayan" — but  as  already  remarked  its  influence 
is  felt  in  widely -separated  upland  districts,  though  here  it  is 
impossible  to  give  details  of  them.  Few  countries  seem  to  have  a 
richer  Avifauna  than  those  which  compose  this  Himalayan  Pro- 
vince. Cashmere,  the  most  westerly  of  them,  is  said  to  produce 
more  than  170  species  of  Land-birds,  of  which  70  are  peculiar  to 
the  district.  Nepal,  which  is  the  next  of  which  any  satisfactory 
account  can  be  given,  has  more  than  550  species  of  Land-birds, 
80  of  which  are  peculiar  to  or  characteristic  of  the  Himalayan 
Province,  a  number  that  in  Sikkim  rises  to  270.  Further  to  the 
eastward  our  information  is  less,  for  though  Mr.  Hume  has  pub- 
lished {Stray  Feathers,  xi.  pp.  1-353)  a  list  of  the  Birds  of  Manipur, 
Assam,  Sylhet,  and  Cachar,  which  shews  that  these  countries  have 
in  the  aggregate  a  rich  population,  his  results  have  unfortunately 
not  been  tabulated,  and  none  that  were  trustworthy  could  be 
educed  but  by  some  one  possessed  of  local  knowledge.  Burma 
must  be  taken  next,  but  its  highlands  may  be  said  to  be  ornitho- 
logically  unexplored,  for  Blyth's  catalogue  (/.  A.  S.  B.  1875,  part  ii. 
pp.  54-167),  edited  after  his  death  by  the  late  Mr.  Arthur  Grote, 
with  notes  by  the  late  Lord  Tweeddale,  and  Mr.  Oates's  Birds  of 
British  Burmah  (London  :  1883),  good  as  they  are,  only  treat  of  the 
lower  part  of  that  country.  Still  they  furnish  a  very  fair  account 
of  the  valley  of  the  Irrawadi  so  far  as  the  British  frontier  then 
reached,  that  is  to  say  to  the  limits  of  Pegu,  together  with  the 
adjoining  state  of  Karennee,  and  Tenasserim,  to  the  isthmus  of 
Krau.  All  this  district  is  especially  rich  in  species  of  the  peculiarly 
Indian  Family,  Burylsemida}  (Broadbill)  possessing  a  majority 
of  the  known  forms. 

We  ought  now  to  retrace  our  steps  northward  and  notice 
China,  but  this  is  a  branch  of  the  subject  on  which  it  is  as  yet 
impossible  to  form  an  opinion.  The  late  Mr.  Swinhoe  was  un- 
questionably one  of  the  chief  authorities  on  Chinese  ornithology, 
but  his  duties  confined  him  almost  entirely  to  the  coast,  so  that  he 
had  only  the  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  Avith  the  out- 
skirts of  that  interesting  country.  Moreover,  death  prematurely 
cut  short  his  labours,  and  the  results  of  his  multitudinous  con- 
tributions to  our  knowledge  have  never  been  tabulated.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  eliminate  from  his  latest  Catalogue  of  the  Birds  of 
China  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1871,  pp.  337-343)  those  of  the  675  species 
therein  enumerated  which  do  not  strictly  belong  to  the  part  of  the 
Celestial  Empire  lying  within  our  present  bounds,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  difficulty,  which  he  himself  seems  to  have  felt,  of  separat- 
ing the  Bird  s-of -passage  from  the  natives.  A  more  successful 
attempt  has  been  made  by  the  Abb6  David,  who  had  much  better 


358  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  interior  of  the 
country.  In  finally  publishing  the  observations  which  a  residence 
of  twelve  years  in  central  and  western  China  enabled  him  to  make, 
he  had  the  advantage  of  M.  Oustalet's  co-operation,  and  their  joint 
work,  Les  Oiseaitx  de  la  Chine  (Paris :  1877),  with  its  many  illustra- 
tions, is  naturally  a  most  valuable  addition  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  subject.  By  these  gentlemen  the  number  of  species  observed 
in  China  is  raised  to  807,  of  which  158  are  said  to  be  found  in 
EurojDe,  148  in  Palsearctic  Asia,  and  248  in  Southern  Asia.  More 
important  than  this  is  the  statement  that  249  species  are  peculiar 
to  China,  which  for  the  occasion  is  trisected  into  a  Northern  with 
92,  a  Tibetan  with  58,  and  a  Southern  district  with  169  peculiar 
species.  It  seems  as  if  these  last  only  would  come  within  our 
Indian  Region,  the  rest  or  most  of  them  belonging  truly  to  the 
Palsearctic  area  ;  but  unfortunately  the  authors  do  not  trace  their 
geographical  boundaries,  and  indeed,  as  has  been  more  than  once 
hinted  in  the  preceding  paragraphs,  our  existing  knowledge  seems 
not  to  admit  of  this  being  done. 

The  two  principal  islands  off  the  Chinese  coast  are  happily  in  a 
different  position.  In  Formosa  S^\'inhoe  found  144  species  refer- 
able to  102  genera,  of  which  98  occur  in  the  continental  part  of 
this  Subregion  and  70  in  the  Indo-Malayan,  while  Hainan  has  130 
species  belonging  to  96  genera,  of  which  93  are  common  to  the 
Himalo-Chinese  Subregion  and  86  to  the  Malayan,  thus  shewing  in 
each  case  a  decided  predominance.  Formosa  has  no  fewer  than 
34,  and  Hainan  16  species  believed  to  be  peculiar,  but  it  is  needless 
to  say  that  they  are  more  or  less  nearlj?-  allied  to  those  of  the 
mainland. 

The  truly  Indian  Subregion,  according  to  Mr.  Blanford's  latest 
determination,  consists  of  the  whole  Peninsula  from  the  base  of 
the  Himalayas,  and  of  the  island  of  Ceylon.  It  contains  two 
districts  which  we  may  call  Provinces — the  first,  the  "  Indian,"  ^ 
excepts  the  Malabar  coast  but  includes  the  northern  part  of  Ceylon, 
while  the  second,  called  by  him  "  Malabar  or  Ceylonese,"  takes  in 
what  is  left  of  both  peninsula  and  island.  But  he  also  remarks 
that  further  subdivision  may  be  required,  for  the  Fauna  of  what 
are  politically  called  the  "  North- Western  Provinces  "  and  of  the 
Punjab  differs  considei'ably  from  that  of  Southern  India,  and  both 
areas  exhibit  zoological  distinction  from  the  forest-clad  tracts  of 
South-western  Bengal.     Since  the  publication  of  Jerdon's  never-to- 

^  It  is  of  course  inconvenient  having  to  apply  this  epithet  to  a  Kegion,  a 
Subregion,  and  a  Province.  But  that  is  not  the  fault  of  those  who  regard  its 
prior  application  to  the  first  by  Mr.  Sclater.  Practically  the  inconvenience  is 
not  so  great  as  it  might  seem,  for  the  word  being  an  adjective,  requires  a 
substantive  in  apposition,  and  that  should  always  signify  which  of  the  three  is 
meant. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  359 

be-forgotten  work,  so  much  has  been  announced  by  the  many- 
labourers,  both  at  home  and  in  the  Empire,  whom  he  inspired, 
that  there  are  parts  of  both  Subregions  as  well  known  ornithologic- 
ally  as  are  most  of  the  countries  of  Europe,  while  on  the  other 
hand  there  are  some  districts  wholly  or  almost  wholly  uninvesti- 
gated. The  enormous  collection  of  Mr.  Hume,  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  would,  if  examined  by  an  expert,  no  doubt  yield  results 
as  profitable  in  their  way  as  those  which  Baird  educed  from  the 
examination  of  the  North-American  collections  before  mentioned ; 
but  that  process  has  yet  to  be  gone  through,  and  in  the  meanwhile 
little  has  been  extracted  from  them  to  advance  in  a  wide  sense  the 
study  of  Geographical  Distribution,  though  their  importance  as  to 
details  of  what  is  commonly  and  irreverently  called  "species- 
mongering  "  by  those  who  are  incapable  of  appreciating  its  utility, 
cannot  be  called  in  question.  At  present  the  lesson  which  this 
collection,  notwithstanding  all  the  expense  and  care  bestowed  on 
its  formation,  has  to  teach  is  yet  to  be  learnt,^  and  there  is  no 
help  for  it  but  to  regard  the  literature  of  Indian  ornithology  as  a 
collection  of  local  monographs  containing — some  of  them  admirable 
— materials  which  awaits  a  master  hand  to  work  into  a  scientific 
and  serviceable  fabric. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  would  serve  no  useful  purpose 
here  to  enter  into  details  of  the  various  local  Faunas  which  have 
appeared,  nearly  all  in  journals  of  one  kind  or  another,^  and  indeed 
mischief  could  hardly  be  avoided  were  those  details  treated  by 
any  one  who  had  not  especially  devoted  himself  to  the  elucidation 
of  the  subject,  and  was  therefore  competent  to  treat  it  in  a  reason- 
able fashion. 

Ceylon  has  profited  by  the  residence,  by  no  means  continuous, 
of  a  series  of  naturalists  who  make  as  respectable  a  show  as  can  be 
said  for  those  of  any  other  exotic  country.  Beginning  with  Loten, 
who  was  governor  for  the  Dutch  while  they  held  possession  in  the 
island,   and  formed  a  collection  of  zoological   drawings,  some  of 

^  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  on  the  acquisition  by  the  British  Museum 
of  this  collection,  which  of  its  kind  can  never  have  been  surpassed,  a  catalogue 
of  it  was  not  immediately  made  and  published  ;  for  thereby  such  encouragement 
to  the  study  of  Indian  ornithology  would  have  been  given,  as  can  hardly  occur 
again.  But  the  opportunity  was  missed.  If  the  exigencies  of  the  Government 
service  in  which  he  is  employed  have  not  permitted  Mr.  Gates  to  finish  the 
work  he  so  well  began,  some  recompense  is  to  be  found  in  the  thought  that  Mr 
Blanford  will  complete  it. 

'^  See,  as  before  mentioned,  the  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  and 
especially  Blyth's  contributions  to  it,  from  1841  to  1874.  "When  Stray  Feathers 
began  to  appear,  it,  as  might  be  expected,  carried  off  much  of  the  ornithological 
contributions  which  had  enriched  the  older  publication.  Many  excellent  papers 
are  contained  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  and  The  Ibis  ;  but  the 
whole  are  too  numerous  to  specify  here. 


36o  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

which  were  published  by  Pennant  in  ITGO,-"^  we  have  had  in  our 
own  time  Mr.  Layard,  Mr.  Holdsworth,  and  finally  Colonel  Legge, 
whose  Birds  of  Ceylon  (London  :  1878-80)  is  one  of  the  best  books  of 
its  class.  He  has  traced  in  considerable  detail  the  curious  dis- 
tribution of  its  Avifauna  in  the  four  districts  into  which  he  divides 
the  island.  He  recognizes  233  species  of  Land-birds  as  certainly 
belonging  to  it,  47  of  Avhich  seem  to  be  peculiar,  though  there  is  a 
possibility  that  2  may  occur  on  the  mainland.  A  genus  Blaphromis 
and  a  subgenus  Sturnornis  are  considered  by  him  to  be  restricted  to 
the  island. 

Two  groups  of  islands  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal  require  notice.  A 
very  full  account  of  their  ornithology  was  given  by  Mr.  Hume 
(Stray  Feathers,  ii.  pp.  29-324),  Avho  visited  them  in  1873,  and 
furnished  a  valuable  analysis  of  their  Avifauna  as  he  then  found  it, 
subsequently  publishing  some  additional  information  about  it 
(oj).  cit.  iv.  pp.  279-294),  which  does  not  seem,  however,  to  alfect 
materially  his  earlier  conclusions.  About  one-fourth  of  the  species 
observed  seem  to  be  peculiar ;  but  he  maintains  that  the  character 
of  the  whole  is  essentially  "  Indian  "  as  distinct  alike  from  "  Indo- 
Burmese  "  and  "  Indo-Malayan."  About  20  species  (letting  alone 
races)  appear  to  be  peculiar  to  the  Andaman  Islands,  and  about  12 
to  the  Nicobars,  while  9  are  peculiar  to  the  two  groups  in  common. 
The  Birds  of  the  Andamans  need  have  no  peculiar  remark,  but  the 
Nicobars  have  a  very  singular  PiGEON,  Caloenas  nicoharica  (of  wide 
range,  however),  and  what  is  still  more  worthy  of  notice,  a  Mega- 
PODE,  Megapodius  nicohariensis,  said  to  be  distinct  from  any  species 
found  elsewhere,  and  certainly  the  most  western  member  of  that 
curious  Family.^ 

The  Indo-Malayan  Subregion  remains  for  consideration,  with  a 
rich  Fauna  of  great  interest.  On  geographical  grounds  alone  we  may 
here  easily  recognize  at  least  5  Provinces,  formed  by  the  peninsula  of 
Malacca,  the  great  islands  of  Sumatra,  Java,  and  Borneo,  and  the 
Philippine  Archipelago.  The  difficulty  is  to  choose  the  order  in 
which  they  should  be  treated ;  but  it  may  be  most  convenient  to 
begin  with  the  first,  though  we  know  little  ornithologically  about  it 
except  in  its  western  half,  which  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Hume  ^  (Stray 

^  The  12  plates  and  14  pages  of  letterpress  -which  then  appeared  form  the 
basis  of  the  Zoologia  hidica  Selccta  published  by  J.  R.  Forster  at  Halle  in  1781, 
a  modified  English  translation  of  which,  with  great  additions,  is  the  Indian 
Zoology  of  Pennant  (London:  1790-91).  A  Latin  version  of  that  by  Forster  was 
brought  out  as  Faunula  Indica  at  Halle  in  1795. 

2  Mr.  "Wallace  {Gcogr.  Distrib.  Anim,  ii.  p.  342)  thinks  that  it  must  have 
been  introduced  by  the  Malays, 

3  An  older  list  of  the  Birds  of  the  Wellesley  Province  [J.A.S.B.  1870,  pp. 
277-334),  by  Stoliczka,  may  be  usefully  consulted,  but  the  remarks  upon  it  of 
Lord  Walden  {Ihis,  1871,  pp.  158-177)  should  also  be  read. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  361 

Feathers,  viii.  pp.  37-72,  151-163  ;  ix.  pp.  107-132)  and  the  personal 
experience  of  Captain  Kelham  {Ibis,  1881,  pp.  362-395,  501-532; 
1882,  pp.  1-18,  185-204)  have  investigated.  Of  Perak  and  the 
adjoining  district  Dr.  Sharpe  has  rendered  an  account  of  some 
collections  made  there  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1886,  pp.  350-353;  1887, 
pp.  431-443),  and  Herr  Hartert  has  recorded  his  impressions  {Journ. 
fur  Orn.  1889,  pp.  379-407);  while  Herr  August  Miiller  has  very 
fully  recounted  researches  in  the  island  of  Salanga  {op.  cit.  1882, 
pp.  354-448).  The  result  arrived  at  by  the  first  of  these  gentle- 
men shews  a  considerable  amount  of  peculiarity  in  the  Avifauna, 
since  of  the  459  species  which  he  finally  accepted,  115  (or  just 
over  one -fourth)  had  not  been  observed  elsewhere  in  British 
India  or  its  dependencies,  but  it  is  doubtless  true,  as  the  second 
of  them  remarks,  that  the  rest  of  it  has  much  in  common  with 
India  and  Ceylon,  though  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  peninsula 
shew  a  strong  relationship  to  Borneo,  the  Malay  Archipelago, 
and  even  China. 

The  Philippine  Islands  for  more  than  a  century  have  supplied 
ornithologists  with  materials  for  study,  but  the  first  attempt  to 
compile  a  list  of  their  Bii-ds,  made  by  Prof,  von  Martens  (Journ.  fur 
Orn.  1866,  pp.  5-31)  was  manifestly  imperfect.  In  1875  appeared 
what  was  for  the  time  a  careful  account  of  their  Avifauna  by  the 
late  Lord  Tweeddale,  then  known  as  Lord  Walden  (Trans.  Zool. 
Soc.  ix.  pp.  125-252),  which  he  shewed  to  have  a  great  amount 
of  peculiarity.  Yet  so  much  has  since  been  done  that  his  results 
cannot  be  now  accepted,  especially  as  Palawan  and  the  Sooloos — 
islands  which  connect  the  Philippines  Avith  Borneo — were  then 
unexplored.  To  him  is  probably  due  the  interest  in  the  subject 
almost  ever  since  kept  up,  and  indeed  he  contributed  a  long  series 
of  papers  upon  it,^  which  after  his  death  was  continued  by  his 
nephew  and  ornithological  heir.  Captain  Wardlaw-Eamsay,^  while 
Dr.  Sharpe  has  contributed  nearly  as  many  more,^  and  the  recent 
investigations  in  Palawan  of  Dr.  Platen  recorded  by  Prof.  W. 
Blasius,*  and  of  Dr.  Steere,  the  final  results  of  which  last  have  not 
yet  appeared,  shew  that  the  subject  is  not  exhausted.  Until  this 
mass  of  information  has  been  digested  by  a  comipetent  ornithologist 
it  Avill  be  obvious  that  no  useful  end  can  be  attained  by  attempting 
a  summary  here.  Perhaps  the  chief  thing  to  note  is  the  presence 
here  of  a  Megapode,  Megapodius  cumingi,  as  it  is  the  most  northern 
locality  for  any  member  of  the  Family,  and  indeed  it  was  in  the 

1  Proc.   Zool.   Soc.  1878,  pp.   106-114,  280-288,  339-346,  379-381,   429,  430, 
611-624,  708-712,  936-954  ;  1879,  pp.  68-73. 

2  Ibis,  1884,  pp.  330-335  ;  1886,  pp.  155-162. 

3  Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  (2)  i.  pp.   307-355;  Ibis,  1884,  pp.  316-322  ;  1888,  pp. 
193-204,  383-396  ;  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1888,  pp.  268-281. 

■^  Ornis,  1888,  pp.  301-320. 


362  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

Philippine  Islands  tliat  this  interesting  form  was  first  brought  to 
the  knowledge  of  Europeans. 

Much  the  same  has  to  be  said  of  Borneo,  that  magnificent 
island,  larger  than  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Though  its  Avi- 
fauna was  carefully  investigated  by  Count  T.  Salvadori,  who  pub- 
lished his  results  in  1874,^  so  much  has  since  been  done  both 
abroad  and  at  home  ^  that  the  number  of  species  observed  there  was 
raised  from  392,  of  which  325  were  Land-birds,  to  472,  including 
386  Land-birds,  in  1886  by  Dr.  Vorderman,^  and  570  in  1889  by 
Mr.  A.  H.  Everett,"^  the  two  last  having  alone  among  the  various 
writers  of  recent  memoirs  visited  the  island.  Yet  there  seem 
to  be  only  four  unquestionable  peculiar  genera,  Fityriasis,  a 
singular  form  generally  referred  to  the  Laniidx,  Schwaneria  be- 
longing to  Muscicapidge,  Heterococcyx  to  Cuculidx,  and  Lobiophasis  to 
Fhasianidse.^  A  species  of  Megapode,  M.  lowi,  is  said  to  be 
peculiar  to  Borneo  and  the  adjacent  island  of  Labuan.  On 
the  whole  the  character  of  the  Avifauna  is  much  what  would  be 
expected  from  its  geographical  position,  but  a  resemblance  to  that 
of  Malacca  and  Sumatra  preponderates,  though  to  that  of  Java 
there  is  considerable  affinity,  yet  a  remarkable  feature  of  Borneo 
is  presented  by  the  number  of  species  of  Fittidse,  a  Family  of  wide 
range  throughout  the  Old  World,  but  therein  exhibiting  its 
maximum,  and  the  comparatively  little-known  island  of  Banca, 
lying  between  Borneo  and  Sumatra  produces  2  species  of  the 
same  Family,  one  representing  a  form  which  inhabits  the  whole 
Subregion  and  extends  to  China  and  Siam,  the  other  allied  to 
2  species,  the  first  ranging  from  Nepal  to  Malacca,  and  the  second 
inhabiting  the  Philippines,  Borneo,  and  Sumatra.^ 

Sumatra  must  be  considered  next,  and  perhaps  it  ought  to  have 

^  Annali  del  Museo  Civico  di  Storia  Naturale  di  Genova,  v.  pp.  1-430. 

^  It  is  perhaps  needless  here  to  specify  all  the  papers  on  this  subject.  Dr. 
Sharpe  has  communicated  more  than  a  dozen  to  The  Ibis  and  Zoological  Pro- 
ceedings, beginning  with  the  year  1876  ;  Herr  von  Pelzeln  three  to  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Zoologico-botanical  Society  of  Vienna,  in  which  also  appeared  in 
1883  an  excellent  list  by  Prof.  W.  Blasius  ;  while  in  conjunction  with  Herr 
Nehrkorn  and  the  late  Dr.  Kutter  others  will  be  found  in  the  Journal  filr 
Ornithologie  and  Yearbook  of  the  Natural  History  Society  of  Brunswick  ;  and 
in  that  of  the  similar  Society  of  Bremen  for  1876,  1877,  and  1878  Dr.  Briigge- 
mann  has  published  three  more. 

^  Natuurhundig  Tijdschrift  von  Nederlandsch-  Indie.  Deel  xlvi.  Aflev.  3. 
This  is  a  mere  list  of  names  :  for  a  more  critical  catalogue  see  that  of  Prof. 
Blasius. 

*  "A  List  of  the  Birds  of  the  Bornean  Group  of  Islands,"  Joum.  R.  Asiat. 
Soc.  Straits  Branch,  No.  20,  pp.  91-212,  and  maj)  (1889). 

^  A  reputed  iifth,  Anais,  referred  to  Artamidse,  is  suspected  to  be  founded  on 
a  manufactured  specimen  ! 

^  On  this  point  compare  Mr.  Hume's  remark  {Stray  Feathers,  ii.  p.  475). 


GERANOMORPH^.  363 


been  taken  after  Malacca,  from  which  it  is  divided  by  so  nari'ow  a 
channel.  The  northern  j^art  of  this  island  is  still  little  known, 
but  the  ornithology  of  some  districts  at  each  of  its  ends  has  of  late 
been  more  or  less  examined,^  with  the  eifect  of  setting  aside  details 
formerly  accepted  though  not  of  announcing  new  results.  All  that 
can  be  said  here  is  that  its  Avifauna  is  much  allied  to  that  both  of 
Malacca  and  Borneo,  but  it  seems  to  have  less  peculiarity  than 
the  latter's.  No  Megapode  has  yet  been  found  in  the  island,  and 
but  three  species  of  Fitta. 

We  then  have  Java,  the  best-explored,  the  most  thickly-peopled, 
and,  proportionately  to  its  Avifauna,  the  most  peculiar,  perhaps,  of 
the  Indo-Malay  Islands.  According  to  Dr.  Vorderman,  who  in 
1884  summarized  a  long  series  of  valuable  papers  published 
by  him  in  the  Natural -history  Joiurnal  of  Netherlandish  India  by 
issuing  a  List  of  the  Birds  from  Java,"^  which  are  404  in  number, 
whereof  307  are  Land-birds.  He  simultaneously  put  forth  an  alpha- 
betical index  to  the  species  which  have  been  recorded  from  Batavia, 
and  has  since  produced  two  other  papers  ^  on  Birds  obtained  at  as 
many  stations  in  Western  Java.  Still  a  comparison  of  the  Avifauna 
with  that  of  the  neighbouring  islands  is  yet  to  be  made,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  this  naturalist  from  his  intimate  acquaintance  with 
this  part  of  the  Subregion  will  in  due  time  accomplish  it.  General 
remarks  from  a  compiler  would  here  be  futile,  but  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  several  Burmese  species  which  have  been  said  not  to 
occur  in  the  Malay  Peninsula  south  of  Penang  reappear  in  Java — 
among  them  a  beautiful  PEACOCK,  Pave  midicus. 

Of  Bali,  so  interesting  as  the  southern  limit  of  the  Indian 
Region,  we  only  know  from  Mr.  Wallace  that  he  saw  there  several 
Birds  highly  characteristic  of  Javan  ornithology,  but  whether  the 
island  has  any  peculiar  species  nowhere  appears;  it  will  be  seen,  how- 
ever, from  the  preceding  statements  that  Bali  stands  not  alone  in  the 
Indo-Malay  Archipelago  as  requiring  further  investigation,  and  a 
comparative  "view  of  the  Avifauna  of  its  component  parts  is  still 
greatly  needed.  We  are  now  brought  to  the  brink  of  that  remark- 
able Strait  through  which  runs  "  Wallace's  Line,"  and  crossing  it 
we  find  ourselves  in  the  Australian  Region,  of  which  we  have 
already  treated. 

GERANOMORPH^,  the  second  group  of  Prof.  Huxley's  Sub- 
order ScHizoGNATHL^  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.   1867,  p.  457),  of  which  he' 

^  Cf.  Tweeddale,  Ibis,  1877,  pp.  283-323  ;  Wardlaw-Ramsay,  Froc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1880,  pp.  13-16  (Mr.  Carl  Bock's  collection) ;  Nicholson,  Ibis,  1882,  pp.  51-65 
(Mr.  H.  0.  Forbes's  collection) ;  Salvadori,  Ann.  Mus.  Genova,  xiv.  pp.  169-253, 
(2)  iv.  pp.  514-563  ;  Biittikofer,  Notes  Leyden  IIus.  ix.  pp.  1-96. 

2  Cf.  Natuurk.  Tijdschr.  Nederlandsch-Indie,  xliv.  Aflev.  3. 

8  Op.  cit.  xlv.  Aflev.  3  ;  xlvi.  Aflev.  1. 


364  GERFALCON— GNA  T 

considered  the  Cranes  and  Eails  the  typical  forms.  Whether  the 
Bustards  and  Seriema  should  be  also  added  seemed  questionable ; 
but  the  former  connect  it  with  the  Charadriomorpile  and  the 
latter  with  the  Aetomorph^. 

GEEFALCON",  see  Gyrfalcon. 

GERYGONE,  Gould's  name,  now  used  as  English,  for  a  genus 
of  uncertain  position,  generally  placed  among  the  Muscicapida} 
(Flycatcher),  but  shearing  great  resemblance  to  some  Sylviidse 
(Warbler),  and  especially  to  the  Hypolais-gronp.  Six  species  were 
recognized  by  him  as  inhabiting  Australia,  and  nearly  two  dozen 
more,  from  the  Philippines,  Borneo,  New  Guinea,  Norfolk  Island, 
New  Zealand,  and  other  islands,  have  been  referred  to  this  genus, 
most  of  which  Dr.  Sharpe  has  since  separated  (Notes  Leyd.  Mxis. 
1879,  p.  29)  under  the  name  of  Pseudogerygone.  The  Australian 
and  New-Zealand  forms  are  inconspicuous  little  birds,  building  a 
pensile  domed  nest,  and  are  among  the  commonest  foster-parents  of 
the  Cuckows  of  their  respective  countries  (//.  North,  Descr.  Cat. 
Nests  &  Eggs  of  B.  Austrcd.  pp.  97-100 ;  Buller,  B.  New  Zeal  ed.  2, 
i.  pp.  45-48).  " 

GIER-EAGLE  (Dutch  Geier,  Vulture),  the  rendering  by  English 
translators  of  the  Bible  of  the  Hebrew  Eacham  (Levit.  xi.  18; 
Deut.  xiv.  17),  said  by  Canon  Tristram  to  be  the  equivalent  of  the 
Arabic  Rachnah,  the  vernacular  name  of  the  Egyptian  Vulture, 
Nephron  percnopteriis. 

GILLY-HOWLET,  a  Scottish  nickname  for  the  Barn- Owl, 
Akico  flammeus,  "Gilly"  being  an  abbreviation  of  Gillian  (  =  Juliana), 
comparable  with  Jack-DAW,  Mag-PiE,  Robin-REDBREAST,  Tom-TiT, 
and  others. 

GLASOOGJE  ( =  Glass-eye),  the  name  given  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Cape  Colony  to  the  common  species  of  Zosterops,  Z.  capensis, 
found  in  that  country  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p.  116);  but  the 

GLASS-EYE  of  Jamaica  is  a  Thrush,  Turdus  jamaicensis  (see 
Gosse,  B.  Jamaica,  p.  142).  In  the  former  case  the  name  is  given 
from  the  ring  of  white  feathers  surrounding  the  eye,  in  the  latter 
from  the  colom-  of  the  iris. 

GLEAD  or  GLED  (A.S.  Glida;  Sw.  Glada),  an  old  EngHsh 
name  not  wholly  obsolete  for  the  Kite,  referring  to  its  gliding 
flight. 

GNAT,  the  same  as  Knot,^  according  to  Sir  Thomas  Browne 

^  In  this  connexion  Mr.  Charles  Swainson  {Prov.  Names  Br.  B.  p.  194)  un- 
happily quotes  the  line 

"The  little  Gnat-snap,  worthy  princes'  boords," 
to  be  found  in  the  translation  by  Josuah  Sylvester,  who  died  in  1618  {  Works,  ed. 


GNA  T-CA  TC HER— GOD  U  VT  365 

(JForls,  ed.  Wilkin,  iv.  p.  319).  The  similar  double  use  of  the 
Fi-ench  Maringouin,  for  a  gnat  or  mosquito  and  a  small  shore- 
bird  (Descourtilz,  Voyage  d'un  Natural,  ii.  p.  249),  is  an  analogous 
case,  and  would  tend  to  shew  that  the  supposed  derivation  of  Knot 
from  Cnut  or  Canute  may  be  dismissed  as  a  fable ;  but 

GNAT-CATCHER  was  the  name  applied  by  Richardson  in  1831 
(Faun.  Bor.-Am.  ii.  p.  223)  to  birds  of  the  genus  Setophaga,  com- 
monly called  in  North  America  Redstarts,  though  belonging  to  a 
very  different  Family  {Mniotiltidai)  from  the  rightful  owner  of  the 
name.  It  has  been  revived  of  recent  years  in  a  wholly  different 
sense  for  members  of  the  genus  PoUoptila,  so  called  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1855,  p.  11)  from  their  characteristic  hoary -grey  colouring,  whereof 
three  species  are  found  in  the  United  States,  while  some  half-dozen 
others,  or  perhaps  more,  are  natives  of  the  Neotropical  Region. 
The  genus  PoUoptila  is  referred  to  the  Family  Sulviidse  (Warbler), 
and  the  birds  belonging  to  it  were  in  1837  called  by  Swainson 
{Classif.  ^.  i.  p.  37) 

GNAT-SNAPPER,  but  the  name  has  not  become  current  in 
Eno'land. 


'O* 


GOATSUCKER,  one  of  the  most  common  names  of  the  Night- 
jar, having  an  equivalent  in  almost  every  European  language,  and 
thereby  testifying  to  the  widespread  belief  in  the  malpractice  it 
attributes  to  its  unfortunate  bearer. 

GOD  WIT,  a  word  of  unknown  origin,^  the  name  commonly 
applied  to  a  marsh-bird  in  great  repute,  when  fattened,  for  the 
table,  and  formerly  abundant  in  the  fens  of  Norfolk,  the  Isle  of  Ely, 
and  Lincolnshire.  In  Turner's  days  (1544)  it  was  worth  three 
times  as  much  as  a  Snipe  (see  Fedoa),  and  at  the  same  period  Belon 

Grosart,  The  Divine  Workes  and  Weakes,  5th  day,  Ist  week,  i.  p.  67,  line  714)  of 
a  poem  by  Du  Bartas  ;  but  the  word  thus  rendered,  is  in  the  original  (line  657) 
Bennaric,  exjilained  by  French  editors  or  commentators  to  mean  a  Bccquefigue  or 
Ficedula  (Fig-eater),  and  by  Buffon  and  Holland,  who  spell  it  Bennaric,  referred 
to  the  Oktolan  ;  but  in  neither  case  has  it  anything  to  do  with  the  bird  called 
Gnat  or  Knot  in  English. 

^  In  the  absence  of  any  plausible  derivation  of  this  word  or  explanation  of  its 
meaning  it  may  be  allowable  to  point  out  that  the  Greek  AiyoK^cpaXos,  Latin 
^gocephalus,  signifying  Goathead,  was  long  ago  the  name  of  some  bird,  and  that 
Belon,  who  knew  the  Greek  of  his  day,  believed  some  species  of  Limosa  to  be 
thereby  understood.  Philologists,  on  whose  province  I  have  no  wash  to  intrude, 
may  perhaps  shew  that  the  word  Goathead,  if  ever  used  in  this  country,  was  capable 
of  being  corrupted  into  Godwit.  At  the  same  time  it  may  be  remarked  that  the 
original  AUgoceinlialus  was  possibly  the  Snipe,  whose  Goat-like  bleating  song  has 
obtained  for  it  in  many  countries  such  names  as  Bleatee,  Chevi-e-volant,  and 
others.  Sundevall,  however,  suggests  that  the  AlyoKecpaXos  of  Aristotle  is  a 
miswriting  for  At70^TjXas  —  Capriinulgus. 


366  GOD  WIT 


said  of  it — "  C'est  vn  Oyseau  es  delices  des  Fran^oys."  Casaubon, 
who  Latinized  its  name  "Z^ei  ingenium"  (Ephemerides,  1 9th  September 
1611),  was  told  by  the  "  ornithotrophseus"  he  visited  at  Wisbech  that 
in  London  it  fetched  twenty  pence.  Its  fame  as  a  delicacy  is  per- 
petuated by  many  later  writers,  Ben  Jonson  among  them,  and 
Pennant  says  that  in  his  time  (1766)  it  sold  for  half-a-crown  or  five 
shillings.  Under  the  name  Godwit  two  distinct  species  of  British 
birds  are  included,  but  that  which  seems  to  have  been  especially 
prized  is  known  to  modern  ornithologists  as  the  Black- tailed 
Grodwit,  the  Scolopax  limosa  of  Linnoeus,  the  Limosa  belgica,  segoce- 
phala,  or  melanura  of  other  authors,  formerly  called,  from  its  loud 
cry,  a  Yarwhelp,^  Shrieker,  or  Barker,  in  the  districts  it  inhabited. 
The  practice  of  netting  this  bird  in  large  numbers  during  the  spring 
and  summer,  coupled  "with  the  gradual  reclamation  of  the  fens,  to 
which  it  resorted,  has  now  rendered  it  but  a  visitor ;  and  it 
probably  ceased  from  breeding  regularly  in  England  in  1824  or 
thereabouts,  though  under  favourable  conditions  it  may  have  occa- 
sionally laid  its  eggs  for  some  thirty  years  later  or  more  (Stevenson, 
B.  Norf.  ii.  p.  250).  This  Godwit  is  a  species  of  wide  range,  reach- 
ing Iceland,  where  it  is  called  Jardra&kd  (  =  earth-raker),  in  summer, 
and  occurring  numerously,  it  is  said,  in  India  in  winter.  Its  chief 
breeding-quarters  seem  to  extend  from  Holland  eastwards  to  the 
south  of  Russia.  The  second  British  species  is  that  which  is 
known  as  the  Bar-tailed  Godwit,  the  Scolopax,  lapponica  of  Linnaeus, 
the  L.  lapjjonica  or  mfa  of  modern  authors,^  and  this  seems  to 
have  never  been  more  than  a  bird  of  double  passage  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  arriving  in  large  flocks  on  the  south  coast  about  the 
12th  of  May  (hence  known  as  Godwit-day),  and,  after  staying  a 
few  days,  proceeding  to  the  north-eastward.  It  is  known  to  breed 
in  Lapland,  but  its  eggs  are  of  great  rarity.  Towards  autumn  the 
young  visit  our  coasts,  and  a  few  of  them  remain,  together  with 
some  of  the  other  species,  in  favourable  situations,  throughout  the 
winter.  One  of  the  local  names  by  which  the  Bar-tailed  Godmt  is 
known  to  the  Norfolk  gunners  is  Scamell,  a  word  which,  in  the 
mouth  of  Caliban  {Tempest,  act  ii.  scene  2),  has  been  the  cause  of 
much  pei-plexity  to  Shakespearian  critics. 

The  Godwits  belong  to  the  group  Limicolx,  and  are  about  as  big 
as  a  tame  Pigeon,  but  possess  long  legs,  and  a  long  bill  with  a  slight 
upward  turn.  In  the  genus  Limosct  the  female  is  larger  and  more 
conspicuously  coloured  than  the  male,  who  is  believed  to  take  the 
chief  duty  of  incubation  on  himself.  AVhile  the  winter  plumage  is 
of  a  sober  greyish  brown,  the  breeding-dress  is  marked  by  a  pre- 

^  This  name  seems  to  have  survived  in  Whelp  Moor,  as  part  of  the  fen  between 
Ely  and  Brandon  used  to  be  called. 

-  L.  meyeri  of  some  authors  seems  to  be  the  male  of  tliis  species  in  his  in- 
cubating plumage. 


GOLDCREST  367 

dominance  of  bright  bay  or  chestnut,  rendering  the  wearer  a  very- 
beautiful  object.  The  Black-tailed  Godwit,  though  varying  a  good 
deal  in  size,  is  constantly  larger  than  the  Bar-tailed,  and  especially 


GoDWiT.     (After  Swainson.) 

longer  in  the  legs.  The  species  may  be  further  distinguished  by 
the  former  having  the  proximal  third  of  the  tail-quills  pure  white, 
and  the  distal  two-thirds  black,  with  a  narrow  white  margin,  while 
the  latter  has  the  same  feathers  barred  with  black  and  white  alter- 
nately for  nearly  their  whole  length. 

America  possesses  two  species  of  the  genus,  the  very  large 
Marbled  Godwit  or  Marlin,  L.  fedoa,  easily  recognized  by  its  size 
and  the  buff  colour  of  its  axillaries,  and  the  smaller  Hudsonian 
Godwit,  L.  hudsonica,  which  has  its  axillaries  of  a  deep  black.  This 
last,  though  less  numerous  than  its  congener,  seems  to  range  over 
the  whole  of  the  continent,  breeding  in  the  extreme  north,  while  it 
has  been  obtained  also  in  the  Strait  of  Magellan  and  the  Falkland 
Islands.  The  first  seems  not  to  go  further  southward  than  the 
Antilles  and  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 

From  Asia,  or  at  least  its  eastern  part,  two  species  have  been 
described.  One  of  them,  L.  melamtroides,  differs  only  from  L.  belgica 
in  its  smaller  size,  and  is  believed  to  breed  in  Amurland,  wintering 
in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  New  Zealand,  and  Australia.  The 
other,  L.  uropygialis,  is  closely  allied  to  and  often  mistaken  for  L. 
lapponica,  from  which  it  chiefly  differs  by  having  the  rump  barred 
like  the  tail.  This  was  found  breeding  in  the  extreme  north  of 
Siberia  by  Dr.  von  Middendorff,  and  ranges  to  Australia,  Avhence  it 
was  first  described  by  Mr.  Gould. 

GOLDCREST,  a  commonly  used  abbreviation  of  Golden-crested 
(also  called  Golden-crowned)  Wren,  the  Motadlla  regidus  of  Linnaeus, 
and  liegiduR  cridatus  of  most  modern  ornithologists.  This  species 
is  the  type  of  a  small  genus  ^  generally  placed  among  the  Sylviidai 
or  true  Warblers,  but  by  certain  Avriters  it  is  referred  to  the 
Paridx  (Titmouse).  That  the  Begnli  possess  many  of  the  habits 
and  actions  of  the  latter  is  undeniable,  but  on  the  other  hand  they 
are  not  known  to  differ  in  any  important  points  of  organization  or 
appearance  from  the  former — the  chief  distinction  being  that  the 

^  Tlie  name  Kinglet,  a  literal  rendering  of  Regulus,  has  been  applied  to  the 
birds  of  this  group  in  many  books,  but  cannot  be  said  to  have  become  in  this 
sense  an  English  word. 


368  GOLDEN-EYE 


nostril  is  covered  by  a  single  bristly  feather  directed  forwards. 
The  Golden-crested  Wren  is  the  smallest  of  British  birds,  its  whole 
length  being  about  3  inches  and  a  half,  and  its  wing  measui'ing 
only  2  inches  from  the  carpal  joint.  Generally  of  an  olive-green 
colour,  the  top  of  its  head  is  bright  yellow,  deepening  into  orange, 
and  bounded  on  either  side  by  a  black  line,  while  the  wing- coverts 
are  dull  black,  and  some  of  them  tipped  with  white,  forming  a 
somewhat  conspicuous  bar.  The  cock  has  a  pleasant  but  weak 
song.  The  nest  is  a  beautiful  object,  thickly  felted  of  the  softest 
moss,  wool,  and  spiders'  webs,  lined  with  feathers,  and  usually  built 
under  and  near  the  end  of  the  branch  of  a  yew,  fir,  or  cedar,  sup- 
ported by  the  interweaving  of  two  or  three  laterally  diverging  and 
pendent  twigs,  and  sheltered  by  the  rest.  The  eggs  are  from  six 
to  ten  in  number,  of  a  dull  white  sometimes  finely  freckled  with 
reddish-brown.  The  species  is  particularly  social,  living  for  the 
most  of  the  year  in  family-parties,  and  often  joining  bands  of  any 
species  of  Titmouse  in  a  common  search  for  food.  Though  to  be 
met  with  in  Britain  at  all  seasons,  the  bird  in  autumn  visits  the 
east  coast  in  enormous  flocks,  apparently  emigrants  from  Scandi- 
navia, while  hundreds  perish  in  crossing  the  North  Sea,  where  they 
are  well  known  to  the  fishermen  as  "  Woodcock's  Pilots,"  from 
their  generally  preceding  by  a  few  days  the  advent  of  those  regular 
immigrants.  A  second  and  more  local  European  species  is  the 
Fire-crested  Wren,  E.  ignicajnllus,  easily  recognizable  by  the 
black  streak  on  each  side  of  the  head,  before  and  behind  the  eye, 
and  conspicuous  white  streak  above  it,  as  well  as  by  the  deeper 
colour  of  its  crown.  A  third  and  fourth  species,  E.  maderensis  and 
E.  teneriffse,  inhabit  Madeira  and  the  Canary  Islands,  being  peculiar 
to  each  gi-oup  respectively ;  and  examples  from  the  Himalayas  and 
Japan  have  been  difterentiated  as  E.  Mmalayensis  and  E.  japonims. 
North  America  has  two  well-known  species,  E.  satrapa,  very  like 
the  European  E.  ignicapillus,  and  the  Ruby-crowned  Wren,  E.  calen- 
dula, which  is  remarkable  for  a  loud  song  that  has  been  compared 
to  that  of  a  Canary-bird  or  a  Sky-lark,  and  for  ha^dng  the  character- 
istic nasal  feather  in  a  rudimentary  or  aborted  condition.^ 

GOLDEN-EYE,  a  name  indiscriminately  given  in  many  parts 
of  Britain  to  two  very  distinct  species  of  DuCKS,  from  the  rich 
yellow  colour  of  their  irides.  The  commonest  of  them — the  Anas 
fidigtda  of  Linnaeus  and  Fuligula  cristata  of  most  modern  ornitholo- 

1  Under  the  name  oi  H.  modeslus,  or  "  Dalmatian  Rpgiilus"  of  some  English 
authors,  two  very  distinct  species  are  now  known  to  have  been  confounded,  both 
belonging  really  to  the  group  of  WiLLOW-"\VnENS,  and  having  nothing  to  do 
with  Begulus.  One,  which  has  occurred  in  Britain,  is  the  Motacilla  superciliosa 
of  old  or  Phylloscopus  su'perciUosus  of  modern  authors,  and  is  a  native  of  northern 
Asia,  visiting  Europe  nearly  every  year,  and  the  other,  also  of  Asiatic  origin,  is 
the  Motacilla  or  Fhylloscojjus  proregulus. 


GOLDEN-EYE  369 


gists — is,  hoAvever,  usually  called  by  English  writers  the  Tufted 
Duck,  while  "Golden-eye"  is  reserved  in  books  for  the  A.  dangula 
and  A.  glaucion  of  LinnjBus,  -who  did  not  know  that  the  birds  he  so 
named  were  but  examples  of  the  same  species, 
diftering  only  in  age  or  sex  ;  and  to  this  day 
many  foAvlers  perpetuate  a  like  mistake, 
deeming  the  "  Morillon,"  which  is  the  female 
or  young  male,  distinct  from  the  "  Golden- 
eye  '"'  or  "  Rattle  wings  "  (as  from  its  noisy 
flight  they  oftener  call  it),  which  is  the  adult  , . ,     ^,    . 

°  -^,  .  •        1     1  1  Golden-eye.    (After  Swamson.) 

male,      ihis   species  belongs  to  the  group 

known  as  Diving  Ducks,  and  is  the  type  of  the  very  well-marked 
genus  Ctangula  of  later  systematists,  which,  among  other  differ- 
ences, has  the  posterior  end  of  the  sternum  prolonged  so  as  to 
extend  considerably  over,  and,  we  may  not  unreasonably  suppose, 
protect  the  belly — a  character  possessed  in  a  still  greater  degree 
by  the  Merginm  (Merganser),  while  the  males  also  exhibit 
in  the  extraordinarily  developed  bony  labyrinth  of  their  trachea 
and  its  midway  enlargement  another  resemblance  to  the  members  of 
the  same  subfamily.  The  Golden-eye,  C.  glaucion  of  modern  writers, 
has  its  home  in  the  northern  parts  of  both  hemispheres,  whence  in 
Avinter  it  migrates  southward  ;  but  as  it  is  one  of  the  Ducks  that  con- 
stantly resorts  to  hollow  trees  for  the  purpose  of  breeding,  it  hardly 
transcends  the  limit  of  the  Arctic  forests  on  either  continent.^ 

The  adult  male  is  mostly  black  above,  but  with  the  head,  which 
is  slightly  crested,  reflecting  rich  green  lights,  a  large  oval  white 
patch  under  each  eye,  and  elongated  white  scapulars ;  the  lower 
parts  are  wholly  white  and  the  feet  bright  orange,  except  the  Avebs, 
Avhich  are  dusky.  In  the  female  and  young  male,  dark  brown 
replaces  the  black,  the  cheek-spots  are  indistinct,  and  the  elongated 
white  scapulars  Avanting.  The  Golden-eye  of  North  America  has 
been  by  some  authors  deemed  to  differ,  and  has  been  named  C. 
americana,  but  apparently  on  insufficient  grounds.  That  country, 
however,  has  in  common  Avith  Greenland  and  Iceland  a  very  dis- 
tinct species,  C.  islandica,  often  called  Barrow's  Duck,  Avhich  is  but 
a  rare  straggler  to  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  not,  so  far  as 
knoAvn,   to   Britain.-       In   Iceland    and   Greenland  it  is   the   only 

^  So  Avell  known  is  this  habit  to  the  people  of  the  northern  districts  of  Scan- 
dinavia that  they  very  commonly  devise  artificial  nest-boxes  for  its  accommoda- 
tion and  their  own  profit.  Hollow  logs  of  wood  are  prepared,  the  top  and 
bottom  closed,  and  a  hole  cut  in  the  side.  These  are  affixed  to  the  trunks  of 
living  trees  in  suitable  places,  at  a  convenient  distance  from  the  gi-ound,  and, 
being  readily  occupied  by  the  birds  in  the  breeding-season,  are  regularly  robbed, 
first  of  the  numerous  eggs,  and  finally  of  the  down  they  contain,  by  those  who 
have  set  them  up. 

-  The  recorded  instance  {Zool.  p.  9038)  is  on  worthless  authority. 

24 


370  GOLDFINCH 

habitual  representative  of  the  genus,  and  it  occurs  from  thence  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  In  breeding-habits  it  differs  from  the 
commoner  species,  not  placing  its  eggs  in  tree-holes ;  but  how  far 
this  difference  is  voluntary  may  be  doubted,  for  in  the  countries  it 
frequents  trees  are  wanting.  It  is  a  larger  and  stouter  bird,  and 
in  the  male  the  white  cheek-patches  take  a  more  crescentic  form, 
while  the  head  is  glossed  with  purple  rather  than  green,  and  the 
white  scapulars  are  not  elongated.  The  New  World  also  possesses  a 
y  third  and  still  more  beautiful  species  of  the  genus  in  G.  albeola, 

i^^^v^A-;  known  in  books  as  the  Buffle-headed  Duck,  and  to  American^f owlers 
'^  ,  J  ^^  ^^6  "  Spirit-Duck  "  and  "  Butter-ball " — the  former  name  being 
CffV^^t'^  applied  from  its  rapidity  in  diving,  and  the  latter  from  its  exceed- 
ing fatness  in  autumn.  This  is  of  small  size,  but  the  lustre  of  the 
feathers  in  the  male  is  brilliant,  and  exhibits  a  deep  plum- 
coloured  gloss  on  the  head.  It  breeds  in  trees,  and  is  supposed  to 
have  occurred  more  than  once  in  Britain. 

GOLDFIlSrCH  (German  Goldfink  ^)  the  Fringilla  carduelis  of  Lin- 
naeus and  the  Carduelis  elegans  of  later  authors,  an  extremely  well- 
known  bird  found  over  the  greater  parts  of  Europe  and  North  Africa, 
and  eastwards  to  Persia  and  Turkestan.  Its  gay  plumage  is  matched 
by  its  sprightly  nature ;  and  together  they  make  it  one  of  the  most 
favourite  cage-birds  among  all  classes.  As  a  songster  it  is  indeed 
surpassed  by  many  other  species,  but  its  docility  and  ready  attach- 
ment to  its  master  or  mistress  make  up  foi-  any  defect  in  its  vocal 
powers.  In  some  parts  of  England  the  trade  in  Goldfinches  is  very 
considerable.  In  1860  Mr.  Hussey  reported  (Zool.  p.  7144)  the 
average  annual  captures  near  Worthing  to  exceed  11,000  dozens — 
nearly  all  being  cock-birds ;  and  a  Avitness  before  a  committee  of 
the  House  of  Commons  in  1873  stated  that,  when  a  boy,  he  could 
take  forty  dozens  in  a  morning  near  Brighton.  In  these  districts 
and  others  the  number  has  of  late  years  become  much  reduced, 
owing  doubtless  in  part  to  the  fatal  practice  of  catching  the  birds 
just  before  or  during  the  breeding  season ;  but  perhaps  the 
strongest  cause  of  their  growing  scarcity  throughout  the  kingdom 
has  been  the  constant  breaking-up  of  waste  lands,  and  the  extirpation 
of  Aveeds  (particularly  of  the  Order  Comjyosifa})  essential  to  the  im- 
proved system  of  agriculture  ;  for  in  many  parts  of  Scotland,  East 
Lothian  for  instance,  where  Goldfinches  were  once  more  plentiful 
than  Sparrows,  they  are  now  only  rare  stragglers,  and  yet  there  they 
have  not  been  thinned  by  netting.  Though  Goldfinches  may 
occasionally  be  observed  in  the  coldest  Aveather,  incomparably  the 
largest  number  leaA^e  Britain  in  autumn,  returning  in  spring,  and 
resorting  to   our   gardens  and  orchards  to  breed,  when  the  lively 

^  The  more  common  German  name,  however,  is  Distelfink  (Thistle-Finch)  or 
aticglitz. 


GOLDING— GOOSE  371 

song  of  the  cock,  and  the  bright  yellow  mngs  of  both  sexes, 
quickly  attract  the  notice  of  even  the  unobservant.  The  nest  is  a 
beautifully  neat  structure,  often  placed  at  no  great  height  from  the 
ground,  but  generally  so  well  hidden  by  the  leafy  bough  on  which 
it  is  built  as  not  to  be  easily  found,  until,  the  young  being  hatched, 
the  constant  visits  of  the  parents  reveal  its  site.  When  the  broods 
leave  the  nest  they  move  into  the  more  open  country,  and  fre- 
quenting pastures,  commons,  heaths,  and  downs,  assemble  in  large 
flocks  towards  the  end  of  summer.  Eastward  of  the  range  of 
the  present  species  its  place  is  taken  by  its  congener  C.  caniceps, 
which  is  easily  recognized  by  wanting  the  black  hood  and  white 
ear-coverts  of  our  own  bird.  Its  home  seems  to  be  in  Central  Asia, 
but  it  moves  southward  in  Avinter,  being  common  at  that  season  in 
Cashmere,  and  it  is  not  unfrequently  brought  for  sale  to  Calcutta. 
The  position  of  the  genus  Carduelis  in  the  Family  Fringillidae 
(Finch)  is  not  very  clear.  Structurally  it  would  seem'  to  have 
some  relation  to  Chrysomitris  (Siskin),  though  the  members  of  the 
two  groups  Have  very  different  habits,  and  perhaps  its  nearest  kin- 
ship lies  with  Coccothraustes  (Rawfincb.). 

GOLDING,  see  Gaulding. 

GOM-PAAUW  (Gum-Peafowl)  the  colonial  name  for  Otis 
cristata  or  kati,  the  largest  species  of  Bustard  inhabiting  South 
Africa  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afnca,  p.  283),  so  called  because  it  is 
believed  to  feed  largely  on  the  gum  of  the  Mimosa-bushes  growing 
on  the  plains  which  it  affects.  /   >. 

C^OOJi/tK    Of-  CAKl^^'dd  ) 

GOOSANDER,  or,  a§  formerly  spelt,i  GOSSANDER,  probably 
from  old  Norsk  Gas  (A.S.  G6s)  and  0iul,  pi.  Andir  (Dan.  And], 
meaning  therefore  "  Goose-Duck,"  the  ordinary  name  of  the  largest 
species  of  Mergus  (Merganser),  apparently  applied  first  in  Lincoln- 
shire, where  so  many  words  of  Scandinavian  origin  have  lingered ; 
but  now  in  general  use. 

GOOSE  (A.S.  G6s),  the  general  English  name  for  a  considerable 
number  of  birds,  belonging  to  the  Family  Anatidx  of  modern 
ornithologists,  which  are  mostly  larger  than  Ducks  and  less  than 
Swans.  Technically  the  word  Goose  is  reserved  for  the  female,  the 
male  being  called  Gander,  while  the  young  is  a  Gosling. 

The  most  important  species  of  Goose,  and  the  type  of  the  genus 
Anser,  is  undoubtedly  that  which  is  the  origin  of  our  well-known 
domestic  race,  the  Anser  ferus  or  A.  cinereus  of  most  naturalists, 
commonly  called  in  English  the  Grey  or  Grey  Lag  ^  Goose,  a  bird 

1  Drayton  (1622)  PolyolMon,   Song  xxv.  ;  Merrett  (1667)  Pinax,  p.  184. 

2  The  meaning  and  derivation  of  this  word  Lag  had  long  been  a  puzzle  until 
Prof.   Skeat  suggested  {Ihis,  1870,  p.   301)  that  it  signified  late,  last,  or  slow, 


372  GOOSE 

of  exceedingly  wide  i-ange  in  the  Old  World,  apparently  breeding 
where  suitable  localities  are  to  be  found  in  most  European  countries 
from  Lapland  to  Spain  and  Bulgaria.  Eastwards  it  extends  to 
China,  but  does  not  seem  to  be  known  in  Japan.  It  is  the  only 
species  indigenous  to  the  British  Islands,  and  in  former  days  bred 
abundantly  in  the  English  Fen-country,  where  the  young  were 
caught  in  large  numbers  and  kept  in  a  more  or  less  reclaimed  con- 
dition with  the  vast  flocks  of  tame-bred  Geese  that  at  one  time 
formed  so  valuable  a  property  to  the  dwellers  in  and  around  the 
Fens.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  when  the  Avild  Grey  Lag 
Goose  ceased  from  breeding  in  England,  but  it  certainly  did  so 
towards  the  end  of  the  last  century,  for  Daniel,  in  or  about  1802, 
mentions  {Piural  Sports,  iii.  p.  242)  his  having  once  obtained  two 
broods  in  a  season.  In  Scotland  this  Goose  continues  to  breed 
sparingly  in  several  parts  of  the  Highlands  and  on  certain  of  the 
Hebrides,  the  nests  being  generally  placed  in  long  heather  and  the 
eggs  seldom  exceeding  five  or  six  in  number.  It  is  most  likely  the 
birds  reared  here  that  are  from  time  to  time  obtained  in  England, 
for  at  the  present  day  the  Grey  Lag  Goose,  though  once  so 
numerous,  is,  and  for  many  years  has  been,  the  rarest  species  of 
those  that  habitually  resort  to  the  British  Islands.  The  domestica- 
tion of  this  species,  as  Mr.  Darwin  remarks  {Animals  and  Plants 
under  Domestication,  i.  p.  287),  is  doubtless  of  very  ancient  date, 
and  yet  scarcely  any  other  animal  that  has  been  tamed  for  so  long 
a  period,  and  bred  so  largely  in  captivity,  has  varied  so  little.  It 
has  increased  greatly  in  size  and  fecundity,  but  almost  the  only 
change  in  plumage  is  that  tame  Geese  lose  the  browner  and  darker 
tints  of  the  wild  bird,  and  are  invariably  more  or  less  marked  with 
white — being  often  indeed  wholly  of  that  colour.^  The  most 
generally  recognized  breeds  of  domestic  Geese  are  those  to  which 
the  distinctive  names  of  Emden  and  Toulouse  are  applied ;  but  a 
singular  breed,  said  to  have  come  from  Sevastopol,  was  introduced 

as  in  laggard,  a  loiterer,  lagman,  the  last  man,  lagteeth,  the  posterior  molar  or 
"wisdom"  teeth  (as  the  latest  to  appear),  and  lagclock,  a  clock  that  is  behind 
time.  Thus  the  Grey  Lag  Goose  is  the  Grey  Goose  which  in  England  when  the 
name  was  given  was  not  migratory  but  lagged  behind  the  other  wild  species  at 
the  season  M'hen  they  betook  themselves  to  their  northern  breeding-quarters. 
In  connexion  with  this  word,  however,  must  be  noticed  the  curious  fact  men- 
tioned by  the  late  Mr.  Rowley  {Orn.  Miscell.  iii.  p.  213),  that  to  this  day  the 
flocks  of  tame  Geese  in  Lincolnshire  are  urged  on  by  their  drivers  with  the  cry 
of  "Lag'em,  Lag'em." 

^  From  the  time  of  the  Romans  white  Geese  have  been  held  in  great  estima- 
tion, and  hence,  doubtless,  they  have  been  preferred  as  breeding  stock  ;  but  the 
detestable  practice  of  plucking  Geese  alive,  continued  for  so  many  centuries,  has 
not  improbably  also  helped  to  perpetuate  this  variation,  for  it  is  well  known  to 
bird-keepers  that  a  white  feather  is  often  produced  in  place  of  one  of  the  natural 
colour  that  has  been  pulled  out. 


GOOSE  372> 

into  Western  Europe  about  the  year  1856.  In  this  the  scapulars 
are  elongated,  curled,  and  spirally  twisted,  having  their  shaft 
transparent,  and  so  thin  that  it  often  splits  into  fine  filaments, 
which,  remaining  free  for  an  inch  or  more,  often  coalesce  again.^ 

The  other  British  species  of  typical  Geese  are  the  Bean-Goose, 
A.  segetum,  the  Pink-footed,  A.  brachyrhyncJms,  and  the  White- 
fronted,  A.  alhifrons.  On  the  continent  of  Europe,  but  not  yet 
recognized  as  occurring  in  Britain,  is  a  small  form  of  the  last,  A. 
erythropus,  which  is  known  to  breed  in  Lapland.  All  these,  for  the 
sake  of  discrimination,  may  be  divided  into  two  groups — (1)  those 
having  the  "  nail "  at  the  tip  of  the  bill  white,  or  of  a  very  pale 
flesh  colour,  and  (2)  those  in  which  this  "  nail "  is  black.  To  the 
former  belong  the  Grey  Lag  Goose,  as  well  as  A.  albifrons  and  A. 
erythropus,  and  to  the  latter  the  other  two.  A.  albifrons  and  A. 
erythropus,  which  hardly  diff'er  but  in  size, — the  last  being  not 
much  bigger  than  a  Mallard, — may  be  readily  distinguished  from 
the  Grey  Lag  Goose  by  their  bright  orange  bill  and  legs,  and  their 
mouse-coloured  upper  wing-coverts,  to  say  nothing  of  their  very 
conspicuous  white  face  and  the  broad  black  bars  which  cross  the 
belly,  though  the  two  last  characters  are  occasionally  observable  to 
some  extent  in  the  Grey  Lag  Goose,  which  has  the  bill  and  legs 
flesh-coloured,  and  the  upper-wing  coverts  of  a  bluish-grey.  Of  the 
second  group,  with  the  black  "  nail,"  A.  segetum  has  the  bill  long, 
black  at  the  base  and  orange  in  the  middle ;  the  feet  are  also 
orange,  and  the  upper  wing- coverts  mouse -coloured,  while  A. 
brachyrhynchus  has  the  bill  short,  bright  pink  in  the  middle,  and  the 
feet  also  pink,  the  upper  wing-coverts  being  nearly  of  the  same 
bluish-grey  as  in  the  Grey  Lag  Goose.  Eastern  Asia  possesses  in 
A.  grandis  a  third  species  of  this  group,  which  chiefly  differs  from 
A.  segetum  in  its  larger  size.  In  North  America  there  is  only  one 
species  of  typical  Goose,  and  that  belongs  to  the  white-"  nailed " 
group.  It  very  nearly  resembles  A.  albifrons,  but  is  larger,  and 
has  been  described  as  distinct  under  the  name  of  A.  gambeli. 
Central  Asia  and  India  possess  in  the  Bar-headed  Goose,  A.  indicus, 

1  Want  of  space  forbids  our  entering  on  the  breeding  of  tame  Geese,  wliich 
was  formerly  so  largely  practised  in  some  English  counties,  especially  Norfolk 
and  Lincoln.  It  was  no  nncommon  thing  for  a  man  to  keep  a  stock  of  a 
thousand,  each  of  which  might  be  reckoned  to  rear  on  an  average  seven  Goslings. 
The  flocks  were  regularly  taken  to  pasture  and  water,  just  as  sheep  are,  and  the 
man  who  tended  them  was  called  the  Gooseherd,  corrupted  into  Gozzerd.  The 
birds  were  plucked  five  times  in  the  year,  and  in  autumn  the  flocks  were  driven 
to  London  or  other  large  markets.  They  travelled  at  the  rate  of  about  a  mile  an 
hour,  and  would  get  over  nearly  ten  miles  in  the  day.  For  further  particulars 
the  reader  may  be  referred  to  Pennant's  British  Zoology  ;  Montagu's  Ornithological 
Dictionary  ;  Latham's  General  History  of  Birds  ;  Stevenson's  Birds  of  Norfolk  ; 
and  Rowley's  Ornithological  Miscellany  (iii.  pp.  206-215),  where  some  account 
also  may  be  found  of  the  Goose-fatting  at  Strassburg. 


374  GOOSE 

a  bird  easily  distinguished  from  any  of  the  foregoing  by  the  char- 
acter implied  by  its  English  name ;  but  it  is  certainly  somewhat 
abnormal,  and,  indeed,  under  the  name  of  Eulabia,  has  been 
separated  from  the  genus  Amer,  which  has  no  other  member 
indigenous  to  the  Indian  Region,  nor  any  at  all  to  the  Ethiopian, 
Australian,  or  Neotropical  Regions. 

But  the  New  World  possesses  by  far  the  greatest  Avealth  of 
Anserine  forms.  Beside  others,  presently  to  be  mentioned,  its 
northern  portions  are  the  home  of  all  the  species  of  Snow-Geese 
belonsius:  to  the  a:enus  Chen.  It  is  true  that  two  of  these  are 
reported  as  having  appeared,  and  that  not  unfrequently,  in  Europe 
and  Asia  ;  but  they  possibly  have  been  but  stragglers  from  America. 
The  first  of  these  is  C.  liijixrhoreus,  the  Snow-Goose  proper,  a  bird  of 
large  size,  and  when  adult  of  a  pure  white,  except  the  primaries, 
Avhich  are  black.  This  has  long  been  deemed  a  visitor,  and  some- 
times in  considerable  numbers,  to  the  Old  World  ;  but  the  later 


Snow-Goose.  Brant  Goose. 

(After  Swainson.) 

discovery  of  a  smaller  form,  C.  albatus,  scarcely  differing  except  in 
size,  throws  some  doubt  on  the  older  records,  especially  since 
examples  which  have  recently  been  obtained  in  the  British  Islands 
undoubtedly  belong  to  this  lesser  bird,  and  it  would  be  satisfactory 
to  have  the  occurrence  in  the  Old  World  of  the  true  C.  hyperhoreus 
placed  on  a  surer  footing.  So  nearly  allied  to  the  species  last 
named  as  to  have  been  often  confounded  with  it,  is  the  Blue  winged 
Goose,  C.  cserulescens,  which  is  said  never  to  attain  a  snowy  plumage. 
Then  we  have  a  very  small  species,  long  ago  described  as  distinct 
by  Hearne,  the  Arctic  traveller,  but  until  1861  discredited  by 
ornithologists.  Its  distinctness  has  now  been  fully  recognized,  and 
it  has  received,  somewhat  luijustly,  the  name  of  C.  rossi.  Its  face 
is  adorned  with  numerous  papillae,  whence  it  has  been  removed  by 
Mr.  Elliot  to  a  separate  genus,  Exanthemops,  and  for  the  same 
reason  it  has,  for  more  than  a  century,  been  known  to  the  European 
residents  in  the  Fur  Countries  as  the  "  Horned  Wavey  " — the  last 
word  being  a  rendering  of  a  native  name,  JFawa,  which  signifies 
Goose.  Finally,  there  appears  to  belong  to  this  section  (though  it 
has  been  frequently  referred  to  another,  CJiIoephaga,  and  has  also 
been  made  the  type  of  a  distinct  genus,  Philade)  the  beautiful 
Painted  or  Emperor  Goose,  C.  canagica,  which  is  almost  peculiar  to 


GOOSE  375 

the  Aleutian  Islands,  though  straying  to  the  continent  in  winter, 
and  may  be  recognized  by  the  white  edging  of  its  remiges. 

The  southern  portions  of  the  New  World  are  inhabited  by  about 
half-a-dozen  species  of  Geese,  akin  to  the  foregoing,  but  separated 
as  the  genus  Chloephaga.  The  most  noticeable  of  them  are  the 
Eock-  or  Kelp -Goose,  C.  antardka,  and  the  Upland -Goose,  C. 
magellanica.  In  both  of  these  the  sexes  are  totally  unlike  in  colour, 
the  male  being  nearly  white,  while  the  female  is  of  a  mottled 
brown,  but  in  others  a  greater  similarity  obtains.^  Very  nearly 
allied  to  the  birds  of  this  group,  if  indeed  that  can  be  justifiably 
separated,  comes  one  which  belongs  to  the  northern  hemisphere, 
and  is  common  to  the  Old  World  as  well  as  the  New.  It  contains 
the  Geese  which  have  received  the  common  names  of  Bernacle  or 
Brant,  and  the  scientific  appellations  of  Bernida  and  Branta — for 
the  use  of  either  of  which  much  may  be  said  by  nomenclaturists. 
All  the  species  of  this  section  are  distinguished  by  their  general 
dark  sooty  coloui',  relieved  in  some  by  white  of  greater  or  less 
purity,  and  by  way  of  distinction  from  the  members  of  the  genus 
Anser,  which  are  known  as  Grey  Geese,  are  frequently  called  by 
fowlers  Black  Geese.  Of  these,  the  best-  known  both  in  Europe  and 
North  America  is  the  Brant-Goose — the  Anas  bernida  of  Linnaeus, 
and  the  B.  torquata  of  many  modern  writers — a  truly  marine  bird, 
seldom  (in  Europe  at  least)  quitting  salt  water,  and  coming  south- 
ward in  vast  flocks  towards  autumn,  frequenting  bays  and  estuaries 
on  our  coasts,  where  it  lives  chiefly  on  sea-grass  [Zostera  marititna). 
It  is  known  to  breed  in  Spitsbergen  and  in  Greenland.  A  form 
which  is  by  some  ornithologists  deemed  a  good  species,  and  called 
by  them  B.  nigricans,  occurs  chiefly  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  North 
America.  In  it  the  black  of  the  neck,  which  in  the  common  Brant 
terminates  just  above  the  breast,  extends  over  most  of  the  lower 
parts.  The  true  Bernacle-Goose,^  the  B.  leucopsis  of  most  authors, 
is  only  a  casual  visitor  to  North  America,  but  is  said  to  breed  in 
Iceland,  and  occasionally  in  Norway.  Its  usual  incunabula,  how- 
ever, still  form  one  of  the  puzzles  of  the  ornithologist,  and  the 
difiiculty  is  not  lessened  by  the  fact  that  it  will  breed  freely  in 
semi-captivity,  while  the  Brant-Goose  will  not.     From  the  latter 

^  See  Sclater  and  Salvin,  Proc.  Zool.  Society,  1876,  pp.'  361-369. 

^  The  old  fable,  perhaps  still  believed  by  the  uneducated  in  some  parts  of  the 
world,  of  Bernacle- Geese  being  produced  from  the  Barnacles  {Lepadidae,)  that 
grow  on  timber  exposed  to  salt-water,  is  not  more  absurd  than  many  that  in 
darker  ages  had  a  gi-eat  hold  of  the  popular  mind,  and  far  less  contemptible  than 
the  conceited  spirit  in  which  many  modern  zoologists  and  botanists  often  treat 
it.  They  forget  that  there  are  still  adherents  to  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous 
generation,  which  seems  to  be  hardly  less  extravagant  than  the  notion  of  birds 
growing  from  "worms,"  as  they  were  then  called.  The  mistake  of  our  fore- 
fathers is  of  course  evident,  but  that  is  no  reason  for  deriding  their  innocent 
ignorance  as  some  writers  are  fond  of  doing. 


376  GOOSE 

the  Bernacle-Goose  is  easily  distinguished  by  its  larger  size  and 
Avhite  cheeks.  Hutchins's  Goose,  B.  hutchinsi,  seems  to  be  its  true 
representative  in  the  New  World.  In  this  the  face  is  dark,  but  a 
white  crescentic  or  triangular  patch  extends  from  the  throat  on 
either  side  upwards  behind  the  eye.  Almost  exactly  similar  in 
coloration  to  the  last,  but  greatly  superior  in  size,  and  possessing 
18  rectrices,  while  all  the  foregoing  have  but  16,  is  the  common 
wild  Goose  of  America,  B.  canadensis,  which,  for  some  two  centuries 
or  more,  has  been  introduced  into  Europe,  where  it  propagates  so 
freely  that  it  has  been  included  by  nearly  all  the  ornithologists  of 
this  quarter  of  the  globe  as  a  member  of  its  fauna.  An  allied 
form,  by  some  deemed  a  species,  is  B.  leucopareia,  which  ranges  over 
the  western  part  of  North  America,  and,  though  having  1 8  rectrices, 
is  distinguished  by  a  white  collar  round  the  lower  part  of  the  neck. 
The  most  diverse  species  of  this  group  of  Geese  are  the  beautiful 
B.  ruficoUis,  a  native  of  North-eastern  Asia,  which  has  occasionally 
strayed  to  Egypt  ^  and  Western  Europe,  and  has  been  obtained 
more  than  once  in  Britain,  and  that  which  is  peculiar  to  the 
Hawaiian  archipelago,  B.  sandvicensis. 

The  largest  living  Goose  is  that  called  the  Chinese,  Guinea,  or 
Swan -Goose,  Cygnojpsis  cygnoides,  and  it  seems  to  be  the  stock 
whence  the  domestic  Geese  of  several  Eastern  countries  have 
sprung.  It  may  not  unfrequently  be  seen  in  English  farmyards, 
and  it  is  found  to  cross  readily  with  our  common  tame  Goose,  the 
offspring  being  fertile,  and  Blyth  has  said  that  these  crosses  are  very 
abundant  in  India.  The  true  home  of  the  species  is  in  Eastern 
Siberia  or  Mongolia.  It  is  distinguished  by  its  upright  bearing, 
Avhich  has  been  well  rendered  by  Bewick's  figiu-e.  The  Ganders  of 
the  reclaimed  form  are  distinguished  by  the  knob  at  the  base  of  the 
bill,  but  the  evidence  of  many  observers  shews  that  this  is  not  found 
in  the  wild  race.     Of  this  bird  there  is  a  perfectly  white  breed. 

Lastly  must  be  mentioned  the  curious  form  Cereopsis,  with  its 
apparently  exaggerated  ally  the  extinct  Cnemiornis  of  New  Zealand, 
a  bird  of  great  size  and,  as  said  before  (p.  82),  unable  from  the 
shortness  of  its  wings  to  fly.  In  connexion  with  this  loss  of  power 
may  also  be  noted  the  dwindling  of  the  keel  of  the  sternum. 

Birds   of   the   genera   Chenalopex  (the   Egyptian   and    Orinoco 

Geese),  Plectropterus,  Sarcidiornis,  Chlamydochen,  and    some  others, 

are  commonly  called  Geese.     To  the  writer  it  seems  almost  certain 

that  they  are  allied  to  the  Sheld-drake.     The  males  of  all  appear  to 

have  that  curious   enlargement  at  the  junction  of  the  bronchial 

.      tubes  and  the  trachea  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  Ducks   or 

,icN    Anatinse  and  is  wanting  in  the  Anserinx  or  true  Geese.     As  much 

fV^/  may  be  said  for  the  genus  NettapViS. 

^  Its  portraits  are  recognizable  in  what  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  pictures 
in  the  world  see  (Introduction). 


GORCOCK—GO  URA 


377 


GORCOCK,  a  Scottish  name  for  the  male  of  the  Eed  Grouse. 


GOS-HAWK,    i.e. 


ornithologists, 


Falconry.      Its 


and  the  largest 


English 


Goose-Hawk, 
of  the 
however 


the    Astur 


of 


name, 


palumharius 
used 
has  possibly  been  trans 


short-winged  Hawks 


m 


Gos-Hawk.    (After  Swainson.) 

comparatively   shorter   than 


ferred  to  this  species  from  one  of  the  long-winged  Hawks,  or  true 
Falcons,  since  there  is  no  tradi- 
tion of  the  Gos-Hawk,  now  so 
called,  having  ever  been  used  in 
Europe  to  take  Geese  or  other 
large  and  powerful  birds.  The 
genus  Adur  may  be  readily  dis- 
tinguished from  Falco  by  the 
smooth  edges  of  its  beak,  its 
short  wings  (not  reaching  beyond 
about  the  middle  of  the  tail), 
and   its    long    legs    and    toes — • 

though  these  last  are  stout  and  comparatively  snorter  tnan  m 
the  Sparrow-Hawks,  Accipiter.  In  plumage  the  Gos-Hawk  has 
a  general  resemblance  to  the  Peregi'ine  Falcon,  and  it  undergoes  a 
corresponding  change  as  it  advances  from  youth  to  maturity — the 
young  being  longitudinally  streaked  beneath,  while  the  adults  are 
transversely  barred.  The  irides,  however,  are  always  yellow,  or  in 
old  birds  orange,  Avhile  those  of  the  Falcons  are  dark  broAvn.  The 
sexes  differ  greatly  in  size.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
Gos-Hawk,  nowadays  very  rare  in  Britain,  was  once  common  in 
England,  and  even  towards  the  end  of  the  last  century  Thornton 
obtained  a  nestling  in  Scotland,  while  Irish  Gos-Hawks  were  of  old 
highly  celebrated.  Being  strictly  a  woodland-bird,  its  disappear- 
ance may  be  safely  connected  with  the  disappearance  of  our  ancient 
forests,  though  its  destructiveness  to  Poultry  and  Pigeons  has 
doubtless  contributed  to  its  present  scarcity.  In  many  parts  of  the 
continent  of  Europe  it  still  abounds.  It  ranges  eastward  to  China, 
and  is  much  valued  in  India.  In  North  America  it  is  represented 
hy  a  very  nearly  allied  species,  A.  atricapillus,  chiefly  distinguished 
by  the  closer  barring  of  the  breast.  Three  or  four  examples  cor- 
responding with  this  form  have  been  obtained  in  Britain.  A  good 
many  other  species  of  Astur  (some  of  them  passing  into  Accipiter) 
are  found  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  but  the  only  one  that  need 
here  be  mentioned  is  the  A.  novx-liollandiM  of  Australia,  which  is 
remarkable  for  its  dimorphism — one  form  possessing  the  normal 
dark-coloured  plumage  of  the  genus,  and  the  other  being  perfectly 
white,  with  yellow  or  red  irides.  It  must  be  stated,  however,  that 
some  writers  hold  these  two  forms  to  be  distinct  species,  and  call  the 
dark-coloured  one  A.  cinereus  or  A.  rail. 


GOURA,  the  name  (apparently  of  Eastern  origin)  applied  in 


378  GO  WK—GRA  CKLE 


1776  by  Sonnerat  {Voy.  Nouv.  Gtiinde,  pi.  104)  to  the  Great- 
Crowned  Pigeon,  Columba  coronata  of  Linnaeus,  given  by  Stephens 
in  1819  {Gen.  Zool.  xi.  p.  119)  to  a  genus,  and  by  him  and  others 
used  also  as  an  English  word.  The  species  inhabits  New  Guinea 
and  some  of  the  neighbouring  islands,  whence  it  has  been  frequently 
brought  alive  to  Europe,  and  though  it  has  even  bred  in  captivity, 
it  has  as  yet  evinced  no  readiness  to  domestication,  which  is  to  be 
regretted  when  we  consider  its  large  size  and  the  becoming  appear- 
ance it  makes  with  its  erect  crest,  its  colouring  of  lavender-grey 
with  a  chestnut  mantle  and  white  Aving-patch,  to  say  nothing  of  its 
stately  gait.  A  second  and  even  finer  species,  G.  victoria,  now 
known  to  come  from  the  islands  of  Jobie  and  Missorie,  was  de- 
scribed by  Eraser  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1846,  p.  136),  and  since  then 
three,  or  perhaps  four,  others,  all  from  the  Papuan  Subregion,  if  not 
from  New  Guinea  itself,  have  been  discovered  (Salvadori,  Ornitol. 
Pajyuas.  iii.  pp.  191-209).  The  species  of  Goura  are  the  largest  of 
the  existing  Columhx. 

GOWK  (Dan.  Gj(j)g ;  Norsk.  Gj^h ;  Swed.  Gok),  a  common  name 
of  the  CUCKOW  in  the  northern  part  of  Britain. 

GEACKLE  (Latin,  Gracculus  or  Graculus,  a  Daw  ^),  a  word 
which  has  been  much  used  in  ornithology,  but  generally  in  a  vague 
sense,  though  restricted  to  members  of  the  Families  Sturnidse 
(Starling)  belonging  to  the  Old  World,  and  Icteridx  belonging  to 
the  New.  Of  the  former  those  to  which  it  has  been  most  com- 
monly applied  are  the  species  variously  known  as  Mynas,  Mainas, 
and  Minors  of  India  and  the  adjacent  countries,  and  especially  the 
G)'acula  religiosa  of  Linnaeus,  who,  according  to  Jerdon  and  others, 
was  very  probably  led  to  confer  this  epithet  upon  it  by  confound- 
ing it  with  the  Sturnvs  or  Acrido- 
theres  tristis,'^  which  is  regarded  by 
J  the  Hindus  as  sacred  to  Earn  Deo, 
one  of  their  deities,  while  the  true 
Gramla  religiosa  does  not  seem  to 
be  anywhere  held  in  veneration. 
,.,,„.,     This   last    is    about    10    inches    in 

Gracula  religiosa.     (After  Swamson.)      i  i         ,      i      i      •  ^  e 

length.  Clothed  in  a  plumage  oi 
glossy  black,  with  purple  and  green  reflexions,  and  a  conspicuous 
patch   of  white  on   the   quill-feathers   of  the   wings.      The  bill  is 

^  Some  old  writers  translated  Water-Crow,  or  its  equivalent  in  their  own 
language,  by  Graculus  viarinics,  wliereby  Linniuus  was  originally  led  to  make 
Graculus  the  name  of  a  genus  containing  the  Cormorant  and  its  like  ;  and 
though  he  afterwards  corrected  the  mistake,  certain  systematists  continued  to 
use  the  name  in  its  erroneous  sense. 

-  By  some  writers  the  birds  of  the  genera  Acridotkercs  and  Tcmenuchus  are 
considered  to  be  the  true  Mynas,  and  the  species  of  Gracula  are  called  "  Hill 
Mynas  "  by  way  of  distinction. 


GRALLJE  379 

orange  and  the  legs  yello'w,  but  the  bird's  most  characteristic  feature 
is  afforded  by  the  curious  caruncles  of  bright  yellow,  which,  begin- 
ning behind  the  eyes,  run  backward  in  form  of  a  lappet  on  each 
side,  and  then  return  in  a  narrow  stripe  to  the  top  of  the  head. 
Beneath  each  eye  also  is  a  bare  patch  of  the  same  coloui\  This 
species  is  common  in  southern  India,  and  is  represented  further  to 
the  north,  in  Ceylon,  Burma  and  some  of  the  Malay  Islands  by 
cognate  forms.  They  are  all  frugivorous,  and,  being  easily  tamed 
and  learning  to  pronounce  words  very  distinctly,  are  favourite 
cage-birds.  In  Africa  they  are  perhaps  represented  by  a  somewhat 
similar  genus,  which  authors  generally  continue  to  call   Dilophus, 


Creatophora  carunculata.    (After  Swainson.) 

though  that  name  has  long  been  preoccupied.^  There  is  but  one 
species,  the  Creatophm-a  carunculata  of  Lesson  {Descr.  Mammif.  et  Ois. 
p.  308),  the  common  Logust-bird  of  South  Africa. 

In  the  New  World  the  name  Grackle  has  been  applied  to 
several  species  of  the  genera  Scolecophagns  and  Quiscalns,  though 
these  are  more  commonly  called  in  Canada  and  the  United  States 
"Blackbirds,"  or  Maize-birds,  and  some  of  them  "Boat-tails." 
They  all  belong  to  the  Family  Icteridx.  The  best  known  of  these 
are  the  Rusty  Grackle,  S.  ferrugineus,  which  pervades  almost  the 
whole  of  North  America,  and  Q.  purjmreus,  the  Purple  Grackle  or 
Crow-Blackbird,  of  more  limited  range,  for  though  al)undant 
enough  in  most  parts  to  the  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  it  seems 
not  to  appear  on  the  Pacific  side.  There  is  also  Brewer's  or  the 
Blue-headed  Grackle,  S.  cyanocepJialus,  which  has  a  more  western 
range,  not  occurring  to  the  eastward  of  Kansas  and  Minnesota, 
while  a  fourth  species,  Q.  major,  is  found  to  inhabit  the  Atlantic 
States  as  far  as  North  Carolina.  All  these  birds  are  of  exceedingly 
omnivorous  habit,  and  though  undoul^tedly  destroying  large  num- 
bers of  pernicious  insects  are  in  many  places  held  in  bad  repute 
from  the  mischief  they  do  to  the  corn-crops  (see  Icterus). 

GRALL/E,  the  fourth  Order  of  Birds  in  the  Linnaean  system, 
composed  of  the  genera  Phcenicopterns  (Flamingo),  Platalea  (Spoon- 
bill), Palamedea  (Screamer),  Mi/cteria  (Jabiru),  Tantalus  (Ibis), 
Ardea   (Heron),    Becurvirostra    (Avoset),    Scolopax    (Woodcock), 

1  Dilophus  was  used  foi-  a  genus  of  Diptera  in  1803  by  Meigen  [Mag.  f. 
Insektenk.  ii.  p.  264).  The  bird  was  originally  described  by  Walch  in  1777 
{A^attirf.  xi.  p.  9)  as  a  Tringa  !  It  is  the  Cockscomb  Stare  of  Latham  {Synops. 
ii.  p.  8). 


38o  GRALLATORES— GRASS-BIRD 

Tringa  (Sandpiper),  Fulica  (Coot),  Farm  (Jacana),  Rallus  (Rail), 
Psophia  (Trumpeter),  Cancroma  (Boat-bill),  Hsematoims  (Oyster- 
catcher),  Charadrius  (Plover),  Otis  (Bustard),  and  Struthio 
(Ostrich). 

GRALLATORES,  Illiger's  modification  (in  1811)  of  the  pre- 
ceding, dividing  it  into  8  Families  and  32  genera.  For  some  fifty 
years  this  arrangement  met  in  its  main  points  with  pretty  general 
acceptance,  but  systematists  at  last  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Order  was  an  unnatural  assemblage,  and  the  name  Grallatores  is 
now  scarcely  used  by  any  writers  of  authority. 

GRALLINA,  a  genus  founded  by  Vieillot  in  1816  {Analyse, 
p.  42),  for  what  he  thought  was  a  new  form  of  bird  from  New 
Holland,  G.  melanoleuca ;  but  it  had  been  already  twice  described  in 
1802  by  Latham  {Gen.  Synops.  Suppl.  ii.  pp.  117  and  130,  and  Ind. 
Orn.  Suppl.  pp.  25,  29)  as  Corvus  cyanoleucus  and  G^'acula  picata,  and 
again  in  1811  by  Oppel,  who  also  figured  it  {Denksdir.  Akad. 
hayer.  Wissensch.  iii.  pp.  156-166,  pi.  viii.)  as  a  new  genus  and 
species,  Tanypus  aiistralis.  This  generic  term  being  preoccupied, 
Vieillot's  has  to  be  adopted,  and  it  has  been  accepted  as  an  English 
word.  Placed  as  it  had  been  among  Crows,  Grackles,  and 
Thrushes,  Gould  shewed  great  discrimination  {ffandb.  B.  Austral. 
i.  187)  in  not  referring  it  to  any  group ;  but  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br. 
Mus.  iii.  p.  272)  assigned  it  to  Frionojndse,  even  then  a  doubtful 
position  and  a  doubtful  Family ;  and  Dr.  Gadow  has  since  ascer- 
tained that  its  vocal  organs  are  not  those  of  the  normal  Oscines. 

Grallhia  picata  is  generally  dispersed  over  Australia,  where  it  is 
known  as  the  Magpie-Lark,  frequenting  the  alluvial  plains  and 
sides  of  rivers,  but  being  of  a  familiar  disposition  and  constantly 
visiting  homesteads,  when  it  is  said  to  run  along  the  roofs  like  a 
Wagtail.  Gould  describes  its  flight  as  unlike  that  of  any  other 
bird  known  to  him,  being  "  in  a  straight  line  with  a  heavy  flapping 
motion  of  the  wings."  It  builds  a  large  cup-like  nest  of  mud  or 
earth,  more  or  less  mixed  with  grass,  so  as  to  look  like  a  massive 
clay  vessel,  and  this  is  generally  placed  on  a  bare  horizontal  branch, 
without  attempt  at  concealment,  though  sometimes  a  few  twigs  or 
leaves  partially  hide  the  structure.  The  eggs,  3  or  4  in  number, 
vary  considerably  in  tint  and  markings  (North,  Cat.  Nests  and  Eggs, 
B.  Austral,  p.  79).  This  bird  seems  to  be  purely  insectivorous.  A 
second  species,  G.  bruijni,  has  been  described  from  New  Guinea 
(Salvador!,  Ann.  Genov.  vii.  p.  929). 

GRAPE-EATER,  a  name  given  in  Australia  to  one  or  more  of 
the  species  of  Zosterops. 

GRASS-BIRD,  a  general  name  in  America,  from  Canada  to  the 
Antilles,  for  the  smaller  Sandpipers,  or  some  of  them  at  least ;  but 


GRASS-QUIT— GREBE  381 

ajDplied  by  Gould  {Handh.  B.  Austral,  i.  pp.  399,  400)  to  two- 
species  of  Australian  birds  which  he  referred  to  the  genus 
Sphenceacus  of  Strickland  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  184:1,  p.  28),  the  type  of 
which  is  the  Motacilla  africana  of  Gmelin  and  bird  known  in  the 
Cape  Colony  as  "  Idle  Jack  "  and  "  Lazy  Dick  "  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr. 
p.  9G).  Other  species  from  various  localities,  and  especially  one 
from  New  Zealand,  where  it  is  known  as  the  Fern-bird,  have  been 
assigned  to  the  same  genus,  but  whether  rightly  or  not  remains  to 
be  shewn.  One  of  the  Australian  species,  S.  gramineus,  has  been 
generically  separated  by  Prof.  Cabanis  as  Poodytes.  Dr.  Sharpe 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  vii.  p.  93)  includes  Sphenoeacus  among  the 
Timeliidse,  but  any  attempt  to  arrange  these  birds  must  at  present 
be  guesswork,  and  it  is  quite  likely  that  their  association  is  due 
only  to  their  outward  resemblance.  They  mostly  have  their  tail- 
feathers  stiff  in  the  shaft  and  the  webs  not  connected ;  the  plumage 
above  is  striated,  and  they  skulk  in  thick  grass  so  as  to  be  seldom 
seen,  flying  but  a  short  way  when  forced  to  take  wing. 

GRASS-QUIT,  applied  in  Jamaica  to  some  species  of  the  genus 
Phonipava,  or,  as  some  have  it,  Euethia,  apparently  belonging  to  the 
Family  Emherizidx,  one  of  which,  P.  hicolor,  of  wide  range  in  the 
Antilles,  shews  itself  in  Florida. 

GRAUCALUS,  Cuvier's  name  for  a  genus  of  birds,  to  which 
have  been  assigned  a  score  of  species,  found  from  West  Africa  east- 
Avard  to  the  coast  of  China  in  the  north  and  Tasmania  in  the  south, 
Avhile  one  occasionally  strays  to  New  Zealand,  and  for  those 
inhabiting  AustraKa  the  name  has  been  Anglified  by  Gould.  The 
genus  is  generally  referred  to  the  Campephagidse ;  but  its  position 
must  be  regarded  as  uncertain.  The  Australian  species  are  said 
to  be  subject  to  several  changes  of  plumage,  that  of  the  young, 
assumed  after  leaving  the  nest,  diflfering  as  much  from  that  of  the 
nestling  as  from  that  of  the  adult ;  but  as  a  rule  the  plumage  is 
mostly  grey,  diversified  by  black  and  white. 

GRAY  (Icelandic  Ch'd<!>nd),  a  name  of  the  Gadwall  (Willughby, 
Orn.  (Lat.)  p.  287)  now  perhaps  obsolete. 

GREBE  (French  Grhhe),  the  generally  accepted  name  for  all  the 
birds  of  the  Family  Podicipedidx,^  belonging  to  the  group  Pygopodes 
of  Illiger,  members  of  which  inhabit  almost  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Some  systematic  writers  have  distributed  them  into  several  so-called 
genera,  but,  with  one  exception,  these  seem  to  be  insufficiently 
defined,  and  here  it  will  be  enough  to  allow  but  two — Podicipes  and 

^  Often,  but  erroneously,  written  Fodicipidse.     The  word  Podiceps,  as  com- 
monly spelt,  being  a  contracted  form  of  the  original  Podicipes  {cf.  Gloger,  Journal' 
fur  Ornithologie,  1854,  p.  430,  note),  a  combination  of  podex,  podicis,  and  pes,, 
pedis,  its  further  compounds  must  be  in  accordance  with  its  derivation. 


^82 


GREBE 


the  Centropelma  of  Messrs.  Sclater  and  Sahdn.  Grebes  are  at  once 
distinguishable  from  all  other  Water-birds  by  their  very  short  body, 
and  the  peculiar  structure  of  their  feet,  "which  are  not  only  placed 
far  behind,  but  have  the  tarsi  flattened  and  elongated  toes  furnished 
Avith  broad  lobes  of  skin. 

In  Europe  Ave  have  five  Avell-marked  species  of  Podicipes,  the 
commonest  and  smallest  of  Avhich  is  the  Aery  Avell-knoAvn  Dabchick 
of  our  ponds,  P.  fluviatilis  or  minor,  found  throughout  the  British 
Islands,  and  Avith  a  Avide  range  in  the  Old  "World.      Next  in  size  are 


Great  Ckested  Grebe. 

tAvo  species  knoAvn  as  the  Eared  and  Horned  Grebes,  the  former  of 
Avhich,  P.  nigricollis,  is  a  visitor  from  the  south,  only  occasionally 
shewing  itself  in  Britain,  A\^hile  the  latter,  P.  (luritiis,  has  a  more 
northern  i^ange,  breeding  plentifully  in  Iceland,  and  is  a  not  un- 
common Avinter- visitant.  Then  there  is  the  larger  Eed-necked 
Grebe,  P.  grimgena,  also  a  northern  l)ird,  and  a  native  of  the  sub- 
arctic parts  of  both  Europe  and  America,  Avhile  lastly  the  Great 
Crested  Grebe,  P.  cristatus,  or  Gaunt — knoAvn  as  the  Loon  on  the 
meres  and  broads  of  East  Anglia,^  and  some  other  parts  of  England, 
is  also  Avidely  spread  over  both  Worlds ;  and,  though  apparently 

1  Cf.  Stevenson  and  Soutliwell,  Birds  of  Nor/oJl;  iii.  pp.  233-254. 


GREENFINCH  383 

not  found  ^vitllin  the  tropics,  is  known  in  the  extreme  south  as  a 
native  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand.  North  America  is  credited 
with  seven  species  of  Grebes,  of  which  three  (P.  cristatus,  P.  griseigena, 
and  P.  auritus)  are  admitted  to  be  specifically  inseparable  from  those 
ah-eady  named,  and  two  (P.  occidentalis  and  P.  californicus)  appear 
to  be  but  local  forms ;  the  remaining  two,  P.  dominicus  and  P. 
ludovicianus,  may,  however,  be  accounted  good  species,  and  the  last 
differs  so  much  from  other  Grebes  that  many  systematists  make  it 
the  type  of  a  distinct  genus,  Podilymhus.  South  America  seems  to 
possess  four"  or  five  more  species,  one  of  which,  the  P.  inicropterus  of 
Gould  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1858,  p.  220),  has  been  separated  from  the 
genus  Podicipes  by  Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin  {Exot.  Ornithology, 
p.  189,  pi.  xcv.),  owing  to  the  form  of  its  bill,  and  the  aborted  con- 
dition of  its  Mangs,  which  seem  to  render  it  absolutely  flightless. 
Lake  Titicaca  in  Bolivia  is,  so  far  as  is  known  at  present,  its  only 
habitat.  Grebes  in  general,  though  averse  from  taking  A\dng,  have 
much  greater  power  of  flight  than  would  seem  possible  on  examina- 
tion of  their  alar  organs,  and  are  capable  of  prolonged  aerial 
journeys.  Their  plumage  is  short  and  close.  Above  it  is  com- 
monly of  some  shade  of  brown,  but  beneath  it  is  invariably  white, 
and  so  glossy  as  to  be  in  much  request  for  muffs  and  the  trimming 
of  ladies'  dresses.  Some  species  are  remarkable  for  the  crests  or 
tippets,  generally  of  a  golden-chestnut  colour,  they  assume  in  the 
breeding  season.  P.  auritus  is  particularly  remarkable  in  this 
respect,  and  when  in  its  full  nuptial  attire  presents  an  extraordinary 
aspect,  the  head  (being  suiTOunded,  as  it  were,  by  a  nimbus  or 
aureole,  such  as  that  with  which  painters  adorn  saintly  characters), 
reflecting  the  rays  of  light,  and  glittering  with  a  glory  that  passes 
description.  All  the  species  seem  to  have  similar  habits  of  nidifica- 
tion.  Water-weeds  are  pulled  from  the  bottom  of  the  pool,  and 
piled  on  a  convenient  foundation,  often  a  seminatant  growth  of  bog- 
bean  (Menyanthes),  till  they  form  a  large  mass,  with  a  shallow  cup 
in  the  centre,  wherein  the  eggs,  Avith  a  chalky  white  shell  almost 
equally  pointed  at  each  end,  are  laid — the  parent  covering  them, 
whenever  she  has  time  to  do  so,  before  leaving  the  nest.  Young 
Grebes  are  beautiful  objects,  clothed  with  black,  white,  and  brown 
hair,  disposed  in  streaks,  and  their  bill  is  often  brilliantly  tinted 
with  orange  or  yellow.  When  taken  from  the  nest  and  placed  on 
dry  ground,  it  is  curious  to  observe  the  way  in  which  they  progress — 
using  the  wings  almost  as  fore-feet,  and  suggesting  the  notion  that 
they  must  be  quadrupeds  instead  of  birds  {Ibis,  1889,  p.  577).  In 
water,  however,  they  equal  if  not  surpass  their  parents  in  the  power 
of  diving,  which  is  a  special  accomplishment  of  all  Grebes. 

GEEENFINCH  (German  G-runfinh)  or  Green  Linnet,  as  it  is 
very  often  called,  a  common  European  bird,  the  Fringilla  chloris  of 


384  GREENLEEK—GREENSHANK 

Linnaeus,  ranked  by  many  systematists  Avith  one  section  of  Haw- 
finches, Coccothraustes,  but  apparent!}'  more  nearly  allied  to  the 
other  section  Hesperi'phona,  and  perhaps  justifiably  deemed  the  type 

of  a  distinct  genus,  to  which  the  name  Ligur- 
inus  or  Chloris  has  been  applied.  The  cock, 
in  his  plumage  of  green  and  gold,  is  among  the 
most  finely  coloured  of  our  common  birds,  but 
he  is  rather  heavily  built,  and  his  song  is 
Greenfinch.  hardly  to  be  praised.     The  hen  is  miich  less 

(After  swainson.)  brightly  tinted.      Throughout    Britain,   as  a 

rule,  this  species  is  one  of  the  most  plentiful,  and  is  found  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year.  It  pervades  almost  the  whole  of  Europe,  and 
in  Asia  reaches  the  river  Ob.  It  visits  Palestine,  but  is  unknown  in 
Egypt.  It  is,  however,  abundant  in  Mauritania,  whence  specimens 
are  so  brightly  coloured  that  they  have  been  deemed  to  form  a  dis- 
tinct species,  the  Ligurinus  aurantiiventris  of  Dr.  Cabanis,  but  that 
view  is  now  generally  abandoned.  In  the  north-east  of  Asia  and 
its  adjacent  islands  occur  two  allied  species — the  Fringilla  sinica  of 
Linngeus,  and  the  F.  Jcawarahiba  of  Temminck.  No  species  of  Green- 
finch is  found  in  America  ;  but  what  seems  to  be  an  exaggerated 
form,  differentiated  as  a  distinct  genus,  Chloridops,  has  been  described 
from  Hawaii  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  (Proc.  Zool.  Sue.  1888,  p.  218). 

GREEISTLEEK,  according  to  Gould,  the  local  name  in  ISTeAv 
South  Wales  of  Falxornis  or  Folytelis  harrabandi,  the  scarlet-breasted 
Parrakeet. 

GREENLET,  a  word  originating  apparently  with  Swainson  in 
1831  {Faun.  Bor.-Am.  ii.  p.  233)  as  an  English  rendering  of  ViREO, 
and  not  uncommonly  used  in  America  for  birds  of  that  genus  and 
its  allies. 

GREENSHANK,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  birds  commonly 
known  as  Sandpipers,  the  Totanus  glottis'^  of  most  ornithological 
writers.  Some  exercise  of  the  imagination  is,  however,  needed  to 
see  in  the  dingy  olive-coloured  legs  of  this  species  a  justification  of 
the  English  name  by  which  it  goes,  and  the  application  of  that 
name,  which  seems  to  be  due  to  Pennant,  was  probably  by  way  of 
distinguishing  it  from  two  allied  but  perfectly  distinct  species  of 
Totanus  (T.  calidris  and  T.  fuscus),  ha\dng  red  legs  and  usually  called 
Redshanks.  The  Greenshank  is  a  native  of  the  northern  parts  of 
the  Old  World,  but  in  winter  it  wanders  far  to  the  south,  and 
occurs  regularly  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  India,  and  thence 

'■  There  seems  no  reason  to  dispute  the  application  of  this  specific  name  by 
Linnoeus,  who  may  be  pardoned  for  recognizing  the  well-known  Glutt  of  his  own 
country  in  the  Glottis  of  classical  authors,  since  Belon  and  Gesner  saw  in  the 
latter  some  kind  of  aquatic  bird.  Sundevall  has,  however,  shewn  that  the 
7XWTTIS  of  Aristotle  was  a  Wryneck. 


GREYBACK— GROSBEAK  385 

throughout  the  Indo-Malay  Archipelago  to  Australia.  It  has  also 
been  recorded  from  North  America,  but  its  appearance  there  must 
be  considered  accidental.  Almost  as  bulky  as  a  Woodcock,  it  is  of 
a  much  more  slender  build,  and  its  long  legs  and  neck  give  it  a 
graceful  appearance,  which  is  enhanced  by  the  activity  of  its 
actions.  Disturbed  from  the  moor  or  marsh,  where  it  has  its  nest, 
it  rises  swiftly  into  the  air,  conspicuous  by  its  white  back  and  rump, 
and  uttering  shrill  cries  flies  round  the  intruder.  It  will  perch  on 
the  topmost  bough  of  a  tree,  if  a  tree  be  near,  to  watch  his  pro- 
ceedings, and  the  cock  exhibits  all  the  astounding  gesticulations  in 
which  the  males  of  so  many  other  Limicolee  indulge  during  the 
breeding-season — with  certain  variations,  however,  that  are  peculiarly 
its  own.  It  breeds  in  no  small  numbers  in  the  Hebrides,  and  parts 
of  the  Scottish  Highlands  from  Argyllshire  to  Sutherland,  as  well 
as  in  the  more  elevated  or  more  northern  districts  of  Norway, 
Sweden,  and  Finland,  and  probably  also  from  thence  to  Kamchatka. 
In  North  America  it  is  represented  by  two  species,  Totanus  semipal- 
matus  and  2\  melanoleueus,  there  caUed  Willets,  Telltales,  or 
Tattlers,  which  in  general  habits  resemble  the  Greenshank  of  the 
Old  World. 

GREYBACK,  in  England  a  common  name  of  the  Grey  form  of 
Crow,  Corvus  corniz ;  but  in  North  America  applied  by  gunners  to 
the  Knot. 

GREYHEN,  the  female  of  the  Blackcock  or  Black  Grouse. 

GRIFFON  (Fr.  Chiffon,  Lat.  Grvyphus,  Gr.  ypvxp — a  fabulous 
monster  with  a  hooked  beak,  an  Eagle's  wings,  and  a  Lion's  body)  the 
name  applied  in  1666  by  certain  French  academicians  to  a  VuLTURE, 
which  they  dissected,  and  continued  by  BufFon  for  what  is  now 
known  as  Gyps  fukus,  being  finally  adopted  as  its  English  dis- 
tinctive name  by  Bennett  in  1831  {Gard.  and  Menag.  Zool.  Soc.  ii. 
p.  97).i 

GRINDER,  one  of  the  names  given  in  Australia  to  Sisura 
inquieta,  a  form  very  similar  to  Ehipidwm  (Fantail)  and  like  that 
generally  assigned  to  the  Muscicapidce  (Flycatcher).  Caley  noticed 
{Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xv.  p.  250),  the  resemblance  of  the  noise  made 
by  this  bird,  though  how  it  is  produced  is  not  said,  to  that  caused 
by  a  razor-grinder  at  work,  and  Gould  adds  (Handb.  B.  Austral,  i. 
p.  247),  on  Gilbert's  authority,  that  its  general  note  is  a  loud  harsh 
cry,  several  times  repeated,  but  it  also  utters  a  clear  whistle.  Its 
flight  is  very  remarkable,  and  its  habit  of  hovering,  at  which  time 
is  caused  the  sound  that  gives  it  this  name,  very  peculiar. 

GROSBEAK  (French,  Groshec),  a  name  very  indefinitely  applied 

^  The  GriflBn  of  heraldry  is  the  same  word,  but  that  is  represented  with  Bat- 
like wings. 

25 


386  GROSBEAK 


to  many  birds  belonging  to  the  Families  Fringillidge  and  Ploceidx  of 
modern  ornithologists,  and  perhaps  to  some  members  of  the 
Emherizidse  and  Tanagridse,  but  always  to  birds  distinguished  by 
the  great  size  of  their  bill.  Taken  alone  it  is  commonly  a  synonym 
of  Hawfinch,  but  a  prefix  is  most  usually  added  to  indicate  the 
species,  as  Pine-G-rosbeak,  Cardinal- G-rosbeak,  and  the  like.  By 
earlier  writers  the  word  was  generally  given  as  an  equivalent  of 
the  Linnsean  Loxia,  but  that  genus,  as  first  established,  has  been 
found  to  include  many  forms  which,  according  to  more  recent 
notions,  cannot  possibly  be  placed  in  the  same  Family. 

The  Pine-Grosbeak,  Pinicola  enucleator,  is,  Avith  the  exception 
of  the  Hawfinch  just  mentioned,  the  best  known  species  to  Avhich 
the  name  is  applied.  It  inhabits  the  conifer-zone  of  both  the  Old 
and  the  New  Worlds,  seeking,  in  Europe  and  probably  elsewhere,  a 
lower  latitude  as  Avinter  approaches — often  journeying  in  large 
flocks ;  and  stragglers  are  said  to  have  occasionally  reached  the 
British  Islands,  though  the  records  of  not  more  than  four  or  five 
such  occurrences  can  be  trusted  (Yarrell,  Br.  Birds,  ed.  4,  ii.  pp. 
177-179).  In  structure  and  some  of  its  habits  much  resembling  a 
Bullfinch,  but  much  exceeding  that  bird  in  size,  it  has  the 
plumage  of  a  CROSSBILL,  and  appears  to  undergo  exactly  the  same 
changes  as  do  the  members  of  the  restricted  genus  Loxia, — the 
young  being  of  a  dull  greenish-grey  streaked  with,  brownish-black, 
the  adult  hens  tinged  with  golden-green,  and  the  cocks  glowing 
with  crimson-red  on  nearly  all  the  body-feathers,  this  last  colour 
being  replaced  after  moulting  in  confinement  by  bright  yellow. 
Nests  of  this  species  were  found  in  1821  by  Zetterstedt  near 
Juckasjarvi  in  Swedish  Lapland,  but  little  was  really  known  with 
certainty  concerning  its  nidification  until  1855,  Avhen  the  late  Mr. 
Wolley,  after  two  years'  ineffectual  search,  succeeded  in  obtaining 
in  the  not  very  distant  district  of  Muonioniska  well-authenticated 
specimens  with  the  eggs,  both  of  which  are  like  exaggerated  Bull- 
finches' (Hewitson,  JEggs  Br.  B.  ed.  iii.  p.  210*,  pi.  liii.*).  The  food 
of  this  species  seems  to  consist  of  the  seeds  and  buds  of  many  sorts 
of  trees,  though  the  staple  may  very  possibly  be  those  of  some  kind 
of  pine.  The  cock  has  a  clear  and  pleasing  song,  which  makes  him 
in  many  countries  a  favourite  cage-bird ;  and  the  notes  of  the  hen 
may  even  be  deemed  to  qualify  her  as  a  musician  of  no  small  merit. 

Allied  to  the  Pine-Grosbeak  are  a  number  of  species  of  smaller 
size,  but  its  equals  in  beauty  of  plumage.^  These  have  been 
referred  to  several  genera,  such  as  CMyodacus,  Propasser,  Bycanetcs, 


^  Many  of  them  are  described  and  beautifully  figured  in  the  Monographic  des 
Loxiens  of  Bonaparte  and  Schlegel  (Leyden  and  Diisseldorf :  1850),  a  work  which 
includes,  however,  all  the  Crossbills,  Redpolls,  and  Linnets  then  known  to  the 
authors,  while  it  excludes  many  birds  that  an  English  writer  would  have  to  call 
"Grosbeaks." 


GROSBEAK  387 


Uragiis,  and  others ;  but  possibly  Carpodacvs  is  sufficient  to  contain 
all.  Most  of  them  are  natives  of  the  Old  World,  and  chiefly  of  its 
eastern  division,  but  several  inhabit  the  western  portion  of  North 
America,  and  one,  C.  githagineus  (of  Avhich  there  seem  to  be  at  least 
two  local  races),  is  an  especial  native  of  the  deserts,  or  their  borders, 
of  Arabia  and  North  Africa,  extending  even  to  some  of  the  Canary 
Islands — a  singular  modification  in  the  habitat  of  a  form  which  one 
Avould  be  apt  to  associate  exclusively  with  forest  trees,  and 
especially  conifers.  Other  species  of  the  Old  World,  though  com- 
monly called  "  Grosbeaks,"  certainly  belong  to  the  Floceidx 
(Weaver-bird). 

The  Cardinal  Grosbeak,  or  Virginian  Nightingale  of  many 
"writers,  Cardinalis  virginimms,  claims  notice  here,  though  doubts 
may  be  entertained  as  to  the  Family  to  Avhich  it  really  belongs. 
No  less  remarkable  for  its  bright  carmine  attire,  and  the  additional 
embellishment  of  an  elongated  crest  of  the  same  colour,  than  for  its 
fine  song,  it  has  been  an  object  of  atti-action  almost  ever  since  the 
settlement  of  its  native  country  by  Europeans.  All  American 
ornithologists  speak  of  its  easy  capture  and  its  ready  adaptation  to 
confinement,  which  for  nearly  three  centuries  have  helped  to  make 
it  a  popular  cage-bird  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  vocal 
powers  possessed  by  the  cock  are  to  some  extent  shared  by 
the  hen,  though  she  is  denied  the  vivid  hues  of  her  partner,  and 
her  plumage,  with  exception  of  the  wings  and  tail,  which  are  of  a 
dull  red,  is  light  olive  above  and  brownish-yellow  beneath.  It  is 
represented  in  the  south-west  of  North  America  by  other  forms 
that  by  some  writers  are  deemed  species,  and  in  the  northern  parts 
of  South  America  by  the  C.  pho&niceus,  which  would  really  seem 
entitled  to  distinction.  Another  kindred  bird,  placed  from  its 
short  and  broad  bill  in  a  diff"erent  genus,  and  known  as  Pyrrhuloxia 
sinvMta  or  the  Texan  Cardinal,  is  found  on  the  southern  borders  of 
the  United  States  and  in  Mexico ;  while  among  North- American 
"  Grosbeaks  "  must  also  be  named  the  birds  belonging  to  the  genera 
Guiraca  and  Hedymeles — the  former  especially  exemplified  by  the 
beautiful  blue  G.  cxrulea,  and  the  latter  by  the  brilliant  rose- 
breasted  H.  ludovicianus,  which  last  extends  its  range  into  Canada. 

This  may  be  the  fittest  place  to  mention  a  small  but  interesting 
group  of  birds  containing  the  genera  Geospiza,  Camarhynchus  and 
Cadornis,  some  of  which  are  truly  Grosbeaks  in  the  literal  meaning 
of  the  name.  They  are  peculiar  to  the  Galapagos,  where  they  were 
discovered  by  Mr.  Darwin,  who  in  his  Journal  of  BesearcJies  (chap, 
xvii.)  dwelt  on  the  "  perfect  gradation  in  the  size  of  the  beak  "  in 
the  diff'erent  species  of  Geospiza,  shewn  here  by  the  figures  inserted. 
It  is  indeed  curious  to  find  the  beak,  generally  considered  to  be  the 
most  useful  and  important  feature  of  a  bird's  organization,  subject 
to  so  much  variation  in  closely-allied  species,  living,  so  far  as  Ave 


388 


GRO  UND-  THR  USH—GRO  USE 


know,  under  very  similar  conditions.  Nine  species  of  Geospiza  have 
been  described,  five  of  Camarhynchus  and  four  of  Cadornis.  All  these 
birds  have  a  sombre  coloration,  in  many  deepening  to  a  pitch-black. 
Further  particulars  respecting  them  are  to  be  found  in  the  Zoology 
of  the  Voyage  of  the  '  Beagle,'  and  in  Mr.  Salvin's  paper  "  On  the 
Avifauna  of  the  Galapagos  Archipelago  "  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  pp. 
447-510),  from  which  last  the  accompanying  illustrations  are 
borrowed. 


G.  rtiagnirostris. 


G.  strenua. 


G.  fori  is. 


G.  fortis.  G.  fuliginosa. 

Series  of  Forms  of  Geospiza. 
(From  the  Transactio7is  of  the  Zoological  Society.) 


G.  parvula. 


GROUND-THKUSH,  a  name  long  ago  used  for  birds  of  the 
genus  Pitta  and  its  allies  (Jerdon,  B.  Ind.  i.  p.  502) ;  but  latterly 
an  attempt  has  been  made  [Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  v.  p.  147)  to  foist  it 
on  a  composite  group  of  some  .40  species  of  Thrushes  which  have 
been  referred  to  a  ghost -like  genus  Geocichla,  the  characters  and 
type  of  which  continue  to  defy  discovery.^ 

GROUSE,  a  word  of  uncertain  origin,^  now  used  generally  by 
ornithologists  to  include  all  the  "  rough-footed  "  Gallinaceous  birds, 

^  The  assertion  {loc.  cit.)  that  Kuhl,  to  whom  the  establishment  of  this  sup- 
posed genus  is  attributed,  founded  it  "in  some  popular  Dutch  periodical,"  is 
unconfirmed  by  evidence,  and  is  contradicted  by  all  we  know  of  his  strictly 
scientific  practice. 

^  It  seems  first  to  occur  {fide  0.  Salusbury  Brereton,  Archmologia,  iii.  p.  157) 
as  "  Grows "  in  an  ordinance  for  the  regulation  of  the  royal  household  dated 
"apud  Eltham,  mens.  Jan.  22  Hen.  VIII."  (i.e.  1531),  and  considering  the 
locality  must  refer  to  Black  game.  It  is  found  in  an  Act  of  Parliament  1  Jac.  I. 
cap,  27,  §  2  (i.e.  1603),  and,  as  reprinted  in  the  Statutes  at  Large,  stands  as  now 


GROUSE  389 

but  in  common  speech  applied  almost  exclusively,  when  used  alone, 
to  the  Tetrao  scoticus  of  Linnreus,  the  Lagopus  scoticus  of  modern 
systematists — more  particulai'ly  called  in  English  the  Red  Grouse, 
but  not  a  century  ago  almost  invariably  spoken  of  as  the  Moor-fowl 
or  Moor-game.  The  effect  which  this  species  is  supposed  to  have 
on  the  British  legislature,  and  therefore  on  history,  is  well  known, 
for  it  is  the  common  though  mistaken  belief  that  parliament  in 
these  days  always  rises  when  the  season  for  Glrouse-shooting  begins  ; 
but  even  of  old  time  it  seems  to  have  excited  on  one  occasion  a 
ciu-ious  kind  of  influence,  for  we  may  read  in  the  Orkneyinga  Saga 
(ed.  Jonseus,  p.  356;  ed.  Anderson,  p.  168)  that  events  of  some 
importance  in  the  annals  of  North  Britain  followed  from  its  piirsuit 
in  Caithness  in  the  year  1157.  The  Red  Grouse  is  found  on  moors 
from  Monmouthshire  and  Derbyshire  northward  to  the  Orkneys,  as 
Avell  as  in  most  of  the  Hebrides.  It  likewise  inhabits  similar 
situations  throughout  Wales  and  Ireland,  but  it  does  not  naturally 
occur  beyond  the  limits  of  the  British  Islands,^  and  is  the  only 
species  among  birds  absolutely  peculiar  to  them.  The  word 
"  species "  may  in  this  case  be  used  advisedly ;  since  the  Red 
Grouse  invariably  "  breeds  true,"  it  admits  of  an  easy  diagnosis,  and 
it  has  a  definite  geographical  range  ;  but  scarcely  any  zoologist  who 
looks  further  into  the  matter  can  doubt  of  its  common  origin  with 
the  Willow-Grouse,  Lagopus  albus  (L.  suhalpinus  or  L.  saliceti  of  some 
authors),^  that  inhabits  a  subarctic  zone  from  Norway  across  the 
whole  continent  of  Europe  and  Asia,  as  well  as  North  America 
from  the  Aleutian  Islands  to  Newfoundland. ^  The  Red  Grouse 
indeed  is  rarely  or  never  found  away  from  the  heather  on  which 
chiefly  it  subsists,  and  with  which  it  is  in  most  men's  minds 
associated ;  while  the  Willow  -  Grouse  in  many  parts  of  the  Old 
World  seems  to  prefer  the  shrubby  growth  of  iDerry-bearing  plants 

commonly  spelt,  but  by  many  writers  or  printers  the  final  e  is  now  omitted.  In 
1611  Cotgrave  had  "  Poule  griesche.  A  Moore-henne  ;  the  henne  of  the  Grice 
[in  ed.  1673  "Griece"]  or  Mooregame  "  {Didionarie  of  the  French  and  English 
Tongues,  sub  voce  Foule).  The  most  likely  derivation  seems  to  be  from  the  old 
French  word  Griesche,  Greoche,  or  Griais  (meaning  speckled,  and  cognate  with 
griseus,  gi'isly  or  grey),  which  was  applied  to  some  kind  of  Partridge,  or  accord- 
ing to  Brunetto  Latini  {Tris.  p.  211)  to  a  QuaU,  "porce  que  ele  fu  premiers 
trovee  en  Grece  "  ! 

^  It  was  successfully,  though  with  much  trouble,  introduced  by  Baron 
Dickson,  on  a  tract  of  land  near  Gottenburg  in  Sweden  {Svenska  Jdgarforbwndets 
Nya  Tidskrift,  1868,  p.  64  et  alibi),  and  seemed  likely  to  maintain  itself  there, 
so  long  at  least  as  the  care  hitherto  bestowed  upon  it  is  continued  ;  but  of  its 
present  condition  I  know  nothing. 

^  It  is  to  this  species  that  belong,  almost  wthout  exception,  the  thousands 
of  birds  sold  in  our  markets  as  "  Ptai-migan." 

^  Examples  from  Newfoundland  have  been  described  {Atik,  1884,  p.  369)  as 
forming  a  "subspecies,"  L.  alleni. 


39° 


GROUSE 


( Vaccmium  and  others)  that,  often  thickly  interspersed  with  -willows 
and  birches,  clothes  the  higher  levels  or  the  lower  mountain-slopes, 
and  it  contrives  to  flourish  in  the  New  World  where  heather 
scarcely  exists,  and  a  "  heath  "  in  its  strict  sense  is  unknown.  It 
is  true  likewise  that  the  Willow-Grouse  always  becomes  white  in 
winter,  which  the  Red  Grouse  never  does ;  but  then  we  find  that 
in  summer  there  is  a  considerable  resemblance  between  the  two 
species,  the  cock  Willow-Grouse  having  his  head,  neck,  and  breast 
of  the  same  rich  chestnut-brown  as  his  British  representative, 
and,  though  his  back  be  lighter  in  coloiir,  as  is  also  the  whole 
plumage  of  his  mate,  than  is  found  in  the  Red  Grouse,  in  other 


Rv.v  C;rousk. 


respects  than  those  named  above  the  two  species  are  j^recisely  alike. 
No  distinction  can  be  discovered  in  their  voice,  their  eggs,  their 
build,  nor  in  their  anatomical  details,  so  far  as  these  have  been 
investigated  and  compared.  In  connexion  too  Avith  this  matter  it 
should  not  be  overlooked  that  the  Red  Grouse,  restricted  as  is  its 
range,  varies  in  colour  not  inconsiderably,  and  game -dealers  of 
experience  assert  that  they  are  able  to  pronounce  at  sight  the 
native  district  of  almost  any  bird  that  comes  to  their  hands.^ 

1  A  very  interesting  subject  for  discussion  would  be  whether  Lago]ni,s  scoticus 
or  L.  albus  has  varied  most  from  the  common  stock  of  both.  I  can  here  but 
briefly  indicate  the  more  salient  points  that  might  arise.  Looking  to  the  fact 
that  the  former  is  the  only  species  of  the  genus  which  does  not  assume  white 
clothing  in  winter,  an  evolutionist  might  at  iirst  deem  the  variation  greatest  in 
its  case  ;  but  then  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  species  of  Lagojms  which 


GROUSE  391 


Other  peculiarities  of  the  Eed  Grouse — the  excellence  of  its 
flesh,  and  its  economic  importance,  which  is  perhaps  greater  than 
that  of  any  other  wild  bird  in  the  Avorld — hardly  need  notice  here, 
and  there  is  not  space  to  dwell  upon  that  dire  malady  to  which  it 
is  from  time  to  time  subject,  primarily  induced,  in  the  opinion  of 
many,  by  the  overstocking  of  its  haunts  and  the  propagation  of 
diseased  offspring  by  depauperized  parents.  ■"• 

turn  white  differ  in  that  respect  from  all  other  groups  of  the  Family  Tetraonidse. 
Furthermore  it  must  be  remembered  that  every  species  of  Lagopus  (even  L. 
leiicurus,  the  whitest  of  all)  has  its  first  set  of  remiges  coloured  brown.  These 
are  dropped  when  the  bird  is  about  half-grown,  and  in  all  the  species  but  L. 
scoticus  white  remiges  are  then  produced.  If  therefore,  as  is  generally  held,  the 
successive  phases  assumed  by  any  individual  animal  in  the  course  of  its  progress 
to  maturity  indicate  the  phases  through  which  the  species  has  passed,  there  may 
have  been  a  time  when  all  the  species  of  Lagopus  wore  a  brown  livery  even  when 
adult,  and  the  white  dress  donned  in  winter  has  been  imposed  upon  the  wearers 
by  causes  that  can  be  easily  suggested,  for  it  has  been  freely  admitted  by 
naturalists  of  all  schools  that  the  white  plumage  of  the  birds  of  this  group 
protects  them  from  danger  during  the  snows  of  a  protracted  winter.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  not  at  all  inconceivable  that  the  Red  Grouse,  instead  of  perpetu- 
ating directly  the  more  ancient  properties  of  an  original  Lagopus  that  underwent 
no  great  seasonal  change  of  plumage,  may  derive  its  ancestry  from  the  widely- 
ranging  Willow-Grouse,  which  in  an  epoch  comparatively  recent  (in  the  geo- 
logical sense)  may  have  stocked  Britain,  and  left  descendants  that,  under  conditions 
in  which  the  assumption  of  a  white  garb  would  be  almost  fatal  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  species,  have  reverted  though  doubtless  with  some  modifications) 
to  a  comparative  immutability  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  the  primal 
Lago2}us. 

That  Red  Grouse,  especially  when  in  full  winter-plumage — a  fact  of  import  in 
regard  to  what  has  just  been  said — are  subject  to  greater  variability  than  most 
species  of  birds  has  been  proved  by  Mr.  Buckley  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  pp.  112- 
116),  and  moreover  that  this  variability  does  not  wholly  depend  on  locality  as  had 
been  frequently  surmised,  for  he  found  that  birds  differing  most  remarkably  from 
each  other  occurred  on  the  same  ground  or  were  at  least  near  neighbours. 
Having  seen  his  series  of  specimens,  I  can  state  that  he  has  not  exaggerated  the 
variations  they  present,  which  are  far  gi'eater  than  between  those  offered  by  some 
of  the  so-called  local  forms  of  Lagopus.  On  the  other  hand,  a  general  uniformity 
seems  to  pervade  Irish  examples,  as  a  large  number  submitted  to  me  by  Mr. 
A.  G.  More  shews.  Indeed  Irish  specimens  could  be  picked  out  by  the  practised 
eye  almost  without  fail  from  their  plumage  being  duller  and  more  snuff-coloured 
(if  the  phrase  be  allowable).  This  hue  is  occasionally  seen  in  English  birds,  but 
not  to  my  knowledge  in  Scottish,  though  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  it  were  to 
occur.  Whether  the  fact,  as  I  take  it  to  be,  can  be  correlated  with  the  more 
equable  climate  which  the  sister-island  enjoys,  I  do  not  pretend  to  say,  but  the 
consideration  seems  worthy  of  attention.  Several  varieties  and  hybrids  are  figured 
in  Mr.  Millais's  Gaine  Birds  and  Shooting  Sketches  (London  :  1892). 

1  On  the  Grouse- disease  the  papers  of  Prof.  Young  in  Proc.  Nat.  Hist.  Soc. 
Glasgow,  i.  p.  225,  and  Dr.  Farquharson,  Edinb.  Med.  Journal,  N"o.  263,  p.  222, 
may  be  consulted  ;  but  especially  Dr.  Klein's  Reports  in  The  Field  (23  July  1887 
and  15  June  1889,  and  his  work  on  the  subject  (London  :  1892). 


392 


GROUSE 


Though  the  Red  Grouse  does  not,  after  the  manner  of  other 
members  of  the  genus  Lagopus,  become  white  in  winter,  Scotland 
possesses  a  species  of  the  genus  which  does.  This  is  the  Ptar- 
migan,^ L.  mutus  or  L.  alpinus,  which  differs  far  more  in  structure, 
station,  and  habits  from  the  Red  Grouse  than  that  does  from  the 
Willow-Grouse,  and  in  Scotland  is  far  less  abundant,  haunting  only 
the  highest  and  most  barren  mountains.  It  is  said  to  have  for- 
merly inhabited  both  Wales  and  England,  but  there  is  no  evidence 
of  its  appearance  in  Ireland.  On  the  continent  of  Europe  it  is 
found  most  numerously  in  Norway,  but  at  an  elevation  far  above 


the  growth  of  trees,  and  it  occurs  on  the  Pyrenees,  and  on  the 
Alps.     It  also  inhabits  northern  Russia,  but  its  eastern  limit  is 

^  James  I.  (as  quoted  by  Mr.  Gray,  B.  W.  Scotlaml,  p.  230)  AYi'iting  from 
Whitehall  in  1617  spelt  the  word  "Termigant,"  and  in  this  form  it  appears  in 
one  of  the  Scots  Acts  in  1621.  Taylor  the  "water  poet,"  who  (in  1630)  seems 
to  have  been  the  first  Englishman  to  use  the  word,  has  "Termagant."  How  the 
unnecessary  initial  letter  has  crept  into  the  name  is  more  than  is  known  to  me. 
I  can  only  trace  it  to  Sibbald  in  1684.  The  word  is  admittedly  from  the  Gaelic 
Tarmachan,  meaning,  according  to  some,  "a  dweller  upon  heights,"  but 
thought  by  Dr.  T.  M'Lauchlan  to  refer  possibly  to  the  noise  made  by  the  bird's 
wings  in  taking  flight.  It  has  of  course  really  nothing  to  do  with  the  name  of 
the  idol  which  early  mediaeval  writers  supposed  to  be  worshipped  by  Pagans. 


GROUSE 


393 


unknown.  In  North  America,  Greenland/  and  Iceland  it  is  repre- 
sented by  a  very  nearly  allied  form — so  much  so  indeed  that  it  is 
only  at  certain  seasons  that  the  slight  difference  bet^yeen  them  can 
be  detected.  This  form  is  the  L.  riipestris  of  aiithors,  and  it  would 
appear  to  be  found  also  in  Siberia  (This,  1879,  p.  148).^  Spits- 
bergen is  inhabited  by  a  large  form  which  has  received  recognition 
as  L.  hemileiicurus,  and  the  northern  end  of  the  chain  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  is  tenanted  by  a  very  distinct  species,  the  smallest  and 
perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of  the  genus,  L.  leucurus,  which  has  all 
the  feathers  of  the  tail  white.   The  very  curious  and  still  hardly  under- 


-^^^fV^'-'V^  J^J. 


Blackcock. 


stood  question  of  the  Moult  of  the  Ptarmigan  could  not  be  discussed 
here,  and  reference  can  only  be  made  to  the  shedding  of  its  Claws. 
The  bird,  however,  to  which  the  name  of  Grouse  in  all  strict- 
ness belongs  (see  p.  388,  footnote  2)  is  Tetrao  tetrix — the  Blackcock 
and  Greyhen,  as  the  sexes  are  with  us  respectively  called.  It  is 
distributed  over  most  of  the  heath-country  of  England,  except  in 
East  Anglia,  where  attempts  to  introduce  it  have  been  only  par- 
tially successful.     It  also  occurs  in  North  Wales,  and  A^ery  generally 

^  Examples  from  Greenland  have  borne  the  name  of  L,  reinhardti,  others 
from  Newfoundland  L.  welchi,  and  the  islands  of  Unalaska  and  Atka  are  said  to 
present  local  forms  distinguishable  as  nclsoni  and  atkhensis  respectively  {cf. 
Ridgway,  Man.  N.  Am.  B.  p.  201). 

2  I  am  indebted  to  Prof.  Mitsukuri  for  specimens  from  Japan  ;  but  I  dare  not 
yet  characterize  them. 


394  GUACHARO 


throughout  Scotland,  though  not  in  Orkney,  Shetland,  or  the  Outer 
Hebrides,  nor  in  Ireland.  On  the  continent  of  Europe  it  has  a 
very  wide  range,  and  it  extends  into  Siberia.  In  Georgia  its  place 
is  taken  by  a  distinct  species,  on  which  a  Polish  naturalist  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1875,  p.  267)  has  unhappily  conferred  the  name  of  T. 
mlokosiewiczi.  Both  these  birds  have  much  in  common  with  their 
larger  congeners  the  Capercally  and  its  eastern  representative. 

We  must  then  notice  the  species  of  the  genus  Bonasa,  of  which 
the  European  B.  sylvestris,  the  Hazel-hen,  is  the  type.  This  does 
not  inhabit  the  British  Islands ;  unfortunately  so,  for  it  is  perhaps 
the  most  delicate  game-bird  that  comes  to  table.  It  is  the  Gelinotte 
of  the  French,  the  Haselhulm  of  Germans,  and  Rjerpe  of  Scandi- 
navians. Like  its  transatlantic  congener  B.  umbellus,  the  Huffed 
Grouse  or  Birch-Partridge  (of  which  there  are  three  other  local 
forms,  B.  togata,  B.  umhelloides,  and  B.  sabinii),  it  is  purely  a  forest- 
bird.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  species  of  Canachites,  of  which 
tAvo  forms  are  found  in  America,  C.  canadensis,  the  Spruce-Partridge, 
and  C  franklini,  and  also  of  the  Siberian  C.  fakipennis.  Nearly 
allied  to  these  birds  is  the  group  known  as  JDendragapus,  containing 
three  large  and  fine  forms,  D.  ohscurus,  D.  fiiliginosus,  and  D. 
richardsoni — all  peculiar  to  North  America.  Then  we  have  Cen- 
trocercus  urophasianus,  the  Sage-cock  of  the  plains  of  Columbia  and 
California,  and  Fediocxtes,  the  Sharp-tailed  Grouse,  with  its  three 
forms,  P.  phasianellns,  P.  columbianus,  and  P.  campestris,  while  finally 
Tympanuclms,  the  Prairie-hen,  also  with  three  local  forms,  T.  cupido, 
now  nearly  extinct,  T.  americamis,  and  T.  pallidicindns,  is  a  bird  that 
in  the  United  States  of  America  possesses  considerable  economic 
value,  as  \Wtness  the  enormous  numbers  that  are  not  only  consumed 
there,  but  exported  to  Europe.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  great 
majority  of  Grouse  belong  to  the  northern  part  of  the  New  World, 
and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  space  here  fails  to  do  justice  to  these 
beautiful  and  important  birds^  by  enlarging  on  their  interesting 
distinctions.  They  are  nearly  all  figured  in  Mr.  Elliot's  Monograph 
of  the  Tetraonin8S,  and  an  excellent  account  of  the  American  species, 
so  far  as  then  known,  is  given  in  Baird,  Brewer,  and  Ridgway's 
North  American  Birds  (iii.  pp.  414-465),  while  the  Manual  of  the 
last  of  these  authors  concisely  notices  the  forms  lately  recognized. 

GUACHARO,^  the  Spanish-American  name  of  what  English 
writers  have  lately  taken  to  calling  the  Oil-Bird,  the  Steatornis 
caripensis  of  ornithologists,  a  very  remarkable  bird,  first  described 
by  Alexander  von  Humboldt  (Journ.  de  Physique,  liii.  p.  57  ;  Foy. 
aux  ESg.  ^quinoxiales,  i.  p.  413,  Engl,  transl.  iii.  p.  119;  Obs. 
Zoologie,  ii.  p.  141,  pi.  xliv.)  from  his  own  observation  and  from 

^  This  is  said  to  be  an  obsolete  Spanish  word   signifying   one   that   cries, 
moans,  or  laments  loudly. 


GUACHARO  395 

examples  obtained  by  Bonpland,  on  the  visit  of  those  two  travellers, 
in  September  1799,  to  a  cave  near  Carip6  (at  that  time  a  monastery 
of  Aragonese  Capuchins)  in  the  Venezuelan  province  of  Cumana  on 
the  northern  coast  of  South  America.  A  few  years  later  it  was 
discovei'ed,  says  Latham  {Gen.  Hist.  Birds,  1823,  vii.  p.  365),  to 
inhabit  Trinidad,  where  it  appears  to  bear  the  name  of  Diablotin ;  ^ 
and  much  more  recently,  by  the  receipt  of  specimens  procured  at 
Sarayacu  in  Ecuador,  Caxamarca  in  the  Peruvian  Andes,  and 
Antioquia  in  New  Grenada  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1878,  pp.  139,  140; 
1879,  p.  532),  its  range  has  been  shewn  to  be  much  greater  than 
had  been  supposed.  The  singularity  of  its  structure,  its  curious 
habits,  and  its  peculiar  economical  value  have  naturally  attracted 
no  little  attention,  and  it  has  formed  the  subject  of  investigation 
by  a  considerable  number  of  zoologists  both  British  and  foreign. 
First  referring  it  to  the  genus  Caprimulgus,  its  original  describer 
soon  saw  that  it  was  no  true  Nightjar.  It  was  subsequently 
separated  as  forming  a  subfamily,  and  has  at  last  been  regarded  as 
the  type  of  a  distinct  Family,  Stcatornithidx — a  view  which,  though 
not  put  forth  till  1870  {Zool.  Becord,  vi.  p.  67),  seems  now  to  be 
generally  accepted.  Its  systematic  position,  however,  can  scarcely 
be  considered  settled,  for  though  on  the  whole  its  predominating 
alliance  may  be  with  the  Capimulgidx,  nearly  as  much  affinity  may 
be  traced  to  the  Striges,  while  it  possesses  some  characters  in 
which  it  differs  from  both  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1873,  pp.  526-535). 
About  as  big  as  a  Crow,  its  plumage  exhibits  the  blended  tints  of 
chocolate-colour  and  grey,  barred  and  pencilled  with  dark  brown  or 
black,  and  spotted  in  places  with  white,  that  prevail  in  the  two 
groups  just  named.  The  beak  is  hard,  strong,  and  deeply 
notched,  the  nostrils  are  prominent,  and  the  gape  is  furnished  with 
twelve  long  hairs  on  each  side.  The  legs  and  toes  are  compara- 
tively feeble,  but  the  wings  are  large.  In  habits  the  Guacharo  is 
wholly  nocturnal,  slumbering  by  day  in  deep  and  dark  caverns 
which  it  frequents  in  vast  numbers.  Towards  evening  it  arouses 
itself,  and,  with  croaking  and  clattering  that  has  been  likened  to 
that  of  castanets,  it  approaches  the  exit  of  its  retreat,  whence  at 
nightfall  it  issues  in  search  of  its  food,  which,  so  far  as  is  known, 
consists  entirely  of  oily  nuts  or  fruits,  belonging  especially  to  the 
genera  Achras,  Aiphanas,  Laurus,  and  Psichotria,  some  of  them  sought, 
it  would  seem,  at  a  very  great  distance,  for  M.  Funck  {Bull.  Acad. 
Sc.  Bruxelles,  xi.  pt.  2,  pp.  371-377)  states  that  in  the  stomach  of 
one  he  obtained  at  Caripe  he  found  the  seed  of  a  tree  which  he 
believed  did  not  grow  nearer  than  80  leagues.  The  hard,  in- 
digestible seeds  swallowed  by  the  Guacharo  are  found  in  quantities 
on  the  floor  and  the  ledges  of  the  caverns  it  frequents,  where  many 

^  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  bird  so  called  in  the  French  Antilles,  which 
is  a  Petkel,  (Estrelata  hassitata  (see  Extekmination,  p.  227,  note  4). 


396  GUAN 

of  them  for  a  time  vegetate,  the  plants  thus  growing  being  etiolated 
from  want  of  light,  and,  according  to  travellers,  forming  a  singular 
feature  of  the  gloomy  scene  which  these  places  present.  The 
Guacharo  is  said  to  build  a  bowl-like  nest  of  clay,  in  which  it  lays 
from  two  to  four  white  eggs,  with  a  smooth  but  lustreless  surface, 
resembling  those  of  some  Owls.  The  young  soon  after  they  are 
hatched  become  a  perfect  mass  of  fat,  and  while  yet  in  the  nest  are 
sought  by  the  Indians,  who  at  Carip6,  and  perhaps  elsewheie,  make 
a  special  business  of  taking  them  and  extracting  the  oil  they  con- 
tain. This  is  done  about  midsummer,  when  by  the  aid  of  torches 
and  long  poles  many  thousands  of  the  young  birds  are  slaughtered, 
while  their  parents  in  alarm  and  rage  hover  over  the  destroyers' 
heads,  uttering  harsh  and  deafening  cries.  The  grease  is  melted 
over  fires  kindled  at  the  cavern's  mouth,  run  into  earthen  pots,  and 
preserved  for  use  in  cooking  as  well  as  for  the  lighting  of  lamps. 
It  is  said  to  be  pure  and  limpid,  free  from  any  disagreeable  taste  or 
smell,  and  capable  of  being  kept  for  a  year  without  turning  rancid. 
In  Trinidad  the  young  are  esteemed  a  great  delicacy  for  the  table 
by  many,  though  some  persons  object  to  their  peculiar  scent,  which, 
says  L^otaud  {Oi&.  de  la  Trinidad,  p.  68),  resembles  that  of  a  cock- 
roach (Blatta),  and  consequently  refuse  to  eat  them.  The  old  birds 
also,  according  to  Mr.  E.  C.  Taylor  (Ibis,  1864,  p.  90)  have  a  strong 
CroAv-like  odour.     But  one  species  of  the  genus  Steatornis  is  known. ^ 

GUAN,  a  word  apparently  first  introduced  into  the  ornithologist's 
vocabulary  about  1743  by  Edwards,-  who  said 
that  a  bird  he  figured  (Nat.  Hist.  pi.  xiii.)  Avas 
"  so  called  in  the  AVest  Indies,"  and  the  name  has 
hence  been  generally  applied  to  all  the  members 
of  the  subfamily  Penelopinm,  which  are  distin- 
guished from  the  kindred  subfamily  Cracinx  or 
../^o^'^"^^"    ^       CURASSOWS  by  the  broad  postacetabular  area  of 

(After  fewamson.)  .  ,.  '^.  ,  i-tiptti         /  r, 

the  pelvis,  as  pointed  out  by  rrot.  Huxley  (rroc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1868,  p.  297),  as  well  as  by  their  maxilla  being  wider  than 

^  In  addition  to  the  works  above  quoted  valuable  information  about  this 
curious  bird  may  be  found  under  tlie  following  references  : — L'Herminier,  Ann. 
Sc.  Nat.  1836,  p.  60,  and  Nouv.  Ann.  Mus.  1838,  p.  321  ;  Hautessier,  Rev.  Zool. 
1838,  p.  164;  J,  Miiller,  Monatsh.  Berl.  Acad.  1841,  p.  172,  and  Archiv  fiir 
Anat.  1862,  pp.  1-11  ;  Des  Murs,  liev.  Zool.  1843,  p.  32,  and  Ool.  Orn.  pp. 
260-263  ;  Blanchard,  Ann.  Mus.  1859,  xi.  pi.  4,  fig.  30  ;  Konig-Warthausen, 
Jo^crn.  fiir  Orn.  1868,  pp.  384-387  ;  Goering,  Vargasia,  1869,  pp.  124-128  ; 
Murie,  Ibis,  1873,  pp.  81-86  ;  Sclater,  Ibis,  1890,  pp.  335-339. 

^  Edwards  also  gives  "  Quau  "  as  an  alternative  spelling,  and  this  maybe 
nearer  the  original  form,  since  we  find  Dampier  in  1676  writing  [Voy.  ii.  pt.  2, 
p.  66)  of  what  was  doubtless  an  allied  if  not  the  same  bird  as  the  "Quam." 
The  species  represented  by  Edwards  (Laes  not  seem  to  have  been  identified  by  the 
latest  authorities.     cJ- ,   C  (T\\,.^  ^  tliX 


GUILLEMOT  ^c^-j 


it  is  high,  -v^dth  its  culmen  depressed,  the  crown  feathered,  and  the 
nostrils  bare — the  last  two  characters  separating  the  Penelopinai 
from  the  Oreophasinse,  which  form  the  third  subfamily  of  the 
Cracidx,^  a  Family  belonging  to  that  taxonomer's  division  Feristero- 
podes  ^  of  the  group  Alectoromorpile. 

The  Penelopinse  have  been  separated  into  seven  genera,  of  which 
Penelope  and  Ortalis  (erroneously  Ortalida),  containing  respectively 
about  sixteen  and  nineteen  species,  are  the  largest,  the  others 
numbering  from  one  to  three  only.  Into  their  minute  difierences 
it  would  be  useless  to  enter ;  nearly  all  have  the  throat  bare  of 
feathers,  and  from  that  of  many  of  them  hangs  a  wattle ;  but  one 
form,  Chamxpetes,  has  neither  of  these  features,  and  Stegnolsema, 
though  wattled,  has  the  throat  clothed.  With  few  exceptions  the 
Guans  are  confined  to  the  South  American  continent ;  one  species 
of  Penelope  is,  however,  found  in  Mexico  and  at  Mazatlan,  Pipile 
cumanensis  inhabits  Trinidad  as  well  as  the  mainland,  while  three 
species  of  Ortalis  occur  in  Mexico  or  Texas,  and  one,  which  is  also 
common  to  Venezuela,  in  Tobago.  Like  Curassows,  Guans  are  in 
great  measure  of  arboreal  habit.  They  also  readily  become  tame, 
but  all  attempts  to  domesticate  them  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word 
have  wholly  failed,  and  the  cases  in  which  they  have  even  been 
induced  to  breed  and  the  young  have  been  reared  in  confinement 
are  very  few.^  Yet  it  would  seem  that  Guans  and  Curassows  will 
interbreed  with  poultry  (Ibis,  1866,  p.  24;  Bull.  Soc.  Imp.  d'Acclim- 
atation,  1868,  p.  559;  1869,  p.  357),  and  there  is  the  more 
extraordinary  statement  that  in  Texas  the  hybrids  between  the 
Chiacalacca,  Ortalis  vetida,  and  the  domestic  Fowl  are  asserted  to  be 
far  superior  to  ordinary  Game-cocks  for  fighting  piurposes.  More 
information  on  this  subject  is  very  desirable. 

GUILLEMOT    (French,    Gkdllemot^),    the    name    accepted    by 

^  See  the  Synopsis,  extensively  laid  under  contribution  for  this  article,  by 
Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin  [Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1870,  pp.  504-544),  while  further 
information  on  the  Cracinas  has  since  been  given  by  the  former  of  those  gentle- 
men {I'rans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  pp.  273-288,  pis.  xl.-liii. )  Some  additions  have  since 
been  made  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Family,  but  none  of  very  gi'cat  importance. 

-  It  would  be  here  out  of  place  to  dwell  upon  the  important  bearings  on  the 
question  of  Geographical  Distfjbutiox  (p.  313)  which  the  establishment  of  this 
division  has  tended  to  shew.  For  this  reference  must  be  made  to  Prof.  Huxley's 
original  paper  [ut  supra),  or  to  the  epitome  of  it  given  in  the  Zoological  Record 
(v.  pp.  34  and  99). 

3  Cf.  E.  S.  Dixon  {The  Dovecote  and  the  Aviary,  pp.  223-273.  London  :  1851), 
who  argues  that  the  reported  success  of  the  Dutch  towards  the  end  of  the  last 
century  in  domesticating  these  birds  was  an  exaggeration  or  altogether  a  mistake. 
His  tAvo  chapters  are  well  worth  reading. 

■*  The  word,  however,  seeu^s  to  be  cognate  with  or  derived  from  the  Welsh 
and  Manx  Gxdllem,  or  Givilym  as  Pennant  spells  it.  The  association  may  have 
no  real  meaning,  but  one  cannot  help  comparing  the  resemblance  between  the 


398  GUILLEMOT 


nearly  all  modern  authors  for  a  Sea-bird,  the  Colymbus  troile  of 
Linnaeus,  and  the  Uria  or  better  Alca  troile  of  later  writers,  which 
nowadays  it  seems  seldom  if  ever  to  bear  among  those  who,  from 
their  vocation,  are  most  conversant  with  it,  though,  according  to 
Willughby  and  Ray  his  translator,  it  was  in  their  time  so  called 
"  by  those  of  Northumberland  and  Durham."  Around  the  coasts 
of  Britain  it  is  variously  known  as  the  Frowl,  Kiddaw  or  Skiddaw, 
Langy  (c/.  Icelandic,  Langvia),  Lavy,  Marrock,  Murre,  Scout  (cf. 
Coot  and  Scoter),  Scuttock,  Strany,  Tinker  or  Tinkershire,  and 
Willock.  The  number  of  local  names  testifies  to  the  abundance  of 
this  bird,  at  least  of  old  time,  in  different  places,  but  it  should  be 
observed  that  in  certain  districts  some  of  them  are  the  common 
property  of  this  species  and  the  Razor-bill.  In  former  days  the 
Guillemot  yearly  frequented  the  cliffs  on  many  parts  of  the  British 
coasts  in  countless  multitudes,  and  this  is  still  the  case  in  the 
northern  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom ;  but  more  to  the  southward 
nearly  all  its  smaller  settlements  have  been  rendered  utterly  desolate 
by  the  wanton  and  cruel  destruction  of  their  tenants  during  the 
breedinsr-season,  and  even  the  inhabitants  of  those  Avhich  were  more 
crowded  had  become  so  thinned  that,  but  for  the  intervention  of 
the  Sea  Birds  Preservation  Act  (32  and  33  Vict.  cap.  17),  which 
provided  under  penalty  for  the  safety  of  this  and  certain  other 
species  at  the  time  of  year  when  they  were  most  exposed  to  danger, 
they  would  unquestionably  by  this  time  have  been  exterminated  so 
far  as  England  is  concerned.  The  slaughter,  Avhich,  before  the 
passing  of  that  Act,  took  place  annually  on  the  cliffs  of  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  near  Flamborough  Head,  and  at  such  other  stations  fre- 
quented by  this  species  and  its  allies  the  Razor-bill  and  Puflan,  and 
the  Kittiwake-Gull,  as  could  be  easily  reached  by  excursionists  from 
London  and  the  large  manufacturing  towns,  was  in  the  highest 
degree  brutal.  No  use  whatever  could  be  made  of  the  bodies  of  the 
victims,  which  indeed  those  who  indulged  in  their  massacre  were 
rarely  at  the  trouble  to  pick  out  of  the  water ;  the  birds  shot  were 
all  engaged  in  breeding  ;  and  most  of  them  had  young,  Avhich  of 
course  starved  through  the  destruction  of  their  parents,  inter- 
cepted in  the  performance  of  the  most  sacred  duty  of  nature,  and 
butchered  to  gratify  the  murderous  lust  of  those  who  sheltered  them- 
selves under  the  name  of  "  sportsmen." 

Part  of  the  Guillemot's  history  is  still  little  understood.  We 
know  that  it  arrives  at  its  wonted  breeding-stations  on  its  accus- 
tomed day  in  spring,  that  it  remains  there  till,  towards  the  end  of 
summer,  its  young  are  hatched  and  able,  as  they  soon  are,  to 
encounter  the  perils  of  a  seafaring  life,  when  away  go  all,  parents 

French  Guillemot — thougli  that  appears  to  have  been  originally  applied  to  the 
young  of  the  Golden  Plover  (Belon,  Hist.  d'Oys.  p.  262) — and  Guillaumc  with 
that  between  the  English  Willock,  another  name  for  the  bird,  and  AVilliam. 


GUINEA  FOWL  399 

and  progeny.  After  that  time  it  commonly  happens  that  a  few 
examples  are  occasionally  met  mth  in  bays  and  shallow  waters. 
Tempestuous  weather  will  drive  ashore  a  large  number  in  a  state  of 
utter  destitution — many  of  them  indeed  are  not  unfrequently 
washed  up  dead — but  what  becomes  of  the  bulk  of  the  birds,  not 
merely  the  comparatively  few  thousands  that  are  natives  of  Britain, 
but  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  not  to  say  millions,  that  are  in 
summer  denizens  of  more  northern  latitudes,  no  one  can  yet  say. 
This  mystery  is  not  peculiar  to  the  Guillemot,  but  is  shared  by  all 
the  Alddx  that  inhabit  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Examples  stray  every 
season  across  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  are  found  off  the  coasts  of  Spain 
and  Portugal,  enter  the  Mediterranean  and  reach  Italian  waters,  or, 
keeping  further  south,  may  even  touch  the  Madeiras,  Canaries,  or 
Azores ;  but  these  bear  no  proportion  whatever  to  the  mighty  hosts 
whose  position  and  movements  they  no  more  reveal  than  do  the 
vedettes  of  a  well-appointed  army.  The  common  or  Foolish  (as  it 
is  often  named)  Guillemot  of  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  is  replaced 
further  northward  by  a  species  of  a  stouter  build,  the  A.  arra  or 
A.  bruennichi  of  ornithologists,  and  on  the  west  coast  of  North 
America  by  the  A.  calif  arnica.  These  have  essentially  the  same 
habits,  and  the  structural  resemblance  between  all  of  them  and  the 
Auks  is  so  great  that  of  late  several  systematists  have  relegated 
them  to  the  genus  Alca,  confining  the  genus  Uria  to  the  Guillemots 
of  a  very  distinct  group,  of  which  the  type  is  the  U.  gryllc,  the 
Black  Guillemot  of  British  authors,  the  Dovekey  or  Greenland 
Dove  of  sailors,  the  Tysty  of  Shetlanders.  This  bird  assumes  in 
summer  an  entirely  black  plumage  with  the  exception  of  a  Avhite 
patch  on  each  wing,  while  in  winter  it  is  beautifully  marljled  with 
white  and  black.  Allied  to  it  as  species  or  geographical  races  are 
the  U.  manclti,  U.  columba,  and  U.  carbo.  All  these  differ  from  the 
larger  Guillemots  and  other  members  of  the  genus,  Alca,  as  here 
used,  by  laying  two  or  three  eggs,  which  are  generally  placed  in 
some  secure  niche,  while  the  latter  lay  but  a  single  egg,  which  is 
invariably  exposed  on  a  bare  ledge. 

GUINEA  FOWL,  a  well-known  domestic  gallinaceous  bird,  so 
called  from  the  country  whence  in  modern  times  it  was  brought  to 
Europe,  the  Meleagris  and  Avis  or  Gallma  Numidica  of  ancient 
authors.^  Little  can  be  positively  stated  of  the  wild  stock  to  which 
we  owe  our  tame  birds,  nor  can  the  period  of  its  reintroduction 

^  Columella  {Dc  He  Hustica,  viii.  cap.  2)  distinguishes  the  Meleagris  from  the 
Gallina  Africana  or  Numidica,  the  latter  having,  he  says,  a  red  wattle  {palca, 
a  reading  obviously  preferable  to  galea),  while  it  was  blue  in  the  former.  This 
would  look  as  if  the  Meleagris  had  sprung  from  what  is  now  called  Numida 
ptilorhyncha,  while  the  Gallina  Jfricana  originated  in  the  N.  meleagris, — species 
which,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  text,  have  a  different  range,  and  if  so  the  fact 
would  point  to  two  distinct  introductions — one  by  Greeks,  the  other  by  Latins. 


400  GUINEA  FOWL 


(for  there  is  apparently  no  evidence  of  its  domestication  being  con- 
tinuous from  the  time  of  the  Romans)  be  assigned  more  than 
roughly  to  that  of  the  African  discoveries  of  the  Portuguese.^  It 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  commonly  known  till  the  middle  of  the 
16  th  century,  when  Caius  sent  a  description  and  figure,  with  the 
name  of  Gallus  Mauritanus,  to  Gesner,  who  published  both  in  his 
Faralijpomena  in  1555,  and  in  the  same  year  Belon  also  gave  a  notice 
and  woodcut  under  the  name  of  Poulle  de  la  Guin4e ;  but  while  the 
former  authors  properly  referred  their  bird  to  the  ancient  Meleagris, 
the  latter  confounded  the  Meleagris  and  the  Turkey. 

The  ordinary  Guinea  Fowl  of  our  poultry-yards  is  the  Numida 
meleagris  of  ornithologists,  and  is  too  common  a  bird  to  need 
description.  The  chief  or  only  changes  which  domestication  seems 
to  have  induced  in  its  appearance  are  a  tendency  to  albinism 
generally  shewn  in  the  plumage  of  its  lower  parts,  and  frequently, 
though  not  always,  the  conversion  of  the  colour  of  its  legs  and  feet 
from  dark  greyish-brown  to  bright  orange.  That  the  home  of  this 
species  is  West  Africa  from  the  Gambia  -  to  the  Gaboon  is  certain, 
but  its  range  in  the  interior  is  quite  unknown.  It  appears  to  have 
been  imported  early  into  the  Cape  Verd  Islands,  where,  as  also  in 
some  of  the  Greater  Antilles  and  in  Ascension,  it  has  run  wild. 
Representing  the  species  in  South  Africa  we  have  N.  coronata,  which 
is  very  numerous  from  the  Cape  Colony  to  Ovampoland,  and  N. 
cornuta  of  Drs.  Finsch  and  Hartlaub,  which  replaces  it  in  the  west 
as  far  as  the  Zambesi.  Madagascar  also  has  its  pecrJiar  species, 
distinguishable  by  its  red  crown,  the  N.  viitrata  of  PaUas,  a  name 
which  has  often  been  misapplied  to  the  last.  This  bird  has  been 
introduced  to  Rodriguez,  where  it  is  now  found  wild.  Abyssinia 
is  inhabited  by  another  species,  the  N.  ptilorhijncha,^  which  differs 
from  all  the  foregoing  by  the  absence  of  any  red  colouring  about 
the  head.  Very  different  from  all  of  them,  and  the  finest  species 
known,  is  the  N.  vulturina  of  Zanzibar,  conspicuous  by  the  bright 
blue  in  its  plumage,  the  hackles  that  adorn  the  lower  part  of  its 
neck,  and  its  long  tail.  By  some  writers  it  is  thought  to  form  a 
separate  genus,  Acryllium.  All  these  Guinea  Fowls  are  charac- 
terized by  having  the  crown  bare  of  feathers  and  elevated  into  a 
bony  "helmet,"  but  there  is  another  group  (to  which   the   name 

^  Edwards,  writing  about  1760  {Gleanings,  ii.  p.  269),  says  that  "Guiney 
Hens,  which  were  shewn  as  rarities  when  I  was  a  boy,  are  now  become  a  common 
doniestick  Fowl  in  England." 

-  Specimens  from  the  Gambia  are  said  to  be  smaller,  and  have  been  described 
as  distinct  under  the  name  of  N.  rendallL 

2  Mr.  Darwin  {Anim.  and  PI.  wonder  Domestication,  i.  p.  294)  gives  this  as  the 
original  stock  of  our  modern  domestic  birds,  but  herein  I  venture  to  think  he  has 
been  misled.  As  before  observed,  it  may  possibly  have  been  the  true  fxeXfaypis 
of  the  Greeks. 


GUIRA—GULL  401 


Guttera  has  been  given)  in  which  a  thick  tuft  of  feathers  ornaments 
the  top  of  the  head.  This  contains  four  or  five  species,  all  inhabit- 
ing some  part  or  other  of  Africa,  the  best 
known  being  the  N.  cristata  from  Sierra 
Leone  and  other  places  on  the  western 
coast.  This  bird,  apparently  mentioned  by 
Marcgi'ave  more  than  200  years  ago,  but 
first  described  by  Pallas,  is  remarkable  for 
the  structure- — unique,  if  not  possessed  by 
its  representative  forms — ^^of  its  FuRCULA,  guinea  fowl. 

where  the  head,  instead  of  being  the  thin 

plate  found  in  all  other  Galliim,  is  a  hollow  cup  opening  upwards, 
into  which  the  trachea  dips,  and  then  emerges  on  its  way  to  the 
lungs.  Allied  to  the  genus  Nwniida,  but  readily  distinguished 
therefrom  among  other  characters  by  the  possession  of  spurs,  are 
two  rare  forms,  Agelastes  and  Fhasidus,  both  from  Western  Africa. 
Of  their  habits  nothing  is  known.  All  these  birds  ai-e  beautifully 
figured  in  Mr.  Elliot's  Monograph  of  the  Phasianidx,  from  drawings 
by  Mr.  Wolf. 

GUIRA,  a  Spanish-American  name,  occasionally  to  be  found 
since  Willughby's  time  in  English  books,  but  applied  to  so  many 
birds  of  diff"erent  kinds  as  to  convey  no  definite  meaning  unless  with 
a  qualification,  and  then  possibly  not  always. 

GUIT-GUIT,  a  name,  presumably  in  imitation  of  the  cry  of  a 
bird,  used  almost  indefinitely  for  any  species  of  the  Neotropical 
genera  Csereba,  Dacnis  and  their  allies  (cf.  Quit). 

GULL  (Welsh,  Gwylan ;  Breton,  Goulen ;  French,  Goeland)  the 
name  now  commonly  used,  to  the  almost,  entire  exclusion  of  the 
old  English  Mew  (Icelandic,  Mdfur ;  Danish,  Maage ;  Swedish, 
Mase ;  German,  Meve ;  Dutch,  Meeuw ;  French,  Mouette),  for  a  group 
of  Sea-birds  widely  and  commonly  known,  all  belonging  to  the 
genus  Larus  of  Linnaeus,  which  subsequent  systematists  have 
broken  up  in  a  very  arbitrary  and  often  absurd  fashion.  The 
Family  Laridse  is  composed  of  two  chief  groups,  Larinai  and 
Sterninsp, — the  Gulls  and  the  Terns,  though  two  other  subfamilies 
are  frequently  counted,  the  Skuas  (Stercorarmix),  and  that  formed 
by  the  single  genus  Rhynchops,  the  Skimmers  ;  but  there  seems  no 
strong  reason  why  the  former  should  not  be  referred  to  the  Larinm, 
and  the  latter  to  the  Sternina'. 

Taking  the  Gulls  in  their  restricted  sense,  Mr.  Howard 
Saunders,  who  subjected  the  group  to  a  rigorous  revision  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1878,  pp.  152-211),  admitted  forty-nine  species  of  them, 
which  he  placed  in  five  genera  instead  of  the  many  which  some 
prior  investigators  had  sought  to  establish.  Two  or  three  more 
species  might  now  be  added.      Of  the  genera  recognized  by  him, 

26 


402  GULL 

Pagophila  and  Ehodostethia  have  but  one  species  each,  Bissa  and  Xema 
two,  while  the  rest  belong  to  Larus.  The  Pagophila  is  the  so-called 
Ivory-Gull,  F.  eburnea,^  names  which  hardly  do  justice  to  the 
extreme  whiteness  of  its  plumage,  to  which  its  jet-black  legs  offer  a 
strong  contrast.  The  young,  however,  are  spotted  with  black.  An 
inhabitant  of  the  most  northern  seas,  examples  find  their  way  in 
winter  to  more  temperate  shores.  Its  breeding-places  have  seldom 
been  discovered,  and  the  first  of  its  eggs  seen  by  ornithologists  was 
brought  home  by  Sir  L.  M'Clintock  in  1853  from  Cape  Krabbe 
(Joii/rn.  B.  Dubl  Soc.  i.  p.  60,  pi.  1);  two  others-  were  obtained  by 
Dr.  Malmgren  in  Spitsbergen  in  1868,  and,  in  August  1887,  the 
captain  of  a  Norwegian  ship  found  from  100  to  150  nests  on  Storo, 
an  islet  on  the  extreme  north-east  of  that  country^  (Ibis,  1888,  pp. 
440-443,  pi.  xiii.)  Of  the  species  of  Eissa,  one  is  the  abundant 
and  well-known  Kittiwake,  E.  tridactijla,  of  circumpolar  range, 
breeding,  however,  also  in  comparatively  low  latitudes,  as  on  the 
coasts  of  Britain,  and  in  -winter  frequenting  southern  waters.  The 
other  is  E.  brevirostris,  Limited  to  the  North  Pacific,  between  Alaska 
and  Kamchatka.  The  singular  fact  requires  to  be  noticed  that  in 
the  former  of  these  species  the  hind  tbe  is  generally  deficient,  but 
that  examples,  and  especially  those  from  Bering's  Sea,  are  occa- 
sionally found  in  which  this  functionless  member  has  not  wholly 
disappeared.  We  have  then  the  genus  Lams,  which  ornithologists 
have  hitherto  attempted  most  unsuccessfully  to  subdivide.  It 
contains  the  largest  as  well  as  the  smallest  of  Gulls.  In  some 
species  the  adults  assume  a  dark-coloured  head  every  breeding-season, 
in  others  any  trace  of  dark  colour  is  the  mark  of  immaturity.  The 
larger  species  prey  on  eggs  and  weakly  birds,  while  the  smaller 
content  themselves  with  a  diet  of  insects  and  worms.  But  how- 
ever diverse  be  the  appearance,  structure,  or  habits  of  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  series  of  species,  they  are  so  closely  connected  by 
intermediate  forms  that  it  is  hijrd  to  find  a  gap  between  them  that 
would  justify  a  generic  division.  Of  the  forty -five  species  of  this 
genus  now  recognized  by  Mr.  Saunders  it  would  be  here  impossible 
to  attempt  to  point  out  the  peculiarities.     About  seventeen  belong 

1  The  white  Gulls  reported  to  Gunner  (Leeni,  De  Lapp.  Cominent.  p.  285), 
and  called  by  him  Larus  albus,  may  have  been  as  he  thought  identical  with  the 
Rathsherr  of  Marten  [Spitsh.  Rein.  p.  56),  which  undoubtedly  was  the  Ivory- 
Gull  ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  they  were.  Hence  I  cannot  adopt  that 
specific  name,  as  recent  American  writers  do.  From  what  has  been  before  said 
as  to  Gavia,  they  seem  to  be  also  wrong  in  using  that  word  as  a  generic  name 
in  place  of  Pagophila: 

2  One  of  these  has  long  been  in  my  possession. 

^  The  Norwegian  pilot  of  the  yacht  in  which  I  visited  Spitsbergen  told  me 
that  the  crew  of  a  boat  which  visited  Giles's  Laud  in  1859  found  many  Ivory- 
Gulls'  nests  on  its  shore  {Ibis,  1864,  p.  508). 


G  ULLE  T—G  YMNORHINA  403 

to  Europe  and  fourteen  to  North  America,  of  which  (excluding 
stragglers)  some  five  only  are  common  to  both  countries.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  geographical  distribution  of  several  of  them  is 
still  incomplete.  Some  have  a  very  wide  range,  others  very  much 
the  reverse  :  as  "witness  L.  fuliginosus,  believed  to  be  confined  to  the 
Galapagos,  and  L.  scopulinus  and  L.  hulleri  to  New  Zealand — the 
last  indeed  perhaps  only  to  the  South  Island.  The  largest  species 
of  the  group  are  the  Glaucous  and  Greater  Black-backed  Gulls,  L. 
glaucics  and  L.  marinus,  of  which  the  former  is  circumpolar,  and  the 
latter  nearly  so — not  having  been  hitherto  foimd  between  Labrador 
and  Japan.  The  smallest  species  is  the  Euroj)ean  L.  minutus,  though 
the  North-American  L.  Philadelphia  does  not  much  exceed  it  in  size. 
Many  of  the  Gulls  congregate  in  vast  numbers  to  breed,  whether 
on  rocky  cliffs  of  the  sea -coast  or  on  heathy  islands  in  inland 
waters.  Some  of  the  settlements  of  the  Black-headed  or  "  Peewit  " 
Gull,  L.  ridibundus,  are  a  source  of  no  small  profit  to  their  proprietors, 
— the  eggs,  which  are  accounted  a  delicacy,  being  often  taken 
on  an  orderly  system  up  to  a  certain  day,  and  the  birds  carefully 
protected.  Ross's  or  the  Roseate  Gull,  Rhodosteihia  rosea,  forms  a 
well-marked  genus,  distinguished  not  so  much  by  the  pink  tint  of 
its  plumage  (for  that  is  found  in  other  species)  but  by  its  small 
Dove-like  bill  and  wedge-shaped  tail.  It  used  to  be  an  exceedingly 
scarce  bird  in  collections ;  but  it  was  met  with  abundantly  in  the 
autumn  of  1881  off  Point  Barrow  by  Mr.  Miudoch  of  the  United 
States'  Polar  Expedition  {Report,  &c.,  p.  123,  pis.  i.  ii.),  and  a  large 
series  of  specimens  was  obtained.  Its  Ai'ctic  home,  however,  has 
not  yet  been  found,  but  it  has  been  seen,  if  not  procured,  in 
summer  in  Boothia  Felix,  and  ofi"  the  coast  of  Spitsbergen  and  on 
Franz  Josef  Land.  More  rare  still  is  one  of  the  sjiecies  of  Xema, 
X.  furcatum,  of  Avhich  only  five  specimens,  all  but  one  believed  to 
have  come  from  the  Galapagos,  have  been  seen.  Its  smaller 
congener  Sabine's  Gull,  X.  sabinii,  is  more  common,  and  has  been 
found  breeding  both  in  Arctic  America  and  in  Siberia,  and  many 
examples,  chiefly  immature  birds,  have  been  obtained  in  the  British 
Islands.  Both  species  of  Xema  are  readily  distinguished  from  all 
other  Gulls  by  their  foi'ked  tail. 

GULLET,  see  Oesophagus. 

GWILLEM,  see  Guillemot, 

GYMNORHINA,  G.  R.  Gray's  name  in  1840  (List  Gen.  B. 
p.  37)  for  a  genus  apparently  allied  to  Strepera  and  belonging  to  the 
'■'■  Austro-Coraces"  of  Parker  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  p.  327),  a  group 
of  birds  that  has  not  yet  been  properly  defined.  They  have  fre- 
quently been  called  "  Crow-Shrikes,"  or,  from  their  loud  voice, 
"Piping  Crows,"  while  dealers  know  them  as  "  Australian  Magpies," 


404 


G  YPAETE—HALL  UX 


their  plumage  being  black  and  white. 


G.  tibicen  has  a  \Wde  range  in 
Australia,  while  G.  leuconota  is 
restricted  to  its  southern  and 
western  parts.  Tasmania  has 
a  smaller  race  of  the  former, 
or  distinct  species,  as  some 
regard  it :  the  Organ-bird  of 
the  colonists,  G.  hyperleuca,  to 
correct  the  name  originally 
bestowed  on  it  by  Gould 
(Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1836,  p.  106), 
or  organica. 

GYPAETE,  intended  as  an  Anglified  form  of  Gypaetus  (Lam- 
aiergeyer). 

GYRFALCON,  from  the  Low  Latin  Gyrofalco,  but  the  etymology 
of  that  is  doubtful,  the  best  authorities  differing  concerning  it. 
Some  would  have  it  from  the  verb  gyrare,  to  circle,  others  from 
Geier,  a  Vulture,  and  this  from  the  Old  High  German  gtri,  greedy, 
while  others  again  say  that  Geier  is  allied  to  gyrare.  All  agree, 
however,  in  denying  that  there  can  be  any  derivation  from  Hiero- 
falco,  which  is  a  hybrid  word  of  modern  invention  (see  Falcon). 


Gymnoehina.    (After  Swainsou.) 


H 


HACKBOLT,  HAGBOLT,  and  HAGDOWN,  names  said  to  be 
given  by  the  people  of  Scilly  and  Man  to  the  larger  of  the  species 
of  Shearwater  with  which  they  meet,  if  indeed  they  recognize  any 
distinction,  and  in  one  form  or.  other  used,  it  would  appear,  also  on 
the  east  coast  of  North  America. 

HALCYON,  Greek  aXKVMv  (the  h  being  redundant),  a  poetical 
name  for  the  Kingfisher. 

HALF-BIRD,  a  common  fowler's  name  for  the  smaller  kinds  of 
Duck,  especially  the  Teal,  which  bring  only  half-price,  or  something 
like  it,  when  sold. 

HALLUX,  the  first  digit  of  the  foot,  commonly  known  as  the 
"  hind  toe  "  from  its  backward  direction  in  most  birds.  When 
fully  developed  it  consists  of  only  two  phalanges,  its  metatarsal 
is  reduced  to  the  distal  portion,  and  is  only  loosely  attached  to  the 
inner  and  hinder  surface  of  the  other  three  coalesced  metatarsals. 
As   regards   position,  structure  and   size,  the   Hallux  is  the  most 


HAMMER-HEAD 


405 


variable  of  all  the  toes,  and  its  taxonomic  value  is  very  limited. 
In  Hesperornis  (Odontornithes),  the  Spheniscidie  (Penguin)  and 
Steganopodes  it  is  turned  forward,  and  joined  to  the  second 
digit  by  a  web,  as  is  also  the  case  to  a  certain  extent  in  the 
ColymUdai  (Diver).  In  some  of  the  Cypselidx  (Swift)  all  four 
toes  are  directed  forward,  but  they  are  free  at  the  base ;  and  in 
certain  of  the  Caprimnlgidie  (Nightjar)  and  in  the  Goliidse  (Mouse- 
bird)  the  Hallux  is  reversible.  In  the  Tubinares  and  the  "  three- 
toed  "  Woodpeckers  {Pkoides,  Sasia  and  *  Tiga)  it  is  reduced  to 
a  small  subcutaneous  nodule  ;  and  in  most  LiMicOL^E,  though  visible, 
it  is  in  a  scarcely  functional  condition,  while  in  some  of  them,  as 
Calidris  (Sanderling)  and  many  Charadriidx.  (Plover),  it  is  wholly 
absent,  as  it  is  also  in  the  Alcidx.  (Auk),  Otididie  (Bustard)  and  all 
the  existing  Ratit^  except  Apteryx  (Kiwi).  In  Rissa  (Kittiwake) 
its  condition  varies  almost  individually  from  being  nearly  functional 
to  absence  (see  ToEs). 

HAMMER-HEAD    or  HAMMER-KOP,   names    given    in    the 
Cape    Colony  to    the    Scopus   timbretta   of    ornithology,   called    by 


// 


Hajmmer-head,  Scopxis  xvmbretta. 

Pennant  and  some  writers  the  "Umbre."  This  was  discovered  by 
Adanson,  the  French  traveller  in  Senegal,  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  was  described  by  Brisson  in  1760.  It  has 
since    been    found    to    inhabit    nearly    the    whole    of    Africa    and 


4o6  HANG-BIRD—HARELD 

Madagascar.  Though  not  larger  than  a  Kaven,  it  builds  an 
enormous  nest,  occasionally  some  six  feet  in  diameter,  and  placed 
either  in  a  tree  or  on  a  rocky  ledge.  ^  The  structure  is  a  mass  of 
sticks,  roots,  grass  and  rushes,  compactly  piled  together,  with  a 
flat-topped  roof,  the  interior  being  neatly  lined  with  clay,  and  a  hole 
for  entrance  and  exit.  The  bird,  of  an  almost  uniform  earthy-brown 
colour  (umber),  whence  the  French  Ombrette,  slightly  glossed  with 
purple,  and  its  tail  barred  with  black,  has  a  long  occipital  crest, 
generally  borne  horizontally,  so  as  to  give  rise  to  its  expressive 
colonial  name,  for  the  likeness  of  its  head  to  that  of  a  hammer  is 
obvious.  It  is  somewhat  sluggish  by  day,  but  displays  much 
activity  at  dusk,  when  it  will  go  through  a  series  of  strange  per- 
i/-v-«'^  fes^  formances.^  Scopus    has   hitherto 

been  generally  referred  to  the 
group  Pelargi  (Stork),  but  recent 
investigations  point  out  that  its 
affinity  is  rather  to  the  Herodiones 

Bill  OF  SCOPUS.     (After  Swainson.)  (HeRON),     thoUgh     it     Can     hardly 

enter  into  the  Family  Ardeidx, 
and  its  flight  is  described  as  not  being  Heron-like  {Ihis,  1863,  p.  170). 
The  late  Prof.  Reinhardt  {op.  cit.  1862,  pp.  158-175)  thought  that 
Balseniceps  (Shoe-bill)  was  its  nearest  ally. 

HANG -BIRD  or  HANG -NEST,  common  names  in  North 
America  for  the  beautiful  Baltimore  Oriole  and  its  allies  (see 
Icterus),  from  the  pensile  nests  they  build. 

HANNA,  the  usual  name  in  British  Guiana  for  the  HoACTZiN. 

HAPLOOPHON^,  Garrod's  name  (Free.  Zool.  Sac.  1876,  pp. 
517,  518)  for  a  division  of  the  Passeres  Mesomyodi,  containing  the 
Families  Tijrannidse  (King-bird),  Bupicolidx  and  Pittidai,  to  which 
Forbes  subsequently  added  {op.  cit.  1880,  pp.  389-391,  and  1882, 
pp.  569-571)  the  Philepittidm  of  Madagascar  and  the  Xenicidae  (or 
more  correctly  Acanthidosittidse)  of  New  Zealand.  Together  with 
the  Tracheophon^,  they  form  the  group  Homceomeri  as  opposed 
to  the  Heteromeri. 

HARELD  (corruptly  HERALD),  apparently  the  invention  in 
1824  of  Stephens,  who  {Gen.  Zool.  xii.  pt.  2,  p.  174)  so  rendered 
the  generic  name  Harelda  which  he  bestowed  upon  the  Long-tailed 
Duck,  Anas  glacialis  of  Linnaeus,  misspelling  (whether  purposely  or 
not),  the  Havelda  of  Ray  {Si/nop.  Av.  p.  145)  which  was  nearly 
Worm's  {Mus.  fForm.  p.  302)  Latinized  form  of  Ildvelle  (pro- 
nounced Hauvadla)  the  common  Icelandic  name  for  the  bird,  having 

'  Holub  and  Von  Pelzeln  {Bcitr.  Orn.  Siidafrikas,  p.  279)  give  two  figures  of 
the  nest,  one  of  which  is  reproduced  in  the  accompanying  illustration. 


HA  RLE— HA  RP  V  407 


reference  to  the  trilling  sound  of  its  musical  notes.     The  name  is 
current  in  Orkney ;  but  with  it  must  be  noticed 

HARLE,  the  name  given,  both  there  and  in  Shetland,  to  one  of 
the  Mergansers,  and  probably  cognate  if  not  identical  with  the 
French  Harle  or  Herle  (Belon,  Hist.  Oys.  p.  164)  which  has  the  same 
meaning,  though  how  a  French  word  should  reach  and  come  into 
use  among  a  Scandinavian  population  is  not  easily  explained,  except 
on  the  supposition  that  Harle  is  a  contracted  form  of  Hdvelle  (as 
above),  and  the  name  has  been  transferred  from  one  species  to 
another. 

HARLEQUIN  (with  the  suffix)  DUCK  was  Forster's  rendering 
in  1791  {Cat.  Anim.  M.  Am.  p.  16)  of  Anas  histrionica  of  Linnseus, 
and  since  maintained  as  the  common  English  name  of  that  beauti- 
ful species,  which  inhabits  the  northern  part  of  the  Holarctic  Region 
from  Iceland  westward  to  some  undetermined  limit  in  Siberia  ;  but 
is  unknown,  except  as  a  rare  wanderer,  to  the  British  Islands  or 
Continental  Europe.  It  belongs  to  the  subfamily  Fttligulinse 
(Pochard),  and  has  been  often  placed  in  the  genus  Clangula 
(Golden-eye),  from  which,  however,  it  differs  sufficiently  to  deserve 
separation  as  Cosmonetta  or  Histrionicus.  The  epithet  Harlequin  has 
been  applied  by  Gould  to  one  of  the  Australian  Bronze-wing 
Pigeons,  Pimps  histrionica,  and  by  Gurney  to  an  African  Quail, 
Coturnix  delegorguii. 

HARPY,  a  large  diurnal  Bird-of-Prey,  so  named  after  the 
mythological  monster  of  the  classical  poets,  ^ — the  Thrasaetus  harpyia 
of  modern  ornithologists, — an  inhabitant  of  the  Avarmer  parts  of 
America  from  Southern  Mexico  to  Brazil.  Though  known  for 
more  than  two  centuries,  its  habits  have  come  very  little  under  the 
notice  of  naturalists,  and  what  is  said  of  them  by  the  older  writers 
must  be  received  with  some  suspicion.  A  cursory  inspection  of  the 
bird,  which  is  not  unfrequently  brought  alive  to  Europe,  its  size, 
and  its  enormous  bill  and  talons,  at  once  suggest  the  vast  powers  of 
destruction  imputed  to  it,  and  are  enough  to  account  for  the  stories 
told  of  its  ravages  on  mammals, — sloths,  fawns,  peccaries,  and 
spider-monkeys.  It  has  even  been  asserted  to  attack  the  human 
race.  How  much  of  this  is  fabulous  there  seems  no  means  at 
present  of  determining,  but  some  of  the  statements  are  made  by 
veracious  travellers — D'Orbigny  and  Tschudi.  It  is  not  uncommon 
in  the  forests  of  the  isthmus  of  Panama,  and  Mr.  Salvin  says  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1864,  p.  368)  that  its  flight  is  slow  and  heavy.  Indeed 
its  Owl-like  visage,  its  short  wings  and  soft  plumage,  do  not  indicate 
a  bird  of  very  active  habits,  but  the  weapons  of  offence  with  which, 

^  But  the   a/jTTTj   or  Jiaiya  of  then*  prose-writers   seems  to  have   been    the 
Lammergeyee. 


4o8 


HARRIER 


as  above  stated,  it  is  armed,  shew  that  it  must  be  able  to  cope  with 
vigorous  prey.      Its  appearance  is  sufficiently  striking — the  head  and 


Harpy. 

lower  parts,  except  a  pectoral  band,  white,  the  former  adorned  with 
an  erectile  crest,  the  upper  parts  dark  grey  banded  with  black,  the 

wings   dusky,  and  the  tail  barred ;  but  the 
ft.   huge  bill  and  powerful  scutellated  legs  most 
^    of  all  impress  the   beholder.      The   precise 
affinities   of    the   Harpy   cannot  be   said  to 
have  been  determined.     By  some  authors  it 
is    referred    to    the   Eagles,    by  others  to 
the  Buzzards,  and  by  others  again  to  the 
Hawks  ;    but    possibly    the    first    of   these 
alliances  is  the  most  likely  to  be  true. 

HAERIER  or  HEN-HARRIER,  from  their  habit  of  harrying 
poultry,  names  given  to  certain  Birds-of-Prey  which  were  formerly 
very  abundant  in  parts  of  the  British  Islands.  The  first  of  these 
names  has  now  become  used  in  a  generic  sense  for  all  the  species 
ranked  under  the  genus  Circus  of  Lacepede,  and  the  second  confined 


Bill  of  Harpy. 

(After  Swainson.) 


HARRIER 


409 


to  the  particular  species  which  is  the  Falco  cyaneus  of  Linnaeus  and 
the  Circus  cyanms  of  modern  ornithologists. 

On  the  wing  Harriers  have  much  resemblance  to  Buzzards,  using 
the  same  flapping  stroke  of  the  pinions,  and  wheeling  or  sailing 
aloft  as  they  fly.  One  European  species  indeed,  C.  s&ruginosus, 
though  called  in  books  the  Marsh-Harrier,  is  far  more  commonly 
known  in  Ensrland  and  Ireland  as  the  Moor  -  Buzzard.  But 
Harriers  are  not,  like  Buzzards,  arboreal  in  their  habits,  and  always 
aff"ect  open  country,  generally,  though  not  invariably,  preferring 
marshy  or  fenny  districts,  for  snakes  and  frogs  form  a  great  part  of 
their  ordinary  food.  On  the  ground  their  carriage  is  utterly  unlike 
that  of  a  Buzzard,  and  their  long  wings  and  legs  render  it  easy  to 


Hen-Harrier  (Male  and  Female). 

distinguish  the  two  groups  when  taken  in  the  hand.  All  the 
species  also  have  a  more  or  less  well-developed  ruff"  or  frill  of  small 
thick-set  feathers  surrounding  the  lower  part  of  the  head,  nearly  like 
that  seen  in  Owls,  and  accordingly  many  systematists  consider  that 
the  genus  Circus,  though  undoubtedly  belonging  to  the  Falconidai, 
connects  that  Family  with  the  Striges.  No  osteological  affinity, 
however,  can  be  established  between  the  Harriers  and  any  section 
of  the  Owls,  and  the  superficial  resemblance  will  have  to  be 
explained  in  some  other  way.  Harriers  are  found  almost  all  over 
the  world,^  and  fifteen  species  are  recognized  by  Dr.  Sharpe  [Cat. 
B.  Br.  Mus.  i.  pp.  50-73).      In  most  if  not  all  the  Harriers  the  sexes 

1  The  distribution  of  the  various  species  is  remarkable,  while  the  range  of 
some  is  exceedingly  wide,  that  of  others  is  very  limited— C.  maillar^'i,  for 
instance,  seems  to  be  confined  to  the  island  of  Reunion  (Bourbon). 


4IO 


HA  WFINCH 


Circus.    (After  Swainson.) 


differ  greatly  in  colour,  so  much  so  that  for  a  long  while  the  males 
and  females  of  one  of  the  commonest  and  best  known,  the  C.  cyaneus 

above  mentioned,  were  thought 
to  be  distinct  species,  and  were 
or  still  are  called  in  various 
European  languages  by  different 
names.  The  error  was  main- 
tained with  the  greater  persist- 
ency since  the  young  males,  far 
more  abundant  than  the  adults, 
wear  much  the  same  plumage  as 
their  mother,  and  it  was  not 
until  after  Montagu's  observa- 
tions were  published  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  centui'y 
that  the  "  Eingtail,"  as  she  was  called  (the  Falco  pygargus  of 
Linnseus),  was  generally  admitted  to  be  the  female  of  the  "  Hen- 
Harrier."  But  this  was  not  Montagu's  only  good  service  as  regards 
this  genus.  He  proved  the  hitherto  unexpected  existence  of  a 
second  species,^  subject  to  the  same  diversity  of  plumage.  This 
was  called  by  him  the  Ash-coloured  Falcon,  but  it  now  generally 
bears  his  name,  and  is  known  as  Montagu's  Harrier,  C.  cineraceus. 
In  habits  it  is  very  similar  to  the  Hen-Harrier,  but  it  has  longer 
wings,  and  its  range  is  not  so  northerly,  for  while  the  Hen-Harrier 
extends  to  Lapland,  Montagu's  is  but  very  rare  in  Scotland,  though 
in  the  south  of  England  it  is  the  most  common  species.  Harriers 
indeed  in  the  British  Islands  are  rapidly  becoming  things  of  the 
past.  Their  nests  are  easily  found,  and  the  birds  when  nesting  are 
easily  destroyed.  In  the  south-east  of  Europe,  reaching  also  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  to  India,  there  is  a  fourth  species,  the  C. 
swainsoni  of  some  writers,  the  C.  pallidns  of  others.  In  North 
America  C.  cyaneus  is  represented  by  a  kindred  form,  C.  Imdsonius, 
usually  regarded  as  a  good  species,  the  adult  male  of  which  is 
always  to  be  recognized  by  its  rufous  markings  beneath,  in  which 
character  it  rather  resembles  0.  cineraceui<,  but  it  has  not  the  long 
wings  of  that  species.  South  America  has  in  C.  cinereus  another 
representative  form,  while  China,  India,  and  Australia  possess  more 
of  this  type.  Then  there  is  a  section  in  which  the  males  have  a 
strongly  contrasted  black  and  grey  plumage,  and  finally  there  is  a 
group  of  larger  forms  allied  to  the  European  C.  xruginoms,  wherein 
a  grey  dress  is  less  often  attained,  of  which  the  South  African  C. 
ranivoi'us  and  the  New  Zealand  C.  gouldi  are  examples. 

HAWFINCH,  a  bird  so  called  from  the  belief  that  the  fruit  of 

1  A  singular  mistake,  which  has  been  productive  of  further  error  (Cat.  B.  Br. 
Mus.  i.  p.  64),  was  made  by  Albin,  who  drew  his  figure  {Hist.  B.  ii.  pi.  5) 
from  a  specimen  of  one  species  and  coloured  it  from  a  specimen  of  the  other. 


HAJVK  411 

the  hawthorn  (Crataegus  oxyacaiitha)  forms  its  chief  food,  the  Loxia 

coccothraustes  of  Linnaeus,  and  the  Coccothraustes  vulgaris  of  modern 

ornithologists,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  FiNCH  Family  ( Fringillidae) ^ 

and  found  over  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe,  in 

Africa  north  of  the  Atlas,   and  in  Asia  from 

Palestine  to  Japan.      It  was  formerly  thought 

to  be  only  an  autumnal   or  Avinter-visitor  to 

Britain,  but  later  experience  has  proved  that,  3- 

though  there  may  very  likely  be  an  immigra-  '^^ 

tion  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  it  breeds  in  nearly     "' 

all    the    English   counties    to   Yorkshire,   and         ,  ,^^Z^'^^^'    ^ 

P  '  (After  Swamson.) 

abundantly  m  those  nearest  to  London.  There 
is  also  good  reason  for  supposing  that  it  is  yearly  extending  its 
range  in  the  British  Islands.  In  coloration  it  bears  some  resem- 
blance to  a  Chaffinch,  but  its  much  larger  size  and  enormous 
beak  make  it  easily  recognizable,  while  on  closer  inspection  the 
singular  bill-hook  form  of  some  of  its  wing-feathers  will  be  found 
to  be  very  remarkable.  Though  not  uncommonly  frequenting 
gardens  and  orchards,  in  which  as  well  as  in  woods  it  builds  its 
nest,  it  is  exceedingly  shy  in  its  habits,  so  as  seldom  to  afford 
opportunities  for  observation.  As  the  genus  Coccothraustes  is  now 
commonly  restricted,  it  includes  only  two  species,- — ^the  Japanese 
form,  at  one  time  regarded  as  distinct,  being  considered  by  later 
authorities  to  be  inseparable  from  that  of  the  continent — but 
examples  from  North-Western  India  have  been  described  by  Dr. 
Sharpe  {Proc.  Zool.  Sac.  1886,  p.  97)  as  forming  a  second. 

HAWK  (Anglo-Saxon,  Hafoc),  a  word  of  indefinite  meaning, 
being  often  used  to  signif}'  all  diurnal  Birds -of -Prey  which  are 
neither  Vultures  nor  Eagles,  and  again  more  exclusively  for 
those  of  the  remainder  which  are  not  Buzzards,  Falcons, 
Harriers,  or  Kites.  Even  with  this  restriction  it  is  compre- 
hensive enough  (for  the  definition  of  these  groups  is  uncertain), 
and  will  include  more  than  a  hundred  species,  which  have  been 
arrayed  in  genera  varying  in  number  from  a  dozen  to  above  a 
score,  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  systematizer.  Speaking  gener- 
ally. Hawks  have  been  characterized  by  possessing  comparatively 
short  wings  and  long  legs,  a  bill  which  begins  to  decurve  directly 
from  the  cere  (or  soft  bare "  skin  that  covers  its  base),  and  has  the 
cutting  edges  of  its  maxilla  (or  upper  mandible)  sinuated^  but  never 
notched.  If  the  word  be  taken  with  the  limitation  of  signifying 
only  the  groups  to  which  the  Gos-Hawk  and  Sparrow -Hawk 
with  their  immediate  allies  belong,  this  is  true  enough,  and  then  to 
these  characters  may  be  added  others,  structurally  perhaps  of  less 

^  In  one  form,  Nisoides,  which  on  that  account  has  been  generically  separated, 
they  are  said  to  be  perfectly  straight. 


412  HA  WK 


value,  but  in  other  respects  quite  as  important,  that  the  sexes  differ 
very  greatly  in  size,  that  in  most  species  the  irides  are  yellow, 
deepening  with  age  into  orange  or  even  red,  and  that  the  im- 
mature plumage  is  almost  invariably  more  or  less  striped  or 
mottled  with  heart-shaped  spots  beneath,  while  that  of  the  adults 
is  generally  much  barred,  though  the  old  males  have  in  many 
instances  the  breast  and  belly  quite  free  from  markings.  Nearly 
all  are  of  small  or  moderate  size — the  largest  among  them  being 
the  Gos-Hawk  and  its  immediate  allies,  and  the  male  of  the 
smallest,  Accijnter  timis,  is  not  bigger  than  a  Song-THRUSH.  They 
are  all  birds  of  great  boldness  in  attacking  a  quarry,  but  if  foiled 
in  the  first  attempt  they  are  apt  to  leave  the  pursuit.  Thoroughly 
arboreal  in  their  habits,  they  seek  their  prey,  chiefly  consisting  of 
birds  (though  reptiles  and  small  mammals  are  also  taken),  among 
trees  or  bushes,  patiently  waiting  for  an  unwary  victim  to  shew 
itself,  and,  when  it  appears,  gliding  upon  it  M'ith  a  rapid  swoop, 
clutching  it  in  their  talons,  and  bearing  it  away  to  eat  it  in  some 
convenient  spot. 

It  is  impossible  to  enter  into  details  of  the  numerous  forms 
which,  notwithstanding  the  limitation  above  adopted,  are  to  be 
called  Hawks,  or  to  describe  the  distinguishing  characters,  so  far 
as  any  have  been  given,  of  the  different  groups  or  sections  into 
which  it  has  pleased  systematic  ornithologists  to  break  them  up, 
since  hardly  any  two  are  agreed  in  the  latter  respect.  There 
is  at  the  outset  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  scientific  name 
which  the  most  numerous  and  best  known  of  these  sections  should 
bear — some  authors  terming  it  Nisus,  and  others,  who  seem  to 
have  the  most  justice  on  their  side,  Aceipiter. 

In  a  Avider  sense  the  word.  Hawk,  includes  a  considerable 
number  of  forms  which  cannot  be  positively  assigned  to  any  of  the 

groups  already  named,  one  instance  of  which, 
out  of  several  that  could  be  cited,  is  seen  in 
the  Neotropical  genus  Harpagus,  whose  deeply 
and  doubly -notched  bilP  has  caused  it  to  be 
often  put  in  the  subfamily  Falconinm.  But  thei-e 
,.^^^I^^^^^'    .        its  short  and  rounded  wings,  and  the  style  of 

(After  Swainson.)  .  .  ,  i        ■  i 

its  successive  plumages  make  it  strangely  out 
of  place,  so  that  its  true  position  must  be  regarded  as  undetermined. 
The  same  characters,  added  to  that  afforded  by  its  "  amber  "  irides 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  p.  623),  indicates  that  the  rare  form  which 
had  the  misfortune  to  be  named  Spiziapteiiix  {Ibis,  1862,  pi.  ii.)  is 
a  near  ally  of  Harpagus,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  to 
the  contrary.     One  species  of  Harpagus  is  subject  to  Mimicry. 

'  The  "  donticulations  "  are  not  merely  superficial,  as  is  the  case  with  many 
birds  possessing  them,  but  exist,  as  Mr.  Ridgway  has  shewn  {Bull.  If.  S.  Oeol. 
and  Geogr.  Survey,  ser.  2,  no.  4,  pi.  xii.  fig.  8),  in  the  bone  of  the  premaxilla. 


HA  Y-BIRD— HEART 


413 


HAY-BIRD  and  HAY-JACK,  common  local  names  in  many- 
parts  of  England  for  species  of  the  restricted  genus  Sylvia  (or 
Curruca  as  some  would  have  it) — especially  the  Blackcap  and 
Garden -Warbler,  on  account  of  the  beautiful  nests  like  open 
basket-work  they  build,  chiefly  of  bents,  but  having  a  portion  of 
other  plant- stems,  and  hairs  interwoven.  The  first  name  is  also 
often  given  to  the  Willow- Wren  ;  but  apparently  by  confounding 
it  with  the  birds  to  which  it  properly  applies. 

HEART,  a  muscular  tube  interposed  between  the  central  ends 
of  the  veins  and  arteries,  forming  the  pump  that  forces  all  the 
blood  through  every  part  of  the  body,  by  its  contractions,  which  are 
much  quicker  in  Birds  than  in  any  other  animals,  numbering  about 
120  in  the  minute  when  the  bird  is  at  rest,  and,  when  it  is  flying 
or  has  just  alighted,  beyond  count  by  the  eac — even  the  first  stroke 
of  the  wings  nearly  doubles  the  rate  of  pulsation,  and  in  accordance 
with  this  rapid  metabolism  of  the  avine  organism  the  Heart  is  com- 
paratively larger  than  in  other  Vertebrates.  In  shape  it  is  conical, 
with  the  apex  directed  towards  the  tail,  its  long  axis  being  parallel 
to  that  of  the  trunk,  and  it  lies  in  the  middle  line  of  the  body  in 
the  thoracic  cavity,  partly  surrounded  by  the  lobes  of  the  Liver. 

The  walls  of  the  Heart  consist  of  three  layers,  of  which  the 
principal  (1),  forming  the  greater  part  of  the  whole,  is  composed  of 
striped  muscular  fibres,  differing  from  voluntary  muscular  fibres,  and 
peculiar  in  so  far  that  they  are  individually  ramified  and  con- 
nected with  each  other  like  network — most  of  them  describing  a 
figure  of  8,  starting  at  the  base  of  the  Heart  and  passing  the  apex 
with  a  spiral  twist.  The  next  layer  (2)  is  the  endocardium,  lining 
the  cavities  of  the  organ,  and  composed  of  endothelial  cells,  elastic 
tissue  and  unstriped  muscular  fibre.  Lastly  (3)  is  the  pericardium 
viscerale,  a  continuation  of  the  peritoneum,  and  covering  the  Heart 
like  any  other  viscus  (cf.  Digestive  System,  p.  139,  fig.  2).  This 
visceral  layer  is  prolonged  from  the  base  of  the  organ  to  the 
pericardium  parietale  or  externum,  forming  a  closed  bag  filled  with  a 
little  serous  fluid  in  which  the  Heart  lies.  This  is  the  pericardium 
proper  and  is  part  of  the  cardio-abdominal  chamber,  severally  con- 
nected with  the  membi'anes  of  the  Diaphragm.  Owing  to  this 
arrangement  the  whole  ventral  surface  of  the  pericardium  is  exposed 
when  the  sternum  is  removed. 

The  Heart  of  Birds  like  that  of  Mammals  consists  of  two  com- 
pletely divided  halves,  each  of  which  again  is  composed  of  an  atrium 
and  a  ventricle.  The  right  half  receives  and  discharges  only  venous, 
the  left  only  arterial  blood  (cf.  Circulation,  p.  88).  The  two  atria 
form  the  basal  division  of  the  Heart  —  thin -walled  and  darkly- 
coloured.  The  two  ventricles,  lighter  in  colour  and  with  thicker 
walls,  form  the  greater  part  of  the  cone.     These  two  divisions  are 


414  HEART 

marked  externally  by  a  transverse  girdle  of  fat,  indicating  the 
course  of  the  coronary  vessels,  or  those  arteries  and  veins  which,  as 
vasa  vasonim,  supply  the  Heart  itself. 

The  right  atrium  occupies  the  upper  right  quarter  of  the  organ, 
its  thin  walls  having  numerous  muscular  ridges  {musculi  pedinati) 
projecting  into  its  cavity  and  presenting  a  honeycombed  appearance. 
It  receives  the  3  great  venous  trunks  of  the  body — namely  (1)  the 
vena  cava  superior  dextra  to  the  right  and  above,  (2)  the  v.  c.  sup. 
sinistra  more  dorsally,  and  (3)  the  v.  c.  inferior  more  to  the  right 
and  below.  The  entrance  of  the  last  is  guarded  by  two  prominent 
valves,  corresponding  functionally  with  the  valvula  JEustachii  of 
Mammals.  The  orifices  of  the  other  veins  are  in  many  Birds  without 
a  valve,  and  are  subject  to  many  modifications. 

The  right  ventricle  occupies  the  ventral  portion  of  the  organ 
from  the  coronary  sulcus  to  near  the  apex,  and  its  walls  are  smooth 
internally,  except  in  the  distal  corner,  where  the  ventral  wall  passes 
into  the  septum  ventriculorum,  and  sends  out  retiform  muscular  and 
tendinous  projections.  This  ventricle  communicates  with  the  right 
atrium  through  the  ostium  atrio-ventriculare  dextrum,  which  is  furnished 
with  a  peculiar  valve  that  hinders  the  return  of  the  blood.  This 
valve,  valvula  cardiaca  dextra,  represents  the  tricuspid  valve  of 
Mammals  in  function  but  not  in  shape  or  structure,  since  it  consists 
chiefly  of  an  oblique  prominent  reduplication  of  the  muscles  with 
the  endocardiac  lining  of  the  right  ventricle,  while  the  opposite 
dividing  wall  is  convex,  and  forms  no  velwn,  papillary  muscles,  or 
cJwrdse  tendineae.  The  right  anterior  corner  of  the  right  ventricle 
passes  into  the  two  pulmonary  arteries,  the  short  and  still  un- 
divided stem  of  which  is  guarded  by  three  semilunar  valves. 

The  left  atrium  is  less  capacious  but  more  muscular  than  the 
right.  From  its  dorsal  wall,  a  membranaceous  and  partly  muscular 
projection  partially  divides  its  cavit}^  into  two  portions — that  on 
the  right  having  smooth  walls  and  receiving  through  one  orifice  the 
two  pulmonary  veins,  and  that  on  the  left  Avith  numerous  pectinate 
muscles — this  projection  directs  the  arterialized  pulmonary  blood 
towards  the  left  ventricle. 

The  left  ventricle  extends  to  the  apex  of  the  Heart  and  is 
covered  ventrally  by  the  right  ventricle,  and  anteriorly  by  the  left 
atrium.  Its  cavity  is  larger  and  its  walls  three  or  four  times 
thicker  than  those  of  the  right  ventricle.  Two  or  three  elaborate 
membranaceous  flaps,  held  by  numerous  chordse  tendineas,  form  a 
true  mitral  valve  and  allow  the  blood  to  pass  through  the  left 
ostium  atrio-ventriculare  and  enter  the  root  of  the  aorta  through  three 
semilunar  valves. 

The  interventricular  septum  is  always  very  thick,  smooth  and 
complete.  In  the  corner  which  it  forms  with  the  ventral  walls  of 
the  ventricles,  trabecule  carnese  are  often  numerously  developed. 


HE  A  TH-COCK—HEMIPODE  415 

The  interatrial  septum  is  likewise  complete,  and  is  generally 
wholly  membranaceous,  though  in  the  Ratitm  and  some  others 
partly  muscular.  In  the  middle  it  is  thinner  and  more  transparent, 
but  there  is  no  depression  or  fossa  ovalis  as  in  Mammals. 

HEATH-COCK  and  HEATH-HEN,  originally  names  by  which 
what  we  now  know  as  the  Blackcock  and  Greyhen  were  called ; 
but  on  the  North -American  continent,  though  there  no  heather 
grows,  applied  to  one  or  more  species  of  Grouse  inhabiting  the 
open  country. 

HEATHER-BLEAT  or  HEATHER-BLITE,  names  given  to  ^/[  j 
the  Snipe  in  the  breeding  season,  from  the  sound  made  by  the  Cff^^^^^' 
cock-bird  when  performing  his  love-flight.  '■ 

HEMIPODE,  a  recognized  English  rendering  of  Temminck's 
generic  name  Hemipodius  (1815),  which  was  anticipated  by  Bon- 
naterre's  Turnix  (1790),  for  a  small  group  of  birds  some  of  which 
Anglo-Indians  often  call  " Bustard- Quails "  or  "Button -Quails." 
Their  complete  distinction  from  the  true  Quails,  and  therefore 
from  the  Galling  (or  Rasores  of  some  systematists),  which  had 
ah-eady  been  asserted,  was  proved  by  Prof.  Huxley  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1868,  pp.  303,  304),  who  established  for  them  an  independent 
group,  TURNICOMORPH^,  differing  in  his  opinion  "much  more 
from  the  Aledoromorphai,  Pterodomm'phae,  and  Peristeromcnyhai  than 
these  groups  do  from  one  another."  This  view  is  no  doubt  in 
the  main  correct ;  but  most  systematists  have  not  gone  so  far, 
and  deem  the  Turnicidse  to  be  but  a  Family  of  Gallinse.  The 
genus  Turnix  is  the  subject  of  a  very  special  monograph  by  Mr. 
Ogilvie-Grant  {lUs,  1889,  pp.  446-475;  1892,  p.  346),  in  which 
23  species  are  admitted,  but  some  points  of  great  interest  are 
therein  but  lightly  treated.  This  being  one  of  the  few  groups  of 
birds  in  which  the  females  are  generally  more  finely  coloured  than 
the  males — the  sex  supposed,  and  probably  with  truth,  to  perform 
the  duty  of  incubation — the  author's  chief  conclusions  are  that 
specific  distinctions  are  afforded  rather  by  the  females  than  by  the 
males,  which  generally  so  much  resemble  the  young  of  the  other 
sex  as  to  furnisli  few  specific  characters,  while  the  former  when  adult 
often  differ  widely  ;  then,  that  the  variegated  markings  (in  some 
species  very  notable)  tend  to  disappear  with  age ;  next,  tliat  the 
males  seem  to  retain  the  characters  of  youth  longer  than  the 
females ;  and,  lastly,  that  the  characteristic  adornments  of  the 
adult  females  denote  maturity,  and  are  permanent.  Members  of 
this  genus  are  found  from  Spain  and  Sicily  throughout  Africa  and 
Madagascar,  southern  Asia  to  China,  the  Indian  Archipelago  and 
Australia.  The  species  from  the  western  part  of  the  Mediterranean 
Province   is  T.   sylvatica,  known   in  the   Iberian  peninsula  by  the 


4i6  HERON 


name  of  Torillo,  from  the  note  it  utters,  which  is  like  the  subdued 
bellowing  of  a  Bull.^ 

HERN,  HERNSER,  HERNSHAW,  names  of  the 

HERON  - — French,  Heron ;  Italian,  Aghirone,  Airone  ;  Latin, 
Ardea  ;  Greek,  e'pwStds  ;  Anglo-Saxon,  Hragra  ;  Icelandic,  Hegre ; 
Swedish,  Hdger  ;  Danish,  Heire  ;  German,  Heiger,  Reiher,  Heergans  ; 
Dutch,  JReiger — a  long-necked,  long-winged,  and  long-legged  bird, 
the  representative  of  a  very  natural  group,  the  Ardeidx,  which 
through  the  neglect  or  ignorance  of  ornithologists  has  been  for 
many  years  encumbered  by  a  considerable  number  of  alien  forms, 
belonging  truly  to  the  Gh'uidse  (Crane)  and  Ckoniidie  (Stork),  whose 
structure  and  characteristics  are  wholly  distinct,  however  much 
external  resemblance  some  of  them  may  possess  to  the  Herons. 
Eliminating  these  intruders,  it  is  difficult  or  even  impossible  to 
estimate  with  any  accuracy  the  number  of  species  of  Ardeidx 
which  exist.  Schlegel  in  1863  enumerated  61,  besides  5  of  what 
he  termed  "  conspecies,"  as  contained  in  the  collection  at  Leyden 
{Mus.  des  Pays-Bas,  Ardese,  64  pp.), — on  the  other  hand,  G.  R.  Gray 
in  1871  {Hand-list,  iii.  pp.  26-34)  admitted  above  90,  while  Dr.  Reich- 
enow  (Journ.  f.  Orn.  1877,  pp.  232-275)  recognizes  67  as  known, 
besides  15  "sub-species"  and  3  varieties,  arranging  them  in  3  genera, 
Nydicwax,  Botaurus,  and  Ardea,  with  1 7  subgenera.  But  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  separate  the  Family,  with  any  satisfactory  result,  into  genera, 
if  structural  characters  have  to  be  found  for  these  groups,  for  in 
many  cases  they  run  almost  insensibly  into  each  other— though  in 
common  language  it  is  easy  to  speak  of  Herons,  Egrets,  Bitterns, 
Night-Herons,  and  Boatbills.  With  the  exception  of  the  last, 
Schlegel  retained  all  in  the  genus  Ardea,  dividing  it  into  eight 
sections,  the  names  of  which  may  perhaps  be  Englished  —  Great 
Herons,  Small  Herons,  Egrets,  Semi-egrets,  Rail-like  Herons,  Little 
Bitterns,  Bitterns,  and  Night-Herons.  It  may  be  expedient  here 
to  adopt  this  arrangement,  though  the  present  writer  would  give 
it  only  partial  and  provisional  assent. 

The  common  Heron  of  Europe,  Ardea  cinerea  of  Linnaeus,  is 
the  type  of  the  Family,  and  it  may  also  be  regarded  as  that  of 
Schlegel's   first   section.       The   species    inhabits   suitable  localities 

1  Three  examples  of  it  are  said  to  liave  occurred  in  England  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist. 
xiv.  pp.  459,  460  ;  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868,  p.  210),  and  easily-  satisfied  persons 
have  admitted  the  species  as  a  "British  Bird." 

-  Generally  pronounced  "Hern,"  and  in  many  parts  of  England  called 
"Hernser" — being  a  corruption  of  "Heronsewe,"  which,  as  Prof.  Skeat  states 
{Etymol.  Diet.  p.  264),  is  properly  a  distinct  word  from  "Heroushaw"  (a  shaw 
or  wood  in  which  Herons  breed),  commonly  confounded  with  it.  The  further 
corruption  of  "Hernser"  into  "handsaw,"  as  in  the  well-known  proverb,  was 
easy  in  the  mouth  of  men  to  whom  hawking  the  Heronsewe  was  unfamiliar. 


HERON 


417 


throughout  the  whole  of  Europe,  Africa,  and  Asia,  reaching  Japan, 
many  of  the  isLands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and  even  Australia. 
Though  not  so  numerous  as  formerly  in  Britain,  it  is  still  common 
enough  to  render  a  description  of  it  almost  unnecessary,  and  there 
must  be  few  persons  who  have  not  seen  it  rising  slowly  from  some 
river-side  or  marshy  flat,  or  passing  overhead  in  its  lofty  and 
leisurely  flight  on  its  way  to  or  from  its  daily  haunts  ;  while  they 
are  many  who  have  been  entertained  by  watching  it  as  it  sought 
its  food,  consisting  chiefly  of  fishes  (especially  eels  and  flounders) 


Heron  (^AnUa  cinerca). 

and  amphibians  —  though  young  birds  and  small  mammals  come 
not  amiss — wading  midleg  in  the  shallows,  swimming  ^  occasionally 
when  out  of  its  depth,  or  standing  motionless  to  strike  its  prey 
with  its  formidable  and  sure  beak.  When  sufficiently  numerous  it 
breeds  in  societies,  known  as  Heronries,  which  of  old  time  were 
protected  both  by  law  and  custom  in  nearly  all  European  countries, 
on  account  of  the  sport  their  tenants  afforded  to  the  falconer.  Of 
late  years,  partly  owing  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  protection  they 

^  The  mediseval  belief,  expressed  in  the  line,  quoted  by  Rolland  {Fatcne  i^op. 
Fr.  ii.  p.  373), 

Ardea  culpat  aquas  quia  nescit  iiare  per  ilks, 

is  unfounded,  as  many  observers  can  testify. 

27 


4i8  HERON 


liad  enjoyed,  and  still  more,  it  would  seem,  from  agricultural  im- 
provement, which,  by  draining  meres,  fens  and  marshes,  has 
abolished  the  feeding-places  of  a  great  population  of  Herons,  many 
of  the  larger  Heronries  have  broken  up — the  birds  composing  them 
dispersing  to  neighbouring  places  and  forming  smaller  settlements, 
most  of  which  are  hardly  to  be  dignified  by  the  name  of  Heronry, 
though  commonly  accounted  such.  Thus  the  number  of  so-called 
Heronries  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  especially  in  England  and 
Wales,  has  become  far  greater  than  formerly,  but  no  one  can  doubt 
that  the  number  of  Herons  has  dwindled.  Mr.  Harting  gaA-e,  in 
1872  {Zoologist,  s.s.  pp.  3261-3272  ;  with  additions  and  corrections, 
pp.  3404-3407),  a  list  of  those  existing  in  the  three  kingdoms, 
more  than  200  in  number,  of  which  a  little  over  one-half  are  in 
England  and  Wales,  more  than  50  in  Scotland,  and  nearly  50  in 
Ireland.  The  sites  chosen  by  the  Heron  for  its  nest  vary  greatly. 
It  is  generally  built  in  the  top  of  a  lofty  tree,  but  not  unfrequently 
(and  this  seems  to  have  been  much  more  usual  in  former  days) 
near  or  on  the  ground  among  rough  vegetation,  on  an  island  in  a 
lake,  or  again  on  a  rocky  cliff  of  the  coast.  It  commonly  consists 
of  a  huge  mass  of  sticks,  often  the  accumulation  of  years,  lined 
with  twigs,  and  in  it  are  laid  from  four  to  six  sea-green  eggs.  The 
young  are  clothed  in  soft  flax-coloured  down,  and  remain  in  the 
nest  (NiDiCOL^)  for  a  considerable  time,  therein  differing  remark- 
ably from  the  "  pipers  "  of  the  Crane,  which  are  able  to  run  almost 
as  soon  as  they  are 
hatched.  The  first 
feathers  assumed  by 
young  Herons  in  a 
general  way  resemble 
those  of  the  adult, 
but  the  fine  leaden-grey  back,  the  pure  white  breast,  the  black 
throat-streaks,  and  especially  the  long  pendent  plumes,  which  char- 
acterize only  the  very  old  birds,  and  are  most  beautiful  in  the  cocks, 
are  subsequently  acquired.  The  Heron  measures  about  3  feet  from 
the  bill  to  the  tail,  and  the  expanse  of  its  wings  is  sometimes  not 
less  than  G  feet,  yet  it  weighs  only  between  3  and  4  t). 

Large  as  is  the  common  Heron  of  Europe,  it  is  exceeded  in  size 
by  the  Great  Blue  Heron  of  America,  Ardea  herodias,  which 
generally  resembles  it  in  appearance  and  habits,  and  both  are 
smaller  than  the  A.  sumatrana  or  A.  tijphon  of  India  and  the  Malay 
Archipelago,  while  the  A.  goliath,  of  wide  distribution  in  Africa  and 
Asia,  is  the  largest  of  all.  The  Purple  Heron,  A.  purpurea,  as  a 
well-known  European  species  having  a  great  range  over  the  Old 
World,  also  deserves  mention  here.  Of  the  species  included  in 
Schlegel's  second  section,  little  need  now  be  said.  They  inhabit 
the  tropical  parts  of  Africa,  Australia  and  America.      The  Egrets, 


Bill  of  Heron.     (After  Swaiiison.) 


HERON  419 


forming  his  third  group,  require  more  notice,  distinguished  as  they 
are  by  a  more  slender  bill,  their  pure  white  plumage,  and,  when  in 
breeding-dress,  by  the  beautiful  dorsal  tufts  of  decomposed  feathers 
that  ordinarily  droop  over  the  tail,  and  are  in  such  request  as 
ornaments  by  eastern 
magnates  and  western 
milliners,  the  latter  and 
their  customers  caus- 


ing some  of   the  most  Bill  OF  Egret.    (After  Swaiusou.) 

abominable       cruelty 

practised  in  the  animal  world  (see  above,  pp.  192,  228).  The 
largest  species  is  A.  occidentalis,  chiefly  known  from  Louisiana, 
Florida  and  Cuba  ;  but  one  not  much  less,  the  Gi'eat  Egret,  A.  alba, 
belongs  to  the  Old  World,  breeding  regularly  in  south-eastern 
Europe,  and  occasionally  straying  to  Britain.  A  third,  A.  egretta, 
represents  it  in  America,  while  much  the  same  may  be  said  of  two 
smaller  species,  A.  garzetia,  the  Little  Egret  of  English  authors,  and 
A.  candidissima ;  and  a  sixth,  A.  intermedia,  is  common  in  Lidia, 
China  and  Japan,  besides  occurring  in  Australia.  The  group  of 
Semi-egrets,  containing  some  nine  or  ten  forms,  among  which  the 
Buff-backed  Heron,  A.  bubtdcus,  is  the  only  species  that  is  known  to 
have  occurred  in  Europe,  is  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
last  section  except  by  their  plumage  being  at  certain  seasons  varied 
in  some  species  with  slaty-blue  and  in  others  with  rufous.  The 
Rail-like  Herons  form  Schlegel's  next  section,  but  it  can  scarcely  be 
satisfactorily  differentiated,  and  the  epithet  is  misleading,  for  its 
members  have  no  Rail-like  affinities,  though  the  typical  species, 
which  inhabits  the  south  of  Europe,  and  occasionally  finds  its  way 
to  England,  has  long  been  known  as  A.  ralloides}  Nearly  all  these 
birds  are  tropical  or  subtropical.  Then  there  is  the  somewhat 
better  defined  group  of  Little  Bitterns  (Ardetta)  containing  about  a 
dozen  species — the  smallest  of  the  whole  Family.  One  of  them,  A. 
nmiuta,  though  very  local  in  its  distribution,  is  a  native  of  the 
greater  part  of  Europe,  and  formerly  bred  in  England.  It  has  a 
close  counterjDart  in  the  A.  exilis  of  North  America,  and  is  repre- 
sented by  three  or  four  forms  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  the  A. 
jmsilla  of  Australia  especially  differing  very  slightly  from  it. 
Ranged  by  Schlegel  with  these  birds,  which  are  all  remarkable  for 
their  skulking  habits,  but  more  resembling  the  true  Herons  in  their 
nature,  are  the  common  Green  Bittern  of  America,  A.  virescens,  and 
its  very  near  ally  the  African  A.  atricapilla,  from  which  last  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  distinguish  the  A.  javanka,  of  wide  range  throughout 
Asia  and  its  islands,  while  other  species,  less  closely  related,  occur 

^  It  is  the  "  Squacco-Heron  "  of  modern  British  authors — the  distinctive  name, 
given  "  Sgnacco  "  by  AVillughby  and  Ray  from  Ahlrovandus,  having  been  mis- 
spelt by  Latham. 


420  HETEROCHROSIS 


elsewhere  as  A.  flavkollis, — one  form  of  which,  A.  gouldi,  inhabits 
Australia. 

The  true  Bitterns,  forming  the  genus  Boiaurus,  have  been 
already  noticed  (pp.  40-42);  and  of  the  Night-Herons  Schlegdl 
recognized  six  species,  all  to  be  reasonably  placed  in  the  genus 
Nydicorax,  characterized  by  a  shorter  beak  and  a  few  other 
peculiarities,  among  which  the  large  eyes  deserve  mention.  The 
first  is  N.  griseus,  a  bird  widely  spread  over  the  Old  World,  and 
not  unfrequently  visiting  England,  where  it  would  undoubtedly 
breed  if  permitted.  The  same  author  united  with  it  the  common 
Night-Heron  of  America  ;  but  this,  though  very  closely  allied,  is 
generally  deemed  distinct,  and  is  the  N.  ns&vius  or  N.  gardeni  of 
most  \;a'iters.  A  clearly  different  American  species,  with  a  more 
southern  habitat,  is  the  N'.  violaceus  or  N.  cayennensis,  Avhile  others 
are  found  in  South  America,  Australia,  some  of  the  Asiatic  Islands, 
and  in  West  Africa.  The  Galapagos  have  a  peculiar  species,  N. 
pauper,  and  another,  brevipennate  and  no  doubt  peculiar,  iV.  mega- 
cephalus,  existed  in  Eodriguez  at  the  time  of  its  being  first  colonized, 
but  is  now  extinct.  To  this  section  undoubtedly  belongs  the  BOAT- 
BILL  (p.  45),  though  it  deserves  generic  distinction  as  Cancroma.^ 

Bones  of  the  common  Heron  and  Bittern  are  not  uncommon  in 
the  peat  of  the  East -Anglian  fens.  Remains  from  Sansan  and 
Langy  in  France  have  been  referred  by  M.  Alphonse  Milne-Edwards 
to  Herons  under  the  names  of  Ardea  perpleza  and  A.  formosa ;  a 
tibia  from  the  Miocene  of  Steinheim  by  Dr.  Fraas  to  an  A.  similis, 
while  Sir  R.  Owen  recognized  a  portion  of  a  sternum  from  the 
London  Clay  (see  above,  i)p.  281,  282)  as  approaching  this  Family. 

It  remains  to  say  that  the  Herons  form  part  of  Prof.  Huxley's 
section  Pelargomorphx,  belonging  to  his  larger  group  Desmognathx, 
and  to  draw  attention  to  the  singular  development  of  the  patches 
of  "  powder-down  "  which  in  the  Family  Ardeidds  attain  a  magnitude 
hardly  to  be  found  elsewhere.    .Their  use  is  utterly  unknown. 

HETEROCHROSIS,  the  collective  term  signifying  the  occur- 
rence of  abnormal  coloration  which  may  be  due  to  one  or  other  of 
various  causes,  such  as 

1.  The  partial  or  total  absence  of  pigment  producing  a  paler 
hue  or  even  a  complete  Albino. 

2.  The  overproduction  of  pigment  resulting  in  a  more  intense 
tint  or  the  introduction  of  a  new  colour. 

3.  The  absence  of  or  change  in  the  surface  overlying  the  pigment. 
There  seems  to  be  a  certain  correlation  of  colours  in  most  cases 

of  Heterochrosis :  for  instance,  feathers  with  a  yellow  pigment 
have   a  tendency  toward  orange  and   red ;   green  feathers  exhibit 

1  The  SuN-BiTTEUN  {Eurypyga),  by  some  systematists  cousidered  to  belong  to 
the  Ardeidas,  certainly  forms  a  Family  by  itself. 


HETEROMERI—HOACTZIN  421' 

xanthochroism ;  Avhile  blue,  in  the  absence  of  the  colour-producing 
surface,  may  appear  brownish  or  grey.  The  pale  coloration  of 
"Desert-forms"  {swpra,  p.  336),  and  the  seasonal  and  sexual  changes 
of  colour  in  many  species,  though  perhaps  ultimately  referable  to 
acts  of  Heterochrosis,  are  not  covered  by  this  term  since  they  are 
now  become  normal  features  (see  Colour,  p.  99). 

HETEROMERI,  Garrod's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  pp.  517, 
518)  for  a  group  composed  of  Cotingidm  (Chatterer)  and  Pipridie 
(Manakin)  which  differ  from  most  other  birds  in  having  the 
femoral  artery  developed  instead  of  the  sciatic,  wherein  they  are 
opposed  to  the  Homceomeri,  but  both  combined  form  his 
Mesomyodi, 

HETEROMORPH^,  Prof.  Huxley's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1868,  p.  311)  for  an  ornithological  section  consisting,  so  far  as 
known,  of  a  single  genus,  Opisthocomus  (Hoactzin). 

HEWEL,!  HEWHOLE,  HICKWALL  and  HIGH-HOLDER, 
names  given  in  various  places  to  a  Woodpecker  of  one  kind  or 
another.  The  first  two  are  said  to  be  corrupted  from  the  third,- 
the  older  form  of  which,  "  Hickwaw  "  (Hollyband)  and  "  Hickway," 
"  Heigh -ha  we  "  and  "  Highawe  "  (Cotgrave),  can  hardly  have  come 
from  anything  but  the  Anglo-Saxon  Higera  or  Higere  (T.  Wright's 
Vocabularies,  pp.  29,  62,  281)  meaning  a  laugher,  and  doubtless 
referring  to  the  cry  of  the  Green  Woodpecker,  Gecinus  viridis. 
Hewhole  was,  however,  in  use  in  1544,  as  shewn  by  Turner,  who 
Latinized  it  Huhola  ;  and  in  North  America  it  has  taken  the  further 
modifications  of  High -hole  and  High -holder  for  the  FLICKER 
(Audubon,  Orn.  Biogr.  i.  p.  191  ;  Ingersoll,  Bull.  Nuttall  Club,  1881, 
p.  184).  For  further  information  on  these  and  other  English 
synonyms  of  Woodpecker  see  Yarrell  {Br.  B.  ed.  4,  ii.  pp.  461-463).^ 

HOACTZIN  or  HOATZIN,  a  bird  of  tropical  South  America, 
thought  by  Buffon  to  be  that  indicated  by  Hernandez  under  these 
names,  the  OpistJiocomus  hoazin  or  0.  cristatus  of  modern  ornitho- 
logists— a  very  curious  and  remarkable  form,  which  has  long 
exercised  the  ingenuity  of  classifiers.  Placed  by  Buffon  among  his 
''  Hoccos  "  (Curassow),  and  then  by  P.  L.  S.  Miiller  and  Gmelin  in 

•'  For  this  Andrew  Marvell  on  (Nun)  Appleton  House  (lines  557  et  seqq.)  may 
be  cited. 

-  If  Hewhole  be  a  corruption  of  Hickwall  it  has  been  obviously  brought  in  by 
the  bird's  habits  ;  but  we  must  not  forget  that  Holzhauer  is  a  German  equivalent 
(Bechstein,  Gemeinn.  Naturgesch.  Deiitschl.  ii.  p.  1007). 

^  The  derivations  of  the  many  names  of  the  Woodpecker  in  the  earlier 
editions  of  Yarrell's  work  are  extremely  erroneous,  being  the  work  of  some 
anonymous  authority  in  days  before  the  study  of. words  was  placed  on  a  sure 
basis. 


422 


HOACTZIN 


the  LinricBan  genus  Phasianus,  some  of  its  many  peculiarities  were 
recognized  by  Illiger  in  1811  as  sufficient  to  establish  it  as  a  dis- 
tinct genus,  Opisthocomus ;  but  various  positions  were  assigned  to  it 
by  subsequent  systematists,  whose  views,  not  being  based  on  any 
information  respecting  its  internal  structure,  do  not  here  require 
particular  attention.  L'Herminier,  in  1837,  was  the  first  to  give 
any  account  of  its  anatomy  {Comptes  llendns,  v.  p.  433),  and  from 
his  time  our  knowledge  of  it  has  been  successively  increased  by 
many  authors.^ 

After  a  minute  description  of  the  skeleton  of  Opisthocomus,  Avith 
the  especial  object  of  determining  its  affinities,  Prof.  Huxley  {loc. 


HOACTZIX. 

cit.)  declared  that  it  "  resembles  the  ordinary  Gallinaceous  birds  and 
Pigeons  more  than  it  does  any  others,  and  that  when  it  diverges 
from  them  it  is  either  sui  generis  or  approaches  the  Mmophagidx.^ 
He  accordingly  regarded  it  as  the  type  and  sole  member  of  a  group, 
named  by  him  Heteromorph.^,  which  sprang  from  the  great 
Carinate  stem  later  than  the  Tiiiaiimnorplw;,  Turniromorplini,  or 
Charadriomorphx,  but  before  the  Peristeromorpiha',  Pferoclomoiphx,  or 
Aledoromorpha'.      This  conclusion  is  substantially  the  same  as  that 

'  Johannes  Miiller,  Ber.  ATcad.  Wissensch.  Berlin,  1841,  p.  177  ;  Deville, 
Rev.  Zool..  1852,  p.  217;  Gervais,  Expid.  Amirique  du  Sud,  Zool.  Anaf. 
(Castelnau),  p.  66  ;  Huxley,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868,  p.  304  ;  Garrod,  op.  cit.  1879, 
p.  109;  Perrin,  Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  p.  53.3;  Parker,  o^'-  t"''^-  xi"-  PP-  43-85; 
C.  G.  Young,  Notes  Leyd.  Mus.  x.  pp.  169-174,  pi.  8  ;  Quclch,  Ihis,  1890,  pp. 
327-335  ;  Gadow,  Trans.  R.  Irish  Acad.  sev.  3,  ii.  pp.  147-154,  pis.  vii.  viii. 


HOACrZIN  423 


at  which  Garrod  subsequently  arrived  after  closely  examining  and 
dissecting  specimens  preserved  in  spirit ;  but  the  latter  has  gone 
further  and  endeavoured  to  trace  more  particularly  the  descent  of 
this  peculiar  form  and  some  others,  remarking  that  the  ancestor  of 
Opistlwcomus  must  have  left  the  parent  stem  very  shortly  before  the 
true  Giillinx  first  appeared,  and  at  about  the  same  time  as  the  inde- 
pendent pedigree  of  the  Cuculidai  and  Mnsophagidse  commenced — 
these  two  groups  being,  he  believed,  very  closely  related,  and 
Opisthocoiims  serving  to  fill  the  gap  between  them.  Still  more 
recently  Dr.  Gadow  has  shewn  that  the  very  singular  modification 
of  the  sternal  structure  in  this  form  is  chiefly  due  to  the  extra- 
vagant enlargement  of  its  crop. 

It  would  be  impossible  here  to  state  at  length  the  facts  on 
which  these  vieAvs  are  grounded,  and  equally  impossible  to  give 
more  than  a  very  few  details  of  the  anatomy  of  this  singular  form. 
The  first  thing  that  strikes  the  spectator  of  its  skeleton  is  the 
extraordinary  structure  of  the  sternal  apparatus,  which  is  wholly 
unlilce  that  of  any  other  bird  known.  The  keel  is  only  developed 
on  the  posterior  part  of  the  sternum — the  fore  part  being  aborted, 
or,  as  it  were,  cut  away,  while  the  short  furcula  at  its  symphysis 
meets  the  manubrium,  with  which  it  is  firmly  consolidated  by  means 
of  a  prolonged  and  straight  hypocleidium,  and  anteriorly  ossifies 
with  the  coracoids.  This  unique  arrangement  seems  to  be  corre- 
lated with  the  enormously  capacious  crop,  which  rests  upon  the 
furcula  and  fore  part  of  the  sternum,  and  is  also  received  in  a  cavity 
formed  on  the  surface  of  each  of  the  great  pectoral  muscles.  Further- 
more this  crop  is  extremely  muscular,  so  as  more  to  resemble  a 
gizzard,  and  consists  of  two  portions  divided  by  a  partial  constric- 
tion, after  a  fashion  of  which  no  other  example  is  known  among 
birds. 

The  Hoactzin  appears  to  be  about  the  size  of  a  small  Pheasant, 
but  is  really  a  much  smaller  bird.  The  beak  is  strong,  curiously 
denticulated  along  the  margin  of  the  maxilla  near  the  base,  and  is 
beset  by  diverging  bristles.  The  eyes,  placed  in  the  middle  of  a 
patch  of  bare  skin,  are  furnished  with  bristly  lashes,  resembling 
those  of  Hornbills  and  some  few  other  birds.  The  head  bears  a 
long  pendent  crest  of  loose  yellowish  feathers.  The  body  is  olive- 
coloured,  varied  with  white  above,  and  beneath  is  of  a  dull  bay. 
The  wings  are  short  and  rounded.  The  tail  is  long,  and  tipped 
with  yellow.  The  legs  are  long,  the  feet  stout,  the  tarsi  reticulated, 
and  the  toes  scutellated ;  the  claws  long  and  slightly  curved. 
According  to  all  who  have  observed  the  habits  of  this  bird,  it  lives 
in  bands  on  the  lower  trees  and  bushes  bordering  the  streams  and 
lagoons,  seldom  taking  wing,  and  then  flying  weakly,  feeding  on 
leaves  and  various  wild  fruits,  especially,  says  the  late  Mr.  Bates 
{Nat.  Amaz.  i.  p.  120),  on  those  of  a  species  of  Psidium,  and  it  is 


424  HOBBY 


also  credited  with  eating  those  of  an  aroid  {Montrichardia  arhorescens), 
which  grows  plentifully  in  its  haunts.  "  Its  voice  is  a  harsh,  grating 
hiss,"  continues  the  same  traveller,  and  "it  makes  the  noise  when 
alarmed,  all  the  individuals  sibilating  as  they  fly  heavily  away  from 
tree  to  tree,  when  disturbed  by  passing  canoes."  It  exhales  a  very 
stronw  odour  —  wherefore  it  is  known  in  British  Guiana  as  the 
"  Stink-bird  "  ^ — compared  by  him  to  "  musk  combined  with  wet 
hides,"  and  by  Deville  to  that  of  a  cow-house.  The  species  is  said 
to  be  polygamous  ;  the  nest  is  built  on  trees,  of  sticks  loosely  placed 
above  one  another,  and  softer  materials  atop.  Therein  the  hen 
lays  her  eggs  to  the  number  of  three  or  four,  of  a  dull  yellowish- 
white,  somewhat  profusely  marked  with  reddish  blotches  and  spots, 
so  as  to  resemble  those  of  some  of  the  Piallidse  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867, 
pi.  XV.  fig.  7,  p.  164).  The  nestling  has  a  claw  on  the  index  as 
well  as  the  pollex,  sufficiently  developed  to  be  functional,  and  enable 
the  bird  to  creep  about,  and  even  raise  itself  by  their  aid,  which 
is  more  than  a  young  Grebe  is  able  to  do.  In  the  valley  of  the 
Amazon  it  is  called  the  "  Cigano  "  or  Gipsy,  and  in  no  part  of  the 
country  where  it  occurs  does  it  seem  to  be  regarded  witli  much  favour. 
Only  one  species  of  the  genus  is  known  to  have  existed,  for  Mr. 
Wallace's  statement  {Geogr.  Distrih.  Animals,  i.  p.  164)  that  remains  of 
a  second  have  been  found  in  Brazilian  caves  originated  in  a  mistake. 

HOBBY  (Fr.  2  Eohreau  and  Hohereau,  Old  Fr.  Hoh6,  Hoherd, 
Aubreau,  Aubrier,  Ouhrier,  and  other  forms;  Proven9al,  Allan;  Italian, 
Albanella^)  one  of  the  smallest  and  most  graceful  of  the  British 
Falcons,  the  Falco  or  Hypotriorchis  subbuteo  of  ornithology,  the  type 
of  a  very  distinct  group  of  Falconidx  comprising  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  forms,  in  life  at  once  recognizable  by  their  bold  upstanding 
posture,  and  at  any  time  by  their  long  wings.  The  Hobby  is  a 
bird  of  great  power  of  flight,  chiefly  used  in  the  capture  of  insects, 
which  form  its  ordinary  food.  It  is  a  summer-visitant  to  most  parts 
of  Europe,  including  these  islands,  frequenting  woodland  districts, 
and  is  most  wantonly  and  needlessly  destroyed  by  ignorant  game- 
keepers. A  second  European  species  of  the  group  is  the  beautiful 
F.   eleonorx,  which  hardly  comes  further  north  than  the  countries 

1  According  to  Mr.  Quel  eh,  whose  notes  {loc.  cit.)  on  the  habits  of  the  bird 
are  very  valuable,  the  name  most  commonly  used  is  "Hanna." 

-  According  to  Littre,  the  French  names  are  derived  from  the  English,  which, 
as  Prof.  Skeat  kindly  informs  me,  is  allied  to  hober  (whence,  hover),  to  stir  or 
move  from  place  to  place,  and  from  the  same  root  also  come  hobby,  a  small  (active) 
horse,  hobelcr,  a  light  horseman,  and  some  other  words. 

"5  This  name  seems  to  belong  properly  to  birds  of  the  genus  Circus  (Harrier), 
but  has  been  misappropriated  in  the  same  way  as  the  German  Weissbdcklcin,  to 
say  nothing  of  Subbuteo  and  Hypotriorchis  (which  Gesner  says  should  be  Gypotri- 
orchis).  Seeing  how  very  distinct  Hobbies  and  Harriers  are  in  behaviour,  haunts 
and  appearance,  the  confusion  or  change  of  name  is  inexplicable. 


HOLMCOCK—HOMCEOMERI 


425 


bordering  the  Mediterranean,  and,  though  in  some  places  abundant, 
is  an  extremely  local  bird.      There  is  no  member  of  this  section  in 


to  ^^^~^. 


Hobby.    (After  Wolf.) 

Xorth  America,  but  the  largest  species  belonging  to  it  seems  to  be 
the  Neotropical  H.  femoralis,  for  H.  diroleucus,  though  often  assigned 
here  is  now  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  group  of  typical  Falcons. 

HOLMCOCK,  HOLM  -  THRUSH,  names  of  the  Mistletoe- 
TiiRUSH  from  its  seeking  the  berries  of  the  Holm  or  Holly-tree. 

HOLORHINAL,  the  epithet  bestowed  by  Garrod  {Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1873,  p.  33)  in  his  first  taxonomical  paper,  on  what  seemed  to 
him  a  "  Subclass  "  of  Birds  ;  and,  although  given  up  ])y  him  very  soon 
after  (oj).  cit.  1874,  pp.  111-123),  it  has  been  absurdly  used  since 
by  some  systematizers,  who  have  thereby  made  the  introduction  of 
the  word  here  necessary. 

HOMALOGONAT^,  the  first  of  the  two  Subclasses,  the  other 
being  called  Anomalogonat^,  into  which  Garrod  at  one  time 
divided  Birds,  according  as  they  possessed  an  Ambiens  muscle 
or  not  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1874,  pp.  116-118),  though  he  admitted 
that  "  there  are  a  few  undoubtedly  homalogonatous  birds  in  which 
the  ambiens  muscle  is  absent."  For  the  groups  contained  in  these 
categories  see  Introduction. 

HOMCEOMEPJ,  Garrod's  name  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  pp.  517, 
518)  for  a  group  of  Birds  consisting  of  the  HAPLOOPHONiE  and 
TRACHEOPHONiE,  and  differing  from  the  Heteromeri  in  that  the 


426  HO  MR  A  I— HONE  Y-B  UZZARD 

sciatic  is  the  artery  of  the  thigh,  but  with  the  last  named  forming 
the  combination  Mesomyodi,  as  opposed  to>  the  Acromyodi,  the 
other  great  section  of  Passeres. 

HOMRAI,  the  Nepalese  name,  often  used  by  Anglo-Indians,  of 
the  Great  Indian  Hornbill. 

HONEY-BIRD,  an  expression  of  respectable  antiquity,  since  it 
was  used  by  Sylvester  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  {D\i  Bartas, 
IFeeJce  II.),  but  with  no  attempt  at  precision,  and  since  applied  in- 
discriminately to  birds  of  various  sorts  (see  Honey-Eater). 

HONEY-BUZZARD,  the  English  name  in  Willughby's  day  ot 
a  bird  which  he  thought  he  was  describing  for  the  first  time  ;  but 
herein  he  was  wrong,  for  it  was  the  Boudree^  of  Belon  (1555).  It 
is  the  Falco  apivorus  of  Linnseus,  generically  separated  in  1817  by 
Cuvier,  together  with  the  crested  eastern  species  from  Java,  as 
Pernis,  which  word,  as  before  stated  (p.  68,  note)  should  be  written 
Pternis."  Willughby  spoke  of  it  as  being  not  unfrequent  in  this 
country,  and  the  statement  need  not  be  doubted,  but  the  destruction 
of  our  old  forests,  and  the  depredations  of  gamekeepers,  who  foolishly 
look  upon  this  innocent  bird  as  an  enemy,  have  almost  extirpated  it 
in  England,  though  a  few  pairs  return  every  summer  with  the  intent 
(generally  frustrated)  to  breed  in  some  of  our  larger  woods,  while 
towards  the  fall  of  the  year  young  birds  of  the  season  visit  this 
island  on  the  way  to  their  winter-quarters  ;  and,  through  ignorance 
or  wantonness,  are  generally  killed.  The  home  of  these  autumnal 
visitants  can  be  only  vaguely  surmised  to  exist  in  some  north- 
eastern country,  for  the  species  is  not  ordinarily  common  in  Scandi- 
navia; but  its  yearly  passage,  often  in  great  numbers,  over  Heligoland 
in  August  and  September  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ornithological 
features  of  that,  remarkable  ornithological  spot.^ 

'  In  modern  French  Bondree,  which,  according  to  Littre,  is  from  tlie  old  word 
bondir,  to  cry  out ;  but  he  takes  no  nolice  of  the  more  ancient  form,  and  that 
may  perhaps  be  supposed  to  be  rehited  to  louder,  to  be  alone  or  withdraw  from 
company  (cf.  the  French  haudoir  and  the  English  "  withdrawing-room  ") — in  a 
secondary  sense  to  sulk. 

-  The  mistaken  spelling  is  much  older  than  Cuvier,  for  Gaza  the  first  trans- 
lator of  Aristotle  has  Pernix  [Hist.  Anim.  ix.  36,  Venetiis :  1525,  fol.  34). 
Gloger  in  1842  [Hand-  und  Hilfshuch  der  Naturgcsch.  p.  215)  noticed  this  error, 
but  seems  himself  to  have  been  the  victim  of  a  misprint.  The  eastern  species 
was  not  technically  denominated  by  Cuvier  in  his  work,  but  was  doubtless,  after 
his  custom,  named  in  the  Paris  Museum,  whence  Vieillot  in  1823  [Encyclop. 
Method,  p.  1225)  described  it  as  Bideo  cristatus.  In  the  same  y^ar  it  was 
described  and  figured  by  Temminck  and  Laugier  {PL  col.  44)  as  Falco  j^tilorhyn- 
elms,  a  specific  name  so  bad,  that  unless  its  priority  be  clearly  established  it 
should  be  given  up  for  cristatus. 

^  Hcrr  Giitke  ( Vogclw.  Helgoland,  p.  190)  records  one  extraordinary  instance. 
During  the  forenoon  of  tlie  19th  of  September  1858  parties  of  from  5  to  10  were 


HONE  Y-B  UZZARD 


427 


The  name  Honey-Buzzard  is  admittedly  misleading,  for  honey 
forms  no  part  of  its  food,  though  the  immature  stages  of  Wasps 
and  Humble-bees  have  a  particular  attraction  for  it ;  and  it  may  be 
seen  on  the  ground,  where  it  runs  swiftly  like  a  Barndoor -Fowl, 
scratching  out  their  nests,  and  feeding  on  the  living  contents  of  the 
combs,  regardless  of  the  stings  of  the  infuriated  owners,  against 
which  the  short,  rounded  and  closely-adpressed  feathers  covering  its 
face  are  said  to  form  a  protective  vizor.  The  species  is  still  further 
remarkable  for  the  great  difference  of  coloration  exhibited  by  indi- 
viduals belonging  to  it,  which  have  hitherto  defied  all  attempts  at 
reduction  to  what  passes  for  "  law  '' ;  ^  but  the  widest  variation  is 
observable  in  young  birds  of  the  year,  while  the  assumption  of  an 
ashy-grey  head  is  held  to  indicate  maturity.  Whether  these  cases  can 
be  justifiably  attributed  to  what  is  called  Polymorphism  remains  to 
be  proved  ;  but  that  obviously  could  only  be  done  after  a  series  of 
attentive  observations  which  can  hardly  be  carried  out  in  England  on 
a  scarce  species  that  is  dwindling  in  numbers,  as  this  is.  The  Honey- 
Buzzard  occupies  a  nest  in  a  high  tree,  and  therein  lays  3  richly- 
coloured  eggs.  When  the  young  are  hatched  the  parents  surround 
it  with  leafy  boughs,  renewed  as  they  wither,  but  whether  intended 
as  a  screen  or  a  barrier  is  unknown ;  though  the  former  is  believed 
to  be  the  object  of  this  habit,  and  may  possibly  have  given  rise  to 
the  old  French  name  of  the  species. 

Two  other  species  of  the  genus  beside  those  mentioned  are  recog- 
nized by  Mr.  Gurney  {Lid  Diurn.  B.  of  Prey,  p.  87)  —  one  from 
Burma  and  the  adjacent  countries,  P.  hrachiji)terus  or  ticeeddalii,  and 


Cymindis. 


Baza. 

(After  Swainson.) 


AVICIDA. 


one  from  Celebes,  P.  celebensis ;  but  it  is  asserted  to  have  also 
several  other  allies,  some  of  which  lead  off  to  the  Milimm  (Kite), 

seen  on  passage,  constantly  increasing  iu  numbers  and  with  greater  frequency  ; 
while  from  3  to  6  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  continuous  stream  of  greater  and 
crreater  flocks  from  50  to  80  or  even  more  was  maintained.  All  camo  from  the 
east  and  passed  westward  (cf.  Cordeau.x.  Ihis,  1875,  pp.  175,  176).  Similar 
flocks  Lave  been  observed  crossing  the  Sti-ait  of  Gibraltar  by  Favier  and  Lord 
Lilford  (Ibis,  1865,  p.  177  ;  Irby,  Orn.  Str.  Gihralt.  p.  49). 

1  Herein  see  the  late  Mr.  Gurney's  notes  [Ibis,  1880,  pp.  195-204),  wherein 
are  references  to  many  other  authorities. 


428  HONE  Y-EA  TER 


i^ 


and  others  to  the  true  Falcons,  Yet  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
further  observation  of  such  forms  as  Leptodon  or  Cymindis,  and  Baza 
or  Avicida  will  admit  of  their  being  placed  very  near  to  the  present 
genus.  The  last  named  inhabits  the  south-eastern  portion  of  the 
Old  "World ;  while  the  first  belongs  to  the  Neotropical  Region. 

HONEY-EATER  or  HONEY-SUCKER,  names  applied  by  many 
writers  in  a  very  loose  way  to  a  large  number  of  birds,  some  of 
which  have  no  intimate  affinity ;  but  here  to  be  used  for  the  Family 
Meliphagidx  in  a  restricted  sense — excluding  therefrom  the  Cairehidx 
(Dacnis),  Diceeidx  (Dictum),  iJrepanididse  (Drepanis),  and  Neda- 
riniidx  (Sun-bird),  as  well  as  the  genera  Promerops  and  Zosterops 
with  Avhatever  allies  they  may  possess.  Even  with  this  restriction, 
the  extent  of  the  Family  must  be  regarded  as  indefinite,  owing  to 
the  absence  of  materials  sufficient  for  arriving  at  a  satisfactory  con- 
clusion, though  the  existence  of  such  a  Family  may  be  indisputable. 
Making  allowance  then  for  the  imperfect  light  in  which  they  must 
at  present  be  viewed,  it  includes  some  of  the  most  characteristic 
forms  of  the  ornithology  of  the  New -Zealand  and  Australian 
Regions  —  but  a  single  species  on]j, 'Ffilotis  limhata  (which  just 
crosses  "  Wallace's  Line "  to  Bali),  being  said  to  occur  outside 
their  limits.  They  all  possess,  or  are  supposed  to  possess,  a  long 
protrusible  tongue  with  a  frayed,  brush-like  tip,  differing  in  its 
quadruple  or  multiple  structure,  and  laciniated  outer  border  (rf. 
Gadow,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1883,  p.  66)  from  that  found  in  any  other 
bird,  and  capable  of  being  formed  into  a  suctorial  tube,  by  means 
of  which  honey  is  absorbed  from  the  nectary  of  flowers,  though  it 
would  seem  that  insects  attracted  by  the  honey  furnish  the  chief 
nourishment  of  many  species,  while  others  undoubtedly  feed  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  on  fruits.  The  Meliphagidx,  as  now  con- 
sidered, are  for  the  most  part  small  birds,  none  exceeding  a  Jay  in 

size — Entomyza  cyanofh,  the 
"  Blue  -  eye  "  of  Australian 
colonists,  being  one  of  the 
largest.  They  have  been 
Entomyza.  myzomela.  divided  into  some  24  genera, 

(After  swainson.)  containing  about  1 50  species, 

of  which  only  a  few  can  here  be  particularized.  Most  of  the  forms 
have  a  very  confined  range,  being  found  perhaps  only  on  a  single 
island  or  group  of  islands,  but  there  are  a  few  which  are  more  widely 
distributed.  In  plumage  they  vary  much.  The  species  of  Ptilotis  are 
generally  characterized  by  a  tuft  of  white,  or  in  others  of  yellow, 
feathers  springing  from  behind  the  ear.  In  the  greater  number  of  the 
genus  Myzomela  the  males  are  recognizable  by  a  gorgeous  display  of 
crimson  or  scarlet,  which  has  caused  one  species,  71/.  sangmnolenta,  to 
/       be  known  as  the  SotBfER-BiRD  to  Australian  colonists  ;  but  in  others 


HONEY-GUIDE 


429 


no  brilliant  colour  appears,  and  those  of  several  genera  have  no 
special  ornamentation,  while  some  have  a  particularly  plain  appear- 
ance. One  of  the  most  curious  forms  is  Frosthernadera— the  Tui  or 
Parson-bird  of  New  Zealand.  The  Bell-bird  of  the  same  country 
(supra,  p.  31),  Aidhornis  melanura,  is  another  member  of  this 
Family,  and  unfortunately  seems  to  be  fast  becoming  extinct,  a  fate 


Anthornis. 
(From  Buller.) 


Melithrepths  validirostris. 
(After  Swainson.) 


^  /    ^  cAA,^^ 


that  is  said  to  have  already  befallen  the  Stitch-bird,  Pogonornis, 
of  the  same  country.  But  it  would  be  impossil)le  here  to  enter 
much  further  into  detail,  though  the  Wattle-birds,  Anthochxra,  of 
Australia  have  at  least  to  be  named,  and  the  Friar-birds,  Philemon, 
already  mentioned  {supm,  pp.  292,  293),  must  again  be  noticed  /  ^^^^, 
(Mimicry).      Melithrcpt^s,  with  5  or  6  species,  all  but  one  peculiar  ^  / 

to  Australia  or  Tasmania,  considered  by  some  writers  to  be  allied 
to  Zosterops,  probably  belongs  here. 

HONEY-GUIDE,  a  bird  so  called  from  its  habit  or  supposed 
habit  of  pointing  out  to  man  and  to  the  ratel  {Mellivora  capensis) 
the  nests  of  bees.  Stories  to  this  effect  have  often  been  told,  and 
may  be  found  in  the  narratives  of  many  African  travellers,  from 
Bruce  to  Livingstone.  Yet  Mr.  Layard  says  (B.  S.  Africa,  p.  2-i2) 
that  the  birds  will  not  unfrequently  lead  any  one  to  a  leopard  or  a 
snake,  and  will  follow  a  dog  with  vociferations,^  so  that  at  present 
judgment  may  perhaps  be  suspended  on  the  matter,  though  its 
antics  and  noisy  cry  unquestionably  have  in  many  cases  the  effect 
signified  Ijy  its  English  name.  If  not  its  first  discoverer,  Sparrman, 
in  1777,  was  the  first  Avho  described  and  figured  this  bird,  which 
he  met  with  in  the  Cape  Colony  (Phil.  Trans.  Ixvii.  pp.  42-47,  pi. 
i.),  giving  it  the  name  of  Ciiculns  indicator,  its  feet  with  the  toes 
placed  in  pairs — two  before  and  two  behind — inducing  the  lielief 
that  it  must  be  referred  to  that  genus.  Vieillot  in  1816  elevated 
it  to  the  rank  of  a  genus,  Indicator ;  but  it  was  still  considered  to 
belong  to  the  Family  Cuculidie  (its  asserted  parasitical  habits  lending 
force  to  that  belief)  by  all  systematists  except  Blyth  and  Jerdon, 
until  it  was  shewn  by  Mr.  Blanford  (Obs.  Geol.  and  Zool.  Abyssinia, 

1  This  is  also  a  well-known  habit  with  some  C'orvidse — the  Jays  and  Pies  for 
example. 


430  HOODIE—HOOPOE 


pp.  308,  309)  and  Mr.  Sclater  (/6zs,  1870,  pp.  176-180)  that  it  was 
more  allied  to  the  Capitonidx  (Barbet),  and,  in  consequence,  was  then 
made  the  type  of  a  distinct  Family,  Indicatoridse.  The  correctness 
of  this  view  was  proved  by  Garrod  (Proc.  Zool.  Sac.  1878,  pp.  930- 
935).  In  the  meanwhile  other  species  had  been  discovered,  some 
of  them  differing  sufficiently  to  warrant  Sundevall's  foundation  of 
a  second  genus,  Prodotiscus,  of  the  group.  The  Honey-Guides  are 
small  birds,  the  largest  hardly  exceeding  a  Lark  in  size,  and  of  plain 
plumage,  with  what  appears  to  be  a  very  Sparrow-like  bill.  Captain 
Shelley  in   1891    (Ccct.  B.  Br.  Mits.  xix.  pp.  1-12)  recognized  nine 

species  and  one  subspecies  of  the  genus 
Indicfifor,  and  two  of  Prodotiscus.  Four  of 
the  former,  including  /.  sparnnani,  which 
was  the  first  made  known,  are  found  in 
South  Africa,  and  one  of  Prodotiscus.  The 
rest  inhabit  other  parts  of  the  same  con- 
tinent, except  /.  archipelagicus,  which  belongs 

Indicator.     (After  Swainson.)     ,        -r.  ^    -^r   t  ^     t  ,i  , 

to  Borneo  and  Malacca,  and  1.  xanthonotus, 
Avhich  occurs  on  the  Himalayas  from  the  borders  of  Afghanistan 
to  Bhotan.  The  interrupted  geographical  distribution  of  this  genus 
is  an  instructive  fact. 

HOODIE,  properly  the  Scottish  name  for  the  Grey  or  Hooded 
Crow,  but  occasionally  used  also  for  the  Black  form. 

HOOPOE  (French  Huppe,  Latin  Upupa,  Greek  Ittoxj^ — all  names 
bestowed  apparently  from  its  cry),  a  bird  long  celebrated  in  litera- 
ture, and  conspicuous  by  its  variegated  plumage  and  its  large 
erectile  crest,^  the  Upupa  epops  of  naturalists,  which  is  the  type  of 
the  very  peculiar  Family  Upupicla:,  placed  by  Prof.  Huxley  in  his 
group  Coccygomorphie,  but  considered  by  Dr.  Murie  {Ibis,  1873,  j). 
208)  to  deserve  separate  rank  as  Epopomorphx.  This  species  has  an 
exceedingly  wide  range  in  the  Old  World,  being  a  regular  summer- 
visitant  to  the  whole  of  Europe,  in  some  parts  of  Avhich  it  is  abun- 
dant, as  well  as  to  Siberia,  mostl}'  retiring  southwards  in  autumn 
to  winter  in  equatorial  Africa  and  India,  though  it  would  seem  to 
be  resident  throughout  the  year  in  North-Eastern  Africa  and  in 
China.  Its  poAver  of  wing  ordinarily  seems  to  be  feeble  ;  but  it  is 
capable  of  ver}-  extended  flight,  as  is  testified  by  its  wandering 
habits  (for  it  occasionally  makes  its  appearance  in  places  very  far 
removed  from  its  usual  haunts),  and  also  by  the  fact  that  Avhen 
pursued  by  a  Falcon  it  will  rapidly  mount  to  an  extreme  height  and 
frequently  effect  its  escape  from  the  enemy.  About  the  size  of  a 
Thrush,  with  a  long,  pointed,  and  slightly  arched  bill,  its  head  and 

1  Hence  the  secondary  meaning  of  the  French  word  huppc — a  crest  or  tuft 
(c/.  Littre,  Lict.  Francaisc,  i.  2067). 


HOOPOE 


431 


neck  are  of  a  golden-buff — the  former  adorned  by  the  crest  already 
mentioned,  which  begins  to  rise  from  the  forehead  and  consists  of 
broad  feathers,  gradually  increasing  in  length,  tipped  Avith  black, 
and  having  a  subterniinal  bar  of  yellowish-white.  The  upper  part 
of  the  back  is  of  a  vinous-grey,  and  the  scapulars  and  flight-featliers 
are  black,  broadly  barred  with  white,  tinged  in  the  former  with 
buff.  The  tail  is  black  Avith  a  white  chevron,  marking  off  about 
the  distal  third  part  of  its  length.  The  legs  and  feet  are  as  well 
adapted  for  running  or  walking  as  for  perching,  and  the  scutella- 
tions  are  continued  round  the  whole  of  the  tarsi.  Chiefly  on  account 
of  this  character,  which  is  also  possessed  by  the  Larks,  Sundevall 


Hoopoe. 

{Tentamen,  pp.  53-55)  united  the  Ujnipulai  and  Alaudidx  in  the 
same  "  cohors,"  Holaspideai.  Comparative  anatom}^,  however,  for- 
bids its  being  taken  to  signify  any  real  affinity  between  these 
groups,  and  the  resemblance  on  this  point,  which  is  b}^  no  means 
so  striking  as  that  displayed  by  the  form  of  the  bill  and  the  colora- 
tion in  certain  Larks  (of  the  genus  Certhilauda,  for  instance),  must 
be  ascribed  to  analogy  merely,  though  at  present  no  explanation  of 
the  why  and  the  wherefore  can  be  offered. 

Pleasing  as  is  the  appearance  of  the  Hoopoe  as  it  fearlessly 
parades  its  showy  plumage,  its  habits  are  much  the  reverse.  All 
observers  agree  in  stating  that  it  delights  to  find  its  food  among 
filth  of  the  most  abominable  description,  and  this  especially  in  its 
winter-quarters.     But  where  it  breeds,  its  nest,  usually  in  the  hole 


432  HORNBILL 

of  a  tree  or  of  a  wall,  is  not  only  partly  composed  of  the  foulest 
material,  but  its  condition  becomes  worse  as  incubation  proceeds, 
for  the  hen  scarcely  ever  leaves  her  eggs,  being  assiduously  fed  by 
the  cock  as  she  sits  ;  and  when  the  young  are  hatched,  their  faeces 
are  not  removed  by  their  parents,  ■'■  as  is  the  case  with  most  birds, 
but  are  discharged  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  nest,  the 
unsanitary  condition  of  which  can  readily  be  imagined.  Worms, 
grubs,  and  insects  generally,  fonn  the  Hoopoes'  food,  and  upon  it 
they  get  so  fat  in  autumn  that  they  are  esteemed  a  delicate  morsel  in 
some  of  the  countries  of  Southern  Europe,  and  especially  by  the 
Christian  population  of  Constantinople.^ 

Not  a  year  passes  but  the  Hoopoe  makes  its  aj)pearance  in  some 
part  or  other  of  Britain,  most  often  in  spring,  and  if  unmolested 
would  doubtless  stop  to  breed  here,  for  a  few  instances  are  known 
in  which  it  has  done  so.  But  its  remarkable  plumage  always 
attracts  attention  :  it  is  generally  shot  so  soon  as  it  is  seen,  and 
before  it  has  time  to  begin  a  nest,  which  there  is  reason  to  think 
would  not  in  a  temperate  climate  become  so  ofi'ensive  a  nuisance  as 
it  is  in  more  southern  latitudes.  Eight  or  nine  so-called  species  of 
the  genus  have  been  described,  but  the  existence  of  five  only  can 
be  established  (Dresser,  B.  Eur.  v.  p.  184).  Beside  the  Upupa 
epops  above  treated,  these  are  U.  indica,  resident  in  India  and 
Ceylon ;  U.  longirostris,  which  seems  to  be  the  form  of  the  Indo- 
Chinese  countries  ;  U.  marginata,  peculiar  to  Madagascar ;  and  U. 
africana  or  minor,  which  inhabits  South  Africa  to  the  Zambesi  on 
the  east  and  Benguela  on  the  west  coast.  In  habits  and  appearance 
they  all  resemble  the  best-known  and  most  widely-spread  species, 
and  their  particular  differences  need  not  be  here  pointed  out.^ 

HORNBILL,  the  English  name  long  ago  given  to  all  the  birds 
of  the  Family  Bucerotidse  of  modern  ornithologists,  from  the  extra- 
ordinary horn-like  excrescence  (epithema)  developed  on  the  bill  of 
most  of  the  species,  though  to  .which  of  them  it  was  first  applied 
seems  doubtful.  Among  classical  authors  Pliny  had  heard  of  such 
animals,  and  mentions  them  (Hist.  Nat.  lib.  x.  cap.  xlix.)  under  the 
name  of  Tragopan ;  but  he  deemed  their  existence  fabulous,  com- 
paring them  with  Fegasi  and  Ch-yphones — in  the  words  of  Holland, 

1  Tliis  indeed  is  denied  by  Naumann,  but  by  him  alone  ;  and  the  statement 
in  the  text  is  confirmed  by  many  eye-witnesses. 

-  Under  the  name  of  Dukipath,  in  the  authorized  version  of  the  Bible  trans- 
lated "Lapwing"  (Lev.  xi.  19,  Dent.  xiv.  18),  the  Hoopoe  was  accounted  un- 
clean by  the  "  Jewish  law."  Arabs  have  a  great  reverence  for  the  bird,  imputing 
to  it  marvellous  medicinal  and  other  qualities,  and  making  use  of  its  head  in 
their  charms  {cf.  Tristram,  Nat.  Hist,  of  the  Bible,  pp.  20S,  209). 

^  The  genera  Ehinopomastus  and  Irrisor  are  generally  placed  in  the  Family 
Upupidae,  but  Dr.  Murie  {I.e.),  after  an  exhaustive  examination  of  their  osteology, 
regards  them  as  forming  a  group  of  equal  value. 


HORNBILL  433 


his  translator  (i.  p.  296) — "I  thinke  the  same  of  the  Tragopanades, 
which  many  men  aftirme  to  bee  greater  than  the  ^gle  ;  having 
crooked  homes  like  a  Ram  on  either  side  of  the  head,  of  the  colour 
of  yron,  and  the  head  onely  red."  Yet  this  is  but  an  exaggerated 
description  of  some  of  the  species  with  Avhich  doubtless  his  inform- 
ants had  an  imperfect  acquaintance.  Mediaeval  Avriters  ^  found 
Pliny's  bird  to  be  no  fable,  for  specimens  of  the  beak  of  one  species 
or  another  seem  occasionally  to  have  been  brought  to  Europe,  Avhere 
they  were  preserved  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious,  and  thus  Aldro- 
vandus  Avas  able  in  1599  to  describe  and  figure  {Ornithologia,  lib. 
xii.  cap.  XX.)  under  the  name  of  '■^Rhinoceros  Avis"  the  head  of 
what  is  now  called  Buceros  rhinoceros,  though  the  rest  of  the  bird 
was  unknown  to  him.  When  the  exploration  of  the  East  Indies 
had  extended  further,  more  examples  reached  Euroj^e,  and  the 
"  Corvus  Indicus  cornutus "  of  Bontius  became  fully  recognized  by 
Willughby  and  Ray,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Horned  Indian  Raven 
or  Topau  called  the  Rhinocerot  Bird."  Since  their  time  our  know- 
ledge of  the  Hornbills  has  been  steadily  inci'easing,  but  on  many 
points  there  is  still  great  lack  of  precise  information,  though  the 
completion  in  1882  of  Mr.  Elliot's  Monograph  of  the  Buceroticlse  sup- 
plied a  great  want,  for  much  diversity  of  opinion  long  prevailed  as 
to  hoAV  many  real  genera  the  Family  comprises,  or  how  many  species. 
The  group,  though  no  doubt  can  be  entertained  as  to  its  limits,^ 
contains  many  bulky  birds,  and  has  never  been  attractive  to  private 
collectors,  while  several  of  the  species  were,  and  still  are,  rare  even 
in  public  museums.  Some  authors  appeared  to  despair  of  dividing 
it  satisfactorily,  and  left  all  the  described  species  in  the  Linnsean 
genus  Buceros,  others  split  that  genus  into  more  than  a  score,  while 
Sundevall  (Tentamen,  pp.  96,  97)  recognized  only  three  genera;  but 
it  is  unquestionable  that  more  should  reasonably  be  admitted,  and 
the  present  writer,  though  here  adopting  Mr.  Elliot's  determinations, 
is  not  prepared  to  state  how  many  are  required. 

That  gentleman  divides  them  into  two  subfamilies,  Bucorvlnse, 
with  one  genus  Buconms,  and  Biicerotinm  with  1 8  genera,  8  of  which 
belong  wholly  to  the  Indian  Region,  4  to  the  Ethiopian  and  2  to 
the  Australian,  while  3  have  members  in  both  the  Ethiopian  and 
Indian  Regions,  and  one  genus  occurs  in  both  the  Indian  and  the 
Australian,  though  no  species  is  common  to  any  two  Regions.  The 
genus  Bucorvus  (or  Bucorax  as  some  write  it),  and  consequently  the 
subfamily  Bucoroinm,  is  confined  to  Africa,  and  contains  3  species 
distinguishable  among  other  characters  by  their  longer  legs  and 
shorter  toes — the  Ground-Hornbills  of  English  writers.     From  the 

1  E.g.  Cardanus,  De  Subtil,  lib.  x.  (ed.  1611,  p.  601),  Scaliger,  Exercit.  231,  3. 

-  Such  genera  as  Euryceros,  Scythrojos,  and  othei's,  together  with  the  whole 
Family  Momotidx,  which  had  been  at  times  placed  by  systematists  among  the 
Bucerotidae,  have  no  affinity  to  them. 

28 


434  HQRNBILL 

days  of  Bruce  there  are  few  travellers  in  that  country  who  have 
not  met  with  and  in  their  narratives  said  more  or  less  of  one  or 
other  of  these  birds,  whose  large  size  and  fearless  habits  render 
them  conspicuous  as  they  Avalk  or  run  on  the  ground,  or  when 
disturbed  perch  on  trees.  The  precise  range  of  the  several  forms  is 
not  known,  but  the  genus  is  found  from  Abyssinia  to  Natal,  and  from 
the  Gold  Coast  to  Zambesia.  The  northern  forms  differ  from  the 
southei^n,  B.  cafer — the  "  Brom-vogel "  of  European  colonists  in 
South  Africa — in  having  the  ejnthema  open  in  front,  and  thereby 
presenting  an  appearance  quite  unique  among  birds. 

Of  the  JBucerotinse,  all  of  which  are  thoroughly  arboreal  in  habit, 
Mr.  Elliot  recognizes  only  two  species  of  Buceros,  one  B.  rhinoceros 
(being,  as  already  said,  that  whose  head,  with  its  unique  up-turned 
epithema,  was  known  to  Aldrovandus)  from  Malacca,  Sumatra,  and 
Borneo,  and  the  other,  B.  silvestris  (with  the  epithema  straight) 
peculiar  to  Java.  Hardly  less  extraordinary  than  the  first  of  these 
is  the  single  species  separated  to  form  the  genus  Dichoceros,  in  which 
the  epithema  is  a  broad  plate,  slightly  convex  in  the  middle  and 
rising  on  either  side  in  a  prominent  ridge  ending  in  two  projecting 
points.  This  is  D.  bicornis,  the  "  Homrai  "  of  Anglo-Indian  writers, 
found  not  only  in  the  hilly  forests  of  India  but  throughout  the 
Malay  Peninsula  and  reaching  Sumatra.  The  genus  Hydrocorax 
seems  hardly  separable  from  the  last,  but,  with  its  3  species,  is 
peculiar  to  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  thus  these  genera  contain 
the  largest  species  of  the  Bucerotinge.  Then  comes  Ehinoplax,  which 
seems  properly  to  contain  but  one  species,  the  Buceros  vigil,  £. 
scutatiis,  or  B.  galeatus  of  authors,  commonly  known  as  the  Helmet- 
Hornbill,  a  native  of  Sumatra  and  Borneo.  This  is  easily  distin- 
guished by  having  the  front  of  its  nearly  vertical  and  slightly 
convex  epithema  composed  of  a  solid  mass  of  horn  •'•  instead  of  a  thin 
coating  of  the  light  and  cellular  sti'ucture  found  in  the  others.  So 
dense  and  hard  is  this  portion  of  the  "  helmet "  that  Chinese  and 
Malay  artists  carve  figures  on  its  surface,  or  cut  it  transversely  into 
plates,  which  from  their  agreeable  colouring,  bright  yellow  with  a 
scarlet  rim,  are  worn  as  brooches  or  other  ornaments.  This  bird, 
which  is  larger  than  a  Raven,  is  also  remarkable  for  its  bare  neck 
and  long  graduated  tail,  having  the  two  middle  feathers  nearly 
!,  at-J^  twice  the  length  of  the  rest.  Nothing  is  known  of  its  habits."?^  Its 
"      f  head  was  figured  by  Edwards  in  1755,  but  little  else  was  known 

1  Apparently  correlated  -with  this  structure  is  the  curious  thickening  of  the 
"  prosencephalic  median  septum  "  of  the  cranium  as  also  of  that  which  divides 
the  "prosencephalic"  from  the  "mesencephalic  chamber,"  noticed  by  Sir  R. 
Owen  {Cat.  OsteoJ.  Ser.  Mus.  Coll.  Surg.  Engl.  i.  p.  287) ;  while  the  solid 
horny  mass  is  further  strengthened  by  a  backing  of  bony  props,  directed  forwards, 
and  meeting  its  base  at  right  angles.  This  last  singular  arrangement,  not  per- 
ceptible in  the  skull  of  any  other  species,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  described. 


HORN  BILL  435 


of  it  until  1801,  when  Latham  described  the  plumage  from  a 
specimen  in  the  British  Museum,  and  the  first  figure  of  the  whole 
bird,  from  an  example  in  the  Museum  at  Calcutta,  was  j)ublished 
by  Hard wi eke  in  1823  {Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xiv.  pi.  23).  Yet  over 
twenty  years  elapsed  before  French  naturalists  had  seen  more 
than  its  head.  Under  Rhinoplax  Sundevall  places  the  Buceros 
comatiis  of  Raffles ;  but  this  would  seem  to  be  a  wrong  position  for 
that  species,  the  type  of  Bonaparte's  genus  Berenicornis,  since  it  does 
not  appear  to  possess  a  frontlet  of  solid  horn,  and  Mr.  Elliot  puts 
it  in  the  genus  Anorrhinus. 

Of  other  forms  of  Hornbill  there  is  not  room  here  to  treat  at 
length.  In  some,  as  the  Indian  Anthracoceros  and  the  Ethiopian 
Bycanistes,  the  epithema  grows  out  in  such  wise  as  to  make  the 
bird  seem  as  if  it  had  two  beaks,  one  superimposed  upon  the  other. 
Great  as  is  the  wonder  which  this  arouses  among  stay-at-home 
ornithologists,  it  has  failed,  as  in  other  cases,  to  excite  enough 
curiosity  among  those  that  have  opportunities  of  observation  to 
enable  them  to  provide  the  least  hint  as  to  the  use  it  serves  in  the 
bird's  economy.  In  other  forms  the  epithema  is  hardly  developed, 
and  indeed  a  fairly  complete  series  may  be  traced  from  (setting 
aside  Bucorvus)  Buceros  to  certain  species  of  Toccus  in  which  it  may 
be  said  not  to  appear.  In  some  of  the  intermediate  forms  it  is 
curiously  corrugated,  and  the  ridge  and  furrow  surface  extends  in 
Cranorrhinus  to  the  mandible.  The  development,  however,  of  this 
most  characteristic  feature  of  the  Family  depends  in  some  species, 
as  might  be  expected,  more  or  less  on  age  and  sex ;  and,  important 
as  it  undoubtedly  is,  too  much  weight  should  not  be  assigned  to  it 
or  other  means  of  diagnosis  neglected  on  its  account.  That  excel- 
lent observer  Tickell  in  his  manuscript  Birds  of  India  (in  the  library 
of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London)  divides  the  Hornbills  of  that 
country  into  two  genera  only,  Buceros  and  Aceros,  remarking  that 
the  birds  of  the  former  fly  by  alternately  flapping  their  wings  and 
sailing,  while  those  of  the  latter  fly  by  regular  flapping  only.^ 
Several  diff"erences  of  structure  are  presented  by  the  sternal 
apparatus  of  the  vai"ious  Bucerotidse,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
these  diff'erences  may  be  correlated  with  Tickell's  observations  so  as 
to  furnish,  when  more  is  known  about  these  birds,  a  better  mode  of 
classing  them,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  those  of  the  African 
group  containing  the  genus  Toccus  and  its  allies. 

As  a  whole  the  Hornbills,  of  which  more  than  60  species  have 
been  described,  form  a  very  natural  and  in  some  respects  an  isolated 
group,  placed  by  Prof.   Huxley  among  his  CoccygomorphEe.     It  has 

^  The  noise  made  by  the  wings  of  some  of  the  large  species  in  their  flight  is 
compared  by  Mr.  Wallace,  in  an  admirable  article  on  the  Family  {Intellectual 
Observer,  1863,  pp.  310  et  seqq.),  to  the  puffing  of  a  locomotive  steam-engine  when 
starting  with  a  train,  and  can  be  heard  a  mile  oft". 


436 


HORNBILL 


been  suggested  that  they  have  some  affinity  with  the  Upupidee 
(Hoopoe),  but  even  if  that  \\e,\y  be  good  the  affinity  cannot  be  very 
near.  Their  supposed  alliance  to  the  Rhamphastidm  (Toucan)  rests 
only  on  the  apparent  similarity  presented  by  the  enormous  beak, 
and  is  contradicted  by  important  structural  characters.  In  many  of 
their  habits,  so  far  as  these  are  known,  all  Hornbills  seem  to  Vje 
much  alike,  and  though  the  modification  in  the  form  of  the  beak, 


\\\\\^> 


.\  ^\\^\ 


dr^> 


HoMRAi  OR  Great  Indian  Hornbill  (Dichoceros  hkorni^).     Alter  Tickell's  drawing  in  the 

Zoological  Society's  library. 


and  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  extraordinary  excrescence,^ 
whence  their  name  is  derived,  causes  great  diversity  of  aspect 
among  them,  the  possession  of  prominent  eyelashes  (not  a  common 

^  Buffon,  as  was  his  niauner,  enlarges  on  tlie  cruel  injustice  done  to  these 
birds  by  Nature  in  encumbering  them  with  this  deformity,  which  he  declares 
must  hinder  them  from  getting  their  food  with  ease.  The  only  corroboration  his 
perverted  view  receives  is  afforded  by  the  observed  fact  that  Hornbills,  in  cap- 
tivity at  any  rate,  never  have  any  fat  about  them. 


HORN-PIE— HUIA  437 


featui'e  in  Bii'ds)  produces  a  uniformity  of  expression  which  makes 
it  impossible  to  mistake  any  member  of  the  Family.  Hornbills  are 
social  birds,  keeping  in  companies,  not  to  say  flocks,  and  living 
chiefly  on  fruits  and  seeds;  but  the  bigger  species  also  capture  and 
devour  a  large  number  of  snakes,  Avhile  the  smaller  are  great 
destroyers  of  insects.  The  older  writers  say  that  they  eat  carrion, 
but  further  evidence  to  that  effect  is  required  before  the  statement 
can  be  believed.  Almost  every  morsel  of  food  that  is  picked  up  is 
tossed  into  the  air,  and  then  caught  in  the  bill  before  it  is  swallowed. 
They  breed  in  holes  of  trees,  laying  large  white  eggs,  and  when  the 
hen  begins  to  sit  the  cock  plasters  up  the  entrance  with  mud  or 
clay,  leaving  only  a  small  window  through  which  she  receives  the 
food  he  brings  her  during  her  voluntary  imprisonment. 

This  remarkable  habit,  almost  simultaneously  noticed  by  Dr. 
IVIason  in  Burma,  Tickell  in  India,  and  Livingstone  in  Africa,  but 
since  confirmed  by  other  observers,  especially  Mr.  "Wallace  ^  in  the 
Malay  Archipelago,  has  been  connected  by  Mr.  Bartlett  {Froc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1869,  p.  142)  with  a  peculiarity  as  remarkable,  which  he  was 
the  first  to  notice.  This  is  the  fact  that  Hornbills  at  intervals  of 
time,  whether  periodical  or  irregular  is  not  yet  known,  cast  the 
epithelial  layer  of  their  gizzard,  that  layer  being  formed  by  a 
secretion  derived  from  the  glands  of  the  proventriculus  or  some 
other  upper  part  of  the  alimentary  canal.  The  epithelium  is 
ejected  in  the  form  of  a  sack  or  bag,  the  mouth  of  which  is  closely 
folded,  and  is  filled  with  the  fruit  that  the  bird  has  been  eating. 
The  announcement  of  a  circumstance  so  extraordinary  naturally 
caused  some  hesitation  in  its  acceptance,  but  the  essential  truth  of 
Mr.  Bartlett's  observations  has  been  abundantly  confirmed  by 
Professor  Flower  {to7n.  cit.  p.  150),  and  especially  by  Dr.  Murie  {op. 
cif.  1874,  p.  420),  and  what  seems  now  to  be  most  wanted  is  to 
know  whether  these  castings  are  really  intended  to  form  the  hen- 
bird's  food  during  her  confinement. 

HORN-PIE,  a  local  name  for  the  Lapwing,  the  first  syllable  refer- 
ring to  its  crest  which  the  bird  in  fullest  vigour  sets  up  on  high,  and  the 
last  to  its  plumage  that  on  the  Aving  appears  to  be  black  and  white. 

HOWLET,  a  form  of  Owlet,  the  diminutive  of  Owl,  which  has 
preserved  the  prefixed  aspirate  in  some  Avay  that  etymologists  find 
hard  to  explain. 

HUIA,  the  Maori  name,  adopted  by  the  English  in  New 
Zealand,  of  a  bird  of  that  country,  the  only  member  of  its  genus, 

1  In  his  interesting  work  (i.  p.  213),  he  describes  a  nestling,  of  the  species 
above  figured,  which  he  obtained  as  "a  most  curious  object,  as  large  as  a  pigeon, 
but  without  a  particle  of  plumage  on  any  part  of  it.  It  was  exceedingly  plump 
and  soft,  and  with  a  semi-transparent  skin,  so  that  it  looked  more  like  a  bag  of 
jelly,  with  head  and  feet  stuck  on,  than  like  a  real  bird." 


438 


HUM 


Heteralocha}  and  very  remarkable  for  the  sexual  difference  in  the 
bill,  Avhich  is  so  great  as  to  have  led  Gould  to  describe  the  male 
and  female  as  distinct  species  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1836,  pp.  144,  145). 
First  referred,  like  so  manj''  other  curve-billed  birds,  to  the  Upupidx 
(Hoopoe),  it  was  placed  by  Prof.  Cabanis  in  1850  {Mus.  Hein.  i.  p. 
218)  among  the  Corvidse,  but  Garrod  after  dissection  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1872,  pp.  643-647)  found  its  relation  to  the  Sturnidse  (Starling) 
to  be  very  intimate,  and  its  structure  clearly  not  allied  to  the 
Corvidm,  among  which,  however,  Dr.  Sharpe  included  it  in  1877 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  iii.  p.  143)  though  the  year  before  {Voy.  'Erebus' 
and  'Terror,'  App.  p.  27)  he  had  followed  Garrod.     Probably  the 


IIuiA,  Female  and  Male.    (From  Buller.) 

right  view,  as  indicated  by  Prof.  Cabanis's  remarks  on  this  very 
subject  (loc.  cit.),  is  that  it  is  an  ancient  and  generalized  form,  which 
cannot  really  be  assigned  to  any  of  the  more  differentiated 
Families.  According  to  the  personal  observation  of  Sir  W.  Buller, 
Avho  enters  at  length  on  the  natural  history  of  the  Huia  (B.  N.  Zeal. 
ed.  2,  i.  pj).  7-17),  its  favourite  food  is  the  grub  of  a  timber-boi'ing 
beetle,  and  the  male  bird  with  his  short  stout  bill  attacks  the  more 
decayed  portions  of  the  wood,  and  chisels  out  his  ])rey,  while  the 
female  with  her  long  slender  bill  probes  the  holes  ia  the  sounder 
part,  the  hardness  of  which  resists  his  weapon  ;  or,  when  he,  having 
removed  the  decayed  portion,  is  unable  to  reach  the  grub,  the  female 
comes  to  his  aid  and  accomplishes  what  he  has  failed  to  do.  The 
Huia  is  entirely  a  forest-bird,  and  is  doubtless  one  of  those  doomed 
to  extinction,  though  at  present  it  seems  to  maintain  its  existence. 
Except  a  white  terminal  band  on  the  tail,  the  whole  plumage  is 
in  both  sexes  black,  with  a  green  metallic  gloss  :  the  bill  is  ivory- 
white,  and  the  large  r9unded  wattles  at  the  gape  are  of  a  rich  orange. 
1  Originally  named  by  Gould  Neomorpha,  a  term  -whicli  was  preoccuiDied. 


HUMERUS 


439 


HUMERUS,  the  upper  arm-bone  in  Birds,  articulating  by  its 
head  with  the  coracoid  and  scapula  at  the  glenoid  cavity,  and  by 


\S,anc.L 
I       Tr.  r. 


Tr.  u 


S.anc.m. 


F.pn. 


Left  Humerus  of  Goose.     Lateral  and  median  aspects. 


Cr.  inf. 


Tb.  e.        £''•  ■y/. 


Left  Humerus  of  Raven.     Lateral  and  median  aspects. 


Cr.  inf. 


Tb.  i. 


Ir.  I.  Insertion  of  M.  brachialis  inferior;  Cap.  Caput  humeri;  Cr.  inf.,  Cr.  I.  and  Cr.  sup. 
Crista  inferior,  lateralis  and  superior  ;  Ect.  and  Eiitcp.  Ectepicondylar  and  Entepicondylar  pro- 
cess ;  F.  pn.  Foramen  pneumaticum  ;  Inc.  c.  Incisura  capitis  ;  lat.  d.  Insertion  of  M.  latissimus 
dor.si ;  pcct.  Insertion  of  M.  pectoralis  ;  S.  anc.  l,  S.  anc.  m,  and  S.  tr.  Sulcus  anconei  lateralis, 
iriedius  and  transversus  ;  sup.  c.  Insertion  of  M.  supracoracoideus ;  Tb.  e.,  Tb.  i.  and  Tb.  m.  Tuber- 
culum  externum,  internum,  and  medium  ;  T.  or  Tr.  r.  and  T.  or  Tr.  it.  Trochlea  radicalis  and 
ulnaris. 


440  HUMMING-BIRD 


its  inner  and  outer  condyle  at  the  distal  end  with  the  radius  and 
ulna.  Its  crests,  ridges  and  processes  present  so  many  obvious 
modifications,  characteristic  of  various  groups,  that  its  configuration 
appears  to  be  of  considerable  taxonomic  value.  Assuming  it  to  be 
in  its  natural  position  when  the  wing  is  folded,  the  glenoid  surface 
of  its  head  is  bordered  above  by  the  hihermlum  superms  (insertion 
of  the  musculus  supracoracoidus),  and  in  the  middle  and  below  by. 
the  tuberculum  inferius  (insertion  of  muse,  coraco-hrachialis  posterior). 
From  the  former  extends  the  large  crista  superior  (insertion  of  muse, 
pectoralis  major  on  its  outward  dorsal  edge,  and  of  muse,  deltoides 
major  on  its  median  surface).  The  ventral  portion  of  the  neck  of 
the  Humerus  is  formed  by  the  strong  erista  inferior,  on  the  median 
side  of  which,  between  the  lower  tubercle  there  is  mostl}^  a  deep 
depression  {fossa  suhtrochanteriea)  at  the  bottom  of  which  air  is 
admitted  to  the  bone  (c/.  AiR-SACKS,  p.  4)  bj^  means  of  a  hole  or 
holes.  Among  Anseres  and  Striges  there  is  a  very  large  orifice ;  in 
Accipitres  and  Oiididx  the  foramina  are  so  numerous  as  to  be 
cribriform ;  but  in  the  Sphenisci  (Penguin),  Colymhidse,  Alcidx, 
Laridse,  many  Tubinares  and  occasionally  in  Phoenicopterus  (Flamingo) 
foramina  pneumatica  are  either  very  sniall  or  do  not  exist,  while  in 
.  Columbse  and  Gallinse,  the  depression  is  very  shallow  and  the  foramen 
is  almost  on  a  plane  surface. 

On  the  outer  side  of  the  Humerus,  between  the  head  and  the 
crista  inferior,  is  a  groove  lodging  one  of  the  coraco  -  humeral 
ligaments.  This  groove  is  very  deep  in  Stegauopodes,  Ardeidge, 
Ciconiidse,  Phoenicopterus,  Ballidx,  Laridx,  Columhidx,  Striges,  Cypseli 
and  Parrots,  but  very  shallow  in  Gh'uidse,  Otididse,  Tubinares, 
Sphenisci,  Caracias  (Eoller),  Buceros  (Hornbill)  and  Capimulgus, 
and  scarcely  marked  in  Gallinse,  Anseres  and  Accipitres.  Distally 
the  humerus  ends  in  a  trochlea,  composed  of  a  larger  roundish 
condyle  for  the  articulation  of  the  Ulna,  and  a  smaller  and  more 
elongated  knob  for  that  of  the  Kadius.  A  little  above  this  knob 
there  is  frequently  present  an  ectepicondylar  process,  serving  for 
the  origin  of  the  tendons  of  some  of  the  radial  and  ulnar  flexors. 
This  process  is  best  developed  in  Laridx,  most  Limicolx,  Turniciden, 
Tubinares,  Passeres,  Pici  and  Cypselidaz :  it  is  small  in  Striges,  most 
Accipitres  and  Columbidx,  and  minute  or  absent  in  Pteroclidse, 
(Edicnemus,  Otis,  Dicholophus,  Gi'us,  Uhinochetus,  Eurypyga,  Pallidse, 
Tinamidse,  Gallinse,  Colymbidse,  Podicipedidx,  Alcidse,  Sphenisci,  Stegauo- 
podes, Ardeidse,  Ciconiidse,  Phccnicopterus  and  Anseres.  It  is  variable 
in  the  Picari^e  (see  Skeleton). 

HUMMING-BIRD,  a  name  in  use  for  more  than  two  centuries, 
and  possibly  ever  since  English  explorers  first  knew  of  the  beautiful 
little  animals  to  which,  from  the  sound  occasionally  made  by  the 
rapid  vibrations  of  their  wings,  it  is  applied.     Among  books  that  are 


HUMMING-BIRD  441 


ordinarily  in  naturalists'  hands,  the  name  seems  to  be  first  found  in 
the  Mnas&xim  Tradescantianum,  published  in  1656,  but  it  therein 
occurs  (p.  3)  so  as  to  suggest  its  having  already  l^een  accepted  and 
commonly  understood  ;^  and  its  earliest  use,  as  yet  discovered,  is 
said  to  be  by  Thomas  Morton  in  the  New  English  Canaan,  printed 
in  1632 — a  rare  work  I'eproduced  by  Peter  Force  in  his  Historical 
Tracts  (vol.  ii.  Washington:  1838).  Thevet,  in  his  Singularitez  de 
la  France  antarctique  (Paris:  1558,  fol.  94-),  has  been  more  than 
once  cited  as  the  earliest  author  to  mention  Humming-birds,  which 
he  did  under  the  name  of  Gonahich  or  Gonambuch  ;  but  it  is  quite 
certain  that  Oviedo,  whose  Hystoria  general  de  las  Indias  was  pub- 
lished at  Toledo  in  1525,  preceded  him  by  more  than  thirty  years, 
with  an  account  of  the  "paxaro  mosqiiito  "  of  Hispaniola,  of  which 
island  "  the  first  chronicler  of  the  Indies "  was  governor.^  This 
name,  though  now  apparently  disused  in  Spanish,  must  have  been 
current  about  that  time,  for  we  find  Gesner  in  1555  [De  avium 
natura,  iii.  p.  629)  translating  it  literally  into  Latin  as  Passer 
muscatus,  owing,  as  he  says,  his  knowledge  of  the  bird  to  Cardan, 
who  (Be  Sxibtil.  lib.  x.)  had  called  it  by  the  same  name,  and 
tells  us  (Comment,  in  Ptolem.  de  astr.  judiciis,  Basilire :  1554,  p. 
472)  that,  on  his  return  to  Milan  from  professionally  attending 
Archbishop  Hamilton  at  Edinburgh,  he  visited  Gesner  at  Zurich, 

1  Sir  Thomas  Browne  in  1646  wrote  (Pseudodoxia  Epidemica,  Bk.  6,  chap. 
viii.):  "So  have  all  Ages  conceaved,  and  most  are  still  ready  to  sweare,  the 
Wren  is  the  least  of  birds,  yet  the  discoveries  of  America,  and  even  of  our  own 
Plantations  shewed  ns  one  farre  lesse,  that  is,  the  Hum-bird,  not  much  exceeding 
a  Beetle."  The  name  Hum-bird  was  in  use  iifty  years  later.  Mr.  Benjamin 
Buttivant,  writing  from  Boston  in  New  England  to  Pettiver  on  15  January 
1697/8,  says  [Phil.  Trans,  xx.  p.  168) :  "  The  Hum-hird  I  have  shot  with 
.sand,  and  had  one  some  Weeks  in  my  keeping.  I  put  a  Straw  for  a  Perch 
into  a  Venice  Glass  Tumbler,  ty'd  over  the  Mouth  with  a  Paper  in  which 
I  cut  holes  for  the  Bird's  Bill  (about  as  long  and  as  small  as  a  Taylor's 
Needle),  and  laying  the  Glass  on  one  side,  set  a  Drachm  of  Honey  by  it,  which 
it  soon  scented,  and  with  its  long  Tongue  put  forth  beyond  its  Bill,  fed 
daily  ;  it  muted  the  Honey  pure,  and  was  a  Prospect  to  manj'  Comers  ;  it  flew 
away  at  last." 

^  Not  having  seen  a  copy  of  this  first  edition,  I  take  the  reference  from  the 
reprint  of  M.  Gaffarel  (Paris:  1878,  p.  249). 

^  In  the  edition  of  Oviedo's  work,  published  at  Salamanca  in  1547,  the 
earliest  I  have  seen,  the  account  (lib.  xiv.  cap.  4)  runs  thus  : — "Ay  assi  mismo 
enesta  ysla  vnos  paxaricos  tan  negros  como  vn  terciopelo  negro  muy  bueno  &  son 
tan  pequenos  que  ningunos  he  yo  visto  en  Indias  rnenores/  cxcepto  el  que  aca  se 
llama  paxaro  mosquito.  El  qual  es  tan  pequeno  que  el  bulto  del  es  menor  harto 
o  assaz  que  le  cabe^a  del  dedo  pulgar  de  la  mano.  Este  no  le  he  visto  enesta  Ysla 
pero  dizen  me  que  aqui  los  ay  :  &  por  esso  dexo  de  hablar  enel  pa  lo  dezir  dode 
los  he  visto  que  es  en  la  tierra  firme  quado  della  se  trate."  A  modern  Spanish 
version  of  this  passage  will  be  found  in  the  beautiful  edition  of  Oviedo's  works 
published  by  the  Academy  of  Madrid  in  1851  (i.  p.  444). 


442  HUMMING-BIRD 


about  the  end  of  the  year  1552.^  The  name  still  survives  in  the 
French  Oiseau-mouclie ;  but  the  ordinary  Spanish  appellation  is,  and 
long  has  been,  Tominejo,  from  fomin,  signifying  a  weight  equal  to 
the  third  part  of  an  adarme  or  drachm,  and  used  metaphorically  for 
anything  very  small.  Humming-birds,  however,  have  been  called 
by  a  variety  of  other  names,  many  of  them  derived  from  American 
languages,  such  as  Giiainumbi,  Ourissia  and  Colibri,  to  say  nothing 
of  others  bestowed  upon  them  (chiefly  from  some  peculiarity  of 
habit)  by  Europeans,  like  Pica/lores,  Chuparosa  and  Froufrou. 
Barrere,  in  1745,  conceiving  that  Humming-birds  were  allied  to  the 
Wren,  the  Trochilus,^  in  part,  of  Pliny,  applied  that  name  in  a 
generic  sense  (Ornith.  Spec,  novum,  pp.  47,  48)  to  both.  Taking  the 
hint  thus  afforded,  Linnaeus  very  soon  after  went  further,  and, 
excluding  the  Wrens,  founded  his  genus  Trochilus  for  the  reception 
of  such  Humming-birds  as  were  known  to  him.  The  unfortunate 
act  of  the  great  nomenclator  cannot  be  set  aside ;  and,  since  his 
time,  ornithologists  with  but  few  exceptions  have  followed  his 
example,  so  that  nowadays  Humming-birds  are  universally  recog- 
nized as  forming  the  Family  Trochilidai. 

The  relations  of  the  Trochilidai  to  other  birds  were  for  a  long 
while  very  imperfectly  Understood.  Nitzsch  first  drew  attention  to 
their  agreement  in  many  essential  characters  with  the  Cypselidaz 
(Swifts),  and  placed  the  two  Families  in  one  group,  which  he 
called  Macrochires,  from  the  great  length  of  their  manual  bones,  or 
those  forming  the  extremity  of  the  wing.  The  name  was  perhaps 
not  very  happily  chosen,  for  it  is  not  the  distal  portion  that  is  so 
much  out  of  ordinary  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  bird,  but  the 
proximal  and  median  portions,  that  in  both  Families  are  curiously 

^  See  also  Prof.  Morley's  Life  of  Girolamo  Cardano  (ii.  pp.  152,  153). 

-  Under  this  name  Pliuy  perpetuated  {Hist.  Nat.  viii.  25)  the  confusion  that 
had  doubtless  arisen  before  his  time  of  two  very  distinct  birds.  As  Sundevall 
remarks  {Tentamen,  p.  87  note),  rpox^Xos  was  evidently  the  name  commonly  given 
by  the  ancient  Greeks  to  the  smaller  Plovers,  and  was  not  improperly  applied  by 
Herodotus  (ii.  68)  to  the  species  that  feeds  in  the  open  mouth  of  the  Crocodile — 
the  Pluvianus  aegyptius  of  modern  ornithologists — in  which  sense  Aristotle  (Hist. 
Anivi.  ix.  6)  also  uses  it.  But  the  received  text  of  Aristotle  has  two  other 
passages  (ix.  1  and  11)  wherein  the  word  appears  in  a  wholly  different  connexion, 
and  can  there  be  only  taken  to  mean  the  Wren — the  usual  Greek  name  of  which 
would  seem  to  be  6'px'^os  (Sundevall,  Om  Aristotl.  Djurarter,  No.  54).  Though 
none  of  his  editors  or  commentators  have  suggested  the  possibility  of  such  a 
thing,  one  can  hardly  help  suspecting  that  in  these  passages  some  early  copyist 
has  substituted  rpoxiXos  for  6pxi^os,  and  so  laid  the  foundation  of  a  curious  error. 
It  may  be  here  remarked  that  the  Crocodile  of  St.  Domingo  is  said  to  have  the 
like  office  done  for  it  bj'^  some  kind  of  bird,  which  is  called  by  Descourtilz 
(Voyage,  iii.  p.  26)  a  "  Todier,"  but,  as  Geoffr.  St.  Hilaire  observes  (Descr.  de 
r^gypte,  ed.  2,  xxiv.  p.  440),  is  more  probably  a  Plover.  Unfortunately  the 
fauna  of  Hispaniola  is  not  much  better  known  now  than  in  Oviedo's  days. 


HUMMING-BIRD  443 


dwarfed.  Still  the  manus,  in  comparison  with  the  other  parts  of 
the  wing,  is  so  long  that  the  term  Macrochires  is  not  wholly  in- 
accurate. The  affinity  of  the  TrocMlidx  and  Cypselida^,  once  pointed 
out,  became  obvious  to  most  careful  and  unprejudiced  investigators, 
though  there  are  a  few  systematists  who  refuse  to  admit  its 
validity.^  More  than  this,  it  is  confirmed  by  an  examination  of 
other  osteological  characters.  The  "  lines,"  as  a  boat-builder  would 
say,  upon  which  the  skeleton  of  each  form  is  constructed  are  pre- 
cisely similar,  only  that  whereas  the  bill  is  very  short  and  the  head 
wide  in  the  Swifts,  in  the  Humming-birds  the  head  is  narrow  and 
the  bill  long — the  latter  developed  to  an  extraordinary  degree  in 
some  of  the  Trochilidse,  rendering  them  the  longest-billed  birds 
known.  ^  Prof,  Huxley  considers  these  two  Families,  together 
with  the  Capimulgidm  (Nightjar),  to  form  the  division  Cypselo- 
morphse — one  of  the  two  into  which  he  separated  his  larger  group 
yEgithognathse.  However,  the  most  noticeable  portion  of  the 
Humming-bird's  skeleton  is  the  sternum,  which  in  proportion  to 
the  size  of  the  bird  is  enormously  developed  both  longitudinally 
and  vertically,  its  deep  keel  and  posterior  protraction  affording 
abundant  space  for  the  powerful  muscles  which  drive  the  wings  in 
their  rapid  vibrations  as  the  little  creature  poises  itself  over  the 
flowers  where  it  finds  its  food.^ 

So  far  as  is  known,  all  Humming-birds  possess  a  protrusible 
tongue,  in  conformation  peculiar  among  the  Class  Aves,  though  to 
some  extent  similar  to  that  member  in  the  Picidx  (Woodpecker)'* 
— the  "  horns "  of  the  HYOID  apparatus  upon  Avhich  it  is  seated 
being  greatly  elongated,  passing  round  and  over  the  back  part  of 
the  head,  near  the  top  of  which  they  meet,  and  thence  proceed 
forward,  lodged  in  a  broad  and  deep  groove,  till  they  terminate  in 
front  of  the  eyes.  But,  unlike  the  tongue  of  the  Woodpeckers, 
that  of  the  Humming-birds  consists  of  two  cylindrical  tubes,  taper- 
ing towards  the  point,  and  forming  two  sheaths  which  contain  the 
extensile  portion,  and  are  capable  of  separation,  thereby  facilitating 
the  extraction  of  honey  from  the  nectaries  of  flowers,  and  with  it, 
what  is  of  far  greater  importance  for  the  bird's  sustenance,  the 

1  Especially  Dr.  Shufeldt  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1885,  pp.  886-915,  pis.  lviii.-lxi.,  and 
Jourii.  Linn.  Soe.  xx.  pp.  299-394,  pis.  xxi.-xxiv.)  On  the  other  side  may  be 
cited  the  views  of  Mr.  Lucas  (Auk,  1886,  pp.  444-451). 

^  Thus  Domnastes  cnsifer,  in  which  the  bill  is  longer  than  both  head  and 
body  together. 

^  This  is  especially  the  case  with  the  smaller  species  of  the  group,  for  the 
larger,  though  shooting  with  equal  celerity  from  place  to  place,  seem  to  flap 
their  wings  with  comparatively  slow  but  not  less  powerful  strokes.  The  differ- 
ence was  especially  observed  with  respect  to  the  largest  of  all  Humming-birds, 
Patagona  gigas,  by  Mr.  Darwin. 

■*  The  resemblance,  so  far  as  it  exists,  must  be  merely  the  result  of  analogical 
function,  and  certainly  indicates  no  affinity  between  the  Families. 


444  HUMMING-BIRD 


small  insects  that  have  been  attracted  to  feed  upon  the  honey. ^ 
These,  on  the  tongue  being  withdrawn  into  the  bill,  are  caught  by 
the  mandibles  (furnished  in  the  males  of  many  species  with  fine, 
horny,  saw-like  teeth  2),  and  swallowed  in  the  usual  way.  The 
stomach  is  small,  moderately  muscular,  and  with  the  inner  coat 
slightly  hardened.  There  seem  to  be  no  cseca.  The  trachea  is 
remarkably  short,  the  bronchi  beginning  high  up  on  the  throat,  and 
song-muscles  are  wholly  wanting,  as  in  all  other  Gypselomor'phse?' 

Humming-birds,  as  is  well  known,  comprehend  the  smallest 
members  of  the  Class  Aves.  The  largest  among  them  measures  no 
more  than  8  inches  and  a  half,^  and  the  least  2  inches  and  three- 
eighths  in  length,  for  it  is  now  admitted  generally  that  Sloane 
must  have  been  in  error  wdien  he  described  {Voyage,  ii.  p.  308)  the 
"Least  Humming-bird  of  Jamaica"  as  "about  1;^  inch  long  from 
the  end  of  the  bill  to  that  of  the  tail " — unless,  indeed,  he  meant 
the  proximal  end  of  each,  an  interpretation,  however,  that  will  not 
save  Edwards  and  Latham  from  the  charge  of  careless  misstate- 
ment, when  they  declare  that  they  had  received  such  a  bird  from 
that  island.  Next  to  their  generally  small  size,  the  best  known 
characteristic  of  the  Trochilidse  is  the  wonderful  brilliancy  of  the 
plumage  of  nearly  all  their  forms,  in  which  respect  they  are  sur- 
passed by  no  other  birds,  and  are  only  equalled  by  a  few,  as,  for 
instance,  by  the  Nedariniidse  (Sun-bird)  of  the  tropical  parts  of 
the  Old  World,  in  popular  belief  so  often  confounded  with  them, 
and  even  by  some  mistaken  naturalists  thought  to  be  their  allies. 

The  number  of  species  of  Humming-birds  now  known  to  exist 
considerably  exceeds  400 ;  and,  though  none  depart  very  widely 
from  what  a  morphologist  would  deem  the  typical  structure  of  the 
Family,  the  amount  of  modification,  within  certain  limits,  presented 
by  the  various  forms  is  surprising  and  even  bewildering  to  the  un- 
initiated. But  the  features  that  are  ordinarily  chosen  by  systematic 
ornithologists   in  drawing  up .  their   schemes   of    classification  are 

■^  It  is  probable  that  in  various  members  of  the  TrochiHdm  the  structure  of 
the  tongue,  and  other  parts  correlated  therewith,  will  be  found  subject*  to  several 
and  perhaps  considerable  modifications,  as  is  the  case  in  various  members  of  the 
PiciclBB.  At  present  there  are  scarcely  more  than  half  a  dozen  species  of  Humming- 
birds of  which  it  can  be  said  that  any  part  of  their  anatomy  is  known. 

-  These  are  very  plain  in  Ehamphodon  neevitts  and  Androdon  mquatorialis. 

^  Gosse  {B.  Jamaica,  p.  130)  says  that  Mellisuga  minima,  the  smallest  species 
of  the  Familj'-,  has  "a  real  song" — but  the  like  is  not  recorded  of  any  other. 

*  There  are  several  species  in  which  the  tail  is  very  much  elongated,  such 
as  the  well-known  Aithurus  polytmus  of  Jamaica,  and  the  remarkable  Loddigesia 
mirahilis  of  Chachapoyas  in  Peru,  which  last  was  for  many  years  only  known 
from  a  unique  specimen  (Ibis,  ISSO,  p.  152  ;  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1881,  pp.  827-83i, 
fig.) ;  but  "  trochilidists  "  in  giving  their  measurements  do  not  take  these  extra- 
ordinary developments  into  account. 


HUMMING-BIRD  445 


found  by  the  "  trochilidists,"  or  special  students  of  the  Trochilidse, 
insufficient  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  these  birds  in  groups,  and 
characters  on  wliich  genera  can  be  founded  have  to  be  sought  in 
the  st3de  and  coloration  of  plumage,  as  well  as  in  the  form  and 
proportions  of  those  parts  which  are  most  generally  deemed 
sufficient  to  furnish  them.  Looking  to  the  large  number  of  species 
to  be  taken  into  account,  convenience  has  demanded  what  science 
would  withhold,  and  the  genera  established  by  the  ornithologists  of 
a  preceding  generation  have  been  broken  up  by  their  successors 
into  multitudinous  sections — the  more  adventurous  making  from 
150  to  180  of  such  groups,  the  modest  being  content  with  120  or 
thereabouts,  but  the  last  dignifying  each  of  them  by  the  title  of 
genus.  It  is  of  course  obvious  that  these  small  divisions  cannot 
be  here  considered  in  detail,  nor  w^ould  much  advantage  accrue  by 
giving  statistics  from  the  works  of  the  latest  trochilidists,  Messrs. 
Gould,^  Mulsant,^  and  Elliot.^  It  would  be  as  unprofitable  here 
to  trace  the  successive  steps  by  which  the  original  genus  Trochilus 
of  Linnaeus,  or  the  two  genera  Polytmus  and  Mellisuga  of  Brisson, 
have  been  split  into  others,  or  have  been  added  to,  by  modern 
writers,  for  not  one  of  these  professes  to  have  arrived  at  any  final, 
but  only  a  provisional,  arrangement ;  it  seems,  however,  expedient 
to  notice  the  fact  that  some  of  the  authors  of  the  last  century* 
supposed  themselves  to  have  seen  the  way  to  dividing  what  we 
now  know  as  the  Family  Trocliilidx  into  two  groups,  the  distinction 
between  which  was  that  in  the  one  the  bill  was  arched  and  in  the 
other  straight,  since  that  dift'erence  has  been  insisted  on  in  many 
works.  This  was  especially  the  view  taken  by  Brisson  and  Buflfon, 
who  termed  the  birds  having  the  arched  bill  "  Colibris,"  and  those 
having  it  straight  "  Oisemtx-mouches."  The  distinction  wholly 
breaks  down,  not  merely  because  there  are  TrocMlidce  which  possess 
almost  every  gradation  of  decurvation  of  the  bill,  but  some  which 
have  the  bill  upturned  after  the  manner  of  an  Avoset,^  while 
it  may  be  remarked  that  several  of  the  species  placed  by  those 
authorities  amoncr  the  "t'o/i^ris"  are  not  Humminfr-birds  at  all.*^ 

^  A  Monograph  of  the  Trochilidai  or  Humming-birds,  5  vols.  imp.  fol. 
London  :  1861  (with  Introduction  in  8vo). 

^  Histoirc  naturellc  des  Oiseatix-Mouches  ou  Colibris,  4  vols,  with  supplenitnt, 
imp.  4to,  Lyon-Geueve-Bale :  1874-77. 

^  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  No.  317,  A  Classification  and 
Synopsis  of  the  Trochilidx,  1  vol.  imp.  4to,  Washington:  1879. 

■*  Salerne  must  be  excepted,  especially  as  he  was  rebuked  by  Buffon  for  doing 
what  we  now  deem  right. 

®  For  example  Avocettula  recurvirostris  of  Guiana  and  A.  euryptera  of 
Colombia. 

^  Mr.  Salvin's  list  [Cat.  B.  Br.  Mns.  xvi.  pp.  27-433),  and  Mr.  Ridgway's 
work  {Rep.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mns.  1890,  pp.  253-380)  can  only  be  named  here,  as  neither 
appeared  in  time  for  the  results  to  be  utilized  in  this  article. 


446  HUMMING-BIRD 


The  extraordinarily  brilliant  i^lumage  which  most  of  the  Trochi- 
lidse  exhibit  has  been  already  mentioned,  and  in  describing  it 
ornithologists  have  been  compelled  to  adopt  the  vocabulary  of  the 
jeweller  in  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  indescribable  radiance  that 
so  often  breaks  forth  from  some  part  or  other  of  the  investments 
of  these  feathered  gems.  In  all  save  a  few  of  other  birds,  the  most 
imaginative  writer  sees  gleams  which  he  may  adequately  designate 
metallic,  from  their  resemblance  to  burnished  gold,  bronze,  copper, 
or  steel,  but  such  similitudes  wholly  fail  when  he  has  to  do  with 
the  Trochilidse,  and  there  is  hardly  a  precious  stone  —  ruby,  ame- 
thyst, sapphire,  emerald,  or  topaz — the  name  of  which  may  not 
fitly,  and  without  exaggeration,  be  employed  in  regard  to  Hum- 
ming-birds. In  some  cases  this  radiance  beams  from  the  brow,  in 
some  it  glows  from  the  throat,  in  others  it  shines  from  the  tail- 
coverts,  in  others  it  sparkles  from  the  tip  only  of  elongated  feathers 
that  crest  the  head  or  surround  the  neck  as  with  a  frill,  while 
again  in  others  it  may  appear  as  a  luminous  streak  across  the  cheek 
or  auriculars.  The  feathers  that  cover  the  upper  pai-ts  of  the 
bod}^  very  frequently  have  a  metallic  lustre  of  golden-green,  which 
in  other  birds  would  be  thought  sufficiently  beautiful,  but  in  the 
TrocMlidse  its  sheen  is  overpowered  by  the  almost  dazzling  splen- 
dour that  radiates  from  the  spots  where  Xature's  lapidary  has  set 
her  jewels.  The  flight-feathers  are  almost  invariably  dusky — the 
rapidity  of  their  movement  would,  perhaps,  render  any  display  of 
colour  ineifective ;  Avhile,  on  the  contrary,  the  feathers  of  the  tail, 
which,  as  the  bird  hovers  over  its  food-bearing  flowers,  is  almost 
always  expanded,  and  is  therefore  comparatively  motionless,  often 
exhibit  a  rich  translucency,  as  of  stained  glass,  but  iridescent  in  a 
manner  that  no  stained  glass  ever  is — cinnamon  merging  into 
crimson,  crimson  changing  to  purple,  purple  to  violet,  and  so  to 
indigo  and  bottle-green.  But  this  part  of  the  Humming-bird  is 
subject  to  quite  as  much  modificatiou  in  form  as  in  colour,  though 
always  consisting  of  ten  redrices.  It  may  be  nearl}!"  square,  or  at 
least  but  slightly  rounded,  or  wedge-shaped  with  the  middle  quills 
prolonged  beyond  the  rest ;  or,  again,  it  may  be  deeply  forked, 
sometimes  by  the  overgrowth  of  one  or  more  of  the  intermediate 
pairs,  but  most  generally  by  the  development  of  the  outer  pair. 
In  the  last  case  the  lateral  feathers  may  be  either  broadly  webbed 
to  their  tip,  or  acuminate,  or  again,  in  some  forms,  may  lessen  to 
the  filiform  shaft,  and  suddenly  enlarge  into  a  terminal  spatulation 
as  in  the  forms  known  as  "  Eacquet-tails."  The  wings  do  not  offer 
so  much  variation  ;  still  there  are  a  few  groups  in  which  occur 
diversities  that  require  notice.  The  primaries  are  invariably  ten 
in  number,  the  outermost  being  the  longest,  except  in  the  single 
instance  of  Aithurus,  where  it  is  shorter  than  the  next.  The  group 
known    as    "Sabre -wings,"   comprising    the   genera    Campylopterus, 


HUMMING-BIRD  447 


Eupetomena  and  Sphenoprodus,  present  a  most  curious  sexual 
peculiarity,  for  while  the  female  has  nothing  remarkable  in  the 
form  of  the  wing,  in  the  male  the  shaft  of  two  or  three  of  the 
outer  primaries  is  dilated  proximally,  and  bowed  near  the  middle 
in  a  manner  almost  unique  among  birds?  The  feet  again,  diminu- 
tive as  they  are,  are  very  diversified  in  form.  In  most  the  tarsus 
is  bare,  but  in  some  groups,  as  Eriocnemis,  it  is  clothed  with  tufts  of 
the  most  delicate  down,  sometimes  black,  sometimes  butf,  but  more 
often  of  a  snowy  whiteness.  In  some  the  toes  are  weak,  nearly 
equal  in  length,  and  mrnished  with  small  rounded  nails ;  in  others 
they  are  largely  developed,  and  armed  with  long  and  sharp  claws. 

Apart  from  the  well-known  brilliancy  of  plumage,  of  which 
enough  has  been  here  said,  many  Humming-birds  display  a  large 
amount  of  ornamentation  in  the  addition  to  their  attire  of  crests  of 
various  shape  and  size,  elongated  ear-tufts,  projecting  neck- frills, 
and  pendent  beards — forked  or  forming  a  single  point.  But  it 
would  be  impossible  here  to  dwell  on  a  tenth  of  these  beautiful 
modifications,  each  of  which  as  it  comes  to  our  knowledge  excites 
fresh  surprise  and  exemplifies  the  ancient  adage — maxime  miranda 
in  minimis  Natura.  It  must  be  remarked,  however,  that  there  are 
certain  forms  which  possess  little  or  no  brilliant  colouring  at  all, 
but,  as  most  tropical  birds  go,  are  very  soberly  clad.  These  are 
known  to  trochilidists  as  "  Hermits,"  and  by  Mr.  Gould  have  been 
separated  as  a  subfamily  under  the  name  of  Phaethornithinse,  though 
Mr.  Elliot  says  he  cannot  find  any  characters  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  Trochilidai  proper.  But  sight  is  not  the  only  sense  that  is  affected 
by  Humming-birds.  The  lai'ge  species  known  as  Pterophanes 
temmincki  has  a  strong  musky  odour,  very  similar  to  that  given  off 
by  the  Petrels,  though,  so  far  as  appears  to  be  known,  that  is  the 
only  one  of  them  that  possesses  this  property.^ 

All  well-informed  people  are  aware  that  the  Trochilidse  are  a 
Family  peculiar  to  America  and  its  islands,  but  one  of  the  com- 
monest of  common  errors  is  the  belief  that  Humming-birds  are  found 
in  Africa  and  India — to  say  nothing  even  of  England.  In  the  first 
two  cases  the  mistake  arises  from  confounding  them  with  some  of 
the  brightly -coloured  Nedariniidse  (Sun -bird),  to  which  British 
colonists  or  residents  are  apt  to  apply  the  better-known  name ;  but 
in  the  last  it  can  be  only  due  to  the  want  of  perception  Avhich  dis- 
ables the  observer  from  distinsruishing  between  a  bird  and  an  insect 

■^  The  specific  name  of  a  species  of  Chrysolampis,  commonly  spelt  by  many 
writers  moschitus,  would  lead  to  the  belief  that  it  was  a  mistake  for  moschatus, 
i.e.  "musky,"  but  in  truth  it  originates  with  their  carelessness,  for  though  they 
quote  Linnffius  as  their  authority  they  can  never  have  referred  to  his  works,  or 
they  would  have  found  the  word  to  be  Tiiosquitics,  the  "mosquito"  of  Oviedo, 
awkwardly,  it  is  true,  Latinized.  If  emendation  be  needed,  muscatus,  after 
Gesner's  example,  is  iindoubtedly  preferable. 


448 


H  UMMING-BIRD 


— the  object  seen  being  a  Ha\vk-j\Ioth  (Macroglossa),  whose  mode  of 
feeding  and  rapid  flight  certainly  bears  some  resemblance  to  that  of 
the  Twchilidm,  and  hence  one  of  tlie  species  {M.  stellarum)  is  very 
generally  called  the  "Humming-bird  Hawk- Moth."  But  though 
confined  to  the  New  World,  the  Trochilidx  pervade  almost  every 
part  of  it.  In  the  south  Eustephamis  galeritus  has  been  seen  flitting 
about  the  fuchsias  of  Tierra  del  Fnego  in  a  snowstorm,  and  in  the 
north-west  Selatophorus  ^  ruftis  in  summer  visits  the  ribes-blossoms  of 
Sitka,  while  in  the  north-east  Trochilus  coluhris  charms  the  vision  of 


Mellisuga  minima  on  nest,  natural  size.    (After  Gosse.) 

Canadians  as  it  poises  itself  over  the  althtea-bushes  in  their  gardens, 
and  extends  its  range  at  least  so  far  as  lat.  57"  N.  Nor  is  the 
distribution  of  Humming-birds  limited  to  a  horizontal  direction 
only,  it  rises  also  vertically.  Oreotrochilus  cJiiinbvrar.o  and  0.  jjicliincha 
live  on  the  lofty  mountains  whence  each  takes  its  trivial  name,  but 
just  beneath  the  line  of  perpetual  snow,  at  an  elevation  of  some 
16,000  feet,  dwelling  in  a  world  of  almost  constant  hail,  sleet  and 
rain,  and  feeding  on  the  insects  which  resort  to  the  indigenous 
flowering  plants,  Avhile  other  peaks,  only  inferior  to  these  in  height, 
are  no  less  frequented  by  one  or  more  species.  Peru  and  Bolivia 
])roduce   some   of  the  most  splendid   of  the  Family — the   genera 

^  Commonly  but  in  error  written  Selasphorus. 


HUMMING-BIRD 


449 


Cometes,  Diphlogsena  and  Thaumastura,  whose  very  names  indicate 
the  glories  of  their  bearers.  The  comparatively  gigantic  Fatagona 
inhabits  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  while  the  isolated  rocks 
of  Juan  Fernandez  not  only  afford  a  home  to  the  Eustephanus  before 
mentioned,  but  also  to  two  other  species  of  the  same  genus  which 
are  not  found  elsewhere.  The  slopes  of  the  Northern  Andes  and 
the  hill  country  of  Colombia  furnish  perhaps  the  greatest  number  of 
forms,  and  some  of  the  most  beautiful,  but  leaving  that  great  range, 
we  jmrt   company  with  the  largest  and  most  gorgeously  arrayed 


X^ 


Phaethoenis  eurynome,  and  sest.    (After  Gould.) 

species,  and  their  number  dwindles  as  we  approach  the  eastern 
coast.  Still  there  are  many  brilliant  Humming-birds  common 
enough  in  the  Brazils,  Guiana  and  Venezuela.  The  Chrysolampis 
■mosquitus  is  perhaps  the  most  plentiful.  Thousands  of  its  skins  are 
annually  sent  to  Europe  to  be  used  in  the  manufacture  of  ornaments, 
its  rich  ruby-and-topaz  glow  rendering  it  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
objects  imaginable.  In  the  darkest  depths  of  the  Brazilian  forests 
dwell  the  russet-clothed  brotherhood  of  the  genus  Phaethornis — the 
"  Hermits  "  ;  but  the  great  wooded  basin  of  the  Amazons  seems  to 
be  particularly  unfavourable  to  the  Trochilidx,  and  from  Para  to 
Ega  there  are  scarcely  a  dozen  species  to  be  met  with.     There  is 

29 


450  HUMMING-BIRD 


no  island  of  the  Antilles  but  is  inhabited  by  one  or  more  Humming- 
birds, and  there  are  some  very  remarkable  singularities  of  geo- 
graphical distribution  to  be  found.  Northwards  from  Panama,  the 
highlands  present  many  genera,  whose  names  it  would  be  useless 
here  to  insert,  few  or  none  of  Avhich  are  found  in  South  America — 
though  that  must  unquestionably  be  deemed  the  metropolis  of  the 
Family,  and  advancing  towards  Mexico  the  numbers  gradually  fall 
off.  Seventeen  species  have  been  enrolled  in  the  fauna  of  the 
United  States,  but  some  perhaps  on  slender  evidence,  while  others 
only  just  cross  the  frontier  line. 

But  little  room  is  left  to  speak  of  the  habits  of  Humming-birds, 
which  is  perhaps  of  the  less  consequence  since  the  subject,  as  regards 
most  of  the  species  which  in  life  have  come  under  the  observation 
of  ornithologists,  has  been  so  ably  treated  by  writers  like  Waterton, 
Wilson,  and  Audubon,  to  say  nothing  of  Gosse,  Bates,  Mr.  Wallace, 
and  some  others,  while,  whatever  novelty  further  investigation  may 
supply,  it  is  certain  that  at  present  we  lack .  information  that  will 
explain  the  origin  or  the  function  of  the  many  modifications  of 
external  structure  of  which  mention  has  been  made.  But  there  is 
no  one  appreciative  of  the  beauties  of  nature  who  will  not  recall  to 
memory  with  delight  the  time  when  a  live  Humming-bird  first  met 
his  gaze.  The  suddenness  of  the  apparition,  even  when  expected, 
and  its  brief  duration,  are  alone  enough  to  fix  the  fluttering  vision 
on  the  mind's  eye.  The  ^vings  of  the  bird,  if  flying,  are  only 
visible  as  a  thin  grey  film,  bounded  above  and  below  by  fine  black 
threads,  in  form  of  a  St.  Andrew's  cross, — the  effect  on  the  observer's 
retina  of  the  instantaneous  reversal  of  the  motion  of  the  wing  at 
each  beat — the  strokes  being  so  rapid  as  to  leave  no  more  distinct 
image.  Consequently  an  adequate  representation  of  the  bird  on  the 
wing  cannot  be  produced  by  the  draughtsman.  Humming-birds 
shew  to  the  greatest  advantage  when  engaged  in  contest  with 
another,  for  rival  cocks  fight  fiercely,  and,  as  may  be  expected,  it 
is  then  that  their  plumage  flashes  with  the  most  glowing  tints.  But 
these  are  quite  invisible  to  the  ordinary  spectator  except  when  very 
near  at  hand,  though  doubtless  efiicient  enough  for  their  object, 
whether  that  be  to  inflame  their  mate  or  to  irritate  or  daunt  their 
opponent,  or  something  that  we  cannot  compass.  Humming-birds, 
however,  will  also  often  sit  still  for  a  while,  chiefly  in  an  exposed 
position,  on  a  dead  twig,  occasionally  darting  into  the  air,  either 
to  catch  a  passing  insect  or  to  encounter  an  adversary ;  and  so 
pugnacious  are  they  that  they  will  frequently  attack  birds  many 
times  bigger  than  themselves,  without,  as  would  seem,  any  pro- 
vocation. 

The  food  of  Humming-birds  consists  mainly  of  insects,  mostly 
gathered  in  the  manner  already  described  from  the  flowers  they 
visit ;  but,  according  to  Mr.  Wallace,  there  are  many  species  which 


HURGILA—HYLA  COLA 


451 


he  has  never  seen  so  occupied,  and  the  ''  Hermits  "  especially  seem 
to  live  almost  entirely  upon  the  insects  which  are  found  on  the 
lower  surface  of  leaves,  over  which  they  will  closely  pass  their  bill, 
balancing  themselves  the  while  vertically  in  the  air.  The  same 
excellent  observer  also  remarks  that  even  among  the  common  flower- 
frequenting  species  he  has  found  the  alimentary  canal  entirely  filled 
with  insects,  and  very  rarely  a  trace  of  honey.  It  is  this  fact 
doubtless  that  has  hindered  almost  all  attempts  at  keeping  them  in 
confinement  for  any  length  of  time — nearly  every  one  making  the 
experiment  having  fed  his  captives  only  with  syrup,  which  is  wholly 
insuflScient  as  sustenance,  and  seeing  therefore  the  wretched  creatures 
gradually  sink  into  inanition  and  die  of  hunger. 

The  beautiful  nests  of  Humming-birds,  than  which  the  work  of 
fairies  could  not  be  conceived  more  delicate,  are  to  be  seen  in  most 
museums,  and  will  be  found  on  examination  to  be  very  solidly  and 
tenaciously  built,  though  the  materials  are  generally  of  the  slightest 
-r-cotton-wool  or  some  vegetable  down  and  spiders'  webs.  They 
vary  greatly  in  form  and  ornamentation — for  it  would  seem  that 
the  portions  of  lichen  which  frequently  bestud  them  are  afiixed  to 
their  exterior  with  that  object,  though  probably  concealment  was 
the  original  intention.  They  are  mostly  cup-shaped,  and  the  singular 
fact  is  on  record  {Zool.  Journal,  v.  p.  1)  that  in  one  instance  as  the 
young  grew  in  size  the  walls  were  heightened  by  the  parents,  until 
at  last  the  nest  was  more  than  twice  as  big  as  when  the  eggs  were 
laid  and  hatched.  Some  species,  however,  suspend  their  nests  from 
the  stem  or  tendril  of  a  climbing  plant,  and  more  than  one  case 
has  been  known  in  which  it  has  been  attached  to  a  hanging  rope. 
These  pensile  nests  are  said  to  have  been  found  loaded  on  one  side 
with  a  small  stone  or  bits  of  earth  to  ensure  their  safe  balance, 
though  how  the  compensatory  process  is  applied  no  one  can  say. 
Other  species,  and  especially  those  belonging  to  the  "  Hermit " 
group,  weave  a  frail  structure  round  the  side  of  a  drooping  palm- 
leaf.  The  eggs  are  never  more  than  two  in  number,  quite  white, 
and  having  both  ends  nearly  equal.  The  solicitude  for  her  offspring 
displayed  by  the  mother  is  not  exceeded  by  that  of  any  other  birds,  but 
it  seems  doubtful  whether  the  male  takes  any  interest  in  the  brood. 

HURGILA,  Hind.  Hargila,  see  Adjutant. 

HURRICANE-BIRD,  see  Fkigate-bird. 

HYLACOLA,  Gould's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1842,  p.  135)  for  a 
genus  of  Australian  birds,  and  subsequently  used  by  him  and  others 
as  English.  It  has  been  placed  near  Atrichia  (Scrub-bird)  ;  but 
its  true  position  is  unknown.  There  are  two  species,  one,  H.  cauta, 
■confined  to  South  Australia  and  Victoria,  the  other,  H.  erythropygia, 
of  Avider  range.     Gould   saw  in  them   some  resemblance   to  the 


452 


HYOID 


Hedge-SPARROW  as  they  rapidly  trip  on  the  ground  or  along  the 
horizontal  branches  of  fallen  trees  ;  but  unlike  that  bird  they  carry 
the  tail  erect.  Mr.  Ramsay  has  described  {Froc.  Linn.  Soc.  N'.  S. 
JFales,  ii.  p.  109)  their  nest  and  eggs:  the  former  has  a  dome, 
and  the  latter,  like  those  of  so  many  Australian  small  birds,  are 
salmon-coloured  with  light  chocolate-brown  markings.  The  males 
have  an  agreeable  song. 

HYOID  (Greek  voeiSjs,  shaped  like  Y)  Apparatus,  the  collective 


^cb. 


,ent. 


ent. 


U.K.- 


Gecinus.    Dorsal  view.  Phcenicoptekus,  dorsal,  and  left         Common  Fowl. 

lateral  view  of  Corpus  and  Urobyal. 

66.  Basibranchial ;  c.  Corpus  lingu«  or  Basihyal ;  ch.  Ceratobranchial ;  ent.  Os  entoglossum  ; 

i(./i.  Uroliyal. 

name  of  the  cartilaginous  and  bony  framework  of  the  tongue,  con- 
sisting of 


HYOID 


453 


(1)  the  "Basihyal"  {copula  or  corpus  linguai)  or  unpaired  middle 
portion,  forming  the  basis  of  the  framework ; 

(2)  the  "  Urohyal,"  likewise  unpaired,  applied  to  the  postei-ior 
end  of  the  former,  often  Avholly  cartilaginous,  and  resting  ventrally  on 
the  larynx,  to  which  it  is  attached  by  muscles  or  ordinary  connective 
tissue.      In  a  few  forms  as  PJica,  Sula  and  the  Piciclx,  it  is  absent ; 

(3)  the  "  Os  cntoglosmm"  originally  paired,  but  coalescing  into  an 
arrow-headed  piece,  attached  to  the  anterior  end  of  the  basihyal, 
and  lodged  in  the  tongue  pi'oper.  Equivalent  to  the  ceratohyals, 
or  anterior  hyoid  horns  of  Mammals  ; 


Cypselus. 
Dorsal  view. 


Stringops.     Veiitoi  view.  Rhea.    Dorsal  view. 

bh.  Basibrancliial ;  c.  Corpus  linguse  or  Basihyal ;  ch.  Ceratobranchial ;  cut.  Os  entoglossum  ; 

ii.h.  Urohyal. 

(4)  a  pair  of  "Thyrohyals,"  homologous  with  the  posterior 
hyoid  horns  of  Mammals  ;  and,  as  the  most  developed  pair  in  Birds, 
commonly  called  the  "Hyoid  Horns."  Each  of  them  consists  of 
two  or  three  pieces,  placed  end  to  end,  of  which  the  basal  one  articu- 
lates upon  a  facet  of  the  posterior  lateral  corner  of  the  basihyal. 

From  the  unpublished  papers  of  Nitzsch,  Giebel  in  1858 
described  and  figured  {Zeitschr.  ges.  Natunvissensch.  xi.  pp.  1 9-5 1 ,  tabb. 
i.-viii.)  the  Hyoid  bones  of  a  great  many  birds,  drawing  attention 
to  the  taxohomic  value  of  the  modifications  they  present.  Thus  is 
shewn  an  unmistakable  resemblance  between  Steganopocles  and 
Tnbinares,  between  Gulls,  Guillemots  and  Divers,  between  Glareola 
and  (Edicnemus,  Menura  and  the  true  Oscines,  while  on  the  other 
hand  it  is  easy  to  distinguish  the  Hyoid  apparatus  of  Panurus  from 
those  of  the  Paiidx,  and  occasionally  even  closely  allied  species,  as 


454 


HYPOPTERON—IBIS 


the  Martin  and  the  Swallow,  exhibit  marked  differences,  and  some 
of  those  observed  in  the  Picidx  are  described  by  Macgillivray 
(Audubon,  Orn.  Biogr.  v.  pp.  542,  543,  and  B.  Am.  iv.  pp.  223, 
224,  289). 

HYPOPTERON,    Sundevall's    name    for    the    lower   humeral 
coverts  (see  Axilla). 


IBIS,  one  of  the  most  sacred  birds  of  the  ancient  Egyptians, 
which  in  modern  times  was  identified  by  Bruce  {Travels,  v.  p.  173, 
pi.)  with  the  AhovrHannes  or  "Father  John"  of  the  Abyssinians, 
and  in  1790  received  from  Latham  [Ind.  Orn.  p.  706)  the  name  of 
Tantalus  ssthiopicus.  This  determination  was  placed  beyond  all 
question  by  Cuvier  {Ann.  du  MusSum,  iv.  pp.  116-135)  and  Savigny 
{Hist.  Nat.  et  Mythol.  de  I' Ibis)  in  1805,  They,  however,  shewed  the 
removal  of  the  bird  from  the  Linnsean  genus  Tantalus  to  be  neces- 
sary, and,  Lac^pMe  having  some  years  before  founded  a  genus 
Ibis,  it  was  transferred  thither,  and  is  now  generally  known  as  I. 
xthiopica,  though  some  speak  of  it  as  /.  religiosa.  No  useful  purpose 
would  be  served  by  dwelling  on  the  vain  attempts  of  older  writers 
to  discover  what  the  much  venerated  bird  was,  as  on  that  score  all 
doubt  has  long  ceased,  or  on  the  other  synonyms  applied  to  it  by 
later  ornithologists,  some  of  whom  (and  among  them  not  the  most 
remote)  have  shewn  little  acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  the 
subject.  Nor  can  the  Ibis  be  here  treated  from  a  mythological  or 
antiquarian  point  of  view.  Savigny's  memoir  (above  noticed)  con- 
tains much  interesting  matter  on  the  subject.  Wilkinson  {Ancient 
Egyptians,  ser,  2,  ii.  pp.  217-22.4)  has  thereto  added  some  of  the 
results  of  modern  research,  and  latest  of  all  Mr.  Renouf  in  the 
Hihhert  Lectures  for  1879  (pp.  116  and  237)  concisely  explains  how 
the  bird  came  to  be  regarded  as  representing  Thoth  or  Tehuti,  the 
moon-deity. 

The  Ibis  is  chiefly  an  inhabitant  of  the  Nile  basin  in  Nubia, 
from  Dongola  southward,  as  well  as  of  Kordofan  and  Sennaar  ; 
whence  (according  to  Savigny,  whose  opportunities  for  observation 
seem  to  have  been  greater  than  those  enjoyed  by  any  European 
since  his  time)  about  midsummer,  as  the  river  rises,  it  moves  north- 
wards to   Egypt,   and  reaches  the  delta,^  passing  over  the  inter- 

^  It  has  been  said  to  occur  occasionally  in  Europe  (Greece  and  southern 
Russia),  but  further  evidence  is  needed  before  the  assertion  can  be  taken  as 
proved. 


IBIS  455 

mediate  districts,  in  a  way  not  unknown  elsewhere  among  migratory- 
birds.  In  Lower  Egypt  it  bears  the  name  of  Ahou-mengel,  or 
"  Father  of  the  Sickle,"  from  the  form  of  its  bill,  but  it  does  not 
stay  long  in  that  country,  disappearing  by  ail  accounts  when  the 
inundation  has  subsided.  Hence  doubtless  arises  the  fact  that 
almost  all  European  travellers  have  failed  to  meet  with  it  there,^ 
since  their  acquaintance  with  the  birds  of  Egypt  is  mostly  limited 
to  those  Avhich  frequent  the  country  in  winter,  and  consequently 
writers  have  not  been  wanting  to  deny  to  this  species  a  place  in  its 
modern  fauna  (c/.  Shelley,  B.  Egypt,  p.  261);  but,  in  December 
1864,  Von  Heuglin  (Journ.  fur  Orn.  1865,  p.  100)  saw  a  young 
bird  Avhich  had  been  shot  at  Gata  in  the  delta,  and  subsequently 
Mr.  E.  C.  Taylor  {lUs,  1878,  p.  372)  saw  an  adult  which  had  been 
killed  near  Lake  Menzaleh  in  November  1877.  The  old  story 
told  to  Herodotus  of  its  destroying  snakes  is,  according  to  Savigny, 
devoid  of  truth,^  and  that  naturalist  found,  from  dissection  of  the 
examples  he  obtained,  that  its  usual  food  was  fresh-water  univalve 
moUusks ;  but  Cuvier  asserts  that  he  discovered  partly-digested 
remains  of  a  snake  in  the  stomach  of  a  mummied  Ibis  which  he 
examined,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  insects  and  crustaceans, 
to  say  nothing  of  other  living  creatures,  enter  on  occasion  into  the 
bird's  diet. 

The  Ibis  is  somewhat  larger  than  a  Curlew,  Numenius  arquafa, 
which  bird  it  in  appearance  calls  to  mind,  with  a  much  stouter  bill 
and  stouter  legs.  The  head  and  greater  part  of  the  neck  are  bare 
and  black.  The  plumage  is  white,  except  the  primaries  which  are 
black,  and  a  black  plume,  richly  glossed  with  bronze,  blue  and 
green,  which  curves  gracefully  over  the  hind-quarters.  The  bill 
and  feet  are  also  black.  The  young  lack  the  ornamental  plume, 
and  in  them  the  head  and  neck  are  clothed  with  short  black 
feathers,  while  the  bill  is  yellow.  The  nest  is  placed  in  bushes  or 
high  trees,  the  bird  generally  building  in  companies,  and  in  the 
middle  of  August  Von  Heuglin  (Orn.  Nordost-Afrika's,  p.  1138) 
found  that  it  had  from  two  to  four  young  or  much  incubated  eggs.^ 
These  are  of  a  dingy  white,  splashed,  spotted,  and  speckled  with 
reddish-brown. 

Congeneric  with  the  typical  Ibis  are  two  or  three  other  species, 

^  Mr.  E.  C.  Taylor  remarked  some  years  ago  {Ibis,  1859,  p.  51),  that  the 
Buft'-backed  Heron,  Ardea  bubulcus,  was  made  by  the  tourists'  dragomans  to  do 
duty  for  the  "Sacred  Ibis,"  and  this  seems  to  be  no  novel  practice,  since  by  it, 
or  something  like  it,  Hasselqvist  was  misled,  and  through  him  Linnaeus. 

-  The  suggestion  that  the  ' '  flying  serpents "  whose  remains  were  seen  by 
Herodotus  [Eut.  75)  were  locusts  is  perhaps  plausible,  but  there  is  considerable 
diflBculty  in  accepting  it. 

^  The  Ibis  has  more  than  once  nested  in  the  gardens  of  the  Zoological  Society, 
and  even  reared  its  young  there  {Ibis,  1878,  pp.  449-451,  pi.  xii.) 


456  IBIS 

J       ■ Jr- ■ J^— -I-. 

•(u.^^'^  the  y%.  melanocephala  of  India,  the  fi.  molucca,  or  ^  stridipennis,  of 
.TY<^  /  Australia,  and  the  ^.'bernieri  of  Madagascar,  all  of  which  closely 

resemble  ^/'xthiopi'ca ;  Avhile  many  other  forms  not  very  far  re- 
moved from  it,  though  placed  by  authors  in  distinct  genera,^  are 
also  known.  Among  these  are  several  beautiful  species  such  as  the 
Japanese  Geronticus  nippon,  the  Lophotibis  cristata  of  Madagascar,  and 
the  Scarlet  Ibis,^  Eudocimus  ruber,  of  America ;  but  here  there  is 
only  room  to  mention  more  particularly  the  Glossy  Ibis,  Flegadis 
falcinellus,  a  species  of  very  wide  distribution  in  both  hemispheres, 
being  found  throughout  the  Antilles,  Central  and  the  south-eastern 
part  of  North  America,  as  well  as  in  many  parts  of  Europe  (whence 
it  not  unfrequently  strays  to  the  British  Islands),  Africa,  Asia  and 
Australia.  This  bird,  which  is  no  doubt  the  second  kind  of  Ibis 
spoken  of  by  Herodotus,  is  rather  smaller  than  the  Sacred  Ibis,  and 
mostly  of  a  dark  chestnut  or  deep  bay  colour  with  brilliant  green 
and  purple  reflexions  on  the  upper  parts,  exhibiting,  however, 
when  young  little  of  this  glossiness.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
things  about  this  species  is  that  it  lays  eggs  of  a  deep  sea-green 
colour,  having  wholly  the  character  of  Herons'  eggs,  and  it  is  to  be 
noticed  that  it  often  breeds  in  company  with  Herons,  while  the 
eggs  of  all  other  Ibises  whose  eggs  are  known  resemble  those  of 
the  Sacred  Ibis.  Congeneric  with  the  Glossy  Ibis,  some  three  or 
four  other  species,  all  from  South  America,  have  been  described ; 
but  the  propriety  of  deeming  them  distinct  is  questioned  by  some 
authorities. 

Much  as  the  Ibises  resemble  the  Curlews  externall}^,  there  is  no 
real  affinity  between  them.  The  Ibididx  are  more  nearly  related  to 
the  Ciconiidse  (Stork),  and  still  more  to  the  Plataleidai  (Spoonbill), 
with  which  latter  many  systematists  consider  them  to  form  one 
group,  the  Hemiglottides  of  Nitzsch.  They  belong  to  the  Pelargo- 
morphse  of  Prof.  Huxley,  one  of  the  divisions  of  his  Desmognatha^, 
while  the  Curlews  are  Schizognathous.  The  true  Ibises  above 
spoken  of  are  also  to  be  clearly  separated  from  the  Wood-Ibises, 
Tantalidse,  of  which  there  are  four  or  five  species,  by  several  not 
unimportant  structural  characters,  which  cannot  here  be  particu- 
larized for  want  of  space.  Fossil  remains  of  a  true  Ibis,  I.  pagana, 
have  been  found  in  considerable  numbers  in  the  middle  Tertiary 
beds  of  France. 

^  For  some  account  of  these  may  be  consulted  Dr.  Reiclienow's  paper  in 
Journ.  fur  Orn.  1877,  pp.  143-156  ;  Mr.  Elliot's  in  Proc.  Zool.  Society,  1877, 
pp.  477-510;  and  that  of  M.  Oustalet  in  Nouv.  Arch,  dxi  3fus6um,  ser.  2,  i. 
pp.  167-184. 

^  It  is  a  popular  error — especially  among  painters,  as  almost  everj'  annual 
exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy  witnesses — that  this  bird  was  the  Sacred  Ibis 
of  the  Egyptians.  It  was  of  course  utterly  unknown  in  the  Old  Woi'ld  until  the 
discovery  of  the  New. 


IB  YCTER—IC  TER  US 


457 


IBYCTER,  see  Caracara. 

ICTEEIA,  see  Chat. 

ICTERUS,  a  l)ird  so  called  by  classical  authors,  and  supposed 
liy  Pliny  to  be  the  same  as  the  Galguhs,  which  nearly  all  writers 
agree  in  considering  to  be  Avhat  we  now  know  as  Oriolus  galbula 
(Oriole).  At  any  rate  it  signified  one  in  the  plumage  of  which 
yellow  or  green  predominated,  and  hence  Brisson  did  not  take  an 
unhappy  liberty  when  he  applied  it  in  a 
scientific  sense  to  some  birds  of  the  New 
World  of  which  the  same  could  be  said. 
These  are  now  held  to  constitute  a  distinct 
Family,  Iderklx  ;  and,  while  many  of  them 
bear  the  vulgar  name  of  Troopials  (the  English 
equivalent  of  the  French  Troupiales,  first  used 
by  Brisson),  others  are  known  as  the  American 
Grackles.  The  typical  species  of  Icterus  is 
the  Oriolus  icterus  of  Linnaeus,  the  Icterus 
vulgaris  of  Daudin  and  modern  ornithologists, 
an  inhabitant  of  northern  Brazil,  Guiana, 
Venezuela,  which  seems  to  have  been  intro- 
duced into  some  of  the  Antilles,  and  occa- 
sionally, it  is  said,  visits  the  United  States. 
Thirty-eight  species  of  the  genus  Icterus  alone,  and  ninet}''  others 
belonging  to  28  genera,  are  recognized  by  Mr.  Sclater  {Cat.  B.  Br. 
Mus.  xi.  pp.  308-405),  most  of  them  belonging  to  the  Neoti'opical 
Region,  though  a  few  have  their  home  to  the  northward,  whither 
they  repair  to  breed  in  summer.  It  would  be  impossible  here  to 
dwell  upon  them,  but  Eucorystes,  Cassicus  and  Agelxus  may  perhaps  be 
named  as  the  most  remarkable.  They  are  nearly  all  gregarious 
birds,  many  of  them  with  loud  and  melodious  notes,  rendering  them 


Icterus.    (After  Swainson.) 


Agel^us, 


(After  Swainson.) 


Sturnella. 


favourites  in  captivity,  for  they  readily  leai'u  to  whistle  simple  tunes, 
which  are  admirably  reproduced  by  their  clear  voice.  Some  have 
a  plumage  wholly  black,  others  are  richly  clad,  as  is  the  well-known 
Baltimore  Oriole,  Golden  Robin,  or  Hangnest  of  the  United  States, 


458  ICTINIA—IMPEYAN 


,\^,,^\^f 


Icterus,  haltimore,  whose  brightly  contrasted  black  and  orange  have 
conferred  upon  it  the  name  it  most  commonly  bears  in  North 
America,  those  colours  being,  says  Catesby  {B.  Carol,  i.  p.  48),  the 
tinctures  of  the  armorial  bearings  of  the  Calverts,  Lords  Baltimore, 
the  original  grantees  of  Maryland,  but  probably  more  correctly  those 
of  their  liveries.  The  most  divergent  form  of  Ideridx  seems  to  be 
Sturnella  ^  (though  Leistes  comes  near  it  in  that  respect),  containing 
some  four  or  five  species  or  local  races,  of  which  the  Meadow-Lark, 
S.  magna  or  ludoviciana  of  North  America,  and  its  western  ally /S.  negleda 
are  the  best  known.  These  are  birds  which  in  aspect  and  habits 
have  considerable  resemblance  to  the  Alaudidse  (Lark)  of  the  Old 
World,  and  a  still  greater  outward  likeness  to  the  members  of  the 
African  and  especially  CafFrarian  genus  Macronyx  (Kalkoentje), 
usually  referred  to  the  MotaciUidse  (Wagtail),  though  there  can 
be  no  affinity  between  them.^  Dolichonyx  oryzivorus,  the  Bobolink 
or  Eice-bird,  with  its  very  Bunting-like  bill,  is  not  much  less 
aberrant.  The  genus  Molobrus  containing,  among  other  species  of 
parasitic  habits,  the  well-known  Cowpen-bird  (Cow-bird)  of  North 
America,  also  belongs  to  this  Family.  The  Ideridse  are  commonly 
supposed  to  represent  in  the  New  World  the  Sturnidx  (Starling) 
of  the  Old ;  but  no  clear  affinity  between  them  seems  to  have  been 
proved,  while  by  several  characters  the  former  are  clearly  allied 
to  the  Emherizidse  (Bunting). 

ICTINIA,  see  Kite. 

IDLE  JACK,  a  local  name  in  the  Cape  Colony  for  Sphenoeacus 
africanus  (Grass-bird). 

ILEUM,  part  of  the  intestine  (see  Digestive  System,  p.  138) ; 
but 

ILIUM,  or  OS  ilei,  the  most  dorsal  and  largest  of  the  three  bones 
on  each  side  of  the  Pelvis,  which  it  connects  with  the  sacral 
vertebrse. 

IMBER-  or  IMMER-GOOSE,  see  Ember  Goose. 

IMPENNES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  for  a  "Family"  of  Birds 
consisting  of  the  genus  Aptenodi/tes,  and  since  often  employed  as 
that  of  the  group  containing  the  Penguins. 

IMPEYAN,  mistakenly  used  by  the  ignorant,  as  though  a  sub- 
stantive, for  any  species  of  Lophophorus,  the  first  and  beet-known  of 

^  Trupialis  has  been  separated  from  Sturnella  on  verj'  slight  grounds. 

-  It  is  impossible  not  to  remark  on  the  coincidence  of  this  resemblance  (so 
striking  that  did  the  birds  occur  in  the  same  area  it  would  be  set  down  to 
Mimicry)  with  that  afforded  by  the  American  genus  Colaptcs  (Flicker)  and  the 
South-African  Geocolaptes  already  mentioned  {suprd,  p.  260). 


INDEX— INTESTINES  459 

which,  L.  nnpeianus  (Monal)  was  brought  into  notice  by  Sir  Elijah 
and  Lady  Impey  (cf.  Latham,  Gen.  Synops.  B.  Suppl.  p.  209). 

INDEX,  the  second  finger,  in  Birds  always  the  best  developed 
of  the  digits  of  the  fore-limb.  It  frequently  possesses  the  original 
number  of  three  phalanges,  and  often  bears  a  horny  claw,  especially 
in  Ratit.e  and  in  the  embryos  of  Accipitres  and  Anseres  (see 
Skeleton). 

INDIGO-BIRD,  so  called  from  its  deep  blue  colour,  in  part 
tinged  with  green,  a  well-known  North -American  species,  the 
Cyanospiza,  Spiza  or  Fasserina  of  modern  authors,^  belonging  to  a 
small  group  of  Finches  or  Buntings  (for  anatomy  has  not  decided 
which),  mostly  of  great  beauty,  rivalling  some  of  the  Tanagers  in 
their  bright  plumage.  American  ornithologists  give  full  accounts 
of  the  habits  of  this  bird,  together  with  those  of  its  equally  gay 
congener  the  Lazuli  Finch,  C.  amoeiia,  and  the  still  more  gaudy 
Painted  Bunting  or  NONPAREIL,  0.  ciris. 

INEPTI,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  for  a  "Family"  of  Birds 
consisting  of  the  genus  Didus  (DoDo). 

INERTES,  an  "Order"  proposed  by  Temminck  in  1820  to 
contain  the  genera  Apteryx  (Kiwi)  and  Didus  (Dodo). 

mSECTIVORES,  Temminck's  third  "  Order  "  of  Birds  in  1820  2 
{Man.  d'Orn.  ed.  2,  i.  pp.  Ivi.-lxix.  and  139),  a  name  that  has 
been  used  by  a  few  other  writers,  but  long  since  disregarded,  not 
only  as  containing  a  very  unnatural  congeries  of  Birds,  but  as  having 
been  anticipated  in  1817  by  Cuvier's  Order  of  Mammals,  Insectivwa. 

INSESS0RES,3  the  name  given  by  Vigors   in    1823    {Trans. 
Linn.  Soc.  xiv.  p.  405)  to  the  second  Order  of  Birds  in  his  classifica- 
tion containing  nearly  all  the  Pic^  and  Passeres  of  Linnseus,  and  /  ^ 
practically    equal    to   the    Ambulatores.  of   Illiger.       Though    long  (%W  j^flt^fi 
accepted   without  hesitation   by  most  British    and    many  foreign   ^  z'     aa  >^w 
authors,  the  composite  nature  of  the  group  has  now  been  recognized,    ^         ff 
and  the  use  of  the  name  is  generally  abandoned. 

INTESTINES  originally  signified  all  the  soft  parts  within  the 

^  Cyanospiza  seems  to  be  the- right  name,  since  Bonaparte  in  1827  expressly 
stated  (Specchio  Comp.  Orn.  di  Roma  e  dl  Filadelfia,  p.  47)  that  the  type  of  liis 
Spiza  was  the  Emheriza  americana  of  Gmelin,  which  is  not  congeneric  with  the 
present  species,  though  afterwards  [Comp.  List  B.  Eur.  <fc  N.  Am.  p.  35)  retain- 
ing Spiza  for  this  group.  Fasserina  though  older  than  either  is  by  ancient 
practice  wholly  inadmissible,  having  been  long  before  used  in  Botany. 

-  Often  stated  to  have  been  given  by  him  in  1815  {Man.  d'Orn.  ed.  1,  p.  xx. ), 
but  he  then  used  Canori  for  what  is  practically  the  same  group. 

^  From  the  Latin  insldere  to  perch,  not  incedere  to  walk,  as  is  often  supposed. 


46o  IRIS— IVORY-BILL 


body,  but  generally  now  restricted  to  the  organs  of  the  Digestive 
System. 

IRIS  (plural  Irides),  the  coloured  ring  surrounding  the  pupil  of 
the  Eye. 

IRRISOR,  the  generic  name,  since  adopted  as  English,  pro- 
posed by  Lesson  in  1831  {TmiU  d'Orn.  p.  239)  for  an  African  bird, 
the  Ujmpa  crythrorhynchus  of  Latham,  Avhich  had  hitherto  been  so 
variously  assigned  that  its  affinities  were  uncertain,  and  so  they 
remained  until  Dr.  Murie  {Ibis,  1873,  pp.  181-211,  pis.  v.-vii.) 
proved  that  the  surmise  of  its  original  describer  and  of  Strickland 
{Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  xii.  pp.  238-243)  in  referring  it  to  the  Upupidx 
(Hoopoe)  was  not  far  wrong,  though,  along  with  BUnojMmastus  an 
allied  genus  named  by  Andrew  Smith  and  established  by  Jardine 
in  1828  {Zool.  Journ.  iv.  p.  2,  pi.  i.),  it  might  be  justifiably  placed  in 
a  separate  Family.^  No  fewer  than  10  species  of  Irrisor,  one  of 
which  has  been  further  generically  distinguished  as  Scoptelus,  have 
been  described,  and  3  of  Ehinopomastus ;  but  perhaps  there  are 
not  I'eally  so  many.  All  are  African,  recognizable  by  their  more 
or  less  curved  bill,  glossy  purple  or  steel-blue  plumage,  with  a  white 
patch  on  the  wing,  and  white  on  at  least  the  outer  feathers  of  the 
tail,  which  is  commonly  elongated.  They  are  Avholly  arboreal  in 
their  habits,  thereby  differing  from  the  Upudidx,  and  unceasingly 
seek  their  food  in  the  insects  that  frequent  the  bark  of  trees.  The 
commonest  species  of  the  Cape  Colony,  /.  erythrorhynchis  has,  ac- 
cordhig  to  Mr.  Layard  {B.  S.  Africa,  p.  73),  a  harsh  cry,  and  is 
called  by  the  Dutch  KacMa,  meaning  "chatterer."  Another,  It. 
cyanomelas,  also  occurs  in  South  Africa. 

ISCHIUM,  or  Os  ischii,  the  posterior  and  ventral,  or  middle 
bone  of  the  three  that  form  each  half  of  the  Pelvis,  and  meet  at 
the  acetabulum  or  cup  which  receives  the  head  of  the  Femue. 

IVORY-BILL,  an  abbreviation  of  Ivory-billed  Woodpecker, 
so  called  from  the  colour  of  its  beak,  I'icus  or  Campephilus  pnin- 
cipalis,  the  largest 
species  of  the 
Family  inhabiting 
the  United  States 
of     America,     and 

except        its        more  Campephilus  principalis.     (After  Swainson.) 

southern  relative  P.  or  C.  imperialis  the  largest  of  the  PicidR'. 
Though  said  to  have  been  met  with  in  Maryland,  North  Carolina 
seems  to  be  the  northern  limit  of  its  ordinary  range  in  the  east,  and 

''   In  tins  case  tlie  name  of   the   Famil}'  should  he  Family  lihinopomastidic 
from  the  oldest  genus  in  it,  not  Irrisoridse,  as  often  given. 


IXUS  461 

Ohio  in  the  west.  It  affects  the  most  thickly  wooded  districts  and 
especially  the  cypi'us-swamps.  The  male  has  a  crest  of  fine  scarlet, 
but  otherwise  his  plumage  is  black  and  white,  as  is  also  that  of  the 
female.  Beside  the  two  species  just  named  Mr.  Hargitt  {Cat.  B. 
Br.  Mus.  xviii.  pp.  460-480)  includes  12  others  in  the  genus,  all 
of  smaller  size. 

IXUS,  incorrectly  written  Ixos  by  Temminck,  who  proposed  it 
in  1825  (Bee.  de  PI.  col.  d'Ois.  livr.  64)  as  a  generic  term  for  a 
section  of  Thrush-like  ("  Turdo'ide  ")  birds  which  he  had  indicated  two 
yeai's  before  (oj).  cif.  livr.  12),  and  a  word  used  occasionally  in 
English,  particularly  in  regard  to  a  species  which  he  in  1840 
(Man.  d'Orn.  iv.  p.  608)  called  /.  obscurus,  believing  it  to  be  new 
and  to  be  found  in  Europe.  Some  writers  have  been  so  much 
puzzled  as  to  the  precise  application  of  the  term  that  they  have 
dropped  its  use,  for  Temminck  made  it  include  forms  that  are  not 
congeneric,  and  did  not  define  it  until  he  described  the  species  just 
mentioned,  which  has  since  been  identified  with  the  Turdus  barbatus 
of  Desfontaines  (M6m.  Acad.  Boy.  Sc.  1787,  p.  500)  discovered  by 
him  in  Algeria,  and  not  known  to  occur  to  the  north  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, while  it  certainly  cannot  be  placed  in  the  same  genus  as 
the  bird  of  Java  to  which  the  term  was  first  applied.  This  last, 
which  has  been  referred  to  a  genus  Hemixus  by  Dr.  Sharpe  (Cat. 
B.  Br.  Mus.  vi.  p.  53),  should  still  retain  Temminck's  title  of 
/.  virescens,  while  his  /.  obscurus  has  been  rightly  referred  to  the 
genus  Pycnonotus  (Bulbul)  and  now  stands  as  P.  barbatus.  Though 
the  section  "  Turdoide  "  was  no  doubt  meant  to  be  equivalent  to  the 
genus  which  Kuhl  called  Pycnonotus,^  as  Boie  vidtnesses  (Isis,  1826, 
p.  973),  Temminck  expressly  states  that  his  genus  Ixus  contained 
birds  which  had  not  a  thickly  -  feathered  back,  the  eponymic 
character  of  Pycnonotus,  and  therefore  the  two  genera  are  not 
identical  as  some  have  thought.  The  so-called  "Dusky  Ixus," 
P.  barbatus  of  English  authors,  is  a  common  bird  in  parts  of  Algeria 
and  Morocco  where  its  habits  have  been  observed  by  several 
competent  ornithologists  whose  accounts  have  been  conveniently 
collected  by  Mr.  Dresser  (B.  Eur.  iii.  pp.  353-355).  A  nearly 
allied  species,  P.  xanthopygius,  inhabits  Palestine,  and  a  single 
example  of  one  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  P.  capensis,  is  said  to 
have  strayed  to  Ireland  (Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,  i.  p.  247). 

^  Kulil  did  not  live  to  publish  this  name,  and  Boie  is  the  authority  for  its 
bestowal.  In  their  days  it  was  not  uncommon  for  naturalists  to  ticket  a  specimen 
in  a  museum  with  a  name  that,  though  accessible  to  a  visitor,  might  not  find  its 
way  into  print  for  many  years.  The  assertion,  unsupported  by  any  evidence,  and 
contradicted  by  all  we  know  of  Kuhl's  severely  scientific  method,  that  a  generic 
name  given  by  him  was  published  ' '  in  some  popular  Dutch  periodical "  can 
only  raise  a  smile. 


462 


JABIRU 


JABIRU,  according  to  Marcgrave  ^  the  Brazilian  name  of  a 
bird,  subsequently  called  by  Linnaeus  Myderia  americana,  one  of 
the  largest  of   the  Ciconiidai  (Stork),  which  occurs   from   Mexico 


Jabiru,  Mycteria  americana. 


southwards  to  the  territory  of  the  Argentine  Republic.  It  stands 
between  4  and  5  feet  in  height,  and  is  conspicuous  for  its  massive 
bill,  slightly  upturned,  and  its  entirely  white  plumage ;  but  the 
head  and  neck  are  bare  and  black,  excejDt  for  about  the  lower  third 

^  An  apparently  accidental  transposal  of  two  of  the  figures  given  by  this 
author  {Hist.  Nat.  Brasilia,  pp.  200,  201)  misled  several  of  his  successors  from 
Piso  to  Brisson,  until  noticed  by  Buifon  {Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  vii.  pp.  280-286). 


J  AC  A  MAR  463 


part  of  the  latter,  which  is  bright  red  in  the  living  bird.  Very 
nearly  allied  to  Myderia,  and  also  commonly  called  Jabirus,  are 
the  birds  of  the  genera  Xenorhynchus  and  Ephippiorhynchus — the 
former  containing  one  or  (in  the  opinion  of  some)  two  species, 
A',  australis  and  X.  indicus,  and  the  latter  one  only,  U.  sene- 
galensis.  These  belong  to  the  countries  indicated  by  their  names, 
and  differ  chiefly  by  their  feathered  head  and  neck,  while 
the  last  is  sometimes  termed  the  Saddle-billed  Stork  from  the 
very  singular  shape  of  its  beak.  Somewhat  more  distantly 
related  are  the  large  birds  belonging  to  the  genus  Leptoptilus 
(Adjutant). 

JACAMAE,^  a  word  formed  by  Brisson  from  Jacameri,  the 
Brazilian  name  of  a  bird,  as  given  by  Marcgrave,  and  since  adopted 
in  most  European  tongues  for  the  species  to  which  it  was  first 
applied  and  others  allied  to  it,  forming  the  Family  Galbulidga^  of 
ornithologists,  the  precise  position  of  which  is  uncertain.  All  will 
agree  that  the  Jacamars  belong  to  the  great  heterogeneous  group 
called  by  Nitzsch  PiCARi^,  but  further  into  detail  it  is  hardly  safe 
to  go.  The  Galhulidx  have  zygodactylous  feet,  like  the  Cuculidai 
(CucKOw),  Bucconid3&  (Puff -bird),  and  Picidae  (Woodpecker), 
they  also  resemble  both  the  latter  in  laying  glossy  white  eggs,  but 
in  this  respect  they  bear  the  same  resemblance  to  the  Momotidx 
(Motmot),  Alcedinidse  (Kingfisher),  Meropidse  (Bee-eater),  and 
some  other  groups,  to  which  afl&nity  has  been  claimed  for  them. 
In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Sclater,^  the  Jacamars  form  two  groups — one 
consisting  of  the  single  genus  and  species  Jacamerops  aureiis  (J. 
grandis  of  most  authors),  and  the  other  including  all  the  rest, 
namely,  Urogalha  with  two  species,  Galbula  with  ten,  Brachygalha 
with  six,  and  Jacamaralcyon  and  Galbalcyrhynchus  with  one  each. 
They  are  all  rather  small  birds  (the  largest  known  being  little  over 
10  inches  in  length),  with  a  sharply  pointed  bill,  and  the  plumage  in 
every  case  more  or  less  resplendent  with  golden  or  bronze  reflexions, 
but  at  the  same  time  comparatively  soft.  Jacamaralcyon  tridactyla 
differs  from  all  the  rest  in  possessing  but  three  toes  (as  its  name 
indicates)  on  each  foot,  the  hallux  being  deficient.  With  the 
exception  of  Galbula  melanogenia,  which  is  found  also  in  Central 
America  and  southern  Mexico,  all  the  Jacamars  inhabit  the  tropical 
portions  of  South  America  eastward  of  the  Andes,  Galhda  rujicavda, 
however,  extending  its  range  to  the  islands  of  Trinidad  and  Tobago.* 

^  In  this  word  the  c  should  be  sounded  soft,  as  s. 

2  Galbula  was  first  applied  to  Marcgrave's  bird  by  Mcehring.  It  is  another 
form  of  Galgulus,  and  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  mauy  names  of  the  Golden 
Oriole. 

'  A  Monograph  of  the  Jacamars  and  Puff-Mrds  (London  :  1879-82) ;  and 
Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xix.  pp.  161-177. 

*  The  singular  appearance,  recorded  in  1853  by  Canon  Tristram  {Zoologist, 


464  J  AC  AN  A 

Very  little  is  known  of  the  habits  of  any  of  the  species.  They  are 
seen  sitting  motionless  on  trees,  sometimes  solitarily,  at  other  times 
in  companies,  whence  they  suddenly  dart  off  at  any  passing  insect, 
catch  it  on  the  wing,  and  return  to  their  perch.  Of  their  nidifica- 
tion  almost  nothing  has  been  recorded,  but  the  species  above- 
mentioned  as  occurring  in  Tobago  is  said  by  Mr.  Kirk  {Anii.  and 
Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  xix.  p.  80) — apparently  the  only  European  observer 
of  the  mode  of  propagation  in  these  birds — to  make  its  nest  in 
marl-banks,  digging  a  hole  about  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter 
and  some  18  inches  deep.  From  the  accounts  received  by  other 
travellers  we  may  possibly  infer  that  more  of  the  Familj^  possess 
the  same  habit. 

JACANA,^  the  Braziliaa  name,  according  to  Marcgrave,  of 
certain  birds,  since  found  to  have  allies  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 
which  are  also  very  generally  called  by  the  same  appellation.  They 
have  been  most  frequently  classed  with  the  Rallidai  (Rail),  but  are 
now  admitted  to  form  a  separate  Family,  Parridai,'^  whose  leaning 
is  towards  the  Limicolai,  as  apparently  first  suggested  by  Blyth,  a 
view  supported  by  the  osteological  observations  of  Parker  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1863,  p.  513),  though  denied  by  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards 
(Ois.  Foss.  France,  ii.  p.  110).  The  most  obvious  characteristic  of 
this  group  of  birds  is  the  extraordinary  length  of  their  toes  and 
claws  (the  latter  being  turned  upwards),  whereby  they  are  enabled 

to  walk  with  ease  over  water-lilies  and 
other  aquatic  jilants  growing  in  rivers 
and  lakes.  It  is  also  remarkable  for 
the  carpal  spurs  with  which  its  mem- 
bers are  armed.  The  Family  has  been 
,,,^„.       ,  divided  into  four  genera,  —  of  which 

Parra.     (After  Swamson.)  •         i    •    i     i  ■      n        i 

Farm,  as  now  restricted,  inhabits  bouth 
America ;  Metopidius,  hardly  diftering  from  it,  has  representatives  in 
Africa,  Madagascar  and  the  Indian  Kegion  ;  Hydraledor,  also  very 
nearly  allied  to  Parra,  belongs  to  the  northern  portion  of  the 
Australian  Region ;  ^  and  Hi/drophasianus,  the  most  extravagant 
form   of   the  whole,  is  found   in   India,   Ceylon   and   China  —  the 

p.  3906),  of  a  bird  of  this  species  in  Lincolnshire  requires  notice.  No  instance 
seems  to  be  known  of  any  Jacamar  having  been  kept  in  confinement  or 
brought  to  this  country  alive. 

^  In  pronunciation  the  c  is  soft,  and  the  accent  placed  on  the  last  syllable. 

-  The  classic  Parra  is  by  some  authors  thought  to  have  been  the  Golden 
Oriole,  while  others  suppose  it  was  a  Jay  or  Pie.  The  word  seems  to  have  been 
imported  into  Ornithology  by  Aldrovandus,  but  the  reason  which  prompted 
Linnaeus  to  apply  it,  as  he  seems  first  to  have  done,  to  a  bird  of  tliis  group, 
cannot  be  satisfactorily  stated. 

"  The  species  inhabiting  Queensland,  If.  cristatus  or  galUnacetis,  is  said  to  be 
there  known  as  the  "Lotus-bird"  (Lumholtz,  Among  Cannibals,  p.  22). 


JACKASS 


465 


di'aughtsmen  of  the  country  last  named  making  it  a  favourite 
subject  of  their  pictures,  in  which  its  flowing  tail  and  the  very 
peculiar  filamentous  appendages  to  the  tip  of  its  first  and  fourth 
primaries  are  generally  faithfully  represented.  In  habits  the 
Jacanas  have  much  in  common  with  the  Water-hens,  but  that  fact 
is  insufficient  to  warrant  the  affinity  asserted  to  exist  between  the 
two  groups  ;  for  in  their  osteological  structure,  as  already  implied, 
there  is  much  difference,  and  the  resemblance  seems  to  be  only  that 
of  analogy.  The  Foirridx,  or  at  least  such  of  them  as  have  been 
sufficiently  observed,  lay  very  peculiar  eggs,  of  a  rich  olive-brown 


T£H>VI)ltT-t  i: 


Indian  Jacana,  Hydrophasianus  cMriirgns. 


colour,  in  most  cases  closely  marked  with  dark  lines,  thus  presenting 
an  appearance  by  which  they  may  be  readily  known  from  those  of 
any  other  birds,  though  an  approach  to  it  is  occasionally  to  be 
noticed  in  those  of  certain  Limkolse,  and  especially  of  certain 
Charadriidx.  The  genus  Palamedea  (Screamer)  was  at  one  time 
thought  to  be  allied  to  this  Family,  but  is  now,  by  almost  common 
consent,  allowed  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

JACKASS,  two  species  of  Penguin  (resembling  one  another 
so  nearly  as  to  have  been  long  confounded)  Spheniscus  demersus  and 
S.  rtuigellanicus,  so  called  by  sailors  and  by  the  people  of  the  c/,i(^cA^^^^^ 
Falkland  Islands  ^ — the  latter  "  from  its  habit,  while  on  shore,  of 
throwing  its  head  backwards,  and  making  a  loud  strange  noise,  very 
like  the  braying  of  an  ass."  (Darwin,  Journal  of  Researches,  chap,  ix.) 
With  the  prefix  "  Laughing,"  the  name  is  commonly  applied  to  a 
large  Australian  Kingfisher,  Dacelo  gigas,  Avhich  makes,  says  Caley 

^  An  older  name  there  was  Jumpnig  Jack  (Clayton,  Phil.  Trans.  Ixvi.  p,  103). 

30 


/^ 


466  J  A  CKDA  W—JA  V 


(Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xv.  p.  204),  "a  loud  noise  somewhat  like  laugh- 
ing," whence,  together  with  its  uncouth  appearance,  it  probably 
received  its  extraordinary  appellation  from  the  settlers  on  their  first 
arrival  in  the  country, 

JACKDAW,    the    common    nickname    of    the    Daw,    Corvus 
monedula. 

JACK-SNIPE,  so  called  either  from  its  small  size,  or  from  being 
accounted  the  male  of  the  common  Snipe. 

JAVA  SPARROW,  one  of  the  best-known  of  exotic  cage-birds, 
Padda  or  Munia  oryzivora,  belonging  to  the  Family  Ploceidse  (Weaver- 
BIRd)  and  a  species  which  has  been  naturalized  in  many  countries, 
where  it  is  often  very  injurious  to  crops  of  rice  or  other  grain.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  brought  to  Europe  from  China,  whither  it  was 
conveyed  from  Java  many  years  before,  and  a  living  bird  possessed 
by  Sloane  in  1740  was  described  and  figured  by  Edwards  [Nat. 
Hist.  Uncom.  B.  pi.  41).  It  is  easily  recognized  by  its  pink  bill, 
red  orbits,  slate-coloured  body,  and  black  crown,  beneath  which  is 
generally  a  pure  white  patch  on  the  cheek,  but  according  to  the 
observation  of  Mr.  Bartlett  as  recorded  by  his  son  {Monogr.  Weaver-B. 
pt.  1)  these  white  patches  will  change  to  black,  and  then  again 
to  white,  irrespective  of  age,  sex,  or  season.  Examples  without 
white  patches  are  often  sold  as  females,  but  Mr.  Edward  Bartlett 
says  he  has  dissected  many  and  found  that  both  sexes  are  alike  in 
plumage,  nor  has  the  male  any  song  by  which  he  may  be  dis- 
tinguished. 

JAY  (French,  Giai),  a  well-known  and  very  beautiful  European 
bird,  the  Corvus  glandarius  of  Linntieus,  the  Garrulus  glandarius  of 
modern  ornithologists.  To  this  species  ai-e  more  or  less  closely 
allied  numerous  birds  inhabiting^  both  areas  of  the  Holarctic  Region, 
the  Indian  and  the  Neotropical,  except  the  southern  portion  of  the 
last  two.  All  these  birds  are  commonly  called  Jays,  and  form 
a  group  of  the  Corvidse  (Crow),  which  may  be  considered  a 
subfamily,  Garrulinx.  Indeed  there  are,  or  have  been,  systematists 
who  would,  unnecessarily  as  it  seems,  elevate  the  Jays  to  the  rank 
of  a  Family,  Garrulidm.  Some  of  them  have  an  unquestionable 
resemblance  to  the  Pies,  if  the  group  now  known  by  that  name 
.  can  be  satisfactorily  severed  from  the  true  Corvinx.  In  structure 
the  Jays  are  not  readily  differentiated  from  the  Pies ;  but  in  habit, 
so  far  as  is  known  of  them,  they  are  much  more  arboreal,  delighting 
in  thick  coverts,  seldom  apjtearing  in  the  open,  and  seeking  their 
food  on  or  under  trees.  They  seem  also  never  to  walk  or  run  when 
on  the  ground,  but  always  to  hop.  The  body-feathers  are  commonly 
loose  and  soft ;  and,  gaily  coloured  as  are  most  of  the  species,  in 


JAY 


467 


few  of  them  has  the  plumage  the  metallic  glossiness  it  generally 
presents  in  the  Pies,  Avhile  the  proverbial  beauty  of  the  "  Jay's 
is  due  to  the  vivid   tints   of    blue — turquoise   and  cobalt, 


wnig 


heightened  by  bars  of  jet-black,  an  indication  of  the  same  style  of 
ornament  being  observable  in  the  greater  number  of  the  other 
forms  of  the  group,  and  in  some  predominating  over  nearly  the 
whole  surface.  Of  the  many  genera  that  have  been  proposed  by 
ornithologists,  perhaps  about  nine  may  be  deemed  sufficiently  well 
established. 

The  ordinary  European  Jay,  Garrulus  glandarms,  has  of  late 
years  suffered  so  much  persecution  in  the  British  Islands  as  to  have 
become  in  many  districts  a  rare  bird.      In  Ireland  it  seems  now  to 


Jay. 


be  indigenous  to  the  southern  half  of  the  island  only  ;  in  England 
generally,  it  is  far  less  numerous  than  formerly ;  and  Mr.  Lumsden 
(Scott.  JSfat.  iii.  pp.  230-240)  has  shewn  that  in  Scotland  its 
numbers  have  decreased  with  still  greater  rapidity.  It  would 
possibly  have  been  exterminated  by  this  time  but  for  its  stock 
being  supplied  in  autumn  by  immigration,  and  for  its  shy  and  wary 
behaviour,  especially  in  the  breeding-season,  when  it  becomes  almost 
wholly  mute,  and  thereby  often  escapes  detection.  No  truthful 
man,  however  much  he  may  love  the  bird,  will  gainsay  the  depre- 
dations on  fruit  and  eggs  that  it  at  times  commits ;  but  the 
gardeners  and  gamekeepers  of  Britain  fall  into  the  usual  error  of 
persons  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  ways  of  Nature,  and, 
instead  of  taking  a  few  simjile  steps  to  guard  their  charge  from 
injury,  or  at  most  of  killing  the  individual  birds  from  which 
they  suffer,  deliberately  adopt  methods  of  wholesale  destruction — 


463  J  A  V 

methods  that  in  the  case  of  this  species  are  only  too  easy  and  too 
effectual — by  proffering  temptation  to  trespass  which  it  is  not  in 
Jay-nature  to  resist,  and  accordingly  the  bird  runs  great  chance  of 
total  extirpation.  Notwithstanding  the  war  carried  on  against  the 
Jay,  its  varied  cries  and  active  gesticulations  shew  it  to  be  a 
sprightly  bird,  and  at  a  distance  that  renders  its  beauty-spots 
invisible,  it  is  yet  conspicuous  by  its  cinnamon  -  coloured  body 
and  pure  white  tail-coverts,  which  contrast  with  the  deep  black 
and  rich  chestnut  that  otherwise  mark  its  plumage,  and  even 
the  young  at  once  assume  a  dress  closely  resembling  that  of  the 
adult.  The  nest,  generally  concealed  in  a  leafy  tree  or  bush,  is 
carefully  built,  with  a  lining  formed  of  fine  roots  neatly  interwoven. 
Herein  from  four  to  seven  eggs,  of  a  greenish- white  closely  freckled 
so  as  to  seem  suffused  with  light  olive,  are  laid  in  March  or  April, 
and  the  young  on  quitting  it  accompany  their  parents  for  some 
weeks. 

Though  the  common  Jay  of  Europe  inhabits  nearly  the  whole 
of  this  quarter  of  the  globe  south  of  64°  N.  lat.,  its  territory  in  the 
east  of  Russia  is  also  occupied  by  G.  brandti,  a  kindred  form,  which 
replaces  it  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ural,  and  ranges  thence  across 
Siberia  to  Japan  ;  and  again  on  the  Lower  Danube  and  thence  to 
Constantinople  the  nearly-allied  G.  krynicM  (which  alone  is  found 
in  southern  Russia,  Caucasia,  and  Asia  Minor)  shares  its  haunts 
with  it.-*^  It  also  crosses  the  Mediterranean  to  Algeria  and  Morocco ; 
but  there,  as  in  southern  Spain,  it  is  probably  but  a  winter  immi- 
grant. The  three  forms  just  named  have  the  widest  range  of  any 
of  the  genus.  Next  to  them  come  G.  atricapillus,  reaching  from 
Syria  to  Beloochistan,  G.  japonicus,  the  ordinary  Jay  of  southern 
Japan,  and  G.  sinensis,  the  Chinese  bird.  Other  forms  have  a  much 
more  limited  area,  as  G.  cervicalis,  the  local  and  resident  Jay  of 
Algeria,  G.  hyrcanus,  found  on  the  southern  shores  of  the  Caspian 
Sea,  and  G.  taivanus  confined  to  the  island  of  Formosa.  The  most 
aberrant  species  referred  to  the  true  Jays  is  the  G.  lidthi  of  Bona- 
parte (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1850,  p.  80,  Aves,  pi.  xvii.),  which,  though 
said  to  come  from  some  part  of  Japan  (Salvadori,  Atii  Accad.  Torino, 
vii.  p.  474),  seems  not  to  have  been  met  with  there,  and  its  proper 
country  is  not  known. 

Leaving  the  true  Jays  of  the  genus  Garrulus,  we  may  next 
consider  those  of  a  group,  named,  in  1831,  Dysornithia  by  Swainson 
{F.  Bor.-Am.  ii.  p.  495)  and  Ferisoreus  by  Bonaparte  (Saggio  &c. 
Anim..    Vertebr.   p.    43),-   containing  two  species — one  the    Lanius 

^  Fiu'tlier  information  will  possibly  shew  that  these  districts  are  not  occupied 
at  the  same  season  of  the  year  by  the  two  forms. 

^  Recent  writers  have  preferred  the  latter  term,  though  it  was  only  used  sub- 
generically  by  its  author,  who  assigned  to  it  no  characters,  which  the  inventor  of 
the  former  was  careful  to  do,  regarding  it  at  the  same  time  as  a  genus. 


JAY 


469 


infaustus  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Siberian  Jay  of  English  writers, 
which  ranges  throughout  the  pine-forests  of  the  north  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  and  the  second  the  Corviis  canadensis  of  the  same  author,  or 
Canada  Jay,  occupying  a  similar  station  in  America.  The  first  is 
one  of  the  most  entertaining  l)irds  in  the  Avorld.  Its  versatile  cries 
and  actions,  as  seen  and  heard  by  those  who  penetrate  the  solitude  of 
the  northern  forests  it  inhabits,  can  never  be  forgotten  by  one  who 
has  had  experience  of  them,  any  more  than  the  pleasing  sight  of  its 
rust-coloured  tail,  which  an  occasional  gleam  of  sunshine  will  light 
up  into  a  brilliancy  quite  unexpected  by  those  who  have  only  sur- 
A^eyed  the  bird's  otherwise  gloomy  a]")pearance  in  the  glass-case  of  a 
museum.  It  seems  scarcely  to  know  fear,  obtruding  itself  on  the 
notice  of  any  passenger  who  invades  its  haunts,  and  should  he  halt, 
makins;  itself  at  once  a  denizen  of  his  bivouac.  In  confinement  it 
speedily  becomes  friendly,  but  suitable  food  for  it  is  not  easily 
found.  Linnaeus  seems  to  have  been  under  a  misapprehension 
when  he  applied  to  it  the  trivial  epithet  it  bears ;  for  by  none  of 
his  countrymen  is  it  deemed  an  unlucky  bird,  but  rather  the 
reverse.  In  fact,  no  one  can  listen  to  the  cheery  sound  of  its 
ordinary  calls  with 
any  but  a  hopeful 
feeling.  The  Canada 
Jay,  or  "  Whiskey- 
Jack  "  (the  corruption 
probably  of  a  Cree 
name),  seems  to  be  of 
a  similar  nature,  but 
it  jDresents  a  still  more 
sombre  coloration,  its 
nestling  plumage,^  in- 
deed, being  thoroughly 
Corvine  in  appearance 
and  suggestive  of  its 
being  a  pristine  form. 
As  thou2;h  to  make 
amends  for  the  dull 
plumage  of  the  species 
last  mentioned.  North 
America  offers  some 
of  the  most  brilliantly 
coloured  of  the  sub- 
family, and  the  com- 
mon Blue  Jay  of  eastern  Canada  and  the  older  States  of  the  Union, 
Cyamirus  cristatus,  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  birds  of  the  trans- 

1  In  this  it  was  described  and  figured  {F.  Bor.-Am.  ii.  p.  296,  pi.  55)  as  a 
distinct  species,  G.  hrachyrhynchus. 


Blue  Jat. 


470  JENNY— JOHN-CROW 

atlantic  woods.  The  account  of  its  habits  by  Alexander  Wilson  is 
known  to  every  student  of  ornithology,  and  Wilson's  followers  have 
had  little  to  do  but  supplement  his  history  with  unimportant  details.^ 
In  this  bird  and  its  many  allied  forms,  coloration,  though  almost 
confined  to  various  tints  of  blue,  seems  to  reach  its  climax,  but  want 
of  space  forbids  more  particular  notice  of  them,  or  of  the  members 
of  the  other  genera  Cyanocitta,  Cyanocorax,  Xanthura,  Fsilorhinus, 
and  more,  which  inhabit  various  parts  of  the  Western  continent.  It 
remains,  however,  to  mention  the  genus  Cissa,  including  many  beauti-  j 

ful  forms   belonging  to  the  Indian  Region,  and  among  them  the  ' 

C.  speciosa  and  C.  sinensis,  so  often  represented  in  Oriental  draw- 
ings, though  doubts  may  be  expressed  whether  these  birds  are  not 
more  nearly  related  to  the  Pies  than  to  the  Jays. 

JENNY,  a  child's  nickname  of  the  Wren.,  in  the  character  of 
Eobin  Redbreast's  wife. 

JERFALCOX,  a  vulgar  corruption  of  Gerfalcon,  that  is  Gyr-  i 

FALCON. 

JOHN-CROW,  the  local  name  in  Jamaica  for  what  is  elsewhere 
in  the  New  World  called  the  Turkey-Buzzard,  the  VuUur  aura  of 
LinniEUS,  and  Cathartcs  or  Catharista  aura  of  most 
writers  ;  to  which,  in  1874,  Mr.  Ridgway  {N.-Am. 
B.  iii.  p.  337)  applied  the  generic  term  of  Rhino- 
gryphus,  and  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  i.  p.  25) 
Cathartes  aura.      t]jat  of  (Emms.      It  is  the  most  widely  spread  of 

(After  Swainson.)  .  .  -t7-,,^„^^^„^  •  r  j.i         c< 

American  Vultures,  ranging  from  the  Sas- 
katchewan valley  in  Canada,  under  55°  of  northern  latitude,  to 
Tierra  del  Fuego,  which  is  about  as  far  south.  This  fact  shews 
its  success  in  the  struggle  for  existence ;  but  the  zoologist  should 
not  neglect  the  lesson  taught  by  another  fact.  In  Jamaica, 
within  a  few  years,  the  John-Crow,  though  there  protected  by 
human  law,  has  been  nearly  extirpated  by  the  introduction  of 
the  Mongoose  (Extermination,  p.  227,  note  4),  shewing  how  in- 
adequately a  successful  animal  can  compete  with  conditions  for 
which  it  has  not  been  prepared,  and  to  which  it  is  suddenly 
exposed — the  result  of  thus  upsetting  a  natural  law  being  fatal. 
No  notice  of  this  bird,  however  brief,  should  omit  allusion  to  the 
controversy  that  once  raged  around  it,  in  regard  to  the  sup- 
posed olfactory  powers  ascribed  to  it  and  other  members  of  the 
Sarcorhamphlda}  as  well  as  to  those  of  the  analogous  Family  Vulturidx. 
Happily  the  whole  mystery  was  dispelled  by  the  simple  "conjecture" 
(as  he  modestly  called  it)  of  Canon  Tristram  {Ihis,  1859,  p.  280), 

^  The  "Blue  Jaj'  "  of  a  recent  American  humourist  wouhl,  however,  from  the 
locality  assigned  to  his  inimitable  story,  appear  to  be,  not  this  species,  but  one 
of  its  western  kindred — American  ornithologists  must  determine  which. 


JOHN-DO  WN—KA  GU  471 

and  never  need  again  occupy  the  attention  of  the  ornithologist.  It 
remains  to  say  that  the  present  species  has  its  common  name  from 
the  outward  resemblance  to  a  Turkey  afforded  by  its  bare,  red 
head  and  neck,  and  its  generally  black  plumage.  In  its  near  ally 
G.  burrovianus,  of  Eastern  Brazil,  the  nape  is  clothed  nearly  to  the 
occiput,  and  in  C.  atratus  the  naked  skin  of  head  and  neck  is  black. 

JOHN-DOWN,  the  name  given  to  the  Fulmar  by  Newfound- 
land fishermen. 

JOHNNY,  the  South  -  Sea  sealers'  name  ^  for  a  Penguin, 
Pi/goscelis  pajma  or  txniata,  one  of  the  widely-distributed  species  ; 
but  rapidly  decreasing  in  numbers,  owing  to  the  destruction  to 
which  it  is  subjected  at  its  breeding-places.  It  is  disgusting  to 
read  [Phil.  Trans,  vol.  168,  p.  155)  that,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
observation  of  the  Transit  of  Yenus  in  1874-5  on  Kerguelen  Land, 
where  this  species  had  many  settlements,  a  naturalist  should  have 
to  write  of  one  of  them — "  The  whole  of  this  community  of  Pen- 
guins was  subsequently  boiled  down  into  '  hare  soup '  for  the 
officers  of  H.M.S.  '  Yolage.'  "  It  is  obvious  that  officers  of  this  kind 
should  not  be  sent  on  scientific  expeditions. 

JUMBY-BIRD,  a  Negro  name  for  almost  any  kind  that  is  of 
bad  omen,  but  especially  for  an  Owl. 

JUNGLE-FOWL,  generally  accepted  as  the  wild  original  of  the 
domestic  Fowl. 


K 

KAE,  the  common  Scottish  name  of  the  Daw. 

KAGU,  the  native  name,  since  Anglified,  of  an  extremely 
curious  bird,  found,  after  the  French  occupation  of  New  Caledonia 
in  1852,  to  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  island,  to  which  it 
is  peculiar.  It  is  the  Bhinochetus  jubatus  of  ornithology,  and  the 
first  specimen  brought  to  the  notice  of  naturalists  was  sent  to  the 
Colonial  Exhibition  in  Paris  in  1860  by  Mons.  Latom\  Its 
original  describers,  Jules  Verreaux  and  Des  Murs,  regarded  it 
first  as  a  Heron  and  then  as  a  Crane  (Eev.  Zool.  1860,  pp.  439- 
441,  pi.  21;  1862,  pp.  142-144);  but,  on  Dr.  George  Bennett 
sending  two  live  examples  to  the  Zoological  Gardens,  Mr.  Bartlett 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1862,  pp.  218,  219,  pi.  xxx.)  quickly  detected  in 

^  Modern  sailors'  names  are  hard  to  trace.  Perhaps  this  may  be  connected 
with  "  Gentoo,"  which,  Capt.  Abbot  says  {Ibis,  1860,  p.  337),  is  the  name  given  to 
the  species  in  the  Falkland  Islands,  and  may  suggest  a  Portuguese  origin. 


472 


KAGU 


them  an  affinity  to  Eurypyga  (Sun-Bittern),  and  in  due  time 
anatomical  investigation  sheAved  him  to  be  right.  The  Kagu, 
however,  would  not  strike  the  ordinary  observer  as  having  much 
outward  resemblance  to  the  Sun-Bittern,  of  which  it  has  neither 
the  figure  nor  posture.  It  is  rather  a  long-legged  bird,  about  as 
large  as  an  ordinary  Fowl,  walking  quickly  and  then  standing 
almost  motionless,  with  bright  red  bill  and  legs,  large  eyes,  a  full 
pendent  crest,  and  is  generally  of  a  light  slate-colour,  paler  beneath, 
and  obscurely  barred  on  its  longer  wing-coverts  and  tail  v/ith  a 
darker  shade.  It  is  only  when  it  spreads  its  wings  that  these  are 
seen  to  be  marked  and  spotted  Avith  white,  rust-colour,  and  black, 


Kagu.    (After  Wolf.) 

somewhat  after  the  pattern  of  those  of  the  Sun-Bittern.  Like  that 
bird  too,  the  Kagu  will,  in  moments  of  excitement,  give  up  its 
ordinary  placid  behaviour  and  execute  a  variety  of  violent  gesticu- 
lations, some  of  them  even  of  a  more  extraordinary  kind,  for  it  will 
dance  round,  holding  by  the  bill  the  tip  of  its  tail  or  of  one  of  its 
wings  in  a  way  that  no  other  bird  is  known  to  do.  Its  habits  in 
its  own  country  were  described  at  some  length  in  1863  by  M. 
Jouan  {Mini.  Soc.  Sc.  Nat.  Cherbourg,  ix.  pp.  97  and  235),  and  in 
1870  by  M.  Marie  (Ades  Soc.  Linn.  Bordeaux,  xxvii.  pp.  323-326), 
the  last  of  whom  predicts  the  speedy  extinction  of  this  interesting 
form,  a  fate  foreboded  also  by  the  statement  of  Messrs.  Layard 
{lUs,  1882,  pp.  534,  535)  that  it  has  nearly  disappeared  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  more  settled  and  inhabited  parts. 


KAKA—KAKAPO  473 


The  internal  and  external  structure  of  both  these  remarkable 
forms,  Rhinochetus  and  Eurypijga,  has  been  treated  in  much  detail  by- 
Parker  in  the  Zoological  Proceedings  (1864,  pp.  70-72)  and  Transac- 
tions (vi.  pp.  501-521,  pis.  91,  92;  x.  pp.  307-310,  pi.  54,  figs. 
7-9),  as  also  by  Dr.  Murie  in  the  latter  work  (vii.  pp.  465-492,  pis. 
56,  57),  and  the  result  of  their  researches  shews  that  though 
separable  as  distinct  Families,  Eurypygiclse  and  Rhinochetidse,  they 
belong  to  Prof.  Huxley's  GERANOMORPmE,  of  which  they  must  be 
deemed  the  relics  of  very  ancient  and  generalized  types.  Their 
inter-relations  to  the  Eallidm  (Eail),  Fsophiidse  (Trumpeter),  and 
other  groups  need  not  to  be  here  considered  ;  but  it  may  be  remarked 
that  the  eggs  of  both  Eurypyga  and  Ehinochehis  have  a  very  strong 
Ralline  appearance — stronger  even  than  the  figures  published  (Froc. 
Zool.  Sac.  1868,  pi.  xii.)  would  indicate. 

KAKA,  see  Nestor. 

KAKAPO,  the  Maori  name,  signifying  "Night-Parrot,"  and 
frequently  adopted  by  English  writers,  of  a  bird,  commonly  called 
by  British  colonists  in  New  Zealand  the  "Ground-Parrot"  or  "Owl- 
Parrot."  The  existence  of  this  singular  form  was  first  made  known 
in  1843  by  DiefFenbach  {Travels  in  iV.  Zealand,  ii.  p.  194),  from 
some  of  its  tail-feathers  obtained  by  him  in  the  interior  of  that 
country,  and  he  suggested  that  it  was  one  of  the  Cuculidse,  possibly 
belonging  to  the  genus  Centropus,  adding  that  it  was  becoming 
scarce,  and  that  no  example  had  been  seen  for  many  years.  The 
late  Mr.  G.  R.  Gray,  noticing  it- in  June  1845  (Zool.  Voy.  ^Erebus' 
and  '  Terror,^  part  ix.  p.  9),  was  able  to  say  little  more  of  it ;  but 
very  soon  after  a  skin  was  received  at  the  British  Museum,  of 
which,  in  the  following  September,  he  published  a  figure  {Gen. 
Birds,  part  xvii.),  naming  it  Strigops  ^  habroptilus,  and  rightly  placing 
it  among  the  Parrots,  though  he  did  not  describe  it  technically  for 
another  eighteen  months  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1847,  p.  61),  by  which 
time  some  further  information  concerning  it  had  been  furnished  by 
Sir  George  Grey  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist,  xviii.  p.  427)  and  Strange  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1847,  p.  50) ;  while  in  the  same  year  Jules  Verreaux  sent 
an  example,  with  an  account  of  its  habits,  to  the  museum  of  Paris, 
which  was  published  by  Pucheran  {Bev.  Zool.  1847,  p.  385).  Various 
observers,  among  whom  must  be  especially  named  Dr.  Lyall  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1852,  p.  31),  who  was  the  first  to  record  the  breeding 
habits  and  obtain  the  egg  of  the  bird,  and  Von  Haast  {Verh.  zool.-hot. 
Gesellsch.  JVien,  1863,  p.  1115)  supplied  other  particulars,  and  so 
many  specimens  have  been  received  in  Europe  that  it  is  now  repre- 
sented in  most  museums,  and  more  than  half  a  dozen  examples  have 

■•  This    generic    term    was    subsequently   altered   by   Van   der   Hoeven    to 
Stringopsis,  but  Stringops  is  the  spelling  now  generally  adopted. 


474  KAKAPO 

reached  England  alive.  Yet,  though  much  has  been  written  about 
it,  there  is  no  detailed  description  of  its  internal  structure,  a  fact  the 
more  to  be  regretted  since  the  bird  is  obviously  doomed  to  early 
extinction,  and  the  opportunity  of  solving  several  problems  of 
interest,  which  a  minute  examination  of  its  anatomy  might  afford, 
will  be  lost  if  the  matter  be  not  speedily  taken  in  hand.  Few 
existing  birds  offer  a  better  subject  for  a  monographer,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that,  if  perish  the  genus  and  species  must,  posterity  will 
not  have  to  lament  the  want  of  an  exhaustive  treatise  on  the  many 
and  wonderful  characteristics  of  what  Prof.  Fiirbringer  considers 
{Journ.  fur  Orn.  1889,  pp.  239-241)  to  be  one  of  the  primitive 
forms  of  Fsitfaci. 

In  habits  the  Kakapo  is  almost  wholly  nocturnal,^  hiding 
during  the  daytime  in  holes  (made  in  some  instances  it  Avould 
seem  by  itself)  under  the  roots  of  trees  or  rocks,  and  only  issuing 
forth  about  sunset  to  seek  for  food,  which  is  solely  vegetable  in 
kind,  and  consists  of  the  roots,  twigs,  leaves,  seeds,  and  fruits  of 
trees,  grasses,  or  ferns — some  observers  say  mosses  also.  It  some- 
times climbs  trees,  but  generally  remains  on  the  ground,  only  using 
its  comparatively  short  wings  to  balance  itself  in  running,  or  to 
break  its  fall  when  it  drops  from  a  tree — though  not  always  then 
— being  apparently  quite  incapable  of  real  flight.  It  thus  becomes 
an  easy  prey  to  the  marauders  which  the  colonists  have  let  loose  in 
New  Zealand,  so  disastrously  for  its  indigenous  inhabitants.  Sir 
G.  Grey,  writing  in  1854,  said  it  had  been,  within  the  memory  of 
old  people,  abundant  in  every  part  of  that  country  ;  but  was  then 
found  only  in  the  unsettled  districts,  and  thus  little  hope  can  be 
entertained  of  its  surviving  much  longer. 

The  Kakapo  is  about  the  size  of  a  Raven,  of  a  green  or  brownish- 
green  colour,  thickly  freckled  and  irregularly  barred  with  dark 
brown,  and  dashed  here  and  there  with  longitudinal  stripes  of  light 
yellow.  Examples  are  subject. to  much  variation  in  colour^  and 
shade,  and  in  some  the  lower  parts  are  deeply  tinged  with  yellow. 
Externally  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  bird  is  its  head,  armed 
with  a  powerful  beak,  that  it  well  knows  how  to  use,  and  its  face 
clothed  with  hairs  and  elongated  feathers  that  sufficiently  resemble 

^  It  lias,  however,  been  occasionally  observed  abroad  by  day  ;  and,  in  captivitj', 
one  example  at  least  is  said  to  have  been  just  as  active  by  day  as  by  night. 

-  A  specimen  in  the  Britisli  Museum  (Zool.  Voy.  '  Erehus  '  and  '  Terror,'  pi.  7) 
has  the  prevailing  green  tint  replaced  by  blue  of  several  shades,  and  has  been 
described  as  a  distinct  species,  S.  greyi  ;  but  it  is  obviously  in  an  abnormal  con- 
dition, and  its  specific  distinctness,  though  admitted  by  Count  T.  Salvador! 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xx.  p,  601),  cannot  be  maintained  without  further  evidence. 
Sir  W.  Buller  (Zoc.  cit.)  describes  several  varieties  of  the  Kakapo,  and  Mr.  Reischek 
states  {Trans.  X.  Zeal.  Inst.  xvii.  p.  19G)  that  examples  from  the  high  moun- 
tains are  larger  and  brighter  in  colour  than  those  from  the  lower  grounds. 


KALKOENTJE 


475 


Kakapo.    (From  Buller.) 


the  physiognomy  of  an  Owl  to  justify  the  generic  name  bestowed 
upon  it.  Of  its  internal  structure  little  has  been  described,  and 
that  not  always  correctly.  Its 
furcula  has  been  said  {Froc. 
Zool.  Soc:  1874,  p.  594)  to  be 
"  lost,"  whereas  the  clavicles, 
which  in  most  birds  unite  to 
form  that  bone,  are  present, 
though  they  do  not  meet,  while 
in  like  manner  the  bird  has 
been  declared  (ojx  cit.  1867,  p. 
624,  note)  to  furnish  among 
the  Carinatm  "  the  only  appar- 
ent exception  to  the  presence 
of  a  keel "  to  the  sternum. 
The  keel,  however,  is  undoubtedly  there,  as  remarked  by  MM. 
Blanchard  {Ann.  Nat.  Sc.  Zoologie,  ser.  4,  xi.  p.  83)  and  A.  Milne- 
Edwards  {Ois.  Foss.  de  la  France,  ii.  p.  516),  and,  though  much  reduced 
in  size,  is  nearly  as  much  developed  as  in  the  DoDO  and  the  Weka. 
The  aborted  condition  of  this  process  can  hardly  be  regarded  but  in 
connexion  with  the  incapacity  of  the  bird  for  flight,  and  may  very 
likely  be,  as  some  have  supposed,  the  result  of  disuse.  There  can  be 
scarcely  any  doubt  as  to  the  projiriety  of  considering  this  genus  the 
type  of  a  separate  Family  of  Fsittaci ;  but  whether  it  stands  alone,  or 
some  other  forms  (Pezoporus  or  Geopsittacus,  for  example,^  Avhich  in 
coloration  and  habits  present  some  curious  analogies)  should  be 
])laced  with  it,  must  await  future  determination.  In  captivity  the 
Kakapo  is  said  to  shew  much  intelligence,  as  well  as  an  affectionate 
and  playful  disposition,  soon  attaching  itself  to  its  master  and  taking 
pleasure  in  caressing  him  and  being  caressed  in  turn.  Unfortunatelj^ 
it  does  not  seem  to  share  the  longevity  characteristic  of  most 
Parrots,  and  none  that  have  been  held  in  confinement  appear  to 
have  long  survived,  while  many  succumb  speedily.  For  further 
details  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  Gould's  Birds  of  Australia  (ii. 
p.  247)  and  Handbook  (ii.  p.  539),  Dr.  Finsch's  Die  Pafageien  (i.  p. 
241),  but  especially  to  Sir  W.  Buller's  Birds  of  New  Zealand  (p.  26, 
ed.  2,  i.  p.  176),  in  Avhich  last  work  nearly  all  the  information 
hitherto  recorded  is  to  be  found. 

KALKOENTJE  (Little  Turkey),  the  Dutch  name  in  South 
Africa  for  the  Alauda  capensis  of  Linnseus,  the  type  of  Swainson's 
genus  Macronyx,  which  recent  authors  suppose  to  be  allied  to  Anthus 
(Pipit),  and  refer  to  the  Family  MotacillidR%  a  position  that  may  be 
open  to  doubt.     It  is  common  throughout  the  open  country,  and 

1  Dr.  Reichenow  (/owrTi. /iVr  Orw.  1881,  pp.  13-16)  boldly  unites  them  in  a 
single  Family,  but  in  that  case  it  should  bear  the  name  of  PezojMridie. 


476 


KALLEGE—KEEL 


has  much  of  the  habits  of  a  Lark,  except  that  it  does  not  soar  and 
has  no  song,  uttering  a  cry  which  Levaillant  syllabled  '•  qui  vive  ?  " 

and      Mr.     Layard 


mewing. 


Macronyx.    (After  Swainson.) 


terms 

The  curious  similar- 
ity in  coloration, 
which  obtains  be- 
tween this  form  and 
the  American  Stur- 
nella,  has  been 
already  noticed  (Ic- 
terus) ;  but  it  must 
be  understood  that 
whatever  be  the 
true  position  of 
Macronyx,  the  two 
genera  are  not  allied.  Several  English  names  have  been  suggested 
for  this  bird,  and  one  by  which  it  is  said  to  be  called  in  the  Cape 
Colony  is  "  Cut-throat  Lark,"  from  the  deep  orange  colour  of  its 
throat.  Three  other  species  of  Macronyx  are  known — one,  M.  crocea, 
having  a  yellow  throat,  and  therefore  still  more  closely  resembling 
Sturnella  magna,  being  widely  spread  throughout  Africa ;  another, 
M.  flavicolUs,  inhabiting  Abyssinia  and  the  neighbouring  countries  ; 
and  the  fourth,  M.  ameliai,  with  a  red  throat,  confined  to  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  continent. 

KALLEGE^  or  KALIJ,  the  Anglo-Lidian  name,  applied  to 
about  a  dozen  forms  of  Pheasant,  constituting  the  genus  Ewplocanius 
(Gallophasis  of  some  authors),  among  which  the  E.  albicridatus  of  the 
north-western  Himalaya  and  the  nearly-allied  E.  melanonotus  of 
Sikhim  are  those  to  which  it  properly  belongs.  Passing  eastwards 
they  are  represented  by  other  forms,  as  E.  horsfieldi  in  Assam,  E. 
lineatus  in  Burma  and  so  on  ;  and,  where  the  range  of  almost  an 3^ 
two  of  them  is  conterminous,  so-called  "hybrids"  are  observed. 
Others  which  may  be  regarded  as  thoroughly  good  species  inhabit 
islands,  as  Sumatra,  Borneo  and  even  Formosa,  while  parts  of  China 
produce  the  best-known  of  all,  E.  nydhemerus,  the  Silver  Pheasant 
of  our  aviaries,  which  was  introduced  to  England  in  the  first  half 
of  the  1 8th  century. 

KEA,  see  Nestor. 

KEEL,  carina,  or  a'ista  sterni,  a  medic-ventral  outgrowth  from 
the  two  coalescent  parts  of  the  sternal  cartilaginous  plate.  Itself 
originally  cartilaginous,  it  subsequently  ossifies  from  the  basal 
region   and   from  the  anterior  margin  backwards,  so  as  to  form  a 


^  Corrupted  into  "College  Pheasant"  (Yule  and  Burnell,  Hohson-Jobson). 


KEEL-BILL— KESTREL  477 

vertical  bony  septum  between  the  great  pectoral  muscles,  which 
mainly  rise  from  it.  Its  size,  and  especially  its  depth,  stand  in 
direct  correlation  with  these,  the  chief  motor  muscles  of  the  wing. 
Great  power  of  flight,  as  in  Gannets,  Petrels,  Swifts  and  Humming- 
birds is  associated  with  a  deep  Keel,  while  disuse  of  the  wing- 
muscles  tends  to  reduce  it,  as  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  thin 
and  inconspicuous  ridge  which  it  takes  in  Stringops  (Kakapo).  In 
the  Batitx  the  Keel  is  altogether  absent,  without  even  the  least 
trace  of  it  in  the  embryo,  and  there  is  no  sign  of  it  in  the  fossil 
Hesperornis  (Odontornithes).  In  this  last,  its  absence  is  in  keep- 
ing with  the  very  slender  humerus,  indicating  that  the  well- 
developed  paddle-like  feet  were  the  only  organs  of  locomotion. 
On  the  other  hand,  its  great  size  in  the  Penguins  is  easily  explained 
by  the  use  they  make  of  their  wings,  with  a  semi-rotatory  or  screw- 
like action,  as  the  means  of  propulsion  under  water.  The  con- 
figuration of  the  anterior  margin  of  the  Keel  is  of  some  taxonomic 
value  (see  Sternum). 

KEEL-BILL,  Shaw's  name  {Gen.  Zool.  viii.  p.  380)  for  the  Ani. 

KESTREL  (French  Cresserelle  or  CrS^erelle,  Old  French  Quer- 
cerelle  and  QuerceUe,  in  Burgundy  Cristel),  the  English  name^  of  one 
of  the  smaller  Falcons,  originating  probably  from  its  peevish  and 
languid  cry.  This  bird,  though  in  the  form  of  its  bill  and 
length  of  its  wings  one  of  the  true  Falcons,  and  by  many  ornitho- 
logists i:)laced  among  them  under  its  Linnaean  name  of  Falco 
tinnunculus,  is  by  others  referred  to  a  distinct  genus  Tinnunculus  as 
T.  alaudarius — the  last  being  an  epithet  wholly  inappropriate.  We 
have  here  a  case  in  which  the  propriety  of  the  custom  that  requires 
the  establishment  of  a  genus  on  structural  characters  may  seem 
open  to  question.  The  differences  of  structure  which  separate 
Tinnunculus  from  Falco  are  slight,  and,  if  insisted  upon,  in  the  way 
some  systematists  have  done,  must  lead  to  including  in  the  former 
genus  birds  which  obviously  differ  from  Kestrels  in  all  but  a  few 
characters  arbitrarily  chosen  ;  and  yet,  if  structural  characters  be 
not  required,  the  Kestrels  form  a  group  readily  distinguishable  by 
several  peculiarities  from  all  other  Falconidse,  and  a  group  that  the 
instinct  of  real  ornithologists  (though  this  is  treading  upon  danger- 
ous ground)  does  not  hesitate  to  separate  from  the  true  Falcons  of 
the  genus  Falco,  with  its  subsidiary  sections  or  genera,  ^salon 
(Merlin),  Hypotriorchis  (Hobby),  and  the  rest.  Scarcely  any  one 
outside  the  walls  of  a  museum  or  library  would  doubt  for  a  moment 
whether  any  bird  shewn  to  him  were  a  Kestrel  or  not ;  and  the 
late  Mr.  Gurney  believed  (Ihis,  1881,  p.  277)  that  the  aggregation 

■^  Other  English,  names  are  "Windhover  and  Staniel  of  which  Stannell  is  a  coiTup- 
tion,  and  often  by  mistaken  etymology  written  Standgale  (c/.  Skeat,  Trains. 
Etymol.  Soc.  1888-90,  p.  21). 


478  KESTREL 

of  species  placed  by  Dr.  Sharps  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  i.  pp.  423-448) 
under  the  generic  designation  of  Cerchneis  (which  should  properly  be 
Tinnunculus)  included  "three  natural  groups  sufhciently  distinct  to  be 
treated  as  at  least  separate  subgenera,  bearing  the  name  of  Dissodedes, 
Tinmmculus,  and  Erythropus."  Of  these  we  may  say  that  the  first 
and  last  are  not  at  all  Kestrels,  but  are  perhaps  rather  related  to 
Hypotriorchis.  Mr.  Gurney's  latest  views  as  shewn  in  1884  {List  of 
the  Diurnal  Birds  of  Prey,  pp.  96-100)  recognized  15  species  of 
Tinmmculns,  with  5  subspecies. 

The  ordinary  Kestrel  of  Europe,  T.  alaudarius,  is  by  far  the 
commonest  Bird-of-Prey  in  the  British  Islands,  and  is  too  common 
and  well  known  to  need  any  description.      It  is  almost  entirely  a 


Kestrel.    (After  Swainson.) 

summer  migrant,  coming  from  the  south  in  early  spring  and 
departing  in  autumn,  though  examples  (which  are  nearly  always 
found  to  be  birds  of  the  year)  occasionally  occur  in  winter,  some 
arriving  on  the  eastern  coast  in  autumn.  It  is  most  often  observed 
while  practising  its  habit  of  hanging  in  the  air  for  a  minute  or  two 
in  the  same  spot,  by  rapid  beats  of  its  wings,  as,  with  head  pointing 
to  windward  and  expanded  tail,  it  looks  out  for  prey — consist- 
ing chiefly  of  mice,  but  it  will  at  times  take  a  small  bird,  and  the 
remains  of  frogs,  insects,  and  even  earth-worms  have  been  found  in 
its  crop.  It  generally  breeds  in  the  deserted  nest  of  a  Crow  or 
Pie,  but  frequently  in  rocks,  ruins,  or  even  in  hollow  trees — laying 
four  or  five  eggs,  mottled  all  over  Avith  dark  brownish  red,  some- 
times tinged  with  orange  and  at  other  times  with  purple.  Though 
it  may  occasionally  snatch  a  young  Partridge  or  Pheasant,^  the 
Kestrel  is  quite  the  most  harmless  of  the  Accipitres,  if  it  be  not, 
from  its  destruction  of  mice  and  cockchafers,  the  most  beneficial. 
It  is  a  species  of  very  Avide  range,  extending  over  nearly  the  Avhole 
of  Europe  from  68°  N.  lat.,  and  the  greater  part  of  Asia — though 
the  form  which  inhabits  Japan  and  is  abundant  in  north-eastern 
China  has  been  by  some  writers  deemed  distinct  and  called  T. 
japonicus — and  it  also  pervades  the  greater  jjart  of  Africa,  becom- 

1  Where  what  are  called  "tame"  Pheasants  are  bred,  a  Kestrel  will  often 
contract  the  bad  habit  of  infesting  the  coops  and  carrying  off  the  young  birds. 
This  evil  may  easily  be  stopped  ;  but  it  should  not  lead  to  the  relentless  perse- 
cution of  the  species,  especially  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  Kestrel  is  in  the 
first  place  attracted  to  the  spot  by  the  presence  of  the  mice  which  come  to  eat 
the  Pheasants'  food. 


KESTREL  479 

iiig,  however,  scarce  in  southern  latitudes,  and  unknown  beyond 
Fan  tee  on  the  west  and  Mombasa  on  the  east  coast  (Ills,  1881,  p, 
457).  The  southern  countries  of  Europe  have  also  another  and 
smaller  species  of  Kestrel,  T.  tinnuncidoides  (the  T.  cenchris  and  T. 
naumanni  of  some  writers),  which  is  widely  spread  in  Africa  and 
Asia,  while  examples  from  India  and  China  are  distinguished  as 
T.  pekinensis. 

Three  ^  other  species  are  found  in  Africa  as  well — T.  rupicola, 
T.  rnpicoloides,  and  T.  alopex — the  first  of  which  is  a  common  bird 
in  the  Cape  Colony,  while  the  others  occur  in  the  interior.  Some 
of  the  islands  of  the  Ethiopian  Region  have  peculiar  species  of 
Kestrel,  as  the  T.  newtoni  of  Madagascar,  T.  pundatus  of  Mauritius, 
and  T.  gracilis  of  the  Seychelles  ;  while,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
continent,  the  Kestrel  of  the  Cape  Verd  Islands  has  been  separated 
as  T.  negledus,  and  that  of  the  Canaries  indulged  with  subsidiary 
recognition  (Konig,  Journ.  fur  Orn.  1890,  p.  285,  pi.  i.)  as  Cerchneis 
tinnunculus  canariensis. 

The  next  species  deserving  of  notice  is  that  of  America,  T. 
sparverius,  commonly  known  in  Canada  and  the  United  States  as 
the  "Sparrow -Hawk" — a  beautiful  little  bird,  though  not  more 
courageous  than  the  rest  of  its  relations.  Various  attempts  have 
been  made  to  recognize  several  species,  more  or  less  in  accordance 
with  locality,  but  the  majority  of  ornithologists  seem  unable  to 
accept  the  distinctions  elaborated,  chiefly  by  Di\  Sharpe  (ut  suprd,) 
and  Mr.  Ridgway  (N.-Am.  Birds,  iii.  pp.  159-175),  the  former  of 
whom  in  1874  recognized  six  species,  while  the  latter,  in  the  same 
year,  and  since,  has  admitted  but  three,  T.  sparverius,  T.  leucophrys, 
and  T.  sparverioides,  with  five  geographical  races  of  the  first,  viz.  the 
typical  T.  sparverius  from  the  continent  of  North  America,  except 
the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  T.  australis  from  the  continent  of 
South  America,  except  the  North  Atlantic  and  Caribbean  coasts  ; 
T.  isahellinus,  inhabiting  continental  America  from  Florida  to 
Cayenne  ;  T.  dominicensis  from  the  Lesser  Antilles  as  far  north- 
wards as  St.  Thomas ;  and  lastly  T.  cinnaraominus  from  Chili  and 
western  Brazil.  T.  leucophrys  is  said  to  be  from  Hispaniola  and 
Cuba ;  and  T.  sparverioides  peculiar  to  Cuba  only.  This  last  has 
been  generally  allowed  to  be  a  good  species,  though  Dr.  Gundlach, 
the  best  authority  on  the  birds  of  that  island,  in  his  latest  work, 
published  in  1876  {Contribucion  d  la  Ornitologia  Cubana,  p.  48) 
would  not  allow  its  validity.  More  recently  it  was  found  (Ibis, 
1881,  pp.  547-564)  that  T.  australis  and  T.  cinnanwminus  cannot 
be  separated,  that  Mr.  Eidgway's  T.  leucopjhrys  should  properly  be 
called  T.  dominicensis,  and  his  T.  dominicensis  T.  antillarum,  while 
that  gentleman  has  recorded  the  supposed  occurrence  of  T.  spar- 

1  Mr.  Gurney's  T.  arthuri  {op.  cit.  pp.  98  and  156)  rests  oa  a  single  specimen, 
and  therefore  requires  confirmation. 


48o  KIDDAW— KIDNEYS 

verioides  in  Florida.^  Of  other  Kestrels  it  remains  to  say  that  T. 
jnoluccensis  is  widely  spread  throughout  the  islands  of  the  ]\Ialay 
archipelago,  Avhile  T.  cenchroides  seems  to  inhabit  the  whole  of 
Australia,  and  has  occurred  in  Tasmania  (Proc.  Roy.  Soc.  Tasmania, 
1875,  pp.  7,  8).  No  Kestrel  is  found  in  New  Zealand,  but  an 
approach  to  the  form  is  made  by  the  very  peculiar  Harpe  iiovse- 
zelandise  (of  which  a  second  race  or  species  has  been  described,  H. 
brunnea  or  H.  ferox)  the  "Sparrow-Hawk,"  '•  Qu  AIL -Hawk,"  and 
"Bush-Hawk"  of  the  colonists — a  bird  of  much  higher  courage 
than  any  Kestrel,  and  perhaps  exhibiting  the  more  generalized  and 
ancestral  type  from  which  both  Kestrels  and  Falcons  may  have 
descended. 

KIDDAW,  one  of  the  many  local  names  of  the  GUILLEMOT. 

KIDNEYS,  renes,  the  organs  of  the  Excretory  System  for  the 
discharge  as  urine  of  the  nitrogenous  waste-matter  of  the  blood. 
In  Birds  they  are  comparatively  large,  weighing  about  one- 
hundredth  part  of  the  whole  body,  and  extend  from  the  posterior 
margin  of  the  lungs  to  nearly  the  end  of  the  pelvis,  filling  the 
ca^dties  between  the  iliac  bones  and  the  sacral  vertebrse,  the  trans- 
verse processes  of  which  produce  deep  impressions  upon  the  dorsal 
surface  of  the  Kidneys,  and  di\dde  them  into  a  number  of  irregular 
lobes  ;  but  their  ventral  surface  is  almost  smooth.  Near  their 
anterior  end,  and  close  to  the  vertebral  column,  lie  the  genital 
glands  (ovaries  or  testes),  the  ducts  of  which  (oviduct  or  vas  deferens 
as  the  case  may  be),  run,  together  with  the  lu-eter,  upon  the 
ventral  surface  of  the  Kidneys.  Resting  against  these  glands,  there 
is  on  each  side  a  reddish  or  yellowish -brown  body  of  irregular 
shape,  the  supra-renal  or  adrenal  capsule,  an  organ  of  still  problematic 
significance.  In  most  Birds  each  Kidney  is  more  or  less  divided 
into  three  lobes,  of  which  the  anterior  is  generally  the  largest,  and 
the  middle  one  the  smallest.  Sometimes  the  two  Kidneys  partly 
coalesce  across  the  vertebral  column,  so  that  the  unpaired  dorsal 
aorta  and  the  inferior  vena  cava  are  enclosed  in  their  substance  ; 
but  their  shape,  size  and  the  number  of  their  principal  lobes 
depend  much  on  the  configuration  of  the  sacrum  and  pelvis,  and 
are  scarcely  of  practical  taxonomic  value.  The  Kidneys  are  shut 
ofi"  from  the  body-cavity  by  a  peritoneal  lamella,  and  their  minute 
structure  as  well  as  their  vascular  system  is  very  complicated. 
Each  possesses  a  transparent  sheath  of  connective  tissue,  on  the 
removal  of  which  the  dark  brown  substance  of  the  organ  is  seen  to 
consist  of  an  enormous  number  of  convoluted  and  tightly-packed 
lobules,  and  each  of  these  lobules  is  pervaded  by  renal  arteries  and 
veins  with  their  capillaries,  and  contains  the  uriniferous  tubules  that 

1  The  absence  of  any  Kestrel  from  Jamaica  is  a  most  curious  fact,  considering 
the  abundance  of  the  form  in  other  parts  of  the  West  Indies. 


KILLDEER  481 

ultimately  open  into  the  ureter.  These  tubules  begin  near  the 
surface  of  the  lobule,  as  small  invaginated  capsules,  each  surround- 
ing a  glomerulus  of  fine  arterial  blood-vessels,  through  the  walls  of 
which  the  urinary  matter  exudes  from  the  blood  into  the  tubule. 
The  rest  of  the  arterial  blood  entering  the  Kadneys  through  the 
renal  arteries  (which  are  branches  from  the  dorsal  aorta  and  from 
the  sciatic  artery)  passes  through  a  capillary  network,  and  is  thence 
conducted  through  the  efferent  renal  veins  into  the  system  of  the 
inferior  vma  cava  (see  Vascular  System). 

KILLDEER,  a  common  and  well-known  American  Plover,  so 
called  in  imitation  of  its  whistling  cry,  the  Charadrius  vociferus  of 
Linnaeus,  and  the  JEgialitis  vocifera  of  modern  ornithologists. 
About  the  size  of  a  Snipe,  it  is  mostly  sooty-brown  above,  but 
shewing  a  bright  buflF  on  the  tail  coverts,  and  in  flight  a  white  bar 
on  the  wings ;  beneath  it  is  pure  white  except  two  pectoral  bands 
of  deep  black.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  as  well  as  the  largest  of  the 
group  commonly  known  as  Einged  Plovers  or  "Eing  Dotterels,"^ 
forming  the  genus  ^gialitis  of  Boie.  Mostly  wintering  in  the 
south  or  only  on  the  sea-shore  of  the  more  northern  States,  in 
spring  it  spreads  widely  over  the  interior,  breeding  on  the  newly- 
ploughed  lands  or  on  open  grass-fields.  The  nest  is  made  in  a 
slight  hollow  of  the  ground,  and  is  often  surrounded  with  small 
pebbles  and  fragments  of  shells.  Here  the  hen  lays  her  pear- 
shaped,  stone-coloured  eggs,  four  in  number,  and  always  arranged 
with  their  pointed  ends  touching  each  other,  as  is  indeed  the 
custom  of  most  Limicoline  birds.  The  parents  exhibit  the  greatest 
anxiety  for  their  offspring  on  the  approach  of  an  intruder :  the  hen 
runs  off  with  drooping  wings  and  plaintive  cries,  while  the  cock 
sweeps  around,  gesticulating  with  loud  and  angry  vociferations. 
It  is  the  best- known  bird  of  its  Family  in  the  United  States, 
throughout  which  it  is  found  in  all  suitable  districts,  but  less 
abundantly  in  the  north-east  than  further  south  or  west.  In 
Canada  it  does  not  range  further  to  the  northward  than  56°  N". 
lat.,  and  it  is  not  known  to  occur  in  Greenland,  or  hardly  in 
Labrador,  though  it  is  a  passenger  in  Newfoundland  every  spring 
and  autumn.-  In  winter  it  finds  its  way  to  Bermuda  and  to  some 
of  the  Antilles,  but  it  is  not  recorded  from  any  of  the  islands  to 
the  windward  of  Porto  Eico.  However,  in  the  other  direction  it 
goes  very  much  further  south,  travelling  down  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  and  the  west  coast  of  South  America  to  Peru. 

^  The  word  DoTTErvEL  is  properly  applicable  to  a  single  species  only  (see 
above,  pp.  161,  162). 

^  A  single  example  is  said  to  have  been  shot  near  Christchurch,  in  Hamp- 
shire, in  April  1857  {Ibis,  1862,  p.  276),  and  a  female  was  undoubtedly  shot  on 
Tresco,  one  of  the  Scilly  Isles  in  January  1SS5  by  Mr.  F.  Jenkinson  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1885,  p.  835). 

31 


482  KILLIGREW— KING-BIRD 

This  may  be  the  most  convenient  phice  to  speak  of  the  con- 
geners of  the  Killdeer,  of  which  there  are  several  in  America,  and 
y  among  them  may  be  noticed  jE.  semipalmata,  curiously  resembling 
"^/^  ^  the  ordinary  Ringed  Plover  of  the  Old  World,  ^.  hiaticula,  except 
that  it  has  its  toes  connected  by  a  web  at  the  base  ;  and  yE.  nivosa, 
a  bird  inhabiting  the  western  parts  of  both  the  American  con- 
tinents, which  in  the  opinion  of  some  authors  is  only  a  local  form 
of  the  widely-spread  jE.  aiexandrina  or  cantiana,  best  known  as  the 
Kentish  Plover,  from  its  discovery  near  Sandwich,  though  it  is 
far  more  abundant  in  many  other  parts  of  the  Old  World  (Geo- 
graphical Distribution,  p.  341).  The  common  Einged  Plover, 
jE.  hiaticola,  has  many  of  the  habits  of  the  Killdeer,  but  is  much 
less  often  found  away  from  the  sea-shore,  though  it  has  stations 
on  dry  Avarrens  in  certain  parts  of  England  many  miles  from  the 
coast,  and  in  Lapland  at  a  still  greater  distance.  In  such  localities 
it  has  the  habit  of  paving  its  nest  with  small  stones,  whence  it  is 
locally  known  as  the  "  Stone-hatch,"  a  habit  almost  unaccount- 
able unless  regarded  as  an  inherited  instinct  from  shingle-haunting 
ancestors. 

About  thirty  species  all  apparently  referable  with  2:»ropriety  to 
the  genus  jEgialitis  have  been  described,  but  probably  so  many  do 
not  exist.  Some,  as  the  Kentish  Plover  above  named,  have  a  very 
extended  distribution,  for  that,  letting  alone  its  supposed  Ameri- 
can habitat,  certainly   occurs  in   greater  or  less  numbers   on   the 

coasts  of  China,  India  and  Africa 
generally.  On  the  other  hand 
there  is  one,  the  ^E.  sandx-hehnx, 
which  seems  to  be  restricted  to 
the  island  whence  it  takes  its 
scientific  name,  and  is  there  called 
the  "Wire-bird"  {This,  1873,  p. 
Thinornis.   (From  Buiier.)  '     260).     Nearly  allied  to  .:£'f7^a^^^/s 

are  two  genera  peculiar  to  the 
New-Zealand  Region — Thinornis,  which,  having  been  separated  on 
the  slightest  grounds,  does  not  call  for  any  particular  remark,  and 
the  extraordinary  Anarhynclms  (Wrybill). 

KILLIGREW,  an  old  name  for  the  CHOUGH. 

KING-BIRD  ^  is  the  epithet  almost  universally  applied  in  the 
United  States  to  the  best-knoAni  representative  of  the  Ti/rannidx, 
or    the   "  Tyrant    Flycatchers."      In   some   of    the   rural   districts, 

^  For  this  article  I  have  to  thank  tlie  well-known  American  ornithologist,  Dr. 
Shufeldt ;  but  I  have  to  add  that  more  than  one  species  of  Teen  is  called 
"  King-bird"  by  sailors,  and  the  name  may  be  often  met  with  in  the  narratives 
of  whaling  or  sealing  voyages  to  the  Southern  Ocean. — A.  N. 


KING-BIRD  483 


in  those  quarters  of  the  country  where  he  is  a  regular  migrant, 
he  is  familiarly  known  as  the  "  Bee-Martin,"  a  name  he  has 
earned  from  his  fondness  for  the  denizens  of  the  bee-hive.  It  is 
only  occasionally  that  naturalists  refer  to  him  as  the  Tyrant, 
while  to  ornithologists  generally  he  is  known  as  Tyrannus  carolinensis, 
belonging  to  the  group  of  songless  Passeres  called  Clajviatores. 
Some  recent  taxonomists,  including  the  present  writer,  however, 
are  inclined  to  regard  the  group  as  a  superfamily  of  the  Passeres, 
to  be  designated  the  Tyrannoidea}  Dr.  Coues  has  said  of  the 
Tyrannidx  that  "  Only  a  small  fragment  of  the  family  is  represented 
within  our  limits,  giving  but  a  vague  idea  of  the  numerous  and 
singularly  diversified  forms  abounding  in  tropical  America.  Some 
of  these  grade  so  closely  toward  other  families,  that  a  strict  defini- 
tion of  the  Tyrannidx  becomes  extremely  difficult ;  and  I  am  not 
prepared  to  off'er  a  satisfactory  diagnosis  of  the  whole  group " 
{Key  N.  Amer.  Birds,  ed.  2,  p.  428).  With  respect  to  our  United 
States  species,  however,  they  are  more  or  less  closely  affined,  and 
have  usually  been  all  restricted  to  subfamily  grouping — the 
Tyranninse.  Of  the  genus  Tyrannus,  to  which  the  King-bird  belongs, 
there  are  some  three  or  four  other  species  or  subspecies  inhabiting 
various  geogi'aphical  areas  in  the  United  States,  while  some  range 
southward  into  Mexico.  Other  North- American  genera  are  Milvulus, 
including  the  handsome  fork-tailed  Flycatchers ;  Pitangus,  the 
elegant  Derby  Flycatcher ;  Myiarchus,  the  Crested  Flycatchers  ;  the 
genera  Myiozetetes  and  Myiodynastes  are  also  represented,  as  well  as 
Sayornis  (Phcebe).  The  still  smaller  forms  are  abundantly  present  in 
the  genera  Contopus,  Empidonax,  Pyrocephalus  and  Ornithion.- 

Many  of  the  Tyrannidse  have  habits  in  common,  while  the 
King-birds  have  others  that  are  essentially  peculiar  to  the  genus. 
To  present  an  account  of  the  most  characteristic  of  these  we 
may  choose  the  eastern  form  as  an  example,  and  the  exti'aordinary 
behaviour  of  this  bird  during  the  entire  breeding  season  is  the 
most  remarkable  trait  to  be  noted.  From  the  very  day  the  building 
of  the  nest  is  first  started,  until  the  time  when  the  young  finally 
shift  for  themselves,  the  male  of  this  species  gives  constant  battle, 
without  discrimination,  to  every  bird  that  passes  within  range  of  his 

^  See  Dr.  Stejneger  in  The  Standard  Natural  History  and  elsewhere  ;  also 
Prof.  Cope  in  The  American  Naturalist  (Oct.  1889,  p.  873). 

^  For  the  comparative  osteology  of  several  of  the  genera  of  the  IST.  American 
Tyrannidse  see  the  present  writer's  "  Contributions  to  the  Comparative  Osteology 
•of  the  Families  of  North  American  Passeres "  {Journ.  Morpholog.  iii.  pp. 
81-112).  In  that  memoir  some  of  the  striking  resemblances  in  the  skulls  of 
certain  Laniidm,  and  Tyrannidse  are  set  forth,  which  are  quite  significant ;  while 
for  other  points  in  the  anatomy  of  these  birds  see  Macgillivray  in  Audubon's 
Orn.  Biography,  v.  pp.  421,  422,  and  also  the  classical  work  of  J.  Miiller 
{Ahhandl.  K.  Akad.   Wissensch.  Berlin,  1845,  pp.  321-495). 


484 


KING-BIRD 


sitting  mate  and  the  precious  contents  of  his  nest.  These  sallies  are 
almost  invai'iably  successful,  and.  Wilson  writes  that  "  Hawks  and 
crows,  the  Bald  Eagle,  and  the  great  Black  Eagle,  all  equally  dread 
a  rencontre  with  this  dauntless  little  champion,  who,  as  soon  as  he 
perceives  one  of  these  last  approaching,  launches  into  the  air  to  meet 
him,  mounts  to  a  considerable  height  above  him,  and  darts  down  on 
his  back,  sometimes  fixing  there  to  the  great  annoyance  of  his 
sovereign,  who,  if  no  convenient  retreat  or  resting  place  be  near, 


King-bird. 


endeavours  by  various  evolutions  to  rid  himself  of  his  merciless 
adversary.  But  the  King-bird  is  not  so  easily  dismounted.  He 
teases  the  Eagle  incessantly,  sweeps  upon  him  from  right  to  left, 
remounts,  that  he  may  descend  on  his  back  with  the  greater 
violence  ;  all  the  while  keeping  up  a  shrill  and  rapid  twittering ; 
and  continuing  the  attack  sometimes  for  more  than  a  mile,  till  he 
is  relieved  by  some  other  of  his  tribe  equally  eager  for  the  contest." 
Other  birds  meet  with  a  similar  fate,  but  the  Purple  Martin 
iProgne)  and  the  Red -headed  Woodpecker  are  exceptions,  the 
former  escaping  by  superior  flight,  the  latter  by  being  able  to 
dodge  the  little  tyrant  around  the  perch  where  he  has  taken 
refuge.     During  other   times  of   the   year   the   King-bird   entirely 


KINGFISHER  485 

loses  all  these  belligerent  habits,  and  becomes  comparatively  quite 
a  quiet  bird.  His  diet  seems  to  be  confined  entirely  to  various 
kinds  of  insects,  of  which  he  destroys  vast  quantities,  that  would 
otherwise  be  destructive  to  the  products  of  the  farm.^  Indeed,  he 
is  one  of  the  husbandman's  best  friends,  and  in  his  tastes  for  bees 
at  a  certain  season  of  the  year  it  is  not  yet  proven  to  the  contrary 
that  he  selects  only  the  drones  upon  which  to  regale  himself. 

In  appearance  the  King -bird  is  a  species  of  plain  plumage, 
and  the  sexes  are  nearly  alike.  Above  he  is  black,  most  intense 
on  the  crown,  where  we  also  find  a  semiconcealed,  longitudinal, 
median  dash  of  flame-coloured  feathers,  capable  of  erection,  as  a 
crest,  with  the  rest  of  the  capital  plumage.  Below  he  is  nearly 
white,  and  his  black  tail  is  strongly  tipped  with  the  same. 
Laterally,  the  white  of  the  breast  is  shaded  with  plumbeous,  and 
his  wings  are  dusky,  bordered  with  whitish.  He  has  a  peculiar 
wavering  flight,  something  after  the  manner  of  certain  small 
Hawks ;  while  song  he  has  none,  possessing  only  the  twittering- 
note  to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made,  and  which  at  times 
is  very  shrill,  being  heard  at  some  considerable  distance.  This 
bird  builds  a  large,  compact  nest  of  twigs,  lined  with  fine  grass, 
and  other  materials  interspersed  throughout,  as  tow  and  fine  roots. 
The  place  chosen  may  be  quite  conspicuous,  as  in  a  low  tree  near 
the  wayside,  or  without  regard  to  concealment  in  the  middle  of 
the  orchard,  as  in  an  apple-tree.  Usually  from  four  to  six,  the 
eggs  are  of  a  creamy  white,  boldly  dashed  with  elegant  blotches  of 
various  shades  of  brown,  which  chiefly  encircle  the  larger  end. 

It  may  with  great  truth  be  said,  then,  that  on  the  whole  the 
King-bird  is  not  only  an  interesting  and  handsome  species,  but 
thoroughly  deserving  of  our  protection  and  encouragement,  as  he 
is  likewise  useful  and  brave.  E.  W.  Shufeldt. 

KINGFISHER — Kmigsfischer,  Germ.-;  Eoi-pdheux  {=pkheur), 
Walloon — the  Alcedo  isjnda  of  ornithologists,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  well-known  of  European  birds,  being  found,  though 
nowhere  very  abundantly,  in  every  country  of  this  quarter  of  the 
globe,  as  well  as  in  North  Africa  and  South-Western  Asia  as  far  as 
Sindh.  Its  blue-green  back  and  rich  chestnut  breast  render  it  con- 
spicuous as  it  frequents  the  streams  and  ponds  whence  it  procures 
its  food,  by  plunging  almost  perpendicularly  into  the  water,  and 
emerging  a  moment  after  with  the  prey — whether  a  small  fish,  a 
crustacean,  or  an  aquatic  insect — it  has  captured.     In  hard  frosts 

^  Other  authorities  state  that  at  times  the  King-bird  is  very  fond  of  certain 
berries,  especiallj''  blackberries,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  personally  verify 
this. 

^  But  more  commonly  called  Eisvogel,  which  finds  its  counterpart  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Isern  or  Isen. 


486  KINGFISHER 

it  resorts  to  the  sea-shore,  but  a  severe  winter  is  sure  to  occasion  a 
great  mortality  in  the  species,  for  many  of  its  individuals  seem 
unable  to  reach  the  tidal  waters  where  only  in  such  a  season  they 
could  obtain  sustenance ;  and  to  this  cause  rather  than  any  other 
(though,  on  account  of  its  beauty  and  the  utility  of  its  feathers  in 
making  artificial  flies,  it. is  shot  and  netted  in  great  numbers)  is 
perhaps  to  be  ascribed  its  general  scarcity.  Very  early  in  the  year 
it  prepares  its  nest,  which  is  at  the  end  of  a  tunnel  bored  by  itself 
in  a  bank,  and  therein  the  six  or  eight  white,  glossy,  translucent 
eggs  are  laid,  sometimes  on  the  bare  soil,  but  often  on  the  fish- 
bones, which,  being  indigestible,  are  thrown  up  in  pellets  by  the 
birds  ;  and,  in  any  case,  before  incubation  is  completed  these  rejeda- 
menta  accumulate  so  as  to  form  a  pretty  cup-shaped  structure  that 
increases  in  bulk  after  the  young  are  hatched,  but,  mixed  with 
their  fluid  excretions  and  with  decajdng  fishes  brought  for  their 
support,  soon  becomes  a  dripping  foetid  mass. 

The  Kingfisher  is  the  subject  of  a  variety  of  legends  and  super- 
stitions, both  classical  and  mediaeval.  Of  the  latter  one  of  the 
most  curious  is  that  having  been  originally  a  plain  grey  bird  it 
acquired  its  present  bright  colours  by  flying  towards  the  sun  on  its 
liberation  from  Noah's  ark,  when  its  upper  surface  assumed  the  hue 
of  the  sky  above  it  and  its  lower  plumage  was  scorched  by  the  heat 
of  the  setting  orb  to  the  tint  it  now  bears. ^  More  than  this,  the 
Kingfisher  was  supposed  to  possess  many  virtues.  Its  dried  body 
would  avert  thunderbolts,  and  if  kept  in  a  wardrobe  would  preserve 
from  moths  the  woollen  stufis  therein  laid,  or  hung  by  a  thread  to 
the  ceiling  of  a  chamber  would  point  with  its  bill  to  the  quarter 
whence  the  wind  blew.  All  readers  of  Ovid  {Metam.  bk.  xi.)  know 
ho  \y  the  faithful  but  unfortunate  Ceyx  and  Alcyone  were  changed 
into  Kinorfishers — birds  which  bred  at  the  winter  solstice,  when 
through  the  influence  of  ^olus,  the  wind-god  and  father  of  the 
fond  wife,  all  gales  were  hushed  and  the  sea  calmed  so  that  their 
floating  nest  might  ride  uninjured  over  the  waves  during  the  seven 
proverlDial  "Halcyon  Days";  while  a  variant  or  further  develop- 
ment of  the  fable  assigned  to  the  Halcyon  itself  the  power  of 
quelling  storms.^ 

The  common  Kingfisher  of  Europe  is  the  representative  of  a 
Avell-marked  Family  of  birds,  the  Alcedinidx  or  Halcyonidse  of 
ornithologists,  which  is  considered  by  some  authorities  ^  to  be 
closely  related  to  the  Bucerotidse  (Hornbill)  ;  but  the  affinity  can 
scarcely  be  said  as  yet  to  be  proved ;  and  to  the  present  writer 

^  Eolland,  Faune  populaire  de  la  France,  ii.  p.  74. 

-  In  many  of  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  the  prevalent  Kingfisher  is  the 
object  of  much  veneration. 

s  Of.  Eyton,  Contrib.  Orn.  1850,  p.  80  ;  Wallace,  Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  2, 
xviii.  pp.  201,  205  ;  and  Huxley,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  467. 


KINGFISHER  487 


there  seems  to  be  at  least  some  ground  for  believing  that  a  nearer 
alliance  is  to  be  found  in  the  Galhilidx  (Jacamar),  Momotidai 
(Motmot),  Meropidx  (Bee-eater),  and  perhaps  some  other  Families 
— though  all  may  possibly  be  discovered  to  belong  to  one  and 
the  same  larger  group.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  present  Family 
forms  the  subject  of  a  work  by  Dr.  Sharpe,^  which,  though  wholly 
incomplete  as  regards  their  anatomy,^  is  certainly  one  of  the  best 
of  its  class,  and  reflects  infinite  credit  on  its  then  youthful  author, 
whose  treatment  of  his  subject  was  most  successful.  Herein  are 
described  12.5  species,  nearly  all  of  them  being  beautifully  figured 
by  Mr.  Keulemans,  and  that  number  may  be  taken  even  now  as 
approximately  correct ;  for,  while  the  validity  of  a  few  has  been 
denied,  nearly  as  many  have  since  been  made  known,  and  it  seems 
likely  that  two  or  three  more  described  by  older  writers  may  yet 
be  rediscovered.  These  125  species  Dr.  Sharpe  groups  in  19 
genera,  and  divides  into  2  subfamilies,  Alcedininai  and  Daceloninx,^ 
the  one  containing  5  and  the  other  1 4  genera,  the  largest  being  ■ 
Halcyon  with  36  species  ranging  from  Asia  Minor  to  Japan,  and.  from 


■^it--- 


ALCEDO.  (^ter  Swainson.)  Halcyon. 


the  Cape  Verd  Islands  to  New  Zealand.  With  the  then  existing 
materials  perhaps  no  better  arrangement  could  have  been  made, 
but  in  the  absence  of  anatomical  knowledge  it  is  certainly  not  to  be 
deemed  conclusive,  and  indeed  the  method  since  published  by 
Sundevall  {Tentamen,  pp.  95,  96)  diff"ers  from  it  not  inconsiderably, 
Here,  however,  it  will  be  convenient  to  follow  that  of  Dr.  Sharpe. 
Externally,  which  is  almost  all  we  can  at  present  say.  Kingfishers 
present  a  great  uniformity  of  structure.  One  of  their  most  remark- 
able features  is  the  feebleness  of  their  feet,  and  the  union  (Syndac-  C-Z^^/ivW*^ 
tylism)  of  the  third  and  fourth  digits  for  the  greater  part  of  their  ^  {J 
length  ;  while,  as  if  still  further  to  shew  the  comparatively  function- 
less  character  of  these  members,  in  two  of  the  genera,  Alcyone  and 

^  A  3£onograph  of  the  Alcedinidse  or  Family  of  the  Kingfishers,  by  R.  13. 
Sharpe,  4to.     London  :  1868-71. 

^  Some  important  anatomical  points  are  briefly  noticed  by  Prof.  Cunningham 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1870,  p.  280). 

'^  The  name  of  this  latter  subfamily  as  constituted  by  Dr.  Sharpe  would 
seem  to  be  more  correctly  Ccycinsc — the  genus  Ceyx,  founded  in  1801  by  Lace- 
pede,  being  the  oldest  included  in  it.  The  word  Dacelo,  invented  by  Leach  in 
1815,  is  simply  an  anagram  of  Alcedo,  and,  though  of  course  without  any 
etymological  meaning,  has  been  very  generally  adopted. 


488  KINGFISHER 


'  Geyx,  the  second  digit  is  aborted,  and  the  birds  have  but  three  toes. 
In  most  forms  the  bill  does  not  differ  much  from  that  of  the 
common  Alcedo  ispida,  but  in  Syma  its  edges  are  serrated,  while  in 
Carcineutes,  Dacelo,  and  Melidora  the  maxilla  is  prolonged,  becoming 
in  the  last  a  very  pronounced  hook.  Generally  the  wings  are  short 
and  rounded,  and  the  tail  is  in  many  forms  inconspicuous  ;  but  iii 
Tanysiptera,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  groups,  the  middle  pair  of 
feathers  is  greatly  elongated  and  spatulate,  while  this  genus 
possesses  only  ten  rectrices,  all  the  rest  having  twelve.  Sundevall 
relies  on  a  character  not  noticed  by  Dr.  Sharpe,  and  makes  its 
principal  divisions  depend  on  the  size  of  the  scapulars,  which  in 
one  form  a  mantle,  and  in  the  other  are  so  small  as  not  to  cover 
the  back.  The  Alcedinidse.  are  a  cosmopolitan  Family,  but  only  one 
genus,  Ceryle,  is  found  in  America,  and  that  extends  as  Avell  over  a 
great  part  of  the  Old  World,  though  not  into  the  Australian  Region, 
which  affords  by  far  the  greater  number  both  of  genera  and  species, 
having  no  fewer  than  10  of  the  former  and  59  of  the  latter  peculiar 
to  it.i 

In  habits  Kingfishers  display  considerable  diversity,  though  all, 
it  would  seem,  have  it  in  common  to  sit  at  times  motionless  on  the 
watch  for  their  prey,  and  on  its  appearance  to  dart  upon  it,  seize  it 
as  they  fly  or  dive,  and  return  to  a  perch  where  it  may  be  con- 
veniently swallowed.  But  some  species,  and  especially  that  which 
is  the  type  of  the  Family,  are  not  always  content  to  await  at  rest 
their  victim's  showing  itself.  They  Avill  hover  like  a  Hawk  over 
the  waters  that  conceal  it,  and,  in  the  manner  already  described, 
precipitate  themselves  upon  it.  This  is  particularly  the  way  with 
those  that  are  fishers  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name ;  but  no  incon- 
siderable number  live  almost  entirely  in  forests,  feeding  on  insects, 
while  reptiles  furnish  the  chief  sustenance  of  others.  The  last  is 
characteristic  of  at  least  one  Australian  form,  which  manages  to 
thrive  in  the  driest  districts  of  that  country,  where  not  a  drop  of 
water  is  to  be  found  for  miles,  and  the  air  is  at  times  heated  to  a 
degree  that  is  insupportable  by  most  animals.  The  limits  of  this 
article  forbid  an  entrance  upon  details  of  much  interest,  but  the 
Belted  Kingfisher  of  North  America,  Ceryle  alcymi,  is  too  character- 
istic a  bird  of  that  country  to  be  passed  in  silence,  though  its  habits 
greatly  resemble  those  of  the  European  species  before  described ; 
and  the  so-called  "Laughing  Jackass"  of  New  South  Wales  and 
South  Australia,  Dacelo  gigas — with  its  kindred  forms,  D.  leachi,  D. 
cervina,  and  B.  occidentalis,  from  other  parts  of  the  country — like- 
wise requires  special  notice.  Attention  must  also  be  called  to  the 
speculations  of  Dr.  Sharpe  {op.  cit.  pp.  xliv.-xlvii.)  on  the  genetic 
affinity  of  the  various  forms  of  Alcedinidx,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  hitherto  no  light  has  been  shed  by  palaeontologists  on  this 
^  Of.  Wallace,  Geogr.  Distr.  Animals,  ii.  p.  315. 


KING  HARRY— KITE  489 

interesting  subject,  for  the  only  fossil  referred  to  tlie  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Family  is  the  Haley ornis  ioliapicus  of  Sir  R  Owen 
{Br.  Foss.  Mamm.  and  Birds,  p.  554)  from  the  Eocene  of  Sheppey — 
the  very  specimen  said  to  have  been  previously  placed  by  Konig 
{Icon.  foss.  sectiles,  fig.  153)  in  the  genus  Larus  (FossiL-BiRDS,  p.  281). 

KING  HAERY,  a  local  name  for  the  Goldfinch. 

KINGLET,  see  Goldcrest. 

KIRR-MEW,  a  local  name  for  the  common  Tern,  the  first 
syllable  having  reference  to  its  cry. 

KITE,^  Anglo-Saxon  Cyta,  the  Falco  milvus  of  Linnaeus  and 
Milvus  idinus  of  modern  ornithologists,  once  perhaps  the  most 
familiar  Bird-of-Prey  in  Great  Britain,  and  now  one  of  the  rarest. 
Three  or  four  hundred  years  ago  foreigners  were  struck  with  its 
abundance  in  the  streets  of  London,  and  the  evidence  of  two  of 
them,  one  being  the  eminent  naturalist  Belon,  has  been  already 
given  (Extermination,  p,  226,  note  2).^  It  was  doubtless  the  scav- 
enger in  ordinary  of  that  and  other  large  towns  (as  a  kindred  species 
now  is  in  Eastern  lands),  except  where  its  place  was  taken  by  the 
Eaven ;  for  Sir  Thomas  Browne  wrote  {circa  1662)  of  the  latter  at 
Norwich — "in  good  plentie  about  the  citty  which  makes  so  few 
Kites  to  be  seen  hereabout."  Wolley  has  well  remarked  of  the 
modern  Londoners  that  few  "  who  see  the  paper  toys  hovering  over 
the  parks  in  fine  days  of  summer,  have  any  idea  that  the  bird  from 
which  they  derive  their  name  used  to  float  all  day  in  hot  weather 
high  over  the  heads  of  their  ancestors."  Even  at  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century  the 

"  Kites  that  swim  sublime 
In  still  repeated  circles,  screaming  loud," 

formed  a  feature  of  many  a  rural  landscape  in  England,  as  they  had 
done  in  the  days  of  Cowper.  But  an  evil  time  soon  came  upon  the 
species.  It  must  have  been  always  hated  by  the  henwife,  but  the 
resources  of  civilization  in  the  shape  of  the  gun  and  the  gin  were 
denied  to  her.  They  were,  however,  employed  with  fatal  zeal  by 
the  gamekeeper ;  for  the  Kite,  which  had  long  afforded  the  suprem- 
est  sport  to  the  falconer,  was  now  left  friendless,^  and  in  a  very 

^  Glead  or  Gled,  cognate  with  glide,  is  also  another  English  name. 

^  Its  abundance  was  almost  simultaneously  testified  by  Turner,  who  added 
that  it  was  so  rapacious  as  to  snatch  meat  from  the  hands  of  children  in  our 
towns  and  cities. 

^  George,  third  Earl  of  Orford,  died  in  1791,  and  Col.  Thornton,  who  with  him 
had  been  the  latest  follower  of  this  highest  branch  of  falconry,  broke  up  liis  hawk- 
ing establishment  not  many  years  after  {cf.  Lubbock,  Faun.  Norf.  ed.  2,  pp.  227- 
231).  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  pursuit  of  the  Kite  was  anywhere  reserved  to 
kings  or  privileged  persons,  but  the  taking  of  it  was  quite  beyond  the  powers  of  the 


490  KITE 

few  years  it  seems  to  have  been  exterminated  throughout  the 
greater  part  of  England,  certain  woods  in  Huntingdonshire  and 
Lincolnshii-e  and  in  the  Western  Midlands,  as  well  as  Wales, 
excepted.^  In  these  last  a  small  remnant  still  exists ;  but 
the  well-wishers  of  this  beautiful  species  are  naturally  chary  of 
giving  information  that  might  lead  to  its  further  persecution.  In 
Scotland  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  its  numbers  suffered 
much  diminution  until  about  1835  or  even  later,  when  the  system- 
atic destruction  of  "  vermin  "  on  so  many  moors  was  begun.  In 
that  kingdom,  however,  it  is  now  as  much  restricted  to  certain  dis- 
tricts as  in  England  or  Wales,  and  those  districts  it  would  be 
equally  inexpedient  to  indicate. 

The  Kite  is,  according  to  its  sex,  from  2.5  to  27  inches  in  length, 
about  one  half  of  which  is  made  up  by  its  deeply-forked  tail,  capable 
of  great  expansion,  and  therefore  a  powerful  rudder,  enabling  the 
bird  while  soaring  on  its  wide  wings,  more  than  5  feet  in  extent,  to 
direct  its  circling  course  with  scarcely  a  movement  that  is  apparent 
to  the  spectator  below.  Its  general  colour  is  pale  reddish-brown  or 
cinnamon,  the  head  being  greyish-white,  but  almost  each  feather 
has  the  shaft  dark.  The  tail-feathers  are  broad,  of  a  light  red, 
barred  with  deep  brown,  and  furnish  the  salmon-fisher  with  one  of 
the  choicest  materials  of  his  "  flies."  The  nest,  nearly  always  l)uilt 
in  the  crotch  of  a  large  tree,  is  formed  of  sticks  intermixed  with 
many  strange  substances  collected  as  chance  may  offer,  but  among 
them  rags  -  seem  always  to  have  a  place.  The  eggs,  three  or  four 
in  number,  are  of  a  dull  white,  spotted  and  blotched  with  several 
shades  of  brown,  and  often  lilac.     It  is  especially  mentioned  by  old 

ordinary  trained  Falcons,  and  in  older  days  practically  became  limited  to  those  of 
the  sovereign.  Hence  the  Kite  had  attached  to  it,  especially  in  France,  the  epithet 
of  "royal,"  which  has  still  survived  in  the  specific  appellation  of  regalis  applied 
to  it  by  many  ornithologists.  The  scandalous  work  of  Sir  Antony  Weldou 
{Court  and  Character  of  King  James,  p.  104)  bears  witness  to  the  excellence  of 
the  Kite  as  a  quarry  in  an  amusing  story  of  the  "British  Solomon,"  whose 
Master-Falconer,  Sir  Thomas  Monson,  being  determined  to  outdo  the  jierformance 
of  the  French  king's  falconer,  who,  when  sent  to  England  to  shew  sport,  ' '  could 
not  kill  one  Kite,  ours  being  more  magnanimous  than  the  French  Kite,"  at  last 
succeeded  after  an  outlay  of  £1000,  in  getting  a  cast  of  Hawks  that  took  nine 
Kites  running — "never  missed  one."  On  the  strength  of  this,  James  was 
induced  to  witness  a  flight  at  Royston,  "  but  the  Kite  went  to  such  a  mountee  as 
all  the  field  lost  sight  of  Kite  and  Hawke  and  all,  and  neither  Kite  nor  Hawke 
were  either  seen  or  heard  of  to  this  present." 

■^  One  most  fatal  way  of  destroying  Kites  is  described  in  the  curious  book  pub- 
lished in  1814  by  Col.  George  Hanger  addressed  To  all  Sportsmen  and  particu- 
larly to  Farmers  and  Gamekeepers  (p.  80). 

-  Thus  justifying  the  advice  of  Autolycus  ( Winter's  Tale,  act  iv.  sc.  3) — 
"When  the  Kite  builds,  look  to  lesser  linen" — very  necessary  no  doubt  to  the 
laundresses  of  former  days  when  the  bird  commonly  frequented  their  drying; 
grounds. 


KITE 


491 


authors  that  in  Great  Britain  the  Kite  was  resident  throughout  the 
year ;  whereas  on  the  Continent  it  is  one  of  the  most  regular  and 
marked  migrants,  stretching  its  wings  toward  the  south  in  autumn, 
wintering  in  Africa,  and  returning  in  spring  to  the  land  of  its 
birth. 

There  is  a  second  European  species,  not  distantly  related,  the 
Milvus  migrans  or  M.  ater  of  most  authors, ^  smaller  in  size,  with  a 
general  dull  blackish -])rown  plumage  and  a  less  forked  tail.  In 
some  districts  this  is  much  commoner  than  the  red  Kite,  and  on 
one  occasion  it  has  appeared  in  England.  Its  habits  are  very  like 
those  of  the  species  already  described,  but  it  seems  to  be  more 
addicted  to  fishing.  Nearly  allied  to  this  Black  Kite  are  the  M. 
mjijptius  of  Africa,  the  BL  govinda  (the  Pariah  Kite  of  India),  the 
M.  melanotis  of  Eastern  Asia,  and  the  M.  affiuis  and  M.  isurus ;  the 
last  is  by  some  authors  removed  to  another  genus  or  subgenus  as 
Lophoidinia,  and  is  peculiar  to  Australia,  while  M.  affinis  also  occurs 
in  Ceylon,  Burma  and  some  of  the  Malay  countries  as  well.  All 
these  may  be  considered  true  Kites,  while  those  next  to  be  mentioned 
are  more  aberrant  forms.  First  there  is  Haliastnr  containing  the 
well-known  Brahminy  Kite  of  Anglo-Indians,  H.  indus,  which  the 
late  Mr.  Gurney  retained  in  this  group,  though  it  seems  to  be  rather  a 


Haliastur. 


(After  Swainson.) 


Elanoides. 


fishing  Eagle.  Less  doubtful  is  the  place  of  Elamis,  the  type  of  which 
is  E.  cxrideiis,  a  beautiful  little  bird,  the  Black-winged  Kite  of  English 
authors,  that  comes  to  the  south  of  Europe  from  Africa,  and  has 
several  congeners — E.  axillaris  and  E.  scriptus  of  Australia  being 
most  worthy  of  notice.  An  extreme  development  of  this  form  is 
found  in  the  African  Nauclerus  ?iocouri,  as  well  as  in  Elanoides  furcatus, 
the  Swallow -tailed  Kite,  a  widely -ranging  bird  in  America,  and 
remarkable  for  its  length  of  wing  and  tail,  which  gives  it  a  marvel- 
lous power  of  flight,  and  serves  to  explain  the  unquestionable  fact 
of  its  having  twice  appeared  in  Great  Britain.  To  Elanus  also 
Idinia,   another    American    form,  is   allied,    though   perhaps    mere 

1  Dr.  Sharpe  (Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus.  i.  p.  322)  calls  it  M.  korschun  ;  but  the 
figure  of  S.  G.  Gmelin's  Accipikr  korschuv,  whence  the  name  is  taken,  unquestion- 
ably represents  the  Moor-Buzzaed,  Circus  seruginosus. 


492 


KITTIWAKE 


remotely,  and  it  is  represented  by  /.  mississippiensls,  the  Mississippi 
Kite,  which  is  by  some  considered  to  be  but  the  northern  race  of 


(After  Swainson.) 


Gampsonyx. 


the  Neotropical  Lphimhea.  Gampsonyx,  Eostrhamiis,  and  Cymindis,  all 
belonging  to  the  Neotropical  Region,  complete  the  series  of  forms 
that  seem  to  compose  the  subfamily  Milvinx,  though  there  may  be 
doubt  about  the  last,  and  some  systematists  would  thereto  add  the 
HoNEY-BuzzARDS,  "  Peruinse." 

KITTIWAKE,^  so  called  from  the  plaintive  cry  that  is  heard 
almost  incessantly  from  its  thronged  breeding-places,  to  visit  one  of 
which  is  among  the  greatest  delights  of  the  real  ornithologist — the 
Larus  r'lssa  and  L.  tridadylus,  the  Rissa  tridadyla  of  most  authors — 
the  smallest  of  the  strictly  marine  Gulls, ^  and  a  species  that  yet 
abounds  on  many  of  the  northern  parts  of  the  British  coasts,  where 
the  rocks  afford  it  a  home,  for  it  seems  never  to  breed  but  on  the 
side  of  a  clitf,  and  there  shelf-room  is  all  it  needs,  though  preference 
to  a  niche  that  is  overhung  may  sometimes  be  .noticed,  and  the 
entry  of  a  cave  is  almost  always  a  favourite  spot.  Space  is  here 
wanting  to  enter  into  particulars  of  these  resorts,  possessing  a  charm 
almost  indescribable  ;  but  notwithstanding  that,  they  were  for  a 
long  while,  and,  did  not  the  law  interpose,  again  would  be  scenes  of 
sickening  slaughter,  carried  on  at  first  for  "  sport,"  but  latterly,  and 
far  more  fatally,  to  obtain  "  plumes "  for  women's  dress.  The 
Kittiwake  among  other  distinguishing  characters  differs  from  all 
Gulls  in  that  its  hind  toe  (functionless  among  them)  is  generally 
reduced  to  a  mere  tubercle,  and  it  differs  from  the  other  marine 
Gulls  in  that  the  young  bear  for  the  first  year  a  dark  semi-collar  at 
the  base  of  the  neck,  dark  patches  on  the  wings  and  a  black  tip  to 
the  tail — markings  that  make  the  wearer  easily  recognizable.  In 
this  condition  they  are  very  generally  called  Tarrocks.  The  adults 
on  the  wing  very  closely  resemble  those  of  the  Common  Gull,  Larus 
catius,  but  under  favourable  circumstances  can  be  distinguished  by 

^  This  spelling  of  the  word,  -which  has  long  been  established,  seems  to  have 
been  first  published  by  Sibbald  in  1684  (Scot,  lllustr.  pars  2,  lib.  iii.  p.  26).  In 
Ray's  Itinerary  of  1671  it  appears  as  "  Cattiwike "  in  reference  to  the  Fame 
Islands.      It  might  just  as  well  be  written  "  Pick-me-up." 

"  Excepting  perhaps  Rhodostethia,  of  whose  breeding  habits  we  know  nothing. 


KITTY—KIWI 


493 


their  primaries  not  being  tipped  with  white.  The  species  occurs  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  breeding  in  great  numbers  in  Spitsbergen 
and  Greenland,  but  in  Baffin's  Sea  not  going  so  far  to  the  northward 
as  some  of  the  other  Gulls.  It  inhabits  also  the  North  Pacific,  and 
among  those  which  frequent  Bering's  Sea,  not  a  few  examples  have 
the  hind  toe  considerably  developed,  though  not  enough  to  be 
functional.  These  have  been  named  E.  hotzebuii,  but  cannot  be 
regarded  as  forming  a  good  species.  The  R.  brevirostris,  with  red 
legs  and  feet,  from  the  same  waters,  seems  to  be  distinct,  but 
whether  it  is  justifiably  placed  in  the  genus  is  another  matter. 

KITTY,  a  local  nickname  of  the  Wren. 

KIWI,  or  Kiwi-Kiwi,  the  Maori  name — first  apparently  intro- 
duced to  zoological  literature  by  Lesson  in  1828  (Mem.  d'Orn.  ii.  p. 
210,  or  Voy.  '  CoquilU,'  Zool.  p.  418),  and  now  very  generally  adopted 
in  English — of  one  of  the  most  characteristic  forms  of  New-Zealand 
birds,  the  Apteryx  of  scientific  writers.  This  remarkable  creature 
was  unknown  till  Shaw,  as  almost  his  latest  labour,  very  fairly 
described  and  figured  it  in  1813  [Nat.  Miscellany,  pis.  1057,  1058) 
from  a  specimen  brought  to  him  from  the  southern  coast  of  that 
country  by  Capt.  Barcley  of  the  ship  'Providence.'  At  Shaw's 
death,  in  the  same  year,  it  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  then 
Lord  Stanley,  afterwards  thirteenth  Lord  Derby,  and  is  now  Avith 
the  rest  of  his  collection  in  the  Liverpool  Museum.  Considering 
the  state  of  systematic  ornithology  at  the  time,  Shaw's  assignment 
of  a  position  to  this  new  and  strange  bird,  of  which  he  had  but  the 
skin,  does  him  great  credit,  for  he  said  it  seemed  "  to  approach  more 
nearly  to  the  Struthious  and  Gallinaceous  tribes  than  to  any  other  "  ' 
And  his  credit  is  still  greater  when  we  find  the  venerable  Latham, 
who  is  said  to  have  examined  the  specimen  with  Shaw,  placing  it 
some  years  later  among  the  Penguins  {Gen.  Hist.  B.  x.  p.  394),  being 
apparently  led  to  that  conclusion  through  its  functionless  wings  and 
the  backward  situation  of  its  legs.  In  this  false  allocation  Stephens 
also  in  1826  acquiesced  {Gen.  Zool.  xiii.  p.  70).  Meanwhile  in  1820 
Temminck,  who  had  never  seen  a  specimen,  assorted  it  with  the 
Dodo  in  an  Order  to  which  he  applied  the  name  of  Inertes  {Man. 
d'Orn.  i.  p.  cxiv.)  In  1831  Lesson,  who  had  previously  {locc.  citt.) 
made  some  blunders  about  it,^  placed  it  {TraiU  d'Orn.  p.  12),  though 
only,  as  he  says,  "  par  analogie  etd,  priori,"  in  his  first  division  of  Birds 
"  Oiseaux  Anomaux,"  which  is  equivalent  to  what  we  now  call  Ratitse, 
making  of  it  a  separate  Family  "Nullipennes."  At  that  time  no 
second  example  was  known,  and  some  doubt  was  felt  especially  on 

^  Before  Merrem  nearly  all  had  held  the  "Struthious"  birds  to  be  "Gallin- 
aceous," and  his  views  were  not  published  till  1813  (see  Introduction). 

-  iluch  may  be  forgiven  to  Lesson  for  declaring  that  the  sternum  of  Apteryx 
would  be  "  induhitablement  "  found  to  have  no  keel ! 


494 


KIWT 


the  Continent,  as  to  the  very  existence  of  such  a  bird  ^—though 
Lesson  had  himself  when  in  the  Bay  of  Islands  in  April  1824 
{Voy.  '  Coquille,'  ut  sup'd)  heard  of  it ;  ^  and  a  few  years  later  Dumont 
d'Urville  had  seen  its  skin,  which  the  naturalists  of  his  expedition 
procured,  worn  as  a  tippet  Ly  a  Maori  chief  at  Tolaga  Bay  (Houa- 
houa),^  and  in  1830  gave  what  proves  to  he  on  the  Avhole  very 
accurate  information  concerning  it  {Voy.  'Astrolabe,'  ii.  p.  107).  To 
put  all  suspicion  at  rest,  Lord  Derby  sent  his  unique  specimen  for 
exhibition  at  a  meeting  of  the  Zoological  Society,  12th  February 
1833  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1833,  p.  24),  and  a  few  months  later  {torn, 
cit.  p.  80)  Yarrell  communicated  to  that  body  a  complete  descrij)- 


NoRTHERN  Kiwi,  Apteryx  inantelli. 

tion  of  it  which  was  afterwards  published  in  full  with  an  excellent 
portrait  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  i.  p.  71,  pi.  10).  Hei'ein  the  systematic 
place  of  the  species,  as  akin  to  the  Struthious  birds,  was  placed 
beyond  cavil,  and  the  author  called  upon  all  interested  in  zoology 
to  aid  in  further  research  as  to  this  singular  form.  In  consequence 
■of  this  appeal  a  legless  skin  was  within  two  years  sent  to  the 
Society  (Pruc.  1835,  p.  61)  obtained  by  Mr.  "\V.  Yate  of  "Waimate, 
who  said  it  was  the  second  he  had  seen,  and  that  he  had  kept  the 


^  Cuvier  in  tlie  second  edition  of  lii.s  lltgnc  Animal  (1829)  only  referred  to 
it  in  a  footnote  (i.  p.  498). 

-  From  what  lie  says  in  liis  Voyage  atitour  du  Monde  (ii.  p.  348),  not  published 
till  1839,  he  evidently  only  knew  the  bird  by  Shaw's  description. 

^  Cruise  in  1822  [Journ.  Residence  in  Neiv  Zealand,  ji.  313)  had  spoken  of  an 
"Emeu"  found  in  tliat  island,  which  nnist  of  course  liave  been  an  Apteryx. 


KIWI  495 

bird  alive  for  nearly  a  fortnight,  while  in  less  than  another  two 
years  additional  information  {op.  cit.  1837,  p.  24)  came  from  Mr.  T. 
K.  Short  to  the  eftect  that  he  had  seen  two  living,  and  that  all  Yarrell 
had  said  was  substantially  correct,  except  underrating  its  progressive 
powers.  Not  long  afterwards  Lord  Derby  received  and  in  March 
1838  transmitted  to  the  same  Society  the  trunk  and  Adscera  of  an 
Apteryx,  which,  being  entrusted  to  Prof.  Owen,  furnished  him,  in 
conjunction  with  other  specimens  of  the  same  kind  received  from 
Drs.  Lyon  and  George  Bennett,  with  the  materials  of  the  masterly 
monograph  laid  before  the  Society  in  instalments,  and  ultimately 
printed  in  its  Transactions  (ii.  p.  257,  iii.  p.  277).  From  this  time 
the  whole  structure  of  the  Kiwi  has  certainly  been  far  better  known 
than  that  of  nearly  any  other  bird,  and  by  degrees  other  examples 
found  their  way  to  England,  some  of  Avhich  were  distributed  to  the 
various  museums  of  the  Continent  and  of  America.^ 

In  1847  much  interest  was  excited  by  the  reported  discovery 
of  another  species  of  the  genus  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1847,  p.  51),  and 
though  the  story  was  not  confirmed,  a  second  species  was  really  soon 
after  made  known  by  Gould  {torn.  cit.  p.  93  ;  Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  iii. 
p.  379,  pi.  57)  under  the  name  of  Apteryx  oweni — a  just  tribute  to 
the  great  master  who  had  so  minutely  explained  the  anatomy  of 
the  group.  Three  years  later  Mr.  Bartlett  drew  attention  to  the 
manifest  difference  existing  among  certain  examples,  all  of  which 
had  hitherto  been  regarded  as  specimens  of  A.  australis,  and  the 
examination  of  a  large  series  led  him  to  conclude  that  under  that 
name  two  distinct  species  were  confounded.  To  the  second  of 
these,  the  third  of  the  genus  (according  to  his  views)  he  gave  the 
name  of  A.  mantelli  {Proc.  1850,  p.  274),^  and  it  soon  turned  out 
that  to  this  new  form  the  majority  of  the  specimens  already 
obtained  belonged.  In  1851  the  first  Kiwi  known  to  have  reached 
Europe  alive  was  presented  to  the  Zoological  Society  by  Mr.  Eyre, 
then  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Zealand.      This  was  found  to 

^  lu  1842,  according  to  Broderip  (Penny  Cyclopsedia,  xxiii.  p.  146),  two 
skins  had  been  presented  to  the  Zoological  Society  by  the  New-Zealand  Com- 
pany, and  two  more  obtained  by  Lord  Derby,  one  of  which  he  had  given  to 
Gould.  In  1844  the  British  Museum  possessed  three,  and  the  sale  catalogue  of 
the  Rivoli  Collection,  which  passed  in  1846  to  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
at  Philadelphia,  included  a  single  specimen — probably  the  first  taken  to  America. 

-  For  a  wholly  insufficient  reason,  and  ignorant  of  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  Dr.  Sharpe  has  attempted,  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Wellington  Philosophical 
Society  for  1888  (p.  6),  to  abolish  this  name,  and  to  substitute  one  of  his  own 
conferring.  I  myself  can  testify  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Bartlett  gave  the  name  A. 
mantelli  to  the  foi-m  from  the  North  Island,  of  which  examples  were  then  com- 
paratively common  in  England,  leaving  the  name  A.  australis  to  that  of  the 
South  Island,  of  which  only  two  specimens  were  at  the  time  known.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  two  forms  was  at  that  time  as  clear  to  him  as  it  is  to  any  of  us 
now. 


496 


KIWI 


belong  to  the  newly  described  A.  mantelli,  and  some  careful  observa- 
tions on  its  habits  in  captivity  were  published  by  Wolley  and 
another  {Zoologist,  pp.  3409,  3605).^  Subsequently  the  Society 
has  received  several  other  live  examples  of  this  form,  besides  one  of 
the  real  A.  australis  (Froc.  1872,  p.  861),  some  of  A.  oweni,  and  one 
of  a  supposed  fourth  species,  A.  haasti,  characterized  in  1871  by  the 
late  Mr.  Potts  {Ibis,  1872,  p.  35  ;  Trans.  K  Zeal.  Inst.  iv.  p.  204, 
V.  p.  195).- 

The  Kiwis  form  a  group  of  the  Subclass  Ratit.^,  to  which  the 
rank  of  an  Order  has  been  fitly  assigned,  as  they  differ  in  many 
important  particulars  from  any  of  the  other  existing  forms  of  Ratite 
birds.  The  most  obvious  feature  the  Apteri/ges  afford  is  the  pres- 
ence of  a  back  toe,  while  the  extremely  aborted  condition  of  the 
wings,  the  position  of  the  nostrils — almost  at  the  tip  of  the  bill — 
and  the  absence  of  an  aftershaft  in  the  feathers,  are  characters 
nearly  as  manifest,  and  others  not  less  determinative  though  more 


Head  of  Aptervx.    (From  BuUer.) 

recondite  will  be  found  on  examination.  The  Kiwis  are  peculiar 
to  New  Zealand,  and  it  is  believed  that  A.  mantelli  is  the  repre- 
sentative in  the  North  Island  of  the  southern  A.  australis,  both 
being  of  a  dark  reddish-brown,  longitudinally  striped  with  light 
yellowish-brown,  Avhile  A.  oweni,  of  a  light  greyish  brown  trans- 
versely barred  with  black,  is  said  to  occur  in  both  islands.  About 
the  size  of  a  large  domestic  Fowl,  they  are  birds  of  nocturnal 
habit,  sleeping,  or  at  least  inactive,  by  day,  feeding  mostly  on  earth- 
worms, but  occasionally  swallowing  berries,  though  in  captivity 
they  will  eat  flesh  suitably  minced.  Sir  W.  Buller  writes  [B.  Neio 
Zeal.  p.  3G2  ;  ed.  2,  ii.  p.  313) : — 

^  This  bh'd  in  1859  laid  an  egg,  and  afterwards  continued  to  lay  one  or  two  more 
every  year.  In  1865  a  male  of  tlie  same  species  was  introduced,  but  though  a 
strong  disposition  to  breed  was  shewn  on  the  part  of  both,  and  the  eggs,  after 
the  custom  of  the  Puititm,  were  incubated  by  him,  no  progeny  M'as  hatched  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1868,  p.  329). 

^  A  fine  series  of  figures  of  all  these  supposed  species  is  given  by  Rowley 
{Oim.  Misccll.  i.  pis.  1-6).  Some  others,  as  A.  maxima  (from  Stewart  Island), 
A.  haasti,  A.  mollis  and  A.  fusca,  have  also  been  indicated,  but  proof  of  their 
validity  has  yet  to  be  adduced. 


KIWI  497 

"  The  Kiwi  is  in  some  measure  compensated  for  the  absence  of 
wings  by  its  swiftness  of  foot.  When  running  it  makes  wide 
strides  and  carries  the  body  in  an  oblique  position,  with  the  neck 
stretched  to  its  full  extent  and  inclined  forwards.  In  the  twilight 
it  moves  about  cautiously  and  as  noiselessly  as  a  rat,  to  which,  indeed, 
at  this  time  it  bears  some  outward  resemblance.  In  a  quiescent 
posture,  the  body  generally  assumes  a  perfectly  rotund  appearance  ; 
and  it  sometimes,  but  only  rarely,  supports  itself  by  resting  the  point 
of  its  bill  on  the  ground.  It  often  yawns  when  disturbed  in  the 
daytime,  gaping  its  mandibles  in  a  very  grotesque  manner.  When 
provoked  it  erects  the  body,  and,  raising  the  foot  to  the  breast, 
strikes  downwards  with  considerable  force  and  rapidity,  thus  using  its 
sharp  and  powerful  claws  as  weapons  of  defence.  .  .  .  While  hunt- 
ing for  its  food  the  bird  makes  a  continual  sniffing  sound  through  the 
nostrils,  which  are  placed  at  the  extremity  of  the  upper  mandible. 
Whether  it  is  guided  as  much  by  touch  as  by  smell  I  cannot  safely 
say ;  but  it  appears  to  me  that  both  senses  are  used  in  the  action. 
That  the  sense  of  touch  is  highly  developed  seems  quite  certain, 
because  the  bird,  although  it  may  not  be  audibly  sniffing,  will 
always  first  touch  an  object  with  the  point  of  its  bill,  whether  in 
the  act  of  feeding  or  of  surveying  the  ground  ;  and  when  shut  up 
in  a  cage  or  confined  in  a  room  it  may  be  heard,  all  through  the  night, 
tapping  softly  at  the  walls.  ...  It  is  interesting  to  watch  the 
bird,  in  a  state  of  freedom,  foraging  for  worms,  which  constitute 
its  principal  food  :  it  moves  about  with  a  slow  action  of  the  body ; 
and  the  long,  flexible  bill  is  driven  into  the  soft  ground,  generally 
home  to  the  very  root,  and  is  either  immediately  withdrawn  with  a 
worm  held  at  the  extreme  tip  of  the  mandibles,  or  it  is  gently 
moved  to  and  fro,  by  an  action  of  the  head  and  neck,  the  body  of  the 
bird  being  perfectly  steady.  It  is  amusing  to  observe  the  extreme 
care  and  deliberation  with  which  the  bird  draws  the  worm  from  its 
hiding-place,  coaxing  it  out  as  it  were  by  degrees,  instead  of  pulling 
roughly  or  breaking  it.  On  getting  the  worm  fairly  out  of  the 
ground,  it  throws  up  its  head  with  a  jerk,  and  swallows  it  whole." 

The  foregoing  extract  refers  to  A.  mantelli,  but  there  is  little 
doubt  of  the  remarks  being  equally  applicable  to  A.  australis,  and 
probably  also  to  A.  oweni,  though  the  different  proportion  of  the 
bill  in  the  last  points  to  some  diversity  in  the  mode  of  feeding. 
Did  space  allow  much  more  should  be  said  of  the  Kiwis — perhaps 
to  ornithologists  the  most  interesting  group  of  birds  now  existing, 
and  the  more  interesting  in  regard  to  the  melancholy  doom  of 
extinction  which  almost  inevitably  awaits  them ;  but  there  is  some 
consolation  in  the  thought  that  their  anatomy  and  development 
have  been  admirably  studied  and  described  in  the  light  of  existing 
scientific  methods  by  Prof.  T.  Jeff'rey  Parker  (Phil.  Trans.  1891, 
pp.  25-134,  pis.  3-19  ;  1892,  pp.  73-84,  pis.  7,  8). 

32 


498  KNEE— KNOT 


KNEE,  a  term  commonly  misapplied  by  many  ornithological 
writers  to  the  intertarsal  (often  called  tibio-tarsal)  joint,  hence  the 
absurd  name  of  Thick-KNEE;  but  correctly  used  as  in  Mammals  for 
the  femoro-tibial  joint,  which  is  not  usually  visible  in  the  living 
Bird,  owing  to  the  shortness  of  the  thigh  and  its  being  hidden 
by  the  flank-feathers. 

KNORHAAN  (Scolding  Cock),  the  colonial  name  in  South  Africa 
for  several  species  of  Bustard,  of  the  genus  Ewpodotis  and  especially 
E.  afra. 

KNOT,  a  Limicoline  bird  very  abundant  at  certain  seasons  on 
the  shores  of  Britain  and  many  countries  of  the  northern  hemisphere. 
Camden  in  the  edition  of  his  Britannia  published  in  1607  (p.  408) 
inserted  a  passage  not  found  in  the  earlier  issues  of  that  work, 
connecting  the  name  with  that  of  King  Canute,  and  this  account  of 
its  origin  has  been  usually  received.  But  no  other  evidence  in  its 
favour  is  forthcoming,  and  Camden's  statement  is  merely  the  expres- 
sion of  an  opinion,^  so  that  there  is  perhaps  ground  for  believing 
him  to  have  been  mistaken,  and  that  the  clue  afforded  by  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  who  (circa  1672)  wrote  the  name  "Gnatts  or 
Knots,"  may  be  the  true  one.^  Still  the  statement  was  so  positively 
repeated  by  successive  authors  that  Linnaeus  followed  them  in  calling 
the  species  Tringa  canutus,  and  so  it  remains  with  nearly  all  modern 
ornithologists.^  Rather  larger  than  a  Snipe,  but  with  a  short  bill  and 
legs,  the  Knot  visits  the  coasts  of  some  parts  of  Europe,  Asia  and 
North  America  at  times  in  vast  flocks ;  and,  though  in  temperate 
climates  a  good  many  remain  throughout  the  "winter,  these  are  nothing 
compared  with  the  numbers  that  arrive  towards  the  end  of  spring,  in 
England  generally  about  the  15th  of  May,  and  after  staying  a  few 
days  pass  northward  to  their  summer  quarters,  while  early  in  autumn 
the  young  of  the  year  throng  to  the  same  places  in  still  greater 
plenty,  being  followed  a  little  later  by  their  parents.     In  Avinter  the 

^  His  words  are  simply  "  Knotts,  i.  Canuti  aues,  vt  opinor  e  Dania  enim 
aduolare  creduntur."  In  the  margin  the  name  is  spelt  "  Cnotts,"  and  he  possibly- 
thought  it  had  to  do  with  a  well-known  story  of  that  king.  Knots  undoubtedly 
frequent  the  sea-shore,  where  Canute  is  said  on  one  occasion  to  have  taken  up  his 
station,  but  they  generally  retreat,  and  that  nimbly,  before  the  advancing  surf, 
which  he  is  said  in  the  story  not  to  have  done. 

^  In  this  connexion  we  may  compare  the  French  maringouin,  ordinarily  a  gnat 
or  mosquito,  but  also,  among  the  French  Creoles  of  America,  a  small  shore-bird, 
either  a  Tringa  or  an  ^-Egialitis,  according  to  Descourtilz  {Voyage,  ii.  p.  249). 
See  also  Littre's  Dictionnaire,  suh  voce. 

^  There  are  few  of  the  Limicolae,  to  which  group  the  Knot  belongs,  that 
present  greater  changes  of  plumage  according  to  age  or  season,  and  hence  before 
these  phases  were  understood  the  species  became  encimibered  with  many  synonyms, 
as  Tringa  cincrea,  ferruginea,  grisea,  islandica,  nxvia,  and  so  forth.  The  confusion 
thus  caused  was  maialy  cleared  away  by  Montagu  and  Temminck. 


KOEL  499 

plumage  is  ashy-grey  above  (save  the  rump,  which  is  white)  and 
white  beneath.  In  summer  the  feathers  of  the  back  are  black, 
broadly  margined  with  light  orange-red,  mixed  with  white,  those  of 
the  rump  white,  more  or  less  tinged  with  red,  and  the  lower  parts 
are  of  a  nearly  uniform  deep  bay  or  chestnut.  The  birds  which 
winter  in  temperate  climates  seldom  attain  the  brilliancy  of  colour 
exhibited  by  those  which  arrive  from  the  south ;  the  luxuriance 
generated  by  the  heat  of  a  tropical  sun  seems  needed  to  develop  the 
full  richness  of  hue.  The  young  when  they  come  from  their  birth- 
place are  clothed  in  ashy-grey  above,  each  feather  banded  Avith  dull 
black  and  ochreous,  while  the  breast  is  more  or  less  deeply  tinged 
with  warm  buff'.  Much  curiosity  has  long  existed  among  zoologists 
as  to  the  egg  of  the  Knot,  of  which  not  a  single  identified  or 
authenticated  specimen  is  known  to  exist  in  collections.  Yet  more 
than  sixty  years  ago  the  species  was  found  breeding  abundantly  on  the 
North  Georgian  (now  commonly  called  the  Parry)  Islands  by  Parry's 
memorable  expedition,  as  well  as  soon  after  on  Melville  Peninsula 
by  Capt.  Lyons,  and  again,  during  the  voyage  of  Sir  George  Nares, 
on  the  northern  coast  of  Grinnell  Land  and  the  shores  of  Smith 
Sound,  where  Col.  Feilden  obtained  examples  of  the  newly-hatched 
young  {Ihis,  1877,  p.  407),  and  observed  that  the  parents  fed  largely 
on  the  buds  of  Saxifraga  oppositifolia.  Gen.  Greely  subsequently 
found  that  Knots  bred  in  small  numbers  near  Discovery  Harbour, 
on  the  northern  shore  of  Lady  Franklin  Bay,  and  obtained  from  the 
ovary  of  an  example  shot  there  "  a  completely  formed  hard-shelled 
egg  ready  to  be  laid"  {Three  Years  of  Arctic  Service,  ii.  p.  377) — a 
specimen,  however,  which  had  to  be  abandoned  in  the  dire  distress 
to  which  he  and  his  comrades  were  subjected.  These  are  the  only 
localities  in  which  this  species  is  known  to  breed,  for  on  none  of  the 
arctic  lands  lying  to  the  north  of  Europe  or  Asia  has  it  been 
unquestionably  observed.^  In  winter  its  wanderings  are  very 
extensive,  as  it  is  recorded  from  Surinam,  Brazil,  Walvisch  Bay  in 
South  Africa,  China,  Queensland  and  New  Zealand.  Formerly 
this  species  was  extensively  netted  in  England,  and  the  birds  fattened 
for  the  table,  where  they  were  esteemed  a  great  delicacy,  as  witness 
the  entries  in  the  Northumberland  and  Le  Strange  Household  Books  ; 
and  the  British  Museum  contains  an  old  treatise  on  the  subject — 
"  The  maner  of  kepyng  of  knotts,  after  Sir  William  Askew  and  my 
Lady,  given  to  my  Lord  Darcy,  25  Hen.  VIIL"  {AISS.  Sloane,  1592, 
8  cat.  663). 

KOEL,  the  Hindi  name  of  a  well-known  Indian  CuCKOW,  the 
use  of  which  has  been  extended  to  other  allied  species  forming  the 

^  The  Tringa  canutus  of  Payer's  expedition  seems  more  likely  to  have  been 
T.  maritima,  which  species  is  not  named  among  the  birds  of  Franz  Josef  Land, 
though  it  can  hardly  fail  to  occur  there. 


500  '    KRAAI—LAMMERGEYER 

genus  Eudynaniis,  a  peculiarity  of  which  is  that  the  adult  males  have 
a  uniform  glossy  black  plumage  while  the  females  and  young  present 
a  very  different  aspect,  being  of  some  brownish  tint,  variously 
mottled,  barred  or  spotted.  Hence  in  several  Indian  languages  the 
two  sexes  bear  different  names.  The  true  Koel  was  long  thought 
to  be  the  Cuculus  orientaUs  of  Linnaeus,  but  the  late  Lord  Tweeddale 
shewed  (Ibis,  1869,  p.  338)  that  that  name  applied  to  a  cognate 
form,  and  it  has  since  been  used  for  the  species  of  the  Moluccas 
(Salvadori,  Ornitol.  Fapuas.i.  p.  359),  and  the  Indian  bird,  which  also 
inhabits  Ceylon,  and  stretches  across  Burma  to  China  (where  it  has 
been  called  E.  maculata)  and  the  Malay  Archipelago  to  Timor,  is  now 
recognized  as  Eudynamis  honorata  or  nigra — the  latter  epithet  being 
especially  suited  to  the  male.  Australia  and  New  Guinea  produce 
another  species,  E.  cyanocephala  or  fiindersi,  and  some  three  more 
inhabit  other  eastern  localities.  The  Koel  is  parasitic,  the  hens 
laying  their  eggs  in  Crows'  nests  (Hume,  Nest  &  Eggs  Ind.  B.  ed.  2, 
ii.  p.  392). 

KRAAI,    Dutch    for    Crow,    applied    to    several    species    in 
South  Africa. 


LADY-FOWL  said  to  be  a  name  of  the  Wigeon. 

LAMMEEGEYER  {i.e.  Lamb -Vulture),  or  Bearded  Vulture, 
the  Falco  harhatus  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Gypaetus  harhatus  of  modern 
ornithologists,  one  of  the  grandest  Birds-of-Prey  of  the  Old  World 
— inhabiting  lofty  mountain  chains  from  Portugal  to  the  borders  of 
China,  though  within  historic  times,  if  not  within  living  memory, 
it  has  been  exterminated  from  several  of  its  ancient  haunts.  Its 
northern  range  in  Europe  does  not  seem  to  have  extended  further 
than  the  southern  frontier  of  Bavaria,  or  the  neighbourhood  of 
Salzburg ;  but  in  Asia  it  formerly  reached  a  higher  latitude,  having 
been  found  even  so  lately  as  1830  in  Dauuria  (Extermination,  p. 
227,  note  1),  where  according  to  Dr.  Radde  (Beitr.  Kenntn.  Buss. 
Beichs,  xxiii.  p.  467)  it  has  now  left  but  its  name.  It  is  not 
uncommon  on  many  parts  of  the  Himalayas,  where  it  breeds,  and 
on  the  mountains  of  Kumaon  and  the  Punjab,  and  is  the  "  Golden 
Eagle"  of  most  Anglo-Indians.  Returning  westward,  it  is  found 
also  in  Persia,  Palestine,  Crete,  and  Greece,  the  Italian  Alps,  Sicily, 
Sardinia  and  Mauritania ;  but  can  scarcely  be  said  to  exist  any 
longer  in  Carinthia  ^  or  in  Switzerland.^ 

^  Cf.  Keller,  Jahrb.  nat.-Mst.  Landesmus.  Klagenfurt,  1886,  pp.  285-292. 
2  Dr.  Girtaiiner  has  a  valuable  paper  on  this  bird  in  Switzerland  (Verhandl. 


LAMMERGEYER  501 


In  some  extei'nal  characters  the  Lammergeyer  is  obviously 
intermediate  between  the  Families  Vultiiridse  and  Falconidm,  and  the 
opinion  of  systematists  has  from  time  to  time  varied  as  to  its 
proper  position ;  but  as  this  ought  to  depend  on  the  decision  of 
anatomists,  who  have  not  yet  delivered  their  verdict,  it  must  be 
still  left  in  doubt ;  and  there  would  be  little  advantage  in  recounting 
how  one  author  has  referred  it  to  the  former  group  and  another  to 
the  latter,  since  nobody  seems  to  have  applied  the  only  sure  test — 
that  afforded  by  characters  which  are  not  superficial.^  It  Avill 
suffice  to  say  that  most  writers  have  deemed  its  Vulturine  affinity 
the  strongest  (relying  apparently  on  the  form  of  the  beak,  which 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  either  Aquiline  or  Falconine),  in  spite  of 
its  well-feathered  head  and  tarsi.  The  whole  length  of  the  bird  is 
from  43  to  46  inches,  of  which,  however,  about  20  are  due  to  the 
long  cuneiform  tail,  while  the  pointed  wings  measure  more  than  30 
inches  from  the  carpal  joint  to  the  tip.  The  coloration  of  the 
plumage  is  very  peculiar  ;  the  top  of  the  head  is  w'hite,  bounded  by 
black,  which,  beginning  in  stiff  bristly  feathers  turned  forwards 
over  the  base  of  the  beak,  proceeds  on  either  side  of  the  face  in  a 
w^ell-defined  band  to  the  eye,  where  it  bifurcates  into  two  narrow 
stripes,  of  which  the  upper  one  passes  above  and  beyond  that 
feature  till  just  in  front  of  the  scalp  it  suddenly  turns  upwards 
across  the  head  and  meets  the  corresponding  stripe  from  the 
opposite  side,  enclosing  the  white  forehead  already  mentioned, 
while  the  lower  stripe  extends  beneath  the  eye  about  as  far  back- 
wards and  then  suddenly  stops.  A  tuft  of 
black,  bristly  feathers  projects  beardlike  from 
the  base  of  the  mandible,  and  gives  the  bird 
one  of  its  commonest  epithets  in  many  lan- 
guages, as  Avell  as  an  appearance  almost  unique  lammergeyer. 
among  the  Avhole  Class  Aves.  The  rest  of  the  (^^er  swainson.) 
head,  the  neck,  throat,  and  lower  parts  generally  are  clothed  with 
lanceolate  feathers  of  a  pale  tawny  colour — sometimes  so  pale 
as  to  be  nearly  white  beneath ;  "^  while   the   scapulars,   back,  and 

St.-Gall.  naturw.  Gesellschaft,  1869-70,  pp.  147-244).  The  last  killed,  by  poison, 
•was  near  Viege  in  the  Canton  Valais  in  February  1S86,  since  when  very  few  have 
been  seen,  but  it  is  possible  that  it  may  yet  exist  in  the  Haute  Engadine.  See 
the  mournful  but  interesting  account  by  MM.  Fatio  and  Studer,  CatJ,Ois.  de  la 
Suisse,  pp.  25-46  (Geneve :  1889),  and  their  more  recent  Cat.  distrib.  Ois.  de  la 
Suisse,  p.  7  (Geneve  :  1892). 

^  Prof.  Huxley's  labours  \mfortunately  were  not  directed  to  this  particular 
point,  and  therefore  throw  little  or  no  light  on  it.  He  puts  the  Vulturidae  and 
Falconidm  together  under  the  name  of  Gypactidas,  very  properly  separating  from 
them  the  American  Vultures  as  Cathartidse,  of  which  the  right  name  is 
Sarcorhamplddx. 

-  Meves  {Ofvcrs.  Vet.  Ahad.  Forhandl.  1860,  p.  487)  asserts  that  in  some 
cases,  as  proved  by  chemical  tests,  the  red  colouring  is  due  to  a  superficial  deposit 


502  LAMMERGEYER 


wing-coverts  generally,  are  of  a  glossy  greyish-black,  most  of  the 
feathers  having  a  white  shaft  and  a  median  tawny  line.  The 
quill-feathers,  both  of  the  wings  and  tail,  are  of  a  dark  blacldsh- 
grey.  The  irides  are  of  a  light  orange,  and  the  sclerotic  tunics, — 
equivalent  to  the  "  white  of  the  eye  "  in  most  animals, — which  in 
few  birds  are  visible,  are  in  this  very  conspicuous  and  of  a  deep 
crimson,  giving  it  an  air  of  great  ferocity.  In  the  young  of  the 
year  the  whole  head,  neck,  and  throat  are  clothed  in  dull  black, 
and  most  of  the  feathers  of  the  mantle  and  wing-coverts  are  broadly 
tipped  and  mesially  streaked  with  tawny  or  lightish  grey. 

The  Lammergeyer  breeds  early  in  the  year.  The  nest  is  of 
large  size,  built  of  sticks,  lined  with  soft  material,  and  placed  on  a 
ledge  of  rock — a  spot  being  chosen,  and  often  occupied  for  many 
years,  which  is  nearly  always  difficult  of  access,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  quite  inaccessible,  to  man,  from  the  precipitous  or 
overhanging  configuration  of  the  cliffs.  Here  in  the  month  ot 
February  a  single  egg  is  usually  laid.  This  is  more  than  3  inches 
in  length  by  nearly  2|  in  breadth,  of  a  pale  but  lively  brownish- 
orange.  The  young  when  in  the  nest  are  clad  in  down  of  a  dirty 
white,  varied  with  grey  on  the  head  and  neck,  and  "with  ochraceous 
in  the  iliac  region.  How  long  the  eggs  take  in  hatching,  or 
how  long  the  young  remain  nestlings,  seems  to  be  unknown. 
Equally  unknown  is  the  length  of  time  that  elapses  before  the  latter 
assume  the  adult  plumage,  but  it  is  probable  that  this  period  must 
at  least  exceed  a  tweh'^emonth. 

There  is  much  discrepancy  as  to  the  ordinary  food  of  the 
Lammergeyer,  some  observers  maintaining  that  it  lives  almost 
entirely  on  carrion,  ofFal,  and  the  most  disgusting  garbage ;  but 
there  is  no  question  of  its  frequently  taking  living  prey,  and  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  bird,  like  so  many  others,  is  not 
everywhere  uniform  in  its  habits.  Its  very  name  shews  it  to  be  the 
reputed  enemy  of  shepherds,  and  it  is  in  some  measure  owing  to  their 
hostility  that  it  has  been  extirpated  in  so  many  parts  of  its 
European  range.  Its  usual  mode  of  proceeding  is  said  to  be  by 
suddenly  rushing  at  the  animal,  especially  if  it  be  young,  when  in 
a  somewhat  dangerous  position,  so  startling  it  as  to  make  it  lose  its 
foothold  and  fall  down  the  precipice.^     But  the  Lammei^geyer  has 

of  oxide  of  iron  on  the  feathers,  and  that  the  colouring-matter  on  the  eggs  (to  be 
presently  described)  also  arises  from  the  same  cause.  This  opinion  has,  however, 
been  denied  by  several  other  naturalists,  though  none  of  them  seem  to  have 
tried  the  experiment ;  while  Mr.  Hume,  who  has  {Scrap  Book,  p.  46),  confirms 
Meves's  statement.  In  confinement,  moreover,  the  bird  has  been  observed 
always  to  lose  or  not  to  acquire  its  tawny  tint. 

^  Stories  are  told  of  its  attacking  human  beings  under  such  circumstances, 
and  the  present  writer  is  not  disinclined  to  believe  that  some  of  such  stories  may 
be  true,  though  he  is  unable  to  refer  to  any  that  rest  on  testimony  sufficient  to 
dispel  all  doubt. 


LAMELLIROSTRES—LANNER 


503 


also  a  great  partiality  for  bones,  which  when  small  enough  it 
swallows  and  slowly  digests.  When  they  are  too  large,  it  is  said 
to  soar  with  them  to  a  great  height  and  drop  them  on  a  rock  or 
stone  that  they  may  be  broken  into  pieces  of  convenient  size. 
Hence  its  name  Ossifrage,^  by  which  the  Hebrew  Peres  is  rightly 
translated  in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible  (Lev.  xi.  13; 
Deut.  xiv.  12) — a  word  corrupted  into  Osprey  and  misapplied  to 
a  bird  which  has  no  habit  of  the  kind. 

The  Liimmergeyer  of  north-eastern  and  south  Africa  is  deemed 
by  systematists  to  be  specifically  distinct,  and  is  known  as  Gypaetus 
meridionalis  or  G.  midipes.  In  habits  it  seems  closely  to  resemble  the 
northern  bird,  from  which  it  differs  in  little  more  than  wanting  the 
black  stripe  below  the  eye  and  having  the  lower  part  of  the  tarsus 
bare  of  feathers.  It  is  the  "  Golden  Eagle  "  of  Bruce's  Travels,  and 
has  been  beautifully  figured  by  Mr.  Wolf  in  Riippell's  Syst.  Uehers. 
der  Vogel  Nord-Ost-Afrika's  (Taf.  1). 

LAMELLIROSTRES,  Cuvier's  name  in  1817  2  {Rhgne  Anim. 
i.  p.  527)  for  the  group  composed  of  the  Linnsean  genera  Anas 
(Duck)  and  Mergus  (Merganser),  the  Anatidx  of  modern 
ornithologists. 

LANNER  (Fr.  Lanier,  Lat.  Laniarius,  from  laniare  to  dissever  ^), 
a  species  of  Falcon  about  which  great  confusion  or  ignorance 
existed  for  many  years.  The  older  writers  on  Falconry,  to  say 
nothing  of  so  good  a  naturalist  as  Belon,  were  well  acquainted  with 
it;  but,  as  the  sport  fell  into  disuse,  knowledge  of  the  different 
kinds  of  birds  therein  employed  was  gradually  obscured  and  lost,  so 
that  the  Falco  lanarius  of  Linnjeus  (and  therefore  of  precise  scientific 
nomenclature),  whatever  it  may  have  been,*  was,  as  he  in  1761 
admitted  {Fauna  Suec.  ed.  2,  p.  22)  "distinctissimus  a  Lanario  Italico," 
and  therefore  certainly  not  the  Lanner,  Lanier,  or  Lanarius  of 
falconers.  In  the  same  way  doubt  may  exist  as  to  the  "  Lanner  "  of 
some  old  English  authors,  though  it  is  not  to  be  questioned  that 
true  Lanners  were  brought  to  England  and  used  for  Falconry. 
Schlegel  has  the  credit  of  having  restored  the  ancient  Lanner  to  a 

^  Among  other  crimes  attributed  to  the  species  is  that,  according  to  Pliny 
{Hist.  Nat.  lib.  x.  cap.  3),  of  having  caused  the  death  of  the  poet  iEschylus,  by- 
dropping  a  tortoise  ou  his  bald  head,  mistaking  it  for  a  stone  !  In  the  Atlas 
range  this  bird  is  said  to  |)rey  chiefly  on  the  Testudo  mauritanica,  which  "it 
carries  to  some  lieight  in  the  air,  and  lets  fall  on  a  stone  to  break  the  shell "  {Ibis, 
1859,  p.  177).     It  seems  to  be  the  iLpir-q  and  4>y]vrt  of  Greek  classical  writers. 

^  In  1805  he  {Lee.  d'Anat.  comp.  tabl.  2)  had  called  this  group  Serrirostres ; 
but  whether  the  word  was  intended  as  Latin  is  doubtful. 

2  Some  derive  the  word  from  lanct  (wool),  in  allusion  to  the  soft  character  of 
the  plumage  ;  but  Littre  rejected  this  etymology. 

*  Schlegel  thought  it  was  an  immature  Gyrfalcon  ;  but  that  seems  beyond 
proof. 


504  LAPWING 


recognized  and  recognizable  position,  which  he  did  in  1841,  then 
calling  it  (Abhandl.  Geb.  Zool.  <&  vergl.  Anat.  ii.  p.  3,  pis.  x.  xi.) 
Falco  feldeggi,  it  having  been  brought  to  his  notice  from  examples 
obtained  by  the  Baron  of  that  name  in  Dalmatia.  In  the  same  year, 
however,  Sir  Gardiner  Willdnson  {Mann.  &  Oust.  Anc.  Egypt,  ser. 
2,  ii.  pp.  121,  210)  conferred  the  name  of  Falco  aroeris  ^  on  the  sacred 
Falcon  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  which  we  now  know  to  be  the 
true  Lanner.  It  is  found  locally  throughout  the  countries  border- 
ing the  Mediterranean,  from  Spain  eastward,  and  is  known  to  breed 
on  the  Egyptian  Pyramids.  Fui'ther  to  the  southward  it  is 
replaced  by  the  allied  F.  tanypterus  (which  the  late  Mr.  Gurney 
regarded  as  a  local  race),  and  in  Western  Asia  by  F.  habylonicus. 

LAPWING,  Anglo-Saxon  Hledpewince  (  =  "  one  who  turns  about 
in  running  or  flight,"  see  Skeat's  Etymol.  Did.  p.  32 1),^  a  well- 
known  bird,  the  Tringa  vanellus  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Vanellus  vulgaris 
or  V.  cristatus  of  most  modern  ornithologists.  In  the  temperate 
parts  of  the  Old  World  this  species  is  perhaps  the  most  abundant 
of  the  Charadriidse  (Plover),  breeding  in  greater  or  fewer  numbers 
in  almost  every  suitable  place  from  Ireland  to  Japan, — the  majority 
migrating  towards  winter  to  southern  countries,  as  the  Punjab, 
Egypt,  and  Barbary, — though  in  the  British  Islands  some  are 
always  found  at  that  season,  chiefly  about  estuaries.  As  a  straggler 
it  has  occurred  within  the  Arctic  Circle  (as  on  the  Varanger  Fjord 
in  Norway),  as  well  as  in  Iceland  and  even  Greenland ;  while  it 
not  unfrequently  appears  in  Madeira  and  the  Azores.  Conspicuous 
as  the  strongly  contrasted  coloiirs  of  its  plumage  and  its  very 
peculiar  flight  make  it,  one  may  well  wonder  at  its  success  in 
maintaining  its  ground  when  so  many  of  its  allies  have  been  almost 
exterminated,  for  the  Lapwing  is  the  object  perhaps  of  gi'eater  per- 
secution than  any  other  European  bird  that  is  not  a  plunderer.  Its 
eggs — the  well-known  "  Plovers'  Eggs  "  of  commerce  ^ — are  taken  by 

^  It  may  be  doubted  whether  either  of  these  names  can  stand,  since  Gmelin's 
F.  griseus  in  1788  {Syst.  Nat.  i.  p.  275)  is  founded  on  the  "Grey  Falcon"  of 
Latham  and  Pennant,  the  description  of  which  was  transmitted  to  the  last  by 
Thomas  Bolton,  who  subsequently  communicated  a  drawing  of  the  bird  to  Lewin, 
by  whom  it  was  reproduced  {B.  Gr.  Brit.  ed.  2,  i.  pi.  17).  The  figure  seems 
intended  for  an  adult  of  the  true  Lanner,  though  coloured  somewhat  to  resemble 
F.  chicquera.  The  question  is  intricate,  and  could  not  be  here  discussed.  Con- 
fusion began  early,  since  Lewin  in  the  first  edition  of  his  work  figured  (No.  15) 
a  very  different  bird,  and  one  not  agreeing  with  the  description. 

2  Caxton  in  1481  has  "lapwynches"  {Beynard  the  Fox,  cap.  27). 

2  There  is  a  prevalent  belief  that  many  of  the  eggs  sold  as  "Plovers'"  are 
those  of  Rooks,  but  no  notion  can  be  more  absurd,  since  the  appearance  of  the 
two  is  wholly  unlike.  Those  of  the  Kedshank,  of  the  Golden  Plover  (to  a  small 
extent),  and  enormous  numbers  of  those  of  the  Black-headed  Gull,  and  in  certain 
places  of  some  of  the  Terns,  are,  however,  undoubtedly  sold  as  Lapwings',  having 


LAPWING  505 


thousands  or  ten-thousands ;  and  worse  than  this,  the  bird,  wary 
and  wild  at  other  times  of  the  year,  in  the  breeding-season  becomes 
easily  approachable,  and  is  (or  used  to  be)  shot  down  in  enormous 
numbers  to  be  sold  in  the  markets  for  "  Golden  Plover."  Its  grow- 
ing scarcity  as  a  species  was  consequently  very  perceptible  in  this 
country  until  an  Act  of  Parliament  in  1872  frightened  people  into 
letting  it  alone,  when  its  numbers  immediately  increased,  to  the  mani- 
fest advantage  of  many  classes  of  the  community — those  who  would 
eat  its  eggs,  those  who  would  eat  its  flesh  (at  the  right  time  of  year), 
as  well  as  the  agriculturists  whose  lands  it  frequented,  for  it  is  ad- 
mitted on  all  hands  that  no  bird  is  more  completely  the  farmer's  friend. 
What  seems  to  be  the  secret  of  the  Lapwing  holding  its  position  in 
spite  of  slaughter  and  rapine  is  the  adaptability  of  its  nature  to 
various  kinds  of  localities.  It  will  find  sustenance  for  itself  and 
its  progeny  equally  on  the  driest  soils  as  on  the  fattest  pastures ; 
upland  and  fen,  arable  and  moorland,  are  alike  to  it,  provided  only 
the  ground  be  open  enough.  The  wailing  cry  ^  and  the  frantic 
gestures  of  the  cock -bird  in  the  breeding- season  vnW  tell  any 
passer-by  that  a  nest  or  brood  is  near ;  but,  unless  he  knows  how 
to  look  for  it,  little  save  mere  chance  will  enable  him  to  find  it. 
Yet  by  practice  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  bird's  habits 
Avill  accurately  mark  the  spot  whence  the  hen  silently  rises  from 
her  treasiu-e,  and,  disregarding  the  behaviour  of  the  cock,  which  is 
intended  to  delude  the  intruder,  will  walk  straight  to  one  nest 
after  another  as  knowing  beforehand  the  exact  position  of  each. 
In  many  cases  they  will  know,  from  the  hen's  behaviour,  the  number 
of  eggs  they  will  find,  and  whether  she  has  begun  to  sit.  The  nest 
is  a  slight  hollow  in  the  ground,  wonderfully  inconspicuous  even 

a  little  similarity  of  shell  to  the  latter,  and  a  difierence  of  flavour  only  to  be 
detected  by  a  fine  palate.  It  is  estimated  that  800,000  Lapwings'  eggs  are  yearly 
sent  to  ■  England  from  the  one  province  of  Friesland  in  Holland  (see  Ornith. 
Centralbl.  1877,  p.  108). 

^  This  sounds  like  'pec-wcet,  with  some  variety  of  intonation.  Hence  the 
names  Peewit,  Peaseweep,  and  Teuchit,  commonly  applied  in  some  parts  of 
Britain  to  this  bird.  — though  the  first  is  that  by  which  one  of  the  smaller  Gulls, 
Larus  ridihundus,  is  known  in  some  of  the  districts  it  frequents.  In  Sweden  Vipa, 
in  Germany  Kiehitz,  in  Holland  Kicwiet,  and  in  France  Dixhuit,  are  names  of  the 
Lapwing,  given  to  it  from  its  usual  cry.  Other  English  names  are  Green  Plover 
and  Horn-pie — the  latter  from  its  long  hornlike  crest  and  pied  plumage.  The 
Lapwing's  conspicuous  crest  seems  to  have  been  the  cause  of  a  common  blunder 
among  our  writers  of  the  Middle  Ages,  who  translated  the  Latin  word  Vjmpa, 
properly  Hoopoe,  by  Lapwing,  as  being  the  crested  bu'd  with  which  they  were 
best  acquainted.  In  like  manner  other  writers  of  the  same  or  an  earlier  period 
Latinized  Lapwing  by  Egrettides  (plural),  and  rendered  that  again  into  English 
as  Egrets — the  tuft  of  feathers  misleading  them  also.  A  common  Italian  name 
is  Pavoncella  (Little  Peahen),  and  that  has  led  to  some  amusing  mistakes.  The 
word  Vanelhis  is  said  to  be  from  vannus,  the  fan  used  for  winnowing  corn,  and 
refers  to  the  audible  beating  of  the  bird's  wings. 


5o6  LAPWING 


when  deepened  and  its  margin  heightened  by  the  accumulation  of 
vegetable  matter,  as  is  usually  the  case  while  incubation  continues, 
and  the  black-spotted  olive  eggs  (four  in  number)  are  almost  in- 
visible to  the  careless  or  untrained  eye  unless  it  should  happen  to 
glance  directly  upon  them.  The  young  when  first  hatched  are 
clothed  Avith  mottled  down  so  as  closely  to  resemble  a  stone  and  to 
be  thus  overlooked  as  they  squat  motionless  on  the  approach  of 
danger.  At  a  distance  the  plumage  of  the  adult  appears  to  be 
white  and  black  in  about  equal  pi'oportions,  the  latter  predominat- 
ing above  ;  but  on  closer  examination  nearly  all  the  seeming  black 
is  found  to  be  a  bottle-green  gleaming  with  purple  and  copper ;  and 
the  tail-coverts,  both  above  and  below,  are  seen  to  be  of  a  bright 
bay  colour  that  is  seldom  visible  in  flight.  The  crest  consists  of 
six  or  eight  narrow  and  elongated  feathers,  turned  slightly  upwards 
at  the  end,  and  is  usually  carried  in  a  horizontal  position,  extending 
in  the  cock  beyond  the  middle  of  the  back ;  but  it  is  capable  of 
being  erected  so  as  to  become  neai^ly  vertical.  Frequenting  (as  has 
been  said)  parts  of  the  open  country  so  very  divergent  in  character, 
and  as  remarkable  for  the  peculiarity  of  its  flight  as  for  that  of  its 
cry,  the  Lapwing  is  far  more  often  observed  in  nearly  all  parts  of 
the  British  Islands  than  any  other  of  the  Limicol^e.  The  peculiarity 
of  its  flight  seems  due  to  the  wide  and  rounded  wings  it  possesses, 
the  steady  and  ordinarily  somewhat  slow  flapping  of  which  impels 
the  body  at  each  stroke  with  a  manifest  though  easy  jerk.  Yet  on 
occasion,  as  when  performing  its  migrations,  or  even  its  almost 
daily  transits  from  one  feeding-ground  to  another,  and  still  more 
when  being  pursued  liy  a  Falcon,  the  speed  with  which  it  moves 
through  the  air  is  very  considerable ;  and  the  passage  of  a  flock  of 
LapAvings,  twinkling  aloft  or  in  the  distance,  as  the  dark  and  light 
surfaces  of  the  plumage  are  alternately  presented,  is  always  an 
agreeable  spectacle  to  those  who  love  a  landscape  enlivened  by  its 
wild  creatures.  On  the  ground  this  bird  runs  nimbly,  and  is  nearly 
always  engaged  in  searching  for  its  food,  which  is  wholly  animal. 

Allied  to  the  Lapwing  are  several  forms  that  have  been  placed 
by  ornithologists  in  the  genera  Ho-plopterus,  Chettmia,  LoUvanellns, 
SaTcioj)horus,  and  so  forth  ;  but  the  respective  degree  of  affinity  they 
bear  to  one  another  is  not  rightly  understood,  and  space  would 

prohibit  any  attempt  at  here 
expressing  it.  Li  some  of 
them  the  hind  toe,  which 
has  already  ceased  to  have 
any    function    in     the    Lap- 

BiLL  AND  Carpal  Spur  of  Hoploptrrus.  Mnim,  is  wholly  Wanting;.        In 

(After  Swainson.)  ,^  ,^  ■  -, 

others  the  wings  are  armed 
with  a  tubercle  or  even  a  sharp  spur  on  the  carpus.  Few  have 
any  occipital  crest,  but  several  have  the   face   ornamented  by  the 


LARK  507 

outgrowth  of  a  fleshy  lobe  or  lobes.  With  the  exception  of  North 
America,  they  are  found  in  most  parts  of  the  world,  but  perhaps  the 
greater  number  in  Africa.  Three  species  occur  in  Europe — Hoplo- 
ptenis  spinosus,  the  Spur- winged  Plover,  and  Chettusia  gregaria  and 
C.  leucura ;  but  the  first  and  last  are  only  stragglers  from  Africa 
or  Asia. 

LARK,  Anglo-Saxon  Ldwerce,  German  Lerche,  Danish  Lserke, 
Dutch  Leeuwerik,  a  name  (perhaps  always,  but  now  certainly)  used 
in  a  rather  general  sense,  any  special  meaning  being  signified  by  a 
prefix,  as  Skylark,  Titlark,  Woodlark,  and  so  forth ;  though 
custom  ordains  that  the  first  of  these,  the  Alauda  arvensis  of 
ornithology,  is  intended  if  no  qualification  be  expressed,  since  it  is 
the  best  knoAvn  and  most  widely-spread  species  throughout  Europe. 
It  scarcely  needs  description.  Of  all  birds  it  holds  unquestionably 
the  foremost  place  in  our  literature,  and  there  is  hardly  a  poet  or 
poetaster  who  has  not  made  it  his  theme,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
many  writers  of  prose  who  have  celebrated  its  qualities  in  passages 
that  will  be  remembered  so  long  as  our  language  lasts.  It  is  also 
one  of  the  most  favourite  cage-birds,  as  it  will  live  for  many  years 
in  captivity,  and,  except  in  the  season  of  moult,  will  pour  forth  its 
thrilling  song  many  times  in  an  hour  for  weeks  and  months 
together,  while  its  affection  for  its  owner  is  generally  of  the  most 
marked  kind.  Difficult  as  it  is  to  estimate  the  comparative 
abundance  of  different  species  of  birds,  there  would  probably  be  no 
error  in  accounting  the  Skylark  the  most  plentiful  of  the  Class  in 
Western  Europe.  Not  only  does  it  frequent  almost  all  unwooded 
districts  in  this  quarter  of  the  globe,  making  known  its  presence 
throughout  spring  and  summer,  everywhere  that  it  occurs,  by  its 
gladsome  and  heart  -  lifting  notes,  but,  unlike  most  birds,  its 
numbers  increase  with  the  spread  of  agricultural  improvement,  and 
since  the  beginning  of  the  century  the  extended  breadth  of  arable 
land  in  Great  Britain  must  have  multiplied  manifold  the  Lark- 
population  of  the  country.  Nesting  chiefly  in  the  growing  corn, 
its  eggs  and  young  are  protected  in  a  great  measure  from  all 
molestation ;  and,  as  each  pair  of  birds  will  rear  several  broods  in 
the  season,  their  produce  on  the  average  may  be  set  down  as  at 
least  quadrupling  the  original  stock — the  eggs  in  each  nest  varying 
from  three  to  five.  The  majority  of  young  Larks  seem  to  leave 
their  birthplace  as  soon  as  they  can  shift  for  themselves,  but  what 
immediately  becomes  of  them  is  one  of  the  many  mysteries  of 
bird-life  that  has  not  been  penetrated.  When  the  stubbles  are 
cleared,  old  and  young  congregate  in  flocks ;  but  the  young  then 
seen  appear  to  be  those  only  of  the  later  broods.  In  the  course  of 
the  autumn  they  give  place  to  others  coming  from  more  northerly 
districts,  and  then,  as  winter  succeeds,  in  great  part  vanish,  leaving 


5oS 


LARK 


not  a  tithe  of  the  numbers  previously  present.  On  the  approach 
of  severe  weather,  in  one  part  of  the  country  or  another,  flocks 
arrive,  undoubtedly  from  the  Continent,  which  in  magnitude  cast 
into  insignificance  all  those  that  have  hitherto  inhabited  the 
district.  On  the  east  coast  of  both  Scotland  and  England  this 
immigration  has  been  several  times  noticed  as  occiu'ring  in  a 
constant  stream  for  as  many  as  three  days  in  succession.  Further 
inland  the  birds  are  observed  "in  numbei\s  simply  incalculable," 
and  "in  countless  hundreds."  On  such  occasions  the  bird-catchers 
are  busily  at  work  with  their  nets  or  snares,  so  that  20,000  or 
30,000  Larks  are  often  sent  together  to  the  London  market,  and  at 
the  lowest  estimate  £2000  worth  are  annually  sold  there.  During 
the  winter  of  1867-68,  1,255,500  Larks,  valued  at  £2260,  were 
taken  into  the  town  of  Dieppe.^  The  same  thing  happens  in 
various  places  almost  every  year,  and  many  persons  are  apt  to 
believe  that  thereby  the  species  is  threatened  with  extinction. 
When,  hoM^ever,  it  is  considered  that,  if  these  birds  were  left  to 
continue  their  wanderings,  a  large  proportion  would  die  of  hunger 
before  reaching  a  place  that  would  supply  them  with  food,  and 
that  of  the  remainder  an  enormous  proportion  would  perish  at  sea 
in  their  vain  attempt  to  find  a  settlement,  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  man  by  his  wholesale  massacres,  which  at  first  seem  so  brutal, 
is  but  anticipating  the  act  of  Nature,  and  on  the  whole  probably 
the  fate  of  the  Larks  at  his  hands  is  not  worse  than  that  which 
they  Avould  encounter  did  not  his  devices  intervene. 

The  Skylark's  range  extends  across  the  Old  World  from  the 
Faeroes  to  the  Km^ile  Islands.  In  winter  it  occurs  in  North  China, 
Nepal,  the  Punjab,  Persia,  Palestine,  Lower  Egypt,  and  Barbary. 


^^^^^ 


Skylarks — Alauda  agrestis  and  A.  arvensis.     (From  Dresser.) 

It  sometimes  strays  to  Madeira,  and  has  been  killed  in  Bermuda, 
though  its  unassisted  appearance  there  is  doubtful.     It  has  been 

^  See  Yarrell  {Ilisf.  Br.  Birds,  ed.  4,  i.  pp.  618-621),  where  particular  refer- 
ences to  the  above  statements,  and  some  others,  are  given. 


LARK  509 

successfully  introduced  on  Long  Island  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  into  New  Zealand — where  it  may  possibly  become  as  trouble- 
some a  denizen  as  are  other  subjects  upon  which  Acclimatization 
Societies  have  exercised  their  meddling  activity.  Allied  to  the 
Skylark  a  considerable  number  of  species  have  been  described,  of 
which  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mas.  xiii.  pp.  566-579)  deems  only 
two  to  be  valid,  besides  a  supposed  local  race,  Alauda  agrestis,  not 
recognized  by  him,  the  difference  between  which  and  the  normal 
bird  (stated  at  length  in  Mr.  Dresser's  Birds  of  Europe,  iv. 
pp.  310,  311)  is  shewn  above. 

The  WoODLARK,  the  Alauda  arbor ea  of  most  systematists,  has 
been  by  some  generically  separated  as  Lullula.  It  is  a  much  more 
local  and  therefore  a  far  less  numerous  bird  than  the  Skylark, 
from  which  it  may  be  easily  distinguished  by  its  finer  bill,  shorter 
tail,  more  spotted  breast,  and  light  superciliary  stripe.  Though 
not  actually  inhabiting  woods,  as  its  common  name  might  imply, 
it  is  seldom  found  far  from  trees.  Its  song  wants  the  variety  and 
power  of  the  Skylark's,  but  has  a  resonant  sweetness  peculiarly  its 
own.  The  bird,  however,  requires  much  care  in  captivity,  and  is 
far  less  often  caged  than  its  congener.  It  has  by  no  means  so  wide 
a  range  as  the  Skylark,  and  perhaps  the  most  eastern  locality 
recorded  for  it  is  Tiflis,  while  its  appearance  in  Egypt  and  even  in 
Algeria  must  be  accounted  rare. 

Not  far  removed  from  the  foregoing  is  a  group  of  Larks  char- 
acterized by  a  larger  crest,  a  stronger  and  more  curved  bill,  a 
rufous  lining  to  the  wings,  and  some  other  minor  features.  This 
group  has  been  generally  termed  Galerita,^  and  has  for  its  type  the 
Crested  Lark,  the  Alauda  cristata  of  Linnaeus,  a  bird  common 
enough  in  parts  of  France  and  some  other  countries  of  the  European 
Continent,  and  said  to  have  been  obtained  several  times  in  the 
British  Islands.  Many  of  the  birds  of  this  group  frequent  the 
borders  if  not  the  interior  of  deserts,  and  such  as  do  so  exhibit  a 
more  or  less  pale  coloration,  whereby  they  are  assimilated  in  hue 
to  that  of  their  haunts  {cf.  Geographical  Distribution,  p.  336). 
The  same  characteristic  may  be  observed  in  several  other  groups 
• — especially  those  known  as  belonging  to  the  genera  Calandrella, 
Ammomanes,  and  Certhilauda  or  Alsemon,  some  species  of  Avhich  are 
of  a  light  sandy  or  cream  colour.  The  genus  last  named  is  of  very 
peculiar  appearance,  presenting  in  some  respects  an  extraordinary 
resemblance  to  the  Hoopoe,  so  much  so  that  the  first  specimen 

^  The  name,  however,  is  inadmissible,  owing  to  its  prior  use  in  Entomology, 
just  as  is  Heterops,  conferred  without  any  definition  in  1844  by  Hodgson  or  J.  E. 
Gray  [Zool.  Miscell.  p.  84).  Aristotle's  old  name,  Corydus,  was  utilized  by 
Cuvier,  in  a  slightly  different  form,  for  a  very  different  bird,  or  it  would  have 
come  in  appropriately.  Any  one  coveting  the  privilege  of  bestowing  a  generic 
name  has  here  an  easy  opportunity  of  distinguishing  himself. 


5IO 


LARK 


described  Avas  referred  to  the  genus  Upupa,  and  named  U.  alaudipes. 
The  resemblance,  however,  is  merely  one  of  analogy.  The  Hoopoe 
belongs  to  a  totally  distinct  Order  of  birds,  widely  diifering  ana- 
tomically and  physiologically,  and  we  can  hardly  yet  assume  that 
this  resemblance  is  the  effect  of  what  is  commonly  called  Mimicry, 
though  that  may  ultimately  prove  to  be  the  case. 

There  is,  however,  abundant  evidence  of  the  susceptibility  of 
the  Alaudine  structure  to  modification  from  external  circumstances, 


LULLULA. 


Certhilauda. 


— in  other  words,  of  its  "plasticity";  and  perhaps  no  homogeneous 
group  of  Passeres  could  be  found  which  better  displays  the  working 
of  "  Natural  Selection."  This  fact  Avas.  recognized  many  years  ago 
by  Canon  Tristram  {Ibis,  1859,  pp.  429-433),  and  his  remarks 
deserve  all  attention,  going,  as  they  go,  to  the  root  of  the  matter. 
A  monograph  of  the  Family  executed  by  a  competent  ornithologist 
could  not  fail  to  be  a  weapon  of  force  in  the  hands  of  all  evolu- 
tionists. Almost  every  character  that  among  Passerine  birds  is 
accounted  most  sure  is  in  the  Larks  found  subject  to  modification, 
The  form  of  the  bill  varies  in  an  extraordinary  degree.  In  the  Wood- 
lark,  Lullula,  already  noticed,  it  is  almost  as  slender  as  a  Warbler's  ; 


2^(^;c.r^^ 


\\:^\ 


M  ELANOCORYPHA. 


Rhamphocorys. 


in  Aminomaiies  it  is  short ;  in  Certhilauda  and  Alxmon  it  is  elongated 
and  curved  ;  in  Pi/rrhulauda  and  Mdanocori/pha  it  is  stout  and  Finch- 
like ;  Avhile  in  lihamphocorys  it  is  exaggerated  to  an  extent  that 
equals  almost  any  Fringilline  form  {rf.  Grosbeak),  exceeding  in  its 
development  that  found  in  some  members  of  the  perplexing  genus 
Faradoxornis,  and  even  presenting  a  resemblance  to  the  same  feature 
in  the  far-distant  Auastomus  (Open-bill) — the  tomia  of  the  maxilla 
not  meeting  those  of  the  mandibula  along  their  whole  length,  but 


LARK 


511 


leaving  an  open  space  between  them.      The  hind  claw,  generally 
greatly  elongated  in  Larks,  as  exemplified  in  Alauda  and  Calendula, 


Calandrella  brachydactvla. 


is  in  Calandrella  and  some  other  genera  reduced  to  a  very  moderate 
size.      The  wings  exhibit  almost  every  modification,  from  the  almost 


Calendula.     (After  Swainson.) 

entire  abortion  of  the  so-called  "  first "  primary  in  Alauda  to  its 
considerable  development  in  Mirafra,  and  from  tertials  and  scapulars 
of  ordinary  length  to  the  extreme  elongation  found  in  the  Motacillidai 


MiEAFRA.     (After  Swainson.)  - 

and  almost  in  certain  lAmicolse.  The  most  constant  character  indeed 
of  the  Alaudidx  would  .seem  to  be  that  afforded  by  the  podoiheca  or 
covering  of  the  tarsus,  which  is  scutellate  behind  as  well  as  in  front, 
but  a  character  easily  overlooked.^ 

In  the  Old  AVorld  Larks  are  found  in  most  parts  of  the 
Palsearctic  area  as  well  as  in  the  Ethiopian  and  Indian  Regions  ; 
but  only  one  species,  Mirafra  horsfieldi,  inhabits  Australia,  and 
thare  is  no  true  Lark  indigenous  to  New  Zealand.  In  the  New 
World  there  is  also  only  one  genus,  Otocorys,"  one  species  of  which, 
found  over  nearly  the  whole  of  North  America,  is  certainly  not 
distinguishable  from  the  Shore-Lark  of  Europe  and  Asia,  0.  alpestris; 

^  By  assigning  far  too  great  au  importance  to  this  superficial  character  (in 
comparison  witli  others),  Sundevall  {Tcntamen,  pp.  53-63)  M'as  induced  to  array 
the  Larks,  Hoopoes,  and  several  other  heterogeneous  groups  in  one  "Series,"  to 
which  he  applied  the  name  of  Scutelliplantares  (see  Introduction). 

^  Bj'  American  writers  it  is  usually  called  Eremopliila,  hut  that  name  is  pre- 
occupieil  in  natural  history.  Its  osteology  is  minutely  described  by  Dr.  Shufeldt 
{Bull.   U.S.  Geol.  Survey,  vi.  pp.  119-147). 


512  LARYNX 


while  how  many  others  should  be  recognized  is  a  question  far  from 
being  settled.  The  Shore-Lark  is  in  Europe  a  native  of  only  the 
extreme  north,  but  is  very  common  near  the  shores  of  the  Varanger 
Fjord,  and  likewise  breeds  on  mountain-tops  further  south-west, 
though  still  well  within  the  Arctic  Circle.  The  mellow  tone  of  its 
call-note  has  obtained  for  it  in  Lapland  a  name  signifying  "  Bell- 
bird,"  and  the  song  of  the  cock  is  lively,  though  not  very  loud. 
The  bird  trustfully  resorts  to  the  neighbourhood  of  houses,  and 
even  enters  the  villages  of  East  Finmark  in  search  of  its  food.  It 
produces  at  least  two  broods  in  the  season,  and  towards  autumn 
migrates  to  lower  latitudes  in  large  flocks.  Of  late  years  these 
have  been  observed  almost  every  winter  on  the  east  coast  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  species,  instead  of  being  regarded,  as  it  once  was, 
in  the  light  of  an  accidental  visitor  to  the  United  Kingdom,  must 
now  be  deemed  an  almost  regular  visitor,  though  in  very  varying 
numbers.  Several  other  congeneric  forms  originally  described  as 
distinct  species,  but  the  validity  of  which  has  been  more  than 
once  denied  and  reasserted,  inhabit  south-eastern  Europe,  Palestine, 
and  Central  Asia ;  but  an  admittedly  good  species  is  the  0.  hilopha 
of  Arabia  and  Mauritania.  All  these  birds,  which  have  been  termed 
Horned  Larks,  from  the  tuft  of  elongated  black  feathers  growing 
on  each  side  of  the  head,  form  a  little  group  easily  recognized  by 
their  peculiar  coloi^ation,  which  calls  to  mind  some  of  the  Ringed 
Plovers,  yEgialitis. 

The  name  Lark  is  also  frequently  applied  to  many  birds  which 
do  not  belong  to  the  Alaudidse  as  now  understood.  The  Mud-Lark, 
Rock-Lark,  Titlark,  and  Tree-Lark  are  Pipits.  The  Grasshopper- 
Lark  is  one  of  the  aquatic  WARBLERS,  while  the  Meadow-Lark  of 
America,  as  has  been  already  said,  is  an  ICTERUS.  Sand-Lark  and 
Sea-Lark  are  likewise  names  often  given  to  some  of  the  smaller 
members  of  the  Limicolse.  Of  the  true  Larks,  Alaudidx,  Dr.  Sharpe 
{ut  supra)  makes  over  70  species,  and  more  than  40  local 
races  or  subspecies.  It  is  believed  to  be  a  physiological  character 
of  the  Family  that  they  moult  but  once  in  the  year,  while  the 
Pipits,  which  in  general  appearance  so  much  resemble  them, 
undergo  a  double  moult,  as  do  others  of  the  MotadlUdse,  to  which 
they  are  most  nearly  allied. 

LARYNX,  the  upper  end  of  the  trachea,  into  which  the  air 
enters  from  the  mouth  through  a  longitudinal,  slit-like  opening,  the 
rima  glottidis.  It  lies  behind  the  tongue,  between  the  two  Hyoid 
horns,  connected  in  front  by  a  strong  band  with  the  cartilaginous 
or  bony  urohyal,  the  sides  of  its  dorsal  margin  being  also  attached 
loosely  by  connective  tissue  to  the  walls  of  the  upper  end  of  the 
oesophagus.  The  cartilaginous  or  bony  part  of  the  Larynx  consists 
of  several  pieces,  of  which  the  principal  or  cricoid  cartilage  forms 


LATIROSTRES— LEVER  513 

the  anterior  and  lateral  boundary,  and  runs  out  in  a  point  towards 
the  urohyal.  To  this  is  attached  an  unpaired  procricoid  which 
articulates  with  the  right  and  left  arytsenoid  cartilages,  that  close 
the  top  of  the  Larynx,  and  between  them  encompass  the  rima 
glottidis.  The  Larynx  possesses  only  two  muscles  of  its  own,  an 
apertor  and  a  sphincter ;  but  other  tracheal  and  hyoid  muscles  are 
attached  to  it,  while  the  rima  glottidis  in  Birds  is  devoid  of  vocal 
chords,  and  hence  no  voice  is  produced  here,  though  sounds  can  be 
modulated  by  the  approximation  or  separation  of  its  rigid  margins, 
which  are  protected  by  pads  of  fatty  tissue  with  horny,  wart -like 
hooks  upon  their  surface.  An  epiglottis,  or  soft  process  springing 
from  the  anterior  corner  of  the  glottis  and  capable  of  shutting 
down  upon  the  latter,  such  as  is  found  in  Mammals,  is  scarcely 
developed  in  Birds,  or  indicated  only  by  a  tranverse  fold,  which 
may,  as  in  Anseres,  be  supported  by  a  little  cartilage.  In  Birds 
the  voice  is  produced  by  the  Syrinx,  sometimes  called  the  Lower 
Larynx,  which  is  situated  at  the  pectoral  end  of  the  TRACHEA. 

LATIROSTRES,  Cuvier's  name  in  1805  for  a  section  consisting 
of  the  Spoonbill. 

LAVEROCK  or  LAVROCK,  a  Scottish  name  for  Lark. 

LAVY,  one  of  the  many  local  names  of  the  Guillemot. 

LEATHER-HEAD,  a  name  for  one  or  more  species  of  Friar- 
bird. 

LEVER,  or  LIVER.  Interest  has  been  roused  by  a  statement 
which  Montagu  made  in  1813  (Suppl.  Orn.  Bid.)  to  the  effect  that 
the  present  city  of  Liverpool  took  its  name  from  a  bird  called 
"  Liver  "  killed  on  the  verge  of  a  "  pool,"  and  said  by  him  to  be  an 
Ibis  (Falcinellus  igneus).  Several  writers  have  uncritically  repeated 
this  story,  one  part  of  which  is  very  old,  but  the  identification  of 
the  bird  with  an  Ibis  was  new.^  No  one  can  suppose  that  this  was 
his  invention,  but  he  unfortunately  did  not  give  the  source  of  his 
information.  The  question  of  the  origin  of  the  name  Liverpool^ 
has  been  often  discussed,  and  occasionally  so  warmly  (Notes  and 
Queries,  ser.  6,  ix.  pp.  350,  414)  that  it  must  here  be  avoided. 
The  mysterious  bird  that  figured  on  the  ancient  corporation  seal 
seems  to  have  been  an  Eagle,  the  well-known  symbol  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist  (cf.  Picton,  Memorials  of  Liverpool,  i.  p.  18);  but 
that    a    bird    called    Liver    or    Lever   was   known    to    heralds   is 

^  By  most  writers  it  had  been  said  to  be  a  Cormorant,  for  which  there  is  no 
authority. 

-  Camden  gives  an  Anglo-Saxon  form,  "  Lyferpole  vulg.  Lerpole,"  for  which  ('/  •      ,  / 

there  is  said  to  be  no  real  authority,  the  oldest  form  known  being  temp.  Hen.  II.    (* ff^h'.af^fi^ 
"  Lirpul  "  or  "  Litherpul  "  (Baines,  Hist.  County  Palat.  Lancaster,  Iv.  p.  55).  (/ 

33 


514  LIGAMENT— LIMPKIN 

shewn  by  Randle  Holme's  Academy  of  Armory  published  at  Chester 
in  1688,  wherein  he  stated  (p.  266)  that  three  heads  of  the  Lever 
"  couped  "  were  borne  by  the  family  of  that  name,^  and  identified 
the  bird  with  the  Lepela^,  Leplar,  and  Lefler  (or  Lofflar)  of  Low  and 
High  Dutch,  which  last,  he  remarks,  "we  more  finely  pronounce 
Lever."  Now  all  these  are  well-known  names  of  what  we  now  call 
the  Spoonbill,  a  bird  which  on  incontestable  evidence  had  several 
breeding-stations  in  England,  so  that  places  may  well  have  taken 
their  name  from  it ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  Holme's  assertion  that 
this  bird  was  ever  called  Lever  or  Liver  in  English  wants  confirma- 
tion, and  is  said  to  contravene  all  etymological  laws. 

LIGAMENT,  a  tie  of  connective  tissue,  binding  several  parts 
or  organs  to  one  another.  Ligaments  form  an  important  featiu^e  in 
all  joints  where  the  bones  are  held  together  by  bands  of  little 
variability,  and  are  especially  strong  in  the  region  of  the  shoulder 
and  the  knee.  Skeletal  Ligaments  mostly  consist  of  modified 
periosteum  and  fibrous  cartilage,  and  hence  they  occasionally  ossify, 
causing  bones  that  were  originally  distinct  to  unite.  Sometimes 
tendons  which  have  lost  their  muscles  are  converted  into  Ligaments, 
or  obliterated  vessels  act  as  bands  between  intestinal  organs. 

LIMICOL^,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  for  a  "Family"  com- 
posed of  the  genera  Numenius,  Scolopax,  Ereunetes,  A  otitis,  Strepsilas 
and  Tringa,  practically  that  is  the  Scolopacidm  of  later  authors ; 
but  since  his  time  used  in  a  general  sense  for  all  the  Scolopacidd& 
and  Charadriidx,  the  latter  of  which  he  had  placed  in  a  separate 
Family,  Litter  ales. 

LIMPKIN,  a  bird  so  called  in  Florida,  because,  though  swift  of 
foot,  some  of  its  movements  resemble  those  of  a  limping  man.  It 
is  the  Aramus  pidus  of  modern  American  ornithologists,^  and 
together  -with  its  southern  congener  A.  scolopaceus,  with  which  it 
was  long  confounded  (if  indeed  .they  be  distinct),  is  considered  to 
hold  a  place  midway  between  the  Gruidse  (Crane)  and  the  Rallidm 
(Rail),  its  osteological  (Eyton,  Osteol.  Av.  p.  200,  pi.  xiv.  K)  and 
pterylographical  characters  being  those  of  the  former,  while  its 
digestive  organs  (as  described  by  Macgillivray  for  Audubon)  are 
those  of  the  latter.  Beside  Florida  it  inhabits  the  coast-districts 
of  Central  America,  and  the  Greater  Antilles,  being  known  in 
Jamaica  as  the  "  Clucking  Hen,"  but  the  French  name  "  Courlan," 

^  A  Lancashire  family  interesting  to  ornithologists,  since  from  it  sprang  Sir 
Ashton  Lever,  famous  for  his  Museum. 

-  In  the  belief  that  it  is  the  species  mentioned  by  AVilliam  Bartram  as  being 
called  by  the  Indians  Epliouskyka  (signifying  "Crying  Bird")  and  by  him 
Tantalus  jndiis  ;  but  neither  his  description  of  it  nor  his  drawing,  as  afterwards 
given  by  Barton  {Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xii.  pi.  1),  is  very  accurate. 


LINNET 


515 


bestowed  by  Buffon  on  tlic  South-American  form,  is  often  given  to 
it  in  books. 

LINNET,  Anglo-Saxon  Linetc  and  Linct-nngc,  whence  seems 
to  have  been  corrupted  tlie  old  Scottish  "  Lintquhit,"  and  the 
modern  northern  English  "  Lintwhite," — originally  a  somewhat 
generalized  bird's  name,  but  latterly  specialized  for  the  Fringilla 
cannabina  of  Linnaeus,  the  Linota  cannabina  of  ornithology.^  This 
is  a  common  and  well-known  song-bird,  fi-equenting  almost  the 
whole  of  Europe  south  of  lat.  64°,  and  in  Asia 
extending  to  Turkestan.  Li  Africa  it  is  known 
as  a  AAanter  visitant  to  Egypt  and  Abyssinia,  and 
is  abundant  at  all  seasons  in  Barbary,  as  well  as 
in  the  Canaries  and  Madeira.  Though  the  fond- 
ness  of  this  species  for  the  seeds  of  Hax  (Liimm)       , , ,,  Linnet. 

-,     T  ,,-/  7-  \    1  •  -       •  (After  Swaiiison.) 

and  hemp  {Cannabis)  has  given  it  its  common 
name  in  so  many  European  languages,-  it  feeds  largely,  if  not 
chiefly,  in  Britain  on  the  seeds  of  plants  of  the  order  Composite, 
especially  those  growing  on  heaths  and  commons.  As  these 
waste  places  have  been  gradually  brought  under  the  j^lough, 
and  improved  methods  of  cultivation  have  been  applied  to  all 
arable  land,  in  England  and  Scotland  particularly,  the  haunts  and 
means  of  subsistence  of  the  Linnet  have  been  sloAvly  but  surely 
curtailed,  and  hence  of  late  years  its  numbers  have  undergone 
a  very  visible  diminution  throughout  Great  Britain,  and  its  diminu- 
tion has  also  been  aided  by  the  detestable  practice  of  netting  it  in 
spring — for  it  is  a  popular  cage-bird — so  popular  indeed  as  to 
require  no  special  description.  According  to  its  sex,  or  the  season 
of  the  year,  it  is  known  as  the  Red,  Grrey  or  Brown  Linnet,  and 
by  the  earlier  English  writers,  as  well  as  in  many  places  now,  these 
names  have  been  held  to  distinguish  at  least  two  species  ;  but  there 
is  no  c[uestion  on  this  point,  though  the  conditions  under  which  the 
bright  crimson-red  colouring  of  the  breast  and  crown  of  the  cock's 
spring  and  summer  plumage  is  donned  and  doffed  may  still  be 
open  to  discussion.  Its  intensity  seems  due,  however,  in  some 
degree  at  least,  to  the  weathering  of  the  brown  fringes  of  the 
feathers  which  hide  the  more  brilliant  hue,  and  it  is  to  be  remarked 
that  in  the  Atlantic  Islands  examples  are  said  to  retain  their  gay 
tints  all  the  year  round,  while  throughout  Europe  there  is  scarcely 

'  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mas.  xii.  p.  235)  puts  the  Linnets  and  Redpolls 
ill  a  gemis  Acanthis  which  he  assigns  to  Bechstein  {Orn.  Taschenh.  p.  125),  but 
the  latter  founded  no  such  genus,  keeping  all  his  species  in  the  Linntean  Frin- 
gilla, while  the  Linnets  are  not  even  in  the  section  Acanthis,  as  is  evident  to 
any  one  who  will  consult  his  work,  that  portion  of  which  is  dated  1802  and  not 
1803  as  Dr.  Sharpe  states  {cp.  Sclater,  Ibis,  1892,  pp.  555-557). 

-  E.g.  French,  Linottc  ;  German,  Hcvnfiiny  ;  Swedish,  Udmplivg. 


5i6  LINNET 


a  trace  of  them  visible  in  autumn  and  winter ;  but,  beginning  to 
appear  in  spring,  they  reach  their  greatest  brilliancy  towards  mid- 
summer ;  and  it  is  also  to  be  remarked  that  they  are  never  assumed 
by  birds  in  confinement.  The  Linnet  begins  to  breed  in  April,  the 
nest  being  generally  placed  in  a  bush  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
ground.  It  is  nearly  always  a  neat  structure  composed  of  fine 
twigs,  roots,  or  bents,  and  lined  with  wool  or  hair.  The  eggs,  often 
six  in  number,  are  of  a  very  pale  blue  marked  with  reddish  or 
pui'plish-brown.  Two  broods  seem  to  be  commonly  brought  off  in 
the  course  of  the  season,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  summer  the 
birds — the  young  of  course  greatly  preponderating  in  number — 
collect  in  large  flocks  and  move  to  the  sea-coast,  whence  a  large 
proportion  depart  for  more  southern  latitudes.  Of  these  emigrants 
some  return  the  following  spring,  and  are  invariably  recognizable 
by  the  more  advanced  state  of  their  plumage,  the  effect  presumably 
of  having  wintered  in  countries  enjoying  a  brighter  and  hotter  sun. 

Nearly  allied  to  the  foregoing  species  is  the  Twite,  so  named 
from  its  ordinary  call-note,  or  Mountain-Linnet,  the  Linota  fiavi- 
rostris,  or  L.  montium  of  ornithologists,  which  can  be  at  once  dis- 
tinguished by  its  yellow  bill,  longer  tail,  and  reddish-tawny  throat. 
This  bird  never  assumes  any  crimson  on  the  crown  or  breast,  but 
the  male  has  the  rump  at  all  times  tinged  more  or  less  with  that 
colour.  In  the  breeding-season  it  seems  to  affect  exclusively  hilly 
and  moorland  districts  from  Herefordshire  northward,  in  which  it 
partly  or  wholly  replaces  the  common  Linnet,  but  is  very  much 
more  local  in  its  distribution,  and,  except  in  the  British  Islands 
and  some  parts  of  Scandinavia,  it  only  appears  as  an  irregular 
visitant  in  winter.  At  that  season  it  may,  however,  be  found  in 
large  flocks  in  the  low-lying  countries,  and  as  regards  England  even 
on  the  sea-shore.  In  Asia  it  seems  to  be  represented  by  a  kindred 
form,  L.  brevirostris. 

The  Redpolls  form  a  little  group  placed  by  many  authorities 
in  the  genus  Linota,  to  which  they  are  unquestionably  allied,  and, 
as  before  stated  {FiNCH,  p.  251),  the  Linnets  seem  to  be  related 
to  the  birds  of  the  genus  Leucosticie,  the  species  of  which,  in 
number  uncertain,  inhabit  the  northern  parts  of  North -West 
America  and  of  Asia.  There  is  need  here  to  mention  only  two — 
L.  iephrocotis,  which  is  generally  of  a  chocolate  colour,  tinged  on 
some  parts  with  pale  crimson  or  pink,  and  has  the  cro^vn  of  the 
head  silvery-grey ;  and  L.  aixtoa,  which  was  formerly  said  to  have 
occurred  in  North  America,  but  its  proper  home  is  in  the  Kurile 
Islands  or  Kamchatka.  This  has  no  red  in  its  plumage.  The 
birds  of  the  genus  Leucosticie  seem  to  be  more  terrestrial  in  their 
habit  than  those  of  Linota,  perhaps  from  their  having  been  chiefly 
observed  where  trees  are  scarce ;  but  it  is  possible  that  the  mutual 
relationship  of  the  two  groups  is  more  apparent  than  real.     Allied 


LIRA  —L  O  GGER-HEA  D  517 

to  Leucostide  is  Montifringilla,  to  which  belongs  the  Snow-Finch  of 
the  Alps,  M.  nivalis:,  so  often  mistaken  by  travellers  for  the  Snow- 
BUNTING,  Pledrophanes  nivalis. 

LIRA,  see  Lyra. 

LITTORALES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  for  a  "Family  "com- 
posed of  the  genera  Charadrius,  Calidris,  Himantopus,  Hsematopus, 
Cursorius  and  Burliinns. 

LIVER,  hepar,  a  large  dark  reddish  or  yellowish-brown  gland, 
consisting  of  two  lobes  connected  by  a  commissure  of  variable 
thickness,  and  resting  upon  the  dorsal  side  of  the  sternum  so  as  to 
enclose  the  Heart  and  Lungs.  Bile,  the  secretion  of  this  gland, 
passes  through  two  ducts — that  on  the  right  side  being,  in  most 
Birds,  dilated  into  the  Gall-Bladder — into  the  duodenal  loop  of 
the  small  intestine  (Digestive  System).  The  relative  size  of  the 
two  lobes,  which  varies  much  in  different  groups  of  Birds,  might  be 
used  for  taxonomic  purposes,  were  it  not  for  the  numerous  excep- 
tions that  occur.  Thus  an  equality  in  this  respect  is  characteristic 
of  Accipitres,  Felargi  and  Tubinares ;  but  among  the  last  Puffinus 
anglorum  (Shearwater)  has  the  right  lobe  about  six  times  as  large 
as  the  left ;  and  the  right  lobe  is  generally  by  far  the  largest 
in  Columbse,  Eerodii,  Steganopodes,  Fici  and  Passeres,  while  the 
opposite  proportion  is  rare.  Of  greater  and  often  of  considerable 
importance  is  the  shape  of  the  two  principal  lobes,  and  especially 
that  of  the  left :  thus  the  right  lobe  is  deeply  cleft  in  most 
Cypselomorphgs  and  Passeres,  while  the  left  is  much  divided  only 
in  Struthio,  in  the  Gallinse  and  in  the  Turnices — the  Australian 
Pediononus  agreeing  with  the  group  last  named  in  having  the  left 
lobe  doubled,  as  well  as  in  being  twice  as  large  as  the  right. 
Livers  of  many  kinds  of  Birds  are  described  in  (Bronn's)  Klassen 
und  Ordnungen  des  Thier-Eeichs  (Vogel,  pp.  680-684). 

LOBIPEDES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  for  a  "Family"  made  up 

of  the  genera  Fulica  (Coot),  Fodica  (Finfoot)  and  Phalaropus 
(Phalarope),  which  as  we  now  know  are  not  nearly  allied. 

LOCUST-BIRD,  a  name  given  in  South  Africa  to  three  very 
different  species.  Without  qualification  it  signifies  Creatophora 
canmculata  (Grackle)  ;  with  the  prefix  "  Great,"  Ciconia  alba 
(Stork)  is  meant ;  and  with  the  prefix  "  Little,"  Glareola  nord- 
manni  (Pratincole)  (c/.  Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  pp.  177,  291,  314;  and 
Holub  and  Von  Pelzeln,  Beitr.  Orn.  Siidafr.  p.  243). 

LOGCOCK,  one  of  the  many  local  names  in  North  America  of 
Pious  pileatus  (Woodpecker). 

LOGGER-HEAD,  a  name  applied  to  several  kinds  of  Birds, 
■ — for  instance  (1)  to  a  Shrike,  Lanius  or  Collyrio  ludovidanus  or 


5 1 8  LONGIPENNES—LOOM 

caroUnensis  (Wilson,  Am.  Orn.  iii.  p.  57),  well  known  in  the  eastern 
part  of  North  America,  as  well  as  to  its  western  representative  L. 
excubitoroides,  Baird ;  (2)  in  Jamaica  to  two  species  of  Tyrant-bird 
inhabiting  that  island,  Fitangus  caudifasciatus  in  the  Windward 
portion,  and  Mijiarchus  validus  or  crinitus  in  the  Leeward  (Gosse,  B. 
Jam.  pp.  177,  186);  but  perhaps  originally  to  (3)  a  very  large 
Duck,  the  Tachjeres^  or  Micropterus  cimreus  or  brachypterus,  on 
which  have  since  been  bestowed  the  names  of  Race-Horse  (Byron, 
Narrative  &c.  p.  50)  and  Steamer-Duck  (P.  P.  King,  Foy.  'Adventure,' 
i.  p.  36),  inhabiting  the  Falkland  Islands  and  the  Strait  of 
Magellan,  Avhere  its  peculiar  habit  of  rowing  itself  with  its  wings 
along  the  top  of  the  water  at  great  speed  has  been  noticed  by 
seamen  for  more  than  three  centuries,  and  accounts  of  it  may  be 
read  in  many  narratives.  A  second  species,  T.  patacJionicus  has  been 
described  (ZooL  Journ.  iv.  p.  100)  and  said  to  be  capable  of  flight; 
but  Prof.  R.  0.  Cunningham -is  of  opinion  {Nat.  Hist.  Strait  Magell. 
pp.  91-98)  that  the  volant  birds  are  the  young  of  those  which  do 
not  fly,  and  growing  heavier  with  age  lose  the  power  of  raising 
themselves  in  the  air.  This  view  he  ably  maintains  (Trans.  Zool. 
Soc.  vii.  pp.  493-501,  pis.  58-62),  and  if  it  be  as  correct  as  it  seems 
its  bearing  on  the  flightlessness  of  Birds  is  of  great  importance. 
Doubts,  however,  have  been  expressed  on  the  subject,  and  M. 
Oustalet  has  declared  (Miss.  Scientif.  du  Cap  Horn,  Oiseaux,  pp.  B. 
212-232,  pis.  4,  5)  his  belief  in  the  validity  of  two  species. 

LONGIPENNES,  Dum^ril's  name  in  1806  (Zool.  Analyt.  p.  71) 
for  a  "  Family  "  of  birds  containing  the  Skimmer,  Tern,  Avoset, 
Petrel,  Albatros  and  Gull,  which  having  been  adopted  by 
Cuvier,  who  had  before  called  {Le(;.  d'Anat.  Comp.  tabl.  ii.)  this 
group,  the  Avoset  excepted,  "  Macropteres,"  has  been  very  often 
used,  though  mostly  by  French  authors. 

LONGIROSTRES,  Cuvier's  name  in  1805  {Leg.  d'Anat.  Comp. 
tabl.  ii.)  for  a  group  containing  all  the  Limicolm  of  modern  authors 
then  known  to  him  except  Hsemaiopus  (Oyster-catcher). 

LOOM,  or  LOON  (Icelandic,  Lhnr),  a  name  applied  to  water- 
birds  of  three  distinct  Families,  all  remarkable  for  their  clumsy 
gait  on  land."  The  first  of  them  is  the  ColvmUdx,  to  which  the 
term  Diver  is  nowadays  usually  restricted  in  books  ;  the  second 
the  Podicipedidse,  or  Grebes  ;  and  the  third  the  Alcidse.  The  form 
Loo?i  is  most  commonly  used  both  in  the  British  Islands  and  in 

1  This  name  was  given  to  it  by  Sir  R.  Owen  {I'ran.s.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  p.  254), 
Mkropterus  being  preoccupied. 

-  The  word  also  takes  the  form  "  Lumme "  {fide  Montagu),  and,  as  Prof. 
Skeat  observes,  is  probably  connected  witli  lame.  The  signification  of  loon,  a 
clumsy  fellow,  and  metaphorically  a  simpleton,  is  obvious  to  any  one  wlio  has 
seen  the  attempt  of  the  birds  to  which  the  name  is  given  to  walk. 


LORD— LORY  519 


North  America  for  all  the  species  of  the  genus  Colymbus,  or  Etidytes 
according  to  some  ornithologists,  frequently  with  the  prefix  Sprat, 
indicating  the  kind  of  fish  on  which  they  are  supposed  to  prey  ; 
though  it  is  the  local  name  of  the  Great  Crested  Grebe,  Fodicipes 
cristatus,  wherever  that  bird  is  sufficiently  well  known  to  have 
one;  and,  as  appears  from  Grew  {Mus.  Reg.  Soc.  p.  69),  it  was 
formerly  given  to  the  little  Grebe  or  Dabchick,  P.  fiuviatilis  or 
minor,  as  well.  The  other  form,  Loo?n,  seems  more  confined  in  its 
application  to  the  north,  and  is  said  by  Mr.  T.  Edmondston  {Etym. 
Gloss.  Shell,  and  Orhi.  Dialect,  p.  67)  to  be  the  proper  name  in 
Shetland  of  Colymbus  septentrionalis ;  ^  but  it  has  come  into  common 
use  among  Arctic  seamen  as  the  name  of  the  species  of  Guillemot, 
Alca  arra  or  bmennichi,  which  in  thousands  throngs  the  cliffs  of  far 
northern  lands,  from  whose  (hence  called)  "  loomeries  "  they  obtain 
a  considerable  stock  of  wholesome  food,  while  the  writer  believes 
he  has  heard  the  word  locally  applied  to  the  Razorbill. 

LORD,  the  Newfoundland  name  for  what  is  now  commonly 
called  the  Harlequin-Duck  (Edwards,  N'at.  Hist.  B.  i.  p.  99). 

LORIKEET,  the  diminutive  of 

LORY,  a  word  of  Malayan  origin  signifying  Parrot,^  which  is 
in  general  use  with  slight  variation  of  form  in  many  European 
languages,  and  is  the  name  of  certain  birds  of  the  Order  Pslttaci, 
mostly  from  the  Moluccas  and  New  Guinea,  and  remarkable  for 
their  bright  scarlet  or  crimson  coloiU"ing,  though  also,  and  perhaps 
subsequently,  applied  to  some  others  in  which  the  plumage  is 
chiefly  green.      Among  the  birds  so   called   are  some  that  have 

^  Dunn  and  Saxby,  however,  agree  in  giving  "  Rain -Goose  "  as  the  name  of 
this  bird  in  Shetland. 

^  The  anonymous  author  of  a  Vocabulary  of  the  English  and  Malay  Lan- 
guages, published  at  Batavia  in  1879,  in  which  the  words  are  professedly  spelt 
according  to  their  pronunciation,  gives  it  Looree.  Buffon  {Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  vi. 
p.  125)  states  that  it  comes  from  the  bird's  cry,  which  is  likely  enough  in  the 
case  of  captive  examples  taught  to  utter  a  sound  resembling  that  of  the  name 
by  which  they  are  commonly  called.  Nieuhoff  ( Voyages  par  iner  et  par  terre  a 
differents  lieux  des  Indes.  Amsterdam  :  1682-92)  seems  to  have  first  made  the 
word  "Lory"  known  (c/.  Ray,  Synops.  Avium,  p.  151).  Crawfurd  {Diet.  Engl. 
and  Malay  Languages,  p.  127)  spells  it  nori  or  nuri  ;  and  in  the  first  of  these 
forms  it  is  used,  says  Dr.  Finsch  {Die  Papageien,  ii.  p.  732),  by  Pigafetta. 
Aldrovandus  {Ornith.  lib.  xi.  cap.  1)  noticed  a  Parrot  called  in  Java  nor,  and 
Clusius  {Exotica,  p.  .364)  has  the  same  word.  This  will  account  for  the  name 
noyra  or  noira  applied  by  the  Portuguese,  according  to  BufTon  {ut  supra,  pp. 
125-127) ;  but  the  modern  Portuguese  seem  to  call  a  Parrot  generally  Louro,  and 
in  the  same  langiiage  that  word  is  used  as  an  adjective,  signifying  bright  in 
colour.  The  French  write  the  word  Loury  {cf.  Littre,  sub  voce).  The  Lory  oi  1 
colonists  in  South  Africa  is  a  Touraco^  ;  and  King  Lory  is  a  name  applied  by  ^J '  "^'v^^* 
dealers  in  birds  to  the  Australian  Parrot^  of  the  genus  Aprosmictus. 


520  LORY 

been  referred  to  a  considerable  number  of  genera,  of  which  Ededus, 
Loriiis  (the  Domkella  of  some  authors),  Eos,  and  Chalcopsittacus  may- 
be here  particularized,   while  under  the  equally  vague  name  of 
Lorikeets  may  be  comprehended  the  genera  Cliarmosyna,  Loriculus, 
and  Coriphilus.     By  most  systematists  some  of  these  forms  have 
been  placed  far  apart,  even  in  different  Families  of  Fsittad,  but 
Garrod    shewed    {Froc.  Zool.   Soc.   1874,  pp.  586-598,  and  1876, 
p.  692)  the  many  common  characters  they  possess,  which  thus  goes 
some  way   to  justify  the   relationship  implied   by  their   popular 
designation.     Perhaps  the  most  complete  account  of  these  birds  is 
that  of  Count  T.  Salvadori  {Ornitol.  Fapuas.  parte  i.  Torino  :  1880 ; 
Agg'mnte,  1889),  who  has  subsequently  treated  of  them  technically 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xx.  London:   1891).     Of  the  genus  Ededus  the 
Italian  naturalist    admits   six    species,   namely,   E.  pedoralis    and 
E.  roratus   (which   are   respectively  the  polyddorus  and  grandis  of 
most  authors),  E.   cardinalis  (otherwise  intermedius),  E.  westermani, 
and    E.    corneUa  —  all    no    doubt    from    the    Papuan    Subregion, 
though  the  precise  habitat  of  the  last  two  is  unknown — as  well 
as    E.    riedeli,     from     Cera     or     Seirah,    one    of    the    Tenimber 
group,  of  which  Timor  Laut  is  the  chief,  to  the  south-west  of  New 
Guinea,  first  described  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Meyer  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1881, 
p.  917).^     Much  interest  was  excited  by  the  discovery  in  1873,  by 
the  traveller  and  naturalist  last  named,  that  the  birds  of  this  genus 
possessing  a  red  plumage  were  the  females  of  those  wearing  green 
feathers.     So  unexpected  a  disclosure  announced  by  him  on  the 
4th  of  March  1874,^  naturally  provoked  not  a  little  controversy, 
for  the  difference  of  coloration  is  so  marked  that  it  had  even  been 
proposed  to  separate  the  Green  from  the  Red  Lories  generically ;  ^ 
but  now  the  truth  of  his  assertion  is  generally  admitted,  and  the 
story  is  very  fully  told  by  him  in  a  note  contributed  to  Gould's 
Birds  of  New  Guinea  (part  viii.  1st  October,  1878),  though  several 
interesting    matters    therewith  -connected  are   still  undetermined. 
Among  these  is  the  question  of  the  colour  of  the  first  plumage  of 
the   young,  a  point   not  without  important    signification    to    the 
student  of  phylogeny.* 

Though  the  name  Lory  has  long  been  used  for  the  species  of 
Ededus,  and  other  genera  related  thereto,  some  writers  would 
restrict  its   application  to  the   birds  of   the   genera  Lorius,   Eos, 

^  There  seems  just  a  possibility  of  this,  however,  proving  identical  with 
either  B.  westermani  or  U.  eornelia — both  of  which  are  very  rare  in  collections. 

2  Verhandl.  z.-b.  Gesellsch.  Wien,  1874,  p.  179  ;  and  Zool.  Garten,  1874, 
p.  161. 

3  Proe.  Zool.  Soc.  1857,  p.  226. 

*  The  chemical  constitution  of  the  colouring  matter  of  the  feathers  in  Eclectiis 
has  been  treated  by  Dr.  Krukenberg  of  Heidelberg  ( Vergl.  physiol.  Stud.  Reihe 
ii.  Abth.  i.  p.  161    reprinted  in  Mitthcil.  Orn.  Ver.   Wein,  1881,  p.  83). 


L  0  TUS-BIRD—LO  VE-BIRD  5  2 1 

Chalcopsittacus,  and  their  near  allies  belonging  to  the  so-called 
Family  of  Trichoglossidse,  or  "  Brush-tongued "  Parrots,  more 
correctly  termed,  as  by  Count  T.  Salvadori,  Loriidx.  Garrod, 
however,  in  the  course  of  his  investigations  on  the  anatomy  of  the 
FsiUaci  was  led  to  attach  little  importance  to  the  structure 
indicated  by  the  epithet  "brush-tongued,"  stating  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1874,  p.  597)  that  it  "is  only  an  excessive  development  of  the 
papillae  which  are  always  found  on  the  lingual  surface."  The  birds 
of  this  group  are  very  characteristic  of  the  Papuan  Subregion,^  in 
which  occur,  according  to  Count  T.  Salvadori,  ten  species  of  Lorius, 
twelve  of  Eos,  and  seven  of  Chalcopsittacus ;  but  none  seem  here  to 
require  any  further  notice,  ^  though  among  them,  and  particularly 
in  the  genus  JEos,  are  included  some  of  the  most  richly-coloured 
birds  to  be  found  in  the  whole  world ;  nor  does  it  appear  that 
more  need  be  said  of  the  so-called  Lorikeets. 

LOTUS-BIED,  the  name  given  in  Queensland  to  the  Australian 
Jacana  or  Parra,  Hydralector  cristatus. 

LOVE  -  BIRD,  a  name  indefinitely  bestowed,  chiefly  by 
dealers  in  live  animals  and  their  customers,  on  some  of  the 
smaller  short-tailed  Parrots,  from  the  remarkable  affection  which 
examples  of  opposite  sexes  exhibit  towards  each  other,  an  affection 
popularly  believed  to  be  so  great  that  of  a  pair  that  have  been  kept 
together  in  captivity  neither  can  long  survive  the  loss  of  its 
partner.  By  many  systematic  ornithologists  the  little  birds  thus 
named,  brought  almost  entirely  from  Africa  and  South  America, 
have  been  retained  in  a  single  genus,  Fsittacula,  though  those 
belonging  to  the  former  country  were  by  others  separated  as 
Agapornis.  This  separation,  however,  was  by  no  means  generally 
approved,  and  indeed  it  was  not  easily  justified,  until  Garrod  (Froc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1874,  p.  593)  assigned  good  anatomical  ground,  afforded 
by  the  structure  of  the  carotid  artery,  for  regarding  the  two 
groups  as  distinct,  and  thus  removed  what  had  seemed  to  be  the 
almost  unintelligible  puzzle  presented  by  the  geographical  distribu- 
tion of  the  species  of  Fsittacula  in  a  large  sense,  though  Prof. 
Huxley  (op.  cit.  1868,  p.  319)  had  indeed  already  suggested  one 
way  of  meeting  the  difficulty.  Nine  species  of  Psittacida  are 
recognized  by  Count  T.  Salvadori  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xx.  pp.  240- 
252),  who  places  them  in  his  subfamily  Conurinx,  while  he  assigns 
Urochroma,  often  considered  to  be  nearly  allied,  to  another  sub- 
family Fioninse — but  all  these  inhabit  the  New  World.  On  the 
other  hand,  all  the  seven  species  of  Agapornis,  which  he  admits, 
belong  to  the  Ethiopian  Region,  and  all  but  one,  A.  cana  (which 

^  They  extend,  however,  to  Fiji,  Tahiti,  and  Fanning  Island. 
-  Unless  it  be  Oreopsittacus  ar/aJci,  of  New  Guinea,  remarkable  as  the  only 
Parrot  known  as  yet  to  have  fourteen  instead  of  twelve  rectrices. 


522  LO  WAN—L  UNGS 


is  indigenous  to  Madagascar,  and  thence  has  been  mdely  dis- 
seminated),  are  natives  of  Africa.  These  Old- World  forms  are  the 
"  Love-birds  "  proper  ;  the  others  scarcely  deserve  that  designation. 

LOWAN,  see  Megapode. 

LUGGAR  (Hind.  Laggar  or  Lhagar,  the  female  ;  Jaqgar  or 
Jhagar,  the  male),  the  Falco  juggur  of  ornithology,  and  well  known  to 
Indian  sportsmen  as  the  most  common  of  the  large  Falcons  of 
that  country.  It  belongs  to  the  group  containing  the  Saker  and 
others,  which  have  been  called  "  Desert  Falcons,"  ^  as  they  prefer 
the  plains  or  open  country  to  the  hills  or  forest  districts.  The 
number  of  species  is  uncertain ;  but,  except  the  Australian  F. 
hypoleuciis  (if  that  be  rightly  included  among  them)  they  may  be 
recognized  by  the  dull  brown  colouring  of  their  plumage  above, 
which  does  not  display  the  light  bluish-grey  or  rufous  tints 
assumed  by  the  Lanners  or  the  Falcons  allied  to  F.  peregrinus, 
while  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  adults  assume  the  bars  or  hori- 
zontal max'kings  which  are  generally  so  characteristic  of  maternity 
in  the  Falconidse.  The  F.  mexicanus  or  polyagrus  of  the  southern 
parts  of  North  America,  and  the  rare  F.  subniger  of  Australia  have 
been  referred  to  this  group. 

LUMME,  see  Loom. 

LUNDA  (Skandin.  Lunde),  one  of  the  many  local  names  of  the 
Puffin,  and  doubtless  that  from  which  Lundy,  the  island  in  the 
Bristol  Channel,  is  called. 

LUNGS,  pidmones,  in  Birds  are  symmetrical  and  comparatively 
small.  They  occupy  the  dorsal  portion  of  the  thoracic  cavity, 
above  the  Heart,  Stomach  and  Liver,  and  in  front  of  the 
Kidneys,  from  the  vertebral  column  to  the  beginning  of  the  sternal 
portion  of  the  ribs,  which  impress  themselves  deeply  upon  the 
dorsal  surface  of  the  Lungs,  while  they  are  covered  ventrally  with 
a  serous  membrane  {pleura).  Secondary  Bronchi  (page  58),  besides 
opening  into  Air-sacs,  send  oft"  a  number  of  radially-arranged  jMra- 
bronchia,  all  of  which  extend  to  and  end  blindly  near  the  surface  of 
the  Lungs.  The  walls  of  these  (tertiary)  tubes,  which  form  the 
chief  mass  of  the  ordinary  tissue  of  the  organs,  are  perforated 
in  all  directions  by  minute  tubules  (canaliculi  aeriferi),  which  end  in 
slight  swellings,  and  so  far  resemble  the  alveoli  of  the  Mammalian 
Lung.  With  these  very  fine  respiratory  passages  are  felted 
together  the  capillaries  of  the  pulmonary  vessels,  so  that  blood  and 
air,  being  separated  from  each  other  only  by  the  extremely  thin 

^  Separated  by  some  systematists  as  a  subgenus  or  genus  Gennaia,  properly 
written  GennsRa,  and  a  term  inadmissible  in  nomenclature  owing  to  the  prior 
application  of  Gennasus  to  a  group  of  Pheasants. 


L  YMPHA  TIC   VESSELS— L  Y RE- BIRD  5 2 3 

walls  of  these  canaliculi  and  capillaries,  exchange  their  gases  hy 
osmosis.  The  Lungs,  being  small,  scarcely  elastic,  and  moreover 
fixed  to  the  thoracic  walls,  are  capable  of  very  limited  expansion, 
and  the  necessary  ventilation  is  secured  by  the  extremely  Mell- 
developed  Air-sacs. 

LlTVrPHATIC  VESSELS,  see  Vahculak  Systkm. 

LYEA  or  LYRIE  (Skandin.  Lira.,  Lire  or  Liri),  the  Orcadian 
name  for  Shearwater. 

LYEE-BIRD,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  feathered  inhabitants 
of  Australia,  the  Menum  superba  or  31.  novse-hollandise  of  ornitholo- 
gists. First  discovered,  January  24,  1798, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river  Nepean  in 
New  South  Wales  by  an  exploring  party 
from  Paramatta,  under  the  leadership  of 
one  Wilson,  a  single  example  was  brought 

•    ,        .1  .,1  i.         £  1  ii.  1        Menuka.     (After  Sw.iiiiso!!.) 

into  the  settlement  a  tew  days  alter,  and 

though  called  by  its  finders  a  "  Pheasant  " — from  its  long  tail — the 
more  learned  of  the  colony  seem  to  have  regarded  it  as  a  Bird-of- 
Paradise.^  A  specimen  having  reached  England  in  the  following 
year,  it  was  described  by  Gen.  Davies  as  forming  a  new  genus 
of  birds,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Linnean  Society  of  London, 
November  4,  1800,  and  subsequently  published  in  that  Society's 
Transactions  (vi.  p.  207,  pi.  xxii.),  no  attempt,  however,  being  made 
to  fix  its  systematic  place.  Other  examples  were  soon  after 
received,  but  Latham,  who  considered  it  a  Gallinaceous  bird,  in 
1801  knew  of  only  five  having  arrived.  The  temporary  cessation 
of  hostilities  permitted  Vieillot  in  1802  to  become  acquainted  Avith 
this  form,  though  not  apparently  with  any  published  notice  of  it, 
and  he  figured  and  described  it  in  a  supplement  to  his  Oiseaux 
i)om- as  a  Bird-of-Paradise  (ii.  pp.  39-42,  pis.  14-16),  from  drawings 
by  Sydenham  Edwards,  sent  him  by  Parkinson,  the  then  owner  of 
the  Leverian  Museum. - 

It  would  be  needless  here  to  enter  at  any  length  on  the  various 
positions  which  have  been  assigned  to  this  singular  form  by  different 

^  Collins,  Account  of  New  South  Wales,  ii.  pp.  87-92  (London:  1802). 

2  Vieillot  called  the  bird  "Le  Parkinson"  !  and  hence  Bechstein,  who  seems 
to  have  been  equally  ignorant  of  what  had  been  published  in  England  concern- 
ing it,  in  1811  [Kurzc  Uehersicht,  p.  134),  designated  it  Parkinsonius  viirahilis\ ! 
Sluiw  also,  prior  to  1813,  figured  it  [Nat.  Mlscel.  xiv.  p.  57?)  under  the  name 
0? Paradisea parkinsoniana.  The  name  ^^ Menura  lyra,  Shaw,"  was  quoted  by 
Lesson  in  1831  {Tr.  d'Orn.  p.  473),  and  has  been  repeated  by  many  copyists  of 
synonpny,  liut  I  cannot  find  that  such  a  name  was  ever  applied  by  Shaw. 
Yieillot's  principal  figure,  Avhich  has  a  common  origin  with  that  given  by 
Collins,  has  been  extensively  copied,  in  spite  of  its  inartistic  not  to  say  inaccur- 
ate drawing.  It  is  decidedly  inferior  to  that  of  Davies,  the  first  describer  and 
delineator. 


524  LYRE-BIRD 


systematizers  —  who  had  to  judge  merely  from  its  superficial 
characters.  The  JBrst  to  describe  any  portion  of  its  anatomy  was 
Eyton,  who  in  1841  {Ann.  &  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  vii.  pp.  49-53)  per- 
ceived that  it  was  truly  a  member  of  the  Order  then  called  Insessores, 
and  that  it  presented  some  points  of  affinity  to  the  South  American 
genus  Fteroptochus  i^  but  still  there  were  many  who  could  not  take 
advantage  of  this  step  in  the  right  direction.  In  1867  Prof. 
Huxley  stated  that  he  was  disposed  to  divide  his  very  natural 
assemblage  the  Coracomorphx  (essentially  identical  with  Eyton's 
Insessores)  into  two  groups,  "  one  containing  Menura,  and  the  other 
all  the  other  genera  which  have  yet  been  examined  "  (Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1867,  p.  472) — a  still  further  step  in  advance. ^  In  1875  the 
present  "vvTiter  put  forth  the  opinion  {Encijcl.  Brit.  ed.  9,  iii.  p.  741) 
that  Menura  had  an  ally  in  another  Australian  form,  Atrichia 
or  AtricJiornis  (Scrub-BIRD),  which  presented  peculiarities  hitherto 
unsuspected,  and  accordingly  regarded  them  as  standing  by  them- 
selves, though  each  constituting  a  distinct  Family.  This  opinion 
was  partially  adopted  in  the  following  year  by  Garrod,  who  (Proc. 
Zool  Soc.  1876,  p.  518)  formally  placed  these  two  genera  together 
in  his  group  of  Abnormal  Acromyodian  Oscines  under  the  name  of 
Menurinse ;  but  the  author  sees  no  reason  to  change  his  mind,  and 
herein  he  is  corroborated  by  Mr.  Sclater,  who  at  once  recognized 
{Ibis,  1880,  p.  345)  the  alliance  and  distinctness  of  the  Families 
Menuridse  and  Airichiidx,  forming  of  them  a  group  which  he  \m- 
luckily  called  PsEUDOSCiNES. 

Since  the  appearance  in  1865  of  Gould's  Handbook  to  the  Birds 
of  Australia^  little  if  any  fresh  information  has  been  published  con- 
cerning the  habits  of  this  form,  and  the  account  therein  given  must 
be  drawn  upon  for  what  here  follows.  Of  all  birds,  says  that 
author,  the  Menura  is  the  most  shy  and  hard  to  procure.  He  has 
been  among  the  rocky  and  thick  "  brushes  " — its  usual  haunts — 
hearing  its  loud  and  liquid  call-notes  for  days  together  without 
getting  sight  of  one.  Those  who  wish  to  see  it  must  advance  only 
while  it  is  occupied  in  singing  or  scratching  up  the  earth  and 
leaves  ;  and  to  watch  its  actions  they  must  keep  perfectly  still — 
though  where  roads  have  been  made  through  the  bush  it  may 
be  more  often  observed  and  even  approached  on  horseback.  The 
best  way  of  procuring  an  example  seems  to  be  by  hunting  it  with 
dogs,  when  it  will  spring  upon  a  branch  to  the  height  of  ten  feet 
and  afford  an  easy  shot  ere  it  has  time  to  ascend  further  or  escape 

^  He  subsequently  {Osteol.  Avium,  pp.  97,  98,  pi.  3,  F  and  pi.  14)  described 
and  figured  the  skeleton. 

"  Owing  to  the  imperfection  of  the  specimen  at  his  disposal,  Prof.  Huxley's 
brief  description  of  the  bones  of  the  head  in  Menura  is  not  absolutely  correct. 
A  full  description  of  them,  with  elaborate  figures,  is  given  by  Parker  in  the  same 
Society's  Transactions  (ix.  pp.  306-309,  pi.  Ivi.  figs.  1-5). 


L  YRE-BIRD 


525 


as  it  does  by  leaps.  Another  method  of  stealing  upon  it  is  said  to 
be  practised  by  the  natives,  and  is  attained  by  the  hunter  fixing  on 
his  head  the  erected  tail  of  a  cock-bird,  which  alone  is  allowed 
to  be  seen  above  the  brushwood.  The  greater  part  of  its  time  is 
said  to  be  passed  upon  the  ground,  and  seldom  are  more  than 
a  pair  to  be  found  in  company.  One  of  the  habits  of  the  cock  is 
to  form  small  i-ound  hillocks,  which  he  constantly  visits  during  the 
day,  mounting  upon  them  and  displaying  his  tail  by  erecting  it 
over  his  head,  drooping  his  wings,  scratching  and  pecking  at  the 
soil,  and  uttering  various  cries — some  his  own  natural  notes,  others 
an  imitation  of  those  of  other  animals.  The  wonderful  tail,  his 
most  characteristic  feature,  only  attains  perfection  in  the  bird's 
third  or  fourth  year,  and  then  not  until  the  month  of  June, 
remaining  until  October,  when  the  feathers  are  shed  to  be  renewed 
the  following  season.  The  food  consists  of  insects,  especially 
beetles  and  myriapods,  as  well  as  snails.  The  nest  is  generally 
placed  near  to  or  on  the  ground,  at  the  base  of  a  rock  or  foot  of  a 
tree,  and  is  closely  woven  of  fine  but  strong  roots  or  other  fibres, 
and  lined  with  feathers,  around  all  which  is  heaped  a  mass,  in 
shape  of  an  oven,  of  sticks,  grass,  moss,  and  leaves,  so  as  to  pro- 
ject over  and  shelter  the  interior  structure,  while  an  opening 
in  the  side  affords  entrance  and  exit.  Only  one  egg  is  laid, 
and  this  of  rather  large  size  in  proportion  to  the  bird,  of  a 
purplish-grey  colour,  suffused  and  blotched  with  dark  purplish- 
brown.^ 

Incubation  is  believed  to  begin  in  July  or  August,  and  the 
young  is  hatched  about  a  month  later.  It  is  at  first  covered  with 
white  down,  and  appears  to  remain  for  some  weeks  in  the  nest. 
How  much  more  is  needed  to  be  known  for  a  biography  of  this 
peculiar  and  beautiful  creature  may  be  inferred  by  those  who  are 
aware  of  the  diligence  with  which  the  habits  of  the  much  more 
easily  observed  birds  of  the  northern  hemisphere  have  been 
recorded,  and  of  the  many  interesting  points  which  they  present. 
It  is  greatly  to  be  hoped  that  so  remarkable  a  form  as  the  Lyre- 
bird, the  nearly  sole  survivor  apparently  of  a  very  ancient  race  of 
beings,  will  not  be  allowed  to  become  extinct — its  almost  certain 
fate  so  far  as  can  be  judged — without  many  more  observations 
of  its  manners  being  made  and  fuller  details  of  them  placed  on 
record.  The  zoologists  of  Australia  alone  can  do  this,  and  the 
zoologists  of  other  countries  expect  that  they  will. 

Several  examples  of  Memira  have  been  brought  alive  to  Europe, 
but  none  have  long  survived  in  captivity.      Indeed  a  bird  of  such 

^  A  nest  and  egg  of  Menura  alberti,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  are  figured  ^  /  /'/W^^— ^'t. 
in  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1853,  Aves,  pi.  53.      The  egg  of  M.  victorise  is  represented  in   /  /y 

Journ.  fur  Orn.  1856,  pi.  ii.  fig.  18,  under  the  name  of  M.  superha,  but  the  real 
egg  of  that  species  does  not  seem  to  have  been  figured  at  all. 


526 


L  Y RE-BIRD 


active  habits,  and  doubtless  requiring  facilities  for  taking  violent 
exercise,  could  not  possibly  be  kept  long  in  confinement  until  the 
method  of  menageries  is  vastly  improved,  as  doubtless  Avill  be  the 
case  some  day,  and,  Ave  may  hope,  before  the  disappearance  from 
the  face  of  the  earth  of  foi-ms  of  vertebrate  life  most  instructive  to 
the  zoologist. 

Three  species  of  Memira  have  been  indicated — the  old  M. 
sujjerba,  the  Lyre-bird  proper,  now  known  for  nearly  a  century, 
which  inhabits  New  South  Wales,  the  southern  part  of  Queensland, 
and  perhaps  some  parts  of  the  colony  of  Victoria ;  M.  victoriai, 
separated  from  the  former  by  Gould  {Proe.  Zool.  Soc.  1862,  p.  23), 
and  said  to  take  its  place  near  Melbourne ;  and  71/.  alherti,  first 
described  by  C.  L.  Bonaparte  {Coiisp.  Avium,  i.  p.  215)  on  Gould's 
authoi'ity  ;  and,  though  discovered  on  the  Richmond  river  in  New 
South  Wales,  having  apparently  a  more  northern  range  than  the 
other  two.  All  those  have  the  apparent  bulk  of  a  hen  Pheasant, 
but  are  really  much  smaller,  and  their  general  plumage  is  of  a 
sooty  brown,  relieved  by  rufous  on  the  chin,  throat,  some  of  the 
Aving-feathers,  and  the  tail-coverts.     The  wings,  containing  tAventy- 

one  remiges,  are  rather  short  and  rounded ; 
the  legs  ^  and  feet  very  strong,  Avith  long, 
nearly  straight  claAvs.  In  the  immature 
and  female  the  tail  is  somcAvhat  long,  though 
affording  no  very  remarkable  character, 
except  the  possession  of  sixteen  rectrices ; 
but  in  the  fiilly-plumaged  male  of  M.  superha 
and  M.  victory  it  is  developed  in  the  extra- 
ordinary fashion  that  gives  the  bird  its 
common  English  name.  The  tAvo  exterior 
feathers  (Fig.  1,  a,  h)  have  the  outer  Aveb 
very  narroAv,  the  inner  very  broad,  and  they 
curve  at  first  outwards,  then  somcAvhat  in- 
Avards,  and  near  the  tip  outwards  again, 
bending  round  forAvards  so  as  to  present 
a  lyre-like  form.  But  this  is  not  all ;  their 
I  broad  inner  Aveb,  Avhich  is  of  a  liA'^ely  chest- 
I  nut  colour,  is  apparently  notched  at  regular 
intervals  by  spaces  that,  according  to  the 
angle  at  Avhich  they  are  vieAved,  seem  either 
])lack  or  transparent ;  and  this  effect  is,  on 
examination,  found  to  be  due  to  the  barbs 
at  those  spaces  being  destitute  of  barbules. 
The  middle  pair  of  feathers  (Fig.  2,  a,  h)  is  nearly  as  abnormal. 
These  have  no  outer  Aveb,  and  the  inner  Aveb  very  narroAV  ;  near 

^  The  metatarsals  are  very  remarkable  in  form,  as  already  noticed  by  Eyton 
{loc.  cit.),  and  their  tendons  strongly  ossified. 


Fig.  1. 
Portion  of  Outer  Tail- 

FEATHF.K. 

(ft.  in  ordinary  iiosition. 
/).  seen  edgeways.) 
Mbnura  superba. 


MACAW 


527 


their  base  they  cross  each  other,  and  then  diverge,  bending  round 
forwards  near  their  tip.  The  lemaining  twelve  feathers  (Fig.  3) 
except  near  the  base  are  very  thinly  furnished  with  barbs,  about 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  apart,  and  those  they  possess,  on  their  greater 


Portion  of  Middle  Tail-feather. 


Pig.  3. 
Portion  of  Intermediate  Tail-feather. 


Menura  superba. 


part,  though  long  and  flowing,  bear  no  barbules,  and  hence  have  a 
hair-like  appearance.  The  shafts  of  all  are  exceedingly  strong. 
In  the  male  of  M.  alberti  the  tail  is  not  only  not  lyriform,  but 
the  exterior  rectrices  are  shorter  than  the  rest. 


M 


MACAW,  or,  as  formerly  spelt,  Maccaw,^  the  name  given  to 
about  a  score  of  species  of  large,  long-tailed  birds  of  the  Order 
FsiUaci  (Parrot),  natives  of  the  Neotropical  Region,  and  forming 
a  very  well-known  and  in  some  respects  easily  recognized  group  to 
which  the  generic  designation  Ara  is  usually  applied  by  orni- 
thologists,  though  some  prefer  for  it  Macrocercus  or  Sittace,  while 

^  Thus  Willughby  (1676),  Ornithologia,  p.  73  ;  but  an  earlier  form  of  the  word 
is  found  in  the  "great  blew  and  yellow  Parrat  called  the  Machao,  or  Cockatooii  " 
of  Charleton,  Onomasticon,  p.  66  (1668).  Its  derivation  is  shewn  by  De  Laet,  who, 
in  his  description  of  certain  Brazilian  birds  (JVovus  Orbis,  ed.  1633,  p.  556),  has 
"inter  alios  [sc.  Psittacos]  excellunt  magnitudine  &  jiulchritudine,  quos  barbari 
Ara ras  k  Macaos  Yoca,nt"  and  again  {loc.  cit.)  "Tertium  locum  meretur  Ararwia 
vel  Machao. "  AVebster,  in  his  dictionary,  says  that  Macaw,  ' '  written  also  Maccao, " 
is  "the  native  name  in  the  Antilles,"  but  gives  no  authority  for  his  statement, 


528  AT  AC  AW 


others  break  it  up  into  three  or  four  genera  as  is  done  by  Count  T. 
Salvadori  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xx.  pp.  145-169).  Most  of  the  Macaws 
are  remarkable  for  their  gaudy  plumage,  which  exhibits  the  brightest 
scarlet,  yellow,  blue  and  green  in  varying  proportion  and  often  in 
violent  contrast,  while  a  white  visage  often  adds  a  very  peculiar  and 
expressive  character.  ■"■  With  one  exception  the  known  species 
inhabit  the  mainland  of  America  from  Paraguay  to  Mexico,  being 
especially  abundant  in  Bolivia,  where  no  fewer  than  seven  of  them 
(or  nearly  one-half)  have  been  found  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1879,  p.  634). 
The  single  extra-continental  species,  A.  tricolor,  is  one  of  the  most 
brilliantly  coloured,  and  is  peculiar  to  Cuba,  where,  according  to 
Dr.  Gundlach  (Ornitdlogia  Cubana,  p.  126),  its  numbers  are  rapidly 
decreasing,  so  that  there  is  every  chance  of  its  becoming  extinct.^ 

It  will  be  enough  here  to  dwell  on  the  best-known  species  of 
the  group,  and  first  the  Blue-and-yellow  Macaw,  A.  ararauna,  which 
has  an  extensive  range  in  South  America  from  Guiana  in  the  east 
to  Colombia  in  the  west.  Southwards  it  is  replaced  in  Paraguay  by 
the  nearly  allied  A.  caninde.  Of  large  size,  it  is  to  be  seen  in 
almost  every  zoological  garden,  and  is  frequently  kept  alive  in  private 
houses,  for  its  temper  is  pretty  good,  and  it  will  become  strongly 
attached  to  those  who  tend  it.  Its  richly-coloured  plumage,  suffi- 
ciently indicated  by  its  common  English  name,  has  the  additional 
recommendation  of  supplying  feathers  which  are  eagerly  sought  by 
salmon-fishers  for  the  making  of  "  flies."  Next  may  be  mentioned  the 
Red-and-blue  Macaw,  A.  macao,  which  is  even  larger  and  more 
gorgeously  clothed,  for,  beside  the  colours  expressed  in  its  ordinary 
appellation,  yellow  and  green  enter  into  its  adornment.  It  inhabits 
Central  as  well  as  South  America  as  far  as  Bolivia,  and  is  also  a 

which,  considering  that  now  one  West  Indian  island  only  is  known  to  possess  a 
Macaw  (and  that  in  that  island  the  bird  is  known  as  Guacamayo),  is  very  un- 
likely. Some  of  the  older  writers,  Buffon  {Oiseaux,  vi.  p.  278)  for  instance,  say 
that  Malcavouanne  was  the  name  given  by  natives  of  Guiana  to  one  species  of 
Macaw  found  in  that  country  ;  but  the  Antillean  origin  of  the  name  cannot  at 
present  be  accepted. 

^  This  serves  to  separate  the  Macaws  from  the  long-tailed  Parrakeets  of  the 
New  World,  Conurus,  to  which  they  are  very  nearly  allied  ;  and  Count  T. 
Salvadori  {ut  supra)  places  them  indeed  in  the  same  subfamily,  which  in  that 
case  should  bear  the  name  of  Arinss  instead  of  Conurinse. 

'  There  is  good  reason  to  think  that  Jamaica  formerly  i^ossessed  a  Macaw 
(though  no  example  is  known  to  exist),  and  if  so  it  was  most  likely  a  peculiar 
species.  Sloane  [Voyage,  ii.  p.  297),  after  describing  what  he  calls  the  "Great 
Maccaw  "  [A.  ararauna,  to  be  spoken  of  in  the  text),  which  he  had  seen  in  captiv- 
ity in  that  island,  mentions  the  "  Small  Maccaw  "  as  being  very  common  in  the 
woods  there,  and  Gosse  [B.  Jamaica,  p.  260)  gives,  on  the  authority  of  Robinson,  a 
local  naturalist  of  the  last  century,  the  description  of  a  bird  which  cannot  be 
reconciled  with  any  species  now  known,  though  it  evidently  must  have  been 
allied  to  the  Cuban  A.  tricolor  (see  Extermination,  p.  220). 


MACCARONI— MADGE  529 

common  bird  in  captivity,  though  perhaps  less  often  seen  than  the 
foregoing.  The  Eed-and-yellow  species,  A.  chloroptera,  ranging  from 
Gruatemala  to  Brazil,  is  smaller,  or  at  least  has  a  shorter  tail,  and 
is  not  quite  so  usually  met  with  in  menageries.  The  Red-and-green, 
A.  militaris,  smaller  again  than  the  last,  is  unfrequent  in  confine- 
ment, and  presents  the  colours  of  the  name  it  bears.  This  has  the 
most  northerly  extension  of  habitat,  occurring  in  Mexico  and  thence 
southwards  to  Bolivia.  All  the  other  species  are  comparatively 
rare  in  a  reclaimed  condition.  Four  of  them,  A.  hyacinthina,  A. 
leari,  A.  glauca,  and  A.  spixi,  are  almost  entirely  blue,  while  in  A. 
manilata  and  A.  nobilis  the  prevailing  colour  is  green,  and  A.  severa 
is  green  and  blue. 

As  is  the  case  with  most  Neotropical  birds,  very  little  is  known 
of  the  habits  of  Macaws  in  a  state  of  nature.  They  are  said  to 
possess  considerable  power  of  flight,  rising  high  in  the  air  and 
travelling  long  distances  in  search  of  their  food,  which  consists  of 
various  kinds  of  fruits ;  but  of  any  special  differences  of  behaviour 
we  are  wholly  ignorant.  The  sexes  appear  in  all  cases  to  be  alike 
in  colouring,  and  the  birds,  though  constantly  paired,  are  said  to 
live  in  companies.  Like  other  Fsittaci,  they  nest  in  hollow  trees, 
and  the  eggs,  asserted  to  be  two  in  number,  are  white  without  any 
lustre.  Of  the  habits  of  these  birds  in  confinement  it  is  needless 
to  speak,  as  they  are  so  extremely  well  known.  If  caged,  their 
long  tail-feathers  are  sui-e  to  suffer,  but  chained  by  the  leg  to  a 
perch,  Macaws  seem  to  enjoy  themselves  as  well  as  any  captive  can, 
and  will  live  for  many  years. 

MACCARONI,  a  seaman's  name  for  one  of  the  crested  Pen- 
guins, Eudyptes  clirysolophus,  so-called  probably  at  the  time  {circa 
1769)  when  the  word  was  a  cant  term  for  a  fop  or  exquisite,  with 
his  hair  dressed  in  extravagant  fashion,  this  bird  having  its  head  more 
conspicuously  attired  than  its  congener  E.  chrysocome,  the  Eock- 
HOPPER,  with  which  it  often  consorts  {Ibis,  1860,  p.  327). 

MACKEREL-BIRD,  -COCK,  -GULL  or  -DIVER,  local  names— 
the  first  for  the  Wryneck  (Cecil  Smith,  B.  Guernsey,  p.  94),  the 
second  for  the  Manx  Shearwater,  the  third  one  of  the  numerous 
appellations  of  the  Razor-BILL,  and  the  last  used  on  the  coast  of 
North  America  for  a  Tern  ;  but  all  referring  to  the  appearance  of 
their  respective  bearers  being  coincident  with  that  of  the  well- 
known  Fish. 

MACROCHIRES,  Nitzsch's  name  in  1829  for  a  "Family"  of 
Birds  composed  of  the  Trochili  (Humming-bird)  and  Cypseli  (Swift). 

MADGE,  short  for  Margaret,  a  nickname  of  the  Barn  OwL, 
and  also  of  the  Pie  ;  but 

34 


5  30  MA  G  PIE— MA  LLEMUCK 

MAGPIE  is  far  more  commonly  applied  to  the  latter,  beside 
being  used  in  combination  as  MAGrPIE-LAEK  (Grallina),  -ROBIN, 
-SHRIKE,  and  so  on  for  many  birds  whose  plumage  is  characterized 
by  black  and  white. 

MAINA  (Hindi),  MINOR  and  MYNAH,  see  Grackle. 

MAIZE-BIRD,  a  local  name  for  Agelxus  phoeniceus,  often  called 
the  Red-winged  Blackbird,  and  in  Canada  the  Field-officer,  one  of 
the  commonest  and  best  known  of  the  Ideridm  (Icterus). 

MALEO,  see  Megapode. 

MALKOHA,  according  to  J.  R.  Forster  {Zool.  Ind.  1781,  p.  16) 
the  Cingalese  name  of  the  Cuckow  now  known  as  Phoenicophaes 
pyrrhocephalus  (see  page  125),  a  species  peculiar  to  Ceylon;  but  a 
name  used  by  Jerdon  [B.  Ind.  i.  pp.  345,  346)  and  other  Anglo- 
Indian  ornithologists  for  birds  belonging  to  allied  forms  such  as 
Zandostoma,  Rhopodytes  {cf.  Shelley,  Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xix.  384) 
and  others. 

MALLARD,  French  Malarf,  the  male  of  the  common  Wild  Duck 
and  its  domesticated  races. 

MALLEE-BIRD,  a  name  given  to  Lipoa  ocellata  (Megapode). 

MALLEMUCK,  from  the  German  rendering  of  the  Dutch 
Mallemugge  (which  originally  meant  small  flies  or  midges  that  madly 
whirl  round  a  light),  a  name  given  by  the  early  Dutch  Arctic 
voyagers  to  the  FuLMAR,^  of  which  the  English  form  is  nowadays 
most  commonly  applied  by  our  sailors  to  the  smaller  kinds  of 
Albatros,  about  as  big  as  a  Goose,  met  "with  in  the  Southern 
Ocean  —  corrupted  into  "  Molly-ma wk,"  or  otherwise  modified.^ 
There  is  some  diff'erence  of  opinion  as  to  the  number  of 
species,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  the  results  of  the  voyage  of  the 
'  Challenger '  do  not  clear  up  the  doubts  that  have  been  expressed. 
Three  have  been  described  and  figured,  the  Diomedea  melanophrys 
and  D.  chloivrhyndms  for  a  long  while,  while  the  third,  D.  mbninata, 
was  discriminated  by  Gould  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.   1843,  p.   107),  who 

^  The  correct  German  form,  as  originally  given  by  Friderich  Martens 
(Sjdtzbergische  oder  Groenlanclische  Reise  Beschreibung ,  Hamburg  :  1675,  4to, 
p.  68),  is  Mallemucke.  The  anonymous  translation  of  this  voyage,  under  the  title 
of  An  Account  of  several  late  Voyages  and  Discoveries  to  the  South  and  North, 
published  in  London  in  1694  (p.  93),  was  probably  the  means  of  the  name 
becoming  known  to  Ray,  in  whose  Synopsis  methodica  Avium,  published  in  1713, 
it  appears  (p.  130)  as  Mallemuck,  and  thereafter  kept  its  place  in  English 
ornithological  works. 

-  The  application  is  of  some  standing  and  not  confined  to  our  own  country- 
men, for  it  was  mentioned  in  1764  by  Briinnich  (Or;i.  Boreal,  p.  31,  note). 


M ANA  KIN  531 


stated  that  the  difference  between  it  and  the  second  is  so  apparent 
that  he  had  no  difficulty  in  distinguishing  them  on  the  wing.  Capt. 
Hutton,  on  the  other  hand  {Ibis,  1865,  p.  283),  considers  all  three 
to  be  specifically  identical.  Others,  as  appears  by  the  Report  on  the 
Birds  of  the  '  Challenger '  voyage  (pp.  148,  149),  while  regarding 
D.  melanophrys  as  distinct,  would  seem  to  unite  D.  culminata  with 
D.  chlororhynchus.  The  first  of  these,  says  Gould,  is  the  commonest 
species  of  Albatros  inhabiting  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  its  gregarious 
habits  and  familiar  disposition  make  it  well  known  to  every  voyager 
to  or  from  Australia,  for  it  is  equally  common  in  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific.  The  back,  wings  and  tail  are  of  a  blackish-grey,  but  all 
the  rest  of  the  plumage  is  white,  except  a  dusky  superciliary  streak, 
whence  its  name  of  Black-browed  Albatros,  as  also  its  scientific 
epithet,  are  taken.  The  bill  of  the  adult  is  of  an  ochreous-yellow, 
while  that  of  the  young  is  dark.  This  species  (supposing  it  to  be 
one)  is  said  to  breed  on  the  Falkland  Islands  and  on  Tristan  da 
Cunha,  but  the  latter  locality  seems  questionable,  for,  according  to 
Carmichael  (Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xii.  p.  490),  i>.  chlororhynchus  is  the 
bird  of  this  group  there  found ;  while  the  late  Prof.  Moseley  (Notes 
of  a  Naturalist,  p.  130)  calls  it  D.  culminata.^  Whatever  it  may  be, 
the  excellent  observer  just  named  describes  it  as  making  a  cylindrical 
nest  of  grass,  sedge  and  clay,  with  a  shallow  basin  atop  and  an  over- 
hanging rim — the  whole  being  about  14  inches  in  diameter  and  10 
in  height.  The  bird  lays  a  single  white  egg,  which  is  held  in  a 
sort  of  pouch  formed  by  the  skin  of  the  abdomen,  while  she 
is  incubating.  A  few  other  details  are  given  by  him,  but  his 
visit  was  too  hurried  to  enable  him  to  ascertain  the  more  important 
and  interesting  points  in  the  economy  of  this  Albatros  which  were 
neglected  by  his  predecessor,  Carmichael,  during  his  four  months' 
sojourn  in  1816-17.  D.  culminata  is  said  by  Gould  to  be  more 
plentiful  in  the  Australian  seas  than  elsewhere,  numbers  coming 
under  his  notice  between  Launceston  and  Adelaide,  and  being  also 
frequently  observed  by  him  between  Sydney  and  the  northern 
extremity  of  New  Zealand,  as  well  as  in  the  same  latitude  of  the 
Indian  Ocean.  He  describes  its  bill  as  having  the  greyish-yellow 
ridge  broad  and  flat,  while  that  of  D.  chlororhynchus  is  laterally  com- 
pressed and  the  ridge  round.  All  these  birds  seem  to  have  much 
the  same  habits. 

MANAKIN,  from  the  Dutch  word  Manneken,  applied  to  certain 
small  birds,  a  name  apparently  introduced  into  English  by  Edwards 
(Nat.  Hist.  Birds,  i.  p.  21)  in  or  about  1743,  since  which  time  it  has 
been  accepted  generally,  and  is  now  used  for  those  which  form  the 

^  Mr.  Sclater  with  commendable  caution  assigns  no  specific  name  to  the  eggs 
of  the  Diomedea  found  breeding  on  this  island  and  its  neighbour  {Re])ort,  ut 
supra,  p.  151). 


532  MANAKIN 


Family  PipridiV  of  modern  ornithologists.  The  Manakins  are 
peculiar  to  the  Neotropical  Region,  and  are  said  to  have  many  of 
the  habits  of  the  Paridx  (Titmouse),  living,  says  Swainson,  in  deep 
forests,  associating  in  small  bands,  and  keeping  continually  in 
motion,  but  feeding  almost  wholly  on  the  large  soft  berries  of  the 
different  kinds  of  Melastoma.  However,  as  with  most  other  South- 
American  Passei'ine  birds,  little  is  really  known  of  their  mode  of 
life ;  and  it  is  certain  that  the  Pipridai  have  no  affinity  to  the 
ParidiV,  but  belong  to  the  other  great  division  of  the  Order  Passeres, 
to  which  Garrod  assigned  the  name  Mesomyodi,  and  in  that 
division,  according  to  the  same  authority,  constitute,  with  the 
Cotingidsti  (Chatterer),^  the  group  Heteromeri  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1876,  p.  518).  The  Manakins  are  nearly  all  birds  of  gay  appear- 
ance, generally  exhibiting  rich  tints  of  blue,  crimson,  scarlet,  orange, 
or  yelloAV  in  combination  with  chestnut,  deep  black,  black  and  white, 
or  olive -green;  and  among  their  most  obvious  characteristics  are 
their  short  bill  and  feeble  feet,  of  which  the  outer  toe  is  united  to 


■^^- 


Metopia  galeata.  Mach^ropterus  regulus. 

(After  Swainson.) 

the  middle  toe  for  a  good  part  of  its  length.  Some  few,  as  Metopia^ 
are  crested.  The  tail,  in  most  species  very  short,  has  in  others  the 
middle  feathers  much  elongated,  and  in  one,  Helicura,  the  outer 
rectrices  are  attenuated  and  produced  into  threads.  They  have  been 
divided  by  various  authors  into  upwards  of  20  genera,  but  Mr.  Sclater 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiv.  pp.  282-325)  recognizes  only  19,  though 
admitting  70  species,  of  which  18  belong  to  the  genus  Pi/)?u  as  now 
rest]"icted,  the  P.  leucocUla  of  Linnaeus  being  its  type.  This  species 
has  a  wide  distribution  from  the  isthmus  of  Panama  to  Guiana  and 
the  valley  of  the  Amazon  ;  but  it  is  one  of  the  most  plainly  coloured  of 
the  Family,  being  black  with  a  white  head.  The  genus  Macliairoptcrus, 
consisting  of  4  species,  is  very  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary 
form  of  some  of  the  secondary  wing-feathers  in  the  males,  in  which 
the  shaft  is  thickened  and  the  webs  changed  in  shape,  as  described 
and  illustrated  by  Mr.  Sclater  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1860,  ]).  90;  Ihis, 
1862,  p.  175),  and  shewn  in  the  accompanying  figures,  in  the  case 
of  the  beautifu.1  M.   delicioms,  and  it  has  been  observed  that  the 

^  Exchiding,  liowcver,  the  genus  Riqncola  (Cock-of-the-Rock),  which  has 
usually  been  placed  among  the  Cotingidx. 


MANAKIN 


r  'y  '> 

5jj 


wing-bones  of  these  birds  are  also  much  thickened,  no  doubt  in  cor- 
relation with  this  abnormal  structure.  A  like  deviation  from  the 
ordinary  character  is  found  in  the  allied  genus  Manams  or  Chiro- 
machceris,  comprehending  7  species,  and  that  gentleman  believes  it 
enables  them  to  make  the  singular  noise  for  Avhich  they  have  for 
long  been  noted  {cf.  Song),  described  by  Mr.  Salvin  {Ibis,  1860, 
p.  37)  in  the  case  of  one  of  them,  M.  candsei,  as  beginning  "with  a 
sharp  note  not  unlike  the  crack  of  a  whip,"  which  is  "  followed  by  a 
rattling  sound  not  unlike  the  call  of  a  landrail  "  ;  and  it  is  a  similar 
habit  that  has  obtained  for  another  sjDecies,  31.  etlwardsi,  the  name 


CORKESPONDINO  FeATHEBS   OF   THE    FEMALE, 
SHEWING  THE  SAME  ASPECT. 


Fifth,  Sixth,  and  Seventh  Secondaries 

OF  THE  MALE  MaCH^ROPTERUS  DELICIO- 
StrS  :  THE  FIRST  TWO  FROM  ABOVE,  THE 
LAST  FROM  P.ENEATH. 

(From  the  Proceedings  oftlie  Zoological  Society,  1860,  p.  90.) 


in  Cayenne,  according  to  Buffon  (Hist.  Nat  Oiseaux,  iv.  p.  413),  of 
Cassenoisette.  This  view  is  supported  by  Mr.  Layard,  who,  writing  of 
the  last  species,  says  (Ibis,  1873,  p.  384) — "They  make  a  curious 
rattling  noise  (I  suspect,  by  some  movement  of  the  oddly  shaped 
wing-feathers),  which  constantly  betrays  their  presence  in  the 
forests,"  while  of  the  congeneric  M.  gutfurosus,  Mr.  J.  F.  Hamilton 
remarks  {Ibis,  1871,  p.  305) — "The  first  intimation  given  of  the 
presence  of  one  of  these  birds  is  a  sharp  whirring  sound  very  like 
that  of  a  child's  small  wooden  rattle,  followed  by  two  or  three  sharp 
snaps."  The  same  observer  adds  (loc.  cit.)  of  a  member  of  the 
kindred  genus  ChiroxipJda,  containing  5  species,  that  C.  caiidata  is 
known  to  the  Brazilians  as  the  Fandango-bird  from  its  "  habit  of 
performing  a  dance."  They  say  that  "  one  perches  upon  a  branch 
and  the  others  arrange  themselves  in  a  circle  round  it,  dancing  up 
and  down  on  their  perches  to  the  music  sung  [?]  by  the  centre  one." 
Exception  must  be  taken  to  this  story  so  far  as  regards  the  mode  in 
which  the  "  music  "  is  produced,  for  these  birds  have  no  true  song- 


534  MANDARIN  DUCK—MANUCODE 

muscles ;  but  the  efifect  is  doubtless  as  described  by  Mr.  Hamilton's 
informant. 

MANDARIN  DUCK,  the  name  given,  says  Latham  {Synops.  iii. 
p.  549),  by  the  English  in  China,  to  the  beautiful  species  of  that 
country,  yEx  galericulata  of  modern  ornithology,  figured  by  Edwards 
(Wat.  Hist.  Uncomm.  B.  pi.  102)  in  1746,  from  a  live  bird  in 
England ;  but  it  was  clearly  known  to  Aldrovandus  [Orn.  lib.  xix. 
cap.  31)  from  a  drawing  of  one  brought  to  Rome  in  his  time  by 
Japanese  envoys. 

MANDIBLE  (Lat.  Mandihula)  the  lower  jaw  in  Birds,  consist- 
ing of  an  unpaired  V-shaped  piece  which  forms  the  tip,  and  some 
four  or  five  paired  pieces,  one  of  which  {os  articulare)  articulates 
with  the  quadrate  bone,  and  another  (os  dentale)  forms  the  upj)er 
margin  of  the  side  of  the  jaw.  In  such  birds  as  the  Parrots  and 
Falcons  which  need  a  strong  beak,  all  these  pieces  coalesce  in  one 
mass,  in  others  as  Ducks  there  remain  sutures,  or  again  as  in  Owls 
and  Gulls,  foramina  (see  Maxilla). 

MANGO-BIRD,  in  Jamaica  Lampornis  mango,  one  of  the 
Trochilidse  (Humming-bird)  ;  but  in  India  an  Oriole,  Oriolus  kundoo. 

MANGROVE-CUCKOW,  Coccyzus  minor  or  seniculus  of  some  ; 
but 

MANGROVE-HEN  is  in  Jamaica,  and  perhaps  in  other  parts  of 
the  New  World,  Rallus  longirostris  or  some  other  species  of  Rail. 

MAN-OF-WAR  BIRD,  apparently  the  oldest  English  name  of 
what  is  now  called  a  Frigate-BIRD  ;  but  also  occasionally  applied 
to  one  or  more  of  the  smaller  species  of  Skua,  and  not  unfrequently 
to  an  Albatros. 

MANUCODE,  from  the  French,  an  abbreviation  of  Manucodiata, 
the  Latinized  form  of  the  Majay  Manukdewata,  meaning,  says 
Crawfurd  (Malay  and  Engl.  Dictionary,  p.  97),  the  "bird  of  the 
gods,"  and  a  name  applied  for  more  than  two  hundred  years 
apparently  to  Birds-OF-ParaDISE  in  general.  In  the  original 
sense  of  its  inventor,  Montbeillard  (Hist.  Nat.  Oiseaux,  iii.  p.  163), 
Manucode  was  restricted  to  the  King  Bird-of-Paradise  and  three 
allied  species ;  but  in  English  it  has  curiously  been  transferred  ^  to 

^  Manucodiata  was  used  by  Brisson  {Ornithologie,  ii.  p.  130)  as  a  generic 
term  equivalent  to  the  Linnsean  Paradisea.  In  1783  Boddaert,  when  assigning 
scientific  names  to  the  birds  iigured  by  Daubenton,  called  the  subject  of  one  of 
them  {PI.  enlum.  634)  Manucodia,  chalybea,  the  first  word  being  apparently  an 
accidental  curtailment  of  the  name  of  Brisson's  genus  to  which  he  referred  it. 
If  evertheless  some  writers  have  taken  it  as  evidence  of  an  intention  to  found  a 
new  genus  by  that  name,  and  hence  the  importation  of  Manucodia  into  scientific 
nomenclature,  and  the  English  form  to  correspond. 


MANUCODE 


535 


a   small  group  of   species  whose  relationship    to    the    Paradiseidai 
has  been  frequently  doubted,  and  must  be  considered  uncertain. 
These  Manucodes  have  a  glossy  steel-blue  plumage  of  much  beauty, 
but  are  easily  distinguished  from  other  birds  of  similar  coloration 
by  the  outer  and  middle  toes  being  united  for  some  distance,  and 
they  are  very  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  convolution  of  the 
trachea,   in   the   males   at  least,   "vWth  which   singular   structure  is 
correlated  their  loud  and  clear  voice.     The  convoluted  portion  of  the 
trachea  lies  on  the  breast,  between  the  skin  and  the  muscles,  much 
as  is  found  in  the  females  of  the  genus  Bhynclixa  (Snipe),  in  the 
males  of  the  Cracidx  (CuRASSOw),  and  in  a  few  other  birds,  but 
wholly  unknown  elsewhere  among  the  Passeres.     The  Manucodes 
are  peculiar  to  the  Papuan  Subregion  (including  therein  the  penin- 
sula of  Cape  York),  and  comprehend,  according  to  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat. 
B.  Brit.  Mils.  iii.  p.  164),  two  genera,  for  the  first  of  which,  dis- 
tinguished by  the  elongated  tufts  on  the  head,  he  adopts  Lesson's 
name   Plnmygama,  and   for   the   second,  having   no   tufts,  but  the 
feathers  of  the  head  crisped,  that  of  Manu- 
codia;    and   the    late    Mr.    W.  A.  Forbes 
{Proc.   Zool.   Soc.    1882,   p.    349)   observes 
that  the  validity  of  the  separation  (which 
has  not  yet  been  generally  acknowledged) 
is  confirmed    by  what  is  now  known  of 
their  tracheal  formation.      Of  Phonygama 
Dr.    Sharpe   recognizes    three    species,   P. 
Tceraudreni  (the  type)  and  P.  jamesi,  both 
from    New    Guinea,    and    P.    gouldi,    the 
Australian  representative  species  ;  but  the 
first    two    are    considered    by    Mr.    Elliot 
{Ibis,    1878,    p.   56)    and    Count    T.    Salvadori    {Orn.    Papuas.    ii. 
p.   510)    to   be    insepai'able.       There    is    a   greater    unanimity   in 
regard   to   the   species   of    the   so-called   genus  Manucodia  proper, 
of  which  four  are  admitted — M.  chalybeata  or  chalyhea  from  north- 
western  New  Guinea,  31.    comrii  from  the   south-eastern  part  of 
the  same  country,  M.  atra  of  wide  distribution  within  the  Papuan 
area,  and  M.  jobiensis  peculiar  to  the  island  which  gives  it  a  name. 
Little  is  known  of  the  habits  of  these  birds,  except  that  they  are 
as  already  mentioned  remarkable  for  their  vocal  powers,  which,  in 
P.  heraudreni,  Lesson  describes  {Voy.   ^  Coquille,'  Zool.  i.  p.  638)  as 
enabling  them   to  pass   through  every  note  of  the  gamut.      Mr. 
"Wallace  {Ann.  &  Mag.  N.  H.  ser.  2,  xx.  p.  476)  remarked  that 
M.  atra  was  very  powerful  and  active,  clinging  suspended  to  the 
smaller  branches  of  trees,  on  the  fruits  of  which  alone  it  appears 
to  feed.      M.  gouldi,  according  to  an  informant  quoted  by  Forbes 
(nt  supra),  frequents  in  pairs  the  dense  jjalm-forests,  perching  high 
up,  uttering  a  very  deep  and  loud  guttural  note  ;  it  is  graceful  in  its 


Tail-feathers  and  Bill  of 

Phonygama. 

(After  Swainson.) 


536 


MA  RA  BO  U-STORK— MARTIN 


f^yl^'' 


movements,  evincing  more  curiosity  than  timidity  on  being  ap- 
proached. As  with  members  of  the  Paradiseiclx  generally,  the 
nidification  of  the  Manucodes  had  been  shrouded  in  mystery,  until, 
as  recorded  by  Mr.  North  {Rec.  Austral.  Mus.  ii.  p.  32,  pi.  vii.),  the 
nest  and  eggs  of  M.  comrii  were  found,  in  July  1891,  by  Mr. 
Eickard  on  Fergusson  Island,  one  of  the  D'Entrecasteaux  group, 
off  the  south-eastern  coast  of  New  Guinea. 

MARABOU-STOKK,  Le-ptoptilus  crumenifer,  see  Adjutant. 

MARLIN,  apparently  a  corrupt  spelling  of  Merlin,  of  which 
,   •       /      it  is  an  ancient  form,  but  applied  in  the  east  coast  of  North  America 
^  Avith  qualification  to  any  species  of  Curlew  or  Godwit. 

MARROCK  or  MARROT,  one  of  the  many  local  names  of  the 
Guillemot  and  Razor-bill,  perhaps  also  of  the  Puffin. 

MARSH-HEN,  used  in  North  America  for  various  species  of 
Rail;  but  especially,  it  would  seem,  for  Rallus  degans  and  U. 
crepitans  (Turnbull,  Names  &  Portr.  B.  pp.  125,  127). 

MARTIN  formerly  MARTLET  i  (French,  Martinet  and  Mar- 
telet),  the  Hirundo  urbica  of  Linnaeus  and  Chelidon  urhica  of  most 
modern  ornithologists,^  a  bird  very  well  known  throughout  Europe, 
including  even  Lapland,  where  it  is  abundant,  retiring  in  winter  to 
the  south  of  Africa.^  It  also  inhabits  the  western  part  of  Asia, 
and  appears  from  time  to  time  in  large  flocks  in  India ;  but  the 
boundaries  of  its  range  and  those  of  some  of  its  Eastern  congeners 
cannot  as  yet  be  laid  down.  The  Martin  (or  House-Martin,  as  it 
is  often  called,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Sand-Martin  presently  to 
be  mentioned)  commonly  reaches  its  summer-quarters  a  few  days 
later  than  the  Swallow,  whose  habits  its  own  so  much  resemble 
that  heedless  persons  often  disregard  the  very  perceptible  differences 

^  Thus  Shakespear — 

• ' '  Like  tlie  martlet, 

Builds  in  the  weather  on  the  outward  wall." 

Merchant  of  Venice,  Act  ii.  sc.  9. 

But  the  older  English  form  is,  except  in  heralds'  language,  almost  obsolete,  and 

when  used  is  now  applied  in  some  places  to  the  Savift.     The  forms  jMartyn, 

Mertyn,  and  Morton  are  found  printed  in  some  Scottish  Acts  of  Parliament, 

and  from  the  context  may  be  inferred  to  mean  a  Bird,  but  of  what  kind  it  is  hard 

to  guess. 

^  Of  late  North- American  \vriters  have  taken  the  words  Clulidon  and  Hirundo 
in  the  opposite  sense,  which  is  puzzling  to  readers  in  the  rest  of  the  world. 

2  After  the  publication  of  the  account  of  this  species  in  Yarrell's  British  Birds 
(ed.  4,  ii.  p.  354),  the  late  Mr.  Gurney  informed  me  of  a  specimen  obtained  out 
of  a  migratory  flock  flying  very  high  on  the  Qua'qua'  river,  lat.  19°  10'  S.,  by 
the  expedition  of  Messrs.  Jameson  and  Ay  res,  23rd  October  1880,  and  the  fact 
has  since  been  recorded  by  Capt.  Shelley  {Ihis,  1882,  p.  259).  Mr.  Fairbridge 
believes  that  he  has  lately  found  the  species  breeding  in  Cape  Town. 


MARTIN  537 


between  them,  the  Martin's  white  rump  and  lower  parts  being  con- 
spicuous as  it  flies  or  clings  to  its  "  loved  mansionry  "  attached  to 
our  houses,  for,  as  Shakespear  wrote — 

"  No  jutty,  frieze, 
Buttress,  nor  coign  of  vantage,  but  this  bird 
Hath  made  his  pendent  bed  and  procreant  cradle." 

Macbeth,  Act  i.  sc.  6. 

This  nest,  made  of  the  same  material  as  the  Swallow's,  is,  however, 
a  far  more  difficult  sti-ucture  to  rear,  and  a  week  or  more  is  often 
occupied  in  laying  its  foundations — the  builders  clinging  to  the  wall 
while  depositing  the  mud  of  which  it  is  composed.  But,  the  base 
once  securely  fixed,  the  superstructure  is  often  quickly  added  till 
the  whole  takes  the  shape  of  the  half  or  quarter  of  a  hemisphere, 
and  a  lining  of  soft  feathers,  mixed  with  a  few  bents  or  straws,  fits 
it  for  its  purpose.  The  Martin  sets  about  building  very  soon  after 
its  return,  and  a  nest  that  has  outlasted  the  winter's  storms  is 
almost  at  once  reoccupied ;  though  if  a  new  nest  be  needed  its 
construction  often  involves  great  delay,  for  any  excess  of  wet  or 
drought  retards  the  operation,  and  the  work  is  often  placed  in  such 
an  exposed  situation  that  heavy  driving  rains  will  wash  away  the 
half-dried  walls.  However,  the  bird  mostly  perseveres  against 
these  and  other  untowardnesses,  contriving  in  the  course  of  the 
summer  to  raise  a  second  or  even,  though  rarely,  a  third  brood  of 
offspring — but  it  is  certain  that  the  latest  broods  often  die  in  the 
nest — apparently  through  failure  of  food.  Yet  examples  of  this 
species  are  observed  in  England  every  year  so  late  as  November, 
and  there  are  several  instances  of  their  appearance  within  a  few 
days  of  the  Avinter  solstice ;  but  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  these  late 
birds  are  almost  certainly  strangers,  and  not  natives  of  the  locality 
in  which  they  are  seen.^ 

The  Sand-Martin,  Hirundo  riparia  of  Linnaeus  and  Cotile  riparia 
of  modern  writers,  differs  much  in  appearance  and  habits  from  the 
former.  Its  smaller  size,  mouse-coloured  upper  surface,  and  jerking 
flight  ought  to  render  it  easily  recognizable  from  the  other  British 
Hirundinidss  ;  but  through  carelessness  it  is  seldom  discriminated, 
and,  being  the  first  of  the  Family  to  return  to  its  northern  home,  the 
"  early  Swallow  "  of  newspaper- writers  would  seem  to  be  nearly  always 
of  this  species.  Instead  of  using  a  clay-built  nest  like  the  House- 
Martin,  this  bird  bores,  with  a  degree  of  regularity  and  an  amount 


^  This  is  inferred  from  their  not  shewing  themselves  until  some  time  after 
the  departure  of  the  regular  inhabitants.  Prof.  Giglioli  has  recorded  the  ap- 
jDearance  of  C.  cashmirensis  in  Italy  {Avif.  Ital.  p.  187),  though  Count  T.  Sal- 
vador! (Uccell.  Ital.  p.  81)  has  expressed  his  doubt  as  to  the  determination  of 
the  specimen.  It  behoves  all  ornithologists  to  examine  very  critically  examples 
of  Martins  obtained  in  Europe  late  in  the  year. 


538  MARTIN 


of  labour  rarely  excelled  in  its  Class,  horizontal  galleries  in  a  natural 
or  artificial  escarpment.  When  beginning  its  excavation,  it  clings 
to  the  face  of  the  bank,  and  with  its  bill  loosens  the  earth,  working 
from  the  centre  outwards,  assuming  all  sorts  of  positions — as  often 
as  not  hanging  head  downwards.  The  form  of  the  boring  and  its 
length  depend  much  on  the  nature  of  the  soil ;  but  the  tunnel  may- 
extend  to  4,  6,  or  even  9  feet.  The  gallery  seems  intended  to  be 
straight,  but  inequalities  of  the  ground,  and  especially  the  meeting 
with  stones,  often  cause  it  to  take  a  sinuous  coui'se.  At  the  end  is 
formed  a  convenient  chamber  lined  with  a  few  grass  stalks  and 
feathers,  the  latter  always  beautifully  arranged,  and  upon  them  the 
eggs  are  laid.  The  Sand-Martin  has  several  broods  in  the  year, 
and  is  much  more  regular  than  other  Eirundinidse  in  its  departure 
for  the  south.  The  kind  of  soil  needed  for  its  nesting-habits  makes 
it  a  somewhat  local  bird  ;  but  no  species  of  the  Order  Passeres  has 
a  geographical  range  that  can  compare  with  this.  In  Europe  it  is 
found  nearly  to  the  North  Cape,  and  thence  to  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk. 
In  winter  it  visits  many  parts  of  India,  and  South  Africa  to  the 
Transvaal  territory.  In  America  its  range  is  even  still  further, 
extending  (due  regard  being  of  course  had  to  the  season  of  the 
3^ear)  from  Melville  Island  to  Cai9ara  in  Brazil,  and  from  New- 
foundland to  Alaska. 

The  Purple  Martin  of  America,^  Frogne  subis  or  purpurea, 
requires  some  remarks  as  being  such  a  favourite  bird  in  Canada 
and  in  the  United  States.  Naturally  breeding  in  hollow  trees,  it 
readily  adapts  itself  to  the  nest-boxes  which  are  A^ery  commonly 
set  up  for  its  accommodation  ;  but  its  numbers  are  in  some  years 
and  places  subject  to  diminution  in  a  manner  which  has  not  yet 
been  satisfactorily  explained.  The  limits  of  its  range  in  winter  are 
not  determined,  chiefly  owing  to  the  differences  of  opinion  as  to 
the  validity  of  certain  supposed  kindred  species  found  in  South 
America ;  but  according  to  some  authorities  it  reaches  the  border 
of  Patagonia,  while  in  summer  it  is  known  to  inhabit  lands  within 
the  Arctic  Circle.  The  male  is  almost  wholly  of  a  glossy  steel- 
blue,  while  the  female  is  much  duller  in  colour  above,  and  beneath 
of  a  brownish-grey. 

Birds  that  may  be  called  Martins^  occiir  almost  all  over  the  world 
except  in  New  Zealand,  which  is  not  regiilarly  inhabited  by  any 
member  of  the  Family.  The  ordinary  Martin  of  Australia  is  the 
Hirundo  or  Hylochelidon  nigricans  of  most  ornithologists,  and  another 
and  more  beautiful  form  is  the  Ariel  or  Fairy-Martin  of  the  same 
country,  Hirundo  or  Lagenoplastes  ariel.     This  last  builds  of  mud  a 

^  In  1840  an  example  is  said  to  have  been  killed  at  Kingstown  in  Ireland, 
the  skin  of  which  is  in  the  Dublin  Museum  of  Science  and  Art. 

-  The  Martin  of  the  French  colonists  (in  the  Old  World)  is  an  Acridotlieres 
(Grackle). 


MA  VIS—MEGAPODE  539 

bottle-shaped  nest,  as  does  also  the  Eock-Martin  of  Europe,  Hirundo 
or  BiMis  rupestris ;  but  space  fails  wherein  to  tell  more  of  these 
interesting  birds,  which  are  treated  of  in  the  beautifully-illustrated 
monograph  of  Hirundinidx  now  in  course  of  publication  by  Messrs. 
Sharpe  and  Wyatt. 

MAVIS,  Fr.  Mauvis,^  a  common  local  name  of  the  Song-THRUSH. 

MAXILLA,  a  rather  slender  bone  on  each  side  of  the  anterior 
part  of  the  head  connecting  the  jugal  with  the  premaxilla,  and 
forming  part  of  the  lateral  margin  of  what  is  often  called  the  Upper 
Mandible,  though  the  word  Maxilla  is  frequently  used  to  express 
the  whole  of  the  upper  jaw.  Its  palatal  processes  are  of  consider- 
able taxonomic  value  (see  Skull). 

MAY-BIRD  and  MAY-FOWL,  common  names  of  the  Whimbrel 
in  England,  and  the  former  given  on  the  east  coast  of  North  America 
to  the  Knot  as  well  as  to  the  Bobolink,  while 

MAY-COCK  is,  in  places,  applied  to  the  Grey  Plover,  Squaiarola 

helvetica ;  and 

MAY-CHICK,  according  to  Sir  T.  Browne,  was  used  in  Norfolk 
for  some  bird  "  a  little  bigger  than  a  Stint,  of  fatness  beyond  any." 
This  last  seems  to  be  obsolete ;  but  all  doubtless  refer  to  the  month 
in  which  the  birds  bearing  the  names  appeared. 

MEADOW-CHICKEN  and  MEADOW-HEN,  names  given  in 
North  America  to  more  than  one  species  of  Rail  or  Coot  ;  but  the 

MEADOW-LARK  of  the  same  coimtry  is  Sturnella  magna  (see 
Icterus). 

MEGAPODE,  the  name  given  generally  to  a  small  but  remark- 
able Family  of  birds  highly  characteristic  of  some  parts  of  the  Aus- 
tralian Region,  to  which  it  is  almost  peculiar.  The  Megapodiidse  with 
the  Cracidse  form  that  division  of  GalUnse  named  by  Prof.  Huxley 
Peristewpodes  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868,  p.  296),  and  morphologically 
seem  to  be  the  lowest  of  the  Order,  with  which  apparent  fact  may 
perhaps  be  correlated  their  singular  habit  of  leaving  their  eggs  to  be 
hatched  without  incubation,  either  burying  them  in  the  ground  (as 
many  Reptiles  do)  or  heaping  over  them  a  mound  of  earth,  leaves, 

^  Now  applied  chiefly  to  the  Kedwing,  Turdus  iliacus,  but  also  to  the  Crested 
Lark,  and  the  Mauviette  of  French  cookery  is  always  a  Lark.  The  old  Norman 
form,  whence  we  probably  get  our  word,  is  said  to  be  Maulvis  (Gaste  apud  Rolland, 
Fauiie  Pop.  Fr.  p.  243).  According  to  Littre  its  origin  is  uncertain  ;  some 
supposing  it  to  be  the  Low  Latin  Malvitius  ( =  malum  vitis,  or  scourge  of  the  vine, 
the  Neapolitan  Marvizzo),  others  allege  the  Low  Breton  Milvid  (a  Gull)  or 
Milhuez  (a  Lark).  The  Walloon  M&vi  or  Maiioi,  according  to  Baron  de  Selys- 
Longchamps  a  Blackbird,  is  evidently  the  same  word. 


540  MEG AP  ODE 

and  rotten  wood.^  This  habit  attracted  attention  more  than  three 
hundred  years  ago,^  but  the  accounts  given  of  it  by  various 
travellers  were  generally  discredited  by  naturalists,^  and  as  examples 
of  the  birds,  probably  from  their  unattractive  plumage,  appear  not  to 
have  been  brought  to  Europe,  no  one  of  them  was  seen  by  any 
ornithologist  or  scientifically  described  until  near  the  end  of  the  first 

^  Hence  the  name  of  Mound-birds  given  to  them  by  some  writers. 

-  Antonio  Pigafetta,  one  of  the  survivors  of  Magellan's  glorious  but  disastrous 
voyage,  records  in  his  journal,  under  date  of  April  1521,  among  the  peculiarities 
of  the  Philippine  Islands,  then  first  discovered  by  Em'opeans,  the  existence  of  a 
bird  there,  about  the  size  of  a  Fowl,  which  laid  its  eggs,  as  big  as  a  Duck's,  in 
the  sand,  and  left  them  to  be  hatched  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  {Primo  Viaggio 
intorno  al  Globo,  ed.  Amoretti,  Milano  :  1800,  p.  72  ;  Fr.  transl.  Premier  Voyage 
autour  du  Monde,  Paris  :  A.R.  ix.  p.  88).  More  than  one  hundred  years  later 
the  Jesuit  Nieremberg,  in  his  Historia  Natitrez,  published  at  Antwerp  in  1635, 
described  (p.  207)  a  bird  called  "Dale,"  and  by  the  natives  named  "Tapun," 
not  larger  than  a  Dove,  which,  with  its  tail  (!)  and  feet,  excavated  a  nest  in 
sandy  places  and  laid  therein  eggs  bigger  than  those  of  a  Goose.  The  publication 
at  Rome  in  1 651  of  Hernandez's  Hist.  Avium  Norm  Hispaniee  shews  that  his  papers 
must  have  been  accessible  to  Nieremberg,  who  took  from  them  the  passage  just 
mentioned,  but,  as  not  unusual  with  him,  misprinted  the  names  which  stand  in 
Hernandez's  work  (p.  56,  cap.  220)  "Daic,"  and  "  Tapum "  respectively,  and 
omitted  his  predecessor's  important  addition  "  Viuit  in  PhHippicis."  Not  long 
after,  the  Dominican  Favarrete,  a  missionary  to  China,  made  a  considerable 
stay  in  the  Philippines,  and  returning  to  Eui'ope  in  1673  wrote  an  account  of 
the  Chinese  empire,  of  which  Churchill  {Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels,  vol.  i. ) 
gave  an  English  translation  in  1704.  It  is  therein  stated  (p.  45)  that  in  many 
of  the  islands  of  the  Malay  Archipelago  "there  is  a  very  singular  bird  call'd 
Talon,"  and  that  "  What  I  and  many  more  admire  is,  that  it  being  no  bigger  in 
Body  than  an  ordinary  Chicken,  tho'  long  legg'd,  yet  it  lays  an  egg  larger  than 
a  Gooses,  so  that  the  egg  is  bigger  than  the  bird  itself.  ...  In  order  to  lay  its 
Eggs,  it  digs  in  the  Sand  above  a  yard  in  depth  ;  after  laying,  it  fills  up  the 
hole  and  makes  it  even  with  the  rest ;  there  the  Eggs  hatch  with  the  heat  of  the 
Sun  and  Sand."  He  adds  further  information  which  need  not  be  quoted  here. 
Gemelli  Careri,  who  travelled  from  1663  to  1699,  and  in  the  latter  year  published 
an  account  of  his  voyage  round  the  world,  gives  similar  evidence  respecting  this 
remarkable  bird,  which  he  calls  "  Tavon,"  in  the  Philippine  Islands  ( Voy.  du  tour 
du  Monde,  ed.  Paris  :  1727,  v.  pp.  157,  158).  The  Megapode  of  Luzon  is  fairly 
described  by  Camel  or  CamelH  in  his  observations  on  the  Birds  of  the  Philippines 
communicated  by  Petiver  to  the  Royal  Society  in  1703  (Phil.  Trans,  xxiii.  p. 
1398).  In  1726  Valentyn  published  his  elaborate  work  on  the  East  Indies, 
wherein  (deel  iii.  bk.  v.  chap.  ii.  p.  320)  he  very  correctly  describes  the  Megapode 
of  Amboina  under  the  name  of  Moeleoe  or  Malleoe,  and  also  a  larger  kind  found 
in  Celebes,  so  as  to  shew  he  had  in  the  course  of  his  long  residence  in  the  Dutch 
'  settlements  become  personally  acquainted  with  both. 

3  Thus  WUlughby  {Ornithologia,  p.  297),  or  Ray  for  him,  who  had,  however 
only  Nieremberg's  evidence  to  cite,  and  they  can  scarcely  be  blamed  for  their 
hesitation,  considering  the  number  of  other  marvels  narrated  by  the  same  worthy 
father.     Buffon  also  {Oiseaux,  ix.  p.  436)  was  just  as  sceptical  in  regard  to  tlie 
relation  of  Careri. 


MEGA  P  ODE  541 

quarter  of  tlie  present  century.  The  first  member  of  the  Family 
to  receive  authoritative  recognition  was  one  of  the  largest,  inhabiting 
the  continent  of  Australia,  where  it  is  known  as  the  Brush-Turkey, 
and  was  originally  described  by  Latham  in  1821  under  the  name 
of  the  New-Holland  Vulture,  a  misleading  designation  which  he 
subsequently  tried  to  correct  on  perceiving  its  Galline  character. 
It  is  the  Talegallus  lathami  of  modern  ornithologists,  and  is  nearly 
the  size  of  a  hen  Tturkey.  Six  smaller  species  of  the  same  genus 
have  since  been  described,  all  from  New  Guinea  or  the  neighboiiring 
islands,  but  two  of  them,  T.  pyrrhopygius  and  T.  hruyni,  have  been 
separated  to  form  a  group  JEpypodius.  The  Australian  bird  is  of 
a  sooty-brown  colour,  relieved  beneath  by  the  lighter  edging  of 
some  of  the  feathers,  but  the  head  and  neck  are  nearly  bare,  beset 
with  fine  bristles,  the  skin  being  of  a  deep  pinkish-red,  passing  above 
the  breast  into  a  large  wattle  of  bright  yellow.  The  tail  is  commonly 
carried  upright  and  partly  folded,  something  like  that  of  a  domestic 
Fowl. 

The  next  form  of  which  we  may  speak  is  another  inhabitant  of 
Australia,  commonly  known  in  England  as  the  Mallee-bird,  but 
to  the  colonists  as  Lowan  and  "  Native  Pheasant " — the  Lipoa  ocellata 
first  described  by  Gould  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1840,  p.  126),  which  has 
much  shorter  tarsi  and  toes,  the  head  entirely  clothed,  and  the  tail 
expanded.  Its  plumage  presents  a  pleasing  combination  of  greys 
and  browns  of  various  tints,  interspersed  with  black,  white,  and  buff, 
the  wing-coverts  and  feathers  of  the  back  bearing  each  near  the  tip  an 
oval  or  subcircular  patch,  whence  the  trivial  scientific  name  of  the  bird 
is  given,  while  a  stripe  of  black  feathers  with  a  median  line  of  white 
extends  down  the  front  of  the  throat,  from  the  chin  to  the  breast. 
There  is  but  one  species  of  this  genus  known,  as  is  also  the  case  with 
the  next  to  be  mentioned,  which  is  a  singular  bird  long  known  to  in- 
habit Celebes,  but  not  fully  described  until  1846,^  when  it  received 
from  Salomon  Miiller  (Arch.  f.  Naturgesch.  xii.  pt.  1,  p.  116)  the 
name  of  Macrocephalon  maleo,  but,  being  shortly  afterwards  figured 
by  Gray  and  Mitchell  {Gen.  Birds,  iii.  pi.  123)  under  the  generic 
term  of  Megacephalon,  has  since  commonly  borne  the  latter  appellation. 
This  is  a  very  remarkable  form,  bearing  a  helmet-like  protuberance 
on  the  back  of  its  head,  all  of  which  as  well  as  the  neck  is  bare  and 
of  a  bright  red  colour ;  the  plumage  of  the  body  is  glossy  black 
above,  and  beneath  roseate-white. 

Of  the  Megapodes  proper,  constituting  the  genus  Megapodius, 
many  species  have  been  described,  but  authorities  are  greatly  at 
variance  as  to  the  validity  of  several,  and  here  it  would  be  impossible 
to  name  all  that  have  been  supposed  to  exist.     Some  are  only 

^  As  we  have  seen,  it  was  mentioned  in  1726  by  Valentyn,  and  a  young  example 
was  in  1830  described  and  figured  by  Quoy  and  Gaimard  ( Voy.  'Astrolabe ' :  Oiseaux, 
p.  239,  pi.  25)  as  the  Megapodius  rubripes  of  Temminck,  a  wholly  different  bird. 


542 


MEGAPODE 


Bill  of  Megapodius. 
(After  Swainsoii.) 


known  from  very  young  examples — mere  chickens  ;  and  some  have 
even  been  described  from  their  eggs  alone.     In   1870  Mr.   G.  E. 

Gray  enumerated  20  species,  of  which  16 
were  represented  in  the  British  Museum, 
and  several  have  ■  been  described  since  ; 
but  ten  years  later  Schlegel  recognized 
only  17  species,  of  Avhich  examples  of  12 
were  contained  in  the  Leyden  Museum 
{lliis.  cles  Fays-Bas,  viii.  Monogr.  41,  pp. 
56-86),  while  M.  Oustalet,  in  his  elaborate 
monograph  of  the  Family  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat., 
Zool.  ser.  6,  x.  and  xi.),  admits  19  species.  The  birds  of  this  genus 
range  from  the  Samoa  Islands  in  the  east,  through  the  Tonga  group, 
to  the  New  Hebrides,  the  northern  part  of  Australia,  New  Guinea 
and  its  neighbouring  islands,  Celebes,  the  Pelew  Islands,  and  the 
Ladrones,  and  have  also  outliers  in  detached  portions  of  the  Indian 
Region,  as  the  Philippines  (where  indeed  they  were  first  discovered 
by  Europeans),  Labuan,  and  even  the  Nicobars — though  none  ai'e 
knoAvii  from  the  intervening  islands  of  Borneo,^  Java,  or  Sumatra. 
Within  what  may  be  deemed  their  proper  area  they  are  found, 
says  Mr.  Wallace  (Geogi:  Disk.  Anim.  ii.  p. 
341)  "on  the  smallest  islands  and  sand-banks, 
and  can  evidently  pass  over  a  few  miles  of  sea 
with  ease."  Indeed  proof  of  their  roaming 
disposition  is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  the 
bird  described  by  Lesson  {Voy.  '  Coquille,'  Zool. 
p.  70.3)  as  Alecthelia  urviUii,  but  now  con- 
sidered to  1)e  the  young  of  M.  freycindi,  flew 
on  board  his  ship  when  more  than  two  miles 
from  the  nearest  land  (Guebe),  in  an  ex- 
hausted state,  it  is  true,  but  that  may  be 
attributed  to  its  extreme  youth.  .  The  species 
of  Megapodius  are  about  the  size  of  small 
Fowls,  the  head  generally  crested,  the  tail 
very  short,  the  feet  enormously  large,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
M.  wallacii  {Proc.  Zool.  Sac.  1860,  Aves,  pi.  171)  from  the  Moluccas, 
all  have  a  sombre  plumage. 

The  extraordinary  habit  possessed  by  the  Megapodes  generally  of 
relieving  themselves  of  the  duty  of  incubation,  as  before  mentioned, 
— a  habit  which  originally  attracted  the  attention  of  travellers, 
whose  stories  were  on  that  very  account  discredited, — as  well  as  the 
highly  developed  condition  of  the  young  at  birth,  has  been  so  fully 


Megapodius  freycineti. 
(After  Swaiason.) 


^  3r.  cumingi  occurs  on  Labuan  and  other  islands  off  the  north  coast  of 
Borneo,  and  it  is  recorded  [Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1881,  p.  800)  from  Saudakan,  but 
confirmation  of  the  statement  is  desirable. 


MEGG  Y— MERGANSER  543 

desci'ibed,^  and  so  often  repeated  by  other  Avriters,  as  to  be  very 
commonly  known,  and  here  there  seems  no  necessity  to  enter  into 
further  details  concerning  it. 

MEGGY,  properly  an  abbreviation  of  Margaret,  a  nickname  of 
the  Whitethroat  ;  but  perhaps  a  corruption  of  MuGGY. 

MEGISTANES,  Vieillot's  name  in  1816  {Analyse,  p.  53)  for  a 
group  containing  the  four  genera  of  Ratite  birds  then  known, 
Struthio,  Rhea,  Casuarius,  and  Drommis,  and  since  applied  {Ann. 
&  Mag.  N.  H.  ser.  4,  xx.  p.  500)  to  the  Order  composed  of  the  two 
last  (Cassowary,  Emeu). 

MELANISM  (adj.  melanistic)  the  abnormal  occurrence  of 
black  or  very  dark  coloured  plumage  (see  Colour,  p.  99,  and 
Heterochrosis,  p.  420). 

MERGANSEE,  a  word  originating  with  Gesner  {Hist.  Anim. 
iii.  p.  129)  in  1555,  and  for  a  long  while  used  in  English  as  the 
general  name  of  a  group  of  fish-eating  Ducks  which  possess  great 
diving  powers,  and  form  the  genus  Mergus  of  Linnseus,  now  regarded 
by  ornithologists  as  a  subfamily, 
Merghm,  of  the  Family  Anatidx. 
They  have  a  long,  narrow  bill,  with 
a  small  but  evident  hook  at  the  tip, 
and  the  edges  of  both  mandibles  beset 
by  numerous  horny  denticulations,  bill  of  jtERcus.  (After  Swaiuson.) 
whence   the   name   of    "  Saw-bill "   is 

frequently  applied  to  them.  Othermse  their  structure  does  not  much 
depart  from  the  Anatine  or  rather  Fuliguline  type.  All  the  species 
bear  a  more  or  less  developed  crest  or  tuft  on  the  head.  Three  of 
them,  Mergus  merganser  or  castor,  M.  serrator,  and  M.  albeUus,  ai'e  found 
over  the  northern  parts  of  the  Old  World,  and  of  these  the  first  two 
also  inhabit  North  America,  which  has  besides  a  fourth  species,  31. 
cumllatus,  said  to  have  occasionally  visited  Britain.  M.  merganser, 
the  Goosander,  is  the  largest  species,  being  nearly  as  big  as  the 
smaller  Geese,  and  the  adult  male  in  breeding-attire  is  a  very  beautiful 
bird,  conspicuous  with  his  dark  glossy-green  head,  rich  salmon- 
coloured  breast,  and  the  upper  part  of  the  body  and  wings  black 
and  white.  This  full  plumage  is  not  assumed  till  the  second  year, 
and  in  the  meantime,  as  well  as  in  the  postnuptial  dress,  he  much 
resembles  the  female,  having,  like  her,  a  reddish-brown  head,  the 
upper  parts  greyish-brown,  and  the  lower  dull  white.  In  this  con- 
dition the  bird  is  often  known  as  the  "  Dun  Diver."     This  species 

^  See  Gould,  Handh.  B.  Austral,  ii.  pp.  152-175  ;  G.  R.  Gray,  Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1861,  pp.  292-296  ;  "Wallace,  Malay  Arclii'pdago,  i.  pp.  415-419  ;  ii.  pp. 
147-149  ;  Guillemard,  Cruise  of  the  '  Marchcsa,'  ii.  pjx  193-197  with  fig.  ;  Hick- 
son,  Naturalist  in  North  Celebes,  pp.  94,  95. 


S44  MERGANSER 

breeds  abundantly  in  many  parts  of  Scandinavia,  Russia,  Siberia 
and  North  America,  and  of  late  years  has  been  found  to  do  so  in 
Scotland,  usually  making  its  nest  in  the  stump  of  a  hollow  tree  or 
under  a  slab  of  rock.  M.  serrator,  commonly  called  the  Red-breasted 
Merganser,  is  a  somewhat  smaller  bird  ;  and,  while  the  fully -dressed 
male  wants  the  delicate  hue  of  the  lower  parts,  he  has  a  gorget  of 
rufous  mottled  with  black,  below  which  is  a  patch ,  of  white  feathers, 
broadly  edged  with  black.  The  male  at  other  times  and  the  female 
always  much  resemble  the  preceding.  It  is  more  numerous  than 
the  Goosander,  with  a  somewhat  more  southern  range,  and  is  not  so 
particular  in  selecting  a  sheltered  site  for  its  nest.  Both  these 
species  have  the  bill  and  feet  of  a  bright  reddish-orange,  while  M. 
alhellus,  known  as  the  Smew,  has  these  parts  of  a  lead  colour,  and 
the  breeding- plumage  of  the  adult  male  is  white,  with  quaint 
crescentic  markings  of  black,  and  the  flanks  most  beautifully 
vermiculated — the  female  and  male  in  undress  having  a  general 
resemblance  to  the  other  two  already  described — but  the  Smew  is 
very  much  smaller  in  size,  and,  so  far  as  is  known,  it  invariably 
makes  its  nest  in  a  hollow  tree,  as  ascertained  first  by  Wolley  (Ibis, 
1859,  pp.  69  et  seq.)  This  last  habit  is  shared  by  M.  cucullatus,  the 
Hooded  Merganser  of  North  America,  in  size  intermediate  between 
M.  alhellus  and  M.  serrator,  the  male  of  which  is  easily  recognizable 
by  his  broad  semicircular  crest,  bearing  a  fan-shaped  patch  of  Avhite, 
and  his  elongated  subscapulars  of  white  edged  with  black.  The 
conformation  of  the  trachea  in  the  male  of  M.  merganser,  M. 
serrator,  and  M.  cucullatus  is  very  like  that  of  the  Ducks  of  the 
genus  Clangula,  but  M.  alhellus  has  a  less  exaggerated  development 
more  resembling  that  of  the  ordinary  Fuligula}  From  the  southern 
hemisphere  two  species  of  Mergus  have  been  described,  M.  octosetaceus 
or  brasilianus,  Vieillot  {K  Diet.  d'Hist.  Nat.  ed.  2,  xiv.  p.  222  ;  Gal. 
des  Ois.  ii.  p.  209,  pi.  283),  inhabiting  South  America,  of  which  but 
few  specimens  have  been  obtained,  having  some  general  resemblance 

^  Four  hybrids  between,  as  is  presumed,  M.  alhellus  and  Clangula  glaucion, 
the  GoLDEK-EYE,  have  been  described  and  figured  (Eimbeck,  Isis,  1831,  300  ; 
tab.  iii.  ;  Brehm,  Naturgesch.  aller  Vog.  Deutschlands,  p.  930  ;  Naumann,  Vog. 
Deutscklands,  xii.  p.  194,  frontispiece  ;  KjeerboUing,  Jour,  fiir  Ornithologie,  1853, 
Extraheft,  p.  29,  Naumannia,  1853,  p.  327,  Ornithol.  Danica,  tab.  Iv.  suppl. 
tab.  29  ;  F.  Schmidt,  Arch.  Naturgesch.  Mecklcnh.  1875,  p.  145  ;  AVolschke, 
VII.  Jahresher.  Annab.-Buchholz.  Ver.  fiir  Naturk.  ;  KolthofF,  CEfvers.  K.  Vet.- 
Ak.  Fork.  1884,  p.  185,  pis.  xxxi.  xxxii.)  sometimes  under  the  names  of 
Mergus  anatarius,  Clangula  angustirostris,  and  Anas  (Clangula)  mergoides,  as 
though  they  were  a  distinct  species  ;  but  the  remarks  of  Barou  de  Selys- 
Longchamps  {Bull.  Ac.  Sc.  Brux.  1845,  pt.  ii.  p.  354,  and  1856,  i:)t.  ii.  p.  21),  and 
Prof.  R.  Blasius  [Monatsschr.  Ver.  zu  Schutz.  der  Vogelwelt,  1887)  leave  little  room 
for  doubt  as  to  their  origin,  which,  when  the  cryptoganiic  habit  and  common 
range  of  theii-  putative  parents,  the  former  unknown  to  the  author  named  last 
but  one,  is  considered,  will  seem  to  be  still  more  likely. 


MERLE— MERLIN 


545 


to  M.  serrator,  but  much  more  darkly  coloured ;  and  M.  australis, 
Hombron  and  Jacquemont  (Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  Zoologie,  ser.  2,  xvi.  p. 
320  ;  Voy.  an  Pol  Snd,  Oiseaux,  pi.  31,  fig.  2),  long  known  only  by  the 
unique  example  in  the  Museum  of  Paris  procured  by  the  French 
Antarctic  expedition  in  the  Auckland  Islands  ;  but  of  which  Baron  A. 
von  Hiigel  (Ibis,  1875,  p.  392),  obtained  two  other  specimens,  and 
gave  one  to  the  British  Museum  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1881,  p.  1),  and 
the  other  to  that  of  the  University  of  Cambridge.  This  last  species 
may  perhaps  be  found  to  visit  New  Zealand. 

Often  associated  with  the  Mergansers  is  the  genus  Merganetta, 
the  so-called  Torrent-Ducks  of  South  America,  of  which  three  species 
are  said  to  exist ;  but  they  possess  spiny  tails  and  have  their  wings 
armed  with  a  spur.  Whether  they  should  be  referred  to  the 
Merginsti  or  the  Erismaturinai — the  Sijiny-tailed  Ducks  proper — is  a 
question  that  further  investigation  must  decide. 

MEELE,  the  French  name  of  the  Blackbird  (Lat.  Merula), 
perhaps  introduced  by  the  Normans,  but  scarcely  used  now  as 
English  except  in  fiction. 

MERLIN,  Old  Eng.  Marlin  and  Marlion  ;  Old  Fr.  EsmeriUon 


Merlin.    (After  Wolf.) 

and    Smirhn,   Mod.   Fr.  Evierillmi,'^   the  Falco  xsalon   of    Tunstall, 

^  The  Icelandic  Smirill  (a  comparatively  modem  word,  as  Mr.  Eirikr  ilag- 
uussou  tells  me),  the  German  Schmerl  and  corresponding  words  in  Italian, 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  are  all  evidently  cognate  with  the  French,  the  root 
being  the  Latin  Merulu  as  in  Merle. 

">  r* 

J>0 


546  MEROBLASTIC—MESOMYODI 

in  1771,  and  ornithologists  generally,^  but  the  F.  lithofalco'^  of 
some — one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Falconidx  (Falcon)  and 
perhaps  the  boldest  of  the  Accipitres,  not  hesitating  to  attack 
birds  of  twice  its  own  size,  and  even  on  occasion  threatening 
human  beings.  Yet  it  readily  becomes  tame,  if  not  affectionate, 
when  reclaimed,  as  it  often  is  for  Falconry,  and  its  ordinary  prey 
consists  of  the  smaller  Passeres.  Its  "  pinion  of  glossy  blue  "  has 
become  almost  proverbial,  and  a  deep  I'uddy  blush  suffuses  its 
lower  parts ;  but  these  are  characteristic  only  of  the  male — the 
female  maintaining  very  nearly  the  sober  brown  plumage  she  wore 
when  as  a  nestling  she  left  her  lowly  cradle  in  the  heather.  It 
breeds  or  used  to  breed  commonly  on  the  moors  of  the  northern 
parts  of  England  and  on  those  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  on  the  moun- 
tainous districts  of  Ireland  ;  but  of  late  years  has  been  much  reduced 
in  numbers.  In  winter  the  young  frequent  the  lower  levels  in  all 
three  kingdoms,  and  strike  terror  into  the  small  birds  that  congre- 
gate at  that  season.  Very  close  to  this  bird  comes  the  Pigeon- 
Hawk,  F.  colwnbarkts,  of  North  America — so  close,  indeed,  that 
none  but  an  expert  ornithologist  can  detect  the  difference.  The 
Turumti  of  Anglo-Indians,  F.  cJdcquera,  and  its  representative  from 
Southern  Africa,  F.  ruficoUis,  also  belong  to  this  group,  but  they  are 
considerably  larger  than  either  of  the  former. 

MEROBLASTIC,  the  term  applied  to  the  ova  of  certain  Verte- 
brates, including  Birds,  in  which  the  process  of  segmentation  is 
confined  to  the  germinal  disk  (see  Embryology,  p.  196). 

MERRY-WING,  a  North-American  fowler's  name  for  the 
Golden-eye. 

MERTYN,  an  old  Scottish  spelling  of  Martin. 

MESENTEPiY,  the  thin  transparent  membrane  composed  of 
layers  of  connective  tissue  that  holds  together  the  various  loops  of 
the  intestine  and  other  viscera,  attaching  them  to  the  vertebral 
column  where  it  is  continuous  with  the  peritoneal  lining  of  the 
body  cavity. 

MESOBLAST,  the  middle  layer  of  the  three  into  Avhich  the 
blastoderm  subdivides  (see  Embryology,  p.  200). 

MESOMYODI,  Garrod's  name  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  p.  507), 
for  a  division  of  Passerine  birds  the  peculiai'ities  of  which  were 
first  to  some  extent  though  not  fully  appreciated  by  Johannes 
Miiller  (see  Introduction) — "a  mesomyodian  bird  being  one  in 
which    the    muscles   of    the   Syrfnx   join  the  semi-rings   in  their 

^  Modern  American  authors  call  it  Falco  (or  ^Esalon)  regidun,  a  name  given 
in  1773  by  Pallas  {Ilcise,  u.s.io.  ii.  p.  707). 

-  This  from  the  common  German  name  Steinfalk. 


ME  TA  CA  RP  US—MIGRA  TION  547 

middles,"  while  in  the  other  division,  ACROMYODI,  the  syringeal 
muscles  are  attached  to  their  extremities.  Garrod  further 
divided  the  Mesomyodi  into  Homceomeri,  comprehending  Tracheo- 
PHON.«  and  Haploophon^,  and  Heteromeri.  Mesomyodian 
Families  are  most  characteristic  of  the  Neotropical  Region,  all  but 
three,  Fiitidx,  PhilepiUidse  and  Acanthidosittidae,  being,  so  far  as  is 
known,  peculiar  to  the  New  World. 

METACARPUS,  generally  used  in  Ornithology  for  the  portion 
of  the  wing  from  the  wrist  (Carpus)  to  the  root  of  the  fingers,  but 
since  the  distal  carpal  bones  coalesce  with  the  proximal  end  of  the 
metacarpals,  this  part  should  strictly  be  called  carpo-metacarpus 
(see  Hand  under  Skeleton). 

METATARSUS,  by  Ornithologists  often  applied  to  that  part 
of  the  foot  which  reaches  from  the  ankle-joint  to  the  root  of  the 
toes  and  is  commonly  but  wrongly  called  the  Tarsus  ;  the  distal 
tarsal  bones  coalescing  with  the  proximal  end  of  the  metatarsals 
(see  Foot  under  Skeleton). 

MEW,  Angl.-Sax.  M^w,  see  Gull. 

MIGRATION.  Strangely  confounded  by  many  writers  with 
the  subject  of  Geographical  Distribution  is  that  of  Migration. 
True  it  is  that  owing  to  the  vast  powers  of  locomotion  possessed 
by  nearly  all  Birds,  we  have  individuals  belonging  in  the  main 
to  certain  groups,  but  by  no  means  always  confined  to  them,  stray- 
ing from  their  proper  quarters  and  occurring  in  places  far  removed, 
not  only  from  the  land  of  their  birth,  but  from  the  country  whither 
they  are  ordinarily  bound  in  their  journeys,  to  reach  which  is  the 
object  wherefore  such  journeys  are  undertaken.  It  may  be  that 
in  some  measure  this  erraticism  is  governed  by  fixed  laws,  and 
indeed  indication  is  not  wanting  that  such  laws  exist,  though  as 
yet  we  know  much  too  little  to  lay  them  down  with  any  approach 
to  confidence.  But  it  is  obvious  on  reflection  that  granting  the 
existence  of  most  rigorous  laws  of  this  kind — determining  the 
flight  of  every  winged  vagabond — they  must  be  very  different  from 
those  which  are  obeyed  by  Birds  commonly  called  "  Migratory," 
and  year  after  year  moving,  according  to  a  more  or  less  fixed 
rule,  from  one  locality  to  another  with  the  seasons  as  they  roll. 
The  former  laws  would  seem  to  be  created  or  controlled  by  purely 
external  circumstances,  which  if  they  possess  any  periodicity  at  all 
possess  a  periodicity  of  cycles,  and  are  most  likely  dependent  in  the 
main  on  cycles  of  the  weather,  but  on  this  point  observation  has 
not  yet  supplied  us  with  the  means  of  avoiding  speculation.  We 
may  indeed  say  almost  without  much  risk  of  error  that  so  many 
individuals  of  a  foreign  species — whether  North- American  or  Asiatic 
— will  occur  in  Great  Britain  so  many  times  in  the  course  of  a 


548  MIGRATION 


term  of  years ;  but,  though  we  may  safely  predict  that  if  they 
appear  at  all  they  will  do  so  at  a  certain  season,  it  is  impossible  to 
make  a  forecast  as  to  the  year  in  which  an  example  will  arrive,  or 
whether  in  one  year  some  half-dozen  may  or  may  not  occur.  The 
matter  thus  becomes  a  matter  of  averages,  and  like  all  such  is  open 
to  the  influence  of  many  perturbants,  not  that  such  may  not  well 
be  subject  to  some  law  of  which  we  are  ignorant.  Beside  this,  the 
average  is  hard  to  strike,  depending  as  it  must  on  the  existence  of 
favourably-placed  and  watchful  observers.  Moreover  if  we  consider 
that  the  number  of  competent  observers,  though  possibly  as  great 
in  England  as  anywhere,  has  been  at  all  times  small,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  little  has  been  effected  towards  the  compassing  of  any 
definite  notion  on  this  head.  At  present  we  can  but  attribute  the 
appearance  of  some  foreign  stragglers  on  our  shores,  and  no  doubt 
the  same  may  be  said  of  other  countries,  to  the  influence  of  storms 
which  have  driven  the  wanderers  from  their  course,  and  though 
other  more  remote  causes  may  possibly  be  assigned,  there  seems  to 
be  none  but  this  on  which  we  can  safely  rely.  Consequentl}^  until 
the  periodicity  of  storms  is  brought  within  our  knowledge  we  must 
be  content  to  abide  in  our  ignorance  of  the  laws  which  govern  the 
appearance  of  the  strangers.  Still  confining  our  remarks  to  the 
British  Islands,  the  effect  of  these  laws  is  in  some  degree  constant. 
Singular  as  it  may  appear,  the  greatest  number  of  North-American 
Birds — and  especially  of  the  Limicolse,  which  are  recorded  as  having 
occiirred  in  this  country  have  been  met  with  in  the  eastern  part  of 
England  or  Scotland.  There  are  two  ways  of  accounting  for  this 
fact,  the  first  of  which  is  the  comparative  scarcity  of  observers  in 
Ireland  and  on  its  western  coast  especially,  and  this  is  by  no  means 
to  be  overlooked ;  but  it  may  be  remarked  that  in  no  part  of  the 
United  Kingdom  is  the  profession  of  the  gunner  more  enthusiastically 
followed  than  in  the  sister-island,  and  the  men  who  pursue  that 
vocation  are  all  alive  to  the  mercantile  value  of  any  strange  bird 
which  may  fall  in  their  Avay.  Of  course  they  have  no  means  of 
knowing  what  it  is,  yet  as  their  spoils  are  sent  for  sale  to  the 
nearest  market,  it  cannot  but  happen  that  if  many  examples  of 
North-American  species  were  procured  by  them,  some  proportion 
of  these  would  find  their  way  to  the  notice  of  the  amateur  naturalist 
and  by  him  be  recorded  in  the  public  prints.^  Noav,  as  compared 
with  Great  Britain,  this  so  rarely  occurs  in  Ireland  that  it  is  by  no 
means  unfair  to  draw  the  inference  that  Transatlantic  Birds  are 
there  far  less  frequently  met  with.     The  second  mode  of  account- 


^  It  seems  also  not  unlikely  tliat  the  very  scarcity  of  rare  birds  in  Ireland  is 
one  reason  why  there  are  so  few  ornithologists  in  that  country,  for  here  it  is  not 
uncommon  for  a  man  to  have  his  attention  first  called  to  zoology  by  meeting 
with  .some  strange  animal — be  it  beast,  bird,  beetle,  or  butterfly,  and  for  such  a 
man  afterwards  to  become  no  mean  field-naturalist. 


J 


MIGRA  TION  549 


ing  for  the  fact  above  stated  is  that  the  majority  of  North-American 
Birds  which  occasionally  visit  Europe  are  of  species  which  breed  in 
somewhat  high  northern  latitudes.  On  their  way  thence  to  their 
■winter-quarters,  some  are  driven  out  to  sea  by  violent  westerly 
gales — the  strongest  winds,  be  it  remembered,  that  prevail  in  the 
North  Atlantic,  and  thus  strike  the  coast  of  Norway.^  In  that 
country  observers  may  be  said  to  be  practically  absent,  and  fowlers 
as  a  rule  unknown.  Such  storm-beaten  wanderers  there  consort 
with  the  allied  species  to  be  found  at  that  season  in  abundance 
on  its  shores,  and  in  their  company  pursue  the  same  southerly 
course.  With  them  they  cross  to  the  east  of  Great  Britain,  and 
once  arrived  here  are  speedily  picked  out  and  secured  by  the 
practised  gunner.  But  should  they  even  escape  his  notice,  they 
with  their  comrades  follow  the  shore-line,  where  they  obtain  the 
best  supply  of  food,  until  passing  round  the  south  coast  they  find 
themselves  at  the  western  extremity  of  England — the  district  of 
the  Land's  End,  in  which,  next  to  Norfolk  and  Suftolk,  the  greatest 
number  of  these  Transatlantic  stragglers  have  been  obtained.  This 
suggestion  may  serve  to  shew  what  most  likely  goes  on  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  though  the  materials  for  establishing  its  general 
truth  are  not  forthcoming. 

But  retm-ning  to  the  subject  of  Migration  proper,  distinguished 
as  it  ought  to  be  from  that  of  the  more  or  less  accidental  occur- 
rence of  stray  visitors  from  afar,  we  have  here  more  than  enough 
to  excite  our  wonder,  and  indeed  are  brought  face  to  face  with 
perhaps  the  greatest  mystery  which  the  whole  animal  kingdom 
presents — a  mystery  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  earliest 
writers,  and  can  in  its  chief  point  be  no  more  explained  by  the 
modern  man  of  science  than  by  the  simple-minded  savage  or  the 
poet  or  prophet  of  antiquity.  Some  facts  are  almost  universally 
known  and  have  been  the  theme  of  comment  in  all  ages  and  in  all 
lands.  The  Hawk  that  stretches  her  wings  toward  the  south  is  as 
familiar  to  the  latest  Nile-boat  traveller  or  dweller  on  the  Bosphorus 
as  of  old  to  the  author  of  the  book  of  Job.  The  autumnal  throng- 
ing of  myriads  of  Waterfowl  by  the  rivers  of  Asia  is  witnessed  by 
the  modern  sportsman  as  it  was  of  old  by  Homer.  Anacreon 
welcomed  the  returning  Swallow  in  numbers  which  his  imitators 
of  the  colder  north,  to  whom  the  associations  connected  with  it  are 
doubly  strong,  have  tried  in  vain  to  excel.  The  Indian  of  the  Fur- 
Countries  in  forming  his  rude  calendar  names  the  recurring  moons 
after  the  Birds-of-passage  whose  arrival  is  coincident  with  their 
changes.  But  there  is  no  need  to  multiply  instances.  The  flow  and 
ebb  of  the  feathered  tide  has  been  sung  by  poets  and  discussed  by 
philosophers,  has  given  rise  to  proverbs  and  entered  into  popubr 

^  Prof.  Bah'd's  remarks  on  this  subject  are  much  to  the  point  {Avi.  Journ.  So. 
ser.  2,  xli.  pp.  344,  345). 


5  so  MIGRATION 


superstitions,  and  yet  we  must  say  of  it  still  that  our  "ignorance  is 
immense." 

On  one  point  and  one  only  in  connexion  with  this  subject 
can  we  boast  ourselves  to  be  clearly  wiser  than  our  ancestors. 
Some  of  them  fully  believed  that  the  seasonal  disappearance  of  the 
Swallow,  the  Nightingale,  the  Cuckow,  and  the  Corncrake  was 
due  to  what  is  commonly  called  "  hibernation,"  that  is  to  say,  passing 
the  winter  in  a  torpid  condition,  while  others  indeed  doubted  whether 
or  not  this  was  the  true  explanation  of  the  fact.  It  is  not  so  long 
since  this  belief  and  these  doubts  were  in  vogue,  but  now  assuredly 
they  have  no  hold  upon  the  mind  of  any  one  capable  of  appreciat- 
ing evidence,  and  this  absurd  fancy  being  exploded  need  not  again 
trouble  us.  Yet  it  recurs  again  and  again  to  those  who  will  not 
take  the  trouble  to  reason,  and  even  to  some  thinking  persons  who 
cannot  rid  themselves  of  prejudice.  Scarcely  a  year  passes  but  an 
instance  of  this  credulity  presents  itself  to  the  writer,  either  in  some 
public  print  or  in  a  private  communication.  Of  the  same  kind  is 
the  equally  ancient  belief  that  little  birds  get  themselves  conveyed 
from  one  country  to  another  by  their  bigger  brethren.  Storks  and 
Cranes  on  their  Migration  are  manifest  to  beholders,  but  the  transit 
of  lesser  birds  of  feebler  flight  is  seldom  evident,  and  when,  as  often 
happens,  large  and  small  birds  disappear  or  arrive  simultaneously, 
Avhat  is  more  natural  than  that  the  ignorant  should  suppose  that 
the  latter  avail  themselves  of  the  former  as  a  vehicle  1  Thus  in 
1740  the  Tartars  of  Krasnojarsk  and  the  Assanians  assured  J.  G. 
Gmelin  {Re\&e  durch  Sihirien,  iii.  pp.  393,  394)  that  when  autumn 
came  each  Crane  took  a  Corncrake  on  its  back  and  transported  it 
to  a  warmer  land,^  while  the  well-known  belief  of  the  Egyptian 
peasant  that  Cranes  and  Storks  bring  a  living  load  was  not  long 
since  gravely  promulgated  in  this  country  as  a  truth  ! 

In  considering  the  phsenomena  of  Migration  it  Avill  be  best  first 
to  take  the  facts,  and  then  try  to,  account  for  their  cause  or  causes. 
That  a  very  large  number  of  Birds  all  over  the  world  change  their 
abode  according  to  the  season  is  ■well  known,  and  we  find  that  in 
all  temperate  countries  there  are  some  species  which  arrive  in  spring, 
remain  to  breed,  and  depart  in  autumn  ;  others  which  arrive  in 
autumn,  stop  for  the  winter,  and  depart  in  spring ;  and  others 
again — and  these  are  strictly  speaking  the  "  Birds  of  Passage  " — 
which  shew  themselves  but  twice  a  year,  passing  through  the 
country  without  staying  long  in  it,  and  their  transient  visits  take 
place  about  spring  and  autumn.  People  who  have  given  but  little 
thought  to  the  subject  are  apt  to  suppose  that  these  migrants, 
which  may  thus  easily  be  classed  in  three  categories,  are  acted 
upon  by  influences  of  different  kinds,  whereas  very  little  reflection 

^  This  passage  lias  been  adverted  to  by  Buffon  [Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  viii.  p.  150)  and 
Pallas  [Zoogr.  Eoss.-Asiat.  ii.  p.  153). 


MIGRATION  551 


will  shew  that  all  are  really  affected  by  the  same  impulse,  what- 
ever that  may  be,  and  that  the  nature  of  their  movements  at  first 
sight  so  dissimilar  is  in  truth  almost  uniform.  The  species  which 
resort  to  this  and  to  other  temperate  countries  in  winter  are  simply 
those  which  have  their  breeding-quarters  much  nearer  the  poles, 
and  in  returning  to  them  on  the  approach  of  spring  are  but  doing 
exactly  as  do  those  species  which,  having  their  winter  abode  nearer 
the  equator,  come  to  us  with  the  spring.  The  Birds-of-passage 
proper,  like  our  winter- visitants,  have  their  bi'eeding-quarters  nearer 
the  poles,  but,  like  our  summer-visitants,  they  seek  their  Avinter-abode 
nearer  the  equator,  and  thus  perform  a  somewhat  longer  i\Iigration. 
So  far  thex-e  is  no  difficulty  and  no  hypothesis — the  bringing  to- 
gether of  these  three  apparently  different  categories  is  the  result  of 
simple  observation.^ 

This,  however,  is  not  the  only  fact  which  is  evident  on  the  most 
cursory  examination.  To  take  the  birds  of  the  British  Islands  as 
an  example  (though  exactly  similar  cases  are  presented  in  other 
countries),  we  find  that  while  there  are  some  species,  such  as  the 
Swallow  or  the  Fieldfare,  of  which  every  individual  disappears 
at  one  period  of  the  year  or  another,  there  are  other  species,  such 
as  the  Pied  Wagtail  or  the  Woodcock,  of  which  only  the  majority 
of  individuals  vanish— a  few  being  always  present  - — and  these 
species  form  the  so-called  "  Partial  Migrants."  If  we  extend  our 
view  and  look  to  birds  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  we  find  that 
many  species  are  there  notoriously  migrant  which  are  not  generally 
suspected  to  be  so  in  this  country — such  as  the  Song-THRUSH  and 
the  Redbreast,  both  of  which  species  closer  observation  has  proved 
to  be  with  us  subject  to  the  migratory  impulse.  In  respect  of  the 
former  it  is  known  that  towards  the  end  of  summer  or  in  autumn 
our  native  Song-Thrushes  receive  a  considerable  accession  in 
numbers  from  the  birds  Avhich  arrive  from  the  north,  though  the 
immigration  is  by  no  means  so  well  marked  as  it  is  in  Belgium, 
France,  or  Germany,  where  the  arrival  of  the  strangers  sets  all  the 
fowlers   to   work,  and  the   beginning  of  the  Chasse  (.mo:.  Grives  or 

^  One  of  the  first,  at  least  in  this  country,  to  set  fo*th  the  unity  of  the 
migratory  movement  seems  to  have  been  the  author  of  a  Discourse  cni  the 
Emigration  of  British  Birds,  published  anonymously  at  Salisbury  in  1780,  and 
generally  attributed  to  "George  Edwards,"  though  certainly  not  written  by  the 
celebrated  ornithologist  of  that  name.  Mr.  A.  C.  Smith  has  discovered  that  the 
author — a  man  in  many  respects  before  his  time — was  John  Legg,  hitherto  un- 
known as  a  naturalist.  But  the  real  George  Edwards  also  held  opinions  on  the 
subject  that  are  mostly  sound,  and  his  remarks  gathered  from  various  parts  of 
his  greater  works,  where  they  appeared  "in  a  detached  and  unconnected  form," 
were  republished,  with  a  few  modifications,  in  the  tliird  of  his  Essays  tipon 
Natural  History  (London  :  1770)  and  may  yet  be  read  to  advantage. 

^  Whether  these  few  be  not  migrants  from  another  district  is  a  point  that 
would  require  further  consideration. 


552  MIGRATION 


Drosselzug  is  regarded  in  many  places  nearly  as  the  Twelfth  of 
August  or  the  First  of  September  is  with  us.  In  most  localities 
in  Britain  the  new  comers  depart  after  a  short  sojourn,  and  are 
accompanied  by  so  many  of  the  home-bred  birds  that  in  some 
parts  of  the  island  it  may  be  safely  declared  that  not  a  single 
Song-Thrush  can  be  found  from  the  end  of  November  to  the  end 
of  January,  while  in  other  districts  examples  can  always  be  seen. 
Much  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Redbreast.  Undeniably  resident 
as  a  species,  attentive  scrutiny  will  reveal  the  fact  that  its  numbers 
are  subject  to  very  considerable  variation  according  to  the  season 
of  the  year.  At  no  time  do  our  Redbreasts  collect  in  bands,  but 
towards  the  end  of  summer  they  may  be  seen  in  the  south  of  Eng- 
land successively  passing  onward,  the  travellers  being  mostly  if  not 
wholly  young  birds  of  the  year  ;  and  so  the  majority  disappear, 
departing  it  may  be  safely  presumed  for  more  southern  countries, 
since  a  few  weeks  later  the  markets  of  most  toAvns  first  in  France 
and  then  in  Italy  are  well  supplied  with  this  species.  But  the 
migratory  influence  affects,  though  in  a  less  degree,  many  if  not 
most  of  the  Redbreasts  that  remain  with  us.  Content  during  the 
autumn  to  occupy  their  usual  haunts,  the  first  sharp  frost  has  a 
decided  eftect  upon  their  distribution,  and  a  heavy  fall  of  snow 
drives  them  towards  the  homesteads  for  the  larger  supply  of  food 
they  find  there,  while  should  severe  and  long-continued  hard 
weather  follow  even  these  birds  vanish,  leaving  only  the  few  which 
have  become  almost  domesticated. 

These  two  species  have  been  here  chosen  as  illustrative  cases 
because  they  are  at  once  plentiful  and  familiar,  and  want  of  space 
only  forbids  us  from  citing  others,  but  we  shall  find  on  inquiry 
that  there  is  scarcely  a  Bird  of  the  Holarctic  Region,  whose  habits 
are  at  all  well  known,  of  which  much  the  same  may  not  be  said, 
or  in  other  words,  that  every  Bird  of  the  northern  hemisphere  is  to 
a  greater  or  less  degree  migratory  in  some  part  or  other  of  its 
range.  Such  a  conclusion  brings  us  to  a  still  more  general  in- 
ference— namely,  that  Migration  instead  of  being  the  exceptional 
characteristic  it  used  formerly  to  be  thought,  may  really  be  almost 
universal,  and  though  the  lack  of  observations  in  other,  and  especi- 
ally tropical,  countries  does  not  allow  us  to  declare  that  such  is  the 
case,  it  seems  probable  to  be  so.  Before  proceeding,  however,  to 
any  further  conclusions  it  is  necessary  to  examine  another  class  of 
facts  which  may  possibly  throw  some  light  on  the  matter. 

It  must  be  within  the  experience  of  every  one  who  has  ever 
been  a  birds'-nesting  boy  that  the  most  sedentary  of  Birds  year 
after  year  occupy  the  same  quarters  in  the  breeding-season.^  In 
some  instances  this  may  be  ascribed,  it  is  true,  to  the  old  haunt 

^  Two  remarkable  instances  of  this  persistency  may  be  noticed.     The  nest  of 
a  Falcon  {Falco  peregrinus)  on  Avasaxa — a  hill  in  Finland  somewhat  celebrated 


MIGRATION  553 


aftbrding  tlie  sole  or  the  most  convenient  site  for  the  nest  in  the 
neighbourhood,  but  in  so  many  instances  such  is  not  the  case  that 
we  are  led  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  a  real  partiality,  while 
there  are  quite  enough  exceptions  to  shew  that  a  choice  is  frequently 
exercised.  The  same  may  equally  be  said  of  the  most  migrant  of 
Birds,  and  perhaps  the  strongest  instance  that  has  ever  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  writer  refers  to  one  of  the  latter.  A  pair  of 
Stone-CuRLEWS  {GEdicnemus  crejntans) — a  very  migratory  species, 
affecting  almost  exclusively  the  most  open  country — were  in  the 
habit  of  breeding  for  many  years  on  the  same  spot^  though  its 
character  had  undergone  a  complete  change.  It  had  been  part  of 
an  extensive  and  barren  I'abbit-warren,  and  was  become  the  centre 
of  a  large  and  floiuishing  plantation. 

With  these  two  sets  of  facts  before  us  we  may  begin  to  try  and 
account  for  the  cause  or  causes  of  Migration.  In  some  cases  want 
of  food  would  seem  to  be  enough,  as  it  is  undoubtedly  the  most 
obvious  cause  that  presents  itself  to  our  mind.^  The  need  which 
all  animals  have  of  finding  for  themselves  proper  and  sufficient 
sustenance  is  all-powerful,  and  the  diificulties  they  have  to  encounter 
in  obtaining  it  are  so  great  that  none  can  Avonder  that  those  which 
possess  the  power  of  removing  themselves  from  a  place  of  scarcity 
should  avail  themselves  of  it,  while  it  is  unquestionable  that  no 
Class  of  animals  has  this  facility  in  a  greater  degree  than  Birds.  ^ 
Even  among  many  of  those  species  which  we  commonly  speak  of 
as  sedentary,  it  is  only  the  adults  which  maintain  their  ground 

as  one  of  the  most  southern  points  whence  the  midnight  snn  may  be  seen — is 
mentioned  by  the  French  astronomer  Maupertiiis  as  having  been  observed  by 
him  in  the  year  1736.  In  1799  the  nest  was  rediscovered  by  Skjoldebrand  and 
Acerbi.  In  1853  "VVoUey  found  it  tenanted,  and  from  enquiries  he  made  of  the 
neighbours  it  was  evident  that  such  had  yearly  been  the  case  so  far  as  any  one 
could  remember,  and  so  it  was  in  1855  as  I  myself  can  testify.  In  1779  accord- 
ing to  one  account,  in  1785  according  to  another,  a  pair  of  the  Blue  Titmouse 
{Parus  coeruleus)  built  their  nest  in  a  large  earthenware  bottle  placed  in  the 
branches  of  a  tree  in  a  garden  at  Oxbridge  near  Stockton-on-Tees.  With  two 
exceptions  only,  this  bottle,  or  a  second  which  had  been  placed  close  to  it,  was 
tenanted  by  a  pair  of  birds  of  this  species  from  the  year  in  which  it  was  first 
occupied  until  1873,  when  I  saw  it  (see  Yarrell's  British  Birds,  ed.   4,  i.  pp.       •       '  t 

58,  486)  ;  but  I  regret  to  add  that  I  learnt  through  Canon  Tristram  in  1892  that  CJ-  ((AKu^^ao- 
the  occupancy  had  ceased  for  four  years.  (/ 

1  At  Elveden  in  Suffolk. 

-  Far  more  so  than  variation  of  the  temperature,  though  in  popular  belief 
that  probably  holds  the  first  place.  But  Birds  generally,  as  compared  with  other 
Vertebrates,  are  but  slightly  affected  by  extremes  of  heat  or  cold,  and  indeed 
(so  far  as  we  can  judge)  by  most  climatic  influences,  provided  only  their  supply 
of  food  is  not  affected  thereby  (c/.  Max  Schmidt,  Zoolog.  Garten,  1865,  pp. 
330-340). 

^  The  only  animals  which  approach  Birds  in  the  extent  and  character  of  their 
migrations  are  Fishes,  of  which  there  is  no  need  here  to  say  anything. 


554  MIGRATION 


throughout  the  year.  It  has  long  been  known  that  Birds-of-Prey 
customarily  drive  away  their  offspring  from  their  own  haunts  so 
soon  as  the  young  are  able  to  shift  for  themselves.  The  reason 
generally,  and  no  doubt  truly,  given  for  this  behaviour,  which  at 
first  sight  appears  so  unnatural,  is  the  impossibility  of  both  parents 
and  progeny  getting  a  livelihood  in  the  same  \acinity.^  The 
practice,  however,  is  not  limited  to  the  Birds-of-Prey  alone,  but  is 
much  more  universal.  We  find  it  to  obtain  with  the  Eedbreast, 
and  if  we  watch  our  feathered  neighbours  closely  we  shall  perceive 
that  most  of  them  indulge  in  it.  The  period  of  expulsion,  it  is 
true,  is  in  some  Birds  deferred  from  the  end  of  summer  or  the 
autumn,  in  which  it  is  usually  performed,  until  the  following 
spring,  when  indeed  from  the  maturity  of  the  young  it  must  be 
regarded  as  much  in  the  light  of  a  voluntary  secession  on  theii' 
part  as  in  that  of  an  act  of  parental  compulsion,  but  the  effect  is 
ultimately  the  same.  These  cases,  however,  which  make  certainly 
the  exception  rather  than  the  rule,  we  can  account  for  in  another 
manner.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  they  are  confined  to  species 
having  a  peculiar  mode  of  life,  the  individuals  associating  in  family- 
parties  to  form  small  bands.  The  members  of  the  TiTMOUSE- 
Family  (Paridse)  offer  a  good  instance  of  this  peculiarity,  but  it 
requires  no  veiy  abstruse  reflection  to  perceive  that  the  adoption 
of  this  habit  is  one  eminently  conducive  to  the  easy  attainment  of 
their  food,  which  is  collected,  as  it  were,  into  particular  spots  often 
far  apart,  but  where  it  does  occur  occurring  plentifully.  Thus  a 
single  Titmouse  searching  alone  might  hunt  for  a  whole  day  with- 
out meeting  with  a  sufficiency,  while  if  a  dozen  are  united  by  the 
same  motive  it  is  hardly  possible  for  the  place  in  which  the  food  is 
lodged  to  escape  their  detection,  and  when  discovered  a  few  call- 
notes  from  the  lucky  finder  are  enough  to  assemble  the  whole 
company  to  share  the  feast.  It  is  impossible  to  watch  a  band  of 
any  species  of  Titmouse,  even  for  a  few  minutes,  without  arriving 
at  this  conclusion.  One  tree  after  another  is  visited  by  the  active 
little  rovers,  and  its  branches  examined  :  if  nothing  be  forthcoming 
away  goes  the  explorer  to  the  next  that  presents  itself,  merely 
giving  utterance  to  the  usual  twitter  that  serves  to  keep  the  body 
together.  But  if  the  object  of  search  be  found,  another  kind  of 
chirp  is  emitted,  and  the  next  moment  the  several  members  of  the 
band  are  flitting  in  succession  to  the  tree  and  eagerly  engaged  Avith 
the  spoil. ^ 

^  It  is  a  very  ancient  remark  about  young  Ravens  that  "  they  wander  for  hick 
of  meat." 

-  The  case  is  altogether  different  with  those  species  which  in  winter  form 
tliemselves  into  large  flocks,  as  most  of  the  Finches  [Fringillidae,)  and  Buntings 
[Bmberizidai).  The  discoverer  of  a  favourite  morsel  perhaps  by  his  actious 
betrays  what  he  has  obtained,  and  accordingly  his  fellows  mav  repair  to  the 


MIGRATION  555 


The  mode  in  which  the  want  of  sustenance  produces  Migration 
may  best  be  illustrated  by  confining  ourselves  to  some  of  the  un- 
questionably migrant  Birds  of  our  own  northern  hemisphere.  As 
food  grows  scarce  toward  the  end  of  summer  in  the  most  northern 
limits  of  the  range  of  a  species,  the  individuals  aff'ected  thereby 
seek  it  elsewhere ;  in  this  way  they  press  upon  the  haunt  of 
other  individuals  :  these  in  like  manner  upon  that  of  yet  others, 
and  thus 

' '  The  waves  behind  impel  the  waves  before, "  ^ 

until  the  movement  which  began  in  the  far  north  is  communicated  to 
the  individuals  occupying  the  extreme  southern  range  of  the  species 
at  that  season  ;  though,  but  for  such  an  intrusion,  these  last  might  be 
content  to  stay  some  time  longer  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  existing 
quarters. 

This  seems  satisfactorily  to  explain  the  southward  movement  of 
many  migrating  Birds  in  the  northern  hemisphere  ;  but  when  we  con- 
sider the  return  movement  which  takes  place  some  six  months  later, 
doubt  may  be  entertained  whether  scarcity  of  food  can  be  assigned 
as  its  sole  or  sufficient  cause,  and  perhaps  it  would  be  safest  not  to 
come  to  any  decision  on  this  point.  On  one  side  it  may  be  urged 
that  the  more  equatorial  regions  which  in  winter  are  crowded  with 
emigrants  from  the  north,  though  well  fitted  for  the  resort  of  so 
gTeat  a  population  at  that  season  are  deficient  in  certain  necessaries 
for  the  nursery.  Nor  does  it  seem  too  violent  an  assumption  to 
suppose  that  even  if  such  necessaries  are  not  absolutely  wanting,  yet 
that  the  regions  in  question  would  not  supply  sufficient  food  for 
both  parents  and  offspring — the  latter  being,  at  the  lowest  com- 
putation, twice  as  numerous  as  the  former — unless  the  numbers  of 
both  were  diminished  by  the  casualties  of  travel.-     But  on  the 

2"ilace,  but  it  is  without  invitation  on  his  part,  and  the  only  particular  bond  of 
union  not  entirely  selfish  which  keeps  them  together  is  the  cry  of  alarm  with 
which  a  stranger  is  greeted. 

1  In  regard  to  Migration  the  word  ' '  wave  "  is  only  allowable  as  a  poetical 
figure  of  speech,  since  the  particles  composing  a  real  wave  do  not  necessarily 
move  onward. 

-  If  the  relative  proportion  of  land  to  water  in  the  southern  hemisphere  were  at 
all  such  as  it  is  in  the  northern,  we  should  no  doubt  find  the  birds  of  southern 
continents  beginning  to  press  upon  the  tropical  and  equatorial  regions  of  the  globe 
at  the  season  when  they  were  thronged  Avith  the  emigrants  from  the  north,  and 
in  such  a  case  it  would  be  only  reasonable  that  the  latter  should  be  acted  upon 
by  the  force  of  the  former,  according  to  the  explanation  given  of  the  southward 
movement  of  northern  migrants.  But,  though  we  know  almost  nothing  of  the 
Migration  of  birds  of  the  other  hemisphere,  yet,  when  we  regard  the  comparative 
deficiency  of  the  land  in  south  latitudes  all  round  the  world,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  feathered  population  of  such  as  nowadays  exists  can  exert  but  little  influence, 
and  its  effect  may  be  practically  disregarded. 


556  MIGRATION 


other  hand  we  must  remember  what  has  above  been  advanced  in 
regard  to  the  pertinacity  "with  which  Birds  return  to  their  accustomed 
breeding-places,  and  the  force  of  this  passionate  fondness  for  the 
old  home  cannot  but  be  taken  into  account,  even  if  we  do  not 
allow  that  in  it  lies  the  whole  stimulus  to  luidertake  the  perilous 
voA^age. 

Mr.  Wallace  in  some  remarks  on  the  subject  {Nature,  x.  p.  459) 
ingeniously  suggests  the  manner  in  which  the  habit  of  Migration 
has  come  to  be  adopted  :  ^ — • 

"  It  appears  to  me  probable  that  here,  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  '  survival  of 
the  fittest '  will  be  found  to  have  had  a  powerful  influence.  Let  us  suppose  that 
in  any  species  of  migratory  bird,  breeding  can  as  a  rule  be  only  safely  accom- 
plished in  a  given  area  ;  and  further,  that  during  a  gi-eat  part  of  the  rest  of  the 
year  sufBcient  food  cannot  be  obtained  in  that  area.  It  will  follow  that  those 
birds  which  do  not  leave  the  breeding  area  at  the  proper  season  will  sufler,  and 
ultimately  become  extinct ;  which  will  also  be  the  fate  of  those  which  do  not 
leave  the  feeding  area  at  the  proper  time.  Now,  if  we  suppose  that  the  two  areas 
were  (for  some  remote  ancestor  of  the  existing  species)  coincident,  but  by  geo- 
logical and  climatic  changes  gradually  diverged  from  each  other,  we  can  easily 
understand  how  the  habit  of  incipient  and  partial  migi'ation  at  the  proper  seasons 
would  at  last  become  hereditary,  and  so  fixed  as  to  be  what  we  term  an  instinct. 
It  will  probably  be  found,  that  every  gi'adation  still  exists  in  various  parts  of 
the  world,  from  a  complete  coincidence  to  a  complete  separation  of  the  breeding 
and  the  subsistence  areas  ;  and  when  the  natural  history  of  a  suflicient  number 
of  species  is  thoroughly  worked  out,  we  may  find  every  link  between  species 
which  never  leave  a  restricted  area  in  which  they  breed  and  live  the  whole  year 
round,  to  those  other  cases  in  which  the  two  areas  are  absolutely  separated." 

A  few  more  particulars  respecting  migration  are  all  that  can 
here  be  given,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  much  can  be  built  upon 
them.  It  has  been  ascertained  by  repeated  observation  that  in  the 
spring-movement  of  most  species  of  the  northern  hemisphere  the 
cock-birds  are  always  in  the  van  of  the  advancing  army,  and  that 
they  appear  some  days,  or  perhaps  weeks,  before  the  hens.-  It  is 
not  difficult  to  imagine  that,  in  the  course  of  a  joui'ney  prolonged 
throughout  some  50°  or  60°  of  latitude,  the  stronger  individuals 
should  outstrip  the  weaker  by  a  very  perceptible  distance,  and  it 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  in  most  species  the  males  are  stouter, 
as  they  are  bigger  than  the  females.  Some  observers  assert  that  the 
same  thing  takes  place  in  the  return- journey  in  autumn,  but  on 
this  point  others  are  not  so  sui'e,  which  is  not  surprising  when  we 

1  In  principle  Capt.  Hutton  [Trans.  New  Zeal.  Inst.  1872,  p.  235)  had 
already  foreshadowed  the  same  theory,  which  some  writers  have  called  that  of 
"land-bridges." 

-  This  fact,  often  regarded  as  a  very  recent  discovery,  was  made  known  by 
Jlontagu  in  1802  {Orn.  Diet.  Introd.  pp.  xxviii.,  xxx.  note),  and  had  also  been 
observed  by  Shepjiard  in  1819  {Trans.  Norf.  d:  None.  Nat.  Soc.  iii.  p.  391). 


MIGRATION  557 


consider  that  the  majority  of  observations  have  been  made  towards 
what  is  the  northern  limit  of  the  range  of  the  Fasseres,  to  which  the 
remark  is  especially  applicable — in  the  British  Islands,  France, 
North  Germany,  and  the  Russian  Empire — for  it  is  plain  that  at 
the  beginning  of  the  journey  any  inequality  in  the  speed  of  travel- 
ling will  not  have  become  so  very  manifest.  There  is  also  another 
matter  to  be  noticed.  It  has  been  suspected  that  where  there  is 
any  difference  in  the  size  of  birds  of  the  same  species,  particularly 
in  the  dimensions  of  their  wings,  the  individuals  that  perform  the 
most  extensive  journeys  are  naturally  those  with  the  longest  and 
broadest  remiges,  and  in  support  of  this  view  it  certainly  appears 
that  in  some  of  the  smaller  migrants —  such  as  the  Wheateak  (6VmcoZa 
cenanthe)  and  Willow-Wren  (Phylloscopvs  irocJiihs) — the  examples 
which  reach  the  extreme  north  of  Europe  and  there  pass  the  summer 
possess  greater  mechanical  powers  of  flight  than  those  of  the  same 
species  which  stop  short  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediteri'anean.  It 
may  perhaps  be  also  inferred,  though  precise  evidence  is  wanting, 
that  these  same  individuals  push  further  to  the  southward  in  winter 
than  do  those  which  are  less  favoured  in  this  respect.  It  is  pretty 
nearly  certain  that  such  is  the  case  with  some  species,  and  it  may 
well  be  so  with  individuals.  Canon  Tristram  has  remarked  {Ibis, 
1865,  p.  77)  that,  in  many  genera  of  birds,  "those  species  which 
have  the  most  extended  northerly  have  also  the  most  extended 
southerly  range ;  and  that  those  which  resort  to  the  highest  latitudes 
for  nidification  also  pass  fiu-ther  than  others  to  the  southward  in 
winter,"  fortifying  his  opinion  by  examples  adduced  from  the  genera 
Turdus,  Fringilla,  C^jpselus,  and  Turtur.  But  supposing  this  to  be 
true  for  many  Birds,  it  may  fairly  be  doubted  whether  it  is  so  for 
all,  and  whether  in  some  species  certain  individuals  do  not  always 
occupy  the  most  northern  portion  of  the  range  and  others  always 
keep  to  the  most  southern,  no  matter  what  the  season  of  the  year 
may  be,  or  over  what  countries  the  range  may  extend.  On  this 
point  therefore  it  will  be  advisable  to  await  further  investigation. 

For  many  years  past  a  large  number  of  persons  in  different 
countries  have  occupied  and  amused  themselves  by  carefully  register- 
ing the  dates  on  which  various  migratory  Birds  first  make  their  appear- 
ance, and  certain  publications  abound  with  the  records  so  compiled.^ 
Some  of  the  observers  have  been  men  of  high  scientific  repute,  others 
of  less  note  but  of  not  inferior  capabilities  for  this  especial  object. 
Still  it  does  not  seem  that  they  have  been  able  to  determine  what 
connexion,  if  any,  exists  between  the  arrival  of  birds  and  the  state 

1  These  are  far  too  numerous  to  mention  here.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable 
series  of  them  is  that  carried  on  from  1736  to  1810  and  again  from  1836  to  1874 
by  four  generations  of  the  Marsham  family  at  Stratton-Strawless  and  Rippon 
near  Korwich,  of  which  an  account  is  given  by  Mr.  Southwell  {Trans.  Korf.  <& 
Norw.  Nat.  Soc.  ii.  p.  31). 


558 


MIGRA  TION 


of  the  weatlier.^  This  is  nob  very  wonderful,  for  the  movements  of 
the  migrants,  if  governed  at  all  by  meteorological  forces,  must  be 
influenced  by  their  action  in  the  places  whence  the  travellers  have 
come,  and  therefore  to  establish  any  direct  relation  of  cause  and 
effect  corresponding  observations  ought  equally  to  be  made  in  such 
places,  which  has  seldom  been  done.-  As  a  rule  it  would  seem  as 
though  Birds  were  not  dependent  on  the  weather  to  any  great 
degree.  Occasionally  the  return  of  the  Swallow  or  the  Nightingale 
may  be  somewhat  delayed,  but  most  Sea-fowls  may  be  trusted,  it  is 
said,  as  the  almanack  itself.  Were  they  satellites  revolving  around 
this  earth,  their  arrival  could  hardly  be  more  surely  calculated  by 
an  astronomer.  Foul  weather  or  fair,  heat  or  cold,  the  PuFFiNS 
{Fratercula  arctica)  repair  to  some  of  their  stations  punctually  on  a 
given  day  as  if  their  movements  were  regulated  by  clock-work. 
Whether  they  have  come  from  far  or  from  near  we  know  not,  but 
other  Birds  certainly  come  from  a  great  distance,  and  yet  make  their 
appearance  with  scarcely  less  exactness.  Nor  is  the  regularity  with 
which  certain  species  disappear  much  inferior ;  every  observer 
knows  how  abundant  the  Swift  {Cypselus  ajpus)  is  up  to  the 
time  of  its  leaving  its  summer-home — in  most  parts  of  England, 
the  first  days  of  August — and  how  rarely  it  is  seen  after  that  time 
is  past. 

It  must  be  allowed,  however,  that,  with  few  exceptions,  the 
mass  of  statistics  above  spoken  of  has  never  been  worked  up  and 
digested  so  as  to  allow  proper  inferences  to  be  made  from  them, 
and  therefore  it  would  be  premature  to  say  that  little  would  come 
of  it,  but  the  result  of  those  few  exceptions  is  not  very  encouraging. 
The  most  important  is  due  to  Dr.   von  Middendorff  who  carefully 

1  HeiT  Giitke  in  the  valuable  work  presently  to  be  particularly  noticed, 
attaches  much  more  importance  to  the  effects  of  weather  than  I  am  inclined  to 
do,  though  I  am  far  from  saying  that  his  opinion  may  not  be  borne  out  by  his 
experience  on  Heligoland,  where  his  observations  were  made.  That  is  a  spot  so 
small  that,  though  exceptionally  favoured  as  a  resort  for  Birds-of-passage,  it 
might  easily  be  missed  (as  indeed  it  frequently  is)  owing  to  the  wind  lying  in 
such  a  quarter  as  would  turn  them  from  their  usual  com-se.  He  certainly  gives 
(p.  85)  a  remarkable  instance  of  a  temporarily  reversed  movemeut  in  March  1879, 
doubtless  caused  by  the  setting  in  of  bad  weather  ;  but  in  nearly  all  cases  Birds  on 
their  northward  Migration  do  not  retrace  their  flight  but  persevere  in  the  efforts 
to  get  forward,  even  though  \\-lien  they  reach  their  goal  they  may  succumb  and 
jierish  for  want  of  food  through  the  severity  of  the  season. 

2  To  a  limited  extent  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  popular  belief  as  to  certain 
Birds  being  the  harbingers  of  severe  weather  is  justifiable.  Cold  comes  out  of 
the  north,  and  when  it  is  accompanied,  as  is  most  generally  the  case,  by  heavy 
falls  of  snow,  such  Birds  are  of  course  driven  southwards  to  seek  their  living. 
But  as  often  as  not  the  Birds  arrive  with  the  kind  of  weather  they  are  com- 
monly held  to  prognosticate,  while  sometimes  this  does  not  follow  their 
ayipearance. 


MIGRATION  559 


collated  the  records  of  the  arrival  of  migratory  Birds  throughout 
the  Russian  Empire,  but  the  insight  into  the  question  afforded  by 
his  published  labours  ^  is  not  very  great.  His  chief  object  was  to 
trace  what  he  termed  the  isepi])teses  {1xto%  —  xqualis,  eiriTrr'ijcns  = 
advolatus)  or  the  lines  of  simultaneous  arrival,  and  in  the  case  of  7 
species  ^  these  are  laid  down  on  the  maps  which  accompany  his 
treatise.  The  lines  are  found  by  taking  the  average  date  of  arrival 
of  each  species  at  each  place  in  the  Russian  dominions  where 
observations  have  been  regularly  made,  and  connecting  those  places 
where  the  dates  are  the  same  for  each  species  by  lines  on  the  map. 
The  curves  thus  drawn  indicate  the  inequality  of  progi'ess  made  by 
the  species  in  diff"erent  longitudes,  and  assuming  that  the  advance 
is  directly  across  the  isepiptesial  lines,  or  rather  the  belts  defined 
by  each  pair  of  them,  the  Avhole  course  of  the  Migration  is  thus 
most  accurately  made  known.  In  the  case  of  his  seven  sample 
species  the  maps  shew  their  progressive  advance  at  intervals  of  a 
few  days,  and  the  issue  of  the  whole  investigation,  according  to 
him  (op.  cit.  p.  8)  proves  that  in  the  middle  of  Sibei"ia  the  general 
direction  of  the  usual  migrants  is  almost  due  north,  in  the  east  of 
Siberia  from  south-east  to  north-west,  and  in  European  Russia  from 
south-west  to  north-east.  Thus  nearly  all  the  migrants  of  the 
Russian  Empire  tend  to  converge  upon  the  most  northern  part  of 
the  continent,  the  Taimyr  Peninsula,  but  it  is  almost  needless  to  say 
that  few  of  them  reach  anything  like  so  far,  since  the  country  in 
those  high  latitudes  is  utterly  unfit  to  support  the  majority.  With 
the  exception  of  some  details,  which  though  possessing  a  certain 
special  interest,  need  not  here  be  mentioned,  this  treatise  fails  to 
shew  more  ;  for  the  fact  that  there  are  places  that  notwithstand- 
ing their  higher  latitude  are  reached  by  Birds  on  their  spring 
migrations  sooner  than  others  in  a  lower  latitude  was  already 
known,  and  indeed  may  be  to  some  small  extent  observed  even  in 
England. 

The  routes  followed  by  migratory  Birds  have  been  the  subject 
of  enquiry  by  many  naturalists,  among  whom  must  be  especially 
named    Prof.    Palm^n,    of    whose    work,^    originally   published    in 

^  Die  Isepiptesen  Russlands.  Grundlagen  zur  Erforscliung  der  Zugzeiten  und 
Zagrichtungen  der  Vogel  Russlands.     St.  Petersburg  :  1855. 

^  Hirundo  rustica,  Motacilla  alba,  Alauda  arvensis,  Oriolus  galbula,  Cuculus 
canorus,  Ciconia  alba  and  Grus  coTnmunis. 

^  Om  Foglarnes  flyttningsvdgar  (Helsingtbrs  :  1874:).  In  this  and  the  work 
of  Dr.  von  Middendorft",  already  cited,  reference  is  made  to  almost  every  im- 
portant publication  ou  the  subject  of  Migration,  which  renders  a  notice  of  its 
very  extensive  literature  needless  here,  and  a  pretty  full  bibliographical  list  is 
given  in  Giebel's  Thesaurus  Ornitliologise  (i.  pp.  146-155).  Yet  mention  may  be 
made  of  Schlegel's  Overhet  trekken  der  Vogels  (Harlem  :  1828),  Mr.  Hodgson's  "On 
the  Migration  of  the  Natatorcs  and  Grallatores  as  observed  at  Kathmandu  "  in 


56o  MIGRA  TION 


Swedish,  some  of  the  chief  results  ^  were  briefly  given  in  1875  in 
the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  (ed.  9,  iii.  p.  768),  but  until  its  ap- 
pearance in  a  German  translation  ^  it  attracted  little  notice.  The 
author's  views  were  at  first  approved  by  the  late  Herr  Eugen  von 
Homeyer,  an  ornithologist  of  great  experience  (Jmorn.  fur  Orn.  1876, 
pp.  387-391  ;  1878,  p.  113),  but  then  challenged  on  several  points 
by  him  in  a  separate  work,^  which  called  forth  a  spirited  reply 
from  Prof.  Palm^n.^  Similar  researches  have  been  continued  in 
greater  detail  by  two  Eussian  zoologists,  as  regards  Central  Asia 

Asiatic  Researches  (xviii.  pp.  122-128),  and  Marcel  de  Serres's  Bes  causes  des  Migra- 
timis  des  Animaiix  et  particulierement  des  Oiseaux  et  des  Poissons  (Haiiem  :  1842). 
This  last  though  one  of  the  largest  publications  on  the  subject  is  one  of  the 
least  satisfactory.  Baird's  excellent  treatise  On  the  Distribution  and  Aligrationg 
of  North  American  Birds  has  been  before  adverted  to  {suprci,  p.  330). 

^  They  may  be  here  repeated  :  The  main  routes  taken  by  the  most  migratory 
Birds  of  the  Palsearctic  area  on  their  retiirn  autumnal  journey  are,  according  to 
Prof.  Palmen,  nine  in  number.  The  first  (A — to  use  his  notation),  leaving  the 
Siberian  shores  of  the  Polar  Sea,  Nova  Zembla,  and  the  North  of  Russia,  passes 
down  the  west  coast  of  Norway  to  the  North  Sea  and  the  British  Islands.  The 
second  (B),  proceeding  from  Spitsbergen  and  the  adjoining  islands,  follows  much 
the  same  course,  but  is  prolonged  past  France,  Spain,  and  Portugal  to  the  west 
coast  of  Africa.  The  third  (C)  starts  from  Northern  Russia,  and,  threading  the 
White  Sea,  and  the  great  Lakes  of  Onega  and  Ladoga,  skirts  the  Gulf  of  Finland 
and  the  southern  part  of  the  Baltic  to  Holstein  and  so  to  Holland,  where  it 
divides — one  branch  uniting  with  the  second  main  route  (B),  while  the  other, 
running  up  the  valley  of  the  Rhine  and  crossing  to  that  of  the  Rhone,  splits  up 
on  reaching  the  Mediterranean,  where  one  path  passes  do^vn  the  western  coast  of 
Italy  and  Sicily,  a  second  takes  the  line  by  Corsica  and  Sardinia,  and  a  third 
follows  the  south  coast  of  France  and  eastern  coast  of  Spain — all  three  paths 
ending  in  North  Africa.  The  fourth  (D),  fifth  (E),  and  sixth  (F)  main  routes 
depart  from  the  extreme  north  of  Siberia.  The  fourth  (D),  ascending  the  river 
Obi,  branches  out  near  Tobolsk — one  track,  diverging  to  the  Volga,  descends  that 
river  and  so  passes  to  the  Sea  of  Azov,  the  Black  Sea,  and  thence,  by  the  Bos- 
phorus  and  .^gean,  to  Egypt  ;  another  track  makes  for  the  Caspian  by  way  of 
the  Ural  River  and  so  leads  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  while  two  more  are  lost  sight  of 
on  the  steppes.  The  fifth  (E)  mounts  the  Jennesei  to  Lake  Baikal  and  so  passes 
into  Mongolia.  The  sixth  (F)  ascends  the  Lena  and  striking  the  Upper  Amoor 
reaches  the  Sea  of  Japan,  where  it  coalesces  with  the  seventh  (G)  and  eighth  (0) 
which  run  from  the  eastern  portion  of  Siberia  and  Kamchatka.  Besides  these 
the  ninth  (X),  starting  from  Greenland  and  Iceland,  passes  by  the  Fseroes  to  the 
British  Islands  and  so  joining  the  second  (B)  and  third  (C)  runs  down  the 
French  coast.  These  being  the  main  routes  it  must  be  added  that,  in  Prof. 
Palmen's  opinion  and  that  of  many  others,  nearly  all  river-courses  form  minor 
routes.  In  giving  this  abstract  I  wish  to  state  that  I  do  not  thereby  express  my 
agreement  with  all  that  it  contains. 

2   Ueher  die  Zugstrassen  der  Vogel.     Leipzig  :  1876. 

^  Die  Wanderungen  der  Vogel.     Leipzig:  1881. 

■*  Antwort  an  Herrn  E.  F.  von  Homeyer,  bezilglich  der  '  Zugstrassen  der 
Viigel.'     Helsingfors  &  Leipzig  :  1882. 


MIGRATION  561 


by  the  late  Dr.  SeverzofF/  and  as  regards  Eastern  Europe  by  Dr. 
Menzbier,-  while  other  contributions  to  the  subject,  too  numerous 
to  be  here  named,  have  also  appeared.^  It  seems  even  now  pre- 
mature to  criticize  minutely  the  results  of  these  works — conjectural 
many  of  them  confessedl}'  are,  while  some  of  the  details  on  which 
they  are  founded  rest  on  observations  that  cannot  be  regarded  as 
wholly  trustworthy  and  are  doubtless  open  to  correction,  but 
nearly  all  is  put  forward  in  a  way  that  deserves  the  fullest  atten- 
tion. On  the  part  of  some  writers,  we  will  not  say  it  of  Prof. 
Palmen,  there  seems  to  be  a  disposition  to  attach  an  almost 
superstitious  importance  to  the  phrase  Migration-route.  Such 
persons  should  bear  in  mind  Dr.  Menzbier's  very  true  remark  that 
every  species  on  Migration  goes  its  own  way,  and  what  is  called  a 
Migration-route  is  only  the  coincidence  of  the  way  taken  by  more 
or  fewer  of  them.  One  of  the  routes  ("  X ")  described  by  Prof. 
Palmen,  and  one  of  considerable  interest  to  dwellers  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  is  extremely  questionable.  Indeed  the  data  to  establish 
its  existence  were  not  forthcoming  when  he  wrote,  and  probably 
are  not  forthcoming  now,  though  in  the  interim  much  has  been 
done  toward  the  collection  of  facts  at  light-houses  and  light-ships 
around  our  coasts  by  the  "  Migration  Committee "  appointed  by 
the  British  Association  in  1880,  which  continued  its  exertions  for 
nine  years,*  with  the  result  of  accumulating  a  mass  of  statistics, 

•^  £tudes  sur  le  passage  des  Oiseaux  dans  I'jisie  Centrale  particulierement  par 
le  Ferghdnah  ct  le  Pamir  {Bull.  Soc.  Imp.  N'at.  Moscau,  1880,  i.  pp.  234-287). 

^  Dili  Zugstrassen  der  Vogel  im  europdischcn  Russland  {op.  cit.  1886,  ii.  pp. 
291-369).  Herein  four  chief  routes  of  European  origin  are  laid  down — (1)  a  via 
norvegica  rounding  the  North  Cape,  skirting  the  coast  of  the  Kola  Peninsula  and 
continued  along  the  arctic  shores  of  Russia  to  Waigats  and  Nova  Zambia  :  (2) 
a  via  baltiea  which  splits  into  three  lines,  one  passing  up  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia 
to  TorneS  where  it  bifurcates,  one  stream  ascending  the  river  of  that  name,  the 
other  proceeding  overland  to  Kola  ;  a  second  line  passes  along  the  Gulf  of  Finland 
to  Viborg,  and  thence  along  the  northern  shore  of  the  Ladoga  and  Onega  Lakes 
over  the  White  Sea  to  Nova  Zembla  ;  while  a  third,  occasionally  anastomosing 
with  the  second,  crosses  the  Gulf  of  Riga  and,  passing  to  the  southward  of  the 
two  lakes  just  named,  iinally  arrives  also  in  Nova  Zembla :  (3)  a  via  pontica 
which,  leaving  the  Black  Sea,  spreads  over  the  whole  of  Russia,  becoming  fainter 
as  it  proceeds  northward  though  perceptible  within  the  Arctic  Cu'cle  in  the 
Muonio  basin,  and  reaching  nearly  as  far  north  in  the  valleys  of  the  Mezen  and 
Petchora  :  lastly  (4)  a  via  caspia  ascending  the  Volga  on  the  west  so  far  as 
Jaroslav,  and  to  the  eastward  reaching  by  many  anastomosing  streams  the  valley 
of  the  Obi. 

^  A  good  summary  of  them  is  given  in  the  Report  {Eeferat  ilbcr  den  Stand 
der  Kenntniss  des  Vogelzuges)  drawn  up  by  Prof.  Palmen  for  the  International 
Ornithological  Congress  held  at  Budapest  iu  1891. 

*  When  I  say  the  exertions  of  the  Committee  I  mean  chiefly  those  of  its 
secretary,  Mr.  Cordeaux,  whose  enthusiasm  prompted  the  men  at  the  several 
stations  to  make  observations,  while  his  energy  in  carrying  on  the  laborious 

36 


562  MIGRA  TION 


jl^    the    reduction   of    which   to   intelligible   order  is   still  taxing  the 
f^r  ingenuity  and  patience  of  Mr.  W.  E.  Clarke,  who  has  undertaken 

the  onerous  duty.  Similar  observations  have  also  been  organized 
since  1883,  at  stations  in  Denmark,  and  the  results  published  by 
Prof.  Liitken  and  HH.  Oluf  and  Herluf  Winge ;  while,  since  1885, 
the  example  has  been  followed  both  in  Germany  and  Russia  by 
Prof.  Rudolf  Blasius  and  Herr  E.  von  MiddendorfF.  In  North 
America  a  very  praiseworthy  piece  of  work  was  performed  by 
Prof.  W.  W.  Cooke,  whose  Report  en  Bird  Migration  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  in  1884  and  1885,  based  on  the  records  furnished  by 
170  observers,  of  whom  Mr.  Otto  Widman  is  especially  to  be 
named,  was  edited  by  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam.^  Some  of  the  facts 
herein  adduced  are  highly  suggestive,  but  it  must  be  remarked 
that  on  several  points  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  between  the 
author  and  the  editor.  For  instance,  Prof.  Cooke  confirms  the 
statements  of  European  observers  as  to  the  young  birds  of  many 
species  preceding  their  parents  in  the  autumnal  movements,  while 
Dr.  Merriam,  trusting  to  some  evidence  which  appears  not  yet  to 
have  been  published,  and  to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  W.  Brevfster,- 
declares  to  the  contrary  effect.  As  the  European  experience  on 
this  point  is  indisputable,  and  a  good  deal  depends  .upon  it,  we 
trust  that  the  matter  will  eventually  be  cleared  up. 

But  the  result  of  all  these  efforts,  good  as  they  are,  may  be 
said  to  pale  before  the  stupendous  amount  of  information  amassed 
during  more  than  fifty  years  by  the  venerable  Herr  Gatke  of 
Heligoland,  a  place  which  through  his  watchfulness  has  attained 
celebrity  as  a  post  of  observation  quite  beyond  any  other  in  the 
world,  so  that  ornithologists  may  at  times  wonder  whether  the  man 
made  the  station  or  the  station  the  man — so'  fitted  have  they  been 
for  one  another.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  work  ^  will  one  day 
appear  in  an  English  version,  for  until  then  its  contents  will 
remain  unknown  to  most  British-and  North- American  ornithologists. 
On  the  author's  theories  we  would  offer  but  few  remarks.  It  is 
his  conviction  that  of  effective  and  successful  Migration  we  see 
but  little,  as  it  is  for  the  most  part  carried  on  at  such  a  height  in 
the  air  as  to  be  beyond  our  ken,  and  what  comes  to  our  perception 

correspondence  deserves  the  thanks  of  every  ornithologist.  Beside  this  it  was  he 
and  Mr.  Harvie-Bro^vn  who  in  1879  initiated  the  light-house  enquiry,  afterwards 
adopted  by  the  British  Association,  and  obtained  for  it  the  countenance  of  the 
official  authorities. 

^  U.  S.  Bciiartmcnt  of  Agriculture.  Division  of  Economic  Ornithology, 
Bulletin  No.  2.     Washington  :  1888. 

-  Memoirs  of  the  Nuttall  Ornithological  Club,  No.  1.    Cambridge,  Mass. :  1886. 

^  Die  Vogelwarte  Helgoland.  Braunschweig:  1891.  A  brief  summary  of  the 
least  interesting  part  of  this  volume,  being  hardly  more  than  a  list  of  the  species 
that  have  been  observed  on  the  island,  is  printed  in  The  Ibis  for  1892,  pp.  1-32. 


MIGRA  TION  563 


consists  chiefly  of  the  abortive  or  unsuccessful  attempts  at  its 
accomplishment,  when  birds  are  checked  in  their  course,  and  being- 
unable  to  proceed  present  themselves  to  our  sight  and  hearing.  If 
this  be  so,  the  aid  of  "land-bridges"  and  river- valleys,  the  importance 
of  which  is  so  strongly  pressed  by  certain  writers  (mostly  theorizers) 
becomes  insignificant. 

Now  that  birds  can  and  do  fly  at  elevations  far  beyond  those 
which  most  people  are  accustomed  to  think  possible,  Ave  have  some 
indication.  Mr.  J.  Tennant  states  {Stray  Feathers,  iii.  p.  419)  that 
at  Eoorkee  on  the  23rd  Sept.  1875,  while  looking  through  a 
telescope  at  the  sun,  he  saw  birds,  apparently  Kites,  frequently 
pass  over  its  face,  some  of  which  were  in  focus  with  the  sun  itself 
and  must  therefore  have  been  several  miles  high,  while  the  nearest 
must  have  been  quite  a  mile  above  the  earth's  surface.  These 
birds  indeed  were  only  soaring,  on  the  look-out  for  prey,  and  not 
migrating ;  but  a  stronger  case  in  point  is  the  curious  and  valuable 
observation  recorded  by  Mr.  W.  E.  D.  Scott  (Bull.  Nuttall  Orn. 
CM,  vi.  pp.  97-100)  when  on  the  night  of  the  19th  Oct.  1880, 
he  saw  through  an  astronomical  telescope,  at  Princeton,  in  New 
Jersey,  great  numbers  of  birds  passing  aci'oss  the  face  of  the  moon.^ 
Computation  shewed  that  these  birds,  which  were  on  their  autumnal 
Migration,  must  have  been  travelling  at  heights  varying  from  a 
mile  to  two  miles.  Some  time  later,  16  th  April  1881,  the  same 
gentleman,  in  company  with  Mr.  Allen,  made  some  further  observa- 
tions {torn.  cif.  p.  188)  at  the  same  place;  but  on  this  occasion  the 
birds  seen — Swallows,  and  on  their  northward  joui^ney — were  flying 
comparatively  low.  They  were  also  much  less  numerous,  for  only 
13  passed  in  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  whereas  on  the  former 
occasion  the  average  was  4 '5  per  minute.  Again  Mr.  F.  M. 
Chapman  (Auk,  1888,  pp.  37-39),  also  in  New  Jersey,  watching 
for  nearly  three  hours  on  the  evening  of  the  3rd  Sept.  1887,  saw 
in  like  manner  262  birds  cross  the  moon's  face.  Of  these  233 
were  computed  to  be  at  a  height  of  from  1500  to  15,100  feet; 
but  an  especially  remarkable  thing  is  that  the  lowest  birds  Avere 
"  flying  upward,"  as  if  they  had  risen  from  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood and  "were  seeking  the  proper  elevation  at  which  to 
continue  their  flight."  ^ 

'  "  Most  of  the  birds  were  the  smaller  land-birds,  among  which  were  plainly 
recognized  "Warblers,  Finches,  Woodpeckers  and  Blackbirds  [Icteridee]  .  .  . 
Among  the  Finches  I  would  particularly  mention  Chrysomitris  tristis,  which 
has  a  very  characteristic  flight ;  and  the  Blackbirds  were  conspicuous  by  the 
peculiar  shape  of  the  tail,  from  which  characteristic  I  feel  most  positive  in  my 
identification  of  Quiscahis  purpureus. " 

2  Among  the  bii'ds  recognized  on  this  occasion  were  5  Carolina  Rails. 
of  which  3  are  computed  to  have  been  between  the  limits  of  1900  and  10,200 
feet,  one  between  2000  and  11,000,  and  one  between  2600  and  13,500. 


r/.  cM'^i^^ 


564  MIGRATION 


It  has  been  objected  that  owing  to  the  extreme  cold  known  to 
prevail  at  great  elevations  birds  would  be  unable  to  travel  or  even 
exist  at  some  of  the  heights  suggested ;  but  on  this  point  we  have 
not  yet  enough  information,  any  more  than  as  regards  the  limit 
of  cold  that  birds  can  endure,  which  (c/.  page  553,  note  2)  is 
much  lower  than  most  people  imagine.^  The  mere  exertion  of  flight 
would  certainly  for  a  time  keep  the  body  warm,  and  it  is  beyond  all 
doubt,  as  Mr.  Glaisher's  observations  {Bep.  Brit.  Assoc.  1862,  pp. 
422,  423)  shew,  that  the  older  estimate  as  to  temperature  regularly 
decreasing  by  a  degree  of  Fahrenheit  in  about  every  300  feet  of  ele- 
vation must  be  given  up,  that  the  decrease  is  by  no  means  constant, 
and  moreover  that  the  atmosphere  is  traversed  by  currents  of  various 
degrees  of  heat,  so  that  it  would  often  be  in  the  power  of  any  bird 
by  raising  or  lowering  its  flight  to  avoid  the  most  chilly  stratum.- 
Then  again,  as  every  one  knows,  feathers  and  down  form  the  best 
non-conducting  clothing  that  exists,  and  so  clad  almost  every  part 
of  the  bird  is  not  "  servile  to  all  the  skyey  influences."  It  must  be 
admitted  that  birds  in  confinement  sufter  in  their  feet  and  legs  from 
frost,  but  it  is  not  known  that  birds  at  liberty,  and  especially  in  the 
act  of  taking  violent  exercise,  are  so  aff'ected. 

It  has  long  been  remarked  that  on  clear  and  bright  nights  birds 
are  rarely  heard  passing  over  head,  while  on  nights  that  are  over- 
cast, misty  and  dark,  especially  if  slight  rain  be  falling,  flocks  may 
often  be  heard  almost  continuously.  It  is  in  such  weather  that  birds 
while  migrating  are  most  vociferous,  doubtless  "wdth  the  result  that 
thereby  the  company  of  fellow-travellers  is  kept  together,  and  in 
such  weather  that  they  fly  to  and  often  dash  themselves  against  the 
glasses  of  light-houses,^  occasionally  in  astonishing  members.  These 
"  rushes,"  as  our  light-keepers  call  them,  have  been  so  often  recorded 
and  described  that  little  need  here  be  said  concerning  them ;  and 

^  It  is  unfortunate  that  no  definite  deductions  can  be  made  from  the  be- 
haviour of  birds  taken  up  in  balloons.  Biot  and  Gay-Lussac,  in  their  celebrated 
ascent  of  the  24th  August  1804,  at  the  height  of  11,000  feet,  or  rather  above  2 
miles,  liberated  a  Greenfinch  and  a  Pigeon,  each  of  which  after  a  few  turns  disap- 
peared downwards  through  the  clouds  {Journ.  de  Phys.  lix.  p.  318).  A  similar 
experience  was  that  of  Mr.  Glaisher  in  his  still  loftier  ascent  of  5th  Sept.  1862. 
A  Pigeon  thrown  out  at  the  height  of  3  miles  "extended  its  wings  and 
dropped  as  a  piece  of  paper."  A  second  at  4  miles  "  flew  vigorously  round 
and  round."  A  third  between  4  and  5  miles  "fell  downwards  as  a  stone." 
A  fourth  at  4  miles  "flew  in  a  circle"  and  then  alighted  on  the  balloon 
{Rep.  Brit.  Assoc.  1862,  pp.  385,  386  ;  see  also  Nature,  xix.  p.  434,  13 
March,  1879). 

-  The  quickness  with  which  animals  lower  in  the  scale  than  Birds  will  avail 
themselves  of  variation  of  temperature  may  be  appreciated  by  any  oue  who  has 
studied  the  habits  of  the  common  House-Fly. 

^  Why  Birds  or  Insects  fly  at  times  to  a  light  has  never  been  explained.  Birds 
are  often  indiff'erent  to  it,  as  Mr.  G.  H.  Mackay  remarks  {Auk,  1891,  pp.  340-343). 


] 


MIGRA  TION  565 


Heligoland,  so  far  as  is  known,  is  the  place  where  they  recur  with  the 
greatest  frequency  and  intensity.  Two  instances  given  by  Herr  Gatke 
may  here  suffice.  From  10  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  28th  of 
October  1882,  to  the  next  morning,  Goldcrests  eddied,  thick  as 
flakes  in  a  heavy  snow-fall,  round  the  light-house  there,  on  the 
moxTow  literally  swarming  on  every  square  foot  of  the  island  ;  and 
twelve  months  later  Larks  in  myriads  ^  thronged  to  its  bright  beams 
for  four  nights  in  succession,  accompanied  by  Starlings  in  hardly  fewer 
numbers.  These  great  hosts  consist  usually  of  many  kinds  of  birds, 
congruous  only  in  their  congress — Larks  and  Lapwings,  Starlings  and 
Sandpipers,  Fieldfares  and  Curlews,  Golden-crested  Wrens  and  Golden 
Plovers,  Oyster-catchers  and  Owls — while  the  air  is  filled  with  their 
cries,  among  which  are  several  that  are  wholly  unrecognizable,  for  it 
would  seem  that  some  birds  have  a  language  that  they  use  only 
while  migrating.  Otherwise  is  it  Avith  the  return  of  the  wanderers 
in  spring,  and  then  the  exciting  scenes  of  autumn  are  seldom  if  ever 
presented,  yet  under  a  moonless  and  clouded  sky  the  wakeful  ear  may 
often  catch  positive  evidence  of  what  is  going  on  aloft,  though  owing 
to  the  smaller  numbers  (for  at  that  season  it  is  only  the  birds  which 
are  about  to  breed  that  pass)  and  the  shorter  nights,  the  movement 
attracts  far  less  attention.^  Generally  troop  after  troop  of  the 
travellers  succeeds  in  orderly,  and  what  has  been  called  "  wave- 
like ",  fashion,^  varying  indeed  in  rapidity  according  to  the  species, 
but  taken  as  a  whole  in  comparatively  little  else.  With  some  birds 
the  progress  is  very  leisurely  made,  while  others,  there  is  reason 
to  think,  project  themselves  north Avard  mth  a  haste  that  Avould 
seem  incredible.  But  on  this  as  on  so  many  other  points  Ave  must  be 
content  to  aAvait  the  results  of  further  observation  and  experiment  ^ 

^  ^^ Milliarden"  is  the  author's  \\'ord,  but  that  seems  hardly  credible. 

2  So  much  less  indeed  that  a  writer  has  flippantly  remarked  {Contemporary 
Review,  July  1880,  p.  1)  that  the  return  of  birds  in  spring  is  "like  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  which  cometh  not  with  observation,"  forgetful  of  the  fact  that  all  we 
know  of  Migration  is  due  to  observation,  and  nearly  all  we  do  not  know  to  want 
of  it. 

^  Such  a  "wave,"  though  it  was  more  like  a  stream,  in  Nova  Scotia  has  been 
described  by  Mr.  Philip  Cox  [Auk,  1889,  pp.  241-243)  and  a  succession  of  "waves  " 
in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  with  a  diagrammatic  representation  of  them  by 
Mr.  Whitmer  Stone  {op.  cit.  1891,  pp.  194-198). 

•*  It  is  with  no  little  diffidence  that  I  demur  to  the  acceptance  of  Herr  Gatke's 
estimate  of  the  speed  at  which  Bii'ds  travel.  Against  the  evidence  adduced  by 
him  must  be  set  that  collected  by  others  ;  and  from  my  ovm.  experience  I  am 
persuaded  that  there  is  much  exaggeration — unintentional  of  course — in  many 
observations  that  have  been  made  on  this  subject.  It  is  very  well  to  believe  that  in 
autumn  Grey  Crows  travelling  across  Heligoland  from  east  to  west,  pass  over 
the  island  from  8  o'clock  A.M.  to  2  p.m.  ;  and  it  is  equally  well  to  believe  that 
Grey  Crows  arrive  on  the  coast  of  Lincolnshire  (for  which  it  may  be  allowed  that 
the  Crows  first  mentioned  are  making)  from  the  eastward  between  11  a.m.  and 


566  MIGRA  TION 


— the  latter  especially,^  for  as  yet  little  has  been  effected  of  the 
kind. 

But  lay  down  the  paths  of  migratory  Birds,  observe  their 
comings  and  goings,  or  strive  to  account  for  the  impulse  which 
urges  them  forward  as  we  will,  there  still  remains  for  consideration 
the  most  marvellous  thing  of  all — How  do  the  birds  find  their  way 
so  unerringly  from  such  immense  distances  %  This  seems  to  be  by 
far  the  most  inexplicable  part  of  the  matter.  Year  after  year  the 
migratory  Wagtail  will  build  her  nest  in  the  accustomed  spot,  and 
year  after  year  the  migratory  Cuckow  will  deposit  her  eggs  in  that 
nest,  and  yet  in  each  interval  of  time  the  former  may  have  passed 
some  months  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  latter, 
absent  for  a  still  longer  period,  may  have  wandered  into  the  heart 
of  Africa.^     There  was  a  time  when  the  writer  had  hopes  that 

5  P.M.  ;  but  it  is  not  proved  that  they  are  the  same  birds.  If  they  are,  the 
distance  being  about  360  miles  they  must  have  flown  at  the  rate  of  120  miles 
an  hour — a  speed  few  will  believe  it  possible  for  a  bird  of  the  Crow-kind  to 
attain.  But  Herr  Gatke  would  have  even  this  speed  exceeded  by  the  Bluethroat 
(of  which  more  presently),  believing  that  it  travels  from  the  Delta  to  Heligoland  in 
9  hours,  while  he  has  ascertained  that  Curlews,  Godwits,  and  Plovers  cross  from 
Heligoland  to  the  oyster-beds  lying  to  the  eastward,  a  known  distance  of  22,000 
feet,  or  rather  more  than  4  English  miles,  in  one  minute,  or  at  the  rate  of  over 
240  miles  an  hour  !  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Tegetmeier  declares  [Field,  22  Jan. 
1887,  p.  114)  that  the  average  speed  of  Carrier  Pigeons  in  18  matches  is 
36  English  miles  an  hour,  though  in  two  of  them  a  rapidity  of  about  55 
miles  was  maintained  for  4  hours  in  succession.  If  I  might  cite  my  own 
experience,  it  is  to  the  effect  that  the  Swallow  does  not  ordinarily  fly  so  fast  as 
the  express  train  from  which  one  may  view  it,  and  a  train  going  at  no  great  speed 
completely  outstrips  the  Partridges  which  rise  in  front  of  it  and  fly  for  a  few  hundred 
yards  alongside  of  it,  as  I  have  observed  again  and  again.  Yet  to  do  Herr  Gatke 
justice  I  must  admit  his  general  contention  to  be  sustained  by  a  good  observer,  Mr. 
Oswald  Crawfurd,  who  states  {Round  the  Calendar  in  Portugal,  pp.  154-156)  in 
regard  to  the  wonderful  speed  with  which  Turtle-Doves  fly  on  Migration  in 
autumn,  that  he  once  made  a  calculation  to  arrive  at  the  pace  of  their  travelling  ; 
"but  the  result  came  out  in  such  surprising  figures  "  that  he  would  not  set  them 
down.  He  convinced  himself,  however,  that,  if  the  flight  were  continuous,  Turtle- 
Do  ves  leaving  "  Kent  or  Surrey  at  dawn,  might  easily  be  the  very  bii-ds  that  a  few 
hours  later  were  skimming  over  the  Portuguese  pine-forests  on  their  way  to  Central 
Africa." 

^  At  the  request  of  the  editor  of  The  Field  Mr.  Griffith  made  some  trials 
which  are  reported  in  that  journal  (19  Feb.  1887,  pp.  242,  243),  but  most  of  them 
cannot  be  regarded  as  satisfactory,  having  been  made  in  a  covered  gallery,  for  it 
proved  that  "Blue  rock"  Pigeons  and  Partridges  flew  faster  in  this  gallery  of 
limited  length  than  in  the  open,  so  far  as  the  experiments  went.  The  greatest 
rapidity,  in  the  40  yards'  range,  was  Pigeons  and  Pheasants  33  "8  miles  an  hour, 
Partridges  28-4  ;  in  the  open.  Pigeons  27 "9,  Pheasants  38*1,  Partridges  32'1.  It 
is  much  to  be  wished  that  experiments  of  this  kind  could  be  repeated  on  a  more 
extended  scale  ;  but  of  course  the  difficulty  attending  such  trials  is  very  great. 

-  Absolute  proof  of  the  identity  of  the  particular  birds  is  indeed  wanting, 


MIGRA  TION  567 


what  is  called  tlie  "  homing "  faculty  in  Pigeons  might  furnish  a 
clue,  but  Mr.  Tegetmeier  and  all  the  best  authorities  on  that  sub- 
ject declare  that  a  knowledge  of  landmarks  obtained  by  sight,  and 
sight  only,  is  the  sense  which  directs  these  Birds,  while  sight  alone 
can  hardly  be  regarded  as  affording  much  aid  to  Birds — and  there 
is  reason  to  think  that  there  are  several  such — which  at  one  stretch 
transport  themselves  across  the  breadth  of  Europe,  or  even  traverse 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  of  open  ocean,  to  say  nothing  of  those 
— and  of  them  there  are  certainly  many — which  perform  their 
migrations  mainly  by  night.  That  particular  form  of  Bluethroat 
which  yearly  repairs  to  breed  upon  the  mosses  of  the  Subalpine 
and  Northern  parts  of  Scandinavia  {Cyanecula  suecica)  is  hardly  ever 
seen  in  Europe  south  of  the  Baltic'  Throughout  Germany  it  may 
be  said  to  be  practically  absent,  being  replaced  by  a  conspicuously 
different  form  (C.  leucocyana),  and  as  it  is  a  Bird  in  which  the 
collectors  of  that  country,  a  numerous  and  well-instructed  body, 
have  long  taken  great  interest,  we  are  in  a  position  to  declare  that 
save  in  Heligoland,  it  is  hardly  known  to  stop  in  its  transit  from 
its  winter  haunts,  which  we  know  to  be  Egypt  and  the  valley  of 
the  Upper  Nile,  to  its  breeding-quarters.  Other  instances,  though 
none  so  crucial  as  this,  could  be  cited  from  among  European  Birds 
were  there  room  here  for  them.  In  New  Zealand  there  are  two 
Cuckows  which  are  annual  visitors :  one,  a  species  of  Chrysococcyx, 
probably  has  its  winter  quarters  in  New  Guinea,  though  commonly 
supposed  to  come  from  Australia,  the  other,  Eudynamis  taitensis,  is 
widely  spread  throughout  Polynesia,  yet  both  these  birds  yearly 
make  two  voyages  over  the  enormous  waste  of  waters  that  sur- 
rounds the  country  to  which  they  resort  to  breed.  But  space 
would  utterly  fail  us  were  we  to  attempt  to  recount  all  the  ex- 
amples of  these  wonderful  flights.  Yet  it  seems  impossible  that 
the  sense  of  sight  should  be  the  faculty  whereby  they  are  so  guided 
to  their  destination,  any  more  than  in  the  case  of  those  which 
travel  in  the  dark. 

Dr.  von  Middendorff  (Isepipt.  Russl.  p.  9),  from  the  conclusions 
he  has  drawn,  as  before  mentioned,  as  to  the  spring-movement  of 
all  birds  in  the  Russian  Empire  being  towards  the  Taimyr  Penin- 
sula, the  seat  of  one  of  the  magnetic  poles,  has  suggested  that  the 
migrating  Bird  is  always  aware  (he  does  not  exactly  explain  by 

but  if  that  objection  be  raised  tbe  circumstance  becomes  still  more  puzzling,  for 
then  we  have  to  account  for  some  mode  of  communicating  precise  information  by 
one  bird  to  another. 

^  It  has  occurred  indeed  as  a  straggler  in  spring  about  a  dozen  times  in 
England,  and  it  arrives  twice  a  year  in  greater  or  less  numbers  in  Heligoland  as 
reported  by  Herr  Gatke.  Its  autumnal  visits  to  this  country,  occasionally  in 
considerable  numbers,  seem  to  be  almost  annual,  though  of  course  they  are  not 
always  observed. 


568  MIGRA  TION 


what  means)  of  the  situation  of  this  point,  and  thus  knows  how  to 
steer  its  course.  Not  only  is  this  hypothesis  unsupported  by  any 
considerations  known  to  the  writer,  but  it  is  not  at  all  borne  out 
by  the  observed  facts  of  Migration  in  North  America,  where  Birds, 
as  has  been  shewn  by  Prof.  Baird  (qp.  cit.  p.  347),  do  not 
migrate  in  the  direction  of  the  magnetic  pole. 

Another  and  assuredly  a  more  valuable  hint  was  thrown  out  by 
Dr.  von  MiddendorfF^  (Sibirische  Beise,  Band  iv.  Th.  2,  pp.  1168, 
1169),  and  it  has  been  accepted  by  several  who  have  become 
acquainted  with  it,  and  are  competent  to  express  an  opinion  on  the 
subject.  In  principle  it  is  identical  with  the  idea  that  had  long  ago 
suggested  itself  to  the  present  writer  when  he  fancied  that  the 
"  homing "  faculty  of  Pigeons  was  akin  to  that  by  which 
migratory  Birds  directed  their  voyages,  and  he  believes  that  it  has 
been  independently  entertained  by  several  others  who  have  con- 
sidered the  subject ;  but,  so  far  as  he  knows,  the  merit  of  first 
stating  it  clearly  belongs  to  the  eminent  Russian  naturalist  just 
named. 

That  the  sense  of  direction  ruiconsciously  exercised  by  human 
beings  varies  greatly  "vvith  individuals  is  a  matter  of  common 
experience,  and  that  it  is  possessed  in  a  high  degree  of  excellence 
by  certain  races  of  men  is  notorious,  for  travellers  without  end 
have  noticed  the  fact,  and  no  one  can  deny  that  this  excellence  is 
attained  by  those  races  who  have  the  greatest  need  to  employ  it  in 
their  daily  vocation — whether  they  be  Samojeds  (as  in  the  case  cited 
by  Dr.    von  Middendorff),    American   Indians,   Bushmen   or   Aus- 

^  The  passages  containing  it  have  been  quoted  by  both  Von  Homeyer  {op.  cit. 
p.  304)  and  Herr  Gatke  {op.  cit.  p.  137),  and  since  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
laid  before  English  readers,  a  rendering  may  here  be  attempted  : — 

"  In  Mammals  the  remarkable  memory  for  places  they  enjoy  may  be  of  essential 
use  in  finding  their  way  correctly  ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  they  must  also 
be  conscious  of  general  direction,  for  they  know  how  to  reach  their  goal,  and  that 
by  the  shortest  route,  through  places  which  are  wholly  strange  to  them.  In  the 
course  of  my  life  I  have  met  with  the  most  decided  examples  of  this  sense  of 
direction  in  dogs  and  horses  ;  but  never  did  experience  of  this  kind  strike  me  so 
much  as  when  on  the  boundless  wastes  {Tundren)  of  the  high  north  I  per- 
ceived the  same  incomprehensible  animal  faculty,  almost  unweakened,  among 
rude  uncivilized  men.  What  Samojeds  can  do  in  this  way  often  surpasses  all 
our  comprehension. 

"  Highly  pleased  with  having  found  among  these  people  my  interpreter  of  the 
natural  mystery  of  animals  finding  their  way,  I  tried  to  extract  from  them  their 
magic  art,  and  pressed  them  as  opportunity  afforded.  They,  however,  looked 
at  me  confusedly,  wondered  at  my  wondering,  and  thought  a  thing  of  such 
everyday  occurrence  to  be  self-evident,  while  our  incapacity  to  direct  ourselves 
was  to  them  quite  unintelligible.  At  last  they  wholly  disarmed  me  with  the 
question  '  How,  now,  does  the  little  Arctic  Fox  find  its  way  aright  on  the  great 
Tundra  and  it  never  goes  astray  ? '  That  was  all !  I  was  thrown  back  on  the 
unconscious  performance  of  an  inherited  animal  faculty." 


MIGRA  TION  569 


tralians,  while  among  those  races  who  have  little  or  no  need  to 
exercise  it,  such  as  people  in  the  highest  state  of  civilization,  and  of 
them  especially  dwellers  in  towns,  the  faculty — comparatively  weak 
to  begin  with  and  undeveloped  by  practice — perishes  through  disuse. 
If  this  variability  in  possessing  the  sense  of  direction  ^  in  the  human 
species  be  thus  admitted,  there  can  be  no  impropriety  in  inferring 
that  the  lower  animals  may  have  the  faculty  in  a  degree  out  of 
all  proportion  Avith  even  those  people  that  have  it  most.  Just  as  some 
men  surpass  others  in  powers  of  hearing,  sight  or  smell,  and  many 
animals  excel  all  men  in  these  respects,  of  all  animals  the  sense  of 
direction  would  naturally  attain  the  greatest  perfection  in  Birds, 
for  they  are  endowed  "s^ith  and  exercise  the  greatest  power  of  loco- 
motion. In  urging  this  opinion  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
theorizing :  it  is  merely  arguing  from  the  known  to  the  unknown. 

Nevertheless  it  is  right  to  take  cognizance  of  all  suggestions 
that  seem  to  be  reasonable,  and  among  them  is  one  put  forth  by 
Prof.  Mobius  {I)as  Ausland,  No.  33,  pp.  648,  649,  14  Aug. 
1882)  to  the  effect  that  Birds  performing  long  migrations  over  sea 
may  be  guided  by  observing  the  roll  of  the  waves.  The  possibility 
of  this  cannot  be  denied  if  the  roll  be  constantly  in  one  direction  as 
seems  likely  to  be  in  that  part  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  which  his 
remarks  especially  refer ;  but  obviously  it  will  not  hold  good  for 
the  stormy  waters  of  the  North  Atlantic,  where  a  swell  may  be  set 
up  from  any  point  of  the  compass,  and  the  American  Golden  Plovers 
that  yearly  resort  with  such  punctuality  to  "the  still-vext  Ber- 
moothes "  would  assuredly  get  but  little  help  on  their  passage 
thither,  or  in  its  continuation  to  the  Antilles,  from  the  set  of  the 
billows  over  which  they  pass — ever  varying  Avith  the  inconstant 
winds. 

Other  authors  there  are  who  rely  on  Avhat  they  call  "  instinct " 
as  an  explanation  of  this  wonderful  faculty.  This  with  them  is 
simply  a  way  of  evading  the  difficulty  before  us,  if  it  does  not 
indeed  remove  the  question  altogether  from  the  domain  of  scientific 
enquiry.  Rejecting  such  a  mode  of  treatment,  Prof.  Palmen  meets 
it  in  a  fairer  spirit.  He  asserts  {Fogl.  Flyttn.  p.  195),  that  migrants 
are  led  by  the  older  and  stronger  individuals  among  them,  and, 
observing  that  most  of  those  which  stray  from  their  right  course 
are  yearlings  that  have  never  before  taken  the  journey,  he  ascribes 
the  due  performance  of  the  flight  to  "  experience."     But,  granting 

^  I  have  no  wish  to  urge  this  sense  of  direction  as  a  "  sixth  sense,"  as  has  been 
imputed  to  me  by  Dr.  "Weismann  {Nature,  xix.  pp.  579,  580,  24  April  1879). 
What  it  may  be  called  does  not  concern  me  in  the  least.  I  know  that  it  exists,  and 
is  wholly  independent  of  intellectual  forces,  as  in  myself  I  had  proof  of  the  fact 
in  my  younger  days,  but  want  of  exercise  has  impaired  its  eflBcacy  so  as  to  render 
it  almost  obsolete.  Some  would  perhaps  attribute  the  effect  to  "unconscious 
cerebration,"  and  I  do  not  object  to  the  phrase  if  it  seems  more  explanatory. 


570  MIGRA  TION 


the  undisputed  truth  of  his  observation,  his  assertion  seems  to  be 
only  partially  proved.  That  the  birds  which  lead  the  flock  are  the 
strongest  is  on  all  accounts  most  likely,  but  what  is  there  to  shew 
that  these  are  also  the  oldest  of  the  concourse  %  Beside  this,  there 
are  many  Birds  which  cannot  be  said  to  migrate  in  flocks.  While 
Swallows,  to  take  a  sufficiently  evident  example,  conspicuously  con- 
gregate in  vast  flocks  and  so  leave  our  shores  in  large  companies, 
the  majority  of  our  summer- visitors  slip  away  almost  unobserved, 
each  apparently  without  concert  with  others.  It  is  also  pretty 
nearly  certain  that  the  same  species  of  Bird  does  not  migrate  in 
the  same  manner  at  all  times.  When  Skylarks  arrive  on  our 
north-eastern  coast  in  autumn  they  come  flitting  over  in  a  constant, 
but  intermittent  stream,  not  in  compact  flocks ;  yet  a  little  later  these 
same  birds  collect  in  enormous  assemblages  which  prosecute  their 
voyage  in  company.  It  is  indeed  possible  that  each  bird  of  the 
stream  intentionally  follows  that  which  goes  before  it,  though  in  a 
long  sea-passage  it  must  be  hard  to  keep  the  precursor  in  sight, 
and  it  may  perhaps  be  granted  that  the  leader  of  the  whole  is  a 
bird  of  experience.  But  then  we  must  consider  not  these  cases  only, 
but  also  those  of  Birds  which  do  not  migrate  in  company,  and  we 
must  also  have  regard  to  what  is  implied  in  the  word  "  experience." 
Here  it  can  only  signify  the  result  of  knowledge  acquired  on  former 
occasions,  and  obtained  by  sight.  Now  it  was  stated  by  Tem- 
minck^  many  years  ago,  and  the  statement  has  been  abundantly 
confirmed  by  Herr  Gatke  and  others,  that  among  migrants  the 
young  and  the  old  always  journey  apart  and  most  generally  by 
different  routes.  The  former  can  have  no  "  experience,"  and  yet 
the  greater  number  of  them  safely  arrive  at  the  haven  where  they 
would  be.  The  sense  of  sight,  essential  to  a  knowledge  of  land- 
marks, as  we  have  above  attempted  to  demonstrate,  is  utterly 
insufficient  to  account  for  the  success  that  attends  Birds  which 
travel  by  night,  or  in  a  single  flight  span  oceans  or  continents. 
Yet  without  it  the  idea  of  "  experience  "  cannot  be  substantiated. 
We  may  admit  that  inherited  but  unconscious  experience  is  a 
factor  in  the  whole  matter — certainly,  as  Mr.  Wallace  seems  to 
have  proved,  in  originating  the  migratory  impulse,  but  yet  every 
aspect  of  the  question  is  fraught  with  difficulty,  and  we  must  leave 
to  time  the  discovery  of  this  mystery  of  mysteries. 

There  yet  remain  a  few  words  to  be  said  on  what  may  be 
termed  Exceptional  Migration,  that  is  when  from  some  cause  or 
other  the  ordinary  practice  is  broken  through.  This  difters  from  the 
chance  occuiTence  of  the  waifs  and  strays  with  which  we  began  to 
consider  the  question  in  that  the  Birds  subject  to  it  keep  in  a  great 
measure  their  customary  habit  of  migrating,  and  yet  are  compelled 
to  indulge  it  in  an  irregular,  or  perhaps  an  altogether  novel, 
^  Manuel  d'Ornithologie,  iii.  Introd.  p.  xliii.  note. 


MIGRATION  571 


manner,  though  they  are  not  entirely  the  sport  of  circumstances. 
The  erratic  movements  of  the  various  species  of  Crossbill  {Loxia) 
and  some  allied  forms  afford  perhaps  the  best-known  examples. 
In  England  no  one  can  say  in  what  part  of  the  country  or  at  what 
season  of  the  year  he  may  not  fall  in  with  a  company  of  the  com- 
mon Crossbill  {L.  curvirostra),  and  the  like  may  be  said  of  many 
other  lands.  The  food  of  these  Birds  consists  mainly  of  the  seeds 
of  conifers,  and  as  its  supply  in  any  one  locality  is  intermittent  or 
precarious,  we  may  not  unreasonably  guess  that  they  shift  from 
place  to  place  in  its  quest,  and  may  thus  find  an  easy  way  of 
accounting  for  their  uncertain  appearance.  The  great  band  of 
Nutcrackers  (Nudfraga  caryocoiades)  which  in  the  autumn  of  1844 
pervaded  Western  and  Central  Europe  ^  may  also  have  been 
actuated  by  the  same  motive,  but  we  can  hardly  explain  the 
roaming  of  all  other  Birds  so  plausibly.  The  inroads  of  the  Wax- 
wing  {Ampelis  garrulus)  have  been  the  subject  of  interest  for  more 
than  300  years,  and  by  persons  prone  to  superstitious  auguries 
were  regarded  as  the  forerunners  of  dire  calamity.  Sometimes 
years  have  passed  without  its  being  seen  at  all  in  Central,  Western 
or  Southern  Europe,  and  then  perhaps  for  two  or  three  seasons  in 
succession  vast  flocks  have  suddenly  appeared.  Later  observation 
has  shewn  that  this  species  is  as  inconstant  in  the  choice  of  its 
summer-  as  of  its  winter-quarters,  and  though  the  cause  of  the 
irregularity  may  possibly  be  of  much  the  same  kind  as  that  just 
suggested  in  the  case  of  the  Crossbill,  the  truth  awaits  further 
investigation.  2  One  of  the  most  extraordinary  events  known  to 
ornithologists  was  the  irruption  into  Europe  in  1863  of  Pallas's 
Sand-Grouse,  Syrrhaptes  paradoxus.  Yet  this  was  thrown  into 
insignificance  by  the  appearance  in  1888  of  a  still  vaster  horde 
which  followed  on  the  whole  the  lines  of  its  predecessor.  Specu- 
lation has  amused  itself  by  assigning  causes  to  these  movements, 
but  the  real  reason  remains  in  doubt. 

We  cannot  quit  the  subject  of  Migration,  however,  without 
remarking  that  the  "  rushes  "  to  light-houses  and  light-ships  already 
mentioned  are  not  confined  to  marine  stations  or  to  places  possess- 
ing the  fascination  of  a  Pharos.  Toward  the  close  of  summer, 
and  well  on  into  autumn,  in  dark,  cloudy,  and  still  weather,  it  not 
unfrequently  happens  that  a  vast  and,  to  judge  from  their  cries, 
heterogeneous  concourse  of  Birds  may  be  heard  hovering  over  our 
large  inland  towns.  The  practical  ornithologist  will  recognize  the 
notes  of  Plover,  Sandpiper,  Tern  and  Gull,  now  faint  with  distance 
and  then  apparently  close  overhead,  while  occasionally  the  stroke 
of  a  wing  may  catch  his  ear,  but  nothing  is  visible  in  the  surround- 
ing gloom.     Sometimes  but  a  few  fitful  wails  are  heard,  of  which 

^  Bull,  de  I' Acad,  de  Bruxelles,  xi.  p.  298. 

2  Of.  Yarrell,  Brit.  Birds,  ed.  4,  i.  pp.  524-532. 


5  72  MILLER— MIMICR  V 

only  an  expert  listener  will  know  the  meaning.  At  others  the 
continuous  Babel  of  sounds  will  ensure  the  attention  of  the  most 
incurious  (cf.  Gabble-ratchet).  It  is  now  well  known  that  these 
noises  proceed  from  migrating  birds,  which,  it  is  supposed,  having 
lost  their  way,  are  attracted  by  the  glare  of  the  street-lamps  ;  but  far 
too  little  has  been  observed  to  remove  the  obscurity  that  in  a  double 
sense  surrounds  them  and  to  enable  us  to  come  to  fiu-ther  definite 
conclusion.  It  must  be  added  also  that  such  a  concourse  has  been 
noticed  where  the  attraction  of  light  did  not  exist,  for  Lord  Lilford 
has  recorded  (Ibis,  1865,  p.  176)  how  that  once  at  Corfu  he  was 
startled  by  an  uproar  as  if  all  the  feathered  inhabitants  of  the 
great  Acherusian  Marsh  had  met  in  conflict  overhead,  but  he  could 
form  no  conception  of  what  birds  produced  the  greater  part  of  it. 

MILLER,  a  name  given  to  the  grey  males  of  Circus  cyaneus  and 
C.  cineraceus  (Harrier)  in  days  Avhen  both  were  common;  and 
also  locally  to  the  Whitethroat  (cf.  Germ.  Miillerchen  and  Dutch 
Molenaartje). 

MIMICRY,  with  the  prefix  unconscious,  which  in  every 
department  of  Zoology  should  be  always  expressed  or  understood,^ 
signifies  the  more  or  less  complete  likeness,  in  colouring  or  form 
or  in  both,  which  one  creature  bears  to  another,  so  that  in 
some  cases  one  may  easily  be  mistaken  for  the  other,  though 
the  afiinity  between  them  may  be  very  remote.  It  is  probably 
among  Birds  that  the  earliest  example  of  this  kind  of  Mimicry 
was  recognized,  for  Aristotle  (Hist.  An.  vi.  7)  noticed  the  resem- 
blance of  a  Cuckow  to  a  Hawk,^  while  among  insects  many 
cases  have  long  been  known,^  and  generally  spoken  of  as  in- 
stances of  "  mimetic  analogy,"  whatever  that  phrase  might  mean ; 
but,  as  Mr.  Wallace  has  said  (Darivinism,  p.  240),  "the  subject  was 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  inexplicable  curiosities  of  nature,  till  Mr. 
Bates  studied  the  phenomenon  among  the  butterflies  of  the  Amazon, 
and  on  his  return  home  gave  the  first  rational  explanation  of  it," 

^  Except  perhaps  in  relation  to  Song,  but  this  is  uncertain. 

2  Hence  sprang  the  belief,  as  old  as  his  time  (though  discountenanced  by 
him)  and  hardly  yet  given  up  in  some  places,  that  the  Cuckow  became  a  Hawk 
in  winter,  resuming  its  more  harmless  character  in  summer  ;  and  of  course  all 
observers  know  that  this  belief  is  still  shared  by  little  birds,  who  on  that 
account  "  mob  "  the  Cuckow  whenever  it  appears. 

^  These  are  far  too  niunerous  to  be  cited  here,  but  reference  may  be  given  to 
a  few  of  the  older  examples,  as  so  many  people  think  the  discovery  to  be  recent : 
Linnfeus  included  the  Homopterous  Aleyrodes  proletella  in  the  Lepidopterous 
subgenus  Tinea  ;  some  remarkable  instances  are  given  by  Kirby  and  Spence 
(Introd.  Entomol.  ii.  p.  223),  who  did  not  hesitate  to  assign  deception  as  the 
motive  of  the  counterfeit  presentment,  though  of  course  accounting  for  it  in  a 
way  very  different  from  that  now  generally  accepted  ;  and  Prof.  Westwood  men- 
tions {Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xviii.  pp.  410,  411)  others. 


MIMICRY  573 


in  a  paper  that  will  always  be  classical  (Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xxiii.  pp. 
495-566,  pis.  55,  56).  The  explanation  is  simply  that  the  weaker 
animal,  or  that  which  exists  under  less  favourable  conditions, 
"  mimics ''  the  stronger,  or  that  which  is  more  flourishing,  the 
Mimicry  being  presumably  effected  by  means  of  Natural  Selection  ; 
but  the  difficulties  which  attend  the  investigation  of  the  way  in 
which  this  result  is  brought  about,  so  as  to  render  the  explanation 
in  all  cases  acceptable,  are  often  extremely  gi'eat,  and  one  ought 
not  to  be  surprised  that  some  zoologists  are  unable  to  accept  this 
explanation  at  all.  Indeed  it  is  only  by  fully  appreciating  the 
enormous  advantage  which  protective  coloration  confers  upon 
certain  forms  of  animal  life  that  any  zoologist  can  bring  himself  to 
believe  that  changes  so  great,  and  deviation  from  the  usual  appear- 
ance of  kindred  forms  so  extensive,  can  be  produced  in  the  manner 
indicated.  The  difficulties  seem  also  to  be  increased  by  the  fact 
that  instances  of  Mimicry,  though  not  unfrequent,  and  found  in 
many  widely  differing  groups,  do  not  occur  oftener ! 

Cases  strictly  analogous  to  those  so  admirably  treated  by  the 
late  Mr.  Bates  were  immediately  after  described  by  Mr.  Wallace 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1863,  pp.  26-28)  as  existing  in  Birds,  and  especially 
in  certain  species  of  the  genus  or  subgenus  known  as  Mimeta  ^ 
(Oriole)  which  inhabit  many  of  the  islands  of  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago, and  so  nearly  resemble  those  of  the  genus  Philemon'^ 
(Friar-bird)  inhabiting  the  same  islands  as  to  deceive  even  some 
of  the  most  expert  ornithologists.^  The  details  have  since  been 
more  or  less  fully  given  by  him  in  several  accessible  works  {Malay 
Archipelago,  ii.  chap,  xxvii. ;  Contrib.  Theory  Nat.  Selection,  pp.  103- 
106  ;  Darwinism.,  pp.  262-264),  so  that  there  is  no  need  here  to  dwell 
upon  them.  It  will  be  enough  to  state  that  the  two  species  of 
Mimeta,  M.  hourouensis  and  M.  forsteni,  respectively  inhabiting  the' 
islands  of  Bouru  and  Ceram,  are  on  superficial  examination  identical 
in  appearance  with  two  species  of  Philemon,  P.  moluccensis  or 
hourouensis  and  P.  subcornntus,  natives  of  the  same  islands,  the 
Oriole  and  Friar-bird  of  each  island  respectively  presenting  exactly 
the  same  tints — the  black  patch  of  bare  skin  round  the  eyes  of  the 
latter,  for  instance,  being  counterfeited  in  the  former  by  a  patch 

^  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  this  genus  was,  in  1827,  named  Mwietes  (that  is, 
Mimic)  by  Capt.  Philip  King  {Survey  &c.  of  Australia,  ii.  pp.  417,  418)  under 
the  belief  that  the  birds  composing  it  belonged  to  the  Family  Melipliagidee, 
which  had  assumed  the  appearance  of  Orioles,  whereas  the  imitation,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  text,  is  just  the  other  way  ! 

-  Tropiclo7-hynchus  Mr.  Wallace  calls  it,  but  Philemon  is  the  older  name. 

^  These  of  course  have  judged  from  external  appearance  only.  By  any  one' 
with  the  opportunity  of  examining  the  tongue  no  mistake  should  be  possible, 
for  that  member  in  the  Mcliphagidse,  (Honey-eater)  to  which  Philemon  or 
Tropidorhynchus  belongs,  is  most  characteristic. 


574  MIMICRY 


of  black  feathers,  and  even  the  protuberance  on  the  bill  of  the 
Fhilemon  being  imitated  by  a  similar  enlargement  of  that  of  the 
Mimeta.  In  the  same  way  Mr.  H.  0.  Forbes  in  Timor  Laut  found 
a  corresponding  species  of  Fhilemon  and  one  of  Mimeta  so  closely 
alike  that  Mr.  Sclater  did  not  at  first  distinguish  one  from  the  other 
(Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1883,  p.  199).  In  these  cases  it  is  pretty  clear 
that  the  Mimeta,  which  retains  the  dull  coloration  now  characteristic 
only  of  the  immature  among  the  Oriolidse,^  is  rightly  named  the 
mimic,  since  it  is  a  comparatively  weak  bird,  and  must  benefit  by 
being  mistaken  for  the  strong,  pugnacious  and  noisy  Fhilemon,  two 
or  three  of  which  will  drive  away  Crows  and  even  Hawks  that 
venture  to  perch  on  a  tree  they  have  occupied.^ 

On  the  information  of  Mr.  Salvin,  Mr.  Wallace  has  cited 
(Contrib.  Nat.  Select,  p.  107)  another  very  curious  case  of  Mimicry  in 
Birds.  This  is  furnished  by  Accipiter  pileatus,  a  widely-ranging 
species  of  Sparrow-Hawk  Avhich  near  Rio  Janeiro  departs  from 
the  plumage  it  wears  in  other  places  to  assume  that  of  Ear  pay  as 
diodon  (Hawk),^  a  local  species  of  insectivorous  hajbit,  with  the 
object,  as  suggested,  of  deluding  small  birds  into  the  belief  that  it 
is  harmless  in  character.  The  similarity  here  extends  to  both 
immature  and  adult  plumages,  which  are  very  difierent. 

The  most  perfect  case  of  resemblance  between  two  Birds  of 
different  groups  seems  to  be  one  that,  though  announced  a  good 
many  years  ago  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1870,  p.  386),  has  been  over- 
looked by  most  writers  on  the  subject.  This  is  exhibited  in  the 
genera  Tylas  and  Xenopirostris,  peculiar  to  Madagascar,'*  the  former 
being  indeed  of  doubtful  alliance,  but  generally  admitted  to  be 
very  near  to  Hypsipetes,  which  is  placed  either  among  the  Turdidm 
(Thrush)  or  Fycnonotidx  ^  (Babbler),  while  Xenopirostris  is  one  of 
the  Laniidse  (Shrike),  of  which  Family  it  wears  the  regular  livery 
— though  apparently  dimorphically,  for  examples  of  X.  polleni  may 
be  either  white  or  bufi"  beneath.  But  in  either  plumage  this 
species  is  counterfeited,  feather  for  feather,  by  Tylas  eduardi,  so 
exactly  that  but  for  a  slight  difference  in  size,  and  a  marked  dis- 
tinction in  the  bill  and  feet — both  of  which  are  in  Xeriopirosfris 

^  Mr.  Wallace  speaks  of  Mimeta  "having  lost  the  gay  colouring  "  of  Oriolus  : 
but  I  think  the  better  way  of  stating  the  probability  is  as  above. 

^  Mr.  Wallace  finding  a  peculiar  MiTneta  in  Gilolo,  hazarded  the  prediction 
that  a  corresponding  Friar-bird  would  be  found  there,  which  subsequently  proved 
to  be  correct  [cf.  Salvadori,  Orn.  Papuas.  ii.  p.  354). 

^  These  species  are  rudely  but  recognizably  figured,  PI.  col.  205  and  198. 

*  Dr.  Sharpe,  it  is  true  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mils.  viii.  p.  109),  merges  Mr.  Elliot's  genus 
Clytoi-hynchus  in  Xenopirostris,  making  the  range  of  the  latter  extend  to  N"ew 
Caledonia.     I  venture  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  this  step. 

*  By  Dr.  Sharpe  {op.  cit.  \i.  pp.  163-166)  it  is  thrust  into  the  bottomless  pit, 
-which  he  terms  "  Timeliidas."  He  recognizes  5  species  of  Tylas,  M.  Grandi- 
-dier  {Hist.  Madag.  Oiseaux,  pp.  376-381)  but  one — with  3  local  races. 


MINA—MOA  575 


very  stout — the  difficulty  of  telling  one  from  the  other  Avould  be 
exceedingly  great/  and  according  to  the  canon  laid  down  by  Mr. 
Wallace  Tylas  must  be  the  mimic,  because  if  it  be  allied  to  Hypsi- 
petes,  it  has  wholly  thrown  off  the  sombre  and  inconspicuous 
coloration  of  that  genus  to  assume  one  that  is  of  a  very  normal 
Shrike-like  character. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  all  cases  of  close  simi- 
larity of  plumage  are  not  necessarily  cases  of  Mimicry.  Of  this 
the  genera  Sturnella  (Meadow-Lark)  and  Macronyx  (Kalkoentje) 
are  examples,  for  these,  the  latter  being  a  peculiarly  African  and 
the  former  a  peculiarly  American  form,  have  no  points  of  contact, 
any  more  than  have  the  Snowy  Petrel  of  the  Antarctic  and  the 
equally  white  Ivory-Gull  of  the  Arctic  Seas.  In  these  cases 
Mimicry  is  impossible,  but  even  where  it  is  not  only  possible  but 
even  probable,  we  must  always  remember  that  the  Mimicry,  how- 
ever produced,  is  unconscious. 

MINA  or  MINOK,  see  Grackle. 

MINIVET,  Blyth's  name,  since  adopted  by  Anglo-Indian  writers, 
for  birds  of  the  genus  Fericrocotus,  a  beautiful  group  of  some  20 
species  or  more,  wherein  the  males  are  generally  black  and  rose- 
colour  and  the  females  grey  and  saffron,  the  tints  differing  in  the 
several  forms,  while  a  few  have  no  bright  colouring  at  all.  The 
range  of  the  genus  extends  from  Affghanistan  through  India, 
Bui-ma  and  China  to  Manchuria  and  Japan  on  the  north,  and  to 
Java  and  Lombock  on  the  south,  and  some  of  the  islands,  as 
Loochoo  and  Hainan,  seem  to  have  peculiar  species.  Fericrocotus 
appears  to  belong  to  the  group  containing  Campephaga,  if  that  be 
regarded  as  distinct  from  the  Laniidae,  as  it  probably  is. 

MIRE-DROMBLE  and  MIRE-DRUM,  local  names  of  the 
Bittern. 

MISSEL-BIRD  or  MISSEL-TSrUSH,  vulgar  corruptions  of 
Mistletoe-bird  or  Mistletoe-THRUSH. 

MOA,  supposed  to  be  the  Maori  name  for  the  extinct  Ratite 
birds  comprehending  the  genus  Dinornis  and  its  allies ;  -  and  now 

^  Xenopirostris  polleni  and  all  the  forms  of  Tylas  are  described  and  -vvell 
figured  in  M.  Grandidier's  great  work  just  cited  (pp.  432-434,  pis.  169,  170  A.  fi^'. 
2,  170  B.  lig.  2  ;  pp.  376,  379,  pis.  141,  fig.  2,  141  A.  fig.  2,  143,  144,  144  A.)° 

"  The  word,  however,  has  several  other  meanings,  and  Sir  James  Hector  has 
kindly  communicated  to  this  work  the  suggestion  that  applied  to  a  Bird  it  was 
probably  sounded  more  like  Morah,  as  latterly  pronounced  by  the  natives  of  the 
South  Island,  for  it  had  dropped  out  of  use  among  the  northern  tribes,  from 
whom  the  vocabulary  was  collected  by  the  early  missionaries,  one  of  whom 
(Bishop  Hadfield)  said  that  not  conceiving,  when  so  engaged,  the  former  existence 
of  so  large  a  bird,  he  had  never  been  able  to  obtain  the  precise  meaning  of  the 
word,  and  it  is  impossible  now  to  be  certain  as  to  its  sound. 


576  MOA 

generally  accepted  in  that  sense.  The  earliest  published  notice  of 
the  Moa  seems  to  be  that  of  Polack,  whose  New  Zealand,  a  narrative 
of  his  travels  and  adventures  in  that  country '  between  1831  and 
1837,  appeared  in  1838,  the  preface  to  the  work  being  dated  from 
London  in  the  month  of  July  of  that  year.  Herein  he  observes 
(i.  p.  303)  "  that  a  species  of  the  emu,  or  a  bird  of  the  genus 
Struthio,  formerly  existed  in  the  latter  [North]  island  I  feel  well 
assured,  as  several  fossil  ossifications  Avere  shewn  to  me  when  I  was 
residing  in  the  vicinity  of  the  East  Cape,  said  to  have  been  found 
at  the  base  of  the  inland  mountain  of  Ikorangi "  ;  stating  also  that 
"the  natives  added  that,  in  times  long  past  they  received  the 
tradition,  that  very  large  birds  had  existed,  but  the  scarcity  of 
animal  food,  as  well  as  the  easy  method  of  entrapping  them,  had 
caused  their  extermination."  ^  In  another  passage  Polack  •\\Tites 
(i.  p.  345),  "  Petrifactions  of  the  bones  of  large  birds  supposed  to 
be  wholly  extinct,  have  often  been  presented  to  me  by  the  natives." 
And  again  (i.  p.  346),  "Many  of  the  petrifactions  had  been  the 
ossified  parts  of  birds,  that  are  at  present  (as  far  as  is  known)  extinct 
in  these  islands,  whose  probable  tameness,  or  want  of  volitary  powers, 
caused  them  to  be  early  extirpated  by  a  people,  driven  by  both  hunger 
and  superstition  (either  reason  is  quite  sufficient  in  its  way)  to  rid 
themselves  of  their  presence." 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  first  Moa-bone  seen  in  Europe 
was  the  shaft  of  a  femur  brought  by  Mr.  Kule  to  Sir  Eichard  Owen, 
who  exhibited  it  to  the  Zoological  Society  on  the  12th  of  November 
1839  ;  but,  though  indicating  its  Struthious  affinities,  neither  in  the 
abstract  of  the  memoir  he  read  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1839,  pp.  169-171), 
nor  in  the  memoir  itself  as  published  in  1842,  Avhen  the  fragment 
was  beautifully  lithographed  by  Mr.  Scharf  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  iii.  pp. 
29-32,  pi.  3),  was  any  scientific  name  assigned  to  the  bird  of  which  it 
had  formed  part.  At  two  meetings  of  the  same  Society  in  January 
1843,  Sir  Richard  having  received  further  information  from  Messrs. 
Cotton  and  Williams,  well-known  missionaries  in  New  Zealand, 
returned  to  the  subject  and  exhibited  various  bones  transmitted  by 
the  latter  to  Buckland,  proposing  for  the  bird  to  Avhich  they  belonged 
the  name  of  Megalornis  novce-zealanclise ;  though,  finding  this  generic 
name  to  have  been  already  used  in  another  sense,  that  of  Dinornis 

^  The  amount  of  traditional  evidence  as  to  Moas  which  has  come  down  to 
modern  times  has  been  variously  stated  by  different  investigators,  and  some  of  it 
is  not  unlikely  to  have  been  supplied  to  meet  the  demands  of  zealous  enquirers. 
Still  none  can  doubt  that  there  is  enough  to  prove  the  survival  of  the  birds  until 
after  the  country  was  peopled  by  man,  and  the  legends  describing  them  contain 
little  that  can  be  deemed  fabulous.  Nevertheless  all  are  agreed  that  one  of  the 
most  ancient  of  the  Maori  poems  contains  a  saying  which  may  be  rendered  "  Lost 
as  the  Moa  is  lost, "  shewing  that  its  extirpation  was  accomplished  when  that 
composition  was  made. 


MO  A  577 

was  promptly  (14th  Feb.  1843)  substituted  for  it  and  has  ever  since 
held  ground  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1843,  pp.  1,  2,  8-10,  19).  In  due 
time  these  specimens  with  others,  subsequently  received  from  the 
same  quarter  (torn.  cit.  pp.  144-146),  and  referred  to  five,  or  rather 
six,  distinct  species  of  the  genus  ^  were  fully  described  and  figured 
{Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  iii.  pp.  235-275,  pis.  18-30),  forming  the  first 
of  that  incomparable  series  of  memoirs  continued  over  nearly  forty 
years  which  Avill  always  be  associated  with  the  author's  name,^  but 
cannot  be  here  further  particularized,  though  mention  must  be  made 
of  the  assistance  rendered  by  Mr.  Percy  Earl  and  by  Mr.  Walter 
Mantell. 

The  Moas  inhabited  both  the  North  and  South  Islands  of  New 
Zealand,  where  they  were  represented  by  a  considerable  number  of 
species,  of  Avhich  the  smallest  was  scarcely  larger  than  a  Turkey, 
while  the  largest  had  a  tibia  of  more  than  a  yard  in  length.  We 
are  inclined  to  estimate  the  number  of  species  at  about  20  ;  Capt. 
Hutton  {K  Zeal.  Journ.  i.  pp.  247-249;  Trans.  N.  Zeal.  Inst. 
xxiv.  pp.  93  -  172)  admits,  indeed,  26  species,  but  some  of 
these  we  should  prefer  regarding  merely  as  varieties  or  sexes. 
Certain  species  were  peculiar  to  the  North,  and  others  to  the  South 
Island,  while  some  were  common  to  both.  A  femur  described 
under  the  name  of  D.  queenslandise^  appears  to  belong  to  a  Moa,  and 
if  its  reputed  place  of  origin  be  correct,  shews  that  the  Family 
extended  to  Australia ; — a  fact  in  distribution  which,  if  true,  is  of 
extreme  importance. 

When  New  Zealand  was  first  systematically  explored  by 
Europeans,  Moa-bones  were  found  lying  on  the  sur-face  of  the  ground 
in  many  districts  in  great  profusion,  being  especially  abundant  near 
the  old  cooking-places  of  the  natives,  and  often  shewing  traces  of 
the  action  of  fire.  They  also  occur  in  the  most  superficial  and  recent 
deposits,  such  as  blown  sands,  as  well  as  in  caves  and  swamps. 
JNIaiay  of  the  latter,  such  as  that  of  Glenmark,  near  Canterbury, 
when  drained  have  been  found  to  be  full  of  Moa-bones,  frequently 
in  all  conceivable  positions.  In  one  particular  district  of  the  South 
Island,  where  climatic  conditions  appear  to  be  pecidiarly  favourable, 
skeletons  have  been  found  with  the  bones  connected  by  dried 
muscles,  ligaments,  and  integument  with  the  cuticle  and  feathers. 
Fragments  of  egg-shells,  as  well  as  pebbles  swallowed  by  the  birds 
and  contained  in  their  stomachs  at  their  death,  together  with  impres- 
sions of  footprints,  have  likewise  been  discovered.    The  discovery  of 

^  Namely  i).  giganteus,  ingens,  struthioidcs,  drorneeoides,  didiformis  and  otidi- 
formis.     The  original  specific  name  novaz-zealandiie  was  tacitly  dropped. 

^  This  series  was  issued  in  1879  in  a  separate  form  under  the  title  of  The 
Extinct  Birds  of  Neio  Zealand. 

♦>  ^  De  Vis,  Proe.  JR.  Soc.  Queensl.  i.  p.  27,  pis.  iii.  iv.  (1884).     Etheridge,  Rec. 
Geol.  Surv.  N.  S.  W.  i.  p.  128  (1889). 

i-    37 


578  MO  A 

remains  of  a  Moa  (Anomalopteryx  antiqua)  in  clay  on  Timaru  Downs 
seems,  however,  to  carry  back  the  group  to  the  Pliocene,  or  possibly 
the  upper  part  of  the  Miocene  period ;  but  the  age  of  the  beds  has 
been  called  in  question  by  Mr.  H.  0.  Forbes.  That  Moas  lived 
down  to  a  comparatively  recent  epoch  is  abundantly  evident,  and  it 
is  practically  certain  that  they  formed  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
food  of  the  human  race  by  whom  New  Zealand  was  first  peopled, 
and  by  whom  they  were  in  great  part  or  wholly  extirpated.  Capt. 
Hutton  considers  that  in  the  North  Island  Moas  were  extermin- 
ated not  less  than  400  or  500  years  ago,  while  in  the  South  Island 
they  might  have  lingered  a  century  latei\  The  larger  species 
(Dinornis)  were  always  comparatively  rare,  but  many  of  the  smaller 
forms  were  very  numerous.  How  so  many  became  entombed  in 
the  swamps  is  a  question  not  yet  solved ;  although  it  is  suggested 
that  dihddes  during  a  glacial  period  may  have  been  the  chief  agents. 

As  a  rule,  Moas  were  destitute  of  wings,  although  Capt.  Hutton 
states  that  a  rudimentary  pair  existed  in  Anomalopteryx  (Palaptenjx) 
dromseoides.  The  nearest  allies  of  the  Moas  being  apparently  the 
Kiwis,  it  seems  a  fair  inference  that  the  females  were  larger  than 
the  males ;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  bones  differing  only  slightly, 
but  constantly,  in  size.^  The  feathers  differ  from  those  of  the 
Kiwis  in  having  an  aftershaft. 

Moas  are  distinguished  from  all  existing  Ratitai  in  having 
a  bony  bridge  on  the  anterior  surface  of  the  lower  end  of  the  tibia 
above  the  condyles  {fig.  1).  The  tarso- metatarsus  (fig.  2)  has 
three  distal  trochleae,  and  in  most  cases  (according  to  Capt.  Hutton 
probably  all)  carried  a  hallux.  The  beak  (unlike  that  of  the  Kiwis) 
is  short  and  stout ;  the  form  of  the  lower  jaw  being  either  U-like 
or  V-like.  The  general  form  of  the  pelvis  is  very  like  that  of  the 
Kiwis ;  but  the  sternum  (fig.  3)  differs  by  the  absence  of  the 
superior  notch,  the  more  divergent  lateral  processes,  and  the  abor- 
tion or  disappearance  of  the  grooves  for  the  coracoids. 

The  most  remarkable  features  which  the  birds  present  are  the 
gigantic  dimensions  attained  by  some  of  them,  and  the  great  number 
of  species  occurring  in  such  a  limited  area  as  New  Zealand.  The 
absence  of  Mammals  in  those  islands  has  doubtless  been  the  chief 
cause  which  has  led  to  this  great  development,  both  as  regards 
species  and  individuals,  of  Moas  (as  well  as  of  other  flightless 
birds);  and  it  has  generally  been  considered  that  this  development 
has  taken  place  entirely  within  the  limits  of  these  islands  ^^  while  Capt. 
Hutton  suggests  that  the  genera  may  have  been  differentiated  on 
separate  islets  by  subsidence  during  the  Pliocene  period.  As  regards 
their  introduction  into  New  Zealand,  Mr.  Wallace  {Island  Life,  pp. 
446,  447)  is  of  opinion  that  Cassowaries,  Emeus,  .Dromornis,  Kims 

^  Capt.  Hutton  does  not  admit  this  sexual  difference  in  size. 

"  If  D.  queenslaTidise,  be  truly  Australian,  this  view  will  need  modification. 


MOA 


579 


and  Moas  were  cleriA^ed  from  an  Asiatic  stock  of  Katite  birds  ;  but 
Capt.  Hutton  objects  to  this  view,  and  suggests  that  the  Moas  are 
descended  from  volant  birds,  allied  to  the  TiNAMOUS,  which  inhabited 
New  Zealand  during  the  Eocene.  The  Moas  are  thus  regarded  as 
the  ancestral  stock  of  all  the  Australasian  Batifai,  while  those  of  Asia 
and  America  are  supposed  to  have  had  a  totally  independent  origin. 
There  are,  however,  many  objections  to  this  yiew ;  one  of  the  most 
obvious  being  the  absence  of  any  evidence  of  the  presumed  Tinamou- 
like  Eocene  birds.  ^ 

Although,  as  already  mentioned,  there  is  some  uncertainty  as  to 
the  actual  number  of  species  of  Moas,  yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 


^m 


Fig.  1.  Bight  Tibia  of  Euryapteryx  gravis  (A),  1/6,  of  Dimrnis  gracilis  (B),  1/S,  .ind  Mego.lnptcryx 

temiipes  (C),  1/S.     Anterior  view. 
(From  Lydekker's  'Catalogue  of  Fossil  Birds  in  the  British  Museum.') 


number  was  large.     The  Family  may  be  divided   into  at  least  5 
genera,    of   which   the   first  and   last  are   very   widely   separated, 
although  connected  to  a  certain  extent  by  the  intermediate  forms.- 
The  typical  genus  Dinornis,  Owen,  includes  the  tallest  of  the 
Moas,  and  is  characterized  by  the  length  and  slenderness  of  the 

''  It  is  not  easy  to  reconcile  Capt.  Hutton's  views  as  to  the  impossibility  of  au 
immigration  of  flightless  birds  having  taken  place  into  New  Zealand,  while  he 
admits  that  emigrations  must  have  happened. 

"  Capt.  Hutton  adopts  7  genera  (one  of  which  he  subdivides  into  two  sub- 
genera), exclusive  of  one  of  those  noticed  below. 


;8o 


MOA 


tibia  (fig.  1,  B)  and  tarso-metatarsus  (fig.  2,  B),  and  also  by  the 
broad  and  flattened  beak,  the  apjDarent  absence  of  the  hallux,  and 
the  width  and  convexity  of  the  sternum.     The  typical  I),  novse- 

zealandise  (including  D.  gigardeus 
and  D.ingens  ^)  is  mainly  confined 
to  the  North  Island,  and  is  one 
of  the  largest  species,  the  length 
of  the  tibia  of  the  presumed 
female  being  35  inches.  In  the 
8outh  Island  this  Moa  was  re- 
presented by  the  closely -allied 
D.  maximus  (D.  rohustus,  in  pait), 
which  is  the  largest  of  all  the 
species,  having  a  tibia  measuring 
39  inches,  and  probably  reaching 
a  height  of  12  feet.  D.  gracilis 
(fig.  1,  B)  and  I),  struthioides 
(fig.  2,  B)  were  considerably 
smaller  forms,  occurring  in  both 
islands,  and  referred  by  Hutton 
to    a    distinct     subgenus    {Tylu- 

Fig.  2.  Right  Tarso-metatarsus  ofPachyornis    pterijx). 

Megalapteryx,  Von  Haast, 
originally  referred  to  the  Apterij- 
gidae,  is  represented  by  two  much 
smaller  and  imperfectly -known  Wms  from  the  South  Island, 
characterized  by  the  extreme  slenderness  and  length  of  the  femur 
and  tibia  (fig.  1,  C),  and  the  shorter  tarso-metatarsus. 

Anomalopteryx,  Keichenbach  (  =  Meionornis,  Haast)  is  typically 
represented  by  the  small  D.  didiformis,  Owen,  and,  in  our  opinion, 
may  be  conveniently  taken  to  include  all  the  smaller  species  of  the 
group,  although  Capt.  Hutton  j^refers  to  separate  Owen's  D.  dro- 
iiiaioides  as  Palaptenjx,  D.  curtus  as  Cela,  and  D.  didinus  as  Mesopteryx. 
On  the  other  hand,  Owen's  D.  casuariiius,  which  Von  Haast 
included  in  Meionornis,  is  placed  by  Capt.  Hutton  with  Emeus  crassus. 
AVhether  included  under  one  or  more  generic  headings,  all  these 
forms  are  characterized  by  having  the  tibia  and  tarso-metatarsus 
considerably  shorter  and  stouter  than  in  Dinornis,  while  the  beak  is 
narrow  and  more  or  less  pointed,  the  hallux  present  (as  in  the 
following  genera),  and  the  stermun  (fig.  3,  A)  very  long  and 
narrow.  There  is  great  difficulty  in  correctly  identifying  the 
various  members  of  this  group  with  the  species  named  by  Owen 
on  the  evidence  of  detached  bones.  A.  casuarina,  with  a  tibia 
measuring   19  inches  in  length,  is  the  largest  form,  and  A.  (Cela) 

^  If  tliese  forms  be  regarded  as  disthict,  the  name  noves-zealandian  should  be 
adopted  for  the  latter. 


elephaiitopus  (A),  and  Dinoriiis  struthioides 
(B),  1/0.  Anterior  aspect.  (From  the  same 
work.) 


MOA 


581 


oweni,  in  wbicli  the  tibia  measui-es  only  9*2,  the  smallest.  A.  ^mri-a 
is  the  only  member  of  the  Family  of  which  there  is  a  perfect 
skeleton  in  English  collections.  It  is  identified  by  Capt.  Hutton 
Avith  the  typical  A.  didiforonis ;  but  a  skeleton  transmitted  by  Von 
Haast  to  the  British  Museum  and  assigned  to  the  latter  has  a 
relatively  smaller  skull. ^  In  the  type  of  A.  {Mesopteryx)  didina  the 
integuments  of  the  head  and  feet  are  still  preserved. 

Emeus,  Eeichenbach,  was  established  on  D.  crasms,  Owen.  It  is  a 
rather  large  species,  to  which  Owen  and  Von  Haast  assigned  a  broad- 
billed  skull,  and  although  Capt.  Hutton  states  that  the  skull  is 
really  of  the  narrow-beaked  type  of  Anomalopteryx,  we  have  reason 
to  believe  that  the  original  view  is  correct.  This  Moa  was  confined  to 
the  South  Island. 


B 

Fig.  3.  STERNrjr  of  Anomalopteryx  casuarina  (A),  and  Pachyornis  ehphanlojnt^  (B),  1/6. 
o,  Costal  process  ;  h,  Lateral  process.    (From  tlie  same  work.) 


Von  Haast  proposed  the  name  Euryaptery.r  for  the  small  and 
broad-beaked  D.  gravis,  Owen.  This  species,  which  is  confined  to  the 
South  Island,  is  distinguished  from  those  that  follow  by  the  absence 
of  any  inflection  of  the  lower  end  of  the  tibia,  and  the  relative 
length  and  straightness  of  that  bone.  It  therefore  seems  to  be 
entitled  to  generic  distinction.-  If,  therefore,  the  so-called  D. 
rrassus  really  have  a  broad-beaked  skull,  both  that  and  the  present 
species  may  be  included  under  the  title  of  Emeus. 

Lastly  we  have  the  genus  Pachyornis,  Lydekker,  likewise  typi- 
cally confined  to  the  South  Island,  and  including  some  three  or 
four  species  of  large  size,  characterized  by  the  extraordinary 
massiveness  and  sharpness  of  their  limb -bones.  The  tarso- 
metatarsus  (fig.  2,  A)  presents  a  remarkable  contrast  to  the  corre- 
sponding bone  of  Dinornis  (fig.  2,  B) ;   and   a   similar  contrast  is 

^  It  is  doubtful  if  tliis  skeleton  is  altogether  autlientic. 

-  According  to  Von  Haast  it  is  further  distinguished  by  having  a  sternum  of 
the  ty2)e  of  Anomalopteryx,  but  Capt.  Hutton  throws  some  doubt  on  the  correct- 
ness of  the  restoration  of  the  skeleton  by  Yon  Haast. 


582  MOAT-HEN— MOCKING-BIRD 

exhibited  by  the  tibise  of  the  two  genera,  that  of  Pachyornis  being 
further  distinguished  from  the  corresponding  bone  of  all  the 
preceding  members  of  the  Family  by  the  inflection  of  its  distal  end. 
The  sternum  (fig.  3,  B)  is  likewise  very  different  from  that  of  the 
other  forms,  being  very  wide  and  flat,  Avith  broad  and  divergent 
lateral  processes.  The  skulls  found  with  the  limb-bones  of  P. 
elephantopus  near  Oamaru  Point,  and  transmitted  with  them  to  the 
British  Museum,  have  pointed  beaks,  and  there  is  much  probability 
of  their  reference  to  this  species  by  Owen  being  correct.  P. 
elephantopus,  of  which  the  remains,  often  charred  by  fire,  are 
extremely  abundant  near  Oamaru  Point,  was  a  large  species,  the 
tibia  measuring  24  inches  in  length  ;  but  P.  immanis  was  still  larger, 
with  a  remarkably  wide  tarso-metatarsus.  R.  Lydekker. 

MOAT-HEN,  an  old  name  for  the  Moor-hen. 

MOCKING-BIRD  ^  is  the  name  given  by  naturalists  and 
others  to  a  number  of  birds  that  possess  the  power  of  imitating  the 
notes  of  other  species  of  the  Class.  Comparatively  speaking, 
however,  it  almost  exclusively  applies  to  the  Mocking-bird  of 
America,  the  Mimus  polyglottus  of  recent  ornithologists.  This  re- 
markable bird  is  regarded  by  those  who  have  investigated  its 
structure  as  belonging  to  the  Family  Troglodytidse,  a  group  containing 
the  Wrens,  Thrashers  (Harporhynchus),  and  their  allies ;  a  sub- 
family, Miminse,  within  this  Family  having  been  created  to  contain 
such  birds  as  are  represented  in  the  United  States  by  the  last- 
named  genus,  as  well  as  the  genera  Oreoscoptes,  Mimus  and  Galeo- 
scopfes.^ 

The  most  THRUSH-like  forms  among  the  Troglodytidse  are  more 
or  less  closely  related  to  the  Turdidge,  the  Family  containing  the  typical 
Thrushes,  and  none  more  so  than  are  the  several  genera  above 
named.     Indeed,  many  ornithologists  regard  the  Miminse  as  being 

^  For  this  article  on  a  subject  which  can  only  be  fitly  treated  by  an  American 
ornithologist  I  am  again  indebted  to  Dr.  Shufeldt.  The  earlier  English  naturalists, 
Charleton,  Ray  and  Catesby  wrote  the  name  "Mock-bird"  ;  and  in  England 
either  form,  or  more  often  "Mock-Nightingale,"  is  occasionally  given  to  the 
Blackcap,  Sylvia  atricapilla,  and  the  Sedge-bied.  In  India  and  Australia  the 
name  is  sometimes  applied  to  other  species,  and  even  in  North  America  two 
Wrens,  Thryothorus  ludovicianus  and  T.  bewicki  seem  to  be  widely  known  as 
"Mocking-birds."— A.  N. 

-  In  this  connexion  see  the  paper  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Lucas  entitled  Notes  on  the 
Osteology  of  the  Thrushes,  Miminse,  and  Wren^  {Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  vol.  xi. 
1888),  and  two  papers  by  the  present  writer,  viz.  On  the  Position  of  Chamsox  in 
the  System  {Jour.  Morph.  vol.  iii.  No.  3,  1889,  pp.  475-502),  also  Contributions  to 
the  Comparative  Osteology  of  the  Families  of  North  American  Passeres  {Jour. 
Morph.  vol.  iii.  No.  1,  1889,  pp.  81-114). 


MOCKING-BIRD  583 


aberrant  Turdidse,  the  former  possessing  tarsi  anteriorly  scutellate, 
while  the  latter  are  characterized  by  having  the  tarsal  theca  fused 
into  one  solid,  smooth  sheath  in  front.  It  is  as  well  to  observe  here, 
however,  that  in  Galeoscoptes  the  scutellte  of  the  tarsus  are  sometimes 
quite  obsolete.  Osteologically  the  Mirainse,  Thrushes  and  Wrens 
possess  apparently  distinguishing  characters  of  about  equal  rank  and 
strength,  while  in  some  particulars  the  several  genera  almost  seem 
to  intergrade  where  the  affinities  are  most  closely  drawn.  From 
some  cause  or  another,  not  yet  fully  determined,  adult  Mocking- 
birds vary  considerably  in  size,  especially  in  length,  several 
apparently  full-grown  males  ranging  from  9^  to  11  inches;  and  it 
is  also  a  well-known  fact  that  they  likewise  vary  greatly  in  their 
powers  of  song. 

Although  exceedingly  plain  in  the  coloration  of  his  plumage, 
the  Mocking-bird  is  a  strikingly  handsome  and  graceful  bird.  This 
is  largely  due  to  the  ease  and  elegance  of  his  every  movement,  his 
neat  appearance,  and  a  certain  decisive  dignity  in  all  his  actions. 
His  eye  is  full  of  animation,  and  his  constant  bearing  full  of  energy. 
The  sexes  differ  but  little  in  colour  or  size,  the  female  being  rather 
browner  and  at  the  same  time  smaller,  while  young  birds  are 
speckled  below  with  dusky,  as  is  the  case  in  the  majority  of  young 
Tiirdidx.  An  adult  male  is  of  an  ashy-grey  above,  and  a  dingy 
white  below.  A  large  white  space  marks  the  blackish-brown  wing, 
and  the  outer  tail-feathers  are  also  white,  the  remainder  of  the 
tail  being  black,  the  feathers  tipped  with  white,  the  same 
being  graduated  from  without  towards  the  middle  pair  of  usually 
wholly  black  feathers.  The  bill  and  feet  are  likewise  black,  and 
the  irides  of  a  fine  golden  cream-colour.  In  form,  the  bird  is  trim 
and  Thrush-like,  the  tail  being  rather  long  and  cuneiform. 

The  habitat  of  this  species  may  be  said  to  extend  across  the 
entire  breadth  of  the  United  States,  and  south  into  Mexico ;  but 
north  of  the  3Sth  parallel  the  bird  becomes  rare.  Over  this  wide 
range  the  food  of  the  Mocking-bird  varies  somewhat,  although  it 
may  be  broadly  said  that  it  everywhere  consists  largely  of  many  of 
the  smaller  fruits,  insects  and  some  seeds.  In  some  respects  its 
nidification  agrees  with  the  typical  Thrushes,  the  nest  being  placed 
without  much  regard  to  concealment  in  some  bush  or  low  tree  ; 
being  bulky,  and  built  of  twigs,  dried  leaves,  fine  fibrous  roots, 
and  sometimes  to  these  are  added  wool  or  tow  when  procurable. 
The  eggs  are  from  four  to  six,  bluish-green  in  colour,  freckled  with 
blotches  of  various  shades  of  yellowish-brown.  Two  broods  may 
be  reared  in  the  season,  and  in  the  southern  States  sometimes 
even  three.  Very  often  the  nest  of  the  Mocking-bird  is  attacked 
by  various  species  of  snakes,  more  especially  the  black -snake 
(Bascanium  constridoi-),  which  is  very  partial  to  the  eggs  and  young 
of  this  and  other  birds.     These  attacks   are  met  by  Mimus  with 


584 


MOCKING-BIRD 


conspicuous  courage,  and  tlie  intruder  is  frequently  compelled  to 
withdraw,  while  the  victorious  bird  announces  the  result  of  the 
encounter  with  a  perfect  medley  of  his  richest  vocalizations, 
which  are  usually  poured  forth  from  the  top  of  the  tree  or  bush 
containing  his  nest. 

Were  what  we  have  given  in  the  foregoing  account  of  the 
Mocking-bird  all  that  goes  to  make  up  his  life-history,  he  would 
pass  among  his  Class  as  a  very  ordinary  representative  of  it  indeed ; 
it  is  not,  however,  for  any  of  the  traits  or  habits  thus  far 
enumerated  that  he  has  become  one  of  the  most  famous  of  his  tribe. 
He  is,  as  every  student  of  nature  knows,  one  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary songsters  of  the  entire  world's  avifauna.  As  an  imitator 
of  the  songs  or  cries  of  every  other  species  of  bird  he  has  ever 
listened  to,  the  Mocking-bird  probably  stands  without  a  rival  in 
the  entire  Class,  but  in  addition  to  this  power  he  possesses  native 
notes  of  great  purity,  strength,  energy,  and  sweetness.  To  some 
degree  these  latter  resemble  the  notes  of  the  Brown  Thrasher, 
Harporhynclius  rufus,  but  are  of  greater  variety  and  far  richer. 

For  thorough  appreciation,  one  should  catch  him  upon  a 
dewy  morning  just  as  the  sun  rises,  and  he  flits  to  the  top 
of  some  low  tree  to  pour  forth  his  medley  of  carols  in  soul-felt 
welcoming.  This  may  be  in  some  quarter  of  the  sunny  south, 
perhaps  near  the  manor-house  of  some  broad  plantation,  where 
not  only  can  he  imitate  any  individual  of  the  host  of  native 
songsters  about  him,  but  vary  the  strain  with  any  of  those  familiar 
sounds  heard  about  the  house  and  barn-yard.  To  see  that  little 
feathered  being  so  brimful  of  ecstasy,  replete  with  action  and  anima- 
tion, drooping  his  wings,  spreading  his  tail,  so  buoyant  as  hardly 
to  be  able  to  retain  his  perch,  while  the  air  is  actually  filled  with 
his  inimitable  musical  performances,  is  a  sight  not  likely  to  be  for- 
gotten. Clearly,  and  with  the  greatest  possible  accuracy  and 
rapidity,  and  with  a  mellow  strength  even  exceeding  the  originals, 
he  utters  the  notes  and  calls  of  twenty  or  more  birds  in  succes- 
sion, ranging  all  the  way  from  the  plaintive  air  of  the  Blue-Bird 
to  the  harsh,  discordant  cries  of  Jays,  Sparrow-Hawks,  and  even 
with  equal  compass  the  vociferations  of  an  Eagle.  Catching  breath, 
and  tossing  himself  lightly  into  the  aii*  above  his  perch,  he  alarms 
the  entire  feathered  community  assembled  by  his  imitating  the 
cries  of  a  wounded  birdling  in  the  talons  of  a  Hawk ;  this  is 
followed  perhaps  by  the  crowing  of  a  Cock  or  the  vociferous  note  of 
the  Whip-poor-will,  and  the  very  incongruity  appears  to  put  his 
feathered  listeners  to  shame  at  the  hoax. 

Caging  seems  hardly  to  diminish  his  powers,  and  he  will  sing 
with  the  greatest  energy  the  best  part  of  a  moonlit  night,  as 
lustily  as  though  he  were  free  in  his  native  haunts.  But  enough  : 
to  have  one  appreciate  the  Mocking-bird  he  must  be  heard,  and  he 


MOLLY— MONAL  585 


must  be  heard  under  all  circumstances  where  he  best  loves  to 
dwell.  To  compare  him  with  his  only  rival,  the  European  Nightin- 
gale, seems  to  me  quite  out  of  place,  though  I  will  say  that  my 
faith  in  the  powers  of  the  Mocking-bird  is  so  firm,  that  I  believe 
were  he  successfully  introduced  into  those  countries  where  the 
Nightingale  flourishes,  that  princely  performer  might  some  day 
'nance  as  he  was  obliged  to  listen  to  his  own  most  powerful 
strains  poured  forth  with  all  their  native  purity  by  this  king  of 
feathered  mockers,  the  subject  of  the  present  notice. 

In  America  there  are  no  other  birds  that  at  all  deserve  the 
name  of  a  Mocking-bird.  The  Magpie  often  imitates  bits  of  human 
speech  with  great  accuracy,  while  the  Cat-BIRD  sometimes 
makes  a  feeble  effort  to  bring  out  the  notes  of  some  of  the 
smaller  birds,  but  they  are  not  to  be  thought  of  in  connexion  with 
the  powerful  productions  of  Mimus  polyglottus,  while  the  cat-like 
mewing  note  of  the  former  is  not  in  imitation  of  that  animal  at 
all,  but  only  an  accidental  vocal  resemblance.^ 

R  W.  Shufeldt. 

MOLLY  and  MOLLY-MAWK,  corruptions  of  Mallemuck, 
applied  by  modern  seamen  to  the  smaller  kinds  of  Albatros. 

MONAL  or  MOONAUL  (Hind.  Mundl),^  the  Anglo-Indian 
name  for  birds  of  the  genus  Lophophorus,  some  of  the  largest  of  the 

^  Some  twelve  or  fourteen  other  species  of  MLmus  have  been  recognized, 
mostly  from  South  America,  where  the  name  of  "Calandria"  (Lark)  is  often 
applied  to  them,  and  Mr.  Hudson's  account  {Argent.  Orn.  i.  pp.  5-11)  of  the 
three  inhabiting  the  portion  of  that  continent  treated  of  by  him  is  well 
worth  attention  ;  but  M,  orpJieus  seems  to  be  common  to  some  of  the 
Greater  Antilles,  and  M.  hilli  is  peculiar  to  Jamaica,  while  the  Bahamas  have  a 
local  race  in  M.  bahamensis.  The  so-called  Mountain  Mocking-bird,  Oreoscoptes 
montanus,  is  a  form  not  very  distant  from  Mimus  ;  but,  according  to  Mr. 
Ridgway,  it  inhabits  exclusively  the  plains  (overgrown  with  Artemisia)  of  the 
interior  tableland  of  North  America,  and  is  not  at  all  imitative  in  its  notes,  so 
that  it  is  an  instance  of  a  misnomer.  Of  the  other  genera  allied  to  Mimus,  those 
known  in  the  United  States  as  Thrasheb5,  and  belonging  to  the  genus  Earpo- 
rhyndius — of  which  six  or  eight  species  are  found  in  North  America,  and  are  very 
Thrush-like  in  their  habits — have  been  mentioned  above  ;  but  there  is  only  room 
here  to  dwell  on  the  Cat-bird,  Galeoscoptes  or  Mimus  carolinensis,  which  is  an 
imitator  of  many  sounds,  with  at  the  same  time  j^eculiar  notes  of  its  own,  from 
one  of  which  it  has  gained  its  popular  name.  The  sooty-grey  colour  that, 
deepening  into  blackish-brown  on  the  crown  and  quills,  pervades  the  whole  of  its 
plumage — the  lower  tail-coverts,  which  are  of  a  deep  chestnut,  excepted — renders 
it  a  conspicuous  object ;  and  though,  for  some  reason  or  other,  far  from  being  a 
favourite,  it  is  always  willing  when  undisturbed  to  become  intimate  with  men's 
abodes.  Besides  its  range  on  the  American  continent  it  is  one  of  the  few  species 
that  are  resident  in  Bermuda,  while  on  more  than  one  occasion  it  is  said  to  have 
appeared  in  Europe,  though  whether  as  an  unaided  visitor  may  be  doubted.  — A.  N. 

-  See  Yule  and  Burnell,  Hobson-Johson,  pp.  44.3,  444. 


586 


MONAL 


Phasianidsi,  the  Impeyan  Pheasants  of  many  writers,  so  called 
because  one  of  them  was  introduced  to  notice  by  Sir  Elijah  and 
Lady  Impey  on  returning  from  India  in  1784.^  But  the  species 
thus    made   known,   the    true    L.  impeianux,  seems   to    have  a  re- 


LopHOPHORUs  REFULOENS.     (After  Swainson.) 

stricted  range  in  southern  Cashmere  (Chamba),  and  is  not  common 
in  collections,  a  nearly  allied  one,  L.  refulgens,  which  frecpients 
the  forests  of  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas,  from  eastern 
Affghanistan  to  western  Bhotan,  being  generally  mistaken  for 
it.-  Its  habits,  described  by  Mr.  Frederic  Wilson,  writing  in 
1S4S,  as  "Mountaineer"  in  The  India  _  Sporting  Eeriew  (viii.  pp. 
143-148),  and  quoted  by  Jerdon  {B.  Tad.  iii.  pp.  511-515),  are 
completely  those  of  an  ordinary  Pheasant,  though  it  often  shews 
a  greater  partiality  for  perching  upon  a  tree  when  made  to  take 
wing.  In  some  districts  it  seems  to  have  been  extremely  numerous 
not  so  many  years  ago,  b\xt  there  is  reason  to  fear  that,  in  spite  of 
the  well-intended  action  of  the  Indian  G-overnment,  this  is  not  so 
now  ;  for  the  cocks  have  been  killed  liy  thousands  to  meet  the 
"  plume  "  market,  and  their  refulgent  feathers  are  not  oidy  largely 
used  by  women  to  bedizen  their  persons,  but  also  in  the  construc- 
tion of  fans,  screens  and  the  like.  The  hens  are  fortunately 
without  special  adoi^nment,  and  carry  on  their  maternal  duties 
comparatively  unmolested  in  a  modest  attire  admiralily  adapted 
to  concealment,  and  in  strong  contrast  to  the  brilliant  hues  of  their 
mates,  whose  plumage  of  shining  green  and  blue  over  nearly  the 

1  Cavier  in  1829  {Rtipie  Animal,  ed.  2,  i.  p.  474),  and  after  him  Yule  {Marco 
Polo,  i.  p.  248),  believe  that  it  was  described  by  ^lian  [Nat.  Anim.  xvi.  2),  but  what 
the  last  says  of  his  "Great  Indian  Cock,"  though  in  several  respects  fitting  the 
Monaul,  seems  too  vague  to  make  this  certain.  Some  suppose  that  ^Elian  took 
his  information  from  Ctesias,  but  the  fragments  of  the  latter  speak  only  (Indica, 
cap.  3)  of  very  big  Indian  Cocks,  a  MS.  at  Munich  reading,  according  to  P.  J.  C. 
F.  Biihr  (Francof.  a/M.  :  1824,  p.  269),  dXeKTpvovf.s  tlis  irpb^aTa— cocks  as- big  as 
sheep\  Mr.  M'Crindle,  in  his  edition  of  Ctesias  (Bombay :  1882,  p.  36,  note), 
also  thinks  he  had  this  bird  in  view,  but  woefully  misspells  its  scientific  name. 

-  L.  impcia.nus  has  the  lower  part  of  the  back  and  body  generally  of  a  golden- 
green,  while  in  L.  rcfidgcns  the  former  is  white  and  the  latter  black.  The  correc- 
tion of  the  common  mistake  is  due  to  Mr.  Ogilvie-Grant  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mas.  xxii.  ]>. 
278),  and  is  the  more  welcome  since  the  original  species  had  been  redescribcd 
{Ihis,  1884,  p.  421,  ph  X.)  under  the  new  name  of  Z.  chamhauv.a. 


MONK— MONSTROSITIES  587 

whole  body,  with  a  gleam  of  gilded  purple  on  the  nape,  a  snowy- 
Avhite  rump  and  rufous  tail,  oft'er  a  marvellously  l)right  combination 
of  colours.  Another  striking  feature  is  the  crest  of  feathers  formed 
almost  like  those  of  the  common  Peacock,  and  this  crest  is  pos- 
sessed also  by  the  true  L.  iinpeianus.  In  Assam  a  third  species, 
L.  sdaieri,  is  found  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1870,  pi.  xiv. ;  1879,  pi.  li.)  crestless, 
and  having  the  tail  white  with  a 
broad  reddish  bar  near  the  tip  ;  while 
a  fourth,  L.  Vliwjsi,  having  a  crest  of 
ordinary  feathers,  and  a  dark  glossy 
green  tail  {op.  cif.  1868,  pi.  i.),  in- 
habits Mouijin.      Other   species  may  tragopaxx  satyrcs. 

, .,     ,  -^  ,     ,  •^,  ."^  (After  Swamson.) 

not  unlikely  reveal  themselves  as  the 

North-eastern  portion  of  the  Indian  liegion  is  explored.  According 
to  Jerdon  (op.  cit.),  one  of  the  Horned  Pheasants,  Tragopan  or 
C'eriornis  sati/rns,  is  also  called  "  Monaul "  by  Europeans  at  Darjiling. 

MONK,  a  name  in  some  jmrts  of  England  for  tlie  cock  Bull- 
finch, and  in  Australia  one  of  many  applied  to  the  Friak-bird. 

MONSTROSITIES  are  naturally  more  oljserved  in  domesticated 
than  in  wild  Birds,  and  are  more  commonly  cases  of  excessive 
than  of  arrested  development.  The  former  may  be  restricted  to 
overgrowth  of  otherAvise  small  parts,  such  as  double  feathers,  or 
may  amount  to  the  addition  of  a  whole  limb,  or  even  still  greater 
portion  of  the  body.  Frequently  such  supernumerary  parts  seem 
due  to  an  early  splitting  of  the  affected  member  in  the  embryo, 
but  whether  caused  by  mechanical  injury  or  due  to  an  unusual 
activity  of  the  growing  and  multiplying  cells  it  is  of  course  in  most 
cases  impossible  to  say.  As  a  rule,  such  abnormalities  are  purely 
pathological,  and  not  indicative  of  ancestral  conditions,  though  cases 
are  known  in  which  latent  germs  have  certainly  been  awakened 
and  given  rise  to  organs  or  parts  of  organs  that  in  normal  individuals 
of  the  species  are  either  absent  or  rudimentaiy. 

Supernumerary  toes,  as  in  the  Dorking  Fowl,  are  of  common 
occurrence.  In  these  cases  the  additional  toe  is  generally  the  result 
of  the  Hallux  being  split  into  two,  and  not  the  real  fifth  toe,  Avhich 
Avas  long  ago  completely  lost  by  the  Eeptilian  ancestors  of  Birds. 

Three  legs  are  very  frequent ;  the  third  limb,  which  is  generally 
smaller  and  with  crippled  toes,  being  attached  to  the  caudal 
vertebrae,  to  the  pelvis,  or  even  to  the  femur  of  one  of  the  proper 
legs.  Such  cases  have  been  many  times  recorded  in  the  Duck,  Fowl, 
Sparrow  and  other  common  l)irds,  while  Lidbeck  long  ago  described 
{K.  Vetensk.  Acad.  HarnU.  1762,  p.  164)  an  adult  Eagle  Avith  three 
feet,  of  Avhich  the  superfluous  foot  Avas  placed  between  the  other 
tAvo  and  bore  seven  toes.     A  more  recent  and  someAvhat  similar 


588  MONSTROSITIES 


instance  is  described  by  Mr.  H.  K.  Coale  {Auk,  1887,  p.  332),  in 
which  a  superfluous  toe  was  loosely  attached  to  the  muscles  of  the 
thigh  of  a  Buteo  latissimus}  Monstrous  examples  ^vith  four  legs  are 
known  in  Fowls,  Pigeons,  Geese,  Sparrows  and  the  Goldfinch,  the 
supernumerary  pair  being  sometimes  correlated  with  a  double  vent. 
A  Chick  preserved  in  the  Cambridge  Museum  has  the  additional 
pair  of  limbs  attached  to  the  end  of  the  stunted  tail. 

Supernumerary  wings,  articulating  below  the  normal  wings, 
likewise  occur,  but  very  rarely  except  the  legs  be  also  doubled,  so 
that  the  monster  possesses  eight  limbs  (Tiedemann,  Anat.  und 
Naturgesch.  Vbgel,  ii.  p.  273). 

Many  other  malformations  may  be  seen  in  various  Museums, 
but  only  a  few  need  be  here  mentioned — such  as  Chicks  with  two 
bills,  three  Avings  and  four  legs ;  Geese,  Pigeons,  and  Pheasants 
Avith  two  or  three  bills ;  Chicks,  Ducklings  and  Pigeons  with  two 
heads.  Occasionally  considerable  portions  of  the  trunk  are  affected 
by  duplicity,  producing  not  only  two  heads  and  necks,  but  two 
vertebral  columns  and  two  bellies.  Two  hearts,  within  otherwise 
normal  bodies,  have  also  been  described  in  adult  Fowls,  Turkeys 
and  Geese.  The  Cambridge  Museum '  possesses  a  nearly  adult 
example  of  a  Duck  which  beside  the  two  normal  and  functional 
legs  has  an  extra  right  leg  of  the  same  size  as  the  others,  but  ending 
in  five  complete  toes.  Another  immature  Duck  has  a  cleft  in  the 
middle  line  of  the  sternum,  separating  it  together  with  the  keel 
into  a  right  half  and  a  left,  in  this  respect  continuing  the  embryonic 
condition.  Similar  cases  of  arrested  development  are  common,  and 
one,  of  a  Pigeon,  has  been  figured  {Phil.  Trans.  1869,  pi.  xxiii.  fig. 
172).  In  the  same  Museum  is  an  adult  male  Turnstone  {Strepsilas 
interpres),  which  was  in  perfect  plumage  when  killed,  with  only  one 
leg,  and  not  the  least  trace,  as  ascertained  on  dissection,  of  the  other. 
Fowls  may  have  their  toes  more  or  less  united  by  a  web,  and  Ducks  be 
Avithout  any  web  between  their  toeg  ;  the  last  case  is  of  some  curiosity, 
insomuch  as  such  birds,  as  they  swim,  close  their  toes  during  the 
back  stroke,  thus  adapting  themselves  to  their  abnormal  condition. 

Questions  relating  to  abnormal  excess  of  structure  form  what  is 
called  Teratology,  on  which  the  works  of  M.  Camille  Dareste  -  and 
Mr.  Bateson  ^  may  be  profitably  studied.  The  former  comes  to  the 
following  conclusions  : — Abnormalities  are  always  due  to  modifica- 
tions of  the  early  embryonic  development.     Multiple  heads  are  the 

^  Tlie  same  gentleman  also  records  a  Dolichonyx  oryzivoms  having  a  horny 
spur,  of  which  he  gives  a  figure  {torn.  cit.  p.  333),  "growing  from  the  thumb  tip " 
of  each  wing.  This  may  be  compared  with  the  examples  already  cited  (Claws, 
pp.  89,  90),  but  they  scarcely  belong  to  the  category  of  Monsti'osities. — A.  N. 

^  Becherches  sur  la  production  artificielle  des  monstruosMs,  ou  essai  de  T6rato- 
genie  experimentalc.     Paris:  1877. 

**  Materials  for  the  Study  of  Variation.     London  :  1894. 


MOOR-BUZZARD— MOOR-HEN  589 

result  of  arrested  development  of  the  anterior  cranial  vesicle. 
Irregular  growth  of  the  Amnion  frequently  has  a  disturbing  in- 
fluence upon  various  parts  of  the  embryo,  and  thus  abnormalities  of 
the  tailfold  (Embryology,  p.  201)  produce  hind  limbs  abnormal  in 
shape  and  position,  a  crooked  vertebral  column  and  so  on.  Double 
or  treble  monsters,  partial  or  even  perfect  twins,  or  triplets,  may  be 
due  to  any  one  of  three  causes  : — two  or  three  yolks,  each  with  its 
own  blastoderm  (p.  200)  in  one  common  shell ;  two  blastoderms 
with  one  yolk  ;  or  one  blastoderm  upon  a  single  yolk,  split  by  a 
subsequent  injury,  each  portion  of  it  producing  a  more  or  less 
complete  counterpart  of  an  embryo  or  portion  of  it.  M.  Dareste 
has  been  able  to  shew  beyond  doubt  that  portions  of  the  blasto- 
derm artificially  split  off",  or  even  parts  of  more  advanced  embryos 
will  occasionally  continue  growing  into  a  part  at  least  of  that 
organ,  of  which  the  respective  embryonic  cells  were  the  normal 
substratum ;  in  the  case  of  two  blastoderms  upon  a  single  yolk, 
complete  though  more  or  less  united  embryos  will  be  the  result. 
According  to  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  it  is  not  justifiable 
to  explain  partly  multiple  monstrosities  by  the  assumption  of  a  fusing 
of  originally  separate  embryos,  but  by  a  splitting  of  the  blasto- 
derm, and  if  that  takes  place  very  early  and  is  complete,  each  of 
its  halves,  which  in  Mammals  have  little  or  no  yolk,  may  produce 
an  independent  embryo,  so  that  in  such  a  case  the  flippant  saying 
that  "A  twin  is  only  the  other  half"  happens  to  be  true. 

MOOR-BUZZARD,  the  common  name  in  England,  in  days 
when  the  bird  was  not  scarce,  for  what  is  called  in  books  the 
Marsh-HARRIER. 

MOOR-COOK,  MOOR-FOWL  and  MOOR-POULT,  old  English 
names  of  the  bird  now  well  known  as  the  Red  GROUSE ;  but 

MOOR-HEN  is  the  commonest  name  of  a  common  bird,  often 
called  AVater-hen,  and  in  books  sometimes  Gallinule.  An  earlier 
English  name  was  Moat -hen,  which  Avas 
appropriate  in  the  days  when  a  moat  was 
the  ordinary  adjunct  of  most  consideralile 
houses  in  the  country,  and  this  species 
its  ordinary  denizen.  It  is  the  Gallinula 
cidorovus    of    ornitholosrists,    and    so    well     ..  />f*    ^,    •       x 

J-  "  .      .  Moor-hen.    (After  Swamson.) 

known    as    hardly    to    need    description. 

About  the  size  of  a  small  Bantam -hen,  but  with  the  body 
much  compressed,  as  is  usual  with  members  of  the  Family 
Rallidss  (Rail)  to  which  it  belongs,  its  plumage  above  is  of  a 
deep  olive-brown,  so  dark  as  to  appear  black  at  a  short  distance, 
and  beneath  iron-grey,  relieved  by  some  white  stripes  on  the 
flanks,  with  the  lower  tail-coverts  of  pure  white — these  last  being 
very  conspicuous  as  the  bird  swims.     A  scarlet  frontlet,  especially 


590 


MOOR-HEN 


bright  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  a  red  garter  on  the  tibia  of 
the  male  render  him  very  showy.  Though  often  frequenting  the 
neighbourhood  of  man,  the  Moor-hen  seems  unable  to  overcome  the 
inherent  stealthy  habits  of  the  Piallidx,  and  hastens  to  hide  itself 
on  the  least  alarm ;  but  under  exceptional  circumstances  it  may  be 
induced  to  feed,  yet  always  suspiciouslj^,  "with  tame  ducks  and 
poultry.  It  appears  to  take  wing  Avith  difficulty,  and  may  be 
often  caught  by  an  active  dog;  but,  in  reality,  it  is  capable  of 
sustained  flight,  its  longer  excursions  being  chiefly  performed  by 
night,  when  the  peculiar  call-note  it  utters  is  frequently  heard  as 
the  bird,  itself  invisible  in  the  darkness,  passes  overhead.  The 
nest  is  a  mass  of  flags,  reeds,  or  other  aquatic  plants,  often  arranged 
with  much  neatness,  almost  always  near  the  water's  edge,  where  a 
clump  of  rushes  is  generally  chosen ;  but  should  a  mill-dam,  sluice- 
gate, or  boat-house  afford  a  favourable  site,  advantage  A^dll  be 
taken  of  it,  and  not  unfrequently  the  bough  of  a  tree  at  some 
height  from  the  ground  will  furnish  the  place  for  a  cradle.  The 
eggs,  from  seven  to  eleven  in  number,  resemble  those  of  the  CoOT, 
but  are  smaller,  lighter,  and  brighter  in  colour,  with  spots  or 
blotches  of  reddish-brown.  In  Avinter,  when  the  inland  waters  are 
frozen,  the  majority  of  Moor-hens  betake  themselves  to  the  tidal 
rivers,  and  many  must  leave  the  country  entirely,  though  a  few 
seem  always  able  to  maintain  their  existence  however  hard  be  the 
frost.  The  common  Moor-hen  is  widely  spread  throughout  the 
Old  World,  being  found  also  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  India, 
and  in  Japan.  In  America  it  is  represented  by  a  very  closely- 
allied  form,  G.  galeata,  so  called  from  its  rather  larger  frontal  helm, 
and  in  Australia  by  another,  G.  tenebrosa,  which  generally  wants 
the  white  flank-markings.  Both  closely  resemble  G.  chloropus  in 
general  habits,  as  does  also  the  G.  pyrrhorrJioa  of  Madagascar,  which 
has  the  lower  tail -coverts  buff"  instead  of  white.  Celebes  and 
Amboyna  possess  a  smaller  cognate  species,  G.  hsematopus,  with  red 
legs ;  tropical  Africa  has  the  smallest  of  all,  G.  angulata ;  and  some 
more  that  have  been  recognized  as  distinct  are  also  found  in  other 
more  or  less  isolated  localities.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
these  is  G.  nesiotis,  the  "  Island  Hen  "  of  Tristan  da  Cunha  (Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1861,  p.  260,  pi.  xxx.),  which  has  wholly  lost  the  power 
of  flight  concomitantly  with  the  shortening  of  its  wings  and  a 
considerable  modification  of  its  external  apparatus,  as  well  as  a 
strengthening  of  its  pelvic  arch  and  legs.^  The  same  is  to  be 
said  of  the  "Mountain  Cock"  of  Gough  Island,  the  Forphyrio7-nis 
comeri  of  Mr.  Allen  {Bull.  Am.  Mus.  N.  H.  iv.  pp.  57,   58),  who 

1  A  somewhat  intermediate  form  seems  to  be  presented  by  the  Moor-hen  of 
the  Island  of  St.  Denys,  to  the  north  of  Seychelles  [Proc.  Zool.  Sue.  1867,  p.  1036 ; 
Trans.  Norf.  <L  Norw.  Nat.  Soc.  iv.  j).  552,  note),  hitherto  undescribed,  and 
accordingly  now  named  by  me  Gallinula  dionysiana. 


MOOR-HEN  591 


has  instituted  for  it  a  new  genus,  to  which  he  also  refers  the  preced- 
ing bird.  A  more  extreme  development  in  this  direction  appears  to 
be  exhibited  by  the  singular  Hahroptila  ivallacii  of  Gilolo  {Froc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1860,  p.  365,  pi.  clxxii.),  and  to  some  extent  by  the  Fareudiastes 
pacijicus  of  Samoa  {op.  cit.  1871,  p.  25,  pi.  ii.),  but  at  present  little 
is  known  of  either.  Of  other  forms,  such  as  the  common  Gallinula 
(Erythra)  phcenimra  and  Gallirex  cinerea  of  India,  as  well  as  the 
South-American  species  classed  in  the  genus  FoipJnjriojts,  there  is 
not  room  to  speak ;  but  mention  must  be  made  of  the  remarkable 
Australian  genus  Trihonyx,  containing  three  species  {Ann.  d'  Mag. 
N.  H.  ser.  3,  xx.  p.  123),  called  by  the  colonists  "Moor-hen"  and 
"  Native  Hen,"  which  seem  to  be  more  terrestrial  than  aquatic  in 
their  haunts  and  habits. 

Allied  to  all  these  is  the  genus  Forphyrio,  including  the  bird  so 
named  by  classical  writers,  and  perhaps  a  dozen  other  species  often 
called  Sultanas  and  Purple  Water-hens, 
for  they  all  have  a  plumage  of  deep 
blue — some  becoming  violet,  green,  or 
black  in  jmrts,  but  i:)reserving  the 
white  lower  tail-coverts  so  generally 
characteristic  of  the  group ;  and  their 

1  ,         •  1  1     1         J.1     •  1    i.  PoRPHYRio.     (After  Swainson.) 

Ijeauty  is   enhanced    by  their    scarlet 

bill  and  legs.  Two,  F.  alleni  of  the  Ethiopian  Region  and  the 
South- American  F.  parva,  are  of  small  size.  Of  the  larger  sj^ecies, 
F.  cxrulcus  seems  to  be  the  "  Porphyrio  "  of  the  ancients,  and  inhabits 
certain  localities  on  both  sides  of  the  Mediterranean,  Avhile  the  rest 
are  widely  dispersed  Avithin  the  tropics,  and  even  beyond  them,  as 
in  Australia  and  New  Zealand.  But  this  last  country  has  jjroduced 
a  more  exaggerated  form,  Nofornis,  which  has  an  interesting  and 
perhaps  unique  history.  First  described  from  an  imperfect  fossil 
skull  by  Owen  {Froc. Zool. Soc.  1848,  pp.  2,  7 ;  Trans,  iii.  p.  366,  pl.lvi.), 
and  at  that  time  thought  to  be  extinct,  an  example  was  soon  after 
taken  alive  {Froc.  1850,  pp.  209-214,  pi.  xxi. ;  Trans,  iv.  pp.  69-74, 
pi.  XXV.),  the  skin  of  which  (with  that  of  another  procured  like  the 
first  by  Mr.  "Walter  Mantell)  may  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum. 
Other  fossil  remains  were  from  time  to  time  noted  by  Prof.  Owen ;  ^ 
but  it  began  to  be  feared  that  the  bird  had  ceased  to  exist,"  until  a 
third  example  was  taken  about  the  year  1879,  the  skin  and  most 

^  Thus  the  leg-bones  and  what  appeared  to  be  the  sternum  were  described  and 
figured  by  him  (Trans,  iv.  pp.  12,  17,  pis.  ii.  iv.),  and  the  pelvis  and  another 
femur  (vii.  pp.  369,  373,  pis.  xlii.  xliii. );  but  the  supposed  sternum  subsequently 
proved  not  to  be  that  of  Notornis,  and  the  author's  attention  being  called  to  the 
fact  [Froc.  1882,  p.  97)  he  rectified  the  error  {torn.  cit.  p.  689)  Avhich  he  had 
previously  been  "inclined  to  believe"  [Trans,  viii.  p.  120)  he  had  made. 

-  Notwithstanding  the  statement,  which  certainly  presented  some  incon- 
gruities, made  by  Mr.  Mackay  [His,  1867,  p.  144). 


592 


MOOR-  TITLING—MO  RILLON 


of  the  bones  of  which,  after  undergoing  examination  by  Sir  AV,  Buller 
and  Prof.  T.  J.  Parker  (2V(m5.  i\^.  Zeal.  Inst.  xiv.  pp.  2.38-258),  are 
now  in  the  museum  of  Dresden,  where  Dr.  A.  B.  Meyer  dechxred 
the  recent  remains  to  be  specifically  distinct  from  the  fossil,  and  while 


NoTOEXis.     Natural  size.    (From  Buller.) 

keeping  for  the  latter  the  name  N.  mantelli  gave  the  former  that  of  N. 
hochstetteri.  A  third  species  ascribed  to  the  genus,  N.  alba,  is  said  to  have 
once  inhabited  Lord  Howe's  and  Norfolk  Islands,  but  is  now  extinct, 
a  specimen  at  Vienna  (Ibis,  1873,  p.  295,  pi.  X;)  being  its  sole  remains. ^ 

MOOR-TITLING,  a  common  local  name  in  Scotland  and  the 
North  of  England  for  the  Titlark. 

MOORUK,  the  native  name  of  the  species  of  Cassowary 
peculiar  to  NeAV  Britain,  and  adopted  as  an  English  word. 

:\IOOSE-BIRD,  a  name  for  the  Canada  Jay. 

MOREPORK,  in  New  Zealand  the  name  of  an  Owl,  Spiloglaux 
nocie-zealaiidix,  but  in  Tasmania  that  of  Fodargics  cwvieri  (Nightjar), 
in  each  case  from  the  cry  of  the  bird. 

]\I0RILL0N,  a  name  commonly  given  by  fowlers  to  the  female 
and  immature  male  of  the  Golden-Eye,  the  Clangula  glaucion  of 

^  The  genus  Aptornis,  of  wliicli  Prof.  Owen  described  the  remains  from  New 
Zealand  as  nearly  allied  to  Notornis  and  Poiyhyrio,  is  considered  by  Prof.  T.  J. 
Parker  {loc.  cit.)  to  bo  a  "development  by  degeneration  of  an  ocydromine  type," 
and  Mr.  Lydekker  {Cat.  Foss.  B.  Br.  JIiis.  p.  147)  speaks  of  it  as  "allied  to 
Ocydrwuos"  (Weka). 


MOSQUITO-HAlVK—MOTMOT  593 

modern  ornithology,  under  the  belief  which  still  very  generally 
obtains  among  them,  as  it  once  did  among  naturalists,  that  they 
formed  a  distinct  species  of  Duck.  The  mistake  no  doubt  originated 
in,  and  is  partly  excused  by,  the  facts  that  the  birds  called  Morillons 
were  often  of  opposite  sexes,  and  differed  greatly  from  the  adult 
male  Golden-Eye,  whose  full  and  beautiful  plumage  is  not  assumed 
until  the  second  year.  The  word  is  used  in  French  in  precisely 
the  same  form,  but  is  in  that  language  applied  to  the  Tufted  Duck, 
Fuligula  cristata,  and  is  derived,  according  to  Littrt^,  from  more, 
signifying  black. 

MOSQUITO-HAWK,  a  name  in  America  for  the  species  of 
Chordiles  (Nightjar). 

MOSS-CHEEPER,  a  north-country  name  of  the  Titlark. 

MOTHER  CAREY'S  CHICIvEN,  GOOSE  and  HEN— sailors' 
names,  the  first  of  any  of  the  small  black  or  black  and  white  Petrels, 
the  second  of  the  Giant  Petrel,  Ossifraga  gigantea,  and  the  third  seems 
to  be  applied  without  much  discrimination  to  any  Petrel  of  middle 
size. 

MOTH-HAWK,  MOTH-HUNTER,  names  of  the  Nightjar. 

MOTMOT,  according  to  Hernandez  in  his  Historia  Avium  Novse 
Hispanise  (p.  52),  published  at  Rome  in  1651,  was  the  Mexican 
name  of  a  bird  which  he  described  well  enough  to  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  what  he  meant ;  but  the  word  being  soon  after  printed  Momot 
by  Nieremberg  and  others  gave  rise  to  the  Latinized  Momotus, 
invented  by  Brisson  as  a  generic  term,  which  has  since  been 
generally  adopted  by  ornithologists,^  though  Motmot  has  been 
retained  as  the  English  form.  Linnaeus  knew  of  only  one  species 
of  Motmot,  and  referred  it  to  his  genus  Ramphastos  (Toucan) 
under  the  name  of  R.  momota.  This  is  the  Momotus  brasiliensis 
of  modern  ornithologists,  and  from  its  geographical  range  cannot 
be  the  original  Motmot  of  Hernandez,  but  is  most  likely  the  "  Chtira 
guainmnbi "  of  Marcgrave. 

The  Motmots  have  been  for  many  years  recognized  as  forming  a 
distinct  family,  Momotidx  or  Prionitidx,  of  the  heterogeneous  assem- 
blage known  as  Picarise  or  Coccygomoiphm ;  and  the  only  question 
among  systematists  has  been  as  to  their  position  in  that  group. 
This  has  been  discussed  and  illustrated  with  his  usual  assiduity  by 
Dr.  Murie  {lUs,  1872,  pjD.  383-412,  pis.  xiii.-xv.),  who  conclusively 
shewed  that  Todiis  (Tody)  was  the  Motmot's  nearest  existing 
relative,  while  he  believed  that  both  Momotidse  and  Todidx  might  be 
placed  in  one  section  (Serratirostres)  with  the  Coraciidse  (Roller), 
Meropidai  (Bee-eater),  and  Alcedinidai  (Kingfisher).    To  the  latter 

^  Its  barbarous  origin  induced  lUiger  to  substitute  for  it  the  word  Prionites, 
and  his  example  has  been  followed  by  some  nomenclatural  purists. 

3S 


594  MOTMOT 


allocation  Garrod  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1878,  pp.  100-102)  partly  de- 
murred, though  admitting  the  Kingfisher  afl&nity,  while  upholding 
the  former,  and  even  declaring  that  Motmots  and  Todies  form  but 
a  single  Family.  As  the  conclusions  of  both  these  investigators  are 
based  on  the  sure  ground  of  anatomical  structure,  they  are  of  in- 
comjiarably  greater  value  than  most  of  those  arrived  at  by  prior 
systematists  who  judged  from  external  characters  alone. 

In  outward  appearance  the  Motmots  have  an  undoubted 
resemblance  to  the  Meropidge,  but,  though  beautiful  birds,  various 
shades  of  blue  and  green  predominating  in  their  plumage,  they  do 
not  exhibit  such  decided  and  brilliant  colours ;  and  while  the  Bee- 
eaters  are  only  found  in  the  Old  World,  the  Motmots  are  a  purely 
Neotropical  form,  extending  from  southern  Mexico  to  Paraguay, 
and  the  majoiity  of  species  inhabit  Central  America.  They  are 
said  to  be  solitary  birds,  or  at  most  living  in  pairs,  among  the  gloomy 
forests,  where  they  sit  on  the  underwood  nearly  motionless,  or  only 
jerking  their  long  tail  as  the  cry  "  houtou  "  (or  something  like  it)  is 
uttered.  Their  ordinary  food  is  small  reptiles,  insects,  and  fruits. 
The  nest  of  one  species,  as  observed  by  Mr.  Robert  Owen,  is  at  the 
end  of  a  hole  bored  in  the  bank  of  a  watercourse,  and  the  eggs  are 
pure  white  and  glossy  {Ihis,  1861,  p.  65).  Little  else  has  been 
recorded  of  their  ways. 

The  MoTUotidse  form  but  a  small  group,  containing,  according 
to  the  enumeration  of  them  in  1873  by  Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin 
(Nomenclator,  pp.  102,  103),  but  17  species,^  distributed  into  6 
genera,  of  which  last,  however,  Dr.  Murie  (I.e.)  would  only  recognize 
four — Momotus,  Baryphthengus,  Hylo'mane$,a,ndi  Eumomota — the  second 
including  Urospatha,  and  the  last  Prionorhynclms,  while  Dr.  Sharpe 
in  1892  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xvii.  pp.  313-332)  made  an  additional 
genus,  raising  the  number  of  genera  to  7  and  of  species  to  18. 
The  distinctions  between  Dr.  Murie's,  and  still  more  Dr.  Sharpe's 
groups  would  require  more  space  to  indicate  than  can  here  be 
allowed ;  but  it  may  be  stated  that,  while  all  have  a  general 
resemblance  in  the  serrated  edges  of  the  bill  and  many  other 
characters,  Momotus  has  the  normal  number  of  12  rectrices,  Avhile 
the  rest  have  only  10,-  which  in  Hylomanes  have  the  ordinary  con- 
figuration, but  in  adult  examples  of  all  the  others  the  shaft  of  the 
median  pair  is  devoid  of  barbs  for  the  space  of  about  an  inch  a 
little  above  the  extremity,  so  as  to  produce  a  spatulate  appearance, 
such  as  is  aff'orded  by  certain  Humming-birds  known  as  "  Eacquet- 

^  The  same  number  was  recognized  by  the  first-named  of  these  gentlemen  in 
his  review  of  the  Famil}'-  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1857,  pp.  248-260),  where  they  are  all 
diagnosed,  a  species,  subsequently  described  by  Dr.  Cabanis  (Jihis.  Hein.  ii.  p. 
115),  not  being  admitted. 

-  Dr.  Sharpe  {I.e.)  makes  a  different  statement,  but  I  believe  Dr.  Murie, 
whose  reckoning  is  here  followed,  to  be  right. 


MOULT  595 


tails,"  Kingfishers  of  the  genus  Tanysiptera,  and  Parrots  of  the 
group  Prionitunis.  Waterton  {Wanderings,  Journey  2,  chap,  iii.), 
mentioning  the  species  M.  irasiliensis  by  its  native  name  "  Houtou," 
long  ago  asserted  that  this  peculiarity  Avas  produced  by  the  Motmot 
itself  nibbling  off  the  barbs,  and  this  extraordinary  statement, 
though  for  a  while  doubted,  has  since  been  shewn  by  Mr.  Salvin 
(Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1873,  pp.  429-433),  on  Mr.  Bartlett's  authority,  to 
be  perfectly  true.  The  object  with  which  the  operation  is  per- 
formed is  wholly  unknown.  It  is  sometimes  incompletely  executed, 
and  the  tail  has  then  an  asymmetrical  form.  This  must  have  been  the 
case  with  the  example  that  Hernandez  described  (/.c),  and  brought  on 
himself  the  criticism  of  Willughby  (Oniithologia,  p.  298)  for  so  doing. 
Much  of  the  bibliography  of  the  family  is  given  in  Dr.  Murie's 
paper  already  quoted ;  and  it  may  be  remarked  that  in  1734  Seba, 
probably  misled  by  wrong  information,  figm-ed  (lierum  Nat.  Thesaur. 
tab.  67,  fig.  2)  under  the  name  of  "Motmot"  a  bird  which  has  been 
identified  with  a  species  of  Guan,  and  is  the  Ortalis  motmot  of 
modern  ornithology. 

MOULT,^  the  change  of  plumage,  or  shedding  of  its  old  and 
often  weather-beaten  feathers  to  be  replaced  by  an  entirely  new 
suit,  to  which  almost  every  individual  bird  is  subject  at  least  once 
a  year,  and  a  process  of  the  most  vital  consequence,  being  possibly 
the  severest  strain  to  which  the  life  of  each  is  exposed,  for  to  judge 
by  its  effects  on  those  we  domesticate,  it  produces  a  greater  mortality 
than  temporary  want  of  food  may  do.  Important  then  as  is  all 
that  relates  to  the  subject,  it  is  yet  one  that  has  been  sadly  neglected 
by  ornithologists,  among  whom  that  careful  observer  the  late  Herr 
W.  Meves  seems  alone  to  have  published  any  extensive  series  of  ob- 
servations,^  and  it  is  certainly  not  to  the  credit  of  ornithologists 
in  general,  and  especially  of  those  who  are  afforded  facilities  by 
Zoological  Gardens,  that  so  much  ignorance  of  the  process  should 
prevail  as  undoubtedly  is  the  case,  for  since  his  time  little  advance 
has  been  made  in  our  knowledge,  so  that  questions  arising  out  of 
investigations  made  by  him  more  than  forty  years  ago  remain  vm- 
answered  and  disregarded  ;  and,  apart  from  general  works,  in  which 
the  subject  is  usually  but  lightly  touched,  the  literature  relating  to 
this  branch  of  ornithology  is  very  small.  The  structure  and  mode 
of  growth  of  Feathers  has  already  been  sufficiently  treated,  and 

^  In  Middle  English  the  word  (originally  a  verb)  is  mout,  the  modern  I  being 
redundant,  and  it  is  derived  from  the  Latin  mutare,  to  change. 

^  His  valuable  paper  is  in  the  (Efversigt  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Stock- 
holm for  1854  (No.  8),  and  an  English  translation  of  it  has  been  published  by 
Mr.  Dresser  {Zoologist,  1879,  pp.  81-89),  while  a  German  version  containing  some 
modifications  and  additional  matter  appears  in  the  Journal  filr  Ornithologie  for 
1855  (pp.  230-238).  But  the  essay  treats  also  of  change  of  colour  in  feathers 
apart  from  moult. 


596  MOULT 


here  Ave  have  briefly  to  consider  the  difl"erent  phases  which  the  act 
of  Moulting  offers. 

As  a  general  rule  all  kinds  of  Birds  are  subject  to  an  annual 
Moult,  and  this  commonly  begins  immediately  on  the  close  of  the 
breeding-season,  but,  as  will  be  presently  explained,  there  are 
some  which  undergo  in  addition  a  second  or  even  a  third  partial 
change  of  plumage,  and  it  is  possible  that  there  may  be  others  still 
more  exceptional :  our  information  respecting  these,  however,  is  too 
meagre  to  make  it  worth  while  saying  anything  here  about  them. 
It  must  be  acknowledged  that  with  regard  to  the  greatest  number 
of  forms  we  can  only  judge  by  analogy,  and  though  it  may  well  be 
that  some  interesting  deviations  from  the  general  rule  exist  of 
which  Ave  are  altogether  ignorant,  yet  Avhen  we  consider  that  the 
Pcatitx,  so  far  as  observed,  moult  exactly  in  the  same  manner  as 
most  other  birds,^  the  uniformity  of  the  annual  change  may  be 
almost  taken  for  granted. 

It  is  not  intended  here  to  say  more  {cf.  p.  248)  of  the  Avay  in 
Avhich  a  feather  dies  and  a  new  one  succeeds  it,  nor  need  we  com- 
pare the  process  of  moulting  Avith  the  analogous  shedding  of  the 
hair  in  Mammals  or  of  the  skin  in  Reptiles,  though  the  latter,  in 
the  case  of  the  flipper-like  Avings  of  the  Penguin — the  scaly  feathers 
of  Avhich  come  oif  in  flakes — Mr.  Bartlett  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1879,  p. 
6)  has  shewn  to  be  remarkably  close.  Enough  for  our  present 
purpose  to  see  that  such  renovation  is  required  in  Birds,  nearly  all 
of  Avhich  have  to  depend  upon  their  quills  for  the  means  of  loco- 
motion and  hence  of  livelihood.  It  is  easy  to  understand  that  dur- 
able as  are  the  flight-feathers,  they  do  not  last  for  ever,  and  are 
beside  very  subject  to  accidental  breakage,  the  consequence  of 
which  Avould  be  the  crippling  of  the  bird.^  It  is  obviously  to  pro- 
Adde  against  Avhat  in  most  cases  would  be  such  a  disaster  as  this  last 
that  we  find  the  remiges,  or  quill-feathers  of  the  Avings,  to  be  nearly 
always  shed  in  pairs.  They  drop  out  not  indeed  absolutely  at  the 
same  moment,  though  this  sometimes  seems  to  happen,  but  Avithin 
a  few  days  of  each  other,  and,  equilibrium  being  thus  preserved, 
the  poAver  of  flight  is  but  slightly  deteriorated  by  their  temporary 
loss.  The  same  may  be  observed  in  a  less  degree,  since  there  is 
less  need  of  regularity,  Avith  the  rest  of  the  plumage,  as  a  little 
attention  to  any  tame  bird  Avill  shew,  and  the  neAV  feathers  groAV  at 
an  almost  equal  rate.  In  the  young  of  most  species  the  original 
quills  are  not  shed  dui'ing  the  first  year,  nor  in  the  young  of  many 
does  there  seem  to  be  an  entire  moult  during  that  time,  but  in  the 

^  For  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  I  am  indebted  to  the  vast  experience  of  Mr. 
Bartlett. 

-  By  an  ingenious  but  simple  process  known  as  "imping,"  which  properly 
means  engi-afting,  and  is  described  in  almost  every  book  on  hawking,  falconers 
repair  any  broken  flight-feather,  and  so  restore  the  bird  to  its  full  power. 


MOULT  597 


typical  Gallmse,}-  which  are  able  to  fly  at  a  very  early  age,  often  before 
they  are  one-third  grown,  the  original  quills,  being  proportioned 
to  the  duties  required  of  them,  are  shed  before  the  bird  has 
attained  its  full  size  and  are  succeeded  by  others  that  serve  it  when 
it  has  reached  maturity.  In  the  Anaiidx  and  some  other  groups, 
however,  we  have  a  singular  exception  to  what  has  been  above 
stated.  Most  of  the  former.  Ducks,  Geese  and  Swans,  shed  their 
quill-feathers  all  at  once,  and  become  absolutely  incapable  of  flight 
for  a  season,^  during  which  time  they  generally  seek  the  shelter 
of  thick  aquatic  herbage,^  and  it  is  further  to  be  particularly 
remarked  that  the  males  of  most  of  the  Family  Anatidse  at  the 
same  period  lose  the  brilliantly-coloured  plumage  which  commonly 
distinguishes  them  and  "  go  into  eclipse,"  as  Waterton  happily  said, 
putting  on  for  several  weeks  a  dingy  garb  much  resembling  that  of 
the  other  sex,  to  resume  their  gay  attire  only  Avhen,  their  new 
quills  being  gro^vn,  it  can  be  safely  flaunted  in  the  open  air.  Here 
we  have  the  first  instances  of  Additional  Moult  to  be  mentioned. 
Another  is  not  less  interesting,  though  ornithologists  must  confess 
with  shame  that  they  have  not  sufficiently  investigated  it.  This  is 
that  of  the  Ptarmigan,  Lagopus  mutiis  (p.  392),  both  sexes  of  which  not 

^  Nothing  seems  to  be  known  about  the  moulting  of  the  young  Megapodiidie, 
and  information  thereon  would  be  very  acceptable. 

-  A  Patagonian  form,  the  Logger-head  (p.  518,  No.  3)  Tachtjeres  cincreus, 
seems  never  to  regain  the  power  of  flight  thus  lost  (c/.  Cunningham,  Pi-oc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1871,  p.  262), 

^  It  is  amusing  to  find  from  comments  on  a  paper  by  the  Baron  d'Hamonville 
(Bull.  Soc.  Zool.  Fr.  1884,  pp.  101-106),  that  the  observation  of  this  fact  has- 
been  regarded  by  reviewers  and  others  as  a  recent  discovery.  The  fact  may  have 
been  neglected  by  some  writers  ;  but  it  was  well  known  to  a  monk  of  the  12th 
century  [Liber  Eliensis,  ii.  cap.  105),  and  it  is  hard  to  imagine  the  time  when  it  was 
not  familiar  to  "divers  persons  next  inhabiting  in  the  countries  and  places  within 
this  realm,  where  the  substance  of  the  same  wild-fowl  hath  been  accustomed  to 
breed,"  for  they — to  continue  the  words  of  an  Act  of  Parliament  (25  Hen.  viii. 
cap.  11)  passed  in  1533 — "in  the  summer  season,  at  such  time  as  the  said  old 
fowl  be  moulted,  and  not  replenished  with  feathers  to  fly  ,  .  .  have  by  certain 
nets,  engines  and  other  policies  yearly  taken  great  numbers  of  the  same  fowl,  in 
.such  wise  that  the  brood  of  wild-fowl  is  almost  thereby  wasted  and  consumed." 
It  was  accordingly  declared  unlawful  to  take  Wild  Ducks  or  Wild  Geese  in  this 
manner  between  the  last  day  of  May  and  the  last  day  of  August.  Another  Act 
in  1710  (9  Anne,  cap.  25,  §  4)  reinforced  this  provision  for  any  "Fowl  commonly 
reputed  Waterfowl,  in  any  place  of  resort  for  wild  fowl  in  the  moulting  season, " 
and  in  1737  (10  Geo.  ii.  cap.  32,  §  10),  the  close  time  for  moulting  waterfowl 
was  extended  to  the  1st  of  October. 

A  similar  state  of  things  in  the  Flamingo  came  under  the  notice  of  Pallas 
{Zoogr.  Ross.-Asiat.  ii.  p.  207)  who  therein  is  corroborated  by  Crespon  {Orn.  du 
Gard,  p.  396)  ;  and,  more  recently,  it  has  been  asserted  by  M.  Gerbe  (Rev.  Zool. 
1875,  pp.  271-277,  pi.  vi.)  to  obtain  in  the  Puffin,  Fratcrcula  arctica,  and  in 
the  Black-throated  Diver,  Colymhus  areiicus. 


598 


MOULT 


only  moult  after  the  breeding-season  is  over  into  a  grey  suit,  and 
then  again  as  autumn  passes  away  into  their  snowy  winter-clothing, 
but,  divesting  themselves  of  this  last  in  spring,  at  that  time  put  on 
each  a  third  and  most  distinctive  dress — these  changes,  however, 
do  not  extend  to  the  quills  either  of  the  wings  or  tail.^ 

The  number  of  Birds  which  undergo  a  more  or  less  entire 
Double  Moult  is  very  considerable,  and  the  peculiarity  is  not  always 
characteristic  of  Families  or  even,  unless  in  a  very  restricted  sense,  of 
genera.  Thus  while  the  Garden-WAEBLER,  Sylvia  salicaria,  and  the 
Whitethroats,  S.  rufa  and  aS'.  curruca,  are  said  to  moult  twice  in  the 
year  the  BLACKCAP,  S.  atricapilla,  does  so  but  once.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  Emberizidm  (Bunting),  in  which  Family  both  prac- 
tices seem  to  obtain,  but  on  the  other  hand,  the  distinction  in  this 
respect  between  the  Alaudidx  (Lark)  and  the  Anthinm  (Pipit), 
belonging  to  the  Family  Motacillidx  (Wagtail),  appears,  so  far  as 
our  knowledge  goes,  to  be  invariable,  though  the  habits  and  general 
appearance  of  both  groups  are  so  much  alike — the  Alaudidse  moult- 
ing but  once  and  the  Anthinse,  conforming  to  the  practice  of  the 
normal  Motadllidx  {MotacilUnx),  twice  a  year — the  quills,  be  it 
understood,  excepted.  But  it  would  be  impossible  here  to  give 
more  than  these  few  examples,  and  indeed  we  scarcely  know  any- 
thing of  the  subject  outside  of  some  groups  belonging  to  the 
Xorthern  hemisphere.^ 

In  a  large  number  of  species  the  Additional  Moult  is  very 
partial,  being  often  limited  to  certain  portions  of  the  plumage,  and 
it  is  yet  an  unsolved  problem  how  far  some  of  the  changes  to  be 
observed  are  due  to  actual  Moult  and  how  far  to  the  alteration  of 
colour  in  the  feathers  themselves,  as  also  the  way  by  which  this 
alteration  of  colour  is  produced,  whether,  as  certainly  happens  in 
many  instances,  by  the  dropping  off  of  the  "  barbicels  " — the  fine 
filaments  that  fringe  the  "  barbules,"  which  are  arranged  on  the 
upper  surface  of  each  "  barb  "  composing  the  web  of  the  feather — 
or  in  some  other  manner.  With  either  of  these  last  considerations 
we  need  not  now  concern  ourselves.  It  is  unquestionable  that  there 
are  innumerable  species  of  birds,  the  males  at  least  of  which  put 
forth  in  spring  decorative  plumes  unknown  at  any  other  season, 
and  it  would  appear  that  in  some  of  them  the  feathers  which 
before  clothed  the  parts  whence  the  newly-donned  ornaments  grow 
are  doffed  to  make  room  for  these  paraphernalia  of  marriage. 

^  Macgillivi-ay  {Brit.  Birds,  i,  p.  196  ;  and  Nat.  Hist,  of  Deeside,  p.  405) 
thought  there  were  four  moults  in  this  species,  but  that  seems  to  be  one  too 
many.  Meves  {loc.  cit.)  and  the  Abbe  Caire  [Rev.  Zool.  1854,  p.  494)  independ- 
ently made  the  discovery  of  the  Triple  Moult,  and  almost  simultaneously 
announced  it  (c/.  Gloger,  Journ.  fur  Orn.  1856,  p.  461). 

-  The  fullest  list  as  yet  published  is  that  of  Meves  {Journ.  f.  Orn.,  loc.  cit.), 
but  it  is  not  entirely  free  from  error. 


MOULT  599 


The  subject  of  Additional  Moult  is  thus  intimately  connected 
■with  the  seasonal  adornment  of  Birds,  and  as  that  properly  be- 
longs to  a  branch  of  the  great  question  of  Natural  Selection  it 
could  not  be  suitably  entered  upon  here.  The  reader  is  accordingly 
referred  to  those  excellent  chapters  in  which  Mr.  Darwin^  has 
treated  the  matter  with  his  usual  perspicuity,  though  even  he  has 
far  from  exhausted  its  varied  points  of  interest. 

It  remains  to  be  remarked  that  though  the  annual  Moult  com- 
monly takes  place  so  soon  as  the  breeding-season  is  over,  there  are 
plenty  of  cases  in  which  the  change  is  delayed  to  a  later  period. 
This  is  so  with  the  Swallow,  Hirundo  rustica,  which  has  long  been 
known  to  moult  in  our  mid-wanter  or  even  later,  and  it  is  generally 
the  way  with  the  Diurnal  Birds-of-Prey.  But  unquestionably  most 
birds  accomplish  the  change  much  earlier,  and  before  they  leave 
their  breeding-quarters  for  their  winter  haunts,  thereby  starting  on 
one  of  their  great  annual  journeys  with  all  the  external  machinery 
of  flight  renewed  and  in  the  best  condition  for  escaping  its  attend- 
ant perils. 

But  the  plumage  is  not  the  only  part  of  the  Bird's  integument 
that  undergoes  regularly  periodical  change.  Many  years  ago 
Nilsson  made  known  by  a  communication  to  the  annual  report  of 
the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Stockholm  on  Zoology  for  1828  (pp. 
104-106)  that  in  certain  species  of  Tetraonidx  (Grouse)  the  Claws 
grow  to  an  inordinate  length  in  winter  and  are  partly  shed  or  worn 
off  as  spring  comes  on,  and  the  fact  has  since  received  further 
attention  (cf.  Dresser,  B.  Eur.  vii.  p.  189,  pi.  485).  The  seasonal 
elongation  of  the  bill  of  Redpolls  during  summer,  first  announced 
as  a  conjecture  by  Gloger  {Journ.  fiir  Orn.  1856,  pp.  433-440),  had 
been  previously  made  known  to  the  present  writer  by  Wolley,  who 
first  observed  it  in  1853-4  (cf.  Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,  ii.  p.  139). 
In  both  these  cases,  however,  the  getting  rid  of  the  extraneous 
growth  is  to  a  great  extent  a  mechanical  process,  and  therefore  in 
some  measure  comparable  with  the  shedding  of  the  fringes  of  the 
feathers  before  mentioned.  Not  so  does  it  seem  to  be  with  others, 
and  a  far  stranger  state  of  things  was  revealed  by  the  observation, 
originally  made  by  Mr.  H.  G.  Palmer  about  1865,  according  to  Mr. 
Eidgway  (U.  S.  Geol.  Explor.  iOth  Farall.  iv.  p.  634),  who  himself 
confirmed  it  in  countless  instances,  that  irrespective  of  sex  the 
White  Pelican  of  North  America,  during  the  breeding- season, 
bears  on  the  ridge  of  its  bill  a  curious  horny  projection,  flattened 
at  the  sides  and  roughly-triangular  in  shape,  which  is  worn  for 
about  two  months  only,  and  then  dropping  ofi"  may  be  "  gathered 
by  the  bushel "  on  the  nesting-grounds  of  the  species,  as  recorded 
by  Baird  (Ibis,  1869,  p.  350).     Still  more  extraordinary  was  the 

^  The  Descent  of  Man  and  Selection  in  relation  to  Sex,  chaps,   xiii.-xvi. 
London:  1871. 


6oo  MOUND-BIRD— MOUSE-BIRD 

discovery  by  Dr.  Bureau  of  the  Puffin  moulting  the  horny  sheath 
of  its  Bill,  together  with  the  outgrowths  over  the  eyes,  while  the 
fleshy  rosette  at  the  corner  of  the  mouth  shrinks  to  insignificance, 
completely  changing  the  bird's  physiognomy,  and  he  has  since  de- 
scribed the  same  astonishing  metamorphosis  as  existing  in  other 
allied  forms,  including  the  genera  Chimerina,  Ombria,  and  Simorhyuchus 
{Bull.  Soc.  Zool  Fr.  1877,  pp.  377-399,  pi.  v.  and  1879,  pp.'  1-63, 
pis.  i.-vi.)  Mr.  Harting  has  given  a  translation  of  the  first  of  these 
papers,  with  a  reproduction  of  the  remarkable  plate  {Zool.  1878, 
pp.  233-240),  and  Dr.  Coues  has  published  an  abstract  of  both 
{Bull.  Nutt.  Orn.  Club,  iii.  pp.  87-91,  and  v.  pp.  127,  128). 

MOUND-BIED,  a  name  sometimes  given  to  the  Megapodes  in 
general,  from  their  mode  of  nidification,  but  not  applicable  to  all. 

MOUNTAIN-,  a  prefix  to  the  name  of  many  birds,  but  often 
inappropriate,  and  seldom  used  except  in  books,  or  by  persons 
whose  knowledge  is  thereto  limited — thus  Mountain-Bunting  is  the 
Snow-BuNTiNG ;  Mountain-Cock  the  Capercally  ;  Mountain-Duck 
^^  several  species  of  Anatidse — and  in  New  ^Zealand-  apparently 
applied  colloquially  to  Tadorna  tadm-noides  (Sheld-drake)  ;  Moun- 
tain-Finch the  Brambling  ;  Mountain-Parrot  the  Kea  (see  Nestor)  ; 
Mountain-Sparrow  the  Tree-SPARROW,  and  so  on. 

MOUSE-BIRD  (Dutch  Muisvogel),  the  name  by  which  in  Cape 
Colony,  Natal,  and  other  parts  of  British  Africa,  the  members  of 
Brisson's  genus  Colius,'^  Englished  Coly  in  1773  by  Pennant  {Gen. 
B.  p.  31),  are  known — partly,  it  would  seem,  from  their  general 
coloration,  but  probably  more  from  their  singular  habit  of  creeping 
along  the  boughs  of  trees  with  the  whole  tarsus  applied  to  the 
branch.  By  the  earlier  systematists,  who  had  few  opportunities  of 
examining  the  internal  structure  of  exotic  forms,  Colius  was  usually 
placed  among  the  Fringillidx ;  but  nearly  all  travellers  who  had 
seen  one  or  another  species  of  it  in  life  demurred  to  that  view. 
Still  its  position  was  doubtful  till  Dr.  Murie,  in  an  elaborate  treatise 
on  its  osteology  and  systematic  place  {Ibis,  1872,  pp.  262-280,  pi. 
X.)  shewed  that  it  was  no  Passerine,  and  subsequently  {Ibis,  1873, 
p.  190,  note)  proposed  to  regard  the  Family  Coliidx  as  the  sole  repre- 
sentative of  a  distinct  group  (PAlkLPRODAGTYL^) — this  word  being 
coined  to  indicate  the  obvious  character  of  all  the  toes  being 
ordinarily  directed  forwards,  though  it  is  by  no  means  the  only 
peculiar  character  these  birds  possess.  A  few  years  later  most  of 
Dr.  Murie's  views  were  confirmed  by  Garrod  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876, 
pp.  416-419),  who  added  considerably  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
general  anatomy  of  the  Family,  which  he  considered  to  be  related 
on  the  one  hand  to  the  Ficidee  (Woodpecker),  and  on  the  other  to 

1  Some  other  generic  divisions  have  been  suggested,  but  on  grounds  so  slender 
as  hardly  to  merit  consideration. 


MUGG  Y—MUXIA 


60 1 


the  Alcedinidie  (Kingfisher),  and 
Coliidm  are  small  birds,  with  a  rath 
crested  head,  a  very  long  tail,  and 
coloured  plumage  that  sometimes  hr 
diversified  with  white  or  chestnut. 
fruits,  but  occasionally  take  insects, 
bands   of   fifteen   or   twenty   from 


Bucerotidx  (Hornbill).      The 

er  Finch-like  bill,  a  more  or  less 

are  generally  of  a  dun  or  slate- 

ightens  into  blue  or  is  pleasingly 

They  feed  almost  wholly  on 

in  quest  of  which  they  pass  in 

tree   to   tree,    and   hang  in  all 


MoTJSE-BiRD.    (Partly  after  Mitchell.) 

attitudes  from  the  Ijranches  as  they  feed.  It  is  even  said  that  they 
sleep  suspended  by  their  powerful  and  versatile  toes.  Ten  species 
are  recognized  by  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mas.  xvii.  pp.  338-34:6, 
and  500),  all  belonging  to  the  Ethiopian  Region  (of  which  the 
Family  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic),  and  ranging  from 
Abyssinia  southwards.     Three  species  inhabit  the  Cape  Colony. 

MUGGY,  possibly  cognate  with  the  latter  part  of  Gmsmitcke 
(Grass-Midge),  the  common  German  name  of  the  Whitethroat, 
and  allied  birds ;  but  perhaps  only  a  corruption  of  Meggy. 

MULLET-HAWK,  a  name  for  the  Osprey. 

MUMRUFFIN",  said  to  be  a  local  name  of  the  Long-tailed  Tit- 
mouse. 

MUNIA,  the  general  name  in  many  parts  of  India  for  several 
kinds  of  small  seed-eating  birds,   commonly  placed  in  the  Family 


6o2 


MURRE— MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 


Ploceidse  (Weaver-bird),  which  are  distinguished  for  their  familiarity 
with  man,  their  gregarious  habits,  their  depredations  on  the  rice- 
crops,  and  their  ingenious  Nests,  to  quote  Mr.  Hodgson  (Asiat. 
Researches,  xix.  p.  155),  who  not  only  Anglified  the  word  but 
Latinized  it,  making  it  the  title  of  a  genus  to  which  he  assigned  three 
species,  while  Dr.  Sharpe  in  1890  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiii.  p.  326) 
referred  to  it  no  fewer  than  twenty-six.  Many  of  them  are  among 
the  commonest  of  exotic  cage-birds. 

MURRE,  a  name  applied  by  fishermen  indifferently  to  Guille- 
mot and  Razor-bill. 

MUSCULAR  SYSTEM.  Muscles  constitute  what  is  generally 
called  "flesh,"  and  are  composed  of  fibres,  each  of  which  is  an 
elongated  cell  of  contractile  tissue  surrounded  by  a  thin  sheath  of 
connective  tissue,  the  whole  being  held  together  by  an  outer  sheath 
of  connective,  and  frequently  elastic,  tendinous  tissue.  The  fibres 
are  arranged  with  their  long  axes  in  the  dkection  of  the  action  or 
pull  of  the  muscle,  and  each  is  intimately  connected  with  a  nerve- 
cell,  stimulation  of  which  causes  contraction,  and  consequently 
draws  together  the  parts  to  which  the  whole  muscle  is  attached. 
In  the  Muscles  of  the  Skeleton  the  attachment  nearest  to  the  axis 
of  the  body  is  called  the  "Head"  or  "origin";  the  attachment 
furthest  from  the  same  is  the  "  Tail "  or  "  insertion  " — no  matter 
which  extremity  is  the  pundum  jixum :  the  intermediate  portion 
is  the  "Belly"  or  "Body." 

In  Birds,  as  in  other  Vertebrates,  there  are  two  fundamentally 
difterent  kinds  of  Muscles  : — 

1.  Involuntary  or  unstriped  Muscles,  which  are  generally  of  slow 
or  rhythmical  action,  such  as  all  those  of  the  viscera,  and  the 
true  cvitaneous  Muscles,  such  as  those  attached  to  the  root  of  the 
feathers. 

2.  Voluntary  or  striped  Muscles,  in  which  each  fibre  under  a 
microscope  seems  to  consist  of  a  great  number  of  alternate  dark 
and  light  disks,  which  cause  a  transverse  striation. 

The  Muscle  of  the  Heart  is  in  some  degi^ee  intermediate  between 
those  two  kinds. 

The  nomenclature  of  Muscles  has  always  been  difficult.  Names 
like  Musciilus  deltoides  or  M.  gracilis  aflbrd  no  information,  and  the 
physiological  method  of  naming  a  muscle  from  its  function  permits 
only  a  limited  application.  The  most  preferable  way  is  to  use  a 
compound  word,  of  which  the  first  portion  should  indicate  the 
origin,  and  the  second  the  insertion,  further  distinction,  when 
needed,  being  secured  by  an  additional  adjective — as  M.  ilio-tibialis 
internus.  Where  the  old  names  of  human  anatomy  can  be  used 
without  mistaken  homology,  they  may  be  well  applied  to  Birds,  as 
with  M.  latissimus  dorsi  or  M.  biceps,  even  though  the  words  M. 


MUSCULAR  SYSTEM  603 

spini-humeralis  and  M.  coraco-humero-brachialis  would  also  fix  and, 
moreover,  in  a  measure  describe  the  muscle ;  but  the  application  of 
these  old  names  is  not  always  easy,  as  shewn  by  the  M.  supra- 
coracoideus  of  Birds  which  really  is  the  modified  M.  supra- 
spinatus  of  Man,  and  has  been  called  the  M.  pectoralis  minor,  M. 
p.  secundus,  M.  p.  medius  and  M.  subclavicus  ;  while  the  M.  caud- 
ilio-femoralis  figures  as  M.  adductor  femoris,  M.  gemellus,  M. 
pyriformis  and  M.  femoro-caudalis — the  last  being  wrong  and  in- 
appropriate in  more  than  one  way — that  is  to  say,  it  has  been 
mistaken  for  at  least  three  distinct  muscles,  and  since  the  nerve- 
supply  has  not  been  ascertained  by  the  writers  who  employ  those 
names,  it  is  generally  doubtful  Avhich  piece  of  flesh  is  intended  to 
be  described.  Our  knowledge  of  the  homologies  of  avine  Muscles 
may  now  be  regarded  as  fairly  settled  by  the  present  writer  in 
Bronn's  Thier-reich  {Vogel,  pp.  91-325),  thanks  to  the  previous 
labours  of  Alix,  De  Man,  Fiirbringer,  Eetzius,  Eolleston  and 
Riidinger,  and  it  is  based  upon  their  nerve-supply  and  a  study  of 
their  origin  and  insertion  in  a  great  number  of  different  Bii'ds. 

The  taxonomic  value  of  Muscles  is  theoretically  great,  but 
very  limited  when  put  to  a  practical  test.  Most  of  them  cannot 
be  understood  unless  the  whole  group  to  which  they  belong  be 
examined,  and  the  study  of  their  correlations  is  a  very  complicated 
problem.  To  pick  out  a  few  of  the  most  variable  muscles  of  the 
leg,  and  to  arrange  Birds  according  to  their  mere  presence  or 
absence,  ^vithout  regarding  intermediate  stages,  is  an  easy  but 
scarcely  serious  mode  of  investigation,  and  there  is  no  wonder  that 
systems  built  on  such  simple  notions  broke  down.  There  is  no 
reason  why  a  dozen  different  kinds  of  Birds  should  not  have  lost 
the  same  muscle  at  different  times  and  independently  of  each 
other,  and  that  other  kinds  may  not  lose  it  in  future  if  its  function 
be  no  longer  required  or  can  be  fulfilled  by  some  other  combina- 
tion. Similar  conditions  may  possibly  have  abolished  3  out  of 
the  4  famous  thigh-muscles  in  Cypsehis,  Trochilus,  Striges,  Fregata 
and  Accipitres,  and  identical  circumstances  have  caused  Dicholophus 
and  Serpenfarius  to  assume  the  same  "  myological  formula,"  which 
in  this  case  means  only  the  loss  of  the  caudal  portion  of  the  M. 
caud-ilio-femoralis  !  It  is  certain  that  similar  muscular  combina- 
tions in  two  or  more  Birds  do  not  necessarily  mean  relationship, 
while  on  the  contrary  similar  requirements  are  often  met  in 
similar  ways,  that  is  to  say  the  respective  organs  are  "isomor- 
phous"  if  in  two  Birds  they  are  modifications  of  one  and  the 
same  substi^atum  of  the  same  previous  condition,  but  if  identical 
requirements  were  in  both  Birds  reached  after  they  had  already 
dittered  in  their  substratum,  the  later  requirement  would  be 
differently  met,  and  the  results  would  be  no  longer  isomorphous. 
Thus  if  in  a  descendant  of  the  Passeres  the  hallux  became  reduced 


6o4  MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 

and  ultimately  lost,  its  so-called  "  long  flexor  "  muscle  would  in  all 
likelihood  disappear  also,  because  in  existing  Passeres  its  tendon 
is  unconnected  with  that  of  the  M.  flexor  perforans  digitorum, 
while  Birds  which  lost  the  hallux  before  these  two  tendons  were 
disconnected  have  kept  both  these  muscles. 

Prof.  Fiirbringer,  who  with  enormous  labour  has  exhaustively 
studied  the  muscles  of  the  shoulder -girdle,  has  tabulated  the 
chief  characters  of  14  muscles  selected  with  a  view  to  taxonomic 
application,  but  the  results  are  very  small  and  far  less  obvious 
than  those  afforded  by  the  muscles  of  hind  limbs.  The  former, 
as  the  apparatus  of  Flight,  seeci  to  be  more  uniformly  constructed 
than  the  latter,  which  are  more  diversified  according  to  the  varied 
uses  of  the  legs  and  feet.  Fluttering,  skimming,  sailing,  soaring 
are  motions  much  more  akin  to  one  another,  than  climbing,  grasp- 
ing, running,  scratching,  swimming  and  wading.  The  only  really 
aberrant  modifications  of  the  wings  and  their  muscles  are  found  in 
the  Ratitse,  where  they  are  all  easily  explained  by  reduction,  and 
in  the  Spheniscidse,  where  bones  and  muscles  are  greatly  specialized. 
The  modifications  of  the  hind  limbs  are  many  times  greater — such 
as  extremely  long  legs,  with  four,  three  or  only  two  toes — short  or 
long :  very  short  legs,  almost  incapable  of  running  or  walking,  with 
all  four  toes  directed  forwards,  or  two  or  one  backwards,  and  two 
or  more  connected  in  various  ways. 

Most  Muscles  leave  an  impression  upon  the  bones  to  which 
they  are  attached,  in  the  shape  of  ridges,  furrows,  crests  and 
processes.  These  marks,  small  as  they  often  are,  are  mostly 
significant,  and  of  greater  assistance  in  the  recognition  of  a  bone 
than  its  general  configuration,  as  any  one  will  find  on  trying  to 
determine  the  kind  of  bird  to  which  a  given  bone  belongs.  The 
muscles  are  not  as  a  rule  attached  to  such  crests  and  ridges 
because  these  happen  to  be  there,  but  on  the  contrary  they  shape 
the  bone  which  serves  as  their  passive  framework  :  what  is  bred  in  the 
flesh  comes  out  in  the  bone,  not  vice  versa.  It  is  the  quality  not 
the  quantity  of  an  organ  that  determines  its  taxonomic  value, 
and  adhesion  to  this  principle  precludes  us  from  classifying  Birds 
by  trim  myological  formulae  which  seem  to  afford  easy  keys,  but 
rather  obscure  than  elucidate  natural  afiinities. 

Without  entering  upon  genetic  and  therefore  fundamental 
differences,  the  voluntary  skeletal  muscles  may  be  conveniently 
grouped  thus  : — 

A.  Muscles  supplied  by  spinal  nerves. 

a.   Muscles  of  the  Stem  (neck,  trunk  and  tail). 

1.  Dorso-spinal  Muscles,  supplied  by  dorsal  Lranclies. 

2.  Ventri-spinal  Muscles,  supplied  by  ventral  branches. 
p.    Muscles    of   the   extremities    (limbs)    supplied    by   ventral 

branches. 


MUSCULAR   SYSTEM  605 

B.  Muscles  supplied  by  cranial  nerves, 
a.  Muscles  of  the  Visceral  Skeleton, 

1.  Muscles  of  the  Jaws. 

2.  Muscles  of  the  Hyoid  apparatus  (page  452). 
/?.  Muscles  of  the  Syrinx. 

•y.  Muscles  of  the  Ear  (page  178)  and  Eye  (page  229). 

A.  The  Muscles  of  the  Stem  {A.a)  and  of  the  Extrem- 
ities {A.^)  not  only  exhibit  many  varieties  in  different  Birds,  but 
they  are  also  very  numerous,  about  one  hundred  pairs  being  recog- 
nized. To  describe  them  all  adequately  would  go  far  beyond  the 
scope  of  this  Avork,  while  simply  to  name  them  and  devote  a  few  lines 
to  the  general  condition  of  each  would,  considering  their  great  vari- 
ability, be  of  no  practical  use,  for  the  dissection  and  recognition  of 
Muscles  is  not  easy.  In  what  follows,  therefore,  only  some  of 
those  Avill  be  dealt  with  which,  rightly  or  wrongly,  bear  the 
reputation  of  being  of  taxonomic  value. 

Musculus  pedoralis,  consisting  of  a  thoracic,  propatagial  and 
abdominal  portion — the  first  forming  the  chief  muscular  mass  of 
the  breast  and  arising  from  the  sternum  in  the  shape  of  a  U — the 
two  arms  of  which  surround  the  m.  sup'acoracoideus,  the  longer 
formed  by  the  clavicle,  sterno-clavicular  membrane  and  the  side 
of  the  keel,  the  shorter  by  the  body  and  lateral  margin  and 
membranes,  filling  the  sternal  notches,  and  adjoining  parts  of  the 
sternal  ribs.  All  the  fibres  of  this  great  muscle,  which  occupies 
most  of  the  ventral  surface  of  the  sternum,  converge  toward  the 
shoulder  into  one  or  two  tendons,  the  principal  of  which  is  inserted 
on  the  greater  tubercle  and  the  upper  crest  of  the  humerus,  and 
the  muscle  is  the  chief  depressor  of  the  upper  arm  during  the 
down  stroke,  Avhile  it  also  rotates  it  forwards.  This  last  is  especially 
its  effect  in  the  Spheniscidse,  giving  their  wings  the  screw- like 
motion,  and  is  in  conformity  with  the  peculiar  fact  that  the  tendon 
of  the  clavicular  portion  of  the  muscle  is  attached  to  the  Avhole 
length  of  the  radial  sm'faee  of  the  humerus  betAveen  its  inferior 
crest  and  the  head.  The  Aveight  of  both  the  pectoral  muscles 
together  is  said  to  amount  to  about  1/14  in  Birds-of-Prey  and  1/11 
in  Wild  Geese  of  that  of  the  Avhole  body. 

31.  swpracm'acoideus,  arising  chiefly  from  the  sides  of  the  angle 
formed  by  the  keel  and  body  of  the  sternum,  and  from  part  of  the 
coraco- clavicular  membrane,  and  covered  by  the  m.  pedoralis, 
ascending  from  the  sternum  along  the  inner  and  anterior  surface 
of  the  coracoid,  passing  by  a  strong  tendon  through  the  foramen 
triosseum  and  the  region  over  the  joint,  and  inserted  on  the  upper 
tubercle  of  the  crest  of  the  humerus,  which  it  rotates  and  ab- 
ducts. This  muscle  is  generally  described  as  a  second  pectoral  or 
as  the  m.  suhdavms  ;  but  Alix  and  Fiirbringer  have  shewn  that  its 


6o6 


MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 


Mammalian  equivalent  is  the  m.  supraspinatus.  In  Ratitx  it  arises 
almost  wholly  from  the  coracoid,  and  scarcely  from  the  sternum : 
in  Carinatx  the  lateral  margin  of  its  sternal  origin  is  marked  by  a 
ridge  beginning  near  the  coracoid  and  running  parallel  to  the  keel, 
or  converging  towards  or  diverging  posteriorly  from  the  latter. 
The  direction  and  extent  of  this  ridge  afford  some  taxonomic  help, 
as  shewn  thus  : — 


Obigin  of 

Muscle. 

Sternal  Ridoe. 

Converging. 

Parallel. 

Diverging. 

From  the  whole 
length    of    the 
keel. 

From     half     to 
two-thirds. 

From    the     an- 
terior third. 

Spheniscidae,     Tinami- 
d8e,Gallin£e,  Limicolae 
[pt.) 

Limicolai    {pL),    Lari, 
Anseres  {pt. ),  Phoeni- 
copterus,         Pelargi, 
Herodii,         Stegano- 
podes,       Cathartidse, 
Neophron,       Striges, 
Steatoruis. 

Acciptres       {plurimi), 
Colymbidae,         Tubi- 
nares. 

Anseres   (pL),    Grues, 
Columbpe,       Opistho- 
comus,  Psittaci. 

Passeres  (pt.) 

Cypseli,       Tro- 
chili,      Capri- 
mulgidae. 

Picarioe    {plur- 
imse),        Pici, 
Passeres  {plur- 
imi). 

M.  propatagialis  longus,  always  present,  composed  of  slips  from 
the  mm.  deltoides,  pectoralis,  biceps  and  cucuUaris.  Its  strong  belly 
originates  near  the  shoulder-joint  from  the  clavicle,  scapula  and 
coracoid.  Its  tendon  runs  directly  to  the  carpus,  forming  the 
outer  margin  of  the  patagium  or  fold  of  skin  between  the  anterior 
surfaces  of  the  upper  and  forearm,  which  it  with  the  m.  propatag. 
brevis  serves  to  extend,  and  consists  of  yellow  elastic  and  blue 
non-elastic  fibres,  the  latter  radiating  into  and  being  attached  to 
various  portions  of  the  patagium.  When  the  wing  is  extended 
the  elastic  portion  is  stretched  to  about  three  times  its  ordinary 
length,  to  which  it  returns  when  the  wing  is  folded. 

M.  propatagialis  brevis,  composed  like  the  last,  absent  only  in 
Apteryx,  Casuarius,  Dromxus  and  the  Spheniscidse.  In  other  Birds 
it  is  often  very  complicated — the  simplest  condition  being  in  the 
Pici,  where  it  consists  of  a  belly  and  a  strong  tendon,  running 
down  the  anterior  and  outer  side  of  the  upper  arm,  and  attached 
to  the  proximal  tendon  of  the  m.  extensor  metacarpi  radialis  longus, 
a  little  below  the  outer  condyle  of  the  humerus.  In  Cuculus  its 
tendon  is  attached  simply  to  the  ulnar  fascia,  below  the  elbow- 
joint.  In  most  other  Birds  the  tendon  is  split  into  several  jDortions, 
and  is  further  complicated  by  receiving  slips  from,  and  by  connexion 


MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 


607 


witli  the  m.  propatag.  longus.  Frequently  one  or  more  sesamoid 
bones  are  intercalated  Avith  these  tendons,  Avhich  shew  the  most 
complicated  arrangement  in  the  Tubinares. 

Garrod  devoted  nmch  labour  to  the  elucidation  of  these  patagial 
muscles,  regarding  them  as  of  taxonomic  value.     An  obvious  and 


^'g--  S- 


Fig.  6. 


Muscles  of  Left  Arm.     Lateral  View.    (After  Fiirbringer.) 

Fig.  \.-Anas;  2,  Coliimha;  3,  Phcenicophsees ;  4,  Upupa;  5,  Menura;  6,  Cyanocorax. 

D,  m.  deltoides  major ;   D.pt.  deltoid  portion  of  m.  propatagialis  ;  L.d.  m.  latissiinus  dorsi 

(portion);  Pt.h.  and  Pt.l.  mm.  propatagiali.s  brevis  and  m.  longus  ;  T,  m.  triceps. 

(Tlie  m.  biceps  with  its  slip  to  tlie  m.  propatagialis  is  black.) 

constant  character  is  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  slip  from  the  m. 
biceps  to  the  tendon  of  the  m.  propatag.  longus,  and  its  value  may- 
be judged  from  the  following  lists : — 

Present — Gallinai  (excl.  Cracldai),  Cohimbx,  Limicolx,  Laridee,  Al- 
cidx,  BalUdai,  Grues,  Tubinares,  Colymhidx,  Podicipedidse,  Phalacrocorax, 
Plotus,  Sida,  Anseres,  Phainicopterus,  Platalea,  Caprimulgidai,  Colius. 

Absent — Ratitsi,  Tinamidm,  Twrnices,  Cracidx,  Otis,  Cariama, 
Spheniscidm,  Phaethon,  Fregata,  Pelicanus,  Palamedea,  Herodii,  Pelargi, 
Accipitres,  Psittaci,  Striges,  Picarisn  (excl.  Caprimulgidai),  Steatornis, 
Pici,  Passeres. 

31.  metapatagialis,  formed  by  slijDs  from  the  on.  serratus  super- 
Jicialis  and  ni.  latissimus  dorsi,  and  with  the  addition  of  the 
m.  expansor  secundariorum  extending  by  its  tendons  the  posterior 
patagium  or  fold  of  skin  between  the  trunk  and  the  inner  surface 
of  the  upper  arm.      The  scrm^^ts-portion  comes  from  the  ribs  and  is 


6o8 


MUSCULAR   SYSTEM 


inserted  on  the  patagium  and  the  last  cubital  quills,  the  other 
splits  off  from  the  posterior  portion  of  the  latissimus  dorsi  and  acts 
indirectly  on  the  patagium  hj  joining  the  in.  anconseus  longus. 

M.  expansur  secundarioruia  or  of  the  cubital  quills,  arises  as  a  long 
tendon  from  the  sterno-scapular  ligament,  passes  the  axilla,  often 
by  a  fibrous  pulley,  accompanies  the  axillary  vessels  and  nerves 
along  the  humerus,  and  is  inserted  by  a  few  fleshy  fibres  on  the 
base  of  the  last  two  or  three  cubital  quills.  It  is,  however,  more 
complicated  in  many  birds,  especially  Gallina}  and  Anseres;  but 
it  is  scarcely  of  taxonomic  value,  being  weak  or  absent  in  Columbn', 
absent  in  Spheniscidse,  Tubinares,  Stegano2)odes,  some  Herodii,  Alcidxi', 
some  Accijntres,  in  Striges,  Fsittaci,  Cijioselomcnjjhse,  Pici  and  Passeres. 


Elast.  sec. 


ctapatag. 
Tri. 
"Exp.  sec. 

■\ViNO  Muscles  of  a  Goose. 
Bi.  in.  biceps  ;  Elast.  sec.  vinculum  elasticuni  and  Exp.  sec.  m.  expansor  secuudarlorum  ;  Lir;. 
ligament;  Metapatajj.  metapatagium  ;  Pcctor.  m.  pectoralis;  Propatag.  propatagium  ;  Ft.  br. 
and  Pt.  Ig.  mm.  propatagialis  brevis  and  longus  ;  Tri.  m.  triceps. 


31.  fl.cxor  digitorum  suhlimis,  arising  fleshy  from  the  inner  face  of 
the  long  subcutaneous  elastic  band  that  extends  from  the  inner  con- 
dyle of  the  humerus  along  the  ventral  surface  of  the  ulna  to  the  ulnar 
carpal,  over  which  the  tendon  runs  and  is  inserted  on  the  radial 
anterior  side  of  the  first  phalanx  of  the  second  digit.  Owing  to 
the  elasticity  of  the  humero-carpal  band  the  wing  remains  closed 
without  any  special  muscular  exertion,  while,  when  the  wing  is 
extended,  this  band  assists  considerably  in  keeping  it  taut.^ 

M.  AMBIENS  (page  11),  long  and  spindle-shajied,  lying  immedi- 
ately beneath  the  skin  as  the  most  median  or  internal  of  all  the 

^  From  its  position  immediately  under  the  skin,  this  band  may  be  easily  cut, 
and  though  that  operation  -would  cause  a  drooping  of  the  wing,  it  would  suffi- 
ciently hinder  its  being  firmly  e?:tended,  and  tlms  would  be  the  neatest  substitute 
for  the  clumsy  and  barbaric  method  commonly  employed  for  pinioning  Bird?, 
The  power  of  flight  is  more  etfectively  destroyed  if  one  wing  only  be  operated 
upon  than  if  both  are  treated. 


MUSCULAR  SYSTEM  609 

muscles  extending  from  the  pro-acetabular  ilium  to  the  knee.  When 
typically  developed,  it  arises  with  a  short  tendon  from  the  outer  face 
and  the  apex  of  the  pectineal  process  or  ilio-pubic  spine  and  runs  as 
a  long  tendon  between  the  insertion  of  the  m.  sartorius  and  the 
patella  over  the  outer  surface  of  the  knee-joint,  where  it  is  covered 
by  the  origins  of  the  m.  flexor  perforans  and  perforatus  dig.  in.,  and 
the  m.  perfwahis  dig.  ii.,  then  perforating  the  lateral  head  of  the  m. 
peroneus  superficialis,  it  lastly  forms  one  of  the  heads  of  m.  flex. 
perforat.  ii.  or  Hi.  Its  nerve-supply  comes  from  the  last  branch  but 
one  of  the  middle  crural  plexus.  This  muscle  is  subject  to  many 
modifications,  and  upon  their  extremes  were  founded  the  two 
groups  Anomalogonat^  and  Homalogonat^  (see  also  Anatomy, 
page  16).  One  of  the  functions  of  this  peculiar  muscle,  which  is 
similarly  developed  in  Crocodiles,  but  absent  or  not  diflferentiated 
from  the  ilio-tibial  and  ilio-femoral  mass  in  other  Vertebrates,  is 
that  its  contraction  closes  the  second  and  third  toes.^ 

M.  caud-ilio-feinoralis,  when  fully  developed,  consists  of  two 
parts,  inserted  by  a  single  strong  and  ribbon-like  tendon  near  the 
end  of  the  first  third  of  the  hind  face  of  the  femur.  The  caudal 
part  is  longer  than  the  other,  and  arises  from  the  transverse  processes 
of  one  or  more  caudal  vertebrae  passing  externally  over  the  distal 
half  of  the  ischium  and  pubis.  The  iliac  part,  which  is  the  "accessory 
femoro-caudal  "  of  some  writers,  is  more  or  less  triangular  and  arises 
in  most  cases  from  the  outer  face  of  the  distal  half  or  mid-third  of 
the  pro-acetabular  ilium.  This  double-headed  condition  is  the  most 
primitive  and  obtains  in  most  NiDiruG.^,  but  in  many  of  them  as 
well  as  in  many  of  the  NlDiCOL^  either  the  caudal  or  the  iliac  head 
is  absent,  though  in  very  few  is  the  whole  wanting.  The  absence  of 
the  caudal  head  may  possibly  be  correlated  with  the  strength  of  the 

1  Owen,  in  1835,  described  {Cyclop.  Anat.  Physiol,  i.  p.  296)  the  disposition 
of  this  muscle,  which  he  called  the  gracilis,  as  passing  "first,  over  the  con- 
vexity of  the  knee-joint,  and  afterwards  over  the  projection  of  the  heel,  [so]  that 
from  its  connection  with  a  flexor  of  the  toes,  these  must  necessarily  be  bent 
simultaneously  with  every  inflection  of  the  joints  of  the  knee  and  ankle.  As 
these  inflections  naturally  take  place  when  the  lower  extremities  yield  to  the 
superincumbent  weight  of  the  body,  birds  are  thus  enabled  to  grasp  the  twigs  on 
which  they  rest  whilst  sleeping,  without  making  any  muscular  exertion. "  This 
ingenious  explanation  of  the  perching  and  roosting  of  Birds  was  apparently  first 
given  by  Borelli  {De  motu  animalium,  Romee :  1680-82),  and  has  been  copied 
and  made  much  of  by  many  subsequent  writers,  though  Sundevall  in  1851  drew 
attention  to  the  faultiness  of  the  idea,  since  the  avibicns  muscle  is  absent  in  such 
typical  perching  Birds  as  the  Coccygomorphs.  and  Fasseres,  while  it  is  present  in 
the  Ansercs.  Elsewhere  I  have  pointed  out  {Thier-reich,  Vogel,  p.  148)  that  Birds 
possessing  it  can  spread  and  stretch  their  toes  freely  while  the  leg  is  also 
extended  because  then  only  it  is  not  interfered  with,  and  accordingly  it  is  fully 
developed  in  running,  wading,  swimming  and  rapacious  Birds,  but  absent  in 
those  which  hop  and  climb. 

39 


6io 


MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 


leg ;  but  these  four  principal  modifications  are  linked  to  each  other 
by  intermediate  stages,  which  moreover  frequently  occur  in  closely- 
allied  genera  or  even  species.  Thus  the  caudal  head  is  very  weak 
in  (Edicnemus  superciliaris  and  CE.  bistriatus  and,  as  Garrod  found, 
does  not  exist  in  CE.  grallarius.  Dicholophus  cristatus,  like  Otis,  has 
lost  it,  but  D.  hurmeisteri  the  iliac  head  as  well.  In  Ciconia,  the 
Striges  and  Cathartidse  the  whole  muscle  is  represented  only  by  the 
feebly-developed  caudal  head,  and  in  Leptoptilus  this  also  is  lost. 
In  some  of  the  Limicolse,  for  instance  Charadrius  pluvialis  and  Vanellus 
cristatus,  the  presence  of  the  iliac  head  is  an  individual  variation. 
In  Pedionomus  the  iliac  head  is  very  large,  while  the  caudal  is 
reduced  to  a  very  thin  and  feeble  slip  that  does  not  even  reach  the 
femur,  but  merges  into  the  iliac  :  if  this  reduction  were  continued 
Pedionomus  would  agree  with  Pavo  and  Meleagris  and  not  with 
Turnix,  in  which  the  iliac  head  is  absent.  Thus  the  taxonomic 
value  of  this  muscle  may  be  judged  from  the  following  table, 
shewing  its  four  principal  modifications  : — 


Caudal  and  Iliac  Head 

Caudal  Head  alone 

Ilfac  Head  alone 

Both  Heads 

present. 

present. 

present. 

absent. 

Ratitae 

Tinamidse 

Pedionomus 

Turnix 

Gallinae  (most) 

Pavo,  Meleagris 

Pterocles 

- 

Columbas  (most) 

Lopholsemus 

Glareola 

Numenius 

Scolopacinse  (most) 

Haematopus 

Tringinas 

Himantopus 

Strepsilas 

(Edicnemus    super- 

(E. grallarius 

ciliaris,  ffi.  bistri- 

atus 

Charadrius 

, 

Otis 

Vanellus 

Eupodotis 

Crex 

Grus 

Parra 

Dicliolophus      cris- 
tatus 

D.  burmeisteri 

Sterninse 

Larinse 
Alcidae 

Ibididse 

Ciconiinae 

Phoenicopterus 

Leptoptilus 

Platalea 

Herodii 

Tubinares 

Steganopodes 

Col_ymbus 

Podicipes 

Spheniscidae 

Auatidse 

Accipitres 

Striges 
Psittaci 

Serpentarius 

Centi'opus 

Pici 
Cypselomorpbae 

Passeres 

MUSCULAR   SYSTEM 


6ii 


M.  caiul-ilio-JIexoiius  or  semitendinosiis,  subject  to  many  modifica- 
tions, but  when  fully  developed,  as  in  Gallinx,  arising  from  the 
transverse  processes  of  the  first  three  caudal  vertebrae  and  the 
lateral  margin  of  the  posterior  half  of  the  post-acetabular  ilium,  and 
thence  extending,  as  a  broad  ribbon,  mesially  from  the  ischiadic  nerve 
towards  the  popliteal  region,  where  it  splits  into  two  portions,  one 
of  which,  being  broad  and  fleshy,  is  inserted  on  the  posterior  face 
of  the  distal  third  of  the  femur,  while  the  other  starting  at  a  right 


-zJ^n.tih. 


Left  Thigh-Muscles  (Grus  or  Itallus).     Outer  view  after  removal  of  the  superficial  ui.  ilio- 

fibularis  and  m.  ilio-tibialis. 

A,  caudal,  B,  iliac  portion  of  m.  caud-ilio-femoralis  ;  X,  m.  caud-ilio-flexorius  ;  Y,  accessory 
or  femoral  portion  of  tlie  same;  II.  fb.  m.  ilio-flbulari.s  (cut  away);  II.  tih.  ni.  ilio-tibialis 
(cut  away)  ;  Is.  fl.  m.  iscliio-flexorius  ;  Is.  fm.  m.  ischio-feraoralis  ;  P.i.f.  m.  pub-ischio- 
femoralis  ;  Sart.  m.  sartorius  ;  X,  nerve. 

angle  joins  the  fascia  of  the  inner  femoral  head  of  the  7n.  gastro- 
cnemius. The  divergence  of  these  two  portions  is  marked  by  a 
tendinous  intersection,  which  running  in  the  direction  of  the 
gastrocnemial  insertion  has  caused  the  femoral  portion  of  the  whole 
to  be  wrongly  described  as  the  "accessory  semitendinosus."  The 
extent  of  the  insertion  on  the  femur  varies  much,  occupying  more 
than  its  distal  half  in  Ehea  or  confined  to  the  intercondyloid  region, 
s  In  almost  all  swimming  Birds  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  PicaricV, 
there  is  a  complete  split  between  the  femoral  and  crural  portions, 
the  crural  tendon  being  then  inserted  on  the  neck  of  the  tibia,  and 
the  original  femoral  portion  forming  part  of  the  median  femoral 
head  of  the  m.  gastrocnemius,  in  which  case  the  "accessory  head"  is 
generally  stated  to  be  absent.  The  origin  of  this  muscle  likewise 
varies,  arising  either  from  the  tail  and  ilium  as  in  Gallinx,  Pterocles, 


6i2  MUSCULAR   SYSTEM 

Numenius  and  Bhamphastus,  or  from  the  ilium  only  as  in  Larus, 
Ardea,  Gh'us,  Corythaix  and  Podargus.  It  is  frequently  connected 
aponeuroticaily  with  the  m.  ischio-flexorius,  and  when  its  "  accessory  " 
is  absent,  both  are  inserted  on  the  tibia  by  one  common  tendon. 

M.  ischio-fiexoiius  or  semimembranaceus,  ribbon-shaped,  running 
parallel  to  the  posterior  margin  of  the  preceding,  present  in  all 
Birds,  though  sometimes  much  reduced,  as  in  Podicipes,  Columbx  and 
Pierodes,  arising  chiefly  from  the  outer  face  of  the  middle  or  distal 
third  of  the  ischium  and  inserted  by  a  flat  tendon  on  the  neck  of 
the  tibia,  whether  on  its  anterior  crest  or  the  posterior  or  inner 
face.  A  slip  from  the  principal  tendon  frequently  descends  the  leg 
and  is  inserted  either  separately  or  jointly  Avith  a  similar  tendon  of 
the  m.  caud-ilio-flexorius,  being  often  connected  with  it  in  various 
ways. 

M.  ilio-fibularis  or  biceps  cruris,  arising  from  a  great  portion  of 
the  lateral  and  dorsal  margin  of  the  post-acetabular  ilium,  changing 
near  the  knee  to  a  round  and  strong  tendon  that,  accompanied  by 
one  of  the  principal  stems  of  the  ischiadic  nerve,  runs  over  a  ten- 
dinous pulley  ^  and  passing  between  the  outer  and  middle  head  of 
the  m.  gastrocnemius  is  inserted  on  the  tuberosity  of  the  fibula  at 
about  the  level  of  the  first  fifth  of  the  tibia. 

ilf.  extensor  digitorum  communis,  arising  from  the  outer  and 
anterior  face  of  tlie  crest  and  proximal  half  of  the  tibia,  its 
roundish  tendon  passes  mesially  from  that  of  the  m.  tibialis  anticus 
through  the  transverse  ligament  along  the  anterior  metatarsal  groove 
and,  arrived  at  its  distal  end,  splits  into  several  tendons,  according 
to  the  number  of  front  toes,  to  be  inserted  on  the  dorsal  surface  of 
the  base  of  their  several  phalanges.  In  Striges  and  Pandion,  where 
the  fourth  toe  is  reversible,  the  principal  tendon  first  splits  into  two, 
one  for  the  second  toe,  the  other  soon  subdividing  for  the  third  and 
fourth.  In  the  Ehamphastidse  and  Cuculidse,  the  main  stem  goes  to 
the  third  toe,  and  sends  a  short  slip  to  each  of  the  others.  In  the 
Picidse  the  tendon  for  the  fourth  foe  passes  through  an  ossified  loop 
and  over  a  furrow  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  metatarsal,  so  as  to 
ensure  the  extension  of  this  digit  with  the  others  notwithstanding 
its  backward  position.  In  the  Psittaci  alone  the  principal  tendon 
sends  a  slip  to  the  hallux  also,  the  rest  being  divided  into  an  inner 
and  outer  half,  each  of  which  splits  again  to  be  inserted  on  the 
other  toes,  the  third  of  which  therefore  receives  two  such  tendons. 

31.  extensor  hallucis,  arising  from  the  anterior  and  inner  face 
of  the  proximal  part  of  the  second  tarso-metatarsal   and  inserted 

^  This  pulley  or  loop  on  the  outer  side  of  the  knee  is  composed  of  three  arms, 
two  arising  from  the  outer  face  of  the  external  femoral  condyle,  the  tliird  from 
the  inner  head  of  the  m.  perforat.  dig.  iv.  and  supporting  the  outer  of  two 
principal  branches.  Owing  to  the  pulley  the  contraction  of  this  muscle  does  not 
merely  draw  the  leg  towards  the  trunk,  but  also  lifts  it  towards  the  thigh. 


MUSCULAR  SYSTEM  613 

on  the  dorsal  face  of  the  base  of  the  first  phalanx  of  the  hallux. 
Generally  best  developed  in  Birds  with  a  large  hallux,  as  Apteryx, 
Gallinx,  Accipitres,  Steganopodes  and  Herodii,  but  yet  very  small  in 
Ficus  and  absent  in  Psittaci.  When  the  hallux  is  very  small,  as  in 
Pterodes  and  many  Limicolse,  this  muscle  still  exists,  and  though 
slender  is  rather  long. 

Mm,,  flexores  longi  digitorum  consist  of  three  principal  sets, 
each  of  which  is  again  divided  into  several  muscles,  the  hallux 
having  one,  the  fourth  toe  two,  and  the  third  and  second  toe  three 
each,  which  are  conveniently  distinguished  by  the  relation  to  one 
another  of  their  respective  tendons.  Those  that  are  inserted  on 
the  base  of  the  first  phalanges  are  perforated  immediately  above 
the  insertion  by  the  tendons  of  those  that  are  inserted  on  the 
second  and  third  phalanges,  which  in  their  turn  are  perforated  by 
those  that  are  attached  to  the  terminal  phalanges — hence  there  are 
perforati,  perforantes  et  perforati,  and  perforantes. 

Mm.  flexores  perforati  digitorum  ii.  Hi.  in.  These  three,  of  which 
each  anterior  toe  has  one,  arise  in  a  variable  way,  either  separately 
or  partly  blended,  from  almost  any  part  of  the  region  of  the  knee, 
but  especially  from  the  posterior  intercondylar  space  of  the  femur, 
from  its  outer  condyle,  from  the  ligaments  of  the  knee  and  patella, 
the  proximal  part  of  the  tibia  and  fibula,  and  lastly  from  the 
tendon  of  the  m.  ambiens  (page  11),  of  which  in  most  cases  the  m. 
perforatus  Hi.  partly  forms  the  continuation.  Each  of  them  be- 
comes a  distinct  tendon  which  passes  posteriorly  over  the  inter- 
tarsal  joint,  and  piercing  the  pad  above  mentioned,  runs  along  the 
plantar  gToove  of  the  metatarse  to  be  inserted  ventri-laterally  on 
the  base  of  the  first  phalanx  of  the  second,  third  or  fourth  toe  as 
the  case  may  be — their  insertion  being  perforated  as  before  stated. 
The  tendon  of  the  m.  perforatus  Hi.  may  be  easily  recognized,  first 
by  its  passing  the  intertarsal  joint  and  the  pad  the  most  super- 
ficially, and  next  by  its  receiving  below  that  joint  the  lateral 
distal  tendon  of  the  m.  peroneus  superficialis.  The  tendon  of  m. 
perforatus  ii.  often  passes  the  pad  through  a  special  canal,  but  in 
Struthio  is  wholly  absent,  in  conformity  with  the  loss  of  the  corre- 
sponding toe.  The  tendon  of  m.  perforatus  iv.  passes  the  intertarsal 
joint  as  superficially  as  that  of  the  third  toe,  and  is  often  inserted 
on  all  the  four  proximal  phalanges  of  the  fourth  toe. 

Mm.  flexores  perforantes  et  perforati  digitorum  ii.  et  Hi.,  with  a 
similar  origin  to  the  last  group,  except  as  regards  the  m.  ambiens 
(page  11).  The  tendon  of  the  second  toe  pierces  the  pad  by  a  special 
canal,  and  is  inserted  on  the  plantar  and  lateral  faces  of  the  base 
of  its  first  or  second  phalanx,  after  having  perforated  that  of  the 
foregoing  and  being  perforated  by  that  of  the  following  muscle. 
It  is  absent  in  Struthio.  The  tendon  of  the  third  toe  in  many 
Birds  receives  a  vinculum  or  slip  from  that  of  the  m.  perforatus  Hi., 


6i4  MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 

then  passes  the  pad  and  is  inserted  like  that  of  the  second  toe  on 
the  base  of  its  own  second  and  third  phalanges. 

In  conformity  with  the  separate  position  of  the  hallux,  the 
mass  of  deep  flexors  is  divided  into  two  principal  portions,  each 
becoming  a  strong  tendon  which  passes  through  or  posteriorly  over 
the  metatarsal  pad  and  tubercle,  then  along  the  metatarsal  groove 
for  insertion  in  various  ways  on  the  plantar  face  of  the  last  or  two 
last  phalanges,  having  in  its  course  perforated  the  more  super- 
ficial tendons.  It  is  convenient  to  distinguish  these  two  portions, 
the  one  as  m.  jlexor  perforans,  the  other  as  m.  hallucis  longus. 

M.  flexor  perforans  s.  profundus,  arising  from  the  greater  part  of 
the  hind  face  of  the  fibula  and  tibia,  and  rarely  also  from  the  outer 
femoral  condyle,  runs  covered  by  all  the  other  flexors  straight  to 
the  intertarsal  joint,  which  it  passes  more  deeply  than  any  of  the 
rest,  entering  between  the  pad  and  the  tibio-tarsus,  piercing  the 
former  and  immediately  after  the  metatarsal  tubercle  as  well.  In 
most  Birds  its  tendon  divides  just  above  the  distal  end  of  the  meta- 
tarse,  sending  a  slip  to  each  front  toe. 

M.  flexor  hallucis  longus,  regarded  as  the  posterior  portion  of  the 
whole  mass  mentioned  above,  arises  mostly  from  the  intercondylar 
space,  with  its  belly  resting  upon  that  of  the  preceding,  but  slightly 
towards  the  outer  or  fibular  side,  and  its  tendon  in  most  cases 
accompanying  that  of  the  preceding,  there  to  pass  either  through 
the  tarsal  pad  and  hypotarsus,  resting  in  this  case  on  the  posterior 
surface  of  the  other  tendon,  or  lying  a  little  towards  its  outer  side, 
superficially  over  the  pad  and  tubercle,  after  which  both  run  down 
the  metatarsal  groove,  that  of  the  present  resting  on  the  plantar 
and  fibular  side  of  the  other.  About  half-way  down  the  middle  of 
the  metatarse  the  tendon  of  the  m.  flex,  hallucis  splits  into  two 
parts,  one,  continued  as  the  so-called  vinculum  to  the  front  tendon, 
the  other,  which  is  generally  the  weaker,  to  be  inserted  on  the  last 
phalanx  of  the  hallux.  It  is  obvious  that  the  tendon  of  the  m. 
flex,  hallucis,  after  passing  over  the  outer  part  of  the  ankle,  must 
cross  the  deeper  tendon  obliquely  to  reach  the  hallux,  a  crossing 
which  is  correlated  with  its  reversed  position,  and  is  really  double, 
because  the  m.  flex,  hallucis  arising  more  inwardly  than  the  m.  flex, 
perforans,  and  thus  crossing  it  laterally,  crosses  it  once  above 
the  joint  and  then  again  upon  the  metatarse,  since  its  tendon 
goes  to  the  hallux.  It  is  also  clear  that,  owing  to  the  vinculum, 
contraction  of  the  w.  flex,  hallucis  bends  not  only  the  hallux  but  the 
other  toes  as  well,  while  the  m.  flex,  perforans  acts  on  the  front  toes 
only.  This  m.  flex,  hallucis  is  therefore,  properly  speaking,  a  m. 
flexor  communis,  and  the  so-called  m.  flex,  perforans  is  the  anterior 
portion  of  the  whole  mass  of  deep  flexors,  a  view  which  is  justified 
by  the  fact  that  the  m.  flex,  hallucis  is  present  regardless  of  the 
absence  of  the  hallux. 


MUSCULAR  SYSTEM  615 

According  to  the  variable  configuration  of  the  toes,  whether 
two,  three  or  four  in  number,  whether  the  Bird  be  anisodactyl, 
syndacty],  zygodactyl,  heterodactyl,  eleutherodactyl  or  what,  the 
connexion  between  the  two  principal  deep  flexors  and  their  distri- 
bution to  the  toes  exhibits  many  modifications,  almost  any  com- 
bination conceivable  occurring  in  some  Bird  or  other.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  various  uses  of  the  toes — running,  climbing, 
grasping,  rowing  and  so  on,  are  the  chief  determining  causes  of  the 
manifold  arrangements  of  these  tendons.  It  is  easy  to  understand 
the  action  of  a  single  muscle  by  itself,  but  of  the  action  of  a  group 
of  muscles,  of  their  mutual  play,  and  how  they  partially  counteract, 
supplant  or  support  one  another,  we  know  next  to  nothing.  One 
point,  however,  is  certain,  and  that  is  that  coincidence  does  not 
necessarily  indicate  affinity.  The  misconception  concerning  these 
plantar  tendons  has  exaggerated  their  taxonomic  value,  culminating 
in  the  separation  of  the  Trochilidx  from  the  other  Cypselomorphse, 
and  in  the  association  of  the  Cathartidse  with  the  Alcedinidse,  Cora- 
ciidse.,  Caprimulgidse  and  Bucerotidx  to  the  exclusion  of  Upupa. 

SundevalP  and  Garrod^  have  done  most  to  describe  the  modi- 
fications of  the  deep  plantar  tendons,  which  are  reducible  to  seven 
chief  types,  most  of  them  connected  by  intermediate  stages.^  In 
the  following  enumeration,  the  muscle  and  tendon  of  the  flexor  per- 
forans  are  called  A  (anterior  portion),  those  of  the  flexor  hallucis  P 
(posterior  portion). 

I.  Vinculum  from  P  to  A.  Tendon  A  splits  into  3,  going 
to  toes  ii.  iii.  and  iv.  Tendon  P  goes  to  i.,  and  by  the  vinculum 
acts  also  on  ii.  iii.  and  iv. — i.e.  upon  all  the  toes. — The  arrange- 
ment most  commonly  found  in  4-toed  birds,  no  matter  whether 
the  toes  be  normally  placed,  paired  or  reversible  :  Ardex,  Ciconise, 
Platalea,  Gallinx,  Ralli,  Grues,  Rhinochetus,  Eurypyga,  Otis,  lAmicolse, 
Fterodes,  Columhse,  Laridse,  Alcidx,  Opisthocomus,  Cuculidm,  Muso- 
pJiagidse,  Fsittaci,  Striges,  Eurylsemidm.  In  Herodii  the  vinculum  is 
either  very  weak  or  wholly  lost,  thus  leading  to  type  VII. 

II.  Vinculum  very  strong  and  broad,  forming  the  direct  and 
principal  continuation  of  tendon  P,  of  which  the  hallux  receives 
but  a  slender  portion.  Tendon  P  goes  to  i.  by  vinculum  to  ii.  iii. 
and  iv. — i.e.  it  acts  on  all.  Tendon  A  goes  to  ii.  iii.  and  iv. 
Muscles  A  and  P  of  equal  strength.  This  is  the  case  in  A])ter7jx, 
Tinamidse  (Nothura),  Spheniscidse,  Steganopodes,  Anseres,  Colymbi, 
Fodicipedes  and  also  in  Fodica. 

III.  Tendons  A  and  P  more  or  less  fused  throughout  the 
greater  extent  of  the  metatarse.  The  vinculum  and  the  level  of 
the  actual  crossing  are  shifted  to  the  distal  portion  of  the  meta- 

^  Forhandl.  SJcandinav.  Naturforsk.  1851,  pp.  259-269. 

2  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1875,  pp.  339-348. 

*  Thier-reich,   Vogel,  p.  195. 


6i6  MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 

tarse.  Tendon  A  goes  to  ii.  iii.  and  iv.  Tendon  P  to  i.  and  by 
vinculum  to  ii.  also,  consequently,  owing  to  the  vinculum's  distal 
position,  its  action  is  confined  to  two  toes.  This  type,  to  a  certain 
extent  intermediate  between  I.  and  II.,  is  characteristic  of  Acd- 
pitres,  except  Cathartidse  (see  V.),  and  Fandion,  in  which  last, 
perhaps  owing  to  its  reversible  outer  toe,  A  goes  to  ii.  iii.  and  iv., 
but  tendon  P  splits  into  4,  sending  a  slip  to  each  toe  directly, 
and  in  this  case  is  therefore  a  complete /exor  communis. 

IV.  The  prevalent  type  where  the  hallux  is  absent  or  very 
small.  Both  muscles  are  strong  and  almost  equally  developed, 
their  tendons  unite  about  the  middle  of  the  metatarse,  the  joint 
tendon  A  +  P  going  to  the  front  toes,  the  hallux  receiving  no 
tendon,  and  consequently  there  is  no  crossing.  This  type,  genetically 
connected  with  II.,  occurs  in  Casuarius,  Dromons,  Rhea,  Struthio, 
Turniv,  Pterodes  and  Fhoenicopterus,  Palamedea,  Bicholo^hus,  Tubhv- 
ares,  Colymhi. 

V.  Tendons  A  and  P  unite  at  a  variable  distance  below  the 
ankle  joint,  passing  it  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  there  is  no  crossing 
behind  the  metatarse,  tendon  P  running  directly  into  A  from  its 
fibular  side.  Muscle  A  generally  much  stronger  than  muscle  P. 
In  the  simplest  case  (V,  a)  the  united  tendons  A  +  P  split  into  4 
equally  strong  tendons,  either  just  above  the  base  of  the  toes,  or 
successively  first  to  the  hallux  and  lastly  to  iv. — as  in  Buceros, 
Cypselus  and  CoUus.  Secondly  an  exaggerated  condition  of  this 
(V,a)  prevails  (as  V,b)  in  Momotidse,  Todidse,  Meropidse  and  in  some 
Alcedinidse,  where  the  tendon  of  the  hallux  is  split  off  directly 
from  the  tibial  and  ventral  side  of  A  above  its  fusion  with  P. 
Thirdly  there  is  a  condition  (V,  c),  hitherto  known  in  the  Trochilidse 
only,  where  A  and  P  are  conapletely  divided  from  each  other  into 
a  deep  mass  (A)  which  goes  to  ii.  and  iii.,  and  into  a  plantar  mass 
supplying  i.  and  iv.  Careful  and,  from  their  small  size,  difficult 
preparations  of  this  have  been  Qiade  by  Prof.  Stewart  and  Mr. 
Bourne  for  the  Museum  of  the  College  of  Surgeons  in  London,  and 
any  other  description  and  figures  of  these  Trochiline  tendons  are 
either  incorrect  or  misleading.  Lastly  comes  the  modification  found 
in  the  Cathartidx,  where  the  fusion  of  the  two  principal  tendons  (as 
in  V,  a  and  V,  b)  is  followed  by  a  splitting  into  a  ventral  mass  (P)  to 
ii.  iii.  and  iv.,  and  into  a  deep  mass  (A)  to  i.  ii.  and  iii.  This 
arrangement  can  be  easily  derived  from  type  V,  a,  but  almost 
equally  well  from  the  variable  type  III.,  as  indicated  by  Pandion 
(fig.  XL)  In  the  latter  case  the  Cathartidse  would  appear  as  a 
peculiar  departure  from  primitive  Accipitrine  conditions. 

VI.  Vinculum  present,  going  from  P  to  A.  Tendon  A  single, 
going  only  to  iii.  Tendon  P  going  to  i.  ii.  and  iv.,  and  by  the 
vinculum  to  iii.  also,  i.e.  to  all  the  toes.  This  most  peculiar  tj^pe 
prevails  in  all  the  anomalogonatous  zygodactyl  Birds,  Picidse,  Bham- 


MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 


617 


phadida},  Indicatoridx,  Bucconidm,  Capitonidm  and  Gallndidx.  The 
fourth  toe  being  turned  backwards  behaves  like  a  hallux  and 
receives  a  tendon  from  the  flex,  hallucis,  but  this  cannot  be  the  only 
reason,  since  the  Cumlidce  and  Psittaci  are  also  zygodactyl,  hnt 
possess  an  ambiens,  and  belong  to  type  I. 

VII.  Tendons  A  and  P  are  entirely  disconnected,  owing  to  the 


viir 


IX 


X 


XI 


M\ 


IV        111      11 

Diagrams  shewing  arrangement  op  Tendons  of  the  Foot. 
A,  Tendon  of  the  anterior  portion  (m.  flexor  perforans).    P,  Tendon  of  the  posterior  portion  (in. 

flexor  hallucis.     The  toes  are  numbered  i.  ii.  iii.  iv. 
I-VIIl,    The  types  numbered  according  to  Garrod,   Gadow  and  Fiirbringer.      I,  Gallus  ;  II, 
Apteryx  ;   III,  Falconidaj ;   IV,  Rliea  ;   Va,  Cypselus  ;   Vi),  Momotus  ;  Vc,  Troclulus  ;    VJ, 
Uinipa  and  Irrisor ;  VI,  Picus  ;  VII,  Oscines  ;  VIII,  Harpactes  duvauceli ;  IX,  Dacelo  gigas  ; 
X,  Heliornis  surinamensis  ;  XI,  Pandion  ;  XII,  Cuculi. 

(Vc,  VIII,  IX,  after  preparations  in  Mus.  R.  Coll.  Surg.  ;  X,  after  Beddard.) 


loss  of  the  vinculum.  Tendon  A  goes  to  ii.  iii.  and  iv.  ;  Tendon 
P  only  to  the  hallux,  which  is  always  well  developed  and  the  only 
posterior  toe.  This  type  is  the  most  differentiated  and  also  the 
simplest.  Morphologically  therefore  it  is  the  highest.  It  exists  in 
all  the  Passeres,  except  Eiirylsemidm,  and  in  some  Herodii. 


6i8  MUSCULAR  SYSTEM 

Hitherto  it  has  calways  been  stated  that  Upupa  has  free  tendons 
(as  in  type  VII.)  and  this  has  been  used  as  an  argument  for  placing 
it  among  the  Passeres ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  Upupa  and  Irrisor, 
tendon  P  sends  a  vinculum  to  the  slips  of  tendon  A  which  goes  to 
iii.,  and  this  vinculum  joins  A  below,  not  above,  the  root  of  the  toes 
(see  fig.  V,d). 

VIII.  This  type  is  peculiar  to  the  Trogonidse.  These  Birds  are 
heterodactyl,  the  hallux  and  second  toe  being  reversed,  while  the 
third  and  fourth  are  front  toes,  and  their  deep  flexor  tendons  like- 
wise anomalous.  Tendon  A  goes  to  the  two  hind  toes  i.  and  ii., 
and  by  the  vinculum  together  with  tendon  P  to  iii.  and  iv. 
Analysis  of  this  case  means : — fusion  of  P  with  A,  without  any 
crossing;  proximal  splitting-off  of  the  tendons  for  i.  and  ii.  from 
the  tibial  side  of  A ;  and  consequently  direct  derivation  from  type 
V,  a,  analogous  to,  but  more  exaggerated  than,  V,  b. 

These  eight  types  are  to  be  genetically  grouped  as  follows : — 
I.  II.  III.  IV.  and  VII.  are  closely  allied  to  each  other ;  I.  and  IV. 
to  be  derived  from  II.  and  VII.  from  I.,  while  III.  is  a  compara- 
tively primary  condition ;  V,  a  shews  a  primitive  stage,  whence  are 
developed  in  diverging  directions  V,b,  V,c,  V,d,  VI.  and  VII. 
Any  derivation  of  VI.  from  VIII.  or  vice  versd  is  impossible ;  and 
the  same  applies  to  V,  c  and  VI. 

B.a.  Muscles  of  the  Visceral  Skeleton,  which  according 
to  their  innervation,  derivation  and  function  fall  naturally  into 
three  groups. 

1.  Group  of  the  m.  mylohyoideus,  formed  by  the  most  anterior 
continuation  of  the  m.  cucuUaris  and  m.  constrictor  colli  and  consist- 
ing of  two  portions: — (1)  m.  mylohyoid,  anterior,  lying  between 
the  branches  of  the  mandible  from  the  inner  face  of  which  its 
transversely-directed  fibres  arise  to  meet  in  the  middle  line,  and  by 
their  contraction  press  the  tongue  and  larynx  against  the  palate, 
and  supplied  from  the  third  ramus  of  the  nermis  trigeminus,  and 
(2)  m.  mylohyoid,  posterior,  arising  from  the  outer  face  of  the 
posterior  end  of  the  mandible  and  sometimes  also  from  the  adjoin- 
ing part  of  the  occiput,  and  inserted  in  the  corner  formed  by  the 
hyoid  horn  and  the  corpus  lingux,  being  supplied  by  a  branch  of  the 
nervus  facialis,  and  drawing  the  tongue  with  the  larynx  upward 
and  backward.  When  the  tongue  is  very  protractile  or  very  thick 
this  portion  consists  of  two  parts,  one,  m.  serpi-hyoideus,  arising 
from  the  serpiform  process  of  the  mandible,  the  other,  m.  stylo- 
hyoideus,  from  the  occiput. 

2.  Group  of  the  masticatory  muscles,  supplied  by  nervus 
trigeminus  and  n.  facialis. 

M.  digastricus  or  depressw  mandibular,  large  and  often  compound, 
generally  arising  from  the  lateral  occipital  bone,  and  inserted  on  the 


MUSCULAR   SYSTEM  619 

inner  angular  process  of  the  mandible,  acting  on  the  jaw  behind  the 
articulation  so  as  to  open  the  mouth. 

M.  temporalis,  consisting  of  a  variable  number  of  parts,  the  chief 
of  which,  arising  from  the  postorbital  process  and  the  quadrate,  pass 
beneath  the  jugal  arch  and  are  inserted  on  the  mandible  in  front  of 
the  joint,  acting  mostly  as  masseters.  Two  or  three  smaller  muscles, 
arising  from  the  deeper  region  of  the  orbit  and  the  interorbital 
septum  to  be  inserted  on  the  palatal  and  pterygoid  bones,  are  much 
less  constant, 

M.  pterygoideus,  arising  chiefly  from  the  ventral  face  of  the 
pterygoid,  palatal  and,  sometimes,  from  the  maxillary  bones,  and 
inserted  on  the  inner  face  of  the  mandibular  articulation,  close  the 
bill  or,  when  the  mouth  is  open,  flex  the  upper  mandible,  as  seen  in 
Fsittaci,  Anatidse  and  others. 

3.  Group  of  the  Hyoid  muscles,  supplied  solely  by  nervus  liypo- 
glossus  often  very  numerous  and  always  attached  to  the  Hyoid 
apparatus  (page  452),  whence  they  reach  backward  to  the  sternum 
or  to  the  furcula  as  mm.  sterrw-hyoidei  or  mm.  cleido-hyoidei,  to  the 
larynx  and  trachea  as  mvi.  thyreo-hyoidei  or  mm.  tracheo-hyoidei,  Avhile 
others  extend  forward  to  the  mandible  as  mm.  genio-hyoidei  and  genio- 
glossus,  or  lastly  they  connect  the  various  portions  of  the  Hyoid 
apparatus.     In  most  cases  their  position  is  indicated  by  their  name. 

System  of  the  m.  sterno-hyoideus,  a  long  pair  of  muscles,  pre- 
senting its  least  differentiated  condition  in  Apteryx  (where  no  other 
sterno-hyoid  or  sterno-tracheal  exists).  The  broader  and  more 
superficial  portion  arises  from  the  ventral  face  of  the  thyroid 
cartilage  and  the  hyoid  bones,  meeting  its  fellow  without  being 
attached  to  the  trachea,  and  is  inserted  aponeurotically  on  the 
lateral  and  posterior  margin  of  the  sternum,  partly  covering  the 
muscles  of  the  shoulder  and  breast.  The  deeper  portion  likewise 
begins  at  the  thyroid  cartilage,  passes  down  the  side  of  the  trachea, 
to  which  it  is  firmly  attached  until  just  above  the  bronchial  fork, 
where  it  leaves  it  to  be  inserted  near  the  coraco-sternal  articulation. 
From  the  conditions  just  described  are  diff"erentiated  the  more 
complex  arrangements  found  in  other  Birds.  By  reduction  of  the 
muscular  mass  about  the  middle  of  the  neck  an  upper  and  lower 
portion  are  formed,  the  upper  then  appearing  as  tracheo-laryngeal  or 
thyrohyoid  muscles — the  lower  as  sterno-  or  cleido- tracheal,  and 
through  further  extension  to  the  bronchi  as  muscles  of  the  Syrinx. 
In  many  Birds  the  superficial  portion  of  the  whole  system  remains 
as  one  or  two  ribbons,  m.  deido-hyoideus,  running  along  the  side  of 
the  neck  and  connecting  the  tongue  with  the  furcula,  or  other  parts 
of  the  scapular  arch.  The  chief  retractor  of  the  tongue,  31.  tracheo- 
hyoideus  reaches  its  highest  development  in  some  of  the  Picidx,  where 
it  takes  several  spiral  turns  round  the  trachea. 

M.  genio-hyoideus,  arising  from  about  the  middle  of  the  mandi- 


620  MUSKET-HAWK—NASAL  GLANDS 

bular  bar,  extends  as  a  ribbon  to  the  hyoid  bone,  round  which  it 
twists  loosely ;  and,  being  attached  to  its  dorsal  extremity,  the  con- 
traction of  the  spiral  surrounding  the  hyoid  horns  protrudes  them 
with  great  force,  the  extent  of  protrusion  depending  on  their  length. 
This  is  greatest  in  Trochilidx  and  Picidx,  in  some  of  which  they  pass 
round  the  head  and  reach  forward  to  the  nostrils. 

M.  genio-glossus,  a  small  protractor  of  the  tongue,  connecting  the 
OS  enfoglossum  with  the  chin,  but  often  absent. 

3f.  ceratoglossus,  arising  from  the  dorsal  face  of  the  ceratohyal, 
inserted  by  a  tendon  laterally  on  the  os  entoglossum,  which  it  draws 
sideways  or  bends  when  acting  jointly  with  its  fellow. 

M.  cerato-hyoideus,  extending  from  the  inner  face  of  the  ceratohyal 
to  the  urohyal,  but  often  absent. 

M.  hypoglossus,  extending  from  the  ventral  face  of  the  body  of 
the  tongue  to  the  ventral  or  lateral  face  of  the  os  entoglossum. 

MUSKET-  or  MUSQUET-HAWK  (0.  Fr.  mousquet  or  mouchei), 
an  old  name  for  the  cock  Sparrow- Hawk,  seemingly  given  from  its 
comparatively  small  size  (Fr.  mouche,  Lat.  musca — a  fly),  and  hence, 
on  the  invention  of  fire-arms,  applied  to  one  which  was  smaller  and 
handier  than  the  older  match-lock. 

MUTTON-BIRD,  a  sailors'  name  for  at  least  one  species  of 
Shearwater,  but  especially  for  Puffinus  brevicavda,  presumably 
because  "the  young  are  literally  one  mass  of  fat,  which  has  a 
tallowy  appearance"  (Gould,  Handb.  B.  Austral,  iii.  p.  462).  Mr. 
Robert  Elwes  has  given  {Ibis,  1859,  pp.  397-399)  a  remarkable 
account  of  one  of  the  most  frequented  breeding-places  of  this  bird 
on  an  island  in  Bass's  Strait,  which,  it  is  to  be  feared,  no  longer 
exists  as  such  o^ving  to  the  devastation  wickedly  carried  on — nearly 
60,000  breeding  birds  having  been  taken  in  a  single  season. 


N 

NANDU,  from  Mandu-gua^it,  given  by  Marcgrave  and  Piso  as 
the  Brazilian  name  of  the  Rhea,  and  occasionally  used  for  that  bird 
by  some  English  writers. 

NASAL  GLANDS  exist  pairwise  in  almost  all  Birds,  and  their 
tear-like  secretion  serves  to  moisten  and  cleanse  the  mucous  lining 
of  the  nasal  cavities.  Each  gland  has  a  duct  opening  into  the 
vestibulum  of  the  nares  below  the  nasal  bone,  and  passing  beneath 
the  lacrymal  bone.  These  glands  vary  much  in  shape,  size,  position 
and  colour,  in  the  last  respect  ranging  from  bluish-red  to  red  and 


NASUT.'E— NERVOUS  SYSTEM  621 

pale  yellow.  They  are  very  large  in  Limicolx,  except  Scolopixx,  and 
are  occasionally  absent  in  *S'.  rusticola,  Laridx,  Colymhiclse  and  l\ihi- 
luires,  resting  subcutaneovisly  on  the  frontals  between  the  eyes,  or 
above  the  orbital  margin  and  producing  on  these  bones  deep 
depressions,  the  configuration  of  which,  together  with  lateral  notches, 
or  canals  between  the  nasals,  lacrymals  and  frontals  can,  Avith  care, 
be  used  for  taxonomic  purposes.  In  most  Aiiseres  the  glands  are 
small  and  placed  on  the  upjier  orbital  margin.  "When  they  are 
small  they  extend  to  the  orbital  cavity  only  or  are  restricted  to  the 
maxillary  cavity,  as  in  PaititiB,  Gallinse,  Cohimhx,  Otis,  Sula,  Pelargi, 
Accipitres,  Picarise  and  Passer es. 

NASUT^E,  Nitzsch's  name  in  1840  for  the  group  which  Illiger 
tad  called  Tubinares  in  1811. 

NATATORES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  for  an  Order  of  Birds 
(including  6  Families  and  22  genera),  equivalent  to  the  Linntean 
Anseres.  Holding  its  place,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  older  term,  for 
about  fifty  yeai^s,  ornithologists  at  last  perceived  that  the  group 
contained  many  forms  which  have  no  affinity,  and  the  Avord  is  noAv 
hardly  used  but  by  writers  who  know  little  of  the  principle  of 
Taxonomy. 

I^ATIVE- COMPANION,  (h-ns  ausfmlasianns  (Crane)  ;  -HEN, 
any  species  of  Tribonyx  (Rail)  ;  -PHEASANT,  Lipoa  ocelhita  (Mega- 
pode)  •  -SPARROAV",  Zonxginthus  oculeus,  one  of  the  AVeaver- 
birds  ;  -THRUSH,  Pachycephala  olivacea  (Thickhead)  ;  -TURKEY, 
Otis  australis,  a  Bustard — all  names  used,  according  to  Gould,  l)y  the 
English  in  Australia  or  Tasmania. 

NECK,  or  cenix,  that  part  of  the  body  which  extends  from  the 
head  to  the  thorax,  the  last  cervical  vertebi'a  being  the  one  which 
carries  a  pair  of  ribs  that  do  not  join  the  Sternum. 

NEOPHRON,  the  generic  term  given  to  the  Vultur  percnopterus 
of  Linnaeus  by  Savigny  ^  when  separating  it 
from   the    other  Vultures,   and    sometimes  .^^--^^'^fe??-.^ 

used  as  an  English  word.  .**k^!^^,^"  i^^' 


^,^-415 


NEOSSOPTILE,  see  Feathers  (p.  243). 

NERVOUS  SYSTEM.     This  consists  of  neophrox. 

two  parts,  (1)  a  Central  portion,  composed  of  (After  swainson.) 

the  Spinal  Cord  and  Brain,  and  (2)  Peripheral,  containing  the 
Cranial  and  Spinal  Nerves,  together  Avith  all  that  pertains  to  Avhat 
is  called  the  SymjMthetic. 

^  He  took  the  Avord  from  the  pseudomythological  Mctamoyyhoscs  (or  Trans- 
fonnatioimm  congeries,  Fab.  5)  of  Autoniuus  Liberalis,  a  writer  who  flourished 
about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  Neophron  being  the  name  of  a  man 
changed,  for  a  base  trick  he  played,  into  a  Vulture  by  Zeus. 


622  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 

I.  The  Spinal  Cord  or  "Marrow"  is  the  continuation  of  the 
medulla  oblongata,  extending  throughout  the  vertebral  canal 
to  the  tail,  being  swollen  at  the  level  of  the  shoulders  by  an 
accumulation  of  ganglionic  cells  to  serve  the  Brachial  Nerve 
Plexus  governing  the  fore-limbs,  and  again  in  the  lumbar  region 
where  the  nerves  of  the  hind -limbs  have  their  origin.  On  the 
dorsal  side  of  this  lumbar  swelling,  there  is  a  lozenge-shaped  slit, 
the  sacro-rhomboidal  sinus,  filled  with  a  colourless  gelatinous 
substance,  behind  which  the  cord  lessens  gradually,  ending  as 
a  thin  thread  in  the  last  free  caudal  vertebrse.  The  whole  of 
this  System  is  encased  in  a  strong,  fibrous  sheath  of  connective 
tissue,  the  dura  mater,  the  outer  layer  of  which  is  closely  attached 
to  and  forms  the  lining  of  the  central  vertebral  canal,  while  its 
inner  layer  forms  a  looser  and  more  meshy  tissue.  A  much  thinner 
membrane,  the  pia  mater,  is  immediately  attached  to  the  surface  of 
this  System,  penetrating  its  various  furrows  or  sulci,  and  containing 
blood-vessels  which  nourish  the  nervous  matter.  Between  the  dura 
and  the  pia  mater,  but  partly  separated  from  each  by  lymphatic 
spaces,  lies  the  Arachnoid  Membrane. 

The  composition  of  the  Spinal  Cord  is  best  studied  in  transverse 
section  : — in  the  midst  is  the  central  canal,  on  the  medio-ventral 
and  medio-dorsal  lines  are  the  anterior  and  posterior  sulci,  forming 
more  or  less  deep  vertical  slits  which  thus  divide  the  cord  into  a 
right  and  left  side.  The  central  portion  of  the  cord,  distinctly 
grey  in  colour,  being  composed  of  grey  nerve-fibres,  without  axial 
cylinders,  and  interspersed  with  numerous  ganglionic  nerve-cells, 
arranged  in  the  form  of  a  saltire  or  St.  Andrew's  cross,  of  which  the 
ventral  pair  of  limbs  contain  the  ganglia  and  send  out  the  motory 
roots  of  the  spinal  nerves,  while  the  dorsal  pair  contain  the  ganglia 
and  send  out  the  sensory  bundles  of  nerve-fibres.  This  grey  matter 
is  surrounded  by  a  thick  mantle  of  white  nerve-fibres,  most  of  them 
conducting  threads  composed  of  an  axial  cylinder  with  a  sheath, 
and  running  longitudinally  parallel  to  each  other,  though  at  the 
so-called  commissures  a  crossing  from  one  side  to  the  other  occurs 
with  many  of  both  white  and  grey  fibres. 

II.  The  Spinal  Nerves  arise  from  the  medulla  by  a  number  of 
rootlets,  which  leave  its  surface  in  the  form  of  a  dorsal  and  a 
ventral  root — the  former  (with  a  small  swelling,  the  spinal  ganglion, 
at  its  base)  containing  the  sensory,  the  latter  the  motory  fibres ; 
but  all  the  fibres  of  each  issue  as  a  single  bundle  either  between 
two  vertebrae  or  pass  through  a  hole  at  the  anterior  end  of  a 
vertebra.  The  first  spinal  or  cervical  nerve  issues  between  the 
occiput  and  the  atlas,  and  each  that  follows  from  the  anterior  end 
of  its  vertebra — all  on  leaving  the  vertebral  column  separating  into 
three  branches — a  dorsal,  ventral  and  visceral.  The  first  two 
contain  sensory  and  motory  nerves  mixed ;  but  the  dorsal  branches 


NERVOUS  SYSTEM  623 

are  small  and  innervate  the  skin  and  muscles  of  the  dorsal  spinal 
tract,  while  the  ventral  branches  are  much  larger,  and,  depending 
on  the  muscles  they  have  to  supply,  are  strongest  in  the  region  of 
the  limbs.  The  ^dsce^al  branches,  or  "  sympathetic  nerves,"  supply 
chiefly  the  digestive,  vascular  and  generative  organs. 

Four  or  five  of  the  lowest  cervical  nerves  join  to  form  the 
Brachial  Plexus,  whence  diverge  those  that  serve  the  wings  and 
shoulders ;  but  the  composition  of  this  plexus  varies  considerably 
not  only  in  different  species  but  even  individually.  The  sei-ial 
number  of  the  nerves  entering  into  its  formation  depends  chiefly 
on  the  length  of  the  neck,  the  extremes  being  found  in  Cypselus 
(10th  to  the  14th  cervical  pair),  and  Cygnus  (22nd  to  24th),  inter- 
mediate cases  occurring  in  Columba  (11th  to  15th),  Gallus  (13th  to 
17th),  Anas  (15th  to  18th)  and  in  many  Fasseres  (12th  to  15th). 
The  last  nerve  of  this  plexus  often  marks  ofl"  the  boundary  of  the 
cervical  and  thoracic  regions,  by  issuing  just  above  the  first  thoracic 
vertebra. 

The  nerves  arising  from  this  plexus  are  divided  into  (A)  small 
dorsal  branches  supplying  the  scapular  muscles,  and  (B)  thoracic 
branches  forming  a  system  for  the  sterno-coracoid  and  all  the  wing- 
muscles.  The  thoracic  branches  (B)  send  off  a  group  (a)  to  the 
superior  and  another  (b)  to  the  inferior  brachial  muscles.  Among 
the  former  (a),  the  chief  are  (1)  nervus  subcoraco-scapularis  for  the 
m.  subcoracoideus,  m.  subscapularis  and  m.  subcoraco-scapularis,  (2) 
n.  musculi  latissimi  dor  si,  (3)  n.  axillaris,  a  strong  nerve  passing 
the  humero-scapular  joint,  running  between  the  humerus  and  the 
m.  triceps,  and  innervating  the  deltoid  muscles,  as  well  as  the  skin 
of  the  shoulder,  upper  arm  and  propatagium,  and  (4)  the  n.  radialis, 
the  strongest  nerve  of  all,  running  spirally  round  the  dorsal  side  of 
the  humerus,  supplying  the  m.  triceps,  and,  dividing  at  the  elbow 
into  a  superficial  and  a  deep  branch,  innervating  all  the  numerous 
exterior  muscles  beside  the  skin  and  feathers  of  the  forehead. 
Among  the  latter  group  (b)  are  three  strong  nerves  (1)  the  n.  supra- 
coracoideus,  covered  by  a  membranaceous  ligament,  crossing  the 
coracoid  and  supplying  the  m.  supracoracoideus,^  (2)  the  n.  pectoralis 
for  the  large  pectoral  muscle,  and  (3)  the  n.  brachialis  inferior,  which 
accompanies  the  last  so  far  as  the  axilla,  and  then  passing  along  the 
humerus  divides  into  a  n.  medianus,  supplying  the  m.  biceps  and 
the  radial  side  of  the  forearm  and  hand,  and  a  n.  ulnaris,  sending 
several  branches  to  the  ulnar  side. 

The  spinal  nerves  succeeding  to  the  Brachial  Plexus  are  those 
of  the  intercostal  region,  their  short  dorsal  branches  supply  the 

^  In  many  birds  the  median  side  of  tlie  coracoid  has  a  notch  (bridged  by  a 
tendinous  ligament)  for  the  passage  of  the  nerve,  which  in  other  cases  may  pass 
through  a  foramen  near  the  inner  side  of  that  bone  ;  but  these  differences  have 
little  taxonomic  importance. 


624 


NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


Fis.  1. 


Ventral 


IX. 


-Diagrammatic  Representation  of  the  peripheral  Nervous  System  of  a  Bird 
view.     Left  sule  showing  the  Somatic,  right  side  showing  the  Visceral  Nerves 

Lu,Srs"tn  ';?^'",'A  ^-  ^'t;'""''''  ""•  ^-  ""•  ^-  "'  distribution  to  the  Carotid,  the  Heart. 
Lungs,  Stomach  and  Gut ;  Xll.l,  Lingual  branch  and  Xn.2,  Syringeal  branch  of  N.  hypo- 
glossus  ;  Sy.  Sympathetic  ganglion  of  the  first  spinal  nerve. 

Fig.  2.-Diagrammatic  view  of  a  transverse  section  through  the  spinal  cord  oa.  the  level  of  the 

exit  ol  a  typical  spinal  nerve. 
^.//.  and  I'M  Anterior  or  ventral  and  Posterior  or  dorsal  Horns  with  ganglia,  of  the  -rey  sub- 

TZ  Vo"tV':f  "'^  °'  T""''  '^  "^'^  "^^  ^"'^^^^  '^^"^^  =  ^>-«-  *'-■  «P'-1  Ganglion  of  the 
dorsal  root  of  the  spinal  nerve;  Sy.G.  the  Sympathetic  Ganglion;  RA.,  U.xc,  iJ.fis. 
Dorsal,  Ventral  and  Visceral  (or  sympathetic)  branches  of  the  spinal  ner^•e. 


NERVOUS  SYSTEM  625 


dorsal  muscles  of  the  spine,  and  their  long  ventral  branches  run 
between  the  ribs,  supplying  the  intercostal  and,  further  back,  the 
abdominal  muscles. 

The  Sacral  Plexus  is  formed  by  the  Spinal  Nerves  in  the 
pelvic  region,  and  may  be  conveniently  divided  into  (A)  a 
Crui'al  or  Lumbar,  (B)  a  Sciatic,  and  (C)  a  Pudic  portion.  The- 
first  (A)  is  composed  of  from  2  to  4,  but  generally  of  3  nerves, 
the  foremost  of  which  sends  a  long  branch  to  the  abdominal 
muscles,  Avhile  the  hindmost,  n.  furcalis,  leaving  the  spinal  column, 
as  a  rule,  betAveen  the  2  last  lumbo-sacral  vertebrae,  divides — one-half 
going  to  the  Sciatic  portion.  From  the  Crural  portion  spring 
several  branches  forming  3  groups — (1)  those  that  serve  the  m. 
sartorius,  m.  ambiens  and  some  other  muscles  of  the  leg ;  (2)  the 
n.  obturatorius,  supplying  the  m.  obturator  and  its  accessories,  as 
well  as  the  m.  adductor  magnus ;  and  (3)  a  long  nerve  which  runs 
down  the  median  side  of  the  thigh  to  the  inner  side  of  the  knee, 
supplying  the  latter  and  passing  subcutaneously  down  the  median 
side  of  the  leg.  This  nerve  is  almost  peculiar  to  Birds,  occurring 
beside  only  in  Crocodiles  and  Monotremes. 

The  Sciatic  portion  (B)  generally  consists  of  5  or  6  nerves, 
which  leave  the  pelvis  as  a  thick  stem,  passing  close  behind  the  anti- 
trochanter  through  the  ischio-iliac  foramen,  where  a  strong  branch 
separates  itself  from  the  hinder  side  of  the  common  stem  to  supply 
most  of  the  adductor  muscles  of  the  thigh  and  leg.  From  the 
main  stem  branches  are  given  off  to  the  ilio-femoral,  ilio-tibial,  ilio- 
fibular  and  ischio-femoral  muscles.  The  rest  of  the  stem  continues 
as  the  Sciatic  nerve,  accompanied  by  the  great  arteries  and  veins 
on  the  posterior  side  of  the  thigh,  and  below  the  knee  invariably 
divides  into  3  branches,  the  first  of  which  (1)  is  the  strongest,  and 
passes  with  the  tendon  of  the  ilio-fibular  muscle  through  the  peculiar 
tendinous  pulley  on  the  side  of  the  fibula,  whereupon  it  splits  into 
the  superficial  and  deep  peroneal  nerves,  to  supply  the  extensor 
and  peroneal  muscles  of  the  foot  and  toes ;  the  median  branch  (2) 
soon  breaks  up  into  a  number  of  nerves  for  the  deep  flexor  muscles 
of  the  toes  and  the  inner  and  middle  portion  of  the  m.  gastro- 
cnemius ;  while  the  third  (3)  innervates  the  outer  head  of  the 
gastrocnemius  and  the  rest  of  the  flexor  muscles  of  the  toes.  As 
before  stated,  the  Sciatic  portion  (B)  receives  one-half  of  the  n. 
furcalis  from  the  Crural  (A),  while  its  hindmost  spinal  stem,  leaving 
the  spinal  column,  in  most  birds,  between  or  just  below  the  hind- 
most of  the  2  primary  sacral  vertebrae  (see  Pelvis  under  Skeleton), 
sends  a  branch  to  the  Pudic  portion  (C),  which  is  composed  of  the 
post-ischiadic  spinal  nerves.  These  are  partly  imbedded  in  the 
substance  of  the  Kidneys,  and  run  obliquely  outwards,  forming 
many  anastomoses  with  one  another,  especially  on  the  hinder  parts  of 
the  ischium  and  pubic  bone.     This  portion  chiefly  innervates  the 

40 


626  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 

ventral  muscles  between  the  pelvis  and  tail,  together  with  those  of 
the  cloacal  region  and  the  copulatory  organs. 

The  dorsal  branches  of  all  the  spinal  nerves  in  the  whole  pelvic 
region  are  restricted  to  small,  cutaneous  branches  in  conformity  wdth 
the  reduction  of  the  dorso-spinal  muscles.  The  caudal  nerves  are 
also  small,  their  dorsal  branches  supply  the  levator  and  their 
ventral  the  depressor  muscle  of  the  tail. 

III.  The  Cranial  or  Cerebral  Nerves  have  been  already  described 
(Brain). 

IV.  The  Sympathetic  System  consists  of  the  visceral  branches  of 
the  Cerebro-Spinal  Nerves,  and  supplies  chiefly  the  alimentary  and 
genital  organs  and  the  circulation.  The  Nerves  composing  it  have 
no  axial  cylinder :  they  are  paler  than  the  white  fibres,  and  are 
characterized  by  the  presence  of  ganglia  in  their  course,  each 
branch  containing  one  near  its  base  which  beside  sending  off 
other  ramifications  is  connected  with  the  corresponding  ganglion  of 
the  next  metamere,  so  as  to  form  a  "Sympathetic"  chain  running 
along  each  side  of  the  ventral  surface  of  the  vertebral  column. 
The  two  chains  by  means  of  these  connexions  somewhat  resemble 
a  ladder,  the  cross-bars  of  which  are  called  rami  communicantes, 
from  a  mistaken  notion  that  they  join  the  longitudinal  "  strand" 
or  71.  sympathicus  of  their  side  with  the  medulla,  the  fact  being 
that  the  cross-bars  are  the  true  "  rests,"  the  lateral  strands  rather 
making  the  connexion  between  the  successive  ganglia.  In  the 
region  of  the  Neck  each  of  these  strands  runs,  accompanied  hy 
the  vertebral  artery  of  its  side,  through  the  transverse  foramen  of 
each  of  the  cervical  vertebrae.  In  the  thoracic  region  each  strand 
is  double,  and  the  basal  ganglia  are  successively  connected  with  the 
next  by  a  nervous  branch  which  runs  over  the  head  of  the  rib,  and 
by  another  which  passes  directly  through  the  space  between  the 
head  of  the  rib  and  its  tubercle.  In  the  pelvic  region  each  strand 
again  becomes  single ;  but,  convei;sely  to  the  single  strand  of  the 
cervical  region,  each  is  composed  of  ventral  branches  only,  while 
lastly  in  the  caudal  region  the  right  and  left  branches  approach 
and  coalesce  in  the  middle  line.  From  the  first  thoracic  ganglion 
there  issues  a  cardiac  branch  supplying  the  Heart,  while  other 
branches  starting  from  neighbouring  ganglia  form  a  sort  of  plexus 
which,  accompanying  the  coeliac  artery,  innervate  the  stomach,  Liver 
and  other  viscera.  Similar  branches  from  the  basal  ganglia  of  the 
lumbar  and  sacral  regions  form  a  plexus  with  ganglia  numerously 
interspersed,  and  serve  the  rest  of  the  Alimentary  Canal,  the 
Kidneys  (page  480),  genital  organs  and  Cloaca  (page  90),  where 
they  partly  anastomose  with  the  branches  of  the  Pudic  portion  of 
the  Sacral  Plexus. 

From  the  first  pair  of  cervical  ganglia  the  Sympathetic  strands 
are  continued  on  either  side  to  the  ganglia  of  the  n.  hypoglossus, 


NESTOR  627 


and  thence  to  the  ganglion  supremum  of  the  combined  n.  vagus  and 
glossopharyngeus.  From  this  last,  which  sends  out  long  sympathetic 
branches  to  the  carotids  and  the  throat  generally,  the  Sympathetic 
chain  extends  to  the  head  by  complicated  connexions  with  the 
ganglia  of  the  7th,  5th  and  3rd  pairs  of  cranial  nerves  (see  Brain), 
its  numerous  branches  serving  chiefly  the  blood-vessels  of  the  head, 
the  lacrymal  glands  and  the  Eyes. 

NESTOE,  the  name  applied  to  a  small  but  remarkable  group  of 
Parrots  peculiar  to  the  New-Zealand  Region,  of  which  the  type  is 
the  Psittacus  meridionalis  of  Gmelin,  founded  on  a  species  described 
by  Latham  (Gen.  Synops.  i.  p.  264),  and  subsequently  termed  by  him 
P.  nestor,  in  allusion  to  its  hoary  head,  but  now  usually  known  as 
Nestor  meridionalis,  the  "  Kaka  "  of  the  Maories  and  English  settlers 
in  New  Zealand,  in  some  parts  of  which  it  was,  and  even  yet  may 
be,  very  abundant,  though  its  numbers  are  fast  decreasing.  Forster, 
who  accompanied  Cook  in  his  second  voyage,  described  it   in  his 


Head  or  Nestor.    (From  Buller.) 


MS.  in  1773,  naming  it  P.  hypopolius,  and  found  it  in  both  the 
principal  islands.  The  general  colour  of  the  Kaka  is  olive-brown, 
nearly  all  the  feathers  being  tipped  with  a  darker  shade,  so  as  to 
give  a  scaly  appearance  to  the  body.  The  crown  is  light  grey,  the 
ear-coverts  and  nape  purplish-bronze,  and  the  rump  and  abdomen  of 
a  more  or  less  deep  crimson-red ;  but  much  variation  is  presented 
in  the  extent  and  tinge  of  the  last  colour,  Avhich  often  becomes 
orange  and  sometimes  bright  yellow.  The  Kaka  is  about  the  size 
of  a  CroAv ;  but  a  larger  species,  generally  resembling  it,  though 
having  its  plumage  varied  wdth  blue  and  green,  the  Nestor  notalilis 
of  Gould,  was  discovered  in  1856  by  Mr.  Walter  Mantell,  in  the 
higher  mountain-ranges  of  the  South  Island.  This  is  the  "  Kca  "  of 
the  Maories,  and  has  of  late  incurred  the  enmity  of  colonists  by 
developing,  when  pressed  by  hunger  in  winter,  an  extraordinary 
habit  of  assaulting  sheep,  picking  holes  with  its  powerful  beak  in 


628 


NESTOR 


their  side,  wounding  the  intestines,  and  so  causing  the  animals' 
death.  The  lacerations  are  said  to  be  made  so  uniformly  in  one 
place  as  to  suggest  deliberate  design ;  but  the  bird's  intent  has  yet 
to  be  investigated,  though  it  is  admittedly  an  eater  of  carrion  in 
addition  to  its  ordinary  food,  which,  like  that  of  the  Kaka,  consists 
of  fruits,  seeds,  and  the  grubs  of  wood-destroying  insects,  the  last 
being  obtained  by  stripping  the  bark  from  trees  infested  by  them. 
The  amount  of  injury  the  Kea  inflicts  on  flock-masters  has  doubt- 
less, as  always  happens  in  similar  cases,  been  much  exaggerated,  for 
Dr.  Menzies  states  {Trans.  N.  Zeal.  Inst.  xi.  p.  377)  that  on  one 
"  run,"  where  the  loss  was  unusually  large,  the  proportion  of  sheep 
attacked  was  about  one  in  three  hundred,  and  that  those  pasturing 
below  the  elevation  of  2000  feet  are  seldom  disturbed.^ 

On  the  discovery  of  Norfolk  Island  (10th  October  1774)  a 
Parrot,  thought  by  Forster  to  be  specifically  identical  with  the 
"Kaghaa"  (as  he  wrote  the  name)  of  New  Zealand, — though  his 
son  {Voyage,  ii.  p.  446)  remarked  that  it  was  "infinitely  brighter 
coloured," — was  found  in  its  hitherto  untrodden  woods.  Among  the 
drawings  of  Bauer,  the  artist  who  accompanied  Robert  Brown  and 
Flinders,  is  one  of  a  Nestor  marked  "Norfolk  Isl.  19  Jan.  1805,"  on 
which  Von  Pelzeln  in  1860  founded  his  N.  norfolcensis.  Meanwhile 
Latham,  in  1822,  had  described,  as  distinct  species,  two  specimens 
evidently  of  the  genus  Nestor,  one,  from  the  collection  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Wilson  of  Maidenhead,  said,  but  doubtless  erroneously,  to  inhabit 
New  South  Wales,  and  the  other  brought  by  Col.  Hunter  from 
Norfolk  Island.  In  1836  Gould  described  an  example,  without  any 
locality,  in  the  museum  of  the  Zoological  Society,  as  Plydolophus 
productus,  and  when  some  time  after  he  was  in  Australia,  he  found 
that  the  home  of  this  species,  which  he  then  recognized  as  a  Nestor, 
was  Phillip  Island,  a  very  small  adjunct  of  Norfolk  Island,  and  not 
more  than  five  miles  distant  from  it.  Whether  the  birds  of  the  two 
islands  were  specifically  distinct  or  not  we  shall  perhaps  never  know, 
since  they  are  all  extinct  (Extermination,  pp.  223,  224),  and  no 
specimen  undoubtedly  from  Norfolk  Island  seems  to  have  been  pre- 
served ;  -  while,  now  that  we  are  aware  of  the  great  diversity  in 
colour,  size,  and  particularly  in  the  form  of  the  beak,  to  which  the 
New-Zealand  members  of  the  genus  are  subject,  it  would  be  unsafe 
to  regard  as  specific  the  difi'erences  pointed  out  by  Von  Pelzeln 

^  A  third  form,  from  au  unknown  locality,  has  been  distinguished  as  N. 
esslingi  {Eev.  Zool.  1856,  p.  223),  and  has  been  regarded  by  several  writers,  and 
among  them  Count  T.  Salvadori  {Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus.  xx.  p.  8),  as  a  good  species, 
though  Sir  AV.  Buller  {B.  N.  Zeal.  ed.  2,  i.  pp.  150-175)  believes  it  to  be,  like 
his  own  N.  ocddentalis  and  N.  superius,  as  well  as  the  so-called  N.  montanus 
of  Haast,  founded  on  individual  variation. 

-  Canon  Tristram  (Ibis,  1892,  p.  557)  believes  that  one  in  his  possession  had 
this  origin,  aird  so  it  may  prove. 


NESTS— NIDICOL^  629 

from  Bauer's  drawing.  The  Phillip-Island  Nestor  may  be  distin- 
guished from  both  of  the  New-Zealand  species  by  its  somewhat 
smaller  size,  orange  throat,  straw-coloured  breast,  and  the  generally 
lighter  shade  of  its  tints. 

The  position  of  the  genus  Nestor  in  the  Order  Psittaci  must  be 
regarded  as  uncertain.  Garrod  removed  it  altogether  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Lories  {Froc.  Zool.  Society,  1874,  p.  597),  to 
which  indeed  the  structure  of  its  tongue,  as  previously  shewn  by 
him  {pp.  cit.  1872,  p.  789),  indicates  only  a  superficial  resemblance. 
Like  so  many  other  New-Zealand  forms,  Nestor  seems  to  be  isolated, 
and  may  fairly  be  deemed  to  represent  a  separate  Family — Nestoridx 
— a  view  adopted  by  Count  T.  Salvadori  [Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus.  xx. 
Introd.  p.  viii.),  and  fully  justified  by  a  cursory  examination  of  its 
osteology,  though  this  has  hitherto  been  only  imperfectly  described 
and  figured  (Eyton,  Osteol.  Avium,  p,  72  ;  A.  B.  Meyer,  Ahbild.  von 
VogelSkektten,  p.  18,  pi.  23). 

Further  knowledge  of  this  very  interesting  form  may  be  facili- 
tated by  the  following  references  to  the  Transactions  and  Proceedings 
of  the  New  Zealand  Institute,  ii.  pp.  64,  65,  387;  iii.  pp.  45-52,  81- 
90;  V.  p.  207;  vi.  pp.  114,  128;  ix.  p.  340;  x.  p.  192;  xi.  p. 
377  ;  and  of  course  to  Sir  Walter  Buller's  Birds  of  New  Zealand, 
especially  the  second  edition. 

NESTS,  see  Nidification. 

NIAS  (Fr.  Niais,  and  that  from  the  Low  Latin  Nidax,  a  nest- 
ling), corruptly  "Eyas"  or  "Eyess,"  a  falconer's  term  for  a  Hawk 
that  has  been  brought  up  from  the  nest,  in  contradistinction  to 
a  "  Haggard  "  or  Hawk  that  has  been  caught  wild. 

NIDICOLj^,  a  word  used  in  this  work  in  no  systematic  sense, 
but  as  a  convenient  term  to  indicate  those  Birds,  the  young  of 
which  remain  in  the  nest  for  a  shorter  or  longer  time  as  opposed  to 
NiDiFUG^,  or  those  whose  chicks  are  hatched  in  a  condition 
enabling  them  to  leave  their  birthplace  at  once.  The  Nidicolse,  all 
of  which  have  their  eyes  closed  at  coming  into  the  world,  may  be 
divided  into  four  categories,  according  to  their  initial  state  and  the 
way  in  which  they  subsequently  develop  : — 

(1)  Those  born  with  a  clothing  of  "Neossoptiles"  (see 
Feathers,  p.  243),  as  Accipitres,  Alcidx  (partly),  Caprimulgi,  Colum- 
hidx,  Eurypyga,  Heliornis  (excl.  Podica),  Sphenisci,  Striges,  Tubinares. 

(2)  Those  born  naked  or  nearly  so,  but  soon  acquiring  a  thick 
clothing  of  neossoptiles,  often  of  complicated  structure,  as  Ardese 
( -I-  Scopus),  Cathartse,  Ciconise  ( -f  Platalea),  Podica,  Sfeganopodes. 

(3)  Those  born  naked,  but  with  a  few  neossoptiles  growing  out 
of  the  tip  of  the  "  Teleoptiles  "  (see  Feathers,  p.  243)  as  Passeres, 
Upupidse. 

(4)  Those  born  naked  and  never  acquiring  neossoptiles,  nearly 


630 


NIDIFICATION 


all  being  bii'ds  that  breed  in  holes,  as  Alcedines,  Bucerotidx,  Cofaciidx, 
Cuculidee,  Cypseli,  Meropidse,  Momotidee,  Musoplmgidx,  Pici,  Todidse, 
Trochilidse. 

The  Bucconid^,  Coliidse,  Eurylxmidse,  GalbuUdse  and  Trogonidse  are 
probably  all  naked. 

Menura  is  said  to  have  downy  nestlings. 

Opisthocomus  is  born  with  open  eyes,  but  is  fed  by  its  parents, 
and  has  an  imperfect  nestling  plumage. 

The  interesting  correlation  between  Neossoptiles  and  permanent 
Downs  (see  Feathers,  p.  242)  is  shewn  {Thicr-reich,  Vogel,  Systemat. 
Theil,  pp.  76-85). 

NIDIFICATION,  or  the  building  of  the  nest  in  which  the  Eggs 
are  to  be  incubated  and  hatched,  is  with  most  Birds  the  beginning  of 
the  real  work  of  the  breeding- season,  to  which  SoNG  and  its  con- 
comitant actions  are  but  the  prelude  or  the  accompaniment ;  but 
with  many  it  is  a  labour  that  is  scamped  if  not  shirked.  Some  of  the 
Auk  tribe  place  their  single  egg  on  a  bare  ledge  of  rock,  where  its 
peculiar  conical  shape  is  but  a  precarious  safeguard  when  rocked  by 
the  wind  or  stirred  by  the  thronging  crowd  of  its  parents'  fellows. 
The  Stone-CuRLEW  and  the  Nightjar  deposit  their  eggs  without  the 
slightest  preparation  of  the  soil  on  which  they  rest ;  yet  this  is  not 
done  at  haphazard,  for  no  birds  can  be  more  constant  in  selecting, 
almost  to  an  inch,  the  very  same  spot  which  year  after  year  they 
choose  for  their  procreant  cradle.^  In  marked  contrast  to  such 
artless  care  stand  the  wonderful  structures  which  others  build  for 
the  comfort  or  safety  of  their  young.  But  every  variety  of  dis- 
position may  be  found  in  the  Class.  The  Apteryx  (Kiwi)  seems  to 
entrust  its  abnormally  big  egg  to  an  excavation  among  the  roots  of 
a  tree-fern ;  while  a  band  of  female  Ostriches  scrape  holes  in  the 
desert-sand,  and  therein  promiscuously  dropping  their  eggs  cover 
them  with  earth,  and  leave  the  task  of  incubation  to  the  male,  who 
discharges  the  duty  thus  imposed  upon  him  by  night  only,  and 
trusts  by  day  to  the  sun's  rays  for  keeping  up  the  needful,  fostering 
warmth.  Some  Megapodes  bury  their  eggs  in  sand,  lea"\ang  them, 
as  many  Reptiles  do,  to  come  to  maturity  by  the  mere  warmth  of  the 
ground,  while  others  raise  a  huge  hotbed  of  dead  leaves  wherein  they 
deposit  theirs ;  but  in  either  case  the  young  are  hatched  without 
further  care  on  the  part  of  either  parent.  The  Grebes  and  some 
Rails  seem  to  avail  themselves  in  a  less  degree  of  the  heat  generated 
by  vegetable  decay  {B.  Norf.  iii.  p.  240),^  and  dragging  from  the 
bottom  or  sides  of  the  waters  they  frequent  fragments  of  aquatic 

^  I  make  this  statement  literally  on  the  experience  of  my  brother  Edward 
and  myself,  but  I  believe  it  will  be  abundantly  confirmed  by  the  evidence  of  other 
observers. 

2  Mr.  Southwell  found  the  temperature  of  an  unincubated  nest  of  Podicipes 
cristatus  to  be  67°,  that  of  two  incubated  nests  to  be  72°  and  73°  respectively, 


NIDIFICA  TION  63 1 


plants  form  of  them  a  rude  half-floating  mass  which  is  piled  on  some 
growing  water-weed — but  these  birds  do  not  spurn  the  duties  of 
maternity.  Many  of  the  Gulls,  Sandpipers,  and  Plovers  lay  their 
eggs  in  a  shallow  pit  which  they  hollow  out  in  the  soil,  and  then  as 
incubation  proceeds  add  thereto  a  low  breastwork  of  haulm.  The 
Ringed  Plover  commonly  places  its  eggs  on  shingle,  which  they  so 
much  resemble  in  colour ;  but  when  breeding  on  grassy  uplands  it 
paves  the  nest-hollow  with  small  stones.  Pigeons  mostly  make  an 
artless  platform  of  sticks  so  loosely  laid  together  that  their  pearly 
treasures  may  be  perceived  from  beneath  by  the  inquisitive  observer. 
The  Pie,  as  though  conscious  that  its  own  thieving  habits  may  be 
imitated  by  its  neighbours,  surrounds  its  nest  with  a  hedge  of  thorns. 
Very  many  birds  of  very  diff"erent  groups  bore  holes  in  some  sandy 
cliff,  and  at  the  end  of  their  tunnel  deposit  their  eggs  with  or  with- 
out bedding.  Such  bedding,  too,  is  very  various  in  character; 
thus,  while  the  Sheld- DRAKE  and  the  Sand -Martin  supply  the 
softest  of  materials, — the  one  of  down  from  her  own  body,  the  other 
of  feathers  collected  by  dint  of  diligent  search, — the  Kingfisher 
forms  in  the  course  of  incubation  a  couch  of  the  undigested  spiny 
fish-bones  which  she  ejects  in  pellets  from  her  own  stomach.  Other 
birds,  as  the  WOODPECKERS,  hew  holes  in  living  trees,  even  when 
the  timber  is  of  considerable  hardness,  and  therein  establish  their 
nursery.  Some  of  the  SwiFTS  secrete  from  their  salivary  glands 
a  fluid  which  rapidly  hardens  as  it  dries  on  exposure  to  the  air 
into  a  substance  resembling  isinglass,  and  thus  furnish  the  "  edible 
birds'  nests"  that  are  the  delight  of  Chinese  epicures.  In  the 
architecture  of  nearly  all  the  Passeres,  too,  some  salivary  secretion 
seems  to  play  an  important  part.  By  its  aid  they  are  enabled  to 
moisten  and  bend  the  otherwise  refractory  twigs  and  straws  and 
glue  them  to  their  place.  Spiders'  webs  also  are  employed  with 
great  advantage  for  the  purpose  last  mentioned,  but  perhaps  chiefly 
to  attach  fragments  of  moss  and  lichen  so  as  to  render  the  whole 
structure  less  obvious  to  the  eye  of  the  spoiler.  The  Tailor-bird 
deliberately  spins  a  thread,  and  therewith  sews  together  the  edges 
of  a  pair  of  leaves  to  make  a  receptacle  for  its  nest;  while  the 
Fantail  Warbler,  by  a  similar  process  of  stitching — even  making 
a  knot  at  the  end  of  the  thread — unites  as  a  sheltering  canopy 
above  its  nest  the  upper  ends  of  the  grass  stems  amid  Avhich  it  is 
built.  Beautiful  too  is  the  felt  fabricated  of  fur  or  hairs  by  the 
various  species  of  Titmouse,  while  many  birds  ingeniously  weave 
into  a  compact  mass  both  animal  and  vegetable  fibres,  forming  an 
admirable  non-conducting  medium  which  guards  the  eggs  from  the 
extremes  of  temperature  outside.  Such  a  structure  may  be  open 
and  cup-shaped,  supported  from  below  as  that  of  the  Chaffinch  and 

and  that  of  a  nest  of  Fulica  atra  to  be  61°,  while  the  maximum  temperature  of  the 
air  that  day  was  58°  Fahr. 


632  NIDIFICA  TION 


Goldfinch,  domed  like  that  of  the  Wren  and  Bottle-Titmouse,  slung 
hammock-wise  as  in  the  case  of  the  Golden-crested  Wren  and  the 
Orioles,  or  suspended  by  a  single  cord  as  with  certain  Grosbeaks 
and  Humming-birds.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is  even  some- 
times needful  to  balance  the  nest  lest  the  weight  of  the  growing 
young  should  destroy  the  equipoise,  and,  precipitating  them  on  the 
ground,  dash  the  hopes  of  the  parents,  and  compensation  in  such 
cases  is  applied  by  loading  the  opposite  side  of  the  structure  with 
lumps  of  earth.  Certain  AVarblers  {Aedon  and  ThamnoUa)  for 
some  unascertained  reason  invariably  lay  a  piece  of  snake's  slough 
in  their  nests — to  repel,  it  has  been  suggested,  marauding  lizards 
who  may  thereby  fear  the  neighbourhood  of  a  deadly  enemy.  The 
clay-built  edifices  of  the  Swallow  and  Martin  are  known  to  every- 
body, and  the  Nuthatch  plasters  up  the  gaping  mouth  of  its  nest- 
hole  till  only  a  postern  large  enough  for  entrance  and  exit,  but  easy 
of  defence,  is  left.  In  South  America  we  have  the  subfamily  Fur- 
nariinx  (Oven-bird),  which  construct  of  mud  on  the  arching  roots 
of  the  mangrove  or  the  branches  of  other  trees  globular  "  ovens,"  so 
to  speak,  wherein  the  eggs  are  laid  and  the  young  hatched.  The 
Flamingo  erects  in  the  marshes  it  frequents  a  mound  of  earth  some 
two  feet  in  height,  with  a  cavity  atop,  on  which  the  hen,  having 
oviposited,  is  said  to  sit  astride  with  dangling  legs,  and  in  that 
remarkable  attitude  perform  the  duty  of  incubation.^  The  females 
of  the  Hornbills,  and  perhaps  of  the  Hoopoes,  submit  to  incar- 
ceration during  this  interesting  period,  the  males  immuring  them 
by  a  barrier  of  mud,  leaving  only  a  small  window  to  admit  air  and 
food,  which  latter  is  assiduously  brought  to  the  prisoners. 

But  though  in  a  general  way  the  dictates  of  hereditary  instinct 
are  rigidly  observed  by  Birds,  in  many  species  a  remarkable  degree 
of  elasticity  is  exhibited  or  the  rule  of  habit  is  rudely  broken. 
Thus  the  noble  Falcon,  whose  ordinary  eyry  is  on  the  beetling 
cliff,  will  for  the  convenience  of  procuring  prey  condescend  to  lay 
its  eggs  on  the  ground  in  a  marsh,  or  appropriate  the  nest  of  some 
other  bird  in  a  tree.  The  Golden  Eagle,  too,  remarkably  adapts 
itself  to  circumstances,  now  rearing  its  young  on  a  precipitous  ledge, 
now  on  the  arm  of  an  ancient  monarch  of  the  forest,  and  again  on 
a  treeless  plain,  making  a  humble  home  amid  grass  and  herbage. 
Herons  also  shew  the  same  versatility,  and  will  breed  according  to 
circumstances  in  an  open  fen,  on  sea-banks  or  (as  is  most  usual)  on 
lofty  trees.  Such  changes  are  easy  to  understand.  The  instinct 
of  finding  food  for  the  family  is  predominant,  and  where  most 
food  is  there  will  the  feeders  be  gathered  together.  This  explains, 
in  all  likelihood,  the  associated  bands  of  OSPREYS  or  Fish-Hawks, 
which  in  North  America  breed  (or  used  to  breed)  in  large  companies 
where  sustenance  is  plentiful,  though  in  the  Old  World  the  same 
^  As  before  noticed  (pp.  255,  256),  this  statement  has  been  impugned. 


I 


NIDIFICA  TION  633 


species  brooks  not  the  society  of  aught  but  its  mate.  Birds  there 
are  of  eminently  social  predilections.  In  Europe,  excepting  Sea- 
fowls — whose  congregations  are  universal  and  known  to  all — we 
have  perhaps  but  the  Herons,  the  Fieldfare,  and  the  Rook,  which 
habitually  flock  during  the  breeding-season ;  but  in  other  parts  of 
the  world  many  birds  unite  in  company  at  that  time,  and  in  none 
possibly  is  this  habit  so  strongly  developed  as  in  the  Anis  of  the 
Neotropical  Region,  the  Republican  Swallow  of  North  America, 
and  the  Sociable  Grosbeak  (Weaver-bird)  of  South  Africa,  which 
last  joins  nest  to  nest  until  the  tree  is  said  to  break  down  under 
the  accumulated  weight  of  the  common  edifice.^ 

In  the  strongest  contrast  to  these  amiable  qualities  is  the  para- 
sitic nature  of  the  CucKOWS  of  the  Old  World  and  the  Cow-BIRDS 
of  the  New,  but  this  peculiarity  of  theirs  has  been  already  dwelt 
upon.  Enough  to  say  here  that  the  egg  of  the  parasite  is  introduced 
into  the  nest  of  the  dupe,  and  after  the  necessary  incubation  by  the 
fond  fool  of  a  foster-mother  the  interloper  successfully  counterfeits 
the  heirs,  who  perish  miserably,  victims  of  his  superior  strength. 
The  whole  process  has  been  often  watched,  but  the  reflective 
naturalist  will  pause  to  ask  how  such  a  state  of  things  came  about, 
and  there  is  not  much  to  satisfy  his  enquiry.  Certain  it  is  that 
some  birds  whether  by  mistake  or  stupidity  do  not  un frequently 
lay  their  eggs  in  the  nests  of  others.  It  is  within  the  knowledge 
of  many  that  Pheasants'  eggs  and  Partridges'  eggs  are  often  laid 
in  the  same  nest,  and  it  is  within  the  knowledge  of  the  writer  that 
Gulls'  eggs  have  been  found  in  the  nests  of  EiDER-Ducks,  and  vice 
versa ;  that  a  Redstart  and  a  Pied  Flycatcher,  or  the  latter  and 
a  Titmouse,  will  lay  their  eggs  in  the  same  convenient  hole — the 
forest  being  rather  deficient  in  such  accommodation ;  that  an  Owl 
and  a  GoLDEN-EYE  will  resort  to  the  same  nest-box,  set  up  by  a 
scheming  woodsman  for  his  own  advantage  ;  and  that  the  Starling, 
which  constantly  dispossesses  the  Green  Woodpecker,  sometimes 
discovers  that  the  rightful  heir  of  the  domicile  has  to  be  brought 
up  by  the  intruding  tenant.  In  all  such  cases  it  is  not  possible  to 
say  which  species  is  so  constituted  as  to  obtain  the  mastery ;  but 
just  as  it  is  conceivable  that  in  the  course  of  ages  that  Avhich  was 

^  There  are  not  many  works  on  nidification,  for  "  Caliology"  or  the  study  of 
nests  has  hardly  been  deemed  a  distinct  branch  of  ornithological  study.  A  good 
deal  of  instructive  matter  (not  altogether  free  from  error)  will  be  found  in  E,ennie's 
Architecture  of  Birds  (London  :  18-31),  and  there  is  Mr.  Wallace's  most  interest- 
ing dissertation,  "  A  Theory  of  Birds'  Nests,"  originally  published  in  t\iQ  Journal 
of  Travel  and  Natural  History  (1868,  p.  73),  and  reprinted  in  his  Contributions 
to  the  Theory  of  Natural  Selection  {London  :  1870).  Andrew  Murray's  and  the 
Duke  of  Argyll's  remarks  on  this  essay  are  contained  in  the  same  volume  of  the 
Journal  named  (pp.  137  and  276).  The  late  Mr.  J.  G.  Wood's  Homes  vnthout 
Hands,  perhaps  the  best  of  his  books,  contains  a  popular  account  of  many  Birds' 
nests,  but  is  devoid  of  scientific  treatment  and  disfigured  by  some  glaring  errors. 


634  NIDI  PICA  TION 


driven  from  its  home  might  thrive  through  the  fostering  of  its 
young  by  the  invader,  and  thus  the  abandonment  of  domestic  duties 
would  become  a  direct  gain  to  the  evicted  householder ;  so  the 
bird  which,  through  inadvertence  or  any  other  cause  adopted  the 
habit  of  casually  dropping  her  eggs  in  a  neighbour's  nest,  might 
thereby  ensure  a  profitable  inheritance  for  endless  generations  of 
her  offspring.  This  much  granted,  all  the  rest  will  follow  easily 
enough,  but  it  must  be  confessed  that  this  is  only  a  presumption, 
though  a  presumption  which  seems  plausible  if  not  likely. 

Incubation  is  performed,  as  is  well  known,  by  the  female  of  nearly 
all  Birds,  but  with  most  of  the  Fasseres  and  many  others  the  male 
seems  to  share  her  tedious  duties,  and  among  the  Ratit^, 
apparently  without  exception,  the  cock  ordinarily  takes  that  office  on 
himself.  There  are  a  few  groups  or  perhaps  species  in  which  the 
same  practice  is  suspected  to  obtain — certain  of  the  Limicolse  for 
instance,  the  GODWITS  (Limosa),  the  Phalaropes  (Phalaropus),  and 
the  Dotterel  (Eudromias  morinellus) — and  in  these  it  is  to  be 
remarked  that  the  hen  is  larger  and  more  brightly  coloured  than 
her  mate.  Owing  to  the  unfortunate  neglect  of  those  who  have 
the  best  opportunities  of  making  the  needful  observations,  ^  the 
period  of  incubation  has  been  ascertained  in  comparatively  few 
birds,  and  it  is  here  possible  to  deal  with  that  subject  only  in  the 
most  vague  and  genei^al  language.  It  may  be  asserted  that  most  of 
the  smaller  Passeres  of  Europe  hatch  their  young  in  from  13  to 
15  days,  but  in  a  few  species  the  term  is  believed  to  be  shortened 
to  10  or  11  days,  while  in  the  largest  of  that  Order,  the  Raven, 
it  may  be  lengthened  to  some  18  or  19  days.  The  Barndoor- 
fowl-  ordinarily  takes  21  days,  but  the  Pheasant,  though  so 
very  nearly  allied,  takes  two  or  three  days  longer.  Most  Water- 
birds,  so  far  as  is  known,  and  the  smaller  Birds -of -Prey  seem 
to  require  as  long  a  time,  but  the  TuBlNARES  are  said  (Ibis, 
1892,  p.  581)  to  take  35  days,  while  the  Gannet  needs  at  least 
39  ;  and  in  the  Swan  incubation  lasts  from  35  to  40  days,  and 
in  the  Condor,  accoi-ding  to  Broderip  (Notebook  of  a  Naturalist, 
p.  14),  54  days.  The  temperature  of  the  air  is  commonly  credited 
with  having  something  to  do  either  in  hastening  or  retarding 
exclusion  from  the  egg,  but  to  what  extent,  or  even  whether 
justly  so  or  not,  seems  in  the  'absence  of  precise  experiments 
to  be  doubtful.  Certain  birds  occasionally  begin  brooding  so  soon 
as  the  first  egg  is  laid,^  and  this  practice  unquestionably  has  its 
advantages,  since  the  offspring  being  of  different  ages  thereby 
become  less  of  a  burthen  on  the  parents  which  have  to  minister 

^  The  most  vahiable  papers  on  the  subject  are  by  Mr.  William  Evans  {Ibis, 
1891,  pp.  52-93;  and  1892,  pp.  55-58). 

-  This  seems  to  be  very  often  the  case  with  the  Owls  ;  but,  if  my  observation 
is  not  mistaken,  the  habit  is  not  constant  even  with  the  same  individual  bird. 


NIDIFUGjE— NIGHTINGALE  635 

to  their  wants,  while  the  fostering  warmth  of  the  earlier  chicks  can 
hardly  fail  to  aid  the  development  of  those  which  are  unhatched, 
during  the  absence  of  father  and  mother  in  search  of  food ;  but 
most  birds,  and  it  need  scarcely  be  said,  all  those  the  young  of 
which  run  from  their  birth,  await  the  completion  of  the  clutch 
before  sitting  is  begun.  The  care  bestowed,  by  almost  every 
species,  on  the  infant-brood,  is  proverbial,  and  there  is  hardly  any 
extremity  of  danger  which  one  at  least  of  the  anxious  parents  will 
not  incur  to  ward  off  injury  from  their  progeny. 

NIDIFUGJE,  a  word  used  in  this  work  in  contradistinction  to 
NiDiCOLiE  (p.  629)  to  signify  those  Birds  which  are  able,  at 
hatching  or  immediately  after,  to  leave  the  nest.  They  are  all 
born  with  their  eyes  open  and  are  thickly  clothed  with  Neossoptiles 
(Feathers,  p.  243)  of  simple  structure,  as  Alcidse  (portion),  Anatidx, 
Colymbi,  Dicliokyplms,  Gallinx,  Grues,  Laridse,  Limicolse,  Otididx, 
Palamedese,  Phcenicopteri,  Podicipedidse,  Pterocles,  Ralli,  Batitas,  Tinami, 
Turnices. 

OpistJiocomus,  though  born  with  open  eyes,  and  able  to  creep  about 
on  the  branches,  has  but  few  Neossoptiles  and  is  fed  by  its  parents. 

As  previously  remarked  (page  244)  the  condition  of  the  first 
plumage  is  of  little  taxoriomic  value.  This  applies  with  still  more 
force  to  the  difference  between  Nidicolx  and  Nidifugm.  Taken  as  a 
whole  the  latter  comprise  most  of  the  phylogenetically  older  groups  ; 
but  any  of  them  may  include  some  closely-allied  members  which 
have  reached  the  developmental  level  of  the  former— the  Alcidse, 
Pigeons,  Plovers  and  Fowls  for  example.  Most  if  not  all  Nidicolse 
feed  their  young,  but  there  are  also  many  Nidifugx  which  prefer 
being  fed  by  their  parents  though  they  can  feed  themselves — 
for  instance  the  Gulls. 

In  order  to  shew  the  utterly  useless  nature  of  these  characters 
in  the  hands  of  various  systematists  it  will  be  enough  to  state  that 
Newman  considered  Gulls  and  Birds-of-Prey  to  be  "  gymnogenous  " 
or  born  naked  :  Bonaparte  held  all  the  Alcidse  and  the  Sphenisci  to 
be  "  Pr^COCES  "  but  the  Laridse  to  be  Altrices  :  Sundevall  classed 
Herons  and  Storks,  Sphenisci  and  TuUnares  among  the  Prsecoces ; 
while  Mr.  Seebohm  informs  us  {Classif.  5.  p.  9)  that  Pigeons  do 
not  pass  through  a  downy  stage. 

NIGHT-HAWK,  locally  applied  in  parts  of  England  to  the 
Nightjar,  and  in  North  America  to  species  of  the  genus  Chardiles. 

NIGHT-HERON,  see  Heron,  page  420. 

NIGHTINGALE  (Anglo-Saxon,  Nihtegale,  literally  "singer  of 
the  night"),  the  bird  justly  celebrated  beyond  all  others  by 
European  writers  for  the  admirable  vocal  powers  which,  during 
some  weeks  after  its  return  from  its  winter-quarters  in  the  south,  it 


636  NIGHTINGALE 

exercises  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night.  The  song  itself  is  inde- 
scribable, though  several  attempts,  from  the  time  of  Aristophanes  to 
the  present,  have  been  made  to  express  in  syllables  the  sound  of  its 
many  notes;  and  its  efifects  on  those  that  hear  it  depend  so  much  on 
their  personal  disposition  as  to  be  as  varied  as  are  its  tones.  To 
some  they  suggest  melancholy ;  and  many  poets  have  discanted  on 
the  bird  (which  they  nearly  always  make  of  the  feminine  gender) 
leaning  its  breast  against  a  thorn  and  pouring  forth  its  melody  in 
anguish.  It  is  accordingly  to  be  observed  that  the  cock  alone  sings, 
and  that  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  cause  and  intent  of 
his  Song,  unsurpassed  though  it  be,  differ  in  any  respect  from  that 
of  other  birds.  Sadness,  therefore,  is  certainly  the  last  impelling 
sentiment  that  can  be  properly  assigned  in  this  case.  In  great 
contrast  to  the  Nightingale's  pre-eminent  voice  is  the  inconspicuous 
coloration  of  its  plumage,  which  is  alike  in  both  sexes,  and  is  of  a 
reddish -brown  above  and  dull  greyish -white  beneath,  the  breast 
being  rather  darker,  and  the  rufous  tail  shewing  the  only  bright 
tint.  The  range  of  this  bird  in  Europe  has  already  been  so  fully 
described  (Geographical  Distribution,  pp.  339-341)  as  to  render 
a  further  account  of  it  needless.  Tlie  Nightingale  reaches  its 
English  home  about  the  middle  of  ApriV  the  males  (as  is  usual 
among  migratory  birds)  arriving  some  days  before  the  females;  and, 
often  stopping  on  their  way,  letting  their  song  be  heard  in  places 
they  do  not  habitually  frequent,  pass  to  their  proper  breeding- 
quarters.  At  this  time  they  run  very  great  danger  from  bird- 
catchers,  for  their  capture  is  effected  with  facility,  and  it  is  painful 
to  add  that  of  those  then  caught  nine-tenths  are  said  to  die  within  a 
month.  Fortunately  for  the  species,  it  receives  great  protection  from 
the  practice  of  game-preserving,  which  guards  from  intrusion  so  many 
of  the  localities  it  affects,  and  there  is  probably  no  country  in  which 
the  Nightingale  breeds  more  abundantly  and  in  greater  security 
than  in  England.  On  the  cocks  being  joined  by  their  partners, 
the  work  for  which  the  long  and  hazardous  journey  of  both  has 
been  undertaken  is  speedily  begun,  and  before  long  the  nest  is 
completed.  This  is  of  a  rather  uncommon  kind,  being  placed  on  or 
near  the  ground,  the  outworks  consisting  chiefly  of  a  great  number  of 

■'  Poets  and  novelists  are  apt  to  command  at  will  the  song  of  this  bird, 
irrespective  of  season.  If  the  appearance  of  truth  is  to  be  regarded,  it  is  danger- 
ous to  introduce  a  Nightingale  as  singing  in  England  before  the  15th  of  April  or 
after  the  15th  of  June.  The  "Early  Nightingale"  of  newspaper  paragraphs  is 
generally  a  Song-Tlirush.  Mr.  Harting  has  pointed  out  to  me  that  the  well-known 
and  beautiful  passage  in  which  Izaak  Walton  speaks  of  this  bird's  song  is  an 
adaptation  of  one  in  D'Arcussia's  Lettrcsde  Philoicrax  a  Philofalco  (No.  24)  ;  but 
the  way  in  which  Walton  turns  the  idea  expressed  shews  great  superiority  over 
the  original,  the  words  of  which  are  ' '  0  quel  doit  estre  le  concert  des  Anges  du 
Ciel,  puis  que  ces  Anges  terrestres  nous  extasient  par  leurs  chants  ? " 


NIGHTINGALE  637 


dead  leaves  ingeniously  applied  together  so  that  the  plane  of  most  is 
nearly  vertical.  The  mass  is  "wrought  so  as  to  contain  in  the  middle 
a  deep  cup-like  hollow,  neatly  lined  with  fibrous  roots,  but  the 
whole  is  so  loosely  constructed,  and  depends  for  lateral  support  so 
much  on  the  stems  of  the  plants  among  which  it  is  generally  built, 
that  a  very  slight  touch  disturbs  its  beautiful  arrangement.  Herein 
from  four  to  six  eggs  of  a  deep  olive  colour  are  duly  laid,  and  the 
young  hatched.  If  the  latter,  when  nearly  fit  to  fly,  be  taken  from 
the  nest,  they  can  with  proper  care  be  reared  by  hand,  and  this  is 
the  only  justifiable  mode  of  proceeding  for  those  Avho  wish  to  keep 
this  fine  songster  in  confinement,  as,  if  the  birds  survive  their  first 
moult,  they  may  live  for  some  years  in  a  cage,  and  the  cocks  will 
in  due  time  exercise  their  full  vocal  powers.  The  nestling  plumage 
of  the  Nightingale  differs  much  from  that  of  the  adult,  the  feathers 
above  being  tipped  with  a  buff'  spot,  just  as  in  the  young  of  the 
Kedbreast,  Redstart  and  Hedge-SPARROW,  thereby  pointing  to 
the  affinity  of  all  these  forms.  Towards  the  end  of  summer  the 
Nightingale  disappears,  and  but  little  has  been  observed  of  it  in  its 
winter-retreats,  which  are  presumably  in  the  interior  of  Africa.  One 
of  the  few  records  of  it  at  that  season  proves  that  it  visits  the  Gold 
Coast  {Ihk,  1872,  p.  291). 

The  Nightingale  is  the  Motadlla  luscinia  in  part  of  Linnaeus,  and 
the  Daulias  luscinia  of  some  modern  ornithologists.  In  the  east  of 
Eiurope  a  second  species  occurs  which  was  not  discriminated  by 
Linnaeus,  though  long  known  to  German  bird-fanciers  as  the  Sprosser. 
This,  the  Sylvia  philomela  or  Daulias  philomela  of  many  scientific 
writers,  is  a  somewhat  larger  bird,  which  fact,  and  the  presence  of 
some  faint  spots  on  its  breast,  have  caused  it  to  receive  the  English 
name  of  Thrush-Nightingale.  Its  westward  range  appears  to  be 
limited  to  the  valley  of  the  Rhine,  and  the  statement  that  it  has 
occurred  in  England  is  erroneous.  Its  song  is  louder  than  that  of 
the  true  Nightingale,  but  not  so  sweet  in  tone  or  so  varied  in  note. 
Still  further  to  the  eastward,  extending  from  the  Caucasus  through 
Persia  to  Turkestan,  and  occasionally  occurring  in  winter  in 
India,  is  a  third  species,  almost  simultaneously  described  in  Berlin 
and  Moscow  as  Luscinia  golzi  and  L.  hafizi  (see  Radde,  Orn.  Caucas. 
p.  247,  pi.  XV.  and  Gates,  Faun.  Br.  Ind.  Birds,  ii.  p.  101).  The 
name  Nightingale  has  been  vaguely  applied  to  several  other  birds. 
The  so-called  "  Virginian  Nightingale "  is  a  species  of  Grosbeak 
(p.  387),  and  the  Redwing,  strangely  enough,  has  been  often  spoken 
of  as  the  "  Swedish  Nightingale."  ^ 

1  The  Nightingale  holds  a  place  in  classical  mythology.  Procne  and  Philo- 
mela were  the  daughters  of  Pandion,  king  of  Attica,  who  in  return  for  warlike  aid 
rendered  him  by  Tereus,  king  of  Daulis  in  Thrace,  gave  him  the  first-named  in 
marriage.  Tereus,  however,  being  enamoured  of  her  sister,  feigned  that  his 
wife  was  dead,  and  induced  Philomela  to  take  her  place.     On  her  discovering  the 


638  NIGHTJAR 


NIGHTJAR  or  Goatsucker,  a  bird  from  very  ancient  times 
absurdly  believed  to  have  the  habit  implied  by  one  of  the  common 
names  it  bears  in  many  European  tongues  besides  our  own — as 
testified  by  the  Greek  KlyoO-qXas,  the  Latin  Caprimulgus,  Italian 
Succiacapre,  Spanish  Chotacahras,  French  TeUechhre,  and  German 
Ziegenmelker.  It  is  admittedly  the  type  of  a  very  peculiar  and 
distinct  Family,  Caprimulgidse,  a  group  remarkable  for  the  flat  head, 
enormously  wide  mouth,  large  eyes,  and  soft,  pencilled  plumage 
of  its  members,  which  vary  in  size  from  that  of  a  Lark  to  that  of  a 
Jay.  Its  position  has  been  variously  assigned  by  systematists. 
Prof.  Huxley  considered  it  to  form,  with  two  other  Families — the 
Cypselidse  (Swift)  and  TrocMlidse  (Humming-bird) — the  division 
Cypselomorph^.  The  same  view  was  taken  in  1884  by  Dr. 
Reichenow;  but  in  1885  Dr.  Stejneger  proposed  to  place  it  in  a 
"  Superorder  "  Coracoidex  along  with  Steatornis  (Guacharo),  Coraciidse 
(Roller)  and  Leptosomatidse ;  while  in  1888,  Prof.  Fiirbringer  put 
it  between  the  Rollers  and  Owls,  with  which  it  forms  in  his  opinion 
a  group  Coraciiformes.  There  are  two  ways  of  regarding  the 
Caprimulgidae — one  including  the  genus  Fodargus  (Morepork)  and 
its  allies,  the  other  recognizing  them  as  a  distinct  Family,  Podargidse, 
as  is  done  among  others  by  Mr.  Hartert  {Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus.  xvi. 
pp.  519-654).  As  a  matter  of  convenience  the  last  are  here 
comprehended  in  the  Caprimulgidse,  which  will  then  contain  two 
subfamilies,  Caprimulginse  and  Podarginx ;  for  Avhat,  according  to 
older  authors,  constitutes  a  third,  though  represented  only  by 
Steatornis,  the  singular  Guacharo  or  Oil -bird,  certainly  requires 
separation  as  an  independent  Family. 

Some  of  the  differences  between  the  Caprimulginse  and  Podargime 
were  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Sclater  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1866,  p.  123),  and 
are  very  obvious.  In  the  former,  the  outer  toes  have/owr  phalanges 
only,  thus  presenting  a  very  uncommon  character  among  Birds,  and 
the  middle  claws  are  pectinated ;  while  in  the  latter  the  normal 
number  of  five  phalanges  is  found,  the  claws  are  smooth,  and  other 
distinctions  more  recondite  have  also  been  indicated  by  him  {torn, 
clt.  p.  582).  The  Caprimulginm  may  be  further  divided  into  those 
having  the  gape  thickly  beset  by  strong  bristles,  and  those  in  which 
there   are  few  such  bristles  or  none — the  former  containing  the 

truth,  he  cut  out  her  tongue  to  hinder  her  from  revealing  his  deceit ;  but  she 
depicted  her  sad  story  on  a  robe  which  she  sent  to  Procne  ;  and  the  two  sisters 
then  contrived  a  horrible  revenge  for  the  infidelity  of  Tereus,  by  killing  and  serv- 
ing to  him  at  table  his  son  Itys.  Thereupon  the  gods  interposed,  changing 
Tereus  into  a  Hoopoe,  Procne  into  a  Swallow,  and  Philomela  into  a  Nightingale, 
while  Itys  was  restored  to  life  as  a  Pheasant,  and  Pandion  (who  had  died  of  grief 
at  his  daughters'  dishonour)  as  a  Bird-of-Prey  (see  Osprey).  The  fable  has 
several  variants.  Ovid's  version  may  be  seen  in  the  6th  Book  of  his  Meta- 
mor2')hoses  (lines  412-676). 


NIGHTJAR 


639 


genera  Capimulgus,  Antrostomus,  Nydidromus,  and  others,  and  the 
latter  Fodager,  Chordiles,  Lyncornis,  and  a  few  more. 

The  common  Nightjar  of  Europe,  C.  mropxus,  an'ives  late  in 
spring  from  its  winter  retreat  in  Africa,  and  its  presence  is  soon 
made  known  to  us  by  its  habit  of  chasing  its  i^rey,  consisting  chiefly 
of  moths  and  cockchafers,  in  the  evening-tAvilight.  As  the  season 
advances  the  song  of  the  cock,  from  its  singularity,  attracts  attention 
amid  all  rural  sounds.  It  seems  to  be  always  uttered  when  the 
bird  is  at  rest,  though  the  contrary  has  been  asserted,  and  is  the 
continuous  rei^etition  of  a  single  burring  note,  as  of  a  thin  lath  fixed 
at  one  end  and  in  a  state  of  vibration  at  the  other,  loud  enough 
to  reach  in  still  weather  a  distance  of  half-a-mile  or  more.      On  the 


Nightjar,  Caprimulgus  europcens. 

wing,  Avhile  toying  Avith  its  mate,  or  performing  its  rapid  evolutions 
round  the  trees  where  it  finds  its  food,  the  bird  has  the  habit  of 
occasionally  producing  another  and  equally  extraordinary  sound, 
sudden  and  short,  but  somewhat  resembling  that  made  by  swinging 
a  thong  in  the  air,  though  in  Avhat  way  this  noise  is  produced  is  not 
ascertained.  In  general  its  flight  is  silent,  but  at  times  when 
disturbed  from  its  repose,  its  wings  may  be  heard  to  smite  together. 
The  Nightjar  or,  to  use  perhaps  its  commoner  English  name, 
Goatsucker,^  passes  the  day  in  slumber,  crouching  on  the  ground  or 
perching  on  a  tree — in  the  latter  case  sitting  not  across  the  branch 
but  lengthways,  with  its  head  lower  than  its  body.  In  hot  weather,^ 
however,  its  song  may  sometimes  be  heard  by  day  and  even  at 
noontide,  but  it  is  then  uttered,  as  it  were,  drowsily,  and  without  the 

^  Other  English  names  of  the  bird  arc  Churn-Owl,  Evejar,  Fern-Owl,  Tfight- 
Hawk,  Puckeridge  and  Wheel-bird — the  last  from  the  bird's  song  resembling  the 
noise  made  by  a  spinning-wheel  in  motion. 


640  NIGHTJAR 


vigour  that  characterizes  its  crepuscular  or  nocturnal  performance. 
Towards  evening  the  bird  becomes  active,  and  it  seems  to  pursue  its 
prey  throughout  the  night  uninterruptedly,  or  only  occasionally 
pausing  for  a  few  seconds  to  alight  on  a  bare  spot — a  pathway  or 
road — and  then  resuming  its  career.  It  is  one  of  the  few  birds  that 
absolutely  make  no  nest,  but  lays  its  pair  of  beautifully -marbled 
eggs  on  the  ground,  generally  where  the  herbage  is  short,  and  often 
actually  on  the  soil.  So  light  is  it  that  the  act  of  brooding,  even 
where  there  is  some  vegetable  growth,  produces  no  visible  depression 
of  the  grass,  moss,  or  lichens  on  which  the  eggs  rest,  and  the  finest 
sand  almost  equally  fails  to  exhibit  a  trace  of  the  parental  act.  Yet 
scarcely  any  bird  shows  greater  local  attachment,  and  the  precise 
site  chosen  one  year  is  almost  certain  to  be  occupied  the  next 
(NiDiFiCATiON,  p.  630).  The  young,  covered  when  hatched  with 
dark-spotted  down,  are  not  easily  found,  nor  are  they  more  easily 
discovered  on  becoming  fledged,  for  their  plumage  almost  entirely 
resembles  that  of  the  adults,  being  a  mixture  of  reddish -brown, 
grey,  and  black,  blended  and  mottled  iu  a  manner  that  passes 
description.  They  soon  attain  their  full  size  and  power  of  flight, 
and  then  take  to  the  same  manner  of  life  as  their  parents.  In 
autumn  all  leave  their  summer  haunts  for  the  south,  but  the  exact 
time  of  their  departure  has  hardly  been  ascertained.  The  habits  of 
the  Nightjar,  as  thus  described,  seem  to  be  more  or  less  essentially 
those  of  the  whole  subfamily — the  differences  observable  being 
apparently  less  than  are  found  in  other  groups  of  birds  of  similar 
extent. 

A  second  species  of  Nightjar,  C.  ruficollis,  which  is  somewhat 
larger,  and  has  the  neck  distinctly  marked  with  rufous,  is  a  summer 
visitant  to  the  south-western  parts  of  Europe,  and  especially  to  Spain 
and  Portugal.  Hancock  recorded  {Ibis,  1862,  p.  39)  the  occurrence 
of  a  single  example  of  this  bird  at  Killingworth,  near  Newcastle-on- 
Tyne,  in  October  1856  ;  but  the  season  of  its  appearance  argues  the 
likelihood  of  its  being  but  a  casual  straggler  from  its  proper  home.^ 
Many  other  species  of  Capriraulgus  inhabit  Africa,  Asia  and  their 
islands,  while  one,  C.  macrurus,  ranges  very  widely  and  is  found  in 
Australia.  Very  closely  allied  to  this  genus  is  Antrostoinus,^  an 
American  group  containing  several  species,  of  which  the  Chuck-will's- 
widow,  A.  caroUnensis,  and  the  Whip-poor-will,  A.  vociferus,  of  the 
eastern  United  States  (the  latter  also  reaching  Canada)  are  familiar 
examples.  Both  these  birds  take  their  common  name  from  the  cry 
they  utter,  and  their  habits  seem  to  be  almost  identical  with  those  of 
the  Old-World  Nightjars,    Passing  over  some  other  forms  which  need 

^  A  third  species,  C.  segyptius,  recognizable  by  its  pale  coloration,  lias  occurred 
about  half  a  dozen  times  in  Europe,  and  once  even  in  England  {Zool.  1883, 
pp.  374,  37.5). 

2  Mr.  Hartert  (oj?.  cit.  p.  521)  denies  its  generic  validity,  and  not  unjustifiably. 


NIGHTJAR 


641 


not  here  be  mentioned,  the  genns  A''i/ctidromus,  though  consisting  of  only- 
one  species  (iV.  alhicollis)  which,  though  varying  somewhat  in  size  and 
coloration,  ranges  from  Texas  to  Southern  Brazil,  requires  remark, 
since  it  has  tarsi  of  sufficient  length  to  enable  it  to  run  swiftly  on  the 
ground,  while  the  legs  of  most  birds  of  the  Family  are  so  short  that 
they  can  make  but  a  shi;ffling  progress.  The  South-American 
Heleothreptes,  with  the  peculiar  form  of  wing  (counting  from  the 
wrist,  in  Avhich  the  2nd,  3rd,  and  4th  primaries  are  greatly  elongated) 
possessed  by  the  male,  needs  mention  ;  but  a  still  more  exaggerated 
condition  exists  in  two  African  species,  referred  by  some  ornithologists 


Pennant-winged  Nightjar,  Macrodipteryx. 
(After  sketch  from  life  by  J.  Gedge.) 

to  as  many  genera  {Macrodipteryx  and  Cosmetornis)  though  probably 
one  genus  would  suffice  for  both.  The  males  of  each  of  them  are 
characterized  by  the  wonderful  development  of  the  2nd  primary, 
which  reaches  in  adult  specimens  the  extraordinary  length  of  17 
inches  or  more.  The  former  of  these,  the  Ccqmmulgus  macrodipterus 
of  Afzelius,  seems  to  have  the  more  northern  range,  occurring  across 
the  continent  from  Abyssinia  to  the  West  Coast,  and  the  shaft  of 
the  elongated  remiges  is  bare  for  the  greater  part  of  its  length, 
retaining  the  web,  in  a  spatulate  form,  only  near  the  tip.  The 
latter,  to  Avhich  the  specific  name  of  vexillarius  was  given  by  Mr. 
Gould,  inhabits  equatorial  Africa,  and  thence   to  Damaraland   on 

41 


642  NIGHTJAR 

the  east  and  Fernando  Po  on  the  west,  and  is  reported  to  Lave 
occui'red  in  Madagascar  and  Socotra.  In  this  the  remigial  streamers 
do  not  lose  their  barbs,  and  as  a  few  of  the  next  quills  are  also  to 
some  extent  elongated,  the  bird,  when  flying,  is  said  to  look  as 
though  it  had  four  wings.  Specimens  of  both  are  rare  in  collections, 
and  no  traveller  seems  to  have  had  the  opportunity  of  studying  the 
habits  of  either  so  as  to  suggest  a  reason  for  this  marvellous  sexual 
development,  though  the  late  Mr.  Joseph  Gedge,  who  accompanied 
Sir  Samuel  Baker's  expedition  to  the  Soudan,  on  one  occasion 
observed  a  Macrodipteryx  squatting  on  the  ground  with  its  long 
remiges  erected  perpendicularly,  and  the  accompanying  figure  is  from 
a  sketch  sent  by  him  to  his  friend  Mr.  Marlborough  Pryor. 

The  second  group  of  Oaprimulginx,  those  which  are  but  poorly 
or  not  at  all  furnished  with  rictal  bristles,  contains  about  five  genera, 
of  which  there  is  here  only  room  to  particularize  Lyncornis  of  the 
Old  World  and  Chordiles  of  the  New.  The  species  of  the  former 
are  remarkable  for  the  tuft  of  feathers  which  springs  from  each  side 
of  the  head,  above  and  behind  the  ears,  so  as  to  give  the  bird  an 
appearance  like  some  of  the  "  Horned  "  Owls — those  of  the  genus 
Scops,  for  example ;  and  remarkable  as  it  is  to  find  certain  forms  of 
two  Families,  so  distinct  as  are  the  Strigidse  and  the  Caprimulgidse, 
resembling  each  other  in  this  singular  external  feature,  it  is  yet 
more  remarkable  to  note  that  in  some  groups  of  the  latter,  as  in 
some  of  the  former,  a  very  curious  kind  of  Dimorphism  takes  place. 
In  either  case  this  has  been  frequently  asserted  to  be  sexual,  but  on 
that  point  doubt  may  be  fairly  entertained.  Certain  it  is  that  in  some 
groups  of  Nightjars,  as  in  some  groups  of  Owls,  indi^dduals  of  the 
same  species  are  found  in  plumage  of  two  entirely  different  hues — 
rufous  and  grey.  The  only  explanation  as  yet  offered  of  this  fact  is 
that  the  difference  is  sexual,  but,  as  just  hinted,  evidence  to  that  effect 
is  conflicting.  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  this  common 
feature,  any  more  than  that  of  the  existence  of  tufted  forms  in  each 
group,  indicates  any  close  relationship  between  them.  The  resem- 
blances may  be  due  to  the  same  causes,  concerning  which  future 
observers  may  possibly  enlighten  us,  but  at  present  we  must  regard 
them  as  analogies,  not  homologies.  The  species  of  Lyncornis  inhabit 
the  Malay  countries,  one,  however,  occurring  in  Burma  and  India. 
Of  Chordiles  the  best-known  species  is  the  Night-hawk  of  North 
America,  C.  virginianus  or  popetue,  which  has  a  wide  range  from 
Canada  to  Brazil.  Others  are  found  in  the  Antilles  and  in  South 
America. 

We  have  next  to  consider  the  birds  forming  the  genus  Podargus 
and  those  allied  to  it,  whether  they  be  regarded  as  a  distinct  Family, 
or  as  a  subfamily  of  Capmmdgidm.  As  above  stated,  they  have 
feet  constructed  as  those  of  Birds  normally  are,  and  their  sternum 
seems  to  present  the  constant  though  comparatively  trivial  difference 


NIGHT-RA  VEN—NODD  V  643 

of  having  its  posterior  margin  elongated  into  two  pairs  of  processes, 
while  only  one  pair  is  found  in  the  Caprimulginx.  Podargxis  includes 
the  bird,  P.  cuvieri,  known  from  its  cry  as  Morepork  to  Tasmanian 
colonists,  and  several  other  species,  the  number  of  which  is  doubt- 
ful, from  Australia  and  New  Guinea.  They  have  comparatively 
powerful  bills,  and,  it  would  seem,  feed  to  some  extent  on  fruits  and 
berries,  though  they  mainly  subsist  on  insects,  chiefly  Cicadse  and 
Phasmidse.  They  also  differ  from  the  true  Nightjars  in  having  the 
outer  toes  partially  reversible,  and  they  are  said  to  build  a  flat  nest 
on  the  horizontal  branch  of  a  tree  for  the  reception  of  their  eggs, 
which  are  of  a  spotless  white.  Apparently  allied  to  Podargus,  but 
diff"ering  among  other  respects  in  its  mode  of  nidification,  is  jEgotheles, 
which  belongs  also  to  the  Australian  Region ;  and  further  to  the 
northward,  extending  throughout  the  Malay  Archipelago  and  into 
India,  comes  Batrachostomus,  wherein  we  again  meet  with  species 
having  "ear "-tufts  somewhat  like  Lyncornis.  The  Podarginx  are 
thought  by  some  to  be  represented  in  the  New  World  by  the  genus 
Nydibius,  of  which  several  species  occur  from  the  Antilles  and 
Central  America  to  Brazil.  Finally,  it  may  be  stated  that  none  of 
the  Caprimulgidx  seem  to  occur  in  Polynesia  or  in  New  Zealand, 
though  there  is  scarcely  any  other  part  of  the  world  suited  to  their 
habits  in  which  members  of  the  family  are  not  found. 

NIGHT-RAVEN,  a  bird  frequently  met  with  in  fiction,  but  ap- 
parently nowhere  else. 

NINE-KILLER  or  NINE-MURDER,  old  and  obsolete  render- 
ings of  the  German  Neuntodter  or  Neimmorder,  names  applied  to  more 
than  one  species  of  Lanius  (Shrike)  and  due  to  the  belief  that  each 
of  the  shambles  of  one  of  these  birds  displays  the  remains  of  nine 
victims  ("Nimmurder"  by  misprint,  Cotgrave,  1611,  suh  voce 
"  Escriere  "). 

NODDY,  the  name  applied,  originally  by  sailors,  to  a  sea-bird 
from  its  shewing  so  little  fear  of  man  as  to  be  accounted  stupid.^  It 
is  the  Sterna  stolida  of  Linnaeus,  and  the  Anions  stoUdus  of  modern 
ornithology,  having  the  figure  of  a  Tern,  and  belonging  to  the  sub- 
family Sterninx,  but  is  heavier  in  flight,  with  shorter  wings  and  the 
tail  less  deeply  forked.  The  plumage  is  of  a  uniform  sooty  hue, 
excepting  the  crown  of  the  head,  which  is  light  grey.  The  Noddy  is 
very  generally  distributed  throughout  the  tropical  or  nearly  tropical 
oceans,  but  occasionally  wanders  into  colder  climates,  and  has  been 
met  with  even  in  the  Irish  Sea.  It  breeds  often  in  astounding 
numbers,  on  islands,  even  low  cays  and  coral-islets,  commonly  making 

^  Noddcn,  used  by  Chaucer,  the  old  form  of  nod,  is  to  drop  the  head  suddenly 
as  in  falling  asleep,  and  hence  comes  Sir  Thomas  Browne's  nodipol — a  sleepy 
head,  a  simpleton — the  modern  noodle.  Noddle,  a  jocular  word  for  the  head,  is 
possibly  allied,  as  I  am  told  by  Prof,  Skeat. 


644  NONPAREIL 


a  shallow  nest  of  sea-weed  or  small  twigs,  which  may  be  placed  on 
the  ground,  on  a  tuft  of  grass,  or  in  the  fork  of  a  tree,  while  some- 
times it  lays  its  eggs  on  a  bare  rock.  Mr.  Saunders  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1876,  pp.  669-672)  admitted  four  other  species  of  the  genus: — 
Anous  tenuirostris,  supposed  to  be  confined  to  the  southern  part  of 
the  Indian  Ocean,  from  Madagascar  to  West  Australia ;  A.  melano- 
gemjs,  often  confounded  with  the  last,  but  having  nearly  as  wide  a 
range  as  the  first ;  ^  and  A.  leucocapillus,  hitherto  known  only  from 
Torres  Strait  and  the  Southern  Pacific.  These  three  have  much 
resemblance  to  A.  stolidus,  but  are  smaller  in  size,  and  the  two  latter, 
which  have  the  crown  white  instead  of  grey,  are  now  considered 
to  be  identical.  The  fourth  species,  A.  cseruleus,  with  which  he 
then  included  the  A.  cinereus  of  some  authors,  but  subsequently 
(op.  cit.  1878,  pp.  211,  212)  recognized  the  last  as  distinct,  diff'ers 
not  inconsiderably,  being  of  a  dove-colour,  lighter  on  the  head  and 
darker  on  the  back,  the  wings  bearing  a  narrow  white  bar,  with 
their  quill-feathers  blackish-brown,  while  the  feet  are  reddish  and 
the  webs  yellow.  Three  more  species — A.  superciliosus  from  the 
Caribbean  Sea  and  Gulf  of  Mexico,  A.  plumbeigularis  from  the  Red 
Sea,  and  A.  galapagensis  from  the  Galapagos — were  added  by  Dr. 
Sharpe  {Philos.  Trans,  clxviii.  pp.  468,  469) ;  while  Mr.  Rothschild 
has  described  and  figured  {Avifauna  of  Laysan,  p.  43,  pi.)  the  birds 
which  frequent  the  Sandwich  Islands  as  forming  a  tenth — A. 
haioaiiensis. 

NONPAREIL,  the  name  under  which,  from  its  supposed  match- 
less beauty,  a  little  cage-bird,  chiefly  imported  from  New  Orleans, 
has  long  been  known  to  English  dealers  [cf.  Edwards,  Gleanings, 
i.  p.  1 32).  It  is  the  Emberiza  ciris  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Cyanospiza, 
Spiza  or  Passerina  ciris  of  recent  ornithologists,  belonging  to  a  small 
group,  which,  in  the  present  state  of  knowledge,  cannot  with 
certainty  be  referred  either  to  the  Buntings  or  to  the  Finches,  while 
some  authors  have  regarded  it  as  a  Tanager.  The  cock  has  the 
head,  neck,  and  lesser  wing-coverts  bright  blue,  the  upper  part  of 
the  back  yellow,  deepening  into  green,  and  the  lower  parts  generally, 
together  with  the  rump,  bright  scarlet,  tinged  on  the  latter  with 
purple.  This  gorgeous  colouring  is  not  assumed  until  the  bird  is 
at  least  two  years  old.  The  hen  is  green  above  and  yellow  beneath  ; 
and  the  younger  cocks  present  an  appearance  intermediate  between 
the  adults  of  either  sex.  The  species,  often  called  also  the  Painted 
Bunting,  after  wintering  in  Central  America  or  Mexico,  arrives  in 
the  southern  States  of  the  American  Union  in  April,  but  does  not 
ordinarily    proceed    to    the    northward    of    South    Carolina.       In 

1  According  to  information  supplied  to  Dr.  F.  Penrose  {Ibis,  1879,  p.  280)  this 
species  took  up  a  station  in  1878  on  the  Island  of  Ascension  in  large  numbers,  it 
having  been  hitherto  unknown  there. 


NOPE—NULLIPENNES  645 

Louisiana,  where  it  is  especially  the  Pa'pe  of  the  French-speaking 
inhabitants  (see  Bishop- BIRD,  page  40)  it  is  said  to  be  very- 
abundant  ;  and  on  its  appearance  in  spring  advantage  is,  or 
was,  taken  of  the  pugnacious  disposition  of  the  males  (which  so 
often  accompanies  a  brilliant  sexually-distinct  plumage)  to  capture 
them  alive  in  great  numbers  by  means  of  the  stuffed  skin  of  one  so 
placed  in  connexion  with  a  cage-trap  that  they  instantly  fall  into 
the  latter  on  attacking  what  they  conceive  to  be  a  rival.  In  this 
way  many  thousands  are  said  to  have  been  taken  formerly.  The 
prisoner  usually  reconciles  himself  to  his  fate,  and  in  a  few  days 
will  utter  his  sprightly  though  not  very  powerful  song;  and,  if 
provided  with  a  mate  and  proper  accommodation,  will  breed  and 
rear  a  family  in  confinement.  Belonging  to  the  same  genus  as  the 
Nonpareil  is  the  Indigo-bird,  Cyanospiza  cyanea,  which,  as  a  summer 
visitant,  is  widely  diffused  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
extends  into  the  provinces  of  Ontario  and  New  Brunswick,  being 
everywhere  regarded  with  favour.  Though  wanting  most  of  the 
bright  hues  of  its  congener,  the  Indigo-bird  has  yet  much  beauty, 
the  adult  cock  being  nearly  all  over  of  a  deep  blue,  changing, 
according  to  the  light,  to  green.  The  hen  is  brown  above  and 
ochreous-white  beneath.  This  species  is  represented  in  the  western 
part  of  the  continent  by  the  Lazuli-Finch,  C.  amcena,  the  male  of 
M-hich  has  the  upper  parts  greenish-blue,  the  wings  barred  with 
white,  a  pectoral  band  of  light  chestnut  extending  to  the  flanks  on 
each  side,  and  the  lower  parts  white.  Of  the  three  remaining 
species  of  the  genus,  C.  versicolor  shews  in  the  male  a  plumage 
beautifully  varied  with  brownish-red,  violet,  and  blue  ;  C.  ledancheri 
is  bluish-green  above  and  yellow  beneath,  Avith  an  orange  breast ; 
while  C.  rositie,  though  quite  distinct,  comes  nearest  in  coloration  to 
C.  ciris.  These  three  have  a  more  southern  range  than  the  other 
three ;  but  the  first  of  them  is  believed  occasionally  to  cross  the 
Mexican  frontier  into  the  United  States.  None  of  the  species  of 
Cyanospiza  are  thought  to  occur  further  south  than  the  isthmus  of 
Panama ;  but  the  wonderful  Ciridops  anna  of  Hawaii  (Wilson  and 
Evans,  Birds  of  the  Sanchvich  Islands)  is  possibly  allied  to  this  genus. 

NOPE,  a  name  of  the  Bullfinch,  said  to  be  an  old  corruption 
of  Alp  or  some  other  form  of  that  word  (see  page  1 0)  which  has  taken 
on  an  initial  n  borrowed  from  the  indefinite  article  an.''- 

NOEFOLK  PLOVER,  a  needless  book-name  for  the  Stone- 
Curlew  (see  page  129),  apparently  invented  by  Pennant  in  1766. 

^  Like  a  newt  for  "  an  ewt  "  (or  eft),  a  nickname  for  "an  ekename,"  a  noTce 
for  "an  oak,"  and  several  other  words  (c/.  Skeat,  Utymol.  Did.  sub  litt.  N") ; 
but  the  only  case  among  English  birds'  names  where  the  converse  process,  or  loss 
of  a  real  initial  n,  has  happened  as  in  adder  for  "nadder,"  auger  for  "  nauger," 
seems  to  be  that  of  eyas  for  "  NiAS." 


646  NUN— NUTCRACKER 

NULLIPENNES,  Lesson's  name  in  1831  (Tr.  d'Orn.  p.  11)  for 
a  group  of  bii'ds  to  consist  of  the  genus  Apteryx  (Kiwi) ;  but  lately 
applied  in  error  {Century  Dictionary,  sub  voce)  to  the  Penguins. 

NUN  (printed  "Non"  in  Merrett's  Finax,  p.  183),  the  adult 
male  Smew,  from  his  delicate  white  and  black  plumage,  and  also 
said  to  be  a  local  name  of  the  Blue  Titmouse,  Partis  cseruleus, 
according  to  Charleton  (Onomast.  p.  90),  from  its  banded  head ;  but 
the  French  Nonnette  and  the  German  Nonnenmeise  are  names  of  the 
Marsh-Titmouse,  P.  palustris. 

NUTCRACKER,  the  name  given  in  1758  by  Edwards  (Glean- 
ings,  i.  p.  63,  pi.  240)  to  a  bird  which  had  hitherto  none  in  English, 
though  described  in  1544  by  Turner,  who,  meeting  with  it  in  the 
Rhsetic  Alps,  where  it  was  called  "  Nousbrecher "  (hodie  "  Nuss- 
brecher"),  translated  that  word  into  Latin  as  Nucifraga.  In  1555 
Gesner  figured  it  and  conferred  upon  it  another  designation, 
Caryocatacfes.  Willughby  and  Ray  obtained  it  on  the  road  from 
Vienna  to  Venice  as  they  crossed  what  must  have  been  the  Som- 
merring  Pass,  26th  September  1663;  and  it  has  a  wide  range  in 
the  northern  pai'ts  of  the  Palaearctic  area,  chiefly  keeping  to  sub- 
alpine  or  subarctic  pine-forests,  and  apparently  nowhere  numerous, 
though  roving  bands  of  seventy  or  one  hundred  have  occasionally 
been  observed  in  autumn,  at  which  season  it  can  be  often  seen  in 
suitable  localities  in  several  European  countries.  It  is  the  Corvus 
caryocatactes  of  Linnaeus,  the  Nucifraga  caryocatactes  of  modern  orni- 
thology.^ The  first  known  to  have  occurred  in  Britain  was,  according 
to  Pennant,  shot  at  Mostyn  in  Flintshire,  5th  October  1753,  while 
about  fifteen  more  examples  have  since  been  procured,  and  others 
seen,  in  this  island.  For  many  years  nothing  was  known  of  this 
bird  during  the  breeding-season,  when  it  seemed  to  disappear  from 
sight,  and  this  notwithstanding  the  interest  taken  in  the  search  for 
its  nest  and  eggs.  It  is  now  pretty  clear  that  the  discovery  was 
due  to  the  Abbe  Caire  of  Saniferes  in  the  Lower  Alps,  but  though  he 
obtained  an  egg  in  1846,  he  was  unable  to  produce  proof  of  the  fact, 
and  the  truth  was  not  ascertained  until  some  sixteen  years  later  by 
the  Danish  oologists  HH.  Fischer  and  Erichsen,  who  after  much 
labour  found  and  took  nests  and  eggs  in  the  island  of  Bornholm.^ 
The  Nutcracker  breeds    very  early  in  the  year,  long  before  the 

^  A  monograph  of  the  species  by  the  Ritter  Victor  von  Tschusi-Schmid- 
hoflen  was  printed  at  Dresden  in  1874  with  the  title  of  Ber  Tannenheher,  one  of 
its  many  German  names. 

^  Many  other  claimants  appeared  in  the  meanwhile  without  making  good 
their  pretensions.  The  story  of  the  discovery  is  told  with  some  details  in 
Yarrell's  British  Birds  (ed.  4,  ii.  pp.  332-337).  The  egg  of  the  Nutcracker  seems 
to  have  been  first  figured  by  Badeker  {Journ.  fur  Oni.  1S56,  pi.  i.  fig.  1),  but  the 
first  specimen  with  an  undeniable  history,  being  from  Bornholm  as  above  stated, 
in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  (1867,  pi.  xv.  fig.  2). 


NUTHA  TCH  647 


snows  are  melted,  and  this  fact  coupled  with  that  of  its  becoming,  like 
a  Jay,  silent  in  the  breeding-season,  Avhen  at  other  times  it  is  rather 
noisy  than  not,  will  account  for  the  mystery  which  so  long  en- 
wrapped its  domestic  arrangements ;  but,  now  that  the  secret  has 
been  divulged,  nests  and  eggs  have  been  found  without  much  diffi- 
culty in  various  parts  of  Europe,  and  contrary  to  what  was  for 
many  years  believed,  the  nest  seems  to  be  invariably  built  on  the 
bough  of  a  tree,  some  20  feet  from  the  ground,  and  is  a  comparatively 
large  structure  of  sticks  lined  with  grass.  The  eggs  are  of  a  very 
pale  bluish-green,  sometimes  nearly  spotless,  but  usually  more  or  less 
freckled  with  pale  olive  or  ash-colour.  The  chief  food  of  the  Nut- 
ci'acker,  though  it  at  times  searches  for  insects  on  the  ground, 
appears  to  be  the  seeds  of  fir-trees,  which  it  extracts  as  it  holds  the 
cones  in  its  foot,  and  it  has  been  questioned  whether  the  bird  has 
the  faculty  of  cracking  nuts — properly  so  called — with  its  bill, 
though  that  can  be  used  with  much  force  and,  at  least  in  confine- 
ment, with  no  little  ingenuity.  Considerable  diff"erence  has  been 
observed  in  the  form  and  size  of  the  bill  of  examples  of  this  species, 
but  as  in  the  case  of  the  HuiA  (page  437)  this  is  now  supposed  to 
depend  on  the  sex — that  of  the  cock  being  stout  and  short,  while 
in  the  hen  it  is  long  and  thin.  The  bird  is  about  the  size  of  a  Jay, 
and  of  a  dark  sooty-brown  colour  spangled  with  white,  nearly  each 
body-feather  ending  in  a  tear-shaped  patch  of  that  colour.  Beside 
the  European  species,  which  also  extends  into  Northern  or  Central 
Asia,  three  others,  very  nearly  akin  to  it,  have  been  described  from 
the  Himalayas.  Of  their  American  cousin,  Clark's  Crow,  as  it  is 
called  (Picicorvus  columbianus),  inhabiting  only  the  western  slopes  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  discovered  during  the  famous  expedition 
of  Lewis  and  Clark  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  in  1804-6, 
an  excellent  account  has  been  given  by  Dr.  Coues  (Ibis,  1872,  pp. 
52-59). 

The  old  supposition  that  the  Nut-crackers  had  any  affinity  to 
the  Picidx  (Woodpecker)  or  were  intermediate  in  position  between 
them  and  the  Cwvidse  (Crow)  is  now  known  to  be  wholly  erroneous, 
for  they  undoubtedly  belong  to  the  latter  Family. 

NUTHATCH,  in  older  English  Nuthack,  and  locally  Nut- 
jobber,  from  its  habit  of  hacking  or  chipping  nuts,  which  it 
cleverly  fixes,  as  though  in  a  vice,  in  a  chink  or  crevice  of  the 
bark  of  a  tree,  and  then  hammers  them  with  the  sharp  point  of 
its  bill  till  the  shell  is  broken.  This  bird  was  long  thought  to  be 
the  Sitta  europma  of  Linnaeus ;  but  that  is  now  admitted  to  be  the 
northern  form,  with  the  lower  parts  white,  and  its  bufF-breasted 
representative  in  central,  southern,  and  western  Europe,  including 
England,  is  known  as  Sitta  cxsia.  It  is  not  found  in  Ireland,  and 
in  Scotland  its  appearance  is  merely  accidental.     Without  being 


648  NUTMEG-BIRD 


very  plentiful  anywhere,  it  is  generally  distributed  in  suitable 
localities  throughout  its  range — those  localities  being  such  as  afford 
it  a  sufficient  supply  of  food,  consisting  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  year  of  insects,  which  it  diligently  seeks  on  the  boles  and 
larger  limbs  of  old  trees ;  but  in  autumn  and  winter  it  feeds  on 
nuts,  beech-mast,  the  stones  of  yew-berries  and  hard  seeds.  Being 
of  a  bold  disposition,  and  the  trees  favouring  its  mode  of  life  often 
groAving  near  houses,  it  will  become  on  slight  encouragement  familiar 
with  men ;  and  its  neat  attire  of  ash-grey  and  Avarm  buff,  together 
Avith  its  sprightly  gestures,  render  it  an  attractive  Adsitor.  It  generally 
makes  its  nest  in  a  holloAv  branch,  plastering  up  the  opening  with 
clay,  leaving  only  a  circular  hole  just  large  enough  to  afford  entrance 
and  exit ;  and  the  interior  contains  a  bed  of  dry  leaves  or  the  filmy 
flakes  of  the  inner  bark  of  a  fir  or  cedar,  on  Avhich  the  eggs  are 
laid.  Corsica  has  a  Nuthatch  peculiar  to  itself  and  remarkable  for 
its  black  crown,  the  S.  whiteheadi  of  Dr.  Sharpe,  and  in  the  LeA^ant 
occurs  a  third  species,  *S^.  syriaca,  with  somewhat  different  habits,  as 
it  haunts  rocks  rather  than  trees ;  while  four  or  five  representatives 
of  the  European  arboreal  species  have  their  respective  ranges  from 
Asia  Minor  to  the  Himalayas  and  Northern  China.  North  America 
possesses  nearly  as  many ;  but,  curiously  enough,  the  geographical 
difference  of  coloration  is  just  the  reverse  of  what  it  is  in  Europe — 
the  species  with  a  deep  rufous  breast,  S.  canadensis,  being  that  which 
has  the  most  northern  range,  while  the  Avhite-bellied  S.  carolinensis, 
with  its  western  form,  S.  aculeata,  inhabits  more  southern  latitudes. 
The  Ethiopian  Region  seems  to  have  no  representative  of  the  group, 
unless  it  be  the  Hypositta  coralUrostris  of  Madagascar.  Callisitta  and 
Dendrophila  are  nearly  allied  genera,  inhabiting  the  Indian  Region, 
and  remarkable  for  their  beautiful  blue  plumage ;  but  some  doubt 
may  for  the  present  be  entertained  as  to  the  affinity  of  the  Australian 
Sittella,  with  four  or  five  species,  found  in  one  or  another  part  of 
that  continent,  which  doubt  is  increased  by  the  late  Mr.  W.  A. 
Forbes's  discovery  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  pp.  569-571)  that  the  genera 
Acanthidositta  (Spinebill)  and  Xenicus,  peculiar  to  NeAV  Zealand, 
and  hitherto  generally  placed  in  the  Family  Sittidm,  belong  really 
to  the  Mesomyodian  group  and  are  therefore  far  removed  from  it. 
The  true  Sittidse  seem  to  be  intermediate  between  the  Faridx 
(Titmouse)  and  the  Certlmdse  (Treecreeper),  and  some  authors 
comprehend  them  in  either  one  or  the  other  of  those  groups. 

NUTMEG -BIRD,  the  dealers'  name  in  common  use  for  3Iunia 
pundulata  (Co wry- bird,  page  108),  but  apparently  of  someAvhat 
recent  origin. 


I 


OA  T-FO  WL— ODONTORNITHES  649 


0 

OAT-FOWL,  a  local  name  for  the  Snow-BuNTiNG ;  OATSEED- 
BIRD  for  the  Yellow  Wagtail. 

OCCIPUT,  properly  the  hinder  part  of  a  bird's  head,  from  the 
crown  backward,  as  oj)posed  to  Sinciput,  but  often  used  vaguely 
for  the  whole  cap. 

OCTOBEE  BIRD,  in  the  Antilles  used  for  the  Bobolink,  from  its 
arriving  there  in  that  month  (B.  Edwards,  Hid.  W.  hid.  i.  p.  99,  note). 

OCYDROME,  see  Weka. 

ODONTOGLOSS^,  Nitzsch's  name  in  1840  {PterylogmpMc,  p. 
191)  for  a  group  consisting  of  the  genus  Fhcenicopterus  (Flamingo). 

ODONTOLC^,  see  Odontornithes. 

ODONTOPHORIN^,  the  supposed  subfamily  containing  the 
American  Quails  (rf.  Colin),  upon  the  distinctness  of  which  from 
those  of  the  Old  World  some  systematists  have  laid  unnecessary 
importance.  Dr.  Coues  (Ke//  N.-Am.  Birds,  ed.  1884,  p.  594)  says 
that  he  knows  no  characters  to  distinguish  the  true  Quails  from  the 
so-called  Odontophorinm. 

ODONTORNITHES,!    a    term    proposed    in    1873    by    Prof. 
Marsh   {Am.    Journ.   Sci.   ser.  3,  v.   pp.    161,   162)  to  designate   a 
so-called   Subclass    of    birds,  consisting  of  the   genera  Hesperornis 
and  Ichthyornis  (both  of   which  had  been  named   in  the  previous 
year)  from  the    cretaceous  deposits  of   Kansas,  and   characterized 
by  the  presence  of  teeth  (Fig.  1).     Its  founder  after- 
Avai'ds    subdivided  this  group  {op.  cif.  x.   pp.   403-408) 
into  the  two  Orders  ODONTOLCJi:  and  Odontotor]\l-e  ; 
the  former,  represented  by  Ilesperornis  and  characterized 
by  having  the  teeth  (Fig.  2)  placed  in  grooves,  hetero- 
coelous  vertebrae,  and  the  abortion  of  the  carina  sterni 
with  a  generally  Ratite  conformation  of   the   scapular        pj„  j 
arch  (Fig.  3) ;  while  the  latter,  typified  by  Ichthyornis,      Tooth  of 
Avas  distinguished  by  the  presence  of   distinct  sockets   hesperornis. 
for  the  teeth   (Fig.  5),  amphicoelous  vertebrae  (Fig.  6),  uidSonand 
and  the  Cafinate  modification  of  the  sternal  apparatus.     Lydekker's 
Subsequent  writers   have  disputed    the   expediency   of   PaHeontoiogy, 
this   proposal,  for    Prof.   Cope   in    1875    {Vert.   Cretac. 
Form,  of  the  West,  pt.  iii.  p.  245)  and  Prof.  Seeley  in  1876  {Q.  Journ,. 

^  Again  indebted  to  Mr.  Lydekker's  kindness  for  an  article  worthy  of  the 
closest  attention,  I  wish  to  gnard  myself  against  its  being  taken  as  the  expres- 
sion of  my  own  views  on  one  of  the  hardest  subjects  that  the  ornithologist  has 
to  consider,  and  one  still  open  to  various  interpretations. — A.  N. 


650 


ODONTORNITHES 


Geol.   Soc.  xxxii.   p.   496)  referred  Hesperornis  to   the   "  Natatores." 
In  1881,  M.  Dollo  {Bull.  sc.  Dqmrt.  du  Nord,  ser.  2,  iv.  p.  300)  pro- 


Fig.  2. — Mandible  of  Hesperornis.     (As  before,  after  Marsh.) 

nounced  it  to  be  "une  autruche  carnivore  aquatique."  This  notion 
was  popularized  in  1884  by  Prof.  Wiedersheim  {Biolog.  Centralhl. 
ii.  p.  690),  Avhile  Prof.  Dames  in  the  same  year  {Palxontol.  Ahhandl. 
ii.  pt.  3)  took  much  the  same  view,  as  did  also  (though  in  a  different 


Fig.  3. — Sternal  Apparatus  of  Hesperornis.     (As  before,  after  Marsh.) 
c  coracoid  ;  /,  furcula  ;  /i,  humerus  ;  s,  scapula  ;  st.  sternum. 

fashion)  an  author  in  the  Encydopxdia  Britannica  (ed.  9,  xviii.  pp. 
43,  44),  and  Prof,  von  Zittel  (Handb.  Palxozool.  Abth.  I.  iii. 
pp.  826,  834).  Almost  simultaneously,  however,  Prof.  Vetter 
{Festschr.  der  Ges.  Ms  in  Dresden,  1885,  p.  109)  explained  Hesper- 


Fig.  4.— Pelvis  of  Hesperornis.     (As  before,  after  Marsh.) 
a,  acetabulum  ;  {/.  ilium  ;  is.  ischium  ;  p,  pectineal  process  ;  jj',  os  pubis. 

ornis  as  a  Carinate  Bird,  exclusively  adapted  to  aquatic  life,  and 
having  no  affinity  to  the  liatitx,  though  since  he  regarded  these  last 
as  reduced  Carincdse  its  mutual  relation  to  the  Batitm  was  obvious, 
and  people  began  to  confound  them,  speaking  almost  in  M.  Dollo's 


ODONTORNITHES  651 


phrase  of  it  as  a  "Swimming  Ostrich."  About  the  same  time  it 
was  found  that  the  presence  of  teeth  was  a  character  apparently- 
common  to  all  "  Cretaceous  "  Birds.  The  opinions  expressed  by 
Prof.  Fiirbringer  in  the  earlier  portion  of  his  great  work  need  not 
be  here  adduced,  since  they  were  modified  in  the  course  of  its  pro- 
gress;  but  he  finally  declared  {Untersuchungen,  u.  s.  w.  pp.  1543, 
1565,  1580)  that  the  Odontolcx  were  the  ancestral  relations  of 
his  "  Colymbo-Podicipites,"  with  which  they  formed  his  Suborder 
"  Podicipitiformes,"  while  a  similar  view  was  taken  in  1890  by 
Prof.  D'Arcy  Thompson  {Stud.  Mtis.  Dundee,  No.  10). 

As  to  the  Odontotormse  Prof.  Marsh  has  displayed  commendable 
caution.  On  account  of  some  similarity,  the  significance  of  which 
may  or  may  not  be  important,  he  based  his  restoration  of  Ichthyornis 
on  Sterna  (Tern),  a  fact  which  has  led  to  exaggerated  if  not  mis- 
taken views,  for  he  was  careful  to  state  that  Ichthyornis  seemed  to 
have  points  of  resemblance  to  Ardea,  Ciconia,  Colymhus,  Phalacro- 
corax  and  even  to  the  Accipitres,  while  its  posterior  extremities  alone 
indicated  a  structure  similar  to  that  of  the  Laridx  and  Alcidse.  In 
1893  Dr.  Gadow  {Thier-reich,  Vogel,  ii.  p.  119)  suggested  that  the  low 
characters  of  Ichthyornis  shew  it  to  be  the  beginning  of  the  Carinatse. 

In  1891  the  present  writer  {Cat.  Foss.  B.  Br.  Mas.  pp.  200  etseqq.), 
while  fully  admitting  both  the  Colymbine  affinities  of  Hesperm-nis 
and  the  Larine  resemblances  of  Ichthyornis,  proposed  to  retain  the 
term  Odontornithes  for  a  series  of  Birds  ancestral  to  the  modern  series 
of  toothless  Carinatse,  adopting  {op.  cit.  p.  2)  for  the  latter,  but  in  a 
wider  sense.  Dr.  Stejneger's  name  {Stand.  Nat.  Hist.  iv.  p.  64)  of 
Euornithes.  In  addition  to  the  presence  of  teeth,  the  extinct  series 
differs  from  the  Ewrnithes  by  the  absence  of  union  between  the  rami 
of  the  mandible,  and  between  the  distal  ends  of  the  ilium  and  ischium. 

Whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  verdict  on  these  points  of 
classification,  it  would  seem  probable  that  Hesperornis  should  be 
regarded  as  an  offshoot  from  the  same  ancestral  stock  as  the  one 
from  which  the  modern  Colymhidse  have  originated ;  such  ancestral 
stock  being  characterized  by  the  presence  of  teeth,  absence  of 
ancylosis  between  the  mandibular  rami,  and  want  of  union 
between  the  spike-like  patella  and  the  upwardly-produced  cnemial 
crest  of  the  tibia.  On  the  other  hand,  the  abortion  of  the  keel  of 
the  sternum,  as  well  as  the  general  Ratite  modification  of  the 
scapular  arch,  are  features  peculiar  to  Hesperoi-nis,  and  not  common 
to  the  ancestral  type ;  being,  in  fact,  nearly  analogous  to  those 
presented  by  Didus  among  the  Columbse.  The  typical  species  of 
Hesperornis  {H.  regalis)  was  of  large  size,  attaining  a  length  of  about 
six  feet ;  while  a  second  species  (//.  crassipes)  was  still  more  gigantic. 
Both  were  aquatic,  and  probal)ly  very  similar  in  their  general 
habits  to  the  Divers.  Probably  more  or  less  closely  allied  to  this 
genus  was  the  much  smaller  Colymbiform  bird  from  the  Cambridge 


652 


ODONTORNITHES 


Greensand,  named  by  Prof.  Seeley  in  1869  Enaliomis,  and  the 
closely  allied  Baptornis  from  the  North  American  Cretaceous  (see 
Fossil  Birds).  While  possessing  heterocoelous  cervicals,  it  is 
believed  that  Enaliornis  had  its  dorsal  vertebrae  amphicoilous. 

Retaining   in    their    amphiccelous   vertebrae   evidence    of    their 
reptilian  ancestry  which  is  lost  in  the  more  specialized  Hesjyerornis, 


Fig.  5. — Mandible  of  Ichthyornis.     (As  before  after  Mars'i.) 

the  small  Gull-like  birds  known  as  Ichthyornis  may  probably  be 
regarded  as  holding  a  somewhat  more  intimate  relationship  to  the 
modern  LiMicOL^E  and  Gavi^  than  is  presented  by  the  former  to 
the  Pygopodes,  the  specialization  connected  Avith  the  absence  of 

flight  in  the  former  genus  being  want- 
ing. Traces  of  affinity  with.  Icldhyornis 
are,  indeed,  indicated  by  the  more 
or  less  markedly  opisthocoelous  dorsal 
vertebrae  of  the  Limicolai  and  Gaviai ; 
but  whereas  both  these  groups  have 
an  ectepicondylar  process  to  the 
humerus,  and  an  extensor  bony  bi^idge 
to  the  tibio -tarsus,  neither  of  these 
features  are  present  in  the  cretaceous 
The  fenestration  of  the  meta- 


Fig.  fi. 

Cervical  Vertebra  ok  Ichthyorxis, 

from  front  and  side. 

(As  before,  after  Marsh.) 


genus. 


wanting 


in 


carpus  characteristic  of  the  Gcmai  is,  moreover, 
IcUhijornis.  Hence  it  would  appear  that  we  must  regard  all 
the  above-mentioned  features  characterizing  the  existing  groups 
named  as  of  comparatively  late  origin ;  while  the  differences 
between  the  extinct  and  living  forms  appear  to  the  Avriter  far  too 
important  to  admit,  as  has  been  proposed,  of  their  inclusion  in 
a  single  ordinal  group.  Although  Ajxtfornis,  from  the  Yellow  Chalk 
of  Kansas,  and  as  yet  imperfectly  known,  was  apparently  an  allied 
type,  distinguished  by  the  great  development  of  the  acromial  pro- 
cess of  the  scapula,  and  the  stouter  hind  limbs,  the  remaining 
genera  of  (?  toothed)  birds  from  the  same  horizon  referred  to  the 
Odoiitornithes  are  named  on  the  evidence  of  such  incomplete 
remains,  that  it  is  impossible  to  speak  of  their  affinities  with 
certainty ;  all  that  can  be  said  for  them  will  be  found  in  their 
describer's  magnificent  work  forming  the  first  volume  of  the 
Memoirs  of  the  Pcahody  Jlftiscum  of  Yale  College.'^ 

Richard  Lydekker. 

'   Odontornithcs  :  a  Monograph  on  the  Extinct  Toothed  Birds  of  North  America. 
By  Othniel  Charles  Jlarsh.     Fol.     New  Haven,  Conn.  :  1880. 


ODONTOTORMjE— OIL-GLAND  653 

ODONTOTOEM^,  see  Odontornithes. 

(ESOPHAGUS  (Greek  ola-o(^dyos),  so  named  by  Aristotle,  the 
gullet  or  "  swallow "  of  plain  English  {cf.  Digestive  System,  page 
136),  the  part  of  the  alimentary  canal  from  the  Larynx  (page 
512)  to  the  Stomach.  It  passes  down  the  right  and  dorsal  side  of 
the  Trachea,  with  which  and  other  adjoining  parts  it  is  connected 
by  loose  tissue,  entering  the  thoracic  cavity  dorsally  from  the 
Bronchi  (page  5S),  and  when  not  distended  it  forms  numerous 
longitudinal  folds  owing  to  the  yielding  nature  of  the  tunica  mucosa 
(page  137).  Deglutition  is  aided  by  simple  mucous  glands,  but  in 
many  birds  the  middle  portion  of  the  (Esophagus  forms  a  per- 
manent dilatation,  the  Crop  (page  113),  to  the  outer  sui'face  of 
which  thin  but  broad  bands  of  striped  or  voluntary  muscle  are 
generally  attached.  These  may  arise  from  the  Furcula  (page  296) 
as  in  Pigeons,  or  from  the  skin  of  the  neck  as  in  the  Gallinse,  and 
their  action  assists  the  conveyance  of  the  food  from  the  crop  to  the 
stomach.  During  this  process,  especially  if  only  little  and  dry  food 
be  left,  Birds,  Parrots  for  instance,  may  be  occasionally  observed  to 
stretch  their  neck  and  gape  widely  with  their  mouth. 

OIL-BIRD,  see  Guacharo. 

OIL-GLAND  (glandula  uropygialis),  in  Birds  the  only  cutaneous 
gland  except  some  small  organs  in  the  external  ear-passages.  Con- 
sisting of  two  symmetrical  portions,  more  or  less  united  posteriorly 
in  shape  of  a  heart — since  each  half  is  broad  and  rounded  in  front 
and  pointed  behind — it  is  seated  upon  the  levator  muscles  at  the 
root  of  the  tail.  Internally  it  is  formed  of  numerous  secretory 
tubules  which  gradually  unite  in  a  common  cavity  opening  on  the 
surface  through  a  variable  number  of  orifices — there  being  from  3  to 
5  of  them  in  many  Water-birds,  though  only  one  to  each  half  in 
Anseres — frequently  prolonged  in  form  of  a  nipple  and  occasionally 
united  in  a  single  tube,  the  double  origin  of  which  is,  however, 
shewn  by  a  median  septum.  In  the  Hoopoe  alone,  according  to 
Nitzsch,  there  is  but  one  orifice  to  the  common  cavity,  wherein  the 
stinking  secretion  of  the  gland,  for  which  the  female  during  incuba- 
tion and  the  young  while  they  stay  in  the  nest  are  notorious,  is 
stored.  The  whole  structure,  which  is  surrounded  by  connective 
tissue  and  unstriped  muscular  fibres,  is  innervated  by  the  first 
caudo-spinal  nerves,  and  its  blood-supply  is  in  connexion  with  the 
caudal  arteries  and  veins. 

In  the  majority  of  Birds  this  gland  is  well  developed,  being 
largest  in  those  of  aquatic  habit,  and  especially  in  the  Tubinares 
and  Steganopodes,  as  well  as  in  Pandion  (Osprey)  ;  but  it  is  also 
large  in  Steatornis  (Guacharo).  It  exists,  though  hardly  in  a 
functional  condition,  in  certain  Pigeons  (Ptilopus),  Cacatua  cristata 
(Cockatoo),   and    most   Caprimulgi   (Nightjar),    while   in   other 


654  OLD  MAN—OLIGOMYODjE 

Pigeons  as  Didunculus  (Dodlet),  Goura  and  Treron;  in  other 
Cockatoos,  in  several  PARROTS  (Chrysotis  and  Pionus),  in  Podargns 
(Nightjar),  Otis,  Argusanus  and  the  Ratitai  it  is  absent.  This  irregu- 
larity shews  that  it  has  not  much  value  as  a  taxonomic  character ; 
but  attention  to  other  peculiarities  in  its  form  or  structure  has  been 
drawn  by  Nitzsch  and  Garrod,  and  especially  to  the  presence  or 
absence  of  a  circlet  of  feathers  surrounding  the  nipple-like  orifice, 
and  when  that  occurs  the  skin  covering  the  gland  is  naked,  while 
when  the  circlet  is  wanting  the  whole  is  covered  with  down  inter- 
spersed with  stiff  feathers.  Among  the  birds  to  which  the  last 
condition  applies  are  the  Bucconidse,  Caprimulgi  (excl.  Podargus)^ 
Cariama,  Coradidse,  Cuculidx,  Cypseli,  Galbulidse,  Leptosomus,  Mero- 
pidm,  Momotidse,  Steatornis  and  Trogonidse,  while  by  far  the  greater 
number  of  birds  possess  the  tuft. 

Analysis  of  the  secretion  of  the  Oil-gland  shews  that  its  com- 
position closely  resembles  that  of  the  sebaceous  product  of  Mammals  ; 
but  that  it  differs  from  milk  through  the  absence  of  sugar.  Its  use 
is  px'obably  the  anointing  of  the  plumage,  and  the  presence  of 
Powder-downs  in  Cacatua,  Chrysotis  and  Podargus  may  possibly 
indicate  some  correlation  between  these  organs  and  the  oil-gland.^ 

OLD  MAN,  the  name  in  Jamaica  for  Hyetornis  pluvialis,  one  of 
the  CucKOWS  which  is  also  called  Rain-bird,  as  are  others  of  the 
Family. 

OLD  SQUAW  and  OLD  WIFE  are  two  of  the  many  names  of 
the  Long-tailed  Duck,  the  former  necessarily  of  transatlantic  oi'igin. 

OLEGPiANON,  the  proximal  end  of  the  Ulna,  projecting  back- 
ward from  and  beyond  its  articulation  Avith  the  Humerus,  being 
practically  equivalent  to  the  point  of  the  elbow.  It  serves  as  a 
lever  during  the  extension  of  the  wings,  the  tendons  of  the  triceps 
muscle  beino;  inserted  on  the  Olecranon. 

OLIGOMYOD^,  Prof.  Huxley's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867, 
p.  471)  for  the  group  of  Passerine  Birds  having  but  few  song- 
muscles  (Syrinx)  which  Johannes  Miiller  had    previously  called 

PiCARII. 

1  It  seems  that  it  would  be  improper  here  to  overlook  a  controversy  on  this 
still  unsettled  question  which,  though  now  wholly  forgotten,  was  carried  on,  to 
the  amusement  of  our  predecessors,  in  the  later  volumes  of  Loudon's  Magazine 
of  Natural  History,  and  in  the  early  years  of  The  Zoologist.  Waterton,  with 
the  mistaken  zeal  he  so  frequently  exhibited,  maintained  that  the  gland  had  no 
lubricating  function,  chiefly  because  he  had  observed  that  the  so-called  "rump- 
less  "  breed  of  Fowls,  in  which  the  gland  is  wanting,  kept  their  feathers  as  glossy 
as  other  Fowls  which  possessed  it.  He  was  easily  victorious  so  long  as  he  had  to 
deal  only  with  the  late  Mr.  F.  0.  Morris,  but  Avhen  he  met  with  an  adversary 
like  the  late  ilr.  C.  A.  Bury,  who  knew  something  about  birds,  was  a  good 
ol)server  and  could  write  rationally,  Waterton's  mistaken  position  seems  to  have 
become  plain  to  him,  and  he  retired  from  the  contest. — A.  N. 


OLIVE— ORANGE-BIRD  655 

.  OLIVE,  a  local  name  of  the  Oyster-CATCIIER,  and  apparently 
a  corruption  of  OLAF,  which  is  said  also  to  be  nsed  (Christ}'-, 
B.  Essex,  p.  238),  and  if  so  the  word  should  be  more  properly  spelt 
Olave,  that  being  the  English  form  of  the  sainted  Danish  king's 
name.      {Cf.  Knot,  said  to  be  from  Cnut.) 

OLPH  (see  Alp  and  Nope),  with  the  jirefix  "  Blood  "  a  local 
name  of  the  Bullfinch,  with  that  of  "  Green  "  of  the  Greenfinch. 

OMBRE  or  OMBRETTE,  see  Haiumer-head. 

0-0  (variously  spelt),  the  name  given  in  the  Sandwich  Islands 
to  birds  of  the  genus  Acrulocercus  (Mohoa  of  some  writers),  one  of 
the  Meliphagidx  (Honey-sucker),  of  which  4  species,  inhabiting  as 
many  islands,  have  been  described.  The  yellow  axillary  tufts  of 
one  of  them,  A.  nohilis,  peculiar  to  HaAvaii,  have  been  greatly 
sought  for  the  beautiful  featherwork  of  the  natives  since  the  Mamo  ■"• 
(Drepanis)  became  rare. 

OPEN-BILL  (French  Bec-ouvert),  one  of  the  names  -  given  to 
birds  of  the  genus  Anastomus, 
allied  if  not  actually  belonging 
to  the  Ctconiidai  (Stork),  but  by 
some  ^  regarded  as  constituting  a 
distinct    Family.       Two    species 

have  long  been  known— one  In-       bill  of  anastomus.   (After  Swainson.) 
dian,   parti-coloured,    A.    oscifans, 

pondicerianus  or  coromandelianus ;  the  other  African  and  dark 
coloured,  yl.  lamelligerus,  so  called  from  the  curious  flattening 
and  broadening  into  shining  horny -plates  of  its  feather -shafts, 
especially  on  the  lower  parts.  In  1880,  Prof.  Alphonse  Milne- 
Edwards  described  the  form  inhabiting  Madagascar  as  distinct, 
A.  mmlagascariensis.  It  differs  chiefly  from  the  African  in  its 
smaller  size,  and  the  deeper  grooving  of  the  bill. 

OPISTHOCOMUS,  see  Hoactzin. 

ORANGE-BIRD,  a  name  in  Jamaica  for  Spindalis  (properly 
Spindasis)  nigricephala,  wrongly  identified  by  Gosse  (B.  Jam.  p.  231) 
with  the  Fringilla  zena  of  Linnteus  (which  proves  to  be  peculiar  to 
Bahama),  one  of  the  Tanagers,  and  so-called,  says  the  former, 
"  from  the  resemblance  of  its  plump  and  glowing  breast  to  that 

^  At  pages  166  and  225  this  species  was  mentioned  as  extinct :  an  example, 
however,  was  obtained  in  1892,  and  its  remains  are  in  Mr.  Rothschild's  collec- 
tion. 

^  Others,  and  more  recent,  are  Shell-eater,  Shell-Ibis,  and  Snail-eater,  of 
which  the  first  two  are  incorrect,  and  the  latter  far  from  distinctive,  though  these 
birds  feed  chiefly  on  mollusks  of  the  genera  Ampullaria  and  Unio. 

^  Cf.  Gurney  in  Audersson's  B.  Damdra  Land,  p.  283  ;  Gates  in  Hume's 
Nests  and  Eggs  Ind.  B.  ed.  2,  iii.  p.   224. 


656  ORGAN-BIRD— ORIOLE 

beautiful  fruit."     He  assigns  to  it  also  the  name  of  Cashew-bird  ; 
but  it  is  not  the  Cashew-bird  of  older  authors. 

OEGAN-BIRD,  the  name  in  Tasmania  for  the  species  of 
Gymnorhina  there  found  (Gould,  Handb.  B.  Austral,  i.  p.  178). 

ORGANIST,  the  English  rendering  of  the  Organiste  of  Buffon 
(Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  iv.  p.  290),  though  it  may  be  questionable  whether 
all  the  information  he  cites  really  refers  to  this  species,  which  is  the 
Pipra  musica  of  Gmelin,  and  Euphonia  musica  of  modern  ornithology, 
an  inhabitant  of  Hispaniola.  Other  congeneric  species  inhabit 
Jamaica,  Porto  Rico  and  some  of  the  Lesser  Antilles,  though  none 
is  found  in  Cuba,  while  many  more  occur  from  Mexico  throughout 
Central  and  most  parts  of  South  America.  Mr.  Sclater  recognizes 
33  species  in  all  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xi.  pp.  58-83). 

ORIOLE,  from  the  Old  French  Oriol  and  that  from  the  Latin 
aureolus,  the  name  once  applied,  from  its  golden  colouring,  to  the 
bird  generally  admitted  to  be  the  Vireo  or  Icterus  (page  457) 
of  classical  authors — the  Oriolus  galhula  of  Linnaeus — but  now 
commonly  used  in  a  much  wider  sense.  The  Golden  Oriole, 
which  is  the  type  of  the  Family  Oriolidss  of  modern  ornithologists, 
is  a  far  from  uncommon  spring- visitor  to  the  British  Islands ; 
but  the  conspicuous  plumage  of  the  male — bright  yellow  contrasted 
with  black,  chiefly  on  the  wings  and  tail — always  attracts  atten- 
tion, and  usually  brings  about  its  death.  Yet  a  few  instances  are 
known  in  which  it  is  supposed  to  have  bred  in  England.  The  nest 
is  a  beautifully  interwoven  fabric,  suspended  under  the  horizontal 
fork  of  a  bough,  to  both  branches  of  which  it  is  firmly  attached, 
and  the  eggs  are  of  a  shining  white  sometimes  tinged  with  pink, 
and  sparsely  spotted  with  dark  purple.  On  the  Continent  it  is  a 
well-known  though  not  an  abundant  bird,  and  its  range  in  summer 
extends  so  far  to  the  east  as  Irkutsk,  while  in  winter  it  is  found  in 
Natal  and  Damaraland.  In  India  it  is  replaced  by  a  closely  allied 
form,  0.  kundoo,  chiefly  distinguishable  by  the  male  possessing  a 
black  streak  behind  as  well  as  in  front  of  the  eye ;  and  both  in 
Asia  and  Africa  are  several  other  species  more  or  less  resembling 
0.  galhda,  but  some  depart  considerably  from  that  type,  assuming 
a  black  head,  or  even  a  glowing  crimson  instead  of  the  ordinary 
yellow  colouring,  while  others  again  remain  constant  to  the  dingy 
type  of  plumage  which  characterizes  the  female  of  the  more  normal 
form.  Among  these  last  are  the  aberrant  species  of  the  group 
Mimetes  or  Miraeta,  belonging  to  the  Australian  Region,  respecting 
which  Mr.  Wallace  pointed  out  the  very  curious  facts — as  yet  only 
explicable  on  the  theory  of  "unconscious  Mimicry" — of  which 
mention  has  already  been  made  (pages  573,  574).  The  external 
similarity  of  the  Mimeta  and  the  Philemon  or  Tropidorhynchus  (Fkiar- 
Bird)  of  the  island  of  Bouru  is  perfectly  wonderful,  and  has  again 


ORNITHICHNITES—ORTHONYX  657 

■■  ■  -  I-    —  ■  ■■,..,..-  ^' 

and  again  deceived  some  of  the  best  ornithologists,  though  the 
birds  are  structurally  far  apart.  Another  genus  which  has  been 
referred  to  the  Oriolidx,  and  may  here  be  mentioned,  is  Sphecotheres, 
peculiar  to  the  Australian  Region,  and  distinguishable  from  the 
more  normal  Orioles  by  a  bare  space  round  the  eye. 

The  Baltimore  Oriole,  Orchard  Oriole,  and  other  North- American 
birds  to  which  the  name  has  been  applied,  belong  to  the  wholly 
distinct  Family  Ideridse  (Icterus). 

OENITHICHNITES,  a  word  compounded  from  the  Greek  by 
Hitchcock  in  1832  {Am.  Journ.  Sc.  xxix.  p.  315)  to  signify  the  fossil 
footprints  of  Birds,  and  hence  taken  as  the  generic  name  of  the 
animals  which  had  left  those  marks,  but  are  now  generally  believed 
to  have  been  Dinosaurs  (FossiL  Birds,  page  277). 

ORNITHOLITE,  a  stone  containing  the  remains  or  impression 
of  the  remains  of  a  Bird. 

ORNITHOLOGY,  from  the  Greek  Spvte-,  crude  form  of  6>vis, 
a  bird  (cognate  with  Scandin.  0rn  and  A.S.  Earn,  whence  our  Erne), 
and  Xoyia,  allied  to  Xoyos,  commonly  Englished  a  discourse.  The 
earliest  use  of  the  word  thus  spelt  seems  to  be  in  the  third  edition 
of  Blount's  Glossographia  (1670),  where  it  is  explained  as  "the 
speaking  of  birds :  the  title  of  a  late  Book "  ^  (cf.  Skeat,  Etymol. 
Diet.  p.  407). 

ORNITHOTOMY,  the  dissection  of  Birds,  and  hence  the 
science  thereon  founded. 

ORTHONYX,  the  scientific  name  given  in  1820,  by  Temminck, 
to  a  little  bird,  which,  from  the  straightness  of  its  claws, — a 
character  somewhat  exaggerated  by  him, — its  large  feet  and  spiny 
tail,  he  judged  to  be  generically  distinct  from  any  other  form. 
Concerning  its  affinities  much  doubt  long  prevailed.  The  typical 
species,  0.  maculatus  or  sjnnicauda,  is  from  eastern  Australia,  where 
it  is  said  to  be  very  local  in  its  distribution,  and  strictly  terrestrial 
in  its  habits.  In  the  course  of  time  two  other  small  birds  from 
New  Zealand,  where  they  are  known  as  the  "  Whitehead  "  and 

^  This  book  was  doubtless  '  Ornitho-logie,  |  or  |  The  Speech  of  |  Birds.  | 
London,  |  Printed  for  Johii  Stafford,  and  are  to  |  be  sold  at  his  House,  at  the 
George  at  |  Fleet-bridge.  1655.'  The  authorship  of  the  book,  of  which  there  are 
several  later  editions,  is  ascribed  by  Lowndes  (p.  848)  to  Thomas  Fuller  ;  but 
whether  he  was  the  celebrated  writer  of  that  name  is  doubtful.  Mr.  J.  E.  Bailey 
in  his  Life  of  that  worthy  (London :  1874,  pp.  761,  762)  includes  it  among  his 
"  spurious  works,"  though  a  later  biographer,  Mr.  Morris  Fuller  (London  :  1884, 
ii.  p.  525)  accepts  it  as  genuine.  "Whoever  may  have  been  the  author,  the  word 
"  Ornithologie  "  is  used  in  a  sense  very  different  from  the  meaning  applied  to  it  a 
few  years  after,  for  this  treatise  is  a  fable,  perhaps,  like  the  agnate  '  Anthologia ' 
published  with  it,  "Partly  Morall,  Partly  Misticall,"  and  possibly  has  also  a 
political  significance. 

42 


658  ORTOLAN 


"  Yellowhead,"  were  referred  to  the  genus,  under  the  names  of 
0.  albicilla  ^  and  0.  ochrocephala,  and  then  the  question  of  its  affinity 
became  more  interesting.  By  some  systematists  it  was  supposed 
to  belong  to  the  othermse  purely  Neotropical  Dendrocolaptidse 
(Picucule),  and  in  that  case  would  have  been  the  sole  representa- 
tive of  the  Tracheophone  Passeres  in  the  Australian  Eegion.  Others 
considered  it  one  of  the  nearest  relatives  of  Menura,  and  if  that 
view  had  been  correct  it  would  have  added  a  third  form  to  the 
small  section  of  "  PSEUDOSCINES " ;  while  Sundevall,  in  1872, 
placed  it  not  far  from  Timelia,  among  a  group  the  proper  sorting  of 
which  will  probably  for  years  tax  the  ingenuity  of  ornithologists.^ 
The  late  Mr.  W.  A.  Forbes  shewed  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  p.  544) 
that  this  last  position  was  the  more  correct,  as  Orthonyx  proved  on 
dissection  to  be  one  of  the  true  Oscines,  but  yet  to  stand,  so  far  as 
is  known,  alone  among  birds  of  that  group,  or  any  other  group  of 
Passeres,  in  consequence  of  the  superficial  course  taken  by  the  (left) 
carotid  artery,  which  is  nowhere  contained  in  the  subvertebral 
canal.  Whether  this  discovery  will  require  the  segregation  of  the 
genus  as  the  representative  of  a  separate  Family  Ortlionycidse — 
— which  has  been  proposed  by  Mr.  Salvin  (Catal.  Coll.  Strickland, 
p.  294) — remains  to  be  seen.^ 

The  typical  species  of  Orthonyx — for  the  scientific  name  has 
been  adopted  in  English — is  rather  larger  than  a  Skylark,  coloured 
above  not  unlike  a  Hedge-Sparrow.  The  wings  are,  however, 
barred  with  white,  and  the  chin,  throat  and  breast  are  in  the  male 
pure  white,  but  of  a  bright  reddish-orange  in  the  female.  The 
remiges  are  very  short,  rounded  and  much  incurved,  shewing  a 
bird  of  weak  flight.  The  rectrices  are  very  broad,  the  shafts  stiff, 
and  towards  the  tip  divested  of  barbs.  Two  other  species  that 
seem  rightly  to  belong  to  the  genus  have  been  described — 0.  spal- 
dingi  from  Queensland,  of  much  greater  size  than  the  type,  and 
with  a  jet-black  plumage,  and  0.^  novm-guinese,  from  the  great  island 
of  that  name. 

ORTOLAN  (Old  Fr.  Hortolan,  mod.  Fr.  Ortolan),  the  Emberiza 

^  It  may  be  charitably  conjectured  that  the  nomenclator  intended  to  write 
alhicapilla. 

^  Dr.  Sharpe  naturally  extended  his  generous  hospitality  to  Orthonyx  and 
placed  it  in  his  Twneliidm  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  vii.  p.  329),  but  refused  entrance  to 
Clitonyx,  which  Dr.  Gadow  had  therefore  to  include  [op.  cit.  -v-iii.  p.  75)  among 
the  Paridie — a  wrong  position,  according  to  Sir  W.  Buller. 

*  Forbes  also  demonstrated  that  one  at  least  of  the  two  New-Zealand  species 
above  mentioned,  0.  ochrocephala,  had  been  wrongly  referred  to  this  genus,  and 
they  therefore  at  present  stand  as  Clitonyx.  This  is  a  point  of  some  little  import- 
ance in  its  bearing  on  the  relationship  of  the  fauna  of  the  two  countries,  for 
Orthonyx  was  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  few  genera  of  Land-birds  common  to 
both. 


OSGJNES  659 


hortulana  of  Linnaeus,  a  bird  so  celebrated  for  the  delicate  flavour  of 
its  flesh  as  to  have  become  provei"bial,  and  to  have  given  its  name 
to  others,  not  all  of  them  nearly  related,  which  are  supposed  to  be 
as  well-tasted.  A  native  of  most  European  countries — the  British 
Islands  (in  which  it  occurs  but  rarely)  excepted — as  well  as  of 
western  Asia,  it  emigrates  in  autumn  presumably  to  the  southward 
of  the  Mediterranean,  though  its  winter-quarters  cannot  be  said  to 
be  accurately  known,  and  returns  about  the  end  of  April  or 
beginning  of  May.  Its  distribution  throughout  its  breeding-range 
seems  to  be  very  local,  and  for  this  no  reason  can  be  assigned.  It 
was  long  ago  said  in  France,  and  apparently  with  truth,  to  prefer 
wine-growing  districts ;  but  it  certainly  does  not  feed  upon  grapes, 
and  is  found  equally  in  countries  where  vineyards  are  unknown — 
reaching  in  Scandinavia  even  beyond  the  arctic  circle — and  there  it 
generally  frequents  corn-fields  and  their  neighbourhood.  In  appear- 
ance and  habits  it  much  resembles  its  congener  the  Yellow- 
HAMMER,  but  wants  the  bright  colouring  of  that  species,  its  head 
for  instance  being  of  a  greenish-grey  instead  of  a  lively  yellow. 
The  somewhat  monotonous  song  of  the  cock  is  also  much  of  the 
same  kind ;  and,  Avhere  the  bird  is  a  familiar  object  to  the  country 
people,  who  u.sually  associate  its  arrival  with  the  return  of  fair 
weather,  they  commonly  apply  various  syllabic  interpretations  to 
its  notes,  just  as  our  boys  do  to  those  of  the  Yellow-hammer.  The 
nest  is  placed  on  or  near  the  ground,  but  the  eggs  seldom  shew  the 
hair-like  markings  so  characteristic  of  those  of  most  Emherizidx 
(Bunting).  Ortolans  are  netted  alive  in  great  numbers,  kept  from 
the  light  of  day,  and  fed  with  millet,  oats  and  other  seeds.  In  a 
short  time  they  become  enormously  fat,  and  are  then  killed  for  the 
table.  If,  as  is  supposed,  the  Ortolan  be  the  Miliaria  of  Varro,  the 
practice  of  artificially  fattening  bix'ds  of  this  species  is  very  ancient.^ 
In  Europe  the  "  Beccafico  "  (Fig-eater),  whatever  that  may  be, 
shares  with  the  Ortolan  the  highest  honours  of  the  dish,  but  the 
former  is  not  artificially  fattened,  and  on  this  account  is  preferred 
by  some  sensitive  tastes  to  the  latter. 

OSCINES,  the  third  Order  of  Birds  according  to  the  arrange- 
ment in  1840  of  Keyserling  and  Blasius  iWirhelth.  Europ. 
pp.  xxxvi.  and  80),  consisting  of  forms  which,  among  other  less 
important  characters,  are  distinguished  by  the  possession  of  true 
song-muscles  (c/.  Syrinx  and  Introduction). 

^  In  France  the  word  is  used  so  as  to  be  almost  synonymous  with  our  '"  Bunt- 
ing "  ;  but  in  some  of  the  Antilles,  where  French  is  spoken,  the  Ortolan  is  a  little 
Ground-DovE  of  the  genus  CJiavia&pelia.  In  North  America  the  name  is  one  of 
the  many  applied  to  the  Bobolink,  so  justly  celebrated  for  its  excellent  flavour, 
as  well  as  to  the  SoRA  or  Carolina  Rail  ;  while  by  Anglo-Indians  two  species  of 
Lark  {Calandrella  brachydactyla  and  Pyrrhulavda  grisea)  are  commonly  called 
Ortolans  (Jerdon,  B.  Ind.  ii.  p.  373). 


66o 


OSPRE  Y 


OSPRAY  or  OSPREY,i  a  word  said  to  be  corrupted  from  "  Ossi- 
frage,"  in  Latin  Omifraga  or  bone-breaker.  The  Oisifraga  of  Pliny 
{Hkt.  Nat.  X,  3)  and  some  other  classical 
writers  seems,  as  already  said,  to  have  been 
the  Lammergeyer  (page  503) ;  but  the 
name,  not  inapplicable  in  that  case,  has 
been  transferred — through  a  not  uncommon 
but  inexplicable  confusion — to  another  bird 
which  is  no  breaker  of  bones,  save  incident- 
ally those  of  the  fishes  it  devours.-  The 
Osprey  is  a  rapacious  bird,  of  middling 
size  and  of  conspicuously-marked  plumage, 
the  white  of  its  lower  parts,  and  often  of 
its  head,  contrasting  sharply  with  the  dark 
brown  of  the  back  and  most  of  its  upper 
parts  when  the  bird  is  seen  on  the  wing.  It 
is  the  Falco  haliaetus  of  Linnaeus,  but  un- 
questionably deserving  generic  separation 
was,  in  1810,  established  by  Savigny  [Ois. 
de  VEgijpte,  p.  35)  as  the  type  of  a  new  genus 
which  he  was  pleased  to  tei-m  Pandion — a 
name  since  pretty  generally  accepted.  It 
has  commonly  been  kept  in  the  Family 
FalconidiV,  but  of  late  regarded  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  separate 


Bones  of  Ospbey's  Foot. 
tarsometatarsal  bridge  over  the  ex- 
tensor muscle  of  the  toes  ;  h,  tibial 
bridge  over  the  same. 


Family,  Pandionida^, 
for  which  view  not  a 
little  can  be  said.^ 
Pandion     differs    from 

^  In  the  so  -  called 
"  plume  -  trade  "  the  word 
is  applied  to  the  feathers 
taken  from  the  back  of 
certain  Ec4Rets  (c/.  Exter- 
mination, p.  228). 

-  Another  supjiosed  old  form  of  the  name  is  "Orfraie"  ; 
bttt  that  is  said  by  M.  Rolland  {Faunc  i^opul.  France, 
ii.  p.  9,  note)  cjuoting  M.  Suchier  (Zeitschr.  Emi.  Philol. 
i.  p.  432),  to  arise  from  a  mingling  of  two  wholly  different  sources: — (1)  Ori- 
2)elargus,  Oripcrafjus,  Orprais,  and  (2)  Osslfraga.  "Orfraie"  again  is  occasionally 
interchanged  with  Effraic  (which,  through  such  dialectical  forms  as  Fresaie,  Fres- 
saia,  is  said  to  come  from  the  Latin  jn's&saga),  the  ordinary  French  name  for  the 
Barn-OwI,  Aluco  flammcus  (see  Owl,  ivfra,  p.  679,  note  2)  ;  but  the  subject  is 
too  complex  for  any  but  an  expert  philologist  to  treat.  According  to  Prof.  Skeat 
(Etijmol.  Did.  p.  408),  "Asprey"  is  the  oldest  English  form  ;' but  "Osprey" 
dates  from  Cotgrave  at  least. 

"  Dr.    Sharpe  goes  further,   and   makes  a   "  SwhoTder "  Faudmies ;  but  the 


OS  PREY  66 1 


the  Falconidm  not  only  pterylologically,  as  long  ago  observed  by 
Nitzsch,  but  also  osteologically,"  as  pointed  out  by  M.  Alphonse 
Milne-Edwards  {Ois.  Foss.  France,  ii.  pp.  413,  419),  and  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that  in  some  of  the  characters  in  which  it  differs  structurally 
from  the  Falconidx,  it  agrees  with  certain  of  the  Owls,  especially  in 
possessing  a  bony  bridge  or  loop  {a,  in  fig.)  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
anterior  face  of  the  tarsometatarse,  through  which  passes  the 
common  extensor  tendon  of  the  toes ;  ^  and  in  having  the  exterior 
toe  partly  reversible ;  but  the  most  important  parts  of  its  internal 
structure,  as  well  as  of  its  ptilosis,  quite  forbid  a  belief  that  there 
is  any  near  alliance  of  the  two  groups. 

The  Osprey  is  one  of  the  most  cosmopolitan  Birds -of -Prey. 
From  Alaska  to  Brazil,  from  Lapland  to  Natal,  from  Japan  to 
Tasmania,  and  in  some  of  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  it  occurs  as  a 
winter-visitant  or  as  a  native.  The  countries  which  it  does  not 
frequent  would  be  more  easily  named  than  those  in  which  it  is 
found  —  and  among  the  former  are  Ireland,  Iceland  and  New 
Zealand.  Though  migratory  in  Europe  at  least,  it  is  generally 
independent  of  climate.  It  breeds  equally  on  the  half -thawed 
shores  of  Hudson's  Bay  and  on  the  cays  of  Honduras,  in  the  dense 
forests  of  Finland  and  on  the  barren  rocks  of  the  Red  Sea,  in 
Kamchatka  and  in  West  Australia.  Where,  through  abundance  of 
food,  it  is  numerous — as  in  former  days  was  the  case  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  United  States — the  nests  of  the  Fish-Hawk  (to  use  its 
American  name)  may  be  placed  on  trees  to  the  number  of  three 
hundred  close  together.  Where  food  is  scarcer  and  the  species 
accordingly  less  plentiful,  a  single  pair  will  occupy  an  isolated  rock, 
and  jealously  expel  all  intruders  of  their  kind,  as  happens  in 
Scotland.^  The  lover  of  birds  cannot  see  many  more  enjoyable 
spectacles  than  an  Osprey  engaged  in  fishing — poising  itself  aloft, 
with  upright  body,  and  wings  beating  horizontally,  ere  it  plunges 
like  a  plummet  beneath  the  water,  and  immediately  after  reappears 
shaking  a  shower  of  drops  from  its  plumage.  The  feat  of  carrying 
off  an  Osprey 's  eggs  is  often  difficult,  and  attended  with  some  risk, 
but  has  more  than  once  tempted  the  most  daring  of  birds'  nesters. 
Apart  from  the  dangerous  situation  not  unfrequently  chosen  by  the 
birds  for  their  eyry, — a  steep  rock  in  a  lonely  lake,  only  to  be 
reached  after  a  long  swim  through  chilly  water,  or  the  summit  of  a 

characters  on  which  he  founds  sucli  an  important  division  are  obviouslj'  inade- 
quate. The  other  genus  associated  with  Pmidion  by  him  has  been  shewn  by  Mr. 
Gurney  {Ihis,  1878,  p.  455)  to  be  nearly  allied  to  the  ordinary  Sea-EAGLES 
{Haliaetus),  and  therefore  one  of  the  true  Fahonidse. 

^  This  character  is  possessed  by  the  group  of  Owls  of  the  subfamily  Striginse, 
according  to  the  nomenclature  of  this  work,  but  not  by  those  of  the  Aliicinse. 

^  Two  good  examples  of  the  different  localities  chosen  by  this  bird  for  its  nest 
are  illustrated  in  Ootheca  Wolleyana,  pis.  B.  &  H. 


662  OSSJFRA  GE—OS  TRICH 

very  tall  tree, — their  fierceness  in  defence  of  their  eggs  and  young 
is  not  to  be  despised.  Men  and  boys  have  had  their  head  gashed 
by  the  sharp  claw  of  the  angry  parent,  and  this,  happening  when 
the  robber  is  already  in  a  precarious  predicament  and  unable  to 
use  any  defensive  weapon,  renders  the  enterprise  formidable.  But 
the  prize  is  worthy  of  the  danger.  Few  birds  lay  eggs  so  beautiful 
or  so  rich  in  colouring :  their  white  or  pale  ground  is  spotted, 
blotched  or  marbled  with  almost  every  shade  of  purple,  orange 
and  red  —  passing  from  the  most  delicate  lilac,  buff  and  peach- 
blossom,  through  violet,  chestnut  and  crimson,  to  a  neaiiy  absolute 
black.  A  few  years  ago  some  of  the  best-informed  ornithologists 
were  led  to  think  that  persecution  had  extirpated  the  Osprey  in 
Great  Britain,  except  as  a  chance  visitant.  This  opinion  proved  to 
be  incorrect,  and  at  the  present  time  the  bird  is  believed  still  to 
breed  in  at  least  two  counties  of  Scotland,  but  the  secret  of  its 
resorts  should  be  carefully  guarded  by  those  who  wish  to  retain  it 
as  a  member  of  the  country's  fauna,  for  indiscreet  publication  would 
endanger  its  occupancy. 

OSSIFRAGE,  see  Osprey. 

OSTRICH  (Old  English,  Estridge  ;  French,  Aufruche ;  Spanish, 
Avestruz ;  Latin,  Avis  struthio).  Among  exotic  birds  there  can 
be  hardly  one  better  known  by  report  than  the  strange,  majestic 
and  fleet-footed  creature  that  "scorneth  the  horse  and  his  rider," 
or  one  that  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  has  been  oftener 
more  or  less  fully  described ;  and  there  must  be  few  persons  in  any 
civilized  country  unacquainted  with  the  appearance  of  this,  the 
largest  of  living  birds,  whose  size  is  not  insignificant  in  comparison 
even  with  the  mightiest  of  the  plumed  giants  that  of  old  existed 
upon  the  earth,  since  an  adult  male  will  stand  nearly  8  feet  in 
height,  and  weigh  300  pounds. 

As  to  the  ways  of  the  Ostrich  in  a  state  of  nature,  not  much  has 
been  added  of  late  years  to  the  knowledge  acquired  and  imparted 
by  former  travellers  and  naturalists,  many  of  whom  enjoyed  oppor- 
tunities that  will  never  again  occur  of  discovering  its  peculiarities, 
for  even  the  most  favourably-placed  of  their  successors  in  recent 
years  seem  to  content  themselves  with  repeating  the  older  observa- 
tions, and  to  want  either  leisure  or  patience  to  make  additions 
thereto,  their  personal  acquaintance  with  the  bird  not  amounting  to 
more  than  such  casual  meetings  with  it  as  must  inevitably  fall  to 
the  lot  of  those  who  traverse  its  haunts.  Thus  there  are  still 
several  dubious  points  in  its  natural  history.  On  the  other  hand  we 
unquestionably  know  far  more  than  our  predecessors  respecting  its 
geographical  distribution,  which  has  been  traced  with  great  minute- 
ness in  the  Fogel  Ost-Afrikas  of  Drs.  Finsch  and  Hartlaub,  who  have 
therein  given  (pp.  597-607)  the  most  comprehensive  account  of  the 


OSTRICH 


663 


bird  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  literature  of  ornithology.'  As  are 
many  conspicuous  forms,  the  Ostrich  is  disappearing  before  the  per- 
secution of  man,  and  this  fact  it  is  which  gives  the  advantage  to  older 
tz'avellers,  for  there  are  several  districts,  some  of  wide  extent,  known 
to  have  been  frequented  by  the  Ostrich  within  the  present  century, 


Ostrich. 


especially  towards  the  extremities  of  its  African  range — as  on  the 
borders  of  Egypt  and  the  Cape  Colony — in  which  it  no  longer  occurs, 
while  in  Asia  there  is  evidence,  more  or  less  trustworthy,  of  its 

1  A  good  summaiy  of  it  is  contained  in  the  Ostriches  and  Ostrich  Farming  of 
Messrs.  De  Mosenthal  and  Harting,  from  which  the  accompanying  figure  is,  with 
permission,  taken.  Von  Heuglin,  in  his  Ornithologie  Nordost-AfriJca  s  (pp.  925- 
935),  has  given  more  particular  details  of  the  Ostrich's  distribution  in  Africa. 


664  OSTRICH 

former  existence  in  most  parts  of  the  south-western  desert-tracts, 
in  few  of  which  it  is  now  to  be  found.  Xenophon's  notice  of  its 
abundance  in  Assyria  (Anabasis,  i.  5)  is  well  known.  It  probably 
still  lingers  in  the  wastes  of  Kirwan  in  eastern  Persia,  whence 
examples  may  occasionally  stray  northward  to  those  of  Turkestan,  ^ 
even  near  the  Lower  Oxus ;  but  the  assertion,  often  repeated,  as  to 
its  former  occurrence  in  Baloochistan  or  Sindh,  though  not  incredible, 
seems  to  rest  on  testimony  as  yet  too  slender  for  acceptance. 
Apparently  the  most  northerly  limit  of  the  Ostrich's  ordinary  range 
at  the  present  day  cannot  be  further  than  that  portion  of  the  Syrian 
Desert  lying  directly  to  the  eastward  of  Damascus  ;  and,  within  the 
limits  of  what  may  be  called  Palestine,  Canon  Tristram  (Fauna  and 
Flora  of  Palestine,  p.  139)  regards  it  as  but  a  straggler  from  central 
Arabia,  though  we  have  little  information  as  to  its  appearance  and 
distribution  in  that  country.  Africa,  however,  is  still,  as  in  ancient 
days,  the  continent  in  which  the  Ostrich  most  flourishes,  and  from 
the  confines  of  Barbary  to  those  of  the  European  settlements  in  the 
south  it  appears  to  inhabit  every  waste  sufficiently  extensive  to 
afford  it  the  solitude  it  loves,  and  in  many  wide  districts,  where  the 
influence  of  the  markets  of  civilization  is  feebly  felt,  to  be  still 
almost  as  abundant  as  ever.  Yet  even  there  it  has  to  contend  with 
deadly  foes  in  the  many  species  of  wild  beasts  which  frequent  the 
same  tracts  and  prey  upon  its  eggs  and  young — the  latter  especially  ; 
and  Lichtenstein  long  ago  remarked  that  if  it  were  not  for  its 
numerous  enemies  "  the  multiplication  of  Ostriches  would  be  quite 
unexampled."  The  account  given  of  the  habits  of  the  species  by 
this  naturalist,  who  had  excellent  opportunities  of  observing  it 
during  his  three  years'  travels  in  South  Africa,  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
best  we  have,  and  since  his  narrative  ^  has  been  neglected  by  most 
of  its  more  recent  historians  we  may  do  well  by  calling  attention 
thereto.  Though  sometimes  assembling  in  troops  of  from  thirty  to 
fifty,  and  then  generally  associating  with  zebras  or  with  some  of  the 
larger  antelopes.  Ostriches  commonly,  and  especially  in  the  breeding- 
season,  live  in  companies  of  not  more  than  four  or  five,  one  of  which 
is  a  cock  and  the  rest  are  hens.  All  the  latter  lay  their  eggs  in  one 
and  the  same  nest,  a  shallow  pit  scraped  out  by  their  feet,  with  the 
earth  heaped  around  to  form  a  kind  of  wall  against  which  the  outer- 
most circle  of  eggs  rest.  As  soon  as  ten  or  a  dozen  eggs  are  laid, 
the  cock  begins  to  brood,  always  taking  his  place  on  them  at  night- 
fall surrounded  by  his  wives,  while  by  day  they  relieve  one  another, 

^  Drs.  Finsch  and  Hartlaub  quote  a  passage  from  Remusat's  Remarques  sur 
Vexteiision  de  V Empire  Gliinoise,  stating  that  in  about  the  seventh  century  of  our 
era  a  live  "  camel-bird"  was  sent  as  a  present  with  an  embassy  from  Turkestan 
to  China. 

-  M.  H.  K.  Lichtenstein,  Meisc  im  sudlichen  Africa,  ii.  pp.  42-45  (Berlin  •■ 
1812). 


OSTRICH  665 

more  it  Avoiild  seem  to  guard  their  common  treasure  from  jackals 
and  small  beasts-of-prey  than  directly  to  forward  the  process  of 
hatching,  for  that  is  often  left  wholly  to  the  sun.^  Some  thirty 
eggs  are  laid  in  the  nest,  and  round  it  are  scattered  perhaps  as  many 
more.  These  last  are  said  to  be  broken  by  the  old  birds  to  serve 
as  nourishment  for  the  newlj:^- hatched  chicks,  whose  stomachs  cannot 
bear  the  hard  food  on  which  their  parents  thrive.  The  greatest 
care  is  taken  by  them  not  only  to  place  the  nest  where  it  may  not 
be  discovered,  but  to  avoid  being  seen  when  going  to  or  from  it, 
and  their  solicitude  for  their  tender  young  is  no  less.  Andersson 
in  his  Lake  N' garni  (pp.  253-269)  has  given  a  lively  account  of  the 
pursuit  by  himself  and  Mr.  Francis  Galton  of  a  brood  of  Ostriches, 
in  the  course  of  which  the  father  of  the  family  flung  himself  on  the 
ground  and  feigned  being  wounded  to  distract  their  attention  from 
his  off"spring.  Though  the  Ostrich  ordinarily  inhabits  the  most  arid 
districts,  it  needs  water  to  drink ;  and,  moreover,  it  will  frequently 
bathe,  sometimes  even,  according  to  Von  Heuglin,  in  the  sea. 

The  question  whether  to  recognize  more  than  one  species  of 
Ostrich,  the  Strutliio  camelus  of  Linnaeus,  has  been  for  some  years 
agitated  without  leading  to  a  satisfactory  solution.^  It  has  long 
been  known  that,  while  eggs  from  North  Africa  present  a  perfectly 
smooth  surface,  those  from  South  Africa  are  pitted  (see  page  190, 
note  4).  It  has  also  been  observed  that  northern  birds  have  the 
skin  of  the  parts  not  covered  with  feathers  flesh-coloured,  while 
this  skin  is  bluish  in  southern  birds,  and  hence  the  latter  have  been 
thought  to  need  specific  designation  as  S.  australis.  More  recently 
examples  from  the  Somali  country  have  been  described  as  forming 
a  distinct  species  under  the  name  of  S.  molyhdophanes,^  from  the 
leaden  colour  of  their  naked  parts. 

The  genus  Struthio  forms  the  type  of  one  group  of  the  Subclass 
Ratit^E,  which  diflers  so  widely  from  the  rest,  in  points  that  have 
been  concisely  set  forth  by  Prof.  Huxley  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867, 
p.  419),  as  to  justify  us  in  regarding  it  as  an  Order,  to  which  the 
name    Struthmies    may    be    applied ;    but    that    term,    as    well    as 

^  By  those  whose  experience  is  derived  from  the  observation  of  captive 
Ostriches  this  fact  has  been  disputed.  But,  to  say  nothing  of  the  effects  of  the 
enforced  monogamy  in  which  such  birds  live,  the  difference  of  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  find  themselves,  and  in  particular  their  removal  from  the  heat- 
retaining  sands  of  the  desert  and  its  burning  sunshine,  is  enough  to  account 
for  the  change  of  habit.  Von  Heuglin  also  (p.  933)  is  explicit  on  this  point. 
That  hen  Ostriches  while  on  duty  crouch  to  avoid  detection  is  only  natural,  and 
this  habit  seems  to  have  led  hasty  observers  to  suppose  they  were  really  brooding. 

^  Dr.  Gadow  tells  me  that  the  discrepancy  of  several  accounts  of  the  Ostrich's 
anatomy  is  such  as  to  suggest  the  possibility  of  more  than  one  species. 

^  Apparently  first  noticed  in  a  Berlin  newspaper  {Sonntagsb.  d.  Norddeutsch. 
Allgem.  Zeitung)  by  Dr.  Keichenow,  16th  Sept.  1883,  and  later,  Mitth.  Orn.  Ver. 
Wien,  1883,  tab.,  and  Journ.  f.  Orn.  1883,  p.  399. 


666  OUSEL 

Struthionidx,  has  been  often  used  in  a  more  general  sense  by  system- 
atists,  even  to  signify  the  whole  of  the  RATlTiE.^  The  most 
obvious  distinctive  character  presented  by  the  Ostrich  is  the  pres- 
ence of  two  toes  only,  the  third  and  fourth,  on  each  foot, — a 
character  absolutely  peculiar  to  the  genus  Struthio.^ 

The  great  mercantile  value  of  Ostrich -feathers,  and  the  in- 
creasing difficulty,  due  to  the  causes  already  mentioned,  of  pro- 
curing them  from  wild  birds,  has  led  to  the  formation  in  the  Cape 
Colony  and  elsewhere  of  numerous  "  Ostrich-farms,"  on  which  these 
birds  are  kept  in  confinement,  and  at  regular  times  deprived  of 
their  plumes.  In  favourable  localities  and  with  judicious  manage- 
ment these  establishments  are  understood  to  yield  very  considerable 
profit;  while,  as  the  ancient  taste  for  wearing  Ostrich -feathers 
shews  no  sign  of  falling  off,  but  seems  rather  to  be  growing,  it  is 
probable  that  the  practice  will  yet  be  largely  extended.^ 

OUSEL  or  OUZEL,  Anglo-Saxon  Osle,  equivalent  of  the  German 
Amsel  (a  form  of  the  word  found  in  several  old  English  books,  and 
perhaps  yet  surviving  in  some  parts  of  the  country),  apparently  the 
ancient  name  for  what  is  now  more  commonly  known  as  the  BlaC!K- 
BIRD,  the  Turdus  merula  of  ornithologists,  but  at  the  present  day 
not  often  applied  to  that  species,  though,  as  will  immediately  be 
seen,  used  in  a  compound  form  for  two  others.  The  adult  male  of 
this  beautiful  and  well-known  bird  scarcely  needs  any  other  descrip- 
tion than  that  of  the  poet : — 

"  The  Ousel-cock,  so  black  of  hue, 
With  orange-tawny  bill." 

— Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  act  iii.  sc.  1. 

But  the  female  is  of  an  uniform  umber-brown  above,  has  the  chin, 
throat  and  upper  part  of  the  breast  orange-brown,  with  a  few  dark 
streaks,  and  the  rest  of  the  plumage  beneath  of  a  hair-brown.     The 

1  At  one  time  it  was  not  uncommon  to  include  the  Bustards  among  the 
StruthionidsR  ! 

^  Remains  of  a  true  Ostrich  have  been  recognized  from  the  Sivalik  formation 
in  India,  and  the  petrified  egg  of  an  apparently  allied  form,  Struthiolithus,  has 
been  found  in  the  south  of  Russia  (see  Fossil  Birds,  p.  285). 

^  Among  the  more  important  treatises  on  this  bird  may  be  mentioned  : — E. 
D' Alton,  Die  Skelete  der  Straussartigen  Vogel  abgeiiJdet  und  heschriehen,  folio, 
Bonn:  1827  ;  P.  L.  Sclater,  "On  the  Struthioas  Birds  living  in  the  Zoological 
Society's  Menagerie,"  Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  iv.  p.  353,  containing  the  finest  representa- 
tion (pi.  67),  by  Mr.  Wolf,  ever  published  of  the  male  Struthio  camelus ; 
Prof.  Mivart,  "  On  the  Axial  Skeleton  of  the  Ostrich,"  o'p.  cit.  viii.  p.  385  ;  Prof. 
Haughton,  "  On  the  Muscular  Mechanism  of  the  Leg  of  the  Ostrich,  Ann.  Nat. 
Hist.  ser.  3,  .kv.  pp.  262-272 — a  subject  more  fully  treated  by  M.  Alix  in  his 
Essai  sur  Vappareil  locomoteur  des  Oiseaux  (Paris  :  1874)  ;  and  Prof  Macalister, 
"  On  the  Anatomy  of  the  Ostrich,"  Proc.  B.  Irish  Acad.  ix.  pp.  1-24. 


OUSEL  667 

young  of  both  sexes  resemble  the  mother.  The  Blackbird  is  found 
in  every  country  of  Europe,  even  breeding — though  rarely — beyond 
the  arctic  circle,  and  in  eastern  Asia,  as  well  as  in  Barbary  and  the 
Atlantic  islands.  Eesident  in  Britain  as  a  species,  its  numbers  yet 
receive  considerable  accession  of  passing  visitors  in  autumn,  and  in 
most  parts  of  its  range  it  is  very  migratory.  The  song  of  the  cock 
has  a  peculiarly  liquid  tone,  which  makes  it  much  admired,  but  it 
is  too  discontinuous  to  rank  the  bird  very  high  as  a  musician.  The 
species  is  very  prolific,  having  sometimes  as  many  as  four  broods  in 
the  course  of  the  spring  and  summer.  The  nest,  generally  placed 
in  a  thick  bush,  is  made  of  coarse  roots  or  grass,  strongly  put 
together  with  earth,  and  is  lined  with  fine  grass.  Herein  are  laid 
from  four  to  six  eggs  of  a  light  greenish-blue  closely  mottled  with 
reddish-brown.  Generally  vermivorous,  the  Blackbird  will,  when 
pressed  for  food,  eat  grains  and  seeds,  while  berries  and  fruits  in 
their  season  are  eagerly  sought  by  it,  thus  earning  the  enmity  of 
gardeners.  More  or  less  allied  to  and  resembling  the  Blackbird  are 
many  other  species  which  inhabit  most  parts  of  the  world,  except- 
ing the  Ethiopian  Region,  New  Zealand  and  Australia  proper,  and 
North  America.  Some  of  them  have  the  legs  as  well  as  the  bill 
yellow  or  orange ;  and,  in  a  few  of  them,  both  sexes  alike  display  a 
uniformly  glossy  black.  The  only  one  that  need  here  be  particu- 
larized is  the  Ring-Ousel,  Turdus  torquatus,  which  is  at  once  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  Blackbird  by  its  conspicuous  white  gorget — 
whence  its  name.  It  has  also  very  different  habits,  frequenting 
wild  and  open  tracts  of  country,  shunning  woods,  groves  and  planta- 
tions, and  preferring  the  shelter  of  rocks  to  that  of  trees.  Its  dis- 
tribution is  accordingly  much  more  local,  and  in  most  parts  of 
England  it  is  only  known  as  a  transitory  migrant  in  spring  and 
autumn  —  from  and  to  its  hardly  as  yet  ascertained  winter 
quarters.^ 

The  Water-Ousel,  or  Water-Crow — now  commonly  named  the 
"Dipper" — is  the  Cindus  aquaticus  of  most  ornithologists,  and  the 
type  of  a  small  but  remarkable  group  of  birds,  the  position  of 
which  many  taxonomers  have  been  at  their  wits'  end  to  determine. 
It  would  be  useless  here  to  recount  the  various  suppositions  that 
have  been  expressed ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  most  ornithologists  are 
now  agreed  in  regarding  the  genus  Cindus  ^  as  differing  so  much 

^  The  Ring-Ousel  of  central  and  southern  Europe  presents  several  differences, 
having  most  of  its  feathers  edged  with  white,  and  is  regarded  by  some  authorities 
(Stejneger,  Proc.  U.S.  Nat.  Mus.  1886,  pp.  36.5-372  ;  Salvadori,  Boll.  Mus.  Zool. 
Torino,  viii.  No.  152)  as  a  distinct  species,  T.  al2)estris  (Brehm)  ;  but  Mr. 
Seebohm  says  {Ibis,  1888,  pp.  310,  311)  that  intermediate  forms  occur,  and  that 
further  to  the  eastward,  as  in  Caucasia  and  Persia,  examples  shew  a  still  greater 
divergence,  forming  a  local  race  to  which  he  applies  the  name  orientalis. 

2  Some  writers  have  used  for  this  genus  the  name  Hydrohata. 


668 


OUSEL 


from  other  birds  that,  though  essentially  one  of  the  true  Passeres 
(i.e.  OsciNES),  it  forms  a  distinct  Family,  CincUdR',  which  has  no 
very  near  allies.  That  some  of  its  peculiarities  (for  instance,  the 
sternum  in  adult  examples  having  the  posterior  margin  generally 
entire,  and  the  close  covering  of  down  that  clothes  the  Avhole  body 
— a  character  fully  recognized  by  Nitzsch)  are  correlated  Avith  its 
aquatic  habit  is  probably  not  to  be  questioned ;  but  this  fact 
furnishes  no  argument  for  associating  it,  as  has  often  been  done, 
with  the  Turdidai  (Thrush),  the  Troglodytidm  (Wren),  or  much  less 
with  other  groups  to  which  it  has  undoubtedly  no  affinity.  The 
Dipper  haunts  rocky  streams,  into  which  it  boldly  enters,  generally 
by  deliberately  Avading,  and  then  by  the  strenuous  combined  actioil 
of  its  wings  and  feet  makes  its  way  along  the  bottom  in  quest  of 
its  living  prey — freshAvater  mollusks,  and  aquatic  insects  in  their 
larval,  pupal  or  mature  condition.  By  the  careless  and  ignorant  it 
is  accused  of  feeding  on  the  spaAvn  of  fishes,  and  it  has  been  on  that 
account  subjected  to  much  persecution.  Innumerable  examinations 
of  the  contents  of  its  stomach  have  not  only  proved  that  the  charge 
is  baseless,  but  that  the  bird  clears  off  many  of  the  Avorst  enemies 
of  the  precious  product.  Short  and  squat  of  stature,  active  and 
restless  in  its  movements,  silky  black  above,  Avith  a  pure  Avhite 
throat  and  upper  part  of  the  breast,  to  Avhich  succeeds  a  broad 
band  of  dark  bay,  it  is  a  familiar  figure  to  most  fishermen  on 
the  streams  it  frecjuents,  Avhile  the  cheerful  song  of  the  cock, 
often  heard  in  the  hardest  frost,  heljjs  to  make  it  a  favourite  with 

them  in  spite  of  the 
obloquy  under  AAdiich 
it  labours.  The  Water- 
Ousel's  nest  is  a  very 
curious  structure, — out- 
Avardly  resembling  a 
Wren's,  but  built  on  a 
Avholly  different  prin- 
ciple,— an  ordinary  cup- 
shaped  nest  of  grass 
lined  AAdth  dead  leaves, 
placed  in  some  con- 
venient niche,  but  en- 
cased Avith 
to    form   a 

that  covers  it  completely 
except  only  a  small  hole 
for  the  bird's  passage.  The  eggs  laid  Avithin  are  from  four  to 
six  in  number,  and  are  of  a  pure  Avhite.  These  remarks  refer 
to  the  Water -Ousel  of  central  and  Avestern  Europe,  including 
the    British    Islands ;    but,    except   as    regards   plumage,  it  is  be- 


moss  so  as 
large    mass 


CiNCLUS  MEXICANUS. 


O  VAR  Y—0  VEN-BIRD 


669 


lieved  that  they  will  apply  to  all  the  other  species,  about  a 
dozen  in  number,  which  have  been  described.  These  inhabit 
suitable  places  throughout  the  whole  Pala^arctic  area  as  well 
as  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Himalaya  and  the  hill-country  of 
Formosa,  besides  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  a  great  part  of  the 
Andes.  Mr.  Salvin,  in  a  very  philosophical  paper  on  the  genus 
(/fe,  1867,  pp.  109-122),  refers  these  species — some  of  them 
wholly  black  and  one  slate-coloured — to  five  well-marked  forms,  of 
which  the  other  members  are  either  "  representative  species "  or 
merely  "  local  races  " ;  but  all  seem  to  occupy  distinct  geographical 
areas, — the  C.  mexicanus  represented  in  the  accompanying  figure 
having  a  wide  range  along  the  mountainous  parts  of  North  America 
to  Mexico ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  their  number  may  yet  be 
increased,  for  the  general  habits  of  the  birds  preclude  much  invasion 
of  territory,  and  thus  produce  practical  isolation. 

OVARY,  OVIDUCT,  see  Reproductive  Organs. 

OVEN-BIRD,  a  name  locally  given  to  several  species  that  build 
domed  nests  in  England,  especially  to  the  Willow-WREN,  and  in 


Nest  of  0\T!n-bird  (Furnariiis). 
(From  specimen  given  to  the  Cambridge  Museum  by  Mr.  J.  Young.) 


North  America  to  Siunis  aicricapillus,  otherwise  known  as  the 
Golden-crowned  Thrush ;  but  by  most  ornithologists  applied  to 
birds  of  the  genus  Funiarius,  belonging  to  the  Neotropical  Family 
Dendrocolaptida}  (Picucule),  the  best  known  of  which  is  F.  rufus, 
the  Hornero  (Baker)  or  Casera  of  the  Spanish-sp>eaking  population. 


670 


O  VEN-BIRD 


It  seeks  no  concealment,  for  its  wonderful  nest  ^  is  placed  in  the 
most  conspicuous  situations,  on  the  top  of  a  post,  a  bare  rock  or  a 
leafless  branch,  being  a  massive  structure  with  strong  thick  walls, 
composed   of    mud   mixed   with   bits  of    straw   or  fibres,  roughly 


Sectiox  of  Oven-bikd's  Nest. 

globular  in  form  with  an  upright  opening  in  front  whence  a 
partition  extends  nearly  to  the  back,  forming  an  ante-chamber  to 
the  portion  which  contains  the  4  or  5  Avhite  eggs,  laid  on  a  bed  of 
soft  dry  grass.  The  habits  of  this  species  have  been  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Darwin  {Nat.  Voij.  chap,  v.)  and  described  at  some  length 
by  Mr.  Hudson  {Argent  Orn.  i.  pp.  167-170),  beside  Durnford  (IiA.% 


FURNAEIUS. 


Geobates. 


(After  Swaiiison.) 


Geositta. 


1877,  p.  179)  and  Mr.  E.  Gibson  (0/7.  cit.  1880,  pp.  16-18),  to  say 
nothing  of  Burmeister  (Sysi.  Uebers.  Th.  Brasil.  Vijgel,  iii.  pp.  3,  4) 
and  Dorbigny  {Voy.  Amir.  Mirid.  Ois.  p.  250). 

Allied  to  Furnarius  are  the  genera  Geobates  and  Geositta,  of  which 

^  Not  manj'  figures  of  this  have  been  given.  There  is  one,  such  as  a  cliilJ 
might  draw,  in  Molina's  Compcndio  (tav.  2,  Bologna:  1776),  and  that  in  a 
Natitral  History  (iv.  p.  113)  edited  by  Duncan  is  hardly  more  instructive : 
Dr.  Goldi's  figures  {Zuul.  Gart.  1886,  pp.  268,  271)  are  fair. 


OWL  671 

last  one  species,  G.  cuniadaria,  with  many  of  the  habits  of  a 
Wheatear,  bores  a  hole  from  3  to  6  feet  long  in  a  bank  or  the 
side  of  a  biscacha's  burrow,  placing  its  nest  at  the  end ;  but 
Geobates,  which  is  peculiar  to  the  grassy  plains  (campos)  of  South- 
eastern Brazil,  has  much  the  habits  of  a  Lark  or  Pipit,  together 
with  the  elongated  cubital  feathers  characteristic  of  those  forms, 
while  another,  Upucerthia,  inhabits  the  most  sterile  of  the  upland 
deserts.  None  of  these  birds  is  of  any  particular  beauty,  but  to 
the  ornithologist  they  form  a  most  interesting  group,  the  position 
of  which  was  for  a  long  while  wholly  mistaken,  and  it  was  only 
when  their  anatomical  structure  came  to  be  known  that  their  place 
was  determined  among  the  Tracheophon^. 

OAVL,  the  Anglo-Saxon  Ule,  Swedish  Uggla,  and  German  Uule — 
all  allied  to  the  Latin  Ulula,  and  evidently  of  imitative  origin — the 
general  English  name  for  every  nocturnal  Bird-of-Prey,^  of  which 
group  nearly  two  hundred  species  have  been  recognized.  The  Owls 
form  a  very  natural  assemblage,  and  one  about  the  limits  of  which 
no  doubt  has  for  a  long  while  existed.  Placed  by  nearly  all 
systematists  for  many  years  as  a  Family  of  the  Order  Accipitres  (or 
whatever  may  have  been  the  equivalent  term  used  by  the  particular 
taxonomer),  there  has  been  of  late  a  disposition  to  regard  them  as 
forming  a  group  of  higher  rank.  On  many  accounts  it  is  plain  that 
they  differ  from  the  ordinary  diurnal  Birds-of-Prey,  more  than  the 
latter  do  among  themselves ;  and,  though  in  some  respects  Owls 
have  a  superficial  likeness  to  the  Nightjars,^  and  a  resemblance 
more  deeply  seated  to  the  GuACHARO,  even  the  last  has  not  been 
made  out  to  have  any  strong  affinity  to  them.  A  good  deal  is 
therefore  to  be  said  for  the  opinion  which  Avould  rank  the  Owls  as 
an  independent  Order,  or  at  any  rate  Suborder,  Striges.  "Whatever 
be  the  position  assigned  to  the  group,  its  subdivision  has  always 
been  a  fruitful  matter  of  discussion,  ow^ng  to  the  great  resemblance 
obtaining  among  all  its  members,  and  the  existence  of  safe  characters 
for  its  division  has  only  lately  been  at  all  generally  recognized. 
By  the  older  naturalists,  it  is  true.  Owls  were  divided,  as  was  first 

^  The  poverty  of  the  English  language^generally  so  rich  in  synonyms — is  here 
very  remarkable.  Though  four  well-known  if  not  common  sj^ecies  of  Owls  are 
native  to  Britain,  to  say  nothing  of  half  a  dozen  others  which  occur  with  greater 
or  less  frequency,  none  of  them  has  ever  acquired  an  absolutely  individual  name, 
and  various  prefixes  have  to  be  used  to  distinguish  them.  It  is  almost  the  same 
in  other  countries  where  English  is  spoken,  though  North  America  has  its 
"Saw-whet"  and  New  Zealand  its  "Morepork" — each  name  from  the  bird's 
call-note.  In  Greece  and  Italy,  Germany  and  France,  almost  each  indigenous 
species  has  had  its  own  particular  designation  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  The  English 
Owlet  or  Howlet  is  of  course  a  simple  diminutive  only. 

-  In  many  parts  of  England  the  Nightjar  is  known  as  the  Churn-Owl  or 
Fern -Owl. 


6/2  OWL 

done  by  Willughby,  into  two  sections — one  in  which  all  the  species 
exhibit  tufts  of  feathers  on  the  head,  the  so-called  "  ears "  or 
"  horns,"  and  the  second  in  which  the  head  is  not  tufted.  The 
artificial  and  therefore  untrustworthy  nature  of  this  distinction  was 
shewn  by  Isidore  GeofFroy-St.  Hilaire  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  xxi.  pp.  19-i- 
203)inl830j  but  he  did  not  do  much  good  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
Owls  which  he  then  proposed ;  and  it  was  hardly  until  the  publica- 
tion, ten  years  later,  of  Nitzsch's  Pterylographie  that  rational  grounds 
on  which  to  base  a  division  of  the  Owls  were  adduced.  It  then 
became  manifest  that  two  very  distinct  types  of  pterylosis  existed 
in  the  group,  and  further  it  appeared  that  certain  differences, 
already  partly  shewn  by  Berthold  (Beiir.  Anat.  pp.  166,  167),  of 
sternal  structure  coincided  with  the  pterylological  distinctions.  By 
degrees  other  significant  differences  were  pointed  out,  till,  as  summed 
up  by  Prof.  Alphonse  Milne-Edwards  {Ois.  foss.  de  la  France,  ii.  pp. 
474-492),  there  could  no  longer  be  any  doubt  that  the  bird  known 
in  England  as  the  Screech-Owl  or  Barn-Owl,^  with  its  allies,  formed 
a  section  which  should  be  most  justifiably  separated  from  all  the 
others  of  the  group  then  known.  Space  is  here  wanting  to  state 
particularly  the  pterylological  distinctions  which  will  be  found 
described  at  length  in  Nitzsch's  classical  work  (Eng.  trans. 
pp.  70,  71),  and  even  the  chief  osteological  distinctions  must  be 
only  briefly  mentioned.^  These  consist  in  the  Screech-Owl  section 
wanting  any  manubrial  process  in  front  of  the  sternum,  which  has 
its  broad  keel  joined  to  the  clavicles  united  as  a  fui'cula,  while 
posteriorly  it  presents  an  unbroken  outline.  In  the  other  section, 
of  which  the  bird  known  in  England  as  the  Tawny  or  Brown  Owl 
is  the  type,  there  is  a  manubrial  process  ;  the  furcula,  far  from  being 
joined  to  the  keel  of  the  sternum,  often  consists  but  of  two  stylets 
which  do  not  even  meet  one  another ;  and  the  posterior  margin 
of  the  sternum  presents  two  pairs  of  projections,  one  pair  on  each 
side,  with  corresponding  fissures  between  them.  Furthermore  the 
Owls  of  the  same  section  shew  another  peculiarity  in  the  bone 
usually  called  the  tarsus.  This  is  a  bony  ring  or  loop  bridging  the 
channel  holding  the  common  extensor  tendon  of  the  toes — Avhich, 
as  already  noticed,  is  possessed  by  the  Osprey,  but  does  not  appear 
in  the  Screech-Owl  section  any  more  than  in  the  majority  of  birds. 
The  subsecpent  examination  by  M.  Milne-Edwards  (Nouv.  Arch. 
Mus.  Mem.  ser.  2,  i.  pp.  185-200,  pis.  4,  5)  of  the  skeleton  of  an 
Owl  known  as  Phoclilus  (more  correctly  Fhotodilus)  bacUus,  hitherto 
attached  to  the  Screech-Owl  section,  shewed  that,  though  in  most  of 
its  osteological  characters  it  must  be  referred  to  the  Tawny-Owl 

1  The  Owl,  however,  which  commonly  breeds  in  barns  in  Sweden  and  perhaps 
some  other  parts  of  Europe  is  our  Tawny  Owl,  Strix  stridula. 

-  A  few  more  distinctive  characters  are  shewn  by  Mr.  Beddard  in  his  paper 
on  the  classification  of  this  group  {Ibis,  1888,  pp.  335-344). 


O  WL  673 

section,  in  several  of  the  particulars  mentioned  above  it  resembles 
the  Screech-Owls,  and  therefore  we  are  bound  to  deem  it  a  con- 
necting link  between  them.  The  pterylological  characters  of 
Photodilus  seem  not  to  have  been  fully  investigated/  but  it  is 
found  on  the  one  hand  to  want  the  singular  bony  tarsal  loop,  as 
well  as  the  manubrial  process,  while  on  the  other  its  clavicles  are 
not  united  into  a  furcula  to  meet  the  keel,  and  the  posterior  margin 
of  the  sternum  has  processes  and  fissures  like  those  of  the  Tawny- 
Owl  section.  Photodilus  having  thus  to  be  removed  from  the 
Screech-Owl  section,  Prof.  Milne-Edwards  has  replaced  it  by  a  new 
form,  Heliodilus,  from  Madagascar  (Comptes  Rendus,  1887,  p.  1282), 
described  at  length  by  him  in  M.  Grandidier's  great  work  on  the 
natural  history  of  that  island  {Oiseaux,  i.  pp.  113-118,  jils.  xxxvi. 
a-c).  The  unexpected  results  thus  obtained  preach  caution  in  regard 
to  the  classification  of  other  Owls,  and  add  to  the  misgivings  that 
every  honest  ornithologist  must  feel  as  to  former  attempts  to 
methodize  the  whole  group — misgivings  that  had  already  arisen 
from  the  great  diversity  of  opinion  displayed  by  previous  classifiers, 
hardly  two  of  whom  seem  able  to  agi^ee.  Moreover,  the  difficulties 
Avhich  beset  the  study  of  the  Owls  are  not  limited  to  their  respective 
relations,  but  extend  to  their  scientific  terminology,  which  has  long 
been  in  a  state  so  bewildering  that  nothing  but  the  strictest 
adherence  to  the  very  letter  of  the  laws  of  nomenclature,  which 
until  lately  have  been  approved  in  principle  by  all  but  an  insignifi- 
cant number  of  zoologists,  can  clear  up  the  confusion  into  which  the 
matter  has  been  thrown  by  heedless  or  ignorant  writers — some  of 
those  who  are  in  general  most  careful  to  avoid  error  being  not  wholly 
free  from  blame  in  this  respect. 

A  few  words  are  therefore  here  needed  on  this  most  unprofitable 
subject.^  Under  the  generic  term  Strix,  Linnaeus  placed  all  the  Owls 
known  to  him  ;  but  Brisson  most  justifiably  divided  that  genus,  and 
in  so  doing  fixed  upon  Strix  stridida — the  aforesaid  Tawny  Owl — as 
its  type,  while  under  the  name  of  Asio  he  established  a  second 
genus,  of  which  his  contemporary's  S.  otus,  presently  to  be  men- 
tioned, is  the  type.  Some  years  later  Savigny,  who  had  very 
peculiar  notions  on  nomenclature,  disregarding  the  act  of  Brisson, 
chose  to  recognize  the  Linnagan  *S'.  flammea — the  Screech-Owl  before 
spoken  of — as  the  type  of  the  genus  Strix,  which  genus  he  further 
dissevered,  and  his  example  was  largely  followed  until  Fleming  gave 
to  the  Screech-Owl  the  generic  name  of  Aluco,^  by  which  it  had  been 
known  for  more  than  three  hundred  years,  and  reserved  Strix  for 
the  Tawny  Owl.     He  thus  anticipated  Nitzsch,  whose  editor  (Bur- 

1  Mr.  Beddard  has  noticed  a  few  points  [Ibis,  1890,  pp.  293-294). 

2  It  was  dealt  with  at  gi'eater  length  iu  The  Ibis  for  1876  (pp.  94-105). 

^  The  word  seems  to  have  been  the  invention  of  Gaza,  the  translator  of  Aris- 
totle, in  1503,  and  is  the  Latinized  form  of  the  Italian  Allocco. 

43 


674  O  WL 

nieister)  was  probably  unacquainted  with  this  fact  when  he  allowed 
the  name  Hybris  to  be  conferred  on  the  Screech-Owl.  No  doubt 
inconvenience  is  caused  by  changing  any  general  practice ;  but.,  as 

will  have  be^n  seen,  the  practice  was  not 
universal,  and  such  inconvenience  as  may 
arise  is  not  chargeable  on  those  who  abide  by 
the  law,  as  it  is  intended  in  this  article  to  do. 
The  reader  is  therefore  warned  that  the  word 
Strix  will  be  here  used  in  what  is  believed  to 
'-'-'i^j^-''  ^®  ^^®  legitimate  way,  for  the  genus  contain- 
m2.  the  Strix  stridula  of  Linnaeus,  while  Aluco 

Bill  of  Aluco  flammeus.      .    *        _  .      ,     - .  ^        r<     n 

(After  swainson.)  ^^  retained  for  that  including  the  b.  jiammea 

of  the  same  naturalist. 

Except  the  two  main  divisions  just  mentioned — Striginse,  and 
Aludnse — any  further  arrangement  of  the  Owls  must  at  present  be 
deemed  tentative,  for  the  ordinary  external  characters,  to  Avhich 
most  systematists  trust,  are  useless  if  not  misleading.^  Several 
systematizers  have  tried  to  draw  characters  from  the  orifice  of  the 
ear,  and  the  parts  about  it ;  but  hitherto  these  have  not  been 
sufficiently  studied  to  make  the  attempts  very  successful.  If  it  be 
true  that  the  predominant  organ  in  any  group  of  animals  furnishes 
for  that  group  the  best  distinctive  characters,  we  may  have  some 
hope  of  future  attempts  in  this  direction,-  for  Ave  know  that  few 
birds  have  the  sense  of  hearing  so  highly  developed  as  the  Owls,  and 
also  that  the  external  ear  varies  considerably  in  form  in  several  of 
the  genera  which  have  been  examined.  Thus  in  Siirnia,  the  Hawk- 
Owl,  and  in  Nydea,  the  Snowy  Owl,  the  external  ear  is  simple  in 
form,  and,  though  proportionally  larger  than  in  most  birds,  it  pos- 
sesses no  very  remarkable  peculiarities, — a  fact  Avhich  may  be  cor- 
related with  the  diurnal  habits  of  these  Owls — natives  of  the  far 
north,  where  the  summer  is  a  season  of  constant  daylight,  and  to 
effect  the  capture  of  prey  the  eyeaare  perhaps  more  employed  than 
the  ears.^  In  Buho,  the  Eagle-Owl,  though  certainly  more  nocturnal 
in  habit,  the  external  ear,  however,  has  no  very  remarkable  develop- 

^  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  an  interesting  form  of  Owl,  Sceloglaux 
albifacics,  peculiar  to  New  Zealand,  the  Whekau  of  the  Maories,  should  be 
rapidly  becoming  extinct,  without  any  effort,  so  far  as  is  known,  being  made  to 
ascertain  its  affinities.  It  would  seem  to  belong  to  the  Strigine  section,  and  is 
remarkable  for  its  very  massive  clavicles,  that  unite  by  a  kind  of  false  joint, 
which  in  some  examples  may  possibly  be  wholly  ancylosed,  in  the  median  line. 

"  This  hope  is  strengthened  by  the  very  praiseworthy  essay  on  the  Owls  of 
Norway  by  Herr  Collett  in  the  Forhandlinger  of  Christiania  for  1881. 

^  But  this  hypothesis  must  not  be  too  strongl}'^  urged  ;  for  in  Carine,  a  more 
southern  form  of  nocturnal  (or  at  least  crepuscular)  habits,  the  external  ear  is 
perhaps  even  more  normal.  Of  course  by  the  ear  the  real  organ  of  hearing  is  here 
meant,  not  the  tuft  of  feathers  often  so  called  in  speaking  of  Owls. 


OWL  675 

ment    of    conch,   which    may    perhaps    be    accounted    for    by    the 

ordinary  prey  of  the  bird  being  the  larger  rodents,  that  from  their 

size  are  more  readily  seen,  and  hence 

the  growth    of    the    bird's   auditory 

organs  has  not  been  much  stimulated. 

In  Strlx  (as  the  name  is  here  used), 

a  form  depending  greatly  on  its  sense  ~^^'^^^'^^^':il'(lW>^^S 

of  hearing  for  the  capture  of  its  prey,  '^'  *'*^*^*' 

the  ear-conch  is  much  enlarged,  and  ^'^^  ^""^  "^^^  °^  ^"''°- 

.  1  1    n  (After  Swainson.) 

it  has,  moreover,  an  elevated  flap  or 

operculum.  In  Asio^  containing  the  Long-eared  and  8hort-eared 
Owls  of  Europe,  Asia  and  America,  the  conch  is  enormously  exag- 
gerated, extending  in  a  semicircular  direction  from  the  base  of  the 
lower  mandible  to  above  the  middle  of  the  eye,  and  is  furnished  in 
its  whole  length  with  an  operculum.^  But  what  is  more  extraordinary 
in  this  genus  is  that  the  entrance  to  the  ear  is  asymmetrical — the 
orifice  on  one  side  opening  downwards  and  on  the  other  upwards. 
This  curious  adaptation  is  carried  still  further  in  the  genus  Nydala, 
containing  two  or  three  small  species  of  the  Northern  hemisphere, 
in  which  the  asymmetry  that  in  Asio  is  only  skin-deep  extends,  in 
a  manner  very  surprising,  to  several  of  the  bones  of  the  head,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  Zoological  Society's  Proceedings  (1871,  pp.  739- 
743),  and  in  the  large  series  of  figures  given  by  Messrs.  Baird, 
Brewer  and  Ridgway  {N.-Am.  Birds,  Hi.  pp.  97-102). 

Among  Owls  are  found  birds  which  vary  in  length  from  5 
inches — as  Glaucidimn  cohanense,  which  is  therefore  much  smaller 
than  a  Skylark — to  more  than  2  feet,  a  size  that  is  attained  by 
many  species.  Their  plumage,  none  of  the  feathers  of  which  pos- 
sesses an  aftershaft,  is  of  the  softest  kind,  rendering  their  flight  al- 
most noiseless.  But  one  of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  this 
whole  group  is  the  ruff,  consisting  of  several  rows  of  small  and 
much-curved  feathers  with  stiff  shafts — originating  from  a  fold  of 
the  skin,  which  begins  on  each  side  of  the  base  of  the  beak,  runs 
above  the  eyes,  and  passing  downwards  round  and  behind  the  ears 
turns  forward,  and  ends  at  the  chin — and  serving  to  support  the 
longer  feathers  of  the  "disk"  or  space  immediately  around  the 
eyes,  which  extend  over  it.  A  considerable  number  of  species  of 
Owls,  belonging  to  various  genera,  and  natives  of  countries  most 
widely  separated,  are  remarkable  for  exhibiting  two  phases  of  colora- 
tion— one  in  which  the  prevalent  browns  have  a  more  or  less  rusty- 
red  tinge,  and  the  other  in  which  they  incline  to  grey.  Another 
characteristic  of  nearly  all  Owls  is  the  reversible  property  of  their 
outer  toes,  which  are  not  unfrequently  turned  at  the  bird's  pleasure 

^  Figures  of  these  different  forms  are  given  by  Macgillivray  {BrU.  Birds,  iii. 
pp.  396,  403,  and  427),  and  of  Asio  otus  in  tlie  Fourth  Edition  of  Yarrell's  British 
Birds  (i.  p.  162). 


676  OIVL 

quite  backwards.  Man}^  forms  have  the  legs  and  toes  thickly 
clothed  to  the  very  claws ;  others  have  the  toes,  and  even  the  tarsi, 
bare,  or  only  sparsely  beset  by  bristles.  Among  the  bare-legged  Owls 
those  of  the  Indian  genus  Ketupa  are  conspicuous,  and  this  feature  is 
usually  correlated  with  their  fish -catching  habits  ;  but  certainly 
other  Owls  that  are  not  known  to  catch  fish  present  much  the  same 
character. 

From  the  multitude  of  Owls  there  is  only  room  here  to  make 
further  mention  of  a  few  of  the  more  interesting.  First  must  be 
noticed  the  Tawny  Owl — the  Strix  stridula  of  Linnaeus,  the  type,  as 
has  been  above  said,  of  the  Avhole  group,  and  especially  of  the 
Strigine  section  as  here  understood.  This  is  the  Syrnium  aluco  of 
many  authors,  the  Chat-Jmant  of  the  French,  the  species  Avhose 
tremulous  hooting  "tu-Avhit,  to -who,"  has  been  celebrated  by 
Shakespear,  and,  as  well  as  the  plaintive  call,  "keewick,"  of  the 
young  after  leaving  the  nest,  will  be  familiar  sounds  to  many  readers, 
for  the  bird  is  very  generally  distributed  throughout  most  parts 
of  Europe,  extending  its  range  through  Asia  Minor  to  Palestine,  and 
also  to  Barbary — but  not  belonging  to  the  Ethiopian  Region  or  to 
the  eastern  half  of  the  Palsearctic  area."  It  is  the  largest  of  the 
Owls  indigenous  to  Britain,  and  chiefly  affects  woodlands,  only  occa- 
sionally choosing  any  other  jjlace  for  its  nest  than  a  hollow  tree. 
Its  food  consists  almost  entirely  of  small  mammals,  especially  rats  ; 
but,  though  on  this  account  most  deserving  of  protection  from  all 
classes,  it  is  subject  to  the  stupid  persecution  of  the  ignorant,  and 
is  rapidly  declining  in  numbers.^  Its  nearest  allies  in  North 
America  are  the  S.  nebulosa,  with  some  kindred  forms,  one  of  which, 
the  S.  occidentalis  of  California  and  Arizona,  is  here  figured  ;  but 
none  of  them  seems  to  have  the  "  merry  note  "  that  is  uttered  by 
the  European  species.  Common  to  the  most  northerly  forest-tracts 
of  both  continents  (for,  though  a  slight  difference  of  coloration  is 
observable  between  American  examples  and  those  from  the  Old 
World,  it  is  impossible  to  consider  it  specific)  is  the  much  larger 
S.  cinerea  or  S.  lapponiea,  whose  small  eyes,  with  their  yellow  iris, 
iron-grey  plumage,  delicately  mottled  with  dark  brown,  and  the  con- 
centric circles  of  its  facial  disks  make  it  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
of  the  group.  Then  may  be  noticed  the  genus  Bubo — containing 
several  species  Avhich  from  their  size  are  usually  known  as  Eagle-Owls. 
Here  the  Nearctic  and  Palcearctic  forms  are  sufficiently  distinct — 

^  All  Owls  have  the  habit  of  casting  up  the  indigestible  parts  of  the  food 
swallowed  in  the  form  of  pellets,  which  may  often  be  found  in  abundance  under 
the  Owl-roost,  and  reveal  without  any  manner  of  doubt  what  the  prey  of  the  bird 
has  been.  The  result  in  nearly  every  case  shews  the  enormous  service  they 
render  to  man  in  destroying  rats  and  mice.  Details  of  manj-  observations  to  this 
effect  are  recorded  in  the  Bericht  iiber  die  XTV.  Vcrsammlung  der  Deut&chen 
Ornithologen-Gcsellschaft  (pp.  30-34). 


OIVL 


677 


the  latter,  B.  ignavvs,'^  the  Due  or  Grand  Due  of  the  French,  ranging 
over  the  whole  of  Europe  and  Asia  north  of  the  Himalayas,  while  the 
former,  B.  virginianus,  extends  over  the  whole  of  North  America. 
A  contrast  to  the  generally  sombre  colour  of  these  birds  is  shewn  by 
the  Snowy  Owl,  Mi/dea  scandiaca,  a  circumpolar  species,  and  the  only 
one  of  its  genus,  which  disdains  the  shelter  of  forests  and  braves 
the  most  rigorous  arctic  climate,  though  compelled  to  migrate  south- 
ward in  winter  when  no  sustenance  is  left  for  it.  Its  large  size  and 
white  plumage,  more  or  less  mottled  vnth  black,  distinguish  this 


Strix  occidicntalis. 


from  every  other  Owl.  Then  may  be  mentioned  the  birds  commonly 
known  in  English  as  "  Horned  "  Owls — the  Hihous  of  the  French, 
belonging  to  the  genus  u4sio.  One,  A.  ohis  (the  Oius  vulgaris  of 
some  authors),  inhabits  Avoods,  and,  distinguished  by  its  long  tufts, 
usually  borne  erected,  would  seem  to  be  common  to  both  America 
and  Europe — though  experts  profess  their  ability  to  distinguish 
between    examples    from    each     country.       Another    species,    A. 

^  This  species  bears  confinement  very  well,  and  propagates  freely  therein.  The 
Owls  so  well  known  as  formerly  kept  at  Arundel  Castle  were  always  referred  to 
it,  until  Mr.  Borrer  [B.  Sussex,  Introd.  p.  xvii.)  shewed  that  they  belonged  to  the 
kindred  B.  virginiamis. 


678  O  WL 

accipitrinus  (the  Ohts  brachyotiis  of  many  authors),  has  much  shorter 
tufts  on  its  head,  and  they  ai-e  frequently  carried  depressed  so  as 
to  escape  observation.  This  is  the  "Woodcock -Owl"  of  English 
sportsmen,  for,  though  a  good  many  are  bred  in  Great  Britain,  the 
majority  arrive  in  autumn  from  Scandinavia,  just  about  the  time 
that  the  immigration  of  Woodcocks  occurs.  This  species  frequents 
heaths,  moors,  and  the  open  country  generally,  to  the  exclusion  of 
woods,  and  has  an  enormous  geographical  range,  including  not  only 
all  Europe,  North  Africa,  and  northern  Asia,  but  the  Avhole  of 
America, — reaching  also  to  the  Falklands,  the  Galapagos  and  the 
Sandwich  Islands, — for  the  attempt  to  separate  specifically  examples 
from  those  localities  only  shews  that  they  possess  more  or  less  ill- 
defined  local  races.  Commonly  placed  near  Asio,  but  whether 
really  akin  to  it  cannot  be  stated,  is  the  genus  Scops,  of  which  nearly 
forty  species,  coming  from  different  parts  of  the  world,  have  been 
described ;  but  this  number  should  probably  be  reduced  by  one 
half.  The  type  of  the  genus,  S.  giu,  the  Petit  Due  of  the  French,  is 
a  Avell-known  bird  in  the  south  of  Europe,  about  as  big  as  a  Thrush, 
with  very  delicately-pencilled  plumage,  occasionally  visiting  Britain, 
emigrating  in  autumn  across  the  Mediterranean,  and  ranging  very 
far  to  the  eastward.  Further  southward,  both  in  Asia  and  Africa, 
it  is  represented  by  other  species  of  very  similar  size,  and  in  the 
eastern  part  of  North  America  by  *S'.  asio,  of  which  there  is  a 
tolerably  distinct  western  form,  S.  kennicotti,  besides  several  local 
races.  S.  asio  is  one  of  the  Owls  that  especially  exhibits  the 
dimorphism  of  coloration  above  mentioned,  and  it  was  long  before 
the  true  state  of  the  case  was  understood.  At  first  the  two  forms 
were  thought  to  be  distinct,  and  then  for  some  time  the  belief 
obtained  that  the  ruddy  birds  were  the  young  of  the  greyer  form 
which  was  called  S.  nsevia ;  but  now  the  "  Red  Owl "  and  the 
"Mottled  Owl  "  of  the  older  American  ornithologists  are  known  to 
be  one  species.^  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  American  Owls  is 
Speotyto  cunicularia,  the  bird  that  in  the  northern  part  of  the  con- 
tinent inhabits  the  burrows  of  the  prairie-dog,  and  in  the  southern 
those  of  the  biscacha,  where  the  latter  occurs — making  holes  for 
itself,  says  Darwin,  where  that  is  not  the  case, — rattlesnakes  being 
often  also  joint  tenants  of  the  same  abodes.  The  odd  association 
of  these  animals,  interesting  as  it  is,  cannot  here  be  more  than 
noticed,  for  a  few  words  must  be  said,  ere  we  leave  the  Owls  of  this 
section,  on  the  species  which  has  associations  of  a  very  different 
kind — the  bird  of  Pallas  Athene,  the  emblem  of  the  city  to  which 
science  and  art  were  so  welcome.     There  can  be  no  doubt,  from  the 

^  See  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Ridgway  in  the  work  before  quoted  {B.  N.  America, 
iii.  pp.  9,  10),  where  also  response  is  made  to  the  observations  of  Mr.  Allen  in  the 
Harvard  Bulletin  (ii.  pp.  338,  339),  as  well  as  the  former's  elaborate  review  of 
ihe  American  species  of  the  genus  [Proc.  U.S.  Nat.  Mus.  i.  pp.  85-117.) 


OIVL 


679 


Hkad  of  Carine. 
(After  Swainson.) 


many  representations  on  coins  and  sculptures,  as  to  their  subject 
being   the   Carine  noctua  of  modern  ornithologists,  but  those  who 

know  the  grotesque  actions  and  ludicrous 
expression  of  this  veritable  buffoon  of  birds 
can  never  cease  to  wonder  at  its  having  been 
seriously  selected  as  the  symbol  of  learning, 
and  can  hardly  divest  themselves  of  a  sus- 
picion that  the  choice  must  have  been  made 
in  the  spirit  of  sarcasm.  This  Little  Owl  (for 
that  is  its  only  English  name — though  it  is 
not  even  the  smallest  that  appears  in  England),  the  Cheveche  of 
the  French,  is  spread  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Europe,  but 
it  is  not  a  native  of  Britain.  ^  It  has  a  congener  in  C.  brama,  a  bird 
AA^ell  known  to  all  residents  in  India. 

Finally,  we  have  Owls  of  the  second  section,  those  allied  to  the 
'Screech -Owl,  Jluco  flammeus,  the  Effmie^  of  the  French,  This, 
with  its  discordant  scream,  its  snoring,  and  its  hissing,  is  far  too 
Avell  known  to  need  description,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  widely- 
spread  of  birds,  and  is 
the  Owl  that  has  the 
greatest  geographical 
range,  inhabiting  almost 
every  country  in  the 
world,  —  Sweden  and 
Norway,  America  north 
of  lat.  45",  and  New 
Zealand  being  the  prin- 
cipal exceptions.  It 
varies,  however,  not  in- 
considerably, both  in 
size  and  intensity  of 
colour,  and  several  orni- 
thologists have  tried  to 
found  on  these  varia- 
tions more  than  half  a 
dozen  distinct  species. 
Some,  if  not  most  of 
them,  seem,  however, 
hardly  worthy  to  be  considered  geographical  races,  for  their  differences 
do  not  always  depend  on  locality.    Dr.  Sharpe,  with  much  labour  and 

^  A  very  large  number  have  first  and  last  been  liberated  in  this  country  by 
Lord  Lilford  and  Mr.  Meade-Waldo  ;  but  though  they  have  been  known  to  breed 
in  their  feral  state,  they  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  established  themselves. 

2  Through  the  dialectic  forms  Fresaic  and  Presaie,  the  origin  of  the  word  is 
easily  traced  to  the  Latin  priesaga — a  bird  of  bad  omen  ;  but  it  has  also  been 
confounded  with  Orfraie,  a  name  of  the  Osprey. 


Aluco  flammeus.    (After  Wolf.) 


68o  OX-BIRD— OX-PECKER 

in  great  detail,  has  given  his  reasons  (Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus.  ii.  pp.  291-309 ; 
and  Ornith.  Miscell.  i.  pp.  269-298;  ii.  pp.  1-21)  for  acknowledging 
four  "subspecies"  of  A.  fiammeus,  as  well  as  five  other  species.  Of 
these  last,  A.  fenebricosus  is  peculiar  to  Australia,  while  A.  norse- 
hollandix  inhabits  also  New  Guinea,  and  has  a  "  subspecies,"  A. 
castanops,  found  only  in  Tasmania ;  a  third,  A.  candidns,  has  a  wide 
range  from  Fiji  and  northern  Australia  through  the  Philippines 
and  Formosa  to  China,  Burma  and  India ;  a  fourth,  A.  capensis,  is 
peculiar  to  South  Africa ;  while  A.  thomensis  is  said  to  be  confined 
to  the  African  island  of  St.  Thomas.  There  is  also  the  extinct  A. 
sauzieri  of  Mauritius  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  xiii.  p.  286),  and  to  these  will 
perhaps  have  to  be  added  a  species  from  New  Britain,  described  by 
Count  T.  Salvadori  as  Strix  aurantia,  though  it  may  prove  on  further 
investigation  not  to  be  an  Alucine  Owl  at  all. 

OX-BIRD,  a  common  name  for  the  Dunlin,  and  in  connexion 
therewith  Mr.  Harting,  in  the  Introduction  (p.  xvii.)  to  Rodd's  Birds 
of  Cornwall,  reasonably  refers  OXEN-AND-KINE,  by  which  name 
some  apparently  small  wildfowl  were  of  old  times  know^n  in  the 
west  country  (cf.  Carew,  Survey  of  Cormvall,  fol.  35,  and  a  curious 
paper  printed  in  the  Camden  3Iiscellany,^  iv.  pp.  10,  26). 

OX-EYE  seems  once  to  have  been  synonymous  with  Ox-BiRD, 
but  is  now  only  known  as  a  local  name  for  the  Great  Titmouse 
(cf.  Sw.  Talgoxe  =  isit  ox).- 

OX-PECKER,  a  rendering  of  the  French  Piqiie-hoeuf,  bestowed 
on  a  small,  dull-coloured  bird  discovered  by  Adanson  in  Senegal, 

the  Bupliaga  africana  of  Linnaeus,  which  has 
been  almost  invariably  referred  to  the  Family 
Sturnidx  (Starling),  chiefly,  it  would  seem, 
because  it  flies  in  flocks,  and  settles  on  the 
back  of  cattle  in  search  of  the  bots  or  ticks 
with  which  "they  are  infested.  Though  the 
animals  are  at  first  alarmed  at  the  visitation, 
OxPECKER.  they  soon  get  over  the  fright,  regarding,  it  is 

(After  swainson.)  ^^-^^  ^^.-^^  evident  pleasure  the  way  in  which 

the  birds  creep  about  them  and  rid  them  of  the  pests.     A  second 

''  The  Editor  of  this,  Mr.  W.  D.  Cooper,  suggests  that  the  birds  were  Ruffs  and 
Reeves,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  those  birds  were  ever  to  be  had  in  Devon  or 
Cornwall ;  however,  Mr.  C.  Swainson  {Prov.  iVawit's  Br.  B.  p.  195)  accepts  the 
suggestion  as  if  it  were  a  fact.  Mr.  Sclater  {List  Vert.  Anim.  Gardens  of  the 
Zool.  Soc.  1883,  p.  246)  applies  "Ox-bird"  to  Textor  albirostris  or  alccto,  one  of 
the  Weaver-birds. 

^  A  copy  of  Belon's  Portraits  d'Oyseaux  (1557)  in  the  Public  Library  of  the 
University  of  Cambridge  (M.  15.  43)  has  the  English  names  of  many  of  the  birds 
written  in  an  ancient  hand.  To  the  figure  of  Himantopus  (Stilt)  the  name 
Ox-eye  is  applied. 


OXYNOTUS— OYSTER-CATCHER  68i 

species,  B.  erythrorhyncha,  with  a  wholly  red  instead  of  a  yellow 
bill  Avas  afterwards  found  in  Abyssinia,  and  thought  for  some  time 
to  be  peculiar  to  the  more  northern  part  of  Africa,  but  it  is  now 
known  to  occur  so  far  south  as  Natal,  while  the  first  has  been 
observed  in  Damaraland  and  the  Transvaal.  Very  little  more 
seems  to  be  known  of  the  habits  of  either,  and  the  systematic 
position  of  the  genus  must  be  held  uncertain. 

OXYNOTUS,  the  name  of  a  genus  of  birds  now  ascertained 
to  be  peculiar  to  two  of  the  Mascarene  Islands — Mauritius  and 
Reunion  (Bourbon) — where  the  name  of  Cuisinier  is  applied  to 
them,  and  remarkable  for  the  fact,  nearly  if  not  quite  unique  in 
Ornithology,^  that,  while  the  males  of  both  species  are  almost 
identical  in  appearance,  the  females  are  wholly  unlike  each  other. 
Though  the  habits  of  the  Mauritian  species,  0.  rnfiventer,  have  been 
very  fairly  observed,  there  seems  to  be  nothing  in  them  that  might 
account  for  the  peculiarity.  The  genus  Oxynotus  is  generally  placed 
in  the  group  known  as  Campepliagidse,  most  or  all  of  which  are 
distinguished  from  the  Laniidm  (to  which  they  seem  nearly 
allied)  by  the  feathers  on  the  lower  part  of  the  back  and  on  the 
rump  having  the  basal  portion  of  the  shaft  very  stiff  and  the  distal 
portion  soft — a  structure  which  makes  that  part  of  the  body,  on 
being  touched  by  the  finger,  feel  as  though  it  were  beset  with  blunt 
prickles.  Hence  the  name  of  the  genus  conferred  by  Swainson, 
and  intended  to  signify  "prickly  back."  The  males,  which  look 
rather  like  miniature  Grey  Shrikes  (Lanhis  excubiior  and  others),  are 
— except  on  close  examination,  when  some  slight  differences  of 
build  and  shade  become  discernible — quite  indistinguishable ;  but 
the  female  of  the  one  species  has  a  reddish -brown  back,  and  is 
bright  ferruginous  beneath,  while  the  female  of  the  other  species  is 
dull  white  beneath,  transversely  barred,  as  are  the  females  of  some 
Shrikes,  Avith  brown.  Both  sexes  of  each  species,  and  the  young  of 
one  of  them,  are  described  and  figured  in  The  Ibis  for  1866  (pp. 
275-280,  pis.  vii.  and  viii.) 

OYSTER-CATCHER,  a  bird's  name  which  does  not  seem  to 
occur  in  books  until  1731,  Avhen  Catesby  {Nat.  Hist.  Carolina,  i. 
p.  85)  used  it  for  a  species  which  he  observed  to  be  abundant  on 
the  oyster-banks  left  bare  at  low  water  in  the  rivers  of  Carolina, 
and  believed  to  feed  principally  upon  those  mollusks.  In  1773 
Pennant  applied  the  name  generically,  though  he  and  for  nearly  two 
hundred  years  other  British  writers  had  called  the  allied  British 
species  the  "  Sea-Pie."  The  change,  in  spite  of  the  misnomer — for, 
whatever  may  be  the  case  elsewhere,  in  England  the  bird  does  not 

1  The  only  other  instance  cited  by  Darwin  (Descent  of  3fan,  ii.  pp.  192,  193) 
is  that  of  two  species  of  Paradisea  ;  but  therein  the  males  differ  from  one  another 
to  a  far  greater  degree  than  do  those  of  Oxynotus. 


682  O  YS  TER-  CA  TCHER 

feed  upon  oysters — met  with  general  approval,  and  the  new  name 
has,  at  least  in  books,  almost  Avholly  replaced  what  seems  to  have 
been  the  older  one.^  The  Oyster-catcher  of  Europe  is  the  Hmma- 
topus  ^  ostralegus  of  Linnaeus,  belonging  to  the  group  now  called 
Limicolx,  and  is  generally  included  in  the  Family  Charadriidm ; 
though  some  writers  have  placed  it  in  one  of  its  own,  Hsematopodidx, 
chiefly  on  account  of  its  peculiar  bill — a  long  thin  wedge,  ending  in 
a  vertical  edge.  Its  feet  also  are  much  more  fleshy  than  are  gener- 
ally seen  in  the  Plover  Family.  In  its  strongly-contrasted  plumage 
of  black  and  white,  ■\vith  a  coral-coloured  bill,  the  Oyster-catcher  is 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  birds  of  the  European  coasts,  and  in 
many  parts  is  still  very  common.  It  is  nearly  always  seen  paired, 
though  the  pairs  collect  in  prodigious  flocks ;  and,  when  these  are 
broken  up,  its  shrill  but  musical  cry  of  "  tu-lup,"  "  tu-lup,"  some- 
what pettishly  repeated,  helps  to  draw  attention  to  it.  Its  wari- 
ness, however,  is  very  marvellous,  and  even  at  the  breeding-season, 
when  most  birds  throw  off  their  shyness,  it  is  not  easily  approached 
within  ordinary  gunshot  distance.  The  hen-bird  commonly  lays 
three  clay -coloured  eggs,  blotched  with  black,  in  a  very  slight 
hollow  on  the  ground,  not  far  from  the  sea.  As  incubation  goes 
on  the  hollow  is  somewhat  deepened,  and  perhaps  some  haulm  is 
added  to  its  edge,  so  that  at  last  a  very  fair  nest  is  the  result. 
The  young,  as  in  all  Limicolx,  are  at  first  clothed  in  down,  so 
mottled  in  colour  as  closely  to  resemble  the  shingle  to  which,  if 
they  be  not  hatched  upon  it,  they  are  almost  immediately  taken  by 
their  parents,  and  there,  on  the  slightest  alarm,  they  squat  close  to 
elude  observation.  This  species  occurs  on  the  British  coasts  (very 
seldom  shewing  itself  inland)  all  the  year  round ;  but  there  is  some 
reason  to  think  that  those  we  have  in  winter  are  natives  of  more 
northern  latitudes,  while  our  home-bred  birds  leave  us.  It  ranges 
from  Iceland  to  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  lives  chiefly  on 
marine  worms,  Crustacea,  and  such  mollusks  as  it  is  able  to  obtain. 
It  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  capable  of  prizing  limpets  from  their 
rock,  and  of  opening  the  shells  of  mussels  ;  but,  though  undoubt- 
edly it  feeds  on  both,  further  evidence  as  to  the  way  in  which  it 

^  It  seems  however  very  possible,  judging  from  its  equivalents  in  other 
European  languages,  such  as  the  Frisian  Ocsterviascher,  the  German  Austcrmann, 
Austernfischer,  and  the  like,  that  the  name  "Oyster-catcher"  may  have  been  not 
a  colonial  invention  but  indigenous  to  the  mother-country,  though  it  had  not 
found  its  way  into  print  before.  The  French  HitUrier,  however,  appears  to  be  a 
word  coined  by  Brisson.  "  Sea-Pie  "  has  its  analogues  in  the  French  Pie-de-Mer, 
the  German  Meerelsler,  Seeelster,  and  so  forth. 

2  Whether  it  be  the  Hmmatopus  whose  name  is  found  in  some  editions  of 
Pliny  (lib.  x.  cap.  47)  is  at  best  doubtful.  Other  editions  have  Hiviantopus ; 
but  Hardouin  prefers  the  former  reading.  Both  words  have  passed  into  modern 
ornithology,  the  latter  as  the  generic  name  of  the  Stilt  ;  and  some  writers  have 
blended  the  two  in  the  strange  and  im])ossible  compound  Hm.7nant02nis. 


PA  A  UW—PALA  TB  683 


procures  them  is  desirable.  Mr.  Harting  informs  us  that  the  bird 
seems  to  lay  its  head  sideways  on  the  ground,  and  then,  grasjDing 
the  limpet's  shell  close  to  the  rock  between  the  mandibles,  use 
them  as  scissor-blades  to  cut  off"  the  mollusk  from  its  sticking-place. 
The  Oyster-catcher  is  not  highly  esteemed  as  a  bird  for  the  table. 

Differing  from  this  species  in  the  possession  of  a  longer  bill,  in 
having  much  less  white  on  its  back,  in  the  paler  colour  of  its 
mantle,  and  in  a  few  other  points,  is  the  ordinary  American  species, 
already  mentioned,  H.  palliatus.  Except  that  its  call-note,  judging 
from  description,  is  unlike  that  of  the  European  bird,  the  habits  of 
the  two  seem  to  be  perfectly  similar ;  and  the  same  may  be  said 
indeed  of  all  the  other  species.  The  Falkland  Islands  are  fre- 
quented by  a  third,  H.  leucopus,  very  similar  to  the  first,  but  with 
a  black  wing-lining  and  paler  legs,  and  Mr.  Ridgway  {Auk,  1886, 
p.  331)  thinks  the  Galapagos  have  a  distinct  species,  H.  galapagensis, 
while  the  Australian  Eegion  possesses  another,  H.  longirostris,  with 
a  very  long  bill  as  its  name  intimates,  and  no  white  on  its  primaries. 
China,  Japan  and  possibly  eastern  Asia  in  general  have  an  Oyster- 
catcher  which  seems  to  be  intermediate  between  the  last  and  the  first. 
This  has  received  the  name  of  H.  osculans ;  but  doubts  have  been 
expressed  as  to  its  deserving  specific  recognition.  Then  we  have  a 
group  of  species  in  which  the  plumage  is  Avholly  or  almost  wholly 
black,  and  among  them  only  do  we  find  birds  that  fulfil  the  implica- 
tion of  the  scientific  name  of  the  genus  by  having  feet  that  may 
be  called  blood-red.  H.  niger,  which  frequents  both  coasts  of  the 
northern  Pacific,  has,  it  is  true,  yellow  legs,  but  towards  the 
extremity  of  South  America  its  place  is  taken  by  ff.  ater,  in  which 
they  are  bright  red,  and  this  bird  is  further  remarkable  for  its 
laterally  compressed  and  much  upturned  bill.  The  South-African 
H.  capensis  has  also  scarlet  legs ;  but  in  the  otherwise  very  similar 
bird  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  H.  unicolor,  these  members  are 
of  a  pale  brick-colour. 


PAAUW  (Peafowl),  the  Dutch  name  applied  generally  in  South 
Africa  to  some  of  the  Bustards. 

PADDA,  see  Java  Sparrow. 

PADDY-BIRD,  the  Anglo-Indian  name  for  any  of  the  smaller 
Egrets,  from  their  frequenting  the  rice-fields  (padda). 

PALAMEDEA,  see  Screamer. 

PALATE,  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  whence  PALATAL  (commonly 
Palatine)  Bones,  being  the  pair  of  bones  which  connect  the  Maxilla 


684  PAMPRODACTYL^— PARROT 

witli  the  Pterygoids,  and  rest  by  articulating  facets  on  the  ventral 
side  of  the  sphenoidal  rostrum  of  the  Skull.  They  have  consider- 
able taxonomic  importance. 

PAMPRODACTYL^,  Dr.  Murie's  name  {Ms,  1873,  p.  190, 
note)  for  the  group  consisting  of  the  Coliidx  (Mouse-bird). 

PANCREAS,  a  conglomeration  of  glands,  forming  one  or  more 
lobes,  and  placed  between  the  two  branches  of  the  duodenal  loop 
(Digestive  System,  pages  141-143).  Its  secretion,  the  Pancreatic 
Juice,  contains  a  ferment  important  for  digestion  and  enters  the 
duodenum  through  from  one  to  three  short  ducts,  which  in  most 
birds  open  into  its  ascending  branch  between  the  hepato-enteric  and 
cystico-enteric  ducts.  The  size  and  position  of  the  Pancreas  are 
very  variable  and  of  little  general  interest. 

PAEADISE-BIRD,  see  Bird-of-Paradise;  -DUCK,  see  Sheld- 

DRAKE. 

PARAKEET,  variously  spelt,  see  Parrot. 

PARAPTERON,  Sundevall's  name  for  the  row  or  rows  of 
feathers  commonly  known  as  upper  wing-coverts. 

PARDALOTE,  see  Diamond-bird. 

PARRA,  see  Jacana. 

PARROT,  according  to  Prof.  Skeat  {Etym.  Did.  p.  422),  from 
the  French  Perrot  or  Pierrot,  a  proper  name  and  the  diminutive  of 
Pierre,'^  the  name  given  generally  to  a  large  and  very  natural  group 
of  Birds,  which  for  more  than  a  score  of  centuries  have  attracted 
attention,  not  only  from  their  gaudy  plumage,  but,  at  first  and 
chiefly  it  would  seem,  from  the  readiness  with  which  many  of  them 
learn  to  imitate  the  sounds  they  hear,  repeating  the  words  and  even 
phrases  of  human  speech  with  a  fidelity  that  is  often  astonishing. 
It  is  said  that  no  representation  of  any  Parrot  appears  in  Egyptian 
art,  nor  does  any  reference  to  a -bird  of  the  kind  occur  in  the  Bible, 
Avhence  it  has  been  concluded  that  neither  the  painters  nor  the  writers 

1  "Parakeet"  (in  Shakespear,  1  Hen.  IV.  ii.  3,  88,  "Paraquito")  is  said 
liy  the  same  authority  to  be  from  the  Spanish  Periquito  or  Pcrroqueto,  a  small 
Parrot,  diminutive  of  Pcrico,  a  Parrot,  which  again  may  be  a  diminutive  from 
Pedro,  the  proper  name.  Parakeet  (spelt  in  various  ways  in  English)  is  usually 
applied  to  the  smaller  kinds  of  PaiTots,  especially  those  which  have  long  tails, 
not  as  Perroquet  in  French,  which  is  used  as  a  general  term  for  all  Parrots, 
Perruche,  or  sometimes  Pcrridie,  being  the  ordinary  name  for  what  we  call 
Parakeet.  The  old  English  "Popinjay"  and  the  old  French  Papegaut  have 
almost  passed  out  of  use,  but  the  German  Papagci  and  Italian  Papagaio  still 
continue  in  vogue.  Some  trace  these  names  to  the  Arabic  BabagJid  ;  but  others 
think  that  word  a  corruj)tion  of  the  Spanish  Papagayo.  The  Anglo-Saxon  name 
of  the  Parret,  a  river  in  Somerset,  is  Pedreda  or  Pedrida,  which  at  first  sight  looks 
as  if  it  had  to  do  with  the  proper  name,  Petrus  ;  but  Prof.  Skeat  believes  there  is 
no  connexion  between  them — the  latter  portion  of  the  word  being  rid,  a  stream. 


PARROT  685 


concerned  had  any  knowledge  of  it.  Aristotle  is  commonly  sup- 
posed to  be  the  first  author  who  mentions  a  Parrot ;  but  this  is  an 
error,  for  nearly  a  century  earlier  Ctesias  in  his  Indica  (cap.  3),^  under 
the  name  of  f^uTTaKos  (JBittacus),  so  neatly  described  a  bird  which 
could  speak  an  "  Indian  "  language — naturally,  as  he  seems  to  have 
thought — or  Greek — if  it  had  been  taught  so  to  do, — about  as  big 
as  a  Sparrow-Hawk  (Hierax),  with  a  purple  face  and  a  black  beard, 
otherwise  blue-green  (cyaneus)  and  vermilion  in  colour,  so  that  there 
cannot  be  much  risk  in  declaring  that  he  must  have  had  before  him 
a  male  example  of  what  is  now  commonly  known  as  the  Blossom- 
headed  Parakeet,  and  to  ornithologists  as  Falseornis  cyanocephalus,  an 
inhabitant  of  many  parts  of  India.  Much  ingenuity  has  been  exer- 
cised in  the  endeavour  to  find  the  word  whence  this,  and  the  later 
form  of  the  Greek  name,  was  derived,  but  to  little  or  no  purpose. 
After  Ctesias  comes  Aristotle's  iptTraKi]  (Fsittace),  which  Sundevall 
supposes  him  to  have  described  only  from  hearsay  ;  but  this  matters 
little,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Indian  conquests  of  Alex- 
ander were  the  means  of  making  the  Parrot  better  known  in  Europe, 
and  it  is  in  reference  to  this  fact  that  another  Eastern  species  of 
Palseornis  now  bears  the  name  of  P.  alezandri,  though  from  the 
localities  it  inhabits  it  could  not  have  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
Macedonian  king.  That  Africa  had  Parrots  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  discovered  by  the  ancients  till  long  after,  as  Pliny  tells  us 
{\i.  29)  that  they  were  first  met  with  by  explorers  employed  by 
Nero  beyond  the  limits  of  Upper  Egypt.  These  birds,  highly 
prized  from  the  first,  reprobated  by  the  moralist,  and  celebrated  by 
more  than  one  classical  poet,  as  time  went  on  were  brought  in  great 
numbers  to  Rome,  and  ministered  in  various  ways  to  the  luxury  of 
the  age.  Not  only  were  they  lodged  in  cages  of  tortoise-shell  and 
iyory,  with  silver  wires,  but  they  were  professedly  esteemed  as 
delicacies  for  the  table,  and  one  emperor  is  said  to  have  fed  his 
lions  upon  them !  But  there  would  be  little  use  in  dwelling  longer 
on  these  topics.  With  the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire  the  demand 
for  Parrots  in  Europe  lessened,  and  so  the  supply  dwindled,  yet  all 
knowledge  of  them  was  not  wholly  lost,  and  they  are  occasionall}^ 
mentioned  by  one  writer  or  another  until  in  the  fifteenth  century 
began  that  career  of  geographical  discovery  which  has  since  pro- 
ceeded uninterruptedly.  This  immediately  brought  with  it  the 
knowledge  of  many  more  forms  of  these  birds  than  had  ever  before 
been  seen,  for  whatever  races  of  men  were  visited  by  European 
navigators — whether  in  the  East  Indies  or  the  West,  whether  in 
Africa  or  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific — it  was  almost  invariably 
found  that  even  the  most  savage  tribes  had  tamed  some  kind  of 
Parrot ;  and,  moreover,  experience  soon  shewed  that  no  bii'd  was 

^  The  passage  seems  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  all  naturalists  until  Broderip 
mentioned  it  in  his  article   "  Psittacidse  "  in  the  Fenny  Cyclopaedia  (xix.  p.  83). 


686  PARROT 

more  easily  kept  alive  on  board  ship  and  brought  home,  while,  if 
it  had  not  the  merit  of  "  speech,"  it  was  almost  certain  to  be  of 
beautiful  plumage.  Yet  so  numerous  is  the  group  that  even  now 
new  species  of  Parrots  are  not  uncommonly  recognized,  though, 
looking  to  the  Avay  in  which  the  most  secluded  parts  of  the  world 
are  being  ransacked,  we  must  soon  come  to  an  end  of  this. 

The  home  of  the  vast  majority  of  Parrot-forms  is  unquestionably 
within  the  tropics,  but  the  popular  belief  that  Parrots  are  tropical 
birds  only  is  a  great  mistake.  In  North  America  the  Carolina  Para- 
keet, Conurus  carolinensis,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 
used  to  range  in  summer  as  high  as  the  shores  of  Lakes  Erie  and 
Ontario — a  latitude  equal  to  that  of  the  south  of  France ;  and  even 
within  the  last  forty  years  it  reached,  according  to  trustworthy 
information,  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  though 
now  its  limits  have  been  so  much  curtailed  that  its  occurrence  in 
any  but  the  Gulf  States  is  doubtful,  and  its  extirpation  as  a  species 
seems  to  be  only  a  question  of  time.^  In  South  America,  at  least 
four  species  of  Parrots  are  found  in  Chili  or  La  Plata,  and  one, 
Conurus  or  Cyanolyseus  patagonus,  is  pretty  common  on  the  bleak  coast 
of  the  Strait  of  Magellan.  In  Africa,  it  is  true  that  no  species 
is  known  to  extend  to  within  some  ten  degrees  of  the  tropic  of 
Cancer ;  but  Fc&ocephalus  rohustus  inhabits  territories  lying  quite  as 
far  to  the  southward  of  the  tropic  of  Capricorn.  In  India  the 
northern  range  of  the  group  is  only  bounded  by  the  slopes  of  the 
Himalaya,  and  further  to  the  eastward  Parrots  are  not  only  abundant 
over  the  whole  of  the  Malay  Archipelago,  as  well  as  Australia  and 
Tasmania,  but  two  very  well-defined  Families  are  peculiar  to  New 
.  Zealand  and  its  adjacent  islands  (Kakapo  and  Nestor),  while  the 

h(XvUfi^    genus  Platycercus,  or  that  section  of  it  called  Cyanorhmchus^  has  several 
J^       representatives  in  the  Eegion  last  named,  one  species,  P.  erythrotis, 

"^""^  reaching  the  Macquarrie  Islands  in  lat.  55°  S.,  the  highest  attained 

by  any  of  the  Order.  No  Parrot  has  recently  inhabited  the  Palse- 
arctic  area,^  nor  are  Parrots  represented  by  many  different  forms 
in  either  the  Ethiopian  or  the  Indian  Region.  In  continental 
Asia  the  distribution  of  Parrots  is  rather  remarkable.  None  extend 
further  to  the  westward  than  the  valley  of  the  Indus,^  which,  con- 

^  Of.  inter  alios,  W.  W.  Cooke,  Eep.  Bird  Migr.  Mississipjn,  p.  124  (1888) ; 
W.  Brewster,  Auk,  1889,  p.  337  ;  A.  W.  Butler,  op.  cit.  1892,  pp.  49-56. 

2  A  few  remains  of  a  Parrot  have  been  recognized  from  the  Miocene  of  the 
Allier  in  France,  by  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards  {Ois.  Foss.  France,  ii.  p.  525,  pi. 
cc),  and  are  said  by  him  to  shew  the  greatest  resemblance  to  the  common  Grey 
Parrot  of  Africa,  Psittacus  erithacus,  though  having  also  some  affinity  to  the 
Ring-necked  Parakeet  of  the  same  country,  Palscornis  torq^uatus.  He  refers 
them,  however,  to  the  same  genus  as  the  former,  under  the  name  of  Psittacus 
verreauxi. 

^  The  statements  that  have  been  made,  and  even  repeated  by  writers  of 
authority,  as  to  the  occurrence  of  "  a  green  parrot"  in  Syria  (Chesney,  Exped. 


PARROT  687 


sidering  the  nature  of  the  country  in  Baloochistan  and  Affghanistan, 

is  perhaps  intelligible  enough ;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  understand 

why  none  are  found  either  in  Cochin  China  or  China  proper ;  and     /         .       y 

they  are  also  wanting  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  which  is  the  more  /  ^' 

remai'kable  and  instructive  when  we  find  how  abundant  they  are  in 

the  groups  a  little  further  to  the  southward.     Indeed  Mr.  AVallace 

has  well  remarked  that  the  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  which 

contains  the  largest  number  of  Parrots,  in  proportion  to  its  area, 

is  undoubtedly  that  covered  by  the  islands  extending  from  Celebes 

to  the  Solomon  group.      "  The  area  of  these  islands  is  probably  not 

one-fifteenth  of  that  of  the  four  tropical  regions,  yet  they  contain 

from  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  of  all  the  known  Parrots  "  {Geogr.  Distr. 

Anim.  ii.  p.  330).     He  goes  on  to  observe  also  that  in  this  area  are 

found  many  of  the  most  remarkable  forms — all  the  red  Lories,  the 

great  black  Cockatoos,  the  pigmy  Nasiternx,  and  other  singularities. 

In  South  America  the  species  of  Parrots,  though  numerically  nearly 

as  abundant,  are  far  less  diversified  in  form,  and  all  of  them  seem 

capable  of  being  referred  to  two  or,  at  most,  three  sections.     The 

species  that  has  the  widest  range,  and  that  by  far,  is  the  common 

Ring-necked  Parakeet,  Palseornis  torquatus,  a  well-known  cage-bird 

which  is  found  from  the  mouth  of  the  Gambia  across  Africa  to  the 

coast  of  the  Red  Sea,  as  well  as  throughout  the  whole  of  India, 

Ceylon  and  Burma  to  Tenasserim.^     On  the  other  hand  there  are 

plenty  of  cases  of  Parrots  which  are  restricted  to  an  extremely 

small  area — often  an  island  of  insignificant  size,  as  Conurus  pertinax, 

confined  to  the  island  of  St.  Thomas  in  the  Antilles,  and  Palseornis 

exsul,  to  that  of  Rodriguez  in  the  Indian  Ocean  {Ibis,  1872,  pp.  31- 

34,  1875,  p.  342,  pi.  vii.) — to  say  nothing  of  the  remarkable  instance 

afibrded  by  Nestor  produdus^  (see  pp.  223,  224  and  628). 

Survey  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  i.  pp.  443,  537)  and  of  a  Parrot  in  Turkestan 
{Jour.  As.  Soc.  Bengal,  viii.  p.  1007)  originated  with  gentlemen  who  had  no 
ornitliological  knowledge,  and  are  evidently  erroneous.  Some  species  of  Roller 
possibly  gave  rise  to  the  assertions. 

^  It  is  right  to  state,  however,  that  the  African  examples  of  this  bird  are 
said  to  be  distinguishable  from  the  Asiatic  by  their  somewhat  shorter  wings  and 
weaker  bill,  and  hence  they  are  considered  by  some  authorities  to  form  a  distinct 
species,  P.  docilis  ;  but  in  thus  regarding  them  the  difference  of  locality  seems 
to  have  influenced  opinion,  and  without  that  difference  tliey  would  scarcely  have 
been  separated,  for  in  many  other  groups  of  birds  distinctions  so  slight  are 
regarded  as  barely  evidence  of  local  races.  Even  West-African  examples  are  said 
by  Count  T.  Salvadori  [Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus.  xx.  p.  448)  to  have  larger  bills  than 
those  from  the  eastern  side,  which  have  been  further  distinguished  as  F. 
parvirostris. 

-  A  case  very  like  that  of  Nestor  jjroducixis  (pp.  223,  628)  is  presented  by  the 
"Mascarin"  [PL  Eiil.  35)  a  Parrot  which  formerly  inhabited  the  island  of  Bour- 
bon (Reunion).  The  last  known  living  example  was  in  the  royal  menagerie  at 
Munich  and  was  figured  in  1835  by  Hahn  [Orn.  Atlas,  Papegeien,  p.  54,  pi.  39)  ; 


688  PARROT 

The  systematic  treatment  of  this  very  natural  group  has  long 
been  a  difficult  subject,  and  almost  the  only  approach  to  unanimity 
among  those  who  have  made  it  their  study,  lies  in  the  somewhat 
general  belief  which  has  grown  up  within  the  last  half  of  this 
century  that  the  Parrots  should  be  regarded  as  forming  a  distinct 
Order.  A  few  systematisfcs,  among  whom  Bonaparte  was  chief, 
placed  them  at  the  top  of  the  Class,  conceiving  that  they  were  the 
analogues  of  the  Primates  among  Mammals.  Prof.  Huxley  has 
recognized  the  Psittacomorphai  as  forming  one  of  the  principal  groups 
of  Caiinatie,  and,  by  whatever  name  we  call  them,  that  much  seems 
to  be  evident.  It  will  here,  however,  be  unnecessary  to  discuss  the 
rank  which  the  Parrots  should  hold,  and  it  is  quite  enough  of  a 
task  to  consider  the  most  natui'al  or — if  we  cannot  hope  at  present 
to  reach  that — at  least  the  most  expedient  way  of  subdividing 
them.  It  is  a  reproach  to  ornithologists  that  so  little  satisfactory 
progress  has  been  made  in  this  direction,  and  the  result  is  all 
the  more  disheartening,  seeing  that  there  is  no  group  of  exotic 
birds  that  affords  equal  opportunities  for  anatomical  examination, 
since  almost  every  genus  extant,  and  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
species,  have  within  recent  times  been  kept  in  confinement  in 
one  or  another  of  our  zoological  gardens,  and  at  their  death  have 
furnished  subjects  for  dissection.  Yet  the  laudable  attempt  of  M. 
Blanchard  (Compt  Ptend.  xliii.  1097-1100  and  xliv.  518-521)  was  not 
successful,  and  it  cannot  be  affirmed  that  the  latest  arrangement  of 
the  Psittaci  is  really  much  more  natural  than  that  planned  by 
Buffon  in  1779.^  He  was  of  course  unaware  of  the  existence  of  some 
of  the  most  remarkable  forms  of  the  group,  in  particular  of  Stringops 
and  Nestar  ;  but  he  began  by  making  two  great  divisions  of  those  that 
he  did  know,  separating  the  Parrots  of  the  Old  World  from  the 
Parrots  of  the  New,  and  subdividing  each  of  these  divisions  into 
various  sections  somewhat  in  accordance  with  the  names  they  had 
received  in  popular  language — a  .practice  he  followed  on  many  other 
occasions,  for  he  seems  to  have  held  a  belief  that  there  is  more 
truth  in  the  discrimination  of  the  unlearned  than  the  scientific  are 
apt  to  allow.  The  end  was  that  he  produced  a  plan  which  is  com- 
paratively simple  and  certainly  practical,  while  as  just  stated  it  can- 
not be  confidently  declared  to  be  unnatural.     However,  not  to  go  very 

but  all  trace  of  it  has  since  been  lost,  and  the  only  two  specimens  that  exist  in 
Museums  are  at  Paris  and  Vienna  respectively — the  latter  having  been  obtained 
on  the  dispersal  of  the  Leverian  Museum  in  1806,  when  it  formed  lot  5828  in  the 
sale  catalogue,  and  was  there  said  to  be  from  America  !  {Cf.  Von  Pelzeln,  Ibis, 
1873,  p.  32 ;  A.  Milne-Edwards,  Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  ser.  5,  vi.  pi.  ii.  fig.  4,  pi.  iii.  fig. 
8  ;  the  same  and  Oustalet  in  the  centenary  volume  of  the  Museum  of  Natural 
History  at  Paris,  pp.  7-21,  pi,  i.  ;  aud  W.  A.  Forbes,  Ibis,  1879,  pp.  303-307.) 

^  This  is  virtually  admitted  by  Count  T.  Salvadori  {torn.  cit.  lutrod.  p.  viii.), 
the  latest  reviser  of  the  Order. 


PARROT  689 


far  back:  in  1867-68  Dr.  Finsch  published  an  excellent  monograph 
of  the  Parrots/  regarding  them  as  a  Family,  in  Avhich  he  admitted  26 
genera,  forming  5  subfamilies  ;  but  only  in  the  single  group  Nestor 
did  he  recognize  characters  that  were  not  external.  In  1874  Garrod 
communicated  to  the  Zoological  Society  the  result  of  his  dissection  of 
examples  of  82  species  of  Parrots,  which  had  lived  in  its  gardens,  and 
these  results  were  published  in  its  Proceedings  for  that  year  (pp.  586- 
598,  pis.  Ixx.  Ixxi.)  The  principal  points  to  which  he  attended  were 
the  arrangement  of  the  Carotid  artery,  and  the  presence  or  absence 
of  an  Ambiens  muscle,  an  OiL-GLAND  and  a  FURCULA  ;  but  except  as 
regards  the  last  character  he  unfortunately  almost  wholly  neglected  the 
rest  of  the  skeleton,  looking  upon  such  osteological  features  as  the 
formation  of  an  orbital  ring  and  peculiarities  of  the  atlas  as  "of 
minor  importance  " — an  estimate  to  which  nearly  every  anatomist 
will  demui\  Indeed  the  investigations  of  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards 
{Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  Zoologie,  ser.  5,  vi.  pp.  91-111  ;  viii.  pp.  145-156) 
on  the  bones  of  the  head  in  Parrots  make  it  clear  that  these  alone, 
and  especially  the  maxilla,  present  features  of  much  significance,  and 
if  his  investigations  had  not  been  carried  on  for  a  special  object,  but 
had  been  extended  to  other  parts  of  the  skeleton,  there  is  little  doubt 
that  they  would  have  removed  some  of  the  greatest  difficulties.  The 
one  osteological  character  to  which  Garrod  trusted,  namely,  the  con- 
dition of  the  furcula,  contributes  little  towards  a  safe  basis  of  classi- 
fication. That  it  is  wholly  absent  in  some  genera  of  Parrots  had  long 
been  known,  but  its  imperfect  ossification,  it  appears,  is  not  attended 
in  some  cases  by  any  diminution  of  volant  powers,  which  tends  to 
shew  that  it  is  an  unimportant  character,  an  inference  confirmed  by 
the  fact  that  it  was  found  wanting  in  genera  placed  geographically 
so  far  apart  that  the  loss  must  have  had  in  some  of  them  an  in- 
dependent origin.  Thus  grounded,  his  scheme  was  so  manifestly 
artificial  that  further  criticism  would  here  be  useless ;  the  greatest 
merit  of  his  method  is  that,  as  before  mentioned  (Love-bird),  he 
gave  sufficient  reasons  for  distinguishing  between  the  genera 
A gapornis  and  Fsittacula.  In  the  Journal  fur  Ornithologie  for  1881 
Dr.  Eeichenow  published  a  Conspectus  Psittacorum,  founded,  as  so 
many  others  ^  have  been,  on  external  characters  only.  He  made  9 
Families  of  the  group,  and  recognized  45  genera,  and  442  species, 
besides  subspecies.  In  1883  he  brought  to  completion  a  work,^ 
finely  illustrated  by  Herr  G.  Miitzel,  which  forms  a  concise  monO: 
graph.     His  grouping  is  generally  very  different  from  Garrod's,  but 

^  Die  Papageien  monographisch  hearheitet.     Leiden  :  1867-68.     2  vols.  8vo. 

2  Such,  for  instance,  as  Kuhl's  treatise  with  the  same  title,  which  appeared  in 
1820,  and  Wagler's  Monographia  Psittacorum,  published  in  1832 — both  good  of 
their  kind  and  time. 

^  Vogelbilder  ausfernen  Zonen.  A  hh  ildungen  und  Beschreibungen  der  Pcqmge  ien. 
Kassel:  1878-83. 

44 


690  PARROT 

displays  as  much  artificiality ;  for  instance,  Nestor  is  referred  to  the 
Family  which  is  otherwise  composed  of  the  Cockatoos.  Almost 
simultaneously  with  the  last  came  the  arrangement  followed  by  Mr. 
Sclater  in  the  List  of  those  exhibited  of  late  years  in  the  gardens  of 
the  Zoological  Society,  and  published  in  1883.  This  seemed  to  be 
a  manifest  improvement  on  anything  before  proposed ;  but  more 
recently  we  have  Count  T.  Salvadori,  who,  while  cataloguing  the 
collection  of  specimens  in  the  British  Museum  {Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus. 
XX.),  came  to  the  conclusion  that  6  Families  are  needed.  These  are 
Nestoridse  (Nestor);  Lonidx  (Lory),^  with  14  genera  and  71  species; 
Cyclopsittacidai  (2  genera,  18  species);  Cacatuidx  (Cocejitoo),  with 
2  subfamilies — Cacatuinse  (5  or  6  genera,  26  or  27  species)  and 
the  other  consisting  of  the  well-known  Calopsitta  (Cockateel)  ; 
Psittacidx,  with  6  subfamilies  —  Nasiterninai  (1  genus,  9  species), 
Conurinse,  including  the  Maccaws  (15  genera,  102  species),  Pioninse 
(10  genera,  91  species),  Psittacinse  (3  genera,  8  species)  Palseornithinx 
(16  genera,  114  species) and  P/a^;«/cem7i« (11  genera,  .50  species);  while 
Stringojnda}  (Kakapo)  completes  the  group.  That  this  scheme  is 
worthy  of  its  author's  name  none  can  doubt,  but  he  himself  remarks 
that  materials  are  not  yet  "  sufficient  -  for  a  complete  study  of 
Parrots."  The  separation  of  the  first  and  last  of  these  Families  is 
unquestionably  required,  since  they  stand  on  a  very  different  and 
much  firmer  footing  than  the  other  four,  and  the  recognition  of 
CacatvAdss  and  Lorildse  is  probably  justifiable,  as  they  can  be  without 
much  diflficulty  defined,  but  exception  may  be  taken  to  Cyclopsittacidse 
as  a  Family,  and  the  grouping  of  the  genera  of  Psittacidse  proper  is 
open  to  objection.  Pionus  and  Psittacus  certainly  seem  to  furnish 
two  different  types,  to  the  former  of  which,  rather  than  to  Conurus, 
Psittacula  appears  to  be  attached,  bearing  much  the  same  relation 
thereto  that  Agapornis,  placed  by  the  Count  near  Palssornis,  does  to 
the  latter.  Details  of  this  kind,  however,  must  be  expected  to 
produce  some  divergence  of  opinion.  Among  the  genera  Chrysotis, 
Palseornis  and  Psittacus  are  probably  to  be  found  the  most  highly 
organized  forms,  and  it  is  these  birds  in  which  the  faculty  of  so- 
called  "  speech  "  reaches  its  maximum  development.  But  too  much 
importance  must  not  be  assigned  to  that  fact ;  since,  while  Psittacus 
erithacus — the  well-known  Grey  Parrot  ^  with  a  red  tail — is  the 
most    accomplished    spokesman  of    the  whole    group,  it  is   fairly 

^  I  take  this  opportunity  of  correcting  an  error  (p.  520)  as  to  the  plumage  of 
the  young  of  Eclcctus,  which  has  been  proved  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Meyer  {Zcitschr.  f. 
gesammte  Zool.  1882,  i.  pp.  146-162,  1884,  i.  p.  274,  pi.  xvi.  and  Ibis,  1890,  pp. 
26-29,  pi.  i.)  to  resemble  that  of  the  adult. 

^  In  many  foreign  works  this  species  is  said  to  be  called  in  English  "The 
Jacko,"  but  no  such  practice  is  known  to  me,  and  the  assertion  probably  originated 
in  the  general  application  of  the  name  of  some  particular  captive.  Bishop  Stanley 
had  a  bird  so  called  (Prothero,  Life  of  Dean  Stanley,  p.  18). 


PARSON-BIRD  691 


approached  by  some  species  of  Chrysotis — usually  styled  Amazons — 
and  yet  its  congener  P.  timneh  is  not  known  to  be  talkative.^ 

Considering  the  abundance  of  Parrots  both  as  species  and  in- 
diAnduals,  and  their  wide  extent  over  the  globe,  it  is  surpi-ising  how 
little  is  known  of  their  habits  in  a  wild  state.  Even  the  species 
with  which  Englishmen  and  their  descendants  have  been  more  in 
contact  than  any  other  has  an  almost  unwritten  history,  compared 
with  that  of  many  other  birds  ;  and,  seeing  how  many  are  oppressed 
by  and  yielding  to  man's  occupation  of  their  ancient  haunts,  the 
extirpation  of  some  is  certain,  and  will  probably  be  accomplished 
before  several  interesting  and  some  disputed  points  in  their  economy 
have  been  decided.  The  experience  of  small  islands  only  fore- 
shadows Avhat  will  happen  in  tracts  of  greater  extent,  though  there 
more  time  is  required  to  produce  the  same  result ;  but,  the  result 
being  inevitable,  those  who  are  favourably  placed  for  observations 
should  neglect  no  opportunities  of  making  them  ere  it  be  too  late. 

PAESON-BIRD  (so-called  by  the  English  in  New  Zealand  from 
the  two  tufts  of  curled  and  filamentary  white  feathers  hanging 
beneath  its  chin,  which  were  supposed  to  resemble  the  bands  worn 
until  lately  by  clerics),  the  Prosthematodera  novge-zealandix  of  modern 
ornithology.  Made  known  on  the  publication  of  Cook's  First 
Voyage  (i.  p.  98),  where  it  is  figured  as  the  Poe  or  Poy-bird,^  in 
1776  it  was  technically  described  by  Pennant  and  figured  by  Peter 
Brown  (lUustr.  Zool.  p.  18,  pi.  ix.)  from  a  specimen  in  Tunstall's 
collection  still  existing  in  the  Museum  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne  (Fox, 
Synops.  Newc.  Mus.  p.  138).  The  bird  belongs  to  the  Meli'phagidx 
(Honey-eater),  and  is  in  many  ways  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
of  them,  being  generally  of  glossy  black  with  vivid  green  or  blue 
reflexions,  while  in  addition  to  the  white  gular  tufts,  the  feathers  on 
the  sides  of  the  neck  are  curved  forwards  and  white-shafted,  the 
greater  wing-coverts  also  being  white.  It  is  a  fine  songster,  and 
a  great  favourite  in  captivity,  learning  to  mimic   various  noises, 

1  In  connexion  with  the  "speaking"  of  Parrots,  one  of  the  most  curious  cir- 
cumstances is  that  recorded  by  Humboldt,  who  states  (Ansichten  dcr  Natur,  ed. 
3,  i.  p.  285,  EugL  transl.  p.  172)  that  in  South  America  he  met  with  a  vener- 
able bird  which  remained  the  sole  possessor  of  a  literally  "dead  language,  the 
whole  tribe  of  Indians,  Atures  by  name,  who  alone  had  spoken  it,  having  become 
extinct.  This  incident  was  the  theme  of  a  poem  by  Curtius,  printed  in  Hum- 
boldt's Yolume,  and  how  cleverly  it  has  been  worked  into  a  romance  by  a  recent 
novelist  all  well  know  ;  but  unfortunately  there  are  people  who  will  have  it  that 
the  romance  of  the  story  did  not  begin  with  Mr.  Grant  Allen. 

-  This  name,  for  a  long  while  used  in  the  books,  was  given  by  Cook's  people, 
who  compared  the  bird's  remai-kable  gular  tufts  to  the  earrings  worn  by  the 
Tahitians,  and  called  Poies,  as  the  word  was  then  written.  But  Kago  is  given  as 
the  native  name  of  the  bird,  and  in  the  form  Koko  is  still  used,  though  Tui  is 
the  commoner  appellation. 


692 


PARSON-G  ULL  -PAR  TRIDGE 


including  the  human  voice. ^  In  fine  weather,  as  remarked  by  Mr. 
Layard  {Ihis,  1863,  jx  243),  this  species  has  the  habit  of  mounting 
aloft  in  parties  of  half  a  dozen  or  more  and  indulging  in  various 
aerial  evolutions.  Another  merit  it  possesses  is  that  of  being  an 
excellent  bird  for  the  table,  but  probably  few  in  future  Avill  have 
the  opportunity  of  tasting  its  good  qualities.     Dr.  Gadow  has  de- 


k 


Peosthematodera.    (After  Buller.) 

scribed   {Fnx.   Zool.  Soc.    1883,   pp.    67-69,  pi.  xvi.  figs.  6,   7)  the 
peculiar  lingual  apparatus  and  mode  of  feeding  of  this  bird. 

PARSON-GULL,  a  common  name  for  the  adult  of  either  of  the 
Black-backed  Gulls,  Larus  marinus  and  fuscus. 

PARTRIDGE,  in  older  English  Pertrkhe,  Scottish  Patricic, 
Dutch  Patrijs,  French  Perdrix,  all  from  the  Latin  Perdix,  which 
Avord  in  sound  does  not  imitate  badly  the  call-note  of  this  bird,  so 
Avell  known  throughout  the  British  Islands  and  the  greater  part  of 
Europe  ^  as  to  need  no  description  or  account  of  its  habits  here. 
The  English  name  properly  denotes  the  only  species  indigenous  to 
Britain,  often  nowadays  called  the  Grey  Partridge  ^  (to  distinguish 
it  from  others,   of  Avhich  more   jDresently),   the  Perdix   ciiierea   of 

^  Sir  W.  Buller  tells  us  liow  that  having  addressed  a  !Maori  assemblage  in 
the  course  of  a  negotiation,  at  the  end  of  liis  sj)eech  the  chief's  tame  Tui  ex- 
claimed "Tib^"  (false),  whereupon  the  dignitary  remarked  that  the  arguments 
were  no  doubt  good,  but  they  had  failed  to  convince  his  bird. 

"  More  than  one  local  form  has  been  said  to  exist  on  the  continent  if  not  in 
Britain,  One  sucli,  inhabiting  the  north-west  of  Spain,  seems  worthy  of  notice. 
It  M'as  described  by  Dr.  Reichenow  {Journ.  filr  Orn.  1892,  p.  226)  as  P.  his- 
jianicnsis,  which  Dr.  Sharpe  {Zool.  Ecc.  xxix.  Aves,  p.  27)  has  rendered  P.  his- 
2Mniolensis. 

^  In  India  the  name  Grey  Partridge  is  used  for  Ortygornis  2)onticerianus, 
which  is  perhaps  a  Francolin  (r/.  Jerdon,  B.  Ind.  iii.  p.  569). 


PARTRIDGE  693 


ornithologists,  a  species  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  model  game- 
bird — whether  from  the  excellence  of  the  sport  it  affords  in  the 
field,  or  the  no  less  excellence  of  its  flesh  at  table,  which  has  been 
esteemed  from  the  time  of  Martial  to  our  own — while  it  is  on  all 
hands  admitted  to  be  wholly  innocuous,  and  at  times  beneficial  to 
the  agriculturist.  It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  the  Partridge 
thrives  with  the  highest  system  of  cultivation ;  and  the  lands  that 
are  the  most  carefully  tilled,  and  bear  the  greatest  quantity  of 
grain  and  green  crops,  generally  produce  the  greatest  number  of 
Partridges.  Yielding  perhaps  in  economic  importance  to  the  Red 
Grouse,  what  may  be  called  the  social  influence  of  the  Partridge  is 
greater  than  that  excited  by  any  other  wild  bird,  for  there  must  be 
few  rural  parishes  in  the  three  kingdoms  of  which  the  inhabitants 
are  not  more  or  less  directly  afiected  in  their  movements  and  busi- 
ness by  the  coming  in  of  Partridge-shooting,  and  therefore  a  few 
words  on  this  theme  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

From  the  days  when  men  learned  to  "  shoot  flying  "  until  the 
latter  half  of  this  century,  dogs  were  generally  if  not  invariably 
used  to  point  out  where  the  "  covey,"  as  a  family-party  of  Part- 
ridges is  called,  was  lodged,  and  the  greatest  pains  were  taken  to 
break  in  the  "  pointers  "  or  "  setters  "  to  their  duty.  In  this  way 
marvellous  success  was  attained,  and  the  delight  lay  nearly  as  much 
in  seeing  the  dogs  quarter  the  ground,  wind  and  draw  up  to  the 
game,  helping  them  at  times  (for  a  thorough  understanding  between 
man  and  beast  was  necessary  for  the  perfection  of  the  sport)  by 
word  or  gesture,  as  in  bringing  down  the  bird  after  it  had  been 
finally  sprung.  There  are  many  who  lament  that  the  old-fashioned 
practice  of  shooting  Partridges  to  dogs  has,  with  rare  exceptions, 
fallen  into  desuetude,  and  it  is  commonly  believed  that  this  result 
has  followed  wholly  from  the  desire  to  make  larger  and  larger  bags 
of  game.  The  opinion  has  a  certain  amount  of  truth  for  its  base ; 
but  those  who  hold  it  omit  to  notice  the  wholly  changed  circum- 
stances in  which  Partridge-shooters  now  find  themselves.  In  the 
old  days  there  were  plenty  of  broad,  tangled  hedgerows  which 
afl"orded  permanent  harboiu"  for  the  birds,  and  at  the  beginning  of 
the  shooting- season  admirable  shelter  or  "lying"  (to  use  the 
sportsman's  word)  was  found  in  the  rough  stubbles,  often  reaped 
knee-high,  foul  with  weeds  and  left  to  stand  some  six  or  eight 
weeks  before  being  ploughed,  as  well  as  in  the  turnips  that  were 
sown  broadcast.  Throughout  the  greater  part  of  England  now  the 
fences  are  reduced  to  the  narrowest  of  boundaries  and  are  mostly 
trimly  kept ;  the  stubbles — mown,  to  begin  with,  as  closely  as 
possible  to  the  ground — are  ploughed  within  a  short  time  of  the 
corn  being  carried,  and  the  turnips  are  drilled  in  regular  lines, 
off"ering  inviting  alleys  between  them  along  which  Partridges  take 
foot  at  any  unusual  noise.    Pointers  in  such  a  district — and  to  this 


694  PARTRIDGE 

state  of  things  all  the  arable  part  of  England  is  tending — are  simply 
useless,  except  at  the  beginning  of  the  season,  Avhen  the  young 
birds  are  not  as  yet  strong  on  the  wing,  and  the  old  birds  are  still 
feeble  from  moulting  their  quill-feathers.  Of  late  years  therefore 
other  modes  of  shooting  Partridges  have  had  to  be  employed,  of 
which  methods  the  most  popular  is  that  known  as  "  driving  " — the 
"  guns  "  being  stationed  in  more  or  less  concealment  at  one  end  of 
the  field,  or  series  of  fields,  which  is  entered  from  the  other  by 
men  or  boys  who  deploy  into  line  and  walk  across  it  making  a 
noise.  It  is  the  custom  with  many  to  speak  depreciatingly  of  this 
proceeding,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  as  much  knowledge  of  the  ways  of 
Partridges  is  needed  to  ensure  a  successful  day's  "dri-^dng"  as  was 
required  of  old  when  nearly  everything  was  left  to  the  intelligence 
of  the  dogs,  for  the  course  of  the  birds'  flight  depends  not  only  on 
the  position  of  the  line  of  beaters,  but  almost  on  the  station  of  each 
person  composing  it,  in  relation  to  the  force  and  direction  of  the 
wind  and  to  the  points  on  which  it  is  desired  that  the  Partridges 
should  converge.  Again,  the  skill  and  alacrity  needed  for  bringing 
down  birds  flying  at  their  utmost  velocity,  and  often  at  a  consider- 
able height,  is  enormously  greater  than  that  which  sufficed  to 
stop  those  that  had  barely  gone  20  yards  from  the  dog's  nose, 
though  admittedly  Partridges  rise  very  quickly  and  immediately 
attain  great  speed.  Moreover,  the  shooting  of  Partridges  to  pointers 
came  to  an  end  in  little  more  than  six  weeks,  whereas  "  driving " 
may  be  continued  for  the  whole  season,  and  is  never  more  success- 
ful than  when  the  birds,  both  young  and  old,  have  completed  their 
moult,  and  are  strongest  upon  the  wing.  But,  whether  the  neAv 
fashion  be  objectionable  or  not,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  old 
one  could  not  be  successfully  restored  without  a  reversion  to  the 
slovenly  methods  of  agriculture  followed  in  former  years,  and  there- 
fore is  as  impossible  as  would  be  a  return  to  the  still  older  practice 
of  taking  Partridges  in  a  setting-net,  described  by  Gervase  Mark- 
ham  or  Willughby. 

The  Partridge  has  doubtless  largely  increased  in  numbers  in 
Great  Britain  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  centur}^,  when 
so  much  down,  heath  and  moorland  was  first  brought  under  the 
plough,  for  its  partiality  to  an  arable  country  is  very  e^adent.  It 
has  been  observed  that  the  birds  which  live  on  grass  lands  or 
heather  only  are  apt  to  be  smaller  and  darker  in  colour  than  the 
average  ;  but  in  truth  the  species  Avhen  adult  is  subject  to  a  much 
greater  variation  in  plumage  than  is  commonly  supposed,  and  the 
well-known  chestnut  horse-shoe  mark,  generally  considered  distinc- 
tive of  the  cock,  is  very  often  absent.^    In  Asia  our  Partridge  seems 

^  Mr.  "W.  R.  Ogilvie  Grant  has  indicated  certain  characters  in  the  plumage  of 
the  two  sexes  of  this  species  whereby  they  maybe  xmfailingly  distinguished.  In 
the  adult  cock  the  sides  of  tlie  neck  are  grey,  but  in  the  hen  olive-brown,  while 


PARTRIDGE  695 


to  be  unknown,  but  in  the  temperate  parts  of  Eastern  Siberia  its 
place  is  taken  by  a  very  nearly  allied  form,  P.  harhata,  and  in  Tibet 
there  is  a  bird,  P.  hodgsonias,  which  can  hardly  Avith  justice  be 
generically  separated  from  it.  The  relations  of  some  other  forms 
inhabiting  the  Indian  Region  are  at  present  too  obscure  to  make 
any  notice  of  them  expedient  here. 

The  common  Red-legged  Partridge  of  Europe,  generally  called 
the  French  Partridge,  Caccabis  rufa,  seems  to  be  justifiably  con- 
sidered the  type  of  a  separate  group.^  This  bird  was  introduced 
into  England  toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
has  established  itself  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  notwith- 
standing a  widely  -  spread,  and  in  some  respects  unreasonable 
prejudice  against  it.  It  has  certainly  the  habit  of  trusting  nearly 
as  much  to  its  legs  as  to  its  wings,  and  it  thus  incurred  the 
obloquy  of  old-fashioned  sportsmen,  whose  dogs  it  vexatiously 
kept  at  a  running-point ;  but  when  it  was  also  accused  of  driving 
away  the  grey  Partridge,  the  charge  only  shewed  the  ignorance 
of  those  that  brought  it,  for  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  French 
Partridge  rather  prefers  ground  which  the  common  species  avoids 
— such  as  the  heaviest  clay-soils,  or  the  most  infertile  heaths. 
But  even  where  the  two  species  meet,  the  present  writer  can 
declare  from  the  personal  observation  of  many  years  that  the 
alleged  antipathy  between  them  is  imaginary,  and  unquestionably 
in  certain  parts  of  the  country  the  "head  of  game"  has  been 
increased    by   the    introduction    of   the   foreigner.^      The  French 

nearly  each  feather  shews  a  buff  shaft-stripe.  Again  the  median  upper  wing- 
ooverts  in  the  cock  are  of  a  sandy-brown  blotched  with  chestnut  and  black  trans- 
verse lines,  while  in  the  hen  the  corresponding  feathers  are  blackish-brown  with 
conspicuous  buff  crossbars.  I  am  much  indebted  to  Lord  Lilford  and  Mr.  Beilby 
Oakes  for  kindly  informing  me  that,  after  examining  a  great  many  Partridges, 
they  can  wholly  confirm  Mr.  Grant's  observations,  which  having  been  originally 
published  in  a  newspaper  {Field,  21  Nov.  1891  and  9  April  1892),  and  only 
incidentally  mentioned  by  him  in  a  scientific  work  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xxii.  p. 
185)  will  be  new  to  many  persons. 

^  The  late  Prof.  Parker  first  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  v.  p.  155)  and,  after  him, 
Prof.  Huxley  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868,  pp.  299-302)  pointed  out  that  the  true 
Gallinss  offer  two  types  of  structure,  ' '  one  of  which  may  be  called  Galline, 
and  the  other  Tetraonine,"  to  use  the  latter's  words,  though  he  is  "by  no  means 
clear  that  they  do  not  graduate  into  one  another  "  ;  and,  according  to  the  char- 
acters assigned  by  him,  Caccahis  lies  "on  the  Galline  side  of  the  boundary," 
while  Perdix  belongs  to  the  Tetraonine  group.  Further  investigation  of  this 
matter  is  very  desirable,  and,  with  the  abundant  means  possessed  by  those  who 
have  access  to  zoological  gardens,  it  might  easily  be  carried  out. 

^  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  game -preservers  who  object  most  strongly  to 
the  Fied-legged  Partridge  are  not  agreed  on  the  exact  grounds  of  their  objection. 
One  party  will  declare  that  it  vanquishes  the  Grey  Partridge,  while  the  other 
holds  that,  though  the  latter,  the  "  English"  Partridge,  is  much  vexed  by  the 
Introduced  species,  it  invariably  beats  off  the  "  Frenchman  "  ! 


696  PA  SSA  GE-HA  WK—PA  SSENGER-PIGEON 

Partridge  has  several  congeners,  all  with  red  legs  and  plumage  of 
similar  character.  In  Africa  north  of  the  Atlas  there  is  the 
Barbary  Partridge,  C.  petrosa;  in  southern  Europe  another,  G. 
saxatilis,  which  extends  eastward  till  it  is  replaced  by  C.  chukar, 
which  reaches  India,  where  it  is  a  well-known  bird.  Two  very 
interesting  desert-forms,  supposed  to  be  allied  to  Caccahis,  are  the 
Ammoperdix  heyi  of  North  Africa  and  Palestine  and  the  A.  bonhami 
of  Persia ;  but  the  absence  of  the  metatarsal  knob,  or  incipient 
spur,  suggests  (in  our  ignorance  of  their  other  osteological  characters) 
an  alliance  rather  to  the  genus  Ferdix.  On  the  other  hand  the 
groups  of  birds  known  as  Francolins  and  Snow-Partridges  are 
generally  furnished  with  strong  but  blunt  spurs,  and  therefore  prob- 
ably belong  to  the  Caccabine  group.  Of  the  former,  containing 
many  species,  there  is  only  room  here  to  mention,  in  addition  to 
what  has  been  before  (page  291)  said  of  that  which  used  to  occur 
in  Europe,  the  possibility,  as  some  think,  of  its  having  been  the 
Aitagas  or  Attagen  of  classical  authors,^  a  bird  celebrated  for  its 
exquisite  flavour.  Of  the  latter  it  is  only  to  be  said  here  that 
those  of  the  genus  Tetraogallus,  often  called  Snow-PHEASANT,  are  the 
giants  of  their  kin,  and  that  nearly  every  considerable  range  of 
mountains  in  Asia  seems  to  possess  its  specific  form ;  while  the 
genus  Lerwa  contains  but  a  single  species,  L.  nivicola,  which  is 
emphatically  the  Snow-Partridge  of  Himalayan  sportsmen. 

By  English  colonists  the  name  Partridge  has  been  very  loosely 
applied,  and  especially  so  in  North  America.  Where  a  qualifying 
Avord  is  prefixed  no  confusion  is  caused,  but  without  it  there  is 
sometimes  a  difficulty  at  first  to  know  whether  the  Eufl"ed  Grouse 
{Bonasa  timhellus)  or  the  Virginian  Colin  (Ortyz  virginianus)  is 
intended,  while  the  "  Partridge-Hawk "  of  the  same  country  is 
Astur  atricapillus  (Goshawk),  and  the  "  Partridge  -  Pigeon "  of 
Australia  is  a  species  of  Geophaps  (Bronze-WING). 

PASSAGE-HAWK,  in  moderii  falconers'  language,  is  one  taken 
on  its  passage  or  migration,  generally  in  Holland.  It  is  therefore 
always  what  in  old  time  was  called  a  "  Haggard,"  and  when  trained 
is  more  valued  than  a  NiAS. 

PASSENGER-PIGEON,  so-called  in  books,  but  in  North 
America  commonly  known  as  the  "  Wild  Pigeon,"  the  Edopistes 
migratorius  of  ornithology,  the  bird  so  famous  in  former  days  for 
its  multitude,  and  still  occasionally  to  be  found  plentifully  in  some 
parts  of  Canada  and  the  United  States,  though  no  longer  appearing 
in  the  countless  numbers  that  it  did  of  old,  when  a  flock  seen  by 
Wilson  was  estimated  to  consist  of  more  than  2230  millions.     The 

^  However,  many  naturalists  have  maintained  a  different  opinion — some 
making  it  a  Woodcock,  a  Godwit,  or  even  the  Hazel-hen  (Grouse).  The  ques- 
tion has  been  well  discussed  by  Lord  Lilford  {Ibis,  1862,  pp.  352-356). 


PASSERES—PASSERINAL  697 

often-quoted  descriptions  given  by  him  and  Audubon  of  Pigeon- 
haunts  in  the  then  "  back-woods  "  of  Kentucky,  Ohio  and  Indiana 
need  not  here  be  reproduced.  That  of  the  latter  was  declared  by 
Waterton  to  be  a  gross  exaggeration  if  not  an  entire  fabrication  ; 
but  the  critic  would  certainly  have  changed  his  tone  had  he  known 
that,  some  hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier,  Wild  Pigeons  so  swarmed 
and  i"avaged  the  colonists'  crops  near  Montreal  that  a  bishop  of  his 
own  Church  was  constrained  to  exorcise  them  with  holy  water  as  if 
they  had  been  demons.^  The  rapid  and  sustained  flight  of  these 
Pigeons  is  also  as  well-established  as  their  former  overwhelming 
abundance — birds  having  been  killed  in  the  State  of  New  York 
whose  crops  contained  undigested  grains  of  rice  that  must  have 
been  not  long  before  plucked  and  swalloAved  in  South  Carolina  or 
Georgia.  The  Passenger-Pigeon  is  about  the  size  of  a  common 
Turtle-DovE,  but  with  a  long,  wedge-shaped  tail.  The  male  is  of 
a  dark  slate-colour  above,  and  piu-plish-bay  beneath,  the  sides  of 
the  neck  being  enlivened  by  gleaming  violet,  green  and  gold. 
The  female  is  drab-coloured  above  and  dull  white  beneath,  with 
only  a  slight  trace  of  the  brilliant  neck-markings  ^  (see  Pigeon). 

PASSERES,  the  name  given  by  Linnjsus  to  his  Sixth  Order  of 
Birds,  which  though  for  a  time  set  aside  in  favour  of  other  designa- 
tions, Insessores  and  the  like,  or  modified  into  such  a  form  as 
Passerin.e,^  has  been  restored  to  use  of  late  years,  and  approximately 
in  its  author's  sense — the  genera  Certhia,  Sitta,  Oriulus,  Gracula, 
Corvus  and  Faradisea,  which  he  had  placed  in  his  Pic^,  being 
added,  while  Caprimulgus,  the  portion  of  Hirundo  containing  the 
Swifts,  and  Columha  have  been  removed.  For  further  subdivision 
of  the  Order,  which,  though  offering  comparatively  little  variation  of 
essential  importance,  comprehends  far  more  genera  and  species  than 
all  the  others  put  together,  see  Introduction. 

PASSERINE,  a  group  so  named  of  Nitzsch  in  1820  {Deutsche 
ArcJiiv  fur  Physiol,  vi.  p.  253)  to  include  the  genera  Sturnus,  Oriolus, 
Lanius,  Muscicapa,  Ampelis,  Hirundo,  Turdus,  Accentor,  Sylvia,  Mota- 
cilla,    Anthus,    Alauda,    Parus,    Sitta,    Certhia    (with    Tichodroma), 

^  Voyages  du  Baron  de  la  Hontan  dans  I'Amerique  septentrionale,  ed.  2, 
Amsterdam :  1705,  vol.  i.  pp.  93,  94.  In  the  first  edition,  published  at  The 
Hague  in  1703,  the  passage,  less  explicit  in  details  but  to  the  same  effect,  is  at 
p.  80.     The  author's  letter,  describing  the  circumstance,  is  dated  May  1687. 

2  There  are  several  records  of  the  occm-rence  in  Britain  of  this  Pigeon,  but  in 
most  cases  the  birds  noticed  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  found  their  own  way 
hither.  One,  which  was  shot  in  Fife  in  1825,  may,  however,  have  crossed  the 
Atlantic  unassisted  by  man. 

^  The  names  Passcj't/brmes  and  lately  even  Passeridse {\)  have  been  in  some 
instances  employed  ;  with  very  slight  or  no  modification  they  signify  the  same 
thing  as  Passerinai. 


698  PASSERTNI—PATELLA 

Umberiza,  Frmgilla,  Loxia,  Cindus(f)  and  Corvus — thus  differing 
somewhat  from  Johannes  Midler's  application  of  the  cognate  term 

PASSERINI  {Ahhandl.  K.  Ahad.  Berlin,  Phys.  Kl.  1847,  p. 
366),  Avhich  he  regarded  as  equivalent  to  the  Order  Insessores 
(as  it  was  then  called),  separating  its  members  into  Passcrini 
POLYMYODI  (or  OsciNES),  Tracheophones  and  PiCARii,  though 
cautiously  declaring  these  to  be  not  so  much  the  names  of  groups, 
but  as  merely  indicating  different  laryftgeat  formations. 

PASTOR,  Temminck's  generic  name  in  1815  for  a  beautiful 
l)ird,  the  Tardus  roseus  of  Linnaeus,  very  commonly  known  in  Eng- 
lish as  the  Rose-coloured  Pastor,  one  of  the  Sturnidx  (Starling), 
which  is  not  an  infrequent  visitor  to  the  British  Islands.     It  is  a 

bird  of  most  irregular  and  erratic 
habits — a  vast  horde  suddenly  arriv- 
ing at  some  place  to  Avhich  it  may 
have  hitherto  been  a  stranger,  and 
at  once  making  a  settlement  there, 
leaving  it  wholly  deserted  so  soon 
tastor.   (After  Swainson.)  as    the    youug    are    reared.       This 

happened  in  the  summer  of  1875  at  Yillafranca,  in  the  province  of 
Yerona,  the  castle  of  which  was  occupied  in  a  single  day  by  some 
12,000  or  14,000  birds  of  this  species,  as  has  been  graphical^  told 
by  Sig.  de  Betta  {Atti  del  E.  1st.  Veneto,  ser.  5,  vol.  ii.) ;  but  similar 
instances  have  been  before  recorded, — as  in  Bulgaria  in  1867,  near 
Smyrna  in  1856,  and  near  Odessa  in  1844,  to  mention  only  some  of 
Avhich  particulars  have  been  published,^  and  a  concise  account  of 
them  will  be  found  in  the  Fourth  Edition  of  Yarrell's  British  Birds 
(ii.  pp.  245-250).  The  Rose-coloured  Starling  hardlj^  ever  occurs 
in  Africa,  but  is  a  Avell-known  bird  in  India,  over  nearly  the  whole 
of  which  it  regularly  appears,  arid  generally  in  the  cold  weather. 

PASTURE- BIRD,  a  name  indiscriminately  given  in  jDarts  of 
North  America  and  the  West  Indies  to  any  of  the  Stints  and 
smaller  Sandpipers  met  with  on  their  autumnal  migration,  and 
then  mostly  resorting  to  the  cattle-pastures. 

PATELLA,  a  sesamoid  bone  interposed  in  the  tendon  of  the 
extensor -cruris  muscle,  and  connected  with  the  upper  end  of  the 
TIBIA  by  the  Patellar  Ligament,  which  in  old  birds  is  often  ossified. 
The  most  remarkable  variations  of  condition  are  shewn  in  Coiyiidnn, 

^  It  is  remarkable  that  on  almost  all  of  these  occasions  the  locality  pitched 
upon  has  been,  either  at  the  time  or  soon  after,  ravaged  by  locusts,  which  the 
birds  greedily  devour.  Another  fact  worthy  of  attention  is  that  they  are  often 
observed  to  affect  trees  or  shrubs  bearing  rose-coloured  flowers,  as  Nerium 
oleander  and  Rohinia  viscosa,  among  the  blossoms  of  which  they  themselves  may 
easily  escape  notice,  for  their  plumage  is  rose-pink  and  black  shot  with  blue. 


PEACOCK  699 


where  the  Patella  is  reduced  to  a  small  ossicle  within  the  tendon, 
its  function  being  taken  by  the  greatly-developed  pyramidal  p-o- 
cessus  tibialis  anterior,  and  in  Fodicipes  and  Hesperornis,  where  it 
is  almost  as  large  as  the  cnemial  process  with  which  it  freely 
articulates. 

PEACOCK  (the  first  syllable  from  the  Latin  Pavo,  in  Anglo- 
Saxon  Pawe,  Dutch  Paauw,  German  Pfau,  French  Paon),  the  bird 
so  well  known  from  the  splendid  plumage  of  the  male,  and  as  the 
proverbial  personification  of  pride.  A  native  of  the  Indian  penin- 
sula and  Ceylon,  in  some  parts  of  which  it  is  very  abundant,  its 
domestication  dates  from  times  so  remote  that  nothing  can  be  posi- 
tively stated  on  that  score.  Setting  aside  its  importation  to  Pales- 
tine by  Solomon  (1  Kings  x.  22  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  21),  its  assignment 
in  classical  mythology  as  the  favourite  bird  of  Hera  or  Juno  testifies 
to  the  early  acquaintance  the  Greeks  must  have  had  with  it ;  but, 
though  it  is  mentioned  by  Aristophanes  and  other  older  writers, 
their  knowledge  of  it  was  probably  very  slight  until  after  the  con- 
quests of  Alexander.  Throughout  all  succeeding  time,  however,  it 
has  never  very  willingly  rendered  itself  to  domestication,  and,  retain- 
ing much  of  its  wild  character,  can  hardly  be  accounted  an  inhabit- 
ant of  the  poultry-yard,  but  rather  an  ornamental  denizen  of  the 
pleasure-ground  or  shrubbery ;  while,  even  in  this  condition,  it  is 
seldom  kept  in  large  numbers,  for  it  has  a  bad  reputation  for  doing- 
mischief  in  gardens,  it  is  not  very  prolific,  and,  though  in  earlier 
days  highly  esteemed  for  the  table,^  it  is  no  longer  considered  the 
delicacy  it  was  once  thought. 

As  in  most  cases  of  domestic  animals,  pied  or  white  varieties  of 
the  ordinary  Peacock,  Pavo  cristatus,  are  not  unfrequently  to  be 
seen  ;  and,  though  lacking  the  gorgeous  resplendence  for  which  the 
common  bird  stands  unsurpassed,  they  are  valued  as  curiosities. 
Greater  interest,  however,  attends  what  is  known  as  the  "  japanned  " 
Peacock,  often  erroneously  named  the  Japanese  or  Japan  Peacock, 
a  form  Avhich  has  received  the  name  of  P.  nigripennis,  as  though  it 
were  a  distinct  species.  In  this  form  the  cock,  beside  other  less 
conspicuous  diff"erences,  has  all  the  upper  wing-coverts  of  a  deep 
lustrous  blue  instead  of  being  mottled  with  brown  and  white,  while 
the  hen  is  of  a  more  or  less  greyish-white,  deeply  tinged  with  dull 
yello-^Aash-brown  near  the  base  of  the  neck  and  shoulders.  It 
"  breeds  true  "  ;  but  occasionally  a  presumably  pure  stock  of  birds 
of    the    usual    coloration    throws    out    one    or    more    having   the 

^  Classical  authors  contain  many  allusions  to  its  high  appreciation  at  the  most 
sumptuous  banquets  ;  and  mediaeval  bills  of  fare  on  state  occasions  nearly  always 
include  it.  In  the  days  of  chivalry  one  of  the  most  solemn  oaths  was  taken  "on 
the  Peacock,"  which  seems  to  have  been  served  up  garnished  with  its  gaudy 
j)lumago. 


700 


PEACOCK 


"  japanned  "  plumage,  leading  to  the  conclusion  that  the  latter  may 
be  due  to  "  revei'sion  to  a  primordial  and  otherwise  extinct  condi- 
tion of  the  species,"  and  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  "  japanned  " 
male  has  in  the  coloration  of  the  parts  mentioned  no  little  re- 
semblance to  that  of  the  second  indubitably  good  species,  the 
P.  muticus  (or  P.  spicifer  of  some  writers)  of  Burma  and  Java, 
though  the  character  of  the  latter's  crest — the  feathers  of  which 
are  barbed  along  their  whole  length  instead  of  at  the  tip  only — and 


"  Japanned  "  Peafowls.    (.After  Wolf  iii  Elliot's  '  Fhasianida'.') 

its  golden-green  neck  and  breast  furnish  a  ready  means  of  distinc- 
tion. The  late  Sir  R.  Heron  was  confident  that  the  "  japanned " 
breed  had  arisen  in  England  within  his  memory,^  and  Darwin 
(Anim.  irnd  Plants  binder  Domedic.  i.  pp.  290-292)  was  inclined  to 
believe  it  only  a  variety ;  but  its  abrupt  appearance,  which  rests  on 
indisputable  evidence,  is  most  suggestive  in  the  light  that  it  may 

^  This  may  have  been  the  case  as  regai'ds  England  ;  but  I  have  a  distinct 
recollection  of  having  seen  a  bird  of  this  form  represented  in  an  old  Dutch 
picture,  though  when  or  where  I  cannot  state.  An  instance  of  its  sudden  pro- 
duction from  the  ordinary  stock  opcurred  to  my  own  knowledge  as  mentioned  by 
Mr.  Darwin.      c/.   C-Ar^at^-Ja- 


PEASEWEEP-^PECTINEAL  PROCESS 


701 


one  day  throAV  on  the  question  of  evolution  as  exhibited  in  the 
origin  of  "species."  It  should  be  stated  that  the  "japanned"  bird 
is  not  known  to  exist  anywhere  as  a  wild  race. 

The  Peafowls  belong  to  the  Gallinm,  from  the  normal  members 
of  which  they  do  not  materially  differ  in  structure ;  and,  though 
by  some  systematists  they  are  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  Family, 
Pavonidx,  most  are  content  to  regard  them  as  a  subfamily  of 
Phaslanidm  (Pheasant). ^  Akin  to  the  genus  Pavo  is  Pohjpledrum, 
of  which  the  males  are  ai"med  with  two  or  more  spurs  on  each  leg, 


PoLVPLECTaUM. 


Argus-Pheasant. 


(After  Swainson.) 


and  near  them  is  generally  placed  the  genus  Argusianus,  containing 
the  ARGUS-Pheasants,  remarkable  for  their  wonderfully  ocellated 
plumage,  and  the  extraordinary  length  of  the  secondarj'  quills  of 
their  wings,  as  well  as  of  the  tail-feathers.  It  must  always  be  re- 
membered that  the  so-called  "  tail "  of  the  Peacock  is  formed  not 
by  the  recti'ices  or  true  tail-feathers,  but  by  the  singular  develop- 
ment of  the  tail-coverts,  a  fact  of  which  any  one  may  be  satisfied 
by  looking  at  the  bird  when  these  magnificent  plumes  are  erected 
and  expanded  in  disk-like  form,  as  is  his  habit  when  displaying  his 
beauty  to  his  mates. 

PEASEWEEP  (spelling  uncertain),  the  Scottish  form  of  Pewit, 
but  applied  to  the  Lapwing  only. 

PEC  TEN,  a  fan-like  lamella  which  projects  into  the  posterior 
chamber  of  the  Eye,  near  the  entrance  of  the  optic  nerve,  and  is 
found  in  all  Birds  except  Apteryx. 

PECTINEAL  PBOCESS  (so  called  from  the  attachment  to  it  of 
the  Pectineal  muscle),  a  process,  near  the  anterior  margin  of  the 
acetabulum  (see  Odontornithes,  fig.  4  a,  page  650),  and  is  in  Birds 
formed  by  the  os  pubis  alone,  by  the  os  pubis  and  ilium  jointly,  or 
occasionally  by  the  ilium  alone.  AVhen  formed  wholly  by  the  pubic 
bone  and  well  developed,  as  in  Apteryx  and  Centrococcyx,  it  strongly 
resembles  the  so  -  called  "  prepubis "  of  Dinosaurs  and  other 
Eeptiles. 

^  As  Mr.  Elliot  does  in  his  magnificent  Monograph  of  the  Phasianidx. 


702  PEEP— PELICAN 


PEEP,  used  chiefly  in  North  America  for  any  of  the  Stints  or 
small  Sandpipers  from  their  cry. 

PEGG-Y,  a  common  name  of  the  Whitethroat. 

PELARGOMOEPH^,  Prof.  Huxley's  name  {Troc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1867,  p.  461)  for  that  group  of  Desmognath^  which  contains  the 
Storks,  Herons,  Ibises  and  Spoonbills. 

PELICAN  (Fr.  PSlican,  Lat.  Pelecanus  or  Pelicanus),  a  large  fish- 
eating  water-fowl,  remarkable  for  the  enormous  pouch  formed  by 
the  extensible  skin  between  the  lower  jaws  of  its  long,  and  ap- 
parently formidable  but  in  reality  very  weak,  bill.  The  ordinary 
Pelican,  the  Onocrotalus  of  the  ancients,  to  whom  it  was  well  known, 
and  the  Pelecanus  onocrotalus  of  ornithologists,  is  a  very  abundant 
bird  in  some  districts  of  South-eastern  Europe,  South-western  Asia, 
and  North-eastern  Africa,  occasionally  straying,  it  is  believed,  into 
the  northern  parts  of  Germany  and  France ;  but  the  possibility  of 
such  wanderers  having  escaped  from  confinement  is  always  to  be 
regarded,^  since  few  zoological  gardens  are  without  examples  which 
are  often  in  the  finest  condition.  Its  usual  haunts  are  the  shallow 
margins  of  the  larger  lakes  and  rivers,  where  fishes  are  plentiful, 
since  it  requires  for  its  sustenance  a  vast  supply  of  them,  pursuing 
them  under  water,  and  rising  to  the  surface  to  swallow  those  that 
it  has  captured  in  its  capacious  pouch.  The  nest  is  formed  among 
the  reeds  that  border  the  waters  it  frequents,  placed  on  the  ground 
and  lined  with  grass.  Therein  two  eggs,  with  white,  chalky  shells, 
are  commonly  laid.  The  young  during  the  first  twelvemonth  are 
of  a  greyish-brown,  but  this  dress  is  slowly  superseded  by  the  growth 
of  white  feathers,  until  when  mature  almost  the  whole  plumage, 
except  the  black  primaries,  is  white,  deeply  suffused  by  a  rich  blush 
of  rose  or  salmon-colour,  passing  into  yellow  on  the  crest  and  lower 
part  of  the  neck  in  front.  A  second  and  somewhat  larger  species, 
P.  crispus,  also  inhabits  Europe,  but  in  smaller  numbers.  This, 
when  adult,  is  readily  distinguishable  from  the  ordinary  bird  by  the 
absence  of  the  blush  from  its  jDlumage,  and  by  the  curled  feathers 
that  project  from  and  overhang  each  side  of  the  head,  which  with 
some  differences  of  coloration  of  the  bill,  pouch,  bare  skin  round  the 
eyes,  and  irides  give  it  a  wholly  distinct  expression.^  Two  speci- 
mens of  the  humerus  of  as  many  Pelicans  have  been  found  in  the 
English  fens  {Ibis,  1868,  p.  363;   Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1871,  p.   702), 

^  This  caution  was  not  neglected  by  the  prudent,  even  so  long  ago  as  Sir 
Thomas  Browne's  daj'S  ;  for  he,  recording  the  occurrence  of  a  Pelican  in  Norfolk, 
was  careful  to  notice  that  about  the  same  time  one  of  the  Pelicans  kept  by  the 
king  (Charles  II.)  in  St.  James's  Park  had  been  lost.  Charleton  says  {Onomast. 
p.  94)  they  came  from  the  Czar. 

2  It  is  also  said  to  have  twenty-two  rectrices,  while  the  ordinary  species  has 
only  eighteen. 


PEL  VIS— PENG  UIN  703 

thus  proving  the  former  existence  of  the  bird  in  England  at  no  very- 
distant  period,  and  one  of  them  being  that  of  a  young  example 
points  to  its  having  been  bred  in  this  country.  It  is  possible  from 
their  large  size  that  they  belonged  to  P.  crispus.  Ornithologists 
have  been  much  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  number  of  living  species 
of  the  genus  Felecamis  (cf.  op.  cit.  1868,  p.  264;  1869,  p.  571; 
1871,  p.  631) — the  estimate  varying  from  six  to  ten  or  eleven ;  but 
the  former  is  the  number  recognized  by  M.  Dubois  (Bull.  Mus.  Belg. 
1883).  North  America  has  one,  P.  erythrorhynclms,  very  similar  to 
P.  onocrotalus  both  in  appearance  and  habits,  but  remarkable  for  a 
triangular,  compressed,  horny  excrescence  which  is  developed  on  the  . 
ridge  of  the  -male^  bill  in  the  breeding-season,  and,  as  ascertained  ^/-  C^^f"^ 
by  Mr.  Ridgway  {3is,  1869,  p.  350),  falls  ofi"  without  leaving  trace  ^ 

of  its  existence  when  that  is  over  (cf.  Moult,  page  599).  Australia 
has  P.  conspicillatus,  easily  distinguished  by  its  black  tail  and  wing- 
coverts.  Of  more  marine  habit  are  P.  philippensis  and  P.  fuscus,  the 
former  having  a  wide  range  in  Southern  Asia,  and,  it  is  said,  reaching 
Madagascar,  and  the  latter  being  common  on  the  coasts  of  the 
warmer  parts  of  both  North  and  South  America.^ 

PELVIS,  that  part  of  the  trunk  to  which  are  attached  the 
hind  limbs,  and  consisting  of  a  number  of  fused  vertebrae,  beside 
three  coalescent  portions  on  either  side  of  the  Median  line — the 
Ilium,  Ischium  and  Os  Pubis  (see  Skeleton). 

PEN,  said  by  Yarrell  to  be  the  technical  name  of  the  hen  Mute 
Swan,  the  cock  being  called  Cob. 

PENELOPE,  the  generic  name  most  inappropriately  given  by 
Merrem  to  the  GUANS  and  occasionally  used  as  English. 

PENGUIN,  the  name  of  a  flightless  sea-bird,^  but,  so  far  as  is 

^  The  genus  Pelecanus  as  instituted  by  Linnseus  included  the  Cormoeant  and 
Gannet  as  well  as  the  true  Pelicans,  and  for  a  long  while  these  and  some  other 
distinct  groups,  as  the  Snake-birds,  Frigate-birds,  and  Tropic-birds,  which 
have  all  the  four  toes  of  the  foot  connected  by  a  web,  were  regarded  as  forming  a 
single  Family,  Pelecanidsz. ;  but  this  name  has  now  been  restricted  to  the  Pelicans 
only,  though  all  are  still  usually  associated  under  the  name  Steganopodes.  It 
may  be  necessary  to  state  that  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  venerable  legend  of 
the  Pelican  feeding  her  young  with  blood  from  her  own  breast,  which  has  given 
her  an  important  place  in  ecclesiastical  heraldry,  except  that,  as  Mr.  Bartlett  has 
suggested  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1869,  p.  146),  the  curious  bloody  secretion  ejected 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Flamingo  may  have  given  rise  to  the  belief,  through  that 
bird  having  been  mistaken  for  the  "  Pelican  of  the  wilderness." 

-  Of  the  three  derivations  assigned  to  this  name,  the  first  is  by  Drayton  in  ^J"  fMi^. 
1613  {Polyolhion,  Song  9),  where  it  is  said  to  be  the  Welsh  pen  gwyn,  or  "  white     / '  i/~^ 

head  "  ;  the  second,  which  seems  to  meet  with  Littre's  approval,  deduces  it  from 
the  Latin  pingicis  (fat) ;  the  third  supposes  it  to  be  a  corruption  of  "pin- wing" 
{Aim.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  4,  iv.  p.  133),  meaning  a  bird  that  has  undergone  the 
operation  of  pinioning  or,  as  in  one  part  at  least  of  England  it  is  commonly  called 


704  PENGUIN 


known,  first  given,  as  in  Hore's  "Voyage  to  Cape  Breton,"  1536 
(Hackluyt,  Researches,  iii.  pp.  168-170),  to  one  inhabiting  the  seas 
of  Newfoundland,  which  subsequently  became  known  as  the  Great 
Auk  or  Gare-fowl  ;  and,  though  the  French  equivalent  Pingouin  ^ 
preserves  its  old  application,  at  the  present  day,  the  word  Penguin 
is  by  English  ornithologists  always  used  in  a  general  sense  for 
certain  Birds  inhabiting  the  Southern  Ocean,  called  by  the  French 
Manchots,  the  Spheniscidse  of  ornithologists,  which  in  some  respects 
form  perhaps  the  most  singular  group  of  the  whole  Class,  or  at  least 
we  may  say  of  the  Carinatae.  For  a  long  while  their  position  was 
very  much  misunderstood,  some  of  the  best  of  recent  or  even  living 
systematists  having  placed  them  in  close  company  with  the  Alcidm 
(Auks),  to  which  they  bear  only  a  relationship  of  analogy,  as  indeed 
had  been  perceived  by  a  few  ornithologists,  who  recognized  in  the 
Penguins  a  very  distinct  Order,  Impennes.  The  view  of  the  latter 
is  hardly  likely  to  be  disputed  in  future,  now  that  the  anatomical 
researches  of  MM.  Paul  Gervais  and  Alix  {Journ.  de  Zool.  1877,  pp. 
424-470),  M.  Filhol  {Bull.  Soc.  Philomath,  ser.  7,  vi.  pp.  226-248), 
and  above  all  of  Prof.  Watson  {Zoology,  Voy.  Challenger,  part  xviii.) 
have  put  the  independent  position  of  the  Spheniscidse  in  the  clearest 
light.2  The  most  conspicuous  outward  character  presented  by  the 
Penguins  is  the  total  want  of  quills  in  their  wings,  which  are  beside 

"  pin-winging."  In  opposition  to  the  first  of  these  hypotheses  it  has  been  urged 
(1)  that  there  is  no  real  evidence  of  any  Welsh  discovery  of  the  bird,  (2)  that  it 
is  very  unlikely  for  the  "Welsh,  if  they  did  discover  it,  to  have  been  atle  to  pass 
on  their  name  to  English  navigators,  and  (3)  that  it  had  not  a  white  head,  but 
only  a  patch  of  white  thereon.  To  the  second  hypothesis  Prof.  Skeat  {Etymol. 
Bid.  p.  433)  objects  that  it  "will  not  account  for  the  sufEx  -in,  and  is  therefore 
wrong  ;  besides  which  the  '  Dutchmen '  [who  were  asserted  to  be  the  authors  of 
the  name]  turn  out  to  be  Sir  Francis  Drake  "  and  his  men.  In  support  of  the 
third  hypothesis  Mr.  Reeks  wrote  {Zoologist,  ser.  2,  p.  1854)  that  the  people  in 
Newfoundland  who  used  to  meet  with  this  bird  always  pronounced  its  name 
"Pin-wing."  Prof.  Skeat's  enquiry  {lac.  cit.),  whether  the  name  may  not  after 
all  be  South-American,  is  to  be  answered  in  the  negative,  since,  so  far  as  evidence 
goes,  it  was  given  to  the  North-American  bird  before  the  South-American  was 
known  in  Europe. 

^  Gorfou  has  also  been  used  by  some  French  writers,  being  a  corruption  of 
Geirfugl  or  Gare-fowl. 

^  Though  I  cannot  wholly  agree  with  Prof.  Watson's  conclusions,  his  remarks 
(pp.  230-232)  on  the  "  Origin  of  the  Penguins"  are  worthy  of  all  attention.  He 
considers  that  they  are  the  surviving  members  of  a  group  that  branched  off 
early  from  the  primitive  "avian"  stem,  but  that  at  the  time  of  their  separation 
the  stem  had  diverged  so  far  from  Reptiles  as  to  possess  true  wings,  though  the 
metatarsal  bones  had  not  lost  their  distinctness  and  become  fused  into  the  single 
bone  so  characteristic  of  existing  Birds.  The  ancestral  Penguin,  he  argues,  must 
have  had  functional  wings,  the  muscles  of  which,  through  atrophy,  have  been 
converted  into  non-contractile  tendinous  bands,  and  this  view  agrees  practically 
with  that  taken  by  Prof.  Fiirbringer  and  Dr.  Gadow. 


PENGUIN  705 


as  incapable  of  flexure  as  the  flippers  of  a  Cetacean,  though  they 
move  freely  at  the  shoulder- joint,  and  sonae  at  least  of  the  species 
occasionally  make  use  of  them  for  progi'essing  on  land.  In  the 
water  they  are  most  efficient  paddles,  and  are  usually,  if  not  always, 
worked,  as  bii'ds'  wings  commonly  are  {cf.  Flight,  pp.  267-269), 
with  a  rotatory  action.  The  plumage  which  clothes  the  whole  body, 
leaving  no  bare  spaces,  generally  consists  of  small  scale-like  feathers, 
many  of  them  consisting  only  of  a  simple  shaft  without  the  develop- 
ment of  barbs  ;  but  several  of  the  species  have  the  head  decorated 
with  long  cirrhous  tufts  (Maccaroni),  and  in  some  the  tail-quills, 
which  are  very  numerous,  are  also  long.^  In  standing  these  birds 
preserve  an  upright  position,  generally  resting  on  the  "tarsus"^ 
alone,  but  in  walking  or  running  on  land  this  is  kept  nearly  vertical, 
and  their  weight  is  supported  by  the  toes  as  well. 

The  most  northerly  limit  of  the  Penguins'  range  in  the  Atlantic 
is  Tristan  da  Cunha,  and  in  the  Indian  Ocean  Amsterdam  Island, 
but  they  also  occur  off  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  along  the  south 
coast  of  Australia,  as  well  as  on  the  south  and  east  of  New  Zealand, 
while  in  the  Pacific  one  species  at  least  extends  along  the  west  coast 
of  South  America  and  to  the  Galapagos  ;  but  north  of  the  equator 
none  are  found.  In  the  breeding-season  they  resort  to  the  most 
desolate  lands  in  higher  southern  latitudes,  and  indeed  have  been 
met  with  as  far  to  the  southward  as  navigators  have  penetrated. 
Possibly  the  Falkland  Islands  may  still  be  regarded  as  the  locality 
richest  in  species,^  though,  whatever  may  have  been  the  case  once, 
their  abundance  there  as  individuals  does  not  now  nearly  approach 
what  it  is  in  many  other  places,  owing  to  the  ravages  of  man,  whose 
advent  is  always  accompanied  by  massacre  and  devastation  on  an 
enormous  scale — the  habit  of  the  helpless  birds,  when  breeding,  to 
congregate  by  hundreds  and  thousands  in  what  are  ca,lled  "  Penguin- 
rookeries  "  contributing  to  the  ease  with  which  their  slaughter  can 

^  The  pterylographical  characters  of  the  Penguins  are  well  described  by  Mr. 
Hyatt  {Troc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.  1871).  Mr.  Bartlett  has  observed  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1879,  pp.  6-9)  that,  instead  of  moulting  in  the  way  that  bii-ds  ordinarily 
do,  Penguins,  at  least  in  passing  from  the  immature  to  the  adult  dress,  cast  off 
the  short  scale-like  feathers  from  their  wings  in  a  manner  that  he  compares  to 
"the  shedding  of  the  skin  in  a  serpent." 

^  The  three  metatarsals  in  the  Penguins  are  not,  as  in  other  Birds,  united  for 
the  whole  of  their  length,  but  only  at  the  extremities,  thus  preserving  a  portion  of 
their  originally  distinct  existence,  a  fact  probably  attributable  to  arrest  of  develop- 
ment, since  the  researches  of  Prof.  Gegenbaur  shew  that  the  embryos  of  all  Birds, 
so  far  as  is  known,  possess  these  bones  in  an  independent  condition.  More 
recently  Prof.  Marsh  has  found  that  in  the  Dinosaurian  genua  Ceratosaurus  the 
metatarsals  acquire  a  condition  very  similar  to  that  which  they  present  in  tlie 
Penguins  {Am.  Journ.  Sc.  Aug.  1884). 

•*  An  interesting  account  of  the  Penguins  of  these  islands  is  given  by  Capt. 
Abbott  [Ibis,  1860,  p.  336). 

45 


7o6 


PENGUIN 


be  effected.  Incapable  of  escape  by  flight,  they  are  yet  able  to 
make  enough  resistance  or  retaliation  (for  they  bite  hard  when  they 
get  the  chance)  to  excite  the  wrath  of  their  murderers,  and  this  only 
brings  upon  them  greater  destruction,  so  that  the  interest  of  nearly 


King-Penguin.    (From  living  example  in  the  Zoological  Gardens.) 

all  the  numerous  accounts  of  these  "rookeries"  is  spoilt  by  the 
disgusting  details  of  the  brutal  havoc  perpetrated  upon  them  (f/. 
Johnny). 

The  Spheniscidfe  have  been  divided  into  at  least  eight  genera, 
but  three,  or  at  most  four,  seem  to  be  all  that  are  needed,  and  three 
can  be  well  distinguished,  as  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Coues  {Proc.  Ac.  N. 
Sc.  Philad.  1872,  pp.  170-212),  by  anatomical  as  well  as  by  external 
characters.  They  are  (1)  Aptenodytes,  easily  recognized  by  its  long 
and  thin  bill,  slightly  decurved,  from  which  Pygoscelis,  as  Prof. 
Watson  has  shewn,  is  hardly  distinguishable  ;  (2)  Eudyptes,  in  which 
the  bill  is  much  shorter  and  somewhat  broad  ;  and  (3)  Spheniscus,  in 
which  the  shortish  bill  is  compressed  and  the  maxilla  ends  in  a 
conspicuous  hook.  Aptenodytes  contains  the  largest  species,  among 
them  those  known  as  the  "  Emperor  "  and  "  King  "  Penguins,  A. 
patagonica  and*^.   longirostris}      Three  others  belong  also  to   this 

^  Some  authorities  {cf.  Sclater,  Ibis,  1888,  pp.  325-334)  prefer  calling  these 
species  A.  forstcri  and  A.  2^cnnanti.  An  example  of  the  former,  weighing  78 
pounds,  -was,  according  to  Dr.  M'Cormick  {Vvyagcs  of  Discovery,  i.  p.  259), 
obtained  by  the  'Terror  '  in  January  1842. 


PERCHERS—PETREL  707 

genus,  if  Pygoscelis  (Johnny)  be  not  recognized,  but  they  seem  no 
further  to  require  remark.  Eudyptes,  containing  the  crested 
Penguins  (Icnown  to  sailors  as  Rock-hoppers  or  Maccaronis),  would 
appear  to  have  five  species,  and  Spheniscus  (Jackass)  four,  among 
which  S.  demersus,  the  well-known  "  Cape  Penguin,"  and  S.  mendiculus, 
which  occurs  in  the  Galapagos,  and  therefore  has  the  most  northerly 
range  of  the  whole  group,  alone  need  notice  here.^ 

PERCHERS,  the  rendering  by  popular  writers  of  the  word 
Insessores,  now  almost  wholly  abandoned  by  systematists. 

PEREGRINE  (Lat.  peregrinus,  wandering)  an  adjective  often 
mistaken  for  a  substantive,  and  used  as  an  abbreviation  of 
Peregrine  Falcon,  an  expression  that  originally  meant  one  of 
foreign  origin,  regardless  of  the  species. 

PERISTEROMORPH./E,  according  to  Prof.  Huxley's  taxonomy 
(Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  459,  460),  the  sixth  group  of  ScHizo- 
gnath^,  consisting  of  the  Colunibm  (Dote,  Pigeon),  but  not  to  be 
confounded  with  his 

PERISTEROPODES,  a  section  of  Alectoromorph.^  established 
the  year  after  {op.  cit.  1868,  p.  296),  composed  of  the  CuRASSOWS 
and  Megapodes,  being  so  called  from  the  Pigeon-like  structure  of 
their  feet,  in  which  the  hallux  is  long  and  on  a  level  with  the 
other  toes,  instead  of  being  short  and  raised  as  in  the  other  section, 
Aledoropodes,  and  it  was  a  consideration  of  this  difference  that  led 
to  his  important  conclusions  in  regard  to  the  Geographical 
Distribution  of  Mammals  and  Birds  before  mentioned  (page  313). 

PERITONEUM,  a  thin  layer  of  connective  tissue  lining  the 
whole  of  the  body-cavity,  and  enveloping  the  viscera,  as  well  as 
attaching  the  intestinal  folds  to  each  other  and  to  the  vertebral 
column  as  Mesentery. 

PETREL,  the  name  applied  in  a  general  way  to  a  group  of 
Birds  (of  which  more  than  100  species  are  recognized)  from  the 
habit  which  some  of  them  possess  of  apparently  walking  on  the 
surface  of  the  water  as  the  apostle  St.  Peter  (of  whose  name  the 
word  is  a  diminutive  form)  is  recorded  (Matt,  xiv,  29)  to  have 
done.  For  a  long  while  the  Petrels  were  ranked  as  a  Family,  under 
the  name  of  Procellariidse,'^  and  thought  to  be  either  very  nearly 
allied  to  the  Laridse  (Gull),  or  intermediate  between  that  Family 
and  the  Steganopodes  ;  but  this  opinion  has  gradually  given  way, 

^  The  generic  and  specific  distribution  of  the  Penguins  is  the  subject  of  an 
excellent  essay  by  Prof.  Alphonse  Milne-Edwards  in  the  Annates  des  Sciences 
Naturelles  for  1880  (vol.  ix.  art.  9,  pp.  23-81),  of  which  there  is  a  German  trans- 
lation in  the  Mitthcilungen  of  the  Ornithological  Union  of  Vienna  for  1883  (pp. 
179-186,  210-222,  238-241). 

-  Most  commonly  but  erroneously  spelt  Procellaridse. 


7o8 


PETREL 


and  it  is  now  hard  to  resist  the  conclusion  that  they  have  to  be 
regarded  as  an  "  Order,"  to  which  the  name  Tubinares  has  been 
ajDplied  from  the  tubular  form  of  their  nostrils,  a  feature  possessed 
in  greater  or  less  degree  by  all  of  them,  and  one  by  which  each  may 
at  a  glance  be  recognized.  They  had  been  variously  subdivided  ; 
but  to  little  purpose  until  the  anatomy  of  the  group  was  subjected 
to  comparative  examination  by  Garrod  and  W.  A.  Forbes,  the  latter  of 
Avliom  summed  up  the  results  obtained  by  himself  and  his  predecessor 
in  an  elaborate  essay  (forming  part  ix.  of  the  Zoology  of  the  voyage  of 
the  '  Challenger ')  which  shewed  determinations  that  differed  greatly 
from  any  that  had  been  reached  by  prior  systematists.  According 
to  these  investigators,  the  Tubinares  are  composed  of  two  Families, 


Petrel,  Prion  turtur.    (After  BuUer.) 

Procellariidx  and  Oceanitidx,  whose  distinctness  had  hardly  before 
been  suspected  ^ — the  latter  consisting  of  four  genera  not  very  much 
differing  in  appearance  from  many  others,  while  the  former  includes 
as  subfamilies  Diomedeinai  (Albatros),  with  three  genera,  Diomedea, 
Thalassiarche  and  Fhoebetria,  and  the  true  Petrels,  Frocellariinai,  in 
which  last  are  combined  forms  so  different  externally  and  in  habit 
as  the  Diving-Petrels,  Pelecanoides  or  Halodroma,  the  Storm-Petrels, 
Procellaria,  the  Flat-billed  Petrels,  Prion,  the  Fulmar,  the  Shear- 
waters and  others.  Want  of  space  forbids  us  here  dwelling  on 
the  characters  assigned  to  these  different  groups,  or  the  means  which 
have  led  to  this  classification  of  it,  set  forth  at  great  length  in  the 
essay  cited  where  also  will  be  found  copious  references  to  previous 
studies  of  the  Petrels.  ^ 

^  It  is  due  to  Prof.  Coues  to  state  that  iu  1864  he  had  declared  the  genus 
Oceanites,  of  which  he  only  knew  the  external  characters,  to  be  "  the  most 
distinct  and  remarkable"  of  the  "Procc^fan'ea;,"  though  lie  never  thought  of 
making  it  the  type  of  a  separate  Family. 

-  Among  these  may  here  be  especially  mentioned  those  of  Quoy  and  Gaimard 
{Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  v.  pp.  123-155,  and  Voy.  dc  V Uremic  et  la  Physicicnnc,  Zool.  pp. 
142-169) ;  Jacquinot  {CoviiMs  Rcndus,  1844,  pp.  353-358,  axui  Zool.  Voy.  au  Pol 
Slid,  iii.  pp.  128-152)  ;  Prof.  Coues  (Proc.  Acad.  Philad.  1864,  pp.  72-91,  116- 
144,  and  1866,  pp.   25-33,  134-197) ;  Mr.   Salvin  {Orn.  Miscdl.  ii.   pp.   223-238, 


PETREL 


709 


Petrels  are  dispersed  throughout  all  the  seas  and  oceans  of  the 
world,  and  some  species  apparently  never  resort  to  land  except  for 
the  purpose  of  nidification,  though  nearly  all  are  liable  at  times  to 
be   driven   ashore,  and   often  very  far  inland,  by  gales  of  Avind.^ 


Capped  Petrel,  (Estrelata  hxsitata.    (Prom  The  Zoologist,  vol.  x.  p.  3603.) 

Wanderers  as  they  may  be,  there  is  reason  to  think  that  attachment 
to  their  home  is  a  feeling  as  strong  with  them  as  with  other  birds, 
and  it  is  only  now  beginning  to  l)e  clear  that  until  we  IcnoAv  the 
breeding-place  or  places  of  each  species — and  some  seem  to  be 
extremely  restricted  in  this  respect — we  shall  know  very  little  to 
the  point  about  their  geographical  distribution.  But  this  knowledge 
is  not  easily  obtained,  for  during  the  breeding-season  many  of  these 
birds  are  almost  wholly  nocturnal  in  their  habits,  passing  the  day 
in  holes  of  the  ground,  or  in  clefts  of  the  rocks,  in  which  they 
generally  nestle,  the  hen  of  each  pair  laying  a  single  Avhite  egg, 
s^mrsely  speckled  in  a  few  species  with  fine  reddish  dots.  Of  those 
species  that  frequent  the  North  Atlantic,  the  common  Storm-Petrel, 
FroceUaria  pelagica,  a  little  bird  which  has  to  the  ordinary  eye  rather 
the  look  of  a  Swift  or  Swallow,  is  the  "  Mother  Carey's  chicken  "  of 

249-257;  and  Zoology,  Voy.  ^Challenger,'  pt.  viii.  pp.  140-149);  and  the 
distribution  of  the  group  in  the  Southern  Ocean  is  treated  by  Prof.  A.  Milne- 
Edwards  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  1882,  Zool.  ser.  6,  xiii.  art.  4  ;  Germanice,  Alitth. 
Ornith.  Vcr.  in  Wien,  1884). 

^  Thus  (Estrelata  hsesitata,  the  Capped  Petrel,  a  species  whose  proper  home 
seems  to  have  been  in  Guadeloupe  and  Dominica  (where  it  was  known  as  the 
"  Diablotin  "),  has  even  occurred  in  the  State  of  Xew  York,  near  Boulogne,  in 
Norfolk  and  in  Hungary  {Ihis,  1884,  p.  202) !  But  there  is  reason  to  fear  that 
this  species  is  nearly  extinct,  though  an  example  is  recorded  {Auh,  1893,  p.  361) 
in  Virginia,  some  200  miles  from  the  sea,  in  August  1893,  two  days  after  a  great 
storm,  while  its  congener,  CE.  jamaicensis,  runs  a  risk  of  the  same  fate  (see  Exter- 
mination, p.  227,  note  4). 


7IO  PETTICH APS— PEWIT 

sailors,  and  is  widely  believed  to  be  the  harbinger  of  bad  weather ; 
but  seamen  hardly  discriminate  between  this  and  others  nearly 
resembling  it  in  appearance,  such  as  Leach's  or  the  Fork-tailed 
Petrel,  Gymochorea  leucorrhoa,  a  rather  larger  but  less  common  bird, 
and  Wilson's  Petrel,  Oceanites  oceanicus,  the  type  of  the  Family 
Oceanitidse  mentioned  above,  which  is  more  common  on  the  American 
side.  But  it  is  in  the  Southern  Ocean  that  Petrels  most  abound, 
both  as  species  and  as  individuals.  The  Cape-Pigeon  or  Pintado 
Petrel,  Daption  capensis,  is  one  that  has  long  been  well  known,  while 
those  who  voyage  to  or  from  Australia,  whatever  be  the  route 
they  take,  are  certain  to  meet  with  many  more  species,  some,  as 
Ossifraga  gigantea,  as  large  as  Albatroses,  and  several  of  them 
called  by  sailors  by  a  variety  of  choice  names,  generally  having 
reference  to  the  strong  smell  of  musk  emitted  by  the  birds,  among 
which  that  of  "Stink-pot"  is  not  the  most  opprobrious.  None  of 
the  Petrels  are  endowed  with  any  brilliant  colouring — sooty-black, 
grey  of  various  tints  (one  of  which  approaches  to  and  is  often  called 
"  blue "),  and  Avhite  being  the  only  hues  their  plumage  exhibits ; 
but  their  graceful  flight,  and  their  companionship  when  no  other 
life  is  visible  around  a  lonely  vessel  oh  the  widest  of  oceans,  give 
them  an  interest  to  beholders,  though  this  is  too  often  marred  by 
the  wanton  destruction  dealt  out  by  brutal  or  thoughtless  persons 
who  thus  seek  to  break  the  tediousness  of  a  long  voyage. 

PETTICHAPS,  the  name  under  which  a  bird,  supposed  to  be 
that  now  commonly  known  as  the  Gar  den- Warbler,  Sylvia  salicaria 
or  hortensis,  was  sent  from  Yorkshii-e  by  Jessop  to  Willughby 
{Ornithologia,  p.  158),  and  hence  more  or  less  frequently  applied  to 
that  species;  or,  with  the  qualification  of  "Lesser,"  to  the  Chiff- 
chaff.  The  name  was  known  in  Lancashire  a  century  later 
(Latham,  Gen.  Synojps.  ii.  p.  413),  but  seems  never  to  have  been  in 
general  use  in  England.  In  1873  the  present  writer  obtained 
evidence  (Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,i.  p.  415)  that  it  had  not  become 
obsolete  near  Sheffield  where  Jessop  lived.  It  is  also  given  as  the 
name  of  a  bird  by  Clare  the  Northamptonshire  poet. 

PEWEE,  so  called  from  its  drawling  note,^  a  well-known 
North- American  bird,  Contopus  virens,  one  of  the  Tyrannidx  (Tyrant- 
bird),  extremely  abundant  in  the  eastern  side  of  the  continent,  and 
represented  by  other  species  in  the  remainder  of  it. 

PEWIT,  anciently  Puet,  the  ordinary  name  of  what  is  called  in 
books  the  Black-headed  Gull,  Larus  ridibiindus,  in  the  inland 
localities  affected  by  it  for  breeding.  The  great  Pewit-pool  at  Nor- 
bury  in  Staffordshire  visited  by  Eay  and  Willughby,  14th  May  1662, 

^  This  is  said  to  be  in  sharp  contrast  with   that  of  its  relative  called  in 
North  America  the  Pewit. 


PHALANGES— PHALAROPE  71  r 

and  well  known   from  Plot's  description  {Hist.  Staffordsh.  pi.  xix. 

pp.  231-233)  had  ceased  to  be  occupied  by  the  end  of  the  last 

centmy,  and  most  of  the  other  stations  throughout  the  country  have 

been  destroyed,  some  through  drainage,  but  often  by  carelessness  and 

occasionally  by  greediness — for  the  eggs  are  a  valuable  commodity, 

even  as  the  young  in  old  days  were  accounted  ^ — but  there  are  still 

two    of    considerable    size  in  England,   Scoulton  in  Norfolk,   and 

Twigmoor  in  Lincolnshire.     The  name  Pewit,  in  Scotland  Peaseweep, 

is  now  more  commonly  applied  to  the  Lapwing,  but  in  each  case 

it  was  given  from  the  bird's  cry,  as  it  is  in  North  America  to  one       .    y,  / 

of  the  Tyrant-birds,  Sayornis  fiisca,  which  is  a  general  favourite    l-t-^CfH^^jf 

there  as  a  recognized  harbinger  of  summer.^     To  some  ears  its  note  rf.  (^/Ha-4'-^ 

sounds    like  "phebe,"    and   as    the    "  PncEBE-bird "  ^   it  was    first 

described  by   Pennant.     In  certain  districts  it  bears  the  name  of 

"Bee-eater,"  to  which  it  is  very  likely  entitled,  and  there  it  is  not 

very  popular  with  the  owners  of  hives. 

PHALANGES,  the  several  bones  composing  the  digits.  In 
those  of  the  hind  limb  (or  Toes)  the  original  and  almost  universal 
number  is  2  for  the  Hallux,  and  3,  4  and  5  for  the  second,  third 
and  fourth  digits  respectively.  Exceptions  are  found  in  Cypselus 
and  Panyptila  (Swift),  where  the  second,  third  and  fourth  toes  have 
each  3  phalanges,  in  some  of  the  .Caprimulgi  (Nightjar),  and  in  the 
singular  genus  Cholornis  from  Western  China  and  of  doubtful 
afiinity,  where  the  fourth  digit  is  reduced  to  a  mere  stump.  Of  the 
wing-digits  the  PoLLEX  has  2  phalanges,  the  index  2  or  3,  and  the 
third  1  or  2 — the  terminal  phalanges  being  often  very  small  or 
represented  by  cartilage  only. 

PHALAROPE,  Brisson's  maladroit  rendering  *  of  the  "  Coot- 
footed  Tringa"  of  Edwards  who,  in  1741,  shewed  himself  a  better 
judge  of  its  affinities  than  many  others  both  before  and  after  him, 
since  for  a  long  while  some  of  the  best  authorities  thought  the 
Phalaropes  allied  to  the  Coot,  whereas  they  are  unquestionably 
Liviicolx,  only  somewhat  modified  in  accordance  with  their  habit  of 
swimming.  There  are  three  species,  each  possessing  a  peculiarity 
of  structure  sufficient  to  warrant  its  being  regarded  as  generic  were 
the  doing  so  convenient.  The  type  is  Phalaropus  fulicarius,  com- 
monly known  in  England  as  the  Grey  Phalarope,  from  the  prevalent 
colour  of  its  winter-plumage,  which  it  has  generally  donned  when 

^  They  were  netted  before  they  could  fly,  and  kept  in  pens  to  be  killed  for 
the  table  as  wanted,  selling  in  Ray's  time  for  five  shillings  the  dozen. 

^  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  Pev/ee. 

^  This  name  is  usually  so  spelt,  but  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  moon- 
goddess  or  any  one  named  after  her. 

*  His  generic  terra  should  have  been  Phalaridopics  from  (paXapis,  -idos  {cf, 
Murdoch,  Bull.  Nutt.  Orn.  Club,  iii.  p.  150). 


712  PHALAROPE 

it  visits  this  country,  as  it  does  almost  every  year.^  It  wears 
a  very  different  aspect  in  summer,  when  the  whole  of  the  lower 
parts  are  bright  bay,  while  the  feathers  above  are  dark  brown 
broadly  edged  with  light  rusty,  and  hence  it  has  in  this  condition 
been  called  the  Red  Phalarope.  It  is  known  to  breed  in  Spits- 
bergen, in  one  part  at  least  of  Iceland,  in  Greenland,  and  presum- 
ably throughout  Arctic  America  and  Asia,  but  not  on  the  continent 
of  Europe.  Its  wanderings  in  winter  seem  to  be  boundless,  since 
its  appearance  is  recorded  in  Chili  and  in  New  Zealand.  The  next 
species,  known  as  the  Red-necked  Phalarope,  F.  or  Lohi])es  liyper- 
boreus,  is  truly  a  British  bird,  breeding  in  a  few  spots  (which  are 
best  not  named)  in  Scotland  and  its  islands.  Of  more  slender  form, 
its  plumage  is  comparatively  plain,  but  the  bay  patch  on  the  side 
of  the  neck  contrasts  mth  the  Avhite  chin  to  give  it  a  conspicuous 
appearance.  It  does  not  range  northward  so  far  as  the  last,  but  it 
is  found  breeding  in  Scandinavia,  Russia,  Siberia  and  America — from 
Alaska  to  Labrador,  as  well  as  in  Greenland,  while  in  Avinter  it 
would  seem  not  to  stray  quite  so  far  to  the  south.  The  third 
species,  F.  or  Steganopus  tricolor  or  wilsoni,  of  still  more  slender 
form,  has  a  very  restricted  breeding-range  in  North  America,  not 
being  recorded  from  the  Pacific  slope  and  being  rare  on  the  Atlantic 
coast.  In  winter,  however,  it  reaches  Patagonia.  Did  space  allow, 
the  various  qualities  of  this  beautiful  group  of  birds  would  be 
willingly  dwelt  upon  here.  A  more  entrancing  sight  to  the  ornitho- 
logist can  hardly  be  presented  than  by  either  of  the  two  species 
first  named.  Their  graceful  form,  their  lively  coloration,  and  the 
confidence  with  which  both  are  familiarly  displayed  in  their  breed- 
ing-quarters can  hardly  be  exaggerated,  and  it  is  equally  a  delight- 
ful sight  to  watch  these  birds  gathering  their  food  in  the  high- 
running  surf,  or  when  that  is  done  peacefully  floating  outside  the 
breakers.  The  nest,  which  the  male — for  in  the  PhalaroiDCS,  as  in 
the  Dotterel  and  the  Godwits,  that  sex  undertakes  the  duty  of 
incubation — leaves  only  to  escape  being  trodden  upon,  is  in  itself 
a  picture  that  the  finder  will  recall  with  rapture,  while  the  tameness 
of  the  birds  tempts  the  observer  to  watch  their  ways  by  the  hour, 
be  the  weather  never  so  bad  ^  (see  Sandpiper). 

^  In  numbers  it  is  very  variable.  In  the  autumn  of  1866,  more  tliau  SCO 
were  recorded  as  observed  and  mostly  shot  in  Britain,  according  to  the  Summary 
which  Mr.  J.  H.  Gurney,  junior,  was  at  the  pains  to  compile  and  publish  in  1867. 

^  Here  may  be  noticed  the  "Barred  Phalarope,"  described  in  1785  by  Latham 
{Gen.  Synops.  iii.  p.  274)  from  a  specimen  in  Banks's  collection  obtained  at 
Christmas  Island  on  Cook's  Third  Voyage,  the  Tringa  cancellata  of  Gmelin.  It 
seems  not  to  have  been  a  Phalarope  at  all,  and  in  1859  G.  R.  Gray  {Cat.  B.  Isl. 
Pacif.  p.  51)  referred  to  it  the  T.  parvirostris  described  and  figured  by  Peale  as 
found  in  July  1839,  by  the  United  States'  Expedition  under  Wilkes,  abundantly 
on  some  of  the  Paumotu  Islands,  where  it  was  breeding  and  exceedingly  tame. 
In  1874  Prof.  Coues  {£.  North-  West,  p.  506)  established  for  it  the  genus  ^clv- 


PHEASANT  713 

PHEASANT,  Micl.-Eng.  Fesaunt  and  Fesaun,  Germ.  Fasan  and 
anciently  Fasanf,  Fr.  Faisan — all  from  the  Latin  Phasianus  or  Fhasiana 
(sc.  avis),  the  Bird  l^rought  from  the  banks  of  the  river  Phasis,  now 
the  Rioni,  in  Colchis,  where  it  is  still  al^undant,  and  introduced  by 
the  Argonauts,  it  is  said  in  what  passes  for  history,  into  EurojDe.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  nothing  is  known  on  this  point ;  and,  judging  from 
the  recognition  of  the  remains  of  several  species  referred  to  the 
genus  Phasianus  both  in  Greece  and  in  France,^  it  seems  not 
impossible  that  the  ordinary  Pheasant,  the  P.  colchicus  of  ornitholo- 
gists, may  have  been  indigenous  to  this  quarter  of  the  globe.  If  it 
was  introduced  into  England,  it  must  almost  certainly  have  been 
brought  hither  by  the  Romans ;  for,  setting  aside  several  earlier 
records  of  doubtful  authority,"  Bishop  Stubbs  has  shewn  that  by  the 
regulations  of  King  Harold  in  1059  "  units  phasianus"  is  prescribed 
as  the  alternative  of  two  Partridges 
or  other  birds  among  the  "  pitantiae " 
(rations  or  commons,  as  we  might  now 
say)  of  the  canons  of  Waltham  Abbe}^, 
and,  as  Prof.  Dawkins  has  remarked  {Ihis, 
1869,  p.  358),  neither  Anglo-Saxons  nor 
Danes  were  likely  to  have  introduced  it         heasam.   (.    er.wamson.) 

into  England.  It  seems  to  have  been  early  under  legal  protection, 
for,   according  to  Dugdale,  a  licence  was  granted  in  the  reign  of 

viorhynchus.  Mr.  Seebolim  {Charadriidx,  p.  451,  pi.  xvii.)  refers  it  to  the  genus 
Phcgoriiis,  with  whicli  it  seems  to  have  little  in  common ;  but  makes  some  amends 
by  giving  a  good  figure  of  it.  The  only  specimens  now  known  to  exist  appear  to 
be  those  at  "Washington,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  fear  that  the  species  may 
be  extinct — the  victim,  most  likely,  of  rats  or  other  predacious  animals  that 
have  found  their  way  to  its  very  confined  haunt— a  case  parallel  perhaps  to  that 
of  Frosohmiia  Icucoptcra  of  Tahiti  (see  Sandpiper). 

■^  These  are  P.  archiaci  from  Pikermi,  P.  alius  and  P.  medviis  from  the 
lacustrine  beds  of  Sansan,  and  P.  desnoyersi  from  Touraine  (A.  Milne-Edwards, 
Ois.  foss.  da  la  France,  ii.  pp.  229,  239-243). 

-  Among  these  perhaps  the  most  worthy  of  attention  is  in  Proberfs  translation 
of  The  Ancient  Laws  of  Cambria  (ed.  1823,  pp.  367,  368),  wherein  extracts  are 
given  from  "Welsh  triads,  presumably  of  the  age  of  Howel  the  Good,  who  died  in 
948.  One  of  them  is  "  There  are  three  barking  hunts  :  a  bear,  a  squirrel,  and  a 
pheasant."  The  explanation  is  "  A  pheasant  is  called  a  barking  hunt,  because 
when  the  pointers  come  upon  it,  and  chase  it,  it  takes  to  a  tree,  wliere  it  is 
hunted  by  baiting."  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  the  manuscript  contaijiing 
these  remarkable  statements  so  as  to  find  out  what  is  the  original  word  rendered 
"Pheasant"  by  the  translator;  but  a  reference  to  what  is  probably  the  same 
passage  with  the  same  meaning  is  given  by  Ray  [Synops.  Mcth.  Animad.  pp.  213, 
214)  on  the  authority  of  Llwyd  or  Lloyd,  though  there  is  no  mention  of  it  in 
Wotton  and  Clarke's  Leges  WalUcse,  (1730).  A  charter  (Kemble,  Cod.  Diplom. 
iv.  p.  236),  professedly  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  granting  the  wardenship  of 
certain  forests  in  Essex  to  Ralph  Peperking,  speaks  of  "  fesant  hen  "  and  "  fesant 
cocke, "  but  is  now  known  to  be  spurious. 


714  PHEASANT 

Henry  I.  to  the  Abbot  of  Amesbiiry  to  kill  Hares  and  Pheasants,  and 
from  the  price  at  which  the  latter  are  reckoned,  in  various  documents 
that  have  come  down  to  us,  we  may  conclude  that  they  were  not 
very  abundant  for  some  centuries,  and  also  that  they  were  occasion- 
ally artificially  reared  and  fattened,  as  appears  from  Upton,^  who 
wrote  about  the  middle  of  the  15th  century,  while  Henry  VIH. 
seems  from  his  privy  purse  expenses  to  have  had  in  his  household 
in  1532  a  French  priest  as  a  regular  "fesaunt  breder,"  and  in  the 
accounts  of  the  Kytsons  of  Hengrave  in  Suffolk  for  1607  mention  is 
made  of  wheat  to  feed  Pheasants,  Partridges  and  Quails. 

Within  recent  years  the  practice  of  bringing  up  Pheasants  by 
hand  has  been  extensively  followed,  and  the  numbers  so  reared 
vastly  exceed  those  that  are  bred  at  large.  The  eggs  are  collected 
from  birds  that  are  either  running  wild  or  kept  in  a  mew,^  and  are 
placed  under  domestic  Hens ;  but,  though  these  prove  most 
attentive  foster-mothers,  much  additional  care  on  the  part  of  their 
keepers  is  needed  to  ensure  the  arrival  at  maturity  of  the  poults  ;  for, 
being  necessarily  crowded  in  a  comparatively  small  space,  they  are 
subject  to  several  diseases  which  often  carry  off  a  large  proportion, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  risk  they  run  by  not  being  provided  with 
proper  food,  or  by  meeting  an  early  death  from  various  predatory 
animals  attracted  by  the  assemblage  of  so  many  helpless  victims.  As 
they  advance  in  age  the  young  Pheasants  readily  take  to  a  wild 
life,  and  indeed  can  only  be  kept  from  wandering  in  every  direction 
by  being  plentifully  supplied  with  food,  which  has  to  be  scattered 
for  them  in  the  coverts  in  which  it  is  desired  that  they  should  stay. 
Of  the  proportion  of  Pheasants  artificially  bred  that  "  come  to  the 
gun  "  when  the  shooting-season  arrives  it  is  impossible  to  form  any 
estimate,  for  it  would  seem  to  vary  enormously,  not  only  irregularly 
according  to  the  weather,  but  regularly  according  to  the  district. 
In  the  eastern  counties  of  England,  and  some  other  favourable 
localities,  perhaps  three-fourths  of  those  that  are  hatched  may  be 
satisfactorily  accounted  for  ;  but  in  many  of  the  western  counties, 
though  they  are  the  objects  of  equally  unremitting  or  even  greater 
care,  it  would  seem  that  more  than  half  of  the  number  that  live  to 
grow  their  feathers  disappear  inexplicably  before  the  coverts  are 
beaten.  The  various  effects  of  the  modern  system  of  Pheasant- 
breeding  and  Pheasant-shooting  need  here  be  treated  but  briefly. 
It  is  commonly  condemned  as  giving  encouragement  to  poaching, 
and,  especially  under  ignorant  management,  as  substituting  slaughter 
for  sport.  Undoubtedly  there  is  much  to  be  said  on  this  score ; 
but  in  reply  to  the  first  objection  it  has  been  urged  that  as  a  rule 

^  In  his  Be  studio  militari  (not  printed  till  1654)  he  states  (p.  195)  that  the 
Pheasant  was  brought  from  the  East  by  "Palladius  ancorista." 

-  In  1883,  134,000  Pheasants'  eggs  were  sold  from  one  estate  in  Suffolk, 
and  101,000  in  1893,  while  9700  birds  were  killed  upon  it. 


PHEASANT  715 


the  poacher  does  not  like  visiting  coverts  that  he  knows  to  be 
effectively  preserved,  and  that  coverts  containing  a  great  stock  of 
Pheasants,  whose  rearing  has  cost  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  are 
probably  the  most  effectively  preserved.  As  to  the  second  objection, 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  what  constitutes  sport  is  in  great  measure 
a  matter  of  individual  taste,  and  that  the  reasonable  limit  of  a 
sportsman's  "bag"  is  practically  an  unknown  quantity.  One  man 
likes  shooting  a  Pheasant  rising  at  his  feet  or  sprung  by  his  spaniels, 
as  it  flies  away  from  him  through  the  trees  and  is  still  labouring  to 
attain  its  full  speed  ;  another  prefers  shooting  one  that  has  mounted 
to  its  greatest  height,  and,  assisted  perhaps  by  the  wind,  is  travers- 
ing the  sky  at  a  pace  that  almost  passes  calculation.  If  skill  has  to 
be  considered  in  the  definition  of  sport,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to 
which  of  these  cases  most  requires  it.  In  regard  to  cruelty — that 
is,  the  proportion  of  birds  wounded  to  those  killed — there  seems  to 
be  little  difference,  for  the  temptation  to  take  "  long  shots  "  is  about 
equal  in  either  case.  The  Pheasant  whose  wing  is  broken  by  the 
charge,  if  at  a  great  height,  is  often  killed  outright  by  the  fall, 
whereas,  if  nearer  the  ground,  it  will  often  make  good  its  escape  by 
running,  possibly  to  recover,  or  more  possibly  to  die  after  lingering 
in  pain  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time.  On  the  other  hand,  high- 
flying Pheasants,  having  their  vital  parts  more  exposed,  are  often 
hit  in  the  body,  but  not  hard  enough  to  bring  them  down,  though 
the  wound  they  have  received  proves  mortal,  and  the  velocity  at 
which  they  are  travelling  takes  them  beyond  reach  of  retrieval. 

Formerly  Pheasants  were  taken  in  snares  or  nets,  and  by 
hawking ;  but  the  crossbow  was  also  used,  and  the  better  to  obtain 
a  "  sitting  shot,"  for  with  that  weapon  men  had  not  learnt  to  "  shoot 
flying  " ;  dogs  appear  to  have  been  employed  in  the  way  indicated 
by  the  lines  under  an  engraving  by  Hollar,  who  died  in  1677  : — 

"  The  Feasant  Cocke  the  woods  doth  m9st  frequent. 
Where  Spaniel-ls  spring  aud  pearche  him  by  the  sent."  ^ 

The  use  of  firearms  has  put  an  end  to  the  older  practices,  and  the 
gun  is  now  the  only  mode  of  taking  Pheasants  recognized  as 
legitimate. 

Of  the  many  other  species  or  local  races  of  Fhasianus,  two  only 
can  be  dwelt  upon  here.  These  are  the  Ring-necked  Pheasant  of 
China,  P.  torguatus,  easily  known  by  the  broad  white  collar,  whence 
it  has  its  name,  as  well  as  by  the  pale  greyish-blue  of  its  upper 
wing-coverts  and  the  light  buff  of  its  flanks,  and  the  P.  versicolm-  of 
Japan,  often  called  the  Green  Pheasant  from  the  beautiful  tinge  of 

1  Quoted  by  the  writer  (Broderip  ?)  of  the  article  "Spaniel"  in  the  Penny 
Cyclopsedia.  The  liues  throw  light  ou  the  asserted  Welsh  practice  mentioned  in 
a  former  note. 


7i6  PHILIP— PHCEBE 


that  colour  that  in  certain  lights  pervades  almost  the  whole  of  its 
plumage,  and,  deepening  into  dark  emerald,  occupies  all  the  breast 
and  lower  surface  that  in  the  common  and  Chinese  birds  is  bay 
barred  with  glossy  black  scallops.  Both  of  these  species  have  been 
to  a  considerable  extent  introduced  into  England,  and  cross  freely 
with  F.  colchicus,  while  the  hybrids  of  each  with  the  older  inhabit- 
ants of  the  woods  are  not  only  perfectly  fertile  inter  se,  but  cross 
as  freely  with  the  other  hybrids,  so  that  birds  are  frequently  found 
in  which  the  blood  of  the  three  species  is  mingled.  The  hybrids  of 
the  first  cross  are  generally  larger  than  either  of  their  parents,  but 
the  superiority  of  size  does  not  seem  to  be  maintained  by  their 
descendants.  White  and  pied  varieties  of  the  common  Pheasant, 
as  of  most  birds,  often  occur,  and  with  a  little  care  a  race  or  breed 
of  each  can  be  perpetuated.  A  much  rarer  variety  is  sometimes 
seen ;  this  is  known  as  the  Bohemian  Pheasant,  not  that  there  is 
the  least  reason  to  suppose  it  has  any  right  to  such  an  epithet,  for 
it  appears,  as  it  were,  accidentally  among  a  stock  of  the  pure  P. 
colchicus,  and  offers  an  example  analogous  to  that  of  the  "japanned  " 
Peacock  already  noticed,  being,  like  that  breed,  capable  of  per- 
petuation by  selection.  To  a  small  extent  two  other  species  of 
Pheasant  have  been  introduced  to  the  coverts  of  England  —  P. 
reevesi  from  China,  remarkable  for  its  very  long  tail,  white  with 
black  bars,^  and  the  Copper  Pheasant,  P.  soemmerringi,  from  Japan. 
The  well-known  Gold  and  Silver  Pheasants,  Thaumalea  picta  and 
Euplocamus  nycthemerus,  are  both  from  China  and  have  long  been 
introduced  into  Europe,  but  are  only  fitted  for  the  aviary.  To  the 
former  is  allied  the  still  more  beautiful  T.  amherstix  and  to  the 
latter  about  a  dozen  more  species,  most  of  them  known  to  Indian 
sportsmen  by  the  general  name  of  K ALLEGE.  These  with  the 
comparatively  plain  Pukras,  Pucrasia,  the  magnificent  Monals, 
Lophophcn'us,  are  elsewhere  treated,  but  the  fine  Snow -Pheasants, 
Crossoptilum,  of  which  there  are  ,several  species,  must,  for  want  of 
space,  be  only  mentioned  here.  All  the  species  known  at  the  time 
Avere  beautifully  figured  from  drawings  by  Mr.  Wolf  in  ]\Ir.  Elliot's 
grand  Monograph  of  the  Phasianidse  (2  vols.  fol.  1870-72) — the  last 
term  being  used  in  a  somewhat  general  sense.  With  a  more  precise 
scope  ]\Ir.  Tegetmeier's  Pheasants :  their  Natural  History  a-nd  Practical 
Management  (Ito,  ed.  2,  1881)  is  to  be  commended  as  a  very  useful 
Avork. 

PHILIP  and  PHILP,  old  nicknames  for  the  Sparrow  (see 
page  132,  note  1). 

,  PHCEBE,  in  parts  of  North  America  a  name  for  what  is  there 

y^/vv^     called  also  the  Pewit,  Sai}oimi  fusca,  one  of  the  Tyrant-birds. 


\h.c>..y^ia 


^  The   introduction    of    this   species  by   the   first   Lord   Tweedmouth    near 
Guisachan  in  Inverness-sbire  is  said  to  have  been  remarkably  successful. 


PHCENIX—PIC^  717 


PHCENIX,  said  by  Hesiod  {a-pud  Plin.  H.  N.  vii.  49)  to  be  a 
bird  that  lived  nine  times  as  long  as  a  Crow  ;  and,  in  a  passage  too 
often  quoted  to  need  repetition,  described  by  Herodotus  {Euterpe, 
73)  from  a  picture  which  he  saw  in  Egypt.  To  doubt  the  existence 
of  this  bird  was  for  ages  evidence  of  depravity,  for  it  had  been  so 
entwined  by  Classical,  Rabbinical,  Christian  and  Mahomedan  legend, 
and  so  used  to  illustrate  the  sublimest  doctrine,  that  we  may  almost 
wonder  at  belief  in  it  not  being  enjoined  by  some  confession  of 
faith  or  imported  into  some  religious  formulary.  Moreover  though 
no  Greek,  Latin  or  Arabic  author  ^  could  vouch  for  having  himself 
seen  a  specimen,  and  its  last  appearance  on  earth  was  said  to  be  in 
the  consulship  of  Paulus  Fabius  and  Lucius  Vitellius  (i.e.  A.D.  34), 
as  stated  by  Tacitus  {Ann.  vi.  28),  yet  according  to  Camden 
{Britannia,  p.  783,  ed.  1607)  one  of  its  feathers  was  sent  in  1599 
by  Pope  Clement  VIIL  to  the  celebrated  Hugh  O'Neal,  Earl  of 
Tyrone,  then  leader  of  the  Irish  opposition ;  and  the  writer  of  the 
article  "Phoenix"  in  the  Penny  Cydopxdia  (xviii.  pp.  101-103) 
declared  that  even  in  June  1840,  a  very  learned  scholar  at  Oxford, 
subsequently  stated  {Notes  and  Queries,  ser.  7,  vi.  pp.  481,  482)  to 
have  been  Mr.  J.  B.  Morris  of  Exeter  College,  still  seriously 
believed  in  the  existence  of  the  bird.  It  was  long  ago  suggested 
by  Sir  Thomas  Browne  {Vulgar  Errors,  book  III.  chap,  xii.)  that  the 
Phoenix-story  had  its  origin  in  a  Bird-OF-Paradise  (p.  38,  note 
3),  and  unless  the  whole  was  a  lie  from  the  beginning  this  still 
seems  possible  ;  but  the  late  Mr.  Gurney  used  to  consider  that  a 
"  Bateleur  "  Eagle  {Helotarsus  ecaudatus)  was  the  cause  of  it." 

PIC^,  the  second  Order  of  Birds  in  the  Linnsean  system, 
composed  of  the  genera  Fsitfacus  (Parrot),  JRamphastos  (Toucan), 
Buceros  (Hornbill),  Buphaga  (Oxpecker),  Crotophaga  (Ani),  Corvus 
(Crow),  Cwacias  (Roller),  Oriolus  (Oriole),  G-raada  (Grackle), 
Faradisea  (Bird-of-Paradise),  Trogon  (Trogon),  Bucco  (Barbet), 
Cuculus    (CucKOw),     Yunz^    (Wryneck),    Ficus   (Woodpecker), 

^  It  was  defined  by  Arabic  writei's  to  be  a  creature  "  whose  name  was  known, 
its  body  unknown." 

■■^  The  literature  of  the  subject  is  not  without  interest  and  very  large,  though 
(possibly  through  the  lack  of  specimens)  it  has  fallen  off  of  late  years.  Among 
separate  works  the  following  may  be  named  : — Dauderstadius,  Disput.  de  Phoenice 
(Lipsise  :  1665)  ;  Kirschmaier  and  Oheimb,  D&  Phc^nicc  (Wittembergoe  :  1660) ; 
Ku'schmaier,  Disputt.  zooll.  de  Basilisco,  Unicornu,  Phcenice  &c.  (Wittemb. 
1661  ;  Jense  :  1760)  ;  Lagerlotf,  Pluenicis  fj.vdo\oyia  (Upsalioe  :  1689) ;  Mennander, 
Dissert,  de  Phcenice  Ave  (Abofe  :  1748) ;  Pfeitfer,  Dissert,  de  Phcenice  Ave  (Regio- 
raonti :  1673)  ;  Seuberlich,  De  Phcenice  (Regiom.  1696) ;  Wendler,  Dissert,  de 
Phcenice  (Gerjs :  1687)  ;  but  the  above-named  article  in  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia, 
by  the  late  Dr.  Greenhill,  is  especially  good. 

^  In  the  preceding  edition  of  the  Systcma  Naturae,  more  correctly  spelt  Jynx, 
which  is  the  continental  way  of  printing  our  lynx. 


7i8  PICA  RJ^— PIC  UCULE 

Sitta  (Nuthatch),  Todus  (Tody),  Alcedo  (Kingfisher),  Merops 
(Bee-eater),  Upupa  (Hoopoe),  Certhia  (Tree-Creeper),  Trochilus 
(Humming-bird).  Of  this  multifarious  assembly  the  4th,  6th, 
8th,  9th,  10th,  16th  and  21st  are  now  almost  unanimously  referred 
to  the  Order  Passeres,  while  the  disposition  of  the  rest  cannot  be 
accounted  fixed,  though,  except  the  1st,  they  are  referred  in  this 
book  to 

PICARI^,  a  group  of  Birds,  so  named  b}^  Nitzsch  in  1820 
(Deutsches  Arch,  fur  Physiol,  vi.  p.  255)  to  include  the  genera 
Coracias,  Upupa,  Alcedo,  Cuculus,  Psittacus,  Picus,  Yunx,  Cajmrnulgus 
and  Cypselus  :  opposed  to  his  Passerine,  but  not  to  be  confounded 
with 

PICARH,  Johannes  Miiller's  name  {Abhandl.  Akad.  Berlin, 
1845,  p.  383)  for  what  he  separated  as  the  third  Tribe  of  his  great 
Order  Insessores  or  Passerini  (the  other  two  being  OsciNES  and 
Tracheophones)  comprehending  the  Ampelidse  ^  and  Tyrannidse  in 
addition  to  those  included,  actually  or  consequentially,  in  Nitzsch's 
PlCARI^. 

PICI,  the  name  of  an  Oi'der  of  Birds  proposed  in  1810  by 
Meyer  and  Wolf  (Taschenb.  deutsch.  Vogelkunde,  i.  p.  115)  to  include 
the  genera  Picus,  Yunx,  Sitta,  Certhia,  Merojjs  and  Alcedo,  the  3rd 
and  4th  of  Avhich  are  truly  Passerine.  Such  modern  systematists 
as  retain  the  term  limit  it  to  the  Woodpeckers  and  Wrynecks. 

PICKCHEESE,  a  common  local  name  of  the  Blue  Titmouse. 

PICKET  and  PICKTAEN,  local  names  for  the  Common  Tern. 

PICKMIRE,  a  local  name  for  the  Pewit  or  Black-headed 
Gull. 

PICUCULE,^  a  name  given,  without  reason  says  Buffon  (R.  N. 
Ois.  vii.  p.  82,  note),  to  a  bird  figured  by  D'Aubenton  {PI.  enl. 
621) — the  Dendrocolaptes  certhia  -or  cayennensis  of  later  ^mters — 
continued  by  Vieillot  in  1816  {Analyse,  p.  45),  and  retained  in 
1820  by  Temminck  {Man.  d'Orn.  ed.  2,  i.  p.  Ixxxi.)  in  a  generic 
sense,  while  it  was  used  as  English  in  Griffith's  translation  of 
Cuvier's  Animal  Kingdom  in  1829  (ii.  p.  350),  and  is  here  adopted 
for  want  of  a  better,^  as  that  of  the  large  Family  of  Tracheophon^, 

^  Meaning  what  are  more  correctly  called  Cotingidaz  (Chatterer). 

-  Accidentally  misspelt  {Encydop.  Brit.  ed.  9,  iii.  p.  743  and  perhaps  else- 
where) "Piculule."  It  would  seem  that  the  inventor  coined  the  word  as  a 
combination  of  Piciis  and  Ciccultis.  Buffon  used  '^  Fic-grimpereau,"  which  is  just 
as  misleading. 

^  Mr.  Hudson,  who  {Argent.  Orn.  i.  pp.  165-202)  tells  more  of  the  habits  of 
the  birds  of  this  Family  than  perhaj^s  any  other  writer,  uses  for  them  collectively 
the  name  "  Woodhewer,"  which  seems  unhappily  applied,  as  no  species  apj^ears 
able  to  hew  wood,  and  the  word  is  hardly  an  accurate  rendering  of  Dendrocolaptes. 


PICUCULE 


719 


DendrocolojAidm,  which  is  so  highly  characteristic  of  the  Neotropical 
Region.  Not  one  of  them  was  known  to  Linnseus,  and  for  many- 
years  very  erroneous  notions  were  entertained  as  to  their  systematic 
position.  They  are  mostly  small  birds  of  dull  appearance,  brown 
being  their  prevalent  hue,  with  stiff  and  often  sharply-pointed 
rectrices — a  character  which  led  the  earlier  writers  to  associate 
them  with  the  Pici  or  the  Certhiidai  (Tree-Creeper),  and  their 
entire  difference  from  both  those  groups  was  not  admitted  until 
shewn  by  Johannes  Miiller. 
Mr.  Sclater  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus. 
XV.  pp.  2-175)  groups  them 
in  5  subfamilies,  the  first  of 
which,  Furnariinx,  has  been 
already  mentioned  in  these 
pages  (Oven-bird),  while  the 
next  three,  Synallaxinai  (with  8  genera,  including  Synallaxis  and 
the  curious  form  Oxyurus),  Philydorinx  (with  17  genera,  including 

Anahatoide^  and 
Phil y dor)  and  Sde- 
rurinai  call  for  no 
particular  remark 
here.  The  last 
and  most  typical 
subfamily   Dendro- 


Synallaxis.  Oxyurus. 

(After  Swainson.) 


Anabatoides. 


Philydoe. 
(After  Swainson.) 

colaptinse  has,  according   to  the  authority  just  named,   15  genera 
(among  which  are  Dendrocola])tes  proper  and  its  section  Dendrocops, 


a,  Dendrocolaptes  ;  h,  Xiphorhynchus  ;  c,  Dendrocops  ;  d,  Sittasomus  ;  e,  Dexdropi.ex. 

(After  Swainsou.) 

XipJiorJiynchns,  Sittasomus  and  Dcndroplcx)  and  some  80  species. 
Indeed  there  is  no  need  here  to  dwell  upon  them  more  than 
to  point  out  their  importance  in  the  Fauna  of  Southern  tropical 
America.      Though  now  ranging  all  over  the  Neotropical  Region, 


720  PICULET—PIE 


the  Antillean  Subregion  excepted,  and  even  extending  into  Mexico, 
which  according  to  most  zoo-geographers  is  "  Nearctic," — while  the 
number  of  forms  inhabiting  the  tropical  portion  is  vastly  greater 
than  that  of  those  now  existing  within  "  Patagonian  "  limits,  however 
liberally"  the  last  may  be  regarded, — this  Family  will  very  likely 
prove  eventiially  to  belong  to  the  more  ancient  population  of  the 
continent.  These  forms  are  essentially  of  identical  nature,  but 
exhibit  many  and  some  extreme  modifications  of  structiu-e,  a  fact 
which  furnishes  a  strong  argument  in  favour  of  the  antiquity  of  the 
original  stock.  As  might  be  expected,  their  differences  correspond 
with  much  diversity  of  habit,  some  of  the  forms  living  on  the  most 
sterile  uplands,  others  in  the  thickest  forests,  others  in  reed-beds 
and  others  asiain  on  the  sea-shore. 


"O^ 


PICULET,  the  name  apparently  first  assigned  in  1845  by  G. 
E.  Gray^  {Gen.  B.  ii.  p.  432)  to  birds  of  the  swhiaxoxXj  Picumninx, 
composed  according  to  Mr.  Hargitt  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Miis.  xviii. 
pp.  8,  521-559)  of  4  genera — Picumnus  with  33  species,  of 
which  31  are  Neotropical  and  2  Indian ;  Nesodites  with  a 
single  species  peculiar  to  Hispaniola ;.  Verreaiix'm,  also  with  one 
species,  confined  to  the  Gaboon  country ;  and  Sasia,  with  3  species, 
ranging  from  Nepal  through  the  Malay  peninsula  to  Borneo. 
They  are  all  of  small  size  and  thorough  Woodpeckers  in  habit  and 
appearance,  but  having  the  tail  short,  soft  and  rounded.  The 
geographical  distribution  of  the  whole  subfamily,  and  especially  of 
Picumnus  proper,  as  above  stated,  points  to  its  antiquity,  and 
interest  in  the  group  is  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  Sasia  has  got  rid 
of  its  hallux,  thus  affording  a  case  parallel  to  that  of  Picoides  among 
the  Picinse  or  true  Woodpeckers. 

PIE  (French,  Pie,'^  in  Scotland  Piet)  or  more  commonly  Magpie, 
the  prefix  being  the  abbreviated  form  of  a  human  name  (Margaret ') 
applied  as  in  so  many  other  instances  to  familiar  animals,  as  this 
bird  once  was  throughout  Great  Britain,  though  of  late  years  almost 
extirpated  in  many  parts,  and  now  nearly  everywhere  scarce.  Its 
pilfering  habits  have  led  to  this  result,  yet  the  injuries  it  causes 
are  unquestionably  exaggerated  by  common  report ;  and  in  many 
countries  of  Europe  it  is  still  the  tolerated   or  even  the  cherished 

^  Possibly  adapted  from  the  "  Piculc"  of  Isid.  Geoffroy-St.  Hilaire  (iV.  Am. 
Mus.  1832,  p.  396).     Before  him  Temminck  had  used  tlie  word  "  Ficimme." 

-  The  "French  Pie"  of  many  parts  of  England  is  the  Great-Spotted  or  Pied 
Woodpecker  of  authors.  When  the  Linnoean  system  came  to  be  known  in  this 
country  the  word  "Pie  "  was  often  used  in  a  general  sense  as  a  rendering  of  Pic.E, 
the  name  of  one  of  his  Orders  of  Birds. 

^  "Magot"  and  "Madge,"  with  the  same  origin,  are  names  frequently 
given  in  England  to  the  Pie  ;  while  in  France  it  is  commonly  known  as  Margot, 
if  not  termed,  as  it  is  in  some  districts,  Jaquette. 


PIE  721 

neighbour  of  every  farmer,  as  it  formerly  Avas  in  England  if  not  in 
Scotland  also.  Though  now  common  enough  in  Ireland,  there 
is  ample  evidence  ^  to  prove  that  it  did  not  exist  in  that  country  in 
1617,  when  Fy nes  Morison  ^  wrote  his  Itinerary,  and  that  adduced 
by  Mr,  Barrett-Hamilton  {Zool.  1891,  pp.  247-249)  shews  that 
it  first  appeared  about  1676,  when  "a  parcel,"  supposed  to  have 
been  driven  from  Wales  by  stormy  weather,  landed  in  Wexford. 
It  is  a  species  that  when  not  molested  is  extending  its  range, 
as  Wolley  ascertained  in  Lapland,  where  within  the  last  century  it 
has  been  gradually  pushing  its  way  along  the  coast  and  into  the 
interior  from  one  fishing-station  or  settler's  house  to  the  next,  as 
the  country  has  been  peopled. 

Since  the  persecution  to  which  the  Pie  has  been  subjected  in 
Great  Britain,  its  habits  have  undoubtedly  altered  greatly  in 
character.  It  is  no  longer  the  merry,  saucy  hanger-on  of  the  home- 
stead, as  it  was  to  writers  of  former  days,  who  were  constantly 
alluding  to  its  disposition,  but  is  become  the  suspicious  thief, 
shunning  the  gaze  of  man,  and  knowing  that  danger  may  lurk  in 
every  bush.  Hence  opportunities  of  observing  it  fall  to  the  lot  of 
few,  and  most  persons  know  it  only  as  a  curtailed  captive  in  a 
wicker  cage,  where  its  vivacity  and  natural  beauty  are  lessened  or 
wholly  lost.  At  large  few  European  birds  possess  greater  beauty, 
the  pure  white  of  its  scapulars  and  inner  web  of  the  flight-feathers 
contrasting  vividly  with  the  deep  glossy  black  of  the  rest  of  its 
body  and  wings,  while  its  long  tail  is  lustrous  with  green,  bronze 
and  purple  reflexions.  The  Pie's  nest  is  a  wonderfully  ingenious 
structure,  whether  placed  in  high  trees  or  low  bushes,  and  is  so 
massively  built  that  it  will  stand  for  years.  Its  foundation  consists 
of  stout  sticks,  turf  and  clay,  wrought  into  a  deep,  hollow  cup, 
plastered  with  earth,  and  lined  with  fibres ;  but  around  this  is 
erected  a  firmly-interwoven,  basket-like  outwork  of  thorny  twigs, 
forming  a  dome  over  the  nest,  and  leaving  but  a  single  hole  in  the 
side  for  entrance  and  exit,  so  that  the  whole  structure  is  rendered 
almost  impregnable.  Herein  are  laid  from  six  to  nine  eggs,  of  a 
pale  bluish-green  freckled  with  brown  and  blotched  with  ash-colour. 
Superstition  as  to  the  appearance  of  the  Pie  still  survives  even 
among  many  educated  persons,  and  there  are  several  versions  of  a 
riming  adage  as  to  the  various  turns  of  luck  which  its  presenting 
itself,  either  alone   or  in   company   with    others,    is    supposed    to 

1  A  compendious  summary  of  this  will  be  found  in  Yarrell's  British  Birds, 
ed.  4,  ii.  pp.  318-320. 

^  His  predecessor  Derricke,  in  1578,  said  :  — 

"  No  Pies  to  plucke  the  Thatch  from  house, 
are  breed  iu  Irishe  grounde  : 
But  worse  then  Pies,  the  same  to  burne, 
a  thousande  raaie  be  founde." — The  Image  of  Irelande,  London  ;  1581. 

46 


722  PIE 

betoken,  for  some  of  these  versions  contradict  one  another  in  details, 
though  all  agree  in  this  that  the  sight  of  a  single  Pie  unquestionably 
forebodes  sorrow. 

The  Pie  belongs  to  the  Corviclas.  (Crow),  and  is  the  Corrvs  pica 
of  Linnaeus,  the  Pica  caitdata,  P.  melanoleuca  or  P.  nistica  of  modern 
ornithologists,  who  have  recognized  it  as  forming  a  distinct  genus, 
but  the  number  of  species  thereto  belonging  has  been  a  fruitful 
source  of  discussion.  Examples  from  the  south  of  Spain  differ 
slightly  from  those  inhabiting  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  in  some  points 
more  resemble  the  P.  mauritanica  of  north-western  Africa ;  but  that 
species  has  a  patch  of  bare  skin  of  a  fine  blue  colour  behind  the 
eye,  and  much  shorter  wings.  No  fewer  than  five  species  have 
been  discriminated  from  various  parts  of  Asia,  extending  to  Japan  ; 
but  only  one  of  them,  the  P.  leucoptera  of  Turkestan  and  Tibet,  has 
of  late  been  admitted  as  valid.  In  the  west  of  North  America,  from 
Alaska  to  New  Mexico,  as  well  as  in  some  of  its  islands,  a  Pie  is 
found  which  extends  to  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Missouri  and  the 
Yellowstone,  even  appearing  so  far  to  the  eastward  as  Cumberland 
House,  in  the  Province  of  Winnipeg,  and  in  the  State  of  Michigan, 
and  was  long  thought  entitled  to  specific  distinction  as  P.  huclsonia ; 
but  its  claim  thereto  is  now  disallowed  by  most  American  orni- 
thologists, and  it  can  hardly  be  deemed  even  a  geographical  variety 
of  the  Old-World  form.  In  California,  however,  there  is  a  perma- 
nent race  if  not  a  good  species,  P.  nuttalli,  easily  distinguishable 
by  its  yellow  bill  and  the  bare  yellow  skin  round  its  eyes ;  and 
it  is  a  curious  fact  that  on  two  occasions  in  the  year  1867  a  bird 
apparently  similar  was  observed  in  Great  Bi'itain  {Zoologist,  ser. 
2,  pp.  706,  1016).! 

More  or  less  allied  to  the  genus  Pica  are  some  forms  that  can 

hardly  be  separated  from 
Jays,  as  for  instance  the 
species  of  Cissa,  before  men- 
tioned (page  470),  concerning 
the  affinity  of  which  opinions 
have  differed  much,  but  Mr. 
,,,^    „    .       ,  Gates  (Fauna  Br.  Ind.  Birch, 

Cissa.    (After  Swamson.)  .  \       i      i  •       p 

1.  p.  28),  declares  \\\  favour 
of  its  Pie-like  position.  On  the  other  hand  Dendrocitta  with  several 
kindred  genera,  all  belonging  to  the  Indian  Region,  are  with  less 
doubt  referred  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Pica,  as  also  is  Ci/ampica,'^ 

1  Dr.  Diedericli  {Ornis,  1889,  pp.  280-332,  tab.  iv.)  ha.s  treated  at  length  and 
illustrated  by  a  map  the  geographical  distribution  of  the  genus  Pica. 

2  Dr.  Sharpe  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mas.  iii.  p.  67),  calls  this  genus  Cyanojwliiis,  citing 
as  his  authority  a  passage  wherein  that  riaiue  does  not  occur.  Bonajiarte  seems 
to  have  used  it  only  in  manuscript  (see  his  Consp,  Av.  i.  p.  282  ;  and  Waterhouse, 
Index  Generum  Avium,  p.  59,  note). 


t)^ 


PIGEON 


723 


so  remarkable  for  its  discontinuous  distribution,  already  noticed 
(p.  342) — one  of  its  two  species,  C.  cooki,  being  the  Blue  Pie  of  the 
Iberian  Peninsula,  and  the  other,  C.  cyana,  that  of  Eastern  Asia 
with  Japan. 

PIGEON,  French  Pigeon,  Italian  Piccione  and  Pipione,  Latin 
Pipio,  literally  a  nestling-bird  that  pipes  or  cries  out,  a  "  Piper  " — 
the  very  name  now  in  use  among  Pigeon-fanciers.  The  word 
Pigeon,  doubtless  of  Norman  introduction  as  a  polite  term,  seems 
to  bear  much  the  same  relation  to  Dove,  the  word  of  Anglo-Saxon 
origin,  that  mutton  has  to  sheep,  beef  to  ox,  veal  to  calf,  and  pork 
to  bacon  ;  but,  as  before  stated  (p.  162),  no  sharp  distinction  can 
be  drawn  between  the  two,  and  the  collective  members  of  the  group 
Columbse  are  by  ornithologists  ordinarily  called 
Pigeons.  Perhaps  the  best  knoAvn  species  to 
which  the  latter  name  is  exclusively  given  in 
common  speech  ^  is  the  Wild  or  Passenger- 
PiGEON  of  North  America,  Edopides,  already 
mentioned ;  but  among  the  multitudinous 
forms  very  few  can  here  be  noticed.  A  species  which  seems  worthy 
of  attention  as  being  one  that  might  possibly  repay  the  trouble  of 
domestication,  if  any  enterprising  person  would  give  it  the  chance, 
is  the  Wonga-wonga  or  White-fieshed  Pigeon  of  Australia,  Leu- 
cosarcia  picata,  a  bird  larger  than  the  Ring-Dove,  of  a  slaty-blue 
-colour  above  and  white  beneath,  streaked  on  the  flanks  with  black. 
It  is  known  to  breed,  though  not  very  freel}^,  in  captivity,  and  is 
said  to  be  excellent  for  the  table.     As  regards  flavour,  however, 


EcTOPisTES.  (After  Swainson.) 


those  Avho  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  eat  them  declare  that  the 
green  Fruit-Pigeons  of  the  genera  Treron  and  Vinago  and  their  allies 
surpass  all  birds.  These  inhabit  tropical  Africa,  India,  and  especi- 
ally the  Malay  Archipelago ;  but  the  probability  of  domesticating 
any  of  them  is  very  remote.      Hardly  less  esteemed  are  the  Pigeons 


Vinago. 


Ptilopus. 
(After  Swainson.) 


Phaps. 


of  the  feather-legged  genus  Ptilopus  and  its  kindred  forms,  which 
have  their  headquarters  in  the  Pacific  Islands,  though  some  occur 
far  to  the  westward,  and  also  in  Australia.  Among  them  are 
found  the  most  exquisitely-coloured  of  the  whole  Family,  and  the 
Fijian  Chrysmnas  victor  with  its  glorious  orange  plumage  especially 

1  It  may  be  observed  that  the  "  Rock-Pigeons  "  of  Anglo- Indians  are  Sand- 
Grouse,  and  the  "Cape  Pigeon  "  of  sailors  is  a  Petkel. 


724 


PIGEON 


deserves  attention,  but  the  beautiful  "  Bronze-wings  "  of  Australia, 
belonging  to  the  genus  Pha])S,  and  some  others  are  in  their  way 
hai'dl}^  inferior.  Then  may  be  mentioned  the  strange  Nicobar 
Pigeon,  Calwnas,  an  inhabitant  of  the  Indian  archipelago,  not  less 
remarkable  for  the  long  lustrous  hackles  that  clothe  its  neck  than 
for  the  structure  of  its  gizzard,  which  has  been  described  by  Sir 
W.  Flower  {Proc.  Zool  Soc.  1860,  p.  330),  though  this  peculiarity 
is  matched  or  even  surpassed  by  that  of  the  same  organ  in  the 
Phienorrhina  goliath  of  New  Caledonia  {Rev.  Zool.  1862,  p.  138)  and 
in  the  Carpophaga  latrans  of  Fiji,  wherein  the  surface  of  the  epithelial 
lining  is  beset  by  horny  conical  processes,  adapted,  it  is  believed, 
for  crushing  the  very  hard  fruits  of  Onocarpus  vitiensis  on  which  the 
bird  feeds  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1878,  p.  102).     The  modern  giants  of 


Foot  of  ffixA. 


Pigeons'  Feet, 
shewing  amount  of  feathering  of  the  "  tarsu.s. 

(After  Swainson.) 


Hallux  of 

Engyptila  and  Ptilopus. 

(After  Swainson.) 


the  group,  consisting  of  about  half  a  dozen  species  of  the  genus; 
GOURA  and  known  as  Crowned  Pigeons  have  been  already  noticed, 
and  all  that  need  be  added  here  is  to  mention  the  reticulated 
instead  of  scutellated  covering  of  their  "  tarsi."  In  contrast  to 
them  may  be  mentioned  the  African  CEiut  capcnsis,  the  "  Namaqua 
Duif  "  of  the  Dutch  colonists,  which  if  not  the  smallest  is  one  of  the 
most  graceful  in  form  of  all  the  Colnmhx. 

A  very  distinct  type  of  Pigeon  is  that  represented  by  Dichinculus 
stripirostris,  the  "  Manu-mea  "  of  .Samoa,  absurdly  called  the  Dodlet, 
and  still  believed  by  some  to  be  the  next  of  kin  to  the  DOdo,  though 
really  presenting  only  a  superficial  resemblance  in  the  shape  of  its 
bill  to  that  eflfete  form,  from  which  it  differs  osteologically  quite  as 
much  as  do  other  Pigeons  {Phil.  Tram.  1869,  p.  349).  It  remains 
to  be  seen  whether  the  Papuan  genus  Otidiphaps,  of  which  several 
species  are  now  known,  may  not  belong  rather  to  the  Didunculidx. 
than  to  the  true  Columbidae. 


PIL  WILLE  r— PI  NT  A  DO  725 

At  least  500  species  of  Pigeons  have  been  described,  and  many- 
methods  of  arranging  them  suggested.  The  most  recent  is  that  by 
Count  T.  Salvadori  {Cat.  B.  Brit.  Mus.  xxi.  London:  1893),  but 
though  elaborated  with  the  usual  skill  of  that  careful  worker,  it 
cannot  be  deemed  satisfactory  since  it  is  based  only  on  some 
external  characters,  and  of  these  the  amount  of  feathering  of  the 
"  tarsus,"  which  is  relied  upon  by  a  good  many  authors,  receives 
but  little  notice.  Perhaps,  however,  no  other  method  is  at  present 
possible,  for  certainly  the  partial  attempt  of  Garrod  (Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1874,  pp.  249-259)  was  not  very  successful.  The  Count, 
rightly  premising  that  "  the  Pigeons  constitute  a  very  homogeneous 
Order,"  divides  it  into  two  Suborders,  Colurnhx  and  Didi,  asserting 
that  the  former  of  them  "  does  not  admit  of  division  into  easily 
definable  or  sharply  defined  groups"  (but  to  this  statement  Didunculus 
proves  a  striking  exception),  recognizing  it  as  composed  of  5 
Families,  Treronidse  and  Colunihidse  with  3  subfamilies  each ;  Feris- 
teridse  with  7,  and  Gouridse  and  Didunmlid,x,  each  consisting  of  a 
single  genus,  and  the  last  of  a  single  species.  Of  genera  he  admits 
on  the  whole  upwards  of  60,  to  say  nothing  of  subgenera,  and  it 
would  be  useless  here  to  give  even  their  names,  since  want  of  space 
forbids  anything  useful  being  said  of  them.  The  older  works  on 
the  group,  such  as  Temminck's  folio  (Paris :  1808-11),  with  its  con- 
tinuation (in  1838-43)  by  Florent  Provost,  and  Selby's  more  modest 
Natural  History  of  the  Columhidx  (1835)  are  of  course  out  of  date, 
and  a  new  monograph  of  the  Pigeons,  containing  all  the  recent  dis- 
coveries, would  be  a  desirable  acquisition. 

PILWILLET,  one  of  the  many  names  of  the  Willet,  Symphemia 
semipalmata,  but  also  applied,  according  to  Mr.  Dresser  {Ibis,  1886, 
p.  34),  in  Galveston  Bay  to  the  North- American  Oyster-CATCHER, 
Hxmatopus  palliatus. 

PIMLICO,  one  of  the  names  given  to  the  Australian  Friar- 
bird. 

PINC-PINC  (or  rather  "  Tinc-tinc  "),  the  name  which  a  South- 
African  bird,  Drymoeca  or  Cisticola  textrix,  has  given  itself  from  its 
ringing  metallic  cry,  often  uttered  as  it  hovers  in  the  air  (Layard, 
B.  S.  Afr.  p.  85),  and  a  species  chiefly  known  to  English  readers 
from  the  often-repeated  copy  of  Le  Vaillant's  figure  {Ois.  d^Afr. 
pi.  131)  of  a  beautiful  nest,  which  he  wrongly  assigned  to  it  as  its 
fabricator,  the  real  builder  of  the  wonderful  structure  being 
(Layard,  op.  cit.  pp.  86,  114)  the  Kapok  vogel  (Cotton-bird),  jEgi- 
thalus  capensis,  a  near  ally  of  ^.  pendulinus,  the  so-called  Penduline 
Titmouse  of  Europe. 

PINK,  otherwise  Spink,  a  well-known  name  of  the  Chaffinch. 

PINTADO,  a  Portugiiese  word,  meaning  painted  or  mottled, 


726  •   PINTAIL— PIPIT 


commonly  applied  in  some  parts  of  England,  and  especially  by 
some  English  writers,  to  the  Guinea-fowl,  but  also  by  sailors  to 
the  so-called  Cape-Pigeon,  Bastion  capensis  (Petrel). 

PINTAIL,  properly  the  well-known  DuCK,  the  male  of  which 
has  the  two  middle  tail-coverts  very  much  elongated  and  pointed, 

the  Anas  acuta  of  LinnjBUS  and  Dafila  acuta  of  modern  writers,  one 

of  the  most  graceful  and  beautiful  of 
the  Anatinx  or  so-called  "  fresh- water  '' 
Ducks,  though  not  distinguished  by  the 
brilliance  of  its  plumage.     The  drake 

Bill  of  Pintail.     (After  Swainson.)     j^.^g  ^  |^j.q^^.j^  ]^^^^^^  whence  a  dark  stripe 

runs  down  the  nape,  contrasting  Avith  the  pure  white  of  the  throat 
and  breast,  which  is  continued  upward  along  the  side  of  the  neck 
almost  to  the  base  of  the  skull.  The  upper  parts  generally  are 
clothed  with  feathers  marked  with  fine  undulating  bars  of  black  and 
very  light  grey,  so  as  to  look  as  of  a  lavender-colour  at  a  distance, 
against  which  the  long  and  pointed  scapulars,  of  a  deep  black  with 
a  broad  edging  of  greyish-white,  shew  conspicuously :  the  blue- 
green  speculum  of  the  wing  is  bordered  above  by  a  rust-coloured 
and  below  by  a  white  bar.  The  female  is  still  more  modestlj^  clad, 
but  the  characteristic  speculum  and  a  somewhat  elongated  tail  easily 
serve  to  her  recognition.  The  Pintail  is  common  to  both  areas  of 
the  Holarctic  Region,  and  though  not  reaching  its  extreme  circum- 
polar  lands,  breeds  over  most  of  the  northern  parts  of  both  New 
and  Old  Worlds  ;  but  few  unquestionable  instances  of  its  doing  so  in 
the  British  Islands,  except  as  a  captive,  are  known.  Three  other 
species  of  the  genus  Dafila  exist,  and  they  resemble  D.  acuta  in  the 
slenderness  of  their  form,  which  extends  even  to  the  bill,  and  their 
pointed  tail.  Two  belong  to  South  America  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876, 
pp.  392,  393),  and  the  third  is  the  "Eed-billed  Teal"  of  South  Africa. 
The  name  Pintail  is  applied  in  the  colonies  and  elsewhere  by 
English-speaking  sportsmen  to  set'eral  other  birds,  as  to  one  of  the 
Grouse  of  North  America,  Pecliocmies,  and  to  one  of  the  Sand- 
Grouse,  Pterocles  setarius. 

PIPING  CROW,  see  Gymnorhina. 

PIPIRI,  one  of  several  local  names  of  Tyrannus  griseus  or  domini- 
censis,  a  Tyrant  that  is  widely  spread  throughout  most  parts  of  the 
West  Indies. 

PIPIT,  French  Pijnt,  cognate  with  the  Latin  Pipio  (see  Pigeon, 
p.  723),  the  name  applied  by  ornithologists  to  a  group  of  bii^ds 
having  a  great  resemblance  both  in  habits  and  appearance  to  the 
Larks,  with  which  they  were  formerly  confounded  by  systematists 
as  they  are  at  the  present  day  in  popular  speech,  but  differing  from 
them  in  several  important  characters ;  and,  having  been  first  separ- 


PIRAMIDIG— PITTA  727 

ated  to  form  the  genus  Antlius,  which  has  since  been  much  broken 
up,  are  now  generally  associated  with  the  WAGTAILS  in  the  Family 
Motacillidae}  Pipits,  of  which  over  30  species  have  been  described 
(t/.  Sharpe,  Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  x.  pp.  534-623),  occur  in  almost  all  parts 
of  the  world,  even  New  Zealand  having  its  peculiar  species,  but  in 
North  America  are  represented  by  only  two  forms  ■ —  Neocorys 
spraguii,  the  Prairie-Lark  of  the  north-western  plains,  and  AntJms 
ludovicianus,  the  American  Titlark,  which  last  is  very  nearly  allied  to 
the  so-called  Water-Pipit  of  Europe,  A.  spipoletta.  To  most  English 
readers  the  best-known  species  of  Pipit  is  the  Titlark  or  Meadow- 
Pipit,  A.  pratemis,  a  bird  too  common  to  need  description,  and 
abundant  on  pastures,  moors  and  uncultivated  districts  generally  ; 
but  in  some  localities  the  Tree-Pipit  (to  which  the  name  Pipit  seems 
properly  to  belong),  the  A.  frivialis,  or  A.  arhcn-eus  of  some  authors, 
takes  its  place,  and  where  it  does  so  it  generally  attracts  attention 
by  its  loud  song,  which  is  not  unlike  that  of  a  Canary-bird,  but 
usually  delivered  (as  is  the  habit  of  most  or  all  the  Pipits)  on  the 
wing  and  during  a  short  circuitous  flight.  Another  species,  the 
Rock-Lark,  A.  ohscurus,  scarcely  ever  leaves  the  sea-coast  and  is 
found  almost  all  round  the  British  Islands.  The  South  African 
genus  Macronyx  (Kalkoentje),  remarkable  for  the  extreme  length 
of  its  hind  claw,  is  generally  placed  among  the  Pipits,  but  differs 
from  all  the  rest  in  its  brighter  coloration,  which  has  a  curious 
resemblance  to  the  American  genus  Sturnella  (Icterus),  though  the 
bird  is  certainly  not  allied  thereto. 

PIRAMIDIG,  a  Creole  name,  according  to  Gosse  {B.  Jamaica, 
p.  33),  of  Chordiles  virginianus,  or  more  properly  C.  minor 
(Nightjar),  being  an  imitation  of  its  cry  uttered  during  its  re- 
markable flight,  which  was  minutely  described  by  Osburn  {Zool. 
1860,  pp.  6837-6841). 

PIRENET,  said  to  be  a  local  name  of  the  Sheld-drake. 
PIRREE,  a  name  often  given,  from  its  cry,  to  a  Tern. 

PITTA,  from  the  Telugu  Pitta,  meaning  a  small  Bird,  latinized 
by  Vieillot  in  1816  (Analyse,  p.  42)  as  the  name  of  a  genus,  and 
since  adopted  by  English  ornithologists  as  the  general  name  for  a 
group  of  Birds,  called  by  the  French  Breves,  and  remarkable  for  their 
great  beauty.^     For  a  long  while  the  Pittas  were  commonly  sup- 

^  Pipits  can  be  distinguished  from  Larks  by  having  the  hind  part  of  the 
"  tarsus"  undivided,  while  the  Larks  liave  it  scutellated. 

^  In  Ornithology  the  word  is  first  found  as  part  of  the  native  name,  "  Pon- 
nunky  pitta  "  of  a  Bird,  given  in  1713  by  Petiver,  on  the  authority  of  Buckley, 
in  the  "  Mantissa"  to  Ray's  Synopsis  (p.  195).  This  bird  is  the  Pitta  hcngalensis 
of  modern  ornithologists,  and  is  said  by  Jerdon  (B.  Ind.  i.  p.  503)  now  to 
bear  the  Telugu  name  of  Fovxt-inki, 


728  PITTA 

posed  to  be  allied  to  the  Turdidse,  and  some  English  writers  applied 
to  them  the  names  of  "  Ground-Thrushes  "  (page  388),  "Water- 
Thrushes"  and  "Ant -Thrushes"  (page  20),  to  the  first  of  which 
the  group  has  some  prescriptive  right ;  but  the  second  and  third 
are  misapplied  since  there  is  no  evidence  of  their  having  aquatic 
habits,  or  of  their  preying  especially  upon  ants.  The  fact  that  they 
had  nothing  to  do  with  THRUSHES,  but  formed  a  separate  Family, 
was  gradually  admitted.  In  1847  Prof.  Cabanis  {Arch.  f.  Naturg. 
xiii.  2,  i.  p.  216)  placed  them  under  the  Clamatores,  and  their 
position  was  at  last  determined  by  Garrod,  who,  having  obtained 
examples  for  dissection,  proved  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  pp.  512,  513) 
that  the  Pittidx  belonged  to  that  section  of  Passerine  Birds  which 
he  named  Mesomyodi.  This  in  itself  was  an  unexpected  de- 
termination, for  all  the  other  birds  of  the  group,  as  then  known, 
inhabit  the  New  World,  where  no  Pittas  occur.  But  it  is  borne 
out  by,  and  may  even  serve  to  explain,  the  sporadic  distribution  of 
the  latter,  which  seems  to  indicate  them  to  be  survivors  of  a  some- 
what ancient  and  lower  type  of  Fasseres.  Indeed  except  on  some 
theory  of  this  kind  the  distribution  of  the  Pittas  is  almost  inex- 
plicable. They  form  a  very  homogeneous  Family,  most  of  its 
members  bearing  an  unmistakable  resemblance  to  each  other — 
though  the  species  inhabit  countries  so  far  apart  as  Angola  and 
China,  India  and  Australia ;  and,  to  judge  from  the  little  that  has 
been  recorded,  they  are  all  of  terrestrial  habit,  while  their  power  of 
flight,  owing  to  their  short  Avings,  is  feeble.  In  1888  Mr.  Sclater 
(Cat  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiv.  pp.  411-449)  recognized  4  genera.  They  are 
Anthocinda  with  a  single  species  from  Tenasserim,  remarkable  for 
the  tuft  of  elongated  feathers  on  each  side  of  its  nape  ;  Pitta  with  43 
species  (to  which  by  now  more  than  one  has  to  be  added)  of  wide 
distribution ;  Eucichla  with  5  species,  all  from  the  Indo-Malay 
countries;  and  "  Me/ampito  "  (Schlegel),^  with  a  single  species  from 
New  Guinea,  which  after  all  may  not  belong  to  the  Family.  Most 
of  the  true  Pittas  are  from  the  Malay  archipelago,  between  the 
eastern  and  western  divisions  of  which  they  are  pretty  equally 
divided  ;  and,  in  Mr.  Wallace's  opinion,  they  attain  their  maximum 
of  beauty  and  variety  in  Borneo  and  Sumatra,  from  the  latter  of 
which  islands  comes  the  species,  Pitta  elegans,  here  represented. 
Few  Birds  can  vie  with  the  Pittas  in  brightly-contrasted  coloration. 
Deep  velvety  black,  pure  white,  and  intensely  vivid  scarlet,  tur- 
quoise-blue and  beryl-green  —  mostly  occupying  a  considerable 
extent  of  surface — are  found  in  a  great  many  of  the  species, — to 
say  nothing  of  other  composite  or  intermediate  hues ;  and,  though 

^  Objection  has  been  taken  to  this  name,  which  is  quite  correct  in  form 
(witness  Melampus),  and  Mellopiita  (Stejneger,  Staml.  Nat.  Hist.  iv.  p.  466),  Coraco- 
pitta  (Sclater,  ut  supr.  p.  449)  and  Coracocichla  (Sharpe,  op.  cit.  xvii.  p.  7)  have 
been  proposed  in  its  stead. 


PITTA 


729 


in  some  a  modification  of  these  tints  is  observable,  there  is  scarcely 
a  trace  of  any  blending  of  shade,  each  patch  of  colour  standing  out 
distinctly.     This  is  perhaps  the  more  remarkable  as  the  feathers 


Pitta  eleqans,  male  and  female.    (Alter  Sclileij'el.) 

have  hardly  any  lustre  to  heighten  the  effect  produced,  and  in 
some  species  the  brightest  colours  are  exhibited  by  the  plumage  of 
the  lower  pai'ts  of  the  body.  Pittas  vary  in  size  from  that  of  a  Jay 
to  that  of  a  Lark,  and  generally  have  a  strong  bill,  a  thickset  form, 
which  is  mounted  on  rather  high  legs  with  scutellated  "tarsi,"  and 
a  very  short  tail.  In  many  of  the  forms  there  is  little  or  no  ex- 
ternal difterence  between  the  sexes. ^ 

Placed  by  some  authorities  among  the  Pittidx  is  the  genus  Phile- 
pitta,  consisting  of  two  species  peculiar  to  Madagascar,  while  other 
systematists  would  consider  it  to  form  a  distinct  Family.  This  last 
was  the  conclusion,  the  propriety  of  which  can  hardly  be  qviestioned, 
aci'ived  at  by  W.  A.  Forbes  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1880,  pp.  387-391), 
from  its  syringeal  characters,  which,  though  shewing  it  to  be  allied 
to  the  Pittas,  are  yet  sufficiently  diff"erent  to  justify  its  separation 
as  the  type  of  a  Family  Philepittida'..  The  two  species  which  com- 
pose it  have  little  outward  resemblance  to  the  Pittas,  not  having 

^  All  tlie  species  then  known  were  figured  in  Mr.  Elliot's  Monograph  of  tlit. 
Pittidse,,  completed  in  1863  ;  but  so  many  have  since  been  described,  that 
he  is  now  bringing  out  a  revised  and  enlarged  edition  of  this  work,  as  several  of 
those  lately  discovered  are  figured  only  in  Gould's  Birds  of  Asia  and  Birds  of  JVcw 
Guinea.     Mr.  Sclater's  Catalogue  above  quoted  will  be  found  very  useful. 


730  PLANTAIN-EA  TER-PLO  VER 

the  same  style  of  coloration  and  being  apparently  of  more  arboreal 
habits.  The  sexes  difter  greatly  in  plumage,  and  the  males  have 
the  skin  round  the  eyes  bare  of  feathers  and  carunculated.^ 

PLANTAIN -EATER,  Latham's  translation  {Su-ppl.  ii.  Gen. 
Synops.  p.  104)  in  1802  of  Isert's  generic  name  Musophaga  [Musa 
being  the  botanical  name  of  the  genus  which  contains  the  Plantains 
and  Bananas)  in  1788  (Beohacht.  Gesellsch.  naturf.  Freunde,  iii.  pp. 
16-20,  pi.  1),  see  Touraco. 

PLANT-CUTTER,  Latham's  rendering  in  1802  (Suppl.  ii  Gen. 
Synops.  p.  212)  of  Phytotoma,  the  generic  name  given  by  Molina  in 
1782  {Sagg.  Sto7\  Nat.  Chili,  p.  254;  Eng.  transl.  1809,  i.  p.  210) 
to  a  bird  called,  from  its  harsh  and  broken  cry,  "Rara"  by  the 
people  of  Chili,  who  bear  it  no  goodwill  from  its  habit  of  cutting 
off  growing  plants  close  to  the  ground  with  its  strongly-serrated  bill, 
often,  says  the  latter,  from  sheer  wantonness,  without  eating  a 
single  leaf,  and  it  is  said  to  be  also  very  destructive  to  the  buds  of 
trees.  For  a  long  while  classed  among  the  Fringillidx,  Mnsophagidss 
or  Tanagridse,  its  complete  difference  from  any  one  of  these  Families 
became  at  last  evident,  and,  chiefly  from  the  position  of  the  song- 
muscles,^  it  is  now  regarded  as  forming  a  Family  of  its  own, 
Phytotomidse,  one  of  the  undeveloped  or  lower  forms  of  Passeres  so 
abundant  in  and  so  characteristic  of  South  America — not  to  say 
Patagonia.  Mr.  Sclater  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiv.  pp.  406-408)  recog- 
nizes 3  more  species — P.  a.ngustirostris  from  Bolivia,  P.  raimondii 
from  the  west  coast  of  northern  Peru,  and  P.  rutila  of  the  Argen- 
tine territory  and  Patagonia,  where  it  is  common,  according  to 
Mr.  Hudson,  who  gives  {Argent.  Orn.  p.  164,  pi.  viii.)  a  brief  but 
lively  account  of  its  habits,  and  pretty  figures  of  both  sexes. 

PLATYSTERN^,  Nitzsch's  name,  first  published  in  1840 
(Pterylographia,    p.    170),    for   what    Merrem    had  already   termed 

RATITiE. 

PLOVER,  French  Pluvier,  Old  French  Plovier,  which  doubtless 
has  its  origin  in  the  Latin  j^hivia,  rain  (as  witness  the  German 
ecjuivalent  Eegenpfeifer,  Rain-fifer) ;  but  the  connexion  of  ideas 
between  the  words  therein  involved,  so  that  the  former  should 
have  become  a  bird's  name,  is  doubtful.  Belon  (1555)  says  that 
the  name  Phmer  is  bestowed  "  pour  ce  qu'on  le  prend  mieux  en 
temps  pluvieux  qu'en  nulle  autre  saison,"  which  is  not  in  accord- 

^  It  may  be  remarked  that  nomenclatural  purists,  objecting  to  the  names 
Pitta  and  Philepitta  as  "barbarous,"  call  the  former  Colohuris  and  the  latter 
Paictes.  Brachyiorus  also  has  frequently  been  used  for  Pitta  ;  but  is  inadrais- 
sible,  having  been  previously  applied  in  another  sense. 

^  This  fact  was  ascertained  and  published  by  Eyton  {Zool.  Voy.  Beagle,  Birds 
p.  153),  from  a  specimen  brought  home  by  Mr.  Darwin. 


PLOVER  731 


ance  with  modern  observation,  for  in  rainy  weather  Plovers  are 
Avilder  and  harder  to  approach  than  in  fine.  Others  have  thought 
it  is  from  the  spotted  (as  though  with  rain-drops)  upper  phimage  of 
two  of  the  commonest  species  of  Plovers,  to  which  the  name  espe- 
cially  belongs  —  the    Charadrius  pluvialis   of   LinniBus,    or   Golden 


Chabadrius  (head  and  foot).  Squatarola  (bill  and  hind  toe). 

(After  Swainson.) 

Plover,  and  the  Squatarola  helvetica  of  recent  ornithologists,  or  Grey 
Plover.  Both  these  birds  are  very  similar  in  general  appearance, 
but  the  latter  is  the  larger  and  has  an  aborted  hind-toe  on  each 
foot,^  while  its  axillary  feathers,  which  in  the  Golden  Plover  are 
pure  white,  are  black,  and  this  difterence  often  affords  a  readj^ 
means  of  distinguishing  the  two  species  when  on  the  wing,  even  at 
a  considerable  distance.  The  Grey  Plover  is  a  bird  of  almost 
circumpolar  range,  breeding  in  the  far  north  of  America,  Asia  and 
eastern  Europe,-  frequenting  in  spring  and  autumn  the  coasts  of  the 
more  temperate  parts  of  each  continent,  and  generally  retiring 
further  southward  in  winter — examples  not  unfrequently  reaching 
the  Cape  Colony,  Ceylon,  Australia  and  even  Tasmania.  Charadrius 
jilnvialis  has  a  much  narrower  distribution,  though  Avhere  it  occurs 
it  is  much  more  numerous  as  a  species.  Its  breeding-quarters  do 
not  extend  further  than  from  Iceland  to  western  Siberia,  but  include 
the  more  elevated  tracts  in  the  British  Islands,  whence  in  autumn 
it  spreads  itself,  often  in  immense  flocks,  over  the  cultivated  districts 
if  the  fields  be  sufficiently  open.  Here  some  will  remain  so  long  as 
the  absence  of  frost  or  snow  permits,  but  the  majority  make  for  the 
Mediterranean  basin,  or  the  countries  beyond,  in  which  to  winter ; 
and,  as  with  the   Grey  Plover,   stragglers  find  their  way  to   the 

^  But  for  this  really  unimportant  distinction  both  would  doubtless  have  been 
kept  in  the  same  genus,  for  they  agree  in  most  other  structural  characters.  As 
it  is  they  have  long  been  sundered. 

-  The  earliest  account  of  its  breeding  in  America  was  no  doubt  mistaken,  but 
it  was  found  there  by  Mr.  MacFarlane  in  1864.  The  first  discovery  of  its  eggs 
was  by  Von  Middendorfi'  in  1843,  who  described  them  {Sib.  Reisc,  ii.  p.  209, 
pi.  xix.  fig.  1),  while  another  obtained  by  him  has  since  been  figured  {Proc.  Zool. 
Sue.  1861,  p.  398,  pi.  .xxxix.  fig.  2).  Subsequently  it  was  found  breeding  in 
Europe  by  Messrs.  Harvie-Brown  and  Seebohm  {Ihis,  1876,  pp.  222-230,  pi.  v.). 


732  PLOVER 


southern  extremity  of  Africa.  The  same  may  be  said,  mutatis 
mutandis,  of  two  other  cognate  forms,  C.  virginicus  and  C.fulvus,  which 
respectively  represent  C  pluvialis  in  America  and  Eastern  Asia,  where 
they  also  are  known  by  the  same  English  name,  The  discrimination 
of  these  two  birds  from  one  another  requires  a  very  acute  eye,  and 
room  is  here  wanting  in  which  to  specify  the  minute  points  in 
which  they  differ  ;  ^  but  both  are  easily  distinguished  from  their 
European  ally  by  their  smaller  size,  their  greyish-brown  axillary 
feathers,  and  their  proportionally  longer  and  more  slender  legs. 
All,  however, — and  it  is  the  same  with  the  Grey  Plover, — imdergOy 
precisely  the  same  seasonal  change  of  coloTir,  greatly  altering  their 
appearance  and  equally  affecting  both  sexes.  In  the  coiu-se  of 
spring  or  early  summer  nearly  the  whole  of  the  lower  plumage 
from  the  chin  to  the  vent,  the  greater  part  of  which  during  winter 
has  been  Avhite,  becomes  deep  black.  This  is  partly  due  to  the 
groAvth  of  new  feathers,  but  partly  to  some  of  the  old  feathers 
actually  changing  their  colour,^  though  the  way  in  which  the 
alteration  is  brought  about  is  still  uncertain.'-^  A  corresponding 
alteration  is  at  the  same  season  observable  in  the  upper  plumage ; 
but  this  seems  chiefly  due  (as  in  many  other  birds)  to  the  shedding 
of  the  lighter-coloured  margins  of  the  feathers,  and  does  not  produce 
so  complete  a  transformation  of  appearance,  though  the  beauty  of 
the  wearer  is  thereby  greatly  increased. 

The  birds  just  spoken  of  are  those  most  emphatically  entitled 
to  be  called  Plovers ;  but  the  Dotterel,  the  group  of  Ringed 
Plovers    before   mentioned   (Killdeer)   and    the   Lapwing,   with 

^  their  allies,  have,  according  to  usage,  hardly 
less  claim  to  the  name,  which  is  also  ex- 
tended to  some  other  more  distant  forms 
that  can  here  have  only  the  briefest  notice. 
Among  them  one  of  the  most  remarkable 

Pluvianus.     (After  Swainson.)      ■       ,^        i^i       ■  tt  i-  p 

IS  the  1  luvianus  or  Jiyas  xgyptius  ot  orni- 
thologists, celebrated  for  the  services  it  is  said  to  render  to  the 
crocodile — a  small  bird  whose  plumage  of  delicate  lavender  and  cream- 

^  Schlegel  {Mus.  Fays-Bas,  Cursores,  p.  53)  states  that  in  some  examples  it 
seems  impossible  to  determine  the  form  to  which  they  belong  ;  but  ordinarily 
American  specimens  are  rather  larger  and  stouter,  and  have  shorter  toes  than 
those  from  Asia. 

"  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  ornithologists  favoiirably  situated  in  regard 
to  zoological  gardens  have  not  used  more  extensively  o2:iportunities  which  might 
there  be  enjoyed  of  conducting  useful  observations  on  this  subject  and  otliers  of 
the  kind.  Elsewhere  it  would  be  hardly  possible  to  carry  on  such  an  investiga- 
tion, and  even  in  the  best  circumstances  it  would  not  be  easy  and  would  require 
unremitting  attention.  The  results  of  some  partial  observations  superintended 
by  Yarrell  in  the  gardens  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London  are  given  in  its 
Transactions  (i.  pp.  13-19).     Little  of  this  nature  has  been  done  there  since. 


PLOVER  ^2,l 


colour  is  relieved  by  markings  of  black  and  wliite.^  This  probablj'^ 
belongs  to  the  small  section  generally  known  as  Coursers,  Cursorius, 
allied  to  which  are  the  curious  Pratincoles,  also  peculiar  to  the 
Old  World,  while  the  genera  Thinocorys  and  Attagis  form  an  outlying 
group  peculiar  to  South  America,  that  is  by  some  systematists 
regarded  as  a  separate  Family  "  Thinocoridx"  near  which  are  often 
placed  the  singular  Sheathbills.  By  most  authorities  the  Stone- 
Curlews,  the  Oyster-catchers  and  Turnstones  are  also  re- 
garded as  belonging  to  the  Family  Charadriidx,  and  some  would 
add  the  Avosets  and  Stilts,  among  which  the  Crab-Plover  or 
"  Cavalier,"  Dromas  ardeola — a  form  that  has  been  bandied  about 
from  one  Family  and  even  Order  to  another — should  possibly  find 
its  place. 

Though  the  various  forms  here  spoken  of  as  Plovers  are  closely 
allied,  they  must  be  regarded  as  constituting  a  somewhat  indefinite 
group,  for  no  very  strong  line  of  demarcation  can  be  drawn  be- 
tween them  and  the  Sandpipers  and  Snipes,  United,  however, 
with  both  of  the  latter,  under  the  name  of  LiMicoL^:,  after  the 
method  approved  by  recent  systematists,  the  whole  form  an 
assemblage  the  compactness  of  which  no  observant  ornithologist 
can  hesitate  to  admit,  even  if  he  be  not  inclined  to  treat  as  its 
nearest  relations  the  Bustards  on  the  one  hand  and  the  "  Gavi^  " 
on  the  other. "-^ 

1  The  elder  Geofl'roy-St.  Hilaire  (J/e'm.  du  Mas.  xv.  pp.  466,  467)  in  1827 
was  apparently  the  ftrst  to  identify  this  bird  with  the  rpoxiXos  of  Herodotus  {cf. 
HuMJilNG-BiKD,  p.  442,  note  2),  and  did  so  from  having  actually  seen  it  enter 
the  Crocodile's  mouth,  while  his  testimony  is  confirmed  by  the  ex])erienee  of 
Dr.  A.  E.  Brehui,  who  says  {Thierleben,  Vogel,  ed.  2,  iii.  p.  216)  that  he  had 
repeatedly  seen  it  thus  act.  In  the  face  of  the  positive  assurance  of  two  such  com- 
petent witnesses  it  would  be  rash  to  conclude  that  another  observer,  who  seems 
to  be  no  ornithologist,  is  right  in  attributing  (Ibis,  1893,  p.  277)  the  part  of  the 
"Crocodile-bird"  to  HopJopterus  spinosus  (Lapwing),  though  Dr.  A.  L.  Adams 
(Ibis,  1864,  p.  29)  and  Mr.  A.  C.  Smith  (Attractions  of  the  Nile,  ii.  pp.  255, 
256) — neither  of  whom  had  witnessed  the  feat  —  had  already  made  the  same 
suggestion.  However,  other  ornithological  observers  of  equal,  if  not  greater 
repute,  such  as  Mr.  E.  C.  Taylor  (Ibis,  1859,  p.  52  ;  1867,  p.  68),  Von  Heuglin 
(Orn.  Nord-ost  Afrikas,  pp.  978,  979),  and  M.  d'Aubussou  (Echassiers  d'Egyptc, 
pp.  16-18),  without  professing  personal  expei'ience,  hold  to  Pluvianus  rather 
than  Hoplopterus  being  the  reptile's  benefactor,  and  so  the  matter  must  be  left, 
though  the  balance  of  scientific  opinion  is  sufficiently  declared. 

-  In  this  connexion  it  is  necessary  to  mention  Mr.  Seebohm's  lavishly  illus- 
trated Geographical  Distribution  of  the  Family  Charadriidse  (4  to,  London:  without 
date,  but  published  in  1887),  under  which  term  he  comprises  all  the  ordinary 
Plovers,  Sandpipers  and  Snipes,  but  excludes  Attagis,  Chionis,  Dromas  and 
Thinocorys.  It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  dwell  upon  his  speculations,  and 
it  is  enough  to  state  his  arrangement  of  the  forms  he  includes.  Professing  to 
despise  "structural  characters,"  upon  them  he  yet  chiefly  grounds  nearly  all 
his  groups,  but  chooses  characters  which  most  taxonomers  regard  as  of  minor 


734  PLOVERS  PAGE-POCHARD 

PLOYEPl'S  PAGE,  a  local  name  for  the  Dunlin  from  its 
curious  habit  of  flying  in  company  with  a  Golden  Plover,  as 
though  waiting  upon  it,  when  both  species  are  breeding  on  the 
same  part  of  a  moor.  The  common  Icelandic  name  L6u]7rpell 
(anciently  Ldar])rxU)  has  a  like  origin,  Lva  being  a  Plover  and 
'^raell  {Anglice  thrall)  a  servant. 

POCHARD,  POCKARD  or  POKEPv,i  names  properly  belonging 
to  the  male  of  a  species  of  Duck  (the  female  of  which  is  known  as 
the  Dunbird),  the  Anas  ferina  of  Linnaeus,  and  Nyroca,  JEthyia  or 
F'uligula  ferina  of  later  ornithologists — but  names  very  often  applied 

by  writers  in  a  general  way  to  most  of 
the  subfamily  "  Fuligidina.',"  commonly 
called  Diving  or  Sea-DUCKS,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  can  be  readily  distin- 
guished by  the  greater  development  of 

«,  Hallux  or  "  Sea- ••  ;  ^J^g    J^l^g    q£    ^J^g    hallux    from    those    of 

6,  OF  "  Freshwater  "-Duck.  ,,  >       ,•  -n       i         ^  -r\      n 

.,r.    c.    •        N  the    Anatinai    or    l^reshwater- Ducks. 

(After  Swamsoii.) 

The  Pochard  in  full  plumage  is  a  very 
handsome  bird,   with  a  coppery-red   head,   on  the  .sides  of  which 

importance,  while  those  which  seem  far  more  significant  are  entirely  neglected, 
so  that  his  remark  tliat  his  subdivisions  are  "very  probably  artificial"  will  not 
provoke  dissent.  In  diagnosing  his  three  subfamilies  (j).  66),  his  "  Scolopacinm" 
are  distinguished  by  having  the  ' '  toes  all  cleft  to  the  base  " — his  other  two, 
"  Totaninie"  and  "  Charadriinee,"  by  having  the  "middle  and  outer  toes  con- 
nected by  a  Aveb  at  the  base."  Yet  having  assigned  so  much  value  to  the  pre- 
sence or  absence  of  the  interdigital  web,  which  seldom  exists  but  in  a  rudimentary 
state,  when  it  becomes  most  developed  he  proceeds  to  disregard  it  wholly  by 
uniting  in  one  genus  the  Avosets  and  the  Stilts,  and  no  reason  is  given  for 
this  inconsistency.  What  to  most  ornithologists  seems  a  character  of  some 
significance,  as  directly  affecting  the  bird's  economy,  is  by  him  wholly  disregarded. 
This  is  the  structure  of  the  bill — whetlier  it  be  a  hard  and  horny  chisel  as  in  an 
Oyster-catcher  or  a  Turnstone,  .or  a  sensitive  organ  of  perception  as  in  a 
Snipe  or  a  Godwit.  Thus  we  find  Hccviatopus  grouped  with  Limosa,  and  Strep- 
silas  with  Scolopax,  while  Tringa  and  Ereimctes  are  severed.  It  would  not  be 
so  very  great  an  exaggeration  of  ]\Ir.  Seebohm's  practice  to  say  that  when  two 
,  species  have  very  diff'erent  bills  it  is  expedient  to  put  them  in  the  same  subfamily, 
c'Vi^H-'-^  if  not  (as  in  the  cases  of  Anarhynchus  and  ASgialitis,  and  of  Eur^tnorliynchiis 

"  and  Tringa)  in  the  same  genus.     If  results  like  these  legitimately  follow— though 

this  I  take  leave  to  doubt — from  the  teachiug  of  "the  new  school  of  modern 
ornithologists"  (p.  iv.),  a  man  Avho  has  any  regard  for  common  sense,  not  to  say 
for  science,  may  congratulate  himself  on  not  being  imputed  a  member  of  it.  Yet 
the  many  beautiful  figures  given  by  ]\Ir.  Seebohni  will  always  make  his  work 
acceptable  to  ornithologists  of  all  schools,  despite  his  numerous  vagaries. 

^  The  derivation  of  these  words,  in  the  first  of  which  the  ch  is  pronounced 
hard,  and  the  o  in  all  of  them  generally  long,  is  very  uncertain.  Cotgrave  has 
Pochcculier,  which  he  renders  "  Shoueler,"  nowadays  the  name  of  a  kind  of 
Duck,  but  in  his  time  meaning  the  bird  we  commonly  call  Spoonrili..  Littre 
gives  Pochard  as  a  popular  French  M'ord  signifying  drunkard.     That  this  word 


POCHARD  735 

sparkle  the  ruby  irides  of  his  eyes,  relieved  by  the  greyish-blue 
of  the  basal  half  of  his  broad  bill,  and  the  deep  black  of  his 
gorget,  while  his  back  and  flanks  appear  of  a  light  grey,  being 
really  of  a  dull  white  closely  barred  by  fine  undulating  black 
lines.  The  tail-coverts  both  above  and  below  are  black,  the  quill 
feathers  brownish-black,  and  the  lower  surface  of  a  dull  white.  The 
Dunbird  has  the  head  and  neck  reddish-brown,  with  ill-defined  whitish 
patches  on  the  cheeks  and  chin,  brown  irides,  the  back  and  upper  tail- 
coverts  dull  brown,  and  the  rest  of  the  plumage,  except  the  lower 
tail-coverts,  which  are  brownish -grey,  much  as  in  the  Pochard. 
This  species  is  very  abundant  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  northern 
Asia,  and  North  America,  generally  frequenting  in  winter  the  larger 
open  waters,  and  extending  its  migrations  to  Barbary  and  Egypt, 
but  in  summer  retiring  northward  and  inland  to  breed,  and  is 
one  that  has  certainly  profited  by  the  legislative  protection  lately 
aff'orded  to  it  in  Britain,  for,  whereas  during  many  years  it  had 
but  a  single  habitual  breeding-place  left  in  England,  it  is  now 
known  to  have  several,  to  some  of  which  it  resorts  in  no  incon- 
siderable numbers.  American  examples  seem  to  be  slightly  larger 
and  somewhat  darker  in  colour,  and  hence  by  some  writers  have 
been  regarded  as  specifically  distinct  under  the  name  of  iV.  or  F. 
americana, ;  but  America  has  a  perfectly  distinct  though  allied  species 
in  the  celebrated  Canvas-back  Duck,  N.  vallisnermna,  a  much  larger 
bird,  with  a  longer,  higher  and  narrower  bill,  which  has  no  blue  at 
the  base,  and,  though  the  plumage  of  both,  especially  in  the  females, 
is  very  similar,  the  male  Canvas-back  has  a  darker  head,  and  the 
black  lines  on  the  back  and  flanks  are  much  broken  up  and  further 
asunder,  so  that  the  effect  is  to  give  these  parts  a  much  lighter 
colour,  and  from  this  has  arisen  the  bird's  common  though  fanciful 
name.  Its  scientific  epithet  is  derived  from  the  freshwater  plant, 
a  species  of  Vallisneria,  usually  known  as  "  wild  celery,"  from  feed- 
ing on  which  its  flesh  is  believed  to  acquire  the  delicate  flavour  that 
is  held  in  so  great  a  repute.  The  Pochard  and  Dunbird,  however, 
in  Europe  are  in  much  request  for  the  table  (as  the  German  name 
of  the  species,  Tafelente,  testifies),  though  their  quality  in  this 
respect  depends  almost  wholly  on  the  food  they  have  been  eating, 
for  birds  killed  on  the  sea-coast  are  so  rank  as  to  be  almost  worth- 
less, while  those  that  have  been  frequenting  fresh  water  are  generally 
well- tasted.^ 

would  in  the  ordinary  way  become  the  English  Pochard  or  Poker  may  be  regarded 
as  certain  ;  but  then  it  is  not  known  to  be  used  in  French  as  a  bird's  name. 

1  The  plant  known  in  some  parts  of  England  as  "willow- weed" — not  to  be 
confounded,  as  is  done  by  some  writers,  with  the  willow-wort  {Epilohium) — one 
of  the  many  species  of  Polygonum,  is  especially  a  favourite  food  with  most  kinds 
of  Ducks,and  to  its  effects  is  attributed  much  of  the  fine  flavour  which  distinguishes 
the  birds  that  have  had  access  to  it. 


736  POCHARD 

Among  other  species  nearly  allied  to  the  Pochard  that  frequent 
the  northern  hemisphere  may  be  mentioned  the  ScAUP-Duck,  N. 
marila,  with  its  American  representative  N.  affinis,  in  both  of  which 
the  male  has  the  head  black,  glossed  with  blue  or  green ;  but  these 
are  nearly  always  uneatable  from  the  nature  of  their  food,  which  is 
mostly  gathered  at  low  tide  on  the  "scaups"  or  "scalps"^ — as 
the  banks  on  which  mussels  and  other  marine  mollusks  grow  are  in 
many  places  termed.  Then  there  are  the  Tufted  Duck,  N.  cristaia 
— black  with  a  crest  and  white  flanks — and  its  American  equivalent 
N.  coUaris,  and  the  White-eyed  or  Castaneous  Duck,  N.  castanea  or 
F.  nyroca,  and  the  Red-crested  Duck,  N.  nifina — both  peculiar  to  the 
Old  World,  and  the  last,  conspicuous  for  its  red  bill  and  legs,  well 
known  in  India.  In  the  southern  hemisphere  the  genus  is  repre- 
sented by  three  species,  TV",  capensis,  N.  australis  and  N'.  novx-zealandix, 
whose  respective  names  indicate  the  country  each  inhabits,  and  in 
South  America  exists  a  somewhat  divergent  form  which  has  been 
placed  in  a  distinct  genus  as  Metopiana  peposaca. 

Leaving  the  ScOTERS  for  further  consideration,  a  few  words 
may  be  here  added  to  what  has  been  already  said  of  the  small 
group  known  as  the  Eiders,  which,  though  generally  classed  with 
the  " Fuligulinm"  differ  from  them  in  several  respects :  the  bulb  at 
the  base  of  the  trachea  in  the  male,  so  largely  developed  in  the 
members  of  the  genus  Nyroca,  and  of  conformation  so  similar  in 
all  of  them,  is  here  much  smaller  and  wholly  of  bone ;  the  males 
take  a  much  longer  time,  two  or  even  three  years,  to  attain  their 
full  plumage,  and  some  of  the  feathers  on  the  head,  when  that 
plumage  is  completed,  are  always  stiff,  glistening  and  of  a  peculiar 
pale -green  colour.  This  little  group  of  hardly  more  than  half  a 
dozen  species  may  be  fairly  considered  to  form  a  separate  genus 
under  the  name  of  Somateria.  Many  authors  indeed  have — un- 
justifiably, as  it  seems  to  the  present  writer — broken  it  up  into 
three  or  four  genera.  The  well-known  Eider,  S.  mollissima,  is  the 
largest  of  this  group,  and,  beautiful  as  it  is,  is  excelled  in  beauty 
by  the  King-Duck,  ^S*.  spedahilis,  and  the  little  ^S*.  stelleri.  Space 
fails  here  to  treat  of  the  rest,  but  the  sad  fate  which  has  overtaken 
one  of  them,  ^S*.  labradoria,  has  been  before  mentioned  (Extermina- 
tion, pp.  221-22.3)  ;2  and  only  the  briefest  notice  can  be  taken  of 

^  Cognate  with  scallop,  and  the  Dutch  schclp,  a  shell. 

^  The  statements  made  at  this  reference  have  been  criticized  by  Mr.  Dutcher 
{Auk,  1894,  pp.  4-12).  In  the  main  they  are  confirmed  by  what  he  says, 
though  he  adduces  evidence,  which  it  is  not  for  me  to  dispute,  as  to  examples 
of  the  species,  subsequently  adding  {to7n.  cit.  p.  176)  one  more,  having  been 
obtained  since  1852,  the  latest  year  that,  had  been  known  to  me  as  a  certainty 
for  its  existence.  Whether  it  survived  (as  is  now,  to  use  the  American  idiom, 
"  claimed  ")  until  1875  signifies  little.  That  it  is  extinct  I  think  no  one  will 
justifiably  deny,  though  no  one  would  be  better  pleased  than  myself  to  learn  that 


POD  ARGUS— POPELER  T^n 

that  most  interesting  form  generally,  but  obviously  in  error,  placed 
among  them,  the  Logger-HEAD  (p.  518),  Eacehorse  or  Steamer- 
Duck,  Tachyeres  or  Micropterus  cinereus  of  the  Falkland  Islands  and 
Straits  of  Magellan — nearly  as  large  as  a  tame  Goose,  and  subject, 
as  is  asserted,  to  the,  so  far  as  known,  unique  peculiarity  of  losing 
its  power  of  flight  after  reaching  maturity. 

POD  ARGUS,  a  genus  of  birds  so  named  by  Vieillot  in  1819, 
being  based  on  the  Fodarge  of  Cuvier,  and  used  by  Gould  and 
other  writers  as  an  English  word  (see  MOREPORK,  p.  592,  and 
Nightjar,  p.  638). 

POE-BIRD,  another  name  for  the  Parson-bird. 

POLLUX,  the  thumb  or  first  digit  of  the  wing,  never  consisting 
of  more  than  two  phalanges,  of  which  the  terminal  one  is  often 
aborted  or  absent ;  but,  when  fully  developed,  it  often  bears  a 
horny  CLAW.  From  the  basal  phalanx  grows  the  so-called  "  bastard 
wing." 

POLYMYODI  (or  POLYMYOD^  if  a  feminine  termination 
be  needed),  Johannes  Miiller's  name  (Abhandl.  k  Akad.  Berlin,  Phys. 
Kl.  1847,  p.  366)  for  the  first  of  his  three  groups  of  Passerini, 
from  the  many  song-muscles  they  possess,  equivalent  to  the  OsciNES 
of  Keyserling  and  Blasius. 

POMPADOUR,^  the  name  given  by  Edwards  in  1759 
{Gleanings,  ii.  p.  275,  pi.  341)  to  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of 
the  Cotingidse  (Chatterer),  and  since  generally  adopted,  though 
prior  to  his  publication  of  the  species  it  had  been  already  described 
and  figured  by  Brisson  (Ornithol.  ii.  p.  347,  pi.  xxxv.  fig.  1).  It 
is  the  Ampelis  pompadora  of  Linnaeus,  referred  now  to  the  genus 
Xipholena,  a  native  of  Guiana,  Surinam  and  Cayenne,  and  easily 
recognized  by  the  shining  crimson-purple  of  its  plumage,  set  off 
by  its  white  wings.  Two  other  allied  species,  X.  atripurpurea  and 
X  lamellipennis,  inhabit  Brazil  (c/.  Sclater,  Cat  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiv. 
pp.  387-389). 

POOL-SNIPE,  said  to  be  a  local  name  of  the  Redshank. 

POOR  SOLDIER,  a  name  for  the  Australian  Friar-bird. 

POPE,  one  of  the  many  local  names  of  the  Puffin,  Fratercula 
ardica,  as  well  as  of  the  Bullfinch. 

POPELER,  an  old  name  for  the  Spoonbill,  Platalea  leucorodia^ 

it  is  not  so  ;  but  anybody  who  has  taken  the  trouble  to  investigate  the  history 
of  an  exterminated  species  will  find  that  to  determine  the  time  when  it  ceased 
from  appearing  is  no  easy  thing. 

'  As  a  bird's  name  in  French,  Pom'padour  signifies  a  breed  of  domestic  poultry, 
apparently  that  which  we  call  the  Polish. 

47 


7 38  POPINJA  Y—PO  WDER-DO  WNS 

possibly  a  mispronunciation  of  the  Dutch  Lepelaar,  which  means 
the  same  bird. 

POPINJAY,  a  word  of  respectable  antiquity  since  it  is  used 
in  some  manuscript  copies  of  Chaucer  (C'anterb.  Tales,  13,299\ 
while  the  French  Papegai,  written  "  Papejay,"  is  used  in  others. 
Prof.  Skeat,  whose  remarks  {Etymol.  Did.  p.  456)  deserve  all 
attention,  concludes  "  that  F.  papegai,  a  talking  jay,  was  modified 
from  the  older  0.  F.  papegau,  a  talking  cock,"  akin  to  the  Italian 
PajMgallo— the  first  half  of  all  these  words  being  cognate  with 
"  babble."  Originally  the  name  signified  Parrot,  but  since  most 
of  the  best-known  Parrots  are  green,  it  has  in  this  country  been 
transferred  to  the  Green  Woodpecker.  It  was  also  the  wooden 
figure  of  a  bird  set  up  as  a  mark  to  be  shot  at.  The  Arabic 
babaghd  (a  Parrot),  from  which  some  derive  Papagau  and  other 
forms,  seems  itself  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish  Papagayo. 

PORT-EGMONT  HEN,  the  Southern  Great  Skua,  so  called 
by  seamen  in  the  last  century  from  its  familiarity  about  the  place 
of  that  name  in  the  Falkland  Islands  (cf.  Latham,  Gen.  Synops. 
iii.  p.  386). 

POST -BIRD,  a  local  name  of  the  Spotted  Flycatcher, 
Miiscicapa  grisola,  from  its  habit  of  sitting  on  posts  when  looking 
out  for  prey  (see  p.  274). 

POTOO,  the  Creole  name  for  one  of  the  Nightjars,  Nydihius 
jamaicensis  (Gosse,  B.  Jamaica,  p.  41). 

POWDER-DOWNS  are  so  called  from  the  powder  produced 
by  the  continuous  disintegration  of  the  numerous  brush-like  barbs 
and  barbules,  into  which  the  barrel  is  constantly  splitting  as  it 
grows  without  forming  a  principal  shaft.  In  size,  form  and 
situation  they  vary  much.  In  the  Psittaci  they  are  very  short 
tufts,  the  barrel  hardly  projecting  from  the  skin,  Avhile  in  Botaurus 
the  barrel  is  nearly  half  an  inch  long,  and  bears  a  short  tuft  of 
very  fine  filaments.  In  Podargus  they  attain  their  extreme  size 
and  complexity,  being  about  two  inches  long.  In  some  cases 
Powder-downs  occur  over  the  greater  part  of  the  body,  among  the 
contour-feathers  as  well  as  on  the  featherless  spaces,  in  others  they 
grow  in  more  or  less  distinct  tracts  or  in  compact  patches.  The 
appearance  of  these  peculiar  organs,  scattered  as  it  were  through- 
out various  groups  —  Tinamous,  Herons,  Diurnal  Birds-of-Prey, 
Parrots  and  in  a  few  members  of  other  groups — seems  to  be 
rather  an  illustration  of  isomorphism  than  an  indication  of  affinity. 
Hitherto  they  have  been  found  to  exist  as  follows  : — 

Crypturi — interspersed  among  the  contour-feathers  of  the  large 
dorsal  tract. 


POWEE— PRAIRIE-CHICKEN  739 

Ardeidx — all  the  Herons  and  Bitterns  possess  them  in  pairs, 
forming  large  thick  patches  on  the  breast,  the  lower  back  and 
frequently  on  the  abdomen.  These  patches  are  greasy  and  yellow 
at  the  base,  but  the  tufts  are  very  fine,  grey  or  blackish,  and 
produce  a  bluish  powder. 

Balxniceps — a  pair  of  large  patches  on  the  middle  of  the  lower 
back. 

RMnochetus  and  Euriipyga — numerous,  forming  tracts  as  well  as 
detached  spots. 

Mesites — five  pairs  of  patches,  the  arrangement  of  which  some- 
what resembles  the  distribution  of  the  powder-downs  in  the  two 
genera  last  named. 

Accipitres — at  present  only  found  in  Elanus,  Cymindis  and 
Circus,  as  a  large  united  patch  on  the  lower  back  or  as  a  pair  on 
the  same  part.  Nitzsch  states  that  Gypaetns  has  scattered  powder- 
downs  during  its  immaturity,  and  probably  many  other  Accipitres, 
especially  of  the  Vulturidx,  will  on  further  examination  have  to  be 
included. 

Psittaci — numerous  scattered  tracts  and  separate  tufts  on  the 
neck,  shoulders  and  sides  of  the  trunk,  in  the  Cacatuinse,  in  Chry- 
sotis  and  in  Psittacus. 

Podargus — a  pair  of  extremely  developed  patches  on  the  lower 
back. 

Lepitosoma — resembles  the  last  in  the  distribution  of  the  patches, 
but  Coracias  has  only  scattered  powder-downs. 

Passeres — in  this  enormous  group  Artamus  is  the  only  genus 
known  to  possess  them.  They  occur  in  all  the  species,  in  patches 
on  the  sides  of  the  breast,  the  thighs  and  lower  back,  and  have  a 
strong  barrel,  one-third  of  an  inch  long. 

(See  Feathers,  Pterylosis.) 

POWEE,  commonly  applied  in  the  West  Indies  to  Crax  alector, 
if  not  to  the  Curassows  generally,  and  said  in  1769,  by  Bancroft, 
who  spells  the  word  "Powese"  {A^at  Hist.  Guyana,  j)p.  193-195), 
to  be  so  called  "  by  the  natives  from  their  cry,  which  is  similar  to 
that  name."  Frisch  in  1763  [Vorstell.  Vog.  JJeutschl.  u.  s.w.  Haupt- 
Art.  ix.  Abth.  2,  No.  iv.)  has  the  word  Poes,  which  Buffon  {Hist. 
Nat.  Ois.  ii.  p.  374)  misprinted  Pocs,  while  P.  L.  S.  Midler 
{Natursyst.  ii.  p.  465)  spells  it  Pauwis.  It  seems  possible  that  the 
Dutch  Pccautv  (Peacock)  may  be  the  origin  of  the  word. 

PR^COCES,  the  name  given  by  Sundevall  (A".  Vet.- Acad. 
Handl.  1836,  p.  70),  to  his  second  section  of  the  Class  Aves, 
in  contradistinction  to  Altrices,  but  subsequently  abandoned  by 
him. 

PRAIRIE-CHICKEN,    PRAIRIE-HEN,  names   given  by  the 


740  PR  A  TINCOLE 


English  in  North  America  to  what  is  known  in  books  as  the 
Pinnated  Grouse,  the  Tympanuchus  americanus  of  recent  authors ; 
or,  where  that  does  not  occur,  to  forms  of  the  allied  genus  Fediocsetes 
— the  Sharp-tailed  Grouse  ;  but,  according  to  Mr.  Trumbull  {Names 
and  Portr.  of  Birds,  Index,  p.  218),  the  term  "Prairie"  is  prefixed 
by  American  sportsmen  to  many  more  kinds  of  birds  than  there  is 
need  here  to  specify. 

PRATINCOLE,  a  word  invented  in  1773  by  Pennant  (Gen.  B. 
p.  48),  being  an  English  adaptation  of  Pratincola,  applied  in  1756  by 
Kramer  [Elenchus,  p.  381)  to  a  bird  which  had  hitherto  received  no 
definite  name,  though  it  had  long  before  been  described  and  even 
recognizably  figured  by  Aldrovandus  (Ornithologia,  xvii.  9)  under  the 
vague  designation  of  "  hirundo  marina."  It  is  the  Glareola pratincola  of 
modern  ornithologists,  forming  the  type  of  a  genus  Glareola,  founded 
by  Brisson  in  1760,  and  unquestionably  belonging  (as  is  now 
generally  admitted)  to  the  group  L1MICOL.E,  being  either  placed 
among  the  C/wra(^n/(Z«  (Plover,)  or  regarded  as  constitutinga  separate 
Family  Glareolidx.  The  Pratincoles,  of  which  Mr.  Seebohm  {CJiara- 
driidse,  pp.  252-269)  recognizes  ten  species — the  last  resting  on  a 
single  specimen  procured  by  the  late  Emin  Pasha  and  described  by 
Captain  Shelley  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1888,  p.  49) — are  all  small  birds, 
slenderly  built  and  mostly  delicately  coloured,  with  a  short  stout 
bill,  a  wide  gape,  long  pointed  wings  and  a  tail  more  or  less  forked. 
In  some  of  their  habits  they  are  thoroughly  Plover-like,  running 
very  swiftly  and  breeding  on  the  ground,  but  on  the  wing  they 
have  much  the  appearance  of  Swallows,  and  like  them  feed,  at  least 
partly,  while  flying.^  The  ordinary  Pratincole  of  Europe,  G. 
pratincola,  breeds  abundantly  in  many  parts  of  Spain,  Barbary  and 
Sicily,  along  the  valley  of  the  Danube,  and  in  Southern  Russia,  while 

1  This  combinatiou  of  characters  for  many  years  led  systematists  astray, 
though  some  of  them  were  from  the  first  correct  in  their  notions  as  to  the 
Pratincole's  position.  Linn;T3us,  even  in  his  latest  publication,  placed  it  in  the 
genus  Hirundo  ;  but  the  interleaved  and  annotated  copies  of  }iis  Systema  Nahirse 
in  the  Linnean  Society's  library  shew  the  species  marked  for  separation  and 
insertion  in  the  Order  Grallse— Pratincola  trachelia  being  the  name  by  which  he 
had  meant  to  designate  it  in  any  future  edition.  He  seems  to  liave  been  induced 
to  this  change  of  view  mainly  through  a  specimen  of  the  bird  sent  to  him  by 
John  the  brother  of  Gilbert  White  ;  but  the  opinion  published  in  1769  by  ScopolL 
{Ann.  I.  hist,  naturalis,  p.  110)  had  doubtless  contributed  thereto,  though  the 
earlier  judgment  to  the  same  effect  of  Brisson,  as  mentioned  above,  had  been  dis- 
regarded. Want  of  space  here  forbids  a  notice  of  the  different  erroneous  assign- 
ments of  the  form,  some  of  them  made  even  by  recent  authors,  who  neglected  tlie 
clear  evidence  afforded  by  the  internal  structure  of  the  Pratincole.  It  must 
suffice  to  state  that  Sundevall  in  1873  {Tcntamen,  p.  86)  placed  Glareola  among 
the  Caprvmilgidai,  a  position  which  its  osteology  shews  cannot  be  maintained 
for  a  moment. 


PRIMARIES  741 


owing  to  its  great  powers  of  flight  it  frequently  wanders  far  from 
its  home,  and  more  than  a  score  of  examples  have  been  recorded 
as  occurring  in  the  British  Islands.  In  the  south-east  of  Europe  a 
second  and  closely-allied  species,  G.  nordmanni  or  G.  melanoptera, 
which  has  black  instead  of  chestnut  inner  A^ng-coverts,  accompanies 
or,  further  to  the  eastward,  replaces  it ;  and  in  its  turn  it  is  replaced 
in  India,  China  and  Australia  by  G.  orientalis.  Australia  also 
possesses  another  species,  G.  grallaria,  remarkable  for  the  great 
length  of  its  wings  and  much  longer  legs,  while  its  tail  is  scarcely 
forked — peculiarities  that  have  led  to  its  being  considered  the  type 
of  a  distinct  genus  or  subgenus  Stiltia.  Two  species,  G.  ladea  and 
G.  cinerea,  from  India  and  Africa  respectively,  seem  by  their  pale 
coloration  to  be  desert^forms,  and  they  are  the  smallest  of  this 
curious  little  group.  The  species  whose  mode  of  nidification  is 
known  lay  either  two  or  three  eggs,  stone-coloured,  blotched,  spotted 
and  streaked  with  black  or  brownish-grey.  The  young  when 
hatched  are  clothed  in  down  and  are  able  to  run  at  once — just  as 
are  young  Plovers. 

PBIMAEIES,  the  larger  quill-feathers  of  the  wing  growing 
from  the  manus,  the  rational  mode  of  counting  which  is  to  begin,  as 
with  the  CUBITALS,  at  the  wrist,  but  to  proceed  outwards,  so  that  the 
distal  quill  is  the  last,  and  not  the  first  as  in  the  popular  way  of 
enumeration.^  The  number  of  Primaries  varies  little.  Most  Birds 
possess  10  or  11  ;  but  12  are  found  in  Podicipes,  Fhcenicopierus  and 
some  of  the  Ciconiidx,  as  Anastomus,  Leptoptilus,  Myderia  and  Tantalus. 
As  a  rule  the  first  6  quills  rest  upon  the  united  metacarpal  bones 
ii.  and  iii.,  and  when  there  are  12  Primaries  7  of  them  so  originate, 
but  the  following  Primary  is  always  borne  by  the  first  phalanx  of  digit 
iii.,  while  the  next  two  quills  are  attached  in  all  Carinatx  to  the  first 
phalanx  of  digit  ii.,  its  second  phalanx  carrying  the  rest — 3  in 
Struthio,  2  in  birds  with  11,  and  only  1  in  those  with  10  Primaries  ; 
but  here  are  to  be  mentioned  certain  special  conditions.  Strufhio 
has  as  many  as  1 6  Primaries,  8  of  which  belong  to  the  metacarpals, 
while  Bhea  has  the  normal  12,  and  in  Casuarius  only  2  or  3  are 
attached  to  the  manus,  the  rest  of  its  barbless  quills  being  really 
Cubitals.  Archseopteryx  apparently  had  only  6  or  7  Primaries,  but 
it  is  doubtful  whether  they  proceeded  from  the  index  and  its 
metacarpal  alone,  or  chiefly  from  the  third  digit  and  its  metacarpal.^ 
Peculiar  conditions,  hitherto  unexplained,  prevail  also  in  the  Sphenisci, 

^  In  a  wider  sense  the  stiflF  feathers,  from  2  to  4  in  number,  whicli  grow  from 
the  POLLEX,  and  form  the  alula  or  "bastard  wing,"  may  also  be  accounted 
Primaries. 

-  As  before  stated  (p.  279)  the  manus  of  Archmopteryx  had  3  free  digits  ;  but 
I  conceive  the  figure  from  Vogt  (p.  280)  to  be  fanciful  and  erroneous.  The  main 
point  is  the  regularly-increasing  number  of  the  phalanges — the  pollex  having  2, 
the  index  3  and  the  third  dijrit  4. 


742 


PRION 


which  seem  to  have  no  true  remiges,  the  posterior  edge  of  their 
flijiper-like  wings  being  formed  of  a  greatly  increased  number  of 
little  stiff  feathers. 

The  number  of  Primaries  indicates  a  gradual  reduction  beginning 
at  the  distal  end.  Omitting  the  few  birds  with  7  metacarpal  quills, 
we  find  that  the  11th  or  terminal  quill  is  never  fully  developed  and 
often  scarcely  functional.  It  is  always  much  shortened  and  con- 
cealed between  its  upper  and  lower  covert,  being  not  unfrequently 
shorter  and  weaker  than  its  covert,  which  in  that  case  is  sometimes 
stiff.  In  some  Rails  and  in  many  Passeres  the  1 1  th  quill  is 
very  small  indeed,  or  may  be  wholly  absent.  In  this  case,  how- 
ever, the  upper  covert  is  present  as  an  apparently  sujoernumerary 
feather,  provided  that  the  10th  quill  is  not  much  reduced.  This 
last  shews  every  intermediate  stage  between  the  largest  develop- 
ment possible  as  in  Larus  and  Cypselm,  and  a  degenerate  condition 
as  in  many  of  the  so-called  "  Oscines  novempennat^,"  ^  where  the  10th 
primary  is  supposed  to  be  absent  or  at  least  extremely  small  and 
concealed.  In  reality  it  is  always  present,  even  in  the  Dlcxidai, 
while  in  some  Hirimdiuidai  it  is  more  than  half  an  inch,  and  in 
Ideridai  may  be  more  than  an  inch  long.  In  fact  there  are  few 
birds  in  which  this  "  absent  "  quill  does  not  measure  the  third  of 
an  inch  in  length  (see  Remiges). 

PRION,  a  genus  of  Petrels  established  by  Lacepede  {Mem.,  de 
rinst.  iii.  p.  514),  on  account  of  the  denticulated  or  serrated  edges 


Prion  vittatus.     (After  BuIUt.) 

of  their  mandibles,  and  used  as  an  English   word  by  many  writers. 
To  it  are  referred  the  Procellaria  rittata  of  Gmelin  and  several  other 

1  Equivalent  to  the  "  Tanagroid  Passeres"  of  Mr.  Wallace  {Ibis,  1874,  p. 
410),  or  the  "Passeres  Fringilliformes  "  of  the  Catalogue  of  the  Birds  in  the 
British  iluseuvi,  vols,  x.-xii. 


PROMEROPS—PSITTACOMORPH/E  743 


species,  all — with  perhaps  one  exception,  the  P.  breviroshis  of  Gould 
(Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1855,  p.  88,  pi.  xciii.),  if  indeed  that  be  distinct, 
as  seems  very  doubtful,  from  his  P.  ariel — belonging  to  the  southern 
hemisphere.  They  are  remarkable  also  for  the  breadth  of  their 
bill  at  the  base. 

PEOMEROPS,  a  name,  long  since  Anglicized,  invented  by 
E^aumur,  says  Brisson  {Ornithol.  ii.  p.  460,  pi.  xliii.  fig.  2),  who  used 
it  in  a  generic  sense  for  a  small  South  -  African  bird  with  plain 
plumage  and  a  remarkably  long  tail.  Without  having  seen  a 
specimen  Linnteus  referred  it  to  the  genus  Upupa  (Hoopoe),  but 
also  described  the  same  species,  from  a  drawing  sent  to  him  by 
Burmann,  as  a  Merops  (Bee-eater).  Promerops,  however,  has 
nothing  to  do  with  either,  though  perhaps  its  true  affinity  is  not 
yet  correctly  determined.  Most  modern  systematists  think  it  allied 
to  the  Sun-birds  1  (c/.  Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  pp.  74,  75,  and  Shelley, 
Monogr.  Nedariniidas,  p.  377,  pi.  121),  though  it  has  none  of  the 
brilliant  hues  that  distinguish  most  of  that  group,  its  yellow  vent 
being  all  that  enlivens  the  soberly-mottled  white  of  its  lower  parts, 
while  above  it  is  of  a  uniform  greyish-brown.  A  considerable 
number  of  birds,  having  apparently  no  affinity  at  all  to  it,  have 
been  referred  to  the  genus  Promerops,  which  probably  should  be 
regarded  as  the  type  of  a  Family.  Natal  furnishes  a  second  species, 
P.  gurneyi,  described  and  figured  by  Verreaux  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1871, 
p.  135,  pi.  viii.) 

PEOUD  TAILOE,  a  local  name  for  the  Goldfinch. 

PSEUDOSCINES,  Mr.  Sclater's  name  (Ibis,  1880,  p.  345)  for 
the  abnormal  AcROMYODi  of  Garrod  ;  but,  being  of  hybrid  derivation,  s^ 

Dr.  Gadow  (Thier-reich,  Vogel,  System.  Th.  pp.  173,  177)  substituted     2  71^  2  7f. 
SUBOSCINES  in  its  stead,  correlative  with  his  Subclamatores.  cA  Cir\h^%-^uK- 

PSILOP^DES,  a  name  proposed  in  1872  by  Sundevall 
( Tentamen,  p.  1 )  for  his  first  division  (agmen)  of  the  Class  Aves,  being 
the  Birds  whose  young  are  naked  before  their  feathers  groAv :  in 
1873  changed  (torn.  cit.  p.  158)  to  Gymnopasdes,  to  prevent  confusion 

with  PxiLOPiEDES. 

PSITTACI,  given  in  1826-8  as  the  name  of  a  Family  or  group 
consisting  of  the  Parrots,  by  Eitgen  {N.  Act.  Acad.  L.-G.  Nat.  Cur. 
xiv.  part  i.  pp.  231,  243),  and  afterwards  adopted  as  that  of  an 
Order  by  Bonaparte  and  other  authors,  equivalent  therefore  to  the 

PSITTACOMOEPH^  of  Prof.  Huxley  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867, 
pp.  465,  466),  by  whom  it  was  regarded  as  the  sixth  group  of  his 
Desmognath^. 

^  In  the  Catalogue  of  the  Birds  in  the  British  Musewm,  (vol.  ix. )  Promerops  is 
placed  among  the  Meliphaginse  ;  but  a[)parently  not  with  the  approval  of  the 
author  {torn.  cit.  p.  209), 


744 


P  TA  RMJGA  N—P  TER  YL  OS  IS 


ih 


PTAEMIGAN,  Gael.  Tarmaclian,  see  Grouse  (p.  392,  note). 

PTEROCLETES,!  Mr.  Sckter's  name  {Ibis,  1880,  p.  407)  for 
the  Order  composed  of  the  Sand-Grouse,  equivalent  to  the 

PTEROCLOMORPH^  of  Prof.  Huxley  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868, 
p.  303),  which  itself  was  anticipated  as  a  group  by  Bonaparte's 
Pediophili  in  1831  {Saggio  &c.  p.  54). 

PTERYGOIDS,  a  pair  of  bones  in  the  roof  of  the  mouth  of  every 
vV>  bird,  articulating  with  the  Quadrates  and  the  anterioi^end  of  the 
.  y. )  Palatals,  as  well  as,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  the  Basi-sphenoid 
^         and  other  parts  of  the  Skull. 

PTEEYLOSIS    signifies  plumage  considered  in  regard  to  the 

distribution  of  its 
growth.  In  only  a 
few  Birds  do  the 
FEATHERS  grow  over 
the  whole  body,  but 
they  are  generally 
restricted  to  well- 
defined  patches  or 
tracts,  which  in  1833 
received  from  Nitzsch 
{Pterijlographise  Avium 
pars  prior,  p.  11)  the 
name  oiptertjla  (Trrepo  v, 
pluma ;  vXrj,  sylva)  or 
"  feather-forests,"  in 
opposition  to  the  ap- 
teria,  or  featherless 
spaces,  which  inter- 
vene. Presumably 
the  first  bird-like  crea- 
tures had  their  skin 
uniformly  clothed ; 
but  the  Ratitie,  Sphen- 
isci  and  Palamedea  are 
almost  the  only  exist- 
ing forms  having  the 
"  Contour  -  feathers  " 


BoTADRus  STELLARis.     Ventral  ami  dorsal  aspect. 

Thf  ilai'k  patches  shew  the  "Powder-downs." 

(After  Nitzsch.) 


(p.  241)  evenly  dis- 
posed over  the  body. 
It  would  be,  however, 

^  It  is  no  more  easy  to  find  a  plural  for  the  word  Pterodes  than  for  Patrocles, 
Themistocles  or  many  others,  but  we  may  be  (juite  sure  that  it  would  not  take 
this  form.  Sundevall  many  years  ago  {K.  Vet.- Ac.  Handl.  1836,  p.  119)  had 
Fterodides,  wliicli  is  pei'haps  possible. 


PTERYLOSIS 


745 


a  fallacy  to  look  on  this  feature  as  proof  of  an  archaic  condition 
in  them,  since  fully-developed  embryos  of  both  Struthio  and  Ai)teryx 
have  well-defined  pterylx.  If  treated  skilfully,  Pterylosis  is  of  prime 
taxonomic  importance-  in  Ornithology,  though  more  in  the  investi- 
gation of  small  than  of  large  groups.  Unfortunately  it  can  seldom 
be  described  in  a  few  words,  and  hence  it  is  chiefly  or  only  those 
among  its  characters  which  can  be  expressed  in  terse  and  trim 
formulae  that  appeal  most 
to  the  mechanical  con- 
structor of  classifications.^ 

The  principal  pterylse 
or  feathered  tracts  are  as 
follows  : — 

(1)  Spinal  tract  {pf. 
spinalis),  extending  along 
the  vertebral  column  from 
neck  to  tail,  bordered  by 
the  lateral,  cervical  and 
trunk  apteria  or  featherless 
spaces.  This  tract  is  one 
of  the  most  variable,  its 
modifications,  of  Avhich 
Nitzsch  enumerated  17, 
being  practically  count- 
less. It  is  rarely  of  the 
same  width  throughout, 
and  is  most  frequently 
dilated  on  the  back  or 
between  the  shoulders, 
with  or  without  a  featherless  space  in  the  midst,  the  position  and 
size  of  which  varies  much.  In  Felecanus,  Fregata,  Phaethon  and  Ardea 
the  space  is  narrow,  and  extends  from  the  neck  to  the  tail,  in  others 
as  Fodicipes,  Cuculi,  Cypselus,  Conicias  and  Opisthocoimis  it  is  re- 
stricted to  the  back,  in  Sida  to  the  interscapular  region,  in  Colymbus 
to  the  neck.  In  some  birds  this  apterium,  whether  interscapular, 
dorsal  or  lumbar,  is  rhomboidal,  and  it  may  become  so  large  as  to 
interrupt  the  spinal  p)teryla,  which  may  end  in  an  interscapular  fork 
and  begin  again  with  a  sacral  bifurcation,  or  as  a  single  streak ;  but 
there  is  no  apterium  in  the  spinal  pteryla  of  the  following  : — Batitx, 
Sphenisci,   Fhalacrocorax,   Flotus,   Falaniedea,    Tinami,    Gallinse    (pt.), 

^  Even  this  has  taken  place  within  comparatively  few  years,  for  Nitzsch's 
great  work  on  the  subject  Pterylogrcqihie  (Halle  :  1840,  4to),  which  after  his  death 
was  edited  by  Burnneister,  excited  bnt  little  and  mostly  unfavourable  notice  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  its  publication.  An  English  translation  by 
the  late  Mr.  Dallas  was  brought  out  in  folio  by  Mr.  Sclatcr  for  the  Ray  Society 
in  1867. 


Chakadrius  PLtTviALis.    Ventral  antl  dorsal  aspect. 
(After  Nitzscli.) 


746 


PTERYLOSIS 


Gi'ues  (pt.),   Pterodes,  Alcedinid^e,  Momotidai,  Todidee,   Colli,   Trogones, 
Menura,  Atrichia  and  most  Oscines. 

(2)  Ventral  tract  (jjt.  ventrali.A).  This  is  nearly  as  diverse  as 
the  foregoing,  and  is  next  to  it  in  taxonomic  value.  It  always  has 
a  longitudinal  median  ajderinm  of  variable  extent,  but  in  Stegano- 
podes  this  is  only  a  narrow  space  extending  from  the  furcula  to  the 
vent,  while  in  Ardea  each  half  of  the  pteryla  is  but  a  narrow  band. 
The  presence  and  shape  of  a  lateral  pectoral  branch  is  also  an 
important  feature. 

(3)  Neck-tract  [pt.  colli).  This  is  unbroken  in  Ratitm,  Sphenisci, 
Colymhus,  Podicipes,  Sfeganopodes,  Ciconiidsc,  Plataleidai,  PJicenicopterus, 


CoLUMBA  LiviA.     Ventral  and  dorsal  aspect. 
(After  Nitzsch.) 


Anseres,  Palamedea,  DicholopJms,'Ofis  tarda  (not  0.  tetrax),  Eupodotis, 
Euri/pyga,  Podica,  Iihi/nchmi,  Ojnsthocomnfi  and  Buceros.  All  other 
birds  have  lateral  cervical  apteria  of  variable  length,  sometimes  in 
addition  to  the  median  cervical  apteria  which,  whether  dorsal  or 
ventral,  are  often  long.  What  Nitzsch  called  pterylse  colli  laterales, 
divided  by  a  very  broad  dorsal  and  a  ventral  cervical  ap)terium,  occur 
only  in  the  Hex'ons  and  in  Otis  tetrax. 

4.  Wing-tract  [pt.  alaris),  composed  of  the  Remiges  with  their 
coverts,  and  hence  of  great  importance. 

5.  Tail-tract  (j)t.  caudalis),  composed  chiefly  of  the  Rectrices 
with  their  upper  and  lower  coverts. 

6.  Shoulder-tract  (pt.  humeralis),  always  well  marked,  consist- 
ing of  the  feathers,   often   called   tertials,   which  grow   from  the 


PTERYLOSIS 


7A7 


humerus,  and  with  the  Scapulars  forming  a  narrow  band  across 
the  upper  arm  parallel  to  the  shoulder-blade. 

7.  Femoral  or  Lumbar  tract  (jpt.  femoralis  s.  lumhalis),  forming 
an  oblique  band  on  the  outer  side  of  the  thigh. 

8.  Crural  tract  (j)t.  cruralis),  clothing  the  legs  so  far  as  they 
are  feathered. 

9.  Head -tract  (j)f.  capitis),  that  which  covers  the  head. 
Remarkable  and  of  rare  occurrence  is  a  well-defined  occipital 
apterium  as  is  seen  in  Colius  and  Trochilidx. 

10.  Tract  of  the  Oil-gland  {pt.  tiropi/gii). 

The  description  of  the  Pterylosis  of  any  bird  is  not  exhausted 
by  an  enumeration  of  the 
pterylm  and  apteria,  but  should 
also  include  the  disposition  of 
Downs,  other  than  Powder- 
Downs,  both  in  the  young 
and  the  old.  The  distribution 
of  Downs  on  the  featherless 
spaces  as  well  as  among  the 
contour-feathers  is  a  primary 
feature,  and  is  characteristic 
of  the  following — Accipitres, 
Alcidx,  Anseres,  Cathartidai, 
Ciconiidx,  Colymbidse,  Dicho- 
lophus,  Eurypi/ga,  Grimlai, 
Laridx,  OpistJwcomus,  Pala- 
medea,  Phcenicopterus,  Plata- 
leidx,  Podica,  Podicipedidx, 
Psittaci,  Ballidx,  Phinochetvs, 
Sphenisci,  Steganopodes,  Tuhin- 
ares — curiously  also  in  Cinclus 
and  in  the  aquatic  members 
of  the  Alredinidce.  Restric- 
tion of  Downs  to  the  apteria, 
is  found  in  the  adults  of 
Ardeidse,  Caprimulgidse,  Cypselidaj,  Cuctdidx,  Gallinse,  Otididse,  Passeres 
(except  Cinclus),  Pteroclida},  Scopus,  Striges  and  Turnicida}.  In 
the  Tinami  only  are  Downs  confined  to  the  pten/lie ;  but  in  them 
they  are  sparsely  and  frequently  thinly  developed,  as  is  also  the 
case  with  the  Cuculidce,  Dicholoplms,  Gallinm,  Limicola},  Opisfhocomus, 
Pteroclidai,  Turnicidx  and  some  Passeres,  while  they  are  wholly 
absent  in  Atrichia,  Bucerotidai,  Capitonidai,  Coliidai,  Golmnhidai, 
Coraciidx,  Eurylaimidx,  Galhulidx,  Menura,  Meropididx,  Momotidm, 
Picidse,  Eatitie,  Pihamphastidm,  Todidai,  Trochilidse,  Trogonidx,  Upupidai 
and  in  most  Passeres. 


Gecinqs  viridis.     Dorsal  aspect. 


748 


P  TILOPyEDES—P  UCKERIGE 


The  figures  here  inserted  serve  to  shew  some  of  the  differences 
of  Pterylosis  presented  by  various  birds ;  but  it  will  be  obvious 


CiNNYEis  CHLOROPTGiA.     Ventral  and  dorsal  aspect. 


A  R  ACHNECHTHRA 
and      CiNNYRIS 

OBScuRA.    Dor- 
sal tract. 


that   a  very  long   series  would   be  required  to  exhibit  even  the 
principal  types  observable  in  the  whole  Class.  ^ 

PTILOP^DES,  a  name  proposed  in  1872  by  Sundevall 
{Tentamen,  p.  102)  for  his  second  division  (agmen)  of  the  Cla,ss  Ares, 
being  the  Birds  whose  young  are  thickly  covered  with  down  before 
their  feathers  grow:  in  1873  changed  (iojn.  cit.  p.  158)  to 
Dasypsides,  to  prevent  confusion -with  PsiLOP^DES. 

PTILOSIS,  the  learned  word  for  Plumage. 

PUBIS  (properly  Os  pubis)  or  PUBIC  Bones,  the  anterior, 
most  ventral  and  slenderest  of  the  three  component  parts  of  the 
Pelvis. 

PUCKERIGE  (possibly  connected  with  the  A.S.  puca,  a  goblin 

^  Since  the  time  of  Nitzsch  additional  descriptions  of  the  Pterylosis  of  certain 
tiirds  have  appeared,  but  no  special  work  on  the  subject,  though  it  has  by  no 
means  been  exhausted,  and  such  a  work  would  be  of  considerable  taxonomic 
utility  if  it  were  amply  illustrated  (little  text  being  needed)  and  special  attention 
paid  to  tiie  numerous  transitional  forms  that  connect  the  chief  types.  A  great 
and  revised  mass  of  information  is  to  be  found,  however,  in  Prof.  Fiirbringer's 
Untersuchungcn  der  Morphologie  unci  Systematik  der  Vbgel. 


PUDDING-POKE -PUFF-BIRD  749 

or  demon),  a  name  of  the  Nightjar,  and  also   of  the  disorder  in 
the  udders  of  cattle  that  it  has  been  said  to  cause. 

PUDDING-POKE,  i.e.  Pudding-bag,  properly  the  nest  of  the 
Long-tailed  Titmouse  ;  but  in  common  use  transferred  to  the  bird 
itself. 

PUFF-BIRD,  the  name  first  given,  according  to  Swainson  {Zool. 
Illustr.  ser.  1,  ii.  text  to  pi.  99),  by  English  residents  in  Brazil 
to  a  group  known  to  ornithologists  as  forming  the  restricted  Famil}' 
Bucconidx,  but  for  a  long  time  confounded,  under  the  general  name 
of  Barbets,  with  the  Capitonidx  of  modern  systematists,  who  regard 
the  two  Families  as  differing  very  considerably  from  one  another. 
Some  authors  have  used  the  generic  name  Capito  in  a  sense  pre- 
cisely opposite  to  that  which  is  now  commonly  accorded  to  it,  and  the 
natural  result  has  been  to  produce  one  of  the  most  complex  of  the 
many  nomenclatural  puzzles  that  beset  Ornithology.  Fortunately 
there  is  no  need  here  to  enter  upon  this  matter,  for  each  group 
has  formed  the  subject  of  an  elaborate  work — the  Cajntonidse  being- 
treated  as  before  stated  (p.  27)  by  the  Messrs.  Marshall,  and  the 
Bucconidx  by  Mr.  Sclater  ^ — in  each  of  which  volumes  the  origin 
of  the  confusion  has  been  explained,  and  to  either  of  them  the 
more  curious  reader  may  be  confidently  referred.  The  Bucconidse 
are  zygodactylous  Birds  belonging  to  the  large  heterogeneous 
assemblage  in  the  present  work  called  PiCARi^E,  and  are  commonly 
considered  nowadays  to  be  most  nearly  allied  to  the  Galhulidse 
(Jacamar).  Like  them  they  are  confined  to  the  Neotropical 
Region,  in  the  middle  parts  of  which,  and  especially  in  its 
Sub-Andean  Subregion,  the  Puff-birds  are,  as  regards  species, 
abundant ;  while  only  two  seem  to  reach  Guatemala  and  but  one 
Paraguay.  As  with  most  South-American  Birds,  the  habits  and 
natural  history  of  the  Buccanidse  have  been  but  little  studied,  and 
of  only  one  species,  which  happens  to  belong  to  a  rather  abnormal 
genus,  has  the  nidification  been  described.  This  is  the  Chelidoptem 
tenehrosa,  which  is  said  to  breed  in  holes  in  banks,  and  to  lay  white 
eggs  much  like  those  of  the  Kingfisher  and  consequently  those 
of  the  Jacamars.  From  his  own  observation  Swainson  writes 
{loc.  cit.)  that  Puff-birds  are  very  grotesque  in  appearance.  They 
will  sit  nearly  motionless  for  hours  on  the  dead  bough  of  a 
tree,  and  while  so  sitting  "  the  disproportionate  size  of  the 
head  is  rendered  more  conspicuous  by  the  bird  raising  its  feathers 
so  as  to  appear  not  unlike  a  puff  ball.  .  .  .  When  frightened  their 
form  is  suddenly  changed  by  the  feathers  lying  quite  flat."  They 
are  very  confiding  birds  and  will  often  station  themselves  a  few 
yards  only  from  a   window.     The  Bucconidse  almost  without   ex- 

^  A  Monograph  of  the  Jacamars  and  Puff-birds,  or  Families  Galbulidfc  and 
Bueconida;.     London  :  1879-82,  4to. 


750 


PUFFIN 


ception  are  very  plainly  coloured,  and  the  majority  have  a  spotted 
or  mottled  plumage  suggestive  of  immaturity.  The  first  Puff-bird 
known  to  Europeans  seems  to  have  been  that  described  by  Marc- 
grave  under  the  name  of  "  Tamatia"  by  which  it  is  said  to 
have  been  called  in  Brazil,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that 
his  description  and  figure — the  last,  comic  as  it  is  in  outline  and 
expression,  ha\dng  been  copied  by  Willughby  and  many  of  the 
older  authors — apply  to  the  Bucco  nuiculatm  of  modern  Ornithology 
— a  bird  placed  by  Brisson  {Ornithologie,  iv.  p.  524)  among  the 
Kingfishers.     But  if  so,  Marcgrave  described  and  figured  the  same 


o,  Malacoptila  ;  b,  Monacha  ;  c,  Chelidoptera  ;  d,  Bucco  maculata  ;  c,  B.  tamatia. 

(After  Swainsoii.) 

species    twice,    since    his    "  Makdtid "    is    also    Brisson's    "  Martin 
pescheur  taclieU  du  Bresil." 

Mr.  Sclater  in  his  Alonograph  divided  the  Family  into  7  genera, 
of  which  JBucco  is  the  largest  and  contains  20  species.  The  others 
are  Malacoptila  and  Monadui  each  with  7,  Nonnula  with  5,  Chelido- 
ptera with  2,  and  Micronwnacha  and  Hapaloptila  with  1  species  each, 
treating  them  precisely  in  the  same  way  in  1891  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus. 
xix.  pp.  178-208).  The  most  showy  Puff-birds  are  those  of  the 
genus  Monacha  with  an  inky-black  plumage,  usually  diversified  by 
white  about  the  head,  and  a  red  or  yellow  bill.  The  rest  call  for 
no  particular  remark. 

PUFFIN,  the  common  English  name  of  a  sea-bird,  the  Frater- 
cula  arctica  of  most  ornithologists,  known,  however,  on  various  parts 
of  the  British  coasts  as  the  Bottlenose,  Coulterneb,  Pope,  Sea-Parrot, 
and  Tammy-Noyie,  to  say  nothing  of  other  still  more  local  desig- 
nations, some  (as  Marrott  and  Willock)  shared  also  with  allied 
species  of  Alcidai,  to  which  Family  it  has,  until  very  lately,  been 
invariably  deemed  to  belong.  Of  old  time  Puffins  were  a  valuable 
commodity  to  the  owners  of  their  breeding-places,  for  the  young 


PUFFIN  751 


were  taken  from  the  holes  in  which  they  were  hatched,  and 
"being  exceeding  fat,"  as  Carew  wrote  in  1602  {Survey  of  Cormvall, 
fol.  35),  were  "kept  salted,  and  repiited  for  fish  as  coming  neerest 
thereto  in  their  taste."  In  1345,  according  to  a  document  from 
which  an  extract  is  given  in  Heath's  Islands  of  Scilly  (p.  190)  those 
islands  were  held  of  the  crown  at  a  yearly  rent  of  300  Puffins  ^  or 
6s.  8d.,  being  one-sixth  of  their  estimated  annual  value.  Some 
years  later  (1484),  either  through  the  birds  having  grown  scarcer 
or  money  cheaper,  only  50  Puffins  are  said  {op.  cit.  p.  196)  to  have 
been  demanded.  It  is  stated  by  both  Gesner  and  Caius  that  they 
were  allowed  to  be  eaten  in  Lent.  Ligon,  who  in  1673  speaks 
{Hist.  Barbadoes,  p.  37)  of  the  ill  taste  of  Puffins  "which  we  have 
from  the  isles  of  Scilly,"  and  adds,  "  this  kind  of  food  is  only  for 
servants."  Puffins  used  to  resort  in  vast  numbers  to  certain  stations 
on  the  coast,  and  are  still  plentiful  on  some,^  reaching  them  in  spring 
with  remarkable  punctuality  on  a  certain  day,  which  naturally  varies 
with  the  locality,  and  after  passing  the  summer  there,  leaving  their 
homes  with  similar  precision.  They  differ  from  most  other  Alcidse 
in  laying  their  single  egg  (which  is  white,  with  a  few  grey  markings, 
when  first  produced  but  speedily  begrimed  by  the  soil)  in  a  shallow 
burrow,  which  they  either  dig  for  themselves  or  appropriate  from 
a  rabbit,  for  on  many  of  their  haunts  rabbits  have  been  introduced. 
Their  plumage  is  of  a  glossy  black  above — the  cheeks  grey,  en- 
circled by  a  black  band — and  pure  white  beneath  ;  their  feet  are  of 
a  bright  reddish-orange,  but  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  these 
birds,  and  one  that  gives  them  a  very  comical  expression,  is  their 
huge  bill.  This  is  very  deep  and  laterally  flattened,  so  as,  indeed, 
to  resemble  a  coulter,  as  one  of  the  bird's  common  names  expresses  ; 
but  moreover  it  is  parti-coloured — blue,  yellow  and  red — curiously 
grooved  and  still  more  curiously  embossed  in  places,  that  is  to  say, 
during  the   breeding-season,  Avhen  the   birds  are  most  frequently 

^  There  can  not  be  much  doubt  tliat  the  name  Puffin  given  to  these  young 
birds,  salted  and  dried,  was  applied  on  account  of  their  downy  clothing,  for  an 
English  informant  of  Gesner's  described  one  to  him  [Hist.  Avium,,  p.  110)  as 
wanting  true  feathers,  and  being  covered  only  with  a  sort  of  woolly  black 
plumage.  It  is  right,  however,  to  state  that  Caius  expressly  declares  (Earior. 
animal,  libellus,  fol.  21)  that  the  name  is  derived  "a  naturali  voce  pupin." 
Prof.  Skeat  states  that  the  word  is  a  diminutive,  which  favours  the  view  that  it 
was  originall}'  used  for  these  young  birds.  The  parents  were  probably  known  by 
one  or  other  of  their  many  local  names. 

^  In  1893  I  took  some  trouble  to  make  an  estimate,  though  from  the  nature 
of  the  case  a  very  rough  one,  of  the  number  of  Puffins  which  had  their  home  in 
one  locality  among  the  Hebrides.  The  calculation  worked  out  to  be  three  millions, 
and  my  friend  Mr.  Henry  Evans,  to  whose  kindness  I  was  indebted  for  the 
opportunity  of  visiting  the  place,  considered  that  number  not  to  be  excessive. 
In  1894  I  was  again  at  the  same  spot  and  was  inclined  to  think  that  I  had 
before  underrated  the  number. 


752  PUKRAS 


seen.  But  it  had  long  been  known  to  some  observers  that  such 
Puflfins  as  occasionally  occur  in  winter  (most  often  dead  and  washed 
up  on  the  shore)  presented  a  beak  very  different  in  shape  and 
size,  and  to  account  for  the  difference  was  a  standing  puzzle. 
Many  years  ago  Bingley  {North  Wales,  i.  p.  354)  stated  that  Puffins 
"are  said  to  change  their  bills  annually."  The  remark  seems  to 
have  been  generally  overlooked ;  but  it  has  proved  to  be  very  near 
the  truth,  for  after  investigations  carefully  pursued  during  some 
years  by  Dr.  Bureau  of  Nantes  he  was  in  1877  enabled  to  shew 
{Bull  Soc.  Zool.  France,  ii.  pp.  377-399)^  that  the  Puffin's  bill 
undergoes  an  annual  MOULT,  some  of  its  most  remarkable  appen- 
dages, as  well  as  certain  horny  outgrowths  above  and  beneath  the 
eyes,  dropping  oft'  at  the  end  of  the  breeding-season,  and  being 
reproduced  the  following  year.  Not  long  after  the  same  naturalist 
announced  {op.  cit.  iv.  pp.  1-68)  that  he  had  followed  the  similar 
changes  which  he  found  to  take  place,  not  only  in  other  species  of 
Puffins,  as  the  Fratercula  corniculata  and  F.  cirrhata  of  the  Northern 
Pacific,  but  in  several  birds  of  the  kindred  genera  Cerorhyncha,  the 
Horn-billed  Auk,  and  Simorhijnchus  inhabiting  the  same  waters,  and 
consequently  proposed  to  regard  all  of  them  as  forming  a  Family 
distinct  from  the  Alcidx — a  view  which  has  since  found  favour 
with  Dr.  Dybowski  {op.  cit.  vii.  pp.  270-300  and  viii.  pp.  348-350), 
though  there  is  apparently  insufficient  reason  for  accepting  it. 

The  name  Puffin  has  also  been  given  in  books  to  one  of  the 
Shearwaters,  and  its  Latinized  form  Puffinus  is  still  used  in  that 
sense  in  scientific  nomenclature.  This  fact  seems  to  have  arisen 
from  a  mistake  of  Ray's,  who,  seeing  in  Tradescant's  Museum  and 
that  of  the  Royal  Society  some  young  Shearwaters  from  the  Isle  of 
Man,  prepared  in  like  manner  to  young  Puffins,  thought  they  were 
the  birds  mentioned  by  Gesner  {loc.  cit.),  as  the  remarks  inserted  in 
Willughby's  Ornithologia  (p.  251)  prove  ;  for  the  specimens  described 
by  Ray  were  as  clearly  Shearwaters  as  Gesner's  were  Puffins. 

PUKRAS,  from  its  name  in  one  of  the  dialects  in  the  North- 
Avestern  Himalaya,  a  species  of  Pheasant  (well-known  to  Anglo- 
Indian  sportsmen,  by  whom  it  is  also  called  the  "  Koklas "),  the 
Pucrasia  macrolopha  of  most  ornithologists.  The  cock  is  remarkable 
for  his  very  long  ear-tufts  of  glossy  black,  which  contrast  with  the 
large  spot  of  pure  white  on  each  side  of  the  neck ;  but  the  rest  of 
his  plumage  is  comparatively  unobtrusive,  while  the  hen,  as  usual 
among  the  Pheasants,  is  very  plainly  coloured.  Beside  a  local 
form  which    seems   to  be   peculiar   to  Cashmere  and  Gilgit,   Mr. 

^  A  translated  abstract  of  this  paper — containing  an  account  of  what  is  per- 
haps the  most  interesting  discovery  of  the  kind  made  in  Ornithology  for  many 
years — is  given  in  the  Zoologist  for  1878  (pp.  233-240)  and  another  in  the  Bulletin 
of  Uie  Nuttall  Ornithological  Club  for  the  same  year  (iii.  pp.  87-01). 


PULLASTRJS—PYGOSTYLE  753 

Ogilvie  Grant  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mas.  xxii.  pp.  310-316)  recognizes  5 
other  species,  one  inhabiting  Affghanistan,  a  second  Nepal  and  the 
rest  Tibet  or  China. 

PULLASTR^,  an  Order  proposed  by  Sundevall  {K.  Vet.-Acad. 
Handl.  1836,  pp.  69,  116)  to  contain  the  CuRASSOWS,  Lyre-bird, 
Plantain-eaters  and  Pigeons  ;  subsequently  abandoned  by  him  ; 
but  in  the  meanwhile  brought  forward  by  Prof.  Lilljeborg  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1866,  pp.  11,  15),  with  the  addition  of  the  Megapodes 
and  omission  of  Menura  and  Musophagidse. 

PUREE  (A.S.  Pur,  Wright's  Vocahdaries,  i.  p.  21),  a  common 
name  for  the  Dunlin  in  its  winter-dress,  especially  among  pro- 
fessional gunners,  who  are  apt  to  believe,  as  did  ornithologists  for  a 
long  while,  that  the  Purre  and  the  Dunlin  are  distinct  species. 

PUTTOCK,  an  old  name  for  the  Kite  and  Buzzard,  suggested 
by  Prof.  Skeat  {Etymol.  Did.  p.  480)  to  signify  Boot-  or  Poult- Hawk, 
that  is  to  say  the  Hawk  that  especially  preys  on  the  young  of 
Gallinaceous  birds. 

PYGOPODES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  for  a  group  consisting  of 
the  genera  Colymbus  (  =  Podici])es,  Grebe),  Eudytes  (  =  Colymbus, 
Diver),  Uria  (Guillemot),  Mormon  (Puffin),  and  Alca  (Auk),  and 
by  many  Avriters  regarded  as  a  reasonably  natural  group  or  Order. 

PYGOSTYLE  is  the  terminal  bony  expansion  of  the  last  6  or 
7  caudal  vertebrae  which  in  almost  all  Carinatx  coalesce  into  a 
subtriangular  upright  plate  or  blade  carrying  the  Rectrices. 
Archseopteryz  (pp.  278-279)  shews  the  most  primitive  condition 
by  possessing  about  21  free  post-sacral  vertebrae,  of  which 
each,  from  the  9th  to  the  20th,  supports  a  pair  of  well- 
developed  rectrices.  In  all  other  Birds,  as  yet  known,  the  number 
of  post-sacral  vertebras  is  considerably  diminished,  partly  by  the 
fusion  of  about  6  of  them  with  the  Pelvis,  and  partly  by  reduc- 
tion at  the  distal  end,  so  that  not  more  than  some  13  caudal 
vertebrae  are  left,  of  which  about  one-half  are  free  while  the  rest 
form  the  Pygostyle — a  result  possibly  due  to  the  greater  use  and 
development  of  the  rectrices.  However,  Hesperornis  (pp.  649-650), 
the  Eatitse  and  Tinamidse  retain,  even  when  adult,  13  free 
vertebrae,  which  diminish  in  size  towards  the  tip  of  the  tail,  and 
thus  these  birds  present  in  that  respect  an  embryonic  condition, 
though  it  is  more  probable  that  in  them  the  absence  of  a  Pygostyle 
has  been  brought  about  in  a  secondary  way  by  the  gradual  loss  or 
reduction  of  once  strongly-developed  rectrices,  than  that  it  should 
be  the  retention  of  a  primitive  feature.  A  Pygostyle  has  been 
occasionally  observed  in  Ajjteryx,  and  the  specimen  of  an  old  Ostrich 
in  the  Cambridge  Museum  has  one,  some  2  inches  high  and 
nearly  an  inch  and  a  half  long.     In  Ichthyornis  (p.  651)  it  is  very 

48 


754  PYLSTA  ART— QUAIL 

small.  All  this  tends  to  shew  that  the  distinction  expressed  by  the 
term  Saurur.e,  in  opiDosition  to  "  OrnUhuree,"  is  based  on  an 
erroneous  supposition. 

^ff\/*^^  PYLSTAART,  from  the  Dutch,  signifying  a  tail  like  the  shaft 
of  an  arrow,  and  apparently  applied  originally  to  the  long-tailed 
Skuas,  but  now  more  frequently  to  the  Tropic-birds. 


Q 

QUA-BIRD,  so-called  from  its  cry,  one  of  the  names  given  to 
the  North-American  Night-HERON,  NycUcorax  nsevius  (page  420). 

QUADRATE  BONES  form  in  Birds,  as  in  Reptiles,  Amphi- 
bians and  Fishes,  the  suspensorial  apparatus  of  the  mandibles,  while 
in  Mammals  they  are  transformed  into  the  tympanic  ring  and  lose 
their  jaw-bearing  function.  The  dorsal  or  proximal  end  of  the 
Quadrate  invariably  articulates  with  the  squamosal,  and  often  with 
the  lateral  occipital  bone  also.  In  Hesperornis,  Ichfhyornis,  Batitse 
and  Tinamidse  the  articulation  is  formed  by  a  single  convexity, 
Avhile  in  all  other  birds  it  consists  of  an  outer  and  an  inner  knob, 
though  the  existence  of  an  inner  knob,  small  and  sometimes 
indistinct,  is  indicated  in  Hesperornis,  Bhea  and  the  Beristero- 
podes.  The  ventral  or  distal  end  of  the  Quadrate  has  two 
oblong  knobs  for  articulation  with  the  mandible,  as  well  as  two 
small  facets,  one  on  the  lateral  side  for  the  jugal  bone,  and  the 
other,  which  is  prominent,  on  the  median  side  for  articulation  with 
the  posterior  end  of  the  pterygoid.  From  the  anterior  surface  of 
the  shaft  of  the  Quadrate  projects  the  orbital  process  serving  for 
the  attachment  of  one  of  the  masseter  muscles.  This  process 
differs  greatly  in  various  birds,  being  large  and  strong  in  most 
aquatic  forms,  pointed  in  the  Birds-of-Prey  and  scarcely  developed 
in  the  Nightjars.  Since,  as  in  Lizards  and  Snakes,  the  whole 
Quadrate  is  movable,  protrusion  of  its  distal  end  helps,  by  means 
of  the  jugal  bone,  to  raise  the  upper  jaw  (c/.  Skull).  That 
the  general  shape  of  the  Quadrate  can  be  advantageously  used  for 
taxonomic  purposes  has  been  shewn  by  the  excellent  figures  of  Miss 
M.  Walker  {Stud.  Mus.  Dundee,  1888). 

QUAIL  (Old  Scottish  Qmilzie,  Old  French  Quaille,  Mod.  French 
Caille,  Italian  Quaglia,  Low  Latin  Quaquila,  Dutch  Kwakkel  and 
Kwartel,  German  JVachtel,  Danish  Vagtel),  a  very  well-known  bird 
throughout  almost  all  countries  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa, — in 
modern    ornithology    the    Coturnix   communis   or    C.   dadylisonans. 


QUAIL  755 

This  last  epithet  was  given  from  the  peculiar  three-syllabled  call- 
note  of  the  cock,  which  has  been  grotesquely  rendered  in  several 
European  languages,  and  in  some  parts  of  Gi'eat  Britain  the  species 
is  popularly  known  by  the  nickname  of  "  Wet-my-lips  "  or  "  Wet- 
my-feet."  The  Quail  varies  somewhat  in  colour,  and  the  variation 
is  rather  individual  than  attributable  to  local  causes  ;  but  gener- 
ally the  plumage  may  be  described  as  reddish-brown  above,  almost 
each  feather  being  transversely  patched  with  dark  brown  inter- 
rupted by  a  longitudinal  stripe  of  light  buff;  the  head  is  dai'k 
brown  above,  with  three  longitudinal  streaks  of  ochreous-white  ; 
the  sides  of  the  breast  and  flanks  are  reddish-brown,  distinctly 
striped  Avith  ochreous-white ;  the  rest  of  the  lower  parts  are  pale 
buff,  clouded  with  a  darker  shade,  and  passing  into  white  on  the 
belly.  The  cock,  besides  being  generally  brighter  in  tint,  not  un- 
frequently  has  the  chin  and  a  double  throat-band  of  reddish  or 
blackish-brown,  which  marks  are  wanting  in  the  hen,  whose  breast 
is  usually  spotted.  Quails  breed  on  the  ground,  without  making 
much  of  a  nest,  and  lay  from  nine  to  fifteen  eggs  of  a  yellowish- 
Avhite,  blotched  and  spotted  with  dark  brown.  Essentially  migra- 
tory by  nature,-^  in  March  and  April  they  cross  the  Mediterranean 
from  the  south  on  the  way  to  their  breeding-homes  in  large  bands, 
but  these  are  said  to  be  as  nothing  compared  with  the  enormous 
flights  that  emigrate  from  Europe  towards  the  end  of  September. 
During  both  migrations  immense  numbers  are  netted  for  the 
market,  since  they  are  almost  universally  esteemed  as  delicate 
meat.  On  capture  they  are  placed  in  long,  narrow  and  low  cages, 
darkened  to  prevent  the  prisoners  from  fighting,  and,  though  they 
are  often  so  much  crowded  as  to  be  hardly  able  to  stir,  the  loss  by 
death  that  ensues  is  but  trifling.  Food,  usually  millet  or  hemp- 
seed,  and  water  are  supplied  in  troughs  hung  in  front,  and  thus 
these  little  birds  are  transported  by  tens  of  thousands  from  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  for  consumption  in  the  most  opulent 
and  populous  cities  of  Europe.  The  flesh  of  Quails  caught  in 
spring  commonly  proves  dry  and  indifferent,  but  that  of  those 
taken  in  autumn,  especially  when  they  have  been  kept  long  enough 
to  grow  fat,  as  they  quickly  do,  is  excellent.  In  no  part  of  the 
British  Islands  at  present  do  Quails  exist  in  sufficient  numbers  to 
be  the  especial  object  of  sport,  though  there  are  many  places  in 
which  a  few,  and  in  some  seasons  more  than  a  few,  yearly  fall  to 
the  gun.  When  made  to  take  wing,  which  is  not  always  easily 
done,  they  rise  with  great  speed,  but  on  such  occasions  they  seldom 
fly  far,  and  no  one  seeing  them  only  thus  would  be  inclined  to 
credit  them  with  the  power  of  extensive  migration  that  they 
possess,  though   this   is   often   overtaxed,  and   the   birds  in  their 

^  Yet  not  a  few  Quails  pass  the  winter  in  the  northern  hemisphere  and  even 
in  Britain,  and  many  more  in  southern  Europe. 


756  QUAIL 

transmarine  voyages  frequently  drop  exhausted  into  the  sea  or  on 
any  vessel  that  may  be  in  their  way.  In  old  days  they  were  taken 
in  England  in  a  net,  attracted  thereto  by  means  of  a  Quail-call, — a 
simple  instrument,^  the  use  of  which  is  now  wholly  neglected, — on 
which  their  notes  are  easily  imitated. 

Five  or  six  other  species  of  the  restricted  genus  Coturnix  are 
now  recognized;  but  the  subject  of  the  preceding  remarks  is 
generally  admitted  to  be  that  intended  by  the  author  of  the  book 
of  Exodus  (xvi.  13)  as  having  supplied  food  to  the  Israelites  in 
the  wilderness,  though  a  few  writers  have  thought  that  bird  to 
have  been  a  Sand-Grouse.  In  South  Africa  and  India  allied 
species,  C.  delegorguii  and  C.  coromandelica,  the  latter  known  as 
the  Rain-Quail,  respectively  occur,  as  well  as  the  commoner  one, 
which  in  Australia  and  Tasmania  is  wholly  replaced  by  C.  pedoralis, 
the  Stubble-Quail  of  the  colonists.  In  New  Zealand  another 
species,  C.  novse-zealandise,  was  formerly  very  abundant  in  some 
districts,  but  is  considered  to  have  been  nearly  if  not  quite 
extirpated  within  the  last  thirty  years  by  bush-fires.  Some  fifteen 
or  perhaps  more  species  of  Quails,  inhabiting  the  Indian  and 
Australian  Regions,  have  been  separated,  perhaps  unnecessarily, 
to  form  the  genera  Syncecus,  Perdicula,  Hxcalphatoria  and  so  forth ; 
but  they  call  for  no  particular  remark. 

America  has  some  forty  species  of  birds  which  are  commonly 
deemed  Quails,  though  by  some  authors  placed  in  a  distinct  Family 
or  subfamily  Odontophorinse.^  The  best  known  is  the  Virginian 
Quail,  or  Colin,  as  it  is  frequently  called — that  being,  according 
to  Hernandez,  its  old  Mexican  name.  It  is  the  Ortyx  virginianus 
of  modern  ornithology,  and  has  a  wide  distribution  in  North 
America,  in  some  parts  of  which  it  is  known  as  the  "  Partridge,"  as 
well  as  by  the  nickname  of  "  Bob- White,"  ^  aptly  bestowed  upon 
it  from  the  call-note  of  the  cock.  Many  attempts  have  been  made 
to  introduce  this  bird  to  England  (as  indeed  similar  trials  have 
been  made  in  the  United  States  with  Quails  from  Europe) ;  but, 
though  it  has  been  turned  out  by  hundreds,  and  has  been  frequently 
known  to  breed  after  liberation,  its  numbers  rapidly  diminish 
until  it  wholly  disappears.  The  beautiful  tufted  Quail  of  Cali- 
fornia, Lophortyx  californicus,  has  also  been  tried  in  Europe  without 
success ;  but  is  well  established  in  New  Zealand  and  the  Sandwich 
Islands.  All  these  American  Quails  or  Colins  seem  to  have  the  habit 
of  perching  on  trees,  which  none  of  the  Old- World  forms  possess. 

Interesting  from  many  points  of  view  as  is  the  group  of  Birds 

^  One  is  figured  in  Rowley's  Ornithological  Miscellany  (ii.  p.  363). 

2  They  form  the  subject  of  a  monograpli  in  folio  by  Gould,  published 
between  1844  and  1850. 

2  I  learn  from  a  kindly  critic  {Auk,  1893,  p.  358)  that  this  name  has 
lately  been  adopted  as  generic. 


Q  UA IL-DO  VE—  Q  UA IL-HA  WK 


757 


last  mentioned,  there  is  another  which,  containing  a  score  of  species 
(or  perhaps  more)  often  tei"mecl  Quails,  is  of  still  greater  im- 
portance in  the  eyes  of  the  systematist.  This  is  that  comprehended 
by  the  genus  Turnix  (Hemipode).  It  is  characteristic  of  this 
genus  to  want  the  hind  toe ;  but  the  African  Ortyxelus  and 
the  Australian  Pedionomus  which  have  been  referred  to  its  neigh- 
bourhood have  four  toes  on  each  foot,  and,  though  nothing  is 
known  of  the  anatomy  or  habits  of  the  first,  the  second,  after 
much  discussion,  has  been  decisively  shewn  by  Dr.  Gadow  (Bee. 
Austral.  Mus.  1891,  pp.  205-211)  to  be  closely  allied  to  Turnix. 

QUAIL- DOVE  and  QUAIL -SNIPE,  both  book-names— the 
former  for  Sfarnmias  q/anocephala  a  Cuban  species  which  occasionally 
strays  to  the  Florida  Cays,  and  the  latter  for  species  of  the 
Neotropical  genus  Thinocorys,  one  of  the  LiMiCOL/E,  by  some  writers 
referred  to  the  Charadriidi«  (Plovkb.,  p.  733),  and  by  others  regarded 
as  forming  with  Attagis  a  self-standing  Family. 

QUAIL-HAWK,  the  name  given  by  colonists  to  the  Fako 
novse-zealandise  of  Gmelin,  by  later  writers  referred  to  the  genus 
Hieracidea  or  even  placed  apart  as  Harpe,^  a  fine  Falconine  bird, 


Quail-hawk.    (From  Duller.) 

the  precise  affinities  of  which  it  would  be  very  interesting  to  know, 
and  one  must  hope  that  they  may  be  determined  before  the 
extirpation  of  the  form,  since  there  seems  to  be  a  chance  of  its 
proving  to  be  a  less  modified  descendant  of  an  ancient  stock  whence 
the  true  genus  Falco  and  others  have  sprung,  while  on  the  other 
hand  it  may  turn  out  to  be  only  an  early  settler  from  Australia  or 
elsewhere.  Several  authorities,  and  among  them  Sir  Walter  Buller, 
recognize  a  second  species,  the  Falco  ferox  of  Peale  or  brunneus  of 
Gould,  which  seems  scarcely  to  diff"er  from  the  first  but  in  its 
smaller  size,  its  habit  of  frequenting  the  bush  rather  than  the  open, 
and  its  comparative   abundance  in  the  North   Island,  where  the 

1  This  name  lias  long  been  preoccupied  by  conchologists,  and  that  in  the 
very  form,  Haiya,  to  which  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  i.  p.  -372)  changed  it. 


758  QUAKER— QUEZAL 

larger  one  is  seldom  if  ever  seen.  Both  appear  to  be  equally 
courageous,  and  their  thoroughly  Falconine  aspect  is  shewn  by  the 
annexed  figure. 

QUAKEE,  a  sailors'  name  for  the  Dusky  Albatros,  Phoebetria 
fuliginosa. 

QUAKETAIL,  a  book-name  invented  for  the  Yellow  Wagtail 
and  its  allies,  after  they  had  been  generically  separated  from 
Motacilla  as  Budytes. 

QUAM  or  QUAN,  old  ways  of  spelling  what  is  now  written 

GUAN. 

QUA-QUA,  the  Creole  name  in  Tobago,  for  a  species  of 
Thamnophilus  (Ant-Thrush,  p.  21)  there  found. 

QUEEST  or  QUIST,  an  abbreviated  corruption  of  Cushat. 

QUESAL  or  QUEZAL  the  Spanish-American  name  for  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  of  birds,  abbreviated  from  the  Aztec  or  Maya 
Quetzal-tototl,  the  last  part  of  the  compound  word  meaning  fowl,  and 
the  first,  also  written  Quetzal,  the  long  feathers  of  rich  green  with 
which  it  is  adorned.^  The  Quezal  is  one  of  the  Trogons,  and  was 
originally  described  by  Hernandez  (Eistoria,  p.  13),  whose  account 
was  faithfully  copied  by  Willughby.  Yet  the  bird  remained 
practically  unknown  to  ornithologists  until  figured  in  1825,  from  a 
specimen  belonging  to  Leadbeater,^  by  Temminck  {PI.  col.  372) 
who,  however,  mistakenly  thought  it  was  the  same  as  the  Trogon 
pavoninus,  a  congeneric  but  quite  distinct  species  from  Brazil,  that 
had  just  been  described  by  Spix  (Av.  Bras.  i.  p.  47,  pi.  xxxv.)  In 
1832  the  Begistro  Trimestre,  a  literary  and  scientific  journal  printed 
at  Mexico,  of  which  few  copies  can  exist  in  Europe,  contained  a  com- 
munication (pp.  43-49)  by  Dr.  Pablo  de  la  Llave,  describing  this 

^  Dr.  Tylor  informs  me  that  the  Mexican  deity  Quetzal-coatl  had  his  name, 
generally  translated  "Feathered  Snake,"  from  the  quetzal,  feather  or  bird,  and 
coatl,  snake,  as  also  certain  kings  or  chiefs,  and  many  places,  e.g.  Quetzalapan, 
Quetzaltepec,  and  Quezaltenango,  though  perhaps  some  of  the  last  were  named 
directly  from  the  personages  (c/.  Bancroft,  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States, 
vol.  V.  Index).     Quetzal-itzli  is  said  to  be  the  emerald. 

-  This  specimen  had  been  given  to  Mr.  Canning  (a  tribute,  perhaps,  to  the 
statesman  who  afterwards  boasted  that  he  had  ' '  called  a  New  World  into 
existence  to  redress  the  balance  of  the  Old  ")  by  Mr,  Schenley,  a  diplomatist, 
and  was  then  thought  to  be  unique  in  Europe  ;  but,  apart  from  those  which 
had  reached  Spain,  where  they  lay  neglected  and  undescribed,  James  Wilson 
says  {Illustr.  Zool.  pi.  vi.  text)  that  others  were  brought  with  it,  and  that  one 
of  them  v/as  given  to  the  Edinburgh  Museum.  On  the  21st  day  of  the  sale  of 
Bullock's  Museum  in  1819,  Lot  38  is  entered  in  the  Catalogue  as  "The  Tail 
Feather  of  a  magnificent  undescribed  Trogon,"  and  very  likely  belonged  to  this 
species.  It  was  bought  for  nineteen  shillings  by  Warwick,  a  well-known 
London  dealer. 


QUEZAL 


759 


QuEZAL,  male  and  female. 


76o  QUEZAL 

species  (with  which  he  first  became  acquainted  prior  to  1810,  from 
examining  more  than  a  dozen  specimens  obtained  by  the  natural- 
history  expedition  to  New  Spain  and  kept  in  the  palace  of  the 
Retiro  near  Madrid)  under  the  name  by  which  it  is  now  commonly 
known,  Pharomacrus  mocinno,^  in  memory  of  a  Mexican  naturalist, 
Dr.  Mociiio.  This  fact,  however,  being  almost  unknown  to  the 
rest  of  the  world,  Gould,  while  pointing  out  Temminck's  error  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1835,  p.  29),  gave  the  species  the  name  of  Trogon 
resplendens,  which  it  bore  for  some  time.  Yet  little  or  nothing 
was  generally  known  about  the  bird  until  Delattre  sent  an  account 
of  his  meeting  with  it  to  the  Echo  du  Monde  Savant  for  1843 
{reprinted  Bev.  Zool.  for  that  year,  pp.  163-165).  In  1860  the 
nidification  of  the  species,  about  which  strange  stories  had  been 
told  to  the  naturalist  last  named,  was  determined,  and  its  eggs,  of 
a  pale  bluish-green,  were  procured  by  Mr.  Robert  Owen  (Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1860,  p.  374;  Ibis,  1861,  p.  66,  pi.  ii.  fig.  1);  while  further 
and  fuller  details  of  its  habits  (of  which  want  of  space  forbids  even 
an  abstract  here)  were  made  known  by  Mr.  Salvin  (Ibis,  1861,  pp. 
138-149)  from  his  own  observation  of  this  very  local  and  remark- 
able species.  Its  chief  home  is  in  the- mountains  near  Coban  in 
Vera  Paz,  but  it  also  inhabits  forests  in  other  parts  of  Guatemala 
at  an  elevation  of  from  6000  to  9000  feet. 

The  Quezal  is  hardly  so  big  as  a  Turtle-Dove.  The  cock  has  a 
fine  yellow  bill  and  a  head  bearing  a  rounded  crest  of  filamentous 
feathers  ;  lanceolate  scapulars  overhang  the  wings,  and  from  the 
rump  spring  the  long  flowing  plumes  which  are  so  characteristic  of 

^  M.  Salle  translated  De  la  Llave's  very  rare  and  interesting  memoir  (Bev.  et 
Mag.  de  Zool.  1861,  pp.  23-33).  Bonaparte  stated  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1837,  p. 
101)  that  in  1826  he  had  proposed  the  name  paradiseus  for  this  species,  and 
had  communicated  a  notice  of  it  to  an  American  journal.  There  seems  no 
reason  to  doubt  his  statement,  and  the  journal  was  most  likely  the  Contribu- 
tions of  the  Maclurian  Lyceum,  publisJied  at  Philadelphia  (1827-29),  to  which, 
as  he  says  in  his  Sulla  secondco  edizione  del  Regno  Animale  del  Barone  Cuvier 
Osservazioni  (Bologna :  1830,  p.  80),  he  sent  some  remarks  on  Swainson's 
Synopsis  of  the  Birds  of  Mexico,  and  believed  they  had  been  2:)rinted  there.  But 
these  Contributions  unfortunately  came  to  an  end  with  the  third  number,  and 
the  only  article  by  Bonaparte  they  contain  is  a  Catalogue  of  the  Birds  of  the 
United  States  (pp.  8-34),  so  that  his  criticism  of  Swainson's  paper  (which  had 
appeared  in  the  Philosophical  Magazine  for  1827),  though  doubtless  accepted  for 
publication,  has  never  seen  the  light.  Dr.  Hartlaub  has  printed  [Naumannia, 
1852,  Hft.  2,  p.  51)  part  of  a  letter  from  Duke  Paul  of  Wiirtemberg,  in  which 
the  writer  says  that  in  1831  he  communicated  a  description  of  P.  mocinno  to 
Cuvier,  who  thought  that  its  long  train-feathers  had  been  jnit  together  arti- 
ficially. He  possibly  had  in  mind  the  celebrated  feather  treasured  in  the 
Escurial  as  having  come  from  the  wing  of  the  Archangel  Gabriel.  This  might 
be  thought  to  have  been  a  Quezal's,  but  the  autlior  of  Vathek  who  saw  it  in 
1787,  says  {Italy  with  Sketches  of  Spain,  ii.  p.  325)  it  was  rose-coloured. 


QUILL— QUIT  761 


the  species,  and  were  so  highly  prized  by  the  natives  prior  to  the 
Spanish  conquest  that  no  one  was  allowed  to  kill  the  bird  when 
taken,  but  only  to  divest  it  of  its  feathers,  which  were  to  be  worn 
by  the  chiefs  alone.  These  plumes,  the  middle  and  longest  of 
which  may  measure  from  three  feet  to  three  feet  and  a  half,  are  with 
the  upper  surface,  the  throat  and  chest,  of  a  resplendent  golden- 
green,^  while  the  lower  parts  are  of  a  vivid  scarlet.  The  middle 
feathers  of  the  tail,  ordinarily  concealed,  as  are  those  of  the  Pea- 
cock, by  the  uropygials,  are  black,  and  the  outer  white  with  a  black 
base.  In  the  hen  the  bill  is  black,  the  crest  more  round  and  not 
filamentous,  the  uropygials  scarcely  elongated  and  the  vent  only 
scarlet.  The  eyes  are  of  a  yellowish-brown.  Southern  examples 
from  Costa  Kica  and  Veragua  have  the  tail-coverts  much  narrower, 
and  have  been  needlessly  considered  to  form  a  distinct  species 
under  the  name  of  P.  costaricensis.  There  are,  however,  three  good 
congeneric  species,  P.  antisianus,  P.  auriceps  and  P.  pavoninus,  from 
various  parts  of  South  America,  and,  though  all  are  beautiful  birds, 
none  possesses  the  wonderful  singularity  of  the  Quezal. 

QUILL,  properly  that  part  of  Feather  which  is  often  called 
the  "  barrel " ;  but  in  common  use  applied  to  any  feather  that  has 
a  barrel  of  considerable  size,  and  especially  to  the  large  feathers  of 
the  tail  and  wing  (see  Eectrices,  Eemiges). 

QUILL-TAIL  COOT,  a  local  name  in  North  America  for  Uris- 
matura  rubida,  one  of  the  Spiny-tailed  Ducks  (p.  168). 

QUINCK- GOOSE,  a  fowlers'  name  of  the  Brant-Goose  (pp. 
57,  375). 

QUISCALUS,  said  to  be  from  the  Low  Latin  Quiscnia  or 
Quisquilla,  which  like  Quaquila  are  supposed  to  be  renderings  of 
Quagila  or  some  such  Avord,  and  to  mean  Quail,  but  the  first  is  used 
as  the  scientific  name  of  the  genus  to  which  belong  the  Boat-tail 
Grackles,  and  also  occasionally  as  an  English  word. 

QUIT,  a  name  applied  in  Jamaica,  and  perhaps  some  others  of 
the  British  Antilles,  to  several  very  different  kinds  of  birds, 
probably  from  the  note  they  utter  (cf.  Guit-GUIt).  Thus  the 
Banana  Quit  is  the  Sugar-bird,  the  Blue  Quit  is  Eiiplionia  Jamaica, 
one  of  the  Tanagers,  the  Grass-Quits  are  species  of  PJwnipara 
allied  if  not  belonging  to  the  Emherizidm  (Bunting),  and  the 
Orange-Quit  is  Glossoptila  ruficoUis,  one  of  the  Cserebiclse. 

^  Preserved  specimens,  if  exposed  to  the  light,  lose  much  of  their  beauty  in 
a  few  years,  the  original  glorious  colour  becoming  a  dingy  greenish-bhie. 


762  RACE-HORSE— RAIL 


B 

EACE- HORSE,  a  name  applied  by  seamen  to  the  Logger- 
head Duck  (p.  518)  for  more  than  a  century,  but  of  late  years 
superseded  by  that  of  Steamer-Duck. 

RACQUET-TAIL,  a  name  given  to  several  of  the  Motmots, 
and  by  Gould  to  HuMMiNG-BiRDS  of  the  genus  Spathura. 

RADIUS,  the  straighter  and  more  slender  of  the  two  bones  of 
the  foreai-m  (the  other  being  the  ulna).  Its  proximal  end  forms  a 
shallow  cup  for  articulation  with  the  outer  condyle  of  the  HUMERUS, 
while  the  distal  end  bears  a  knob  which  fits  into  the  radial  bone 
of  the  CARPUS. 

RAFTER-BIRD,  a  local  name  of  the  Spotted  Flycatcher. 

RAIL  (German  Ralle,  French  Rale,  Low  Latin  Rallus),  origin- 
ally the  English  name  of  two  birds,  distinguished  from  one  another 
by  a  prefix  as  Land-Rail  and  Water-Rail,  but  latterly  applied  in  a 
much  wider  sense  to  all  the  species  which  are  included  in  the 
Family  Rallidse. 

The  Land-Rail,  also  very  commonly  known  as  the  Corn-Crake, 
and  sometimes  as  the  Daker-Hen,  is  the  Rallus  crex  of  Linnaeus 
and  Crex  pratensis  of  later  authors.  Its  monotonous  grating  cry, 
which  has  given  it  its  common  name  in  several  languages,  is  a 
familiar  sound  throughout  the  summer-nights  in  many  parts  of 
the  British  Islands ;  but  the  bird  at  that  season  very  seldom  shews 
itself,  except  when  the  mower  lays  bare  its  nest,  the  owner  of 
which,  if  it  escape  beheading  by  the  scythe,  may  be  seen  for  an 
instant  before  it  disappears  into  the  friendly  covert  of  the  still- 
standing  grass.  In  early  autiimn  the  partridge-shooter  not  un- 
frequently  flushes  it  from  a  clover-field  or  tangled  hedgerow ;  and, 
as  it  rises  with  apparent  labour  and  slowly  flies  away  to  drop  into 
the  next  place  of  concealment,  if  it  fall  not  to  his  gun,  he  wonders 
how  so  weak-winged  a  creature  can  ever  make  its  way  to  the 
shores  if  not  to  the  interior  of  Africa,  whither  it  is  almost  certainly 
bound ;  for,  with  comparatively  few  individual  exceptions,  the 
Land-Rail  is  essentially  migratory — nay  more  than  that,  it  is  the 
Ortygometra  of  classical  authors — -supposed  by  them  to  lead  the 
Quail  on  its  voyages — and  in  the  course  of  its  wanderings  has  now 
been  known  to  reach  the  coast  of  Greenland,  and  several  times  that 
of  North  America,  to  say  nothing  of  Bermuda,  in  every  instance  we 
may  believe  as  a  straggler  from  Europe  or  Barbary.  An  example  has 
even  been  recorded  from  New  South  Wales  {Rec.  Austral.  Mus.  ii. 


RAIL  763 

p.  82).  The  Land-Rail  needs  but  a  brief  description.  It  looks  about 
as  big  as  a  Partridge,  but  on  examination  its  appearance  is  found  to 
be  very  deceptive,  and  it  will  hardly  ever  weigh  more  than  half  as 
much.  The  plumage  above  is  of  a  tawny  brown,  the  feathers 
being  longitudinally  streaked  with  blackish-brown  ;  beneath  it  is 
of  a  yellowish-white ;  but  the  flanks  are  of  a  light  chestnut.  The 
species  is  very  locally  distributed,  and  in  a  way  for  which  there  is 
at  present  no  accounting.  In  some  drj'-  upland  and  corn-growing 
districts  it  is  plentiful ;  in  others,  of  apparently  the  same  character, 
it  but  rarely  occurs ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  in  regard  to  low- 
lying  marshy  meadows,  in  most  of  which  it  is  in  season  always  to 
be  heard,  while  in  others  having  a  close  resemblance  to  them  it  is 
never  met  with.  The  nest  is  on  the  ground,  generally  in  long 
grass,  and  therein  from  nine  to  eleven  eggs  are  commonly  laid. 
These  are  of  a  cream-colour,  spotted  and  blotched  with  light  red 
and  grey.  The  young  when  hatched  are  thickly  clothed  with 
black  down,  as  is  the  case  in  nearly  all  species  of  the  Family. 

The  Water-Rail,  locally  known  by  several  names  as  Bilcock 
or  Skiddy,  is  the  PmUus  aquaticiis  of  Ornithology,  and  seems  to  be 
less  abundant  than  the 
preceding,  though  that  is 
in  some  measure  due  to 
its  frequenting  places  into 
which  from  their  swampy 
nature   men   do  not   often 

.    ,        1  TT       •  1  Rallus.    (After  Swainson.) 

intrude.     Havmg  a  general 

resemblance  to  the  Land-Rail,^  it  can  be  in  a  moment  distinguished 
by  its  partly  red  and  much  longer  bill,  and  the  darker  coloration  of 
its  plumage — the  upper  parts  being  of  an  olive-brown  with  black 
streaks,  the  breast  and  belly  of  a  sooty-grey,  and  the  flanks  dull 
black  barred  with  white.  Its  geographical  distribution  is  very  wide, 
extending  from  Iceland  (where  it  is  said  to  preserve  its  existence 
during  winter  by  resorting  to  the  hot  springs)  to  China  ;  and  though 
it  inhabits  Northern  India,  Lower  Egypt  and  Barbaiy,  it  seems  not 
to  pass  beyond  the  tropical  line.  It  never  affects  upland  districts 
as  does  the  Land-Rail,  but  always  haunts  wet  marshes  or  the  close 
vicinity  of  water.  Its  love-note  is  a  loud  and  harsh  cry,  not  con- 
tinually repeated  as  is  that  of  the  Land-Rail,  but  uttered  at 
considerable  intervals  and  so  suddenly  as  to  have  been  termed 
"  explosive."  Besides  this,  which  is  peculiar  to  the  cock-bird,  it 
has  a  croaking  call  that  is  frog-like.  The  eggs  resemble  those  of 
the  preceding,  but  are  more  brightly  and  delicately  tinted. 

^  Formerly  it  seems  to  have  been  a  popular  belief  in  England  that  the 
Land-Rail  in  autumn  transformed  itself  into  a  Water-Rail,  resuming  its  own 
character  in  spring.  I  have  met  with  several  persons  of  general  intelligence 
who  had  serious  doubts  on  the  subject. 


764 


RAIL 


The  various  species  of  Rails,  whether  allied  to  the  former  or 
latter  of  those  just  mentioned,  are  far  too  numerous  to  be  here 
noticed.  Hardly  any  part  of  the  world  is  without  a  representative 
of  the  genera  Grex  or  Eallus,  and  every  considerable  country  has 
one  or  perhaps  more  of  each — though  it  has  been  the  habit  of 
systematists  to  refer  them  to  many  other  genera,  the  characters  of 
which  are  with  diflficulty  found.  Thus  in  Europe  alone  three 
other  species  allied  to  Crex  pratensis  occur  more  or  less  abundantly  ; 
but  one  of  them,  the  Spotted  Rail  or  Crake,  has  been  made  the 

type  of  a  so-called  genus  Pur- 
zcnia,  and  the  other  two,  little 
bii'ds  not  much  bigger  than 
Larks,  are  considered  to  form 
a  genus  Zapornia.  The  first 
of  these,  which  used  not  to 
be  uncommon  in  the  eastern 
part  of  England,  has  a  very  near  representative  in  the  Carolina 
Rail  or  Sora,  Crex  Carolina,  of  North  America,  often  there  miscalled 
the  Ortolan,  just  as  its 
European  analogue,  C. 
porzana,  is  in  England ' 
often  termed  the  Dot- 
terel. Then  there  is  the 
widely -ranging  Hypotx- 
nidia,  having  a  repre- 
sentative almost  every- 
where from  India  to 
China,  and  far  away 
among  the  islands  to  the 


PORZAXA.  Zapornia. 

(After  Swainson.) 


Htpot^nidia.    (From  Buller.) 


south-east,  even  to  New  Zealand,  while  at  least  one  example  has 
been  known  to  reach  Mauritius.  But,  passing  over  these  as  well  as 
some  belonging  to  genera  that  .can  be  much  better  defined,  as  the 
Coot  and  Moor-hen,  to  say  nothing  of  other  still  more  interesting 
forms  of  the  Family,  as  the  already  extinct  Aphaiwpteryx  and 
Eri/fhromachv.s'^  (EXTERMINATION,  pp.  217,  218),  Oriidromns 
(Weka)  and  certain  other  members  of  the  Family  which  there 
is  reason  to  think  are  doomed  to  extirpation,  brief  notice  must 
be  taken  of  the  curious  genus  Mesites  of  Madagascar,  which  has 
been  referred  by  Prof.  Alphonse  Milne-Edwards  {Ann.  Sc.  Naf. 
ser.  6,  vii.  art.  2)  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Rails,  though 
offering   some   points   of    resemblance  to   the    Herons.-      On    the 

^  By  an  oversight  this  geuus  was  called  Mlscrytlirus  in  the  passage  quoted. 
(For  it  see  Proc.  Zool.  Hoc.  1875,  p.  41.) 

-  The  FiNFOOTS  and  Jacaxas,  by  some  systematists  formerly  placed  with 
tlie  Rcdlidm,  to  which  the  former  certainly  have  some  affinity,  should  be 
regarded   as   forming   distinct   Families,    Heliornithidae.    and    Parridas.     Tlie 


RAIN-BIRD—RASORES  765. 


whole  the  Rallidm  constitute  a  group  of  birds  which,  particu- 
larly as  regards  their  relations  to  some  other  remarkable  forms, 
of  which  the  Sun -Bittern,  Eurypyga,  and  Kagu,  Bhinochetus, 
may  especially  be  named,  well  deserve  greater  attention  from  the 
systematist,  and  any  ornithologist  in  want  of  a  subject  could 
hardly  find  one  more  likely  to  reward  his  labours  if  he  were  only 
to  carry  them  out  in  a  judicious  way.  Based  on  the  safe  ground 
of  anatomy,  but  due  regard  being  also  had  to  the  external 
characters,  habits  and  other  peculiarities  of  this  multifarious 
group,  a  monograph  might  be  produced  of  surpassing  interest,  and 
one  that  in  its  bearings  on  the  doctrine  of  evolution  would  be 
likely  to  prove  a  telling  record.^ 

RAIN-BIRD,  RAIN-GOOSE  and  RAIN-QUAIL,  the  first 
applied  in  England  locally  to  the  Green  Woodpecker,  but  in 
Jamaica  to  CucKOWS  of  the  genera  Piaya  and  Saurothera;  the 
second  in  Orkney  to  the  Divers,  and  preferably  to  Colymbus  septeii- 
trionalis ;  the  third  in  India  to  Coturnix  coromandelica,  because  of  its 
abundance  in  some  parts  of  the  country  during  the  rainy  season ; 
but  the  others  seem  to  be  used  because  the  birds  in  question  are 
supposed  to  predict  rain  by  their  frequent  cries. 

RAPACES,  RAPTATORES,  RAPTORES,  names  proposed 
for  the  Order  containing  the  Birds-of-Prey  (both  diurnal  and 
nocturnal),  and  therefore  nearly  equivalent  to  the  AcciPlTRES  of 
Linnaeus.  The  first  was  conferred  in  1777  by  Scopoli  (Introd. 
Hist.  Nat.  p.  478),  and  included  the  genera  Strix,  Falco,  Vultur, 
Buceros  and  Bhamphastos.  Temminck  adopted  it,  properly  exclud- 
ing the  last  two,  and  gave  it  currency.  The  second  name  was 
invented  in  1811  by  Illiger  (Prodr.  System,  p.  194),  who  so  termed 
his  Third  Order,  consisting  of  the  genera  Strix,  Falco,  Gypogeranus, 
Gypaefus,  Vultur  and  Cathartes ;  and  the  third,  being  only  a  gram- 
matical alteration  of  the  second,  by  Vigors  in  1823  (Trans.  Linn. 
Soc.  xiv.  p.  405,  note).  No  one  of  the  three  is  used  by  the  latest 
taxonomers  of  repute. 

RASORES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  (Prodr.  System,  p.  195)  for 
his  Fourth  Order,  made  to  contain  5  Families  : — (1)  Gallinacei,  with 
the  genera  Numida,  Meleagris,  Penelope,  Crax,  Opisthocomus,  Pavo, 
Phasianus,  Galkis,  Menura,  Tetrao  and  Perdix;  (2)  Epollicati,  com- 
posed of  Ortygis  (  =  Turnix)  and  Syrrhaptes ;  (3)  Columbini,  consisting 

LiMPKiN,  Aramus,  also,  thougli  its  position  is  not  so  decided  can  hardly  be 
kept  among  the  Rails.  Mr.  W.  H.  Hudson's  notes  on  the  habits  of  these 
birds,  which  he  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  pp.  102-109)  considers  to  be  Rails,  as 
well  as  others  that  undoubtedly  are  so,  deserve  the  best  attention. 

1  The  most  recent  revision  of  the  Rallidee  is  that  by  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B. 
Br.  Mus.  sxiii.  pp.  1-228),  who  has  found  it  necessary  to  recognize  61  genera. 


766  RA  TIT^—RA  VEN 


of  Cohmiha  ;  (4)  Crypturi  of   Crijpturus  ( =  Tinamns)  ;  and  (5)  Iiiepti 
of  Didus. 

RATIT^,  that  division  of  the  Class  AvES  whose  sternum 
developing  no  "  keel  "  resembles  a  raft  or  flat-bottomed  boat  (gratis), 
and  accordingly  so  named  by  Merrem  {Ahhmull.  Akcul.  JFissensch. 
Berlin,  1812-13,  Physik.  Kl.  p.  259)  in  contradistinction  to  his 
Carinat.^  (p.  76),  though  to  it  he  admitted  only  the  single 
genus  Struthio.  The  extraordinary  neglect  of  this  imj^ortant  dis- 
tinction is  elsewhere  dwelt  upon  (Introduction),  and  to  Prof. 
Huxley  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  418)  is  due  the  full  recognition 
of  Merrem's  merits.  According  to  the  views  ^  adopted  in  this 
volume  the  Subclass  Itatifai  comprehends  of  existing  forms  the 
Orders  Apteryges  (Kiwi),  Megisfanes  (Cassowary,  Emeu),  PJiex 
(Rhea)  and  Struthiones  (Ostrich),  together  with  the  extinct 
AiJpyornithes  (Roc)  and  Immanes  (Moa).  As  regards  the  relation  of 
other  older  forms  to  the  Puititx  it  seems  best  at  present  to  use 
reserve  (see  Fossil  Birds,  Odontornithes  and  Stereornithes). 

RATTLE- WINGS,  a  fowlers'  name  for  the  Golden-eye  (p. 
369). 

RAVEN  (Anglo-Saxon  Hrmfn,  Icelandic  Hrafn,  Danish  Pia'nn, 
Dutch  Raaf,  German  Piahe),  the  largest  of  the  Birds  of  the  Order 
Passeres,  and  probably  the  most  highly  developed  of  all   Birds. 

Quick -sighted,  sagacious  and  bold,  it 
must  have  followed  the  prehistoric 
fisher  and  hunter,  and  generally  with- 
out molestation  from  them,  to  prey  on 
the  refuse  of  their  spoils,  just  as  it 
now  Avaits,  with  the  same  intent,  on 
, .  ^,    ^    .       ^  the    movements    of    their    successors ; 

Raven.    (After  Swamson.)  ....  ,.,         .  ,     ' 

while  It  must  have  likewise  attended 
the  earliest  herdsmen,  who  could  not  have  regarded  it  with  equal 
indifference,  since  its  now  notorious  character  for  attacking  and 
putting  to  death  a  Aveakly  animal  was  doubtless  in  those  days 
manifested.  Yet  the  Raven  is  no  mere  dependent  upon  man, 
being  always  able  to  get  a  living  for  itself ;  and  moreover  a 
sentiment  of  veneration  or  superstition  has  from  very  remote 
ages  and  among  many  races  of  men  attached  to  it — a  sentiment 
so  strong  as  often  to  overcome  the  feeling  of  distrust  not 
to  say  of  hatred  which  its  deeds  inspired,  and,  though  raj^idly 
decreasing,  even  to  survive  in  some  places  until  the  j^resent  time.^ 

'  See  Ann.  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  4,  xx.  i>p.  499,  500. 

-  There  is  no  need  to  dwell  on  the  association  of  this  bird  with  Avell-lcnown 
characters  of  history  sacred  or  profane — Noah  or  Elijah,  Odin  or  Flokki,  the 
last  of  whom  by  its  means  discovered  Iceland.     The  Raven  is  even  said  to  have 


RA  VEN  767 


Notwithstanding  all  this,  however,  the  Raven  has  now  fallen  upon 
evil  days.  The  reverence  with  which  it  was  once  regarded  has  all 
but  vanished,  and  has  been  very  generally  succeeded  by  persecu- 
tion, which  in  many  districts  has  produced  actual  extirpation,  so 
that  it  is  threatened  with  extinction,  save  in  the  wildest  and  most 
unpeopled  districts.^ 

The  Raven  breeds  very  early  in  the  year,  in  England  resorting 
to  its  nest,  which  is  usually  an  ancient  if  not  an  ancestral  structure, 
about  the  middle  or  towards  the  end  of  January.  Therein  are 
laid  from  five  to  seven  eggs  of  the  common  Corvine  coloration, 
and  the  young  are  hatched  before  the  end  of  February.  In  more 
northern  countries  the  breeding-season  is  naturally  delayed,  but 
everywhere  this  species  is  almost  if  not  quite  the  earliest  of  birds 
to  enter  upon  the  business  of  perpetuating  its  kind.  The  Raven 
measures  about  26  inches  in  length,  and  has  an  expanse  of  wing 
considerably  exceeding  a  yard.  Its  bill  and  feet  are  black,  and 
the  same  may  be  said  of  its  whole  plumage,  but  the  feathers  of  the 
upper  parts  as  well  as  of  the  breast  are  very  glossy,  reflecting  a 
bright  purple  or  steel-blue.^  The  species  inhabits  the  whole  of 
Europe,  and  the  northern  if  not  the  central  parts  of  Asia  ;  but  in 
the  latter  continent  its  southern  range  is  not  well  determined.  In 
America  ^  it  is,  or  used  to  be,  found  from  the  shores  of  the  Polar 

played  its  part  in  the  mythology  of  the  Red  Indian  ;  and  none  can  -wonder  that 
all  this  should  be  so,  since,  wherever  it  occurs  and  more  especially  wherever  it 
is  numerous,  as  in  ancient  times  and  in  thinly-peopled  countries  it  must  have 
been,  its  size,  appearance  and  fearless  habits  would  be  sure  to  attract  especial 
attention.  Nor  has  this  attention  wholly  ceased  with  the  advance  of  en- 
lightenment, for  both  in  prose  and  verse,  from  the  time  of  Shakespear  to  that 
of  Poe  and  Dickens,  the  Raven  has  often  figured,  and  generally  without  the 
amount  of  misrepresentation  which  is  the  fate  of  most  animals  which  celebrated 
writers  condescend  to  notice. 

^  That  all  lovers  of  nature  should  take  what  steps  they  can  to  arrest  this 
sad  fate  is  a  belief  which  I  strongly  hold.  Without  attempting  to  deny  the 
loss  which  in  some  cases  is  inflicted  upon  the  rearers  of  cattle  by  Ravens,  it  is 
an  enormous  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  neighbourhood  of  a  pair  of  these 
birds  is  invariably  detrimental.  On  this  point  I  can  speak  from  experience. 
For  many  years  I  liad  an  intimate  knowledge  of  a  pair  occupying  an  inland 
locality  surrounded  by  valuable  flocks  of  sheep,  and  abounding  in  rabbits  and 
game,  and  had  ample  opportunities,  which  I  never  neglected,  of  repeatedly 
examining  the  pellets  of  bones  and  exuvise  that  these,  like  all  other  carnivorous 
birds,  cast  up.  I  thus  found  that  this  pair  of  Ravens  fed  almost  exclusively 
on  Moles.  Soon  after  I  moved  from  the  neighbourhood  in  which  they  lived 
the  unreasoning  zeal  of  a  gamekeeper  (against,  it  is  believed,  the  orders  of  his 
master)  put  an  end  to  this  interesting  couple — the  last  of  their  species  which 
inhabited  the  county. 

^  Pied  examples  are  not  at  all  uncommon  in  some  localities  and  wholly 
white  varieties  are  said  to  have  been  seen. 

^  American  birds  have  been  described  as  forming  a  distinct  species  under 


768  RAZORBILL 

Sea  to  Guatemala  if  not  to  Honduras,  but  is  said  hardly  to  be 
found  of  late  years  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States.  In 
Africa  its  place  is  taken  by  three  allied  but  well-differentiated 
species,  two  of  which  (Corvus  umbrinus,  readily  distinguished  by  its 
brown  neck,  and  C.  affinis}  having  its  superior  nasal  bristles  up- 
turned vertically)  also  occur  in  South- Western  Asia,  while  the 
third  (C.  leptonyx  or  G.  tingitanus,  a  smaller  species  characterized  by 
several  slight  differences)  inhabits  Barbary  and  the  Atlantic 
Islands.  Further  to  the  southward  in  the  Ethiopian  Eegion  three 
more  species  appear,  whose  plumage  is  varied  with  white — C. 
scapulatus,  C.  albicoUis  and  C.  crassirostris — the  first  two  of  small 
size,  but  the  last  rivalling  the  real  Raven  in  that  respect. 

RAZOEBILL  or  Eazor-billed  Auk,  known  also  on  many 
parts  of  the  British  coasts  as  the  Marrot,  Murre,  Scout,  Tinker,  or 
Willock — names  which  it,  however,  shares  with  the  Guillemot, 
and  to  some  extent  with  the  Puffin — a  common  sea-bird  of  the 
Northern  Atlantic,^  but  not  having  a  very  high  northern  range, 
resorting  in  vast  numbers  to  certain  stations  on  rocky  cliffs  for  the 
purpose  of  breeding,  and,  its  object  being  accomplished,  returning 
to  deeper  waters  for  the  rest  of  the  year.  It  is  the  Alca  tarda  of 
Linnaeus  ^  and  most  modern  authors,  congeneric  with  the  Gare- 
FOWL,  if  not  the  true  Guillemots,  between  which  two  forms  it  is 
intermediate — differing  from  the  former  in  its  small  size  and  in 
retaining  the  power  of  flight,  which  that  had  lost,  and  from  the 
latter  in  its  peculiarly-shaped  bill,  Avhich  is  vei'tically  enlarged, 
compressed  and  deeply  furrowed,  as  well  as  in  its  elongated, 
wedge-shaped  tail.  A  fine  white  line,  running  on  each  side  from 
the  base  of  the  culmen  to  the  eye,  is  in  the  adult  bird  in  breeding- 

the  name  of  Corvus  caniivorus,  C.  cacolotl  or  C.  principalis,  of  which  there  are 
several  forms,  and  the  myology  of  one,  the  Mexican  C.  sinuatus,  is  the  subject 
of  a  volume  by  Dr.  Shufeldt  published  in  New  York  and  London  in  1890. 

^  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Brit.  MuS.  iii.  p.  45)  separates  C.  affinis  as  form- 
ing a  distinct  genus  Bhinocorax ;  but  it  is  a  hard  task  on  any  reasonable 
ground  to  break  up  the  genus  Corvus  as  long  accepted  by  systematists. 

^  Schlegel  {Mus.  des  Bays-Bas,  Urinatores,  p.  14)  records  an  example  from 
Japan  ;  but  this  must  be  an  error. 

^  The  word  Alca  is  simply  the  Latinized  form  of  this  bu-d's  common  Teutonic 
name,  Alke,  with  which  Auk  is  the  English  cognate  term.  It  must  therefore 
be  held  to  be  the  type  of  the  Linnoean  genus  Alca,  though  some  systematists 
on  indefensible  grounds  have  removed  it  thence,  making  it  the  sole  member  of 
a  genus  named  by  Leach,  after  Aldrovandus  {Ornithologia,  bk.  xix.  chap,  xlix.), 
Utainania — an  extraordinary  word,  that  seems  to  have  originated  in  some 
mistake  from  the  equally  mistaken  Vuttwmaria,  given  by  Belon  {Observatio7is, 
livr.  i.  ch.  xi.  (as  the  Cretan  name  of  some  diving  bird  (which  certainly  could 
not  have  been  the  present  species)  and,  as  Mr.  H.  F.  Tozer  has  kindly  informed 
me,  it  should  have  been  written  Vutanaria,  that  being  the  proper  transliteration 
of  the  Modern  Greek  ^ovravapla,  a  diver — from  ^ovtI^u,  mergo. 


RECOLLET—RECTRICES  769 

apparel  (with  a  few  very  rare  exceptions)  a  further  obvious 
characteristic.  Otherwise  the  appearance  of  all  these  birds  may- 
be briefly  described  in  the  same  words — head;  breast  and  upper 
parts  generally  of  a  deep  glossy  black,  and  the  lower  parts  and  tip 
of  the  secondaries  of  a  pure  white,  while  the  various  changes  of 
plumage  dependent  on  age  or  season  are  alike  in  all.  In  habits 
the  Kazorbill  closely  agrees  with  the  true  Guillemots,  laying  its 
single  egg  (which  is  not,  however,  subject  to  the  same  amazing 
variety  of  coloration  that  is  pre-eminently  the  Guillemot's  own)  on 
the  ledges  of  the  cliffs  to  which  it  repairs  in  the  breeding-season, 
but  it  is  said,  as  a  rule,  when  not  breeding,  to  keep  further  out  to 
sea.  On  the  east  side  of  the  Atlantic  the  Razorbill  has  its  stations 
on  convenient  parts  of  the  coast  from  the  North  Cape  to  Britanny, 
besides  several  in  the  Baltic,  while  in  winter  it  passes  much  further 
to  the  southward,  and  is  sometimes  numerous  in  the  Bay  of 
Gibraltar,  occasionally  entering  the  Mediterranean  but  apparently 
never  extending  to  the  eastward  of  Sicily  or  Malta.  On  the  west 
side  of  the  Atlantic  it  breeds  from  70°  N.  lat.  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  Baffin's  Bay  to  Cape  Farewell,  and  again  on  the  coast  of 
America  from  Labrador  and  Newfoundland  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
while  in  winter  it  reaches  Long  Island. 

RECOLLET,  the  name  given  by  the  French-speaking  popula- 
tion of  Canada  to  Ampelis  cedrorum  (Cedar-bird),  from  the 
resemblance  of  its  occipital  tuft  to  the  hood  worn  by  members  of 
the  Franciscan  order  of  friars. 

BECTBICES,  the  quill-FEATHERS  of  the  tail  in  Birds,  so  called 
from  their  action  in  directing  Flight.  They  grow  in  pairs ;  ^  and 
what  seems  to  have  been  their  original  arrangement  is  shewn  by 
Archseopteryx  (Fossil  Birds,  pp.  278,  279).^  Crowding  upon  a 
shorter  basis  seems  to  have  produced  the  fan -shaped  tail  and 
Pygostyle  of  most  recent  birds.  Absence  of  this  last  implies  an 
irregular  arrangement  of  the  tail-feathers,  which  in  such  cases,  as 
among  the  RATiTiE  and  TiNAMOUS,  can  scarcely  be  called  Rectrices  ; 
but  the  reverse  does  not  always  occur,  as  witness  those  of  the 
Grebes  and  Penguins.  The  normal  number  of  Rectrices  is  6 
pairs,  but  a  few  birds  possess  10  or  11  ;  several  9,  8  or  7  ;  many 
only  5,  and  Crotophaga  (Ani)  only  4 — the  diminution  being  brought 
about  by  the  suppression  of  the  outer  pair  or  pairs,  as  is  indicated 
by  their  often  dwindling  dimensions,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
Woodpeckers  and  Wrynecks  when  compared  with  the  Barbets 

^  Where  an  odd  number  is  found,  as  not  rarely  happens  in  Swans  and  some 
other  birds,  it  seems  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  through  an  injury  the 
germ  of  one  of  them  has  perished. 

^  It  was  there  incorrectly  stated  that  each  of  the  20  vertebrae  bore  a  pair  of 
rectrices,  whereas  only  12  of  them  are  so  furnished. 

49 


770  RECTUM— REDBACK 

(Capito)  on  the  one  hand  and  the  PUFF-BIRDS  (Monacha)  on  the 
other.  Though  the  smaller  number  may  be  a  later  and  higher 
stage  of  the  tail's  development,  it  certainly  does  not  confer  a  higher 
morphological  rank  on  the  forms  that  bear  it,  as  is  shewn  by  the 
fact  that  the  majority  of  PlCARi^  have  but  5  pairs,  and  also  some  of 
the  lower  Passeres  as  Acanfhidositta  and  Xenicus,  while  it  is  certain 
that  the  possession  of  more  than  6  pairs  is  not  an  ancestral  feature, 
the  increase  being  a  comparatively  recent  acquisition.  Indeed  the 
number  of  Rectrices  seems  to  have  but  little  signification,  very 
nearly- allied  species  differing  in  this  respect.  Thus  of  Oreocinda 
(Thrush)  two  species  have  7  pairs,  and  all  the  rest  6.  Among  the 
Cormorants  the  common  Phalacrocorax  carlo  has  7  pairs  and  the 
smaller  F.  graculus  (Shag)  6  pairs.  Still  greater  diversity  obtains 
among  the  SNIPES,  the  oi-dinary  species  of  the  Old  World,  Gallinago 
cmlestis,  has  7,  that  of  North  America,  G.  wilsoni  (otherwise  not 
readily  distinguished  from  the  former)  has  8,  as  also  has  G.  major, 
while  G.  gallinula,  the  Jack  Snipe,  but  6,  though  in  the  last  two 
cases  accompanied  by  osteological  differences,  and  the  Pin-tailed 
Snipe  of  Asia,  G.  sfenura,  sometimes  exhibits  14  pairs.  Several 
other  similar  cases  are  on  record  and  many  must  exist  that  have 
not  been  detected.  A  difference  too  may  depend  upon  sex,  as 
with  the  Peacock,  which  has  10  pairs,  being  one  more  than  the 
Peahen. 

Of  the  varied  forms  and  functions  of  the  Rectrices  there  is  little 
need  to  speak.  The  difterences  displayed  by  the  first  are  obvious 
to  all  who  have  the  least  acquaintance  with  Birds.  The  forked  tail 
of  a  Swallow  is  proverbial,  and  the  pointed  tail  of  a  Parakeet 
hardly  less  familiar,  while  the  erect  tail  of  the  Cock  with  its  gallant 
streamers  affords  a  striking  contrast  to  the  flattened  tail  of  the 
Goose  that  feeds  beside  him  in  the  poultry-yard.  Similarly  as  to 
function :  in  the  Peacock,  QuEZAL  and  some  other  birds  the 
rectrices  serve  but  as  a  support  to  the  showy  train  that  covers  and 
hides  them :  in  the  Woodpeckers,  Tree-creepers,  and  many 
forms  not  allied  to  either,  they  are  of  the  greatest  importance  in 
the  bird's  economy,  as  without  their  support  it  would  be  unable  to 
obtain  a  living ;  but  many  are  the  cases  in  which  ingenuity  is  at  a 
loss  to  assign  the  reason  for  some  remarkable  peculiarity  ofitered  by 
the  Eectrices. 

RECTUM,  the  portion  of  the  intestine  (Digestive  System, 
p.  138)  between  the  insertion  of  the  C.^CA  and  the  CLOACA.  Birds, 
the  Batitm  and  Palamedea  excepted,  have  no  colon,  and  the  Rectum 
descending  along  the  right  kidney  is  generally  shorter  than  the 
distance  from  the  upper  end  of  the  kidneys  to  the  cloaca.  In  the 
Ostrich,  however,  it  is  of  enormous  length  (p.  140)  and  width. 

REDBACK,  a  name  applied  in  North  America  to  the  Dunlin 


REDBIRD— REDBREAST  771 

of  that  country,  Tringa  americana  (p.  172) ;  but  at  best  only  applic- 
able to  it  in  summer-plumage. 

REDBIRD,  a  name  of  Cardinalis  virginianus  (Cardinal),  and 
M'ith  the  prefix  "Summer"  of  a  species  of  Tanager,  Pyranga  sestiva, 
since  it  occurs  at  that  season  only  within  the  United  States  of 
America. 

REDBREAST,  the  name  of  a  bird  which  from  its  manners,  no 
less  familiar  than  engaging,  has  for  a  long  while  been  so  great  a 
favourite  among  all  classes  in  Great  Britain  as  to  have  gained  an 
almost  sacred  character.  The  pleasing  colour  of  its  plumage — one 
striking  feature  of  which  is  expressed  by  its  ancient  name — its 
sjDrightly  air,  full  dark  eye,  enquiring  and  sagacious  demeanour, 
added  to  the  trust  in  man  it  often  exhibits,  but,  above  all,  the 
cheerful  sweetness  of  its  song,  even  "  when  winter  chills  the  day  " 
and  scarce  another  bird  is  heard — combine  to  produce  the  effects 
just  mentioned,  so  that  among  many  European  nations  it  has 
earned  some  endearing  name,  though  there  is  no  countrj''  in  Avhich 
"  Robin  Redbreast "  is  held  so  highly  in  regard  as  England.^  Well 
known  as  is  its  appearance  and  voice  throughout  the  whole  year  in 
the  British  Islands,  there  are  not  many  birds  which  to  the 
attentive  observer  betray  more  unmistakably  the  influence  of  the 
migratory  impulse ;  but  somewhat  close  scrutiny  is  needed  to 
reveal  this  fact.  In  the  months  of  July  and  August  the  hedgerows 
of  the  southern  counties  of  England  may  be  seen  to  be  beset  with 
Redbreasts,  not  in  flocks  as  is  the  case  with  so  many  other  species, 
but  each  individual  keeping  its  own  distance  from  the  next  ^ — all, 
however,  pressing  forward  on  their  way  to  cross  the  Channel.  On 
the  European  continent  the  migration  is  still  more  marked,  and  the 
Redbreast  on  its  autumnal  and  vernal  passages  is  the  object  of 
hosts  of  bird-catchers,  since  its  value  as  a  delicacy  for  the  table  has 
long  been  recognized.^  But  even  those  Redbreasts  which  stay  in 
Britain  during  the  winter  are  subject  to  a  migratory  movement 
easily  perceived  by  any  one  that  will  look  out  for  it.  Occupying 
dm^ing  autumn  their  usual  haunts  in  outlying  woods  or  hedges,  the 

^  English  colonists  in  distant  lands  have  gladly  applied  the  .common  nick- 
name of  the  Redbreast  to  other  birds  that  are  not  immediately  allied  to  it. 
The  ordinary  "Robin"  of  North  America  is  a  Thrush,  Turdus  migratorius 
(Fieldfare,  p.  250),  and  the  Bluebirds  of  the  same  continent  belonging  to 
the  genus  Sialia  in  ordinary  speech  are  Blue  "Robins";  while  the  same 
familiar  name  is  given  in  the  various  communities  of  Australasia  to  several 
species  of  Petrxca,  and  its  allies,  though  some  have  no  red  breast. 

^  It  is  a  very  old  saying  that  Unum  arbustum  non  alit  duos  Erithacos — one 
bush  does  not  harbour  two  Redbreasts.  " 

^  Of  late  years  an  additional  impulse  has  been  given  to  the  capture  of  this 
species  by  the  absurd  fashion  of  using  its  skin  for  the  trimming  of  ladies' 
dresses  and  "Christmas  cards." 


772  REDBREAST 

first  sharp  frost  at  once  makes  them  change  their  habitation,  and  a 
heavy  fall  of  snow  drives  them  towards  the  homesteads  for  such 
food  as  they  may  find  there,  while,  should  severe  weather  continue 
long  and  sustenance  become  more  scarce,  even  these  stranger  birds 
disappear — most  of  them  possibly  to  perish — leaving  only  the  few 
that  have  already  become  almost  domiciled  among  men.  On  the 
approach  of  spring  the  accustomed  spots  are  revisited,  but  among 
the  innumerable  returning  denizens  Eedbreasts  are  apt  to  be 
neglected,  for  their  song  not  being  powerful  is  drowned  or  lost,  as 
Gilbert  White  well  remarked,  in  the  general  chorus. 

From  its  abundance,  or  from  innumerable  figures,  the  Eedbreast 
is  too  well  known  to  need  description,  yet  there  are  very  few 
representations  of  it  which  give  a  notion  of  its  characteristic 
appearance  or  gestures — all  so  suggestive  of  intelligence.  Its 
olive-brown  back  and  reddish-orange  breast,  or  their  equivalents 
in  black  and  white,  may  be  easily  imitated  by  the  draughtsman ; 
but  the  faculty  of  tracing  a  truthful  outline  or  fixing  the  peculiar 
expression  of  this  favourite  bird  has  proved  to  be  beyond  the  skill 
of  almost  every  artist  who  has  attempted  its  portraiture.  The 
Eedbreast  exhiloits  a  curious  uncertainty  of  temperament  in  regard 
to  its  nesting  habits.  At  times  it  will  place  the  utmost  confidence 
in  man,  and  again  at  times  shew  the  greatest  jealousy.  The  nest, 
though  generally  pretty,  can  seldom  be  called  a  work  of  art,  and  is 
usually  built  of  moss  and  dead  leaves,  with  a  moderate  lining  of 
hair.  In  this  are  laid  from  five  to  seven  white  eggs,  sprinkled  or 
blotched  with  light  red. 

Besides  the  British  Islands,  the  Eedbreast  (which  is  the  Mota- 
cilla  rubecula  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Erithacus  ruhecula  of  modern 
authors)  is  generally  dispersed  over  the  continent  of  Europe,  and 
is  in  winter  found  in  the  oases  of  the  Sahara.  Its  eastern  limits 
are  not  well  determined.  In  Northern  Persia  it  is  replaced  by  a 
very  nearly  allied  form,  Erithacus  hyrcanus,  distinguishable  by  its 
more  ruddy  hues,^  while  in  Northern  China  and  Japan  another 
species,  E.  akahige,  is  found  of  which  the  sexes  difier  somewhat  in 
plumage — the  cock  having  a  blackish  band  below  his  red  breast, 
and  greyish -black  flanks,  while  the  hen  closely  resembles  the 
familiar  British  species — but  both  cock  and  hen  have  the  tail  of 
chestnut-red.^ 

^  A  similar  intense  coloration  distinguishes  some  of  the  resident  Redbreasts 
of  the  Canary  Islands  (Tristram,  Ibis,  1890,  p.  72),  and  one  of  them  from 
Tenerife  has  been  described  as  distinct  under  the  name  T.  superbus  (Konig, 
Journ.  f.  Orn.  1889,  p.  183,  1890,  pi.  iii.  figs.  1,  2). 

-  A  beautiful  bird  now  known  to  inhabit  the  Loochoo  Islands,  the  Sylvia 
komadori  of  Temminck,  of  which  specimens  are  very  scarce  in  collections,  is 
placed  by  some  writers  in  the  genus  Erithacus,  but  whether  it  has  any  affinity 
to  the  Redbreasts  remains  to  be  proved.     It  is  of  a  bright  orange-red  above,  and 


REDCAP— REDPOLL  773 

REDCAP,  a  local  name  of  the  Goldfinch. 

REDHEAD,  a  name  often  given  by  gunners  to  the  male  of  the 
Pochard  and  of  the  Wigeon,  as  well  as  in  North  America  to  a 
Woodpecker,  Ilelanerjpes  erythrocephalus. 

REDLEG,  in  England  a  common  name  for  the  French  or  Red- 
legged  Partridge  (p.  695),  Caccabis  rufa,  and  occasionally  of  the 
Redshank  (when  it  is  generally  used  in  plural  form) ;  but  in  North 
America  said  to  be  applied  to  the  Turnstone. 

REDPOLL,  a  very  well-known  native  of  Britain,  the  Linofa 
rufescens  of  recent  authors,  for  a  long  while  confounded  with  the 
Fringilla  Unaria  of  Linnaeus,  the  Mealy  or  Stone-Redpoll  of  English 
bird-catchers,  which  last  is  hardly  more  than  an  irregular  winter- 
visitant  to  this  country,  while  the  former,  often  called  by  way  of 
distinction  the  Lesser  Redpoll,  is  resident  in  Scotland  and  a  great 
part  dof  England,  changing  its  haunts,  however,  according  to  the  time 
of  year,  and  being  moreover  subject  to  much  variability  in  the 
places  it  affects,  without  our  being  able  to  account  for  the  fact 
otherwise  than  on  the  general  supposition  that  the  choice  is 
influenced  by  the  supply  of  food,  just  as  with  the  Crossbills,  to 
which  in  several  respects  the  Redpolls  have  no  small  affinity. 
Thus  this  pleasing  little  bird  may  be  found  nesting  abundantly,  for 
it  is  of  a  social  disposition,  in  a  locality  for  perhaps  two  or  three 
seasons  in  succession,  and  then  may  be  altogether  wanting  for 
several  years,  though  this  is  especially  observable  of  it  in  the  more 
southerly  parts  of  its  breeding-range,  for  in  the  more  northerly  it 
exhibits  a  greater  constancy.  The  Lesser  Redpoll  is  too  Avell 
known  to  need  description  here,  for  even  those  who  have  not  had 
the  happiness  of  studying  its  habits  afield,  especially  in  the  breeding- 
season  (and  there  are  f  ev,^  small  birds  in  this  country  that  afford  the 
observer  more  enjoyment),  must  have  seen  it  caged  scores  of  times  ; 
but  the  lively  colours  which  glow  upon  the  cock-bird  at  liberty  are 
in  confinement  lost  at  the  first  moult  and  never  resumed,  so  that 
the  very  name  Redpoll  becomes  a  misnomer — the  to]3  of  the  head 
changing  to  dark  orange,  hardly  visible  in  some  lights.  The 
geographical  range  of  the  Lesser  Redpoll  is  apparently  limited  to 
Western  Europe,  and  it  cannot  be  confidently  said  to  breed  except 
in  the  British  Islands.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Mealy  Redpoll, 
which  yearly  visits  us,  though  in  variable  numbers,  and  seems  to  be 
always  distinguishable  by  its  call-note  as  well  as  by  the  "  mealy  " 
appearance  of  its  back,  is  much  more  widely  distributed,  breeding 
abundantly  throughout  northern  Scandinavia,  though,  further  to 

white  beneath,  the  male,  however,  having  the  throat  and  breast  black.  Dr. 
Stejneger  {Proc.  U.S.  Nat.  Mus.  1886,  p.  615)  considers  it,  with  another 
equally  scarce  species  from  Japan,  to  form  a  separate  genus  Icoturus. 


774  REDSHANK 

the  eastward,  what  seems  to  be  a  recognizably  distinct  form,  L. 
exilipes  becomes  more  frequent  if  not  wholly  replacing  it.  Yet  both 
these  forms  occur  in  North  America,  as  well  as  another,  the  largest 
of  all,  L.  hcyrnemanni,  which  has  two  or  three  times  visited  England.^ 
A  remarkable  peculiarity  in  the  Redpolls  is  the  fact  ascertained  by 
Wolley  in  Lapland  that  the  size  and  especially  the  length  of  the 
bill  varies  according  to  the  food  of  the  birds,  that  organ  growing 
inordinately  in  summer  when  they  are  almost  Avholly  insectivorous, 
and  being  ground  short  in  winter  by  the  hard  seeds  that  then  form 
their  only  fare.     (See  also  Linnet.) 

REDSHANK,  the  usual  name  of  a  bird — the  Scolopax  calidris  of 
Linnaeus  and  Totanus  calidris  of  modern  authors — so  called  in 
English  from  the  colour  of  the  bare  part  of  its  legs,  which,  being 
also  long,  are  conspicuous  as  its  flies  over  its  marshy  haunts  or  runs 
nimbly  beside  the  waters  it  affects.  In  suitable  localities  it  is 
abundant  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Europe  and  Asia,  irom 
Iceland  to  China,  mostly  retiring  to  the  southward  for  the  winter, 
though  a  considerable  number  remain  during  that  season  along  the 
coasts  and  estuaries  of  some  of  the  more  northern  countries. 
Before  the  great  changes  effected  by  drainage  in  England  it  was  a 
common  species  in  many  districts,  but  at  the  present  day  there  are 
very  few  to  which  it  can  resort  for  the  purpose  of  reproduction. 
In  such  of  them  as  remain,  its  lively  actions,  both  on  the  ground 
and  in  the  air,  as  well  as  its  loud  notes,  render  the  Redshank,  during 
the  breeding-season,  one  of  the  most  observable  inhabitants  of  what 
without  its  presence  would  often  be  a  desolate  spot,  and  invest  it 
with  a  charm  for  the  lover  of  wild  nature.  At  other  times  the 
cries  of  this  bird  may  be  thought  too  shrill,  but  in  spring  the  love- 
notes  of  the  male  form  what  may  fairly  be  called  a  song,  the 
constantly  repeated  refrain  of  which — leero,  leero,  hero  (for  so  it  may 
be  syllabled) — rings  musically  around,  as  with  many  gesticulations 
he  hovel's  in  attendance  on  the  flight  of  his  mate ;  or,  with  a  slight 
change  to  a  different  key,  engages  with  a  rival;  or  again,  half 
angrily  and  half  piteously  complains  of  a  human  intruder  on  his 
chosen  ground.  The  body  of  the  Redshank  is  almost  as  big  as  a 
Snipe's,  but  its  longer -neck,  wings  and  legs  make  it  appear  a  much 

^  Full  details  of  the  Redpolls  most  likely  to  be  met  with  by  European 
naturalists  will  be  found  in  Dresser's  Birds  of  Europe  (iv.  pp.  37-57)  and 
Yarrell's  British  Birds  (ed.  4,  ii.  pp.  133-152) ;  and,  resting  upon  considerable 
experience,  may  be  recommended  as  trustworthy.  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus. 
xii.  pp.  245-247)  recognizes  two  "species"  of  Redpoll — Acanthis  linaria,  with 
3  "subspecies"  Iiolboslli,  rostrata  and  rufesccns,  and  A.  exilipes  viifh  a  "sub- 
species "  hornemanni  ;  but  the  reasons  for  taking  this  view  of  a  confessedly  very 
difficult  subject  are  not  clearly  stated,  and  it  would  seem  as  if  the  specimens 
enumerated  by  him  were  chiefly  sorted  according  to  the  length  of  their  wing, 
which  he  is  careful  to  give. 


REDSTART  775 

larger  bird.  Above,  the  general  colour  is  greyish -drab,  freckled 
with  black,  except  the  lower  part  of  the  back  and  a  conspicuous 
band  on  each  wing,  which  are  white,  while  the  flight -quills  are 
black,  thus  producing  a  very  harmonious  eftect.  In  the  breeding- 
season  the  back  and  breast  are  mottled  with  dark  brown,  but  in 
winter  the  latter  is  white.  The  nest  is  generally  concealed  in  a 
tuft  of  rushes  or  grass,  a  little  removed  from  the  wettest  parts  of 
the  swamp  whence  the  bird  gets  its  sustenance,  and  contains  four 
eggs,  usually  of  a  rather  warmly-tinted  brown  with  blackish  spots 
or  blotches  ;  but  no  brief  description  can  be  given  that  would  point 
out  their  diiferences  from  the  eggs  of  other  birds,  more  or  less  akin, 
among  which,  those  of  the  Lapwing  especially,  they  are  taken  and 
find  a  ready  sale. 

The  name  Kedshank,  prefixed  by  some  epithet  as  Black,  Dusky, 
or  Spotted,  has  also  been  applied  to  a  larger  but  allied  species — the 
T.fuscus  of  ornithologists.  This  is  a  much  less  common  bird,  and  in 
Great  Britain  as  well  as  the  greater  part  of  Europe  it  only  occurs 
on  its  passage  to  or  from  its  breeding-grounds,  which  are  usually 
found  north  of  the  Arctic  Circle,  and  differ  much  from  those  of  its 
congeners — the  spot  chosen  for  the  nest  being  nearly  always  in  the 
midst  of  forests  and,  though  not  in  the  thickest  part  of  them,  often 
with  trees  on  all  sides,  generally  where  a  fire  has  cleared  the  under- 
growth, and  mostly  at  some  distance  from  water.  This  peculiar 
habit  was  first  ascei'tained  by  Wolley  in  Lapland  in  1853  and  the 
following  year.  The  breeding-dress  this  bird  assumes  is  also  very 
remarkable,  and  seems  (as  is  suggested)  to  have  some  correlation 
with  the  burnt  and  blackened  surface  interspersed  with  white 
stones  or  tufts  of  lichen  on  which  its  nest  is  made — for  the  head, 
neck,  shoulders  and  lower  parts  are  of  a  deep  black,  contrasting 
vividly  with  the  pure  white  of  the  back  and  rump,  while  the  legs 
become  of  an  intense  crimson.  At  other  times  of  the  year  the 
plumage  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  common  Redshank,  and  the 
legs  are  of  the  same  light  orange-red. 

REDSTART,  a  bird  well  known  in  Great  Britain,  in  many 
parts  of  which  it  is  called  Firetail — a  name  of  almost  the  same 
meaning,  since  "start"  is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  steort,  a  tail.^ 
This  beautiful  bird,  the  Ruticilla  phoenicurus  of  most  ornithologists, 
returns  to  England  about  the  middle  or  towards  the  end  of  April, 
and  at  once  takes  up  its  abode  in  gardens,  orchards  and  about  old 
buildings,  when  its  curious  habit  of  flirting  at  nearly  every  change 
of  position  its  brightly-coloured  tail,  together  with  the  pure  white 

^  Oa  this  point  the  articles  "Stark-naked"  and  "Start"  in  Prof.  Skeat's 
Etymological  Dictionary  may  be  usefully  consulted  ;  but  the  connexion  between 
these  words  would  be  still  more  evident  had  this  bird's  habit  of  quickly  moving 
its  tail  been  known  to  the  learned  author. 


776  REDSTART 

forehead,  the  black  throat  and  bright  bay  breast  of  the  cock, 
renders  him  conspicuous,  even  if  attention  be  not  drawn  by  his 
lively  and  pleasing  though  short  and  intermittent  song.  The  hen 
is  much  more  plainly  attired ;  but  the  characteristic  colouring  and 
action  of  the  tail  pertain  to  her  equally  as  to  her  mate.  The  nest 
is  almost  always  placed  in  a  hole,  whether  of  a  tree  or  of  a  more  or 
less  ruined  building,  and  contains  from  five  to  seven  eggs  of  a 
delicate  greenish-blue,  occasionally  sprinkled  with  faint  red  spots. 
The  young  on  assuming  their  feathers  present  a  great  resemblance 
to  those  of  the  Redbreast  at  the  same  age ;  but  the  red  tail, 
though  of  duller  hue  than  in  the  adult,  forms  even  at  this  early 
age  an  easy  means  of  distinguishing  them.  The  Redstart  breeds 
regularly  in  all  the  counties  of  England  and  Wales ;  but,  except  in 
such  localities  as  have  been  already  named,  it  is  seldom  plentiful. 
It  also  reaches  the  extreme  north  of  Scotland ;  but  in  Ireland  it  is 
of  very  rare  occurrence.  It  appears  throughout  the  whole  of 
Europe  in  summer,  and  is  known  to  winter  in  the  interior  of 
Africa.  To  the  eastward  its  limits  cannot  yet  be  exactly  defined, 
as  several  very  nearly  allied  forms  occur  in  Asia ;  and  one,  B. 
aurorea,  represents  it  in  Japan. 

A  congeneric  species  which  has  received  the  name  of  Black 
Redstart,^  R.  titi/s,^  is  very  common  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
the  European  continent,  where,  from  its  partiality  for  gardens  in 
towns  and  villages,  it  is  often  better  known  than  the  preceding 
species.  It  yearly  occurs  in  certain  parts  of  England,  chiefly  along 
or  near  the  south  coast,  and  curiously  enough  during  the  autumn 
and  winter,  since  it  is  in  central  Europe  only  a  summer  visitor,  and 
it  has  by  no  means  the  high  northern  range  of  B.  phcenicurus.  The 
males  of  the  Black  Redstart  seem  to  be  more  than  one  year  in 
acquiring  their  full  plumage  (a  rare  thing  in  Passerine  birds),  and 
since  they  have  been  known  to  breed  in  the  intermediate  stage,  this 
fact  has  led  to  such  birds  being-  accounted  a  distinct  species  under 
the  name  of  B.  cairii,  thereby  perplexing  ornithologists  for  a  long 
while,  though  now  almost  all  authorities  agree  that  these  birds  are, 
in  one  sense,  immature. 

More  than  a  dozen  species  of  the  genus  ButicUla  have  been 
described,  and  the  greater  number  of  them  seem  to  belong  to  the 
Himalayan  Subregion  or  its  confines.  One  very  pretty  and 
interesting  form  is  the  B.  moussieri  of  Barbary,  which  no  doubt 

^  The  author  of  a  popular  -work  on  British  birds  has  suggested  for  this 
species  the  name  of  "  Blackstart,"  thereby  recording  his  ignorance  of  the 
meaning  of  the  second  syllable  of  the  compound  name  as  already  explained,  for 
the  Black  Redstart  has  a  tail  as  red  as  that  of  the  commoner  English  bu'd. 

^  The  orthography  of  the  specific  term  would  seem  to  be  litis,  a  word 
possibly  cognate  with  the  first  syllable  of  Titlark  and  Titmouse  (Ann.  Nat. 
Mist.  ser.  4,  x.  p.  227). 


REDTAIL— REDWING  777 

allies  the  Eedstart  to  the  Stone-Chats,  Pratkola,  and  of  late 
some  authors  have  included  it  in  that  genus.  In  an  opposite 
direction  the  Bluethroats,  Cyanecula,  are  apparently  nearer  to  the 
Eedstarts  than  to  any  other  type.  By  the  ornithologist  of  toler- 
ably wide  views  the  Redstarts  and  Bluethroats  will  be  regarded 
as  forming  with  the  NIGHTINGALE,  Redbreast,  Hedge-Sparrow, 
A^Tieatear  and  Chats  a  single  group  of  the  "  Family "  Sylviidse, 
which  has  been  usually  called  SaxicoUnai,  and  is  that  which  is  most 
nearly  allied  to  the  Thrushes. 

In  America  the  name  Redstart  has  been  not  unfittingly 
bestowed  upon  a  bird  which  has  some  curious  outward  resem- 
blance, both  in  looks  and  manners,  to  that  of  the  Old  Country, 
though  the  two  are  in  the  opinion  of  some  systematists  nearly  as 
widely  separated  from  each  other  as  truly  Passerine  birds  well  can 
be.  The  American  Redstart  is  the  Setophaga  ruticilla  of  authors, 
belonging  to  the  purely  New-World  Family  Mniotiltidse,  and  to  a 
genus  which  contains  about  a  dozen  species,  ranging  from  Canada 
(in  summer)  to  Bolivia.  The  wonderful  likeness,  coupled  of  course 
with  many  sharp  distinctions,  upon  which  it  would  be  here  impos- 
sible to  dwell,  between  the  birds  of  these  two  genera  of  perfectly 
distinct  origin,  is  a  matter  that  must  compel  every  evolutionist  to 
admit  that  we  are  as  yet  very  far  from  penetrating  the  action  of 
Creative  Power,  and  that  especially  we  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the 
causes  which  in  some  instances  produce  analogy. 

REDTAIL,  in  North  America  the  Buteo  horealis  (Buzzard). 

REDTHROAT,  the  name  in  Australia  for  the  Pyrrholxmns 
hrunneus  of  Gould  (P7-oc.  Zool.  Soc.  1840,  p.  173;  B.  Austral,  iii. 
pi.  68),  a  little  bird,  akin  to  Acanthiza,  whose  habits  are  well 
described  by  Mr.  North  (Nests  and  Eggs  of  B.  Austral,  pp.  145, 
146). 

REDWING,  Swedish  Rodvinge,  Danish  JRoddrossel,  German  BotJi- 
drossel,  Dutch  Koperwieh,  a  species  of  Thrush,  the  Turdus  iliacus  of 
authors,  which  is  an  abundant  winter  visitor  to  the  British  Islands, 
arriving  in  autumn  generally  about  the  same  time  as  the  Fieldfare 
does.     The  bird  has  its  common  English  name,^  from  the  sides  of 

^  Many  old  ^vriters  assert  that  this  bird  used  to  be  known  in  England  as  the 
"  Swinepipe  "  ;  but  except  in  books,  this  name  does  not  seem  to  survive  to  the 
present  day.  There  is  no  reason,  however,  to  doubt  that  it  was  once  in  vogue, 
and  the  only  question  is  how  it  may  have  arisen.  If  it  has  not  been  corrupted 
from  the  German  Weindrossel  or  some  other  similar  name,  it  may  refer  to  the 
soft  inward  whistle  which  the  bird  often  utters,  resembling  the  sound  of  the 
pipe  used  by  the  swineherds  of  old  when  collecting  the  animals  under  their 
charge,  whether  in  the  wide  stubbles  or  the  thick  beech-woods  ;  but  another 
form  of  the  word  (which  may,  however,  be  erroneous)  is  "Windpipe,"  and  this 
might  lead  to  a  conclusion  very  different,  if  indeed  to  any  conclusion  at  all. 


778  REED-BIRD— REED-  THR  USH 

its  body,  its  inner  wing-coverts  and  axillaries  being  of  a  bright 
reddish-orange,  of  which  colour,  however,  there  is  no  appearance  on 
the  wing  itself  while  the  bird  is  at  rest,  and  not  much  is  ordinarily- 
seen  while  it  is  in  flight.  In  other  respects  it  is  very  like  a  Song- 
Thrush,  and  indeed  in  France  and  some  other  countries  it  bears  the 
name  3Iauvis  or  Mavis,  often  given  to  that  species  in  some  parts  of 
Britain ;  but  its  coloration  is  much  more  vividly  contrasted,  and  a 
conspicuous  white,  instead  of  a  light  brown,  streak  over  the  eye  at 
once  aftords  a  ready  diagnosis.  The  Eedwing  breeds  in  Iceland,  in 
the  subalpine  and  arctic  districts  of  Norway,  Sweden  and  Finland, 
and  thence  across  Northern  Russia  and  Siberia,  becoming  scarce  to 
the  eastward  of  the  Jenisei,  and  not  extending  beyond  Lake 
Baikal.  In  winter  it  visits  the  whole  of  Europe  and  North  Africa, 
occasionally  reaching  Madeira,  while  to  the  eastward  it  is  found  at 
that  season  in  the  north-western  Himalayas  and  Kohat.  Many 
writers  have  praised  the  song  of  this  bird,  comparing  it  with  that  of 
the  Nightingale  ;  but  herein  they  seem  to  have  been  as  much 
mistaken  as  in  older  times  was  Linnaeus,  who,  according  to  Nilsson 
(Orn.  Svecica,  i.  p.  177,  note),  failed  to  distinguish  in  life  this  species 
from  its  commoner  congener  T.  musicus.  The  notes  of  the  Redwing 
are  indeed  pleasing  in  places  where  no  better  songster  exists ;  but 
the  present  writer,  who  has  many  times  heard  them  under  very 
favourable  circumstances,  cannot  but  suppose  that  those  who  have 
called  the  Redwing  the  "  Nightingale "  of  Norway  or  of  Sweden 
have  attributed  to  it  the  credit  that  properly  belongs  to  the  Song- 
Thrush  ;  for  to  him  it  seems  that  the  vocal  utterances  of  the  Red- 
wing do  not  place  it  even  in  the  second  rank  of  feathered  musicians. 
Its  nest  and  eggs  a  good  deal  resemble  those  of  the  Blackbird,  and 
have  none  of  the  especial  characters  which  distinguish  those  of  the 
Song-Thrush. 

In  South  Africa  the  name  Redwing  is  applied  to  a  very  different 
kind  of  bird,  one  of  the  Francolins,  Francolinus  levaillanti,  a 
valuable  game-bird,  not  only  for  the  sport  it  affords,  but  for  the 
excellence  of  its  flesh. 

REED-BIRD,  a  name  variously  bestowed  in  different  countries 
on  almost  any  species  of  small  bird  affecting  reeds.  In  England  it 
is  generally  the  Reed- Warbler  or  Reed- Wren,  Acroceplialus  streperus; 
in  North  America  the  Bobolink,  Avhile  the  English  in  South  Africa, 
in  India  and  Australia  seem  to  use  it  without  much  specialization. 
REED-BUNTING  and  REED-SPARROW  are  in  England  names 
of  Emberiza  schcenidus  often  called  the  Black -headed  Bunting  ; 
REED-THRUSH  is  the  book-name  of  A.  arundinaceus  (otherwise 

"Whindle"  and  "  Wheenerd"  have  also  been  given  as  two  other  old  English 
names  of  this  bird  {Karl.  Miscellany,  ed.  1,  ii.  p.  558),  and  these  may  be  re- 
ferred to  the  local  German  Weindrustle  and  Winscl. 


REED-PHEASANT— REGENT-BIRD  779 

lurdoides),  Avhile    REED  -  PHEASANT  is  the   local  name  in  East 
Anglia  for  the  unhappily-called  Bearded  Titmouse. 

REEL-BIRD  or  REELER,  a  local  name  for  what  in  books  is 
called  the  Grasshopper-WARBLER,  Locustella  nsevia,  while  the  prefix 
"  Night "  signified  what  is  usually  known  as  Savi's  Warbler, 
Potamodus  luscinioides,  in  the  days  when  it  inhabited  the  English 
Fen-country.  In  either  case  the  name  was  applied  from  the  resem- 
blance of  the  bird's  song  to  the  noise  of  the  reel  used  by  the  hand- 
spinners  of  wool. 

REEVE,  the  hen  Rurr,  a  word  that  puzzles  philologists  as 
offering  an  apparently  inexplicable  vowel-change  (cf.  Skeat,  Etymol. 
Diet.  S.V.). 

REGENT-BIRD,  a  very  beautiful  and  by  no  means  abundant 
inhabitant  of  the  eastern  part  of  Australia,  conspicuous  for  the 
deep  golden-yellow  and  velvety-black  of  the  male's  plumage. 
Originally  described  in  1801  by  Latham  [Ind.  Orn.  Stoppl.  p.  xliv.) 
from  a  specimen  in  Lambert's  collection,  as  a  Thrush,  Turdus  melinus, 
it  was  figured  and  again  described  in  1808  by  J.  W.  Lewin  {B.  N. 
Holl.  p.  10,  pi.  vi.)  as  Meliphaga  chrysocephala,  the  Golden-crowned 
Honey-sucker ;  a  name  changed  by  him  in  the  subsequent  issue  of 
his  work  in  1822  (B.  N.  S.  IFcdes,  p.  6)  to  King  Honey-sucker.  In 
1823,  Quoy  and  Gaimard  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  v.  p.  489),^  referred  it  to 
the  Orioles  as  Oriolus  regens.  In  1825  Swainson  (Zool.  Journ.  i.  p. 
476),  though  not  removing  it  from  the  Orioles,  perceived  in  it  some 
affinities  to  the  Birds-of-Paradise,  and  founded  for  it  a  new  genus, 
Sericuhis,  which  has  since  been  generally  accepted,  while  in  1845 
G.  R.  Gray  (Gen.  B.  i.  p.  233),  aided  probably  by  access  to  the  un- 
published drawings  of  Lambert,  was  able  to  establish  the  identity  of 
Lewin's  species  with  Latham's  (which  must  have  been  from  a  female 
specimen),  and  thus  the  bird  became  the  Sericulus  inelinus  of  ornith- 
ology.^ Still  its  affinities  remained  in  doubt  until  Mr.  Coxen's 
account  in  1864  of  the  discovery  by  Mr.  Waller  of  Brisbane  that  it 

^  From  their  more  elaborate  account  ( Voy.  de  V  UranU  et  de  la  Physicienne, 
Zool.  pp.  46,  105,  pi.  22)  it  appears  that  when  they  were  in  Australia  in  1819 
the  colonists  called  the  bird  the  "Prince  Regent,"  and  this  indicates  the  origin 
of  its  present  name.  A  few  years  later  Lesson  ( Voy.  de  la  Coqidlle,  Zool.  p.  641) 
confirmed  their  statement,  but  improved  upon  it  by  mistakes  of  his  own  which 
have  gained  currency  in  this  country.  He  supposed  it  to  have  been  discovered 
during  the  Regency  (which  only  began  in  1810),  and  declared  that  Lewin  (the 
number  of  whose  plate  he  misquotes)  had  called  it  "  King's  Honey-sucker  "  after 
a  former  governor  of  that  name,  whereas  the  change,  as  mentioned  in  the  text, 
was  doubtless  due  to  the  Regent  becoming  King  in  1820.  The  earliest  appearance 
of  the  name  Regent -bird  known  to  me  is  in  the  list  of  Australian  animals 
included  in  the  Geographical  Memoirs  of  New  South  Wales,  edited  in  1825  by 
Barron  Field  (p.  503). 

^  Stephens  [Gen.  Zool.   x.  p.  240)  has  the  name  mellinus,  and  the  spelling, 


78o  REGULUS—REMIGES 

was  a  Bower-bird  (Gould,  Handh.  B.  Austral,  i.  pp.  458-461) — a 
fact  confirmed  shortly  after  by  Mr.  E.  P.  Ramsay  {Ibis,  1867,  p.  456) 
who  had  really  observed  it  earlier.  The  "bower"  of  this  bird, 
however,  does  not  seem  to  be  so  elaborate  as  are  the  structures 
raised  by  its  allies,  but  it  is  applied  to  exactly  the  same  uses,  and 
has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  nest,  which  is  built  in  a  tree. 
The  name  "  Mock  Regent-bird  "  is  said  to  be  given  to  one  of  the 
Australian  Honey-suckers,  Melijphaga  phrygia,  from  its  black  and 
yellow  plumage. 

REGULUS,  a  genus  founded  in  1800  by  Cuvier  (ief.  d'Anai. 
comp.  tab.  ii.)  for  the  Motacilla  regulus  of  Linnaeus  (Goldcrest),  and 
often  used  as  an  English  word ;  but  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
regulus  of  classical  or  at  least  mediseval  writers  was  the  Wren. 

REMIGES,  the  principal  feathers  of  the  wing  by  which  the 
bird  is  sustained  and  rowed  forward  in  Flight,  consisting  of  two 
series — primaries  or  "manuals,"  and  cubitals  commonly  called 
"  secondaries,"  according  as  they  are  borne  by  the  bones  of  the 
manus  or  the  ulna.^  If  the  method  of  enumeration  before  recom- 
mended (pp.  118,  741)  be  adopted,  as  long  ago  suggested  by  Forbes 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1879,  p.  256,  note  2),  but  as  yet  followed  only  by  a 
few  scientific  writers,  vague  and  often  contradictory  expressions  are 
obviated.  The  taxonomic  value  of  Remiges  is  not  to  be  despised, 
being  as  good  as  that  of  many  internal  characters ;  but  it  is  curious 
that  their  least  important  features  are  made  most  of  by  ordinary 
ornithological  writers,  while  the  really  useful  information  they  give 
is  persistently  ignored.  The  phylogenetic  development  of  the 
Remiges  furnishes  an  interesting  problem.  The  late  Mr.  Wra}' 
(Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1887,  pp.  343-357,  pis.  xxix.-xxxii.)  discovered  that 
in  the  embryo  the  first  traces  of  wing-feathers  appear  on  the  dorsal 
surface  in  successive  rows,  of  which  the  last  but  one  or  last  but 
two  grows  more  rapidly  than  the  rest,  and  in  conjunction  with  the 
growing  tendinous  fascia  at  the  posterior  margin  of  the  wing,  the 
stronger  series  develops  into  the  Remiges,  while  the  weaker  becomes 
the  "  reversed  "  tectrices. 

The  earliest  Reptilian  Birds  ^  most  likely  possessed  a  somewhat 
uniform  covering  of  feathers  on  their  fore  limbs,  those  of  the  lower 
surface  being  softer  and  more  downy,  those  of  the  upper  firmer  and 
smoother,  while  the  first  that  grew  out  strong  and  large  were  those 
on  the  upper  hind  margin  of  the  forearm,  with  the  effect  of 
protecting  the  sides  of  the  body  and  possibly  of  occasionally  serving 
as  a  parachute,  these  advantages  being  preserved  and  increased  by 

since  adopted  by  G.  R.  Gray  and  Prof.  Cabanis  may  be  grammatically  more 
correct  if  the  word,  not  a  common  one,  really  signifies  honey-coloured. 

■*  "Tertials,"  spoken  of  by  many  writers,  have  no  separate  existence. 

^  "  Rerpetornithes,"  Gadow,  Thier-Reich,  Vogel,  ii.  p.  86. 


REMIGES  781 


Natural  Selection,  just  as  the  scales  on  the  hind  margin  of  Turtles' 
paddles  are  elongated  and  flattened  out.  Subsequently  their 
lengthening  and  strengthening  extended  to  the  feathers  of  the 
metacarpus  and  so  on  to  the  digits,  which  at  this  stage  were  still 
free  {Archseopteryz).  If  these  ancestral  Birds  possessed  a  patagium 
or  duplication  of  the  skin  which  would  assist  as  a  parachute,  it  was 
gradually  restricted  to  the  proximal  region  between  the  fore  limb 
and  the  trunk,  or  it  might  interfere  with  the  folding  of  the  limb 
now  become  a  wing.  Already  in  the  Keptiles  the  pollex  had 
shewn  a  tendency  to  shorten,  and  it  remained  outside  the  series  of 
the  other  fingers,  taking  part  only  to  a  slight  extent  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  wings.  The  metacarpals  became  elongated  and 
coalesced  because  of  their  simultaneous  and  one-sided  use.  The 
other  bones  of  the  mid-hand  and  of  the  fifth,  fourth  and  in  part 
of  the  third  digits  were  reduced  in  size  and  number,  since  the 
newly-gained  and  much-strengthened  axis  required  their  presence 
the  less,  and  moreover  the  full  development  of  those  digits 
would  have  hindered  the  folding  of  the  wing,  which  is  effected 
by  a  strong  abduction  towards  the  ulnar  side.  From  purely 
mechanical  causes  the  primaries  grew  into  quills  stronger  and  larger 
than  the  cubitals.  In  the  embryos  of  many  Birds  the  Remiges  of 
the  forearm  appear  earlier  and  for  some  time  grow  more  rapidly 
than  those  of  the  manus,  until  they  are  overtaken  by  the  primaries 
— thus  repeating  their  phylogenetic  development. 

After  the  reduction  and  partial  ancylosis  of  the  bones  of  the 
manus  have  once  taken  place  it  is  as  impossible  to  free  or  separate 
the  coalesced  metacarpals  again  as  it  is  to  restore  the  lost  digits. 
Neither  the  soft  Eemiges  of  the  Ostrich  nor  the  vane-less  quills  of 
the  Cassowaries  could  ever  have  produced  their  typically  "  Neor- 
nithic  "  wing-skeleton.^ 

^  As  bearing  on  this  important  subject  the  following  references  may  be  of 
use  : — E.  Alix,  "Sur  les  plumes  ou  remiges  des  ailes  des  Oiseaux,"  Journ.  Soc. 
Philomath.  1874,  p.  10;  J.  Cabanis,  "  Ornithologische  Notizen,"  Arch.  f. 
Naturg.  xiii.  (1847),  pp.  16,  256  ;  E.  Coues,  "On  the  number  of  the  primaries  in 
Oscines,"  Bull.  Nutt.  Orn.  Club,  i.  p.  60  (1876) ;  H.  Gadow,  "Remarks  on  the 
numbers  and  on  the  phylogenetic  development  of  the  Remiges  of  Birds,"  Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1888,  p.  655  ;  J.  G.  Goodchild,  "Observations  on  the  disposition  of 
the  cubital  coverts  in  Birds,"  op.  cit.  1886,  p.  184;  J.  A.  Jeffries,  "On  the 
number  of  primaries  in  Birds,"  Bull.  Nutt.  Orn.  Club,  vi.  p.  156  (1881)  ;  W.  P. 
Pycraft,  "  Contribution  to  the  pterylography  of  Birds'  Wings,"  Trans.  Leicester 
Lit.  and  Philos.  Soc.  ii.  pt.  3  (1890)  ;  C.  J.  Sundevall,  "  Om  Foglarnes  vingar," 
K.  Vet.-Ak.  Handl.  1843,  p.  303  (Engl,  transl.  Ibis,  1886,  p.  389)  ;  J.  Vian, 
"De  la  plume  batarde  dans  les  Oiseaux,"  Rev.  Mag.  Zool.  1872,  p.  83  ;  A.  R. 
Wallace,  "On  the  arrangement  of  the  Families  constituting  the  Order  Passeres," 
Ibis,  1874,  p.  406  ;  R.  S.  Wray,  "On  some  points  in  the  morphology  of  the 
wings  of  Birds,"  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1887,  p.  343  ;  with  of  course  the  great  works 
of  Nitzsch  and  Prof.  Fiirbringer. 


78: 


REPRODUCTIVE  ORGANS 


REPRODUCTIVE  ORGANS,  or  those  which  serve  for  pro- 
pagation, consist  of  the  germ-producing  glands  and  their  efferent 
ducts,  and  are  best  considered  according  to  sex. 

I.  In  the  Female,  a  pair  of  Ovaries  are  developed,  but  with  rare 
exceptions  only  that  on  the  left  side  becomes  functional.  The 
mass  of  embryonic  eggs  (see  page  195)  of  Avhich  each  is  composed 
presents  the  appearance  of  a  cluster  of  grapes,  situated  at  the 
anterior  end  of  the  Kidney  of  the  same  side,  immediately  below 
the  posterior  end  of  the  Liver,  and  is  separated  from  its  fellow  by 
the  descending  Aorta,   whence   it  receives   its   supply   of   blood, 


07'' 


T.O 


SR 


'.OW 


ur 


ur 

Fig.  1. 


Fig.  2. 


Reproductive  Organs  of  Pigeon. 


Fig.  1. — Female.  cV^,  second  cloacal  chamber  in  urodKum ;  cV,  inmost  chamber;  7;,  kidney; 
l.od,  left  oviduct;  l.od',  opening  of  the  .same  into  the  urodaeum  ;  l.od",  infundibuluni ; 
l.od'",  opening  of  the  same  into  the  body  cavity;  ov,  ovary;  r.od,  abortive  right  oviduct ; 
ur,  ureter  ;  ur',  opening  of  the  same  into  the  urodajum.  (About  2/3  of  tlie  natural  size. 
After  T.  J.  Parker.) 

Fig.  2. — Male.  1,  2,  3,  the  three  principal  lobes  of  the  kidney  ;  Ep,  epididymis ;  SR,  suprarenal 
bodies  ;  T,  testes  ;  u,  ureter ;  v,  vena  cava  posterior ;  v.d,  vas  deferens  with  a  swelling  at  S. 
(Natural  size.) 


while  it  discharges  into  the  posterior  vena  cava.  The  number  of 
germs  which  form  the  ovary  frequently  amounts  to  several  hundred, 
which  during  the  breeding-season  exhibit  all  stages  of  development 
from  a  mere  microscopic  object  to  a  full-grown  ripe  ovum,  with  its 
large  amount  of  yolk.  The  germs  which  do  not  ripen  during  the 
season  undergo  a  process  of  resorption,  and  this  is  accompanied  by 
the  dwindling  in  size  of  the  whole  ovary,  so  that  during  winter  the 
determination  of  the  sex  of  any  particular  bird  may  be  a  doubtful 


REPRODUCTIVE  ORGANS  783 

if  not  a  difficult  matter.^  The  ripe  eggs  are  received  by  the 
Oviducts,  Avhich  furnish  them  with  the  "  white  albumen,"  the  shell- 
membrane  and  the  shell,  before  expelling  them  into  the  CLOACA 
(pp.  197,  198).  In  young  birds  both  oviducts  are  almost  equally 
developed,  but  the  right  one  soon  becomes  reduced  to  an  insignifi- 
cant ligamentous  strand  along  the  ventral  side  of  part  of  the 
Kidney.  This  one-sided  suppression  of  the  organs  may  possibly 
be  referable  to  the  inconvenience  that  might  be  caused  were  each 
oviduct  to  contain  an  egg  ready  to  be  deposited.  Practically  the 
Oviduct  is  a  gut-like  tube  suspended  by  its  own  mesentery  and  open- 
ing by  a  wide  slit-like  infundibulum  into  the  body-cavity  near  the 
Ovary.  This  upper  portion  of  the  Oviduct,  corresponding  Avith  the 
Fallopian  tube  of  human  anatomy,  has  extremely  thin  Avails,  while 
peritoneal  elastic  lamellae  attach  it  to  the  hinder  margin  of  the  left 
Lung  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  the  reception  of  any  ripe  egg  that 
may  burst  from  the  Ovary.  The  next  portion  of  the  Oviduct  is 
much  narrower  with  thick  glandular  walls,  which,  tAvisting  and 
turning  irregularly,  secrete  the  albumen,  and  it  is  connected  by  a 
constricted  portion,  the  isthmus  (p.  197),  Avith  a  dilated  "uterus," 
situated  on  the  ventral  and  partly  on  the  right  side  of  the  Eectum 
and  cloaca.  The  walls  of  the  isthmus  deposit  the  shell-membrane, 
while  those  of  the  uterus  secrete  the  calcareous  shell  and  the  pigment, 
and  the  uterus  leads  into  a  rather  glandless  portion,  the  "  A^agina  " 
(Avhich  in  a  common  Fowl  is  about  an  inch,  and  in  a  Goose  two 
inches  in  length)  opening  into  the  dorsal  AA^all  of  the  urodseum 
(p.  90)  to  the  left  of  the  urethral  papilla. 

Microscopically  examined,  the  structure  of  the  parts  above 
mentioned  is  seen  to  be  as  folloAvs — The  AA^hole  duct  consists  of  four 
layers:  (1)  an  outer  peritoneal,  mesenteric  lamella;  (2)  a  layer  of 
smooth  unstriped  muscular  and,  for  the  most  part,  longitudinal 
fibres,  most  numerous  in  the  uterus  and  the  A^agina,  but  scanty  or 
absent  in  the  infundibulum;  (3)  connective  tissue  Avith  blood- 
vessels ;  and  (4)  the  tunica  mucosa,  mucous  membrane,  Avhich  in 
the  infundibulum  is  thin  and  contains  numerous  cells  Avith  cilia, 
the  vibrating  motion  of  Avhich  propels  the  ovum  doAvnAvard.  In 
the  other  portions  of  the  duct  the  mucous  membrane  forms  from 
ten  to  tAventy  or  even  more  folds,  and  contains  numerous  secreting 
glands. 

During  the  breeding-season  the  Avhole  Oviduct  is  in  a  state  of 
hypertrophic  turgescence.  In  the  common  FoavI  at  the  period  of 
rest  it  will  be  only  some  six  or  seven  inches  long  and  scarcely  a 

^  This  is  so  often  tlie  case  that  the  usual  notes  on  the  labels  which  collectors 
attach  to  their  specimens  are  at  that  season  mostly  the  expression  of  fancy.  The 
vicinity  of  the  suprarenal  capsules,  Avhich  are  of  a  pale  yellow  colour  and 
"granular"  in  appearance,  makes  them  liable  to  be  mistaken  for  ovaries,  or 
more  often  for  the  testes  when  in  a  dormant  and  much  reduced  condition. 


784  RETINA 

line  wide,  but  at  the  time  of  laying  eggs  it  becomes  more  than  two 
feet  in  length  and  nearly  half  an  inch  in  width,  thus  increasing  its 
volume  about  fifty  times ;  and  this  remarkable  change  takes  place 
annually. 

II.  In  the  Male,  the  Testes  are  a  pair  of  whitish-yellow  glands, 
of  oval  or  globular  shape — occasionally  (as  in  Cypselus)  vermiform — • 
and  lie  at  the  anterior  end  of  the  Kidneys,  being  kept  in  position 
by  an  enveloping  peritoneal  lamella,  whence  septa  extend  into  the 
interior.  Within  the  meshwork  thus  formed  are  embedded  the 
spermatic  vesicles  or  tuhuli  seminiferi,  which  combine  toward  the 
median  side  of  each  testis  into  wider  tubes  that  in  their  turn  leave 
it,  and  joining  numerous  convoluted  canals,  the  whole  constitute 
the  Epididymis,  which  is  irregular  in  shape  and  as  a  rule  of  a 
deeper  colour.  Generally  the  left  testis  is  bigger  than  the  right, 
although  both  are  equally  functional.  During  the  breeding-season 
they  are  greatly  enlarged,  as  has  been  most  often  remarked  in  the 
case  of  the  House-Sparrow,  where  they  increase  from  the  size  of  a 
mustard-seed  to  that  of  a  small  cherry,  temporarily  displacing  the 
usual  arrangement  of  intestine,  liver  and  stomach.  The  canals  of 
each  epididymis  unite  to  form  a  narrow  tube,  the  vas  deferens,  that, 
with  small  undulations,  passes  laterally  along  the  lu-eter  of  the 
same  side,  over  the  ventral  surface  of  the  kidney,  and  opens  upon 
a  small  papilla  into  the  urodseum  of  the  CLOACA  (p.  90).  The 
walls  of  the  vasa  deferentia  are  furnished  with  unstriped  muscular 
fibre,  but  are  devoid  of  glands,  and  there  are  no  accessory  glands, 
seminal  or  prostate.  In  many  birds,  especially  the  Fasseres,  the 
vasa  deferentia  increase  considerably  in  length  during  the  breeding- 
season,  and  form  a  closely  convoluted  mass  which  often  causes 
a  protrusion  of  the  cloacal  walls,  a  peculiarity  that  is  particularly 
remarkable  in  some  of  the  Ploceidse,^  and  has  been  observed  in 
Accentor  collar  is. 

The  spermatozoa  of  Birds,,  though  extremely  minute,  have  a 
complicated  structure,  the  different  parts  of  which  present  so  many 
differences  of  shape,  size  and  proportion  in  various  groups,  that 
they  may  possibly  aflbrd  characters  of  no  mean  taxonomic  value  (c/. 
Ballowitz,  Anat.  Anzeiger,  1886,  pp.  363-376,  and  Arch,  mihrosk. 
Anal  xxxii.  pp.  402-473,  tabb.  14-18). 

RETINA,  the  visual  or  perceptive  screen  formed  by  the 
terminal  expansion  of  the  optic  nerve  and  lining  the  inner 
chamber  of  the  Eye. 

^  The  external  protrusion  thus  caused  in  certain  of  the  South -African 
Weaver-birds  is  often  visible  in  their  prepared  skins,  for  it  dries  into  a  hard 
hook-shaped  excrescence  and  has  given  rise  to  various  absurd  and  speculative 
explanations. 


RHEA  785 

EHEA,  the  name  given  in  1752  by  Mohring^  to  a  South- 
American  bird  which,  though  long  before  known  and  described  by  the 
earlier  writers — Nieremberg,  Marcgrave  and  Piso  (the  last  of  whom 
has  a  recognizable  but  rude  figure  of  it) — had  been  without  any 
distinctive  scientific  appellation.  Adopted  a  few  years  later  by 
Brisson,  the  name  has  since  passed  into  general  use,  especially 
among  English  authors,  for  what  their  predecessors  had  called  the 
American  Ostrich ;  but  on  the  European  continent  the  bird  is  com- 
monly called  Nandu^^  a  word  corrupted  from  a  name  it  is  said  to 
have  borne  among  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Brazil,  where  the 
Portuguese  settlers  called  it  Ema  {cf.  Emeu).  The  resemblance  of 
the  Ehea  to  the  Ostrich  was  at  once  perceived,  but  the  differences 
between  them  were  scarcely  less  soon  noticed,  for  some  of  them  are 
very  evident.  The  former,  for  instance,  has  three  instead  of  two 
toes  on  each  foot,  it  has  no  apparent  tail,  nor  the  showy  wing- 
plumes  of  the  latter,  and  its  head  and  neck  are  clothed  with  feathers, 
while  internal  distinctions  of  still  deeper  significance  have  since 
been  dwelt  upon  by  Prof.  Huxley  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  420- 
422)  and  the  late  Mr.  W.  A.  Forbes  {op.  cit.  1881,  pp.  784-787), 
thus  justifying  the  separation  of  these  two  forms  more  widely  even 
than  as  Families ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  should  be 
regarded  as  types  of  as  many  Orders — Struthiones  and  Bhe^ — of  the 
Subclass  Eatit^.^  Structural  characters  no  less  important  separate 
the  Eheas  from  the  Emeus,  and,  apart  from  their  very  different 
physiognomy,  the  former  can  be  readily  recognized  by  the  rounded 
form  of  their  contour-feathers,  which  want  the  ATTERSHATT  that  in 
the  Emeus  and  Cassowaries  is  so  long  as  to  equal  the  main  shaft, 
and  contributes  to  give  these  latter  groups  the  appearance  of  being 
covered  with  shaggy  hair.  Though  the  Ehea  is  not  decked  with 
the  graceful  plumes  which  adorn  the  Ostrich,  its  feathers  have  yet 
a  considerable  market-value,  and  for  the  purpose  of  trade  in  them 
it  is  annually  killed  by  thousands,  so  that  it  has  been  already 
extirpated  from  much  of  the  country  it  formerly  inhabited,^  and  its 
total  extinction  as  a  wild  animal  is  probably  only  a  question  of 
time.      Its  breeding- habits   are   precisely  those  which   have   been 

^  What  prompted  his  bestowal  of  this  name,  so  well  known  in  classical 
mythology,  is  not  apparent. 

^  The  name  Touyou,  also  of  South-American  origin,  was  ap])lied  to  it  by 
Brisson  and  others,  but  erroneously,  as  Cuvier  shews,  since  by  that  name,  or 
something  like  it,  the  Jabietj  is  properly  meant. 

•^  A7171.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  4,  xx.  p.  500. 

*  Mr.  Harting,  in  his  and  Mr.  De  Mosenthal's  Ostriches  and  Ostrich  Farviing, 
from  which  the  woodcut  here  introduced  is  by  permission  copied,  gives  (pp.  67-72) 
some  portentous  statistics  of  the  destruction  of  Rheas  for  the  sake  of  their 
feathers,  which,  he  says,  are  known  in  the  trade  as  "Vautour"  to  distinguish, 
them  from  those  of  the  African  bird. 

50 


786 


RHEA 


already  described  in  the  case  of  other  Ratite  birds.  Like  most  of 
them  it  is  polygamous,  and  the  male  performs  the  duty  of  incuba- 
tion, brooding  more  than  a  score  of  eggs,  the  produce  of  several 
females— facts  known  to  Nieremberg  more  than  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  since,  but  hardly  accepted  by  naturalists  until  recently. 


Rhea. 


From  causes  which,  if  explicable,  do  not  here  concern  us,  no 
examples  of  this  bird  seem  to  have  been  brought  to  Europe  before 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  accordingly  the  descriptions 
previously  given  of  it  by  systematic  writers  were  taken  at  second 
hand,  and  were  mostly  defective  if  not  misleading.  In  1803 
Latham  issued  a  Avretched  figure  of  the  species  from  a  half-grown 


RHEA  787 

specimen  in  the  Leverian  Museum,  and  twenty  years  later  said  he 
had  seen  only  one  other,  and  that  still  younger,  in  Bullock's  collec- 
tion {Gm..  Hist.  B.  viii.  p.  379).^  A  bird  living  in  confinement  at 
Strasburg  in  1806  was,  however,  described  and  figured  by  Hammer 
in  1808  {Ann.  du  Mus4um,  xii.  pp.  427-433,  pi.  39),  and,  though  he 
does  not  expressly  say  so,  we  may  infer  from  his  account  that  it  had 
been  a  captive  for  some  years.  In  England  the  Report  of  the 
Zoological  Society  for  1833  announced  the  Rhea  as  having  been 
exhibited  for  the  first  time  in  its  gardens  during  the  preceding 
twelvemonth.  Since  then  many  other  living  examples  have  been 
introduced,  and  it  has  bred  both  there  and  elsewhere  in  Britain, 
but  the  young  do  not  seem  to  be  very  easily  reared.^ 

Though  considerably  smaller  than  the  Ostrich,  and,  as  before 
stated,  wanting  its  fine  plumes,  the  Rhea  in  general  aspect  far  more 
resembles  that  bird  than  the  other  Batitx.  The  feathers  of  the 
head  and  neck,  except  on  the  crown  and  nape,  where  they  are  dark 
brown,  are  dingy  white,  and  those  of  the  body  ash-coloured  tinged 
with  brown,  while  on  the  breast  they  are  brownish-black,  and  on 
the  belly  and  thighs  white.  In  the  course  of  the  memorable  voyage 
of  the  '  Beagle,'  Darwin  came  to  hear  of  another  kind  of  Rhea, 
called  by  his  informants  Avestruz  petise,  and  at  Port  Desire  on  the 
east  coast  of  Patagonia  he  obtained  an  example  of  it,  the  imperfect 
skin  of  which  enabled  Gould  to  describe  it  {Broc.  Zool.  Soc.  1837, 
p.  35)  as  a  second  species  of  the  genus,  naming  it  after  its  dis- 
coverer. Bhea  daruini  differs  in  several  well-marked  characters 
from  the  earlier  known  B.  americana.  Its  bill  is  shorter  than  its 
head  ;  its  tarsi  are  reticulated  instead  of  scutellated  in  front,  with 
the  upper  part  feathered  instead  of  being  bare ;  and  the  plumage 
of  its  body  and  wings  is  very  diff'erent,  each  feather  being  tipped 
with  a  distinct  whitish  band,  while  that  of  the  head  and  neck  is 
greyish-brown.  A  further  distinction  is  also  asserted  to  be  shewn 
by  the  eggs — those  of  B.  americana  being  of  a  yellowish-white,  while 
those  of  B.  darwini  have  a  bluish  tinge.  Some  years  afterwards 
Mr.  Sclater  described  {op.  cit.  1860,  p.  207)  a  third  and  smaller 
species,  more  closely  resembling  the  B.  americana,  but  having 
apparently  a  longer  bill,  whence  he  named  it  B.  macrorhynclia,  more 
slender  tarsi  and  shorter  toes,  while  its  general  colour  is  very  much 
darker,  the  body  and  wings  being  of  a  brownish-grey  mixed  with 
black.  The  precise  geographical  range  of  these  three  species  is 
still  undetermined.  While  B.  americana  is  known  to  extend  from 
Paraguay  and  southern  Brazil  through  the  state  of  La  Plata  to  an 
uncertain  distance  in  Patagbnia,  B.  darwini  seems  to  be  the  proper 

1  The  ninth  edition  of  the  Companimi  to  this  collection  (1810,  p.  121)  states 
that  the  specimen  "was  brought  alive"  [?to  England]. 

2  Interesting  accounts  of  the  breeding  of  this  bird  in  confinement  are  given, 
with  much  other  valuable  matter,  by  Mr.  Hailing  in  the  work  already  cited. 


788  RHINOCEROS-BIRD— RIBS 

inhabitant  of  the  country  last  named,  though  M.  Claraz  asserts  {op. 
cit.  1885,  p.  324)  that  it  is  occasionally  found  to  the  northward  of 
the  Eio  Negro,  which  had  formerly  been  regarded  as  its  limit,  and, 
moreover,  that  flocks  of  the  two  species  commingled  may  be  very 
frequently  seen  in  the  district  between  that  river  and  the  Rio 
Colorado.  On  the  "  pampas  "  E.  americana  is  said  to  associate  with 
herds  of  deer  {Caria-:us  campestris),  and  B.  darivini  to  be  the  constant 
companion  of  guanacos  {Lama  huanacus) — just  as  in  Africa  the  Ostrich 
seeks  the  society  of  zebras  and  antelopes.  As  for  R.  macrorhyncha, 
it  was  found  by  Forbes  {Ibis,  1881,  pp.  360,  361)  to  inhabit  the 
dry  and  open  "  sertoes "  of  north-eastern  Brazil,  a  discovery  the 
more  interesting  since  it  was  in  that  part  of  the  country  that 
Marcgrave  and  Piso  became  acquainted  with  a  bird  of  this  kind, 
though  the  existence  of  any  species  of  Rhea  in  the  district  had  been 
long  overlooked  by  or  unknown  to  succeeding  travellers.^ 

RHINOCEROS -BIRD,  an  old  book-name  for  one  or  more  of 
the  HORNBILLS  (p.  433),  and  occasionally  used  by  modern  South- 
African  travellers  for  the  Ox-pecker  (p.  680). 

BIBS,  if  typically  developed,  have  a  double  attachment  to  the 
vertebrae — a  capitulum  or  "  head  "  articulating  with  the  centrum  of 
a  vertebra,  and  a  tuberculum  or  knob  movably  applied  to  the  trans- 
verse process  of  the  same  vertebra.  The  portion  next  to  the 
"  head  "  is  known  as  the  "  neck,"  and  to  it  succeeds  the  shaft, 
composed  of  two  pieces,  the  dorsal  or  vertebral  (to  the  posterior 
margin  of  which  is  generally  attached  an  Uncinate  Process)  and 
the  ventral,  which  is  sometimes  called  the  sternal  or  sterno-costal 
rib.  If  this  ventral  piece  reaches  and  articulates  with  the  sternum, 
the  whole  is  called  a  "  true  "  Rib  ;  but  if  the  sternum  is  not  reached, 
the  whole  is  called  a  "  false "  Rib,  even  if  the  ventral  piece  be 
present. 

According  to  their  position  Ribs  are  usually  distinguished  as 
(1)  Cervical  Ribs  possessing  only  a  short  shaft,  while  both  head  and 
tubercle  are  immovably  fused  with  the  vertebra ;  (2)  Cervico-dorsal 
Ribs  movably  attached  to  the  vertebrae,  being  in  number  from  1  to 
4  on  each  side,  with  a  shortened  shaft  which  may  in  some  cases 
carry  a  small  ventral  piece ;  (3)  Thoracic  Ribs,  connecting  the 
vertebral  column    with  the  sternum,  from  3  to  9  in  number — as 

^  Beside  the  works  above  named  and  those  of  other  recognized  authorities 
on  the  ornithology  of  South  America  such  as  Azara,  Prince  Max  of  Wied,  Prof. 
Burmeister  and  others,  more  or  less  valuable  information  on  the  subject  is  to  be 
found  in  Darwin's  Voyage  ;  Dr.  Booking's  "  Monographie  des  Nandu  "  in  (Wieg- 
mann's)  Archivfiir  Naturgeschichte  (1S63,  i.  pp.  213-241)  ;  Prof.  E.  0.  Cunning- 
ham's Natural  History  of  the  Strait  of  Magellan  and  paper  in  the  Zoological 
Society's  Proceedings  fov  1871  (pp.  105-110),  as  well  as  Dr.  Gadow's  still  more 
important  anatomical  contributions  in  the  same  journal  for  ISSfj  (pp.  308  et  seqq. ) 


RICE-BIRD— RIFLEMAN-BIRD  789 

3  or  4  in  Columhidx,  4  or  5  in  Fasseres  and  most  Picarix,  4  to  7  in 
Steganopodes  and  4  to  9  in  Anseres  ;  (4)  Lumbar  Eibs,  following  the 
Thoracic,  and  often  consisting  only  of  a  short  dorsal  piece  "^^hich  is 
thus  frequently  fused  with  the  overlapping  part  of  the  Ilium.  The 
number  of  Ribs  varies  (not  so  much  as  a  whole,  but  according  to 
the  regions  to  which  they  belong)  among  closely-allied  species  as 
well  as  among  individuals  of  the  same  species.  Usually  an 
increased  number  of  cervical  or  lumbar  "  false "  Ribs  means  a 
reduced  number  of  "  true  "  or  thoracic  Ribs,  and  vice  versd.  Speak- 
ing generally,  a  greater  number  of  Ribs,  and  especially  of  thoracic 
Ribs,  indicates  a  lower  and  therefore  phylogenetically  older  condition, 
a  feature  which  is  found  in  the  Bird  not  only  in  its  embryonic  but 
even  during  its  adolescent  stage.  From  a  taxonomic  point  of  view 
Ribs  are  valueless. 

RICE -BIRD,  one  of  the  many  names  of  the  Bobolink  (p.  46), 
and  perhaps  locally  applied  in  the  East  Indies  to  others  not  at  all 
allied  (cf.  Paddy-bird,  p.  683). 

RICHEL-BIRD  (etymology^  and  spelling  doubtful)  said  to  be 
a  local  name  of  the  Lesser  Tern. 

RIFLEMAN  -  BIRD,  or  RIFLE -BIRD,  names  given  by  the 
English  in  Australia  to  a  very  beautiful  inhabitant  of  that  country,^ 
probably  because  in  coloration  it  resembled  the  well-known  uniform 
of  the  rifle -regiments  of  the  British  army,  while  in  its  long  and 
projecting  hypochondriac  plumes  and  short  tail  a  further  likeness 
might  be  traced  to  the  hanging  pelisse  and  the  jacket  formerly 
worn  by  the  members  of  those  corps.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  cock 
bird  is  clothed  in  velvety-black  generally  glossed  with  rich  purple, 
but  having  each  feather  of  the  abdomen  broadly  tipped  with  a 
chevron  of  green  bronze,  while  the  crown  of  the  head  is  covered 
with  scale -like  feathers  of  glittering  green,  and  on  the  throat 
gleams  a  triangular  patch  of  brilliant  bluish  emerald,  a  colour  that 
reappears  on  the  whole  upper  surface  of  the  middle  pair  of  tail- 
quills.  The  hen  is  greyish-brown  above,  the  crown  striated  with 
dull  white  ;  the  chin,  throat  and  a  streak  behind  the  eye  are  pale 
ochreous,  and  the  lower  parts  deep  buff,  each  feather  bearing  a 
black  chevron.     According  to  James   Wilson   (III.    Zool.   pi.    xi.), 

1  "Rekels"  {Cathol.  Ancjl.  p.  302),  "Richelle"  or  "Rychelle"'  {Prompt.  Parvul. 
pp.  66,  433),  derived  from  reke  or  reek  (smoke),  is  an  old  word  for  incense,  but 
no  connexion  with  the  bird's  name  is  apparent. 

^  Its  English  name  seems  to  be  iirst  printed  in  1825  by  Barron  Field 
{Geog.  Mem.  N.  S.  Wales,  p.  503).  In  1828  Lesson  and  Garnot  said  {Voy. 
de  la  Coqidlle,  Zool.  p.  669)  that  it  was  applied  "pour  rappeler  que  ce  fut 
im  soldat  de  la  garnison  [of  New  South  Wales]  qui  le  tua  le  premier," — which 
seems  to  be  an  insufficient  reason,  though  the  statement  as,  to  the  bird's  first 
murderer  may  be  true.     The  Rifleman  of  New  Zealand  is  Aca\thidositta  chloris. 


'/ 


cVi/u^/'-^^'^ 


790  RING-DO  VE— RING-PL  O  VER 

specimens  of  both  sexes  were  obtained  by  Sir  T.  Brisbane  at  Port 
Macquarie,  whence,  in  August  1823,  they  were  sent  to  the  Edinburgh 
Museum,  where  they  arrived  the  following  year ;  but  the  species 
was  first  described  by  Swainson  in  January  1825  (Zool.  Journ.  i. 
p.  481)  as  the  type  of  a  new  genus  Ptiloris,  more  properly  written 
Ftilorrhis,^  and  it  is  generally  known  in  ornithology  as  F.  paradisea. 
It  inhabits  the  northern  part  of  New  South  Wales  and  southern 
part  of  Queensland  as  far  as  Wide  Bay,  beyond  which  its  place  is 
taken  by  a  kindred  species,  the  P.  vidorim  of  Gould,  which  was 
found  by  John  Macgillivray  on  the  shores  and  islets  of  Rockingham 
Bay.  Further  to  the  north,  in  York  Peninsula,  occurs  what  is 
considered  a  third  species,  P.  alberti,  very  closely  allied  to  and  by 
some  authorities  thought  to  be  identical  with  the  P.  magnifica 
(Vieillot)  of  New  Guinea — the  "Promerops"  of  many  Avriters. 
From  that  country  a  fifth  species,  P.  tvilsoni,  has  also  been  described 
by  Mr.  Ogden  {Proc.  Acad.  Philad.  1875,  p.  451,  pi.  25).  Little  is 
known  of  the  habits  of  any  of  them,  but  the  Rifleman-bird  proper 
is  said  to  get  its  food  by  thrusting  its  somewhat  long  bill  under 
the  loose  bark  on  the  boles  or  boughs  of  trees,  along  the  latter  of 
which  it  runs  swiftly,  or  by  searching  for  it  on  the  ground  beneath. 
During  the  pairing-season  the  males  mount  to  the  higher  branches 
and  there  display  and  trim  their  brilliant  plumage  in  the  morning 
sun,  or  fly  from  tree  to  tree  uttering  a  note  which  is  syllabled 
"  yass  "  greatly  prolonged,  but  at  the  same  time  making,  apparently 
with  their  wings,  an  extraordinary  noise  like  that  caused  by  the 
shaking  of  a  piece  of  stiff  silk  stuft'.  In  February  1887  Mr.  A.  J. 
Campbell  of  Melbourne  described  (Vict.  Nat.  ii.  p.  165)  the  egg  of 
the  Queensland  species,  P.  vidorise,  which  he  had  lately  received 
from  Rockingham  Bay,  being  apparently  the  first  authentic 
account  of  the  nidification  of  any  species  of  the  genus  ever 
given.  The  nest  is  said  to  have  been  an  open  one,  placed  in  dense 
scrub,  and  containing  two  eggs  of  a  light  flesh-colour  with  subdued 
spots  and  small  blotches  of  dull  red  or  brown.  The  genus  Ptilorrhis 
is  now  generally  considered  to  belong  to  the  Paradiseidse,  or 
Birds-OF-Paradise,  and  in  his  Monograph  of  that  Family  all  the 
species  then  known  are  beautifully  figured  by  Mr.  Elliot,  as  will 
doubtless  be  the  case  also  in  the  similar  work  by  Dr.  Sharpe 
now  in  course  of  publication. 

RING-DOVE,   properly  Colurnba  palumhus,  see  Dove  (p.  162); 
but  a  name  often  misapplied  to  the  Collared  or  Barbary  Dove  (p.  1 65). 

RING-OUSEL,  Tardus  torqmtus,  see  Ousel  (p.  667). 

RING-PLOVER,  AJgialitis  hiaticola,  see  Plover  (p.  482).     This 

1  Some  writers  liave  amended  Swaiuson's  faulty  name  in  the  form  Ptilornis, 
but  that  is  a  mistake. 


RINGTAIL— ROC  751 


bird  Sir  Thomas  Browne  called  "  Ringlestones,"  the  dorivation  of 
which  word  is  open  to  conjecture ;  but  Prof.  Skeat  thinks  it  may- 
refer  to  the  bird's  habit  of  "  ranging  "  (an  old  form  of  arranging)  the 
stones  for  its  nest. 

RINGTAIL,  the  old  name  for  the  female  Harrier  (p.  410), 
long  thought  to  be  specifically  distinct  from  the  male ;  but  also 
occasionally  applied  to  the  immature  Golden  Eagle  (p.  177). 

RIPPOCK  or  EITTOCK  (Icelandic  Fdtm-\  a  local  name  for  a 
Tern. 

ROAD-RUNNER,  a  name  for  the  Chaparral-Cock  (p.  84). 

ROBIN,  a  well-known  nickname  of  the  Redbreast,  which  in 
common  use  has  almost  supplanted  the  stock  on  which  it  was 
grafted,  while  it  has  been  transplanted  as  well  to  the  oldest  as  to 
the  newest  settlements  of  England  beyond  sea,  as  to  Jamaica  in  the 
case  of  the  Green  Tody,  to  North  America  where  the  Robin  pure 
and  simple  is  Turdus  migratorius  (p.  250),  but  with  the  prefix  Blue 
signifies  some  member  of  the  genus  Sialia  (Bluebird),  in  conse- 
quence only  of  their  red  breast,  while  in  Australia  the  name  is 
applied,  irrespective  of  that  character,  to  several  species  of  Fdrceca, 
Melarwclryas  and  others  (Wheatear),  and  in  New  Zealand  to  some 
of  the  birds  of  the  probably  kindred  genera  Miro  and  Myiomoira, 
which  have  no  red  at  all  about  them.  Robin-Snipe  in  North 
America  is  the  Knot  in  summer-plumage,  when  it  is  in  winter- 
dress  the  prefix  White  is  added. 

ROC,  RUC  and  RUKH,  transliterations  of  the  name  of  the 
colossal  bird  celebrated  in  the  Arabian  Nights,  which  as  everybody 
knows  could  carry  off  elephants  in  its  clutch ;  and  according  to  the 
best  authorities  frequented  Madagascar  and  its  neighbourhood ! 
Discoveries  of  the  last  half -century,  or  thereabouts,  have  shewn 
that  what  so  long  passed  for  an  idle  tale  was  possibly  founded  on 
fact,  however  gross  have  been  the  exaggerations.  In  November 
1849  Strickland,  who  had  already  cited  {The  Dodo  &c.  p.  60)  the 
testimony  of  Flacourt  in  1658  {Histoire  de  la  grandeisle  Madagascar, 
p.  165)  as  to  a  large  bird,  called  "  Fouron  patra,"  a  kind  of  Ostrich 
said  to  frequent  the  south  of  that  island,  published  in  1849  {Ann. 
Nat.  Hist.  ser.  2,  iv.  p.  338)  information  received  through  Mr. 
JolifFe,  an  English  naval  officer,  from  a  French  trader  named 
Dumarele,  that  he  had  seen  in  Madagascar  the  shell  of  an  enormous 
egg  capable  of  holding  13  wine-quarts,  and  used  as  a  vessel  for 
liquor  by  the  natives  (Sakalaves),  who  declared  that  such  eggs 
were  but  rarely  found  and  the  bird  which  laid  them  still  more 
rarely  seen.  Strickland  remarked  on  the  coincidence  of  this 
gigantic  egg  being  in  the  locality  to  which  the  great  traveller  Marco 
Polo  had  referred  the  Roc.     In  January  1851  Isidore  Geoffroy- 


792  ROC 

St.  Hilaire  exhibited  to  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences  {Comptes 
Eendus,  xxxii.  pp.  101-107  ;  Eng.  transl.  Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  2,  vii. 
p.  161)  some  fossils — two  eggs  and  a  few  fragments  of  bone,  which 
had  just  been  brought  to  Paris  from  Madagascar  by  Capt.  Abadie, 
— referring  them  to  a  bird  which  he  named  yEjjyornis  maximus  and 
declared  to  be  a  "  Rudipenne  " — or  allied  to  the  Ostrich.  He  soon 
after  republished  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  Zool.  ser.  3,  xiv.  pp.  205-216)  his 
original  remarks,  together  with  some  additional  information  of  con- 
siderable interest  to  the  effect  that,  in  1832,  Sganzin,  who  resided 
for  some  years  in  Madagascar,  sent  thence  to  Jules  Verreaux,  then 
at  Capetown,  a  full-sized  drawing  of  a  gigantic  egg,  but  this  was 
lost  at  sea  with  all  his  collections  ;  while  in  1834,  Goudot,  another 
traveller  in  that  island,  obtained  some  fragments  of  egg-shells  which 
Gervais  had  mentioned  in  1841  {Did.  Sc.  Nat.  Suppl.  i.  p.  524)  as 
resembling  Ostriches'.  In  1861,  Prof.  Bianconi  {Mem.  Accad.  Bologna, 
xii.  pp.  61-76)  seriously  took  up  the  question  of  the  identity  of  the 
Roc,  described  by  some  one  to  Marco  Polo  (for  the  great  Venetian 
himself  did  not  see  it) ;  of  the  "  Chrocko  "  (which  is  only  another 
form  of  the  same  word)  mentioned  on  the  map  of  Fra  Mauro  (1450) 
whose  egg  was  as  big  as  a  butt ;  and  of  the  jEpyornis  of  ornithology, 
declaring  the  latter  to  be  no  Struthious  bird  but  a  Vulture — an 
opinion  which  he  steadily  maintained  throughout  a  long  series 
of  papers.  The  matter  has  therefore  attracted  some  scientific 
attention,  especially  as  other  remains  have  come  to  light ;  but  none 
can  doubt  after  the  masterly  treatise  of  MM.  Alphonse  Milne- 
Edwards  and  Grandidier  {Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  ser.  5,  xii.  pp.  167-196, 
pis.  6-16)  that  the  original  determination  was  right;  and  therefore, 
according  to  the  views  taken  in  the  present  work,  a  group  or  Order 
jEpyornithes  should  be  recognized  as  of  equal  rank  with  the 
Struthiones  and  others  that  form  the  Subclass  Ratit^^e.  A  consider- 
able number  of  eggs,  which  from  their  enormous  size — being  the 
largest  eggs  known — are  conspicuous  objects,  and  no  small  number 
of  fossil  bones  have  now  been  discovered,  and  have  been  attributed 
to  five  species  of  which  jS.  maximus,  medius  and  modestus  are 
indicated  by  the  eminent  naturalists  last  named,  who  think  it 
possible  that  one  of  the  smaller  species  may  have  survived  long 
enough  for  a  tradition  of  its  existence  to  be  transmitted,  especially 
since  some  of  the  bones  found  shew  marks  of  a  cutting  instrument, 
evidently  the  work  of  a  human  hand  and  presumably  made  on  the 
recently-killed  bird.^  Sir  Henry  Yule  {Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo,  ii. 
pp.  346-354)  treated  the  question  in  his  usual  happy  style  and, 

^  They  cite  from  a  French  work  of  fiction  published  in  1696  under  the  title 
of  Furteriana  a  passage  describing  enormous  birds  inhabiting  Madagascar  and 
there  carrying  off  sheep  and  human  beings,  so  that  the  latter  had  to  walk  about 
with  tame  tigers  for  their  own  protection  !  This  modern  embellishment  of  the 
old  Arabian  stories  is  hardly  an  improvement  if  probability  is  to  be  regarded. 


ROCKIER— ROLLER  793 

acting  on  the  hint  first  given  by  Strickland,  suggested  that  the 
story  of  the  Rue,  though  it  may  have  originated  much  further  to 
the  eastward,  became  localized  in  Madagascar  through  some 
rumour  of  u^pyornis  and  its  stupendous  eggs,  one  of  which  (now  in 
the  British  Museum,  and  measuring  more  than  13  inches  by  9*5) 
he  figured  of  the  natural  size ;  ^  hut  there  seems  no  doubt  that  the 
largest  species  of  jEpyornis  as  yet  found  by  no  means  equalled  in 
bulk  or  height  the  larger  forms  of  Dinornithes.  Herr  R.  Burck- 
hardt  {Palxontol.  Ahhandl.  vi.  Heft  2,  1893)  has  referred  some 
remains  obtained  by  the  late  Dr.  Hildebrandt  to  a  fifth  species 
jE.  hildebrandti. 

ROCKIER,  the  name  of  a  Pigeon,  presumably  Columha  livia, 
commonly  called  the  Rock-DovE;  but  (teste  Gilb.  White,  N.  H. 
Selhorne,  Lett.  xliv.  to  Pennant)  applied  to  the  Stock -Dove, 
C.  cenas,  so  long  confounded  with  it  (p.  163). 

RODE-GOOSE  (Germ.  Rotgans),  a  local  name  given  by  fowlers 
to  the  Brant-Goose  (pp.  57,  375). 

ROERDOMP,  the  Dutch  name  of  the  Bittern  (p.  40),  commonly 
used  by  colonists  in  South  Africa. 

ROLLER,  a  very  beautiful  bird,  so  called  from  its  way  of 
occasionally  rolling  or  turning  over  in  its  flight,-  somewhat  after 
the  fashion  of  a  Tumbler-Pigeon.  It  is  the  Coracias  garndus  of 
ornithology,  and  is  widely  though  not  very  numerously  spread  over 
Europe  and  Western  Asia  in  summer,  breeding  so  far  to  the  north- 
ward as  the  middle  of  Sweden,  but  retiring  to  winter  in  Africa.  It 
occurs  almost  every  year  in  some  part  or  other  of  the  British 
Islands,  from  Cornwall  to  the  Shetlands,  while  it  has  visited  Ireland 
several  times  and  is  even  recorded  from  St.  Kilda.  But  it  is  only 
as  a  wanderer  that  it  comes  hither,  since  there  is  no  evidence  of  its 
having  ever  attempted  to  breed  in  Great  Britain  ;  and  indeed  its 
conspicuous  appearance — for  it  is  nearly  as  big  as  a  Daw,  and  very 
brightly  coloured — would  forbid  its  being  ever  allowed  to  escape 
the  gun  of  the  always-ready  murderers  of  stray  birds.  Except  the 
back,  scapulars  and  inner  cubitals,  which  are  bright  reddish-brown, 
the  plumage  of  both  sexes  is  almost  entirely  blue — of  various  shades, 

^  One  possessed  by  the  late  I\Ir.  Rowley  was  said  to  measure  12 '25  by  9  "75 
incbes.  He  referred  it  to  a  distinct  species  which  he  named  ^.  grandidieri. 
Dr.  von  Nathusius  has  described  (Zeitschr.  wisseJisch.  Zool.  1871,  pp.  330-334,  pi. 
xxT. )  the  microscopical  examination  of  the  egg-shell  in  ^pyornis. 

^  Gesner  in  1555  said  that  the  bird  was  thus  called,  and  for  this  reason,  near 
Strasburg,  but  the  name  seems  not  to  be  generally  used  in  Germany,  where  the 
bird  is  commonly  called  Hake,  apparently  from  its  harsh  note.  The  French  have 
kept  the  name  Rollier.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  Roller,  notwithstanding  its 
occurrence  in  th»  Levant  and  conspicuous  appearance,  cannot  be  identified  with 
any  species  mentioned  by  Aristotle. 


794  ROODEBEC 


from  pale  turquoise  to  dark  ultramarine — tinted  in  parts  with 
green.  The  bird  seems  to  be  purely  insectivorous.  The  genus 
Coracias,  for  a  long  while  placed  by  systematists  among  the  Crows, 
has  really  no  affinity  whatever  to  them,  and  is  now  properly  con- 


^=: 


Coracias.  Eorystomus. 

(After  Swainson.) 

sidered  to  belong  to  the  Picari^,  in  which  it  forms  the  type  of  the 
Family  Coraciiclse  ;  and  its  alliance  to  the  Meropiclse  (Bee-eater)  and 
Alceclinidx  (Kingfisher)  is  very  evident.  Some  eleven  other 
species  of  the  genus  have  been  recognized,  one  of  which,  C.  leuco 
cephalus  or  ahyssinus,  is  said  to  have  occurred  in  Scotland.  India 
has  two  species,  C.  indicus  and  C.  affinis,  of  which  thousands  upon 
thousands  are  annually  destroyed  to  supply  the  demand  for  gaudy 
feathers  to  bedizen  ladies'  dresses.  One  species,  C.  iemmindi,  seems 
to  be  peculiar  to  Celebes  and  the  neighbouring  islands,  but  other- 
wise the  rest  are  natives  of  the  Ethiopian  or  Indian  Regions. 
Allied  to  Coracias  is  the  genus  Eurystomus  with  some  eight  species, 
of  similar  distribution,  but  one  of  them,  E.  2y((''iti<-'us,  has  a  Avider 
extent,  for  it  ranges  from  Celebes  through  New  Guinea  to  Tasmania 
and  strays  to  New  Zealand.  Madagascar  has  five  or  six  very  remark- 
able forms,  belonging  to  the  genera  Bmchypteracias,  Geobiastes  and 
Atelornis,  which  ai^e  considered  to  belong  to  the  Family ;  and, 
according  to  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards,  no  doubt  shoiild  exist  on  that 
point.  Yet  if  doubt  may  be  entertained  it  is  in  regard  to  Leptosomvs 
discolor,  with  the  cognate  L.  gracilis  of  the  Comoros,  which  on 
account  of  its  zygodactylous  feet  some  authorities  place  among  the 
Cuculidx,  while  others  have  considered  it  the  type  of  a  distinct 
Family  Lepfosomatida,'.  Brackypteracias  and  Atelornis  present  fewer 
structural  dift'erences  from  the  Rollers,  and  perhaps  may  be 
rightly  placed  with  them ;  but  the  species  of  the  latter  have  long 
tarsi,  and  are  believed  to  be  of  terrestrial  habit,  Avhich  Rollers 
generally  certainly  are  not.  These  very  curious  and  in  some 
respects  very  interesting  forms,  which  are  peculiar  to  Madagascar, 
are  admirably  described  and  illustrated  by  a  series  of  twenty  plates 
in  the  screat  work  of  MM.  Grandidier  and  A.  Milne-Edwards  on 
that  island  {Oiscaux,  pp.  223-250),  while  the  Family  Coraciidm  is  the 
subject  of  a  monograph,  published  in  1893,  by  Mr.  Dresser,  as  a 
companion  volume  to  that  on  the  McrojndR'. 

ROODEBEC  (Red  beak),  the  colonial  name  of  a  bird  in  South 
Africa,  Estrilda  astrild,  belonging  to  the  Weaver-birds  and  akin  to 


ROOK  795 

the  Amidavad  (p.  11),  while  Vidua  principalis  (Widow-bird)  is  the 
"  Koning  Roodebec  "  or  King  of  the  same  (c/".  Layard,  B.  S.  Afr. 
pp.  192,  188). 

ROOK  (Anglo-Saxon  Hroc,  Icelandic  Hrdkr}  Swedish  Baka^ 
Dutch  Roek,  Gaelic  Rocas),  the  Corvus  frugilegus  of  ornithology,  and 
throughout  a  great  part  of  Europe  the  commonest  and  best-known 
of  the  CROW-tribe.  Beside  its  pre-eminently  gregai-ious  habits,  which 
did  not  escape  the  notice  of  Virgil  {Georg.  i.  382)^  and  are  so  unlike 
those  of  nearly  every  other  member  of  the  Corvidx^  the  Rook  is  at 
once  distinguishable  from  the  rest  by  commonly  losing  at  an  early 
age  the  feathers  from  its  face,  leaving  a  bare,  scabrous  and  greyish- 
Avhite  skin  that  is  sufficiently  visible  at  some  distance.  In  the 
comparatively  rare  cases  in  which  these  feathers  persist,  the  Rook 
may  be  readily  known  from  the  black  form  of  Crow  by  the  rich 
purple  gloss  of  its  black  plumage,  especially  on  the  head  and  neck, 
the  feathers  of  which  are  soft  and  not  pointed.  In  a  general  way 
the  appearance  and  manners  of  the  Rook  are  so  well  knoAvn,  to 
most  inhabitants  of  the  British  Islands  especially,  that  it  is  needless 
here  to  dwell  upon  them,  and  particularly  its  habit  of  forming  com- 
munities in  the  breeding-season,  which  it  possesses  in  a  measure 
beyond  that  of  any  other  land-bird  of  the  northern  hemisphere. 
Yet  each  of  these  communities,  or  rookeries,  seems  to  have  some 
custom  intrinsically  its  own,  the  details  of  which  want  of  space 
forbids  any  attempt  to  set  before  the  reader.  In  a  general  way  the 
least-known  part  of  the  Rook's  mode  of  life  are  facts  relating  to 
its  migration  and  geographical  distribution.  Though  the  great 
majority  of  Rooks  in  Britain  are  sedentary,  or  only  change  their 
abode  to  a  very  limited  extent,  it  is  now  certain  that  a  very  consider- 
able number  visit  this  country  in  or  towards  autumn,  not  necessarily 
to  abide  here,  but  merely  to  pass  onward,  like  most  other  kinds  of 
birds,  to  winter  further  southward ;  and,  at  the  same  season  or  even  a 
little  earlier,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  young 
of  the  year  emigrate  in  the  same  direction.  As  a  species  the  Rook 
on   the   European   continent  only  resides  during  the   whole  year 

^  The  bird,  however,  does  not  inhabit  Iceland,  and  the  language  to  which  the 
word  (from  which  is  said  to  come  the  French  Freux)  belongs  would  perhaps  be  more 
correctly  termed  Old  Teutonic.  There  are  many  local  German  names  of  the  same 
origin,  such  as  Booke,  Eoiich,  Ruch  and  others,  but  the  bird  is  generally  knowo 
in  Germany  as  the  Saat-Krdhe,  i.e.  Seed-  (  =  Corn-)  Crow.  In  Pomerania  it  was 
formerly  Korrock  (A.  von  Homeyer,  Zcitschr.  fiir  Orn.  xiv.  p.  136). 

-  This  is  the  more  noteworthy  as  the  district  in  which  he  was  born  and 
educated  is  almost  the  only  part  of  Italy  in  which  the  Rook  breeds.  Sliellej' 
also  very  truly  mentions  the  "legioned  Rooks,"  to  which  he  stood  listening 
"mid  the  mountains  Euganean,"  in  his  Lines  written  among  those  hills. 

^  The  winter-gatherings  of  one  of  the  American  species,  though  sufficiently 
remarkable,  seem  to  be  in  no  way  comparable  to  those  of  the  Rook. 


796  ROSEHILL—ROTCHE 

throughout  the  middle  tract  of  its  ordinary  range.  More  to  the 
northward,  as  in  Sweden  and  northern  Russia,  it  is  a  regular 
summer-immigrant,  while  further  to  the  southward,  as  in  southern 
France,  Spain  and  most  parts  of  Italy,  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  a 
regular  winter-immigrant.  The  same  is  found  to  be  the  case  in 
Asia,  where  it  extends  eastward  as  far  as  the  upper  Irtish  and  the  Ob. 
It  breeds  throughout  Turkestan,  in  the  cold  weather  visiting 
Affghanistan,  Cashmere  and  the  Punjab,  and  .Sir  Oliver  St.  John 
found  a  rookery  of  considerable  size  at  Casbin  in  Persia.  In 
Palestine  and  in  Lower  Egypt  it  is  only  a  winter-visitant,  and  Canon 
Tristram  noticed  that  it  congregates  in  great  numbers  about  the 
mosque  of  Omar  in  Jerusalem.^ 

There  are  several  moot  points  in  the  natural  history  of  the 
Rook  which  it  is  impossible  here  to  do  more  than  mention.  One  is 
the  cause  of  the  curious  shedding  on  reaching  maturity  of  the 
feathers  of  its  face,  and  another  the  burning  question  whether 
Rooks  are  on  the  whole  beneficial  or  detrimental  to  agriculture.  In 
England  the  former  opinion  seems  to  be  generally  entertained,  but  in 
Scotland  the  latter  has  long  been  popular.  The  absence  of  suffi- 
cient observations  made  by  persons  at  once  competent  and  without 
bias  compels  the  naturalist  to  withhold  his  judgment  on  the  matter, 
but  the  absence  of  such  observations  is  eminently  discreditable  to 
the  numerous  Agricultural  Societies  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

ROSEHILL  (often  corrupted  by  dealers  into  ROSELLE),  an 
Australian  Parakeet,  Plafycercus  eximius,  so  called  from  the  place  of 
that  name  in  New  South  Wales  where,  if  it  was  not  (as  is  possible) 
first  obtained,  it  was  formerly  abundant.  The  nearly  allied  P. 
iderotis  of  Western  Australia  also  frequently  bears  the  same  name. 

ROTCHE  (German  or  Dutch  Botges- — ostensibly  from  its  cry, 
"  rot-tet-tet "),  a  bird  familiar  to  all  Arctic  navigators,  the  Little 
Auk  of  books,  and  Mergulus  alle  of  ornithology.  It  is,  or  used  to 
be,  abiindant  almost  beyond  belief  at  many  of  its  breeding-haunts, 

1  It  is  right  to  mention  that  the  Canon  considers  the  Rook  of  Palestine 
entitled  to  specific  distinction  as  Corvus  agricola  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1864,  p.  444  ; 
Ibis,  1866,  pp.  68,  69).  In  like  manner  the  Rook  of  China  has  been  described  as 
forming  a  distinct  species,  under  the  name  of  C.  pastinator  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1845,  p.  1),  from  having  the  feathers  of  its  face  only  partially  deciduous. 

2  Thus  spelt  the  name  is  given  by  Friderich  Martens  {Sp Usher gisclie  oder  Groen- 
landische  Reise  Bcschreihung.  Hamburg  :  1675,  p.  61)  who  voyaged  to  Spitsbergen 
in  a  Friesland  ship  in  1671,  and  is,  like  the  others  used  by  him,  confessedly  (p.  55)  of 
Dutch  origin,  though  possibly  in  a  German  form.  Yet  the  word  seems  not  to  be 
recognized  as  Dutcli  by  authorities  on  that  language.  An  English  translation  of 
Martens's  narrative  appeared  in  London  in  1694  in  an  anonymous  volume  bearing 
the  title  of  An  Account  of  several  Late  Voyages  and  Discoveries  to  the  South  and 
North,  dedicated  to  Samuel  Pepys,  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty  and  author  of  the 
well-known  Diary,  by  whom  its  publication  was  probably  instigated. 


RUDDER-BIRD— RUDDOCK  797 

and  in  1818  Beechey  (Voy.  Dorothea  and  Trent,  p.  46)  estimated 
that  he  frequently  saw  a  column  in  Magdalena  Bay  which  he 
calculated  to  consist  of  "  nearly  four  millions  of  birds  on  the  wing 
at  one  time.^  These  numbers  may  have  dwindled  at  the  present 
day  through  the  depredations  of  sealing  and  whaling  crews  ;  but 
some  of  the  most  recent  voyagers  yet  speak  of  countless  congrega- 
tions, though  it  must  be  remembered  that,  as  with  the  Alddm  in 
general,  the  breeding-places  are  comparatively  few  in  regard  to  the 
extent  of  coast,  and  especially  so  in  the  case  of  the  Rotche,  which 
lays  its  bluish-white  and  generally  spotless  egg  not  on  a  ledge  of 
rock,  but  in  a  cavity  worn  by  the  weather,  or  in  the  "  scree  "  of 
loose  stones  at  the  foot  of  high  cliffs.  Consequently  suitable 
stations  are  by  no  means  common,  but  often  many  miles  apart,  and 
are,  moreover,  not  unfrequently  situated  at  some  distance  from  the 
sea,  security  against  foxes  being  apparently  one  great  object  sought 
in  their  selection.  In  Smith  Sound  the  Rotche  is  said  not  to 
breed  below  lat.  68°  or  above  79°,  and  not  even  to  occur  in  the 
so-called  Polar  Basin ;  but  it  goes  much  further  northward  in  the 
Spitsbergen  seas  and  is  included  among  the  birds  of  Franz-Josef 
Land,  as  presumably  nesting  there.  Though  it  frequents  the  shores 
of  Nova  Zembla  {Froc.  Zool.  Sac.  1877,  p.  29),  it  is  not  found  east 
of  the  Kara  Sea,  and  thus  its  breeding-range  is  not  so  very  wide, 
while  the  most  southern  locality  at  which  its  eggs  have  been  taken 
is  Grimsey  on  the  north  coast  of  Iceland,  an  island  which  is  just 
cut  by  the  Arctic  Circle.  In  winter  stray  examples  are  not  at  all 
unfrequently  met  with  on  the  shores  of  the  British  Islands,  or  are 
driven  by  stress  of  weather  far  inland,  and  they  have  occurred  even 
in  the  Azores  and  Canaries  (Godman,  Ibis,  1866,  p.  102;  1874, 
p.  224),  but  these  are  mere  accidental  wanderers  from  the  vast 
hosts  that  must  somewhere  exist,  and  what  becomes  of  the  enor- 
mous number  of  birds  of  this  and  other  kindred  species  at  that 
season  is  a  problem  as  yet  unsolved,  though  it  is  obvious  that  they 
must  resort  to  some  part  of  the  North  Atlantic  when  the  waters 
near  their  homes  are  frozen. 

The  Little  Auk  is  a  compactly  -  built  bird,  some  8  inches  in 
length,  with  the  general  coloration  of  its  Family,  glossy  black  above 
and  pure  white  beneath,  the  latter  in  winter-plumage  extending  to 
the  chin.  The  squab  young,  with  their  dark  blue  skin  thinly 
clothed  with  black  down,  are  strange-looking  objects. 

RUDDER-BIRD  or  -DUCK,  a  name  for  Erismatura  rubida,  one 
of  the  Spiny-tailed  DucKS  (p.  168). 

RUDDOCK,  A.S.  Rudduc,  a  well-known  name  for  the  Red- 
breast. 

^  This  result  may  seem  incredible  ;  but  from  my  own  experience  {Ibis,  1865, 
p.  204)  I  do  not  feel  justified  in  doubting  it  {cf.  suprd,  Puffin,  p.  751,  note  2). 


798  RUFF 

RUFF,  so  called  from  the  very  beautiful  and  remarkable  frill  of 
elongated  feathers  that,  just  before  the  breeding -season,  grow 
thickly  round  the  neck  of  the  male,^  who  is  considerably  larger 
than  the  female,  known  as  the  Reeve.  In  many  respects  this 
species,  the  Tringa  pugnax  of  Linnaeus  and  the  Machetes  pugnax  of 
the  majority  of  modern  ornithologists,  is  one  of  the  most  singular 
in  existence,  and  yet  its  singularities  have  been  very  ill  appreciated 
by  zoological  writers  in  general.-  These  singularities  would  require 
almost  a  volume  to  describe  properly.  The  best  account  of  them 
is  unquestionably  that  given  in  1813  by  Montagu  {Suppl.  Orn. 
Did.),  who  seems  to  have  been  particularly  struck  by  the  extra- 
ordinary peculiarities  of  the  species,  and,  to  investigate  them, 
expressly  visited  the  fens  of  Lincolnshire,  possibly  excited  thereto  by 
the  example  of  Pennant,  whose  information,  personally  collected  there 
in  1769,  was  of  a  kind  to  provoke  further  enquiry,  while  Daniel 
{Rural  Sports,  iii.  p.  234)  had  added  some  other  particulars,  and 
subsequently  Graves  {Brit.  Orn.  iii.)  in  1816  repeated  in  the  same 
district  the  experience  of  his  predecessors.  Since  that  time  the 
great  changes  produced  by  the  drainage  of  the  fen-country  have 
banished  this  species  from  nearly  the  whole  of  it,  so  that  Lubbock 
{Fauna  Norf.  pp.  68-73;  ed.  2,  Southwell,  pp.  102,  103)  and 
Stevenson  {Birds  Norf.  ii.  pp.  261-271)  can  alone  be  cited  as 
modern  Avitnesses  of  its  habits  in  England,  while  the  trade  of 
netting  or  snaring  RufFs  and  fattening  them  for  the  table  has  for 
many  years  ceased.^ 

The  cock-bird,  when  out  of  his  nuptial  attire,  or,  to  use  the 
fenman's  expression,  when  he  has  not  "his  show  on,"  and  the  hen 
at  all  seasons,  offer  no  very  remarkable  deviation  from  ordinary 

^  Tliis  "  ruff"  has  been  compared  to  that  of  Elizabethan  or  Jacobean  costume, 
but  it  is  essentially  different,  since  that  was  open  in  front  and  widest  and  most 
projecting  behind,  whereas  the  bird's  decorative  apparel  is  most  developed  in 
front  and  at  the  sides  and  scarcely  exists  behind.  It  seems  to  be  at  present 
unknown  whether  the  bird  was  named  from  the  frill,  or  the  frill  from  the  bird. 
In  the  latter  case  the  name  should  possibly  be  spelt  Kough  (c/.  "rough-footed" 
as  applied  to  Fowls  with  feathered  legs),  as  in  1666  Merrett  [Pinax,  p.  182) 
had  it. 

2  Mr.  Darwin,  though  frequently  citing  [Descent  of  ilan  and  Sexual  Selection, 
i.  pp.  270,  306  ;  ii.  pp.  41,  42,  48,  81,  84,  100,  111)  the  Ruff  as  a  mtness  in  various 
capacities,  most  unfortunately  seems  never  to  have  had  its  peculiarities  presented 
to  him  in  such  a  form  that  he  could  fully  perceive  their  bearings.  Though  the 
significance  of  the  lesson  that  the  Rulf  may  teach  was  hardly  conceivable  before 
he  began  to  write,  the  fact  is  not  the  less  to  be  regretted  that  he  never  elucidated 
its  importance,  not  only  in  regard  to  "  Sexual  Selection,"  but  more  especially 
■with  respect  to  "  Polymorphism." 

^  I  can  well  recollect  considerable  numbers,  both  alive  and  dead,  being 
annually  imported  from  Holland  ;  but  I  believe  that  this  practice  is  now  given 

iUp. 


RUFF 


799 


Sandpipers,  and  outwardly  ^  there  is  nothing,  except  the  unequal 
size  of  the  two  sexes,  to  rouse  suspicion  of  any  abnormal  peculiarity. 
But  when  spring  comes  all  is  changed.  In  a  surprisingly  short 
time  the  feathers  clothing  the  face  of  the  male  are  shed,  and  their 
place  is  taken  by  papillx  or  small  caruncles  of  bright  yellow  or  pale 
pink.  From  each  side  of  his  head  sprouts  a  tuft  of  stiff  curled 
feathers,  giving  the  appearance  of  long  ears,  while  the  feathers  of 
the  throat  change  colour,  and  beneath  and  around  it  sprouts  the 
frill  or  ruff  already  mentioned.  The  feathers  which  form  this 
remai"kable  adornment,  almost  unicj[ue  among  birds,  are,  like  those 


KUFF. 


of  the  "  ear-tufts,"  stiff  and  incurved  at  the  end,  but  much  longer — • 
measuring  more  than  two  inches.  They  are  closely  arrayed,  capable 
of  depression  or  elevation,  and  form  a  shield  to  the  front  of  the 
breast  impenetrable  by  the  bill  of  a  rival.  More  extraordinary  than 
this,  from  one  point  of  view,  is  the  great  A^ariety  of  coloration  that 
obtains  in  these  temporary  outgrowths.  It  has  often  been  said 
that  no  one  ever  saw  two  Ruffs  alike.  That  is  perhaps  an  over- 
statement ;  but,  considering  the  really  few  colours  that  the  birds 
exhibit,  the  variation  is  something  marvellous,  so  that  fifty  examples 
or  more  may  be  compared  without  finding  a  very  close  resemblance 

^  Internally  there  is  a  great  difference  in  tlie  form  of  tlie  posterior  margin  of 
the  sternum,  as  long  ago  remarked  by  Nitzsch. 


8oo'  RUFF 

between  any  two  of  them,  while  the  individual  variation  is  increased 
by  the  "  ear-tufts,"  which  generally  differ  in  colour  from  the  frill, 
and  thus  produce  a  combination  of  diversity.  The  colours  range 
from  deej)  black  to  pure  white,  passing  through  chestnut  or  bay, 
and  many  tints  of  brown  or  ashy-grey,  while  often  the  feathers  are 
more  or  less  closely  barred  with  some  darker  shade,  and  the  black 
is  very  frequently  glossed  with  violet,  blue  or  green  —  or,  in 
addition  spangled  with  white,  grey  or  gold-colour.  The  white,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  not  rarely  freckled,  streaked  or  barred  with 
grey,  rufous-brown  or  black.  In  some  examples  the  barring  is 
most  regularly  concentric,  in  others  more  or  less  broken-up  or  un- 
dulating, and  the  latter  may  be  said  of  the  streaks.  It  was  ascer- 
tained by  Montagu,  and  has  since  been  confirmed  by  the  still  wider 
experience  and  if  possible  more  carefully-conducted  observation  of 
Mr.  Bartlett,  that  every  Ruff  in  each  successive  year  assumes  tufts 
and  frill  exactly  the  same  in  colour  and  markings  as  those  he  wore 
in  the  preceding  season ;  and  thus,  polymorphic  as  is  the  male  as  a 
species,  as  an  individual  he  is  unchangeable  in  his  wedding-garment 
— a  lesson  that  might  possibly  be  applied  to  many  other  birds. 
The  white  frill  is  said  to  be  the  rarest. 

That  all  this  wonderful  "  show "  is  the  consequence  of  the 
polygamous  habit  of  the  Rufl"  can  scarcely  be  doubted.  No  other 
species  of  Limicoline  bird  has,  so  far  as  is  known,  any  tendency  to 
it.  Indeed,  in  many  species  of  Limkolx,  as  the  Dotterel,  the 
GODWITS,  Fhalaropes  and  perhaps  some  others,  the  female  is 
larger  and  more  brightly  coloured  than  the  male,  who  in  such  cases 
seems  to  take  upon  himself  some  at  least  of  the  domestic  duties. 
Both  Montagu  and  Graves,  to  say  nothing  of  other  writers,  state 
that  the  Ruffs,  in  England,  were  far  more  numerous  than  the 
Reeves,  and  their  testimony  can  hardly  be  doubted ;  though  in 
Germany  Naumann  {V'og.  Deutschl.  vii.  p.  544)  considers  that  this 
is  only  the  case  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  season,  and  that  later  the 
females  greatly  outnumber  the  males.  It  remains  to  say  that  the 
moral  characteristics  of  the  Ruff  exceed  even  anything  that  might 
be  inferred  from  what  has  been  already  stated.  By  no  one  have 
they  been  more  happily  described  than  by  Wolley,  in  a  communica- 
tion to  Hewitson  {Eggs  of  Brit.  Birds,  ed.  3,  p.  346),  as  follows  : — 

"  The  Ruff,  like  other  tine  gentlemen,  takes  much  more  trouble  with 
his  courtship  than  with  his  duties  as  a  husband.  Whilst  the  Reeves  are 
sitting  on  their  eggs,  scattered  about  the  swamps,  he  is  to  be  seen  far 
away  flitting  about  in  flocks,  and  on  the  ground  dancing  and  sparring 
Avith  his  companions.  Before  they  are  confined  to  their  nests,  it  is 
wonderful  with  what  devotion  the  females  are  attended  by  their  gay 
followers,  who  seem  to  be  each  trying  to  be  more  attentive  than  the  rest. 
Nothing  can  be  more  expressive  of  humility  and  ardent  love  than  some  of 
the  actions  of  the  Ruff.      He  throws  himself  prostrate  on  the  ground,  with 


RUNNER— SADDLE-BACK  8oi 

every  feather  on  his  liody  standing  up  and  (juivering  ;  but  he  seems  as  if 
he  were  afraid  of  coming  too  near  his  mistress.  If  she  flies  oft',  he  starts 
ujj  in  an  instant  to  arrive  before  her  at  the  next  place  of  alighting,  and 
all  his  actions  are  full  of  life  and  spirit.  But  none  of  his  spirit  is 
expended  in  care  for  his  family.  He  never  comes  to  see  after  an  enemy. 
In  the  [Lapland]  marshes,  a  Eeeve  now  and  then  flies  near  with  a 
scarcely  audible  ha-lca-kuh  ;  but  she  seems  a  dull  bird,  and  makes  no 
noisy  attack  on  an  invader." 

Want  of  space  forbids  a  fuller  account  of  this  extremely  inter- 
esting species.  Its  breeding-grounds  extend  from  Great  Britain  ^ 
across  northern  Europe  and  Asia ;  but  the  birds  become  less 
numerous  towards  the  east.  They  winter  in  India,  reaching  even 
Ceylon,  and  Africa  as  far  as  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  Ruff 
also  occasionally  visits  Iceland,  and  there  are  several  well-authen- 
ticated records  of  its  occuiTence  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  United 
States,  while  an  example  is  stated  {Ibis,  1875,  p.  332)  to  have  been 
received  from  the  northern  part  of  South  America. 

EUNNER,  a  local  name  for  the  Water-RAIL  (p.  763). 


s 


SACRUM,  see  Skeleton. 


SADDLE-BACK,  in  Britain  and  North  America,  a  local  name 
for  the  adult  of  either  of  the  Black-backed  Gulls,  Larus  marinus  and 
fuscus ;  but  in  New  Zealand  applied  to  Creadion,  a  genus  founded  in 
1816  by  Vieillot  {Analyse,  jx  34)  of  which  the  Stunms  canmculatus 
of  Gmelin,  based  on  the 
Wattled  Stare  of  Latham 
{Gen.  Sijnops.  iii.  p.  9,  pi. 
36)  is  usually  considered 
the  type. 2  Its  real  affinity 
must  be  regarded  as  doubt- 
ful ;  for,  like  several  other 
forms  of  the  New-Zealand 
Region,  it  does  not  enter 
readily  into  any  of  the  recognized  Families  of  Birds,  and  thus  has 
been  placed  among  the  Sfurnidx  or  Corvidx,  while  it  very  possibly 

1  In  England  of  late  years  it  has  been  known  to  breed  only  in  one  locality, 
the  name  or  situation  of  which  it  is  not  desirable  to  publish. 

2  This  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  Anthochsera  canmculata,  which  has 
also  been  called  Creadion  canmculatus  (Vieillot,  Encycl.  Metlwd.  ii.  p.  874)  and 
is  a  Honey-sucker. 

51 


Ceeadion.    (From  BuUer.) 


8o2  SAGE-COCK— SAKER 

represents  an  earlier  and  more  generalized  form  from  which  both 
may  have  spi-ung.  That  point  must  be  left  to  future  examination 
(which  may  be  hoped  for  before  extirpation  has  done  its  work),  mean- 
while it  is  enough  to  remark  that  the  habits,  as  described  by  Sir  W. 
Buller  {B.  New  Zeal.  ed.  2,  i.  pp.  18-20),  of  the  Saddle-back  of  New 
Zealand  shew  little  trace  of  agreement  with  those  of  either  of  the 
Families  to  which  it  has  been  assigned,  and  that  the  bird  derives 
its  name  from  the  distribution  of  its  strongly-contrasted  colours, 
black  and  ferruginous,  of  which  the  latter  covers  the  shoulders 
and  back  in  a  way  suggestive  of  saddle-flaps.  A  second  species 
described  by  Sir  Walter  in  1865  (Essay  Orn.  N.  Z.  p.  10),  under 
the  name  of  C.  cinereus,  was  subsequently  repudiated  by  him 
(B.  K  Z.  ed.  1,  p.  149),  but  in  1888  was  restored  (op.  cit.  ed.  2, 
i.  p.  21),     It  is  said  to  be  known  as  the  Jack-bird. 

SAGE-COCK,  Centrocercus  urophasianus  (Grouse,  p.  394),  the 
"  sage  "  being  an  Artemisia. 

SAINT  CUTHBERT'S  DUCK,  a  local  name  of  the  Eider 
(p.  192). 

SAKER,  Fr.  Sacre — said  to  be  from  the  Arabic  Saqr  ( =  Falcon) 
and  to  have  no  connexion,  as  was  once  thought,  Avith  the  Latin  Sacer, 
a  translation  of  upa^  ( =  Hawk) — a  species  of  FALCON  which  Avas 
allowed  to  drop  almost  out  of  knowledge  with  the  neglect  of 
Falconry,  so  that  though  some  of  the  older  systematists  recognized  a 
Falco  sacer, '^  they  had  but  little  acquaintance  with  it,  and  mostly 
described  it  at  second  hand.  It  had  been  especially  confounded 
with  the  Lanner,  and  figured  under  that  name  in  the  works  of 
Naumann  and  Gould.  To  Schlegel,  in  1844  {Rev.  Crit.  pp.  ii.  9; 
TraiU  de  la  Fauconnerie,  pp.  17-19,  pi.),  is  due  the  disentangle- 
ment of  the  complication,  and  the  placing  of  the  species  on  a  sound 
base,  yet  doubt  may  still  be  entertained  as  to  the  scientific  name  it 
should  bear.-  In  Europe  it  inhabits  only  the  south-eastern  portion, 
beginning  with   Bohemia,^  but   in    North    Africa    it   ranges    from 

^  The  F.  sacer  of  J.  R.  Forster  [Phil.  Trans.  Ixii.  p.  383)  vras  evidently  the 
young  of  the  American  Goshawk,  and  neither  (as  he  thought)  the  Sacre  of 
Brisson  and  Buffon,  nor  (as  has  lately  been  supposed)  the  young  of  F.  gyrfako. 
Schlegel  took  it  to  be  the  young  of  F.  candica'iis,  ■which  he  at  that  time  believed 
to  be  brown. 

^  It  cannot  be  F.  sacer,  Gmelin  1788,  since  that  was  anticipated  by  Forster 
in  1772  (see  preceding  note).  According  to  most  synonymies,  F.  cherrug,  J.  E. 
Gray  {III.  Ind.  Zool.  pi.  25),  is  next  in  point  of  time,  and  perhaps  should  stand. 
It  is  certainly  the  F.  cyano2}ns  of  Thienemann  [Rhea,  pp.  39,  note,  and  62,  pis.  i. 
and  ii.)  in  1846-49. 

3  Messrs.  Salvin  and  Brodrick  {Falconry  in  the  British  Islands,  p.  96)  say 
that  in  1848  Mr.  A.  C,  Cochrane  obtained  breeding  birds  in  Hungary,  and  twelve 
years  later  Mr.  Hudleston  took  a  nest  in  the  Dobrudska  {Ibis,  1860,  p.  377, 
pi.  xii.  fig.  1). 


SANDERLING  803 


Morocco  to  Egypt,  and  thence  across  Asia  to  north-eastern  China, 
being  highly  esteemed  by  the  falconers  of  that  tract  of  country,  as 
well  as  by  those  of  India,  to  whom  it  is  known  as  the  Cherrug, 
though  it  there  occurs  only  as  a  cold-weather  visitant  {cf.  Jerdon, 
Ihis,  1871,  pp.  238-240),  its  place  as  a  native  being  taken  by  its 
smaller  relative  the  Luggar,  Avhich  it  a  good  deal  resembles  in  its 
generally  dull-coloured  plumage.  Falcons,  however,  are  met  with 
as  large  as  the  Saker  or  larger,  but  coloured  almost  like  a  hen 
Kestrel,  and  on  such  a  bird  was  founded  the  F.  milvipes  of 
Hodgson,  published  as  a  bare  name  in  1844  {Zool.  Miscell.  p.  81). 
Some  authors  appear  still  to  consider  this  a  distinct  species,  but  the 
late  Mr.  Gurney  referred  it  to  the  Saker  {Ihis,  1882,  pp.  444-447  ; 
List  Diurn.  B.  Prey,  p.  1 1 0).  In  India  the  Saker  is  flown  chiefly  at 
hares,  small  deer  and  the  larger  birds,  as  Bustards,  Cranes  and 
Kites,  often  shewing  remarkable  sport  with  the  last,  yet  in  its  wild 
state  it  preys  chiefly  on  rats,  lizards  and  even  insects,  and  when 
trained  for  a  more  powerful  quarry  it  has  to  be  drugged  to  give  it 
courage. 

SANDERLING  (Icel.  Sanderla^),  one  of  the  commonest  and 
most  widely -ranging  of  the  Lbiicol.e  that  frequent  our  shores,  and 
one  in  which  great  interest  has  been  manifested,  from  the  fact  that 
for  a  very  long  while  naturalists  Avere  unable  to  reach  its  breeding- 
haunts,  though  they  Avere  asserted  to  have  been  found  in  the  Parry 
Islands ;  and  Iceland  was  also  suspected  to  be  one  of  them.  All 
doubt  was,  however,  put  aside  Avhen  it  became  known  that,  in  June 
1863,  its  nest  and  eggs  had  been  discovered  near  Franklin  Bay  by 
Mr.  MacFarlane  (Froc.  U.  S.  Nat  Mus.  xiv.  p.  427),  a  discovery  the 
more  fortunate  since  the  species  is  rare  in  that  quarter,  and  he  was 
never  able  to  obtain  a  second  nest.  One  of  the  eggs,  on  being  sent 
to  England  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution  (for  whom  that  gentle- 
man, at  the  instigation  of  the  late  Prof.  Baird,  was  collecting)  was 
described  and  figured^  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1871,  p.  76,  pi.  iv.  fig.  2). 
Shortly  after,  the  eggs  collected  by  the  German  North-Pole  Expedi- 
tion were  received  in  this  country  and  among  them  Avere  ten,  in  a 
more  or  less  fragmentary  condition,  obtained  by  Dr.  Pansch  on  the 
east  coast  of  Greenland,  Avhich,  by  an  exhaustive  process,  Avere 
shewn  {torn.  cit.  p.  546;  JFissensch.  Ergebn.  deufsch.  Nordpolarfahrt, 
pp.  204,  240-242)  to  be  those  of  this  species,  Avhile  the  series  also 
served  to  corroborate  the  suspicion  before  entertained  of  the  breed- 

^  A  name  often  confounded  with  Sand-Ua,  the  Icelandic  name  of  the  Ringed 
Plover,  whereby  several  mistakes  have  arisen. 

^  The  egg  had  been  professedly  figured  before  both  by  Thienemann  {Fortpflanz. 
gesammt.  Vogel,  t.  Ixii.  fig.  2)  and  Baedeker  {Eier  Europ.  Vogel,  t.  Ixxi.  fig.  5), 
but  no  doubt  their  specimens  had  been  wrongly  assigned,  as  were  many  others  in 
various  collections. 


8o4  SANDERLING 


ing  of  this  species  in  Iceland,  since  they  shewed  that  an  egg  which 
had  been  brought  thence  in  1858  could  hardly  belong  to  any  other. 
In  the  Arctic  Expedition  of  1875-6  Col.  Feilden  (/6is,  1877,  p.  406, 
and  Nares,  Voyage  to  the,  Polar  Sea,  ii.  p.  210,  pi.)  found  a  nest 
with  two  eggs,  which  fully  agree  with  the  rest.  Thus  it  will  appear 
that  the  breeding-range  of  this  species,  so  far  as  is  at  present  known 
with  certainty,  extends  only  from  Iceland  (say  long.  15°  W.)  to 
Point  Barrow  (say  long.  155°  W.),  and  that  interruptedly,  though  it 
is  just  possible  that  some  part  of  the  Arctic  coast  of  Asia  may  have 
to  be  included,  but  not  that  of  Europe,  Nova  Zembla  or  Spits- 
bergen.^ In  autumn  the  Sanderling  is  well  knoAvn  to  pass  south- 
ward across,  or  along  the  coast  of  all  the  great  continents,  though  it 
Avinters  in  no  inconsiderable  numbers  in  temperate  climes,  our  own, 
for  example  ;  but,  while  it  reaches  Patagonia  in  the  New  World  and 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  the  Old,  it  seems  mostly  content  to  stay 
on  the  northern  margin  of  the  Arabian  Sea  and  Bay  of  Bengal,  only 
rarely  venturing  to  Ceylon  or  Burma ;  and,  hitherto  unknown  to 
the  Malay  Peninsula,  has  been  observed  but  on  two  of  the  islands 
(Borneo  and  Java)  of  that  Archipelago.  Yet  it  appears  on  the 
Chinese  sea-board  generally,  and  has  even  been  obtained  in  New 
South  Wales,  while  its  occurrence,  perhaps  more  or  less  accidental, 
has  been  recorded  at  spots  distant  enough  from  its  true  home — such 
as  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  Galapagos  and  the  Marshall  group  in 
the  Pacific,  the  Lacdivies,  Aldabra  and  Madagascar  in  the  Indian 
Ocean,  and  the  Canaries,  Madeira  and  Bermuda  in  the  Atlantic,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  Antilles.  Observation  seems  to  shew  that  in 
such  outlying  places -it  appears  less  frequently  and  more  irregularly 
than  several  of  its  wandering  kindred,  and  wherever  it  tarries, 
whether  on  passage  or  to  winter,  it  rather  prefers  the  drier  sandy 
shores,  Avhere  it  consorts  with  Plovers  of  the  genus  ^gialitis,  to 
the  expanses  of  mud  or  marsh  that  so  many  of  its  allies  affect. 

The  Sanderling  belongs  to  the  group  Tringinx  (Sandpiper)  but 
is  always  recognizable  by  wanting  the  small  hind  toe,  a  distinction 
that  justifies  its  generic  separation,  and  it  has  long  been  the  Calidris 
arenaria  of  ornithology.^  It  undergoes  a  seasonal  change  quite  as 
remarkable  as  the  Knot  and  some  others,  its  winter-suit  being  of  a 
beautiful  silvery-grey,  making  the  bird  at  times  look  almost  wholly 
white,  but  in  spring  the  head,  back  and  breast  become  mottled  Avith 
rust-colour  and  black,  the  former  predominating  in  the  form  of  a 
broad  edging  to  the  feathers;  but  the  belly  and  lower  parts  are 
white  all  the  year  round. 

^  It  is  pretty  obvious  that  there  must  be  places  in  high  northern  latitudes 
where  the  Sanderling,  the  Knot  and  several  other  allied  species  breed  in 
profusion. 

^  Liunfeus  described  it  twice,  first  as  a  Charadrius  and  then  as  a  Tringa.  The 
absence  of  the  hallux  induced  many  systematists  to  put  it  among  the  Plovers. 


SAND-GROUSE  805 


SAND-GROUSE,  the  name  ^  by  which  are  commonly  known 
the  members  of  a  small  but  remarkable  group  of  birds  frequenting 
sandy  tracts,  and  having  their  feet  more  or  less  clothed  with 
feathers  after  the  fashion  of  Grouse,  to  which  they  were  originally 
thought  to  be  closely  allied,  and  the  S2:)ecies  first  described  were  by 
the  earlier  systematists  invariably  referred  to  the  genus  Tetrao. 
Their  separation  therefrom  is  du.e  to  Temminck,  who  made  for 
them  a  distinct  genus  Avhich  he  called  Pterodes,^  and  his  view,  as 
Lesson  tells  us  {TraiU,  p.  515),  was  subsequently  corroborated  by 
De  Blainville  ;  while  in  1831  Bonaparte  {Saggio  &c.  p.  54)  recognized 
the  group  as  a  good  Family,  Fediophili  or  Pterodidie.  Further 
investigation  of  the  osteology  and  pterylosis  of  the  Sand-Grouse 
revealed  still  gi'eater  divergence  from  the  noi'mal  Galling,  as  well 
as  several  curious  resemblances  to  the  Pigeons ;  and  Prof.  Huxley 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868,  p.  303)  for  sufficiently  weighty  reasons,  pro- 
posed to  regard  them,  under  the  name  of  Pteroclomorph^,  as 
forming  a  group  equivalent  to  the  Alectoromorph^  and  Perister- 
OMORPH^.^  The  group  consists  of  two  genera  * — Pterodes,  with 
about  fifteen  species,  and  Syrrhaptes,  Avith  two.  Of  the  former,  two 
species  inhabit  Europe,  P.  arenarius,  the  Sand-Grouse  proper,  and 
that  which  is  usually  called  P.  aldiata,  the  Pin-tailed  Sand-Grouse. 
The  European  range  of  the  first  is  practically  limited  to  Portugal, 
Spain  and  the  southern  parts  of  Russia,  Avhile  the  second  inhabits 
also  the  south  of  France,  where  it  is  generally  known  by  its 
Catalan  name  of  "  Gcmga,"  or  locally  as  "  G-randaulo"  oi-,  strange  to 
say,  "  Perdrix  d'Angleterre."  Both  species  are  also  abundant  in 
Barbary,  and  have  been  believed  to  extend  eastwards  through  Asia 
to  India,  in  most  parts  of  which  country  they  seem  to  be  only 
winter-visitants ;  but  in  1880  Herr  Bogdanow  pointed  out  (Bull.  Ac. 
Se.  Petersb.  xxvii.  p.  164)  a  slight  difference  of  coloration  between 
eastern  and  western  examples  of  Avhat  had  hitherto  passed  as 
P.  akhata  ;  and  the  difference,  if  found  to  be  constant,  may  require 
the  specific  recognition  of  each.  India,  where  these  birds  are  com- 
monly known  to  sportsmen  as  "  Rock-Pigeons,"  moreover,  possesses 

1  It  seems  to  have  been  first  used  by  Latham  in  1783  {Gen.  Synops.  iv.  p.  751) 
as  the  direct  translation  of  the  name  Tetrao  arenarius  given  by  Pallas. 

2  He  states  {Man.  cl'Orn.  ed.  2,  ii.  p.  474,  note)  that  he  published  this  name 
in  1809  ;  but  hitherto  research  has  failed  to  find  it  used  until  1815. 

3  Some  more  recent  writers,  recognizing  the  group  as  a  distinct  Order,  have 
applied  to  it  tlie  name  of  "  Pterocletes,"  while  another  calls  it  Hctcroclitae. 
The  former  of  these  words  is  based  on  a  gi'ammatical  misconception,  while  the 
use  of  the  latter  has  long  since  been  otherwise  preoccupied  in  zoology.  If  there 
be  need  to  set  aside  Prof.  Huxley's  term,  Bonaparte's  PecUophili  (as  above 
mentioned)  may  be  accepted,  and  indeed  has  priority  of  all  others. 

■'  Bonaparte  {Compt.  rend.  xiii.  p.  880)  proposed  to  separate  the  Pin-tailed 
Sand-Grouse  as  Pteroclurus,  and  therein  has  been  followed  by  Mr.  Ogilvie  Grant 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xxii.  pp.  2,  6),  but  this  separation  seems  needless. 


8o6 


SAND-GROUSE 


five  other  species  of  Pterodes,  of  which  however  only  one,  P.  fasciatus, 
is  peculiar  to  Asia,  while  the  others  inhabit  Africa  as  well,  and  all 
the  remaining  species  belong  to  the  Ethiopian  Region — one,  P. 
2)ersonatus,  being  peculiar  to  Madagascar,  and  four  occurring  in  or 
on  the  borders  of  Cape  Colony. 

Syrrhaptei,  though  in  general  appearance  resembling  Pterodes, 
has  a  conformation  of  foot  quite  unique  among  birds,  the  three 
anterior  toes  being  encased  in  a  common  "  podotheca,"  Avhich  is 
covered  to  the  claws  with  hairy  feathers,  so  as  to  look  much  like 


Syrrhaptes  paradoxus.    (From  the  Prospectus  of  Yarrell's  British  Birds,  ed.  4.) 

a  fingerless  glove,  while  the  hind  toe  is  wanting.  The  two  species 
of  Syrrhaptes  are  *S'.  tihetaniis — the  largest  Sand-Grouse  known — 
inhabiting  the  country  whence  its  trivial  name  is  derived,  and  ^S*. 
paradoxus,  ranging  from  Northern  China  across  Central  Asia  to 
the  confines  of  Europe,  which  it  occasionally,  and  in  a  marvellous 
manner,  invades,  as  has  been  already  mentioned  (Migration,  p. 
571).  Here  the  subject,  which  has  a  large  literature  of  its  own,^ 
must  be  treated  very  concisely.  Hitherto  known  only  as  an 
inhabitant  of  the  Tartar  steppes,  a  single  example  was  obtained  at 

^  Dr.  Leverkiihn  has  been  at  great  pains  to  compile  a  bibliography  of  Syrrhaptes 
wliich  will  be  found  in  the  Monatsschrift  des  Dcutschcn  Verein  zum  Schutzc  der 
Vocjelwdt  for  1888-92. 


SAND-GROUSE  807 


Sarcpta  on  the  Volga  in  the  winter  of  1848.  In  May  1859  a  pair 
is  said  to  have  been  killed  in  the  Government  of  Vilna  on  the 
western  borders  of  the  Russian  Empire,  and  a  few  weeks  later  five 
examples  were  procured,  and  a  few  others  seen,  in  Western  Europe 
— one  in  Jutland,  one  in  Holland,  two  in  England  and  one  in 
Wales,  beside  which  a  sixth  was  killed  near  Perpignan  at  the  foot 
of  the  Pyrenees  in  the  October  following  {lUs,  1871,  p.  223).  In 
1860  another  was  obtained  at  Sarepta ;  but  in  May  and  June  1863 
a  horde,  computed  to  consist  of  at  least  700  birds,  overran  Europe 
— reaching  Sweden,  Norway,  the  Faroes  and  Ireland  in  the  north- 
west, and  •  in  the  south  extending  to  Rimini  on  the  Adriatic  and 
Biscarolle  on  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  On  the  sandhills  of  Jutland  and 
Holland  some  of  these  birds  bred,  but  war  was  too  successfully 
waged  against  the  nomads  to  allow  of  their  establishing  themselves, 
and  a  few  survivors  only  were  left  to  fall  to  the  gun  in  the  course 
of  the  following  winter  and  spring.^  In  1872  and  1876  there  were 
two  small  visitations ;  but  from  the  former,  observed  in  only  two 
localities — one  on  the  coast  of  Northumberland,  the  other  on  that 
of  Ayrshire,  both  in  the  month  of  June — no  specimen  is  known  to 
have  been  obtained,  while  the  latter  was  observed  in  three  localities 
— one  near  Winterton  in  Norfolk  in  May,  another  near  Modena  in 
Italy  in  June,  and  the  third  in  the  county  Wicklow  in  Ireland, 
where  at  least  one  Avas  killed.  In  1888  occurred  an  irruption  in 
numbers  quite  incalculable.  The  excess  of  observations  over  those 
of  1863  is  no  doubt  due  in  some  measure  to  the  increased  attention 
paid  to  it,  mainly  in  consequence  of  a  warning  issued  (29th  April) 
by  Prof.  R.  Blasius  of  Brunswick  so  soon  as  the  movement  was 
known  to  him,  but  still  there  is  proof  of  the  invasion  being  on  a 
much  larger  scale.  Most  of  the  features  of  1863  were  repeated, 
and  the  general  line  taken  was  much  as  in  that  year,  suggesting  the 
same  "  radiant  point "  (to  use  an  astronomical  phrase)  in  both 
cases  ;  -  but,  owing  to  the  meagre  reports  that  have  reached  us  from 
the  East,  that  point  is  still  to  seek,  and  its  determination  must 
await  another  opportunity.  Some  differences,  however,  are  to  be 
noted :  the  event  took  place  nearly  a  month  earlier  in  the  year, 
and  the  passage  across  Europe  soon  expanded  more  widely.  In  the 
north-east  the  Gulf  of  Finland  was  crossed  to  Helsingfors,  but  the 
most  northerly  (Roraas  in  Norway)  and  westerly  (Belmullet  in  Ire- 
land) points  reached  were  only  a  little  further  than  the  limits  of 
1863.     Southward  a  great  extension  was  shewn  not  only  in  Italy 

^  Ihis,  1864,  pp.  185-222.  A  few  additional  particulars  which  have  since 
become  known  to  me  are  here  inserted. 

2  But  the  species  seems  to  have  established  itself  in  1876  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Lower  Volga  (K.  G.  Henke,  Bull.  Soc.  Nat.  Mosc.  1877,  i.  p.  119),  and  the 
incursionists  of  1888  may  have  had  their  origin  there.  South-west  of  the 
Caspian  the  species  is  a  rare  visitant. 


8o8  SAND-  GRO  USE 


(Santa  Severa,  not  far  from  Rome)  but  in  Spain  (Albufera  of 
Valencia),  that  country  being  now  invaded  for  the  first  time.  If 
records  are  to  be  trusted,  flocks  of  many  hundreds  appeared  on  the 
steppes  of  Orenburg  at  the  end  of  February  {([ii.  O.S.  ?),  all  moving 
due  Avestward,  and  a  month  later  a  bird  was  killed  at  Saratov 
(Baron  A.  von  Kriidener,  Zool.  Gart.  1888,  p.  282).  On  the  4th 
April,  from  30  to  40  were  seen  at  Selb  on  the  boundary  of 
Bohemia  and  Bavaria.  On  the  17th  Husum  in  Sleswick  was 
reached,  and  Heligoland  on  the  8th  May — but  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  one  of  the  Fame  Islands  was  visited  on  the  6th,  and 
certainly  within  a  very  few  days  the  British  Islands  were  com- 
pletely occupied,^  while  after  that  dates  become  of  little  value  since, 
as  before,  the  movement  was  practically  unchecked,  though  doubt- 
less here  and  there  affected  in  some  measure  by  local  causes.  Just 
as  when  a  billow  has  broken  upon  the  beach  it  is  a  thousand 
accidents  that  determine  the  way  in  which  the  spray  is  scattered, 
so  was  it  with  these  biixls,  for  no  sooner  had  they  arrived  than 
they  were  hastening  in  one  direction  or  another  in  quest  of  food, 
and  with  their  wonderful  wing-power  the  search  was  pretty  easy. 
A  suitable  place  being  found,  they  occupied  it  in  parties  of  from  6 
to  8,  or  20  to  30 — and  so  far  as  Britain  is  concerned  it  was  plain 
that  they  were  nearly  all  paired  and  ready  to  breed.  This  object 
they  effected  in  several  localities,  both  here  and  on  the  continent ; 
but  many  false  rumours,  some  of  them  intentionally  set  about,  were 
current.  As  regards  England,  two  nests  Avere  certainly  found  in 
the  East  Riding  of  Yorkshire,^  and  in  Scotland  a  young  bird  was 
found  by  Mr.  Scott,  a  gamekeeper,  on  the  Culbin  Sands  in  Moray. 
This  was  not  preserved,  but  in  the  following  year  he  obtained 
another,  Avhich  was  subsequently  exhibited  at  the  Newcastle  meet- 
ing of  the  British  Association,  and  from  it  the  first  description  and 
figure  of  the  chick  were  published.^  Notwithstanding  the  destruc- 
tion carx'ied  on,  small  parties  or  even  considerable  flocks  were 
observed  from  time  to  time  during  the  autumn  of  1888  in  one  part 
of  Europe  or  another,  but  gradually  their  numbers  dwindled,  and 
the  spring  and  summer  of   1889'*  saw  but  few  remaining.     Some, 

1  Mr.  W.  Evans  computes  tlie  garrison  of  Scotland  at  from  1500  to  2000  birds. 

-  I  was  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Swailes  for  the  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  eggs  there  obtained. 

^  In  numerous  instances,  especially  in  Germany,  the  young  oi  Crex  praiensis 
seem  to  have  been  taken  for  those  of  Syrrhaptes.  Some  old  birds  taken  alive 
bred  in  the  aviary  of  Herr  J.  B.  Christensen,  near  Copenhagen,  and  after  an 
incubation  of  23  days  several  eggs  were  hatched,  from  which,  in  1S91,  one  young 
bird  reached  maturity,  as  he  kindly  informed  me.  In  the  zoological  garden  of 
Amsterdam  eggs  were  also  laid  and  some  hatched  after  an  incubation  of  28  days  ; 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  any  produce  was  reared  {Ibis,  1890,  p.  466). 

'^  In  1888  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  passed  to  protect  these  birds,  but  as  it 
was  not  to  come  into  operation  until  Februarj'  18S9  it  was  a  futile  measure. 


SAND-GROUSE  809 


however,  contrived  to  get  through  another  winter  in  Great  Britain, 
and  if  rumour  may  be  credited,  all  had  not  disappeared  even  in 
1892,  but  this  is  by  no  means  certain.  The  interest  attaching  to 
the  several  European  irruptions  has  almost  made  ornithologists  for- 
getful of  the  somewhat  similar  inroad  upon  the  plains  between 
Pekin  and  Tientsin  in  China  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  Avhich  affords 
another  proof  of  the  propensity  of  the  species  to  irregular 
migration.^ 

Externally  all  Sand-CTrouse  present  an  appearance  so  distinctive 
that  nobody  who  has  seen  one  of  them  can  be  in  doubt  as  to  any 
of  the  rest.  Their  plumage  assimilates  in  general  colour  to  that  of 
the  ground  they  frequent  {cf.  Geographical  Distribution,  p.  336), 
being  above  of  a  dull  ochreous  hue,  more  or  less  barred  or  mottled 
by  darker  shades,  while  beneath  it  is  frequently  varied  by  belts  of 
deep  brown  intensifying  into  black.  Lighter  tints  are,  however, 
exhibited  by  some  species — the  drab  merging  into  a  pale  grey,  the 
buff  brightening  into  a  lively  orange,  and  streaks  or  edgings  of  an 
almost  pure  white  relieve  the  prevailing  sandy  or  fawn-coloured 
hues  that  especially  characterize  the  group.  The  sexes  seem 
always  to  differ  in  plumage,  that  of  the  male  being  the  brightest 
and  most  divei^sified.     The  expression  is  decidedly  Dove-like,  and 

so  is  the  form  of  the  body, 
but  their  appearance  when 
flying  in  a  flock  is  more  like 
that  of  Plovers.^  The  long 
wings,  the  outermost  primary 
of  which  in  Si/rrhapfes  has 
its    shaft   produced    into    an 

(Wilton,  Norfolk,  sth  October  188S.)  attenuated    filament,    arc    in 

all  the  species  worked  by 
exceedingly  powerful  muscles,  and  in  several  forms  the  middle 
rectrices  are  likewise  protracted  and  pointed,  so  as  to  give  to  their 
wearers  the  name  of  Pin-tailed  Sand-Grouse.  The  nest  is  a  shallow 
hole  in  the  sand.  Three  seems  to  be  the  regular  complement  of  eggs 
laid  in  each  nest,  but  there  are  writers  who  declare  (most  likely  in 
error)  that  the  full  number  in  some  sjjecies  is  four.  These  eggs  are 
of  peculiar  shape,  being  almost  cylindrical  in  the  middle  and  nearly 
alike  at  each  end,  and  are  of  a  pale  earthy  colour,  spotted,  blotched 

^  It  appears  to  be  the  "  Barguerlac  "  of  Marco  Polo  (ed.  Yule,  i.  p.  239)  ;  and 
the  "  Loung-Kio  "  or  "  Dragon's  Foot,"  so  unscientifically  described  by  the  Abbe 
Hue  [Souvorij's  d'trn  Voyage  dans  hi  Tartaric,  i.  p.  244),  can  scarcely  be  any 
thing  else  than  this  bird. 

^  I  write  with  especial  reference  to  Sijrrhaptes,  a  ilock  of  which  may  be  easily 
mistaken  for  one  of  Golden  Plovers,  as  the  figure  shews,  though  the  former  have 
the  wing  more  curved  and  keep  stroke  with  far  more  regularity,  their  "time" 
(as  an  oarsman  would  say)  being  absolutely  perfect. 


Syrrhaptes  on  the  vvino, 


8io 


SA  NDPEEP—SA  ND  PIPER 


or  marbled  with  darker  shades,  the  markings  being  of  two  kinds, 
one  superficial  and  the  other  more  deeply  seated  in  the  shell.  The 
young  are  hatched  fully  clothed  in  down  (P.  Z.  S.  1866,  pi.  ix.  fig. 
2),  and  though  not  very  active  would  appear  to  be  capable  of 
locomotion  soon  after  birth.  Morphologically  generalized  as  the 
Sand-Grouse  undoubtedly  are,  no  one  can  contest  the  extreme 
specialization  of  many  of  their  features,  and  thus  they  form  a  very 
instructive  group.  The  remains  of  an  extinct  species  of  Pterodes, 
P.  sejmltus,  intermediate  apparently  betAveen  P.  alchata,  and  P. 
gutturalis,  have  lieen  recognized  in  the  Miocene  caves  of  the  Allier 
by  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards  (Ois.  foss.  France,  -p.  294,  j^l.  clxi.  figs. 
1-9) ;  and,  in  addition  to  the  other  authorities  on  this  very  interesf> 
ing  group  of  birds  already  cited,  reference  may  be  made  to  Mr. 
Elliot's  "Study"  of  the  Family  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1878,  pp.  233-264) 
and  Dr.  Gadow,  "  On  certain  points  iu  the  Anatomy  of  literacies " 
{op.  cit.  1882,  pp.  312-332). 

SAXDPEEP,  used  in  America  for  Sandpiper. 

SANDPIPER  (Germ.  Sandpfeifer),  according  to  Willughby  in 
1676  the  name  given  by  Yorkshiremen  to  the  bird  now  most 
popularly  known  in  England  as  the  "  Summer-Snipe," — the  Tringa 
hypoleucos  of  Linnteus  and  the  Totanus,  Actitis  or  Tringoides  hypoleucus 
of  later  -wTiters, — and  probably  even  in  AYillughby's  time  of 
much  wider  signification,  as  for  more  than  a  century  it  has 
certainly  been  applied  to  nearly  all  the  smaller  kinds  of  the  group 
termed  by  modern  ornithologists  LiMicoL/E  which  are  not  Plovers 
or  Snipes,  but  may  be  said  to  be  intermediate  between  them. 
Placed  by  most  systematists  in  the  Family  Scolopacidse,  the  birds 
commonly  called  Sandpipers  seem  to  form  three  sections,  which 
have  been  often  regarded  as  subfamilies — Totaninx.,  Tringinai  and 

Plialaropodinai,  the  last  of  Avhich  has 
already  been  treated  (Phalarope),  and 
in  some  classifications  takes  the  higher 
rank  of  a  Family  —  Phalaropodidm. 
The  distinctions  between  Totaninx 
and  Tringinx,  though  believed  to  be 
real,  are  not  easily  drawn,  and  space 
is  wanting  here  to  describe  them 
minutely.  Both  of  these  groups  have 
been  the  sport  of  nomenclators  and 
systematists,  so  that  a  vast  mass  of 
synonymy,  puzzling  to  iinravel,  and 
many  superfluous  genera  have  been 
introduced.  The  most  obvious  dis- 
tinctions may  be  said  to  lie  in  the  form  of  the  tip  of  the  bill  (with 
which  is  associated  a  less  or  greater  development  of  the  sensitive  nerves 


Tringa.    (After  Swaiiison.) 


SANDPIPER  8ii 

running  almost  if  not  quite  to  its  extremity,  and  therefore  closely 
connected  with  the  mode  of  feeding)  and  in  the  style  of  plumage — 
the  Tringinse,  with  blunt  and  flexible  bills,  mostly  assuming  a 
summer-dress  in  which  some  tint 
of  chestnut  or  reddish -brown  is 
very  prevalent,  while  the  Totaninse, 
with  more  acute  and  stifier  bills, 

,.      ,  1       T      1  1  ToTAUDS.     (After  Swainson.)  ' 

display    no    such    lively    colours. 

Furthermore,  the  Tringinse,  except  when  actually  breeding,  frequent 
the  sea-shore  much  more  than  do  the  Totardnse}  To  the  latter  belong 
the  Greenshank  and  Eedshank,  as  well  as  the  Common  Sandpiper 
of  English  books,  the  "  Summer-Snipe "  above-mentioned,  a  bird 
hardly  exceeding  a  Skylark  in  size,  and  of  very  general  distribution 
throughout  the  British  Islands,  but  chiefly  frequenting  clear  streams, 
especially  those  with  a  gravelly  or  rocky  bottom,  and  most  generally 
breeding  on  the  beds  of  sand  or  shingle  on  their  banks.  It  usually 
makes  its  appearance  in  May,  and  thenceforth  during  the  summer 
months  may  be  seen  in  pairs  skimming  gracefully  over  the  water 
from  one  bend  of  the  stream  to  another,  uttering  occasionally  a 
shrill  but  plaintive  whistle,  or  running  nimbly  along  the  margin,  the 
mouse-coloured  plumage  of  its  back  and  wings  making  indeed  but 
little  show,  though  the  pure  white  of  its  lower  parts  often  renders 
it  conspicuous.  The  nest,  in  which  four  eggs  are  laid  with  their 
pointed  ends  meeting  in  its  centre  (as  is  usual  among  Limicoline 
birds),  is  seldom  far  from  the  water's  edge,  and  the  eggs,  as  well 
as  the  newly-hatched  and  down-covered  young,  so  closely  resemble 
the  surrounding  pebbles  that  it  takes  a  sharp  eye  to  discriminate 
them.  Later  in  the  season  family-parties  may  be  seen  about  the 
larger  waters,  whence,  as  autumn  advances,  they  depart  for  their 
winter-quarters.  The  Common  Sandpiper  is  found  over  the  greater 
part  of  the  Old  World.  In  summer  it  is  the  most  abundant  bird  of 
its  kind  in  the  extreme  north  of  Europe,  and  it  extends  across  Asia 
to  Japan.  In  winter  it  makes  its  way  to  India,  Australia  and  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  In  America  its  place  is  taken  by  a  closely- 
kindred  species,  which  is  said  to  have  also  occurred  in  England — T. 
macularius,  the  "Peetweet,"  or  Spotted  Sandpiper,  so  called  from  its 
usual  cry,  or  from  the  almost  circular  marks  which  spot  its  lower 
plumage.  In  habits  it  is  very  similar  to  its  congener  of  the  Old 
World,  and  in  winter  it  migrates  to  the  Antilles  and  to  Central  and 
South  America.  Of  other  Totaninse,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  is 
that  to  which  the  inappropriate  name  of  Green  Sandpiper  has  been 

^  There  are  unfortunately  no  English  words  adequate  to  express  these  two 
sections  By  some  British  writers  the  Tringinse  have  been  indicated  as  "  Stints," 
a  term  cognate  with  Stunt  and  not  wholly  applicable  to  all  of  them,  while  recent 
American  writers  restrict  to  them  the  name  of  "Sandpiper,"  and  call  the 
Totaninx,  to  which  that  name  is  especially  appropriate,  "  Willets." 


8i2  SANDPIPER 

assigned,  the  Totanus  or  Helodromas  ochropus  of  ornithologists,  which 
most  curiously  differs  (so  far  as  is  known)  from  all  others  of  the 
group  both  in  its  osteology  ^  and  mode  of  nidification,  the  hen  laying 
her  eggs  in  the  deserted  nests  of  other  birds — Jays,  Thrushes  or 
Pigeons — but  nearly  always  at  some  height  (from  3  to  30  feet)  from 
the  ground  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1863,  pp.  529-532).  This  species 
occurs  in  England  the  whole  year  round,  and  is  presumed  to  have 
bred  here,  though  the  fact  has  never  been  satisfactorily  proved,  and 
our  knowledge  of  its  erratic  habits  comes  from  naturalists  in 
Pomerania  and  Sweden  ;  yet  in  the  breeding-season,  even  in  England, 
the  cock-bird  has  been  seen  to  rise  high  in  air  and  perform  a  variety 
of  evolutions  on  the  wing,  all  the  while  piping  what,  without  any 
violence  of  language,  may  be  called  a  song.  This  Sandpiper  is 
characterized  by  its  dark  upper  plumage,  which  contrasts  strongly 
with  the  white  of  the  lower  part  of  the  back  and  gives  the  bird  as 
it  flies  away  from  its  disturber  much  the  look  of  a  very  large 
House-Martin.  The  so-called  Wood-Sandpiper,  T.  glareola,  which, 
though  much  less  common,  is  known  to  have  bred  in  England,  has 
a  considerable  resemblance  to  the  species  last  mentioned,  but  can  at 
once  be  distinguished,  and  often  as  it  flies,  by  the  feathers  of  the 
axillary  plume  being  white  barred  with  greyish-black,  while  in  the 
Green  Sandpiper  they  are  greyish-black  barred  with  white.  It  is 
an  abundant  bird  in  most  parts  of  northern  Europe,  migrating  in 
winter  very  far  to  the  southward. 

Of  the  section  Tringinse  the  best  known  are  the  Dunlin,  the 
Knot  and  the  Sanderling  (the  last  to  be  distinguished  from  every 
other  bird  of  the  group  by  wanting  a  hind  toe),  while  the  Purple 
Sandpiper,  Tringa  striata  or  maritima  is  only  somewhat  less  numerous, 
but  is  especially  addicted  to  rocky  coasts.  The  Curlew-Sandpiper, 
T.  subarquata,  appears  not  unfrequently,  and  is  of  especial  interest 
since  its  nest  has  never  been  discovered,  and  none  can  point  even 
approximately  to  any  breeding-place  for  it,  except  it  be,  as  Von 
Middendorff  supposed,  on  the  tundras  of  the  Taimyr.  The  Little 
and  Temminck's  Stints,  T.  minuta  and  T.  temmincM,  are  more  regular 
in  their  visits,  and  have  been  traced  to  their  homes  in  the  most 
northern  part  of  Scandinavia  and  the  Russian  Empire,  but  want  of 
space  forbids  more  than  this  record  of  their  names ;  and,  for  the 
same  reason,  no  notice  can  be  taken  of  many  other  species,  chiefly 
American,  belonging  to  this  group,  with  the  exception  of  T.  maculata 
or  pectoralis,  concerning  Avhich  a  few  words  must  be  said  on  account 
of  the  extraordinary  faculty,  first  noticed  by  the  late  Mr.  Edward 
Adams  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1859,  p.  130),  possessed  by  the  male  of 
puffing  out  its  oesophagus,  after  the  manner  of  a  Pouter-Pigeon. 

1  It  possesses  only  a  single  pair  of  posterior  "  emarginations  "  on  its  sternum, 
in  this  respect  resembling  the  Ruff.  Among  the  Plovers  and  Snipes  other 
similarly  exceptional  cases  may  be  found. 


SAND-PLOVER—SARUS 


This  habit,  unique,  so  far  as  is  known,  among  the  group,  is  indulged 
in  during  the  breeding-season,  and  the  inflation  is  accompanied  by 
the  utterance  of  a  deep,  hollow  and  resonant  note,  as  subsequently 
observed  by  Mr.  E.  ^Y.  Nelson  {Auk,  1884,  pp.  218-221),  who 
afterwards  figured  the  bird  {N.  H.  Collect. 
Alaska,  pp.  108,  109,  pi.  vii.)  in  this  extra- 
ordinary condition,  when  it  presents  almost 
the  appearance  of  a  Ruff,  while  his  experi- 
ence has  been  corroborated  by  Mr.  Murdoch 
(Rej).  Interna t.  Pol.  Exjjed.  Point  Barrotv,  p. 
111).  Two  other  forms  must  however  be 
mentioned.^  These  are  the  broad-billed 
Sandpiper,  T.  platyrhyiicha,  of  the  Old  M'orld, 
which  seems  to  be  more  Snipe-like  than  any 
that  are  usually  kept  in  this  section,  and  the 
marvellous  Spoon-billed  Sandpiper,  Evryno- 
rhi/nchus  pygmaius  (cf.  Harting,  Ibis,  1869, 
pp.  426-434),  the  true  home  of  which 
has  still  to  be  discovered,  according  to  the 
experience  of  Baron  Nordenskjold  in  the 
memorable  voyage  of  the  'Yega.'- 

SAND-PLOVER,  a    name    given  locally   to    Plovers   of    the 
genus  jEyialitis. 

SAND-RUNNER,  like  the  foregoing,   but  perhaps  sometimes 
used  more  for  Sandpiper. 


BURYNORHYNCHUS. 

(From  The  Ibis.) 


SAPSUCKER,  a  common  name  in  North  America  for  many  of 
the  smaller  Woodpeckers,  Dendrocopus  puhescens,  villosus  and  others, 
but  strictly  only  applical)le  to  Sp^hyropiicus  varius,  which  with  its 
local  forms,  nnehalis  and  ruber,  and  congener  thyroideus,  has  a  lingual 
structure,  first  described  1)y  Macgillivray  for  Audubon  (Orn.  Biogr.  v. 
l^p.  537,  538),  very  difterent  from  that  of  most  Piridiv,  and  a  mode  of 
feeding  to  correspond  ((/.  Coues,  Birds  of  the  North  West,  pp.  285-289). 

SARUS  (Hind.  Saras  and  Sarhans),  often  corrupted  into 
"  Cyrus,"  the  ordinary  name  for  Grus  antigone,  one  of  the  finest  of 
the  Cranes  (p.  112). 

^  Reference  lias  ah'eady  been  made  to  the  presumably  extinct  ^chmorliynchus 
(p.  712,  note  2)  and  Prosobonia  (pp.  225,  226),  if  tire  latter  really  belonged  to 
this  groujj. 

-  Mr.  Seebohm's  volume  before  mentioned  (p.  733,  note  2)  The  Geographical 
Distribution  of  the  Family  Charadriidw,  or  the  Plovers,  Sandpipers,  Sniiies  aiid. 
their  allies,  contains  an  account  of  every  species  and  figures  of  a  great  many  of  the 
Sandpipers.  Yet  a  good  work  on  the  subject  is  still  to  be  desired,  especially  if  it 
Avill  describe  accurately  the  range  of  the  various  species,  distinguishing  between 
their  summer-homes  and  their  winter-resorts,  while  recording  also  their  occasional 
wanderings. 


d 


814  SA  TIN-BIRD— SCAMEL 

SATIN-BIRD,  one  of  the  Bower-birds  (p.  49),  Ptilmhynclius 
violaceus  or  holosericeus,  so-called  from  its  glossy  plumage. 

SATIN- SPARROW,  the  name  in  Tasmania  for  Myiagra  nitida, 
a  Flycatcher. 

,  SAURIUR^   or  SAURIURI,  Prof.   Hackel's  names  in  1866 

yVt^fx^^A     {Gen.  Morphol.  i.  p.  cxxxix.)  for  the  first  of  his  two  Subclasses  of 
'  Aves,   consisting  so  far  as  is  at   present   known    of   Archxopteryx 

(Fossil  Birds,  pp.  278-280),  his  second  Subclass  being  named 
Ornithurx,  and  composed  of  two  "Legions,"  (1)  Autophagx  or 
NiDiFUG^,  the  latter  therefore  not  used  in  the  same  sense  as  in  the 
present  work  (p.  635) ;  and  (2)  Pxdotrophx  or  Insessores  (p.  459), 
which  last  differs  from  the  meaning  attached  to  it  by  Vigors. 
Prof.  Huxley  having  adopted  the  modified  term  SAURUR-i:E  as 
one  of  his  Orders  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  418),  it  has  come  into 
fVi^^^rwrA     general  use,  while  Ornithurx  may  be  said  to  have  lapsed. ^ 

SAUROGNATH^,  the  late  Prof,  W.  K.  Parker's  name  {Trans. 
R.  Micros.  Soc.  1872,  p.  219)  for  the  Celeomorph^  of  Prof. 
Huxley  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc,  1867,  p.  456),  consisting  of  the  Picidx 
(Woodpecker)  and  lynginse  (Wryneck),  thereby  raising  them  to 
the  same  rank  as  the  latter's  other  Suborders  of  Carinat^. 

SAVANNA  BLACKBIRD,  a  common  West-Indian  name  of 
Crotophaga  ani  (Ani). 

SAWBILL,  a  name  commonly  given  to  the  Goosander  and 
Merganser,  and  also  used  in  some  books  for  the  Motmots. 

SAW-SHARPENER,  a  widely-spread  local  name  for  the  Great 
Titmouse,  Parus  major,  from  the  peculiar  song  of  the  cock. 

SAW-WHET,  a  little  Owl,  Nyctala  acadica,  so-called  in  Audubon's 
words  {Orn.  Biogr.  ii.  p.  567)  from  "the  sound  of  its  love-notes 
bearing  a  great  resemblance  to  the  noise  produced  by  filing  the 
teeth  of  a  large  saw." 

SAYSIE,  a  name  applied  in  South  Africa  to  several  Finches  of 
the  genus  CritJiagra  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  ed.  2,  pp.  485-487). 

SCALE-DUCK,  a  local  name  for  the  Sheld-drake. 

SCAMEL,  a  word,  used  once  by  Shakespear  {Tempest,  Act  XL 
So.  ii.,  line  176),  that  has  given  rise  to  many  conjectures  (c/.  Wright, 
Cambr.  Shakesp.  i.  p.  51);  but  is  commonly  accepted  as  a  bird's 
name,  a  signification  rendered  more  likely  by  the  fact  that  at 
Blakeney,  on  the  coast  of  Norfolk,  it  was  applied  to  a  Godwit 
(Stevenson,  B.  Norf.  ii.  p.  260),  though  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
Shakespear  used  it   in    that  sense.       It  seems    to    be    otherwise 


1 


Botanists,  however,  had  made  a  prior  application  of  Saururx, 


SCANSORES—SCA  UP  815 

unknown,  and  the  most  plausible  suggestions  are  that  the  word  was 
a  misprint  for  "  Seamel "  {i.e.  SeA-Mew)  or  for  "  Stannel "  (a 
Kestrel). 

SCANSORES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  {Prodr.  p.  194)  for  his 
First  Order,  made  to  contain  5  Families: — (1)  Psittacini,  with  the 
genera  Psittacus  and  Pezoporus ;  (2)  Sermti,  made  up  of  Earn])hastos, 
Pteroglossus,  Pogonias,  Corythaix,  Troijon  a.n(X  Musophaga;  (3)  A mphiboU, 
including  Crotophaga,  Scythrops,  Bucco,  Cucuhis  and  Centropus ;  (4) 
Sagittilingues,  formed  by  lynx  and  Pirns ;  and  (5)  Syndadyli,  con- 
sisting of  Galhula. 

SCAPULAPiS,  a  set  of  feathers  on  each  side  of  a  bird's  dorsal 
surface,  so  called  as  lying  along  the  scajmlai  or  shoulder-blades  ; 
but  by  some  writers  termed  Humerals,  since  they  run  across  the 
humeri.  These  feathers  form  part  of  the  parapteron  of  Illiger  and 
Sundevall,  and  in  some  groups  of  birds  are  very  conspicuous  and 
characteristic. 

SCARF  (Icel.  Skarfr),  otherwise  SCART,  a  local  name  for  a 
Cormorant  or  Shag. 

SCAUP,  the  wild-fowlers'  ordinary  abridgment  of  ScAUP-DuCK, 
meaning  a  Duck  so  called  "because  she  feeds  upon  Scaup,  i.e. 
broken  shel-fish,"  as  may  he  seen  in  Willughby's 
Ornithology  (p,  365);  but  it  Avould  be  more 
proper  to  say  that  the  name  comes  from  the 
"  Mussel-scaups,"  or  "  Mussel-scalps,"  ^  the  beds 
of  rock  or  sand  on  which  mussels  (Mytilus  edulis, 
and  other  species)  are  aggregated  —  the  Anns       ^^^°^^'^^"^'^^':^' 

■•^  '  nT  (After  Swamson.) 

marila  of  LinniTeus  and  Nyroca  or  FuUgida  mania 
of  modern  ornithology,  a  very  abundant  bird  around  the  coasts  of 
most  parts  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  repairing  inland  in  spring  for 
the  purpose  of  reproduction,  though  so  far  as  is  positively  known 
hardly  but  in  northern  districts,  as  Iceland,  Lapland,  Siberia  and  the 
fur-countries  of  America.  It  was  many  years  ago  believed  {Edinh. 
N.  Philos.  Journ.  xx.  p.  293)  to  have  been  found  breeding  in  Scotland, 
but  assertions  to  that  effect  have  not  been  wholly  substantiated, 
though  apparently  corroborated  by  some  later  evidence  (Proc.  N.  H. 
Soc.  Glasg.  ii.  p.  121,  and  Proc.  Phys.  Soc.  Edinh.  vii.  p.  203).  The 
Scaup-Duck  has  considerable  likeness  to  the  Pochard,  both  in 
habits  and  appearance ;  but  it  much  more  generally  atfects  salt- 
water, and  the  head  of  the  male  is  black,  glossed  with  green,  and 
hence  the  name  of  "  Black-head,"  by  which  it  is  commonly  known 
in  North  America,  where,  however,  a  second  species  or  race,  smaller 
than  the   ordinary   one,  is   also   found,   the  iV.  or  F.  affinis.     The 

1  "Scalp"  primarily  signities  a  shell;    cf.   Old  Dutch  schelpc  and  Old  Fr. 
escalope  (Skeat,  i^tymol.  Dictionary,  p.  528). 


8i6  SCA  URIE—SCIZZORS-  TAIL 

female  Scaup-Duck  can  be  readily  distinguished  from  the  Dunbird 
or  female  Pochard  by  her  broad  white  face. 

SCAUPJE  or  SCOPtEY.  In  Orkney  the  young  of  the  Herring- 
GuLL  is  so-called  (Niell,  Tour  through  Orkney  and  Shetland,  p.  201), 
and  the  name  is  pei-haps  elsewhere  applied  (Montagu,  Suppl.  Orn. 
Did.)  to  that  of  some  other  species. 

SCHIZOGNATH^,  Prof.  Huxley's  second  Suborder  of  Cari- 
NATiE,   composed  of   six  groups  —  Charadriomorph^e,   Gerano- 

MORPH^,      CECOMORPHiE,      SPHENISCOMORPH^,     AlECTOROMORPH^ 

and  Peristeromorph^  —  in  all  of  which  the  vomer,  however 
variable,  always  tapers  to  a  point  anteriorly,  while  behind  it 
embraces  the  basisphenoidal  rostrum  between  the  palatals ;  but 
neither  these  nor  the  pterygoids  are  borne  by  its  posterior  divergent 
ends.  The  maxillopalatals  are  usually  elongated,  and,  bending 
backward  along  their  inner  edge,  leave  a  fissure  (whence  the  name 
of  the  Suborder)  between  the  vomer  and  themselves.  In  addition 
to  these  characters,  the  birds  composing  this  group  often  want 
intrinsic  muscles  in  the  lower  larynx,  and  never  possess  more  than 
a  single  pair  of  them.  With  the  exception  of  Podicipes  (Grebe)  all 
the  genera  which  he  had  examined  have  two  carotid  arteries  {Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  426-435;  456-460). 

SCHIZORHINAL,  the  epithet  bestowed  by  Garrod  {Proc.  Zool. 
.Soc.  1873,  p.  36),  in  his  first  and  crude  systematic  arrangement  of 
Birds,  on  what  appeared  to  him  to  be  a  "  Suborder,"  in  contra- 
distinction to  those  possessing  what  he  called  the  Holorhinal 
structure.  This  view  was  virtually  abandoned  by  him  within  little 
more  than  twelve  months  (op.  cit.  1874,  pp.  111-123);  but  that 
fact  has  not  hindered  some  writers  from  continuing  to  use  these 
terms  as  if  they  had  any  taxonomic  signification. 

SCIZZORS-TAIL,  Milvulus  forficatus,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  Tyrannidx  (Tyrant),  so  called  in  some  of  the  Southern 
States  of  North  America  from  its  habit  of  opening  and  closing  its 
long  and  deeply-forked  tail  like  the  blades  of  a  pair  of  scissors. 
It  is  only  an  accidental  wanderer  to  the  Northern  or  even  the 
Middle  States,  but  is  or  was  abundant  on  the  prairies  of  Texas,  and 
inhabits  Mexico  and  Central  America  as  far  as  Costa  Rica.  With- 
out possessing  any  tints  that  may  be  called  brilliant  in  its  plumage, 
the  delicate  harmony  of  lavender-grey  and  rose-red  that  it  displays 
— and  it  is  very  fond  of  the  display — as  well  as  its  graceful  form 
combine  to  make  its  appearance  most  engaging,  and  almost  justify 
its  being  known,  according  to  Mr.  Dresser  (This,  1865,  p.  472),  in 
Western  Texas  as  the  "  Bird-of-Paradise  " — for  its  long  tail  (10 
inches)  helps  to  give  it  that  name,  and  its  habits  render  it  con- 
spicuous. It  is  of  a  fearless  disposition  and  quarrelsome  towards 
its  fellows,  though   it  will   join  with  them  in   playful  and   lofty 


SCOBBY— SCOTER 


flights,  in  which  ull  will  shoot  rapidly  upwards,  making  the  strokes 
of  their  wings  resound  so  as  to  be  heard  at  a  considerable  distance. 
The  same  kind  of  behaviour  has  been  observed  in  the  allied  M. 
ti/ramms,  a  more  soberly  -  coloured  and  even  longer  -  tailed  bird, 
which,  though  properly  a  native  of  Central  and  pretty  generally  of 
South  America,  occasionally  strays  to  the  northern  part  of  that 
continent,  and  has  occurred  more  than  once  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Hudson  (Argent.  Orn.  i.  p.  161  ;  A^af.  in  La 
Plata,  pp.  271,  272)  states  that  the  birds  of  this  species,  though 
not  gregarious,  rise  just  before  sunset  to  the  tree-tops,  and  after 
calling  to  one  another  with  loud  and  excited  chirps,  "  mount 
upwards  like  rockets,  to  a  great  height  in  the  air  ;  then,  after 
whirling  about  for  a  few  moments,  they  precipitate  themselves 
downwards  with  the  greatest  violence,  opening  and  shutting  their 
tails  during  their  wild  zigzag  flight,  and  uttering  a  succession  of 
sharp,  grinding  notes." 

SCOBBY,  a  north-country  name  for  the  Chaffinch  (p.  82). 

SCOLDER — perhaps  from  Icel.  Skjoldr  (cf.  Sheld-drake),  or 
possibly  from  Icel.  Tjaldr ;  Fseroese  Tjaldur, — in  Orkney  a  name 
for  the  Oyster-catcher  (p.  681) ;  but,  according  to  Mr.  Trumbull 
{Names  &  Portr.  B.  p.  89),  on  the  east  coast  of  North  America  for 
the  Long-tailed  Duck  (see  Hareld,  p.  406). 

SCOOPER,  said  to  have  been  a  local  name  for  the  Avoset 
(p.  23). 

SCOTER,  a  word  of  doubtful  origin,  perhaps  a  variant  of 
SCOUT- — one  of  the  many  local  names  shared  in  common  by  the 


Scoter. 


(After  iSwainson.) 


Surf-Duck. 


Guillemot  and  the  Razorbill, — or  perhaps  primarily  connected 
with  CooT,^ — the  English  name  of  the  Anas  nigra  of  Linnaeus, 
which  with  some  allied  species   has   been  justifiably  placed  in  a 

^  In  the  former  case  the  derivation  seems  to  be  from  the  0.  Fr.  Escoute,  and 
that  from  tlie  Latin  auscuUare  {cf.  Skeat,  M>jmol.  Did.  p.  533),  but  in  the 
latter  from  the  Dutch  Koet  (Coot),  whicli  is  said  to  be  of  Celtic  extraction — 
Ciutiar  {op.  cit.  p.  134).  The  French  Ilacreuse,  possibly  from  the  Latin  -niacer, 
indicating  a  bird  that  may  be  eaten  in  Lent  or  on  the  fast  days  of  the  Roman 
Church,  is  of  double  signification,  meaning  in  the  south  of  France  a  Coot  and  in 
the  north  a  Scoter.  By  the  wild-fowlers  of  parts  of  North  America  Scoters  are 
commonly  called  Coots. 

52 


8i8  SCOUTI-ALLEN—SCRABER 

distinct  genus,  (Eclemia  (often  misspelt  Oidemia) — a  name  coined  in 
reference  to  the  swollen  appearance  of  the  base  of  the  bill.  The 
Scoter  is  also  very  generally  known  around  the  British  coasts  as 
the  "Black  Duck,"  from  the  male  being,  with  the  exception  of  a 
stripe  of  orange  ^  that  runs  down  the  ridge  of  the  bill,  wholly  of 
that  colour.  In  the  representative  American  form,  Qi.  americana, 
the  protuberance  at  the  base  of  the  bill,  black  in  the  European 
bird,  is  orange  as  well.  Of  all  Ducks  the  Scoter  has  perhaps  the  most 
marine  habits,  keeping  the  sea  in  all  weathers,  and  rarely  resorting 
to  land  except  for  the  purpose  of  breeding.  Even  in  summer  small 
flocks  of  Scoters  may  generally  be  seen  in  the  tideway  at  the  mouth 
of  any  of  the  larger  British  rivers  or  in  mid-channel,  while  in 
autumn  and  winter  these  flocks  are  so  increased  as  to  number 
thousands  of  individuals,  and  the  water  often  looks  black  with 
them.  A  second  species,  the  Velvet  -  Duck,  CE.  fusca,  of  much 
larger  size,  distinguished  by  a  white  spot  under  each  eye  and  a 
white  bar  on  each  wing,  is  far  less  abundant  than  the  former,  but 
examples  of  it  are  occasionally  to  be  seen  in  company  with  the 
commoner  one,  and  it  too  has  its  American  counterpart,  CE. 
velvetina ;  while  a  third,  known  only  to  Europe  as  a  straggler,  the 
Surf-Duck,  (E.  perspicillata,  with  a  white  patch  on  the  crown  and 
another  on  the  nape,  and  a  curiously-shaped  and  particoloured  bill, 
is  a  not  uncommon  bird  in  North- American  waters.  All  the  species 
of  CEdemia,  like  most  of  our  other  Sea-Ducks,  have  their  true  home 
in  arctic  or  subarctic  countries,  but  the  Scoter  itself  is  said  to  breed 
in  Scotland  (Zool.  1869,  p.  1867;  Vert.  Faun.  Sutherl.  &c.  pp. 
194,  195).  The  females  display  little  of  the  deep  sable  hue  that 
characterizes  their  partners,  but  are  attired  in  soot-colour,  varied, 
especially  beneath,  with  brownish  white.  The  flesh  of  all  these 
birds  has  an  exceedingly  strong  taste,  and,  after  much  controversy, 
Avas  allowed  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  to  rank  as  fish  in  the 
dietary  (c/.  Graindorge,  TraiU  de  I'origine  des  Macreuses,  Caen : 
1680;  and  Correspondence  of  JoKn  Bay,  Eay  Soc.  ed.  p.  148). 

SCOUTI-ALLEN,  variously  spelt,  a  name  in  Orkney  for  the 
Arctic  Gull  (Skua).2 

SCRABER  (Gael.  Sgrab),  a  name  given  in  St.  Kilda  to  the 
DOVEKEY  (Martin,  St.  K.  p.  58) ;  but  said  to  be  used  in  the  other 
Hebrides  for  the  Manx  Shearwater,  which  is  possibly  the  more 

1  This  varies  mucli  in  extent  (J.  H.  Gurney,  Zool.  1894,  pp.  292-295). 

"■^  The  allied  species  known  to  English  ornithologists  as  Buffon's  Skua  is 
commonly  called  Skaiti  by  Lapps  and  Qusens  in  Fiumark,  and  the  subjacent 
parts  of  Finland  and  Sweden,  though  I  have  not  found  that  word  in  any  printed 
book,  and  know  not  whether  it  can  have  any  connexion  with  the  Orcadian  name. 
We  are  told,  and  doubtless  rightly,  that  Scandinavian  words  beginning  with  »S'^ 
lose  the  S  when  adopted  by  Finns  ;  but  for  all  that  I  have  heard  this  uttered 
many  times  and  seen  it  in  manuscript  still  oftener. 


SCRA  YE— SCREAMER  819 

correct  application  since  the  word  seems  to  be  the  same  as  the 
Norsk  Skrape  (Icel.  Scrofa),  which  in  some  form  or  other  is  the 
ordinary  Scandinavian  name  for  a  Shearwater. 

SCRAYE,  from  its  cry,  a  name  for  a  Tern. 

SCREAMER,^  a  bird  inhabiting  Gniana  and  the  Amazon  valley, 
so  called  in  1773  by  Pennant  (Gen.  Birds,  p.  42)  "from  the  violent 
noise  it  makes," — the  Palamedea  -  cornata  of  Linnaeus.  First  made 
known  in  1648  by  Marcgrave  under  the  name  of  "Anhima,"it 
was  more  fully  described  and  better  figured 
by  Buffon  under  that  of  Kamichi,  still 
applied  to  it  by  French  writers.  Of  about 
the  size  of  a  Turkey,  it  is  remarkable  for 
the  "  horn "  or  slender  carvincle,  more 
than  three  inches  long,  it  bears  on  its 
forehead,  the  two  sharp  spurs  with  which 
each  Aving  is  armed,  and  its  elongated  toes. 
Its  plumage  is  plain  in  colour,  being  of  talamedea.  (After  Swainsou.) 
an   almost   uniform   greyish -black  above, 

the  space  round  the  eyes  and  a  ring  round  the  neck  being  varie- 
gated with  white,  and  a  patch  of  pale  rufous  appearing  above 
the  carpal  joint,  while  the  lower  parts  of  the  body  are  white. 
Closely  related  to  this  bird,  known  as  the  "  Horned  Screamer," 
is  another  first  described  by  Linnteus  as  a  species  of  Parra 
(Jacana),  to  which  group  it  certainly  does  not  belong,  but 
separated  therefrom  by  Illiger  to  form  the  genus  Chauna,  and 
now  known  as  C.  chavaria,  or  in  English  very  generally  as  the 
"Crested  Screamer,"^  though  that  name  was  first  bestowed 
on  the  Seriema.  This  bird  inhabits  the  lagoons,  swamps, 
and  open  level  country  of  Paraguay  and  Southern  Brazil,  where 
it  is  called  "  Chaja "  or  "  Chaka,"  and  is  smaller  than  the  pre- 
ceding, wanting  its  "  horn,"  but  having  its  head  furnished  with 
a  dependent  crest  of  feathers.  Its  face  and  throat  are  white,  to 
which  succeeds  a  blackish  ring,  and  the  rest  of  the  lower  parts  are 
white,  more  or  less  clouded  with  cinereous.  According  to  Mr. 
Gibson  (3is,  1880,  pp.  165,  166),  its  nest  is  a  light  construction  of 
dry  rushes,  having  its  foundation  in  the  Avater,  and  contains  as 
many  as  six  eggs,  which  are  white  tinged  with  buff'.  The  young 
are  covered  with  down  of  a  yellowish-brown  colour.  A  most 
singular  habit  possessed  by  this  bird  is  that  of  rising  in  the  air 
and  soaring  in  circles  at  an  immense  altitude,  uttering  at  intervals 

1  In  some  jjarts  of  England  the  Swift  is  called  "Screamer." 

-  This  name  was  adopted  from  Mohring  ;  but  why  it  was  given  is  unknown. 

^  Under  this  name  its  curious  habits  have  been  well  described  by  Mr.  W.  H. 

Hudson  {Gentleman's  Magazine,   Sept.   1885,  pp.  280-287  ;  Argent.  Orn.  ii.  pp. 

119-122  ;  Nat.  in  La  Plata,  chap.  xvii.). 


820  SCREECH— SCRUB-BIRD 

the  very  loud  cry  of  which  its  local  name  is  an  imitation.     From 
a  dozen  to  a  score  may  be  seen  at  once  so  occupying  themselves. 
The  young  are  often  taken  from  the  nest  and  reared  by  the  people 
to  attend  upon   and  defend  their  poultry,  a  duty  which  is  faith- 
fully ^  and,  owing  to  the  spurs  with  which  the  Chaka's  wings  are 
armed,  successfully  discharged.     Another  very  curious  property  of 
this  bird,  which  was  observed  by  Jacquin,  who  brought  it  to  the 
notice  of  Linnaeus,-  is  its  emphysematous  condition, — there  being 
a  layer  of  air-cells  between  the  skin  and  the  muscles,  so  that  on 
.  any  part  of  the  body  being  pressed  a  crackling  sound  is  heard.     In 
f\/ila^(!L  Central  America  occurs  another  species,   6^  derbiana,  chiefly   dis- 
1/  tinguished    by    the    darker    colour    of    its    plumage.     For  this   a 

distinct  genus,  Ischyrornis,  was   proposed,  but  apparently  without 
necessity,  by  Reichenbach  (Spf.  Avium,  p.  xxi.). 

The  taxonomic  position  of  the  Falamedeidai,  for  all  will  allow 
to  the  Screamers  the  rank  of  a  Family  at  least,  has  been  much 
debated,  and  cannot  be  regarded  as  fixed.  Their  Anserine  relations 
were  pointed  out  by  Parker  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1863,  pp.  511-518), 
and  Prof.  Huxley  (op.  cit.  1867,  pp.  436,  460)  placed  them  among 
his  ChenomorpH-E  ;  but  this  view  was  contravened  by  Garrod 
{op.  cit.  1876,  pp.  189-200),.  to  whom  it  seemed  that  "the 
Screamers  must  have  sprung  from  the  primary  avian  stock  as  an 
independent  oftshoot  at  much  the  same  time  as  did  most  of  the 
other  important  families."  Accordingly  in  1880  Mr.  Sclater 
regarded  them  as  forming  a  distinct  "  Order,"  Palamedese,  which 
he,  however,  placed  next  to  the  true  Ansekes,  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  which  they  can  hardly  be  removed. 

SCEEECH  or  SCREECH-BIRD,  the  Mistletoe-THRUSH,  Tiirdus 
viscivorus  (cf.  Shrike)  ;  SCREECH-OAYL,  properly  the  Barn-OwL, 
Aluco  fiammeus ;  but  not  unfrequently  misapplied  to  the  Swift. 

SCRUB-BIRD,  the  name  (for  want  of  a  better,  since  it  is  not 
very  distinctive)  conferred  upon '  the  members  of  an  Australian 
genus,  one  of  the  most  curious  ornithological  types  of  the  many 
furnished  by  that  country.  The  first  examples  were  procured  by 
the  late  Mr.  Gilbert  between  Perth  and  Augusta  in  West  Australia, 
and  were  described  by  Gould  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1844,  pp.  1,  2)  as 
forming  a  new  genus  and  species  under  the  name  of  Atrichia  clamosa, 
the  great  peculiarity  observed  by  that  naturalist  being  the  absence 
of  any  bristles  around  the  gape,  in  which  respect  alone  it  seemed 
to  differ  from  the  already-known  genus  Sphenura.  In  March 
1866  Mr.   AVilcox  obtained  on  the  banks  of  the  Richmond  river 

^  Hence  Latham's  name  for  this  species  is  "  Faithful  Jacana," — he  supposing 
it  to  belong  to  the  genus  in  which  Linnteus  placed  it. 

-  "Tacta  manu  cutis,  sub  pennis  etiam  lanosa,  crepat  ubique  fortiter"  {SysL 
Nat.  ed.  12,  i.  p.  260). 


SCRUB-BIRD 


821 


on  the  eastern  side  of  Australia  some  other  examples,  which 
proved  the  existei\ce  of  a  second  species,  described  by  Mr.  Ramsay 
{op.  cit.  1866,  pp.  438-440)  as  A.  rufescens ;  bnt  still  no  suspicion 
of  the  great  divergence  of  the  genus  from  the  ordinary  Passerine 
type  was  raised,  and  it  was  generally  regarded  as  belonging  to  the 
Maluridx  or  Australian  Warblers.  However,  the  peculiar  forma- 
tion of  the  sternum  in  Atriclioriiis — as  the  genus  has  to  be  called, 
since  Atrichia  had  long  been  preoccupied  in  zoology  ^ — attracted 
the  present  writer's  attention  almost  as  soon  as  that  of  A.  damosa 
was  exhibited  in  the  museum  of  the  College  of  Surgeons,  and  at 


Atpjchornis  clamosa.    (After  Gould.) 

his  request  Mr.  Ramsay  a  little  later  sent  to  the  museum  of  the 
University  of  Cambridge  examples  in  spirit  of  A.  rufescens,  which 
shewed  a  similar  structure.  The  Scrub-birds  were  consequently 
declared  in  1875  (Eiici/clop.  Brit.  ed.  9,  iii.  p.  741)  to  form  a  distinct 
Family,  Atrichiidx,  standing,  so  far  as  was  known,  alone  with  the 
Lyre-birds  as  "  abnormal  Fasseres."  ^  Much  the  same  view  was  also 
taken  by  Garrod,  who  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  pp.  516,  518,  pi.  Iii. 

1  This  fact  seems  to  have  been  detected  by  Dr.  Stejneger  (Stand.  Nat.  Hist. 
iv.  P21.  -159,  4G2). 

-  Mr.  Sclater  {Ibis,  1874,  p.  191,  note)  remarked  on  the  peculiar  form  of 
sternum  ;  but,  writing  doubtless  from  memory,  ascribed  to  it  two  emarginations 
on  each  side  of  tlie  posterior  end,  which  it  has  not.  The  sternum  is  fairly 
figured  and  briefly  described  by  Eyton  in  1874  [Ostcol.  Av.   Suppl.  ii.  pi.  20, 


822  SEA SEC  RE  TA  R  Y-BIRD 

figs.  4-7),  further  dwelt  on  the  taxonomic  importance  of  the 
equally  remarkable  characters  of  the  syringeal  muscles  exhibited 
alike  by  this  form  and  Menura,  which  he  accordingly  placed 
together  in  a  division  of  the  Acromyodian  Fasseres,  differing  from 
all  the  rest  and  since  recognized  by  Mr.  Sclater  {3is,  1880,  p.  345) 
as  a  Suborder  PSEUDOSCINES — the  SUBOSCINES  of  the  present 
work.  A  detailed  anatomical  description  of  Atrichornis  has,  how- 
ever, yet  to  be  given,  and  a  comparison  of  many  other  Australian 
types  is  needed  ^  before  it  can  be  certainly  said  to  have  no  nearer 
ally  than  Menura.  Both  the  known  species  of  Scrub-bird  are 
about  the  size  of  a  small  Thrush — A.  damosa  being  the  larger  of 
the  two.  This  species  is  brown  above,  each  feather  barred  with 
a  darker  shade ;  the  throat  and  belly  are  reddish  white,  and  there 
is  a  large  black  patch  on  the  breast ;  while  the  flanks  are  brown 
and  the  lower  tail-coverts  rufous.  A.  rufescens  has  the  white  and 
black  of  the  fore-parts  replaced  by  brown,  barred  much  as  is  the 
upper  jDlumage.  Both  species  are  said  to  inhabit  the  thickest 
"  scrub "  or  brushwood  forest ;  but  little  has  been  ascertained  as 
to  their  mode  of  life  except  that  the  males  are  noisy,  imitative  of 
the  notes  of  other  birds  and  given  to  violent  gesticulations.  The 
nest  and  eggs  seem  never  to  have  been  found,  nor  indeed  any 
example  of  the  female  of  either  species  to  have  been  procured, 
whence  that  sex  may  be  inferred  to  escape  observation  by  its 
inconspicuous  appearance  and  retiring  habits. 

SEA-  used  as  a  prefix  in  more  birds'  names  than  can  here  be 
mentioned,  and  often  without  much  precision.  Thus  in  one  part 
of  the  country  SEA-CROW  may  be  the  Chough,  in  another  the 
Cormorant,  and  very  generally  (especially  inland)  a  Gull,  while 
in  America  it  mav  mean  either  a  CooT  or  a  Skimmer  according  to 
locality.  SEA-DOTTEREL  and  SEA-LARK  are  names  of  the 
Ringed  Plover,  SEA-MALL,  -MEL  (cf.  Scajiel)  or  -MEW  have 
been  used  indiff"erently  for  Gulls  :  SEA-PARROT  is  the  Puffin, 
SEA-PHEASANT  the  Pintail,  SEA-PIE  the  Oyster-catcher, 
SEA-SWALLOW  a  Tern,  and  so  on. 

SECONDARIES,  see  Cubitals  (p'  118). 

SECRETARY-BIRD,  a  very  singular  African  form,  first  accur- 
ately made  known,  from  an  example  living  in  the  menagerie  of 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  in  1769  by  Vosmaer,^  in  a  treatise  published 

fig.  1,  p.  29)  ;  but  a  fuller  description  is  needed,  and  the  figure  in  Garrod's 
paper,  presently  noticed  in  tlie  text,  is  bad. 

1  Forbes  shewed  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  p.  544)  that  Orthontx  (p.  657)  did 
not  belong  to  the  group  as  at  one  time  had  been  suspected. 

"  Le  Vaillant  {Sec.  Voy.  Afrique,  ii.  p.  273)  truly  states  that  Kolben  in  1719 
{Caput  Bonm  Spei  Jwdiernum,  p.  182,  French  version,   ii.  p.  198)  had  mentioned 


SECRETAR  Y-BIRD 


823 


simultaneously  in  Dutch  and  French,  and  afterwards  included  in 
his  collected  works  issued,  under  the  title  of  Begnum  Animals,  in 
1804.  He  was  told  that  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  this  bird  was 
known  as  the  "  Sagittarius  "  or  Archer,  from  its  striding  gait  being 
thought  to  resemble  that  of  a  bowman  advancing  to  shoot,  but  that 
this  name  had  been  corrupted  into  that  of  "  Secretarius."  In 
August  1770  Edwards  saw  an  example  (apparently  alive,  and  the 
survivor  of  a  pair  which  had  been  brought  to  England)  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Eaymond  near  Ilford  in  Essex ;  and,  being  unac- 
quainted with  Vosmaer's  work,  he  figured  and  described  it  as  "  of 


Secretary-eikd. 


a  new  genus  "  in  the  following  year  {Phil.  Trans.  Ixi.  pp.  55,  56, 
pi.  ii.)     In  1776  Sonnerat  {J^oy.  Noiw.  Ckdiide,  p.  87,  pi.  50)  again 

this  bird  under  its  local  name  of  '"  Snake-eater"  {Slangenvreefer,  Dutch  transla- 
tion, i.  p.  214)  ;  but  that  author,  who  was  a  bad  naturalist,  thought  it  was  a 
Pelican  and  also  confounded  it  with  the  Spoonbill,  which  is  figured  to  illustrate 
his  account  of  it.  Though  he  doubtless  had  seen,  and  perhaps  tried  to  describe, 
the  Secretary-bird,  he  certainly  failed  to  convey  any  correct  idea  of  it.  Latham's 
suggestion  {loc.  infra  cit.)  that  the  figure  of  the  "Grus  Capensis  cauda  cristata" 
in  Petiver's  Gazophytacium  (tab.  xii.  fig.  12)  was  meant  for  this  bird  is  negatived 
by  his  description  of  it  (p.  20).  The  figure  was  probably  copied  from  one  of 
Sherard's  paintings  and  is  more  likely  to  have  had  its  origin  in  a  Crane  of  some 
species.  Vosmaer's  plate  is  lettered  "  Amerikaanischeu  Roof-Vogel,"  of  course 
by  mistake  for  "  Afrikaanischen." 


S24  SEC  RE  TA  R  Y-EIRD 


described  and  figured,  but  not  at  all  correctly,  the  species  as  found 
also  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  whither,  if  that  be  true,  it  must  haA^e 
been  brought.  A  better  reiDresentation  was  given  by  D'Aubenton 
(PZ.  Enl.  721) :  and  in  1780  Buffon  (Oiseauz,  vii.  p.  330)  published 
some  additional  information  derived  from  Querhoent,  saying  also 
that  it  was  to  be  seen  in  some  English  menageries ;  and  the  follow- 
ing year  Latham  {Synops.  i.  p.  20,  pi.  2)  described  and  figured  it 
from  three  examples  which  he  had  seen  alive  in  England.  None 
of  these  authors,  however,  gave  the  bird  a  scientific  name,  and  the 
first  conferred  upon  it  seems  to  have  been  that  of  Falco  serpentarius, 
inscribed  on  a  plate  bearing  date  1779,  by  John  Frederick  Miller 
(III.  Nat.  Hist,  xxviii.),  which  plate  appears  also  in  Shaw's  Cimelia 
Physica  (No.  28)  and  is  a  misleading  caricature.  In  1786  Scopoli 
called  it  Otis  sccrefarius — thus  referring  it  to  the  Bustards,^  and 
Cuvier  in  1798  designated  the  genus  to  which  it  belonged,  and  of 
which  it  still  remains  the  sole  representative,-  Serpentarius.  Suc- 
ceeding systematists  have,  however,  encumbered  it  with  many 
other  names,  among  which  the  generic  terms  Gijpogeranus  and 
Ophiotheres,  and  the  specific  epithets  reptilivorus  and  cristatus,  re- 
quire mention  here.^  The  Secretary-bird  is  of  remarkable  appear- 
ance, standing  nearly  4  feet  in  height,  the  great  length  of  its  legs 
giving  it  a  resemblance  to  a  Crane  or  a  Heron ;  but  the  expert 
will  at  once  notice  that,  luilike  those  birds,  its  tibise  are  feathered 
all  the  M'ay  down.  From  the  back  of  the  head  and  the  nape 
hangs,  loosely  and  in  pairs,  a  series  of  black  elongated  feathers, 
capable  of  erection  and  dilation  in  periods  of  excitement.*  The 
skin  round  the  eyes  is  bare  and  of  an  orange  colour.  The  head, 
neck  and  upper  parts  of  the  body  and  wing-coverts  are  bluish-grey, 
but  the  carpal  feathers,  including  the  primaries,  are  black,  as  also 
are  the  feathers  of  the  vent  and  tibise, — the  last  being  in  some 
examples  tipped  with  white.  The  tail-quills  are  grey  for  the 
greater  part  of  their  length,  then  barred  with  black  and  tipped 
with  white ;  but  the  two  middle  feathers  are  more  than  twice  as 
long  as  those  next  to  them,  and  drooping  downwards  present  a 
very  unique  appearance. 

The  habits  of  the  Secretary-bird  have  been   very  frequently 

1  Curiously  enougli,  Boddaert  in  1783  omitted  to  give  it  a  scientific  name. 

-  Ogilby's  attempt  to  distiuguish  three  species  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1835,  pp. 
104,  105)  has  met  with  no  enconragement ;  but  examples  from  the  north  of  the 
equator  are  somewhat  smaller  than  those  from  the  soutli. 

3  The  scientific  synonymy  of  the  species  is  given  at  gi-eat  length  by  Drs. 
Finsch  and  Hartlaub  {Fogcl.  Ost-Afr.  p.  93)  and  later  by  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Brit. 
Mus.  i.  p.  45)  ;  but  each  list  has  some  errors  in  common. 

*  It  is  from  the  fancied  resemblance  of  these  feathers  to -the  pens  which  a 
clerk  is  supposed  to  stick  above  his  ear  that  the  bird's  name  of  Secretary  is  really 
derived. 


SEDGE-BIRD— SENEGALI  825 

described,  one  of  the  best  accounts  of  them  being  by  Verreaux 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1856,  pp.  348-352).  Its  chief  prey  consists  of 
insects  and  reptiles,  and  as  a  foe  to  snakes  it  is  held  in  high  esteem. 
Making  every  allowance  for  exaggeration,  it  seems  to  possess  a 
strange  partiality  for  the  destruction  of  the  latter,  and  successfully 
attacks  the  most  venomous  species,  striking  them  with  its  knobbed 
wings  and  kicking  forwards  at  them  with  its  feet,  until  they  are 
rendered  incapable  of  oflfence,  when  it  swallows  them.  The  nest  is 
a  huge  structure,  placed  in  a  bush  or  tree,  and  in  it  two  white  eggs, 
spotted  with  rust-colour,  are  laid.  The  young  remain  in  the  nest 
for  a  long  while,  and  even  when  four  months  old  are  unable  to 
stand  upright.  They  are  very  frequently  brought  up  tame,  and 
become  agreeable  not  to  say  useful  pets  about  a  house,  the  chief 
drawbacks  to  them  being  that  when  hungry  they  will  help  them- 
selves to  the  small  poultry,  and  the  liability  of  their  legs  to  fracture, 
which  follows  on  any  sudden  alarm,  and  causes  death.  The 
Secretary-bird  is  found,  but  not  very  abundantly  and  only  in  some 
localities,  over  the  greater  part  of  Africa,  especially  in  the  south, 
extending  northwards  on  the  Avest  to  the  Gambia  and  in  the 
interior  to  Khartum,  where  Von  Heuglin  observed  it  breeding. 

The  systematic  position  of  the  genus  Serj>enfaniis  has  long  been 
a  matter  of  discussion,  and  is  still  one  of  much  interest,  though  of 
late  classifiers  have  been  pretty  well  agreed  in  placing  it  in  the 
Order  Acdpitres.  Most  of  them,  however,  have  shewn  great  want 
of  2:)erception  by  putting  it  in  the  Family  Falconidx.  No  anatomist 
can  doubt  its  forming  a  peculiar  Family,  Serpentariidx,  differing 
more  from  the  FalconicM  than  do  the  Vulturidx ;  and  the  fact  of 
Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards  {Ois.  foss.  Fr.  ii.  pp.  465-468,  pi.  186, 
figs.  1-6)  having  recognized  in  the  Miocene  of  the  Allier  the  fossil 
bone  of  a  species  of  this  genus,  S.  rohustus,  proves  that  it  is  an 
ancient  form,  one  possibly  carrying  on  a  direct  and  not  much 
modified  descent  from  a  generalized  form,  whence  may  have  sprung 
not  only  the  Falconidie  but  perhaps  the  progenitors  of  the  Ardeidas 
and  Ciconiidse,  to  say  nothing  of  others. 

SEDGE-BIRD,  the  common  name  for  what  in  most  books  is 
called  the  Sedge- Warbler. 

SEGGE,  Angl.-Sax.  Sugge  (especially  in  composition  as  Heges- 
sugge),  an  old  name,  apparently  for  any  small  bird,  that  seems  still 
to  survive  in  places  for  the  Hedge-SPARROW ;  but  taking  also  the 
form  Heysuck  (cf.  Hay-JACk)  and  even  corrupted  into  Isaac. 

SENEGALI,  a  dealers'  name  which  should  properly  belong  to 
the  Fringilla  senegala  of-  Linnaeus,  the  Estrilda  or  Lagonosfida  senegala 
of  some  modern  writers,  but  seems  to  be  often  applied  in  a  general 
way  to  small  species  of  Ploceidse  (Weaver-bird)  from  AVest  Africa, 
or  perhaps  even  other  countries. 


826 


SERIEMA 


SERIEMA,  otherwise  Cariama,^  a  South-American  bird,  suffi- 
ciently well  described  and  figured  in  Marcgrave's  work  (Hist.  Her. 
Nat.  Brasilia,  p.  203),  posthumously  published  by  De  Laet  in  1648, 
to  be  recognized  by  succeeding  ornithologists,  among  whom  Brisson 
in    1760   acknowledged   it   as 


forming  a   distinct   genus  Cariaina, 


Seriema, 

while  Linneeus  regarded  it  as  a  second  species  of  Palamedea 
(Screamer,  p.  819),  under  the  name  of  P.  cristata,  Englished 
in  1785  by  Latham  (Gen.  'Synops.  v.  p.  20)  the  "Crested 
Screamer," — an  appellation,  as  already  observed,  since  transferred 
to  a  wholly  difterent  bird.  Nothing  more  seems  to  have  been 
known  of  it  in  Europe  till  1803,  when  Azara  published  at  Madrid 
his  observations  on  the  birds  of  Paraguay  (Apuntamientos,  No.  340), 
Avherein  he  gave  an  account  of  it  under  the  name  of  "  Saria,"  which 
it  bore  among  the  Guaranis, — that  of  "  Cariama  "  being  ap})lied  to 
it  by  the  Portuguese  settlers,  and  both  expressive  of  its  ordinary 
cry.-'     It  was  not,  however,  until  1809  that  this  very  remarkable 


^  lu  this  word  the  initial  C,  as  is  usual  in  Portuguese,  is  pronounced  soft, 
and  the  accent  laid  upon  tlie  last  syllable. 

2  Yet  Forbes  states  {Ibis,  1881,  p.  358)  that  Seriema  comes  from  Siri,  "a. 
diminutive  of  Indian  extraction,"  and  Uma,  the  Portuguese  name  for  the  Rhea 
((/.  Emeu,  p.  212,  note  1),  the  whole  thus  meaning  "Little  Rhea." 


SERIEMA  827 

form  came  to  be  autoptically  described  scientifically.  This  was 
done  by  the  elder  Geoftroy-St.  Hilaire  (Ann.  du  Musdum,  xiii.  pp.  362- 
370,  pi.  26),  who  had  seen  a  specimen  in  the  Lisbon  museum ;  and, 
though  knowing  it  had  already  been  received  into  scientific  nomen- 
clature, he  called  it  anew  Microdadylus  marcgravii.  In  1811  Illiger, 
without  having  seen  an  example,  renamed  the  genus  Dklioloplms — 
a  term  which  has  since  been  frequently  applied  to  it — placing  it  in 
the  curious  congeries  of  forms  having  little  afiinity  which  he  called 
Aledorides.  In  the  course  of  his  travels  in  Brazil  (1815-17)  Prince 
Max  of  Wied  met  with  this  bird,  and  in  1823  there  appeared  from 
his  pen  {N.  Act.  Acad.  L.-C.  Nat.  Curiosorum.,  xi.  pt.  2,  pp.  341-350, 
tab.  xlv.)  a  very  good  contribution  to  its  history,  embellished  by  a 
faithful  life-sized  figure  of  its  head.  The  same  year  Temminck 
figured  it  in  the  Planches  ColorUes  (No.  237).  It  is  not  easy  to  say 
when  any  example  of  the  bird  first  came  under  the  eyes  of  British 
ornithologists;  but  in  the  Zoological  Proceedings  for  1836  (pp. 
29-32)  Martin  described  the  visceral  and  osteological  anatomy  of 
one  which  had  been  received  alive  the  preceding  year.^ 

The  Seriema,  owing  to  its  long  legs  and  neck,  stands  some  two 
feet  or  more  in  height,  and  in  menageries  bears  itself  with  a  stately 
deportment.  Its  bright  red  beak,  the  bare  greenish  blue  skin 
surrounding  its  large  yellow  eyes,  and  the  tufts  of  elongated 
feathers  springing  vertically  from  its  lores,  give  it  a  pleasing  and 
animated  expression ;  but  its  plumage  is  generally  of  an  in- 
conspicuous ochreous-grey  above  and  dull  white  beneath, — the 
feathers  of  the  upper  parts,  which  on  the  neck  and  throat  are  long 
and  loose,  being  bai'red  by  fine  zigzag  markings  of  dark  broAvn, 
while  those  of  the  lower  parts  are  more  or  less  striped.  The  wing- 
quills  are  brownish-black,  banded  with  mottled  white,  and  those  of 
the  tail,  except  the  middle  pair,  which  are  wholly  greyish-brown, 
are  banded  with  mottled  white  at  the  base  and  the  tip,  but  dark 
brown  for  the  rest  of  their  length.  The  legs  are  red.  The  Seriema 
inhabits  the  campos  or  elevated  open  parts  of  Brazil,  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  Pernambuco  to  the  Eio  de  la  Plata,  extending 
inland  as  far  as  Matto  Grosso  (long.  60°),  and  occurring  also,  though 
sparsely,  in  Paraguay.  It  lives  in  the  high  grass,  running  away  in 
a  stooping  posture  to  avoid  discovery  on  being  approached,  and 
taking  flight  only  at  the  utmost  need.  Yet  it  builds  its  nest  in 
thick  bushes  or  trees  at  about  a  man's  height  from  the  ground, 
therein  laying  two  eggs,  which  Burmeister  likened  to  those  of 
the  Land-Eail  in  colour.^     The  young  are  hatched  fully  covered 

^  The  skeleton  has  been  briefly  described  and  figured  by  Eyton  {Osteol. 
Avium,  p.  190,  pis.  3,  K,  and  28  bis,  fig.  1). 

"  This  distinguished  author  twice  cites  the  figure  given  by  Thienemann 
{Fortpflanzungsgesch.  gesammt.  Vogcl,  pi.  Ixxii.  fig.  14)  as  though  taken  from 
a   genuine   specimen  ;    but  little  that  can  be  called  Ralline   in  character   is 


828  SERIEMA 

with  grey  down,  relieved  by  brown,  and  remain  for  some  time  in 
the  nest.  The  food  of  the  adult  is  almost  exclusively  animal, — 
insects,  especially  large  ants,  snails,  lizards  and  snakes ;  but  it 
also  eats  certain  large  red  berries. 

Until  1860  the  Seriema  was  believed  to  be  without  any  near 
relative  in  the  living  world  of  birds  ;  ^  but  in  the  Zoological  Fro- 
ceedings  for  that  year  (pp.  334-336)  Dr.  Hartlaub  described  an 
allied  species  discovered  by  Prof.  Burmeister  in  the  territory  of  the 
Argentine  Republic.^  This  bird,  which  has  since  been  regarded  as 
entitled  to  generic  division  under  the  name  of  Chunga  hurmeisteri 
(Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1870,  p.  466,  pi.  xxxvi.),  and  seems  to  be  known 
in  its  native  country  as  the  "  Chunnia,"  differs  from  the  Seriema 
by  frequenting  forest  or  bushy  districts.  It  is  also  darker  in 
colour,  has  less  of  the  frontal  crest,  shorter  legs,  a  longer  tail  and 
the  markings  beneath  take  the  form  of  bars  rather  than  stripes. 
In  other  respects  the  diff"erence  between  the  two  birds  seems  to  be 
immaterial. 

There  are  few  birds  which  have  more  exercised  the  taxonomer 
than  this,  and  the  reason  seems  to  be  plain.  The  Seriema  must 
l)e  regarded  as  the  not  greatly  modified  heir  of  some  very  old  type, 
such  as  one  may  fairly  imagine  to  have  lived  before  many  of  the 
existing  groups  of  birds  had  become  diff"erentiated.  Looking  at  it 
in  this  light,  we  may  be  prepared  to  deal  gently  with  the  sys- 
tematists  who,  having  only  the  present  before  their  eyes,  have 
relegated  it  positively  to  this,  that  or  the  other  Order,  Family  or 
other  group  of  birds.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  some  of  its 
habits  point  to  an  alliance  with  the  Bustard  or  perhaps  certain 
Plovers,  while  its  digestive  organs  are  essentially,  if  not  absolutely, 
those  of  the  Heron.  Its  general  appearance  recalls  that  of  the 
Secretary-bird  ;  but  this,  it  must  be  admitted,  may  be  merely 
an  analogy  and  may  indicate  no  affinity  whatever.  On  the  one 
hand  we  have  had  authorities,  starting  from  bases  so  opposed  as 
Prof.  W.  K.  Parker  (Proc.  ^ool.  Soc.  1863,  p.  516)  and  Sundevall, 
placing  it  among  the  Accifitres,  while  on  the  other  Nitzsch,  Bur- 
meister,^ Martin  {ut  supra),  and  Dr.  Gadow  (Journ.  f.  Orn.  1876, 

observable  therein.  Tlie  same  is  to  be  said  of  an  egg  laid  in  captivity  at  Paris  ; 
but  a  specimen  in  Mr.  Walter's  possession  undeniably  shews  it  {Proc.  Zool. 
^oe.  1881,  p.  2). 

^  A  supposed  fossil  Cariama  from  the  caves  of  Brazil,  mentioned  by  Bona- 
parte {C'om27tes  Rendus,  xliii.  p.  779)  and  others,  has  since  been  shewn  by  Rein- 
liardt  {Ihis,  1882,  pp.  321-332)  to  rest  upon  the  misinterpretation  of  certain 
bones,  which  the  latter  considers  to  have  been  those  of  a  Rhea. 

2  Near  Tucuman  and  Catamarca  (Burmeister,  Reise  durch  die  La  Plata 
Staatcn,  ii.  p.  508). 

2  ISTitzsch,  as  Burmeister  stated  in  Iiis  masterly  contribution  to  the  natural 
history  of  this  bird  {Ahhandl.  naturf.   Gesellsch.  Halle,  i.  pp.  1-68,  pis.  1,  2), 


SERIN— SHAG  829 


pp.  445,  446)  have  declared  in  effect  that  this  view  of  its  affinities 
cannot  be  taken.  Prof.  Huxley  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  455) 
expressed  himself  more  cautiously,  and,  while  remarking  that 
in  its  skull  "  the  internasal  septum  is  ossified  to  a  very  slight 
extent,  and  the  maxillo-palatine  processes  may  meet  in  the  middle 
line,  in  both  of  which  respects  it  approaches  the  birds  of  prey," 
added  that  "  the  ossified  part  of  the  nasal  septum  does  not  unite 
below  with  the  maxillo-palatines,"  and  that  in  this  respect  it  is 
unlike  the  Accipitres ;  finally  he  declared  (p.  457)  that,  as  Otis  con- 
nects the  Geranomorphai  with  the  Charadriomorphm,  so  Cariama  con- 
nects the  former  with  the  Aetomorphx,  "but  it  is  a  question 
whether  these  two  genera  may  be  better  included  in  "  the  Gerano- 
morphse,  "  or  made  types  of  separate  groups."  The  latter  course  is 
followed  by  Prof.  Fiirbringer  {JJntersuchungen,  p.  1566)  and  Dr. 
Gadow  (Thier-reich,  Vogel,  ii.  pp.  184-186),  who  unhesitatingly  regard 
the  Seriema  as  the  type  of  a  distinct  Family,  whose  nearest  living 
allies  may  be  found  in  the  Gruidsi  (Crane),  Psophiidse  (Trumpeter) 
and  OtididcV  (Bustard) — a  determination  which  is  probably  final. 

SERIN,  Fr.  Serin,  O.F.  Serene,  Proven^.  Serena,  supposed  to  be 
from  Sirhie  (Lat.  Siren),  and  applied  to  the  bird  from  its  agreeable 
song — the  Fringilla  serinus  of  Linnaeus  and  Serimcs  horhdanus  of 
recent  ornithologists — a  small  Finch  long  known  to  inhabit 
Southern  Europe  with  Northern  Africa,  and  of  late  years  observed 
to  be  extending  its  range  on  the  continent  and  to  have  appeared 
in  England  (Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,  ii.  p.  111).  Its  habits  have 
been  described  by  Mr.  Dresser  {B.  Eur.  iii.  pp.  551-553)  from  his 
personal  observation,  and  by  no  one  better.  It  is  nearly  allied  to 
the  Canary-bird,  though  recognizable  by  its  tints,  its  larger  size, 
proportionally  shorter  wings  and  longer  tail.  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B. 
Br.  Mus.  xii.  p.  370)  accounts  the  latter  a  "subspecies"  of  the 
Serin,  but  without  giving  his  reason  for  departing  from  the  general 
practice  of  considering  them  distinct  species,  and  thus  one  is  unable 
to  appreciate  the  validity  of  his  judgment.  He  however  admits 
18  other  species  of  the  genus. 

SHAG,  the  English  name  commonly  applied  all  over  the  world 
to  members  of  the  genus  Phalacrocorax  in  general ;  but  specialized 
by  British  ornithological  writers  for  P.  graculus,  the  smaller  of  the 
two  species  which  inhabit  the  coasts  of  these  islands  (Cormorant, 
p.  106).  In  breeding- plumage  the  Shag,  with  its  plumage  of 
uniform  glossy  green,  its  tufted  crest — the  feathers  of  which  curve 

in  1834  saw  a  defective  skeleton  sent  to  Munich  by  the  Brazilian  travellers 
Spix  and  Martins.  His  description  of  it  was  not,  however,  published  until 
1853.  To  it  is  appended  a  description  by  Dr.  Creplin  of  some  Entozoa  found  in 
the  Seriema,  but  this  unfortunately  seems  to  give  no  help  as  to  the  systematic 
position  of  the  bird. 


830  SHEA  R  WA  TER 


forwards — the  deep  yellow  of  the  bare  skin  about  its  face,  and  its 
beryl-coloured  eyes,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  sea-birds. 

SHEARWATER,  the  name  of  a  bird  first  published  in 
Willughby's  Ornifhologia  (p.  252),  as  made  known  to  him  by  Sir 
T.  Browne,  who  sent  a  picture  of  it  with  an  account  that  is  given 
more  fully  in  Ray's  translation  of  that  work  (p.  334),  stating  that 
it  is  "a  Sea-fowl,  which  fishermen  observe  to  resort  to  their 
Vessels  in  some  numbers,  swimming  ^  swiftly  to  and  fro,  backward, 
forward,  and  about  them,  and  doth  as  it  were  radere  aquam,  shear 
the  water,  from  whence  perhaps  it  had  its  name."  ^  Ray's  mis- 
taking young  birds  of  this  kind  obtained  in  the  Isle  of  Man  for 
the  young  of  the  Coulterneb,  now  usually  called  Puffin,  has  already 
been  mentioned  (p.  752);  and  not  only  has  his  name  Puffinus 
anglorum  hence  become  attached  to  this  species,  commonly  described 
in  English  books  as  the  Manx  Pufiin  or  Manx  Shearwater,  but  the 
barbarous  and  misapplied  word  Puffinus  has  come  into  regular  use 
as  the  generic  term  for  all  birds  thereto  allied,  forming  a  well- 
marked  group  of  the  Family  Procellariidse  (Petrel,  p.  708),  dis- 
tinguished chiefly  by  their  elongated  bill,  and  numbering  some 
twenty  species,  if  not  more — the  discrimination  of  which,  owing 
partly  to  the  general  similarity  of  some  of  them,  and  partly  to  the 
change  of  plumage  which  others  through  age  are  believed  to 
undergo,  has  taxed  in  no  common  degree  the  ingenuity  of  those 
ornithologists  who  have  ventured  on  the  difficult  task  of  determin- 
ing their  characters.^  Shearwaters  are  found  in  nearly  all  the  seas 
and  oceans  of  the  world,*  generally  within  no  great  distance  from 
the  land,  though  rarely  resorting  thereto,  except  in  the  breeding- 
season.  But  they  also  penetrate  to  waters  which  may  be  termed 
inland,  as  the  Bosphorus,  where  they  have  long  attracted  attention 

■^  By  mistake,  no  doubt,  for  flying  or  "hovering,"  the  latter  being  the 
word  used  by  Browne  in  his  Accoitnt  of  Birds  found  in  Norfolk  (Mus.  Brit. 
MS.  Sloane,  1830,  foL  5.  22  and  31),  written  in  or  about  1662.  Edwards 
{Gleanings,  iii.  p.  315)  speaks  of  comparing  his  own  drawing  "with  Brown's 
old  draught  of  it,  still  preserved  in  the  British  Museum,"  and  thus  identifies 
thelatter's   "Shearwater"  with  the   "  Puffin  of  the  Isle  of  Man." 

^  Lira,  Lyra  or  Lyrie  (all  three  forms  being  found)  appears  to  be  the  most 
common  local  name  for  this  bird  in  Orkney  and  Shetland  ;  but  Scraber  and 
Scraib  are  also  used  in  the  Hebrides.  These  are  from  the  Scandinavian  Skrapc 
or  Skrofa,  and  considering  Prof.  Skeat's  remarks  {Etym.  Diet.  p.  546)  as  to  the 
alliance  between  the  words  shear  and  scrape  it  may  be  that  Browne's  hesitation 
as  to  the  derivation  of  "  Shearwater  "  had  more  ground  than  at  first  appears. 

^  Mr.  Salvin's  catalogue  of  the  specimens  of  Procellariidae,  in  the  British 
Museum,  which  is  understood  to  be  in  a  forward  condition,  will  doubtless  throw 
much  light  on  this  difficult  question. 

■*  The  chief  exception  would  seem  to  be  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  thence 
throughout  the  western  part  of  the  Malay  Archipelago,  where,  though  they 
may  occur,  they  are  certainly  uncommon. 


SHEATHBILL  831 


by  their  daily  passage  up  and  down  the  strait,  in  numerous  flocks, 
hardly  ever  alighting  on  the  surface,  and  from  this  restless  habit 
they  are  known  to  the  French-speaking  part  of  the  population  as 
cimes  damndes,  it  being  held  by  the  Turks  that  they  are  animated 
by  condemned  human  souls.  Four  species  of  Puffimis  are  recorded 
as  visiting  the  coasts  of  the  United  Kingdom ;  but  the  Manx 
Shearwater  aforesaid  is  the  only  one  that  at  present  is  known  to 
occur  commonly  or  breed  in  the  British  Islands.  It  is  a  very 
plain-looking  bird,  black  above  and  white  beneath,  and  about  the 
size  of  a  Pigeon.  Some  other  species  are  considerably  larger, 
while  some  are  smaller,  and  of  the  former  several  are  almost  whole- 
coloured,  being  of  a  sooty  or  dark  cinereous  hue  both  above  and 
below.  All  over  the  world  Shearwaters  seem  to  have  precisely 
the  same  habits,  laying  their  single  purely  white  egg  in  a  hole 
under  ground.  The  young  are  thickly  clothed  with  long  down, 
and  are  extremely  fat.  In  this  condition  they  are  thought  to  be 
good  eating,  and  enormous  numbers  have  been  caught  for  this 
purpose  in  some  localities,  especially  of  a  species  commonly  known 
as  the  Mutton-bird,  P.  hrevicauda,  which  used  to  frequent  the 
islands  off  the  coast  of  Australia ;  but  is  probably  meeting  if  it 
has  not  already  met  the  fate  of  its  congener  P.  auduboni  in  Ber- 
muda, where  the  latter  was  known  as  the  "Cahow  "  (variously  spelt) 
and  was  once  abundant.^ 

SHEATHBILL,  a  bird  so-called  in   1781  by  Pennant  (Gen.  B. 
ed.  2,  p.  43)  from  the  horny  case  ^  which  ensheathes  the  basal  part 

^  Details  of  the  mournful  and  instructive  story  of  the  almost  complete 
annihilation  of  this  species  on  those  islands  can  be  gathered  from  Lefroy's 
Memorials  dsc.  of  the  Bermudas  or  Somers  Islands  (i.  pp.  13,  18,  35,  36,  76, 
137,  330,  331  ;  ii.  p.  578),  where  many  extracts,  chiefly  from  Purchas's  Pil- 
grimes  and  Smith's  Virginia,  are  given.  The  swine,  let  loose  in  early  days 
by  the  original  Spanish  discoverers,  produced  the  usual  effect,  but  the  birds 
still  abounded  on  the  smaller  islets,  where  there  were  no  hogs,  and  in  1614 
(apparently)  the  settlers  being  reduced  to  .distress  by  famine  and  fever,  the 
English  Governor  sent  150  of  the  "  most  weake  and  sicke"  to  Couper's  Isle, 
where  were  "infinite  numbers  of  Birds  called  Cahowes."  But  through  the 
"hunger  and  gluttony"  of  these  poor  people  "those  heavenly  blessings  they 
so  much  consumed  and  wasted  by  carelessness  and  surfeiting  "  that  many  died. 
The  next  Governor,  in  1616  apparently,  had  to  issue  "a  Proclamation  against 
tlie  spoile  of  Cahowes,  but  it  came  too  late,  for  they  were  most  destroyed  before." 
Almost  all  knowledge  of  such  a  bird  in  the  colony  had  vanished  according  to 
Mr.  J.  M.  Jones  [Nat.  in  Bermuda,  pp.  94-96)  when,  in  1849,  Sir  John 
Campbell-Orde  and  a  Lrother-ofBcer  visited  the  Black  Rock,  near  Cooper's 
Island,  and  found  three  birds,  the  sole  remnant  of  those  that  had  once  crowded 
every  available  part  of  the  group.  In  1874  Capt.  Reid  {Zool.  1877,  p.  491) 
found  two  nests,  and  considered  that  a  few  pairs  of  the  birds  still  frequented  the 
islands.     How  many  may  be  there  now  I  know  not. 

"  A  strange  fallacy  arose  early,  and  of  course  has  been  repeated  late,  that 
this  case  or  sheath  was  movable.     It  is  absolutely  fixed. 


832  SHEA  THBILL 


of  its  bill.  It  was  first  made  known  from  having  been  met  with 
on  New-Year  Island,  off  the  coast  of  Staten  Land,  where  Cook 
anchored  on  New  Year's  eve  1774.^  A  few  days  later  he  dis- 
covered the  islands  that  now  bear  the  name  of  South  Georgia,  and 
there  the  bird  was  again  found, — in  both  localities  frequenting  the 
rocky  shores.  On  his  third  voyage,  while  seeking  some  land 
reported  to  have  been  found  by  Kerguelen,  Cook  in  December 
1776  reached  the  cluster  of  desolate  islands  now  generally  known 
by  the  name  of  the  French  explorer,  and  here,  among  many  other 
kinds  of  birds,  was  a  Sheathbill,  which  for  a  long  while  no  one 
suspected  to  be  otherwise  than  specifically  identical  with  that  of 
the  western  Antarctic  Ocean ;  but,  as  will  be  seen,  its  distinctness 
has  been  subsequently  admitted. 

The  Sheathbill,  so  soon  as  it  was  brought  to  the  notice  of 
naturalists,  Avas  recognized  as  belonging  to  a  genus 
hitherto  unknown,  and  the  elder  Forster  in  1788 
{EncJiirid.  p.  37)  conferred  u})on  it,  from  its  snowy 
plumage,  the  name  Chionis,  which  has  most  properly 
received  general  acceptance,  though  in  the  same  year 
the  compiler  Gmelin  termed  the  genus  Vaginalis,  as 
a  rendering  of  Pennant's  English  name,  and  the 
species  alha.  It  has  thus  become  the  Chiunis  alba  of 
ornithology.  It  is  about  the  size  of  and  has  much 
the  aspect  of  a  Pigeon ;  -  its  plumage  is  pure  white, 
its  bill  somewhat  yellow  at  the  base,  imssing  into 


Bill  of  Chiokls, 

from  above. 
(After  Swainson.) 


pale  pink  towards  the  tip.     Round   the   eyes   the 

from  ftbovG.  . 

skin   is   bare,   and   beset    with   cream-coloured    pa- 
pilla?, while  the  legs  are  bluish-grey.     The  second 
or  eastern  species,  first  discriminated  by  Dr.  Hartlaub  (Bev.  Zool. 

^  Doubtless  some  of  the  earlier  voyagers  liad  encountered  it,  as  Forster 
{Descr.  Anim.  p.  330)  suggests  and  Lesson  {Man.  cVOrn.  ii.  p.  343)  asserts  ; 
but  for  all  practical  purposes  we  certainly  owe  its  discoveiy  to  the  naturalists 
of  Cook's  second  voyage.  By  some  error,  probably  of  transcription,  Xew  Zea- 
land, instead  of  New-Year  Island,  ajijjears  in  many  works  as  the  place  of  its 
discovery,  while  not  a  few  writers  have  added  thereto  Xew  Holland.  Hitherto 
there  is  no  real  evidence  of  the  occurrence  of  a  Sheathbill  in  the  waters  of 
Australia  or  New  Zealand  ;  but  one  (C.  alba)  was  shot  by  the  lighthouse-keeper 
at  Carlingford  in  Ireland,  2  Dec.  1892,  as  recorded  by  Mr.  Barrington  {Zool. 
1893,  p.  28  ;  Proc.  Zool..  Sac.  1893,  p.  178).  Examples  of  this  species  have 
been  often  brought  alive  to  this  country,  and  the  bird  thus  killed  may  well 
have  escaped  from  confinement. 

-  In  the  Falkland  Isles  it  is  called  the  "  Kelp-Pigeon,"  and  by  some  of  the 
earlier  French  navigators  the  "Pigeon  blanc  antarctit|ue."  The  cognate 
species  of  Kerguelen  Land  is  named  by  the  sealers  "Sore-eyed  Pigeon,"  from 
its  prominent  fleshy  orbits,  as  well  as  "Paddy-bird" — the  last  perha[)s  from 
its  white  jilumage  resembling  that  of  some  of  the  smaller  Egrets,  often  so 
called. 


SHEA  THBILL  %y- 


1841,  p.  5;  1842,  p.  402,  pi.  2)  ^  as  G.  minor,  is  smaller  in  size, 
with  plumage  just  as  white,  but  having  the  bill  and  bare  skin  of 
the  face  black  and  the  legs  much  darker.  The  form  of  the  bill's 
"  sheath  "  in  the  two  species  is  also  quite  different,  for  in  C.  alba  it 
is  almost  level  throughout,  while  in  C.  minor  it  rises  in  front  like 
the  pommel  of  a  saddle.  Of  the  habits  of  the  western  and  larger 
species  not  much  has  been  recorded.  It  gathers  its  food,  consist- 
ing chiefly,  as  Darwin  and  others  have  told  us,  of  seaweeds  and  • 
shell-fish,  on  rocks  at  low  water ;  but  it  is  also  known  to  eat  birds' 
eggs.  There  is  some  curiously  conflicting  evidence  as  to  the  flavour 
of  its  flesh,  some  asserting  that  it  is  wholly  uneatable,  and  others 
that  it  is  palatable, — a  difference  which  may  possibly  be  due  to 
the  previous  diet  of  the  particular  example  tasted,  to  the  skill  of 
the  cook  or  the  need  of  the  taster.  Though  most  abundant  as 
a  shore -bird,  it  is  frequently  met  with  far  out  at  sea,  as  by 
Fleurieu  {Voy.  de  Marchand,  i.  p.  19),  in  lat.  44°  S.,  some  260 
miles  from  the  eastern  coast  of  Patagonia.  It  is  not  uncommon 
on  the  Falkland  Isles,  where  it  is  said  to  breed  {Ibis,  1861, 
p.  154),  though  confirmation  of  the  report  is  as  yet  wanting, 
and  from  thence  is  found  at  both  extremities  of  the  Strait  of 
Magellan,  and  southward  to  Louis-Philippe  Land  in  lat.  60°  S. 
On  the  other  hand,  thanks  to  the  naturalists  of  the  British  and 
United  States  expeditions  to  Kerguelen  Land  for  the  observation 
of  the  transit  of  Venus  in  1874,  especially  Mr.  Eaton  (Fhilos.  Trans. 
clxviii.  pp.  103-105)  and  Dr.  Kidder  (Bull.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  1875, 
No.  2,  pp.  1-4),  much  more  has  been  recorded  of  the  eastern  and 
smaller  species,  which  had  already  been  ascertained  by  Mr.  Layard 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1871,  p.  57,  pi.  iv.  fig.  7)  to  breed  on  the  Crozet 
Islands,^  and  was  found  to  do  so  still  more  numerously  on  Kei'- 
guelen,  while  it  probably  frequents  Prince  Edward's  Islands  for 
the  same  purpose.  The  eggs,  of  which  a  considerable  number  have 
now  been  obtained,  though  of  peculiar  appearance,  bear  an  unmis- 
takable likeness  to  those  of  some  Plovers,  while  occasionally  ex- 
hibiting a  resemblance — of  little  significance,  however — to  those  of 
the  Tropic-birds. 

The  systematic  position  of  the  Sheathbills  has  been  the  subject 
of  much  hesitation — almost  useless  since  1836,  when  De  Blainville 
(Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  ser.  2,  vi.  p.  97)  made  known  certain  anatomical 
facts .  proving    their   affinity    to    the    Oyster -CATCHERS,   though 

^  Lesson  {loe.  cit.)  cites  a  brief  but  correct  indication  of  this  species  as 
observed  by  Lesquin  {Lycee  Armoricain,  x.  p.  36)  on  Crozet  Island,  and,  not 
suspecting  it  to  be  distinct,  was  at  a  loss  to  reconcile  the  discrepancies  of  the 
latter's  description  with  that  given  of  the  other  species  by  earlier  authors. 

^  A  previous  announcement  of  the  discovery  of  its  egg  {Ibia,  1867,  p.  458) 
was  premature,  the  specimen,  now  in  my  possession,  proving  to  be  that  of  a 
Gull — a  fact  unknown  to  the  American  writer  named  above. 

53 


834  SHELD-DRAKE 


pointing    also    to    a    more   distant  relationship   with   the  GuLLS. 
These  he  afterwards  described  more  fully  {Voy.   ' Bonite'  Zoolog.  i. 
pt.  3,  pp.  107-132,  pi.  9),  so  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  Chionis  was 
a  form  intermediate  between  those  groups.     Yet  some  writers  con- 
tinued to  refer  it  to  the  Gallinse  and  others  to  the  Columhse.     The 
matter  may  now  be  regarded  as  settled  for  ever.     In   1876  Dr. 
Keichenow   in   Germany   (Jour.  f.    Orn.    1876,  pp.   84-89)  and   in 
America  Drs.  Kidder  and  Coues  {Bull.  U.  S.  Nat.  Miis.   No.  3,  pp. 
85-116)  published  elaborate  accounts  of  the  anatomy  of  C.  minor, 
the  first  wholly  confirming  the  view  of  De  Blainville,  the  last  two  ^ 
agreeing  with  him  in  the  main,  but  concluding  that  the  Sheathbills 
formed   a  distinct  group   "  Chionomorphx,"  in  rank   equal  to   the 
Cecomorph^  and   Charadriomorph^  of    Prof.  Huxley,  and  re- 
garding this  group  as  being  "  still  nearer  the   common  ancestral 
stock   of   both."     These   authors   also   wish   to   separate   the   two 
species  generically ;  but  their  proposals  are  considered  needless  by 
Garrod  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.    1877,  p.   417)  and  Prof.  Milne-Edwards 
(Ann.  Sc.   Nat.  ser.   6,  xiii.  art.   4,  p.   24).     The  osteology  of  C. 
minor  has  further  received  the  attention  of  Dr.  Shuf eldt  (Journ.  Anat. 
&  Physiol.    1891,  pp.   508-525,  pis.   xi.   xii.)  who   has  also  {Aiik, 
1893,  pp.  158-165)  reviewed  the  various  opinions  entertained  as 
to  the  systematic  position  of  this  form.     The  views  of  De  Blain- 
ville and  Dr.  Reichenow  are  borne  out  by  the  observations  of  Mr. 
Eaton  {loc.  cit.),  and  no  one  knowing  the  habits  of  an  Oj'ster-catcher 
can  read  his  remarks  without  seeing  how  nearly  related  the  two 
forms  are.     Their  differences  may  perhaps  justify  the  separation 
of   each   form  into  what  is  vaguely  called  a   "  Family,"  but  the 
differences   will  be  seen  by  the  comparative   anatomist  to  be  of 
slight  importance,  and  the  intimate  affinity  of  the  Gavim  and  Limi- 
colse,  already   recognized  by  Prof.  W.  K.  Parker  as   well  as  by 
some  of  the  best  taxonomers,  is  placed  beyond  dispute.- 

SHELD-DRAKE,  or,  as  commonly  sjDelt  in  its  contracted  form, 
Sheldrake,  a  word  whose  derivation  ^  has  been  much  discussed, 

^  In  some  details  their  memoir  is  unfortunately  inaccurate. 

-  The  little  group  of  very  curious  birds,  having  no  English  name,  of  the 
genera  Thinocorys  and  Attagis  (Plover,  p.  733),  which  are  peculiar  to  certain 
localities  in  South  America  and  its  islands,  are  by  some  systematists  placed  in 
the  Family  Chionididse  and  by  others  in  a  distinct  Family  "Thinocoridsz  "  (more 
correctly  Thinocorythidm).  They  are  undoubtedly  Limicoline,  though  having 
much  the  aspect  of  Sand-Grouse,  but  their  j^recise  position  and  rank  remain  at 
present  uncertain  (c/.  Garrod  ut  suprd,  and  Parker,  Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  x.  pp. 
301  et  seqq.),  though  it  is  pretty  clear  that  they  are  generalized  and  some- 
what ancient  forms — a  fact  which  accords  with  their  Geographical  Distribu- 
tion (p.  324). 

2  Ray  in  1674  {Engl.  Words,  p.  76)  gave  it  from  the  local  "  sheld  "  (  =  parti- 
coloured), which,  applied  to  animals,  as  a  horse  or  a  cat,  still  survives  in  East 
Anglia.      This  opinion   is  not   only  suitable  but   is  confirmed    by  the  bird's 


SHELD-DRAKE  835 


one  of  the  most  conspicuous  birds  of  the  Duck  tribe,  Anatida',  called, 
however,  in  many  parts  of  England  the  "  Burrow-Duck  "  from  its 
habits  presently  to  be  mentioned,  and  in  some  districts  by  the 
almost  obsolete  name  of  "  Bergander "  (Dutch,  Berg-eemle,  Germ. 
Bergente),  a  word  used  by  Turner  in  1544.  Other  local  names  are 
Skeel-duck  and  Skelder. 

The  Sheldrake  is  the  Anas  tadorna^  of  Linnaeus,  and  the 
Tadorim  cornuta  or  T.  vulpanser  of  modern  ornithology,  a  bird  some- 
what larger  and  of  more  upright  statiire  than  an  ordinary  Duck, 
having  its  bill,  with  a  basal  fleshy  pro- 
tuberance (whence  the  specific  term  cornuta) 
pale  red,  the  head  and  upper  neck  very 
dark  glossy  green,  and  beneath  that  a 
broad  white  collar,  succeeded  b}^  a  still 
broader  belt  of  bright  bay  extending  from 
the  upper  back  across  the  upper  breast. 
The  outer  scapulars,  the  primaries,  a  median     ^  ,  .     ,     . 

.  ^.  '  '^  Tadorna.     (After  bwainson.) 

abdominal  stripe,  which  dilates  at  the  vent, 

and  a  bar  at  the  tip  of  the  middle  tail-quills  are  black  ;  the  inner 
secondaries  and  the  lower  tail-coverts  are  grey  ;  and  the  spemlum 
or  wing-spot  is  a  rich  bronzed-green.  The  rest  of  the  plumage  is 
pure  white,  and  the  legs  are  flesh-coloured.  There  is  little  external 
difference  between  the  sexes,  the  female  being  only  somewhat 
smaller  and  less  brightly  coloured.  The  Sheldrake  frequents  the 
sandy  coasts  of  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe  and  North  Africa, 
extending  across  Asia  to  India,  China  and  Japan,  generally  kee})ing 
in  pairs  and  sometimes  penetrating  to  favourable  inland  localities. 
The  nest  is  always  made  under  cover,  usually  in  a  rabbit-hole 
among  sandhills,  and  in  the  Frisian  Islands  the  people  supply  this 
bird  with  artificial  burrows,  taking  large  toll  of  it  in  eggs  and  down. 
Barbary,  south-eastern  Europe  and  a  large  part  of  Asia  are  in- 
habited by  an  allied  species  of  more  inland  range  and  very  diff"erent 
■coloration,  the  T.  casarca  or   Casarca-  ruiila  of  ornithologists,  the 

Old  Norsk  name  Skjolduncjr,  from  Sljoldr,  primarily  a  patch,  and  now 
■commonly  bestowed  on  a  piebald  horse,  just  as  Skjalda  (Cleasby's  led. 
Diet,  sitb  voce),  from  the  same  source,  is  a  particoloured  cow.  But 
some  scholars  interpret  Skjoldungr  by  the  secondary  meaning  of  Sljoldr, 
a  shield,  asserting  that  it  refers  to  "the  shield-like  band  across  the  breast"  of 
the  bird.  If  they  be  right  the  proper  spelling  of  the  English  word  would  l)e 
"Shield-drake,"  as  some  indeed  have  it.  A  third  suggested  meaning,  from 
the  Old  Norsk  Skjol,  shelter,  is  philologically  to  be  rejected,  but,  if  true,  would 
refer  to  the  bird's  habit,  described  in  the  text,  of  breeding  under  cover. 

^  This  is  the  Latinized  form  of  the  French  Tadornc,  first  published  by  Belon 
(1555),  a  Avord  on  which  Littre  throws  no  light  except  to  state  that  it  has  a 
southern  variant  Tardone. 

-  Bonaparte  in  18-38  separated  this  species  from  the  genus  Tadorna,  but 
neither  he  nor  his  successors  have  shewn  any  good  reason  for  doing  so. 


836  .  SHELD-DRAKE 


Ruddy  Sheldrake  of  English  authors — for  it  has  several  times  strayed 
to  the  British  Islands, — and  the  "Brahminy  Duck"  of  Anglo-Indians, 
who  find  it  resorting  in  winter,  whether  by  pairs  or  by  thousands, 
to  their  inland  waters.  This  species  is  of  an  almost  uniform  bay 
colour  all  over,  except  the  quill-feathers  of  the  Avings  and  tail,  and 
(in  the  male)  a  ring  round  the  neck,  which  are  black,  while  the 
wing-coverts  are  white  and  the  speculum  shines  with  green  and 
jDurple ;  the  bill  and  legs  are  dark-coloured.^  A  species  closely 
resembling  the  last,  but  with  a  grey  head,  T.  cana,  inhabits  South 
Africa,  while  in  some  of  the  islands  of  the  Malay  Archipelago,  and 
in  the  northern  parts  of  Australia,  there  is  a  fourth  species, 
T.  radjah,  which  almost  equals  the  true  Sheldrake  in  its  brightly- 
contrasted  plumage,  but  yet  wants  some  of  the  lively  colours  the 
latter  displays — its  head,  for  instance,  being  white  instead  of  dark 
green.  Further  to  the  southward  in  Australia  occurs  another 
species  of  more  sombre  colours,  the  T.  tadornoides ;  and  New 
Zealand  is  the  home  of  a  sixth  species,  T.  variegata,  still  less 
distinguished  by  bright  hues.  In  the  last  two  the  plumage  of  the 
sexes  differs  not  inconsiderably,  but  all  are  believed  to  have 
essentially''  the  same  habits  as  the  T.  cornuta? 

It  is  not  without  a  purpose  that  these  different  species  are 
here  particularized.  Sheldrakes  will,  if  attention  be  paid  to  their 
wants,  breed  freely  in  captivity,  crossing  if  opportunity  be  given 
them  with  other  species,  and  an  incident  therewith  connected  pos- 
sesses an  importance  hardly  to  be  overrated  by  the  philosophical 
naturalist,  though  it  seems  not  to  have  met  with  the  attention  it 
deserves.  In  the  Zoological  Society's  gardens  in  the  spring  of 
1859  a  male  of  T.  cornuia  mated  with  a  female  of  T.  cana,  and, 
as  will  have  been  inferred  from  what  has  been  before  stated,  these 
two  species  differ  greatly  in  the  colouring  of  their  plumage.  The 
young  of  their  union,  however,  presented  an  appearance  wholly 
unlike  that  of  either  parent,  and  an  appearance  which  can  hardly 
be  said,  as  has  been  said  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1859,  p.  442),  to  be  "a 
curious  combination  of  the  colours  of  the  two."  Both  sexes  of 
this  hybrid  have  been  admirably  portrayed  by  Mr.  Wolf  (torn.  cit. 
Aves,  pi.  158);  and,  strange  to  say,  when  these  figures  are  com- 
pared with  equally   faithful  portraits  by  the  same  master  (op.  cit. 

^  Jerdon  {B.  Lid.  iii.  p.  793)  tells  of  a  Hindu  belief  that  once  upon  a  time 
two  lovers  were  transformed  into  birds  of  this  species,  and  that  they  or  their 
descendants  are  condemned  to  pass  the  night  on  opposite  banks  of  a  river, 
whence  they  unceasingly  call  to  one  another  :  "  Charkwa,  shall  I  come  ? "  "No, 
Charkwi."  "Charkwi,  shall  I  come?"  "No,  Charkwa."  As  to  how,  in  these 
cii'cumstances,  the  race  is  perpetuated  the  legend  is  silent. 

2  The  Anas  scutellata  of  the  Indo-Malay  countries  is  by  several  authorities 
considered  to  be  a  Tadorna,  but  this  view  is  denied  by  others,  among  them  by- 
Mr.  Hume  {Stray  Feathers,  viii.  p.  158). 


SHELD-DRAKE 


837 


1864,  pis.  18,  19)  of  the  Australian  and  New  Zealand  species,  T. 
tadornoidcs  ^  and  T.  variegafa,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the  hybrids 
present  an  appearance  almost  midway  between  the  two  species  last 
named — species  which  certainly  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  pro- 
duction. The  only  explanation  of  this  astounding  fact  seems  to 
be  that  afforded  by  the  principle  of  "  reversion,"  as  set  forth  by 
Mr.  Darwin,  and  illustrated  by  him  from  examples  of  certain 
breeds  of  Doves,  domestic  Fowls  and  Ducks  (Ahwi.  and  PI.  under 
Domestic,  i.  pp.  197-200,  ii.  p.  40),  as  well  as,  in  the  matter  of 
domestic  Fowls,  by  Mr.  Cambridge  Phillips  {Zool.  1884,  p.  331). 
It  is  a  perfectly  fair  hypothesis  that  the  existing  animals  of  New 
Zealand  and  Australia  {rf.  GEOGRAPHICAL  Distribution,  pp.  315- 
317)  retain  more  of  their  ancestral  character  than  do  those 
of  countries  in  which  we  may  suppose  the  struggle  for  life  to 
have  been  fiercer  and  the  action  of  natural  selection  stronejer. 
AVhy  it  is  so  we  cannot  say,  yet  experiment  proves  that  the 
most  widely -difierent  breeds  of  Pigeons  and  other  poultry,  when 
crossed,  produce  offspring  that  more  resembles  the  ancestral  wild 
species  from  which  the  domesticated  forms  have  sprung  than 
it  resembles  either  of  the  immediate  jj^rents.  This  mysterious 
agency  is  known  as  the  jirinciple  of  "  reversion,"  and  the  example 
just  cited  proves  that  the  same  effect  is  produced  in  species  as  well 
as  in  "races," — indicating  the  essential  identity  of  both, — the 
only  real  difference  being 

that   "  species "   are    more     _,„*f— -^  '    --^m^=^^      1^ 

ditferentiated  than  are 
"races,"  or  that  the  dis- 
tinction between  them, 
instead  of  being  (as  many 
writers,  some  of  the  first 
repute,  have  maintained) 
qualitative,  is  merely  quan- 
titative, or  one  of  degree.'-^ 

The  genus  Tadorna  seems  to  be  most  nearly  related  to  Chenalo- 
pex,  containing  the  bird  so  well  known  as  the  Egyptian  Goose,  C. 
xgyptiaca,  and  an  allied  species  C.  juhata,  from  South  America. 
As  shewn  by  their  tracheal  characters,  the  genus  I'ledropterus, 
composed  of  the  Spur-winged  Geese  of  Africa,  and  jierhaps  the 
Australian  Anseranas  and  the  Indo-African  Sarcidiornis,  also  appear 
to  belong  to  the  same  group,  which  should  be  referred  rather  to 
the  Anatine  than  to  the  Anserine  section  of  the  Anatidx. 


Plectropterds.    (After  Swaiiison.) 


^  By  inadvertence  this  species  was  assigned  (p.  600)  to  New  Zealand. 

"  It  is  further  worthy  of  remark  that  the  young  of  T.  casarca  when  first 
hatched  closely  resemble  those  of  T.  variegata,  and  when  the  latter  assume  their 
first  plumage  they  resemble  their  father  more  than  their  mother  {Proc.  Zool. 
JSoc.  1866,  p.  1.50). 


838  SHELDER— SHOE-BILL 

SHELDER  (Icel.  Skjoldr  —  piebald),  a  local  name  for  the 
Oyster-catcher  (c,J.  Scolder,  p.  817,  and  Sheld-drake,  p.  835). 

SHELL-APPLE,  a  name  for  the  Crossbill,  but  occasionally 
for  the  Chaffinch,  though  in  that  case  SHELLY  is  commoner. 

SHEPSTER,  a  local  name  for  the  Starling  (c/.  Chepster), 
possibly  an  abbreviated  form  of  Sheep-stare,  from  the  bird's  habit 
of  accompanying  flocks  of  sheep. 

SHERIFF'S  MAN,  a  nickname  of  the  Goldfinch,  from  its 
gaudy  colouring. 

SHIRL  (  =  Shrill,  c/".  Shrike),  a  name  for  the  Mistletoe-THRUSH. 

SHOE-BILL  or  SHOE-BIRD,  renderings  of  the  Arabic  name 
Alu-marhuh  (Father  of' a  Shoe)  that  have  been  given  by  travellers 
to  one  of  the  most  remai"kable-looking  of  Central-African  birds, 
Balxniceps  rex,  also  called  by  some  writers  the  Whale-headed  Stork 
— the  bird's  huge  bill,^  in  shape  not  unlike  a  whale's  head,  and 
tipped  with  a  formidable  hook,  suggesting  all  these  names.  It 
was  first  brought  to  Europe  by  Mr.  Mansfield  Parkyns  -  from  the 
White  Nile,  and  was  regarded  by  Gould  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1851,  pp. 
1,  2,  Aves,  pi.  XXXV.),  who  described  and  figured  it,  as  an  abnormal 
Pelican.  This  view  was  disputed  by  Reinhardt  (op.  cit.  1860,  pp. 
377-380)  and  wholly  dispelled  by  Parker  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  iv.  pp. 
269-351,  pis.  64-67),  though  these  two  authors  disagreed  as  to  its 
affinities,  the  former  placing  it  near  Scopus  (Hammer-head)  with 
the  Storks,  and  the  latter  assigning  it  to  the  Herons.  More 
recent  views  either  halt  between  these  two  opinions  (Reichenow, 
Jmirn.  fur  Orn.  1877,  p.  231 ;  Stejneger,  Stand.  Nat.  Hist.  iv.  p. 
171),  or  incline  to  the  latter  (Fiirbringer,  Untersuchungen,  p.  1565  ; 
Beddcrd,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1888,  p.  289;  Gadow,  Thier-reich,  Vogel, 
System.  Th.  p.  137).  There  should  be  no  hesitation  in  regarding 
it  as  the  representative  of  a  distinct  Family  Balmnicipitidse,  on 
account  of  its  many  structural  peculiarities,  and  in  singularity  of 
aspect  few  birds  surpass  it,  with  its  gaunt  grey  figure,  some  five 
feet  in  height,  its  large  head  surmounted  by  a  little  cui'led  tuft, 

^  Jardine  {Conir.  Orn.  1851,  pi.  68,  p.  11)  gave  a  full-sized  figure  of  it. 

-  This  traveller  only  incidentally  mentions  {Life  in  Abyssinia,  ii.  pp.  304, 
305)  the  bird,  and  indeed  was  never  in  the  country  it  inhabits.  His  specimens, 
according  to  Von  Heuglin  {ut  infra),  were  bought  of  a  slave-dealer  in  Khartoum, 
whither  they  had  been  brought.  It  is  reasonably  supposed  that  to  this  species 
belonged  the  extraordinary  bird,  as  big  as  a  young  Camel,  with  a  bill  like  a 
Pelican's,  though  wanting  a  pouch,  which  Ferdinand  Werne  {Uxped.  zur 
Entdeck.  der  Quellen  des  Weissen  Nil,  p.  143)  tells  us  was  seen  by  his  people, 
15th  December  1840,  while  he  was  asleep,  and  they  were  unwilling  to  awaken 
him.  His  countryman  Baron  F.  W.  von  Miiller  {Nauinannia,  1852,  i.  p.  85) 
was  more  fortunate,  in  that  in  1848  he  saw  two,  but  was  unable  to  procure 
them.  On  his  return  to  Khartoum  he  saw  in  a  collection  the  t-wo  specimens 
afterwards  bought  by  Mr,  Parkyns,  for  which  a  high  price  was  asked. 


SHOE-BILL 


839 


the  scowling  expression  of  its  eyes,  and  above  all  its  wonderful 
bill  of  Avhich  enough  has  been  already  said.  In  1860  two  living 
examples  were  brought  to  England  by  Mr.  Petherick,  and  exhibited 


Shoe-Bill.    (After  Wolf  in  Trans.  Zool.  Soc.) 

in  the  Zoological  Gardens.  He  also  discovered  its  mode  of  nidifi- 
cation,  and  obtained  its  eggs,  which  are  white  like  those  of  Storks  ;^ 
but  the  fullest  account  of  the  bird  is  that  given  by  Von  Heuglin 
(Om.  Nordost-Afrika's,  pp.  1095-1099). 

1  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1860,  pp.  196-199  ;  and  Egypf,  the  Soudan,  &e.  pp.  365, 
475-478  (London:  1861). 


840 


SHOO  IS  HO  VELER 


SHOOI,  a  name  in  Shetland  (Edmondston,  Zetland  Islands,  ii. 
p.  281)  for  the  Arctic  Gull  (Skua). 

SHORT  BILL,  the  inexpressive  name  given  by  Swainson  in 
1820  {Zool.  Illtistr.  pi.  31)  to  a  curious  bird,  first  described  by  Vieil- 
lot  {Analyse,  j).  68)  as  Phihalura^  flavirostris,  one  of  the  Cotingidx 
(Chatterer),  but  easily  recognized  by  its  long, 
forked  tail.  Its  coloration,  though  somewhat  resem- 
bling that  of  Ampelion,  is  peculiar,  the  olive-green 
feathers  of  the  upper  parts  being  tipped  with  bright 
yellow,  following  a  subterminal  black  bar,  while 
those  of  the  throat  and  breast  are  Avhite  with  a 
similar  black  bar  and  no  yellow  tip  :  the  crown  of 
^  the  head  is  crimson,  more  or  less  concealed  by  a 
'  thick  growth  of  dark  feathers.  There  is  only  one 
species  of  the  genus  which  inhabits  open  spaces  in 
the  forests  of  South-eastern  Brazil ;  but  until  the 
appearance  of  Dr.  Goldi's  notes  {Ibis, 
1894,  pp.  484-490)  next  to  nothing  Avas 
known  of  its  habits,  and  Avhat  he  tells 
us  leaves  much  to  be  desired.  He  found 
that  the  bird  devours  enormous  quanti- 
ties of  certain  berries  having  a  viscous 
pericarp,  and  he  obtained  a  nest  with 
two  eggs  on  which  the  parent  was  sitting.  These  were  of  a  clear 
greenish-blue  Avith  an  irregular  crown  of  neutrally-tinted  s^iots  at 
the  larger  end,  but  the  illustration  representing  the  nest,  eggs  and 
young  is  disappointing.  The  nest  is  almost  concealed  by  the  sawn- 
oif  branches  of  the  tree  in  which  it  was  built,  the  eggs  from  the 
small  scale  shew  no  characters,  and  the  3'oung  are  nearly  as 
insignificant.^ 

SHOVELER,   formerly   spelt   Shovelar,    and  more   anciently 

1  Some  writers  object  to  this  word  as  senseless,  so  that  in  1827  Gloger 
{Notizcn  a.  d.  Gch.  d.  Natur,  xvi.  p.  278)  proposed  Clielidis  instead,  and  Prof. 
Cabanis  {Arch.  f.  Nahurrjcsch.  1847,  i.  }>.  233),  tliinking  that  too  much  like 
C'hclklon,  suggested  Amphiholura  as  an  amendment,  unaware  that  the  last  had 
been  preoccupied  by  Wagler  in  Herpetology  ;  but  no  change  seems  needed,  for 
(pipaXos  [gracilis,  cxilis),  though  not  commonly  given  in  lexicons,  is  to  be  found 
in  that  of  Constantino  (1592),  and  combined  with  ovpa  is  appropriate  enough— 
this  being  the  very  etymology  Vicillet  gave  (iV.  Diet,  d'hist.  nat.  xxiv.  p.  107). 

-  Many  years  ago  Mr.  A.  G.  More  drew  my  attention  to  a  figure  in  the 
Dublin  Pc7mij  Journal  (i.  p.  253)  for  2  Feb.  1833  which  he  had  recognized 
as  representing  a  bird  of  this  species,  professedly  taken  from  one  said  to  have  been 
shot  two  or  three  years  before  at  Powerscoiirt  in  Ireland,  where  it  was  flying 
about  with  some  Swallows  !  The  specimen  was  said  to  be  in  the  possession  of  a 
gentleman  at  Dublin ;  but,  though  the  descrijitiou  is  accurate,  the  coutributor 
did  not  give  his  name,  and  liis  statement  is  hard  to  believe. 


(After  Swainson.) 


SHOVELER 


«4i 


Bill  of  Shoveleh.     (After  Swainson.) 


Shovelard,  a  word  by  which  used  to  be  meant  the  l)ird  now 
almost  invariably  called  Spoonbill,  but  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
17th  century  transferred  to  one  hitherto  generally,  and  in  these 
days  locally,  known  as  the  Spoon-billed  Duck — the  Anas  dyjieata 
of  Linnreus  and  Spatula  or  I^hyiwhasjds  cit/peata  of  modern  writers. 
All  these  names  refer  to  the  shape 
of  the  bird's  bill,  which,  combined 
with  the  remarkably  long  lamellx 
(not  wholly  incomparable  with  the 
"whalebone"  of  the  toothless  Ceta- 
ceans) that  beset  both  maxilla  and 
mandible,  has  been  thought  sufficient 
to  remove  the  species  from  the 
Linnsean  genus  Anas.  Excejit  for 
this  exaggerated  feature,  which  car- 
ries with  it  a  clumsy  look,  the  male 
Shoveler  would  pass  for  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  this  generally 
beautiful  group  of  birds.  As  it  is,  for  bright  and  variegated  colouring, 
there  are  few  of  his  kindred  to  whom  he  is  inferior.  His  golden  eye, 
his  dark  green  head,  surmounting  a  throat  of  pure  white  and  suc- 
ceeded by  a  breast  and  flanks  of  rich  bay,  are  conspicuous ;  while 
his  deep  brown  back,  white  scapulars,  lesser  wing-coverts  (often  mis- 
called "  shoulders  ")  of  a  glaucous  blue,  and  glossy  green  speculum 
bordered  with  white,  present  a  wonderful  contrast  of  the  richest 
tints,  heightened  again  by  his  bright  oi'ange  feet.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  female,  except  the  blue  wing-coverts  she  has  in  common 
with  her  mate,  is  habited  very  like  the  ordinary  Wild  DrcK,  A. 
boscas  (pp.  168-170).  The  Shoveler  is  not  an  abundant  species, 
and  in  Great  Britain  its  distribution  is  local ;  but  its  luimbers  have 
remarkably  increased  since  the  passing  of  the  AVi Id-Fowl  Protection 
Act  in  1876,^  so  that  in  certain  districts  it  has  regained  its  old 
position  as  an  indigenous  member  of  our  Fauna.  It  has  not 
ordinarily  a  very  high  northern  range,  but  inhabits  the  greater  part 
of  Europe,  Asia  and  America,  passing  southwards,  like  most  of  the 
Anatidx,  towards  winter,  constantly  reaching  India,  Ceylon, 
Abyssinia,  the  Antilles  and  Central  America,  while  it  is  known  to 
have  occurred  at  that  season  in  New  Granada,  and,  according  to 
Gould,  in  Australia.  Generally  resembling  in  its  haliits  the  other 
freshwater  Ducks,  the  Shoveler  has  one  peculiarity  that  has  been 
rarely  mentioned,  and  one  that  is  perhaps  correlated  with  the 
structure  of  its  bill.     It  seems  to  be  especially  given  to  feeding  on 

^  Prior  to  tliat  year  there  was  perliaps  only  one  district  in  England  wlierein 
the  Shoveler  could  be  said  to  breed  regularly,  and  thereto  only  a  few  jiairs 
resorted.  Ten  years  later  there  must  have  been  a  dozen  counties  in  which  it 
nested,  and  in  some  of  them  the  pairs  breeding  might  be  reckoned  by  the  score, 
while  at  the  jiresent  time  the  number  of  counties  might  be  safely  doubled. 


842  SHOVELER 


the  surface  of  the  water  immediately  above  the  spot  Avhere  Diving 
Ducks  (Pochard)  are  employing  themselves  beneath.  On  such 
occasions  a  pair  of  Shovelers  may  be  watched,  almost  for  the  hour 
together,  swimming  in  a  circle,  about  a  yard  in  diameter,  their 
heads  turned  inwards  towards  its  centre,  their  bills  immersed 
vertically  in  the  water,  and  engaged  in  sifting,  by  means  of  the 
long  lamellai  before  mentioned,  the  floating  matters  that  are  dis- 
turbed by  their  submerged  allies  and  rise  to  the  top.  These 
gyrations  are  executed  with  the  greatest  ease,  each  Shoveler  of  the 
pair  merely  using  the  outer  leg  to  impel  it  on  its  circular  course, 
and  to  the  observer  the  prettiest  part  of  the  performance  is  the  pre- 
cision with  which  each  preserves  its  relative  distance  from  its 
partner. 

Four  other  species  of  the  genus  Spatula,  all  possessing  the 
characteristic  light  blue  "  shoulders,"  have  been  described  : — one,  aS'. 
platalea,  from  the  southern  parts  of  South  America,  having  the 
head,  neck  and  upper  back  of  a  pale  reddish-brown,  freckled  or 
closely  spotted  with  dark  brown,  and  a  dull,  hay  breast  with  inter- 
rupted bars  ;  a  second,  S.  capensis,  from  South  Africa,  much  lighter 
in  colour  than  the  female  of  S.  dypeata ;  a  third  and  a  fourth,  S. 
rhynchotis  and  S.  variegata,  from  Australia  and  New  Zealand 
respectively, — these  last  much  darker  in  general  coloration,  and 
the  males  possessing  a  white  crescentic  mark  between  the  bill  and 
the  eye,^  but  so  much  resembling  each  other  that  their  specific  dis- 
tinctness is  denied  by  good  authority  (cf.  Salvadori,  Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus. 
xxvii.  p.  315).  In  these  last  two  the  sexual  difference  is  Avell 
marked  by  the  plumage  ;  but  in  the  South-American  and  South- 
African  species  it  Avould  seem  that  both  male  and  female  have  much 
the  same  appearance,  as  is  the  case  with  so  many  species  of  the  re- 
stricted genus  Anas,  though  this  cannot  yet  be  asserted  with  certainty. 
Apparently    allied    to    the    genus    Sp>atula    is    Malacorhynchus 

memhranaceMS,  the  "Pink-eye" 
of  Australians — so  called  from 
a  spot  of  that  colour,  so  un- 
common in  birds,  just  behind  the 
eye  in  the  drakes — which  has  a 
Bio.  OK  MALACORHYNCHUS.   (After  Swainson.)   soft  and  flexible  maxilla,  having 

near  the  end  on  either  side  a  triangular  cutaneous  flaj).  It  has 
lamellx  highly  developed ;  but  its  fasciated  plumage  of  greyish- 
brown  and  white  has  no  resemblance  to  that  of  any  member  of 
the  genus  Spnfuht.       Another    bird    possessing    somewhat   similar 

^  This  iiuuk  is  observable  in  several  forms  of  Anatidee,  and  especially  in  the 
Blue-winged  and  Cinnamon  Teals  of  America,  Anas  or  Qucrqucdula  discors  and 
cyanoptcn/,  species  which  not  only  exhibit  in  a  still  gi-eater  degree  the  bine 
"  shoulders  "  of  the  Shoveler,  but  also  have  very  well-developed  lameUm  on  the 
basal  half  of  the  bill. 


^ 


'^ffU^ifit^  —    (/■'j 


SHRlIEKER— SHRIKE  843 

though   smaller   maxillary,'  flap,    and  marked  by   a  very   peculiar 

style  of  coloration,  is  the! "  Blue  Duck  "  of  New  Zealand,  Hymeno-  f-f.  Cr^^c^ 

Ixmus  malacorhynclms,  from  its  lobated  hallux  generally  placed  among 


V  / 


HvMENOLyEMUs.    (After  BuUer.) 

the  Nyroc'mx  or  FidiguUna?  (Pochard),  but  having  a  tracheal  con- 
formation very  similar  to  that  of  the  Anatinx  and  of  Somateria.^ 

SHRIEKEE,  an  old  name  for  the  GODWIT. 

SHRIKE,  a  bird's  name  so  given,  on  the  aiithority  of  Sir 
Francis  Lovell,  by  Turner  (1544,  suh  wcc  Molliceps),  who  said  he 
could  not  find  any  one  else  who  so  called  it,  and  had  seen  the  bird 
but  twice  in  England,  though  in  Germany  often.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  Turner's  informant  was  mistaken,  and  that  the  name, 
signifying  a  bird  that  screeches  or  shrieks  (A.-S.  Scric,  old  Norsk 
Skrikja,  mod.  Scand.  Skrihi — a  Jay)  probabl}'^  applied  originally  to 
the  Mistletoe-THRUSH,  known  to  Charleton  in  1668  {Onomast.  p.  83) 
as  SHREITCH,  and  to  AVillughby  as  SHRITE— a  name  it  still  bears 
in  some  parts  of  England,  to  say  nothing  of  cognate  forms  such  as 
Screech-bird  and  Shirl.  However,  the  word  Shrike  ^  was  caught 
up  by  succeeding  writers  ;  and,  though  hardly  used  except  in  books 
— for  Butcher-bird  (p.  66)  is  its  popular  synonym — it  not  only 
retains  a  position  in  literary  English,  but  has  been  largely  extended 
so  as  to  apply  in  general  to  all  bii'ds  of  the  Family  Laniidx  and  others 
besides.  The  name  Lanms,  in  this  sense,  originated  with  Gesner  ^ 
(1555),  who  thought  that  the  birds  to  which  he  gave  it  had  not 

^  As  this  page  is  passing  through  the  press  I  am  indebted  to  Capt.  Hutton 
for  a  specimen  which  enables  me  to  make  the  above  remark.  G.  R.  Gray  shewed 
{Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  xi.  pp.  369-371)  that  it  lias  no  affinity  to  Malacorhynchus,  to 
which  Wagler  {Ish,  1832,  p.  1235)  referred  it. 

2  Few  birds  enjoy  such  a  wealth  of  local  names  as  the  Shrikes.  M.  Rolland 
{Faunc  Pop.  France,  ii.  pp.  146-151)  gives  irpwards  of  ninety  applied  to  them  in 
France  and  Savoy  ;  but  not  one  of  these  lias  any  affinity  to  our  word  "  Slirike." 

"*  He  does  not  seem  to  have  known  that  Butcher-bird  was  an  Englisli  name  ; 
and  indeed  it  may  have  been  subsequently  invented  (c/.  Flu.sher). 


844  SHRIKE 

been  mentioned  by  the  ancients.  Sundevall,  however,  considers 
that  the  Malacocraneus  of  Aristotle  was  one  of  them,  as  indeed 
Turner  had  before  suggested,  though  repelling  the  latter's  supposi- 
tion that  Aristotle's  Tyrannus  was  another,  as  well  as  Belon's 
reference  of  Collyrion. 

The  species  designated  Shrike  by  Turner  is  the  Lanius  excubitor 
of  Linnaeus  and  nearly  all  succeeding  authors,  nowadays  ^  commonly 
known  as  the  Greater  Butcher-bird,  Ash-coloured  or  Great  Grey 
Shrike, — a  bird  which  visits  the  British  Islands  pretty  regularly, 
though  not  numerously,  in  autumn  or  winter,  occasionally  prolong- 
ing its  stay  into  the  next  summer ;  but  it  has  rarely  if  ever  been 
ascertained  to  breed  here,  though  often  asserted  to  have  done  so. 
This  is  the  more  remarkable  since  it  breeds  more  or  less  commonly 
on  the  Continent  from  the  north  of  France  to  within  the  Arctic  Circle. 
Exceeding  a  Song-Thrush  in  linear  measurements,  it  is  a  much  less 
bulky  bird,  of  a  pearly-grey  above  with  a  well-defined  black  band 
passing  from  the  forehead  to  the  ear-coverts ;  beneath  it  is  nearly 
white,  or — and  this  is  particularly  observable  in  Eastern  examples 
— barred  with  du^sky.  The  quill-feathers  of  the  wings,  and  of  the 
elongated  tail,  are  variegated  with  black  and  white,  but  are  mostly 
of  the  former,  though  what  there  is  of  the  latter  shews  very  con- 
spicuously, especially  at  the  base  of  the  remiges,  where  it  forms 
either  a  single  or  a  double  patch. ^      Much  smaller  than  this  is  the 

^  According  to  Charleton,  Willughby  and  Ray,  it  was  in  their  day  called  in 
many  parts  of  England  "  Wierangle "  (Germ.  Wiirgengel  and  TFurger,  the 
Strangler)  ;  but  it  is  hard  to  see  how  a  bird  which  few  people  in  England  could 
know  by  sight  should  have  a  popular  name,  and  Chaucer's  use  of  it  in  his 
Assemhlye  of  Foules  may  be  ascribed  to  his  fondness  for  outlandish  words. 

-  On  this  character  great  store  has  been  laid  by  some  recent  writers,  who 
maintain  that  the  birds  presenting  only  a  single  patch,  with  some  other  minor 
distinctions,  as  the  ban-ed  breast  above  mentioned,  come  from  the  far  East  and 
deserve  specific  recognition  as  the  Lanius  major  of  Pallas.  But  it  is  admitted 
that  every  intermediate  form  occurs,  Und  Prof.  CoUett  has  now  shewn  {Ibis, 
1886,  pp.  30-40)  that  the  typical  L.  excuhitor  and  typical  L.  major  may  be  found 
in  one  and  the  same  brood,  and  also  that  this  occasional  divergence  is  due  neither 
to  age  nor  sex.  That  it  does  depend  to  some  extent  on  locality  is  allowed  ;  for, 
though  examples  with  the  single  patch  {L.  viajor)  occasionally  reach  Great 
Britain,  it  is  asserted  that  nearly  all  the  specimens  from  Eastern  Siberia  are  so 
marked.  But  it  is  also  found  that  by  almost  insensible  degi'ees  other  (and  some- 
times more  important)  distinctions  are  manifested,  and  the  extreme  terms  of  the 
several  series  have  been  exalted  to  the  rank  of  "  species  " — or  at  least  local  races. 
These  are  too  many  to  be  here  enumerated,  but  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the 
Great  Grey  Shrike  of  North  America,  which  ordinarily  has  the  lower  plumage 
strongly  barred,  and  is  usually  known  as  L.  horealis,  seems  to  be  only  one  of 
these  divergent  forms,  though  perhaps  the  most  divergent,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  wholly  distinct  area  it  occupies.  Yet  occasionally  examples  occur  in  the 
Old  "World,  which  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  have  an  American  origin,  indis- 
tinguishable from  the  typical  L.  horealis,  and  an  uninterrupted  series  from  one 


SHRIKE 


845 


Ked-backed  Shrike,  L.  collurio,  the  best-known  species  in  Great 
Britain,  where  it  is  a  summer  visitor,  and,  though  its  distribution  is 
rather  local,  it  may  be  seen  in  many  parts  of  England  and  occasion- 
ally reaches  Scotland.  The  cock  is  a  sightly  bird  with  his  grey 
head  and  neck,  black  cheek -band,  chestnut  back  and  pale  red 
breast,  while  the  hen  is  ordinarily  of  a  dull  brown,  barred  on  the 
lower  plumage.  A  more  highly -coloured  species  is  called  the 
Woodchat,  L.  auriculatus  or  rutilus,  with  a  bright  bay  crown  and 
nape,  and  the  rest  of  its  plumage  black,  grey  and  white.  This  is 
an  accidental  visitor  to  England,  but  breeds  commonly  in  many 
parts  of  Europe. 

The  limits  of  the  Family  Laniidm  have  been  very  variously 
regarded,  and  agreement  between  almost  any  two  systematists  on 
this  point  seems  at  present  out  of  the  question.  The  latest  synopsis 
is  that  by  Dr.  Gadow  {Cat  B.  Brit.  Mm.  viii.  pp.  88-321),  who 
frankly  states  that  it  is  "  quite  impossible  to  give  a  concise  diagnosis 
of  what  we  are  to  understand  by  "  the  Family.     For  his  purpose  he 


NiLAUS. 


Laniarius. 
(After  Swainson.) 


Telephonus. 


makes  it  to  include  about  250  species  and  divides  it  into  five  sub- 
families : —  Gymnorhininx,  Malaconotinm — including  such  forms  as 
JSfilaus, Laniarius  and  Telephonus,  Pachycephalinse — of  which  Falcunadns 
may  serve  as  an  example,  Laniinm  and 
Vireoninx.  Of  these  doubts  may  be 
especially  entertained  as  to  the  affinity 
of  the  first  and  last.  He,  but  for  the 
crude  plan  to  which  he  was  compelled 
to  conform,  would  not  have  separated 
Strepera  from  Gymnorhina,  but  the 
former    had    been   already   included,  to 

,1  1      •  f   ii        1    J.J.  il  ^      Falcuncdlus.    (After  Swainson.) 

the  exclusion  01  the  latter,  among  tlie  *• 

Corvidai,  and  even  placed  among  the  normal  Corvinx.  The  need 
of  exercising  reserve  on  this  matter  has  been  before  stated  (Crow, 
p.  116);  but  the  number  of  ornithologists  who  think  that  these 
two  genera  should  be  placed  in  diff"erent  Families  must  be  small. 

extreme  to  the  other  can  be  found.  The  differences  when  compared  with  those 
observable  in  other  animals  are,  as  a  whole,  too  slight  to  justify  the  epithet 
"polymorphic"  to  L.  excuhitor  as  a  species  ;  but  enough  has  been  said  to  shew 
that  it  indicates  a  tendency  in  that  direction. 


846 


SHUFFLE-  WING— SISKIN 


The  view  taken  by  the  Late  Prof.  Parkei*  seems  to  be  the  most 
reasonable :  these  genera  —  doubtless  with  others  and  most  of 
them  Australian — are  morphologically  inferior  to  the  true  Coi'vidx, 
and  perhaps  deserve  some  such  designation  as  that  of  "  Noto- 
Coracomor2)ha! "  suggested  by  him  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  ix.  p.  327).^ 
At  the  same  time  their  relationship  to  the  Laniidai  appears  to  be 
evident,  and  they  may  perhaps  be  best  regarded  as  the  less-altered 
descendants  of  an  old  type,  whence  both  the  true  Crows  and  the 
true  Shrikes  have  sprung,  each  to  develop  into  higher  morphological 


COLLYBIOCINCLA. 


EURYCEPHALUS. 

(After  Swainson.) 


Tephrodornis. 


rank,  and  by  the  way  to  throw  out  numerous  other  branches.  As 
to  the  ViREOS  it  would  seem  almost  certain  that  they  have  little 
or  no  connexion  with  the  Laniidx  ;  but  on  the  other  hand  no 
inconsiderable  number  of  forms,  which  some  recent  systematists 
have  regarded  as  a  Family,  Prionopidx,  appear  to  be  hardly  separable 
from  the  Shrikes,  and  among  them  Collyriocinda,  Eurycephalus  and 
Tejjhrodornis  here  figured. 

SHUFFLE-WING,  an  appropriate  name  for  the  Hedge-SPARROW, 
from  its  "peculiar  shake  of  the  wing"  (Knapp,  Journ.  Nat.  jx  151). 

SILVER-EYE,  the  name  given  in  New  Zealand  to  the  species 
of  ZosTEROPS  (yZ.  lateralis)  which  Avas  first  recognized  there  in  1856 
(Buller,  Essay  on  Orn.  Neio  Zeal.  1865,  p.  9). 

SINCIPUT,  the  fore  part  of  the  head  to  the  crown,  as  opposed 
to  OCCIPUT  (p.  649). 

SISKIN  (Dan.  Sidsken ;  Germ.  Zeisig  and  Zeising),  long  known 
in  England  as  a  cage-bird,  since,  in  1544,  Turner  mentioned  it  in 
that  character  under  this  name,-  and  said  that  he  had  only  once 
met  with  it  at  large — the  Fringilla  sjnnus  of  Linnaeus,  and  Carduelis 
spinus  of  many  modern  Avriters.^    In  some  of  its  structural  characters 

'"  By  an  oversight  {e.r/.  p.  403)  this  group  Avas  designated  "  Austru-Coraces" 
— the  term  by  whidi  Prof.  Parker  often  s]»oke  of  it,  though  "  Austro-corvines  " 
{Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  x.  p.  252)  is  his  nearest  approach  to  it  in  print  that  I  can  find. 
In  the  earlier  passage  cited  in  the  text  his  expression  is  as  above  given. 

-  It  is  also  called  by  bird-fanciers  "  Abadavine  "  or  "  Abeudua'INE  "  (jiage  1). 

^  Those  who  would  separate  it  from  Carduelis  should  use  the  name  Spinus, 
not,  as  commonly,  Chrysomiiris,  and  then  our  bird  becomes  S.  viridis. 


SISKIN  847 


it  is  most  nearly  allied  to  the  Goldfinch,  and  both  are  often  placed 
in  the  same  genus  by  systematists ;  but  in  its  stjde  of  coloration, 
and  still  more  in  its  habits,  it  resembles  the  Redpolls,  though 
without  their  slender  figure,  being  indeed  rather  short  and  stout  of 
build.  Yet  it  hardly  yields  to  them  in  activit}^  or  in  the  grace  of 
its  actions,  as  it  seeks  its  food  from  the  catkins  of  the  alder  or  birch, 
regardless  of  the  attitude  it  assumes  while  so  doing.  Of  an  olive- 
green  above,  deeply  tinted  in  some  parts  with  black  and  in  others 
lightened  by  yellow,  and  beneath  of  a  yellowish-white  again  marked 
with  black,  the  male  of  this  species  has  at  least  a  becoming  if  not  a 
brilliant  garb,  and  possesses  a  song  that  is  not  unmelodious,  though 
the  resemblance  of  some  of  its  notes  to  the  running-down  of  a  piece 
of  clockwork  is  more  remarkable  than  pleasing.  The  hen  is  still 
more  soberly  attired ;  but  it  is  perhaps  the  Siskin's  disposition  to 
familiarity  that  makes  it  so  favourite  a  captive,  and,  though  as  a 
cage-bird  it  is  not  ordinarily  long-lived,  it  readily  adapts  itself  to 
the  loss  of  liberty.  Moreover,  if  anything  like  the  needful  accom- 
modation be  afforded,  it  will  build  a  nest  and  therein  lay  its  eggs, 
but  it  rarely  succeeds  in  bringing  up  its  young  in  confinement.  As 
a  wild  bird  it  breeds  constantly,  though  locally,  throughout  the 
greater  part  of  Scotland,  and  has  frequently  done  so  in  England, 
but  more  rarely  in  Ireland.  The  greater  portion,  however,  of  the 
numerous  bands  which  visit  the  British  Islands  in  autumn  and 
winter  doubtless  come  from  the  Continent — perhaps  even  from  far 
to  the  eastward,  since  its  range  stretches  across  Asia  to  Japan,  in 
which  country  it  is  as  favourite  a  cage-bird  as  with  us.  The  nest 
of  the  Siskin  is  very  like  that  of  the  Goldfinch,  but  seldom  so  neatly 
built ;  the  eggs,  except  in  their  smaller  size,  much  resemble  those 
of  the  Greenfinch. 

A  larger  and  more  brightly  coloured  species,  C.  spinoidcs,  inhabits 
the  Himalayas,  and  another,  C.  tibetana,  is  found  in  Sikhim  ;  but  the 
Siskin  has  many  more  relatives  belonging  to  the  New  World,  and 
in  them  serious  modifications  of  structure,  especially  in  the  form  of 
the  bill,  occur.  Some  of  these  relatives  lead  almost  insensibly  to 
the  Greenfinch  and  its  allies,  others  to  the  Goldfinch,  the  Eedpolls 
and  so  on.  Thus  the  Siskin  perhaps  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
less  modified  descendants  of  a  parent  stock  whence  such  forms  as 
those  just  mentioned  have  sprung.  Its  striated  plumage  also 
favours  this  view,  as  an  evidence  of  permanent  immaturity  or 
generalization  of  form,  since  striped  feathers  are  so  often  the  earliest 
clothing  of  many  of  these  birds,  which  only  get  rid  of  them  at  their 
first  moult.  On  this  theory  the  Yellowbird  or  North-American 
"  Goldfinch,"  C.  tristis,  would  seem,  with  its  immediate  allies,  to 
rank  among  the  highest  forms  of  the  group,  and  the  Pine-Goldfinch, 
C.  pinus,  of  the  same  country,  to  be  one  of  the  lowest, — the  cock  of 
the   former   being  generally  of  a  bright  jonquil   hue,  with   black 


848  SKART— SKELETON 

crown,  tail  and  wings — the  last  conspicuously  barred  with  white, 
while  neither  hens  nor  young  exhibit  any  striations.  On  the  other 
hand,  neither  sex  of  the  latter  at  any  age  puts  off  its  striped  garb — 
the  mark,  it  may  be  pretty  safely  asserted,  of  an  inferior  stage  of 
development.  Tlie  remaining  species  of  the  group,  mostly  South- 
American,  do  not  seem  here  to  need  particular  notice. 

SKAET,  see  Scarf  and  Scart  (p.  815). 

SKEEL-DUCK,  SKEEL-GOOSE,  SKEELING  and  SKELDER 
(see  Shelder),  local  names  for  the  Sheld -DRAKE,  the  last  also 
applied  to  the  Oyster-catcher. 

SKELETON,  the  bony  framework  of  a  Bird  or  other  vertebrate 
animal  which,  from  the  ease  with  which  it  can  be  freed  from  the 
more  perishable  soft  parts  of  the  body  and  durably  preserved,  has 
long  attained  a  pre-eminent  place  in  anatomical  study.  This  pre- 
eminence is  still  further  justified  not  only  from  the  numerosity  of 
the  bones  composing  the  skeleton — the  very  number  alone  affording 
great  amplitude  of  differential  variability — but  because  each  indi- 
vidual bone  is  modelled  by  its  neighbouring  soft  parts,  and  notably 
by  the  muscles,  so  that  its  shape  reflects  (so  to  speak)  important 
features  of  the  various  organic  systems  (page  604).  Most  bones, 
either  in  their  shape  generally,  or  from  the  processes,  tuberosities, 
crests  or  foramina  they  exhibit,  are  so  characteristic  that  it  is 
frequently  possible  to  determine  not  only  the  Family  but  even  the 
genus  or  species  of  Bird  to  which  they  belong.  Unfortunately  it 
often  happens  that  the  characters  selected  for  taxonomic  purposes 
are  those  which  are  the  easiest  to  describe  rather  than  those  which 
are  the  most  important.  For  convenience  of  treatment  the  Skeleton 
may  be  regarded  as  made  up  of  three  chief  portions — the  Head,  the 
Trunk  and  the  Limbs.  Frequently  a  distinction  is  made  between 
the  Axial  and  the  Appendicular  Skeleton  —  the  former  being 
restricted  to  the  Vertebral  Column  and  the  Cranium  proper,  while 
the  latter  comprises  the  RiBS,  Breastbone  (Sternum),  Limbs  and 
their  arches,  the  Hyoid  apparatus  and  the  Jaws. 

The  Vertebral  Column  has  for  its  chief  function  the  support 
of  the  Head  and  Limbs,  as  well  as  the  protection  of  the  Spinal 
Cord,  the  Vertebrae  being  its  constituent  units.  These  last  are 
distinguished,  according  to  the  several  regions  of  the  trunk,  as 
Cervical,  Dorsal,  Sacral  or  Pelvic,  and  Caudal,  and  may  be  defined 
as  follows  : — 

I.  Cervical  Vertebrse  are  all  those  that  lie  between  the  skull 
and  the  first  vertebra  which  is  connected  with  the  sternum  by  a 
pair  of  complete  ribs ;  but  they  may  be  subdivided  into 

(a)  Cervical  Vertebra?,  in  the  strict  sense  - —  either  without 
rudimentary  ribs,  as  the  Atlas,  or  having  rudimentary  ribs  which 
are  fused  with  the  vertebra ;  and 


SKELETON 


849 


(6)  Cervico-dorsal  Vertebrae,  with  movable  ribs  which  do  not 
reacli  the  sternum.  Their  number  may  vary  from  1  to  5,  often 
individually  and  then  in  smaller  limits. 

II.  Dmsal  Vertehrx  begin  at  the  first  that  is  connected  with  the 
sternum  by  a  pair  of  complete  ribs,  and  end  at  the  last  that  is  not 
fused  with  the  ilium. 

III.  Pelvic  Vertehrse  are  all  those  that  are  fused  with  the  iliac 
portion  of  the  PELVIS,  some  of  the  anterior  of  them  frequently 
bearing  long  and  often  complete  and  movable  ribs,  occasionally 
reaching  the  sternum.  Hence  it  follows  that  "  Thoracic  "  Vertebrse, 
or  those  which  are  connected  with  the  sternum,  are  not  neces- 
sarily Dorsal  Vertebrae,  and  therefore  unless  clear  definitions  are 
strictly  adopted,  a  promiscuous  application  of  those  terms  will  lead 
to  much  confusion.  This  remark  applies  with  still  greater  force  to 
the  terms  "  dorso-lumbar  "  and  "  lumbar  "  Vertebrse,  which  have 
a  well-defined  meaning  in  Mammals  and  in  most  Reptiles  ;  but  are 
absolutely  inapplicable  to  Birds,  as  will  presently  be  seen  (page  855).^ 

IV.  Caudal  Vertehrx,  those  following  the  last,  and  not  connected 
with  the  ilium. 

A  typical  Bird's  vertebra  consists  of  the  centrum,  an  arch  and 
two  ribs.  Roughly  speaking,  the  arch  encloses  the  spinal  cord,  and 
frequently  extends  dorsally  into  a  spinous  process,  the  size  and 
position  of  which  vary  considerably  in  the  dift'erent  regions  of  the 
vertebral  column.  The  arch  also  sends  out  a  pair  of  anterior  and 
a  pair  of  posterior  oblique  processes  (commonly  called  praizyga- 
pophyses  and  postzygapophyses),  as  well  as  a  right  and  a  left  trans- 
verse process.  The  oblique  processes  terminate  in  facets,  which 
articulate  with  those  of  the  adjoining  vertebra,  so  that  the  facets  of 
the  prsezygapophyses  look  upwards  and  forwards  and  are  overlapped 
by  those  of  the  postzygapophyses  of  the  vertebra  next  in  front. 
When  the  vertebrse  ax-e  free  this  rule  is  absolute,  except  in  the  case 

^  Table  shewing  the  Numerical  Diversity  of  the  several 
Vertebral  Regions  in  some  forms  of  Birds. 


3 

1 

H 

'13 

1 

2  =^ 

"d 

CO 

> 

>  u 

2 

> 

'>  2 

'P 

u 

M 

M  0 

0 

i^ 

fc.  0 

t4 

0 

V 

"■i 

0 

J5 

3 

S^n 

0 

Xi 

" 

0^ 

« 

EH 

0 

0^ 

a 

&H 

Apteryx 

16 

1,2 

7,8 

4 

Treron  olax . 

15 

2 

3 

3 

Dromseus     . 

20,21 

2-4 

5-7 

5 

Dididaj 

15 

2 

3 

4 

Struthio 

20 

2,3 

5 

5 

Falconidse    . 

14 

2,3 

4,  5 

6,  7 

Anser  cinereus     . 

18 

2 

4 

7,8 

Striges 

14 

1,2 

5 

4,  5 

Cygiius  olor 

23 

2 

4,5 

8 

Psittaci 

13,14 

2,3 

4,  5 

5,  6 

Sula      . 

17 

1 

3 

4,5 

Coccyges 

14,15 

2,3 

4,  5 

4,5 

Ciconia 

ir 

2 

4,5 

5 

Cypselidse    . 

13,14 

1.  2 

3,  4 

4,5 

Phojnicopterus    . 

18,19 

2 

4,  5 

5,6 

Caprimulgidai 

13,14 

1,2 

3,4 

4,5 

Larus  . 

15 

2 

5 

6,  7 

Trochili 

14 

2 

4 

5 

Alca     . 

15 

2 

6-8 

6,7 

Buceros 

14 

2,3 

4 

4,  5 

Limicolae  (most) . 

15 

2 

5,6 

6 

Upupa . 

14 

2,3 

4 

4,5 

Otis      . 

16 

2 

5 

5 

Pici      . 

14 

3 

5 

6 

Eallidse 

15 

1 

7,8 

5-7 

Eurylaemus . 

15 

3 

4,5 

4 

Gallus  . 

16 

2 

4 

4 

Pitta    . 

15 

3 

4,  5 

4 

Columba  livia      . 

It 

2 

44 

Passeres  (most)  . 

14 

2,  3 

5 

5 

54 


850  SKELETON 

of  the  Atlas  to  be  mentioned  presently,  and  the  position  of  the  facets 
at  once  distinguishes  the  anterior  from  the  posterior  end  of  the  bone. 
The  transverse  processes  articulate  with  the  tuherculum  of  the  corre- 
sponding rib,  while  the  capitidum  of  the  latter  does  the  like  with  a 
knob  or  facet  on  the  side  of  the  anterior  portion  of  the  centrum. 
When  the  vertebrae  are  free  the  centrum  of  each  articulates  with 
that  of  those  next  to  it  by  complicated  joints,  exhibiting  four  kinds 
of  configuration,  in  accordance  with  which  the  vertebra  are  distin- 
guished as — 

1.  Heterocoelous,  or  those  which  have  saddle -shaped  articular 
facets.  In  them  the  anterior  surface  is  concave  in  a  transverse, 
but  convex  in  a  vertical,  direction,  while  the  posterior  surface 
shews  the  condition  reversed.  When  looked  at  from  the  ventral 
side  the  joints  appear  to  be  "  procoelous,"  but  "  opisthocoelous " 
when  seen  from  the  side.  This  heterocoelous  formation  is  the  most 
perfect  one  attained  by  the  vertebral  column,  and  is  typical  of,  and 
restricted  to.  Birds.  There  are  however  a  few  exceptional  cases 
in  which  the  joints  are  not  heterocoelous. 

2.  Amphicodous,  or  those  in  which  each  end  of  the  vertebra  is 
concave.  This  is  the  lowest  condition,  and  is  rapidly  passed 
through  by  recent  Birds  in  the  embryonic  stage  ;  but  Archseopteryx 
seems  to  have  had  biconcave  vertebrse  of  this  kind,  and  the  dorsal 
and  cervico-dorsal  vertebrse  of  Ichthyornis  were  undoubtedly  thus, 
while  the  few  well-preserved  cervicals  of  the  latter  indicate  transi- 
tional steps  towards  the  heterocoelous  condition.  Among  recent 
Birds  the  caudal  vertebrse  alone  are  occasionally  more  or  less  amphi- 
coelous,  but  this  may  not  be  a  primitive  feature. 

3.  Procoelous,  or  concave  in  front — a  condition  found  only  in  the 
Atlas. 

4.  Opisthocoelous,  or  concave  behind,  so  as  to  receive  a  corre- 
sponding knob  on  the  anterior  face  of  the  following  vertebra, 
instances  of  which  occur  in  the  thoracic  region  of  the  Sphenisci,  and, 
though  in  a  much  less  degree,  in  various  Steganopodes,  Lari,  Limicoix, 
PsiUaci  and  Steatornis. 

The  Procoelous  and  Opisthocoelous  types  are  not  to  be  regarded 
as  fundamentally  important,  as  they  are  not  primary  features,  but 
produced  by  adaptation  to  functional  requirements.  Neither  of  them 
necessarily  indicates  a  Reptilian  descent  for  Birds,  nor  can  their 
modifications  be  used  as  valid  characters  in  determining  the  affinities 
of  various  groups  of  the  Class.  The  prevalent  type  among  Reptiles 
is  the  Procoelous,  while  Opisthocoelous  vertebrae  are  common  among 
Mammals. 

The  articulations  of  the  vertebrte  are  further  complicated  by 
the  presence  of  a  ring  or  pad  of  fibrous  or  cartilaginous  tissue 
interposed  between  the  centrum  of  each  vertebra  and  of  that  next 
to  it.      These  pads  vary  much  ;    when  fully  developed   they   are 


SKELETON  851 

thickest  on  the  ventral  side,  becoming  thinner  dorsally  and  enclosing 
a  central  opening,  through  which  passes  the  ligamentum  suspenswium 
— being  the  remnant  of  the  notochord  (see  page  205)  and  its  sheath 
— connecting  the  several  vertebrae  together.  In  well-macerated  pre- 
parations its  former  existence  is  indicated  by  a  pinhole-like  pit 
exactly  in  the  middle  of  the  articular  surface.  The  pad  is  frequently 
incomplete  dorsally,  and  then  being  half-moon  shaped,  has  obtained 
the  name  of  meniscus,  by  which  it  is  often  known.  It  is  morpho- 
logically the  homologue  of  the  pair  of  basiventral  elements,  which  by 
their  lateral  extension  give  origin  to  the  corresponding  ribs.  As  in 
Birds,  however,  the  ribs  are  removed  backward  on  the  centrum,  and, 
attached  also  by  the  tubercle  to  the  dorsilateral  process  of  the  dorsal 
arch,  these  basiventrals  are  relieved,  so  to  speak,  of  their  original 
function,  and  are  reduced  to  intervertebral  pads.  This  explains 
why  these  pads  fuse  with  the  anterior  end  of  the  vertebra  to  which 
they  belong,  forming  there  in  fresh  or  imperfectly  macerated  skeletons 
a  fibrous  or  cartilaginous  non-ossified  covering.  Often,  however, 
especially  when  the  flexibility  of  the  vertebral  column  is  reduced  or 
lost,  the  pads  fuse  with  both  the  apposed  surfaces  of  the  adjoining 
vertebrae  and  then  resemble  the  annuhis  fibrosus  of  the  Mammalian 
vertebra.  Lastly,  when  as  in  the  sacrum  the  vertebrae  are  wholly 
ossified  together,  all  trace  of  the  intervertebral  disks  is  lost. 

Besides  these  primary  ligaments,  there  is  a  considerable  number 
of  additional  bands  (probably  produced  by  the  muscles  which  move 
the  vertebral  column)  connecting  the  various  bony  processes  of 
successive  vertebrae  with  each  other.  It  is  chiefly  owing  to  them 
that  Birds  can  retain  the  neck  in  the  well-known  S-shaped  curve 
without  muscular  exertion. 

In  this  place  it  may  be  more  useful  to  treat  specially  the  several 
vertebrae  in  succession  than  to  enter  further  upon  generalities 
respecting  them. 

The  First  Cervical,  called,  as  in  other  Classes  of  Vertebrates,  the 
Atlas — since  it  bears  that  important  portion  the  Head — is  the  only 
one  that  retains  very  primitive  features.  It  consists  of  three 
elements,  each  ossifying  from  its  own  centre.  These  are  a  pair  of 
lateral  pieces  joining  above  the  spinal  cord  to  form  a  simple  neural 
arch,  without  any  spinous  process,  and  a  single  ventral  piece, 
morphologically  equivalent  to  the  pair  of  basiventral  elements. 
The  Atlas  has  no  ribs,  and  with  rare  exceptions  has  no  transverse 
foramina  for  the  passage  of  vertebral  arteries.  The  unpaired 
median  piece  is  incompletely  ossified,  the  rest  of  it  standing  up  as  a 
halfmoon-shaped  cartilage,  called  the  ligamentum  transversum  atlantis. 
It  is  really  the  first  intervertebral  meniscus  clinging  round  the 
centrum  of  the  Atlas,  and  fused  with  the  two  portions  of  the 
neural  arch.  These  last  display  on  their  anterior  surface  a  cup- 
shaped  cavity  which  receives  the  occipital  condyle  of  the  head. 


852 


SKELETON 


The  Second  Cervical,  known  as  the  Axis  or  Epistropheus,  as  being 
the  pivot  on  which  the  Atlas  and  Head  turn,  is  composed  of  seven 
separate  elements,  the  first  of  which  is  really  the  centrum  of  the 
Atlas,  but  fused  with  the  second,  the  centrum  of  the  Axis,  so  as  to 
form  the  "  odontoid  process."  The  thinl  and  fourth  are  the  pair  of 
pieces  which  form  the  neural  arcli,  and  generally  bear  a  prominent 
spinous  process.  The  fifth  and  sixth  are  a  pair  of  rib-elements,  each 
of  which  is  perforated  by  a  transverse  arterial  foramen,  and  fuses  with 
the  antero-lateral  portion  of  the  centrum  and  neural  arch.  The 
seventh  element  is  a  single  median  piece  wedged  ventrally  between 
the  anterior  end  of  the  axial  centrum  and  the  Odontoid  process, 
and  is  really  equivalent  to  the  second  pair  of  basiventral  elements, 
having  formed  in  the  embryo  the  intervertebral  pad  connecting  the 
Odontoid  with  the  body  of  the  Axis,  which  last  frequently  carries  on 
its  ventral  side  a  single  hypapophysis.     The  neural  arch  of  the  Axis 


Bx 


DiA.GRiVii  OF  First  Three  Cervical  Vertebrae  Diagram  of  Atlas  from 

FROM   THE    LEFT    SIDE.  THE  FRONT. 

C.  Centrum  ;  C.i,  Odontoid  process  ;  B.  Basiventral  element ;  B.i,  tlie  ventral  half  of  tlie  Atlas 
ring  ;  /;.o,  tlie  first  so-called  Intercentrum  ;  /-'.y,  the  meniscus  of  Vertebra  3  ;  Ch.  Chorda 
dorsaiis ;  M.  spinal  canal  ;  I.t.  Ligamentum  trausversum  ;  N.  Neural  arcli. 

possesses  a  pair  of  postzygapophyses  to  articulate  with  the  prse- 
zygapophyses  of  the  Third  Vertebra,  but  owing  to  the  reduced  con- 
dition of  the  Atlas  the  prsezygapophyses  of  the  Axis  are  insignificant 
or  aborted,  and  in  most  of  the  Bucerotidm  the  Atlas  is  fused  Avith 
the  Axis.  In  general  the  Axis,  which  owing  to  the  Odontoid 
process  is  really  the  compound  of  a  vertebra  and  a  half,  is  consider- 
ably longer  and  larger  than  any  one  of 

The  next  succeeding  Cenical  Vertehrx,  which  have  many  features- 
in  common.  Each  of  them  consists  of  a  centrum,  a  right  and  left 
basidorsal  piece,  forming  a  neural  arch  above  the  spinal  cord  and 
frequently  sending  out  a  long  single  or  short  bifurcated  spinous 
process,  a  pair  of  ribs  and  an  intervertebral  pad  ;  but  the  ribs  have 
mostly  lost  their  shaft  and  are  fused  by  their  head  and  tubercle 
with  corresponding  short  knobs  of  the  centrum  or  with  larger 
processes  of  the  neural  arch.  A  transverse  foramen  is  alwa3'^s; 
present,  and  is  a  rather  characteristic  feature.     The  centra  frequently 


SKELETON 


853 


send  out  paired  or  single  ventral  processes  (hypapophyses),  which 
are  extremely  varied  in  shape  and  size,  affording  valuable  help 
in  the  determination  of  the  bones.  When  unpaired,  these  hypa- 
pophyses either  remain  in  the  shape  of  vertical  knobs,  processes  or 
blades,^  and  serve  for  the  attachment  of  the  powerfully -developed 
flexor  muscles  of  the  neck,  especially  the  m.  longus  colli  anticus. 
Sometimes,  as  in  certain  vertebrje  of  Falamedex(ficR¥AM'KFy.)and  many 
Fasscres,  they  have  the  shape  of  _L.     When  however  they  are  paired, 


A.  2^. 


P.Z. 


A  Cera'ical  and  a  Thoracic  Vertebra  from  the  Left. 


C.a. 


A  Cervical  Vertebra  seen  from  the  Dorsal  and  Anterior  Side. 
A.Z,.  Anterior  or  Prtezygapopliysis  ;  F.Z.  Posterior  or  Postzygapopliysis  ;  C.a.  anterior  articulat- 
ing surface  of  tlie  centrum  ;  C'o^).  articular  surface  for  capitulum  of  rib ;  C.p.  posterior 
articulating  sui-face  of  the  centrum  ;  F.t.  Foramen  transversarium  ;  H.  Hyi)apopliysis  ;  M. 
spinal  canal ;  Sp.  dorsal  spinous  process  ;  Th.  articular  surface  for  the  capitulum. 

and  in  such  cases  restricted  to  the  ends  of  the  centra,  they  are 
utilized  for  the  better  protection  of  the  deep  carotids  (page  76),  as 
is  especially  shewn  b}^  the  Sicganopodes,  Ardeklx  (excl.  Scopus),  most 
Ciconiidx  and   some  Pici  which  possess  completely  closed  osseous 

^  They  form  vertical  blades  on  some  of  the  lower  cervicals  of  Sphenisci,  Cora- 
ciidas,  Alcedinidm,  Meropidx,  Todidse,  Cypscli,  Trogones,  Galbulidse,  Bucconidae, 
Pici,  Capitonidx  and  Passeres. 


8S4  SKELETON 


canals  for  their  arteries.  Movable  ribs  are  borne  by  one  or  more  of 
the  lower  Cervical  Vertebrae,  thus  forming  a  gradual  ti'ansition  to 

Tlie  Dorsal  Vertebrae,  which  are  composed  of  the  same  elements, 
but  are  marked  by  the  high  longitudinal  crest  into  which  their 
spinous  process  rises,  while  each  of  the  dorsilateral  processes  of  the 
neural  arch  (which  are  mostly  large)  possesses  an  articular  facet  for 
the  tubercle  of  the  rib,  and  a  short  ventrilateral  knob  near  the 
anterior  end  of  the  centrum  has  a  similar  facet  for  the  attachment 
of  the  head  of  the  rib.  Between  the  head  and  the  tubercle  is  a 
large  foramen,  the  serial  homologue  of  the/,  transversarium,  protecting 
a  continuation  of  the  deep  lateral  strand  of  the  Sympathetic  Nervous 
System  (page  626).  Dorsal  vertebrae  frequently  exhibit  a  ventral 
outgrowth  of  the  centrum,  very  variable  in  shape  and  extent. 
These  outgrowths  {Hypapophyses)  may  be  simple  vertical  blades,  or 
JL-shaped,  or  paired  knobs — such  modifications  often  occurring  in 
the  same  bird — and  they  serve  for  the  attachment  of  the  thoracic 
origin  of  the  m.  longus  colli  anticus,  reaching  their  greatest  develop- 
ment in  Sphenisci  and  the  Colymhidse.  In  many  birds  the  thoracic 
vertebrae  shew  a  tendency  to  more  rigid  junction,  which  is  often 
effected  in  old  individuals  by  the  ossification  of  the  various  ligaments 
connecting  the  processes  of  adjoining  vertebrae,  or  even  by  the 
ossification  of  the  attached  tendons  of  the  spinal  muscles.  In  other 
cases  consolidation  is  carried  further  by  the  co-ossification  not  only 
of  the  centra  but  also  of  the  spinous,  tranverse  and  zygapophysial 
processes  of  adjoining  vertebrae,  so  that  in  extreme  cases  the  wiiole 
dorsal  region  may  become  one  continuous  mass  of  bone.  The 
number  of  such  synosteotically-connected  vertebrae  varies  consider- 
ably not  only  in  closely-allied  Families,  genera  and  species,  but 
even  in  individuals.  It  is  however  a  character  that  Avith  care  will 
yield  good  taxonomic  results,  and  thus  may  be  depended  upon  as  a 
common  feature  in  many  Ciconix,  Gruidx,  Eallidee  and  Podicipedidae. 
In  most  Columhse  the  15th,  16th  and  17th  vertebrae,  being  gener- 
ally the  three  middle  thoracics,  are  consolidated.  In  Grypturi  and 
most  Gallinx,  in  Phoenicopiterus  and  Pterodes  the  last  cervical  and 
the  first  3  or  4  thoracics  coalesce,  and  in  many  Accipitres  the  first 
4  thoracics. 

The  Sacral  Ver'tebrse  in  the  widest  sense  are  all  those  that  are 
overlaid  by  and  partly  fused  with  the  iliac  bones  (c/.  ilium,  pelvis) 
which  are  originally  attached  to  not  more  than  two  of  them  situated 
just  behind  the  Acetabulum,  and  are  the  primitive  or  true  Sacrals. 
The  iliac  bones,  however,  during  development  extend  considerably 
both  forwards  and  backwards,  gradually  coming  into  contact  with  a 
variable  number  of  others,  which  thus  become  prsesacral  or  post- 
sacral  vertebrae,  while  all  those  that  are  not  reached  by  the  anterior 
extension  of  the  ilia  remain  as  Dorsals.  Thus  it  follows  that  no 
absolute    line   of    demarcation  can    be    drawn  in  regard  to  these 


SKELETON  855 

vertebrae,  their  definition  being  rather  practical,  and  applicable  to 
particular  skeletons,  than  of  general  morphological  value. 

It  has  been  already  pointed  out  (p.  849)  that  dorsal  and  thoracic 
vertebrae  are  not  necessarily  identical,  and  in  like  manner  the  most 
anterior  prsesacrals  may  bear  complete  ribs  and  thus  become  thoracic 
also,  or  they  may  bear  movable  ribs  which,  though  possessing  dorsal 
and  ventral  portions,  do  not  reach  the  sternum,  and  are  therefore 
floating  or  false  ribs,  or  again  ribs  reduced  to  short  dorsal  pieces 
which  may  or  may  not  fuse  with  the  superimposed  iliac  bones.  As 
a  rule  the  centrum  and  the  spinous  process  of  all  sacral  vertebrae 
are  ossified  into  one  continuous  mass. 

The  most  important  features  of  the  Sacrum  are  best  seen  on  a 
ventral  view  and  may  be  thus  grouped  : — 

(1)  The,  anterior  or  crural  pmiion  composed  of  vertebrae  connected 
with  the  ilium  by  strong  dorsilateral  and  ventrilateral  processes. 
The  first  of  these  vertebrae  often  bears  a  complete  thoracic  rib,  and 
is  followed  by  others  beai'ing  aborted  ribs  having  a  tendency  to  lose 
their  "head"  and  "neck,"  while  the  shaft  fuses  with  the  ventral 
surface  of  the  iliac  expansions.  Between  the  transverse  processes 
of  the  successive  vertebrae  are  foramina  through  which  pass  the 
spinal  nerves  forming  the  crural  plexus. 

(2)  The  second  or  ischiadic  portion,  composed  of  vertebrae  which 
have  neither  ribs  nor  ventrilateral  processes,  but  only  dorsilateral, 
and  these  last  reduced  to  thin  transverse  blades  extending  obliquely, 
or  sometimes  almost  vertically,  upwards,  and  ultimately  reaching  the 
dorsal  median  rim  of  the  iliac  bones.  The  safest  guide  to  the  number 
of  vertebrae  composing  this  portion  is  afforded  by  the  number  of  fora- 
mina through  which  pass  the  nerves  forming  the  ischiadic  plexus. 
In  most  Birds  the  number  is  from  3  to  5.  Owing  to  the  absence  of 
ribs  and  ventrilateral  processes,  the  space  between  the  fused  centra 
of  the  vertebrae  and  the  right  and  left  iliac  bones  constitutes  a  large 
hollow  or  fovea  wherein  is  imbedded  part  of  the  KIDNEYS. 

(3)  The  third  portion  is  connected  with  the  dorsimedian  rim  of 
each  ilium  by  transverse  dorsiventral  and  ventrilateral  bony  bridges. 
The  first  two  vertebrae  of  this  portion  are  the  primitive  or  true 
Sacrals  before  mentioned,  and  they  lie  just  behind  a  line  which 
might  be  drawn  from  one  acetabulum  to  the  other.  Their  lateri- 
ventral  buttresses  are  not  outgrowths  of  the  centra,  but  are  ribs, 
though  their  true  nature  is  only  revealed  in  embryos  or  very  young 
birds. 

(4)  The  postsacral  portion  consists  of  vertebrae  which  in  many 
birds,  Pavo,  for  example,  behave  partly  as  do  the  primitive  sacrals, 
and  partly  come  by  degrees  to  resemble  the  caudals.  Dorsilateral 
and  ventrilateral  processes  are  always  present,  and,  fusing  with  each 
other,  abolish  the  transverse  foramen,  while  they  abut  upon  the 
dorsal  rim  of  the  postacetabular  part  of  the  ilia.     The  first  post- 


856  SKELETON 

sacral  not  unfrequently  retains  a  pair  of  rib-elements  which  either 
abort  or  form  a  third  primary  sacral  vertebra,  while  on  the  other 
hand  only  one  primary  sacral  may  exist.  The  general  tendency  of 
modern  Birds  seems  to  be  towards  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
postsacrals  at  the  expense  of  the  prsesacrals,  and  especially  of  those 
of  the  ischiadic  portion  (2). 

So  far  then  the  general  plan  of  the  Sacrum  is  easily  understood, 
but  since  it  is  composed  of  numerous  vertebrae  and  those  of  each  of 
its  constituent  portions  are  variable  in  number,  beside  shewing 
many  modifications  in  the  development,  fusion  or  suppression  of 
their  processes,  it  follows  that  the  whole  Sacrum  of  not  only  every 
Family  but  even  genus  and  almost  species  of  Bird  may  have  its 
own  characteristic  points.  These  however  are  difficult  to  describe, 
and  their  morphological  meaning  is  still  more  difficult  to  recognize. 
Thus  this  part  of  the  Skeleton  has  hitherto  escaped  the  pursuit 
of  the  claptrap  hunter  of  taxonomic  formulae.  The  few  illustrations 
here  introduced  will  serve  to  indicate  some  of  the  differences. 

The  Caudal  Vertehrse  have  strong  transverse  processes,  and  the 
spinous  process  often  shews  a  slight  bifurcation  at  the  end.  Their 
hypapophyses,  whether  double  or  single,  are  mostly  restricted  to 
the  last  which  are  free  and  to  the  first  of  those  which  fuse  to  form 
the  PYGOSTYLE  (page  753).  They  articulate  almost  entirely  by  the 
centrum,  Avhich  has  slightly  heterocoelous  or  concave  facets,  with  the 
interposition  of  a  fibrocartilaginous  disk,  the  ventral  side  of  which 
frequently  displays  in  embryos,  but  rarely  in  the  adult,  a  median 
osseous  nodule,  the  last  remnant  of  the  basiventral  elements  com- 
monly called  the  intercentrum. 

The  Pectoral  Arch,  or  Shoulder-Girdle  as  some  term  it,  con- 
sists of  the  Sternum  and  a  pair  of  CORACOIDS  (page  104),  Scapulae 
and  Clavicles  (page  89),  which  last  three  meet  and  form  the /oro- 
men  triosseum,  through  which  passes  the  tendon  of  the  m.  supracora- 
coideus  (pages  605,  606)  to  the  tuberculum  superius  of  the  Humerus 
(pages  439,  440).  The  configuration  of  the  various  processes  of  these 
bones  is  manifold,  and  of  great  taxonomic  importance,  as  has  been 
exhaustively  shewn  by  Prof.  Fiirbringer,  in  whose  Untersuchungen, 
znr  Morphologic  und  Systematik  der  Vogel  about  one  hundred  figures 
of  this  articulation  in  different  Birds  are  given. 

The  Coracoid  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  bones  of  the 
ornithic  Skeleton.  At  its  upper  end  is  the  Acrocoracoidal  pro- 
cess, on  the  inner  surface  of  which  the  proximal  portion  of  the 
clavicle  nearly  always  rests  ;  but  more  important  is  the  Praecora- 
coidal  process,  of  variable  size  and  shape,  arising  from  the  inner 
surface  of  the  "  neck  "  of  the  bone,  and  the  remnant  of  an  originally 
independent  element,  the  Praecoracoid — a  bone  which  is  almost 
typically   complete,   although  soon   fused   at   either   end  with   the 


SKELETON 


857 


Bubo  ignavus. 


Clav. 

CORVDS   CORAX. 


Coracoid,  in  the  Ostrich  alone  of  Birds.  Tiiis  prsecoracoidal  pro- 
cess is  of  some  taxonomic  value,^  and  near  its  base  is  either  a  notch 
or  a  small  foramen  for  the  passage  of  the  nervus  supracoracoideus 
which  supplies  the  muscle  of  the  same  name,  and  indicates  the 
boundary  between  Coracoid  and  Prsecoracoid.  A  strong  ligament, 
sometimes       partly  ^^,„ 

ossified,    frequently 

extends    along    the  ^    ^     ^Acd. 

inner  margin  of  both 
coracoid  and  prse- 
coracoid  to  the  ros- 
trum of  the  sternum. 
In  most  Birds  the 
riirht  and  left  Cora- 
coids  do  not  touch 
each  other,  but  in 
some  groups  they 
meet,  as  in  certain 
Tubinares,  Cathar- 
tidx,  some  Falcon- 
idce,  Larldx,  Opistho- 
cornus,  some  Gallhm,  Bucerotidx,  Upupa  and  Tnxjonidx,  while  in  some 
other  groups  one  overlaps  the  other,  the  right  lying  ventrally  upon 
the  left,  as  Dromaius,  Icldhyornis,  Apatornis,  certain  Tulmmres,  some 
Steganopodes,  Ardeidx  and  Ciconix,  Fhrnnicopterus,  some  FalconidcC, 
some  Gallinx,  Musophaga,  Striges  and  Mcropidx.  From  the  distal 
third  part  of  the  lateral  margin  of  the  Coracoid  a  long  process  often 
projects,  overlapping  the  neighbouring  part  of  the  anterior  margin 
of  the  sternum,  examples  of  which  may  be  especially  seen  in 
Tiibiiictres  and  Pici. 

The  Scapula  or  shoulder-blade  is  more  or  less  sabre-shaped, 
usually  ending  in  a  point,  but  its  extremity  being  much  curved  in 
the  Fici.  It  extends  backward  from  the  humeral  joint  over  the  ribs, 
lying  almost  parallel  to  the  vertebral  colunni.  The  median  anterior 
knob  is  the  acromion.  In  the  Fuititai  and  Didus  the  Scapular  and 
Coracoid  are  fused,  which  might  be  regarded  as  correlative  with 
the  loss  of  flight,  were  it  not  that  the  same  fusion  is  observable  in 


(Inner  view.) 

Acd.  Acrocoracoid  ;  Acm.  Acromium  ;  Clav.  Clavicle  ; 

I\  rnrcoracoid  process  ;  ."^r.  Scapula. 


^  It  approaches  the  Acrocoracoidal  process  in  Cnemiornis,  Falco,  Asio,  Merops, 
Irrisor  and  Cuculus  ;  fusing  witli  it  and  forming  a  complete  osseous  bridge  across 
the  supracoracoid  sulcus,  in  Musophaga,  Corythaix,  Merops,  Upupa,  Buceros  and 
Alccdo  ;  while  in  Didus  and  Opisthocomus  it  fuses  with  the  Clavicle,  of  which  in 
Hesperornis  it  is  the  sole  support.  In  Dromszus  and  Casuarius  it  is  small  and 
bears  the  clavicular  remnant.  It  varies  much  in  size  and,  as  above  stated,  is 
complete  in  Struthio  only.  It  is  large,  though  without  meeting  the  Clavicle,  in 
Ichthyornis,  Sula,  Grus,  Trichoglossus  and  others  ;  but  very  small  or  absent  in 
Aptcryx,  Tinavuis,  Steganopodes,  Gallinae  and  Passeres. 


858  SKELETON 

a  very  marked  way  in  Fregata,  one  of  the  most  powerful  fliers  of  the 
world  (Frigate-bird,  pages  293,  294). 

The  Clavicles  when  united,  as  is  generally  the  case,  are  known 
as  the  FURCULA  (page  296).  Their  dorsal  extremity  may  be  vari- 
ously attached  to  the  Scapula  and  Coracoid  or  to  one  only,^  and 
here  is  a  wide  field  for  variation,  which  seems  however  constant 
enough  in  the  different  groups.  AVhen  Clavicles  do  not  fuse  at 
their  ventral  extremity,  they  are  occasionally  joined  by  semiossified 
cartilage  or  fibrous  tissue,  admitting  of  slight  motion,  as  in  Hesper- 
ornis,  Ocyclromus,  Cariama,  Didus,  Carpophaga,  many  Fsittaci  and 
Striges,  Musophagidx,  Buceros,  Alcedo,  EhampJiasfos  and  Capito ;  but 
in  by  far  the  greater  number  of  Birds  the  Clavicles  are  drawn  out 
at  their  symphysis  into  a  median  projecting  blade,  knob  or  rod,  the 
Hypodeidmm,  which  frequently  ossifies  from  a  centre  of  its  own. 
The  hypocleidium  often  touches  the  keel  of  the  Sternum,  leading  to 
a  syndesmosis  or  even  synostosis  therewith,  as  in  many  Tubinares, 
Steganopodes,  Ardese,  Ckonix,  Griddse,  Striges,  Gijpogeranus,  Cucidus  and 
Buceros.  The  peculiar  connexion  in  Opisthocomus  has  already  been 
mentioned  (HoACTZiN,  page  423).  In  a  considerable  number  of 
Birds  of  various  groups  the  Clavicles  are  more  or  less  degenerated, 
their  dorsal  portion  being  alone  retained,  wliile  the  ventral  is  repre- 
sented by  a  long  ligament  extending  to  the  keel  of  the  Sternum. 
This  condition  exists  both  in  Birds  that  fly  and  those  that  cannot, 
as  in  Dromxus,  Casuarius,  many  of  the  Psittaci — as  Stringops  and 
nearly  all  the  Platycercinse,  Capito  and,  among  the  Passeres,  Atrich- 
ornis.  In  extreme  cases  both  clavicles  are  wholly  lost,  as  in  Din- 
amis,  Apteryx,  Struthio,  Rhea  and  Mesites. 

The  Anterior  Limbs  or  Wings  are  composed  of  three  principal 
portions:  (1)  the  Humerus,  of   which  enough   has  been  already 

1  The  connexion  of  Coracoid,  Scapula  and  Clavicle  with  each  other  is  subject  to 
many  modifications,  the  chief  of  whioh  may  be  conveniently  expressed  as  follows : — 
Clavicle  connected  mth — 

(1)  Praecoracoid  process  only  : — Hcsperornis. 

(2)  Prtecoracoid  chiefly,  hardly  with  Acromion  : — Ratitm. 

(3)  Acrocoracoid  only  : — many  Alcidse,  Steganopodes,  Ardem,  Ciconiae,  Gruidee, 

VuUu7;  Gypaetus,  Cathartes,  Cypsclus. 

(4)  both   Praecoracoid   and   Acrocoracoid : — some    Lari,    Limicolee,    Gruidx, 

Rallidx,   Turnix,  Opisthocomus,  Coluvibse,  Psittaci,  Striges,   TrochiluSy 
many  PicarisB  and  FalconidsB. 

(5)  Acrocoracoid  and  Acromion — 

(a)  attached   to    the    anterior    margin    of    the   Acromion : — Sphenisd, 

Tubinares,  Grypturi,  GaUinae,  Fsittaci  and  many  others. 

(b)  reaching  further  back,  beyond  the  dorsal  margin  of  the  Acromion,  and 

even  over  the  neck  of  the  Scapula  : — Colymbus,  Podicipes,  Anseres. 

(c)  attached  to  the  inner  surface  of  the  Acromion : — Pici,  Alcedinidm, 

Meropidas,  Coraciidse,  Todidae  and  all  Passeres. 


SKELETOlSr 


859 


said  (pages  439,  440)  y  (2)  tli^  forearm,  consisting;  of  the  Radius, 
before  mentioned  (page  762)  and  Ulna  ;  and  (3)  the  Carpus 
(page  77,  78),  Metacarpus  (page  547)  and  Digits,  which  last 
three  form  the  hand.  According  to  Prof.  Gegenbaur,  the  original 
arrangement  of  the  wrist-bones  consisted  of  (a)  three  proximal  ele- 
ments— the  carpale  ulnare,  c.  intermedium,  and  c.  radiale  ;  (b)  one 
median  element ;  and  (c)  five  distal  carjjals,  each  of  which  carried  a 
metacarpal  with  a  digit.  In  Birds  these  elements  are  much  reduced 
b}'  fusion  and  suppression,  so  that  theie  are  now  only  two  free 
carpals — one,  generally  termed  the  "  radial,"  but  resulting  from  the 
fusion  of  the  c.  radiale  with  the 
c.  intermedium,  and  articulating  with 
the  distal  end  of  both  radius  and 
ulna ;  and  the  other,  the  so-called 
"  ulnar,"  which  is  really  the  centrcde 
and  idnare  combined,  and  articu- 
lates with  a  small  portion  of  the 


Common  Fowl,  Embryo  and  Adult. 
c.cl.  diiital  carpals  1-3;  H.  Humerus;  M. 


ulna  only.  The  distal  carpals  are  ^j  j/^ 
now  reduced  to  three,  the  fourth 
and  fifth  being  lost.  They  fuse  in 
the  embryo  with  the  proximal  end 
of  the  three  first  metacarpals,  and 
all  trace  of  their  originally  separate 
existence  disappears  when  the  hand 
is  completely  ossified. 

The  greatest  reduction  of  the 

carpal  bones  prevails  in  the  KatitX.     Metacarpals  1-4;  R.  Radius  ;  r.  radial  carpal; 

Setting    aside    the   Dinornithes,    of   ^- uina ;«.  ulnar  carpal, 
which  only  remnants  of  a  humerus  are  known,  Casuarius  galeafus  has 
only  one  separate  carpal,  which  is  probably  the  c.  ulnare,  while  in 
Apteryx  oiveni  and  in  Dromaius  even  this  is  suppressed. 

The  Metacarpus  is  composed  of  three  bones,  the  first,  second 
and  third  metacarpals,  while  trace  of  a  fourth  has  been  observed 
in  embryos.  The  first  of  these  is  the  shortest,  and  bears  the 
POLLEX  (page  737).  In  most  Birds  it  fuses  throughout  its  length 
with  the  intier  margin  of  the  second,  which,  as  well  as  the  third, 
is  much  longer.  The  ends  of  these  fuse,  the  proximal  first  and 
the  distal  later,  leaving  as  a  rule  a  space  between  the  shafts.  The 
second  is  by  far  the  strongest,  generally  straight,  and  bears  the 
INDEX  (page  459),  while  the  third  is  outwardly  bowed  and  much 
more  slender,  being  in  a  degenerate  condition.^  In  embryos  it 
sometimes  still  shews  two  phalanges,  but  these  are  soon  reduced 
to  one,  which,  resting  closely  against  the  proximal  phalanx  of  the 
second   digit,  occasionally   fuses   with   it.       Curiously   enough  this 

^  Of  all  Birds  Arclixopteryx  alone  is  known  to  have  had  3  free  metacarpals, 
and  3  free  digits,  with  2,  3  and  4  phalanges  respectively. 


86o 


SKELETON 


much  aborted  digit  seems  in  embryonic  Ostriches  to  bear  a  claw 
(page  89).  In  the  Sphenisci  the  pollex  is  more  or  less  completely 
fused  with  the  index,  which  latter  is  made  up  of  two  long  pha- 
langes, while  the  third  digit  consists  of  one  long  phalanx.  Casiuirius, 
Dromseus  and  Apteryx  retain  only  the  index,  the  first  and  third 
disiits  beinii;  either  lost  or  reduced  to  insi2;nificant  traces.^ 

The  Pelvic  Arch  is  the  portion  of  the  pelvis  (page  703) 
which  is  made  up  of  the  ilium  (page  458),  ischium  (page  460)  and 
OS  pubis  (page  748),  the  last  three  being  paired  bones  which  meet 
on  each  side  at  the  acetabulum  or  cup  that  receives  the  head  of  the 
FEMUR  (page  248),  coalescing  with  each  other  at  an  early  stage. 
The  ilium  may  be  conveniently  divided  into  a  praeacetabular  and 
a  postacetabular  part,  the  relative  proportions  of  which  afford  some 
useful  characters  ;  thus  in  the  Gallinai  they  are  nearly  equal,  but 


Common  Fowl,  Embryo  and  Chick. 
Ac.  Acetabulum  ;  F.ls.  Foramen  iscliiadicum  ;  Pr.p.  Processus  pectinealis. 

in  the  Accipitres  the  anterior  is  longest,  while  in  Col//mhis,  where 
most  of  the  pelvis  is  drawn  out  backward,  it  is  only  half  the  length 
of  the  posterior.  To  the  inner  surface  of  the  ilium,  and  in  most 
cases  near  its  ventral  margin,  are  attached  the  lateral  processes  of 
the  cruro-sacral  vertebrae  (page  855),  while  near  its  dorsal  rim  is 
attached  all  the  rest  of  the  sacrum.  The  outer  surface  of  the 
praeacetabular  portion  forms  a  broad  vertical  blade  with  a  more  or 
less  deep  concavity  which  serves  for  the  origin  of  the  external 
iliac  muscles  (often  mistakenly  called  glutaeal).  In  rare  cases  the 
right  and  left  pr?eacetabular  portions  fuse  with  each  other  along 
their  dorsal  edge  above  the  spinous  processes  of  the  neighbour- 
ing vertebrae  and  enclose  a  canal  on  each  side.      In  front  of  the 

^  As  an  appendix  to  the  account  of  tliis  part  of  the  Skeleton,  mention  should 
here  be  made  of  the  Sesamoid  Bones.  These  are  not  disconnected  portions  of 
the  framework,  but  cartilaginous  or  osseous  formations  either  within  the 
capsules  of  joints,  as  the  htu/irro-scap^dar  bone  in  the  capsule  of  the  joint  of 
that  name,  or  within  the  inserting  tendons  of  muscles,  as  the  imtella  of  the 
knee  and  the  ■patella  ulaaris  of  the  Sphenisci,  and  osseous  or  cartilaginous  nodules 
in  the  tendons  of  the  long  muscles  of  the  toes,  of  the  t/msc.  extensor  inetacarpi 
radialis  and  of  the  nuisc.  propatagialis. 


SKELETON 


86 1 


acetabulum  a  thick  process  of  the  ilium  descends  to  meet  the  os 
pubis,  and  behind  a  similar  process  meets  the  ischium.  Behind 
the  acetabular  rim  is  a  considerable  thickening  of  the  ilium,  which 
frequently  bears  a  facet  on  which  plays  the  great  trochanter  of 
the  femur.  The  postacetabular  ilium  is  very  variable  in  shape, 
either  broadened  out  vertically  only  as  in  Columha  and  FJiea,  or 
transversely,  in  the  latter  case  forming  a  plain  dorsal  surface  most 


Fovea  iliaca 
anterior 


Pr.pectin.  Q' 


\  Pubis, 


obtur 


Pavo  cristatus. 


pronounced  in  Pavo.  The  ischium  originally  extends  backward, 
parallel  to  the  postacetabular  ilium,  and  with  it  encloses  the 
ischiadic  notch.  Among  recent  Birds  this  primitive  condition 
persists  only  in  Ratitx  and  Cryptwri.      In  all  others  the  distal  por- 


Cp-2     Cp.r 


COLYMBUS  ARCTICUS. 


tions  of  the  ilium  and  ischium  meet  so  that  this  notch  becomes  a 
foramen,  through  which  pass  the  big  stems  of  the  ischiadic  nerves 
(page  625)  and  most  of  the  chief  blood-vessels  of  the  hind  limb.^ 
The  OS  pubis  consists  of  an  anterior  and  a  posterior  portion,  the  latter 
being  long  and  slender,  and  running  backwards  more  or  less  parallel 

^  A  unique  modification  occurs  in  Rlica  :  the  two  ischia  fuse  in  the  middle 
line  forming  a  long  ischiadic  symphysis  which  lies  above  the  intestines  separating 
them  from  the  kidneys.  In  adults  the  distal  ends  of  the  ilia  fuse  with  these 
united  ischia,  forming  foramina,  and  herewith  is  correlated  a  still  more  striking 
feature,  namely  the  gradual  resorhtion  as  maturity  approaches  of  nearly  the  whole 
postsacral  vertebral  column,  so  that  the  caudal  vertebrae  seem  to  be  attached  to 
the  united  ischiadic  and  iliac  ossification. 


862 


SKELETON 


to  the  ischium.  The  proximal  portion  of  the  space  thus  enclosed 
almost  always  forms  a  foramen^  called  the  J.  ohturatum,  because  it 
serves  for  the  passage  of  the  tendon  of  the  m.  obturator  and  the  n. 
obturatorius  (page  625),  which  supplies  that  muscle,  and  the  m.  pub- 
ischio-femoralis  (page  611),  or  principal  adductor  of  the  thigh.  The 
rest  of  the  opposed  margins  of  ischium  and  pubis  are  connected  with 

each  other  to  a  variable 
extent,  either  by  mem- 
branes only  or,  if  the 
bones  touch,  by  more  or 
less  extensive  ossification, 
which  in  extreme  cases,  as 
in  some  Anatidx,  leads  to 
the  obliteration  of  the 
middle  portion  of  the 
shaft  of  the  pubis,  so  that 
its  distal  portion  appears 
in  a  prepared  skeleton  as 
a  separate  bone.  The  dis- 
tal end  of  the  pubis  is 
mostly  bowed  inwards  and 
broadened,  serving  for  the 
attachment  of  the  lateri- 
ventral  muscles  of  the  tail 
{m.  pubo  -  cocajgeus).  In 
Siridhio  only  the  end  of 
the  pubis  meets  that  of 
the  other  side,  forming  a 
dagger -shaped  symphysis 
upon  which  rests  a  great 
part  of  the  weight  of  the 
abdominal  intestines.  The 
spina    pubica    or    anterior 


Pavo  cristatus. 


COLYMBUS   ARCTICUS. 


1.  II.  the  Sacral  Vertebne;  0.1-5,  Cnual  Vertebra. ;  Cd.  PJO^^^S     of      the  OS    publs 

l-5,Caudal;C^.i{;p.2,Capitularattachinentofthelast  often    Called    the  pectineal 

free  ribs;    Is.  Ischiadic  Vertebrae;   I'.S.  Postsacral  A;/     p_     (350     fi*''.  4      p.)     is 
VertebrsB ;  Rec.il.  Iliac  recess ;  Tb.  Tubercular  part                i     i       •      1 1  r  i. 

of  the  rib.  morphologically    of    great 

interest,  because  it  is  the 
element  which  in  Dinosaurs  is  described  as  the  "pra3pubis,"  while 
in  recent  Reptiles  it  is  represented  by  the  pubis  proper,  the 
"  pubis "  of  Birds  being  in  reality  homologous  with  the  postpubis 
of  Dinosaurs  and  the  processus  lateralis  pubis  of  other  Reptiles.  It 
serves  for  the  origin  of  the  ambip:ns  muscle  (page  11),  though 
that  not  unfrequently  extends  to  the  adjoining  part  of  ilium,  or 
further  down  to  the  shaft  of  the  pubis,  and  hence  has  been 
preserved  when  that  muscle  is  present ;   but  the  process   is  very 


SKELETON 


863 


variable  in  extent,  being  comparatively  largest  in  the  Gallinse  and 
some  of  the  Cuculi  and  Musophagidx,  while  it  is  hardly  indicated  in 
many  Grues,  Ciconiai,  Phoenicopferus,  Columhai,  Lari,  Psittaci,  Pucerotidie 
and  Passeres.  It  may  grow  wholly  from  the  pubis,  or  from  that 
and  the  ilium,  or  in  extreme  cases  from  the  last  only. 

The  Posterior  Limbs  or  Legs,  like  the  anterior,  are  composed 
of  three  principal  portions  (1)  the  Femur,  which  has  been 
already  mentioned  (pages  248,  249),  and  the  figures  here  intro- 
duced will  shew  some  of  its  more  important  features ;  (2)  next  the 
Tibia  and  Fibula  ;  and  lastly  (3)  the  bones  of  the  Feet.  The 
proximal  end  of  the  Tibia  has  two  facets,  of  which  the  inner  is 
concave  and  articulates  with  the  inner  condyle  of  the  Femur, 
wdiile  the  outer  is  convex,  and  partly  fits  into  the  intercondylar 
sulcus  and  partly  articulates  with  the  inside  of  the  outer  femoral 
condyle.  It  also  supports  the  Fibula.  From  the  anterior  surface 
of  its  upper  end  arises  a  crest  formed  by  two  ridges,  of  which  the 
inner  is  generally  the  more  prominent.  They  serve  for  the  origin 
of  part  of  most  of  the  extensor  muscles  of  the  leg,  the  tendon  of 
the  chief  of  which,  7nusc.  femori4ibialis,  is  inserted  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  crest,  and  within  this  tendon  is  intercalated  the  patella 


(page  698).  In  Colijmhu& 
and  Podicijjes  is  developed 
a  long  triangular  process 
which  stands  high  above 
the  head  of  the  tibia,  and 
in  the  latter  the  almost 
equally  -  high  triangular 
patella  rests  with  its  base 
on  the  intercondylar 
femoral  sulcus,  and  its 
whole  side  against  the 
outer  surface  of  the  crest. 
On  the  outer  side  of  the 


tibia  is  the  peroneal  ridge  ^^-^ 


T.  m. 


>Fo. 


.H-//, 


C.e. 


serving  for  a  lateral  attach- 
ment  to  the  Fibula,  the 
fusion  of  which  with  the 
Tibia  is  generally  indicated 
by  a  similar  ridge  situated 
further  down.  The  distal 
end  of  the  Tibia  is  com- 
pletely fused  with  several 
of  the  proximal  tarsal  bones,  which  form  an  inner  and  an  outer 
condyle,  separated  by  a  sulcus,  and  articulate  with  the  "  tarso- 
metatarsus."     On  the  anterior  surface  a  little  above  the  sulcus  just 


Pavo  cristatus,  Left  Femur,  back,  outer  uud 
front  view. 
Bi.  Loop  for  Biceps  cruris  ;  C.e.  CA.  exterior  and  interior 
Condyles  ;  F.p.  Fossa  poplitea ;  Fib.  Fibular  facet ;  f.t. 
Femoro-tibial  attachment ;  Fo.  Pneumatic  foramina ; 
Ga.  Gastrocuemial  tendons ;  H.  head  of  Femur ; 
II.  fill,  ilio-femoral ;  Is.  fin.  ischio-femoral ;  .V.  Neck  ; 
p.i.f.  Pubiscliio  -  femoral  muscle;  6b.  Obturator 
muscle  insertion. 


864 


SKELETON 


mentioned  is  a  deep  cavity  crossed  by  a  transverse  bridge,  acting  as 
a  pulley  for  the  tendon  of  the  mii&c.  extensor  digitorum  communis 
(page  612)  which  passes  beneath  it.  In  the  majority  of  Birds 
this  bridge  is  ossified,  as  in  Dinornithes  (page  579),  Phmwhacos, 
Gastornis  (page  281)  and  the  other  Garinatie  not  named  below,  but 
it  remains  tendinous  or  cartilaginous,  and  is  thus  often  described 
as  non-existent,  in  a  good  many,  as  Struthio,  Rhea,  Dromieus,  Casuarms, 
JE'pyornis,  Brontornis,  Opistliocomm,  Striges,  Todus,  Buceros,  Capimulgi 
and  Trochili ;  while  it  varies,  being  either  soft  or  osseous,  in  AjHeryx, 
Podicipes  and  Psittaci.  The  Fibula  articulates  by  its  head  with  the 
outer  condyle  of  the  Femur,  leaning  also  on  the  lateral  knob  on  the 
head  of  the  Tibia,  and  lower  down  is  connected  with  the  peroneal 
ridge  by  a  rough  surface.  The  distal  end  of  the  Fibula  is  always 
much  reduced  and  fuses  more  or  less  completely  with  the  outer 
side  of  the  tibio-tai'sus,  generally  ending  in  a  sharp  point.^ 

The  Metatarsus,  or  ^^  Tarsus"  as  it  is  commonly  but  incorrectly  called 
by  ornithologists,  is  a  compound  structure  made  up  of  the  second, 


I.a.c. 


\0.a.c. 


VI.  I. 


-in.e. 


Pavo.  Tibia  and  Tarso-metatarsus, 
front  view. 

F.  Fibula ;  I.a.c.  aud  O.a.c.  inner  and 
outer  anterior  crest ;  m.i.  m.e. 
inner  and  outer  malleolus  ;  Sp. 
exostosis, carrying  spur;  T.a.  in- 
sertion of  Tibialis  anticus. 


r.A. 


Cygnus. 


Pavo. 

Proximal  end  of  left 
Tarso-metatarsus,  back 
view. — F.jh  groove  and 
canal  for  m.  flexor  pro- 
fundus; P.}).  groove  for 
deep  peroneal  ;  T.A. 
ridge  for  tendo  Acliilli.s. 


^  Dr.  Sliufeldt  {3is,  1894,  p.  361)  takes  exception  to  the  statement  previously 
made  in  this  volume  (page  249)  describing  and  partly  figuring  some  cases,  that 
appear  to  me  exceptional  if  not  abnormal,  in  which  the  Fibula  is  "complete 
and  reaches  the  tarsal  epiphysis  of  the  tibio-tarsus. "  But  my  statement  appears 
to  have  been  misunderstood,  and  I  may  repeat  that  the  ankle-joint  "is  never 
normally  reached  "  by  the  Fibula,  nor,  for  the  matter  of  that,  by  the  Tibia 
either.  A  complete  account  of  these  features  was  published  in  1891  (Thier- 
7'eich,  Vogel,  pp.  980,  981),  wherein  also  exceptional  occurrences  of  a  complete 
Fibula  in  Birds  are  mentioned. 


SKELETON  865 

third  and  fourth  metatarsal  bones,  which  are  fused  together  and 
bear  on  their  proximal  end  an  epiphysis-like  mass  containing  several 
of  the  distal  tarsal  bones.  Except  in  Sphenisci  and  to  a  certain 
extent  in  Psittaci,  the  three  metatarsals  do  not  lie  in  the  same  plane, 
the  middle  one,  which  is  the  third,  having  its  upper  end  thrust 
backward  and  its  lower  forward,  consequently  the  malleolus  of  the 
third  toe  is  more  prominent  on  its  anterior  surface  than  its  neigh- 
bours, while  on  the  same  surface  of  the  upper  half  or  more  of  the 
"  metatarsus "  there  is  a  deep  longitudinal  furrow,  and  on  the 
posterior  surface  of  the  proximal  end  is  found  the  "  Hypotarsus.'' 
Articulation  with  the  tibio-tarsus  is  effected  by  an  inner  and  an  outer 
concave  facet  for  the  corresponding  "  tibial "  condyles,  while  these 
two  facets  are  separated  in  front  by  a  knob  Avhich  fits  into  the  inter- 
condylar sulcus.  Two  rough  surfaces  near  the  upper  end  of  the 
anterior  metatarsal  sulcus  indicate  the  position  of  a  transverse  liga- 
ment, beneath  which  passes  the  common  extensor  tendon  of  the  toes. 
In  one  section  of  Owls  (page  672)  and  in  the  Osprey  (page  660) 
this  ligament  becomes  a  strong  bony  bridge.  A  little  lower  than 
the  inner  end  of  this  ligament  or  bridge  is  a  small  tuberosity  in- 
dicating the  insertion  of  the  muse,  tibialis  anticus. 

The  Hypotarsus  is  of  some  taxonomic  value  from  its  ridges  which 
end  in  furrows  or  canals  for  the  passage  of  the  several  flexor 
tendons,  but  in  regarding  its  characters  we  must  remember  that  the 
conversion  of  a  furrow  into  a  canal  is  often  due  to  extended  ossi- 
fication progressing  with  age.  The  Hypotarsus  is  simple,  possessing 
only  one  wide  groove  lying  between  two  low  ridges,  in  Sphetiisci, 
Ciconiinse,  Plataleinse,  Phanicopteri,  Palamedeas,  Accipitres  (excl.  Pan- 
dion),  Crypturi,  Cariama  and  Ehinochetus.  It  is  also  simple,  though 
with  an  additional  median  ridge,  in  Striges,  Cypseli  and  Trochili ;  but 
complex,  with  high  ridges  and  a  canal  or  more  than  one  in  most 
other  birds,  exhibiting  numerous  modifications,  each  of  them  directly 
connected  with  the  arrangement  of  the  flexor  tendons,  and  the  size, 
position  and  function  of  the  toes.  Intermediate  forms  are  of 
course  numerous,  and  their  careful  study  gives  a  valuable  hint  as  to 
the  group  to  which  any  particular  form  belongs :  in  the  Colymhi, 
for  instance,  the  two  lateral  ridges  are  very  high  and  almost 
completely  enclose  a  wide  triangular  space. 

In  the  Sphenisci  the  three  tarso-metatarsal  bones  are  almost  in 
the  same  plane  and  are  incompletely  co-ossified,  a  feature  frequently 
regarded  as  primitive  because  of  its  likeness  to  embryonic  and 
therefore  phylogenetically  ancestral  conditions.  It  may,  however,  be 
reasonably  conjectured  that  we  have  here  a  case  of  relapse,  indeed  a 
pseudo-archaic  formation  produced  in  adaptation  to  the  peculiar 
plantigrade  functions  of  the  feet  in  these  birds.  An  analogous  con- 
dition obtains  in  Fregata.^ 

^  The  morphological  meaning  of  the  bones  of  the  Bird's  foot  is  best  understood 

55 


866 


SKELETON 


f   ff 

0 
0 
II 


Ms. 

D   Q  ^ 


D 

(7 
/// 


IV 


Mt.III 


The  Toes  are  generally  four  in  number,  and  no  trace  of  a  fifth 
lias  been  or  is  likely  to  be  discovered,  considering  the  extreme 
reduction  and  ephemeral  occurrence  of  the  fifth  metatarsal  element. 
The  number  of  i^halanges  typically  increases  in  arithmetical  series 
from  2  on  the  first  or  hallux  (pages  404,  405)  to  5  on  the  fourth 

by  a  short  sketch  of  their  development,  and  its  comprehension  may  be  assisted 
by  the  accompanying  diagram  shewing  the  tyjiical  plan  in  the  pentadadyl  Bird, 

which  omitatis  mutandis 
may  be  made  equally  ap- 
plicable to  the  Bird's 
"hand."  There  are  first 
three  proximal  tarsals 
M'hich  fuse  with  each 
other  and  then  Math  the 
distal  end  of  the  tibia, 
while  that  of  the  fibula 
withdraws  from  direct 
contact  with  the  outer  or 
fibular  tarsal.  The  united 
mass  of  these  then  sends 
out  an  ascending  process 
which  fuses  with  the  front 
of  the  tibial  intercon- 
dylar furrow.  At  an  early 
period  the  five  distal  tarsals  fuse  into  one  cartilaginous  mass,  in  which  only 
one  centre  of  ossification  appears,  whereupon  it  fuses  with  the  upper  end  of 
the  2nd,  3rd  and  4th  metatarsals.  These  being  originally  separate,  soon 
press  backwards  the  upper  end  of  the  3rd,  and  fuse  together  from  above 
downwards.  The  5th  or  outer  metatarsal  element  has  only  been  observed 
in  earlj'  embryos,  soon  disappearing  by  resorbtion,  and  the  same  may  be 
said  of  its  distal  tarsal.  The  1st  metatarsal  remains  sej^arate  on  the  inner  side 
of  the  2nd — a  condition  which  persists  in  the  Penguins  ;  but  in  other  4- 
toed  Birds  it  does  not  keep  up  with  the  lengthening  growth  of  the  2nd,  3rd 
and  4th,  but  loses  its  jiroximal  position  and  thereliy  its  connexion  with  the 
tarsal  region,  lying  in  the  majority  .of  Birds  along  the  inner  hind  margin  of  the 
lower  end  of  the  united  "metatarsus,"  retaining  (or  regaining)  its  position  in 
their  plane  in  Steganojyodes. 

Besides  the  3  proximal  and  5  distal  tarsals  just  mentioned,  the  diagram 
shews  a  ninth  element — a  central  tarsal,  which  is  sometimes  double.  Appearing 
in  the  embryo  as  distinct  cartilaginous  nodules,  they  are  soon  buried  in  the 
fibrous  interarticular  pad,  and  in  the  majority  of  birds  ultimately  vanish. 
However  one  of  them  occasionally  persists,  as  in  the  Hatitm  and  Crypturi, 
developing  into  a  separate  bone  which  is  wedged  in  from  behind  between  the 
tibio-tarsal  and  tarso-metatarsal  surfaces.  Tliis  bone  was  described  many  years 
ago  by  Owen  either  as  a  calcaneus  or  calcaneal  sesamoid,  but  now  properly  by 
Gegenbaur  {Uivtersuchungen  zur  vergleichcnden  Anatomic,  i.  p.  104)  and  Morse 
{Ann.  Lye.  Nat.  Hist.  New  York,  x.  p.  141)  as  the  central  tarsal,  the  latter  figur- 
ing it  as  found  in  Tyrannus.  Sir  Walter  BuUer  {B.  N.  Zeal.  ed.  2.  ii.  pp.  333, 
334,  pi.  xlix.)  was  unfortunately  induced  to  figure  and  describe  it  in  Dinornis  as 
"  an  astragalus-like  bone." 


SKELL  Y-  SKIMMER  867 

Toe  ;  but  in  Cypselus  the  number  never  exceeds  3,  being  reduced 
during  embryonic  development.  The  proximal  phalanx  of  the 
fourth  toe  is  resorbed,  while  the  2nd  and  3rd  phalanges  of  the 
third  toe,  and  the  original  3rd  and  4th  of  the  fourth  .fuse  together 
respectively.  The  same  number  of  phalanges  obtains  in  Pany- 
2Mla.  Further  reduction  in  the  number  of  toes  begins  with  the 
hallux,  which,  as  maj''  be  gathered  from  Avhat  has  been  already 
stated,  represents  almost  every  intermediate  condition  from  being 
the  strongest,  as  in  AccipUres,  to  total  loss.  The  second  toe  is 
absent  in  Struthio  only,  though  its  malleolus  is  present,  but  in  a 
very  degenerate  condition.  This  Bird  indeed  seems  to  be  on  the 
way  to  becoming  one-toed,  for  though  the  fourth  still  exists,  long 
and  functional,  its  phalanges  decrease  in  length  and  strength  towards 
the  extremity,  and  the  terminal  one  is  frequently  reduced  to  a  mere 
nodule,  devoid  of  a  claw.  Such  an  example  has  therefore  already 
reached  a  one-hoofed  condition.  Cholornis,  a  rare  form  from  Thibet, 
of  doubtful  affinity,  seems  to  offer  the  only  instance  of  the  loss  of 
the  fourth  toe,  which  is  said  to  be  reduced  to  a  mere  stump.  The 
proportional  length  of  the  phalanges,  especially  when  the  reduction 
in  length  affects  the  basal  and  next  following  phalanges  without  the 
terminal,  is  of  some  taxonomic  value,  for  a  special  account  of  which 
reference  may  be  made  to  the  account  in  Bronn's  Thier-reich  (pp. 
508-521),  but  above  all  to  Kessler's  Odeologie  der  Vogelfusse,  in 
the  Bulletin  of  the  Naturalists'  Society  of  Moscow  for  1S41  (pp. 
467,  628). 

SKELL Y,  or  Shelly,  a  local  name  for  the  Chaffinch. 

SKIDDAW,  another  form  of  KiDDAW  (see  Guillemot). 

SKIDDY,    otherwise    SKITTY-Cock,   a   name   applied   to   the 
MoOR-HEN  and  Water-RAIL. 

SKIMMER,  the  English  name  bestowed  by  Pennant^  in  1773 
on  a  North -American   bird  which   had  already  been   figured   and 
described    by    Catesby 
(B.  Carol,  i.  pi.  90)  under 
that  of  "  Cut-water," — 
as  it  appears  still  to  be 
called  on  some  parts  of 
the  coast,^ — remarkable 
for   the    unique   forma- 
tion of  its  bill,  in  Avhich  Rhynchops.    (After  Swauison.) 
the  maxilla,  or  so-called  upper  mandible,  is  capable  of  much  vertical 

'  "I  call  it  Skimmer,  from  the  manner  of  its  collecting  its  food  witli  the 
lower  mandible  as  it  flies  along  the  surface  of  the  water"  {Gem.  0/  Birds,  p.  57). 

-  Other  English  names  applied  to  it  in  America  are  "Razorbill,"  "  Scissor- 
bill,"  and  '"Shearwater." 


868  SKOOI—SKUA 


movement,  while  the  lower  mandible,  which  is  considei'ably  the 
longer  of  the  two,  is  laterally  compressed  so  as  to  be  as  thin  as  a 
knife -blade.  This  bird  is  the  Rhynchops  nigra  of  Linnaeus;  who, 
however,  united  with  it  what  proves  to  be  an  allied  species  from 
India  that,  having  been  indicated  many  years  before  by  Petiver 
(Gazoph.  Nat.  tab.  76,  fig.  2),  on  the  authority  of  Buckley,  and  named 
by  J.  R.  Forster  in  1781,  was  only  technically  described  in  1838  by 
Swainson  {Anim.  Menag.  p.  360)  as  R.  albicoUis.  A  third  species,  R. 
flavirostris,  inhabits  Africa;  and  examples  from  South  America,  though 
by  many  writers  regarded  as  identical  with  R.  nigra,  are  considered 
by  Mr.  Saunders  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  p.  522)  to  form  a  fourth, 
R.  melanwa  of  Swainson  {ut  suprci,  p.  340),  and  he  has  now  separated 
southern  examples  as  a  fifth,  R,  intercedens.  All  these  resemble  one 
another  very  closely,  and,  apart  from  their  singularly-formed  bill, 
have  the  structure  and  appearance  of  Terns.  Some  authors  make 
a  Family  of  the  genus,  but  it  seems  needless  to  remove  it  from 
the  Laridse  (Gull).  In  breeding-habits  the  Skimmers  agree  with 
the  Terns,  the  largest  species  of  which  group  they  nearly  equal 
in  size,  and  indeed  only  seem  to  differ  from  them  in  the  mode  of 
taking  their  food,  which  is  well  described  by  Mr.  Darwin  {Journ. 
of  Researches,  chap,  vii.)  from  his  own  observation,  and  is  of  course 
correlated  with  the  extraordinary  formation  of  their  bill. 

SKOOI,  see  Skua. 

SKRABA,  see  Scraber. 

SKUA,^  the  name  for  a  long  while  given  to  certain  of  the 
Laridx,  which  sufficiently  differ  in  structure,  appearance  and  habits 
to  justify  their  separation  as  a  distinct  genus,  Stercorarius  (Lestris  of 
some  writers),  subfamily,  or  even,  according  to  a  late  author,  a 
Family — Stercorariidx.  Swift  of  flight,  powerfully  armed  and 
intrepid,  they  pursue  their  weaker  cousins,  making  the  latter  dis- 
gorge their  already-swallowed  pr.ey,  which  is  nimbly  caught-  before 
it  reaches  the  water ;  and  this  habit,  often  observed  by  sailors  and 
fishermen,  has  made  these  predatory  and  parasitic  birds  locally 
known  as  "Teasers,"  "Boatswains,"  and,  from  a  misconception  of 
their  intent,  "  Dunghunters."  On  land,  however,  whither  they 
resort  to  breed,  they  seek  food  of  their  own  taking,  whether  small 
mammals,  little  birds,  insects,  or  berries ;  but  even  here  their 
uncommon  courage  is  exhibited,  and  they  will  defend  their  homes 
and  offspring  with  the  utmost  spirit  against  any  intruder,  repeatedly 
shooting   down   on   man   or  dog   that  invades  their  haunts,  while 

1  Thus  -WTitten  by  Hoier  [circa  1604)  as  the  name  of  a  Freroese  bird  [hodie 
Skuir),  an  example  of  which  he'sent  to  Clusius  [Exotic.  Auct.  p.  367).  The  word 
being  thence  copied  by  Willughby  has  been  generally  adopted  in  English,  and 
applied  to  all  the  congeners  of  the  species  to  which  it  was  originally  peculiar. 


SKUA  869 

every  bird  almost,  from  an  Eagle  downwards,  is  repelled  by  buffets 
or  something  worse. 

The  largest  European  species  is  the  Stercoraiius  catarrJiades  of 
ornithologists — the  "  Skooi "  or  "  Bonxie  "  of  the  Shetlanders,  a 
bird  in  size  equalling  a  Herring-GuLL,  Larus  argentat'us.  The  sexes 
do  not  differ  in  colour,  which  is  of  a  dark  brown,  somewhat 
lighter  beneath ;  but  the  primaries  have  at  the  base  a  patch  of 
white,  visible  even  when  the  wings  are  closed,  and  forming,  when 
they  are  spread,  a  conspicuous  band.  The  bill  and  feet  are  black. 
This  is  a  species  of  comparatively  limited  range,  breeding  only  in 
some  two  or  three  localities  in  the  Shetlands,  about  as  many  in  the 
Faeroes,^  and  hardly  more  in  Iceland.  Out  of  the  breeding-season 
it  shews  itself  in  most  parts  of  the  North  Atlantic,  but  never  seems 
to  stray  further  south  than  Gibraltar  or  Morocco,  and  it  is  there- 
fore a  matter  of  much  interest  to  find  the  Southern  Ocean  inhabited 
by  a  bird — the  "Port  Egmont  Hen"  of  Cook's  Voyages — which  so 
closely  resembles  the  Skua  as  to  have  been  for  a  long  while 
regarded  as  si:)ecifically  identical  with  it,  but  is  now  usually  recog- 
nized as  distinct  under  the  name  of  ^S*.  antarcticus.  This  bird, 
characterized  by  its  stout,  deep  bill  and  want  of  rufous  tint  on  its 
lower  plumage,  has  an  extensive  range,  from  the  Falkland  Islands 
past  Kerguelen  Land  to  Australian  waters  and  those  of  New 
Zealand,  while  occasionally  visiting  the  coast  of  Madagascar  and 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  as  well  perhaps  as  Ceylon.  Another  allied 
species  hitherto  only  met  with  near  the  south-polar  ice  is  recognized 
by  Mr.  Saunders  {Gat  B.  Br.  Mus.  xxv.  p.  321,  pi.  i.).  On  the 
western  coast  of  South  America,  making  its  way  into  the  Straits  of 
Magellan,  and  passing  along  the  coast  so  far  as  Kio  Janeiro,  is  found 
*S'.  chilensis,  distinguished  among  other  characters  by  the  cinnamon 
tint  of  its  lower  plumage.  All  these  are  now  placed  by  Mr.  Saunders 
{torn.  cit.  p.  313)  in  a  distinct  genus — Megalestris. 

Three  other  smaller  species  of  Stercorarius  are  known,  and 
each  is  more  widely  distributed  than  those  just  mentioned,  but 
the  home  of  all  is  in  the  more  northern  parts  of  the  earth, 
though  in  winter  two  of  them  go  very  far  south,  and,  crossing  the 
equator,  shew  themselves  on  the  seas  that  wash  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  Peru.  The  first  of  them  is 
S.  jyotnatorhmus  (often  and  originally  mis-spelt  pomarinus),  about  the 

^  It  has  long  been  subjected  to  persecution  in  these  islands,  a  reward  being 
paid  for  its  head,  and  but  very  few  pairs  now  exist  there.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  the  Shetlands  a  fine  was  exacted  for  its  death,  as  it  was  believed  to  protect 
the  sheep  against  Eagles.  Yet  for  all  this  it  would  long  ago  have  been  extir- 
pated there,  and  have  ceased  to  be  a  British  bird  in  all  but  name,  but  for  the 
special  protection  afforded  it  by  several  members  of  two  families  (Edmondston  of 
Unst  and  Scott  of  Melby),  whose  exertions  on  its  behalf  deserve  the  praise  of  all 
ornithologists,  and  were  recognized  in  1891  by  the  award  to  their  representatives 
of  the  silver  medal  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London. 


870  SKULL 

size  of  a  common  Gull,  Larus  canus,  and  presenting,  irrespective  of  sex, 
two  very  distinct  phases  of  plumage,  one  almost  wholly  sooty-brown, 
the  other  particoloured — dark  above  and  white  on  the  breast,  the 
sides  of  the  neck  being  of  a  glossy  straw-colour,  and  the  lower  part 
of  the  neck  and  the  sides  of  the  body  barred  with  brown  ;  but  a 
singular  feature  in  the  adults  of  this  species  is  that  the  two  median 
tail-feathers,  which  are  elongated,  have  their  shaft  twisted  towards 
the  tip,  so  that  in  flight  the  lower  surfaces  of  their  webs  are  pressed 
together  vertically,  giving  the  bird  the  appearance  of  having  a  disk 
attached  to  its  tail.  The  second  and  third  species  so  closely 
resemble  each  other,  except  in  size,  that  their  distinctness  was  for 
many  years  unperceived,  and  in  consequence  their  nomenclature  is 
an  almost  bewildering  puzzle.  Mr.  Saunders  (torn.  cii.  p.  322)  thinks 
that  the  larger  of  them,  which  is  about  the  size  of  a  Black-headed 
Gull,  should  stand  as  »S'.  crepidatus,  and  the  smaller  as  »S'.  parasiticus, 
though  the  latter  name  has  been  generally  used  for  the  larger  when 
that  is  not  termed,  as  it  often  is,  S.  richardsoni — a  name  that 
correctly  applies  only  to  whole-coloured  examples,  for  this  species 
too  is  dimorphic.  Even  its  proper  English  name  ^  is  disputable, 
but  it  has  been  frequently  called  the  Arctic  Gull  or  Arctic  Skua, 
and  it  is  b}^  far  the  commonest  of  the  genus  in  Britain,  and  perhaps 
throughout  the  northern  hemisphere.  It  breeds  abundantly  on 
many  of  the  Scottish  Islands,^  and  in  most  countries  lying  to  the 
northward.  The  nest  is  generally  in  long  heather,  and  contains 
two  eggs  of  a  dark  olive  colour,  suffused  Avith  still  darker  brown 
patches.  Birds  of  either  phase  of  plumage  pair  indiscriminately, 
and  the  young  shew  by  their  earliest  feathers  whether  they  will 
prove  Avhole  or  particoloured  ;  but  in  the  immature  dress  of  the  last 
the  upper  surface  is  barred  with  pale  reddish-brown.  The  smallest 
species,  commonly  known  in  English  as  the  Long-tailed  or  Buffon's 
Skua,  rarely  exhibits  the  remarkable  DIMORPHISM  (p.  149)  to  which 
the  two  preceding  are  subject,  but  one  instance  (Ibis,  1865,  p.  217) 
apparently  being  on  record.  It  breeds  abundantly  in  some  seasons 
on  the  fells  of  Lapland,  its  appearance  depending  chiefly  on  the 
presence  of  Lemmings,  on  which  it  mainly  preys.  All  these  three 
species  occasionally  visit  the  southern  coasts  of  Europe  in  large 
flocks,  but  their  visitations  are  highly  irregular. 

SKULL,  the  comprehensive  word  for  all  the  bones  of  the  head, 
which  may  be  conveniently  gi'ouped  as  those  forming  the  CRANIUM 

1  It  is  the  Fasceddar  or  Fasgadair  of  the  Hebrides,  the  Shooi  of  the  Shet- 
lands,  and  the  Scouti-allen  of  the  fishermen  of  Orkney  and  on  the  east  coast 
of  Scotland. 

-  Pennant  was  the  first  to  discover  that  it  bred  in  the  British  Islands,  by 
finding  it  on  the  1st  of  July  1772  on  .Jura,  which,  thanks  to  the  protection 
accorded  to  it,  it  still  inhabits,  and  this  must  be  the  most  southerly  point  in  its 
breeding-range. 


SKULL  871 

(p.  1 1 2),  and  those  belonging  to  visceral  arches  which  give  rise  to  the 
Hyoid  apparatus,  the  palate  and  the  jaws  (Maxilla,  Mandible). 
Being  a  most  complicated  structure,  the  composition  of  the  Skull 
will  be  better  understood  if  the  description  of  its  adult  condition  be 
prefaced  by  a  short  account  of  its  general  development.  The  first 
trace  of  the  Cranium  appears  towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  day  of 
incubation  (Embryology,  p.  209),  and  on  the  seventh  (p.  211)  its 
essential  shape  is  completed.  Eoughly  speaking,  the  ventral  half  of 
the  cranial  capsule  consists  of  a  mass  of  cartilage  in  which  no  separate 
elements  are  distinguishable,  while  its  side-walls  and  roof,  though 
continuous  with  that  mass,  are  still  in  a  membranaceous  condition, 
being  formed  of  indifferent  connective  tissue.  The  inmost  layer  of 
this  membranaceous  covering  remains  throughout  life  as  the  dura 
mater  (Nervous  System,  p.  622),  while  the  outer  and  thicker  layer 
ossifies,  of  course  to  form  membrane  BONE  (p.  47),  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  cartilaginous  framework  is  likewise  converted 
into  bone.  Though  so  unlike  in  their  origin,  it  is  not  always  easy 
to  distinguish  between  these  two  sorts  of  bone,  owing  to  the  con- 
densed or  abbreviated  way  in  which  stages  of  development  are 
hurriedly  passed  through  and  to  other  ca^nogenetic  changes 
(Anatomy,  p.  14)  which  obscure  and  sometimes  completely  alter 
the  proper  phylogenetic  procedure.  Thus  bones  originally  cartila- 
ginous are  overlaid  by  direct  ossification  of  membrane,  and  often 
have  their  cartilage  more  or  less  suppressed,  so  that  they  appear 
from  the  beginning  as  formed  from  membrane  and  not  from 
cartilage.  This  applies  to  most  of  the  jaw-bones,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  roof  of  the  mouth  or  palate.  Most  of  the  bones  of  the  Skull 
ossify  each  fi'om  one  centre,  and  originally  all  are  paired. 

Analysis  of  the  Cranium  shews  it  to  be  constituted  thus  : — 

I.  The  basis  of  the  cranial  capsule,  composed  of  the  following 
(cartilaginous)  elements,  which,  proceeding  from  behind  forwards, 
are — (1)  Basioccipital ;  (2)  Basisphenoid ;  (3)  Prsesphenoid  ;  (4) 
continuation  of  the  last  into  the  interorbital  and  internasal  Septum. 

II.  The  right  and  left  sides,  formed  by  the  (cartilaginous)  paired 
— (1)  Lateral  Occipitals  (Exoccipitals  of  many  authors);  (2)  Peri- 
otics  ;  (3)  Alisphenoids  ;  (4)  Orbitosphenoids  ;  (5)  Ethmoids. 

III.  The  roof  of  the  capsule,  formed  by  the  following  (membrane) 
bones  in  pairs — (1)  Supra-occipitals  ;  ^  (2  and  3)  Parietals  and 
Squamosals;  (4)  Frontals  ;  (5)  Lacrymals ;  (6)  Nasals. 

IV.  Additional  (membrane)  bones  on  the  ventral  side  of  the 
base  of  the  capsule  —  (1)  a  pair  of  Basitemporals,  amalgamated 
with  the  Basisphenoids ;  (2)  an  unpaired  investment  of  the  likewise 

^  In  several  species  of  Cormorant  a  peculiar,  long,  pyramidal  sesamoid  bone 
is  loosely  attached  to  the  supra-occipital,  serving  apparently  to  increase  the 
siu'face  of  attachment  of  the  muse,  complexus  capitis  and  of  part  of  the  temporal 
muscle. 


872 


SKULL 


unpaired   Prpesphenoid,  forming  with   it   the   rostrum   of  the   basis 
cranii ;  (3)  the  Vomer,  paired  or  impaired,  resting  upon  the  septum. 
V.  Bones  derived  from,  or  developed  upon,  visceral  arches,  form- 
ing the  appendicular   apparatus   of  the   Skull — (1)   the   unpaired 


Pmx. 


Analytical  Diagram  of  a  Bird's  Skull. 

Prsemaxilla ;  (2)  the  right  and  left  MaxillaB ;  (3,  4,  5)  the  right 
and  left  "  Palatines,"  Pterygoids  and  Quadrates — these  being,  as  Avell 
as  (6,  7)  the  right  and  left  Jugals  and  Quadrato-jugals,  modifica- 
tions of  the  dorsal  half  of  the  first  visceral  arch  ;  (8)  the  bones 
forming  the  right  and  left  Mandibulfe  (or  the  lower  jaw) — namely, 
the  Dentals,  Sj)lenials,  Supra-angulars,  Angulars  and  Articulars — all 
these  last  being  modifications  of  the  ventral  half  of  the  same  (first) 
visceral  arch;   (9)  the  ossicles  of  the  ear,  columella  auris  (p.  179), 


'C.Br. ; 

■Br.  Ill 


Analytical  Diagram  of  thf.  Visceral  Arches.     The  dotted  portions  are  not  deYeloped. 

being  the  remnants  of  the  dorsal  half  of  the  second  Adsceral  arch 
(  =  the  1st  branchial  arch),  while  the  remnant  of  its  ventral  half 
is  transformed  into  the  os  entoglossuni  (p.  453) ;  (10)  the  rest  of  the 
Hyoid  apparatus  formed  by  the  third  \dsceral  (  =  2nd  branchial) 
arch. 


SKULL 


875 


And  now  to  proceed  to  a  more  detailed  description  of  the  various 
regions  of  the  Skull.  The  Occiput  proper  is  formed  by  the  Basi- 
occipital,  right  and  left  lateral  and  supra-occipital,  all  of  Avhich 
enclose  the  foramen  magnuni,  through  which  passes  the  meckdla 
oblongata  (p  51),  and,  as  in  Reptiles,  the  Skull  articulates  by  a  single 
globular  or  kidney-shaped  knob  with  the  Atlas  (cf.  Skeleton, 
p.  848),  the  condyle  being  formed  almost  wholly  by  the  basi- 
occipital,  the  lateral  occipitals  taking  but  little  share  in  it,  and  thus 
constituting  a  fundamental  distinction  betAveen  the  Amphibians  on 
the  one  hand  and  Mammals  on  the  other,  Avhere  the  articulation  of 
the  head  with  the  neck  is  effected  wholly  by  the  lateral  occipitals. 


s.o. 


qj.     I  lap. 


Skull  of  Common  Fowl  from  the  side.    (After  Parker.) 


Part  of  the  membranaceous  roof  between  the  supra-occipital  and 
parietal  bones  frequently  remains  unossified  and  in  the  macerated 
Skull  presents  the  aj^pearance  of  a  pair  of  fontanelles,  which  are 
common  features  in  Limicolai  and  Anseres,  but  of  variable  occiu-rence 
in  closely-allied  genera.  In  the  majority  of  Pigeons  and  also  in 
some  Owls  and  Parrots,  the  supra-occipital  contains  a  single  small 
median  foramen  for  the  jjassage  of  a  blood-vessel.  Further  forwards 
the  occi2)ut  joins  the  Basisphenoid,  Alisphenoid  and  Periotic  bones, 
this  portion  of  the  Cranium  being  roofed-in  by  the  Parietals  and 
Squamosals,  the  latter  as  a  rule  forming  the  posterior  outer  margin 
of  the  Orbits,  and  frequently  continued  into  tAvo  lateral  downward 
processes  enclosing  the  temporal  fossa.  Of  these  the  anterior, 
known  as  proc.  orbitalis  j^osterior,  frequently  combines  with  a  similar 
outgrowth  of  the  Alisphenoid,  and  in  Cockatoos  and  Tinamous  is 
continued  forwai"ds  so  as  to  meet  a  process  of  the  Lacrymal  bone, 
and  thus  forms  an  infra-orbital  bridge  ;  while  the  posterior,  known 


874 


SKULL 


as  'proc.  zygomaticus,   is  very  variable  in  size,  being  largest  in  the 
Ostrich,  Gallinai  and  Parrots,  and  smallest  in  Anseres.     In  many 

Galllnx  both  pro- 
cesses meet  at  their 
distal  end  and  trans- 
form the  temporal 
fossa  into  a  foramen. 
The  Periotic 
Bones,  enclosing  the 
inner  Ear  (p.  178) 
occupy  a  space 
bounded  beneath 
by  the  Basioccipital 
and  Basisphenoid, 
in  front  by  the  Ali- 
sphenoid  and  Scpia- 
mosal  (which  last  to 
a  great  extent  over- 
laps and  hides  them 
when  viewed  from 
without), behind  and 
above  by  the  lateral 
and  supra-occipitals 
and  parietals.  The 
Periotics  consist  of 
three  distinct  ele- 
ments, which  in  size, 
relatiA^e  position  and 
in  regard  to  the  sur- 
rounding bones  ex- 
hibit many  modifi- 
cations, forming  a 
very  difficult  chapter 
of  ornithic  anatomy 
which  as  yet  has  been  touched  by  few,^  though  an  exhaustive  study 
of  them  promises  results  of  prime  taxonomic  importance.  The 
Prootic  (Petrosal  of  some  writers)  abuts  upon  the  Alisphenoid,  and 
with  the  latter  encloses  the  foramen  ovule,  through  which  passes  the 
3rd  branch  of  the  nervus  trigemmHS,whi\e  between  the  posterior  margin 
of  the  Prootic  and  the  anterior  border  of  the  Lateral  Occipitals  lies 
the  fe7iestra  oralis,^  into  which  fits  the  base  of  the  Cohimdla  of  the  ear, 
and  the  fenestra  rotunda.     Dorsally  the  Prootic  adjoins  the  Epiotic 

^  Among  them  are  the  late  Prof.  "\V.  K.  Parker  in  several  of  his  numerous 
papers,  Prof.  Huxley  in  his  Elements  of  Comparative  Anatomy  and  Prof.  Selenka 
(Bronn's)  Thier-Eeich. 

^  Inadvertently  called  foramen  ovale  on  p.  179. 


SJo, 
Skull  of  Common  Fowl  from  beneath.    (After  Parker.) 


SKULL  875 

(sometimes  the  Mastoid  of  Parker),  which  is  often  very  small  and 
only  develops  several  irregular  ossifications  that  soon  fuse  with  the 
supra-occipital.  The  Opisthotic  {Mastoid  of  Selenka)  lies  between 
the  Epiotic  and  the  Lateral  Occipitals,  with  which  last  it  ultimately 
fuses,  and  in  some  birds — Larus  (Gull)  for  example — it  actually 
helps  to  bound  the  foramen  magmim. 

The  Basisphenoids  are  ventrally  overlaid  by  a  pair  of  membrane- 
bones,  the  Basitemporals  of  some  authors,  and  laterally  they  help 
to  form  the  lower  and  anterior  border  of  the  auditory  meatus 
(Ear,  p.  176),  while  each  Eustachian  tube  (/.  c.)  is,  roughly  speaking, 
accompanied  and  partly  covered  by  a  canal  for  the  passage  of  the 
Carotids  (p.  76)  and  some  of  their  branches.  The  Basisphenoids 
frequently  articulate  with  the  Pterygoids  by  the  basipterygoid 
PROCESSES  (p.  28),  and  their  dorsal  surface  supports  the  greater 
portion  of  the  base  of  the  Brain,  forming  with  the  adjoining  end  of 
Preesphenoids  the  sella  turcica  (p.  52).  Dorsi- laterally  the  Basi- 
sphenoid  is  joined  by  the  Alisphenoid,  which  takes  the  greater 
share  in  forming  the  posterior  wall  of  the  orbit.  Between  the 
Alisphenoid  and  the  Prootic  the  2nd  and  3rd  branches  of  the  nerims 
trigeminus  issue  through  one  or  two  foramina,  and  laterally  the 
Alisphenoid  joins  the  Squamosal,  which  in  most  cases  separates  it 
from  contact  with  the  Parietal,  while  dorsally  it  meets  the  Frontal. 
Forwards  the  Basisphenoid  and  Alisphenoid  are  continued  into  the 
Prsesphenoid  and  Orbitosphenoid  respectively,  and  these  last,  except 
at  their  posterior  end,  are  practically  unpaired — the  right  and  left 
half  being,  so  to  say,  pressed  together  by  the  extraordinarily 
developed  eyeballs  into  a  median  interorbital  septum,  which  is 
dorsally  overlaid  by  the  Frontals,  while  it  is  continued  forwards 
as  the  internasal  septum ;  but  complications  are  produced  by  the 
development  of  lateral  outgrowths,  which  as  Turbinals  or  nasal 
conchse  serve  partly  to  enlarge  the  surface  and  partly  as  protective 
chambers  of  the  olfactory  and  nasal  mucous  membranes.  There 
is  often  no  sharp  line  of  demarcation  between  the  Orbitosphenoid 
and  Prsesphenoid,  because  the  extent  to  which  the  cartilaginous 
septum  ossifies  is  subject  to  individual  variation;^  but  the  forame^i 
opticum  for  the  passage  of  the  optic  nerve  (Eye,  p.  233)  always  lies 
near  the  base  of  the  Orbitosphenoid.  The  junction  of  this  last 
named  with  the  Alisphenoid  is  also  marked  by  a  variable  number 

^  An  incomplete  internasal  septum  produces  what  are  known  as  nares  pervias, 
characteristic  of  Colyrtihxis,  Podicipes,  Phaethon  (alone  among  the  Steganopodes), 
Ardeidm  (excl.  Baleeniceps  and  Cancroma)  ScojJus,  Ciconia,  Phcenicopterus, 
Anseres,  Palamedea,  CathartidsR,  Rallidse,  Gruidee,  Cariama,  Otis,  Eurypyga, 
Podica,  not  in  Ehinochetus,  Limicolas,  LaridsB,  Alcidas,  and  various  Passeres. 
When  the  septum  is  complete  these  are  of  course  Jiares  impcrviaz,  no  matter 
whether  it  remains  cartilaginous  or  ossifies  more  or  less,  as  in  many  Striges, 
Podargus,  Steato7-nis  and  Trogonidae. 


876  SKULL 

of  smaller  foramina  for  the  exit  of  tlie  1st  branch  of  the  ne,rv. 
trigeminus  and  of  the  3rd,  4th  and  6th  Cranial  Nerves.  Frequently, 
however,  one  or  more  of  these  leave  the  cranial  cavity  together 
with  the  optic  nerve,  converting  in  such  cases  the  optic  foramen 
into  a  foramen  lacerum  anterius.  The  olfactory  or  1st  pair  of 
cranial  nerves  leave  the  cranial  cavity  at  the  point  where  the 
Orbitosphenoid  meets  the  Frontal,  and  reach  the  nasal  cavities 
by  passing  above  the  interorbital  septum. 

The  Frontals  form  the  greater  portion  of  the  upper  surface  of 
the  Skull,  and  by  their  forward,  lateral  or  backward  expansion 
come  into  contact  with  a  great  number  of  bones,  such  as  the 
Parietals,  Squamosal  and  Opisthotic,  Ali-orbitosphenoid,  Ethmoid, 
Lacrymal  and  Nasal,  Maxillary  and  Prsemaxillary.  In  most  em- 
bryos the  Frontals  and  Nasals  are  originally  separated  by  the 
upper  portion  of  the  Ethmoid,  which  appears  on  the  surface,  and 
this  condition  is  persistent  in  Struthio ;  but  otherwise  the  Ethmoid 
is  overlaid  by  expanding  growths  of  the  Prsemaxillae  and  the  Nasals 
until  these  reach  the  Frontals.  Posteriorly  the  Frontals  combine 
with  the  Squamosal  and  Alisphenoid  in  forming  the  postorbital 
process ;  and,  as  this  part  often  ossifies  from  a  separate  centre,  it 
possibly  represents  the  postfrontal  of  other  Vertebrates.  The  space 
between  the  Frontal,  Orbitosphenoid  and  Ethmoid  is  filled  by  the 
Lacrymal,  which  always  forms  part  of  the  anterior  border  of  the 
orbit  ijprocessus  orbitalis  anterior),  and  has  a  perforation  through 
which  pass  the  secretions  of  the  lacrymal  and  various  orbital  glands. 
The  Lacrymal  exhibits  many  modifications  which  seem  to  be  of  some 
taxonomic  value :  most  generally  it  fuses  with  the  Frontal  and 
Nasal,  but  it  may  fuse  with  the  former  and  articulate  with  the 
latter,  or  vice  versa  as  in  Vanellus ;  or  it  may  articulate  with  both  as 
in  Ardea,  or  may  fuse  with  the  much- expanded  Maxilla,  as  in 
Balseniceps  and  Podargus ;  or  it  may  fuse  with  the  Ethmoid  as  in 
Corvus  corax,  or  again  may  articulate  with  the  Palatal  as  in 
Struthio,  or  with  the  Jugal  as  in  Corvus,  Psittaci  and  Accipitres. 
Many  birds,  as  most  Accipitres,  several  Gallinx,  beside  Grus  and 
Struthio,  possess  Supraorbital  bones  which  are  loosely  attached,  one 
or  more  on  either  side,  to  the  posterior  margin  of  the  Lacrymal  and 
the  adjoining  side  of  the  Frontal.  To  the  same  category  as  these 
belong  the  Infraorbitals,  which  join  the  Jugal  or  downward  process 
of  the  Lacrymal,  and  protect  the  lower  side  of  the  eyeball. 

The  Nasals,  which  are  always  conspicuous,  send  out  three 
processes — (1)  a  jDrsemaxillary  which  joins  laterally  the  posterior 
dorsal  praemaxillary  process  and  forms  the  upper  margin  of  the 
nasal  cavity,  (2)  a  lateral  one,  descending  and  joining  the  Maxilla 
so  as  to  border  the  nasal  cavity  behind,  and  (3)  a  frontal  process 
which,  uniting  with  its  fellow  on  the  other  side,  overlaps  the  upper 
surface   of    the   Ethmoid  and  frequently   fuses   Avith  the  anterior 


SKULL  877 

median  end  of  the  Frontals.  In  the  majority  of  birds  the  Nasals  ^ 
fuse  with  the  Frontal,  Ethmoid,  Maxilla  and  Prsemaxilla,  making 
this  part  of  the  Skull  more  or  less  solid,  though  generally  springy,"^ 
but  many  birds  possess  a  transverse  fronto-nasal  joint,  often  very 
conspicuous  and  admitting  of  the  vertical  movement  of  what  is 
commonly  known  as  the  "upper  mandible"  of  the  bill.  This  joint 
is  just  anterior  to  the  Frontals  and  Lacrymals,  but  behind  the 
Nasals  and  Prsemaxillse,  and  is  a  modification  that  stands  in  direct 
correlation  with  the  mode  of  feeding,  and  is  consequently  very 
variable  in  closely-allied  groups.^ 

The  Prsemaxilla  (or  Intermaxilla)  is  in  Birds  an  unpaired  bone, 
its  right  and  left  component  halves  being  fused  from  the  beginning. 
It  forms  the  anterior  and  largest  part  of  the  so-called  "  upper 
mandible,"  of  which  it  is  the  most  important  factor,  though  the 
outward  shape  of  the  BILL  (p.  32)  depends  chiefly  on  its  rhamphotheca, 
and  being  therefore  intimately  connected  with  the  bird's  economy 
is  subject  to  very  great  variation  in  proportion  and  strength.  Each 
half  of  the  Prsemaxilla  sends  out  three  processes — (1)  one  which 
fuses  with  the  Maxilla  and  forms  the  anterior  part  of  the  upper 
jaw,  (2)  one  which  contributes  to  the  formation  of  the  anterior 
part  of  the  palate,  and  (3)  one  which  together  with  its  felloAv  on 
the  opposite  side  forms  the  culmen  (p.  33)  and  extends  backward 
to  the  Frontals. 

The  paired  Maxillaries  form,  as  just  stated,  part  of  the  upper 
jaw,  contributing  also  to  the  floor  of  the  nasal  cavity,  and  always 

1  The  mutual  relations  of  the  processes  of  the  Nasals  to  those  of  the  neigh- 
bouring boues  induced  Garrod  in  1893  (see  Inteoduction)  to  distinguish  Birds 
as  HoLORHiNAL  (p.  425)  where  the  anterior  margin  of  the  Nasal  is  concave,  and 
SCHIZORHINAL  (p.  816)  where  this  posterior  border  of  the  nasal  cavity  is  con- 
tinued backward  into  a  slit  which  extends  beyond  the  frontal  processes  of  the 
Prgemaxilla.  To  use  this  feature  as  a  primary  taxonomic  character  is  an  error, 
as  he  himself  speedily  saw,  but  otherwise  it  is  as  good  as  many  others,  though 
closely-allied  birds  differ  in  this  respect.  The  typically  schizorhinal  birds  are  the 
Limicolse,  excluding  CEclicnemus  but  including  Parra,  Laridae,  Alcidm,  Pteroclidse, 
Columhse,  Turnices,  Gnies,  including  Eurypyga  and  Ehinochetus  but  not  Psophia, 
Mesites  and  Ihis.  An  approach  to  the  holorhine  structure  is  present  in  some 
individuals  of  Platalea,  and  among  Passeres  in  the  Furnariidse.  All  schizorhinal 
bii'ds  are  also  schizognathous,  of  which  more  presently  ;  but  the  reverse  is  by  no 
means  the  case. 

^  The  flexible  part  commonly  lies  behind  the  nasal  cavities,  but  in  Trochili 
and  Scolopacidm  far  in  front  of  the  nostrils,  so  that  only  the  anterior  part  of  the 
"  upper  mandible  "  is  movable,  and  motion  can  be  effected  while  the  mouth  is 
closed.  In  some  Plovers  and  Ibises,  and  probably  a  few  other  birds  also,  such  a 
flexible  region  exists  beside  the  usual  fronto-nasal  one. 

^  The  joint  is  most  developed  in  certain  Psittaci,  Striges,  Caprimulgidx, 
Aiiseres,  Steganopodcs,  several  Ciconise  ■ —  for  instance  Tantalus,  though  not  in 
Ibis  or  Platalea, — Corydon  sumatranus,  and  is  more  or  less  developed  in  many 
other  birds,  among  them  not  a  few  Fringillidae. 


878 


SKULL 


fuse  with  the  Prsemaxillary,  Nasals,  Palatines  and  Jugals,  frequently 
also  with  the  Vomer  and  Lacrymals.  Each  Maxillary  is  usually 
pyramidal  in  shape,  having  an  outer,  inner  and  ventral  surface,  the 
anterior  corner  of  which  joins  the  Praemaxilla,  the  posterior  the  Jugal. 
and  the  dorsal  the  descending  process  of  the  Nasal.  It  varies  much 
in  size :  very  small  in  the  Gallinse,  it  is  in  the  Ardex  next  to  the 
Prsemaxilla  the  most  conspicuous  bone  of  the  Skull.  Inwardly 
each  Maxilla  sends  out  a  more  or  less  horizontal  transverse  process, 
the  proc.  7iiaxillo-palatinus,  of  which  more  presently. 

The  so-called  Palatines  are  long,  and  for  the  most  part  flat 
and  horizontally-placed  bones,  always  fused  at  their  anterior  end 
with  the  Prsemaxilla,  and  frequently  with  the  ventral  surface  of 
Maxillse  and  their  maxillo-palatine  process,  just  mentioned,  while 
posteriorly  they  rest  movably  on  the  Prsesphenoid  rostrum,  articu- 
lating also,  in  most  Birds,  with  the  anterior  end  of  the  Pterygoids. 
The  Palatines  form  the  greater  portion  of  the  palatal  roof  of  the 
mouth,  and  border  the  CHOAN^  (p.  87)  or  inner  narial  openings. 

The  Vomer,  a  median  bone,  rests  on  the  Praesphenoidal  rostrum, 
and  to  the  ventral  view  appears  between  the  Palatines.  It  is  very 
variable  in  shape  and  size,  being  wholly  absent  or  reduced  to  a 
mere  trace  in  the  Gallinse,  Pterodidse,  Columhse,  Fsittaci,  Musophagidse, 
Alcedinidss,  Todidm,  Coliidss,  Upupidse  and  Bucerotidse,  while  it  is 
small  in  the  Coraciidai  and  Meropidx.  In  Pici  it  is  secondarily  re- 
solved into  a  right  and  left  half,  which  in  Galhulidse  and  Bucconidx 
are  very  much  reduced  in  size.^ 

^  On  the  various  bones  of  the  palate,  Prof.  Huxley  based  his  classification  of 
CARINAT.E,  published  in  1867  (see  Introduction),  dividing  them  into  four 
sub-orders — DROM^OGNATHiE,  Schizognath^,  Desmognath^  and  J2githo- 
GNATH^.  As  details  of  the  cranial  structure  have  become  better  known,  many 
additions  to  and  corrections  of  the  original  scheme  have  been  rendered  necessary, 
chiefly  through  the  labours  of  Parker,  Garrod  and  Forbes,  Profs.  Magnus  and 
Fiirbringer  and  Dr.  Shufeldt.  Doubtless  the  most  primitive  formation  is  the 
Schizognathous,  whence  has  arisen  the  Desmognathous  —  either  by  direct 
approach  of  the  Palatines  in  the  middle  line,  or  by  the  help  of  the  Ethmoid 
and  internasal  septum.  Desmognathism  therefore  does  not  necessarily  imply 
blood-relationship,  but  has  been  reached  independently  in  various  groups,  while 
a  like  consideration  applies  to  the  jEgithoguathous  feature,  which  is  also  derived 
from  earlier  Schizognathous  conditions.  Thinocorys  and  7'urnix,  for  instance, 
are  incompletely  iEgithognathous,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  Ilenura,  while 
the  hulicatorldai  and  the  Cypselidae,  are  as  completely  .ffigithognathous  as  the 
true  Passeres,  exclusive  of  the  Schizognathous  Furnariinm.  Among  certain 
Fasseres,  such  as  Gymnorhina,  Faraxlisea,  Artamus,  De7id7-ocolaptes,  Thamno- 
phihis  and  Fhytotoma,  what  may  be  called  compound  iEgithognathism  prevails, 
in  that  fusion  of  the  Palatines  with  each  other  at  their  anterior  end  and  with 
the  internasal  septum  leads  to  a  sort  of  Desmognathous  condition. 

According  to  our  jiresent  knowledge,  the  following  forms  and  groups  are 
Schizognathous  : — Struthio,  Aptcryx,  Cryp>iuri,  Sphenisci,  Tuhinares,  Colymhi, 
Fodicipedidas,  Alcidee,  Laridm,  Limicolaa  (excl.  ThiTwcorys  above  named),  Ptero- 


SKULL  879 

The  Pterygoids  are  rod-shaped  bones  articulating  in  front 
with  the  posterior  end  ^  of  the  Palatines,  or  also  with  the  adjoining 
part  of  the  sphenoidal  rostrum,  and  behind  with  a  process  of  the 
Quadrates.  In  many  birds  an  additional  articulation  exists  between 
the  Pterygoids  and  the  Basisphenoid  by  means  of  the  Basiptery- 
GOiD  Processes  (p.  28). 

The  Quadrates  connect  the  lower  jaw  with  the  cranium,  beside 
serving  for  the  posterior  end  of  the  Pterygoids,  and  lastly  are  con- 
nected with  the  Maxilla  and  Prsemaxilla  by  two  thin  rod-shaped 
bones — the  Quadrato-jugal  and  the  Jugal. 

The  Mandibula  forming  the  lower  jaw  is  composed  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  bones,  most  of  which  developing  from  membrane 
invest  the  primitive  cartilaginous  portion,  known  as  Meckel's  Car- 
tilage, and  soon  fuse  with  each  other.  The  os  articulare  forms  the 
articulation  with  the  Quadrate,  and  bears  on  its  inner  side  the 
processus  mandibularis  interims,  which  serves  for  the  insertion  of 
part  of  the  digastric  muscle,  or  that  which  opens  the  mouth.  The 
OS  angulare  forms  the  posterior  end  of  the  mandible,  and  is  frequently 
produced  into  a  j^^'ocessus  mandibularis  posterior;  likewise  ser'ving  for 
the  insertion  of  the  digastric  muscle.  Its  shape  and  size  are  of 
taxonomic  value.  The  greater  part  of  the  Mandible  is  formed  by 
the  Dentary,  so  called  because  in  it  the  teeth  when  present  are 
lodged.  In  Hesperornis,  Ichthyornis  and  apparently  Gastornis  the 
two  halves  of  the  Mandible  were  movably  connected  at  the  distal 
end  :  in  recent  birds  they  are  fused  together  and  ossify  from  the 
point  of  meeting.  The  Supra-angular  or  Coronoid  element  fills  the 
space  between  the  Articular  and  Dentary  on  the  upper  or  anterior 
side,  and  serves  for  the  insertion  of  part  of  the  temporal  or  masseter 

clidm,  Columhm,  Turnix,  Ralli,  Grxues  (excl.  Cariama  and  Rhinochetus,  wliich 
are  incompletely  Desmoguathous),  Gallinai,  Opisthocomus,  Trogonidse,  many 
Striges,  TrocMli,  Caprimulgus,  Nydibius,  Pici,  Megalmma  and,  as  first  men- 
tioned, Fiirnariinse. 

Parker  drew  attention  to  the  existence  of  three  kinds  of  Desmognathism  : — 

(1)  Direct — where  the  maxillo-palatine  processes  fuse  directly  with  each 
other,  either  incompletely  as  in  Cariama,  or  complete^  as  in  most  Acdintres 
and  Aiiseres,  with  or  without  additional  help  from  the  internasal  septum. 

(2)  Indirect — where  the  fusion  of  these  pi'ocesses  is  effected  solely  by  that 
septum,  either  incompletely  as  in  Megalmma,  or  completely  as  in  Aquila, 
Vultur,  several  Striges  and  Alccdinidee. 

(3)  Double — where  those  processes  and  the  palatines  meet  in  the  middle  line 
and  form  a  broad  solid  roof,  as  in  Podargus  and  B%iccros. 

The  following  are  Desmoguathous  : — Drommus,  Anscres,  Steganoiwdes,  Herodii, 
Pelargi,  Accipitres,  Psittaci,  Coccyges,  Alccdinidse,  3Ieropidee,  Tudidse,  Upupidas, 
Pucerotidee,  Coliida},  Bucconidsc,  Gallmlidee,  Steatornis,  Chordiles,  Podargus 
and  Phaviphastidce  ;  lastly,  the  incompletely  Desmoguathous  Cracidaz,  Cariama, 
Rhinochetus  and  various  Striges. 

^  At  page  744  the  "anterior  end"  was  inadvertently  stated. 


88o 


SK  YLA  RK— SNAKE-BIRD 


muscle.  Additional  Splint  bones,  the  os  opercxdare  and  os  comple- 
mentare,  rest  on  the  median  side  of  the  lower  jaw,  filling  the  gap 
between  the  Dentary  and  Angular,  and  between  the  Supra-angular 
and  Articular. 

SKYLARK.     Alauda  arvensis,  see  Lark,  pages  507-509. 

SLANGENVREETER  or  SLANGVRETER  (Snake-eater),  the 
Dutch  name,  adopted  by  many  English  residents  in  the  Cape  Colony, 
for  the  Secretary-bird  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p.  33). 

SLIGHT-FALCON  (Germ,  sddicht,  plain,  simple  or  homely),  a 
name  once  in  common  use  (Sebright,  Observations  on  Hawking,  pp.  3, 
33)  for  what  is  now  called  the  Peregrine  Falcon.  Schlegel  (Traite  de 
Fauconnerie,  p.  26)  has  pointed  out  the  mistake  of  deriving  it  from 
the  German  Schlacht  or  schlect. 

SMEW,  the  commonly-accepted  name  for  the  smallest  of  the 
Mergansers,  M.  alhellus  (p.  544),  though  not  unfrequently  applied 
in  this  country  to  some  other  Anatidx  as  the  WiGEON  and 
Pochard  ;  but  then  generally  in  the  form  of  SMEE-DUCK  (cf. 
Dutch  Smiente  =  '\Yigeon)  or  SMETHE,  while  in  America  one  or 
other  of  these  variants  is  locally  used  for  the  Pintail  (Trumbull, 
Names  and  Fortr.  B.  p.  38).  Originally  it  would  seem  to  have  been 
used  for  the  female  (Willughby,  Orn.  Engl.  Ed.  p.  337)  of  the 
species  to  which  it  is  now  ordinarily  applied,  while  the  male  was 
the  Nun. 

SNAIL -EATER,  an  absurd  name  given  to  a  species  of 
Anastomus  (Open-bill). 

SNAITH  or  SNYTH,  Orcadian  for  Coot. 

SNAKE-BIRD,  in  many  parts  of  England  a  name  for  the 
Wryneck,  from  the  hissing  noise  it  utters  while  in  its  nest ;  but 
applied  to  a  very  different  kind  of  bird  by  the  English  in  North 
America,  because  of  its  "  long- slender  head  and  neck,"  which,  its 
body  being  submerged  as  it  swims,  "  appear  like  a  snake  rising 
erect  out  of  the  water  "  (Bartram's  MS.,  quoted  by  Ord  in  Wilson's 
Am.  Ornithology,  ix.  p.  81).  It  is  the  "Darter"  of  many  authors, 
the  Plotus  anhinga  ^  of  ornitholog}',  and  is  the  type  of  a  small  but 
very  well-marked  Family  of  Birds,  Plotidm,  belonging  to  the  group 
Steganopodes,  and  consisting  of  but  a  single  genus  and  three  or 
four  species.  They  bear  a  general  resemblance  both  outwardly 
and  in  habits  to  Cormorants,  but  are  much  more  slender  in  form, 
and  have  both  neck  and  tail  much  elongated.  The  bill  also, 
instead  of  being  tipped  with  a  maxillary  hook,  has  its  edges  beset 
with  serratures  directed  backwards,   and  is   sharply  pointed, — in 

^  "Anhinga,"  according  to  Marcgrave,  who  first  described  this  bird  {Hist. 
Ear.  Nat.  Brasil,  p.  218),  was  the  name  it  bore  among  the  natives. 


SNAKE-BIRD 


88i 


this  respect,  as  well  as  in  the  attenuated  neck,  likening  the  Snake- 
birds  to  the  Herons  ;  but  the  latter  do  not  generally  transfix 
their  prey  as  do  the  former. 

The  male  of  the  American  species,  which  ranges  from  Illinois 
to  the  south  of  Brazil,  is  in  full  breeding-plumage  a  very  beautiful 
bird,  with  crimson  irides,  the  bare  skin  round  the  eyes  apple-green 
and  that  of  the  chin  orange,  the  head,  neck  and  most  part  of  the 
body  clothed  in  black  glossed  with  green  ;  but  down  each  side  of 
the  neck  runs  a  row  of  long  hair-like  white  feathers,  tinged  with 


Indian  Snake-bird.    After  Tiekell's  drawing  in  the  Zoological  Society's  library. 

pale  lilac.  The  much  elongated  scapi;lars  and  the  small  upper 
wing-coverts  bear  each  a  median  white  mark,  which  on  the  former 
is  a  stripe  pointed  at  either  end,  and  on  the  latter  a  broad  ovate 
patch. ^  The  larger  wing-coverts  are  dull  white,  but  the  quill- 
feathers  of  the  wings  and  tail  are  black,  the  last  broadly  tipped 
with  brownish-red,  passing  into  greyish-white,  and  forming  a  con- 
spicuous band  when  the  tail  is  spread  in  form  of  a  fan,  as  it  often 
is   under  water.-     The  hen  differs  much  in  appearance  from  the 

^  These  feathers  are  very  characteristic  of  each  species  of  the  genus,  and  in 
India,  says  Jerdon,  are  among  the  Khasias  a  badge  of  royaltj'. 

2  This  peculiarity,  first  pointed  out  to  me  by  Mr.  Bartlett,  who  observed 
it  in  birds  in  tlie  Zoological  Society's  possession,  doubtless  suggested  the  name 
of  "Water-Turkey"  by  which  in  some  places  Plotus  anhinga  is  said  to  be 
known. 

56 


882  SNAKE-BIRD 


cock,  having  the  head,  neck  and  breast  of  a  more  or  less  deep  buff, 
bounded  beneath  by  a  narrow  chestnut  band ;  but  otherwise  her 
plumage  is  like  that  of  her  mate,  only  not  so  bright  in  colour.  The 
habits  of  this  species  have  been  repeatedly  described  by  American 
writers,  and  those  of  its  congeners,  to  be  immediately  mentioned, 
seem  to  be  essentially  the  same.  The  Snake-bird  frequents  the 
larger  rivers  or  back-waters  connected  with  them,  where  it  may  be 
seen  resting  motionless  on  some  neighbouring  tree,  generally  choos- 
ing a  dead  branch,  or  on  a  "  snag "  projecting  from  the  bottom, 
whence  it  plunges  beneath  the  surface,  in  pursuit  of  its  fishy  prey, 
to  emerge,  in  the  manner  before  related,  shewing  little  more  than 
its  slender  head  and  neck.  Its  speed  and  skill  under  water  are 
almost  beyond  exaggeration,  and  it  exhibits  these  qualities  even  in 
captivity,  taking — apparently  without  effort — fish  after  fish  that 
may  be  introduced  into  its  tank,  however  rapidly  they  may  swim 
and  twist,  and  only  returning  to  its  perch  when  its  voracious  appe- 
tite is  for  the  moment  appeased  or  its  supply  of  food  temporarily 
exhausted.  Then,  after  adjusting  its  plumage  with  a  few  rapid 
passes  of  its  bill,  and  often  expanding  its  wings,  as  though.  Cor- 
morant-fashion, to  dry  them,  it  abandons  itself  to  the  pleasurable 
and  passive  process  of  digestion,  reawaking  to  activity  at  the  call 
of  hunger.  Yet  at  liberty  it  will  indulge  in  long  flights,  and  those 
of  the  male  at  the  breeding-season  are  ostentatiously  performed 
in  the  presence  of  his  mate,  around  whom  he  plays  in  irregular 
zigzag  courses.  The  nest  is  variously  placed,  but  almost  always 
in  trees  or  bushes  overhanging  the  water's  edge,  and  is  a  large 
structure  of  sticks,  roots  and  moss,  in  which  are  laid  four  eggs 
with  the  white  chalky  shell  that  is  so  characteristic  of  most 
Steganopodous  birds.  Not  unfrequently  several  or  even  many 
nests  are  built  close  together,  and  the  locality  that  suits  the  Snake- 
bird  suits  also  many  of  the  Herons,  so  that  these,  its  distant  rela- 
tives, are  often  also  its  near  neighbours.^  The  African  Snake-bird, 
P.  congensis  (or  levaillanti  of  some  authors),  inhabits  the  greater 
part  of  tliat  continent  from  Natal  northwards ;  but,  though  met 
with  on  the  White  Nile,  it  is  not  known  to  have  occurred  in  Egypt, 
a  fact  the  more  remarkable  seeing  that  Canon  Tristram  found  it 
breeding  in  considerable  numbers  on  the  Lake  of  Antioch,  to  which 
it  is  a  summer- visitor,  and  it  can  hardly  reach  its  home  without 
passing  over  the  intervening  country.  The  male  is  easily  dis- 
tinguishable from  that  of  the  American  species  by  its  rufous 
coronal  patch,  its  buff  throat  and  its  chestnut  greater  wing-coverts. 
A  third  species,  P.  melanogaster,  ranges  from  Madagascar  to  India, 

^  The  cnrious  but  apparently  well-attested  fact  of  the  occurrence  in  England, 
near  Poole,  in  June  1851,  of  a  male  bird  of  this  species  [Zoologist,  pp.  3601, 
3654)  has  been  overlooked  by  several  writers  who  profess  to  mention  all  cases  of 
a  similar  character. 


SNIPE  883 

Ceylon,  Borneo,  Java  and  China.  This  so  closely  resembles  the 
last-mentioned  that  the  differences  between  them  cannot  be  briefly 
expressed.^  The  Australian  Region  also  has  its  Snake-bird,  which 
is  by  some  regarded  as  forming  a  fourth  species,  P.  novee-hoUandias ; 
but  others  unite  it  to  that  last-mentioned,  which  is  perhaps  some- 
what variable,  and  it  would  seem  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1877,  p.  349) 
that  examples  from  New  Guinea  diff"er  somewhat  from  those  in- 
habiting Australia  itself. 

The  anatomy  of  the  genus  Plotus  has  been  dealt  with  more 
fully  than  that  of  most  forms.  Beside  the  excellent  description 
of  the  American  bird's  alimentary  canal  furnished  to  Audubon  by 
Macgillivray,  other  important  points  in  its  structure  have  been 
well  set  forth  by  Garrod  and  Forbes  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  pp. 
335-345,  pis.  xxvi.-xxviii. ;  1878,  pp.  679-681;  and  1882,  pp. 
208-212),  shewing  among  other  things  that  there  is  an  appreciable 
anatomical  difference  between  the  species  of  the  New  World  and 
of  the  Old ;  while  the  osteology  of  P.  melanogaster  has  been  admir- 
ably described  and  illustrated  by  Prof.  Milne-Edwards  in  M. 
Grandidier's  great  work  {Ois.  Madag.  pp.  691-695,  pis.  284,  285). 
In  all  the  species  the  neck  aff"ords  a  feature  which  seems  to  be 
unique.  The  first  seven  of  the  cervical  vertebrae  form  a  continuous 
curve  with  its  concavity  forward,  but  the  eighth  articulates  with 
the  seventh  nearly  at  a  right  angle,  and,  when  the  bird  is  at  rest, 
lies  horizontally.  The  ninth  is  directed  downwards  almost  as 
abruptly,  and  those  which  succeed  present  a  gentle  forward  con- 
vexity. The  muscles  moving  this  curious  framework  are  as 
curiously  specialized,  and  the  result  of  the  whole  piece  of  mechanism 
is  to  enable  the  bird  to  spear  with  facility  its  fishy  prey. 

SNIPE,  or  SNITE — the  latter  being  also  its  Anglo-Saxon  form 
(Icel.  SnijM,  Dutch  Snip,  Germ.  Schnepfe) — one  of  the  commonest 
Limicoline  birds,  in  high  repute  no  less  for  the  table  than  for  the 
exciting  sport  it  affords.  It  is  the  Scolopax  gallinago  of  Linnaeus, 
but  by  many  later  writers  separated  from  that  genus,  the  type  of 
which  is  the  WOODCOCK,  and  hence  has  been  variously  named 
Gallinago  cselestis,  G.  media,  or  G.  scolopacina.  Though  considerable 
numbers  are  still  bred  in  the  British  Islands,  notwithstanding  the 
diminished  area  suitable  for  them,  most  of  those  that  fall  to  the 
gun  are  undoubtedly  of  foreign  origin,  arriving  from  Scandinavia 
towards  the  close  of  the  summer  or  later,  and  many  will  outstay 
the  winter  if  the  weather  be  not  too  severe,  while  the  home-bred 
birds  emigrate  in  autumn  to  return  the  following  spring.  Of  late 
years  our  markets  have  been  chiefly  supplied  from  abroad,  mostly 
from  Holland. 

^  Remains  of  a  still  smaller  species,  P.  nanus,  now  extinct,  have  been  found 
in  Mauritius  (Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  xiii.  p.  288). 


884 


SNIPE 


The  .  Snipe  is  fortunately  too  well  known  to  need  description, 
for  a  description  of  its  variegated  plumage,  if  attempted,  would  be 
long.  It  may  be  noticed,  however,  as  subject  to  no  inconsiderable 
variation,  especially  in  the  extent  of  dai'k  markings  on  the  belly, 
flanks  and  axillaries,  while  examples  are  occasionally  seen  in  which 
no  trace  of  white,  and  hardly  any  of  buff  or  grey,  is  visible, — the 
place  of  these  tints  being  taken  by  several  shades  of  chocolate- 
brown.  Such  examples  were  long  considered  to  form  a  distinct 
species^  the  B.  sabinii,  but  its  invalidity  is  now  generally  admitted. 
No  fewer  than  55  specimens  of  this  abnormality  have  been  reckoned 
by  Mr.  Barrett-Hamilton  (Irish  Nat.  1895,  pp.  12-17),  and  every  one 
as  yet  examined  seems  to  be  a  bird  of  the  year.  Other  examples 
in  which  buff  or  rust-colour  predominates  have  also  been  deemed 
distinct,  and  to  these  has  been  applied  the  epithet  russata.  Again, 
a  slight  deviation  from  the  ordinary  formation  of  the  tail,  whose 
rectrices  normally  number  14,  and  present  a  rounded  termination, 
has  led  to  the  belief  in  a  species,  S.  brehmi,  now  wholly  discredited. 
But,  setting  aside  two  European  species,  to  be  presently  noticed 
more  particularly,  there  are  at  least  a  score,  more  or  less  nearly 
allied,  belonging  to  various  parts  of  the  world,  for  no  considerable 
territory  is  without  its  representative.  Thus  North  America  pro- 
duces G.  delicata  or  wilsoni,  so  like  the  English  Snipe  as  not  to  be 
easily  distinguished  except  by  the  possession  of  16  rectrices,  and 
Australia  has  G.  australis,  a  larger  and  somewhat  differently 
coloured  bird  with  18  rectrices.  India,  while  affording  a  winter 
resort  to  multitudes  of  the  common  species,  which  besides  Europe 
extends  its  breeding-range  over  the  whole  of  northern  Asia,  has 
the  so-called  Pin-tailed  Snipe,  G.  stenura,  in  which  the  number  of 
rectrices  is  still  greater,  varying  from  20  to  28,  it  is  said,  though 
22  seems  to  be  the  usual  number.  This  curious  variability,  deserv- 
ing more  attention  than  it  has  yet  received,  only  occurs  in  the  outer 
feathers  of  the  series,  which  are  narrow  in  form  and  extremely  stiff, 
there  being  always  10  in  the  middle  of  ordinary  breadth. 

Those  who  only  know  the  Snipe  as  it  shews  itself  in  the  shoot- 
ing-season, when  without  warning  it  rises  from  the  boggy  ground 
uttering  a  sharp  note  that  sounds  like  sca])e,  scape,  and,  after  a 
few  rapid  twists,  darts  away,  if  it  be  not  brought  down  by  the  gun, 
to  disappear  in  the  distance  after  a  desultory  flight,  have  no  con- 
ception of  the  bird's  behaviour  at  breeding-time.  Then,  though 
flushed  quite  as  suddenly,  it  will  fly  round  the  intruder,  at  times 
almost  hovering  over  his  head.  But,  if  he  have  patience,  he  will 
see  it  mount  aloft  and  there  execute  a  series  of  aerial  evolutions  of 
an  astounding  kind.  After  wildly  circling  about,  and  reaching  a 
height  at  which  it  appears  a  mere  speck,  where  it  winnows  a  random 
zigzag  course,  it  abruptly  shoots  downwards  and  aslant,  and  then 
as  abruptly  stops  to  regain  its  former  elevation,  and  this  process 


SNIPE  885 

it  repeats  many  times.  A  few  seconds,  more  or  less  according  to 
distance,  after  each  of  these  headlong  descents  a  mysterious  sound 
strikes  his  ear — compared  by  some  to  drumming  and  by  others  to 
the  bleating  of  a  sheep  or  goat,^  which  sound  evidently  comes 
from  the  bird  as  it  shoots  downwards,  and  then  only ;  but  how  the 
sound  is  made  is  a  question  on  which  many  persons  are  still  unde- 
cided. There  are  those  who  maintain  that  it  proceeds  from  the 
throat,  while  some  declare  it  is  produced  by  the  wings,  which 
sharp -sighted  observers  say  they  can  see  in  tremulous  motion. 
Others,  again,  assert  that  it  is  caused  by  the  vibration  of  the  webs 
of  the  outer  rectrices,  and  these  last  have  in  support  of  their 
opinion  the  fact  that  a  similar  sound  may  be  made  by  affixing  those 
feathers  to  the  end  of  a  rod  and  drawing  them  rapidly  downwards 
in  the  same  position  as  they  occupy  in  the  bird's  tail  while  it  is 
performing  the  feat.^  But,  however  it  be  produced,  the  air  will 
also  ring  with  loud  notes  that  have  been  syllabled  tinker,  tinker, 
tinker,  while  other  notes  in  a  different  key,  something  like  djepp, 
djepp,  djepp  rapidly  uttered,  may  be  heard  as  if  in  response.  The 
nest  is  always  on  the  ground  and  is  a  rather  deep  hollow  wrought 
in  a  tuft  of  herbage,  and  lined  with  dry  grass-leaves.  The  eggs 
are  four  in  number,  of  a  dark  olive  colour,  blotched  and  spotted 
with  rich  brown.  The  young  when  freshly  hatched  are  beautifully 
clothed  in  down  of  a  dark  maroon,  variegated  with  black,  white 
and  buff. 

The  Double  or  Solitary  Snipe  of  English  sportsmen,  aS'.  major,  a 
larger  species,  also  inhabits  northern  Europe  and  may  be  readily  re- 
cognized by  the  white  bars  on  its  wings  and  by  its  1 6  or  occasionally 
18  rectrices.  It  has  also  a  very  different  behaviour.  When  flushed 
it  rises  without  alarm -cry,  and  flies  heavily.  In  the  breeding- 
season  much  of  its  love-performance  is  exhibited  on  the  ground,  and 
the  sounds  to  which  it  gives  rise  are  of  another  character ;  but  the 
exact  way  in  which  its  "drumming"  is  effected  has  not  been  ascer- 
tained. Its  gesticulations  at  this  time  have  been  well  described  by 
Prof.  Collett  in  a  communication  to  Mr.  Dresser's  Birds  of  Europe 
(vii.  pp.  635-637).  It  visits  C4reat  Britain  every  year  at  the  close 
of  summer,  but  in  very  small  numbers,  and  is  almost  always  seen 
singly — not  uncommonly  in  places  where  no  one  could  expect  to 
find  a  Snipe. 

^  Hence  in  many  languages  tlie  Snipe  is  known  by  names  signifying  "Flying 
Goat,"  "Heaven's  Ram,"  as  in  Scotland  by  "  Heather  -  bleater. "  One  may 
almost  suspect  that  the  aiyoKi^aXos  of  the  ancients  was  really  this  bird,  though 
the  applicability  of  the  name  would  be  unknown  to  any  one  unacquainted  with 
its  breeding  habits. 

2  Cf.  Meves,  CE/vers.  K.  Vet.-Akad.  Fork.  1856,  pp.  275-277  (transl.  Nav,man. 
nia,  1858,  pp.  116,  117),  and  Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1858,  p.  202,  with  Wolley'a 
remarks  thereon,  and  Zool.  Garten,  1876,  pp.  204-208. 


886  SNIPE 

The  third  species  of  which  any  details  can  here  be  given  is  the 
Jack/  or  Half-Snipe,  ;S'.  gallinnla,  one  of  the  smallest  and  most 
beautifully  coloured  of  the  group.  Without  being  so  numerous  as  the 
common  or  full  tSnipe,  it  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Great  Britain 
from  September  to  April  (and  occasionally  both  earlier  and  later)  ; 
but  it  breeds  only,  so  far  as  is  known,  in  northern  Scandinavia  and 
Russia;  and  the  first  trustworthy  information  of  that  subject  was 
obtained  by  Wolley  in  June  1853,  when  he  found  several  of  its  nests 
near  Muonioniska  in  Lapland.-  Instead  of  rising  wildly  as  do  most 
of  its  allies,  it  generally  lies  so  close  as  to  let  itself  be  almost  trodden 
upon,  and  then  takes  wing  silently,  to  alight  at  a  short  distance  (if 
it  escai)e  the  gun),  and  to  return  to  the  same  place  on  the  morrow. 
In  the  breeding-season,  however,  it  is  as  noisy  and  conspicuous  as 
its  larger  brethren  Avhile  executing  its  aerial  evolutions. 

As  a  group  the  Snipes  are  in  several  respects  highly  specialized, 

but  here  there  is  only 
s})ace  to  mention  the 
sensitiveness  of  the 
bill,  which,  though  to 
some  extent  notice- 
able in   many  Sand- 

BiLL  OF  Skipe  from  the  side  and  beneath.  iiTTir^i^c.     4^     ;„     Q„,",,„ 

,..,,,    .       ,  PIPERS    is    in   bnipes 

(After  Swamson.)  .  ^ 

carried  to  an  extreme 
by  a  number  of  filaments,  belonging  to  the  fifth  pair  of  nerves, 
which  run  almost  to  the  tip,  and  open  immediately  under  the  soft 
cuticle  in  a  series  of  cells  that  give  this  portion  of  the  surface  of 
the  premaxillaries,  when  exposed,  a  honeycomb-like  appearance. 
Thus  the  bill  becomes  a  most  delicate  organ  of  sensation,  and  by 
its  means  the  bird,  while  probing  for  food,  is  at  once  able  to  dis- 
tinguish the  nature  of  the  ol)jects  it  encounters,  though  these  are 
wholly  out  of  sight.  So  far  as  is  known,  the  sternum  of  all  the 
Snipes,  except  the  Jack-Sni^^e,  departs  from  the  normal  Limicoline 
formation,  a  fact  which  tends  to  justify  the  removal  of  that  species 
to  a  separate  genus,  Linmocri/ptcs. 

The  so-called  Painted  Snipes,  forming  the  genus  ItiMratula,  or 
Bhynchcea,  demand  a  few  words.  Three  species  are  now  admitted, 
natives  respectively  of  South  America,  Africa  and  southern  Asia, 

^  Though  tliis  word  is  cleai'ly  not  intended  as  a  nickname,  such  as  is  tlie 
prefix  \^liich  custom  has  ai>plied  to  many  birds,  one  can  oidy  guess  at  its  origin 
or  meaning.  It  may  be,  as  in  Jackass,  an  indication  of  sex,  for  it  is  a  popular 
belief  that  the  Jack-Snipe  is  the  male  of  the  common  species  ;  or,  again,  it  niay 
refer  to  the  comparatively  small  size  of  the  bird,  as  the  "jack"  in  the  game  of 
bowls  is  the  smallest  of  the  IidwIs  used,  and  as  fishermen  call  the  smaller  Pikes 
Jacks.      Possibly  this  may  account  for  Curlew- Jack  as  a  name  of  the  Whimiuiki,. 

-  His  account  was  published  by  Hewitson  in  May  1855  [Eygs  Br.  Birds,  ed. 
3,  ii.  i>ix  356-358). 


SNO  W-BIRD— SOLITAIRE  887 

and  Australia.     In  all  of  these  it  appears  that  the  female  is  larger 
and  more  brilliantly  coloured  than  the  male,  and  in  the  last  two 

species    she   is   further    dis- 
tinguished by  what  in  most 
]>irds  is  emphatically  a  mas- 
^^^  — -  -    online  property,   though   its 

,  .     „    .  use     is    here     unknown, — 

Bill  of  Painted  Snipe.     (After  bwainson.) 

namely  a  complex  trachea, 
while  the  male  has  that  organ  simple.  He  is  also  believed  to 
undertake  the  duty  of  incubation. 

SNOW-BIRD,  a  name  variously  applied  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  but  perhaps  originally  to  the  Snow-BUNTING,  Pledrophanes 
nivalis,  which  is  also  known  as  SNOW-FINCH  (through  that  name 
being  by  some  writers  assigned  to  Montifringillo,  nivalis  of  the  Alps, 
which  is  often  mistaken  for  it)  and  '  SNOW-FLAKE.  SNOW- 
COCK  is  an  Anglo-Indian  name  for  TetraoqaJlus  Jiimalayensis, 
which  others  call  SNOW-PARTRIDGE  or  SNOW-PHEASANT, 
but  the  last  is  restricted  by  some  to  the  birds  of  the  beautiful  genus 
Crossojjtilwn, 

SOLAN-GOOSE  (Icel.  Sula,  Gael.  Siilaire),  often  spelt  Soland, 
a  very  common  name  for  the  Gannet.  The  supposition  that  the 
bird  takes  its  name  from  the  channel  known  as  the  Solent  has 
nothing  to  justify  it. 

SOLDIER-BIRD,  a  name  in  Australia  for  Myzomela  sanguinoleuta, 
also  called  Blood-bird  (p.  44),  one  of  the  3Ieliphagidm  (Honey- 
eater,  p.  428). 

SOLITAIRE,^  the  name  used  by  the  French  colonists  for  the 
Didine  bird  of  Bourbon  (Extermination,  p.  217),  as  we  learn 
from  Du  Bois  (Voyages  fails  par  le  Sieur  D.  B.  Paris  :  1674,  p.  170) 
and  Carre  {Voyages  dans  les  Indes  Orientales,  Paris  :  1699,  i.  p.  12) 
who  were  there  in  1668  and  the  following  years.  In  1691  Leguat 
arrived  in  Rodriguez,  Avhere  he  resided  more  than  two  years,  and 
in  the  narrative  of  his  adventures  he  applied  the  same  name  to  the 
Didine  bird  he  found  there,  of  which  he  is  ^the  first  known  to  have 
given   an  account.'     This  was  rescued  from  obscurity  by  Buffon's 

^  According  to  Littre  the  first  application  of  the  word  to  a  Bii'd  is  in  the 
Psalter  (Ps.  101,  8,  or  102,  7  of  the  Anglican  version),  the  species  there  men- 
tioned having  been  long  identified  with  the  Blue  Rock -Thrush,  Monticola 
cyamis.  The  name  is  also  used  in  Jamaica  (Gosse,  B.  Jam.  p.  200)  for  Myiadectes 
soHtarius,  possibly  one  of  the  A  mpdidse,  and  has  been  carried  on  by  Dr.  Sliarpe 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mua.  vi.  pp.  370-377)  to  other  species  of  the  genus. 

-  I  cannot  but  suspect  there  was  some  other,  from  what  is  said  of  a  land-bird 
that  could  not  fly  by  the  author  of  Tlie  Isle  of  Fines,  a  fictitious  work  ascribed  by 
Wood  {Athen.  Oxon.  918  ;  cf.  Rigg,  Diet.  Nat.  Biogr.  xl.  pp.  259,  260)  to  Henry 
Nev-ile,  of  which  two  editions  appeared  in  1668,     Herbert  {A  llelation  of  some 


Cf-  ecrW^at 


888 


SOLITAIRE 


great  work  in  1770,  though  the  writer  ^  regarded  much  of  it  as 
fabulous,  and  hence,  through  Latham,  Gmelin  in  1788  accorded 
technical  recognition  to  Leguat's  bird  as  Didus  solitarius,  while 
Strickland,  sixty  years  after,  referring  it  to  a  distinct  genus, 
Pezophap.%  continued  the  latter's  name  for  it  as  an  English  word. 

For  want  of  space  the  de- 
lightful account  given  by  its 
discoverer  cannot  be  here 
reproduced.'^  Except  a 
brief  notice  by  D'Heguerty 
(Mem.  Soc.  Sc.  Nancy,  i. 
p.  79)  in  1751,  which  adds 
little  to  Leguat's  account, 
and  a  manuscript  report  by 
Pingre,  who  observed  the 
transit  of  Venus  of  1761 
in  Rodriguez,  to  the  effect 
that  the  bird  was  then  sup- 
posed still  to  exist  though 
withdrawn  to  the  most 
inaccessible    parts    of    the 


yeeres'  Travaile,  p.  211)  must 
have  heard  of  it  in  1634  or 
earlier,  but  thought  it  was  the 
Dodo  (p.  15S),  which  certainly 
was  not  in  "Dygarroys"  (  = 
Rodriguez),  tliough  it  possibly 
gave  the  hint  to  Nevile. 

1  In  the  "Table"  of  the 
original  edition  the  article  is 
assigned  to  Buffon;  butSonnini, 
in  his  edition  (iv.  p.  343),  says 
it  was  by  Gueneau  de  Mont- 
beillard. 

^  Voyage  et  avantures  de 
Fran<;ois    Leguat,    &c.    2   vols. 


Solitaire  of  Rodriguez.    (After  Leguat.) 


Londres :  1708.  An  English  translation,  made,  according  to  Fennell  {Field-Nat. 
ii.  p.  185,  note),  by  one  Thompson,  appeared  in  London  the  same  year ;  and  this 
has  been  edited  for  the  Hakluyt  Society  (in  2  vols.  1891)  with  notes  and  many 
additional  illustrations  by  Ca})t.  Oliver.  Copious  extracts  from  both  French  and 
English  versions  are  given  by  Strickland  ( The  Dodo  and  its  Kindred,  pp.  46-50), 
and  some  passages  have  often  been  i-eprinted  elsewhere.  A  Dutch  translation 
was  published  at  Utrecht  in  1708,  and  a  German  at  Frankfurt  and  Leipzig  in 
1709.  A  mutilated  French  version  appeared  at  Paris,  without  date,  but  after 
1759,  and  was  reissued  there  in  1883,  with  notes  by  M.  Eugene  MuUer.  M. 
Theodore  Sauzier  has  done  a  great  service  to  the  admirers  of  Leguat  by  discovering 
and  reprinting  a  very  rare  tract  to  which  he  refers,  Unprojetde  repuhlique  (Paris  : 
1887),  written  by  Du  Quesne  and  published  anonymously  at  Amsterdam  in  1689. 


SOLITAIRE  889 


island/  the  only  other  documentary  evidence  forthcoming  is  in  an 
anonymous  manuscript  Relation  de  Vile  Kodrigue  discovered,  in  1874 
by  Mr.  Eouillard  of  Mauritius,  in  the  archives  of  the  Ministry  of 
Marine  at  Paris  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1875,  pp.  39-42),  and  believed 
by  Prof.  Milne-Edwards  (Comptes  liendns,  Ixxx.  pp.  1212-1216,  and 
An.  Sc.  Nat.  ser.  6,  ii.  art.  4)  to  have  been  written  about  1729.  Even 
this  does  not  say  very  much  of  the  Solitaire,  though  a  great  deal  con- 
cerning other  birds  of  the  island,  and  we  are  thrown  back  on 
Leguat's  description,  the  accuracy  of  which,  so  long  impugned,  has 
been  wonderfully  confirmed  by  recent  discoveries.  So  early  as  1789 
certain  bones  encrusted  with  stalagmite  and  obtained  from  a  cave  in 
Rodriguez  by  a  resident  named  Labistour,  came  into  the  hands  of 
Desjardins,  who  in  1830  sent  five  of  them  to  Cuvier.  He,  believing 
them  to  be  those  of  the  Dodo,  and  to  have  been  found  in  Mauritius 
under  a  bed  of  lava,  laid  them  before  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences 
{Rev.  Bibliogr.  Ann.  Sc.  Nat.  1830,  p.  104;  Edmh.  Joiirn.  Nat.  Sc. 
iii.  p.  31) ;  but  their  true  story  was  presently  told  to  the  Mauritian 
Society  by  Desjardins  himself  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1832,  p.  111).  In 
1831  Mr.  Eudes,  at  the  instance  of  Telfair,  dug  from  the  same  cave 
a  dozen  bones  {op.  cit.  1833,  p.  31),  six  of  which  were  given  to  the 
Andersonian  Museum  of  Glasgow,  and  five  (now  in  the  British 
Museum)  to  the  Zoological  Society,  while  a  sixth  was  subsequently 
presented  by  Bojer  to  Strickland,  together  with  one  from  the 
older  "find"  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  2,  iv.  p.  326).^  Three  other 
bones,  more  or  less  imperfect,  probably  obtained  by  Telfair,  were 
in  1860  sent  from  the  Museum  at  Port  Louis  by  Bouton,  who 
rightly  determined  them,  to  Owen,  in  whose  possession  they  re- 
mained till  1877,  when  he  handed  them  to  Sir  Edward  Newton, 
to  be  returned  to  their  proper  place.^  Thus  just  21 
specimens  of  bones  ascribed  to  this  bird  were  known  to  exist  when 
the  gentleman  last  named  visited  Rodriguez,  and  entering  a  cave 
on  the  2nd  November  1864,  with  the  intention  of  seeking  for 
more,  happily  found  two  —  one  fragmentary  the  other  perfect, 
while  Capt.  Barclay  afterwards  gave  him  a  third  which  he  had  picked 
up  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1865,  pp.  199-201;  Ibis,  1865,  p.  152).  En- 
couraged by  this  discovery.  Sir  Edward  persuaded  Mr.  .Tenner,  the 
resident  magistrate  in  the  island,  to  make  further  search,  with  the 

^  This  astronomer  and  his  colleague  Le  Monnier  dedicated  a  southern  con- 
stellation to  the  Solitaire  ;  hut  instead  of  tracing  its  outline,  as  they  might  well 
have  done  from  Leguat's  figure,  they  followed  the  ecclesiastical  tradition  and 
chose  that  given  by  Brisson  (Orn.  ii.  fol.  xxviii.  fig.  1)  of  the  Philippine  Rock- 
Thrush,  Mmiticola  solitarius. 

^  These  two  last  are  now  in  the  Cambridge  Museum. 

^  Owen  was  wholly  wrong  in  his  belief  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  vii.  p.  519,  note; 
Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  4,  ix.  pp.  168,  241,  321)  that  he  had  returned  these 
specimens  before. 


890  SOLITAIRE 


result  that  85  more  specimens  were  obtained  in  the  following  year 
{Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1865,  pp.  715-718).  Moreover,  the  British  Associa- 
tion was  induced  by  Mr.  Sclater  to  supply  Sir  Edward  with  the 
means  of  more  extended  exploration,  and  this,  carried  on  by  Mr. 
Jenner's  orders,  under  the  supervision  of  Sergeant  Morris,  pro- 
duced nearly  2000  examples,  which  were  in  due  time  described 
and  figured  {Phil.  Trans.  1869,  pp.  327-362,  pis.  xv.-xxiv.)  That 
the  results  obtained  were  important  needs  hardly  to  be  said,  but  in 
nothing  were  they  more  striking  than  in  the  testimony  they  bore 
to  the  truth  of  Leguat's  account  of  the  bird,  even  in  parts  which 
had  been  thought  too  extraordinary  for  belief  : — the  rugosity  at  the 
base  of  the  bill  indicated  a  caruncular  ridge  that  he  likened  to  "a 
widow's  peak "  and  represented  in  his  figure :  the  curved  outline 
of  the  pelvis  is  in  accordance  with  the  bird's  "  hind  part "  being 
"  rounded  like  the  crupper  of  a  horse " :  the  long  neck  and  legs 
could  not  fail  to  produce  "  their  fine  mien "  and  the  "  stateliness 
and  good  grace  "  with  which  they  walked  :  but,  more  unexpected 
than  anything  else  was  the  "  little  round  mass "  of  bone  on  the 
wing  "  as  big  as  a  musket  ball " — largely  developed  in  the  males 
and  forming  a  formidable  weapon  in  the  combats  which  took  place 
among  rivals.  All  this,  together  with  the  difference  of  the  sexes  in 
size  ^  which,  though  not  positively  stated,  may  be  inferred  from  his 
words,  was  just  as  he  had  said ;  and  the  variability  of  colour  he  had 
noticed  in  the  females — "  some  fair,  some  brown  "—was  paralleled 
by  the  marvellous  variability  displayed  by  almost  every  bone  of  the 
skeleton.  Mr.  Jenner  was  good  enough  to  continue  his  services, 
and  at  least  as  many  more  specimens  were  obtained  from  the  caves 
in  1871.  On  the  occasion  of  the  Transit  of  Venus  Expedition  to 
Rodriguez  in  1874,  Mr.  H.  H.  Slater  was  commissioned  by  the 
Royal  Society  to  renew  the  exploration,  and  brought  back  a 
collection  as  large  as  his  predecessors  had  obtained,  which  to- 
gether with  the  second  acquisition  of  Mr.  Jenner  was  dealt  with 
by  Sir  E.  Newton  and  Mr.  J,'  W.  Clark  {Phil.  Trans,  clxviii.  pp. 
448-451),  while  in  1875  the  late  Mr.  J.  Caldwell  visited  the 
island  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1875,  pp.  644-647)  and  excavated  for  him- 
self not  only  at  least  two  complete  skeletons  (since  unhappily  lost) 
but  also  found  associated  with  them  3  or  4  examples  of  the 
stone  which  Leguat  had  said  the  bird  always  bore  in  its  gizzard 
{oj>.  cit.  1878,  p.  291)  and  thus  crowned  the  work  of  establishing 
his  veracity. 

Notwithstanding  Leguat's  description  and  the  fact  that  we  know 

'  This  sexual  inequality  was  first  recognized  by  Sir  E.  Newton  ;  but  not 
until  it  had  misled  Mr.  Bartlett  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1851,  pp.  280-284,  pi.  xlv.), 
Strickland  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  iv.  pp.  187-196,  pi.  55)  and  myself.  Even  after  my 
brother  had  shewn  it,  Sir  R.  Owen  fell  into  the  same  error,  which  he  subse- 
quently but  tacitly  acknowledged  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  5,  i.  p.  94). 


SOLITAIRE  891 


almost  every  boue  ^  of  the  Solitaire's  skeleton,  it  is  not  easy  to 
picture  its  appearance  in  our  imagination.  Whatever  be  its  source, 
the  figure  given  by  him,  and  here  reproduced  as  the  only  one 
professing  any  originality,  must  be  a  caricature,^  for  it  wholly  wants 
the  beauty  which  he  says  was  so  characteristic  of  the  bird.  All 
that  can  be  said  with  certainty  seems  to  be  that  it  had  nothing  of 
the  clumsiness  nor  the  prodigious  beak  of  the  Dodo,  while  the  head 
was  rather  flat  than  elevated  at  the  top.  The  largest  males 
weighed  from  40  to  50  lbs.  and  must  have  stood  fully  2  feet  9 
inches  high  ;  the  females  were  shorter  by  at  least  six  inches.  The 
general  colour  of  the  former  was  brownish -grey,  darker  on  the 
back ;  while  the  latter  varied  from  'blonde  to  hrunette,  with  the 
swelling  breast  much  whiter.  The  eyes  were  black,  and  according 
to  the  anonymous  author  of  the  Relation  before  cited  the  frontal 
band  was  like  black  velvet,  and  black  indeed  it  appears  in  Leguat's 
figure,  though  he  is  commonly  understood  to  say  that  it  was  of  a 
tan  colour,  but  his  language  seems  open  to  the  meaning  that  it  was 
the  bill  which  was  of  that  tint.  The  flank  feathers  were  thick  and 
rounded  at  the  end  like  shells,  but  generally  the  plumage  must  have 
been  soft  ("ni  plumes  ni  polls")  and  it  was  kept  extremely  neat. 
So  much  for  the  appearance  of  the  birds,  of  their  habits  it  may  be 
said  that  they  were  generally  found  singly  or  in  pairs,  but  the 
young,  of  which  only  one  seems  to  have  been  hatched  yearly, 
accompanied  its  parents  for  some  time.  The  nest  was  a  heap  of 
palm-leaves,  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  and  therein  a  single  egg  was 
laid,  both  parents  incubating  it  in  turn.  The  male  birds  were  very 
pugnacious,  and  the  number  of  bones  that  had  been  broken  and 
united  during  life  contained  in  the  collections  brought  to  this 
country  is  very  considerable,  shewing  the  eff"ects  of  the  cestus-Y\ke 
armature  of  the  wing.  The  quarrels  were  no  doubt  between  rival 
birds,  and  they  indulged  in  curious  gesticulations,  whirling  round 
20  or  30  times  in  succession,  during  which  time  they  made 
a  loud  noise  with  their  wings.  It  would  seem  too  that  between 
the  time  of  Leguat  and  that  of  the  later  observers  the  birds  had 
learnt  to  resent  injurious  treatment  by  biting. 

^  The  hyoids,  the  tip  of  the  wing  and  the  tail  are,  I  think,  the  only  exceptions. 

^  Leguat's  figures  are  neither  works  of  art  nor  of  authority,  and  no  doubt 
contributed  to  the  ill  repute  under  which  he  so  long  laboured.  His  marvellous 
^^  Giant"  is  obviously  taken  from  an  engraving  by  Francis  Barlow  (c/.  Rowley, 
Orn.  Miscell.  ii.  p.  132),  which  is  itself  but  a  poor  copy  of  one  by  Adrian  Collaert 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1875,  p.  194).  Schlegel's  restoration  of  the  Solitaire  {Album 
der  Nahmr,  1854,  Aflev.  ii.  p.  344)  is  vitiated  by  his  mistaken  belief  in  the 
Struthious  affinity  of  the  Dididse.  Still  it  is  tlie  work  of  an  artist  and  an  orni- 
thologist, which  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  one  (produced,  I  believe,  in  France 
but  by  Avhom  I  know  not)  that  has  of  late  years  obtained  a  popular  circulation, 
as  often  happens  with  inferior  work,  and  must  be  at  least  as  wide  of  the  mark  as 
Leguat's, 


892  SONG 

These  are  meagre  details,  but  they  amount  to  more  than  we 
know  of  the  Dodo,  while  perhaps  no  species  has  had  its  osteology 
examined  on  so  great  a  scale  as  the  Solitaire. 

SONG  plays  a  most  important  part  in  the  economy  of  Birds, 
though  the  word  in  a  treatise  like  this  has  to  be  used  in  a  general 
sense,  and  not  limited  to  the  vocal  sounds  uttered  by  not  more  than 
a  moiety  of  the  feathered  races  which  charm  us  by  the  strains  they 
pour  from  their  vibrating  throat  {cf.  Syrinx), — strains  indeed  denied 
by  the  scientific  musician  to  come  under  cognizance  as  appertaining 
to  his  art,  but  strains  which  in  all  countries  and  in  all  ages  have 
conveyed  a  feeling  of  true  pleasure  to  the  human  hearer,  and 
strains  of  which  by  common  consent,  in  the  Old  World  at  least, 
the  Nightingale  is  the  consummate  master.  It  is  necessary  in 
a  scientific  spirit  to  regard  every  sound  made  by  a  Bird  under 
the  all-powerful  influence  of  love  or  lust  as  a  "  Song."  It  seems 
impossible  to  draAv  any  but  an  arbitrary  line  between  the  deep 
booming  of  the  Emeu,  the  harsh  cry  of  the  Guillemot  (which, 
proceeding  from  a  thousand  throats,  strikes  the  distant  ear  in  a  con- 
fused murmur  like  the  roar  of  a  tumultuous  crowd),  the  plaintive 
wail  of  the  Lapwing,  the  melodious  whistle  of  the  Wigeon,  "  the 
Cock's  shrill  clarion,"  the  CuCKOw's  "wandering  voice,"  the  scream  of 
the  Eagle,  the  hoot  of  the  Owl,  the  solemn  chime  of  the  Bellbird, 
the  whip-cracking  of  the  Manakin,  the  Chaffinch's  joyous  burst, 
or  the  hoarse  croak  of  the  Raven,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  bleat- 
ing of  the  Snipe  or  the  drumming  of  the  Ruffed  Grouse,  on  the 
other.  Innumerable  are  the  forms  which  such  utterances  take. 
In  many  birds  the  sounds  are  due  to  a  combination  of  vocal  and 
instrumental  powers,  or,  as  in  the  cases  last  mentioned,  to  the  latter 
only.  But  however  produced — and  of  the  machinery  whereby 
they  are  accomplished  this  is  not  the  place  to  speak — all  have 
the  same  cause  and  the  same  effect.  The  former  has  been  already 
indicated,  and  the  latter  is  its  consummation.  Almost  coinstan- 
taneously  with  the  hatching  of  the  Nightingale's  brood,  the  song  of 
the  sire  is  hushed,  and  the  notes  to  which  we  have  for  weeks 
hearkened  with  rapt  admiration  are  changed  to  a  guttural  croak, 
expressive  of  alarm  and  anxiety,  inspiring  a  sentiment  of  the  most 
opposite  character.  No  greater  contrast  can  be  imagined,  and  no 
instance  can  be  cited  which  more  completely  points  out  the  purpose 
which  Song  fulfils  in  the  economy  of  the  bird,  for  if  the  Nightin- 
gale's nest  at  this  early  time  be  destroyed  or  its  contents  removed, 
the  cock  speedily  recovers  his  voice,  and  his  favourite  haunts  again 
resound  to  his  bewitching  strains.  For  them  his  mate  is  content 
again  to  undergo  the  wearisome  round  of  nest-building  and  incuba- 
tion. But  should  some  days  elapse  before  disaster  befalls  their 
callow  care,  his   constitution  undergoes  a   change   and  no  second 


SONG  893 

attempt  to  rear  a  family  is  made.  It  would  seem  as  though  a  mild 
temperature,  and  the  abundance  of  food  by  which  it  is  generally 
accompanied,  prompt  the  physiological  alteration  that  inspires 
the  males  of  most  birds  to  indulge  in  the  Song  peculiar  to  them. 
Thus  after  the  accomplishment  of  the  annual  MOULT,  the  most 
critical  epoch  in  the  life  of  any  bird,  cock  Thrushes,  Skylarks 
and  others  begin  to  sing,  not  indeed  wdth  the  jubilant  voice  of 
spring,  but  in  an  uncertain  cadence  which  is  quickly  silenced  by 
the  supervention  of  cold  weather.^  Yet  some  birds  we  have  which, 
except  during  the  season  of  moult,  hard  frost  and  time  of  snow, 
sing  almost  all  the  year  round.  Of  these  the  Kedbreast  and  the 
Wren  are  familiar  examples,  and  the  Chiff-Chaff  repeats  its  two- 
noted  cry,  almost  to  weariness,  during  the  whole  period  of  its 
residence  in  this  country.^ 

Akin  to  the  "  Song  "  of  Birds,  and  undoubtedly  proceeding  from 
the  same  cause,  are  the  peculiar  gestures  Avhich  the  males  of  many 
perform  under  the  influence  of  the  approaching  season  of  pairing, 
but  these  again  are  far  too  numerous  here  to  describe  with  particu- 
larity. It  must  suffice  to  mention  a  few  cases.  The  RuFF  on  his 
hillock  in  a  marsh  holds  a  war-dance.  The  Snipe  and  some  of  his 
allies  mount  aloft  and  wildly  execute  unlocked  -  for  evolutions 
almost  in  the  clouds.  The  WOODCOCK  and  many  of  the  Nightjars 
beat  evening  after  evening  the  same  aerial  path  with  its  sudden  and 
sharp  turnings.  The  Ring-DovE  rises  above  the  neighbouring  trees 
and  then  with  motionless  wings  slides  down  to  the  leafy  retreat 
they  afford.  The  Capercally  and  Blackcock,  perched  on  a 
commanding  eminence,  throw  themselves  into  postures  that  defy 
the  skill  of  the  caricaturist  ^ — other  species  of  the  Grouse-tribe 
assume  the  strangest  attitudes  and  run  in  circles  till  the  turf  is 
worn  bare.  The  Peacock  in  pride  spreads  his  train  so  as  to  shew 
how  nearly  akin  are  the  majestic  and  the  ridiculous.  The  BoWER- 
BIRD,  not  content  with  his  own  splendour,  builds  an  arcade,  decked 
with  bright  feathers  and  shining  shells,  or  arranges  a  trim  garden 
with  moss  and  newly-plucked  flowers,  through  and  around  which 
he  paces  with  his  gay  companions.  The  Larks  and  Pipits  never 
deliver  their  song  so  well  as  when  seeking  the  upper  air.  RoOKS 
rise   one   after  the   other  to  a  great  height  and,  turning  on  their 

^  Jenyns  {Obser.  Nat.  Hist.  pp.  86-102)  has  some  good  notes  on  the  singing  of 
Birds,  and  particularly  as  to  the  time  of  its  beginning  in  the  morning. 

^  A   enrious   question,   which  has  as  yet  attracted  but  little  attention,  is        . 
whether  the  notes  of  the  same  species  of  Bird  are  in  all  countries  alike.     From  my   Cj-  f(fV^y- 
own  observation  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  they  are  not,  and  that  there  exist    •' 
"  dialects,"  so  to  sjjeak,  of  the  song.     {fif.  Gloger,  Jour,  fur  Orn.    1859,  p.  398  ; 
Allen,  Bull.  Mus.  Comp.  Zo'61.  Harvard,  ii.  pp.  166,  167.) 

2  The  singular  fact  that  during  the  paroxj'sms  that  attend  this  performance  of 
the  Capercally  the  bird  becomes  deaf  has  long  been  known  to  foresters,  but  it 
has  been  only  of  late  explained  {cf.  Ear,  p.  178). 


/ 


894  SONG 

back,  wantonly  precipitate  themselves  many  yards  towards  the 
ground,  while  the  solemn  Raven,  does  not  scorn  a  similar  feat,  and, 
with  the  tenderest  of  croaks,  glides  supinely  alongside  or  in  front 
of  his  mate.-"^ 

Yet  there  are  cases  in  which  these  gestures  are  not  confined  to 
the  males,  but  are  shared  by  both  sexes.  Any  one  who  has 
watched  a  pair  of  Wild  DuCKS  of  any  species  in  spring  can  hardly 
fail  to  have  been  entertained  by  their  proceedings,  in  which  the 
most  affectionate  caresses  are  mingled  with  acts  to  all  appearance 
of  violence,  and  these  last  are,  as  often  as  not,  begun  by  the  female. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  Grebes,  which  like  Ducks  will  swim  in 
circles  -with  the  head,  now  raised  aloft,  now  laid  flat  on  the  water. 
Many  of  the  movements  are  simultaneously  performed  by  both 
partners,  others  by  each  alternately,  and  solemn  bows  are  exchanged 
with  ludicrous  regularity.  Suddenly  a  playful  attack  is  made  by 
one  bird  on  the  other,  and  then  all  the  spectator  sees  is  a  splash  or 
series  of  splashes  in  the  water,  while  his  ears  are  struck  by  the  loud 
and  harsh  cries  of  the  actors  in  this  display.-  But  there  are  other 
birds  in  which  gesticulations  are  carried  much  further,  and  it  would 
seem  that  Jacanas  and  some  of  the  Rails  join  in  festive  dances 
that  can  be  only  likened  to  balls,  the  performers  becoming  excited 
almost  to  frenzy,  and  with  loud  cries  and  outstretched  wings 
rushing  from  side  to  side  for  several  minutes.  Still  more  strange 
are  said  to  be  some  of  the  actions  of  the  Cayenne  Lapwing,  where 
one  bird  of  a  pair  leaving  his  own  mate  will  pay  a  visit  to  a 
neighbouring  pair,  by  whom  he  is  received  with  ceremonious 
courtesy :  the  three  form  a  procession,  the  stranger  walking  in 
front  and  his  hosts  following  —  all  keeping  step  and  uttering 
resonant  drumming  notes.  Presently  the  march  stops,  the  stranger 
elevates  his  wings,  and  stands  motionless,  while  the  other  two, 
exactly  abreast,  halt  behind  him,  drop  their  voice  to  a  murmur, 
touch  the  ground  with  the  bill,  as  though  making  obeisance,  and  in 
this  posture  remain  for  som'e  time.  Then  the  ceremony  is  over, 
and  the  visitor  retires  to  his  own  ground  and  mate,  to  receive 
another  visitor  in  exactly  the  same  way.^ 

^  No  comprehensive  account  of  tlie  Song  of  Birds  seems  ever  to  have  been 
written.  The  following  may  be  cited  among  the  principal  treatises  on  the  subject: — 
Barrington,  Phil.  Trans.  1773,  pp.  249-291  ;  Kennedy,  N.  Ahlunull.  haier.  Akad. 
(Phil.  Abhaiidl.)  1797,  p.  169  ;  Blackwall,  Mem.  Lit.  and  Phil.  Soc.  Manch. 
1824,  pp.  289-323  ;  Savart,  [Froriep's)  Notizen  u.  s.  w.  1826,  pp.  1-10,  20-25  ; 
Brehm  and  Hansmann,  Naumannia,  1855,  pp.  54-59,  9G-101,  181-195,  and 
Journ.  fur  Orn.  1855,  pp.  348-351,  1856,  pp.  250-255.  The  notes  of  many  of 
our  common  birds  are  musically  expressed  by  Mr.  Harting,  Birds  of  Middlesex 
(London  :  1866)  ;  and  Prof.  Paolucci,  II  Canto  dcgli  Uccelli  (Milano:  1878). 

2  Cf.  Stevenson  and  Southwell,  B.  Norf.  iii.  p.  239. 

'  Cf.  Mr.  Hudson's  interesting  Naturalist  in  La  Plata  (chap.  xix. )  whence  are 


SORA— SPARROW  895 


SORA  or  SOREE,  the  name  given  in  North  America  to  a  Rail, 
Porzana  Carolina. 

SORE-FALCON  or  HAWK  (Fr.  sor  or  same;  Low  Latin 
saurius),  a  bird  of  the  first  year  that  has  not  moulted,  but  properly 
applicable  only  to  those  species  which  in  that  condition  have 
reddish  plumage,  and  hence  more  often  called  "  Red  Hawks."  The 
ordinary  spelling  "  Soar "  (as  though  from  the  French  essorer  and 
supposed  Low  Latin  exatirare)  is  misleading,  for  the  word  has 
nothing  to  do  Avith  flight  but  only  colour,  and  is  apparently  akin 
to  "  sorrel "  applied  to  a  horse.      (Cf.  Littr6,  sub  voce,  citt.) 

SOUTH-SOUTHERLY,  one  of  the  many  names  of  the  Long- 
tailed  Duck. 

SPARLIN-FOWL,  a  name  of  the  female  or  immature  Goos- 
ander, as  old  as  Willughby's  time  but  apparently  now  obsolete. 
Sparlin  or  Sparling  is  a  local  name  of  the  Fish  more  commonly 
called  Smelt,  Osmerus  eperlanus. 

SPARROW  (A.-S.  Speanva ;  Icel.  Sporr ;  Old  High  Germ.  Sparo 
and  Sparwe),  a  word  perhaps  (like  the  equivalent  Latin  Passer) 
originally  meaning  almost  any  small  bird,  but  gradually  restricted  in 
signification  and  nowadays  in  common  English  applied  to  only  four 
kinds,  "which  are  further  differentiated  as  Hedge -Sparrow,  House- 
Sparrow,  Tree -Sparrow  and  Reed -Sparrow — the  last  being  a 
Bunting  (p.  61) — though  when  used  Avithout  a  prefix  the  second 
of  these  is  usually  intended. 

1.  The  Hedge-Sparrow,  called  Dunnock  in  many  parts  of 
Britain,  the  Accentor  modularis  of  ornithologists,  is  the  little  brown- 
backed  bird  with  an  iron-grey  head  and  neck  that  is  to  be  seen  in 
nearly  every  garden  throughout  the  country,  unobtrusively  and 
yet  tamely  seeking  its  food,  which  consists  almost  wholly  of  insects, 
as  it  progresses  over  the  ground  in  short  jumps,  each  movement 
being  accompanied  by  a  slight  jerk  or  shuffle  of  the  wings,  and 
hence  another  local  name,  Shufflewing.  Though  on  the  Continent 
it  regularly  migrates,  it  is  one  of  the.  few  soft-billed  birds  that 
reside  throughout  the  year  with  us,  and  is  one  of  the  earliest 
breeders, — its  well-known  greenish-blue  eggs,  laid  in  a  warmly- 
built  nest,  being  recognized  by  hundreds  as  among  the  surest  signs 
of  returning  spring ;  but  a  second  or  even  a  third  brood  is  produced 
later.  The  cock  has  a  sweet  but  rather  feeble  song ;  and  the  species 
has  long  been  accounted,  though  not  with  accuracy,  to  be  the  most 
common  dupe  of  the  CuCKOW.  Several  other  species  are  assigned  to 
the  genus  Accentor ;  but  all,  except  the  Japanese  A.  rubidus,  which  is 
the  counterpart  of  the  British  Hedge-Sparrow,  inhabit  more  or  less 

taken  the  particulars  of  the  last  three  birds  above  mentioned,   Parra  jacana^ 
Aramides  ypecaha  and  Vanellus  cayennensis,  all  of  them  being  therein  iigured. 


896  SPARROW 


rocky  situations,  and  one,  A.  coUaris  or  alpinus,  is  a  denizen  of 
the  higher  mountain-ranges  of  Europe,  though  it  has  several  times 
strayed  to  England.  The  taxonomic  position  of  the  genus  is 
regarded  by  some  systematists  as  uncertain ;  but  there  seems  no 
good  reason  for  removing  it  from  the  group  which  contains  the 
Thrushes  and  Warblers  {Turdidx  and  Sylviidx),  to  which  it  was 
long  referred  without  doubt. 

2.  The  House-Sparrow,  the  Fringilla  domestica  of  Linnaeus  and 
Passer  domesticus  of  modern  authors,  is  far  too  well  known  to  need 

any  descrijition  of  its  appearance  or  habits, 
being  found,  whether  in  country  or  town,  more 
attached  to  human  dwellings  than  any  other 
wild  bird  ;  nay,  more  than  that,  one  may  safely 
assert  that  it  is  not  known  to  thrive  anywhere 
far  away  from  the  habitations  or  works  of 
House-Sparrov.-.  -  n^en,  extending  its  range  in  such  countries  as 
(After  swainsou.)  Northern  Scandinavia  and  many  parts  of  the 
Russian  empire  as  new  settlements  are  formed  and  land  brought 
under  cultivation.  Thus  questions  arise  as  to  whether  it  should  not 
be  considered  a  parasite  throughout  the  greater  portion  of  the  area 
it  now  occupies,  and  as  to  what  may  have  been  its  native  country. 
Moreover,  of  late  years  it  has  been  inconsiderately  introduced  to 
several  of  the  large  towns  of  North  America  ^  and  to  many  of  the 
British  colonies,  in  nearly  all  of  which,  as  had  been  foreseen  by  orni- 
thologists, it  has  multiplied  to  excess  and  has  become  an  intolei'able 
nuisance,  being  unrestrained  by  the  natural  checks  which  partly 
restrict  its  increase  in  Europe  and  Asia.  Whether  indeed  in  the  older 
seats  of  civilization  the  House-Sparrow  is  not  decidedly  injurious  to 
the  agriculturist  and  horticulturist  has  long  been  a  matter  of  discus- 
sion, and  no  definite  result  that  a  fair  judge  can  accept  has  yet  been 
reached.  It  is  freely  admitted  that  the  damage  done  to  growing  crops 
is  often  enormous,  but  as  yet  the  service  frequently  rendered  by  the 
destruction  of  insect-pests  cannot  be  calculated.  Both  friends  and 
foes   of  the   House -Sparrow  write  as  violent   partisans,-  and   the 

1  The  oiiiithologists  of  the  United  States  liad  timely  •warning  from  their 
English  brethren  to  beware  of  this  si^ecies,  but  some  of  them  persisted  in  allowing 
or  even  advocating  its  introduction — the  main  object  of  which  was  alleged  to  be 
the  destruction  of  "  measuring  worms" — the  common  name  aiiplied  to  the  larvae 
of  certain  of  the  Gcometridse,  and  the  bird's  arrival  was  hailed  in  an  ode  by  so  dis- 
tinguished a  poet  as  Bryant.  Having  found  their  new  colonist  a  failm-e,  it  seems 
too  bad  of  them  to  distinguisli  it  emphatically  as  the  "English"  Sparrow,  for 
we,  in  this  country,  know  what  feeling  that  epithet  expresses  among  the  less- 
educated  class  of  citizens  of  the  great  Republic  ;  and,  as  hinted  in  the  text, 
the  House -Sjiarrow  is  in  all  likelihood  not  indigenous  to  England.  On  its 
introduction  to  America  Messrs.  Baird,  Brewer  and  Ridgway  gave  it  its  correct 
designation. 

-  Some  of  the  more  recent  attacks  upon  it  are  contained  in  several  issues  of 


SPARROW-HAWK  897 


truth  will  not  be  known  until  a  series  of  experiments,  conducted 
by  scientifically-trained  investigators,  has  been  instituted,  which,  to 
the  shame  of  our  numerous  agricultural  and  horticultural  societies, 
has  not  yet  been  done.  It  is  quite  likely  that  the  result  will  be 
unfavourable  to  the  House-Sparrow,  fi'om  what  has  been  said  above 
as  to  its  being  so  dependent  on  man  for  its  subsistence ;  but,  while 
the  evil  it  does  is  so  apparent, — for  instance,  the  damage  to  ripen- 
ing grain-crops, — the  extent  of  the  counterbalancing  benefit  is 
quite  uncertain,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  case  is  often  over- 
looked. In  the  South  of  Europe  the  House -Sparrow  is  in  some 
measure  replaced  by  two  allied  species,  P.  hispaniolensis  and  P. 
ifalise,  whose  habits  are  essentially  identical  with  its  own ;  and  it  is 
doubtful  whether  the  Sparrow  of  India,  P.  indicus,  is  specifically 
distinct ;  but  Africa  has  several  members  of  the  genus  Avhich  are 
decidedly  so. 

3.  The  Tree-Sparrow,  the  Fringilla  montana  of  Linnaeus,  and 
Passer  montanus  of  modern  writers,  in  appearance  much  resembling 
the  House-Sparrow,  but  easily  distinguishable  by  its  reddish-brown 
crown,  the  black  patch  on  the  sides  of  its  neck  and  its  doubly- 
barred  wings,^  is  a  much  more  local  species,  in  England  generally 
frequenting  the  rows  of  pollard-willows  that  line  so  many  rivers 
and  canals,  in  the  holes  of  which  it  breeds ;  but  in  some  Eastern 
countries,  and  especially  in  China,  it  frequents  houses,  even  in 
towns,  and  so  fills  the  place  of  the  House -Sparrow.  Its  geo- 
graphical distribution  is  extensive,  and  marked  by  some  curious 
characters,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  that,  being  a  great 
wanderer,  it  has  effected  settlements  even  in  such  remote  islands  as 
the  Fseroes  and  some  of  the  Outer  Hebrides. 

That  the  genus  Passer  properly  belongs  to  the  Fringillidse  is 
admitted  by  most  ornithologists,  yet  there  have  been  some  who 
would  refer  it  to  the  Ploceidx  (Weaver-bird),  if  they  are  to  be 
accounted  as  forming  a  distinct  Family.  The  American  birds  called 
"  Sparrows  "  have  little  in  common  with  the  members  of  the  genus 
Passer,  and  probably  belong  rather  to  the  Family  Emberizidse  than 
to  the  Fringillidse  (cf.  Towhee). 

SPAEEOW-HAWK,  Sw.  SparrhoJc,  Dutch  Sperwer,  Germ. 
Sperber,  0.  H.  G.  Sparvari,  0.  Fr.  Esprevier,  Mod.  Fr.  J^pervier  (all 

the  Report  of  Observations  of  Injurious  Insects  and  Common  Crop  Pests,  annually 
made  by  Miss  Ormerod,  and  in  a  little  volume,  with  the  title  of  The  Rouse- 
Sparrow,  published  in  1885,  which  consists  chiefly  of  three  essays  by  Mr.  J.  H. 
Gurney,  jun.,  the  late  Lieut. -Col.  C.  Russell,  and  Prof.  Coues,  but  the  last  has 
only  reference  to  the  behaviour  of  the  biixl  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
where,  from  the  reason  above  assigned,  its  presence  was  expected  by  almost  all 
well-informed  persons  to  be  detrimental. 

^  A  more  important  diff'erence  is  that  the  two  sexes  have  almost  the  same 
plumage,  while  in  the  House-SpaiTow  they  are  unlike  in  this  respect. 

57 


898 


SPARRO IV-HA  WK 


akin  to  the  Gothic  Sparva,  Sparrow),  perhaps  the  commonest  Bird- 
of-Prey  now  left  in  the  British  Islands,  and  the  only  one  that  in 
these  days  can  be  said  to  be  practically  detrimental  to  the  game- 
preserver.  It  is  the  Accijnter  nisus  of  most  modern  authors,  stand- 
ing as  the  type  of  the  genus  of  that  name  (Hawk,  p.  412).  Too 
well  known  to  need  description  here,  there  must  be  few  observers 
of  nature  who  have  not  at  one  time  or  another  witnessed  the  con- 
sternation that  prevails  among  small  birds  on  the  unexpected  and 
rapid  dash  among  them  of  a  Sparrow-Hawk  which,  still  and  motion- 
less in  some  convenient  tree  or  bush,  has  been  biding  its  oppor- 
tunity, while   the  victim,  which    the    aggressor   rarely   misses,  is 


Sparrow-Hawk.    Male  and  female. 

as  speedily  snatched  away  to  be  eaten  in  covert  seclusion,  for  the 
Sparrow-Hawk  shews  itself  in  the  open  as  little  as  possible.  The 
species  is  Avidely  distributed  throughout  the  palaearctic  area 
from  Ireland  to  Ja^^an,  extending  also  to  northern  India  and 
Egypt,  while  a  second  species  A.  hrevipes  (by  some  placed  in  the 
group  Micronisus  and  by  others  called  an  Astur),  only  appears  in 
the  south-east  of  Europe  and  the  adjoining  parts  of  Asia  Minor 
and  Persia.  In  North  America  the  place  of  the  former  is  taken  by 
two  very  distinct  species,  a  small  one,  A.  fuscus,  known  in  Canada 
and  the  United  States  as  the  Sharp-shinned  Hawk,  and  A.  cooperi 
(by  some  placed  in  another  genus,  Cooperastur),  which  is  larger  and 
has  not  so  northerly  a  range.  In  South  America  there  are  four  or 
five  more,  including  A.  tinus,  before  mentioned  (p.  412)  as  the 
smallest  of  all,  Avhile  a  species  not  much  larger,  A.  minuUiis,  together 


SPARRO  W-  0  WL—SPHENlSCOMORPHyE  899 

with  several  others  of  greater  size,  inhabits  South  Africa.  Mada- 
gascar and  its  neighbouring  islands  have  three  or  four  species  suffi- 
ciently distinct,  and  India  has  A.  badius.  A  good  many  more  forms 
are  found  in  South-eastern  Asia,  in  the  Indo-Malay  Archipelago, 
and  in  Australia  three  or  foiu"  species,  of  which  A.  cirrhocephaliis 
most  nearly  represents  the  Sparrow-Hawk  of  Europe  and  Northern 
Asia,  while  A.  radiatus  and  A.  approximans  shew  some  affinity  to 
the  Gos-Hawk  (p.  377)  Avith  which  they  are  often  classed.  The 
differences  between  all  the  forms  above  named  and  the  much  larger 
number  here  unnamed  are  such  as  can  be  only  appreciated  by  the 
specialist,  and  could  not  possibly  be  pointed  out  within  the  limits  of 
this  work.  It  may  be  observed  in  conclusion  that  the  so-called 
*' Sparrow-Hawk "  of  New  Zealand  (Quail-Hawk,  p.  757)  does  not 
belong  to  this  group  of  Falconidse,  and  that  of  America  is  an  un- 
doubted Kestrel  (p.  477). 

SPARROW-OWL,  a  name  applied  by  some  writers  to  Garine 
nodua,  though  more  suited  to  Glaucidium  passerinum,  and  in  North 
America  to  Nydala  richardsoni. 

SPECULUM  (Germ.  Spiegel,  Fr.  miroir),  a  long-established  name 
for  any  patch  of  feathers  on  the  wing  of  a  bird  differing  remark- 
ably in  colour  from  those  that  are  near  them,  and  especially  applied 
to  the  lustrous  patch,  called  the  "  beauty  spot "  by  some  Avriters 
and  even  now  by  gunners,  formed  by  the  cubital  remiges  in  the 
freshwater-DucKS  {AnatiriEe). 

SPEIGHT  (Hollyband,  Did.  Fr.  and  Engl.  sub.  voc.  "  Pie "), 
SPEIGHT  or  corruptly  SPITE,  generally  with  the  prefix  "Wood" 
(Germ.  Specht,  Fr.  Epeiche)  names  of  a  WOODPECKER,  generally 
Gecinus  viridis,  but  sometimes  Dryocopus  major. 

SPEKVRETER  (Fat-eater),  a  bird  so  called  in  South  Africa  as 
it  is  supposed  to  pick  the  grease  from  the  waggon-wheels  (Layard, 
B.  S.  Afr.  p.  108),  a  species  of  Saxicola  (Wheatear),  for.  a  long 
while  thought  to  be  the  Sylvia  sperata  of  Latham,  which  is  founded 
on  the  "  Traquet  du  cap  de  Bonne-espdrance"  of  Buffon  (H.  N.  Ois.  v. 
p.  233),  but  his  description  so  ill  accords  with  the  former  that 
Messrs.  Blanford  and  Dresser  (Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1874,  p.  237) 
referred  it  to  the  Erythropygia  galtoni  of  Strickland  (Contr.  Orn. 
1852,  p.  147),  shewing  that  it  cannot  be  the  Butidlla  familiaris 
of  Stephens,  as  some  authors  had  alleged,  and  it  now  stands  as 
S.  galtoni. 

SPENCY,  a  local  name  for  the  Storm-PETREL  (cf.  p.  709). 

SPERVEL  (from  the  Dutch)  the  name  in  South  Africa  for  a 
Falcon,  probably  Falco  minor  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p.  19). 

SPHENISCOMORPHiE,  according  to  Prof.  Huxley's  arrange- 


goo  SPIDER-CATCHER—SPOONBILL 

ment  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  456,  458)  the  fourth  great  group  of 
ScHizoGNATH^,  consisting  of  the  birds  now  known  as  Penguins. 

SPIDEE-CATCHER  or  -HUNTER,  a  book-name  given  to  the 
lai-ger  forms  of  SUN-BIRD. 

SPIKE-TAIL,  a  local  name  in  North  America  for  the  Pintail. 

SPINAL  CORD,  see  Nervous  System  (p.  622). 

SPINE-BILL,  the  name  given  in  Australia  to  birds  of  the 
genus  AcanthorhyncJms,  one  of  the  Meliphagidee  (Honey-eater),  and 
in  New  Zealand  to  the  very  peculiar  Acanthidositta. 

SPINE-TAIL,  as  a  prefix  to  DucK  or  Swift  signifies  re- 
spectively birds  of  the  genus  Erismatura,  of  wide  distribution,  and 
Acanthyllis,  but  used  alone  by  Mr.  Hudson  {Argent.  Orn.  i.  pp. 
174-188)  for  several  species  of  Synallaxis  (PicucULE,  p.  719). 

SPINK,  a  very  common  local  name  of  the  Chaffinch  (p.  82). 

SPIRIT-DUCK,  a  name  widely  given  by  gunners  to  species  of 
Clangula  (Golden-eye,  p.  368),  but  in  Canada  especially  to  C. 
albeola,  from  their  instantly  diving  at  the  flash  of  a  gun  or  the 
twang  of  a  bow  (cf.  Richardson,  Faun.  Bor.-Am.  ii.  p.  437). 

SPLEEN,  a  small  pulpy  mass  of  oval  or  worm-like  shape,  and 
generally  of  a  bluish-red  colour,  which  in  most  Birds  rests  upon  and 
is  loosely  attached  to  the  right  side  of  the  proventricular  or 
glandular  STOMACH;  but  the  form,  size,  position  and  colour  of 
this  organ,  which  apparently  plays  an  important  part  in  the  economy 
of  the  blood-corpuscles,  vary  much  in  different  birds. 

SPOONBILL.  The  bird  now  so  called  was  formerly  known  in 
England  as  the  POPELER,  Shovelard  or  Shovelar,  while  that  which 
used  to  bear  the  name  of  Spoonbill  is  the  Shoveler  (p.  840)  of 
modern  days — the  exchange  of  names  having  been  eff"ected  about 
200  years  ago,  when  the  subject  of  the  present  notice,  the  Platalea 
leucorodia  of  ornithology,  was  doubtless  better  known  than  now, 
since  it  evidently  was,  from  ancient  documents,  the  constant  con- 
comitant of  Herons,  and  with  them  the  law  tried  to  protect  it.^  The 
Calendar  of  Patent  Piolls  of  Edw.  I.  shews  (p.  546)  the  issue  in 
1300  of  a  commission  to  enquire  who  carried  off"  the  eyries  of  these 
birds  {" poplorum")  at  several  places  in  Norfolk,  and  Mr.  Harting 

^  Nothing  shews  better  the  futility  of  the  ancient  statutes  for  the  protection 
of  birds  than  the  fact  that  in  1534  the  taking  of  the  eggs  of  Herons,  Spoonbills 
(Shovelars),  Cranes,  Bitterns,  and  Bustards  was  visited  by  a  heavy  penalty, 
while  there  was  none  for  destroying  the  parents  in  the  breeding-season.  All  the 
birds  just  named,  except  the  Heron,  have  passed  away,  while  there  is  reason  to 
think  that  some  at  least  might  have  survived  had  the  spirit  of  the  Levitical 
law  (Deut.  xxii.  6)  been  followed.  In  1894  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  passed, 
reviving  (at  the  will  of  a  County  Council,  subject  to  the  approval  of  a  Secretary 
of  State)  the  principle  of  the  old  law  which  had  proved  so  insufficient. 


SPOONBILL  901 


{Zool.  1886,  pp.  81  et  seqq.)  cites  a  case  from  the  "Year-Book"  of  14 
Hen.  VIII.  (1523),  wherein  the  Bishop  of  London  (Cuthbert  Tunstall) 
maintained  an  action  of  trespass  against  a  tenant  at  Fulham  for 
taking  Herons  and  "  Shovelars  "  that  made  their  nests  on  the  trees 
there,  and  has  also  printed  {Zool.  1877,  p.  425)  a  document  shewing 
that  "Shovelers"  bred  in  certain  woods  in  west  Sussex  in  1570. 
In  George  Owen's  Description  of  Fenbrokshire,  written  in  1602 
(ed.  1892,  p.  131),  the  "Shovler"  was  stated  to  breed  "on  highe 
trees"  in  that  county,  and  nearly  sixty  years  later  (circa  1662)  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  in  his  Account  of  Birds  found  in  Norfolk  (JVorks,  ed. 
Wilkin,  iv.  pp.  315,  316),  stated  of  the  "Flatea  or  Shouelard"  that  it 
formerly  "  built  in  the  Hernerie  at  Claxton  and  Reedham,  now  at 
Trimley  in  Suffolk."  This  last  seems  to  be  the  latest  known  proof  of 
the  breeding  of  the  species  in  England ;  but  that  it  was  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  word  a  "  native  "  of  England  and  Wales  is  thus  incon- 
testably  shewn ;  though  for  many  years  past  it  has  only  been  a 
more  or  less  regular  visitant,  not  seldom  in  considerable  numbers, 
which  would  doubtless,  if  allowed,  once  more  make  their  home  here ; 
but  its  conspicuous  appearance  renders  it  an  easy  mark  for  the 
gunner  and  the  collector.  What  may  have  been  the  case  on  the 
continent  formerly  is  not  known,  except  that,  according  to  Belon,  it 
nested  in  his  time  (1555)  in  the  borders  of  Britanny  and  Poitou; 
but  as  regards  north-western  Europe  it  seems  of  late  years  to  have 
bred  only  in  Holland,  and  there  it  has  been  deprived  by  drainage 
of  its  favourite  resorts,  one  after  the  other,  so  that  it  must  shortly 
become  merely  a  stranger,  except  in  Spain  or  the  basin  of  the 
Danube  and  other  parts  of  south-eastern  Europe. 

The  Spoonbill  ranges  over  the  greater  part  of  middle  and 
southern  Asia,  and  breeds  abundantly  in  India,  as  well  as  on  some 
of  the  islands  in  the  Eed  Sea,  and  seems  to  be  resident  throughout 
Northern  Africa.  In  Southern  Africa  its  place  is  taken  by  an 
allied  species  with  red  legs,  P.  cristata  or  tenuirostris,  Avhich  also 
goes  to  Madagascar.  Japan,  Coi"ea  and  Eastern  China  possess 
also  a  smaller  species,  P.  minor,  while  a  distinct  one,  P.  intermedia, 
is  said  to  be  found  in  New  Guinea.  Australia  has  two  other  species, 
P.  regia  or  melanorhynchus,  with  black  bill  and  feet,  and  P.  flavipes, 
in  which  those  parts  are  yellow.  The  very  beautiful  and  wholly 
different  P.  ajaja  is  the  Roseate  Spoonbill  of  America,  and  is  the 
only  one  found  on  that  continent,  the  tropical  or  juxta- tropical 
parts  of  which  it  inhabits.  The  rich  pink,  deepening  in  some  parts 
into  crimson,  of  nearly  all  its  plumage,  together  with  the  yellowish- 
green  of  its  bare  head  and  its  lake-coloured  legs,  sufficiently  marks 
this  bird ;  but  all  the  other  species  are  almost  wholly  clothed  in 
pure  white,  though  the  English  has,  when  adult,  a  fine  buff  pectoral 
band,  and  the  spoon-shaped  expanse  of  its  bill  is  yellow,  contrasting 
with  the  black  of  the  compressed  and  basal  portion.     Its  legs  are 


902  SPOWE—STANIEL 

also  black.  In  the  breeding-season  a  pendent  tuft  of  white  plumes 
further  ornaments  the  head  of  both  sexes,  but  is  longest  in  the  male. 
The  young  of  the  year  have  the  primary  quills  dark-coloured. 

The  Spoonbills  form  a  natural  group,  Plataleidse,  allied,  as  before 
stated  (p.  456),  to  the  Ihididse,  and  somewhat  more  distantly  to  the 
Storks.  They  breed  in  societies,  not  only  of  their  own  kind,  but 
in  company  with  Herons,  either  on  trees  or  in  reed-beds,  making 
large  nests  in  which  are  commonly  laid  four  eggs, — white,  speckled, 
streaked  or  blotched,  but  never  very  closely,  with  light  red.  Such 
breeding-stations  have  been  several  times  described,  and  among  the 
more  recent  accounts  of  one  of  them  are  those  of  Messrs.  Sclater 
and  W.  A.  Forbes  {Ibis,  1877,  p.  412),  and  Mr.  Seebohm  {Zool 
1880,  p.  457),  while  a  view  of  another  has  been  attempted  by 
Schlegel  {Vog.  Nederland,  taf.  xvii.).  The  latest  systematic  revision 
of  the  group  is  by  Mr.  Grant  {Ibis,  1889,  pp.  32-58,  pi.  i.). 

SPOWE,  Icel.  Spdi,  an  old  name,  though  apparently  yet  extant, 
for  the  Whimbrel  ;  but  SPOWSE  is  an  ancient  corruption  of 
Sparrowes,  i.e.  SPARROWS. 

SPRAT-LOOIST,  a  gunner's  name  for  a  Diver  in  immature  or 
winter-plumage — the  Red-throated  Diver,  Colymbus  septentrionalis,  as 
the  commonest  species,  being  that  which  is  generally  meant. 

SPEIG-TAIL,  a  name  for  the  Pintail  (p.  726),  and  perhaps 
also  for  the  Long-tailed  Duck  (Hareld,  p.  406),  though  that  is  a 
species  much  less  common  than  the  other. 

SPRITE,  see  Speight  (p.  899). 

SPUR-FOWL,  the  Anglo-Indian  name  for  birds  of  the  genus 
Galloperdix,  allied  to  GoMus  (Fowl,  p.  289),  but  remarkable  for  the 
two,  or  sometimes  even  three,  pairs  of  spurs  that  the  cock  bears 
on  his  legs,  while  the  hens  are  similarly  armed.  Three  species  are 
known,  of  which  the  first  descicibed  is  peculiar  to  Ceylon,  and  is  the 
Perdix  bicalcarata  of  J.  R.  Forster  in  1781  {Ind.  Zool.  p.  25,  pi.  xiv.), 
the  other  two  inhabiting  the  mainland  of  India  ;  but  their  respective 
range  seems  not  to  have  been  yet  defined  with  precision  (Hume, 
Nests  and  Eggs  Ind.  B.  ed.  2,  iii.  pp.  423-425).  One  of  them,  G. 
spadicea,  was  originally  described  as  from  Madagascar ;  but,  as  Dr. 
Hartlaub  shewed  in  1861  {Orn.  Beitr.  Madag.  p.  69),  evidently  by 
mistake. 

SQUACCO,  the  mis-spelling  of  Latham  {Gen.  Synops.  iii.  p.  74, 
in  place  of  Sguacco,  the  Italian  name  of  a  Heron  (p.  419,  note), 
Ardea  ralloides  or  comata,  which  was  correctly  given  by  Willughby 
and  Ray  (though  they  had  not  seen  the  bird)  from  Aldrovandus. 
The  error  has,  however,  established  itself  firmly. 

STANIEL,   STANNEL  and  STONEGALL  (Germ.  Steingall), 


STARLING  903 


variations  of  a  local  name  of  the  Kestrel,  commonly,  but  according 
to  Prof.  Skeat  {Trans.  Philolog.  Soc.  1888-90,  pp.  20-22)  erroneously, 
referred  by  guessing  etymologists  to  "  Stand-gale  "  (cf.  Windhover) 
— its  real  meaning  being  the  bird  that  yells  or  cries  from  a  stone 
or  rock. 

STARLING  (A.-S.  Stxr,  Steam  and  Sterli/ng ;  Lat.  Sturmis ; 
Fr.  Etourneaii),  a  bird  long  time  well  known  in  most  parts  of 
England,  and  now,  through  the  extension  of  its  range  within  the 
present  century,  in  the  rest  of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  in  Ireland, 
Avhere,  though  not  generally  distri- 
buted, it  is  very  numerous  in  some 
districts  It  is  about  the  size  of  a 
Thrush,  and,  though  at  a  distance  it 
appears  to  be  lilack,   when  near   at 

hand    its    plumage   is    seen    to    be  sturnus.   (After  Swainson.) 

brightly  shot  Avith  purple,  green  and 

steel-blue,  most  of  the  feathers  when  freshly  grown  being  tipped 
with  buff.  These  markings  wear  off  in  the  course  of  the  winter, 
and  in  the  breeding-season  the  bird  is  almost  spotless.  It  is  the 
Sturnus  vulgaris  of  ornithologists. 

To  describe  the  habits  of  the  Starling^  within  the  limits  here 
allotted  is  impossible.  A  more  engaging  bird  scarcely  exists,  for 
its  familiarity  during  some  months  of  the  year  gives  opportunities 
for  observing  its  ways  that  few  others  afford,  while  its  varied  song, 
its  sprightly  gestures,  its  glossy  plumage,  and,  above  all,  its  character 
as  an  insecticide — which  last  makes  it  the  friend  of  the  agriculturist 
and  the  grazier — render  it  an  almost  universal  favourite.  The 
worst  that  can  be  said  of  it  is  that  it  occasionally  pilfers  fruit,  and, 
as  it  flocks  to  roost  in  autumn  and  winter  among  reed-beds,  does 
considex-able  damage  by  breaking  down  the  stems. ^  The  congrega- 
tions of  Starlings  are  indeed  very  marvellous,  and  no  less  than  the 
aerial  evolutions  of  the  flocks,  chiefly  before  settling  for  the  night, 
have  attracted  attention  from  early  times,  being  mentioned  by 
Pliny  {Hist.  Nat.  x.  24).  The  extraordinary  precision  with  which 
the  crowd,  often  numbering  several  hundreds,  not  to  say  thousands, 
of  birds,  wheels,  closes,  opens  out,  rises  and  descends,  as  if  the 
whole  body  were  a  single  living  thing— all  these  movements  being 
executed  without  a  note  or  cry  being  uttered — must  be  seen  to  be 
appreciated,  and  may  be  seen  repeatedly  with  pleasure.      For   a 

•^  They  are  dwelt  on  at  some  length  in  Yarrell's  British  Birds,  ed.  4,  vol.  ii. 
pp.  229-241. 

^  A  most  ridiculous  and  unfounded  charge  has  been,  however,  more  than 
once  brought  against  it — that  of  destroying  the  eggs  of  Skylarks.  There  is  little 
real  evidence  of  its  sucking  eggs,  and  much  of  its  not  doing  so  ;  while,  to  render 
the  allegation  still  more  absurd,  it  has  been  brought  by  a  class  of  farmers  who 
generally  complain  that  Skylarks  themselves  are  highly  injurious. 


904  STARN—STEREORNITHES 

resident,  the  Starling  is  rather  a  late  breeder.  The  nest  is  commonly 
placed  in  the  hole  of  a  tree  or  of  a  building,  and  its  preparation  is 
the  work  of  some  little  time.  The  eggs,  from  4  to  7  in  numljer, 
are  of  a  very  pale  blue,  often  tinged  with  green.  As  .the  young 
grow  they  become  very  noisy,  and  their  parents,  in  their  assiduous 
attendance,  hardly  less  so,  thus  occasionally  making  themselves  dis- 
agreeable in  a  quiet  neighbourhood.  The  Starling  has  a  wide  range 
over  Europe  and  Asia,  reaching  India  ;  but  examples  from  Kashmir, 
Persia  and  Armenia  have  been  considered  worthy  of  specific  dis- 
tinction, and  some  of  them  are  suspected  to  occur  occasionally  in 
England  ((/.  Sharpe,  Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiii.  pp.  26-38,  and  Journ. 
fur  Oni.  1891,  pp.  307,  308),  while  the  resident  Starling  of  the 
countries  bordering  the  Mediterranean  is  generally  regarded  as  a 
good  species,  and  called  S.  unicolor  from  its  unspotted  plumage. 

Of  the  many  forms  allied  to  the  genus  Siurnus,  some  of  which 
have  perhaps  been  needlessly  separated  therefrom,  those  known  as 
Grackles  (p.  378)  and  the  beautiful  Pastor  (p.  698),  which  last, 


Lampkocolius.  Lamprotornis. 

(After  Swainson.) 

as  suggested  by  Cuvier,  seems  to  have  been  the  Seleiccis  of  the 
ancients,  have  been  already  mentioned ;  but  the  so-called  Glossy 
Starlings  of  Africa,  Lamprocolms  and  Lamjjrotornis,  yet  need  that 
their  names  should  appear  here. 

STARN  or  STERN,  see  Tern. 

STEGANOPODES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  for  a  group  consist- 
ing of  the  genera  Pelecamis  (Pelican),  Haleus  ( =  Fhalacrocorax, 
Cormorant),  Dyspwus  (  =  /S'MZa,'GANNET)  Phaethon  (Tropic-bird),  and 
Plotus  (Snake-bird)  ;  b}'^  many  writers  reasonably  regarded  as  a 
natural  group  or  Order,  though  the  application  of  the  word  can 
hardly  be  commended  by  an  etymologist,  for  a-reyavos  (roofed, 
covered  or,  in  some  cases,  firm)  can  only  be  forced  to  signify  the 
connexion  of  all  the  toes  by  a  single  web.  The  Frigate-birds  were 
included  by  Illiger  in  the  genus  Haleus. 

STEREORNITHES,!  the  name  conferred  in  1891  by  Senores 
Moreno  and  Mercerat  [Anales  del  Museo  de  La  Plata,  Paleontologia 
Argentina,  i.  pp.  20,  37)  on  a  proposed  new  Order  of  Birds,  from 

^  For  this  article  I  am  once  more  obliged  to  Mr.  Lydekker,  who  enjoys  the 
enviable  privilege  of  having  twice  visited  South  Amei'ica  to  examine  the 
marvellous  fossil  remains  some  of  which  are  here  briefly  treated. — A.  N. 


STEREORNITHES  905 


remains,  mostly  of  gigantic  size,  found  in  the  Tertiary  strata  of  Santa 
Cruz  in  Patagonia.  They  were  considered  to  combine  the  characters 
of  Anseres,  Herodiones  and  Accipitres,  to  shew  a  transition  from  the 
Anatidm  to  the  VuUuridse,  and  to  be  separable  into  nine  genera,  which 
were  grouped  in  four  Families.  In  a  critical  review  of  this  memoir, 
published  in  the  same  year,  Dr.  Florentino  Ameghino  (Eevist.  Argent. 
Hist.  Nat.  i.  pp.  441-453)  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  whole 
series  of  remains  might  be  referred  to  two  genera,  Phorarhacos  ^  and 
Brontornis,  both  included  in  the  family  Phororhacidse,  which  he  placed 
among  the  Ratitx,  a  third  genus,  named  Opisthodadylus  from  a 
peculiarity  in  the  position  of  the  facet  for  the  hallux,  being  at  the 
same  time  proposed.  These  views  were  provisionally  accepted  by 
the  present  writer  {Ihis,  1893,  pp.  40-47);  but  an  examination  of 
the  specimens  in  the  Museum  of  La  Plata  induced  him  {Nat  Sc. 
1894,  p.  125)  to  consider  the  retention  of  the  Order  Stereornithes 
desirable,  and  also  to  declare  that  the  Santa  Cruz  beds  were  in  all 
probability  not  older  than  the  Upper  Oligocene ;  while  here  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  the  group  of  Birds  is  also  represented  in  the 
somewhat  newer  deposits  of  Monte  Hermoso  near  Bahia  Blanca. 
The  most  important  information  regarding  these  Birds  is  that  given 
in  1895  by  Dr.  Ameghino  [Bolet.  del  Inst.  Geograf.  Argent,  xv.  11, 
12),  where  a  considerable  number  of  their  remains,  obtained  by  his 
brother  in  Patagonia,  are  figured ;  the  validity  of  the  group  Stereor- 
nithes is  admitted,  and  nine  genera^  are  referred  to  it,  Fhororhacos 
with  six  species,  Pelecyornis  with  three,  Brontornis  with  one  or  two, 
and  the  others  with  one  each ;  all  but  Opisthodadylus,  which  is 
regarded  as  forming  a  distinct  Family,  being  grouped  as  Phororhacidse. 
The  most  conspicuous  peculiarity  of  the  Stereornithes  is  the 
enormous  size  and  ponderous  structure  of  the  skull,  which  is  quite 
unlike  that  of  any  recent  Bird,  and  seems  out  of  all  proportion  to 
the  limbs,  gigantic  as  are  some  of  the  leg-bones.  The  upper  jaw  is 
remarkable  for  its  extreme  lateral  compression,  and  yet  is  of  great 
depth,  its  extremity  terminating  in  a  hook,  while  that  of  the  man-      ^  >      J 

dible  turns  upward.^^  There  is  no  ossified  interorbital  septum,  and  ^f' '  "^  '^f^ 
the   orbits    apparently   communicate   with  the   preorbital  vacuity,   '  ' 

while  the  nostrils,  which  are  situated  high  up,  are  pervious.     The 

^  This,  with  the  spelling  Phorysrhacos,  had  been  originally  described  in  1887 
by  Dr.  Ameghino  {Bolet.  Mus.  de  la  Plata,  i.  p.  24)  from  its  mandible  as  an 
Edentate  Mammal  ;  but  its  ornithic  nature  was  declared  by  him  four  years  later 
{Eevist.  Argent.  Hist.  Nat.  i.  p.  255).  As  to  the  etymology  of  the  name,  con- 
jecture only  can  be  entertained.  Tliat  which  is  next  to  it  in  point  of  time  is 
31'esembriornis,  Moreno  {Progresos  del  Mus.  la  Plata,  p.  29.     Buenos  Aires  :  1889.) 

2  These  are  by  no  means  the  same  as  the  nine  before  proposed  by  Senores 
Moreno  and  Mercerat,  all  but  two  of  which  are  submerged,  while  others  are 
proposed. 

^  Senores  Moreno  and  Mercerat  figured  the  mandibles  as  upper  jaws  (0^.  cit. 
pis.  V.  fig.  3,  vi.  fig.  2,  viii.  fig.  4,  ix.  fig.  2,  pp.  20,  21). 


9o6 


S  TEREORNITHES 


quadrate  articulates  with  the  squamosal  by   two  distinct  heads,  a 


Phoroehacos  iKFLATUS.    Head  from  the  sicle.    (After  F.  Ameghino.) 

condition  of  which  remnants  may  be  traced  in  Rhea  and  Drommis, 
though  not  in  other  Ratitm,  and  the  mandible  has  its  hinder  end 

truncated  as  in  Rhea.  Unfortunately  the 
sternum  is  still  unknown,  but  the  coracoid 
is  narrow  and  elongated,  the  furcula  very 
slender  and  almost  rudimentar\",  yet  the 
Avings,  though  relatively  small,  are  com- 
pletely developed.  The  pelvis  is  very  re- 
markable, being  narrow  and  elongated,  and 
has  the  ischia  produced  beyond  the  ilia, 
with  which  they  are  fused.  Its  preace- 
tabular  portion  is  short  and  the  postace- 
tabular  very  narrow.  The  tail  is  long  with 
a  relatively  considerable  number  of  separate 
vertebrae.  There  is  no  pneumatic  foramen 
in  the  femur.  The  tibio-tarsus  has  a  pro- 
minent^ cnemial  crest,  a  distal  extensor 
bridge  and  a  deep  intercondylar  groove,  the 
condyles  themselves  being  very  prominent. 
The  tarso-metatarse  is  moderately  or  con- 
siderably elongated,  with  the  proximal 
intercotylar  tuberosity  strongly  developed, 
and  the  upper  part  of  the  anterior  surface 
deeply  grooved.  In  all  cases  a  hallux  is 
present. 

In  Phororhacos  the  mandible  is  character- 

-s:  N    ized  by  the  length  and  narrowness  of  the 

o,„  ^-^  trough -like   symphysis,  and   the   moderate 

Phororhacos  inflatus.  o  ^      r    j      _' 

Head  from  above.  divergence  of  the  rami.     In  the  typical  P. 

(After  F.  Ameghino.)         longissimus  the  wholc  length  of  the  mandible 

is  about  21  in.,  and  the  medium  breadth  of  the  symphysis  2-5  in. 


STEREORNITHES 


907 


In  a  smaller  species,  P.  infatus,  of  which  more  remains  than  of  any 
other  have  been  recovered,  the  entire  head  measures  340  mm.,  or 
nearly  13  "5  in.  The  tarso-metatarsus  of  what  Dr.  Ameghino  considers 
to  be  a  species  of  intermediate  size,  P.  sehuensis,  is  about  14"25  in. 
long  and  3  in.  wide  ;  and  he  figures  an  example  of  the  tibio-tarsus 
of  F.  injlatus  which  he  says  is  400  mm.,  or  say  15 "75  in.  in  length. 
The  femur  measures  230 
mm.,  or  about  9  in. 

In  Brontornis  the 
mandibular  symphysis  is 
shorter,  wider  and  more 
sharply  curved  upward 
at  the  tip,  while  the 
rami  are  more  divergent, 
their  approximate  length 
being  5 '5  in.,  and  maxi- 
mum width  4  inches. 
The  tarso-metatarse  in 
this  genus  is  relatively 
shorter  and  stouter  than 
in  Phorm'hacos,  having  a 
length  of  about  15*5  in., 
and  a  maximum  distal 
width  of  0-25  in.  The 
associated  tibio-tarsus  of 
Bronfornis,  mesiSUTes  30  "5 
in.  and  the  former  15  5 
in.  The  species,  B. 
burmeisteri,  therefore  at- 
tained a  stature  approxi- 
mately equal  to  that 
assigned  to  jEpyornis 
maximus. 

On  the  remaining 
members  of  this  Family 
and  of  Opidhodachjlus 
there   is   no    need  now 


Phorokhacos  intlattts. 

fl,  coracoid  ;  6,  proximal  end  of  scapula  ;  c,  distal  end  of 
humerus;  d,  ulna;  e,  metacarpus.    (After  F.  Ameghino.) 


to  dwell,  for  the  remains  discovered  are 
insufficient  to  admit  of  their  being  considered  to  any  useful  purpose. 
With  regard  to  the  general  affinities  of  the  Stereornithes  it  is 
impossible  to  say  much  at  present ;  but  more  than  one  Avriter  has 
remarked  on  the  resemblance  in  several  points  offered  to  Gastm'nis 
of  the  European  Lower  Eocene,  the  tibio-tarsus  of  the  latter  having  a 
distal  bridge  and  a  deep  intercondylar  furrow,  while  its  tarso-meta- 
tarsus has  a  prominent  intercotylar  tuberosity,  and  the  relative  length 
of  the  distal  trochlese  is  similar.  It  is  true  that  the  distal  end  of  the 
tibio-tarsus  is  inflected  in  the  European  genus  ;  but  the  example  of 


9o8 


STERNUM 


the  MoAS  (p.  579)  shews  that  this  feature  may  not  be  of  more  than 
generic  vahie.  The  little  that  is  known  of  the  sknll  of  GoMonm 
suggests  —  though  the  suggestion  depends  perhaps  chiefly  on  its 
size — that  it  may  have  had  some  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Phororha- 
cidee,  although  of  a  more  depressed  form  ;  and  the  coracoid  of  Gast- 
ornis  is  as  elongated  and  narrow  as  that  of  Phororhacos.  That  the 
Stereornithes  were  flightless  may  be  considered  certain,  but  whether 
they  should  rank  as  a  Subclass  with  the  Puititai  and  Carinatx,  or 
should  merely  form  an  Order  in  one  or  other  of  these  groups  cannot 


Phoeorhacfs  inflatus.    Pelvis  from  the  side  and  above.    (After  P.  Ameghino.) 

as  yet  be  determined,  though  the  view  taken  by  Dr.  Gadow  [Thier- 
reich,  Vogel,  Syst.  Th.  pp.  106-114),  who  has  placed  the  EurojDean 
Bemiornis,  Gastornis  and  Dasornis,  together  with  the  North- American, 
Diatryma — all  of  them  being  Eocene  forms — among  the  Stereornithes,^ 
receives  support  from  the  evident  connexion  between  the  peculiar 
and  specialized  Ungulates  of  South  America  and  the  Eocene  Perisso- 
dactyl  Ungulates  of  the  Old  World  and  North  America. 

ElCHARD    LyDEKKER. 


STEBNUM,  or  Breastbone,  that  part  of  the  Skeleton  which 
is  connected  with  the  vertebral  column  hy  the  thoracic  ribs  and 
serves  for  the  support  of  the  CORACOIDS.  Genetically  it  is  wholly 
of  costal  origin.  In  the  chick,  towards  the  end  of  the  first  week  of 
incubation  (EiNiBRYOLOGY,  p.  211),  about  10  pairs  of  Ribs  are  con- 
siderably elongated,  so  that  their  free  ventral  half  extends  forward 
and  approaches  the  middle  line.  The  distal  ends  of  each  right  and 
left  series  soon  meet  and  fuse,  so  as  to  form  a  "  sternal  band  "  of 

'  This  alliance  was  first  suggested  by  the  writer,  who,  in  1889  (Nicholson  and 
Lydekker,  Man.  Talxontol.  ii.  p.  1229),  referred  both  Diait-ijma a,iid  Mcsc)/ibrior7us 
to  the  GastomitMdss. 


STERNUM 


909 


cartilage  on  either  side.  Thereupon  the  lateral  portion  of  the  first 
2  or  3  Ribs  is  absorbed,  so  that  the  anterior  portion  of  each  band 
loses  its  connexion  with  the  vertebral  column,  and  is  transformed 
into  a  ribless  process,  the  future  processus  lateralis  anterior  of  the 
Sternum,  the  dorsal  part  of  these  reduced  Ribs  remaining  as  cervico- 
dorsal  Ribs  (p.  788).  A  similar  reduction  or  withdrawal  of  2 
or  3  Ribs  takes  place  at  the  posterior  end  of  each  band,  trans- 
forming it  into  the  processus  lateralis  posterior.  In  the  mean- 
while both  bands  have  met  in  the  middle  line,  and  fuse  together, 
from  the  anterior  end  backward,  thus  forming  the  sternal  plate  or 
body  of  the  Breastbone.  The  inner  margins  of  the  bands,  how- 
ever, do  not  unite  smoothly,  but  turn  downward,  producing  two 


P.Lp: 


P.  I.  a. 


^P.obL 


R.io 


Early  and  Later  Stages  of  the  Development  of  the  Chick's  Sternum. 

C.B.  sternal  bands  ;  Ut.  Metasternum  ;  V.l.a.  P.l.j),  and  P.oil.  Processus  lateralis  anterior 
posterior  and  obliqnus  ;  E.  Rostrum  ;  R.1-10,  Ribs. 

median  ridges  which  are  the  foundation  of  the  future  Keel  (cf. 
Carinat^,  p.  76).  The  sternal  plate  now  develops  considerably 
posteriorly,  forming  the  3Ietasternum,  which,  not  being  directly  caused 
by  withdrawing  Ribs,  is  not  homologous  to  the  Xiphosternwn  of  other 
Vertebrates,  whose  equivalent  is  the  two  posterior  lateral  processes. 
This  Metasternum  grows  to  a  great  length  in  many  Birds,  so  that, 
as  in  the  Galliiuv,  it  may  form  the  most  conspicuous  part  of  the 
whole,  and  the  same  remark  applies  to  the  posterior  lateral  processes 
from  the  lateral  margin  of  which  grows  out  in  many  Birds  a  processus 
ohliquus.  The  anterior  end  of  the  Sternum  receives  in  facets  the 
distal  end  of  the  Coi"acoids,  between  which  grows  out  a  median 
apophysis,  the  rostrum  or  spina  sternalis,  which  serves  chiefly  for  the 
attachment  of  the  ligaments  which  connect  it  with  the  Clavicles, 
and  also  close  the  whole  space  between  them  and  the  Coracoids, 


9IO  STERNUM 


saving  that  the  partition  is  traversed  by  the  trachea  and  (ESOPHAGUS. 
The  s'pina  sternalis  is  not,  as  often  stated,  the  homologue  of  the 
manubrium  sterni  of  Mammals,  for  that  is  equivalent  to  the  right  and 
left  anterior  lateral  processes.^  It  is  to  be  understood  that  so  far 
all  these  structures  are  cartilaginous. 

Ossification  of  the  Sternum  does  not  begin  till  after  it  has 
attained  its  final  shape,  and  proceeds  from  various  centres,  which, 
notwithstanding  the  elaborate  studies  of  GeofFroy  St. -Hilaire, 
L'Herminier  and  Parker  cannot  always  be  recognized  in  the  different 
groups  of  Birds,  chiefly  owing  to  the  variable  situation  of  these 
centres — one  or  another  being  suppressed  and  its  place  taken  by 
the  extension  of  its  neighbours.  As  a  rule  ossification  begins 
earliest  where  the  greatest  strength  or  resistance  is  needed.  Thus 
in  Rhea,  Gallinx,  Turnix,  Lestris  and  the  Passeres,  each  anterior 
lateral  process  has  its  pro-osteon  (Parker),  but  in  many  other  forms, 
as  Ardea,  Rallidx  and  Ibis,  these  processes  possess  no  special  centre 
of  ossification,  and  are  converted  into  bone  by  the  extension  of  the 
pleurosiea,  Avhich  last  occur  in  the  majority  of  Birds,  though  absent 
in  Turnix  and  the  Gallinx,  and  lie  in  the  lateral  margin  of  the 
Sternum,  where  the  ribs  are  attached  :  coracostea  occur  sometimes 
at  the  anterior  end  of  the  Sternum,  near  the  articulation  of  the 
Coracoids,  and  in  some  Birds  metostea  are  the  centres  whence  the 
posterior  lateral  processes  ossify,  while  the  loplwsteon  (Parker),  which 
may  be  single,  multiple  or  paired,  is  the  centre  of  ossification  for 
the  keel. 

The  Duck  and  the  common  Fowl  may  be  cited  in  particular 
illustration  of  this  variability.  In  the  former  no  trace  of  ossifica- 
tion is  visible  before  the  bird  is  about  6  weeks  old,  when  the 
centres  appear  in  the  anterior  lateral  processes.  By  the  end  of 
the  7th  week  ossification  extends  over  the  lateral  rib -bearing 
margin.  A  few  days  later  it  reaches  the  coracoidal  portion,  and  in 
the  course  of  the  following  weeks  numerous  irregular  patches  of 

^  The  synonymy  of  the  various  parts  of  the  Avine  Sternum  being  somewhat 
perplexing,  the  following  may  be  of  some  use  : — 

Processus  lateralis  anterior —jjroc.  costalis  of  various  authors  ;  j)rosfe;via7  lateral, 

L'Herminier;  proc.  sterno  -  coracoideus  or  j>?-aJcos- 
talis,  Fiirbringer. 
,,  ,,      posterior  =  lateral  xiphisternal  process,  Parker  ;  trabecida  inter- 

inedia  and  tral.  lateralis,  Fiirbringer. 
,,         obliquus  =  ;;?•«&.  lateralis,  Fiirbringer. 
Metasternum  =  a;ip/«osfer7?wm  of  various  authors;    median  xiphisternal  process, 

Parker. 
Spina   sternalis  =  rosirm/i.,  wrongly  called   manuhriivm    by   many;    epistermim, 
Owen. 
„  ,,     externa,  =  manu{yrium,  rostrum,  episternal  process,  apojihyse  sous- 

episternale  or  sup6rieure,  inferior  rostrum. 
„  „     \ntevna.  —  a,popliyse  soiisipistemale,  svi^ei'iov  rostvina. 


STERNUM 


9ir 


'P.  obi. 


calcareous  matter  appear  in  the  body  of  the  Sternum,  at  the  base 
and  in  the  anterior  part  of  the  keel ;  but  the  whole  does  not  become 
bone  until  about  the  20th  Aveek,  and  even  then  the  posterior  rim 
may  yet  remain  unossified.  In  the  Chick  an  unpaired  Jophosteon 
in  the  anterior  basal  portion  of  the  keel  and  a  pair  of  metostea 
appear  a  few  days  Ijefore  emerging  from  the  shell ;  and  on 
the  day  of  hatching  a  pair  of  jjro-ostea  is  added,  all  these  five 
centres  extending  so  as  to  coalesce 
about  9  days  later.  On  the  ISth 
day  half  of  the  keel  is  ossified, 
a,fter  Avhich  follows  the  spina  ;  but 
ossification  is  not  complete  before 
the  bird  is  5  or  6  months  old.  A 
comparison  of  a  Duck's  Breastbone 
with  that  of  a  Fowl  shews  at  a 
glance  that  in  the  latter  the 
consolidation  is  much  less,  more 
than  two-thirds  of  it  being  formed 
by  the  metasternum  and  the  j^os- 
terior  lateral  as  well  as  the  oblique 
processes — all  of  them  persisting 
as  outgrowths  and  being  connected 
only  by  non  -  cartilaginous  mem- 
branaceous tissue.  In  the  macer- 
ated skeleton  the  spaces  between 
these  outgrowths  appear  as  deep 
"  notches  "  ;  or,  if  distally  closed 
by  bone  or  cartilage,  as  fenestra. 
Moreover,  in  many  Birds  an  addi- 
tional process  appears  between 
the  metasternum  and  the  posterior  lateral  processes  :  the  presence 
of  such  a  processus  intermcdms  divides  each  posterior  "  notch  "  into 
two,  and  when  a  processus  obliquus  is  wanting  it  is  often  hard  to 
determine  whether  there  is  such  an  intermediate  process.  These 
posterior  "  notches  "  and  fenestra}  have  for  many  years  been  used  by 
the  hunter  for  neat  "  characters,"  and  undue  value  has  been  attri- 
buted to  them,  notAvithstanding  that  authorities  such  as  Parker  and 
Prof.  Selenka  have  insisted  on  the  far  greater  taxonomic  importance 
of  the  configuration  of  the  anterior  portion  of  the  Sternum.^  The 
A'ariable  mode  of  connexion  of  the  Furcula  Avith  the  keel  of  the 
Sternum  has  already  been  dealt  with  (Skeleton,  p.  858). 

The  spina  sterni  often  consists  of  an  inner  (dorsal)  and  an  outer 
(ventral)  portion ;  but  sometimes  they  are  confluent,  or  one  of 
them  may  be  absent.     The  shape  of  the  anterior  free  margin  is 

^  This  view  lias  also  beeu  strongly  urged  in  Phil,    Trans.  1S69,  p.  337,  as 
well  as  by  Prof.  Fiirbriugei". 


Sternum  of  a  Young  Fowl. 
F.c.  coracoidal  facet ;  K.  Keel ;  Sp.e.  and  Sp.i. 
Spina  externa  and  interna  (other  letters 
as  before). 


912 


STERNUM 


generally  of  importance,  and  it  may  be  pointed  or  truncated  or  bifid. 
Some  of  the  more  important  modifications  can  be  formulated  thus : — 

A  s'pina  interna  is  present,  although  very  small,  in  PterocUdee, 
Columbx  and  Trochili. 

Both  a  spina  interna  and  a  spina  externa  occur,  fusing  to  form  a 
spina  communis,  which  in  most  cases  contains  a  cavity  into  which  the 
inner  corners  of  the  Coracoids  fit,  in  Gallinse,  Meropidse,  Bucerotidse, 
Upupidx  and  Cijpselidae. 

A  spina  externa  only,  which  is  (1)  very  short,  slightly  U-shaped 
at  its  free  end  in  Colymbi,  Podicipedes,  Tubinares,  Ciconiidse,  Plataleime 
(partly),  Palamedea3  and  Accipitres ;  (2)  Y-shaped  in  Steganopodes 
(mostly),  Phoenicopterus,  Coraciidm,  Alcedinidae,  Todidse,  Troganidx, 
Galbulidx,  Pici,  Menura  and  Passeres  generally  ;  or  (3)  X-shaped  in 
Sphenisci,  Ardeidse,  Scopus,  Plataleinse  (partly),  Anseres,  some 
Cucnlidx,  Eurylxmidge  and  Rhamphastidse. 

No  spina  externa  in  some  Steganopodes,  Crypturi,  Turniz,  some 
Piallidx,  Otididse,  Colwnbse  (partly)  and  Caprimulgidse.  It  would, 
howcA'-er,  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  presence,  absence 
or  form  of  the  spina  sterni  is  enough  to  determine  the  systematic 
position  of  a  Bird.  The  Breastbone  taken  as  a  whole,  regard  being 
paid  more  to  the  anterior  than  to  the  posterior  portion,  no  doubt 
affords  excellent  taxonomic  help  ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  its  numerous 
processes  and  ridges  are  only  the  result  of  special  requirements. 
Thus  the  number  of  Ribs  naturally  afi'ects  the  length  of  the  side 
of  the  Sternum,  while  the  development  of  the  muscles  is  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  various  irregularities  of  its  surface. 
It  is  easy  to  make  sweeping  generalizations  based  upon  a  few 
evident  facts,  but  such  generalizations  become  hard  when  put  to 
the  crucial  test  of  extended  research.  As  an  instance  may  be  cited 
the  anterior  lateral  processes  which  are  scarcely  developed  in 
Dinornis,  Grus,  Psophia,  Cathartes  and  Vulttir,  while  they  attain  a 
great  size  in  Dromseus,  Apteryx,  Aptenodytes,  Botaurus,  Rallus,  Crypturi, 
Gallinse,  Cuculidse,  Todus,  Merops,  Upupa,  Buceros,  Colius,  Pici, 
Atrichornis,  Menura  and  the  Passeres.  As  a  rule  these  processes 
seem  to  be  smallest  in  the  Bix'ds  which  are  capable  of  long  enduring 
flight,  and  largest  in  those  not  remarkable  for  that  power.  They 
are  obviously  most  intimately  correlated  with  the  development  of 
the  sternocoracoid  muscles  (cf.  p.  605)  which  arise  from  them 
and  are  inserted  on  the  basal  portion  of  the  Coracoids,  acting 
as  levatores  of  the  Ribs,  and  therefore  aiding  respiration ;  but  what 
really  determines  the  numerous  modifications  of  these  muscles 
we  do  not  know.  Birds  which  fly  well  may  in  a  general  way 
be  said  to  have  the  Breastbone  more  consolidated  than  those  which 
fly  badly.  A  good  instance  of  this  is  shewn  by  the  Tubinares  with 
their  generally  enormous  wing-area,  and  above  all  by  Fregata,  which 
have  a  very  short  Sternum,  while  this  is  much  longer  in  proportion 


STILT 


913 


to  its  breadth  in  the  heavy-bodied  and  comparatively  short-Avinged 

Alddx. 

STILT,  Longshanks  or  Long-Legged  Plover,  a  bird  so  called 
for  reasons  obvious  to  any  one  who  has  seen  it,  since,  though 
no  bigger  than  a  Snipe,  the  length  of  its  legs  (their  bare  part 
measuring  8  inches),  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  its  body,  exceeds 
that  of  any  other  bird's.  The  first  name,  a  rendering  of  the  French 
^cliasse,  given  in  1760  by  Brisson  {Orn.  v.  p.  33),  seems  to  have 
been  formally  conferred  by  Rennie  in  1831  ;  but,  recommended  by 


Black-necked  American  Stilt.    (After  Gosse.) 

its  definiteness  and  brevity,  it  has  wholly  supplanted  the  others.^ 
The  bird  is  the  Charadrius  himmitopus-  of  Linnseus,  the  Himaiitopvs 
candidus  or  melanopterus  of  modern  writers,  and  belongs  to  the  group 
Limicolx,  having  been  usually  placed  in  the  Family  Scolopacidx, 
and  is  certainly  not  very  distant  from  Recurviroslra  (Avoset). 

The  very  peculiar  form  of  the  Stilt  naturally  gave  Buffon  occasion 
{Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  viii.  pp.   114-116)  to  lament  the  shortcomings  of 

-  According  to  Wilson  {Am.  Orn.  vii.  p.  50)  it  was  already  in  use  in  1813 
in  his  adopted  country  ;  but  it  must  have  been  through  adaptation  from  the 
French,  or  coincidence,  and  not,  like  Oyster-catcher  (p.  682,  note  1),  an 
English  name  that  had  been  carried  thither.  The  old  and  perhaps  singular 
application  of  Ox-eye  to  this  bird  has  been  already  mentioned  (p.  680,  note  2). 

2  The  possible  confusion  by  Pliny's  transcribers  of  this  word  with  Hxmatopus 
has  been  already  mentioned  (p.  682,  note  2).  Himantopus,  with  its  equivalent 
Loripes,  "  by  an  awkward  metaphor,"  as  remarked  by  Gilbert  White,  "implies 
that  the  legs  are  as  slender  and  pliant  as  if  cut  out  of  a  thong  of  leather." 

58 


914  STILT— STINK-BIRD 

Nature  in  producing  an  animal  with  such  "  enormous  defects," — 
its  long  legs  in  particular,  he  supposed,  scarcely  allowing  it  to  reach 
the  ground  with  its  bill.  But  he  failed  to  notice  the  flexibility  of 
its  proportionately  long  neck,  and  admitted  that  he  was  ill-informed 
as  to  its  habits.  No  doubt,  if  he  had  enjoyed  even  so  slight  an 
opportunity  as  occurred  to  a  chance  observer  {Ihi&,  1859,  p.  397), 
he  would  have  allowed  that  its  structure  and  ways  were  in  complete 
conformity,  for  the  bird  obtains  its  food  by  wading  in  shallow  water 
and  seizing  the  insects  that  fly  over  or  float  upon  its  surface  or  the 
small  crustaceans  that  swim  beneath,  for  which  purpose  its  slender 
extremities  are,  as  might  be  expected,  admirably  adapted.  Widely 
spread  over  Asia,  North  Africa  and  Southern  Europe,  the  Stilt  has 
many  times  visited  Britain — though  always  as  a  straggler,  for  it  is 
not  known  to  breed  to  the  northward  of  the  Danube  valley, — and 
its  occurrence  in  Scotland  (near  Dumfries)  was  noticed  by  Sibbald 
{Scot.  Illustr.  II.  iii.  p.  18)^  so  long  ago  as  1684.  It  chiefly  resorts 
to  pools  or  lakes  with  a  margin  of  mud,  on  which  it  constructs  a 
slight  nest,  banked  round  or  just  raised  above  the  level  so  as  to 
keep  its  eggs  dry  {lUs,  1859,  p.  360) ;  but  sometimes  they  are  laid 
in  a  tuft  of  grass.  They  are  four  in  number,  closely  resembling 
those  of  the  Avoset,  and,  except  in  size,  the  Oyster-catcher.  The 
bird  has  the  head,  neck  and  lower  parts  white,  the  back  and  wings 
glossy  black,  the  irides  red  and  the  bare  part  of  the  legs  pink.  In 
America  the  genus  has  two  representatives,  one  closely  resembling 
that  just  described,  but  rather  smaller  and  with  a  black  crown 
and  nape.  This  is  H.  mexicanus  or  nigricoUis,^  and  occurs  from  New 
England  to  the  middle  of  South  America,  beyond  which  it  is  re- 
placed l)y  H.  hmsiliensis,  which  has  the  crown  white.  The  Sandwich 
Islands  appear  to  be  the  home  of  a  species  peculiar  to  them,  H. 
hnudseni.  The  Stilt  inhabiting  India  is  now  recognized  to  be  H. 
candidus,  but  Australia  possesses  a  distinct  species,  H.  leucocephalus 
or  novai-hollandise,  which  also  occurs  in  New  Zealand,  though  that 
country  has  in  addition  a  species  peculiar  to  it,  H.  novx-zelandim  or 
melas,  difl'ering  from  all  the  rest  by  assuming  in  the  breeding-season 
wholly  black  plumage,  to  say  nothing  of  a  possible  third  species,  the 
H.  albicollis  of  Sir  W.  Buller.  Australia,  however,  presents  another 
form,  which  is  the  type  of  the  genus  Cladorhynchus,  and  diff'ers  from 
Eimantopus  both  in  its  style  of  plumage  (the  male  having  a  broad 
bay  pectoral  belt),  in  its  shorter  tarsi  and  in  having  the  toes 
(though,  as  in  the  Stilts'  feet,  three  in  number  on  each  foot) 
webbed  as  in  the  Avosets. 

STINK-BIRD,  a  name  given  to  the  HoACTZiN  (p.  421) :  STINK- 
POT, STINKER,  sailors'  names  for  some  of  the  Petrels  (p.  710). 

1  Sibbald  was  unfortunate  in  his  drauglitsman,  who  gave  the  bird  a  hind-toe. 

2  This  species  was  made   known  to   Ray  by  Sloane,    who  met  with  it  in 
Jamaica,  where  in  his  day  it  was  called  "  Longlegs." 


S  TINT— STOCK-DO  VE  915 

STINT  (akin  to  Stunt),  a,  common  name  for  any  of  the  smaller 
Sandpipers  (p.  812),  but  especially  for  the  Dunlin  (p.  172).  By 
British  authors  it  is  almost  restricted  to  Tringa  minufa  and  T. 
temmincki,  both  of  which  occur  yearly  on  our  coasts.^ 

STITCH-BIRD,  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  Meliphagidai 
(Honey-eater,  p.  428)  of  New  Zealand,  so  called  from  uttering  a 
"sharp  clicking  sound  like  the  striking  of  two  quartz  stones  together,'' 
which  "has  a  fanciful  resem- 
blance to  the  word  stitch,"  the 
Pogonorniscinda  of  ornithology. 
The   male    is   remarkable    for 
the  tuft  of  white  feathers  stand- 
ing  out   behind   each   eye    in 
contrast  with  his  glossy  black 
head  and  neck,  to  which  suc- 
ceeds   a  band   of  deep  yellow,  Pogonoenis.    (After  Buller.) 

narrow  in  front  but  broadening  at  the  sides,  while  the  same 
colour  is  shewn  in  some  of  the  wing-feathers  ;  but  for  the  most 
part  the  rest  of  the  plumage  is  olive-brown  variegated  with  dark 
streaks  and  a  white  patch  on  the  cubitals.  The  species,  which 
was  only  made  known  in  1839,  seems  to  have  had  a  limited  range 
on  the  North  Island  of  New  Zealand,  where  it  is  believed  to  be 
now  extinct,  and  though  a  small  number  may  still  exist  on  some  of 
the  oft-lying  islets,  its  extir^Dation  can  be  only  a  question  of  a  few 
years,  yet  its  cause  one  can  but  guess.  However,  before  the  days 
of  colonization,  the  bird  seems  to  have  been  a  good  deal  persecuted 
for  the  sake  of  its  fine  yellow  feathers,  which  Avere  sought  by  the 
Maories  to  deck  the  robes  of  their  chiefs,  even  as  those  of  the 
Drepanis  (p.  166)  were  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  (c/.  Buller, 
B.  N.  Zeal.  ed.  2,  i.  pp.  101-105). 

STOCK-DOVE  {cf.  p.  163),  the  Columha  ceiias  of  ornithologists, 
most  likely  so  called  from  the  mistaken  belief  in  its  being  the  origin 
of  the  domestic  Pigeon,  just  as  for  a  similar  reason  STOCK-DUCK 
is  a  local  name  for  the  common  Wild  Duck  (p.  169);  but  some 
suppose  that  the  Dove  has  its  name  from  its  habit  of  frequently 
breeding  in  the  stocks  of  trees,  and  it  must  be  allowed  that  the 
German  Holztauhe  and  some  other  cognate  names  in  Teutonic 
tongues,  to  say  nothing  of  STOCK-EIKLE  (a  corruption  of  Stock- 
HiCKWALL  and  itself  corrupted  into  Stock  Eagle)  a  local  name  of  a 
Woodpecker,  favour  that  view. 

^  The  first  authenticated  eggs  of  the  latter  were  probably  taken  by  Schrader 
in  East  Finmark  in  1842  {Journ.  fur  Orn.  1853,  p.  308),  though  its  breeding- 
ground  was  found  there  in  1840  by  Von  Middendorff  {Beitr.  Kenntn.  liiiss.  Reichs, 
viii.  p.  207),  who  in  1843  discovered  in  the  Taimyr  peninsula  tlie  nest  of  the 
former  {Sib.  Rcisc,  ii.  2,  p.  221,  and  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1861,  p.  398). 


9i6  STOMACH 


STOMACH.  This  important  organ  in  the  Digestive  Systeji 
(p.  136)  consists  of  an  anterior  portion,  the  Proventriculus,  which  is 
glandular,  and  a  posterior,  the  Ventriculus  or  Gizzard,  which  is 
muscular — the  former  being  characterized  by  specific  glands,  and  in 
size  standing  in  inverse  proportion  to  the  latter.  In  many  Birds, 
however,  especially  those  which  feed  upon  Fishes,  both  portions  are 
wide  and  pass  gradually  into  one  another ;  but  in  the  majority  the 
Proventriculus  is  much  the  smaller,  and  is  separated  from  the 
Grizzard  by  a  marked  constriction,  devoid  of  glands.  The 
glands  themselves  vary  greatly  in  size  and  position,  being 
however  generally  packed  close  together  in  a  broad  ring  ;  but,  when 
the  Proventriculus  is  wide,  as  in  Casuarius,  Aptenodytes  and  the 
Tuhinares,  either  scattered  with  wide  interstices,  or  collected  in 
patches  leaving  the  greater  part  of  the  walls  free.  In  Leptoptilus 
argala,  in  Fhalacrocorax  and  in  Plotus  levaillanti  two  such  patches 
exist,  while  in  P.  anhinga  they  are  gathered  into  one  globular  mass, 
as  big  as  a  hazel-nut,  attached  to  the  outside  of  the  Stomach,  and 
opening  into  the  right  dorsal  wall  of  the  Proventriculus.  Ehea 
possesses  a  round  dorsal  patch,  and  one  similar  occurs  in  the 
embryo  of  Struthio,  but  is  subsequently  drawn  out  into  a  dumb-bell 
shaped  area,  which,  owing  to  the  peculiar  distortion  of  the  whole 
Stomach,  eventually  occupies  the  greater  part  of  the  dorsal  wall. 
In  most  carnivorous  and  piscivorous  Birds,  in  the  Laro-Limicolse, 
Columbas  and  Passeres,  the  individual  glands  are  small  and  simple ; 
but  larger  and  more  complicated  in  most  herbivorous  and  grani- 
vorous  Birds,  especially  the  Ratitx,  and  Gallinx. 

The  Gizzard  occupies  most  of  the  middle  and  left  part  of  the 
abdominal  cavity,  its  Cardia  or  upper  end  looking  toward  the 
vertebral  column,  and  slightly  inclined  to  the  left  side,  while  the 
Pylorus  or  lower  end  is  turned  toward  the  right.  The  surrounding 
muscular  fibres  are  disposed  in  more  or  less  regular  spirals,  possess- 
ing in  their  course  two  tendinous  intersections,  producing  as  many 
tendinous  opercula,  one  on  each  side  ;  and  though,  taken  as  a  whole, 
they  form  only  one  muscle,  the  entire  mass  is  generally  spoken  of 
as  consisting  of  a  right  and  a  left  muscle.  The  Gizzard  varies 
greatly  in  size,  shape,  strength  and  position — chiefly  according  to 
the  land  of  food.  When  the  organ  is  very  muscular,  as  in 
Pigeons,  Fowls  and  Ducks,  it  takes  the  form  of  a  biconvex  lens, 
with  a  sharp  dorsal  and  ventral  margin.  On  the  whole  the  walls 
retain  the  same  layers  as  those  of  the  rest  of  the  alimentary  canal  (p. 
137) ;  but  the  muscular  layer  is  more  strongly  developed,  while  the 
tunica  mucosa  contains  mucous  glands  alone,  and  none  producing  any 
specific  or  chemically-acting  secretion.  The  function  of  the  Gizzard, 
beyond  serving  as  a  receptacle  of  food,  is  therefore  purely  mechanical. 

The  Pylorus  (cf.  p.  138,  fig.)  is  almost  always  guarded  by  a 
special  muscular  sphincter  and  several  inner  valve-like  ridges,  pre- 


STOMACH  917 


venting  substances  sucli  as  gi'ass,  fragments  of  bone,  or  sharp 
stones  from  entering  the  small  intestine,  while  smooth  seeds, 
however  hard,  pass  freely. 

What  may  be  deemed  a  third  compartment  of  the  Stomach  is 
possessed  by  many  birds.  This  is  the  so-called  pyloric  bulb, 
belonging  to  the  Gizzard  and  not  to  the  Duodenum,  since  it 
contains  the  same  cuticulai-  lining  as  the  former ;  and,  although  as 
regards  the  latter  cut  off  by  a  constriction,  ending  towards  it  by 
the  typical  pyloric  sphincter.  This  arrangement  is  possessed  by 
Casiiarius,  Dromseus,  Sphenisci,  Podicipedidas,  Steganopodes,  Herodiones, 
Fhcenicopterus  and  Ciconise ;  and,  though  less  apparent,  by  Rhea, 
Mergus  and  the  Ballidm.  Since  most  of  the  birds  thus  furnished 
are  piscivorous,  it  seems  more  reasonable  to  connect  this  arrange- 
ment -^vith  their  very  watery  food  than  to  regard  it  as  a  Reptilian, 
notably  Crocodilian,  feature. 

Two  kinds  of  Gizzard,  the  Simple  and  the  Compound,  may  be 
conveniently  distinguished,  though  they  are  connected  by  inter- 
mediate stages,  and  thus  only  the  extreme  forms  are  fit  for  general- 
ized description. 

1.  The  Simple  Gizzard  may  be  oval,  globular  or  sack-shaped, 
each  of  the  slightly-flattened  sides  containing  a  weak  operculum, 
while  the  "walls  are  always  thin,  capable  of  considerable  distention, 
and  mostly  of  a  pale  bluish-yellow,  rarely  reddish,  colour.  The 
tunica  mucosa  contains  numerous  simple  glands,  secreting  a  soft 
cuticular  lining  which  is  continuously  renewed  and  easily  peels 
off  as  a  viscous  yellow  coating.  Such  a  Gizzard  is  possessed 
by  the  birds  that  feed  chiefly  on  fish,  flesh,  soft  fruits  and  insects. 
In  many  piscivorous  birds,  such  as  Ardea  and  Phalacrocorax,  it  is 
transformed  into  a  long  oval  sack  occupying  the  greater  part  of  the 
ventral  and  left  space  of  the  abdominal  cavity,  and  reaching  to  the 
cloacal  region.  In  other  piscivorous  birds,  however,  Phaethon, 
Pelecanus  and  Sula,  as  well  as  in  Casuarius  and  Dromseus,  and  in  certain 
Tanagers,  Euphones,  the  Gizzard  is  much  reduced  in  size,  while  its 
functions  are  assumed  by  the  much  enlarged  Proventriculus.  The 
relation  between  the  strength  of  the  Stomach  and  the  nature  of  the 
food  is  clearly  shewn  by  Manucodia,  which  feeds  on  soft  fruit  and 
has  very  thin  walls  to  its  Gizzard,  whereas  in  the  omnivorous 
Cm'vidx  they  are  very  muscular. 

2.  The  Compound  Gizzard  possesses  conspicuous  tendinous 
opercula,  a  pair  of  intermediate  and  a  pair  of  strong  lateral  muscles. 
The  interior  is  lined  with  a  thick  brownish  cuticle,  formed  by  the 
hardened  secretion  of  the  tunica  mucosa,  and  consisting  of  numerous 
lamellae,  which  are  continuously  reproduced  by  the  secreting  cells  to 
supply  those  that  are  worn  down  by  constant  trituration  of  the 
food  through  the  action  of  the  lateral  muscles.  The  cuticular 
covering  of  the  middle  muscular  or  part  of  each  of  these  muscles 


91 8  STONE-CHAT 


forms  a  thickened  pad  which  by  contraction  of  the  spirally-arranged 
muscular  fibres  presses  upon  and  slides  over  the  opposite  corre- 
sponding pad.  Ptilopus,  one  of  the  Pigeons,  possesses  four  such 
pads,  and  the  cavity  of  its  Gizzard  appears  cross-shaped  in  a  trans- 
verse section.  The  cuticle  between  the  pads  generally  shews 
irregular  folds  which  end  suddenly  towards  the  Carclia  and  the 
Ptjlarus.  Occasionally  it  assumes  peculiar  shapes :  in  Carpophaga 
latrans,  another  of  the  Pigeons,  and  in  some  Tubinares,  it  forms 
conical  processes  which  have  been  wrongly  described  as  horny 
structures  (p.  724);  in  Plotus  the  pyloric  chamber  is  beset  with 
hair-like  filaments  which  permit  nothing  but  fluid  matter  to  pass 
into  the  duodenum. 

As  a  rule  the  cuticle,  which  exists  also  in  the  Simple  Gizzard, 
though  there  not  hardened,  is  continuously  wearing  away  and  being 
reproduced,  but  many  cases  are  knoMTi  in  which  most  of  the  lining 
is  suddenly  cast  off  and  ejected  through  the  mouth,  as  has  been 
observed  in  Pastor  roseus,  Sturnus  vulgaris,  Turdus  viscivorus,  Carine 
nodua,  Cuculus  canorus,  and  especially  in  Buceros.  Another  peculi- 
arity is  that  the  Gizzard  of  Cuculus  canorus  and  of  Harpactes  is  fre- 
quently lined  with  the  broken-off  hairs  of  the  Caterpillars  swallowed, 
which,  penetrating  the  cuticle,  assume  a  regular  spiral  arrangement 
due  to  the  rotatory  motion  of  the  muscles.  The  Compound 
Gizzard  is  most  typically  developed  in  SlrutMo,  Rhea,  the  Anseres, 
Phoenicopterus,  Tantalus,  Grus,  the  Columbse,  Gallinse  and  in  many 
Passeres,  that  is  to  say  in  Birds  which  mainly  live  on  grass  and 
seeds,  and  therefore  need  a  mechanical  apparatus  to  prepare  the 
food  for  the  action  of  the  several  digestive  secretions,  to  aid  which 
preparation  stones  are  very  frequently  swallowed  and  retained  in  the 
organ.  The  compound  muscular  stomach,  a  substitute  for  the 
wholly  lost  TEETH,  is  a  peculiarity  of  Birds. 

STONE-CHAT,  the  Motacilla,  Saxicola  or  Praticola  rubicola  of 
ornithology,  one  of  the  few  "  soft-billed  "  birds  that  are  perenially 
resident  as  a  species  in  this  country.  The  black  head,  ruddy  breast 
and  white  collar  and  wing-spot  of  the  cock  render  him  a  conspicuous 
object  on  almost  every  furze-grown  heath  or  common  in  the  British 
Islands,  as  he  sits  on  a  projecting  twig  or  flits  from  bush  to  bush, 
uttering  a  cheery  song  or  the  alarm-note  whence  he  takes  his  name. 
This  species  has  a  wide  range  in  Europe,  and  several  others  more  or 
less  resembling  it  inhabit  South  Africa,  Madagascar,  K6union,  and 
Asia — both  the  mainland  and  some  of  the  islands  from  those  of  the 
Indian  Archipelago  to  Japan.  The  genus  Praticola  is  no  doubt 
nearly  allied  to  Euficilla  (REDSTART,  p.  775),  and  only  somewhat 
more  distantly  to  Saxicola  (Wheatear),  though  for  some  occult 
reason  Dr.  Sharpe  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Miis.  iv.  p.  113)  referred  it  to  the 
Muscicapidse  (Fly-catcher,  p.  273). 


STONE-CURLEW— STORK  919 

STONE-CURLEW,  (Edicnemus  scolopax  or  crepitans  (Curlew, 
p.  129) ;  STONEHATCH,  a  name  for  the  Ringed  Plover,  ^gialitis 
hiaticola,  given  to  it  in  places  where,  breeding  on  the  turf,  it  paves 
the  hollow  it  makes  for  its  nest  with  small  stones  before  laying  its 
eggs  (c/.  Salmon,  Mag.  N.  H.  ix  p.  521,  Stevenson,  B.  Norf.  ii.  p. 
85) ;  STONERUNNER,  another  name  for  the  same  bird,  but  given 
to  it  at  its  seaside  resorts. 

STORK  (A.-S.  Store ;  Germ.  Storch),  the  Ciconia  alba  of  ornith- 
ology, and,  through  picture  and  story,  one  of  the  best  known  of 
foreign  birds ;  for,  though  often  visiting  Britain,  it  has  never  been 
a  native  or  even  inhabitant  of  the  country.  It  is  a  summer-visitant 
to  most  parts  of  the  European  Continent, — the  chief  exceptions 
being  France  (where  the  native  race  has  been  destroyed),  Italy  and 
Russia, — breeding  from  southern  Sweden  to  Spain  and  Greece,  and 
being  especially  common  in  Poland.^  It  reappears  again  in  Asia 
Minor,  the  Caucasus,  Persia  and  Turkestan,  but  further  to  the 
eastward  it  is  replaced  by  a  larger,  black-billed  species,  C.  ioyciana, 
which  reaches  Japan.  Though  occasionally  using  trees  (as  was 
most  likely  its  original  habit)  for  the  pvu-pose,  the  Stork  most 
generally  places  its  nest  on  buildings,^  a  fact  familiar  to  travellers 
in  Denmark,  Holland  and  Germany,  and  it  is  nearly  everywhere  a 
cherished  guest,  popular  belief  ascribing  good  luck  to  the  house  to 
which  it  attaches  itself.^  Its  food,  consisting  mainly  of  frogs  and 
insects,  is  gathered  in  the  neighbouring  pastures,  across  which  it 
may  be  seen  stalking  with  an  air  of  quiet  dignity  ;  but  in  the 
season  of  love  it  indulges  in  gestures  which  can  only  be  called 
grotesque, — leaping  from  the  ground  with  extended  wings  in  a  kind 
of  dance,  and,  absolutely  voiceless  as  it  is,  making  a  loud  noise  by 
the  clattering  of  its  mandibles.  At  other  times  it  may  be  seen 
gravely  resting  on  one  leg  on  an  elevated  place,  thence  to  sweep 
aloft  and  circle  with  a  slow  and  majestic  flight.  Apart  from  its 
considerable  size, — and  a  Stork  stands  more  than  three  feet  in 
height,  — its  contrasted  plumage  of  pure  white  and  deep  black,  with 
its  bright  red  bill  and  legs,  makes  it  a  conspicuous  and  beautiful 
object,  especially  when  seen  against  the  fresh  green  grass  of  a 
luxuriant  meadow.       In  winter   the    Storks   of  Europe   retire  to 

^  In  that  country  its  numbers  are  said  to  have  greatly  diminished  since  about 
1858,  when  a  disastrous  spring-storm  overtook  the  homeward-bound  birds.  The 
like  is  to  be  said  of  Holland  since  about  1860. 

^  To  consult  its  convenience  a  stage  of  some  kind,  often  a  cart-wheel,  is  in 
many  places  set  up  and  generally  occupied  by  successive  generations  of  tenants. 

'^  Its  common  Dutch  name  is  Ooijevaar,  which  can  be  traced  through  many 
forms  (Koolmann,  Worterb.  d.  Ostfries.  Sprache,  i,  p.  8  stibvoce  "  Adebar  ")  to  the 
old  word  Odeboro  ("the  bringer  of  good").  In  countries  where  the  Stork  is 
abundant  it  enters  largely  into  popular  tales,  songs  and  proverbs,  and  from  the 
days  of  iEsop  has  been  a  favourite  in  fable. 


920  STORM-COCK— STRUTHIONES 

A.frica, — some  of  them,  it  would  seem,  reaching  the  Cape  Colony, — 
while  those  of  Asia  visit  India.  A  second  species  with  much  the 
same  range,  but  with  none  of  its  relative's  domestic  disposition,  is 
the  Black  Stork,  C.  nigra,  of  which  the  upper  parts  are  black, 
brilliantly  glossed  with  purple,  copper  and  green,  while  it  is  white 
beneath, — the  bill  and  legs,  with  a  patch  of  bare  skin  round  the 
eyes,  being  red.  This  bird  breeds  in  lofty  trees,  generally  those 
growing  in  a  large  forest.  Two  other  dark-coloured,  but  somewhat 
abnormal,  species  are  the  purely  African  C.  abdimii,  and  the  C. 
ejnscopus,  which  has  a  wider  range,  being  found  not  only  in  Africa, 
but  in  India,  Java  and  Sumatra.  The  New  World  has  only  one 
true  Stork,  C.  maguari,^  which  inhabits  South  America,  and 
resembles  not  a  little  the  C.  hoydana  above  mentioned,  differing 
therefrom  in  its  greenish- white  bill  and  black  tail.  Both  these 
species  are  very  like  G.  alba,  but  are  larger,  and  have  a  bare  patch 
of  red  skin  round  the  eyes. 

The  Storks  form  the  Pelargi  of  Nitzsch,  as  separated  by  him 
from  the  Herons  and  the  Ibises,  but  all  three  are  united  by  Prof. 
Huxley  in  his  group  PELARGOMORPHiE  (p.  702).  The  relations  of  the 
Storks  to  the  Herons  may  be  doubtful ;  ■  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
former  include  the  ADJUTANT  (p.  2)  and  Jabiru  (p.  462),  as  well  as 
the  curious  genus  Anastomus  (Open-bill,  p.  G55).  The  relationship 
of  two  other  remarkable  forms,  Balxniceps  (Shoe-bill,  p.  838)  and 
Scopus  (Hammer-head,  p.  405),  is  more  questionable.^  In  all  the 
Storks,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  eggs  are  white,  and  in  most  forms 
distinguishable  by  the  grain  of  the  shell,  which,  without  being 
rough,  is  closely  pitted  with  pore-like  depressions. 

STORM-COCK,  the  Mistletoe-THRUSH ;  STORM-FINCH,  the 
Storm-PETREL  (p.  709),  but  rather  a  landsman's  than  a  seaman's  name. 

STRANY,  one  of  the  many  local  names  of  the  Guillemot. 

STRIGES,  Wagler's  first  Order  of  Birds  in  1830  {Natur.  Syst. 
der  Amphib.  u.s.w.  p.  80),  composed  of  the  Owls  (p.  671)  as  distinct 
from  the  Accipitres  (p.  1)  with  which  they  had  before  been  united. 

STRISORES,  an  Order  of  Birds  proposed  by  Prof.  Cabanis 
{Arch,  fur  Naturgesch.  1847,  i.  pp.  308,  345,  346)  to  consist  of  the 
Families  Trochilidas,  Cypselidx,  Caprimulgidx,  Opisthocomidas  and 
Musopliagidse  (see  Introduction). 

STRUTHIONES,  the  sixth  Order  of  Birds  in  the  classification 
of  Latham  in  1790  {Ind.  Orn.  pp.  xv.  662),  comprehending  the 
genera  Didus,  Struthio,  Casuarius  and  Ehea. 

^  This  was  formerly,  but  erroneously  {cf.  Schlegel,  Rev.  Crit.  p.  104),  believed 
to  have  occurred  ia  Europe. 

2  Cf.  Beddard  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1884,  pp.  543-553).  Mr.  Bartlett  informs  me 
that  Scopus  has  a  loud  voice,  while  all  Storks  are  dumb. 


S UBCLA  MA  TORES— S UGA R-BIRD  92 1 

SUBCLAMATORES,  the  name  proposed  in  1893  (Gadow, 
Thier-reich,  Vogel,  System.  Th.  pp.  273-276)  for  a  division  of 
Passeres  formed  by  the  Family  Eurylxmidse  (Broadbill,  p.  57). 

SUBOSCINES,  proposed,  like  the  last  {torn.  cit.  pp.  272,  277, 
278),  in  place  of  Pseudoscines  (p.  743). 

SUGAR-BIRD,  the  English  name  commonly  given  in  the  West 
India  Islands  to  the  various  members  of  the  genus  Certhiola,^ 
generally  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  Family  Cmrebidas  (cf.  GuiT- 
GUIT,  p.  40 1),^  from  their  habit  of  frequenting  the  curing-houses  where 
sugar  is  kept,  apparently  attracted  thither  by  the  swarms  of  flies. 
These  little  birds  on  account  of  their  pretty  plumage  and  their 
familiarity  are  usually  favourites.  They  often  come  into  dAvelling- 
houses,  where  they  preserve  great  coolness,  hopping  gravely  from 
one  piece  of  furniture  to  another  and  carefully  exploring  the 
surrounding  objects  with  intent  to  find  a  spider  or  insect.  In  their 
figure  and  motions  they  remind  a  northern  naturalist  of  a  Nuthatch 
(p.  647),  while  their  coloration — black,  yellow,  olive,  grey  and  white 
— recalls  to  him  a  Titmouse.  They  generally  keep  in  pairs  and  build 
a  domed  but  untidy  nest,  laying  therein  three  eggs,  white  blotched 
with  rusty-red.  Apart  from  all  this  the  genus  presents  some  points 
of  great  interest.  Mr.  Sclater  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xi.  pp.  36-47) 
recognizes  18  "species,"  therein  following  Mr.  Ridgway  (Proc.  U.  S. 
Nat.  Mus.  1885,  pp.  25-30),  of  which  3  are  continental  with  a  joint 
range  extending  from  southern  Mexico  to  Peru,  Bolivia  and  south- 
eastern Brazil,  while  the  remaining  15  are  peculiar  to  certain  of  the 
Antilles,^  and  several  of  them  to  one  island  only.  Thus  0.  caboti  is 
limited,  so  far.  as  is  known,  to  Cozumel  (off  Yucatan),  C.  tricolor  to 
Old  Providence,  C.fiaveola  (the  type  of  the  genus)  to  Jamaica,  and 
so  on,  while  islands  that  are  in  sight  of  one  another  are  often 
inhabited  by  different  "species."  Further  research  is  required; 
but  even  now  the  genus  furnishes  an  excellent  example  of  the 
effect  of  isolation  in  breaking  up  an  original  form,  while  there  is 
comparatively  little  differentiation  among  the  individuals  which 
inhabit  a  large  and  continuous  area.  The  non-appearance  of  this 
genus  in  Cuba  is  very  remarkable. 

I 
^  American  ornithologists  have  lately  taken  to  use  the  name  Cxreba  (or  Ccereba, 
as  they  and  others  spell  it)  in  place  of  Certhiola,  but  Mr.  Sclater  {Ibis,  1893,  p. 
247)  successfully  defends  the  older  practice. 

2  The  (hiitguit  of  Hernandez  [Rer.  Medic.  N.  Hisp.  Thes.  p.  56),  a  name  said 
by  him  to  be  of  native  origin,  can  hardly  be  determined,  though  thought  by 
Montbeillard  {Hist.  Nat.  Ois.  v.  p.  529)  to  be  what  is  now  known  as  Gxrcba  cmrulea, 
but  that  of  later  writers  is  C.  eyanea.  The  name  is  probably  from  the  bird's 
note,  like  Quit  (p.  761),  applied  in  Jamaica  to  several  species. 

3  More  recently,  in  1889,  Mr.  Cory  {Birds  of  the  West  Indies,  pp.  61-67) 
admitted  only  twelve  species  as  Antillean. 


022 


S  UGGE—S  UN-BIRD 


SUGGE  {Prompt.  Parmd.  ed.  Way,  p.  483),  the  apparently 
obsolete  form  of  Segge  (p.  825)  Avhicli  still  persists 

SUMMER-DUCK,  a  name  in  America  for  j^x  sponsa  (p.  171) ; 
-SNIPE,  the  commonest  name  of  the  common  Sandpiper,  Aditis 
hypoleuca  (p.  811);  -TEAL,  the  Garganey  (p.  309). 

SUN-BIRD,  a  name  more  or  less  in  use  for  many  years,^  and 
now  generally  accepted  as  that  of  a  group  of  over  100  species  of 
small  birds,  but  when  or  by  Avhom  it  was  first  applied  is  uncertain. 
Most  of  them  are  remarkable  for  their  gaudy  plumage,  and,  though 
those  known  to  the  older  naturalists  were  for  a  long  while  referred 
to  the  genus  Cerihia  (Tree-creeper),  or  some  other  group,  they 
are  now  fully  recognized  as  forming  a  valid  Family  Nedariniidse, 
from  the  name  Nedarinia  invented  in  1811  by  Illiger.  They 
inhabit  the  Ethiopian,  Indian  and  Australian  Regions,"^  and,  with 
some  notable  exceptions,  the  species  mostly  have  but  a  limited 
range.     They  are   considered   to  have   their  nearest  allies  in  the 


Nectarinia. 


(After  Swainson.) 


Anthreptes. 


Meliphagidm  (Honey-eater,  p.  428)  and  the  members  of  the  genus 
Zosterops  ;  but  their  relations  to  the  last  require  further  investiga- 
tion. Some  of  them  are  called  "  Humming-birds  "  by  Anglo-Indians 
and  colonists,  but  with  that  group,  as  before  indicated  (HujmjVIING- 
BIRD,  pp.  442,  443),  the  Sun-birds,  being  true  Passeres,  have  nothing 
to  do.  Though  part  of  the  plumage  in  many  Sun-birds  gleams 
with  metallic  lustre,  they  owe  much  of  their  beauty  to  feathers 
Avhich  are  not  lustrous,  yet  almost  as  vivid, '^  and  the  most  wonderful 
combination  of  the  brightest  colours — scarlet,  crimson,  purple, 
blue,  green  or  yellow — is  oftfen  seen  in  one  and  the  same  bird. 
One  group,  however,  is  dull  in  hue,  and  but  for  the  presence  in 

^  Certainly  since  1826  {cf.  Stephens,  Gen.  Zool.  xix.  pt.  1,  p.  229).  Swainson 
[Classif.  B.  i.  p.  145)  says  they  are  "so  called  by  the  natives  of  Asia  in  allusion 
to  their  splendid  and  shining  plumage,"  but  gives  no  hint  as  to  the  nation  or 
language  wherein  the  name  originated.  By  the  French  they  have  been  much 
longer  known  as  Souimangas,  from  the  Madagascar  name  of  one  of  the  species 
given  in  1658  by  Flacourt  as  Soumangha. 

°  One  species  occurs  in  Beloochistan,  which  is  perhaps  outside  of  the  Indian 
Region  {cf.  supra,  p.  334),  but  the  fact  of  its  being  found  there  may  be  a  reason 
for  including  that  country  within  the  Region,  just  as  the  presence  of  another 
species  in  the  Jordan  valley  induces  zoographers  to  regard  the  Ghor  as  an  outlier 
of  the  Ethiopian  Region. 

^  Cf.  supra,  pp.  97,  98,  and  Gadow,  Proc.  Zool.  Sac.  1882,  pp.  409-421,  pis. 
xxvii.  xxviii. 


SUN-BITTERN  923 


some  of  its  members  of  yellow  or  flame-coloured  precostal  tufts, 
which  are  very  characteristic  of  the  Family,  might  at  first  sight  be 
thought  not  to  belong  here.  Graceful  in  form  and  active  in  motion. 
Sun-birds  flit  from  flower  to  flower,  feeding  chiefly  on  small  insects 
which  are  attracted  by  the  nectar ;  but  this  is  always  done  while 
perched,  and  never  on  the  wing  as  is  the  habit  of  Humming-birds. 
The  extensible  tongue,  though  practically  serving  the  same  end  in 
both  groups,  is  essentially  different  in  its  quasi-tubular  structure, 
and  there  is  also  considerable  difference  between  this  organ  in  the 
Ncdarmiuhv,  and  the  Mel'iplmgidx}  The  nests  of  the  Sun-birds,  domed 
with  a  penthouse  porch,  and  pensile  from  the  end  of  a  bough  or 
leaf,  are  very  neatly  built.  The  eggs  are  generally  three  in 
number,  of  a  dull  white  covered  Avith  confluent  specks  of  greenish- 
grey. 

The  Nedariniidm  formed  the  subject  of  a  sumptuous  Monograph  by 
Capt.  Shelley  (4to,  London:  1876-1880),  in  the  coloured  plates  of 
which  full  justice  was  done  to  the  varied  beauties  which  these  glori- 
ously arrayed  little  beings  display,  while,  almost  every  available  source 
of  information  having  been  consulted,  and  the  results  embodied,  the 
text  left  little  to  be  desired,  and  of  course  superseded  all  that  had 
before  been  published  about  them.  He  divided  the  Family  into 
three  subfamilies  : — Neodrejxininx,  consisting  of  a  single  genus  and 
species  peculiar  to  Madagascar ;  Nedariniinai,  containing  9  genera, 
one  of  which,  Cinnyris,  has  more  than  half  the  number  of  species  in 
the  whole  group  ;  and  Arachno- 
therinai  (sometimes  known  as 
"  Spider  -  hunters  "),  with  2 
genera  including  1 1  species — 

all  large  in  size  and  plain  in  aeachnothera.    (After  Swaiuson.) 

hue.  To  these  he  also  added 
the  genus  Promerops  (p.  743),  the  aiSnity  of  which  to  the  rest  can 
as  yet  hardly  be  taken  as  proved.  According  to  Mr.  Layard,  the 
habits  of  the  Cape  Promerops,  its  mode  of  nidification  and  the 
character  of  its  eggs  are  very  unlike  those  of  the  ordinary  Neda- 
riniidm.  In  1883-84  Dr.  Gadow  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  ix.  pp.  1-126,  and 
291)  treated  of  this  Family,  reducing  the  number  of  both  genera 
and  species,  though  adding  a  new  genus  discovered  since  the  publi- 
cation of  Capt.  Shelley's  work,  and  additional  species  have  since 
been  described. 

SUN-BITTERN,  the  Eurypyga  helias  of  ornithology,  a  bird, that 
has  long  exercised  systematists  and  one  whose  proper  place  can 
scarcely  yet  be  said  to  have  been  satisfactorily  determined. 

According  to  Pallas,  who  in  1781  gave  (JV.  n'vrdl.  Beytr.  ii.  pp. 
48-54,  pi.  3)  a  good  description  and  fair  figure  of  it,  calling  it  the 

1  Cf.  Gadow,  op.  cit.  1883,  pp.  62-69,  pi.  xvi. 


924 


SUN-BITTERN 


"  Surinamische  Sonnenrej'ger,"  Ardea  helias,  the  first  author  to 
notice  this  form  Avas  Fermin,  whose  account  of  it,  under  the  name 
of  "  Oiseau  de  Soleil,"  Avas  published  at  Amsterdam  in  1769  (Descr. 
(fc.  de  Surinam,  ii.  p.  192),  but  was  vague  and  meagre.  In  1772, 
however,  it  was  satisfactorilj^  figured  and  described  in  Kozier's 
Observations  sur  la  Phijsique,  &r..  (v.  pt.  1,  p.  212,  pi.  1),  as  the  Petit 
Paon  des  roseaux — by  which  name  it  was  known  in  Cayenne.^  A 
few  years  later  D'Aubenton  figured  it  in  his  well-known  series  (PL 
enl.  782),  and  then  in  1781  came  BufFon  {H.  N.  Ois.  viii.  pp.  169, 
170,  pi.  xiv.),  who,  calling  it  "  Le  Caurale  -  on  petit  Paon  des  roses," 


SuN-BiTTEEN  {Eurypyga  helias). 

announced  it  as  hitherto  undescribed,  and  placed  it  among  the  Rails. 
In  the  same  year  appeared  the  above-cited  paper  by  Pallas,  Avho, 
notwithstanding  his  remote  abode,  was  better  informed  as  to  its 
history  than  his  great  contemporarj%  whose  ignorance,  real  or 
affected,  of  his  felloAv-countryman's  priority  in  the  field  is  inexplic- 
able ;  and  it  must  have  been  by  inadvertence  that,  Avriting  "  roses  " 
for  "roseaux,"  Buffon  turned  the  colonial  name  from  one  that  had 
a  good  meaning  into  nonsense.     In  1783  Boddaert,  equally  ignorant 

^  This  figure  and  description  were  repeated  in  the  later  issue  of  this  work  in 
1777  (i.  pp.  679-681,  pi.  1). 

-  The  name,  he  says,  was  intended  to  mean  Hale  d  queue,  that  is,  a  tailed 
Rail! 


SURF-BIRD  925 


of  what  Pallas  had  done,  called  it  Scolopax  Solaris,^  and  in  referring 
it  to  that  genus  he  was  followed  by  Latham  {Gen.  St/nops.  iii.  p.  156), 
by  whom  it  was  introduced  to  English  readers  as  the  "  Caurale  Snipe." 
Thus  within  a  dozen  years  this  bird  was  referred  to  three  perfectly 
distinct  genera,  and  in  those  days  genera  meant  much  more  than 
they  do  now.  Not  until  1811  was  it  recognized  as  forming  a  genus 
of  its  own.  This  was  done  by  Illiger,  whose  appellation  Eurypyga 
has  been  generally  accepted. 

The  Sun-Bittern  is  about  as  big  as  a  small  Curlew,  but  with 
much  shorter  legs  and  a  rather  slender,  slightly  decurved  bill,  blunt 
at  the  tip.  The  wings  are  moderate,  broad  and  rounded,  the  tail 
rather  long  and  broad.  The  head  is  black  with  a  white  stripe  over 
and  another  under  each  eye,  vae  chin  and  throat  being  also  white. 
The  rest  of  the  plumage  is  not  to  be  described  in  a  limited  space 
otherwise  than  generally,  being  variegated  with  black,  brown,  chest- 
nut, bay,  buff,  grey  and  white — so  mottled,  speckled  and  belted 
either  in  wave-like  or  zigzag  forms  as  somewhat  to  resemble  certain 
moths.  The  bay  colour  forms  two  conspicuous  patches  on  each 
wing,  and  also  an  antepenultimate  bar  on  the  tail,  behind  which  i& 
a  subterminal  band  of  black.  The  irides  are  red  ;  the  bill  is  greenish 
olive ;  and  the  legs  are  pale  yellow.  As  in  the  case  of  most  South- 
American  birds,  very  little  is  recorded  of  its  habits  in  freedom, 
except  that  it  frequents  the  muddy  and  wooded  banks  of  rivers, 
feeding  on  small  fishes  and  insects.  In  captivity  it  soon  becomes 
tame,  and  has  several  times  made  its  nest  and  reared  its  young, 
which  when  hatched  are  clothed  with  mottled  down  {Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1866,  p.  76,  pi.  ix.  fig.  1),  in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  where 
examples  are  generally  to  be  seen  and  their  plaintive  piping  heard. 
It  ordinarily  walks  with  slow  and  precise  steps,  keeping  its  body  in 
a  horizontal  position,  but  at  times,  when  excited,  it  will  go  through 
a  series  of  fantastic  performances,  spreading  its  broad  wings  and 
tail  so  as  to  display  their  beautiful  markings.  This  species  inhabits 
Guiana  and  the  interior  of  Brazil ;  but  in  Colombia  and  Central 
America  occurs  a  larger  and  somewhat  differently  coloured  form 
which  is  known  as  E.  major. 

For  a  long  while  it  seemed  as  if  Eurypyga  had  no  near  ally,  but, 
on  the  colonization  of  New  Caledonia  by  the  French,  an  extremely 
curious  bird,  known  as  the  Kagu  (p.  471),  was  found  inhabiting 
most  parts  of  that  island,  and  a  few  years  later  the  affinity  of  the 
two  forms,  though  not  very  close,  was  made  manifest. 

SUE,F-BIED,2  Audubon's    name,   since   generally  adopted,  for 

^  Possibly  he  saw  in  the  bird's  variegated  plumage  a  resemblance  to  the 
Painted  Snipes  (p.  886).  His  specific  name  shews  that  he  must  have  known  how 
the  Dutch  in  Surinam  called  it. 

"  In  thanking  the  author  for  this  article,  I  must  express  my  dissent  from  the 
proposal  with  which  it  concludes. — A.  N. 


926 


SWALLOW 


the  Aphriza  virgata  of  ornithology,  a  peculiar  Limicoline  form 
found  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  America  from  Alaska  to  Chili  (Gay, 
Fauna  Chilena,  p.  408).  It  was  referred  to  the  genus  Tringa  by 
Latham,  who  in  1785  (Gea.  Synops.  iii.  jx  180)  described  a  specimen 
brought  from  Sandwich  Sound  (most  likely  by  the  survivors  of 
Cook's  last  voyage),  but  Avas  lost  sight  of  for  many  years  until 
Townsend  obtained  a  single  example,  in  November  1836,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  Eiver,  and  sent  it  to  Audubon,  who  re- 
described  the  species  as  new,  founding  thereon  a  new  genus  Aphriza. 
It  has  since  been  frequently  observed,  but  the  most  recent  explorers 
of  north-western  America  have  failed  to  find  its  breeding-grounds, 
which  are  probably,  as  the  natives  told  Mr.  Nelson  (Rep.  A'!  H.  Coll. 
Alaska,  iii.  p.  128),  though  he  mistrusted  them,  on  the  bare  moun- 
tains of  the  interior ;  and  little  is  known  of  its  habits,  except  that 
it  frequents  the  sea-shore,  seeking  its  food  in  the  surf,  undeterred 
by  the  spray  of  the  breaking  waves,  and  hence  it  has  received  both 
its  scientific  (dc^pbs,  foam,  (dw,  I  live)  and  English  names.  The 
bird  is  about  as  large  as  a  Knot,  and  not  unlike  one  in  its  winter- 
dress,  though  much  darker  in  colour  above,  with  a  conspicuous 
white  bar  on  the  wings  and  a  white  -rump,  and  it  undergoes  little 
if  an}''  seasonal  change.  Its  osteology,  as  examined  by  the  present 
writer  (Journ.  Mmphol.  1888,  pp.  311-340,  pi.  xxv.),  shews  that  its 
affinity  is  rather  to  the  smaller  Sandpipers  than  to  the  Plovers, 
and  still  less  than  to  the  Turnstones  or  Oyster-catchers,  amonc 
which  it  has  been  generally  placed,  and  therefore  it  is  proposed  to 
be  regarded  as  in  itself  forming  a  separate  Family  Aphrizidx. 

R.  W.  Shufeldt. 


SWALLOW  (A.-S.  Sivalewe,  Icel.  Smla,  Dutch  Zwalutv,  Germ. 
Schwalhe),  the  bird  Avhich  of  all  others  is  recognized  as  the  harbinger 

of  summer  in  the  northern  hemisphere ;  for, 
though  some  differences,  varying  according 
to  the  'meridian,  are  usually  presented  by 
the  birds  which  have  their  home  in  Europe, 
in  northern  Asia  and  in  North  America 
resjiectively,  it  is  difficult  to  allow  to  them  a 
specific  value ;  and  consequently  a  zoologist 
of  wide  views,  while  not  overlooking  this 
local  variation,  will  regard  the  Swallow  of 
all  these  tracts  as  forming  a  single  species, 
the  Hirundo  rustica  of  Linnaeus.^  Returnine, 
usually  already  paired,  to  its  summer-haunts, 

^  It  has  been  already  noticed  that  recent  American  authors  would  apply  to 
the  Swallow  the  generic  term  of  Chdidon,  generally  accepted  for  the  House- 
Martin  (p.  536),  and  to  the  latter  Hinnulo.  Herein  they  are  technically 
incorrect,  for  one  of  the  tirst  principles  of  zoological  nomenclature  has  always 


Swallow.    (After  Swainson.) 


SWALLOIV  927 


after  its  winter-sojourn  in  southern  lands,  and  generally  reaching 
England  about  the  first  week  in  April,  it  at  once  repairs  to  its  old 
quarters,  nearly  always  around  the  abodes  of  men ;  and  about  a 
month  later,  the  site  of  the  nest  is  chosen,  resort  being  had  in  most 
cases  to  the  very  spot  that  has  formerly  served  the  same  purpose — 
the  old  structure,  if  still  remaining,  being  restored  and  refurnished. 
So  trustful  is  the  bird,  that  it  commonly  establishes  itself  in  any  of 
men's  works  that  will  supply  the  necessary  accommodation,  and  a 
shed,  a  barn  or  any  building  with  an  open  roof,  a  chimney^  that 
affords  a  support  for  the  nest,  or  even  the  room  of  an  inhabited 
house — if  chance  should  give  free  access  thereto — to  say  nothing  of 
extraordinary  positions,  may  be  the  place  of  its  choice.  Where- 
soever placed,  the  nest  is  formed  of  small  lumps  of  moist  earth, 
which,  carried  to  the  spot  in  the  bird's  bill,  are  duly  arranged  and 
modelled,  with  the  aid  of  short  straws  or  slender  sticks,  into  the 
required  shape.  This  is  generally  that  of  a  half-saucer,  but  it  varies 
according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  site."  The  materials  dry  quickly 
into  a  hard  crust,  which  is  lined  with  soft  feathers,  and  therein  are 
laid  from  four  to  six  white  eggs,  blotched  and  speckled  with  grey 
and  orange-brown  deepening  into  black.  Two  broods  are  usually 
reared  in  the  season,  and  the  young  on  leaving  the  nest  soon  make 
their  way  to  some  leafless  bough,  whence  they  try  their  powers  of 
flight,  at  first  accompanying  their  parents  in  short  excursions  on 
the  wing,  receiving  from  them  the  food  they  themselves  are  as  yet 
unable  to  capture,  until  able  to  shift  for  themselves.  They  collect 
in  flocks,  often  of  many  hundreds,  and  finally  leave  the  country 
about  the  end  of  August  or  early  in  September,  to  be  followed, 
after  a  few  weeks,  by  their  progenitors.  The  Swallows  of  Europe 
doubtless  pass  into  Africa  far  beyond  the  equator,^  and  those  of 
Northern  Asia,  H.  guUuralis  and  H.  tytleri,  though  many  stop  in 

been  that  a  generic  term,  to  be  valid,  must  be  defined.  In  the  absence  of 
definition  such  a  term  may  be,  by  courtesy,  occasionally  accepted ;  but  this 
courtesy  has  never  been,  nor  except  in  America  is  likely  to  be,  extended  to  the 
misapplication  here  in  question. 

^  Hence  the  common  English  name  of  "  Chimney -Swallow."  In  North 
America  it  is  usually  the  "Barn-Swallow,"  as  in  Sweden. 

^  In  1870  M.  Pouchet  announced  to  the  French  Academy  of  Science  {Comptes 
Rcndus,  Ixx.  p.  492)  that  the  "  Hirondelles"  building  in  the  new  part  of  Eouen 
had  adapted  themselves  to  the  modern  style  of  architecture  there  used,  and  so 
saved  much  of  the  mud  which  was  necessary  when  they  built  in  the  old  part  of  the 
city,  whence  he  inferred  that  they  had  reasoning  powers.  It  fell  to  M.  Noulet 
(o^x  cit.  Ixxi.  p.  77)  to  shew  this  was  an  illusion  :  the  Hirondelles  of  the  new 
town  were  R.  rustica,  those  of  the  old  H.  or  Chelidon  urbica  !  {Of.  Ann.  N.  H. 
ser.  4,  V.  p.  307,  vi.  p.  270  ;  and  Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,  ii.  p.  350,  note. ) 

^  It  must  be  noted  that  the  Swallow  has  been  observed  in  England  in  every 
month  of  the  year  ;  but  its  appearance  from  the  beginning  of  December  to  the 
middle  of  March  is  an  extremely  rare  occurrence. 


928  SIVALLOW 


India  or  Burma,  even  further  to  the  southward,  occasionally 
reaching  Australia,  while  those  of  North  America,  H.  erythrogastra, 
extend  their  winter- wanderings  to  Southern  Brazil ;  but,  whither- 
soever they  then  resort,  they  during  that  season  moult  their 
feathers,  and  this  fact  affords  one  of  the  strongest  arguments 
against  the  popular  belief  (which,  curious  to  say,  is  still  partly  if 
not  fully  entertained  by  many  who  should  know  better)  of  their 
becoming  torpid  in  winter,  for  a  state  of  torpidity  would  suspend 
all  animal  functions.^  The  chestnut  forehead  and  throat,  the  shining 
steel-blue  upper  plumage  and  the  dusky-white — in  some  cases 
reddening  so  as  almost  to  vie  with  the  frontal  and  gular  patches — 
of  the  lower  parts  are  well  known  to  every  person  of  observation,  as 
is  the  markedly-forked  tail,  which  is  become  proverbial  of  this  bird. 
Taking  the  word  Swallow  in  a  more  extended  sense,  it  is  used 
for  all  the  members  of  the  Family  Hirundinidx,'^  excepting  a  few 
to  which  the  name  Martin  (p.  536)  has  been  applied,  and  this 
Family  includes  more  than  100  species,  which  have  been  placed  in 
many  different  genera.  The  true  Swallow  has  very  many 
affines,  some  of  which  range  almost  as  widely  as  itself,  while  others 
(as  the  form  resident  in  Egypt,  H.  savignii)  seem  to  have  curiously 
restricted  limits,  and  much  the  same  may  be  said  of  some  of  its 
more  distant  relatives.  But  altogether  the  Family  forms  one  of  the 
most  circumscribed  and  therefore  one  of  the  most  natural  groups  of 
OsciNES,  having  no  near  allies ;  for,  though  in  outward  appearance 
and  in  some  habits  the  Swallows  bear  a  considerable  resemblance 
to  Swifts,  the  latter  belong  to  a  very  different  Order,  and  are 
not  Passerine  birds  at  all,  as  their  structure,  both  internal  and 
external,  proves.  It  has  been  sometimes  stated  that  the  Hirun- 
dinidx  have  their  nearest  relations  in  the  Muscicapidx  (Flycatcher, 

1  See  John  Hunter's  Essays  ami  Observations  in  Natural  History,  edited  by- 
Sir  R.  Owen  in  1861  (ii.  p.  280).  An  excellent  bibliography  of  the  Swallow- 
torpidity  controversy,  up  to  1878,,  was  given  by  Prof.  Coues  {Birds  of  the 
Colorado  Valley,  pp.  378-390),  who  seemed  still  to  hanker  after  the  ancient 
faith  in  "hibernation,"  as  do  apparently  some  other  writers  not  so  well  informed. 

^  An  enormous  amount  of  labour  was  bestowed  upon  ihe  Hirundinidaa  by 
Dr.  Sharpe  [Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  x.  pp.  85-210),  only  commensurate,  perhaps, 
with  that  required  for  an  understanding  of  the  results  at  which  he  arrived.  It 
was  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  finely-illustrated  MoTwgraph  of  the  Family  which  he 
and  Mr.  Wyatt  have  published  (2  vols.  4to,  London:  1885-94),  more  of  the 
many  puzzles  which  the  group  offers  would  have  been  cleared  up,  but  it  still 
remains  an  intricate  maze  to  tempt  the  adventurous.  Mr.  Wyatfs  figures  are 
very  beautiful,  but  he  is  apparently  one  of  those  who  believe  that  birds  when 
flying  at  full  speed  do  not  extend  their  legs  behind  them.  A  curious  omission 
of  the  authors  is  any  reference  in  the  work,  with  its  copious  bibliogi-aphy,  to 
the  admirable  account  of  the  British  Hirundiniclae  contributed  by  Gilbert  White 
to  the  Royal  Society  {Phil.  Trans.  Ixiv.  pp.  196-201;  Ixv.  pp.  258-276)  and 
afterwards  reprinted  in  the  Natural  History  of  Sclhorne  (1789). 


SIVA  A'  929 

p.  273) ;  but  the  assertion  is  very  questionable,  and  the  supposition 
that  they  are  allied  to  the  Ampelidx  (Waxwing),  though  possibly 
better  founded,  has  not  as  yet  been  confirmed  by  any  anatomical 
investigation.  An  affinity  to  the  Indian  and  Australian  Artamus 
(the  species  of  which  genus  are  often  known  as  Wood-Swallows,  or 
Swallow- Shrikes)  has  also  been  suggested;  and  it  may  turn  out 
that  this  genus,  with  its  neighbours,  may  be  the  direct  and  less 
modified  descendants  of  a  generalized  type,  whence  the  Hirundinidx 
have  diverged ;  but  at  present  it  would  seem  as  if  the  suggestion 
originated  only  in  the  similarity  of  certain  habits,  such  as  swift 
flight  and  the  capacity  of  uninterruptedly  taking  and  swallowing 
insect-food  on  the  wing. 

Swallows  are  nearly  cosmopolitan  birds,  inhabiting  every  consider- 
able country  except  New  Zealand,  wherein  only  a  stray  example, 
presumably  from  Australia,  occasionally  occurs. 

SWAN  (A.-S.  Swan  and  S'W07i,  Icel.  Svanr,  Dutch  Zwaan,  Germ. 
Schwan),  a  large  swimming-bird,  well  known  from  being  kept  in  a 
half-domesticated  condition  throughout  many  parts  of  Europe, 
whence  it  has  been  carried  to  other  countries.  In  England  it  was 
far  more  abundant  formerly  than  at  present,  the  young,  or  Cygnets,^ 
being  highly  esteemed  for  the  table,  and  it  was  under  especial 
enactments  for  its  preservation,  and  regarded  as  a  "  Bird  Royal " 
that  no  subject  could  possess  without  licence  from  the  crown,  the 
granting  of  which  licence  was  accompanied  by  the  condition  that 
every  bird  in  a  "  game  "  (to  use  the  old  legal  term)  of  Swans  should 
bear  a  distinguishing  mark  of  ownership  (cygninota)  on  the  bill. 
Originally  this  privilege  was  conferred  on  the  larger  freeholders 
only,  but  it  was  gradually  extended,  so  that  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth 
upwards  of  900  distinct  Swan-marks,  being  those  of  private  persons 
or  corporations,  were  recognized  by  the  royal  Swanherd,  whose 
jurisdiction  extended  over  the  whole  kingdom.  It  is  impossible 
here  to  enter  into  further  details  on  this  subject,  interesting  as  it  is 
from  various  points  of  view.^     It  is  enough  to  remark  that  all  the 

^  Here,  as  in  so  many  other  cases  {cf.  Pigeon,  p.  723),  we  have  what  may  be 
called  the  "table-name"  of  an  animal  derived  from  the  Norman- French,  while 
that  which  it  bore  when  alive  was  of  Teutonic  origin.  I  tind  Yarrell's  assertion, 
as  to  the  use  of  Cob  and  Pen,  on  which  I  threw  doubt  (p.  92),  confirmed  by 
citations  (iV.  Ungl.  Did.  ii.  p.  559). 

^  At  the  present  time  the  Queen  and  the  Companies  of  Dyers  and  Vintners  still 
maintain  their  Swans  on  the  Thames,  and  a  yearly  expedition  is  made  in  the  month 
of  July  or  August  to  take  up  the  young  birds — thence  called  "  Swan-upping  " 
and  corruptly  "Swan-hopping" — and  mark  them.  The  largest  Swannery  in 
England,  indeed  the  only  one  worthy  of  the  name,  is  that  belonging  to  Lord 
Ilchester,  on  the  water  called  the  Fleet,  lying  inside  the  Chesil  Bank  on  the 
coast  of  Dorset,  where  from  700  to  double  that  number  of  birds  may  be  kept — a 
stock  doubtless  too  great  for  the  area,  but  very  small  when  compared  with  the 
numbers  that  used  to  be  retained  on  various  rivers  in  the  country.     The  Swanpit 

59 


930  SWAN 


legal  protection  afforded  to  the  Swan  points  out  that  it  was  not 
indigenous  to  the  British  Islands,  and  indeed  it  is  stated  (though  on 
uncertain  authority)  to  haA'^e  been  inti^oduced  to  England  in  the 
reign  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion ;  but  it  is  now  so  perfectly  natural- 
ized that  birds  having  the  full  power  of  flight  remain  in  the  country. 
There  is  no  evidence  to  shew  that  its  numbers  are  ever  increased 
by  immigration  from  abroad,  though  it  is  known  to  breed  as  a  wild 
bird  not  further  from  our  shores  than  the  extreme  south  of  Sweden 
and  possibly  in  Denmark,  whence  it  may  be  traced,  but  with  con- 
siderable vacuities,  in  a  south-easterly  direction  to  the  valley  of  the 
Danube  and  the  western  part  of  Central  Asia.  In  Europe,  however, 
no  definite  limits  can  be  assigned  for  the  natural  range  of  the  species, 
since  birds  more  or  less  reclaimed  and  at  liberty  consort  with  those 
that  are  truly  wild,  and  either  induce  them  to  settle  in  localities 
beyond  the  boundary,  or  of  themselves  occupy  such  localities,  so 
that  no  diflference  is  observable  between  them  and  their  untamed 
brethren.  From  its  breeding-grounds,  whether  the}'  be  in  Turkestan, 
south-eastern  Europe  or  Scania,  the  Swan  migrates  southward 
towards  winter,  and  at  that  season  may  be  found  in  north-western 
India,  in  Egypt  and  on  the  shores  af  the  Mediterranean. 

The  Swan  just  spoken  of  is  by  some  naturalists  named  the  Mute 
or  Tame  Swan,  to  distinguish  it  from  one  to  be  presently  mentioned, 
but  it  is  the  Swan  simply  of  the  English  language  and  literature. 
Scientifically  it  is  usually  known  as  Cygnus  olor  or  C.  mansuetus.  It 
needs  little  description :  its  large  size,  its  spotless  white  plumage, 
its  red  bill,  surmounted  by  a  black  knob  (technically  the  "berry") 
larger  in  the  male  than  in  the  female,  its  black  legs  and  stately 
appearance  on  the  water  are  familiar,  either  from  figures  innumer- 
able or  from  direct  observation,  to  almost  every  one.  When  left  to 
itself  its  nest  is  a  large  mass  of  aquatic  plants,  often  piled  to  the 
height  of  a  couple  of  feet  and  possibly  some  six  feet  in  diameter. 
In  the  midst  of  this  is  a  hollow  which  contains  the  eggs,  generally 
from  five  to  nine  in  number,'  of  a  greyish-olive  colour.  The  period 
of  incubation  is  between  five  and  six  weeks,  and  the  young  when 
hatched  are  clothed  in  sooty-grey  down,  which  is  succeeded  by 
feathers  of  dark  sooty-brown.  This  suit  is  gradually  replaced  by 
white,  but  the  young  birds  are  more  than  a  twelvemonth  old  before 
they  lose  all  trace  of  colouring  and  become  wholly  white.^ 

at  Norwicli  seems  to  be  the  only  place  now  existing  for  fattening  the  Cygnets  for 
the  table — an  expensive  process,  but  one  fully  appreciated  by  those  who  have  shared 
the  result.  The  English  Swan- laws  and  regulations  have  been  concisely  but 
admirably  treated  by  the  late  Serjeant  Manning  (Penny  Cydopasdia,  xxiii.  pp. 
271,  272),  and  the  subject  of  Swan-marks,  elucidated  by  unpublished  materials 
in  the  British  Museum  and  other  libraries,  is  one  of  which  a  compendious  account, 
from  an  antiquarian  and  historical  point  of  view,  would  be  very  desirable. 

1  It  was,  however,  noticed  by  Plot  [N.  H.  Staffordshire,  p.  228)  200  years 


SWAN  931 


Thus  much  having  been  said  of  the  bird  which  is  nowadays 
commonly  called  Swan,  we  must  turn  to  other  species,  and  first  to 
one  that  anciently  must  have  been  the  exclusive  bearer  in  England 
of  the  name.  This  is  the  Whooper,  Whistling  or  Wild  Swan  ^  of 
modern  usage,  the  Cygnus  musicus  or  C.  ferus  of  most  authors,  which 
was  doubtless  always  a  winter-visitant  to  this  country,  and,  though 
nearly  as  bulky  and  quite  as  purely  white  in  its  adult  plumage,  is 
at  once  recognizable  from  the  species  which  has  been  half  domesti- 
cated by  its  wholly  different  but  equally  graceful  carriage,  and  its 
bill — which  is  black  at  the  tip  and  lemon-yellow  for  a  great  part  of 
its  base.  This  entirely  distinct  species  is  a  native  of  Iceland, 
eastern  Lapland  and  northern  Russia,  whence  it  wanders  southward 
in  autumn,  and  the  musical  tones  it  utters  (contrasting  with  the 
silence  that  has  caused  its  relative  to  be  often  called  the  Mute 
Swan)  have  been  celebrated  from  the  time  of  Homer  to  our  own. 

ago  and  more  that  certain  Swans  on  the  Trent  had  white  Cygnets  ;  and  it  was 
subsequently  observed  of  such  birds  that  both  parents  and  progeny  had  legs  of  a 
paler  colour,  while  the  young  had  not  the  "blue  bill "  of  ordinary  Swans  at  the 
same  age  that  has  in  some  parts  of  the  country  given  them  a  name,  besides  offer- 
ing a  few  other  minor  differences.  These  being  e.xamined  by  Yarrell,  led  him  to 
announce  (Proc.  Zool,  Soc.  1838,  p.  19)  the  birds  presenting  them  as  forming  a 
distinct  species,  C.  immutahilis,  to  which  the  English  name  of  "  Polish  "  Swan 
had  already  been  attached  by  the  London  poulterers.  There  is  no  question  so 
far  as  to  the  facts  ;  the  doubt  exists  as  to  their  bearing  in  regard  to  the  validity 
of  the  so-called  "species."  Though  apparently  wild  birds,  answering  fairly  to 
the  description,  occasionally  occur  in  hard  winters  in  Britain,  north-western 
Europe  and  even  in  the  south-east  {Ibis,  1860,  p.  351),  their  mother-country  has 
not  yet  been  ascertained, — for  the  epithet  "Polish  "is  but  fanciful, — and  most 
of  the  information  respecting  them  is  derived  only  from  reclaimed  examples, 
which  are  by  no  means  common.  Those  examined  by  Yarrell  are  said  to  have 
been  distinctly  smaller  than  common  Swans,  but  those  recognized  of  late  years 
are  as  distinctly  larger.  The  matter  requires  further  investigation,  and  it  may 
be  remarked  that  occasionally  Swans,  so  far  as  is  known  of  the  ordinary  stock, 
will  produce  one  or  more  Cygnets  difi'ering  from  the  rest  of  the  brood  exactly  in 
the  characters  which  have  been  assigned  to  the  so-called  Polish  Swans  as  specific 
— namely,  their  white  plumage  slightly  tinged  with  buff,  their  pale  legs  and 
flesh-coloured  bill  {Zool.  1887,  p.  463  ;  1888,  p.  470).  It  may  be  that  here  we 
have  a  case  of  far  greater  interest  than  the  mere  question  of  specific  distinction, 
in  some  degree  analogous  to  that  of  the  so-called  Pavo  nigripennis  before 
mentioned  (Peacock,  pp.  699,  700).  The  most  recent  authorities  on  the  Polish 
Swan  are  Stevenson  {B.  Norf.  iii.  111-121),  and  Southwell  {Trails.  Norf.  &  Norw. 
Nat.  Soc.  ii.  pp.  258-260),  as  well,  of  course,  as  Dresser  {B.  Eur.  vi.  pp.  429-433, 
pi.  419,  figs.  1,  2).  Gerbe,  in  his  edition  of  Degland's  OrnitJwlogie  Europ6enne 
(ii,  p.  477),  makes  the  amusing  mistake  of  attributing  its  name  to  the 
'■'■  fourrciirs"  (furrier.s)  of  London,  and  of  rendering  it  "  Cygne  du pole"  ! 

^  In  some  districts  it  is  called  by  wild-fowlers  Elk  (p.  194),  cognate  with  the 
Icelandic  Alft  and  the  Old  German  Elbs  or  Elps  {cf.  Gesner,  Orn.  pp.  358,  359), 
though  by  modern  Germans  Elb-schwan  seems  to  be  used  for  the  preceding 
species. 


932  SIVAN 


Otherwise  in  a  general  way  there  is  little  difference  between  the 
habits  of  the  two,  and  closely  allied  to  the  Whooper  is  a  much 
smaller  species,  known  as  Bewick's  Swan,  C.  bewicki.  This  was  first 
indicated  as  a  variety  of  the  last  by  Pallas,  but  its  specific  validity 
is  now  fully  established.  Apart  from  size,  it  may  be  exteruall}'- 
distinguished  from  the  Whooper  by  the  bill  having  only  a  small 
patch  of  yellow,  which  inclines  to  an  orange  rather  than  a  lemon 
tint ;  while  internally  the  difference  of  the  vocal  organs  is  well 
marked,  and  its  cry,  though  melodious  enough,  is  unlike.  It  has 
a  more  easterly  home  in  the  north,  first  ascertained  by  Messrs. 
Harvie-Brown  and  Seebohm  (Ibis,  1876,  p.  440),  than  the  Whooper, 
but  in  severe  winters  frequently  occurs  in  Britain. 

Both  the  species  last  mentioned  have  their  representatives  in 
North  America,  and  in  each  case  the  Transatlantic  bird  is  con- 
siderably larger  than  that  of  the  Old  World.  The  first  is  the 
Trumpeter-Swan,  C.  buccinator,  which  has  the  bill  wholly  black, 
and  the  second  the  C.  columbianus  or  americanus'^ — greatly  resem- 
bling Bewick's  Swan,  but  with  the  coloured  patches  on  the  bill  of 
less  extent  and  deepening  almost  into  scarlet.  South  America 
produces  two  very  distinct  birds  commonly  regarded  as  Swans, — 
the  Black-necked  Swan  and  that  which  is  called  Cascaroba  or  Cos- 
caroba.  This  last,  which  inhabits  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
continent  to  Chili  and  the  Argentine  territory,  and  visits  the 
Falkland  Islands,  is  the  smallest  species  known, — pure  white  in 
colour  except  the  tip  of  its  primaries,  but  having  a  red  bill  and  red 
feet.^  The  former,  C.  melajiocoi'ypha  or  nigricollis,  if  not  discovered 
by  earlier  navigators,  was  observed  by  Narbrough  2nd  August  1670 
in  the  Strait  of  Magellan,  as  announced  in  1694  in  the  first  edition 
of  his  Voyage  (p.  52).  It  was  subsequently  found  on  the  Falkland 
Islands  during  the  French  settlement  there  in  1764-65,  as  stated 
by  Pernetty  {Voyage,  ed.  2,  ii.  pp.  26,  99),  and  was  first  technically 
described  in  1782  by  Moliija  (Saggio  sulla  Star.  Nat.  del  Chile,  pp. 
234,  344).  Its  range  seems  to  be  much  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Cascaroba,  except  that  it  comes  further  to  the  northward,  to  the 
coast  of  southern  Brazil  on  the  east  and  perhaps  into  Bolivia  on  the 
west.     It  is  a  very  handsome  bird,  of  large  size,  with  a  bright  red 

^  Examples  of  both  these  species  have  been  recorded  as  occurring  in  Britain, 
and.  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  first  has  made  its  way  hither.  Concerning 
the  second,  more  precise  details  are  required. 

2  Dr.  Stejneger  {Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  1882,  pp.  177-179)  has  been  at  much 
pains  to  shew  that  this  is  no  Swan  at  all,  but  merely  a  large  Anatine  form. 
Further  research  may  prove  that  his  views  are  well  founded,  and  that  this,  with 
another  very  imperfectly  known  species,  C.  davidi,  described  by  Swinhoe  (Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1870,  p.  430)  from  a  single  specimen  in  the  Museum  of  Peking,  should 
be  removed  from  the  subfamily  Cygninse.  Of  C.  coscoroba  Mr.  Gibson  remarks 
(Ibis,  1880,  pp.  36,  37)  that  its  "note  is  a  loud  trumpet-call,"  and  that  it  swima 
with  "the  neck  curved  and  the  wings  raised  after  the  true  Swan  model." 


SIVAJV  933 

nasal  knob,  a  black  neck  and  the  rest  of  its  plumage  pure  white. 
It  has  been  introduced  into  Europe,  and  breeds  freely  in  confinement. 

A  greater  interest  than  attaches  to  the  South- American  birds 
last  mentioned  is  that  which  invests  the  Black  Swan  of  Australia. 
Considered  for  so  many  centuries  to  be  an  impossibility,  the  know- 
ledge of  its  existence  seems  to  have  impressed  (more  perhaps  than 
anything  else)  the  popular  mind  with  the  notion  of  the  extreme 
divergence — not  to  say  the  contrariety — of  the  organic  products  of 
that  country.  By  a  singular  stroke  of  fortune  we  are  able  to  name 
the  precise  day  on  which  this  unexpected  discovery  was  made.  The 
Dutch  navigator  Willem  de  Vlaming,  visiting  the  west  coast  of 
Zuidland  (Southland),  sent  two  of  his  boats  on  the  6th  of  January 
1697  to  explore  an  estuary  he  had  found.  There  their  crews  saw  at 
first  two  and  then  more  Black  Swans,  of  which  they  caught  four, 
taking  two  of  them  alive  to  Batavia  ;  and  Valentyn,  who  several  years 
later  recounted  this  voyage,  gives  in  his  work  ^  a  plate  representing 
the  ship,  boats  and  birds,  at  the  mouth  of  what  is  now  known  from 
this  circumstance  as  Swan  River,  the  most  important  stream  of  the 
thriving  colony  of  Western  Australia,  which  has  adopted  this  very 
bird  as  its  armorial  symbol.  Valentyn,  however,  was  not  the  first  to 
publish  this  interesting  discovery.  News  of  it  soon  reached  Amster- 
dam, and  the  burgomaster  of  that  city,  Witsen  by  name,  himself  a 
fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  lost  no  time  in  communicating  the 
chief  facts  ascertained,  and  among  them  the  finding  of  the  Black 
Swans,  to  Martin  Lister,  by  whom  they  were  laid  before  that  society 
in  October  1698  (Fhil.  Trans,  xx.  p.  361).  Subsequent  voyagers, 
Cook  and  others,  found  that  the  range  of  the  species  extended  over 
the  greater  part  of  Australia,  in  many  districts  of  which  it  was 
abundant.  It  has  since  rapidly  decreased  in  numbers,  and  will 
most  likely  soon  cease  to  exist  as  a  wild  bird,  but  its  singular  and 
ornamental  appearance  will  probably  preserve  it  as  a  modified 
captive  in  most  civilized  countries,  and  perhaps  even  now  there  are 
more  Black  Swans  in  a  reclaimed  condition  in  other  lands  than  are 
at  large  in  their  mother-country.  The  species  scarcely  needs 
description :  the  sooty-black  of  its  general  plumage  is  relieved 
by  the  snowy  white  of  its  flight-feathers  and  its  coral-like  bill 
banded  with  ivory. 

The  Cygninse.  admittedly  form  a  well-defined  group  of  the  Family 
Anatidse,  and  there  is  now  no  doubt  as  to  its  limits,  except  in  the 
case  of  the  Cascaroba  above  mentioned.  This  bird  would  seem  to 
be,  as  is  so  often  found  in  members  of  the  South- American  fauna,  a 
more  generalized  form,  presenting  several  characteristics  of  the 
Ancdinse,  while  the  rest,  even  its  Black-necked  compatriot  and  the 

^  Commonly  quoted  as  Oud  en  Nieuw  Oost  Indien  (Amsterdam  :  1726).  The 
incidents  of  the  voyage  are  related  in  Deel  iii.  Boek  i.  Hoofdst.  iv.  (which  has 
for  its  title  Beschrijvinge  van  Banda),  pp.  68-71. 


934 


SWIFT 


almost  wholly  Black  Swan  of  Australia,  have  a  higher  morphological 
rank.  Excluding  from  consideration  the  little-known  (7.  davidi,  of 
the  five  or  six  ^  species  of  the  Northern,  hemisphere  four  present  the 
curious  character,  somewhat  analogous  to  that  found  in  certain 
Cranes  (p.  Ill),  of  the  penetration  of  the  sternum  by  the 
TRACHEA  nearly  to  the  posterior  end  of  the  keel,  whence  it  returns 
forward  and  upward  again  to  revert  and  enter  the  lungs ;  but  in 
the  two  larger  of  these  species,  when  adult,  the  loop  of  the  trachea 
between  the  walls  of  the  keel  takes  a  vertical  direction,  while  in  the 
two  smaller  the  bend  is  horizontal,  thus  afi'ording  an  easy  mode  of 
recognizing  the  respective  species  of  each.^  Fossil  remains  of  more 
than  one  species  of  Swan  have  been  found.  The  most  remarkable 
is  C.  falconeri,  which  was  nearly  a  third  larger  than  the  Mute  Swan, 
and  was  described  from  a  Maltese  cave  by  Prof.  Parker  {Trans.  Zool. 
Soc.  vi.  pp.  119-124,  pi.  30). 

SWIFT,^  a  bird  so  called  from  the  extreme  speed  of  its  flight, 
which  apparently  exceeds  that  of  any  other  British  species,  the 
Hirundo  opus  of  Linnaeus  and  Cypselus  apus  or  murarius  of  most 
modern  ornithologists,^  who  have  at  last  learned  that  it  has  only 
an  outward  resemblance  but  no  near  affinity  to  the  Swallow 
(p.  926)  or  its  allies.  Well  known  as  a  summer-visitor  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  Europe,  it  is  one  of  the  latest  to  return  from 
Africa,  and  its  stay  in  the  country  of  its  birth  is  of  the  shortest,  for 

1  The  C.  unwini  doubtfully  described  by  Mr.  Hume  {Ihis,  1871,  pp.  412,  413) 
from  India,  though  recognized  by  Dr.  Stejneger  [ut  suprd),  seems  to  be  only  the 
immature  of  the  Mute  Swan. 

^  The  correct  scientific  nomenclature  of  the  Swans  is  a  matter  that  offers  many 
difficulties,  but  they  are  of  a  kind  far  too  technical  to  be  discussed  here.  Dr. 
Stejneger,  in  his  learned  "Outlines  of  a  Monograph"  of  the  group  [ut  suprA), 
has  employed  much  research  on  the  subject,  with  the  result  (which  can  only  be 
deemed  unhappy)  of  upsetting  nearly  all  other  views  hitherto  existing,  and  pro- 
pounding some  which  few  ornithologists  outside  of  his  adopted  country  are  likely 
to  accept.  In  the  text,  as  above  written,  care  has  been  taken  to  use  names  which 
will  cause  little  if  any  misunderstanding,  and  this  probably  is  all  that  can  be 
done  in  the  present  state  of  confusion. 

2  The  bird  has  many  local  names,  of  which  perhaps  Deviling  and  Screech- 
OwL  are  the  commonest.  Black  Martin,  House-Martin  and  Martlet  are 
also  used,  the  last  especially  in  Heraldry. 

*  An  attempt  has  been  lately  made  to  revive  the  generic  name  Microptts  con- 
ferred in  1810  by  Meyer  and  Wolf  (Taschenb.  i.  p.  280),  ignorant  that  it  was 
already  used  in  Botany,  and  by  the  laudable  practice  of  those  days  inadmissible, 
as  Meyer  himself  apparently  recognized  when  he,  in  1815  (foj.  Liv-  und 
Esthlamls,  p.  143),  substituted  Brachypus  for  it ;  but  meanwhile  lUiger  had  como 
in  with  his  Cypselus,  which  Meyer  in  1822,  in  the  supplement  to  his  former  work 
(p.  255),  accepted.  Both  Microims  and  Brachypus  have  since  been  applied 
in  several  zoological  and  even  ornithological  groups ;  but  the  use  of  either  is 
contrary  to  customary  law. 


SWIFT  935 


it  generally  disappears  from  England  very  early  in  August,  though 
occasionally  to  be  seen  for  even  two  months  later. 

The  Swift  commonly  chooses  its  nesting-place  in  holes  under  the 
eaves  of  buildings,  but  a  crevice  in  the  face  of  a  quarry,  or  even  a 
hollow  tree,  will  serve  it  with  the  accommodation  it  requires.  This 
indeed  is  not  much,  since  every  natural  function,  except  sleep, 
oviposition  and  incubation,  is  performed  on  the  wing,  and  the 
easy  evolutions  of  this  bird  in  the  air,  where  it  remains  for  hours 
together,  are  the  admiration  of  all  who  witness  them.  Though 
considerably  larger  than  a  Swallow,  it  can  be  recognized  at  a 
distance  less  by  its  size  than  by  its  peculiar  shape.  The  head 
scarcely  projects  from  the  anterior  outline  of  the  pointed  wings, 
which  form  an  almost  continuous  curve,  at  right  angles  to  which 
extend  the  body  and  tail,  resembling  the  handle  of  the  crescentic 
cutting-knife  used  in  several  trades,  while  the  wings  represent  the 
blade.  The  mode  of  flight  of  the  two  birds  is  also  unlike,  that  of 
the  Swift  being  much  more  steady,  and,  rapid  as  it  is,  ordinarily 
free  from  jerks.  The  whole  plumage,  except  a  greyish-white  patch 
under  the  chin,  is  a  sooty- black,  but  glossy  above.  Though  its 
actual  breeding-places  are  by  no  means  numerous,  its  extraordinary 
speed  and  discursive  habits  make  the  Swift .  widely  distributed  ; 
and  throughout  England  scarcely  a  summer's  day  passes  without 
its  being  seen  in  most  places.  A  larger  species,  C.  melha  or  alpinus, 
with  the  lower  parts  dusky  white,  which  has  its  home  in  many  of 
the  mountainous  parts  of  central  and  southern  Europe,  has  several 
times  been  observed  in  Britain,  and  two  examples  of  a  species  of  a 
very  distinct  genus,  Acanthyllis  or  Chxtiira,  which  has  its  home  in 
northern  Asia,  but  regularly  emigrates  thence  to  Australia,  have 
been  obtained  in  England  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1880,  p.  1). 

Among  other  peculiarities  the  Swifts,  as  long  ago  described 
(probably  from  John  Hunter's  notes)  by  Home  (Fhil.  Trans.  1817, 
pp.  332  et  seqq.,  pi.  xvi.),  are  remarkable  for  the  development  of 
their  salivary  glands,  the  secretions  of  which  serve  in  most  species 
to  glue  together  the  materials  of  which  the  nests  are  composed, 
and  in  the  species  of  the  genus  CoUocalia  form  almost  the  whole 
substance  of  the  structure.*  These  are  the  "  edible "  nests  so 
eagerly  sought  by  Chinese  epicures  as  an  ingredient  for  soup,  and 
their  composition,  though  announced  many  years  since  by  Home 
(ui  supra),  whose  statement  was  confirmed  by  Bernstein  (Ad.  Soc. 
Sc.  Indo-N6erl.  iii.  Art.  5,  and  Journ.  fiir  Orn.  1859,  pp.  111-119), 
has  of  late  been  needlessly  doubted  in  favour  of  the  popular  belief 
that  they  were  made  of  some  kind  of  sea-weed,  Algse,  or  other 
vegetable  matter  collected  by  the  birds.^  It  may  be  hoped  that  the 
examination  and  analysis  made  by  Dr.  J.  R  Green  {Journ.  of  Physiol. 
vi.  pp.  40-45)  have  settled  that  question  for  all  time.  These  re- 
^  Hence  one  species  has  been  called  CoUocalia  fuciplutga. 


936 


SWIFT 


markable  nests  consist  essentially  of  mucus,  secreted  by  the  salivary 
glands  above  mentioned,  which  dries  and  looks  like  isinglass.  Their 
marketable  value  depends  on  their  colour  and  purity,  for  they  are 
often  intermixed  with  feathers  and  other  foreign  substances.  The 
Swifts  that  construct  these  "  edible  "  nests  form  a  genus  Collocalia, 
of  which  the  number  of  species  is  uncertain ;  but  they  inhabit 
chiefly  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean  from  the  north  of  Madagascar 
eastward,  as  well  as  many  of  the  tropical  islands  of  the  Pacific  so 
far  as  the  Marquesas, — one  species  occurring  in  the  hill-country  of 
India.  They  breed  in  caves,  to  which  they  resort  in  great  numbers, 
and  occupy  them  jointly  and  yet  alternately  with  Bats — the 
mammals  being  the  lodgers  by  day  and  the  birds  by  night.^ 

The  genus  Cypselus,  as  noted  by  AVillughby,  with  its  American 
ally  Panyptila,  exhibits  a  structure  of  the  foot  not  otherwise  ob- 
served among  birds.  Not  only  is  the  hind-toe  constantly  directed 
forwards,   but  the  other  three   toes   depart   from   the   rule  which 


Cypselus. 


ACANTHVLLIS. 

(After  Swainson.) 


Macropteryx. 


ordinarily  governs  the  number  of  phalanges  in  the  Bird's  foot, — a 
rule  which  applies  to  even  so  ancient  a  form  as  Archmopteryx  (FossiL 
Birds,  p.  278), — and  in  the  two  Cypseline  genera  just  named  the 
series  of  digital  phalanges  is  2,  3,  3,  3,  instead  of  2,  3,  4,  5,  which 
generally  obtains  in  the  Class  Aves.  Other  Swifts,  however,  do  not 
depart  from  the  normal  arrangement,  and  the  exception,  remarkable 
as  it  is,  must  not  be  taken  as  of  more  value  than  is  needed  for  the 
recognition  of  two  sections  or  subfamilies  admitted  bv  Mr.  Sclater 
in  his  monographical  essay  on  the  Family  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1865, 
pp.  593-617^.  Mr.  Hartert  {Coi.  B.  -Br.  Mus.  xvi.  pp.  434-518) 
recognizes  thi'ee  subfamilies  with  nine  genera  and  78  species. 
Their  geographical  distribution  is  much  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Hirandinidx  (Sw ALLOW,  p.  926) ;  but  it  should  be  always  and  most 
clearly  borne  in  mind  that,  though  so  like  Swallows  in  many  respects, 
the  Swifts  have  scarcely  any  part  of  their  structure  which  is  not 
formed  on  a  different  plan  ;  and,  instead  of  any  near  affinity  existing 
between  the  two  groups,  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  by  any  un- 

^  Mr.  H.  Pryer  has  given  one  of  the  latest  accounts  of  some  of  these  caves 
in  North  Borneo  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1885,  pp.  532-538),  whicli  may  be  read  to 
advantage. 


SWIFT  FOOT— SYRINX  ^yj 

prejudiced  investigator  that  the  Cypselidse  not  only  differ  far  more 
from  the  Hirundinidx  than  the  latter  do  from  any  other  Family  of 
Passeres,  but  that  they  belong  to  what  in  the  present  state  of 
ornithology  must  be  deemed  a  distinct  Order  of  Birds — that  which 
in  the  present  work  has  been  called  Picarige.  That  the  relations  of 
the  Ctjpselidx  to  the  Trochilidse  (Humming-bird,  pp.  442,  443)  are 
close,  as  has  been  asserted  by  L'Herminier,  Nitzsch,  Burmeister  and 
Prof  Huxley,  is  denied  by  Dr.  Shufeldt  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1885,  pp. 
886-914  ;  Ibis,  1893,  pp.  84-100),  but  the  views  of  the  last  are  con- 
troverted by  Mr.  Lucas  (Auk,  1886,  pp.  444-451  ;  Ibis,  1893,  pp. 
365-371). 

SWIFT  FOOT,  Selby's  name  in  1825  (Brit.  Orn.  i.  p.  334)  for 
what  was  already  known  as  the  CoURSER  (p.  107). 

SWINEPIPE,  an  old  name  for  the  Kedwing,  Turdus  iliacus 
(p.  777,  note  1). 

SYNALLAXIS,  the  name  of  a  genus  instituted  in  1819  by 
Vieillot  (N.  Did.  d'H.  N.  xxxii.  p.  309),  and  used  as  English  in 
1825  by  Stephens  (Shaw's  Zool.  xiii.  p.  227)  (cf.  Picucule,  p.  719). 

SYNDACTYLI,  one  of  IlJiger's  groups  of  Scansores  (p.  815) 
in  1811  (Prodr.  Syst.  p.  207)  consisting  only  of  the  genus  Galhula 
(Jacamar,  p.  463). 

SYRINX,  the  organ  of  voice,  and  a  i^eculiarity  of  the  class 
AVES,  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  modification  of  the  lower  end  of  the 
Trachea  and  adjoining  parts  of  the  Bronchi  (p.  58),  whence  it  is 
frequently  called  the  Lower  Larynx  (p.  513).  The  essential 
features  of  such  an  organ  are,  first,  membranes  stretched  between 
the  several  parts  of  a  cartilaginous  or  bony  framework,  and  next, 
special  muscles  which  by  their  action  vary  and  regulate  the  tension 
of  the  membranes. 

In  the  majority  of  Birds  the  median  wall  of  each  bronchial 
tube  is  formed  by  a  membrana  tympaniformis  interna,  while  a  variable 
number  of  memhranx  tymfaniformes  externa  exist  on  the  outer  side, 
either  between  neighbouring  bronchial  semirings,  or  between  the 
first  bronchial  semiring  and  the  last  tracheal  ring,  or  between  the 
last  two  tracheal  rings.  The  two  inner  tympaniform  membranes 
mostly  meet  at  the  pessidus  (p.  58),  whence  they  often  extend  into 
the  lower  end  of  the  Trachea  as  a  semilunar  fold.  When  there  is 
no  pessulus  these  two  membranes  meet  directly  and  are  attached  to 
the  ventral  and  dorsal  corners  of  the  last  tracheal  ring  or  rings. 
The  position  of  the  bronchidesmus  (p.  58)  varies  considerably.  In 
Anseres  it  lies  very  near  the  pessulus,  and  is  easily  overlooked,  while 
in  Gallinx  it  is  placed  further  back  and  is  very  conspicuous  :  in 
Ardea,  Buteo,  Cuculus  and  Cypselus  it  is  situated  at  the  5th  pair  of 
bronchial  semirings,  but  at  the  8th  in  Picus  and  Podidpes. 

All  the  muscles  of  the  Syrinx  (grouped  as  B.  /?.  at  p.  605)  are 


938 


SYRINX 


supplied  by  a  long  branch  of  the  Hypoglossal,  or  12th  pair  of 
cranial  nerves  (xii.  2  of  diagr.  p.  624).  A  branch  descends  on 
either  side  of  the  Trachea,  being  often  accompanied  along  its  whole 
length  by  thin  muscles  which  extend  from  the  Upper  Larynx  and 
the  Hyoid  apparatus  (p.  452)  to  the  Syrinx,  and  the  Syringeal 
muscles  proper  are  in  fact  the  distal  portion  of  such  a  long  lateral 
mass  as  in  the  majority  of  Birds  is  now  restricted  to  the  lower 
third  part  of  the  Trachea,  and  is  there  separated  into  a  variable 
number  of  pairs ;  but  there  are  also  others  which,  though  belonging 
to  the  same  category,  only  act  upon  the  Syrinx  indirectly.  Of 
these  there  is  in  all  Birds  one  pair,  but  in  Anseres,  including 
Palamedem,  two  pairs,  of  slender  muscles,  which  arise  at  about  the 
beginning  of  the  lower  third  of  the  Trachea  and  are  inserted  upon 
the  arms  of  the  Furcula  or  upon  the  lateral  processes  of  the 
Sternum  (p.  909),  or  again,  but  rarely  however,  on  neighbouring 
soft  parts  and  not  upon  bones.  These  are  the  tracheo-clavicular 
and  sterno-tracheal  muscles. 

The  proper  vocal  muscles,  being  those  which  are  inserted  upon 
the  lower  end  of  the  Trachea  or  upon  the  Bronchi,  shew  an  extra- 
ordinary amount  of  modification.  Their  number  varies  from  one 
pair  to  seven,  and  they  are  either  inserted  upon  the  middle  or  lateral 
portion  of  the  bronchial  semirings  (Mesomyodi,  p.  546),  or  attached 
to  the  end  of  those  semirings  where  they  pass  into  the  inner  tym- 
paniform  membrane  (ACROMYODI,  p.  1).  The  former  is  morphologic- 
ally the  more  primitive  condition,  and  is  found  in  an  overwhelming 
majority  of  Birds  ;  while  the  latter,  with  few  exceptions,  is  restricted 
to  the  OsciNES  (p.  659).  But  there  are  also  other  conditions — 
"  Anacromyodian,"  "  Catacromyodian  "  and  "  Diacromyodian  "  — 
according  as  these  muscles  are  inserted  on  the  dorsal,  the  ventral 
or  on  both  ends  of  the  semirings.  Hence  the  distinction  between 
Oligomyod^  (p.  654)  and  Polymyod^  (p.  737),  depending  on  the 
presence  of  few  or  many  song-nauscles,  even  if  applied  to  Fasseres 
only,  cannot  be  maintained,  for  that  group  includes  forms  with  any 
number  of  pairs  from  1  to  7.  Nor  is  the  distinction  between 
Mesomyodi  and  Acromyodi  always  safe.  The  Tyrannidx  for  in- 
stance are  anacromyodian,  while  the  Pipridse  and  Cotingidx  are 
catacromyodian,  and  these  modifications  can  be  shewn  to  have 
been  derived  (comparatively  recently)  from  the  weak  mesomyodian 
and  oligomyodian  condition  which  prevails  in  the  majority  of  the 
so-called  Oligomyodge.  On  the  other  hand,  the  diacromyodian  type 
can  only  have  been  developed  from  a  strong  muscular  basis  which 
could  split  into  a  dorsal  and  a  ventral  mass.  Moreover,  there 
are  no  Fasseres  known  to  be  intermediate  between  those  that  are 
diacromyodian  and  those  that  are  not.  We  have  therefore  to 
distinguish  between 

(1)  Fasseres  diacromyodi,  in  which  some  of  the  syringeal  muscles. 


SYRINX  939 


are  attached  to  the  dorsal  and  some  to  the  ventral  ends,  those  ends 
being,  so  to  say,  equally  treated ;  this  form  comprises  the  SUB- 
osciNES  (p.  921)  and  Oscines;  and 

(2)  Passeres  anisomyodi,  in  which  the  muscles  are  unequally 
inserted,  either  in  the  middle,  or  upon  only  one  or  the  other, 
dorsal  or  ventral,  end  of  the  semirings ;  this  form  comprises  the 
SuBCLAMATORES  (p.  921)  and  Clamatores. 

In  this  way  we  can  arrive  at  a  natural  classification  of  the 
Passeres,  and  avoid  the  obviously  illogical  shortcomings  which  result 
from  attempts  to  sort  them  into  two  groups  by  the  application  of 
two  distinct  taxonomic  principles,  one  being  the  number  of  the 
muscles  and  the  other  the  mode  of  their  insertion,  in  addition  to 
the  over-estimate  of  the  tracheophonous  type. 

The  following  list  shews  the  number  of  muscles  attached  to  the 
lower  end  of  the  Trachea  or  to  the  Syrinx  (except  the  tracheo- 
clavicular  and  sterno-tracheal  muscles)  in  various  groups  of  Birds. 

I.  Trachea  and  Syrinx  devoid  of  muscles  : — Casuarius,  Dromseus, 
Apteryx,  Struthio,  most  Steganopodes,  Ciconiidx,  Gathartidse  and  some 
Gallinse.  This  is  not  a  primitive  feature,  but  one  brought  about 
by  loss. 

II.  One  pair  of  muscles  inserted  on  the  distal  end  of  the 
Trachea  : — Anseres,  with  Palamedea,  Scopus,  Limosa,  most  Gallinse, 
Colmnhge,  Pteroclidx,  Opisthocomus,  Bhamphastidse,  Bucconidse,  Momo- 
tidx,  Todidse,  Cypselus,  some  Pteroptochidse  and  Formicariidse. 

III.  One  pair  of  tracheo-bronchial  muscles,  arising  mostly  from 
the  Trachea  and  attached  to  one  or  more  of  the  bronchial  semirings  : 
— Bhea,  Sphenisci,  Colymbus,  Podicipedidx,  Phalacrocorax,  Tuhinares, 
Ardeidse,Phcenicopterus,  Ealli,  Grues,  Limicolse,  Laridse,  Alcidx,  Mega- 
cephahn,  Lophortyx,  most  Falconidse,  Cuculidse,  Coraciid^,  Upupidm, 
GoUidse,  some  TrocJiilidx,  Pici,  Capitonidse,  Todidse,  Striges,  Caprimulgi, 
some  Pteroptochidse  and  Formicariidse,  Conopophagidse,  Gotingidse,  Pittidse, 
Philepittidde,  Eitrylscmidse,  various  Pipridm  and  Tyrannidx. 

IV.  Two  pairs  of  short  tracheo-bronchial  muscles  : — Gallinago 
cselestis,  Falco,  some  Trochilidx,  various  Pipridse  and  Tyrannidse, 
Dendrocolaptidse  and  Furnariidse,  and  Atrichornis — the  last  having 
one  pair  inserted  dorsally  and  the  other  ventrally,  and  being  there- 
fore diacromyodian. 

V.  Three  pairs : — Psittaci,  with  tracheal  and  tracheo-bronchial 
muscles ;  Menura  and  Poodytcs}  with  two  dorsal  and  one  ventral 
tracheo-bronchials. 

VI.  Four  pairs  or  more  : — Grallina,  with  two  dorsals  and  two 
\-entrals  ;  Prosthematodera,  with  two  or  three  dorsals  and  two  venti'als. 

^  This  is  the  Sphenmcicus  of  Gould  and  other  writers  ;  but  the  type  of  that 
genus  is  a  South- African  species  which  I  can  scarcely  believe  to  be  nearly  allied; 
1  have  therefore  adopted  the  generic  name  which  applies  to  the  Australian  form. 
The  species  I  examined  seems  to  be  P.  galactodes. 


940 


SYRINX 


YII.  Most  of  the  Osciiies  seem  to  possess  five  or  seven  pairs  of 
syringeal  muscles — no  case  of  six  pairs  being  known.  In  the 
Corvidie  they  are  arranged  as  follows: — (1)  m.  tracheo-bronchialis 
ventralis,  from  the  Trachea  to  the  anterior  ventral  end  of  the  2nd 
semiring ;  (2)  7n.  tr.-bronch.  ohliqims,  to  the  ventral  end  of  the  3rd 
semiring ;  (3  and  -t)  m..  tr.-bronch.  dorsalis  longus  et  brevis,  to  the 
dorsal  end  of  the  2nd  semiring,  and  to  the  inner  tympaniform  mem- 
brane near  the  pessulus  ;  (5)  m.  syringeus  ventralis,  to  the  ventral  end 
of  the  2nd  semiring — shorter  than  and  covered  by  No.  1  ;  (6)  m. 
syr.  ventri-lateralis,  covered  by  No.  2,  inserted  on  the  membrane 
between  the  2nd  and  3rd  semirings  ;  (7)  m.  syr.  dorsalis,  to  the 
dorsal  end  of  the  2nd  semiring. 

According  to  the  position  of  the  sound-producing  membranes, 
three  types  of  Syrinx  are  distinguishable : — Tracheal,  Bronchial 
and  Tracheo-Bronchial. 


Diagram  of  a  Tracheal  and  a  Bronchial  Syrinx. 

t.c.  traelieo-clavit^ular  muscle. 

I.  Syrinx  trachealis,  in  which  the  lower  jDortion  of  the  Trachea 
consists  of  thin  membranaceous  walls,  about  six  of  the  rings  being 
extremely  thin  or,  as  often  happens,  deficient.  Both  inner  and 
outer  tympaniform  membranes  exist  in  the  Bronchi  as  well  as 
some  vibratory  tracheal  membranes.  The  few  muscles,  generally 
but  one  pair,  are  Avholly  lateral.  The  birds  thus  furnished  are  the 
Tracheophon^,  their  voice  is  very  loud,  and  while  it  is  being 
sounded  the  lower  part  of  the  throat  swells  out.  They  belong 
entirely  to  the  Neotropical  Kegion,  and  comprising  the  Dendro- 
colaptidm,  Formicariidx,  Pteroptochidx  and  Concypophagida',  form  a 
tolerably  well-marked  group  of  the  Passeres  Clamatores.  Indica- 
tions of  such  a  tracheophonous  Syrinx  exist  in  various  Cotingidx 
and  Pittidx,  as  well  as  iji  Colnmhx  and  Gallini^ — but  the  last  cases 
are  clearly  only  analogous. 

II.  Syrinx  bronchialis,  in  which  outer  tympaniform  membranes 
exist  between  two  or  more  successive  bronchial  semirings,  while  an 


SYRINX 


941 


inner  tympaniform  membrane  may  also  be  present.  In  typical 
cases  the  Trachea  has  no  sounding  membranes,  and  to  such  belong 
Steatornis,  various  CaprwmJgi  and  Cuculi — notably  Batrachostomus, 
Fodargus,  Croto^haga,  Piaya  and  Guira  ;  but  there  are  other  members 
of  these  groups,  as  j^gotheles,  Nydidromus,  Cuculus  and  CentrojMS, 
in  addition  to  certain  Striges,  as  Asio  accipitrinus,  which  shew  stages 
intermediate  between  the  typical  Bronchial  and  Tracheo-bronchial 
Syrinx,  in  so  far  as  the  lower  part  of  the  Trachea  has  incomplete 
rings  only,  with  no  pessulus,  and  is,  as  in  Centrojms,  split  into  a  right 
and  left  half,  so  that  it  assumes  the  Bronchial  character. 

III.  Syrinx  tracheo-bronchialis,  Avhich  may   be   regarded  as  the 
normal  form,  the   other  two   being  modifications   of  it,  yet   it  is 


B./c 


HI 


Kaven.     Lateral  and  Dorsal  View  of  Syrinx. 
B.u.  m.  ir.  second,  third  and  fourth  bronchial  rings  ;  Nos.  1-7,  as  on  page  940. 

difficult  to  give  such  a  diagnosis  of  it  as  Avill  apply  to  all  its  modi- 
fications. The  essential  feature  is  that  the  proximal  end  of  the 
inner  tympaniform  membrane  is  attached  to  the  last  pair  of  tracheal 
rings.  In  the  Oscines  the  four  or  five  distal  tracheal  rings  are  solidly 
fused  into  a  little  box  which  communicates  with  the  Bronchi ;  the 
first  and  second  bronchial  semirings  are  closely  attached  to  the 
Trachea ;  and  the  spaces  between  the  second  and  third  and  third 
and  fourth  semirings  are  generally  closed  by  outer  tympaniform 
membranes.  Similar  arrangements  exist  in  many  other  birds ;  but 
the  chief  outer  membrane  is  frequently  formed  between  the  last 
tracheal  and  the  first  bronchial  ring,  as  in  Bhea,  Anseres,  S2)henisci, 
Perdix,  Cypselus,  Aluco  flammeus  and  PiUincola.  Most  peculiar 
features  are  shewn  by  Gallus  and  the  Psittaci ;  but  in  fact  the 
modifications  are  very  numerous,  as  may  well  be  expected  from  the 


942 


S  YRINX—  TA IL  OR- BIRD 


number  of  rings,  semirings,  muscles  and  membranes  that  enter  into 
the  composition  of  the  Syrinx.  The  essential  requirement  of  a  vocal 
organ,  the  presence  of  vibratory  membranes,  can  be  met  in  many 
ways  ;  but  how  these  membranes  act  in  particular,  and  how  their 
tension  is  modified  by  the  often  numerous  muscles  we  do  not  know. 
Various  dilatations  of  the  Trachea  no  doubt  assist  the  modulation 
of  the  voice,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  upper  Larynx ;  but 
the  Tongue  plays  no  part  in  the  voice  of  Birds,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Parrots,  and  the  slitting  of  that  member  or  the  cutting 
of  its  frenum  cannot  possibly  add  to  the  faculty  of  articulation. 


TAILOR-BIRD,  the  Motacilla  sidoria  of  Pennant,  who  in  1769 
(Imlian  Orn.  p.  7,  pi.  viii.)  described  and  figured  its  wonderful 
nest,^  built  in  a  cone  which  is  formed  by  the  sewing  together  of  the 
leaves  of  plants,  as  may  be  seen  in  alnaost  every  museum,  and  read 
of  in  many  books.  A  good  summary  of  what  has  been  "written  on 
the  subject  is  given  by  Mr.  Gates  (Hume's  Nests  &  Eggs,  Ind.    B. 


ed. 


pp.  231-235);  but  though  the  progress  of  building  has 
been  Avatched  and  recoi'ded  almost  day  by 
day,  few  seem  to  have  observed  the  birds 
at  work  upon  their  fabric,  and  no  one  has 
explained  how  they  make  the  threads  (when 
they  do  make  them)  with  which  they  sew, 


Obthotomus  LONGIKOSTRIS.2 
(After  Swainson.) 


or  the  bunches  at  the  ends  acting  as  knots 


to  hinder  the  thi-eads  from  being  draAvn 
out.  The  briefest  account  must  here  suflfice. 
Of  the  common  Indian  Tailor-bird,  Orthotomus  sutorius  or  Sutoria 
longicauda,  Jerdon  (B.  Ind.  ii.  p. '166)  Avrites  that  it  "makes  its  nest 
of  cotton,  wool  and  various  other  soft  materials,"  and  "draws 
together  one  leaf  or  more,  generally  two  leaves,  on  each  side  of  the 
nest,  and  stitches  them  together  with  cotton,  either  woven  by  itself, 

•^  He  Avas  wrongly  informed  as  to  what  the  bird  was  like,  for  he  says  it  was 
"  light  yellow,"  whereas  it  has  a  chestnut  crown,  tlie  back  of  a  bright  olive-green, 
and  is  white  beneatli.  The  cock  has  the  two  middle  tail-feathers  elongated  ;  but 
in  the  lien  they  do  not  surpass  the  rest.  J.  R.  Forster,  a  dozen  years  later, 
brought  out  a  German  version  of  Pennant's  work  (the  original  edition  of  which 
was  never  completed),  and  therein  referred  (p.  17)  to  an  earlier  description  of  the 
bird  and  its  nest  by  Walter  Schouten  (Vay.  Ind.  Orient,  ii.  p.  513,  pi.  xv.)  under 
the  name  of  "  Tati  ou  Oiseau-mouche." 

'^  The  figure  was  drawn  from  a  specimen  in  the  Paris  Museum  ;  but  Dr.  Sharpe 
(ut  supra,  p.  219,  note)  says  he  has  "  not  succeeded  in  identifying  "  the  species  to 
which  it  belonged. 


TAISTE  V—  TANA  GER  943 

or  cotton  thread  picked  up ;  and  after  joassing  the  thread  through 
the  leaf,  it  makes  a  knot  at  the  end  to  fix  it."  Species  of  Tailor- 
bird  more  or  less  nearly  allied  are  found  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  the  Indian  Region ;  but  some  of  them  would  appear  not  always 
to  build  their  nests  in  this  fashion ;  and  birds  of  the  genus  Cisticola, 
to  which  belongs  the  Fantail-Warblee,  C.  cursiians,  that  inhabits 
the  South  of  Europe,  ply  the  same  trade  on  stems  of  grass, 
confining  them  by  stitches  above  the  nest,  which  is  built  among 
them  and  takes  a  globular  form.  Both  Orthotomus  and  Cisticola 
are  remarkable  for  the  variation  in  colour  of  the  eggs  they  lay, 
which  in  the  case  of  the  latter  is  said  to  depend  on  the  season 
of  the  year  (cf.  Eggs,  p.  189).  All  these  birds  are  referred  by 
most  systematists  to  a  subfamily  of  Sylviidse  (Warbler)  known  as 
Drynicecinse,  but  at  present  nothing  can  be  said  with  certainty  on 
that  point.  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  vii.  p.  215)  places  them 
in  his  Tirneliidx,  with  the  true  members  of  which  group  they  seem 
to  have  little  in  common. 

TAISTEY  or  TYSTY  (spelling  uncertain),  Icel.  >mte,  the 
Shetland  name  for  the  DovEKEY  of  sailors  (p.  166)  and  Black 
GrUiLLEMOT  of  books  (p.  399),  Uria  grylle. 

TAKAHE,  the  Maori  name  of  Notomis  {cf.  Moorhen,  pp.  591, 
592),  adopted  by  the  settlers  in  the  South  Island  of  New  Zealand, 
where  it  is  supposed  still  to  exist. 

TALENTER,  used  fancifully  for  Hawk  (Thos.  Middleton,  The 
World  Tost  at  Tennis,  1620),  as  having  "talents,"  i.e.  talons — these 
words  being  often  confounded,  or  played  upon,  as  by  Shakespear 
{Love's  Labour's  Lost,  iv.  2,  65). 

TAMMY-NORIE,  a  northern  form  of  Tom-Noddy,  and  a  name 
for  the  Puffin  (p.  750). 

TANAGER,  a  word  adapted  from  the  quasi-Latin  Tanagra  of 
Linnaeus,  which  again  is  an  adaptation,  perhaps  with  a  classical 
allusion,  of  Tangara,  used  by  Brisson  and  BufFon,  and  said  by 
Marcgrave  {Hist.  Pier.  Nat.  Bras.  p.  214)  to  be  the  Brazilian  name 
of  certain  birds  found  in  that  country.  From  them  it  has  since  been 
extended  to  a  gi'eat  many  others  mostly  belonging  to  the  southern 
portion  of  the  New  World,  now  recognized  by  ornithologists  as 
forming  a  distinct  Family  of  Oscines,  and  usually  considered  to  be 
allied  to  the  Fringillidx  (FiNCH,  p.  250) ;  but,  as  may  be  inferred 
from  Prof.  Parker's  remarks  {Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  x.  pp.  252,  253  and 
267),  the  Tanagridse  are  a  "feebler"  form,  and  thereby  bear  out 
the  opinion  based  on  the  examination  of  many  types  both  of  Birds 
and  Mammals  as  to  the  lower  morphological  rank  of  the  Neotropical 
Fauna  as  a  whole  (GEOGRAPHICAL  Distribution,  pp.  321-323). 

The  Tanagers  are  a  group  in  which  Mr.  Sclater  has  for  many 


944 


TAN  AGE  R 


years  interested  himself,  and  his  latest  treatment  of  them  {Cat. 
Br.  Mus.  xi.  j^p.  49-307)  admits  the  existence  of  375  species,  which 
he  arranges  in  59  genera,  forming  six  subfamilies — Procniatinx, 
Euphomimi',   Tanagrinx,    LanijrrotiuR',   Phoenicophilinx   and    Pitylinae. 

These  are  of  very  unequal  extent,  for, 
Avhile  the  first  of  them  consists  of  but 


Peocnias.    (Alter  Swaiuson.) 


a  single  species,   Procnias   tersa, — the 
position  of  Avhich  may  be  for  several 
reasons    still    open    to    doubt, — the 
third  includes  more  than  200.     Nearly 
all  are  birds  of  small  size,   the  largest  barely  exceeding  a  Song- 
Thrush.     Most  of  them  are  remarkable  for  their  gaudy  colouring, 
and  this  is  especially  the  case  in  those  forming  the  genus  called 


EUPHONIA   MUSICA.  TaNAGEA   CYANOPTERA. 

(After  Swainson.) 

by  Mr.  Sclater,  as  by  most  other  authors,  Calliste,  a  term  inad- 
missible through  preoccupation,  to  which  the  name  of  Tanagra 
of    right    seems   to   belong,  while  that  which    he  names    Tanagra 


Theaupis  episcopus. 


Rhamphoccelub. 


Tachyphonus  cristatus. 


Pyeanqa  rubra. 


Cypsnagea  ruficollis. 

(After  Swainson.) 


Nemosia. 


should  probably   be  known    as    TJi.raupis.^     The  whole  Family   is 
almost  confined  to  the  Neotropical  Region,  and  there  are  several 

^  All  this  appears  clearly  from  what  Mr.  Sclater  himself  says  in  the  Introduc- 
tion (pp.  vii.  viii. )  to  his  beautiful  Monograph  of  the  genus  (London  :  1857). 


TAN  ACER 


945 


forms  peculiar  to  the  Antilles ;  but  not  a  tenth  of  the  species  reach 
even  southern  Mexico,  and  not  a  dozen  appear  in  the  northern 
part  of  that  country.  Of  the  genus  Pyranga,  which  has  the  most 
northern  range  of  all,  three  if  not  four  species  are  common  summer 
immigrants  to  some  part  or  other  of  the  United  States,  and  two  of 


Lamprotes. 


(After  Swainson.) 


Saltator. 


them,  p.  nibra  and  P.  xsiiva, — there  known  respectively  as  the 
Scarlet  Tanager  and  the  Summer  Eedbird  (p.  771), — reach  even 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  visiting  as  well,  though  accidentally, 
Bermuda.  P.  xstiva  has  a  western  representative,  P.  cooped,  Avhich 
by  some  authors  is  not  recognized  as  a  distinct  species.  The  males 
of  all  these  are  clad  in  glo"\ving  red,  P.  rubra  having,  however,  the 
wings  and  tail  black.  The  remaining  species,  P.  ludoviciana,  the 
males  of  which  are  mostly  yellow  and  black,  Avith  the  head  only 


CiSSOPIS   PICATUS. 


Arremon. 


PiTYLUS   FULIGINOSUS. 

(After  Swainson.) 


SCHISTOCHLAMYS. 


red,  does  not  appear  eastward  of  the  Missouri  plains,  and  has  not 
so  northerly  a  range.  Another  species,  P.  hepatica,  has  just  shewn 
itself  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  In  all  these  the 
females  are  plainly  attired ;  but  generally  among  the  Tanagers, 
however  bright  may  be  their  coloration,  both  sexes  are  nearly  alike 
in  plumage.  Little  has  been  recorded  of  the  habits  of  the  species 
of  Central  or  South  America,  but  those  of  the  north  have  been  as 
closely  observed  as  the  rather  retiring  nature  of  the  birds  renders 
possible,  and  it  is  known  that  insects,  especially  in  the  larval  con- 
dition, and  berries  afford  the  greater  part  of  their  food.     They  have 

60 


946 


TAPACULO 


a  pleasing  song,  and  build  a  shallow  nest,  in  which  the  eggs,  generally 
three  in  number  and  of  a  greenish -blue  marked  with  broAvn  and 
purple,  are  laid. 

The  figures  here  given  will  shew  the  varied  proportion  of  the 
bill  in  some  of  the  genera  of  this  Family,  and  as  a  whole  the 
Tanagriclx  may  perhaps  be  considered  to  hold  the  same  relation  to 
the  Fringillidx  as  the  Ideridm  do  to  the  Sturnidx  (Starling),  and  the 
Mn'wtiltidx  to  the  Sj/lviidx  (Warbler)  or  Turdidm  (Thrush),  in 
each  case  the  purely  New- World  Family  being  the  "  feebler  "  type. 

TAPACULO,  the  name^  given  in  Chili  to  a  bird  of  singular 


Tapaculo. 


appearance, — the  Pteroptochus  cdbicollis  of  ornithology, — and  in  this 
work  (p.  324  and  Introduction)  applied  in  an  extended  sense  to 

^  Of  Spanish  origin,  it  is  intended  as  a  reproof  to  the  bird  for  the  shameless 
way  iu  which,  by  erecting  its  tail,  it  exposes  its  hinder  parts.  It  has  been  some- 
times misspelt  "Tapacolo,"  as  by  Mr.  Darwin,  who  gave  (Jo;«-;i.  lies.  chap.  xii. ) 
a  short  but  entertaining  account  of  the  habits  of  this  bird  and  its  relative 
Ilyladcs  mcycqwdius,  called  liy  the  Chilenos  "El  Turco,'"  while  Mr.  Hudson 
{Argent.  Orn.  i.  p.  206)  has  briefly  described  those  of  the  Patagouian  "  Gallito" 
(Little  Cock),  Rhinocrypta  lanccolata. 


TAPACULO  947 


its  allied  forms,  which  are  now  found  to  constitute  a  small  Family, 
Pteroptochidai,  belonging  to  the  Tracheophonous  division  of  Passeres, 
and  therefore  peculiar  to  South  America.  About  20  species,  dis- 
posed by  Mr.  Sclater  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xv.  pp.  337-352)  in  8  genera, 
are  believed  to  belong  to  this  group. 

The  species  of  the  Family  first  made  known  is  Scytalopus 
magellanicus,  originally  described  in  1783  by  Latham  {Gen.  Syn.  iv. 
p.  464)  as  a  Warbler.  Even  in  1836  Gould  not  unnaturally  took 
it  for  a  Wren,  Avhen  establishing  the  genus  to  which  it  is  now 
referred ;  but  some  ten  years  after  Johannes  Miiller  found  that 
Scytalopus,  together  -wdth  the  true  Tapaculo,  which  was  first  descriljed 
by  Kittlitz  in  1830,  possessed  anatomical  characters  that  removed 
them  far  from  any  position  previously  assigned  to  them,  and  deter- 
mined their  true  place  as  above  given.  In  the  meanwhile  a  kindred 
form,  Hylactes,  also  first  described  in  1830,  had  been  shewn  by 
Eyton  to  have  some  very  exceptional  osteological  features,  and 
these  were  found  to  be  also  common  to  Pteroptochus  and  Scijta- 
lopns.  In  1860  Professor  Cabanis  recognized  the  Pteroptuchidai  as  a 
distinct  Family,  but  made  it  also  include  Menuni  (Lyrebird,  p. 
523),  while  some  years  later  Mr.  Sclater  {Ihis,  1874,  p.  191,  note) 
thought  that  Atrichnrnis  (Scrub-bird,  p.  820)  might  belong  here. 
It  was  Garrod  in  1876  and  1877  who  finally  divested  the  Family  of 
these  aliens,  but,  until  examples  of  some  of  the  other  genera  have 
been  anatomically  examined,  it  may  not  be  safe  to  say  that  they  all 
belong  to  the  Pteroptochklx. 

The  true  Tapaculo,  P.  albicolUs,  has  a  general  resemblance  in 
plumage  to  the  females  of  some  of  the  smaller  Shrikes  (p.  845),  and 
to  a  cursory  observer  its  skin  might  pass  for  that  of  one ;  but  its 
shortened  wings  and  powerful  feet  would  on  closer  inspection  at 
once  reveal  the  difference.  In  life,  however,  its  appearance  must 
be  wholly  unlike,  for  it  rarely  flies,  hops  actively  on  the  ground  or 
among  bushes,  with  its  tail  erect  or  turned  towards  its  head,  and 
continually  utters  various  and  strange  notes, — some,  says  Mr. 
Darwin,  are  "  like  the  cooing  of  doves,  others  like  the  bubbling  of 
water,  and  many  defy  all  similes."  The  "  2\crco,"  its  fellow-country- 
man, Hylactes  megapodius,  is  larger,  Avith  greatly  developed  feet  and 
claws,  but  is  very  similar  in  colour  and  habits.  Two  more  species 
of  Hylactes  are  known,  and  one  other  of  Pteroptochus,  all  of  which 
are  peculiar  to  Chili  or  Patagonia.  The  sjoecies  of  Scytalojnis  are 
as  small  as  Wrens,  mostly  of  a  dark 
colour,  and  inhabit  pai'ts  of  Brazil 
and  Colombia,  one  of  them  occur- 
ring so  far  northward  as  Bogota.^ 

T   m  •  1       ji  ,  •  CoNOPOPHAGA.     (After  Swainson.) 

^  iliis   may    be   the    most   convenient 

place  to  mention  another  South-American  Family,  Conopophagida;,  suggested  by 

Garrod  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1877,  p.  452),  and  subsequently  shewn  by  Forbes  {pp.  cit. 


948 


TARNEY—TEAL 


TARNEY,  TARRACK  and  TARRET,  said  to  be  local  names 
of  the  common  Tern  ;  but  the  second,  spelt 

TARROCK,  is  generally  used  for  the  Kittiwake  (p.  492)  in 
immature  jilumage. 

TARSEL  and  TASSEL  [Romeo  and  Juliet,  ii.  2,  160)  corruptions 
of  Tercel. 

TARSUS,  in  common  descriptive  ornithology  the  third  and 
most  conspicuous  portion  of  the  Bird's  leg,  whence  the  toes  spring. 
For  its  actual  composite  nature  see  Skeleton  (p.  864). 

TATLER,  a  name  applied  in  North  America  to  various  species 
of  Sandpiper  (p.  810) ;  but  generally  with  a  distinctive  prefix.  Its 
first  recognition  as  an  ornithological  term  seems  to  be  in  1831  by 
Richardson  and  Swainson  {Faun.  Bor.-Ariier.  ii.  p.  388),  but  it  was 
probably  used  before  colloquially  {cf.  Telltale}. 

TEAL  (Old  English  Tele),  a  word  of  uncertain  origin,  but 
doubtless  cognate  with  the  Dutch  Taling  (formerly  Talingh  and 
Telingli),  and  this  apparently  with  the  Scandinavian  Atteling-And 
(Briinnich,  Orn.  Bar.  p.  18)  and  Atling,  which  it  seems  impossil)le 

not  to  connect  with  the  Scottish 
Atteal  (p.  22),  though  this  last 
word  (however  it  be  spelt)  is  gener- 
ally used  in  conjunction  Avith  Teal, 
as  if  to  mean  a  different  kind  of 
bird  ;  and  commentators  have  shewn 
a  marvellous  ineptitude  in  surmising 
what  that  bird  was. 

The  Teal  is  the  Anas  crecca  of 
Linnteus,  and  the  smallest  of  the 
Eiu'opean  Anatidx  (DuCK,  p.  168), 
as  well  as  one  of  the  most  abundant  and  highly  esteemed  for  the 
table.  It  breeds  in  many  parts  of  the  British  Islands,  making  its 
nest  in  places  very  like  those  chosen  by  the  Wild  DuCK,  A.  boscas ; 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  by  far  the  greater  number  of  those  that 
are  taken  in  decoys,  or  are  shot,  during  the  autumn  and  winter  are 
of  foreign  origin.  While  the  female  presents  the  usual  inconspicuous 
mottled  plumage  of  the  same  sex  in  most  species  of  Anatinai,  the  male 
is  one  of  the  handsomest  of  his  kind ;  but  too  Avell  known  to  need 
description.  It  inhabits  almost  the  Avhole  of  Europe  and  Asia, — 
from  Iceland  to  Japan, — in  winter  visiting  Northern  Africa  and 
India,  and  occasionally  occurring  on  the  Avestern  shores  of  the 
Atlantic ;  but  its  place  in  North  America  is  taken  by  its  repre- 
sentative, A.  carolinensis,  the  male  of  Avhich  is  easily  to  be  recognized 

1881,  p.  435)  to  be  sufficiently  remarkable  (c/.  Sclater,  Cat.  B.  Br.  JIiis.  xv.  pp. 
329-336). 


Bill  of  Teal.    (After  Swainson.) 


TEASER— TECTRICES  949 

by  the  absence  of  tbe  upper  buff  line  on  the  side  of  the  head  and 
of  the  white  scapular  stripe,  while  he  presents  a  whitish  crescentic 
bar  on  the  sides  of  the  lower  neck  just  in  front  of  the  wings. 

Species  more  or  less  allied  to  these  two  are  found  in  most  other 
parts  of  the  world,  and  among  such  species  are  some  (for  instance, 
the  A.  gibherifrons  of  the  Australian  region  and  the  A.  eatoni  of 
Kerguelen  Island)  in  which  the  male  wears  almost  the  same  incon- 
spicuous plumage  as  the  female.  But  the  determination  of  the 
birds  which  should  be  technically  considered  "  Teals,"  and  belong 
to  the  subgenus  Nettium  (generally  misspelt  Nettion),  as  distinguished 
from  other  groups  of  Anatinse,  is  a  task  not  yet  accomplished,  and 
confusion  has  possibly  been  caused  by  associating  with  them  such 
species  as  the  Garganey  (p.  309)  and  its  probable  allies  of  the 
group  Querquedula.  Others  again  have  not  yet  been  discriminated 
from  the  WiGEONS,  the  Pintails  (p.  726),  or  even  from  the  typical 
form  of  Anas,  into  each  of  which  groups  Nettium  seems  to  jDass 
"without  any  great  break.  In  ordinary  talk  "  Teal "  stands  for 
any  Duck-like  bird  of  small  size,  and  in  that  sense  the  word  is 
often  applied  to  the  members  of  the  genus  Nettojpus,  though  system- 
atists  will  have  it  that  they  are  Geese,  which  the  formation  of  their 
trachea  shews  they  are  not.  In  the  same  loose  sense  the  word  is 
often  applied  to  the  two  most  beautiful  of  the  Family  Anatidse, 
belonging  to  the  genus  j^x  (commonly  misspelt  Aix) — the  Carolina 
or  Wood-Duck  of  North  America,  ^.  sponsa  (not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  above-named  Anas  carolinensis  or  Nettium  carolinense),  and 
the  Mandarin-Duck  of  China,  AE.  galericulata.  Hardly  less  showy 
than  these  are  the  two  species  of  the  group  named  Eunetta, — the 
Falcated  Duck,  E.  falcata,  and  the  Baikal  Teal,  E.  formosa, — both 
from  Eastern  Asia,  but  occasionally  appearing  in  Europe.  Some 
British  authors  have  referred  to  the  latter  of  these  well -marked 
species  certain  Ducks  that  from  time  to  time  occur,  but  they  are 
doubtless  hybrids,  though  the  secret  of  their  parentage  may  be 
unknown ;  and  in  this  way  a  so-called  Bimaculated  Duck,  Anas 
bimaculata,  was  for  many  years  erroneously  admitted  as  a  good 
species  to  the  British  list,  but  of  late  this  has  been  properly  dis- 
carded (cf.  Suchetet,  Hist,  du  Bimaculated  Duck,  Lille  :   1894). 

TEASER,  a  local  name  for  the  Arctic  Gull  (Skua). 

TECTRICES  (sing,  tectrix),  the  feathers  that  cover  the  base  of 
the  quill-feathers  of  the  wing  (Remiges,  p.  780)  and  of  the  tail 
(Rectrices,  p.  769),  in  each  case  divisible  into  Upper  and  Lower, 
according  to  their  position  on  the  dorsal  or  ventral  siu'face ;  but 
the  tail-coverts  need  little  further  notice,  while  those  of  the  wing 
deserve  much  attention.  Setting  aside  the  marginal  feathers,  each 
group  of  wing-coverts,  whether  Upper  or  Lower,  comprises  three 
series — known  as  the  Greater,  Middle  and  Lesser — the  two  first 


95° 


TECTRICES 


consisting  of  only  one  row  of  feathers,  which  in  the  case  of  the 
Greater  agrees  in  number  with  that  of  the  Remiges,  each  tectrix 
being  placed  on  the  proximal  side  of  its  corresponding  remex. 
When  the  11th  or  terminal  quill  is  absent  its  Upper  covert  remains 
as  a  siipernumerary,  as  for  instance  the  well-known  stiff  "painter's 
feather  "  of  the  "Woodcock.  The  Lower  1 1th  tectrix  is  less  constant, 
and  in  the  GalUnx,  for  example,  is  absent.  Similar  conditions  are 
found  in  the  10th  Greater  covert  of  many  Passeres,  and  sometimes 


Falco. 


TUBDUS. 


Trochilus. 


%' 


w>\ 


H^K 


,  t  <   '   ^   -^\         ^>"    ^-^^--^->^vC^CN>- 


-^l 


^\^vy 


J 


.V> 


Sterna.  *  Plotus. 

C,  suppleiin'utary  ;  I),  posterior  row  of  Middle  Upper  wing  coverts  ;  x  shews  the  point  of 
change  in  the  overlap.     (After  Goodehild.) 
(From  tlie  Proceedinys  of  the  Zoological  Society,  1SS6.) 


the  terminal  Upper  covert  is  even  larger  than  the  corresponding 
quill.  The  Upper  covert  of  the  first  or  proximal  digital  ("  primary  ") 
quill  is  often  very  small  or  even  absent,  being  completely  overlaid 
or  represented  by  the  coiTCsponding  Middle  covert,  an  arrangement 
probably  produced  by  the  mechanical  conditions  necessary  to  the 
folding  of  the  Aving.  The  Upper  Greater  coverts  of  the  cubital 
("  secondary  ")  quills  likewise  grow  from  the  proximal  side  of  their 
remiges,  but  they  cross  the  latter  in  an  outward  direction.  The 
Lower  tectrices  are  also  inserted  proximally,  but  those  of  the  Greater 
series  do  not  cross  their  remiges,  though  they  are  crossed  inwards 


TECTRICES  95 1 


and  very  obliquely  by  those  of  the  Middle  series,  which  are  inserted 
each  between  a  remex  and  its  corresponding  Greater  covert.  The 
Lower  coverts  arise  from  the  fleshy  part  of  the  wing,  and  the 
marginals  clothe  the  projpatacjium  or  anterior  part  of  the  wing  to 
which  they  are  restricted. 

The  Greater  and  Middle  rows  of  Lower  coverts  have  their  con- 
cave surface  downwards,  thus  agreeing  with  the  remiges  and  with 
the  Upper  coverts.  They  are  the  tedrices  aversse  of  Sundevall,  and 
the  explanation  of  the  apparent  anomaly  they  present  has  been 
given  by  Wray,  who  found  that  they  are  originally  situated  on  the 
dorsal  side  of  the  wing,  but  that,  during  the  growth  of  the  embryo, 
they  are  gi-adually  pushed  over  to  the  ventral  side,  so  as  to 
assume  the  position  of  LoAver  coverts  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1887, 
pp.  343-357).  This  shifting  is  probably  initiated  through  the 
greater  development  of  the  feathers  on  the  upper  surface  which 
become  the  remiges,  and  to  the  formation  of  the  tendinous  band 
{elast.  see.  fig.  p.  608)  connecting  their  bases.^ 

The  overlapping  of  wing-coverts  presents  some  curious  features. 
Feathers  are  said  to  overlap  proximally  when  the  inner  vane  or  web 
of  any  one  is  overlapped  by  the  outer  vane  of  its  proximal  or  inner 
neighbour.  This  is  the  case  with  (1)  all  the  remiges,  as  well  as  in 
the  so-called  bastard  wing,  (2)  all  the  Greater  coverts,  both  Upper 
and  Lower,  (3)  the  Upper  Middle  coverts  of  the  hand,  and  frequently 
those  of  the  arm,  (4)  those  of  the  parapteron  (p.  684)  or  upper 
humerals,  and  (5)  the  marginals,  both  Upper  and  Lower.  On  the 
other  hand,  feathers  overlap  distally  when  the  inner  vane  covers  the 
outer  vane  of  the  one  next  to  it.  Such  a  row  of  feathers  therefore 
seems  to  run  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  remiges  and  Greater 
coverts,  and  of  this  kind  are  (1)  all  the  Middle  and  Lesser  Lower 
coverts,  (2)  the  feathers  of  the  hypopteron  (p.  454),  (3)  very  fre- 
quently the  Lesser  Upper  coverts,  and  (4)  in  many  birds  the  Middle 
Upper  coverts.     The  number  and  position  of  these  distally-over- 

1  Owing  to  Wray's  ingenious  discoveiy  it  is  easier  to  understand  the  relations 
between  remiges  and  tectrices  majores  and  tectrices  media;  in  the  Ratitsa  and 
Sphenisci,  and  moreover  to  arrive  at  a  possible  explanation  of  tlie  development 
of  the  remiges  as  such.  Struthio  and  the  Oscines  have  only  one  row  of  inverted 
Lower  coverts  ;  PJica  and  the  Sphenisci  have  none.  In  the  last  there  are  more 
than  30  rows  of  little  scale-like  feathers  on  each  surface  of  the  wing,  the  largest 
of  them  not  being,  as  in  most  Birds,  the  last  series,  but  the  last  series  but  one  on 
the  hand,  and  the  second  and  third  last  on  the  dorsal  side  of  the  forearm. 
This  suggests  the  probability  that  in  the  Penguins  no  rows  of  feathers  have  been 
turned  ventrally  round  the  posterior  margin  of  the  wing,  which  is  to  say,  that 
these  birds  retain  a  condition  which  in  the  others  is  characteristic  of  embryonic 
life.  Struthio  possibly  represents  an  intennediate  stage,  in  which  only  one  row 
has  been  turned  ventrally,  unless  indeed  a  reduction  from  several  rows  to  one  row 
has  taken  place,  and  such  a  reduction  has  probably  been  effected  in  Rhea  and 
the  Oscines. 


952 


TECTRICES 


lapping  wing-coverts  were  shewn  many  years  ago  by  Sundevall  ^  to 
have  a  taxonomic  value,  and  the  later  researches  of  Mr.  Goodchild 
{Troc.  Zool.  Soc.  1886,  pp.  184-203)  have  carried  the  matter  further. 
The  latter  distinguishes  seven  different  types  of  arrangement  in  the 
wing-coverts  : 

1 .  All  the  Upper  feathers  overlap  proximally :  only  3  or  4 
transverse  rows  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  Lesser  coverts,  which 
are  represented  by  enlarged  marginals — CypselidsB  and  Trochili. 

2.  Lesser  coverts  absent,  marginals  enlarged  and  overlapping 
proximally :  Middle  Upper  coverts  reduced  to  one  row  and  over- 
lapping distally — Oscines. 

3.  One  row  of  Middle  and  5  or  6  rows  of  Lesser  Upper  coverts, 
all  overlapping  proximally — CucuUdm,  Musophagidx,  Coracias,  Indi- 
cator and  Caprimulgus. 

4.  One  row  of  Middle  and  from  2  to  4  rows  of  Lesser  coverts 
overlapping  distally — Picidas,  Rhamphastidx,  Akedinidx  and  Chasmo- 
rhynchus. 

5.  The  Middle  row  and  from  3  to  6  Lesser  rows  overlap  distally, 
except  the  feathers  toward  the  elbow,  which  overlap  proximally — 
— the  meeting-place  of  these  two  differently-disposed  groups  being 
generally  very  conspicuous.  This  is  the  most  common  and  possibly 
the  most  generalized  type,  from  which  all  the  rest  may  be  derived, 
and  occurs  in  Falconidse,  Psittaci,  Striges,  Herodii,  Phalacrocorax, 
Anseres,  Meleagris  and  many  Gallinse,  Goura,  BalUdee,  Limicolm,  Ciconia, 
Platalea  and  Ibis. 

6.  The  whole  row  of  Middle  coverts  overlaps  proximally ;  numer- 
ous rows  of  Lesser,  but  those  which  overlap  distally  are  restricted 
to  a  patch  on  the  middle  of   the  Upper  surface — Columha,  Ptero- 

'  didse,  Laridse,  Sula,  Serpentarius. 

7.  Numerous  rows  of  Upper  coverts  all  overlapping  proximally 
— Myderia,  Leptoptilus,  Fregata,  Plotus,  Diomedea,  Ossifraga,  Puffinus, 
Cathartidse. 

Considering  that  all  the  birds  of  this  last  type  are  remarkable 
for  the  length  of  their  wing-bones,  and  consequently  the  great 
number  of  remiges,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  other  Ciconix,  Tuhinares 
and  Steganopodes  belong  to  a  different  type,  it  seems  reasonable  to 
think  that  the  character  of  this  group  is  the  result  of  specialization, 
and  has  been  independently  acquired,  without  indicating  any  rela- 
tionship. On  the  other  hand,  the  agreement  between  Cypselidx 
and  Trochili,  Cohimbx  and  Pterodidse,  both  indicating  a  reference  to 
Limicolse,  and  the  similarity  between  Cathartidse  and  Steganopodes  as 
well  as  Pelargi  are  at  least  suggestive  of  taxonomic  value ;  but  for 
further  information  Mr.  Goodchild's  treatise,  -svhence  some  figures 
are  here  introduced,  should  be  consulted. 

^  K.  VetensTc.-Ak.  Handl.  1843,  pp.  303-384.    A  translation  of  this  memoir  by 
Dallas  appeared  in  Tlie  Ibis,  1886,  pp.  389-457i  pis.  x.  xi. 


TEETAN—TEETH  953 


TEETAN,  TEETING,  Orkney  and   Shetland   names   for   the 
Titlark. 

TEETH  are  so  generally  possessed  by  Vertehrata  as  naturally  to 
induce  the  supposition  that  the  older  Birds  must  have  had  them, 
and  many  anatomists  had  been  looking  out  for  their  traces. 
Already  in  1821  fitienne  Geoffroy  St.-Hilaire  announced  the  dis- 
covery, on  the  edges  of  the  mandible  and  prsemaxilla  in  embryos  of 
Palxornis  torquatus,  of  papillae,  rich  in  blood-vessels  and  nerves  and 
containing  globular  bodies,  which  he  likened  to  dental  germs.  His 
son,  Isidore,  and  Cuvier  thought  that  these  "  germs  "  became  sup- 
pressed by  the  later  development  of  the  horny  sheath  of  the  bill. 
In  1860  Blanchard  {Comptes  Eendus,  1.  pp.  540-542)  made  micro- 
scopical investigations  on  Cacatua  and  Melopsittacus,  and  described 
plates  of  dentine,  sent  out  from  the  edge  of  the  underlying  bone 
and  partly  surrounding  the  papillse,  which  last  were  directly  con- 
nected with  the  periosteum.  Subsequently  Prof.  W.  Marshall 
{cf.  Thier-reich,  Vogel,  i.  p.  499)  examined  a  nestling  of  Nymphicus  and 
found  clusters  of  calcareous  deposit  in  the  papillae  of  the  still  carti- 
laginous mandible.  He  observed  similar  papillae  in  an  embryo  of 
Aptenodytes,  and  his  attention  was  drawn  to  a  longitudinal  groove  ex- 
tending along  the  edges  of  both  the  upper  and  lower  jaw  in  the  adult. 
Dr.  M.  Braun  {Arh.  Zool.  Inst  Wurzhurg,  1879,  pp.  161-204,  pis.  viii. 
ix.)  described  and  figured  similar  papillae  in  MelopsiUams,  explaining 
the  so-called  plates  of  dentine  as  calcified  horn,  and  comparing  the 
papillae  themselves  with  the  horny  serrations  on  the  bill  of  the 
Anseres.  In  1880  Dr.  Paul  Fraisse  {SB.  Phys.  Med.  Ferh.  Wilrz- 
burg,  XV.  pp.  iii.-ix.)  re-examined  these  papillae,  and  concluded  that 
they  were  but  cutaneous  outgrowths,  projecting  into  the  super 
imposed  horny  layers;  which,  being  situated  between  the  Malpighian 
layer  and  the  periosteum,  became  connected  with  the  latter,  the 
capsule  of  supposed  dentine  consisting  of  peculiarly-modified  and 
occasionally  calcified  cells  of  the  horny  layer.  Thus  they  bear  a 
striking  but  oidy  a  superficial  resemblance  to  the  germs  of  Teeth. 
After  all,  then,  Dr.  Einsch's  practical  suggestion  (Die  Papageien, 
p.  138)  is  right,  and  these  papillae  only  ensure  the  firmer  connexion 
and  better  noui-ishment  of  the  thick  horny  beak.  They  can  be 
easily  seen  by  macerating  a  Parrot's  beak  and  tearing  oflF  the  cover- 
ing, and  are  comparable  with  the  long  cutaneous  i3apillce  which 
extend  into  the  hoof  of  a  horse.  They  occur  numerously  only  in 
Pdttaci  and  to  a  lesser  degree  in  Anseres,  but  not  in  Eatitse,  Gallinse, 
Columbse,  Accipitres  or  Corvidse,  though  present  in  the  form  of  a 
single  long  and  soft  projection  at  the  tip  of  the  praemaxilla  and 
mandible  of  many  Birds  with  strong  and  hooked  beaks. 

The  total  absence  of  dental  germs  in  all  recent  Birds  is   of 
course  no  proof  that  their  ancestors  did  not  possess  such  organs, 


954 


TELEOPTILE—  TENUIROSTRES 


and  in  fact  ArcJiseopteryx  (FossiL  Birds,  p.  278)  and  the  Cretaceous 
forms  of  North  America  (Odontoknithes,  p.  649)  had  teeth.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  Teeth  were  a  more  or  less  universal  feature  in 
all  Birds  of  that  period,  that  their  loss  took  place  at  or  shortly 
before  the  beginning  of  the  Tertiary  period,  and  moreover  that 
their  suppression  was  caused  by  the  gradually  increasing  strength 
of  the  horny  sheath  of  the  jaws,  as  in  Tortoises  and  in  young 
Monotremes ;  but  it  is  not  permissible  to  divide  the  Class  Aves  into 
Birds  Avith  Teeth  (Odontornithes)  and  Birds  without.  In  Hesperornis 
regalis  there  are  33  Teeth  (p.  650)  in  each  mandible  and  14  in  each 
maxilla,  Avhile  the  praemaxilla  is  toothless  and  was  probably 
covered  with  horn.  All  the  Teeth  stand  in  a  groove  (whence  Prof. 
Marsh's  name  Odontolcse),  but  bony  processes  between  them  indicate 
a  future  alveolar  condition.  Each  Tooth  is  curved  backward,  con- 
tains a  pulp-cavity,  and  consists  of  dentine  •with  an  enamel  coating 
just  as  in  the  case  of  the  normal  Eeptilian  Tooth,  and  another  truly 
Reptilian  character  is  shewn  by  the  succession  of  the  Teeth,  younger 
and  still  imperfect  Teeth  being  found  on  the  inner  side  of  the  base 
of  the  old  or  functional  set.  The  Teeth  of  Ichthyornis  are  likewise 
restricted  to  the  mandibles  and  maxillse ;  but  they  stand  each  in  a 
separate  socket  or  alveolus  (whence  the  name  Odontotormse  is  applied 
to  this  group  of  Birds),  and  the  young  or  reserve  Teeth  are  con- 
tained in  the  pulp  cavity  of  the  older  set,  growing  from  the  same 
base  just  as  in  Crocodiles  and  in  Mammals.  The  much  more  ancient 
and  still  more  Reptilian  Archmopteryx  had  few  Teeth,  and  those  but 
small. 

TELEOPTILE,  see  Feathers  (p.  243). 

TELLTALE,  the  name  long  used  in  North  America  for  Tofanvs 
melanoleucus  and  T.  flavipes  (Sandpiper,  p.  810)  from  "their  faith- 
ful vigilance  in  alarming  the  Ducks  with  their  loud  and  shrill 
whistle  on  the  first  glimpse  of  the  gunner's  approach,"  and  accord- 
ingly detested  by  him  (Wilson,  Am.  Orn.  vii.  p.  57).^ 

TENDON,  see  under  Muscular  System  (ef.  602-620). 

TENUIROSTRES,  a  French  word  used  by  Cuvier  in  1805 
(Leg.  d'Aimt.  Comp.  tabl.  2)  for  a'  group  of  Fasseres,  containing  the 
genera  Sitta,  Certhia,  Trochilus,  Upupa,  Merops,  Alcedo,  and  Todus;^ 
but  its  Latin  appKcation  seems  due  to  Illiger  in  1811,  who  restricted 
it   to   the   genera   Nedarinia   (Sun-bird),  Tkhodroma   and   UpiqM 

^  For  the  same  reason  the  Redshank,  T.  calidris,  is  known  as  Tolk  (inter- 
preter) in  Danish  and  Swedish  (c/.  Tuknstone). 

-  In  the  following  year  Dumeril  {Zool.  Analyt.  pp.  46,  47,  64,  65,  used  the 
word  (also  as  French)  in  a  double  sense — fh'st  almost  precisely  as  Cuvier  had 
done,  but  next  for  a  group  composed  of  Recurvirostra,  Tringa,  Charadrius, 
Numenius  and  Seolopax. 


TERCEL— TERN  955 


(Hoopoe).  In  the  Cuviei-ian  sense  it  has  since  been  largely  em- 
ployed, and  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  wholly  dropped 
except  by  those  who  have  some  knowledge  of  real  characters,  for 
it  was  used  in  1888  by  Olphe-Galliard  {Fcmn.  Orn.  Eur.  occid. 
fasc.  xxiii.),  who  referred  to  it  Oriolidse,  Upupidse,  Tichadromadidx, 
Certhiidse  and  Sittidae. 

TEECEL  and  TIERCEL  (corruptly  Tarsel  and  Tassel),  Fr. 
Tiercelet,  the  male  of  many  Birds-of-Prey ;  ^  but-  especially  of  those 
used  in  Falconry — except  the  GtYrfalcon,  Hobby,  Lanner,  Merlin, 
Sacre  and  Sparrow-hawk.  It  is  commonly  thought  to  signify 
that  a  Hawk  of  that  sex  was  "  a  third  part  lesse  then  the  female  " 
(Cotgrave) ;  but  some  writers,  as  Tardif  and  De  Thou,  maintain  that 
it  referred  to  a  belief  that  every  brood  of  Hawks  consists  of  3  birds, 
whereof  2  were  females  and  the  3rd  was  a  male,  or  that  this 
was  the  last  hatched  (c/.  Schlegel,  Trait,  de  la  Fauconnerie,  p.  1, 
note  3). 

TERMAGANT  or  TERMIGANT,  the  earliest  English  and 
Scottish  forms  of  the  name  now  written  Ptarmigan  (c/.  Grouse, 
p.  392,  note). 

TERN  (Norsk  Txrne,  Tenne  or  Tende ;  Swedish  Tama ;  Dutch 
Stern  ^),  the  name  now  applied  genei^ally  to  a  group  of  sea-birds,  the 
Sterniiix  of  modern  ornithology,  but,  according  to  Selby,  properly 
belonging,  at  least  in  the  Fame  Islands,  to  the  species  known  by 
the  book-name  of  Sandwich  Tern,  all  the  others  being  those  called 
Sea-Swallows — a  name  still  most  commonly  given  to  the  whole 
group  throughout  Britain  from  their  long  wings,  forked  tail  and 
marine  habit.  In  Willughby's  Ornithologia  (1676),  however,  the 
word  Tern  is  used  for  more  than  one  species,  and,  though  it  does 
not  appear  in  the  older  English  dictionaries,  it  may  well  have  been 
from  early  times  as  general  a  name  as  it  is  now. 

Setting  aside  those  which  are  but  occasional  visitors  to  the 
British  Islands,  six  species  of  Terns  may  be  regarded  as  indigenous, 
though  of  them  one  has  ceased  from  ordinarily  breeding  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  while  a  second  has  become  so  rare  and  regularly 
appears  in  so  few  places  that  mention  of  them  must  for  prudence 
sake  be  avoided.  This  last  is  the  beautiful  Roseate  Tern,  Sterna 
doiigalli ;  the  other  is  the  Black  Tern,  Hydrochelidon  nigra,  belonging 

^  Chaucer  applies  the  name  to  an  Eagle  {Parlement  of  Fowles,  line  393). 

^  Stakn  was  used  in  Norfolk  in  the  middle  of  this  century  for  the  bird  known 
by  the  book-name  of  Black  Tern,  thus  confirming  Turner,  who,  in  1544,  described 
[sub  cap.  "De  Gavia")  that  species  as  "nostrati  lingua  sterna  appellata."  In 
at  least  one  instance  the  word  has  been  confounded  with  one  of  the  old  forms 
of  the  modern  Staeling  (p.  903).  To  Turner's  name,  repeated  by  Gesner  and 
other  authors,  we  owe  the  introduction  by  Linnseus  of  Sterna  into  scientific 
nomenclatm'e.     ' '  Ikstern  "  is  another  Dutch  form  of  the  word. 


956 


TERN 


to  a  genus  in  which  the  toes  are  only  half-webbed,  and  the  birds 
of  small  size  and  dark  leaden-grey  plumage.  It  is  without  doubt 
the  Sterna  of  Turner,  and  in  former  days  was  abundant  in  many 
parts  of  the  fen  country,^  to  say  nothing  of  other  districts.  Though 
nearly  all  its  ancient  abodes  have  been  drained,  and  for  its  pur- 
poses sterilized  these  many  years  past,  not  a  spring  comes  but  it 
shews  itself  in  small  companies  in  the  eastern  counties  of  England, 
evidently  seeking  a  breeding -place.  All  around  the  coast  the 
diminution  in  the  numbers  of  the  remaining  species  of  Terns 
Avithin  the  last  50  years  is  no  less  deplorable  than  demonstrable. 

The  Sandwich  Tern,  S.  sandvicensis  or  S.  cantiaca — named  from 
the  place  of  its  discovery,  though  it  has  long  since  ceased  to  inhabit 
that  neighbourhood — is  the  largest  of  the  British  species,  equalling 
in  size  the  smaller  Gulls  and  having  a  dark-coloured  bill  tipped 
with  yellow,  and  dark  legs.  Through  persecution  it  has  been  ex- 
tirpated in  all  its  southern  haunts,  and  is  become  much  scarcer  in 
those  to  which  it  still  resorts.  It  was,  however,  never  so  abundant 
as  its  smaller  congeners,  the  so-called  Common  and  the  Aixtic  Tern, 
— two  species  that  are  so  nearly  alike  as  to  be  beyond  discrimina- 
tion on  the  wing  by  an  ordinary  observer,  and  even  in  the  hand 
require  a  somewhat  close  examination.^  The  former  of  these  has 
the  more  southern  range,  and  often  affects  inland  situations,  while 
the  latter,  though  by  no  means  limited  to  the  Arctic  circle,  is 
widely  distributed  over  the  north  and  mostly  resorts  to  the  sea- 
coast.  Yet  there  are  localities  where,  as  on  the  Fame  Islands,  both 
meet  and  breed,  without  occupying  stations  apart.  The  minute 
diagnosis  of  these  two  species  cannot  be  briefly  given.  It  must 
suffice  here  to  state  that  the  most  certain  difference,  as  it  is  the 
most  easily  recognizable,  is  to  be  found  in  the  tarsus,  which  in  the 
Arctic  Tern  is  a  quarter  of  an  inch  shorter  than  in  its  kinsman. 
The  remaining  native  species  is  the  Lesser  Tern,  >S^.  minufa,  one  of 
the  smallest  of  the  genus  and  readily  to  be  distinguished  by  its  per- 
manently white  forehead.  All  the  species  already  mentioned, 
except  the  Black  Tern,  have  much  the  same  general  coloration — 

/  It  was  known  there  as  Carr-Swallow,  Cakk-Crow  and  Blue  Darr  {qu.= 
Daw  ?). 

^  Linnaeus's  diagnosis  of  his  Sterna  Mmndo  points  to  his  having  had  an 
' '  Arctic  "  Tern  before  him  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  he  did  not  suspect  that  specific 
appellation  (akeady  used  by  other  writers  for  the  "Common"  Tern)  to  cover  a 
second  species.  Some  modern  authorities  disregard  his  name  as  being  insufficiently 
definite,  and  much  is  to  be  said  for  this  view  of  the  case.  Undoubtedly 
" hirundo"  has  now  been  used  so  indiscriminately  as  to  cause  confusion,  which 
is  avoided  by  adopting  the  epithets  of  Naumann  {Isis,  1819,  pp.  1847,  1848), 
who,  acting  on  and  confirming  the  discovery  of  Nitzsch  (the  first  detector  of  tlie 
specific  diiference),  called  the  more  southern  species  S.  fiuviatilis  and  the  more 
northern  ^S".  Tnacrura.  Temminck's  name,  S.  arctica,  applied  to  the  latter  a  year 
later,  has  been  until  lately  most  generally  used  for  it,  notwithstanding. 


TERTIALS— THICKHEAD  957 

the  adults  ill  summer  plumage  wearing  a  lilack  cap  and  having 
the  upper  parts  of  the  body  and  Avings  of  a  more  or  less  pale 
gi-ey,  while  they  are  mostly  lighter  beneath.  They  generally  breed 
in  association,  often  in  the  closest  proximity — their  nests,  contain- 
ing three  eggs  at  most,  being  made  on  the  shingle  or  among 
herbage.  The  young  are  hatched  clothed  in  variegated  down,  and 
remain  in  the  nest  for  some  time.  At  this  season  the  parents  are 
almost  regardless  of  human  presence  and  expose  themselves  freely. 

At  least  half-a-dozen  other  species  have  been  recorded  as  occurring 
in  British  waters,  and  among  them  the  Caspian  Tern,  S.  caspia, 
which  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  genus  and  of  wide  distribution, 
though  not  breeding  nearer  to  the  shores  of  England  than  on  Sylt 
and  its  neighbouring  islands,  which  still  afibrd  lodging  for  a  few 
pairs.  Another,  the  Gull-billed  Tern,  ^S*.  angllca,  has  also  been  not 
iinfrequently  shot  in  England.  All  these  species  are  now  acknow- 
ledged, though  the  contrary  was  once  maintained,  to  be  inhabitants 
of  North  America,  and  many  go  much  further. 

Mr.  Saunders  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xxv.  pp.  4-152)  recognizes  11 
genera  of  the  subfamily — Hydrochelidon  with  4  species  ;  Phaethusa, 
Gelochelidon,  Hydroprocne  and  Seena  with  one  each — these  being 
hitherto  most  generally  placed  in  Sterna,  to  which  last  he  allots  33 
species,  including  among  them  3  or  4  that  are  called  in  books 
"Sooty  Terns,"  but  by  sailors  Egg-BIRD  (p.  182),  or,  from  their  cry, 
Wide-awakes,  and  seem  as  much  entitled  to  generic  separation  as  the 
four  above  named  ;  Nsenia,  a  very  aberrant  form,  consisting  of  but 
one  species,  the  Inca  Tern,  peculiar  to  the  west  coast  of  South 
America ;  Frocelsterna,  Anoxic  and  Micranoiis  containing  the  various 
species  of  Noddy  (p.  643),  of  which  he  now  admits  but  7  ;  and 
Gygis,  composed  of  2  species  of  purely  white  birds,  almost  restricted 
to  the  southern  hemisphere. 

TERTIALS,  a  name  now  almost  wholly  abandoned,  but  applied 
by  older  writers  to  the  innermost  or  proximal  culiital  remiges 
(p.  780),  especially  when,  as  in  many  groups  of  Birds,  they  are 
distinctly  longer  than  the  more  distal  or  outer. 

TEUCHET  and  TEA\TITT,  local  names  of  the  Lapwing  (p.  504) 
from  its  cry. 

THICKHEAD,  Swainson's  rendering  in  1837  (Classif.  B.  ii.  p. 
249)  of  his  own  Pachy- 
cephcda,  a  genus  named 
by  him  in  1824  [Trans. 
Linn.  Soc.  xiv.  p.  444, 
note),  to  which  about 
50   species,    all    charac-  Pachycephala.  bopsaltria. 

teristic     of     and     mostly  (After  Swainson.) 

peculiar  to  the  Australian  Region,  have  been  referred,  while  some 


958  THICK-KNEE— THRASHER 


other  genera  as  Falcunculus  (Shrike),  Orececa  and  Eopsaltria  seem  to 
be  nearly  allied  (c/.  Gadow,  Cat  B.  Br.  Mus.  viii.  pp.  172-227).  By 
many  systematists  they  are  placed  among  the  Laniidse ;  but  they  seem 
to  differ  much  in  habit  from  the  Shrikes,  of  an  older  and  more 
generalized  form  of  which  they  may  be  survivors,  and  they  certainly 
deserve  grouping  as  a  subfamily  at  least.  No  fewer  than  12  species 
of  Pacliycephala  and  4  of  Eopsaltria  occur  in  one  part  or  another  of 
Australia ;  but  the  latter  are  said  by  Gould  {Hand-h.  B.  Austral,  i. 
p.  292)  to  be  "very  nearly  related"  to  the  genus  Fetroeca  (Wheatear), 
while  the  former  are  described  by  him  (torn.  cit.  p.  206)  as  differing 
in  habit  from  most  other  insectivorous  birds,  "particularly  in  their 
quiet  mode  of  hopping  about  and  traversing  the  branches  of  trees 
in  search  of  larvae,"  caterpillars  forming  a  large  part  of  their  food. 

The  name  Thickhead  is,  however,  given  in  other  parts  of  the 
world  to  very  different  birds,  and  in  South  Africa  especially  to 
CEdicnemus  capensis  (Dikkop,  p.  148),  the  Stone-CuRLEW  of  that 
country^  and  if  not  complimentary,  it  is  at  least  not  inaccurate,  as  is 

THICK-KNEE,  absurdly  applied  to  our  own  bird  by  Leach  in 
1816  {Syst.  Cat.  Mamm.  &  B.  Br.  Mus.  p.  28),  being  an  abbrevia- 
tion of  Pennant's  still  more  misleading  "Thick-kneed  Bustard" 
conferred  by  him  in  1776  {Brit.  Zool.  ed.  4,  i.  p.  244). 

THISTLE-BIRD,  -FINCH  and  -WARP,  names  of  the  Gold- 
finch (p.  370),  -COCK  in  Orkney  for  the  Great  Bunting  (p.  60). 

THRASHER,  THRESHER,  or  THRUSHER,i  names  given  to  a 
bird  well  known  in  the  eastern  part  of  North  America,  the  Turdus 
fuscus  of  the  older  and  Harporhynchus  fuscus  of  later  ornithologists, 
some  of  whom  have  dissociated  it  altogether  from  the  Thrushes,  to 
which  it  was  long  held  to  belong,  placing  it  with  Mimus  (Mocking- 
bird, pp.  582-585)  among  the  ''■  Troglodytinse"  (Wren),  and  those 
among  the  "  Timeliidse,"  whichis  an  admission  of  taxonomic  inability. 
Valid  reasons  there  may  be  for  separating  Harporhynchus,  of  which 
there  are  several  species  in  North  America,  from  the  Turdidse,  and 
the  osteological  grounds  are  temperately  advanced  by  Mr.  Lucas 
{Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  xi.  pp.  173-180);  but  little  value  can  be 
attached  to  what  had  previously  been  urged  as  the  strongest  point, 
namely,  that  in  Turdus,  and  its  nearest  allies,  the  tarsus  is  covered 
anteriorly  with  a  continuous  plate,  Avhile  in  the  Mwrns-grow^  the  tarsus 
is  anteriorly  scutellated,  generally  with  7  scales ;  for  Baird  {Rev. 
Am.  B.   p.  3)  shewed  that  this  might  be  an  individual  peculiarity, 

1  These  words  are  doubtless  derived  from  Thrush,  if  they  be  not  corrup- 
tions of  it.  An  esteemed  American  correspondent  has  suggested  to  me  that 
Thrusher  originated  in  the  wish  to  indicate  that  the  bird  so  called  was  bigger 
than  an  ordinary  Thrush,  of  which  word  it  might  be  said  to  be  (if  the  expression 
be  allowable)  the  "comparative  degree."  In  that  case  the  other  two  must  be 
regarded  as  corruptions.     They  have  nothing  to  do  with  threshing. 


THRICECOCK— THRUSH  959 

citing  a  specimen  of  M.  carolinejisis  with  a  leg  as  much  "booted"  as  in 
the  true  Thrushes,  while  in  a  species  of  Mimocichla,  the  di\dsions  of 
the  scutellse  are  appreciable  though  they  are  all  fused  into  one  plate.^ 

THRICECOCK,  a  local  name  for  the  Mistletoe-THRUSH. 

THROSTLE  (A.-S.  ])rosle),  now  nearly  obsolete,  apparently  the 
diminutive  foim  of 

THRUSH  (A.-S.  ])rysce,  Icel.  ]>rdstr,  Norw.  Tmst,  0.  H.  Germ. 
Drosce,  Mod.  Germ.  Drossel),-  the  name  that  in  England  seems  to 
have  been  common  to  two  species  of  birds,  the  first  now  generally 
distinguished  as  the  Song-Thrush,  but  known  in  many  districts  as 
the  Mavis, ^  the  second  the  Mistletoe-Thrush,  but  having  many 
other  local  designations,  of  Avhich  more  presently. 

The  former  of  these  is  one  of  the  finest  songsters  in  Europe, 
but  it  is  almost  everywhere  so  common  that  its  merits  in  this 
respect  are  often  disregarded,  and  not  unfrequently  its  melody, 
when  noticed,  is  ascribed  to  the  prince  of  feathered  vocalists,  the 
Nightingale  (p.  635).  The  Song-Thrush  is  too  well  known  to 
need  description,  for  in  the  spring  and  summer  there  is  hardly  a 
field,  a  copse  or  a  garden  that  is  not  the  resort  of  a  pair  or  more ; 
and  the  brown-backed  bird  with  its  spotted  breast,  hopping  over  the 
grass  for  a  few  yards,  then  pausing  to  detect  the  movement  of  a 
worm,  and  vigorously  seizing  the  same  a  moment  after,  is  one  of 
the  most  familiar  sights.  Hardly  less  well  known  is  the  singular 
nest  built  by  this  bird — a  deep  cup,  lined  with  a  thin  but  stiff  coat- 
ing of  fragments  of  rotten  wood  ingeniously  spread,  and  plastered 
so  as  to  present  a  smooth  interior — in  which  its  sea-green  eggs 
spotted  Avith  black  are  laid.  An  early  breeder,  it  builds  nest  after 
nest  during  the  season,  and  there  can  be  few  birds  more  prolific. 
Its  ravages  on  ripening  fruits,  especially  strawberries  and  goose- 
berries, excite  the  enmity  of  the  imprudent  gardener  who  leaves 
his  crops  unprotected  by  nets,  but  he  would  do  well  to  stay  the 
hand  of  revenge,  for  no  bird  can  or  does  destroy  so  many  snails,  as 
is  testified  to  the  curious  observer  on  inspection  of  the  stones  that 
it  selects  against  which  to  dash  its  captures, — stones  that  are  be- 
smeared with  the  slime  of  the  victims  and  bestrewn  with  the  frag- 
ments of  their  shattered  shells.  Nearly  all  the  young  Thrushes 
reared   in  the  British  Islands — and  this   expression  includes   the 

^  I  have  no  experience  of  Harporhynchus,  but  close  to  it  is  usually  placed  the 
Antillean  genus  3Iargarops  of  Mr.  Sclater,  and  no  one  who  has  made  its  acquaint- 
ance in  life  can  doubt  that  form  beinic  a  true  Thrush. 

■^  For  many  interesting  facts  connected  with  the  words  "Thrush"  and 
"Throstle"  which  cannot  be  entered  upon  here,  the  reader  should  consult  Prof. 
Skeat's  Etymological  Dictionary. 

^  Its  diminutive  is  Mauviette,  the  modern  table-name  of  the  Skylark,  and 
perhaps  Mavis  was  in  English  originally  the  table-name  of  the  Thrush. 


96o  THRUSH 

Outer  Hebrides,  though  not  Shetland — seem  to  emigrate  as  soon  as 
they  are  fit  to  journey,  and  at  a  later  period  they  are  followed  by 
most  of  their  parents,  so  that  many  parts  of  the  kingdom  are 
absolutely  bereft  of  this  species  from  October  to  the  end  of  January. 
On  the  continent  of  Europe  the  autumnal  influx  of  the  bii'ds  bred 
in  the  North  is  regarded  with  much  interest,  as  has  been  already 
stated  (Migration,  p.  551),  for  they  are  easily  ensnared  and  justly 
esteemed  for  the  table,  while  their  numbers  make  their  appearance 
in  certain  districts  a  matter  of  great  importance. 

The  second  species  to  which  the  name  applies  is  distinguished 
as  the  Mistletoe-Thrush,  corrupted  into  Missel-Thrush  (p.  575).^ 
This  is  a  larger  species  than  the  last,  of  paler  tints,  and  conspicuous 
in  flight  by  the  white  patches  on  its  outer  tail-feathers.  Of  bold  dis- 
position, and  fearless  of  the  sleety  storms  of  spring,^  as  of  predatory 
birds,  the  cock  will  take  his  stand  on  a  tall  tree,  "  like  an  enchanter 
calling  up  the  gale"  (as  Knapp  happily  wrote),  and  thence  with 
loud  voice  pi'oclaim  in  wild  and  discontinuous  notes  the  fei'vour  of 
his  love  for  his  mate ;  nor  does  that  love  cease  when  the  breeding- 
season  is  past,  since  this  species  is  one  of  those  that  appear  to  pair 
for  life,  and  even  when,  later  in  the  year,  it  gathers  in  small  flocks, 
husband  and  wife  may  be  seen  in  close  company.  In  defence  of 
nest  and  offspring,  too,  few  birds  are  more  resolute,  and  the  Daw, 
Pie  or  Jay  that  approaches  with  an  ill  intent  speedily  receives 
treatment  that  causes  a  rapid  retreat,  Avhile  even  the  marauding  cat 
finds  the  precincts  of  the  "  master  of  the  coppice  "  {Fen  y  llwyn),  as 
the  Welsh  name  this  Thrush,  unsuitable  for  its  stealthy  operations. 
The  connexion  of  this  bird  with  the  mistletoe,  which  is  as  old  as 
the  days  of  Aristotle,  is  no  figment,  as  some  have  tried  to  maintain. 
Not  only  is  it  exceedingly  fond  of  the  luscious  viscid  berries,  but  it 
seems  to  be  almost  the  only  bird  that  will  touch  them.  Of  other 
British  Thrushes,  the  Fieldfare  (p.  249),  Eedwing  (p.  777)  and 
the  Blackbird  (p.  42)  and  Ring-OusEL  (p.  666),  have  been  before 
noticed  in  these  pages,  as  has  been  (under  the  first  of  those  headings) 
the  so-called  "Robin"  (pp.  250,  791)  of  North  America. 

^  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  bird  taking  its  name  from  the  plant  Mistletoe 
[Viscum  album),  about  the  spelling  of  which  there  can  be  no  uncertainty — A.-S. 
Misteltan,  the  final  syllable  originally  signifying  "twig,"  and  surviving  in  the 
modern  "  tine,"  as  of  a  fork  or  of  a  deer's  antler. 

^  It  is  known  also  in  many  districts  as  the  "Storm-cock,"  from  its  habit  of 
singing  in  squally  weather  that  silences  almost  all  other  birds,  and  "Holm-  {i.e. 
Holly-)  Thrush,"  while  the  harsh  cries  it  utters  when  angry  or  alarmed  have 
given  it  other  local  names,  as  "Screech,"  "Shrite,"  and  "Skrike,"  all  traceable 
to  the  Anglo-Saxon  Scrie.  And  it  is  likely  that  the  word  Shrike  (p.  843)  may 
have  been  originally  applied  to  the  Mistletoe-Thrush.  In  several  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  Vocabularies  dating  from  the  8th  to  the  11th  century,  as  printed  by 
Thomas  Wright,  the  word  Scric,  which  can  be  hardly  anything  else  than  the 
early  form  of  "Shrike,"  is  glossed  Turdus. 


THYMUS  GLAND— TICHICRO  961 

The  Thrushes  have  been  generally  considered  to  form  a  distinct 
Family,  Turdidai,  which  is  j)laced  by  some  taxonomers  the  highest 
in  rank  among  birds.  The  fallacy  of  this  last  view  is  pointed  out 
elsewhere  (Introduction).  Though  many  modern  systematists  will 
admit  the  close  connexion  of  the  Turdidai  and  some  of  the  so-called 
Family  Sylviidse  (Warbler),  the  abolition  or  modification  of  the 
latter,  by  wholly  or  partially  merging  it  in  the  former,  has  not  yet 
been  satisfactorily  effected.  Mr.  Seebohm  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  v.  p. 
1),  being  compelled  by  the  conditions  previously  laid  down  by  Dr. 
Sharpe  {op.  cit.  iv.  pp.  6,  7)  to  unite  them,  protested  against  doing 
so.  His  own  assignment  of  the  subfamily  Turdinx  was  into  11 
genera,  of  which,  however,  6  only  would  be  commonly  called 
Thrushes,  and  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  establishing  these 
he  regarded  coloration  as  the  most  valid  character.  They  are  Geo- 
cichla  (a  phantom  name)  with  40  species,  Turdus  with  48,  Merula 
with  52,  Mimocichla  with  3,  Catharus  with  12  and  Monticola  with 
10.  These  last,  well  known  as  Rock-Thrushes,  make  a  very  near 
approach  to  the  Redstart  (p.  775)  and  Wheatear. 

THYMUS  GLAND,  a  body  of  obscure  significance;  but 
wrongly  called  a  gland.  It  is  best  developed  in  young  birds,  and  is 
a  yellowish  mass  extending  on  either  side  from  each  bronchus  along 
the  jugular  vein  and  ending  like  a  thread.  In  adults  it  becomes 
much  reduced  and  is  not  unfrequently  lost. 

THYREOID  GLAND,  like  the  last,  is  of  unknown  function 
and  wrongly  called  a  gland.  It  is  a  small,  oval,  reddish -yellow 
body  situated  on  either  side  of  the  root  of  the  neck,  loosely  covered 
by  the  skin  and  attached  to  the  carotid  artery  and  jugular  vein. 
In  an  adult  Swan  it  is  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long. 

TIBIA,  in  common  descriiDtive  ornithology  the  third  and 
generally  the  longest  portion  of  the  Bird's  leg,  intervening  between 
the  Femur  and  the  so-called  "  Tarsus."  For  its  actual  composite 
nature  see  Skeleton  (p.  863). 

TICHICRO,  the  name  (given  from  its  note)  in  Jamaica  of  a 
small  bird,  the  Fringilla  savannanivi  of  Gmelin,  now  referred  either 
to  the  genus  Coturnicuhis,  of  which  the  very  closely  allied  F.  passerina 
of  Wilson,  the  YelloAV- winged  Bunting  of  North  America,  is  the  type, 
or  to  Ammodromus,  founded  for  the  Sharp-tailed  Finch,  A.  caudacutus. 
Both  belong  to  a  gi-oup  of  New- World  forms  hitherto  ill  defined, 
and  considered  by  some  to  be  Finches  and  by  others  Buntings. 
Of  somewhat  Lark -like  habit,  the  Tichicro  is  said  by  Gosse  {B. 
Jam.  p.  245)  to  have  the  habit  of  running  on  the  ground,  and  to 
perch  but  seldom,  in  Avhich  respect  it  diff"ers  from  both  norma) 
Finches  and  Buntings  {cf.  Towhee). 

61 


962 


TWEE—  TIM  ELI  A 


TiMELIA. 

(Aftei-  Horsfield.) 


TIDEE,  TIDIF,  TYDIF  and  TYTYFR  (spelling  uncertain), 
obsolete  names,  but  the  second  and  third  are  used  by  Chaucer  (c/. 
Skeat's  ed.  iii.  p.  76,  iv.  p.  479,  v.  p.  386),  and  most  likely  signify 
a  T1TMOUSE.1 

TIDLY-GOLDFINCH,  said  to  be  a  name  for  the  Goldcrest. 

TIMELIA,  amended  from  Timalia^^  the  generic  name,  since 
used  as  English,  applied  by  Horsfield  in  1820  {Trans.  Linn.  Soc. 
xiii.  p.  150)  to  a  small  bird  he  discovered  in  Java,  and  two  years 
later  figured  and  more  fully  described  (Zool.  Res. 
pi.  43,  fig.  1) — T.  pilcata.  It  has  a  strong  bill, 
arched  and  much  compressed,  the  wings  short 
and  much  incurved,  the  plumage  generally  long 
and  lax,  a  rather  long  and  graduated  tail  and 
moderately  stout  feet.  The  sexes  are  outwardly 
alike,  except  in  point  of  size,  and  it  is  a  pretty 
bird  with  a  bright  bay  crown,  and  a  Avhite  line 
from  the  base  of  the  black  bill  over  the  eye, 
contrasting  also  Avith  the  black  lore,  while  the 
rest  of  the  upper  parts  are  olive,  the  rectrices  darker  and  trans- 
versely barred  by  a  deeper  shade  :  the  cheeks,  throat  and  neck 
are  white — the  last  with  fine  longitudinal  black  streaks,  while  the 
breast  and  other  lower  parts  are  of  a  pale  tawny.  The  species, 
declared  by  Mr.  Gates  {Faun.  Br.  Ind.  i.  p.  131)  to  be  the  only  one 
of  the  genus,  is  noAv  admitted  to  have  a  Avidish  range  on  the 
Asiatic  continent  from  Cochin-China  to  Nepal ;  but  the  statements, 
though  made  on  good  authority  (Jerdon,  B.  India,  ii.  p.  24,  and 
Sharpe,  Cat.  Br.  B.  vii.  p.  508)  of  its  occurrence  in  Malacca,  are 
doubted  by  Mr.  Gates  {ut  supra,  p.  132).  It  has  a  pleasant  song, 
and  is  described  as  affecting  the  neighboui'hood  of  cultivation  in 
Java,  but  in  India  its  habits  seem  to  be  more  retiring,  for  though 
said  to  be  an  active,  bright  bird,  it  keeps  creeping  about  the  grass 
near  the  ground,  and  seldom  sheAvs  itself.  It  builds  a  domed  nest 
in  a  loAvly  position  and  therein  lays  3  eggs,  Avhite  speckled  Avith 
broAvn. 

These  particulars  are  dAvelt  upon  because  this  little  bird  has  of 
late  years  been  set  in  such  a  position  as  none  other  has  ever  occu- 
pied. Around  it,  or  upon  it,  have  been  heaped,  one  after  another, 
or  whole  groups  at  a  time,  many  of  the  most  incongruous  forms  of 
Passeres  from  all  parts  of  the  Avorld,  until  the  "  Family  Timelildx  " 
became  a  confused  mass,  the  like  of  Avhich  had  not  been  seen  since 
systematic    ornithology   began.     The    practice    of    referring    some 

^  111  tlie  copy  before  mentioned  (p.  680,  note  2)  of  Belon's  Portraits,  the  figure 
of  Paras  major  is  inscribed  "  Colhnouse,  A  Tydie." 


"  Tlie  derivation  suggested  is  Tt/^dw,    I  honour,   and  I'jXiOj,   the  sun. 
correction  is  Sundevall's  in  1872  [Tentameu,  p.  11). 


The 


TINAMOU  963 


Passerine  birds  which  did  not  well  agree  with  the  best  known 
European  or  American  types  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  genus 
Timelia,  and  of  founding  a  subfamily  or  even  a  Family  for  them, 
was  at  first  harmless,  and,  indeed,  Avhere  new  forms  of  the  Indian 
Fauna  like  Stachi/ris  and  others  were  concerned  was  praiseworthy ; 
but  the  practice  was  presently  abused  and 
its  reduction  to  absurdity  eftected  in  the 
Sixth  and  Seventh  volumes  of  the  British 
Museum  Catalogue  of  Birds,  Avherein  toler- 
ably homogeneous  groups  of  various  kinds 
that  had  long  been  accepted  by  system- 
atists  were  broken  up  and  flung  upon  the 
heap — the  Troglodytidai  (Wren),  for  in- 
stance,  were    referred    to    the    Timeliidai,  ^'^tT^^^l  thoracka. 

,..,..  ,  (After  Swainson.) 

whereas  it  then-  union  were  necessary  the 

Timelias  should  have  been  referred  to  the  Wrens.  The  sole 
character  all  these  birds  were  supposed  to  possess  in  common 
was  one  shared  by  many  others  that  were  excluded,  namely,  wings 
short,  rounded  and  "  concave,"  so  as  to  fit  close  to  the  body,  the  last 
epithet  being  intended  to  signify  that  the  remiges  were  incurved.^ 

TINAMOU,  the  name  given  in  Guiana  to  a  certain  bird  as 
stated  in  1741  by  Barrere  {France  Equinoxiale,  p.  138),  from  whom 
it  Avas  taken  and  used  in  a  more  general  sense  by  Buffon  {Hist  A^af. 
Ois.  iv.  p.  502).  In  1783  Latham  {Synops.  ii.  p.  724)  adopted  it  as 
English,  and  in  1790  {Index,  ii.  p,  633)  Latinized  it  Tiiuinms,  as  the 
name  of  a  new  and  distinct  genus.  The  "  Tinamou "  of  Barrere 
has  been  identified  with  the  "Macucagua"  described  and  figured  by 
Marcgrave  in  1648,  and  is  the  Tinamus  major  of  modern  authors.^ 

^  It  is  due  to  Dr.  Sharpe  to  observe  that  he  indicates  {op.  cit.  vii.  p.  1)  the 
existence  of  some  hidden  })0\ver  against  which  he  was  helpless,  and  that  his 
"Group  VIII.  Tinieliw"  (p.  504)  does  not  differ  very  much  from  that  which  Mr. 
Gates  subsequently  tried  with  some  success  to  define  as  a  subfamily  Timeliinw 
(with  25  genera  found  in  India  alone)  of  Crateropodidm  ;  but  even  that  "Group" 
still  includes  forms  that  it  is  impossible  to  believe  are  allied,  and  the  Doctor, 
in  his  Address  to  the  International  Congress  of  1891  (p.  87),  though  referring 
with  approval  to  Mr.  Gates's  attempt,  and  adopting  a  few  other  modifications, 
stated  that  he  was  "not  prepared  at  the  present  moment  to  reconsider  the 
Timcliklw."  Gut  of  a  heap  of  road  -  sweepings  a  skilful  gardener  will  make  a 
compost  that  shall  produce  fragrant  flowers,  while  untended  it  remains  a  bed 
that  grows  nothing  but  noisome  weeds.  Let  us  hope  that  Dr.  Sharpe,  with 
the  extraoi'dinary  resources  at  his  command,  will  one  day  treat  this  festering 
mass  so  as  to  obtain  from  it  results  that  will  cause  the  former  unhappy  failure 
to  be  forgotten  and  a  crop  of  fair  blooms  secured  that  will  be  worthy  of  him, 
for  a  solution  of  the  Timelian  difficulty  will  indeed  be  a  great  feat. 

^  Brisson  and  after  him  Linnaeus  confounded  this  bird,  which  they  had  never 
seen,  with  the  Tuumpetek. 


964  TINA  MO  U 


Buffon  and  his  successors  saw  that  the  Tinamous,  though 
passing  among  the  European  colonists  of  South  America  as  "  Part- 
ridges," could  not  be  associated  with  those  birds,  and  Latham's 
step,  above  mentioned,  was  generally  approved.  The  genus  he  had 
founded  Avas  usually  placed  among  the  Gallinx,  and  by  many 
writers  was  held  to  be  allied  to  the  Bustards,  which,  it  must  be 
remembered,  were  then  thought  to  be  "  Struthious."  Indeed  the 
likeness  of  the  Tinamou's  bill  to  that  of  the  Khea  (p.  785)  was 
remarked  in  1811  by  Illiger.  On  the  other  hand,  L'Herminier  in 
1827  saw  features  in  the  Tinamou's  sternum  that  in  his  judgment 
linked  the  bird  to  the  Rallidse.  In  1830  Wagler  {Nat.  Syst.  Amph. 
u.s.w.  p.  127)  placed  the  Tinamous  in  the  same  Order  as  the 
Ostrich  and  its  allies;  and,  though  he  did  this  on  very  insufficient 
grounds,  his  assignment  has  turned  out  to  be  not  far  from  the  mark, 
as  in  1862  the  great  affinity  of  these  groups  was  shewn  by  Prof. 
Parker  {^frans.  Zool.  Soc.  v.  pp.  205-232,  236-238,  pis.  xxxix.-xli.), 
and  a  few  years  later  further  substantiated  by  him  (Phil.  Trans. 
1866,  pp.  174-178,  pi.  xv.).  Shortly  after  this  Prof.  Huxley  (Proc. 
Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  425,  426)  Avas  enabled  to  place  the  matter  in  a 
clear  light,  urging  that  the  Tinamous  formed  a  very  distinct  group 
of  birds  which,  though  not  to  be  removed  from  the  Carinat^, 
presented  so  much  resemblance  to  the  Hajitm  as  to  indicate  them 
to  be  the  bond  of  union  between  those  two  great  divisions.^  The 
group  from  the  resemblance  of  its  palatal  characters  to  those  of  the 
Emeu  (p.  212),  Dromseus,  he  called  Drom^ognath.e,  and  his 
decision,  if  not  his  name,  has  since  been  Avidely  accepted. 

The  Tinamous  thus — by  Avhatever  name  we  call  them,  Dromseo- 
gnathx,  Tiiiami  or  Crypturi — will  be  seen  to  be  of  great  importance 
from  a  taxonomer's  point  of  view,  though  in  regard  to  numbers  they 
are  comparatively  insignificant.  In  1873  Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin 
{Nonuncl.  Av.  Neotrop.  pp.  152,  153)  recognized  nine  genera  and 
thirty-nine  species;  but  in  1895  Count  T.  Salvadori  [Cat.  B.  Br. 
Mus.  xxvii.  pp.  494-569)  admitting  the  nine  genera,  acknowledged 
but  sixty-six  species.  They  are  especially  characteristic  of  the 
Patagonian  or  Chilian  portion  of  the  Neotropical  Region — four 
species  only  finding  their  way  into  Southern  Mexico  and  none 
beyond.  Some  of  them  inhabit  forests  and  others  the  more  open 
country ;  but  setting  aside  size  (which  in  this  group  A^aries  from 
that  of  a  Quail  to  that  of  a  large  common  FoavI)  there  is  an  unmis- 
takable uniformity  of  appearance  among  them  as  a  Avhole,  so  that 
almost  anybody  having  seen  one  sjjecies  of  the  group  would  ahvays 
recognize  another.  Yet  in  minor  characters  there  is  considerable 
diflference  among  them ;  and  before  all  the  group  may  be  divided 

^  M.  Alix  also  has  from  an  independent  investigation  of  the  osteology  and 
myology  of  Nothura  major  come  to  virtually  the  same  conclusion  (Jcnirn.  dc 
Zoologic,  iii.  pp.  169  and  252,  pis.  viii.-xi.J 


TINAMOU 


965 


into  tAvo  subfamilies,  the  first,  Tinaminai,  having  four  toes,  and  the 
second,  Tinamotidina3,  having  but  three — the  latter  containing,  so 
far  as  is  known,  but  two  genera,  Calopezus  with  a  single  species 
and  Tinnmotis  with  two,  while  the  former,  according  to  Messrs. 
Sclater  and  Salvin  {ni  mpra),  may  be  separated  into  seven  genera, 
two  being  Tinamus  and  JVothocerctis,  characterized  by  the  roughness 
of  their  posterior  tarsal  scales,  the  others,  Cryphiriis,  Rhynchotus, 
JVofJioproda,  Notlmra  and  Taoniscus,  having  smooth  legs. 


^^y^^i^^ 


Rufous  Tinamou  {Rhynchotus  rufescem^). 

To  the  ordinary  spectator  Tinamous  have  much  the  look  of 
Partridges,  ])ut  the  more  attentive  observer  will  notice  that  their 
elongated  bill,  their  small  head  and  slender  neck,  clothed  with  very 
short  feathers,  give  them  a  different  air.  The  plumage  is  generally 
inconspicuous  :  some  tint  of  brown,  ranging  from  rufous  to  slaty, 
and  often  more  or  less  closely  barred  with  a  darker  shade  or  black, 
is  the  usual  style  of  coloration  ]  but  certain  species  are  characterized 
by  a  white  throat  or  a  bay  breast.  The  wings  are  short  and 
rounded,  and  in  some  forms  the  feathers  of  the  tail,  which  in  all 
are  hidden  by  their  coverts,  are  soft.  In  bearing  and  gait  the  birds 
shew  some  resemblance  to  their  distant  relatives  the  Batitx,  and  Mr. 
Bartlett  shews  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1868,  p.  115,  pi,  xii.)  that  this  is 
especially  seen  in  the  newly-hatched  young.  He  also  notices  the 
still  stronger  Ratite  character,  that  the  male  takes  on  himself  the 
duty  of  incubation.     The  eggs  are  very  remarkable  objects,  curiously 


966  TINKER— TITMOUSE 

unlike  those  of  other  birds;  and,  as  before  stated  (p.  187),  their 
shell  ^  looks  as  if  it  were  of  highly -burnished  metal  or  glazed 
porcelain,  presenting  also  various  colours,  which  seem  to  be  constant 
in  the  particular  species,  from  pale  primrose  to  sage-green  or  light 
indigo,  or  from  chocolate-brown  to  pinkish-orange.  All  who  have 
eaten  it  declare  the  flesh  of  the  Tinamou  to  have  a  most  delicate 
taste,  just  as  it  has  a  most  inviting  appearance,  the  pectoral  muscles 
being  semi-opaque.  Of  their  habits  not  much  has  been  told.  Darwin 
{Journal,  chap,  iii.)  has  remarked  upon  the  silliness  they  shew  in 
allowing  themselves  to  be  taken,  and  this,  being  wholly  in  accord- 
ance with  what  Parker  observes  of  their  brain  capacity,  is  an 
additional  testimony  to  their  low  morphological  rank.  At  least 
one  species  of  Tinamou  has  bred  not  unfrequently  in  confinement, 
and  an  interesting  account  of  what  would  have  been  a  successful 
attempt  by  Mr.  John  Bateman  to  naturalize  this  species,  Rhynchotus 
rufescens,  in  England,  at  Brightlingsea  in  Essex,  appeared  in  The 
Field  (23rd  Feb.  1884  and  12th  Sept.  1885).  The  experiment  un- 
fortunately failed  owing  to  the  destruction  of  the  birds  by  foxes. 

TINKER  or  TINKERSHIRE,  one  of  the  many  names  of  the 
Guillemot. 

TINKLING  or  TIN-TIN,  the  name  in  Jamaica  for  one  of  the 
American  Grackles  (p.  379),  Quiscalus  crassirostris  (Gosse,  B.  Jam. 
p.  217)  belonging  to  the  Family  Ideridse. 

TIT,2  Icel.  Titr  (obsol.),  Norsk  Tita,  Old.  Engl.  Tidee  and 
other  forms  (p.  962),  a  vulgar  abbreviation  of  TiTMOUSE,  apparently 
first  used,  except  as  a  provincialism  (when  it  often  means  the 
Wren  and  possibly  gave  rise  to  the  nickname  Kitty),  in  1831  by 
Rennie  {Architect.  Birds,  p.  134);  but  from  its  derivation,  which 
involves  the  idea  of  something  small,  equally  applicable  to 

TITLARK  or  TITLING,  Icel.  Titlingr,  common  names  for  what 
books  call  the  Meadow-PiPiT  (p.  727),  Anthus  pratensis. 

TITMOUSE  3  (A.-S.  Mase  and  Tytmase,  Germ.  Meise,  Swed.  Mes, 
Dutch  Mees,  French  Misange),  the  name  long  in  use  for  several 
species  of  small  English  birds,  which  are  further  distinguished 
from  one  another  by  some  characteristic  appellation.  These  go  to 
make  up  the  genus  Parus  of  Linnaeus,  and  with  a  very  uncertain 

^  HetT  vou  Natliusius  has  described  its  microscopic  structure  (Jown.  fiir 
wissensch.  Zoologie,  1871,  pp.  330-355). 

2  It  had  been  thought  cognate  with  the  Greek  tit/s,  which  originally  meant 
a  small  chirping  bird  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  4,  x.  p.  227) ;  but  Prof.  Skeat  informs 
me  that  no  connexion  between  them  is  possible. 

^  It  is  by  false  analogy  that  the  plural  of  Titmouse  is  made  Titmice  ;  it  should    J 
be  Titmouses.     A  nickname  is  very  often  added,  as  with  many  other  familiar 
English  birds,  and  in  this  case  it  is  "Tom." 


TITMOUSE  967 


number  of  other  genera  form  the  Family  Paridx  of  modern 
ornithology.  Its  limits  are,  however,  very  ill-defined ;  and  here 
only  the  species  best  known  to  English  readers  can  be  noticed. 

I.  The  first  to  be  mentioned  is  that  called  from  its  comparatively 
large  size  the  Great  Titmouse,  P.  major,  but  known  also  in  many 
parts  as  the  Ox-EYE  (p.  680),  conspicuous  by  its  black  head,  white 
cheeks  and  yellow  breast,  down  which  runs  a  black  line,  while  in 
spring  the  cock  makes  himself  heard  by  a  loud  love-note  that 
resembles  the  noise  made  in  sharpening  a  saw.  It  is  widely 
distributed  throughout  the  British  Islands,  and  over  nearly  the 
whole  of  Europe  and  northern  Asia.  The  next  is  the  Blue 
Titmouse,  Blue-cap  or  NuN  (p.  646),  P.  cxruleus,^  smaller  than  the 
last  and  more  common.  Its  names  are  so  characteristic  as  to  make 
any  description  needless.  A  third  common  species,  but  not  so 
numerous  as  either  of  the  foregoing,  is  the  Coal-Titmouse,  P.  ater, 
distinguished  by  its  black  cap,  white  cheeks  and  white  nape. 
Some  interest  attaches  to  this  species  because  of  the  difference 
observable  between  the  race  inhabiting  the  scanty  remnants  of  the 
ancient  Scottish  forests  and  that  which  occurs  throughout  the  rest 
of  Britain.  The  former  is  more  brightly  tinted  than  the  latter, 
having  a  clear  bluish-grey  mantle  and  the  lower  part  of  the  back 
greenish,  hardly  either  of  which  colours  are  to  be  seen  in  the  same 
parts  of  more  southern  examples,  which  last  have  been  described 
as  forming  a  distinct  species,  P.  britannicus.  But  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  the  denizens  of  the  old  Scotch  fir-woods  are  nearly 
midway  in  coloration  between  the  dingy  southern  birds  and  those 
which  prevail  over  the  greater  part  of  the  Continent.  It  would 
therefore  seem  unreasonable  to  speak  of  two  species  only :  there 
should  be  either  three  or  one,  and  the  latter  alternative  is  to  be 
preferred,  provided  the  existence  of  the  local  races  be  duly 
recognized.  Much  the  same  thing  is  to  be  noticed  in  the  next 
species  to  be  mentioned,  the  Marsh-Titmouse,  P.  palustris,  which, 
sombre  as  is  its  plumage,  is  subject  to  considerable  local  variation 
in  its  very  extensive  range,  and  has  been  called  P.  borealis  in 
Scandinavia,  P.  alpestris  in  the  Alps  and  P.  lugubris  in  south-eastern 
Europe,  to  say  nothing  of  forms  like  P.  baicalensis,  P.  camchatkensis 
and  others,  whose  names  denote  its  local  variations  in  northern 
Asia,  while  no  great  violence  is  exercised  if  to  these  be  tacked  on 
P.  atricapilla  with  several  geographical  races  which  inhabit  North 
America.  A  fifth  British  species  is  the  rare  Crested  Titmouse,  P. 
cristatus,  only  found  in  limited  districts  in  Scotland,  though  common 
enough,  especially  in  pine -woods,  in  many  parts  of  Europe. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  how  many  species  of  Parus  exist,  their 

1  Canon  Tristram  informs  me  that  the  historic  bottle  at  Oxbridge  {supra, 
p.  553,  note)  was  reoccupied  in  1895,  making  a  tenancy,  though  not  quite  con- 
tinuous, of  at  least  110  years. 


968  TITMOUSE 


recognition  at  present  being  wholly  subjective  to  the  view  taken 
by  the  investigator  of  the  group.  Dr.  Gadow  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus. 
viii.  pp.  3-53)  in  1883  recognized  forty-eight,  besides  several  sub- 
species, Avhile  others  have  since  been  described.^  North-American 
ornithologists  include  some  fifteen  as  inhabitants  of  Canada  and  the 
United  States  ;  but  scarcely  two  writers  agree  on  this  point,  owing 
to  the  existence  of  so  many  local  forms.  Of  the  species  belonging 
to  the  Indian  and  Ethiopian  Faunas  there  is  no  space  here  to 
treat,  and  for  the  same  reason  the  presumably  allied  forms  of 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  must  be  left  unnoticed.  During  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  the  various  species  of  the  genus  Pants 
associate  in  family  parties  in  a  way  that  has  been  already  described 
(Migration,  p.  554),  and  only  break  up  into  pairs  at  the  beginning 
of  the  breeding-season.  The  nests  are  nearly  always  placed  in  a 
hollow  stump,  and  consist  of  a  mass  of  moss,  feathers  and  hair, 
the  last  being  worked  almost  into  a  kind  of  felt.  Thereon  the 
eggs,  often  to  the  number  of  eight  or  nine,  are  laid,  and  these  have 
a  translucent  white  shell,  freckled  or  spotted  with  rust-colour. 
The  first  plumage  of  the  young  closely  resembles  that  of  the 
parents ;  but,  so  far  as  is  known,  it  has  always  a  yellower  tinge, 
very  apparent  on  the  parts,  if  there  be  such,  which  in  the  adult 
are  white.  Few  birds  are  more  restless  in  disposition,  and  if 
"irritability"  be  the  test  of  high  organization,  as  one  systematist 
asserts,  the  Paridai  should  stand  very  near  the  top  of  the  list. 
Most  of  the  European  species  and  some  of  the  North-American 
become  familiar,  haunting  the  neighbourhood  of  houses,-  especially 
in  winter,  and  readily  availing  themselves  of  such  scraps  of  food, 
about  the  nature  of  which  they  are  not  particular,  as  they  can  get.^ 
Akin  to  the  genus  Parus,  but  in  many  respects  differing  from 

^  Some  of  the  most  interesting,  to  the  European  ornithologist,  of  this  genus, 
as  well  as  of  Acred^da,  presently  to  be  mentioned,  are  figured  by  Mr.  Dresser  in 
the  Supplement  to  his  Birds  of  Europ'e  (pis.  655-661). 

^  By  gardeners  every  Titmouse  is  generally  regarded  as  an  enemy,  for  it 
is  supposed  to  do  infinite  damage  to  the  buds  of  fruit-trees  and  bushes  ;  but 
the  accusation  is  wholly  false,  for  the  buds  destroyed  are  always  found  to  be 
those  to  which  a  grub— the  bird's  real  object — has  got  access,  so  that  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  the  Titmouse  is  a  great  benefactor  to  the  horticulturist, 
and  hardly  ever  more  so  than  when  the  careless  spectator  of  its  deeds  is  supposing 
it  to  be  bent  on  mischief. 

^  Persons  fond  of  watching  the  habits  of  birds  may  with  little  trouble  provide 
a  pleasing  spectacle  hy  adopting  the  plan,  practised  by  the  late  Mr.  A.  E.  Knox, 
of  hanging  a  lump  of  suet  or  tallow  by  a  short  string  to  the  end  of  a  flexible  rod 
stuck  aslant  into  the  ground  close  to  the  window  of  a  sitting-room.  It  is  seldom 
long  before  a  Titmouse  of  some  kind  finds  the  dainty,  and  once  found  visits  are 
made  to  it  until  every  morsel  is  picked  otf.  The  attitudes  of  the  birds  as  they 
cling  to  the  swinging  lure  are  very  diverting  and  none  but  a  Titmouse  can 
succeed  in  keeping  a  foothold  upon  it. 


TODY  969 

it,  is  Acredula,  containing  that  curious-looking  bird  the  Long-tailed 
or  Bottle-Titmouse,  with  its  many  local  races  or  species  inhabiting 
various  parts  of  the  Palfearctic  area,  which  must  be  here  passed 
over  without  a  word.  The  bird  itself,  having  its  tail  longer  than 
its  body,  is  unlike  any  other  found  in  the  northern  hemisphere, 
while  its  nest  is  a  perfect  marvel  of  construction,  being  in  shape 
nearly  oval  with  a  small  hole  in  one  side.  The  exterior  is  studded 
with  pieces  of   lichen,  worked  into  a  firm  texture  of  moss,  wool 


Parus.  jEGITHALUS. 

(After  Swainson.) 

and  spiders'  nests,  and  the  inside  is  profusely  lined  with  soft 
feathers — 2379  having  been,  says  Macgillivray,  counted  in  one 
example.  Not  inferior  in  beauty  or  ingenuity  is  the  nest  built  by 
the  Penduline  Titmouse,  jEgithalus  pendnlimis,  of  the  south  of 
Europe,  which  differs,  however,  not  merely  in  composition  but  in 
being  suspended  to  a  bough,  while  the  former  is  nearly  always 
i:)laced  between  two  or  more  branches. 

The  general  affinities  of  the  Paridiv  seem  to  lie  rather  with  the 
Siffida}  (Nuthatch,  p.  647)  and  CertUidx  (Tree-Creeper)  ;  and 
those  systematists  who  would  ally  them  to  the  Laniidai  (Shrike, 
p.  84.3),  or  still  more  interpose  the  last  between  the  former  Families, 
have  yet  to  find  grounds  for  so  doing. 

II.  The  so-called  "Bearded  Titmouse,"  Panurus  hiarmicus,  has 
habits  wholly  unlike  those  of  any  of  the  foregoing,  and  certainly  does 
not  belong  to  the  Family  I'aridx,  though  its  real  affinity  has  not 
yet  been  clearly  shewn.  It  was  formerly  found  in  many  parts  of 
England,  especially  in  the  eastern  counties,  where  it  bore  the  name 
of  Reed-Pheasant ;  ^  but  through  the  draining  of  meres,  the 
destruction  of  reed-beds,  and  (it  must  be  added)  the  rapacity  of 
collectors,  it  now  only  exists  as  a  native  in  a  very  few  localities. 
It  is  a  beautiful  little  bird  of  a  bright  tawny  colour,  variegated 
with  black  and  white,  while  the  cock  is  further  distinguished  by  a 
bluish-grey  head  and  a  black  tuft  of  feathers  on  each  side  of  the 
chin.  Its  chief  food  seems  to  be  the  smaller  kinds  of  freshwater 
mollusks,  which  it  finds  among  the  reed-beds  it  seldom  quits. 

TODY,  Pennant's  rendering  in  1773  {Gen.  B.  p.  17)  through  the 

'  The  names  given  to  this  bird  are  so  very  inapplicable  that  it  is  almost  a 
jiity  that  "Silerella"  (from  siler,  an  osier)  bestowed  npon  it  by  Sir  T.  Browne, 
its  discoverer  {cf.  Ray,  Collection  of  English  Words,  London  :  1674),  cannot  be 
restored,  though  it  is  less  a  frequenter  of  willow -garths  than  of  reed -beds 
{cf.  Yarrell,  Brit.  B.  ed.  4,  i.  pp.  511-522). 


970  TODY 

French  Todier  of  Brisson  {Orn.  iv.  p.  528)  of  the  somewhat  obscure 
Latin   word   Todus,^   not   unhappily  applied    in  1756   by   Patrick 

Browne  (Ilisf.  Jamaica,  p.  476)  to  a  little  bird 
remarkable  for  its  slender  legs  and  small  feet, 
the  "Green  Sparrow"  or  "Green  Humming- 
Bird"  of  Sloane  (Foy.  ii.  p.  306).  The  name, 
having  been  taken  up  by  Brisson  in  1760,  was 
,.,^    „    .        ,   adopted  by  Linnseus,  and  has  since  been  recoe- 

ToDus.    (After Swainson.)       •      ■,  ■,        "^     .  ,     ,      .  .  ,.,  ° 

nized  by  ornithologists  as  that  of  a  valid  genus, 
though  many  species  have  been  referred  to  it  which  are  now  known 
to  have  no  affinity  to  the  type,  the  T.  viridis  of  Jamaica,  and  ac- 
cordingly have  since  been  removed  from  it.  The  genus,  from  its  flat 
l)ill,  was  at  one  time  jslaced  among  the  Muscicajndai  (Flycatcher)  ; 
but  Dr.  Murie's  investigations  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1872,  pp.  664-680, 
pi.  Iv.)  have  conclusively  proved  that  it  is  not  Passerine,  and  is 
nearly  allied  to  the  Momotidx  (Motmot,  p.  593)  and  Alcedinidx 
(Kingfisher,  p.  485),  though  it  should  be  regarded  as  forming  a 
distinct  Family  Todidai,  peculiar  to  the  Greater  Antilles,  each  of 
which  islands  has  its  own  species,  all  of  small  size,  the  largest  not 
exceeding  four  inches  and  a  half  in  length. 

Of  the  species  already  named,  T.  viridis,  Gosse  (B.  Jam.  pp. 
72-80)  gives  an  interesting  account.  "Always  conspicuous  from 
its  bright  grass-green  coat,  and  crimson-velvet  gorget,  it  is  still  a 
very  tame  bird ;  yet  this  seems  rather  the  tameness  of  indifference 
than  of  confidence  ;  it  will  allow  a  person  to  approach  very  near, 
and,  if  disturbed,  alight  on  another  twig  a  few  yards  distant  .  .  . 
commonly  it  is  seen  sitting  patiently  on  a  twig,  with  the  head 
drawn  in,  the  beak  pointing  upwards,  the  loose  plumage  puffed 
out,  when  it  appears  much  larger  than  it  is.  It  certainly  has  an 
air  of  stupidity  when  thus  seen.  But  this  abstraction  is  more 
apparent  than  real ;  if  we  watch  it,  we  shall  see  that  the  odd- 
looking  grey  eyes  are  glancing  hither  and  thither,  and  that  ever 

^  In  Forcelliui's  Lexicon  (ed.  De  Vit,  1875)  we  find  "  Todiis  genus  parvissimae 
avis  tibias  liabens  jJerexiguas. "  Ducange  in  his  Glossarvum  quotes  from  Festus, 
an  ancient  grammarian,  "Toda  est  avis  qnne  non  liabet  ossa  in  tibiis  ;  quare 
semper  est  in  motu,  nnde  Todius  (al.  Todinus)  dicitur  ille  qui  velociter  todet 
et  movetur  ad  modum  todse,  et  todere,  nioveri  et  tremere  ad  modum  todae. " 
The  evidence  that  such  a  substantive  as  Todus  or  Toda  existed  seems  to  rest 
on  the  adjectival  derivative  found  in  a  fragment  of  a  lost  play  {Syrus)  by 
Plautus,  cited  liy  this  same  Festus.  It  stands  "cum  extritis  [cxtortis'}  talis, 
cum  todillis  [lodinis]  crusculis "  ;  but  the  jiassage  is  held  by  scholars  to  be 
corrupt.  Among  naturalists  Gesner  in  1555  gave  currency  {Hist.  Anim.  iii. 
p.  719)  to  the  ■word  as  a  substantive,  and  it  is  found  in  Levins's  Manipulus 
Vocahulomm  of  1570  (ed.  Wheatley,  1867,  col.  225)  as  the  equivalent  of  the 
English  "Titmouse."  Ducange  allows  the  existence  of  the  adjective  todinus. 
Stephanus  suggests  that  todi  comes  from  tvtOoI,  but  his  view  is  not  accepted. 
The  verb  todere  may  jierhaps  be  Englished  to  "  toddle"  !  . 


TODY 


971 


and  anon,  the  bird  sallies  out  upon  a  shoi't  feeble  flight,  snaps  at 
something  in  the  air  and  returns  to  his  twig  to  swallow  it."  He 
goes  on  to  describe  the  engaging  habits  of  one  that  he  for  a 
short  time  kept  in  captivity,"  which,  when  turned  into  a  room, 
immediately  began  catching  all  the  insects  it  could,  at  the  rate 
of  about  one  a  minute.  The  birds  of  this  Family  also  shew  their 
affinity  to  the  Kingfishers,  Motmots  and  Bee-eaters  by  burrowing 
holes  in  the  ground  ^  in  Avhich  to  make  their  nest,  and   therein 


ToDUS  viRiDis.    (After  Gosse.) 

laying  eggs  with  a  white  translucent  shell.  The  sexes  diff"er  little 
in  plumage.  All  the  four  species  of  Todus,  as  now  restricted, 
present  a  general  similarity  of  appearance,  and,  it  may  be  presumed, 
possess  very  similar  habits."     Apart  from  their  structural  jDeculiar- 

^  This  habit  and  their  green  colour  has  given  them  the  French  name  of 
Pcrroquet  or  Todicr  dc  tcrre,  by  -which  they  have  been  distinguished  from  other 
species  wrongly  assigned  to  the  genus  by  some  systematists  ;  and,  if  we  may 
believe  certain  French  travellers,  they  must  in  former  days  have  inhabited  some 
of  the  Lesser  Antilles  ;  but  that  is  hardly  probable. 

-  Dr.  Sharpe  has  treated  of  the  genus  [Ibis,  1874,  pp.  344-355  and  Cat.  B. 
Br.  M'us.  xvii.  pp.  333-337)  ;  but  he  was  misled  by  an  exceptionally  bright- 
coloured  specimen  to  add  a  fifth  and  bad  species  to  those  that  exist — and  even 
these,  by  some  ornithologists,  might  be  regarded  as  geographical  races.  The 
Cuban  form  is  T.  multicolor  ;  that  of  His])aniola  is  T.  suhulat^is  or  dominicensis  ; 
and  that  of  Porto  Rico,  originally  named  in  error  T.  mexicanus,  has  since  been 
called  hy2)Ochondriacus. 


972  TOES 

ities,  one  of  the  chief  points  of  interest  attaching  to  the  Tocliclgs 
is  their  limitation,  not  only  to  the  Antillean  Sub-region,  but,  as 
is  now  believed,  to  its  greater  islands. 

TOES,  forming  that  part  of  the  foot  on  which  a  Bird  rests, 
naturally  exhibit  countless  modifications — in  number,  size  or  in 
the  way  in  which  they  are  connected  by  the  podoiheca  or  integu- 
ment of  the  foot,  for  it  is  obvious  that  these  modifications  depend 
chiefly  on  the  kind  of  life  the  bird  leads,  and  whether  it  uses  its 
Toes  to  catch  prey,  to  perch,  climb,  run,  scratch,  wade  or  swim. 
Earlier  ornithologists,  having  no  better  characters  on  which  to  rely, 
attached  to  the  structure  of  the  Toes  a  value  out  of  all  proportion 
to  their  real  taxonomic  importance,  and  thus  a  superabundance 
of  technical  terms  was  created,  some  quite  illogically,  even  by 
systematists  of  the  modern  school.^  In  a  great  many  Birds  either 
the  HALLUX  (p.  404)  or  the  Fourth  Toe  is  reversible — the  latter 
for  instance  can  not  only  be  turned  back  at  will  by  the  Owls 
(pp.  675,  676),  but  is  frequently  so  carried  by  some  of  them. 
To  a  less  extent  the  Musophagidx  (TouRACO)  and  Leptosoma 
(Roller,  p.  794)  have  the  same  facility.  In  all  these  birds  the 
feet  shew  a  more  or  less  temporary  condition  which  has  become 
permanent  in  groups  that  are  called  "  zygodactylous "  and  placed 
together  as  Scansores.  There  can  scarcely  be  a  doubt  that  this 
form  of  "  climbing  "  foot  has  been  acquired  independently  by  several 
groups  of  birds,  just  as  others  have  independently  developed  the 
webs  that  form  a  "swimming"  foot,  and  so,  regardless  of  essential 
differences  of  structure,  have  been  combined  as  Natatores.  In 
Colius  (Mouse-bird)  the  hallux  can  be  turned  forward  and  the 
Fourth  Toe  backward,  so  that  this  peculiar  form  can  put  on  at 
will  the  normal,  the  zygodactylous  or  the  "  pamprodactylous " 
type — the  last  being  permanent  in  certain  Swifts,  and  in  a  less 
degree  some  Nightjars. 

Originally  the  four  Toes  may  be  presumed  to  be  placed  on  the 
same  level,  and  this  condition  prevails  in  most  if  not  all  of  the 
Birds  in  which  the  hallux  is  large  and  functional,  such  as  Pah- 
medea,  Steganopodes,  Herodii,  Scopus,  Megapodiidx,  Cracidm,  Porphyrio, 
Accipitres,  Coluvibx,  Striges,  Pkarim  and  Passeres.  When,  however, 
the  hallux  is  reduced  in  size  and  importance  it  is  often  moved 
higher  up,  so  that  it  does  not  seem  to  rise  from  the  same  level  as 
the  fore-toes,  as  is  the  case  in  Tubinares,  Colymhidx,  most  Anseres, 

^  Thus  Desmodactyli  (p.  134)  and  Eleutheeodactyli  (p.  194)  are  names 
given  to  groups,  not  because  one  has  the  Toes  externally  joined  and  the  other  Toes 
free  to  the  base,  but  because  one  has  a  vincuhim  to  the  deep  plantar  tendons  and 
the  other  has  not  {cf.  p.  615,  Type  I.).  Anisodactyli  (p.  19),  HeUrodadyles 
(Blainville,  Bull.  Soc.  Philomat.  1816,  p.  110),  Pampkodactyl.e  (p.  684),  Syndao- 
TYLi  (p.  937)  and  Zygodactyli,  with  their  derivatives,  are  other  cases  in  point. 


TOM— TONGUE  gy- 


Phoenicopterus,  Ciconiidx  (less  so  in  Ibididai),  Podica,  Heliamis,  Fulica, 
Tribonyx,  Ocydromus,  Aramus,  Grues  and  their  allies  (as  Psophia, 
Eurypyga,  Bliinochetus  and  Cariama),  Laro-Limicolse  (not  Dromas), 
Cathartidss  and  Gyjwgeranus.  This  modification  seems  to  be  a 
chaiucter  easily  adapted  according  to  the  nature  of  the  bird's 
resting-place,  and  to  be  of  as  little  taxonomic  importance  as  the 
comparative  length  of  the  toes. 

TOM,  a  nickname  applied  to  several  birds :  In  Jamaica 
3Iyiarchus  stolidus  is  the  TOMFOOL,  while  a  larger  and  a  smaller 
species,  31.  -validus  and  Contopus  pallidus  are  respectively  dis- 
tinguished as  the  Great  and  Little  Tomfool  (Handb.  of  Jam.  1881, 
p.  107),  all  three  belonging  to  the  Tyrannidse  (Tyrant-bird).  In 
the  same  island  TOM-KELLY,  or  as  Patrick  Browne  {Nat.  Hist. 
Jam.  p.  476)  in  1756  has  it,  "  Whip-tom-kelly  "  has  been  said  to  be 
the  Creole  name  of  Vireosylvia  calidris,  one  of  the  Vireonidx  (ViREo) ; 
but  Gosse  {B.  Jam.  p.  195)  never  heard  it  so  called  and  could  not 
believe  that  the  bird's  note  could  be  so  written.^  TOMMY,^  and 
TOM-NODDY  (c/.  Tammy-Norie),  mean  the  Puffin.  TOMTIT 
is  a  very  common  name  in  England  for  almost  any  kind  of  Tit- 
mouse, but  preferably  perhaps  to  Parus  cseruleus  as  the  best  known. 

TONGUE,  one  of  those  organs  which  in  Birds  presents  almost 
endless  modifications,  not  only  in  size  and  shape,  but  also  in  gross 
and  minute  structure.  As  a  whole  it  consists  of  the  Hyoid 
(p.  452)  framework,  with  its  attached  muscles  (pp.  619,  620),  the 
sensory  terminal  corpuscles  ^  of  a  branch  of  the  glossopharyngeal 

^  Yet  March  {Proc.  Ac.  Pliilad.  1S63,  p.  294)  uses  the  name,  and  Wilson 
{Am.  Orn.  ii.  p.  35)  declares  of  an  allied  continental  form,  V.  oUvacea,  that  it 
"requires  but  little  of  imagination  to  fancy  that  you  hear  it  pronounce  these 
words  'Tom-Kelly!  Whip-Tom-Kelly!'  very  distinctly,"  a  statement  denied 
by  Nuttall  {Man.  Orn.  U.  S.  and  Canada,  i.  p.  313),  who  also  says  {torn.  eit.  p. 
238)  that  this  call  is  uttered  by  Parus  hicolor,  the  Tufted  Titmouse. 

^  Tomor,  or  Tymor  (for  both  readings  occur)  appears  to  be  a  bhd's  name, 
and  though  there  is  nothing  to  shew  its  signification,  needs  mention  here  since 
it  is  included  in  several  works  and  has  been  misprinted  Tomor  by  Hartshorne 
{Ancient  Metrical  Tales,  p.  177).  The  authority  for  each  form  of  the  word  is  a 
MS.  i^oem  without  title  in  the  Public  Library  of  the  University  of  Cambridge 
(the  first  being  given  in  Ff.  5.  48.  fol.  69,  h,  line  6  ;  the  second  in  Ff.  2.  38.  fol. 
57,  col.  2,  line  22).  They  are  rightly  cited  by  Halliwell  {Diet.  Arch.  <fc  Prov. 
Words,  ii.  pp.  880,  898),  but  Thomas  Wright  {Diet.  Obsol.  &  Prov.  Ungl.  pp. 
968,  988)  wrongly  assigns  them  to  the  old  poem  of  True  Thomas. 

^  The  Tongue  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  the  chief  organ  of  taste  ;  but  it  is 
certainly  not  so  in  Birds,  where  it  is,  with  a  few  exceptions,  subservient  to 
deglutition,  being  also  in  some  cases  (Honey-eaters,  Humming-birds  and  Wood- 
peckers) the  means  of  taking  up  the  food.  It  is  true  that  the  Tongue  of  Birds  is 
very  rich  in  sensory  bodies,  the  so-called  Pacinian  or  Herbst's  corpuscles,  which 
are  the  terminal  organs  of  sensory  nerves  ;  but  these  corpuscles  are  frequently 
imbedded  deeply  in  and  beneath  the  impervious  horny  sheath,   so  that  they 


974  TONGUE 

nerves  (p.  627),  together  with  glands,  blood-vessels  and  the  tegu- 
mentary  sheath,  which  last  is  composed  of  horny  epidermal  cells, 
and  is  frequently  frayed  out  on  the  margins  or  at  the  tip,  in  various 
ways  according  to  the  use  to  which  it  is  put,  but  mainly  connected 
with  the  mode  of  feeding.  A  similar  if  not  identical  modification 
of  the  Tongue  seems  to  have  been  brought  about  in  Birds  belonging 
to  widely -difl[erent  groups  from  adaptation  to  the  same  circum- 
stances ;  but  here  we  must  restrict  ourselves  to  a  notice  of  the 
more  striking  or  aberrant  types,  only  remarking  that  generalizations 
as  well  as  conclusions  from  the  shape  of  the  bill  and  from  the 
nature  of  the  food  are  very  unsafe. 

The  Tongue  is  frequently  small  in  Birds  which  have  the  bill, 
mouth  and  gullet  very  large,  so  that  bulky  food  can  be  swallowed 
whole  and  quickly.  In  Felecanns  and  Sula,  for  instance,  the  free 
part  of  the  Tongue  is  reduced  to  a  little  nodule.  A  similar 
diminution  is  apparent  in  the  Eatitx  and  Crypturi,  in  some  Sphenisci 
and  Tubinares,  in  Numenius,  Ciconise,  Ihididx}  Cancroma,  Bucerotidx, 
Upupidse,  Alcedinidx  and  Caprimulgidx.  On  the  other  hand  the 
most  marked  development  of  the  organ  is  found  in  the  Anseres  and 
Phcenicopterus.  In  the  former  it  ends  in  a  horny  scoop,  concave 
above,  convex  beneath,  while  its  sides  are  beset  with  a  row  or  rows 
of  horny  papillx  like  very  short  bristles  or  denticulations,  which  fit 
more  or  less  into  the  similarly-serrated  edges  of  the  rhamphotheca  or 
sheath  of  the  bill  ;  but  its  upper  surface  is  furnished  with  short 
and  soft  papillse  sometimes  of  velvety  appearance.  Along  the 
middle  of  the  Tongue  runs  a  furrow  bordered  on  each  side  by  a 
horny  ridge,  beset  more  or  less  thickly  with  hard  papillss  which  aid 
in  swallowing  the  food.  On  the  under  side  of  the  root  lies  a  pair 
of  cushion-like  swellings,  filled  with  fat.  In  most  Birds-of-Prey  the 
Tongue  is  thick,  soft  and  spoon-shaped,  but  short ;  in  the  Pici 
(Woodpecker)  it  is  long,  round,  narrow,  pointed  at  the  end  and, 
in  the  most  insectivorous  forms  of  the  group,  beset  with  spines  or 
hooks  directed  backward.  The  elaborate  apparatus  already  de- 
scribed (pp.  452,  619)  serves  to  protrude  the  organ,  by  means  of 
which  the  bird  is  able  to  stir  up  and,  in  Mr.  Lucas's  neat  phrase 

cannot  serve  as  organs  of  taste  though  they  may  act  as  organs  of  touch.  More- 
over, corpuscles  of  the  same  kind  are  generally  distributed  not  only  in  the  palate 
and  bill  (as  in  the  Snipes  for  instance,  and  in  the  nail-like  tip  of  the  beak  in 
Anseres),  but  also  in  great  numbers  in  different  parts  of  the  body — as  near  the 
roots  of  the  contour-feathers,  especially  the  rectrices  and  remiges,  in  the  cloaca, 
in  the  mesentery  and,  last  though  not  least,  in  the  joints  of  the  skeleton,  but 
above  all  in  the  periosteum  of  the  tibia.  However,  "  taste"  is  one  of  the  diffuse 
senses. 

1  The  extraordinary  reduction  of  the  Tongue  in  Ihis  and  Platalea  induced 
Nitzsch  {Pterylographie,  p.  193)  to  combine  those  genera  in  one  group  as 
Hemiglottides. 


TORRENT-DUCK— TOT-0'ER-SEAS  975 

{Bull.  U.  S.  Dept  Agricult  Orn.  No.  7,  p.  38),  "coax"  out  of  their 
hiding-places  the  grubs  which  form  its  food.  The  sides  and  back 
of  the  Tongue  contain  many  Herbstian  corpuscles,  and  according  to 
that  gentleman  the  number  and  distribution  of  the  hooks  and  soft 
papillse  vary  much  in  closely-allied  species,  while  the  elongation  of 
the  organ  and  the  development  upon  it  of  the  spines  apparently 
takes  place  during  adolescence.^ 

In  many  groups  of  Birds,  but  chiefly  among  the  Meliphagidx 
(Honey-eater),  Nectariniidx  (Sun-bird)  and  Trochili  (Humming- 
bird) the  horny  sheath  of  the  Tongue  reaches  its  greatest  develop- 
ment (c/.  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1883,  pp.  62-69,  pi.  xvi.).  In  the  last 
group  each  side  of  it  is  bordered  by  a  long  thin  lamella,  the  outer 
edge  of  which  curls  up  like  a  roll  of  paper,  so  as  to  form  a  right 
and  left  tube  ;  while  in  the  second  group  the  inner  or  median 
margin  is  laciniated  or  frayed  out,  and  in  the  first  group  the  sheath 
continues  splitting  dichotomously,  producing  a  complicated  brush. 
Unfortunately,  and  to  the  shame  of  observers,  the  precise  way  in 
which  these  tongues  are  used  is  still  imperfectly  known.  Provided 
that  the  birds  really  eat  honey,  it  is  possible  that  the  nectar  of 
flowers  is  sucked  up  by  capillary  attraction,  and  therefore  that  what 
is  thus  taken  is  pressed  out  in  the  mouth ;  but  the  stomach  of 
these  birds  almost  always  contains  small  insects  and  larvae,  and  it 
seems  possible  that  the  Tongue  may  be  used  as  a  brush  to  dislodge 
and  collect  insects,  which  are  then  nipped  by  the  jaws,  the  margins 
of  which  are,  as  in  Meliphagidx  and  Nectariniidsc,  finely  serrated. 
The  same  consideration  applies  to  the  Cxrebidx  (QuiT-QUiT,  Sugar- 
bird)  and  to  the  Drepanididse  (Drepanis).  Some  of  the  Fsittaci 
(Lory  and  Nestor)  possess  a  short  brush-like  fringe  of  soft  papillx, 
which  possibly  act  as  a  tactile  and  suctorial  apparatus.  The  Tongue 
of  the  Rhamphastidx  (Toucan)  is  about  as  long  as  the  enormous 
bill,  but  is  very  slender  and  narrow,  not  protusible,  and  having 
the  sides  of  the  horny  covering  frayed  out  into  numerous  short 
bristles. 

TORRENT-DUCK,  a  book-name  given  to  birds  of  the  South- 
American  genus  Merganeffa  and  the  Papuan  Salvadorina,  which 
seem  doubtfully  referable  to  the  Merging  (Merganser).  {Cf. 
Salvadori,  who  places  with  them  Hymenolxmus,  supra  p.  843,  Cat. 
B.  Br.  Mus.  xxvii.  p.  455.) 

TOT-0'ER-SEAS,  a  name  by  which  Begukis  cristatus  (Goldcrest) 
is  said  to  be  known  on  some  parts  of  the  east  coast,  where  it  often 
arrives  in  countless  numbers  Avhen  on  its  autumnal  migration. 

1  A  minute  account  of  the  "Woodpecker's  Tongue  is  given  by  Prince  Ludwig 
Ferdinand  of  Bavaria  {Sitzungsher.  K.  Bayr.  Akad.  1884,  pp.  183-192,  figs.  1-10, 
and  in  his  grand  work  Zur  Anatomie  der  Zunge,  4to,  Miinchen  :  1884 — the  part 
relating  to  Birds  being  pp.  67-76,  and  pis.  xxiv.  xxv. ). 


976  TOUCAN 


TOUCAN,  the  Brazilian  name  of  a  bird,^  long  .since  adopted 
into  nearly  all  European  languages,  and  apparently  first  given 
currency  in  England  (though  not  then  used  as  an  English  word)  in 
1668^  by  Charleton  {Onomast.  p.  115);  but  the  bird,  with  its 
enormous  beak  and  feather-like  tongue,  was  described  by  Oviedo 
in  his  Sumario  de  la  Natural  Historia  de  las  Indias,  first  published  at 
Toledo  in  1527  {chap.  42),^  and  indeed  so  remarkable  a  bird  must 
have  attracted  the  notice  of  the  earliest  European  invaders  of 
America,  the  more  so  since  its  gaudy  plumage  was  used  by  the 
natives  in  the  decoration  of  their  persons  and  weapons.  In  1555 
Belon  {Hist.  Nat.  Oys.  p.  184)  gave  a  characteristic  figure  of  its 
beak,  and  in  1558  Thevet  (Singidariiez  de  la  France  Antardique,  pp. 
88-90)  a  somewhat  long  description,  together  with  a  Avoodcut  (in 
some  respects  inaccurate,  but  quite  unmistakable)  of  the  whole 
bird,  under  the  name  of  "Toucan,"  which  he  was  the  first  to 
publish.  In  1560  Gesner  (Icones  Avium,  p.  130)  gave  a  far  better 
figure  (though  still  somewhat  incorrect)  from  a  drawing  received 
from  Ferrerius,  and  suggested  that  from  the  size  of  its  beak  the 
bird  should  be  called  Barhynchus  or  Ramphestes.  This  figure,  with 
a  copy  of  Thevet's  and  a  detailed  description,  was  repeated  in  the 
posthumous  edition  (1585)  of  his  larger  work  (pp.  800,  801).  By 
1579  Ambroise  Pare  (GEuvres,  ed.  Malgaigne,  iii.  p.  783)  had 
dissected  a  Toucan  that  belonged  to  Charles  IX.  of  France,  and 
about  the  same  time  L6ry  {Foy.  Bresil,  chap,  xi.),  whose  chief  object 
seems  to  have  been  to  confute  Thevet,  confirmed  that  writer's 
account  of  this  bird  in  most  respects.  In  1599  Aldrovandus  (Orn. 
i,  i^p.  801-803),  always  ready  to  profit  by  Gesner's  information, 
and  generally  without  acknowledgment,  again  described  and  re- 
peated the  former  figures  of  the  bird ;  but  he  corrupted  his  pre- 
decessor's Ramphestes  (which  was  nearly  right)  into  Ramphastos,  and 
in  this  incorrect  form  the  name,  which  should  certainly  he  Rhamphestes 
or  Rhamphastas,  was  subsequently  adopted  by  Linnaeus  and  has  since 
been  recognized  by  systematists.     Into  the  rest  of  the  early  history 

1  Commonly  believed  to  be  so  called  from  its  cry ;  but  Prof.  Skeat  {P)-oc. 
Philolog.  Soc.  15tli  May  1885)  adduces  evidence  to  prove  that  the  Guarani  Tucd 
is  from  ti,  nose,  and  cd7ig,  bone,  i.e.  nose  of  bone. 

^  In  1656  the  beak  of  an  "  Aracari  of  Brazil,"  which  was  a  Toucan  of  some 
sort,  was  contained  in  the  3fusaium  Tradescantianum  (p.  2),  but  the  word 
Toucan  does  not  appear  there. 

^  I  have  only  been  able  to  consult  the  reprint  of  this  rare  work  contained  in 
the  Bihlioteca  de  Autores  Espai'ioles  (xxii.  pp.  473-515),  published  at  Madrid  in 
1852.  To  quote  the  translation  of  part  of  the  passage  in  Willughby's  Ornithology 
(p.  129),  "there  is  no  bird  secures  her  young  oiies  better  from  th.e,  Monkeys, 
which  are  vei-y  noisom  to  the  Young  of  most  Birds.  For  when  she  perceives  the 
approach  of  those  Enemies,  she  so  settles  her  self  in  her  Nest  as  to  put  her  Bill 
out  at  the  hole,  and  gives  the  Monkeys  such  a  welcom  therewith,  that  they 
presently  pack  away,  and  glad  they  scape  so." 


TOUCAN  977 


of  the  Toucan's  discovery  it  is  needless  to  go.^  Additional  particulars 
were  supplied  by  many  succeeding  writers,  until  in  1834  Gould  com- 
pleted his  Monograph  of  the  family  ^  (with  an  anatomical  appendix 
by  Owen),  to  which,  in  1835,  some  supplementary  plates  were  added; 
and  in  1854  he  finished  a  second  and  improved  edition.  The  latest 
systematic  work  on  Toucans  is  by  Mr.  Sclater  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus. 
xix.  pp.  122-160),  which  agrees  for  the  most  part  with  that  of 
Cassin  {Proc.  Acad.  Fhilad.  1867,  pp.  100-124),  and  five  genera 
and  59  species  of  the  Family  are  recognized.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  bird  first  figured  and  described  by  the  earliest 
authors  above  named  is  the  it.  toco  of  nearly  all  ornithologists,  and 
as  such  is  properly  regarded  as  the  type  of  the  genus  and  therefore 
of  the  Family.  It  is  one  of  the  largest,  measuring  2  feet  in  length, 
and  has  a  wide  range  throughout  Guiana  and  a  great  part  of 
Brazil.  The  huge  beak,  looking  like  the  great  claw  of  a  lobster, 
more  than  8  inches  long  and  3  high  at  the  base,  is  of  a  deep  orange 
colour,  with  a  large  black  oval  spot  near  the  tip.  The  eye,  with 
its  double  iris  of  green  and  yellow,  has  a  broad  blue  orbit,  and  is 
surrounded  by  a  bare  space  of  deep  orange  skin.  The  plumage 
generally  is  black,  but  the  throat  is  white,  tinged  with  yellow  and 
commonly  edged  beneath  with  red ;  the  upper  tail-coverts  are 
white,  and  the  lower  scarlet.  In  other  species  of  the  genus,  14  in 
number,  the  bill  is  mostly  particoloured — green,  yellow,  red, 
chestnut,  blue  and  black  variously  combining  so  as  often  to  form 
a  ready  diagnosis ;  but  some  of  these  tints  are  very  fleeting  and 
often  leave  little  or  no  trace  after  death.  Alternations  of  the 
brighter  colours  are  also  displayed  in  the  feathers  of  the  throat, 
breast  and  tail-coverts,  so  as  to  be  in  like  manner  characteristic  of 
the  species,  and  in  several  the  bare  space  round  the  eye  is  yellow, 
green,  blue  or  lilac.  The  sexes  are  almost  alike  in  coloration,  and 
externally  diff"er  chiefly  in  size,  the  males  being  largest.  The  tail 
is  nearly  square  or  moderately  rounded.  The  so-called  Hill- 
Toucans  form  another  genus,  Andigena,  and  consist  of  6  species 

^  One  point  of  some  interest  may,  however,  be  noticed.  In  1705  Plot  {N.  H. 
Oxfordsh.  p.  182)  recorded  a  Toucan  found  within  two  miles  of  Oxford  in  1(344, 
the  body  of  which  was  given  to  the  repository  in  the  medical  school  of  that 
university,  where,  he  said,  "it  is  still  to  be  seen."  Already  in  1700  Leigh 
{Lancash.  i.  p.  195,  Birds,  tab.  1,  fig.  2)  had  figured  another  which  he  said  had 
been  found  dead  on  the  coast  of  that  county  about  two  years  before  ;  but  his 
figure  is  copied  from  Willughby.  The  bird  is  easily  kept  in  captivity,  and  no 
doubt  from  early  times  many  were  brought  alive  to  Europe.  Beside  the  one 
dissected  by  Pare,  as  above  mentioned,  Job.  Faber,  in  his  additions  to  Hernan- 
dez's work  on  the  Natural  History  of  Mexico  (1651),  figures  (p.  697)  one  seen 
and  described  by  Puteus  (Dal  Pozzo)  at  Pontainebleau. 

2  Of  this  the  brothers  Sturm  in  1841  published  at  Nuremberg  a  German 
version. 

62 


978  TOUCAN 


chiefly  frequenting  the  slopes  of  the  Andes  and  reaching  an  eleva- 
tion of  10,000  feet,  though  one,  A.  bailloni,  remarkable  for  its 
yellow-orange  head,  neck  and  lower  parts,  inhabits  the  lowlands 
of  southern  Brazil.  Another  very  singular  form  is  A.  laminirostris, 
which  has  affixed  on  either  side  of  the  maxilla,  near  the  base,  a 
quadrangular  ivory-like  plate,  forming  a  feature  unique  among 
Birds.  In  Fteroglossus,  the  "  Aracaris  "  (pronounced  Arassari),  the 
sexes  more  or  less  differ  in  appearance,  and  the  tail  is  graduated. 
The  species  are  smaller  in  size,  and  nearly  all  are  banded  on  the 
belly,  which  is  generally  yellow,  with  black  and  scarlet,  while 
except  in  two  the  throat  of  the  males  at  least  is  black.  One  of 
the  most  remarkable  and  beautiful  is  P.  beauharnaisi,  by  some 
authors  placed  in  a  distinct  genus  and  called  Beauharnaisius 
ulocomus.  In  this  the  feathers  of  the  top  of  the  head  are  very 
singular,  looking  like  glossy  curled  shavings  of  black  horn  or 
whalebone,  the  effect  being  due  to  the  dilatation  of  the  shaft  and  its 
coalescence  with  the  consolidated  barbs.  Some  of  the  feathers  of 
the  straw-coloured  throat  and  cheeks  partake  of  the  same  structure, 
but  in  a  less  degree,  while  the  subterminal  part  of  the  lamina  is  of 
a  lustrous  pearly-white.^  The  beak  is  richly  coloured,  being  green 
and  crimson  above  and  lemon  below.  The  upper  plumage  generally 
is  dark  green,  but  the  mantle  and  rump  are  crimson,  as  are  a  broad 
abdominal  belt,  the  flanks  and  many  crescentic  markings  on  the 
otherwise  yellow  lower  parts. ^  The  group  or  genus  Selenidera,^ 
proposed  by  Gould  in  1837  (Icones  Avium,  pt.  1),  contains  some 
7  species,  having  the  beak,  which  is  mostly  transversely  striped, 
and  tail  shorter  than  in  Fteroglossus.  Here  the  sexes  also  differ  in 
coloration,  the  males  having  the  head  and  breast  black,  and  the 
females  the  same  parts  chestnut ;  but  all  have  a  yellow  nuchal 
crescent  (whence  the  name  of  the  group).  The  genus  Aulaco- 
rhamphus,  or  "Groove-bills,"  to  which  14  species  are  assigned,  con- 
tains the  rest  of  the  Toucans.^- 

^  This  curious  peculiarity  naturally  attracted  the  notice  of  the  first  discoverer 
of  the  species,  Poeppig,  who  briefly  described  it  in  a  letter  published  in  Froriep's 
Notizen  aus  dem  Gebiete  der  Natur  (xxxii.  p.  146)  for  December  1831. 

^  Keaders  will  recollect  the  account  and  illustration  given  by  Bates  {^Ncd. 
Amaz.  ii.  p.  344)  of  his  encounter  with  a  flock  of  this  species.  His  remarks  on 
the  others  with  which  he  met  are  also  excellent. 

3  Some  other  name  is  needed  for  this  genus,  as  Gould's  was  preoccupied  by  an 
entomologist. 

*  The  monstrous  serrated  bill  that  so  many  Toucans  possess  was  by  Buffon, 
after  his  manner,  accounted  a  grave  defect  of  Nature,  and  it  must  be  confessed 
that  no  one  has  given  what  seems  to  be  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  its  precise 
use,  though  none  will  now  doubt  its  fitness  to  the  bird's  requirements.  Solid  as 
it  looks,  its  weight  is  inconsiderable,  and  the  perfect  hinge  by  which  the  maxilla 
is  articulated  adds  to  its  efficiency  as  an  instrument  of  prehension.  Swain  son 
{Classif.  Birds,  ii.  p.  138)  imagined  it  merely  "  to  contain  an  infinity  of  nerves, 


TOURACO  979 


As  the  foregoing  shews,  Toucans  are  a  Neotropical  form,  and 
by  far  the  greater  number  inhabit  the  northern  part  of  South 
America,  especially  Guiana  and  the  valley  of  the  Amazons.  Some 
three  sjoecies  occur  in  Mexico,  and  several  in  Central  America. 
One,  R.  vitellimis,  which  has  its  headquarters  on  the  mainland,  is 
said  to  be  common  in  Trinidad,  but  none  are  found  in  the  Antilles 
proper.  The  precise  place  of  the  Family  in  the  heterogeneous 
group  Picarise  cannot  yet  be  determined.  Its  nearest  allies  perhaps 
exist  among  the  Capitonidse ;  but  none  of  them  are  believed  to  have 
the  long  feather-like  tongue  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the 
Toucans,  and  is,  so  far  as  known,  possessed  besides  only  by  the 
Momotidse  (Motmot,  p.  593).  But  of  these  last  there  is  no  reason 
to  deem  the  Toucans  close  relatives,  and,  according  to  Swainson 
(Classif.  B.  p.  141),  who  had  opportunities  of  observing  both,  the 
alleged  resemblance  in  their  habits  has  no  existence.  Those  of  the 
Toucans  in  confinement  have  been  well  described  by  Broderip  and 
Vigors  {Zool.  Journ.  i.  p.  484 ;  ii.  p.  478),  and  indeed  may  be 
partially  observed  in  many  zoological  gardens.  Though  feeding 
mainly  on  fruits,  little  seems  amiss  to  them,  and  they  swallow 
grubs,  reptiles  and  small  birds  with  avidity.  They  are  said  to 
nest  in  hollow  trees,  and  to  lay  Avhite  eggs. 

TOURACO,  the  name,  evidently  already  in  use,  under  which 
in  1743  Edwards  figured  a  pretty  African  bird,^  and  presumably 

disposed  like  net-work,  all  of  which  lead  immediately  to  the  nostrils,"  and  add 
to  the  olfactory  faculty.  This  notion  seems  to  be  borrowed  from  Trail  {Trans. 
Linn.  Soc.  xi.  p.  289),  who  admittedly  had  it  from  Waterton,  and  stated  that  it 
was  "an  admirable  contrivance  of  nature  to  increase  the  delicacy  of  tlie  organ  of 
smell ; "  but  Owen's  description  shews  this  view  to  be  groundless,  and  he 
attributes  the  extraordinary  development  of  the  Toucan's  beak  to  the  need  of 
compensating,  by  the  additional  power  of  mastication  thus  given,  for  the  absence 
of  any  of  the  grinding  structures  tliat  are  so  characteristic  of  the  intestinal  tract 
of  vegetable-eating  birds — its  digestive  organs  possessing  a  general  simplicity  of 
formation.  The  question  is  one  worth  deciding,  and  would  not  be  difficult  to 
decide  by  those  who  have  the  opportunity.  The  nostrils  are  placed  so  as  to  be 
in  most  forms  invisible  until  sought,  being  obscured  by  the  frontal  feathers  or 
the  backward  prolongation  of  the  horny  sheath  of  the  beak.  The  wings  are 
somewhat  feeble,  and  the  legs  have  the  toes  placed  in  pairs,  two  before  and  two 
behind.  The  tail  is  capable  of  free  vertical  motion,  and  controlled  by  strong 
muscles,  so  that,  at  least  in  the  true  Toucans,  when  the  bird  is  preparing  to 
sleep,  it  is  thrown  forward  and  lies  almost  flat  on  the  back,  on  which  also  the 
huge  bill  reposes,  pointing  in  the  opposite  direction. 

^  Apparently  tlie  first  ornithologist  to  make  the  bird  known  was  Albin,  who 
figured  it  in  1738  from  the  life,  yet  badly,  as  "The  Crown-bird  of  Mexico."  He 
had  doubtless  been  misinformed  as  to  its  proper  country  ;  but  Touracos  were 
called  "Crown-birds"  by  the  Europeans  in  West  Africa,  as  witness  Bosnian's 
DescriiMon  of  the  Coast  of  Guinea  (1721),  ed.  2,  p.  251,  and  W.  Smith's  Voyage 
to  Guinea  (1745),  p.  149,  though  the  name  was  also  given  to  the  Crowned 
Ckanks,  Balearica. 


980 


TOURACO 


that  applied  to  it  in  Guinea,  whence  it  had  been  brought  alive.  It 
is  the  Ouculus  persa  of  Linnajus,  and  Turacus  or  Cori/thaix  pxii'sa  of 
later  authors,  who  perceived  that  it  required  generic  separation. 
Cuvier,  in  1799  or  1800,  Latinized  its  native  name  (adopted  in 
the  meanwhile  by  both  French  and  German  writers)  as  above,  for 
which  barbarous  term  Illiger,  in  1811,  substituted  a  more  classical 
word;  but  in  1788  Isert  had  described  and  figured  a  bird,  also 
from  Guinea,  which  he  called  Musophaga  molacea  (Plantain-EATER, 
p.  730),  and  its  affinity  to  the  original  Touraco  being  soon  recog- 


nized, both  forms  have  been  joined  by  modern  systematists  in  the 
Family  Musopliagidse. 

To  take  first  the  Plantain-eaters  proper,  or  the  genus  Musophaga 
of  which  only  two  species  are  known.  One  about  the  size  of  a 
Crow  is  comparatively  common  in  museums,  and  is  readily  recog- 
nized by  having  the  horny  base  of  its  fine  yellow  h\\\  prolonged 
backward  over  the  forehead  in  a  kind  of  shield.  The  top  of  the 
head,  and  the  primaries,  except  their  outer  edge  and  tip,  are  deep 
crimson  ;  a  white  streak  extends  behind  the  eye ;  and  the  rest  of 
the  plumage  is  of  a  rich  glossy  purple.  The  second  species,  M. 
rossx,  which  is  rare,  chiefly  differs  by  wanting  the  white  eye-streak. 
Then  of  the  Touracos — the  species  originally  described  is  about 
the  size  of  a  Jay,  and  has  the  head,  crest  (which  is  vertically  com- 
pressed and  tipped  with  red),  neck  and  breast  of  a  fine  grass-green. 


TOURACO  981 


varied  by  two  conspicuous  white  strealts — one,  from  the  gape  to 
the  upper  part  of  the  crimson  orbit,  separated  by  a  black  patch 
from  the  other,  which  runs  beneath  and  behind  the  eye.  The 
wing-coverts,  lower  part  of  the  back  and  tail  are  of  a  bright  steel- 
purple,  the  primaries  deep  crimson,  edged  and  tipped  with  bluish- 
black.  Over  a  dozen  other  congeneric  species,  more  or  less 
resembling  this,  have  now  been  described,  and  all  inhabit  some 
district  of  Africa  ;  but  there  is  only  room  here  to  mention  that  found 
in  the  Cape  Colony  and  Natal,  where  it  is  known  as  the  "  Lory  " 
(r/.  p.  519,  note  2),  and,  though  figured  by  Daubenton  and  others, 
was  first  differentiated  in  1811  by  Wagler  as  Turacus  corythaix, 
but  renamed  in  1841  by  Strickland  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist  vii.  p.  33) 
T.  albicristatus — its  crest  having  a  conspicuous  white  border,  while 
the  steel-purple  of  T.  persa  is  replaced  by  a  rich  and  glossy  bluish- 
green  of  no  less  beauty.  In  nearly  all  the  species  of  this  genus 
the  nostrils  are  almost  completely  hidden  by  the  frontal  feathers ; 
but  there  are  two  others  in  which,  though  closely  allied,  this  is  not 
the  case,  and  some  systematists  would  place  them  in  a  separate 
genus  Gallirex ;  while  another  species,  the  giant  of  the  Family,  has 
been  moved  into  a  third  genus  as  Corythseola  cristafa.  This  difi'ers 
from  any  of  the  foregoing  by  the  absence  of  the  crimson  coloration 
of  the  primaries,  and  seems  to  lead  to  another  group,  Schizmrhis, 
in  which  the  plumage  is  of  a  still  plainer  type,  and,  moreover,  the 
nostrils  here  are  not  only  exposed  but  in  the  form  of  a  slit,  instead 
of  being  oval  as  in  all  the  rest.  This  genus  contains  four  species, 
one  of  which,  S.  concolor,  is  the  Grey  Touraco  of  the  colonists  in 
Natal,  and  is  of  an  almost  uniform  slaty-brown.  Lastly  a  genus 
Gijmnoschizorrhis,  with  a  bare  forehead,  has  also  been  proposed.  A 
good  deal  has  been  written  about  these  birds,  which  form  the 
subject  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  monographs  ever  published — 
De  Toerako's  afgebeld  en  heschreven, — by  Schlegel  and  Westerman 
(Amsterdam:  1860):  while  more  recent  information  is  contained 
in  an  elaborate  essay  by  Herr  Schalow  (Jour.  f.  Orn.  1886,  pp.  1-77), 
and  the  specimens  in  the  British  Museum  were  catalogued  in  1891 
by  Capt.  Shelley  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xix.  pp.  435-456).  Still  much 
remains  to  be  made  known  as  to  their  distribution  throughout 
Africa,  and  their  habits.  They  seem  to  be  all  fruit-eaters,  and  to 
frequent  the  highest  trees,  seldom  coming  to  the  ground.  Very 
little  can  be  confidently  asserted  as  to  their  nidification,  but  at 
least  one  species  of  Schizorrhis  is  said  to  make  a  rough  nest  and 
therein  lay  three  eggs  of  a  pale  blue  colour.^ 

•■  An  exti'aordinary  peculiarity  attends  the  crimson  coloration  whicli  adorns 
tlie  prinfiaries  of  so  many  of  the  Musophagidx.  So  long  ago  as  1818,  Jules 
Verreaux  observed  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1871,  p.  40)  that  in  the  case  of  T.  corythaix 
this  beautiful  hue  vanishes  on  exposure  to  heavy  rain  and  reappears  only  after 
some  interval  of  time  and  when  the  feathers  are  dry.     The  fact  of  this  colouring 


982  TOWHEE 


The  M'nso])hagida''  form  a  very  distinct  Family  of  Prof.  Huxley's 
Coccygomorplu)},  having  perhaps  the  (Joliiih'^  (Mouse-bird,  p.  600)  and 
C^iculidss  as  their  nearest  allies.^  The  bill  of  nearly  all  the  species 
is  curiously  serrated  or  deiiticulated  along  the  margin,  and  the  feet 
have  the  outer  toe  reversilile.  No  member  of  the  Family  is  found 
outside  of  the  continental  portion  of  the  Ethiopian  Region. 

TOWHEE,  so  called  from  one  of  its  notes,  a  well-known  North- 
American  bird,  PijnJo  eri/fhrojihfJialmus,   one  of  the   "  Columbian " 

forms  which  as  yet  cannot  be  positively 
assigned  to  the  Fringillidx  (Finch)  or  the 
Emherizida^  (Bunting),  though  commonly 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  latter  groujj, 
and  indeed  genera  presumably  allied  have 
PipiLo.   (After  swainsou.)    y^^^^^     ^^,^^^^^    EmheHzoides    and    Embernagra. 

The  number  of  "  species  "  of  Pipilo  is  by  no  means  certain,  for  many 
local  races  occui-  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  it  is  thus  a 
matter  of  opinion  whether  8  or  10  or  nearly  twice  as  many  should 
be  recognized  {cf.  Coues,  Key  N.  Am.  B.  ad.  2,  jjp.  395-398 ;  Ridgway, 
Man.  N.  Am.  B.  pj).  435-441),  while  examples  of  these  races  are 
not  easily  distinguished.  In  some  the  sexes  are  nearly  alike  in 
plumage,  but  this  is  not  so  in  the  eastern  bird  to  which  the  English 
name,  now  extended  to  all  the  rest,  was  originally  given.  There  is 
also  a  considerable  difference  in  their  call-note,  for  P.  megalonpx,  the 
prevalent  form  in  the  south-west,  is  said  to  mew  like  a  CATBIRD, 
while  the  more  northern  P.  aniicvs  will  occasionally  utter  one  of  the 
cries  of  P.  eri/throphtJudmus,  which  has  procured  for  that  species  the 
name  of  Chewink,  by  which  as  well  as  Ground-Robin  it  is  also  known. 
The  colour  of  the  iris  too  varies  in  some  cases  according  to  locality. 

matter  lieiiig  soluble  in  Mater  was,  by  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  brought  to  the  notice  of 
Prof.  Church,  who  published  in  1868  {Student  and  Intelkctual  Observer,  i.  pp. 
161-168)  an  account  of  it  as  "  Turacin,  a  new  animal  pigment  containing  copper." 
He  has  since  dealt  with  it  more  fully  in  two  communications  to  the  Royal 
Society  [Phil.  Trans.  1869,  pp.  627-636,  and  1893,  pp.  511-.")30),  in  the  last  of 
which  he  intimates  a  doubt  as  to  the  existence  as  an  independent  jiigment  of 
"  Turaco-verdin  "  (</.  CoLori:,  p.  96)  as  announced  by  Dr.  Krukenberg  ( Fcrrc^. - 
physiol.  Stud.  ser.  2,  i.  p.  151).  The  subject  has  received  much  attention  from 
others,  and  the  jjeculiar  property  is  possessed  by  the  crimson  feathers  of  all  tluj 
birds  of  the  Family. 

1  Eyton  pointed  out  {Ann.  Nat.  Hist.  ser.  3,  ii.  p.  458)  a  feature  possessed 
in  common  by  .some  of  the  Cuculidae  and  the  Musoiyhagidse,  in  the  "process 
attached  to  the  anterior  edge  of  the  ischium,"  which  he  likened  to  the  so-called 
"marsupial"  bones  of  Didelphian  ]\lammals.  J.  T.  Reinhardt  also  noticed 
{Vid.  Mcddels.  Naturhist.  Foren.  1871,  pp.  326-341)  another  Cuculine  character 
offered  by  the  os  uncinatum  affixed  to  the  lower  side  of  the  ethmoid  in  the  Plan- 
tain-eaters and  Touraoos  ;  but  too  much  dependence  must  not  be  jjlaced  on  that, 
since  a  similar  structure  is  presented  by  the  Fkigatk-uikd  and  some  PKTKJiLs. 
A  corresponding  process  seems  also  to  be  found  in  Trugon. 


TRACHEA  983 


TRACHEA  or  Windpipe,  the  flexible  tube,  composed  of  a 
great  number  of  rings,  originally  cartilaginous  but  ossifying  more 
or  less  with  age,  through  which  Birds  breathe  and  utter  most  of 
their  characteristic  notes.  Its  upper  end  is  modified  into  the 
LARYNX,  and  it  continues  subcutaneously  down  the  neck  to  the 
thorax,  which  it  enters  between  the  two  branches  of  the  FURCULA, 
and  bifurcates  into  the  two  BRONCHI,  each  of  which  passes  to  the 
LUNG  of  its  own  side.  The  tracheal  rings  frequently  overlap  each 
other  in  various  ways,  and,  except  a  few  adjoining  the  larynx,  are 
dorsally  complete ;  but  in  Dromxus  several  in  the  third  quarter  of 
the  length  of  the  tube  are  incomplete  ventrally,  and  permit  its 
inner  mucous  lining  to  bulge  out  so  as  to  form  the  pouch  before 
mentioned  (Emeu,  p.  214)  which  occurs  in  both  sexes  and  may 
be  12  inches  in  length.  In  the  TrocJiili,  Platalea,  many  Tubinares 
and  Sphenisci  a  great  portion  of  the  tube  is  divided  by  a  median, 
vertical,  cartilaginous  septum,  extending  forward  from  the  bronchial 
bifui'cation,  and  consisting  of  rings  which  pass  laterally  into  those 
of  the  walls,  thus  perpetuating  a  condition  that  in  other  Birds 
exists  for  a  short  time  only  in  their  embryonic  development,  before 
the  septum  has  been  reduced  to  the  pessulus  marking  the  beginning 
of  the  bronchi.  Frequently  the  Trachea  is  depressed  or  flattened 
dorso-ventrally,  as  in  Psittaci,  Accipitres,  Ckonise  and  Batitse ;  but  a 
very  common  feature,  found  in  many  groups  not  at  all  allied  to 
each  other,  is  the  dilatation  of  a  portion,  generally  near  the  middle, 
as  may  be  seen  in  several  Cotingidse,  Chauna  and  the  males  of  many 
Anseres — some  of  the  last-named  group  presenting  even  a  second 
dilatation,  which  may  be  as  in  CEdemia  fusca  close  to  the  larynx,^ 
but  is  more  usually  near  the  lower  end.  Still  further  modifications 
are  exhibited  by  the  males  of  many  or  most  of  the  Anseres,  some 
6  or  8  of  the  lowest  rings  being  fused  together  and  forming  what  is 
known  as  the  hulha  ossea  or  labyrinth.  Its  simplest  form  seems  to 
be  that  presented,  according  to  Eyton  (Monogr.  Anat.  p.  125,  pi.  ii. 
fig.  2),  by  Anas  or  Querquedula  formosa,  where  the  enlargement  is 
very  slight,  but  essentially  similar  to  that  found  generally  in  the 
genus  Anas-  and  its  many  subdivisions,  the  Garganey  (p.  309^) 

^  This  structure  is,  so  far  as  known,  quite  unique :  the  enlargement  next  to 
the  larynx  surrounds  the  tube  which  communicates  with  it  by  an  aperture  on 
each  side.  The  lower  enlargement,  in  shape  of  a  flattened  bulb,  is  formed  of 
expanded  tracheal  rings  firmly  ossified  together.  It  is  the  more  remarkable 
since  the  allied  (E.  nigra  has  a  very  simple  trachea.  The  male  of  Metopiana 
peposaca  has  a  bulbous  enlargement  just  above  the  middle  of  the  trachea  very 
similar  to  the  lower  one  in  CE.  fusca. 

^  The  statement  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1871,  p.  651)  as  to  the  female  of  A.  punctata 
possessing  a  labyrinth  originated  in  a  mistake  {op.  cit.  1882,  p.  454). 

^  Since  the  footnote  on  this  page  was  printed  Mr.  Lucas  has  most  obligingly 
examined  the  labyrinth  of  A.  discors,  which  has  nothing  exceptional  about  it. 


-984  TRACHEA 

•excepted,  a  single  ampulla  often  of  considerable  size  being  thrown 
■out  on  one  side — usually  the  left.  This  structure  obtains  ap- 
parently throughout  all  the  "  Freshwater  Ducks  "  or  Anaiinse,  as 
well  as  in  Somateria  and  Tachyeres,  but  it  is  subject  to  great 
exaggeration  and,  though  occasionally  absent  as  in  CEdemia,  becomes 
very  complicated  in  the  group  of  "Diving  Ducks,"  forming 
in  many  cases  a  tympanum,  whose  bony  walls  are  fenestrated  and 
the  spaces  filled  with  a  resonant  membrane,^  while  it  attains  its 
greatest  magnitude  in  the  Merginse.  Tadorna  has  two  bony  ampullse, 
one  on  each  side,  and  dilatations  are  also  present  in  Chenalopez, 
Sarcidiornis  and,  according  to  Eyton  (op.  cif.  p.  83,  pi.  i.  figs.  1,  2), 
in  Chloephaga  magellanica.  In  Dendrocygna  the  labyrinth  is  com- 
posed of  two  oblong  chambers,  and  takes  the  form  of  a  symmetrical 
shield-shaped  box  {Ibis,  1859,  p.  366). 

Quite  as  remarkable  is  the  lengthening  of  the  Trachea  in  some 
birds  during  adolescence,  so  that  to  be  contained  conveniently  it  is 
looped,  and  this  formation  is  frequentlj'',  though  not  always,  con- 
fined to  one  or  the  other  sex.  In  the  male  of  Tetrao  urogallus 
(Capercally)  and  in  the  female  of  Anseranas  there  is  a  simple 
subcutaneous  loop.  In  the  female  of  the  Old -World  Painted 
Snipes  (p.  887),  Rostrahda,  the  loop  extends  ventrally  over  the 
furcula,  and  more  or  less  over  the  pectoral  muscles  {cf.  Wood- 
Mason,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1878,  p.  745),  and  a  similar  arrangement  is 
found  in  the  males  of  most  Cracinse  (Curassow),  while  it  occurs  in 
both  sexes  of  Penelope  jacucaca,  though  most  of  the  Penelopinse 
(Guan)  have  no  loop  at  all.  Among  Passeres  a  series  of  coils  is 
found  in  both  sexes  of  Phonygama,  and  in  the  males  of  Manucodia 
(Manucode).  In  the  male  of  Anseranas  the  convolutions  of  the 
Trachea  lying  outside  the  pectoral  muscles  are  not  only  subject 
to  variation  in  number,  but  they  may  be  placed  on  either  side  of 
the  body  {cf.  Yarrell,  Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xv.  pp.  383,  384,  pis. 
xiii.  xiv.),  the  form  of  the  coracoid  on  that  side  being  modified 
accordinglj'-.  A  curious  peculiarity  is  exhibited  by  the  Crested 
Guinea  Fowls  {suprh,  p.  401),  in  both  sexes  of  which  the 
symphysis  of  the  furcula  is  dilated  so  as  to  lodge  a  short  tracheal 
loop  {torn.  cit.  pi.  ix.). 

The  furcula  and  coracoids  are  not,  however,  the  only  bones 
which  are  modified  by  the  excessive  lengthening  of  the  Trachea. 
As  has  long  been  known,  some  of  the  Swans  and  Cranes  have 
their  sternum  invaded  by  it ;    but  each  in  a   different  way — the 

^  Very  remarkable  is  the  tracheal  structure  of  Harelda  and  Rhodoiussa,  but 
want  of  space  renders  it  impossible  to  particularize  all  the  peculiarities  in  this 
group  of  Anatidas.  Reference  may  be  made  to  the  classical  papers  of  Latham  and 
Yarrell  (Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  iv.  pp.  90-128,  and  xv.  pp.  378-388),  as  Avell  as  to 
Eyton's  Monograph  above  cited,  and  the  observations  of  Garrod  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1875,  pp.  1.51-156)  and  Forbes  {op.  cit.  1882,  pp.  347-353). 


TRACHEOPHONES— TREE-CREEPER  985 

looping  being  prseclavicular  in  the  former  and  postclavicvilar  in  the 
latter.  In  both  sexes  of  Cygnui^  huccinator,  C.  mnsicus,  C.  ameriranus 
and  C.  hewidi  the  Trachea  runs  ventrally  beneath  the  symphysis  of 
the  furcula,  which  bends  dorsally  to  permit  its  passage,  to  enter 
the  swollen  keel,  which  in  old  birds  it  penetrates  to  the  furthest 
extremity,^  and  thence  returns,  still  keeping  below  the  furcula,  on 
its  way  to  the  thorax.  In  all  the  other  Swans  tlie  Trachea  is 
simple.  Among  the  Cranes  almost  every  degree  of  development 
may  be  found,  from  Bnlearica  where  there  are  no  convolutions  at 
all,  to  Anthropoides  where  the  keel  is  hollowed  into  a  cavity  open  at 
the  sides,  to  Grns  americana  and  G.  communis  where  it  is  penetrated 
to  its  utmost  extremity  by  the  Trachea ;  l)ut  no  part  of  the  Trachea 
passes  ventrally  over  the  furcula.  Such  a  postclavicular  loop  exists 
in  Platalea  leacorodia,  but  not  in  F.  <(jaj(i,  and  in  the  male  of  Tantalus 
ibis,  but  not  that  of  T.  loculator.  For  the  thoracic,  voice-producing 
end  of  the  Trachea  see  Syrinx  (p.  937). 

TRACHEOPHONES  (by  some  written  Tracheophonm  or  Tracheo- 
pJioni)  Johannes  Miiller's  name  (Abhandl.  l\  Akad.  Berlin,  Phys.  KL 
1847,  p.  367)  for  the  second  of  his  three  grouj^s  of  Passerini, 
having  the  trachea  furnished  with  but  one  or  two  jiairs  of  vocal 
muscles,  and  those  lateral  {rf.  Syrinx,  p.  940). 

TREE-CPtEEPER,  one  of  the  smallest  of  British  birds,  and, 
regard  being  had  to  its  requirements,  one  very  generally  distributed. 
It  is  the  Certhia  familiaris  of  ornithology,  and 
remarkable  for  the  stiffened  shafts  of  its  long 
and  pointed  tail-feathers,  aided  by  which,  and 
by  its  comparatively  large  feet,  it  climbs 
nimbly  in  a  succession  of  jerks  the  trunks  or 
branches  of  trees,  invariably  proceeding  up-  Teee-Creeper.  (After 
wards  or  outwards  and  generally  in  a  spiral 
direction,  as  it  seeks  the  small  insects  that  are  hidden  in  the 
bark  and  form  its  chief  food.  When,  in  the  course  of  its  search, 
it  nears  the  end  of  a  branch  or  the  top  of  a  trunk,  it  flits  to 
another,  always  alighting  lower  down  than  the  place  it  has  left, 
and  so  continues  its  work. 

Inconspicuous  in  colour,  for  its  upper  plumage  is  mostly  of 
various  shades  of  brown  mottled  with  white,  h\xW  and  tawny,  and 
beneath  it  is  a  silvery  white,  the  Tree-Creeper  is  far  more  common 
than  the  incurious  suppose ;  but,  attention  once  draAvn  to  it,  it  can 
be  frequently  seen  and  at  times  heard,  for  though  a  shy  singer 
its  song  is  loud  and  sweet.  The  nest  is  neat,  generally  placed  in 
a  chink  formed  by  a  half-detached  piece  of  bark,  which  secures  it 

'  In  C.  huccinator  and  C.  mnsicus  the  return  loop  is  vertical  ;  in  C.  betvicki 
and  apparently  C.  americanus  it  is  horizontal. 


986  TREE-CREEPER 


from  observation,  and  a  considerable  mass  of  material  is  commonly 
used  to  stuff  up  the  opening  partly  and  give  a  sure  foundation  for 
the  tiny  cup,  in  which  are  laid  from  six  to  nine  eggs  of  a  trans- 
lucent white,  spotted  or  blotched  with  rust-colour.  The  Tree- 
Creeper  inhabits  almost  the  whole  of  Europe  as  well  as  Algeria, 
and  has  been  traced  across  Asia  to  Japan.  It  is  now  recognized 
as  an  inhabitant  of  the  greater  part  of  North  America,  though  for 
a  time  examples  from  that  part  of  the  world,  which  differed  slightly 
in  the  tinge  of  the  plumage,  were  accounted  specifically  distinct 
(c/.  Ridgway,  Froc.  V.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  1882,  pp.  111-116).  It  there- 
fore occupies  an  area  not  exceeded  in  extent  by  that  of  many 
Passerine  birds,  and  is  one  of  the  strongest  witnesses  to  the  in- 
separability of  the  Holarctic  Fauna. 

Allied  to  Certhia,  but  wanting  its  lengthened  and  stiff  tail- 
feathers,  is  the  genus  Tichodroma,  the  single  member  of  which  is 
the  Wall-Creeper,  T.  muraria,  of  the  Alps  and  some  other  moun- 
tainous parts  of  Europe  and  Asia,  and  occasionally  seen  by  the 
fortunate  visitor  to  Switzerland  fluttering  like  a  big  butterfly 
against  the  face  of  a  rock,  conspicuous  from  the  scarlet-crimson  of 
its  wing-coverts  and  its  white-spotted  primaries.  Its  bright  hue 
is  hardly  visible  when  the  bird  is  at  rest,  and  it  then  presents  a 
dingy  appearance  of  grey  and  black.  It  is  a  species  of  wide  range, 
extending  from  Spain  to  China ;  and,  though  but  seldom  leaving 
its  cliffs,  it  has  wandered  even  so  far  as  England.^ 

The  genus  Certhia  as  founded  by  Linnaeus  contained  25  species, 
all  of  which,  except  the  two  above  mentioned,  have  now  been 
shewn  to  belong  elsewhere ;  and  for  a  long  while  so  many  others 
were  referred  to  it  that  it  became  a  most  heterogeneous  company. 
At  present  so  few  are  the  forms  left  in  the  Family  Certhiidx 
that  systematists  (c/.  Gadow,  Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  viii.  pp.  322-340) 
are  not  wanting  to  unite  it  with  the  Sittidse  (Nuthatch),  for  the 
two  groups,  however  much  their  extreme  members  may  differ,  are 
linked  by  forms  which  still  exist,  and  little  violence  is  done  to  the 
imagination  by  drawing  upon  the  past  for  others  to  complete  the 
series  of  descendants  from  a  common  and  not  very  remote  ancestor, 
one  that  was  possibly  the  ancestor  of  the  Wrens  as  well.  Two 
things,  however,  have  especially  to  be  noticed  here.  The  Certhiidse 
have  not  the  least  affinity  to  the  Picidse  (AVoodpeckkr),  but  are 
strictly  Passerine,  and  also  that  the  Australian  genus  Climaderis 
may  possibly  not  belong  to  them. 

1  Merrett  [Pinax,  p.  177)  in  1667  included  it  as  a  British  bird,  and  tire 
correspondence  between  Marsham  and  Gilbert  White  {Proc.  Nor/,  and  Norw. 
Nat.  Soc.  ii.  p.  180)  proves  that  an  example  was  shot  in  Jlorfolk,  30th  October 
1792  {of.  Stevenson  and  Southwell,  £.  Norf.  iii.  p.  380,  pi.  v.),  while  anotlujr  is 
reported  {Zoologist,  ser.  2,  p.  4839)  to  liavo  been  killed  in  Lancashire,  8th 
May  1872.     Its  reputed  occurrence  in  Abyssinia  seems  doubtful. 


TROCHILI—TROGON  987 

TROCHILI,  the  Twelfth  Order  of  Birds  in  Wagler's  classifica- 
tion of  1830  {Nat.  Syst.  d.  Amphib.  u.  s.  w.  p.  81)  and  frequently- 
used  since  by  those  who  would  raise  the  Family  Trochilidse  (Hum- 
ming-bird) to  higher  rank. 

TROGON/  a  word  apparently  first  used  in  English"^  by  Shaw 
(3Ius.  Lever,  p.  177)  in  1792,  and  for  many  years  accepted  as  the 
name  of  certain  birds  forming  the  Family  Trogonidx  of  ornithology, 
the  species  Trogon  curucui  of  Linnaeus  being  its  type.'^ 

The  Trogons  are  birds  of  moderate  size  :  the  smallest  is  hardly 
bigger  than  a  Thrush  and  the  largest  less  bulky  than  a  Crow.  In 
most  of  them  the  bill  is  very  wide  at  the  gape,  which  is  invariably 
beset  by  recurved  bristles.  They  seize  most  of  their  food,  whether 
caterpillars  or  fruits,  on  the  wing,  though  their  alar  power  is  not 
exceptionally  great,  their  flight  being  described  as  short,  rapid  and 
spasmodic.  Their  feet  are  weak  and  of  a  unique  structure,  the 
second  toe  being  reverted.  The  plumage  is  very  remarkable  and 
characteristic.  There  is  not  a  species  which  has  not  beauty  be- 
yond most  birds,  and  the  glory  of  the  group  culminates  in  the 
QuEZAL  (p.  758).  But  in  others  golden-green  and  steely-blue, 
rich  crimson  ^  and  tender  pink,  yellow  varying  from  crimson  to 
amber,  vie  with  one  another  in  vivid  coloration,  or  contrasted,  as 
happens  in  many  species,  with  a  warm  tawny  or  a  sombre  slaty- 
grey — to  say  nothing  of  the  delicate  freckling  of  black  and  white, 
as  minute  as  the  marblings  of  a  moth's  wing — the  whole  set  off 
by  bands  of  white,  producing  an  eff'ect  hardly  equalled  in  any 
group.  The  plumage  is  further  remarkable  for  the  large  size  of 
its  contour-feathers,  which  are  extremely  soft  and  so  loosely  seated 
as  to  come  off  in  scores  at  a  touch,  and  there  is  no  down.  The 
tail  is  generally  a  very  characteristic  feature,  the  rectrices,  though 
in  some  cases  pointed,  being  often  curiously  squared  at  the  tip, 

^  Trogonem  (the  oblique  case)  occurs  in  Pliny  {K.  JV.  x.  16)  as  the  name  of 
a  bird  of  which  he  knew  nothing,  save  that  it  was  mentioned  by  Hylas,  an 
augur,  whose  work  is  lost ;  but  some  would  read  Trygonem  (Turtle-Dove).  In 
1752  Mohring  {Av.  Gen.  p.  85)  applied  the  name  to  the  "  Curucui  "  (pronounced 
"  Suruqua  " /c?e  Bates,  Nat.  Amaz.  i.  p.  254)  of  Marcgrave  {Hist.  Nat.  Brasil. 
p.  211),  who  described  and  figured  it  in  1648  recognizably.  In  1760  Brissou 
{Orn.  iv.  p.  164)  adopted  Trogon  as  a  generic  term,  and,  Linnaeus  having  followed 
his  example,  it  has  since  been  universally  accepted. 

^  Pennant  in  1769  {Ind.  Zool.  p.  4)  anglicized  the  word  Curucui  as  Couroucou. 

^  Since  doubts  exist  as  to  whether  this  is  that  which  was  subsequently  called 
by  Vieillot  T.  collaris  or  the  T.  melanurus  of  Swainson,  though  evidence  is  in 
favour  of  the  former  (Cabanis,  Mus.  Hein.  iv.  p.  117,  and  Finsch,  Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1870,  p.  559),  several  writers  have  dropped  the  Linnsean  specific  term. 

*  M.  Anatole  Bogdanoflf  {Comptes  Rendus,  2  Nov.  1857,  xlv.  pp.  688-690) 
determined  the  red  pigment  of  the  feathers  of  Pharomacrus  auriceps  to  be  a  sub 
stance  which  he  called  "  zooxanthine."     (See  Colour,  p.  95.) 


988  TROGON 


and  when  this  is  the  case  they  are  usually  barred  ladder-like  with 
white  and  black. ^  According  to  Gould,  they  are  larger  and  more 
pointed  in  the  young  than  in  the  old,  and  grow  squarer  and  have 
the  white  bands  narrower  at  each  succeeding  moult.  He  also 
asserts  that  in  the  species  which  have  the  wing-coverts  freckled, 
the  freckling  becomes  finer  with  age.  So  far  as  has  been  observed, 
the  nidification  of  these  bii"ds  is  in  holes  of  trees,  wherein  are  laid 
without  any  bedding  two  roundish  eggs,  generally  white,  but  cer- 
tainly in  one  species  (Quezal)  tinted  with  bluish-green. 

The  Trogons  form  a  very  well-marked  Family,  belonging  to  the 
multifarious  group  here  treated  as  PiCARl^E  ;  but,  instead  of  being 
(so  far  as  is  known)  like  all  the  rest  of  them  and,  as  Prof.  Huxley 
believed,  "  desmognathous,"  they  have  been  shewn  by  W.  A. 
Forbes  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1881,  p.  836)  to  be  "  schizognathous " — 
thus  demonstrating,  in  the  words  of  the  latter,  "that  the  structure 
of  the  palate  has  not  that  unique  and  peculiar  significance  that 
has  been  claimed  for  it  in  the  classification  of  birds."  Perhaps  the 
explanation  of  this  anomaly  may  lie  in  the  fact  that  the  Trogons 
are  a  very  old  form.  The  remains  of  one,  T.  gallicus,  have  been 
recognized  by  Prof.  A.  Milne-Edwards  (Ois.  foss.  de  la  France,  ii.  p, 
395,  pi.  177,"^  figs.  18-22)  from  the  Miocene  of  the  Allier,  and  it 
may  not  be  too  much  to  suppose  that  the  schizognathous  structure 
was  more  ancient  than  the  desmognathous  {cf.  supra,  p.  878,  note). 
Again  too  this  fortunate  discovery  seems  to  account  for  the  re- 
markable distribution  of  the  Trogons  at  the  present  day.  While 
they  chiefly  abound,  and  have  developed  their  climax  of  magnifi- 
cence, in  the  tropical  parts  of  the  New  World,  they  yet  occur  in 
the  tropical  parts  of  the  Old.  The  species  now  inhabiting  Africa, 
forming  the  group  Hapaloderma,  are  clearly  allied  to  those  of  the 
Neotropical  Trogon,  and  the  difference  between  the  Asiatic  forms,  if 
somewhat  greater,  is  still  comparatively  slight.  It  is  plain  then 
that  the  Trogons  are  an  exceptionally  persistent  type ;  indeed  in 
the  whole  Class  few  similar  instances  occur  and  perhaps  none  that 
can  be  called  parallel.  The  extreme  development  of  the  type  in 
the  New  World  just  noticed  also  furnishes  another  hint.  While 
in  some  of  the  American  Trogons  (Pharomacrus,  for  instance)  the 
plumage  of  the  females  is  not  very  much  less  beautiful  than  that 
of  the  males,  there  are  others  in  which  the  hen -birds  retain  what 
may  be  fairly  deemed  a  more  ancient  livery,  while  the  cocks  flaunt 
in  brilliant  attire.  Now  the  plumage  of  both  sexes  in  all  but  two 
of  the  Asiatic  Trogons  resembles  rather  that  of  the  young  and  of  those 
females  of  the  American  species  which  are  modestly  clothed.  The 
inference  from  this  fact  would  seem  to  be  that  the  general  colora- 

^  lu  the  Trogon  of  Cuba,  Prionotelus,  they  are  most  curiously  scooped  out, 
as  it  were,  at  the  extremity,  and  the  lateral  pointed  ends  diverge  in  a  way 
almost  unique  among  birds. 


TROOPIAL— TROPIC-BIRD  989 

tion  of  the  Trogons  prior  to  the  establishment,  by  geographical 
estrangement,  of  the  two  types  was  a  russet  similar  to  that  now 
worn  by  the  adults  of  both  sexes  in  the  Indian  Region,  and  by  a 
portion  only  of  the  females  in  the  Neotropical.  The  Ethiopian 
type,  as  already  said,  very  closely  agrees  with  the  American,  and 
therefore  would  be  likely  to  have  been  longer  in  connexion  there- 
with. Again,  while  the  adults  of  most  of  the  American  Trogons 
{Pharomacrus  and  E-uptilotis  excepted)  have  the  edges  of  their  bill 
serrated,  their  young  have  them  smooth  or  only  with  a  single 
notch  on  either  side  near  the  tip,  and  this  is  observable  in  the 
Asiatic  Trogons  at  all  ages.  At  the  same  time  the  most  distinctive 
features  of  the  whole  group,  which  are  easily  taken  in  at  a  glance, 
but  are  ditficult  to  express  briefly  in  words,  are  equally  possessed 
by  both  branches  of  the  Family,  shewing  that  they  were  in  all 
likelihood — for  the  possibility  that  the  peculiarities  may  have  been 
evolved  apart  is  not  to  be  overlooked — reached  before  the  geo- 
graphical sundering  of  these  branches  (whereby  they  are  now 
placed  on  opposite  sides  of  the  globe)  was  eflfected. 

It  remains  to  say  that  Gould  in  the  second  edition  of  his 
Monograph  of  the  Family  (1875)  recognized  about  sixty  species, 
dividing  them  into  7  genera;  but  Mr.  Grant's  revision  in  1892 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xvii.  pp.  429-497,  501,  502)  gives  8  genera  and 
49  species,  though  admitting  several  made  known  since  his  pre- 
decessor's time.  Pharomacrus,  Euptilotis  and  Trogon  inhabit  the 
mainland  of  tropical  America,  no  species  passing  to  the  northward 
of  the  Rio  Grande  nor  southward  of  the  forest  district  of  Brazil, 
while  none  occur  on  the  west  coast  of  Peru  or  Chili.  Prionotelus 
and  Tmetotrogon,  each  with  one  species,  are  peculiar  respectively 
to  Cuba  and  Hispaniola.  The  African  form  Hapaloderma  has 
three  species,  one  found  only  on  the  west  coast,  another  on  the 
east  coast  and  the  third  of  more  general  range.  The  Asiatic 
Trogons,,  Harpades  (with  eleven  species  according  to  the  same 
authority),  occur  from  Nepal  to  Malacca  and  Cochin  China,  in 
Ceylon,  and  in  Sumatra,  Java  and  Borneo,  while  one  species  is 
peculiar  to  some  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  Hapalarpadus  has  a 
species  in  Borneo,  with  another  in  Sumatra. 

TROOPIAL,  from  the  French  Troupiale  ^ ;  apparently  the  inven- 
tion of  Bonaparte  {Ar)i.  Orn.  i.  p.  27)  in  1825,  and  used  as  the 
equivalent  of  Icterus. 

TROPIC-BIRD,  so  called  of  sailors  from  early  times,-  because,  as 
Dampier  {Voy.  i.  p.  53)  among  others  testifies,  it  is  "never  seen  far 

^  Brisson  {Orn.  ii.  p.  85)  in  1760  says  that  the  word  was  already  applied  in 
America  to  some  of  the  birds  of  his  genus  Icterus. 

-  More  recently  sailors  have  taken  to  call  it  "  Boatswain -bird  " — a  name- 
probably  first  bestowed  on  the  Arctic  Skua. 


990  TROPIC-BIRD 


without  either  Tropick,"  and  hence,  indulging  a  pretty  fancy, 
Linnaeus  bestowed  upon  it  the  generic  term,  continued  by  modern 
writers,  of  Phaethon,  in  allusion  to  its  attempt  to  follow  the  path 
of  the  sun.^  There  are  certainly  three  well-marked  species  of  this 
genus,  but  their  respective  geographical  ranges  have  not  yet  been 
definitely  laid  down.  All  of  them  can  be  easily  known  by  their 
totipalmate  condition,  in  which  the  four  toes  of  each  foot  are 
united  by  a  web,  and  by  the  great  length  of  the  two  middle  tail- 
quills,  which  project  beyond  the  rest,  so  as  to  have  gained  for  the 
birds  the  names  of  "Rabijunco,"  "Paille-en-queue"  and  "Pijlstaart" 
among  mariners  of  different  nations.  These  birds  fly  to  a  great 
distance  from  land  and  seem  to  be  attracted  by  ships,  frequently 
hovering  round  or  even  settling  on  a  mast-head. 

The  Yellow-billed  Tropic-bird,  P.  flavirostris  or  candidus,  appears 
to  have  habitually  the  most  northerly,  as  well,  perhaps,  as  the 
widest  range,  visiting  Bermuda  yearly  to  breed  there,  but  also 
occurring  numerously  in  the  southern  Atlantic,  the  Indian  and  a 
great  part  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  In  some  islands  of  all  these  three 
it  breeds,  sometimes  on  trees,  which  the  other  species  are  not 
known  to  do.  However,  like  the  rest  of  its  congeners,  its  lays  but 
a  single  egg,  and  this  is  of  a  pinkish-white,  mottled,  spotted  and 
smeared  with  brownish-purple,  often  so  closely  as  to  conceal  the 
ground-colour.  This  is  the  smallest  of  the  group,  and  hardly 
exceeds  in  size  a  large  Pigeon ;  but  the  spread  of  its  wings  and  its 
long  tail  make  it  appear  more  bulky  than  it  really  is.  Except 
some  black  markings  on  the  face  (common  to  all  the  species 
known),  a  large  black  patch  partly  covering  the  scapulars  and 
wing- coverts,  and  the  black  shafts  of  its  elongated  rectrices,  its 
general  colour  is  white,  glossy  as  satin,  and  often  tinged  with 
roseate.  Its  yellow  bill  readily  distinguishes  it  from  its  larger 
congener  P.  aethereus,  but  that  has  nearly  all  the  upper  surface  of 
the  body  and  wings  closely  bdrred  with  black,  while  the  shafts  of 
its  elongated  rectrices  are  white.  This  species  has  a  range  almost 
equally  wide  as  the  last ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  occur  in  the 
western  part  of  the  Indian  Ocean.     The  third  and  largest  species, 

1  Occasionally,  perhaps  through  violent  storms,  Ti'opic-birds  wander  very 
far  from  theii-  proper  haunts.  In  1700  Leigh,  in  his  Lancashire  (i.  pp.  164, 
195,  Birds,  tab.  i.  fig.  3),  described  and  figured  (after  Willughby)  a  "Tropick 
Bird  "  found  dead  in  that  county.  Another  is  said  by  Mr.  Lees  {Zool.  ser.  2,  p. 
2666)  to  have  been  found  dead  at  Cradley  near  Malvern — apparently  before  1856 
(J.  H.  Gurney,  jun.  op.  cit.  p.  4766) — which,  like  the  last,  would  seem  (AV.  H. 
Heaton,  op.  cit.  p.  5086)  to  have  been  of  the  species  known  as  P.  aethereus. 
Naumann  Avas  told  {Rhea,  i.  p.  25)  of  its  supposed  occurrence  at  Heligoland, 
and  Col.  Legge  {B.  Ceylon,  p.  1174)  mentions  one  taken  in  Lidia  170  miles  from 
the  sea.  The  case  cited  by  MM.  Degland  and  Gerbe  {Ornith.  Europ.  ii.  p.  363) 
seems  to  be  tluit  of  an  Albatros. 


TRUMPETER  991 


the  Red-tailed  Tropic-bird,  P.  ruhricauda  or  phoenicurus,  not  only 
has  a  red  bUl,  but  the  elongated  and  very  attenuated  rectrices  are 
of  a  bright  crimson-red,  and  when  adult  the  whole  body  shews  a 
deep  roseate  tinge.  The  young  are  beautifully  barred  above  with 
black  arrow-headed  markings.  This  species  has  not  been  known 
to  occur  in  the  Atlantic,  but  is  perhaps  the  most  numei'ous  in  the 
Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans,  in  which  last  great  value  used  to  be 
attached  to  its  tail-feathers  to  be  worked  into  ornaments. 

That  the  Tropic-birds  form  a  distinct  family,  Phaetliontidx,  of 
the  Steganopodes  was  originally  maintained  by  Brandt,  and  is 
now  generally  admitted,  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  diflfer  a 
good  deal  from  the  other  members  of  the  group ;  indeed  Prof. 
Mivart  {Zool.  Trans,  x.  p.  364)  will  hardly  allow  Fregata  and 
Fhaethon  to  be  steganopodous  at  all ;  and  one  curious  difference  is 
shewn  by  the  eggs  of  the  latter,  which  are  in  appearance  so  wholly 
unlike  those  of  the  rest.  The  osteology  of  two  species  has 
been  well  described  and  illustrated  by  Prof.  Milne-Edwards  in 
M.  Grandidier's  fine  Oiseaux  de  Madagascar  (pp.  701-704,  pis. 
279-281a). 

TRUMPETER,  or  Trumpet-bird,  the  literal  rendering  in 
1747,  by  the  anonymous  English  translator  of  De  la  Condamine's 
travels  in  South  America  (p.  87),  of  that  writer's  "  Oiseau 
trompette"  {M6m.  Acad.  Sc.  745,  p.  473),  which  he  says  was 
called  "  Trompetero  "  by  the  Spaniards  of  Maynas  on  the  Upper 
Amazons,  from  the  peculiar  sound  it  utters.  He  added  that  it 
was  the  "  Agami "  of  the  inhabitants  of  Para  and  Cayenne,^  wherein 
he  was  not  wholly  accurate,  since  the  birds  are  specifically  distinct, 
though,  as  they  are  generically  united,  the  statement  may  pass. 
But  he  was  also  wrong,  as  had  been  Barrere  {France  Equinox. 
p.  132)  in  1741,  in  identifying  the  "Agami"  with  the  "Macu- 
cagua  "  of  Marcgrave,  for  that  is  a  TiNAMOU  (p.  963) ;  and  both  still 
more  wrongly  accounted  for  the  origin  of  the  peculiar  sound  just 
mentioned,  whereby  Barrere  was  soon  after  led  {Orn.  Spec.  Nov. 
pp.  62,  63)  to  apply  to  the  bird  the  generic  and  vulgar  names  of 
P Sophia  and  "  Petteuse,"  the  former  of  which,  being  unfortunately 
adopted  by  Linnaeus,  has  ever  since  been  used,  though  in  1766 
and  1767  Pallas  {Miscell.  p.  67,  and  Spicileg.  iv.  p.  6),  and  in 
1768  Vosmser  (Descr.  du  Trompette  Amiricain,  p.  5),  shewed  that 
the  notion  it  conveys  is  erroneous.  Among  English  writers  the 
name  "  Trumpeter  "  was  carried  on  by  Pennant,  Latham,  and  others 
so  as  to  be  generally  accepted,  though  an  author  may  occasionally 
be  found  willing  to  resort  to  the  native  "Agami,"  which  is  that 
almost  always  used  by  the  French. 

1  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  "  H^ron  Agami "  of  BufiFon  {Ois.  vii.  p.  382), 
which  is  the  Ardea  agami  of  other  writers. 


992 


TRUMPETER 


Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin  in  their  Nomendator  (p.  141)  admit 
6  species  of  Trumpet-birds — (1)  the  original  Fsophia  crepitans  of 
Guiana  ;  (2)  P.  napensis  of  eastern  Ecuador  (which  is  v-ery  likely 
the  veritable  "  Oiseau  trompette "  of  De  la  Condamine)  ;  (3)  F. 
ochroptera  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Rio  Negro;  (4)  P.  leucoptera 
from  Peru  and  the  right  bank  of  the  Upper  Amazons ;  (5)  P. 
mriilis  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Madeira  ;  and  (6)  P.  ohscura,  the 
distinctness  of  which  is  denied  by  Dr.  Sharpe  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus. 
xxiii.  p.  281),  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Lower  Amazons  near 
Para.       And    they    have    remarked    {Proc.    Zool.    Soc.    1867,    p. 


PsoPHiA  LEUCOPTERA.    (After  Mitchell.) 


592)  on  the  curious  fact  that  the  range  of  the  several  species 
appears  to  be  separated  by  rivers,  a  statement  confirmed  by  Mr. 
AVallace  (Geogr.  Distr.  Anim.  ii.  p.  358) ;  and  in  connexion  there- 
with it  may  be  observed  that  these  birds  have  short  wings  and 
seldom  fly,  but  run,  though  with  a  peculiar  gait,  very  quickly.  A 
seventh  species,  P.  ccmtatrix,  from  Bolivia,  has  since  been  indicated 
by  Prof.  ^V.  Blasius  {Journ.  f.  Orn.  1884,  pp.  203-210),  who  has 
given  a  monographic  summary  of  the  Avhole  group  worthy  of 
attention.  The  chief  distinctions  between  the  species  lie  in  colour 
and  size,  and  it  will  be  here  enough  to  describe  briefly  the  best 
known  of  them,  P.  crepitans.  This  is  about  the  size  of  a  large 
barndoor  Fowl ;  but  its  neck  and  legs  are  longer,  so  that  it  is  a 


TUBINARES  993 


taller  bird.  The  head  and  neck  are  clothed  with  short  velvety- 
feathers  ;  the  whole  plumage  is  black,  except  that  on  the  lower 
front  of  tfhe  neck  the  feathers  are  tipped  with  golden  green,  chang- 
ing according  to  the  light  into  violet,  and  that  a  patch  of  dull 
rusty-brown  extends  across  the  middle  of  the  back  and  wing- 
coverts,  passing  into  ash-colour  lower  down,  where  they  hang  over 
and  conceal  the  tail.  The  legs  are  bright  pea-green.  The  habits 
of  this  bird  are  very  wonderful,  and  it  is  much  to  be  wished  that 
fuller  accounts  of  them  had  appeared.  The  curious  sound  it  utters, 
noticed  by  the  earliest  observers,  has  been  already  mentioned,  and 
by  them  also  was  its  singularly  social  disposition  towards  man 
described ;  but  the  information  supplied  to  Buffon  {Ois.  iv.  pp. 
496-501)  by  Manoncour  and  De  la  Borde,  which  has  been  repeated 
in  many  works,  is  still  the  best  we  have  of  the  curious  way  in 
which  it  becomes  semi-domesticated  by  the  Indians  and  colonists 
and  shews  strong  affection  for  its  owners  as  well  as  for  their  living 
property — poultry  or  sheep — though  in  this  reclaimed  condition 
it  seems  never  to  breed.^  Indeed  nothing  can  be  positively 
asserted  as  to  its  mode  of  nidification ;  but  its  eggs,  according  to 
Mr.  E.  Bartlett,  are  of  a  creamy-white,  rather  round  and  about 
the  size  of  Bantams'.  Water  ton  in  his  Wanderings  (Second 
Journey,  chap,  iii.)  speaks  of  falling  in  with  flocks  of  200  or  300 
"  "Waracabas,"  as  he  called  them,  in  Demerara,  but  added  nothing 
to  our  knowledge  of  the  species ;  while  the  contributions  of  Trail 
{Mem.  J'Fern.  Soc.  v.  pp.  523-532)  and  Dr.  Hancock  (Mag.  Nat. 
Hist.  ser.  2,  ii.  pp.  490-492)  as  regards  its  habits  only  touch  upon 
them  in  captivity. 

To  the  Trumpeters  must  undoubtedly  be  accorded  the  rank  of 
a  distinct  Family,  Psophiidse;  but  like  so  many  other  South- 
American  birds  they  seem  to  be  the  less  specialized  descendants  of 
an  ancient  generalized  group — perhaps  the  common  ancestors  of 
the  Rallidse  and  Gruidm — and  they  therefore  rightly  come  into  Prof. 
Huxley's  Geranomorph^.  The  structure  of  the  syrinx  is  stated 
by  Trail  {nt  supra)  to  be  unique ;  but  Mr.  Beddard  says  that  no 
trenchant  characters  distinguish  it  from  many  Bails  and  Cranes, 
nor  has  he  found  any  such  modification  of  the  trachea  as  is 
described  by  Trail  (ut  suprct)  to  exist  in  some  but  not  all  males 
{Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1890,  pp.  329-341). 

TUBINAEES,  Illiger's  name  in  1811  (Frodr.  p.  273)  for  the 
group  containing  the  Albatroses  and  Petrels,  for  a  long  while 

^  In  connexion  herewith  may  be  mentioned  the  singular  storj',  received  by- 
Montagu  {Orn.  Did.  Suppl.  Art.  "Grosbeak,  White--winged  "),  from  the  then 
Lord  Stanley,  of  one  of  these  birds,  which,  having  apparently  escaped  from  con- 
finement, formed  the  habit  of  attending  a  poultry-yard.  On  the  occasion  of  a 
pack  of  hounds  running  through  the  yard,  the  Trumpeter  joined  and  kept  up 
with  them  for  nearly  three  miles  ! 

63 


994  TUI—  TURKE  V 


considered  to  be  allied  to  the  Laridse  (Gull),  but  now  regarded  by 
the  best  authorities  as  having  little  to  do  with  them. 

TUI,  the  common  name  in  New  Zealand  for  the  Parson- 
BIRD  (p.  691). 

TUEKEY,^  an  abbreviation  for  Turkey-Cock  or  Turkey-Hen 
as  the  case  may  be,  a  well-known,  large,  domestic,  gallinaceous  bird. 
How  it  came  by  this  name  has  long  been  a  matter  of  discussion, 
for  it  is  certain  that  this  valuable  animal  was  introduced  to  Europe 
from  the  New  World,  and  in  its  introduction  had  nothing  to  do 
with  Turkey  or  with  Turks,  even  in  the  old  and  extended  sense  in 
which  that  term  was  applied  to  all  Mahometans.  But  it  is  almost 
as  unquestionable  that  the  name  was  originally  applied  to  the  bird 
which  we  know  as  the  Guinea-Fowl  (p.  399),  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  some  authors  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries  curiously 
confounded  these  two  species.  As  both  birds  became  more  common 
and  better  known,  the  distinction  was  gradually  perceived,  and  the 
name  "Turkey"  clave  to  that  from  the  New  World — possibly  because 
of  its  repeated  call-note — to  be  syllabled  turh,  turk,  turk,  whereby 
it  may  be  almost  said  to  have  named  itself  (cf.  Notes  and  Queries, 
ser.  6,  iii.  pp.  23,  369).  But  even  Linnaeus  could  not  clear  himself 
of  the  confusion,  and,  possibly  following  Sibbald,  unhajDpily  mis- 
applied the  name  Meleagris,  undeniably  belonging  to  the  Guinea- 
Fowl,  as  the  generic  term  for  what  we  now  know  as  the  Turkey, 
adding  thereto  as  its  specific  designation  the  word  gallopavo,  taken 
from  the  Gallopavus  of  Gesner,  who,  though  not  wholly  free  from 
error,  was  less  mistaken  than  some  of  his  contemporaries  and  even 
successors.^ 

The  Turkey,  so  far  as  we  know,  was  first  described  by  Oviedo 
in  his  Suniario  de  la  Natural  Historia  de  las  Indias^  (cap.  xxxvi.), 
said  to  have  been  published  in  1527.  He,  not  unnaturally, 
includes  both  Curassows  (p.  -126)  and  Turkeys  in  one  category, 
calling  both  "  Pavos "  (Peafowls) ;  but  he  carefully  distinguishes 
between  them,  pointing  out  among  other  things  that  though  the 
latter  make  a  wheel  (hacen  la  rueda)  of  their  tail,  this  was  not  so 
grand  or  so  beautiful  as  that  of  the  Spanish  "  Pavo,"  and  he  gives 
a  faithful  though  short  description  of  the  Turkey.      The  chief 

^  For  Turkey-Buzzard  see  Vultuke. 

^  The  French  Coq  and  Poule  d'Inde  (whence  Dindon)  involve  no  contradiction, 
looking  to  the  general  idea  of  what  India  then  was.  One  of  the  earliest  German 
names  for  the  bird,  Kalekuttisch  Hiin  (whence  the  Scandinavian  Kalkon),  must 
have  arisen  through  some  mistake  at  present  inexplicable  ;  but  this  does  not 
refer,  as  is  generally  supposed,  to  Calcutta,  but  to  Calicut  on  the  Malabar  coast 
{cf.  Notes  and  Queries,  ser.  6,  x.  p.  185). 

^  Purchas  {Pilgrimes,  iii.  p.  995)  in  1625  quoted  both  from  this  and  from  the 
same  author's  Hystoria  General,  said  to  have  been  published  a  few  years  later. 
I  know  Oviedo's  earlier  work  only  by  the  reprint  of  1852. 


TURKEY  995 


point  of  interest  in  his  account  is  that  he  speaks  of  the  species 
having  been  ah'eady  taken  from  New  Spain  (Mexico)  to  the  ishxnds 
and  to  Castilla  del  Oro  (Darien),  where  it  bred  in  a  domestic  state 
among  the  Christians.  Much  labour  has  been  given  by  various 
naturalists  to  ascertain  the  date  of  its  introduction  to  Europe,  to 
which  we  can  at  present  only  make  an  approximate  attempt ;  ^  but 
it  is  plain  that  evidence  concurs  to  shew  that  the  bird  was  established 
in  Europe  by  1530 — a  very  short  time  to  have  elapsed  since  it 
became  known  to  the  Spaniards,  which  could  hardly  have  been 
before  1518,  when  Mexico  was  discovered.  The  possibility  that  it 
had  been  brought  to  England  by  Cabot  or  some  of  his  successors 
earlier  in  the  century  is  not  to  be  overlooked,  and  reasons  may  be 
assigned  for  supposing  that  one  of  the  breeds  of  English  Turkeys 
may  have  had  a  northern  origin ;  ^  but  the  often-quoted  distich 
first  given  in  Baker's  Chronicle  (p.  298),  asserting  that  Turkeys 
came  into  England  in  the  same  year — and  that  year  by  reputation 
1524 — as  carps,  pickerels  and  other  commodities,  is  wholly 
untrustworthy,  for  we  know  that  both  these  fishes  lived  in  this 
country  long  before,  if  indeed  they  were  not  indigenous  to  it.  The 
earliest  documentary  evidence  of  its  existence  in  England  is  a 
^'constitution"  set  forth  by  Cranmer  in  1541,  which  Hearne  first 
printed  (Leland's  Collectanea,  ed.  2,  vi.  p.  38).  This  names  "  Turkey- 
cocke"  as  one  of  "the  greater  fowles"  of  which  an  ecclesiastic 
was  to  have  "but  one  in  a  dishe,"  and  its  association  with  the 
Crane  and  Swan  precludes  the  likelihood  of  any  confusion  with  the 
Guinea-Fowl.  Moreover  the  comparatively  low  price  of  the  two 
Turkeys  and  four  Turkey-chicks  served  at  a  feast  of  the  serjeants- 
at-law  in  1555  (Dugdale,  Origines,  p.  135)  points  to  their  having 
become  by  that  time  abundant,  and  indeed  by  1573  Tusser  bears 
witness  to  the  part  they  had  already  begun  to  play  in  "  Christmas 
husbandlie   fare."       In    1555   both    sexes   were    characteristically 

'  ^  The  bibliography  of  the  Turkey  is  so  large  that  there  is  here  no  room  to 
name  the  various  works  that  might  be  cited.  Recent  research  has  failed  to  add 
anything  of  importance  to  what  has  been  said  on  this  point  by  Buffou  {Ois.  ii. 
pp.  132-162),  Pennant  (Arct.  Zool.  pp.  291-300), — an  admirable  summary, — 
and  Broderip  {Zool.  Eecreat.  pp.  120-137) — not  that  all  their  statements  can 
be  wholly  accepted.  Barrington's  essay  {Miscellanies,  pp.  127-151),  to  prove 
that  the  bird  was  known  before  the  discovery  of  America  and  was  transported 
thither,  is  an  ingenious  piece  of  special  pleading  which  his  friend  Pennant  did 
him  the  real  kindness  of  ignoring. 

^  In  1672  Josselin  {New  England's  Rarities,  p.  9)  speaks  of  the  settlers 
bringing  up  "great  store  of  the  wild  kind"  of  Turkeys,  "which  remain  about 
their  houses  as  tame  as  ours  in  England."  The  bird  was  evidently  plentiful 
down  to  the  very  seaboard  of  Massachusetts,  but  it  is  not  likely  to  have  been 
domesticated  by  the  Indian  tribes  there,  as,  according  to  Hernandez,  it  seems 
to  have  been  by  the  Mexicans.  It  was  probably  easy  to  take  alive,  and,  as  we 
know,  capable  of  enduring  the  voyage  to  England. 


996  TURNICOMORPH^—  TURNSTONE 

figured  by  Belon  (Oyseaux,  p.  249),  as  was  the  cock  by  Gesner  in 
the  same  year,  and  these  are  the  earliest  representations  of  the  bird 
known  to  exist.^ 

The  genus  Meleagris  is  considered  to  enter  into  the  Family 
Phasianidse,  in  which  it  forms  a  subfamily  Meleagrinse,  peculiar  to 
North  and  Central  America.^  The  fossil  remains  of  three  species 
have  been  described  by  Prof.  Marsh — one  from  the  Miocene  of 
Colorado,  and  two,  one  much  taller  and  the  other  smaller  than  the 
existing  species,  from  the  Post-Pliocene  of  New  Jersey.  Both  the 
last  had  proportionally  long  and  slender  legs. 

TURNICOMOEPH^,  Prof.  Huxley's  name  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1868,  p.  304)  for  the  group  of  Birds  containing  the  genus  Turnix 
(Hemipode,  p.  415). 

TURNSTONE,  the  name  long  given  ^  to  a  shore-bird,  from  its 

^  There  is  no  need  to  describe  here  a  bird  so  familiar  and  in  these  days  so 
widely  distributed.  As  a  denizen  of  our  poultry-yards  there  are  at  least  two 
distinct  breeds,  though  crosses  between  them  are  much  commoner  than  purely- 
bred  examples  of  either.  That  known  as  the  Norfolk  breed  is  the  taller  of  the 
two,  and  is  said  to  be  the  more  hardy.  Its  plumage  is  almost  entirely  black, 
with  very  little  lustre,  but  the  feathers  of  the  tail  and  some  of  those  of  the 
back  have  a  brownish  tip.  The  chicks  also  are  black,  with  occasionally  white 
patches  on  the  head.  The  other  breed,  called  the  Cambridgeshire,  is  much 
more  variegated  in  colour,  and  some  parts  of  the  plumage  have  a  bright  metallic 
gloss,  while  the  chicks  are  generally  mottled  with  brownish-grey.  White,  pied 
and  butf  Turkeys  are  also  often  seen,  and  if  care  be  taken  they  are  commonly 
found  to  "breed  true."  Occasionally  Turkeys,  the  cocks  especially,  occur  with 
a  top-knot  of  feathers,  and  one  of  them  was  figured  by  Albin  in  1738.  It  has 
been  suggested  with  some  appearance  of  probability  that  the  Norfolk  breed  may 
be  descended  from  the  northern  form,  Meleagris  gallopavo  or  americana,  while 
the  Cambridgeshire  breed  may  spring  from  the  southern  form,  the  J/,  mexicana  of 
Gould  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1856,  p.  61),  which  indeed  it  very  much  resembles, 
especially  in  having  its  tail-coverts,  and  quills  tipped  with  white  or  light 
ochreous, — points  that  recent  North -American  ornithologists  rely  upon  as 
distinctive  of  this  form.  If  this  supposition  be  true,  there  would  be  reason  to 
believe  in  the  double  introduction  of  the  bird  into  England  at  least,  as  already 
hinted,  but  positive  information  is  almost  wholly  wanting.  The  northern  form' 
of  wild  Turkey,  whose  habits  have  been  described  in  much  detail  by  all  the 
chief  writers  on  North-American  birds,  is  now  extinct  in  the  settled  parts  of 
Canada  and  the  eastern  States  of  the  Union,  where  it  was  once  so  numerous  ; 
and  in  Mexico  the  southern  form,  which  would  seem  to  have  been  never 
abundant  since  the  conquest,  has  been  for  many  years  rare.  Still  further  to 
the  south,  on  the  borders  of  Guatemala  and  British  Honduras,  there  exists  a 
perfectly  distinct  species,  M.  ocellata,  whose  plumage  almost  vies  with  that  of 
a  Peacock  in  splendour,  while  the  bare  skin  which  covers  the  head  is  of  a  deep 
blue  studded  with  orange  caruncles  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1861,  pi.  xl.). 

2  The  results  of  a  comparison  of  the  skulls  of  wild  and  domesticated  Turkeys 
are  given  by  Dr.  Shufeldt  in  Journ.  of  Comp.  Ifedicine  and  Surgery,  July  1887. 

*  The  name  seems  to  appear  first  in  Willughby's  Ornithologia  (p.  231)  in 


TURNSTONE  997 


habit  of  turnina;  over  with  its  bill  such  stones  as  it  can  to  seek  its 

food  in  the  small  crustaceans  or  other  animals 

lurking  beneath   them.       It   is   the  Tringa 

interpres^  of  Linnaeus  and  Strepsilas  interpres 

of  most  later  writers,  and  is  remarkable  as 

being   perhaps    the    most   cosmopolitan    of 

birds;    for,  though    properly  belonging  to  ^  ,,..    c,    """   s 

''        i-ii  -1       Turnstone.    (After  Swamson.) 

the  noi'thern  hemisphere,  there  is  scarcely 

a  sea-coast  in  the  world  on  which  it  may  not  occur :  it  has  been 
obtained  from  Spitsbergen  to  the  Strait  of  Magellan  and  from 
Point  Barrow  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  New  Zealand — • 
examples  from  the  southern  hemisphere  being,  however,  almost 
invariably  in  a  state  of  plumage  that  shews,  if  not  immaturity, 
yet  an  ineptitude  for  reproduction.  It  also,  though  much  less 
commonly,  resorts  to  the  margins  of  inland  rivers  and  lakes ;  but 
it  is  very  rarely  seen  excejDt  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Avater,  and 
salt  water  for  preference. 

The  Turnstone  is  about  as  big  as  an  ordinary  Snipe ;  but, 
compared  with  most  of  its  allies  of  the  group  LiMicOL^,  to  which  it 
belongs,  its  form  is  somewhat  heavy,  and  its  legs  are  short.  Still 
it  is  brisk  in  its  movements,  and  its  variegated  plumage  makes  it  a 
pleasing  bird.  Seen  in  front,  its  white  face,  striped  with  black, 
and  broad  black  gorget  attract  attention  as  it  sits,  often  motionless, 
on  the  rocks ;  while  in  flight  the  white  of  the  lower  part  of  the 
back  and  white  band  across  the  wings  are  no  less  conspicuous  even 
at  a  distance.  A  nearer  view  will  reveal  the  rich  chestnut  of  the 
mantle  and  upper  wing-coverts,  and  the  combination  of  colours 
suggests  the  term  "  tortoise-shell "  often  applied  to  it,  while  the 
quill-feathers  are  mostly  of  a  dark  brown  and  its  lower  parts  pure 
white.  The  deeper  tints  are,  however,  peculiar  to  the  nuptial 
plumage,  or  are  only  to  be  faintly  traced  at  other  times,  so  that  in 
Avinter  the  adults — and  the  young  always — have  a  much  plainer 
appearance,  ashy-grey  and  white  being  almost  the  only  hues 
observable.  From  the  fact  that  Turnstones  may  be  met  with  at 
almost  any  season  in  various  jjarts  of  the  world,^  and  especially  on 

1676  ;  but  he  gave  as  an  alias  that  of  Sea-Dottrel  {i.e.  Ringed  Plover)  under 
■which  name  a  drawing,  figured  by  him  (pi.  58),  was  sent  to  him  by  Sir  Thomas 
Browne. 

^  Linnpeus  {(El.  och  Gothlandska  JRcsa,  p.  217),  who  first  met  with  this  bird 
on  the  island  of  Gottland,  1st  July  1741,  was  under  the  mistaken  belief  that  it 
was  there  called  Tolk  {  —  interpres).  But  that  name  properly  belongs  to  the 
Redshank,  from  the  cry  of  warning  to  other  animals  that  it  utters  on  the 
approach  of  danger  {cf.  Telltale). 

^  The  authors  of  The  Water  Birds  of  North  America  (i.  ji.  123)  in  reference 
to  tliis  fact  raise  the  pertinent  question,  "  Do  birds,  after  they  have  become  old, 
effete,  or  barren,  prefer  to  stay  in  a  warm  climate  ? " 


998  TUR  TLB—  TYRA  NT 

islands  as  the  Canai'ies,  Azores  and  many  of  those  in  the  British 
seas,  it  has  been  inferred  that  these  birds  may  breed  in  such  j^laces. 
In  some  cases  this  may  prove  to  be  true,  but  in  most  evidence  to 
that  effect  is  wanting.  In  America  the  breeding-range  of  this 
species  has  not  been  defined.  In  Europe  there  is  good  reason  to 
suppose  that  it  includes  Shetland ;  but  it  is  on  the  north-western 
coast  of  the  continent,  from  Jutland  to  the  extreme  north  of  Nor- 
way, that  the  greatest  number  are  reared.  The  nest,  contrary  to 
the  habits  of  most  Limicolx,  is  generally  placed  under  a  ledge  of 
rock  which  shelters  the  bird  from  observation,^  and  therein  are  laid 
four  eggs,  of  a  light  olive-green,  closely  blotched  with  brown,  and 
hardly  to  be  mistaken  for  those  of  any  other  bird.  A  second 
species  of  Turnstone  is  admitted  by  some  authors  and  denied  by 
others.  This  is  the  8.  melanocephalus  of  the  Pacific  coast  of  North 
America,  which  is  said  to  be  on  the  average  larger  than  *S'.  interpres^ 
and  it  never  exhibits  any  of  the  chestnut  colouring. 

Though  the  genus  Strepsilas  seems  to  be  rightly  placed  among 
the  CharadriiiM  (Plover),  it  occupies  a  somewhat  abnormal  posi- 
tion among  them,  and  in  the  form  of  its  pointed  beak  and  its 
variegated  coloration  has  hardly  any  very  near  relative. 

TURTLE  or  TURTLE-DOVE,  Fr.  TourtereUe,  Germ.  Turfeltauhe, 
Lat.  Turtur,  see  DoVE  (p.  165).  Greenland  Turtle  and  Sea-Turtle 
are  sailors'  names  for  the  Black  Guillemot  (p.  399). 

TWITE,  the  name  apparently  first  recorded  by  Albin  (N.  H. 
Birds,  iii.  pi.  Ixxiv.  p.  69)  in  1737  for  what  is  often  known  as  the 
Mountain-LiNNET  (p.  516). 

TWOPENNY -CHICK,  a  creole  name  in  Jamaica  for  the 
White-chinned  Thrush  of  that  island,  Turdus  aurantius  or  Semi- 
menda  aurantia  (cf.  Latham,  Gen.  H.  B.  x.  p.  32  ;  Gosse,  B.  Jam. 
p.  138). 

TYRANT  or  TYRANT -BIRD,  in  its  modern  sense  a  name 
originating  in  1731  M'ith  Catesby  {N.  H.  Carol,  i.  p.  55),  who  applied 

it  solely  to  Avhat  is  now  generally  known 
as  the  King-bird  (p.  482),  of  which 
enough  has  been  said,  but  apparently 
as  much  in  reference  to  its  bright  crown, 
resembling  that  of  the  Goldcrest,^  as 
to  its  tyrannical  behaviour  to  other 
birds.  On  this  species,  being  the  Musci- 
capa  fi/rannus  of  Linnasus,  was  founded 
LicHENOPs.  (After  swainson.)     ^^^  ^^^^^  Tyrannus  of  Cuvier,  and  sub- 

^  There  is  little  external  difference  between  tlie  sexes,  and  the  brightly- 
contrasted  colours  of  the  hen-bird  seem  to  require  some  kind  of  concealment. 
-  The  riipavvos  of  Aristotle  was  undoubtedly  the  Goldcrest,  the  'La.tin  licgulus. 


TYRANT  999 


sequently  the  Family,  Tyrannidse,  in  which  Mr.  Sclater  {Cat.  B. 
Br.  Mus.  xiv.  pp.  2-280)  includes  over  400  species,  all  peculiar 
to  the  New  World,  and  as  already  stated  (p.  483)  belonging 
to  the  group  Clamatores  (Tracheophon^).  These  he  pro- 
visionally arranges  in  four  subfamilies  —  Txniopterina}  with  2 1 
genera  of  more  or  less  terrestrial  habit,  including  Lichenops  and 
Copurus;  Plakjrhynchinx  with  20  genera,  having  very  broad  bills 


^" 


Platyehynciius.  Hapalocercus. 

(After  Swainson.) 

and  Aveak  feet,  including  Platyrhynchus  and  Hapalocercus ;  Elaininx 
having  the  gape  without  bristles  and  almost  confined  to  the 
Neotropical  Region ;  and  Tyranninse  with  28  genera,  among  which 
he  places  Blacicus  and  Myiarchus  (Tomfool)  and  their  near  ally 
Contopus  (Peewee)  together  with  Empidias,  to  which  he  refers  the 
well-known  Sayornis  fuscus  (Phcebe)  while  keeping  Sayornis  in  his 
first  subfamily,  as  well  as  Milvulus  (SciSSORS-TAiL  ^)  and  of  course 
Tyranmis.^ 

In  several  respects  some  of  these  birds  resemble  the  Shrikes  ; 
but  it  must  be  clearly  understood  that  the  likeness  ^  is  but 
of  analogy,  and  that  there  is  no  near  affinity  between  the 
two  Families  Laniidai  and  Tyrannidge,  which  belong  to  wholly 
distinct  sections  of  Passeres  ;  and,  while  the  former  is  a  com- 
paratively homogeneous  group,  as  much  diversity  of  form  and 
habits  is  found  among  the  latter  as  among  the  Dendrocolaptidse. 
(Picucule),  testifying  to  the  antiquity  of  the  Fauna  of  which  both 
are  so  characteristic.  Similarly  many  of  the  smaller  Tyrannidx 
bear  some  analogy  to  certain  Muscicapidse  (Flycatcher),  with 
which   they   were   at  one   time    confounded ;    but    the   difierence 

French  Roitelet,  German  Koniglein  (cf.  D.  "W.  Thompson,  Gloss,  Greek  Birds, 
p.  174),  and  of  com-se  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  birds  now  called  Tyrants. 

^  Accidentally  misspelt  Scizzors-tail,  p.  816. 

^  Nearly  akin  to  the  King-bird  is  the  Petchary  or  Chicheree,  so  called  from 
its  loud  and  petulant  cry,  Tyrannus  dominicensis,  or  T.  griseus,  one  of  the 
most  characteristic  and  conspicuous  birds  of  the  West  Indies,  and  the  earliest  to 
give  notice  of  the  break  of  day.  In  habits,  except  that  it  eats  a  good  many 
berries,  it  is  the  very  counterparb  of  its  congener,  and  is  possibly  even  more 
jealous  of  any  intruder.  At  all  events  its  pugnacity  extends  to  animals  from 
which  it  could  not  possibly  receive  any  harm,  and  is  hardly  limited  to  any 
season  of  the  year. 

^  It  is  curious  that  in  at  least  some  instances  this  likeness  extends  to 
the  eggs. 


looo  TYRANT— UMBRELLA-BIRD 

between  them  is  deep  seated.^  Nor  is  this  all,  for  out  of 
the  80  genera,  or  nearly,  into  which  the  Tyrannidse  have  been 
divided,  a  series  of  forms  can  be  selected  which  find  a  kind  of 
parallel  to  those  found  in  the  Oscines  ;  and  the  genus  Tyrannus, 
though  that  from  which  the  Family  is  named,  is  by  no  means  a 
fair  representative  of  it ;  though  it  would  be  hard  to  say  which 
genus  should  be  so  accounted.  The  birds  of  the  genus  Musci- 
saxicola  have  the  habits  and  almost  the  appearance  of  Wheatears  ; 
the  genus  Aledorurus  calls  to  mind  a  Wagtail  ;  Euscarthmus  may 
suggest  a  Titmouse,  Elainea  perhaps  a  Willow -Wren  ;  but  the 
greater  number  of  forms  have  no  analogous  bird  of  the  Old  World 
with  which  they  can  be  compared ;  and,  while  the  combination  of 
delicate  beauty  and  peculiar  external  form  possibly  attains  its 
iitmost  in  the  long-tailed  Milvulus,  the  glory  of  the  Family  may  be 
said  to  culminate  in  the  king  of  King-birds,  Muscivora  regia,  and  its 
three  allied  species. 


u    ■ 

ULNA,  the  more  curved  and  stouter  of  the  two  bones  of  the 
forearm  (the  other  being  the  radius,  p.  762).  Its  proximal  end 
forms  the  olecranon  (p.  654)  process,  and  its  distal  end  articulates 
with  two  bones  of  the  carpus  (p.  77).  The  attachment  of  the 
CUBITAL  remiges  (p.  118)  often  causes  rugosities  on  its  dorsal 
sm-face.     (See  Skeleton,  p.  859.) 

UMBRE,  Pennant's  rendering  in  1773  {Gen.  B.  p.  44)  of  Bris- 
son's  Ombreite  (cf.  Hajvimer-head,  p.  405,  and  Stork,  p.  920). 

TJMBEELLA-BIRD,2  the  Cephalopterus  ornatus  of  Geofi"roy-St. 
Hilaire  {Ann.  Mus.  xiii.  p.  228,  pi:  15)  the  "  Umbrella'd  Chatterer  "  of 
Shaw  {Nat.  Misc.  xxi.  pi.  897),  so  called  from  the  remarkable  crest 
of  feathers  it  wears,  the  shafts  of  which,  when  it  is  displayed,  says 

^  This  is  not  the  place  to  dwell  upon  the  essential  nature  of  the  difference  ; 
but  two  easy  modes  of  discriminating  them  externally  may  be  mentioned.  All 
the  Laniidss  and  Muscicapidx  have  but  nine  primary  quills  in  their  wings, 
and  their  tarsi  are  covered  with  scales  in  front  only  ;  while  in  the  Tyrannidx 
there  are  ten  primaries,  and  the  tarsal  scales  extend  the  whole  way  round.  The 
more  recondite  distinction  in  the  structure  of  the  trachea  seems  to  have  been 
first  detected  by  Macgillivray,  who  -wrote  the  anatomical  descriptions  published 
in  1839  by  Audubon  {Orn.  Biog.  v.  pp.  421,  422) ;  but  its  value  was  not 
appreciated  till  the  publication  of  Johannes  Miiller's  celebrated  treatise  on  the 
vocal  organs  of  Passeres  {Ahh.  k.  Ak.  Berlin,  1845,  pp.  321-405). 

-  I  iind  this  name  first  in  print,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1850,  p.  91  ;  but  Gould 
there  uses  it  for  the  bird  as  being  "commonly  so  called."  In  1836  Swainson 
{Classif.  B.  i.  p.  41)  likened  its  crest  to  an  umbrella. 


UNCINA  TE  PROCESS—  URINA  TORES 


lOOI 


Mr.  Wallace  {Vroc.  Zool.  Soc.  1850,  p.  206)  radiate  on  all  sides, 
reaching  beyond  the  tip  of  the  bill,  and  forming  a  perfect  dome, 
some  5  inclaes  in  length  by  4  or  4.5  in  width.  Another  curious 
appendage  is  a  cylindrical  fleshy  process,  an  inch  and  a  half  long, 
pendent  from  the  front  of  the  neck,  and  clothed  with  imbricated 
feathers.     The  bird  is  about  the  size  of  a  Crow,  and  wholly  black, 


Cephalopterus. 


GVMNOCEPHALUS. 


(After  Swainson.) 


glossed  Avith  blue  in  j)laces  and  especially  on  the  crest  and  dew- 
lap. This  species  inhabits  Colombia,  Guiana,  a  great  part  of 
Brazil  and  Eucador;  but,  in  the  western  districts  of  the  coimtry 
last  named,  a  second  species,  C.  penduliger,  occurs,  with  a  still  more 
extraordinary  feathered  dewlap  nearly  as  long  as  the  whole  bird 
(Ibis,  1859,  pi.  iii.) ;  and  in  Veragua  and  Costa  Rica,  a  third,  C. 
glahricoUis,  in  which  the  throat,  of  a  reddish-orange,  and  dewlap  are 
bare  of  feathers,  except  at  the  tip  of  the  latter  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1850,  pi.  XX.),  but  all  have  the  plumage  black  and  the  jDarasol-like 
crest.  The  genus  belongs  to  the  Cotingidai  (Chatterer,  p.  86),  and 
is  nearly  allied  to  the  genera  Fyroderus,  Gyimiocephalus,  Gymnodcra 
and  Chasmorhynchus  (Bell-bird,  p.  80).  (Cf.  Sclater,  Cat.  B.  Br. 
Mus.  xiv.  pp.  397-403). 

UNCINA TU  PROCESS,  a  thin  bony  blade  attached,  either 
movably  or  firmly,  to  the  posterior  margin  of  each  of  the  true  RiBS 
(p.  788)  except  the  last.  Originally  cartilaginous,  these  processes  sub- 
sequently ossify  each  from  a  special  centre,  and  extend  backward  to 
overlap  the  next  succeeding  Rib.  With  the  sole  exception  of  the 
Palamedeidx  (Screamer)  they  are  present  in  all  Birds,  as  well  as  in 
some  Reptiles,  as  Hatteria  and  the  Crocodiles. 

UNICORN-BIRD  (Bates,  Nat.  Amaz.  i.  277),  a  name  for  Pala- 
medea  cornuta  (Screamer,  p.  819). 

UPiETEB,  the  duct  which  conducts  the  urine  from  the  kidney 
(p.  480)  to  the  cloaca  (p.  90),  there  being  no  urinary  bladder  in 
Birds  (see  also  figs.  pp.  138,  782). 

URINATORES,  Vieillot's  name  in  1816  {Analyse,  p.  64)  for  a 
group  of  Birds  composed  of  the  genera  Helioi'nis,  Podiceps  [Podidpes^^ 
and  Colymbus. 


I002  UR  OIONI—  VA  RIA  TION 

UEOIONI   (properly    Uroeoni),  Owen's  name  in    1868   {Anat. 
Vertebr.  iii,  p.  849)  for  the  group  consisting  of  Archseopteryx. 

UEOSTYLE,  see  Pygostyle,  p.  753. 

UTICK,  a  local  name  for  the  Whinchat,  from  its  call-note. 


VALK,  Dutch  for  Falcon  or  Hawk,  and  so  used  in  the  Cape 
Colony — Blaauive  Valk  (Blue  Hawk),  being  especially  the  name  of 
Melierax  musicus,  the  so-called  "  Chanting  Falcon,"  which  has  a 
mellow,  piping  whistle  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p,  31). 

VARIATION  is  a  seductive  subject  that  must  here  be  treated 
briefly  and  with  the  view  of  bringing  forward  a  few  only  of  its  known 
facts,  the  consideration  of  its  supposed  causes,  which  are  often  glibly 
and  positively  assigned  by  some  writers  to  account  for  its  origin, 
being  wholly  out  of  place,  while  questions  involving  the  definition 
of  "  species,"  though  immediately  arising,  cannot  be  entertained — 
since  experience  shews  that  they  can  be  rarely  answered  to  the  satis- 
faction of  any  but  the  respondent.  Presviming  that  readers  of 
this  article  are  acquainted  with  what  has  been  published  on  the 
subject  by  Darwin  and  Mr.  Wallace,  there  Avill  be  no  need  to 
enter  at  length  on  the  observed  facts  of  Variation  as  set  down  by 
those  able  naturalists.  The  former  of  them  many  years  ago  de- 
clared (Origin  of  Species,  chap,  v.),  "  Our  ignorance  of  the  laws  of 
Variation  is  profound,"  and  in  1894  Mr.  Bateson  {Materials  for  the 
Stiidy  of  Variation,  p.  1 3)  had  still  to  regret  that  "  Darwin's  first  col- 
lection of  the  facts  of  Variation  has  scarcely  been  increased."  ^     Yet 

^  It  may  perhaps  be  convenient  here  to  adduce  in  the  most  concise  way,  yet 
almost  in  Darwin's  own  words,  what  these  facts — "Laws"  they  have  sometimes 
been  called — are  as  enunciated  by  him  : — 

I.  (1)  Wide-ranging,  much  diffused  and  common  Species  vary  most. 

(2)  Species  of  the  larger  Genera  in  each  country  vary  more  freq^uently  than 

the  Species  of  the  smaller  Genera. 

(3)  Many  of  the  Species  of  the  larger  Genera  resemble  Varieties  in  being  very 

closely,  but  unequally,  related  to  each  other,  and  in  having  restricted 
ranges  {Origin  of  Species,  chap.  ii.). 
II.   (4)  Multiple,  Rudimentary  and  Lowly-organized  Structures  are  the  most 
variable. 

(5)  A  Part  developed  in  any  Species,  in  an  extraordinary  way,  compared  with 

the  same  Part  in  allied  Species,  tends  to  be  highly  variable. 

(6)  Specific  characters  are  more  variable  than  Generic  characters. 

(7)  Secondary  sexual  characters  are  very  variable. 

(8)  Distinct  Species  present  analogous  Variations  ;  and  a  Variety  of  one 


VARIATION  1003 


as  in  times  past  there  are  endless  records,  among  which  Orni- 
thology has  its  full  share,^  of  individual  irregularities  of  all  sorts, 
from  those  which  are  to  be  entitled  Monstrosities  (p.  587)  down 
to  the  abnormal  colouring  of  a  single  feather;  but  no  considerable 
approach  has  been  made  to  the  methodizing  of  the  different  observa- 
tions since  the  remarkable  essays  published  in  1871  and  1872  by  Mr. 
J.  A.  Allen,^  which  naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr.  Wallace, 
who  (Daj-winism,  chap,  iii.)  by  means  of  a  series  of  diagrams  reduced 
to  a  concrete  and  convenient  form  some  of  the  elaborate  tables  of 
measurements,  for,  as  treated  by  the  author,  they  are  not  very  easily 
mastered.  Few,  if  any  other  writers,  however,  have  availed  them- 
selves of  the  vast  store  of  statistics  collected  with  enormous  toil  by 
Mr.  Allen,  and  hence  the  puljlication  of  other  similar  series  has 
unhappily  been  discouraged.  Every  one  knows  the  use  which  has 
been  made  of  facts  like  these,  but  the  study  of  Variation  has 
perhaps  suffered  from  the  way  in  which  it  has  been  connected  with 
theories  of  Evolution  instead  of  being  pursued  for  its  o^vn  sake. 
Whether  those  theories  be  true  or  not,  the  existence  of  Variation  is 
undoubted,  and  it  behoves  ornithologists  among  other  naturalists  to 
learn  all  they  can  of  its  facts  apart  from  any  speculation  that  may 
be  raised  upon  them.  Many  persons  regard  Variation  as  being  so 
much  due  to  domestication  that  they  are  apt  to  overlook  the  extent 
to  Avhich  wild  creatures  vary.  It  would  be  almost  safe  to  assert 
that  no  two  creatures  are  ever  produced  which  are  absolutely  alike, 
however  hard  it  may  be  for  any  one  to  define  the  diflference 
between  them ;  but  it  may  be  positively  stated  as  the  result  of  con- 
siderable experience  in  ornithology  that  the  greater  the  number  of 
individuals  that  are  closely  examined  the  more  they  are  found  to 
differ.  ^    The  diflferences  may  be  minute,  but  differences  they  are,  and 

Species  often  assumes  some  of  the  characters  of  an  allied  Species,  or 
reverts  to  some  of  the  characters  of  an  early  progenitor  {op.  dt. 
chap.  v.). 
Several  modifications  of  the  above  statements  seem  requisite. 
1  With   Ornithology  rests   perhaps   the  honour  of   producing  the   earliest 
treatise  on  part,   at  least,   of  the  subject,  that  by  Gloger  before  cited  (Geo- 
graphical Distribution,  p.  343). 

^  To  these  reference  has  been  already  made  (p.  343,  note  2),  An  apprecia- 
tive analysis  of  the  first  was  given  in  The  Zoological  Record  (viii.  pp.  24,  25), 
and  a  critical  notice  in  The  Ibis  (1872,  pp.  189-191).  Mr.  Ridgway  followed 
with  some  good  observations  {Am.  Journ.  Sc.  ser.  3,  iv.  pp.  454-460,  v.  pp. 
39-44),  which  led  to  the  criticism  of  Prof.  Coues  {Am.  Nat.  1873,  pp.  415- 
418),  and  a  rejoinder  by  the  author  {torn.  cit.  pp.  548-555). 

^  As  an  instance  1  may  refer  to  the  experience  gained  by  the  study  of  an 
enormous  series  of  bones  of  the  Solitaire  (p.  887),  not  one  of  which  but  was 
liable  to  greater  or  less  individual  Variation  of  some  kind  or  other.  This  was 
not  confined  to  absolute  size,  but  extended  to  the  relative  proportion  of  divers 
parts  of  the  bones,  to  processes  or  depressions  upon  them  commonly  held  to  be 


1004  VARIATION 


perceptible  to  the  carefully-trained  eye.^  It  is  a  trite  remark  that  in  a 
flock  of  sheep  the  ordinary  man  sees  nothing  to  distinguish  one  animal 
from  another,  while  the  shepherd  knows  each  unfailingly,  and  those 
who  look  after  birds  kept  in  captivity  are  soon  able  to  do  the  same 
in  regard  to  their  charges,  though  both  shepherd  and  bird-keeper 
Avould  often  find  it  impossible  to  point  out  wherein  the  difference 
lay.  Yet  because  the  difference  cannot  be  expressed  in  words,  its 
existence  is  not  to  be  denied,  and  indeed  for  all  practical  purposes 
we  may  assume  its  existence  except  in  rare  cases.  Thus,  believing 
Variability  to  be  general,  the  question  naturally  arises  as  to  its 
limits,  if  it  has  any.  Some  there  are  who  would  boldly  declare  it 
to  be  in  one  sense  boundless,  and  others  would  define  its  limits  as 
geographical.  Much  is  to  be  said  for  this  last  point  of  view,  which 
was  that  taken  bv  some  of  the  earliest  investi  orators  of  Variation  ;  but 
then  it  must  be  admitted  that  those  who  adopt  it  have  a  very  summary 
way  of  treating  the  subject,  though  it  is  eminently  practical  and 
perhaps  at  present  indispensable. 

When  a  definite  structure  or  coloration  of  any  form  is  observed 
to  be  associated  with  a  definite  area,  and  to  cease  on  that  area  being 
overpassed,  the  systematist  will  generally  say  at  once  that  we  have 
two  distinct  species  of  the  form ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  is  often 
puzzled  how  to  regard  a  form  that  ranges  over  an  area,  mostly 
large,  at  one  end  of  which  it  exhibits  certain  well-marked  characters 
which  gradually  vanish  as  the  centre  is  approached,  and  are  as 
gradually  replaced  by  different  but  equally  well-marked  characters, 
imtil  at  the  other  end  it  generally,  though  not  always,  assumes  a 
wholly  distinct  appearance,  the  intervening  space  being  thus  occupied 
by  individuals  more  or  less  intermediate  between  the  extremities  of 
the  series.  The  reflective  natiu-alist  will  perceive  the  probability  of 
both  these  categories  being  reducible  to  the  same  principle — only 
in  the  latter  case  the  Variation  is  continuous  and  in  the  former 
discontinuous ;  but  it  has  taken  ornithologists  a  long  while  to 
recognize  this  probability. 

Conditions  such  as  these  are  furnished  in  cases  far  too  numerous 
to  name,^  and  their  proper  recognition  and  full  appreciation  (if  that 

specifically  characteristic,  so  that  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  declare  the  limits 
of  individual  modification,  while  the  Variability  did  not  wholly  depend  on  age 
or  sex  {Phil.  Trans.  1869,  pp.  330,  331).  Subsequent  examination  of  a  still 
larger  series  of  specimens  confirmed  the  former  statement  {pj}.  cit.  vol.  168,  p. 
451).  Yet  all  this  amount  of  Variation  was  exhibited  by  the  individuals  of  a 
single  species,  confined  to  a  small  island,  and  apparently  all  living  at  about  the 
same  period  and  under  the  same  conditions. 

^  The  more  minutely  a  specimen  is  described  the  less  chance  there  is  ot 
another  specimen  being  found  to  agree  with  it.  Hence  the  value  of  a  proper 
diagnosis,  in  the  old  sense  of  the  word,  compared  with  a  description — a  fact 
which  some  modern  ornithologists  are  apt  to  overlook. 

"  They  are  mostly  found  among  the  Oscincs,  but  possibly  because  that  group 


VARIATION  1005 


may  be  considered  to  have  been  reached)  are,  since  in  Europe 
Gloger's  attempt  had  failed  to  produce  any  effect/  mainly  due  to  the 
ornithologists  of  North  America,  and  especially  to  Baird  as  before 
said.  Definite  results  soon  followed,  and  in  1872  Mr,  Allen  in  his 
summing  up  was  able  to  say  truly  {Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  N.  H.  xv.  p. 
218),  "  Gradual  differentiation  is  now  known  in  so  many  cases  that 
it  amounts  to  the  demonstration  of  climatic  variation  as  a  general 
law  by  means  of  which  a  species  may  be  safely  predicted  to  take  on 
a  given  character  under  certain  specific  climatic  conditions."  ^  It 
would  be  impossible  here  to  enter  into  particulars,  suffice  it  to  state 
that  species  after  species,  as  well  as  genus  after  genus,  is  proved  to 
be  subject  to  this  kind  of  geographical  Variation,  which  is  noticeable 
not  only  in  regard  to  the  Size  of  the  whole  bird,  but  to  the  propor- 
tion of  its  several  parts,  as  Bill,  Claws,  Tail  and  Wing,  as  also  to 
Coloiu".  Difference  in  the  length  of  Wing  had,  it  is  true,  been 
noted  in  some  species  of  the  Old  World,  but  the  results  were  not 
brought  together  nor  their  meaning  made  evident.  As  regards  the 
geographical  Variation  of  Colour,  Mr.  Allen  proved  that  in  America 
northward  of  Mexico  it  was  reducible  to  two  phases  of  modification, 
a  general  increase  of  intensity  toward  the  south  and  development 
of  dark  markings  at  the  expense  of  the  light  intervening  spaces,  so 
that  of  brightly-coloiu-ed  species  southern  individuals  are  the  most 
brightly  coloured,  and  some  tints,  which  to  the  northward  cannot  be 
called  brilliant,  become  vivid  in  a  lower  latitude.  In  respect  of  longi- 
tude Variation  occurs  with  like  regularity,  the  differences  appearing  to 
hold  a  direct  relationship  to  the  humidity  of  the  climate.  Thus  on  the 
dry  plains  of  the  middle  and  western  parts  of  the  continent  birds  have 
a  pallid  complexion,  while  on  the  Pacific  slope  they  resimie  nearly 
the  tints  of  the  eastern  form,  though  further  to  the  northward,  in  the 
rainy  belt  that  extends  along  the  coast  of  British  Columbia,  they 
acquire  a  depth  of  colour  far  in  excess  of  that  which  they  display 
on  the  Atlantic  border.  The  value  of  Mr.  Allen's  results  is  very 
much  increased  when  we  find  that  similar  observations  had  long 
before  been  made  in  regard  to  the  Old  World,  only  no  one  had  been 
at  the  trouble  of  collecting  them.  Thus  Temminck  in  1835  {Man. 
d'Orn.  iii.  p.  liv.)  had  noticed  the  more  lively  coloration  of  indi- 

has  immeasurably  tlie  most  abundant  forms.  The  remarkable  cases  offered  by 
the  genus  Colaptes  have  been  already  mentioned  (Flickee,  p.  258),  and  others  of 
hardly  less  interest  occur  in  the  Rollers  (p.  793)  and  Kallege  Pheasants  (p.  476). 

^  The  only  notices  of  it  I  know  are  those  by  F.  Boie  {Ms,  1834,  pp.  386- 
396),  andj  Fries  {Arsberdttelse  om  nyare  zoologiska  Arbeten,  1834,  pp.  38-45),  the 
last  being  in  Swedish. 

^  He  also  has  some  remarks  shewing  that  the  usual  way  of  accounting  for  such 
variation  by  hybridity  is  untenable,  though  this  explanation  has  lately  been 
revived  in  England  by  some  writers,  who  substitute  "interbreeding"  for  hybridity, 
and  by  the  shallowness  of  their  argument  prove  their  small  capacity  for  reasoning 
on  the  subject  (c/.  suprA,  pp.  344,  345). 


ioo6  VARIA  TION 


viduals  from  the  soutli  of  Europe ;  the  peculiarities  of  Desert-forms 
had  been  dwelt  upon  by  Canon  Tristram  {suprk,  p.  336,  note) ;  and 
the  darkening  tendency  of  a  rainy  climate  observed  by  Mr.  Vernon- 
Harcourt  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1851,  p.  142)  and  Mr.  Godman  {supra, 
p.  338) ;  while  it  had  even  been  suggested  to  account  for  the 
similarity  between  British  and  Japanese  birds  in  much  the  same 
way  {Ibis,  1863,  p.  189). 

Other  and  still  more  important  modifications  are  connected  with 
insulation,  and  we  can  scarcely  doubt  are  brought  about  by  it. 
Many  instances  could  be  cited  of  Birds  in  distant  islands  shewing  a 
tendency  to  a  shortening  of  the  wing,  in  some  to  the  extent  of  its 
becoming  imfit  for  flight,  while  concomitantly  the  size  of  the  bill 
increases.  The  Dodo  may  be  adduced  as  the  extreme  case  of  this 
process,  and  it  would  seem  excusable,  as  indicating  the  initiation  of  such 
a  series  of  modifications  as  might  end  in  something  like  that  extinct 
form,  to  regard  the  Turtur  rostratus  peculiar  to  the  Seychelles,  but  difler- 
ing  as  yet  in  little  more  than  its  bigger  bill  and  somewhat  rounded 
wing  (nis,  1867,  p.  355)  from  the  more  widely-ranging  T.piduratus. 
Other  analogous  cases  could  be  advanced,  the  LophopsiUacus  of 
Mauritius  (p.  216),  the  NycUcorax  megacephalus  of  Kodriguez  (p.  420), 
the  Gallinula  nesiotis  of  Tristan  da  Cunha  (p.  590),  and  perhaps  the 
Nesonetta  of  the  Auckland  Islands,  which  appears  to  be  little  else 
than  a  brevipennate  form  of  the  Anas  chlorotis  of  New  Zealand  {cf. 
Salvadori,  Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xxvii.  p.  290).  This  branch  of  the  subject 
cannot  be  pursued  further  here ;  but  it  should  be  obvious  that  it 
gives  rise  to  problems  of  the  greatest  interest,  and  more  light  is 
likely  to  be  thrown  on  the  origin  and  cause  of  Variation  by  study- 
ing facts  of  this  kind  than  by  the  abstract  conjectures  in  which  so 
many  indulge. 

Remarkable  as  is  the  modification  of  colour  exhibited  by  Desert- 
forms,  or  by  those  which  inhabit  rainy  districts,  it  is  comparatively 
speaking  intelligible ;  but  so  much  cannot  be  said  for  the  Variation 
that  comes  under  the  title  of  Dimorphism  ^  (p.  149),  a  very  few 
cases  of  which  have  already  been  instanced.  Many  kinds  of  Owls  of 
diff"erent  groups  and  of  diff'erent  countries,  as  before  remarked  (p. 
675),  are  subject  to  this  curious  kind  of  variability,  which  shews 
itself  in  enduing  them  with  a  plumage  in  which  either  grey  or 
rufous  predominates  (p.  678) ;  but  strange  to  say  a  precisely  similar 
Variation  in  colour  is  found  to  obtain  among  certain  NIGHTJARS  (p. 
642).  It  is  impossible  to  suggest  any  way  of  accounting  for  this 
parallelism,  the  nocturnal  habits  of  the  majority  of  each  group  afford- 
ing the  only  similarity  between  them.  An  equally  extraordinary 
Dimorphism  is  now  known  to  occur  in  some  of  the  Herons  (p.  4 1 9), 

^  This  term  is  here  used  in  a  very  wide  sense,  and  in  the  cases  under  considera- 
tion "  Dichromatisni  "  would  be  more  precise. 


VARIATION  1007 


especially  in  certain  American  species,  where  part  will  be  arrayed  in 
snowy  white  and  part  are  deeply  coloui'ed — blue,  of  some  shade  or 
other,  or  reddish-brown  as  the  case  may  be.^  In  most  of  these 
examples  the  Variation  is  discontinuous,  for  it  rarely  happens  that 
intermediate  forms  are  foxmd  ;  and,  in  regard  to  these  Herons,  like 
the  Skuas  before  mentioned  (p.  870),  no  question  of  locality  has  to 
be  considered,  for  birds  of  opposite  colours  have  been  observed 
paired  and  breeding  together.  Variation  indeed  may  be  quite 
independent  of  locality,  as  shewn  by  the  remarkable  series  of  speci- 
mens of  Lagopus  scoticus  collected  almost  entirely  in  one  district  by 
Mr.  Buckley  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  pp.  112-116).  The  differences 
therein  observable  would  almost  entitle  the  Eed  Grouse  in  that  part, 
at  least,  of  Scotland  to  be  called  polymorphic,  and  yet  in  Ireland  its 
coloration  seems  to  be  monotonous  (p.  391,  note).^ 

In  regard  to  Colour  (p.  99)  Variation  of  a  stronger  kind  is 
shewn  by  abnormalities  which  are  collectively  spoken  of  as  examples 
of  Heterochrosis  (p.  420),  and  some  of  them  are  the  delight  of 
many  collectors.  The  most  common  are  those  that  tend  to  become 
Albinos  (p.  9),  which  occur  in  almost  every  group  of  birds,  and  occa- 
sionally take  permanent  form,  as  the  Australian  Astur  novse-hollandias 
(GrOSHAWK,  p.  377),  a  species  Avhich  may  be  properly  considered 
dimorphic,  and  the  extinct  Notm-nis  alba  (p.  592).  The  direct  cause  of 
Albinism  is  easily  found,  and  it  is  not  much  more  difficult  to  account 
for  many  cases  of  Melanism  (p.  542),^  but  that  of  Erythrism 
(p.   215)*  and  "  Xanthochroism  "  cannot  be  positively  assigned 

^  It  had  long  been  known  that  the  smaller  Blue  Heron  of  America,  Ardca 
(or  Florida)  cserulea,  like  the  widely-ranging  A.  sacra  of  Polynesia,  was  white  in 
its  young  state  and  adopted  its  deep  tints  as  it  grew  older  ;  and  it  began  to  be 
suspected  that  A.  (Deinifgretta)irii,fa  and  A.  pealii  might  be  subject  to  the  same 
change  of  colour,  when  in  1875  the  late  Dr.  Brewer  was  able  to  prove  that  the 
latter  was  but  a  white  phase  of  the  former,  and  three  years  later  Mr.  Ridgway 
{Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  &  Geogr.  Survey,  iv.  pp.  219-248)  shewed  the  same  relations 
to  exist  between  the  North-American  A.  wu'crdemanni  and  A.  oeddentalis. 
Other  writers  have  fully  accepted  this  view,  while  Dr.  Stejneger  even  suggests 
{Stand.  Nat.  Hist.  B.  p.  7)  the  existence  of  a  third  phase  in  what  has  been 
called  A.  wardi,  so  that  we  should  here  have  a  case  of  "trichromatism"  which 
would  be  very  interesting  if  proved. 

^  I  well  remember  observing  at  the  end  of  two  very  successful  days'  Partridge- 
shooting  in  Suffolk,  in  January  1859,  the  extraordinary  amount  of  Variation 
presented  by  the  contents  of  the  "  bag  " — approaching  500  in  number,  and  nearly 
all  examples  of  Ferdix  cinerea.  I  much  regret  that  circumstances  did  not  permit 
my  taking  note  of  the  details.  At  that  season  the  birds  had  assumed  their  full 
plumage. 

^  Melanism,  it  is  well  known,  can  be  induced  in  some  cage-birds  by  feeding  them 
with  hemp-seed.  Among  wild  birds  perhaps  the  best  known  case  is  that  of  the 
so-called  Sabine's  Snipe  (p.  884),  which  is  almost  peculiar  to  the  British  Islands 
and  has  been  oftener  obtained  in  Ireland  than  elsewhere. 

*  American  ornithologists  speak  of  the  "red"  form  of  Owls  (and  Nightjars) 


ioo8  VASCULAR  SYSTEM 

and   it   is    conceivable    that   tliey  may  be  induced  in  more  than 
one  way,^ 

VASCULAR  SYSTEM,  the  comprehensive  term  for  the  vessels 
conducting  the  blood  and  the  lymph,  and  composed  of  (A)  the 
Heart  (p.  413),  Arteries  (p.  22)  and  Veins,  and  (B)  the 
Lymphatic  Vessels.  The  walls  of  the  blood-vessels  have  three 
layers,  of  Avhich  the  outermost  consists  wholly  of  connective  tissue, 
the  middle  one  is  made  of  annular  unstriped  muscular  fibres,  inter- 
woven with  elastic  bands,  and  is  the  thickest,  while  the  inmost  is  a 
thin  endothelial  lining,  forming  the  valves  which  are  so  arranged 
as  to  hinder  the  reflux  of  the  blood.  In  considering  the  Vascular 
System  it  is  convenient  to  divide  it  as  follows  : — 

A.  Blood-System,  consisting  of — 

I.  The  Pulmonary  Circulation,  or  that  of  the  Lungs  (p.  522).  The 
right  and  left  pulmonary  Arteries  arise  with  a  short  common  stem, 
guarded  at  its  base  by  three  valves,  from  the  right  ventricle  of  the 
Heart,  and  each  accompanied  by  its  BRONCHUS  (p.  58)  enters  the 
Lung  of  its  own  side,  there  breaking  up  into  capillary  vessels,  which 
again  combine  and  convey  the  arterialized  blood  into  the  right  and 
left  pulmonary  veins  respectively.  These  ultimately,  as  the  vena 
pulmonalis  communis,  enter  the  left  atrium. 

II.  The  Systemic  Circulation,  or  that  of  the  body,  divisible  into 
Arterial  and  Venous. 

i.  Arterial.  The  left  ventricle  sends  all  its  blood  into  the 
truncus  amise,  the  base  of  which  is  guarded  by  3  valvule  semilunares. 
The  trunk  is  very  short,  sending  off  the  right  and  left  coronary 
arteries  to  nourish  the  heart  itself,  and  then  the  left  arteria  anonyma 
or  brachio-cephalica,  while  the  rest  of  it,  considerably  thicker,  divides 
into  the  right  a.  anonyma  and  the  arcus  ascendens  aortse.  The  latter, 
situated  between  the  trachea  and  the  right  lung,  runs  headward 
and  over  the  right  bronchus,  reaching  the  ventral  surface  of  the 

as  coming  under  this  term  or  "  Erythrocliroism  "  (Stejneger,  torn.  cit.  p.  8)  ;  but 
it  seems  to  me  due  to  a  cause  of  quite  another  kind  than  that  which  produces 
the  change  from  normal  yellow  or  orange,  let  alone  green,  to  some  shade  of 
scarlet,  and  should  therefore  bear  another  name.  Real  "  Erythrism  "  is  not 
common  in  species  of  the  Holarctic  Fauna.  The  Crossbill  (p.  114)  is  partly 
subject  to  it,  and  then  has  been  regarded  as  specifically  distinct  under  the  name 
of  Loxia  ruhrifasciata,  and  the  Green  Woodpecker,  Gecinus  viridis,  has  l)een 
known  to  exhibit  it  {Zool.  1853,  p.  3800  ;  1854,  p.  4250) ;  but  perhaps  the 
most  abnormal  case  on  record,  if  it  belong  to  this  category,  is  that  of  the 
pink-headed  Pastor  roscus  described  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Meyer  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1890, 
p.  590). 

^  For  its  bearings,  more  or  less  direct,  on  Variation  Mr.  Keeler's  Essay  on  the 
Evolution  of  the  Colors  of  North  American  Land  Birds  (published  as  No.  Ill,  of 
the  "  Occasional  Papers  of  the  Californian  Academy  of  Science."  San  Francisco  : 
1893)  should  also  be  consulted. 


VASCULAR  SYSTEM  1009 

vertebral  column  along  which  it  passes,  as  the  aorta  descendens,  to  the 
tail,  where  it  ends  as  arteria  coccygea. 

Each  brachio-cephalic  artery  divides  and  subdivides  thus — 
a.   Truncus  carotims,  further  separating  into 

a.  Arteria  vertebralis,  ascending  the   neck,   running  through 
the  transverse  foramina  of  the  cervical  vertebrae  (Skeleton, 
pp.    852,   853),   and  anastomosing  in  the  head  with  the 
cephalic  branches  of  the  Carotids  (p.  76) ; 
(S.  Arteria  carotis  communis,  subdivided  into  the  car.  externa 
or  facialis,  and  car.  interna  or  cerebralis  ; 
h.  The  Arteria  subclavia  also  separating  into 
a.  The  sterno-clavicular  and  thoracic  arteries  ; 
/3.  The  axillary  artery,  subdivided  into  the  scapular,  humeral 
and  brachial — the  last  being  composed  of  the  a.  ulnaris  and 
a.  radialis,  or  principal  arteries  of  the  forearm  and  manus. 
The  aorta  descendens  gives  off  in  succession — 
A  variable  number  of  small  vessels  to  the  CESOPHAGUS,  and  inter- 
costal vessels,  generally  in  pairs,  to  the  RIBS  and  their  muscles, 
as  well  as   the  strong  unpaired   cceliac   artery   for  the   STOMACH, 
SPLEEN,    LIVER    and    duodenum    (pp.     141,    142)    beside    an    a. 
mesenterica    superior,    also   unpaired,  sujiplying  most   of  the  small 
intestine.       To    them    follow   the    right    and  left  principal    renal 
arteries,  and  those  for  the  REPRODUCTIVE  ORGANS,  while  a  pair  of 
crural  arteries  each  penetrating  the  first  lobe  of  the  KIDNEY  and, 
after  sending  a  branch  (a.  pelvica)  in  the  pelvis  and  some  of  its 
viscera,  leaving  that  bone  in  front  of  the  ilio-pubic  spine,  are  con- 
tinued as  femoral  arteries,  running  along  the  crural  vein  on  the 
posterior    side    of  the   thigh   and   supplying   chiefly  the   extensor 
muscles.     Next  to  them  come  a  pair   of   ischiadic   arteries,   each 
running  ventrally  past  the  kidneys  and  sending  branches  into  their 
middle  and  lower  lobes,  as  well  as  to  part  of  the  oviduct,  after  which 
it  leaves  the  pelvis  together  with  the  ischiadic  nerve  through  the 
ischiadic  foramen  and  ultimately  descends  the  leg,  separating  into  the 
anterior  and  posterior  tibial  arteries.     Lastly  there  are  a  pair  of 
arterise  pudendse  commmies,  branches  of  which  supply  the  lateriventral 
muscles  of  the  tail,  the  CLOACA  and  copulatory  organs,  and  near  the 
place  where  this  pair  originate  arises  also  the  unpaired  a.  mesenterica 
inferim',  which  supplies  most  of  the  rectum,  part  of  the  CiECA  and  part 
of  the  cloacal  region — a  jjeculiar  branch,  the  a.  coccygo-mesenterica, 
being  directly  connected  with  a  branch  of  the  superior  mesenteric 
artery. 

ii.  Venous.  It  has  been  already  stated  (p.  414)  that  the  venous 
blood  is  collected  and  conveyed  to  the  right  atrium  of  the  heart  by 
3  great  trunks.     These  are  composed  as  follows  : — 

Each  vena  cava  superior  consists  of  (1)  a  vena  jugularis  which, 
running  subcutaneously  along  the  trachea  and  cesopliagus,  collects 

64 


Diagram  of  a  Bird's  Vascular  System.    Ventral  Aspect. 
The  two  halves  of  the  Heart  are  drawn  as  if  separate  to  shew  the  complete  double  circulation. 

L.A.  and  L.V.  Left  Atrium  aud  Ventricle  ;  K.A.  and  Il.V.  Right  Atrium  and  Ventricle. 
The  Arteries,   except  the   Pulmonary  (a.jnihn.)  which   is   dotted,    are  shaded  :—o(iu,    arcus 


VASCULAR  SYSTEM  ion 

the  blood  from  the  head  and  neck  ;  (2)  a  vena  vertebralis  which 
drains  the  brain,  anastomoses  by  numerous  and  wide  branches  with 
the  cephalic  portions  of  the  jugulars  and,  being  lodged  in  the  trans- 
verse foramina  of  the  cervical  vertebrae,  which  it  also  drains,  runs 
along  the  neck ;  and  (3)  a  vena  subdavia  which  receives  the  blood 
from  the  thorax,  beside  a  vena  humeralis,  v.  radialis  and  v.  ulnaris, 
combining  to  form  the  v.  brachialis,  and  this  again  unites  with  the 
subcutaneous  ulnar  vein  of  the  wing  as  the  v.  axillaris. 

The  vena  cava  inferior  receives  the  blood  from  all  the  rest  of  the 
body  with  its  viscera,  entering  the  heart  as  an  unpaired  trunk,  and 
close  to  it  receiving  the  pair  of  vv.  hepaticx  magnse  which  carry  the 
blood  from  the  liver,  while  the  rest  of  the  venous  trunk  is  known 
as  the  vena  cava  posterior,  and  is  formed  by  the  two  vv.  iliacge  com- 
munes, each  of  which  is  composed  of  a  v.  cruralis  or  iliaca  externa 
and  a  v.  hypogastrica  or  iliaca  interna.  The  former  of  these  carries 
the  blood  from  the  hind  limb  through  the  v.  tibialis  antica  and  v. 
tibialis  postica,  as  Avell  as  through  a  v.  femoralis,  while  it  also  receives 
an  epigastric  vein  from  the  walls  of  the  abdomen  and  its  AIR-SACS 
(p.  4).  Immediately  after  the  v.  iliac,  externa  has  entered  the  pelvis, 
near  the  pectineal  process  (pp.  861,  862)  it  is  joined  by  the  v. 
iliac,  interna,  which  drains  the  blood  from  the  tail,  vv.  coccygex,  from 
the  pelvis  and  most  of  the  viscera  therein  embedded,  including 
the  kidneys.  Much  of  the  venous  blood  is  however  conveyed 
directly  into  the  vense  iliacx  communes,  and  numerous  veins,  very 
variable,  send  blood  from  the  generative  glands,  from  the  suprarenal 
cajDsules  and  from  the  liver  into  the  v.  cava  posterior. 

The  Hepatic  Portal  System  remains  to  be  mentioned.  A  Bird's 
liver  receives  nearly  all  the  blood  from  the  stomach,  gut,  pancreas 
and  spleen,  as  well  as  from  the  liver  itself.  This  blood  enters  the 
right  hepatic  lobe  by  a  v,  portalis  dextra,  composed  of  the  mesenteric 
and  coccygeo-mesenteric  veins,  and  those  from  the  pancreas,  duo- 
denum, proventriculus  and  spleen ;  while  the  left  lobe  receives  the 
V.  portalis  sinistra  with  blood  from  the  stomach.  Having  entered 
the  liver,  both  portal  veins  break  up  into  innumerable  small  vessels 
which  combine  again  within  this  organ,  and  leave  it  as  the  vv. 
hepaticcC  magnse,  which,  as  stated  before,  join  the  v.  cava  posterior,  the 

ascendens  Aortse  ;  a.hrc.  Art.  brachialis  ;  a.desc.  Aorta  descendens  ;  A./.  Art.  femoralis  ;  A. sub. 
Art.  subclavia  ;  A.v.  Art.  vertebralis  ;  C.c.  Carotis  communis  ;  C.e.  Carot.  externa  ;  C.i.  Carot. 
interna;  cms.  Vena  coccygomesentrica  ;  cod.  Art.  coeliaca  ;  cr.  Vena  crui-alis ;  cut.ahd.  Vena 
cutanea  abdominalis  ;  cut.uln.  V.  cut.  ulnaris;  gast.  Art.  gastralis  ;  hp.  Art.  liepatica  ;  hyp. 
Ven.  liypogastrica ;  il.  Art.  iliaca  ;  il.ex.  Vena  iliaca  externa  ;  il.int.  V.  il.  interna  ;  isch.  Art. 
iscliiadica  ;  Jug.d.  V.  jugularis  dextra  ;  Jug.s.  V.  jug.  sinistra  ;  ms.i.  Art.  mesenterica  inferior; 
ms.s.  Art.  mesent.  superior  ;  r.  renal  arteries  and  veins ;  rad.  Art.  radialis  ;  Hb.a.  Art.  tibialis 
antica  ;  tib.p.  Art.  tib.  postica ;  thor.  Art.  thoracica  ;  Tr.aort.  truncus  Aortse ;  uln.  Art. 
ulnaris  ;  V.Br.  Vena  brachialis  ;  V.c.i.,  v.c.p.,  v.c.s.  Vena  cava  inferior,  posterior  and  sinistra  ; 
v.f.  Vena  femoralis;  V.H.  V.  hepatica  ;  v.il.c.  V.  iliaca  communis;  v.pulm.  V.  pulmonaria ; 
V.s^lb.  V.  subclavia  ;  V.v.  V.  vertebralis. 


IOI2 


VASCULAR  SYSTEM 


combined  trunk  being  then  known  as  the  v.  cava  inferior.  But  the 
left  V.  hepatica  magna  receives  also  the  v.  umbilicalis,  a  long  unpaired 
vein  arising  in  adult  birds  from  the  walls  of  the  abdomen  and  its 
air-sacs,  and  frequently  anastomosing  with  the  epigastric  veins.     Its 


United  ste^n  of  the 
vena  hepatica 
dextra  ai^d  sinistra 

V.  hep.  sin  istra 

■.Left  Liver  lobe 


Stem  runs  nearly  midway  along 
the  visceral  surface  of  the  abdo- 
minal wall,  passing  first  to  the 
right  of  the  stomach  and  then 
between  the  two  lobes  of  the 
liver,  finally  joining  the  left  hep- 
atic vein.  This  peculiar  vessel  is 
port,  the  remnant  of  one  which  jilayed 
an  important  part  in  the  embryo, 
for  it  originally  collected  all  the 
blood  of  the  yolk-sac  (p.  211) 
into  one  stem  Avhich  passed  along 
the  left  side  of  the  gut ;  and, 
after  receiving  the  mesenteric 
vein,  entered  the  right  auricle 
of  the  heart  as  the  v.  ornphalo- 
mesaraica.  This  stem,  however, 
soon  became  surrounded  by  the 
liver,  and  began  to  form  the 
Hepatic  Portal' System  by  partly 
breaking  up  into  capillaries,  while 
the  mesenteric  develoj^ed  more 
and  more,  until  the  primitive  ves- 
sel persists  only  as  the  umbilical 


Diagram  of  a  Bird's  Portal  Venolts 
System.    Ventral  Aspect. 


A^ein. 


Owing  to  the  numerous  anas- 
tomoses set  up  by  veins  on  the  confines  of  their  several  districts, 
some  of  these  connexions  are  erf  ten  used  by  the  blood  as  "  short 
cuts,"  and  then  become  wider  channels,  while  the  original  vessels 
suffer  atrophy,  so  that  quite  new  modifications  are  brought  about. 
Such  variations  are  so  common,  especially  in  the  cervical  and 
pelvic  regions,  that  they  deprive  the  Venous  System  of  much  of 
its  taxonomic  value.^ 

B.   Lymphatic  System. 

The  Lacteal  or  Absorbent  vessels  arise  in  the  villi  of  the 
intestine,  whence  they  convey  the  chyle  into  the  Lymphatics 
(p.  139),  together  with  the  white  blood  or  lymph  corpuscles 
(jD.  43),  which  are  produced  in  the  follicles  at  the  base  of  the  villi 

^  A  careful,  minute  and  amply  illustrated  description  of  the  venous  .system 
of  numerous  birds — "Systema  venosiim  Avium  cum  eo  Mammalium  et  inprimis 
Hominis  collatum"  —  was  published  by  Neugebauer  in  1844  {A'ov.  Act.  L.-C. 
Acad.  xxi.  pp.  517-698,  tabb.  xxxvi.-l.). 


VAS  DEFERENS— VIREO  1013 

(p.  139,  Fig.  1,  X.).  Lymphatics  and  lacteals  unite,  and  generally 
follow  the  course  of  the  bigger  arteries  and  veins,  often  surrounding 
them  with  anastomosing  network.  The  lymph  vessels  of  the  tail 
and  hinder  parts  of  the  body  enter  the  hypogastric  veins,  and  at 
the  point  of  junction  a  small  contractile  "lymph-heart"  is  regularly 
developed  in  the  embryo  and  persists  in  many  forms  until  maturity. 
The  lymphatic  vessels  of  the  trunk  and  intestines  chiefly  accompany 
tlie  aorta  descendeiis  and  the  mesenteric  and  coeliac  arteries,  finally 
opening  into  the  two  superior  venfB  cavx,  as  also  do  the  branches  of 
the  lymphatic  stems  that  come  down  from  the  head  and  neck,  accom- 
panying the  jugular  veins  into  which  they  partly  enter. 

VAS  DEFERENS,  see  Eeproductive  Organs  (p.  784  and  fig. 
p.  782). 

VEERY,  a  name  in  North  America  (Nuttall,  Man.  Orn.  i. 
p.  349)  for  what  is  otherwise  known  as  Wilson's  Thrush,  Turdus 
fuscescens. 

VEIN  (adj.  venous).  Veins  are  the  vessels  through  which 
the  blood  flows  into  the  heart,  no  matter  if  this  blood  be  venous, 
or  arterial  like  that  which  returns  purified  from  the  lungs  through 
the  pulmonary  veins.  The  walls  of  the  veins  are  thinner  than 
those  of  the  arteries,  and,  especially  toward  the  extremities, 
contain  numerous  valves  to  hinder  the  reflux  of  the  blood. 
Similar  veins  guard  the  entrance  to  the  heart,  but  there  are  none  in 
the  jugular,  trunk  and  cutaneous  veins  (see  p.  1008). 

VERTEBR.^,  see  Skeleton  (p.  848). 

VIREO,  the  name  of  a  genus  proposed  by  Vieillot  in  1807,  and 
long  since  used  as  English,  for  some  North-American  birds,  sometimes 
called  Greenlets.  With  some  allied  genera  they  seem  to  form 
a  small  liut  recognizal)le  Family,  very  character- 
istic of  the  "  Columbian "  Fauna.  They  are 
mostly  inconspicuous  in  their  olive-green  plumage, 
Init  like  the  Alaudidx  (Lark)  are  instructive  to 
the  taxonomer,  teaching  him  not  to  depend  on  Vieeosylvia. 

the  number  of  primary  quills,  and  also  shewing  ^^   wamson.) 

a  considerable  amount  of  diff'erentiation  of  form  within  certain 
limits,  though  some  of  the  species  are  not  easily  distinguished. 
By  most  systematists  they  are  supposed  to  be  allied  to  the  Laniidm 
(Shrike),  and  by  some  are  even  included  in  that  Family,  but 
on  grounds  that  are  at  least  debatable.  Baird  in  1866  {Bev.  Am. 
B.  pp.  321-400)  insisted  forcibly  on  the  distinctness  of  the  Vireo- 
nidai,  to  Avhich  he  assigned '7  geuei-a  and  some  subgenei-a,  being 
therein  followed  in  1873  by  Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin  {Nomend. 
Av.  pp.    11-13);    but   Sundevall   in   1872   {Teniamen,   p.    13)   had 


IOI4  VISCHFANGER— VOMER 

assigned  another  place  to  two  of  them,  Hylophilus  and  Cydorhis, 
so  that  the  position  of  Vireosylvia,  Vireo,  Neochloe,  Laletes  and 
Vireolanius  only  can  be  regarded  as  undisjjuted;  and  it  is  in  the 
first  of  these  that  the  tenth  (usually  numljered  the  first)  primary  is 
always  small  and  frequently  wanting/  the  type  species,  commonly 
called  V.  olivacea,^  being,  it  is  said,  variable  in  this  respect  (Ridgway, 
Man.  N.  Am.  B.  p.  469,  note).  This  bird,  the  Red-eyed  Fly- 
catcher of  many  writers,  is  a  well-known  summer -immigrant  to 
eastern  North  America  which  has  even  reached  Greenland,  and  has 
been  recorded  as  accidentally  occurring  in  England  (E.  Brown,  in 
Mosley's  Nat.  Hist.  Tuthury,  p.  385,  pi.  vi.).  The  type  of  Vireo,  in 
which  the  wing  has  1 0  undoubted  primaries,  is  the  White-eyed  Fly- 
catcher of  many  writers,  V.  noveboracensis,  also  a  native  of  North 
America,  but  ha-\dng  a  more  southerly  range,  and  being  abundant 
all  the  year  round  in  Bermuda.  Of  these  two  genera,  1 7  species  or 
races  were  recognized  as  found  in  the  territory  of  the  United  States 
by  Prof.  Coues  in  1884,  and  21  by  Mr.  Ridgway  in  1887.  All  seem 
to  have  much  the  same  habits,  among  which  must  be  mentioned  the 
utterance  of  loud  and  melodious  notes,-  in  some  cases  sufiiciently 
connected  to  form  a  real  song,  and  the  peculiar  structure  of  their 
nests,  which  are  built  in  the  fork  of  a  horizontal  branch,  between 
the  prongs  of  which  the  beautifully- woven  fabric  is  suspended,  just 
as  among  the  Oriolidse,  and  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  eggs  are 
very  similar  in  coloration  and  markings  to  those  of  the  true 
Orioles.  Of  the  rest,  Neochloe,  if  that  really  belongs  here,  is 
Mexican,  and  Laletes  peculiar  to  Jamaica,  each  of  them  having  but 
a  single  species,  while  of  Vireolanim  there  are  foui-  ranging  from 
Mexico  southAvard  to  Ecuador  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Miis.  viii.  pp.  292-.316). 

VISCHFANGER  (Fish-catcher),  the  Dutch  name  used  in  the 
Cape  Colony  for  Haliaetus  vocifer  (Layard,  B.  S.  Afr.  p.  17),  an 
Eagle  (p.  176).  •         "^ 

VOCAL  ORGANS,  see  Larynx  and  Trachea. 

VOLUCRES,  Bonaparte's  name  in  1850  (Comp.  Av.  i.  p.  57) 
for  the  first  of  the  two  "  Tribus  "  into  which  he  divided  the  Order 
Passeres,  the  second  being  Oscines,  maldng  the  former  to  include 
all  the  Picarise  of  this  work  as  well  as  the  Tracheophon^. 

VOMER,  a  median  bone  of  the  SKULL  (p.  871),  so  called  from 
its  general  resemblance  to  a  ploughshare  in  shape,  though  varying 
much  in  that  respect,  as  well  as  in  comparative  size  and  its  con- 
nexion Avith  other  bones,  so  as  to  be  of  considerable  taxonomic 
value. 

1  On  this  Baird's  note  (o;;.  cU.  p.  325)  is  impoytant,  shewing  a  great  advance 
on  the  statements  of  other  taxonomers. 

-  Whether  it  should  bear  this  name  is  questionable. 


VULTURE 


1015 


VULTUEE,  the  name  of  birds  whose  best-known  characteristic 
is  that  of  feeding  upon  carcases,  and,  owing  to  this  obscene  habit, 
are  regarded  with  favour"  as  useful  scavengers  in  many  hot  countries. 
The  genus  Vidtur,  as  instituted  by  Linmeus,  is  now  restricted  by 
ornithologists  to  a  single  species,  V.  monachus,  of  which  more 
presently,  the  other  species  included  therein  by  him,  or  thereto 
referred  by  succeeding  systematists,  being  elsewhere  relegated ; 
but  the  most  important  taxonomic  change  that  has  been  introduced 
is  that  by  Prof.   Huxley  {Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  pp.  462-464),  who 


KiNCi-VuLTURE  {Gypagus  pccpa). 

pointed  out  the  complete  structural  difference  l)etween  the  Viiltiures 
of  the  New  World  and  those  of  the  Old,^  regarding  the  former 
as  constituting  a  distinct  Family,  Catluirtidx  (more  properly 
named  Sarcorhamphidx),  while  he  united  the  latter  with  the  ordinary 
diurnal  Birds-of-Prey  as  Gi/paetidiV  (Lammergeyer,  p.  501,  note). 
This  arrangement  overlooks  the  signification  of  some  considerable 
distinctions,  and  it  would  appear  more  reasonable  to  recognize  the 
existence  of  a  Family  Vidturidai,  confined  to  the  true  Vultures  of 

'  This  separation  had  already  been  made  by  Brandt  {Journ.  fur  Orn.  1853, 
p.  181),  but  he  contented  himself  with  dividing  the  Vultures  into  two  subfamilies, 
Teninorhines  or  Sarcorhamphinse  and  Holorhines  or  VioUurinsz. 


IOI6  VULTURE 

the  Ancient  Continent,  equal  in  rank  to  tlie  Falconidse,  while  fully 
admitting  the  claim  made  on  behalf  of  the  New-World  forms  for 
the  same  standing. 

I,  The  American  Vultures  includefive  genera: — (1)  Sarcorhamphus, 
the  gigantic  Condor  (p.  101),  the  male  distinguished  by  a  large 
fleshy  comb  and  wattles ;  (2)  Gypagus,  the  King -Vulture,  with  its 
gaudily-coloured  head  and  nasal  caruncle ;  (3)  Catharista,  generally 
known  as  the  Black  Vulture  or  "  Carrion  CroAv,"  C.  atrafa,  of  the 
warmer  parts  of  America ;  (4)  Cathartes,  containing  the  so-called 
John  Crow  (p.  470),  or  Turkey -Buzzard  of  English-speaking 
Americans,  with  its  allies  ;  ^  and  (5)  Pscudogryphus,  the  great  Cali- 
fornian  Vulture — of  very  limited  range  on  the  western  slopes  of 
North  America  and,  through  the  use  of  poison,  threatened  with 
speedy  extinction.  Though  all  these  birds  are  structurally  so 
different  from  the  true  Vultures  of  the  Old  World,  in  habits  the 
Vulturidse  and  Sarcorhamphidx  are  much  alike,  and  of  several  of  the 
latter — particularly  of  the  Condor  and  the  Turkey -Buzzard — 
we  possess  elaborate  accounts  by  excellent  observers,  as  Darwin, 
Alexander  Wilson  and  Gosse — Avhose  works  are  readily  accessible. 

II.  The  true  Vultures  of  the  Old  World,  Vulturidse  in  the 
restricted  sense,  are  generally  divided  into  five  or  six  genera,  of 
which  Neophron  (p.  621)  has  been  not  tuijustifiably  separated  as 
forming  a  distinct  subfamily,  Neoplironinx, — its  members,  of  com- 
paratively small  size,  differing  both  in  structiu-e  and  habit  consider- 
ably from  the  rest.  One  of  them  is  the  so-called  Egyptian  Vulture 
or  Pharaoh's  Hen,  N.  percnopterus,  a  bird  whose  delicacy  of  build  and 
appearance  contrasts  forcibly  with  its  choice  of  the  most  filthy  food. 
It  is  a  well-known  species  in  some  parts  of  India,  ^  and  thence  west- 
ward to  Africa,  where  it  has  an  extensive  range.  It  also  occurs  on 
the  northern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  on  three  occasions 
has  strayed  to  such  a  distance  from  its  usual  haunts  as  to  have 
twice  suffered  capture  in  England,  and  once  even  in  Norway.  Of 
the  genera  composing  the  other  subfamily,  Vulturinx,  space  is  want- 
ing to  say  much.  Gyps  numbers  seven  or  eight  local  species  and 
races,  on  more  than  one  of  which  the  English  name  Griffon  (p. 
385)  has  been  fastened.  The  best  loiown  is  G.  fulvus,  which  by 
some  authors  is  accounted  "British,"  from  an  example  having  been 
taken  in  Ireland,  though  in  circumstances  which  suggest  its  appear- 
ance so  far  from  its  nearest  home  in  Spain  to  be  due  to  man's 
intervention.  The  species,  however,  has  a  wider  distribution  on 
the  European  continent  (especially  towards  the  north-east)  than  the 

^  The  birds  of  these  two  genera  are  easily  to  be  distinguished  on  the  wing 
at  a  considerable  distance  {cf.  Coues,  B.  North  West,  pp.  381,  382). 

-  In  the  eastern  part  of  the  Indian  peninsula  it  is  replaced  by  a  smaller  race 
or  (according  to  sonae  authorities)  species,  N.  gingianus,  which  has  a  yellow 
instead  of  a  black  bill. 


WAGELL  1017 

Egyptian  Vulture,  and  in  Africa  nearly  reaches  tlie  Equator,  extend- 
ing also  in  Asia  to  the  Himalayas ;  but  both  in  the  Ethiopian  and 
Indian  Regions  its  range  inosculates  with  that  of  several  allied  forms 
or  species.  Psexidogijps  with  two  forms  —  one  Indian,  the  other 
African — differs  from  Gyps  by  having  twelve  instead  of  fourteen 
rectrices.  Of  the  genera  Otogyps  and  Lophogyps  nothing  here  need 
be  said;  and  then  we  have  Vultur,  with,  as  mentioned  before,  its 
sole  representative,  V.  monachus,  commonly  known  as  the  Cinereous 
Vulture,  a  bird  which  is  found  from  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  to  the 
sea-coast  of  China.^  Almost  all  these  birds  inhabit  rocky  cliffs,  on 
the  ledges  of  which  they  build  their  nests.^ 


W 

WAGELL,^  the  Cornish  name  of  a  bird  of  which  Eay  and  Wil- 
lughby  were  told,  30th  June  1662,  on  Godreve  Island  near  St.  Ives 
in  Cornwall  (Memorials  of  Eay,  ed.  Lankester,  p.  188,  and  Ray, 
Collection  of  Words,  p.  93).  From  what  is  said  of  it  the  Arctic 
Gull  (Skua,  p.  870)  seems  to  have  been  meant,  but  they  took  it 
to  be  the  young  of  what  we  now  know  as  Larus  marinus,  and  so  the 
name  has  been  attached  to  that  species  by  subsequent  writers.* 

^  The  geographical  range  of  the  vaidoiis  species  of  Vultures  has  been  treated 
by  Dr.  Sharpe  {Journ.  Linn.  Soc.  Zool.  xiii.  pp.  ]-26,  j^ls.  i.-ix.). 

^  The  question  whether  Vultures  in  their  search  for  food  are  guided  by  sight 
of  the  object  or  by  its  scent  has  long  excited  interest.  Without  denying  to  them 
the  olfactory  faculty,  it  is  now  generally  admitted,  notwithstanding  the  assertions 
to  the  contrary  of  Waterton  and  a  few  more,  that  the  former  is  in  almost  every 
case  sufficient  to  account  for  the  observed  facts.  It  is  known  that  directly  a 
camel  drojDS  dead,  as  the  caravan  to  which  it  belonged  is  making  its  way  across 
the  desert,  Vultures  of  one  sort  or  another  appear,  often  in  considerable  numbers, 
though  none  had  before  been  observed  by  the  traveller,  and  speedily  devour  the 
carcase  over  which  they  are  gathered  together.  The  mode  in  which  communica- 
tion is  effected  between  the  birds,  which  are  soaring  at  an  immense  height,  seems 
at  first  inexplicable,  but  Canon  Tristram  suggested  {Ihis,  1859,  p.  280)  a  simple 
solution  of  the  supposed  mystery: — "The  Griffon  who  first  descries  his  quarry 
descends  from  liiB  elevation  at  once.  Another,  sweeping  the  horizon  at  a  still 
greater  distance,  observes  his  neighbour's  movements  and  follows  liis  course.  A 
third,  still  further  removed,  follows  the  flight  of  the  second  ;  he  is  traced  by 
another ;  and  so  a  perpetual  succession  is  kept  up  so  long  as  a  morsel  of  flesh 
remains  over  which  to  consort." 

^  The  derivation  and  pronunciation  of  this  word  are  unknown  to  me.  It  is 
spelt  indifferently  by  Eay  with  one  I  or  two.  I  preserve  the  latter  form  as  pos- 
sibly indicating  a  stress  to  be  laid  on  the  last  syllable. 

*  See  Additions  to  Borlase's  Natural  History  (reprinted  from  Journ.  R.  Inst. 
Cornwall,  Oct.  1865),  Truro:  1865,  p.  46. 


ioi8  WAGTAIL 


WAGTAIL  {JFagsterd  and  TFagshjri,  15th  cent,  fide  Th.  Wright, 
Vol.  Vocahul.  ii.  pp.  221,  253;  Uuagtale,  Turner,  1544,  p.  53),  the 
little  bird  that  delights  us  equally  by  its  neat  coloration,  its  slender 
form,  its  nimble  actions  and  its  sprightly  notes.^  Since  it  is  so 
generally  dispersed,  especially  in  summer,  throughout  the  British 
Islands,  it  needs  no  further  description. 

The  Pied  Wagtail  of  authors,  it  is  the  Motacilla^  luguhris  of 
modern  ornithology,  or  M.  yarrelli  of  some  writers,  and  has  for  its 
very  near  ally — if  indeed  it  be  not  merely  a  local  race  of — the  M. 
alba  of  Linnaeus,  which  has  a  ■wide  range  in  Europe,  Asia,  and 
Africa,  visiting  England  almost  yearly,  and  chiefly  differing  from 
the  ordinary  British  form  in  its  lighter-coloured  tints, — the  cock 
especially  having  a  clear  grey  instead  of  a  black  back.  Eleven 
other  more  or  less  nearly-allied  species  are  recognized  by  Dr.  Sharpe 
(Cat.  B.  Brit  Mus.  x.  pp.  456-496),  who  has  laboriously  treated  the 
complicated  synonymy  of  this  group  of  birds.  Eight  of  them  are 
natives  of  Asia,  several  wintering  in  India,  and  one,  M.  ocularis, 
even  reaching  Alaska,  while  the  rest  are  confined  to  Africa.  No 
colours  but  black,  grey  or  white  enter  into  the  plumage  of  any  ot 
the  foregoing  ;  but  in  the  species  peculiar  to  Madagascar,  M.  fla.vi- 
ventris,  as  well  as  in  that  which  it  much  resembles,  the  so-called 
Grey  Wagtail  of  Britain,  71/.  melano2)e  (M.  boarula  or  sulphurea  of 
some  authors),  a  great  part  of  the  lower  surface  is  yellow.  This  is 
one  of  the  most  graceful  of  birds,  and  though  having  a  very  wide 
range  in  the  world  at  large  is  curiously  local  in  its  distribution  in 
Britain,  being  almost  wholly  confined  in  the  breeding-season  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  rocky  streams  in  the  west  and  north,  and  a  line 
drawn  from  the  Start  Point,  slightly  curving  to  include  the  Derby- 
shire hills,  and  ending  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tees,  will,  it  is  believed, 
mark  off"  its  breeding-range  in  England.  Then  there  is  a  section 
which  by  some  systematists  has  been  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  genus, 
Budytes,  containing  the  Wagtails"  in  which  yellow  takes  a  still  more 
prominent  part  in  their  coloration.  Of  these,  8  species,  besides 
several  subspecies,  are  recognized  by  Dr.  Sharpe  {ut  supra,  pp.  503- 
532).     One  of  these  is  the  common  Yellow  Wagtail  of  England, 

^  It  is  the  Dishwasher  of  some  parts  of  England,  in  others  it  has  the  endear- 
ing nickname  of  Molly  or  Polly  Washdish,  with  which  may  be  compared  the  Ice- 
landic Mariu-erla,  and  of  course  the  French  Lavandiere  and  Batte-lessive. 

2  The  genus  Motacilla  (an  exact  rendering  of  the  English  "Wagtail,"  the 
Dutch  Kwikstaart,  the  Italian  Codatremola  and  other  similar  words),  which,  as 
originally  founded  by  Linnajus,  contained  nearly  all  the  "soft-billed"  birds  of 
early  English  ornithologists,  was  restricted  by  various  authors  in  succession,  fol- 
lowing the  example  set  by  Scopoli  in  1769,  until  none  but  the  Wagtails  remained 
in  it.  Most  of  the  rest  are  now  commonly  classed  as  Sylviidae  (Warbler),  while 
the  Wagtails  with  the  Pipits,  and  possibly  some  others,  constitute  the  Family 
MotacillidsB. 


WALL-BIRD— WARBLER  1019 

M.  rail  (by  some  mistakenly  called  M.  cavipestris),  which,  though 
very  generally  distributed  throughout  the  country,  is  much  less 
numerous  than  the  Pied  Wagtail,  and  more  addicted  to  wet 
meadows ;  but,  just  as  M.  lugubris  is  regarded  by  some  as  a  local 
form  of  the  more  widely-ranging  31.  alba,  so  does  31.  rail  hold  the 
same  relation  to  31.  flava,  the  Blue-headed  Wagtail,  which  has  a 
very  extensive  distribution  in  the  Old  World,  and  even  crosses  the 
Pacific  to  Alaska,  presenting  also  a  great  number  of  varieties  or 
races  (most  of  them  treated  by  Dr.  Sharpe  as  real  species)  differing 
from  each  other  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  in  the  colour  of  the  head,  a 
character  which  in  this  section  can  hardly  be  deemed  specific,  while 
their  geographical  range  intersects  and  inosculates  in  a  most 
puzzling  manner.  Credit  is  due  to  the  author  just  named  for  the 
enormous  trouble  he  has  taken,  after  study  of  a  vast  series  of  speci- 
mens, to  clear  up  the  questions  herein  involved  ;  but  it  will  probaljly 
be  long  before  ornithologists  can  agree  on  many  of  the  disputed 
points,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  last  word  has  by  no  means  been 
spoken  concerning  them. 

WALL-BIRD,  a  common  local  name  of  the  Spotted  Flycatcher 
(p.  274) ;  WALL-CREEPER  see  under  Tree-Creeper  (p.  986). 

WARBLER,  the  name  bestowed  in  1773  by  Pennant  (Gen.  Birds, 
p.  35)  on  the  birds  removed,  in  1769,  by  Scopoli  from  the  Linnsean 
genus  3fotaciUa  (Wagtail)  to  one  founded  and  called  by  him  Sylvia, 
— the  last  being  a  word  employed  by  several  of  the  older  writers  in 
an  indefinite  way, — that  is  to  say,  on  all  the  species  of  3-IotaciUa 
which  Avere  not  Wagtails.  "  Warbler  "  has  long  been  used  by  Eng- 
lish technical  writers  as  the  equivalent  of  Sylvia,  and  consequently 
generally  applied  to  all  members  of  the  Family  Si/lviidx  thereon 
raised,  which  has  since  been  so  much  subdivided  as  to  include  a  vast 
number  of  genera,  while  species  almost  innumerable  have  from  time 
to  time  been  referred  to  it. 

Until  recently  ornithologists  had  come  to  agree  pretty  well  as  to 
which  forms  should  be  considered  to  belong  to  the  Family  Sylviidds, 
— the  "  American  Warblers "  {Mniotiltidm),  to  be  presently  con- 
sidered, being  therefrom  segregated  ;  but  some  writers,  seeing  the 
difficulty  of  separating  the  remainder  from  the  Turdidse  (Thrush), 
tried  to  get  over  it  by  proposing  to  erect  an  intermediate  Family 
for  the  Wheatear  and  some  similar  forms,  under  the  name  Saxi- 
colidse.^     But  the  affinity,  seeming  or  real,  to  the  Tmdidse  does  not 

^  In  truth  the  difficulty  was  thereby  doubled,  for,  if  it  was  before  hard  to  dia- 
tinguisli  between  Sylviidee  and  Turdidai,  it  has  since  become  harder  to  dis- 
tinguish on  the  one  hand  between  Sylviidse  and  Saxicolidm,  and  on  the  other 
between  Saxicolidaz  and  Turdidas.  The  confusion  thus  caused  is  chiefly  due  to 
the  adoption  in  a  more  or  less  modified  form  of  the  views  put  forth  by  Sundevall 
in  187^,  and  revised  by  him  in  1874  (c/.  Introduction).     For  him,  however,  it  is 


I020  WARBLER 


offer  the  only  difficulty.  The  resemblance  shewn  by  some  other 
forms,  such  as  Timelia  (p.  962)  and  its  allies,  often  placed  with  the 
Syhiidse,  is  equally  if  not  more  puzzling.  Again,  a  small  group  of 
birds,  almost  wholly  peculiar  to  the  Australian  Fauna,  have  been 
sometimes  separated  as  Mahiridse,  and  of  these  more  must  be  said 
presently.  Lastly,  there  are  certain  genera  that,  though  formerly 
included  without  hesitation  among  the  Sylviidx,  have  lately  been 
designated  "Fly-catchers,"  on  grounds,  however,  that  have  not 
been  explained  :  but  to  deal  with  this  theme  in  satisfactory  detail 
would  require  far  more  space  than  can  here  be  allowed,  for  the 
failures  of  later  systematists  would  have  to  be  shewn  by  a  series  of 
minute  criticisms. 

I.  All  things  considered,  it  would  seem  best  at  present  to  regard 
the  "Warblers" — without  pledging  our  faith  to  the  recognition 
of  a  "Family"  Sylviidse — from  the  point  of  view  which  obtained 
before  the  more  recent  and  perplexing  (because  ill-defined)  opinions 
were  introduced.  Such  an  aspect  is  afforded  by  the  scheme 
furnished  by  Canon  Tristram  to  Mr.  Wallace  {Geogr.  Distr.  Anim.  ii. 
pp.  257-260) ;  but  these  limits  will  only  permit  us  to  touch  upon  a 
few  of  the  most  prominent  members  in  addition  to  those  Avhich 
have  been  or  will  be  the  subject  of  separate  articles.  In  this  sense 
then  the  first  "  Warblers  "  that  may  be  mentioned  are  those  forming 
a  group  of  more  or  less  aquatic  habit,  often  called  Calamoherpinds,  but 
more  correctly  Acrocephalinse,  the  commonest  of  which  in  England 
is  the  well-known  Sedge -BIRD  or  Sedge -Warbler,  Acrocephalus 
schcenohgenus,  whose  chattering  song  resounds  in  summer-time  from 
almost  every  wet  ditch  in  most  parts  of  Britain.  As  is  the  case 
with  so  many  of  its  allies,  the  skulking  habits  of  the  bird  cause  it 
to  be  far  more  often  heard  than  seen ;  but,  with  a  little  patience,  it 
may  be  generally  observed  flitting  about  the  uppermost  twigs  of 
the  bushes  it  frequents,  and  its  mottled  back  and  the  yellowish- 
white  streak  over  its  eye  serve  lo  distinguish  it  from  its  ally  the 
Eeed-Wren  or  Reed- Warbler,  A.  streperus,  which  is  clad  in  a 
wholly  moiise-coloured  suit.     But  this  last  can  also  be  recognized 

to  be  said  that  he  at  least  proceeded  in  a  fashion  that  had  long  been  recognized, 
and  gave  reasons,  whether  good  or  bad,  for  the  system  he  propounded  ;  but  liis 
imitators  have  omitted  so  obvious  a  requirement,  and  leave  to  any  one  who  v\ould 
use  their  results  the  task  of  discovering  how  they  have  been  reached.  Hence  it 
has  been  suggested  that  some  of  the  alterations  introduced  since  Sundevall's  time 
are  purely  arbitrary,  if  indeed  they  do  not  proceed  from  considerations  of  per- 
sonal convenience,  or  occasionally  even  through  mischance.  Still  the  greatest 
allowance  must  be  made  for  those  who  attempt  to  reduce  to  order  such  a  multi- 
tudinous assemblage  of  forms — forms  which  present  an  almost  endless  variety  of 
small  differentiating  characters,  pointing  in  numerous  directions — while  tlie 
essential  structure  of  all  is  apparently  so  similar  that  at  present  there  is  liardly 
hope  of  assistance  from  the  anatomist  or  the  morphologist. 


WARBLER  1 02 1 


by  its  different  song,  and  comparatively  seldom  does  it  stray  from 
the  reed-beds  which  are  its  favourite  haunts.  In  them  usually  it 
builds  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  nests,  made  of  the  seed-branches 
of  the  reed  and  long  grass,  wound  horizontally  round  and  round  so 
as  to  include  in  its  substance  the  living  stems  of  three  or  four  reeds, 
between  which  it  is  suspended  at  a  convenient  height  above  the 
water,  and  the  structure  is  so  deep  that  the  eggs  do  not  roll  out 
when  its  props  are  shaken  by  the  wind.^  Of  very  similar  habits  is 
the  Eeed-Thrush  or  great  Reed-Warbler,  A.  arundinaceus,  a  loud- 
voiced  species,  abundant  on  the  Continent  but  very  rarely  straying 
to  England.  Much  interest  also  attaches  to  the  species  known  in 
books  as  Savi's  Warbler,  Potamodus  luscinioides,  which  was  only 
recognized  as  a  constant  inhabitant  of  the  Fen-district  of  England 
a  few  years  before  its  haunts  were  destroyed  by  drainage.  No 
example  seems  to  have  been  obtained  in  this  country  since  1856. 
Its  nest  is  peculiar,  placed  on  the  ground  and  formed  of  the  blades 
of  Glyceria  so  skilfully  entwined  as  to  be  a  very  permanent  struc- 
ture, and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  its  nests  were  well  known  to  the 
sedge-cutters  of  the  district  which  it  most  frequented,  as  those  of  a 
bird  with  which  they  were  unacquainted,  long  before  the  builder 
was  recognized  by  naturalists.^  In  coloration  the  bird  somewhat 
resembles  a  Nightingale  (whence  its  specific  name),  and  its  song 
differs  from  that  of  any  of  those  before  mentioned,  being  a  long 
smooth  trill,  pitched  higher  but  possessing  more  tone  than  that  of  the 
Grasshopper- Warbler,  Locustella  na3via,  which  is  a  widely-distributed 
species  throughout  the  British  Isles,  not  only  limited  to  marshy 
sites,  but  affecting  also  dry  soils,  inhabiting  indifferently  many 
kinds  of  places  where  there  is  tangled  and  thick  herbage,  heather 
or  brushwood.^  The  precise  determination  of  this  bird — the  Grass- 
hopper-Lark, as  it  was  long  called  in  books,  though  its  notes  if  once 
heard  can  never  be  mistaken  for  those  of  a  grasshopper  or  cricket, 
and  it  has  no  affinity  to  the  Larks — as  an  English  species  is  due  to 
the  discernment  of  Gilbert  White  in  1768.  In  its  habits  it  is  one 
of  the  most  retiring  of  birds,  keeping  in  the  closest  shelter,  so  that 
it  may  be  within  a  very  short  distance. of  an  eager  naturalist  without 
his  being  able  to  see  it, — the  olive-colour,  streaked  with  dark  brown, 
of  its  upper  plumage  helping  to  make  it  invisible.  The  nest  is 
very  artfully   concealed    in    the    thickest   herbage.       The   foreign 

^  Of  late  years  the  nearly-allied  Marsh-Warbler,  A.  palustris,  is  said  to 
have  been  recognized  in  several  parts  of  England,  but  I  have  not  seen  a  specimen 
obtained  in  this  country  or  had  the  good  fortune  knowingly  to  hear  its  song,  which 
all  agree  in  saying  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  Reed-Wren. 

-  See  Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,  i.  pp.  389-397,  where  the  history  of  the  species 
was  first  told. 

^  In  those  parts  of  England  where  each  of  the  two  species  last  mentioned  was 
formerly  most  abundant  it  was  known  as  the  Reel-bird  or  Eeeler  (p.  779). 


I022  WARBLER 


forms  of  Aquatic  Warblers  are  far  too  numerous  to  be  here 
mentioned. 

It  seems  expedient  to  recognize  a  subfamily  Drymcecinse,  which 
may  include  some  15  genera  and  nearly  200  species ;  but  about  its 
composition  and  limits  much  doubt  cannot  fail  to  be  entertained. 
If  its  existence  be  acknowledged,  the  remarkable  genera  Orthotomus 
(Tailor-bird)  and  CisUcola  (Fantail)  may  be  fairly  admitted  as 
belonging  to  it;  but  of  them  enough  has  been  said  (pp.  238,  942) 
and  it  is  obviously  impossible  to  dwell  here  on  the  rest. 

In  the  group  Dryrncecinm  is  placed  by  some  authors  the  Australian 
genus  Malurus,  to  which  belong  the  birds  aptly  named  as  "  Superb 
Warblers,"  since  in  beauty  they  surpass  any  othei-s  of  their 
presumed  alUes.  Part  of  the  plumage  of  the  cocks  in  breeding- 
dress  is  generally  some  shade  of  intense  blue,  and  so  glossy  as  to 
resemble  enamel,  Avhile  black,  white,  chestnut  or  scarlet,  as  well  as 
green  and  lilac,  are  also  present  in  one  species  or  another,  so  as  to 
heighten  the  effect.  But,  as  already  stated,  there  are  systematists  who 
would  raise  this  genus,  which  contains  some  15  species,  to  the  rank 
of  a  distinct  Family,  though  on  what  grounds  it  is  as  yet  hard  to  say. 

Of  the  other  subfamilies,  Saxicolina},  Sylviinx  and  Phylloscopinse 
will  be  conveniently  treated  under  Wheatear,  Whitethroat  and 
Willow- Wren,  while  the  Rutidllinse  have  been  already  mentioned 
under  Nightingale,  Eedbreast  and  Eedstart,  and  the  Accen- 
torinm  under  Hedge-Sparrow  (p.  895).^ 

II.  The  birds  known  as  "  Ajvierican  Warblers,"  forming  what 
has  now  been  long  recognized  as  a  distinct  Family,  ^  Mniotiltidx, 
remain  for  consideration.  They  possess  but  nine  instead  of  ten 
primaries,  and  are  peculiar  to  the  New  World.  More  than  130 
species  have  been  described,  and  these  have  been  grouped  in  20 
genera  or  more,  of  which  members  of  all  but  three  are  at  least 
summer  visitants  to  North  America.  As  a  whole  they  are 
much  more  brightly  coloured .  than  the  Sylviidx  {Malurus,  if  it 
belongs  to  them,  always  excepted) ;  for,  though  the  particular 
genus  Mniotilta  (from  which,  as  the  fortune  of  nomenclature  will 
have  it,  the  Family  takes   its  right  name)  ^  is   one  of  the  most 


& 


^  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  before  long  some  competent  ornithologist  w  ill  take  on 
himself  the  task,  necessary  if  toilsome  and  perhaps  ungrateful,  of  revising  the 
work  that  has  lately  been  done  in  regard  to  these  birds  and  the  Thrushes,  and. 
setting  aside  all  preconceived  notions,  fixing  the  limits  of  the  Family  or  Families, 
if  Families  they  be,  and  at  the  same  time  adjust  the  relations  of  the  hitherto 
indefinite  group  of  Timelias. 

"  Some  American  authors  have  called  the  Family  "  Wood-AVarblers ",  an 
inappropriate  name,  and  inconvenient  since  it  has  long  since  been  specialized 
in  England. 

•*  By  some  writers  the  Family  is  called  Sylvicolidse,  a  practice  which  contra- 
venes ordinary  usage,  since  the  name  Sylvicola  was  preoccupied  in  conchology. 


WARBLER 


1023 


abnormal — its  colours  being  plain  black  and  white,  and  its  habits 
rather  resembling  those  of  a  Tree-Creeper — in  other  groups  chest- 
nut, bluish-grey  and  green  appear-,  the  last  A^arying  from  an  olive 
to  a  saftron  tint,  and  in  some  groups  the  yelloAV  predominates  to  an 
extent  that  has  gained  for  its  wearers,  belonging  to  the  genus 
Dendrceca,  the  name  of  "  Golden "  Warblers.  In  the  genus  Seto- 
jiJaiga,  the  members  of  Avhich  deserve  to  be  called  "  Fly-catching " 
Warblers,  the  plumage  of  the  males  at  least  presents  yellow,  orange, 
scarlet  or  crimson,  and  recalls  the  Redstarts  of  the  Old  World. 
Dr.  Coues  (Key  N.  Am.  Birds,  ed.  2,  p.  288),  following  on  the  whole 
the  arrangement  of  Baird,  Brewer  and  Ridgway  (i\'^.  Am.  Birds,  i. 
p.  178),  separates  the  Family  (for  which  he  Avrongly  retains  the 
name  Sylvicolidai)  into  three  subfamilies,  Sylvlcolinse  (  =  Mniotiltinse), 
Ideriinm  and  Setopliaginse,  grouping  the  genera  Mniotilta,  Parula  and 


Hp.lminthotherus. 


Dendececa. 


Mniotilta. 
(After  Swainson.) 


Setophaga. 


Feucedrom.us  as  "  Creeping  Wai-blers " ;  Geothhjpis,  Oporornis  and 
Siurus  as  "  Ground  -  Warblers  "  ;  Brotoiiotaria,  Helminthotherus  and 
Helminthophila  as  "  Worm-eating  Warblers  "  ;  Setophaga,  CardeUina 
and  Myiodiodes  as  "  Fly-catching  Warblers  "' ;  Ideria  (Chat,  p.  85), 
which  perhaps  may  not  belong  to  the  Family,  standing  alone ;  and 
Dendroica  as  "  Wood- Warblers. "  ^ 

The  Mniotiltidx  contain  forms  exhil;)iting  quite  as  many  diverse 
modes  of  life  as  do  the  Sylviidm.  Some  are  exclusively  aquatic  in 
their  predilections,  others  affect  dry  soils,  brushwood,  forests  and 
so  on.  Almost  all  the  genera  are  essentially  migratory,  but  a  large 
proportion  of  the  species  of  Dendroica,  Setophaga  and  especially 
Basileuterus,  seem  never  to  leave  their  Neotropical  home  ;  while  the 
genera  Leucopeza,  Teretristis  and  Microligia,  comprising  in  all  but  5 
species,  are  peculiar  to  the  Antilles.  The  rest  are  for  the  most  part 
natives  of  North  America,  where  a  few  attain  a  very  high  latitude,^ 

^  III  1887  Mr.  Ridgway  {Man.  N.  Am.  B.  pp.  480-532)  recognized  20  genera 
as  belonging  to  the  United  States,  while  another  comes  very  near  their  southern 
boundary,  but  he  made  no  attempt  to  separate  subfamilies. 

^  Seven  species  have  been  recorded  as  wandering  to  Greenland,  and  one, 
Dendroeca  viren.s,  is  said  to  have  occurred  in  Europe  {Nauinannia,  1858,  p.  425)  ; 
Gatke,  Vogelwartc  Helgoland,  p.  326  ;  Eng.  trans,  p.  315. 


I024  WARE-GOOSE—  WA  TTLE-BIRD 

penetrating  in  summer  even  beyond  the  Ai'ctic  Circle,  and  thenc.e 
migrate  southward  at  the  end  of  summer  or  in  the  fall  of  the  year, 
some  reaching  Peru  and  Brazil,  but  a  few,  as,  for  instance,  Parula 
pitiayumi  and  Geothlypis  velata  seem  to  be  resident  in  the  country 
last  named. 

WARE-GOOSE,  a  name  for  the  Brent  Goose  (pp.  57,  375)— 
"  ware  "  being  a  local  term  for  some  kind  of  seaweed. 

WARIANGLE  and  WIERANGLE  (with  other  variations  of 
spelling)  O.H.G.  TFerkengel,  mod.  Germ.  TFurgengel  and  TFurger  (the 
Worrier  or  Throttler)  an  obsolete  name  for  the  Great  Ash-coloured 
Shrike  (p.  844,  note;  cf.  Cotgrave,  1611,  sub  voce.  "Engrouee," 
"  Escrire  "  and  "  Pie '')} 

WARWINCKLE,  used  in  1633,  by  Simon  Latham  {Faulconry,  ii. 
p.  144),  apparently  for  a  Pied  Wagtail  (p.  1018),  as  certainly  are 

WASHDISH  and  WASHTAIL  (Holinshed,  Descr.  Engl  chap, 
ii.  ed.  1586,  p.  223) :  the  former  very  frequently  with  the  prefix 
"Molly"  or  "Polly,"  according  to  the  common  custom  of  nick- 
naming favourite  birds. 

WASKITE,^  given,  with  the  description  "from  Virginia,"  in  1655 
by  Izaak  Walton  {Compleat  Angler,  ed.  2.  p.  18)  as  the  name  of  a 
Hawk  in  Falconry,  but  otherwise  unknown. 

WATCHY-PICKET,  a  Creole  name  in  Jamaica  for  Icterus 
leucopteryx  (Sloane,  Voy.  Jam.  ii.  pp.  299,  300  ;  Gosse,  B.  Jam.  p.  226). 

WATER-,  a  prefix  to  the  name  of  many  birds,  especially  to 
some  of  the  FuiUidm  :  thus  Water-cock  is  Gallicrex  cinerea  or  cristata 
(Jerdon,  B.  Ind.  ii.  p.  718),  Water-hen,  a  very  common  equivalent 
of  MoOR-HEN  (p.  589),  Water-Partridge  is  Porzana  concolor  (Gosse,  B. 
Jam.  p.  369,  and  Ave  have  Water-RAIL  (p.  763) ;  while  Water-Crow 
and  -Ousel  (p.  677)  are  Scottish  and  English  names  for  Cinclus 
aquaticus ;  the  Watex'-Thrush  of  the  English  in  North  America  is 
Siurus  novehoracensis,  one  of  the  Mniotiltidse  (Warbler,  p.  1019),  and 
the  Water-Turkey  is  Plotus  anhinga  (Snake-BIRD,  p.  880). 

WATTLE-BIRD,  the  name  given  by  Cook's  people  to  a  species 
they  found  during  his  second  voyage  in  New  Zealand  (G.  Forster, 
Foy.  i.  p.  148),  and  adopted  in  1781  by  both  Pennant  (Gen.  B.  ed. 
2,  p.  9)  and  Latham  {Gen.  Synops.  i.  p.  364,  pi.  xiv.)  for  what  they 
rightly  considered  a  new  genus,  Avhich  was  technically  termed  in 

1  In  the  copy  of  Belon's  Portraits  before  mentioned  (pp.  680,  913  notes)  the 
figure  of  Lanius  excuhitor  is  named  Warkiangle. 

-  The  Century  Dictionary  (1891)  inchides  the  word  "Waspkite"  explained  as 
Pernis  apivorus  (Honey-BuzzARD,  p.  67),  but  no  autliority  is  cited  for  it,  nor 
does  such  a  name  seem  to  be  known  in  England.  There  is  no  bird  like  it  in 
America. 


WA  TTLE-BIRD 


T025 


Call^eas.    (After  Buller.) 


1788  by  J.  E.  Forster  {Enchiridion,  p.  35)  Callieas,  and  by  Gmelin 
{Syst.  Nat  i.  p.  363)  Glaiicopis}  The  Kokako  of  the  Maories,  it  is 
noAV  commonly  known  as  the  Wattle-Crow,  and  two  species  are 
recognized — the  original  C.  or  G.  cinerea,  belonging  to  the  South 
Island,  and  the  C.  or  G.  ivilsoni,  which  represents  it  in  the  North, 

almost  the  sole 
difference  between 
them  being  the 
colour  of  the  bai"e 
lobes  or  wattles 
that  depend  from 
the  gape,  which 
in  the  latter  are 
wholly  blue,  but 
in  the  former  blue 
at  the  base  only, 
the  rest  being 
orange.  The  genus  is  usually  placed  in  the  Corvidx,  but  its  fringed 
and  ciliated  tongue,  Avhich  was  duly  noticed  by  the  elder  Forster, 
and  is  figured,  though  very  indistinctly,  by  Latham,  tends  to  throw 
doubt  upon  that  assignment ;  yet  Dr.  Gadow  finds  (cf.  Buller,  B.  New 
Zeal.  ed.  2,  p.  4)  that  osteologically  it  is  one  of  the  Amtrocoraces 
or  Noto-Coracomorphai  {cf.  Bird-of-Paradise,  page  39,  note  ;  Gymno- 
RHINA,  page  403;  and  Shrike,  page  846,  note).  Both  birds  are 
about  as  big  as  a  Jay,  of  a  dark  ash-colour,  inclining  to  brown  beneath 
and  on  the  lower  part  of  the  back,  and  have  the  face  black.  They 
feed  mostly  on  berries,  and  are  very  locally  distributed.  The  males, 
in  each  species  said  to  be  smaller  than  the  females,  have  loud  and 
varied  notes,  one  of  them  of  great  depth  and  richness. 

The  Wattle-birds  of  Australia  and  Tasmania  belong  to  a  very 
different  group,  the  Meliphagidai  (Honey-eater).  The  first  of  them 
was  discovered  at  Port  Jackson,  17th  April  1788,  and  was  de- 
scribed in  1789  by  Phillip  (Boi  Bay,  p.  164),  as  also  in  the  next 
year  by  John  White  (Voy.  New  South  JFcdes,  p.  144),  as  a  Bee-eater, 
receiving  from  Latham  the  name  of  Merops  caruncidatus.  It  is  now 
the  Anthochxra  carunculata  of  ornithology,  and  is  widely  distributed  in 
Australia,  having  a  comparatively  short  red  wattle  hanging  below  the 
eye,  while  a  second  species,  A.  incturis,  is  peculiar  to  Tasmania,  and  has 
a  much  longer  pendant,  white  at  the  root  deepening  into  orange. 
These  birds  are  among  the  largest  of  the  Meliphagidai,  and  have  a 
very  inconspicuous  plumage  of  dull  brown  streaked  with  white. 
Allied  to  them  are  two  other  genera,  Acanthogenys  with  a  single 
species,  and  AneUobium  with  two,  the  members  of  which  are  often 

^  Forster's  preface  is  dated  loth  February,  Gmelin's  16tli  March.  One  can- 
not but  wish  that  priority  of  publication  rests  with  the  former,  as  one  of  the 
discoverers  of  the  bird. 


1 026  WA  VE  V—  WAX  WING 

called  Wattle-birds  though  not  possessing  any  appendage  to  justify 
the  name  ((/.  Gould,  Hand.  B.  Austral,  i.  pp.  534-544;  Gadow, 
Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  ix.  jDp.  262-266),  while  the  rare  and  apparently 
extinct  Clmtoptila  angudipluma  of  Hawaii,  though  from  a  locality  so 
far  off,  would  seem  to  be  near  of  kin  {cf.  Wilson  and  Evans,  B. 
Saiidiv.  IsL). 

WAVEY,  a  name  long  used  by  the  residents  in  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Territoiy,  apparently  for  any  species  of  Wild  Goose  (p.  374), 
but  especially  for  those  of  the  genus  Chen  (Hearne,  Journei/,  p.  442). 

WAXBILL,  the  name  in  use  in  Edwards's  time  (1751)  for  the 
well-known  little  cage-bird,  the  Loxia  astrild  of  Linnaeus  and  Edrilda 
astrild  of  modern  ornithology,  one  of  the  Ploceidx  (Weaver-bird), 
but  also  applied  to  several  other  species,  more  or  less  allied,  Avhich 
have  the  bill  like  sealing-wax,  though  they  are  placed  by  Dr.  Sharpe 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mm.  xiii.)  in  almost  as  many  distinct  genera. 

WAXWING,  apparently  first  so-called  by  Stephens  in  1817 
{Gen.  Zool.  x.  420),   having  been  before  known  as  the  "Silk-tail" 

{Phil.  Tra.ns.-  1685,  p.  1161)— a  literal 
rendering  of  the  German  Seidenschwanz 
— or  "Chatterer" — the  prefix  "German," 
"  Bohemian  "  or  "  Waxen  "  being  often 
also  applied.  Stephens's  convenient 
name  has  now  been  generally  adopted, 

Waxwing.    (After  Swainson.)  .  .        ,  .    ,     .  ,.,        i-   ^-  •  i     j 

since  the  bn^d  is  readily  distinguished 
from  almost  all  others  by  the  curious  expansion  of  the  shaft  of 
some  of  its  wing-feathers  at  the  tip  into  a  flake  that  looks  like 
scarlet  sealing-wax,  while  its  exceedingly  silent  habit  makes  the 
name  "Chatterer"  wholly  inappropriate  ((/.  page  85).  It  is  the 
Armpelis  garrulus  of  Linnaeus  and  of  more  recent  ornithologists.'^ 

The  AVaxwing  is  a  bird  that  for  many  years  excited  vast  in- 
terest. An  irregular  winter-visitant,  sometimes  in  countless  hordes, 
to  the  central  and  some  parts  of  southern  Europe,  it  was  of  old 
time  looked  upon  as  the  harbinger  of  war,  plague,  or  death,  and, 
while  its  harmonious  coloration  and  the  grace  of  its  form  were 
attractive,  the  curiosity  Avith  which  its  irregular  appearances  were 

^  Liuiiffius  had,  as  is  vrell  known,  no  conception  of  what  is  meant  by  tlie 
modern  idea  of  a  "  type  "  ;  but  none  can  doubt  that,  if  such  a  notion  had  been 
entertained  by  him,  he  would  have  declared  his  type-species  to  be  that  to  which 
the  name  was  first  applied,  viz.  the  present,  and  hence  those  systematists  are 
wrono-  who  would  remove  this  to  a  genus  variously  called  Bombycilla,  Bomhici- 
phora,  or,  most  absurd  of  all,  Bomhicivora.  The  birds  which  ought  to  be  re- 
moved from  his  Am2xlis  are  those  which  are  now  generally  recognized  as  forming 
a  Family  Cotingidx  (Chatterer),  allied  to  the  Pipridie  (Manakin),  and  like 
them  peculiar  to  the  Neotropical  Fauna,  in  which  they  constitute  a  very  natm-al 
group  (Introduction). 


IVAXWING  1027 


regarded  was  enhanced  by  the  mystery  which  enshrouded  its  birth- 
place, and  until  the  summer  of  1856  defied  the  searching  of  any 
explorer.  In  that  year,  however,  all  doubt  was  dispelled,  through 
the  successful  search  in  Lapland,  organized  by  the  late  John 
Wolley,  as  briefly  described  by  him  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1857,  pp.  55, 
56,  pi.  cxxii.).^  In  1858  Mr.  Dresser  found  a  small  settlement  of 
the  species  on  an  island  in  the  Baltic  near  Uleaborg,  and  with  his 
own  hands  took  a  nest.  It  is  now  pretty  evident  that  the  Wax- 
wing,  though  doubtless  breeding  yearly  in  some  parts  of  northern 
Europe,  is  as  irregular  in  the  choice  of  its  summer-quarters  as  in 
that  of  its  winter-retreats.  Moreover,  the  species  exhibits  the  same 
irregular  habits  in  America.  Mr.  Drexler  on  one  occasion,  in 
Nebraska,  saw  it  in  "millions."  In  1861  Kennicott  found  it  breed- 
ing on  the  Yukon,  and  later  Mr.  MacFarlane  had  the  like  good 
fortune  on  the  Anderson  Eiver. 

Beautiful  as  is  the  bird  Avith  its  drooping  crest,  its  cinnamon- 
brown  plumage  passing  in  parts  into  grey  or  chestnut,  and  relieved 
by  black,  white  and  yellow — all  of  the  purest  tint — the  external 
feature  which  has  invited  most  attention  is  the  "  sealing-wax " 
Avhich  tips  some  of  the  secondary  or  cubital  quills,  and  occasionally 
those  of  the  tail.^  This  is  nearly  as  much  exhibited  by  the  kindred 
species,  A.  cedrorum — the  well-known  Cedar-bird  of  North  America 
— which  is  easily  distinguished  by  its  smaller  size,  less-black  chin- 
spot,  the  yellower  tinge  of  the  lower  parts  and  the  want  of  white 
on  the  wings.  In  the  A.  phcenicoptera  of  south-eastern  Siberia  and 
Japan  the  remiges  and  rectrices  are  tipped  with  red  in  the  ordinary 
way  without  dilatation  of  the  shaft  of  the  feathers. 

Both  the  Waxwing  and  Cedar-bird  seem  to  live  chiefly  on  in- 
sects in  summer,  but  are  greatly  addicted  to  berries  during  the  rest 
of  the  year,  and  will  gorge  themselves  if  opportunity  allow.  Hence 
they  are  not  pleasant  cage-birds,  though  quicldy  becoming  tame. 
The  erratic  habits  of  the  Waxwing  are  probably  due  chiefly  to  the 
supplies  of  food  it  may  require,  prompted  also  by  the  number  of 
mouths  to  be  fed,  for  there  is  some  reason  to  think  that  this  varies 
greatly  from  one  year  to  another,  according  to  season.  The  flocks 
which  visit  Britain  and  other  countries  outside  the  breeding-range  of 
the  species  naturally  contain  a  very  large  proportion  of  young  birds. ^ 

^  A  fuller  account  of  his  discovery,  illustrated  by  Hewitson,  is  given  in  The 
Ibis  (1861,  pp.  92-106,  pi.  iv.). 

^  The  structure  of  these  appendages  has  been  carefully  described  by  Herr 
Andersen  (CEfvers.  K.  Vet.-Ak.  Fiirlmndl.  1859,  pp.  219-231,  pi.  ii.).  Their 
development  seems  chiefly  due  to  age,  though,  as  Wolley  shewed,  they  ai'e  per- 
ceptible in  the  nestlings.  Mr.  Turner  states  {Contr.  Nat.  Hist.  Alaska,  p.  177) 
that  the  Eskimo  name  of  the  AVaxwing  means  a  "killer  of  small  birds,"  these 
appendages  being  held  to  be  "the  clotted  blood  of  its  victims"  ! 

^  The  systematic  position  of  the  genus  Ampclis  is  very  doubtful.     It  can 


I028 


WE  A  VER-BIRD 


WEAVER-BIRD,  the  namc^  by  which  a  group  of  some  250 
species  is  now  usually  called,  from  the  elaborately  interwoven 
nests  that  many  of  them  build,  some  of  the  structures  being  of  the 
most  marvellous  kind.  By  the  older  systematists  such  of  these 
birds  as  were  then  known  were  distributed  among  the  genera 
Griolus,  Loxia,  Emheriza  and  Fringilla;  and  it  was  Cuvier  who  in 
1817  first  brought  together  the  scattered  forms,  comprising  them 
in    a    genus   Ploceus.       Others   Avere    subsequently  refeiTed   to   its 


Sycobrotus. 


(After  Swainson.) 


Ploceus. 


neighbourhood,  and  especially  the  genus  Vidua  ("Widow-bird)  with 
its  allies,  so  as  to  make  of  them  a  subfamily  Floceitm,  which  in 
1847  was  raised  by  Prof.  Cabanis  to  the  rank  of  a  Family  I'loceidx, 
equivalent  to  that  of  Fringillidx  (Finch)  in  which  they  had  been 
included,  on  the  ground  that  the  Finches  have  but  nine  primary 
quills  in  their  wing,  while  the  Weaver-birds  have  ten.  Following 
Sundevall,  Dr.  Sharpe  (C(tt.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xiii.  pp.  198-511)  divides 
the  Floceidai  into  two  subfamilies — Fiduinx  (with  12  genera  and 


Pyrenestes. 


(After  Swainson.) 


Pyromel.ema. 


156  species)  having  the  outermost  primary  very  short,  and  Floceinx 
(with  20  genera  and  92  species)  in  which  it  is  large — a  proceeding 
that  is  confessedly  artificial  and  not  to  be  recommended,  since  it 
obscures  the  very  natural  group  of   Viduinx  proper  by  associating 

hardly  be  said  to  have  any  near  ally,  for  neither  of  the  Neotropical  and  Antil- 
lean  genera,  Ptilogonys  and  Mijiodectcs  (often  erroneonsly  spelt  Myiadcstcs),  can 
as  yet  be  safely  declared  of  kin  to  it,  as  has  been  alleged. 

^  First  bestowed  in  this  form  apparently  by  Stephens  in  1826  {Gen.  Zool.  xiv. 
p.  34)  ;  but  in  1782  Latham  {Synopsis,  i.  p.  435)  liad  called  the  "  Troupiale  dxh 
Hinigal"  of  Buffon  the  "Weever  Oriolo,"  from  its  habit  of  entwining  the  wires 
of  the  cage  in  which  it  was  kept  with  such  vegetable  fibres  as  it  could  get,  and 
hence  in  1788  Gmelin  named  it  Oriolus  tcxtor.  In  1800  Daudin  used  the  term 
"  Tisserin"  for  several  species  of  the  Linnwan  genus  Loxia,  and  this  was  adopted 
some  years  later  by  Cuvier  as  the  equivalent  of  his  Ploceus,  as  mentioned  in  the  text. 


IVEA  VER-BIRD  1029 


with  them  a  promiscuous  company  far  better  left  as  it  was  by  Gray 
and  others  in  a  distinct  group  as  Spermestinm,  or  more  correctly 
Estrildinx,  composite  though  this  group  may  be  and  requiring  the 
separation  of  its  Australian  members,  Donacilda  and  Poophila,  known 
as  Grass-Finches  and  certainly  not  true  Viduse,  to  say  nothing  of 
others  often  included  with  Estrildinx,  but  apparently  not  belonging 
to  them,  as  Pyrenestes  and  Eupledes  or  Pyromelmna,  which  seem 
closely  to  approach  Ploceus  and  Sympledes  or  Sycobrotus. 

Where  so  many  forms  are  concerned,  only  a  few  of  the  most  im- 
portant can  now  be  mentioned.  The  type  of  Cuvier's  genus  is 
certainly  the  Loxia  philippina  of  Linnseus,  so  termed  from  the  islands 
whence  it  was  received  but  to  which  it  is  not  indigenous.  But  the 
typical  Weaver-bird  of  Latham  (not  that  he  had  the  name  in  that 
precise  form)  is  the  Hyphantoirnis  cucuUata  or  textor  of  modern  writers, 
an  African  species,  and  it  is  to  the  Ethiopian  Region  that  by  far 
the  greatest  number  of  these  birds  belong,  while  in  it  they  seem  to 
attain  their  maximum  of  development.  They  are  all  small,  with, 
generally  speaking,  a  Sparrow-like  build ;  but  in  richness  of  colour- 
ing the  males  of  some  are  very  conspicuous — gloAving  in  crimson,' 
scarlet  or  golden-yellow,  set  off  by  jet-black,  while  the  females  are 
usually  dull  in  hue.  Some  species  build  nests  that  are  not  very 
remarkable,  except  in  being  almost  invariably  domed — others  (such 
as  the  Ploceus  philippinus  just  named,  or  P.  baya  as  some  call  it) 
fabricate  singular  structures  ^  of  closely  and  uniformly  interwoven 
tendrils  or  fine  roots,  that  hang  from  the  bough  of  a  tree  often  over 
water,  and,  starting  with  a  solidly-wrought  rope,  open  out  into  a 
globular  chamber,  and  then  contract  into  a  perpendicular  tube 
several  inches  in  length,  through  which  the  birds  efi'ect  their  exit 
and  entrance.  But  the  most  wonderful  nests  of  all,  and  indeed  the 
most  wonderful  built  by  birds,  are  those  of  the  so-called  Sociable 
Grosbeak,  Philhetserus  socius,  of  Africa.  They  are  composed  wholly 
of  grass,  and  are  joined  together  to  the  number  of  100  or  200 — 
indeed  320  are  said  to  have  been  found  in  one  of  these  aggregated 
masses,  which  usually  take  the  form  of  a  gigantic  mushroom,^ 
affording  a  home  and  nursery  to  many  pairs  of  the  birds  which 
have  been  at  the  trouble  of  building  it.  These  nests, '  however, 
have  been  so  often  described  and  figured  by  South- African  travellers 
that  there  is  no  need  here  to  dilate  longer  on  their  marvels.  It 
may  be  added  that  this  si^ecies  of  Weaver-bird,  known  to  French 
writers  as  the  Pdpublicain,  is  of  exceptionally  dull  plumage. 

^  These  differ  from  those  built  b}^  some  of  the  Orioles  and  other  birds,  whose 
nests  may  be  compared  to  pensile  pockets,  while  those  of  these  Weaver-birds  can 
best  be  likened  to  a  stocking  hung  up  by  the  "toe,"  with  the  "heel"  enlarged 
to  receive  the  eggs,  while  access  and  exit  are  obtained  through  the  "leg." 

^  But  at  a  distance  they  may  often  be  mistaken  for  a  native  hut,  with  its 
grass-roof. 


I030 


IVEA  VER-BIRD 


Cheea  procne. 
(After  Swainson.) 


The  group  of  Widow-birds/  Fiduinx,  is  remarkable  for  the 
extraordinary  growth  of  the  tail-feathers  in  the  males  at  the  breed- 
ing-season. In  the  largest  species,  Vidua  or  Chera  procne,  the  cock- 
bird,  which,  with  the  exception  of  a  scarlet 
and  buff  bar  on  the  upper  wing- coverts,  is 
wholly  lilack,  there  is  simply  a  great  elonga- 
tion of  the  rectrices,  and  the  same  obtains  in 
Coliopasser  or  Fenthetria  which  is  now  generic- 
ally  separated  ;  but  in  T'.  paradiiiea  the  form  of 
the  tail  is  quite  unique.  The  middle  pair  of 
feathers  have  the  webs  greatly  Avidened,  and 
through  the  twisting  of  the  shafts  their  in- 
ferior surfaces  are  vertically  opposed.  These 
feathers  are  comparatively  short,  and  end  in  a 
eS  hair-like  filament.  The  next  pair  are  produced 
to  the  length  of  about  a  foot — the  bird  not 
being  so  big  as  a  Sparrow — and  droop  grace- 
fully in  the  form  of  a  sickle.  But  this  is  not 
all :  each  has  attached  to  its  base  a  hair-like 
filament  of  the  same  length  as  the  feather,  and 
this  filament  originally  adhered  to  and  ran  along  the  margin  of 
the  outer  web,  only  becoming  detached  when  the  feather  is  full 
grown."  In  another  species,  V.  prmcipcdis,  the  tAvo  middle  pairs  of 
rectrices  are  equally  elongated,  but  their  Avebs  are  convex,  and  the 
outer  pair  contains  the  inner, 
so  that  Avhen  the  mars-ins  of 
the  tAvo  pairs  ax^e  applied  a 
sort  of  cylinder  is  formed.^ 
The  females  of  all  the 
AVidoAv-birds  differ  greatly 
in  appearance  from  the 
males,  and  are  generally  clothed  in  a  plumage  of  mottled  brown. 

The  vast  group  of  small  seed-eating  forms  that  make  up  the  true 
Estrildinai  comprehend  the  numerous  species  so  commonly  seen  in 
cages,  and  knoAvn  as  Amadavats,  Cowry  or  Nutmeg-birds,  Wax- 
bills,   Cutthroats,   Amadina  fasciata,   the   Java   Sparrow   and 

^  It  lias  been  ingeniously  suggested  that  this  name  should  be  more  correctly 
written  "Whydah  bird — from  the  place  on  the  "West  Coast  of  Africa  so  named  ; 
but  Edwards,  who  in  1745  figured  one  of  the  species,  states  that  he  was  informed 
that  "the  Portuguese  call  this  bird  the  Widow,  from  its  Colour  and  long  Train" 
{Nat.  Hist.  Birch,  i.  p.  86). 

^  This  curious  structure  was  long  ago  described  by  Brisson  {Orn.  iii.  p.  123), 
and  again  more  fully  by  Strickland  {Cmitr.  Orn.  1850,  pp.  88  and  149,  pi.  59). 

^  Both  these  species  seem  to  have  been  first  described  and  figured  in  1600  by 
Aldrovandus  (lib.  xv.  capp.  22,  23)  from  pictures  sent  to  him  by  Ferdinando  de' 
Medici,  duke  of  Tuscany. 


Vidua  principalis.  Fenthetria  ardens. 

(After  Swainson.) 


WEE  TWEE  T—  WEKA 


1031 


many  more  than  can  here  be  named.  Some  of  these  genera  are 
common  to  Africa  and  India,  and  some  are  imputed  also  to  Australia, 
but  the  last  seems  to  have  several  genera  peculiar  to  itself,  the  true 
affinity  of  which  requires  further  investigation.^ 

AVEETWEET,  a  name  in  North  America  for  the  Spotted  Sand- 
piper, Aditis  macularia. 

WEKA,  the  Maori  name,  accepted  in  English,  of  some  flightless 
New-Zealand  Rails,  the  first  known  of  which  was  found,  in  March 
1773,  by  Cook's  people  on  his  second  voyage  (i.  p.  97)  to  abound 
on  the  shore  of  Dusky  Bay,  and  was  called  by  them  "  Wood-hen." 
In  1785  Latham  (Gen.  Synops.  iii.  p.  229)  published  a  description 
of  it  as  the  Troglodyte  Rail,  and  it  Avas  in  1788  scientifically 
designated  Rallus  troglodytes  by  Gmelin.^  In  18.30  Wagler  [Nat.  Sysf. 
Amphib.  u.  s.  w.  p.  98)  made  it  the  type  of  a  separate  genus  Ocydromus. 


Weka.    (From  Buller.) 

Sir  W.  Buller  (B.  lY.  Zeal  ed.  1,  p.  174;  ed.  2,  ii.  p.  113)  declares 
there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  this  species  being  that  which,  nearly 
60  years  after,  Du  Bus  (Esq.  Orn.  pi.  11)  figured  and  described  as 
Gallirallus  fuscus,^  a  specific  term  that  has  generally  been  preferred, 
in  the  belief  that  the  B.  troglodytes  was  identical  Avith  the  B.  mistralis, 
figured  and  described  in  1784  by  Sparrman  "^  {Mus.  Carlson,  i.  no.  14); 
but  the  two  birds  appear  to  be  distinct,  both  in  coloration  (though 
this  in  each  is  variable)  and  habit — the  foi^mer  fr-equenting  the  sea- 

^  A  Monograjih  of  the  Weaver-Birds  by  Mr.  Edward  Bartlett  was  begun  in  1888, 
but  unfortunately  remains  unfinished. 

^  A  name  given  by  J.  R.  Forster,  from  whom  Latham  states  that  his  information 
was  derived.  To  the  shame  of  English  authorities  Forster's  manuscript  was  not 
published  until  1840. 

'  In  the  meanwhile  it  had  received  another  name,  G.  hrachyptcrus,  from 
Lafresnaye  {Rev.  Zool.  1841,  p.  243  ;  Mag.  dc.  Zool.  1842,  pi.  24)  the  type  of  which 
has  been  examined  by  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xxiii.  p.  67). 

^  What  Sparrman's  bird  was  may  yet  be  open  to  doubt.  His  localities  are 
not  trustworthy,  and  his  specimen  differed,  by  its  yellow  legs,  from  all  other 
known  Ocydromi. 


I032  •  WEKA 

shore  (whence  one  of  its  names — Kelp -hen)  and  feeding  chiefly 
on  shell -fish  and  other  marine  products,  while  that  which  is 
commonly  identified  with  the  latter  ranges  widely  through  the 
interior  of  the  South  Island  of  New  Zealand — examples  from 
the  western  side  of  the  Alps  being  however  apparently  distinguish- 
able by  wanting  the  barred  flanks,  and  in  that  respect  resembling 
another  form  which  inhabits  the  North  Island,  and  is,  according 
to  Sir  AV.  Buller  Avho  named  it  0.  greyi,  peculiar  thereto.^  That 
these  three  or  four  forms  should  be  justly  considered  good  species 
is  very  probable ;  but  that  more  species  should  exist  in  New 
Zealand  seems  unlikely.  What  was  presumably  an  Ocydromus,  and 
if  so  was  doubtless  a  distinct  species,  inhabited  Norfolk  Island, 
when  discovered  by  Cook  {iit  supra,  ii.  p.  148),  but  it  must  have  been 
long  extinct,  and  no  specimen  is  known  to  exist.  "^  Another  species, 
0.  sylvestris,  smaller  and  lighter  in  colour  than  any  we  now  have, 
was  found  in  1869  to  linger  yet  in  Lord  Howe  Island  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc. 
1869,  p.  472,  pi.  XXXV.),  where  the  existence  of  such  a  bird  was  long 
ago  known,  and  the  remains  of  a  few  individuals  are  preserved  in 
collections.^  A  remarkable  form  from  J^ew  Caledonia,  originally 
described  as  Gallirallus  lafresnayanus,  was  referred  by  Mr.  Sclater 

■"  It  was  for  some  time  called  0.  earli,  the  name  under  which  Dr.  Sharpe 
{torn.  cU.  p.  66)  still  has  it,  but  Sir  Walter  {B.  N.  Zeal.  ed.  2,  ii.  p.  105)  states 
that  the  type  of  that  form  {Ibis,  1862,  p.  238)  agrees  with  some  specimens  from 
the  South  Island,  and  he  recognizes  it  as  a  distinct  species.  He  also  admits  an 
0.  traaliyiiiterus  which  is  certainly  not  that  of  Lafresnaye,  and  if  distinct  should 
probably  be  called  0.  hectori.  An  extinct  species  has  been  indicated  by  Mr.  H.  0. 
Forbes  {Tr.  N.  Z.  Inst.  1892,  p.  188)  from  the  Chatham  Islands. 

-  The  subject  of  Sparrman's  figure,  above  mentioned,  may  possibly  have  been 
from  this  island,  the  birds  of  which  were  distinguished  by  their  bright  colouring 
(c/.  ISTestor,  p.  628). 

^  It  has  lately  been  referred  by  Dr.  Sharpe,  though  its  affinity  is  not  e.xplained, 
to  the  genus  Cahalus,  the  type  of  wliich  is  Eallus  modestus,  a  small  species 

{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xxiii. 
p.  331,  pi.  vi.)  perhaps 
still  surviving  on  one  of 
the  Chatham  Islands, 
which  some  ornitholo- 
gists have  refused  to 
acknowledge,  holding  it 
to  be  the  young  of  E. 
dieffenbachi  (itself  also 
referred  occasionally  to 
Ocydromus,    but    being 

Rallus  DIEFFENBACHI.    (Froiu  Buller.)  apparently   a   modified 

Hypotxnidia),  known 
from  the  unique  specimen  in  the  British  Museum  ;  but  the  judgment  of  its 
original  describer,  Capt.  Hutton,  is  now  admitted,  and  should  never  have  been 
doubted  after  his  full  account  of  it  {Ibis,  1873,  pp.  349-352). 


WET-M  Y-FOOT—  WHA  UP  1033 

{Froc.  Zool.  Soc.  1869,  p.  431)  to  Ocydronius,  and  has  certainly  some 
resemblance  thereto  (cf.  Layard,  Ibis,  1882,  p.  535).  Subsequently 
placed  by  Gray  in  Eulabeornis  (Brenchley,  Cruise  of  the  '  Curagoa,' 
pi.  xxi.),  Dr.  Sharpe  has  more  recently  proposed  for  it  a  distinct  genus 
Tricholimnas.  Akin  to  Ocydromus  must  have  been  Diaphorapteryx,  a 
recently  extinct  form  made  known  by  Mr.  H.  0.  Forbes  from  one 
of  the  Chatham  Islands,  where  its  bones  were  found  in  plenty. 
He  at  first  referred  it  to  the  Mauritian  genus  Aphanapteryx 
(Extermination,  p.  217),  but  subsequently  {Nature,  xlv.  p.  416) 
separated  it  therefrom,  a  course  M^hich  has  been  justified  by  Prof. 
Milne-Edwards  {Aim.  Sc.  Nat.  ser.  8,  ii.  pp.  117-136,  pis.  xi.-xv.),^ 
and  Mr.  Andrews  (N'ovit.  Zool.  1896,  pp.  73-84,  pi.  iii.).^  There  is 
a  curious  analogy  between  the  two  forms,  but  the  latter,  which  was 
mentioned  by  Herbert,  and  is  the  Poule  rouge  of  some  of  the  old 
writers,  had  a  slender  head,  a  long  bill,  and  tall,  thin  legs,  while  the 
head  of  Diaphorapteryx  is  large,  and  its  bill  and  legs  shorter  and 
stouter  in  comparison,  so  that  the  appearance  of  the  two  birds  must 
have  been  very  unlike. 

The  chief  interest  attaching  to  the  Ocydromes  is  their  inability 
to  use  in  flight  the  wings  with  which  they  are  furnished,  and  hence 
an  extreme  probability  of  the  form  becoming  wholly  extinct  in  a 
short  time.^  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  naturalists  of  New  Zealand 
will  not  allow  this  to  happen  if  any  efi'ectual  means  can  be  taken  to 
perpetuate  it ;  but,  should  that  fate  be  inevitable,  it  at  least  behoves 
the  present  generation  to  see  that  every  possible  piece  of  information 
concerning  the  birds  be  recorded,  and  every  possible  preparation 
illustrating  their  structure  be  made,  while  yet  there  is  time ;  for, 
though  much  has  been  written  on  the  subject,  it  is  obvious  from 
one  of  the  latest  papers  {Trans.  N.  Z.  Inst.  x.  p.  213)  that  there  is 
still  more  to  be  learned,  some  of  which  may  throw  further  light  on 
the  afiinities  of  the  extinct  genus  Aptornis  (pages  286,  592,  note). 

WET-MY-FOOT,  or  -LIPS,  names  for  the  Quail  (page  754),  in 
imitation  of  its  call-note. 

WHALE -BIRD,  a  sailors'  name  for  Petrels  of  the  genus 
Prion  (pages  34,  742). 

WHAUP,  formerly  Quhaip,  Dutch  JVulp,  the  common  name  in 
Scotland  for  the  Long-billed  Curlew,  and  there  accounted  "uncanny  " 
or  a  bird  of  ill-omen.* 

^  This  memoir  was  read  to  the  Zoological  Congress  at  Leyden,  Sept.  1895. 

^  I  wholly  concur  in  the  general  conclusions  reached  by  this  gentleman,  based 
as  they  are  on  those  of  Dr.  Gadow  {Thier-reich,  Vogel,  ii.  p.  101). 

^  Of  thi.s  inability  there  are  other  instances  among  the  Rallidx  (see  Moor-hen, 
p.  590)  ;  but  here  we  have  coupled  with  it  the  curious  fact  that  in  the  skeleton 
the  angle  which  the  scapula  makes  with  the  coracoid  is  greater  than  a  right  angle, 
a  peculiarity  shared  only,  so  far  as  is  known,  among  the  Carinatas  by  the  Dodo. 

*  The  call  of  the  Whaup  brings  melancholy  associations  to  many  people,  who. 


I034  WHEATEAR 


WHEATEAR,  as  a  bird's  name  perhaps  of  doubtful  ineaning,^ 
though  Taylor,  the  "water  poet"  {ph.  1654),  in  whose  wiitings  it 
seems  first  to  occur,  and  Willughby  explain  it  (in  the  words  of  Ray, 
the  latter's  translator)  as  given  "because  [in]  the  time  of  wheat 
harvest  they  wax  very  fat.""^ 

The  Whcatear,  the  Sazicola  oenanthe  of  ornithologists,  is  one  of 
the  earliest  migrants  of  its  kind  to  return  to  its  home,  often  reach- 
ing England  at  the  end  of  February  and  almost  always  by  the 
middle  of  March.  The  cock  with  his  bluish-grey  back  and  light 
buff  breast,  set  off  by  black  ear  coverts,  wings  and  part  of  the  tail, 
is  rendered  still  more  conspicuous  by  his  white  rump  as  he  takes 
short  flights  in  front  of  those  who  disturb  him,  while  his  sprightly 
actions  and  gay  song  harmonize  so  well  with  his  delicately-tinted 
plumage  as  to  render  him  a  welcome  object  to  all  who  delight  in 
an  open  coimtry.  When  alarmed  both  sexes  have  a  sharp  mono- 
syllabic note  that  sounds  like  chat ;  and  this  has  not  only  entered 
into  some  of  the  local  names  of  this  species  and  of  its  allies,  but  has 
caused  all  to  be  spoken  of  as  Chats.  The  nest  is  constantly  placed 
under  ground  ;  the  bird  taking  advantage  of  the  hole  of  some  other 

if  they  are  imaginative,  are  apt  to  ascribe  the  same  feelings  to  the  bird  that  utters 
it.  Thus  we  have  writers  finding  in  it  a  resemblance  to  "the  wail  of  a  lost 
spirit " — that  being  presumably  a  sound  with  which  they  are  acquainted.  One 
author  terms  Curlews  "Plaintive  creatures  who  pity  themselves  on  moorlands" 
— a  pretty  poetic  fancy  maybe,  but  sheer  nonsense  as  every  naturalist  knows. 
Given  the  moorland,  the  Whaup  leads  a  happy  life  ;  without  it,  he  would  have 
good  reason  to  pity  himself.  The  unsuspecting  traveller  no  doubt  may  be 
occasionally  startled  at  the  sudden  and  loud  cry,  especially  at  night  when  the 
bird  is  invisible,  and  this  species  is  probably  in  many  instances  the  cause  of 
the  widely -spread  belief,  if  one  may  so  call  it,  in  the  mysterious  "Seven 
Whistlers,"  though  the  Golden  Plover,  and  perhaps  other  night-flying  Limicolas 
on  MIGRATION  (pages  571,  572)  may  contribute  to  the  consternation  of  the 
listener. 

^  The  supposition  that  it  is  an  euphemism  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  name  (c/. 
Bennett's  ed.  of  White's  Nat.  Hist.  Selb.  p.  69,  note)  must  be  rejected  until  it  be 
shewn  that  such  a  name  ever  existed.  It  is  true  that  "  Whittaile"  (c/.  Dutch 
Witstaart  and  French  Culblanc)  is  given  by  Cotgrave  in  1611  ;  but  the  older 
names,  according  to  Turner,  in  1544,  of  "  Clotburd  "  (  =  Clod-bird)  and  "  Smatch  " 
(  =  Chat)  do  not  point  in  that  direction.  "Fallow-chat"  is  another  old  name 
still  locally  in  use,  as  is  "Coney-chuck." 

^  It  would  seem  also  from  this  author  to  have  been  originally  the  local  name 
for  the  species  in  Sussex,  on  the  South  Downs  of  which  county  its  capture  in  a 
very  simple  kind  of  trap  has  been  the  occupation  of  many  generations  of  shepherds, 
who  thereby  have  made  an  excellent  trade,  since  Wheatears  in  their  proper 
season,  from  the  end  of  July  till  towards  the  end  of  September,  are  justly 
esteemed  for  the  table  and  fetch  a  price  that  for  many  years  has  been  continually 
rising  owing  to  the  failing  supply,  Avhich  is  chiefly  due  to  the  bringing  under 
tillage  of  so  much  of  the  sheep-walk,  heath,  down  and  other  open  country  that 
was  formerly  in  a  natural  condition. 


WHEATEAR  1035 


animal,  the  shelter  of  a  clod  in  a  fallow-field,  or  a  recess  beneath  a 
rock,  A  large  amount  of  soft  bedding  is  therein  collected,  and  on 
it  from  5  to  8  pale  blue  eggs  are  laid.  The  Wheatear  has  a 
very  wide  range  throughout  the  Old  World,  extending  in  summer 
far  within  the  Algetic  Circle,  from  Norway  to  the  Lena  and  Yana 
valleys,  while  it  winters  in  Africa  beyond  the  Ec[uator,  and  in 
India.  But  it  also  breeds  regularly  in  Greenland  and  some  parts 
of  North  America.  Its  reaching  the  former  and  the  eastern  coast  of 
the  latter,  as  well  as  the  Bermudas,  may  jDOssibly  be  explained  by  the 
drifting  of  individuals  from  Iceland  ;  but  far  more  interesting  is  the 
fact  of  its  continued  seasonal  appearance  in  Alaska  without  ever 
shewing  itself  in  British  Columbia  or  California,  and  without  ever 
having  been  observed  in  Kamchatka,  Japan  or  China,  though  it  is 
a  summer  resident  in  the  Tchuktchi  peninsula.  Hence  it  would 
seem  as  though  its  annual  flights  across  Bering's  Strait  must  be  in 
connexion  with  a  migratory  movement  that  passes  to  the  north  and 
west  of  the  Stanovoi  mountains,  for  Mr.  Nelson's  suggestion  {Cruise 
of  the  '  Conven,'  pp.  59,  60)  of  a  north-west  passage  from  Boothia 
Felix,  where  Ross  observed  it,  is  less  likely.^ 

More  than  60  other  species  more  or  less  allied  to  the  Wheatear 
have  been  described,^  but  probably  so  many  do  not  really  exist. 
Some  8  are  included  in  the  European  fauna ;  but  the  majority  are 
inhabitants  of  Africa.  Several  of  them  are  birds  of  the  desert ; 
and  here  it  may  be  remarked  that,  Avhile  most  of  these  exhibit  the 
sand-coloured  tints  so  commonly  found  in  animals  of  like  habitat,  a 
few  assume  a  black  plumage,  which,  as  explained  by  Canon  Tristram, 
is  equally  protective,  since  it  assimilates  them  to  the  deep  shadows 
cast  by  projecting  stones  and  other  inequalities  of  the  surface. 

Of  genera  allied  to,  and  by  some  "writers  included  in,  Saxicola 
there  is  only  need  here  to  mention  Praticola,  which  comprises 
among  others  two  well-known  British  birds,  the  Stonechat  and 
Whinchat,  p.  ruUcola  and  P.  rubetra. 


JIlRO.  Myiomoira. 

(From  Buller.) 

Placed  near  these  forms  by  most  systematists  is  the  group  con- 
taining   the  Australian   genus  Petrceca,  containing  about  a   dozen 

1  See  Dr.  Stejneger's  observations  in  his  "Ornithological  Exploration  of 
Karatschatka,"  (Bull.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  No.  29,  pp.  349-351),  and  those  of  Prof. 
Palmen  [Vcga-Exped.   Vdensl:  lakttag.  v.  pp.  260-262). 

■  Cf.  Blanford  and  Dresser  [Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1874,  pp.  213-241). 


1036  ■  WHEW— WHITEHEAD 


species, — the  "Robins"  of  the  colonists,  some  of  them  remarkable 
for  their  bright  plumage  ;  and  possibly  allied  to  them,  as  indeed  is 
generally  thought,  with  5  or  6  species  peculiar  to  New  Zealand, 
are  the  genera  Miro  and  Myiomoira.  But  the  late  Prof.  Parker 
(Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  v.  p.  152)  saw  in  the  osteology  of  the  first  inferior 
characters  which  appeared  to  separate  them  from  their  presumed 
colleagues,  and  he  termed  them  "  Struthious  Warblers."  Like  so 
many  other  forms  from  the  same  countries,  they  probably  preserve 
the  more  generalized  structure  of  earlier  and  lower  types,  and 
should  possibly  be  distinguished  as  a  separate  subfamily  Petroecinx. 
All  the  birds  above  mentioned  form  the  group  Saxicolinx  of 
most  authors.  Some,  however,  raise  them  to  the  rank  of  a  distinct 
Ya.milj  SaxicoUdai  (cf.  Warbler,  p.  1019);  and  Dr.  Sharpe  (Cat. 
B.  Brit.  Mus.  iv.  pp.  164-199)  has  placed  Petrce,ca  and  Praticola  in 
the  Family  Muscicapidm  (Flycatcher), 

WHEW  or  WHEWER,  common  names  of  the  Wigeon  from  its 
call-note. 

WHIMBREL,  "  the  bird  that  keeps  on  uttering  a  cry  imitated  by 
whim"  (Skeat,  Trans.  Philolog.  Soc.  1888-90,  p.  22), — a  name  made 
known  to  Willughby  as  being  used  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tees,  and 
generally  adopted  in  English  for  Numenius  lihseopus  (Curlew, 
page  128). 

WHIN-CHAT,  the  Motacilla,  Saxicola  or  Praticola  rubetra  of 
ornithology,  a  well-known  summer-visitant  to  this  country,  in  many 
parts  of  which  it  is  common,  and  from  its  call-note  named  Utick. 
It  has  much  of  the  habit  of  the  Stone-chat,  especially  in  perching 
upon  whin-bushes,  though  more  afiecting  enclosed  lands  and  fields 
reserved  for  hay ;  but,  unlike  that  bird,  it  has  no  very  near  ally. 
As  a  species  it  has  an  extensive  range,  reaching  India  and  generallj^ 
Avintering  in  Africa  almost  under  or  perhaps  beyond  the  Equator. 
In  spring  the  cock  is  very  conspiciious  with  a  white  streak  over  the 
eye  and  another  on  the  side  of  the  throat,  his  back  being  of  a 
mottled  brown  and  his  breast  of  a  delicate  buff  colour. 

WHIP-POOR-WILL,  so  named  in  North  America  from  its  cry. 
One  of  the  Caprimulgidse  (Nightjar,  page  640),  Antrostomus  vociferus. 

WHIP-TOM-KELLY,  see  under  Tom. 

WHISKLEY-JACK,  apparently  a  ludicrous  adaptation  of  the  Cree 
name  "  Whiskse-shawneesh  "  (Swains,  and  Richards.  F.  Bor.-Am.  ii. 
p.  295)  of  Dysornithia  or  Perisoreus  canadensis,  the  common  Jay  (page 
469)  of  Canada,  occasionally  visiting  the  United  States  in  winter. 

WHITE-EYE,  see  Zosterops. 

WHITEHEAD,  the  name  in  New  Zealand  for  a  little  bird 
peculiar  to  the  North  Island,  and  now  verging  on   extinction,  a 


WHITE  THRO  A  T  1037 


result  to  be  especially  regretted  since  its  affinities  are  undetermined. 
Originally  described  as  a  Fringilla,  it  was  next  placed  in  the  genus 
Parus,  and  for  a  long  while  was  supposed  to  belong  to  Orthonyx 
(page  658),  a  pm-ely  Australian  form,  but  is  now  referred,  with  its 
supposed  representative  in  the  South  Island 
(Yellowhead),  to  a  distinct  genus  Clitonyx, 
which  the  late  ]\Ir.  W.  A.  Forbes  {Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  1882,  pp.  544-546)  ascertained  to  be 
"  perfectly  Oscinine."  The  Whitehead,  C.  alhi- 
capilla,  from  being  one  of  the  commonest  is 

[■    ,  1  i  ■        •      -J.  J.  Clitonyx.    (From  Buller.) 

now  one  01  the  rarest  species  in  its  country,  ^  ' 

and  its  diminution  ending  in  its  inevitable  destruction  seems  due, 
as  Sir  W,  Buller  {B.  N.  Zeal.  ed.  2,  i.  p.  55)  suggests,  to  the  intro- 
duction of  exotic  birds,  which,  being  morphologically  higher  and 
constitutionally  stronger,  establish  themselves  at  the  expense  of 
the  lower,  weaker  and  earlier,  but  far  more  instructive  native  forms. 

WHITETHROAT,  a  name  commonly  given  to  two  species  of 
little  birds,  one  of  which,  the  Motacilla  sylvia  of  Linna?us  and  Sylvia 
rufa  1  or  S.  cinerea  of  some  recent  authors,  is  regarded  as  the  type, 
not  only  of  the  genus  Sylvia,  but  of  the  so-called  family  Sylviidse 
(Warbler). 

Very  widely  spread  over  Great  Britain,  in  some  places  common, 
and  by  its  gesticulations  and  song  rather  conspicuous,  it  is  one  of 
those  birds  which  has  gained  a  familiar  nickname,  and  "  Peggy 
Whitethroat "  is  the  anthropomorphic  appellation  of  schoolboys  and 
milkmaids,  though  it  shares  "Nettle -creeper"  and  other  homely 
names  with  perhaps  more  than  one  congener,  while  in  books  it  is 
by  way  of  distinction  the  Greater  Whitethroat.  Its  song,  except 
by  association  with  the  season  at  Avhich  it  is  uttered,  can  scarcely 
be  called  agreealile,  some  of  its  notes  being  very  harsh ;  but  the 
performer  may  be  seen  to  be  ahvays  in  earnest,  erecting  the  feathers 
of  his  crown,  puffing  out  those  of  his  throat,  shaking  his  wings 
and  making  other  rapid  movements  expressive  of  his  feelings. 
Occasionally  he  will  deliver  his  song  as  he  flies  up  in  a  peculiar 
fashion,  describing  small  circles  in  the  air,  stopping  with  a  jerk, 
and  then  returning  to  the  spot  whence  he  arose. 

The  Lesser  Whitethroat,  Sylvia  curruca,^  is  both  in  habits  and 
plumage  a  much  less  sightly  bird  :  the  predominant  reddish-broAvn 
of  the  upper  surface,  and  especially  the  rufous  edging  of  the  wing- 
feathers,  so   distinctive   of   its   larger   congener,   ai-e   wanting,  and 

^  This  specific  term  has  been  often  but  inaccurately  and  absurdly  used  for  a 
very  different  bird,  the  Chifichaff  (c/.  [Willow]  Wren).  Its  only  proper  applica- 
tion is  to  the  Whitethroat. 

^  This  is  not  the  mirrvxa  of  ancient  writers,  that  being  almost  certainly  the 
Hedge-SPARROW  (page  895),  in  England  the  ordinary  dupe  of  the  Cuckow. 


1038  WHITE  THRO  A  T 


the  whole  plumage  above  is  of  a  smoky-grey,  while  the  bird  in  its 
movements  is  never  obtrusive,  and  it  rather  shuns  than  couits 
observation,  generally  keeping  among  the  thickest  foliage,  whence 
its  rather  monotonous  song,  uttered  especially  in  sultry  weather, 
may  be  continually  heard  without  a  glimpse  of  the  vocalist  being 
jDresented.  The  nests  of  each  of  these  species  are  very  pretty 
works  of  art,  lirmly  built  of  bents  or  other  plant-stalks,  and  usually 
lined  Avith  horsehair ;  but  the  sides  and  bottom  are  often  so  finely 
woven  as  to  be  like  open  basket-work,  and  the  eggs,  splashed, 
spotted  or  streaked  mth  olive-brown,  are  frequently  visible  from 
beneath  through  the  interstices  of  the  fabric.  This  style  of  nest- 
building  seems  to  be  common  to  all  the  species  of  the  genus  Sylvia, 
as  now  restricted,  and  in  many  districts  has  obtained  for  the  builders 
the  name  of  "Hay-Jack,"  quite  without  reference  to  the  kind  of 
bird  which  puts  the  nests  together,  and  thus  is  also  applied  to  the 
Blackcap,  *S'.  atricapilla,  and  the  Garden- Warbler  or  Pettichaps. 
All  these  four  birds,  as  a  rule,  leave  Great  Britain  at  the  end  of 
summer  to  winter  in  the  south.  Two  other  species,  one  certainly 
belonging  to  the  same  genus,  S.  orphea,  and  the  other,  *S'.  nisoria,  a 
somewhat  aberrant  form,  have  occurred  two  or  three  times  in  Great 
Britain.  The  rest,  numbering  j^erhaps  a  dozen,  must  be  passed 
over. 

Nearly  allied  to  Sylvia  is  Melizophilus,  which  consists  of  two 
species,  one  of  them  the  curious  Dartford  Warbler  of  English 
Aviiters,  M.  undatus  or  provincialis.  This  is  on  many  accounts  a 
very  interesting  bird,  for  it  is  one  of  the  few  of  its  family  that 
winter  in  England, — a  fact  the  more  remarkable  when  it  is  known 
to  be  migratory  in  most  parts  of  the  Continent.  Its  distribution 
in  England  is  very  local,  and  chiefly  confined  to  the  southern 
counties,  where  it  has  of  late  years  become  so  scarce  that  its 
extermination  seems  probable.  It  is  a  pretty  little  dark-coloured 
bird,  which  here  and  there  may  be  seen  on  furze-grown  heaths 
from  Kent  to  Cornwall.  In  spasmodic  gesticulations  the  cock 
sui'passes  the  Whitethroat ;  but  these  feats  are  almost  confined  to 
the  pairing  season,  and  at  other  times  of  the  year  the  bird's  habits 
are  retiring.  For  a  species  with  wings  so  feebly  formed  it  has  a 
wide  range,  inhabiting  nearly  all  the  countries  of  the  Mediterranean 
seaboard,  from  Palestine  to  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar,  and  thence 
along  the  west  coast  of  Europe  to  the  English  Channel ;  but  every- 
where else  it  seems  to  be  very  local. 

This  may  be  the  most  convenient  place  for  noticing  the  small 
group  of  Warblers  ]>elonging  to  the  well-marked  genus  Hypolais, 
which,  though  in  general  appearance  and  certain  habits  resembling 
the  Phylloscopi  ([Willow]  Wren),  Avould  seem  usually  to  have  little 
to  do  Avith  those  birds,  and  to  be  rather  allied  to  the  Sylviinse, 
if  not  to  the  Acrocephalinx  (Warbler,  page  1020).      They  have  a 


WHITWALL—WIGEON  1039 

remarkably  loud  song,  and  in  consequence  are  highly  valued  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  where  two  species  at  least  spend  the  summer. 
One  of  them,  H.  iderina,  has  occurred  more  than  once  in  the 
British  Islands,  and  their  absence  as  regular  visitors  is  to  be  re- 
gretted. Among  the  minor  characteristics  of  this  little  group  is 
one  afforded  by  their  eggs,  which  are  of  a  deeper  or  paler  brownish- 
pink,  spotted  with  purplish  -  black.  Their  nests  are  beautiful 
structures,  combining  warmth  with  lightness  in  a  way  that  cannot 
be  fully  appreciated  by  any  description. 

A  great  number  of  other  more  or  less  allied  forms,  interesting 
as  they  are  in  various  ways,  cannot  for  want  of  space  be  here 
mentioned. 

AVHITWALL  (spelling  various),  see  Woodpecker. 

WHOOP,  a  local  name  for  the  Bullfinch  :  WHOOPER,  the 
ordinary  Wild  SwAN. 

WHYDAH-BIRD,  by  mistake  for  Widow-bird  {see  Weaver- 
bird). 

WIDE-AWAKE,  a  seamen's  name  for  certain  Terns  (page  957) 
differing  a  good  deal  from  the  rest  in  habit  and  appearance — laying 
but  a  single  egg  in  their  nest  and  being  of  a  sooty  colour  above. 
By  some  writers  they  have  been  placed  in  a  distinct  genus,  Ony- 
choprion,  which  Mr.  Saunders  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1876,  p.  666  ;  Cat.  B. 
Br.  Mus.  XXV.  p.  110)  refuses  to  recognize,  especially  in  view  of 
the  connecting  link  afforded  by  the  Sterna  aleutica.  They  form,  how- 
ever, an  easily  recognized  group — S.  lunata,  hitherto  found  only  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  aS'.  ansestheta  and  S.  fuliginosa  having  a  very  wide 
distribution  within  and  near  the  tropics.  These  crowd  at  certain 
seasons  in  innumerable  multitude  to  certain  suitable  islands,  where 
they  breed,  and  the  wonderful  assemblage  at  present  known  as 
"  Wide-awake  fair "  on  the  island  of  Ascension  has  been  more 
or  less  fully  described  from  very  ancient  times.  Dampier  in  his 
voyage  to  New  Holland  in  1699  particularly  described  and  figured 
the  Sooty  Tern  {Voyages,  iii.  p.  142),  discriminating  it  from  the 
Noddy,  from  which  it  had  not  before  been  distinguished. 

WIDOW-BIRD,  see  Weaver-bird  (p.  1030). 

WIGEON  (Fr.  Vigeon,  Lat.  Vipio  ^),  the  Mareca  peneJope  of  modern 
ornithology,  one  of  the  most  abundant  species  of  Ducks  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  Europe  and  northern  Asia,  reaching  northern 
Africa  and  India  in  winter.  A  good  many  pairs  breed  in  the  north 
of  Scotland ;  but  the  nurseries  of  the  vast  numbers  which  resort  in 

^  Just  as  Pigeon  is  from  Pipio.  Other  French  names,  more  or  less  local,  are, 
according  to  M.  RoUand,  Vignon,  Vingeon,  Wagne,  Woinge,  Wignet,  Wuiot, 
Vioux  and  Bigeon.  In  some  parts  of  England  the  small  teasing  flies,  generally 
called  midges,  are  known  as  "wigeons." 


I040  WILLE  T—  WILLO  W-BITER 

autumn  to  the  waters  of  temperate  Europe  are  in  Lapland  or  further 
to  the  eastward.     Comparatively  few  breed  in  Iceland. 

Intermediate  in  size  between  the  Teal  and  the  Mallard,  and 
less  showy  in  plumage  than  either,  the  drake  Wigeon  is  a  beautiful 
bird,  with  the  greater  part  of  his  bill  blue,  his  forehead  cream-colour, 
his  head  and  neck  chestnut,^  passing  into  pinkish-grey  below  and 
above  into  lavender-grey,  which  last,  produced  by  the  transverse 
undulations  of  fine  black  and  white  lines,  extends  over  the  back 
and  upper  surface  of  the  wings,  except  some  of  the  coverts,  which 
are  conspicuously  white,  and  shews  itself  again  on  the  flanks.  The 
wings  are  further  ornamented  by  a  glossy  green  speculum  between 
two  black  bars ;  the  tail  is  pointed  and  dark ;  the  rest  of  the  loAver 
parts  is  white.  The  female  has  the  inconspicuous  coloration 
characteristic  of  her  sex  among  most  of  the  Freshwater-Ducks.  In 
habits  the  Wigeon  differs  not  a  little  from  most  of  the  Anatinse.  It 
greatly  affects  tidal  waters  during  the  season  of  its  southern  stay, 
and  becomes  the  object  of  slaughter  to  hundreds  of  gunners  on 
the  coasts  of  Britain  and  Holland ;  but,  when  it  resorts  to  inland 
localities,  as  it  also  does  to  some  extent,  it  passes  much  of  its  time 
in  grazing,  especially  by  day,  on  the  pastures  which  surround  the 
lakes  or  moors  that  it  selects. 

The  Wigeon  occurs  occasionally  on  the  eastern  coast  of  North 
America,  and  frequently,  it  would  seem,  in  Alaska.  But  the  New 
World  has  two  allied  species  of  its  own.  One  of  them,  M.  americana 
(a  freshly-killed  example  of  which  was  once  found  in  a  London 
market),  inhabiting  the  northern  part  of  that  continent,  and  in 
winter  reaching  Central  America  and  the  West  Indian  islands  as 
far  as  Trinidad,  resembles  its  Old- World  congener  wholly  in  habits 
and  much  in  appearance.  But  in  it  the  pale  frontlet  and  the  rich 
chestnut  are  mingled  into,  as  it  were,  a  compromise  of  light  warm 
brown,  the  white  wing-coverts  are  less  extensive  and  nearly  all  the 
plumage  is  subdued  in  tone.  The  other  species  M.  sibilatrix  or 
chiloensis,  inhabits  the  southern  portion  of  South  America  and  its 
islands,  from  Chili  on  the  west  to  the  Falklands  on  the  east,  and  is 
easily  recognized  by  its  nearly  white  head,  nape  glossy  with  purple 
and  green  and  other  differences. 

WILLET,  a  name  in  North  America  originally  given,  from  its 
cry,  to  what  is  known  in  books  as  the  Semipalmated  Sandpiper, 
Symphemia  semipalmata,  but  by  recent  writers  of  that  country  applied 
to  all  the  Totaninx  (Sandpiper,  page  811,  note). 

WILLOCK,  one  of  the  many  names  of  the  Guillemot  and 
Razor-bill. 

WILLOW-BITER  (corruptly  Billy-biter),  a  local  name  of  the 
Blue  Titmouse  (page  967) :  WILLOW- WREN,  see  Wren. 

^  Hence  come  the  additional  local  names  "  Bald-pate"  and  "Red-head." 


WIND  HO  VER—  WOOD-CHA  T  104 1 

WINDHOVER,  a  common  name  for  the  Kestrel  (page  477). 

WINDLESTRAW,  a  local  name  for  the  Whitethroat. 

WINDPIPE,  see  Trachea  ;  but  also,  with 

WIND-THRUSH,  WINE-THRUSH  (Germ.  Wein-drossel)  and 
WINNARD,  a  name  of  the  Redwing  (page  777). 

WING,  see  Carpus,  Cubitals,  Flight,  Humerus,  Primaries, 
Radius,  Remiges  and  Ulna. 

WIRE-BIRD,  a  Plover  of  the  genus  jEgialitis  (Killdeer,  p. 
482)  peculiar  to  the  island  of  St.  Helena,  on  the  arid  plains  of 
which,  more  or  less  covered  with  "  wire-grass  "  {Cynodon  daciylon),  it  is 
a  resident.  It  is  allied  to  and,  until  Mr.  Harting  {Ihis,  1873,  pp.  266- 
269,  pi.  ix.)  shewed  its  distinctness,  was  confounded  with  ^.  pecuaria, 
a  species  widely  distributed  in  Africa.  A.  sandse-helends  is  however 
the  larger  of  the  two,  and  like  most  birds  peculiar  to  oceanic  islands 
has  broader  and  comparatively  shorter  wings. 

WITTE  KRAAI  (White  Crow)  and  WITTE  OOGJE  (White- 
eye),  Dutch  names  adopted  by  colonists  in  South  Africa  for  '^'E.o- 
TBROi^i  percnopterus  (page  621)  and  Zosterops  capensis  respectively. 

WOBBLE,  a  bird  so  called  by  some  of  the  early  voyagers  to 
North  America,  and  supposed  to  be  the  Gare-fowl,  but  almost  as 
likely  to  refer  to  any  other  species  of  Alcidx  which  flutter  their 
wings.  {Cf.  Skeat,  Etyviol.  Did.  sub  wabble,  another  form  of  the 
word.) 

WONGA-WONGA,  a  large  and  fine  Pigeon,  Leucosarcia  picata, 
inhabiting  the  eastern  part  of  Australia,  which  from  its  esculent 
qualities  would  apparently  be  well  worthy  of  domestication,  if  that 
end  could  be  attained,  which  is  not  improbable  seeing  that  the 
species  will  breed  in  confinement.  It  is  said  to  feed  mostly  on  the 
ground  on  the  seeds  and  fruit-stones  that  have  fallen  from  the  trees 
among  which  it  lives.  Of  a  deep  slaty-grey  above,  with  a  white 
gorget  bordered  above  and  below  by  deep  black,  black  triangular 
spots  on  its  white  flanks,  and  buff  lower  tail  coverts,  to  say  nothing 
of  its  pink  bill  and  legs,  it  is  rather  a  noble-looking  bird. 

WOOD-CHAT,  a  name  for  which  no  earlier  use  can  be  traced 
than  to  Ray's  posthumous  work  (Synops.  Meth.  Av.  p.  19)  published 
in  1713,  when  it  is  applied  to  a  species  of  Shrike  (p.  843),  Lanius 
auriculatus  or  rufus,  which  has  since  borne  it,  though  how  this  bird, 
being  only  a  chance  visitor  to  Britain,  came  to  earn  a  distinctive 
English  name,  and  one  so  unmeaning,  is  not  easily  understood.^ 

^  JFald-Katze,  is  one  of  its  German  names.  Ray  may  have  rendered  this 
literally  ' '  Wood-Cat,"  and  his  Editor  (Derham),  or  the  printer,  not  knowing  what 
was  intended,  may  have  turned  the  last  syllable  into  Chat. 

66 


1042  WOODCOCK 


WOODCOCK  (A.-S.  JVude-cocc,  Wudu-coc  and  IFudii-snife),  a 
bird  as  much  extolled  for  the  table,  ou  account  of  its  flavour,  as  by 
the  sportsman,  Avho,  from  its  relative  scarcity  in  regard  to  other 
kinds  of  winged  game,^  the  uncertainty  of  its  occurrence,  as  well  as 
the  suddenness  of  its  appearance  and  the  irregularity  of  its  flight, 
thinks  himself  lucky  when  he  has  laid  one  low.  Yet,  under  favour- 
able conditions,  large  bags  of  Woodcocks  are  made  in  many  parts 
of  Great  Britain,  and  still  larger  in  Ireland,  though  the  numbers 
are  trifling  compared  mth  those  that  have  fallen  to  the  gun  in 
various  parts  of  the  European  Continent,  and  especially  in  Albania 
and  Epirus.  In  England  of  old  time  Woodcocks  were  taken  in  nets 
and  springes,  and,  though  the  former  method  of  capture  seems  to 
have  been  disused  for  many  years,  the  latter  was  practised  in  some 
places  until  nearly  the  middle  of  the  present  century  (cf.  Knox, 
Game-birds  and  Wild  Foivl,  pp.  148-151)  or  even  later. 

The  Woodcock  is  the  Scolopax  rusticula^  of  ornithology,  and  is 
well  enough  known  to  need  no  minute  description.  Its  long  bill, 
short  legs  and  large  eyes — suggestive  of  its  nocturnal  or  crepuscular 
habits — have  often  been  the  subject  of  remark,  while  its  mottled 
plumage  of  black,  chestnut-  and  umber-brown,  ashy-grey,  buff  and 
shining  white — the  last  being  confined  to  the  tip  of  the  lower  side 
of  the  tail-quills,  but  the  rest  intermixed  for  the  most  part  in 
beautiful  combination — could  not  be  briefly  described.  Setting 
aside  the  many  extreme  aberrations  from  the  normal  colouring 
which  examples  of  this  species  occasionally  present  (and  some  of 
them  are  extremely  curious,  not  to  say  beautiful),  there  is  much 
variation  observable  in  the  plumage  of  individuals,  in  some  of  which 
the  richer  tints  prevail  while  others  exhibit  a  greyer  coloration.^ 

^  In  the  legal  sense  of  the  word,  however,  "Woodcocks  are  not  "game,"  though 
Acts  of  Parliament  require  a  "game  licence  "  from  those  who  would  shoot  them. 

-  By  Linnseus,  and  many  others,  misspelt  rusticola  :  the  correct  form  of  Pliny 
and  the  older  writers  seems  to  have  been  first  restored  in  1816  by  Oken  {Zoologie, 
ii.  p.  589). 

^  This  variation  is  often,  but  not  always,  accompanied  by  a  variation  in  size 
or  at  least  in  weight,  which  last  is  very  great,  though  it  seems  to  have  been 
exaggerated  by  some  writers.  A  friend  who  has  had  much  experience  told  me 
that  the  heaviest  bird  he  ever  knew  weighed  16 J  oz.,  and  the  lightest  9  oz.  and 
a  fraction.  The  paler  birds  are  generally  the  larger,  but  the  difference,  whether 
in  bulk  or  tint,  cannot  be  attributed  to  age,  sex,  season  or,  so  far  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained, to  locality.  It  is,  notwithstanding,  a  very  common  belief  among  sports- 
men that  there  are  two  "species"  of  Woodcock,  and  many  persons  of  experience 
will  have  it  that,  beside  the  differences  just  named,  the  "little  red  Woodcock" 
invariably  flies  more  sharply  than  the  other.  However,  a  sluggish  behaviour  is 
not  really  associated  with  colour,  though  it  may  possibly  be  correlated  with  weight 
— for  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  a  fat  bird  will  rise  more  slowly,  when  flushed, 
than  one  which  is  in  poor  condition.  It  may  suffice  here  to  say  that  ornitho- 
logists, some  of  whom  have  taken  a  vast  amount  of  trouble  about  the  matter,  are 


WOODCOCK  1043 


Tliougli  there  are  probably  few  if  any  counties  in  the  United 
Kingdom  in  which  the  Woodcock  does  not  almost  yearly  breed, 
especially  since  a  "  close  time  "  has  been  established  by  the  legis- 
lature, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
those  shot  in  the  British  Islands  have  come  from  abroad, — mostly, 
it  is  presumed,  from  Scandinavia.  These  arrive  on  the  east  coast 
in  autumn — generally  about  the  middle  of  October — often  in  an 
exhausted  and  impoverished  state.  Most  of  them  seem  to  cross 
the  sea  by  night,  and  at  that  season  it  is  a  brutal  practice  for  men 
to  go  out  in  the  morning  and  kill  the  helpless  and  almost  starving 
wanderers,  who  are  often  found  seeking  refuge  in  any  shelter  that 
may  present  itself.  If  unmolested,  however,  they  are  soon  rested, 
pass  inland,  and,  as  would  appear,  in  a  short  time  recover  their 
condition.  Their  future  destination  seems  to  be  greatly  influenced  by 
the  state  of  the  weather.  If  cold  or  frost  stop  their  supply  of  food 
on  the  eastern  side  of  Great  Britain,  they  press  ouAvard  and,  letting 
alone  Ireland  into  which  the  immigrant  stream  is  pretty  constant, 
often  crowd  into  the  extreme  south-west,  as  Devonshire  and  Corn- 
wall, and  to  the  Isles  of  Scilly,  while  not  a  few  betake  themselves 
to  the  unknown  ocean,  finding  there  doubtless  a  watery  grave, 
though  instances  are  on  record  of  examj^les  having  successfully 
crossed  the  Atlantic  and  reaching  Newfoundland,  New  Jersey  and 
Virginia.  To  return,  however,  to  the  Woodcocks  which  bi^eed  in 
Britain,  whose  habits  have  been  much  more  frequently  observed 
since  the  folly  and  cruelty  of  killing  them  in  spring  has  been  re- 
cognized, and  it  may  be  hoped  abandoned.  Pairing  takes  place 
very  early  in  February  and  the  eggs  are  laid  often  before  the  middle 
of  March.  These  are  four  in  number,  of  a  yellowish  cream-colour 
blotched  and  spotted  with  reddish -brown,  and  seldom  take  the 
pyriform  shape  so  common  among  those  of  Limicoline  birds.  The 
nest — always  made  on  the  ground  amid  trees  or  underwood,  and 
usually  near  water  or  at  least  in  a  damp  locality — is  at  first  little 
more  than  a  slight  hollow  in  the  soil,  but  as  incubation  proceeds 
dead  leaves  are  collected  around  its  margin  until  a  considerable 
mass  is  accumulated.  During  this  season  the  male  Woodcock 
performs  at  twilight  flights  of  a  remarkable  kind  (SoNG,  p.  893), 
repeating  evening  after  evening  (and  it  is  believed  at  dawn  also) 

practically  unanimous  in  declaring  against  the  existence  of  two  "species  "  or  even 
"races,"  and  moreover  in  agreeing  that  the  sex  of  the  bird  cannot  be  determined 
from  its  plumage,  though  there  are  a  few  who  believe  that  the  young  of  the  year 
can  be  discriminated  from  the  adults  by  having  the  outer  web  of  the  outer  primary 
marked  with  angular  notches  of  a  light  colour,  while  the  old  birds  have  no  trace 
of  this  " Vandyke"  ornament.  Careful  dissections,  weighings  and  measurings 
seem  to  shew  that  the  male  varies  most  in  size  ;  on  an  average  he  is  slightly 
heavier  than  the  female,  yet  some  of  the  lightest  birds  have  proved  to  be  cocks. 
Cf.  Hoffmann's  Die  WaldscTinepfe,  ed.  2,  p.  35  (Stuttgart :  18S7). 


I044  WOODCOCK 


precisely  the  same  course,  generally  describing  a  triangle,  the  sides 
of  which  may  be  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long  or  more.  On  these 
occasions  the  bird's  appearance  on  the  wing  is  quite  unlike  that 
which  it  presents  when  hurriedly  flying  after  being  flushed,  and 
though  its  speed  is  great  the  beats  of  the  wings  are  steady  and 
slow.  At  intervals  an  extraordinary  sound  is  produced,  whether 
from  the  throat  of  the  bird,  as  is  commonly  averred,  or  from  the 
plumage  is  uncertain.  To  the  present  wiiter  the  sound  seems  to 
defy  description,  though  some  hearers  have  tried  to  syllable  it. 
This  characteristic  flight  is  in  some  parts  of  England  called  "  road- 
ing,"  and  the  track  taken  by  the  bird  a  "  cock-road."  ^  In  England 
in  former  times  advantage  was  taken  of  this  habit  to  catch  the 
simple  performer  in  nets  called  "  cock-shutts,"  which  were  hung 
between  trees  across  the  open  glades  or  rides  of  a  wood,^  and  in 
many  parts  of  the  Continent  it  still  is,  or  was  till  very  lately,  the 
disgraceful  habit  of  persons  calling  themselves  sportsmen  to  lie  in 
wait  and  shoot  the  bird  as  he  indulges  in  his  measured  love-flight. 
A  still  more  interesting  matter  in  relation  to  the  breeding  of  Wood- 
cocks is  the  fact,  asserted  by  several  ancient  writers,  but  for  long 
doubted  if  not  disbelieved,  and  yet  finally  established  on  good 
evidence,  that  the  old  birds  transport  their  newly-hatched  offspring, 
presumably  to  places  where  food  is  more  accessible.  The  young 
are  clasped  between  the  thighs  of  the  parent,  whose  legs  hang  down 
during  the  operation,  while  the  bill  is  to  some  extent,  possibly  only 
at  starting,  brought  into  operation  to  assist  in  adjusting  the  load  if 
not  in  bearing  it  through  the  air.^ 

1  The  etymology  and  consequently  the  correct  spelling  of  these  expressions 
seem  to  be  very  imcertain.  Some  would  derive  the  word  from  the  French  rSder, 
to  rove  or  wander,  but  others  connect  it  with  the  Scandinavian  rode,  an  open 
space  in  a  wood  (see  Hofes  aTid  Queries,  ser.  5,  ix.  p.  214,  and  ser.  6,  viii.  pp. 
523,  524).  Looking  to  the  regular  routine  followed  by  the  bird,  the  natural 
supposition  would  be  that  it  is  simply  an  application  of  the  English  word  road  ; 
but  of  course  natural  suppositions  are  often  wrong,  and  they  always  require  the 
support  of  evidence  before  acceptance. 

2  There  is  an  interesting  passage,  to  which  Lord  Lilford  kindly  drew  my  atten- 
tion, in  George  Owen's  Description  of  Penbrokshire,  written  in  1602  and  printed  in 
1892  as  No.  1  of  the  ' Cymmrodorion  Record  Series'  (pp.  129,  130),  shewing  the 
marvellous  ' '  plentie "  of  Woodcocks,  from  Michaelmas  to  Christmas,  in  that 
county,  where  they  were  taken  "in  cock  shoote  tyme  (as  yt  is  tearmed)  w^ii  is 
the  twylight,"  when  "yt  ys  no  strange  thinge  to  take  a  hundred  or  sixe  score  in 
one  woodd  in  xxiiijo""  houres,"  and  another  MS.  speaks  of  one  wood  having  13 
cock-shots.  In  explanation  of  this  abimdance  the  great  extent  of  forest  which 
then  prevailed  in  England  may  be  borne  in  mind.  One  can  hardly  doubt  that 
very  many  more  Woodcocks  were  then  bred  here  than  we  have  any  notion  of  at 
present,  while  the  birds  would,  as  they  now  do,  make  in  autumn  for  the  western 
part  of  the  island.  It  is  expressly  stated  by  Owen  that  they  were  not  reared  in 
Wales,  for  he  says  that  the  species  is  "not  our  country eman  borne." 

3  Of.  Harting,  Zoologist,  1879,  pp.  433-440,  and  Mr.  Wolfs  excellent  illustra- 


woo  D-D  UCK—  WOODPECKER  1045 

The  Woodcock  inhabits  suitable  localities  across  the  northern 
part  of  the  Old  World,  from  Ireland  to  Japan,  migrating  southward 
towards  autumn.  As  a  species  it  is  said  to  be  resident  in  the  Azores 
and  other  Atlantic  Islands ;  but  it  is  not  known  to  penetrate  very 
far  into  Africa  during  the  winter,  though  in  many  parts  of  India 
it  is  abundant  during  the  cold  weather,  and  reaches  even  Ceylon 
and  Tenasserim.  The  popular  belief  that  Woodcocks  live  "by 
suction  "  is  perhaps  hardly  yet  exploded ;  but  those  who  have  ob- 
served them  in  confinement  know  that  they  have  an  almost  insatiable 
appetite  for  earthworms,  which  the  birds  seek  by  probing  soft  ground 
with  their  highly  sensitive  and  flexible  bill.^  This  fact  seems  to 
have  been  first  placed  on  record  by  Bowles,^  who  noticed  it  in  the 
royal  aviary  at  San  Ildefonso  in  Spain,  and  it  has  been  corroborated 
by  other  observers,  and  especially  by  Montagu,  who  discovered  that 
bread  and  milk  made  an  excellent  substitute  for  their  ordinary  food. 

The  eastern  part  of  North  America  possesses  a  Woodcock,  much 
smaller  than  though  generally  (and  especially  in  habits)  similar  to 
that  of  the  Old  continent.  It  is  the  Scolopax  minor  of  most  authors  ; 
but,  chiefly  on  account  of  its  having  the  outer  three  primax'ies  remark- 
ably attenuated,  it  has  been  placed  in  a  separate  genus,  Philohela, 
In  Java  is  found  a  distinct  and  curiously-coloured  species,  described 
and  figured  many  years  ago  by  Horsfield  (Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xiii.  p. 
191,  and  Zool.  Res.  pi.)  as  S.  saturata.  To  this  Mr.  Seebohm  (Geogr. 
Distr.  Charadr.  p.  506,  pi.)  referred  the  S.  rosenhergi  of  Schlegel 
{Nederl.  Tijds.  Dierk.  iv.  p.  54)  from  New  Guinea;  but,  as  the 
culpable  destruction  of  the  type-specimen  of  the  former  (during  its 
transfer  from  the  old  museum  of  the  East  India  Company  to  the 
British  Museum)  has  made  a  comparison  of  the  two  impossible,  the 
identification  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  free  from  doubt.  Another 
species  is  S.  rochusseni  from  the  Moluccas,  but  this  last,  though 
resembling  the  other  Woodcocks  in  most  of  the  characters  which 
distinguish  them  from  the  Snipes,  has  like  the  latter  the  lower 
part  of  the  tibia  bare  of  feathers. 

WOOD-DUCK,  ^x  sponsa  (page  171):  WOOD-HEN  (see 
Weka,  page  1031):  WOODLAEK  (pages  509,  510). 

WOODPECKER,  a  bird  that  pecks  or  picks  holes  in  wood,  and 
from  this  habit  is  commonly  reputed  to  have  its  name ;  but  since 
it  is  in  some  parts   of  England  also  known  as  "  Woodspeight " 

tion.  Sir  E.  Payne-Gall wey,  in  the  'Badminton  Library'  {Shooting,  ii.  p.  118, 
note),  states  that  he  himself  has  ■witnessed  the  performance. 

^  The  pair  of  muscles  said  by  Loche  (Expl.  Sclent,  de  I'Algirie,  ii.  p.  293)  to 
exist  in  the  maxilla,  and  presumably  to  direct  the  movement  of  the  bill,  do  not 
seem  to  have  as  yet  been  precisely  described. 

^  Introducdon  a  la  Historia  Natural  y  a  la  Geografia  fisica  de  EsjmTia,  pp. 
454,  455  (Madrid  :  1775). 


I046  WOODPECKER 

(erroneously  written  "  Woodspite ") — the  latter  syllable  being 
cognate  with  the  German  Specht  and  the  French  JEpeiche,  to  say 
nothing  possibly  of  the  Latin  Picus — the  vulgar  explanation  seems 
open  to  doubt. ^  More  than  300  species  of  Woodpecker  have  been 
described,  and  they  have  been  very  variously  grouped  by  systema- 
tists  ;  but  all  admit  that  they  form  a  very  natural  Family  Picidse. 
Huxley  (Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1867,  p.  467)  separated  the  Woodpeckers 
still  more  under  the  name  of  Celeomorphse,  and  Prof.  Parker  {Trans. 
Pi..  Microsc.  Soc.  1872,  p.  219)  raised  them  still  higher  as  Sauro- 
gnathx.^  They  are  generally  of  bright  particoloured  plumage,  in 
which  black,  white,  brown,  olive,  green,  yellow,  orange  or  scarlet 
— the  last  commonly  visible  on  some  part  of  the  head — mingled  in 
varying  proportions,  and  most  often  strongly  contrasted  with  one 
another,  appear ;  while  the  less  conspicuous  markings  take  the  form 
of  bars,  spangles,  tear-drops,  arrow-heads  or  scales.  Woodpeckers 
inhabit  most  parts  of  the  world,  with  the  exception  of  Madagascar 
and  the  Australian  Eegion,  save  Celebes  and  Flores  ;  but  no  member 
of  the  group  is  recorded  to  have  occurred  in  Egypt. 

Of  the  three  British  species,  the  Green  Woodpecker,  Gecinus 
viridis,  though  almost  unknown  in  Scotland  or  Ireland,  is  the 
commonest,  frequenting  wooded  districts,  and  more  often  heard 
than  seen,  its  laughing  cry  (whence  the  name  "Yaffil"  or  "Yaffle," 
by  which  it  is  in  many  parts  known)  and  imdulating  flight  afford 
equally  good  means  of  recognition,  even  when  it  is  not  near  enough 
for  its  colours  to  be  discerned.  About  the  size  of  a  Jay,  its  scarlet 
crown  and  bright  yellow  rump,  added  to  its  prevailing  grass-green 
plumage,  make  it  a  sightly  bird,  and  hence  it  often  suffers  at  the 
hands  of  those  who  wish  to  keep  its  stuffed  skin  as  an  ornament. 
Beside  the  scarlet  crown,  the  cock  bird  has  a  patch  of  the  same 
colour  running  backward  from  the  base  of  the  lower  mandible,  a 
patch  that  in  the  hen  is  black.-^     Woodpeckers  in  general  are  very 

1  The  number  of  English  names,  ancient  and  modern,  by  which  these  birds 
are  known  is  very  great,  and  even  a  bare  list  of  them  could  not  be  here  given. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  was  Higera  or  Higere,  and  to  this  may  plausibly  be  traced 
"  Hickwall,"  nowadays  used  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  older  "  Hick- 
way,"  corrupted  first  into  "Highhaw,"  and,  after  its  original  meaning  was  lost, 
into  "Hewhole,"  which  in  North  America  has  been  still  further  corrupted  into 
"  Highhole  "  and  more  recently  into  "  High-holder."  Another  set  of  names  in- 
cludes "  Whetile  "  and  "  Woodwale,"  which,  different  as  they  look,  have  a  common 
derivation  perceptible  in  the  intermediate  form  "Witwale."  The  Anglo-Saxon 
JFodake  ( =  Woodhack)  is  another  name  apparently  identical  in  meaning  with 
that  commonly  applied  to  Woodpecker  {cf.  Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,  ii.  pp.  461-463). 

2  Cf.  Shufeldt,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1891,  pp.  122-129. 

^  A  patch  of  conspicuous  colour,  generally  red,  on  this  part  is  characteristic  of 
very  many  Woodpeckers,  and  careless  writers  often  call  it  "mystacial,"  or  some 
more  barbarously  "  moustachial."  Seeing  that  moustaches  spring  from  above 
the  mouth,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  lower  jaw,  the  term  is  misleading. 


WOODPECKER  1047 

shy  birds,  and  to  observe  the  habits  of  the  species  is  not  easy.  Its 
ways,  however,  are  well  worth  watching,  since  the  ease  with  which 
it  mounts,  almost  always  spirally,  the  vertical  trunks  and  oblique 
arms  of  trees  as  it  searches  the  interstices  of  the  bark  for  its  food, 
flying  off  when  it  reaches  the  smaller  or  upper  branches — either  to 
retiu'n  to  the  base  of  the  same  tree  and  renew  its  course  on  a  fresh 
line,  or  to  begin  upon  another  tree  near  by — and  the  care  it  shews 
in  its  close  examination,  will  repay  a  patient  observer.  The  nest 
almost  always  consists  of  a  hole,  chiselled  by  the  bird's  strong  beak, 
impelled  by  very  powerful  muscles,  in  the  upright  trunk  or  arm  of 
a  tree,  the  opening  being  quite  circular,  and  continued  as  a  horizontal 
passage  that  reaches  to  the  core,  whence  it  is  pierced  downward  for 
nearly  a  foot.  There  a  chamber  is  hollowed  out  in  which  the  eggs, 
often  to  the  number  of  six,  white,  translucent  and  glossy,  are  laid 
with  no  bedding  but  a  few  chips  that  may  have  not  been  thrown 
out.^  The  young  are  not  only  hatched  entirely  naked,  but  seem  to 
become  fledged  without  any  of  the  downy  growth  common  to  most 
birds.  Their  first  plumage  is  dull  in  colour,  and  much  marked 
beneath  with  bars,  crescents  and  arrowheads. 

Of  generally  similar  habits  are  the  two  other  Woodpeckers  which 
inhabit  Britain — the  Pied  or  Greater  Spotted,  and  the  Barred  or 
Lesser  Spotted  Woodpecker — Dendrocojpus  major  and  D.  minor — each 
of  great  beauty,  from  the  contrasted  white,  blue-black  and  scarlet 
that  enter  into  its  plumage.  Both  of  these  birds  have  an  extra- 
ordinary habit  of  causing  by  quickly-repeated  blows  of  their  beak 
on  a  branch,  or  even  on  a  small  bough,  a  vibrating  noise,  louder 
than  that  of  a  watchman's  rattle,  and  enough  to  excite  the  attention 
of  the  most  incurious.  Though  the  Pied  Woodpecker  is  a  resident 
in  Britain,  its  numbers  receive  a  considerable  accession  nearly  every 
autumn. 

The  three  species  just  mentioned  are  the  only  Woodpeckers 
that  inhabit  Britain,  though  several  others  are  mistakenly  recorded 
as  occurring  in  the  country — and  especially  the  Great  Black 
Woodpecker,  the  Picus  martins  of  Linnaeus,  Avhich  must  be  regarded 
as  the  type  of  that  genus.^     This  fine  species  considerably  exceeds 

^  It  often  happens  that,  just  as  the  Woodpecker's  labours  are  over,  a  pah'  of 
Starlings  will  take  possession  of  the  newly-bored  hole,  and,  by  conveying  into 
it  some  nesting-furniture,  render  it  unfit  for  the  rightful  tenants,  who  thereby 
suffer  ejectment,  and  have  to  begin  all  their  trouble  again.  It  has  been  stated  of 
this  and  other  "Woodpeckers  that  the  chips  made  in  cutting  the  hole  are  carefully 
removed  by  the  birds  to  guard  against  their  leading  to  the  discovery  of  the  nest. 
I  have  had  ample  opportunity  of  observing  the  contrary  as  regards  this  species 
and,  to  some  extent,  the  Pied  Woodpecker  next  to  be  mentioned.  Indeed  there 
is  no  surer  way  of  finding  a  nest  of  the  Green  Woodpecker  than  by  looking  on  the 
ground  in  the  presumed  locality,  for  the  tree  which  holds  the  nest  is  always 
recognizable  by  the  chips  scattered  at  its  foot. 

^  The  expression  Ficus  martius  was  by  old  writers  used  in  a  very  general 


1048 


WOODPECKER 


Picus.    (After  Swainson.) 


the  Green  Woodpecker  in  size,  and  except  for  its  red  cap  is  wholly- 
black.  It  is  chiefly  an  inhabitant  of  the  fir  forests  of  the  Old 
World,  from  Lapland  to  Galicia,  and  across 
Siberia  to  Japan.^  In  North  America  this 
species  is  replaced  by  F.  pileahis,  there 
generally  known  as  the  Logcock,  an  equally 
fine  species,  but  variegated  with  white; 
and  further  to  the  southward  occur  two  that  are  finer  still,  P.  or 
Campephihts  principalis,  the  Ivory-bill-  (p.  460),  and  P.  imperialis. 
The  Picinx  indeed  flourish  in  the  New  AVorld,  nearly  one-half  of  the 
described  species  being  American,  but  out  of  the  large  number  that 
inhabit  Canada  and  the  United  States  there  is  here  room  to  mention 
only  one  at  any  length. 

This    is    the    Californian  Woodpecker,  Melanerpes  formicivorus, 

which  has  been  said  to  dis- 
play an  amount  of  providence 
beyond  almost  any  other  bird 
in  the  number  of  acorns  which 
it  collects  and,  as  shewn  in 
the  accompanying  figure,  fixes 
tightly  in  holes  which  it  pur- 
posely makes  in  the  bark  of 
trees,  and  thus  "a  large  pine 
forty  or  fifty  feet  high  will 
present  the  appearance  of 
being  closely  studded  with 
brass  nails,  the  heads  only 
being  visible."  An  extraor- 
dinary thing  is  that  this  is  not 
done  to  furnish  food  in  winter, 
for  the  species  migrates,  and 
after  journeying  a  thousand 
miles  or  more  only  i-eturns  in 
spring  to  the  forests  where 
It  has  been  asserted  that  the  acorns  thus 


Californian  Woodpecker 
{Mela  nerpcs  formicivorus). 


its  supplies  are  laid  up. 

stored  are  always  those  which  contain  a  maggot,  and,  being  fitted 

into  the  sockets  prepared  for  them  cup-end  foremost,  the  enclosed 


sense  for  all  birds  that  climbed  trees,  not  only  Woodpeckers,  but  even  the 
Nuthatch  and  Tree-creeper.  The  adjective  martins  loses  all  its  significance 
if  it  be  removed  from  Pirns,  as  some  even  respectable  writers  have  separated  it. 

^  The  persistency  with  which  many  writers  on  British  birds  have  for  years 
included  this  species  among  them  is  a  marvellous  instance  of  the  durability  of 
error,  for  not  a  case  of  its  asserted  occurrence  in  this  country  is  on  record  that  will 
bear  investigation,  and  the  origin  of  the  mistake  has  been  more  than  once  shewn. 

^  On  the  threatened  extinction  of  this  species,  cf,  Hasbrouck,  Auk,  1891, 
pp.  174-186. 


WOODPECKER  1049 


insects  are  unable  to  escape,  as  they  otherwise  would,  and  are*  thus 
ready  for  consumption  by  the  birds  on  their  return  from  the  south. 
But  this  statement  has  again  been  contradicted,  and  moreover  it 
is  alleged  these  Woodpeckers  follow  their  instinct  so  blindly  that 
"they  do  not  distinguish  between  an  acorn  and  a  pebble,"  so  that 
they  "fill  up  the  holes  they  have  drilled  with  so  much  labor,  not 
only  with  acorns  but  occasionally  with  stones  "  ((/.  Baird,  Brewer 
and  llidgway,  N.  Am.  B.  ii.  pp.  569-571).  Another  remarkable 
North-American  form  is  the  genus  Colaptes,  of  which  enough  has 
been  said  above  (Flicker,  pages  258-260),^ 

The  Picidse  have  offered  a  fruitful  ground  for  taxonomical 
speculation ;  but  three  subfamilies  are  admitted  by  all  modern 
systematists — the  '^Voodpeckers  j)roper,  Picinx ;  the  Piculets, 
Picumninse  (page  720)  and  the  Wrynecks.  The  most  recent 
examination  of  the  Family  is  that  by  the  late  Mr.  Hargitt  (Cat.  B. 
Br.  Mus.  xviii.),  who  admitted  45  genera  and  343  species  or  subspecies 


Bill  and  Foot  of  Celeus.       (After  Svvainson.)  Foot  of  Picoides. 

of  the  first  group.^  Having  devoted  himself  for  many  years  to  the 
study  of  the  Piciclx,  and  having  the  largest  collection  of  them  in  the 
world  to  work  upon,  his  results  are  doubtless  more  correct  than  those 
of  any  of  his  predecessors,^  but  it  seems  obvious  that  until  the  aid  of 
the  anatomist  is  invoked  no  satisfactory  arrangement  can  be  supplied, 
and  it  is  not  certain  that  even  then  will  the  desired  end  be  reached, 
for  Macgillivray,  who  furnished  Audubon  with  elaborate  descriptions 
of  parts  of  the  structure  of  several  North-American  forms,  found 
considerable  differences  to  exist  between  species  Avhich  can  hardly 
be  but  nearly  allied.'^ 

^  When  more  is  known  it  -will  very  likely  be  found  that  a  state  of  things 
somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Colaptes  exists  in  the  Pahearctic  area  in  regard  to  the 
various  local  races  of,  or  "species"  allied  to,  Dendrocop^is  major  and  J>.  jiiinor 
respectively. 

-  That  some  Woodpeckers,  as  in  the  well-known  genus  Picoides,  have  only  three 
toes  is  as  little  significant  as  is  the  same  fact  in  certain  Kingfishers  (p.  488). 

^  Malherbe,  Monogj^apldc  dcs  Picid^es,  4  vols,  folio,  Metz  :  1859-62  ;  Cahanis, 
Museum  Heincanum,  iv.  Heft  2 ;  Sundevall,  Conspectus  Avium  Picinarum, 
Stockholm:  1866. 

*  Some  of  the  most  striking  of  these  differences  often  lie  in  tlie  foi-m  and 
development  of  the  hyoid  bones,  and  of  the  muscles  which  work  the  extensile 


I050  WOOD-PIE—  WREN 

WOOD-PIE,  WOOD-SPEIGHT  and  WOODWALL  (see  Wood- 
pecker, page  1045) ;  WOOD-PIGEON  (see  Ring-DovE,  page  162). 

WOOD-SWALLOW,  the  name  in  Australia  for  birds  of  the  genus 
Artamus,  the  systematic  position  and  true  affinities  of  which  must  be 
regarded  as  undetermined.  Some  writers  place  it  in  a  Family  of  its 
own,  Artamidx,  others  refer  it  as  a  subfamily  Artaminse  to  Laniidx 
(Shrike),  while  again  some  see  in  it  a  relationship  to  the  Orioles, 
and  others  to  the  STARLINGS.  The  species  of  Artamus,  and  17  are 
recognized  by  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  xvii.  pp.  2-21),  range  from 
India  through  most  of  the  intervening  countries  and  islands  to 
Australia,  and  have  many  of  the  habits  and  to  some  extent  the 
appearance  of  Swallows  (not  that  there  seems  to  be  any  affinity 
between  the  groups),  passing  much  of  their  time  on  the  wing,  and 
taking  insects  as  they  fly.  Two  species,  A.fuscus  and  A.  leucorhynchus 
or  leucogaster  occur  in  India,  the  former  reaching  to  the  Philippines 
and  Hainan,  the  latter  from  the  Andamans  to  Queensland,  and  eight 
others  are  found  in  Australia,  while  one  is  peculiar  to  the  Fijis. 
They  are  plain-looking  birds,  mostly  of  a  slate-colour  with  more  or 
less  white  beneath.  Some  forms  from  Madagascar,  as  Artamia, 
OrioUa  and  others,  as  well  as  the  curious  Pseudochelidon  from 
Western  Africa,  have  been  referred  to  the  group,  but  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  they  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  By  Anglo- 
Indian  ornithologists  these  birds  are  generally  called  Swallow- 
Shrikes. 

WRANNOCK,  WRANNY,  Orcadian  and  Cornish,  for  the 

WREN  (A.-S.  JVrsenna  and  JVrenne,  Icel.  Eindill),  the  inquisitive 
and  familiar  little  brown  bird — with  its  short  tail,  cocked  on  high — 
that  braves  the  winter  of  the  British  Islands  and  even  that  of  the 
European  continent,  and,  except  in  the  hardest  of  frosts,  will  daily 
sing  its  spirit-stirring  strain.  ^     It  is  the  Motacilla  or  Sylvia  troglo- 

tongue.  For  a  long  while  the  subject  was  not  pursued  by  any  other  investigator, 
but  lately  an  excellent  though  too  brief  treatise  on  the  subject  by  Mr.  Lucas  has 
been  printed  by  the  Agricultural  Department  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  together  with  a  valuable  preliminary  Report  by  Mr.  Beal  on  the  food  of 
Woodpeckers  (Washington  :  1895),  the  result  of  whose  investigations  is  much 
against  the  popular  view  of  the  alleged  mischief  done  by  these  birds.  It  may  be 
mentioned  that  some  limited  researches  on  the  ptcrylosis,  conducted  by  Kessler 
{Bull.  Soc.  Nat.  Muscou,  xvi.  p.  285),  in  addition  to  those  of  Nitzsch,  indicate 
that  as  being  also  a  promising  line  of  enquiry,  though  one  that  has  scarcely  been 
attempted  by  other  workers. 

^  The  interest  taken  in  this  bird  throughout  all  European  countries  is  scarcely 
exceeded  by  that  taken  in  any  other,  and,  though  in  Britain  comparatively  few 
vernacular  names  have  been  applied  to  it,  two  of  them— "Jenny"  or  "Kitty- 
Wren" —  are  terms  of  endearment.  M.  Rollaud  records  no  fewer  than  139 
local  names  for  it  in  France  ;  and  Italy,  Germany  and  other  lands  are  only  less 
prolific.     Many  of  these  carry  on  the  old  belief  that  the  Wr^n  was   the  King 


WREN  io;i 


dytes  of  the  earlier  systematists,  and  the  Troglodytes  parvulus,  eiiropxus 
or  vulgaris  of  most  later  writers.^  Here  it  hardly  needs  descrip- 
tion, and  its  domed  nest,  apparently  so  needlessly  large  for  the 
size  of  the  bird,  is  a  well-known  object,  for  it  is  built  with 
uncommon  care,  and  often  (though  certainly  not  always)  in  such 
a  fashion  as  to  assimilate  its  exterior  to  its  surroundings,  and  so 
to  escape  observation.  Very  curious,  too,  is  the  equally  un- 
accountable fact,  that  near  any  occupied  nest  may  generally  be 
found  another  nest,  or  more  than  one,  of  imperfect  construction. 
The  widespread  belief  concerning  these  unfinished  fabrics  is  implied 
by  their  common  name  of  "cocks'  nests,"  but  evidence  to  that 
effect  is  not  forthcoming.  The  breeding-habits  of  the  Wren  were 
most  closely  studied  and  accurately  reported  by  Mr.  Weir  to 
Macgillivray  (Brit.  Birds,  iii.  pp.  23-30)  in  a  way  that  leads  every 
ornithologist  to  wish  that  the  same  care  might  be  bestowed  on 
other  kinds  of  birds. 

The  range  of  the  Wren  in  Europe  ^  is  very  extensive,  though 
it  seems  to  stop  short  of  the  Arctic  Circle ;  but  it  occurs  in 
Algeria,  Madeira  and,  according  to  Bolle,  in  the  Canaries.  It  also 
inhabits  Palestine.  Further  to  the  eastward  its  limits  are  difficult 
to  trace,  because  they  inosculate  with  those  of  a  considerable 
number  of  local  races  or  species.  As  might  be  expected,  the  form 
inhabiting  Japan,  T.  funiigatiis,  seems  to  be  justifiably  deemed  a 
species.     In  North  America,   T.  alascensis  occurs  in  the  extreme 

of  Birds,  a  belief  connected  with  the  fable  that  on  one  occasion  the  fowls  of  the 
air  in  general  assembly  resolved  to  choose  for  their  leader  that  one  of  them 
which  should  mount  highest.  This  the  Eagle  seemed  to  do,  and  all  were  ready- 
to  accept  his  rule,  when  a  loud  burst  of  song  was  heard,  and  perched  upon  him 
was  seen  the  exultant  Wren,  which  unseen  and  unfelt  had  been  borne  aloft  by 
the  giant.  The  curious  association  of  this  bird  with  the  Feast  of  the  Three 
Kings,  on  which  day  in  South  Wales,  or,  in  Ireland  and  in  the  south  of  France, 
on  or  about  Christmas  Day,  it  was  customary  for  men  and  boys  to  "hunt  the 
Wren,"  addressing  it  in  a  song  as  "the  King  of  Birds,"  is  very  remarkable,  and 
has  never  yet  been  explained  {cf.  Yarrell,  Br.  B.  ed.  4,  i.  pp.  465,  466). 

^  A  few,  who  ignore  not  only  common  sense  but  also  the  accepted  rules  of 
scientific  nomenclature,  by  a  mistaken  view  of  Vieillot's  intention  in  establish- 
ing the  genus  Troglodytes,  reserve  that  term  for  some  American  species — 
which  can  hardly  be  generically  separated  from  the  Eiu'opean  form, — and  have 
attempted  to  fix  on  the  latter  the  generic  term  Anorthura,  which  is  its  strict 
equivalent,  and  was  proposed  by  Rennie  on  grounds  that  are  inadmissible. 

^  Some  interest  was  excited  by  the  discovery,  announced  by  Mr.  Seebohm 
{Zool.  1884,  p.  333),  that  the  Wren,  for  nearly  200  years  known  to  inhabit  St. 
Kilda,  differed  in  hue  from  that  of  the  other  British  Islands  and  of  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  and  he  described  it  as  a  distinct  species,  T.  hirtensis.  It  had 
for  more  than  20  years  been  known  that  the  Wren  of  the  Faroes  and  Iceland, 
T.  borealis  (Fischer,  Journ.  fur  Orn.  18G1,  p.  14,  pi.  i.),  deserved  separation 
from  the  ordinary  T.  parvulus,  by  being  larger,  aud  especially  by  having  larger 
and  stouter  feet. 


I052  WREN 


north-west,  and  is  replaced  further  to  the  southwai-d  by  T. 
jpacificus.  Eastward  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  form  is  T. 
hyemalis — the  well-known  Winter-Wren  of  Canada  and  the  United 
States.  The  number  of  species  inhabiting  North  America  is,  how- 
ever, very  considerable,  though  authorities  are  by  no  means 
agreed  as  to  how  many  should  be  reckoned  valid,  and  they  have 
been  segregated  into  six  or  seven  genera.  Here  the  House- Wren, 
T.  domesticus  or  aedon,  can  alone  be  mentioned.  It  is  a  very 
common  summer-visitant  to  most  parts  of  the  Eastern  States,  and 
where  it  occiirs  is  of  a  very  familiar  disposition,  entering  into  the 
closest  relations  with  those  that  cultivate  its  acquaintance.  It  is 
represented  in  the  West  by  T.  parkmanni. 

The  Troglodytidx,  regarded  as  a  distinct  Family,  predominate  in 
the  New  World  (no  fewer  than  60  species  being  enumerated  in  the 
Nomendatm-  of  Messrs.  Sclater  and  Salvin  as  belonging  to  the  Neo- 
tropical Region),  and  seem  to  have  the  Certhiidx  (Tree-creeper,  page 
986)  for  their  nearest  allies.  To  place  them  among  the  Timeliidx, 
as  has  been  done  (Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  vi.  pp.  1  et  seqq.)  is,  as  already 
observed  (Timelia,  page  963),  preposterously  unfitting,  and  to 
suppose  them  related  to  the  Water-OusEL  (page  688)  is  absurd. 

The  Troglodytidse,  however,  by  no  means  contain  all  the  birds  to 
which  the  name  "Wren"  is  applied.  Several  of  the  Sylviidx 
(Warbler)  bear  it,  especially  the  beautiful  little  Golden- crested 
Wren  (Kinglet)  and  the  group  commonly  known  in  Britain  as 
"  Willow- Wrens  " — forming  the  genus  Phylloscopus.  Three  of  these 
are  habitual  summer- visitants,  which  differ  much  more  in  their 
manners  than  in  their  look.  The  largest,  usually  called  the  Wood- 
Wren,  P.  sihilatrix,  is  more  abundant  in  the  north  than  in  the 
south  of  England,  and  chiefly  frequents  woods  of  oak  or  beech. 
It  has  a  loud  and  very  peculiar  song,  like  the  word  twee,  sounded 
very  long,  and  repeated  several  times  in  succession — at  first  slowly, 
but  afterwards  more  quickly,  an'd  near  the  end  accompanied  by  a 
peculiar  quivering  of  the  wings,  while  at  uncertain  intervals  comes 
another  note,  which  has  been  syllabled  as  chea,  uttered  about  three 
times  in  succession.  The  Willow- Wren  proper,  P.  trochilus,  is  in 
many  parts  of  Great  Britain  the  commonest  summer-bird,  and  is 
the  most  generally  dispersed.  In  spring  its  joyous  burst  of  song 
is  repeated  time  after  time,  until  all  around  thrills  with  the  loud 
and  merry  chorus,  and  yet  never  tires  the  ear.  The  restless  but 
graceful  activity  of  the  bird,  as  it  flits  from  twig  to  twig,  adds  to 
the  charm  of  its  appearance,  which  Hewitson  so  well  appreciated.^ 
The  third  species,  P.  collyhita  or  minor  (frequently  but  most 
wrongly  called  Sylvia  rufa  or  P.  rufus),  commonly  known  as  the 
Chiffchaff,  from  the  peculiarity  of  its  constantly  repeated  two- 
noted  cry,  is  very  numerous  in  the  southern  and  western  part  of 
^  It  seems  to  be  the  "  Green  Linnet "  of  Wordsworth's  poem. 


WJ?  YBILL—  WR  YNECK 


lo 


3J 


England,  but  seems  to  be  scarcer  northward.  These  three  species 
make  their  nest  upon  or  very  close  to  the  ground,  and  the  build- 
ing is  always  domed.  Hence  they  are  commonly  called  "  Oven- 
birds  "  (page  669),  and  occasionally,  from  the  grass  used  in  their 
structure,  "  Hay-jacks,"  a  name  common  to  the  Whitethroat 
(page  1037)  and  its  allies. 

WR  YBILL,  Anarhjnchus  frontalis,  one  of  the  most  singular  birds 
known,  peculiar  to  New  Zealand  and,  as  Mr.  Harting,  in  an  admirable 
account  of  its  history  {Ihis,  1869,  pp.  304- 
310,  pi.  viii.),  shewed,  allied  to  the  genus 
jEgialitis  (Killdeer,  page  182).  It  has  its 
English  name  from  its  bill  being  congenitally 
{Proc.  Zool  Soc.  1870,  p.  674)  bent  in  the 
middle  and  diverted  to  the  right  side  —  a 
formation  supposed  to  give  the  bird  greater 
facility  in  seeking  its  food,  chiefly  arthropods 
that  lurk  under  stones,  round  which  it  may 
be  seen  running  from  left  to  right.  An  excel- 
lent  account  of  its  habits  as  observed  by  the 
late  Mr.  Potts  was  given  by  Sir  W.  Buller 
(B.  iV.  Zeal.  pp.  217-219),  who  also  asserts 
that  the  black  pectoral  band  worn  by  the  bird 
is  "generally  widest  on  the  left  side."  Be 
that  as  it  may,  it  does  not  detract  from  the 
Avonderful  nature  of  this  asymmetry  of  the 
bill,  which  is  comparable  indeed  with  that  wetbill,  Adult  and  chick. 
found  in  so  large  a  number  of  Cetaceans  among  (From  The  ms,  aud  Proc 
mammals,  but  with  nothing  known  among  "" " '  °'^'^ 
birds,  for  neither  in  the  Crossbills  nor  the  members  of  the  genus 
Loxops,  little  birds  peculiar  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  are  the  bones 
of  the  mandibles  affected,  nor  is  the  distortion  of  the  ear-bones  in 
certain  Owls  (page  675)  externally  visible. 

WE  YNECK  (G-erm.  JFendehals,  Dutch  Draaihalzen,  French 
Torcol),  so  called  from  its  wonderful  way  of  Avrithing  its  head  and 
neck,  especially  when  captured,  as  it  may  easily  be,  on  its  nest  in 
a  hollow  tree.  The  lynx  ^  torquilla  of  ornithology,  it  is  a  regular 
summer-visitant  to  most  parts  of  Europe,  generally  arriving  a  few 
days  before  the  CuCKOW,  and  it  is  in  many  countries  known  by  a 
name  associating  it  with  that  well-known  bird — as  in  England 
"  Cuckow's  leader  "  and  "  Cuckow's  mate  " — but  in  some  places  it  is 
called  "  Snake-bird,"  not  only  from  the  undulatory  motions  just 
mentioned,  but  from  the  violent  hissing  with  which  it  seeks  to  repel 
an  intruder  from  its  hole.^ 

^  Frequently  misspelt,  as  by  Linnteus  in  his  later  years,  Vvrnx. 

2  The  peculiarity  was  known  to  Aristotle,  and  possibly  led  to  the  cruel  use  of 


I054 


WYPE 


The  very  unmistakable  note  of  the  Wryneck,  without  having 
any  musical  merit,  is  always  pleasant  to  hear  as  a  harbinger  of 
spring.  It  is  merely  a  repetition  of  what  may  be  syllabled  qiie,  que, 
que,  many  times  in  succession,  rapidly  uttered  at  first,  but  gi-adually 
slowing  and  in  a  continually  falling  key.  This,  however,  is  only 
heard  during  a  few  weeks,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  bird's  stay  in 
Europe  it  seems  to  be  mute.  It  feeds  almost  exclusively  on  insects, 
especially  on  ants,  and  may  often  be  seen  on  the  ground,  busily 
engaged  at  their  nests.  Somewhat  larger  than  a  Sparrow,  its 
plumage  is  not  easily  described,  being  beautifully  variegated  with 
black,  brown,  buff  and  grey — the  last  produced  by  minute  specks 
of  blackish-brown  on  a  light  ground — the  darker  markings  disposed 
in  patches,  vermiculated  bars,  freckles,  streaks  or  arrow-heads — and 
the  whole  blended  most  harmoniously,  so  as  to  recall  the  coloration 
of  a  Nightjar  or  of  a  Woodcock.  The  Wryneck  builds  no  nest, 
but  commonly  lays  its  translucent  Avhite  eggs  on  the  bare  wood  of  a 
hole  in  a  tree,  and  it  is  one  of  the  few  wild  birds  that,  by  abstracting 
its  eggs  day  after  day,  will  go  on  laying,  and  thus  upwards  of  forty 
have  been  taken  from  a  single  hole — but  the  proper  complement  is 
from  six  to  ten.-"^  As  regards  Britain,  the  bird  seems  to  be  becoming 
rarer,  owing  probably  to  the  destruction  of  hollow  trees  in  orchards, 
but  is  most  common  in  the  south-east,  its  numbers  decreasing  rapidly 
towards  the  west  and  north,  so  that  in  CornAvall  and  Wales  and 
beyond  Cheshire  and  Yorkshire  its  occurrence  is  but  rare,  while  it 
appears  only  by  accident  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 

Three  other  species  of  lynx  are  recognized  by  IVIr.  Hargitt 
{Cat.  B.  Br.  Mus.  xviii.  p.  560),  the  so-called  I.  japonica  being  in- 
distinguishable from  /.  torquilla ;  while  that  designated,  through  a 
mistake  in  the  locality  assigned  to  it,  I.  mdica,  is  identical  with  the 
/.  pedoralis  of  South  Africa.  Near  to  this  is  /.  pulchricoUis,  discovered 
by  Emin  Pasha  in  the  east  of  the  Bar-el-Djebel  (Ibis,  1884,  p.  28,  pi. 
iii.).  Another  distinct  African  species  is  the  /.  seqitatorialis,  originally 
described  from  Abyssinia.  As  already  stated  (Woodpecker,  p.  1049), 
they  form  a  subfamily  lynginse  of  the  Picidse,  from  the  more  normal 
groups  of  which  they  differ  but  little  in  internal  structure,  but  much 
in  coloration  and  in  having  the  tail-quills  flexible,  or  at  least  not 
stiffened  to  serve  as  props  as  in  the  climbing  Picinx. 

WYPE  (Sw.  Vipa)  often  Pie-wype,  a  name  of  the  Lapwing. 

tlie  bird  as  a  love-charm,  to  whicli  several  classical  writers  refer,  as  Pindar  {Pijtli. 
iv.  214  ;  Ncm.  iv.  35),  Theocritus  (iv.  17,  30),  and  Xenophon  {Memorabilia,  iii. 
xi.  17,  18).  In  one  part  at  least  of  China  a  name,  Shay-ling,  signifj'ing  "Snake's 
neck,"  is  given  to  it  {Ibis,  1875,  p.  125). 

^  Dr.    Giinther  {Ibis,  1890,  p.    411)  has  noticed  a  curious   pad,  beset  with 
lubercles,  on  the  heel  of  the  newly-hatched  bird. 


XANTHOCHROISM—  YELLO IV 


1055 


X 

XANTHOCHROISM,  the  abnormal  replacement  of  another 
colour,  generally  green,  by  yellow,  not  unfreqnently  seen  in 
Parrots  ;  but  said  to  be  often  induced  artificially  (c/.  Colour, 
page  99). 

XENICUS,  the  generic  name  ^  of  a  little  bird  from  Xew  Zealand, 
long  known  as  the  Long-legged  Warbler  (Latham,  Synops.  ii.  p.  465) 
or  Motacilla  longipes  of  Gmelin,  and  exciting  little  curiosity  until 
A.  W.  Forbes  shewed  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1882,  pp.  569-571)  that  it, 
as  well  as  Acanthidositta"^ — the  Rifleman  of  the  colonists  (suprci 


ACANTHIDOSITTA. 


(From  Buller.) 


Xenicus. 


p.  789,  note),  to  which  genus  it  had  sometimes  been  referred — had 
not  the  characteristic  vocal  organs  of  the  OsuiNES,  and  belonged  to 
the  group  which  Garrod  termed  Mesomyodi.  A',  longipes  is  the 
Bush- Wren  of  the  colonists,  while  a  second  species,  their  Eock-Wren, 
A'^  gilviventris,  inhabits  the  Southern  Alps.  The  existence  of  these 
two,  morphologically-low  genera,  forming  a  Family  which  should 
rightly  be  called  Acanthidosittldx  is  a  very  significant  feature  in 
New-Zealand  ornithology  (c/.  Buller,  B.  N.  Zeal.  ed.  2,  pp.  108-115). 


YAFFIL,  YAFFINGALE,  variously  spelt,  names  of  the  Green 
Woodpecker  (page  1046). 

YARWHELP,  an  old  name  for  the  Black-tailed  GODWIT  when 
it  inhabited  this  country  (r/.  Whaup). 

YELLOW,  used  in  combination  in  the  name  of  many  kinds  ; 

^  Said  by  G.  R.  Gray  {Cat.  Gen.  B.  p.  31)  in  1855  to  liave  been  bestowed  by 
him  in  1853  ;  but  no  publication  at  that  date  is  known,  and  the  genus  was  not 
really  described  till  some  years  later  (/Sis,  1862,  p.  218). 

2  Originally  miswritten  by  Lafresnaye  {Mag.  de  Zool.  1842,  Ois.  pi.  27) 
Acanthisitta. 


I056  YELPER—ZOSTEROPS 

thus  YELLOWBIRD  is  the  Xorth-American  Siskin  (page  847)  and 
perhaps  more  than  one  of  the  Mniotiltidx  (Warbler,  page  1022) : 
YELLOWHAMMER,  Germ.  Goldammer  (with  many  variant  forms, 
as  YELLOW  YELDROCK,  YOLDRIN,  YOWLEY  and  more),  is 
the  Yellow-BuNTiNG  (page  61)  of  this  country,  and  in  North  America, 
one  of  the  Woodpeckers;  YELLOWHEAD  in  New  Zealand  is 
Clitonyx  ochrocephalm,  the  representative  in  the  South  Island  of 
the  Whitehead  (page  1037)  of  the  North;  YELLOWLEGS  is 
an  American  Sandpiper,  Totanus  flavipes;  YELLOWPOLL  and 
YELLOW-RUMP  are  American  Warblers  (page  1022),  Dendrceca 
aistiva,  coronafa  and  maculosa ;  while  another  of  that  group,  Trichas 
marylandica  is  the  YELLOWTHROAT. 

YELPER,  an  old  name  for  the  AvoSET  and  also  for  the  Black- 
tailed  GoDWiT  {cf.  Yarwhelp). 

YOKEL  and  YUKEL,  local  names  of  the  Green  Woodpecker 
(page  1046). 


z 

ZOSTEROPS,^  originally  the  name  of  a  genus  founded  by 
Vigors  and  Horsfield  {Trans.  Linn.  Soc.  xv.  p.  235)  on  an  Australian 
species  called  by  them  Z.  dorsalis,^  and  latterly  Anglicized  in  the 
same  sense,  being  applied,  whether  as  a  scientific  or  a  vernacular 


^OSTEROPS.    (After  Swainson.) 

term,  to  a  great  number  of  little  birds,''  which  inhabit  for  the 
most  part  the  tropical  districts  of  the  Old  World,  from  Africa  to 
most  of  the  islands  in  the  Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans,  and  north- 
ward in  Asia  through  India  and  China  to  Amurland  and  Japan. 

^  The  derivation  is  ^wctttjp  and  &\^,  whence  the  word  should  be  pronounced 
with  all  the  vowels  long.  The  allusion  is  to  the  ring  of  white  feathers  round 
the  eyes,  which  is  very  conspicuous  in  many  species,  and  hence  by  most  English- 
speaking  people  in  various  parts  of  the  world  the  prevalent  Zostcro2}s  is  commonly 
called  "  White-eye"  oi-  "Silver-eye." 

"  Subsei|uently  shewn  to  be  identical  M'ith  the  Certhia  cs^rulcsccns,  and  also 
with  the  Sylvia  lateralis,  previously  described  by  Latham. 

=*  In  1883  Dr.  Sharpe  {Cat.  B.  Br.  Mas.  ix.  pp.  146-203)  admitted  85  species, 
beside  3  more  which  he  had  not  been  able  to  examine. 


ZOSTEROPS  1057 


The  birds  of  this  group  are  mostly  of  unpretending  appearance, 
the  plumage  above  being  generally  either  mouse -coloured  or 
greenish-olive ;  but  some  are  sufficiently  varied  by  the  white  or 
bright  yellow  of  their  throat,  breast  or  lower  parts,  and  several 
have  the  flanks  of  a  more  or  less  lively  bay,  while,  as  the  annexed 
figures  shew,  the  bill  often  differs  in  form.  It  is  remarkable 
that  several  islands  are  inhabited  by  two  distinct  species,  one 
belonging  to  the  brown  and  the  other  to  the  green  section,  the 
former  being  wholly  insular.  The  greater  number  of  forms  seem 
to  be  confined  to  single  islands,  often  of  very  small  area,  but  others 
have  a  very  wide  distribution,  and  much  interest  has  been  excited 
by  the  undoubted  fact  that  the  type-species,  Z.  cxrulescens,  has  of 
late  years  largely  extended  its  range.  ^ 

All  the  species  of  Zosterops  are  sociable,  consorting  in  large 
flocks,  which  only  separate  on  the  approach  of  the  pairing  season. 
They  build  nests,  described  as  being  variously  placed — sometimes 
suspended  from  a  horizontal  fork  and  sometimes  fixed  in  an  upright 
crotch — and  lay  (so  far  as  is  known)  pale  blue,  spotless  eggs, 
thereby  differing  wholly  from  several  of  the  groups  of  birds  to 
which  they  have  been  thought  allied.  Though  mainly  insectivorous, 
the  birds  of  this  genus  will  eat  fruits  of  various  kinds,  and  in  such 
quantities  as  to  be  at  times  injurious.  The  habits  of  Z.  cxrulescens  are 
well  described  by  Sir  W.  Buller,  and  those  of  a  species  peculiar  to 
Ceylon,  Z.  ceylonensis,  by  Col.  Legge  {B.  Ceylon,  p.  586),  while  those 
of  the  widely-ranging  Indian  Z.  palpebrosa  and  of  the  South- African 

^  First  described  from  Ncav  South  AVales,  where  it  is  very  plentiful,  it  had 
been  long  known  to  inhabit  all  the  eastern  part  of  Australia.  In  1856  it  was 
noticed  by  naturalists  as  occurring  in  the  Soiith  Island  of  New  Zealand,  when 
it  became  known  to  the  Maories  by  a  name  signifying  ' '  Stranger, "  and  to  the 
English  settlers  as  the  "Blight-bird,"  from  its  clearing  the  fruit-trees  of  a 
blight  by  which  they  had  lately  been  affected.  It  soon  after  appeared  in  the 
North  Island,  where  it  speedily  became  common,  and  it  has  thence  spread  not 
only  to  the  Chatham  Islands,  but,  as  Sir  W.  Buller  states  {B.  N.  Zeal.  ed.  2, 
i.  p.  79),  it  has  been  met  with  in  considerable  numbers  300  miles  from  laud, 
as  though  in  search  of  new  countries  to  colonize.  Yet  this  author  believes  it  to 
be  indigenous  to  the  west  coast  of  the  Soutli  Island,  and  Sir  James  Hector 
joins  in  that  opinion.  If  they  be  right,  it  is,  however,  pretty  certain  that 
until  the  year  before  mentioned  it  must  have  been  confined  to  an  extremely 
small  district,  and  the  only  assignable  cause  of  its  spreading  so  rapidly,  when 
it  did  extend  its  range,  is  that  of  a  large  surplus  population  unable  to  find  a 
living  at  home.  It  is  known  to  propagate  at  a  high  rate  of  increase,  and  at 
times  numbers  have  been  found  dead,  apparently  for  want  of  food.  In  any 
case  it  is  obvious  that  this  Zosterops  must  be  a  comparatively  modern  settler 
in  New  Zealand,  though  Sir  W.  Buller  says  that  he  and  Mr.  Gould  were  able 
to  pick  out  New  Zealand  examples  from  a  series  otherwise  made  up  of  Australian 
specimens.  Hence  it  would  seem  as  if  a  slight  amount  of  differentiation  had 
been  set  up  ;  but  the  variation  would  doubtless  have  been  greater  had  the  species 
been  an  ancient  colonist. 

67 


1058 


ZYGODACTYLI 


Z.  capensis  have  been  succinctly  treated  by  Jerdon  (B.  Inch  ii.  p.  266) 
and  Mr.  Layard  {B.  S.  Afr.  p.  116)  respectively.^ 

The  affinities  of  the  genus  Zosterops  .are  by  no  means  clear. 
Placed  by  some  writers,  with  the  Parida3  (Titmouse),  by  others 
among  the  Meliphagidx  (Honey-EATEr),  and  again  by  others  with 
the  Nedariniidge  (Sunbird),  the  structure  of  the  tongue,  as  Dr. 
Gadow  {Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  1883,  pp.  63,  68,  pi.  xvi.  fig.  2)  shews, 
Avholly  removes  it  from  the  first  and  third,  and  from  most  of  the 
forms  generally  included  among  the  second.  It  seems  safest  to 
regard  the  genus,  at  least  provisionally,  as  the  type  of  a  distinct 
Family — Zosteropidse — as  Families  go  among  Passerine  birds  ;  but, 
whether  the  Australian  genera  MeUthreptus  and  PJedrorhamplms 
(otherwise  Pledrorhyncha)  should  be  included  under  that  heading,  as 
has  been  done,  remains  to  be  proved,  and  in  the  meanwhile  may  be 
reasonably  doubted. 

ZYGODACTYLI,  Vieillot's  name  in  1816  (Analyse,  p.  25)  for 
the  birds  having  two  toes  before  and  two  behind,  which  he  placed 

as  the  First  "  triinc  "  of  his  Second  Order,  and  thus  made  the  group 
practically  equal  to  Illiger's  ScANSORiiS,  being  composed  of  7 
Families — (1)  Psittacini,  with  the  genera  Psittacus,  Macrocercus  and 
Plydolophns ;  (2)  Macroglossi,  with  Picus  and  Yunx ;  (3  and  4) 
Aurcoli  and  Pteroglossi,  consisting  respectively  of  Galbula  and  Pa7n- 
phastos  ;  (5)  Barbati,  made  up  of  Trogon,  Pogonia,  Bucco,  Capito,  Monasa 
and  Phosnicophaus ;  (6)  Imberbi,  including  Sauwthera,  Scythrops, 
Leptosomus,  Goccyzus,  Cuculus,  Indicator,  Corydomjx  and  Crotophaga; 
and  (7)  Frugivori,  formed  by  Musophaga  and  Opxthus. 


1  It  is  a  remarkable  and,  if  capable  of  explanation,  would  doubtless  be  an 
instructive  fact  tliat  the  largest  known  species  of  the  genus,  Z.  alhigularis, 
measuring  nearly  six  inches  in  length,  was  confined  to  so  small  a  spot  as  Norfolk 
Island,  where  also  another,  Z.  tenuirostris,  not  much  less  in  size,  occurred  ;  while 
a  third,  of  intermediate  stature,  Z.  stremla,  inhabited  the  still  smaller  Lord  Howe 
Island.  A  fourth,  Z.  vatensis,  but  little  inferior  in  bulk,  is  found  on  one  of  the 
New  Hebrides  ;  but,  after  these  giants  of  their  kind,  the  rest  fall  off  considerably, 
and  some  of  the  smaller  species  hardly  exceed  3|  inches  from  end  to  end. 


INDEX 


Ob8. — Where  a  name  is  repeated  in  the  course  of  an  article,  reference  is  given  only 
to  its  first  use,  except  for  some  special  reason.  Families  or  Subfamilies  of 
Birds  should  be  sought  under  the  genus  whence  their  name  is  taken  : — as 
Acanthidosittidw  under  Acanthidositta,  Alcedinidas  under  Alcedo,  Anatidas 
under  Anas,  and  so  on. 


Aasvogfx,  1 
Abadavine,  1 
Aberduvine,  1 
Abou-Hannes,  4.54 
Abou-mengel,  455 
Absorbent  Vessels,  1012 
Acanthidositta,    316,    323, 

406,  547,  648,  770,  789, 

900,  1055 
Acanthis,  515,  774 
Acanthiza,  1,  777 
Acanthogeuys,  1025 
Acanthorhynchus,  92,  900 
Acanthyllis,  935 
Accentor,  1,  120,  697,  784, 

895 
Accipiter,    185,    377,    412, 

491,  574,  898 
Accipitres,  1,  2,  11.  18,  33, 

40,69,90,118,144,147, 

150,  190,  243,  244,  282, 
,     315,  440,  459,  478,  517, 

546,  603,  606,  607,  610, 

613,  616,  621,  629,  651, 

671,  739,  747,  765,  825, 

829,  854,  865,  867,  876, 

912,  972,  983 
Aceros,  435 
Acetabulum,  248,  460 
Acoliu,  95 
Acorn-Duck,  1 
Acredula,  968 
Acridotheres,  378,  538 
Acrocephalus,     1!20,     778, 

1020 
Acrocoracoid,  856 
Acromium,  857 
Acromyodi,    1,    426,    547, 

743,  938 
Acrulocercus,  167,  655 
Acryllium,  400 


Actinodura,  28 
Actiornis,  283 
Actitis,  514,  810 
Adjutant,    2,    5,    21,    271, 

288,  451,  463,  536 
J^lchmorhynchus,  713,  813 
Aedon,  632 
^dur,  192 
-a:gialitis,    162,    171,    341, 

351,  481,  498,  512,  734, 

790,  804,  813,  919,  1041 
^gialornis,  283 
^giothus,  251 
^githalus,  725,  969 
.^githognathse,  2,  130,  443 
iEgocephalus,  365,  885 
iEgotheles,  365,  638,  941 
iEpyornis,  286,  352,  791 
J^pyornithes,  766,  792 
.iEpypodius,  541 
^sacus,  130 
^salon,  235,  477,  546 
^thyia,  72,  734 
Aetomorpha?,   2,   134,  364, 

829 
^x,  1,  171,  534,  949 
Aftershaft,  3,  17 
Agami,  991 
Agapornis,  521,  689 
Ageheus,  457,  530 
Agelastes,  350,  401 
Aghirone,  192.  416 
Agnopterus,  283 
Aigle,  173 
Aigrette,  192 
Aigron,  192 
Ailurcedus,  80 
Airone,  416 
Air-sacks,  3,  522 
Aithurus,  444 
Aix,  949 


Alaemon,  509 

Alauda,  70,  250,  353,  431, 
458,  475,  507,  559,  598, 
697 

Albau,  424 

Albanella,  424 

Albatros,  6,  45,  74,  80, 
281,  518,  530,  534,  585, 
758,  993 

Albinism,  99 

Albino,  9,  420,  1007 

Albitross,  6 

Alca,  11,  18,  22,  35,  42, 
77,  81,  151,  190,  145, 
191,  220,  287,  304,  310, 
398,  405,  440,  518,  607, 
610,  615,  629,  635,  651, 
704,  747,  750,  753,  768, 
797,  875,  876,  878,  939 

Alcaduz,  6 

Alcatraz,  6 

Alcedo,  30,  69,  92,  118, 
144,  147,  463,  485,  593, 
601,  615,  616,  630,  718, 
746,  794,  853,  857,  858, 
879,  912,  952,  974 

Alcyon,  404 

Alcyone,  486 

Alecthelia,  542 

Alectorides,  9,  827 

Alectoromorphae,  9,  26,  299, 
397,  422,  707,  805,  816 

Alectorurus,  1000 

Alectryon,  586 

Ales  Jo  vis,  177 

Aletornis,  283 

Alft,  931 

Algatross,  6 

Alisphenoid,  871 

Alk,  9,  22 

Alke,  768 


io6o 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Allantois,  9,  11,  13 

Ailoco,  677 

Alp,  10,  645,  655 

Alph,  10 

Altrices,  10,  154,  635,  739 

Aluco,  178,  353,  364,  660, 

673,  820,  941 
Amadavat,  11,  23 
Amadina,  108 
Amazon,  11 
Ambieus,  11,    16,   19,  425, 

608,  862 
Amblonyx,  277 
Amblyornis,  49 
Ambulatores,  459 
American  Warblers,  1022 
Amidavad,  11,  795 
Ammodromus,  961 
Ammomanes,  509 
Ammoperdix,  696 
Amnion,  9,  11,  13,  589 
Ampelion,  840 
Ampelis,  58,  81,   85,   134, 

571,  697,  718,  737,  769, 

1026 
Amplubolie,  12,  89 
Amphiboli,- 12,  815 
Amphiccelous,  850 
Ampliimorphse,     12,     134, 

254 
Ampliipelargus,  285 
Ampulla,  983,  984 
Amydrus,  348 
Amytis,  57 
Anabatoides,  719 
Anacromyodian,  938 
Anais,  362 
Analogy,  15 
Anarhynchus,  35,  315,  482, 

734,  1053 
Anas,  68,  72,  86,  152,  168, 

190,  222,  284,  295,  309, 

311,  329,  368,  371,  406, 

407,  503,  543,  597,  600, 

607,  610,  619,  623,  635, 

726,  734,  815,  817,  835, 

841,  983,  984 
Anastomus,  34,    510,   655, 

741 
Anatomy,  12 
And,  371 
Andigena,  977 
Androdon,  444 
Anellobium,  1025 
Angulars,  872 
Anhima,  19,  819 
Auhinga,  19,  880 
Ani,  12,  19,  42,   126,  191, 

197,  477,  633,  769,  814 
Anisodactyli,  19,  972 
Anisomyodi,  939 


Ankle,  19,  864 

Anomalogonatre,  11,  19, 
425,  609 

Anomalopteryx,  573 

Anorrliinus,  435 

Anorthura,  1051 

Anous,  643 

Anser,  140,  168,  190,  285. 
300,  371 

Anseranas,  984 

Anseres,  3,  10,  11,  18,  19, 
29,  32,  33,  34,  68,  89, 
91,  95,  105,  118,  243, 
245,  254,  285,  315,  440, 
459,  513,  606,  608,  615, 
621,  653,  746,  747,  789, 
820,  858,  873,  874,  875, 
879,  912,  918,  937,  939, 
941,  952,  953,  983 

Anseriformes,  152 

Anthochaera,  429,  801, 
1025 

Anthocincla,  728 

Antliornis,  31,  316,  429 

Authracoceros,  435 

Anthreptis,  922 

Antliropoides,  133,  985 

Antbus,  120,  316,  332,  475, 
598,  697,  727 

Anticoelous,  142 

Antrostomus,  88,  639,  1036 

Ant-Thrush,  20,  728,  758 

Ant- Wren,  20 

Aorta,  21 

Apatornis,  280,  652,  857 

Apex,  33 

Aphanapteryx,  217,  764, 
1033 

Aphriza,  926 

Aprosmictus,  519 

Aptenodytes,  458,  706,  912 

Apteryges,  315,  766 

Apteryx,  21,  68,  76,  90, 
118,  194,  231,  405,  459, 
493,  580,  607,  613,  615, 
617,  619,  630,  646,  701. 
745,  753,  857,  858,  859, 
860,  878,  912  (c/.  Kiwi) 

Aptoruis,  286,  592,  1033 

Apus,  38 

Aquila,  87,  173,  284,  879 

Ara,  96,  527 

Aracari,  976 

Arachnothera,  96,  748,  923 

Aramides,  895 

Aramus,  118,  514,  765, 
973 

Arara,  527 

Araruna,  527 

Archaeopteryx,  13,  21,  37, 
89,   118,  278,  741,  753, 


769,  781,  814,  850,  859, 

954,  1002 
Archibuteo,  67,  332 
Arctogoea,  313 
Ardea,  46,   111,   140,   188, 

192,  218,  284,  310,  379, 

406,  416,  440,  455,  612, 

651,  739,  745,  746,  825, 

853,  857,  875,  902,  912, 

917,  S37,  939 
Ai'deacites,  285 
Ardeae,  615,  629,  858 
Ardetta,  42,  419 
Areud,  21 
Ai'gala,  21 
Argmornis,  281 
Argozoum,  277 
Argus,  21,  100 
Argusianus,  654,  701 
Ai'gus-Pheasaut,  701 
Arremon,  945 
Arses,  276 
Artamia,  98,  1050 
Artamus,  22,  319,  362,  739, 

878,  929,  1050 
Arterial  circulation,  1008 
Ai'teries,  22,  1008 
Articular,  872 
Asio,  178,  675,  857   941 
Asprey,  660 
Astragalus,  866 
Astrarchia,  39 
Astur,  140,  235,  377,  696, 

898 
Atelornis,  353,  794 
Atlas,  851 
AtUug,  22,  948 
Atrichia,  1,   69.   184,   320, 

451,  524,  746,  747,  820 
Atrichornis,  821,  858,  939 
Attagas,  696 
Attagen,  696 
Attagis,  68,  113,  145,  324, 

733,  757,  834,-  878 
Atteal,  22 
Atteile,  22 
Atteliiig,  948 
Atteling-Aud,  22 
Attila,  86 
Attile,  22 
Aubreau,  424 
Aubrier,  424 
Auk,   9,   18,   22,    81,   151. 

166,  198,  304,  310,  399, 

630,  704,  752,  768,  796 
Aulacorhamphus,  978 
Aureoli,  1058 
Austermami,  682 
Austernfischer,  682 
Australian  Region,  317 
Austro-Columbia,  313 


INDEX 


1061 


Austrocoraces,  39, 116, 148, 

403,  846,  1025 
AutophagEe,  814 
Autruche,  662 
Avaduvat,  11,  23 
Aves  Diomedese,  6 
Avestruz,  662,  787 
Avian,  23 
Avicida,  428 
Avine,  23 
Avis,  23 

Avis  Nnniidica,  399 
Avis  strutluo,  662 
Avocetta,  23 
Avocettula,  445 
Avoset,  20,  23,  28,  34,  68, 

92,  109,  317,  379,  445, 

518,  733,  913 
Avosetta,  23 
Awbe,  10 
Axilla,  25 
Axis,  852 

BABAGHi,  684,  738 

Babbler,  25 

Babelard,  26 

Babillard,  26 

Bacbakiri,  26 

Baia,  29 

Balajniceps,    34,    46,    349, 

406,  739,  838,  875,  876 
Baldpate,  26,  1040 
Balearica,  112,  229,  985 
Baltimore  Oriole,  457,  657 
Banana  Quit,  761 
Bantam,  27,  290 
Baptornis,  280,  652 
Barbati,  1058 
Barbet,    12,    27,    92,    104, 

319,  430,  749,  769 
Barbu,  27 
Barcud,  177 
Bargander,  28 
Barker,  24,  28,  366 
Barley-bird,  28 
Barnacle,  31 
Barnicle,  31 

Barn-Owl,  261,  672,  820 
Barrel,  761 
Bar  wing,  28 
Baryphthengus,  594 
Basil  euterus,  1023 
Basioccipital,  871 
Basipterygoid,  875 
Basipterygoid  Processes,  28 
Basisphenoid,  871 
Basitemporal,  871 
Batara,  21 

Bateleur-Eagle,  31,  717 
Batr.achostomus,  295,  643, 

941 


Batte-lessive,  1018 
Baya,  29,  428 
Bay-bird,  29 
Beach -bird,  29 
Beak,  29,  32 
Beam -bird,  29 
Bearcoot,  177 
Bearded  Titmouse,  779 
Bearded  Vulture,  500 
Beauharnaisius,  978 
Beauregard,  59 
Beccafico,  250,  659 
Bec-croise,  113 
Bec-figue,  250 
Bec-ouvert,  655 
Becquefigue,  365 
Bee-eater,  29,  68,  92,  292, 

463,  487,  593,  711,  743 
Beef-eater,  30 
Bee-Martin,  483 
Bell-bird,  30,  80,   86,   316, 

429,  892,  1001 
Bengali,  31 
Bennaric,  365 
Bennarie,  365 
Berenicornis,  435 
Bergander,  28,  835 
Berg-eende,  835 
Bergente,  835 
Berghaan,  31 
Bergut,  177 
Bernaca,  31 

Bernacle,  31,  81,  89,  375 
Bernekke,  31 
Bernicla,  65,  375 
Betcherrygah,  59 
Bhringa,  167 
Biaeder,  29 
Biblis,  539 
Bienenfresser,  29 
Bilcock,  32 
Bill,  32,  134 
Bill -joint,  877 
Billy-biter,  1040 
Bircli- Partridge,  394 
Bird,  36 
Bird -of- Paradise,    37,    51, 

150,  184,  241,  523,  534, 

717,  790,  816 
Bird-of-Passage,  550 
Bird-of-Prey,  1,  2,  3.  32,  40, 

95,  605,  635,  754,  738 
Bishop-bird,  40 
Bishop  Tanager,  40 
Bitorius,  40 
Bittacus,  685 
Bittern,  40,   310,  416,  575, 

739,  790 
Bittour,  40 
Biziura,  5,  150 
Blacicus,  999 


Blackbird,   36,   42,  89,   99, 

191,  249,  539,  545,  563, 

666 
Blackcap,  42,  413,  582,  598 
Blackcock,    43,    150,    393, 

415,  893 
Black  Duck,  818 
Black  game,  388 
Blackhead,  815 
Blackstart,  776 
Bleater,  43,  365 
Blight-bird,  43,  1057 
Blood,  43 
Blood-bird,  44 
Blood-Olph,  10,  44 
Blood-Pheasant,  44 
Bluebird,  44,  168,  771,  791 
Bluecap,  45,  967 
Blue  Darr.  956 
Blue  Jay,  469 
Blue  Quit,  761 
Bluethroat.  45,  566,  777 
Boat-bill,  34,  45,  380,  416 
Boatswain,  46,  989 
Boat-tail,  46,  761 
Bob-Lincoln,  46 
Boblink,  46 
Bobolink,  46,  61,  458,  539, 

649,  778,  789 
Bobo,  48 

Bob-White,  47,  756 
Bceuf  d'eau,  40 
Bombiciphora,  1026 
Bombycilla,  1026 
Bonasa,  394,  696 
Bondree,  426 
Bone,  47 
Bonxie,  48,  869 
Booby,  48,  80,  294 
Boreal  Region,  330 
Botaurus,    229,    416,    420, 

738,  744,  912 
Botley-bump,  40 
Botor,  40 
Bottlenose,  750 
Bottle-Titmouse,  632 
Boudree,  426 
Bower-bird,  26,  39,  48,  80, 

780,  814,  893 
Brachial  Plexus,  623 
Brachygalba,  463 
Brachj'pteracias,  353,  794 
Brachypus,  59,  934 
Brachyurus,  730 
Bramling,  56 
Brahminy  Duck,  836 
Brahminy  Kite,  491 
Brain,  51 

Bramble-Finch,  56,  83 
Brant,    57,    81,    113,    297, 

375 


io62 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Branta,  375 

Brant-Goof5e,  761.  793 

Breastbone,  57 

Brent,  57 

Breve,  727 

Brid,  36 

Bristle-bird,  57 

Broadbill,     57,     134,    194, 

273 
Bronchi,  58,  937 
Brontoruis,  281,  905,  907 
Brontozoum,  277 
Bronze-wing,  58,  696.  724 
Brown  Owl,  672 
Brubru,  58 

Bnish-tongued  Parrots,  521 
Brush-Turkey,  59,  541 
Bubo,  178,  283,  674,  857 
Bucco,    12,     27,    92,    463, 

617,  630,  654,  717,  749, 

815,  853,  879,  939 
Buceros,  36,  69,  77,  84,  92, 

134,  144,  147,  432,  486, 

601,  615,  616,  630,  717, 

746,  747,  765,  852,  857, 

858,  863,  879,  912,  918, 

974 
Buchanga,  168 
Bucorax,  433 
Bucorvus,  77,  433 
Budjerigar,  59,  72 
Budytes,  332,  758,  101 S 
Buffle-head,  59,  370 
Bulba  ossea,  983 
Bulbul,  59,  461 
Bullfinch,  10,    44,   60,    99. 
I      250,  332,  338,  386,  587, 
'      645,  655,  737 
Bullhead,  60 
Bullseye,  60 
Bunting,    47,  60,  76,  124, 

182,  186,  250,  458,  459, 

554,  598,  659 
Bunting-Lark,  61 
Buntlin,  60 
Buntyle,  60 

Buphaga,  347,  680,  717 
Burhinus,  130,  517 
Burhynchus,  976 
Burrow-Duck,  62 
Bursa  Fabricii,  90 
Busard,  66 
Bush-Hawk,  480 
Bush-Tit,  83 
Bush- Wren,  1055 
Bustard,  5,  9,  62,  129,  130. 

150,  226,  273,  320,  364. 

380,  621,  666,  683,  803, 

828 
Bustard-Quail,  415 
Butalis,  275 


Butcher-bii-d,  66,  273,  843 
Buteo,    40.    66,    426,    588, 

777,  937 
Butio,  40 
Butor,  40 
Butter-ball,  370 
Butter-bump,  40 
Button-Quail,  66,  415 
Buttour,  40 
Buzzard,  40,  66,  173,  263, 

408,  409,  411,  426,  753, 

777 
Bycauetes,  386 
Bycanistes,  435 

Cabalus,  1032 

Cacacolin,  95 

Cacatelho,  92 

Cacatilho,  92 

Cacatua,  93,  95,  229,  299, 

319,  653,  690,  739,  953 
Caccabis,  695,  773 
Cacomantis.  125 
Cactornis,  387 
Cadran,  133 
Cseca,  16,  68 
Caenogeuetic   Development, 

14 
Caireba,  96,  131,   166,  326, 

401,  428,  761,  921,  975 
Cahow,  831 
Caille,  754 
Cairina,  171 
Calander,  70 
Calandra,  70 
Calandre,  70 
Calandrella,  509.  659 
Calandria,  585 
Calamus,  239 
Calao,  70 
Calaw,  70 
Calcaneus,  866 
Calendula,  511 
Calico-bird,  70 
Calidris,  130,  405,517,804 
Caliology,  633 
Calteas,  1025 
Callisitta,  648 
Callista,  944 
Callocephalon,  93 
Calloo,  70 
Calcenas,  360,  724 
Calopezus,  965 
Calopsitta,  92,  93,  690 
Calyptomena,  57 
CalyptorhjTichus,  93 
Camarhynchus,  387 
Camascelus,  284 
Campanero,  30 
Campephaga,  70,  273,  319, 

381,  575,  681 


Campephilus,  460 

Campylopterus,  446 

C'anachites,  394 

Canada  Goose,  65 

Canara  bjTd,  71 

Canariebyter,  72 

Canary-bird,  70,  251,  829 

Canary-Parrot,  72 

Cancroma,  34,  45,  380,  875, 
974 

Canori,  459 

Canuti  aves,  498 

Canvas-back  Duck,  72,  735 

Cape  Barren  Goose,  81 

Cape  Canary,  72 

Cape  Pigeon,  710,  723 

Capercaillie,  72 

Capercally,  72,  89,  94,  178, 
226,  287,  394,  600,  892 

Capercalze,  72 

Caperkellie,  72 

Cape-sheep,  74 

Capito,  27,  92,  147,  299, 
430,  617,  747.  749,  770, 
853,  858,  939 

Caprimulgi,  629,  653,  939, 
941 

Caprimulgus,  32, 69, 88,118, 
130,  134,  148,  195,  231, 
365,  395,  405,  440,  442, 
606,  607,  615,  607,  638, 
654,  697,  711,  718,  740, 
754,  879,  912,  952,  974 

Caracara,  74,  457 

Carancho,  75 

Car  bo,  105 

Carcinentes,  488 

Cardellina,  1023 

Cardia,  916 

Cardinal,  61,  76.  381 

Cardinalis,  61,  95,  387,  771 

Carduelis.  251,  370,  846 

Carfil,  304 

Cariama,  75,  76,  324,  607, 
654,  826, '858,  865,  875, 
879,973  (c/.Dicholophiis) 

Carina,  476 

Carinatie,  2,  76,  134.  167, 
242,  286,  315,  650,  688, 
704,  766,  814 

Carine,  674,  899,  918 

Carolina  Duck,  1 

Carotid,  76 

Carpodacus,  386 

Carpophaga,  144,  154,  724, 
858,  918 

Carpus,  77,  859 

Carr-Crow,  78,  956 

Carr-Goose,  78 

Carrier,  164 

Carrion -bird,  1 


INDEX 


1063 


Carrion-Crow,  116 
Carrion-Hawk,  75 
Carr-Swallow,  78,  956 
Caryocatactes,  646 
Casarca,  835 
Cascaroba,  932 
Casera,  669 

Cashew-bird,  78,  127,  656 
Cassenoisette,  533 
Cassicus,  457 

Cassowary,  3,    43,  78,  97, 
113,  130,  187,  212,  242, 
320,  543,  578,  592,  781, 
785 
Casuarius,  68,  78,  89,  90, 
130,  140,  187,  242,  245, 
320,  543,  607,  616,  741, 
858,  859,  860,  917,  939 
Cata-bird,  21 
Catacromyodian,  938 
Cat-bird,  80,  585 
Caterpillar-eater,  70 
Catharista,  470,  1016 
Catharta?,  629 
Cathartes,    3,    29,    33,    89, 
102,  147,  470,  501,  606, 
610,  615,  616,  747,  765, 
857,  858,  875,  912,  939, 
952,  973,  1016 
Catharus,  961 
Cattiwike,  492 
Caudal  end,  14 
Caurale,  924 
Cavalier,  733 
Ceblepyris,  70 
Cecomorphae,  80,  151,  816, 

834 
Cedar-bird,    81,    87,     769, 

1027 
Cela,  21,  580 
Celeomorphse,   2,   81,    814, 

1046 
Celeus,  1049 

Centrocercus,  93,  394,  802 
Centrococcyx,  701 
Centropelma,  382 
Centropus,    12,    107,    125, 
349,  473,  610,  815,  941 
Cephalic  end,  14 
Cephalopterus,  1000 
Cei-atorhina,  23 
Cerchneis,  478 
Cercotrichas,  133 
Cereopsis,  76,  81,  286,  315, 

376 
Ceriomis,  22,  587 
Cerorhyncha,  23,  752 
Certhia,  112,  135,'l66,  648, 

697,  718,  719,  985 
Certhilauda,  431,  509 
Certhiola,  921 


Certliiparus,  316 

Cervix,  621 

Ceryle,  488 

Cesena,  249 

Ceuthmocheres,  107 

Ceyx,  486 

Chachalaca,  82 

Chffitoptila,  225,  1026 

Chffitura,  935 

Chaffinch,  56,  82,  250,  411, 

631,  725,  817,  892 
Chaja,  819 
Chaka,  819 
Chalatmdre,  70 
Chalcites,  125 
Chalcopsittacus,  520 
Chamaea,  83,  328,  582 
Chamaepelia,  659 
Chamffipetes,  397 
Champore  cock,  27 
Channel-bill,  12,  83,  125 
Chanting  Falcon,  1002 
Chaparral  -  cock,    84,    126, 

791 
Chaptia,  167 
Charadriiformes,  152 
Charadriomorpha?,  85,  364, 

422,  816,  829,  834 
Charadrius,    85,   107,    109, 

129,  130,  143,  162,  283, 

380,  405,  465,  481,  540, 

514,  517,  610,  682,  731, 

740,  745,  757,  804 
Charkwa,  836 
Charmosyna,  520 
Chasmorhynchup,    30,     80, 

113,  952,  1001 
Chat,  85,  777,  1034 
Chat-huant,  676 
Chatterer,  30,  85,  93,  107, 

273,  421,  460,  532,  718, 

737,  1001,  1026 
Chaulelasmus,  298 
Chauna,  9,  90,  819,  983 
Cheeper,  86 
Cheer,  86 
Chelaundre,  70 
Chelidon,  189,  536,  926 
Chelidoptera,  749 
Chen,  300,  374,  1026 
Chenalopex,  349,  376,  837, 

984 
Chenomorphse,  86,  134,  820 
Chenornis,  285 
Chepster,  87 
Chera,  1030 
Cherrug,  803 
Cherry-bird,  87 
Cherry-picker,  87 
Cherry-sucker,  87 
Chettusia,  506 


Cheveche,  679 

Chevre-volant,  365 

Chewink,  982 

Chiacalacca,  82 

Chibia,  167 

Chicheree,  999 

Chickadee,  87 

Chicken,  87 

Chicquera,  546 

ChiffchaflF,     87,    710,    893, 

1052 
Chimango,  75 
Chimerina,  600 
Chionis,  68,  109,  310,  324, 

732,  832 
Chiouomorphse,  834 
Chipchop,  87 
Chir,  86 

Chiromach^ris,  533 
Chiroxiphia,  533 
Chlamydera,  49 
Chlamydochen,  376 
Chloephaga,  374,  984 
Chloridops,  384 
Chloris,  384 
Choanse,  33 
Chok,  87 

Cholornis,  711,  867 
Chordiles,   573,    635,   639, 

727,  879 
Chorion,  11 
Chotacabras,  638 
Chough,  87,  116,  132,  482, 

822 
Chrocko,  792 

Chrysococcyx,  125, 349, 567 
Chryscenas,  320,  723 
Chrysolampis,  447 
Chrysomitris,  88,  251,  258, 

371,  563,  846 
Chrysotis,  11,  96,  99,  229, 

654,  690,  739 
Chuck-will's-widow,  88 
Chunga,  828 
Chunnia,  828 
Chuparosa,  442 
Churn-Owl,  88,  639,  671 
Ciconia,  91,  144,  191,  244, 

416,  440,  456,  462,  517, 

559,  610,  651,  655,  741, 

746,  747,  825,  853,  854, 

875,  912,  919,  952,  973 
Ciconiffi,    146,    615,    629, 

857,  858,  863,  917,  939, 

974,  983 
Cigano,  424 
Cilia,  239 
Cimoliornis,  280 
Cinclorhamphus,  25 
Cinclus,     134,    277,    667, 

698,  1024 


io64 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Cinnyris,  748,  923 
Circaetiis,  173 
Circulation,  88 
Circus,  67,  408,  424,   491, 

572,  739 
Ciridops,  645 
Cirl-Bunting,  61 
Cisne,  155 
Cissa,  470,  722 
Cissopis,  945 
Cisticola,   189,    238,    725, 

1022 
Citril,  88 
Citronenfink,  88 
Cittocincla,  133 
Cladorhynchus,  914 
Clakis,  89 
Clamatores,    21,    89,    483, 

728,  939 
Clangula,    59,    369,    407, 

544,  592,  900 
Clark's  Crow,  647 
Clavicle,  89,  296,  858,  909 
Claw,  89,  393,  459,  599 
Climacteris,  986 
Clinker,  24 
Clitonyx,    72,    316,    658, 

1037,  1056 
Cloaca,  90 
Clotburd,  1034 
Clucking  Hen,  514 
Clytorlivnchus,  574 
Cneraiornis,   76,    82,    286, 

315,  376,  857 
Cnott,  498 
Coachwhip-bird,  91 
Coalfinch,  94 
Coalmouse,  92,  967 
Cob,  92,  703,  929 
Cobbler's-awl,  24,  92 
Coccothraustes,  251^    371, 

384,  411 
Coccyges,  11,  147,  879 
Coccygomorphae,   92,    130, 

134,  430,  435,  593,  609 
Coccystes,  124 
Coccyx,  119 
Coccyzus,  108,  534 
Coc-des-roches,  93 
Cock,  892 
Cockateel,  92,  690 
Cockatoo,  34,  92,  93,  687 
Cockatoon,  527 
Cock-of-the-Plains,  93 
Cock-of-the-Rock,  86,    93, 

532 
Cock  -  of  -  the  -  Wood,     72, 

94 
Codatremola,  1018 
Coddy-moddy,  94 
Colseus,  101 


Colaptes,  258,  331,  458, 
1005 

Coldfinch,  94 

Colemouse.  92 

Colibri,  442 

Colin,  94,  649,  696 

Coliopasser,  1030 

Coliou,  101 

Colius,  12,  69,  77,  92, 101, 
118,  148,  251,  347,  405, 
600,  607,  616,  630,  684, 

746,  747,  879,  912,  939, 
972 

College  Pheasant.  476 

Collocalia,  284,  935 

CoUyrio,  517 

Collyriocincla,  846 

Coloburis,  730 

Colour,  95,  99,  215,  1007 

Columba,  11,  26,  118,  140, 
154,  160,  162,  188,  243, 
284,  299,  329,  378,  440. 
606,  612,  623,  697,  723, 

747,  766,  789,  790,  793, 
915,  939,  952 

Columba;,  18,  29,  69,  143, 

145,  320,  517,  615,  621, 
651,  707,  724,  854,  863, 
876,  879,  912,  918,  940, 
953,  972 

Columbini,  765 
Columella,  179,  872,  874 
Coly,  101 

Colymbi,615,  616,  621,  912 
Colymboides,  151,  283 
Colymbo-Podicipites,  651 
Colymbus,  11,  68,  81,  118, 

146,  151,  243,  244,  280, 
310,  398,  405,  440,  518, 
597,  606,  607,  610,  621, 
635,  651,  698,  745,  746, 
747,  753,  765,  854,  858, 
860,  861,  862,  863,  865, 
875,  878,  902,  939,  973 

Cometes,  449 
Condor,  101,  634 
Coney-catcher,  132 
Coney-chuck,  1034 
Conirostres,  102 
Conopophaga,     323,     939, 

940,  947 
Contopus,  483,  710,  973 
Conurus,  219,  528,  686 
Cooperastur,  898 
Coot,    27,     35,    102,    217, 

380,  398,  517,  539,  711, 

817,  822 
Coot- footed  Tringa,  711 
Coppersmith,  28,  104 
Coprodseum,  90 
Copsychus,  133 


Copurus,  999 

Coq  d'Inde,  994 

Coq-de-roche,  93 

Coraces,  148 

Coracias,  25,  30.  57,  69,  92, 
147,  161,  259,  440,  593, 
615,  630,  638,  654,  717, 
718,  739,  745,  747,  793, 
853,  912,  939,  952 

Coraciiformes,  638 

Coracocichla,  728 

Coracoid,  104,  856,  909 

Coracoideae,  638 

Coracomorphffi,  2, 104,  130, 
524 

Coracopitta,  728 

Coracostea,  910 

Corbeau,  116 

Corcorax,  88 

Coriphilus,  520 

Corlieu,  127 

Cor  marin,  105 

Cormorant,  33,  89,  104, 
113,  173,  197,  223,  229, 
243.  283,  378,  703,  770, 
815,  822,  829 

Corn-Bunting,  61 

Corn-Crake,  ^68,  109,  550, 
762 

Corresso,  126 

Corrira,  107 

Corvo  marin o,  105 

Corvus,  70,  87,  104,  114, 
116,  124,  132,  140,  190, 
19"!,  316,  329,  380,  385, 
429,  438,  466,  646,  697, 
698,  717,  722,  768,  795, 
801,  857,  876,  940,  553 

Corvus  Indicus,  433 

Corydon,  877 

Corydus,  509 

Corythai.x,  69,  140,  612, 
815,  857,  980 

Coscaroba,  932 

Cosmetornis,  641 

Cosmonetta,  407 

CotUe,  189,  538 

Cotinga,  30,  85,  93,  95, 107, 
134,  273,  323,  421,  532, 
718,  737,  938,  939,  940, 
983,  1001 

Cotton-bird,  725 

Coturniculus,  961 

Coturnix,  283,  316,  353, 
407,  754,  765 

Coua,  125 

Coucal,  107.  125 

Coucou,  119 

Coulterneb,  107,  750,  830 

Coure-vite,  107 

Courlan,  514 


INDEX 


1065 


Courlis,  127 
Couroucou,  987 
Courser,  107,  130,  733 
Coverts,  949 
Cow-bird,  108,  458,  633 
Cow-Blackbird,  108 
Cow-Bunting,  108 
Cowpen-bird,  458 
Cowry-bird,  108,  648 
Crab-Plover,  100,  215,  733 
Cracker,  109 
Crake,  109 
Crane,   66,  109,   212,  226, 

241,  283,  296,  364,  416, 

471,  514,  550,  621,  803, 

813,  829 
Cranial  Nerves,  54 
Cranium,  112,  870 
Crateropus,  25,  45,  92,  963 
Crax,    91,    126,    299,   325, 

396,  535,  539,  607,  739, 

765,  808,  879,  972,  984 
Creadion,  316,  801 
Creatophora,  379,  517 
Cre9erelle,  477 
Creeper,  112,  167 
Creeping  Warblers,  1023 
Cresserelle,  477 

Crest,  112 
Cretornis,  280 
Crex,  109,  610,  762 
Criniger,  26,  243 
Crista  sterni,  476 
Cristel,  477 
Crithagra,  814 
Crocker,  113 
Crocodile-bird,  733 
Crossbill,    113,    250,    386, 

571,  1053 
Crossoptilum,  716,  887 
Crotophaga,     12,     19,    42, 

126,  190,  234,  717,  814, 

815,  941 
Crow,    70,    87,    100,    114, 

116,  124,  132,  149,  190, 

231,  269,  430,  500,  565, 

647,  722,  795 
Crow-Pheasant,  107 
Crow-Shrike,  403 
Crown-bird,  118,  979 
Crowned  Crane,  112 
Crowned  Pigeon,  378,  724 
Crying- Bird,  514 
Cryptolopha,  276 
Cryptornis,  283 
Crypturi,   10,    11,    28,   68, 

118,  145,  167,  299,  738, 

766,  854,  858,  865,  912 
Crypturus,  878,  965 
Ctenorhynchus,  298 
Cubitals,  118,  741 


Cucco,  119 

Cuccu,  119 

Cuckoo,  118 

Cuckow,  12.  19,  68,  84,  92, 
107,  108,  118,  351,  378, 
463,  530,  534,  550,  566, 
572,  633,  654,  765,  892 

Cuckow's  Leader,  126, 
1053 

Cuckow's  Mate,  126,  1053 

Cuciili,  745,  863,  912,  941 

Cuculo,  119 

Cuculus,12,  19,  29,  84.  92, 
107,  118,  145,  147,  299, 
422,  463,  473,  429,  500, 
559,  612,  615,  617,  630, 
654,  717,  718,747,  815, 
857,  858.  912,  918,  937, 
939,  941,  952 

Cuetzal,  758 

Cuisinier,  681 

Culblane,  1034 

Culmen,  33 

Cuntur,  101 

Cura5oa-biid,  126 

Curassow,  78,  126,  396, 
421,  707,  739,  753,  994 

Curlew,  24,  127.  161,  456, 
526,  565,  1033.  1036 

Curlew-Jack,  886 

Curreso,  126 

Curruca,  43.  413 

Cursores,  130 

Cursorius,  89,107, 130,  517, 
733 

Curucui,  130,  987 

Cushat,  130,  162,  758 

Cushew-bird,  78 

Cute,  102 

Cwtiar,  817 

Cyanecula,  45,  332,  567, 
777 

Cyanocitta,  470 

Cyanocorax,  470,  607 

Cyanolyseus,  686 

Cyanopica,  124,  342,  722 

Cyanopolius,  722 

Cyanorhamphus,  686 

Cyanospiza,  459,  644 

Cyanurus,  469 

Cyclocoelous,  142 

Cyclopsittacus,  690 

Cyclorhis,  1014 

Cygnet,  929 

Cygnopsis,  376 

Cygnus,  111,  168, 190,  623, 
930,  985 

Cymindis,  428,  492,  739 

Cymochorea,  710 

Cypseli,  11,  18,  440,  606, 
630,  654,  853,  865,  867 


Cypselomorphffi, 
148,  443,  517, 
615,  638 

Cypselus,  69,  77, 
140,  148,  229, 
442,  529,  557, 
617,  623,  638, 
742,  745,  858, 
934,  937,  939, 

Cypsnagra,  944 

Cyrus,  813 

Cyta,  489 


2,  130, 
608,  610, 

118,  130, 
284,  405, 
603,  616, 
711,  718, 
878,  912, 

941,  952 


Dabchick,    131,  136,  156, 

382,  519 
Dacelo,  465,  487,  617 
Dacnis,  131,  401,  428 
Dafila,  109,  726 
Daha,  132 
Dale,  540 

Daker-hen,  131,  762 
Dances,  894 
Daption,  710,  726 
Darr,  132 
Darter,  132 

Dartford  Warbler,  1038 
Dasornis,  281,  908 
Dassie-vanger,  132 
Dasylophus,  125 
Dasyptedes,  748 
Daulias,  59,  637 
Daw,    87,   116,    132,   466, 

471 
Dayal,  133,  134 
Decoy,  170 
Dei  ingenium,  366 
Demiegretta,  1007 
Demoiselle,  111,  133 
Deudragapus,  394 
Dendrocitta,  722 
Dendrocolaptes,  323,    658, 

669,  718,  878,  939,  940 
Dendrocops,  719 
Dendrocopus,     292,     813, 

1047 
Dendrocygna,  171,  984 
Dendroeca,  72,  1023,  1056 
Dendrophila,  648 
Dendroplex,  719 
Dentals,  872 
Dentirostres,  134 
Dertrum,  33,  134 
Desert- Falcon,  235,  522 
Desert  Forms,  336,  421 
Desmodactyli,  58, 134,  194, 

972 
Desmognathse,    2,    12,    86, 

92.   134,   173,  254,   420, 

456,  702,  743,  878 
Devil-bird.  134 
Deviling,  134,  934 


io66 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Dhyal,  133,  134 
DiablotiB,  227,  395 
Diacromyodian,  938 
Dial-bird,  133,  134 
Diamond-bird,    134,    136, 

277 
Diaphorapteryx,  1033 
Diaphragm,  135,  413 
Diatryma,  281,  908 
Dicaeum,  135,  273,  428 
Dichoceros,  434 
Dicholophus,    9,    29,    118, 

145,  440,  603,  610,  616, 

635,  746,  747,   827    (c/. 

Cariama) 
Dick-Cissel,  136 
Dierocercus,  30,  741 
Dicrurus,  167 
Didapper,  136 
Didi,  725 
Didunciilus,  154,  320,  654, 

724 
Didus,  76,   154,   155,   215, 

459,  651,  766,  857,  858, 


Digeon,  1039 
Digestive  System,  136 
Dikkop,  148 
DHoptas,  379 
Dimorphism,  36,   149, 

1006 
Dindon,  994 
Dinornis,    151,    286, 

575,  858,  866,  912 
Dinornithes,  793,  859, 
Diomedea,  6,  45,  201, 

708,  952 
Diphlogffiua,  449 
Diploe,  47 
Diplopterus,  126 
Dipper,  151,  667 
Dishwasher,  151,  276, 
Dissemunis,  167 
Dissodectes,  478 
Distal.  14 
Distelfink,  370 
Divedapper,  136 
Diver,  4,  33,  81,  151, 

310,  453,  518,  597, 
Diverticulum,  153 
Diving-Duck,  734 
Diving-Petrel,  70S 
Dixhuit,  505 
Dobchick,  131 
Docimastes,  443 
Dodaers,  157 
Dodar,  159 
Dodlet,  154,  724 
Dodo,    76,    80,    154, 

215,  459,  475,  493, 

1006,  1033 


642, 


315, 

864 
530, 


1018 


194, 
765 


155, 
724, 


Doe-bird,  161 

Dolichonyx,  46,  458,  588 

Dolichopterus,  284 

Dollar-bird,  161 

Domicella,  520         , 

Donacilda,  1029 

Dorking-fowl,  587 

Dorr-Hawk,  161 

Dorsal  side,  14 

Dotterel,  150,  161,  171, 
481,  634,  712,  732,  800 

Do^^cker,  162,  171 

Doudo,  155 

Dough-bird,  161 

Dove,  26,  154,  162,  217, 
238,  320,  399,  659,  723, 
790 

Dovekey,  166,  813 

Down,  242 

Draaihalzeii,  1053 

Drake,  168 

Draw- water,  166 

Drepanis,  113,  166,  182, 
225.  320,  428,  655,  915, 
975 

Dromseognathge,  167,  322 

Dromseus,  68,  78,  90,  167, 
187,  213,  231,  242,  243, 
245,  320,  543,  607,  616, 
857,  858,  859,  860,  879, 
912,  917,  939,  983 

Dromaieus,  213 

Dromas,  89,  215,  733,  973 

Dromeicus,  213 

Dromornis,  286,  578 

Drongo,  167 

Dronte,  156 

Drymceca,  354,  725,  1022 

Dryocopus,  899 

Due,  671 

Duck,  4,  52,  72,  86,  113, 
151,  168,  191,  194,  297, 
311,  368,  404,  406,  407, 
503,  518,  530,  534,  587, 
593,  597,  654,  726,  797, 
817 

Duck-autI,  168 

Ducker,  162,  171 

Duck-Hawk,  236 

Due,  162 

Dufa,  162 

Dukipath,  432 

Dulwilly,  171 

Duubird,  172,  816 

Duucur,  172 

Dun  Diver,  543 

Dunker,  172 

Dunlin,  149,  172,  680, 
734,  753,  770,  812,  915 

Dunnock,  173,  895 

Dunter,  173 


Duycker,  168 
Duyve,  162 

Dysornithia,  468,  1036 
Dysporomorphffi,  134,  173 
Dysporus,  904 

Eagle,  1,  3,  21,  27,  31, 
66,  87,  100,  132,  173, 
191,  215,  261,  408,  411, 
500,  587,  632,  892 

Eagle-Owl,  674 

Ear,  178 

Earn,  657 

Earthlinger,  40 

Easterling,  181 

Ebb,  182 

Ebb-sleeper,  182 

Echasse,  913 

Eclectus,  99,  520,  690 

Ectopistes,  696,  723 

Edible  birds'  nests,  631 

Edolier,  182 

Edolius,  134,  167 

Eee-eve,  102 

Eeude-cov,  170 

Effraie,  660,  679 

Egg-bird,  182 

Egg-tooth,  36 

Eggs,  182 

Egret,  192,  241,  416,  505, 
660,  683,  683,  832 

Egretta,  192 

Egrettides,  505 

Egi-itte,  192 

Eider,  173,  192,  222.  633, 
736,  802 

Eisvogel,  485 

Elainea,  999,  1000 

Elanoides.  491 

Elanus,  491,  739 

Elaphrornis,  360 

Elbs,  931 

Eleutherodactyli,  194,  972 

Elk,  931 

Elornis,  258,  283 

Elps,  931 

Ema,  79,  212,  785,  826 

Ember  Goose,  194 

Emberiza,  47,  61,  76,  124, 
186,  250,  329,  381,  458, 
459,  554,  598,  644,  658, 
690,  761,  778 

Emberizoides,  982 

Embernagi'a,  982 

Embryology,  13,  194 

lllmerillon,  545 

Emeu,  3,  5,  78,  167,  187, 
212,  320,  494,  543,  576, 
785,  892 

Emeus,  580 

Emmer.  194 


INDEX 


10(37 


Emmet -hunter,  215 
Empidias,  999 
Empidonax,  483 
Enaliornis,  13,  280,  652 
"English"  Sparrow,  896 
Engrouee,  1024 
Engyptila,  724 
Enicurus,  276 
Entomyza,  428 
Eopsaltria,  957 
Eos,  520 
]^peiche,  1046 
Epervler,  897 
Ephippiorhynchns,  463 
Ephouskyka,  514 
Epimachus,  39 
Epiotic,  874 
Epiphyses,  48 
Epistropheus,  852 
Epithema,  432 
Epollicati,  765 
Epopes,  11,  147 
Epopomoi-phfe,  430 
Epops,  430 
Eremophila,  511 
Ereunetes,  514,  734 
Eriocnemis,  447 
Eviodora,  20 
Erismatura,  168,  338,  545, 

761,  797 
Erithacus,  45,  122,  771 
Erne,  175,  215,  657 
Erodius,  416 
Erody,  215 
Erolia,  215 
Erythra,  591 
Erythrism,  99,  215,  1007 
Erythrochroism,  1008 
Erythromachus,  218,  764 
Erythropus,  478 
Erythropygia,  899 
Erythrosterna,  275 
Escoute,  817 
Escriere,  643 
Escrire,  1024 
Esmerillon,  545 
Esprevier,  897 
Estridge,  662 
Estridger,  215 
EstrUda,  11,  31,   794,  825, 

1026,  1029 
Ethiopian  Eegion,  345 
Ethmoid,  871,  876 
Eucichla,  728 
Eucorystes,  457 
Eudocimus,  456 
Eudromias,  162,  634 
Eudynamis,  125,  500,  567 
Eudyptes,  529,  706 
Eudytes,  151,   519,  753 
Euethia,  381 


Eiilabeoruis,  1033 
Eulabia,  374 
Eule,  671 
Eumomota,  594 
Eunetta,  949 
Euornithes,  651 
Eupetomena,  447 
Euphones,  917 
Euphonia,  656,  761,  944 
Euplocamus,  259,  476,  716 
Eupodotis,    77,    320,    349, 

498,  610,  746 
Euptilotis,  989 
Eurlsemus,  57 
Euryapteryx,  579 
Eurycephalus,  846 
Euryceros,  347,  433 
Eurylaemus,  134,   194,  273, 

323,  355,  615,  617,  630, 
747,  912,  939 

Eurynorhynchus,    34,    337, 

734,  813 
Eurypyga,    118,   252,    320, 

324,  440,  472,  615,  629, 
739,  746,  747,  765,  875, 
923,  973 

Eurystomus,  161,  794 
Euscarthmus,  1000 
Euspiza,  136 
Eustachian  tubes,  5,  179 
Eustephanus,  448 
Evejar,  639 
Eveque,  40 
Exanthemops,  374 
Excalphatoria,  756 
Exoccipital,  871 
Extermination,  215 
Extinction,  215 
Extirpation,  215 
Eyas,  629,  645 
Eye,  229 

Faisan,  84 

Falcinellus,  513 

Falco,  16,  29,  33,  69,  74, 
235,  261,  283,  329,  404, 
409,  424,  426,  477,  489, 
501,  503,  522,  545,  552, 
617,  660,  757,  765,  824, 
857,  858,  939,  950,  952 

Falcon,  66,  235,  410,  411, 
424,  477,  490,  503,  522, 
536,  632,  802 

Falculia,  353,  354 

Falcunculus,  845,  958 

Falk,  235 

Fallow-Chat,  238,  1034 

Falmair,  295 

Fantail,  238,  276,  385,  943 

Fantail  (Pigeon),  164 

Fantail- Warbler,  189,  631 


Fasan,  713 

Fasant,  713 

Fasceddar,  239,  870 

Fasgadair,  239,  870 

Father  John,  454 

Fatlier-of-the-Sickle,  455 

Faucon,  235 

Fauvette,  239 

Fealo-for,  249 

Feather,  239,  761 

Feather-poke,  239 

Fedoa,  365 

Feet,  863 

Femur,  248,  708,  863 

Fern-bii-d,  249,  381 

Fern-Owl,  269,  629,  671 

Fesaun,  713 

Fesaunt,  713 

Fibula,  249 

Ficedula,  250,  275,  365 

Fieldfare,    269,    295,    551, 

633,  777 
Field -officer,  530 
Fig-eater,  250,  365,  659 
Filoplume,  242 
Finch,  61,  70,   76,  82,  88, 

102,  113,  250,  253,  319, 

411,  459,  516,  554,  563, 

814,  829 
Fin -foot,    184,    252,    517, 

764 
Fink,  82,  250 
Firecrest,  253 
Firetail,  253,  775 
Fiscal,  253 
Fish-Hawk,  632,  661 
Fissipedal,  194 
Flamenco,  253 
Flamingo,  3,  12,  20,33,95, 

113,  197,  253,  283,  379, 

597,  632,  649,  703 
Flanderkin,  273 
Flax-bird,  258 
Flercher,  273 
Flesher,  273 
Flicker,    258,    458,     1005, 

1040 
Flight,  260 
Florican,  273 
Florida,  1007 
Flower-picker,  136,  273 
Flusher,  273,  843 
Flycatcher,  29,  57,  87,  92, 

94,  151,  238,  250,  273, 

364,  385,  482,  633,  738, 

762,  814,  918 
Fly-catchingWarblers,  1023 
Flying  Goat,  885 
Fool's-coat,  276 
Foramen  magnum,  873 
Foramen  ovale,  179,  874 


io68 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Forktail,  276 
Formicarius,  20,    323,  930, 

940 
Formicivora,  20 
Forty-spot,  277 
Fossil  Birds,  277 
Foul  que,  103 
Fourmilier,  20 
Four-o'clock,  289,  293 
Fowl,   4,  37,  53,  87,  198, 

233,  248,  289,  452,  634, 

783 
Francolin,    227,    273,  291, 

692,  778 
Francolino,  291 
Francolinus,  227,  291,  352 
Frangao,  291 
Frango,  291 
Fratercula,  229,   558,   597, 

737,  750 
Free-fowl,  291 
Fr%ate,    293,    603,     607, 

745,  858,  865.  952 
Fregilupus,  217,  353,  354 
Fregilus,  87,  349 
French  Partridge,  695 
French  Pie,  292,  720 
Fresaie,  660,  679 
Freshwater-Duck,  734 
Fressaia,  660 
Freux,  795 
Friar-bird,  289,   292,   429. 

513,     573,     587,     725. 

737 
Frigate-bird,  173,  293,  296. 

534,  703 
Frill-back,  164 
Fringilla,  31,56,60,  61,  70. 

82,  108,  113,  243,  250, 

285,  319,  370,  383,  386. 

411,  515,  556,  600,  655. 

690,  730,  773,  825,  829. 

846,  896 
Frog-mouth,  295 
Frontal,  871,  876 
Fronto-nasal  joint,  877 
Froufrou,  442 
Frowl,  398 
Frugivori,  1058 
Fugl,  289 
Fulfer.  295 
Fulica,  102,  380,  517,  631, 

973 
Fulicarire,  118 
Fuligula,     72,     103,     151, 

168,  230,  284,  368,  407, 

544,  593,  734,  815 
Fulmaire,  295 
Fulmar,  295,  471,  530 
Fulmarus,  295 
Furcula,  296,  401 


Furnarius.   323,  632,  669, 
719,  877,  878,  879,  939 
Furze-Chat,  296 

Gabbiano,  310 

Gabble-ratchet,  297,  572 

Gaddel,  297 

Gadwall,  171,  297.  381 

Gairfowl,  303 

Galbalcyrhynchus,  463 

Galbula,  30,  92.  97,  324, 
403,  487,  617,'  630,  654, 
747,  749,  815,  853,  879, 
912 

Galeoscoptes,  582 

Galerita,  509 

Galgulus,  457,  463 

Gall-bladder.  298,  517 

Galley-bird,  299 

Gallicrex.  591,  1024 

Gallina,  311 

Gallina  Africana,  399 

Gallina  Numidica,  399 

Gallinacere,  299 

Gallinacei,  9,  299.  765 

Gallinse,  3,  9,  10,  11,-  18, 
29,  68,  113,  126,  145, 
147,  188,  190,  198,  234, 
242,  243,  245,  283,  299, 
401,  415,  422,  440,  517, 
539,  597,  606,  607,  608, 
610,  611,  613.  615,  621, 
635,  695,  699',  74.'.,  747, 
805,  854,  857,  860,  863, 
874,  879,  912,  918,  937, 
939,  940,  952 

Gallinago,  68, 770,  883,  939 

Galliney,  299 

Gallinula,  299,  589 

Gallirallus,  1031 

Gallito,  946 

Gallopavus,  994 

Galloperdix,  902 

Gallophasis,  476 

Gallus,  89,  126,  140,  285, 
289,  299,  617,  623,  765, 
902,  941 

Gallus  Mauritanus,  400 

Gallus  peregrinus,  156 

Gambet,  299 

Gambetta,  299 

Gambette,  299 

Gampsonyx.  492 

Gander,  300,  371 

Gandra,  300 

Ganga,  805 

Gannet,  3,  33,  48,  300,  310, 
477,  634,  703 

Ganot,  300 

Gan.s,  300 

Garden-Warbler,  43 


Gardener-bird,  49,  303 
Gare-fowl,    22,    220,    287, 

303,  704,  768,  1041 
Garganello,  309 
Garganev,  171,  309,  949 
Garrot,  309 
Garrulus,  85,  323,  466 
Gas,  371 

Gasserian  ganglion,  55 
Gastomi.?,  281,  864,  907 
Gaulding,  310 
Gaulin,  310 
Gaunt,  310,  382 
Gavia,  310,  402 
Gavise,  33,  183,   190,  310, 

652 
Gearbhul,  303 
Gearrabhul,  304 
Gecinomorpha^,  2 
Gecinus,     421,    452,    747, 

899,  1046 
Geelbec,  311 
Geier,  364,  404 
Geirfugl,  303,  704 
Geline,  311 
Gelinotte,  311,  394 
Gemitores,  311 
Gennsea,  235 
Gennseus,  522 
Gennaia,  522 
Gentle  Falcon,  235 
Gentoo,  471 
Genys,  33 
Geobates,  670 
Geobiastes,  353,  794 
Geocichla,  388,  961 
Geococcyx,  84,  126 
Geocolaptes,  458 
Geographical  Distribution, 

311 
Geophaps,  58,  696 
Geopsittacus,  475 
Geositta,  670 
Geospiza,  387 
Geothlypis,  1023 
Geranomorphff,    111,    363, 

473,  816,  829 
Geranopsis,  283 
Geranos,  109 
Gerfalcon,  364 
Geronticus,  456 
Gervaisia,  133 
Gerygone,  316,  364 
Giant  Petrel,  593 
Gier-Eagle,  364 
Gilly-Howlet,  364 
Gizzard,  916 
Gjardiniere,  49 
Gjog.  119,  378 
Gjok.  378 
Glada,  364 


INDEX 


1069 


Glareola,  9,  89,   453,   517, 

610,  740 
Glasoogje,  364 
Glass-eye,  364 
Glaucidium,  178,  675,  899 
Glaucopis,  316,  1025 
Glead,  364,  489 
Gled,  364,  489 
Glida,  364 
Globicera,  35 
Glossoptila,  761 
Glottis,  384 
Glutt,  384 
Gnat,  364,  498 
Gnat-catcher,  365 
Gnat-snapper,  365 
Gnathodon,  154 
Goathead,  365 
Goatsucker,    88,   130,  134, 

365,  638 
Godwit,  24,  28,   128,  150, 

161,  248,  365,  536,  566, 

634,  696,  712,  734,  800, 

814 
Gdk,  119,  378 
Goelaud,  401 
Goldammer,  1056 
Goldcrest,    253,  367,    489, 

565 
Goldeine,  310 
Golden-crested  Wren,  632 
Golden-crownedTlirusli,669 
Golden    Eagle,    176,    186, 

500,  791 
Goldeu-eye,    59,    60,    261, 

309,  368,  407,  544,  546, 

592,  633 
Golden   Plover,    505,    565, 

731,  734,  809 
Golden  Robin,  457 
Golden  Warblers,  1023 
Goldfinch,    250,   258,  276, 

370,  489,  632,  773,  838 
Goldfink,  370 
Golding,  310,  371 
Goldyn,  310 
Gom-Paauw,  371 
Gouabuch,  441 
Gonambuch,  441 
Gonys,  33 

Goosander,  310,  371,  543 
Goose,  32,  53,  81,  91,  168, 

190,  194,  286,  297,  300, 

315,  371,  439,  588,  597, 

605,  770 
Gooseherd,  373 
Gorcock,  377 
Gorfou,  304,  704 
Gos,  371 
Gos-Hawk,  188,  235,  377, 

411,  696,  802 


Gosling,  371 
Gossander,  371,  814 
Goulen,  401 
Goura,  286,  320,  377,  654, 

724,  952 
Gowk,  119,  378 
Gowry-bird,  109 
Gozzerd,  373 
Gracculus,  378 
Grackle,  42,  46,  378,  457, 

517,  530,  538,  761,  904 
Graciila,    133,    134,     380, 

697,  717 
Graculavus,  281 
Graculus,  105,  378 
Grallse,  3,  10,  11,  29,  33, 

68,   81,    243,    254,  379, 

740 
Grallaria,  20 
Grallator,  277 
Grallatores,  380 
Grallina,  25,  320,  380,  530, 

939 
Grandala,  44 
Grandaulo,  805 
Grand  Due,  677 
Graond,  297,  381 
Grape- eater,  380 
Grass-bird,  380,  458 
Grasshopper- Lark,  512 
Grasshopper- Warbler,   779, 

1021 
Grassmiicke,  601 
Grass-Quit,  381,  761 
Graucalus,  148,  381 
Gray,  297,  381 
Great  Auk,  220,  304,  704 
Grebe,     18,     33,   78,    131, 

136,  151,  156,  191,  197, 

310,  381,  424,  518,  630, 

769,  816,  893 
Grebe-Foulque,  252 
Greenfinch,    10,    251,   383, 

655 
Greenland  Dove,  166,  399 
Greenland  Turtle,  998 
Greenleek,  384 
Greenlet,  384,  1013 
"  Green  Linnet,"  1052 
Green  Olph,  10 
Green  Plover,  505 
Greenshank,  28,  384,  811 
Greoche,  389 
Greyback,  385 
Greyhen,  385,  393,  415 
Grey  Partridge,  692 
Grey  Plover,  731 
Griais,  389 
Grice,  389 
Griece,  389 
Griesche,  389 


I  Griflbn,  385,  1016 
I  Grinder,  276,  385 
'  Groove-bill,  978 

Grosbeak,  251,  385,  510, 
632,  637 

Grosbec,  385 

Ground -Parrot,  473 

Ground-Robin,  982 

Ground-Thrush,  388,  728 

Ground- Warblers,  1023 

Ground-Wren,  83 

Grouse,  43,  74,  86,  89,  93, 
150,  283,  311,  341,  377, 
385,  388,  415,  599,  693. 
740,  802 

Grows,  43,  388 

Grue,  109 

Grues,  606,  607,  615,  635, 
746,  863,  879,  939,  973 

Grulla,  109 

Griinfink,  383 

Grus,  25,  68,  109,  118,  133, 
145,  212,  240,  283,  299, 
416,  440,  514,  559,  610, 
612,  621,  747,  813,  829, 
854,  857,  858,  875,  876, 
912,  918,  985 

Grus  Capeusis,  823 

Gryphosaurus,  278 

Gryphus,  385 

Gryps,  385 

Guacamayo,  528 

Guacharo,  394,  638,  671 

Guainumbi,  442 

Guan,  82,  396,  703,  758 

Guillem,  397 

Guillemot,  22,  149,  166, 
166,  191,  194,  397,  453, 
480,  513,  519,  536,  602, 
768,  817,  892 

Guinea-fowl,  296,  299,  399, 
726,  994 

Guira,  401,  593,  941 

Guiraca,  387 

Guit-guit,  401,  761,  921 

Gull,  3,  4,  33,  43,  81,  92, 
94,  100,  113,  194,  198, 
239,  261,  281,  310,  401, 
453,  492,  505,  518,  534, 
539,  547,  571,  631,  635, 
692,  710,  718,  801,  816, 
818,  822,  834 

Gullet,  403 

Gulond,  310 

Gum-Peafowl,  371 

Gwillem,  403 

Gwilym,  397 

Gwylan,  401 

Gymnocephalus,  1001 

Gymnodera,  86.  1001 

Gymnopaedes,  743 


I070 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Gymnorhina,  148,  403,  656, 

845,  878,  1025 
Gypaetus,  3,  173,  227,  404, 

500,  501,  739,  765,  858, 

1015 
Gypagus,  1016 
Gypogeranus,  3,  765,  824, 

858,  973 
Gypotriorchis,  424 
Gyps,  385,  1016 
Gypsornis,  283 
Gyrfalcon,   237,   404,  470, 

503 
Gyrofalco,  404 

Habroptila,  320,  591 
Hackbolt,  404 
Hiiger,  416 
Hoemantopus,  682 
Hajmatopus,  109,  130,  380, 

517,  518,  610,  682.  725, 

734,  913 
Hampling,  515 
Hanfling,  515 
Hagbolt,  404 
Hagclown,  404 
Haggard,  629,  696 
Halcyon,  404,  486 
Halcyones,  11,  147 
Halcyornis,  281,  489 
Haleus,  904 
Half-bird,  404 
Haliaetus,  27, 144, 175,  284 
Haliastur,  176,  491 
Halieus,  105 
Hallux,  404,  587,  972 
Halodroma,  708 
Hammer-head,  405,  838 
Hammer-kop,  405 
Hamuli,  239 
Hang-bird,  406 
Haug-nest,  406,  457 
Hanna,  424 
Hapalarpactus,  989 
Hapalocercus,  999 
Hapaloderma,  327,  989 
Hai)aloptila,  750 
Haploophonce,     406,     425, 

547 
Harderian  Glands,  55,  234 
Hareld,  406,  817 
Harelda,  229,  406,  984 
Harc^la,  2,  21,  451 
HarUd,  902 
Harle,  407 

Harlequin-Duck,  407,  519 
Harpa,  407,  757 
Harpactes,  617,  918,  989 
Harpagornis,  286,  315 
Harpagus,  412,  574 
Harpe,  480,  503,  757 


Harporhyncbus,  582,  958 

Harpy,  407 

Harrier,  66,  67,   177,   226, 

408,  411,  424,  572,  589, 

791 
Hartlaubia,  283 
Haselhubn,  394 
Havelda,  406 
Havelle,  406,  407 
Haversian  Canals,  47 
Hawfinch,    250,    371,    384, 

386,  410 
Hawk,  1,  3,  408,  411,  490, 

549,  572,  629,  897 
Hawk-Owl,  674 
Hay-bird,  413 
Hay-jack,  413,  825,  1053 
Hazel-hen,  311,  394,  696 
Heart,  413,  1008 
Heath-cock,  415 
Heath-hen,  415 
Heather -bleat,  415 
Heather-bleater,  885 
Heather-blite,  415 
Heaven's  Ram,  885 
Hedge-Sparrow,  1,  26,  120, 

173,  452,  637,  777,825, 

895 
Hedymeles,  387 
Heergans,  416 
Hegessugge,  825 
Hegre,  416 
Heiger,  416 
Heigh-haw,  421 
Heire,  416 
Heleothreptes,  641 
Helicura,  532 
Heliodilus,  353,  673 
Helioruis,   252     617,    629, 

764,  973 
Helmet-Hornbill,  434 
Helminthophila,  1023 
Helmiuthotherus,  1023 
Helodromas,  812 
Helornis,  258 
Helotarsus,  31,  173,  717 
Hemidottides,     146,     456, 

974" 
Hemignathus,  167 
Heniipode,  66,  415,  757 
Heniipodius,  415 
Hemixus,  461 
Hen-Harrier,  408 
Henicurus,  276 
Hepatic      Portal      System, 

1011 
Herald,  406 

Herbst's  corpuscles,  973 
Herle,  407 
Hermit,  447 
Hern,  416 


Hemser,  416 
Hernshaw,  416 
Herodias,  215 
Herodii,  10,  11,18,  68,  69, 

76,   90,    118,   146,   243, 

517,  606,  607,  610,  613, 

615,  617,  879,  952,  972 
Herodiones,  406,  917 
Heron,    3,  12,   33,  41,  98, 

192,  215,  218,  254,  281, 

310,  379,  406,  416,  455, 

471,  632,  635,  702,  73B, 

764,  828 
Heronry,  410 
Heronsewe,  416 
Heronshaw,  416 
Herpetornithes,  780 
Herring-Gull,  816 
Hesperiphona,  251,  384 
Hesperornis,  13,  280,  405, 

477,  649,  699,  753,  754, 

857,  858,  954 
Heteralocha,  36,  184,  316, 

438 
Heterochrosis,  99,  215,  420, 

1007 
Heteroclitte,  805 
Heterococcyx,  362 
Heterocoelous,  850 
Heterodactyles,  972 
Heteromeri,    86,    406,  421. 

425,  532,  547 
Heteromorphse,    322,    421, 

422 
Heterops,  509 
Hewel,  421 
Hewhole,  421,  1046 
Heysuck,  825 
Hibou,  677 

Hickwall,  421,  915,  1046 
Hickwaw,  421 
Hickway,  421,  1046 
Hieracidea,  757 
Hierax,  685,  802 
Hierofalco,  235,  404 
Higera,  421,  1046 
Highawe,  421 
Highhaw,  1046 
High-holder,  421,  1046 
High-hole,  421,  1046 
Himantopus,  100,  130,  284, 

517,  610,  680,  682,  913 
Himbrim,  196 
Hiroudelle,  927 
Hirundo,     189,    536,    559, 

599,  697,  740,  741,  926 
Hirundo  marina,  740 
Histology,  12 
Histrionicus,  407 
Hjerpe,  394 
Hleapewince,  504 


INDEX 


1071 


Hoactzin,  9,  12,   296,   322, 

421,  914 
Hobbv,  235,  424,  477 
Hobe,  424 
Hobereau,  424 
Hoberel,  424 
Hocco,  421 
Hoitlallotl,  84 
Holarctic  Region,  313,  378 
Holaspidese,  431 
Holm-cock,  425 
Holm-Thrush,  425 
Holorhiual,  425,  816,  877 
Holorhines,  1015 
Holzhauer,  421 
Homalogonatse,  11,  19,  425, 

609 
Homodynamous,  15 
Homoeoineri,  86,  406,  421, 

425,  547 
Homology,  15 
Homolo23us,  284 
Homrai,  426,  434 
Honey-bird,  426 
Honey-Buzzard,     67,    426, 

492 
Honey-eater,  292,  428,  915, 

1025 
Honey-guide,  27,  429 
Honey-sucker,  31,    87,  92, 

166,  428,  655,  779,  801 
Hoodie,  430 
Hoopoe,  92,   93,  284,  430, 

436,  438,  460,  505,  509, 

632,  653,  743 
Hoplo2:)terus,  506,  733 
Hornbill,  4,  35,  47,  70,  83, 

92,  112,    134,  234,  283, 

426,  432,  486,  601,  632, 
788 

Horned  Owls,  677 
Horned  Pheasant,  587 
Horuero,  669 
Horn-Pie,  437,  505 
Hortolan,  658 
House-Martin,  536 
House-Sparrow,  896 
Houtou,  595 
Howlet,  437,  671 
Hi-aefn,  766 
Hrafn,  766 
Hragra,  416 
Hroc,  795 
Hr6kr,  795 
Huhola,  421 
Huia,  36,  316,  437,  647 
Huitrier,  682 
Hum-bird,  441 
Humerus,  439 
Humming-bii-d,  18,  32,  43, 
113,  130,  195,  323,  440, 


477,  529,  534,  594,  632, 

638,  762 
Hnppe,  430 
Hurgila,  451 
Hurricane-bii'd,  294,  451 
Hyas,  732 

Hydralector,  464,  521 
Hydrobata,  667 
Hydrochelidon,  955 
Hydrocichla,  277 
Hydrocorax,  434 
Hydrophasianus,  90,  464 
Hydrornis,  284 
Hylacola,  451 
Hylactes,  946 
Hyliota,  276 
Hylochelidon,  538 
Hylomanes,  594 
Hylophilus,  1014 
Hymenolajmus,  843,  975 
Hyoid,  452,  512 
Hypapophyses,  854 
Hyphantornis,  1029 
Hypocleidium,  858 
Hypolais,  122,  364,  1038 
Hypopteron,  454 
Hyporhachis,  3,  239 
Hypositta,  648 
Hypotffinidia,  764,  1032 
Hypotarsus,  865 
Hypotriorchis,    235,     424, 

477 
Hypselornis,  285 
Hypsipetes,  230,  574 
Hystornis,  654 

Ibidopodia,  284 

Ibidopsis,  283 

Ibis,  34,  89,  95,  146,  283, 
349,  379,  454,  513,  610, 
702,  877,  952,  973,  974 

Ibycter,  74,  457 

Ichthyornis,  281,  649,  753, 
754,  850,  859,  954 

Icoturus,  773 

Icteria,  85,  457,  1023 

Icterus,  42,  46,  96,  329, 
378,  406,  457,  476,  512, 
530,  539,  563,  657,  727, 
741,  1024 

Ictinia,  458,  491 

Idle  Jack,  381,  458 

liwi,  182 

Ikstern,  955 

Ileum,  458 

Ilium,  458 

Imber,  194 

Imberbi,  1058 

Imber-Goose,  458 

Immaues,  315,  766 

Immer-Goose,  194,  458 


Impennes,  11,  18,  29,  324, 

458,  704 
Impeyau  Pheasant,  458,  586 
Imping,  596 
Index,  459 
Indian  Cock,  586 
Indian  Eaven,  433 
Indian  Region,  312,  355 
Indicator,    27,    429,    617, 

878,  952 
Indigo-bird,  40,  459,  645 
luepti,  459,  766 
Inertes,  459,  493 
Insectivores,  459 
Insessores,  312,   459,  524, 

697,  698,  707,  718,  814 
Intermaxilla,  877 
Interpres,  997 
Intestines,  459 
Irena,  45,  168 
Iris,  460 
Irrisor,  432,  460,  617,  618, 

857 
Isaac,  825 
Ischium,  460 
Isen,  485 
Isepiptesis,  559 
Isern,  485 
Island  Hen,  590 
Isocrelous,  142 
Ithaginis,  44 
Ivory-bill,  460 
Ivory-Gull,  575 
Ixus,  59,  319,  461 
lynx,  81,  1053 

Jabiru,  2,  379,  462 
Jacamar,  30,  92,  463,  487, 

749 
Jacamaralcyon,  463 
Jacameri,  463 
Jacamerops,  463 
Jacana,  380,  464,  521,  764, 

819,  893 
Jackass,  465 
Jack-bird,  802 
Jackdaw,  132,  364,  466 
Jacko,  690 
Jack-Snipe,  466,  886 
Jacobin,  164 
Jaggar,  522 
Jaquette,  720 
Jardraeka,  366 
Java  Sparrow,  466 
Jay,    116,   323,  429,  466, 

592,  647,  722,  812 
Jenny-Wren,  470,  1050 
Jerfalcon,  470 
J h agar,  522 
John  -  Crow,     227,      470, 

1016 


I072 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


John-Dowu,  47] 
Johnny,  471 
Jugals,  872 
Jumby-bird,  471 
Jumping  Jack,  465 
Jungle-Fowl,  471 
Jynx,  717,  814,  815 

Kaap,  92 

Kackela,  460 

Kae,  471 

Kago,  691 

Kagu,    32,  320,  471,  765. 

925 
Kaka,  473,  627 
Kakapo,  76,  316,  473,  477, 

686 
Kakatielje,  92 
Kakatua,  93 
Kalekuttisch  Hiiu,  994 
Kalij,  476 
Kalkoentje,  458,  475,  575, 

727 
Kalkon,  994 
Kallege,  476,  716,  1005 
Kamichi,  819 
Kapok-vogel,  725 
Kea,  476,  600,  627 
Keel,  476 
Keel-bird,  477 
Kelp-hen,  1032 
Kelp-Pigeon,  832 
Kentish  Plover,  341 
Kestrel,  89,  235,  327,  477, 

815,  903 
Ketupa,  676 
Kiddaw,  398,  480 
Kidney,  361,  480 
Kiebitz,  505 
Kiewiet,  505 
KUldeer,  481 
Killigrew,  482 
King-bird,  482 
King-Crow,  167 
King-Duck,  194 
Kingfisher,    30,    92,     100, 

243,  281,  320,  404,  463, 

465,  485,  593,  601,  631, 

749 
King  Harry,  489 
Kinglet,  367,  489,  1052 
King-Lory,  519 
King- Vulture,  1015 
Kirr-Mew,  489 
Kite,     66,    67,    118,    176, 

226,  364,411,  458,  489, 

563,  753,  803 
Kittiwake,  398,  402,  492 
Kitty,  493,  966 
Kitty  Wren,  1050 
Kiwi,  3,  4,  224,  286,  315, 


459,     493,      578,     630, 

646 
Knee,  498 
Knorhaau,  498 
Knot,  364,  385,  498,  539, 

655,  791,  804,  812 
Kobbe,  92 
Koekkoek,  119 
Koel,  499 
Koniglein,  999 
Konigsfischer,  485 
Koet,  817 
Kohlmeise,  92 
Koklas,  752 
Koko,  691 

Koning  Roodebec,  795 
Koperwiek,  777 
Korrock,  795 
Kraai,  116,  500 
Kraan,  109 
Krahe,  116 
Kraen,  109 
Ki-amtsvogel,  249 
Kjeuzschnabel,  113 
Kruiper,  112 
Kryber,  112 
Krypare,  112 
Kuckuk,  119 
Kukker,  119 
Kwakkel,  754 
Kwartel,  754 
Kwikstaart,  1018 

Labrador  Duck,  222,  736 

Labyrinth,  984 

Lacrymal,  871,  876 

Lacteal  Vessels,  1012 

Lady-fowl,  500 

Lammergeyer,  21,  101,  404, 
407,  500,  501,  1015 

Laerke,  507 

Lagenoplastes,  _538 

Laggar,  522 

Lag  Goose,  371 

Lagonosticta,  825 

Lagopus,  89,  287,  341,  389, 
597 

Laletes,  1014 

Lamellirostres,  503 

Lampornis,  534 

LaniDrocolius,  229,  904 

Laud'-Rail,  109,  131,  762 

Langvia,  398 

Langy,  398 

Laniarius,  72,  503,  845 

Lanier,  503 

Lanius,  31,  66,  70,  116, 
124,  134,  167,  253,  284, 
292,  362,  468,  483,  517, 
574,  575.  643,  681,  697, 
843,  1041 


Lanner,  503,  522,  802 

Laomis,  281 

Lapwing,  68,  192,  310, 
432,  504,  565,  701,  711, 
732,  775,  892,  893,  1054 

Lapwynches,  504  > 

Lari,  850,  858,  863 

Lark,  6,  70,  250,  431,  458, 
476,  507,  513,  539,  565, 
598,  659,  671,  726 

Lark-heeled  Cuckow,  107 

Laro-Limicolffi,  118,  973 

Larus,  10,  11,  29,  68,  81, 
92,  94,  109,  113,  143 
145,  195,  243,  284,  310 
329,  401,  440,  492,  505, 
606,  607,  610,  612,  615, 
621,  635,  651,  707,  710, 
742,  747,  801,  857,  875, 
876,  878,  939,  952 

Larynx,  512,  937 

Lateral,  15 

Latirostres,  513 

Laughing  Jackass,  465 

Laurillardia,  283 

Lavandicre,  1018 

Laverock,  513 

Lavy,  398,  513 

Lawerce,  507 

Lazy  Dick,  381 

Leather-head,  293,  513 

Leeuwerik,  507 

Lefler,  514 

Leistes,  458 

Lemuria,  355 

Lepelaar,  514,  738 

Leplar,  514 

Leptodou,  428 

Leptoptilus,  2,  5,  284,  463, 
536,  610,  741,  952 

Leptosoma,  347,  638,  654, 
739,  972 

Lerche,  507 

Lerwa,  696 

Lestris,  149,  868 

Leucocerca,  238 

Leucopeza,  1023 

Leucosarcia,  320,  723, 
1041 

Leucosticte,  251,  332,  51t; 

Lever,  513 

L'evesque,  40 

Lhagar,  522 

Lichenops,  998 

Lichenoxauthine,  187 

Licmetis,  93 

Ligament,  514 

Ligurinus,  251,  384 

Limicolw,  10,  29,  33,  68, 
85,  109,  143,  145,  150, 
161,  182,  183,  190,  191, 


INDEX 


1073 


195,  243,  281,  315,  366, 
385,  405,  440,  464,  498, 
511,  514,  518,  548,  606, 
607,  610,  613,  615,  621, 
635,  652,  682,  733,  740, 
747,  757,  800,  810,  850, 
858,  873,  875,  876,  878, 
939,  952 

Limuatornis,  284 

Limosa,  69,  128,  283,  365, 
634,  734,  939 

Limpkin,  514,  765 

Linete,  515 

Linet-wige,  515 

Linnet,  251,  383,  386,  515, 
774 

Linota,  251,  515,  773 

Linotte,  515 

Lintquhit,  515 

Lint  white,  515 

Lipaugus,  86 

Lipoa,  320,  530,  541,  621 

Lipotypes,  319 

Lira,  517,  523,  830 

Lire,  523 

Liri,  523 

Lithornis,  281 

Litorne,  249 

Little  Auk,  796 

Little  Bittern,  188 

Little  Owl,  679 

Littorales,  514,  517 

Liver,  513,  517 

L6a,  734 

L6arthraell,  734 

Lobiophasis,  362 

Lobipedes,  517 

Lobipes,  712 

Lobivanellus,  506 

Locust-bird,  379,  517 

Locustella,  779,  1021 

Loddigesia,  444 

Lofflar,  514 

Logcock,  517,  1048 

Logger-head,  517,  597,  737 

Loggerhead  Duck,  762 

L6mr,  518 

Longipennes,  310,  518 

Longirostres,  85,  518 

Longlegs?,  914 

Long-tailed  Duck,  70 

Loom,  151,  518,  522 

Loon,  382,  518 

Looree,  519 

Lophogyps,  1017 

Lophoictinia,  491 

Lopholsemus,  610 

Lophophaps,  58,  320 

Lophophorus,  458,  585, 
716 

Lc^hopsittacus,  216,  1006 


Lophortyx,  756,  939 
Lophosteou,  910 
Lophotibix,  456 
Lord,  519 
Loriculus,  530 
Lorikeet,  519,  520 
Loripes,  913 
Lorius,  320,  520,  690 
Lory,  519,  687 
Lotus-bird,  464,  521 
Louro,  519 
Loury,  519 
L6uthrgell,  734 
Love-bird,  521,  689 
Love-gestures,  892,  893 
Lowan,  522,  541 
Loxia,  114,  250,  386,  571, 

698 
Loxops,  1053 
Luggar,  238,  522,  803 
LuUula,  509 
Lumme,  518,  522 
Lunda,  522 
Lunde,  522 
Lungs,  522 
Luscinia,  637 
Lymphatic  System,  1012 
Lymphatic  Vessels,  1008 
Lyncornis,  639 
Lynx,  717 
Lyra,  523,  830 
Lyre-bird,   2,  9,    92,    242, 

320,  523,  753,  821 
Lyric,  523,  830 

Maaqe,  401 
Macao,  527 
Macaw,  527 
Maccao,  527 
Maccaroni,  529 
Maccaw,  220,  527,  690 
Machseropterus,  532 
Machao,  527 
Machetes,  798 
Mackerel-bird,  529 
Mackerel-cock,  529 
Mackerel-Diver,  529 
Mackerel-Gull,  529 
Macreuse,  102,  817 
Macrocephalon,  541 
Macrocercus,  527 
Macrochires,  16,  29,   442, 

529 
Macrodipteryx,  641 
Macronyx,   458,  475,  575, 

727 
Macropteres,  518 
Macropteryx,  936 
Macromis,  283 
Macucagua,  963 
Madge,  529,  720 

68 


Maaw,  547 
Mafur,  401 
Magot,  720 

Magpie,  364,  403,  530,  720 
Magpie-Lark,  530 
Magpie-Robin,  530 
Magpie-Shrike,  530 
Maina,  378,  530 
Maiwi,  539 
Maize-bird,  530 
Makavouanne,  528 
Malacocercus,  25 
Malaconotus,  845 
Malacoptila,  750 
Malacorhynchus,  842 
Malart,  168,  530 
Maleo,  530 
Malkoha,  530 
Mallard,  168,  530 
Mallee-bird,  530,  541 
Mallemuck,    9,   293,    530, 

585 
Mallemugge,  295,  530 
Malleoe,  540 
Malurus,  821,  1022 
Malvitius,  539 
Mamo,  167,  225,  655 
Mamuco-Diata,  38 
Manacus,  533 
Manakin,  85,  93,  421,  531, 

892 
Manchot,  704 
Mandarin-Duck,  534 
Mandible,  534 
Mango-bird,  534 
Mangrove-Cuckow,  534 
Mangrove-hen,  534 
Manneken,  531 
Man-of-war  bird,    6,   293, 

534 
Manorhina,  31 
Manucode,  40,  150,  534 
Manucodia,  140,  144,  534, 

917 
Manucodiata,  38,  534 
Manukdewata,  534 
Manu-mea,  724 
Mase,  401 
Marabou-Stork,  536 
Maracry,  213 
Mareca,  1039 
Margarops,  959 
Margot,  720 
Maringouin,  365,  498 
Mariu-erla,  1018 
Marlin,  367,  536,  545 
Marlion,  545 
Maroang,  245 
Marrock,  398,  536 
Marrot,  536,  750,  768 
Marryang,  213 


I074 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Marsh-Harrier,  409 
Marsh-hen,  536 
Martelet,  536 
Martin,  189,  454,  536,  632, 

928,  934 
Martin  (Fr.),  538 
Martinet,  536 
Martlet,  536,  934 
Marvizzo,  539 
Mascarin,  687 
Mase,  966 
Mastoid,  875 
Matuitni,  750 
Mauviette,  539,  959 
Mauvis,  539,  778 
Mavi,  539 

Mavis,  539,  778,  959 
Maxilla,  539 
May-bird,  539 
May-chick,  539 
May-cock,  539 
May-fowl,  539 
Meadow-chicken,  539 
Meadow-hen,  539 
Meadow -Lark,   512,    539, 

575 
Median,  15 
Meerelster,  682 
Mees,  966 
Meeuw,  401 
Megacephalon,    320,     541, 

939 
Megalaema,  28,  319,  879 
Megalapteryx,  579 
Megalestris,  869 
Megaloprepia,  97 
Megalornis,  281,  576 
Megapode,   59,    522,    530, 

539,  600,  621,  630,  707, 

753 
Megapodii,  118 
Megapodius,  77,  126,  243, 

319,  360,  361,  539,  597, 

972 
Meggy,  543,  601 
Megistanes,  78,   320,  543, 

766 
Meionomis,  580 
Meise,  966 
Melampitta,  728 
Melanerpes,  773,  1048 
Melanism,    99,    542,    543, 

1007 
Melanocorypha,  70,  510 
Melanodryas,  791 
Meleagris,    69,    285,    399, 

610,  765,  952,  994 
Melidora,  488 
Melierax,  1002 
Meliphaga,  31,  32,  33,  44, 

92,  166,  292,  316,  428, 


573,  655,  691,  743,  779, 

975 
Melithreptus,  87,  429,  1058 
Melittophagus,  30 
Melizophilus,  1038 
Mellisuga,  444 
Mellopitta,  728 
Melopsittacus,      59,      194, 

953 
Menura,  2,  9,  92,  134,  320, 

453,  523,  607,  630,  746, 

747,  753,  765,  822,  878, 

912,  939 
Merganetta,  545,  975 
Merganser,  151,  168,  369, 

371,  407,  503,  543,  814 
Mergulus,  339,  796 
Mergus,     168,     284,  '  299, 

369,  371,  503,  543,  917. 

984 

Merlin,  235,  477,  536,  545 

Mero,  791 

Meroblastic,  546 

Meropogon,  30 

Merops,  29,  68,  77,  92, 
292,  463,  487,  593,  616, 
630,  654,  718,  743,  747, 
794,  853,  857,  879,  912, 
912 

Merrythought,  296 

Merry-wing,  546 

Mertyn,  546 

Merula,  42,  545,  961 

Mes,  966 

Mesange,  966 

Mesembriomis,  905 

Mesentery,  546 

Mesites,  353,  730,  764, 
858,  877      • 

Mesoblast,  546 

Mesomyodi,  86,  406,  421, 
426,  532,  546,  728,  938 

Mesopteryx,  580 

Metacarpus,  547,  859 

Metastemum,  910 

Metatarsus,  547,  864 

Metopia,  532 

Metopiana,  736,  983 

Metopidius,  464 

Metostea,  910 

Meve,  401 

Mew,  401,  547 

Microdactylus,  827 

Microglossa,  34 

Microligia,  1023 

Micromonacha,  750 

Micronisus,  898 

Micropterus,  518,  737 

Micropus,  934 

Migration,  547 


Milhuez,  539 

Miliaria,  659 

Miller,  572 

Milnea,  284 

Milvago,  74 

Milvid,  539 

Milvulus,  483,  816,  999 

MQvus,  67,   89,  144,  284, 

489 
Mimeta,  573,  656 
Mimetes,  573 
Mimicry,  572 
Mimocichla,  959,  961 
Mimus,  80,  582,  958 
Mina,  575 
Minivet,  575 
Minor,  378,  530,  575 
Mirafra,  511 
Mire-dromble,  40,  575 
Mire-drum,  575 
Miro,  316,  791,  1035 
Miroir,  899 
Miserythrus,  218,  764 
Missel-bird,  575 
Missel-Thrush,  575 
Mistletoe-Thrush,  249,  425, 

575,  820,  843,  960 
Mitua,  127 
Mniotilta,    85,    273,    323, 

328,  365,  777,  1022 
Moa,  3,  82,  151,  226,  286, 

315,  575 
Moat-hen,  582,  589 
Mock-bird,  582 
Mocking  -  bird,     26,      80, 

582 
Mock-Nightingale,  582 
Mock  Kegent-bird,  780 
Moeleoe,  540 
Mohoa,  655 
Molenaartje,  572 
Molly,  585 
Molly-Mawk,  9,  295,  530, 

585 
Molly-Washdish,  1018 
Molobrus,  108,  458 
Molothrus,  108 
Molpastes,  59 
Momotus,    30,     92,      134, 

324,  433,  463,  487,  593, 

616,  617,  654,  746,  747, 

939 
Monacha,  750,  770 
Monal,  459,  585,  716 
Monk,  293,  587 
Monstrosities,  587,  1003 
Monticola,    45,    887,   889, 

961 
Montifringilla,     251,    517, 

887 
Moonaul,  585 


INDEX 


1075 


Moor-Buzzard,     67,     409, 

491,  589 
Moorcock,  589 
Moore-henue,  389 
Moor-fowl,  389,  589 
Moor-game,  389 
Moor-hen,  299,  582,  589 
Moor-poult,  589 
Moor-Titliug,  595 
Mooruk,  80,  592 
Moose-bird,  592 
Morah,  575 
Morepork,  295,  592,  643, 

671 
Morillon,  369,  592 
Mormon,  113,  753 
Mosquito-Hawk,  593 
Moss-cheeper,  86,  593 
Motacilla,    45,    108,    120, 

131,  134,  151,  276,  284, 

332,  367,  381,  458,  475, 

511,  559,  598,  637,  697, 

727,     758,     772,     780, 

1018 
Mother    Carey's    Chicken, 

593,  709 
Mother  Carey's  Goose,  593 
Mother  Carey's  Hen,  593 
Moth-Hawk,  593 
Moth-hunter,  593 
Motmot,  30,  92,  134,  463, 

487,  543,  762,  814 
Mottled  Owl,  678 
Mouchet,  620 
Mouette,  401 
Moult,  170,  393,  595 
Mound-bird,  540,  600 
Mountain-Bunting,  600 
Mountain-cock,    31,     590, 

600 
Mountain-Duck,  600 
Mountain- Finch,  251,  600 
Mountain-Parrot,  600 
Mountain-Quail,  295 
Mountain-Sparrow,  600 
Mouse-bird,    12,    92,    101, 

251,  600,  684 
Mousquet,  620 
Mouth,  136 
Mud-Lark,  512 
Muggy,  543,  601 
Muisvogel,  600 
Miillerchen,  572 
Mullet-Hawk,  601 
Mumruffin,  601 
Munal,  585 

Munia,  108,  466,  601,  648 
Murre,  398,  602 
Muscicapa,    57,    92,    134, 

238,  273,  316,  362,  364, 

S.85,  697,  738 


Muscivora,  1000 

Muscular  System,  602 

Musk-Duck,  171 

Musket-Hawk,  620 

Musophaga,  12,  18,  35, 
69,  92,  95,  96,  147, 
284,  347,  422,  615,  630, 
730,  753,  815,  857,  858, 
863,  952,  972,  980 

Musquet-Hawk,  620 

Mutton-bird,  620,  831 

Mycteria,  4,  379,  462,  741, 
952 

Myiadectes,  887,  1028 

Myiadestes,  1028 

Myiagra,  275,  814 

Myiarchus,  483,  518,  973, 
999 

Myiodioctes,  1023 

Myiodynastes,  483 

Myiomoira,  316,  791,  1035 

Myiothera,  134 

Myiozetetes,  493 

Myna,  378 

Mynah,  530 

Myzomela,  44,  428,  887 

Na'Ama,  212 

Na'ema,  212 

Nail,  89 

Namaqua  Duif,  724 

Nandu,  620,  785 

Nares  perviae,  875 

Nasal  Glands,  620 

Nasals,  871,  876 

Nasitema,  93,  687 

Nasutffi,  621 

Natatores,  621,  650,  972 

Native  -  companion,     112, 

621 
Native-hen,  621 
Native-Pheasant,  541,  621 
Native-Sparrow,  621 
Native-Thrush,  621 
Native-Turkey,  621 
Nauclerus,  491 
Nearctic,  312,  329 
Neck,  621 

Necropsar,  353,  354 
Necropsittacus,  218 
Necromis,  284 
Nectarinia,   97,    349,   428, 

444,  743,  922,  975 
Nemosia,  944 
Neochloe,  1014 
Neocorys,  727 
Neomorpha,  438 
Neomorphus,  126 
Neophron,   364,   606,  621, 

1016 
Neossoptile,  243,  629,  635 


Neotropical,  312,  321 

Nervous  System,  621 

Nesoctites,  720 

Nesonetta,  1006 

Nest,  630 

Nestor,     223,     316,    473, 

476,  600,  627,  686 
Nettium,  949 
Nettle-creeper,  1037 
Nettopus,  376,  949 
Neunmorder,  643 
Neuntodter,  643 
New-Holland  Vulture,    59, 

541 
New-Zealand  Region,  315 
Nhandu-gua^ii,  620 
Niais,  629 
Nias,  629,  645,  696 
Nicobar  Pigeon,  724 
Nidax,  629 
Nidicolse,     10,    154,    212, 

234,  243,  629 
Nidification,  630 
Nidifugae,     10,    153,    212, 

234,  243,  635,  814 
Night-Hawk,  635,  639 
Night-Heron,  45,  416,  635, 

754 
Nightingale,  6,  45,  59,  339, 

550,  635,  777,  778,  892 
Nightjar,    17,    68,   88,  89, 

161,  295,  297,  351,  365, 

395,  442,  592,  593,  630, 

635,  638,  671,  738,  749 
Night-Parrot,  473 
Night-Raven,  643 
Nihtegale,  635 
Nilaus,  58,  845 
Nine-killer,  643 
Niae-murder,  643 
Nisaetus,  178 
Nisoides,  411 
Nisus,  412 
Noddy,  310,  643 
Noira,  519 
Non,  646 
Nonnenmeise,  646 
Nonnette,  646 
Nonnula,  750 
Nonpareil,  459,  644 
Nope,  645,  655 
Nor,  519 

Norfolk  Plover,  129,  645 
Nori,  519 
Nothocercus,  965 
Nothocrax,  127 
Nothoprocta,  965 
Nothura,  615,  964 
Noto  -  Coracomorphae,     39, 

846,    1025    {cf.    Austro- 

coraces) 


1076 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Notogaea,  314 

Notornis,    286,    316,    591, 

592,  1007 
Nousbrecher,  646 
Noyra,  519 
Nucifraga,  571,  646 
Nullipennes,  493,  646 
Numenius,  25,  68,  127,  145, 

146,  148,  161,  284,  299, 

514,  610,  612,  1036 
Numida,  299,  399,  765 
Nun,  646,  967 
Nuri,  519 
Nussbrecher,  646 
Nutcracker,  116,  671,  646 
Nuthack,  647 
Nuthatch,   112,  189,   632, 

647,  1048 
Nutjobber,  647 
Nutmeg-bird,  648 
Nyctala,    178,    675,     899, 

814 
Nyctea,  178,  287,  674 
Nyctibius,  643,  738,  879 
Nycticorax,    33,    45,    229, 

244,  416,  754 
Nyctidromus,  639,  941 
Nyctiornis,  30 
Nyroca,  734,  815 

Oat-fowl,  649 
Oatseed  bird,  649 
Occipitals,  870 
Occiput,  649,  873 
Oceanites,  710 
October-bird,  649 
Ocydrome,  649 
Ocydromus,  315,  592,  764, 

858,  973,  1031 
Ocyphaps,  58 
Odontoglossse,  649 
Odontoid,  852 
Odontolcae,  640,  954 
Odontophorinae,  188 
Odontophorus,  649,  756 
Odontopteryx,  281 
Odontomithes,    281,     649, 

954 
Odontotormae,  649,  655,954 
CEdemia,     36,     817,     983, 

984 
(Edicnemus,  68,   129,  148, 

284,  440,  453,  610,  877, 

919,  958 
(Ena,  371,  724 
CEnops,  470 
CErn,  175,  215,  657 
(Esophagus,  653 
Oestervisscher,  682 
(Estrelata,  227,  395,  709 
Oil-bird,  394,  638,  653 


Oil-gland,  653 

Oiseau-de-soleil,  252,  924 

Oiseau-mouche,  442 

Oiseau-trompette,  992 

Olaf,  655 

Old  man,  654 

Old  squaw,  654 

Old  wife,  654 

Olecranon,  654 

Oligomyodae,  58,  323,  654, 
938 

Olive,  655 

Olph,  10,  655 

Ombre,  655 

Ombrette,  406,  655,  1000 

Ombria,  600 

Onocrotalus,  702 

Ontogeny,  13 

Onychoprion,  1039 

0-0,  167,  655 

Oocyan,  187 

Ooijevaar,  919 

Oorhodeiue,  187 

Ooxanthine,  187 

Open-bill,  510,  655 

Ophiotheres,  824 

Opisthoccelous,  850 

Opisthocomus,  9,  12,  29, 
113,  H8,  145,  147,  322, 
421,  606,  615,  630,  635, 
655,  745,  746,  747,  765, 
857,  858,  879,  939 

Opisthodactylus,  905,  907 

Opisthotic,  875 

Oporomis,  1023 

Orange-bird,  655 

Orange-Quit,  701 

Orbitosphenoid,  871,  876 

Orchard-Oriole,  657 

Orchilus,  442 

Oreocincla,  770 

Oreoeca,  31,  958 

Oreophasis,  126,'  397 

Oreopsittacus,  521 

Oreoscoptes,  582 

Oreotrochilus,  97,  448 

Orfraie,  660,  679 

Organ-bird,  404,  656 

Organist,  656 

Organiste,  40,  656 

Oriental  Region,  355 

Oriol,  656 

Oriole,  230,  406,  457,  463, 
573,  632,  656,  1029 

Oriolia,  1050 

Oriolus,  134,  230,  457,  534, 
559,  574,  656,  697,  717, 
779 

Ornithichnites,  657 

Ornithion,  483 

Ornitholite,  657 


Ornithology,  657 

Ornithopus,  277 

Omithotomy,  657 

Ornithurae,  754,  814 

Ortalida,  397 

OrtaUs,  82,  325,  397 

Orthoccelous,  142 

Orthonyx,  77,  657,  822, 
1036 

Orthotomus,  942,  1022 

Ortolan,  47,  61,  365,  658 

Ortygis,  765 

Ortygometra,  762 

Ortygornis,  692 

Ortyx,  47,  95,  696 

Ortyxelus,  757 

Oscines,  1,  380,  453,  617, 
659,  668,  698,  718,  737, 
746,  939,  940,  951 

Os  entoglossum,  872 

Osle,  666 

Ospray,  660 

Osprey,  178,  192,  253, 
332,  503,  601,  632,  660, 
672,  679 

Ossification,  47 

Ossifraga,  593,  660,  710, 
952 

Ossifrage,  503,  660,  662 

Osteomis,  282 

Ostrich,  3,  33,  66,  89, 
91,  130,  190,  194,  197, 
212,  234,  285,  346,  380, 
630,  651,  662,  770,  781, 
785 

Otidiphaps,  724 

Otis,  9,  62,  77,  130,  145, 
284,  320,  371,  380,  405, 
440,  607,  610,  621,  635, 
654,  746,  747,  824,  829, 
875,  912 

Otocorys,  511 

Otogyps,  349,  1017 

Otus,  678 

Oubrier,  424 

Ourissia,  442 

Ousel,  277,  666 

Ouzel,  666 

Ovary,  669 

Oven-bird,  632,  669,  1053 

Oviduct,  660 

Ovum,  195 

Owl,  1,  3,  16,  33,  47,  68, 
178,  184,  188,  191,  218, 
287,  316,  353,  364,  409, 
437,  471,  529,  534,  565, 
592,  634,  638,  642,  671, 
892 

Owl  (Pigeon),  164 

Owlet,  671 

Owl-Parrot,  473 


INDEX 


1077 


Ox-bird,  680 

Oxen-and-Kine,  680 

Ox-eye,  680,  913,  967 

Ox-pecker,  30,  680,  788 

Oxlophus,  125 

Oxynotus,  70,  353,  681 

Oxyurus,  719 

Oyster- catcher,  109,  130, 
380,  518,  565,  655,  681, 
725,  733,  817,  822,  833, 
838,  913 

Paauw,  683,  699,  730 

Pachycephala,  319,  621, 
957 

Pachyornis,  580 

Pacliyrhamphus,  325 

Pacinian  Corpuscles,  973 

Padda,  466,  683 

Paddy-bird,  683,  789,  832 

Paedotropha3,  814 

Pagophila,  402 

Paictes,  730 

Paisano,  84 

Palgearctic,  312,  329,  334 

Palseeudyptes,  283 

Palsegithalus,  283 

Palselodus,  257,  280,  284 

Palselognis,  283 

Palseocircus,  283 

Palaaohierax,  284 

Palseoperdix,  284 

Palseornis,  218,  280,  354, 
384,  685,  953 

Palaeortyx,  283 

Palseospiza,  283 

Palaeotetrix,  285 

Palaeotringa,  281 

Palamedea,  9,  86, 113,  118, 
146,  324,  379,  465,  607, 
616,  635,  683,  744,  745, 
746,  747,  770,  819,  826, 
865,  875,  939,  972,  1001 

Palamedea,  853,  912 

Palapteryx,  578 

Palate,  683 

"Palatine,"  872 

Pamprodactylae,  600,  684, 
972 

Pancreas,  684 

Pandion,  140, 144, 178, 612, 
616,  617,  653,  660,  865 

Pannrus,  113,  251,  337, 
453,  969 

Panyptila,  711,  936 

Paon,  699 

Paon  des  roseaux,  924 

Papagaio,  684 

Papagallo,  738 

Papagau,  738 

Papagayo,  684,  738 


Papagei,  684 

Pape,  40,  645 

Papegai,  738 

Papegau,  738 

Papegaut,  684 

Papejay,  738 

Paradisea,  38,  51,  148,  320, 
523,  534,  681,  697,  717, 
790,  878 

Paradise-bird,  684 

Paradisornis,  39 

Paradoxomis,  251,  510 

Paraka,  84 

Parakeet,  684,  770,  796 
{cf.  Parrakeet) 

Parapteron,  684 

Paraquito,  684 

Pardalote,  684 

Pardalotus,  134,  277 

Pareudiastes,  320,  591 

Parietal,  871 

Parisomus,  58 

Parkinson,  523 

Parkinsonius,  523 

Parra,  60,  90,  380,  464, 
521,  610,  684,  764,  819, 
877 

Parrakeet,  59,  218,  384  {cf. 
Parakeet) 

Parr  aqua,  84 

Parrot,  3,  16,  32,  54,  76, 
93,  96,  216,  229,  234, 
473,  521,  527,  534,  653, 
684,  738,  743 

Parson-bird,  429,  691 

Parson-Gull,  692 

Partridge,  86,  192,  566, 
633,  692,  756,  773 

Partridge-Hawk,  237,  696 

Partridge-Pigeon,  696 

Parula,  1023 

Parus,  45,  83,  92,  189,  283, 
316,  329,  332,  367,  453, 
532,  648,  658,  697,  814, 
967 

Pashara  boues,  48 

Passage-Hawk,  696 

Passenger-Pigeon,  696,  723 

Passer,  140,  186,  251,  895 

Passeres,  1,  3,4,  11,  18,  19, 
21,  29,  32,  33,  39,  53, 
58,  69,  77,  102,  104, 
118,  134,  143,  148,  167, 
183,  190,  194,  195,  229, 
243,  244,  250,  282,  312, 
406,  426,  459,  483,  510, 
517,  532,  535,  538,  582, 
603,  607,  610,  617,  618, 
621,  623,  621,  629,  634, 
660,  697,  728,  730,  739, 
742,  747,  784,  789,  821, 


853,  858,  863,  875,  912, 

918,  938,  972,  984 
"  Pas^eridse,"  697 
Passeriformes,  697 
Passerina,  459,  644 
Passerinae,  697 
Passerini,  698,  718,  737 
Passer  muscatus,  441 
Pastor,  698,  904,  918 
Pasture-bird,  698 
Patagona,  443 
Patella,  698 
Patrick,  692 
Patrijs,  692 
Pauwis,  739 
Pauxis,  78,  127 
Pavo,  363,  610,  699,  765, 

855,  861,  862,  863,  864, 

994 
Pavo  sylvestris,  73 
Pavoncella,  505 
Pawe,  699 

Paxaro  mosquito,  441 
Paxaros  bobos,  48 
Peacock,  21, 100,  150,  241, 

699,  716,  739,  770,  931 
Peafowl,  701 

Peaseweep,  505,  701,  711 
Pecten,  701 
Pectineal  Process,  701 
Pectoral  Arch,  856 
Pediocaetes,  394,  726,  740 
Pedionomus,  113,  145,  320 

517,  610,  757 
PediophUi,  744,  805 
Peep,  702 
Peetweet,  811 
Peewit,  403,  505 
Peggy  -  Whitethroat,     702, 

1037 
Pelagomis,  280 
Pelargi,    10,    11,    68,    118, 

144,  145,  243,  406,  517, 

606,  607,  621,  879,  952 
Pelargodes,  284 
Pelargomorphae,  134,    420, 

456,  702 
Pelargopsis,  284 
Pelecanoides,  708 
Pelecanus,  68, 284, 293, 300, 

607,  702,  745,  917,  974 
Pelican,  4,  269,  287,  599, 

702 
Pelicanus,  173,  702,  904 
Pelidna,  283 
Pellorneum,  25 
Pelvic  Arch,  860 
Pelvis,  703,  860 
Pen,  92,  703,  929 
Penelope,    126,    396,    703, 

765,  984 


10/8 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Penguin,  33,  221,  283,  458, 

471,  477,  493,  529,  596, 

646,  703,  769 
Penguin- Duck,  170 
Penis,  91 
Pentlietria,  1030 
Perchers,  707 
Perdicula,  756 
Perdix,  44,  192,  692,  765, 

902,  941 
Perdrix,  692 

Perdrix  d'Angleterre,  805 
Peregrine  Falcon,  236,  707 
Peres,  503 
Periccelous,  142 
Pericrocotus,  575 
Periotic,  871,  874 
Periquito,  684 
Perisoreus,  468,  1036 
Peristera,  725 
Peristeromorphae,  422,  707, 

805,  816 
Peristeropodes,    126,    397, 

539,  707,  754 
Peritoneum,  707 
Pemis,  67,  426,  492,  1024 
Pernix,  426 
Perriche,  684 
Perroquet,  684 
Perroquet-de-terre,  971 
Perroqueto,  684 
Perrot,  684 
Perruche,  684 
Pertriche,  692 
Pessulus,  940 
Petchary,  999 
Petit  Due,  678 
Petrel,    32,   81,   227,   295, 

395,  477,  518,  575,  593, 

707,  723,  726,  742,  830, 

993 
Petroeca,    771,    791,    958, 

1035 
Petrosal,  874 
Pettichaps,  710 
Peucedromus,  1023 
Pewee,  710,  711 
Pewit,  701,  710,  716,  718 
Pezophaps,  90,  150,  888 
Pezoporus,  475,  815 
Pfau,  699 
Phsenorrhina,  724 
Phaethon,  33,  46,  190,  607, 

745,  875,  904,  917,  990 
Phaethornis,  447 
Phalacrocorax,     105,    223, 

283,  607,  651,  745,  770, 

829,  904,  917,  939,  952 
Phalanges,  711,  866 
Phalaridopus,  711 
Phalarope,  150,  711,  800 


Phalaropus,  517,  634,  711, 
810 

Phalcobsenus,  75 

Phaps,  58,  407,  723 

Pharomacrus,  97,  760,  987 

Phasiana  avis,  713 

Phasianus,  44,  84,  86,  90, 
113,  259,  284,  319,  362, 
422,  586,  701,  713,  765 

Phasidus,  350,  401 

Pheasant,  21,  86,  262,  476, 
478,  522,  523,  541,  566, 
586,  588,  633,  701,  713, 
752 

Phegomis,  713 

Phene,  503 

Phibalura,  840 

Philacte,  374 

Philedon,  134,  292 

PhUemon,  289,  292,  429, 
573,  656 

Philepitta,  323,  347,  353, 
406,  547,  729,  939 

Philhetferus,  1029 

Philip-Sparrow,  132,  716 

Phillip-Island  Parrot,  223 

Philp,  716 

Philydor,  719 

PhodHus,  672 

PhcBbe,  483 

PhcBbe-bird,  711,  716 

Phoebetria,  708,  758 

Phcenicocercus,  94 

Phcenicoparrus,  257 

Phcenicophaes,  125,  530, 
607 

Phcenicopterus,  12,  18,  20, 
29,  68,  76,  91,  145,  243, 
253,  284,  379,  440,  452, 
606,  607,  610,  616,  635, 
649.  741,  746,  747,  854, 
857,  863,  865,' 875,  912, 
917,  918,  939,  973 

Phoenix,  38,  717 

Phonipara,  381,  761 

Phonygama,  535,  984 

Phororhacos,  281,  864,  905, 
908 

PLorysrhacos,  905 

Photodilus,  672 

Phyllornis,  319,  355 

Phylloscopus,  87,  332,  368, 
557,  1022 

Phyllostrephus,  59 

Phylogeny,  13 

Phytotoma,  134,  730,  878 

Piaya,  125,  265,  941 

Pica,  124,  722 

Picas,  19,  459,  697,  717, 
720 

Picaflor,  442 


Picarise,  20,  89,  92,  118, 
190,  191,  243,  283,  312, 
440,  463,  593,  607,  611, 
616,  621,  718,  749,  770, 
789,  794,  858,  972 

Picarii,  654,  698,  718 

Piccione,  723 

Pic-grimpereau,  718 

Pichat,  718 

Pici,  11,  29,  69,  77,  229, 
440,  517,  607,  610,  630, 
718,  719,  853,  857,  879, 
912,  939,  974 

Picicorvus,  647 

Pickcheese,  718 

Pickmire,  718 

Picktam,  718 

Picoides,  405,  720, 1049 

Picucule,  658,  669,  718 

Picule,  720 

Piculet,  720, 1049 

Piculule,  718 

Picumnus,  720,  1049 

Pieus,  81,  96,  147,  195, 
229,  258,  283,  299,  319, 
329,  443,  453,  460,  463, 
517,  600,  612,  613,  617, 
619,  620,  647,  717,  718, 
720,  747,  814,  815,  937, 
952,  1046 

Pie,  116,  429,  466,  529,  631 
720,  1024 

Pie-de-mer,  682 

Pied  Duck,  222 

Pierrot,  684 

Piet,  720 

Pie-wype,  1054 

Piezorhjmchus,  275 

Pigeon,  3,  16,  32,  53,  58, 
66,  154,  162,  188,  194, 
246,  261,  286,  311,  378, 
407,  564,  588,  631,  635, 
653,  696,  723,  726,  753, 
782,  793,  812 

Pigeon  blanc,  832 

PilwUlet,  725 

Pimlico,  293,  725 

Pine,  82 

Pincio,  82 

Pincione,  82 

Pinc-pinc,  725 

Pine-Goldfinch,  847 

Pine-Grosbeak,  386 

Pingouin,  704 

Pinicola,  143,  251,  386 

Pink,  725 

Pinkeye,  842 

Pinson,  82 

Pintado-Petrel,  710,  725 

Pintail,  109,  171,  726,  822 

Pin-wing,  221 


INDEX 


1079 


Pinzon,  82 

Pioniis,  521,  654,  690 

Piper,  723 

Pipile,  397 

Pipilo,  982 

Piping  Crow,  116,  403,  726 

Pipio,  109,  723,  726,  1039 

Pipione,  723 

Pipiri,  726 

Pipit,  316,  475,  512,  598, 

671,  726 
Pipra,  85,  86,  93,  134,  323, 

421,  532,  656,  928,  939 
Pique-bceut;  680 
Rramidig,  727 
Pirenet,  727 
Pirree,  727 
Pitangus,  483,  518 
Pitta,    21,    96,    148,    323, 

362,  388,  406,  547,  727, 

939,  940 
Pitylus,  945 
Pityriasis,  362 
Plagiocoelous,  142 
Plantain-eater,  35,  92,  288, 

730,  753,  980 
Plant-cutter,  134,  730 
Platalea,    91,     145,     146, 

379,  456,  607,  610,  615, 

629,  737,  746,  747,  865, 

877,  900,  912,  952,  974, 

983,  985 
Platea,  900 

Platycercus,  686,  796,  858 
Platyrhynchus,  999 
Platystemae,  730 
Platystira,  276 
Plectrophanes,     61,     189, 

517,  887 
Plectropterus,  90,  376,  837 
Plectrorhamphus,  1058 
Plectrorhyncha,  1058 
Plegadis,  456 
Plictolophus,  93 
Ploceus,    29,    31,  72,  109, 

230,  250,  319,  386,  466, 

602,  784,  825,  1028 
Plotus,  252,  607,  745,  880, 

904,     918,     950,    952, 

1024 
Plover,    32,    60,    66,    85, 

130,  162,  171,  183,284, 

308,  311,  380,  481,  504, 

539,  571,  631,  682,  730, 

740,  810,  828 
Plover's  Page,  734 
Plovers'  eggs,  504 
Plovier,  730 

Phivianus,  349,  442,  732 
Pluvier,  730 
Plyctoloplius,  628 


Pochard,  22,  72,  168,  172, 
230,  407,  734,  773,  815 

Pocheculier,  734 

Pockard,  734 

Pocs,  739 

Podargus,  32,  33,  69,  148, 
295,  592,  612,  638,  639, 
654,  737,  738,  875,  876, 
879,  941 

Podica,  145,  252,  517,  615, 
629,  746,  747,  875,  973 

Podiceps,  151,  310,  381 

Podicipedes,  912 

Podicipes,  11,  18,  68,  77, 
78,  89,  118,  131,  146, 
151,  156,  190,  243,  353, 
381,  440,  518,  607,  610, 
612,  615,  630,  635,  699, 
741,  745,  746,  747,  753, 
816,  854,  858,  863,  875, 
878,  917,  937,  939 

Podicipitiformes,  651 

Podilymbus,  383 

Podoa,  252 

Podotheca,  511 

Poe-bird,  691,  737 

Poeocephalus,  686 

Poes,  739 

Pogonias,  815 

Pogonorhynchus,  27 

Pogonomis,  316,  429,  915 

Poker,  734 

Polioptila,  365 

Pollex,  737,  741,  781 

Polly  Washdish,  1018 

Polochion,  292 

Polyborus,  74 

Polymorphism,  798 

Polymyodse,  737,  938 

Polymyodi,  1,  698,  737 

Polyphasia,  125 

Polyplectrum,  701 

Polytelis,  384 

Polytmus,  445 

Pompadour  Chatterer,  86, 
737 

Pona-inki,  727 

Ponnunky  pitta,  727 

Poodytes,  381,  939 

Pool-Snipe,  737 

Poophila,  1029 

Poor-soldier,  293,  737 

Poot-Hawk,  753 

Pope,  737 

Popeler,  737 

Popinjay,  684,  738 

Porphyrio,  68,  316,  591, 
972 

Porphyriornis,  590 

Portal  Venous  System, 
1012 


Port-Egmont  Hen,  738,  869 
Porzana,    68,      353,    764, 

895,  1024 
Post-bird,  738 
Potamodus,  77,  1021 
Potoo,  738 
Poule  d'Inde,  994 
Poule  rouge,  1033 
Poulle  de  la  Guin^e,  400 
Poult-Hawk,  753 
Pouter,  164 

Powder-down,  420,  738 
Powee,  739 
Powese,  739 
Poy-bird,  691 
Prsecoces,  10,  635,  739 
Prsecoracoid,  856 
Prsemaxilla,  872 
Prsesphenoid,  871 
Prairie-chicken,  739 
Prairie-Falcon,  238 
Prairie-fowl,  4 
Prairie-hen,  739 
Praticola,  777,  918,  1035, 

1036 
Pratincola,  740 
Pratincole,    9,    108,    517, 

733,  740 
Presaie,  679 
Pressirostres,  85 
Primaries,  741 
Prion,  34,  708,  742 
Prionites,  593 
Prioniturus,  595 
Prionodura,  51 
Prionops,  380,  846 
Prionorhynchus,  594 
Prionotelus,  327,  988 
Procellaria,    69,    81,    140, 

146,  295,  310,  707,  742, 

830 
Procellarieae,  708 
Procnias,  944 
Procoelous,  850 
Proctodseum,  91 
Prodotiscus,  430 
Progne,  484,  638 
Progoura,  286 
Proherodius,  281 
Promerops,  428,  743,  790, 

923 
Pro-ostea,  911 
Prootic,  874 
Propasser,  386 
Propelargus,  283 
Prosobonia,  225,  7l3,  813 
Prosthemadera,  316,  429 
Prosthematodera,  691,  939 
Protonotaria,  1023 
Protomis,  282 
Proud  tailor,  743 


io8o 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Proventriculus,  916 
Proximal,  14 
Pseudapteryx,  286 
Pseudochelidon,  1050 
Pseudogerygone,  364 
Pseudogryphus,  102,  1016 
Pseudogyps,  1017 
Pseudoscines,  1,  320,  524, 

743,  822,  921 
Psilopsdes,  743,  748 
Psilorhinus,  470 
Psittace,  685 

Psittaci,  11,  18,  29,  34, 
69,77,93,113,  118,  144, 
147,  220,  243,  244,  299, 
312,  440,  474,  519,  527, 
606,  607,  610,  612,  613, 
615,  617,  619,  629,  688, 
738,  739,  743,  747,  850, 
858,  863,  865,  879,  939, 
941,  952,  953,  975 
Psittacini,  815 
Psittacomorphae,   134,  688, 

743 
Psittacula,  96,  521,  689 
Psittacus,    286,    350,    627, 
685,  717,  718,  739,  815 
Psophia,  9,   118,  145,  324, 
380,  473,  829,  912,  973, 
992 
Psophodes,  91 
Ptarmigan,  389,  597,  744 
Ptenornis,  284 
Pternis,  68,  426 
Pterocles,    10,   11,   29,    68, 
113,  118,  145,  191,  243, 
284,  440,  610,  611,  612, 
613,  615,  616,  635,  726, 
746,  747,  805,  854,  877, 
879,  912,  939,  952 
"  Pterocletes,"  744,  805 
Pteroclides,  744 
Pteroclomorphse,  422,  744, 

805 
Pteroclurus,  805 
Pterogloesus,  815,  978 
Pterophanes,  447 
Pteroptochus,  25,  323,  524, 

939,  940,  946 
Pterygoid,  744,  872,  879 
Pterylosis,  744 
Ptilogonys,  1028 
Ptilopsedes,  743,  748 
Rilopus,  563,  723 
Ptilorhynchus,  49,  814 
Ptiloris,  790 
Ptilorrhis,  97,  790 
Ptilosis,  748 
Ptilotis,  319,  428 
Pubis,  748 
Puckeridge,  639,  748 


Pucrasia,  716,  752 
Pudding-poke,  749 
Puet,  719 
Puff-bird,  12,  92,  463,  749, 

770 
Puffin,   22,   35,    107,   398, 

522,  536,  556,  597,  737, 

750,  768,  797,  822,  830, 

973 
Puffinus,    284,    517,    620, 

752,  830,  952 
Pukras,  716,  752 
Pullastrae,  753 
Pulmonary  Circulation,  1008 
Purple  Water-hen,  591 
Purre,  753 
Puttock,  67,  753 
Pycnonotus,  59,  461,  574 
Pygopodes,     10,    29,    146, 

381,  652,  753 
Pygoscelis,  471,  706 
Py,o;o,style,  753,  769 
Pylorus,  916 
Pylstaart,  754 
Pyranga,  771,  944 
PjTenestes,  1028 
Pyrocephaius,  483 
Pyromelaena,  1028 
Pyrrhocorax,  87,  134 
Pyrrholasmus,  777 
Pyrrhula,    60,    251,     332, 

338 
Pyrrhulauda,  659,  510 
PjTThuloxia,  387 
Pytelia,  31 

QUA-BIED,  754 

Quadrate  Bone,   754,   872, 

879 
Quaglia,  754 
Quail,  47,  66,  94,  261,  316, 

389,  407,  415,  649,  754, 

761,  762 
Quail-Dove,  757 
Quail-Hawk,  480,  757 
Quail-Snipe,  757 
Quaille,  754 
Quailzie,  754 
Quaker,  758 
Quaketail,  758 
Quam,  396,  758 
Quan,  396,  758 
Qua-qua,  21,  758 
Quaquila,  754,  761 
Queest,  162,  758 
Quercelle,  477 
Quercerelle,  477 
Querquedula,  297,  309,  983, 
Quesal,  758 
Quetzal-tototl,  758 
Quezal,  758,  770,  987 


Quhaip,  1033 

Quill,  761 

QuHl-tail  Coot,  761 

Quinck-Goose,  761 

Quirizao,  126 

Quiscalus,    46,    379,    563- 

761,  966 
Quisquilla,  761 
Quist,  758 
Quit,  401,  761,  921 

Raaf,  766 

Rabe,  766 

Rabihorcado,  293 

Race-horse  Duck,  518,  737, 
762 

Racham,  364 

Rachmah,  364 

Racquet-tail,  446,  594,  762 

Radii,  239 

Radius,  762,  859 

Rafter-bird,  762 

Rail,  4,  218,  286,  320, 
364,  380,  464,  473,  514, 
539,  563,  589,  621,  630, 
659,  742,  762 

Rain-bird,  654,  765 

Rain-Goose,  519,  765 

Rain-Quail,  765 

Rake,  793 

Rale,  762 

Ralli,  615,  635,  879,  939 

Rallus,  102,  109,  111,  145, 
225,  281,  299,  380,  424, 
440,  464,  473,  514,  534, 
536,  589,  607,  747,  762, 
854,  858,  875,  912,  917, 
952 

Rami,  239 

Ramphastos,  593,  717,  815, 
976  {cf.  Rhamphastos) 

Ramphestes,  976 

Raka,  795 

Rapaces,  765 

Raptatores,  765 

Raptores,  2,  40,  765 

Rara,  730 

Rasores,  9,  299,  415,  765 

Rathsherr,  402 

Ratitse,  4,  10,  11,  28,  37, 
53,  77,  78,  91, 145,  154, 
190,  234,  242,  245,  281, 
315,  405,  459,  477,  493, 
578,  604,  610,  621,  634, 
635,  650,  654,  665,  744, 
745,  746,  747,  753,  754, 
766,  769,  770,  785,  792, 
857,  859,  951,  953,  974, 
983 

Rattlewings,  369 

Raven,  99,  191,  227,  269, 


INDEX 


1081 


439,  489,  554,  634,  766, 

892 
Ravn,  766 
Razorbill,    22,    304,    398, 

519,  529,  537,  602,  768, 

817,  867 
Eecollet,  769 
Rectrices,  769 
Rectum,  770 
Recurvirostra,  20,  23,  109, 

379,  913 
Redback,  770 
Redbeak,  794 
Redbird,  76,  771 
Redbreast,   45,    122,    551, 

637,  771,  776,  791,  797, 

893 
Redcap,  773 
Redhead,  773,  1040 
Redleg,  773 
Red  Owl,  678 
RedpoU,    251,    386,   515, 

599,  773 
Redshank,  384,   737,  773, 

774,  811 
Redstart,     45,    124,     253, 

277,  365,  633,  637,  775, 

918,  1023 
Redtail,  777 
Redthroat,  777 
Redwing,  539,  637,  777 
Reed-bird,  778 
Reed-Bunting,  43,  778 
Reed-Pheasant,  779,  969 
Reed-Sparrow,  778 
Reed-Thrush,  778,  1021 
Reed-Warbler,  778 
Reed-Wren,  120,  778,  1020 
Reel-bird,  779,  1021 
Reeler,  779,  1021 
Reeve,  680,  779,  798 
Regenpfeifer,  730 
Regent-bird,  49,  779 
Regent-Oriole,  779 
Regulus,    253,    367,    780, 

998 
Reiger,  416 
Reiher,  416 
Remiges,  780 
Remiornis,  908 
Reproductive  Organs,  782 
Republicain,  1029 
Republican  Swallow,  633 
Retina,  784 
Rhachis,  239 
Rhampha3tos,27,84,  92,  96, 

144,  147,  299,  324,  436, 

612,  617,  747,  765,  858, 

879,  912,  939,  952,  975, 

976  (c/l  Ramphastos) 
Rhamphoccelus,  944 


Rhamphocorys,  510 

Rhamphodon,  444 

Rhamphotheca,  877 

Rhea,  3,  68,  69,  76,  89, 
90,  118,  130,  197,  233, 
242,  245,  299,  322,  453, 
543,  611,  616,  617,  620, 
741,  754,  785,  858,  917, 
918,  939,  941,  951 

Rheffi,  766,  785 

Rhinoceros  Avis,  433 

Rhinoceros-bird,  788 

Rhinochetus,  32,  60,  118, 
145,  320,  440,  471,  615, 
739,  747,  765,  865,  875, 
879,  973 

Rhinocorax,  768 

Rhinocrypta,  946 

Rhinogryphus,  470 

Rhinoplax,  434  • 

Rhinopomastus,  347,  432, 
460 

Rhintaces,  38 

Rhipidura,  238,  276,  385 

Rhodonessa,  984 

Rhodostethia,  402,  492 

Rhopodytes,  530 

Rhopotrope,  20 

Rhynchaea,  150,  349,  535, 
746,  886  {cf.  Rostratula) 

Rhynchaspis,  841 

Rhynchops,  35,  401,  867 

Rhynchostruthus,  349 

Rhynchotus,  965 

Rib,  788 

Rice-bird,  458,  789 

Rice-Bunting,  46 

Richel-bird,  789 

Rifle-bird,  789 

Rifleman-bird,  40,  789 

RindUl,  1050 

Ring-Dotterel,  481 

Ring-Dove,  130,  162,  790 

Ring-Ousel,  667,  790 

Ringed  Plover,  171,  481, 
732,  803,  822 

Ring-Plover,  790 

Ringlestones,  791 

RingtaU,  791 

Rippock,  791 

Rissa,  402,  405 

Rittock,  791 

Ritur,  791 

Road-runner,  84,  791 

Robin,  250,  771,  791, 
1036 

Robin-Redbreast,  364,  470 

Robin-Snipe,  791 

Roc,  286,  791 

Rocas,  795 

Rock-Dove,  163,  793 


Rock-hopper,  529 
Rockier,  793 
Rock-Lark,  512 
Rock-Pigeon,  723,  805 
Rock-Sparrow,  251 
Rock- Wren,  1055 
Rode-Goose,  793 
Roddrossel,  777 
Rodvinge,  777 
Roek,  765 
Roerdomp,  793 
Roi-peheux,  485 
Roitelet,  999 
Roller,    30,     57,     68,    92, 

100,  161,  259,  593,  638, 

687,  793,  1005,  792 
RoUier,  793 
Roodebec,  794 
Rook,  116,   132,  194,  504, 

633,  795,  893 
Rooke,  795 
Rosehill,  796 
Roselle,  796 
Rostratula,    886,    984  (c/. 

Rhynchaea) 
Rostrhamus,  492 
Rostrum,  32 
Rostrum  carinse,  909 
Rotche,  22,  166,  796 
Rotgans,  793 
Rotges,  796 
Rothdxossel,  777 
Rouch,  795 
Rough,  798 
Rue,  791 
Ruch,  795 
Rudder-bird,  797 
Ruddock,  797 
Rudduc,  797 
Rudipenne,  792 
Ruff,  299,   680,   779,  798, 

813,  893 
Ruffed  Grouse,  394,  696 
Rukh,  791 
Runner,  801 
Rupicola,  86,  93,  148,  406, 

582,  941 
RuticiUa,    45,    124,    277, 

775,  899 

Saat-Krahe,  795 
Sabine's  Snipe,  884,  1007 
Sabre-wing,  446 
Sacer,  802 
Sacral  Plexus,  625 
Sacre,  237,  802 
Sacred  Ibis,  455 
Sacrum,  855 
Saddle-back,  801 
Sage-cock,  802 
Sagittarius,  823 


io82 


DICTION AR  V  OF  BIRDS 


Sagittilingues,  815 

Saint  Cuthbert's  Duck,  802 

Saker,  238,  522,  802 

Saltator,  945 

Salvadorina,  975 

Sanderla,  803 

Sanderling,   29,    130,    803, 

812 
Sand -Grouse,     191,     571, 

723,  744,  756,  805 
Sand-Lark,  512 
Sand-loa,  803 
Sand-Martin,  537,  631 
Sandpeep,  810 
Sandpfeifer,  810,  813 
Sandpiper,  215,   300,  380, 

631,  698,  702,  712,  713, 

733,  810 
Sand-Plover,  813 
Sand -runner,  813 
Sapsucker,  813 
Saqr,  802 
Saras,  813 

Sarcidiornis,  376,  837,  9S4 
Sarciophorus,  506 
Sarcophanops,  58 
Sarcorhamphus,   101,  470, 

501,  1016 
Sarhans,  813 
Saria,  826 
Sams,  813 
Sasia,  405,  720 
Satin-bird,  49,  814 
Satiu-Sparrow,  814 
Saulary,  133 
Sauriurae,  814 
Sauriuri,  814 

Saurognathae,  81,  814,  1046 
Saurothera,  84,  125,  765 
SaururaB,  754,  814 
Savanna  Blackbird,  814 
Savi's  Warbler,  1021 
Sawbill,  814 
Saw-sharpener,  814 
Saw-whet,  671,  814 
Saxicola,    557,    777,    899, 

918,  1032 
Sayornis,    483,    711,    716, 

999 
Saysie,  814 
Scamel,  814,  822 
Scamell,  366 
Scaniomis,  280 
Scansores,  19,  815,  972 
Scapula,  857 
Scapular,  857 
Scarecrow,  78 
Scarf,  815 
Scart,  815 

Scaup-Duck,  736,  815 
Scaurie,  816 


Sceloglaux,  315,  674 
Schistochlamys,  945 
Schizognathffi,    9,    80,    85, 

363,  707,  816,  878 
Schizorhinal,  816,  877 
Schmerl,  545 
Schneppe,  883 
Schwalbe,  926 
Schwan,  929 
Schwaneria,  362 
Scissor-bill,  867 
Scissors-tail,  816,  999 
Sclerurus,  719 
Scobby,  817 
Scolder,  817 
Scolecophagus,  379 
Scolopax,  69,  85,  99,  127, 

191,  226,  329,  366,  379, 

514,  610,  621,  734,  774, 

810,  883,  1042 
Scooper,  24,  817 
Scops,  642,  678 
Scoptelus,  460 
Scopus,   33,  89,   405,   629, 

747,  838,  853,  875,  912, 

920,  939,  972 
Scorey,  816 
Scoter,  35,  102,  398,  736, 

817 
Scout,  398,  768,  817 
Scouti-Allen,  818,  870 
Scraber,  818,  830 
Scraib,  830 
Scraye,  819 
Screamer,    4,    9,    86,    379, 

465,  819,  826 
Screech-bird,  820,  843 
Screech-Owl,  672,  820,  934 
Scric,  843,  960 
Scrofa,  819,  830 
Scrub-bird,    1,    320,    451, 

820 
Scute,  102 

Scutelliplantares,  511 
Scuttock,  398 
Scytalopus,  947 
Scythrops,    12,     84,     125, 

433,  815 
Sea-Crow,  822 
Sea-Dotterel,  822 
Sea-Dottrel,  997 
Sea-Duck,  734 
Sea-Eagle,  174 
Sea-fowl,  633 
Sea-Lark,  512,  822 
Sea-Mall,  822 
Seamel,  815,  822 
Sea-Mew,  815,  822 
Sea-Parrot,  750,  822 
Sea-Pheasant,  822 
Sea-Pie,  681,  822 


Sea-Swallow,  822 
Sea-Turtle,  998 
Secondaries,  118 
Secretary-bird,  3,  75,  822, 

828 
Sedge-bird,  351,  582,  825, 

1020 
Sedge-Warbler,  85,  1020 
Seeelster,  682 
Segge,  825,  922 
Seidenschwanz,  1026 
Selasphorus,  448 
Selatophorus,  448 
Selenidera,  978 
Seleucis,  904 
Semimerula,  998 
Semioptera,  39 
Senegali,  825 
Serena,  829 
Serene,  829 
Sericulus,  49,  779 
Seriema,  .9,    75,    76,    364, 

819,  826  {cf.  Cariama) 
Serilophus,  58 
Serin,  70,  251,  829 
Serinus,  70,  251,  829 
Serpentarius,   29,   75,  284, 

347,  603,  610,  824,  952 
Serrati,  815 
Serrattrostres,  593 
Serrirostres,  503 
Sesamoids,  47,  860 
Setophaga,  365,  777,  1023 
Seven  Whistlers,  1034 
Sgrab,  818 
Sguacco,  419,  902 
Shag,  106,  770,  815,  829 
Shama,  133 
Shay-ling,  1054 
Shearwater,    6,    404,    523, 

529,  620,  708,  752,  818, 

830,  867 
Sheathbill,  109,  310,  733, 

831 
Sheld-drake,    28,    62,   171, 

376,  600,  631,  727,  817, 

834,  838 
Shelder,  838 
Shell-apple,  838 
Shell-eater,  655 
Shell-Ibis,  655 
Shelly,  838,  867 
Shepster,  87,  838 
Sheriff's  man,  838 
Shirl,  838 
Shoe-bill,  406,  838 
Shoe-bird,  46,  838 
Shooi,  840,  870 
Shore-Lark,  511 
Shortbill,  840 
Shoulder-Girdle,  856 


INDEX 


1083 


Shovelard,  900 

Shoveler,  34, 171,  734,  840, 

900 
Shreitch,  843 
Shrieker,  366,  843 
Shrike,  21,  25,  26,  31,  40, 

58,  Q&,  70,  72,  116,  124, 

167,  182,  253,  273,  292, 

517,  574,  643,  681,  843, 

960,  999,  1024,  1041 
Shrite,  843 
Sliufflewing,  846,  895 
Sialia,  44,  771,  791 
Sidsken,  846 
SUerella,  969 
Silk-taU,  1026 
Silver-eye,  846,  1056 
Simorhynclius,  600 
Sinciput,  649,  846 
Sir^ne,  829 
Siskin,  1,  28,  251,  258,  371, 

846,  1056 
Sisura,  151,  276,  385 
Sitta,  189,  283,  647,  697, 

718 
Sittace,  527 
Sittasomus,  719 
Sittella,  648 
Siurus,  669,  1023,  1024 
Skaiti,  818 
Skarfr,  815 
Skart,  848 

Skeel-duck,  835,  848 
Skeeling,  848 
Skelder,  835,  848 
Skeleton,  848 
Skelly,  867 
Skiddaw,  398,  867 
Skiddy,  867 
Skimmer,  35,  401  518,  822, 

867 
Skitty-cock,  867 
Skjoldr,  817 
Skjoldungr,  835 
Skooi,  868,  869 
Skraba,  868 
Skrape,  819 
Skrika,  843 
Skrikja,  843 
Skua,    46,    68,    149,    239, 

401,  534,  738,  754,  818, 

840,  868,  1017 
Skiiir,  868 
Skull,  871 

Skylark,  99,  507,  880 
Slangenvreeter,  823,  880 
Slangenvreter,  880 
Slight-Falcon,  880 
Smatch,  1034 
Smee-Duck,  880 
Smew,  544,  646,  880 


Smirill,  545 

Smirlon,  545 

Snail-eater,  655,  880 

Snaith,  880 

Snake-bird,  132,  173,  252, 

703,  880,  1053 
Snake-eater,  823,  880 
Snake's  neck,  1054 
Snipa,  883 
Snipe,  43,  55,  85,  99,  151, 

183,  191,  365,  415,  466, 

733,  770,  810,  883 
Snite,  883 
Snow-bird,  887 
Snow-Bunting,  61,189,  517, 

649,  887 
Snow-cock,  887 
Snow-Finch,  517,  887 
Snowflake,  887 
Snow-Goose,  374 
Snow-Partridge,  696,  887 
Snow-Pheasant,  696,  887 
Snowy  Owl,  674 
Snyth,  880 

Sociable  Grosbeak,  633 
Soland,  887 
Solan-Goose,  300,  887 
Soldier-bird,  428 
Solitaire,    161,    217,    887, 

1003 
Somateria,  192,  222,  736 
Song,  892 
Song-Thrush,  26,  551,  636, 

959 
Sonnenreyger,  924 
Sonne-Vogel,  252 
Sonoran  Region,  330 
Sora,  659,  895 
Soree,  895 

Sore-eyed  Pigeon,  832 
Sore-Falcon,  895 
Souimanga,  922 
South-southerly,  895 
Sparlin-fowl,  895 
Sparo,  895 
Sparrhok,  897 
Span-ow,    132,    195,    232, 

251,  262,  587,716,784, 

895 
Sparrow-Hawk,    66,    185, 

188,  377,  411,  479,  574, 

620,  897 
Sparrow-Owl,  899 
Sparva,  897 
Sparvari,  897 
Sparwe,  895 
Spathura,  762 
Spatula,  841 
Spearwa,  895 
Specht,  1046 
Speculum,  899 


Speicht,  899 

Speight  (Wood-),  899 

Spekvreter,  899 

Spency,  899 

Sperber,  897 

Spermestinse,  1029 

Spervel,  899 

Sperwer,  897 

Sphecotheres,  657 

Sphenisci,  10,  68,  629, 
741,  744,  745,  746,747, 
850,  853,  854,  858,  861, 
865,  912,  917,  939,  941, 
951,  983 

Spheniscomorphas,  899 

Spheniscus,  140,  146,  152, 
242,  243,  405,  440,  465, 
610,  615,  704,  878 

Sphenceacus,  381,  458,  939 

Sphenoproctus,  447 

Sphenura,  57,  820 

Sphyropicus,  813 

Spider-catcher,  900 

Spider-hunter,  900,  923 

Spiegel,  899 

Spike-tail,  900 

Spiloglaux,  592 

Spilornis,  173 

Spina  externa,  912 

Spina  interna,  912 

Spina  stemalis,  909,  911 

Spinal  Cord,  622 

Spinal  Nerves,  622 

Spindalis,  655 

Spindasis,  655 

Spinebm,  92,  316,  648,  900 

Spink,  725,  900 

Spinus,  846 

Spirit-Duck,  370,  900 

Spite  (Wood-),  899 

Spiza,  40,  136,  459,  644 

Spizaetus,  173 

Spiziapteryx,  412 

Spleen,  900 

Splenials,  872 

Sp6i,  128,  902 

SpoonbUl,  226,  254,  379, 
456,  513,  514,  702,  734, 
737,  900 

Sporr,  895 

Spowe,  128,  902 

Sprat-Loon,  519,  902 

Sprig-tail,  902 

Sprite,  902 

Sprosser,  637 

Spruce-Partridge,  394 

Spur-Fowl,  902 

Squacco-Heron,  419,  902 

Squamosal,  871,  876 

Squatarola,  539,  731 

Stachyris,  963 


1084 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


"  Stand-gale,"  477,  903 

Staniel,  477,  902 

Stannel,  477,  815,  902 

Stare,  801 

Starling,  87,  102,  194,  217, 
316,  438,  458,  565,  633, 
680,  698,  903,  1047 

Stam,  904,  955 

Starnoenas,  757 

Steamer-Duck,  518,  737, 
762 

Steatornis,  58,  324,  394, 
606,  607,  638,  653,  654, 
850,  875,  879,  941 

Steganopodes,  3,  10, 11,  29, 
33,  68,  69,  77,  90,  105, 
118,  146,  173,  191,  243, 
281,  293,  310,  405,  440, 
453,  517,  606,  608,  610. 
613,  615,  629,  653,  703, 
707,  746,  747,  789,  850, 
853,  857,  858,  875,  879, 
904,  912,  917,  939,  952, 
972 

Steganopus,  712 

Stegnolaema,  397 

Steinfalk,  546 

Steingall,  902 

Stercorarius,  46,  48,  401, 
868 

Stereomithes,  904 

Stern,  904,  955 

Sterna,  143,  145,  182,  401, 
610,  643,  950,  955,  1039 

Sternum,  908 

Stieglitz,  370 

Stilt,  24,  109,  130,  680, 
682,  733,  913 

StUtia,  741 

Stink-bird,  914 

Stink-pot,  710,  914 

Stinker,  914 

Stint,  539,  698,  702,  811, 
915 

Stitch-bird,  316,  429,  915 

Stock-Dove,  163,  793,  915 

Stock-Duck,  915 

Stock  Eagle,  915 

Stock-Eikle,  915 

Stomach,  916 

Stone-Chat,  43,  85,  296, 
777,  918 

Stone-Curlew,  66,  128,  130, 
148,  284,  553,  630,  645, 
733,  919 

Stonegall,  902 

Stonehatch,  919 

Stonerunner,  919 

Store,  919 

Storch,  919 

Stork,  2,  4,  12,  18,  33,  46, 


58,  113,  190,  254,  284, 
406,  416,  456,  462,  517, 
550,  635,  655,  702,  919 
Storm-cock,  920,  960 
Storm-Finch,  920 
Storm-Petrel,  708,  920 
Strany,  398,  920 
Strepera,  116,  148,  403 
Strepsilas,    68,    514,    588, 

610,  997 
Striges,    11,    18,    29,    118, 
148,  195,  243,  315,  395, 
409,  603,  606,  607,  610, 

612,  615,  629,  671,  747, 
857,  858,  865,  875,  879, 
920,  939,  941,  952,  972 

Strigops,  76,  473 

Stringops,  316,  473,  477, 
688,  858 

Strisores,  920 

StriK,  3,  134, 178,  191,  284, 
332,  642,  765 

Struthio,  68,  69,  79,  89, 
90,  100,  118,  130,  140, 
212,  231,  242,  245,  285, 
299,  346,  380,  517,  543, 

613,  616,  662,  741,  745, 
857,  858,  862,  867,  876, 
878,  918,  939,  951 

Struthiolithus,  285,  666 
Struthiones,  665,  766,  785, 

920 
Struthious  Warblers,  1036 
Stumella,   457,   476,    539, 

575,  727 
Stumornis,  360 
Stumus,  97,  316,  378,  438, 

458,  680,  697,  698,  801, 

903,  918 
Subbuteo,  424 
Subclamatores,  743,  921 
Suboscines,  743 
Succiacapre,  638 
Suckervogel,  71 
Sugar-bird,  761,  921 
Sugge,  825,  922 
Sula,  48,    244,     284,    300, 

453,  607,  621,  745,  857, 

887,  904,  917,  952,  974 
Sulaire,  887 
Sultana,  591 
Summer-Duck,  922 
Summer-Snipe,  810,  922 
Summer-Teal,  309,  922 
Sun-bird,    428,    444,    743, 

922 
Sun-Bittern,  252,  472,  765, 

923 
Superb  Warblers,  1022 
Supra-angular,  872 
Supraoccipital,  871 


Surf-bird,  925 

Surf-Duck,  817 

Surnia,  178,  332,  674 

Surniculus,  125 

Sutoria,  941 

Suwari,  78 

Svala,  926 

Svanr,  929 

Svartfugl,  42 

Swalewe,  926 

Swallow,  184,  261,  454, 
538,  549,  599,  632,  770, 
926 

Swallow-Shrike,  22,  1050 

Swan,  4,  35,  92,  100,  111, 
155,  168,  190,  296,  597, 
634,  703,  769,  929 

Swan-Goose,  376 

Swedish  Nightingale,  637 

Swift,  4,  18,  130,  134,  195, 
288,  442,  477,  529,  558, 
631,  638,  697,  819,  820, 
934 

Swiftfoot,  937 

Swinepipe,  777,  937 

Swon,  929 

Sycobrotus,  1028 

Sylvia,  1,  42,  45,  57,  133, 
239,  243,  250,  283,  316, 
364,  365,  367,  413,  582, 
598,  637,  697,  710,  772, 
777,  1019,  1022,  1037 

Sylviae,  143 

Sylvicola,  1022 

Syma,  488 

Sympathetic  System,  626 

Symphemia,  725 

Symplectes,  1029 

Synallaxis,  719,  937 

Syndactyli,  815,  937,  972 

Syncecus,  756 

Syrinx,  546,  937 

Syrnium,  134 

Syrrhaptes,  140,  338,  571, 
765,  805 

Systemic  Circulation,  1008 

Tachtdromus,  130 
Tachyeres,  518,  597,  737 
Tachyphonus,  944 
Tadorna,    171,    600,    835, 

984 
Tadome,  835 
Tama,  955 
Tserne,  955 
Tafelente,  735 
Tailor-bird,  631,  941 
Taistey.  943 
Takahe,  943 
Talegallus,  59,  320,  541 
"Talenter,"  943 


INDEX 


1085 


Talgoxe,  680 
Taling,  22,  948 
Tamatia,  750 
Tammy-Norie,  750,  943 
Tanager,  76,  250,  459,  644, 

655,  761,  771,  943 
Tanagra,  40,  134,  250,  323, 

730,  943 
Tangara,  943 
Tannenheher,  646 
Tantalus,    146,     349,    379, 

454,  514,  741,  877,  918, 

985 
Tanypus,  380 
Tanysiptera,  595 
Taoniscus,  965 
Taoperdix,  283 
Tapaculo,  946 
Tapun,  540 
Tardone,  835 
Tarmachan,  392,  744 
Tarney,  948 
Tarret,  948 
Tarrock,  492,  948 
Tarsel,  948 
Tarsus,  864,  948 
Tassel,  948 
Taste,  973 
Tati,  942 
Tatler,  948 
Taube,  162 
Tauch-ente,  168 
Taucher,  162 
Taureau-d'etang,  40 
Tavon,  540 
Tawny  Owl,  672 
Tchitrea,  275 
Teal,   22,   171,    297,    309, 

404,  842,  948 
Teaser,  949 
Tectonarchus,  39 
Tectrices,  949 
Teetan,  953 
Teeth,  453 
Teeting,  953 
Tele,  948 

Teleoptile,  243,  629,  954 
Telephonus,  26,  845 
Telltale,  954 
Telmatornis,  281 
Telogyrous,  142 
Temenuchus,  378 
Temnorhines,  1015 
Temnotrogon,  327 
Tende,  955 
Tendon,  954 
Tenne,  955 
Tenuirostres,  954 
Tephrodornis,  846 
Teracus,  284 
Teratology,  588 


Tercel,  955 

Teretristis,  1023 

Termagant,  392,  955 

Tern,  4,  78,  109,  132,  182, 
252,  310,  401,  482,  489, 
518,  529,  571,  643,  727, 
789,  791,  819,  822,  955 

Terpsiphone,  275 

Tertials,  957 

Tetrao,  72,  93,  95, 191,  283, 
287,  291,  329,  389,  599, 
765,  805,  984 

Tetraogallus,  696,  887 

Tettechevre,  638 

Teuchet,  957 

Teucbit,  505 

Tewfitt,  957 

Textor,  680 

Thalassiarche,  708 

Thamnobia,  632 

ThamnopWlus,  20,  758,  878 

Thaumalia,  716 

Thaumastura,  449 

Theista,  943 

Thickhead,  621,  957,  958 

Thick-knee,  129,  498,  958 

Thinocorys,  68,  113,  145, 
324,  733,  757,  834,  878 

Thinornis,  482 

Thistle-bird,  958 

Thistle-cock,  958 

Thistle-Finch,  370,  958 

Thistle-warp,  958 

Thrasaetus,  407 

Thrasher,  582,  958 

Thraupis,  944 

Thresher,  958 

Thricecock,  959 

Thrdstr,  959 

Throsle,  959 

Throstle,  959 

Thrush,  21,  25,  45,  133, 
249,  388,  425,  539,  582, 
728,  770,  771,  777,  812, 
958,  959 

Thrush-Nightingale,  637 

Thrusher,  958 

Thryothorus,  582 

Thrysce,  959 

Thymus,  961 

Thyreoid.  961 

Tibia,  961 

Tichicro,  961 

Tichodroma,  697,  986 

Tidee,  962,  966 

Tidif,  962 

Tidly-Goldfinch,  962 

Tiercel,  955 

Tiga,  405 

Tijuca,  85 

Timalia,  25 


Timelia,  25,  28,  45,  51,  57, 
59,  133,  277,  316,  381, 
574,  658,  962,  1020, 
1022,  1052 

Tinamomorphfe,  422 

Tinamotis,  965 

Tinamou,  33,  299,  579,  738, 
769,  963,  991 

Tinamus,  69,  91,  167,  187, 
190,  322,  325,  440,  606, 
607,  610,  615,  635,  745, 
747,  753,  754,  766,  857, 
963 

Tinc-tinc,  725 

Tinker,  398,  768,  966 

Tinkershire,  398,  966 

Tinkling,  966 

Tinnunculus,  235,  327,  477 

Tin-tin,  966 

Tisserin.  1028 

Tit,  966 

Tita,  966 

Titis,  966 

Titlark,  86,  120,  507,  592, 
593,  727,  776,  966 

Titling,  966 

Titlingr,  966 

Titmouse,  43,  45,  83,  87, 
92,  189,  239,  251,  283, 
316,  342,  367,  553,  601, 
631,  646,  648,  680,  718, 
725,  749.  766,  814,  966, 
973 

Titr,  966 

Tityra,  86 

Tjaldr,  22,  817 

Tjaldur,  817 

Tmetotrogon,  989 

Toccus,  435 

Todier,  442,  970 

Todus,  273,  324,  327,  593, 
616,  630,  718,  746,  747, 
853,  858,  879,  912,  939, 
970 

Tody,  69,  273,  791,  970 

Toerako,  981 

Toes,  866,  972 

Tolk,  997 

Tomfool,  973 

Tomia,  33 

Tominejo,  442 

Tom-Kelly,  973 

Tom-Noddy,  973 

Tommy,  973 

Tomor,  973 

Tomtit,  364,  966,  973 

Tongue,  973 

Topau,  433 

Torcol,  1053 

Torillo,  416 

Torrent-Duck,  545,  975 


io86 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


Totanus,  28,  68,  284,  384, 

734,  774,  810 
Totipalmi,  310 
Tot-o'er-seas,  975 
Toucan,  27,  34,  35,  84,  92, 

436,  976 
Touraco,  12,  92,  118,  519, 

730,  979 
Touyou,  785 
Towhee,  982 
Trachea,  937,  983 
Tracheophonae,    323,     406, 

425,  547,  670,  718,  940, 

985 
Tracheophones,    698,    718, 

985 
Tracheophoni,  985 
Tragopan,  22,  432,  587 
Ti-ee-creeper,  112, 189,  332, 

648,  770,  985,  1048 
Tree-Duck,  171 
Tree-Lark,  512 
Tree-Sparrow,  186,  897 
Trerou,  654,  723 
Triarctic,  313 
Tribonyx,    320,   591,   621, 

973 
Trichas,  1056 
Trichoglossus,     320,     521, 

857 
Tricholestes,  26 
Tricholimuas,  1033 
Tringa,  150,  172,  215,  283, 

299,  379,  380,  498,  504, 

514,  610,  712,  734,  771, 

790,  804,  810 
Tringoides,  810 
Trochili,  18,  118,  606,  865, 

879,  912,  952,  975,  983, 

987 
TrochUus,  69, 130, 148,  299, 

323,  442,  529,  534,  603, 

615,  617,  620,  630,  638, 

718,  733,  747,  858,  939, 

950 
Troglodytes,   83,  329,  582, 

668,  1050 
Trogon,    11,    77,    92,   130, 

148,  284,   325,  327,  618, 

630,  654,  717,  746,  747, 

758,  815,  875,  879,  912, 

987 
Trogones,  853,  857 
Tronipetero,  991 
Trompette,  991 
Troopial,  457,  989 
Tropic-bird,   46,  173,   703, 

754,  989 
Tropidorhyuchus,  292,  573, 

656 
Troupiale,  457,  989 


Trumpet-bird,  991 

Trumpeter,  9,164,  380,  473, 
963,  991 

Trupialis,  457,  458 

Tubinares,  6,  10,  11,  29, 
32,  118,  146,  405,  440, 
453,  517,  606,  610,  616, 
621,  634,  629,  635,  653, 
708,  747,  857,  858,  878, 
912,  918,  939,  952,  973, 
974,  983,  993 

Tuca,  976 

Tufted  Duck,  936 

Tui,  429,  691,  994 

Tumbler-Pigeon,  164,  276 

Turacin,  95,  982 

Turacoverdiu,  96,  982 

Turacus,  980 

Turbit,  164 

Turco,  946 

Turdoide,  461 

Turdus,  20,  22,  42,  45,  133, 
134,  191,  243,  249,  277, 

319,  329,  364,  461,  539, 
557,  574,  583,  666,  668, 
697,  698,  771,  779,  791, 
820,  918,  950,  961 

Turkey,  198,  400,  588,  994 
Turkey-Buzzard,   68,    470, 

994,  1016 
Turnagra,  316 
Turnices,  29, 118, 145,  517, 

607,  635 
Turnicomorphae,  415,  422, 

996 
Turnix,    66,    68,    77,    150, 

320,  415,  440,  610,  616, 
747,  757,  765,  858,  879 

Turnstone,  29,  70,  351, 588, 
733,  773,  996 

Turtle-Dove,  165,  566,  998 

Turtur,  165,  557,  998 

Turumti,  546 

Twin-structures,  589 

Twite,  998 

Twopenny-chick,  998 

Tydie,  962 

Tydif,  962 

Tylas,  574 

Tylopteryx,  580 

Tymor,  973 

Tympanuchus,  394,  740 

Tympanum,  984 

TjTannus,  273,  323,  329, 
482,  710,  718,  726,  816, 
866,  938,  939,  998 

Tvraut-bird,  482,  518,  711, 
"716,  726,  816,  973,  998 

Tysty,  399,  943 

Tytmase,  966 

Tytyfr,  962 


Uggla,  671 

Ule,  670 

Ulna,  859,  1000 

Ulula,  671 

Umbre,  405,  1000 

Umbrella-bird,  86,  1000 

Uncinate  Process,  788, 1001 

Unicom -bird,  1001 

Upucerthia,  671 

Upupa,  69,  77,  92,  147, 
284,  430,  436,  438,  460, 
505,  510,  607,  615,  617, 
618,  629,  718,  743,  747, 
857,  879,  912,  939,  974 

Ureegnathus,  31 

Uragus,  386 

Ureter,  1001 

Uria,  68,  149,  166,  285, 
398,  753 

Urinator,  151 

Urinatores,  310,  1001 

Urochroma,  521 

Urodffium,  90 

Uroeoni,  1002 

Urogalba,  463 

Uroioni,  1002 

Urospatha,  594 

Urostyle,  1002 

Utamania,  768 

Utick,  1002 

Uuagtale,  1018  (c/  Wagtail) 

Vaginalis,  832 

Vagtel,  754 

Valk,  1002 

Valken,  235 

Vanellus,    504,    610,    876, 

895 
Variation,  342,  1002 
Vascular  System,  1008 
Vas    deferens,     782,    784, 

1013 
Vautour,  785 
Veery,  1013 
Veins,  1008,  1013 
Veldjakker,  249 
Veld-lyster,  249 
Velvet- Duck,  818 
Venous  Circulation,  1009 
Ventral  side,  14 
Ventriculus,  916 
Venturon,  88 
Verreauxia,  720 
Vertebra;,  848 
Vestiaria,  167,  182 
Vidua,  795,  1028 
Vigeon,  1039 
Vignon,  1039 
Vinago,  723 
Vingcon,  1039 
Vioux,  1039 


INDEX 


1087 


Vipa,  505,  1054 

Vipio,  1039 

Vireo,  273,  326,  329,  384, 

973,  1013 
Vireolanius,  1014 
Vireosylvia,  1013 
Virginian  Nightingale,  61, 

76,  637 
Virginian  Quail,  188 
Vischfanger,  1014 
Vocal  Organs,  1014 
Vogel,  289 
Volucres,  104,  1014 
Vomer,  871,  872.  878,  1014 
Vourun  patra,  791 
Vultur,  33,  101,  319,  470, 

501,  621,  739,  765,  825, 

858,  879,  912 
Vulture,  1,  2,  4,  68,   173, 

227,  261,  364,  385,  411, 

470,  500,  1015 
Vutanaria,  768 
Vuttamaria,  768 

Wachholderdrossel,  249 

Wachtel,  754 

Wagell,  1017 

Wagne,  1039 

Wagsterd,  1018 

Wagstyrt,  1018 

Wagtail,  28,  108,  120, 151, 
276,  332,  458,  551,  598, 
649,  727,  758,  1018 

Wald-Katze,  1041 

Waldschnepfe,  1042 

Walgh  vogel,  155 

Wallace's  Line,  317,  363 

Wall-bird,  1019 

Wall-creeper,  986,  1019 

Waracaba,  993 

Warbler,  1,  25,  45,  72,  85, 
133,  238,  239,  250,  273, 
283,  351,  364,  365,  367, 
413,  563,  598,  632,  710, 
779,  825,  1019 

Ware-Goose,  1024 

Wariangle,  1024 

Warriangle,  1024 

Warwinckle,  1024 

Washdish,  1024 

WasMail,  1024 

Waskite,  1024 

Waspkite,  1024 

Watchy-picket,  1024 

Water-cock,  1024 

Water-Crow,  667,  1024 

Water-hen,  589,  1024 

Water-Ousel,  26,  151,  667, 
1024 

Water- Partridge,  1024 

Water-Quail,  95 


Water-Kail,  762,  1024 
Water-Thrush,  728,  1024  ' 
Water-Turkey,  881,  1024 
Wattle-bird,  429,  1024 
Wavey,  374,  1026 
Wawa,  374 
Waxbill,  1026 
Waxwing,  58,  81,  85,  242, 

571,  1026 
Weaver-bird,  11,  29, 31,  72, 

76,  109,  250,  253,  387, 

466,  602,  621,  633,  680, 

794,  825,  1028 
Weetweet,  1031 
Weever-Oriole,  1028 
Weindrossel,  777 
Weindrustle,  778 
Weissbacklein,  424 
Weka,  224,  315,  475,  764, 

1031 
Wendehals,  1053 
Werkengel,  1024 
Wet-my-feet,  755 
Wet-my-foot,  1033 
Wet-my-lips,  765 
Whale-bird,  34,  1033 
Whaup,  24,  128,  1033 
Wheatear,   238,    557,    671, 

777,  918,  1034 
Wheel-bird,  639 
Wheenerd,  778 
Whekau,  674 
Whetile,  1046 
Whew,  1036 
^Vhimbrel,    34,    128,    351, 

539,  886,  1036 
Whin-Chat,  85,  1036 
Whindle,  778 
Whip-poor-will,  88,  1036 
Whip  -  Tom  -  Kelly,      973, 

1036 
Whiskae-shawneesh,  1036 
Whisky-Jack,  469,  1036 
White-eye,  1036,  1056 
Whitehead,  657,  1036 
Whitethroat,    26,    43,    89, 

543,  572,  598,  601,  702, 

1037 
WliittaUe,  1034 
Whitwall,  1039 
Whoop,  1039 
Whooper,  931,  1039 
Whydah-bird,  1030,  1039 
Widdehop,  93 
Wide-awake,  1039 
Widow-bird,  1030 
Wierangle,  844,  1024 
Wigeou,  171, 181,  500,  773, 

892,  1039 
Wignet,  1039 
Wild  Pigeon,  696 


Willet,  725,  811,  1040 
Willock,    398,    750,    768, 

1040 
Willow-biter,  1040 
Willow-Grouse,  389 
Willow-Wren,  87,351,413, 

557,  669,  1040,  1052 
Windhover,  777,  1041 
Windlestraw,  1041 
Windpipe,  777,  1041 
Wind-Thrush,  1041 
Wine-Thrush,  1041 
Wing,  1041 
Winnard,  1041 
Wiusel,  778 

Wire-bird,  351,  482,  1041 
Wishbone,  296 
Witstaart,  1034 
Witte  Kraai,  1041 
Witte  oogje,  1041 
Witwall,  1046 
Wobble,  1041 
Wodake,  1046 
Woinge,  1039 
Wonga-wonga,  723,  1041 
Wood-Chat,  1041 
Woodcock,  379,  551,  696, 

1042 
Woodcock-Owl,  678 
Woodcocks'  PUot,  368 
Wood-Duck,  1,  171,  1045 
Wood-Grouse,  72 
Woodhack,  1046 
Wood-hen,  1031,  1045 
Woodhewer,  718 
Woodlark,  507,  1045 
Woodpecker,    3,    81,    243, 

258,  283,  292,  299,  319, 

421,  443,  460,  463,  517, 

563,  600,  631,  647,  718, 

720,  738,  765,  769,  773, 

813,  814,  915,  1045 
Wood-Pie,  1050 
Wood -Pigeon,    130,    162, 

1050 
Wood-speight,  1045,  1050 
Woodspite,  1046 
Wood  -  Swallow,    22,    929, 

1050 
Wood  wall,  1046,  1050 
Wood- Warbler,  1022 
Wood- Wren,  1052 
Worm  -  eating      Warblers, 

1023 
Wrffinna,  40,  1050 
Wrannock,  1050 
Wranny,  1050 
Wren,  21,  26,  40,  83,  189, 

367,  441,  470,  493,  582, 

893,  966,  1050 
Wrenne,  1050 


io88 


DICTIONARY  OF  BIRDS 


WrybUl,  35,  315,  482,  1053 
Wryneck,  28,  81,  126,  215, 

384,  529,  718,  769,  814, 

1053 
Wude-cocc,  1042 
Wudu-coc,  1042 
Wudu-Snite,  1042 
Wiirgengel,  844,  1024 
Wiirger,  844,  1024 
Wuiot,  1039 
Wulp,  1033 
Wype,  1054 

Xanthochroism,  99,  1007, 

1055 
Xantholisma,  28,  147 
Xartthomelas,  96 
Xanthura,  470 
Xema,  402 
Xeiiicus,316,406,  648,  770, 

1055 
Xenocichla,  26 


Xenopirostris,  574 
XenorhjTichTas,  463 
Xipholena,  86,  737 
Xiphorhynchus,  719 
Xiphosternum,  910 

Yaffil,  1046,  1055 
YafRngale,  1055 
Yaffle,  1046 

Yarwhelp,  24,  366,  1055 
Yaup,  24 
Yeldrock,  1056 
Yellow-bird,  258,  1056 
Yellow-Bunting,  1056 
Yellow  -  hammer.   61,   659 

1056 
Yellowhead,  658,1037, 1056 
Yellowlegs,  1056 
Yellowpoll,  1056 
Yellowrump,  1056 
Yellowthroat,  1056 
Yelper,  1056 


Yokel,  1056 
Yoldrin,  1056 
Yowley,  1056 
Yr^ing,  40 
Yukel,  1056 
Yunx,  717,  718,  1053 

Zanclostoma,  125,  530 
Zapornia,  764 
Zeisig,  846 
Ziegenmelker,  638 
Zonseginthus,  253,  621 
Zooerythrin,  95 
Zoomelanin,  95 
Zooxanthin,  95 
Zooxanthine,  987 
Zosterops,    43,    316,    364, 

380,  428,  1056 
Zwaan,  929 
Zwaluw,  926 
Zygodactyli,  19,    89,    972, 

1058 


THE  END 


Printed  by  R.  &  R.  Clark,  Limited,  Edinburgh, 


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tT. 


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TONE'l*.    1007^ 


OBITUARY. 


T^ROEESSOR   ALFRED   NEWTON. 

We  re-reb  to  amiounce  tliat  Professor  Alfred 
N-wton  died-ar Cambridge  last  Friday  mormng. 
Alfred  NSv.'ton,   wlio^    was     bom    at    Geneva 
in    1829    was   the  fifth   son  of  William  Newton, 
Silvel.:   S.^olk     who   for. spe  years   -P- 
sented   tho  borough  of    IP^^ich   m  Pai    ament 
and  of  Elizabeth,    daughter  of  R;  f' Milnes    ot 
Frvston,  Yorkshire,  formerly   member  of  1  arlia 
ment  D  tork.     He  was  educated  privately  until 
he  entered  Magdalene  College   Cambr^ge   whxdx 
for   the  next  57   years  was   to   prove  his  home. 
XLr  graduating  in  1853,  Alfred  Newton  began  a 
feiS  of  travels' which,  until   interrupted  by   an 
accident,   were  extended  into  many  lands,     lie 
Sed  Iceland.  Lapland,  North  America   and  the 
West  Indies,  where  his   family   at  one  time  held 
large  estates,  and  in   1884  he  accompanied  bir 
Edward  Birkbeck  to  Spitzbergen.     He  was  a  keen 
yachtsman,  and  for  years  his  summer  t^oluL^y  was 
spent  vachting  with  the  late  Mr.  Henry  Evans,  of 
Sy ,  chiefly  on  the  West  Coast  of  Scotland. 

Professor  Newton  had  always  taken  the  keenest 
interest  in  natural  history,  especially  m  zoology, 
and  when   in   1866  the   University   was  able  to 
establish   a   Professorship  of   Zoology   aiid  Com- 
parative   Anatomy,     lie  was     elected.      during 
the    41     years      ho      occupied     the     chair     he 
immensely   advanced  the   study  of  zoology  m  the 
Ui^^ersit'^     It  is  perhaps  worth  -otic^ng  that  the 
stipend  of  the  professorship  was  but  £300  a  j^^J^r 
In  his  lectures  and  in  his  conversation  1/ofessoi 
Newton  took  tlie  widest  view  of  ^is  subject  but 
in  his  writings  ho  mostly  restricted  himself  to  his 
favourite  group,    the  birds      Amongst  his  boo.s 
are  the  "  Ornithology  of  Iceland  J^^n^i'^^!"* 

Greenland,"    "A   Dictionary  of  Birds      and  the 
•'Oothoea   -WolIeT-aia,"    a    monumental      work 
which  was  begun  in  1864.    His  "Zoology,    firs 
publislied   in   1872,  is   a  small  book  but  a  model 
introduction     to     a    great     subject.      H^    took 
a  keen  interest  in  the  vanishing  fauna  of  oceanic 
islands,  and  it  is  mainly  owing  to  his  energy   and 
advice  tlvat  the  Sandwich  Islands  Committee  has 
so  successfuUv  worked  that  archipelago.     In  con- 
lunction  with  ^liis  brother.  Sir   Edward  Newtor^ 
Lmetime   Governor  of  Mauritius,  he  succeeded 
in  getting  together  the  best  existing  collection  of 
bones    of   the    dodo  and    of    the    solitaire,    the 
description  of  which   formec^^ 
his  more  importa^