The naturalist's library

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THE

NATURALIST'S LIBRARY

EDITED BY

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, BART.

F.R.S.E., F.L.S., ETC ETC.

VOL. III.

BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND, PART III.

R.

UNIVERSITY

CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY.

- c^

BIOLOGY

LIBRARf

G

CONTENTS

VOLUME THIRD.

PAGE.

MEMOIR OF JOHN WALKER, D.D,, . . 17

INTRODUCTION, . . . . .51

RASORES OR GALLINACEOUS BIRDS— COLUMBIA, 57
Wood Pigeon or Ring Dove.

Columba palumbus. Plate I. 60

Stock Dove, Columba oenas, . . .64
White-Rumped Pigeon or Rock Dove, Columba livia, 66

Turtle Dove, Turtur migratorius, . . .70

Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratoria, . 73

TETRAONID.E, . . . . . .76

Wood Grouse or Capercailzie, Tetrao urogallus^ 78

Black Grouse or Black Cock, Tetrao tetrix^ . 85

Red Grouse or Red Ptarmigan, Lagopus Scoticus, 90

Common or White Ptarmigan, Lagopus mutits, . 94
Rock Ptarmigan.

Lagopus rupestris. Plate II. . . 97

Common Partridge, Perdue cinerea, . . 101

Common Quail, Coturnioc dactylisonans, . .105

Red Legged or French Partridge, Perdue rufa, 1 09

Virginian or American Ortyx, Ortyx Virginiana^ . 110

PHASIANID.E, . . . . 112

Common Pheasant, Phasianus Colchicus, . .112

STRUTHIONID.E, . . . . .114

Great Bustard, Otis tarda, . . .114
Little Bustard.

Otis minor. Plate III. . . . .118

GRALLATORES OR WADING BIRDS— ARDEADJE, 121
Common Heron.

Ardca cinerea. Vignette. . J23

Purple Heron, Ardea purpurca, . 128

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

EGRETS, . . . . . .132

Little Egret.

Egretta garzetta. Plate IV. . . 133

Great White Egret, E. alba, . . .134

Buff-Backed Egret, E. russata, . . 136

Squacco Heron, E. ralloides, . . .138

BITTERNS, . . . . • .140

Little Bittern, Ardeola minuta, . . .140
Common Bittern.

Butor stellaris. Plate V. . . .143

American Bittern, Butor Icntiginosus, . . 147

NIGHT-HERONS, . . . . . . 150

Common Night-Heron.

Nycticorax Gardenii. Plate VI. . „ 151

STORKS, ..... 155

White Stork.

Ciconia alba. Plate VII.

Black Stork, Ciconia nigra^ . . .158

SPOONBILLS, . . . . .159

White or European Spoonbill.

Plataka leucorodia. Plate VIII. . . 160

CRANES, . . . . . .162

Common Crane.

Grus cinerea. Plate IX. . . .163

TANTALID^, 165

Glossy Ibis.

Ibisfaldnellus. Plate X. . . . 166

SCOLOPAClDjE, 168

Woodcock.

Scolopax rusticola. Plate XI. . . .170

Sabine's Snipe, Scolopax Sabinii, . . 177

Great Snipe, Scolopax major, . . .178

Common Snipe, Scolopax gaUinagoy . . 179
Jack Snipe.

Scolopax gallinula. Plate XII. . . 1 84

MACRORHAMPHUS, . . . . .188

Brown Longbeak, Macrorhamplius griseus^ . 188

GODWITS, . . . . . .191

Black-Tailed Godwit.

Limosa melanura. Plate XIII. . . .192

Common or Red Godwit, Limosa rufa, . 195
TOTANUS, ...... 198

Dusky Totanus.

Totanusfuscus. Plate XIV. . . 199

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Redshank, T. calidris, . , . .201

Greenshank, T. glottis, . . . . 205

Green Totanus, T. ochropus, . . .209

Wood Totanus, T. glareola, . . . 213
Common Totanus.

Totanus Jiypoleucus. Plate XV. . . 216
Spotted Totanus.

Totanus macularius. Plate XV. . . 219
RUFFS, ....... 222

Ruff.

Machetes pugnax. Plate XVI. . . .223

SANDPIPERS, ..... 228

Purre or Dunlin.

Tringa variabilis. Plate XVII. . . 229

Knot, T. canutus, . . . . .232

Buff-Breasted Sandpiper, T. rufescens, . 235

Purple or Rock Sandpiper, T. maritima, . . 236

Curlew Sandpiper, T. subarqtiata, . . 240

Minute Sandpiper, T. minuta, . . . 243

Temminck's Sandpiper, T. Temminckii, . 244

Pectoral Sandpiper, T. pectoralis, . . . 246

Broad-Billed Sandpiper, T. platyrkincka, . 247

Schintz's Sandpiper, T. Schintzii, . . . 249

HIMANTOPUS, ..... 251

Black- Winged Stilt.

Ifimantopus melanopterus. Plate XVIII. • 252
AVOSETS, ...... 254

Avoset.

Recurvirostra avosetta. Plate XXI. . . 255

TURNSTONES, ..... 258

Turnstone.

Strepsilas intcrpres. Plate XX. . , 259
PHALAROPES, ...... 263

Grey Phalarope.

PhcUaropus lobatus. Plate XIX. . .266
Red- Necked Phalarope, Phalaropus (lobipes) hypcr-

loreus, . . . . 269

CURLEWS, ...... 272

Common Curlew.

Numenius arquata. Plate XXII. . . 273

Whimbrel, N. plieopus, . . . .276

CHARADRIAD^, .... 279

Common Lapwing.

Vanellus cristatus. Plate XXV. . * 281

CONTENTS.

PLOVERS, .....

Grey Plover, S. cincrca, . .

Golden Plover, S. pluvialis,
DOTTERELS, .....

Dotterel, C. morinellus,
Ringed Dotterel.

Charadrius hiaticula. Plate XXIII.
Kentish Dotterel, C. Cantianus,
Little Ringed Dotterel, C. minor, .
SANDERLING, .....

Sanderling or Dotterel Tringa, Arenaria calidris,
THICK-KNEES, .....

Common Thick-Knee.

(Edicnemus creptians. Plate XXIV. . 311

SWIFTFOOT, . . . t . .314

Cream- Coloured Swiftfoot, Cursorius Europceus, 315

PRATINCOLES, • . . . . .317

Collared Pratincole.

Glareola torquata. Plate XXVII. . 319

OYSTER CATCHERS, .... 321

European Oyster Catcher.

Hasmatopus ostralegus. Plate XXVI. . 322

RALLID^, . . . . . .326

Water Rail.

RaUus aquaticus. Plate XXVIII. . . 328

CRAKES, . . . . _ . 330

Meadow or Corn Crake.

Crete pratensis. Plate XXIX. . . 331

Spotted Crake.

Crete porzanna. Plate XXX. . . 334

Baillon's Crake, C. Baillonii, . . . 336

Little Crake.

Crexpusilla. Plate XXXI. . . 338

GALLINULES, ..... 340

Common Gallinnle.

Gallinula chloropus. Plate XXXII. . 341

COOTS, . . . . . . .344

Common Coot.
Fulicaatra. Plate XXXIII. . . .345

Young of the Rasores and Grallatores. Plate XXXIV. 348

In all Thirty-four Plates in this Volume.

MEMOIR

OF

JOHN WALKER, D.D.

MEMOIR

OF

JOHN WALKER, D.D.

JOHN WALKER, D.D., was born towards the begin-
ning of the last century in the Canongate suburb of
Edinburgh, and received his education at the gram-
mar-school of that district, of which his father was
at the time rector. His early proficiency in classical
literature is said to have been so great, that he was
able to relish Homer at ten years of age; and if
this be correct, he must have owed much to paternal
instruction.

He tells us himself, in a letter to Lord Kames,
that he TOIS a kind of naturalist by intuition : " Let
your lordship pursue the analogy between plants
and mankind as far as you will, it is not likely I
shall be as much offended as with my friend Lin-
naeus. I have been, from my cradle, fond of vege-
table life; and though I like my species and the
rank I hold in the creation, I declare I would sooner
claim kindred to an oak or to an apple-tree than to
an ape/'

B

18' MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

This predilection was confirmed and directed by
Sutherland's " Hortus Edinburgensis," published in
the year 1684. The author is thus characterised by
Bishop Nicholson, in his " Scottish Historical Li-
brary," "The best advances in botany made in
Scotland are owing to the extraordinary skill and
industry of Mr. James Sutherland, the present
worthy overseer of the Royal and Physic Gardens
at Edinburgh, whose happy labours and settlement
in that city are justly registered among the many
and great benefits for which she will ever be in-
debted to the memory of Sir Andrew Balfour ;" and
Dr. Walker mentions this performance " as a book
I have some respect for, as it was the first on
botany I ever perused, when ten years old: con-
taining a catalogue both considerable and accurate
for that period."

From the Canongate high-school he was sent to
the university,' to prosecute that course of study
prescribed by the Church of Scotland to candidates
for the sacred ministry within her pale. While
engaged in these preparatory labours, about the year
1750, his attention was attracted by the museum of
Sir Andrew Balfour, the sight of which first inspired
him with an attachment to natural history that
operated powerfully upon his mind and future pur-
suits, and which he never lost.

It is melancholy to relate the fate of a museum
that had cost the collector forty years of unremitted
attention, and which, after his death, had been de-
posited in the hall of the old college of Edinburgh,

MEMOIR OP DR. WALKER.

then the library-hall, and was believed to be the
most considerable that was in the possession of any
university in Europe, There it remained for many
years, useless and neglected, some parts of it going
to decay and others abstracted ; till, soon after the
period that Mr. Walker had seen it, it was dislodged
from the hall where it had been so long kept ; was
thrown aside and farther and farther dilapidated,
and at length almost completely demolished.

In the year 1782, when the Doctor filled the
natural history chair, he extracted out of its ruins
and rubbish many pieces still valuable and useful,
and placed them in the best order he could ; and
adds, in the conclusion of the account from which
the above is taken, " These I hope may now re-
main long in this place, and be considered as so
many precious relics of the first naturalist, and one
of the best and greatest men this country has pro-
duced."*

Unfortunately the Doctor's anticipations were
not destined to be realized. He had collected, for
the use of his class, a number of specimens, which
he added to the pitiful remains of Balfour ; but he
had not the generosity to bestow them on the
public, or perhaps did not consider them worth a
bequest; and at his death the museum, and the
remains he seemed so desirous to preserve, under-
went a second spoliation; and the miserable frag-
ments left were of little benefit to his more eminent
successor, who presented his own private collection
* Memoirs of Sir Andrew Balfour, Tracts, 365.

20 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

to the public, and may thus be considered the
founder as well as the builder of that splendid
museum, which is the boast of our university, and
one of the most attractive as well as useful objects
of curiosity in our city.

When Mr. Walker had finished with propriety
his preliminary course at the university, and gone
through with approbation his trials before the pres-
bytery of Edinburgh, he was licensed to preach the
gospel. He did not, however, continue long what
is called a probationer, having been ordained as
minister of the parish of Glencross on the 13th day
of September, 1758. This parish, which lies south
from Edinburgh seven miles, was delightfully situ-
ated for a botanist, among the Pentland heights;
and here Mr. Walker spent the next four years of
his life, assiduously cultivating the science he loved,
not only amid the romantic scenery by which he
was surrounded, but making extensive excursions
to explore the vegetable and mineral kingdoms
throughout the country, and examine any of the
remarkable productions of nature which claimed the
attention of a philosopher.

Among the acquaintance he formed at this time,
and with whom he ever after kept up a correspond-
ence upon subjects in which they both felt equally
interested, was the Honourable Henry Home of
Kames, one of the senators of the college of justice,
&c., better known as Lord Kames ; and one of their
great bonds of connexion was a desire for the im-
provement of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. . 21

After the rebellion of 1745, the act which an-
nexed the forfeited estates to the crown declared the
special purposes of that annexation to be for " civi-
lizing the inhabitants on the said estates and those
of the other parts of the Highlands and Islands of
Scotland; promoting among them the Protestant
religion, good government, industry, and manufac-
tures, and the principles of loyalty, and no other
purposes." The produce of the estates was to be
expended on the erection of schools for the educa-
tion of youth, to instruct them in agriculture and
manufactures, and also to erect and institute manu-
factures; and the execution of these great and
benevolent public purposes was , entrusted to com-
missioners, under the title of " The Board of An-
nexed Estates," of which Lord Kames was one of
the most active members. Dr. Walker, who was
then a frequent visitor of his lordship's, gives the
following pleasing trait of his attention to the poor
claimants.

" I have frequently visited him of a morning ;
and his breakfast, which was at an early hour, was
a very elegant one, and usually a sort of levee," —
" and I seldom missed finding in the lobby some
tradesmen or countrymen, who came to speak to
him about applications they had made to the Board
of Trustees for bounties or premiums for new inven-
tions, or to the Commissioners of Annexed Estates ;
and all such applications he listened to with the
utmost attention. To do Mrs. Drummond justice,

22 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

she never failed to remind him of these poor peti-
tioners and their claims, in which, to say the truth,
she took great interest herself. She was an ad-
mirable woman, and seconded all her husband's
useful plans."

In 1759 he met Benjamin Franklin, who visited
Lord Kames that year, and received from him, in
conversation, the account of the pines and the hic-
cory, and other trees of America, mentioned in his
tract, " Remarkable Trees in Scotland ;" a tract for
which he must have been collecting materials at
this time. And to this period, from internal evi-
dence, though it has no date, I feel inclined to place
his " Mineralogical Journal from Edinburgh to El-
liott," the tenth of his tracts.

At Glencross he also had the good fortune to be
introduced to Mr. Tytler of Woodhouselee, after-
wards Lord Woodhouselee, whose friendship he long
enjoyed, and who, in his " Life of Lord Kames,"
when noticing the Doctor's death, says, that he lost
in him one of his earliest and most valued friends.

In the year 1762 he was presented to the parish
of Moffat by the Earl of Hopeton, and settled there
on the 13th of July, where he continued unremit-
tingly to pursue his favourite employments, improv-
ing himself, silently but not unobservedly, till 1764,
when he was recommended by Lord Kames to the
Commissioners of Annexed Estates, as a person most
eminently qualified by his uncommon natural talents
and scientific acquirements to make a survey of the

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 23

"Western Islands, with regard to tlieir moral and
physical state and capabilities for those improve-
ments which they were so anxious to promote ; and
accordingly he received the appointment. He was
at the same time requested by the Society for Pro-
pagating Christian Knowledge to visit their stations
and report upon the progress of their schools. Both
of which objects he accomplished, much to the satis-
faction of those who had employed him.

The Report which he made to the Board of this
journey, — which lasted seven months, during which
he had traversed, by his own computation, a space
of above three thousand miles by land and water,^
relative to the then state of agriculture, fisheries,
and manufactures in those, at that time, almost
unknown regions, with an ample detail of the best
means for their improvement, as suggested by the
nature of the country and its local advantages, was
esteemed highly interesting and important, but was
not printed by the Commissioners. It was, how-
ever, found, after his death, among his papers, new
modelled, and published by his friend Charles
Stewart, printer (himself favourably known as the
author of " Elements of the Natural History of the
Animal Kingdom"), under the title of " An Econo-
mical History of the Hebrides," 2 vols. 8vo.

Although there has been a great and beneficial
alteration in the state of the Hebrides since the days
when this inspection took place, yet the following
letter which he addressed to Lord Kames from the
isle of Lewes is not without interest.

24 ' MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

" Stornoway, August 17, 1764.

" My Lord, — I received yesterday the favour of
your lordship's, and have taken this first oppor-
tunity, since my last, to acquaint you with my
progress. After leaving Isla, I proceeded to Jura,
Colonsay, Oronsay, Icolmkill, Mull, Coll, Tiree,
Rum, Egg, and Canna ; after which I went through
Barra, South and North Uist, Benbecula, Bernera,
Yalay, Pabhay, Ensay, and Harris, and arrived
yesterday at this place.

44 1 have seen the most fertile lands T ever saw in
my life, without cultivation ; a people by nature
the most acute and sagacious, perfectly idle; the
most valuable fisheries, without lines or nets ; and
in every corner one of the finest harbours that ever
nature formed, a beautiful though useless void, as
inanimate and unfrequented as those of the Terra
Australis.

u The only appearance of industry I have met
with in the islands is at this place. They have for
some time had a considerable fishery of cod and
ling. Their greatest discouragement is the diffi-
culty of procuring salt, and the hazard they run
with salt-bonds. But that I hope will be removed
in this corner by the erection of a custom-house,
which was done yesterday.

" One of the most effectual encouragements of the
fishery in the islands, and I think the easiest and
cheapest that has yet occurred to me, would be
£1000 worth of salt and casks laid up at one or
two proper places, to be sold to the inhabitants at

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 25

prime cost. The herrings have been swarming
since the end of last month, on the coasts both of
the main-land and Long Island ; but except a few
taken in Skye, I have not seen nor heard of one last
being preserved.

" Lying at anchor last Monday night, in calm
moonshine, in the fine land-locked lake at Island
Glass, in the Lewes, which is a circle of two miles,
perfectly surrounded with lofty mountains, I saw
the water heaving with fish, and felt even the air
strongly impregnated with their smell. Three small
Highland yawls, each of them with an old tattered
net, came alongside of us by daylight, loaded to the
brim with the largest herrings I ever saw, which
the poor people were anxious to sell at four-pence
the six score, having no salt or casks to preserve
them. And this is at present the case in every
loch in these parts.

" When the spinning-school was erected here
eight months ago, it met with the greatest opposi-
tion from the people. No young women could be
brought to it till they were compelled. To avoid
this, great numbers of them got themselves mar-
ried ! which was the case with several but of twelve
years old ! ! But finding that this was to be no
protection, they at length submitted, and ever since
the school has continued full. They now find it
both easy and profitable, and pursue it with a de-
gree of spirit and cheerfulness which is very agree-
able. I saw above fifty of them, from nine to
twenty-five years of age, at their wheels, in one

28 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

room, where a wheel was scarce ever known before.
They seemed quite happy at their work, and all
joined in a Highland song, which gave me more
pleasure, if it be safe to own such an unpolite no-
tion, than any concert 1 was ever present at.

u The spinning-mistress, who is a woman from
Fife, I found under real, I may say, bodily amaze-
ment, at the quick apprehension and docility of her
scholars, who, though they understood not her lan-
guage, comprehended in a day or two every thing
she meant. I was not, however, so much surprised
at this as the good woman seemed to be, having
been for two months past more and more convinced,
that the mind of man is to be observed more and
more perfect as one moves northwards ; that a pene-
trating air seems to produce penetrating souls, and
that wind and weather, the keener they are, appear
to give the sharper edge to the human understand-
ing.

" I have met with a strong confirmation of my
notion of raising hemp in the Western Islands. I
was on Tuesday last on board of a herring-buss on
Loch Shell, bound from Stornoway to the rendez-
vous at Campbelton, whose nets are wholly made
of hemp which grew in the Lewes ; but there is not
a stalk of it in any other of the islands.

" I inquired carefully after the plant which dyes
black without burning the cloth, and found it at
length in South Uist, where, indeed, they make
a fine black with it. I hope to have the pleasure
of showing it to your lordship in great plenty in

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 27

Duddingston Loch. But the franking act obliges
me to stop.
" I ever am,

Your Lordship's devoted Servant,

JOHN WALKER/'

During this excursion he ascended the two high
mountains called the Paps of Jura, chiefly for the
purpose of making two experiments; the one to
measure the height of the highest mountain, by the
barometer, at its base and upon its summit; the
other to ascertain whether boiling water is not of
the same degree of heat at the top of a mountain
that it is at the bottom, or is visibly colder, by the
thermometer, upon the mountain than upon the
plain.

His account of this excursion is beautifully told.
" Upon the 27th of June we filled a barometer at
the shore of the Sound of Isla, at seven o'clock in
the morning ; and being placed at the level of the
sea, the mercury stood at twenty-nine inches and
seven-tenths. At ten o'clock it stood at the same
height, when we set off in order to ascend the
mountain, which is one continued steep from that
point of the shore. Some Highland gentlemen were
so good as to go along to conduct us ; and a box
with barometrical tubes, a telescope, large kettle,
water, fuel, provisions, and a couple of fowling-
pieces, loaded seven or eight servants.

" The first part of our progress lay through deep
bogs, from which we sometimes found it very diffi-

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

cult to extricate ourselves. We then came to a
chain of small but steep hills, where the heather
struck us to the breast, and which were cut every-
where with deep glens and gullies, which we could
not have ascended on the opposite side, without the
assistance of the junipers and strong heather with
which they were covered.

" We next travelled along the rocky skirts of
three or four extensive hills, and came to a small
gloomy lake at the foot of the highest mountain.
Upon this side, which was to the south, we found
the ascent impracticable, being so abrupt and full of
precipices, which obliged us to make a circuit east.
Here we had before us about fifteen hundred feet of
perpendicular height, and composed entirely of loose
rocks and stones. They lay upon the side of the
mountain like a great stream, and upon the least
motion gave way on all sides, which made our pro-
gress both tedious and dangerous. With great dif-
ficulty we made our way against these hurling ruins
of the mountains; and at last, after an ascent of
seven hours, with excessive fatigue, we gained the
summit.

" It was now five o'clock in the afternoon ; the
day was serene, not a cloud in the firmament, and
the atmosphere uncommonly clear; so that the
view we now enjoyed of the earth and the seas
below, made us forget the toil of our ascent. Every
way we turned we had a prospect of sea and land
as far as the eye could reach. The sea in many
places running out into the sky, and in others ter-

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 29

minated by lands and islands of various shapes,
forming a very singular and grand horizon.

" On one hand we had a thousand hills, the whole
alpine country of Argyleshire, the ancient Albion ;
here only our view was intercepted, and that only
by mountains in the distance. In another quarter,
we saw distinctly the whole of the Hebrides and'
Deucaledonian Ocean. Southwards, the vast pro-
montory of Cantyre lay under our eye ; and beyond
it, in one view, all the west of Scotland, rising to
the great mass of mountains in the head of Clydes-
dale and Nithsdale; in another view, the spiry
summits of Arran, and the whole Irish Sea, with its
shores, to the Isle of Man. From the south to the
west, the north of Ireland lay as a plain before us,
further than the eye could reach. The impetuous
strait between the Mull of Cantyre and the Fair
Head, with its lofty cliffs, was at hand; through
which the Irish Sea is filled every tide by the pour-
ing in of the Atlantic. The promontory of the
Giant's Causeway appeared near and distinct ; and
beyond it the high land of Inis-huna, the north ex-
tremity of Ireland ; beyond this, to the Hebrides,
nothing but air and ocean.

" The emotions in the mind of the beholder,
arising from the grandeur of this scene, are not to
be excited by any description. The extent of pro-
spect from this mountain is indeed surprising, not
much under three hundred miles south and north.
But the curvature of the earth is here greatly over-
come by the elevation of the spectator and the great

30 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

height of the distant lands. Nothing else could
render the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Man at tne
same time visible. At three such views, the naked
eye might extend from the one extremity of Britain
to the other. To stretch the eye over so many dif-
ferent seas, over such a multitude of islands, and
such various countries in different kingdoms, is per-
haps a scene that can nowhere be beheld in Europe
but from the summit of Jura.

" During the time that our fire was kindling, we
constructed a barometer, when the mercury stood
at twenty-seven inches and one-tenth. Fahrenheit's
mercurial thermometer was then put into the boiling
water, in a kettle which had been made for the
purpose ; and, after many repeated immersions, was
found to stand constantly at two hundred and seven
degrees. "We left the summit of the mountain at
seven o'clock ; and left it indeed with regret, having
been so much delighted. We descended, not with-
out some difficulty and danger, upon the west side,
where the mountain is very abrupt, and about mid-
night arrived upon the Sound of Islay, at the place
from which we set out. Here we again repeated
our experiments. The same barometrical tube was
filled, and at one o'clock in the morning the mercury
stood, at the level of the sea, at twenty-nine inches
and seven-tenths; the same height precisely at
which it stood the preceding morning at seven
o'clock. And as the air and weather had been alto-
gether serene, without the least perceptible altera-
tion during the intermediate time, there was reason

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 31

to think that we had now the altitude of the moun-
tain with as great exactness as it could be taken by
the barometer.

" We at the same time put the thermometer into
boiling water, and after repeated immersions, it was
observed to stand constantly at two hundred and
thirteen degrees. The thermometer employed was
one constructed by Professor Wilson at Glasgow,
and we were therefore assured of its accuracy. The
water carried to the top of the mountain was from
a pure perennial spring on the shore of Jura ; and
the water of the same fountain was employed in
the repetition of the experiment.

" From these experiments, therefore, it appears
that a column of air of the height of this mountain
is equal to two inches and six-tenths of mercury.
And assuming Dr. Halley's calculation of ninety
feet for each tenth, the perpendicular height of the
mountain turns out to be 2340 English feet above
the surface of the sea, which is just three hundred
feet less than half a measured mile.

" The difference of the heat of boiling water, at
the summit and at the bottom, appears from these
experiments to be equal to six degrees of Fahren-
heit's thermometer; and the height of the moun-
tain, divided by this number, gives three hundred
and ninety feet for each degree."

The following is the Report which he 'made to
the Society for propagating Christian Knowledge,
concerning the state of the charity schools in the
Highlands and Islands

32 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

" It is proposed in the following Report, to lay
before the Society an account of those schools which
I had occasion to visit and examine last year, in
the course of my journey through the Highlands
and Islands ; to mark out those places where igno-
rance and superstition do most prevail, and where
the inhabitants are most destitute of the means of
instruction ; and to communicate those observations
which occurred to me, concerning the most proper
methods of spreading the knowledge of the doc-
trines of the gospel, and the practice of its precepts,
in those remote and unenlightened parts of the
kingdom.

" On the 23d of June 1764, I visited £he charity
school in the parish of Kilchoman in the island of
Isla, of which Dougald M'Innish is master. This
school was erected only in the month of November
preceding, and during the greatest part of the win-
ter was attended by forty-seven scholars. On the
above day in June, the number of scholars in it was
forty-four, from five to eighteen years of age, wrho
all appeared to be making very good proficiency.
Of this number only four could speak English when
they came to the school in November, and in June
they were all considerably advanced in speaking
that tongue. None of these scholars come above
two miles to the school, and they are the children of
the very poorest people, who without the opportunity
of this school, could not possibly have their children
educated. The school is kept in the churcli of Kil-
choman, and the schoolmaster is precentor and

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 33

session-clerk. The minister officiates at this church
every other sabbath only, and on the sabbath he is
absent, the schoolmaster convenes the scholars in
the church, where he reads the Scriptures, examines
them, and joins with them in psalms and prayer.
I examined this school in presence of the Reverend
Mr. M'Lea, minister of the parish, Robert Camp-
bell of Sunderland, and Alexander Campbell of
Balloal, Esqrs., ruling elders, from whom' I had a
very good character given of the schoolmaster.

" On the 29th of June, I visited the charity
school kept in the island of Colonsay, which is
situated in the parish of Jura. This island is eight
miles long and three broad, and, with the adjacent
island of Oronsay, contains four hundred and forty
inhabitants. These islands are distant above twenty
miles of sea from Jura, and can only be visited by
the minister twice a year. The school is kept by
Donald McLean, in a house built for the purpose in
the centre of the island. The number of scholars in
winter and spring is usually between thirty and
forty, and there were twenty-three attending in
June, from seven to nineteen years of age, of whom
the greatest part read the Scriptures very distinctly.
I was accompanied by Mr. Neil M'Leod, minister
of Jura, Gilbert M'Lean, elder, Mr. M'Neil, younger
of Colonsay, and Alexander M'Neil of Oronsay,
Esq., ruling elder, who all attested the diligence of
the schoolmaster.

" On the 30th of July, I visited the charity school
kept in the island of Barra. It was then attended

34 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

by thirty-seven scholars, who were all making ex-
cellent proficiency in reading, writing, and arith-
metic, under Donald Campbell, a very capable and
diligent teacher. In the island and parish of Barra
there are at present thirteen hundred people who
are Papists, and only about fifty Protestants. For
many years the Popish parents would not send their
children to the Protestant school, but they have
since got over that scruple, and send them now
without reluctance. I was accompanied by Donald
M'Neil of Yatersay, Esq., ruling elder in the parish,
a man of excellent principles and understanding, and
the chief support of the Protestant interest in this
and the neighbouring islands. The good character
which he and the other Protestants in the island
gave of the schoolmaster, I had reason to think,
upon examination, to be very just. He is at the
greatest pains to make the Popish children mandate
those passages of Scripture that are most subversive
of Popery, and to ground them in our catechisms
and Confession of Faith, and is indeed a very assi-
duous and useful master. He complained much that
he had great difficulty to live upon his salary,
which is nine pounds, and if the society could aug-
ment it four or five pounds, it would be no more
than what he really deserves, and what the impor-
tant station he is placed in requires.

u On the 31st July, I examined the charity school
in South Uist, of which Donald M'Queen is master.
He was seven years schoolmaster in the Harris, be-
fore the year 1738, when he was removed to South

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 35

Uist, where he has officiated ever since. The parish
of South Uist contains two thousand two hundred
people, of whom only two hundred and fifty are
Protestants ; and besides the island of South Uist,
it comprehends the islands of Benbecula and Erisca,
which altogether compose a parish between thirty
and forty miles long. The charity school is at pre-
sent, and has been kept for two years past, in the
village of Kilbride, at the south extremity of South
Uist ; but for three years before it was settled here,
it was kept in the island of Benbecula, and unless it
be thus removed from place to place at proper pe-
riods, it cannot have its full effect in instructing the
inhabitants of such an extensive country. On the
foresaid day, this school contained twenty scholars,
most part of whom were very well instructed in
reading and speaking English. The master's cha-
racter and diligence were well attested by Colin
M 'Donald, Esq. younger of Boysdale, who is ruling
elder, and by Ronald McDonald, Esq. younger of
Clanronald. He received a box of books from the
society in- the year 1738, containing a dozen of
Bibles and a dozen and a half of New Testaments,
but he has received none since that time ; and is at
present in such want of catechisms for teaching
the children the alphabet, that he is forced to make
use of the leaves of other books for that purpose.

" As the charity school kept at Balliloch, in
North Uist, receives a vacation of twenty days in
the beginning of August, this deprived me of an
opportunity of visiting the school, or of conversing

36 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

with Charles Tawse, the schoolmaster. The minis-
ter, however, and the gentlemen of the country ,
gave him an ample character, and a very good ac-
count of the state of the school, at which there
were thirty-five scholars attending upon the 1st of
August.

<fc Upon the 1 6th of August, I visited the society's
school kept at Stornoway in the Lewes. In No-
vember 1763, Neil M'Leod was appointed master
of this school by the society; but giving up his
charge on the 19th of June 1764, the Rev. Mr.
Clark, minister of the parish, and Mr. M'Gillander,
Mr. M'Kenzie of Seaforth's factor, with the appro-
bation of the presbytery, appointed, in his place,
Alexander Anderson, who now officiates, and gives
general satisfaction in the place, and this appoint-
ment they hope will be confirmed by the society.
On the day I examined this school, it contained
fifty-two scholars, from five to fifteen years of age,
which was the most numerous of any I saw in the
Highlands or Islands, and it had been still more
numerous in winter. The progress they- were then
making in reading, writing, arithmetic, and in the
principles of religion, was truly surprising, consider-
ing their great number and the small appointment
of the master, which is only eight pounds ; and I
doubt if there be so much service performed, for so
little money, by any of the society's servants.

" The other school kept by the society at Knock,
in the parish of Stornoway, of which Murdoch
M'Aulay is master, I had not the opportunity to

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 37

examine, but was informed that it was always at-
tended by upwards of thirty scholars, and that the
master was diligent and successful.

" Upon August the 25th, I had an account of
the society's school, erected some months before in
the parish of Gerloch in Ross-shire, from Sir Alex-
ander M'Kenzie of Gerloch and the minister of the
parish. This school, of which James Herdman is
master, was granted by the society, with ten pounds
salary, on condition that the heritors should add a
hundred merks to their appointment. This the
heritors have accordingly done, and were to build,
this last summer, a convenient school-house at their
own expense. This new school deserves the parti-
cular attention of the society, as it is the only
school in that extensive parish, which contains two
thousand eight hundred people, of whom there are
not above twenty persons who can read English,
exclusive of the gentlemen and ladies who live in
the parish.

" The parish of Lochbroom, which lies to the
north of Gerloch, has no legal parochial school, but
the Commissioners upon the Annexed Estates
erected a school, in the year 1763, at Kirkton of
Lochbroom, and appointed twenty-five pounds a
year of salary for the schoolmaster. When I visited
this school, it contained thirty-four scholars, who
were making very good progress in reading, writing,
and arithmetic, and ten of them were pretty well
advanced in the Latin and Greek languages. The
society also has a school in this parish, in the coun-

38 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

try of Coygach, which is well attended ; yet these
two schools are altogether insufficient for the in-
struction of the inhabitants of this vast parish,
which contains about two thousand five hundred
people, and in its extent rather resembles a pro-
vince, being thirty -six Highland miles in length and
twenty in breadth. There are three catechists sup-
ported in this parish upon the royal bounty, whose
salaries amount to twenty-seven pounds per annum,
and if a considerable part of this sum was rather
employed in supporting schools, it would probably
be productive of greater advantages.

" Upon the 30th of August, I visited the society's
school kept at Dinetil, in the parish of Slait, in the
isle of Sky, by John M'Intosh. His salary is eight
pounds, and he has great difficulty to subsist upon
it. All his scholars, who had been two full years
at the school, read the Scriptures distinctly, and
understood them better than most of those I met
with. He is at great pains to make them translate
the English Bible into Gaelic, and to translate the
Irish Bible into English, which is certainly an ex-
cellent practice, and should be more followed by the
society's schoolmasters. For the Highland children
frequently come to read the English currently, be-
fore they have so much of the language as can
make them understand it when it is read ; but this
practice improves them in speaking as well as in
reading English, and makes them well acquainted
with the meaning of what they read.

" The society's school kept at Bradfoord, in the

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 39

parish of Strath, in the isle of Skye, requires some
immediate attention. Lauchlan M'Kinnon has taught
in it since the year 1 759, but is now become so old
and decayed, as not to be able to teach it with that
success that might be expected. The minister of
the parish, Mr. Donald Nicholson, a man of uncom-
mon probity and goodness, did not incline to prefer
any complaint against the poor old man, but did
not propose again to attest the school."

Appended to the Report were the following pro-
positions.

" That the distribution of the royal bounty be
confined to those parishes in which the Gaelic lan-
guage is preached, — That one-fourth of the present
catechists be employed as schoolmasters. — That no
parochial schoolmaster receive a salary as a catechist.
— That the presbyteries be enjoined to prosecute
the erection of legal schools in those parishes where
they are wanting/'

As long as Dr. Walker continued at Moffat, his
correspondence with Lord Kames was uninter-
rupted ; and in the Life of his lordship have been
preserved several letters addressed to him on sub-
jects of physiology and natural history, when he
was engaged in writing his " Sketches of the History
of Man," which appear chiefly to have been replies
to queries respecting the subject of his investiga-
tions. The first, dated February 18, 1773, on the
analogy between man and the inferior animals, and
that between animals and vegetables, is extremely
curious, in the course of which he produces a num-

40 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

ber of striking marks of differential similarity which
readily escape a common observer, one of the most
striking of which is the effects of habit on the exter-
nal characters of animals and vegetables; that is,
the alteration produced by climate and culture ; and
the examples given are the dog and the cabbage,
both from original stocks producing varieties so
essentially different, as scarcely to be recognised
but by tracing them back to their primitive sources.
The last, July 1776, on the wonderful provisions of
Nature for the augmentation and preservation of
plants, their aliment, and the soils they most affect,
is likewise exceedingly ingenious.

In the year 1 775 the professorship of natural
history became vacant by the death of I)r. Ramsay,
and Dr Walker, most probably through the interest
of Lord Kames, Was nominated his successor. Con-
joined as they had been in agricultural pursuits
and habits of intimacy, and as his lordship enter-
tained a very high opinion of the talents of his
friend, this was just as might have been expected ;
only there existed what ought to have been an in-
superable objection, — he was minister of Moffat,
upwards of fifty miles distant from the capital ; and
as it was impossible that he could fulfil the duties
of both situations, justice, and even a decent respect
for appearances, required that he should relinquish
the one or resign the other. This, however, he un-
fortunately could not resolve to do.

At that time the ruling clergymen of the Church
of Scotland were actuated by a strong desire for

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 41

literary eminence, to attain which they expended
all those energies which ought to have been ex-
pended in a nobler cause ; and unhappily considered
their sacred calling a more secondary object, subor-
dinate to the other. The Doctor was led aside to
sacrifice to the idol of the day, and thus involved
himself in an awful responsibility, and his parish
for some years in most lamentable destitution. He
contrived, however, to satisfy both his conscience
and a majority of the presbytery of Dumfries,
and struggled through a few unpleasant years,
till he obtained a presentation to Colinton, among
a more peaceful people than the mountaineers of
Moffat.

Perhaps in his appointment the wreath went to
the worthy ; but, if so, " it was more by chance
than good guiding," for there were numerous other
applicants, and the decision appears to have been
made rather from regard to political influence than
professional talent, though fortunately in this case
they went hand in hand.

That the university of Edinburgh should have
maintained its high character for so long a period,
amid the violent struggles of party politics and
family partialities which so frequently invaded its
bowers during these and other perilous times, when
an interest in the council or a vote at an election
were deemed superior to any qualifications of a
candidate, is truly astonishing ; and when we recol-
lect the long reign of this system, it is amazing
' that all the chairs did not become hereditary, or

42 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

were not filled with the sons and the grandsons
of baillies and deacons :

— " but there's a Providence

That shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will,"

and to this is to be attributed the elevated station
which the university of Edinburgh, in her scientific
classes, still bears among the institutions of Europe,
sustained, however, in no small degree, by the ex-
cellence of many of the private lecturers, and the
salaries of the professors being in general too small
to allow them to disregard the number or estimation
of the students. We hope now a better morn begins
to dawn, whether it shall produce a more brilliant
day we venture not to prognosticate ; in the words
of our old reformer, " time will try ;" meanwhile it
may not be amiss to recal a little of the manoeuvring
which took place upon the present occasion, as a
picture of former days.

Dr. Ramsay, the Professor of Natural History,
having been prevented from lecturing regularly for
some time before his death, Lord Kames, who was
well acquainted with Mr. William Smellie, then
in the prime of life and expectation, and to whose
attainments in the study of natural history he was
no stranger, proposed to him, in the year 1774,
to deliver a series of lectures on the philosophy and
general economy of nature, leaving the regular
scientific treatment of the subject to the public
professor. This plan met with Dr. Ramsay's entire
concurrence, who afforded every assistance in books
and advice, and it would have been carried into

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 43

effect, had not Mr. Smellie been induced by the
booksellers to undertake a translation of Buffon's
" Natural History of the Earth and of Quadru-
peds," then in the full bloom of its reputation.

When the Professor's health began visibly to
decline, about twelve months before his decease,
he applied for the succession, and had then the sup-
port of Lord Kames ; after his death, however, his
lordship refused to make any application, but Sir
John Dalrymple of Cousland warmly espoused his
cause, and his letters afford a little insight into the
principles upon which professorships were to be ob-
tained. In one to Mr. Smellie, he tells him that the
minister of the day (Lord North) had given the
disposal of everything in Edinburgh to Thomas,
afterwards Lord, Dun das of Kerse, M.P., to enable
him to keep the town ; u I will write to him with
all my heart ; but as he is pushed in Edinburgh by
the Duke of Buccleuch, and is like to be pushed in
Stirlingshire by the Duke of Argyle, he is forced to
give everything with a view to his politics, much
against the natural turn of one of the best heads
and hearts I am acquainted with." And afterwards,
in another to the representative, — " Smellie, besides
being very able for the business, has this advantage,
that he lives close to Edinburgh, is much liked, and
has a sagacious insinuating address, which may
make him useful to you in your politics; and he
will go through fire and water to do anything I bid
him, provided it is not wrong !" Mr. Smellie, in
his own behalf, was likewise constrained to appeal

44 MEMOIR OP DR. WALKER.

to his political services, performed or to be per-
formed, when writing to Mr. Dundas. But the in-
fluence of Sir Laurence, who was engaged on the
other side, and the politics of Stirlingshire, in which
the family of Home too were involved, prevailed for
Dr. Walker, and he carried the day.

But the Doctor's troubles were not yet at an end,
when he was installed in the professorship; Mr.
Smellie resumed his plan of giving lectures on the
philosophy of natural history, and proposed com-
mencing his course under the auspices of the Anti-
quarian Society, whose secretary he was, and in
their hall. Upon receiving this information, Dr.
Walker immediately addressed the Earl of Buchan,
president of the Society.

" Moffat, 14th September, 1680.

" My Lord, — I received the honour of yours of
the 10th inst., concerning Mr. Smellie. I find,
what I suppose your lordship has not been informed
of, that under the title of Keeper of the Museum of
the Antiquarian Society, his design is to give lec-
tures on natural history. I should never object to
any person doing this as an individual ; but to do it
under the protection of a numerous society, contain-
ing so many respectable members, is what, to be
sure, I cannot see without some regret.

" That private teachers, for their own interest,
should pursue plans of this sort, is not at all sur-
prising ; but surely neither I nor the university of
Edinburgh merit such an opposition from any pub-

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 45

lie body. In the professorship I am soon to under-
take, I have foreseen many difficulties which I yet
hope to surmount ; but this indeed would be a new
discouragement which I did not expect. Were I to
fail in my attempt, and be found incapable of teach-
ing the science to the satisfaction of the public, the
field would then be open, and I could have nothing
to object. But till that happen, I certainly have
some claim to be treated with equity and candour,
* I may say, too, with humanity, by those who think
themselves concerned.

" By engaging in that office, I run the risk per-
haps of some character, but certainly of having my
income diminished, in serving the public ; which at
my time of life is no very agreeable prospect, and
renders me more dependent than ever I have yet
been upon the support of my friends.

" If your lordship will allow me to number you
among these, I would beg your attention to what I
have now stated, which could not indeed so readily
occur to your lordship as to one whose reputation
and interest is at stake.

" I shall be happy to receive your favourable
answer, and am, in the mean time, with my best
compliments to Lady Buchan,

Your Lordship's, &c.

JOHN WALKER."

Mr. Smellie instantly and frankly renounced all
idea of rivalry; he wished merely to pursue the
same course which he had projected along with

46 MEMOIR OP DR. WALKER.

Dr. Walker's predecessor; and in addressing his
explanation to the Earl, he concluded with an inge-
nuous candour, which ought at once to have silenced
opposition.

" I know your lordship has long had and still
entertains a high regard for Dr. Walker, whose
abilities and learning are universally acknowledged.
J know that your lordship has likewise honoured
me with marks of attention. You wish both of us
to succeed in our different departments, not from
personal considerations alone, but because your
lordship is of opinion that from an amicable corre-
spondence the interests of literature and of the
public may be promoted by our mutual labours,
which never can interfere. Instead of opposition,
I know it to be the intention of your lordship, as
well as of the Antiquarian Society, if a friendly
under tanding take place, which I shall do every-
thing in my power to procure, to communicate the
specimens of our museum to Dr. Walker/'

The Professor's fears were not so easily to be
quieted ; next year, when the Society of Antiquaries
applied to his majesty for a royal charter, they un-
expectedly found themselves involved in the un-
seemly quarrel. The Senatus Academicus parti-
cipated in their associate's alarm, and presented a
memorial to the late Lord Melville, then Lord Ad-
Tocate, objecting to the grant, on the ground that
such a society would interrupt the communication of
many specimens and subjects of natural history
which would otherwise be deposited in the museum

MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 4?

of the university, and of many documents tending
to illustrate the history, antiquities, and laws of
Scotland, from being deposited in the library of the
Faculty of Advocates. But, above all, the posses-
sion of a museum of natural history might enable
and induce the Society of Antiquaries to institute a
lectureship of natural history, in opposition to the
professorship in the university.

The curators of the Advocates* Library, too, were
likewise induced to join in the clamour against the
Society, and to write to the Lord Advocate to pre-
vent the obnoxious Antiquaries from becoming an
incorporated body, lest their own magnificent col-
lection should be impeded in its progress by the
interception of ancient Scottish manuscripts and
muniments destined for them, but which might be
sent to enrich the repository of a new and active
competitor. The Lord Advocate, however, wisely
judging that no such pernicious consequences would
follow, but that both might exist prosperously toge-
ther, and, acting as honourable rivals, by mutual
emulation promote the common cause, rather for-
warded the application, and on the 6th of May,
1783, the royal charter to the Society of the Anti-
quaries of Scotland was finally ratified, his majesty
George III. having voluntarily declared himself
their patron. Mr. Smellie's lectures, however, did
not proceed, but they afterwards appeared in a
more permanent form, under the title of " The
Philosophy of Natural History," forming two re-
spectable quartos.

48 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

Dr. Walker's own lectures were much esteemed
for the clear and scientific manner in which he con-
veyed his information, joined to his very superior
acquirements in natural history ; notwithstanding a
dry and formal manner, he interested his students
in no common degree in the pursuits he passionately
loved, and created an era in the history of that
science in Scotland : so much may a teacher effect
when he brings his whole heart to his business.

In 1781 he printed, for the use of his class,
" Schediasma Fossilium," and in 1782, " Deliiieatio
Fossilium ; and in ] 788 he delivered an admirable
introductory lecture on the utility and progress of
natural history and manner of philosophizing, which
was afterwards printed, and appears among his
tracts. But it was not till 1792 that a complete
syllabus of the course was published, under the title
of " Institutes of Natural History."

Early in 1783, Dr. Walker was translated from
Moffat to Colinton, where he was admitted Feb. 13.
In the same year, Principal Robertson having ma-
tured the plan of a society, upon the model of some
of the foreign academies, proposing for its object
the cultivation of every branch of science, erudition,
and taste, it was carried into effect, and the Royal
Society of Edinburgh was incorporated by charter
from the King, 1783. It comprehended almost all
the men eminent for science and literature in Scot-
land, and Dr. Walker was one of the first members
in the management ; he was very active, and many of
his essays illustrate the volumes of their Transactions

MEMOIR OP DR* WALKER. 49

During the whole of his incumbency at Moffat,
he was under the necessity of keeping house in
Edinburgh, and enjoyed much the literary social
parties, which if not more frequent in those days
than after, were yet of a fashion somewhat different
from those of later times. Lord Kames had his
morning levees; Lord Monboddo, in imitation of
the ancients, had his learned suppers ; these he held
once a fortnight during the sitting of the Session,
and at them Dr. Walker was a frequent guest, along
with Drs. Black, Hutton, and Hope. Even after
his presentation to Colinton, Dr. Walker kept up
his Edinburgh establishment, though he was oftener
and longer a lodger at his manse, from its nearness
to town and the attractions of a fine garden.

As might naturally have been expected, one great
source of delightful amusement to the Doctor was
horticulture ; and both the gardens of Moffat manse
and of Colinton bore ample testimony, in the rarity
of their plants and the beauty of their arrangements,
to his taste ; but his successors in each, preferring
the utile to the duke, delved up the rarities, and
planted, in their stead, turnip and carrot, kale and
potatoes.

" Eheu ! fugaces posthume posthunc

Labuntur horti !"

He married, late in life, Jane Wallace Wauchope,
a sister of Mr. Wauchope of Niddry, who had also
passed her meridian. For many years Mrs. Walker
was in good health, and added much to the Doctor s
enjoyment of life ; at a late period, she was afflicted

D

50 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER.

with a long indisposition, from which she had not
recovered when he died; while he, for several
years, suffered under total blindness, superinduced
by that not uncommon yet most pernicious prac-
tice of preferring to study by candle-light, and
after the fatigues of the day, instead of enjoying
the beams of the morning and labouring after the
night's repose. " Yet," adds Lord Woodhouselee,
" though thus deprived of the principal source of
his enjoyments, and deeply suffering from domestic
misfortune, the blessings of a well-regulated mind,
an equal temper, a happy flow of animal spirits,
and a memory rich in knowledge and stored with
amusing anecdotes, not only rendered his conversa-
tion delightful to his friends, but supplied the means
and power of still occupying his time with his fa-
vourite literary and scientific pursuits." He died
on tlje 22d of January 1804, aged seventy-three.

While he was laid aside, his place wras ably sup-
plied by the present Professor Jameson, who has
raised the reputation of the chair to a height which
overshadows the well-earned reputation of his pre-
decessor ; but whose fame is secured by more lasting
memorials than the mere delivery of lectures could
confer. After his death, a volume of Tracts was
published, which, together with his " Travels in the
Hebrides," his " Heads of Lectures," and his essays
in the Royal Transactions, are all that remain to
keep alive his remembrance.

RASORES AND GRALLATORES.

INTRODUCTION.

" Ces oiseaux (gallinac£s) meritent cependent bien plus
notre attention, si nous envisageons sous le rapport de
rutilite et des jouissances que nous serions a meme d'en
retirer : ce n'est qu'a Tinsouciance qui nous est si na-
turelle, qu'on doit reprocher de n 'avoir pas des longtemps
mis en ceuvre les moyens necessaires pour nous rendre
familiers des etres qui, en s'accoutoutumant a Thomme au-
roient continue de vivre sous son domaine, et lui seroient
devenus de la premiere utilite." — TEMMINCK.

" In exploring the tract which leads us, step by step, to an
acquaintance with them (grallatores), we must travel
through reeds and rushes, with doubtful feet, over the
moss-covered, faithless quagmire, amidst oozing rills and
stagnant pools." — BEWICK.

M Incapable of that perfection in swimming which is de-
veloped in the next order, the Waders may be termed
Marine Rasores. or Fowls of the Sea. They are always
walking on its shores, or on the sides of its fresh waters ;
and they depend as much upon their ambulations, for
seeking sustenance, as upon their wings, for those long
expeditions they are known to make." — SWAINSON.

THE Rasorial order of birds in the British Islands,
contains a number of species so limited, that it
has been necessary, in the present volume, to
join with it the history of the Grallatores or
Waders. The direct importance of the first to
man, whether in a wild or in their reclaimed and
cultivated state, is greater than that of any of

52 INTRODUCTION.

the other divisions ; almost all of them are avail-
able as a delicate and nutritious food, and the fa-
cility of their domestication and introduction from
one climate to another, — the ease with which they
seem to be able to accommodate themselves to
change of temperature or situation, afford addi-
tional proofs of the wise adaptation of structure
to the wants of the species, or for the purposes
which they were intended to fill in the arrange-
ments of nature.

Continents containing an immense extent of forest
and of dense cover, or stretching out into unbound-
ed plains, are necessary for their abundance ; and
in all the great lands of our globe, we shall find
analogous forms marked out for their respective
localities. In the islands, the supply becomes na-
turally limited according to their extent ; and it
should be recollected, that here the native inhabi-
tants have their maintenance supplied from the
seas, in proportion as the ruminating animals and
rasorial birds are wanting to the land. In Europe
and Western Asia we find the least proportion,
the families there being now confined to the Te-
traonidce or grouse, the bustards, and a limited
number of pigeons. It may be remarked, at the
same time, that these countries have been longer
in a continued state of progressive civilization
than any others, and that in them the greatest
advantages have been taken of the capabilities
which the foreign species afforded of being na-
turalised, every other continent having been laid

INTRODUCTION. 53

under contribution for the luxury and refinement
of this partial territory, as the fowls, turkeys,
peacocks, and pintadoes, of the most ordinary
farm and poultry yards will at all times show.
Africa may be stated as next in scarcity, and her
arid plains are most suitable to the Struthionidce,
the noble ostrich, and numerous bustards, exhi-
biting- its rasorial character, accompanied by a
peculiar form of partridges, and the genus Pie-
redes, or sand-grouse, while the guinea fowls seem
to be the arboreal form, and frequent the lines of
wood and cover which fringe the borders of the
streams and rivers ; but in this remarkable country
we see every deficiency in this family of birds, as
a mean of sustenance, more than compensated by
the innumerable herds of ruminating quadrupeds,
particularly antelopes, which are followed after
and fed upon by the wandering hordes. It is
in Central Asia and North America, with the nor-
thern half of the Southern Continent, that we
find the great stronghold of the typical Rasores.
In the former, we have the stock of our domestic
poultry, the splendid pheasants and gorgeous pea-
cocks, all so successfully introduced to Europe, be-
sides bustards, numerous partridges, and pigeons,
and the cassowary, or the Asiatic representation of
the ostrich. To North America we are indebted
for the turkey, and it possesses many species of
grouse, in size, with a single exception, generally
exceeding those of Europe. In the Southern Con-
tinent we encounter the whole family of the CYa-

M INTRODUCTION.

cidce, abounding in the forests, easily procured, and
producing* a savoury food ; and, towards the extre-
mity, we meet with the Rhea or South American
Ostrich. One continental island may be noticed in
this short sketch. Australia is remarkable, not in
possessing- many rasorial forms, for they are very
few if we except its pig-eons, but as showing- ano-
ther peculiar analogue to the large Struthionida?9
in the emu, and in possessing- as its representing
rasorial form, the Megapodince, composed of birds
remarkable for the great developement of their
feet. The various islands in the world possess their
Rasores, according to their extent and the conti-
nents to which they are related ; those of Britain
are now becoming too thickly inhabited to lay
claim to many species, while these are even gradu-
ally decreasing- in numbers; two or three pigeons,
a straggling bustard, the partridg-e in our cultivated
fields, the grouse or black g-ame in our wooded val-
leys, are nearly all; the moorfowl of our heath-clad
hills being- our only peculiar boast, most remark-
able, as continuing- so restricted, and apparently
still unknown elsewhere, either indigenously, or by
the assistance of introduction.

The next order, the GRALLATORES, leads us to
those birds which are truly aquatic in their habits,
or which are appropriated to, and hold their place
in, that important element, " the waters," which
cover so great a portion of the surface of our earth.
The WADERS, as the name implies, frequent the

INTRODUCTION. 55

margins of the waters, and scarcely intrude on the
great field itself, but stalk among- its shallows, and
feed among the wreck brought down by its streams-
or left by its tides, and upon the various animal
life periodically uncovered by the same agency.
In point of utility, these birds stand more as a
check upon the tribes of being's which serve for
their support, than as being directly beneficial.
The flesh of some is used for food, and is both
highly flavoured and wholesome; and the pursuit
of a few in the fenny countries, with the collection
of their eggs for the London and some other great
markets, for a month or two, give employment to
the fen-men. Others are domesticated, and walk
about the public markets, or in warm countries
through the towns, ridding them of all offal and
animal refuse, which would so soon taint the air,
and tend to increase the sickness or epidemical
diseases. But their great place seems to be for
the reduction of the numbers of reptiles, which
abound in the districts where the larger typical
species are most numerously found. The habits
of patient watchfulness among all the Ardeadce or
Herons, their quick sight, ravenous appetite, and
great power of digestion, render the quantity that
can be devoured in a short period very great, and
they place a powerful restraint upon creatures
which reproduce most rapidly. The other families
are chiefly insectivorous, or support themselves
also on molusca and the various marine life ; and
during the summer on our higher located pastures.

56 INTRODUCTION.

or in winter on our fallows, keep within bounds
many species of insects which, when exceeding1,
have been known to commit most severe ravages.
The British Islands possess some representative
in all the families, which will be noticed as wo
proceed with our descriptive part.

RASORES,

OR

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.

THE British Rasores are, as we have stated, so
few in number, that we shall not here attempt to
lead any chain of affinities between their various
families ; and we shall at once pass to those of
which we possess some examples. The first, or
the pigeons,

COLUMBID^E,

lead us from the true Incessores to an order of
birds, which, in their greatest proportions, seek
their food upon the ground, and subsist on grains
or seeds, roots, and occasionally fruits. The true
pigeons, although they are as much incessorial
as the typical perchers, have, at the same time,
their feet formed for walking, and exhibit no
awkwardness when in quest of their food, which,
with little exception, is procured upon the ground.

58 RASORES.

Their internal structure also closely assimilates
with that of the true gallinaceous birds, and in
the group taken together, we find many foreign
species, which, by their forms or manners, run
very closely into genera that meet them from
other families. There is one peculiarity, how-
ever, by which they differ, we believe, from all
the Rasores, that of their young being produced
unfledged,* and requiring care and attention be-
fore leaving the nest ; this is their nearest tie to
the Incessores, and we are not at present aware
of any example among that order, where the
young are even partially clothed with down, or
run soon after exclusion from the egg.f

Britain possesses examples of three genera, one
of them, however, resting on the capture of one,
or at most two specimens.

COLUMBA — Generic character. — Bill of mean
strength, anteriorly deflected, maxilla with
a slight angle ; nostrils nearly linear, widest
anteriorly and covered with a soft protube-
rant cartilage; tarsi short, partly feathered
in front; toes entirely divided, hind toe of

* Some of the Cracidce breed on trees ; but we believe that
here the young are covered, with down, and are almost imme-
diately transported to the ground. In the genus Penelope,
the young are like the typical species.

+ Mr. Gould has mentioned a species of Cindosoma from
Australia, which breeds on or near the ground, and the young
of which, he understood, left the nest at a very early period.

RASORES.

59

considerable length ; wings powerful, rather
pointed, second quill longest.

Types, C. palumbus, trocaz, &c. Cosmopolite.

Note. — Breed on trees, gregarious in winter, in-
cessorial, but walk with facility.

60

WOOD PIGEON OR RING DOVE.

Columba pnlumbus LINNJSUS.

PLATE I.

Palumbus torquatus, WillougJi. Ray. — Columba palumbus,
Linn. — Colombe ramier, Temm. — "Wood Pigeon, Ring
Pigeon, Ring Dove, of British authors. — Quest or Cushat,
Provincially.

THE Wood Pigeon or Ring Dove is the most
common as well as the most generally distributed
of our native pigeons, extending over the three
kingdoms; but becoming more sparingly distri-
buted to the northward, where the low character
of the woods is unfriendly to its presence. In
the south and middle of Scotland, and in all the
wooded districts of England and Ireland, it is
abundant ; it is even blamed, and with some
reason, for its depredations on the crops of the
farmer, particularly turnips, to which the ap-
pearance of snow or frost invariably drives them.
In the garden, in spring time also, they occasion-
ally do considerable damage, breaking over and
eating the young cabbage plants and other greens,
and cropping the peas even when five or six inches
above the ground. Nevertheless, they are a fa-
vourite bird, and are not frequently molested or

WOOD PIGEON. 61

wantonly destroyed. The love note or cooing is one
of those harbingers of a change from the severity
of winter, that is looked for and listened to by the
resident in the country with feelings of delight ;
and previous to the arrival of the summer birds of
passage, bears a marked part in the melody of
our woods and groves. Mr. Yarrell gives the
southern parts of Russia and Siberia, and during
summer Denmark and Sweden, as their northern
range, and states that it is found in the latitude
of Madeira ; in the notes to a small collection of
birds given to us by W. T. Carruthers, Esq., of
Dormont, the common Wood Pigeon is stated to
have been seen in that island.*

The Wood Pigeon, in winter, when not tamed
by its severity, is a remarkably shy and watchful
bird, and being then assembled in flocks, often
amounting to hundreds, is very difficult to be
approached. As spring advances, and pairing
has commenced, this wariness is in part lost,
and young plantations, the shrubbery, and even
the garden, if possessing some large evergreens,
are favourite resorts. There they become fami-
liarised with the presence of company, and will
proceed unheedingly with the slender structure
of their nests, and other duties of incubation.
A few years since, one built upon an evergreen
overhanging a walk, scarcely a yard above the
heads of persons passing ; there was a constant
thoroughfare, the bird was hourly looked at, and
' * See Edin. Journal of Nat. and Geog. Science, i. p. 244.

62 WOOD PIGEON.

even spoken to, still it persevered in its charge,
and seemed to have confidence in being protected.

The food of the Wood Pigeon is very varied.
Grains of all kinds are eaten with avidity ; a field
of peas or beans, after the crop has been reaped,
is a tempting pasture. The roots of several of
the grasses, and as Professor Macgillivray observes,
that of Potentilla anserina are gathered on the
ikllows : beech mast is a great favourite, and,
during winter, turnips and other green crops are
, often attacked, to the serious injury of the pro-
prietor. Except during the breeding season they
are gregarious, feed together in large flocks, and
like many other species, retire at night to some
common roosting place, where they are often suc-
cessfully procured, by watching in concealment
about the time of the coming in of the birds.
Many of the pigeons possess peculiar flights, in
the typical species it is powerful, and the strong
feathers of the wings render it noisy when sud-
denly disturbed, or when escaping from some
thicket. During ^incubation they may also be
seen rising with rapid strokes, and making the
wings clap together as the elevation is attained,
and then, keeping them expanded, falling grace-
fully to their former level.

This species has never been applied to any
economical purpose, their shy and timid nature
being a bar to their domestication. It was in-
deed thought that they could not be made to
breed in confinement, and it is probable that it

WOOD PIGEON. 63

would require a series of generations to accustom
them to domesticity ; the few instances where suc-
cessful taming- has been accomplished, having-
been attended with great trouble and attention.
-Mr. Yarrell mentions, that they have bred in the
aviary at Knowlsley, and that a pair in the
Zoological Gardens constructed a nest, which was
•unfortunately destroyed.

The prevailing colour of this beautiful bird is
blueish-grey, being dark on the back and wing-
coverts, and forming there, as it were, a mantle.
The breast and under parts are brownish purple-
red, shading to paler on vent, and being nearly pure
white on the under tail-covers ; the breast and
sides of the neck exhibit rich green and purple
reflections, and the sides of the latter are marked
with a conspicuous patch of dull white, having
the webs of the feathers there unconnected. The
quills are blackish -grey, margined with white.
The shoulders white, and form a conspicuous mark
011 the wings during flight. The ample tail is
blackish-grey, with a dark band at the extremity.
The bill is orange, brownish-red above the nos-
trils, and at the base covered with a white scaly
substance. Feet and legs purplish-red. In the first
plumage the feathers are edged with pale yellow-
ish-brown, and even after this state has been
changed, the breast does not receive the rich re-
flected play of colours, nor the sides of the neck
the white patch, and all the other markings are
less distinct.

64 STOCK DOVE.

THE STOCK-DOVE. — COLUMBA CENAS, Linnceu**
— C. cenas. Linn. — Columbe columbin, Temm.—
Stock Dove of British authors. — This species,
though apparently possessing a very wide geo-
graphical distribution, is local in its British range,
and, so far as we can ascertain, has not yet been
met with in Scotland or Ireland; it is, in fact/
confined to a few of the southern counties in
England, and there, not even to those in which
wood abounds ; and " in the open counties of Suf-
folk and Norfolk, this species frequently makes its
nest in the holes in the ground, generally selecting
a rabbit's burrow for the purpose." We have had
little opportunity of seeing the species wild, or of
attending to its habits ; where we have seen it, it
has been among aged wood, and at a distance the
flight is not easily distinguished from that of the
wood pigeon. According to our best informed Bri-
tish ornithologists, it is most frequent in a compa-
ratively well wooded district, breeding in decayed
trees and in the pollards. They are also described
in the open countries to " nestle under thick furze
bushes, which are impervious to rain."* Its man-
ners, in other respects, somewhat resemble the last,
mixing occasionally with it and being gregarious
in winter; the food is also similar. Its note is
described as more indistinct and regular than the
last, and does not bring with it the same associa-
tions as that of either the wood pigeon or turtle
* Yarrell.

STOCK DOVE. 65

dove. The young are frequently brought to the
London market, and are much esteemed.

There appears to be authority for the occurrence
of the Stock Dove in Sweden * as a summer
visitant. The same also in Germany and France,
and the eastern part of Spain,f Madeira, J North
Africa, § Erzeroom. ||

Specimens procured from Kent, in spring, had
the head, throat, and fore part of the neck,
dark blueish-grey, on the crown approaching- to
blackish-grey ; the sides and back of the neck of
a metallic lustre, changing from green to purple,
the former being the prevailing shade. Back,
blueish-grey. Wings on the shoulders, blueish-
grey. The wing-covers pale, and marked with
undecided dark nearly square spots, which form
sometimes a partial bar. The greater covers are
pale blueish-grey at the base, shading into deep
blackish-brown at the tips. The quills blackish-
brown, rump and upper tail-coverts blueish-grey.
Tail at the base of the same colour, black at the
tip, with an indistinct paler clouded bar about the
centre, the outer web of exterior feathers white.
The breast is reddish lavender purple, and the
remaining under parts are pale blueish-grey. Feet
and legs red.

* Nilson. f Vieillot. £ Yarrell. § Selby. U Dickson
and Ross, Proceed, of Zool. Soe,

66 ROCK DOVE.

WHITE-RUMPED PIGEON OR ROCK DOVE, Co-
LUMBA LIVIA, Linn. — Columbe biset, Temm. — White-
rumped Pigeon, Rock Dove of British authors. —
It is to this species that all our most accurate
ornithologists refer the domestic races of pig-eons.
Those of the dove-cots of Britain are undoubtedly
referable to it; but it may be, that the more mark-
ed varieties have some additional cross. It is this
bird also which has furnished those so celebrated
in story as the messengers of politics, commerce,
or of love ; and it is the " blue rock " which sup-
plies the traps for the modern pigeon-shooter.

In habits, the Rock Pigeon is very similar to
those we have already described, only that rocks
and gloomy caves 011 the sea coast, supply the
place of hollow trees and the umbrageous forest.
In winter they assemble in flocks, and feed on
the various grains or seeds which their vicinity
may supply, but they rarely venture to any dis-
tance from the shore; in addition, the animals of
our land molusca, particularly Helices, seem to be
frequently devoured. In a wild state, and when
in health, we believe they never perch on trees,
which are indeed very seldom present near their
haunts ; but we can corroborate the facts stated
by Mr. Eyton, of the inmates of our pigeon houses
frequently perching, when the cot happens to be
built near or amidst old trees, particularly such
as have bare branches ; and, in one instance, we
have seen a tree nearly dead and leafless, always

ROCK DOVE. 67

selected. Nevertheless, as the name indicates,
rocks and caves are the natural resting places,
and a curious assemblage of birds, very different
in their natures, may sometimes be observed in
and about the entrance of these sea worn caverns.
An eagle, or pair of peregrine falcons, may claim
the centre of the precipice ; a little lower, gulls
and guillemots may nestle; cormorants may occupy
the mouth of the cave, and jackdaws and starlings
may chatter in its outward rents and crevices ;
the murmur of the Rock Dove, from its shelves,
fills the interior, when it can be distinguished
from the noise of the surge at its entrance.

As the last species particularly frequented the
southern parts of our island, so do we find the
Rock Dow, frequent, and most numerous, towards
the north. We have indeed few English localities
mentioned. Mr. Selby states, that they are found
in the cliffs of Caldy Island in South Wales ; and
we are informed by a letter from Mr. Yarrell, on
the authority of Dr. Moore and Mr. Couch, that
they breed on some parts of the Devonshire and
Cornish coasts. In Scotland the localities are nu-
merous ; on the southern shores, St. Abb's Head,
the Bass Rock, and Isle of May, produce them ;
but as the domestic varieties are occasionally seen
in their company, it may be questioned, as Pro-
fessor Macgillivray * remarks, whether they are
now quite pure in these stations. Scarcely any

* See an interesting account of this species, Macgillivray 's
British Birds, i. p. 268.

68 ROCK DOVE.

difference can be observed, except in size, from
Orkney specimens, and the birds seem to have
been inhabitants of these rocks as far back as we
can trace. On all the rocky shores of the north
of Scotland, and the islands Orkney* and Shet-
land, | they are common birds, breeding and roost-
ing- in the numerous caverns with which the
precipices are pierced.

Its extra European range appears from various
authorities to be very extensive. We have not
had opportunities of examining specimens from
any of the localities mentioned, nor have we ever
received it in collections from abroad, but we
give beneath the sources of our information. Den-
mark, Sweden, Norway, and the Feroe Islands,
islands of the Mediterranean as far eastward as
Greece, Madeira, J Lake Baikal, § Japan, || North
of Africa, and the island of Teneriffe. ^f

The prevailing colours in this species are also
shades of blueish-grey, relieved by two broad and
distinct dark bars on the wing-coverts and secon-
daries running across, and by the lower part of
the back being white. The breast and neck are
dark lavender purple, with rich purple and green
reflections, but without any neck patch. The tail
is of a deeper tint, tipped with a broad dark band.
The feet and legs purplish-red.

The principal variations in a domestic or dove-

* Macgillivray, Low, Salmon. f Mr. Dunn.

$ Yarrell, Brit. Birds, ii. p. 261. § Pennant, Arct. Zool.

|! Temminck. ^ Selby, Brit, Birds.

ROCK DOVE. 69

cot state, are to paler shades of blueish-grey, and
to the extinction of the white on the rump ; vinous
or reddish purple is a change not unfrequent, and
here all the markings of the true state are kept
up in darker and lighter shades ; white birds
cccur, and they are sometimes pied with black.
Among the fancy breeds, now become very nume-
rous, and receiving provincial names from their
properties. The " Tumbler" and " Carrier"
pigeons are remarkable, from the proportional
shortness and length of their respective heads and
bills, and where a deviation of structure from
the original type is observed. Another remark-
able deviation is in the " Fan Tails" and " Broad-
tailed Shakers" where the tail is displayed, and
consists of numerous feathers, sometimes amount-
ing to thirty-six in number. In the " Jacobin "
the feathers are reversed, and turn over as a cowl
on the back of the head and neck. In another,
again, the tarsi become feathered, and in the
extreme of this variation, the plumes are length-
ened, and stick out in the form of little wings. *

THE Turtle Doves or Pigeons of which we possess
a single migratory example, are all of a smaller
and more slender proportion than the true pigeons,
and the tail is much graduated. They are thus
characterized.

* See a notice of the principal varieties, Nat. Lib. Vol. Lx.
" Pigeons."

70 TURTLE DOVE.

TURTUR — Generic character. — Bill slender, tip
deflected ; the maxilla showing little appear-
ance of an angle ; wings lengthened ; the
second quill longest, the first often partially
accuminated ; tail slightly graduated.

Types, T. migratorius, risorius. Europe, Africa,
Indian Islands, Australia.

Arboreal, chiefly migratory.

THE TURTLE DOVE, TURTUR MIGRATORIUS, Swain-
son — Columba turtur, Linn. — Turtur auritus, Ray.
— La Tourturelle, Temm. and French authors. — The
Common Turtle, or Turtle Dove of British authors.
— The Turtle Dove may be considered as a species
entirely southern ; the instances of its capture in
the northern counties of England, or in one or two
instances in Scotland or Ireland, being only those
of stray birds, which, from some cause or other, have
exceeded the limit of their migration. We have
seen it ourselves in Kent, in Hertfordshire, and in
Holland, during temporary excursions, but have
had no opportunity of observing it closely. In the
instance, which we communicated to Mr. Yarrell,

TURTLE DOVE. 71

of shooting a specimen in the garden at Jardine
Hall, the bird had frequented a break of peas,
nearly ripe, for several days, and at last attracted
the attention of the gardener, as one not previously
known to him. When it was afterwards sought
for, it was discovered in the same place, rose
with considerable noise, and alighted on a neigh-
bouring tree, whence it was shot. The plumage
was that of an immature bird. Mr. Yarrell con-
siders the Turtle more numerous in the wooded
parts of Kent than in other districts of England,
but it occurs in most of the southern counties,
and becomes only occasionally seen in Yorkshire,
Cumberland, and Northumberland, &c. The only
other instances of the occurrence of the bird in
Scotland, of which we have any record, is that of
one killed in Perthshire, in October, 1834 ; * and
a few days since (2d October) we saw a fresh
skin in possession of Mr. Carfrae of Edinburgh,
taken from a specimen killed in Aberdeenshire
about a fortnight previously. In Ireland it appears
to be equally rare, arid equally a straggler. Out
of Britain, it occurs on the continent and on the
shores of the Mediterranean, in Asia Minor, j" in the
vicinity of Smyrna ; J and it is considered to winter
in Africa. § In its British localities it is a regular
summer visitant, arriving about the end of April
or beginning of May, leaving us again in August
or September. The love note is described as

* Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. viii. t Mr. Fellows.

J Mr. Strickland. § Yarrell, ii. p. 268.

CA TURTLEDOVE.

low and plaintive, and the nest is a structure
resembling that of the true pigeons. Their food
is also similar, consisting* of various grains and
seeds, at least during their visit to this country,
elsewhere it is probable some green food may be
in part resorted to. We have once or twice re-
ceived the young birds from the south, but was
never successful in preserving them alive over the
ensuing spring ; at first they are easily tamed and
thrive well, but at the time of migration they
became restless, and drooped ere the spring again
advanced.

Crown blueish-grey ; back of the neck and upper
part of the back wood-brown, the same colour
extending to the lower part of the back, rump,
and upper tail-covers, the feathers on the last
being grey at the base; scapulars and covers
black, passing into grey, deeply edged with ru-
fous orange ; edges of the shoulders and first lesser
covers, blueish-grey ; quills, brownish-black ; tail
is blackish-grey, tipped with white, except the
centre feathers, which are entirely clove-brown ;
at the separation between the white tips the
blackish-grey becomes deeper, and sometimes in-
dicates an indistinct bar ; on looking at the tail
from below, the dark part appears uniform black,
and contrasts finely with the pure white extremi-
ties of the feathers, together with the outer web
of the exterior feather, which is also white. The
fore part of the neck, breast, and belly, shading
gradually into the vent, are dull brownish crimson-

PASSENGER PIGEON. 73

red ; the vent and under tail-covers pure white ;
on the sides of the neck there is the irregular
patch of scale like feathers so frequently occur-
ring- among the Columlidos, deep black, edged
with white.

THE genus Ectopistes was long since established
by Mr. Swainson, for the Passenger and Carolina
Pigeons of America. They are closely allied to
the last, and differ chiefly from it in the develop-
ment of the organs of flight, the wings and tail ;
all the species that we know of are gregarious,
perform lengthened migrations, and are arboreal
in their habits. — Swainson.

ECTOPISTES — Generic character. — Bill mode-
rate, the maxilla with little angle ; " wings
very long, pointed, the two first quills longest ;
tail cuneated, the four middle feathers lan-
ceolate; hinder toe and tarsus equal, the latter
half plumed. The fissirostral type."

Types, E. migrator la. America.

PASSENGER PIGEON, ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIA,
Swainson. — Columla migratoria, Linn., etc. — Co-
lombe voyageuse, Temm. — Ectoputes migratoria,
Swain., Selby — Passenger and Migratory Pigeon
and Turtle of British authors. — The addition of
the above genus to the British list, consists in the

i<± PASSENGER PIGEON.

capture of a specimen of the migratory pigeon of
America, recorded by Professor Fleming to have
been " shot while perched on a wall in the neigh-
bourhood of a pigeon-house at Westhall, in the
parish of Monymail, Fifeshire, 1st December, 1825.
The feathers were quite fresh and entire, like those
of a wild bird." * A second specimen is said to have
been killed in Roxburghshire, but we have not been
able to trace it. According to Temminck, it occurs
in' a similar stray manner in the northern parts
of the continent, and it is probable that some of
these birds may occasionally wander and be taken
on our islands.

The Passenger Pigeon is a native of and ranges
over nearly the whole of the immense continent
of North America, extending far to the northward.
It visits the fur countries,")" and the district around
Hudson's Bay,J but reaches the 53° only in fine
summers. In warmer parts it extends to the 62°,
and to the gulf of Mexico.§ Its habits in its native
country are described by Wilson and Audubon, with
their own spirit and enthusiasm, and will repay the
perusal; but extracts, which would do justice to the
authors, are far too long to be inserted here. In this
country they have been several times kept in con-
finement, and seem to thrive well, and not to suffer
at the period of the spring and fall, as most mi-
gratory birds do, when detained from their change
of country at the appointed time. Mr. Audubon,

* Fleming, Brit. Animals, p. 146.
f Richardson. £ Hutchins. • § Yarrell.

PASSENGER PIGEON. 75

on one of his visits to America, returned with a
large stock of live birds, which were distributed
among those who possessed the convenience for
keeping and superintending their almost domes-
ticated state. Several pairs were presented to
the magnificent aviary at Knowlsley, arid also to
the Zoological Society, and in both instances they
incubated and hatched their young-.

76

TETRAONID.E.

THE Tetraonidce is another family of the Rasores
which belongs to British ornithology. The birds
belonging to it in general pair and remain in par-
ties, the number of the broods from season to
season ; but some species are polygamous, and run
into this great characteristic of the rasorial group.
They, during winter, congregate in large flocks,
without distinction of broods, and continue thus
assembled until breeding time. There is in all a
greater or less change of plumage during the breed-
ing season, and in some, that of the winter is very
different from the summer state. The deprivation
in this family of the naked skins and wattles, &c.,
with the large development of the tail and its ac-
cessaries so prevalent among the Pavonidce, is repre-
sented only by the bright coloured skin around the
eyes ; the elongation of the feathers on the sides of
the neck, and by the bare skins, capable of being
inflated upon the axilla and sides of the neck.*
All of them breed upon the ground, and, with few
exceptions, they lay numerous eggs ; they are, in-
deed, chiefly terrestrial in their habits, though
several species inhabit wooded districts, perch on
trees, and feed on their young shoots or buds.

THE genus Tetrao, or the Grouse, which are
chiefly characteristic of this family, were for-
* See particularly in the American species. T. cupido, $c.

TETRAO. 77

merly all included under that title, but have, by
modern ornithologists, been sub-divided, both on
account of a difference of habit, and a modifi-
cation in the form of several of the parts, and
Tetrao is now kept for those large and power-
ful species, with expanded tails and naked feet,
which are polygamous, and dwell in shaded
forests or wooded districts. Once we possessed
a truly typical species, for the recovery of which
great exertions are making; but the true forms are
now chiefly found in Northern Europe and Ame-
rica, though a very near example of the general
shape and appearance may be seen in the female
of our black cock, the greatly developed tail of the
male presenting a variation, which has been con-
sidered by some as of sub-generic importance.

TETRAO of modern ornithologists. — Generic cha-
racters.— Bill short, very strong and arched
from the base; nostrils basal, lateral, and
hidden from view by closely set feathers ; a
naked skin above the eyes, enlarging in spring,
and coloured brightly ; wings short, concave,
third and fourth quills longest; tail very ample
and expanding, (rounded*;) feet naked, with
the edges of the toes fringed ; tarsi feathered.

Types, T. urogallus, obscurus. Europe, Northern
Asia, North America.

* If Lyrurus be kept as a sub-genus, " rounded" should be
inserted in the characters.

78 CAPERCAILZIE.

Note. — Polygamous, gregarious in winter, breed
on the ground; but in habits are partly ar-
boreal.

THE WOOD-GROUSE or CAPERCAILZIE, TETRAO
UROGALLUS, Linn. — Tetrao urogallus, Linn. — Te-
tro auarhan, Temm. — Wood Grouse, Cock of the
Wood, Capercailzie, of British authors — We gave
the descriptions of most of the birds composing
the game list in a former volume, and although,
according to the plan of the " Library," they must
be also given here, we have little to add, except in
bringing down our information to the present time,
where any thing worthy of notice may have occur-
red.

At the head of this section we may place the

CAPERCAILZIE. 79

Capercailzie, as first in both size and strength ;
the strong and hooked bill of the male reminding
us more of that member in the birds of prey, than
in one of the Rasores. The Capercailzie was
certainly the noblest of the British feathered
game : but the attributes of size, strength, and
beauty, have proved his destruction, and it has
been for many years extinct. In ancient times
they were tolerably abundant in the primeval
forests of Scotland and Ireland.* From the latter
they appear to have been entirely extirpated at a.
very early period, while in Scotland their destruc-
tion was more gradual, but they dwindled away,
and the last specimen is recorded to have been
killed in the neighbourhood of Inverness, more
than sixty years since. There is a prospect, how-
ever, of the species being again introduced into
Scotland, by the exertions of some of our Highland
nobility. Lord Fyfe has attempted to naturalise
the Cock of the Wood at Mar Lodge. The first
importation from Sweden was accomplished in
1827, or early in 1828, but was unattended with
success, owing to the death of the male bird, most
probably from harm received during the trans-
portation. In the year following, fresh birds
were imported, and young were successfully reared
after several attempts. These, in 1831, it was
intended to turn out, so soon as they were suffi-

* Smith, in his History of Cork, completed in 1749, re-
marks, that this bird is " found rarely in Ireland since our
woods have been destroyed."

80 CAPERCAILZIE.

ciently advanced; but we have been unable to
trace whether this was done, and what was their
fate.* At a later period, 1838-39, Lord Breadal-
bane received from Mr. Loyd no fewer than forty-
four Capercailzies, some of which were turned out,
while others were retained in confinement ; both
have succeeded ; and Mr. Yarrell states, that in
1839, seventy-nine young- birds were known to be
hatched. The Duchess of Athole had some birds
sent to her at Blair, and some have been hatched
in the aviary at Knowlsiey. Thomas Fowell Bux-
ton, Esq., has succeeded in rearing them in con-
finement in Norfolk ; and it is evident, that with
ordinary attention, there is little difficulty in their
propagation in confinement, whence, in a few
years, a stock could be reared in some suitable
locality, where there was a strict protection. In
various parts of Northern Europe also, we have
the authority of Mr. Loyd, Nilsson, and others,
for their being- not unfrequently domesticated.

In its habits in a wild state, all our accounts
agree, in stating their close alliance to those of the
black cock. They frequent forests, and those wild
tracts of country, which, we imagine, are partially
interspersed with native brush-wood, intermingled
with patches of old timber, where they feed on the
tender shoots, the buds, and berries which those
regions furnish. In breeding time the male at-

* See an interesting and long account of this introduction
in Jameson's Journal for July, 1832, by James Wilson,
copied in the Nat. Lib. Ornith. vol. iv.

CAPERCAILZIE* 81

tracts the females by his call, on some eminence
or open spot, and, after that season has passed,
retires and skulks to undergo the process of moult-
ing ; the female alone performs the duties of in-
cubation, and the brood continues with her until
the males begin to change their plumage. Such,
at least, is the information we draw from the
works of those gentlemen who have had occasional
opportunities of observing them. The poulterers,
in London and Edinburgh, now import them in
considerable quantities, along with the other nor-
thern grouse, after the season has terminated here,
and, we rather think, that many must be then
procured after the season of courtship has com-
menced. In this present spring (1840), several pairs
were for sale in the latter city, and in very good
condition, and one guinea was the price asked for
a male in a tolerable state of plumage. We have
also received specimens from Newcastle, where
we understand the importation is frequent at a
similar period. They may be brought to table as
a curiosity, but those we have tasted were coarse
and highly flavoured with the fir; but during
summer they may lose this, and the young birds
may be very palatable.

Before passing from this species, we must shortly
notice the Tetrao medius of authors, of which
there are slight indications of its having once
existed in Scotland, and, if the supposition of
those ornithologists who consider it as a hybrid
between the Capercailzie and the black cock, be

82 CAPERCAILZIE.

correct, we see no reason why the occasional cross-
ing- should not have taken place in this country,
as well as in Norway or Sweden. The continental
ornithologists generally, we believe, adopt the
theory of hybridity, and it has been assented to,
or at least not contradicted, by those of this
country. One residing- at a distance from their
haunts cannot be expected to go narrowly into the
question, and the following remarks are made
with the view of directing the attention of persons
who have the opportunity, to a fact which we
do not consider as yet satisfactorily proved. The
bird in the dress of T. medius, appears to be far too
common for a hybrid ; since the introduction of
game from Northern Europe, it is to be procured
almost every spring in the poultry shops of some
of the larger towns, and Mr. Yarrell speaks to as
many as seven specimens, during ten years, in the
shops of one poulterer in London. But among all
the specimens we have examined, and in those of
our own collection, there was, and is, no difference
whatever in the plumage of the specimens, they
are exactly similar ; now, in hybrids, we should
expect, and do find, not two species similar. The
intermediate form of the bird is just that which
we would look for to intervene between the Caper-
cailzie, or the round tailed grouse of America, and
the extreme of development seen in the black cock.
On the other side, we have an intermediate form
between them and the long acuminated tail of
the cock of the plains. The scarcity of the

CAPERCAILZIE. 83

females we would attribute to their being confused
with the true Capercailzie hens, which vary so
much in size. The similarity of the specimens
we, however, consider now as the strongest fact
against the hybrid theory, and even if a differently
marked specimen should occur, and they can bear
no proportion whatever to the resembling ones,
we should consider it much more probable to be a
cross between the presently considered hybrid and
the Capercailzie.

A fine male specimen of the Capercailzie will sit
fully two feet above the branch on which he is
perched ; and will be in total length from two
feet ten inches to three feet. The bill very power-
ful, is yellowish-white, darker towards the base ;
the whole head and neck is blackish-grey; the
feathers of a lanceolate form, darker in their
centres, and minutely freckled over with black ;
immediately below the chin they are elongated,
and can be raised at will, these are of a deep black,
and are edged with a glossy border of green and
purple; underneath each eye there is a white
patch ; the centre of the back and wings are rich
orange coloured brown, marked in wavy lines of
freckles of brownish-black ; the quills are reddish-
umber-brown ; the lower parts of the back and
rump, have a ground colour of grey or brownish-
grey, thickly marked with broad wavy lines of
black, giving the whole, at a little distance, an
appearance of blackish-grey ; the centre upper tail-
coverts are elongated, are nearly black, clouded

84 CAPERCAILZIE.

with brownish -grey, and have the tips of each
white; the tail is black, marked at about two
inches from the extremity with broken white
patches, which form a wavy interrupted band
across ; the breast is bright, shining greenish-
black, shaded with purplish reflections on the sides,
the feathers, of a very fine and close texture, and
presenting a surface that would turn ordinary shot
striking it directly ; the belly and other parts of the
under surface are glossy black, in the centre inter-
spersed with patches of white ; on the sides and
flanks the feathers have the grey or brownish-grey
ground colour, freckled with black ; the tarsi are
feathered with brownish-grey plumes, very much
elongated behind, and approaching to the loose
texture of those in the true moorfowl ; they are
double the length of the hind toe, which they
completely conceal.

The females appear to vary considerably in size.
One procured in the same cargo which contained
the above described male, is only from two to
three and twenty inches in length, and would not
sit more than seventeen inches high. The general
appearance of i he markings are similar to those of
the grey hen, ochreous-brown, barred with black,
but the colours are clearer, the barring broader
and more distinct, the edges of the feathers being
always paler; the centre of the breast, where the
rich green of the male is seen, is of a uniform tint
of rich brownish-orange, in parts slightly marked
with freckles, where the bars are placed. The

BLACK GROUSE. 85

bill is dark horn colour, paler towards the tip. In
another female from Russia, now before us, the
entire length is twenty-two inches.

THE BLACK GROUSE or BLACK COCK, TETRAO
TETRIX, Linn. — Tetrao tetrix of authors. — Tetras
birkhan, Temm. — Lyrurus tetrix, Swain. — Black
Grouse or Black Cock. — Grey Hen of British
authors. — This species is pretty generally spread over
Europe, being met with in France and Germany,
and even so far to the south as in Italy ;* and as we
reach the north, in Russia, Norway, Siberia, Scan-
dinavia, and in Lapland. In Britain it occurs in the
two countries, being most sparingly distributed,
however, in England ; the New Forest in Hamp-
shire, Somerset, Dartmoor and Exmoor in Devon-
shire ;f the wild parts of Staffordshire and Lanca-
shire, and so on until we reach the " border," where
it becomes abundant in the wild districts which con-
duct us to its still more frequent haunts in Scotland.
There it is abundant, and may be found in most of
the districts which are suited for it, extending north
to Sutherland, and to the islands of Mull and Skye. J
In Ireland, Mr. Thompson informs us, it long since
became extinct, though in Smith's history of Cork
(1749) it is mentioned as " frequent/'

The favourite abodes of the Black Grouse are sub-
alpine sheep countries, where there is comparatively
little heath, where there are moist flats or meadows,
* Savi. f Yarrell. J MacgilHvray.

86 BLACK GROUSE.

abounding with a rank and luxuriant herbage, and
where the glades and passes among the hills are
clothed with natural brushwood of birch and hazel,
willow and alder, and have a tangled bottom of
deep fern. These afford an abundant supply of
food, with shelter from the cold at night, and the
scorching rays of a midsummer sun.

The Black Cock is polygamous. In the warmer
sunny days, at the conclusion of winter, and com-
mencement of spring, the males, after feeding, may
be seen arranged on some turf fence, rail, or sheep-
fold, pluming their wings, expanding their tails,
and practising, as it were, their love-call. If the
weather now continues warm, the flocks soon se-
parate, and the males select some conspicuous spots,
from whence they endeavour to drive all rivals,
and commence to display their arts to allure the
females. The places selected at such seasons are
generally elevations, the turf enclosure of a former
sheep-fold, which has been disused, and is now
grown over, or some of those beautiful spots of
fresh and grassy pasture which are well known to
the inhabitants of a pastoral district. Here, after
perhaps many battles have been fought and rivals
vanquished, the noble full dressed Black Cock
takes his stand, commencing at the first dawn of
day, and where the game is abundant, the hill on
every side repeats the humming call; they strut
around the spots selected, trailing their wings, in-
flating the throat and neck, and puffing up the
plumage of these parts and the now brilliant wattle

BLACK GROUSE. 8?

above the eyes, raising and expanding the tail, and
displaying the beautifully contrasting white under
tail-covers ; he is soon heard by the females, who
crowd around their lord and master. This season of
admiration does not continue long ; the females dis-
perse to seek proper situations for depositing their
eggs, while the males, losing their feeling for love
and fighting, reassemble in small parties, and seek
the shelter of the brush and fern beds to complete a
new moult, and are seldom seen, except early in the
morning or at evening, when they exhibit a degree
of timidity, the very reverse of their former boldness
and vigilance. The old males continue separate
until winter, and afterwards seem to display an in-
clination to flock by themselves ; but in many
cases they join with the young broods, and all re-
sort; morning and evening, to some favourite feeding
grounds, spending the middle part of the day in rest,
or in basking, pluming, or sporting upon some sunny
hill side. Upon the females devolve the whole duties
of rearing and protecting the young; the nest is
made upon the ground, not far from water, and
the young, when hatched, are conveyed to the low
rushy hollows, where there is abundance of food,
supplied by the tender seeds of the rushes and
alpine grasses. The young are seldom full grown
before the 1st of September; and even, at this
season, if they have been undisturbed previously,
they will almost suffer themselves to be lifted from
before the pointers. During summer the general
food is the seeds of the various grasses, and the

00 BLACK GROl >

berries of the different alpine plants ;* in winter,
the tender shoots of the fir, catkins of birch and
hazel, heath, and even the leaves of fern, and these
often give their peculiar flavour to the flesh. But
in the lower districts, where, indeed, this bird is
most abundant, the gleaning of the stubble yields
a plentiful meal, fields of turnip and rape are also
favourite feeding places, and the leaves supply a
more grateful food during hard frost than they
could elsewhere procure. In some places, flocks
of hundreds assemble at feeding times, and although
at this time they are extremely shy and wary, the
fences and enclosures often allow them to be ap-
proached within shot.

The plumage of the adult male is on all the
npper parts of a rich steel-blue, on the lower parts
pitch-black, which duller colour is also seen on the
secondaries and wing-coverts ; the greater coverts
are tipped with white, forming a bar across the w:
conspicuous in flight, and the under tail-coverts
are of the same pure colour. In the full plumage,
immediately succeeding the moult, there is a tinge
of brown intermixed, which is changed as the
winter terminates ; but the most remarkable struc-
ture of this bird, is that of the tail, formed of
gradually elongated feathers, diverging or curving
outwardly, and when at the highest development,
expanding into a graceful lyre shaped tail. There
is nothing in the habits of the bird which corre-

* Emvetna* nynuw, Vaccinium orycoccus, myrtilluSy ritis idea.

BLACK GROUSE. 89

sponds with this structure ; the flight is powerful,
but is neither in general long sustained, nor applied
to any peculiar habits in the species. Mr. Swainson
has from this form made his sub-genus " Lyrurus?
considering it as the fissirostral type, and bearing
analogy, in its forked tail and glossy plumage, to the
Drongo Shrikes of Africa and India. In the female
the form is similar, but the proportions are smaller,
and the divariation of the tail scarcely exceeds half
an inch in depth. The ground colour of the entire
plumage is pale brownish-orange, becoming nearly
yellowish-white on tlie throat, breast, and belly;
and on the sides of the neck, slightly tinged with a
shade of vinous purple ; all is barred with black,
intermixed with wavy broken lines of the same
colour ; on the wings and shoulders the centre of
the feathers are black, but the shaft runs through
of a paler colour, broadening and becoming paler
towards the tip, as in the partridges ; the bill in
both sexes is nearly black. This species does not
seem so liable to variation as some of the other
Tetraonidoe. "We possess a female or grey hen, shot
by the late Sir Sidney Beckwith, entirely of a dull
whitish grey, having the cross markings of a darker
and browner shade.

LAGOPUS. — Generic characters. — Bill very short,
clothed at the base with feathers, which conceal
the nostrils ; wings short, somewhat rounded,
with the third and fourth quills longest ; tail
short, and nearly square at the end ; tarsi and

90 RED GROUSE.

toes completely covered with hair-like feathers,

sometimes covering the claws, which are long,

straight, and somewhat flattened.
Types, L. Scoticus mutus, &c. Europe, northern

parts of North America. The Arctic Circle.
Note. — Monogamous; gregarious in winter; habits

entirely terrestrial.

THE RED GROUSE or RED PTARMIGAN, LAGOPUS
SCOTICUS, Fieillot. — Tetrao Scoticus, Linn., Penn.,
etc. — Tetras rouge, Temm. — Moor/owl or Red
Grouse of British authors. — The Red Grouse, or
Moorfowl, has peculiar claims on the naturalists and
sportsmen of Britain, as being an insulated species,
hitherto undiscovered except in moorland districts
of Great Britain and Ireland. Those birds which,
in other parts of Northern Europe, resemble it in
the colouring of the plumage of summer, differ from
it in several particulars, considered of sufficient im-
portance to constitute distinct species.

The Red Grouse is still plentiful in Scotland and
England, but is now more sparingly spread over the
southern districts of the former ; upon the moors it
is well known that not a tenth of the former number
of birds at present exist, and it is only in the more
remote districts, where access and accommodation
for sportsmen are still in some degree wanting, that
they are to be seen in any thing like their former
numbers.

The habits of the birds have considerably changed.

RED GROUSE. 91

By the approaches of cultivation to the higher dis-
tricts, and by insulated patches of grain even in the
middle of the wildest, the grouse have learned to
depend on the labours of the husbandman for his
winter's food, and instead of seeking a more pre-
carious subsistence, during the snow, of tender
heath-tops or other mountain plants, they migrate
to the lower grounds and enclosures, and before
the grain is removed, find a plentiful harvest. Hun-
dreds crowd the stooks in the upland corn-fields,
where the weather is uncertain, and the grain re-
mains out even till " December's snows ;" while in
the lower countries they seek what has been left
on the stubble or ploughed fields. It is only in
the wildest parts of the Highlands, the Cairngorm
range, Koss, or Sutherland, where the grouse is an
inhabitant, through the year, of the moors, his
native pasture, and where he is also nearly the
only enlivener of these wild solitudes, by his loud
morning and evening call. During summer it may
be varied by the whistle of the curlew, or the wail-
ing of the golden plover, or perhaps interrupted by
the sailing flight of some harrier or other bird of
prey ; but in winter, for miles around, .

" Dwells but the gor-cock and the deer."

Unless where much disturbed, the grouse is not
a wild bird, and, unaware of danger, it will allow
a person to approach or walk past, uttering only
its call, as if to make its companions aware that
something is near. In districts where they are

92 RED GROUSE.

much followed, they, however, become one of the
most wild and wary of our game, and are almost
impossible to be approached except by stratagem.
For nearer concealment they are amply provided,
by the similarity of the tints of their plumage
with the dark brown moss and heath, and, except
for the assistance of the pointer, could not be dis-
covered. Unlike the large true grouse, the birds
of the present group all pair and continue with
their broods until a return of the warm season.
The young in some seasons are dreadfully ravaged
by the tapeworm almost entirely destroying them
in the districts where it occurs. It is their most
severe natural enemy. The Bed Grouse pairs very
early — if mild in January — and the female com-
mences laying at the end of March. The eggs are
deposited in a shallow hollow at the foot of some
tuft of heath, which affords a partial covering and
shelter, and only a few straws or grasses serve to
separate them from the ground. Both parents at-
tend, and boldly defend the nest or young from
the ordinary aggressors ; one of the most dangerous
for the eggs is the common carrion crow (C. cor one);
and this is attacked in return, and often beaten off
successfully. In confinement they are easily tamed,
and become familiar. They even lay under very
dissimilar circumstances to the exposure of their
native moors, though the young are not often so
reared to maturity. We have known a brftod
hatched under a kitchen dresser. They have also
bred in several aviaries; but the young have suffered

RED GROUSE. 93

a similar fate, most probably from the absence of
some food peculiarly fitted for this season, and
wanting in their artificial breeding grounds.

The adult plumage of the grouse which have attain-
ed an age beyond a year or two, is a ground colour of
deep rich sienna-brown, shading on the belly almost
to pure black, with paler tips, and wared across with
brownish-black. Many specimens are much marked
with wrhite on the under parts, and some to a greater
degree than others, and this, though it is generally
considered to be the mark of age, is rather incident
to the younger birds. The female is of a paler
ground tint, and has all the pale markings larger.
During the breeding season the feathers of both be-
come much more marked, and cut into, as it were,
writh yellow, and have the tips pale yellowish-white ;
and the bare skin above the eyes increases in size
and intensity of colour. The young, in their first
plumage nearly resemble the female, but have
rather more ochreous mixed with the plumage, and
have the markings more distributed in bars. The
Red Grouse is subject to variety, though not very
frequently. It is generally to a paler tint of the
whole plumage. Mr. Selby notes the occurrence
of a cream-coloured or light-grey variety upon the
Blanchland moors of Durham, which appear to
have bred, and continued the variety from year to
year. We possess a Grouse, shot on the moors of
Galloway, where the ground colour is nearly yel-
lowish-white, and all the dark markings are repre-
sented by pale reddish-brown ; the quills are dirty

94 PTARMIGAN.

white. In some instances the plumage takes an
opposite shade, and is remarkable for its deep tint,
and the almost entire absence of markings. The
whole, or a part of the quills, are often found white.

THE COMMON or WHITE PTARMIGAN, LAGOPUS
MUTUS, Fieillot. — Tetrao lagopus. Linn., Penn., etc.
— Lagopus mutus. Ptarmigan or White Grouse of
British authors. — This bird, delicately marked in its
summer dress, and of a snowy whiteness in that of
winter, has generally been considered as a native of
both the American and European continents. The
comparison, however, of many specimens of grouse
which become white in winter, leads us to believe
that the distinction of species is still somewhat
undecided, and that the range or comparative abun-
dance of the British species is still undetermined.
We have seen, however, what we consider the
L. mutus, from artic America, and also among the
packages of birds which are said by the poulterers
to come from Norway; but many of the birds
mentioned by authors as " Ptarmigan," from various
localities, cannot always with certainty be referred
to that of Britain.

In Great Britain it is a species confined to the
most alpine districts, and its only habitation now,
seems to be the high mountain ranges in the middle
of Scotland, increasing in abundance as the same
kind of wild country reaches to the north ; and it also
extends to the Hebrides. According to Pennant,

PTARMIGAN. 95

and some contemporary writers, these birds were
once found on the hills of Westmoreland and Cum-
berland; and, we believe, recollections even exist
of a few having been seen upon the high ranges
which appear on the opposite border of Scotland.
These have been for some time extirpated, and
unless a few solitary pairs remain on Skiddaw, or
some of its precipitous neighbours, the range of the
Grampians will be its most southern British station.
They inhabit the most barren and rocky spots,
often where nothing is to be seen but an interminable
series of rugged rocks distributed in boulder masses,
varying in size from huge lumps to pieces of a few
inches in diameter. Here, during spring and sum-
mer, the pairs and their broods remain almost the
only inhabitants, and are discovered with the greatest
difficulty, the mixture of the colours of the plumage
forming a tint which harmonizes with that of the
grey rocks around. At this season they are also
tame and familiar, running before the intruder, and
uttering their peculiarly low wild call, which is
often the means of their discovery. In this way
they will often reach the opposite edge of the rock,
and will, as it were, simultaneously drop off; but the
expectation of finding them on some lower ledge
will be disappointed, for they have, perhaps, by that
time, sought for and reached the opposite side of
the mountains, by a low, wheeling flight, as noise-
less as the solitudes by which they are surrounded.
The nest is made under the rocks and stones, and
is very difficult to be found, for the female, on

96 PTARMIGAN.

perceiving a person approach, generally leaves it,
and is only discovered by her motion over the rocks,
or her low clucking cry. In winter they descend
lower, but seldom seek the plains. In Ireland, Mr.
Thomson states, " it is not now, nor do I consider
it ever was, indigenous/'

Both sexes in winter are pure white, except the
space between the bill and the eyes, the outer tail-
feathers, and the shafts of the quills, which are deep
black in the young birds. In seasons intermediate
from the breeding season the darker feathers or
clouded markings are generally grey, or brownish-
grey, mottled with black. In the female, we be-
lieve the breeding state to be rich ochreous-yellow,
barred and cut into with large masses of black, the
pure white of the lower parts and shoulders remain-
ing. We are uncertain, however, whether this
change takes place in the male at the commence-
ment of the season of incubation, or if, during the
heat of the love season, he retains his pure plumage,
commencing his change and moult to grey when
the female begins to sit. The length of the male
specimen before us, in this intermediate state, is
sixteen inches.

We have, in this place, to notice another bird,
which has lately gained a place in the British list
as a distinct species, and we give a figure of the
L. rupestris, both as illustrating the form of Lago-
pus, and as showing the appearance of the bird to
which we have now to refer.

97

THE ROCK PTARMIGAN.

T&gopus rupestris. — SABINE AND RICHARDSON.
PLATE II.

THE British specimens of Ptarmigan, which have
been given as L. rupestris or Rock Ptarmigan, seem
now, by Mr. Yarrell, and our later ornithologists,
to be considered as merely seasonal or sexual varia-
tions of the common bird. We have not been able
personally to examine any of those which have been
described and represented as such, but at no time
have we been completely satisfied, even of the
specific value of the northern bird, and consider
that this, with the whole of the limited genus,
requires revision, to ascertain what are really dis-
tinct; their geographical ranges, with the changes
undergone by the young and old birds at different
seasons. In illustration of the subject, we have now
given a figure, taken from that represented in the
" European birds," by Mr. Gould, accompanied with
what Sabine, Richardson, and Swainson, say upon
the subject ; and we add a minute description and
measurement of a female bird, shot by ourselves
on Ben More, Sutherlandshire, in the month of
June, and which Dr. Richardson considered identi-

G

9tf ROCK PTARMIGAN.

cal with the northern specimens of L. rupestris, com-
paring it at the time with the northern specimens
in the Edinburgh Museum. In the Northern Zoo-
logy the description of the male is given, " colour,
snow-white ; shafts of the six greater quills and
fourteen tail-feathers, pitch black, the latter nar-
rowly tipped with white ; bill black ; nails whitish,
dark at the base ; male, with a black eye stripe from
the nostrils to the hind head ; form, bill narrower
at the base, and more compressed throughout than
that willow grouse, also larger and narrower than
that of the T. lagopus* (Scotch specimen) ; third
and fourth quills the longest; tail very slightly
rounded, consisting of sixteen feathers, fourteen
black ones, and two white incumbent ones, which,
with a pair of the coverts, are rather larger than
the rest of the tail ; tarsi and toes feathered as in
the willow grouse ; the nails more compressed, but
otherwise similar to the latter."

" Summer plumage. — A female killed on the
rocky mountains, latitude 55°. Head, neck, back,
scapulars, tertiories, part of the intermediate coverts,
and the under plumage, barred with blackish-brown
and brownish-yellow, the dark colour predominating
above, and the yellow beneath ; most of the dorsal
plumage bordered on the tips with brownish-white ;
the remainder of the wing above, its whole surface
beneath, and the auxiliaries, white ; the quill shafts
slightly tinged with brown ; the vent feathers yel-

* L. mutus.

ROCK PTARMIGAN. 99

lowish-brown ; the tail consisting of fourteen black
feathers, with the white tips worn off, and of two
central incumbent feathers, which with the adjoining
coverts, are barred like the back ; tarsal feathers very
short; toes naked beneath and partially so above. No
summer specimens of the male were brought home ;
but that sex differs in having the black eye stripe,
and in the middle of the belly being white."*

Total length of the summer female, 14 inches;
tail, 4; wing, 7; tarsus, 1. 4J ; lines of middle toe,
1 ; nail of ditto, 1 line.

The dimensions of the Sutherlandshire specimen
alluded to, are as follows, and the wroodcut will show
the proportions of the bill : — The entire length is

rather more than 12 inches, but would not exceed
12 J ; of the wing to the extremity of the third
quill, 7| ; of the tarsus, 1 f , equalling that of the
centre toe, nail included ; the nail about f . On the
upper parts the dark or ground colour of the feather
is deep brownish or pitch-black ; but each feather is
cut into, or partially barred, with ochreous-yellow
on the back and tail-coverts, being tipped and edged
with a much paler tint, sometimes approaching to
yellowish- white ; the quills, secondaries, and shoul-

* North. Zool. ii. p. 356.

100 ROCK PTARMIGAN.

ders, are pure white, the shafts of the former black,
and having sometimes a brownish-black tint accom-
panying their length ; the tail contains sixteen
feathers ; the outer pair are edged with white along
the outer web, and, with the next six, on each side,
are dull black ; the centre, or eighth pair, are grey,
mottled with dull black, white at the tips, where
they are also slightly worn ; the upper covers reach
within a quarter of an inch of the end of the
tail. On the cheeks, throat, neck, and breast, the
yellow and pale markings predominate to a greater
extent, and on the latter assume more the form of
bars ; on the belly, flank, and other lower parts, the
yellow markings still prevail, and assume a greater
space in the form of transverse broken masses, while
in the lower part of the breast, and centre of the
belly, there are many pure white feathers, which
give a paler or more hoary shade to these parts ;
the tarsi and half of the toes only are strongly
feathered; the nails are brownish-black, paler at
the base.

On comparison, our specimen will be seen to be
nearly two inches shorter, in extreme length, than
that of Dr. Richardson and Mr. Swainson's birds,
the markings running in them more in bars. In
our Scotch specimen, also, there are occasionally
feathers interspersed, having the grey and white
markings of the young birds, and males, in autumn
plumage ; but whether the Rock and Common Ptar-
migan may be found to be distinct or not, we have
little doubt that the female of the former, in the

THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 101

breeding season, will exhibit a much clearer plu-
mage than that of the autumnal dress of the males.*

PERDIX, Latham. — Generic characters. — Bill
short, rather strong, bending from the base ;
nostrils lateral, uncovered by feathers, but pro-
tected by an arched naked scale ; wings short,
rounded, fourth and fifth quills longest ; tarsi
and feet naked; anterior toes united at the
base by a membrane.

Types, P. cinerea, picta, &c. Europe, Asia.

Note. — Frequent lower countries, and are partial
to cultivation. Not arboreal, gregarious only
to the amount of their broods.

THE COMMON PARTRIDGE, PERDIX CINEREA, Ray.
— Perdix cinerea. Partridge of British authors.
— The Partridge is distributed extensively over
Europe, and, according to Temminck, extends to
Barbary and Egypt, where it is migratory. It is
almost everywhere abundant in our own island,
the more northern moorish districts excepted. It
follows the steps of man as he reclaims the wastes,
and delights in the cultivation, which brings to it,
as to the labourers, a plentiful harvest of grain.
It is, perhaps, most abundant in the lower richly
cultivated plains of England; but even the south of

* " Average length of the male specimen is 13| inches ; of
female, 12£. Sabine Supp. to Append, to Ross, p. cxcvii.

102 THE COMMON PARTRIDGE.

Scotland supplies many of the more northern mar-
kets with this game.

Very early in spring — the first mild days even
of February — the Partridges have paired, and each
couple may be found, near the part selected for their
summer abode, long before the actual preparations
for incubation have commenced. These are begun at
a later period than generally imagined, and even in
the beginning of September, particularly in the
wilder districts, the young are not more than half
grown. The nest is formed, or rather the spot
where the eggs are to be deposited, is scraped out
in some ready made hollow or furrow, or placed
under cover of a tuft of grass, and from twelve to
twenty eggs are deposited. This mode of nidi-
fication prevails through the whole genus. No
nest is made, and often no great care of conceal-
ment is displayed. In cultivated countries, the
young grasses and corns are their favourite breeding
places, the former often fatal, from the hay-harvest
having commenced before the brood is hatched.
The choice of a place of security for their eggs is
not always the same, for Montague mentions a pair
which successively selected the top of an old pol-
lard oak, and Mr. £elby writes of having known
several parallel cases. It is a singular trait in the
habits of many birds, that those of a wild nature
will often select the most frequented parts for their
nests. Both Partridges and Pheasants are often
discovered with the nest placed within two or three
feet of a highway or footpath, where there is a

THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 103

daily passage of men and animals. The parents,
as if knowing their safety depended on sitting close,
remain quiet amidst all the bustle, and often hatch
in such places.

During incubation the male sedulously attends,
and will generally be found near, if the female is in-
truded upon by any of her less formidable enemies.
When the brood is hatched, both lead about the
young and assist them to their food ; and mild and
timid as the partridge is generally described, in-
stances have been seen where the love of offspring
prevailed, and a vigorous defence was successfully
maintained against a more powerful assailant.
Among the many instances of such defence, men-
tioned by various authors, we shall notice one of
the latest, which Mr. Selby has recorded in the last
edition of his Illustrations of British Ornithology : *
— " Their parental instinct, indeed, is not always
confined to mere devices for engaging attention;
but where there exists a probability of success, they
will fight obstinately for the preservation of their
young, as appears from many instances already nar-
rated by different writers, and to which the follow-
ing may be added, for the truth of which I can
vouch. A person engaged in a field, not far from
my residence, had his attention arrested by some
objects on the ground, which, upon approaching,
he found to be two Partridges, a male and female,
engaged in battle with a carrion-crow ; so success-
ful, and so absorbed were they in the issue of the
* Vol. i p. 435.

104 THE COMMON PARTRIDGE.

contest, that they actually held the crow till it was
seized, and taken from them, by the spectator of
the scene. Upon search, the young birds (very
lately hatched) were found concealed amongst the
grass. It would appear, therefore, that the crow,
a mortal enemy to all kinds of young game, in at-
tempting to carry off one of these, had been attacked
by the parent birds, and with the above singular
success." Such displays are, however, comparatively
seldom witnessed, or indeed exercised, for nature
has implanted another device in the greater num-
ber of this family, in which the organs of defence
are in reality weak, against their many assailants.
Stratagem is resorted to, and the parent feigns lame-
ness, and even death, to withdraw the aggressor. The
noise and confusion which occurs when a person sud-
denly, and unawares, comes on a young brood of par-
tridges, is remarkable. The screams of the parents,
apparently tumbling and escaping away with broken
legs and wings, is well acted, and often succeeds in
withdrawing the dog, and his young attendant, be-
yond the possibility of discovering the hiding places
of the brood. When this is attained, their wonted
strength is soon recovered, a flight to a considerable
distance is taken — but by the time the aggressor has
reached the marked spot, the bird has again circui-
tously come up with her charge, and is ready again
to act her part if discovered.

During the breeding season, all the colours of the
plumage of the Partridge become deeper, and in the
male, the skin above the eyes showing a modification

COMMON QUAIL. 105

of the slight wattle incident to the true grouse, be-
comes of a pinkish-red colour. In the female, the
tips of the feathers become more decidedly marked
with pale yellowish-grey. It is a bird much more
liable to variation than any of the other British
Rasores — the pheasant, if included, being excepted.
It is frequently met with of different shades of
cream colour, the dark markings keeping a cor-
responding measure of intensity ; and it is some-
times blotched, as it were, with pure white spots.
We, last winter, procured a specimen from Mr.
Fenton, in Edinburgh,* above of a brown tint, deeper
than usual, but with the ordinary markings ; thp
ground colour of the breast and under parts is of the
uniform grey, wrhich covers the breast in the ordi-
nary state of the bird, having the black wavy mark-
ings ; but there is not the slightest trace of broader
marking to the feathers, or of the " horse shoe,"
which prevails in other states, and, to a certain
extent, even in the female ; the head, neck, and
patch on the throat, are umber-brown, and around
the bill, mouth, and eyes, is nearly pure black ; the
bill itself is of a darker colour than usual.

THE COMMON QUAIL, COTURNIX DACTYLISONANS,
Temm — Tetrao coturnix, Willough., Ray, Linn. —
Perdix coturnix, Lath., etc. — Quail or Common
Quail of Brit. Ornith. — The Common Quail seems

* Mr. Fenton, Preserver of Birds, &c., No. 66, George
Street, Edinburgh.

106 COMMON QUAIL.

to be generally distributed over the old world, though,
in the south of Europe, it is perhaps more abundant
than elsewhere. In Britain they may now be term-
ed only an occasional visitant, the numbers of those
which arrive to breed having considerably decreased,
and they are to be met, with certainty, only in some of
the warmer southern or midland counties of England.
Thirty years since they were tolerably common and
regular in their returns ; and, even in the south of
Scotland, a few broods were occasionally to be found.
Mr. Macgillivray mentions its occurrence in Moray-
shire, and of having received a nest and eggs from
Aberdeenshire.* Its occurrence farther north has
not been recorded. In these same districts they are
now very uncertain ; we have known of broods only
twice, and occasionally have shot a straggler appa-
rently on its way to the south. In Ireland the
Quail seems to be more abundant than in any parts
of Britain ; and according to notes by Mr. Thompson,
they have of late years remained permanently in the
north, and in winter have occurred in considerable
numbers. In the winter of 1836-7, a gentleman
shot, in one day, ten brace of Quails, in stubble
fields bordering Belfast Bay.f They are extremely
difficult to flush after the first time. The nest is
made by the female, but, like the partridges, the
eggs are deposited almost on the bare ground ;
these, also, unlike the uniform tint which we find
prevailing in those of the true partridges, are deeply

* Brit. Birds. 3. p. 237.
f Annals of Nat. History, iv. p. 284.

COMMON QUAIL. 107

blotched with oil-green, and, except in form, are
somewhat similar to those of the snipe.

In France the Quail is very abundant ; and, be-
sides supplying the markets of that country, thou-
sands are imported alive by the London poulterers,
and fattened for the luxury of the metropolis. They
are taken by nets, into which they are decoyed by
imitating their call. On the coast of Italy and
Sicily, and all the Greek islands, they arrive at
certain seasons in immense numbers. An hundred
thousand are said to have been taken in one day.
They are run after during the flight like the pas-
senger pigeons of America, and a harvest is ga-
thered when the numbers are greatest. In Sicily,
crowds of all ages and degrees assemble on the
shore. The number of boats is even greater than
the crowd ; and enviable is the lot of the idle ap-
prentice, who, with a borrowed musket or pistol,
no matter how unsafe, has gained possession of the
farthest rock, where there is but room for himself
and his dog, wrhich he has fed with bread only, all
the year round, for these delightful days, and
which sits, in as happy expectation as himself, for
the arrival of the Quails. Ortygia was named
from them ; and so abundant were they on Capri,
an island at the entrance of the Gulf of Naples,
that they formed the principal revenue of the bishop
of the island. From twelve to sixty thousand were
annually taken ; and one year the capture amounted
to one hundred and sixty thousand. In China,
and in many of the eastern islands, and Malacca,

108 COMMON QUAIL*

they are also very abundant, performing regular
migrations from the interior to the coast. It is
thus seen that the geographical range of this bird
is of great extent, reaching northward to Russia
and Scandinavia,* found in the intermediate coun-
tries of temperate heat, and abounding in continental
India and Africa. We possess specimens which
do not materially differ from each other, from
Madeira, alpine India, the plains of India, China,
Cape of Good Hope, and southern Europe. A
specimen shot at Jardine Hall, in autumn, has the
crown nearly black, the feathers edged with pale
chestnut, streaks of ochre-yellow run over each eye,
and the centre space between the eyes and bill, and
auriculars, are chestnut. Colour of the upper parts
black, having the shafts and a lanceolate mark in the
centre of each, ochreous-yellow, palest at the tip,
where the wings join the body ; the central mark-
ings are wanting, and the black is relieved by grey
tips and wavy bars of sienna-yellow ; throat, pale
ochreous-yellow, bounded by a deep blackish-brown
gorget, and on the sides cut into by a dark stripe of
the same colour, running from the gape, and curving
inwards near the middle of the pale space ; breast,
yellowish wood-brown, shading into pale ochreous
on the lower parts ; on the breast, the feathers are
marked with two round or oval spots, on the exterior
of each web; on the flanks these patches border
each feather irregularly, bounding a pale open space
along the shafts, which is nearly pure white. The
* Yarrell.

FRENCH PARTRIDGE. - 109

above described specimen was a female, and it may
be stated, that all those which have been met with
in autumn were of the same sex. In the male the
chin and throat are brownish-black, forming almost
a cross in the pale space of the female, the ends of
the cross turning up to meet the stripes from the
gape; the markings above are more distinct, and
there is more chestnut in the tints, particularly on
the flanks and sides of the breast ; the breast itself
is pale reddish wood brown, without spots.

In all our modern works on ornithology, we have
a few birds among the Rasores included, which
have been introduced from other countries, and of
which some have in a manner completely naturalised
themselves and are generally distributed, being as
hardy as many of the truly indigenous species ; but
there are also others, which, though they thrive
comparatively well, yet require considerable atten-
tion, and continue very local and limited in their
range; and while it becomes necessary to notice
these, it is scarcely right to hold them in the same
place with our indigenous game.

THE RED LEGGED OR FRENCH PARTRIDGE, PER-
DIX RUFA, — Is a beautiful bird, and, in our park
preserves, will make a most interesting addition or
variation to the naturalist, though, from the expe-
rience which has been already had, it is not in
request as a bird of game to the sportsman, nor is

110 AMERICAN ORTYX.

it so much esteemed for the table as the common
grey partridge. There are a few birds distributed
over southern Europe, Africa, and India, which are
nearly allied to it in colouring and in markings, and
which seem to have more skulking habits, and to be
much more difficult to force upon the wing ; all of
these, we have little doubt, might be introduced to
our parks, and would thrive equally well with the
common red-legged bird. It appears to have been
introduced so long since as in the time of Charles
the Second ; and several English noblemen, during
the last century, are recorded as having bred them
from continental eggs, and turned them out on their
respective manors. Mr. Yarrell, in his British Birds,
has stated various instances where they have been
killed, or are now breeding, in several of the south-
ern and eastern English counties ; while the possi-
bility also is suggested, of some straggling birds,
occasionally met with on the coast, having made a
flight, or been driven from Guernsey or Jersey. It
has not appeared or been naturalised in any parts
of Scotland or Ireland.

VIRGINIAN OR AMERICAN ORTYX, ORTYX VIR-
GINIANA, — Is another beautiful little bird, more
lately introduced into some of the English counties,
but with even less claim to a right in the British
fauna, the success of its introduction having been
scarcely yet ascertained. It belongs to a group of
birds more strongly formed, having a stronger bill,

AMERICAN ORTYX. Ill

and holding the place in the new world which the
partridges do in the old, frequenting the borders
of woods, roosting and occasionally perching on trees.
Colonel Montague notices a specimen of the Virgi-
nian Ortyx shot near Mansfield, and some time
previous to that, states, that some had been turned
out. Staffordshire, Cambridge, and Norfolk, are also
mentioned as localities where they have been tried,
but we have been unable to trace exactly what has
been the success of the trials.

112

PHASIANIDJE.

THE birds we have noticed, are all the species of Te-
tronidce^ whether indigenous or naturalised, which
have any claim to a place in our fauna. Of the
next family, the Phasianidce, Europe presents no
natural example ; but one of the finest and most suc-
cessful of all our ornithological introductions, typi-
cally represents it in

THE COMMON PHEASANT, PHASIANUS COLCHICUS.
— It is recorded to have been introduced into Europe
1 250 years before the Christian era ; * and into Bri-
tain in 1299, during the reign of Edward the First, t
From its ease in rearing, the beauty of its plumage,
the delicacy of its flesh, and value in cover to the
sportsman, it has been, since that early period,
fostered and preserved, and turned out from one
locality to another ; and, at the present time, there
are few districts to the south of the middle of Scot-
land, or over England, where it is not to be met
with in greater or less proportion. In Ireland we
believe its distribution to be not so equal, owing to
the impossibility of preservation. In Europe, or
wherever they have been introduced, we have two
birds of different plumage, the one with a conspi-
cuous white ring upon the neck, the other wanting
entirely that ornament. These, in our preserves,
* Daniel's Rural Sports. f Echard's Hist, of England.

COMMON PHEASANT. 113

have bred together, and we have specimens with the
mark modified or almost obliterated. By Temminck
they are considered to have been originally distinct
species, and several prominent differences are pointed
out, which, in all our naturalised birds, are blended
together. We have not been able to compare a
sufficient number of wild specimens ; but, in one
from continental India, without the white mark on
the neck, there are sufficient distinctions of plumage
in addition, to warrant its separation. In our pre-
serves, which, in most instances, are only a kind of
semi-domestication, they are much inclined to be-
come spotted or pied with white, and often show
very beautifully contrasted markings. The female
seems to assume an entirely pure white plumage
more frequently than the male ; in some localities, a
silvery grey variety has become abundant, known
under the name of Bohemian Pheasants ; it is sin-
gular also, that in a number of eggs, received some
years since from an extensive preserve, where the
variety was prevalent, we could separate those which
would produce the grey birds, the shells being dif-
ferent in their shade of colouring. There is also a
tendency of the pheasant to breed with other gal-
linaceous birds ; crosses with the domestic fowl are
frequent, and some instances are given where there
had been intercourse with the black grouse, and even
with a turkey.

H

114

STRUTHIONIDjE.

THE family of the Struthionidce, or Ostriches, is, in
all countries, extremely limited in numbers, and
contains birds of a very large size ; in Europe we
have only one representing genus in the Bustard,
and the stronghold may be said to be in Africa
and India, in the deserts and plains of which we
see the ostrich and cassowary, besides several spe-
cies of large bustards. In America and New Hol-
land they are still more limited.

OTIS LINN. — Generic characters. — Bill nearly
straight, slightly depressed at the base ; nos-
trils open ; legs long, having the tarsi naked
above the knees ; toes, three directed forwards,
short, bordered with a scutellated membrane ;
wings long and powerful, second, third, and
fourth quills largest, nearly equal, first narrow
towards the point.

Type, 0. tarda. Europe, Asia, Africa, New
Holland.

Note. — Inhabit plains and open countries, or
with a thick clothing of rank vegetation ; poly-
gamous; run swiftly.

THE GREAT BUSTARD, OTIS TARDA. — Outarde
barbue, Temm. — Bustard^ or Great Bustard of
British authors. — The Great or European Bustard,

GREAT BUSTARD. 115

indeed, the whole of the Struihwnidae^ from their
form and habits, and large size, are marked objects,
and are a tribe of birds which have fled before the
inroads of population and agriculture. Abroad,
in many of the districts where the Emu and Ostrich
abounded in almost innumerable herds, they have
become extremely rare, and are either entirely extir-
pated or driven to seek more retired plains, and like
causes have, in a similar manner, reduced the numr
hers of our native Bustard to straggling instances of
their occurrence. In some few stations they seem
still to be preserved, and keep up a scanty stock,
from which, perhaps, may stray the occasional speci-
mens of whose capture we are generally made aware
through the public prints.

Newmarket Heath and Salisbury Plain, Sussex
or South Downs, Royston Heath, &c., are well
known stations of old for these birds ; and Devon-
shire, Wiltshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suf-
folk, Lincolnshire, &c., are all mentioned as districts
where occasional specimens have been seen or pro-
cured. So late as 1819, Mr. Yarrell states, upon
" authority," that nineteen were observed together at
Westcape in Norfolk, where they are carefully pre-
served by the proprietor. In Scotland, we have very
few records of them. Sibbald seems to think they
appeared occasionally " unam non ita pridem in
Lothiana Orientali visam fuisse."* " One was shot
in 1803, in Morayshire, by William Young, Esq. of
Boroughhead."t Mr. Mudie, in his British Birds,

* Prodromus ii. part 2. p. 17. t Yarrell ii. p. 367.

116 GREAT BUSTARD.

relates, that he saw two birds in the parish of
Carmyllie, Forfarshire, " which I have no doubt, in
my own mind, were bustards."* They were, how-
ever, seen early in the morning, at the distance of a
quarter of a mile, and objects seen "against the
sky," at an early hour, oftentimes " seem forms of
giants' height." In Ireland, Mr. Thompson states
it as " extinct long since,'* but it is enumerated in
1749, by Smith, as one of the birds of Cork. On
various parts of the continent they appear still to be
far from unfrequent. During winter and spring, we
have often seen specimens for sale in the poulterers'
shops in the Palais Royal, for which from fifty to one
hundred franks were asked. Spain, Italy, and the
plains of Greece are its southern range ; Sweden, f
Russia, Tartary, and Lake Baikal J is its northern
extent.

The Bustard is recorded to have been run with
greyhounds, and to be an object of chase ; and in-
stances where specimens have been taken in this
way are mentioned, one or two of not very ancient
date. The bird is heavy, and does not readily take
wing, but is described, at the same time, to be of
very powerful flight ; and it has always appeared to
us, that those taken in this way must have been
under particular circumstances, either of moult or
fatigue. The rifle is also sometimes used ; but, so
far as we can learn, the ordinary fowling piece is by
far the most fatal weapon employed against them.

The male Bustard will stand two feet six or
* I. p. 53. f Nilson. £ Pennant

GREAT BUSTARD. 117

eight inches in height, and, when the lengthened
feathers, which most of them possess on the throat,
or sides of the jaw, are raised, they have a very hold
and commanding appearance. The head, neck, and
upper part of the breast, are bluish-grey, darker on
the crown, which is often marked with a streak
of brownish-black; the chin and long maxillary
feathers of a paler grey ; the tint of the neck and
breast shades nearly into pure white on the belly,
vent, and lower tail-covers; the lower part of
the back of the neck, the back, rump, shoulders,
and scapulars, are reddish-orange ; the feathers
crossed with entire and interrupted bars of black ;
the greater covers greyish- white ; secondaries deep
brownish-black ; quills very powerful, the first nar-
row and acuminated, the others with the outer web
suddenly broadening at about a third from the base,
these wood-brown, becoming brownish-black at the
tips; the central feathers of the tail are reddish-
orange with white tips, and. a black bar crossing at
about an inch from the extremity, with another
narrower towards the base. The more exterior
feathers are greyish-white nearly pure at. the base,
and slightly tinted with the reddish-orange near the
black bar.

118

THE LITTLE BUSTARD.

Otis minor. — WILLOUGHBY.
PLATE III.

Otis tetrax, Linn. — Outard cannepetiere, Buff, and Temm.—
Little, or Lesser Bustard of British authors.

THERE appear to be several small species of Bustard,
which are subject to a much greater change of
plumage than the last or some of the large Indian
and African birds, and it is the case with this very
rare British visitant, which, however, is only seen
here in its less obtrusive garb, or that assumed after
incubation has ceased. Specimens have occurred
in Cornwall, Devonshire, Hampshire, Oxford, and
Kent, also in Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk, York-
shire, and Northumberland, becoming more rare
northward. Once only has it occurred in Scotland
that we are aware of, that mentioned by Mr. Yarrell
as having been killed near Montrose, in the winter
of 1833 ; and, in Ireland, two are recorded by
Mr. Thomson to have been seen in the county of
Wicklow, in August of the same year, one of which
was procured.* . In its extra British distribution it
is not very widely spread, and on the continent is
* Proceed. Zool. Soc. 1835, p. 79.

LITTLE BUSTARD. 119

by no means a frequent bird. On the borders of
Europe it appears to occur more frequently, and we
have little doubt that it extends beyond the Asiatic
boundary. It occurs also in Northern Africa, * and
reaches to Russia in its most northern limit. The
food is chiefly grains and vegetables, also at times
insects ; Mr. Yarrell states, that, in a fresh speci-
men which he examined, killed near Harwich, " the
stomach contained parts of leaves of white turnip,
liverwort, dandelion, and a few blades of grass."

We have not an adult male before us for descrip-
tion, but our figure will give an idea of the distinct
black markings which occupy the neck and breast,
and we add, from Mr. Yarrell, who can be depended
upon for accuracy : — " The adult male, when in the
plumage peculiar to the breeding season, has the
beak brown; the sides golden-yellow; the top of
the head pale chestnut, mottled with black ; cheeks,
ear-coverts, the fronts and sides of the neck, bluish-
grey, bounded inferiorly by a border of black passing
to the back of the neck; below this is a narrow
white ring all round the neck, and below this a
broad collar of black, with a gorget of white, and
another of black, at the bottom of the neck, in front ;
shoulders, back, scapulars, tertials, and upper tail-
coverts, pale chestnut-brown, streaked irregularly
with numerous narrow lines of black ; all the wing-
coverts, and base of the primaries, white, the distol
half of the primaries greyish-black ; the secondaries
patched with black and white ; the base of the tail-
* Yarrell.

120 LITTLE BUSTARD.

feathers white, the ends mottled with black and
buffy-white, crossed with two narrow bars of black,
the extreme tips white; the breast, and all the
under surface of the body, white ; legs, toes, and
claws, clay-brown."* In another specimen before
us, probably of a female, from the continent, we
have the ground colour of the upper parts, except
on the neck, nearly black, very much cut into upon
the edges, and on the surface marked with wavy
bars of ochreous-yellow and pale reddish-orange ;
throat and chin pale yellowish- white ; on the neck
the dark shade is nearly deep wood-brown, the centre
of each feather being pale ochreous ; on the breast,
the pale colour becomes the prevailing tint, the
feathers distinctly barred with blackish-brown ; the
belly, flanks, and under tail-covers, pure white, the
barrings confined to the flanks, and then taking the
form of lengthened cross spots, the shaft being
marked with a thread of black ; the edges of the
wings white ; the quills wood-brown, white at the
base ; upper tail-covers with white tips, which form
a pale basal band ; the tail itself white, barred and
irregularly marked with black ; the centre feathers
tinted with ochreous.

* Yarrell ii. p. 374.

121

GRALLATORES.

IN passing1 from the Rasorial birds, one link of
connection is at once conspicuous between- the
Bustards, which we have just described, and the
Charadriadce. The form of the feet and tarsi, and
mode of running among the plovers, remind us
of them ; but in the genera Tachydromus and
(Edicnemus, we have very near approaches, particu-
larly in the last or " Thick-knees," several foreign
species being as tall as some of the middle-sized
bustards. Mr. Swainson again states, that the
Herons, by means of the Cranes, show the greatest
affinity to the Ostriches, being all very tall birds,
in a great part terrestrial in habit; and though
the wing is ample, it is comparatively not in much
use. But, in a limited fauna, it is impossible to
enter minutely into these alliances, without intro-
ducing- many species that are foreign ; suffice it to
say, that we esteem the connection through the
Charadriadce as the most marked ; at the same
time, we shall commence the order, by describing
the British members of the family of the Herons,
or the

ARDEAD^E,

THE greater proportion of which, as stated, are
birds of large size ; all of them have the feet and
legs elongated, and particularly fitted for wading,

122 HERONS.

and, by the assistance of a lengthened neck, they
are enabled to survey the pools and waters in which
they seek their food, and thus easily discover and
secure their prey. The true Herons, of which we
possess two native species, will show a typica1
example, and their habits, which we shall endea-
vour to describe, if we take them in connection
with the physical character of the various countries
inhabited by others, will be found, with such mo-
difications as depend on these, to be very nearly a
picture for the whole.

They are gregarious during the breeding season,
and the colours of the plumage are chiefly shades
of grey, intermixed with brown, black, and white,
or yellowish-white. Most have the head adorned
with a crest, greatly developed during the breed-
ing season, at which time also the plumes on the
back and breast become elongated into narrow
flattened tips, which, indeed, is almost the only
change occurring at this period.

ARDEA LINNAEUS. — Generic characters. — Bill
long, straight, compressed, sharp pointed,
edges irregularly broken or serrated inwards ;
lores naked : — tarsi lengthened, tibiae naked
about the joint ; toes four, all placed on the
same plane, and resting entirely on the ground,
hinder toe about half the length of the middle ;
claw of the middle toe pectinated : — wings
ample, rounded, very concave, third quill slight-
ly longest; tail short : — plumage rather loose,

COMMON HERON. 123

plumes of the neck, breast, and back, elon-
gated into narrow points during the breeding
season ; head generally crested.

Types, A. cinerea, herpdias, &c. Cosmopolite.

Note. — Often gregarious during the season of
incubation. Breed on trees.

THE COMMON HERON.

Ardea cinerea. — L
VIGNETTE.

Ardea cinerea, Linn. — Heron cendre*, Temm., $c+— Common
Heron of British authors.

THIS beautiful bird, and picturesque accompa-
niment, either to the finished park or wild land-
scape, is very generally distributed over the British
Islands. When the sport of hawking was in
reputation, the Heron was a chosen bird to fly at ;
it held a place in the game laws, and its capture
or destruction was severely punished. By a few
it was esteemed for the table, and by those who
believed in the " mysteries" of angling, its fat
was Bought after as an ingredient in the pastes
and compositions, prepared as baits for that pur-

124 COMMON HERON.

pose.* The Heron, during the greater part of the
year, is a wading or terrestrial bird, and here all
his motions and attitudes are easy and graceful.
Whether sitting at rest on some stump, or large
stone at the edge of the stream, or stalking erectly
by the side of the water, and surveying it for his
active prey ; or with outstretched neck, and de-
pressed crest, the whole aspect displaying anxiety,
before the fatal stroke is made, he appears uncon-
strained. But when these habits are exchanged for
the forest, the lengthened legs and ample wings
are used without freedom, and they appear to be
accommodating themselves to a temporary sojourn,
among the branches and foliage proper to another
great tribe of birds. Nevertheless, a heronry is a
much to be coveted ornament among the furnish-
ings of an extensive park, and the whole process
of incubation is most interesting to witness. The
localities selected generally abound in old wood,
and they are very frequently near some mansion,
where there is a constant thoroughfare, which can
only be accounted for from the greater proportion
of old timber to be found in such situations, for a
bird naturally so shy would scarcely, were choice
allowed, select one so public. We, at the same
time, know of a few breeding stations in most
retired places, — a wild and pastoral glen, or the

* " And some affirm, that any bait anointed with the
marrow of the thigh-bone of an Heron, is a great temptation
to any fish. The scent from his legs was considered attracting
to them, when he waded in the water."

COMMON HERON. 125

solitary islet in some Highland loch; — and they
are sometimes also seen upon precipitous rocks,
South Stack Lighthouse, and Great Ormes Head,
&c.* Of their breeding- on the ground we have
the fact stated, but we cannot trace it to any thing
authentic.

Except during the breeding season, the abodes of
the Heron are by the banks of streams and rivers,
or along the sides of lakes and their islands, fenny
districts, and, in the late parts of autumn and
winter, by the sea shore ; in the latter situations,
they may be seen taking their station so soon as
the shoals begin to be uncovered by the ebbing of
the tide ; and, when satiated with feeding, rows of
birds may be observed on some retired sand bank,
their head sunk between their shoulders, exhibit-
ing a picture of full-fed laziness. They appear at
this time to be partly gregarious, and to resort, day
after day, nearly to the same stations. In inland
parts they occasionally rest during the day, and
roost upon trees. Their food is very mixed, though
the great proportion consists of creatures inhabiting
or frequenting the waters, fish of all accessible
kinds, and aquatic reptiles ; but, when motion is
perceived in the water, or herbage by the brink,
the attention is drawn to it, and a stroke is made
at the object, though imperfectly seen ; thus,
water rats or mice, young aquatic birds, and now
and then a water-hen or rail, are killed. In con-
finement, any kind of fish or raw meat will be
* Eyton.

126 COMMON HERON.

eaten, and Dr. Neil has recorded their qualities
as rat killers. We have also known several instan-
ces of this propensity in Herons kept in a garden,
and where also it was nearly impossible to preserve
any smaller tame birds in company. In a state
of nature, the prey seems generally to be trans-
fixed by a dart or blow of the bill. The great
proportion of trouts, eels, &c., which we have
observed as supplied to the young, being all pierced
through as if struck in the manner we have stated.

The Heron is generally, though nowhere very
abundantly, distributed over Europe ; in Britain,
extending to Orkney and Shetland, where they
are said to be plentiful. In these islands we have
no notice of any breeding places, and it would be
interesting to know how they are situate, or if the
birds migrate to the mainland for the purpose of
incubation. In the very north of Europe the Heron
is migratory. Its extra European range is con-
fined to the Old World, Northern Africa, and
Madeira, India,* Java,j* perhaps some others of the
eastern islands, and Japan. J In the New World,
we have it represented by the A. herodias, a large
species resembling it in colours and habits.

The entire length of an adult bird will exceed
three feet, of which the bill to the rictus will
measure six inches and a-half. The back, scapu-
lars, and tail, are pale blackish-grey, tinted some-
times with brown, and, in the breeding season,
having the ends of the dorsal feathers length-

* Yarrell. f Horsfield. £ Temininck.

COMMON HERON. 12?

ened into narrow points of a much paler tint,
and which now gives the prevailing shade to the
back. The quills are dark dull bluish-black. The
forehead, crown, cheeks, chin, and throat, are pure
white, and from above each eye proceeds a broad
stripe of deep black, which meets from both sides
upon the hind-head, and from which springs the
graceful long narrow plumes of the same colour,
forming the crest. The whole plumes on the
crown are lengthened, but the true crest, gene-
rally consisting of only two narrow feathers, is
often from six to seven inches in length. The
neck above, and on the sides, is of a rich pur-
plish-grey, shading into the colour of the back as
it approaches ; the fore part of the neck is relieved
by two lines of white feathers, black for a portion
of the one-half, gradually elongating to the lower
part of the neck, where they become of one colour
and lengthen into narrow points, often five or six
inches long, of a yellowish-white, and which hang
gracefully from the sides, as well as the fore part
of the neck and breast. The centre of the breast
and belly is pure white, but it is bordered and
relieved on each side by a streak of black, aris-
ing, from the anterior sides of the breast, in two
broad tufts of loose lengthened feathers. The
thighs and under tail-coverts are white. The feet
and legs are yellowish-brown, but the naked parts
of the tibiae are yellow, shading into brown as they
reach the tarsal joint. The bill is nearly deep
yellow, inclining upon the ridge to brownish, and

128 PtrRPLE HERON.

having a greenish tint on the L,*^s and near the
gape. The irides are bright gamboge-yellow. On
the fore part of the breast there are two patches
of a thick yellow down, concealed by the other
plumes, and which we find more or less in all the
Herons. This is jointed in its structure, and
would appear to be connected with the habits of
this tribe of birds.

In the birds of immature plumage, we have the
blackish-grey colour predominating, with a consi-
derable tinge of brown, no white in the crown,
which gradually shades into black on the occiput,
the feathers there lengthening, but without chang-
ing into the narrow form of those in the adults.
We have also no elongation on the back or lower
part of the neck, and the white, in the centre of
the breast and belly, is bordered only with black-
ish-grey.

THE PURPLE HERON, ARDEA PURPUREA. — A.
purpurea, Linn. — Heron pourpre, Temm. — Pur-
ple Heron, Purple-crested Heron, Crested Purple
Heron, African Heron of British authors. — This
beautiful Heron has been sufficiently often killed
in England, to entitle it to the rank of a frequent
occasional visitant. Its range in our islands,
however, is confined to the south, for we know
of no instance of its occurrence in Scotland, and
Mr. Thompson has recorded its appearance in
Ireland only once. We possess one native spe-

PURPLE HEROX. 129

cimen killed in Norfolk, and many others are
known to have been procured in different parts of
the southern and eastern counties. It should be
observed, however, that birds, " in the flesh,"
frequently come to the London markets from the
continent, and may be (to increase their value)
given out as British-killed specimens. Its most
abundant country is perhaps Africa, the north and
eastern coasts ; and we have received it also from
the Cape of Good Hope. " Mr. Franklin exhibited
specimens, at the Zoological Society, that were
brought by himself from India;"* and Java is
given as a locality.f

Of the habits of the Purple Heron we have no
detailed account ; to a certain extent it will re-
semble the others, but there are, without doubt,
peculiarities belonging to it. Neither do we know
much of its nidification, whether it is gregarious
during that season, or breeds singly. Temminck
states, that the nest is made " dans les roseaux, ou
sur les bois en taillis," very rarely upon trees ; and,
altogether, the habits approach nearer to those
of the bitterns than of the typical herons. Writers
agree in stating, that it is far from being uncom-
mon in Holland, where it also breeds, and where
we have seen it nailed up to trees, among crows
and birds of prey ; — if some details of its economy
could be procured from thence, they would be in-
teresting.

The upper parts, wings, tail, and under tail*
* Yarrell. t Horsfield.

I

130 PURPLE HEROW.

coverts of the oreeding state of this Heron are of a
dark brownish -grey, deeper on the tail, quills,
and coverts, and these are tinted with greenish
reflections, having the dorsal plumes narrowed
and elongated as in the last, the narrow tips being
of a much paler tint, those at the sides longest,
and of a pale reddish-brown. The forehead and
crown are black, the feathers lengthening into a
long narrow crest, while a line of the same colour
is carried down the back. The feathers covering
the ears are black, forming a narrow stripe from
the rictus, joining the black of the occiput. On
each side of the neck a narrow stripe descends,
mingling with the more irregularly dark edges of
the lengthened plumes. The throat and fore part
of the upper neck are pure white, gradually shading
into the chestnut-brown, which covers the cheeks
and sides of the neck, not occupied by the black
stripes. On the fore part of the neck each feather
elongates until it attains the lengthened narrow
form ; on the upper parts, the one side of each
is yellowish-white, the other black ; and thus irre-
gular lines of these colours are formed, until the
long tips become entirely yellowish-white. The
centre of the breast and belly is black, bounded
on each side with very deep purplish-chestnut or
brownish-red. The thighs are pale brownish-red.
The fore part of the tarsus and toes are brown,
tinted with greenish ; the hinder part of the tarsus
and naked tibiae, yellow. The development of the
feet, compared with the length of the tarsus, is

PURPLE HERON. 131

much greater than in the last, the centre toe, with
its claw, being nearly equal to the tarsus in length.
The claws are much more lengthened, slender, and
less bent. The bill is nearly pure gamboge-yellow,
shading from brown upon the ridge and extremity
of the mandible.

In a specimen which we received as a female,
and in which the elongated feathers of both the
breast and lower part of the neck were marked
as in the last described, the upper plumage has a
brown tint spread over, the occipital crest is short,
and the stripes of black on the neck are only
slightly indicated. The purplish-brown on the
sides of the breast is not so deep, and none of the
colours are so vivid or well denned.

In an immature bird, brown is the prevailing-
colour, the upper plumes being all broadly edged
with it. The crown and occiput chestnut, without
a crest, and the sides and fore part of the neck
yellowish-white, marked on both with lengthened
dashes of brownish-black ; no elongated feathers
either there or upon the back.

132

EGRETS.

OUR next beautiful division of the Herons, is that
of the Egrets, distinguished by a more slender
form in every part, by the plumes on the back
being very long and disunited, and in the plumage
being generally pure white, and always pale at
one period, either in the complete or incomplete
plumage. Some of the lesser species, where the
colours and form vary, serve to connect them with
the small bitterns. They breed on trees, sometimes
at only a few feet from the ground, but in general
at a high elevation, and, with few exceptions, in
the vicinity of water. The species are numerous,
and spread over the world, and are often so closely
allied, that there is great difficulty in distinguish-
ing them, consequently, our synonymes are both
numerous and often erroneous.

EGRETTA. — Generic characters. — Bill very slen-
der, slightly bending at the tip ; gonys not
ascending ; legs long ; inner toe shorter than
the outer ; feathers of the breast, back, and
scapulars, very long, and with the webs much
disunited.

Types, Ardea alba, A. garzetta, luce, Bonap., &c.

133

THE LITTLE EGRET.

Egretta garzetta.
PLATE IV.

Ardea garzetta, Linn. — Heron garzette, Temm. — The Little
Egret or Egret Heron, Sdby and Yarrell.

THE close alliance of the Egrets, to each other, has
caused a much wider geographical range to be
given them than they possess. The present bird is
confined to the Old World ; but how far restricted,
or whether the other White Egrets, from almost all
parts of the Old Hemisphere, of a similar size, are
all identical, perhaps still requires a more strict
investigation. Its best acknowledged range is
Southern Europe, Greece, and Northern Africa,
from some of which countries an occasional speci-
men, at rare intervals, strays to our shores. Mr.
Yarrell, whose exertions in collecting information
of this kind are indefatigable, records six instances
of its capture, in Britain or Ireland, which he
considers may be relied on. The first is the bird
noticed by Pennant, who saw only the feathers ;
the others were taken in Cornwall, Hampshire,
Warwickshire, and one in the harbour of Cork,

134 GREAT WHITE EGRET.

mentioned by Mr. Templeton. In Scotland, we are
not aware that it has ever been taken.

During- the last winter (1840-41), there have
been several instances of " White Herons" being-
seen and killed, both in England and Scotland,
which, it is little doubt, were Egrets of one species
or other, but the difficulty of tracing them is great.
These notices appeared chiefly in the newspapers,
and from the peculiar colour and appearance of the
bird, they were sure to draw attention. The win-
ter was remarkable for the intensity of the cold.

Annexed, we give the description of a specimen
procured on the continent. The entire length, from
extremity of the tail to the end of the bill, will be
from twenty to twenty-two inches ; length of the
bill to the rictus four inches. The plumage is
entirely pure white; from the hind-head spring
two narrow feathers, four inches in length, while
those on the lower part of the neck (nearly of a
similar length), toward the tips, become narrowed
and compact in form ; the loose hair, like plumes,
spring entirely from the centre of the back ; the
bill with the tarsi are black ; the toes appear to
have been greenish-yellow ; the length of the leg,
unplumed, above the tarsal joint, is two inches
and a fourth ; of the tarsus four inches.

THE GREAT WHITE EGRET. — ARDEA ALBA. —
Ardea alba^ Linn. — White Heron^ or Great White
Heron of British authors. — This is even of rarer

GREAT WHITE EGRET. 135

occurrence than the last, and, until within these
few years, authentic accounts of its appearance
were somewhat questionable, or rested on the au-
thority of specimens which could not be then
traced. At the meeting of the British Association,
in 1838, Mr. Strickland stated his opinion, that
this bird was improperly excluded, and stated three
instances of its capture within a comparatively
recent period in Yorkshire ; to these Mr. Yarrell
adds an instance of another, shot on the Isis in
Oxfordshire. A specimen, of a White Egret, was
also shot during last winter at Tyningham, the
seat of Lord Haddington, in Haddingtonshire.
This has been considered to be the large species,
or that we are now describing, but we have not
had an opportunity of examining it : and, accor-
ding to the newspapers, a " White Heron" \*as
several times seen during the same winter upon
the shores of the Sol way, on the English side,
above Port Carlisle, which also may have been
identical with the Great Egret.

In Northern or Central Europe, the Large Egret
appears to be nowhere very abundant, but becomes
more frequent in the Grecian Archipelago, in Tur-
key, and on the Asiatic boundary. White Herons
brought from Continental India by Colonel Sykes,
are considered identical in that gentleman's cata-
logue, and it is a range very likely to be taken by
the species. The American Large White Heron is
distinct, and represents it in the New World. We
have also another, closely allied, in New Holland.

136 BUFF-BACKED EGRET.

We have not a British or European specimen
before us, and we do not find descriptions agree
exactly in the colour and dimensions of some of
those parts (the bill and legs), on which, among
the Egrets, the specific distinctions in many in-
stances rest. The plumage of both sexes, and, so
far as we know, of the young, *is pure white, the
crest and elongated dorsal feathers being emblems
of the season of incubation. The adult birds mea-
sure in length three feet four or five inches. The
dimensions of the bill and legs are given by

C Bill about 6 inches.

Selby, < Tarsi 8 —

C Naked part of the tibia . 4| —

C Bill from the eye
\

v 11 J Tarsi u$ —

>el1' 1 Naked part of the tibia, . 3} —
£ Middle toe and claw, . 4 J —

The colour of the bill is black, or deep wood-
brown, yellow at the base and about the nostrils ;*
legs almost black.*)* In the young birds, Mr. Selby
states, the bill and legs are greenish-black.

THE BUFF-BACKED EGRET, E. RUSSATA, Wagler.
— Ardea (Equinoctialis, Penn. — Red-billed Heron,
Penn. — Little White Heron, Montague. — Ardea
russata, Wagler. — Buff-Backed Heron, Selby, Yar-
rell. — The occurrence of this Egret in Britain,
rests still on the solitary specimen obtained by
Colonel Montague, and removed with his collec-
* Selby. f Yarrell.

BUFF-BACKED EGRET. 13?

tion to the British Museum. " It was shot near
Kingsbridge, in Devonshire; had been seen for
several days in the same field, attending some
cows, and picking up insects, which were found
in its stomach." The attendance on cattle is a
curious habit in some of the Egrets, without doubt,
on account of the insects that abound near them ;
in India, for this reason, some have received a pro-
vincial name, signifying " Cow or Cattle Heron."

The Asiatic continent, from every authority,
would seem the most abundant locality, or rather
the real country of this bird ; Upper Hindostan,*
the Dukhun,f Java,J isles of Sunda, Japan, ||
Himalaya and Nepaul,§ are all given as countries
from where it has been received.

In the adult birds, the feathers, at the roots, are
pure white, but on the head, neck, and breast, with
the elongated feathers on the back, are of an orange
or saffron-yellow ; the remaining parts of the bird
are pure white ; the bill and legs are yellow, the
joints of the latter and the toes darker.

Montague's young specimen is described by him
to be in " length about twenty inches ; the bill
two inches long to the feathers on the forehead,
and of an orange-yellow. The whole plumage
snowy white, except the crown of the head, and
the upper part of the neck before, which are buff.
Legs three inches and a-half long, and one inch
and a-half of bare space above the knees ; these

* Major Franklin. f Colonel Sykes. J Horsfield.

H Temminck. § Gould.

138 SQUACCO HERON.

parts are nearly black, with a tinge of green ; the
toes and claws are of the same colour ; the middle
claw pectinated." The above agrees nearly with
the description given by Wagler of the young state,
the brown colour prevailing with the advance of
age.

A detail of the habits and nidification of this
Egret is still much wanted.

THE SQUACCO HERON, E. RALLOIDES. — A. ral-
faides, Scopoli. — Ardea comata. Pall., Penn. — Heron
crabier, Temm. — The Squacco Heron of British
authors. — In form, this species begins to depart
from the true Egrets. The legs are feathered
nearly to the knees, as among the bitterns. It-
has occurred several times in the southern and
eastern counties of England, but we do not learn
of any instance of its capture either in Scotland or
Ireland. One is recorded, so lately as July 1840,
to have been killed near Kingsbridge, Devonshire.
In Middle and Southern Europe it is more fre-
quently obtained, also in Greece ; but Africa and
some parts of Asia are its true localities ; further
than that its habits are considered as similar to
its congeners, we have little knowledge of them.*

The extreme length of this Egret is from

* Since writing the above, we have a note from Mr. A.
Grounds, Ludlow, stating that a specimen of the Squacco
Heron was killed near that town, about six years since, and
was stuffed by him.

SQUACCO HERON. 139

eighteen to twenty inches ; the head, or rather the
head and nape are crested, the feathers amount
in number to eight or ten, and are so long as to
reach the back, they are pure white, relieved
by a narrow border of black on each side. The
wings, and lower parts of the bird, are nearly pure
white, but the upper parts are almost hidden from
view, by a series of long hair-like feathers, which
spring immediately from behind the shoulders, and
exceed the tail in length ; these are of a deep
sienna-yellow, tinged with purple on the back.
It is from these plumes that the name " comata"
of Pallas has been taken ; and we may state here,
that we have some doubt whether that name or
" ralloides" of Scopoli should have the priority ;
the chin and throat are white, and the neck and
breast are sienna- yellow. Mr. Selby states the
base of the bill, for nearly two-thirds of its length,
to be pale azure-blue, black towards the end. The
legs dusky, tinged with red. Mr. Yarrell again
describes the bill to be greenish-brown, darkest
towards the point. The legs yellowish -brown.
In the young birds, the plumage has no pure
white, except that of the tail, which is nearly so,
and the dorsal plumes are wanting ; the colour is
wood -brown, streaked on the head, neck, and
wing-coverts, with a darker shade ; the bill and
legs are tinted with yellowish-brown.

140

BITTERNS.

WHERE one individual of a form is only present in
a fauna, it is often difficult to show its gradations ;
and, were no more discovered, it might merge into
the adjacent genera, as only a very aberrant
species ; but, where others appear of a like struc-
ture, and are seen carrying a representative type
into other countries, it is often better, for the sake
of facilitating the artificial arrangement, to sepa-
rate them. In the Little Bitterns, we have some
parts of the form of the small egrets strongly
marked, but the feathers on the head and neck
are more broadly formed, and those on the back
and scapulars are without division or separation
of the webs, the tarsi clothed to the knees ; the
manners very skulking, and the nidification said
to be on the ground ; in which habits, and in the
very narrow and compressed form of their bodies,
they show a close alliance to the rails. The
Prince of Canino has apparently acted on the same
principles, and has given to these birds, taking
the Ardea minuta and Exilis as typical, the title of
ARDEOLA (Bittern-Heron.) Our native species is

THE LITTLE BITTERN, ARDEOLA MINUTA. — Ar-
dea, minuta,) Penn, etc. — Heron Hongios, lemrn. —
Botaurus minutus, Selby, etc. — Little Bittern-Heron,
Penn. — The Little Bittern of British authors. —

LITTLE BITTERN. 141

The Little Bittern-Heron has been frequently met
with in many of the English counties, extending- to
the Scottish border, and it is supposed that they
have also occasionally bred in this country, young
\>irds having been procured in one instance,* and,
vn some others, the circumstances in which they
were taken left little doubt that they had bred
near the locality where they were killed.^ A spe-
cimen is recorded to have been procured so far
north as Sanda, in Orkney, J and Mr. Thompson
has stated its occurrence once or twice in Ireland.
Its extra British range is the south of Europe, parts
of Asia and Africa, where, however, a represent-
ing species may yet be confounded. Its habits, ex-
cept in confinement, are not recorded ; but it is said
to frequent marshes, by the sides of rivers, amidst
aquatic brush-wood, and to make its nest upon the
ground. Wilson, speaking of the American bird,
which is so closely allied as to have led to confu-
sion, says, — " Those we have seen in confinement
skulk, and walk with the head drawn closely in,
and without showing any portion of the neck;"
which agrees with the manner in which it and
other small species, kept in our British gardens,
conduct themselves. Mr. Audubon, in describing
them, states, that specimens he had in confine-
ment were fed on small fish and stripes of pork,
and were very expert in catching flies. They
showed also great scansorial powers. In trying
to escape from the windows, they could climb
* Yarrell. f Heysham. ± Fleming.

142 LITTLE BITTERN.

with ease from the floor to the top of the curtains,
by means of their feet and claws. The nest of the
American species is also described as placed on
the ground, or a few inches above it, attached to
the stems of reeds, and, in one or two instances,
in bushes about three feet from the ground.*

In the adult state of this bird, the crown and
upper parts are black, richly glossed with green ;
the cheeks, neck, and wing-coverts, pale sienna-
yellow, the under parts of a redder or browner
tint, dashed with brown upon the flanks; the
bill and legs are of a dark yellow, the former
generally brightest, the legs feathered down to
the tarsal joint. The young are without the dark
glossy mantle, and have the feathers there brown,
margined with a paler shade. The lower plumage
and sides of the neck are yellowish-brown, on the
sides of the neck occasionally streaked with white,
and on the flanks with brown ; the bill, legs, and
feet, are of a greenish-brown.

BUTOR. — Antiquorum. — Generic characters. — Bill
lengthened, compressed, and strong at the base,
angle of the maxilla placed far forward ; nostrils
placed in a deep furrow, and partly covered
with a membrane; legs proportionally short
and strong, tibias partially bare, feet much
developed, toes long and slender, claws long,
slightly bent, that of the middle toe serrated ;

* Audubon, iii., pp. 77 to 80.

COMMON BITTERN. 143

wings rather long, the three first quills longest,

second rather exceeding.
Types, B. stellaris, lentiginosa, &c. Europe, Asia,

Africa, America.
Note. — Nocturnal, skulking. Back of the neck

bare of feathers ; those of the sides elongated,

covering it, but capable of erection. Nest large,

placed on or near the ground.

THE COMMON BITTERN.

Butor Stellaris.

PLATE V.

Ardea stellaris, Penn. <%c — Botaurus stellaris. — Heron
Grand Butor, Temm. — The Common Bittern, or Bittern-
Heron of British authors.

THE Bittern, like all our marsh birds, is, at the
present time, much less common than it was fifty
years since; yet it is still frequently met with,
and, in one or two instances, is recorded as breed-
ing1 in England. The general time of its ap-
pearance is in winter, or on the decline of the
year; and, as observed by most of our modern
writers, in some seasons they are much more

144 COMMON BITTERN.

plentiful than others ; the winter of 1830-31, is
mentioned, both by Mr. Selby and Mr. Yarrell, as
remarkable for the number of specimens which
were obtained. In the south of Scotland a similar
comparative abundance occurred ; several were
brought to me in Dumfries-shire ; and, on a visit to
Edinburgh, it was found that the bird preservers
there had obtained also a more than usual number
of specimens. Since that period, they have not
been seen in Scotland, except as stray individuals.
In Ireland, they are also occasionally met with.
On the continent of Europe, particularly the
southern and central parts, in suitable localities,
they are not uncommon, and appear to extend far
northward, being found in Scandinavia, Russia,
and Siberia;* a specimen from the Cape of Good
Hope before us does not differ very materially;
and it has also been met with in South Africa by
Dr. Smith. Japan j" and India J are given to it ;
che Dukhun is mentioned by Colonel Sykes, but
as a locality \There it occurs rarely. We have re-
ceived skins of a Bittern from continental India,
very nearly allied to the European birds, but we
have hitherto considered them distinct.

The fact of the Bittern breeding in this countrv
takes place also only at uncertain seasons, ana
is, perhaps, owing at the time to particular cir-
cumstances. It does not occur with any degree of
regularity, nor are there any spots where the birds
return periodically at the period of incubation
* Yarrell. f Temminck, £ Lieut. Colonel Sykes,

COMMON BITTERN. 145

The nest is said to be placed on the ground, near
the waters edge, among- thick reeds or aquatic
herbage, and the eggs are of a uniform pale
brown.*

In active habits the Bittern is chiefly nocturnal,
remaining during the day in its covert retreat, and
coming forth in the evening and twilight to feed ;
and it is at this time, as well as in the morn-
ing, that its peculiar booming noise is uttered, to
which has been attached various superstitions, and
also singular conjectures as to the manner in which
it was produced. We do not find it stated whether
it is a general call, or is more particularly uttered
during, or immediately antecedent to the season of
incubation, such as the drumming noise of the snipe,
and the call of some of the rails ; at other times, and
when surprised, the cry is different, being harsh and
sharp. The food, we should consider, was seized by
watching, somewhat in the manner of true herons.
Any thing having motion is struck at, whether
perfectly seen or not, and the prey is swallowed
whole ; thus, we have taken a water rail from the
stomach of one, and perceive that similar instances
have elsewhere occurred. t Fish or aquatic reptiles
are probably the most general food.

In olden times, both the Bittern and heron were
esteemed for food, particularly the young birds ;
now they are never brought to the table, which may
perhaps be from some prejudice existing against
them as fishy- tasted, for we have heard more than
* Yarrell. f Yarrell.

X

146 COMMON BITTERN.

one gentleman assert, that a heron, if kept a proper
time, was excellent eating.

A specimen of a male Bittern, shot in winter,
in the vicinity of Jardine-Hall, has the crown and
occiput deep brownish-black, with green and purple
reflections; the feathers on the occiput elongated,
tipped for half an inch with ochraceous, and there
minutely edged with black; under the eye, from each
rictus, descends a streak of rich and deep brown ;
the centre of the throat is of a paler brown, and
between, the tint of the sides of the neck is yellow-
ish-white ; the feathers of the sides of the neck are
lengthened, and fold over the back part, which is
covered only with a thick down ; these can also be
thrown forward, and are sometimes made to appear
as a ruff. The whole ground colour of the plumage
is a pale sienna-yellow, the tint slightly varying in
different specimens, and being of a redder colour on
the shoulders, quills, and tail ; this ground colour is
varied, and rayed in such a manner as to be very
difficult to convey by words ; on the back, being
confined to the centre of the feathers, it assumes the
form of downward broad lines ; but on the sides of
the neck, breast, and flanks, it runs in transverse
bars and crossings. On the fore part of the breast
and neck, where the feathers are lengthened, the
one half is brown, the other without markings,
which produces to a certain extent the same ap-
pearance we saw in the true herons. In the Bittern,
about three quarters of an inch of the tibiae is free
from feathers, and the proportional development of

AMERICAN BITTERN. 14?

the feet is great, the centre toe exceeding the tarsns
in length. In a specimen from the Cape of Good
Hope, the colours appear all more vivid, and the
dark transverse markings on the sides of the neck
and cheeks are deeper and more thickly placed, and
the feathers are there more elongated. No material
difference, however, exists.

THE AMERICAN BITTERN, BUTOR LENTIGINOSUS,
ARDEA LENTIGINOSA, Montague. — Botaurus mokoho^
VieilL — Heron lentigmeaux, Temm. — The Freckled
Heron or Bittern, American Bittern of British
authors. — The original British specimen of this Bit-
tern fell under the observation of Colonel Montague,
and was killed in Dorsetshire. Since the capture of
that specimen, a few have been taken, chiefly in
the southern or south-eastern counties of England,
and a bird taken in the Isle of Man, the descrip-
tion of which was communicated to Mr. Yarrell, is
thought to be also referable to this species. It has
not yet been found in either Scotland or Ireland.
Hitherto, this bird has been considered identical
with the species of America, representing there our
native bird. The Prince of Canino, however, places
the A. lentiginosa, Montague, and the American bird
(under the title of B. minor) opposite, or as repre-
sentatives in form and markings — the last, of course,
distinct. We possess specimens of the American
bird, but have had no opportunity of comparing it
with European or British killed specimens, and the

148 AMERICAN BITTERN.

description underneath, is taken from a skin sent
to us from South Carolina. In habits, as described
by Wilson and Audubon, the species of America
closely resemble those of the Common Bittern.

Length of the skin, from the point of the bill to
the end of the tail, rather more than two feet ; bill
to the rictus four inches, being longer proportionally,
more slender and heron-like than in the true Bit-
terns. Length of the naked space on the tibiae one
inch ; of tarsus three and three quarters ; of the
centre toe, including the claw, four inches. The
ground colour of the plumage, except the wings, is
ochreous- yellow, on the crown being dark chest-
nut, changing into that colour; on the neck the
centres of the feathers are pale sienna-brown, and
they want the " rayed" appearance of dark and
light seen in the common bird ; on the back and
wings the markings, although somewhat similar, are
much divided ; the throat is white, a stripe of the
pale ochreous running along its centre, and, on the
lower parts, the general colour is considerably paler
than above ; each feather is marked on the centre
with a dash of sienna-brown, which is bordered and
minutely freckled with brown. The quills, instead
of being irregularly barred and blotched with pale
reddish-bnrwn, as in the Common Bittern, are of a
uniform dull brown, pale reddish towards the edge
of the inner web, where the dark colour is shaded
off by minute freckles ; the .tail is sienna-brown,
freckled minutely with blackish-brown. Such is
the general description of an American bird, but

AMERICAN BITTERN. 149

the distinguishing mark is a broad patch of glossy
greenish-black upon each side of the neck, arising
below the auriculars, and passing backwards, so as
nearly to meet at the back of the head. This oc-
cupies the place of the dark stripe in the European
bird, but arises much farther back, and is much
broader. The distribution of this bird has been
considered as European and American.

150

NIGHT-HERONS.

FOLLOWING the true Bitterns, but of a stronger
form, we have a small group of birds known under
the Anglicised name of Night -Heron, or Night -
Raven ; the latter given evidently from the hoarse
call uttered by them, and from their feeding during
the night, and remaining inactive during the day.
They are generally distributed over the different
quarters of the world ; breed in companies, and on
trees, and have the plumage of some dark chaste
shade of grey, olive, or brown, above ; white below,
but tinted in parts with the same colour as that of
the upper parts; the head crested generally with
three long narrow feathers.

NYCTICORAX. — Generic characters. — Bill strong,
rather short, bending from the base, tip notched,
cutting edges not • serrated ; legs feathered to
the knees, inner toe shorter than the outer;
head generally crested.

Types, N. Gardenii, Americanus. Cosmopolite.

Note. — Nocturnal, gregarious during incubation,
breed on trees.

THE COMMON NIGHT-HERON.

Nycticorax Gardenii.
PLATE VI.

N. Europeus steph. — Ardea nycticorax, Linn. — Bihoreau a
manteau noir, Temm. — Night-Heron of British autliors. —
Nyctiardea, Swain.

THIS bird is considered by all our writers, the Prince
of Canino excepted, as ranging over both Europe
and America, but by the ornithologist dissenting
the distinctions are not given. We have been unable
to compare an American specimen, but whatever
may be the result, they are most closely allied, and
although we keep the synonymes separate, we shall
now treat of the species as identical.* Like many
other birds where the livery is double, the adult and
young have been described as distinct. The latter
state is represented in the back figure of our plate,
and was known under the appellation of A. Gardenii,
which we have used at the head of this description.
In Britain it is of occasional appearance, like all
those rare species we have last described, and we do

* Wilson however remarks, " that the European species is
certainly much smaller than the American."

152 COMMON NIGHT-HERON.

not know of any instance of its breeding with us.
In habits they are nocturnal, frequenting marshes,
where brush or rank herbage abounds, and there
skulking in the day time ; feeding in the evening,
twilight, or in light nights, and supporting themselves
chiefly on fish or aquatic reptiles. Several instances
of their capture in the English counties occur ; but,
in Scotland, when the pair which were killed at
Hirsel, the seat of the Earl of Home, were presented
to the Edinburgh Museum, they were accounted
great rarities. That nobleman, who is a keen sports-
man, has several large preserves of water on his
grounds, skirted with willows and tall reeds ; and,
we believe, that it was on the margin of one of these
where the pair of birds was shot. A specimen in
our own collection was obtained just after it had
been skinned, and had been killed a day or two
previously on the banks of the Cluden, a tributary
to the river Nith in Dumfries-shire. In Ireland,
Mr. Thompson records its capture twice ; one, a
specimen sent from Letterkenny to Dublin ; the
second, in the plumage of the young bird, was killed
in the county of Armagh, and was presented to the
Belfast Museum.

In North America, the Night-Heron, or as it is
there -termed, the " Qua Bird," is in some parts
migratory; during the season of incubation it is
gregarious, and breeds together in the inundated
swamps, the stagnant pools near the rice plantations,
and on the low islands clothed with evergreen trees.
The nests are placed sometimes on bushes, some-

COMMON NIGHT-HERON. 153

times on trees at a "very great height, and, in the low
islands, on the mangrove trees that overhang the
water. The birds are described as extremely noisy
and watchful, their sense of hearing being particularly
acute ; at the same time, they are easily procured
by lying in watch, and shooting the birds as they
come into their nests or to roost. The nests are of
considerable size, and are constructed of sticks and
roots ; the eggs are of the pale bluish-green common
to the greater part of the Ardeadce. The young are
esteemed, as food, equal to young pigeons, and seem
to be sought after both by man and the rapacious
birds, which collect around the breeding stations for
the supply which is at this season there furnished.*
If we consider the American specimens to be dis- %
tinct, the range of the British bird will be restricted
to Europe, Africa, and parts of India ; also Japan.t
The back of the neck, wings, rump, and tail, are
of a fine pearl grey, palest on the back of the neck ;
the forehead, cheeks, throat, and under parts, pure
white ; the crown of the head and nape, with the
upper part of the back and mantle, are of a rich
glossy greenish-black, the feathers on the centre of
the back being rather long, and having their webs
unconnected, as in the true Herons ; and, from the
occiput, springs a beautiful adornment of gene-
rally three pure white narrow feathers, which reach
to the back. The bill is black ; the legs greenish-
yellow, appearing of a clearer colour as the bird
attains maturity. In the young bird, represented
v. * Wilson, Audubon. f Temminck.

154 COMMON NIGHT-HERON.

in the back figure of our plate, and known as the
Gardenian Heron, the colour of the plumage is dif-
ferent shades of wood-brown, very deep above, and
approaching to yellowish- white below, and on the
back and wing-coverts having each feather marked
along the centres with triangular white spots ; be-
neath, the feathers are margined with darker wood-
brown, which gives an interrupted appearance to
these parts ; the bill is more of an olive colour at
the base, and the legs and feet are nearly olive-
green ; in this state there is no indication of the
crest.

On comparing a specimen of an adult bird from
Southern Africa with two others, the one from the
continent, the other killed in Scotland, we find no
difference, except in the crest of those of Europe
and Britain ; in it the narrow feathers are uniform
in their breadth, and are pure white ; in the speci-
men from Africa, the feather is a quarter of an inch
in breadth at the base, gradually narrowing to an
accuminated point ; the shaft is dark, and in one of
them the half is entirely black.

155

STORKS.

THE Storks will naturally hold a place among the
Ardeadce, but their proper situation among them is
yet a little uncertain ; they are aberrant in the form,
and, with the next, run more into some rasorial
families. The Storks^ in the extended value of the
term, as that of a gr.oup, will include all those very
large birds belonging to India, South America, and
]STew Holland, and known under the common names
of Jabiru, Adjutant, &c., and they are mostly re-
markable in the selection of some insulated eleva-
tion for the position of their nests. These will form
Several genera, but the bird of Europe, the Ciconia
alba, we shall consider as typical of the true Stork,
or

CICONIA. — Generic characters. — Bill lengthened,
straight, very strong, sharp pointed; nostrils
nearly basal, pierced in the horny substance of
the bill, somewhat linear ; legs very long ; tibiae
naked ; toes four, connected by a membrane,
considerably developed between the outer and
middle toe, the posterior toe short, articulated
above the place of the rest ; claws short, that
of the middle toe not serrated ; tail compara-
tively short ; wings long, third and fourth quills
longest.

Europe, Asia, Africa.

Note. — Often familiar ; breed on insulated eleva-
tions.

16&

THE WHITE STORK.

Ciconia alba. ^

PLATE VII.

Ciconia alba, Brisson. — Ardea alba, Linn. — Cicogne blanche,
Temm. — Common Stork, White Stork of British authors.

IN Europe, the Stork is a migratory bird, visiting it
only during the season of incubation, seen upon our
shores as a straggler, and in modern days, much
more rarely than it even anciently seems to have
occurred. In France, Holland, and Germany, the
Stork is common during the breeding season, and
being in these countries protected, it mixes fami-
liarly with the noise and bustle of population, and
incubates on the tops of the chimneys, on spires,
or other elevated structures of the towns. Artifi-
cial flat-topped erections are often put up for its use
and convenience, and, in some parts, penalties are
levied on its molestation. In no work, to which
we have access, have we seen the natural breeding-
places mentioned, for although they may in Europe
congregate about towns and villages, we have little
doubt that colonies will elsewhere exist, inhabiting,
at the time of breeding, elevated rocks, or dead or

WHITE STORK. 157

bare trees. When so frequent, then, on the opposite
shores, it seems remarkable that we have them so
seldom among us, and is another instance where
the narrow channel of the straits forms the well-
kept boundary line for species. On the continent,
these birds are frequently kept tame in the market-
places, for the purpose of clearing off refuse, &c.,
which they perform in a complete manner, stalking
lazily amidst the stalls and purchasers, or are seen
standing on one leg, with the head retracted, after
having glutted themselves with .the offal of the
slaughter-house. In England it has occurred lately,
at various seasons, in many of the southern counties ;
once or twice in Scotland so far north as Shetland ;*
and Mr. Yarrell states, " this species is said to have
been killed in Ireland." We do not, however, find
any thing regarding it in Mr. Thompson's notes.
On the continent, it reaches so far north as Sweden,
and Scandinavia also, as a summer visitant, while
its winter quarters have always been considered as
Northern Africa.

The plumage is entirely pure white, with the
exception of the quills, secondaries, and tertials,
which are glossy black, towards the shafts having
a shade of grey; the bill, legs and feet, crimson-
red. In the young birds these parts are tinged
with brown, but other differences have not been
pointed out.

Another fine Stork has been admitted to a place
in our fauna,

* Yarrell.

158 BLACK STORK.

THE BLACK STORK, CICONIA NIGRA. — C. nigra,
Will. — Ardea nigra, Linn. — Cicogne noire^ Temm.
• — Black Stork of British authors. — The first spe-
cimen, taken in the British Islands, was in Somer-
setshire, in 1814, and it fortunately came into the
possession of Colonel Montague, who published th
record of its appearance, with an account of its
habits during the period it continued alive in his
possession.* Another was taken, in 1831, on the
Thames, a third near Ipswich, and the last in No-
vember, 1839, in the Isle of Purbeck, at the south
side of Poole harbour, t Its native countries are
said to be Switzerland, Hungary, and Turkey, build-
ing in secluded forests, on the tops of high trees. J
It is also found at the Cape of Good Hope§ and
Madeira. || It is easily tamed, and is an elegant
species, its dark and glossy upper plumage contrast-
ing beautifully with the white of its under parts,
relieved by the deep red of the bill and legs.

Mr. Yarrell thus describes the bird in the Zoolo-
gical Gardens. " The beak and naked skin around
the eye are red, tinged with orange ; the irides red-
dish-brown ; the head and neck all round, upper sur-
face of the body, wings, and wing-coverts, are glossy
black, varied with blue, purple, copper-coloured,
and green reflections ; the primary quill-feathers
and the tail, black ; the whole of the under surface
of the body, from the bottom of the neck to the

* See Trans. Linn. Soc. for 1815. f Yarrel. £ Selby.
§ Dr. Smith. |J Dr. Heineken.

SPOONBILL. 159

ends of the under tail-coverts, white ; legs and toes,
orange-red ; the claws black.

SPOONBILLS.

IN the genus, which we place next, we find hirds
possessing the form, and many of the habits, of the
herons ; the bill lengthened, but instead of that mem-
ber being sharp-pointed and rough on the edges,
fitted for darting at and securing a slippery and
sometimes strong prey, we see it depressed, endowed
with sensibility, and modelled somewhat upon the
plan of the bill among the ducks.

PLATALEA. — Generic characters. — Bill long,

O'

straight, depressed, very flat, dilated towards
the tip ; nostrils basal, placed above, and near
each other ; legs long, naked above the tarsal
joint ; toes before partially webbed, posterior
toe articulated slightly above the plane of the
others ; claws short, not serrated ; wings long,
second quill longest ; head often crested.

Types, P. leucorodia, ajaja, &c.

Note. — Gregarious, breed on trees, sometimes
swim. Europe, Asia, America.

JOO

THE WHITE OR EUROPEAN SPOONBILL,

Piatalea leucorodia, LINNAEUS.
/

PLATE VIII.

Piatalea leucorodia, Linn. — Spatule blanche, Temm. —
Spoonbill or White Spoonbill of British authors.

THE Spoonbill is an occasional visitant to the three
kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, being most
frequently met with in England, while it is rare in
the others ; in the former, they are even recorded by
Sir Thomas Browne to have bred occasionally, while,
on the other hand, in Scotland, they appear to have
strayed even so far north as Orkney and Shetland.*
Out of Europe, they seem to range to Africa and
India, although the specimens brought by Colonel
Sykes are from three to four inches longer than the
European birds. \ The Spoonbill seems to breed both
on trees and upon the ground, or nearly so, among
tall reeds ; and the eggs deposited in a nest of large
and strong structure, differ from those of the other
Ardeadce in their colour, being nearly white, with
blotches of pale brown over them. Their food is
usually described to be small reptiles and fish, with
* Fleming. . f Yarrell.

WHITE SPOONBILL. 161

all the produce of marine and aquatic life which oc-
curs in pools left by the tide, or is formed by fresh
waters. The form and structure of the bill would,
however, lead us to believe, that if their manner of
feeding was strictly observed, it would be found
adapted to a peculiar kind of food, abundant in the
places which they frequent. In confinement it is
various, and nothing seems to come far amiss.
Young birds we have seen fed on bread and milk,
and also with fish, which they eat with great avidity.
The plumage of the adult Spoonbill is entirely pure
white, with the exception of a band of a rich buff
colour, placed on each side of the lower parts of the
neck, and which shades off to pure white on the fore
part of the breast, scarcely however meeting. The
head is adorned with a very ample crest of long
broad feathers, hanging half way down the neck,
and capable of being erected at pleasure ; the bill is
Hack, yellow towards the tip, and very rugous above;
the legs and feet are also black. The female is
described as having a small crest. In the young
the head is not crested, and the buff-coloured band
is not present. In young birds which we saw in
Holland, fully feathered, but not long from the nest,
the plumage above was dusky, from a dull or dark
stripe passing along the centre of each feather ; and
the bill, with the bare skin of the face, was of a
grey or lead colour, the former quite soft, and tinted
on the edges of the gape with pink.

162

CRANES.

THE next form has given some difficulty in assigning
it a situation ; it is more varied in habits and feeding,
and, in internal structure, seems to approach nearer
the Rasores than the typical Grallatores; but the
British bird, when viewed in conjunction with the
foreign species, and some of those large birds which
were formerly associated with the genus, will be
found to take its place, and fill up a wanting gap
among the Ardeadce.

GRUS, Pallas — Generic characters. — Bill strong,
nearly straight, compressed, pointed ; nostrils
large and pervious ; legs long, much of the
tibiae naked; toes strong, but comparatively
short, the hinder toe short, articulated, high on
the tarsus ; wings ample, rather rounded, third
quill longest; tertial feathers often elongated.

Types, G. cinerea, Americana. Europe, Asia,
America.

163

THE COMMON CRANE.

Grus cinereu, BECHSTEIN.
PLATE IX.

Ardea grus, Ray^ Linn., Qc — Grus cinerea, BecJistein,
and modern ornithologists.— Grue cendree, Temm. — Com-
mon Crane of British authors.

THE Common Crane would seem formerly to have
been much more frequent, than it now is, in our
islands, appearing in the old bills for many of the
feasts. Crane, however, we do not think can always,
in these records, be translated as the Grus cinerea of
the ornithologists of the present day. In later days
the bird appears only as an occasional visitant ; and
not more than seven or eight instances of its occur-
rence are mentioned between 1 820, and the present
year, 1841 ; some of these have been in Devon-
shire, others in Orkney and Shetland. In Ireland
it has not been seen for a hundred years. In the
north of Europe it is seen, at similar interrupted
intervals ; and, in Central Europe, they are observed
during their migrations. " Egypt, and various parts
of Africa, are said to be their winter quarters ;" *
but of their stronghold, or of their breeding stations,
little, indeed, seems yet known to ornithoJngists.
* Yarrell.

164: COMMON CRANE.

The latter is said to be in marshes, by the sides of
lakes or rivers, where the vegetation is dense, and a
love for elevated situations is also ascribed to it.
The structure of the trachea is somewhat similar to
that observed in some of the Natatores, the swan
for instance, and in several of the Rasores ; it per-
forms extensive convolutions in the sternum as it
advances in age, occupying nearly the whole of its
internal space.

The crown of the head exhibits a naked oval
space, of a bluish or livid colour, we believe, in the
living bird, thickly scattered over with black hairs,
or rather hair-like plumes ; immediately succeeding
this, the feathers on the occiput are brocoli-brown ;
the chin, and fore parts of the neck, ending in a
point on the breast, are of the same colour ; all the
general plumage is ash-grey, slightly paler beneath ;
the bastard and primary quills, secondaries, and
tertials, are black ; a portion of the secondaries and
tertials being elongated, assume a curved form, have
the webs disunited, and droop gracefully over the
ends of the wings and sides, in the form of the
curved feathers in the tail of the domestic cock.
The tail is blackish-grey, short in comparison with
the size of the bird ; the under coverts reaching in
length to its extremity ; the legs and feet black.

In the female the development of the long plumes
is less, and the colours of the plumage scarcely so
clear. The young want the dark colour on the
neck and occiput, and have the plumage more
tinted with brown.

TANTALTD^E.

THIS is another group of birds, of which we possess
only one example in our fauna, the Glossy Ibis,
evidently of form intermediate between some of the
herons and Scolopacidce. The family has been de-
nominated, from another genus, Tantalus, having
all the proportions somewhat similar, but much more
developed. These birds, though partially aquatic,
are gregarious, breed on trees, and many of them
possess the large development of the secondary
quills which we saw in the cranes, while, in others,
the elongated feathers of the neck and breast of the
herons are represented. In the genus Ibis, as now
restricted to the type of /. rubra, falcinellus, &c.,
we have the form more slender, and running into
that of the curlew division of the Scolopacidce, and
their habits are also more akin to them, frequenting
the edges of marshes, the borders of rivers, and the
sea shore.

GENUS IBIS. — Generic characters. — Bill long,
curved at the base, compressed, thickened, and
powerful; mandible deeply grooved for its whole
length ; tip, without development for sense
of touch ; face, chin, and throat, sometimes
naked; legs rather long, strong; tibia? par-
tially naked; feet strong; toes joined by >*

166 GLOSSY IBIS.

membrane, Iiinder toe on the same plane with
the others ; wings long, second, third, and
fourth, nearly equal and longest.
Types, /. rubra, falcinellus, &c. Europe, Asia,
Africa.

THE GLOSSY IBIS.

Ibis falcmellus.
PLATE X.

Tantalus falcinellus, Linn. — Ibis falcinellus, Temm. — Bay
Ibis, Green Ibis, Glossy Ibis, of British authors.

THIS richly-coloured hird has now been frequently
killed in several of the English counties, from the
south even to Northumberland. In Ireland, by
Mr. Thompson, it is stated as a rare visitant. On
the continent it also occurs sparingly, and reaches
a locality so far north as Iceland.* The bird of
India was considered identical by Dr. Latham.
Colonel Sykes includes it among the birds of the
Dukhun ; and, in a list of birds published in the
Annals of Natural History, Little Thibet is given to
it.t Java, Sunda, and other islands in the eastern
* Wagler. f Letter from G. F. Vigne, Esq. viii. p. 224.

GLOSSY IBIS. 167

seas, are also mentioned as within its eastern range.*
In Africa, it has heen found in Egypt and in the
vicinity of the Cape oi Good Hope.f In America,
an Ibis has always been considered as identical
with this species, and ranges from the United States
to Mexico, Florida, and the Brazils ; this, in fact,
being considered as the head quarters of the species.
The Prince of Canino, in his last geographical and
comparative list, however, places the American bird
under the title of Ills Ordii, restricting the /. fal-
clnellus to Southern and Central Europe, whence the
stray specimens reach the British shores. As in
many similar cases, we have thought it right to state
the views of the Prince, though we do not know
his distinguishing characters, and have only more
and more to regret the want of that information,
which would have rendered his work so much more
valuable.

In the adult bird, the plumage may be said to
be one brilliant changing mass of greenish-black,
purple, arid dull red, all parts having a metallic
lustre, these prevail on the head, neck, back, and
general upper parts ; beneath, the colour is of a deep
reddish-brown, with little play of colour ; the bill is
deep brown, and the naked part of the face, the legs,
and feet, are blackish-green, darkest on the latter.
The young specimen procured by Mr. Selby, in Nor-
thumberland, is thus described by him, and, with
little variation according to age, may suffice to mark
the young in their first or early state. " The bill
* Temminck. f Dr. Smith.

168 SCOLOPACID^E.

is greenish-black, fading towards the tip to wood-
brown, and measures five inches in length ; the lores
are green ; the head, throat, and back of the upper
part of the neck, are pale hair-brown ; the feathers
margined with white, and giving a spotted appear-
ance ; on the fore part of the neck are two narrow
transverse bars, and a large irregular spot of white ;
lower parts of the neck, and the whole of the under
parts, of a hair-brownish colour, the margins of the
feathers having greenish reflections ; upper parts of
the body, wings, and tail, glossy olive-green, with
faint changeable reflections of purplish-red upon the
scapulars and wing-coverts ; legs and toes blackish-
green."

SCOLOPACID^E.

THE Scolopacidce^ typically represented by the Snipes
and Woodcocks, is well seen in our British list, by
a numerous series of forms and species, all extremely
interesting, and is, we believe, a favourite family
with almost every ornithologist. By far the greatest
proportion of them frequent extensive marshes, or
the shores and banks of our coasts and rivers, retir-
ing, for a time, to the inland moors or fens, to breed
and rear their young. A few only are partial to
woods and thick covers, where, however, they are to
be found in marshy glades, or the moist and more

SCOLOPACIM:. 169

exposed openings which occasionally prevail ; many
of them are much esteemed for the table, and by the
sportsman. The plumage of all is coloured with
chaste and subdued tints, and is often remarkable
for the purity and distinctness of its markings. The
young run immediately on being hatched. Several
of the genera feed and perform their migrations by
night, these have the eye proportionally large, and
much developed. The bill is often furnished, at its
tip, with a structure of high sensibility, by which it
can discriminate by the sense of touch, the insects,
&c., with which it comes in contact.

The first form we notice, is that of the Wood-
cocks or Snipes, which wre shall here keep together,
though, by several intelligent ornithologists, they
have been separated, partly on account of the more
sylvan habits of the former, and partly from a
slight difference in the feathering of the tarsi, or in
the one set of birds being formed for a wading or
more aquatic life than the other. "Without doubt,
the three known species of Woodcocks, all sylvan in
their habits, could at once be separated by any one
from the Snipes ; but, at the same time, we have
one or two intermediate birds which could not,
assuming the distinctions we have stated as charac-
ters, be placed in either.

GENUS SCOLOPAX, Linn. — Generic characters. —
Bill lengthened, straight, basally compressed,
slightly curved at the tip, and there dilated ;
the tip of the maxilla fitting into that of the

170 WOODCOCK.

mandible ; legs and feet slender ; tarsi of mode-
rate length ; tibise only for a short space naked,
or altogether clothed with feathers ; wings mo-
derate, tips of the quills somewhat rounded,
but the first or second longest.
Types, Scolopox rusticola, gallinnago, Sabinii, &c.
Cosmopolite.

e. — Habits of several, to a certain extent,
sylvan, all migratory, or partially so. Squat
on the approach of danger. Breeding and
winter plumage similar.

THE WOODCOCK.

Scolopax rusticola, LINNAEUS.
PLATE XI.

Scolopax rusticola, Linn, fyc. — Becasse ordinaire, Temrn. —
The Woodcock of British authors.

THE Woodcock is the largest species in the genus,
and, from the oldest records, has been in high favour
for the table, and since the time that shooting fly-
ing has been practised, has been much sought after
by the sportsman, to whom it makes an agreeable

WOODCOCK. 171

variation among the winter rover-shooting. Al-
though there are now many instances on record of
the Woodcock breeding in various parts of Great
Britain, yet it still must be considered as one of
our winter migrating birds, the great mass visiting
us in the commencement and towards the end of
October, and removing again in February. The
great attention that has been paid to British orni-
thology, for thirty years past, has made known
many instances of breeding; for we do not see
any changes in the country that could have, at a
later period, increased their frequency ; but, even
those which have been recorded, are few indeed,
compared with the number of birds that visit
us every winter. Some situations appear more
favourable, or are preferred by the birds to others,
and there, almost with tolerable certainty, one or
two pairs may be found, season after season ; but,
with that exception, there is no indiscriminate
breeding, as with the snipes, in suitable localities.
In Ross-shire, they have now been frequently dis-
covered breeding.* Near Dunkeld, they are stated
also to breed,t and this locality must be a favourite
one of long standing ; for, twenty years since, in
rambling through the woods in that vicinity, we
were told by the keepers, that Woodcock nests had
several times been found. In Fifeshire we have
heard of instances, and once received the egg in a
fresh state from that county. In Northumberland
* Sir F. Mackenzie. , f Loudon, Mag. of Nat. Hist.

172 WOODCOCK.

we have also authentic records of their breeding;*
and various scattered instances have been noted, in
different periodicals, &c., of nests being found in
other and more southern districts of England. But
all these can merely be looked upon as cases on the
very limit of their breeding range, and not at all
similar to birds, which, though they remove, or par-
tially migrate, yet regularly and in numbers breed
with us.

Like a great proportion of the aquatic birds, a
dry spot is selected for the nest, often at a consi-
derable distance from water. By one writer, the
nests were said to be all placed in " dry, warm
situations, amongst dead grass and leaves, without
any attempt at concealment ;" and, by Sir Francis
Mackenzie, " the soil where the nests were found is
gravelly and rather dry ; the grass tolerably long,
without underwood; and the trees, oak, birch,
and larch, not exceeding thirty years growth." In
Norway, " they (eggs) were placed upon the bare
ground, under some brushwood, and in a place from
which the timber had been cleared, and in which
the young spruce firs were again springing." j* The
eggs are of a pale purplish-brown, sometimes yel-
lowish-white, with irregular markings of a deep
brown tint.

The Woodcock, when first arriving in this country,
may be found in whin covers on the coast, or at a
great distance from wood, often on the moors, amidst
* Selby. f Hewitson.

WOODCOCK. 173

long heath ; at times, in these localities, they are
extremely shy, while at others, as if fatigued with
their flight, they can scarcely be raised, and fre-
quently, when fallen in with in such a state, are
killed in numbers. They soon, however, leave these
districts, and do it simultaneously, scarcely a bird
being to be found in the morning where the day pre-
vious they had been abundant. Their most favourite
haunts, when settled, as it were, for the winter, are
woods of some extent, where there is cover that can
be run through beneath, and where shelter is afforded
by spreading low-branched spruce trees, hollies, or
other large evergreens. There they rest by day, only
at times feeding, or turning over the dried leaves,
and at twilight regain activity, resorting to the open
glades, or marshy bottoms, or sheltered outskirts,
and then, for a time, feed in earnest. Their food
seems to be aquatic insects or Iarva3, which they
procure by thrusting their bills into the soft mud, or
u boring," as in sporting language it is termed ; in
this process a quantity of sand is also taken, for the
stomach is almost always filled with it, in addition
to any remains of insects that can be seen. In the
woods, they also seem to turn over the dead leaves in
search of what may be beneath ; and, in hard frost,
this bird, from these peculiarities, is one that suffers
most severely. The number of Woodcocks which
visit us vary much from year to year, and without
apparent cause. Whatever that may be, it should
be sought for in their summer land, not in that
which receives them in winter. Ireland seems to

174 WOODCOCK.

be a most abundant locality for both this bird and
the snipe. The character of the country would, to
a certain extent, account for the latter ; but, even
its position, in reference to that in which they are
summer residents, does not completely account for
the abundance. Fifty couple are recorded as killed
by a single gun in one day,* and a range of from ten
to thirty is not accounted extraordinary. Natural
copse- wood, on the hills and valleys of the moor-
lands, are said to be favourite retreats for them;
in whin covers they are also found, and we have
the word of a keen shot, some time resident in
Ireland, that, after a flight, many might be found in
the hedges.

The migration of the Woodcock is nocturnal ; in
the partial changes which they make in this country,
we know that this is the period selected, and their
arrival has been witnessed at early dawn on our
coasts, t The Woodcock, also, is one of the birds
which are occasionally taken, after having dashed
themselves against lighthouses, attracted by the
light ; and instances have occurred, where they have
alighted on the decks of vessels in the channel.

The geographical distribution is extensive. Be-
sides being generally met with in Great Britain and
Ireland, wherever suitable localities occur, it extends
occasionally to Orkney and Shetland, but, from the
want of shelter there, it continues for no time ; and,
as we have seen with various species which range
far to the north in the British Islands, still, abroad,
* Daniel. f See Y^reJl

WOODCOCK. 175

the same degrees do not restrict them; thus, we
have the Woodcock extending even beyond the
Arctic Circle,* and breeding in Austria, Siberia, and
Silesia. In an opposite direction, they reach the
Italian States, Smyrna, f and some parts of the
African cqast. They are seen at Madeira ;J and
Mr. Yarrell states, that the " Zoological Society
have received notices of our Woodcock having
been obtained at Cashmere ; and Dodah, near Cash-
mere," is given by another authority. § We possess
specimens from India, which we understood came
from the alpine districts, the only variation being
a greater preponderance of rufous marking the plu-
mage. It is also found in Japan. || In the catalogue
of the Sumatran and Javanese specimens, collected
by Sir Stamford Raffles, it is stated, " There is a spe-
cimen in the Sumatran cabinet, nearly allied to the
British Woodcock, which remains to be examined."
The Woodcock is the largest known species of
the genus, weighing from nine to eleven ounces.
The colours vary in intensity in different birds, the
prevailing tint in some being of a yellowish-grey, in
others of a reddish almost sienna-brown. The fore-
head, until in a line with the eyes, is grey ; and
immediately succeeding, across the crown and nape,
there are four bands of rich blackish-brown, the
two first very marked and distinct, and all separated
by a narrow bar of yellowish or reddish- white ; from

* Yarrell. f Strickland. J Heineken.

§ G. T. Vigne, Esq., Annals of Nat. Hist. viii. p. 2-'5.

11 Temminck.

176 WOODCOCK.

the corners of the eye to the rictus, there is a streak
of the same rich brown colour, helow the auriculars a
longitudinal patch, and on the fore part of the neck,
two oval patches, also hrown, the latter formed by
1he tips and bars on the feathers being very broad
and uniting. The upper plumage is a mixture of
chestnut -brown, pale ochraceous, and grey, inter-
spersed with black and rich brown markings,
chastely disposed, the pale colours being generally
surrounded by a dark margin often shading into
them. The rump and the tail-coverts are chestnut-
brown, the latter concealing the tail until within
three-quarters of an inch from the tip. Wings
blackish-brown, interiorly appearing pale sapio-
brown, the feathers cut into on the edge of each
web with triangular markings, on the outer of chest-
nut-brown, on the inner of reddish wood-brown ;
the outer web of the first quill is generally paler,
in some instances yellowish-white, that colour pre-
dominating, and the dark assuming the form of tri-
angular spots upon it. The tail, of twelve feathers,
is black, the outer webs of the feathers cut into
with chestnut-brown ; the tips above grey, on the
under side appearing pure white ; under parts yel-
lowish-white, of a redder tinge on the breast, and
varying in specimens to a more ochreous and redder
tint ; the whole is narrowly barred with blackish
or hair-brown; under tail-covert ochreous, with
black centres. Legs, and base of the bill, pale
brownish-pink ; the tint of the latter increasing in
intensity to the tip, where it becomes nearly black.

177

SCOLOPAX SABINII. — SABINE'S SNIPE, Vigors.*- —
We have introduced this Snipe after the woodcock,
in consequence of the intermediate form and colour
it possesses between the true woodcocks (Rusticola
of some authors) and the Snipe. The upper parts
are nearly of a dusky-brown, varied by narrow bands
of pale yellowish-brown. The under parts are also
rufous dusky-brown, alternately barred with pale
yellow-brown. The tail, containing twelve feathers,
has the basal half black, the terminal half chestnut-
brown, barred with black or blackish-brown. Tibiae
plumed entirely to the knees. The entire length of
the bird is from ten to twelve inches, of which the
bill will measure from two to three.

This interesting bird was described by N. A.
Vigors, Esq., in the fourteenth volume of the Lin-
nasan Transactions, from a specimen shot in Queen's
County, Ireland, on the 22d of August 1822. A
second Irish specimen was afterwards procured and
exhibited to the Zoological Society, by Mr. Thomp-
son; and three other specimens have since been
killed in England, the last near Morpeth, in Nor-
thumberland, which is the most northern range
ascertained for the species. "We are not aware, with
certainty, of any extra European locality.

Of the habits of the Sabine Snipe we know little.
That exhibited by Mr. Thompson was not procured
until after the third shot, and showed no shyness or
timidity, alighting, after being fired at, without

* Linnaean Trans, vol. xiv. Illust. of Ornith. pi. xxvii.

M

178 GREAT SNIPE.

flying far. The cry is described as different from
that of the Common Snipe.

THE GREAT SNIPE, SCOLOPAX MAJOR. — Scolopan
major ) Gmel. — Grande ou Double Becassme, Temm.
— Great Double or Solitary Snipe of British authors.
— This species occurs, as a straggling bird of pas-
sage, chiefly in the south of our island, where, in
some seasons, its occurrence is pretty frequent ; but,
as we reach the borders of Scotland, and proceed
northward and westward, or into Ireland, it becomes
more rare in its appearance. In Continental Europe
it is also migratory ; appears to be most common
and to breed in Norway and Sweden, occurring in
Central Europe only at uncertain periods, but also
incubating in scattered localities in Holland. Spe-
cimens were sent from Trebizond to the Zoological
Society, by Messrs. Dickson and Ross, but its extra
European range is not ascertained; some of those
foreign specimens, which were considered identical
(that from America for instance), being found to be
distinct.

It is remarkable, that in Britain the specimens of
the Great Snipe have been almost all met with ia
autumn, comparatively few being found in the spring,
or on their return northward. When found, it is ge-
nerally alone, or in pairs, which has gained for it the
appellation of " Solitary Snipe," and it is said to be
not shy in approach. It is at once distinguished by
its heavier flight, and by its out-spread tail.

COMMON SNIPE. 179

In comparison with the Common Snipe, the hill
and legs are short ; the tibiae bare for only a short
distance above the tarsal joint. The upper parts
exhibit the general distribution of colouring and
marking seen in the Snipes, the distinctions in
which, between species, it is almost impossible to
point out in words, but the under parts, to the breast,
are pale ochreous, below that nearly white in the
former, the latter having the feathers barred with
black, the markings covering the whole under sur-
face ; the wings are short and rounded in all their
proportions; the edges of the inner webs very slightly
tinted with a pale rufous, and minutely and deli-
cately mottled with greyish-black (as in Tringa ru-
fescens), though not so conspicuously ; the axillary
leathers with very broad and distinct black bars ;
tail very much concealed by both upper and under
coverts ; the centre feathers black, with rich rufous-
orange tips, finished by a black and a white narrow
bar ; the four exterior feathers, on each side, white
on the inner webs, more or less barred with black
on the outer, and those next the centre being tinted
with reddish-orange.

THE COMMON SNIPE, SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO, Linn.
—Scolopax gallinago, Linn. — Becassme ordinaire,
Temminck. — Snipe, or Common Snipe of British
authors. — The Common Snipe is abundant over
the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, and is
familiarly known to every sportsman. Many birds

180 COMMON SNIPE,

permanently remain, but in all districts we believe
that a partial migration takes place, and we receive
a large accession of numbers about the period of the
arrival of our earliest winter visiters, which again,
in part at least, remove with the coming spring.
The general character of the English counties is
rather unfavourable for this bird, but wherever these
are suitable, it abounds. As we proceed to the north-
ward, the moisture and moorlands increase, and
with them the Snipe, and it reaches and increases
in numbers, even to the most distant of the Hebri-
des. In the breeding season, the relative frequency
of incubation is comparative with its numbers ; and,
on reaching the Scottish border, it may be said to
breed every where. The localities preferred at this
time, are the edges of marshy grounds ; or, where
these are very extensive, some drier spot amidst
the lower moors, and the borders of the northern
lochs. In the south, the marshes in the commons,
and the open marshy valleys in the tracts called
forests, are frequented by them. The nest is placed
on some dry raised tuft or hillock, and it is a pressed
or scraped hollow, the little herbage that is present
being used, rather than a nest formed of carried
materials. At this season, or when the pairing has
commenced, the birds may be heard piping among
the herbage, or may be both seen and heard in the
air, performing their evolutions, and uttering the
loud drumming sound, which, at one time, gave
rise to so much discussion in regard to the manner
Hi which it was performed. The sound is never

COMMON SNIPE. 181

heard except in the downward flight, and when the
wings are in rapid and quivering motion ; their re-
sistance to the air, without doubt, causes the noise,
which forms one of those agreeable variations in a
country walk, so earnestly watched for by the prac-
tical ornithologist.

After incubation, the young may still be found
near their breeding places, and it is not until the
weather becomes variable, that they, according to
circumstances, begin to shift their ground. We
have often found them abundant in the low and
sheltered marshes, and the day following sought the
same ground, scarcely meeting with a bird. The
same occurs on the upland wet pastures, and they
come in and remove with the night. Frost has a
similar effect on their motions, but in very severe
weather, this drives them to be pretty stationary
until the next change. They are also sometimes
found in grounds having a considerable growth of
scattered willow or alder, where the woodcock would
rather have been looked for ; and, in a very severe
winter, we have seen Snipes come to the garden,
and perch on the cabbages and greens along with
the wood-pigeon, apparently in search of any mois-
ture held between the blades.

From the close resemblance and alliance of some
apparently distinct species of Snipe to that of Bri-
tain, the exact geographical range has not been
ascertained ; by some it is made to be extremely
wide, while by others, again, it is almost restricted
to Europe. Both are probably wrong, and much of

182 COMMON SNIPE.

our authority rests on the evidence of sportsmen;
Lloyd, in his Northern Field Sports, finds it abun-
dant in the north of Europe. Mr. Yarrell, on the
authority of Mr. Dann, states, that it " breeds in
extensive morasses and swamps, in the mountainous
districts of Norway and Sweden. From Scona to
Lapland it is widely distributed. Russia and Siberia
are given to it by Pennant ; the vicinity of Smyrna
by Mr. Strickland. It is enumerated in the Suma-
tran Catalogue of Sir Stamford Raffle's collection.
The birds of America are distinct.

The markings of the plumage of many of the
Snipes is so similar, that there is great difficulty in
describing them so as to show specific distinctions.
The general upper ground colour of the Common
British Snipe is deep brownish-black, and this is
varied by the light wood-brown edges of the fea-
thers, which are so distributed in many parts as to
run in lines. The colour of the crown is divided by
a central pale line produced in this manner ; from
the nostrils, over each eye, another broad line
stretches, and from the gape to the eye there is a
blackish-brown streak of uninterrupted colour ; on
the back of the neck, from the centres of the fea-
thers only being dark, an irregularly varied mixture
is produced ; but upon the back scapulars and long
tertials, the feathers are edged with a broad margin
of clear wood-brown, which runs in lines along the
back ; the lower part of the back, when the long
tertials are laid aside, is nearly black, each feather
tipped with white, producing altogether a distinctly

COMMON SNIPE. 183

and beautifully varied appearance. Beneath, the
chin is white or yellowish- white ; the throat and
breast dark wood-brown, the feathers of a deeper tint
in the centre, the colours shading into pure white
on the lower part of the breast, belly, and vent.
The tail contains fourteen feathers, the two in the
centre black, tipped with reddish-orange for the
length of half an inch ; this pale tint is sometimes
jnottled with black, and is crossed near the tip with
a narrow dark bar ; the other feathers to the ex-
terior, are greyish-black, the reddish-orange extend-
ing further down, varied and clouded with the dark
ground colour of the feathers ; the outer feather is
white at the tip, and on the outer web. When
running, the Snipe jerks with its tail, spreading
and expanding it like a fan, and often placing it in
a lateral position ; the shafts of the feathers bend
inwards, that of the outer having a distinct angular
curve.

184

THE JACK SNIPE.

Scolopax gallinula^ LINNAEUS.
PLATE XII.

Scolopax gallinuta, Linn. — Becassine sourde, Temin. — The
Jack Snipe or Judcock of British authors.

THIS beautiful little Snipe is generally dispersed
over the British Islands, upon the whole less nume-
rously than the common species, at the same time
always to be met with during winter, and at times
in considerable numbers. It is a winter visitant,
arriving among the most early, and returning, as it
were, year after year, to its favourite and accustomed
haunts. It is also one of the last to leave us,
always remaining until the month of March, and, at
this period, when the nuptial dress has commenced
to be put on, and has reached a certain degree of
maturity, the glossy green and purple of the dark
parts of the back, contrasting with clear ochreous-
yellow, exceeds in beairty the plumage of any of
our Snipes, or, indeed, of any foreign species we
are acquainted with.

The Jack Snipe is a solitary species during its
stay with us, being met with singly, or with a single
companion ; at the same time, in some sheltered or
favourite locality, five or six may frequently be

JACK SNIPE. 185

found within a limited space. We have never,
however, known them congregate in small parties,
as the common Snipe does, or rise in more than a
single bird at a time. It may be interesting to know
how the migration is performed. They are far from
being shy, though at times we have seen them rise
" wild ;" but, in general, they will allow the sports-
man to approach very near, sometimes within a
few feet, and lie squatted on the ground with the
head and bill stretched out before, unmindful of
cover, but selecting any inequality, hollow, or foot-
step, to screen themselves.

In regard to the incubation of the Jack Snipe,
we may say, that attempts to discover its nest in
this country have hitherto been unavailing. Mr.
Yarrell has been at pains to collect all the informa-
tion and evidence on the subject, but, among the
few notices of the occurrence of the eggs, we cannot
trace authenticity, while the straggling instances
which have occurred, of the bird being sometimes
shot during summer, must be attributed to other
circumstances than the occasional remaining of some
pairs for the purpose of breeding.

They are, however, as before stated, a very late
bird in leaving us, and are regularly seen with the
London poulterers in the first week of April.* In
an excursion to Sutherlandshire, some years since,
we thought we had found a breeding station for this
bird near Tongue. The gamekeeper there, an intel-
ligent man, said, that he frequently met with them
* Yarrell.

186 JACK SNIPE.

and their young in August, while shooting; and
every cross-questioning that could be put, would not
allow him to think that he was mistaken by the
young of the common Snipe. He mentioned the
peculiar breeding-places frequented by them, and
which, when visited, were exactly the spots we
should have expected, or looked for a " Jack." Our
search, however, was fruitless, and, so far as this
point is concerned, we have been unable to fill it up
in Scotland. So far as we know any thing of its
European range, it is a northern species during the
time of incubation, being a winter visitant only in
France and most parts of central Europe ; by Tern-
minck, it is said to breed in the vicinity of Peters-
burgh.* Out of Europe, Colonel Sykes considers
the species of the Dukhun to be identical. We have
never, however, seen it, or received it with any
collection from India.

From the bill, over each eye, *to the back of the
head, there is a broad streak of pale ochreous-
yellow, divided immediately above the eye by a line
of rich blackish-brown along the crown of the head ;
arising narrowly from the bill is a broad streak
of the same colour, running backwards the same
length with the pale markings; between the bill
and the eye a streak of umber-brown ; cheeks, sides
of the neck and breast, greyish-white, tinged with
ochreous, and spotted with black by markings in
the centre of each feather ; back black, with green
and purple reflections, the feathers narrowly tipped
* Manuel, Supplement.

JACK SNIPE. 137

with white, broadly margined with pale ochreous-
yellow, and undulated on their middle surface with
lines of chestnut -red, the pale edges forming four
lines along the hack ; the wings are greyish-black ;
secondaries tipped with white, the coverts broadly
tipped with white and tinted with ochreous ; the
long tertials are edged with pale greyish-white, and
undulated on their outer webs with pale chestnut-
brown ; the tail consists of twelve lanceolate fea-
thers, and exhibits a form more wedge-shaped than
most of the others, the colour is blackish-brown,
edged with pale chestnut -brown ; the belly and
under parts pure white, on the flanks dashed with
greyish -black, and tinted with brown ; the axillary
feathers white, clouded irregularly with blackish'
grey ; feet and legs greenish-grey.

S. gatlincy* and major*

188

MACRORHAMPHUS.

NEXT to the Snipes, and by some persons among
them, has been placed a rare British bird, form-
ing the genus Macrorhamphus of Leach. It is, in
reality, a marine Snipe, with the plumage and sea-
sonal changes of the tringee.

GENUS MACRORHAMPHUS, Leach, — Generic cha-
racters— Bill long, slightly dilated at the tip,
and there incurved and rugose above and
below; mandible and maxilla furrowed until
near the tip; nostrils basal, pervious; wings
long, first and second quills longest, and nearly
- equal ; small bastard quill narrow and rigid ;
legs, with the tibiae, naked for half the length ;
outer toes connected by a web to the first joint,
hinder toe resting on its tip only.

Type, M . griseus.

e. — Frequents the sea coasts, and is seldom
seen inland ; breeding and winter plumage
dissimilar. Distribution, Europe, America.

THE BROWN LONGBEAK, MACRORHAMPHUS GRT-
SEUS, Leach. — Macrorhamphus griseus, Leach, Sel-
by. — Scolopax grisea, Penn., Mont., Jenyns, Temm.
— Brown Snipe, Brown Longbeak, Red-breasted
Snipe, Grey Snipe of British authors. — This bird
is properly a native of North America, and reaches

BROWN LONGBEAK. J89

as far north as the fur countries, even to the Arctic
Sea,* during the season of incubation; has been
killed six or seven times in this country, and was
first noticed, as a distinct species, by the indefati-
gable Montague. These have occurred chiefly in
the south, and no instances have been noticed of
its being met with either in Scotland or Ireland,
the most northern range recorded, being that of a
specimen killed near Carlisle, in the possession of
Mr. Heysham.t In Northern Europe^ it seems to be
likewise uncommon, occurring only as a straggler.

The entire length of the bird will be about ten
or ten and a-half inches, of which the bill measures
from two and a -quarter to two and three-eights,
and in the whole form and appearance, it is not
unlike the Knot ( Triga canutus), to be afterwards
described. The plumage also has a good deal of
the character of that bird, in the summer state being
above broadly marked with black, cut into by nar-
row waves of brownish-yellow ; the rump and tail-
coverts are white, the tip of each feather marked
with a crescent- formed spot of black on the tip, and
barred diagonally with the same colour; the tail is
also white, slightly tinted with rufous, and with all
the feathers barred with black ; beneath, the throat,
neck, breast, and flanks, are orange-brown, each
feather tipped and barred with black, these colours
gradually disappear downwards, and the centre of
the belly, with the vent, are pure white. In the
winter, the plumage is of a greyish-brown on the
Mr. Richardson. * Yarrell. £ Nilson.

190 BROWN LONGBEAK.

head and neck, deeper on the hack and wings, and
these, in some states, having the feathers edged with
paler margins. There is a tinge of rufous on the
breast, but the lower part and the belly, with the
chin, are white ; the tail and its coverts are similar
in all states, a slightly deeper rufous tinge on the
former during summer; the axillary feathers are
white, barred with black ; quills are deep hair-
brown, shafts of the first broad and white. It may
be observed, that, from the month of April until
winter, various intermediate states of plumage are
passed through, often very beautiful ; the young
exhibit a good deal of rufous on the under parts,
when in their first feathers.

M. griseiu*

191

GODWITS.

WITH the last we entered into a race of birds,
remarkable in the changes incident to the plumage
between the breeding season and winter. In the
genera which are now to follow, it is very dissimi-
lar, assuming in some, colours of bright chestnut-
red, mingled with deep black, in others of grey, also
decidedly marked with black and white. This dif-
ference in appearance has given rise to a varied
synonimy, and often to one species being described
as several distinct birds. The Godwits, Limosa,
frequent the open coasts during winter, and breed
in inland marshes, differing from the true snipes in
the habit of never frequenting or skulking among
cover of any kind, and of being extremely noisy
and vociferous when their nest or young is ap-
proached— the change and colours of their plumage,
and their whole structure, adapted for an open,
partly maritime life, not for seeking their chief sus-
tenance by boring into soft marshes, and seizing
their slender and minute prey by the sense of touch
rather than that of sight.

LIMOSA, Brisson. — Generic characters. — Bill very
long, strong at the base, compressed, bending
upwards; mandible smooth v rounded, slightly
dilated at the tip, projecting beyond the max-
illa; wings long, quills with the shafts very
strong, flattened, first longest ; legs long ; tibiae

192 BLACK-TAILED GODWIT.

naked for the greater part of their length ; outer
toes connected by a membrane more than half
the length of the basal joint ; hind-toe articu-
lated on the tarsus.

Types, L. melanura, rufa, &c.

Note. — Habits maritime, gregarious in winter,
clamorous in breeding season. Europe, Asia,
America.

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT.

Limosa melanura.
PLATE XIII.

Scolopax limosa, Linn, (winter plumage.) — L. segoce-
phula, Linn, (summer plumage.) — Barge a. queue noir,
Temrn. — Limosa melanura, Leisler, Selby, §c Black-
tailed God wit, Jadreka Snipe of British authors.

THIS handsome species breeds annually in the fenny
districts of England, and, during winter, is partially
distributed along the oozy shores of the English
coast, and those of the south of Scotland ; but,
although a frequent, it is by no means an abundant
species, and, in Ireland, it is " of occasional occur-
rence during the autumnal months/'* Out of Bri-
* Thompson.

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT. 196

tain, it ranges, in summer, so far north as Lapland
and Greenland, and specimens have been received,
in the winter dress, from the vicinity of Tangiers,
and parts of Northern Africa.* Japan, and the isles
of Sunda are also given to it.t Of old, the Black-
tailed Godwit was considered a delicacy for the
table, and at present they are occasionally taken,
during or previous to the breeding season, and fatted
by the fen men for the London markets ; but Mr.
Yarrell does not consider them to be held in such
high estimation for the table as the ruff, when treated
in the same manner. The long legs, neck, and bill
of this bird, with the great naked space above the
tarsal joint, give somewhat of a heron appearance
to it, and remove it from the more squat or lowly
figure of the plovers and true tringa3. The Godwits
assume red in different shades as their breeding plu-
mage, and, at this season, the head, neck, breast,
and flanks of this Godwit are pale brownish-orange,
very pale around the eyes and on the throat, upon
the crown having the centre of each feather marked
longitudinally with brownish-black, and having the
breast and flanks barred irregularly with the same
colour, the marks on the flanks becoming very broad
and distinct. The belly, neck, and under tail-coverts,
nearly white, also barred broadly with blackish-
brown. The ground colour of the back is a rich
blackish-brown, tinted with purple, broadly barred,
and cut into with pale orange-coloured brown ; the .
rump and tail-coverts, and base of the tail, are pure
* Yarrell. f Temminck.

194 BLACK-TAILED GODWIT.

white, and contrast with the deep black of the ex-
tremity, from which the common English name has
been given to it. The form of the tail, when closed,
appears very slightly forked, or diverging on the out-
sides, and the black which almost reaches to the
base, on the centre feathers, is gradually narrowed
in extent to the outside, and, on the exterior feather,
scarcely occupies more than half an inchtof the
end. The long tertials are clear brown, darker
along the centres, and sometimes more or less varie-
gated with orange-red. The greater coverts show
a white tip, which forms a bar crossing the wing.
The quills are blackish-brown on the outer webs
and tips, shading to nearly white on the inner ; the
shafts of all strong, broad, and yellowish-white.
The bill is deep blackish-brown at the tip, shading
to " fine orange colour at the base;"* the feet and
legs are blackish-grey. In the winter state, the
plumage above is pale clove-brown, darker along
the centres ; and the rufous parts of the head, neck,
and breast, are of a paler tint of the same colour
approaching more to white in the centre or fore part
of the body, and shading into white on the belly,
vent, and under tail-coverts ; the other parts nearly
resemble what we have stated as being the summer
dress. The broods, which assemble in the autumn,
present birds of various markings, according to cir-
cumstances of age or of early incubation ; but nearly
all assume the complete winter dress in a few veeks
afterwards.

* Selby, ii. p. 99.

COMMON GOD WIT. 195

THE COMMON or RED GODWIT. — Limosa rufa,
Briss.— Red-breasted Snipe, Mont., (summer plu-
mage.) — Scolopax leucophea, Lath. — Grey God-
nit, Linn., (winter plumage.} — Common or Red

Godwit of British authors This species, though

more abundant and more generally distributed than
the last, is by no means common, and their general
time of appearance is in autumn, remaining with
us during the winter, on the low lying shores of
our islands, where the beach is soft, and there are
rivers, or small streams from springs. They appear
at that season in small parties, which have left
the district where incubation had been carried on,
and now mingle with other allied birds, but are
easily known at a distance by their more compact
form, and by the length of their bill, which is seen
boring into the soft sand or mire. On taking wing
their shrill cry, or « Whelp," at once betrays them.'
We have shot many specimens, on the low shores
between Holy Island and the Northumbrian coast.
Hie Merse, at Skinburness, and banks of the Wam-
poole on the Solway, are localities where we have
never missed parties of them in the end of August
and in September, mingling with several others
the Totani and Tringce, which are considered of
?ss common occurrence on the border. In Ire-
land they are « a regular autumnal visitant". From
the information we possess and can procure, the
range of this bird is much more limited than that of
e last, does not appear to reach so far north, and,

196 COMMON GOD WIT.

out of Europe, parts of Continental India and the
East India Islands, are its best authenticated lo-
calities. These are given on the authority of Tem-
minck.

This bird, with the exception of the longer legs
and variegated tail, much resembles the last. In sum-
mer, the whole head and neck, breast, and all the
lower parts, are of a subdued orange-red of uniform
tint. The centre of the feathers on the crown, lower
parts of the back of the neck, being broadly marked
along the centres with blackish-brown, which ex-
tends upon the sides of the breast in narrow streaks.
The lower eyelid is white. Above, the ground
colour is rich purplish blackish-brown, the feathers
deeply cut into with ochraceous and pale reddish-
orange ; on the shoulders and wing- coverts the tint
approaches more to clove-brown, each feather edgecl
with white, and these are generally intermixed with
feathers of a darker colour, cut into with red ; but
we do not find in that part that the whole plu-
mage assumes the summer tints. The rump and tail-
coverts in this state are white, tinted with rufous, and
have the centre of the feathers dark, the tail-coverts
often become entirely rufous, barred with blackish-
brown ; the quills are deep blackish^brown at the
tips and along the outer webs, shading into white
on the edge of the inner, and becoming there mot-
tled with hair-brown. The tail is greyish-white,
tinted with rufous, the tip of each feather white,
the shafts of very deep clove- brown, with irregular
but decided bars crossing each feather of the same

COMMON GOD WIT. 19?

colour. The axillary feathers are white, crossed
diagonally with clove-brown, set in distinct bars,
and in this is easily distinguised from the last, where
they are pure white. In the winter state, the head
in all its parts is greyish-white, broadly marked
along the centre of the feathers with clove-brown.
The neck and breast are wood-brown, the centre of
each feather darker, and this shades into a very pale
tint, approaching almost to pure white on the vent
and lower tail-coverts, having the shafts of the fea-
thers on the flanks, only relieving it by a dark thread-
like streak. In specimens in this state, the axillary
feathers show little of the angular barring, but have
only an interrupted patch on the webs. On the
upper parts, the ground colour is very rich purplish
clove-brown, cut into with yellowish-white or pale
wood-brown, in the centre of the back having the
markings running in lines, and on the shoulders
and coverts, having the edgings so broad, as almost
to give the pale tint to those places. The rump is
pure white, very conspicuous during flight; the
upper tail-coverts and tail similar, now without any
rufous tint, and are very distinctly barred with deep
clove-brown. The bill, in both states, is blackish-
brown for more than half its length, becoming paler
towards the base, and there tinted with pink. Feet
and legs dark greyish-green.

198

TOTANUS.

IN the next genus, some of the species are of com-
paratively small size, and resemble the true sand-
pipers or tringae ; the typical birds, however, are
equal in size to the snipes, and stand higher
upon their legs, have the bill hard at the tip, and
seek their food without boring for it among the
soft mud or sand ; they are more fluviatile or
lacustrine in their habits, most of them frequent-
ing the sea coasts less frequently ; the seasonal
changes of plumage are less marked in many than
in Limosa, but in some it is as complete, the
colour in summer being black or very deep grey,
instead of red and chestnut, changing in winter
to pale clear shades of grey.

TOTANUS, Bechstein. — Generic characters. — Bill
of mean length, sometimes slightly bending
upwards, rather slender, rounded, the tip of
the mandible bending over that of the max-
illa, hard and sharp pointed ; legs long, slen-
der, naked above the tarsal joint ; the toes, in
front, connected with a slight basal membrane ;
wings rather long ; scapulars elongated.

Types, T.fuscus, glottis,hypoUucus, macularius*
&c.

Note. — Cosmopolite (N. H. excepted?) Breed
in marshes, habits more lacustrine than ma-
ritime, plumage in some undergoing a sea-
sonal change.

199

THE DUSKY TOTANUS.
Totanus fuscus.
PLATE XIV.

Scolopax fuscus, Linn. — Totanus fuscus, Leisler and modern
British authors.- — Chevalier arlequin, Temm. — Dusky
Sandpiper, Spotted Snipe, Spotted Red-Shank, and Cam-
bridge Godwit (birds in the different states of plumage),
of modern British authors.

IN this species we see the seasonal change of
plumage marked by very deep blackish-grey on
some parts, inclining to black, instead of the
chestnut -red seen in the god wits and some of
the true tringae. It is assumed at similar periods,
and prevails on similar parts of the plumage. We
have not a specimen in this state beside us, but
our figure will in part illustrate it, and we give
the description of Mr. Yarrell. Both illustrate the
dark change of plumage, as our last plate and de-
scription did that of the red. " The adult bird, in
summer, has the beak nearly black, but the base
of the lower mandible is dark red ; the irides dark-
brown ; over the eye the eyelid is white ; the whole
of the head and the neck all round, sooty-black ;
back, scapulars, all the wing-coverts, secondaries,

200 DUSK? TOTANUS.

and tertials, sooty-black, with well defined trian-
gular spots of pure white along1 the margin of the
web of each feather, which is also tipped with
white ; the primaries black, with white shafts, but
no white spots ; breast and belly black, a few of
the feathers with white tips ; under wing-coverts
white, with dusky -grey spots ; axillary plumes
pure white ; under tail-coverts barred black and
white ; legs and toes dark red ; claws black."* In
the plumage of the winter, the upper parts are
ash-grey, beneath pure white. In a bird before
us, the eye-brows, or from the base of the mandible
above the eyes, are pure white ; the head, back of
the neck, back, and tertials, are ash-grey, tinted
with brown ; on the wings, the ground colour of
the feathers is blackish ash-grey, tipped and cut
into on the edges with dull white, and the greater
and lesser coverts are barred with that colour ;
lower part of the back and rump are pure white,
the upper tail-coverts distinctly barred with black,
like the axillary feathers of the snipe ; the tail ash-
grey, barred with a darker shade, and having the
edges paler; the under parts are entirely pure
white, dashed with ash-grey on the cheeks, neck
and sides of the breast, on the latter, assuming the
form of undecided triangular bars.

This Totanus is a rare bird in Britain ; Mr. Yar-

rell records, in all, only seventeen instances of its

occurrence, one of which, on the authority of Mr.

Thompson, was shot in Belfast Bay. The most

* Yarrell, ii. p. 523.

jvBDSHANK. 201

northern English localities, are specimens taken in
Cumberland, and recorded by Mr. Heysham. In
Scotland we have not lately seen specimens, but
several years since we saw two, in a fresh state,
immediately after being- shot on the Frith of Forth,
above Queensferry. Out of Europe it is found in
Bengal,* and Mr. Yarrell states Asia, on the au-
thority of Mr. Gould. We possess a single spe-
cimen, in winter plumage, from continental India.

REDSHANK, TOTANUS CALIDRIS. — Scolopax cali-
dris, Linn. — Totanus calidris^Bechstein. — Chevalier
gambette, Temm. — Redshank or Pool Snipe, Red-
legged Sandpiper or Horseman, Gambet of modern
British authors. — This species is one of the most
common of the larger British Totani, and although
breeding in marshes, is perhaps more decidedly
a maritime species than the others. It is also
interesting, as showing an intermediate colouring,
in the breeding season, between red and dark grey.
In a few localities, on the Scottish coasts, it is sta-
tionary during the whole year ; these are, where
some suitable marsh is near for a breeding place ;
in this the nest is formed on, or sheltered by some
tuft or bush of rank aquatic herbage; and the
birds, on the approach of any stranger, are very
clamorous, flying about with a slow quivering
flight, uttering their shrill whistle, to which is
now imparted an additional degree of wildness,
* Temmiuck.

202 REDSHANK.

and having their bright orange legs stretched out,
and sometimes dangling behind them. We have
several times procured them in the breeding sea-
son, and with the young, in a marsh such as we
have noticed, on the banks of the Sol way at
Southerness, where a few -pairs annually breed.
It has also been found breeding in stations in
Sutherlandshire, near Lairg, and at the head of
Lochnaver. Several broods afterwards join on
the shore, and continue together in parties, con-
sisting of from a dozen to fifty. They are very
wary, and, when taking wing, almost always utter
their alarm note; but, if come upon unawares,
from behind some rock or other cover, this note or
scream is extremely loud and wild, and is always
taken as a signal by the other birds feeding
around. They feed on the sand banks and shell
scalps, and rest at the full tide, assembling on the
tops of the first appearing rocks as the waters
recede ; frequenting the same places, and follow-
ing the same flights, day after day, so that persons
may, by a little observation, easily conceal them-
selves in a situation which they are certain at a
particular time either to pass or alight near. Dur-
ing winter their habits are nearly similar, and
they are almost always to be met with on our
coasts ; but we have never seen them even as strag-
glers upon our lochs and rivers, as the Greenshank
and some other maritime Totani frequently are.

The Redshank is also generally distributed over
the greater part of Europe. Out of Europe, Japan

REDSHANK. 203

is given to it.* The Northern Zoology states,
that a specimen from " Hudson's Bay exists in
the British Museum ;" but it is not admitted by
the Prince of Canino, to his last comparative list,
as an American bird. We possess several birds
from continental India, in their winter and young
dress, which we refer to the Redshank ; they are
slightly larger, but present no other material dif-
ference.

In the dress of the summer, the Redshank has
the prevailing colour of the upper parts (with the
exception of the rump) hair-brown, with an olive
gloss or reflection, such as is seen in the plumage
of T. hypoleucus, each feather being darker along
the centre, and many of them being barred with
brownish-black and dull rufous ; the bird we de-
scribe from was killed from the nest, and is there-
fore in the complete breeding plumage. Some
specimens are more or less intensely marked with
the dark and rufous colours, but we believe that
they never completely and regularly cover the upper
plumage as in some of the tringae ; lower part of
the back and rump, pure white. Underneath, the
ground colour is white, the centre of each feather
on the throat, neck, and breast, broadly marked
with blackish-brown, and tinted with rufous ; on
the belly, flanks, 'and under tail-coverts, the mark-
ings are equal in intensity, but run more in the
form of bars ; quills are brownish-black, the shaft
of the first white, and the tips of the four or five last
* Temminck.

204: REDSHANK.

pure white, the pale space longer in extent towards
the last quill, and here barred and freckled with
greyish-brown ; secondary quills pure white, with
distant indistinct bars of white towards the ends ;
the markings towards the base darker, irregular,
and more crowded ; the upper tail-coverts white,
barred with black ; the tail white, approaching to
grey or hair-brown at the tip, barred with black,
and tinted with rufous. Before appearing in the
livery of winter, the flocks present many modifi-
cations of plumage. Out of a large flock, on the
Solway Frith, in the end of August, we were once
so fortunate as to procure thirteen specimens at
one shot ; among these, the upper part had, in the
greater part, assumed the uniform hair-brown of
winter, but many of the darkly marked and barred
feathers were still interspersed ; on the lower parts
the white was more pure, but there still more or
less dotted and barred with blackish-brown ; on
both, however, and indeed on the whole, all tinge
of rufous had disappeared. In the perfect win-
ter dress, the upper parts are of uniform greyish
hair-brown ; the lower parts pure white, dashed
with narrow longitudinal streaks of grey on the
throat, neck, and sides of the breast; on the
flanks, the markings assume the form of irregular
bars ; and the centre of the breast and belly, with
the vent, are unspotted ; in both these states the
base of the bill is rich tile-red ; the legs and feet
bright orange. In the young birds the upper
parts are wood -brown, each feather edged on

GREENSHANK. 205

the margins with yellowish-white, on the wings
and long tertials these markings become more
decided, and are often surrounded by a darker
shade ; the grey markings on the lower parts are
broader and more crowded, and on the breast form
almost the prevailing colour ; the colour of the
base of the bill and the legs is less vivid. It may
be remarked, that several of the specimens received
from India are in this young state of plumage.

GREENSHANK, TOTANUS GLOTTIS. — Scolopax glot-
tis,. Linn. — Le Chevalier aboyeur, Temm. — Green-
shank, Green-legged Horseman of modern British
authors. — In Scotland, whether in summer or in
winter, the Greenshank is only a straggling visitor,
in summer being confined to the extreme north,
where it breeds sparingly, and in autumn or win-
ter being met with singly, as young birds, on their
migration from the breeding places, or in pairs.
In the southern parts of our island it seems equally
straggling, its nidification there being unknown,
consequently, the autumn or winter are the only
times when it is seen. A few years since, authentic
accounts of its nidification in Britain were want-
ing ; when, in the summer of 1834, several pairs
were met with breeding by myself and Mr. Selby,
and some others, during an excursion to Suther-
landshire; the season, however, being advanced,
the young only were procured, which did not differ
from similar states of the sandpipers, except in

206 GREENSHANK.

the down being of a grey or hair-brown colour,
instead of the more umber and ochreous tints
which characterise the same state in the Red-
shank. The nest was not seen, but the places
selected, and where we found the young, were in
low marshy hollows, in one instance surrounded
with brushwood. The parents were extremely cla-
morous, flying around, sometimes with rapid evolu-
tions, at others, with the legs stretched out behind,
arid with the slow beat of the wing, peculiar to
this and allied families during this season. They
approached very near, and, at intervals, would
alight on a large stone, or upon the highest twigs
of the brushwood,* uttering at the same time their
wild and plaintive note. The young, in their
first plumage, we have often met with, by the
sides of the Highland lochs, which had evidently
been bred in this country. In the south of Scot-
land (in our own vicinity) they are frequently, in
autumn, observed in the evening, flying or passing
over at a considerable elevation, as if on some
passage or migration, and are betrayed by their
noisy notes. During winter one or two individuals
are seen, and occasionally procured, by the river
side, or near some wide ditches ; arid we have also
frequently seen them, and have shot the young
birds, on the banks of the Tweed, between Kelso
and Coldstream. According to Mr. Yarrell, its
occurrence in the south is, in a similar manner,

* In Norway, Mr. Hewitson observed the Greenshank
perched on the top of a tall tree.

GREENSHANK. 20?

only at times ; and he states, that they are most
frequently found in the London marketf iff* April
and May, when beginning to assume^ the dark
markings of their summer plumage, and, we have
no doubt, they are at that time on their passage
northward. In Ireland, according to Mr. Thomp-
son, it is occasionally met with, but has not been
known to breed there.

If the evidence of other observers is good, the
Greenshank has a most extensive European, as
well as extra European range, being met with
nearly over all the Continent of Europe ; near
Smyrna, in winter,* Trebisond,f India and China, J
Bengal, islands of Sunda,theMoluccas,|| and Java.§
The North American bird mentioned by various
authors, has been placed by the Prince of Canino
as T. FZoridanus, and we know that a nearly allied
species has often been confounded with the true
European bird.

The change exhibited by this species is not
nearly so marked as in the last, at the same
time, it presents many differences. In the breed-
ing state of birds shot in Sutherlandshire, from
the nests, and with the young accompanying
them, the crown and back of the neck appeared
greyish-black, having the colour broken by narrow
edgings of white on each feather ; on the centre
of the back the colour was nearly black, the edges
of the feathers slightly cut into with white, and

* Strickland. f Keith Abbot. J Pennant.

11 Temminck. § Dr. Horsfield.

208 GREENSHAN'K.

having the plumage intermixed with a hair-brown
tint, giving these parts a patched or irregularly
marked appearance, in which the masses of black
were conspicuous ; the long tertial feathers were
hair-brown, paler and with a grey tint on the
edges, having the shafts, and a series of diagonal
bars, which lose themselves before reaching the
centre, dark clove-brown ; the shoulders and quills
are greyish-black, the inner webs of the latter
shading to a paler tint, and the shaft of the first
only being white ; the centre of the back, the
rump, and upper tail-coverts, pure white ; tail of
the same colour, except the centre feathers, which
are tinted with a brownish-grey ; the whole irre-
gularly, and in a broken manner, barred with
clove-brown ; all the under parts are pure white ;
the sides of the neck streaked along the centre of
each feather with greyish-black ; the feathers on
the middle of the neck, and on the breast, being
marked with an oval spot of the same colour,
which marking extends irregularly downwards on
the sides and flanks, taking on the latter the form
of bars, and leaving the centre of the belly and
vent very pure ; the axillary feathers are narrowly
waved across with hair -brown. In a specimen
shot upon the Annan, in winter, there is a much
greater mixture of white on the crown and back
of the neck, and the dark markings are not so
deep, the whole appearance being of a greyish
tint ; on the back, tertial s, and wings, the colour
is a greyish hair-brown, each feather edged with

GREEN TOTANUS. 209

a much paler shade, succeeded by a narrow line of
clove-brown, which often runs into the last bar-
rings, seen in the summer state, particularly on
the long tertials. In all the feathers the shaft is
dark, and meets this dark line with a dilated end ;
the tail is similar, except in having fewer dark
bars, the inner webs of the outer feathers being
unmarked ; the centre feathers are of a deeper
grey, and have indications of the dark line upon
the edges; the under parts are pure white, the
shafts only on the sides of the neck and breast
being dark, and on the latter having the colours
dilated at the tips. In a young specimen, appa-
rently in the plumage of the first year, all the
upper parts are clove-brown, having the feathers
cut into with wood-brown, particularly on the
long tertials and coverts, where they take the
form of regular triangular markings ; the sides of
the breast are crossed with irregular clove-brown
bars, reaching, without being interrupted, to the
flanks; the tail is as in the adult, but without
the centre greyish feathers, and has the white
warts tinted with rufous wood-brown.

THE GREEN TOTANUS, TOTANUS OCHROPUS,
Temm. — Tringa ochropus, Linn. — Totanus ochro-
pus, Temm., etc. — Chevalier cul blanc, Temm. —
The Green Sandpiper of British authors. — The
birds belonging to the genus Totanus which we
have described, were of considerable size, and at-

210 GREEN TOTANUS.

tained proportions a little different from the other
British species, and some others of a like form
They also showed a more distinct variation or
plumage during1 the season of incubation, in one
of them (that represented Plate XIV), as decided
and marked as in any of the allied forms, or of
the Charadriadce or Tringce. In the three or four
beautiful birds which we have now to describe,
the plumage is much more unbroken in its colours,
and is confined to a dark shade above, and com-
monly pure white beneath, sometimes marked on
the throat and breast with grey, or greenish-grey,
distributed in streaks or spots. The Green Totanus
is one of the most distinctly marked, arid, to the
practical ornithologist, is always a bird of great
interest, being seen only at rare intervals, startling
the intruder by its clear whistle when first raised,
and enticing him to follow, from its shyness and
the fine contrast its white rump has with the upper
plumage during flight. In Scotland it is met with
in about equal numbers with the last, but has not
been known to breed in the north ; its most frequent
appearance is in spring and autumn, particularly
the latter, when it is evidently on its passage. In
autumn it appears most commonly from the end
of August to October, and is met with on the low
moors, singly, or in pairs. Scarcely an autumn
passes without one or two being seen in such loca-
lities, generally single, always extremely shy, and
never remaining on the spot beyond twenty-four
hours. The specimens alluded to by Mr. Yarrell, g

GREEN TOTANUS. 211

shot in Dumfries-shire, were killed in spring, at the
mouth of a small tributary of the Annan, where
they remained some days — notice having been sent
to Mr. Murray of their being there, as a bird not
known : they had also been seen near the same
spot in previous years. Once or twice the Green
Totanus has been seen near Jardine Hall in winter,
stationary for some weeks, frequenting the banks
of the Annan, where it is was soft, or some large
ditches. One was shot in January 1836, which
had remained for some time, and was frequently
seen in some ditches, sheltered all around with
wood. When disturbed, it would not continue flit-
ting along the ditch, but would at once rise over
the trees, and leave for the time ; its return being
often intimated by its shrill whistle, when passing
in, before alighting. In the south of England it
appears to be more frequent, decreasing north-
ward ; and, although there is no instance on record
of the nest being found, it is more than probable
that a few pairs have occasionally brought out
their young. Mr. Blyth and Mr. Salmon consider
that it does ; and, from the old birds being by
others also met with in summer, and young spe-
cimens in the first plumage (but quite able to
migrate), having been killed very early in autumn,
it has been concluded that it may occasionally
incubate with us. In Ireland it is seen in some-
what similar proportions. Over the Continent of
Europe, from all accounts, it is pretty equally
distributed, but is no where very abundant, and

212 GREEN TOT ANUS.

regular breeding- stations seem scarcely to be
mentioned with sufficient authenticity. Out of
Europe, India* and Japanf have been given to it ;
but we have no representative placed opposite in
the Prince of Canino's comparative list ; T. chlo-
ropigius occupying the representing place of the
next. Nevertheless, it may be occasionally found
in North America, as it is stated in the Northern
Zoology, that an individual " exists among a
collection of birds from the fur countries, sent
to the British Museum by the Hudson's Bay
Company."

In the specimen alluded to, as killed at Jardine
Hall in winter, the head and nape, with a narrow
streak above the rictus, are clove-brown ; between
the base of the bill, reaching halfway over each eye,
is a triangular patch of white ; all the other upper
parts, except the tail-coverts, are blackish-green,
tinted with brown, and with a bronzed and glossy
lustre, each feather being marked on the outer
webs with small triangular spots of dusky-white,
relieved by a darker shade interiorly ; the quills
are greenish-black, having the shafts of the same
colour ; the rump is of a greyer tint than the
upper parts ; tail-coverts pure white ; the tail
white, the centre feathers to the third from the
outside having three distinct broad black bars

* Colonel Sykes. By Mr. Jerdan, in his Catalogue of the
Birds of the Peninsula of India, tke Green Totanus is intro
duced.

t Temminck, ii. p. 392.

WOOD TOTANUS. 213

towards the tip, the third from the outside with
two only, the second with a spot on the outer web,
the exterior feather entirely white ; on the under
surface of the body the ground colour is entirely
pure white ; the cheeks, sides of the neck, and
breast, being1 marked with narrow streaks and tri-
angular spots of clove-brown in the centre of the
feathers ; the under wing-coverts are greyish-black,
bordered with white, the axillary feathers of the
same colour, and very narrowly barred with white ;
the bill, feet, and legs, blackish-green.

THE WOOD TOTANUS, TOTANUS GLAREOLA,
Temm. — Tringa glareola^ Penn., Mont., etc. —
Chevalier sylvain, Temm. — Totanus glareola, the
Wood Sandpiper of British authors. — This bird
has been considered a much rarer British visi-
tant than the last, with which it was long con-
founded, though it has of late years appeared
more frequently. It was first brought into notice
by Colonel Montague. Many of the specimens
mentioned seem to have been taken in spring and
early in summer, its appearance in autumn being
less frequent. To the northward, in England, we
trace it to Northumberland, but, hitherto, we are
not aware of any specimen killed in Scotland. In
Ireland, with the last, it is recorded as a " sum-
mer visitant," from which we are not sure whether
straggling birds occur, or that a few remain to
breed. Out of Britain, it is recorded as met with

214 WOOD TOTANUS.

in Norway and Lapland,* South Africa,f India,J
Chili, and islands of the Pacific ; || perhaps the
last locality may be doubtful, and will require
comparison. The specimens of T. affinis, Horsf.,
from Java, have also been considered identical,
and we have received numerous specimens from
Singapore, Java, &c., which are closely allied,
though a comparison with many British or Euro-
pean specimens has been wanting. Mr. Jerdan
states, that the T. glareola is common every where
on the peninsula of India.

In a continental specimen before us, the upper
parts are very deep clove-brown, tinted with um-
ber-brown, on the crown and nape having the ap-
pearance of being narrowly streaked with white;
on the back and wings the feathers are deeply
cut into with white, and are sometimes tipped
and edged with yellowish-white ; the tail-coverts
are white! ; the tail, with the centre feathers, grey
towards the tip ; the basal half, and the others,
pure white, barred to the base with black, the
outer feathers having the bars fewer or indistinct
on the inner webs ; the ground colour of the under
parts is entirely white ; on the cheeks and sides
of the neck streaked with clove-brown ; on the
lower parts of the neck and breast closely marked
with triangular spots, which stretch upon the
flanks, and gradually assume the form of bars ;
the vent is dashed with black in the centre of tht,

* Nilson. f Dr. Smith.

£ Colonel Sykes. || Mr. Gould.

WOOD TOTAXTTS. 215

feathers ; the under tail-coverts barred with the
same colour; the axillary feathers pure white,
clouded with hair-brown; bill and legs appear
to have been blackish-green, the length of the
naked space above . the tarsal joint fully seven-
eighths of an inch.

In the Singapore specimens, and those from the
Indian islands, the colour above is much more uni-
form, but this may be caused from the European
specimen having been killed in summer ; there is
also little marking on the breast, that part being
of a uniform shade ; the axillary feathers show a
greater disposition to have the markings; the
centre tail-feathers show a slight difference of
appearance and marking, and the naked space,
above the tarsal joint, is in length scarcely five-
eighths of an inch. We do not perceive much
difference in the markings of the secondary quill-
feathers. Dr. Horsfield states, " it differs princi-
pally in the marks of the secondary quill-feathers,
and in the lower continuation of the covering of
the tibiae." Additional comparisons of birds, from
all the localities given, should still be made*

216

THE COMMON TOTANUS.

Totanus hypoleucus.
PLATE XV.

Tringa hypoleucus, Linn., Penn., Mont., $c. — Totanus hy-

poleucus of moderns Chevalier guignettee, Temm. —

The Common Sandpiper of British ornithologists. — Pro-
vincially Summer Snipe, Will -Wicket, Sand Lark, or
Sandy Lavrock.

THIS pretty and lively species is one of the most
common, being- a regular summer visitant, many
pairs frequenting the banks of every stream and
river, or the margins of the Scotch lakes ; its pip-
ing note or whistle is one of the sounds watched
for by the ornithologist in spring, or recognised
by the angler as some pleasant companion returned
to his well-known haunts. It frequents the edges
of these waters, running along them, and picking
up aquatic insects, moving its body as it runs,
occasionally flitting along, whistling as it flies,
and perching on some stone, the top of a stake,
or bare branch by the water side. During the
pairing time, they exhibit more activity, chasing
each other along the stream, and, when alighting,
keeping their wings stretched above the back,
running for some time in this position, and now

COMMON TOTAXTJS. 21?

uttering the notes with a peculiar prolonged and
quivering- whistle. The nest is always placed
a short way from the water, on some dry bank,
among straggling willows, or in a pasture or
grass field ; it is made in a hollow with a little
of the surrounding herbage collected, and is gene-
rally protected on one side by some slight eleva-
tion or tuft ; when openly approached, we have
always seen the female go off her nest as quietly
as possible, and without any demonstration of
alarm, sometimes running before rising, as if wish-
ing to prevent the detection of the spot. When
with the young, both the birds are clamorous, but
never to the same extent as those we have been
describing. When the young are hatched, the
broods continue together, and may be found in
these small companies, on the sea shores, after
they have left their inland breeding quarters. Its
habits, in England, so far as we know and havt,
seen, are similar, but it seems to prefer a subalpine
district for its breeding stations, and is perhaps
more frequent in the lower lying and flatter dis-
tricts of the south, after its nidification has been
performed. It is met with in similar stations in
Ireland in abundance. Although extending to
the northernmost parts of the mainland of Scot-
land, it does not appear to visit the islands ; at
the same time, it is recorded as ranging northward
to Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.*
Southward, we find it in India, f the East India
* Yarrell. f Colonel Sykes.

218 COMMON TOTANUS.

Islands, Japan,* and Java.f Mr. Jerdan states
it to be " found solitary in similar situations with
the last (T. ochropus), but not nearly so common."
We possess specimens from Southern Africa, Con-
tinental India, and Singapore.

The bill is greenish-brown, paler and inclining
to yellow at the base and rictus. The upper parts of
the adult bird in the breeding state are hair-brown,
with a glossy lustre and greenish reflections, the
shaft of each feather appearing dark, and showing
on the wings, and sometimes on the back, narrow
transverse lines of a deeper brown. The throat,
chin, belly and vent, white, on the former with
minute spots of hair-brown ; the neck and breast
are greyish -white, streaked with hair-brown ; axil-
lary feathers white. In the tail, the centre feathers
are hair-brown ; the next pair show clouded bands
across, and are pale at the tips, while those on the
outside become more and more distinctly barred
with white and hair-brown ; in this they show a
difference from the same parts in the Spotted
Sandpiper, where the outer feathers, though barred,
are much more clouded, the outer feathers only
showing bars defined in the marking ; the tail, in
the Common Sandpiper, is also slightly longer and
more cuneated. In the young and winter plu-
mage, the wings and upper parts are considerably
broken up by dark bars near the tips of the fea-
thers, which are paler in some parts, inclining to
greyish-white.

* Temminck. f Horsfield.

219

THE SPOTTED TOTANUS.

Totanus macularius, TEMMINCK.
PLATE XV

Tringa macularia, Linn. — Totanus macularius, Temm., Ftem. ,
Sdby, Jenys — Chevalier perl£, Temm Spotted Sand-
piper, Penn., Mont., Selby, Jam, »Jc. (The synonyms
have, in various instances, been confounded with the
young of T. hypoleucus.)

THIS species was generally considered to be found
as a straggler in the British islands,- but even so
late as the publication of Mr. Yarrell's numbers,
upon questionable authority. There is no doubt
now, however, that one specimen at least has been
killed in this country, and although some others
cannot be authentically traced, or may have turned
out to be only young specimens of T. hypoleucus ,
it has now a claim, as strong as a few others,
to a settlement within our bounds. The specimen
alluded to, is in the possession of Mr. Georgo
Johnstone of Norwich, and the following is an
extract from the letter in which that gentleman
transmitted to Mr. Yarrell an account of the
bird. " The bird in question came to me from

220 SPOTTED TOTANUS.

the west. It was shot (about the 26th September,
1839) between Renton and Sherringham, on the
north coast of Norfolk, in company with a flock of
Common Sandpipers, five or six of which came
into my hands with it."*

There is no instance, on record, of specimens
being found either in Scotland or Ireland, and in
Europe it is rare. North America is its proper
locality, where it represents our T. hypdeucm, and
by Bonaparte it is entered as " accidental" in
Europe, showing the true state of its range. We
possess specimens in the plumage of the winter
and young state, from the island of Tobago.

The Spotted Sandpiper is slightly less in its pro-
portions than the last, the bill also rather shorter,
but stronger towards the base, and of a more
yellowish tint. In the breeding plumage the upper
parts are hair-brown, having a greener tint than
in T. hypoleucuS) but showing the same shining
lustre on the head and neck ; each feather is
marked with a darker streak in the centre, and
on the back, wings, and long tertials, the shafts
appear as lines, and each feather is crossed by one
or more dark irregular bands, running to a point
in the centre upon the shaft ; the under parts are
entirely pure white, each feather near the tip
being marked with an almost round spot of dark
hair-brown, whence the name has been taken ;
axillary feathers white ; the tail is entirely hair-
brown, all the feathers slightly tipped with white,
* Quoted from Yarrell,

SPOTTED TOTANUS. 221

those in the centre uniform in tint ; the other
pairs, except the outer, clouded with a deeper
shade, and the outer pair marked indistinctly with
bands of white and hair-brown. In our Tobago
specimens we have the upper parts, except the
wing-s and tail-coverts, of a uniform shade ; on
these other parts the feathers are barred alter-
nately with pale wood-brown and clove-brown, but
broader and more boldly than in similar states of
the common bird ; beneath, the colour is pure
unspotted white, the hair-brown without lustre,
reaching slightly upon each Fide of the breast.

RUFFS.

THE next form, separated from the Totani and
true Tringce, is very remarkable, both on account
of the singular development of feathers on the neck
during the breeding season, and for the variations
in the colouring by which these are marked, no
two individuals being exactly similar.

MACHETES, Cuvier. — Generic characters. — Bill
straight, rather slender, tip slightly dilated
and smooth; wings long- and pointed, first
and second quills longest ; legs long, naked
above the tarsal joint; outer toe somewhat
palmated ; hallux articulated on the tarsus.

Type, M. pugnax. The only species known.

Note. — Polygamous. Head of the male during
the season of breeding covered with fleshy
warts or papillae ; neck adorned with length-
ened feathers. Distribution, Europe, Africa.

223

THF RUFP.

Machetes pugnax, CUVIER.
PLATE XVI.

Tringa pugnax, Linn., Penn., $c — Machetes pugnax, Cuvier
and modern writers — Tringa littorea, cinereus, equestris,
Shore Sandpiper, Yellow-legged Sandpiper (female and
young of the year). — Ruff (male), Reeve (female), of
British authors.

THIS very remarkable bird is in England a summer
visitant, arriving annually to breed in the fenny
districts, to which it is at this time restricted, and
from whence it is gradually decreasing, both from
the numbers taken, and from the great and extensive
drainage which has been made in their favourite
haunts. In other parts of Britain it is a spring and
autumnal bird of passage, being occasionally met
with on the moors, in the way to these southern
stations, but much more frequently along our shores;
and on our mosses and salt marshes after breeding
has been completed, and all traces of the adorn-
ments of the male have passed away.

In this species, we have one of the most re-
markable analogies existing between forms belong-
ing to distinct orders of birds. Among a family

224 RUFF.

of the typical Grallatores, we see one which is
polygamous, and which, during the commencement
of the love season, frequents a particular elevated
spot, displaying his plumage to the other sex, and
challenging and combating with all rivals that in-
trude on his station. These habits are all found
among the Rasores almost alone, and it is among
them, also, that we most generally see the largely
developed wattles, and the exuberance of plumage
about the head or :neck represented here by the
warty papillae, and large ruffs in the males, all
which is still more marked by the constant varia-
tion which occurs in the colouring and marking of
the latter. The best account of the habits and
manner of taking the Ruff, during the breeding
season, will be found in Colonel Montague's Dic-
tionary, from which we give some abridgment, it
being impossible to pass over the singular habits of
a bird belonging to this family, that so peculiarly
possesses them, even though they should have been
often detailed already.

u In the spring the Ruffs hill, as it is termed,
that is, they assemble upon a rising spot of ground
contiguous to where the species prepare to deposit
their eggs : there they take their stand at a small

OO ' J

distance from each other, and contend for the fe-
males. This hill, or place of resort for love and
battle, is sought for by the fowler, who from habit
discovers it by the birds having trodden the turf
somewhat bare, though not in a circle, as usually
described.

RUFF. 225

" We had occasion to remark, that although the
pugnacious disposition of the Ruff never entirely
ceased in confinement, yet it increased with the
growth of the long neck feathers in spring, when
the least movement of either, from their usual stand,
provoked a battle. Their actions, in fighting, were
similar to those of a game cock ; the head is low-
ered, and the bill is held in a horizontal direction ;
the ruff, indeed every feather, more or less distend-
ed, the former sweeping the ground as a shield to
defend the more tender parts ; the auricles erected,
and the tail partly spread, upon the whole, assuming
a most ferocious aspect. When either could obtain
a firm hold with the bill, a leap succeeded, accom-
panied with a stroke of the wing ; but they rarely
injured each other."

When the breeding season has terminated, and
the young have obtained their first mature plumage,
the males having lost their sexual adornments, a
dispersion from the fens takes place. It is after
this period, about the end of August or beginning
of September, and for the next two months, that
they are most frequently met with in Scotland,
either as straggling birds passing along the moors,
or on the sea shore, where they continue, often inter-
mixed with plovers, and are to be met with in small
parties. They are not particularly shy, and may be
distinguished from among the other birds by which
they are generally accompanied, by the length of
the legs. We have often shot them on the shores of
the Forth, from Holy Tsland northward, and also on

226 RUFF.

the banks of the Sol way, where, at the seasons
alluded to, they may almost always be met with.

In the breeding plumage, as we have already
stated, the colours, or distribution of the markings,
are not similar in any two birds. The general
appearance of it varies from white to very deep
brown, yariegated on the ruff and breast by cross
markings of a deeper shade, or of Mack, and on the
back and upper plumage assuming the general dis-
tribution of the colouring of the Tringce^ but subject
to the same variation of grey, brown, or chestnut, in
some examples almost amounting to black ; the paler
or very dark coloured specimens are, we believe, the
most uncommon. It is very remarkable, however,
that the annual changes in the same bird do not
vary, at least such was the result of Colonel Mon-
tague's observations on birds kept in confinement
for three or four years ; he found the ruffs produced
of the same colour every spring, as well as the other
markings ; at the same time, the warty tubercles on
the forehead did not appear in this state of restraint.
In the birds, after the sexual adornment has passed
away, the appearance has a resemblance both to the
true snipes and to some of the Tringce or sand-
pipers. In a male before us, shot on the Northum-
brian coast, in the end of December, the crown is
reddish-brown, deeply streaked along the centre of
each feather with olive-brown ; the neck and breast
are wood-brown, having the back part of the former
clouded, by the centres of the feathers being darker,
and, towards the belly, shading into pure whJtef

RUFF. 227

which is the colour of the remaining under parts.
The back and scapular feathers are brownish-black,
glossed with purple, each feather being deeply mar-
gined with pale orange-brown. The rump, wings
(except the quills), and tail, are hair-brown ; the
feathers on the shoulders edged with greyish- white ;
greater coverts edged with pale rufous, and the long
tertials, of a deeper tint at the ends, are margined,
and have a second intermediate angular marking of
rufous-orange. The tail is tipped with rufous, and
also is clouded there with clove-brown ; the lateral
tail-coverts are white. This specimen stands nearly
ten inches high. In another specimen, shot on ; the
Pentland Hills in spring, and thought to be a fe-
male, though not dissected, the whole plumage has
a more rufous tint, and is more broken with brown
upon the head and back of the neck, but varies
remarkably in size, standing scarcely more than
se^en inches in height.

TRIHQJBL

THE true Tringa^ or Maritime Sandpipers^ may
be placed next. They are gregarious at all times,
except during incubation, assembling in vast flocks,
and frequenting, almost entirely, the sea shores, or
marshes adjacent to them, a few being found in
pairs, on the shores of our largest inland lakes, while
breeding. Their changes during summer are black
and chestnut, or grey and black.

TRINGA OF AUTHORS. — Generic characters. — Bill
of the same length, or slightly longer than the
head, often gently curved, soft and pliable ;
wings rather long, sharp pointed, the first quill
longest ; tarsi and feet of middle length (pro-
portionally shorter than in Limosa, Totanus, or
Machete*;} toes slightly joined at the base, and
narrowly fringed on the edges with a mem-
brane; hallux small, articulated on the tarsus.

Types, T. canutus, rarlalili^ maritime, &c.

Note. — Gregarious in winter. Cosmopolite.

THE PURRE OR DUNLIN.

Tringa varialilis.
PLATE XVII.

Tringa alpina, variabilis of authors. — Pelinda variabilis,

Stephens Tringa cinclus, Linn, (in winter plumage.) — .

Purre, Dunlin, or Stint of British authors.

THIS beautiful, and by far the most abundant of the
British Sandpipers or Tringce, is very equally and
numerously distributed along all our sea shores, from
the most northern islands to the southern coast of
England. During winter, the shores and banks of
the sea and estuaries are only frequented by them ;
they return there after the season of incubation is
completed, and congregate sometimes in small par-
ties, at others in almost innumerable flocks, accord-
ing to circumstances, following and feeding after
the retiring tide with the greatest activity, along
all the margins of the waters where a soft food may
be found, and delighting in those oozy flats of soft
sand or mud, which cover many acres in extent
upon much of the low lying shores of our islands.
During the full tide they rest, and may be found
perched on some rock that stands above the waters,
or huddled together on the beach, inactive, until the
tide has commenced to recede. In spring they dis-

230 PURRE OR DUNLIN.

perse, for the most part inland, to various moorland
districts, a few remaining in suitable localities near
the shore, such as extensive mosses or salt marshes,
and a considerable proportion also migrate entirely
to a distant or new locality. In the north of Scot-
land, where the country is intersected with arms of
the sea, or studded thickly with large lochs, the
shores and banks of which afford favourite breeding
spots, we find them thickly frequented, a few pairs
taking up a station at almost every hundred yards,
where they reside as a constant haunt, and are so
little molested, and consequently so tame, that when
fishing, we have thrown our flies over, and caught
the old birds rising on the shingle before us. The
nest is placed under or by the side of some tuft or
bush of grass or herbage, often ingeniously concealed,
but exhibiting little workmanship, except a little
hollowing and pressing of the dried grass to the
bottom.

In Europe its distribution, from all authorities,
seems as wide and general as it is in Britain,
abounding and breeding far to the north ; its range
is also very equal over North America, reaching
from Mexico to the fur countries. By Temminck,
Japan and Timor are given as localities, where,
however, it would seem to be a winter visitant only.
From the difference in its plumage during summer
and winter, very great confusion in the nomencla-
ture existed, and it has been described in these states
as distinct species. There is also great disparity in
size, as we shall see in the dimensions to be given.

PURRE OR DUNLIN. 231

In two specimens, the one killed on the Frith of
Forth, in the winter dress, the other procured in
the south, in the complete summer or breeding
dress, the entire length is respectively eight inches
and seven and a-half. In the winter state, the
plumage ahove is hair-brown, the feathers slightly
darker in the centres, those of the wings being
nearly clove-brown, on the shoulders, greater co-
verts, and long tertials, edged with greyish-white ;
the hair-brown of the upper parts extends across
the breast, becoming paler in the centre, and having
the shafts of each feather dark ; the chin, throat,
belly, and vent, pure white ; the rump and upper
tail-coverts clove-brown, edged with rufous ; the tail
itself very much cuneated, hair-brown, with the ex-
ception of the centre feathers proportionally longer
than the others, and which are clove-brown. In the
dress of the breeding season, the colours are very dif-
ferent. Above, the head and neck are greyish- white,
each feather marked with clove-brown in the centre,
and on the crown and nape tinted with orange-red ;
on the whole back and mantle the feathers are red-
dish-black, broadly edged with reddish-orange, at
the tips paler, and approaching to greyish-white ;
the chin is white ; the fore part and sides of the
neck and breast are greyish-white, the centre of
each feather marked with an oval black spot ; the
flanks and under tail-coverts pure white, sparingly
marked with longitudinal black streaks ; the centre
of the belly, so far back as the insertion of the
thighs, brownish- black, each feather narrowly tipped

232 KNOT.

with white, so as to form a broken fringe. In this
marking they remind us of the summer appearance
of some of the Charadriadce or plovers.

Specimens, in the summer dress, procured on the
margins of some of the lochs in Sutherlandshire,
present some difference, both in size and tint. They
run, in total length, from six to six and a-half inches,
the parts keeping a near proportion one to another.
The whole upper plumage shows a much greater
mixture of black, the rufous edges of the feathers
being narrower, their colour deeper, and with less
of a pale tint towards the tip ; underneath, the black
marking on the throat and breast occupies a much
greater part of the feather, and is more angular in
form, and the black patch on the belly proportion-
ally covers more space, and extends farther upon
the flanks. It might be curious to ascertain if this
state prevailed among northern birds, and if there
is much difference in their size.

THE KNOT, TRINGA CANUTUS, Linn. — Tringa
canutus, Flem., Selby, etc. — Tringalslandica, Penn.
(summer plumage.) — T. cinerea, Penn. (winter
plumage.) — Red and Ash-coloured Sandpiper, Penn.,
etc. (in summer and winter plumage — The Knot of
British authors. — This bird, from its very different
seasonal dress, has also undergone a variety of no-
menclature, but is now understood in its changes.
It is not known as a summer bird with us, or as
breeding in this country, although it remains sufli-

KNOT. 233

ciently long to attain its full breeding dress, and
often returns with it only partially changed. It is
by no means uncommon, though the range is not so
extensive or general as the last ; but at times, and
on some of our shores, it appears in flocks of very
great numbers in the autumn and winter. After
they have recovered from their migration, they are
rather shy, and we have often found them difficult
to be approached ; at other times, again, we have
seen them almost regardless of danger ; and once, in
September, when making a circuit of Holy Island,
on the Northumbrian coast, we fell in with a large
flock, in great part composed of the birds of that
year, which allowed an approach within ten yards.
They must have been newly arrived from their flight,
for, even when disturbed by a shot, they would not
remove more than from fifty to one hundred yards,
alighting and crowding the tops of the insulated
rocks. We procured many specimens with stones,
and believe that the whole flock, consisting of seve-
ral hundreds, might have been shot. It occurs in
a similar manner in Ireland. On the Continent,
Mr. Yarrell states, he is unable to trace it farther
eastward than France and Germany ; but it is found
in Northern and Arctic Europe, in Northern and
Arctic America, and we possess a single specimen
from New Holland that appears in every way iden-
tical. This specimen is either coming into, or re-
moving from, the breeding state, being tinted with
rufous beneath, and above having the light-grey
plumage mixed with dark feathers.

234 KNOT.

In the plumage of incubation we see the reddish-
orange' predominating; all the face, crown, and un-
der parts, from the chin downwards, are of that tint,
on the cheeks slightly spotted with brownish-black,
and on the crown and occiput having the feathers
broadly marked in the centre with the same colour.
The centre of the back, scapulars, and long ter-
tials, are deep blackish-brown, on the first having
the feathers broadly margined with buff-orange,
on the latter having them irregularly blotched, and
cut into with yellowish-white. The quills are clove-
brown, paler on the inner webs, and having the
shafts broad and white ; the tail is dark broccoli-
brown, tinted with rufous. In the adult full win-
ter dress, the plumage above is broccoli-brown, on
the crown and back of the neck with the centre
of the feathers darker, on the back having the
shafts only dark ; the under parts of the bird are
pure white, having the feathers on the cheeks and
neck dark in the centres ; on the breast these are
broader, and on the flanks they are distributed in
irregular waves; the rump and upper tail-coverts
are white, barred with clove-brown ; the tail is
nearly of the same tint with the upper plumage,
the outer feathers paler in shade, all narrowly edged
with, and having the shafts yellowish-white. In
the young in their first dress, the upper parts are
broccoli-brown, but the feathers on the back and
wings are edged with yellowish- white, succeeded by
a band of clove-brown, and having the shafts dark,
the whole, as it were, tinted over with buff-orange ;

BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 235

beneath, the dark markings in the centre of the
feathers are broader and more spread over the sur-
face, and the whole is also tinted with buff-orange
on the belly, often approaching near to the shade of
reddish-orange incident to sienna.

THE BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, T. RUFESCENS,
Vieilht. — Becasseau rousset, Temm. — Buff-breasted
Tringa or Sandpiper of British authors. — Only
four specimens of this Tringa appear to have occur-
red in Britain up to the present time. These have
all been killed in the more southern districts of
England ; Scotland or Ireland being unable yet to
reckon it in their fauna. On the European Con-
tinent it also appears to be of rare and only acci-
dental occurrence, and we are not aware of its being
met with elsewhere in the Old World. In America,
its true country (though it is generally a scarce bird
even there), it extends from the Brazils* through
the Northern Continent; and Mr. Audubon con-
jectures that it may breed near the Arctic Circle,
having seen a wing in the possession of Captain J,
C. Ross. We have not access to a specimen, but
give Mr. Audubon's description, probably taken
from various birds, as he states it to be " by no
means rare, at particular periods, along the shores
of our eastern districts." The entire length is eight
inches, the weight two ounces and a half, the female
being somewhat larger. The " bill, dull olive-
* Notteren.

236 PURPLE OR ROCK SANDPIPER.

green, dusky towards the point; iris hazel; feet
dull yellowish-green ; claws dusky. The general
colour of the upper parts is greyish- yellow, each
feather hlackish-brown in the centre ; wing-coverts
lighter ; quills and their coverts light greyish -brown,
greenish-black at the end, but with a whitish tip ;
the inner webs whitish in the greater part of their
'breadth, and beautifully dotted with black in undu-
lating lines ; the inner secondaries like the feathers
of the back ; the two middle tail-feathers greyish-
brown, dark brown glossed with green at the end,
and slightly margined and tipped with white, the
rest gradually paler to the outer, margined and
tipped with white, within which are two lines of
blackish-brown ; sides of the head, fore neck, and
sides, light yellowish-red ; the throat paler ; the
sides of the neck and body spotted with brownish-
black ; the rest of the lower parts paler and unspot-
ted. The lower wing-coverts are white, those near
the edge of the wing black in the centre ; the pri-
mary-coverts dotted with black, and having a spot
of the same near the edge. The female has the lower
parts paler, and the feathers of the upper parts of a
lighter brown, with an inner margin of broccoli-
black, and an outer edge of greyish-yellow."*

THE PURPLE OR ROCK SANDPIPER, T. MARITIMA,
Brunnich. — Trmgamgricans, Mont., Linn. Trans.
—Becoisseau violet >, Temm. — Selninger Sandpiper^
* Ornith. Biog. iii. p. 452.

PURPLE OR ROCK SANDPIPER. 237

Penn. — Purple or Rock Tringa, or Sandpiper of
British authors. — We do not consider this Tringa
as a very numerous species on our coasts, though,
at certain seasons, in winter and spring, they may
generally be met with where the shore is rocky,
and particularly if it possesses long ridges of crag
jutting out into the sea. The parties generally
consist of four or five, the amount of the brood ;
but these at times assemble or congregate into flocks
of considerable numbers. Such have been our own
observations on the coasts of the south of Scotland
and north of England ; and Mr. Thompson states it
to be u a local species, rather rare in Ireland,"* at
the same time we have other authorities. Thus, Mr.
Dann says, " the Purple Sandpiper is very nume-
rous in Orkney and Shetland, appearing early in
spring, and leaving again at the latter end of April,
about which time it collects in large flocks." Our
information relative to its breeding in this country
is very limited ; Mr. Selby met with a family on the
Fern Islands, which were scarcely able to fly. Mr.
Rodd also communicated to Mr. Yarrell that he had
killed them in Cornwall both in winter and sum-
mer ;t and we once met with a pair of Purple Sand-
pipers on the Bass Rock at a time when all the
other inhabitants had young; but, like the other
birds of this and allied genera which are known to
breed in northern latitudes, those which remain, and,
as it were, accidentally breed with us, can only be
considered as the very limit of the range, or as hap-
* Thompson's M.S.S. t Yarrell, ii. p. 666.

238 PURPLE OR ROCK SANDPIPER.

pening to do so from other circumstances. This
species seems to be altogether a northern bird, ex-
tending over northern Europe and the continent of
America to the Arctic Circle, being found incubat-
ing by many of the late Arctic travellers, while it
does not range to Africa or India. In its habits, on
our coasts in winter, it is tame, running upon the
rocks, or skulking, and allowing a person often to
approach within a few yards, their colour assimilat-
ing well with the surrounding objects, and prevent-
ing their being observed so long as they remain
motionless ; when disturbed they will also make a
circuit, and return to the rock whence they rose.

In form this bird is more compact than many
other of the Sandpipers, which, in appearance, is
increased by the shortness of the tarsi and legs. In
the winter and spring dress in which it is generally
procured upon our coasts, the upper parts are of a
greyish- black, the feathers margined with grey, and
becoming more conspicuously so on the shoulders
and wings, where the pale edgings are broader, and
in colour almost greyish-white, the whole glossed
over with purple, which, in some positions, appears
very conspicuous, and has gained for the bird its
English trivial name ; the wings are nearly of the
same colour with the upper parts, inclining to black-
ish-brown ; the tertials and coverts are edged with
white, the shafts of the quills appearing also of that
colour; the rump and upper tail-coverts are of a
very deep shade of greyish -black, and are more
strongly glossed with the purple reflections; the

PURPLE OR ROCK SANDPIPER. 2i9

tail itself is much cuneated, the centre feathers
blackish-grey, the others greyish wood-brown, be-
coming- paler on the outer pairs. The lower parts to
the breast are greyish hair-brown, paler on the chin,
and on the breast having the feathers broadly edged
with white; the remaining under parts are pure
white, on the centre of the belly and vent unspotted;
but on the flanks and under tail-coverts having
each feather broadly marked in the centre with hair-
brown ; bill brownish-black, pink or nearly reddish-
orange at the base and gape ; the legs and feet axe
ochreous yellow. The entire length of the specimen
alluded to, is from eight to nine inches; one before
us being eight and a-half, the other nine inches.
In a specimen in summer plumage, purchased some
time since from Mr. Carfrae in Edinburgh,, and said
by him to have been procured from Hudson's Bay,
the head and back are deep purplish -black, the
feathers on the head broadly edged with reddish-
orange, on the back and scapulars deeply cut into
with a paler shade of the same colour and tipped
with white ; the wings, including the tertials, the
rump and tail, are as in the winter state ; the back
of the neck is pale wood-brown, tinted with rufous,
each feather greyish-black in the centre ; beneath,
the colour is generally a greyish- white, each feather
in the neck and breast marked angularly with
brownish-black, in the centre of the belly crossed
near the tips with a broad black bar, and though
interrupted, showing there the rudiment of the
dark band prevailing among many of the plovers,

210 CURLEW SANDPIPER.

and in the Purre or Dunlin at this season, to which,
in the whole summer dress, there is a considerable
resemblance ; the flanks and under tail-coverts are
dashed along their centres with brownish -black.
The length of this specimen is eight and a-half
inches, and shows a great disparity in the length
of the bill, which, to the forehead, is only one inch
and a-tenth, while in the two previously described,
it is respectively one inch and three-tenths, and one
inch and four-tenths. The Northern Zoology, how-
ever, states, that the bill in the female is generally
a quarter of an inch larger than in the opposite sex.
In the young, Mr. Selby states the plumage to be
" dull greyish -black, the feathers being margined
with dirty yellowish-brown ; bill at the base ochre-
yellow/'

THE CURLEW SANDPIPER, TRINGA SUBARQUATA,
Temminck. — Tringa subarquata, modern British
writers. — Becasseau corcoli, Temm. — Curlew Trin-
ga or Sandpiper, and Pigmy Curlew of British
authors. — Of a more slender form, and standing
higher than the Dunlin or Purre, this species has
nevertheless been at times mistaken for it ; but it
may always be distinguished from that species, even
in flight, by the white colour of the rump and upper
tail-coverts. It is nowhere so abundant, and does
not assemble in the vast flocks in which we some-
times find the others, but sometimes it mixes with
them, where, in addition to the conspicuous white

CURLEW SANDPIPER. 241

rump, its different call betrays it if at a distance.
Spring, autumn, and winter, are the seasons when
it is generally met with, though there seems to he
evidence of the bird occasionally breeding with us.
Mr. Yarrell states having obtained this bird in
June, in the height of its summer plumage, from
Norfolk, and having seen the young, from the same
locality, in July. It has been in the autumn, after
their return from breeding, that we have met wkh
it on our shores, and have killed it on both sides of
the Sol way, either in small parties, or mixed with
the Purre, or feeding by some muddy streams, in a
salt marsh which they seemed fond of frequenting,
and, when come upon unawares, would utter a
shrill lengthened whistle, very different from that
of the Purre under similar circumstances. In Ire-
land, Mr. Thompson considers it as a regular sum-
mer visitant. It inhabits also Northern Europe and
America, extending there from the Arctic Circle
even to the southern boundary. The East Indian
Islands are given to it by Temminck, and the Zoolo^
gical Society have specimens from Tangiers.*

Specimens killed on the shores of the Solway, in
autumn, have the head and neck hair-brown, shad-
ing into dark clove-brown on the back and wings,
each feather in the first being darker in the centre,
and on the latter, together with the tertials and
coverts, being broadly edged with yellowish-white ;
the rump and upper tail-coverts pure white ; the
tail itself hair-brown, the feathers tipped and edged
* Yarrell.

Q

242 CURLEW SANDPIPER.

(those towards the outside paler and clouded) with
white ; the under parts are pure white, tinged on
the sides of the neck and upon the hreast with pale
wood-brown, having the shafts and a narrow streak
in the centre of the feathers hair-brown ; the bill is
proportionally long, being from one and a-half to
one and seven -tenths in length, slender and slightly
bending towards the point, which has gained for it
its Curlew appellation ; this, with the legs and feet,
are greenish-black. The season and state in which
these birds were procured, induce us to consider
them as in the plumage of the young, or in the
state intermediate to assuming the complete winter
dress, which, we believe, to be quite uniform, or
very nearly so, above, without pale margins to the
feathers, the tint hair-brown, glossed with purple.
In the summer or breeding state this Sandpiper
follows more nearly the colours of the Knot ; the
head, neck, and breast, are a rich chestnut or
orange-red ; the feathers on the crown dark in the
centre ; the back and scapulars are nearly black, the
plumage cut into with pale orange-red, and tipped
with yellowish-white, and the white on the rump
and tail-coverts appears to become spotted and barred
with black; the under parts are reddish- orange,
becoming paler on the belly and vent, and are crossed
with irregular bars of black. A skin from Mexico,
in our possession, shows an intermediate state of
plumage.

MINUTE SANDPIPER. 243

In the next two small species, admitted as occa-
sional visitants, there is a very close alliance, and in
specimens intermediate in plumage, or not quite
mature, there is a good deal of difficulty in dis-
tinguishing them. The first, THE MINUTE SAND-
PIPER, TRINGA MINUTA, Leisler. — Minute tringa,
Selby. — Little Stint, Yarrell, — •• is chiefly distin-
guished by the comparative greater length of the
tarsus, the uniform colour of the tail, except the
centre feathers, and in that member being slightly
forked, the two centre feathers, however, project-
ing in the centre, and being longer than any of the
others. The seasonal changes are somewhat similar
to those we have been describing, dark above, hav-
ing the feathers cut into with chestnut -red; but
underneath, the plumage is pure white, interrupted
by a band of pale reddish-chestnut, which crosses
the breast, shading into the white below and on the
sides of the neck ; the centres of the feathers are
dark; the tail is uniform hair-brown, except the
long centre feathers which are glossy clove-brown.
In a continental specimen before us, in the summer
plumage, there is a great proportion of rufous inter-
mixed, on the head and nape the feathers have
dark centres, on the neck the rufous is nearly the
prevailing tint, and on the back and wings the
feathers are very broadly edged with it, and with
buff-orange. In the complete winter dress, the plu-
mage above is described as ash-grey, the centre of
the feathers darker, beneath pure white, the band on
the breast slightly indicated on the sides. Two

244 TEMMINCK'S SANDPIPER.

specimens before us, from Southern Africa, show an
intermediate state, the plumage above being hair-
brown, darker along the shafts of the feathers, and
mixed with dark feathers cut into with reddish-
orange ; the long tertials are deep purplish -brown,
broadly edged with reddish-orange ; the pectoral
band is indicated by hair-brown, mingled with
reddish-orange. The entire length of the Minute
Sandpiper, is from five and a-half to six inches;
the length of the tarsus given by Mr. Yarrell, is ten
lines and a-half; by Mr. Selby as seven-eighths,
which agrees nearly with an African specimen.

This bird has occurred in various parts of the^
English coasts, chiefly to the south and east side of
the island, and Mr. Yarrell states, on the authority
of Mr. Heysham, that they have been several times
taken on the shores of the Solway. We have never
been so fortunate as to meet with them there, nor
do we hear of any instances of their capture in
Scotland being recorded. Mr. Thompson has found
them on the Irish coasts. On the European con-
tinent it does not appear to be of very frequent
occurrence ; and out of Europe, as already stated,
we find it in Southern Africa; and various autho-
rities consider Indian specimens identical.* In
Mr. Jerdan's catalogue, however, it is introduced
with a ?t

The second species we mentioned, — TEMMINCK'S
SANDPIPER, TRINGA TEMMINCKII, Leisler. — Tern-

* Franklin, Temminck, Selby.
f Madras Journal, July, 1840. p. 209.

TEMMINCK'S SANDPIPER. 245

minck's Sandpiper and Stint, Selby and Yarrell, —
is rather less than the last, has the tail graduated,
and the tarsus comparatively shorter. In a conti-
nental specimen before us, in the intermediate plu-
mage, the upper parts are hair-brown, the feathers
darker in the centre, a few dark feathers with
rufous margins being interspersed ; the sides of the
neck and breast are hair-brown, and the remaining
under parts are white. In summer, the rufous
colours above predominate, and tint the neck and
breast ; and, in the winter, the upper parts are hair-
brown, tinted with olive. This specimen is only
about five inches and a-quarter in length, and Mr.
Yarrell gives five and three-quarters as the length
of the largest specimen he has seen. He states the
length of the tarsus also at eleven-sixteenths ; Mr.
Selby at five-eighths ; in the specimen before us it
is nearly six-tenths. Temminck's Sandpiper is de-
scribed to approach nearer to some of the Totani in
habits, frequenting at times rivers of fresh water
rather than the shores of the sea. It has occurred
several times in England, but more sparingly than
the last ; Mr. Thompson mentions its appearance in
Ireland, but we have not met with Scotch specimens.
Out of Europe, North Africa and Himalaya are
given to it,* also the Dukhun,t Timor, and the
Indian Archipelago ;J and Mr. Jerdan places it
with a ? in his catalogue of the birds of the Penin-
sula of India. 1 1

* Gould. f Colonel Sykes, £ Temminck.

U Madras Journal, July, 1840, p. 209.

24:6 PECTORAL SANDPIPER.

Since the publication of Mr. Selby's work on
British Ornithology, three species of Tringa have
been discovered to be occasional visitants on our
coasts, and although they are of very rare occur-
rence, our volume would be incomplete without
some notice of them, however short, and though it
is not derived from observation.

PECTORAL SANDPIPER, T. PECTORALIS, Bonap. —
Pelinda pectoralis^ Bonap. Comp. List. — Becasseau
pectoral^ Temm. — Pectoral Sandpiper, Jenyns, Yar-
rell) and modern British authors. — Two specimens
of this species have been killed in Britain, one of
them on Brydon Board in Norfolk. One or two other
birds have been seen in the same country, but none
have yet occurred in Scotland or Ireland. It is an
American species, and seems to have been first
detected as such by Mr. Say, and afterwards to have
received a regular place in the histories of American
ornithology. Mr. Audubon met with them " in the
State of Maine, feeding on the rocky bars of the rivers
at low water ;" and states that Nuttall found them
in. abundance in Massachusetts Bay, where they are
migratory, and whence they are brought in numbers
to the market in Boston, during their temporary
abode. They extend also to the Southern Con-
tinent, are found in the Brazils ; * and we have
received the bird from the island of Tobago. We
are not aware of any other extra European range.
* Bonapart auct. Yarrell.

BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER. 24?

In a Tobago specimen before us, the whole upper
parts are deep blackish-brown, the feathers mar-
gined with ochreous ; on the rump and upper tail-
coverts the tint is nearly black, glossed with purple,
and having the pale tips and edgings very narrow
and indistinct ; the quills are clove-brown, shafts of
the first white ; the tail is much cuneated, the centre
feathers deep brownish-black, the others shading
into hair-brown to the outer pair, and all edged
narrowly with wood-brown ; beneath, the throat is
nearly white, the neck and breast wood-brown, the
centre of each feather dark ; the same colour extends
slightly on the flanks, and the dark shaft of each
feather is only seen ; the belly, vent, and under tail-
coverts, are pure white ; the legs appear to have
been greenish-yellow. The total length of this spe-
cimen is eight inches. The breeding state, as well
as the regions where it incubates, seem yet to be
undiscovered.

BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER, T. PLATYRHYNCHA. —
Becasseau platyrhynque, Temm. — • Broad - billed
Sandpiper, Gould, Yarrell, and modern British
authors. — A single specimen of this bird was killed
in 1826, in the same locality writh the last ; and is,
we believe, the only instance of its occurrence in
the British Islands. It is also of rare appearance
in Southern and Central Europe, but has been
found by Mr. Dann to be by no means uncommon
in Sweden and Norway, breeding in the latter

248 BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER.

country at an elevation of three thousand feet above
the level of the sea. A very interesting notice, on the
authority of that gentleman, of the bird during the
season of incubation, is given by Mr. Yarrell.* The
Indian Archipelago, Borneo, Sumatra, and Timor,
are given to it by Temminck.

" The adult bird, in the breeding season, has the
beak, which is one inch and one-sixteenth in length,
dark brown at the point, inclining to reddish-brown
at the base ; irides brown ; from the base of the beak
to the eye a dark brown streak, over that and the eye
a white streak, with a brown central longitudinal line;
top of the head brownish-black, slightly varied with
greyish-white, and tinged with ferruginous ; inter-
scapulars nearly black with rufous edges ; scapulars,
wing-coverts, lower part of the back and tertials,
black ; the feathers having broad margins of buffy-
white or rufous ; the primary and secondary quill-
feathers black ; the shafts white ; upper tail-coverts
black, with rufous edges; the two middle tail-
feathers nearly black, longer than the others, pointed
and margined with rufous, the others ash-grey mar-
gined with buff colour ; chin nearly white, with mi-
nute dark specks ; sides and front of the neck, and
upper parts of the breast, greyish-white, varied with
black spots, and tinged with buffy-red ; belly, vent,
and under-tail coverts white ; legs, toes, and claws,
greenish-black. The whole length of the adult bird
six inches and three- eighths." t

* Yarrell, ii. p. 641. f Ibid.

SCHINTZ'S SANDPIPER. 249

SCHINTZ'S SANDPIPER, TRINGA SCHINTZII. — T.
Schintzii) Bonap. (not Br hem.) — Schintzs Sandpiper ^
Yarrell, Gould, and modern British authors. — Like
the two last, this bird is very rare to our fauna, one
British specimen only being on record, killed near
Stoke Heath in Shropshire, and preserved in the
collection of Sir Rowland Hill. This was made
known to the public by Mr. Eyton, in his fauna of
the above mentioned county.* We have very little
knowledge of its distribution in Europe, and consider
America as its stronghold ; and though, from the ac-
counts of American writers, the species does not ap-
pear very uncommon in that country, yet specimens
are obtained with difficulty in England, and, on this
account, we have to borrow our description. They
appear to extend to the Arctic Circle on the one side,
and to Florida on the other, but their regular breed-
ing stations have not hitherto been marked. By the
Prince of Canino they are said to " frequent marshy
shores, and the borders of lakes and brackish waters^
They are very social even in the breeding time, and
are then by no means shy. During autumn they join
company even with different birds, and become very
wild. Their form resembles that of Tringa alpina,
but is more feeble/'f Audubon again says, " I have
always found these birds gentle, and less shy than
any other species of the genus ; they fly at a consider-
able height with rapidity, deviating alternately to
either side, and plunge towards the ground in a
* Annals of Nat. Hist. ii. p. 53. f Bonap. Contin. iv. p. 73.

250 SCHINTZ'S SANDPIPER.

manner somewhat resembling that of the solitary
Sandpiper."* The same ornithologist's description
is as follows : — " Bill and feet dusky ; iris hrown ;
the general colour of the upper parts brownish-
biacK, each feather edged with yellowish-grey ; the
scapulars with light red; wing -co verts greyish-
brown, the shafts black; primary and secondary
coverts tipped with white; quills brownish-grey,
darker towards the tips, the inner primaries, and
outer secondaries, more or less edged and tipped
with white; tail-coverts white, with a dusky spot,
excepting the two central, which are blackish, with
a few greyish-white markings ; tail-feathers light
grey, the two middle brownish-black towards the
ends ; sides of the head, fore neck, anterior part of
the breast, and sides, greyish- white, with small lan-
ceolate central brownish-black spots ; rest of the
lower parts white. Length seven and one-twelfth
inches ; tarsus eleven-twelfths of an inch, t Mr.
Yarrell's specimen, received from America, is noted
at six inches and a-half.

* Orn. Biog. iii. p. 629. f Orn. Biog. iii. p. 530.

252

THE BLACK- WINGED STILT.

Rimantopus meianopierus.

PLATE XVIII.

Charadrius himantopus, Penn., Mont., $c — Hiraantopus
melanopterus of modern authors. — Echasse a manteau
noir, Temm. — Long-legged Plover, or Black-winged Stilt
of British authors.

THIS bird Las been known as an occasional visi-
tant to Britain since the time of Sibbald. It has
occurred at rare intervals in the three kingdoms,
and seems to have been met with both in the low
fenny districts of England, and on the mountains
of Scotland, either singly, or, as in the case of
those mentioned in the History of Selborne, in
small flocks of five or six. Representing species,
closely allied, but distinct, have been discovered in
the other quarters of the world, and in New Hol-
land ; and, perhaps, have been sometimes taken for
the British bird, giving to it a range more extended
than it in reality has. On good authorities, however,
we have given to it India,* Java,t and Japan. J Mr.
Yarrell mentions, that the Zoological Society pos-
sess specimens from Trebizond ; and in the south of
* Colonel Sykes. f Dr. Horsfield. £ Temminck.

BLACK-WINGED STILT. 253

Europe it is perhaps also a visitant, but its real, or
any abundant locality, does not appear to be well
ascertained. The time of their appearance in Britain
varies, though it is generally in spring or winter ;
that, however, from which Mr. Yarrell derived his
drawing, as well as another, were procured in the
London market, during the month of July. A
curious habit was noticed by the Rev. R. Lubbock,
in a specimen killed in Norfolk : — " When shot it
was standing in a shallow pool of water, mid-leg
deep, apparently snapping at insects in the air as
they buzzed round it."*

An African specimen before us is in length to
the end of the tail, fourteen inches, to the extremity
of the centre claws, nineteen ; the unfeathered part
of the tibiae is two inches and three-quarters in
length, the tarsus four and one-quarter ; the whole
plumage, except the wings and centre of the back
or mantle, is pure white, slightly tinted with grey
on the occiput, and having the centre tail-feathers
of a pale broccoli-brown ; the tail, in this specimen,
is slightly forked, the outer feathers exceeding the
others more than one fourth of an inch ; the under
coverts equal the tail in length ; the centre of the
back and tertials approach nearest in tint to dark
clove-brown, glossed with green ; the whole of the
wings are rich glossy-black with green reflections;
the legs and feet are described to be pink,t and
vermilion-red ;J in the young birds orange.

* Yarrell, ii. p. 561 . f Yarrell. £ Selby.

254

AVOSETS.

FOLLOWING Himantopus may stand the Avosets,
Recurmrostra, Linnaeus, a limited series of birds of
grallatorial form and habits, but having the pal-
mated feet of a natatorial or aquatic species.

RECURVIROSTRA, Linnaeus. — Generic characters.
— Bill gradually bending upwards, long, slen-
der, subulate, depressed for the whole length,
becoming thin and weak, almost flexible to-
wards the tip ; nostrils basal, long, linear,
semi-lateral ; legs long and slender, great part
of the tibias naked ; toes in front united by a
membrane occupying two-thirds of their length,
hind toe minute, articulated on the the tarsus ;
wings long, somewhat pointed.

Type, jR. avosetta, Americana. Europe, Asia,
Africa, America.

Note — Plumage, in colours departing from the
Scolopacidce, no seasonal change, breed inland,
partially gregarious in winter, do not naturally
swim.

255

THE AVOSET.

Recurvirostra avosetta, LINNAEUS.

PLATE XXI.

Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn, — L'avocette, Buff. — Avocette
a nuque noire, Temm. — Avoset or Scooping Avoset of
British authors.

THIS bird, also of a very remarkable form, is of more
frequent occurrence with us than the last, breeding
in some of the fenny districts. Their stations, how-
ever, are fast decreasing, and the bird in England
may be considered as becoming more rare year after
year. Mr. Yarrell states, that some years since,
more than twenty specimens were seen in Leaden-
hall market within one month ; but, lately, they
have been much less frequent, the last heard of
being in the spring of 1837- * In Scotland, we
have the authority of Mr. Selby and Dr. Fleming t
for saying, that they sometimes occur ; but we have
never had the satisfaction of meeting with it. By
Mr. Thompson, it is said to be a rare visitant in
Ireland. In Europe it is found on various parts of

* Yarrell, ii. p. 556.

t British Animals, p. 101. " Resident in England, a strag-
gler in Scotland."

256 AVOSBT.

the continent, though not generally abundant, ex-
cept in the north of Holland, where M. Temminck
states it to he common. Out of Europe, we Lave
received it from Africa. By Mr. Gould it is stated to
he Indian, and Mr. Jerdan includes it in his Cata-
logue of Birds belonging to the Peninsula of India,*
stating it to range as far south as Madras, though it
does not appear to be any where frequent. The habits
of this bird are curious so far as they are known,
and when taken in reference to its station among
the Grallatores. They frequent the banks of rivers
or estuaries, and feed on aquatic life in various
forms ; and we have little doubt, that the structure of
the bill is adapted for seeking some peculiar kinds
of prey. They are said to wade about the shallow
pools or soft mud, but do not attempt to swim, or
to use their feet if placed beyond their depth, these
webbed members showing apparently a repetition of
form only, without the use of it being applied, ex-
cept in so far as it may assist as a support in soft or
oozy ground. In their breeding they resemble the
Scolopacidce^ being marsh birds, and flying around
clamorously, with the legs outstretched or dangling,
as seen in many of the Totani during the season of
incubation.

The length of a specimen of the European Avoset
from Africa, now before us, to the end of the tail,
is eighteen inches, and to the extremity of the
stretched-out legs twenty- one and a-half; the whole
colouring is a marked aud distinct variegation of
* Jordan, p. 210.

AVOSET. 257

black and white; the forehead, crown above the
eyes, and back of the neck, for about two-thirds of
its length downwards, the outer scapulars, shoul-
ders, middle wing-coverts and quills, are black, of
a deeper tint on the wings, and on the head and
wings slightly tinted with greyish-brown ; the other
parts of the plumage are pure white ; the bill black,
resembling towards its tip a narrow stripe of thin
whalebone ; the legs and feet bluish-grey. The
young birds are described as having the black por-
tions of the plumage tinted with brown, that on the.
head extending a little past the nape ; the scapulars
and dark wing-coverts edged with reddish-brown.

258

TURNSTONES.

THE Turnstone is another insulated form, which
will hold its place in the present family ; in its
manners it most nearly resembles the Tringoe, while
in its periodical changes it agrees with neither them
nor the plovers, farther than in the breeding colours
being black and red. The structure of the feet leads
us to the plovers or Charadriadce. The British
bird, having a wide geographical range, is the only
species known.

STREPSILAS ILLIGER. — Generic characters. — Bill,
in the form of an elongated cone, strong at
the base, and on the culmen rather flattened,
the maxilla from the angle ascending ; nostrils
nearly basal, linear, pervious. Wings long, and
nearly as in Tringa. Legs feathered nearly
to the tarsal joint, strong ; toes bordered with
a narrow membrane ; hinder toe articulated on
the tarsus, and only touching the ground with
the point.

Type, S. interpret (only species known.) Cos-
mopolite.

Note. — Breeds on rocks under cover of brush or
herbage ; colours of the summer seasonal change
red and black, lower parts continuing pure
white.

THE TURNSTONE.

Strepsilas interpres, LEACH.
PLATE XX.

Tringa interpres, Linn. — Stripsilas interpres, Leach Le

Tourne piere a Collier, Temm. — (Tringa morinella, Linn.
— Hebridal Sandpiper. — Synonyms of the young or first
plumage.) — Turnstone or Sea Dotterel of British authors.

THE Turnstone is only a winter visitant to the
British Isles. It breeds in the north of Europe and
in the cold latitudes of both hemispheres, migrating
late in spring from this country, and returning again
with its brood in August, From the time of its re-
turn, during the winter and in early spring, it may
be found in small parties along the shores, frequent-
ing chiefly those parts where there are jutting-out
ledges of rock, or the smaller rocky islands ; and
being somewhat local in its habits, particular places
are seldom without it. It feeds on nearly the same
substances as the Trmgce and Maritime Dotterels ;
but, as the name implies, it actively turns over
the small stones and other bodies on the feeding
ground in search of prey ; and, it is probable, that
this is more confined to the particular animals
that hide or live under cover. The flight is rapid,

260 TURNSTONE.

and a shrill peculiar whistle is uttered during it, or
•when suddenly startled, which easily betrays its pre-
sence if associated with the sandpipers or dotterels,
We have frequently shot the young and adult states
of the bird on the shores of the Solway, and on the
Isle of May and other rocky islands in the Frith of
Forth. In August, the plumage of the old birds has
lost its brilliancy; but, towards spring, we have
met with them in great beauty and richness ; and
we believe they are frequently brought in this state
to the poulterers in London. No authentic account
of its breeding in our islands has been given, but
Dr. Fleming states, " From having seen this species
at all seasons in Zetland, I conclude that it breeds
there."* Mr. Hewitson discovered it breeding on
rocky islets on the coast of Norway ; the nest " was
placed against a ledge of the rock, and consisted of
nothing more than the dropping leaves of the juni-
per bush ; under a creeping branch of which, the
eggs, four in number, were snugly concealed, and
admirably sheltered from the many storms by which
these bleak and exposed rocks are visited, allowing
just sufficient room for the bird to cover them. "We
afterwards found several more nests with little dif-
ficulty, although requiring a very close search."

The extra European range is very extensive; —
breeding in Northern Europe, as we have seen from
the preceding extract from Hewitson's Beautiful
Oology, it incubates also within and around the
Arctic Circle ;f has been met with in the Straits of

* Britibh Animals, p. 1 1 1. f Dr. Richardson.

TURNSTONE. 261

Magellan,* Cape of Good Hope,t Peninsula of In-
dia, " at the Tank at Jaulnah, two hundred miles
inland, and as far southward as Madras,"^ Japan,
Moluccas, New Guinea, § New Holland, || and is
well known to the ornithologists of the United
States. "We have received the young states from the
island of Tobago.

The adult breeding plumage in the Turnstone is
beautifully variegated with black, white, and chest-
nut. The forehead, eye-brows, around the auriculars,
lower part of the back and upper tail- coverts, throat,
belly, vent, and under tail-coverts, are pure white ;
the crown of the head is black, and is relieved by
the edges of the feathers being yellowish ; but the
auricular feathers, streak from the base of the
maxilla stretching down the neck, surrounding the
white of the throat, and occupying the whole breast
(the white of the other lower parts running up in
the centre to a point) and the rump, deep black ;
the back, scapulars, and long tertials, are varied
with deep black and clear brownish-orange, some
of the feathers being entirely of either colour, while
others have the basal half, or the shafts only, black,
and these colours do not seem to be disposed regu-
larly, or the same in different specimens ; the outer
margins of the scapulars are narrowly edged with
white, which mixes conspicuously in the general

* Darwin. + Dr. Smith.

£ Jerdan, Madras Journ. of Science, July, 1840, p. 211.

§ Temminck.

I) Yarrell. Specimens in Museum of Linnean Society.

262 TURNSTONE.

mass ; the wings are dark brownish -black, the
secondaries with a broad white tip forming a bar
across the wing, the base of the outer webs of
the last quills are also white, showing a triangular
spot adjoining to the bar ; the shafts of the quills
are broad, and are light coloured in the centre,
darker at the base, losing themselves in the same
colour as the feathers towards the tip; the tail
is tipped with white, is then crossed by a broad
dark band, and is again white at the base, the latter
colour being greater in extent as the feathers reach
the outside, and on the last the bar is not more than
half an inch in breadth ; the upper tail-coyerts lie
over the tail, so as to conceal the whole of the basal
white, and make it appear entirely dark with a
white tip; the feet and legs are bright orpiment
orange.

In the young of the year the upper parts, with
the exception of the lower part of the back, rump,
and upper tail-coverts, are dark hair-brown, the
tips and edges of the feathers paler, tinged with
yellowish ; below, all the dark parts of the neck and
breast are similarly coloured, and the quills and
tail are of a browner shade ; the legs dull yellow.
Among the small parties which are met with, how-
ever, birds of intermediate shade occur, and may
be seen with every gradation of change, from the
adult to the less marked state of the young.

263

PHALAROPES.

THE next form we have to notice is that of the Pha-
laropes or Natatorial Sandpipers, a group of very
limited extent, but showing beautifully a connection
of their own sub-family, both with the Natatores, and
with the more aquatic members of the Rallidw. Their
form is that of the true Tringce, but their feet show
an advance to the webbed structure, by the naked
fringes lining the toes, while their plumage some-
what resembles that of the aquatic birds by its
compactness. The seasonal changes are from grey
to red or chestnut. They are chiefly northern in
locality, breed on the sea shores, and freely swim
or take to the water, occasionally roaming to some
distance from shore. Two genera have been given
to these birds by modern writers ; we shall give the
characters of both ; but it is probable that they may
with propriety be resolved into one.

PHALAROPUS, Brisson. — Generic characters

Bill nearly angular at -he base, and strong, de-
pressed ; mandible dilated towards the tip, after-
wards rather suddenly accuminated, and at the
point deflected over the maxilla, grooved for the
whole length ; tongue short, blunt at the tip ;
nostrils nearly basal, semi-lateral, oval, sur-
rounded by a membrane; wings of mean
length, and as in T ring a, small spurious quill,
pointed and possessing rigidity; legs compa-

264 PHALAROPES.

ratively short; tibise naked for a short space
above the tarsal joint ; tarsus somewhat com-
pressed; toes before, at the base, connected,
and on their edges fringed with a lobed mem-
brane ; hallux slender, naked.

Type, P. lobatus. Northern Europe, the Arctic
Circle, Northern Asia.

Note. — Breed on the sea shore; swim, and ven-
ture far out to sea ; undergo a seasonal change.

THE second form was separated by Cuvier, under
the title of Lobipes, and contains two species, that of
Britain, and an American bird, L. Wilsonii^ given
also in ornithological works, under the titles of
"Frenatus"* and "Incanus."1[ In L. Wilsonii, the
the form of the bill is intermediate, being straight,
depressed for its whole length, and slightly dilated
towards the tip ; the tarsi are remarkably flattened,
and with the whole leg and foot are proportionally
more slender than in L. hyperborea ; the lobed mem-
brane to the toes is also less broadly developed.

LOBIPES, Cuvier. — Generic characters. — Bill
proportionally longer than in Phalaropus, slen-
der, straight, grooved; depressed for half its
length, at the tip subulate, the mandible there
slightly deflexed, nostrils lateral, basal, sur-

* Temminck, pi. color.

f Jardine and Selby, Illust. of Omith.

PHALAROPES. 265

rounded by a membrane ; tongue slender and
pointed;* tarsi very much flattened; otber
parts as in Phalaropus.

Types, L. hyperborea, Wilsonil. Northern Europe,
North and Arctic America, ranging to the bor-
ders of the Southern Continent.

Note. — Habits, and, to a certain extent, the
changes of Phalaropus ; " breeds in swampy
situations close to the water's edge."t

* Selby. t Daun.

266

THE GREY PHALAROPE.

Phalaropus Iobatus9 LATHAM.
PLATE XIX.

Phalaropus lobatus, Lath. Ind. — P. platyrhynchus, Temm.—
Grey and Red-coat-footed Tringa, Edw. (wint. and sum.
plum.) — Grey Phalarope of modern British authors.

SPECIMENS of the Grey Phalarope are now obtained
in various localities, almost every autumn and win-
ter, so that, although they cannot he accounted of
frequent occurrence, they are not considered so
valuable to collectors as some of the Tringoe we
have already had occasion to describe. Mr. Yarreli
mentions many instances of its occurrence in the
south ; and one or two, killed on the eastern shores
of the north of England, have been seen by our-
selves. In Scotland, specimens are also at times
brought in to collectors, and a few have come under
our notice freshly killed, both from the Frith of
Forth and from the Sol way, all during winter, or
when they had attained their complete or nearly
complete grey plumage. This, indeed, is the most
frequent dress in which they are met with in Bri-
tain, a few specimens jeing killed in autumn wlieu

GREY PHALAROPE. 267

they are in an intermediate state, or in the plumage
of the young. In Ireland, Mr. Thompson states it
to be " a rare but occasional autumnal visitant/'
In Europe it also occurs sparingly, chiefly towards
the north ; but its true and proper range seems to
be near the Arctic Circle, or in very northern lati-
tudes, Iceland and Greenland, &c. It is mentioned
by nearly all the Arctic voyagers as frequenting
many of the groups of islands visited by them, where
they were often found breeding. Siberia and the
north of Asia are also given to it by Pennant.

So far as they have been observed on our coasts,
their manners have somewhat resembled those of
the sandpipers, exhibiting a little less activity, and
being occasionally seen swimming about the pools
on the shore. Marine life of various kinds supplies
them with nourishment. In the northern latitudes
they are frequently met with far out at sea, in one
instance out of sight of land ; and it is for the cap-
ture of the immense profusion of minute animals
which crowd the Arctic waters, that we believe the
more developed structure of the bill is provided.*

In the plumage of the breeding season, a specimen
before us from Arctic America, has the sides and
fore part of the neck, and entire under parts, of a
deep and uniform brownish-orange, of an opaque
appearance from the dense and compact nature of

* Mr. Audubon found them gregarious (during winter), on
the Ohio, swimming along the margin, and picking up seeds
of grasses ; also at sea, far from land, assembling in hundreds,
on banks of sea-weed. They proved excellent eating.

268 GREY PHALAROPE.

the plumage ; above, and behind the eye, is a broad
streak of pale sienna-yellow; the throat is pale
greyish -black ; the crown running in a point to the
occiput, is very deep clove-brown ; the centre of
the back, running slightly upon the back of the
neck, is deep blackish-brown, each feather broadly
edged with sienna-yellow; the tail of a cuneated
form, is clove- brown ; the wings of the same tint,
darker on the quills, which have strong broad white
shafts; the secondaries are broadly tipped with white,
forming a conspicuous bar across the wing ; the bill
appears to have been yellow, deep brown at the tip,
legs and feet of the same colour, probably a slightly
duller tint. In another specimen, from the same
locality, the lower parts are not nearly so intense or
uniform in their tint, and the dark crown has the
feathers broadly edged with rufous-orange, almost
entirely destroying the dark appearance seen in that
part of the other specimen. In the winter state, the
plumage has a beautifully chaste appearance ; the
forehead, crown of the head (in its other state so
dark), the throat, and all the under parts, pure
white; the occiput descending for some way down
the nape and the auriculars greyish-black ; the back
and scapulars chaste bluish-grey, the shafts of the
feathers appearing darker, and each being narrowly
edged with pale yellowish- white ; the wings as in
the summer state, but of a deeper tint, and on the
shoulders having the feathers - broadly edged with
white. In a specimen killed on the ^Solway in the
beginning of winter, the above colours have been

GREY PHALAROPE. 269

nearly perfected, but upon the back, nape, and
crown, several dark feathers intermixed with grey,
and having rufous edges, still remain ; the wings are
of a deep tint, and the long tertials are broadly
edged with white; the bill, in this specimen, is
entirely black. Our plate represents both states of
plumage.

Dr. Richardson has hinted at the existence of
two species of broad or flat-billed Phalaropes, differ-
ing materially in the size and length of the bills.*
We give the dimensions of the birds before us, to
induce comparison : —

No. 1. No. 2.

a- f Total length rather more than 8 7|

f SJWing ........................... 5& 5^

11 1 Bill ........................... 1 1

* [Tarsus ...................... .. ft ft

a . fTotal length ........................... 8

Wing
l

Si Bill ................................ 9

& « rp

^ Tarsus ................................. T85

i-Sd fTotallength ............ 7

HI 1 Wng .................... 4. 9 lines.

£ «'§ I Bill ...................... 11 lines to rictus

£' | * { Tarsus ................. 10 lines.

THE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, PHALAROPUS

(LOBIPES) HYPERBOREUS. — Lobipes hyperborea. Cue.

— Phalaropus hyperboreus, Lath., Temm., etc. —

Red Lolefoot, Red Phalarope, or Red-necked Pha-

* Fauna Boreali- Americana Birds, PI. 40 8- -9.

270 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE.

larope of British writers. — This small species,
typical of the second form, possesses most of the
habits of the last, swimming- with facility ; it is
also, according* to Audubon, gregarious in winter,
and is found in large flocks, far from land, on the
banks of sea-weed. It breeds near to the water's
edge, but in wet places or marshes, on some tuft
or hillock of herbage. It has been occasionally
procured in the English counties as far north as
Northumberland, but not nearly so frequently as
the last ; and although it is said to be more com-
monly found in Scotland, we have never met with
a freshly killed specimen. It is known, however,
to be tolerably frequent, and to breed on several
of the Orkney Islands, particularly Sanda and
North Ronaldshaw.

We borrow* Mr. Selby's description of the dif-
ferent states, and add that of a specimen procured
for us by one of the whale ships, and taken, so far
as we could learn, on the island of Disco. " Crown
of the head, nape, and hinder part of the neck,
sides of the breast, and streak behind the eyes,
ash-grey ; sides of the neck marked with an irre-
gular patch of orange-brown ; throat, middle of
the breast, and all the under parts, white, except
the flanks, which are dashed with ash-grey ; back
and scapulars black, the feathers deeply margined
with ash-grey and reddish-brown ; wing-coverts
blackish-grey, the greater ones terminated with
white, and forming a bar across the wings ; the
two middle feathers black, the rest deep ash-grey,

PHALAROPE. 2?1

margined with white; bill black, legs and toes
greenish-grey "

In the winter state, the description is taken
from a bird killed in Northumberland. " Fore-
head white, tinged with cinereous ; crown of the*
head, streak behind the eyes, and list down the
back of the neck, blackish-grey ; chin, throat,
middle of the belly, abdomen, and middle tail-
coverts, white, with a slight pinkish tinge. Sides
of the neck and breast grey, with a faint blush of
purplish-red ; back, scapulars, and wing-coverts,
black, the feathers of the former deeply edged with
yellowish -brown, and the greater wing-coverts
having their tips white, forming a distinct bar
across the wings ; middle feathers of the tail black,
margined with yellowish-brown, the rest ash-grey,
margined with white."* Our Arctic specimen
had the crown, nape, and auriculars, clove-brown,
on the first and second mixed with greyish-white
and rufous ; the throat, neck, and entire under
parts, pure white, on the fore part of the neck,
and sides of the breast, having traces of clove-
brown and rufous ; behind the auriculars, and
running down each side of the neck, the red streak
of the complete summer plumage is indicated ; the
back and upper parts are umber-brown, mixed
with feathers having ochreous edges, and with the
dark grey plumage edged with white intermixed ;
the quills dark brownish-black.

* Selby, ii. p. 167-8.

272

CURLEWS.

THE next form, or that of the Curlews, which we
have placed last, reminds and leads us back to
that of the Tantalidce or Ibis, which we saw in
the single British representative figured on our
Plate X. They are, like them, also birds of con-
siderable size ; are chiefly maritime, except during
the season of incubation ; and, at that time, return
to the wild subalpine pastures, the prairies or step-
pes of their respective countries, where their wild
notes are often the only interruption that breaks
the stillness of these barren tracts. We have them
distributed over the world, 'though most abundant
in temperate regions.

NUMENIUS. — Generic characters. — Bill very long,
slender, slightly compressed, curved, the tip,
nearly round, hard; the mandible project-
ing over the maxilla ; nostrils linear, lateral ;
face feathered; wings rather long, pointed;
spurious quill rigid; legs proportionally, of
middle length; tibise bare for some length
above the tarsal joint ; feet rather small ;
toes before connected by a basal membrane ;
hallux articulated above the plane of the
others.

Types, N. arquata, longirostris, £c. Cosmopolite.
. — Maritime and gregarious in winter ;
breed inland ; are clamorous when their nest
is intruded upon. No seasonal change.

273

COMMON CURLEW.

Numenius arquata, LATHAM.

PLATE XXII.

Numenius, Willough — Scolopax arquata, Linn — Numenios
arquata, Lath., Selby, Yarrell, $c — Common Curlew </
British authors.

THE Common Curlew, during summer, or in the
season of incubation, is a frequent inhabitant of
all the subalpine pastures and pastoral districts
of Britain, often descending to the borders of
cultivation, and even depositing its eggs among
the young grain. In the north of Scotland, they
extend over all the wild country in many parts
stretching mile after mile in extent, and affording
fitting nurseries for them and a few allied birds.
They reach also to the Orkney and Shetland
Islands, breeding in both localities. About the
time of their arrival, their clear shrill whistle may
be heard, passing high over head to their summer
haunts, which are soon betrayed when approached,
by the birds, even at an early season, meeting the
intruder. When the breeding stations have been
taten up, the solitary moors will be seen, at early

i

274 COMMON CURLEW.

dawn in motion with the birds — we believe the
males — rising aloft with a slow ascent, sailing-
along, and uttering their shrill quivering whistlo
peculiar to this season ; or both will meet any
stranger with noisy screams, beating at him, and
approaching within a few yards. If they have been
annoyed or fired at, their usual wariness overcomes
their other instincts, and, although they may ap-
proach with the same screams, they are careful to
keep out of harm's way, and will retire to some
eminence, whence, when approached, they will run
and skulk, as if to decoy away the intruder. The
nest is placed on some dry part of the moor or tuft
in the moss ; we have found them also in a furrow
of fallow land, or of newly sown oats ; and it is
simply a hollow, smoothed by the bird, having in
some instances a few grasses, or other leaves lining
the bottom. In some districts the young are sought
after about the time they are able to fly, and are
considered excellent eating. We have occasionally
shot them before the pointers, so late as the 12th of
August ; these were, however, late broods, as about
this period, or very soon after, they have entirely left
the moors, and returned to the sea shores, whence,
during the influx of the tide, they travel inland,
and rest in the pastures or meadows, regularly re-
turning to feed with the ebbing waters. Though
at a distance, they seem instinctively to know the
proper time, and we have often observed them
commencing to return almost to a minute, the first
birds appearing when certain marks first began to

COMMON CURLEW. 275

be visible above the receding tide. During a flight
to any distance, or in migration, they fly in a
wedge form, at times skimming low above the
waters or shore, at others high over head ; and if
the first party is alarmed, and gives notice by their
scream, the next in succession will deviate from the
track, uttering the same alarm note, as if for a
warning to their followers. The Common Curlew
is also found in various parts of the European Con-
tinent, extending northward, as a summer visitant,
to Norway and Sweden, and is found in the Faroe
Isles and Iceland, where it even occasionally win-
ters.* It was seen at Smyrna by Mr. Strickland ;
South Africa is given to it by Dr. Smith ; and
China and Nipaul by Mr. Gould. Continental
India possesses specimens from the catalogues of
Elliot and Jerdan ; but in that of the last a single
specimen only is mentioned to have been obtained.
We possess specimens from Southern Africa, very
nearly resembling European birds ; they have the
axillary feathers in every specimen pure white.
A specimen from China appears to present some
differences, which farther comparisons only can
give weight to. The range, however, of this bird,
has been much overrated, from the similarity of
allied species, which a close examination only can
detect. It is represented in America by the N.
longirostris.

The head, neck, and breast, are of a tint of yel-
lowish wood-brown or ochreous, varying in in-
* Yarrell.

276 WHIMBREL.

tensity, and having the shafts of the feathers
umber-brown, which broadens out at the base of
the feathers, and forms narrow triangular dashes
or streaks of that colour ; the belly, vent, under
tail-coverts, and flanks, are pure white, on the
upper part of the belly and flanks, dashed with
brown ; the upper parts are deep clove -brown,
glossed with purple, having the feathers margined
and cut into with greyish and yellowish-white ;
the lower part of the back white, with the shafts
of the feathers forming marked streaks ; the quills
are clove-brown, glossed with purple, and cut into
half across on the inner webs with white nearly
in the Yorm of bars; the axillary feathers are
barred, as in the snipes, sometimes clouded with
hair-brown ; the tail is white, distinctly barred
with clove-brown, the edges of the bars irregular,
often clouded and tinted with reddish-white ; bill
at the tip deep-brown, shading into pink or tile-
red towards the base, particularly on the maxilla
— it often varies considerably in length, — legs and
feet a tint of greenish-lead colour or bluish-grey.

THE WHIMBREL, NUMENIUS PHEOPUS. — Scolopax
pheopus. Linn. — Numenius pheopus. Lath. Ind.,
and modern ornithologists — The Whimbrelor Whim-
Irel Curlew of British authors. — The Whimbrel,
though pretty generally diffused, is not nearly so
common as the Curlew, and is not found breed-
ing except in the extreme north of Scotland, ap-

WHIMBREL. 277

pearing chiefly on our shores in spring, autumn,
and winter, or more inland, as a casual passenger,
during its passage to or from its breeding sta-
tions. On the shores of the north of England and
south of Scotland, they are commonly to be met
with in autumn or winter, in small parties, and
are at once betrayed, among a flock of Curlews, by
their peculiar note. According to several autho-
rities,* they breed in the Orkneys and in some
of the Shetland Islands, and they were seen in
Sutherlandshire, on the banks of Lochshin, in
June, but neither nest nor eggs were discovered.
We once shot a pair of Whimbrels on a salt marsh,
on the Ross in Kirkcudbrightshire, in June, which
appeared as if breeding, though no nest could be
found. In Ireland, Mr. Thompson states that it
is " a regular spring visitant in passage north-
ward, and returns in autumn in much smaller
numbers.' 'f In Europe, it is found in the more
northern parts. Out of Europe, Temminck giyes
India to it, as do also Messrs. Jerdan and Elliot,
the latter stating that it is " found everywhere
along the sea shore and mouths of large rivers."
Mr. Gould states Himalaya as a locality ; and it is
probably found in North Africa.

In the colouring and marking of the plumage,
the Whimbrel very closely resembles the Curlew,
the upper parts being shades of hair and clove-
brown, the feathers margined with white and

* Dr. Fleming, Salmon, Hewitson. Neil, &c.
f Thompson, MSS.

278 WH1MUREL.

ochreous white ; the crown, however, is divided
along- the centre by a streak of paler colour, occa-
sioned by the feathers being broadly edged with
white, while on each side they have scarcely any
pale edging1, but form patches of dark hair-brown ;
the white on the lower part of the back runs far-
ther up than in the Curlew ; the chin is white and
unspotted ; the cheeks, neck, and whole under
parts are also pure white, but thickly and broadly
dashed with hair-brown, the marking's on the
flanks and upper parts of the belly assuming the
form of irregular bars ; the vent and under tail-
coverts only being- unspotted, except the appear-
ance of the hair-like dark shafts ; the axillary
feathers barred with hair-brown ; the centre tail-
feathers are pale hair-brown, barred with a darker
shade, the tint becoming paler and more broken
up towards the outside, where the ground-colour
is nearly pure white; the bill is deep blackish-
brown, tile-red at the base of the maxilla ; the
legs and feet are bluish-grey, rather more stout
and proportionally shorter than in the Curlew.
The above is nearly the colouring of the male bird
stated previously to have been killed near Kirk-
cudbright. In the female, shot at the same time,
the pale tints are all more or less ochreous, and
the markings on the under parts extend only to
the breast, the centre of the belly, vent, and tail-
coverts being pure white ; the upper tail-coverts
are also more distinctly barred with hair-brown.

279

CHARADRIAD.E.

THE CJiaradrladce or Plovers naturally follow the
family we have left, to which many species show
very close alliance ; while to the previous groups,
and that which has yet to be described, there are
also many close links of connection. Many of the
genera still continue to be maritime at particular
seasons, but the larger proportion show a greatei
affection for the land, and spend a portion of their
time inland. We shall commence the series with
a form which still continues the alliance with the
Tringce and Totani in the structure of the feet ;
it has also a periodical change of plumage, but
differs, in a much greater size, in one or two species
being adorned with beautiful crests, and in the
habits being so plover-like, that they sometimes
are known under that name.* The Lapwings
may be thus characterized.

VANNELLUS. — Generic characters. — Bill straight,
slightly compressed ; tips of the mandible and
maxilla rounded, smooth, and hard ; nasal
groove large and deep ; nostrils linear, pierced
in the middle of it ; wings ample, more or
less rounded, second or third quills often long-

* The Lapwings are so nearly allied to the genus Pluvianus,
that although we are in the habit of looking upon our native
species as representing the former, it will more properly come
in a* an aberrant species.

280 CHARADRIAD^E.

est, sometimes narrowed or emarginated at
the tip ; the carpal joint spurred or tuber-
culated ; leg's of varied length ; tibise more or
less naked ; toes before shortly connected by
a membrane; hallux, when present, articu-
lated on the tarsus.

Types, V. cristatics, Goensis, &c. Europe, Asia,
Africa.

Note. — Breed inland ; are very clamorous when
the breeding-ground is approached ; grega-
rious and partially maritime during winter ;
undergo a seasonal change.

281

THE COMMON LAPWING

Vanellut cristatus, MEYER.
PLATE XXV.

Tringa vanellus, Linn, &c.— Vanellus cristatus, Flem.
<J-c. — Vanneau huppe, Temm — The Common Green OP
Crested Lapwing of British authors.

THIS beautiful and lively bird is abundant in
suitable localities over the whole of the British
Islands, though the inroads of cultivation are
trenching1 rapidly on some of its favourite haunts.
The improvements which have been made on lands
that bore a subalpine character, and on that lower
wet pasture, which, till lately, was not thought
worthy of cultivation, and remained untouched by
the plough, have much curtailed them. We have,
at this moment, a wide range of land, once favourite
haunts of the Pewit and Curlew, where few are
now to be found ; and on one farm, not exceeding a
hundred acres in extent, forty or fifty pairs of Pewits
might have been seen breeding yearly, whereas, at
present, a single pair could not be shot upon it.
This, in one sense, may give some satisfaction in
the improvement which has taken place, and the

282 COMMON LAPWING.

additional rental it may bring- in ; yet there was
a charm in these wild pastures, animated by their
peculiar inhabitants, that cannot be replaced by
any change produced artificially upon them.

Some Pewits reside constantly with us ; but, at
the same time, numbers leave our islands, and
others annually perform a periodical migration
to the breeding grounds, arriving there with as
much regularity as our summer visitants from a
distance ; also, it is probable, that we receive a
few birds in their removal from other countries.
Their breeding stations are the subalpine moors,
and the large boggy pastures on their skirts, low
meadow grounds, extensive downs or commons,
and the fenny counties. These are often at a
great distance from the coast, completely inland ;
at the same time, a common upon the shore, where
the extent is considerable, and the surface varied,
is a favourite locality. They assemble there in
small flocks or parties, even about the end of
February, and gradually separate into pairs to take
up their breeding stations.* When incubation
has fairly commenced, the common or moor often
appears alive with their active motions ; no stran-
ger or intruder can enter upon their haunts with-
out an examination, and both, or one of the pair,
hover and fly around, tumbling arid darting at
him, and all along uttering their vehement cry of
" Peeswit" When incubation is completed, the

* llth February, 1842. The Lapwing has already com-
menced its inland migration.

COMMON LAPWING. 283

young- and old assemble together, and frequent
the pastures and fallows ; some particular fields
being often chosen by them in preference to others,
probably on account of the abundance of food;
and here they will assemble daily for some time,
feeding- chiefly in twilight, or clear nights, and
resting during the day. Extensive meadow lands
are similarly frequented, as also the low merse
lands at the mouths of rivers, and, we believe,
the fenny counties. The clouds of birds that rise
about sunset, to seek their feeding grounds, per-
forming many beautiful evolutions ere they go off,
is incredible, except to one who has witnessed
it. In Holland, where this bird is extremely abun-
dant, and where the view on all sides is bounded
equally by a low horizon, thousands may be seen
on all sides at once, gleaming in the setting sun,
or appearing like a dense black moving mass
between its light. The extent of their pasture
there is almost unbounded, yet it appears fully
stocked. Towards the end of October and in
November, those which have spent the summer in-
land, begin to return to the flat sea coasts, where
they feed at the retreat of the tide, and on the low
lands which generally accompany this character of
shore, and remain until the spring again induces
them to travel inland. The young are esteemed
for the table, and plovers' eggs, which, under that
name (when pure), are those of the Peewit, are in
great request in the London and some other of our
large southern markets, their collection during the

284 COMMON LAPWING.

season, giving1 employment to many individuals.
Dogs are trained to seek the nests of this bird and
several of the other Charadriadce, the eggs of which
are also used in common ; they hunt by the scent,
and make a point as if at game, until the " egg-
man" comes up. (We do not know the kind of
dog that is employed.) The geographical distri-
bution is extensive, though confined to the Old
World. The Lapwing is generally spread over
Europe, extending to Scandinavia;* it extends
northward, to Iceland and the Faroe Isles ;f it is
enumerated among the birds of Japan, J and we
have received specimens from the neighbourhood
of Canton, in the plumage of the winter. §

In the full breeding plumage, the crown, chin,
fore parts of the neck and breast, are deep and
rich black, glossed with green ; from the occiput
springs a long crest of narrow black feathers,
bending or curved upward, and capable of being
erected nearly straight when the bird is excited ;

* Nilson. f Yarrell. £ Temminck.

§ A very ancient Lincolnshire family, the Tyrwhitts, bear
three Pewits for their arms ; and, it is said, from a tradition,
that it was in consequence of the founder of their family
having fallen in a skirmish, wounded, and being saved by his
followers, who were directed to the spot where he lay by the
cries of these birds, and their hovering over him. — YarreWs
British Birds, communicated by Charles Anderson, Esq. of Lea.

Mr. Selby considers the birds served up at the feast of the
Archbishop Neville, to the number of one thousand, were
Lapwings, not specimens of the heron known as egret, under
which name they are recorded.

COMMON LAPWING. 285

surrounding- the black crown there is a circle of
yellowish-white, and under each eye, the auricu-
lars, and a patch on the side of the neck, pure
white, forming an irregularly oval spot of that
colour ; the nape is hair-brown, and the back and
wings are pale glossy olive-green, having bright
blue and purple reflections on the shoulders of a
much deeper tint, and there reflected with steel-
blue ; the lower part of the back is also olive, ter-
minated by a narrow band of chestnut ; the quills
are black, the third and fourth longest, the three
first tipped with greyish-white ; the belly and vent
are pure white ; the under tail-coverts pale chest-
nut-red ; the tail comparatively short, is rich black,
with a narrow white tip, and having a brcid basal
white band ; the outer feather only is pure white,
with a greyish black spot near the tip of the outer
web ; legs are purplish-red. In a female shot at
the same time with the above described male, in
full breeding state, the throat and chin were white ;
the dark crown, and marking between the eye and
the bill, of a deep hair-brown ; the crest about one
half the length ; a little less brilliancy marked the
other parts of the plumage. In winter the dress is
nearly in this state, there being no black on the
chin or throat, and on the back and shoulders the
feathers are all narrowly tipped with yellowish-
white. The young have the upper plumage still
more tipped with the same colour, or of a more
ochreous tint.

286

PLOVERS.

FROM Vanellus we reach the true Plovers, repre-
sented by the Grey and Golden Plovers of our own
country. The birds known under the above name,
in contradistinction to the true Charadrii or Dot-
terels, have been divided in their scientific arrange-
ment, and the presence or absence of a hind toe, has
been given much weight to as a generic character.
In both groups, we have so distinct and marked
an arrangement of colouring, that the common
observer, unaccustomed to scientific distinctions,
will at once separate them. The sexual change is
also to a certain extent different, and it is remark-
able, that in both (arranging by plumage and
marking), we have a species, which must, in either
case, be placed away from those resembling it;
the generic distinction resting alone on the pre-
sence or absence of the fourth toe, almost rudimen-
tary. We have now, however, ventured to draw
our characters, so as to allow the junction with it
of C. pluvialis and Virginianus. These three spe-
cies (including the Grey Plover) are closely allied
in habits, in the marking and colouring, and in
the dark state of their breeding plumage, occupy-
ing uniformly a great portion of the under surface
of the body. In their habits they are gregarious,
assembling often in vast flocks, while the others
more generally congregate only in parties of limited
numbers.

PLOVERS. 28?

SQUAT AROLA. — Generic characters. — Bill rather
strong-, tumid, flattened on the culmen, cylin-
drical towards the tip, which is hard ; nasal
groove wide, more than half the length of
the bill ; nostrils linear, pierced in the nasal
membrane ; wings long, pointed, first quill
longest ; legs rather short, bare for a short
space only above the tarsal joint ; toes con-
nected by a small basal membrane, slightly
fringed on their edges; hallux rudimentary
or wanting.

Types, S. cinerea, plumanus, Virginiamis. Cos-
mopolite.

Note. — Breed inland ; gregarious except during
incubation ; undergo a seasonal change.

288 GREY PLOVER.

THE GREY PLOVER, SQUATAROLA CINEREA. —
Tringa squatarola^ Linn., Penn., Selby, etc. — Fa-
nellus melanag aster ) Bechst. — The Greg or Bustard
Plover of British authors. — We have no authentic
record of this species breeding-, or being a resident
during the summer in our islands.* We have seen
it early in the season, in the breeding plumage, in
the London markets, and Mr. Yarrell has remarked
the same circumstance; neither does it appear
difficult to obtain specimens in this state from col-
lectors ; but, we believe, that most of these have
put on the nuptial dress, and are at the time of their
capture actually on their migration. Mr. Selby has
seen one or two occasionally on the Fern Islands
in June, but adds, they " may have been unequal
to the usual migration. "f Their summer abode
appears to extend very far north, reaching north-
ern Europe, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands, and,
on the authority of Captain James Ross and Dr.
Richardson, extending over many portions of Arctic
America. Its most usual appearance in Britain
is in spring, autumn, and winter, and then gene-
rally on the coast, in small parties ; never, so far
as we have seen, in the large flocks in which the
Golden Plovers assemble. We have met with them
frequently on the Sol way, and once shot a pair on
the banks of one of the lochs at Lochmaben. Mr.

* Dr. Fleming says, " he has reason to believe that it breeds'
hi the high grounds of Kincardineshire."
+ Selby ii. p. 229, note.

GREY PLOVER. 289

Thompson states it to be an autumnal visitant to
Ireland. There are various authorities for its hav-
ing- a very extensive distribution, — Algoa Bay,*
Egypt, j" Japan in summer and winter plumage ; J
J ava ; || and we have ourselves received specimens
from China and Southern Africa, in the winter
dress.

In summer, the Grey Plover has the forehead
and streak over the eyes pure white ; the space
between the eye and the bill, auriculars, sides of
the neck, breast, and belly, deep black, while the
vent, under tail-coverts, and thighs, are white ;
the head and nape hair-brown, the feathers hav-
ing lighter edges; the back and scapulars very
deep clove-brown, sometimes .nearly black, the
shafts of the feathers being darkest, the tips edged
with greyish-white ; quills brownish-black, having
the shafts white, and the inner webs shaded to
greyish - white ; tail -coverts white, barred with
hair-brown; tail also white, barred with dark
hair-brown, on the centre feathers the pale spaces
are much clouded with the dark colour, and these
feathers are accuminated, on the outer plumes the
basal half of the feathers is without bars ; the
axillary feathers black. In the winter dress, the
ground colour of the upper part of the body is
hair-brown, the feathers margined and cut into
with angular marks of greyish and yellowish-
white ; no trace of black remains on the face or

* Dr. Smith auct. Yarrell. t Selby.

£ Temminck. || Horsfield.

T

290 GOLDEN PLOVER.

lower parts ; the whole are white, on the chin and
throat nearly unspotted, on the neck and auricu-
lars having1 narrow streaks of hair-brown along-
the shafts, and on the breast and upper part of the
belly, having those continued, more broadly ex-
panded upon the base of the feathers, and forming
a relief to the pale tips of those lying over them ;
the bill black; the feet and legs greyish-black.
Two specimens, shot a few years since, by the side
of one of the Lochmaben lochs, in the month of
August, had the ground colour of the upper parts
very dark, and the edging and angular spotting of
the feathers nearly of the tint of sienna-yellow, so
as to cause them to appear, when first taken up, to
be the Golden Plover; the breast and belly also
had the dark parts of the feathers much broader,
and the whole tinted over with yellowish wood-
brown. These were considered young birds ar-
rived from migration ; they were very tame, and
allowed an easy approach. A bird from the Cape
of Good Hope, apparently identical, is very dark
above, having the colour glossed with olive reflec-
tions, has no white on the forehead, and very few
light markings on the crown or centre of the back.

THE GOLDEN PLOVER, SQUATAROLA PLUVIALIS. —

Charadrius pluvialis, Linn.y etc Pluvier dore,

Temm. and French authors. — Golden or Yellow
Plover of British authors. — This species, though
retaining almost exactly the markings, and the

GOLDEN PLOVER. 291

corresponding seasonal changes in the plumage,
with the last, differs in structure in the absence
of the hinder toe ; nevertheless, as stated, we con-
sider, in these birds, that too much consequence
has been set upon this form, and, for the present,
prefer retaining them with S. Firginianus, as con-
generic. In Britain, the Golden Plover is one. of the
most abundant species, being found on the coasts,
generally in vast flocks, during winter ; and, in
summer, retiring to all the wide tracks of alpine
moor which occur in Scotland and Ireland, ex-
tending northward to Orkney and Shetland, and,
wherever such localities occur, to England. In
Scotland, they reach their breeding grounds early
in spring, and select some spot, from which they
do not stray far. These are chosen both in the
subalpine moorlands, and on the tops of hills of
considerable elevation. The breeding plumage is
altered almost immediately after the station has
been fixed upon ; and, when incubation has com-
menced, the appearance of an intruder causes re-
iterated utterance of their wailing cry, the birds
flying around, and perching on some raised mossy
hillock in the vicinity. The nest is scarcely more
than a scratched hollow, very few grasses or lining
material being used. When the young birds have
attained their full plumage, the broods congregate
together, and may be found in large flocks, fre-
quenting for a time their moorland locality. As
autumn advances, they descend to the lower mea-
dows or fallows, collecting fresh numbers; and,

292 GOLDEN PLOVER.

by the time frost or winter has set in, they may
be found assembled on the sea shores in flocks, the
produce of the breeding- grounds of the district.
Before retiring- to the shores, the flocks may be
sometimes approached, or they come within shot
in the wheels which it is their habit to make
around any thing that disturbs them. On the
coast they are much more shy, though, from the
numbers composing the flock, the discharge of the
fowler is often successful at a very long distance.

A very extended or cosmopolite distribution has
been given to this bird, but, of its range, we may
at once say we do not know the correct limits.
We are inclined, at this moment, to consider it
limited almost to Europe alone, its place elsewhere
being taken up by the C. Virginianus. We have
never seen an extra European specimen of the
British Golden Plover. Sweden, as mentioned by
Mr. Yarrell, on the authority of Professor Nilson
and Mr. Loyd ; Norway, where Mr. Hewitson
saw it ; Hammerfest, as stated by Mr. Chisty ;
and probably Lapland,* with suitable localities
in other western districts of the European Conti-
nent, may be held as a certain extent of range ;
but we still think Faroe, Greenland, and Iceland,
questionable. The American and Arctic birds are
undoubtedly distinct, and, besides their smaller
size and other distinctions, may be at once sepa-
rated by the hair-brown colour of the underwing
coverts and axillary feathers, which, in the British
* Linn. Tour in Lapland.

GOLDEN PLOVER. 293

and European birds, are pure white. Mr. Yarrell
states, that eastward he has traced it through
France and Italy to the shores of Africa, and that
the Zoological Society have specimens from Tre-
bizond. This range is probable. All the Asiatic
birds, with those of the Indian Islands and New
Holland, agree with the American species; and
Mr. Audubon, in his Appendix to the concluding
volume of his interesting " Ornithological Bio-
graphy," has also included the American Golden
Plover, under the title C. marmoratus, Wagler,
as found in the New World. In addition to the
common bird, as stated already, all the specimens
which have come under our own observation have
been the latter bird ; at the same time, we have
no reason to doubt Mr. Audubon's well known
accuracy.

This beautiful Plover, in the full breeding dress,
has the space between the eyes and the bill, cheeks,
auriculars, throat, breast, belly, and vent, of a deep
velvetty-black ; the flanks and under tail-coverts
white, shaded with pale yellow ; the forehead and
streak above the eyes, nearly pure white ; the
ground colour of the crown, back, scapulars, and
long tertials, very deep clove-brown, with purplish
reflections of a paler shade upon the back of the
neck, and having each feather cut into with small
triangular spots of king's-yellow ; on the nape the
centres of the feathers only are dark, leaving the
whole margins yellow, which lightens or renders
more yellow the general tint of this part ; and, on

294 GOLDEN PLOVLit.

the long tertials, the yellow runs round, tipping tne
extremity of each feather ; on the rump and upper
tail-coverts, they almost, and in some instances
do, cross the feather, assuming the form of diago-
nal bars ; the quills are clove-brown, with white
shafts ; the axillary feathers pure white ;* tail hair-
brown, the tint becoming paler towards the outside,
and cut into with triangular markings, which al-
most meet at the shaft. In the female the black
is not so intense, and is partially mixed with white.
In the winter dress, the upper parts of the plumage
are nearly similar to that of summer, the yellow
tint spreading more uniformly over the cheeks and
sides of the neck ; beneath, the throat, vent, and
under tail-coverts, are white, but the throat, breast,
belly, and vent, are a tint of ash-grey, or greyish
wood-brown, each feather having a darker centre,
and the whole tinted over with king's or Indian
yellow ; the bill black ; legs dark grey. The inter-
mediate states of plumage in which they are met
with in autumn, are often very beautiful, the under
parts being marbled with black, white, and pale
king's yellow, which blend softly together. Total
length from ten and a-half to eleven inches. The
true S. Virginianus is under these dimensions ; but
we possess specimens, said to be from America, in
every way agreeing with the latter bird, having
the hair-brown, instead of the pure white axillary
feathers, which are fully eleven inches in length.

* The axillary feathers in C. pluvialis are pure white •, in
S. Virginianus^ hair-brown ; and in S. cinerea, black.

295

DOTTERELS,

FROM what we have considered as the true Plovers,
we pass to the genus Charadrius or Dotterel, all the
known species of which present a generic simi-
larity in colour and markings, differing from the
others in being unspotted, of shades of hair or grey-
ish-brown, the under parts generally crossed with
distinct bands of black or chestnut. In their habits
they are chiefly maritime, at the same time, a few
agree in this respect with the true plovers, in their
breeding in pretty inland localities. Their feet
are of a more decidedly cursorial structure ; but,
in one or two exceptions, they possess the hinder
toe.

CHARADRIUS. — Generic characters. — Bill straight,
somewhat dilated at the base, and gradually
narrowed to the point, which is hard a»d
slightly curved ; nasal groove large ; nostrils
linear and pierced in it; wings pointed, of
middle length, first quill longest ; legs of \
middle length ; tibiae bare for a short space
above the tarsal joint ; toes short, formed for
running; hallux entirely wanting.

Types, C. morinelluSj hiaticula, &c. Cosmopolite.

Note. — Partially gregarious in winter ; chiefly
maritime ; little seasonal change. The Squat-
arola cincta of " Orn. Illust." The form Ore-
opholus, and Mr. Gould's genus Erythrogonys,
will either enter as sub-genera here, or may

296 DOTTEREL.

be taken as aberrant forms, as the systematist
inclines.

THE DOTTEREL, CHARADRIUS MORINELLUS. — •
Plavier gingnud, Temm. — The Dotterel, or Dotterel
Plover of British authors. — The Dotterel is a spring
and summer visitant to Britain ; in the southern
counties of England only seen in their passage to
and from their breeding stations ; in the Lowlands
of Scotland being occasionally found during a
similar transition ; but, in a few localities, incu-
bating on some of the mountain ranges of both
countries. In Ireland, we have the authority of
Mr. Thompson for saying they are very rare. In
the mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland
they regularly breed, though we hear their num-
bers are diminishing gradually. Mr. Heysham of
Carlisle, has given a good account of their habits
at this time,* and states, that they assemble in
their different localities, in the neighbourhood of
Carlisle, about the middle of May, where ^ they
continue for ten days or a fortnight before retiring
to mountains, in the vicinity of the lakes, to breed.
" The most favourite breeding haunts are always
near to, or on the summits of the highest moun-
tains, particularly those that are densely covered
with the woolly frieze moss, Trichostomum lanu-
ginosum. They do not make any nest, but deposit
their eggs, which seldom exceed three in number,
* See Yarrell, ii. p. 393, et seq.

DOTTEREL. 29?

in a small cavity on dry ground, covered with
vegetation, and generally near a moderately sized
stone or fragment of rock.* On the alpine ranges
of Scotland, in a similar manner, they are found
in particular localities, after the young have at-
tained maturity. There are several stations upon
the Grampians, and some of our sporting friends
generally meet with small parties before they
have dispersed, on the first week of the shooting
season. In our own district, there is a locality
on some subalpine moorland, partially cultivated,
which is visited during their passage in spring,
but we have not been able to trace them on their
return migration. Their winter retreat seems
scarcely to be known with certainty, j* neither is
it noticed whether at any time they frequent the
sea shore like the grey and golden plovers; our
information, in fact, is confined to their breeding
habits, and their periodical passage to and from
these stations. Their summer ranges extend to
Northern Europe, J Russia, Siberia, and Northern
Asia, § mountains of Silesia and Bohemia, || step-
pes of Tartary.^ Mr. Yarrell also states, that
Messrs. Dickson and Ross have sent specimens
from Trebizond.

In summer, the chief food seems to consist of

* Yarrell.

f Mr. Selby states, " Its winter quarters in the warmer
parts of Europe and Asia," ii. p. 236.

J Linnaeus, Nilson, Hewitson. § Yarrell.

|| Temminck. «R Selby.

298 DOTTEREL.

insects, particularly the Coleoptera, many species
of which are extremely abundant on the coasts,
and come abroad in numbers during the heat of
the day.

A specimen killed in Dumfries-shire, in the end of
March, has the crown clove-brown, bordered above
each eye with white, which meets at the occiput ;
the chin, cheeks, and throat, are white ; the whole
upper parts of the body, neck, and upper part of
breast, hair-brown ; the feathers on the back and
wings edged with pale orange-brown ; immedi-
ately bordering the hair-brown on the breast, the
feathers are tipped with dark edges, forming a
narrow band, this is succeeded by a white gor-
get, gradually shading into rich brownish-orange,
which occupies the whole lower part of the breast
and belly, blending into a deep black conspicuous
patch in the centre of the latter; the vent and
tmder tail-coverts white ; the quills are dark hair-
brown, the first with a strong and conspicuous
white shaft ; the tail hair-brown, darker towards
the tip, forming almost a bar across the ends of
the three outward white feathers. This is nearly
the plumage in the breeding time; the females
have the colours of the breast scarcely so bright
or marked. When these colours have been put off,
the lower parts, we believe, are nearly white, and
the crown loses the depth of its shade. Birds,
however, are not frequently met with in this state,
and a minute description is not given in any of
our works.

299

1THE RINGED DOTTEREL.

Charadrius hiaticula, LINNAEUS.
PLATE XXIII.

Charadrius hiaticula, Linn., $c — Grand pluvier a collier,
Temm. — Ringed Plover or Dotterel, Sea Lark of British
authors.

THIS lively species is abundant on all our coasts,
wherever they are bounded by a sandy or gravelly
beach, and their shrill and plaintive whistle will in-
dicate their vicinity, long before the unaccustomed
eye can detect the birds running among the shingle,
to the colour of which the plumage closely assimi-
lates. It is a constant resident with us ; but, at the
same time, an accession of numbers seems to be an-
nually received during winter, from higher latitudes,
where they are only summer visitants. The sea
shore, in the situations mentioned, is almost their
constant haunt ; there they breed among the shingle,
just out of water mark, depositing their eggs in some
slight hollow, and there they feed, summer and
winter, after the tide has retreated, finding daily the
supply of food renewed. Exceptions, however, occur,
where they breed at a greater distance from the sea

300 RINGED DOTTEREL.

and where they ascend far up the courses of rivers,
although there they reserve their maritime habits,
breeding among the pebbles of the sandbeds. They
are known also to breed in the warrens of Norfolk
and Suffolk, at a considerable distance from the
sea*; and we have found them upon the banks of
various rivers, from ten to twenty miles inland. In
our own vicinity they perform a short migration,
breeding, and retiring afterwards. On the banks of
the Annan, fifteen or sixteen miles from the coast,
one or two pairs annually take up their station,
seldom varying far from it. They arrive about the
same time with the common sandpiper, and are
sometimes later in retiring. When approached, at
the season of incubation, they show extreme anxiety,
fly around, incessantly uttering their piping whistle ,;
if a dog is near, they feign lameness, and flutter off,
returning to their charge in a circle. At first, when
leaving the nest, they skulk away from it before
taking wing, which they are easily enabled to do
from their unobtrusive colouring; and, from the
eggs, deposited in any slight natural cavity, being
of a greenish-grey colour, assimilating with the
shingle, they require great perseverance and an acute
eye to discover. The range of this species seems to
be northern Europe, running near to or within the
Arctic Circle, Asia Minor, t Japan. J We do not,
however, find it stated as an Indian bird by either
Elliot or Jerdan.

* Messrs. Scales and Hoy and. Yarrell.

t Fellowes £ Temminck.

RINGED DOTTEREL. 301

Around the mandible, cheeks and auriculars,
deep black ; on the forehead a band of white, which
reaches each anterior angle of the eye ; and, above
that, a broad band of black passing from eye to eye ;
the remainder of the head and nape hair-brown, a
pale streak sometimes passing over or behind each
eye. The chin and throat, passing in a collar around
the neck, pure white ; succeeding this is a gorget of
deep black, on the breast about an inch in breadth,
and passing entirely round the white in a narrow
circle, is blended into a chaste and uniform hair-
brown, investing all the upper parts, except the quills
and tail. The secondaries are tipped with white,
forming a bar across, and some of the last quills are
edged with the same colour on their outer webs.
The quills are deep clove-brown, a portion of the
shafts, about an inch from the tips white ; the tail
is hair-brown, with an apical nearly black clouded
band ; the centre feathers have a very slight mark
of white at the end ; the others, to the second from
the outside, are broadly tipped with white, the se-
cond has the outer web entirely white, and the ex-
terior is altogether of that colour. The lower parts,
below the pectoral gorget, are pure white ; the bill
is black at the tip ; the base, with the legs and feet,
rich gallstone-yellow. The above description is taken
from a bird killed in December, and although the
bill and legs, with the black parts of the plumage,
may become more brilliant and intense during in-
cubation, little apparent seasonal change takes place.
In the young of the first plumage, there is no ap-

302 KENTISH DOTTEREL.

pearance of the dark bands on the forehead, auricu-
lars, or breast ; the latter is indicated by a pale shade
of hair-brown ; but, on the occiput, and below the
white nuchal collar, there is a annular shade of dull
black ; the auriculars are uniform hair-brown ; and
the crown, back, and wings, except the quills, are
also hair-brown, each feather being edged with yel-
lowish hair -brown; the two centre pairs of tail-
feathers tipped with the same colour ; under parts
pure white ; legs and feet of a paler and duller yel-
low. *

THE KENTISH DOTTEREL, CHARADRIUS CAN-
TIANUS. — Charadrius Cantianus, Lath. — Pluvier a
collier interompu, Temm. — The Kentish Plover of
British authors. — This species, though nearly allied
to the last, is easily distinguished, both by the varia-
tion in its markings, and by its smaller size. From
all our accounts, its habits are very similar, asso-
ciating with the Ringed Dotterel when they hap-
pen to be on the same coast together. The species
was first named, as above, by Dr. Latham, from
specimens procured at Sandwich, in Kent, where it
has since been frequently killed, and has also been
taken on the Sussex and Norfolk coasts ; and at
Lydd, in Romney Marsh, Mr. Yarrell states, on the
authority of Mr. Francis Plomly, that it is numerous.
It also breeds in the localities where it is found. In
Scotland we are not aware of an instance of its oc-
currence, and Mr. Thompson does not mention it in

KENTISH DOTTEREL. 303

the Irish List. It seems also sparingly distributed
over the continent of Europe ; but, by Temminck, is
said to be abundant in Germany and Holland. Out
of Europe, it is found in Northern Africa, in Nubia
and Egypt,* Indian Archipelago, t Java. J The
specimen of this bird in our possession, which served
also for Mr. Selby's figure and description, was pro-
cured on the continent. The forehead, running in
a streak over the eyes, whole of the under parts,
cheeks, sides of the neck, and a collar surrounding
it, pure white ; a frontal band anterior to the eyes, a
stripe between the mandible and the eyes, posterior
edges of the auriculars, and a patch on each side of
the breast, forming the commencement of an inter-
rupted pectoral collar, black ; the crown and nape
deep yellowish-brown, tinted with hair-brown, and
shading to chestnut at the edges ; the back and wings
pale hair-brown, shafts of the feathers darker ; secon-
daries tipped with white ; quills clove-brown, with
the shafts entirely white, the last quills also having
the same light edges which we saw in the Ringed
Dotterel ; the centre feathers of the tail are clove-
brown, the shade being lighter towards the base
and outside, the two exterior feathers entirely white.
In another continental specimen, considered to be
a young bird, we have neither black nor yellowish-
brown on the head or sides of the breast, these
markings being indicated by pale wood-brown, the

* Selby. t Temminck.

£ Horsfield. It is possible that the Indian specimens may
yet be found distinct, though very nearly allied.

304 LITTLE RINGED DOTTEREL.

white forehead and eye-streak only being marked ;
the legs, feet, and bill, are black in all states.

THE LITTLE RINGED DOTTEREL, CHARADRIUS
MINOR. — Charadrius minor, Meyer. — Petit pluvier a
collier, Temm. — The Little Ringed Plover of British
authors. — As a British bird, this interesting species
rests on a single specimen procured by Mr. Henry
Doubleday; it was taken at Shoreham in Sussex.
The habits of this Dotterel become interesting to
the ornithologist, as being somewhat at variance
with those of the two last, frequenting the banks of
rivers in preference to the coast ; but like the others,
it lays its eggs on the sand, without any attempt at
a nest.* From the very young state of Mr. Double-
day's specimen, it is conjectured that it may have
been bred in England, and if so, we may yet find
the species as an occasional visitant ; though, per-
haps, the character of the banks of the rivers is not
such as will suit its habits. On the continent it is
met with in several localities; in summer, so far
north as Sweden, f Messrs. Dickson and Ross sent
it from Erzeroom,J and it extends to Japan.§

We do not possess a specimen of this bird, and
borrow Mr. Yarrell's description: — " In the adult
bird the beak is black ; the irides brown ; the fore-
head white, with a black patch above it, extending
to the eye on each side ; top of the head and occi-

* TTcwit.son, Oology, quoting from Mr. Hoy.

t Nil son. J Yarrell. § Temminck.

LITTLE RINGED DOTTEREL. 305

put ash-brown; lore and ear-coverts black; nape
of the neck white ; back scapulars, wing-coverts,
tertials, rump, and upper tail- coverts, ash-brown ;
primary and secondary wing-feathers dusky-brown ;
these and the greater wing-coverts edged with white;
the first primary quill -feather only with a broad
white shaft ; tail-feathers ash-brown at the base,
darker towards the end ; the five outer tail-feathers
on each side white *at the end, this colour increas-
ing in extent on each lateral feather, the outer one
on each side having only a dusky spot on the inner
web, but this appears to be constant at all ages ; chin
and throat white, this colour extending from the
latter round the nape of the neck ; below this, and
above the breast, is a collar of black; the breast
itself, the belly, vent, and under tail-coverts, pure
white ; legs and toes flesh colour, tinged with yel-
low; claws black. Females have the black and
white frontal bands narrower than in the males.
Young birds of the year want all the decided black
markings which distinguish old birds ; the ash-brown
feathers of the back and wing-coverts have buff-
coloured margins.0*

* Yarrell,ii. PI. 411, 412.

306

SANDERLING.

have ventured, after some hesitation, to place
a bird, extremely interesting in form, after the Dot-
terels ; in the form of the bill, its seasonal changes,
and several of its habits, it is allied to the Scolopa-
cidce and to the Sandpipers, while the structure of
the feet would place it among the Charadriadce and
the Dotterels. On the one side, it may be urged
that we ought to have a Tringa with the feet and
structure of the Dotterel, while, on the other, it
might equally be said, that we should have a Dot-
terel with the bill and seasonal changes of the
Tringce. In either case it would stand as an oscil-
lating form, and perhaps might be placed with equal
propriety on the confines of either group. One
species only is known.

ARENARIA, Bechst. — Generic characters. — Bill
straight, compressed; tip, dilated, smooth, hard;
wings as in Tringa ; legs of mean length, slen-
der, naked for a short space above the tarsal
joint ; toes three before, bordered with a nar-
row fringe, basal connecting membrane very
small.

Type, A. calidris. — -Europe, Afiica, North and
Arctic America.

Note. — Breeds in marshes ; the seasonal change
of Tringa; maritime except during incubation.

SANDERLING. 30?

THE SANDERLING OB DOTTEREL TRINQA, ARE-
NARIA CALIDRIS. — Tringa arenaria^ Ray, Linn. —
Calidris arenaria, Leach. — Arenaria calidris, Meyer
and modern ornithologists. — Sanderling or Common
Sanderling of British authors. — The Sanderling is
pretty frequent on our shores during spring, autumn
and .winter, but does not breed with us ; at least no
authentic instances are on record. Mr. Yarrell has
stated its frequency on the English shores, and we
have ourselves procured it from the north-eastern
coasts. In Scotland it is also met with in small
parties, and we have shot it on the banks of the
Solway. Mr. Thompson records it in Ireland.
When we have observed the Sanderling, it has
generally been in small parties, unmixed with other
Tringce ; and the manner of running along the
sand or shingle, with the head drawn very close
upon the shoulders, is much in the manner of the
small Dotterels. Occasionally we have seen them
associated with the Purre, among which they were
easily detected by their lighter colour and their call.
It is a species apparently of very wide distribution,
breeding far north and within the Arctic Circle,
and reaching southward at least to Mexico. New
Guinea and Sunda are given to it by M. Temminck ;
it is not, however, enumerated by Mr. Jerdan. We
possess specimens from Southern Africa and North
America.

In the breeding plumage, the Sanderling may be
said to have the ground tint of the upper plumage

308 SANDERLING.

dark clove-brown, the feathers tipped with greyish-
white, and margined broadly with pale reddish-
orange, forming, at a little distance, a rather hazy
mixture, in which the red and white predominates ;
the throat, breast, and sides of the breast, are white,
having the feathers barred with pale clove -brown
and orange-red ; the quills clove-brown, with white
shafts, and having the inner webs approaching to
greyish- white ; the under parts pure white ; tail
with the centre feathers lengthened, accuminated,
and dark clove-brown, the others pale hair-brown,
becoming lighter towards the outside, the last en-
tirely white, except a patch of hair-brown near the
tip of the inner web ; legs, feet and bill, black. In
the winter state the plumage is very different ; the
face, anterior to the eyes, and all the lower parts,
are pure white ; the upper parts a chaste shade of
brownish ash-grey ; centres of the feathers on the
head and nape darker, the shafts of the others only,
appearing marked ; the tips and edges are of a paler
tint, approaching nearly to white on the wing-
coverts and secondaries. The bird, when in flight,
appears very pure and silvery, and contrasted only
by the shoulders and band of the wing, which are
nearly greyish-black, and the brownish-black outer
webs of the quills ; the tail has the grey tint pre-
vailing instead of the clove-brown. In a young
state, in which it is often procured in autumn, the
lower parts are, as before, pure white ; the centre of
the crown is black, the feathers edged with yellow-
isn white, shading off to both sides in depth of tint ;

SANDERLING. 309

the nape, sides of the neck, and breast, are pale
brownish-grey, tinted with ochreous ; and the back,
scapulars, and long tertials, are deep black, having
the feathers cut into on their margins with rounded
and angular spots, similar to those upon the Squata-
roles or true plovers. We have specimens before us
in this state from the Northumbrian coast, and from
North America. A specimen shot on the Solway,
towards the end of August, is also almost in com-
plete breeding dress ; while others, from the Cape
of Good Hope, are pure white beneath, but above,
show a good deal of dark marking, mixed with the
delicate grey of the winter state.

310

THICK-KNEES.

OUR next bird, the only British representation of
the genus (Edicnemus, serves as the connecting chain
between the Grallatores and Rasores by means of
the Bustards, to which its members approach very
nearly in habits, form, structure, and plumage ; but
we are not aware whether they undergo any marked
sexual change like the Bustards and Plovers. They
frequent plains or extensive downs, or the moist fal-
low lands in a cultivated country ; and, so far as we
know, are not at any season maritime in their habits.

GEDICNEMUS, Temminck. — Generic characters. —
Bill straight, strong, at the base depressed ; tip
slightly bending, compressed ; maxilla angu-
lated ; nasal groove wide, covered with a ceral
membrane ; nostril medial, pierced in the mem-
brane; wings comparatively short, somewhat
rounded, second quill longest ; tail cuneated ;
legs rather long ; tibige bare above the tarsal
joint; feet with three toes, connected by a mem-
brane, which fringes their edges, cursorial.

Type, (E. crepitans. Europe, Asia, Africa, New
Holland.

Note. — Habits not maritime ; partially nocturnal ;
no decided seasonal change.

311

THE COMMON THICK-KNEE.

(Edicnemus crepitans.
PLATE XXIV.

Charadrius oedicnemus, Linn. — (Edicnemus crepitans, CEdie-

neme criard, Temm Thick-kneed Plover or Bustard,

Great or Norfolk Plover, Stone Curlew, Common Thick-
knee of British authors.

WE trace the alliance in this bird to the Bustards,
in its frequenting extensive and open downs, and
in its laying, generally, only two eggs, of a form
varying from the peculiar outline of the Plovers,
Dotterels, and some of their allies. Some of the
foreign species also stand equal in height to some
of the intermediate sized Indian and African Bus-
tards. As one of its names implies, the sandy plains
of Norfolk are a favourite and abundant locality
for this bird, where it periodically arrives and
breeds. It is found in many other southern and
eastern counties, but no where so abundantly. It
is found more sparingly in Lincolnshire and Lan-
cashire. Mr. Yarrell states, " farther north than
Yorkshire I do not trace it." We have no record of
its appearance farther north, or of its being ever

312 COMMON THICK-KNEE.

met with in Scotland, and Mr. Thompson places it,
as an extremely rare visitant, to Ireland. In its
more common periodical haunts, it appears in April
and the beginning of May ; and, after breeding,
takes its departure in October, previous to which
it assembles in flocks like the plovers. There are
instances mentioned, notwithstanding, of specimens
being seen in December,* and of its appearance
so early as February, t The eggs are deposited on
the bare ground, without any nest, and generally
in stony or shingly places ; and the fallows in some
districts serve as breeding grounds. They are night-
feeding birds, a habit indicated by their large and
prominent eyes ; and while insects, particularly Co-
leoptera^ constitute a great portion of their food,
during their residence in this country, worms, rep-
tiles, and even small mammalia, are said to be also
devoured by them. On the continent the species
seems to be pretty generally, though locally spread,
as a summer visitant. We have it ranging to the
plains between the Black and Caspian Seas,J to
Asia Minor § and Madeira. ||

A specimen before us, procured from Norfolk,
has the upper parts yellowish- brown; the centre of
each feather umber-brown, dilating at the base, and
running along the shaft to the tip ; on the shoulders
the dark tints are deeper, and a series of feathers
are barred with yellowish-white, which is apparent,
and, from the contrast, shows a diagonal band across

* Mr. J. D. Salmon. ^ Montague. J Hohenacher.
§ Strickland. || Yarrell.

COMMON THICK-KNEE. 313

that part ; the greater wing-coverts are cream-yel-
low, edged with purplish- hlack, the quills and secon-
daries are also purplish black, the two first quills
with a large diagonal yellowish- white patch, about
an inch and a half from the tip, and which, on the
first quill, crosses both the webs, on the second the
inner only ; the lower parts white, or yellowish-
white ; the chin and fore part of the neck unshaded ;
the neck, breast, belly, and flanks, narrowly dashed
along the shaft of each feather with umber-brown ;
the feathers of the under tail-coverts ochreous, the
shafts dark ; in the tail, the centre feathers are pale
yellowish- brown, the others brownish- black at the
tips for a considerable space, succeeded by a broad
yellowish- white bar running diagonally, afterwards s
alternately bordered with the brown and yellowish-
white to the base, — upon the under surface these bars
appear very clear and decided ; the bill is black at
the tip ; the base, and on the edges of the rictus,
primrose-yellow; behind the eyes there is also a
bare space nearly of the same colour ; legs and feet
greenish-yellow.

The female does not vary materially, and no
seasonal change has been pointed out by ornitholo-
gists.

314

SWIFTFOOT.

THE Courser or Swiftfoot, which leads us nearer
the typical Charadriadce, are Little Bustard Plovers,
intermediate in many respects, and showing a beau-
tiful gradation of form. With the exception of their
frequenting arid plains or steppes, we know little
of their economy, and one specimen only occurs in
the British List as an occasional and rare visitant.

CURSORIUS, Latham. — Generic characters. — Bill
depressed, towards the tip curved, pointed ;
nostrils basal, pierced in the short and partial
membrane of the nasal grove ; wings of mean
length, but ample from the breadth of the
feathers ; second quill longest, nearly equal to
the first ; tail short ; legs long, slender ; tibiae
naked far above tarsal joint ; feet small ; toes
three, anterior, connected by a small membrane,
claw of the centre pectinated.

Type, C. EuropceuS) licinctus, &c. Europe, Asia,
Africa.

CREAM-COLOURED SWIFTFOOT. 315

THE CREAM-COLOURED SWIFTFOOT, CURSORIUS
EUROPJEUS. — Cursorius Europeus, Lath. — C. Isa-
lellinus, Meyer > etc. — Courvite Isabelle, Temm. —
Cream -Coloured Courser or Swiftfoot of British,
authors. — This interesting bird appears to be of ex-
treme rarity both in Britain and upon the continent,
all the instances of its occurrence being capable
of being enumerated within the limits of a page.
Four specimens seem only to be noted, at the pre-
sent time, as having been killed in Britain, — the
first in Kent, which was presented to Dr. Latham,
and served for his description of the bird ; another
in North Wales ; a third in Yorkshire ; and the last
in Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire. No examples
have occurred either in Scotland or Ireland. On
the continent, stray specimens are mentioned by dif-
ferent writers as being met with, but the instances
are extremely few. Africa appears to be its most
abundant locality, or its stronghold; but little is
known either of its habits or nidification, the speci-
mens which have been observed here being in loca-
lities foreign to their habits. The other species of
the genus are natives of Africa and India, frequent
extensive dry plains or sandy deserts, and have both
a powerful flight, and run with extreme swiftness,
as the name implies, and which may be at once seen
from the structure of the feet and legs.

The crown is pale buff-orange, shading into grey ;
on the hind head there is a triangular, spot of black,
terminating in a streak from the posterior angle of

316 CREAM-COLOURED SWIFTFOOT.

each eye, but through the centre of this, around the
occiput, and passing over the eyes, is a stripe or
band of pure white ; the whole of the body is of an
opaque tint of sienna-yellow, tinged with grey, paler
on the under parts, and on the throat and fore part
of the neck, shaded to reddish or yellowish-white ;
the quills are brownish-black, glossed with purple ;
the tail is nearly of the same tint with the body, the
feathers paler towards the exterior pairs, and with
the exception of those in the centre, there is a dark
spot near to the tip of each ; the legs and feet are
yellowish- white. The whole length of this species is
from nine to a little above ten inches, and from the
length of the legs, it appears to stand proportionally
taller. Mr. Yarrell states, the young birds of the
year " have the feathers clouded with two shades of
pale brown, with dark irregular transverse lines of
dusky ash colour," and the lines round the head are
not very conspicuous.

317

PRATINCOLES.

THE remarkable genus Glareola or Swallow Plovers,
to be placed next, continued for some time uncertain
of its proper station ; but it is evidently intimately
connected with the last. In many of the Gralla-
torial birds, we have seen the wings developed to a
great extent ; but the principal varieties of structure
are exhibited in the feet and legs, the organs on
which this order is, in a great measure, dependant
for seeking after its prey. The tail, comparatively
of small use to wading birds, has been formed short,
or verging in some to a rounded or considerably
wedge-shaped form, but never to a greatly deve-
loped fork, as in the Fissirostral tribes, and this is
what has puzzled systematists in looking for a sta-
tion to place the Pratincoles. In all the other parts,
the form of the Plovers is more or less kept up. We
have the bill of the last ; the colouring of the plu-
mage continues pale rufous or fawn colour beneath,
and has a narrow collar, representing the pectoral
and abdominal bands, the upper parts generally
glossed with a green or bronze reflection ; the feet
resembling Tringa, at the same time showing those
of a Fissirostral type ; while the tail, formed on the
model of the swallows', is the only exception among
all the Grallatorial birds.

GLAREOLA — Generic characters. — Bill short, de-
pressed, and expanded at the base, compressed

318 PRATINCOLES.

towards the point, and bending for half its
length ; nostrils basal, oval, oblique, partially
protected above with a membrane ; wings very
long, pointed, first quill longest, or equal to
to the second ; tail forked ; legs rather short,
a short bare space above the tarsal joint ; feet
lengthened and slender, outer toes connected
by a membrane ; hallux of middle length, ar-
ticulated on the tarsus ; claws long, dilated at
the base, that of the middle toe pectinated.

Types, G. torquata, lactea, &c. Europe, Asia,
Africa.

Note. — Habits partially aquatic ; food insecti-
vorous ; taken both on the ground and on
the wing ; " breeds on the ground, eggs four/*
* Yarrell.

319

COLLARED PRATINCOLE.

Glareola torquata.
PLATE XXVII.

Hirundo marina, Meyer. — H. pratincola, Zzww.— Glareola

Austriaca, Lath Glareola torquata, Selby, Gould, $c.—~

Glareole a collier, Temm — Collared or Austrian Pratin-
cole of British author?,

SEVEN or eight specimens of this curious bird are
ascertained to have heen killed in Britain, all of
them in England, with the exception of the second,
shot in Orkney by Mr. Bullock. No other instance
has occurred in Scotland, nor is notice taken of it in
Mr. Thompson's Lists. On the continent it appears
also only as a straggler, and it has been received
from some parts of Africa; Mr. Yarrell mentions
having seen specimens both from Tangier s and Tri-
poli. In habits they are described as possessing
great powers of flight, as well as being able to run
with swiftness and activity ; they are insectivorous.
Mr. Bullock's specimen was shot in the act of catch-
ing flies, and it is stated, that " like the sand-
pipers, it runs with the greatest rapidity when on
the ground, or in shallow water, in pursuit of food.

320 COLLARED PRATINCOLE.

\vhich was wholly of flies, of which its stomach was
full ;'* and Mr. Yarrell has recorded, on the autho-
rity of a son of Mr. Drummond Hay, that the habits
of the Pratincole " corresponded closely with those
of our plovers, frequenting sandy plains, flying and
running with great rapidity ; forming a slight nest
in any accidental depression in the dry soil, and lay-
ing four eggs."

In a continental specimen, the plumage above is
of a dark hair-brown colour, tinted with a greenish
metallic lustre. This passes across the breast, hav-
ing there a yellower tint, or appears nearly as wood-
brown ; the upper tail-coverts are white ; the quills
brownish-black, the shaft of the first broad and yel-
lowish-white. The throat and fore part of the neck
ochreous, bounded and separated from the colour of
the upper parts by a narrow line of black, arising
from the anterior angle of each eye, and passing as
a collar above the wood-brown of the breast ; belly,
vent, and under tail-coverts, white. The axillary
feathers deep orange-coloured brown ; the tail, which
is forked to the extent of two inches, is white at the
base; the centre feathers almost wholly black, the
ends of the others being blackish-brown, the white
increasing in extent on every feather towards the
outside. Bill black, lips or edges of the rictus red-
dish-orange*. In the young birds the feathers above
are edged with a paler tint, and the dark colour is
less distinct. We have no information whethei a
partial seasonal change takes place.
* Bullock.

321

OYSTER CATCHERS.

THE interesting birds which constitute the next
limited genus, are nearly completely maritime in
their habits, and exhibit an alliance, in various re-
spects, to the family in which, by the almost com-
mon consent of modern ornithologists, they have
been placed. They are gregarious except during
the breeding season, and, even then, incubation is
frequently conducted in companies. They breed
chiefly upon the ground, making little or no nest,
and lay four eggs. They are subject to a double
moult, analogous to that of the Charadriadce ; and
their manner, when an intruder approaches the nest,
is also similar. We have representatives of the form
in every quarter of the world.

ILEMATOPUS. — Generic characters. — Bill long,
straight, or slightly bending upwards, com-
pressed, point abruptly truncated ; mandible
with a large short nasal groove in the mem-
brane, of which the nostrils are pierced ; nos-
trils linear; wings ample, first quill longest;
legs comparatively short ; tibia3 for a short
space naked ; toes three, anterior, short, united
by a membrane which borders them.

Types, H. ostralegm, paltiatus^ niger, &c. Cos-
mopolite.

Note. — Habits maritime ; gregarious except during
incubation ; breed on the ground.

322

THE EUROPEAN OYSTER CATCHER.

Hcematopus ostralegus, LINN^US.
PLATE XXVI.

Haematopus ostralegus, Linn., $c. — L' hueterier pie, Temm.—
Common or Pied Oyster Catcher of British authors.

THE Oyster Catcher is frequent (in some parts
abundant) on our coasts from south to north, except
where they are very rocky and precipitous. Their
favourite stations are where there is a large extent
of sandy shore, interspersed with scalps, or beds of
muscles or other shell fish. These are generally un-
even in their surface, or are interspersed with pools,
which contain, breed, or tidely receive from the
ocean, various molusca and marine animals, furnish-
ing a favourite food to the birds. Hither they may
be seen hastening, from their marshalled ranks along
high water mark, so soon as the first object appears
above the waves, alighting, or clamorously flying
around it when its place is only visible from the
surf; and, as it becomes uncovered, a dense mass ol
birds crowd upon it, impatient for the additional store
of food which the last tide may have washed upon
it. In general they are shy, and will scarcely allow

OYSTER CATCHER. 323

approach within shot, sounding their shrill whistle
on the approach of an enemy, and flying off in
small parties at a time; single birds may, however,
be called within reach, and if one is killed, the flock
or party will turn and hover over it, uttering their
cries during the while. As stated, they feed at low
water, resting during the height of the tides, and
equally so if the change is during the night. When
residing on a coast where they were abundant, we
have often, at night, been able to distinguish the
state of the tide, from the whistle of the Oyster
Catcher passing to its feeding grounds. Though
their chief haunts are the shores of the sea, they are
also occasionally seen inland by the course of rivers.
This appears more prevalent as we reach the north,
where, however, the land is often much cut up by
bays and arms of the sea, along which they also
stretch. Professor Fleming has mentioned, that
they breed on islands in the Tummel in Perthshire,
where we have ourselves seen them. Mr. Thomas
Grant of Edinburgh, as quoted by Mr. Yarrell,
states, " that they regularly migrate to the interior
of the north-eastern counties to breed." We have
also seen the Oyster Catcher on the river Tweed, as
high up as Dryburgh. On the English rivers it is
sometimes killed far inland, but only as a stray
visitant, and not breeding. They incubate upon the
ground, generally in pairs, but in some instances in,
as it were, a common breeding place ; little nest is
made, but the eggs are laid in some hollow in the
sand or shingle ; in one or two instances we have

324 OYSTER CATCHER.

found the nest placed on the top of rocks standing
insulated in an estuary, and prohably from ten to
fifteen feet above the ground. When approached
at this season, the parent birds are very clamorous,
and fly around, or hover over the intruder.

In distribution, the Oyster Catcher appears com-
mon throughout Europe, where the coasts are fitted
to its habits. It extends northward to Russia and
Siberia, and even to Kamtschatka.* It is probable,
that it may extend beyond the European boundary,
Temminck mentioning it among the birds of Japan ;
but extra European specimens have never come
under our examination.

Specimens before us reach in length from sixteen
to nineteen inches ; the first, however, is a young
specimen of the year, in full plumage ; another,
seventeen inches, is, however, adult. The winter
plumage is noted to consist of a collar of white
beneath the throat ; but the specimens alluded to,
one killed in December, the other in July, are nearly
similar ; the feathers on the throat of'the first being
narrowly tipped with white. In these, the head,
neck, breast, upper parts of the back, shoulders,
scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, and tip of the tail, are
velvet-black ; on the back and mantle glossed with
green ; the lower part of the breast, and other under
parts, under eyelid, lower part of the back, upper
tail -coverts, base of the tail, greater wing-coverts,
and part of the inner webs of the quills, pure white ;
the bill and circle round the eyes, orange ; legs and
* Pennant.

OYSTER CATCHER. 325

feet deep purplish-red. At times, these birds, in
winter, are distinguished by a collar of white beneath
the throat, which disappears as the season of incu-
bation approaches, but it is occasionally only more
or less marked by white tips to the feathers. In
the young birds of the first plumage, the dark parts
are all of a duller black, approaching in some parts
to brownish -black ; and on the back and scapulars,
the feathers are tipped with ochreous ; the tips of
the white upper tail-coverts are barred with black
and ochreous ; the colours of the bill and legs are
not so brilliant as in the old birds, that of the latter
being of a livid grey. We have seen specimens of
a dull white or fawn colour.

326

RALLID^E.

THE family of the Rails, which we place last, as
being the most truly aquatic of the Grallatores^
is composed of birds, whose habits are skulking ;
during the day, frequenting meadows or marshes,
and the banks of lakes and rivers, and there hiding
themselves among the thick herbage which covers
the localities selected by them. In the typical
families, we saw the power of flight amply deve-
loped, in some instances, showing great swiftness
and a capability of being long sustained ; among the
Rails, on the contrary, the wings are short and con-
cave, the flight in the greater number awkward and
fluttering ; but, to compensate for this, the feet and
legs are adapted for running, and the whole form
is narrow, and when the neck is stretched out, is
pointed and fitted for threading through a vegetation,
which may be at once thick, and, at the same time,
strong and matted. Many of them also swim and
dive readily, and the feet are so constructed in those
which are not natatorial, as to enable them to tread
and walk with ease upon soft mud, and even over
the large leaves of water plants. Many of them,
however, differ, and come nearer the Rasores in
building or constructing nests of a large fabric, and
in laying a number of eggs. The British genera
are limited.

327

RALLUS. — Generic characters. — Bill long, slender,
compressed, towards the tip subcyiindrical and
slightly curving ; nasal furrow long and wide ;
nostrils linear and pierced near the centre of
its length ; wings short, concave, rounded,
third and fourth quills longest; carpal angle
often armed with a spine ; legs of mean length ;
bare above the tarsal joint ; feet long, slender ;
toes cleft to the base ; hallux short, articulated
near the plane of the others.

Type, E. aquaticus, &c. Cosmopolite.

Note. — Habits aquatic ; skulking ; lay numerous
eggs ; perch on rails or low trunks of trees ;
feathers of the forehead with the shafts pro-
longed into horny points

328

WATER RAIL.

Rcdlus aquaticus,

PLATE XXVIII.

Rallus aquaticus, Zi/m.— Ralle d'eau, TVmrw.— -Velvet Runner,
Willough.— Common or Water Rail of British authors.

THE Water Bail is found in the fenny counties of
England, and, where there is an occasional marsh or
fen, through most of the other districts ; in Scotland
it occurs also in similar localities, but is accounted
far from abundant, though its apparent scarcity may
be attributable to its very shy and secluded habits.
During winter, in our own yicinity, we generally
see or procure a few specimens, in wet ditches which
do not soon freeze, and to which the bird at this
time resorts, being driven from its better covered
haunts by the severity of the storm ; in such places,
after being pursued, it will creep into some hole or
under cover, and allow itself to be taken by the
hand. In summer, we have shot it once or twice,
but have always been unable to discover the nest.
It utters a discordant croak in the evenings, and
during the while remains stationary, possessing the
same ventriloquial power as the corn crake. Out

WATER RAIL. 329

of Europe its range appears very restricted ; we have
never received it with any collection, and the notices
of its occurrence are very scanty. Pennant men-
tions Malta, and Mr. Strickland Smyrna.*

An adult male, shot in this vicinity, has the crown
and all the upper parts yellowish-brown, tinted with
oil-green, the centre of each feather black ; on the
centre of the back occupying nearly the whole fea-
ther, but on the lower part and scapulars being in
the centre only, and there on the wings and tail,
allowing the pale colour to be the prevailing one ;
quills nearly clove-brown; on the forehead, until
beyond the line of the eyes, the shafts of each fea-
ther is strong, and protrudes in a horny point ; the
chin greyish- white ; the region of the eyes, cheeks,
sides of the neck, and under parts, until in a line
with the legs, bluish-grey; the flanks black, barred
with white ; tips of the feathers reddish wood-brown,
forming a line of that colour along the centre of the
vent, joining with the under tail-coverts, which are
similar, their basal half being black, which some-
times appears mixed with them ; axillary feathers
barred with black and white ; the bill is blackish-
brown at the tip, at the base tile-red, becoming
brighter and orange-red upon the edges of the gape ;
legs greenish -brown. White varieties sometimes
occur.

* On the authority of Yarrell.

330

CRAKES.

CREX, Bechstem. — Generic characters. — Bill
short, strong at the hase; culmen entering the
plumage of the forehead, its outline slightly
deflected to the tip ; maxilla angulated ; nasal
fossa broad ; nostrils pierced in its membrane ;
wings, at the carpal angle armed with a knob
or rudimentary spine, rather short, concave,
second or third quills longest; legs strong,
naked for a short space above the tarsal joint ;
anterior toes long, slender, cleft to their base ;
hallux short, articulated nearly on the plane of
the others.

Types, C. pratensis^ porzana^ gularis, £c. Cos-
mopolite.

Note. — Habits skulking ; chiefly aquatic ; breed
on the ground ; and lay numerous eggs ; noisy
and often nocturnal.

331

- THE MEADOW OR CORN CRAKE.

Crex pratensis, BECHSTEIN.
PLATE XXIX.

Rallus crex, Linn. — Gallinula crex, Lath. — Ortygometra
crex, Steph. — Crex pratensis, Beclist., fyc. — Poule d'eau
de genet, Temm. — Corn Crake or Land Rail of British
authors.

THE Corn Crake is generally distributed over the
British Islands, extending northwards to Orkney
and Shetland ; at the same time, it affects peculiar
localities, and there are many districts where it is
scarcely ever heard. Low lying and sheltered vales,
along a river's course, are its favourite haunts, and
there it will he found in meadows, young grass or
grain, osier beds, &c., preferring places in which
there is a certain degree of moisture. It is migra-
tory, being a summer visitant only, appearing at an
earlier or later period in the spring according to its
range northward or southward. In some parts it
has decreased, and without apparent cause ; in the
rale of the Annan, in the south of Scotland, ten
years since, the bird was extremely common, its
note being heard in almost every alternate field ; at

332 MEADOW OR CORN CRAKE.

the present time, it may almost be accounted rare ;
during the last summer (1841) only one or two
pairs heing heard within a stretch of several miles.
During the season of incubation, which commences
immediately after their arrival, the call or crake,
which is said to belong exclusively to the male bird,
is, in the mornings and evenings, uttered with un-
ceasing perseverance, and by its imitation, they
may be easily brought within a few yards distance,
though even then they are with difficulty raised
from the ground. The Rails possess a curious pro-
perty in the utterance of this call, a sort of ven-
triloquism, by which it appears at one time at the
extremity of the field, and the next minute close at
hand. The crake is uttered when running, but
more frequently when the bird is seated on some
stone or clod, and in this position possesses all the
modulations of distance. After incubation the call
ceases, and the birds are found in the growing crops,
hedge rows, &c., and during autumn are frequently
shot when in quest of partridges. In some parts
they seem to assemble before migration, and many
couples are at times shot by persons looking for
them. Instances occur of this bird being occa-
sionally met with very late in the season, and even
ia winter, but this can only be considered as owing
to particular circumstances.

Over the eyes, behind the auriculars, and extend-
ing a short way down the neck, is a streak of grey,
blending into the colours on either side; on the
crown, back of the upper parts and tertials, the

MEADOW OR CORN CRAKE. 333

ground colour or centre of the feathers is hair-
brown, each being very broadly edged with yellow-
ish-brown, or a yellow tint of oil-green ; the wing-
coverts and axillary feathers orange -brown ; the
quills a dull reddish hair-brown, darkest . on the
inner webs ; the region of the eyes, auriculars, and
sides of the neck, are reddish wood-brown, shaded
into the throat and breast, the former of which is
white, tinted with grey, the latter yellowish-brown ;
the centre of the belly is nearly white, shading gra-
dually to the sides and flanks, which are reddish-
orange, barred with hair-brown and reddish-white ;
bill brown, pink towards the base; legs and feet
yellowish -brown.

The nest is placed on the ground, in a furrow
or some slight hollow, and is constructed of grasses ;
the eggs often amount to ten or eleven in number ;
and, altogether, the nest much more resembles that
of the partridge or some of the Tetraonidce than of
the Grallatorial birds. The food, during its summer
migration, is insects, worms, slugs, &c., and we once
took a mouse from the stomach of one killed in the
vicinity of Edinburgh. Out of Europe, we have
the range of this bird noted to Africa,* and also to
Madeira, f

* Mr. Wilde, quoted by Mr. Yarrell. f Dr. Heineken.

THE SPO"T"f¥D CRAKE.

Crex porzanna, BECHSTEIN.
PLATE XXX.

Rallus porzanna, Linn Poule d'eau maronette, Temm

Spotted Gallinule or Crake of British authors.

THE Spotted Crake is also a summer visitant to
Britain, arriving early in spring, and departing later
than almost any of our other summer migratory
birds.* It is much more aquatic in its habits than
the last, frequenting marshes and the borders of
lakes and rivers, which abound with tall reeds or
grass ; and, from its skulking habits, not betrayed
by a call, it is extremely difficult to raise, and is thus
accounted much more rare than we are inclined to
believe it to be. In localities which suit it, it may
be pretty generally diffused over England, being
more or less abundant, according to the prevalence
of reedy lakes or fenny districts. In Ireland it is
named as " an occasional summer visitor," and in
Scotland we have met with it frequently. In a
marsh in our own vicinity, it may be always met
with, if carefully looked for ; but we have often run

* Mr. Blyth notices a specimen seen in the London market
in the moD^i of January.

SPOTTED CRAKE. 335

it for twenty minutes before a dog, previous to its
taking wing ; and it will often creep into some hole
or matted parcel of grass, rather than rise a second
time. We have also seen specimens taken near
Edinburgh, and Mr. Yarrell gives a notice of one
shot in Forfarshire, in October, 1832. We do
not, however, know its range in a northern direc-
tion. The nest is described as found in the vicinity
of its haunts, near the water, and to be constructed
of the dead parts of the reeds and grasses. The
eggs are numerous, pale reddish white, spotted with
dark reddish-brown. On the continent it occurs in
abundance or scarcity, according to circumstances.
In the vicinity of Smyrna it was found by Mr.
Strickland.* We have not seen or traced it to other
extra European localities.

A specimen shot at Jardine Hall, in the month
of July, has the head, back, and rump, clear hair-
brown, approaching nearly to black ; on the crown
the feathers are edged with yellowish-brown ; on the
back and rump broadly with oil-green, the margins
with irregular white spots; on the lower part of
the back and wings, where the apparent colour is
nearly wholly oil-green, they are marked with white
lines, being both surrounded with a narrow border of
black ; the long tertials, nearly equalling the quills
in length, are crossed by irregular diagonal white
bars, surrounded by a broad shade of black ; quills
hair-brown, tinted with oil-green ; above the eyes,
the sides and front of the neck, greyish oil-green,
* Yarrell.

336 BAILLON'S CRAKE.

each feather spotted on the tips white ; chin greyish-
white; breast and flanks oil-green, on the former
indistinctly marbled with white ; on the flanks barred
with white, relieved with black ; middle of the belly
nearly white ; vent and under tail-coverts ochreous ;
axillary feathers dark clove-brown, barred narrowly
with white as in some of the Scolopacidce ; bill
orange-red at the base, shading to yellow, in some
to greenish-yellow, at the tip brown ; legs and feet
greenish-yellow.

BAILLON'S CRAKE, CREX BAILLONII. — Crex Bail-
lonii, Illust. of Ornith. — Gallinula Baillonii^ poule
d'eau Baillon, Temm. — Zapornia Baillonii^ Stepk.,
Gould. — • Baillons Crake or Gallinule of British
authors. — This little Crake is almost a miniature
representation of the last, and is beautifully marked
on the upper parts with clear white spots. It is a
bird not frequently met with, both from being com-
paratively limited in numbers, and from the activity
it displays in eluding attempts to raise it from its
retreats. It has been taken in several of the English
counties as far north as Derbyshire ; but we have
no notice of it in Ireland. A specimen, wrhich wre
shall immediately describe, is now before us, shot
in summer, a few years since, in an extensive moss
in this vicinity. Baillon's Crake seems to be taken
at all seasons with us, though most of the captures
recorded have been made very late in autumn, or in
winter ; the nest is said to be constructed similarly
to that of the last. In the marshes of the continent

BAILLOJfS CRAKE. 337

it seems to be more abundant than in our island ;
and has been found in those of Picardy by the na-
turalist whose name it bears, and extends southward
to Italy ; but we want information as to its continen-
tal range. Out of Europe, South Africa* and Japan t
have been given to it. From the former we possess
specimens, received at various times, which do not
seem to vary, except in the colours being richer and
more brilliant than in the British specimen before us.
The upper parts and wings are yellowish-brown,
tinted with oil-green ; on the head the centres of
the feathers darker ; on the centre of the back the
feathers are black, having the outer webs without
the yellowish-brown, and finely freckled with white,
the appearance given is like an irregular white patch,
interspersed with black ; on the secondaries and
tertials the markings have the form of zig-zag lines,
bordered with black ; the under parts, as far as the
line of the legs, is nearly bluish-grey ; the colour of
the upper parts running into it on the sides of the
breast ; the vent, flanks, and under tail-coverts, are
dull black, crossed with broken bars of white ; bill
dark yellowish-green ; feet and legs yellowish-green.
Mr. Yarrell describes the under parts of the young
birds to be ** pale buffy white, mixed with light
brown." Length of our Scotch specimen about four
inches, (perhaps slightly stretched.) Those from
South Africa range from five and a-half to six and
three-quarter inches.

* Dr. Smith, , f Temminck.

338

THE LITTLE CRAKE.

Crex pusilla.
PLATE XXXI.

Gallinula minuta, Mont. — Rallus pusillus, Lath. — Crex
pusilla, Selby. — Poule <Teau poussien, Temm. — ^Little
Crake or Olivaceous Gallinule of British authors.

This little species, of plainer dress than the last, is
of equal rarity in occurrence, having heen met with
only at intervals in the counties to the southward of
Yorkshire, between March and October ; no speci-
mens are noted in Scotland or Ireland, or, indeed,
to the south of the county named above. So far as
we know, its habits and nidi fi cation are similar to
those of the two last ; but its habits, except with
great patience, are a great hinderance to investiga-
tion. It is curious that these birds — this as well as
the last — are said by Temminck to be of " acci-
dental" occurrence in Holland, a country which
we should have considered in every way suited to
them. In Southern and Eastern Europe it seems
plentiful. Temminck considers the Japanese species
identical.

LITTLE CRAKE. 339

The head and upper parts are oil-green, and on
the middle of the back, as in the last, there is a
patch of white, varied by black ; there are also white
markings on the scapulars, but " never on the wing-
coverts;" the lower parts bluish-grey; on the vent
darker and crossed with white; bill, legs, and feet,
deep green, the former, according to Mr. Yarrell,
red at the base.

340

GALLINULES.

FOLLOWING the Crakes, the form of the Gallinule*
next presents itself. They are birds of larger size,
and more aquatic in their habits, swimming with
ease, and diving to avoid danger.

GALLINULA, Latham. — Generic characters. — Bill
short, compressed; culmen broadened into a
shield on the forehead ; nasal furrow not con-
spicuous ; nostrils pervious and pierced in it ;
wings short, concave, second or third quill
longest ; carpal joint armed with a spine ; legs
rather short, strong, naked above the tarsal
joint ; feet large ; toes long and rather slender,
cleft to the base, bordered with a narrow mem-
brane ; tarsus comparatively short and articu-
lated on the same plane.

Types, G. chloropus. Europe, Asia, Africa, and
America.

Note. — Habits aquatic; swim freely; lay nume-
rous eggs ; perch on rails or low trees ; fly with
comparative difficulty.

Young.

3*1

COMMON GALLINULE.

Gattinula chloropus, LATHAM.
PLATE XXXII.

Fulica chloropus, Linn. — Gallinula chloropus, Lath., fyc.—
Poule d'eau ordinaire, Temm. — Common Gallinule, Wa-
ter-hen, or Moor-hen, of British authors.

THIS species is more aquatic than the true Rails,
swimming freely, spending a great deal of its time
in the water, apparently diving at times in search
of food, and always to avoid danger. It is com-
monly distributed through our islands ; and, in ad-
dition to the more extensive resorts of water fowl,
is extremely fond of ponds, or still rivers, fringed
with willow, brushwood, or any rank vegetation.
Amidst these it finds shelter and a retreat in time
of danger, and a convenient breeding place. It is a
bird which becomes extremely familiar, and, if un-
molested, will continue long about one spot, and
will approach the vicinity of houses for food that
is regularly laid for it. "When pursued, it will run,
or half fly to the nearest water, and will creep into
holes, or dive amidst the vegetation, the bill merely
kept above water. In this position it requires a very

342 COMMON GALLINULE.

strict search to find it, allowing the stems of grasses
and hrushwood to be put aside without moving ;
and, when discovered, is seen squatted under water,
immoveahle, and permitting itself to be lifted, mak-
ing no struggle for escape until secured. It breeds
among reeds or roots of brush, by the water's edge,
supporting the nest upon them ; and an instance is
mentioned, by Rusticus of Godalming, where the
.nest was placed on the branch of a spruce, twenty
feet from the water. It frequently perches on bushes
near the water, and on trees at a considerable height,
particularly when alarmed.

The European range of the Common Gallinule is
general and extensive. Out of Europe it appears
limited, and we do not trace it authentically very
widely ; Dr. Smith is said to have brought it from
Southern Africa.*

An adult Water-hen is a beautiful bird in spring ;
the base of the bill, and shield on the forehead, now
considerably enlarged, is a bright red, and contrasts
well, or enlivens the deep blackish-grey of the head,
throat, neck, and under parts ; this colour shades
into a deep oil-green on the upper parts, at this season
glossed with rich green reflections, which are spread
on the sides of the breast ; the quills are nearly pale
umber-brown, the outer edge of the first, with the
bend of the wing, white ; the tail rounded at the tip,
is black, shading into deep oil-green, and shows the
narrow cross dark markings incident to structure,
seen in various incessorial birds, and in the aquatic
* Tarrell,

COMMON GALLINULE.

genus Plotus. On the lower part of the belly and
vent, the feathers are tipped with greyish white,
which prevails more or less on the centre of these
parts, and on the flanks, where the oil green predo-
minates, the feathers are dashed with long streaks
of white ; the true under tail-coverts are white, hut
the feathers of the vent are deep hlack, and run in
upon them in an angular point; the naked parts
of the tibia> are hright vermilion-red, shadmg to
yellow, and often appear conspicuous; the feet and
legs are olive green. In the female the colours
are not so bright, and the frontal shield does not
cover so large a space. In a specimen before us
the rump is barred at the tips of the feathers with
deep brown and pale yellowish-brown, producing a
pleasing arrangement. In the young, the frontal
shield is scarcely visible, the whole plumage has a
tint of brown spread over it ; on the throat brown-
ish-white, and on the lower parts being yellowish-
brown, paler in the centre of the belly, and nearly
wanting the white longitudinal streaks seen m the
adults ; the feet and legs are of a duller tint,
young, when newly hatched, are covered with a
tair-like black down.

344

COOTS.

THE last form among the British Rallidce is still
more aquatic than the preceding, swimming freely,
and diving expertly for its food.

FULICA, Linn. — Generic characters.— -Bill strong,
compressed ; culmen gently curved to the tip,
and forming a large frontal shield; nostrils
oval, medial, pervious, pierced in the mem-
hrane of the nasal furrow ; maxilla with a con-
siderable apical angle ; wings of middle length,
rather pointed, second quill considerably larger
than the first; legs rather short, strong, fea-
thered nearly to the tarsal joint; feet large;
toes long and slender, cleft to the base, and
bordered with a broad lobed membrane ; hallux
articulated on the same plane, bordered with
a continuous membrane; claws 'sharp, gently
curved, compressed.

Types, F. atra, Americana, &c. Europe, Asia,
Africa, America.

Note. — Swim and dive with facility ; pursue their
food under water ; partially maritime ; flight
powerful ; breed among herbage growing in the
water ; lay numerous eggs.

340

THE COMMON COOT

Fulica atra, LINNEAS.
PLATE XXXIII.

Fulica atra, Linn., $c — Foulque macroule, Temm. — Greater
Coot, Penn.— Coot or Bald Coot of modern British authors.

THE Common Coot appears to be a constant resi-
dent in many parts of south and middle England,
in some localities making partial migrations to the
coast. To the northward, and in Scotland, it can
scarcely be considered more than a summer visitant,
arriving early in the spring to breed. In Southern
England, where the rivers are broader and more
lake-like, it is found in them as well as in broad
expanses of water ; but in Scotland it may be con-
sidered as confined to the lochs, and to those dis-
tricts where the country has no alpine character.
We have never traced it among the wilder Highland
waters, though Dr. Neil and Mr. Dann have remark-
ed it in the Orkneys. In the south of Scotland, they
arrive in their breeding stations early in spring, and
a straggling few only remain during mild winters.
Before they have dispersed in pairs, or after having
joined when incubation has been finished, they may

346 COMMON" COOT.

be seen in companies, diving like ducks, remaining
long under water, and evidently feeding. At the same
seasons, and in winter, in some of the English rivers
and estuaries, they appear to assemble in vast num-
bers, and are pursued by regular fowlers, who sell
them at eighteen-pence a couple. They breed among
reeds or brush, growing in the water, the nest being
generally placed where it would swim, were it not
supported by the stalks and roots beneath ; the nest
is very large, and mostly composed of the stalks and
leaves of aquatic plants. During this season they
will suffer a near approach, but become shy if often
disturbed ; at other times, the Coot is shy and rather
difficult to be got at. When on the wing, it flies
strongly, with the legs stretched out behind.

There is very little variation between the sexes
except in size, the female being slightly less. In
a pair before us, shot in this vicinity, during the
breeding season, the bill is pinkish-white, spreading
out on the forehead in a large milk-white shield,
very conspicuous and contrasted with the dark plu-
mage of the bird. The head, neck, and tail, are deep
black, the former shading into a uniform blackish-
grey, which is the only other colour in the plumage ;
slightly paler beneath ; on the wings and back, the
shafts are darker, and are seen as narrow lines ; the
edge of the first bastard quill, and a very narrow
line bordering the outer quill, white; the under
surface of the wings, in some lights, appears of a
silvery grey ; the tibia3 are orange ; the feet and legs
greenish-grey.

COMMON COOT. 347

The young, when newly hatched, are covered with
a strong hair-like covering, black, but around the
head red and orange-red.

White, and partially white varieties, sometimes
occur.

348

YOUNG

OP THB

RASORES AND GRALLATORES.
PLATE XXXIV.

ON this Plate we have endeavoured to represent the
young of these two orders or groups of birds. Leav-
ing the Incessorial birds, we entered the first by
means of the Pigeons, where, among the greater
part, the young were still hatched unfledged^ and
were fed for some time in the nest. In all the other
families, the young run almost immediately after
exclusion from the egg, and, in consequence, are
protected by a close and ample soft down. In the
greater part of the Rasores, the colours at this time
are shades of brown, chestnut, and yellow, as in-
stanced in the Partridge. In the Ardeadw^ it is
shades of grey and white. In the Scolopacidce or
Snipes, and Charadriadce or Plovers, it is also shades
of brown, chestnut, yellow, or grey^ like the middle
figure of the young Curlew ; while in the

YOUNG OF THE RASORES AND GRALLATORES. 349

it is either deep brown or black, often mixed with
red or orange about the head and neck, and, in the
aquatic species, is of a much coarser or more hair-
like texture. See the figures of the young Water-
hen and Land-rail.

t. OGDEK AND CO., PBIXTEBS, 1/2, ST. JOB* STBEBT, B.C.

KED

£&6&3

QL
¥2

*

- 3

Oi. .*