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BRITI S H BIRD

UC-NRLF

C B 755 Sb7

BOOK

2OO PLATE S IN COLOUR AND
NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS,

EDITED BY

FBKJRKMAN BAOXON

COIL tribal t 02?

J. L. BONHOTE
WILLIAM FARREN
F. G. R. JOURDAIN
W. P. PYCRAFT
EDMUND SELOUS
MISS E. L. TURNER
AND THE EDITOR

MISS W. AUST1
G. E. COLLINS
H. GRONVOLD
G. E. LODGE
A. W. SEABY
AND OTHERS

\ COMPLETE WORK ON THE BIRDS, NESTS
AND EGGS OF GREAT BRITAIN

and EJirLbvrrghu — T> G> &'E'G

LIBRARY
G

/v

THE ri;

BRITISHBIRD

BOOK

AN ACCOUNT OF ALL THE BIRDS, NESTS
AND EGGS FOUND IN THE BRITISH ISLES

EDITED -BY

F B KI RKMAN • B A OXON

'/

ILLUSTRATED BY TWO HUNDRED COLOURED
DRAWINGS AND NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS

VOLUME I

TC -&-E-C JACK

16 HENRIETTA STREET LONDON WC

AND EDINBURGH

1910

. i | • I

N»\ • \

PREFACE

Principal Objects. — One result of the growing interest taken during recent
years in the study of ornithology is a considerable addition to our knowledge of
the habits of British Birds. As no important comprehensive British work on the
subject has appeared since the well-known Histories of Yarrell (revised and partly
rewritten by Newton and Saunders, 1871-85) and Seebohm (1883-85), this know-
ledge remains inaccessible to those of us who are not prepared to search through a
large and scattered literature, periodical and other. The sources of information
available, moreover, before the above Histories appeared, have yet to be exhausted.
Superior to both of them, in its account of a number of our species, is the monu-
mental German work of the Naumanns, father and son, a new edition of which,
revised by several prominent European ornithologists under the editorship of
Dr. Carl Hennicke, was issued in 1897-1905 under the title of the Naturgeschichte
der Vogel Mitteleuropas. But this edition, while giving very complete treatment to
the description and distribution of most of the species, still leaves unrecorded many
of the observations on their habits that have been made in our own and other
countries. There is, therefore, place for a work that will bring together from every
source, foreign and native, all the available information of any importance concern-
ing the habits of British Birds. To do this, and to do it in a form interesting alike
to the student of animal life and the general reader, is the chief object of the present
undertaking.

Though we have a considerable body of information at our disposal concerning
the habits of our native birds, it would be idle to deny that it must be regarded as
very defective when compared with what we know about then- structure or even
their geographical distribution ; so much so that it is impossible, and will no doubt
long remain impossible, to systematise it, except to a limited extent, in such a way
that the same class of evidence can be recorded with equal exactness and complete-
ness under the head of each species. To take one example only : it is not possible
at present to give, in the case even of many of our commoner birds, a detailed reliable
description of the differences in the nuptial displays that occur at the beginning of
the breeding season ; yet one has only to turn over the pages of Darwin, Wallace,
and their successors to realise how important is the evidence that the ornithologists
might bring to the solution of the vexed question of sexual selection.

iii

746307

iv THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK

It is in approaching the study of birds with an eye to its value for the solution
of this and similar problems, that we begin to realise not only its essential meaning
and inner charm, but also the profundity of our ignorance concerning it. To know
how little we know is in natural history the beginning of wisdom. Far from
concealing this ignorance, it is part of the function of the present work to make
it clear, and thus point the way to further research.

It is perhaps hardly necessary to add that the book appeals to the
young naturalist in the interests of that kind of nature study which teaches
him to regard an excursion into the country not as a raid but as a voyage
of discovery. The appeal unfortunately cannot be limited to the young. If
it could, the gun of the collector and his agents would not be heard so often in
the land.

Other Objects. — In order to render the work complete for general purposes,
all the information is given that is necessary to enable the reader to identify any
British bird, as well as its nest and eggs. Descriptions overcharged with detail
have been avoided, only what is strictly essential for purposes of recognition being
given. In compiling the descriptions, good use has been made of standard works,
but as the statements made in these works are not infrequently at variance, it has
been thought necessary to verify every description in the present book by reference
either to li ve specimens, or to skins in the British Museum and elsewhere, an arduous
task which, if not overproductive of new discoveries, has at least increased our
respect for the labours of those who have trodden the same thorny path.

A detailed account of the geographical distribution of our birds lies outside the
scope of the work, which professes to deal comprehensively only with their habits,
but short summaries embodying the most recent information will be found under
the head of each species.

To meet the practical wants of the field naturalist there will be a special
chapter on the art of bird-watching, and, as many naturalists now use the camera,
this chapter will contain notes on the best methods of bird-photography.

PLAN

The Chapter. — The plan of the book differs in some important particulars
from that generally adopted. Each chapter deals not with a species, but a Family,
thus not only emphasising the relationship of the species, but facilitating com-
parative treatment and avoiding unnecessary repetition of statements that apply
equally to the whole Family or Genus.

It has been found in many cases advisable to divide the chapter into sections,

PREFACE v

the Genus generally providing a convenient division, the species in it being com-
pared in respect to each class of activities, e.g. courtship, nesting habits, feeding
habits, and so on. But rigid uniformity in arrangement has not been attempted.
All the Finch Genera, for instance, owing to the marked similarity in the general
habits of their species, are taken together. The same applies to the swallow,
house-martin, and sand-martin, also to the jay and the magpie. On the other
hand, the genus Corvus is divided into groups, in order to avoid unwieldy
sections. Each writer has been left to arrange and treat the matter within
each section of a chapter in the way best suited to his style and temperament,
thus avoiding cut-and-dried uniformity with its resulting aridity. Any incon-
venience that this course may have is met by the index, and to some extent by
setting apart and arranging systematically the information that is most often
needed for reference. This is placed at the head of the chapter under the title of
Preliminary Classified Notes.

Preliminary Classified Notes. — These contain not only the information
needed for reference, but certain classes of fact which lend themselves better to
systematic or statistical than to literary treatment. Under the same head are
placed the facts relative to the migration and distribution of the species, for these
are subjects that can only properly be dealt with by specialists. All three categories
are arranged on a uniform unvarying plan under the head of each species, as
follows : —

1. Description of the male, female, and young, and their seasonal changes of

plumage.

2. Distribution.

3. Migration.

4. Nest and eggs. Under this head is given a description of the nest, its site,

the eggs, and information as to the number of eggs, the period at which
the species begins laying, the share of the sexes in incubation, the period
of incubation, and the number of broods.

5. The food, both of young and old, and the share of the parents in feeding the

young.

6. The period of the year during which the species sings.

Supplementary Chapters. — In addition to the chapters on the habits of
each Family and the Preliminary Classified Notes which form part of them, there
will be found at the end of the book certain supplementary chapters dealing with
special points.

The first of these contains descriptions of species which are almost extinct

vi THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK

within our shores, or which visit us at such rare and irregular intervals that they
can only be called British by courtesy. Notes on their distribution are added.
Their habits are not described, for as British birds they can scarcely be said to
have any worth recording.

The second chapter, which must be taken in close connection with the de-
scriptions of the species in Section 1 of the Preliminary Classified Notes, shows to
what extent the Family and Generic structural characters can be used as a means
of identification. It has been found convenient to place under the same head the
periods and methods of the moults.

The third chapter gives an account of the general migratory movements to and
from our shores, thus enabling the reader to see, in relation to the whole of which
they are parts, the migrations of the separate species described in Section 3 of the
Classified Notes.

The fourth chapter contains information concerning bird-watching and photo-
graphy. A bibliography and an exhaustive index complete the work.

The Classification of the Orders and Families adopted in the book follows that
of the Cambridge Natural History, except in respect to the arrangement of the
Families within the Order Passeres, which is new, and based upon the researches
of Mr. W. P. Pycraft.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Bibliographies consulted. — The value of a work like the present depends
on there being at the disposal of the writers a body of evidence large enough to enable
them to verify the accuracy of any statement open to question. A systematic
effort has therefore been made to reach all the sources of information available ;
firstly, by consulting the published bibliographies, such as the Zoological Record
(1864- ), of which all the volumes have been examined, the Bibliotheca Zoologica,
1700-1880, Giebel, Thesaurus Ornithologiae, 1872-7, the Subject-Index at the British
Museum, the Catalogue of the Zoological Society, the Atlante Ornithologico of
Arrigoni degli Oddi, the list of Faunal publications in the Proceedings of the U.S.
National Museum, ii. 359-482, and similar lists by Mr. Miller Christie in the
Zoologist, 1890 ; secondly, by an inspection of the trade catalogues of the chief
European and American booksellers, and lastly by seeking the information from
leading ornithologists. Among those to whom special thanks are due for such help
are Dr. Carl Hennicke, editor of the Ornithologische Monatsschrift ; Dr. A. Reiche-
now of the Konigl. Zoologisches Museum, Berlin ; M. Louis Denise, editor of the
Revue francaise d' Ornithologie ; Ritter von Tschusi zu Schmidhoffen, editor of the
Ornithologisches Jahrbuch ; Dr. Hellmayr, Count Arrigoni degli Oddi, Mr. H. F.

PREFACE vii

Witherby, editor of the now well-known magazine, British Birds, and the Rev.
F. C. R. Jourdain.

V

Works consulted. — The literature thus placed at our disposal included not
only general works and monographs, but a very large number of foreign and native
publications on Local Faunas, all of which have been consulted with varying results.

Good use has been made of periodical literature, foreign and native, which has
proved to be the richest source of supply. In addition to consulting articles in the
Ibis, Ornis, Ornith. Monatsberichte, Ornith. Monatsschrift, Journal fiir Ornithologie,
Aquila, Ornith. Jahrbuch, and others referred to in the Zoological Record, it has been
thought advisable to make a complete independent search through all the published
volumes of the following periodicals : — Zoologist (1843- ), Field (1853- ), Scottish
Naturalist (1871-92), and its sequel the Annals of Scottish Natural History, Irish
Naturalist (1892- ), the North of England Naturalist, British Birds (1907- ),
Auk (1884- ), preceded by the Bulletin of the Nuttatt Ornith. Club (1876-83), the
Zoologisches Garten (1858-1905), now the Zoologische Beobachter (1906- ), Berajah,
and the new periodical, Revue francaise d* Ornithologie.

Bibliography of the Preliminary Notes. — For the Preliminary Notes on
Migration and Distribution the following have proved of special value : — The
Migration Reports published under the auspices of the British Association, the
Migration Reports published in the Bulletins of the British Ornithological Club, the
Catalogue of Bird# in the British Museum, Mr. Eagle Clarke's Notes in the Annals
of Scottish Natural History, Mr. R. M. Barrington's The Migrations of Birds at Irish
Light Stations, 1900, E. Hartert, Vogel der Paldarktischen Fauna (in process of
publication), F. C. R. Jourdain, Eggs of European Birds (in process of publication),
the Additions to our Knowledge of British Birds, by H. F. Witherby, and N. F.
Ticehurst in British Birds, vols. i. and ii. (1907-9), the Manual of Howard Saunders,
Ussher and Warren's Birds of Ireland, Gatke, Vogelwarte Helgoland, Dr. Thiene-
mann's reports from Rossitten, published in the Journal fur Ornithologie, and of
course Naumann and Dresser. To these must be added a number of Local Faunas,
too numerous to mention.

For Oology the chief works consulted besides that of Jourdain already
mentioned are Dresser's Eggs of the Birds of Europe, the large German works
of Thienemann and Baedeker, and the smaller work by Rey on the Eggs of the
Birds of Middle Europe.

The information given in the remaining Sections (4-6) of the Preliminary
Classified Notes, dealing with nidification, incubation, food, etc., has been sought
throughout the whole range of ornithological literature, periodical and other.

viii THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK

Though these researches have made it possible to supply a large amount of
information not hitherto presented to English readers, the results are still far
from adequate. In the case of the food of the species, good use has been made
of Mr. R. Newstead's Food of British Birds and other works, but there has been
no attempt at completeness, for nothing satisfactory can be done until we are
in possession of that exhaustive inquiry the Board of Agriculture is understood
to contemplate, and for which we are still patiently waiting.

In addition to books and periodicals already mentioned, the following are some
of the more important of the many general and faunal British and foreign works
consulted in respect to the subjects in Sections 4-6 just alluded to : — the Histories of
Yarrell, Macgillivray, Seebohm ; Brehm's Tierleben ; the Birds of Yorkshire, 1907, by
Nelson, Clarke, and Boyes ; Dr. Saxby's Birds of Shetland, 1874 ; Lilford's Birds of
Northamptonshire, 1895 ; H. A. Macpherson, Fauna of Lakeland, 1892 ; H. Stevenson,
Birds of Norfolk, 1866-90 ; R. Gray, Birds of the West of Scotland, 1871 ; the
series of Scotch Faunas published by J. A. Harvie-Brown and others ; H. E. Forrest,
Fauna ofN. Wales, 1907 ; Coward, Fauna of Cheshire, 1909 ; O. V. Aplin, Birds of
Oxfordshire, 1889 ; N. F. Ticehurst, Birds of Kent, 1909 ; V. Fatio, Faune de la
Suisse, 1869 ; J. B. Bailly, Ornithologie de la Savoie, 1853-4 ; F. C. Keller, Ornis
Carinthiae, 1890 ; and P. Kollibay, Vogel der preussischen Provinz Schlesien, 1905.
These local Faunas are typical of many more that might be mentioned.

Correspondents. — That it has been possible to rill up some of the gaps in the
information derived from the above-mentioned sources is due to the personal
investigations of the writers and to the ungrudging help given by a number of
correspondents.

Quotation of Sources. — In order to permit the reader to verify statements
for which the writers of the chapters or Notes are not personally responsible, or
which cannot be assumed to be well known, references to the authorities are given
throughout.

A complete list of the authorities, both authors and correspondents, from
whom information has been obtained will be found at the end of the book. It may
be added that no use has been made of statements that show reasonable evidence of
having been borrowed.

Responsibility of the Writers. — Each writer must be held solely responsible
for the conclusions which he bases on the facts at his disposal. In order to reduce
the chances of error, whether in facts or judgments, to a minimum — and in a subject
so full of pitfalls as ornithology errors are inevitable, an arrangement was made by

PREFACE ix

which all the contributors kindly undertook to revise the whole work, thus ensuring
that each should profit by the experience and judgment of his collaborators.

DRAWINGS

Bird Drawings. — The coloured drawings are intended to help the reader to
identify the species he sees. For this purpose they must always, if faithful to their
originals, be superior to a photograph or a black and white drawing, however good,
for it is by its coloration that a bird is most quickly and certainly recognised. In
order to ensure accuracy, the birds have, whenever possible, and in nearly all cases,
been drawn from life, not from skins or stuffed specimens, which are often mis-
leading ; and, further, no effort has been spared to overcome the difficulties that
still hinder accurate reproduction by the three-colour process.

The object of the coloured drawings is, however, to supply something more
than a portrait of each species for purposes of identification. The traditional bird
perched on the conventional twig, and regarding space with an eye of philosophic
detachment from mundane affairs, can no longer satisfy a public familiar with the
latest achievements of natural history photography. Each picture, therefore,
besides being a portrait, will, apart from a few exceptions that explain themselves,
offer a study of some habit of the bird or of one of its most characteristic and
striking attitudes. It will show it in its natural surroundings, whether courting,
singing, feeding its young, sitting on its nest, angry, pleased, alarmed, or inquisi-
tive, thus combining the realism of the photograph with the added advantage of
colour and artistic treatment. The task here imposed upon the artist has been
far from easy, and in judging the results the great difficulties of the undertaking
should be allowed for.

Coloured drawings are given of all the species described in the chapters, with
the exception of a few, such as the chiff-chaff, Kentish-plover and little-stint, which
a few words of comparison with closely allied species suffice to identify. The rare
species described in the supplementary chapter at the end of the book are illustrated
where necessary by line drawings only. In the case of these species coloured draw-
ings would have served no purpose worth the increased price it would have been
necessary to place on the book, for they only interest specialists, for whom descrip-
tions and line drawings are adequate.

Egg Drawings. — On the egg plates all our British breeding species are repre-
sented, and in most cases it has been necessary to show two or more variant types of
the egg of the same species. As the sole object of these plates is to aid in identifica-
tion, no attempt has been made to show the finer variations ; the same principle
b

x THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK

has determined the relative amount of space allotted to different species, more being
given to eggs of which the identification is likely to cause difficulty. Each drawing
is natural size and set upon a background specially designed to show it to the best
advantage. Arrangements are made by which, when the parts are finally bound
up, these plates can be placed together at the end of the book. This will obviate
the prolonged and irritating hunt for the egg required that often occurs when the
plates are left dispersed through the text.

In the case of birds with white eggs, outline drawings to show the shape are
given. As the eggs of the ducks are very much alike, and are consequently difficult
to identify either by colour or shape, plates have been added showing the normal
differences of colour in the down which they use for the construction of their nests.

Nest Photographs. — If coloration is of prime importance in the case of the
bird and the egg, it is not so in the case of the nest. Here it is the form and the
surroundings that matter, and for these a photograph suffices. When the nest does
find a place in the coloured drawing, the photograph has been generally dispensed
with.

Diagrams. — As the book is intended for the general reader as well as the
ornithologist, non-technical terms are used wherever possible. Technical terms
that are used can readily be understood by reference to the diagrams and figures
and their accompanying glossary.

Typography. — In conclusion, it may be worth noting that, in order to fall into
line with general biological practice, the names of the species are spelt without
capitals, e.g. crow, corone ; the name of the genus, family, order, class, with capitals,
e.g. Crows, Corvus, Corvidae, Passeres, Aves. To avoid any possible ambiguity,
specific names composed of two words are connected by a hyphen and in certain
cases the words are run together, e.g. corn-bunting, yellow-bunting, blackheaded-
gull, but lesser blackbacked-gull.

LIST OF THE SPECIES ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR

FAMILY.

SPECIES.

FAMILY.

SPECIES.

FAMILY.

SPECIES.

FAMILY.

SPECIES.

Corvidae,

Raven.

Sylviinae, .

Dartford-warbler

Alcidat,

Razorbill.

GaUi, .

Pheasant.

Carrion-crow.

Goldcrested-

Guillemot.

Partridge.

Hooded-crow.

wren.

Black-guillemot.

Redlegged-

Rook.

Willow-wren.

Little-auk.

partridge.

Jackdaw.

Wood-wren.

Puffin.

QuaiL

Magpie.

Reed-warbler.

T

Jay.

Marsh- warbler.

Laridae,

Sandwich-tern.

Falconidac, .

Hen-harrier.

Chough.

Grasshopper-

Roseate- tern.

Buzzard.

Fringillidae :

warbler.

Common-tern.

Golden-eagle.

FringUlinae,

Greenfinch.

Sedge- warbler.

Arctic-tern.

Sparrow-hawk.

Hawfinch.

Little-tern.

Peregrine.

Chaffinch.

Sturnidae,

Starling.

Kittiwake.

Hobby.

B rambling.

Rosy-pastor.

Blackheaded-

Merlin.

Goldfinch.

gulL

Kestrel

Redpoll.
Siskin.

Oriolidcie,

Oriole,

Common-gnE
Herring- „

Osprey.
Greenland-falcon.

Twite.

Ampdidat, .

Warwing.

Glaucous- „

Linnet.

Gt. blackbacked-

Anatidae,

Greylag-goose.

House-sparrow.

Paridae,

Longtail-tit.

gulL

White-fronted

Tree-

Great-tit.

Lesser black-

goose.

Crossbill.

Crested-tit

backed-gull.

Bean-goose.

Bullfinch.

Cole-tit

O

Pink-footed-

Marsh-tit.

Stereorariinae,

Arctic-skua.

goose.

Emberixinae,

Corn-bunting.

Blue-tit.

Great-skua.

Barnacle-goose.

Yellow- „

Buffon's skua.

Brent- „

Reed- „

Sittidae,

Nuthatch.

Pomatorhine-

Whooper-swan.

Snow- „

skua.

Bewick- „

Girl-bunting.

Panuridae, .

Bearded-tit

T.\m irr3 rt#

Mute-

Lapland -bunting

Laniidae,

Great grey-shrike.

JL/t//i M,tHtK

Oedicnemidae

Stone-curlew.

Shelduck.
Mallard.

Alaudidae,

Skylark.

Redbacked-

Gadwall.

Woodlark.

shrike.

Scolopacinae,

Woodcock.

Shoveler.

Shorelark.

Common-snipe.

Pintail-duck.

Musicapidae,

Spotted-fly-

Jack-snipe.

TeaL

MotatUlulae, .

Pied-wagtail.

catcher.

Gargany.

Grey- „
Yellow- „

Pied-flycatcher.

Charadriinae,

Dotterel.

Wigeon.
Pochard.

Blueheaded-

Hirundinidae,

Swallow.

Ringed-plover.

Tufted-duck.

wagtail.
Tree-pipit.
Meadow-pipit.
Water- „
Rock- „

Picidae,

House-martin.
Sand- „

Wryneck.
Green-wood-

Golden- .,
Lapwing.
Oyster-catcher.
Avocet
Turnstone.

Scaup.
Golden-eye.
Longtailed-duck.
Eider-duck.
Common-scoter.

Tawny- „

pecker.

Grey-plover.

Velvet- „

Richard's- „

Gt. spotted- and

Goosander.

lesser spotted -

Tringinae, .

Dunlin.

Merganser.

Cerihiidae,

Tree-creeper.

woodpecker.

Purple-sandpiper.

Smew.

Green-sandpiper.

Troglodytidae, .

Wren.

Cypsdidae,

Swift.

Curlew-sand-

Ibididae,

Spoonbill

Cinclidae,

Dipper.

Caprimidyidae,

Nightjar.

piper.
Sanderling.

Ardeidae,

Heron.

Knot.

Bittern.

Turdidae:

Strigidae,

Barn-owL

Godwit.

Turdinae, .

Mistle-thrush.

Longeared-owl.

Ruff.

PeUcanidae, .

Cormorant

Song-thrush.

Shorteared- „

Common-sand-

Shag.

Redwing.

Tawny- „

piper.

Gannet.

-

Fieldfare.

Little- „

Redshank.

Blackbird.

Snowy- „

Curlew.

Procdlariidae

Manx - shear-

Ring-ouzel.

Rednecked-

water.

Wheatear.

Coraciidae, .

Roller.

phalarope.

Fulmar.

Whinchat.

Petrels.

Stonechat.

Upupidae,

Hoopoe.

Ottiidae,

Great-bustard.

Redstart.

Poditepididae,

Great crested-

Black-redstart.

Aleedinidae, .

Kingfisher.

Battidae,

Corncrake.

grebe.

Bluethroat.

Spotted,,

Little-grebe.

Redbreast.

Cueididae,

Cuckoo.

Water-rail.

Eared-grebe, etc.

Nightingale.

Waterhen.

Hedge-sparrow.

Cdumbidae, .

Ring-dove.

Coot

Colymbidae, .

Great northern-

Rock- „

diver.

Sylviinae, .

Whitethroat,

Stock- „

GaUi, . .

Capercaillie.

Blackthroated-

Lesser- „

Turtle- „

Black-grouse.

diver.

Blackcap.

Red-grouse.

Redthroated-

Garden-warbler.

Pteroclidae, .

Sandgrouse.

Ptarmigan.

diver.

NOTE. — Some of the species appear in separate pictures on the same plate, a few others, which in nature are seen frequently

together, are represented in the same picture.

WRITERS, ARTISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS

WRITERS

J. L. BONHOTE, M.A. Secretary of the British Ornithologists' Union, and
of the Migration Committee of the British Ornithological Club.

WILLIAM FARREN.

F. C. R. JOURDAIN, M.A. Oxford (The Rev.). Author of Eggs of European
Birds, etc.

F. B. KIRKMAN, B.A. Oxford. Formerly Assistant-Master at the Merchant
Taylors' School, B.C.

W. P. PYCRAFT. Assistant in charge of the Osteological Collections at
the British Museum (Natural History Department), author of the Story of
Bird Life, A Book of Birds, Living Animals of the World (part), etc.

EDMUND SELOUS. Author of Bird- Watching, The Bird Watcher in the
Shetlands, Bird Life Glimpses.

A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON. Secretary of the Aberdeen University Bird-
Migration Inquiry.

EMMA L. TURNER. Joint-author of The Home Life of some Marsh Birds.

ARTISTS

WINIFRED AUSTEN.
G. E. COLLINS.

G. E. LODGE.
H. GRONVOLD.

A. W. SEABY.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

F. E. DANIEL.
W. FARREN.
RILEY FORTUNE.
C. J. KING.

SETON P. GORDON.
CHARLES REID.
E. L. TURNER.

THE EDITOR.

AND OTHERS.

zii

LIST OF CHAPTERS AND WRITERS

Chapttr.

CROWS, . . .
FINCHES, . . .
BUNTINGS, . .
LARKS, .
WAGTAILS AND

PIPITS, .

TREE-CREEPER, .
WREN, .
DIPPER, .

THRUSHES, .

WARBLERS, . .

STARLINGS, .
ORIOLE,
WAXWING, .

TITS

NUTHATCH, .
BEARDED-TIT, .
SHRIKES,
FLYCATCHERS, .
SWALLOWS, .
WRYNECK, .
WOODPECKERS, .
SWIFT, . . .
NIGHTJAR, .
OWLS, . .
ROLLER, .
HOOPOE, . .

Writer.
F. B. KlRKMAN.

E. SELOUS.
E. SELOUS.
W. P. PYCRAFT.

E. SELOUS.

E. L. TURNER.

E. L. TURNER.

F. B. KIRKMAN.

l F. B. KIRKMAN and
I E. L. TURNER.

IE. L. TURNER, F. B.
KIRKMAN, WM.
FARREN.
F. B. KIRKMAN.
F. C. R. JOURDAIN.
W. P. PYCRAPT.
E. L. TURNER.
E. L. TURNER.
E. L. TURNER.
E. L. TURNER.

E. L. TURNER.

F. B. KIRKMAN.
W. P. PYCRAPT.
W. P. PYCRAPT.
F. B. KIRKMAN.

E. SELOUS.

W. P. PYCRAPT.

F. C. R. JOURDAIN.
W. P. PYCRAPT.

Chapter.

KINGFISHER, .
CUCKOO, .
PIGEONS, .
SAND-GROUSE, .
AUKS, .
GULLS, . .
TERNS, . .
SKUAS, .
STONE-CURLEW,
WADERS:

PLOVERS,

SANDPIPERS,

ETC., .
BUSTARD, . .
RAILS, . . .
GROUSE AND)

PHEASANTS, /
EAGLES AND^

HAWKS, . .)
SWANS,

DUCKS, GEESE, .
SPOONBILL,
HERON AND\

BITTERN,. ./
CORMORANTS 1

AND GANNET, I
PETRELS, .
GREBES, .
DIVERS,

Writer.

W. P. PYCRAPT.
F. B. KIRKMAN.
W. P. PYCRAFT.
F. C. R. JOURDAIN.

E. SELOUS.

F. B. KIRKMAN.
F. B. KIRKMAN.

E. SELOUS.
W. FARREN.

W. P. PYCRAPT and
W. FARREN.

F. C. R. JOURDAIN.
E. SELOUS.

W. P. PYCRAPT.

W. P. PYCRAPT.

E. L. TURNER.
W. P. PYCRAPT.

F. C. R. JOURDAIN.

E. SELOUS.

F. B. KIRKMAN.

E. SELOUS.

W. P. PYCRAPT.

W. P. PYCRAPT.

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTERS

RARE BRITISH BIRDS.

CLASSIFICATION OF BRITISH BIRDS. BY W. P. PYCRAPT.

DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF BRITISH BIRDS. BY J. L. BONHOTE and
F. B. KIRKMAN.

BIRD WATCHING AND PHOTOGRAPHY. BY F. B. KIRKMAN.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

INDEX.

1 This list is liable to alteration ; a complete Contents Table with page references will be issued

on the completion of the work.

liii

3 7-

^0effrtt*ri.

jzf.

*%£a.V. *?ftm(it&. - ~—^~r**!~^y~-=^f~^ — *^f.$?'(}'rzvos'cZ>

Fig. 7.

FIG. 1.

1. Upper mandible (often, but incorrectly, called maxilla)

of the beak (L. rostrum).

2. Lower mandible.

3. Ridge (L. culnien).

4. Cutting edge (L. tomium ; pi. tomia). The word Com-

missure, referring to the line of junction between the
two mandibles, is also used.

5. Angle of the lower mandible, a projection present in

many birds, sometimes called gonys (Gr. gonu, a
knee, hence bend ; not to be confused with Gr. genus,
underjaw or genys).

6. Lores, space between bill and eye.

7. Nostrils (L. nares).

8. Rictal or gape bristles (L. rictus, opened mouth).

9. Flanges, margins of gape.

10. Forehead (L. frons), adj. frontal.

11. Crown (L. vertex).

lla. Nape (L. nucha), adj. nuchal.

12. Ear coverts or auriculars (L. auricula, ear).

13. Malar region or cheek (L. mala).

14. Hind-neck (L. cervix).
1 la. Side of neck.

146. Fore neck.

15. Back (L. dorsum), adj. dorsal.

16. Scapulars (feathers over scapulae or shoulder-blades).

17. Rump (L. uropygium).

18. Upper tail coverts (L. tectrix, a covert ; pi. tectrices).

19. Under tail coverts.

20. Tail feathers (rectrices, so-called because they direct

flight).

21. Chin (L. mentum).

22. Throat (L. gula), adj. gular.

23. Pectoral band or gorget (see breast).

24. Breast (L. pectus), adj. pectoral.

25. Flanks, sides.

26. Belly (L. abdomen).

27. Lesser or minor wing coverts (L. tectrices minores).

28. Median or middle wing coverts (L. tectrices media:).

29. Major or greater coverts of secondaries (L. tectrices

majores).

30. Major coverts of primaries (L. tectrices majores).

31. Secondaries ; known also as cubitals (supported by

the cubitus or ulna), ulnar quills (remiges secun-
darii ; L. remex, oarsman).

32. Primaries ; known also as manuals (supported

by the manus or hand), hand quills (remiges
primarii).

33. Bastard wing (L. ala spuria or alula).

34. Tibial feathers, covering the tibiotarsus, or shortly

tibia, which, with its accompanying degenerate
fibula, corresponds to the human leg between the
ankle and knee. At its lower end the tibia fuses in
adult birds with the three upper or proximal tarsals
(ankle bones). Hence the double name— tibiotarsus,
called "thigh" in error.

THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK

xv

35. Tarso-metatarsus, or shortly metatarsus, formed by the

fusion of the five lower or distal tarsals (ankle bones)
and the three middle metatarsals (instep); called
"shank" in error. The back of the tarsus is called
the planta (sole). The bird walks on its toes only.

36. Acrotarsium (Gr. akros, uppermost ; tarsos, foot be-

tween toes and heel), the front of the metatarsus.

37. Acropodium (Gr. akros, uppermost ; pous, a foot), the

front of the toes. The under parts of the toes are
the pads. The first toe is known as the hallux.

As in Fig. 1.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

Cere (L. cera, wax), wax-like skin which covers the base
of the upper mandible in some species, e.g. hawks and
eagles.

Tooth, not to be confused with the tooth in the ordinary
sense. No existing birds have teeth.

9. As in Fig. 1.

FIG. 4.

Nail or hook (dertrum).

Lamellae, tooth-like serrations, developed especially in

ducks and geese, and used for sifting when feeding.

Adj. lamella ted.

FIG. 5.

As in Fig. 1. It shows the under wing coverts (Lesser
27a ; Median, 28a, etc.), the axillaries (L. axilla, arm-
pit), and the vent (crissum).

FIG. 6.

1. Pupil. 2. Iris ; pi. irides. 3. Eyelid.

4a. Anterior canthus. ip. Posterior canthus.

FIG. 7.

1. Barrel (L. calamus, reed), which is hollow and trans-

parent.

2. Shaft (L. rhachis), filled with pithy matter. The term

quill, which has no connection with the Latin cala-
mus, is rightly applied to the barrel and shaft taken
together.

3. Outer web or vane (L. vexilla). 4. Inner web or vane.
5. Emarginate, having the margin broken by a notch.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OP THE TERMS ILLUSTRATED BY THE FIGURES,

WITH ADDITIONS

Abdomen (belly), 1. 26.

Acropodium, 1. 37.

Acrotarsum, 1. 36.

Aftershaft (hyporhachis), a supplementary and, as a

rule, relatively small feather attached to the inner

and lower surface of the main shaft.
Ala spuria (bastard wing), 1. 33.
Alar bar, a bar (white, black, etc.) across the wing (L.

ala).
Albinism, a bird with plumage abnormally white. Cf.

Melanism.

Alula (bastard wing), 1. 33.
Apex, the distal end of a feather, beak, toe ; adj. apical.

Cf. Distal.

Auricula, auriculars (ear coverts), 1. 12.
Axillaries, 5.
Back, 1. 15.
Barrel, 7. 1.

Base, the root or proximal part ; adj. basal.
Bastard wing, 1. 33.
Belly, 1. 26.
Breast, 1. 24.
Brood (A.S. brid, that which is hatched or produced

by means of warmth ; a young bird), the nestlings

collectively ; to brood, cover the young with the wings.

Cf. Incubate.
Calamus (barrel), 7. 1.
Canthus, 6. 4a, 4p.
Cera, cere, 3.
Cervix (hind-neck), 1. 14.
Cheek, 1. 13.
Chin, 1. 21.

Commissure, line of junction between the two mandibles.
Compressed, pressed together from the sides or laterally.

Cf. Depressed.

Contour feathers (penruc, plunue), all which are extern-
ally visible, and so determine the contour of the body.
They include the wing and tail quills. Cf. Down
feathers, Filo-plumes.

Coverts, 1. 18, 19, 27-30 ; 5.

Crissum (vent), 5.

Crown, 1. 11.

Cubitals, cubitus (secondaries), 1. 31.

Culmen (ridge), 1. 3.

Cuneate, wedge-shaped.

Cutting edge, 1. 4.

Occurred, curved downwards.

Depressed, pressed down vertically. Cf. Compressed.

Dertrum (nail or hook), 4.

Distal, the end distant from the centre or axis of the
body; e.g. the tip of the beak is its distal end. Cf.
Apex.

Dorsal, dorsum (back), 1. 15.

Down feathers (plumule), soft feathers hidden below the
contour feathers, except when the latter are absent as
on the neck of certain Vultures where the downfeathers
form a ruff. In nestling birds the Downs may be of
two kinds: the pre-pennee, which are replaced by
contour feathers, and the pre-plumulae, replaced by
adult down feathers.

Emarginate, 7. 5.

Family, division of an Order.1

Fibula, 1. 34.

Filo-plumes (filo-plumw), hair-like feathers, with the
remnant of a vane at the tip, which cluster round the
bases of the contour feathers. The stiff " bristles "
(Figs. 1. 8) are contour feathers that have entirely lost
their vanes.

Flanges of gape, 1. 9.

Flanks, 1. 25.

1 EXAMPLE : the raven (Corvus corax) is a species of the genus Corvus, which is a division of the Family Corridee or Crows,
which in turn ia a division of the Order Passeres of the Class Aves or Birds. Triple terms, e.g. Corvus corax corax, Corvus
corax varius, Corvus corar hispanus, etc., are used to distinguish sub-species or local races.

XVI

THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK

Fledgling (Middle English flegge, "ready to fly,"). the
young bird from the time it is ready to fly till the
completion of the growth of its wing quills and tail.
(See Nestling.)

Forehead, 1. 10.

Frons (forehead), 1. 10.

Gape bristles, 1. 8.

Genus; pi. genera, division of a Family.1

Genys (underjaw), 1. 5.

Gonys (bend), 1. 5.

Gorget, pectoral band, 1. 23.

Graduated, applied to tail of which the feathers diminish
gradually in length on each side, as in the wood-
pecker.

Granulated, applied to the surface of the metatarsus
when almost smooth (ocreated, booted).

Gula, gular (throat), 1. 22.

Hackles, lanceolate feathers, as on the neck of fowls (see
Lanceolate).

Hallux, the first or hind toe.

Hind-neck, 1. 14.

Incubate (L. incubare), to sit on eggs ; subst. incuba-
tion.
Of. Brood.

Iris, pi. irides, 6. 2.

Lamellae (serrations), 4.

Lanceolate, elongated and pointed (see Hackles).

Lores, 1. 6.

Mala, malar region (cheek), 1. 13.

Mandible, 1. 1-2.

Mantle, term for the feathers of the back (Fig. 1, 15), the
scapulars (Fig. 1, 16) and wing coverts taken collec-
tively.

Manuals (primaries), 1. 32.

Maxilla (1. 1).

Melanism, a bird with plumage abnormally black.

Mentum (chin), 1. 21.

Metatarsals (metatarsus), 1. 35.

Nail (dertrum), 4.

Nape, 1. lla.

Neck, side of, 1. 14a ; fore-neck, 146.

Nestling, the young bird before it is ready to fly. (See
Fledgling.)

Nidicolse (L. nidus, nest; colere, to inhabit) or Altrices,
nestlings hatched in a helpless condition and unable
to leave the nest for several days. Cf. Nidifugse.

Nidifugee or Praecoces (L. nidus, nest; fuga, flight),
nestlings able to quit the nest and run the day on
which they are hatched. Cf. Nidicolse.

Nucha (nape), 1. lla.

Order, division of a Class.1

Pads, underparts of the toes.

Pamprodactylous (Gk. pam, pan, all; daktylos, finger,
applied to a foot having all the toes pointing for-
ward).

Pectinated (L. pecten, a comb), having teeth like a
comb; e.g. the middle claw of the heron's foot is
pectinated.

Pectus (breast), pectoral, 1. 24.

Planta (sole), 1. 35.

Primaries, 1. 32.

Proximal (proximus, next), the end next the centre or
axis of the body. Cf. Distal.

Pupil, 6. 1.

Quill, barrel and shaft together, 7.

Rectrices (tail-feathers), 1. 20.

Remex, remiges (quills), 1. 31-32.

Reticulated (L. rete, a net), applied to the covering of the
leg when its scales or scutes (L. scutum,, a shield)
are arranged like a mosaic, instead of overlapping
transversely. See the planta of the further leg in the
Figure.

Rhachis (shaft), 7. 2.

Rictal bristles (gape bristles), 1. 8.

Ridge of the beak, 1. 3.

Rostrum (beak).

Rump, 1. 17.

Scapulars, 1. 16.

Scutellae, scales.

Scutellated (L. scutum, a shield), applied to the scaly
covering of the leg. Cf. Reticulated, Granulated.

Secondaries, 1. 31.

Shaft, 5. 2.

Shank, properly metatarsus, 1. 35.

Sole (back of the metatarsus), 1. 35.

Species, division of a Genus.1

Speculum (L. speculum, a mirror), applied to the metallic
alar bar of the Duck tube. (See Alar.)

Superciliar (super, above, cilium, eyelid), just above the
eye.

Tarsals, 1. 34-35.

Tectrix, tectrices. See Coverts.

Thigh, properly tibiotarsus, 1. 34.

Throat, 1. 22.

Tibial feathers, 1. 34.

Tibiotarsus, part between ankle and knee. See under
1.34.

Toes, 1. 36, 37.

Tomium (cutting edge), 1. 4.

Tooth, 3.

Ulnar quills, 1. 31.

Uropygium (rump), 1. 17.

Vane, 7. 3-4.

Vent (crissum), 5.

Vertex (crown), 1. 11.

Vexilla (web, vane), 7. 3-4.

Web, 7. 3-4.

Zygodactylous (Gk. zygon, a yoke, pair ; daktylos, finger),
applied to a foot which has the toes arranged in pairs,
two directed backward I., iv.), two forward (in., n.).

1 See footnote on previous page.

XV11

EXPLANATION OF THE PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED

NOTES

THE Notes that appear at the beginning of the chapters under the head of each
species are arranged on a uniform plan, as follows : —

Nomenclature. — To the English name is appended the scientific name in
accordance with the rules of the Fifth International Zoological Congress, but where
this differs from the well-known names adopted by Howard Saunders, the latter
have been added in brackets. The use of trinomials has been avoided except in
the rare cases where two races of the same species occur in this country. The
authority for the scientific name is given, but where applicable only to the specific
and not to the generic name, is given in brackets, e.g. Garrulus glandarius (Linnaeus).
The popular names are also given, to which are added the principal corresponding
French, German, and Italian terms, these, with English, being recognised as the
four international languages by the International Ornithological Congress. There
appears to be no generally accepted rule for the accentuation of the Latin names.
For the name of the genera and species, that adopted in Howard Saunders's
Manual has been followed, and is indicated by accents, e.g. Corvus corone. In
respect to the names of the Families and Subfamilies, the usage of the British
Museum is to accent the termination -idae, but not -inae, e.g. Corvidae (pro-
nouncing the i as in " side ") and Corvlnae (pronouncing the i as in " pin "). The
Continental practice, which is tending to become general, is to sound the t in
both terminations as ee.

Descriptions. — Of the male, the characters strictly essential for identification
alone being given, and those most distinctive of the species being placed first ; of
the female, in so far only as she differs from the male ; and of the young, up to
the first autumn moult (unless otherwise stated), in so far only as they differ from
one or both parents. The autumn and winter plumage of the adults and young
is not given unless the alteration is marked enough to make identification difficult
without further information. In connection with these descriptions should be
read Mr. W. P. Py craft's chapter on Classification published at the end of the
book. The length given is the average, and is measured from the tip of the beak
to the end of the tail.

Distribution. — Under this head it is intended to define briefly the breeding
range of each bird, both outside and in the British Isles. In the case of species
c

xviii THE BRITISH BIRD BOOK

which are divided into local races, British forms alone receive special attention,
the distribution of the other forms being roughly indicated. The zoo-geographical
regions (Palsearctic, etc.) referred to are shown on the map, p. xix, which is that
of Sclater. His system is here adopted, not because it is necessarily the best, but
because it is for the time being sanctioned by custom.

Migration. — In respect to the migrations, it should be noted that the term
resident is applied to the species. A species may, for instance, be present in this
country throughout the year, and yet, owing to emigration and immigration, be
composed to a greater or less extent of different individuals at different times. In
other words, a species may be resident but not stationary. A bird of passage is
one that visits our shores only on its way to its destination elsewhere. The other
terms explain themselves.

Nest and Eggs. — The statement under Nest does not mean that a nest is
necessarily composed of all the materials mentioned, but that all or some of them
may enter into its composition. The periods of incubation must be regarded as
approximate only, for the sources of information frequently omit to state how the
period was reckoned, whether from the last egg laid or another.

Food. — These are unavoidably incomplete, owing to lack of reliable
information.

Song Period. — See previous note on Food.

Authorship. — At the head of every set of Notes will be found the names of
the compilers, the share of each of the latter being shown by the initials placed
in square brackets at the end of the Note for which he is responsible.

•f.

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Plate A

Eggs of the Crow Family

1. Magpie

2. Jay

3. Jackdaw

4. Carrion Crow
5 Chough

6. Hooded Crow

7- Rook

8- Raven

* ' -1

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THE CROW FAMILY

[ORDER : Pdsseriformes. FAMILY : C6rvldd\
PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES1

[P. C. B. JOTTED AIN. F. B. KIBKMAN *]

RAVEN \C6rvus corax, Linnaeus. Corbie, corbie-crow, or great corbie-crow,
to distinguish it from the next species. French, corbeau; German,
Kolkrabe ; Italian, corvo imperiale].

i. Description. — Black all over with purplish blue reflections. It may be
distinguished from the carrion-crow by its larger size, and by having the end of
the tail distinctly rounded, that of the smaller species being almost square.
Length 25 in. [634'5 mm.]. (PI. 1.) Female smaller. The young are duller in
plumage, and do not attain to quite the full lustre of the adults till after their
second autumn moult. [F. B. K.]

2-3. Distribution and Migration. — A Palsearctic and Nearctic species,
which has been separated into several Geographical races. Our British birds belong
to the form which is found over the greater part of the Continent, with the exception
of the Iberian peninsula, where it is replaced by the Spanish race, C. corax
hispanus ; while the Faroes, Iceland, Corsica and Sardinia, North -West
Africa, and the Greek islands are inhabited by other local forms. In England,
though not uncommon half a century ago, it is now rare except in the Devonian
Peninsula, Lakeland, etc., but it is still numerous in Wales, and in some parts of
Scotland, as well as the West of Ireland, especially near the coast. Apart from a
tendency to assemble in flocks at times during the winter, this species appears to
be stationary throughout its range. [F. c. B. J.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place: formerly often in high trees in open
country, but now chiefly on sea cliffs or crags, and rarely in ruins. Nest : chiefly

1 See Explanation, p. xvii.

1 In the case of the Nest and Eggs, Mr. Jourdain is responsible for the description of the
nests, sites, and eggs, Mr. Kirkman for the remainder.

THE CROW FAMILY

stout sticks, roots, stems, sometimes seaweed, solidified with earth and lined with
wool, hair, fur, fibres, grass, and other soft material. (PL I.) Both sexes share
in its construction (Bailly, Ornith. de la Savoie ; Saxby, B. of Shetland ; W. Borrer,
B. of Sussex). The eggs, usually 4-6, rarely 3 or 7, in number, are generally
greenish, blotched and flecked with various shades of brown up to black, and
underlying markings of ashy grey, but the ground-colour is sometimes clear blue,
and occasionally the markings are almost entirely absent. (PI. A.) A very
rare reddish type has occurred in the Shetlands (A. Newton, Ootheca Wolleyana,
i. p. 524). Average size of 79 British eggs, 1 '96x1 -32 in. [49 '8 x 33 '5 mm.].
Laying begins usually in February-March. Both sexes incubate, Brehm's state-
ment to the contrary notwithstanding. Period of incubation 18-20 days. One
brood. [F. c. R. j. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Practically omnivorous ; but usually carrion ; occasionally
wounded or weakly sheep, also rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish,
molluscs, crustaceans, worms, insects, spiders, eggs, fruit, grain. The young
are fed by both parents on carrion, especially the placenta of sheep, on
worms, insects, small mammals, young birds, eggs, frogs. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — See p. 12.

CARRION-CROW \C6rvus corone, Linnaeus. Corbie-crow, gor-crow,
cloup. French, corneille ; German, Rabenkrahe ; Italian, comacchi nera].

i. Description. — Black with purple and green reflections. (See above

- under Raven.) Length 19 in. [482
mm.]. (PL 2.) Female smaller and
duller. The young before the first
autumn moult lack the reflections.
[F. B. K.]

2. Distribution. — On the Con-
tinent of Europe it is chiefly con-
fined to the west and south-east :
the Iberian Peninsula, France, the
Low Countries, West Germany,
Switzerland, North Italy, some dis-
tricts of Austro-Hungary and South
Russia. Although general throughout England and Wales, and not un-
common in the south of Scotland, it is absent from Ireland and the Isle

Fig. 1.— CARRION-CKOW.

(Natural size.)

PLATE I

Raven s Nesting Site

Raven's Nest

Phuio oy Kiley Fortune

A Rook s Nest

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 3

of Man, and only of rare occurrence in the north of Scotland. For more
exact details the works of Diederich (Die geographische Verbreitung der eckten
Raben, 1884-8) and Matschie (Jour, fur Orniih., 1887, p. 617) should be consulted.
Although it has been asserted that this species is also found in the Balkan
Peninsula, the statement is probably erroneous. A closely allied race inhabits
E. Asia and Japan. [F. c. R. J.]

3. Migration. — Flocks from the opposite coast of the Continent arrive from
September to November on our south-east shores, from Kent to the Humber,
subsequently spreading over the eastern counties. These immigrants are seen
returning to their continental breeding grounds from early in February to mid-
April (Brit. Assoc. Report, 1903, p. 298.) [F. B. K.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : when inland, almost always in trees
where they exist, on cliff-ledges by the sea, bushes, also occasionally on the
ground in treeless districts. Nest : as the raven's, but smaller. (PL n.) Both sexes
share in its construction. The eggs, usually 4-5, rarely 6, in number, resemble those
of the raven, but are smaller. They are greenish, flecked with various shades of
brown and ashy grey, and it is not uncommon to find one egg much lighter than
the rest. A variety with a blue ground, sometimes without markings, is also
found. (PI. A.) Average size of 100 eggs, 1*71 x 1-18 in. [43-5x30'l mm.].
Laying begins in April. Both sexes incubate. Period of incubation 18-21 days.
The young remain in the nest 4-5 weeks (S. E. Brock, in litt. ; A. Taylor, in litt.).
One brood. [F. c. R. J. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — As the raven, old and young. Both parents share in feeding the
latter. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — See p. 19.

HOODED-CROW \G6rvus cornix, Linnaeus. Royston-crow, hoody, grey-
crow, greyback, dun-crow, Denmark-crow, saddleback-crow, chough.
French, corbeau mantele ; German, Nebel-rdbe or Nebelkrahe ; Italian,
cornacchia].

1. Description. — Distinguished from the carrion-crow only by its grey
mantle and underparts. The female is smaller and duller. The young do not
develop the purple and green reflections till after the first autumn moult.
Hybrids of C. corone and C. cornix show every gradation between the two species.
(PL 2.) [F. B. K.]

2. Distribution. — On the Continent it is plentiful in Scandinavia and

4 THE CROW FAMILY

Russia, as well as in Denmark, E. Germany, Austro-Hungary, Italy, and the
Balkan Peninsula. It is also found in the Faroes, the Balearic Isles, Sicily,
Crete, and Cyprus, while a local race, C. cornix sardonic, inhabits Sardinia and
Corsica. Eastward its range extends in Asia to the Lena. In the British Isles
the hooded-crow is practically confined to Ireland, the Isle of Man, and North
Scotland, during the breeding season. The ranges of this and the preceding
species overlap, however, in Scotland, and have not been exactly worked out.
A few pairs have been known to stay to breed in some of the English counties,
especially in the north and east. [F. c. B. J.]

3. Migration. — Large flocks arrive on our east coasts from the east of
Europe from about the end of September to mid-October. These winter chiefly
in the eastern counties, and return to the Continent in February or April. A
separate immigration of flocks coming from Scandinavia is observed, chiefly in
the Orkneys and Shetland, during October and November, the flocks spreading
thence to the southward as far as the English northern shires. The return
takes place in March and April (Brit. Assoc. Report, 1903, p. 298).
[F. B. K.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place and nest : like the carrion-crow's,
but as in the British Isles it breeds farther north, nests on or near the ground
are more common. Both sexes share in building the nest (Naumann). The eggs,
4-5, sometimes 6, in number, resemble those of the carrion-crow, but are often
rather greener and slightly smaller. Bed eggs have been taken in Sweden.
Average size of 100 eggs, 1'62 x 1'14 in. [41 '2 x 29 mm.]. Laying begins in April,
occasionally in March. Both sexes incubate. The period of incubation is 18-19
days. One brood, like the rest of the Corvidse. [F. c. B. J. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — As the carrion-crow. Both parents feed the young (F.
Heatherley, see p. 25).

6. Song Period. — See p. 19.

ROOK \C6rvus frugilegus, Linnaeus. Whitefaced or barefaced-crow. French,
freux ; German, Saatkrdhe ; Italian, corvo nero].

I. Description. — Black with bright violet and also blue gloss. Length
19 in. [482 mm.]. (PI. 3.) Female slightly smaller and duller. Distinguished
from the crow by the tract of bare whitish skin at the base of the bill
(Figs. 1, 2). The young rook, up to its second autumn moult, resembles the

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES

Fig. 2.— ROOK.

(.KatMTol rite.)

crow in having the base of the bill feathered (Fig. 3; see also p. 31), but

differs from it, firstly, in the shape of the bill, that of the crow being stouter

and more decurved (Figs. 1,

3) ; secondly, in the general

appearance of its plumage,

which hangs from it loosely,

especially on the flanks,

whereas that of the crow

is closer fitting (Pis. 2, 3) ;

thirdly, in having the back

of the tongue square or trape-
zoidal— / \ — instead of,

as in the case of the crow,

round (G. Rorig); fourthly,

hi having the neck feathers

soft as compared to the harder and conspicuously lanceolated corresponding

feathers of the crow ; fifthly, in having the first primary as long, or longer,

than the ninth, the crow having
it shorter. The violet gloss, more-
over, is much less pronounced or
absent, especially from the neck
and head of the latter. The state-
ment that the two species can,
further, be distinguished by the
colour of the bases of the feathers
is incorrect ; in both these are

normally grey. [F. B. K.]

2. Distribution. — It is found from South Sweden and the Kola Peninsula
to South France, North Italy, and the Danube Valley. In Asia it is replaced
by an allied race. It is generally distributed and resident in suitable localities
throughout the British Isles, and now established on some of the Outer Hebrides
and the Orkneys. [F. c. B. J.]

3. Migration. — Its migrations to and from our shores, described in detail
by Mr. Eagle Clarke in the Report of the British Association, 1903, p. 298, are
briefly as follows : — (1) Large flocks from Central Europe arrive between mid-
September and mid-November on our east coast from the Humber southward,

Fig. 3.— YOU>-G ROOK.
(Natural ti:t.)

6 THE CROW FAMILY

spreading thence inland in all directions. They are seen returning to their
continental breeding-grounds from early in February to mid- April ; (2) flocks,
not so large, coming from Scandinavia, arrive between mid-October and mid-
November in the Orkneys and Shetlands, thence spreading south as far as the
English northern counties. The return migration takes place in March and April,
the birds quitting our shores chiefly by way of the Orkneys and Shetlands ;
(3) between the end of February and early April flocks from the Continent arrive
on our south-east coast, flying in a north and north-west direction. In September
and October there is an emigration presumably of the same birds, flying in the
direction of France and Belgium ; (4) there is an emigration from Great Britain
to Ireland in the autumn, with a return to the former in the spring. Hence it will
be seen that the rook, besides being a resident species, is both a winter and summer
visitor. In addition to the above migrations, erratic westerly movements over
the Atlantic have been observed. In October 1893 some thousands, accom-
panied by a few daws, were seen going west over the Scilly Isles. Later, flocks,
probably the same, were seen arriving in a state of exhaustion on the west coasts
of Scotland and Ireland, and several were washed ashore dead. [F. B. K.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : normally in colonies among tree-tops,
exceptionally between the pots on chimney-stacks, on church spires, rarely in
bushes and hedges. Nest : sticks, dry and fresh, strengthened with earth and
lined with moss, leaves, roots, grass, wool, hair. (PI. I.) Both sexes share in its
construction. The eggs, usually 3-5, sometimes 6, and rarely 7 in number, are
greenish with olive-brown markings, but vary considerably in appearance, and
are occasionally found with a bluish ground, while red eggs have been several
times recorded from the Continent. (PI. A.) Average size of 100 eggs, 1'6 x 1O6 in.
[40'7 x 27 mm.]. Laying begins usually in late March or April. Both sexes
incubate. Period of incubation, 14-21 days. In an incubator, 17-18 days (W.
Evans, Ibis, 1891). The young remain in the nest 4-5 weeks (S. E. Brock, A.
Taylor). One brood, although attempts are occasionally made to breed in the
autumn, but generally without success. [F. c. E. j. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Chiefly worms, insects, slugs, and in the autumn acorns, seeds of
cones, and similar fruit; occasionally grain. In cold weather or drought they
become practically omnivorous, their dietary being like that of the preceding
species, except that they appear to be, as a rule, less addicted to carrion. The
young are fed by both parents, chiefly on worms and insects. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — See p. 39.

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 7

JACKDAW \Carvus monedula, Linnaeus. Kae, caw-daw, cadder, chough.
French, choucas ; German, Dohle ou Turmkrahe ; Italian, Taccola].

1. Description. — Black with blue-green or purple gloss. Length 14 in.
[355 mm.]. (PI. 4.) Distinguished from the preceding species, with which it
often consorts, by its smaller size, quicker wing beats, blue-white iris, and the
grey on its nape, neck, and ear-coverts. The female has less grey. The young
are duller than the adults, and their irides are brown, becoming entirely grey only
after the second autumn moult. Several skins of young are brown on the hood
and underparts. [F. B. K.]

2. Distribution. — Its range extends over the greater part of Europe and
temperate Asia, east to Japan and south to Algeria. Three races of this bird are
found in Europe — the eastern form (which has a distinct white collar) being
chiefly confined to South Russia, the Balkan Peninsula, and parts of Austro-
Hungary; while the Scandinavian race is found in South Sweden; and the
common western race not only inhabits the British Isles, but is found over the
rest of the Continent, and locally in North-west Africa. [F. c. B. J.]

3. Migration. — It is to be found as a resident species in nearly every
part of the British Isles. Its migrations are identical with those of the rook,
which it often accompanies, even on its erratic excursions over the Atlantic.
[F. B. K.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : any convenient hole, usually in buildings,
rocks, trees, also in rabbit warrens. It occasionally builds both open and domed
nests in the branches of trees. Nest : varying in size according to the nesting
place, built of sticks, lined with wool, fur, dry grass, and other soft material.
(PI. n.) Both sexes share in its construction. The eggs, usually 4-6, occasionally 7,
in number, are pale greenish blue, spotted and blotched with brownish black and
ash-greys. Some eggs are finely speckled, while others show bold blotches. (PI. A.)
Average size of 50 British eggs, T39 x -99 in. [35*47 x 25'32 mm.]. Laying begins
in the latter part of April. Both sexes incubate. Period of incubation, 17-20
days. The young remain in the nest 4-5 weeks (A. Taylor, in litt.). One brood.
[F. c. R. j. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Practically the same as the rook. The daw is particularly fond of
that destructive grub, the leather- jacket. It also resembles the other Corvidae in
its taste for eggs and young birds (Field, 1905, January-June, pp. 905, 947). The
young are fed by both parents, mainly on worms and insects. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period.— See p. 47.

8 THE CROW FAMILY

MAGPIE [Pica pica (L.) ; P. rustica (Scop.). Mag, meggit, pyet, pyat,
pyanet, pyot, nan-pie, longtailed-nan, haggister, egglift. French, pie;
German, Elster ; Italian, gazza],

1. Description. — Easily recognised by its black and white plumage and long
wedge-shaped tail. The black is glossed with blue, purple, and green. Length
18 in. [456*8 mm.]. (PI. 5.) Female smaller. The young much duller. [F. B. K.]

2. Distribution and Migration. — As a species it is found not only
throughout Europe, but also in North-west Africa, the temperate parts of Asia to
Japan and western N. America. The typical race is generally distributed over
the Continent of Europe, but the Spanish birds belong to a local race, and a third
form inhabits North-west Africa ; while it is entirely absent from Sardinia and
Corsica. It is very generally distributed in all wooded districts of the British
Isles except where it has been exterminated by game preservers, although it
was unknown in Ireland previous to 1676, and is naturally scarce in the barren
districts of North Scotland. [F. c. R. J.]

3. Nest and Eggs. — Nests : generally high up in a tree, but also not uncom-
monly in hedges and thorny bushes, while in Norway and Jutland it is occasion-
ally found under the eaves of houses and even on the ground. The nest is very
conspicuous in the spring, built of sticks and earth, lined with fine roots, and
occasionally with hair, and generally with a dome of thorny sticks. (PI. II.) Both
sexes share in its construction, but, according to Mr. F. C. R. Jourdain, the cock
confines himself to carrying material. The eggs, 5-8, and sometimes 9-10, in number,
are greenish blue to greenish yellow and buff speckled, with various shades of
greyish brown. (PL A.) Average size of 100 eggs, T29 x '9 in. [32'9 x 23 mm.].
Laying usually begins in April, sometimes earlier. Both sexes incubate. Period
of incubation 18 days in an incubator (W. Evans, Ibis, 1891). The young remain
in the nest 26-30 days (Xavier Raspail, Ornis, 1902-3 ; S. E. Brock, in litt.).
One brood. [F. c. R. J. — F. B. K.]

4. Food. — Like its congeners, practically omnivorous. The young are fed
by both parents on insects, worms, small rodents, young birds, etc. [F. B. K.]

5. Song Period. — See p. 56.

JAY \Gdrrulus glanddrius (Linnaeus). Jay-pyat, blue- wing. French, geai ;
German, Eichelhaher.']

i. Description. — Distinguished by the reddish-fawn back, conspicuous white
rump, and the patch of alternating black, white, and blue on the wing. Length

PLATE II

W^Wm

'>'£-? •••'VjjNv.-V

Crow's Nest

Jackdaw a Nest

I I-. E. D

Magp:e s Neat

Magpie's Nest

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 9

14 in. [356 mm.]. (PL 6.) The female is duller, the young still more so. The
latter have the irides brown instead of blue, and the feathers on the crown and
forehead spotted instead of striped.

2. Distribution. — The jay is a species subject to considerable local variation,
and our British birds (G, glandarius rufttergum, Ht.) differ slightly from the ordinary
continental form, while other local races are found in South Spain, Sardinia and
Corsica, North-west Africa, Syria, Asia Minor, Cyprus, the shores of the Caspian,
etc. It holds its own in spite of game-preserving in England and Wales, but
is very local in Ireland, being confined to Leinster and part of Munster, while in
Scotland it is of very rare occurrence north of the Grampians. [F. c. R. j.]

3. Migration. — It is said that immigrants from the Continent arrive on our
east coast occasionally in the autumn. [F. c. R. j.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : the fork of a bush or tree, usually from
10-20 feet above the ground, but sometimes 60 feet or even more. Nest: twigs and
stems, very neatly lined with an interlaced mass of fine roots, more rarely dry
grasses or horse-hair. (PL 6.) Both sexes share in its construction (Bailly, Ornith.
de la Savoie). The eggs, 4-6, sometimes 7, in number, are a pale brownish or
greyish green, closely speckled all over with shades of olive-green, and often marked
with black hair-streaks at the big end. Some varieties tend to pinkish colouring,
while others show a distinctly blue ground. (PL A.) Average size of 100 British
eggs, 1*25 x -89 in. [31*73 x 22'85 mm.]. Laying begins in April-May. Both sexes
incubate. Period of incubation about 16 days. One brood. [F. c. R. J. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — As the magpie. To its love for acorns, chestnuts, and the like, the
species owes the name glandarius. Both parents feed the young (Bailly, op. cit.).

6. Song Period. — See p. 57.

CHOUGH [Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax (Linnaeus); P. grdcidus (L.). Red-
legged-crow or daw, Cornish-daw or crow, cliff-daw, chauk-daw, Kiligrew-
crow. French, crave ; German, Steinkrahe].

i. Description. — Black with steel-blue, violet, and green reflections. Easily
distinguished from its congeners by its red legs and bill, the latter being curved.
Length 16 in. [406 mm.]. (PL 7.) Female smaller and less brilliant. The young
have the beak at first short and straight. It begins to curve at the end of the
first fortnight (Field, 1907, June, p. 870, J. Walpole Bond). Both beak and legs
pass through various stages of yellow and red, and do not reach the adult colour
till after the first autumn moult. [F. B. K.]

B

10 THE CROW FAMILY

2. Distribution. — On the Continent it is very local, but is found in mountain
ranges such as the Alps, Pyrenees, and the Spanish Sierras, as well as on the rocky
coasts : it is chiefly confined to the south, and does not occur anywhere north of
the Baltic. Outside Europe it is found in the Canaries, in the mountain ranges of
Asia from Asia Minor to E. Siberia, and in the mountainous regions of Abyssinia.
The range of this species in Great Britain is now much more restricted than formerly,
and it has practically disappeared from our south coast with the exception of Devon
and Cornwall. In Wales, too, it is now scarce, but it breeds in the Isle of Man,
and is not uncommon along the west coast of Ireland and some of the islands of
the Inner Hebrides. [F. c. R. j.]

3. Migration. — In the British Isles it is practically sedentary, although hi
Ireland it occasionally assembles in considerable flocks, and stragglers have been
met with some distance from their breeding haunts, [r. c. B. J.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : holes or crevices in cliffs, also fre-
quently in fissures or on ledges in caves. Occasionally in ruined buildings, dis-
used limekilns, or mine-shafts. Nest : sticks, stems, roots, lined with wool, hair,
fibres, or other fine material. Both sexes share in its construction (Bailly, Ornith.
de la Savoie ; Konig, quoted in Naumann), The eggs, 3-5, sometimes 6, in number,
are sometimes white, sometimes cream colour, more rarely with a rosy bloom,
sometimes yellowish or brownish, spotted and speckled with sepia or reddish brown,
and underlying lilac spots or blotches. One variety is pure white with a few bold
deep brown spots, another has the ground tinged with green (Ussher and Warren,
Birds of Ireland). (PL A.) Average size of 100 British eggs, 1-55x1-09 in.
[39-46 x 27-94 mm.]. Laying usually begins late in April or in May. The hen
incubates (Brehm ; P. G. Ralfe, B. of Isle of Man). Period of incubation 18-20
days (A. Girtanner, Zool. Garten, 1877). The young remain in the nest about 30
days (Field, 1907, June, p. 870, J. A. Walpole Bond). One brood (A. Girtanner,
op. cit. ; Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland), [r. c. B. J. — P. B. K.]

5. Food. — Practically omnivorous, especially in cold weather. Usual food,
insects, crustaceans, molluscs, worms, also berries. The young are fed on insects,
spiders, snails, later small rodents, lizards, etc. Both parents share this task.
[F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — See p. 63.

The following are described in the supplementary chapter on " Rare Birds" : —
Alpine Chough, Pyrrhocorax graculus (L.). (P. alpinus.)
Nutcracker, Nucifraga caryocatdctes (L.).

Plate 1

Ravens

By A. W. Seaby

•

., . ,.

THE RAVEN 11

THE RAVEN
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

Those who for the first time see the raven circling over its
native crags, and hear its deep note break the silence of the hills,
experience one of those rare emotions that linger in the memory
for a life-time. It is not that one is impressed only by the majesty
of the bird ; its majesty sinks before that of the eagle. Nor yet
by its strength and courage ; its strength is less than that of the
larger birds of prey and its courage no greater. But there is in the
raven, or rather in our idea of it, a force that imposes itself,
a peculiar sagacity, a deep, almost devilish, cunning that accords
well with its sable hues, its crafty eye and rugged form. One
might fancy it at times half-bird half-demon, and be moved to
apostrophise it as did the poet when he sat that night in dread
looking upon the ominous figure, perched upon the bust of Pallas,
just above his chamber door : —

" Ghastly, grim and ancient Raven wandering

From the Nightly shore —
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the
Night's Plutonian shore."

It is the sagacity of the raven, its craft and love of mischief,
that make it so interesting and sometimes so exasperating as a
pet. JSTo one has described its life in captivity better than Charles
Dickens, who kept two in succession. Of the first, he relates in
his Preface to Barnaby Rudge, that it so terrified a Newfoundland
dog by its preternatural sagacity that it was able, by the mere
superiority of its genius, to walk off with the dog's dinner before
its face. Its genius was not, however, proof against the allurements
of its appetite. It perished from over-indulgence in the contents
of a pot of paint. The second was still more gifted. "The first
act of this sage was to administer to the effects of his predecessor,

12 THE CROW FAMILY

by disinterring all the cheese and half-pence he had buried in the
garden — a work of immense labour and energy, to which he devoted
all the energies of his mind. When he had achieved this task, he
applied himself to the acquisition of stable language, in which he
became such an adept that he would perch outside my window
and drive imaginary horses with great skill all day." This bird
succumbed also to his truly ravenous appetite, his end being
hastened by the consumption, in splinters, of the greater part of a
wooden staircase of six steps and a landing. To these two birds
Dickens added a third, the creation of his own rich imagination,
the immortal Grip of Barnaby Rudge, the bird that had more wit
than its master, that was indeed the master of its master.

It is curious that the raven, though able, as above noted, to
mimic the sounds it hears, and possessing a syrinx or voice organ as
complex as that of some of the best songsters, is nevertheless
without what, in a musical sense, may be called a song. Like
the rook, it does occasionally, in its jovial moods, pour forth a
continuous succession of varied notes, but these efforts are more
remarkable for unconscious humour than musical quality. Owing
no doubt to the comparative scarcity and shyness of the species in
our country, no British record exists, as far as I am aware, of this
attempt at a song. It has, however, been described both by an
American and a Swiss naturalist.

The former, Dr. Coues, writing of the abundance of ravens
round Fort Whipple in the 'seventies, states that one of the favourite
pastimes of the bird, when comfortably replete, was to perch on the
top of some pine, and there lift up its voice, the performance usually
beginning with a loud and commanding caw. This was intended,
presumably, to engage the attention of its public. After a " compla-
cent chuckle " and an introductory soliloquy scarcely audible from
below, there came a series of loud notes like the filing of a saw, ending
with the inimitable cork-drawing pops for which the species is famous.1

1 Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, History of North American Birds, 1874, vol. ii.

THE RAVEN 13

The song of the Swiss bird, a captive specimen, lacked the
introductory, self-advertising caw of the American, an omission due
perhaps to the sobering effect of an indoor sedentary life and not to
any national divergence in character. The central features were the
same, except that the introductory soliloquy was observed to be
accompanied by a vivacious clacking of the mandibles, and that
the subsequent outburst of discordant trills ended, not with a volley
of corks, but with extinction of the voice, the raven being left with
its beak still open, in an attitude of bewildered inquiry.1

The song described by Dr. Coues was heard in winter, but the
same, or something similar, is, according to Brehm, a feature of the
raven's courtship, for though pairing for life like other Corvidae, it
does not on that account disdain to give expression, each returning
spring, to the renewal of its passion. The exact form the courtship
takes has received little notice, much more having been devoted
to the extermination of the species and the rifling of its nest No
doubt the bird makes good play, like the Crows in general, with the
tail and wings, fanning the one and trailing the other, actions that
it certainly performs to express a general sense of satisfaction. A
pair have also been seen on more than one occasion with their
beaks fondly interlocked, pouring stifled grunts and gurglings down
each other's throat — soft nothings charged with meaning.

These amenities are not confined to the period of courtship. They
occur also when the young are in the nest, at which period the parents
have been seen standing face to face, quite motionless, with the
tips of their beaks touching. This corvine kiss lasted three to four
minutes. On another occasion the male stood facing his mate and
jumped up into the air two or three times to the height of three
or four feet — a novel method of expressing his affection.2

The great feature of the raven's courtship are the aerial gambols

1 Bulletin de la SodeU ornithologique Suisse, tome 1, 2" partie, 1866 (G. Lunel). Since writing
the above lines, my attention has been drawn to another description of the raven's song in
R. B. Lodge's Bird Hunting in Wild Europe, p. 230.

2 British Birds, Jan. 1, 1910 (F. Heatherley).

14 THE CROW FAMILY

by which it seeks to display at once its agility and its charms, the most
remarkable being the habit of suddenly closing the wings in flight and
rolling round sideways, sometimes with a croak. The turn is either
completed, or else arrested half-way, in the latter case the bird shoot-
ing for a space through the air with its back downwards. This feat
has not a sexual meaning only, for the species is wont to indulge in it
at all periods of the year ; sometimes apparently in mere playfulness.
It also serves certain utilitarian purposes. Gilbert White in his letter
of August 7, 1778, to Barrington, notes that, when moving from one
place to another, " ravens turn on their backs with a loud croak, and
seem to be falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides
them, they are scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the
centre of gravity." The habit has, however, a further use as a method
of defence against foes even more to be feared than the one which
caused the birds observed by Gilbert White to lose the centre of
gravity. When in the Lake District, I once saw a raven attacked by
a pair of hawks into whose nesting area it had trespassed in search
of food. The two assailants rose high above the intruder with
excited, angry screams, and, one after the other, came down like
bolts from the blue to strike into the soft sable back that seemed to
offer so easy a target. But the raven paid not the slightest apparent
heed to the coming attack until the moment when I looked to see it
mercilessly struck down. Then, it suddenly turned on its back and
presented a menacing array of claws and beak that caused each hawk
to swerve aside without a second's hesitation, and with lightning
rapidity, only to rise again and renew the inglorious assault. The
black veteran continued for some time to pursue with dignified
tranquillity his researches into the natural history of the fellside,
interrupting them only to assume, when needed, his sudden and
most effectively disconcerting posture of defence.1

It must not be supposed that the raven is always equally bold in

1 Miss E. L. Turner informs me that a raven, which she kept in an aviary and which had
its wings clipped, used, when attacked by one of its fellow captives, a magpie, to turn over on
its back on the ground and grip its assailant with its claws.

THE RAVEN 15

its frequent passages of arms with the hawk tribe. Though it has
been seen to pursue an eagle, the latter twisting and turning to elude
the attack, it has also been known on various occasions to shrink
away from the onslaught of the much less formidable peregrine, even
to crouching in fear upon the ground when no cover was available.
The courage displayed by birds is, in fact, largely a matter of circum-
stance. The same raven may at one time be a hero and at another
a dastard, its attitude depending on whether it has or not some
imperative motive for fighting. Even

. . . " the poor wren,
The most diminutive of birds, will fight,
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl."1

The boldness displayed no doubt also depends upon individual char-
acter, a factor that plays a more important part in animal life than is
perhaps even yet fully realised, and of which abundant examples will be
given in this work. It is well illustrated by the varying tactics of
ravens when their nearly fledged young are taken from the nest, some
descending upon the spoiler with fierce barks and ruffled plumage,
occasionally approaching near enough to strike or nearly strike him
with their wings, others being content to keep at a distance more or
less great, and to " bellow for revenge," or, as Macgillivray phrases it
less poetically, but no doubt more accurately, to " utter a stifled
croak." Some even descend to displays of cork-drawing.

The raven has another outlet for its feelings, when its young or
eggs are approached, that is worth notice. This is its habit of tearing
up the grass and heather, or driving its strong beak into branches and
scattering the splinters in its rage or despair. The habit is not peculiar
to the species. Much the same is done by other birds, the jay, for
instance, and the magpie. Mr. W. H. Hudson has also noted it in the
case of the squirrel. As he puts it in his Hampshire Days, that is the
way the little pot boils over. Throwing things about is, in fact, a form
of boiling over that is not confined to birds and beasts.

1 Macbeth, iv. 2.

16 THE CROW FAMILY

It is the persecution to which the raven is subjected in most parts
of Western Europe, and the difficulty it experiences in rearing a brood
at all, that makes the species appear far more solitary in its habits
than is really the case when the conditions of its life are normal. If
the young escape the rifle and the bird-catcher, they remain with
their parents at least for some months, and there can be no doubt
that within our shores, in parts where the species still holds its own,
the families will frequently unite to form flocks, small or great. They
are drawn together by an abundance of food at some given spot, and
remain until it is exhausted. For instance, in the Highlands a hare-
drive will attract numbers eager to hunt down with beak and talon
the wounded animals that have escaped the more tender mercies of
the dogs. And a stranded whale will bring them in numbers to
the shore.

In other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, the gregarious habit
of the species is more marked. During autumn and winter, in the
snow-clad wastes of the Arctic Circle, their black bands may be found
holding high revel wherever there is a carcass to be devoured or a
refuse heap to be searched. The failure of these sources of supply
will, it is said, scatter the flock afar, its members then being seen
hunting in pairs or small parties. If from these regions of frost
: — where the cold encircles the sable neck of each bird with a
snow-white ring magically made from its humid breath — we pass
to the hot tracts of the sun-bleached Sahara, there again we
find the raven in flocks, wherever and so long as any spot in
the wilderness gives promise of food. In some parts of North
America the species is to be seen in thousands. Dr. Coues,
already quoted, speaks of incalculable numbers being present
throughout the winter months at Fort Whipple, the black shapes
dotting the snow in all directions ; they even appear to remain more
or less gregarious in summer. In the East, Far and Near, and in
Russia, not only do they flock in winter, but in many places breed in
close proximity, and are even found scavenging in the towns and

THE RAVEN 17

villages, sometimes nesting on the church tower. Autres pays, autres
moeurs ! l

The raven may, therefore, be termed " sub-gregarious," to use an
expression of Macgillivray. It does not, like the rook, form per-
manent societies, but more or less temporary unions, depending both
for their size and their duration upon widely varying local conditions.

Though the gregariousness of the raven outside the breeding
season is of a fluctuating nature, the species appears to make a
regular habit of collecting to roost. In the Shetlands, Dr. Saxby saw
as many as eight hundred preparing to pass the night on the rocky
ledges of the tiny island of Uyea. We have also a very complete
account of a raven roost by a writer in the Field?- This was situated
on a ridge of rock two thousand feet up the side of a mountain, of
which the name is, for good reasons, withheld. The ground about the
ridge was strewn with pellets or castings, for the raven, like his
congeners and many other species, is in the habit of regurgitating
the indigestible portions of his food. The pellets in question were
found to consist chiefly of bone, wool, hair, mussel shells, crabs' toes,
corn husks, and a few feathers and bones of birds, eloquent testimony
to the bird's catholic tastes.

In order to watch the arrival of the ravens, the narrator hid
himself one winter afternoon on the mountain side below the roosting
ledge. About four o'clock they began to appear, arriving first in
single pairs, then in small parties numbering up to eighteen, these
being in loose formation and more or less divided into pairs. Judging
from the scarcity of the species in the district, many of these arrivals
must have travelled distances exceeding twenty miles. They came
flying in at various altitudes, those at the higher levels descending a
hundred feet or more with swift dizzy rushes into the roost. During

1 F. Diderich, Die geographische Verbreitung der echten Raben, 1889, pp. 68-81 ; Xauinann.
Vb'gel Mitteleuropas, iv. ; Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, History of North American Birds, 1874,
vol. ii. ; Field, 1906, July-December, p. 1084 ;". Ibis, 1859, pp. 291-2, 312 (Tristram) ; H. L. Saxby,
Birds of Shetland ; Harvie-Brown and Buckley, Fauna of the Outer Hebrides, p. 73 ; E. Booth,
Notes on Birds, etc.

2 Field, 1906, January-June, p. 689.

C

18 THE CROW FAMILY

the course of an hour some fifty were seen passing from the quarter
under observation, and there may have been as many from the other
side. Meanwhile, from the growing congregation on the ridge, there
descended through the thickening dusk the strangest of evensongs,
a weird, wild medley of many sounds, the barking of dogs, the bleating
of goats, the lowing of cows, the becking of grouse calling across the
moorland, and now and then the deep belling challenge of the stag.
It was to this unique lullaby that the raven folk sang themselves into
slumber — a slumber that any night might rudely be broken by the
crack of the keeper's gun, for, even here, in this rocky fastness, the
bird is not safe from its deadliest foe. Yet, in spite of repeated
assaults, the diminished bands, driven by the inexorable force of
custom, return, sooner or later, to the old familiar place, made
sacred by the blood of generations of their kind.

THE CARRION-CROW AND THE HOODED-CROW

[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The carrion- and the hooded-crow resemble closely the raven in
their habits, but they resemble one another still more closely, not only
in habits, but also in structure. In fact, the only important difference,
from a systematic or classificatory point of view, generally recognised
between them is the coloration of the plumage, the crow being black
and the hoodie black and grey. This, combined with the fact that,
in the regions such as Siberia, Central Europe, and Scotland, where
the nesting areas of the two species overlap, they interbreed and
produce hybrids, which in turn are fertile, has led some ornithologists
to the conclusion that the two forms could not properly be regarded
as more than varieties of the same species. But the view that the
fertility of hybrids constitutes an absolute criterion of species
can no longer be entertained, for it would involve abandoning the
present specific distinction between such, well-defined forms as the

Plate 2

Carrion-Crow and Hooded-Crow

(Upper Figures)

Hybrids between the two Species

(Lotcer Figure*)
By H. Goodcluld

THE CARRION-CROW AND THE HOODED-CROW 19

dog and the wolf, the dog and the jackal, the pintail duck and the
mallard, and many others, all of which produce fertile hybrids. It is,
therefore, left to the personal judgment of the individual system-
atist to determine the quantity and quality of the distinctive
characters that may be allowed in any given case to divide one
closely related form from another. As systematists are prone to
differ, and as the species in many Genera merge into each other
through an unbroken series of transitional forms, it is not sur-
prising that a confusing variety of opinion is the result. The
extent to which this may be carried is illustrated by the well-known
example given by Haeckel, who showed that there may be 3, 21, 289,
or 591 species of calcareous sponges, according to the point of view
from which they are regarded.

In the case of the hooded- and carrion-crow, besides the difference
in coloration already described, there is a notable difference in the
minute structure of the shells of their respective eggs, those of the
rook and jackdaw being, in fact, much more alike in this respect.1

Some writers are of opinion that the two species can further be
distinguished by their notes, or some of them, but as the voices of
birds vary with the individual, it would require very close observation
to establish a distinction which, in any case, cannot be strongly
marked. Whether there is any difference between the songs of the
two species is difficult to say, for no record of that of the carrion-crow
appears to exist, though no doubt the bird has a song, or what may
pass for such. The hooded-crow, like the raven, indulges in a con-
tinuous succession of varied notes. That the bird is not ashamed of
its vocal powers is evident from the fact that the performance usually
takes place on the top of some high tree or building, and evidently
affords great satisfaction to the performer.

Whether or not the above-mentioned differences give the two

1 For the structure of the egg-shells of hoodies, crows, and other Corvidse, see the Journal
fur Omithologie, 1874, pp. 1-26 ( W. von Nathusius). For interesting observations on the hybrids
of birds, see J. L. Bonhote's articles in the Proceedings of the Fourth International Ornitho-
logical Congress, 1905, p. 233, sec. 2, and in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1902 and 1905.

20 THE CROW FAMILY

forms a right to independent specific rank, is a question which, if we
assume the continued absence of a universally recognised criterion,
would provide matter for unending debate, there being no possible
basis of agreement except submission to personal authority, and this
can offer no more than a temporary solution. In this work the usual
custom of treating the two forms as distinct species is followed.

In the choice of habitat, within their respective areas, the two
crows do not differ. The grey species is seen on the plains of
Siberia and also the mountains of Austria, Scandinavia, and
Scotland. If the carrion-crow appears more abundant along the
central mountain ranges of Europe and Asia, yet in the British
Isles it prefers the woods and fields of England to the Highland
moors. Both species and their hybrids are, moreover, found
together, as for instance in Scotland, the valley of the Elbe, and
mid-Siberia. And they are seen alike on woodland and shore, marsh
and moor, town and village, wherever, in short, the food they like is
to be found — that is almost everywhere, for they are practically
omnivorous, and not difficult to please. Like the raven, they are
ready to devour anything from a worm to a whale, from a sheep to a
slug. All is good that comes their way : rats and reptiles, frogs
and crabs, insects and spiders, grain and fruit. They will snatch fish
from the water and bones from a backyard. Birds weakened by
starvation and cold fall easily their victims. A young hare, or even
an old, they will hunt to its death with exulting cries. They will
attack the weakly ewe, first stabbing out her eyes and tearing out her
tongue, then doing the same to the lamb. Carrion they love, human
and other ; in all times they have feasted with the kites on the
abundance provided to them by the crimes and the heroism of man.
Many indeed are the gallows and the stricken fields that have heard
the grateful requiems they have croaked.

In the spring, pairs may be seen diligently quartering the country
in search of the eggs and young of other birds, even making a
systematic search through trees branch by branch. The smaller birds,

THE CARRION-CROW AND THE HOODED-CROW 21

chaffinches, thrushes, and the like, suffer especially from these raids,
but larger birds, ducks, pheasants, waders, and others do not escape.
The robbers have even been known to carry their audacity so far as
to enter and despoil the nest of the golden-eagle, in the absence, of
course, of its mighty owner. On one occasion a grey crow was ill-
advised enough to allow itself to be caught in the act. In spite of all
the cunning twists and turns of its hot-winged flight, it was closely
pursued and savagely buffeted till it screamed again. One marvels
that it escaped with its life.1

When the crow, black or grey, finds the nest of one of the larger
species, such as ducks or herons, its habit is usually to wait not
far off in patient silence till the sitting bird goes away for food.
It then loses no time in rifling her treasures. In the case of the
smaller birds it is not so patient, and does not scruple to drive
them off* their nest. Once in possession of an egg, it either pecks
a large hole in one side and sucks out the contents, or carries it
away in its bill. Dr. Saxby, who kept a tame hooded-crow, noted
that, finding hen's eggs too large to carry in this way, it broke
open the shell, sucked part of the contents, and then grasping one
of the edges of the hole between its mandibles, took its booty away to
be consumed at leisure in some more retired spot. It is perhaps this
method of carrying the larger eggs that has led some observers to
believe that crows, gulls, and other predatory birds fly with them
" spiked " on the point of the bill, a feat that seems scarcely possible.2

Perhaps the most remarkable feeding habit of crows is that of
breaking open shell-fish, crabs, even bones and walnuts, by taking
them up into the air and letting them fall to the ground, the birds
themselves descending each time so as to reach earth at almost the
same moment, a wise precaution if other crows happen to be about.
Whether or not this habit, which is common to a fair number of
species, including the raven and the rook, has to be acquired by each

1 R. Gray, Birds of the West of Scotland, p. 173.

2 Mr. E. Selous informs me, however, that he has seen a moorhen transfix three eggs in
succession and walk off with them spiked on the bill.

22 THE CROW FAMILY

bird during the course of its individual experience, or is an instinctive
act, inborn like the ability of the duckling to swim when it touches
water, is unknown, but its effective performance is certainly either a
matter of practice or an individual gift. Hoodies have been re-
peatedly observed to drop a mollusc or bone on soft sandy ground, or
on grass. One let a bone drop, time after time, upon the only patch
of sandy ground on a long line of rocky coast. It fell at last, seem-
ingly by accident, on a small rock and was broken. On the other
hand, these birds have been seen getting mussels in the drains and
creeks which intersect the mud-flats of Breydon, in Norfolk, and
deliberately carrying them to be dropped on a stone wall. When ice
covered the flats, they spared themselves the trouble of going to the
wall, having learnt that the ice served the same purpose. In Switzer-
land, again, Howard Saunders noted crows dropping walnuts on the
flat copings of the walls of the vineyards, seldom missing the mark.
It is, further, interesting to note that in dealing with shells they do
not limit themselves to this method. They have been seen to open
fresh-water mussels by violent blows on the ligaments which attach
the valves, and it is also stated that they occasionally adopt the
simple expedient of hacking the shell open.1

That our two crows, like the raven, have in a high degree the
ability to profit by experience is evident from the marvellous cunning
that individual birds display in their conflict with the shepherd, the
farmer, the gamekeeper, and others, who hate them for their raids
on lambs, young birds and eggs. A concrete example will help us to
realise this more fully, and it is provided by an admirable and authori-
tative account of the proceedings of a pair of carrion-crows in the
Frankfort Zoological Garden, written by its Director, Dr. Max
Schmidt. These crows made a practice of robbing the eggs of the
waterfowl in the Garden, and it was decided to drive them away.

1 Lilford, Birds of Northamptonshire, 1 ; Ibis, 1891, 174 (H. Saunders) ; R. Gray, Birds of
the West of Scotland ; Saxby, Birds of Shetland, 134 ; Field, 1904, ciii. 51 ; Naumann, Vogel
Mitteleuropas, iv. 103 ; Borrer, Birds of Sussex ; J. B. Bailly, Ornithologie de la Savoie,
ii. 79.

THE CARRION-CROW AND THE HOODED-CROW 23

First their nest, which they built in the Garden, was destroyed. The
birds disappeared, but only to build a nest elsewhere and return after
a few days' absence. No alternative was left but to shoot them. They
had, however, already learnt to know a gun when they saw one. If
the Herr Direktor approached them with a stick or an umbrella, they
regarded him with tranquil indifference. But however perfect might
be the air of total abstraction from corvine affairs that he assumed, or
however absorbed he might appear to be in animated discourse with
the friends that accompanied him, the first sight of the gun-barrel
would send either of the attentive and suspicious birds in hot haste
out of range, uttering loud croaks of warning to its mate. The
Director then bethought him of an ambush. One morning, before
sunrise, he placed himself in the llama-house, near by the spot where
the crows were accustomed to alight. In due time one of the birds
arrived, but out of range. Its warning croak made clear that it
suspected treachery. What could have aroused its suspicions remains
a mystery. It was certainly not owing to anything unusual in the
behaviour of the llama, for this philosophic beast remained throughout
the affair entirely unaffected by the near presence of its official chief.
Seeing that the game was up, the Doctor issued from his hiding-place
to find, much to his astonishment, one of the crows not only perched
within gunshot, but showing no disposition to take flight. He
promptly raised his gun, but did no more, for the crow was so placed
as to be perfectly protected from shot by an intervening troop of
wild sheep. When this obstacle was cleared, the bird made off.
The gun was put away. Poisoned eggs were next tried. The
crows broke them open, left them untouched, and devoted them-
selves with all the greater zest to the unpoisoned eggs. Thinking
that their sense of smell had enabled the birds to detect the
poison, the Director then cut circular holes in scraps of meat
and fish, these being small enough for the crows to swallow
whole, inserted strychnine, and then plugged the holes with the
flesh extracted. The scraps were left lying about with unpoisoned

24 THE CROW FAMILY

scraps. The crows took only the latter, to which they did ample
justice. Finally an unpoisoned egg was ingeniously fitted as bait to
a small trap, which was concealed with grass. One crow forgot its
caution so far as to let itself be caught alive by its beak. But its
example was not followed. Its successors were, in fact, left in posses-
sion of the field, their robberies being kept within such limits as
were possible.1

But crows, whether black or grey, are, like human beings, equal
neither in experience nor in the ability to profit by it or dispense with
it. Many fall easy victims to poisoned eggs or flesh, others are shot
in some countries by the device of setting up a captive or dummy
eagle-owl, the hatred of the crows for this enemy of their race being
so great that, though not venturing to close quarters, they rage round
it regardless of all other danger, even when the gun is already
decimating their ranks.

Though undoubtedly pests, it must not be supposed that the
hooded- and carrion-crow are wholly harmful. They destroy large
numbers of small rodents and also injurious insects, for it is on these
and worms that the young are chiefly fed.

Both species begin preparing for their family duties at least a
month later than the raven. Not enough is known about the court-
ship of either to enable us to make a comparison. The fanning of
the tail and the drooping wings play, of course, their part, the
former being with many species a favourite mode of expressing
emotions, whether amorous or other. Yarious fantastic mid-air
evolutions, amorous bufferings, and also combats are indulged
in. The latter element in the proceedings does not, of course,
invalidate the generally accepted belief that the two species pair
for life, for there are each year the young birds and also a
number of old bachelors and spinsters willing and even anxious
to assume the bonds. That a large number of these have,
nevertheless, to remain unmated throughout the breeding season

1 Zoologisches Garten, 1876, 153-9.

THE CARRION-CROW AND THE HOODED-CROW 26

is proved by the readiness with which a bird, whose mate has been
shot, finds a new one, not only once but repeatedly. A good example
is provided by the case of a hooded-crow, whose husband, a carrion-
crow, had been shot. She secured another, also of the black
species. It was shot. She returned with a third. Also shot. Yet
the " dauntless widow returned with another black mate within a few
hours," only to lose him in the same way. How many more she
might have led to destruction must remain a mystery, for she herself
and her young were the next victims.1

Both the hooded- and carrion-crow, like the raven, are in the habit
of breeding in scattered pairs. They may repair their old nest each
year, if the winter storms have left it standing ; or, they may build a
new, usually in the same place, which they are forced to quit only by
repeated persecution. Naumann states that it takes a pair of hooded-
crows a day to repair, and two or three days to build their home. Both
species sometimes show considerable originality in the choice of
material. The grey form has been known to build up a nest on a
foundation of bones, in one case measuring a yard across and a foot
in depth, the chief contributors being ponies and sheep.2

An interesting account of the care of the young hooded-crows
in a nest found at Raasay, north of the Isle of Skye, is given by
Dr. F. Heatherley in Country Life: "I had a unique opportunity of
watching the hoodies at home, as during that time (3.10 to 6.30 P.M.)
the pair came to the nest and fed the young on an average every ten
minutes, sometimes only two or three minutes apart, occasionally
both together, and then perhaps a wait of twenty minutes. The
young, as a rule, sat quietly ; only once did I see any quarrelling in
the nest. The most striking thing about them was the brilliant colour
of the gape. As soon as one of the old birds came in sight, the quiet
nest turned into four croaking crimson tulips. I never saw the old
birds carrying any food, although I must have seen the young fed
about fifty times; it was always a matter of regurgitation. The

1 E. Gray, Birds of the West of Scotland. " Saxby, Birds of Shetland.

D

26 THE CROW FAMILY

biggest young one, although pushing himself forward, was often
deliberately passed over ; two were generally fed at each visit. A few
days later we came across a collection of twenty empty gulls' and
shags' eggs lying near a mossy stream in the vicinity, and the young,
after their execution, were found to have remains of beetles and
winkles in their gullets." The young and the mother were shot by the
keeper, and it was not owing to any feeling of mercy on his part that
the male bird escaped the same fate.1

When their young quit the nest, both species move about in
family parties ; and, as in the case of the ravens, these families, or, if
the young are destroyed in the nest, the pairs, tend to unite in bands
which vary in size and permanence according to the conditions of the
food supply and the degree of persecution to which they are subjected.
But it has been observed that, in some parts at least, the carrion-
crow, even when occurring in numbers, is not so gregarious as its grey
congener.2 Both, however, are less exclusive than the raven, readily
mixing with one another, and sometimes, especially the hooded-crow,
with the rook and other species. They are also much more migratory,
our raven appearing to receive no accession to its ranks from abroad,
and to be stationary except for its local movements.

Both species habitually collect from all parts to roost in still
larger flocks, and sometimes together, a fact that is taken advantage
of by gamekeepers and others interested in their extermination.
But they have never been found in our country repairing to their
sleeping quarters in the almost incredible numbers recorded in the
case of the closely related species of North America, the common-crow.
A very interesting account of its roosting habits has been written
for the American Department of Agriculture, a summary of which is
not out of place here, for it will serve to suggest lines of inquiry in
respect to our own crows.3

1 September 8, 1908.

2 A. E. Knox, Ornithological Rambles in Sussex, 3rd edition, p. 102.

3 W. H. Barrows and E. A. Schwarz, The Common Crow (C. americanus), Bulletin No. 6 of
the U.S.A. Department of Agriculture, pp. 9-25, 1895.

THE CARRION-CROW AND THE HOODED-CROW 27

In their largest roosting-places the common-crows may number over
two hundred thousand. They continue to arrive for some hours before
nightfall, flying in from all quarters, and from distances as great as forty
to fifty miles. They do not go directly into the roosting-trees, but, like
other species, alight at a certain distance away, generally a few
hundred yards, many flying over the roost itself in order to reach the
appointed place. Here they may be seen, as one after another the
bands come in, descending, sometimes from a thousand feet, like
winged bolts let loose from heaven, the headlong swoop being often
varied by startling twists and turns as they sport one good comrade
with another. They spread in black masses over the woods and fields
beneath, a living pall, not only alive, but full of sound, and swept by
deafening discords. This happy rout goes on till sunset, when, moved
by one impulse, the bands make for the roosting-trees, flying low and
silent as if anxious to avoid notice. At break of day the great hosts
rise up from their many-acred dormitory, and circling overhead
awhile, with noisy salutations, get their bearings and depart in
hundreds and in thousands to their distant feeding-grounds.

It is perhaps hardly necessary to add that the gunners easily find
their way into these huge roosts and slay without mercy ; their victims
rising with panic-stricken rushes, screaming with fright and pain, only
to settle again near by and be scattered by a new discharge.

One may well ask what is it that makes the crows continue night
after night to mass together, and so court their own destruction ? The
cause, whatever it be, must lie deep-rooted in their natures, for they
come again and again to the slaughter. It cannot be desire for extra
warmth. A branch or a ledge will only hold a certain number, how-
ever much they press together, and enough would be supplied by a
single family, to say nothing of the union of families that makes up
the flock united in the daily search after food. But the night flock
is a combination of day flocks drawn from widely scattered areas.

It may be that the force, potent enough to draw them to the
same spot each evening, is an ingrained dread of something other

28 THE CROW FAMILY

than man, having its remote origin in times that knew not civilisa-
tion, its guns and its gamekeepers, a time when nocturnal enemies
of another kind were far more abundant than now, so much so that
they forced the Crow tribe to seek in numbers a sense of safety
during the dread hours when darkness makes useless their chief
defence, the quick eye that sees the foe before it strikes. Such
enemies may have been the larger owls, for instance the eagle-owl,
which, as already noted, has power, even in effigy, to reduce hoodie
and crow to dire extremities of rage and fear.

It is worth noting, in concluding this section, that, as in the case
of the raven roost previously described, the ground about the crow
roosts is covered with the remains of pellets that the birds have dis-
gorged. These contain undigested matter of all sorts, including
enormous quantities of seeds. In the report above quoted, it is
estimated that in a roost of 15 acres, nearly 800 million seeds
may be scattered, more than enough to plant over 1000 acres
thickly. Of course comparatively few grow, but as the digestion of
the crow is rapid, taking one to four hours, or even less, the process
of seed dispersal is not confined to the roost. The species can, there-
fore, claim to exercise a considerable influence on the distribution of
plants within the area it inhabits.

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The raven and the crows flock more or less except in the
breeding season. We now come to two species that are gregarious
throughout the year. The rook's habit of nesting in communities
is indeed so familiar that the word "rookery" has been used to
describe the breeding-places of other species, such as the penguin
and the gannet, whose names lend themselves but indifferently to a
suffix. It has also been applied to the close-packed, over-crowded,

Plate 3

Rooks

By G. E. Collins

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 29

stifling habitations of the dregs of human society, a singular abuse
of language, for the rook has at least sense enough to realise that
plenty of fresh air is essential to the well-being of its race.

Again, unlike their larger congeners, which usually betake them-
selves in spring to the most inaccessible spots they can find, the
jackdaw and the rook prefer to rear their broods in the close neigh-
bourhood of man, the one liking best the ruined castle or the
cathedral tower, and the other the stately trees that have stood from
time immemorial near by some ancient hall or village spire. Rookeries
are not unknown in towns, as Gray's Inn will testify, but no doubt in
most of these cases it is not the rooks that have gone to the town, but
the town that has come to the rooks.

There is, further, a marked difference between the feeding habits
of the two groups. The raven and crows usually look for their food
on the wing, tracing irregular circuits through the air, and descending
to the ground when something worthy of closer investigation has
caught their quick eyes. The rook and the jackdaw, on the other
hand, are most often seen diligently walking the ploughed land or the
pasture, probing for worms and other delicacies. It is possibly the
fact that their favourite food can be found in abundance within an
area no larger than a single field that has led them to become so
much more gregarious than the other members of the family. Certain
it is that when frost or snow seal up ^the earth, and with it the worms,
the rook flocks tend to split up into detachments and disperse. The
birds are often to be found perched disconsolate on some post or
paling not far from the doors of our kitchens, ready to share the
charity dispensed to the smaller birds, and also to waylay and rob
them, thus providing a concrete illustration of the meaning of the
expressive verb they have added to the English language.

The remaining differences between the two groups are incidental
to those mentioned. We may now, therefore, come to closer quarters
with the immediate subjects of this section.

For nine months in the year, that is during the whole period outside

30 THE CROW FAMILY

the breeding season, rooks and jackdaws may be seen feeding together
in the same field, the latter pert, dapper, with the air of frank rogues,
spying here and there and everywhere with knowing grey eyes as
they move briskly about with what Gilbert White would call a swagger
in their walk, characteristics that are in marked contrast with the
slower motions and the almost episcopal gravity of the rook. But for
all its gravity, there is in the rook a spirit of frivolity that will out, and
which displays itself in a variety of ways, from a few absurd sidelong
hops taken at random on the spur of the moment, and having no
apparent object, public or private, to the sudden assumption of
an attitude of truculent defiance towards one of its fellows. On
the latter occasions the tail is fanned and cocked, while the bird's
head and neck have an aggressive forward inclination that is intended
to be, and no doubt is, highly offensive to the party challenged. If the
challenge is accepted, there will be one or more bouts, the duellists
scuffling on the ground, or rising in the air, pecking at each other,
perhaps pausing between the rounds, one facing the other, eye to eye
and beak to beak. But no great harm is done, and both will, after a
little, desist as if by mutual consent, each going its own way, evidently
agreed upon regarding the incident as a temporary aberration, about
which the less said the better.

This is not the only form of sporting contest indulged in by rooks.
They practise various aerial gambols, which they do not confine to
their own species. On more than one occasion, when observing rooks
and lapwings at rest in the same field, more or less intermingled, I
have seen an individual of each flock playing together in the air,
sometimes the rook chasing, sometimes the plover, sometimes each
taking for the moment an independent course of its own. The most
striking feature of these displays, which lasted only a minute or two,
was the contrast between the easy, finished actions of the plover,
which it accompanied with excited " pee-witts," and the comparatively
awkward efforts of the rook, who laboured in silence, though with
evident self-complacency, to assume graces beyond his skill. Finally

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 31

he alighted with slow dignity, leaving the plover to make a meteoric
headlong dash along the furrows, ending with a sudden lift and a fairy-
like descent. There occurred also a general wild chase in which about
a dozen rooks, daws, and lapwings took part. In all this there was no
sign of animosity, no persistent bullying, no attempt to strike or to
buffet, as is for instance the case when, in spring time, the rook
ventures into the field where the plover has made or means to make
its nest. It was all mere frolic, and when it ceased the birds stood
about the ground as they were before, and as if nothing had occurred.
That birds, like mammals, indulge in play is well known, but such play
between members of different species, though no doubt more common
than we suspect, is rare enough to merit passing notice.

Besides these playful encounters, there are, of course, lively
disputes arising out of contested claims to worms, beetles, and other
delicacies, usually terminated by the disappearance of the disputed
object down the throat of one or other of the claimants, there being,
of course, after this event, nothing tangible to strive for.

What helps, perhaps, to give to the rook the ecclesiastical air
referred to is the white about his head, contrasting with the black of
his feathering. The white is caused by the bare skin round the base
of the bill, a feature which distinguishes the species from all its con-
geners. How this peculiarity is to be accounted for is a question that
has long interested ornithologists, and deservedly so, because it raises
in a concrete form the fundamental problem of the origin of a specific
variation. The first explanation which naturally suggested itself was
that the absence of feathering round the beak of the "bare-faced
crow " was due to its well-known habit of probing the soil in search of
worms. But the facts do not favour this view. Observation has not
so far conclusively proved that the rook is in the habit of digging its
beak into the soil up to its eyes (Fig. 2, p. 5). During drought or
hard frost it can hardly dig at all, and has to be content to turn over
clods and stones, or find other means of subsistence such as is pro-
vided by refuse heaps, by charitable dispensers of bread and crumbs

32 THE CROW FAMILY

and scraps, and by small birds or rodents too weak to escape pursuit
and capture. Now if the bare skin were due to abrasion by boring,
one would expect the feathers to sprout anew when, as during the
winter of 1814, instanced by Waterton, the ground was hard frozen
and covered with snow for months ; but this is not what happens.
The strongest objection, however, lies in the fact that, if we except a
temporary shedding of the nasal bristles which appears, occasionally
at least, to occur at the first autumn moult, the young rook retains
intact the facial feathers till its second autumn moult, that is for more
than a year after its departure from the nest. This is proved both by
the observation of specimens in captivity, and by records and dated
skins of immature birds shot in spring, that is after the first autumn
moult. It is obvious that if the digging habit is to be taken as the
cause of the bare skin, then the young rook would not only now and
then, but invariably, show signs of abrasion long before its second
moult, unless, of course, we are prepared to assume that it either
totally abstains from a diet of worms or is fed by its long-suffering
parents for months after it is capable of shifting for itself. A further
fact bearing on the question has been supplied me by Dr. E. Hartert,
who points out that the Far Eastern form of our rook (C. frugilegus
pastinator} has the bare area much more limited, the lores and chin
being feathered. If the cause is to be found in digging, one asks why
it does not produce the same effect in the case of the two sub-species.
Or are we to assume that the soil or the worms of the area inhabited
by pastinator (China, Eastern Siberia, Korea, Japan, Formosa) have
throughout just that marked unvarying degree of difference from our
own that would account for the very definite divergence in the respec-
tive bare faces of the two forms ?

On the other side, it has been said that rooks with the beaks so
malformed as to prevent them from digging, have been found to retain
the feathering on the face after the second moult. But this proves
nothing, for both abnormalities may be the effect of the same cause.

Setting aside the abrasion theory as yet unproved, we find our-

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 33

selves as far as ever from the true solution. All that can with any
certainty be said is that the bare face of the rook, like the blue eye of
the jay or the red breast of the robin, marks the advent of maturity.
Why the rook should have to be content with a rough unfeathered
face instead of a bright blue eye or a ruddy waistcoat is a question
that science has still to answer.

If we turn from the bare patch round the base of the beak to
the beak itself, we find an instrument that, in comparison with the
bludgeon-like bill of the raven and crows, is certainly well adapted
for probing the soil (cf. Figs. 1 and 2 in the Classified Notes). In
this case we are generally content with the Darwinian view that
the modification has been the result of natural selection, a view
that does not, of course, explain how the variation arose, but only
why it persisted. It did so, presumably, because the rooks that,
owing to some cause unknown, happened to be born with a
beak somewhat longer than their fellows thereby gained a distinct
advantage in the search for food. Being better nourished, and con-
sequently stronger than the shorter-beaked individuals, they had a
better chance of surviving in the struggle for existence, and hence
of perpetuating in their offspring an advantage secured, it may be
observed, by no merit of their own. Perhaps the bare patch has
arisen in the same way, though, except as a mark of recognition and
maturity, its utility to the species is not apparent

It is a common opinion that when rooks are feeding in a field
they post sentinels. That they frequently take no such precaution,
even when there are hedges covering the approach to the field on
which the flock has pitched, is a fact that can easily be verified.
Further, it is not safe to assume that the birds sometimes seen
perched on trees near by where the flock is feeding, are there for
the express purpose of keeping watch ; they may simply be resting.
Their elevated position would, of course, enable them to mark and
signal the approach of danger sooner than their fellows on the
ground, and thus give them the appearance of being sentinels.

B

34 THE CROW FAMILY

A most interesting piece of evidence bearing on the point is
supplied, curiously enough, not by rooks but carrion-crows. A
German observer noted that a band of eight of these birds were
in the habit of frequenting the edge of a pond, which on three
sides was screened by a thick growth of osiers, high enough to
conceal the approach of an enemy. Outside the osier belt was a
post, and on this one of the crows was seen perched not only once
or twice, but many times during a period of several summer weeks.
When alarmed it uttered a loud note of warning, and its comrades
rose at once and flew off in silence, followed by the sentinel. But
even in this case it is not certain that the bird was actually engaged
in outpost duty. Much closer observation is required before the
sceptical can be convinced. Is it the same bird that stands sentinel
each time ? If so, why it and not another, and what time does it
give to watching and feeding respectively? Or is there division of
labour, and, if so, what determines the division ? l

In the short winter days rooks and daws begin to move towards
their sleeping quarters long before dusk. Rooks almost always roost
in a clump of trees. Records of their sleeping on the ground are
rare.2 Sometimes our resident birds continue to roost during the
winter at the rookery, this term being here used exclusively to mean
the nesting trees. Usually they appear to cease making the rookery
their dormitory in September, not returning to sleep there till the
following spring, and repairing, in the meanwhile, each evening to
some neighbouring wood, sometimes a considerable distance away,
which may often serve as a common roosting - place for several
different flocks. It is instructive to note that this change of sleeping
quarters coincides with the date of the general autumnal migrations,

1 For the account of the crow sentry see the Zoologisches Garten, 1904, p. 377 (Dr. Horning).
Accounts of flocks of geese putting out sentinels are given both by Mr. St. John, quoted in
L. T. Hobhouse's Mind in Evolution, p. 272, and by Mr. J. G. Millais, in his Wildfoider in Scot-
land, p. 01. But the difficulty in unreservedly accepting these statements is that they involve
not merely a question of fact, but one of interpretation. It is not impossible to give to what
one sees a meaning it may not really possess. Much more evidence than is available is needed
to carry conviction.

2 Field, 1886.

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 35

and may itself be a modified or limited form of the migratory
instinct. The evidence available points, however, to a marked lack
of uniformity in the sleeping arrangements of rooks, which leaves
any one explanation inadequate.

The same applies to jackdaws. Those, or most of those at Wells
Cathedral, remain to roost there throughout the year. At Corfe a
certain number leave each evening during the winter, from October
on, to sleep in a neighbouring wood, the remainder stopping at the
castle all night. The daws of Furness, on the other hand, all roost
away from the abbey from September to March, quitting it at dusk
with their neighbours the rooks, to return at dawn. In this, and
probably in most cases when sleeping away from the nesting-place,
daws and rooks go to the same roost.1

Rooks and daws often travel by easy stages to their sleeping
quarters, having developed none of the modern passion for quick
transit. A Hock has been known to take from two to four hours to
do a twenty minutes' journey. -

The daws fly sometimes with the rooks, sometimes in a separate
band, which appears generally composed of pairs. It has been
asserted that rooks fly in pairs within the flock. But, if so, they are
not easy to detect. Tennyson has also told us that there is a

' many wintered crow
That leads the clanging rookery home.'

Personally I have never noticed that any one rook acts as leader,
and the experience of others is the same. It is a matter, however,
about which each reader can find ample opportunities of forming
his own judgment.

The flocks, on arriving at the common roost, do not go straight
into it, but, for some unknown reason, pass over or stop short of it,
to collect not far off at some common meeting-place. Here, as in the

1 This information has been supplied me by the keepers at Corfe Castle and Furness Abbey,
and by Mr. Stanley Lewis and Mr. Thos. W. Phillips of Wells.

- Zooloyiat, 1904, pp. 270-6.

36 THE CROW FAMILY

case of the American crows already described, they may be seen either
resting on the ground or in the trees in noisy multitudes, awaiting
the arrival of the later flocks, or else wheeling round in the air, where
they " sport and dive in a playful manner, all the while exerting their
voices, and making a loud cawing, which being blended and softened
by the distance . . ., becomes a confused noise or chiding, or rather
a pleasing murmur, very engaging to the imagination, and not unlike
the cry of a pack of hounds in hollow, echoing woods, or the rushing
of wind in tall trees, or the tumbling of the tide upon a pebbly
shore." Rooks, indeed, though boasting no song in a musical sense,
have an even wider range of notes than the raven. They have been
credited with some thirty to forty different notes.1

Before sunset, at a given moment, the black hosts, moved by
what seems a common impulse, rise, and one after another go forward
to the roost. Sometimes they drop into it from a height, "a living
storm-cloud discharging its black-winged rain," each separate bird
shooting and whizzing down to the trees with occasional tumblings
in mid-air. Another time, after circling and eddying a while over-
head, with joyful clamour, they will descend sedately, and rise and
sink once more ; or again, for there is an infinite variety in this
evening ritual, they may swoop in without a sound, then, as if panic-
stricken by some hideous vision in the deepening shadows, burst
out like an embodied thunder-clap, only to swoop in, then out, then in
till the spectre has been laid, and they stop. At times a kind of
madness seems to grip them. After a tempest of sound, the black
rout will hurl itself right in among the trees, shooting between them
with miraculous turns and twists, hurtling over and about them, and
in and out — a fast, frenzied, rapturous dance, with the pine aisles
for ball-room, dimly lighted by the moon, and, it may be, the snow,
across which the dusky shapes flash and vanish to the rushing music
of the swift strong wings.

1 Gilbert White, Selborne, Letter lix. For a list of the notes of the rook, see E. Selous,
Bird Watching, p. 299.

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 37

Once settled on their perches, the rooks may sometimes be heard
lulling themselves to sleep with an evensong quite as unique as that
of the raven. And it may be taken for granted that the daw, when
present, makes a notable contribution of his own to the general effect
it produces, for if his range of utterance is not so wide as that of
the rook, his " yacks ! " and " kaes ! " are penetrating. This singular
outpouring of the corvine soul has been thus described by Mr.
Edmund Selous, who has listened to it hidden in the roost itself.
" Groans, moans, shrieks almost, yells among the larches, all mingled
and blending — but sinking now. A marvellous medley, a wonderful
hoarse harmony ! Here are shoutings of triumph, chatterings of joy,
deep trills of contentment, hoarse yells of derision, deep guttural
indignations, moaiiings, groanings, tauntings, remonstrances, clicks,
squeaks, sobs, cachinnations, and the whole a most musical murmur.
Loud, but a murmur, a wild, noisy, clamorous murmur ; but sinking
now, softening — a lullaby.

' I never heard
So musical a discord, such sweet thunder." " *

It must not be supposed that the shooting and whirling flights
above described are peculiar to the roosting hour. Rooks and daws
may be seen at any time of the day indulging in various aerial
displays, both above their nesting trees and their feeding grounds.
Only a few hours before writing these lines, I watched rooks shooting
down into a ploughed field, with sudden turns and zig-zags that had
all the appearance of a series of upsets and spasmodic recoveries.
There was certainly in this particular display nothing either graceful
or impressive. Far different was the performance of the well-known
daws in Kensington Garden, who were seen, one fine winter's morn-
ing, by Mr. W. H. Hudson, " rushing over and among the tall elms
in a black train, yelping like a pack of aerial hounds in hot pursuit

1 Bird Watching, chap, xi,, which has supplied most of the matter for what is here said
about the roosting habits of the rook.

38 . THE CROW FAMILY

of some invisible quarry." Similes apart, this mad chase differs little
from the equally mad dance in the roosting trees.1

The rising at daybreak of the rooks and their satellite daws is just
as noisy and lively, and perhaps more joyous than their going to rest.
In the half light, the roost itself seems almost a living thing, with
one soul and many tongues, until the departing hosts leave it naked,
empty, silent, a skeleton upon the waste.

It appears to be the usual custom of rooks and daws, on leaving
their sleeping quarters, to repair each morning to their nesting places,
where, after mid-air gymnastics and much animated conversation,
they fly off to their feeding grounds, returning again during the
course of the day. To the subject of these daily visits we shall have
to revert.

Early in the year the visits to the rookery (nesting trees) become
more frequent and prolonged ; and in February, sometimes earlier,
sometimes later, according to the season and the more or less exposed
position of the rookery, the birds begin seriously to make their
preparations for the nesting season.

The first important business is the courtship. This, being a
regular annual event, has not for the rook and the daws, or for
birds generally, the novelty it possesses for human individuals. It is
regarded as something to be entered upon in the same spirit as
any other familiar occupation, such as building a nest, finding food,
feeding young, or keeping clean. Birds, in fact, set about their
courtship in a strictly methodical manner; they conduct the affair
from start to finish in accordance with the recognised rules of
the game ; they know exactly what has to be done, and how.
They have no hesitations, no shyness ; they do not get flurried,
do not even lose their appetites. On the contrary, they will
interrupt the most ardent love-passages in order to adjourn for
refreshments.

The particular form taken by the courtship of the rooks is well

1 Birds in London, p. 55.

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 39

known. The cock birds, with wings trailing and tail wide-fanned,
strut the grass, bowing here and cawing there. Or they bring some
succulent morsel to their beloved, and she deigns to accept it with
quivering wings and stifled thanks. They will even "attempt some-
times, in the gaiety of their hearts, to sing, but with no great success."
So writes Gilbert White of rooks in the breeding season. But the
song, such as it is, is perhaps more frequently heard outside the
breeding season, uttered by individual birds after their morning
breakfast, when sitting perched on some high conspicuous bough.
This performance, like the one indulged in by the Fort Whipple
ravens (p. 12), appears to be simply a mode of giving audible expres-
sion to the agreeable feeling that accompanies the undisturbed diges-
tion of a generous meal. Hence, if Gilbert White is correct in
making the song part also of the rooks sexual display, it serves to give
expression to two quite distinct emotional states. The same applies
to the bowing and tail-fanning which have been observed to accompany
the song in every case of which we have a record. The tail dis-
play, in fact, is used by the rook as a mode of expression on three
different occasions — when chattering to itself in an after-dinner mood,
when it challenges a neighbour either in sport or earnest, and
when courting. I have also seen birds, in winter, displaying a
beautiful black fan, when standing alone and apart from their
fellows, for no obvious reason except perhaps that they felt just
jolly.

The song itself has been variously described. One writer speaks
of it as " a series of little consequential gabblings, punctuated from
time to time by a strident caw." Another gives it as "a guttural
reproduction of the varied and fluttering song of the starling," its
chief feature being " a peculiar deep single whistling note repeated
three or four times in succession." The resemblance to the starling's
song was heightened by the fluttering of the wings which accompanied
the performance. A third observer heard it begin with three loud
caws. On this occasion it was accompanied by an absurd motion of

40 THE CROW FAMILY

the bird's head from side to side, and on all three occasions by the
bowing and tail-fanning already noted.1

The energy displayed by the male rook when he walks the
"primrose path of dalliance" appear more often than not to be
regarded by the hen, if she regards it at all, with an eye of long-
suffering forbearance. Occasionally, as if suddenly recollecting some
important domestic matter, she will even quit her adorer without
ceremony in the midst of his courtliest bow. But it is not always
thus. At times she also will be filled with the divine fire. The two
birds may then be seen standing in loving fashion, beak to beak, or
beak in beak, protesting their mutual devotion with equal fervour. If
at these inspired moments some other male incautiously ventures too
near, he runs the danger of being suddenly pinned to the ground
and trounced till he yells again.

But it is a common observation that the courtship of the rook
is accompanied by relatively few combats. This may perhaps be
explained by the view, generally held, that the species pairs for life, a
view which, as already noted in the case of the raven, need in no
way conflict with the fact of there being a courtship.

Much of the quarrelling that does take place before building
operations have actually begun seems to arise from disputed claims
to old nests or sites. On one occasion I saw a pair defending an
old nest, a huge pile, against three or four other rooks. From time
to time, after an interchange of Homeric abuse, one of these would
fall upon the two in the nest, and there would be a confused struggle,
ending always in the same way, the aggressor being literally thrown
out and driven off. The dispute continued as long as I was present,
the whole party occasionally, as if in need of relaxation, quitting the
tree for a circular tour, after which they would again settle to the
matter in hand. That there should also be disputes about sites is not
difficult to believe, if the total pairs in the trees that form the rookery

1 White, Selborne, Letter xliii. (Sept. 9, 1778) ; J. M. Boraston, Birds by Land and Sea, 1905,
p. 73 ; Annals of Scotch Natural History, i. p. 136 ; Field, 1903, ci. p. 362.

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 41

are in excess of the sites available. This is certainly at times the
case. One rookery of two trees is known to have contained thirty-
five nests and two hundred birds, another rookery two hundred nests
and one thousand birds. But at present there is no evidence to
show how many of the non-nesting birds are immature or sterile.1

The shortage of sites may also account for the attempts occa-
sionally made by individual pairs to build nests in trees outside the
main rookery. These attempts are not always successful, the nests
being ruthlessly pulled to pieces and their builders savagely attacked
and driven away by members of the parent colony. When outlying
birds that have been thus attacked do succeed in rearing a brood, it
will generally be owing either to their having defended their nest
successfully day after day till the aggressors became too busy with
their family duties to continue the persecution, or to their deferring
nest-building till after the busy season in the main rookery had
commenced. But the nests that escape in this way are sometimes,
if not always, pulled down at the beginning of the following season.
In thus forbidding the foundation of a new colony near the ancestral
one, the rooks are perhaps giving collective expression to the same
instinct that causes non-gregarious birds to resent so strongly any
intrusion by others of their own species into the area in which they
have made, or are preparing to make, a home for their young. This
explanation renders it, however, still harder to understand what
enabled the rooks themselves, in the first place, to overcome this
primitive instinct to the extent of submitting to nest, as they do, side
by side, sometimes as many as thirty pairs or more in the same
tree, when there are other trees available in the immediate vicinity.2

It is usually not till the second week in March that the rooks
begin to make ready their nests. If the old nest has been completely
destroyed by the winter gales, they have no option but to build anew.

1 Irish Naturalist, 1903, pp. 160-1 (C. B. Moffat) ; Field, 1902, May 4, p. 729 ; J. A. Sowerby,
Rooks and their Neighbours, 2nd edit., 1895, p. 25.

- Irish Naturalist, 1903, pp. 160-1 (C. B. Moffat) ; Zoologist, 1904, p. 191 (R. H. Rambotham,
from whom I have received additional information) ; Field, 1865, xxv. p. 230 ; 1882, Ix. p. 569 ;
1896, Ixxxvii. p. 653.

42 THE CROW FAMILY

This occurs most often in rookeries placed in exposed positions or
containing trees which, like the sycamore and poplars, offer few secure
sites for the nest, owing to the way in which the branches project
outward from the trunk. In the case of one rookery, it was noted that
after a violent storm most nests were blown out of sycamores, two or
three out of beech, and none out of ash. The difference between the
two latter may, of course, have been due to the position of the trees.1
Statistics given in Mr. G. Muirhead's Birds of Berwickshire go to show
that the trees usually preferred are the ash, elm, beech, and Scots fir,
of which the first three provide, in the acute upward forking of the
boughs, particularly safe sites. If these or any other trees selected
show signs of decay, they are deserted promptly, nests and all. Any
tree which the rook thus leaves may safely be regarded as doomed.

When a nest survives the winter, the birds either repair or pull it
to pieces, frequently to the last stick, in this case the structure being
presumably not worth repair. When little damaged, it may receive
additions from year to year, and so become a bulky solid mass of
sticks and earth, in which grass, ferns, and even seedling trees may
be seen growing, while the recesses in its flanks sometimes provide
a nesting place for jackdaws, starlings, or tits. A moment comes,
however, when the unwieldy mass is tossed to earth by a hurricane,
and the process of growth has to begin over again.2

In the work of construction or reconstruction both sexes parti-
cipate, but usually one only goes to collect the building material, the
other remaining on guard, a very necessary precaution, for rooks, like
man himself in primitive society, are unscrupulous thieves, and are
sometimes not even deterred by the presence of one or both of the
owners from raiding a nest. Hence uproars in the rookery, language,
loss of feathers and temper, vengeance, assault, battery, and scattering
of sticks.

The foundations of the nest are usually built of dead sticks, those

1 Field, 1867, xxix. p. 298.

2 For a long and fairly exhaustive discussion on the nest-building habits of the rook, see
the volumes of the Field for 1806 and 1867.

I

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 43

of the old nest sometimes sufficing. To these earth and clay are
added, the whole being completed and strengthened by fresh twigs,
which the birds may be seen snapping off as they swing about in the
tree-tops. In the cup formed by this rude structure is a soft bed
made of leaves, grass, hair, or similar material, and here the hen
lays her bluish-green, thickly blotched eggs. From this moment she
is assiduously tended by the cock-bird, who not only sometimes takes
her place, but goes afield early and late to find for her all the delicacies
of the season, which she receives with the usual grateful gurglings and
fluttering wings. But there are degrees of assiduity, and there are
husbands and husbands. At times " the suspicious hen, kept waiting
longer than usual, seems to scent treachery from afar, and whilst the
cock is still winging his way to the rookery, hops from the nest, and
awaits his arrival on a neighbouring bough. The cock, who has
probably been snatching a surreptitious meal in the fields below, takes
in the situation, and alights at a significant distance from the nest,
wearing the dejected air of one who has been trying all day to earn
bread for his wife and children, but only succeeded in obtaining the
price of a pint of beer for himself."

" Caw," exclaims the irate wife, incisively, not caring a scrap for
the neighbours. " Where have you been all this time ? What have
you got ? you . . . ! " etc., as plainly as words can speak, springing
along the branch from which the cock escapes to a higher one with a
deprecating air.

' He will not answer such charges," he seems to say ; and he has
a very valid reason.

' But the lady is not to be put off. ' Caw ! caw ! caw ! ' " she cries
excitedly, until she is beak to beak with him.

' If the rook has a physiognomy, it probably requires a rook to
decipher it ; but it would appear that she has learned the signs when
she suddenly charges the delinquent's bill, and extracts the loveliest
bundle of wire worms that ever gnawed a farmer's crop. . . ."*

1 J. M. Boraston, Birds by Land and Sea, p. 126.

*

44 THE CROW FAMILY

It is when the hen bird has begun to sit, if not before, that the
rooks remain to sleep at the nest instead of returning to the winter
roost, but, as is shown by the following interesting record from a
rookery in the north, they do not necessarily all make up their minds
to remain on one and the same date. On March 9th one pair of birds
stayed behind and improved the occasion by pilfering their neigh-
bours' nests. On the llth two hens stayed on their nests, their mates
departing with the rest to the winter roost. On the 17th half the birds
remained to roost, the rest departing as usual. On the 20th only six
pair departed. On the 22nd all departed as usual, but did not go far.
They returned at a great height, and then swooped down into the
nesting trees. On the 28th all stopped to pass the night.1

It is now also that from time to time a tragedy occurs which
generally results in the break up of the rookery for the season. This is
the arrival of a pair or more of carrion-crows, hoodies, or ravens. These
enter the nests, peck open and suck the eggs, the rightful owners, after
much turmoil and fighting, deserting sometimes at once, sometimes
coming back day after day only to be driven off again, not to return till
the following year. In one case about half the birds returned to a
rookery ravaged in the previous season by a pair of crows. The latter
reappeared, and in one day robbed thirty nests, and drove away the
owners. The remaining pairs were able to hatch out their young, as
one crow was shot and the other disappeared. Shooting the aggressors
is the only remedy, and it is advisable to shoot both, for if one
escapes, it is as likely as not to return with a new mate. What is most
remarkable in these occurrences is the inability of the rooks to defend
their nests. A pair of crows, and still more a pair of ravens, owing to
their strong bills, are more than a match for a pair of rooks ; but that
one or two pairs should force over a hundred pairs of rooks to leave,
and successfully oppose their daily attempts to return, is a mystery
difficult to explain. That these raids are of fairly frequent occur-
rence will be evident from the examples referred to in the footnote,

1 Prom a record kept in 1908 by Mr. Walter Stewart of Blantyre, N.B.

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 45

which also point to the carrion-crow as the chief offender. It may be
added that they explain almost every desertion of a rookery about the
cause of which we possess unquestionable evidence. They probably
explain desertions attributed to other causes, more or less fanciful,
such, for instance, as the popular superstition that makes the sudden
desertion of the rookery a sure sign of coming calamity to its owner.
It is only fair to add that the rooks themselves have been known to
mete out to herons the treatment they suffer at the beaks of their own

congeners.1

Crow incursions apart, rooks are very difficult to expel from a
rookery, as those know who have tried. One method that is adopted
in the Black Forest and parts of Switzerland is sufficiently curious to
merit notice. AVisps of long straw, each containing as much as one can
grasp in the hand, are hung by hooks to the branches of the nesting
trees, and there allowed to swing in the breeze. The device was tried
in the Zoological Garden at Frankfurt. The rooks at once left, and
did not reappear. Later a single pair built near the Garden. The
wisps again entered upon the scene, and the pair, after going and
returning twice, took a last long look from a neighbouring tree at the
uncanny yellow things that were sometimes so suspiciously still, and
at other times so alarmingly and fantastically energetic, uttered a
melancholy croak, and vanished for ever.

The busiest time in the rookery comes when the eggs hatch, both
parents then straining every nerve to cope with the insatiable
appetites of their rapidly growing offspring. It has been stated that
at first the actual distribution of the food to the young is done by
the mother only. She takes it " from the father, passing it on doubly

1 I find that in his Ornithologische Fragmente, p. 150, Petenyi records one case of ravens
being driven away by the united efforts of rooks. The following cases of the desertion of
rookeries caused by carrion-crows are recorded in the Field — they include one by a hooded-
crow :— 1864, xxiii. 291 ; 1872, xxxix. 211, 234 (three cases) ; 1875, xlv. 420, 464 (five cases) ; 1884, lix.
534, 580, 702 (three cases) ; 1888, Ixxi. 654 ; 1891, Ixxvii. 539, 631, 641 (three cases) ; 1892, Ixxix. 545,
625 (two cases) ; 1893, Ixxxi. 470 ; 1899, Ap. 8. A case is also cited by W. Ward Fowler in the
Zoologist, 1896, p. 145. For incursions by ravens see Montagu, Dictionary of Birds, and
W. Borrer, Birds of Siissex, p. 74. For two instances of rooks dislodging herons, see J. A.
Harvie-Browu and H. A. Macpherson, Fauna of the N.-W. Highlands and Skye, 1904, and
F. C. R. Jourdaiu, Victoria History of Derby, vol. i. p. 13.

46 THE CROW FAMILY

peptonised to the babies." Later both perform this function, " but it
is most extraordinary to notice how the young accept it from the
father without any demonstration, sometimes in complete silence,
while every time the mother approaches they lift up their voices in a
chorus of jubilation." It would be interesting to know whether the
peculiar division of labour here described is characteristic of the
species and the family.1

Rooks, like all the other Corvidse described in this chapter, carry
the grubs, worms, and other food they take to their young packed in
the pouch formed by the elastic skin beneath the tongue, which then
bulges out like a ball. The same receptacle is also used to conceal
stolen goods. The captive Swiss raven, the one that suffered so un-
happily from failure of the voice when singing, hid in the same manner
all sorts of objects, such as keys, money, and even pins and needles,
the latter seeming to cause him no inconvenience.2

The young birds, owing perhaps to their impatient desire to
greet the coming wire worm, sometimes fall to the ground. There,
as a rule, they are left to perish. The mere fact of their disappear-
ance from the nest or its immediate vicinity appears to count for
nothing. If the young bird is not where the parents expect it to be,
then for them it ceases to exist. This is not true only of rooks. I
have myself placed a callow little willow-wren on the ground but an
inch or two from the base of its nest, and though it wriggled there
uncomfortably and conspicuously, the parent bird passed again and
again over its head carrying food to the other nestlings without
paying it the least attention. An ever-recurring example of the
same strange limitation of the maternal instinct is provided by the
indifference of the mother birds of many species to their own
offspring when ejected from the nest by the alien infant cuckoo.
A robin has been watched brooding the little murderer of her young,

1 Country Life, 1899, May 6 (Ph. Robinson).

2 Bulletin de la Soci6t6 Ornith. Suisse, i. 2e partie, p. 21, 1866 (G. Lunel). See also the
Zoologist, 1844, p. 633, which gives an example of a jay carrying caterpillars in the pouch
preliminary to swallowing them, and Ch. Waterton's Essays in Natural History, 1871, pp. 302-4.

Plate 4

Jackdaw Hiding Ring

By A. W. Seaby

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 47

while the latter lay slowly dying close by outside the nest with their
mother's unseeing eyes fixed steadily upon them.1

The tragedy in the life of the young rook just described is, how-
ever, nothing compared to that greater tragedy which each year fills
many a rookery with din, and smoke, and bullets, and strews the
ground with lifeless or wounded fledglings. This massacre of the
innocents may occasionally be necessary. But to kill, when killing is
necessary, is one thing; to make this killing, though necessary, a
matter for sport is another. Unhappily primitive instincts die hard
even among the cultured.

It is generally in the latter half of May that the young rooks
who have survived the massacre are induced to quit the trees, their
parents using to effect this end the device of making them fly a
certain distance before they are rewarded with a wireworm. When
in the fields they are still fed for a time.

Let us now turn to the breeding habits of the jackdaws, which
will not detain us long, partly because they have received compara-
tively little attention, and partly because, so far as observed, they
resemble very closely those of the rook. The courtship of the two
species appears to be much the same. But, besides fanning its tail,
the daw has also been observed to raise the feathers of the crown, at
the same time pressing the beak down upon the breast, and so bring-
ing the grey hood into play, a performance which it accompanies with
a lively chattering, no doubt intended to gain the attention of its
mate.2

The daws also have a song, heard in spring, probably at other
times, and described as a sort of little prattle, " qui n'a rien de des-
agreable." Like the rooks, they quarrel much, especially about
nesting sites. They build their nests of the same material, and are

1 The evidence I have from various rookeries goes to show that young rooks that have
tumbled from the tree-tops are at least occasionally fed by the parents, but this appears to
be only when they are nearly fledged, that is, nearing the stage when the parents are accus-
tomed to feed them away from the nest.

- For these particulars respecting the daws' courtship I am indebted to Mr. Stanley Lewis
of Wells.

48 THE CROW FAMILY

by no means averse to procuring it at the expense of a neighbour.
They are devoted husbands and wives, and devoted parents, both
sexes sharing in incubation and in the feeding of the young.1

They differ, however, from the rooks in preferring to place their
nests in holes, whether in the walls of cathedrals, ruined and other
buildings, or in cliffs, rabbit-warrens, and the trunks of trees. Like
rooks again, they display an occasional liking for chimney-pots ; but
whereas the former is usually content to place its nest on the stack
between the pots, the daw goes one better and builds in the pot
itself, being deterred neither by the smoke coming up the flue nor
by the fact that if the pot offers no hold for the sticks, they merely
drop down into the room below. One pair is known to have used
six hundred sticks in trying to fill up one flue, and it was only after
three days of this unprofitable exercise, that the birds consented to
abandon the undertaking, much to the relief of the occupiers. If a
stick gets caught in the flue, the untiring energy of the little builders
is finally rewarded, and the eggs are laid on the top of a structure that
may measure ten or twelve feet in depth. As the presence, however,
of several feet of sticks in a chimney-flue does not promote the
original object it was constructed to serve, this form of building enter-
prise on the part of the daw receives scant encouragement. A
usual method of protecting the pots is to wire them, a broad hint
that the jackdaws do not always receive in the spirit in which it is
intended. Instead of building in the pot, they build over it, on the
wire. One owner found an egg laid simply on the bare wire itself.
He removed it, and, in order to keep his hands free for the descent,
put it in his mouth. An injudicious proceeding, as the event showed.
Fortunately the egg had only just been laid.

It has been more than once pointed out as a remarkable fact
that the jackdaw should use sticks at all. They can serve no neces-
sary purpose. The correct explanation is perhaps to be found in the
hypothesis that, before resorting to holes, the species habitually made

1 For the notice of the jackdaw's song, see V. Fatio, Oiseaux de la Siiisse, 1899-1900.

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 49

nests in the forks of trees, where a pile of sticks would obviously be of
use in providing the structure with a solid foundation. That the
change of site was not accompanied by a change in the method
and material of construction is easy enough to understand, seeing
that there was nothing in the new departure to make this necessary.
The practice, therefore, of carrying sticks to the hole has persisted,
on the present hypothesis, merely as a harmless survival. It is much
more marked, however, in certain individuals of the species than in
others. In some cases the sticks are dispensed with, there being
nothing but a few twigs, or a little wool, moss, or grass. The
absence of the necessity for sticks gives, in fact, free play to individual
variations.

In favour of the view that the jackdaw's partiality for holes is of
recent date may be urged the fact that the species still does occasion-
ally build nests in trees. Further, if we grant that the normal colour
of the eggs of hole-nesters is white, then the fact of the jackdaw's
egg being coloured and spotted provides an additional argument.1

Another practice which the daw appears to inherit from a former
state is that of holding by the middle any long stick it carries. The
rook does the same thing. No great inconvenience results when, as
in the case of the latter species, the object is merely to place the stick
in the fork of a branch. But to effect its entrance held crosswise into
a small hole is quite another matter, as the daw soon discovers, or
rather as he, in a sense, does not discover, for he will zealously
repeat the experiment with different sticks, only to end by dropping
them to the ground, where they go to swell the barrow-loads already
lying at the foot of the wall. It would be very interesting to find out
whether any individual birds succeed in overcoming the difficulty, and
whether, having, accidentally perhaps, drawn the stick by its end into
the hole, they continue to do so on subsequent occasions. When the

1 For evidence that the jackdaw builds nests in trees, see the Zoologist, 1843, p. 185; 1845,
p. 823 ; 1847, p. 1774 (J. Wolley) ; 1865, p. 9572 ; 1885, p. 264 ; 1901, pp. 70 and 154 ; and the Field, 1875,
xlv. 515 (several instances) ; id., 1893, Ixxxi. 470 ; id., 1903, ci. 775 (F. C. Selous and J. G. Cornish),
814 ; W. H. Hudson, Birds and Man, p. 71 ; North Staffs Field Club Rep., 1901 ; Norfhants Nat.
Hist. Soc. Rep. 1899, p. 174.

6

50 THE CROW FAMILY

sticks have once been dropped they are allowed to lie, though excep-
tions to this rule are recorded.1

Here we may revert to the interesting question of the meaning of
the daily visits to the rookery made both by rooks and daws during
the autumn and winter months. The facts are supplied almost
entirely by the former species, and are as follows : — The birds may be
seen occupied with their nests, repairing them or merely removing
leaves and other material, almost at any time from September onwards,
especially on fine days. In September, October, and November they
have been frequently seen either completely renovating old nests or
building entirely new structures. One example will suffice, taken from
volume xxviii. of the Field, 1866 (381). In this case five rooks were seen
to alight on a tree where there was a nest. One proceeded to pull out
some sticks and let them fall, after which he commenced steadily the
work of reconstruction, breaking off fresh twigs, and intertwining them
as industriously as if the nest had been required for immediate use.
Directly the repairs had been commenced, the other rooks appeared
determined to dispute the possession, and there was a great clamour
and fighting among them. The owner of the nest was joined by its
mate, and the aggressors driven off. One of the pair continued to
work, the other standing on guard. An instance is also recorded of a
new rookery being started in October.

The length to which these building operations are carried appears
to depend upon the weather, an inclement day bringing them to
a standstill. But that they are undertaken with a definite view to
immediate breeding is abundantly proved by records of eggs laid and
young hatched in October, November, and even December. The
intervention of cold spells no doubt brings most of these matrimonial
ventures to an untimely end. Their occurrence, let us add, is by no
means limited to rooks. The crow has been observed nesting in
October ; the robin in November, December, and January ; the wren
in October, December, January; the song-thrush, mallard, wood-

1 W. H. Hudson, Birds and Man, p. 71.

THE ROOK AND JACKDAW 51

pigeon, several times in October, November, and December. The
same applies more or less to the blue-tit, lark, barn-owl, golden-
plover, partridge, pheasant, starling, hedge-sparrow, linnet, pied wag-
tail, to confine oneself to the species whose winter nestings are
recorded in the indexes of the Field. Other, and even more definite
indications relating to a number of American species are to be found
in the Auk (xv. 194 ; xvi. 286). The whole evidence goes to show con-
clusively that, given encouraging weather, individuals of many widely
distinct species are prepared to start breeding after the autumn
moult.1

In concluding this section, let us note that the rook and the daw,
like their congeners, make lively, mischievous, and interesting pets.
Anecdotes of their cranks and oddities are numerous. The following
must suffice. It concerns a tame rook that passed his life in a
poultry yard, where he became the inseparable friend of a cock
and two hens. The cock was his chief favourite, and each
night he would sleep beside him, trying to nestle under his wing.
He took a fraternal interest in the personal appearance of his two
hen friends, frequently taking it upon himself to arrange and dress
their feathers to his taste, services that did riot always give entire
satisfaction to the fair recipients. This friendship lasted several
years, so long, in fact, that the rook lived to "bury" all his three
comrades. He attended the last moments of each in turn with the
most assiduous affection, and remained long inconsolable for their
loss. When he recovered his spirits, he formed no new friendships.
He continued to take an interest in the poultry, but it assumed a
form which found favour with no one but himself. It developed into
an almost daily race between the bird and the housemaid, whenever,
by her long cackling, a hen announced that a fresh egg was to be had
for the taking. A taste for eggs is indeed the pet vice of the whole

1 For instances of the autumn and winter nesting and breeding of rooks, see the Zoologist,
1845, p. 868 ; 1863, p. 8846 ; 1864, p. 8885 ; 1871, p. 2440 (E. Newman), p. 2483 ; 1904, p. 421 (F. C. R.
Jourdain) ; and the Field, 1863, xxii. 460 ; 1864, xxiv. 330, 365 ; 1865, xxvi. 308 ; 1866, xxvii. 273, 396 ;
id., xxviii. 381, 453 ; 1868, xxxii. 388 ; 1876, xlvi. 504 (crow) ; 1882, Ix. 569, 670 ; 1884, Ixii. 760 ; 1890,
Nov. 698; 1893, Oct. 28, Nov. 18; 1900, Nov. 17.

52 THE CROW FAMILY

genus, and the rook has his full share of it. He also shares the
family weakness for stealing and hiding any object that interests him,
from a pin to a piece of meat. Among his virtues may be counted a
truly Britannic love for cold baths, and one captive bird has been
known to go regularly to a cabbage patch in order to upset on to his
hot back the dew collected in their leaves. Another revelled in snow-
baths, rolling his black person gleefully about in the white flakes,
and taking it up in his beak to toss it in all directions. A more
striking sight still was that observed by Petenyi : — forty to sixty rooks
all bathing together in a snowfield ; a sight that many an ornithologist
would give much to see.1

MAGPIE AND JAY
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The raven and its immediate relatives, the crows, rook and daw,
though saved from the reproach of plainness by the metallic lustre of
their plumage, cannot be described as beautiful birds. But this title
may with justice be claimed both by the jay and the magpie, as a
glance at the coloured plates will show.

Their beauty however avails them little. They have an un-
fortunate weakness for eggs and young birds, including those of the
pheasant and partridge, which bring them into fatal collision with
the gamekeeper. In almost any game-preserve their remains may
be found, with those of crows, stoats, and other offenders, nailed to
the keeper's gibbet. The jay has, moreover, often to pay the price
of its life for the bright blue feathers it bears on its wings, as they
are sought after by the angler to dress his hook. Both birds are
accused of ravages in the garden. The mischief they inflict has
indeed blinded us to the benefits they confer on the agriculturist
by destroying enormous quantities of small vermin and noxious
insects. Their services should at least preserve them from wholesale
and systematic slaughter.

1 Ornithologische Fragmente.

Plate 5

Magpie Inquisitive

By O-. E. Collins

MAGPIE AND JAY 53

Both species, though suffering persecution at the hand of the
gamekeeper, are at least indebted to him for making equal havoc in
the ranks of their enemies, the hawks, from whom they find it no
easy matter to escape, when pounced upon away from cover, owing to
their comparatively weak powers of flight. Naumann, supported by
Brehm, goes so far as to say that the jays' fear of hawks accounts for
the hesitation they show in quitting cover, for their habit of flying
across open ground either alone, or, one after the other, at intervals,
and also for the alacrity with which they will drop into any bush that
presents itself in their course. It is certainly true that they may
frequently be seen flying at intervals in ones or twos, and they
migrate in the same manner, but it is not clear how this particular
formation is of help to them. Perhaps it is merely due to the
relative timidity of the individual birds, some plucking up courage
to make a start while the others are still hesitating.

It is generally believed that the magpie and jay, like the other
Corvidee, pair for life, this belief finding support in the fact that the
species are frequently seen in couples throughout the year, even
when in flocks. How far they resemble their congeners in the
nature of the sexual displays they indulge in does not appear to be
known.1 This is all the more unfortunate, as they present at least
one very interesting feature, the so-called spring assemblies. These
are alluded to by Darwin in his Descent of Man. Writing of the
magpies in Delamere Forest, he states that early in the spring at
particular spots they have been seen in flocks " chattering, sometimes
fighting, bustling and flying about the trees," and that they left these
meetings paired for the season. Waterton and others have noted
similar noisy gatherings in the case of the jays. These, according to
Mr. W. H. Hudson, are to be witnessed on fine days in March and
April in any woods where the birds are common and not shy. There
" they scream in concert while madly pursuing one another over the

1 Since this chapter was written, an interesting note on the nuptial displays and ceremonies
of the magpie appeared in British Birds, Hi. 10, p. 334 (F. J. Stubbs). The birds are described
as erecting the head-feathers, fanning the gorgeous tail, and puffing out the white feathers
on the flanks and shoulders, thus displaying their attractions to the best advantage.

54 THE CROW FAMILY

tall trees." When settled on the trees they display their graces,
emitting an extraordinary medley of noises. "Some of them are
perpetually moving, jumping, and flitting from branch to branch,
and springing into the air to wheel round or pass over the tree, all
intent on showing off* their various colours — vinaceous brown, sky
blue, velvet black, and glistening white — to the best advantage."
Mr. Hudson does not appear to attach any nuptial character to this
performance. But that it has such is more than probable, judging
from the evidence supplied by others, and in particular by M. Xavier
Raspail in his description of what he calls the second marriage of
both jays and magpies.1

M. Raspail had occasion to shoot one of a pair of jays found
guilty of robbing small birds' nests. The survivor departed, but on
the morrow eight jays appeared, and spent the time either in a tree
uttering a low warbling or bubbling note, "un gazouillement tres
doux," or else flying about together. Next morning a couple were
busy building a fresh nest, erected, not like the first, on the outskirts
of the estate, but well within its boundaries, much to the owner's
disgust. Here we have a distinctly nuptial gathering, differing from
the one described by Mr. Hudson merely in being much less noisy
and demonstrative, a difference easily explained by the well-known
fact that in the breeding, season the jay is wont not only to exercise
greater caution than usual, but also to modify its startling screeches
into notes of less obtrusive fervour and a much lower key.

Still more striking are the examples given by the same writer of
the second marriages of magpies. He shot one of a pair of these
birds which was engaged in building a nest in his park. Next morn-
ing a band of more than twenty made their appearance and spent
the whole morning in playing and in chasing each other through the
trees, with an accompaniment of "manifestations phon^tiques des
moins harmonieuses." In the afternoon they disappeared. Next

1 Ch. Darwin, Descent of Man, Partn. p. 113 ; Ch. Waterton, Essays in Natural History, edit.
N. Moore, 1871 ; H. Seebohm, British Birds, i. 569; A. C. Smith, Birds of Wiltshire, 1887 ; W. H.
Hudson, Birds and Man, p. 232 ; X. Raspail, Bulletin de la SocitU Zoologiquede France, xxvi. MM.

MAGPIE AND JAY 55

day two magpies were observed completing the nest begun by the
original pair. The widow (or widower) had, it appears, contracted a
new union without loss of time, and " all the magpies of the district
had been present to celebrate the occasion." This was in 1888. Some
years later M. Raspail repeated the experiment, shooting the male.
The results were exactly similar. The same thing occurred a third
time, but in a different and more wooded district. In this case the
participants were more numerous, and their proceeding very much
more discordant.

These observations present several points of interest In the
first place, what part do the birds paired for life play in the first or
earlier marriage ceremonies ? Are they, as M. Raspail appears to
think, present at the second, moved thereto by a very human-like
interest in match-making. Or were the birds he saw all suitors ?
And how were they notified in so short a time that a widow (or
widower) was to be won ? Did the latter exercise deliberate choice ?
If so. how did she (or he) make the same manifest, and how did the
rejected suitors accept their fate ?

Many other instances of the survivor of a pair remating are on
record, but not under circumstances similar to those above described.
Six hen magpies have been shot in succession, each having sat on the
same eggs. Darwin cites a similar case in which no less than seven
were shot, but all to no purpose, for the last pair reared their young.
The remating of a hen hooded-crow has already been described (p. 25).
One of a pair of carrion-crows was killed, and the next day three were
seen feeding the young. Examples might be multiplied. A number
will be found in the Descent of Man, relating to several species. The
most remarkable of these is given of starlings. Not less than thirty-
five were shot one after another at the same nest, both males and
females. Nevertheless a brood was reared.1

1 For the remating of the magpie see Darwin, op. tit. ; W. Macgillivray, British Birds,
1; R. Gray, Birds of the West of Scotland. For the jay: Darwin, op. cit. The raven: Nau-
mann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, edit. Hennicke, 1897-1905, iv. 91 (hen shot). The carrion-crow:
Yarrell, British Birds, edit. Newton, vol. ii., and the Field, 1868, xxi. p. 415. The jackdaw :
Field, 1861, xvii. p. 493.

56 THE CROW FAMILY

Darwin explains the existence during the breeding season of so
many unpaired birds by (1) the death of one of a pair; (2) the
desertion of a barren mate ; (3) the assumption that " certain males
and females do not succeed during the proper season in exciting each
other's love, and consequently do not pair." The first two reasons do
not by themselves account for the large number available. To the
third, Darwin's own example of the starlings provides an objection.
Here, as in the other cases, there was a reserve of both sexes to draw
from. As the original pair of starlings were shot, and as the destruc-
tion of their successors was not confined to one sex, it is clear that
the reserve birds were pairing among themselves. Now if they were
prepared to pair after the death of the couple in possession, why not
before ? Mr. C. B. Moffat, in drawing attention to this objection to
Darwin's argument, suggests as an alternative reason for the number
of unpaired individuals the habit birds have of parcelling out the
ground into nesting areas. If we grant that there are not enough of
these to go round, then a number of pairs would have, he argues, to
remain unfruitful. Other objections apart, it is obvious that in the
case at least of persecuted species like the crow, jay, and magpie, we
cannot grant the premise, for here the nesting areas are considerably
in excess of the pairs. In the absence of more detailed evidence, it
is difficult to suggest any explanation. To begin with, it would be
very desirable to know in what proportion of cases the new mates are
needed only to help in incubating eggs or feeding young already in
the nest, and how often, in such cases, they are immature or sterile
birds.1

It will have been noted that the nuptial ceremonies of jays and
magpies are accompanied by " manifestations phone tiques," more or less
harmonious. Naumann describes the song of the magpie as a kind of
chattering with whistling notes intermixed, and he observes that it is
heard in the spring, both when the birds are in pairs and when several
males are courting one female. It has also been heard to sing in

1 C. B. Moffat, Irish Naturalist, 1903, p. 158.

MAGPIE AND JAY 57

captivity. The jay's song is better known, and is said by the same
authority to be heard throughout the year. It is made up of a
variety of low warblings. More than one observer has noted that it
may be interspersed with imitations of the sounds uttered by other
animals. The jay is, in fact, a notable mimic, and has been known
to imitate with marvellous fidelity the cock, the hen, the owl, the cat,
the dog, the horse, and the sharpening of a scythe.1

The magpie begins nesting operations earlier than the jay, often
in February, the latter species waiting usually till April. The magpie's
nest merits special notice. It is a huge structure, bristling with thorns
and forming a conspicuous object, especially when placed in the top
boughs of some tall tree. In this country they are not often seen,
owing to the comparative scarcity of the species, but are a familiar
sight in many parts of the Continent. Travellers to Paris may mark
them at almost regular intervals on either side of the main lines from
the north coast of France. It is perhaps the singularly conspicuous
plumage of the magpie that has led it to make a roof to its home.
It is, further, noteworthy that, like the longtailed-tit, which also builds
a domed nest, the magpie is provided with a tail that must be some-
what difficult to accommodate in the limited space available, especially
when half a dozen or more young are in the nest.

Magpies' nests without domes are sometimes found. One such
was placed in a low thorn bush, but the thorns made it impossible to
reach it. Another was seen on the top of a spruce fir, and resembled
a crow's nest. It was occupied for several successive seasons till
1904, when it was appropriated by a pair of kestrels. The magpies
then built a new nest — with a dome.2

These instances, and others could be added, go to show, further,

1 C. A. Witchell, in his Cries and Call-notes of Wild Birds (p. 63), writes of the magpie as
follows :— " The common cry which one hears from the wild bird is a hoarse rapid 'shushu-
shushu.' This is given sometimes as a call-note, and sometimes as an alarm. I have also heard
the wild birds chattering together with a great variety of tone and emphasis, though in a
manner suggestive of amicability.' For the Jay see G. Montagu, A Dictionary of British
Birds, edit. E. Newman, 1881 ; W. Borrer, Birds of Sussex, 1891, p. 155 ; V. Fatio, Faune de la
Suisse, ii. p. 735 ; H. Seebohm, British Birds, i. p. 569 ; Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv.

2 H. E. Forrest, Fauna of North Wales, 1907, p. 176.

H

58 THE CROW FAMILY

that the magpie may continue to occupy the same nest, repairing it
year after year, or reconstructing it, if very much damaged by the
winter storms. But its nesting habits do not appear fixed, or, if they
be so, are guided by circumstances of which we are yet ignorant. Mr.
Ussher, writing of the magpie in Ireland, states that it builds a new
nest each year, either in the same tree or in another, and this seems
to be its usual habit elsewhere. In one case a new nest, containing
eggs, was found placed on top of two old ones, the latter being
occupied by a pair of starlings and three pair of sparrows.1

Another habit of the species, which is not well understood, is that
of commencing more than one nest at a time. This has been ascribed
to cunning, the bird thus hoping to deceive its enemies as to position
of the real nest. The practice may, however, be due, as in the case
of other species, to the choice of an unsuitable site, or to desertion
owing to discovery.

Neither jays nor magpies are backward in defence of their young,
but here again, no doubt, as in the case of the raven, the boldness
displayed will vary from bird to bird. A pair of jays have been known
to show their wrath at an intruder who was examining their young
by " chattering and by menacing him, now cawing like a rook, then
mewing like a cat, and in their extreme agitation actually plucking
off leaves, and biting off pieces of dead twigs from neighbouring trees."
A magpie has been observed, in captivity, to express its anger in
somewhat similar way; it would utter loud barks, "and would jump
on the grass, gather a mouthful of daisies and stones, and commence
burying them amid continuous notes of displeasure."

On quitting the nest the parents and young of both species remain
together for some weeks. The extent to which they are subsequently
gregarious is difficult to ascertain, owing to the paucity and still more
to the incompleteness of the evidence. It has been said that both
young jays and magpies, when able to shift for themselves, quit

1 R. J. Ussher and R. Warren, Birds of Ireland, 1900, pp. 89-90 ; F. C. R. Jourdain (in litt.).

2 W. S. Durban and M. A. Matthew, Birds of Devonshire, 1895, p. 87 (jay) ; Field, 1863, xxii.
322 (C. R. Bree on Magpies). Cf. above, p. 15, the account of the raven tearing off twigs, etc.

Plate 6

Jay Alarmed

By G. B. Collins

0 »*•

•

MAGPIE AND JAY 59

the place of their birth, and wander, sometimes forming small

bands.

Flocks of jays are certainly observed during the winter months,
and in some years more frequently than in others, which suggests that
some of them may be formed of immigrant birds. That they are also
seen in pairs or singly is of course a well-known fact On a common
with which I am familiar, the jays are either singly or in pairs after
about October. Of the roosting habits of this species, little or nothing
appeal's to be ascertained.

Magpies are frequently observed in flocks during the winter, and
in parts where they are not persecuted these may number from thirty
to forty individuals. Single pairs are also seen, both in the British
Isles and abroad. They may be accounted for, perhaps, by local
scarcity of birds due to persecution. Magpies certainly roost in
flocks, often in company with other species. According to a writer
in the Field, several hundreds were on one occasion found by him
roosting near Morlaix in Brittany. He and his gallant companions
manifested their interest in the discovery by leaping out of their traps
and firing at least fifty shots into the roost, killing sometimes two or
three magpies at a shot, the slaughter being rendered easy by the fact
that, for all the noise, the birds did not quit the wood. One ventures
to hope that no Bretons witnessed this brutal exhibition.1

In the winter, both jays and magpies are in the habit of hoarding
provisions, which is what one would naturally expect, not only from
them, but from all the Corvidae, having regard to the fondness they
have been observed to display, when in captivity, for hoarding all sorts
of objects, including food. Montagu denied that jays hoard, but the
evidence, so far as it goes, is against him. They have been observed
hiding grain, acorns, and the like, carrying them either in the gullet or
the distensible pouch under the tongue, and regurgitating them into
any chink or cavity, or into holes made with the beak in the ground.
They will make several such holes, burying one or more objects in

1 Field, 1900, xcv. 579.

60 THE CROW FAMILY

each, and then covering them over with leaves or earth. As they not
infrequently forget the whereabouts of their hoards, the nuts or grains
take root. Thus the jay becomes unwittingly a planter of trees and
corn. The same applies to rooks. They are said to be largely respon-
sible for the dispersal of acorns, but it is not clear that this is due to
any deliberate intention to hoard, as the birds are in the habit of
plucking off the acorns from the trees and carrying them to be eaten
on the ground, where they sometimes leave them lying about or half
buried. There is, however, some evidence that they do bury fir-
cones. The magpie undoubtedly hoards. In the winter hoard of one
thrifty bird the following objects were found — nuts, almonds, apples,
scraps of bread, bones, fragments of china, bits of coloured cloth, and
a thimble.1

THE CHOUGH
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The chough is a comparatively rare bird, and becoming rarer,
a fact which accounts perhaps for the little that is known of its
habits. Like the other Corvidse, it makes a very interesting
pet, and like them again is capable of strong affection. Dr. A.
Girtanner, a well-known Swiss ornithologist, relates that a pet chough
which he lost and recovered, manifested boundless joy on returning
once more to the familiar quarters and hearing the familiar voices.
It uttered excited cries as if beside itself, and sprang and danced
about the room and before its master in the most extravagant manner.
It behaved, indeed, very much as a dog would under similar circum-
stances.

The same bird was fond of hiding various objects, and had
for that purpose a private box of its own, in which it kept a varied

1 For hoarding by the jay see the Field, 1880, Iv. 390 ; J. B. Bailly, Ornithologie de la Savoie, ii.
p. 125, 1853 ; V. Fatio, Faune de la Suisse, ii. ; Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv. (edit. Hennicke).
For the magpie— J. B. Jaubert, etc., Recherches ornithologiques du midi, p. 102, 1859 ; V. Fatio, op.
tit. ; J. B. Bailly, op. cit. For the rook— Field, 1880, Ivi. 843 ; id., 1903, cii. 803, 927 ; Clement Reid,
Origin of the British Flora. For the chough— Zoologisches Garten, 1877, p. 116 (A. Girtanner).

Plate 7

Choughs

By A. W. Seaby

THE CHOUGH 61

assortment of snail-shells, stones, bits of paper or wood, etc., which it
greatly cherished. It regarded any attempt to examine the contents
of the box as an unpardonable liberty, flying at the offender with
loud protests, and emphasising its displeasure with digs from the sharp
red beak. Another tame chough has been observed to hide its food,
also to rub in the soil, before eating them, the scraps of meat it was
given, a proceeding the exact contrary to that of herons, who may
be seen taking scraps to the water in order to wash them before
swallowing.1

The chough pairs for life. Little is known of its love displays.
The male has, however, been seen to manifest his affection for his
mate by softly rubbing the back of her head with the underside of
his coral beak. Like the rook, he also makes a point of bringing her
succulent morsels, a fresh red worm or a juicy grub, which she
receives much in the attitude of a young bird begging for food, her
wings trailing and mouth wide open, expectant, vociferous. These
two simple acts, the one expressive of the desire to touch the
beloved, be close to her, caress her; and the other, the desire to
please her with gifts, have their equivalents, be it noted, in the
courtships of many other animals, including man himself. Billing,
cosseting, hand-clasps, kisses, giving chocolate, worms, bracelets,
are after all merely different ways of doing the same thing. They
provide that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin.2

Formerly the chough used to make its nest frequently in ruins,
both in this country and in Switzerland. In the latter country they
have, during the last fifty years, owing, it is said, to the buildings
being rendered unsuitable by renovation, left them for the mountain
heights. In this country they now rarely breed away from cliffs by
the sea, and often return to the same nesting place year after year.
They are seldom, if ever, found nesting in colonies ; each pair prefers

1 Zoologisches Garten, 1877, pp. 146-164 (A. Girtanner) ; Field, 1907, June ( J. Walpole Bond) ;
Journal fur Ornithologie, 1857, p. 277 (Bolle).

2 For the sexual displays of the chough I am indebted to R. J. Ussher and R. Warren,
Birds of Ireland, 1900, p. 84.

62 THE CROW FAMILY

to make its home apart One tame pair has been known to drive
another away from the tower in which it had built, though all four
birds had roosted there in amity together during the winter. Nests
found by Mr. Ussher and Mr. Warren in Ireland were observed to
" occur on an average a mile apart." One pair in one place is said
also to be the rule in Switzerland. This habit may account for the
comparative rarity of the species, as compared with the Alpine
chough and the jackdaw, both of which nest in communities.1

When the young are fledged they remain with their parents for
several weeks, returning to the nest to roost. Where the species is
numerous the families gradually unite to form flocks ; where scarce,
they are seen either in families, in pairs or singly, according to
circumstances. In Switzerland the birds flock to make local migra-
tions. And in the mountain regions of Abyssinia, where choughs
are plentiful, they have been observed to quit the common roost early
in the morning and spread thence to feed in detachments over the
neighbouring country, much like starlings or rooks. They do not
appear to mix readily with other species, but have been seen with
rooks and daws, and sometimes in Switzerland with the Alpine
chough. An interesting fact noted by Mr. P. G. Ralfe in the Isle of
Man is that individuals of the species are to be seen in flocks in the
breeding season. He holds the view that these are birds which have
not been able to find nesting sites. If we assume that the young
birds of the previous year are mature by the spring, and would not,
therefore, be flocking umnated, the explanation has much in its
favour, and it finds support in the habit, already noted, that the birds
have of breeding apart, and of resenting intrusion into their nesting
area by other pairs.2

1 B. J. Ussher and R. Warren, op. cit. ; P. G. Ralfe, Birds of the Isle of Man, 1906 ; Gadeau
de Kerville, Faune de la Normandie, 1890 ; Field, 1882, Ix. 441 ; Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas,
1897-1905, iv. 52 (quoting Schinz for Switzerland). It quotes (p. 45) the same authority for the
gregarious breeding of the Alpine chough: " Sie nisten haufig in Gesellschaften in geringer
entfernung von einander wie die Dohlen."

2 P. G. Ralfe, op. tit. ; Zoologisches Garten, 1877, pp. 146-164 (A. Girtanner) ; R. J. Ussher and
R. Warren, op. cit. ; V. Fatio, Faune de la Suisse, ii. ; Naumann, 033. cit. (for quotations from
Schinz, Konig, Heuglin) ; J. B. Bailly, Ornithologie de la Savoie, 1853, ii. 143.

THE CHOUGH 63

A few words in conclusion on the notes of the chough. Its usual
cry is a clear ringing K'chare ! Other notes have been syllabled
K'chouf ! and K'quoue ! The nestling's call for food is Rare ! Kwaar !
or Jaar ! The bird, when excited, utters a Kwuk-uk-uk-uk ! Like
other Corvidae, it has a kind of song, a chattering warble, not unlike
that of the starling.1 At what seasons it sings is not recorded.

1 Zoologist, 1900, p. 498 (O. V. Aplin) ; Field, 1907, June, p. 870 (J. WalpoleBond on " Choughs
in Captivity"); Naumann, op. tit., iv. 51.

THE FINCHES

[ORDER : Pdsseriformes. FAMILY : Fringillidce. SUBFAMILY : Fringillince]
PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES1

[F. C. R. JOURDAIN. F. B. KIRKMAN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON 2]

GREENFINCH [Ligurinus chloris (Linnaeus). Green-linnet, green-chub,
green-grosbeak, green-olf , pea-sweep, featherpoke. French, verdier ;
German, Gruriling].

i . Description. — Recognised by the stout conical bill, the prevailing yellowish
green hue of its plumage, and the conspicuous yellow on the outer webs of the
primaries and basal parts of the tail feathers. Length 5J in. [139*5 mm.]. (PL 9.)
The female differs in having the head and mantle browner, the under parts chiefly
olive-grey tinged on the breast with green, and the yellow on the primaries and
tail feathers duller. The young are striated with dark brown both on the olive-
brown upper parts and the pale yellowish green underparts, while the rump is
brown instead of green. Their inner secondaries have broad margins of brown,
and the primaries are tipped with greyish white, [w. p. p.]

•2. Distribution. — The ordinary European form of this species is found
south of Orkney in the British Isles, 65° N. lat. in Scandinavia, and 60° N. lat.
in Russia, throughout Europe (except in Portugal, Spain, and the Levant,
where it is replaced by two local races), and eastwards to Turkestan. It has
been introduced into the United States. It is abundant throughout the British
Isles, except in the more barren and elevated districts and the outlying islands ;
it has, however, recently extended its range to include the Orkneys and some of
the Inner Hebrides, but it remains a mere visitor to the Shetlands. [A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — A resident and a migrant species. Large flocks arrive in
autumn, mostly by day, on the coast between Kent and the Wash, thence spreading

1 See the Explanation, p. xvii.

2 In the sections Nest and Eggs, Mr. Jourdain is responsible for writing the descriptions of
the nesting place, nests, and eggs, Mr. Kirkman for the remainder.

PLATE lit

Photo by Ch. Reid

Photo by E. L» Turner

Greenfinch on Nest

Young Hawfinch in Nest

Photo by Riley Fortune

Greenfinch Neat

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 65

inland and northwards. This immigration is at its height in October. In spring
they return to their breeding grounds in Central or Western Europe by the same
route, and it is doubtless these emigrants which are recorded in April from light-
stations on the part of the coast in question (cf. Brit. Assoc. Report, 1896, p. 456 ;
and B. O. C. Migration Reports, i. p. 125, ii. p. 178). Movements between Great
Britain and Ireland occur at the same season, but there appear to be two routes ;
an east to west one across the Irish Sea, especially between Anglesey and Co.
Dublin, and a north-westerly one across St. George's Channel (cf. Brit. Assoc.
Report, 1896, p. 460). There is also some evidence of intermigration between
England and countries to the south. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place: usually in shrubs, trees, and hedges,
rarely in creepers, about 4-8 feet as a rule above the ground. Nest : a foundation of
twigs, moss, roots, and sometimes wool, neatly lined with fine roots and hair, and
occasionally with feathers. (PL m.) It is built by the hen, the male, according to
Naumann, occasionally helping. The eggs, usually 4-6, rarely 7, in number, are
rather sparingly spotted with reddish brown and occasionally a streak at the big
end, on a dirty white or pale greenish blue ground, with underlying markings of
pale violet or light brown. Some eggs are quite unmarked. (PL B.) In character
they resemble those of the linnet, but are larger, and 101 eggs average "80 x '57 in.
[20'25 x 14'52 mm.] in size. Laying begins sometimes in April but generally in
May. The hen incubates, but the male has been seen to relieve her (Naumann).
Period of incubation 13-14 days. The young remain in the nest about two weeks
(S. E. Brock in litt.). Broods 2-3, as a rule, but Lilford (Birds of Northamptonshire)
says that 4 occasionally occur. [F. c. R. j. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds, especially of turnips, radish, mustard, sprouts ; also char-
lock, maize, wheat, berries. The young are fed by both parents on insects and
macerated seeds. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — From about February to August. [F. B. K.]

HAWFINCH [Coccothrdustes coccothraustes (L.) ; C. vulgaris, Pall.
Common-, blackthroated-, or haw- grosbeak, cherry-finch, cow-bird, berry-
breaker. French, grosbec ; German, Kirschkernbeisser ; Italian, frosone].

i. Description. — Recognised by the peculiar bill-hook shape of the tips of
the inner primaries (Fig. 4), the huge beak, the horny pads inside it, the black
throat and lores, and the orange and ruddy browns of its plumage. Length 7 in.

I

66 THE FINCHES

[178 mm.]. (PI. 18.) The female is paler, and easily distinguished even in the
fledgling stage from the male by the ash-grey on the outer webs of the secondaries,
and the distal half of the primaries. The fledgling differs in
having the crown and nape sepia-brown, no black on the throat,
underparts yellowish white spotted with dark brown, rump tawny.
Later the throat becomes bright sulphur yellow with a dusky
border, then black, beginning in the centre ; crown and nape
Fig. 4. yellowish brown, the back as in the adult but paler, breast pale
tawny brown, remaining in some specimens dusky white with
black tips, giving the appearance of bars. [w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — Palaearctic : the typical form is somewhat locally dis-
tributed in suitable localities throughout the greater part of Europe, but does
not reach high latitudes, and is replaced in North- West Africa by a local race.
The limits of its breeding range in northern Europe are the St. Petersburg district,
the southern part of Sweden, and England. In the last-named it has extended its
range to a remarkable extent of late years. ' Eighty years ago or thereabouts,
hawfinches were accounted scarce visitors to England, and it was only a few years
after that they were found to breed here ' (Newton, Irish Naturalist, 1906, p. 136).
In 1899 it had been ' steadily increasing in numbers during the last fifty years,'
and was common in the south-eastern parts of England, becoming scarcer towards
north and west, and had bred in every English county except Cornwall (H. Saunders,
Manual, 1899, p. 171). Since then the increase and extension have continued
(cf. " Summary of Records," British Birds, vol. i. p. 150). In Wales, it bred in Brecon-
shire in 1890, and has since increased and spread westwards (cf. H. E. Forrest,
Fauna N. Wales, 1907, pp. 139-142 ; and others), but is still absent from the western
seaboard. This rapid spread has taken place in northerly, westerly, and inter-
vening directions from the south-eastern corner of England, and it is now only in
the extreme northern and western districts of England and Wales that the hawfinch
is uncommon. To Scotland and Ireland, however, it is still for the most part an
uncommon winter visitor, although its occurrences are widespread, and it has bred
exceptionally in both countries (cf. Annals of Scottish Natural History, 1894, p. 195,
and 1904, p. 11 ; and Irish Naturalist, 1902, p. 250, and 1903, p. 111). The
extension of range is ascribed to the increase of market-gardens providing proper
food in abundance at the season when it is most needed (cf. H. E. Howard, Zool.
1901, p. 465). [A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — The not infrequent occurrence of the hawfinch in winter

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 67

outside its breeding range may be taken as evidence of a certain amount of
migratory movement apart from range extension, but exact information is
lacking. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : usually in orchards, isolated hawthorns,
or forest trees, but occasionally in hedges. Nest : characteristic — a layer of twigs,
with a shallow cup of bents, fibre, roots, lichens, lined with rootlets, hah*, dry grass,
fibre. (PI. in.) Whether it is built by both sexes or one has not been recorded.
The eggs, usually 4-5, sometimes 6, in number, are handsome and very distinctive.
They are boldly streaked and spotted with very dark oh' ve-brown and faint markings
of purple-grey on a bluish or greyish green ground. In some varieties this is slate-
grey and in others warm buff with brown markings. (PL B.) Average size of
100 eggs -94 x -68 in. [23'8 x 17'2 mm.]. (PI. B.) Laying begins at the end of
April or in May. Incubation is performed chiefly by the female (Naumann).
Period of incubation 14 days. One brood. [F. c. B. J. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Chiefly the kernels of the hawthorn, cherry, plum, yew ; peas,
hornbeam seeds. The young are fed with insects (Naumann). Both sexes share
in this duty (Naumann ; Bailly, Ornith. de la Savoie ; E. L. Turner). [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — February to June (Naumann).

CHAFFINCH [Fringitta codebs, Linnaeus. Called after its familiar note the
spink, twink, pink. Other names : sheely, shilfa, shelly, shivvy, skelly,
scobbie, scoppie, shell-apple, white-wing, white-linnet, pie-finch, fleck-linnet,
copper-finch, buck-finch, bull-spink, beech-finch, boldie, snabby, charbob,
weetie, wintie. French, pinson ; German, Buchfink ; Italian, fringudlo].

1. Description. — Recognised by the conspicuous broad upper and narrower
lower white bars on the wing-coverts, the yellowish green rump, slate blue crown
and nape, light chocolate-coloured back, and red (pale burnt-sienna) throat and
breast. After the autumn moult the plumage is less vivid. Length 6 in. [152 mm.].
The hen differs in having the crown and nape greyish brown, the back olive-brown,
and the throat and breast whitish brown with a tinge of sienna. (PL 14.) The
young are like the hen, but have conspicuous yellow-green margins to the outer
webs of the secondaries, [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — Palsearctic : the typical form breeding throughout most
of Europe and much of Western Asia, up to the Arctic Circle, and beyond this, in
Scandinavia, nearly to the North Cape. A number of local races are, however,
resident in the various North- West African states, in Madeira, in the Canaries, and

68 THE FINCHES

in the Azores. The chaffinch is abundant throughout Great Britain, and is found
even on the smaller islands, including the Inner Hebrides, Orkneys, and excep-
tionally the Shetlands. It is considered to be the commonest land-bird in
Ireland. [A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — It is both resident and migrant. Its migrations appear to be
practically identical with those of the greenfinch already described, but the south-
ward emigration in autumn, and the corresponding spring immigration on the south
coast of England are more marked (vide antea, p. 64 ; and cf. Brit. Assoc. Report,
1896, pp. 456, 460, and 464 ; W. Eagle Clarke, Ibis, 1902, pp. 252, 256, and 266,
and 1904, pp. 119 and 138 ; and B. 0. C. Migration Reports, i. p. 125, ii. p. 178, and
iii. pp. 181 and 192). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : hedges, bushes, or trees, generally from
4-15 feet high. Nest: very neatly built of felted moss, wool, grasses, etc., decorated
externally with lichens and lined with hair and feathers. (PL 14.) It is constructed
by the hen, though the cock is said to help in bringing material. The eggs, usually
4-6 in number, are pale greenish stone colour, with a few "brand-spots" and streaks
of dark purple-brown. Some eggs have only pale cloudings of light brown, while
others have a bright blue ground, sometimes unmarked, or with very dark markings.
Average size of 100 eggs, '76 x *57 in. [19 '3 x 14€6 mm.]. (PL B.) Laying begins in
mid- April. The hen usually incubates, but is habitually relieved each day by the
cock according to Naumann, occasionally so according to others (T. H. Nelson,
B. of Yorkshire, etc. ; A. Taylor, in litt.). Period of incubation 11-14 days. In an
incubator 11-12 days (W. Evans, Ibis, 1891). The young remain in the nest about
two weeks (S. E. Brock, in litt.). Broods 1-2. [F. c. R. J. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds, berries, buds, kernels of fruit, insects and their eggs. The
young are fed on insects, possibly seeds, by both parents. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — From January to July, and on fine days in autumn
and winter. [F. B. K.]

BRAMBLING [Fringilla montifringilla, Linnaeus. Bramble-finch, mountain-
finch, furze-chirper, cock-o'-the-north, oversea-lenny, French-linnet. French,
pinson des montagnes, pinson des Ardennes ; German, Bergfink].

I. Description. — Distinguished by its chestnut throat and breast, white
rump conspicuous in flight, and the blue back feathers of the head and mantle,
which in winter have ruddy brown edgings. Length 6 in. [152 mm.]. Young
males in whiter are paler. The female is brownish grey mottled with

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 69

brownish on the head and mantle, and is generally duller in coloration. (PL 17.)
[w. P. P.]

2-3. Distribution and Migration. — Its breeding range in Europe is con-
fined to Scandinavia north of about 60° (except in the extreme north), and North
Russia from the Kola Peninsula south to St. Petersburg and lat. 62° in the
Urals. It visits nearly every part of Europe on migration, although rare in the
extreme south. It is of accidental occurrence in the British Isles in summer,
but as a winter visitor, chiefly from October to March, it is found abundantly in
the region between the Forth and the Humber, and also in fair numbers both to
the north and to the south of this area ; but on the western side and in Ireland
it is rarer, although occasionally appearing in large numbers. Most of the birds
probably arrive on the east coast between the Forth and the Humber, but a
certain number pass through Shetland and the north-eastern districts of Scotland.
Its relative abundance is proportional to the severity of the season. It arrives in
flocks. [F. c. R. J. — A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Is not a British breeding species. See the previous
note.

5. Food. — Chiefly beech-mast, various seeds, insects.

6. Song Period. — Only sings in the breeding season (Collett).

GOLDFINCH {Carduelis carduelis (Linnasus); C. elegans, Stephens. Goldie,
gold-spink, red-cap, red-linnet, thistle-finch, captain, speckled-dick, proud-
tailor, Sweet- William, Peckel-Dick, Jack-Nicker, King Harry. The young
are known as greypates or branchers. French, chardonneret ; German,
Distdzeisig, or, from its call-note, Stieglitz ; Italian, cardettino].

1. Description. — Easily identified by the crimson, white, and black of the head,
and the yellow bar on the wing. Length 5 in. [126*5 mm.]. (PI. 15.) The hen
(upper figure in PL 15) resembles the cock, but there is less red on the face, and the
black of the wings is duller, with greyish brown on the minor coverts. The young
may be distinguished by the absence of the red, white, and black of the head and
the striated back and breast. Abnormal varieties of the goldfinch, with a white
throat, are called " cheverels." [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — This species is divided into many slightly differing local
races. The British form, C. carduelis britannica (Hartert), is practically confined to
England, Wales, and Ireland, while the common continental race inhabits the rest
of the West Palaearctic Region, with the exception of Spain, Portugal, and North-

70 THE FINCHES

west Africa, Corsica and Sardinia, the Canaries, which are inhabited by local races.
In England it is local, and, after a period of great decrease, is now to some extent
on the increase again owing to protection (for summaries cf. J. A. Harvie-Brown,
ZooL, 1903, p. 23; and Witherby and Ticehurst, British Birds, vol. i. p. 179).
In Scotland it is now very scarce, and is nowhere common even in the south
and centre, while it is very rare in the north, although it has nested in Skye
and Caithness. [F. c. R. J. — A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — The migratory movements in Great Britain comprise
— (a) an autumn immigration of continental birds on the east coast (cf . H. Saunders'
Manual, 1899, and Nelson, B. of Yorkshire, 1907, p. 171). The return migration
has been little noticed ; and (b) subsequent southward emigration of the same birds
along with the goldfinches which are summer visitors to our own country. This last
is at its height in October, and the corresponding spring immigration takes place
chiefly during the latter half of April and the first week of May, and at this season
they have been recorded as arriving in hundreds in Somerset (cf . B. 0. C. Migration
Reports, ii. p. 178, iii. p. 182). As well as being a summer visitor and a bird of
passage, it is a resident species. In Ireland it is resident, and " the reports from
lighthouses do not seem to prove a transmarine migration, but rather betoken
irregular movements round Ireland" (Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900).
The B. 0. C. Reports (loc. cit.) record the species as migrating in flocks, but,
according to Gatke, it is usually a solitary migrant (cf. Heligoland as an Ornith.
Observatory, 1895, p. 389). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : trees, especially fruit-trees, shrubs, less
often in hedges. Nest : neatly built of moss, lichen, roots, wool, webs, and other
material, lined with hair, wool, down, and perhaps feathers. (PI. iv.) It is con-
structed by the hen according to Brehm and Dresser, by both sexes according to
Bailly, Ornith. de la Savoie. Naumann states that the cock occasionally helps in
carrying material. The eggs, usually 4-6 in number, are thin shelled, with a faint
bluish tinge and a few distinct spots and streaks of deep red-brown, sometimes
almost black, and a few fainter red-grey markings. Average size of 100
eggs, '67 x -50 in. [17 x 12'9 mm.]. (PL B.) Laying begins in May. The hen
incubates (Brehm ; N. Quepat, Monographic du chardonneret ; F. E. Daniel,
in litt.). Period of incubation about 14 days. The young remain in the
nest about a fortnight (N. Quepat, op. cit.). Usually 2 broods. [F. c. E. J.—
F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds, insects. The young are fed, according to Bailly, on seeds

PLATE IV

Photo by RUey Fortune

Goldfinch Neat

Photo by E. L. Turner

Linnet on Nest

Photo by Win. Farren

Linnet's Nest and Eggs. An unusual Site

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 71

digested and regurgitated by the parents. They are at first fed on insects (H.
Saunders, Manual). Both parents share in the duty. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — All the year, except when moulting. [F. B. K.]

SISKIN [Carduelis spinus (Linnaeus). Barley-bird. French, tarin ; German,
Zeisig ; Italian, lucarino}.

i. Description. — Identified by the black crown and chin, yellowish green
plumage, and striated back and flanks. For some time after the autumn moult
the feathers on the nape, hind-neck, and back have ash-grey tips. Length 4^ in.
[114 mm.]. The female is greyer, has the crown olive-green with dusky streaks,
the chin dull white instead of black, and the underparts all striated except the
belly. (PL 12.) The young differ from the hen in having the upper and under
parts much more striated, the ground colour of the rump dull white instead of yellow,
and with dusky striations, the sides of the head freckled dusky on a dull white
ground, and no green tinge on the sides of the neck and breast, [w. p. p.]

2=3. Distribution and Migration. — It is found throughout Europe, but
very locally up to the limit of coniferous forest-growth, although only as a winter
visitor to the most southerly portions, such as the three Mediterranean peninsulas.
It is resident in the pine forests of many parts of Ireland and of Scotland, from Perth-
shire northwards (cf. J. A. Harvie- Brown, Fauna of the Tay Basin and Strathmore,
p. 114). It also nests regularly but very sparingly in parts of the south of Scotland
and of the north of England, and is said to have bred in many English counties,
but the evidence is by no means conclusive. Otherwise it is a winter visitor to the
British Isles from Northern Europe, occurring on passage in the Hebrides, in
Orkney, and in Shetland. As a winter visitor its numbers are subject to very
considerable variation from season to season. It migrates in flocks. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : usually from 10-50 feet high in
coniferous trees. Nest : twigs, roots, dry grass, moss, lichen, lined with wool,
down, hair, feathers, fibrous roots. It is constructed by both sexes according to
Naumann ; but Mr. Allan Ellison, who studied the species closely in Ireland, states
that the male accompanies the hen to the nest, singing and twittering gaily, but
takes no part in building or in collecting material (Brit. Birds, iii. 9). A case of
the hen alone building is recorded of a caged specimen in the Fidd (1871, xxxviii.
p. 3). The eggs, usually 4-5, rarely 6, in number, are pale blue, with a few markings
of dark red-brown and fainter spots and streaks of red-grey. (PL B.) Average size
of 72 eggs, -64 x -47 in. [16-3 x 12 mm.]. Laying begins in April-May. The hen

72 THE FINCHES

incubates (Brehm ; C. Jex in the Zoologisches Garten, 1876, p. 217). Period of
incubation 12-14 days. Two broods. [F. c. R. J. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds, buds. The young are fed, according to Bailly, first on
digested and regurgitated buds and seeds, afterwards on macerated seeds and
fresh buds. In captivity " there is a difficulty in rearing the young, as in the
earlier stages they appear to require aphides" (H. Saunders, Manual). Both
parents share in feeding them (Bailly, Ornith. de la Savoie; A. Ellison in the Zoologist,
1887, p. 338). In captivity, however, the hen alone has been observed to per-
form this task (Zoologisches Garten, 1876, p. 217 ; 1890, p. 221). [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period.— All the year (Zander, Vogel Mecklenburgs).

LESSER-BEDPOLL [Linota ftammea rufescens (Vieillot). Red-linnet,
reddy, rose-linnet, red-cap, chivey, chippet-linet, French-linnet. French,
cabaret, petite linotte ; German, kleiner Birkenzeisig].

1. Description. — Recognised by the black lores and chin, the buff wing band,
the red on the forehead, crown, breast, and rump, and the dusky striated brown
back. After the autumn moult the red on the breast is obscured by brown, while
the brown of the beak becomes wax yellow. Length 4J in. [114 mm.]. (PL 12.)
The female has the red only on the forehead and crown, a very small area of black
on the throat. The young lack the red altogether, as well as the black on the lores
and throat ; they have the head, neck, and back distinctly grey, thickly covered
with dusky striations ; the underparts are greyish white, with sharply defined
dusky striations on the breast and flanks, [w. p. P.]

2. Distribution. — Our native lesser-redpoll is confined as a breeding species
to the British Isles, the Alps, and probably the Carpathians, but only at fairly
high levels towards the southern extremity of this range. In the British Isles it
is local in the breeding season, especially in England, from the extreme south-
west of which it is almost entirely absent. It is more regularly distributed in
Ireland and Scotland, even to the outlying islands of the latter — breeding regularly
in the Orkneys and some of the Inner Hebrides, and exceptionally in the Outer
Hebrides (cf. J. A. Harvie-Brown, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1902, p. 146), but not known
to have done so in Shetland. [A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — Except for local movements within our shores, the species
appears to be sedentary, not having been obtained at any of our light-stations.
[A. L. T.]

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 73

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : sometimes in trees, as much as 40 feet
from the ground (Ussher and Warren), but often bushes, hedges, occasionally in
long heather, furze, or bracken. Nest : externally rather roughly built of twigs,
coarse dead grasses, moss, wool, roots, etc., neatly lined with willow-down, hair,
feathers. (PI. v.) By which sex the nest is built is uncertain. The eggs,
usually 4-5, rarely 6, in number, are easily distinguished by their dull surface
and deeper greenish ground colour. The markings consist of a few spots and
streaks of purplish brown, with underlying paler markings. (PL B.) Average
size of 100 eggs, -62 x -48 in. [15*9 x 12-2 mm.]. Laying begins exception-
ally in April, usually late in May. The hen incubates (F. E. Daniel, in litt. ;
J. Steele-Elliot, in litt.), but there is some evidence to show that the cock may share
in the task. Period of incubation 11 days (Alfred Taylor, in litt.). Sometimes
2 broods appear to be reared. [F. c. B. J. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds. The young are fed first with regurgitated seeds and buds,
later with macerated seeds and fresh buds (Bailly, Ornitk. de la Savoie) ; with
regurgitated seeds (Zander, Vogel MecTdenburgs). A young bird, examined June 15,
1894, contained larvae and fragments of a weevil (Newstead). Both parents share
the duty. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — Said to sing all the year except when moulting.

MEALY- REDPOLL [Linota flammea flammea (Linnaeus); L. linaria
(L.). Greater-redpoll. French, sizerin boreal ; German, Birkenzeisig or
Leinzeisig].

i. Description. — Is like the lesser-redpoll, but larger, has the rump more or
less striated and tinged rose-red ; it lacks the rufous tint in the brown of the back.
Length 5 in. [127 mm.]. The hen has red on the forehead and crown only, has less
black on the throat, the black forehead is scarcely visible, and the general appear-
ance is greyer and paler. The young differ from the female in being darker, more
heavily striated, and lack the red. (No plate.) [w. p. p.]

2-3. Distribution and Migration. — This lighter and larger continental
race is found breeding in the arctic and higher subarctic regions of Northern
Scandinavia and Russia, and confines its southward visits, as a rule, to the more
northern countries of the temperate zone. It is a common winter visitor to most
of the east of Great Britain, from Shetland to Durham, and is of fairly frequent
occurrence in other parts of the British Isles, especially on the west coasts of Scot-
land and Ireland. For the purposes of this note we may include also the following

K

74 THE FINCHES

forms — Linota flammea holboellii, L. /. rostrata, L. hornemanni hornemanni, and
L. h. exilipes — which have been known to occur in the British Isles in the winter
months, but whose breeding grounds extend westward from Spitzbergen, Iceland,
and Jan Mayen to the subarctic regions of North America, as well as east through
Siberia. The question of the rank to be assigned to these forms will be discussed
in the supplementary chapter on " Classification." [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Is not a British breeding species. See previous note.

5. Food. — Seeds.

6. Song Period. — Not recorded.

TWITE [Linota flavirostris (Linnaeus). The rock-, hill-, heather-, or mountain-
linnet, yellowneb-lintie. French, linotte montagnarde, or linotte d bee
jaune ; German, Berghan fling].

1. Description. — Distinguished from the redpolls by having red on the
rump only, white outer margins to the inner primaries, the beak more or less yellow
in summer as well as in winter, and by the absence of black on the chin and
lores. To the colour of its beak it owes the name ftavirostris. Length 5 in.
[127 mm.]. (PL 13.) The hen has no red on the rump, which is striated.
The young resemble her, but are darker, and have the major coverts uniformly
coloured, [w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — As a breeding bird it is confined to North- Western Europe —
chiefly Norway, Lapland, and the British Isles — while it visits most parts of
Northern Europe, but is only a rare wanderer to the southern countries. A paler
race, sub-specifically separated as L. f. brevirostris, breeds from Asia Minor to
Manchuria. The twite is absent from the south and east of England, although
it has bred exceptionally in Devonshire (cf. C. E. Pearson, Bull. B. 0. C., xiv.
p. 91). It breeds on the elevated moors of Central and Northern England, but is
nowhere abundant, and is everywhere inclined to be local, breeding sporadically
in colonies ; also, and more regularly, in similar parts of Scotland, becoming
abundant towards the west and north-west, and in the isles, including Orkney and
Shetland. In Ireland it is widely distributed. [A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — In winter it seeks lower levels, and there is a certain amount
of movement in autumn, but this does not make itself felt very far south of the
species' breeding range. Except for such local movements, the twite is stationary
in the British Isles. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting places: very variable — bushes, heather, creepers,

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 75

the ground under stones, sods, etc., grass, walls, peat-stacks, banks of streams,
ledges and crevices of sea-cliffs, rabbit burrows, haystacks (Saxby, B. of Shetland).
Nest : roots, grass, stalks, moss, twigs, lined with hair, wool, fur, and feathers.
(PI. 13.) It is constructed by both sexes (Saxby, op. cit. ; Harvie-Brown, Fauna
N.-W. Highlands). The eggs, usually 4-6, rarely 7, in number, are bluer as a
rule than those of the linnet, and more boldly marked with a few streaks of very
dark red-brown. (PL B.) Average size of 100 eggs, '66 x -49 in. [16'9 x 12'6 mm.].
Laying begins in May. Which sex incubates not recorded. Period of incubation not
recorded. Two broods (R. Gray, B. of the West of Scotland). [F. c. R. j. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds. The young are fed with regurgitated seeds (Zander, Vogel
Mecklenburgs). Saxby implies that they are fed by both parents. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — Uncertain.

LINNET [Linota canndbina (Linnaeus). Lintie, brown-linnet, whin-linnet,
redbreasted-linnet, red-linnet, robin-linnet, thorn-linnet, furze-linnet,
heather-lintie, bent-linnet, blood-linnet, rose-Untie, gorse-bird. French,
linotte ; German, Blut-hanfling].

1. Description. — Differs from both the redpolls and twite in having, each
tail feather margined with white, except the two middle, which have light-brown
edges. The outer webs of the inner primaries are also white, the beak horn-grey.
In summer plumage the male has crimson on the crown, forehead, and breast, its
general coloration being brown and grey, with chestnut on the mantle. From
autumn to spring the crimson makes way for grey. Length 5| in. [140 mm.].
(PL 11.) The female lacks the crimson and is more striated. The young are still
more striated, and develop during the immature stage broad brown tips to the
primaries, [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — It is widely distributed throughout Europe below
the 60th parallel, and in Scandinavia up to 64° N. lat., but in the Mediter-
ranean basin, and in Siberia as far as the Altai Mountains, it is replaced by local
races. In the British Isles it breeds nearly everywhere where waste lands exist,
but is not found in Scotland at the higher levels, and becomes local and uncommon
towards the north-west of that country and in the outlying islands. [A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — It is resident as a species in most parts of the British Isles,
but is only a summer visitor to some. There is a considerable southward emigration
in autumn, at which season also a large number of birds from the Continent arrive
on our east coast. It is noticed as an immigrant on the south and other coasts

76 THE FINCHES

of England from mid-March till late in April (cf . Brit. Ornith. Club Migrat. Reports,
i. p. 125, ii. p. 178, iii, p. 182). " The migration reports yield notices of it all round
the Irish coasts and at all times of the year " (cf. ; and see further Ussher and
Warren, B. of Ireland, pp. 63-4 ; and see also R. M. Barrington, Irish Migrat.,
1900). It migrates in small parties or flocks. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : usually at no great height, in bushes,
especially gorse, and in hedges. Nest : roots, moss, grass, stalks, lined with hair,
wool, feathers, down. (PL iv.) It is built by the hen with but little help from the
cock (Naumann ; Bailly, Ornith. de la Savoie). The eggs, usually 4-6, occasionally 7,
in number, are rather variable, bluish white or pale blue in ground colour, some-
times unmarked, and at other times spotted, blotched, or freckled with purplish
red, with underlying paler markings. (PL B.) In size, too, they are variable, the
largest exceeding small greenfinches' eggs in size, but 100 eggs average '71 x '51 in.
[18*1 x 13'1 mm.]. Laying begins in April-May. The hen incubates, but in the
case of one pair the cock was seen to relieve his mate every evening between
five and seven o'clock (Helm, quoted in Naumann). Period of incubation 14 days
(W. Evans, Ibis, 1891). Usually 2 broods. [F. c. B. J. — r. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds, berries, insects, buds, fruit. The young are fed by both
parents on digested and regurgitated seeds (Bailly, op. cit. ; Zander, Vogel
Mecklenburgs). [r. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — All the year. [r. B. K.]

H O TJ S E - S P A RR O W [Passer domesticus (Linnaeus). Spadger, spuggy, sprig,
sprug, spyng, sprong, craff, row-dow, thatch-sparrow, Philip. French,
moineau ; German, Haiissperling, Haiisspatz].

I. Description. — In summer the cock may easily be distinguished from the
soberly brown-hued hen by the ash-grey on the head and rump, the brilliant black
gorget contrasting with the white cheek-patch and the bluish black beak. The
hen has the top of the head and nape greyish brown, a conspicuous post-ocular
streak of buff, the mantle and wings brown, instead of mahogany-red as in the male.
Length 6 in. [152 mm.]. In winter the grey and black of the cock are obscured
by brown, the white by a dull yellowish tinge, and the beak becomes brown like
that of the hen. (PL 10.) The young bird resembles the latter, but the white
wing bar and the post-ocular streak are barely traceable. The median
coverts are brown instead of black, and the throat and breast are dull white,
[w. P. P.]

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 77

2. Distribution.— Except in Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, it is found
in nearly every part of Europe where there are human habitations and cultiva-
tion. It is also represented by closely allied races of the same species in
North Africa, West Asia, and India. As an artificially introduced species
in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, it has multiplied and spread
to an extraordinary extent. It is abundant throughout the British Isles,
except on a few of the smallest islands and in some Highland localities, but of
comparatively recent appearance in some of the outlying portions formerly
uncultivated. [A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — Resident, but the fact that it forsakes some exposed local-
ities in winter, and that it sometimes occurs " singly or in flocks, at the lightships
and rock-stations " (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 59 ; and others),
seems to indicate that it migrates at times. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : any convenient recess, e.g. in ivy-covered
trees, rocks, cuffs, stacks, eaves, spouts, holes, and also sometimes among the
branches of trees. The nest is domed when in the open, and partially so when
sheltered by ivy or in a hole. It is very carelessly made of straw, hay, with odds
and ends, and warmly lined, usually with feathers. Both sexes share in its con-
struction. The eggs, 3-7 in number, but usually 4 or 5, vary a good deal, and one
egg in a set is often much more lightly marked than the rest. They are generally
mottled and spotted all over with varying shades of ashy grey and brown. Some
varieties are distinctly reddish in tone ; others have a tendency to a cap of darker
markings at the big end, while occasionally white eggs are found. (PL B.)
Average size of 100 eggs, '86 x -61 in. [22 x 15'6 mm.]. Laying usually begins in
May, but in towns, and where the climate is mild, often much earlier. Accord-
ing to Naumann both sexes incubate, according to others the hen only.
Period of incubation 11-14 days. In an incubator 13-14 days (W. Evans,
Ibis, 1891). Two to three broods, sometimes more, are raised. [F. c. B. J. —
F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds, buds, fruit, berries, insects, spiders. The young are fed
on insects. Also on grains of wheat and barley (0. V. Aplin, B. of Oxfordshire).
Both parents share the duty. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — In the case of individual birds a short continuous series
of notes may sometimes be heard, to which the term song might be applied. Flocks
may often be heard, in autumn and winter, uttering for several minutes a continu-
ous chatter. [F. B. K.]

78 THE FINCHES

TREE- SPARROW [Passer montdnus (Linnseus). Rock-sparrow, red-
headed-sparrow, copper-head, mountain-sparrow. French, friquet ; German,
Feldsperling ; Italian, passera maltugia].

1. Description.— Distinguished from the house-sparrow by its ruddy brown
crown and nape, triangular black patch in the white of the cheek, double alar bar,
and much more graceful appearance. Length 5£ in. [139'5 mm.]. (PL 10.) The
sexes are alike. The young differ in having the alar bars tinged with buff, and the
black on the cheek and throat both less in area and paler in hue. [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — Palsearctic, distributed throughout the greater part of
Europe and Siberia east to China and Japan, as well as in the Indian region (India,
Sumatra, Borneo, Java, etc.). In Europe it is rare in Spain, and absent from
Portugal, Corsica and Sardinia. In Scandinavia it is now found up to 70° 30' N.,
and in North Russia to the Petchora valley. As an introduced species also, it has
been obtained in North America. In Northern Europe it is extending its range,
and is now found in Arctic Norway, and has also been recorded as common in the
Faroes, where it was unknown previous to 1869 or thereabouts, but appears to
have again disappeared of late. In the British Isles it is a local species ; it is found
in England in every county except Cornwall and Devon, but is very scarce in the
Lake District. It now breeds in Wales (although almost unknown in the west and
south), in the Hebrides, and in Shetland. In Ireland it is beginning to spread from
a locality in Co. Dublin, from which it was first recorded in 1852, being otherwise
unknown except as an occasional migrant. The fact that it may have formerly
existed, but have been overlooked, owing to its likeness to the house-sparrow, in
some of those districts from which it has been only recently recorded, must be
taken into consideration. [F. c. K. j. — A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — It is a resident species ; also an autumn immigrant. The
autumn immigration is at its height in October, and appears to consist of (a) immi-
gration on the north-eastern coast from Northern Europe, and (b) immigration to
the south-east of England from Central Europe (cf. Brit. Assoc. Report, 1896, p.
457). The birds which are recorded from the Essex, Norfolk, and neighbouring
light-stations in April (cf. B. 0. C. Migration Reports, i. p. 125, ii. p. 179, and iii.
p. 182) are probably migrants returning to Central Europe. There is also evidence
of some migration between our shores and countries farther south : birds are
recorded from our south coast lights in the latter half of March (cf. loc. cit.). A
gregarious migrant. [A. L. T.]

f>LATE V

Photo by E. L. Turner

Tree Sparrow a Nest -with Covering Tile removed (see PI. 16.)

Photo by Wm. Parren

Lesser Redpoll a Neat

Photo by Seton Gordon

Bullfinch on Neat

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 79

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : always in holes or hollows of some kind,
in trees, buildings, walls, sandpits, cliffs. Nest : dry grass, roots, straw, wool,
lined chiefly with feathers. (Pis. 10 and v.) It is constructed by both sexes (Bailly,
Orniih. de la Savoie ; S. E. Brock, in litt.}. The eggs, usually 4-6 in number,
resemble those of the house-sparrow, but besides being smaller are much more
glossy and more heavily marked. They are also darker and show more brown as a
rule. Often one (sometimes two) eggs are much lighter than the rest. (PI. B.)
Average size of 103 eggs, *77 x "55 in. [19*5 x 14 mm.]. Laying begins usually
in May, exceptionally earlier. According to Naumann both sexes incubate.
Period of incubation 13-15 days (Bailly, op. cit. ; Gadeau de Kerville, Faune de
la Normandie). Two to three broods. [F. c. B. j. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Same as the house-sparrow. The young are fed on insects, soft
vegetables, etc. (H. Saunders). Both sexes share in the duty (Bailly, op. cit. ;
F. E. Daniel, in litt. ; N. H. Foster in the Irish Naturalist, 1906, p. 221). [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — The pairing season (W. H. Hudson, British Birds).

CROSSBILL [Loxia curvirostra, Linnaeus. French, bec-croise ; German,
Kreuzschnabel ; Italian, crociere].

1. Description. — Recognised by the crossed tips of the bill. Length 6£ in.
[165 mm.]. The plumage of the fully adult male is mostly crimson, with a touch
of orange, the female yellowish green. (PI. 8.) The young up to the first
autumn moult are mostly smoke-brown above, dull white below with dusky
striations, there being little difference between the sexes. The mandibles do
not begin to cross till about the time the bird quits the nest. After the
autumn moult the young are still striped, the males being tinged with orange,
the females with yellow, on the underparts, head, and rump. After the second
moult red mixes with the yellow in the males, there being remains of spots
and striations above and below. The coloration of individual males at this
stage varies considerably, the full red not being attained till the third or fourth
year. Adult males, especially in captivity, sometimes retain the yellow or
revert to it hi old age. (The description of the young is based on those of Wheel-
wright (Zool., 1870, p. 2236) and V. Fatio (Oiseaux de la Suisse). [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — If we take all the subspecies together we find that
Loxia curvirostra, as a whole, is widely distributed throughout the Palaearctic
and northern Nearctic Regions, wherever there are coniferous forests. In the
British Isles we have two forms, the Scottish crossbill, L. curvirostra scotica, Hartert,

80 THE FINCHES

which nests regularly in the old pine-forests of Scotland, and the ordinary continental
race, L. curvirostra curvirostra, L., which has frequently nested in suitable localities
in many parts of England and also in Ireland. It is, however, more commonly
met with in winter, in small parties or flocks. [A. L. T.]

3. Migration. — In some seasons considerable " irruptions " occur. For in-
stance, in the well-marked irruption of 1909, "during late June, all July and August,
these birds were widely spread over Great Britain, but seem to have come most
under notice at the northern islands of Scotland, where forests and other cover
are non-existent," and the immigration was "remarkable for the number of the
visitors, and the wideness of the area covered. They were first detected on Fair
Isle ... on the 23rd of June. Their numbers afterwards increased, as if the birds
had come ... in a series of waves, and as many as 300 were seen some days "
(W. Eagle Clarke, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1909, pp. 215-217 ; see also collected
notes, British Birds, vol. iii. passim, but especially pp. 226-228 and maps). In tracing
the origin of these immigrants, it is worth noting that, during the same period,
this species was also recorded from the Faroes, two specimens, now in the British
Museum, being obtained from a flock of eight first seen on July 2 (Rev. Francis
Turreff, in litt.). In the same connection it should also be mentioned that
a number of specimens received by Mr. Eagle Clarke (loc. cit.) "all belonged to
the continental race." The species is a regular migrational visitor to Shetland.
[A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place: in firs and larches, rarely less than 35 feet
above the ground. Nest : characteristic, and not to be confused with those of other
species — a platform of larch or fir twigs ; on this dry grass, wool, sometimes moss
and roots, with a lining of finer grasses, more rarely hair (Ussher and Warren,
B. of Ireland). (PI. 8.) It is said to be constructed by the hen (Zander, Vogel
Mecklenburgs). The eggs, usually 3-4, occasionally 5, are like large greenfinch's
eggs, but the markings are generally darker and fewer. The usual type has a few
spots or scrawls of dark purple-red or almost black on a greenish white ground ;
but some eggs are unmarked, and others are only faintly blotched and smeared with
pale reddish brown. (PI. B.) 100 eggs of the Scotch race average '83 x -62 in.
[21'24x 15-91 mm.] in size. Laying begins as a rule in February-March, but on
the Continent eggs and young have been found usually from January onward,
but occasionally as late as September or even December, so that probably more
than one brood is reared at times. It makes its nest thicker in winter than in
summer (Keller). According to one writer the hen alone incubates (Zander, op. cit.).

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 81

Period of incubation 14 days (Tiedemann), 15 days (Bouteille, Ornifli. du Dauphine).
[F. c. B. J. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — The seeds of larch and fir cones, kernels of berries, fruit, buds,
insects. The young are usually fed on regurgitated seeds (Zander, op. tit.). Mac-
gillivray implies that both sexes share in this duty. [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — Heard usually in the spring, occasionally by moonlight,
but generally in the morning (Ussher and Warren, op. cit.). Both sexes sing
(Wheelwright in the Zoologist, 1870, p. 2238). [F. B. K.]

BULLFINCH [P$rrhuia pyrrhula (L.) ; (P. europcea, Vieill.). Bull-
spink, bully, bully-blackhead, hoop, oh*, nope, mawp, pope, redhoop, blood -
olf, tawny, tony-hoop, black-cap, monk, coal-hood, plum-bird, thickbill,
bud-picker, alph, alp. French, bouvreuil ; German, Gemeiner or Kleiner
Dompfaff or Gimpd ; Italian, ciuffolotto].

1. Description. — Recognised by its black hood, portly red (rose-vermilion)
breast, and in flight by the white rump which contrasts with the violet-black tail
and grey mantle. Length 6 in. [152 mm.]. (PI. 16.) The hen differs in having the
mantle sepia-brown and the underparts vinous-brown. The young differ from the
hen in having no black on the head, the whole of the upper parts, except the white
rump, grey tinged with brown, the underparts pale brown, and the wing coverts
tipped with buff instead of grey. [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — Our local race of this bird, P. pyrrhula pileata, Macgillivray,
is confined to the British Isles, where it is sedentary, but other subspecies are
found on the Continent ; Scandinavia, Russia, North-East Germany, Hungary,
and West Siberia being inhabited by the northern race, while the southern form is
found in Middle and Western Europe from North Spain and North Italy to West
Prussia, and a third race is found in the Caucasus. The British form is tolerably
common in all wooded parts of the British Isles, but though increasing its range
is not yet known to have bred in Orkney, Shetland, or the Outer Hebrides, though
it occurs in Skye and has nested in Eigg, Mull, Islay, Jura. In Ireland it is
commoner than in the middle of the last century (Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland,
p. 68). [F. c. E. J.]

3. Migration. — The northern race occurs occasionally on migration on our east
coast (Yorkshire), but otherwise there is little or no evidence of anything more than
occasional local movements on the part of our resident birds. [A. L. T.]

L

82 THE FINCHES

4. Nest and Eggs. — Nesting place : thick bushes, especially evergreen and
hedges. Nest : twigs and moss, neatly lined, usually with roots and a little hair,
and more rarely a few feathers or wool. (PL v.) It is constructed by both sexes
(Naumann ; Bailly, Ornith. de la Savoie) ; by the hen only (Petenyi, Ornith, Frag-
mente). The eggs, 4-6 in number, are clear greenish blue, marked with a few
spots and streaks of dark purplish brown, sometimes almost black, with faint
underlying markings, which generally are thicker towards the big end and sometimes
form a zone. Rare varieties have reddish markings on a white ground, or are white
without markings. (PL B.) Average size of 100 eggs, '77 x '57 in. [19'5 x 14'46
mm.]. Laying begins late in April or early in May. According to Bailly, Roux
(Ornith. provengale), and the Field (1874, xliii. p. 627), both sexes share in incubation.
" Chaque jour le male participe a I'incubation " (Bailly). According to the observa-
tion of others, this task is performed by the hen alone (Naumann ; F. Schlag, Der
Dompfaff ; Steele-EUiot, in litt. ; H. Saunders, Manual). Period of incubation
13-15 days. Incubated under a canary 13 days (W. Evans, Ibis, 1891). The young
remain in the nest from 2-3 weeks, according to the weather (F. Schlag, op. cit.).
Broods 1-2. [F. c. R. j. — F. B. K.]

5. Food. — Seeds, hawthorn kernels, fruit buds. The young are fed partly on
insects and their larvae, and partly on seeds softened by the parents (H. Saunders,
Manual ; E. Hartert, Vogel der Paldarkt. Fauna) ; with semi-digested seeds when
3-4 days old (W. Farren, in litt.) ; with shelled and softened seeds (Naumann ;
Zander, Vogel Mecklenburgs). [F. B. K.]

6. Song Period. — In the breeding season. It has been heard singing in winter
(Ussher and Warren, op. cit.). The hen also sings, and, according to Petenyi
(op. cit.), begins to do so as soon as the young are able to take care of themselves,
continuing till the spring moult. [F. B. K.]

THE FINCHES

THE PINCHES
[EDMUND SELOUS]

If there be any one group of our smaller birds by whose total
disappearance from the land we should lose more than by that of
any other, it is perhaps — though only perhaps — the Finches, those
brisk, bright, active, and cheerful denizens of our woods, fields, and
hedge-rows. There are, indeed, the Turdidce, in which both the black-
bird and thrush are included — but I rule these out as not small
enough. The robin is his own group — Erithacus, a bird quite per se.
It were much to lose him, but could we set even the robin against
all our little finch army, and prefer to lose them all ? It must be
held at least doubtful, even were the wren counted with him. No
one will seriously name the Tits, and if some would urge the
Larks or the Warblers, here too, as far as the first are concerned,
it would be practically only the skylark we should lose — a heavy
calamity truly ! — yet, as against the imagined one, there is this to be
said, that if we lost both him and all our warblers too — nightingale,
blackcap and all — it would at least be only in the leaf -of the year
that we should miss them, and not the whole year through. The
lark is forgotten in winter, and, contrary to what is usual, it is our
summer prosperity that the rest would have abandoned, leaving to
stay on with us, both through that and our adversity — "the winter
of our discontent " — the true Finches, the Fringttlince.

It is with these, and not any further with the above speculation,
which, in serving to introduce them has now served its purpose, that
this chapter will deal, and first with that strange-looking species, the
crossbill, or common crossbill — common, but by no means here
familiar — a bird which, with its few "co-mates and fellows" hi the
peculiarity that its name implies, differs from all others of its class — an
excellent reason, surely, for not on that account alone separating it

84 THE FINCHES

from any family whatever, much less its own, as some ("horresco referens")
have mistakenly attempted to do. For this reason, if for no other—
for who would not redress an injury when it lies in his power to do so ?
— I place Loxia curvirostra first upon my list.

The use, and consequent raison d'etre of the above-mentioned
strange abnormality has now long been thought a part of our know-
ledge. Yet it is perhaps not quite certain that the mere outward shape
of the mandibles — unique though it be — has anything to do with the
bird's feeding habits. For what are the facts ? As first explained by
Townson, and afterwards, more scientifically, by Yarrell, the mechanism
of the required bones and muscles is such that, on the mandibles being
opened sufficiently widely — but no more — for the tips to meet, these,
though crossed before, do now so meet, becoming opposed to each
other, in a straight line. The bill, therefore, instead of being a double-
pointed instrument, as it was just before, is changed, for the nonce,
into one of the more ordinary type, only broader, and is thus inserted
between the scales, preferably, of a fir-cone, when, being opened still
wider, the mandibles now again diverge laterally, but to a much greater
degree, and with such power that the scales are forced wider apart,
and, the seeds lying between them being thereby loosened, the bird
extracts them with its tongue, which, to complete the perfection of the
adaptation, acts after the manner of a scoop.

But what part, it may be asked, is played in all this by the cross-
ing of the bird's bill, in the manner peculiar to it, when closed ?
Were it of the usual shape it could still be inserted — perhaps with
equal efficacy — between the scales, and its subsequent lateral exten-
sion in the way described should then, as now, do the rest. If so,
then that peculiar conformation which so strikes the eye, and gives
its name to the species, is but incidental to the general scheme of the
mechanism,1 in which case the crossbill, as such, must be looked upon
not as a main proposition in evolutionary physiology, but as a corollary

1 It may even have become a secondary sexual character, since it would appear that the
cross is more pronounced in the male than the female, and is also subject to much variation.
See British Birds, January 1910.

THE FINCHES 85

merely. With the law of correlated variation of parts as a known
factor in nature, this does not seem wholly impossible ; or a Darwinian,
who was also a believer in Lamarck's doctrine,1 might explain the
facts by supposing that the ancestral crossbill, before it had become so
specialised, would, by perpetual endeavours thus to force the scales
open, have gradually made its bill crooked, so that the two tips ceased
at last to meet, from which point, if such a shape had not proved detri-
mental— and we see that it did not — the process of modification would
have continued. He might further surmise that such birds as could
not, by opening their mandibles a little, get them into a straight line,
to begin with, were placed at a disadvantage as against those who
could do so — probably because the pronged bill would not enter the
sheath with facility — and that thus the whole complicated structure
has at last come about. It is true that, as observed by Townson,2 some
time before 1799, in his study at Gottingen, the crossbill, when actually
extracting the seed, grasps it (as I understand him to mean) between
the pointed tips of the mandibles. But can we suppose that, the pro-
tecting sheath being once forced open, the contents of it could not be
extracted with equal or sufficient facility, were the shape of the beak
normal ? Being as it is, it must be used as it is, but this may be the
resultant, rather than the cause. Still it is, perhaps, along these lines
of research that the true meaning of the abnormal curve may become
manifest The pointed tips might also be specially serviceable in the
tearing of the sheath to pieces, which the bird has sometimes even
now to resort to, but one does not gather clearly from the accounts of
observers 3 that this is the case. It is not, however, intended by these
remarks to do more than point out certain doubts and difficulties
which may still appertain to this ornithological problem.

The abnormality of its beak is not the only way in which, from a

1 I do not think this is exploded or can be exploded, however genial the experiments, in the
laboratory only, where the conditions of nature are not reproduced with sufficient accuracy.
Professor Francis Darwin, if I mistake not, has recently expressed himself as still in favour of
Lamarck's law, or, at least, as unconvinced against it-

1 Tracts and Observations in Natural History and Physiology, 1799, p. 119. Before reading
Townson, I never could make out that any one had actually seen the lateral motion.

3 E.g. Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii.

86 THE FINCHES

Darwinian standpoint, the crossbill is interesting. There is its colour,
for instance — in the male a rich crimson, touched with the rose — which,
as he glints amidst the dark, yet often sun-flecked, fir-forests of his
native north, or over the snow that enshrouds them, must at times make
him disadvantageous^ conspicuous. None, surely, but such as go all
lengths in the theory of protective coloration — to whom, were they free,
in such a case, to apply it, a crimson sunshade, or even its bearer,
would appear unobtrusive — could explain such plumage through such
an agency.

And yet, in some sort — in a roundabout, and, as it were, underhand
way — the protection theory crept in, in regard to the male crossbill
(leaving the female aside) almost before it was well understood ; at
least the supposed facts on which it could take action were ready
waiting for it, by the time it appeared. For, owing to the vagaries
of some caged specimens, it was strangely supposed that the bird,
after making, as it were, a brilliant debut, belied its early promise, and
became duller and duller, as men, but not birds, are accustomed to do.
In a word, a controversy arose as to whether, in its " unhouselled, free
condition," it was the male dull yellowish crossbill that became bright
red, or the male bright red one that became dull yellow. If the latter,
then the bird, though unaccountably handicapped at its start in life, was
yet in course of becoming " protected." Possibly a few yellowites may
still linger amongst us, just as a few Jacobites still do, but those who
have read Naumann's remarks on this subject, supplemented and re-
inforced as they are by later German and other continental authorities,
cannot doubt that, under natural conditions, whatever passage takes
place is, as any evolutionist, who is also a believer in sexual selection,
would have expected, from the duller to the brighter hue. That the
contrary is not infrequently the case with crossbills kept in captivity,
is doubtless to be explained as a reversion to the earlier coloration,
when the sexes were less differentiated, due, most probably, to some
obscure disturbance in the system, attendant on so sad a state — men
too become yellow in prison. The various theories, however, which

Plate 8

Crossbills, Male (red) and Female (green), going to their Nest

By H. Goodchild

, ' , , •

- ' '

, - r • • r i- » r

THE FINCHES 87

stand connected with a bird's outer garb may be discussed, more fitly,
hereafter, in relation to the Finch family as a whole.

In addition to the evolutionary points above mentioned, we have
in one, at any rate, of several deviations from the more common type
of Loxia, concerning the specific or merely varietal value of each of
which there is, of course, the usual barren disputation (for, strangely
enough, this has not ceased with Darwin, though the whole essence of
such jangles has crumbled at his touch) — we have, I say, in the parrot-
crossbill (Loxia pityopsittacus) an instructive illustration of varying
habit bringing with it varying form ; for it is perfectly evident that,
in this bird, we see the final or rather up-to-date result of certain
individuals of the common kind having come to eat the seeds of the
Scotch fir, as well as, and so, gradually, instead of, those of the larch
and spruce, which form the staple of the latter. As more strength was
needed to extract these, a stouter bill and larger body were gradually
acquired by those birds which delighted to do so, till, insensibly, and
almost without knowing it, they found themselves parrot-crossbills.
That each kind, now preferring its own tree, should stay, or go, where
this grew, was of course a necessity of the case, and thus a difference
in geographical distribution was added to that of habit and structure,
for the Scotch fir does not extend so far north as either the spruce
or larch.1

Here, then, we seem to see, pretty plainly, a process of bodily
modification following upon a mental one, for though certain cross-
bills, through having harder beaks, or more vigorous muscles to work
them, may have been led to attack the Scotch fir-cones as well as the
others, yet why, because of this, should they have come to prefer
the former, all being equally open to them ? Taste, however, being
capricious, that the change should have been founded upon the pre-
ference presents no difficulty. For myself, I have long played with
a theory, in regard to this, which I will now, at last, seriously bring
forward, namely, that the first crossbill of all who began to pay atten-

1 See Seebohm, A History of British Birds.

88 THE FINCHES

tion to the harder kind of cone — the original founder of the parrot
clan — may have had a bill not only not above the average robustness,
but even, in some trifling degree, below it ; only that, being a bird
of a more investigative turn, and possessing force of character, he did,
notwithstanding, having first, by some accident, discovered that he
liked them, succeed in extracting a seed or two of these, now and
again. It may have been so. It is, of course, impossible to prove it,
but on the other hand, it is not susceptible of disproof.

Though there can be no reasonable doubt that the unique
muscular adaptation of Loxia curvirostra has been gained in relation
to his principal food — the seeds of the fir, namely — yet is he not
confined to this diet, but will, upon occasion — any occasion where
an orchard presents itself — condescend to apples or pears. In
England, which is a pomaceous rather than a coniferous land,
this happy pliancy of disposition may be well seen — when the bird
is; but unfortunately the bird is rare, by which I mean that were
any right peasant, from the Land's End, at any rate, to the Tweed,
to see one, he would, no more, probably, than in the days of Matthew
Paris,1 have a name to his tongue for it. In Scotland, indeed, it
breeds regularly in certain counties, whilst there are but few perhaps
of our own in which it has not been, from time to time, observed, or
its eggs pilfered by the scientific, or non-scientific, collector.2 Yet this
I know, that one may live in the country, and grow grey, without see-
ing the common crossbill, though, all the while, you will hear of him
as "an irregular autumn or winter visitor, often then appearing in
large flocks, which, at the former season, devastate orchards." So
it was, indeed, in 1257 and 1593, as witnessed by observers whose

1 "Aves mirabiles quce nunquam in Anglia antequam videbantur."

2 The difference between them is this, that the first, in the name of science, does more harm
than the last, in the name of absurdity only, which has less stamina. But the two forms
approach each other so closely that, even as sub-varieties, it is not always easy to keep them
distinct, and as much of true science, probably, appertains to the one as to the other. Both
have equally grasped the fact that no two shells of the egg of any one species are marked quite
precisely alike, and it interests them more than the whole of Darwin, or any other problem in
life. It will be clear, of course, to the scientific collector proper that only the scientific collector,
so-called, can be here intended. Exactly, and I leave them to settle it which is which. [As
stated in the Preface, the writer is solely responsible for the opinions he expresses.— ED.]

THE FINCHES 89

luck has been recorded in Latin ; but, for myself, I have seen the
orchards year after year, generally very well laden, and, as one may
say, waiting, but I have not yet seen them devastated. However,
tout vient h qui sait attendre — brighter days may be in store.

The crossbill is not the only bird of the Finch tribe whose food
consists, largely, of the seeds of conifers. The pine-finch or grosbeak,
though, according to Naumann,1 he but seeks them on the ground,
has similar leanings, but a question of more interest for us who
are dealing with British birds, is whether any of our own species
both affects and extracts them. As a general proposition, and so
far as it applies to the indigenous firs of our woods and plantations,
this does not appear to be the case, but the greenfinch will per-
severingly attack the cones of some introduced trees of this family,
the superior size of which may make it easier for him to pick out
their seeds. To do this he does not, as the crossbill generally does,
detach the cone, but, hanging head downwards, upon it, or, should
this be too difficult, from a tuft of the surrounding pine-needles, inserts
his beak between the somewhat widely distended scales, and beats
with it upon them so quickly that the noise thus produced has quite
a vibratory ring in it, and is sufficiently loud to attract attention and
rouse curiosity. In doing this the bird moves its head so con-
tinuously and briskly that one is reminded of the way in which the
little woodpecker makes its drumming love-note in the spring-time
— the motion, however, is here more lateral. At last, if successful,
it pulls out the seed, and, flying off with it to some " more removed "
(or congenial) "ground" — as a shrubbery, in which it delights— there
tastes the reward of its labours, first, however, as in all other such
cases, shelling it.

It is in winter that I have seen the greenfinch acting in this
manner, and it is possible that in Scotland, where fir-forests become
a feature of the landscape, it may attack the seeds of these in the
same manner. If not, however — and I have not yet heard of its

1 Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii.
H

90 THE FINCHES

doing so — this perhaps makes my own observation the more interest-
ing, as showing us the first or earlier steps towards what might, in
time, and under favouring circumstances, become first a common,
and, at last, an almost exclusive habit. The larger cones, with their
scales, as I have seen them, more widely separated, should certainly
be easier than our own to rob, and, moreover, the seeds, being more
of a mouthful, or by the superiority of their flavour, may have made
a stronger appeal. But however this may be, we see here in this
familiar bird of our own, of ordinary Finch habits, the base, as it
were, of a ladder which, carried on, rung by rung, through various
members of the group to which it belongs, would link it, at last,
with the crossbill, whose structure has become abnormally modified,
and its geographical distribution more or less limited, in relation to
this particular diet.

To me, indeed, it has always seemed one of the most interest-
ing things in field natural history, that, by the study of habits not
yet become remarkable in our own fauna, we can often better under-
stand essentially similar, but more highly developed, ones belonging
to allied species that we may never, very likely, have the oppor-
tunity of observing. This perhaps is a line of thought which may
be carried to an extreme — descending into trivialities — and if so,
I confess that it is my habit and intention so to carry it. Thus,
having just, "as in a glass, darkly," seen the greenfinch become a
crossbill, I will now imagine him on the way to becoming a sparrow ;
not, indeed, in a bodily sense — as far as colour, at any rate, can do
so, he is protected from that — but in that extreme boldness and
familiarity, amounting almost — and some would say quite — to a vice,
which has come to be a birthright of the last-named species. I do
not believe that this was always inherent in the bird's nature. In
so far as his habitat lies beyond our proximity, he retains — who
can doubt it? — the wild graces which belong to the tree- and the
rock sparrow. The vulgar taint has been doubtless induced by a too

Plate 9

Greenfinches

By A. W. Seaby

THE FINCHES 91

near approach to civilised human-kind, and it is in the same way,
in my opinion, that the greenfinch also stands in danger of acquiring
it. If it be asked — and it is a question which the evolutionist always
should ask — by what path, I reply by that of the shrubberies. Except
the sparrow itself, I never knew a bird more fond of them, and it
is through this insidious snare, by which, as I believe, the sparrow
fell, that he too, I fear me, will fall.

For it brings him near the house, to the very walls of it some-
times— nay, into almost actual contact with the kitchen and scullery
premises, which are not seldom guarded in this way — and here he
habitually builds. With the windows open and the young in the
nest, what can be expected? From here to the pipes and gutters,
the housetop, and ultimately to the very front door, and under the
drawing-room windows, is a "facilis descensus Averni."

Up to the present, however — and may it always be so! — things
have not gone quite so badly, and it augurs well that some of the
more picturesque habits which the bird has brought with it from
the larger life of the fields, into the cramped air and confined
space of gardens, have not yet become obsolete. If it can preserve
them, it may perhaps preserve itself — morally I would be understood
to mean. Such a one is the pleasing way in which, as the year
wanes, these birds, when returning in small bands to roost, will
wheel, a little, in undulating flight above the dark place, before de-
scending into it. The air itself is dark, by this time, but it is light
against the opaque blackness amidst which you stand, and look up
at them. A few circles, and, with a little scurry, they are in, and,
for some moments, the place is full of sounds — fluttering and rush-
ing ones, with the harsh, overwhelming chirpings of more prosaically-
entering, or roused-up, sparrows, and perhaps the loud "mik, mik-
kings " of one or two half-civilised blackbirds. Then the voices sink,
the gloom deepens, and darkly they all creep to bed. This, then, is
one pleasing trait — though it be born out of darkness and winter —
that the greenfinch brings with him even into our near proximity.

92 THE FINCHES

In the spring or summer time the male has another, but it should
not be looked for in shrubberies. Perched, now, amidst the high
boughs of some whispering elm or poplar in an upright, bold atti-
tude, as his custom is, he will, from time to time, divert himself (but
not egotistically) by flying about its summit, singing the while, till,
from this high bower of minstrelsy, he mounts, of a sudden, to a still
prouder height, obliquely, and flapping his wings with such force, as
he does so, that, both above and below him, their tips touch, or try
to — you would think, were it cold (as it may be), that he was trying
to warm himself. After this bizarre fashion he will describe a circle
or two, and then, sinking — singing ever — alight, to rest, for a
little, either in the tree-top he has mounted from, or else in some
neighbouring one, from whence, in due time and in like manner,
he will return. The song thus out-welling is pleasing enough —
thin, but so would the sounds of elementals be — light as them-
selves— and so, and with something of such imagined charm, fall
these. Trilled forth by that small feathered atom, he seems
rather to be flying amongst them than to have any part in their
birth.

Very different are the sounds thus emitted to some others that
the bird has, when, seated lower and nearer, he will, time after time,
with monotonous regularity, give vent to a long, deep, uncomfort-
able note that seems to come squeezed out of him, like some painful
but positive duty. I have often tried to interpret the expression
in this sound, as gauged by my mere human ears, and my valuation
of it is always the same. It sounds to me as though the bird were
shocked at something — that and something else quite elusive. This
depressing performance is usually described as a scream — / call it
the Grundy (and something else) note — but the indefinability hardly
redeems it. I am aware that, between the pauses of his scandalisa-
tion, the greenfinch is supposed to sing — a low trill is especially
spoken of. It may be so, but personally I have waited — I have
had to wait sometimes — for hours, and during all that time the bird

THE FINCHES 93

has been steadily shocked at me — with others perhaps he would have
trilled.

I have said that the above diversion of the male greenfinch
(the penultimate one, I mean, in the air) was not egotistical. I
now make good my words by stating that it is nuptial — a combined
display of that kind both to eye and ear, in which not only must
the beauties of the vellow-green breast, as the bird mounts and

•i CJ

descends, be made clear to the up-glancing hen, but the lighter
and still brighter yellow — almost of a citron hue — bordering the
wings upon their upper surface, must also, when thus flashed rapidly
downwards, be strikingly recommended to her kindly consideration.
But there is not only the charm of colour here, as well as of music,
but also that of the flight itself; and in the beauty, or strangeness,
of this, one would have a sufficient reason for such a performance,
were the greenfinch no brighter than the lark. Indeed in the sky-
lark's soaring — too high surely even for a bird to see well — we have,
very probably, the ultimate expansion of the nuptial allurement,
become now a joy in itself.

If the single flight-matrimonial of the greenfinch be pretty to
witness, the double one of the chaffinch — our little Coelebs — is more —
much more — than this. Here there is nothing of bizarrerie, of some-
thing which, though enjoyable, is almost uncouth — for the wing and
body action of Chloris are open to this charge — but all is beauty,
nothing but beauty and grace. Out of some high tree in which
they have sat for some time, invisibly, calling to one another, the
pair sweep, suddenly, in downward flight, pressed, at times, almost
together, so close is the race, and still conversing as they sink.
The effect in this is not gained by the striving for it ; the motion,
though swift as an arrow, is yet effortless, for the wings are but
spread, and the bright little birds swim, as it were, upon them, down
the thin waters of the air, with those almost sensuous curves, flexions,
slidings, glidings, which so fill, yet never to satiety, the human eye.
Nearing the ground, they undulate, for a little, above it, then with

94 THE FINCHES

a swift upward, as before with a swift downward, sweep, shoot to their
sylvan banks again, and are out of sight.1

But this, however exquisite, can hardly be called a display ;
a mutual expansion one may term it, rather, without arriere-pensee,
and only unconsciously lovely. It is after another fashion that the
male, as wooer, plays his own proper role. For this he is well
fitted. In coloration, the male greenfinch may a little excel
him ; still he is more varied and his figure daintier — also he
wears shoulder-knots, which Chloris does not. This last, perhaps,
is the root of the matter with those most concerned in it ; yet still
Coelebs' breast, if not resplendent, is quite satisfactory, so that, his
carriage being less upright than is that of some others of the family
— Pyrrhula, for instance, as well as Chloris — it has interested me to
see him dilating on this theme, to the female, from a spray some-
thing above her, in the hawthorn where both were domiciled. She
must thus have had a very fine view of it, nor did the snow-white,
gleaming patches on the wings, before alluded to, suffer in the least,
they being made to play a part even beyond that of the other.

Shoulder-knots indeed (for such I call them) are the chaffinch's
chief glory, and were they to fall out of fashion he would be quite lost.
His method with them is a little to expand the wings, by which they
become fuller, bending, as he does so, if his position make it advisable,
both forward and downward, singing all the while most vociferously,
moving his wings, expanding his tail, and twitching and jerking him-
self about in such a tense, high-wrought state of excitement, that he
may almost be said to dance upon the spray. These patches, in fact,
are very fine ornaments, and, though only white, are so bright and
glancing that they look almost like silver, sometimes, when the sun
shines on them. Sometimes too they are so large, and the feathers
forming them so thick and matlike, that, when thus displayed, they
have the appearance of two oval, or almost round, bosses, projecting
noticeably beyond the general surface of the plumage. But there are

1 See Witchell's interesting observations, recorded in the Zoologist for May 1898.

THE FINCHES 95

birds and birds, in this respect, and I have been so struck with indi-
viduals, especially one who looked as though two very large flakes of
snow had fallen symmetrically upon him (it was May, indeed, and
East Anglia, yet not snowing), that I believe, in some cases, shoulder-
knots — as has happened before,1 and like other such rages — must be
carried to an extreme.

But if the shoulder-knots of the chaffinch are worth the showing,
those of the goldfinch, being what his name implies them to be — not
silver, merely, but gold — are even more so. With him too they are
his chief glory, even surpassing, in the effect they produce, that rich
small patch of crimson-lake that burns upon his forehead, cheeks, and
throat — that little hood, or half-hood, it looks like, through which the
front part of the face is so almost comically thrust — for, indeed, the
bird seems rather to have put it on separately than to wear it as part
of his own feathering ; it is so sharply defined, and goes such a little
way back, that the eye — the human eye — almost misses something,
almost cries out for more. This perhaps — and it may be here
remarked that the very theory of gradually increasing adornment, in
the male bird, frees us from the necessity of thinking each successive
stage of it perfect — gives the preference to the rich, sunny sheen of
the wings, with which view the bird's own actions, when he woos the
hen, seem to accord ; 2 for, standing before her, with wings a little
spread — on the large, high bough of an elm, perhaps, and here the
pair may make their nest — he alternately flashes in her admiring eyes
first one and then another of these golden lures, turning himself, to do
it, from side to side, so swiftly that he seems rather to sway than to
bend, till, coming nearer, and growing more and more excited, with
glint on glint he makes the air an aureole about her, and almost sets
his Danae in a shower of gold. And so she yields, assuming always
that there is no obstacle, and that the pliant hour has been taken, for
with finches too — even with goldfinches — it is not always that the

1 See Swift : " This fellow has no soul, where are his shoulder-knots ? "

2 Jenner Weir, as referred to by Darwin in the Descent of Man.

96 THE FINCHES

course of true love runs smooth; and should a more richly-tinted
suitor appear, it is quite possible (or even likely) that his shower will
prevail. But this is a risk from which, by the very principle of sexual
selection, no male is exempt. Beginning with the first dawn of
appreciative perception on the part of the female, the law travels
right upwards ; and perhaps one of the greatest pleasures to be
derived from the observation of these simple little bird-courtships is
that we may often see in them the germ, or symbolic forecast, of
those far higher ones that take place amongst ourselves.

The above-described courtship of Carduelis is, perhaps, the most
remarkable performance of the kind, practised by any of our British
finches,1 and here I would draw attention to a feature which so many
of the FringillincB possess in common, that, whether distinctive or not,
it may fairly be called a family one. I allude to the combination of
vocal and artistic charms by which the males of the various species
are accustomed to win the affections of their respective hens. It
has for long passed as an axiom that these two means of attraction
are not to be found united in a high or an equal degree, yet such
examples to the contrary as the king bird of paradise, who has a
"beautiful, melodious, warbling song, enchanting to hear,"2 and the
lyre bird — praised almost as enthusiastically by Australians for its
music, as it is shot by them for its tail — would of themselves be
sufficient, even if they stood alone, to show that there is no necessary
antagonism between the one and the other.

Probably the reverse is the case, for since even the dullest-
coloured birds are attracted and made happy both by the appearance
and voice of their mates — as how should they not be ? — there seems
no reason why both should not have been improved simultaneously,
as making up, between them, the personal charm. Rightly considered,
there is amongst birds more equality, in the same* individual, of song

1 "Mr. Weir informs me that no other British finch turns thus from side to side during
his courtship, not even the closely allied male siskin, for he would not thus add to his
beauty." — Descent of Man, vol. ii. p. 105, 1888.

2 See Ibis for 1907, pp. 227-8.

Plate 1O

Tree-sparrow building its Nest (see Plate V)

By Alfred Priest

Two cock House-sparrows courting a hen

By Winifred Austen

THE FINCHES 97

and adornment than of any other two attributes, altogether distinct
from one another, as, for instance, those of flight, running, climbing,
swimming, etc., in more than one of which no bird excels ; or, rather,
the combination of the first two is not so much an exception as a law
that is often in abeyance. The Finches, as it appears to me, illustrate
this law upon a moderate plane, and if, by establishing this, I can
make them in any degree instrumental to the dissipation of a fallacy
which has run through both hemispheres, I shall have done the world
and them some service — how much it is not for me to say.

This, I think, should be easy, for if the greenfinch sings only
sufficiently well, let us say, to make him just a singer, is he not
equally, by his plumage, just a pretty bird ? and if the goldfinch be a
very pretty one — for looking to the " Class Aves," as a whole, one dare
not claim more for him — is not his song superior, almost, if not quite,
in the same degree ? Then, descending, we have the twite, who, in
this connection, may be instructively opposed to the linnet. The song
of the male is undeniably inferior, and so, too, is his special adorn-
ment, the rosy flush above the tail. Yet both he possesses, and both,
to the same end, he uses. The first he ekes out, as it were, with an
attractive upward flight and descent,1 whilst to show the last to
advantage, he will, time after time, both open and depress the wings,2
by which it is not only seen to the full, but with an added charm — for
the spread wing is ever a beauty. In the sparrow, again — Domesiicus,
I mean, he of notoriety ; his uncorrupted cousin, Mvntanus, may top
him " by the altitude of a chopine " — we have a basic example of the
same thing. True, he cannot properly be said to possess either vocal
or bodily attractions, but since he thinks he has both, and acts on that
conviction, he stands essentially on the same footing — indeed offers
a good illustration of the principle under examination. With drooped
wings, and actions in which an attempt to look sentimental seems to
struggle with the habitual self-satisfaction and air of vulgar import-

1 Macpherson and Harvie-Brown, Fauna of N.- W. Scotland.

2 T. A. Coward and C. Oldham, Birds of Cheshire.

N

98 THE FINCHES

ance which is natural to him, he will hop (or several may thus hop)
about the hen, at whose hands or, rather, at whose beak, he often, for
his pains, receives the most cruel and, apparently, inappreciative treat-
ment ; for she will dart upon him and peck him, not merely for a peck
or two, but continuously and for minutes at a time — so, at least, it
has seemed to me, whilst to the bird itself it may well have appeared
longer. Still he is able to recommend himself, and he does so by
methods essentially the same, if not so developed and elaborate, as
those which the goldfinch, the linnet, or the bullfinch employ. For
instance, he wears, and is justly proud of, a black cravat. It is his
one striking point, and he would be mad to neglect it. Nor does he,
but, standing before her, and throwing his head upwards, so that she
cannot escape it, he seems often, like Beau Brummel, whom at such
times he greatly resembles, to bid her " look — and die ! "

To some it may seem that, in our last-named example, the bull-
finch, that correspondence which has been postulated between the
degree of beauty and of vocal excellence is not quite so close ; that,
on the one hand, he is more showy than his song, whilst, on the other,
those sweet flute-notes, so soft, so low, and yet so woodland-wild,
issue from a form a little too full, too rounded — too fat, if one
must say so — for perfect poetic appropriateness. But, in the first
place, this has been so, and still is, with many of our most cele-
brated singers — tenors especially — so that, by mere association of
ideas, it should seem to us correct ; and then too, even if — which I
deny — the form jar slightly — no, not that, it cannot do that ! — but if
it seem, to some, not quite absolutely in consonance, is there not the
colour also to be considered ? and that— -! There is something —
so it seems to me — in that exquisite, soft, blood-peach bloom of one
whole half of the bird, that exactly tallies with those soul-drawing
notes. These, by the way, are not the song, technically so-called, but
only the call or talking notes, those sweet and low — so low that one
must be near to hear them — "dee-ew, dee-ews," followed by their
still softer and lower "dee-it, dee-its"; but if a bird be musical,

THE FINCHES 99

not only in its song but in its conversation also, should not that be
reckoned in with it ?

Many, it is true — perhaps most — will think that the prelude here,
as it may at any time become, is superior to the actual symphony, and
in record to the point under consideration, opinions must a good deal
depend on whether the artistic or musical craving is most strongly
developed in the soul of the listener, who, however — a combination
not always easy here — should contrive to be a see-er also. But be
this as it may, few will dispute that Pyrrhula, in his person — his full
masculine person I would say — is an honour to the Finch family.
Were he only as the female is, still he would be a sightly bird, but
being as he is, who shall describe him ? Luckily there is no need to,
for though not, in England, as common as one could wish — not like the
chaffinch or greenfinch — still, but once seen he is not to be forgotten,
and there is hardly a fruit-grower in the country who has not been
favoured, at least to this extent, whilst on most the privilege has been
bestowed with a less jejune hand.

The grand feature is, of course, the breast, or rather the whole
under surface, as well as the sides of the body, with a charming upper
encroachment almost into the region of the nape, and of this splendid
development nothing that would not do it wrong can be said, except
this, that it is the work of a great colourist. Nor can any one be in
error as to the motif of the thing, its true meaning. To see it is
to know, at once, what the bird does with it. No more than if
Mr. Pepys were to stand before us in one of his new " Jackanape
coats" ("cost me twenty pounds " or so), can we doubt on what point,
in this wooing, the stress will be laid. The attack must be frontal — and
it is.1 Yet not exclusively so ; to a certain extent it may be said to be
from the rear also, for whilst the soft feathers of that incomparable
facade, in whose very quality there is something, even when they lie
close and sleek, as they sometimes do, which suggests puffiness, are
puffed now to the very limit of this capacity — increasing, almost

1 See Jenner Weir, as referred to by Darwin in the Descent of Man.

100 THE FINCHES

indefinitely, the sunset area — the black tail, brought round with
strenuous motions, presents itself, now upon the one flank, now the
other,1 like the homelier relief action in a drama whose almost too
powerful interest might, if untempered, keep the spirits too much at
a tension. Of course the velvet of the smooth round head plays here
its part, also, and the same is the case with the fiery forehead of the
goldfinch and the chaffinch's little blue crown.

For the latter bird, his little simple roundelay, trolled out so
constantly through the spring and livelong summer day, that the
country, at that time, would hardly seem the country without it, is
fairly on a par, perhaps, with his more moderate degree of adornment,
and, as we have seen, he is equally anxious to do justice to both. It is
the same with the other members of the family — the crossbill, gros-
beak, siskin, twite, linnet, brambling, and the rest. All these birds
have, in varying degrees, adornments which they make good use of, all
have a song, and in most, if not all of them, there is some rough
correspondence between the extent to which both are developed
in the same species.

This is the case with the two first-named, who both sing melodi-
ously,2 with the brambling, who, under proper conditions, does also,3
with the siskin, who is both less adorned and less musical, with the
twite, to whom this applies on a still lower plane, and pre-eminently
— upwards again — with the linnet.4 For the song of the latter, he
confessedly excels in it all other of our finches, but I also acclaim him
the most beautiful, for there is something in that Lucrece breast of his,
which, for me, strikes a higher note than anything in the more extended
and worked-up adornments of either the goldfinch or bullfinch. It is
hard indeed — there is something like inconstancy, with remorse, about
it — to have to give up the breast of the latter, having but just praised it
so warmly ; but I cannot help preferring the colour of the linnet's, and,

1 See Jenner Weir, as referred to by Darwin in the Descent of Man.

2 For the grosbeak see Naumaun, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mittelcuropas, iii.

3 Collett, as quoted in Sharpe and Dresser's Birds of Europe.

4 Naumann, op. cit.

Plate 11

Cock Linnet in summer plumage (upper bird) and hen

By A. W. Seaby

THE FINCHES 101

for the rest, the masterly way in which it is dashed in, and its coming,
as it were, out of nothing, pleases me more. It is not such a finished, or
seeming-finished, performance — for here, perhaps, we have the summa
ars of nature — but it is freer, less studied, and so more artistically
effective. The way it begins is beautiful, and so is the way it ends;
— those tragic stains full of dramatic suggestiveness ! It surprises
one too — I give but my field impressions — even when one most looks
for it, for, not only in the bird's quiet colouring, otherwise, but in
his ways and actions, careless, as they are, and unstudied, there is
nothing that leads up to or ushers it in, which makes that when it
does come — full, in some careless turn or poise — it never comes
tamely, but as though it had leapt from the dark. True, there is the
blood-red forehead also, and the shafts of white light in the tail, but for
the last to flash out, the tail must be fanned ; and, withal, the bird
is but little, and, from only the least distance, looks as sober and
unpronounced as many a duller one — as a hedge-sparrow, sometimes,
almost — till, all in a moment, that breast — like a wound — bursts
upon one.

One may envy the hen linnet, that has a breast like this carefully
shown her — for here there is nothing unstudied — but I was once, my-
self, all undesignedly, almost as highly favoured ; indeed, for the time it
lasted, which was by much too short, I doubt if ever a hen of them all
had a finer (I do not say a closer) view. It was one of those lonely
little pools — ponds, tarns — I know not which to call them — that in
Suffolk often surprise one, suddenly, in the middle of a ploughed field
or other such agricultural surroundings, as unpeopled, very often, as
the desert itself. This one, where it happened, was deep set in the
ground, almost circular, a steep brushwood bank running up from
it, topped with young elms, still slender, but tall in their degree,
the two together shutting out, as though it could never have
existed, the more familiar little world around — a place of stillness,
of absolute peace and forgetting, with a disc of late sunlight
on the dark water, decked, from shore to shore, with delicate,

102 THE FINCHES

bronze-hued leaves that looked like those of a small water-lily — there
I was watching. The greenfinch had drunk there, and so had the
pheasant, and the thrush still stood, silently, within a hop's length,
though he had come for a water-snail. Then he drew a little back, for
a moment, half startled at a small rushing sound, as, out of the elm-
tops and right into the still-lying sunshine, a bird, like a meteor, shot
impetuously down, and then up, and then down again, with a pen-
dulum swing, going from one side to another, in a series of bold,
sweeping dashes, each one like a ray of blood. The last reached the
water, and there, in its very centre, poised on a lily-leaf, the bird stood,
his magnificent breast flashing and kindling in the sun, and drank
daintily. One greenfinch — whom he seemed to disdain — was drinking
there too, not far from him, his body partly submerged in the water
— half frightened at his own boldness — but the daintier weight of the
linnet scarce wetted him whilst he sipped. That was a picture — and
the thrush now was banging his water-snail.

Everything that the linnet does he does daintily. Even feeding,
which is a gross thing in itself, is not so with him. You may see him
in the spring-time, sometimes, when daisies are about, stretching up
and bending over one of them, to crop its golden crown, and his
partner, the hen, will fly up beside him, to share the poetical meal.
There is no more pretty conjugal scene, but that breast of the male
is almost too much, sometimes, for it seems to be bleeding. It is not
like the redbreast's, who never has moved me so, but right blood,
to my fancy, and splotched upon the feathers as if it were welling
out of them.

Since, however, it has not been acquired in that way, how has
it been ? — and how has that of the male bullfinch, greenfinch, chaf-
finch, with their plumage generally, the crossbill's too, and the gold
and red cap of the goldfinch — the question comprises all of them —
how have they all been acquired ? Protective amalgamation with
the general hues of the landscape is here excluded, even for the
extreme modern exponents of that view, for not only, were it valid,

THE FINCHES 103

should the females be brighter, instead of duller, than the males—
since they more need protection— but the very males themselves are
hardly bright enough to satisfy them; the parrot tribe, in which
neither of these drawbacks obtain, and, of these, the macaws, more
especially — the scarlet one, say, Ara macao for choice — would reward
their ingenuity better.

The next-favoured hypothesis is that of superior vitality in the
male, leading to the acquisition by him alone of colour, frills, lappets,
etc., at that period especially when vital energy is most required in
the cock bird, whilst the hen, who needs but little for egg-laying, nest-
building, and care of the young, remains unaffected — in youth, that
is to say. In age, having lost the capacity for these things, and
become more vigorous in consequence, she may sometimes (as noticed
by Darwin) assume the attributes of the male to a minor degree-
striking collateral testimony to the truth of the main proposition !

Accepted frankly, this theory is incidentally useful, as giving us
a sure insight into comparative bird psychology and temperament,
for since, according to it, the more vigorous the males of any species
are, the brighter they glow, we see at once that the cock bullfinch,
for instance, whatever the hen may be, is a much brisker bird, not
only than the sparrow, but even than the sparrow-hawk and others
of the Accipitres, or than the swift, swallow, martin, etc., which we
should never have found out had we been forced to rely on our
own unaided observation. If, indeed, we allow ourselves to be
guided by this, as well as by common knowledge, it becomes
apparent that the world is full of extremely vigorous birds that are
dull, and much less vigorous ones that are brightly coloured ; but
these we are at liberty to account for as exceptions to a rule
which, in accordance with a well-known axiom, they thus help to
prove.

But if still unsatisfied, we are then driven back upon the generally
unpopular doctrine of sexual selection, which, though it has every
possible evidence of fact in its favour — even to that of the process

104 THE FINCHES

having, upon various occasions, been actually seen x — is as strongly
at variance with certain dogmas and presuppositions to which a value
still more decisive than that of evidence has, for long, been accorded.
The difficulty has always lain with the hen bird, who, by admiring,
as the theory said she did, something that only man could be held
sufficiently aesthetic to appreciate, interfered with his monopoly of
a certain high spiritual faculty, and thus gave a deep dig at his pride.
For the cock, there could be no doubt that he did thus exhibit himself
before the hen, and since vanity was a spiritual faculty which man was
willing to share with his inferiors, less difficulty was experienced in
admitting that he might, upon such occasions, feel something as we do
when we act in a similar fashion. The thing was winked at ; but when
it came to the hen's appreciating his beauty, to the extent, even, of
choosing him for it, here was a different matter. If so, then she
shared an aesthetic sense with man, who alone, it was held, was
privileged to admire, let us say, a male Argus-pheasant, though to no
one, except to a female Argus-pheasant, had proper facilities for doing
so been given. Still, clearly, the thing was impossible, and though
the facts before mentioned were not in dispute, a more reasonable
explanation of them was held to be that cock birds, all the world over,
were mistaken in their estimate of hen birds,2 and so, misled by vanity,
went through a variety of most remarkable performances, all clearly
designed to further their wishes, but which did them no good whatever.
No matter what the cock did, or what he thought. If only the hen
were indifferent all would be well, and so, since the sole possession of
an aesthetic sense by man was not a claim to be lightly surrendered,

1 I have myself witnessed it in the case of several species, including especially the ruff
and blackcock. See my papers, " Observations tending to throw light on the Theory of Sexual
Selection, etc.," in The Zoologist for June, August, and November 1906, and February, May,
and October 1907, and "An Observational Diary on the Nuptial Habits of the Blackcock in
Scandinavia and England " in the same for November 1909, January and February 1910, etc.

* A delusion shared, as is now known, by male spiders, who dance before the female to her
most evident satisfaction, and, to demonstration, thus win her. See the famous paper by
Professor and Mrs. Peckham, as also remarks thereon by Professor Poulton, in The Colours
of Animals (International Scientific Series). The title and appeariography of said paper
will here be found. It should be read in full by all evidentially interested, but not more
so than my own papers referred to on p. 52.

THE FINCHES 105

indifferent, in despite of Darwin and common sense, she was held

to be.

Whether she really is, however, should be, as I hold — without
disrespect to either of those two great names — a matter for every

man's at least for every ornithologist's — field observation ; and, for

my own part, since I have seen her, on various occasions, very much
other than indifferent— to the extent of watching battles urged on
her account, assaulting one or other of the single combatants, driving
off third-comers, and choosing, in the plainest way, males that she as
plainly preferred l — I hold her to be only so, occasionally, and as even
women sometimes unaccountably are, in the presence of masculine
pose and charm. In fact, I know her to be impressionable, though
capricious, and sometimes cold, and so, since I am not at all smitten
with what I call man- or Yahoo-pride, and am of opinion, more-
over, that, even if the hen bird had an entire want of the esthetic
sense, she would share that almost as much with us as I think she
does its possession, I explain all these doings and wooings and
plumatic or other adornments, whether of finches or other birds, as
due to the agency of sexual selection, which appears to me to be as
well made out as natural selection itself, and a very great deal better
than either warning coloration or recognition marks. If it has had
to wait thus long for acceptance, it is because it attacks that last
stronghold of man's self-worship — now that the body has gone — the
mind. That a bird should admire ! That a butterfly should be
tickled as we are !

Nuptial display, either vocal or ornamental, is, of course, in
finches as in birds generally, the prelude to nesting and general
domestic activities, and in our pleasant little lesser redpoll — Linota
rufescens — we can point — that is to say, we might once have pointed —
to one of the family, at any rate, belonging to this country, who, in the
opinion of at least one ornithologist of repute, does — that is, did — us
the distinguished honour of breeding nowhere else. He is also — this

1 See footnote 1, p. 104.
O

106 THE FINCHES

at least is established — the smallest of our finches, so that his claim
to our regard and interest is — or was — twofold, though in what two
ways the debt has ever been paid, other than through the twin
ambition to possess both his skin and his eggs, I have yet to learn.
It has even been thought by some that this diminutive species, the
eleventh smallest on our list, is distinctively British, in the way that
the red grouse is so ; but this view was happily abandoned before
there had been time for extermination to follow upon it, as it otherwise
most certainly would have done, seeing that the lesser redpoll is not
a game bird.1 And now, too, the old opinion in regard to this little
bird's peculiar love of our island must either be held to have been
erroneous, or else it has shaken off its insular prejudices and become
cosmopolitan. It has now, for some time, been domestically estab-
lished, by Dr. Hartert and others, both in West and Central Europe,
and Dr. Hartert, moreover — though in this he stands opposed to
both Tschusi and Deichler — declares that British and continental
specimens are indistinguishable. May this point not be tested by a
few hundred thousand comparisons ! 2

In spite of the merits, real or imagined, of the lesser-redpoll, his
cousin Linaria, the mealy-redpoll (so named, we are told, from a certain
farinaceous appearance of the plumage), is perhaps the more interest-
ing bird of the two, partly by reason of his more linnet-like breast and
richer " poll," but more on account of his tit-like activity amidst the tops
of trees, and free, bold flight, many together, the call-notes uttered, as
the linnet's are, on the wing — in fine, by a certain charm of manner,
a wild way which he brings with him from the north. These latter
traits link him, yet subtly, to the siskin also, who conies mostly, like
himself, in the winter, and whose entertaining, or most entertaining,
springtide activity, as performed by the male, is but seldom seen in
this country. For mounting, with blythe song, from the summit of some

1 The red grouse, of course, is, to which fact it owes its preservation.

s This is not said without warrant— even recent warrant. I protest against certain
pedantic slaughters to which our birds— a part of the national wealth of the country— may,
in spite of the law, be exposed.

Plate 12

Lesser-redpolls (three upper birds) and Siskins (two lower yellow-green birds)

By A. W. Seaby

«. .- £ i- » c
»0*

THE FINCHES 107

dark or snow-clad pine-tree in the forests where these birds love to
build, he circles a little above it, smiting his wings above his back, and
then, with fanned tail and swelled plumage, sinks slowly down again to
where the hen sits admiring. This, it will be seen, is a very similar
exhibition to that of the greenfinch, yet, as probably in all such cases,
there are marked points of difference between the two, the latter bird
endeavouring with success to make itself outre by a novel method of
flight, whilst the former achieves the same result both through this and
the additional (or perhaps more pronounced) expedient of dilating
the plumage, which gives it a curious puffy appearance that shows
strangely in the air.

Mere shadow of the redpolls, a vanishing gleam of the linnet, the
twite is a bird which, in his building proclivities, really does show a
marked preference for the British Isles, since, with the exception of
some others, less famous in history, off the west coast of Norway, and,
more sparingly, the adjacent mainland, with now and then a honeymoon
in Sweden or North Russia, he would seem to breed nowhere else. The
locality, however, must be suitable, by which he understands moors,
heaths, and such like desolate, wild places, owing to which isolation
his clutches, as I would fain hope, often escape those of the collector,
however scientific ; nor was it, indeed, till towards the end of the
seventeenth century that he himself, even, was, most unfortunately,
discovered, and booked as a British species. For his own sake — and
mine — I could wish that he still lived incognito, or that, since he
must be so restricted, he had chosen some comfortable spot in the
Desert of Sahara or at the North or South Pole, from whence, his
non-British-laid eggs having performed their true function, he might,
with comparative safety, have repaired to us during the later months
of the vear.

%>

However, he breeds with us, in which connection may be men-
tioned a curious habit which this bird seems, in some parts of Eng-
land, to have acquired, of decorating his somewhat rude nest with one
or, at most, with two feathers, being usually the hackle feathers of the

108 THE FINCHES

cock. Whence comes this odd fancy ? A feather loosely stuck into
the outside of it (as I gather) can answer no purpose in the construc-
tion of the nest, so that we seem almost compelled to attribute its
persistent presence there to that aesthetic feeling which, however it
may be denied, some birds do most certainly possess. I have myself
seen the nest of the more ornate cormorant, or shag, gay with the
flowers of the forget-me-not, whilst others had pieces of bleached
spar sticking out from them, presenting a clean, white appearance,
which might have pleased the eye of a savage, as well as a bird,1 but
as useless, otherwise, as the twite's one or two feathers. In this latter
case, especially, the limitation of the number thus used is an evidence,
as it seems to me, of the nature of the impulse at work. Were the
object here structural, more would probably be required and used, but
it is conceivable that one only, or a couple, might be sufficient to
satisfy the bird's aesthetic needs, just as one plume or one carcass on
her head will sometimes glut those of a woman.

The statement on which the above remarks are founded is (with
my own underlinings) as follows : — " One day," says Mr. W. H. Parker,
in the Zoologist of November 1905, " my son and I found six nests.
Every one of these nests had the conspicuous feather (occasionally two)
that we Bradfordians have noted so frequently, when photographing the
nest, so that we expect always to find this odd adornment.'" On another
day : "We found No. 1, and after a careful examination could not find
even the odd feather ; again we find another, not a feather in it,
another surprise. This, too, when we had almost come to believe that, as
far as our own district colony was concerned, twites never built without this
adornment. Only a few days later and every nest found contained a
feather (or feathers}, mostly the hackle feathers of the farm-yard
rooster." To some it may appear that I am making too much of the
matter, but I do not myself think so. Nothing, to my mind, is so
interesting or, from the point of view of origin, so important, as the

1 See Bird Watching, pp. 174-5. The skeleton of a puffin, partly bleached, yet with the
feathers of the wings still adhering, had also been thus made use of, and is perhaps still
more "convincing."

Plate 13

Twite and its Nest

By G. B. Collins

THE FINCHES 109

earlier stages in any peculiar, or indeed in any, habit. Who would
not be glad to find them in the case of the bower-birds ? But when
only the advanced stage is known, the origin may be difficult even to
conjecture. Therefore the slightest indication should be carefully
noted, for it may help to solve problems both of the past and the
future. The fact that the twite puts a layer of feathers in its nest,
which it then covers with wool, hair, etc., does not appear to me to
destroy the value of these Bradford observations. Feathers stuck
conspicuously into another part, and suggesting an " odd adornment "
to all who see them, are something different. The process would
appear to be this — feathers are in use, feathers are decorative ; some
birds appreciate this, and add decoration to use. It is not the long
step, but the little one, in evolutionary reasoning, that we should be on
the watch for — natura nonfacit saltum.

The same aesthetic instinct has been observed in the case of the
goldfinch.1 " They were picking," says Colonel Ward, " from my flower-
beds sprigs of the blue forget-me-not, which they immediately carried
up to the nest, and used for its adornment."2 It may be noted,
incidentally, that both birds were doing this. It was the same with the
cormorant, and equally a novelty in either case. But the beautiful,
soft, sky-like blue, no less than the green and the gold of their own
plumage, was admired by each of the architects — and why not ? Has
not much of the difficulty in these matters been made by the fine
word " aesthetic " ? What, after all, is it to be pleased with some-
thing bright ? We do not think much of it in a baby ; why should
we in a bird ? 3 Find some short Saxon word for the thing, of the
" brute-meaning " type, and all will be well. But admit the rudiment,
and I myself can see no reason why a bird should not become more
aesthetic, in some special direction, than many a man is, generally.
Why should I not think so, seeing that my experience, as a cyclist,

1 See also Dr. Martin Braess in regard to the decoration of its nest by the starling with
violets, hyacinth, narcissus, primrose, etc., Dasheimische Vogelleben, p. 146.

2 Field, 1891, Ixxviii. 415.

3 The jackdaw— especially he of Rheims— may be considered.

110 THE FINCHES

has taught me never to ask any question, when exploring, in regard
to the relative beauty of this or that road ? Your rustic and your
barn-door fowl are alike here.

The house-sparrow is another of our finches who has " ideas " on
the subject of nest-building. In trees, which lie open to the weather,
he prefers a domed residence, but dispenses, to some extent, with
such addition, where the projecting eaves or parapets of buildings
supply him at once with a roof.1 This has been called an intelligent
adaptation of habits to changed conditions ; but, though it may be
so, it seems also possible that the adaptation need not imply much
intelligence. In a word, does the sparrow reflect that, having already
a dome, he need no longer build one, or, finding that there is one,
does he either come to think he has built it, or recognise the fact
that it is there ? In the one case there would be intelligence, in the
other a mere puzzled acquiescence. A sparrow, no doubt, upon
finding itself under the dome of its nest would have certain satisfied
sensations, assuring it that all was well. Would it not be likely to
receive a similar assurance though the dome took the form of a
parapet? The darkness, the quietude, the security — all would be there,
producing, it seems likely, by association, the actual feeling of having
made the nest ; but this would not apply to the cold stone flooring
before it had been properly wadded. The fact (as it is asserted to be)
that, on these occasions, the dome is not entirely, but only partially,
dispensed with, is in favour, I think, of the explanation here offered.
Did the thought, " There is a dome ; therefore why build one ? "
pass through the mind of the bird, we might expect to find none at
all built by it, at least in some instances ; but the sensation of the nest
being all that it should be would increase as the building continued,
till it became too strong to be resisted, when the work would be
abandoned. It seems to me possible, therefore, that this change
(which, however, is not universal) may have been brought about
rather through the senses than through the intellectual faculties, nor

1 See Romanes' Animal Intelligence (Int. Scient. Series).

THE FINCHES 111

is evidence, in my opinion, wanting to show that some actions which
have all the appearance of being intelligent, and may even now have
become so, have had a similar, or even a more purely physical, origin.
The subject is interesting, but has been badly neglected.

As the domed nest is no doubt an advance upon the open one,
and as no other finch in our islands (if it be not Passer montanus)
builds in this way, it may be argued that our little homely town
brownie stands first as an architect. As an artist, however, all must
admit that he is greatly excelled by the chaffinch, whose dainty little
cup of moss and lichen — sometimes to be seen in our hedges, more
often not to be, in trees — is one of the most beautiful and charming
objects produced by any British bird. This most attractive family
residence is completed by the hen in the space of three weeks, for
though the male attends her when she is thus busied, yet it is only to
gaze and admire, or, at most, he will sometimes, though rarely, collect
materials to pass into her shaping bill. Harting,1 at least, and
others would thus limit his capacities, but it is to be observed that
Naumann2 does not entirely corroborate this, but gives some share
of the work to the male. He seems to imply — for the meaning is not
quite evident — that, in the first enthusiasm of the enterprise, he
works with the hen, but that his assistance becomes more and more
irregular, till at last he ceases to proffer it, and only sings.

Besides the ordinary moulding and shaping of the material by
the pressure of the breast and wings, and the use of the beak, it has
been supposed that a firmer adherence of the component parts to one
another is secured by the bird's employment of its saliva, in order to
cement them together. This is a point on which, perhaps, more
evidence is needed, but that spiders' webs are made use of for a
similar purpose is matter of common observation.3 The interior of
this sweet little snuggery is a perfect idyll of cosiness. Wool, soft, yet
elastic, supports a smooth — one might almost say a polished — lining

1 Birds of Middlesex.

2 Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleur&pas, iii.

3 Before it had become so, it was recorded by Brehm and Waterton.

112 THE FINCHES

of horse-hair, on which a few feathers lie softly curled, like kittens
asleep on a bed. Here either the two birds sit, alternately, or only
the hen does, or the male but occasionally, or just for a little while,
according to authority and the state of their minds.

The brambling's birch-built nest, if not made quite so neatly and
delicately as the last, is almost prettier, whilst the materials made use
of, drawn from woods higher-lying and wilder than our own, give to it
a sort of northern charm and expression. Green mosses, indeed, that
we know, or that seem familiar, make the outer woof of it, and are
bound with such webbings of spider or caterpillar as the chaffinch
uses, but it is starred all over with flat, disc-like pieces of white
lichen, which, mingling with strips of peeled birch-bark, also white or
of a pale, glaucous hue, give to the whole a silvery appearance, half soft
and half shining, like the tree against which it lies pressed. Within
there is wool, and, on that, the feathers of the white grouse or ptar-
migan, which show above the rim, curling inwards so as almost to
"quite over-canopy" the brooding bird.1 The nest is much larger
than that of the chaffinch.2 This bird-gem of the north is placed
generally in a spruce or birch-tree — if the latter (which seems to be
the one preferred 3), in the fork where a main branch leaves the trunk,
at some ten or twelve feet from the ground.4 If the spruce is
chosen, both the nest and the visiting birds are more effectively
concealed amidst the dark drooping frondage and streaming lichens
that hang down like tails from each bough. These latter may become
now the chief or even the only building materials employed.5
Whether, either by such or other means, the bird consciously
endeavours to hide its nest is perhaps a nice point, in connection
with which the following interesting habit, which it would appear to
have, may be mentioned. " I have noticed," says Collett (author of
Bird Life in Arctic Norway}, " that in the west, where Corvus comix is a

1 J. Gould, Birds of Great Britain.

2 E. R. Alton and J. A. Harvie-Brown, quoted in Sharpe and Dresser's Birds of Europe.

3 Sharpe and Dresser (op. cit.), who quote Gould and P. and P. Godman.

4 E. R. Alton and J. A. Harvie-Brown in Sharpe and Dresser, op. cit.
6 R. Collett, as quoted by Sharpe and Dresser in op. cit.

THE FINCHES 113

dreaded robber of the eggs and young of small birds, when compelled
to leave its nest for food or any other purpose it generally hides the
eggs amongst the moss at the bottom of the nest." Seeing that the
moss is beneath the wool and feathers on which the eggs lie, this
surely is very remarkable, nor do I know that a similar habit has been

J V

observed in any other of our finches.

I may here, however, refer incidentally to an interesting and
somewhat similar trait of character which has been observed in the
crossbill. " If," says Keller, " the bird finds itself under observation
whilst in the neighbourhood of its nest, it drops suddenly, like a lump
of lead, from the tree,2 and disappears amidst the underwood. It
shortly emerges upon the other side, to repeat the manosuvre if paid
further attention to, and, if followed, will lead the intruder farther
and farther from its nest, until, satisfied with the success of its
stratagem, it mounts aloft and flies back." The account, however,
is not perfectly clear. On the other side of what does the bird
reappear, and from what does it continue to fall when the nesting-tree
has been left ?

Coming to the goldfinch, his nest too is a most artistic produc-
tion, less finished, perhaps, and not so exactly shaped outwardly as that
of the chaffinch, yet, whilst the interior with its thick mattress of thistle-
down, surmounted by a thinner one of horse-hair, on which the bird
reposes, is beautifully rounded and of delicate proportions, the more
massive foundation which fixes it to the bough, being all or mostly of
green moss, whether culled from earth or tree, has a particularly pleas-
ing appearance. From this mossy basis, or pedestal, rises a varied
assortment of roots, stems, brown fibres, lichens, and such woodland
upholstery, over and about the whole of which pass the grey webs of
spiders or the spinnings of caterpillars, giving it a softened and misty
appearance. Feathers and thistledown made all snug within. Neat
the nest may be, but this is not its best beauty. Conjoined with and

1 Quoted in Sharpe and Dresser's Birds of Europe.

2 As I understand from the context.

3 Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Alitteleuropas, iii.

114 THE FINCHES

surpassing it there is a sort of careless grace, a wild, woodland charm,
something in the nature of that "sweet neglect" which " takes" both
eye and heart. " Neglect ! " some may cry, but your " sweet neglect " is
not that. There is freedom — that is what I mean. Some of the moss
of it may hang loose in the air — a wild, an unstudied effect — and yet so
dainty withal, one may well ask if aught but the feminine beak could
produce it. There is some lack of agreement here. Naumann has but
a poor opinion of the goldfinch husband in this respect,1 but else-
where he has won golden ones.2 Be this as it may, a goldfinch's nest
upon its forest bough is a lovely thing to see ; nothing can improve
it, except the bird when she sits there.

Yet there may be those who prefer the siskin's, or who would do so
could they see it, for, shrouded amongst the dark, drooping fir-boughs,
with their long, beard-like lichens that fall about and envelop it, this
is a difficult matter — so difficult, indeed, that in days when the
truths of science had not so much encroached upon the more pleasing
realms of fable and fancy, it was sought to explain it by attributing
actual invisibility to an object whose existence, since the birds were
seen building, could not be denied.

But this theory, though satisfactory up to a certain point, did not
cover all the ground. It accounted perfectly for the number of
failures to find, but since, after all, a siskin's nest sometimes was
found, something else was needed to explain this apparent anomaly.
It was therefore surmised that this quality of invisibility was not
inherent in the nest itself, but must be conferred upon it, as it were,
by a certain stone (not more wonderful, after all, than the philosopher's)
which the siskin was accustomed to place in it, and that when, either
through indifference, or such stones being not very common, it failed
to do so, it had then to run the risk of discovery. Even so, the nest
might often escape detection through mere natural concealment, as did
those of so many other birds, but it was undeniable that such as were

1 Still he implies that some work is done by him. Sharpe and Dresser (op. cit.) say the
female only works at the nest.

2 Such, at least, is my impression.

THE FINCHES 115

found had, invariably, no stone inside them. Thus all the facts were
accounted for, but in spite of this very great merit in an hypothesis —
not the less uncommon because indispensable — this ancient one of the
siskin-stone has been constantly losing ground, and it is now a very
long time since any ornithologist of standing has declared himself
unreservedly in its favour. It has been succeeded by that of protec-
tive assimilation, since not only is the nest of the siskin, a small object,
sheltered by its immediate surroundings, but the materials of which it
is built are largely composed of them. Thus the first layer or founda-
tion is composed of such thin, lichen-grown twigs as sway about it,
whilst the long, beard- or tail-like growths which festoon every bough
are the principal stores of the second. Some nests, indeed, are almost
wholly composed of such lichens, both without and within, even to the
exclusion of the usual layer of vegetable wool, mixed with feathers,1
but this is far from common. All these things and some others,
including spiders' webs, play their part in the average specimens, the
general appearance, when completed, being something like that of a
miniature goldfinch's nest, which, of course, is high praise.

The greenfinch and linnet have much alike in their architecture,2
except that the former, being a larger bird, builds a larger nest
Coarsely woven on the outside, the interior fabric is finer, and the
cup being well shaped, it may pass, on the whole, as a neatly made
structure, though with some slovenly exceptions. In the matter of
situation, the bird is not nice. Tree, bush, and hedgerow are equally
affected by him,3 but his highest instincts are, perhaps, satisfied by an
evergreen in a shrubbery. As for the linnet, he prefers a bush —
especially a furze-bush — but trees are not disdained by him, and nests
on the ground are frequent, or even habitual in certain localities.4

1 Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii. See also the similar statement
of Collett in regard to the brambling's nest (ante, p. 112).

2 Naumann, op. cit., iii. Naumann seems to have been much impressed with this resem-
blance, whilst others, as so often happens, can't understand how he could have been.

3 See ante, " Classified Notes," p. 65.

4 See Naumann, op. cit., iii. Naumann himself declares that the bird's choice of a site is
extraordinarily varied. He gives more botanical examples than my German can keep pace with,
and adds to them, as something more exceptional, the straw thatch of cottages, etc.

116 THE FINCHES

Rustic amongst things rustic, the twig-woven, moss-padded nest
of the bullfinch is a pleasing object for the eye to dwell upon, even
exteriorly. The cup, with its fibrous and hirsute lining, on which a
feather or two may lie lightly, is still more so — one envies the bird that
sits there. Tis a sweet sylvan home. There may not be riches,
but there is rural abundance. Wool is not an unknown luxury, and a
few leaves, even, may add a refining touch to the edifice,1 which is
crowned with content — at least I never heard word to the contrary.

Both the redpolls build well, if somewhat roughly. The nest of
Linaria is commonly placed in the fork of a birch-tree, like that of the
brambling, and at about the same height, but also amongst brushwood,
where it may be but a foot from the ground. It is cup-shaped. Moss,
lichen, and grass-stalks enter into its outer texture, enclosing, within,
the feathers of the ptarmigan, and soft, woolly down of the willow.2
Similarly situated, and in much the same style of architecture, the
smaller nest of Rufescens has a still more elegant appearance, as well
as the added charm of being built, yearly, upon British soil — a fact not
always to the poor bird's advantage.

For the twite, no one, in my opinion, should presume to speak of
its nest — or rather of its nest-building — otherwise than by quoting
from Dr. Saxby's account 3 of a pair which he watched whilst thus
engaged — unless indeed he should himself have similar credentials,
which is not my own case. " One very favourite situation for the
nest," says Dr. Saxby (speaking in regard to the Shetlands), " is under
a long strip of turf which has been nearly reversed by the plough. In
such a situation I once found the commencement of a nest, and
derived much interest from watching the progress of the work.
When one of the birds disclosed to me the site chosen for its
future habitation, by flying out, I could perceive nothing more than a
slight hollow which had been scraped beneath the turf, and although

1 Sharpe and Dresser, Birds of Europe.

2 Collett. See Sharpe and Dresser, Birds of Europe.

3 This account has a general interest beyond that Avhich relates to the species in question.
Nidiflcation is a very interesting process, but there are not many records of it.

THE FINCHES 117

I frequently visited the spot in the course of the day, nothing more
was seen of the bird until about twenty-four hours afterwards, when
the pair began placing a number of fibrous roots in front, in the form
of a half-circle, the back part of the cavity being left untouched. In
a few hours' time some stalks of plants were added, and from four
o'clock in the afternoon until noon next day the birds disappeared.
They next laid the foundation of the other half of the circle, continuing
steadily at their task until the structure was equal in height all round.
They now appeared more eager to proceed, working so diligently that,
by the evening of the fourth day, the mass of roots, grass, and stalks of
plants formed a perfectly circular wall, an inch and a half in height, and
about two inches in thickness, somewhat loose and irregular upon the
outside, but with the inside neatly interwoven, and sloping rather
suddenly to the bare patch of ground enclosed. On the morning of
the fifth day, I observed a few feathers upon the ground in the centre,
and the number rapidly increased until the sides were covered more
than half-way towards the brim ; in the evening the feathers were
almost concealed by a quantity of cow's hair, among which a little wool
was intermingled. More work was done that day than any other."
Dr. Saxby strewed some rabbit's fur about, and continues : "Although
it was soon discovered, the birds were not quite contented, using
it rather sparingly, and working it into a felt-like mass, with wool,
and the hair of cows and ponies. This process appeared to be
one of difficulty and to require great care, for it was not before the
evening of the eighth day that the task was completed, the brim of the
cavity being by that time neatly finished off with a few long black
horse-hairs, and measuring exactly 2^ inches in diameter."1 In
another nest which was found by Dr. Saxby, "a layer of curved
white duck's feathers" was also covered up under "a thick layer
of wool, intermixed with hair of cows and ponies." 2

1 Birds of Shetland.

2 Ibid. Thus the fact of some twites sticking a feather or two conspicuously in the nest
does not lose interest, and if it occur with any frequency (as near Bradford it does) must be
due to more than chance.

118 THE FINCHES

The characteristic cup in a twig-tray, as one may call it, in
which the brooding hawfinch sits, is, as the work of a finch, a
large structure, yet, as might be expected by ornithological students
of character, so well is it concealed, withal, that the maker itself
is perhaps less elusive. The site is, by preference, an orchard
or aloof-standing forest tree — beneath, or rather above a substantial
bough of which, it modestly hides itself from the gaze of terrestrial
seekers — in which assurance, or strong hope, of safety, I, with com-
placency, leave it.

Were it not for its greater size, the nest of the crossbill would be
as invisible as that of the siskin, being built of similar materials, and
concealed in much the same way. Placed, in the majority of cases,
near the summit of some tall fir-tree, whose intervening branches
shield it from below, the network immediately above it is so close as
to make it practically a domed l nest. It is thus made snow-proof,2
a precaution which is the more necessary, inasmuch as the crossbill,
unlike other birds — an abnormality, indeed, almost as great as his
structural one — breeds at all seasons of the year, in winter as well as
in spring.3 For the rest, though large, the nest is an admirable
structure, the base being formed of a quantity of small fir-twigs —
mixed sometimes with heather and grass stems — thickly quilted, as it
were, with moss and lichen, or with the last entirely, which, of a finer
quality — often combined with grass or the filaments of tree-roots,
more rarely with a few feathers — forms, also, the interior lining.4
Warm amidst this, though the snow may whirl around her, and
" winter storms sing i' the tree," sits the female, who alone both builds
and broods, whilst the male flies backwards and forwards bringing

1 Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vbgel Mitteleuropas, iii. 2 Ibid.

3 In fact in every month of the year. Ibid.

4 The above account, which follows the interesting one of Nauinann, is to be understood as
applying par excellence to the continental type of the crossbill's nest, just as does that given
by Ussher and Warren (Birds of Ireland) to the British-Insular specimens more particularly.
It can hardly be doubted that climatic and other geographical differences must produce some
corresponding variations, either in the architecture of the nest or the materials used in its
construction, or in both, the more so that seasonal modifications are to be noted even within
the same locality. (See ante, " Classified Notes," p. 80.)

THE FINCHES 119

her food, or sings to her, near, amidst the branches or from the tall
spire in which they end, or, in love-flight, circles like a roseate
flame above that close, dark bower where all his heart lies hid. He
will sing as he circles, too, sometimes — the true finch ecstasy — and
thus we see the same figure that was used in the courtship continued
now when courtship is no longer needed. But the old feelings remain,
and so the old measure is trodden.

We may say, perhaps, that the nest constructed by the crossbill
offers the highest example of the massive, as opposed to the light,
style of finch architecture, the last being best represented by the
chaffinch, brarnbling, goldfinch, siskin, and perhaps both the redpolls.
From it there is a declension through that of the bullfinch, which
yet retains considerable excellence, to the greenfinch's, linnet's,
twite's and hawfinch's. In the nest of the greenfinch we have, as it
were, a sort of middle degree of merit, which seems to have developed
along two paths, one via Bullfinch to Crossbill, the other through
Carduelis to Coelebs. To some, perhaps, this road-map may seem
fanciful, but what is science when not quickened by the imagina-
tion?

As has been seen, although it is generally, if not always,
the female finch who takes the chief part in building the nest,
whilst, in several cases, she may be alone the architect, yet there
is almost invariably a conflict of evidence, both in regard to this
latter point1 and also as to the extent to which she is helped
by the male. From the incubatory point of view, also, the conjugal
merits of the latter have been frequently in dispute, so that there
can, I think, be little doubt that, in both these respects, some in-
dividuals make better husbands than others. Speaking generally,
however, it would seem that whilst, in the case of the chaffinch,
hawfinch, bullfinch and mealy redpoll, to go no further — the male,
as well as the female, incubates (leaving the share taken by each
doubtful), in that of the crossbill, goldfinch, greenfinch, linnet and

1 The crossbill is, as far as I know, the sole exception.

120 THE FINCHES

siskin1 only the female does. It is stated by Naumann, however,
that the male greenfinch occasionally, if rarely (ich erinnere mich nur
einigemal), takes his place on the eggs, and that the male house- and
tree-sparrow habitually do so.2

In each of the above two classes of activity — nidification; namely,
and incubation — as also in the relative share taken by the two parents
in the subsequent care and nurture of the young — for in this the male
almost invariably renders some assistance — an interesting field lies
open for future investigation. It is not sufficient, as in England it has
been long thought to be, to know when and where a bird builds, how
its nest may be recognised, what are the colours and markings of its
eggs. All this, especially the last, may be most absorbingly interesting,
but something more intimate and psychological remains, and until we
know, with some degree of fulness (which must include the habits and
relations of both the sexes in all these respects), how birds build,3 how
they incubate, and how they rear their young, we have not torn out
the heart of their mystery. In all these, but especially in the two
first, there would seem to be an individually fluctuating element on
the part of the male, more particularly, which, if properly studied,
might lead us to conjecture how or why he first adopted or gave up
the habit, and thus gain some insight into the causes of the differentia-
tion of the sexual relations in regard to it.

The greater number of our finches feed their young with seeds
that have been first swallowed and softened in the crop, as, for

1 For all these see ante, "Classified Notes," under Finches. For the mealy redpoll see
Collett, quoted in Sharpe and Dresser and in Naumann.

1 Ibid. Owing to the number of opposed assertions, and the difficulty there sometimes is in
knowing whether they are from the writer's observation, it is almost impossible to state the
facts uninfluenced by the personal equation. My own, for example, gives more weight to
affirmative statements than to negative ones, it being easy to miss a bird that has either been,
or is coming, to the nest, but not so easy to see it there, if, in fact, it is not there. Unless we
are told, internal evidence must be the guide as to whether or not a statement is from personal
knowledge.

3 It is through observation of this, as I believe, that the origin and philosophy of avine
nidification is to be discovered. I have, as I think, brought forward good, though not extensive,
evidence to show that the practice has grown out of those nervous, and often violent, move-
ments, at a certain season, which, along another path, have led to the nuptial display. Both,
in my opinion, have been made out of the same raw material. See my paper in the Zoologist
for December 1901, vol. v. pp. 459-462, and April 1902, vol. vi. pp. 1,33-144.

Plate 14

Cock Chaffinch feeding the Young, the Hen waiting

By H. Goodchild

THE FINCHES 121

instance, the greenfinch, bullfinch, linnet, twite, redpolls. Most of
these, however, vary the diet with insects, especially in the earlier
stages, whilst the hawfinch, sparrow and tree-sparrow adopt this
regime, if not entirely, at least as a staple. To these, according to
Naumann and others, the chaffinch is to be added ; but Fatio l
declares the young of the latter to be fed, at a later period, with
seeds disgorged from the crop, and Bailly 2 also says the same thing,
or, at any rate, that triturated seeds are given them. No other
observer, as far as I am aware, has remarked this, but a very good
provisional rule in the estimation of evidence, is to be more impressed
with affirmative than with negative statements. If it is only some-
times that the chaffinch does this, that makes it all the more
interesting.

Some recent observations by Mr. Farren would seem to favour
this latter conclusion, since the young were then fed, though fledged
and almost ready to fly, on green caterpillars and some other insects,
a skipper butterfly, on one occasion, being amongst the number. The
element of doubt, however, is perhaps not entirely eliminated, Mr.
Farren's words being as follows : — " It was not easy to identify the
nature of the food, since generally it was carried quite hidden from
sight, in the mouth or throat, and it was only as it was regurgitated,
just before delivery to the young, that I caught sight of it. I after-
wards found some pieces which had been dropped in the nest, by
which I was able to confirm my previous identification." But if the
possibility of the food having sometimes been not insects, but grain,
is here excluded (which it, perhaps, is not absolutely), we are still left
in doubt whether the caterpillars had first been swallowed, or were
only, or only sometimes, brought in the mouth or throat, as suggested.
If the former, or even if the latter, then we may perhaps see a step in
a process of transition, the course of which would be — insects brought
in the beak — mouth — throat — swallowed first and regurgitated-

1 Oiseaux de la Suisse. * Ornith. de la Savcrie.

3 Country Life, July 13, 1907.

122 THE FINCHES

regurgitated at the same time with seeds — regurgitated seeds as dis-
tinct from insects — regurgitated seeds alone. We can also under-
stand how Fatio and Bailly, seeing the bird fly in with nothing in its
bill and then regurgitate something, may have assumed this to be
grain when it really was insects. This, indeed, is rather an unhand-
some supposition, as against so good and painstaking an observer as
the latter seems to have been ; but, then, it may be wide of the mark,
or, again, "dormitat nonnunquam bonus ffomerus."

Whatever the food, or whatever the method of sustenance
adopted, young chaffinches are extremely well looked after, their
state, from this point of view, being a more gracious one than that
of young goldfinches, who are not fed, apparently, more than once an
hour.1 Once in ten minutes would seem to be the usual chaffinch
rule, and sometimes the interval may be diminished to five or even
three. Thus, within the space of an hour and a quarter, twenty-one
visits were observed, ten by the male and eleven by the female, in
every one of which food was brought (which need not always be the
case), and so attentive and careful were the parents that, if not
entirely satisfied with the position of the morsel delivered in the
mouth of the quite young fledgling, they would replace it properly, or
even remove it and give it to another of the brood.2

An observation that has been made, both in regard to the
chaffinch 3 and goldfinch,4 viz. that when any of the young leave the
nest the male alone returns to it, whilst the female devotes herself
solely to those that have flown, is interesting as showing, or at least
suggesting, how the habit of both parents feeding the young, instead
of only one, may have been fostered through natural selection ; for if
this last must be disadvantageous, even while the family are together,
it would be doubly so when it became separated. The exit takes

1 See a very interesting and sympathetic paper by Miss M. E. Bruce in vol. xv. of The Auk,
pp. 239-43. The observations, it is true, were made in the United States, and the Latin name
of the goldfinch is not given. Still, it seems probable that what applies to the North Ameri-
can species of goldfinch would apply also to our own.

2 Country Life, July 13, 1907.

3 Parren, op. cit. * Bruce, op, cit.

THE FINCHES 123

place, roughly speaking, in about a fortnight (in the case of the gold-
finch it was observed by Miss Bruce on the sixteenth day), and is of
an impromptu nature. The young bird scrambles on to the edge of
the nest, balances itself for a little, and then flies off, sometimes out
of its own and into a neighbouring tree. Or it will crawl out and
try flying afterwards, but in no case do the parents appear to teach —
that is to say, assist— it to fly. Their method seems rather to be, if
the chicks are old enough, to leave them to the spur of hunger, so
that an unduly timid one may be left for some time without a meal.
If this, however, does not bring him out, one or both parents will
return, when the encouragement of their presence, with his own
eagerness for food, is generally sufficient to do so.

That the young do not all fly together seems prima facie to be
evidence that the incubation of all the eggs does not always begin at
exactly the same time. In the case of the goldfinch, Miss Bruce
writes as follows : — " When I first looked into the nest there were six
eggs, but my little girl friend had told me that there were but two
eggs laid when the bird began to sit, and I was curious to know
whether there would not be a marked difference in the age of the
young ones. After two weeks' patient waiting, the little mother and
I were rewarded by finding among the pretty eggs a very ugly bird-
ling. On my afternoon visit there were three little birds, the next
day four, and on the day following, I counted five heads " l (the sixth
egg was not hatched). Between the fifth and the first young one,
therefore, there would have been some two days' difference, and in so
short an infancy not days merely but hours ought to count. This
appears to me to be a more probable explanation of the fact in
question than difference in disposition, though, to be sure, in birds'
nests, as in other family residences, all are not alike. A restless,
unsatisfied feeling seems to precede the exodus, early associations

1 The Auk, vol. xv. pp. 239-43. Naumann says that the female crossbill also begins incu-
bating at once as soon as she has laid her first egg. On the other hand, the female twite of
the pair watched by Saxby waited till she had laid all hers. It would appear, therefore, that
there is no invariable rule.

124 THE FINCHES

are no longer operative, and the home has lost its charm. Presumably
these particulars are not confined to the two species to which the
above observations relate, but, in a general manner, may be applied
to the whole family.

It used to be thought that not only were the greenfinch, bullfinch,
twite, linnet, redpolls, etc., strict vegetarians in their own persons,
but that they fed their young exclusively on a similar diet. The
accumulation of evidence, however, has shown both these supposi-
tions to have been unfounded in several instances, and it is probable
that the list of exceptions will grow till all are included. I, at any
rate, find it hard to believe that a British finch of any species will
not eat insects occasionally, — when time shall serve, — as has been
proved in the case of one (to be similarly mentioned) long thought
pre-eminently vegetarian. However this may be, both the bullfinch
and greenfinch are now known to give their young (presumably)
raw insects, as well as prepared seeds, nor is it certain, in the case of
the latter, that the seeds are swallowed or even macerated (by which
I understand bruised or crushed with the mandibles), which is what
Harting says that they are. At any rate, such maceration cannot be
looked upon as invariable, since it now appears (as if it were some-
thing quite new) that Blake Knox stated in the Zoologist, so long
ago as 1866 (painful ideas of burial this gives to the modern contri-
butor), that the seeds are merely shelled, and then given entire. He
goes on to say that the digestion of the young greenfinches is, in
consequence, slow, and that their throats, unlike those of young-
chaffinches, are always well packed, " the parents feeding them only
at long intervals, very thoroughly, so that they are not often seen at
the nest." x

These interesting observations, which ought to have been at once
taken up, as it were, and made part of our common ornithological
knowledge, have been apparently forgotten for the last forty years or

1 This agrees, in an interesting manner, with Miss Bruce's observations on the goldfinch.
See ante, p. 122.

THE FINCHES 125

so, the pages in which they first appeared thus becoming, as so often
happens, at once their cradle and their grave. So it will be, I suppose,
with my own observations on the ruff, redshanks, blackcock, etc., in
relation to sexual selection (however important) or on the stone-curlew,
with its strange autumn "dances," or antics, and so on. "I wonder
that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick ; nobody marks you." l

A bird that has always been supposed to feed its young exclu-
sively on the seeds of the fir, regurgitated from the crop, is the cross-
bill, yet, even in its case, a doubt would seem to obtain, since Ussher
and Warren saw the parents, in Ireland, flying to the nest with what
appeared to be the green early buds of the larch. If so, it seems
probable that these may also play a part in the regime ; and since, as
we shall see, the grown crossbill has not entirely dispensed with an
insect diet, at least upon occasion, it is not quite impossible that the
young may sometimes, if only to a slight extent, receive the benefit of
this also from their attached and indulgent parents. Few birds, indeed,
in matters domestic and conjugal, are more exemplary than these. So
closely does the female brood upon her eggs that she has ere now paid
the penalty of her maternal, and somebody else's scientific, devotion,
with her life. But should she escape so fatal a conjunction, she is
then, as we have seen, while so importantly occupied, faithfully fed
by the male, who, as he flies up, utters his call-note, a sharp "gip, gip"
which she answers lovingly, from the nest, with a soft "yup, yup"2

The rosy circling of the male crossbill above the nesting-tree has
been already referred to, and a few words may now be added on the
subject of that plumage to which this and similar epithets can be
applied.3 I was not till quite recently aware that any naturalist really

1 The foolish and even insulting idea that a clearly observed fact— even when observed
repeatedly by the same person— requires "confirmation" from somebody else, may have some-
thing to do with this discreditable state of things. Before anybody wants, or will take the
trouble, to confirm it, it is forgotten, especially should it happen to tell against any received
view, in which case there is a strong wish to forget it. Thus poor Sprengel lay for years in his
paper sarcophagus, till dug out of it, at last, by a stronger spade— to wit, Darwin's.

2 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland.

As, for instance, "rose-colour," "rosy red," "carmine," "rich crimson-red varied in places
by a flame colour," and so on.

12G THE FINCHES

I

supported the view that the brilliant hues of the male crossbill have
been acquired through the laws of protective coloration, as directed
by natural selection. Ussher and Warren, however, in their Birds
of Ireland, remark as follows : — " The reds and greens of the cross-
bill's plumage may be regarded as protective plumage, the former
harmonising with the russet bark of the Scotch fir, and the latter
with the foliage." This view was endorsed by Cornish, from observa-
tions made by him in the Isle of Wight. He says, speaking of the
cock, that the "red and orange-brown" of its plumage "is much
less visible than might be supposed, for this matches the bright red-
brown of the young pine-shoots and the bark of the branches " x — a
remark the force of which is somewhat discounted by others which
precede it, to the effect that the male birds, in general colouring, are
of " a more or less rosy red," that " many of them wore this garment
in most resplendent fashion, the brightest and most brilliant tint
showing constantly when they fluttered their wings and showed the
parts beneath, as they tried to balance themselves on the tips of the
pine-shoots," and that "others, sitting sunning themselves, looked
like big red fruit on the trees." 2 The faith, as it appears to me, must
be great, that can see in a bird of which this can be written an
example of the principle under discussion. In this connection I
would draw attention to the following considerations, viz. — 1. That
whatever may be the " red-brown " of the young pine-shoots as against
the " crimson," or " rose," or " carmine," or " flame colour " of the male
crossbill, there are also old pine-shoots in the northern fir-forests, nor
is it always spring there. 2. That there is, besides, a great deal of
snow in those latitudes, and that both birds and beasts of prey have
to live all through the year. 3. That it is not the seeds of the Scotch
fir or larch that are the food par excellence of L. curvirostra, as

1 Animal Artisans, p. 111.

2 Ibid., p. 110. Wheelwright, who was not, I believe, obsessed by the theory in question —
perhaps had not even heard of it, which would make him the better witness — writes in A
Spring and Summer in Lapland of crossbills flitting about the fir forests " like parrots, their
bright-red and orange plumage reflected in the rays of the afternoon sun."

THE FINCHES 127

distinct from pityopsittacus, but those of the much gloomier Norway
spruce, whose distribution the bird follows,1 and which is the pre-
dominant tree in its native forests. I, at least, have never seen this
tree looking at all the colour of the adult male crossbill, but always
dark, sad, and gloomy, though beautiful. 4. That conclusions as to
adaptation to surroundings, based on the observations of a highly
characteristic species out of its characteristic home, are liable to be
untrustworthy. 5. That if the assimilation, here supposed, of the
bird's colouring to the " red-brown " shoots and " russet " bark of the
pine really exist, then the male crossbill is not, after all, a much
more brilliant species than the hare or red deer ; nor, indeed, if his
plumage has become what it is through successive slight accentuations
of vividness, is it easy to see why, on the harmonising principle, it
should ever have passed beyond this moderate degree of emphasis.
6. That the hen crossbill must require protection, at least as much as
the male, and that, since the young male's plumage shares in the com-
parative obscurity of hers, there can be no doubt that that of the
adult male must have diverged from it. But if crimson was more
protective than drab for him, why not for her — the hen — also, since the
habits and resorts of both are alike ? If, indeed, the male haunted
poppy-fields, whilst the female kept to forests of conifer, the principle
characteristic of whose foliage, whatever may be said about reds and
greens, has been aptly summed up by Longfellow in the epithet
" midnight," a case, perhaps, could be made out — but such is not the
case. That foliage can and does hide (an oak is supposed to have
hidden Charles n.) I am well aware from practical experience ; and
having seen even the male golden oriole disappear, as if by magic, on
flying into this or that tree, I am not much impressed by that " almost
invisible " quality which is attributed to so many bright animals nowa-
days that one might almost be led to suppose that the dull ones must
be not less, but more conspicuous, since otherwise how are they ever
seen at all — by a naturalist ? " Crimson," " flame colour," " carmine,"

1 Seebohm, Hist. Brit. Birds, 1884, vol. ii. p. 34.

128 THE FINCHES

" brilliant rosy red " — and invisibility ! No, but there is in nature— as
how should there not be ? — a large amount of ordinary concealment,
as well as of mere accidental resemblance, of which every creature —
even, probably, a sheldrake or scarlet flamingo — at times gets the
benefit. To distinguish between this and true special protective
resemblance, acquired through natural selection, is what numbers
of naturalists have not yet learned to do — or to try to do.

Something may here be said as to the crossbill's general habits of
feeding. Sometimes he will extract the seed whilst swinging head-
downwards on the cone, as it hangs, but more frequently he bites it
off at the stalk, and feasts at leisure on the nearest convenient branch.1
Not seldom he flies to another tree with it, holding it with the point
forwards, or he may even fly down after a cone that drops, and rifle it
where it lies, on the ground.2 There, too, he will pick up seeds that have
escaped from their sheathings, like any ordinary bird.3 Either in the
tree, or under it, when the cone is detached, he holds it with one foot,
like a parrot 4 (but without lifting it), and then, with his hooked beak,
presents a very parrot-like appearance. It is also interesting, as
showing how habit tends to follow structure, to know that he uses
the beak as a parrot does, in climbing ; 5 for no one can suppose that it
has been thus abnormally modified in relation to such an employment
of it. With all the bird's powers of extracting seeds scientifically,
some of the sheaths prove too hard for him to open without previous
biting and gnawing, whilst some he must even tear to pieces. It
seems curious that, with others all about, he should waste time in
doing this, but such is the case. That insects, also, occasionally form
a part of the crossbill's diet has already been mentioned. Saxby thus
describes his modus operandi : — " In summer the elm-leaves were often
nearly destroyed by large numbers of aphides which, gathering upon
the underside, caused each leaf practically to dry up and shrivel.

1 Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii. ; Ussher and Warren, Birds of
Ireland. 2 Cornish, Animal Artisans.

3 Naumann, op. cit. 4 Naumann, op. cit. ; Cornish, Animal Artisans.

5 Naumann ; Cornish, op. cit.

THE FINCHES 129

The crossbills gather these leaves, and grasping them in one foot-
resting upon the other foot — rapidly clear them of their inhabitants,
dropping them in hundreds at the foot of the tree." l If this refers to
the Shetlands I must have seen the trees, as they are the only ones in
the islands, and situated, I believe, in what was once the observer's
garden — stunted, small things, more like hazels, owing their existence
to being protected by four walls from the everlasting winds.

The young of the linnet, twite, and redpolls are also fed
with seeds regurgitated from the crop, but although, so far as I
am aware, no evidence has been adduced, in the case of the
two first-named, that insects form, also, a part of their diet, it
is significant that larvae, and the fragments of a weevil, have been
found within the crop or stomach of a young lesser redpoll2 The
same method is employed in the siskin nursery, but, according to
Bailly,3 only at first. Afterwards the chicks get seeds which have
been bruised in the bill (" broyes ") but not swallowed (thus, at least, I
understand him), and buds in their natural state. Yet even this
earlier vegetable course is preceded by an animal one, the very young
nestlings being fed with aphides.4 As far as is yet known, which is
not very far, in my opinion, the young hawfinch gets caterpillars to
eat ; 5 but no doubt, as time goes on, his rations will become more
liberal, as are those of both the young house- and tree-sparrow, in
which a certain modicum of apparently untreated vegetable food is
included.6

It is clear from the above facts that the young of the Fringillidse
are not fed by their parents in a quite uniform manner, and also that
the dietetic regime of the various species, in their adult state, is not
uniform. These are interesting points. The food of the family, as a
whole, consists both of seeds and insects; but whilst some of the

1 Birds of Shetland.

2 See " Classified Notes," ante, p. 73. 3 Oiseaux de la Savoie.

4 It was this, no doubt, which led Naumann to state that the young received insects
throughout.

5 Seebohm, Hist. British Birds.

6 See ante, " Classified Notes/' pp. 77 and 79.

R

130 THE FINCHES

species have, in the adult state, largely, or even wholly (that, at least,
is the official view), given up the latter, and also feed their young, for
the most part, if not in some cases entirely, on seeds that have been
softened in the crop — as the linnet, twite, crossbill, etc. — others, such
as the chaffinch, brambling, sparrow and tree-sparrow, are both fonder
of insects themselves, and prefer them as food for their offspring.
There is, however, no necessary connection between personal and
parental habits in this respect, since the hawfinch, the staple of whose
diet is (or is supposed to be) vegetable,1 feeds the young on insects,2
and the linnet, which, officially, gives them nothing but seeds, is
itself, to some extent, an insect-eater.3

As the two diets of insects and seeds differ entirely, it may
perhaps be conjectured that our finches first confined themselves to
one of them, though which that one was may not be so easy to
determine. Perhaps, if we think of the hardness or snow-covered
state of the ground during much of the winter in north temperate
Europe, and of the many asylums for small hybernating creatures,
it may seem a more likely conjecture — since many of our small resident
birds are wholly or almost wholly carnivorous — that insects, construed,
in a large sense, to include spiders, slugs, and the like, were the
primitive finch food. The fact that they are, in general, offered to
the young without previous swallowing or dressing, which is certainly
the more simple method, may add to the probability of its having been
the first practised. We must assume, moreover, that whatever was
the food of the grown bird would, in the first instance, have been
that of the nestling also — for how could an idea of varying it to some-
thing not previously tried have occurred, " on a suddenty," to either
or both parents ? But if a change in the method of feeding the young
has taken place, it seems, prima facie, more probable that this has
been from the simple to the complex rather than the other way, and

1 This, according to Naumann's editor, is the most that can be said, even if as much can be.
See post, p. 155, footnote.

1 Seebohm, Hist. British Birds ; Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii.
3 See ante, " Classified Notes," p. 76.

THE FINCHES 131

since the former is the process by which insect food, more particularly,
is administered, both the one and the other are a survival, probably,
or continuance, of earlier dietary habits.

How, then, did our finches, previously accustomed to bring their
young caterpillars or spiders in the bill, begin, instead, to regurgitate
seeds or buds, for them, from the crop ? Of course, a variation in the
diet of the old birds would be a motive for making a corresponding
change in that of the fledglings, though, by a conservative instinct
analogous to that by which ancient usage is preserved in legal or
religious rite and ceremony, this tendency might be resisted. Seeds
can be transported in the bill, as are grains of wheat and barley by
the house- and tree-sparrow, but, where they are small, this would be
a tedious process, nor would a number, perhaps, be so easy to carry
as a beakful of insects. If only the idea could have been hit upon
of bringing up the seeds again, at the nest, after they had been
swallowed afield, it would have been, for the Finch tribe — now become
largely seed-eaters — as the invention of fire to the contemporaries
of Prometheus. But how could it have been, or, rather, how was it ?

As to this, young birds, especially when large enough to be active
in the nest, are very importunate for food. The parents are pressed
and worried, and often resist their endeavours by turnings and
motions of the head. In some of these, as the action seems an easy
one with birds generally, there may have been slight, involuntary
regurgitations, and, since the beaks of the young would be always
seeking those of the parents, these might have been taken advantage
of, sought again, expected, excited, till, finally, through stages which
I myself have no difficulty in imagining, and which may even be, to
some extent, seen,1 the thing grew into a custom. Once established
by precedent, this method of giving the food, which allowed the
parents to feed upon it too, would have become more and more
congenial to them, till, in the end, they would have taken the
initiative, and satisfied, in this manner, not only the craving, im-

1 As, for instance, with the cormorant.

132 THE FINCHES

portunate fledglings, but also the naked and helpless innocents
just hatched from the egg. This little speculation, however, must be
taken without prejudice to the one which preceded it a few paces
back. I have not time to see if they jar.

Thus we come, at last, to the linnet, twite, and crossbill, who feed
the young wholly in this way,1 but we might expect, if this were an
approximately correct view, to find amongst the various members of
the family some traces of the transition, which, accordingly, in by far
the greater number, we do find. Besides those species which have
been mentioned as feeding their young by both processes, and with
each class of food, there is also the goldfinch,2 who, by some un-
accountable oversight, has been left out. To see him doing so, in
whichever way, is, of course, a charming sight, but there must, I
think, be something still more exquisite in the way that large, conical
(also comical) beak of the hawfinch — made for the cracking of hard
things 3 — may be conceived as holding — tenderly, as it were, yet with
firm, judicious pressure — the soft, albeit not lightly yielding, body of
some prim fly or coy caterpillar. But may it not be more than one ?
since many birds, in feeding their families, do not bring each insect
singly, but a number of them together, pressed close in a little heap,
all struggling, writhing — often, incidentally, bursting — by the which
thrifty method of procedure those pleasing sensations, derived from
the contemplation of maternal love and solicitude in the lower
animals, are much enhanced. Possibly, therefore, Coccothraustes
adopts this plan also, and, if so, then what a heap it must be in such
a beak as his !

The above represents, in short compass, our present knowledge
as to the parental habits of the Fringillince. It may be added
that, like most other birds, the greater number of the species have
a due regard for the laws of sanitation, and, by carrying away or

1 As far as is known, that is to say, up to the present — a very saving clause indeed.

2 Perhaps, too, the chaffinch and greenfinch, or even the crossbill. According to
Naumann and others, however, the former bird feeds its young only with insects, as do the
other ones with regurgitated seeds.

3 But see post, p. 155, footnote 1.

Plate 15

Goldfinch (hen) feeding its young, the male alighting

By Alfred Priest

THE FINCHES 133

swallowing the dejecta1 which would otherwise accumulate within
or about the nest, ensure its comfort and cleanliness. To this
laudable custom, however, the goldfinch, though so pretty a bird,
would seem to be an exception, at least as far as the outside of
the nest is concerned, and, as a penalty, is constrained to provide
a new one for her second brood.2 A similar and still graver
laxity, extending to the actual dwelling apartment, has been re-
marked in the greenfinch,3 but there is reason to hope that here
the taint has been individual only, and that the family, as a whole,
are not involved in the disgrace, though they cannot quite escape
the odium of it.

With these main facts of finch nursery economy it will be well to
stop, for though they by no means exhaust the subject — being like the
walls of a yet unfurnished elegant apartment — yet to describe at all
detailedly, as such delicate fretwork requires to be, all that atmo-
sphere of care and attention in which they are, so to speak, set — all
the little ways, mannerisms, tendernesses, elegancies, prettinesses
which coruscate and play about them — would be too long, if not too
hopeless, a task. There is, however, an allied branch of the subject,
on which, though less popular, some words may be said. Whilst much
praise has been lavished on the care and solicitude with which birds
feed their young, on the beauty and tenderness of the picture (as
lately insisted on in the imagined case of the hawfinch), another kind
of feeding — not parental, but conjugal — has been left comparatively
unsung. Male birds, of various species and families, are accustomed
to feed their mates in the nesting season, and, amongst them, several
of our British finches — as the bullfinch, goldfinch, hawfinch — are to
be prominently commended in this respect. They acquired the habit
probably (or let us say perhaps) through helping their wives in the
nursery, and, as the family grew, placed her upon the same footing.
Having got to this, some rested satisfied and went no farther, but

1 To be rejected, says Naumaiin, afterwards.

2 H. A. Macpherson, Fauna of Lakeland, p. 134.

3 Both Hudson and Boraston, I think, mention this.

134 THE FINCHES

others have advanced more refinedly in this direction, expunged the
grosser element of food from the meeting bills, and made the touch a
kiss. If birds (and they are many) who go through this form do not
kiss, then neither do we. The thing is so obvious that those who
have seen it and still dream of human superiority in this respect,
must be altogether mastered, as many indeed are, by the charms of
this train of thought. Birds and men kiss, then — I do not know that
others of our earth do — and, in either case, probably, the custom
began in something quite practical. Do any male birds who are
bound by no duty of feeding their young act in this way when they
court? Does the ostrich or talegallus, the duck or the plover, the
guinea-fowl, pheasant, partridge, or any other of the Gallince? If
not, then this, as I hold, supports my view as to the origin of such
affectionate behaviour in others, since, for a superstructure, there
must needs first have been a foundation. On the other hand,
birds — such as pigeons — who most bill and coo, are assiduous feeders
of their offspring, as are those also who feed their mates, whilst
in some the two habits in question — kissing and conjugal feeding —
are combined, or the one seems passing into the other. There are
the gulls, for instance, and the parrots — or, at any rate, some of
them.

But does any British finch kiss ? I believe, without disparage-
ment to the others, that the bullfinch does, since it is not always,
when the birds touch their bills, that there is anything more solid
between them. Often, when one may have thought otherwise, it has
not been so. He has bent over her, with black lips parted, and
she has raised hers to his, and they have met, but that was all —
there was no food ; it was a kiss. Such was unmistakably the
opinion of Naumann, who was well acquainted with bullfinches in
freedom and captivity, and reports of them, alike in both, that they
often " zartlich mit einander tdndeln und sich schnabeln " (tenderly bill
and caress one another). Were feeding here the explanation, it
would imply inaccuracy either of statement or observation, neither

Plate 16

Cock (upper bird) and hen Bullfinch about to bill

By A. W. Seaby

THE FINCHES 135

of which is to be lightly imputed to the author of the Naturgeschichte
der Vogel Deutschlands.1

As a bird of sentiment and refined feeling, therefore, the
bullfinch, possibly, may stand at the very summit of the Finch
family, but though assurance be wanting in regard to the others, we
should hesitate to condemn them on mere want of evidence, at least
till more attention has been paid to the matter in question. An
open mind is, in justice as well as in prudence, required of us. The
linnet, greenfinch, twite, goldfinch, both the redpolls — possibly also
the chaffinch — are all finches that feed one another conjugally ;
possibly, therefore, they may also kiss. In the first four of these
cases, at any rate, the female takes the labour of incubation either
wholly, or almost wholly, upon herself, thus supplying the male with
a motive for feeding her upon the nest, out of which, like "the
bright consummate flower" from its stem, the more spiritual need
might seem to have arisen. But it is by no means always that the
origin of a habit has been in accordance with what, at first sight,
would appear to be the common sense of it, and the male chaffinch
has been asserted to feed the female,2 as well as to assist her in
incubation, which is also the case with both the house- and the tree-
sparrow.3 All three, therefore, may possibly do as does the bullfinch,
but, up to the present, they have not been seen to do so.

A brief r6surn6 may here be attempted of the various call-notes
(so called), cries, and songs, made use of by our British finches. Short
it should certainly be, if the subject be approached from the utili-
tarian as opposed to the controversial point of view — a difficult
matter, perhaps, since whilst no two living persons, in all probability,
have ever agreed in their description of any bird's note or song
(except, perhaps, the cuckoo's), or written it down alike, till some
convention had been agreed upon, it is doubtful if any one of them

1 Now Der Vogel Mitteleiiropas. The old work, with its time-aroma, is most fragrant
to the literary naturalist, and the quaint, small pictures much superior to the modern ones
—in fact, little gems in their way. But, alas ! it is now unpurchasable.

2 Fatio, Oiseaux de la Siiisee. * Zander, Vogel Mecklenburgs.

136 THE FINCHES

has ever been recognised through such attempts at assistance. It
would, as I conceive, make no very real or practical difference, if, by
some oversight or confusion, the items in the following list were to
be ascribed, uniformly, to the wrong species, but I shall not, on this
account, be less careful not to do so, though probably there would
be as many for as against the new scheme : with which warning — for
it should temper undue expectation — I will permit my " adventurous
pen" to "pursue," not "things unattempted yet" certainly (far from
it), but certainly as yet unachieved — which is almost as bold — " in
prose or rhyme."

The chaffinch in its song — which lasts from February to June — is
supposed by some to say, " In another month will come a wheatear."
Space is insufficient for other possible renderings of the bird's mean-
ing, but the mode of expression — the rapid little strain, with the
long, pronounced note at the end — is familiar to all who are ever
likely to have a curiosity on the subject. The call-note is the loud
"pink" "spink" " tuik" " tweet" etc., common to both sexes, but accord-
ing to Witchell, from whom the following facts have been taken,
there is another, a short loud "whit," which is uttered only by the
male. The " whit " is sometimes used as an alarm-note, which might
distinguish it from the "pink" were not this used as an alarm-note
also, as is, moreover, on various occasions, the last note — the "ear" —
of the song. Furthermore, the "pink" is a battle-cry, but since it is
also uttered when there is neither danger nor likelihood of battle, it
is equally, as far as one can see, both a peace- and a safety-cry, so
that the definiteness of all these four meanings seems proportionately
weakened. Moreover, it is used as a signal for roosting in the winter,
and as a signal that all is well — that is to say, for nothing in parti-
cular— at any time. The "whit" is uttered during the first four
months of the year, and the "pink" which succeeds it, is in its turn
followed by a "tysh" which is the autumn call-note. The mutual
love-note of the two sexes is a sound like the " chissick" (not to give
variants) of the sparrow, but the young birds employ this same love-

THE FINCHES 137

note as the call-note, whilst the " whit" besides being an alarm-note,
may also be uttered to make a noise, or attract attention. Also the
"tysh" though it remains the autumn note, may be heard at other
seasons.1

It will be admitted that all this is very confusing, and, personally,
I think that the meanings supposed to be conveyed by birds, in their
various notes, have been far too much specialised, that a much greater
defmiteness than they really possess, with a corresponding exclusive-
ness, has been read into them. They correspond, as I believe, to
various emotional states, each of which may cover a wide area — indeed,
so wide a one as to give to the cry no very particular significance.
The song or cries peculiar to, or characteristic of, the breeding-season,
do, indeed, relate to the activities which then arise ; yet within these
limits there is, again, much indefiniteness, or these very notes them-
selves may be pressed into the service of other states of mind, and be
uttered at other seasons. It should be remembered that a bird must
either be silent or utter some note, on every occasion, so that unless
it be held that every occasion moving to utterance has its special one,
there must almost necessarily be a considerable putting-to-all-work.
When a cry is uttered upon various occasions standing in no relation,
or even in an opposite relation, to one another, it is absurd, as it
seems to me, to credit it with such different or opposite meanings.
Rather it has no meaning, in any proper sense of the word, but is
merely a part of that bird — a vocal symbol of Caelebs, Carduelis, etc.

The brarnbling has a harsh, chirping call-note, which, according to
Forrest,2 is quite different from that of any other finch, but according
to Lilford3 is not unlike the "pink" of the chaffinch, though sharper
and quite unmistakable. The latter thinks that the song, "low and
harsh," resembles that of the greenfinch, in which Yarrell, who says
that it ends in a " hoarse and droning note," agrees with him, adding
that it is " not in the least like a chaffinch's." 4 Collett, however, who

1 C. A. Witchell, Cries and Call-notes of Wild Birds.

2 Fauna of N. Wales. 3 Birds of NortJiampton.
* Hist, of Brit. Birds.

138 THE FINCHES

heard it in Norway, speaks much more highly, and (as I well believe)
justly, of the brambling's song. He says : " The true song is sweet
and melodious, consisting of several flute-like notes, somewhat
resembling those of the redwing," and adds that it is "only heard
in the breeding season." l No doubt, when the bird sings here it is not
his " true song " — there must be his true northern home to inspire it.
The goldfinch's call-note is " twitt-itt-itt" whilst repetitions and varia-
tions of this simple theme make up its song,2 which is, however, a
sweet one. The greenfinch has two call-notes, each uttered by both
sexes, most frequently during flight. The first is a " dididit," or "twit,
twit, twit" which may be further prolonged, the second a more
vehement "yell, yell" etc. (from one to half a dozen), which belongs
more to autumn, and may be called the flocking note par excellence.
Both these are combined with the song, or, rather, they together
constitute it, with the exception of one note at the end, with which
I am very familiar, and which Witchell terms "a coarse wheeze,
almost a rattle ; " 3 my own opinion of it, and of its apparent signifi-
cance, I have already recorded.4 The last may be (and constantly is)
uttered singly, and (as I know to my cost) repeatedly. It never
begins the song, and is sometimes left out of it, being not often
uttered in flight, as the other parts are.5

The call-note of the linnet — which may also become an alarm-cry
— is a curious rapid chuckle, followed by a twitter, like the " dit-it-it " of
the greenfinch.6 The song is, apparently, a repetition (yet surely much
ennobled) of the same chuckling strain, and is often uttered in chorus
by many birds together.7 Bailly expresses it by the syllables "pi, pi,
pi, pi " (as pronounced in French), and draws attention to the fact that
the hens contribute a "petit gazouillement" to the general effect, some of
the older ones having even a "suite de sons assez soutenus."8 Naumann9

1 As quoted in Sliarpe and Dresser's Birds of Europe.

2 Witchell, Cries and Call-notes of Wild Birds.

3 Ibid. * See ante, p. 92.
6 Witchell, op. tit. 6 Ibid.

T Ibid. s OrnitJiologie de la Savoie.

9 Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii.

THE FINCHES 139

describes the call-note of the twite as " ycigagagcick" which, allowing for
the German valuation of these syllables — yegegegeck, perhaps, for I do
not presume to speak positively — makes some approach to the dit-it-it
(or thereabouts), preceded by a chuckle, of the linnet. It also utters a
single "jack " (yeck) and a "daii" (dar-ee) and, as an alarm-note, a " scheh-
sche-schei" the song being, mostly, a combination of all these elements.
According to Ussher,1 the latter is a series of exclamations of which the
longest upbraids "lazy Jenny!", and with this Warren2 concurs. Mac-
pherson,3 however, in conjunction with Harvie-Brown,4 presents us
with a more pleasing picture of the male, in summer, " rising singly,
on the wing, and, after describing a short circle, descending, spirally,
on expanded pinions" — thus avoiding tautology: whilst R. Gray5
speaks of its " encouraging chatter," "piping notes," "shrill, joyous
cry," and " strange music." Witchell,6 however, allows the same bird
nothing but a frequently repeated "wheeze" as a call-note, and
describes the song as " but little more than repetitions of this ! "

Naumann 7 was not impressed with the singing capacities of either
of our two redpolls, referring to them as " wenig wert " (worth little).
Forrest 8 makes amends to the lesser one by speaking of its " pleasing,
low, twittering song," uttered in chorus, at roosting-time, on a July
evening. The call-note is a rapid, rattling twitter — " tschidt " according
to Xaumann — uttered as the birds fly together, at a height above that
of other finches.9 Witchell 10 says that the tones of the lesser redpoll
have an exaggerated resemblance to those of the greenfinch, and
refers to its " even coarser wheeze." Its call, also, would be a "tit-it-it"
(or dit-it-it) if it were not uttered at a lower pitch and in a less sharp
tone, by which it becomes a " twut-tut-tutt." u

The mealy redpoll's call-note has been described as a " chizzzzz" and
its song (without any intention of insulting the bird) as either " zig-wig,

1 Birds of Ireland. ! Ibid.

3 Fauna of N.- W. Scotland. * Ibid.

° Birds of the West of Scotland. 6 Op. tit.

7 Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleur&pas, iii. * Fauna of N. Wales.

0 Ibid. 10 Op. cit.
11 Witchell, op. cit.

140 THE FINCHES

chutta, chutta, che, we, we," or " chick, chick, chick, wee, we" — the latter being
uttered in flight.1 The nuptial song, with its accompanying flight, of
the siskin has already been referred to. It consists of a number of
twittering sounds, sweet according to some,2 not pleasing ("nicht schon")
according to others.3 Besides this, it has a shrill, clear cry, said to
be like that of no other bird, and, if put to flight suddenly, testifies
some impatience, yet withal makes light of the incident with a " tut,

tut, tutr^

The house-sparrow, though no songster, makes use of a good
many notes, which Naumann 5 has classified as follows : — There is
" schilp" the call-note when perched, " dieb " that used in flight, " durr "
(deer} and " die, die, die " (dee), of a sentimental complexion, " tell, terell,
lell, tell, tell" the breeding-note, "terrr" that of warning, whilst "diel" and
"schilk" are reserved for love in its higher forms. " Schelm!" though
it might seem naturally to go with " Dieb ! " is apparently undefined.
Naumann, besides that he was perhaps the greatest field ornithologist
that ever lived, was also a German, with, no doubt, a good ear, and it
is, therefore, with becoming diffidence that I record my own personal
opinion, or at any rate suspicion, that all or most of these sounds may
be, and often are, used to express all or most of those meanings, each
of which is supposed to correspond with some one of them.

The tree-sparrow's notes are much like those of the house-
sparrow, but whilst Naumann 6 finds them " more musical," Lilford 7
describes them as "sharper and shriller," a difference of opinion
which would seem to be greater than the one of fact on which it
is founded. In flight they have a " teck, teck," sometimes a " Uui"
and, should circumstances seem to warrant it, do not scruple to say
" demm ! " — often several times in succession — a habit which is soon
caught by the fledgling young in the nest.8

1 O. V. Aplin, Zool., vol. xx. p. 451, and xxi. p. 69.

2 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland.

3 Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii.

4 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland. 6 Op. cit., iii.

6 Ibid. 7 Birds of Northampton.

8 Naumann, op. cit.

THE FINCHES 141

The sweet " dee-ew" or "dee-it" of the bullfinch, being its call,
which upon another note or two becomes its song also, has been
already referred to.1 It has been described as a whistle, more feel-
ingly as an " inward warble," in making which the bird " puffs out its
feathers and labours violently."2

For the hawfinch, his call-note, according to Seebohm,3 is a sharp
click, no doubt that which is referred to by Millais as a "peculiar
clinking note," heard during flight, and unmistakable. Naumann
calls it a sharp "zicks" or "knipps" but considers that a long "zih"
(" zee "), also uttered on the wing or just before flying, is the more
usual call-note, which, by rapid repetition, is changed into that of
alarm. The song he describes as long, but poor, made up of the
"zicks" aforesaid, and becoming, when many of the birds join in
concert, "ein sonderbares unangenehmes i Geschwirr " (" a strange, disagree-
able chattering "). A bird, however — still less a bird's song — is never
without a champion, and here both Macgillivray and Montagu come
to the rescue, the former asserting that the hawfinch "sings pleas-
antly in low, plaintive notes, even in winter," 5 the latter 6 that its " soft
tones" resemble those of the bullfinch. To some extent this is
confirmed by Seebohm, who describes the song as "four simple whistles
on an ascending scale, the first two at a slight interval, and the last
two repeated rapidly, one after the other, the final one being somewhat
drawn out." 7 It would appear, therefore, that the hawfinch can sing
" both high and low," or at any rate in two very different manners.

The crossbill's call, mostly uttered in flight, has been rendered
"tsip-tsip" or "tsup-tsup" "yip-yip," "yep-yep" or "yup yup" "gip-gip"
"gup-gup" "sit-sit" and so on8 — the class of sound maybe imagined, the
spelling, as in all such cases, must depend somewhat on "the taste
and fancy of the speller." Seebohm 10 also speaks of a special call

1 Ante, p. 98. * Borrer, Birds of Sussex.

3 Hist. Brit. Birds. Millais, I think, is here quoted.

4 Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii. 5 A History of British Birds.
6 As quoted by Macgillivray, A History of British Birds.

' A History of British Birds. 8 Seebohm, Ussher, Warren, Witchell, etc.

9 Dickens, Pickwick Papers. »« Op. tit.

142 THE FINCHES

— " tsow " or " tsoo" made by the male to the female, usually from the
top of a tree ; but it is not this, according to Ussher and Warren, but
a sharp " gip-gip," which is employed by him when he flies up to feed
her on the nest. This last, apparently, is the ordinary call, and
when uttered by the female on the nest may be either a greeting or
a request for food, as in other cases a cry of alarm or warning,1 or, as
I should myself say, a generalised sound uttered on all sorts of
occasions, without any precise meaning being attached to it by the
bird. The call or cry of the young is a " chit-oo, chit-oo, chit, chit"2
From all accounts the song of the crossbill is a very charming per-
formance,3 and must be made all the more so by the silence and
sad solitude of those northern fir-forests in which it is par excellence
to be heard. Amidst the security and still peace of these, the male,
in all seasons, warbles love to his mate, which she, in fainter tones,
sends back to him.

Though more typical, perhaps, as a family, of spring and summer
leafiness, finches are interesting birds to watch in the winter-time.
It is then that, through hunger, they become bolder, so that, by
getting into haystacks in the early morning, before it has lightened,
one can have them comfortably at a few yards, or even at a few
feet distance. One sees thus, to perfection, their manner of divest-
ing the seed from its outer husk, before eating it, and may notice
that, whilst the greenfinch and others keep to the chaff-heap that lies
by the stack, and eat with head in air, the goldfinch will walk, with
assurance, to the stack itself, and, drawing out a blade, with the ear,
stand and peck down upon it, like a little crow, husking each grain
as it lies. For now the various species of the family are commingled,
whilst tits, buntings, and others — the robin sometimes, with little pert
flirt, and ever-demure, stealing hedge-sparrow — I would rather not
mention him than call him anything else — help to make a warm-
coloured patchwork on the white, cold carpet of the snow. It is

1 Birds of Ireland. 2 Ussher and Warren, op. cit.

1 Naumann, however, must be excepted. That there are individuals whose song can "even
be called pleasing " is his highest praise.

THE FINCHES 143

here one may best see the bramblings, those northern beauties
whose glowing hues of mingled copper and chestnut put, though they
be but their winter robings, all others about them to shame — the
yellowhammer's even and goldfinch's, much more those of the
chaffinch, though the latter ruffles it with them, cheek by jowl, as
though anxious to challenge comparison. For the linnet, his breast
is not what it was in the summer, nor does he, unless hard pressed,
affect mixed company,1 whilst the hardest of winters will scarce make
the bullfinch thus common. It was whilst watching (this en passant)
such reunions, at close quarters, yet quite unsuspected, that I came
to think birds were influenced in their movements by some form of
thought-transference, or, as I have called it, collective thinking.2 I
have never seen any reason to alter this view, which further observa-
tion has since strengthened.

Though the song and call-notes of the brainbling may some-
times be heard in this land, yet with us he is essentially a winter
bird, and it is, perhaps, in his roosting habits at that season that we
know him at his best; for we know him then, sometimes, in his
thousands, and there is in such assemblages, when gathered for such
a purpose, a very special class of excitement which I have often
thought must have in it something analogous to that which prevails
at migration. Indeed, it may be precisely the same, since it is the
all having some set thing to do, and being met to do it, that gives
excitement to numbers. Expectancy first, and then the deed, is the
key-note, only the thing must be somewhat eventful and sufficiently
concentrated into a period, not spread out through the day, like mere
feeding, though even here some excitement may be shown.

Like greenfinches,3 brarnblings are fond of evergreens as dormi-
tories, and a Portugal laurel, especially, is for them full of charm.
Thus they, too, should all local conditions be favourable, may
become familiar with the garden shrubbery, but it is not until various

1 Lilford, Birds of Northampton. There are, however, statements to the contrary.
* See Bird Watching, pp. 219-223, etc.
3 See ante, p. 91.

144 THE FINCHES

evolutions have been gone through, of an evening, that they reach this
final rendezvous. Some little time before sunset, they collect into any
tall trees that, like outposts, sentinel their chosen camp, from whence,
later, they fly, in a body, into such as may stand close against it, or
rise from its midst. One would think that the next stage would be
the descent into the shrubbery itself, but daylight still lingers, and
the birds are not yet ready for sleep. In small parties, of about a
dozen together, they clash out over the country, where they are
joined by other and larger ones, with which various family relations —
greenfinches, chaffinches, or even, in favoured localities, goldfinches —
may be commingled. And now, swollen in numbers and augmented
in species, the flocks return, and, dropping, one after another, into
their leafy ante-room, seem to wait there for bedtime. At last, when
" the sun's rim dips," the whole of the assembly fly down in an orderly
manner from the high twigs amongst which they have been perched,
into the dark valley of evergreen trees and shrubs below, where they
pass the night crowded together, and keeping as close to the trunk
of each holly or laurel in which they cluster as their numbers will
permit.1

Next to a Portugal laurel, perhaps — which he cannot expect
always — the brambling loves beech-trees to roost in. They have,
indeed, the advantage, next morning, of producing beech-mast,
to which he is partial — so partial that in England, where he can get
it, he has been seen, in flocks numbering thousands, amongst "the
beechen woods."2 In the north it is different. There, amidst dark
shrouding conifers, with which his gay copper tintings and white and
black patchery have doubtless been " shown " to assimilate, he sleeps
in security, nor dreams of the poor purblind pine-marten.

The roosting habits of the greenfinch have been already referred
to.3 Those of the linnet have this salient peculiarity amongst
finches, viz. that he often roosts on the ground. "Amongst the

1 Saxby, Birds of Shetland. North Wales is here referred to.

2 T. H. Nelson and W. S. Clarke, Birds of Yoi^kshire.

3 Ante, p. 91.

THE FINCHES 145

thick grass and dry weeds," says Cordeaux ; and adds that he has
"frequently distinguished large flocks of them very early in the
morning and late at night."1 Lilford, in his Birds of Northampton,
makes the same observation, but that they also roost in trees or
bushes is equally certain ; 2 and Bailly 3 tells us how, in Savoy, they
flock to the woods, in troops, at sunset, where they make ready for
the night, choosing, more particularly, for their sleeping - trees, the
oak and the witch-elm. Here they will dispute for places, and
indulge in a little last conversation, and a feeble little "pee, pee,
pee, pee, pee " continues to be heard out of the darkness, long after
their proper bedtime. Yet withal they are early risers, and long
before the sun is up fly out, either all together or in companies
that follow one another to their accustomed feeding haunts.

But the house- and the tree-sparrow exhibit some peculiarities in
their roosting habits which seem to stand in relation to the domed
or otherwise enclosed nest, which with the former bird is general
and with the latter invariable. Thus, during the winter, holes and
the nests of various birds, are made use of as sleeping-places by
both the species ; but whilst the house-sparrow chooses its own, or
those of the swallow or house-martin, by preference, the tree-sparrow
favours crows' or hawks' nests — also the woodpecker's, but that may
be classed under holes. Old walls and quarries, with such accommo-
dation as is to be found under the eaves or windows of outhouses and
buildings, are likewise common to the two, with the general distinc-
tion that while the house-sparrow's taste admits of, or even prefers,
the close contiguity of humanity, the other, guided by a higher
instinct, avoids it as far as is practicable. In such and such-like cosy
nooks and crannies several birds will nestle together in apparent
harmony, which, however, permits of some squabbling, over which
darkness gradually exerts its well-known sedative influence.4 To the
above the interesting statement is added that the house-sparrow, at

1 Birds of the Number District.

- Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii.

3 Ornithologie de la Savoie. 4 Naumaun, op. cit.

T

146 THE FINCHES

any rate, when he sleeps in such places, lays down feathers — in fact,
makes a feather-bed — for his warmth and comfort during the night.1
All this, as before stated, is for the winter. In summer the more
primitive lodgment of trees, shrubs, and reed-beds is as welcome
to these as to other members of the Finch family, and the house-
sparrow, especially, will roost amidst the upper branches of the
former, undeterred by the frequent contingency of its being a rainy
night.2

The above are perhaps the most interesting habits of the
Fringillidce, in connection with the important matter of going to
bed, that are commonly open to observation in this country — though
that expression can hardly be applied to those of the brambling.
The crossbill's are possibly more interesting than any, since "many
an aery wheel" accompanies its frequent social flights above the fir
forests of its real home, and these would be no doubt intensified
before the final descent into them for the night, which is passed
amidst their densest gloom, takes place. But of this I can find no
very arresting account. Of the rest of the species it is sufficient to
say,3 shortly, that the bullfinch and redpolls roost in thick bushes, the
goldfinch and hawfinch in tree-tops — the latter, also, in hedges during
the winter — the chaffinch in trees, bushes, and hedges, the twite in
plantations,4 and the siskin in the thickest parts of coniferous and
other trees.

Though the roosting habits of socially-minded birds in the winter
may be said to touch their flocking ones, yet they are not of the
essence of this latter activity, and have, probably, nothing to do with
its origin. Something, therefore, should be said in regard to the
social or congregating impulse, as exhibited in varying degrees by
our finches, treating this as a force in itself, without reference to any
purpose or incidental advantage that may go along with it. Yet it is

1 Zool. Garten, 1878, p. 205. 2 C. A. Witchell, Zool., 1890, p. 77.

3 Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii.

4 When he can get them, doubtless, understood. He cannot, for instance, in the Shetlands,
where he is common.

Plate 17

Bramblings in winter plumage

By A. W. Seaby

THE FINCHES 147

not so much, after all, in the details, as in the general subject, and
the questions arising out of it, that true interest lies. Why do birds
flock ? What was the origin of the habit ? Is it an initial instinct,
upon which, sometimes, circumstances may act as a check, or do
circumstances alone produce the phenomenon? The number of
solitary species seems a sufficient answer to the first of these ques-
tions ; l whilst that habits themselves, however brought about, may
pass, by degrees, into instincts, is a truth that can hardly be ques-
tioned. The rivalry and jealousy between male birds, as well as the
proprietary feelings and protective instinct of both parents, which
will not willingly suffer a too close contiguity to the neighbourhood
of the nest, is sufficient to keep families apart during the season of
domestic activities, but, when these are over, the check is relaxed,
and there is no jyrima facie reason why like should not seek like. If,
then, the numbers of the species, or the similarity of food and habits,
tend to produce this result, it is easy to understand how a mere state
of things, coming naturally about, should pass into a custom, and
this, in some instances, into a craving so strong as even to break
down the barriers just glanced at, so that nesting itself becomes
social. Of this there is some indication even amongst our own
finches, whilst their foreign relations, the Weaver-birds,2 supply us
with a crowning example of it. With this trifling preface we may
pass from the general to the particular.

Bramblings, so social as we have seen them in their habits of
roosting, are sufficiently so, even in the spring-time, for several to
build their nests near together,3 sometimes, even, though this is
exceptional, within the confined territory of a small juniper bush.
When the period of domesticity is over, they yield entirely to the now
more dominant instinct, and gather into flocks so vast as to attain,
sometimes, even in Britain, a length of a quarter of a mile and a

1 Yet the solitary habit may be induced.

* " Hardly to be distinguished from the Fringillidce, except by their tenth primary being
distinctly developed," says the Cambridge Natural History. A pedantic reason then, surely,
for thus separating them.

3 R. Collett, quoted in Sharpe and Dresser's Birds of Europe.

148 THE FINCHES

breadth of some fifteen or twenty yards.1 The number contained in
such a body would be all the greater, because bramblings, under these
circumstances, fly close together, presenting the appearance, accord-
ing to one observer, of a "winged (say a many-winged) serpent."
When feeding thus, in numbers, together, the rearward members of
the column keep constantly flying over the heads of those in front of
them, so as to become the van. In this manner, says Bailly,3 they
will pass from end to end of a field and back again, but this is a trait
not peculiar either to them or to finches.

There does not appear to be any precise evidence, in the case
of the brambling, of the male and female birds flocking separately.
That they do not habitually do so is evident; but, as with the
chaffinch, which species they resemble more than any other finch,
it may be an occasional feature. In the latter bird this is said to
be a northern habit ; but although, in his Birds of Oxfordshire, Aplin
remarks of it that " the sexes were formerly believed to separate in
winter," Gilbert White's evidence should be held decisive on this
point, even had it never been confirmed. He says, inter alia, " I see,
every winter, vast flights of hen chaffinches, but none of cocks." 4 To
suppose that such a man could be mistaken on such a point, not once
merely, but every winter, would be extremely ridiculous, and, more-
over— which, however, I do not say as strengthening the evidence — I
have seen the same thing myself, also every winter, in Berkshire,
though here the numbers, if sometimes considerable, were never vast.
But that they were every one hens I very well remember, and I have
remarked the same tendency sometimes, though to a much less
extent, in Suffolk, as recently, without this qualification, in Brittany.
It is also exhibited, in a partial and fluctuating degree, by the
greenfinch, which may perhaps be considered the most gregarious
of the finches that breed with us, inasmuch as some four or

1 R. Gray mentions one such instance in his Birds of the West of Scotland, but Stevenson
(Birds of Norfolk) speaks of a flock which took thirty-five minutes in issuing from its roosting-
place, flying continuously all the while ; and this must have been very much larger.

2 R. Gray, op. cit. 3 Ornithologie de la Saroie.
* The Natural History of Selborne.

THE FINCHES 149

five will occasionally build their nests within a few yards of one
another. The goldfinch does not, as far as is known, go quite to such
lengths, nevertheless, by flying in parties to procure food for the
young,1 he remains, to some extent, social, even during the nesting
time ; and a similar habit has been remarked in the linnet.2

The crossbill is another of our finches which is gregarious, more
or less, all the year round, food being sought by the males, in company,
to give to the incubating females,3 and, again, by both parents, in a
similar fashion, after the eggs have been hatched. Later the various
families combine into flocks, which fly above the tops of the fir-trees,
over which, as before stated, they will perform aerial antics reminding
one of the sudden, downward swoop, ending in a somersault, often
made by rooks when they come in to roost.4 How much the crimson
plumage of the male must then, by harmonising with — what ? some-
thing, no doubt ; shall we say the sunset glow ? 5 — protect him from
the keen-eyed bird of prey, is too obvious to need pointing out.
Whilst flying thus together, the crossbills utter at intervals their
curious cry of "tsip-tsip" or "tsup-tsup" etc. This, according to
Seebohin,6 is to keep the flock together, an explanation which, as the
birds are diurnal, and not blind, seems wanting in the only evidence
that could reasonably be held to support it.

Always social, even during the nesting-time, the linnet collects, in
autumn, in flocks which, on the Continent, are sometimes described as
immense,7 and continues thus banded throughout the winter. Leav-
ing now his wooded haunts of summer, he descends upon the " boskie
acres " and " unshrubd downes " of cultivation, where, according to
Sharpe 8 and Dresser, he consorts with others of his family, such as

1 H. E. Forrest, Fauna of N. Wales. * Bailly, Ornithologie de la Savoie.

3 Naumaun. Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii.

4 I think Forrest makes this interesting statement. If not Ussher and Warren, Cornish or
Aplin may. It comes from a trustworthy source.

5 For the roosting-time this may serve. Something else must be thought of for earlier in
the day.

0 A History of British Birds.

' Bailly, Ornithologie Ae la Saroie ; Sharpe and Dresser, Birds of Europe.

\ Op. cit.

150 THE FINCHES

the greenfinch or brambling, but, according to Lilford,1 holds aloof,
and admits not others to his company. A strange discrepancy upon
a point so material! and it goes still further, since the former do
not scruple to say that he hobnobs even with sparrows ! 2 In time,
no doubt, the truth will appear; meanwhile it may be conjectured
that, over wide and varying localities, there is some variation in
habits. Subject to this, however, I should incline to the less exclusive
view of the birds' character, since, if not the twite, yet both the mealy
and lesser redpolls, his very near kinsfolk, keep company, whilst flocking,
not only with other finches, should they be about, but even with birds
who have not that title to recommendation — such as tits. At least
this demarche must be held to be established in the case of the mealy
redpoll, since either Dresser or Sharpe (I have not been successful in
my endeavours to ascertain which) says distinctly that, when in " small
straggling flocks," he has frequently seen him in company with titmice.3
This was in " the lonely forests of North America," yet where there is
a flock, however small, loneliness can hardly be pleaded as an excuse.
It certainly looks like a proclivity. The fact has not been so clearly
brought home to the lesser redpoll, yet the inference seems strongly
against him. We certainly have it that, "during the winter, he
is often seen frequenting birch and alder trees, sometimes in com-
pany with other small birds, clinging to ends of branches in all sorts
of attitudes, like titmice and goldcrests." 4 This last, and the fact that
the names of the small birds are not given, makes it extremely likely
— in fact, almost forces one to believe — that they were tits, if not gold-
crests, or, at any rate, that tits were amongst them. Since, therefore,
two members of the genus Linota make themselves thus common, it
need not surprise us that a third, and that the most representative of
them, also should. In regard to the twite, evidence on this head
seems wanting. Like the linnet, it collects, in winter, in flocks —
albeit but small ones — and thus roams the country.5 It then (in the

1 Birds of Northampton. He speaks of flocks of from twenty to sixty birds in the
winter.

* Birds of Europe. * Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Saxby, Birds of Shetland.

THE FINCHES 151

Shetlands) seeks the stubble-fields, and even the stack-yards, feeding
on the grains of wheat; l as does the lesser redpoll, in the later summer,
on groundsel and seeds of the thistle, which it picks out whilst
hanging to the plant in the same manner as the goldfinch.2

As has been seen, the linnet is, to some extent, social, even in
his breeding habits, and this is also the case with the lesser redpoll,
since we are told by Sharpe and Dresser that "several pairs will
construct their nests close together." Yet they add that "this
appeai-s to be rather the exception than the rule, and may depend
on the locality being a favourite one." Yarrell confirms this, and
adds that " considerable numbers will often meet at places far from
their nests." 4 In regard to the mealy redpoll, as also the twite, there
appears to be no special evidence in this direction.

The siskin, in winter, leaves the great conifer forests, where he has
carried on his domestic arrangements after a semi-social fashion — for
one nest is seldom verv far from another — and resorts to the lower-

if

lying champaign. Here the birds gather into flocks, which are often
of large size, and fly about the country till the returning spring awakes
in them fresh visions of courtship and a settled home.5 Siskins and
redpolls often join company when thus flocking, and each of them
seems equally satisfied with the arrangement. It is stated by Forrest 6
that, in these winter gatherings, the male siskins always seem to out-
number the females.

The greenfinch, chaffinch, and goldfinch all flock during the
autumn and winter, and all may be seen flying together, the first two
quite commonly and sometimes in large numbers, but it is only rarely
that they are reinforced by the third. The reason of this may seem
painfully obvious, yet goldfinches, when I have myself seen them
flocking, have kept very much to themselves. They flew in a wild,
fluttering, winter-butterfly way, over the barren fields, on which they
would suddenly descend before they had gone very far, and then,

1 Saxby, Birds of Shetland. ' Ibid. 3 Birds of Europe.

4 A History of British Birds. * Sharpe and Dresser, op. tit. s Fauna of N. Wale*.

152 THE FINCHES

after feeding a little, as suddenly rise and fly on again, their direc-
tion— first here and then there — seeming entirely capricious. With
these mixed assemblages — greenfinches and chaffinches more parti-
cularly— sparrows often associate themselves, and, on the ground, tits
and hedge-sparrows. Yet the sparrow — even "Domesticus" — though so
common and vulgar, is not such a flocker as might have been expected.
He does indeed flock, but, according to Macgillivray, such gatherings
are " loose, and accidentally formed by individuals casually meeting
with each other, and liable to be broken up by slight causes." l
Both he and the tree-sparrow, however — which latter species has
been sometimes observed in large flocks — are accustomed to join with
others of the family as well as with each other. The greenfinch,
whom he most resembles, is perhaps the house-sparrow's most usual
consort on these occasions.

Where birds are gregarious, it is natural that the young of the
first brood should form the first social gatherings of the advancing
season, and be afterwards joined by their parents and younger
brothers and sisters. Attention has been more specially called to
this circumstance in the case of the greenfinch,2 linnet,3 siskin,4 and
the house- 5 and tree- 6 sparrows ; but, perhaps, the difficulty would be
to find any very marked exception to what seems almost a necessity
of the case. One might, indeed, expect to find some difference, as
between the various species, in regard to the length of time after
quitting the nest at which these young birds begin flocking, on the
general principle that no two beings are precisely alike in anything.
Thus young linnets, according to Bailly,7 stay with their parents,
" wdinairement, jusqu'b la periode de la seconde couvee " (laying of eggs).
It may be doubted, however, whether in this they differ much from
other young finches. It is, in fact, just what one would expect, for
something seems needed to finally break the bond between parent

1 History of British Birds. 2 Seebohm, History of British Birds.

3 Bailly, Ornithologie de la Savoie.

4 Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vogcl Mitteleuropas, iii. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid.
7 Ornithologie de la Savoie.

THE FINCHES 153

and child, and nothing could do so more effectually than the former
having fresh domestic duties to attend to. Observations on this and
other points relating to the formation of flocks in the different species,
would be, no doubt, of interest — as what observation is not? — but
personally, there does not appear to me to be anything very mysteri-
ous, either in the growth of the social instinct, or in the effects which
naturally follow from it.

Two species yet remain to be considered in this sketch of the
flocking habits of the Fringillidce, which, as they differ, though in
varying degrees, from the rest, and, to the same extent, approach
one another, I have purposely left to the last. In the bullfinch
we have a bird whose social instinct might seem to be but poorly
developed. From September to April, but chiefly in winter, it
is, indeed, seen in family parties, but seldom, according to Forrest,1
in flocks. Lilford2 and others concur in this, but Aplin3 has
seen it in small flocks, of about a dozen together, in Oxfordshire.
Personally I have never seen it more than three or four strong,
that I remember, but, as to this, it is to be remarked that flocks
are dependent on numbers, and the bullfinch, unfortunately, is
with us anything but a numerous species. That where it is more
abundant it congregates upon a more imposing scale, I have very
little doubt, and we are, in fact, informed that in Carinthia "the
families combine to form large flocks." 4 We are not told that these
are made up of migrating birds, and even supposing them to be so,
yet flocking is flocking, with whatever motive the individuals may be
drawn together. At any rate, the more fortuitous the gathering, the
less (as a necessary inference) can the social instinct be said to
obtain, whereas birds that felt impelled to gather for any purpose
where this was not an absolute necessity would be all the more
likely to do so on other occasions also. Perhaps, therefore, were the
bullfinch in numbers sufficient to put heart, as one may say, into

1 Fauna of N. Wales. - Birds of Northamptonshire.

3 Birds of Oxfordshire. * F. C. Kelley, Ornis Carinthia!.

U

154 THE FINCHES

his latent social proclivities, he would flock in a much more respect-
able manner. Obviously a few small family parties scattered over a
wide area would have far less opportunity of joining one another
than were they multiplied twenty or thirty fold.

Possibly in the hawfinch we may have a further illustration of
this principle. In autumn and winter it is seen, sometimes in
family parties, sometimes in flocks,1 and it seems probable that the
preponderance of the one or the other, as well as the numbers of the
latter, depend on its relative abundance in this or that district. The
largest gathering recorded, however2 — viz., two hundred — was in
the days of Yarrell,3 which, at first sight, does not seem in accord-
ance with the view that at that time the bird was much scarcer
amongst us than it now is. Such a fact, however, might be due to a
migratory irruption bearing no relation to the resident population.
In 1880 a flock of one hundred hawfinches was recorded, whilst the
smallest mentioned is fifteen. The conclusion, if one is justified in
drawing any from these somewhat scanty data, would seem to be
that where there are so many as one hundred, or two hundred, birds,
to flock together, they will so flock if it lies in their way to do so, that
is, if they be sufficiently thickly sown, as one may say, over the country,
but not otherwise. Should the reason here suggested, namely, the
lesser abundance of the species, be not sufficient to explain the more
restricted nature of their social gatherings, then we must look upon
both the hawfinch and bullfinch, but more especially the latter, as
being less gregarious than the other members of the family, or than
the generality of them. Yet surely numbers themselves should have
a strong influence in the making of a species either social or solitary.

Whatever may be their numbers, these hawfinch gatherings would
seem to be homogeneous. Indeed of all finches — excepting the bull-
finch, who is also very exclusive — the hawfinch, perhaps, may most be
said to stand alone. He is sufficient unto himself, needing no other.

1 Yarrell, Seebohm, Macgillivray, each in his respective History of British Birds.

2 As far as I am aware. 3 See his History of British Birds.

Plate 18

Hawfinch (Male)

By G. B. Collins

THE FINCHES 155

The greenfinch mingles with the sparrow, and the sparrow with
the chaffinch, either in flocking or roosting, or, with the goldfinch
and brambling, all may descend upon the straw-stack, but not
Coccothraustes — one does not see him in such company.

To say truth, Coccothraustes, though the largest of our finches, is
a bird that I have found it difficult to see at all. He is indeed a shy
and quiet haunter of wood and plantation, and 'tis but seldom that
his masterly method of dealing with cherry-stones, which he almost
romantically loves — whereby, as by magic, and with scarce an effort,
the two halves fall, one on each side of his bill * — can be observed to
full edification. For myself, I am inclined to think that such
economic harm as he may do 2 is done abroad — for which who, born
a Briton, shall blame him ? — and that, in a country so public and
bustling as this, his shyness keeps him mostly to the woodlands,
where, upon beech-nuts, berries, and the like, he innocently feeds.3
And let the cherry-cultivator remember this, that he does not, strictly
speaking, eat cherries — he cares only for their stones. Nay, it is not
even these that he really wants, but only the kernels inside them.
Upon the fruit which surrounds both he has no designs. To him it is
mere pulp, and he rejects it, however luscious, as scrupulously as does
the greenfinch or goldfinch the tasteless husk of a wheat- or barley-

1 Naumanu, Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleur&pas, iii. The curious horny plates or
"crushing-pads," situated inside the bill of the hawfinch, have been described, figured, and
designated by Mr. Pycraft, their discoverer, in British Birds. They would appear to be for
the express purpose of crushing the hard shells of seeds, so that one might doubt the accuracy
of Nauinanii's description of the bird's apparent bisection of cherry-stones, were it not obviously
from frequent personal observation. Assuming the use of the "pads," then whilst in the
crossbill there is a special apparatus for obtaining such seeds of plants, in their entirety, as are
soft but not easy to extract, the hawfinch has another for getting at the kernel of hard ones,
the procural of which presents no difficulty. In neither case does the shape of the bill appear
to me to be the main feature.

1 In an important editorial note to the Vogel, Dr. Carl Hennicke points out that "not only
does the hawfinch feed its young entirely on insects," but that "these are the exclusive food of
the parents also, during the spring and early summer." "Marry, well bethought!" and the
good thus done must be largely in excess of such toll as the poor bird sometimes takes of peas
or cherries, thrust ostentatiously in its way, and for which none •would wish to barter its life
except such as to whom the loss of the whole bird world, unless in respect of the pleasures of
blood and the table, would be no loss at all.

3 Complaints may from time to time be heard, but they are always interested, proceeding,
as they do, from a class of beings— market-gardeners and the like — who are the natural enemies
of all bird life.

156 THE FINCHES

grain. He is equally careful with the^ berries of the hawthorn, from
his supposed taste for which, but really for their kernels, he perhaps
has his name, or with those — still redder or more luridly so — of the
yew, amidst whose funereal branches he will sometimes cling head-
downwards, like a tit. He then presents an imposing appearance,
yet more so, perhaps, when he stands, stately, beside his nest, before
mounting it, whereby it assumes the appearance of a throne.

Indeed, were it not for the crossbill, with his uniqueness and
right royal livery, the hawfinch, at least in these kingdoms, might well
be called King of the Finches. His size, his dignity, his build, his bill,
his colouring — subdued yet rich — above all, his name, Coccothraustes,
would else, I think, fully entitle him to that dignity. Whether he has
ever aspired to it, but unsuccessfully, or been deposed even — in 1251
possibly, the year of his rival's invasion — is a further question ; but
I sometimes think he looks melancholy, and I know that, year by
year, he broods. It may be said that, in this respect at any rate, he
does not stand alone amongst finches, or even amongst birds as a
class. I defer my answer to another occasion, there being no longer
space for it here.

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