Sections, THE Scctionxu- 10/6 net BRITI S H BIRD UC-NRLF BOOK 2OO PLATES IN COLOUR AND NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS, EDITED BY FB KIRKMAN'BAQXON COIL tribrtz t 02?^ J. L. BONHOTE WILLIAM FARREN E, HARTERT F. C. R. JOURDAIN W. P. PYGRAFT EDMUND SELOUS MISS E. L. TURNER A. L. THOMSON AND THE EDITOR MISS W. AUSTEN G. E. COLLINS H. GRONVOLD G. E. LODGE A. W. SEABY AND OTHERS A- COMPLETE -WORK ON THE BIRDS, NESTS AND - EGGS - OF GREAT BRITAIN an d ' Cf JACK, BlOLOG'i LIBRARY 6 £-7 THE GREBES [ORDER: Colymbiformes. SUBORDER: Podicipedes. FAMILY: Podicipedidce] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES [F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] GREAT CRESTED-GREBE [Coltfmbus cristdtus Linnams ; Podicipes cristdtus (Linnaeus). Tippet-grebe, diver, great-diver ; Tommy Allen (Nor- thumberland) ; loon (Norfolk) ; gaunt (Lines.) ; mulrooken (Ireland). French, gr£be huppe ; German, grosser Lappentaucher ; Italian, svasso maggiore]. 1. Description. — The great crested-grebe may always be distinguished by the broad bands of white which mark the outspread wing ; it further differs from all our other native Grebes in its relatively longer beak and greatly superior size. The sexes are alike, and there are striking seasonal changes of coloration. (PI. 175.) Length 21 in. [533 mm.]. The upper parts are of a dark brown, the under parts white with a peculiar satin-like sheen. In the nuptial dress two tufts, or "ears," of erectile feathers spring from the hinder region of the crown, and the head is sur- rounded by a large erectile frill, resembling an Elizabethan ruff, of a rich chesnut, shading into dark chesnut-brown at the periphery. The marginal wing-coverts and secondaries are white, as also are the parapteral feathers, so that the outspread wing is marked by large and conspicuous areas of white. The beak is ruddy, the iris crimson, and the legs and toes light olive-green. The "ears" and "ruff" are lost at the autumn moult. The juvenile dress resembles that of the adult in winter, but the head and neck are more or less distinctly striped longitudinally with dark ash-brown. The iris is lemon-yellow. The young in down have the upper parts dark brown and longitudinally striped with dull white. On the crown of the head is a heart-shaped patch of bare, vermilion-coloured skui. [w. p. p.] 2. Distribution. — There has been a very decided increase in the numbers and breeding range of this species of late years, and now it nests on most large sheets VOL. IV. 3 P 7463 1 8 406 THE GREBES of water in England, with the exception of the Devonian Peninsula, the Lake . district,1 Durham, Northumberland, and Kent, while it has only bred exception- '* .* t * •• • • '••' ally in Essex. In Wales it nests in Glamorgan, Brecon, Flint, Montgomery, and : •"/. . Anglesey ; and in Scotland, though absent from Tweed, it has bred in Solway and at many localities in Clyde and Forth, north to the Tay area. In Ireland it is found nesting on most of the principal loughs, in some of them plentifully, but avoids those in which the bottom is stony and reeds are absent. On the Continent it is known to nest in Southern Sweden ; also in Finland north to Wasa and Kuopio ; and in Russia on Lake Onega and the Perm government south to the lower Dneister, the Sea of Azof, and Transcaucasia.. From Denmark southward it breeds in suitable localities to the Mediterranean, but it is doubtful whether it does so at the present time in Greece. It nests on some of the Mediterranean islands, Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus, etc., as well as in North-west Africa (Marocco, Algeria, and probably Tunisia). In Asia it ranges north to the central Tobolsk and southern Tomsk governments, and east to South Ussuria and China, as well as in Japan, while its southward limits include Palestine, Transcaspia, Kashmir, and locally in N. India. It is also said to breed in Abyssinia and South Africa, and is represented by allied races in Australia and New Zealand. Continental birds winter in the Mediter- ranean region, and Asiatic birds south to the Persian Gulf, India, and Burma. Casual in the Faeroes and Norway. [F. c. R. J.] 3. Migration. — Resident within our area so far as known, although a cold- weather visitor to some districts ; almost unknown in the most northerly parts of our islands (see above), and everywhere rather local in its distribution, owing to the nature of its haunts. But in winter it is found on the coasts as well as inland. In Yorkshire it is a local resident, and not common as a winter visitor ; to Kent it is solely an autumn and winter visitor, seldom seen before November ; and in Dumfriesshire it is very locally resident, and an irregular cold-weather visitor (cf. Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 738 ; Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 540 ; and Gladstone, B. of Dumfries., 1910, p. 459). In Ireland it is resident but for a cold- weather movement towards tidal waters and the southern districts (cf . Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 376). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — The nest is a heap of vegetable matter pulled up from the surrounding water, and either floating on the surface or built up in shallow water among the surrounding plants. Rushes, flags, reeds, pondweed, and even dead sticks are used as material, the male assisting in the work and bringing addi- 1 The first record for Lakeland will be found in the Zoologist, 1912, p. 183. PLATE LXXVI Great crested grebe's nest with eyas covered * I <.r-.-' 'V-'-t'n \ v >^^^^^^ )• K. A. W alUs Little-grebe's nest with eggs covered Photo by t. A. Wallis Little-grebe's nest with eggs uncovered PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 407 tional matter even while his mate is sitting. The hollow in which the eggs lie is barely above water-level, and is generally wet, and the eggs are usually covered with weed when the incubating bird is not on. (PI. LXXVI.) The eggs are usually 4, less commonly 3 or 5, while exceptionally 6, 7, 8, and even 9 eggs have been found in a nest (Zoologist, 1912, p. 427), but it seems improbable that they can have been laid by one female. They have a chalky surface, sometimes deposited in lumps, but when fresh are often a pale bluish or greenish white, though rapidly stained by contact with weeds to some shade of reddish brown or sepia-brown. Very excep- tionally black eggs have been recorded. (PI. W.) Both parents take part in incubation (E. Tristram and W. F. Dewey), and the period is estimated by the latter at four weeks : this is confirmed by Tristram, but Naumann gives it as three weeks only. Average size of 82 eggs, 2-20 x 1-44 in. [56 x 36'7 mm.]. The breeding season is variable : some birds have been known to begin laying at the beginning of April, but as a rule it is not till the end of the month or in May that the first clutches are to be found. As this species sometimes, at any rate, rears two broods in the season, it is not surprising that eggs have been met with through June, July, and even in August, while eggs still unhatched have been met with on 1st September. [F. c. R. J.] 5. Food. — Fish, aquatic insects and aquatic vegetation. The young are fed by both parents on small fish. [w. p. p.] REDNECKED-GREBE [Col^nibus griseigena Boddaert; Podicipes griseigena (Boddaert). French, grebe jou-gris ; German, Rothalsiger-Lappen- taucher; Italian, svasso collo-rosso], I. Description. — The rednecked-grebe hi its nuptial dress may at once be distinguished by the white-bordered blue-grey arc at the side of the head ; in its winter dress it recalls the great crested-grebe, from which it may at all times be distinguished by having brown instead of white parapteral feathers. The sexes are alike, and there is a striking seasonal change of coloration. (PI. 176.) Length 18 in. [457 mm.]. Beak black, yellow at the base ; iris carmine ; feet externally greenish black, internally dull yellowish. The upper parts are of a dark brown washed with grey. The feathers of the crown are elongated, and almost black in colour, while the throat and side of the head are of a blue-grey, with a more or less well-defined white line running along the upper boundary of this area below the eye. The fore-neck and breast are of a rich chesnut, and the under parts are white, 408 THE GREBES with a satin-like sheen. The inner secondaries and marginal coverts are white, but parapteral feathers are brown. After the autumn moult the sides of the head and neck lose their distinctive coloration and become white. The juvenile dress resembles that of the adult winter dress, but the cheeks and sides of the head and upper part of the neck are more or less plainly marked by blackish streaks. The young in down differs from that of the great crested-grebe chiefly in lacking the vermilion coloured patch on the forehead, and the somewhat more sharply con- trasted longitudinal stripes, [w. P. P.] 2. Distribution. — This species is only a whiter visitor to our islands, and breeds on the Continent in Southern Sweden, South Finland, and in Russia from the Enare basin, the southern part of the Kola Peninsula, and locally in the Arch- angel government south to the mouth of the Dneister, the Putrid Sea, and Trans- caucasia. It also nests in Denmark, Germany, probably Holland, Austro-Hungary, and the Dobrogea. It is also said to have been found breeding in Marocco, but this appears to require confirmation. In Asia it is widely distributed, ranging north to the Tobolsk and Tomsk governments, and south to the Turgai government and the Oxus delta, but in East Siberia (lower Kolyma, Ussuria, Kamtschatka, etc.) is replaced by a larger race, which is also found in North America from lat. 50° to the Arctic Ocean and Greenland. On migration it ranges south to the Mediter- ranean and North Africa (Marocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt), and in Asia to the Caspian Sea, while the eastern form winters in Japan and the United States. In winter the western race visits Norway regularly, and has been recorded once from Spitsbergen and Iceland. [F. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — A winter visitor, mainly to the eastern seaboard of Great Britain ; arrival takes place between 17th August and 20th September, and depart- ture hi March (cf. Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration, 1912, vol. i. p. 162 ; and Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 740). As far south as Kent it is only a rare occasional visitor, though recorded from September till April (cf. Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 542). Although of irregular appearance in the Channel, and rare on the west of Great Britain generally, it is apparently not infrequent off Cornwall (cf. Saunders, III. Man. British Birds, 2nd ed., 1899, p. 719). There are very few Irish records, all for December, January, or February (cf . Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 379). Great influxes are occasionally observed, "as hi 1865 and again hi 1897 in Norfolk, hi January 1891 in Yorkshire, and on the coast of East Lothian hi the early part of 1895 " (Saunders, loc. cit.). It very rarely visits our inland waters. [A. L. T.] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 409 4. Nest and Eggs.— Does not breed in the British Isles. [F. c. R. J.] 5. Food. — Aquatic insects and their larvae, Crustacea, small fish, tadpoles, and aquatic vegetation, [w. P. p.] SLAVONIAN-GREBE [Colfimbm auritus Linnaeus; Podicipes auritus (Linnaeus). Horned-grebe (Devon). French, gribe cornu ; German, ge- hornter Lappentaucher ; Italian, svasso forestiero}. I. Description. — Apart from considerations of size, the Slavonian is dis- tinguished from the rednecked-grebe in having the marginal coverts of the wing brown, and from the eared-grebe in having the three outer secondaries ash-coloured, the rest white. The sexes are alike, and there is a striking seasonal change of coloration. (PI. 176.) Length 13£ in. [342 mm.]. The upper parts are of a very dark brown, the head and throat are black, the feathers of the latter region and the hinder region of the head being conspicuously elongated, and form a velvety black " ruff," which is completed by elongated tufts arising on each side of the head above the eye, and extending backwards to form a pair of heavy, rich chesnut-coloured tufts. The fore-neck and flanks are also chesnut, but redder than the tufts. The under parts are of a satin-like white, with dusky markings on the abdomen. The beak is black with a touch of bluish grey and rose at the base, and bluish grey at the tip. Iris carmine, but the pupil surrounded by a white ring. After the autumn moult the ornamental plumes are wanting, the top of the head and hind-neck being then of a greyish black, the throat and fore-neck white, save hi the area which is red in summer : this is now of a dusky hue. The flanks are of a dark ash colour. The rest of the under parts are white with a satin-like sheen. The juvenile dress resembles the adult in whiter, but has the back of the head and neck of a sooty brown, and more or less distinct longitudinal streaks of sooty brown, on the sides of the head. The downy young have the upper parts dark brown striped longitudinally with white. These markings are most conspicuous on the neck, and are said to fade rapidly from the back. [w. p. p.] 2. Distribution. — In the British Isles this species is only known with cer- tainty to breed on one loch hi Inverness-shire, though previously suspected of having nested in the Outer Hebrides and on the west coast of Scotland. Outside the British Isles it breeds plentifully in Iceland, and on the Continent hi Norway, and hi Sweden only in Jemtland, Gotland, and Oland ; in Finland more commonly in the north than in the south, and hi Russia up to about 65£°. Southward it breeds 410 THE GREBES sparingly in Denmark, and in Russia to the Novgorod, Moscow, and Kazan govern- ments, the Baltic Provinces, Astrakhan, and Orenburg. In Asia it is found in the Tobolsk and Tomsk governments, and on the Lena up to about 64°, as well as the lower Amur, and also in the Altai range and Dauria. In North America its breeding- grounds extend over practically all the Dominion of Canada and Alaska. On migration European birds range south to the Mediterranean and the Azores : the Fseroes are visited on passage only ; while Asiatic birds range south to about lat. 24° and China ; and in America South California, the Gulf coast, and Florida are visited. [F. c. R. J.] 3. Migration. — A resident in that a few breed in the north of the Scottish mainland and possibly in other localities : otherwise mainly a cold-weather visitor to the coasts of the British Isles, occasionally recorded from inland waters (cf. Hartert, Jourdain, Witherby, and Ticehurst, Hand-List of British Birds, 1912, p. 157). As a winter visitor it arrives between 27th August and 9th September, but sometimes up till October, while passage movements occur between 9th September and 28th November, and between 5th May and 18th June (cf. Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration, 1912, vol. i. pp. 162, 140). As an autumn and winter visitor it occurs regularly on most parts of the Scottish coasts, and is common both in the northern and in the western isles (cf. Saunders, ///. Man. British Birds, 2nd ed., 1899, p. 721). In England it is best known on the eastern seaboard, especially in Norfolk, but also in the Humber region, where it has been recorded in August and is frequently met with from September or October to March : on the south and west it is of more irregular occurrence, although met with annually on the coast of Wales and by no means rare as a casual in the Scilly Isles ; there are also records from Oxfordshire and other inland districts (cf. Saunders, loc. cit. ; Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 743 ; Forrest, Fauna ofN. Wales, 1907, p. 409 ; Clark and Rodd, Zoologist, 1906, p. 345 ; and Aplin, Zoologist, 1899, p. 441, and 1907, p. 331). It is of frequent occurrence on the north and north-west coasts of Ireland, especially in certain favoured bays, but is rare in the south ; it is met with, mainly singly or in pairs, from September to June, but especially in February ; adults are comparatively often obtained on the spring passage (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 379 ; and Saunders, loc. cit.). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — The nesting-site does not differ materially from that of other grebes. Where sheltering vegetation is available it is placed among rushes and water-plants, and consists of a heap of dead water-weeds, as a rule, though in more southern localities bits of reed and in fact any vegetable matter is used. PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 411 On barren lakes it has been found in Iceland on a stone in the water and in a grass tussock. Both sexes share in the work of building (Hantzsch), and the nests are exceedingly variable in size. The eggs are normally 4 in number, sometimes 5, and occasionally 6 or only 3. When quite fresh they are white with a greenish tinge, but soon become buff or yellowish brown by contact with the nest, and after incubation are frequently deeply stained. (PL W.) Average size of 40 eggs, l*75x 1'21 in. [44 -5 x 30-9 mm.]. Most of the incubation is performed by the female, the male generally swimming close at hand, and only exceptionally brooding for a short time, and the period is estimated at 20 to 24 days (Hantzsch). In Iceland the first eggs are laid at the beginning of June; but though eggs may be found till the end of July, it is very improbable that more than one brood is reared in the season. [F. c. n. j.] 5. Food. — Aquatic insects and their larvae, Crustacea, small fish, Confervae, and other aquatic vegetation. The young are fed by both parents on a similar variable diet. [w. p. p.] BLACKNECKED-GREBE or EARED-GREBE [Col&mbus nigricollis (Brehm) ; Podicipes nigricollis (Brehm). French, gribe oreillard ; German, Schwarzhalsiger-Lappentaucher ; Italian, svasso piccolo], I. Description. — The eared-grebe may readily be distinguished by the fact that the secondaries and the greater part of the innermost primaries are white, while the tip of the beak is slightly recurved. The sexes are alike, and there is a marked seasonal change of coloration. (PL 176.) Length 12 in. [305 mm.]. In the nuptial dress the head and neck, and the back and wings, save certain of the remiges, are black. The superciliary feathers and ear-coverts are much elongated, and form a tuft of hair-like texture, straw-coloured above, and shading into chesnut on the ear-coverts. The flanks are chesnut, and the rest of the under parts glisten- ing white. The iris is crimson, but a narrow ring of white surrounds the pupil. The beak is slate-blue, reddish at the base, and the legs and toes leaden blue, save their outer surfaces, which are black. After the autumn moult the auricular plumes are wanting, the throat and sides of the head become white, like the breast, while the ear-coverts and fore-neck become brownish white, and the flanks slate-coloured. The juvenile dress is like that of the adult in winter, but the side and head are more or less obscurely marked by longitudinal striations, and the iris is yellow. The nestling has the upper parts dull black, marked with numerous longitudinal greyish white stripes, [w. p. p.] 412 THE GREBES 2. Distribution. — This species, like the Slavonian, is only known with certainty to breed at one locality in the British Isles, which has not been made public. There is, however, tolerably conclusive evidence that it bred once at least in Norfolk (E. T. Booth), possibly also in Perth and Oxford. On the Continent there is no evidence of breeding in Scandinavia, but it nests sparingly in Denmark (Thisted) and possibly in S. Finland ; is rare in the Baltic provinces, but breeds commonly in the Moscow, Tula, Simbirsk, Kazan, Ufa, and Orenburg governments, south to the Crimea and Transcaucasia. Over the rest of the Continent south to the Mediterranean it is found locally, and also breeds in Africa not only in the north, but also in Abyssinia and in S. Africa to Cape Colony. In Asia its distribution is imperfectly known, but it nests in the Tomsk government to lat. 52°, and is found in the Kirghis steppes and Asia Minor, probably also in Cyprus, while it may pos- sibly range east to Ussuria. In North America it is replaced by an allied race which chiefly inhabits the western side of N. America, breeding in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, etc. On migration European birds range to the Mediterranean region : casual in Azores and Madeira. Asiatic birds reach Arabia, Persia, India (rarely), China, Japan, etc., and the American race visits Central America. [F. c. R. J.] 3. Migration. — This grebe has been described as "chiefly a southern bird which at intervals pushes its migrations in spring and summer as far to the north- west as the British Isles " (Saunders, III. Man. British Birds, 2nd ed., 1899, p. 723). It occurs more rarely in autumn and winter, and it has also been recorded as breeding regularly in one locality, and exceptionally, but perhaps doubtfully, in some others (see above). The date of its arrival as a winter visitor has been given as from 25th July to September or November (cf . Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration, 1912, vol. i. p. 162). The coast of Merioneth is regularly visited in February and March, and the seaboards of Norfolk and Yorkshire are also specially favoured : it very rarely occurs in the north-west of England or in any part of Scotland ; and although there are records from the Inner Hebrides and the Orkneys, there are none from the Outer Hebrides or the Shetland group (cf. Saunders, loc. cit. ; Witherby and Ticehurst, British Birds, vol. ii. p. 421 ; Hartert, Jourdain, Ticehurst, and Witherby, Hand-List of British Birds, 1912, p. 158 ; and Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 744). To Ireland it is a " rare and accidental " winter visitor, but there are also two records for the month of June (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 380). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — This species shows a great tendency to breed in colonies, and is much more sociable in the breeding season than the other grebes. PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 413 The nest is the usual heap of water-weeds, only rising an inch or two above the water surface, and in some cases as many as thirty to forty pairs may be found breeding together, the nests being sometimes not more than a yard apart. Probably both sexes share in the work of building, but definite records seem to be wanting. The eggs are normally 4 in number, sometimes only 3, and occasionally 5 or 6. In appearance they resemble the other grebes' eggs, being bluish white when first laid, which rapidly changes to ochreous or yellowish brown, the chalky surface absorbing staining matter from the weeds. In size they are slightly larger than those of the dabchick and smaller than those of the rednecked-grebe, but are not distinguishable from those of the Slavonian, though slightly more elongated as a rule. (PI. W.) Average size of 34 eggs, 1 '7x1 -18 in. [43-3x30 mm.]. Incuba- tion is performed by both sexes in turn according to Naumann, and is stated by the same writer to last for three weeks. The first eggs may be found in Germany in the last days of April, but more commonly in early May. Although eggs may be found throughout June, and according to Naumann even in July and August, it is not proved that breeding takes place more than once in the season. In Spain full clutches may be found at the end of April. [F. c. R. j.] 5. Food. — Aquatic insects and their larvae, tadpoles, small fish, and weeds. The young are fed by both parents on small fish and larvae, [w. p. p.] DABCHICK or LITTLE-GREBE [Colymbm ruficollis Pallas ; Podicipes fluvicUilis (Tunstall). Dowker ; di-dapper (Hants) ; footinarse (Lancashire) ; dobchicken (Suffolk). French, castagneux ; German, kleiner Lappentaucher ; Italian, tuffetto]. I. Description. — The dabchick is by far the smallest of our native grebes, and may further be distinguished by the absence of white on the secondaries, save only the inner webs, where it is concealed. The sexes are alike, and there is a marked seasonal change of coloration. (PI. 176.) Length 8J in. [215 mm.]. In its nuptial dress the upper parts are of a sooty black with a greenish gloss. The fore- neck is of a deep chesnut, and this coloration extends forward to embrace the under surface of the head to the level of the auriculars, and forming a strong con- trast with the black of the rest of the head and hind-neck. The breast and flanks are blackish, with a silvery sheen on the breast. The beak is black, yellow at the tip and gape ; the legs and toes are olive-green, and the iris is hazel. After the autumn moult the upper parts appear dark brown, the cheeks and throat white, VOL. IV. 3G 414 THE GREBES and the fore-neck reddish brown, the flanks brownish buff, the breast white. The juvenile dress resembles that of the adult in winter, but the sides of the head are more or less conspicuously marked with longitudinal dusky stripes. The downy nestling, at first black, has the upper parts black with longitudinal stripes of pale rufous ; later the black areas become brown, and the rufous stripes become white, [w. P. P.] 2. Distribution. — In the British Isles this species is very widely distributed on most slow-flowing streams, lakes, and ponds, and though less common in the north of Scotland, is found up to Sutherland and Caithness, as well as on the Outer Hebrides and Orkneys, and possibly also breeds in the Shetlands. It is common and generally distributed in Ireland, and is also found in the Isle of Man. Outside the British Isles it is local in Russia, but nests in S. Livonia, the Petersburg and Smolensk governments, Lithuania, and Poland, the Kieff, Kharkov, and Astrakhan governments, and is resident in the Crimea and Transcaucasia (Buturlin). Over the rest of the Continent south of the Baltic it is fairly general south to the Mediter- ranean and most of its islands (Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus, etc.), and is resident in the south of this district as well as in N. Africa from Marocco east to Egypt. In Asia it breeds in the Central Urals, but Buturlin states that it is replaced by an allied race in Turkestan and Transcaspia, which apparently also breeds from the Euphrates valley to India, Ceylon, Burma, Yunnan, etc., while other forms also replace it in tropical and South Africa, the Malay Archipelago, Australia, New Zealand, and N. America. On migration it has occurred in Southern Scandinavia and the Faeroes. [F. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — Our own birds are resident and probably non-migratory, except in so far as the freezing of inland haunts compels them to seek the coasts in winter. It also comes to us in small numbers from farther north in the cold season, and in Yorkshire it is described as both a resident and a winter visitor, arriving from September to November ; but in Kent there is no evidence of migration (cf. Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration, 1912, i. p. 55 ; Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 747 ; and Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 546). Frequently obtained at the light-stations on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — The nest is similar in character to those of the other grebes, being a heap of fermenting water-weeds and decaying vegetable matter, with a hollow in the middle almost level with the water. It is generally placed among rushes or water-plants, but sometimes quite in the open or sheltered by branches of trees overhanging the water. (PL LXXVI.) Both sexes take part in PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 415 the work of building, and the male will bring additional matter after incubation has begun. The eggs vary as a rule from 4 to 6 in number, exceptionally 7, and are the smallest of the European grebes' eggs. Though bluish white when quite fresh, they become rapidly stained, and may be found bright red where there is much ferrous oxide in suspension in the water, or deep red-brown in peat-bogs. (PL W.) Average size of 72 eggs, 1/48 x 1*02 in. [37'8 x 26'1 mm.]. Both sexes share in incubation, and the period is estimated at 18 to 20 days (Oswin Lee), 20 to 21 days (Naumann). Apparently incubation begins with the first egg, or else the heat of the nest causes the eggs to develop, for the young are not hatched simultaneously. Eggs have occasionally been found in March, but the more usual time is April, and as eggs have been met with from May to September, it is almost certain that more than one brood is reared during the season. Probably normally the first clutch is laid in April and the second in June. [F. c. E. j.] 5. Food. — Aquatic insects and their larvae, small fish, tadpoles, and water- weeds. The young are fed by both parents, [w. p. p.] 416 THE GREBES THE GREBES [W. P. PYCRAFT] By common consent the Grebes and Divers are now regarded as nearly related, very ancient types displaying a quite remarkable degree of adaptation in their environment. And this is nowhere so strikingly manifest as in the skeleton, though in this respect they also display some striking differences. But we are concerned here rather with the external characters and the habits of these two types. Both Grebes and Divers are carnivorous, and mainly piscivorous, pursuing their prey under water after the fashion of the Alcidse, the Diving Ducks, and the Penguins, and hence the common resemblances of structure which these several types present. A careful study of the skeletons of these diverse types affords one of the most instructive object-lessons on " adaptation to environment " to be found in the whole animal kingdom. But considerations of space make such a survey impossible in these pages. It must suffice to remark that the Grebes and Divers on the one hand, and the Penguins on the other, mark the extremes of specialisation in the direction of sub-aqueous locomotion among birds. In so far as the Grebes and Divers are con- cerned, it is interesting to note that while they possess, as might be supposed, much in common, they reveal also some curiously contra- dictory features. Thus, for example, in the Divers the sternum is extremely long, in the Grebes it is short and wide. Both agree in having a remarkably elongated and narrow pelvis, comparable only, strangely enough, to certain flightless members of the ostrich tribe, such as the Apteryx. Both agree in having the knee-joint prolonged upwards beyond the end of the femur, but while in the Divers this upstanding spur is formed by the cnemial crest of the tibia or " shank " bone, in the Grebes it is formed, mainly, at any rate, by the knee-cap, THE GREBES 417 as in the extinct giant Diver ff&perornis. Then the Divers are web- footed, the Grebes lobe-footed, like the Coots, and "fin-foots" and the Phalaropes. Progress on land, both in the case of Grebes and Divers, is difficult. But the Grebes can at least walk ; the Divers have lost this power, and make their way on land only by shuffling along on the breast aided by the wings. The feet, both of Grebes and Divers, are remarkable for the extraordinary degree of lateral compression which they display, causing the toes when coming forward to the stroke in swimming to lie one behind the other. Thus the least possible resist- ance to the water is given. But why the whole plantar surface of the foot of the Grebes should be provided with a double row of short, conical spikes, while in the Divers it forms a " knife-edge," no one has been able to suggest. The Divers have a well-defined tail of short, stiff feathers ; the Grebes are, to all intents and purposes, tailless, for in spite of state- ments to the contrary, the tail feathers of these birds can only be dis- covered after careful search, and are never more than degenerate semiplumous structures, scarcely, if at all, exceeding the general feathering of the body in length. As touching coloration, the Grebes are, perhaps, the more resplen- dent, while in the matter of the coloration of the nestling they are more primitive than the Divers, for the young Grebe is striped, young Divers are whole-coloured. Not the least striking feature of the adults is the peculiar satin-like sheen of the white breast feathers, which is possessed by few other birds. These feathers a few years ago unhappily caught the eye of the milliners ; as a result there was an enormous demand for Grebes' breasts, entailing an appalling slaughter of birds, such as would speedily have put an end to the species had not the tide of feminine taste happily turned. 418 THE GREBES GREAT CRESTED-GREBE [W. P. PYCRAFT] The great crested-grebe is the largest and handsomest of our native Grebes, and the one which has been most carefully studied. Yet there is one fact in regard to its life-history that would never have been discovered by the closest study of its habits in these islands. And this concerns its response to climatic influences. Few birds have such an extended breeding range, remarks Seebohm, as the great crested-grebe. Without entering into details, it will suffice to say that it occurs throughout the whole of the Old World, excepting only the more northerly regions and the lowlands of the tropics. In Africa, for example, it occurs not only in isolated regions, and at relatively high altitudes, but also in Marocco, where it breeds in huge colonies ; while it thrives no less readily as far north as Finland. Our native birds, from early spring to late autumn, distribute themselves over the greater part of England, Wales, and Ireland, contriving to find a comfortable livelihood wherever there is a sufficiency of open water and reeds to assure their food and concealment. Large ponds and lakes are alike favoured by them. But during the actual winter months they forsake these haunts for the sea, even in districts like the Norfolk Broads, which are all within a few miles of their haven. The migration to the sea takes place during November, and this journey is preceded by the formation of flocks during October. Early in February they return in bands to their inland haunts, and for a while herd together. But by the end of this month they begin to pair up. By the beginning of April nest-building has begun. May witnesses the appearance of the young, and from this time to the flocking in October these birds are generally supposed to live in family Plate 175 Great crested-grebe and young in down By A. W. Seaby "V • e* e GREAT CRESTED-GREBE 419 parties. So far as my own observations go this is not strictly correct, but to this matter I propose to return in due course. More than one writer has described the great crested-grebe as a gregarious bird. This is not an accurate description, as will be gathered from the foregoing remarks. But since there is an abund- ance of food for all, and no lack of breeding-sites, the struggle for "territory," first demonstrated by Mr. H. Eliot Howard, is less intense, and hence many pairs can occupy a comparatively small area without endangering the welfare of the community. It is partly on this account, and also partly on account of the fact that they feed by day, that the great crested-grebe, if due precautions are observed, is so easily kept under observation ; but they are very wary, diving at once if their suspicions are aroused, and making for the shelter of the reeds. Flight is a mode of motion rarely indulged in, but they will often make short journeys on the wing at dusk, sometimes rising twenty or thirty feet above the water, but they rarely travel more than a few hundred yards. During such excursions they- resemble ducks, the neck being held straight out, and the feet projecting far behind do duty for a tail. The wing beat is not unlike that of a duck, and they strike the water on alighting in similar fashion. In swimming they float low, and can, at will, sink the body till the water is level with the back, apparently by emptying the air-sacs. They dive elegantly, as it were gliding under the water, head first, wherein they contrast with the more vigorous lunge given by the cormorant, which, in some places, as on one of the Norfolk Broads a generation ago, shared the same haunts. Progress under water is made with extreme agility, but with the feet only. At times they will move along just below the surface, so that their course can be followed by the ripple ; but more commonly the object of their pursuit takes them much deeper. For the most part they seem to live on small fish, which demand considerable speed and skill for their capture ; but aquatic insects, and a certain amount of vegetable matter, are also eaten. 420 THE GREBES One peculiarity the great crested-grebe shares with its con- geners, and this is the use of feathers instead of grit or stones for digestive purposes — that is to say, in the comminution of its food. I have never dissected a grebe whose stomach did not contain feathers, always those of the breast. Why they should display this singular habit is beyond hope of discovery, and it is not the less puzzling because no birds, other than the Grebe tribe, are known to adopt this strange habit of feather eating, save in the case of captive birds, wherein it represents a disorganised condition of health, as in the case of parrots, for example. It would seem that the feathers are not disgorged in the shape of pellets, as in the case of owls and hawks, which swallow a certain percentage of the feathers of their victims, but that they are slowly digested. But then the bolus thrown up by the raptorial birds has formed in the crop ; that which is so commonly met with in the Grebes is always found in the stomach, whence rejec- tion is impossible. I have never taken stones or grit from the gizzards of grebes. Has the coloration of the great crested-grebe been in any way determined or controlled by its habits ? It is true this question is applicable to all birds, but it is especially apt in the present species, because it is a species which can readily be kept under observation, and several individuals can be studied and compared at the same time ; and it also presents two distinct aspects of coloration — the one, which may be called its environmental coloration, which embraces the whole aspect of the bird at all times of the year, the other its nuptial coloration. This last, while emphatically ornamental, is yet not so vivid in its hues as to be conspicuous save at short range. It may therefore be ignored when considering the character of the plumage as a whole. I paid particular attention to this subject some two years ago, when I enjoyed exceptional opportunities for studying these birds on one of the Norfolk Broads. This was during the month of August, when adults and half-grown young could be watched side by side. I had these GREAT CRESTED-GREBE 421 birds under observation daily from dawn till dusk, and I left with the conviction that their coloration must be regarded as "concealing" or " obliterative," at any rate when all the factors of the environment were taken into consideration. For, undoubtedly, in open water there was no difficulty in seeing them even in the distance, but when near a back- ground of reeds they were extremely difficult to detect. But one can- not measure the protective value of this coloration by existing conditions, for these sheets of water are now kept open only by human intervention, by constantly cutting down and rooting up the reeds and floating vegetation. Under natural conditions there would be no large areas of clean water. This admitted, we have next to try and reconstruct the conditions of existence in the remote past, when this livery was evolved. What were the factors of elimination before the advent of man on the scene to disturb the balance of nature ? These we can only dimly realise. But their enemies must have been chiefly raptorial birds, and possibly otters and pike. The silvery breasts probably served as screens from sub-aqueous foes, and the dark brown upper surface performed a like office against harriers, which at that time must have swarmed, and therefore, owing to the keen struggle for existence, have been compelled to depend in part, at any rate, on the grebes for their maintenance. The weak point of this interpretation lies in the fact that the coot, which even to-day lives side by side with the grebe, displays a totally different kind of colora- tion. If it be argued that coots are more numerous than grebes, it must be admitted that the relative values of these liveries cannot have been greatly different, or the grebes would have been exterminated before man came to the rescue, unintentionally, by eliminating the harriers. Here then, any way, is a problem awaiting solution, and it may be solved by a closer, more systematic study of the habits of the great crested-grebe to-day. But in attacking this riddle it must not be for- gotten that this bird displays a seasonal change of plumage. That the nuptial dress is the latest acquired there can be no doubt. The VOL. iv. 3 H 422 THE GREBES ornaments which distinguish this are probably related to the elabora- tion of the secretions of the sexual glands, as we have already suggested, but their character may well have been controlled by the needs of the environment. In the end it may be decided that the whole coloration, throughout the year, is but the expression of idiosyncrasies of growth which have not come directly under the shears of selection, simply be- cause variation did not tend in the direction of undue conspicuousness. And now we must turn to the strictly ornamental part of the plumage, which, as we have already mentioned, is furnished by the paired tufts of elongated feathers known as the " ears," which are erectile and capable of a considerable range of movement, and a frill of feathers, also erectile, surrounding the head like an Elizabethan ruff. The white of the fore-part of the face, contrasting with the bright chesnut and dark brown hues of the ruff, makes this last a most conspicuous ornament during the displays to be described presently. These highly decorative plumes are purely ornamental, being dis- carded at the autumn moult. What factors have produced them ? At present this question is unanswerable. That they are intimately associated with the secretions of the sexual glands seems certain. But the fact that no other grebe is adorned in like fashion seems to point to some idiosyncrasy of growth, some temperamental peculiarity. This much may be gathered from their display during what is known as the "courtship" period. But while we now have a fairly complete account of this, we know little or nothing of what obtains under the same circumstances among other grebes, and until these gaps in our knowledge are filled up, much that is recorded of the present species must remain enigmatical. As touching the " courtship," much valuable information has been gathered by Mr. Edmund Selous, but besides his observations I am indebted to some extraordinarily interesting notes by my friend Mr. Leonard Huxley. But as these are in the course of publication, I cannot make full use of the facts he has so generously placed at my disposal. GREAT CRESTED-GREBE 423 Mr. Huxley lays special stress on the fact that, unlike most birds, the period of sexual excitement is manifested by displays in which both sexes take an equal share. The display of the one is almost the mirror image of that of the other. This equality in performance is surely connected with the fact that both sexes assume a precisely similar nuptial dress : though extravagance in the matter of antics during this period of sexual excitement is by no means confined to birds of resplendent plumage, when the sexes are soberly coloured the female is rarely more than a passive witness of the performance of her prospective mate. Not the least curious feature of the displays now to be described is the fact that, so far as the evidence goes, they take place only after pairing up has taken place. But to this we shall return : for the moment we are concerned only with the actual performance, which is of a truly remarkable character. It begins when the two birds, which perhaps have been feeding, suddenly approach one another, at the same time raising the ear-tufts and ruff and extending the neck vertically. Presently they are face to face, and then each begins to shake the head vigorously at the other, some four or five times from side to side in quick succession. Then the same movement is repeated very slowly ; a moment or two later the vigorous shakings begin again. After a few repetitions of these quaint actions, the birds move off to feed as if nothing at all had taken place. Sometimes, however, before parting, and between the head shakings, one after the other would go very slowly through a sort of preening pantomime : thrusting the beak down into the back feathers, but yet without actually preening. Once or twice Mr. Huxley was so fortunate as to see a solitary hen apparently on the look-out for her mate, and evidently in a state of suppressed excitement, for she swam along with her head and neck stretched straight out, so that the ruff swept the water. Meanwhile she kept swinging her neck from side to side and uttering a short barking call, some five or six times. Then she raised her head as if to seek the more readily for her missing mate ; and a moment later resumed the 424 THE GREBES horizontal pose and the calling. These alternate movements were several times repeated. At last the male saw her, erected his neck vertically as if to take a good look at her, then dived. At once she changed her whole demeanour, half raising her wings, drawing her head back, erected both "ears" and ruff. In this position the white of the base of the neck and of the marginal coverts and second- aries showed conspicuously. And in this attitude she awaited his appearance from the depths, swinging excitedly from side to side. Suddenly he appeared, and, as Mr. Huxley remarks after a most amazing fashion, "he seemed to grow" out of the water. First appeared his head, with ears and ruff extended, and beak pointing downwards, then his neck, and finally the body, till only the extreme tail-end remained in the water, so that he looked rather like a penguin than a grebe ! All the while the bird was turning, so to speak, on his long axis till he gradually faced his mate. A moment later both had subsided into normal attitude, but at once commenced to shake their heads at one another. Speedily, however, they drifted apart, and commenced to feed as if nothing had happened. But these strange antics are only the preliminaries to still stranger. For later a pair of birds, occasionally engaging in preening themselves and fishing, suddenly approach one another and begin head-shaking, raising the wings, and revolving as we have already described, each as it were striving to outdo the other. Then the ears, till now erect, were thrust out laterally, and the ruff was still further erected, till ears and ruff formed a common disc. Then the hen dived, a moment later the cock followed. A quarter of a minute later she appeared again, and a second or two later she was followed by the male, who reappeared some five-and-twenty yards off. Each was crouching low over the water, and each bore in its beak a tuft of weed. So soon as they sighted one another, each made for the other at a great pace. When about a yard apart both sprang up out of the water till they assumed the penguin position, save that the beak was not depressed, but maintained a horizontal position, holding GREAT CRESTED-GREBE 425 the weed. Still approaching, the birds eventually touched each other with their breasts, and now, each as it were supporting the other, by rapidly treading the water they swayed their bodies from side to side in a sort of ecstasy, and all the while shaking their heads at one another. Then they gradually settled down into the normal swimming pose, but still kept up the head-shaking. But by this time the weed had been dropped. Then they drifted apart, and began feeding. The fact that all these elaborate displays were long antecedent to the act of pairing, which was unaccompanied by any striking movements, is very remarkable. But the antics which have just been described were evidently excitants to the final act. The course of true love, even with grebes, does not seem always to run smoothly. At any rate, Mr. Selous on one occasion saw one grebe attack another by diving and spearing his adversary from below, evidently inflicting a sharp stab. But whether these two were rival males or rival females he does not say, and no other similar records seem to have been made which would throw light on the mystery. Mr. Huxley's notes on this aspect of the grebe's life-history, while confirming those of Mr. Selous, also amplify them. But Mr. Selous seems to have witnessed some quite extraordinary behaviour in regard to the act of pairing on the part of the owners of a nest he had under observation, inasmuch as on more than one occasion the role of the sexes was reversed. After this pantomime, both would leave the nest and start feeding, and sometimes the female would return, when pairing would be duly performed. It would seem that the behaviour of the male was calculated to arouse response in the female. Both observers agree that coition never takes place save on the nest.1 Both birds seem to take part in the actual construction of the nest, which is commonly a sort of floating raft securely anchored. All the materials of which it is composed seem to be brought from the bottom of the water. Mr. Selous counted as many as one hundred 1 For further particulars see E. Selous, Zoologist, 1901, p. 105 ; and Mr. Leonard Huxley's forthcoming work. 428 THE GREBES attained its maximum thrust. When they reached the parent she would, in the case of the younger birds, administer to the first arrival a small fish. In the case of older birds the prey was dropped on the water and the youngsters were made to try and pick it up for themselves. Once or twice, as if irritated at their clumsy efforts. I saw her impetuously pick up the victim and swallow it herself. Often, as the fish feebly struggled to swim away she would catch it again, pinch it, and drop it before her complaining offspring. Sometimes she would cover the distance between herself and her offspring in a series of short dives, the fish gleaming in her beak at each appear- ance, whereby, it would seem, she was, in a vague sort of way. endeavouring to suggest the source of their food to the oncoming youngsters. Immediately she had disposed of her spoils she would dive, and commonly the larger youngsters would follow suit, to the best of their ability. But diving evidently requires practice, for they reappeared instantly. They did no more, in fact, than "duck under. A word as to the coloration of nestling grebes. These, as already mentioned, are longitudinally striped; and furthermore, have a curious bare, slightly raised, heart-shaped area of vermilion coloured skin in the middle of the forehead. What purpose can this serve ? Is it a vestige of a sometime ancestral character, or does it serve as a recognition mark to the parents when the young are in hiding? Perchance a little closer observation of the young may settle this point It is curious that no such structure exists in the adult The colour scheme of the body is, as in the case of the young emu, continued on the beak, which is grey, barred with black. That the longitudinal stripes, an ancestral character without doubt, serve the purpose of a mantle of invisibility when occasion demands that these young should take refuge in the reeds, there can be no doubt They need such protection, for, unlike the parents, they cannot, at this tender age, escape their foes by diving. That the nuptial dress of the adult is protective is attested by SLAVONIAN, REDNECKED, BLACKNECKED GREBES 429 Miss E. L. Turner, who remarks, " When the adult grebe is ... sitting motionless . . . amongst the reeds, I have been much struck with the protective nature of the colouring of the rich chesnut cheeks and olive-brown crest and ear-tufts. Several times I have found myself staring hard at what appeared to be dead and decaying reeds, such as often cling to the base of the 'colts,' as broadsmen call the young green reeds, but the sudden glint of a bright eye would warn me that the apparently dead reed was something very much alive, and intent on my hiding-place." Why should the colour of the iris change so remarkably between the juvenile and adult stages? In the former it is straw-yellow, in the latter carmine. One other peculiarity of this species remains to be noted. And this is the observation of Miss Turner, that coots and grebes gener- ally build near together ; perhaps, she suggests, " because both being wary birds, some amount of mutual protection is [unconsciously] gained." THE SLAVONIAN, REDNECKED, AND BLACKNECKED GREBES [W. P. PYCRAFT] The Slavonian and blacknecked grebes breed with us in a few favoured spots, and sparingly, but in their habits they do not appear to differ in any essentials from the great crested-grebe, so that these two species, and the blacknecked-grebe, which has never bred with us, may well be considered together. That all three bear a common likeness to one another and to the great-crested and little-grebes, when surveyed in their post-nuptial dress, is only what we should expect — though the likeness is never so close as to leave any doubt as to the identity of each. But these resemblances vanish with the assumption of the nuptial livery, which VOL. IV. 3 I 428 THE GREBES attained its maximum thrust. When they reached the parent she would, in the case of the younger birds, administer to the first arrival a small fish. In the case of older birds the prey was dropped on the water and the youngsters were made to try and pick it up for themselves. Once or twice, as if irritated at their clumsy efforts, I saw her impetuously pick up the victim and swallow it herself. Often, as the fish feebly struggled to swim away she would catch it again, pinch it, and drop it before her complaining offspring. Sometimes she would cover the distance between herself and her offspring in a series of short dives, the fish gleaming in her beak at each appear- ance, whereby, it would seem, she was, in a vague sort of way, endeavouring to suggest the source of their food to the oncoming youngsters. Immediately she had disposed of her spoils she would dive, and commonly the larger youngsters would follow suit, to the best of their ability. But diving evidently requires practice, for they reappeared instantly. They did no more, in fact, than " duck " under. A word as to the coloration of nestling grebes. These, as already mentioned, are longitudinally striped ; and furthermore, have a curious bare, slightly raised, heart-shaped area of vermilion coloured skin in the middle of the forehead. What purpose can this serve ? Is it a vestige of a sometime ancestral character, or does it serve as a recognition mark to the parents when the young are in hiding? Perchance a little closer observation of the young may settle this point. It is curious that no such structure exists in the adult. The colour scheme of the body is, as in the case of the young emu, continued on the beak, which is grey, barred with black. That the longitudinal stripes, an ancestral character without doubt, serve the purpose of a mantle of invisibility when occasion demands that these young should take refuge in the reeds, there can be no doubt. They need such protection, for, unlike the parents, they cannot, at this tender age, escape their foes by diving. That the nuptial dress of the adult is protective is attested by SLAVONIAN, REDNECKED, BLACKNECKED GREBES 429 Miss E. L. Turner, who remarks, " When the adult grebe is ... sitting motionless . . . amongst the reeds, I have been much struck with the protective nature of the colouring of the rich chesnut cheeks and olive-brown crest and ear-tufts. Several times I have found myself staring hard at what appeared to be dead and decaying reeds, such as often cling to the base of the 'colts,' as broadsmen call the young green reeds, but the sudden glint of a bright eye would warn me that the apparently dead reed was something very much alive, and intent on my hiding-place." Why should the colour of the iris change so remarkably between the juvenile and adult stages ? In the former it is straw-yellow, in the latter carmine. One other peculiarity of this species remains to be noted. And this is the observation of Miss Turner, that coots and grebes gener- ally build near together ; perhaps, she suggests, " because both being wary birds, some amount of mutual protection is [unconsciously] gained." THE SLAVONIAN, REDNECKED, AND BLACKNECKED GREBES [W. P. PYCRAFT] The Slavonian and blacknecked grebes breed with us in a few favoured spots, and sparingly, but in their habits they do not appear to differ in any essentials from the great crested-grebe, so that these two species, and the blacknecked-grebe, which has never bred with us, may well be considered together. That all three bear a common likeness to one another and to the great-crested and little-grebes, when surveyed in their post-nuptial dress, is only what we should expect — though the likeness is never so close as to leave any doubt as to the identity of each. But these resemblances vanish with the assumption of the nuptial livery, which VOL. IV. 3 I 430 THE GREBES presents a series of startling contrasts. The great-crested, the red- necked, and the Slavonian-grebes all display " ruffs " and " ears," but these ornaments attain their greatest development in the first-named species. The fact that in their coloration these ornaments are so strikingly different is curious, having regard to the similarity these birds exhibit when their ornaments are shed at the autumn moult. It is also curious that the white breast, with its satin sheen, should be masked by a dull slate-coloured hue in the nuptial dress of the dab- chick, though the rednecked-grebe shows a tendency to develop the same peculiarity. Of the more ornate types it would be hard to say which is the most beautiful, but perhaps the palm must be given to the Slavonian-grebe, P. auritus, which when in full nuptial dress, Professor Newton remarks, "presents an extraordinary aspect, the head being surrounded as it were by a nimbus or aureole, such as that with which painters adorn saintly characters, reflecting the rays of light, and glittering with a glory that passes description." But while a more or less gaily coloured nuptial dress is characteristic of the grebes, it is by no means universal, for there are two species — the western grebe, and Clarke's grebe of Western N. America — which the year round are clad in sober grey and white, without ornament of any kind. There can surely be nothing in the environment controlling this absence of colour, for a subspecies of the British eared-grebe is also found there, and this of course has a conspicuous nuptial dress. Of their habits and behaviour during the period of " courtship " there seem to be no records, but it seems clear that, as with the great crested-grebe, and the dabchick to be presently described, both sexes share in the work of building the nest and in the task of incubation, and we may assume therefore of feeding the young. As with the dabchick so with the Slavonian-grebe, if danger threatens the young they are borne off into safety under water, the parent clasping its offspring to its body by the pressure of the wings. The nest appears, in each of the species now under considera- tion, to be a floating structure ; but the Slavonian-grebe, according to Plate 176 Upper: Rednecked-grebe (largest); black- necked-grebe (left) and Slavonian-grebe Lower: Little-grebe or dabchick uncovering eggs By A. W. Seaby THE LITTLE-GREBE OR DABCHICK 431 Seebohin, will sometimes build on a tussock of grass. But he does not seem to have taken any pains to discover whether this departure was probably a mere individual idiosyncrasy, or was due to some change, albeit but temporary, in the environment. It is to be hoped that some day the very obvious gaps in our knowledge of the life-history of these birds will be filled in. But even the material at hand has not been properly utilised, for these striking differences in ornamentation, and in the length of the beak, present problems of the first magnitude. So far, however, one might almost suppose that those who have had the opportunity of studying these birds in their native fastnesses have been content to note that they eat fish, and grow feathers, and brood white-shelled eggs on a floating nest, as if this were the inevitable end of our knowledge. Yet these are the data out of which what we really want to know is to be woven. Why, having regard to the uniformity of habits and habitat which these birds present, do we meet with such diversity in appear- ance ? Why is the beak of the blacknecked-grebe so conspicuously tip- tilted ? Why is that of the great crested-grebe so much longer than in its allies ? What is the purpose of the white layer which covers the green egg-shell ? Only when we have made some attempt to answer these questions shall we begin to glean an insight into the real natural history of the grebes. And it is the prime aim of this book to stimulate an interest in these problems, and this aspect of ornithology too long neglected. THE LITTLE-GREBE OR DABCHICK [W. P. PYCRAFT] The little-grebe, or dabchick, is at once the smallest and the most numerous of our native Grebes, yet, on the whole, save in specially favoured localities, it is less frequently seen, hence we know less of its 432 THE GREBES habits than of those of the great crested-grebe. Compared with this last it suffers considerably, being far inferior both in size and coloration, though it is a conspicuously more active bird. In its haunts it is perhaps less fastidious, for it will contrive to find contentment alike on lakes, small ponds, and streams, and brackish water estuaries : and this during the breeding season. In winter, like its larger relative, it leaves its inland retreats in small parties and betakes itself to the sea or to small ponds near the coast. That it is more active on the wing than the great-crested species is demonstrated by the fact that it travels round the coast at night, and this has been established by the numbers taken at the lighthouses round the coast of Ireland during the winter months. On land, when taken unawares during short inland forays, it escapes by running, and travels with surprising speed to the water. As a diver, as might be supposed, it is an adept. As to the method of its progress under water accounts differ, for while most authorities seem to agree that it progresses by frog-like movements of the feet alone, others insist that the wings also play no unimportant part.1 According to Mr. Edmund Selous,2 when about to dive it leaps upwards, and describing an arc descends cormorant-fashion into the depths, though at other times it will vanish silently, leaving scarcely a ripple. At times, according to this author, when disporting itself on the water it will flick up water with its tail to a height of twenty feet ! That this is an amazing performance every one wrill admit who has tried to find the dabchick's tail. I sought for this with consider- able patience some time ago,3 and at last discovered a few degenerate feathers which may be graced by the name of rectrices. In its choice of food it does not seem to differ much from the great-crested species. Aquatic insects, small fish, and tadpoles form its staple diet during most of the year, and records of dabchicks choked to death in attempting to swallow the "Miller's Thumb" (Coitus gobio) are not rare. When perforce obliged to hunt for a living in the sea, 1 TJssher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 382. * Selous, Bird Watching, p. 155. 3 Ibis, 1909, p. 409. THE LITTLE-GREBE OR DABCHICK 433 shrimps and other small Crustacea form no inconsiderable portion of its diet. According to the custom of its tribe, feathers are swallowed for digestive purposes instead of stones. Of its habits during the pairing season there seem to be no records, but in the fashion of its nest it agrees closely with its larger relative ; for its nursery is nearly always a floating structure, formed for the most part of weeds brought up from the bottom of the water. Nests, however, according to Seebohm, are occasionally found in the branches of a tree a foot or two above the water, but it did not seem to have occurred to him that they may have been left there by the fall of the water, the nest having been built above submerged branches. During incubation, in which both sexes take part, the eggs are covered by weeds seized in the beak, before they are left by the brooding bird. Only when the eggs are about to hatch does this pre- caution seem to be neglected, from which it would seem warmth rather than concealment is the end to be secured, and this surmise seems to receive support from St. John's l remarks on a pair which he kept under observation, for he describes the female as leaving her eggs, carefully covered up, for long periods during the day while she spends her time "playing about on the water with her mate." The young can dive, according to Ussher, as soon as they leave the egg, using both legs and feet as organs of propulsion. And the late Professor Newton (Ibis, 1889, p. 577) relates an instance of a bird which could not have been more than twelve hours old, but which crawled across a table, dragging itself forward by means of its wings as much as propelling itself by its legs. As with the great crested-grebe, the young are occasionally carried on the back of the parents. But it would seem, when danger threatens, they are borne not on the back but pressed close to the parent's body beneath the wings. Thus clasped, the parent will dive with them to a place of safety. At other times, however, when the alarm signal is given the whole family 1 Wild Sports of the Highlands, p. 167. 434 THE GREBES scatter amongst the reeds, and there, in concealment, they await the propitious moment for emergence. Until the young are somewhat advanced they remain during a great part of the day on the nest, beneath the wings of the mother, and are provided with food by the male. On his appearance with some tempting morsel, one or other of the brood thrusts out its head from the mother's wing to receive it. In their coloration they resemble the young of the great crested-grebe, but the striping is not so vivid, and the red patch on the crown is wanting. At no time does the breast of the adult display the silvery white- ness so characteristic of the great crested-grebe, though the feathers present the same satin-like sheen. Is this fact in any way concerned with the environment, or is it, in both cases, a matter of specific idiosyncrasy, of no special importance in the struggle for existence ? Nor does the iris of the dabchick present the same striking difference between youth and age which is seen in the case of the great crested- grebe. The difference between the nuptial and post-nuptial plumages are by no means so strongly marked as in the case of its larger relative Podicipes cristattis, but whether this fact has anything to do with the need for concealment, or whether it is merely a phase in the evolution of a more resplendent dress, we cannot say. THE DIVERS [ORDER: Colymbiformes. SUBORDER: Colymbi. FAMILY: Colymbidce] PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES [F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] GREAT NORTHERN-DIVER [Gdvia immer (Brunnich); Coltfm- bus glacidlis Linnaeus. Loon, herring-loon, cobble ; herring-bar (Kent); nauk (Northumberland) ; ember, imber, or immer-goose (Scotland). French, plongeon imbrim ; German, Eis-Seetaucher ; Italian, strolaga maggiore]. I. Description. — The great-northern may readily be distinguished from the blackthroated-diver in its nuptial dress by the median throat patch of white marked by vertical lines of black, and a similar but much larger patch lower down the neck and on each side. In its winter dress the upper parts are of a dark ash-brown, and each feather has an ash-coloured margin, while the wing-coverts are unspotted. The sexes are alike. (PI. 177.) Length 30 in. [762 mm.]. In the nuptial dress the head and neck are black, glossed with purple and green. At the base of the throat is a median band of white marked with vertical lines of black, and lower down, on each side of the neck, is a similar but much larger patch forming a half collar. The back and wing-coverts are glossy black, the scapular feathers sharply truncated, and ornamented with quadrangular pairs of spots of large size. The interscapular feathers are similarly shaped and marked, but the spots are smaller. The rump, flanks, and wing-coverts are also black, and speckled with small round white spots. The breast and abdomen are white. Beak black, cutting edges bluish horn ; iris red. Legs and toes blackish, lighter on their inner surfaces. After the autumn moult the plumage assumes a dark brownish grey, each feather of the back being margined with light ash-grey ; the head and neck brown glossed with green, save the throat and fore-neck, which are white, like the breast and abdomen. The flanks are coloured like the back. This dress, in fully adult birds, is speedily 435 436 THE DIVERS exchanged for the more resplendent livery, new black and white feathers making their appearance almost immediately after the autumn moult. The juvenile dress differs from that of the adult in winter in having the white of the fore-neck freckled with brown, and the scapular feathers more rounded at the ends. The beak is also shorter. The downy nestling is of a deep sooty brown, paler on the fore-neck, the breast white, [w. p. p.] 2. Distribution. — This fine species is only a winter visitor to the British Isles, and its nearest breeding-ground is Iceland, where it is not uncommon, one or two pairs nesting on most of the larger lakes. It has no other European breeding station, but nests in Greenland up to about 70° on the east and west sides, and in N. America inhabits not only the Arctic coasts and the larger lakes of Canada, but ranges down the east coast south to the northern United States and Maine, while westward it ranges to Great Slave Lake and Alaska. During the winter months it occurs off the coasts of Norway, and has once been recorded from the Baltic, while it is not uncommon on the Atlantic coasts of Europe, ranging south to the Azores and Madeira. It has also occurred in the Mediterranean (Algeria, Sardinia, Italy, etc.), and on inland waters in Bohemia and Transylvania, as well as the Black Sea ; while American birds migrate south to Mexico and California. [F. c. B. J.] 3. Migration. — A winter visitor and bird of passage to our area, but " seldom long absent " from the north of Scotland, and sometimes recorded in June on the west of that country (cf. Saunders, III. Man. British Birds, 2nd ed., 1895, p. 709), and it may arrive as early as 12th July, although more normally not till 16th September (cf. Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration, 1912, p. 162). On the Yorkshire coast it is of regular but not common occurrence from September to April or May, but it is a rare and irregular visitor to Kent (cf. Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 732 ; and Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 536). It is only an occasional visitor to Dumfries- shire, but not uncommon in North Wales (cf. Gladstone, B. of Dumfries., 1910, p. 454 ; and Forrest, Fauna of N. Wales, 1907, p. 404). To the Irish coasts, especially those of the north and west, it is a regular visitor from October to April or May (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 371). That immature birds are everywhere more frequently reported than adults is doubtless largely due to the fact that the former come closer inshore and into the estuaries, and are also more easily approached and shot (cf. Saunders, loc. cit.}. At the migration season examples are not infrequently reported from inland waters. Not gregarious as a rule, although several may often be seen on the same fishing-ground ; but in PLATE LXXVII Blackthroated diver's nest and eggs Photo by J. C. Crowtey -* Redthroated -diver's nest and eggs PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 437 Ireland they have been described as " gathering into small parties previous to their departure " for their summer quarters (cf. Ussher and Warren, op. cit., p. 372). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — Does not breed in the British Isles. [F. c. R. j.] 5. Food. — Mainly a fish eater. As more than half the year is spent at sea, the greater part of its food consists of marine species. Saxby mentions sand-launce (Ammodytes lancea) and young coal-fish as being favourite prey ; Blake Knox found it feeding on flat fish, herrings, and " cobblers " or father-lashers in winter ; Montagu adds sprats, smelts, atherines, and spotted gobies ; and Chapman specially mentions flounders. One is recorded in the Zoologist (1894, p. 265) as having been choked by a grey gurnard (Trigla gurnardus). St. John noticed that off the Scottish coast it hunted the rocks for sea-slugs, small crabs, etc. ; and Mr. R. Ball records the body of a shore-crab, Carcinus moenas, without the claws, razor shells, Solen siliqua, and a species of Portunus. During the breeding season in Iceland it subsists chiefly on trout and char. The young are fed by both parents on these fish. It is a voracious feeder, and a bird shot in January has been known to throw up thirty-two fish, some big enough for bait. [F. c. R. j.] BLACKTHROATED-DIVER [Gdvia drctica (Linnaeus); Coltfmbus drcticus Linnaeus. Sprat-loon ; herring-bar (Kent). French, plongeon d gorge noire ; German, Polar-Seetaucher ; Italian, strolaga mezzana]. I. Description. — The blackthroated-diver can always be distinguished in its nuptial dress by the black throat longitudinally streaked with white, and in its winter dress by the uniform dark ash-brown colour of the upper parts, relieved only by a few white spots on the wing-coverts. The sexes are alike. (PI. 178.) Length 28 in. [711 mm.]. In the nuptial dress the forehead and fore-part of the crown are of a dark slate-grey, the rest of the crown, the sides of the head, down to the level of the auriculars, and the upper part of the hind-neck are ash-grey ; the throat and malar region and fore-neck down to its middle are glossy black with violet reflections. The sides of the neck, from behind backwards, are white, marked with four longitudinal lines of black ; the lower part of the side-neck are similarly marked, but with more numerous black lines. The back and wings are black with glossy green reflections, and set off on the interscapular regions by large quadrangular white spots, and on the scapulars by still larger spots, which by their close approximation form broad transverse white bars. The wing-coverts VOL. IV. 3 K 438 THE DIVERS are spangled with small round white spots. The flanks are black, the under parts white ; iris, carmine ; legs and toes pale lead colour, save the outer surface, which is black. After the autumn moult the upper parts are of a deep ashy brown, lighter on the crown and hind-neck, and inclining to smoky brown on the sides of the neck. The throat, fore-neck, and under parts are white. The juvenile dress is like that of the adult in winter, but all the feathers of the back and the wing- coverts are margined with grey. The downy young is of a sooty brown colour, [w. P. P.] 2. Distribution. — As a breeding species in the British Isles this Diver is confined to Scotland, where it nests in small numbers in Perth and Argyll, more numerously in Inverness and Caithness, and commonly in Ross and Sutherland. It also breeds occasionally hi the Orkneys, Skye, Coll, and more regularly in the Outer Hebrides. It appears also to have nested in the Shetlands. Outside the British Isles it breeds on the Continent in Norway and Sweden; Finland, especially in the north ; Russia, on Kolguev, the south island of Novaya Zemlya, and on the mainland to the Baltic provinces and the governments of Pskoff, Tver, Moscow, Nijni-Novgorod, Smolensk, Kazan, Ufa, and Orenburg, and according to Suschkin, hi the Kirghis Steppes. It also breeds in North Germany (Pomerania and Prussia), and is said to have formerly nested in Bohemia. In Asia it ranges south to 49 J° in the Turgai, and 52J° in the Tomsk governments and east to Saghalien ; and in America it breeds on the Labrador coast and on the shores and islands of Arctic America to Alaska. In whiter it migrates south to the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas ; hi the Pacific, to Japan ; and hi America casually to Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, and New York. It is also a casual visitor to the Faeroes, but its occurrence in Iceland requires confirmation. [F. c. B. jr.] 3. Migration. — Resident in small numbers in part of northern Scotland (see previous paragraph), more widely distributed as a winter visitor and bird of passage to British coasts, but never common. As a winter visitor it usually arrives between 25th October and 25th November (cf. Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration, 1912, p. 162). Even in Dumfriesshire it is uncommon, and chiefly recorded late hi the winter and on the approach of spring (cf. Gladstone, B. of Dumfries., 1910, p. 455). Although uncommon hi Yorkshire, it occurs inland more frequently than the great northern-diver, but is rarer on the coast (cf. Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 735). Southwards it becomes rare, but it is known as an irregular visitor to Kent between November and March, while even adults, which are much less frequent than im- mature birds, have been recorded from the English Channel, Devonshire, and Wales PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 439 (cf. Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 537 ; and Saunders, III. Man. British Birds, 2nd ed., 1899, p. 713). In Ireland the blackthroated-diver has only been recorded some twenty-five times, including, however, both an adult and an immature example obtained late in July 1906 (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 373; and Ussher, quoted by Witherby and Ticehurst, British Birds, vol. ii. p. 421). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — In Scotland the favoured nesting-haunts are islets on mountain lochs. As a rule it is placed close to the water's edge, less frequently a few yards inland, and in most cases there is no real nest, the vegetation being merely pressed down by the weight of the incubating bird, and withered by the heat of its body. Sometimes a few fragments of heather, grass, or rushes may be found roughly arranged round the eggs. (PI. LXXVII.) Exceptionally, however, in Norway this diver has been recorded as building a substantial nest for itself of weeds, grasses, moss, etc., but the share of the sexes in building is apparently not mentioned. The eggs are normally 2, sometimes 1 only, though this is exceptional, but three young have been seen together in Norway. The eggs are as a rule much larger than those of the redthroated-diver, and at times rival those of the great-northern in length, though narrower. The colour varies from deep brown to brownish olivaceous and light olive-green, with similar markings to those on the eggs of the great northern-diver. Some eggs are extremely elongated in shape. (PL W.) Average size of 78 eggs, 3*33x2-04 in. [84 '6x51 '8 mm.]. Incubation is stated in Tiedemann's table to last 28 days, but recent observations on this point are altogether lacking.1 The male takes part in incubation, sharing the duty in turn with the female (Graf Zedlitz). The breeding season in Scotland begins early in May, but is more general after the middle of the month. As two or even three clutches may be laid by a pair which has been robbed, eggs may be found throughout May and June. In Norway near the coast eggs may be found in the first week of May, but often not till a month or five weeks later on the high fjeld, and in the high north eggs may be found in July. Only one brood is reared in the season. [F. c. R. J.] 5. Food. — To a great extent, though not entirely, fish. In the breeding season probably chiefly trout, at times also salmon fry; in Norway chiefly Salmo* eriox. In winter, however, one was found to contain eight herrings, and Collett records Palcemon squilla and various species of Odbius. One specimen contained Algae (tang), sand, small fragments of wood, and vegetable matter, but no animal 1 Graf Zedlitz apparently records the period on Tiedemann's authority. 440 THE DIVERS food ! In South Finland Jagerskjold states that the chief food consists of crabs (? crayfish). Curiously enough St. John, who killed many in Scotland, only found a fresh-water leech and other similar animals in their stomachs, and believed them to feed on Mollusca rather than fish. The young are tended and fed assiduously by both parents (R. Dann). [F. c. R. J.] RE DTHRO A TED-DIVER \Gdvia stelldta (Pontoppidan) ; Colymbus sept&ntriondlis Linnaeus. Sprat-bar or loon, little naak ; herring-bar (Kent) ; herring-bone, wabble (Devon) ; lion (Northumberland) ; loom (Orkneys) ; rain-goose (Shetlands and Hebrides) ; galrush (Ireland). French, plongeon cat-marin ; German, Nord-Seetaucher ; Italian, strolaga minore]. I. Description. — The redthroated-diver is at once distinguishable in its nuptial dress by the large patch of red on the throat, and in its " winter " garb by the white speckled pattern on the back. The sexes are alike. (PL 178.) Length 24 in. [355 mm.]. In the nuptial dress the head and neck are of a bluish grey, relieved on the crown by blackish mottlings, along the hind-neck by alternate streaks of black and white, and on the fore-neck by a large triangular patch of vinous chesnut. The back and wings are of an ash-brown with an oil-green gloss, and the flanks are greyish black. The breast and abdomen are white. The iris is dark brown ; the legs and toes greenish black. At the autumn moult the red on the throat, and the characteristic black and white streaks down the hind-neck, are discarded. The upper parts assume a slaty grey hue, and the feathers of the back and wing-coverts are marked by small elongated paired spots, while the top of the head and hind-neck are mottled with white. The sides of the head, fore- neck, and under parts are white, save the flanks, which are coloured like the back, but unspotted. The juvenile dress differs from that of the adult in winter chiefly in the feathers of the back and wing-coverts, which are edged instead of spotted with white, in having the forehead, crown, and hind-neck brownish slate, and the feathers of the fore-neck tipped with brown, giving a mottled appearance. The downy t young is of a sooty brown colour, [w. p. p.] •2. Distribution. — In the British Isles this species is more numerous than the blackthroated, and breeds in Scotland in varying numbers from various localities in the Argyll area and South Inverness northward. It is perhaps most plentiful in Caithness and E. Sutherland, and also breeds in most of the Hebrides, as well as in the Orkneys and Shetlands. In Ireland it is only known to breed in one PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 441 locality in Donegal, where it has been much persecuted. Outside the British Isles it breeds in the Faeroes, Iceland, and Spitsbergen ; also on the Continent in the fjeld lakes of Southern Scandinavia, and generally in the north ; in Finland and in Russia from Kolguev and Novaya Zemlya south to Lakes Onega and Ladoga, Ilmen, and the Novgorod and Perm governments. In Asia it ranges north to the Taimyr and the New Siberian Islands east to Kamtschatka, the Commander Isles, and probably Saghalien, but its southern limits are uncertain, though it breeds in the Tobolsk government. In America it breeds in Greenland, and from Labrador and Newfoundland to Alaska. On migration it ranges south to the Mediterranean, Algeria, and Lower Egypt, as well as to the Black and Caspian Seas ; to Japan, China, and Formosa in Asia ; and in America to California, Maine, and Florida. [F. c. R. j.] 3. Migration. — Resident in parts of northern Scotland (see preceding paragraph), and has also nested in Donegal, but found round all the British coasts from autumn to spring in numbers that point to a considerable influx of winter visitors from more northerly lands, while some pass south to the coasts of Western Europe and to the Mediterranean. Its appearance as a winter visitor to our coasts may take place as early as 13th August, but usually about 12th September (cf. Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration, 1912, p. 162) ; its numbers diminish very early in spring, but examples are commonly met with in April, and often in May. Im- mature birds are more commonly met with than adults. Sometimes gregarious as a migrant ; in Ireland it has been described as flying southwards in October in flocks of five or six, uttering its strange call, while at least fifty were observed flying south-eastwards off Yorkshire in advance of an approaching storm on 20th September 1883 (cf. Thompson, in Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 375 ; and Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 737). On Heligoland this bird occasionally " occurs in inconceivable quantities, as, for instance, on the 2nd and 3rd of Decem- ber 1879, when there was a moderate east wind, with about 13° F. of frost. . . . At a distance of about two miles from the island, as far as the eye or the telescope could reach, these birds were seen moving in one incessant stream, all of them, strange to say, travelling towards the north-east. This migration lasted till about noon, and was repeated on the next day in the same manner and in the same gigantic proportions " (Gatke, Vogelwarte Helgoland, Eng. trans., 1895, p. 576). [A. L. T.] 4. Nest and Eggs.— The nesting-site of this Diver is very often on the margin of a small lake rather than on an island. Although in many cases the nest 442 THE DIVERS is of the slightest possible nature, and consists of a few bents or rushes, and perhaps a few heather twigs round the eggs, or in some cases little except the down-trodden grass, yet as a rule the nests are decidedly more substantial than those of the black- throated-diver. (PI. LXXVII.) The eggs are normally 2, though sometimes 1 only, and are smaller than those of the other species, ranging from deep umber or chocolate-brown to olivaceous, spotted sparingly as a rule with black. (PI. W.) Average size of 101 eggs, 2*89 x 1'82 in. [73'5 x 46 '4 mm.]. Incubation is performed by both parents in turn (Hantzsch), and the male has been shot from the eggs (Ibis, 1900, p. 492). Faber estimates the period at 24 to 28 days. It is a later breeder than the blackthroated-diver, and in Scotland eggs may be obtained from about the middle of May onward, and second or third layings through June and even in July. In Sweden the eggs are rarely found before mid-June, sometimes not till July. In Iceland the first eggs are laid early in June. Only one brood is reared in the season. [F. c. K. J.] 5. Food. — Mainly but not entirely a fish eater. During the winter months it has been recorded as feeding on herrings : Thompson says that six, from four to six inches long, were taken from one bird, and Aplin states that sixteen were found hi another. Blake Knox includes in its dietary flat fish (especially flounders), herrings, and coal-fish (pollack), but regards herring as the staple food. T. E. Gunn records four dace, three perch, two gudgeon, and two white worms, 8J inches long, in an adult female. Another contained three small flounders. Bolam thinks flounders are the staple food, but has also found many sand-eels (Ammodytes tobianus), some very small; also a shore-crab. Molluscs and crustaceans are also eaten, according to Saunders ; E. T. Booth specifies shrimps, and Newton mentions Apos. The young are fed, according to E. Selous, chiefly on sand-eels, by both parents. [F. c. K. J.] The following species is described in the supplementary chapter on "Rare Birds" :— Whitebilled-Diver, Odvia addmsii (Gray) [Colymbus addmsi, Gray]. [F. c. R. J.] GREAT NORTHERN-DIVER 443 THE DIVERS [F. C. R. JOURDAIN] The Divers form a very small family, which has been evolved on parallel lines to the Grebes, but is much more restricted in its distri- bution, being confined to the seas of the Holarctic region. Only five species are known, all of which have been admitted to the British list except the Pacific Diver, Colymbus pacificuv Lawrence. They are all more or less pelagic in their habits, resorting to fresh-water lakes for breeding purposes, and spending most of their lives in the water. Their diving powers are extraordinary, and they are good swimmers, but they can also fly rapidly, in spite of their small wings. The legs are set extremely far back, so that as a rule they only progress on land by shovelling the body along the ground on the breast, and only rarely adopt the erect position ; and the only part of the leg which has any power of free action is that below the tibio-tarsal joint, which is, however, enormously powerful, the tibia being long and having a keel on the anterior surface of the proximal end, to which the power- ful muscles which move the tarsus and toes are attached. They are good-sized birds, and extremely tenacious of life. They differ from the Grebes in the possession of a tail, composed of eighteen to twenty stiff" feathers, and normally lay only two eggs. GREAT NORTHERN-DIVER To the British Isles this splendid bird is only a winter visitor, the few which have been met with during the summer being probably non-breeding birds. It is the largest of three species which are regularly seen off our coasts, and is sometimes met with in consider- able numbers. During the winter months it lives entirely at sea, for 444 THE DIVERS it is able to ride out heavy storms, and at the great depths at which it can take its prey the water is always still. It will, however, frequently feed close to the line of breakers, following the shoals of young coal- fish into the voes of the Shetlands. It is generally considered a wary bird, and most of those obtained in winter are immature birds. Directly it finds itself observed, it sinks its body in the water, so that the hind-neck is submerged, and often only the head is visible. Generally its next move is a dive, which is performed very character- istically. There is, as Saxby says, a slight start, and the bird has disappeared, with hardly a ripple to mark the spot. It is so quick a movement that the eye cannot follow it. There is no violent plunge or header ; l the bird simply vanishes, and reappears at anything from a hundred to four hundred yards away. If still pursued it again dis- appears in the same way, but if not disturbed it may be seen dipping its bill into the water and quietly sipping it. Under ordinary circum- stances the dive is entirely due to the enormous power exerted by the feet. Mr. H. Blake Knox says that it can spring to the height of a man's head, merely by the aid of the feet, though this seems scarcely credible, and inconsistent with the fact that it is unable to take wing except from the water. Saxby also relates an incident which shows what extraordinary muscular strength it possesses. A slightly wounded bird was tossed overboard, with a line fastened to one foot, from a boat thirteen feet in the keel, but light for its size, being built of Norway pine. It managed for many minutes to tow the boat steadily, remaining submerged all the time except when it rose for a few seconds to take breath.2 When no special exertion is required, the wings are closely pressed to the sides, and the whole work is done by the feet. At the Skerryvore light one of these birds got stranded by the tide in a pool some twenty feet long and three feet broad. As the pool was four feet deep, and there was no room for it to use its wings, 1 E. T. Booth, who had excellent opportunities of watching the dive at close quarters, came to the conclusion that they went down head foremost. The fore-part of the body certainly seems to dip as the bird disappears. J Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 278. Plate 177 Great northern-diver (breeding plumage) By A. W. Seaby GREAT NORTHERN-DIVER 445 it was unable to get out, and the lightkeeper was able to watch it for over an hour. When travelling at its greatest speed, but with the aid of the feet alone, the eye could detect hardly anything but a streak from one end of the pool to the other.1 Both feet were invariably used simultaneously. Possibly this was due to the alarm felt by the bird in its unusual position, for Mr. C. W. Beebe, who succeeded in rearing a young bird from the egg, noticed that its method of swim- ming was by alternate strokes, and only when a sudden spurt was desired were both used simultaneously. A captive bird kept in the New York aquarium, in a pool twenty-eight feet long and three feet deep, also swam under water with its wings closely folded, never in use ; but Mr. Beebe, who has had unusual opportunities of watching these birds, distinctly states that they do use their wings at times of emergency to turn quickly, or to get up a burst of speed.2 This has been confirmed by so many observations made on birds in a wild state, that the statement made by Mr. A. H. Evans in the Cambridge Natural History, that Grebes and Divers "when submerged do not use the pinions," can no longer be maintained 3 as an invariable rule. In the case mentioned by Saxby, in which a wounded bird towed a boat, the wings were used, and Messrs. Brewster and F. H. Allen record similar cases ; but the normal mode of progression is no doubt by means of the feet alone. Observation has shown that this Diver travels more rapidly under water than on the surface. Mr. C. W. Townsend noticed that a bird which heard the note of a companion immediately dived in the direc- tion of the sound, and after appearing for a moment, dived again almost at once and repeated the process till he reached his companion. On another occasion one was seen chasing some Mergansers under water. The distance which can be covered in this way varies as a rule from two hundred to five hundred yards, or even half a mile 1 J. Tomisou, Annals Scot. Nat. Hist., 1907, p. 31. J The Auk, 1909, p. 235. 3 The Cambridge Natural History: Birds, vol. ix. p. 52. A similar statement is also made by Professor Lloyd Morgan in Habit and Instinct, p. 69. VOL. IV. 3 L 446 THE DIVERS according to some observers ; but there is great discrepancy when we come to compare the different accounts of the time during which it can remain submerged, probably due to the bird having risen un- observed, in the case of such estimates as that of eight minutes by Holboll and ten minutes by Sir R Payne-Gallvvey.1 Howard Saunders quotes a statement to the effect that a bird was caught in a trammel- net, thirty fathoms below the water surface, at Looe, and given to Mr. J. Gatcombe. The nearest breeding-place of this species to the British Isles is Iceland, and here we found it fairly generally distributed in June 1912. As a rule one pair had possession of each good-sized lake, while on the large lakes two pairs might be found, each pair keeping to its own end. Nothing is known of the courtship of this species, which probably takes place at sea before the breeding-grounds are reached. Pairing might be expected to take place on the water, but in the case of the closely allied blackthroated species it has been shown that it is performed on the nest, and year after year the birds return to the same nesting-place or within a few yards of it, so that presumably they pair for life. When islands are available they are generally preferred as nesting-sites, but at times nests may be found on little peninsulas or headlands jutting into the lake. One, which contained a couple of fine dark eggs on llth June, was simply a big depression in the turf, flattened out by the weight of the bird into a shallow depression about eighteen inches across. Close by it was a broad, smooth track, leading by a gentle slope up to the big tussock on which the eggs were laid. Up this slope the incubating bird laboriously pushed herself on her breast with the help of her feet, and down it she slid rapidly into the water when alarmed.2 Other nests, however, contain in some cases a little grass and a few stalks carelessly arranged ; 1 Mr. H. Blake Knox states that a wounded bird was still alive after submersion for a quarter of an hour, but was dead when examined after twenty-five minutes. 2 Mr. J. R. Whitaker informs me that on one occasion in Newfoundland he found one of these birds incubating its eggs thirty yards from the water's edge, but this abnormal site was due to the gradual fall in the level of the lake. GREAT NORTHERN-DIVER 447 while in North America, though some nests are mere depressions in the gravel, a heap of dead vegetable matter, sedge, weeds, bulrushes, etc., is occasionally made near the shore. The normal clutch consists of two eggs, rather elongated in shape, and varying in ground-colour from deep chocolate-brown to some shade of olivaceous or brownish, sometimes without markings and at other times spotted and blotched sparingly with black and a few light inky shellmarks. Average size of 64 eggs, 3'56 x 2'28 in. [90*5 x 58 mm.]. It is said that three eggs have occasionally been found in a nest in North America, and in several cases a single egg has been found highly incubated. Both sexes take part in incubation, but observations on this point are not easily made, for long before the nest is reached the sitting bird, warned by her mate, has slid down into the water and disappeared. A minute later her head and back show above the still water of the lake, as she quietly dips her bill in the water, and then raising it apparently sips a few drops. Then we realise that her mate is also present not far away, having suddenly appeared in the same mysterious way. Then even as we watch them, one of the pair vanishes without the slightest apparent effort. In this case the eggs are nearly fresh, so that the parents show little anxiety, but when they have been incubated some time they will come within fifty yards of the observer. All the Divers seem to have at least two distinct classes of notes : there is a loud wail, often uttered on the wing, and there is also a conversational note or series of notes, usually heard when both are together on the water. This latter sounded to me like a deep loud note, followed by three high-pitched ones, " yooo, wee wee wee." Perhaps it is this which Mr. Blake Knox writes as a loud, hoarse and piercing cry, "gan-a-ece," the first syllable deep, the last like a scream. Quite distinct from this is the loud resonant " fiooo-hoo-hoo-koo," which I have heard echoing over the waters of the lake. This is evidently the note which is given in Naumann's work as " htthithuhu" etc., or "uhuuuu," and is described by Messrs. Pearson as " a peculiar and rather pleasing trumpeting note." It must, however, be distinct from the blood- 448 THE DIVERS curdling scream, like a man in agony or a tortured child, often heard at night at short intervals for nearly an hour, on one occasion by Hantzsch, and also, according to Mr. Blake Knox, uttered when hard pressed and in fear. Besides these, there is also a sound which Saxby compares to the barking of a small dog, and Knox writes as "yap, yap, yap" and which is often heard in flight. In Iceland eggs are generally laid early in June, rarely towards the end of May, and occasionally even in July, though these latter may be second layings. Incubation is said by Faber to last for 30 days, and the young are reported to take to the water as soon as they are thoroughly dried — Mr. Beebe states that diving, fish-catching and swallowing them head first are almost congenital instincts, but that they improve much by practice in the first week of their lives. Curiously enough, the young birds can move on land more easily and rapidly than their parents, but progression is always performed by a succession of frog-like leaps and not by walking. Probably they are fed from the first on whole and not macerated fish.1 Faber estimates the fledgling period at 45 days, and there is little doubt that the young are not fully mature till three years old. In the water this Diver may frequently be seen to turn over on to its side to preen its breast, and will also raise itself in the water occasionally to an upright position, flapping its wings in the meantime. As to whether it can assume the erect position on land there has been much division of opinion.2 There is no doubt that the attitude in which many specimens are set up is impossible, for the metatarsals and phalanges cannot be advanced beyond the line of the tarsus without breaking the joint. This, however, does not render the upright posi- tion impossible, but necessitates walking on the tarsus. Sir R Payne- Gallwey states that he has seen northern-divers stranded among the shallows of Tralee Bay, where they had been left by the receding tide. They sat bolt upright, the head and bill pointing upwards.3 The ' C. W. Beebe, Auk, 1907, vol. xxiv. No. 1. 2 See R. W. Shufeldt, Ibis, 1898, p. 46. Quoted in Ussher's Birds of Ireland, p. 373. BLACKTHROATED-DIVER 449 evidence is even stronger in the case of the redthroated-diver, which has a similar conformation of the feet. Although able to take to the wing without much difficulty from the water, the great northern-diver is apparently unable to rise from land. When in full flight it presents a remarkable appearance, the long, thick neck gives it something of the look of a goose, and the small rapidly beating wings, set far back, look unequal to their task. It will travel for short distances only just above the waves, but in rough weather, or when making long flights, may be seen at a considerable height, and in spring often utters its hoarse screams at such times. When wounded it will at times lunge fiercely with its powerful beak at the hand of any one who incautiously approaches it. Booth relates how one struck savagely at a crippled heron which fell on to it, and W. H. Hudson states that a gull was killed by a thrust from a bird watched by him. In September the breeding-places are aban- doned and the little family parties betake themselves to the sea, and about the same time they begin to arrive at the Shetlands, though many more farther south about Christmas-time, and do not return till the following April or May. BLACKTHROATED-DIVER In many respects this species is a smaller edition of the great northern-diver, but its distribution is very different, and it breeds regularly with us, though not in any great numbers. It is decidedly less numerous than the redthroated-diver in Scotland, and is generally to be found breeding on one of a group of low grassy or sandy islets on the larger lochs in the wild and mountainous district between the north of Sutherland and Argyllshire. Graf Zedlitz has recently published some interesting observations on this species as observed by him in Norway and Sweden in the Journal/. Ornithologie, 1913, pp. 179-188. He remarks that in South Sweden the black- 450 THE DIVERS throated-diver is invariably found on the large and deep mountain lakes, while the smaller, shallower, and often marshy pools are inhabited solely by the redthroated species. Within twenty-four hours of the time when the ice has disappeared, the Divers are always to be found on the water. On one occasion Graf Zedlitz was able to observe the act of pairing, and noted that it took place on land and not on the water, as might have been expected. Its diving powers are as great as those of the other members of this genus, and Seebohm says that its flight is if anything swifter than that of its allies. Selby timed one under water, and found that in a space of nearly two minutes it had covered a distance of a quarter of a mile under water. H. A. Macpherson times the period of immersion as one minute twenty seconds to one minute thirty-five seconds, with intervals of two or three minutes between the dives, in birds observed by him. The dives were regular headers, the stern being the last to disappear. On the whole it shows more readiness to take to the wing than the other Divers, and Seebohm mentions that at a nest in the Petschora delta both parents flew repeatedly overhead. Although the courtship of this species has never been described, the late E. T. Booth witnessed some remarkable gatherings of adults in summer. On 18th June 1868, he noticed half a dozen on a loch in Sutherland, which were exceedingly animated, chasing one another above and below the surface, and giving utterance while on the wing and on the water to a variety of harsh cries, occasionally even yelping like a dog. Another party seen three weeks later on Loch Craggie was also sportively inclined, dashing about over the water with loud cries, till a party of eight or ten passing over, they rose and joined them, the whole making for Loch Shin. When flying thus in company, they always kept in line one behind another at regular intervals. It is possible that these gatherings, which sometimes reached fifteen or twenty in number, consisted of birds which had been robbed of their eggs, and were preparing to breed again,1 or they may have been 1 E. T. Booth, Rough Notes, vol. iii. BLACKTHROATED-DIVER 451 composed chiefly of males whose mates were incubating, for at the next visit only a single pair would be seen on the loch. Probably these scenes are a repetition on a limited scale of what takes place in the spring when pairing takes place. St. John says that in May he has seen great numbers of these birds in the Bay of Tongue. The rocks and hillsides resounded with their singular and wild cry as they seemed to be holding a noisy consultation as to their future movements, which at a distance exactly resembled the noise made by a crowd of people shouting and laughing. As evening advanced, the Divers gradually dispersed, leaving in pairs by a direct and rapid flight, after a few circles round the bay, at a great height, towards the mountains. Each pair was evidently on its way to some well-known breeding-place, and as it left the bay, the remaining birds seemed with one accord to salute their departing friends with a shout of mingled laughter, howling, and every earthly and unearthly cry, while those on the wing frequently uttered a short, shrill, bark-like note.1 Collett also notes that at the seasons of passage they often collect in flocks in Norway, and adds that he has seen as many as eighty on the wing passing over the Kristiana fjord. The notes are difficult to reproduce in words, as may be gathered from the foregoing accounts by Booth and St. John, but it is evident that in addition to the howling or wailing note, which Seebohm compares to that of a child in great pain, there is also a hoarse alarm-note, which Collett likens to a raven's croak, and writes as "kraiw" This is evidently the same note which Meyer describes as a long-drawn "kaih" and according to Naumann is sometimes dissyllabic, " krau," sometimes trisyllabic, " kraou" and at times more like " krieiik." Besides these there is also a yelping or yapping note, probably corresponding to KolthofFs sharp "%, hy, hy" which Blathwayt compares to the quacking of a duck, and is somewhat drawn out when descending to the water, so that it sounds like " quarra-qucfrk." The breeding-habits have already been treated of, so that it is unnecessary to recapitulate here what is to be found in the " Classified Notes." 1 Natural History and Sport in Moray, 1863, p. 290. 452 THE DIVERS Generally speaking, it may be stated that our British-breeding birds make little or no nest, but that in other districts they have occasion- ally been known to build a substantial nest in shallow water of water- plants and sedges, just as the great northern-diver does under similar conditions. Graf Zedlitz seems to be under the impression that no nest is ever made by this species, but a glance at the photograph reproduced in Mr. A. Chapman's Wild Norway (p. 109) will show that there are occasional exceptions to the rule. Like the other Divers, it approaches and leaves the nest on its breast, and so makes a broad smooth track, which rises gradually from the water. Chapman describes how a bird flushed from a nest with two eggs on the point of hatching collapsed after flying thirty yards and fell heavily on the water, apparently with a broken wing. For several seconds she lay flapping helplessly on her side, swimming round as though paralysed, in narrow circles. Half an hour afterwards the same bird was seen with its mate flying fast and strong, a hundred yards high.1 While incubation is going on, the bird which is not brooding swims about and feeds a hundred yards or more away, and on the approach of an intruder is soon joined by the sitting bird, which cautiously leaves the nest and proceeds under water to join its mate. Although the normal clutch consists of two eggs, it is unusual for more than one young bird to be reared, and one egg is frequently infertile. The young, protected by their thick coat of blackish down, take to the water at an early age, and may be seen following their parents, and occasionally even scrambling on to their backs like young Grebes. A remarkable characteristic which has occasionally been noticed in the breeding season is the extreme boldness displayed by some birds. H. J. Pearson relates how in Russian Lapland a blackthroated-diver which had been put off the bank of a lake, turned round and shook its wings in defiance, and adds that it will sometimes come almost up to land as if about to attack the intruder, when it has incubated eggs.2 In 1 A. Chapman, Wild Norway, p. 110. 2 Three Summers among the Birds of Russian Lapland, p. 161. Plate 178 Upper: Blackthroated-diver and young in down Lower: Redthroated-diver and young in down By A. W. Seaby • • • .• -•; .»»*•; -V- : :-'; '•'•'• « ': REDTHROATED-DIVER 453 the Fdiina of tin' Nortli-w^t J/i//<>-<>( t." and there is also the quacking note, which Aplin says is a mixture between the cackle of a guinea-fowl and the bray of an ass and Naumann writes as " ack ack" or tick tick." There is also the harsh guttural alarm-note, used to warn the incubating bird of the approach of danger. With regard to the attitude of this species on land, although the prone position is normal as in the other species, it does occasionally assume an erect stance. Thus Mr. G. H. Caton Haigh once watched one walk deliberately out of the water with the intention of crossing a sand-spit. It walked perfectly upright on its feet, in the same position as a cormorant, but after going a few yards it caught sight of him, and immediately dropped down on to its breast and shuffled back into the water.1 Mr. G. Bolam also once noticed one of these birds rise from some seaweed and scuttle away to the water in a tolerably upright attitude, at a very fair pace and with a very grebe-like gait.2 Mr. R. Godfrey has also seen this species " walk well with distinct laboured steps and slouching belly." 3 Although both parents tend and feed the young, Mr. H. J. Pearson noticed that it was the male bird which stayed to look after them when threatened 1 Zoologist, 1892, p. 226. - Birds of Northumberland and the Eastern Borders, p. 679 ; cf. also Bahr, Home Life of i' Marsh Birtln, p. 32. 3 A Fauna of the Shetland Isles, p. 207. 45G THE DIVERS with danger, while the female came only occasionally and left again at once, in this respect resembling the Limicola3 ; l and Mr. E. Selous' observations tend to show that the young are fed only at long intervals, sometimes as much as seven and a half hours at a time.2 There is a very remarkable observation in a paper by Mr. H. Blake Knox in the Zoologist for 1865. He states that on a bright still day in October, while at anchor in twelve feet of water, and having hooked some small dabs, he noticed that the others suddenly scuttled off in all directions, while the three hooked fish burrowed flat into the sand, leaving only the top of the back visible. Suddenly a redthroated- diver appeared above them and poised itself for a moment ; then turning over on its back with its head underneath where its feet had been before, it thrust the upper mandible under a fish and then secured it, performing a similar action with a second, and snapping the hooks with a jerk.3 To this habit Mr. Knox attributes the worn appearance of the top of the upper mandible in this species and the great northern-diver. Dr. Edmonston supposed that this was due to the bird ploughing up the sand with its bill in order to dislodge the fish and worms concealed in it.4 In a subsequent paper Mr. Blake Knox states that each fish as caught is brought to the surface and killed by repeated snaps, shakes, lettings go and catchings again, the bird showing the greatest anxiety when the fish displayed any sign of life. Each fish took five to ten minutes to manipulate before being swallowed, and Mr. Bolam also says that though small flounders are easily swallowed, a fish four or five inches across is bitten and pinched in all directions, and five to ten minutes are spent before the fish is allowed to pass down the gullet. The hooked fish, about which Mr. Blake Knox writes, must have been very small to have been swallowed at once under water. It is a voracious eater, and Mr. A. Patterson states that forty-two fish, the largest seven inches long, have been taken from the crop of a single bird ! Like all the 1 Three Summers in Russian Lapland, p. 33. 2 E. Selous, Zoologist, 1012, pp. 81, 210. 3 Zoologist, 18(55, p. 9614. 4 Tom. tit., p. 9524. REDTHROATED-DIVER 457 Divers, the flight feathers of both wings are all moulted simultaneously, probably in a single day, so that for a short time about the end of September or early in October the power of flight is completely lost.1 To birds so much at home on and under the water this is almost a matter of indifference, for besides man they have few enemies. There is one strange feat which they occasionally perform on the wing and which deserves mention. When flying at a great height they will descend rapidly, twisting and turning as they hurl themselves earthward, and the rush of air through the primaries causes a sound not unlike the roar of a train, and so disproportionate to the size of the bird, that those who hear it for the first time can scarcely be brought to believe that the sound is really caused by it.2 1 See W. Farren, Annals Scot. Nal. ///*/., 1809, p. 114. a Home Life of some Marsh Birds, p 34. SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTERS CONTENTS PAUF. I. EDITORIAL NOTE, ... II. RARE BRITISH BIRDS (F. C. R. JOURDAIN, W. P. PYCEAFT, AND T. WELLS), . . 463 III. STRUCTURAL CHARACTERS AS MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION (W. P. PYCEAFT), 558 IV. BRITISH GENERAL MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS (T. A. COWARD), . . 582 V. THE STUDY OF BIRD BEHAVIOUR, WITH A BIRD-WATCHER'S GUIDE (F. B. KIRKMAN), . 596 VI. APPARATUS AND METHODS OF PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS (W. FARREN), ........ .604 VII. CORRIGENDA AND ADDENDA, ... 613 VIII. LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED (F. C. R. JOURDAIN AND F. B. KIRKMAN), . . 621 INDEX (F. B. KIRKMAN AND T. WELLS), ....... 639 460 EDITORIAL NOTE THE following Supplementary Chapters complete the British Bird Book, which, begun in 1907, has taken six years to produce. The primary object of the work is, as stated in the Preface, to bring together from every source, British and foreign, the whole available information relating to the habits of all our species except those so rare that they cannot be said to have, as British birds, any habits worth describing. While showing what information we do possess, the book at the same time reveals what is lacking ; it will help, therefore, to direct future research in the required directions, and will save a waste of energy that is not uncommon — that of rediscovering the known. That the labour involved in producing the work, such as it is, has not been inconsiderable may to some extent be realised by glancing at the " List of Works Consulted " (page 621). It will be realised more concretely when it is mentioned that it was necessary to turn over the pages of every volume of the Zoologist and other important periodicals, British and foreign, in order to find out what articles, notes, or letters they contained worth entering in the bibliography of the various species ; that the same applied to dozens of county faunal works, and a mass of general literature, also both British and foreign. It is only right to add that some of this work could not have been done but for the generosity of the publishers. They made it, for example, possible to have a special index made of all the entries in the Field (from 1853) relating to the habits of British Birds, a task that took many days to complete. Let us add, in passing, that it would be unjust to our contributors if, from what has been said above, the impression arose that they had been merely content to compile the observa- tions of others. There is much information in the book that is the result of direct personal observation, and much again of this information could hare been supplied only by the con- tributors and by no one else. The result as a whole shows a considerable increase in our knowledge over what is to be found in previous works of the same kind. This increase is especially marked in the case of sex-displays — a subject about which little or nothing is to be found in previous works, notwith- standing the prominence given to it by Darwin in his Descent of Man. Progress is also well marked in the case of migration and nesting habits. On the other hand, it must be confessed that our knowledge of the habits of many species — including familiar species — still remains lamentably inadequate. The task that lies before the field-naturalist is enormous if the next attempt to collect and summarise the facts recorded is to place the study of Bird Behaviour upon a satisfactory footing. It may with some confidence be asserted that those who attempt the next garnering will not suffer, at least to the same extent, from two serious difficulties that faced those responsible for the present work. The first of these difficulties was that, though there are many excellent observers who know something well worth knowing about a large number of species, there are very few who have made it their business to concentrate their attention upon a few given species and work out their life-history in detail. In more than one case con- tributors to this book have found themselves in the very unsatisfactory position of having to write about species of which they had little personal knowledge. Now, though it is unquestion- able that the specialist himself cannot afford to ignore the experience of others in his own field, and must to some extent be a compiler, if he is to be thorough, it is obvious that he has a great VOL. iv. SN 462 EDITORIAL NOTE advantage over the non-specialist in that his knowledge enables him to value and select the evidence with a confidence that cannot be felt by one who is dealing with the relatively unfamiliar. Happily there are not wanting signs that the British ornithologist is turning to specialisation. A notable example has been set by Mr. H. E. Howard in his admirable mono- graph on the British Warblers, and his example is being followed, though it has not been rivalled. The results of this closer study, if rightly pursued, is likely to reveal aspects of bird- life of which our predecessors did not even realise the existence. The work of specialised observation can, however, only yield the results hoped for if the second difficulty alluded to is met. It is that the study of the Habits of Birds, or, to be more exact, Bird Behaviour — this term being used to cover both habit and instinct — has not yet been brought into proper relationship, on the one hand, with the study of Animal Behaviour, of which it is but a part ; and, on the other hand, with that of structure, from which it has every- thing to gain, and to which it is an essential aid. The importance of this latter relationship has been frequently insisted upon in these pages and elsewhere by our contributor W. P. Pycraft, and it does not require to be emphasised further here. The importance of the con- nection with Animal Behaviour is dealt with fully in the chapter on the " Study of Bird Behaviour" (p. 596). All that need here be said is that the neglect of this connection was defensible while the study of Animal Behaviour was being set upon a firm foundation. It is no longer defensible now that the foundation is built. Not only has the ornithologist important contributions to make to this relatively new study, but he will find in it a fresh source of inspiration, and a powerful aid to further achievement. A few words in conclusion as to the plan and scope of the book. In a work to which there are several contributors, it becomes necessary to bring into harmony the claim of the individual writer to express himself in the way he thinks best, and the claim of the Editor to subordinate individual treatment to the general plan. To strike the just balance between the two is far from easy, perhaps impossible. The tendency in the present work has favoured the individual. The gain has been a vigour and freshness of treat- ment that is not always conspicuous in works of this kind ; the loss a certain weakening of methodical arrangement which is more particularly apparent in the earlier part of the work, owing partly, however, to circumstances that were neither contemplated nor desired, nor, at the time, capable of remedy. The loss, it is hoped, will be practically made good by the completeness of the Index. The gain will be appreciated by all except those who still cherish the illusion — generally from self-interested motives — that science is respectable only when dull. An adverse criticism levelled at the scope of the work was that not enough space is given to the geographical distribution of species. By one or two reviewers, who did not take the trouble to read the Preface, it was even assumed that a full treatment of distribution was part of the purpose of the book. The Preface states that " a detailed account of the geographical distribution of our birds lies outside the scope of the work, which professes to deal only com- prehensively with their habits, but short summaries embodying the most recent information will be found under the head of each species." Any one who reads Mr. Jourdain's summaries under the head Distribution in the " Classified Notes " will hardly deny that what is promised is given. But to have given more, to have supplied a detailed account of geographical distribu- tion, would have greatly added to the size of a work which has — owing again to the generosity of the publishers — already considerably exceeded the limits prescribed. To have given this detailed account within the limits prescribed would inevitably have led to the proverbial fall between two stools. From this blunder the work has happily been saved. It must be judged primarily as a contribution to the study of Bird Behaviour. By almost all our reviewers it has so been judged. And we have every reason to be satisfied with their verdict. RARE BRITISH BIRDS1 CLASSIFIED NOTES [P. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. T. WELLS] N.B. — All species or subspecies bracketed are of doubtful occurrence, and, with few exceptions, are not described. THE CROWS2 [ORDER: Paxxeriformpa. FAMILY: Carvidae] CONTINENTAL-JAY (Uarrulus glanddrius glanddrius (Limueus). French, geai; German, E i r/u'l I* < i/i?r : Italian, yhittntlaid]. 1. Description. — The continental race of the jay may be distinguished from the British jay by the delicate lavender-grey which tinges the hind-neck and mantle and the prepectoral region, and by the eyes, which are, as a rule, light bluish white, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — While the British jay, G. glandarius rufitergum Hartert, is confined to Great Britain, and the Irish jay, 0. (jr.Ai&ernicws Witherby and Hartert, is only found in Ireland, the continental race is found throughout Europe from the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and lat. 63° in Russia, south to the Mediterranean, but is replaced by other forms in S. Spain, the Mediterranean Isles, S.E. Russia, etc., as well as in M.W. Africa and Asia. It is only an autumn visitor to the British Isles, and has now been definitely recorded from Kent and Sussex (1910). [F. c. R. j.] IRISH-JAY [Gii.i-i-n.lua glanddrius hMrnicus Witherby and Hartert]. 1. Description. — The Irish jay has the sides of the head and ear-coverts more rufous and darker than in the British jay, the rich rufous colour reaching to the eyes. The chest, breast, belly, sides, and flanks are much richer in coloration. The throat is not so white as in the continental jay, and is washed with vinous. Length 13 in. [331 mm.], [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Recognised in 1911, after the issue of Chapter I. of this work, in which it should be placed. Confined to Ireland, where it is a very local resident, being only found in Leinster and the adjoining parts of Munster, though recently recorded as extending its range into South Ulster. Ussher defines it as resident in the counties watered by the Suir, Nore, and Barrow, wandering more or less to the neighbouring counties. Probably in former times its range was more extensive. See Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 87. 4. Nest and Eggs. — Does not differ in its nesting habits from the British form, except that the number of eggs laid appears to be smaller, four being an ordinary clutch, and five less common. [F. c. R. J.] THICKBILLED or EUROPEAN - NUTCRACKER [Nucifraga caryocatdctes caryocatdctes (Linnaeus). French, casse-noix ; German, dickschndblige Tannenhaher ; Italian, noccio- laja]. 1. Description. — Distinguished from the Siberian nutcracker by its shorter and thicker bill, by being less heavily spotted with white, and by the feathers of the rump, which are less spotted. 1 Under this head are here included all the British species or subspecies not described in the preceding chapters. 1 Vol. i. p. 1. 463 464 RARE BRITISH BIRDS Sexes alike in size and coloration. Length 13 in. [331 mm.]. The young differs from the adult in having the whole of the upper and under surface brownish grey, each feather obscurely streaked down the shaft with white. The tail black, broadly tipped with white ; under tail- coverts white, [w. P. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This race is confined to the forests of Northern Europe and the moun- tain districts of Central Europe, breeding in Norway, Sweden, Gotland, Bornholm, S.W. Finland, the Russian Baltic Provinces (Livonia), Poland, and the governments of Jaroslav, Moscow, and Perm ; Germany (East Prussia, Harz, Schwarz and Bohmer Wald, probably also Thuringer Wald); the Jura and the whole Alpine system, including the French, Swiss, Austrian, and Italian Alps; Austro-Hungary (Lilienfeld district, Tatra, Transylvania, and the Carpathians, Styria, Croatia, and Bosnia), and Bulgaria (Rhodope Mountains). There seems to be no proof of its breeding in the Pyrenees. Though more or less resident, it is given to wandering during the winter months, and has occurred in many parts of Europe where it is not known to breed. Six English records, of which four are from Sussex, have been proved to refer to this form. [F. c. R. j.] THINBILLED or SIBERIAN - NUTCRACKER [Nucifraga caryocatdctes macrorhynckus Brehm. German, schlankschnciblige TannenhdJier]. 1. Description.— Distinguished from the European race by the longer and more slender bill, and by the blackish brown upper tail-coverts, of which each feather has a white spot at the extremity of the shaft. The whole plumage is more heavily spotted with white, otherwise the two species are alike, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The breeding grounds of this species are in Asia, across Siberia to Corea, but not in Kamtschatka or in the mountain ranges of Central Asia (Tian Shan and Himalayas), where it is replaced by other forms. In autumn and winter its migrations extend westward through Europe to the British Isles, Scandinavia, France, and Denmark. There are about forty-four records of nutcrackers from Great Britain, most of which probably refer to this form, though few have been properly identified. [F. c. R. J.] [ALPINE-CHOUGH [Pyrrhocorax grdculus (Linnaeus) ; Pyrrhocorax alpinus Koch]. — This species has little claim to a place on the British list, the only occurrence being probably due to an escape from captivity, which was shot in Oxfordshire in 1881. It is an inhabitant of the mountain systems of South Europe, from the Spanish mountain ranges in the west and the Alps in the north to the Apennines, Balkan Peninsula, and Caucasus, and in Asia from Asia Minor and Palestine to Kashmir and Bhutan. It has occurred in Marocco, but is a sedentary species. [F. c. R. J.] ] THE FINCHES1 [ORDER: Passeriformes. FAMILY: Fringillidce. SUBFAMILY: Fringillince] [CONTINENTAL-GOLDFINCH [CardvAlis carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus). French, chardonneret ; German, Distelzeisig, Stieglitz ; Italian, cardellino]. 1. Description. — Differs from the British form in being larger and brighter in colour, in having the neck-spot larger and whiter, the rurnp and upper tail-coverts whitish, and the flanks and sides darker. The sexes are alike in coloration, excepting that in the male the red of the lower parts of the face extends backwards beyond the margin of the eye, whereas in the female this colour does not extend beyond a line drawn through the eyes. Length 5J in. [140 mm.], [w. p. p. and T. w.] 1 Vol. L p. 64. CLASSIFIED NOTES 4C5 2. Distribution. — Although immigrants from the Continent have been frequently reported from the east coast of England, no specimens have as yet been critically examined. The continental race breeds in Europe north to 64}° in Norway and 61°-62° in Sweden, but only to 60° in the Urals. Southward its breeding range extends to the Mediterranean, but in S. Spain and Corsica and Sardinia (as well as in Asia and the Atlantic Isles) it is replaced by allied races. Northern birds are migrants, and probably visit us from Scandinavia. [F. c. B. J.]] CITRIL-FINCH \('tir. 1-. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in the chief mountain ranges of Central and South-western Europe west to the Sierra Nevada in Spain, and from thence in the Pyrenees and Vosges Moun- tains, the Alpine district, the Apennines (?), the Schwarzwald and the Austrian Alps. In Corsica, Sardinia, and possibly also in Italy it is replaced by a local race. Partially migratory in the autumn and winter months, descending from the mountains and wandering through the low- lying parts of the Continent. One occurrence in England (Norfolk, Jan. 29, 1904). [F. c. R. J.] SERIN [Srr in its candr-ius (Linnaius); Serinus hortuldnus Koch. French, Cini, serin; German, Girlitz; Italian, verzellitxi]. 1. Description. — Distinguished from the citril-finch by its blunter bill and by having the mantle and flanks streaked with black. The male is brighter than the female. Length 4A in. [114 mm.]. General colour above greyish yellow, broadly streaked down the middle of each feather with brownish black ; forehead, eyebrow, and rump uniform bright yellow ; the wings and tail are greyish brown, fringed on their outer webs with yellow ; the cheeks and ear-coverts grey ; throat, chest, and breast uniform bright yellow, streaked on the sides of the latter with black; abdomen and under tail-coverts creamy white. The young bird is reddish brown above, all the feathers heavily streaked with brownish black; under surface of body pale sulphur-yellow, with black streaks on the chest and flanks, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The continental race of this finch, Serinus canarius serinus (L.), as opposed to the true canary, S. canarius canarius (L.), which is confined to the Atlantic Isles,1 is found resident in North-west Africa (Marocco to Tunisia) and the European countries which border on the Mediterranean, from Portugal to Greece, and also in Asia Minor and Palestine. Northward its breeding range extends to South-west Germany, and recently it has spread over the greater part of the country, but is only a summer visitor, migrating in winter to North Africa. It occurs in Holland and may possibly breed there, and has been recorded from Denmark. About twenty records from England, half of which are from Sussex, two from Ireland, and one from Scotland. [F. c. K. J.] 1 Canaries, S. canariui canarius (L.), which have been obtained in the British Isles are undoubtedly escaped from captivity, as in its natural state this species is non-migratory, and is kept in great numbers as a cage-bird. 466 RARE BRITISH BIRDS SNOWFINCH [Montifrinyilla nivdlis (Linnaeus). French, piivson de niege, luverollc; German, Sclmeefink; Italian, fringuello alpino]. 1. Description. — Resembles the snow-bunting in having the under parts and the second- aries pure white, but it differs from the latter in having the rump black, and the head grey instead of white. Length 6i in. [165 mm.]. The sexes are alike both in size and coloration, and the adults in winter have the black spot on the chin less clearly denned and the bill orange instead of black; top of the head and back of the neck dark grey, with mesial streaks of black ; mantle, scapulars, and back greyish brown ; middle of the rump black, sides of the rump pure white ; primaries black ; primary coverts, secondaries and their coverts pure white ; middle pair of tail feathers black, remainder of the tail pure white, slightly tipped with black; under surface of the body greyish white; middle of the throat black tipped with white; axillaries and under wing-coverts white, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Confined in the breeding season to the higher mountain ranges of Central andSouthern Europe ; the SierraNevada in Spain (Stark), Pyrenees, the Alpine system, Apennines ; Montenegro, mountains of Greece and perhaps also Northern Palestine (Hermon and Lebanon). Replaced by allied forms in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Descends to the lower country in the winter months, visiting Germany and Austro-Hungary. One record from Sweden, and three obtained in England (Sussex and Kent). [F. c. R. j.] GREENLAND-REDPOLL [Linota lindria rostrdta (Coues)].1 1. Description. — Is very closely allied to Holboll's redpoll, but may be recognised by the much more obtuse bill, and by being heavily streaked with black on the flanks. The male resembles the female, but the latter lacks the rose-red colour of the chest. Length 5-7 in. [140 mm.]. Top of the head crimson-red. The upper parts, including the wings and tail, blackish brown edged with whitish. In the breeding season these parts have the white edgings worn off to a great extent, producing an almost uniform dark appearance ; rump washed with rose colour ; chin and lores black; the throat, chest, and upper breast rose-red, remainder of under parts white, heavily streaked with brownish black. The young bird has no red on the crown, the head and back being alike, i.e. black, margined with brownish buff, giving these parts a streaked appearance, [w. P. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in Southern Greenland, migrating south through Canada and the western United States. Has been recorded from the islands of Scotland (Barra, Shetlands, Flannans, S. Kilda, Fair I., etc.) and the west of Ireland (Mayo and Kerry), but not elsewhere in Europe. [F. c. R. j.] HOLBOLL'S REDPOLL [Linota lindria holboelli (Brehm)]. 1. Description. — Of doubtful status. It is a larger form of the mealy-redpoll, distinguished by its longer and heavier bill. Otherwise the changes of plumage and the difference in the colour of the male and female are the same as those of the mealy-redpoll (see vol. i. p. 73). [w. P. P. and rj\ w.] 2. Distribution. — As this form appears to breed well within the range of the ordinary mealy-redpoll, it is questionable whether it is due to individual variation or whether it is to be regarded as a distinct form. It has been met with in Northern Europe and Asia, as well as in N. America, and seems generally to breed farther north than its allies, though everywhere some- what irregularly and in colonies. On migration it occurs irregularly in the British Isles, Holland, Germany, Austro-Hungary, Russia, Central Asia, North Japan, and North-eastern America, sometimes in company with the mealy-redpoll . [F. c. R. J.] 1 In Section 1 of the British Bird Bool, flammea was used as the specific name of tl;e niealy-redpolls (pp. 72-3). This has been shown by Reichenow to be erroneous, the true name being linnriu (Liimi us). CLASSIFIED NOTES 467 HORNEMANNS REDPOLL [Linutu l,<,,-nt •//«;?»•/, li homemdnnii HolbollJ. 1. Description. — Resembles Coues' redpoll in having the uniform white rump of that species, Inn it is considerably larger. The white rump distinguishes it from any form of mealy-redpoll. Sexes alike, except that the female lacks the rose-red colour on the chest. Length 5£ in. [140 mm.]. Forehead and top of the head deep crimson-red ; the hind-neck, sides of the neck, mantle, and upper back white, suffused with light bull' and mesially streaked with black; rump uniform pure white, tinged with rose-colour: upper tail-coverts white centred with brownish black; the wings and tail greyish brown, margined on the outer webs with white; greater and i wing- and secondary-coverts broadly tipped with white, forming two bars across the wings ; <-hiu black, throat buff, remainder of the under parts white. There is but little difference in the summer and winter plumage, the development of the rosy breast being less pronounced than in any of the other races of redpolls. [w. r. i>. and T. w.) 2. Distribution. — Breeds in Greenland up to 73° N. Has occurred, probably only as an occasional wanderer, in Franz Josef Land, Jan Mayen, Spitsbergen, Iceland (?), Great Britain ( Yorks, Durham, Fair I., and Shetlands), and France. Its regular winter quarters lie in parts of N". America, [F. c. R. j.] COUES' REDPOLL [Lun>f. and T. \v.] 2. Distribution. — In Europe this species, like the last, is only known to breed in the steppes of South-east Russia, chiefly near the salt marshes (Kirghiz steppes), east of the Volga. In Asia its breeding range extends east to Turkestan and north to West Siberia. During the winter it is met with in flocks on the Talysch marshes in Transcaucasia, and also occurs occasionally in Central and Western Europe (Galizia, Heligoland, Italy, Belgium), while four have been obtained in England on the Sussex and Kent borders in 1907. [F. c. n. j.] [CALANDRA-LARK [Melanocorypha caldndra (Linnagus)]. — Is said to have been captured in England, but the two specimens in question may well have been escaped cage-birds. It breeds in Southern Europe and North-west Africa, from Portugal and Marocco in the west to Tunisia, Palestine, Transcaspia, and Turkestan. [F. c. R. J.]] SHORTTOED-LARK [Calandrella brachyddctyla (Leisler) ; AUiuda brachyddctyla Leisler. French, aluufte calandrelle ; German, kurzzehif/e Lerche; Italian, calandrella]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its very short claws, the fore-claws measuring -4 mm., whilst that of the hind- toe only measures 1 mm. The sexes are almost alike in coloration and markings, and there is no appreciable seasonal plumage. Adult male— general colour above, including the scapulars, sandy buff, with broad black centres to the feathers ; primaries smoky brown ; secondaries darker, but widely fringed with sandy buff; middle tail feathers ash-brown; 2nd to 4th pairs black ; outer pairs with an elongated patch of white on the inner web and with the outer margin white ; cheeks isabelline, with dusky brown spots ; throat and belly white, slightly washed with buff, more distinct on the chest and sides of the body, a patch of concealed black feathers on each side of the upper chest, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — In Europe the breeding range of this species extends from Spain and Portugal in the west, through Southern France, Italy, the Mediterranean islands, the Balkan Peninsula and South Russia east to Astrakhan and the Caucasus. It also breeds in North Africa from Marocco to Egypt, and in Asia from Palestine to Asia Minor, while from Transcaspia and Persia east to Tibet it is replaced by allied races. During the migration period it occurs casually north of its breeding range, and has been recorded from Heligoland, Switzerland, Germany, North France, and seventeen times from the British Isles (twelve England, four Scotland, one Ireland). Although sedentary in the southern part of its range, it is partially migratory in the north. [F. c. R. J.] CRESTED-LARK [Galerida cristdta (Linnaeus) ; Alauda cristdta Linnaeus. French, coclievis, alouette huppde ; German, Haubenlerche ; Italian, cappellaccia]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its long crest, which is more than half an inch long. The sexes are alike in coloration. Length 7 in. [178 mm.]. General colour above sandy brown, with blackish brown centres to the feathers ; upper tail-coverts more vinaceous ; primaries ash-brown, with buff on the outer web ; tail feathers blackish brown, outside pairs brownish buff, with the inner web largely blackish brown ; cheeks like the back ; throat white, with two longitudinal brownish black bands from the angle of the mouth; chest whitish buff, with blackish brown shaft-streaks ; lower breast, belly, and under tail-coverts creamy white ; under surface of primaries and axillaries pinkish buff; iris light brown; bill greyish brown, lower mandible lighter and more dusky ; feet dusky yellowish flesh-colour, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 476 RARE BRITISH BIRDS 2. Distribution. — The breeding range of this species extends over the greater part of the Continent, but it is absent from Norway, the north of Sweden, and North Russia, and the ordinary form is replaced by allied races in the Iberian and Balkan Peninsulas as well as in South Russia. It is absent from Corsica and Sardinia, but is represented in the other Medi- terranean islands, and many allied races are found breeding in Northern Africa and also in many parts of Asia. Though resident, it has occurred casually in Norway, and seven times in England (Cornwall and Sussex). [F. c. n. J.] EASTERN-SKYLARK [Alaiida arvensis cindrea Ehincke. Asiatic skylark]. 1. Description. — The Eastern form of the skylark is very closely allied to the common- skylark, and resembles it in the general style of coloration (see vol. i. p. 199), but it is a much greyer bird on the upper surface, with a purer white belly and much paler axillaries and under wing-coverts. The adult female is similar in plumage to the male, but is smaller ; iris hazel ; bill greyish brown above, lower mandible flesh-coloured ; feet yellowish brown. [\v. p. p. and T. w.j 2. Distribution. — This local race of skylark breeds in Asia, in West Siberia, Turkestan, Persia, and possibly Palestine. It winters in the Caucasus, and also in North Africa from Algeria to Egypt. In the British Isles it has occurred once in Scotland (Flannan Isles), and at least once in Ireland (Co. Cork, 1910). [F. c. R. J.] THE WAGTAILS AND PIPITS1 [ORDER : Passeriformes. FAMILY : MotacillidcB] SYKES' YELLOW-WAGTAIL [Motacllla fldva beema Sykes. Italian, cutrettola gialla orientate]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its pearl-grey head. It very much resembles M. flava, but may be distinguished from that species by its white face and ear-coverts. The sexes are alike, excepting that the female is duller in plumage than the male. Adult male, length 6| in. [165 mm.]. General colour above yellowish green ; median and greater coverts dull brown, margined with yellow ; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, margined with olive-yellow ; tail feathers black, fringed with yellowish olive ; two outer pairs white, with a blackish margin on the basal two-thirds of the inner web ; top of the head pearl-grey ; chin and a broad eyebrow white ; remainder of the under surface of the body brilliant golden yellow ; axillaries yellow, [w. P. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in Western Siberia from Orenburg to the Yenisei. Occurs on passage in Turkestan, and winters in India. Has been recorded casually from Hungary, once from England (Sussex, April 1898), and once from Fair Island (May 1910), also from Italy and Tunisia. [F. c. R. j.] GREYHEADED-WAGTAIL [Motacitta fldva tUunUrgi Billberg ; Motacilla viridis Gmelin. Arctic yellow-wagtail. German, nordische Schafstelze ; Italian, cutrettola caposcuro], 1. Description. — Distinguished by its black ear-coverts and by the absence of the eyebrow. The sexes are alike, except that the female is much duller in coloration. Length 6£ in. [165 mm.]. Top of the head and sides of the neck dark slate-blue ; lores, feathers round the eye and ear-coverts black ; upper plumage dark olive-yellow, lighter on the lower back and rump ; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, edged with olive-yellow; tail feathers black, the outer pairs white with a fringe of black on the inner web ; chin, throat, and under surface of the body bright yellow ; under coverts of the wing and the axillaries yellow, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in the north of Europe and Asia. In Norway it nests on the 1 Vol. i. p. 221. CLASSIFIED NOTES 477 high fjekl south to the Dovre, but in Sweden only to lat. 63°. In Finland it is fairly common at Uleaborg, and in Russia breeds in the Kola Peninsula, the Olonetz and Archangel govern- ments, but not on the Kanin Peninsula or the tundra north of the Arctic Circle. In Asia it breeds across Siberia east to the Sea of Okhotsk. On migration it ranges through Europe, and visits North-west Africa in small numbers; it is more plentiful in North-east Africa (from Egypt to North Somaliland). In Asia its winter quarters lie in India, Ceylon, Burma, and Tennasserim. Visits Great Britain in small numbers, chiefly on the south and east coasts and the Scotch islands. [F. c. 11. J.] ASHYHEADED WAGTAIL \M<>tpfifif. Bachstrlze; Italian, cutrettola capinera]. 1. Description. — Recognised by the deep black feathers round the eye and the ear-coverts. The male differs from the female in coloration. Length 7 in. [178 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts yellowish olive, lighter on the rump ; primaries and secondaries greyish brown, the former narrowly and the latter widely bordered with yellowish olive ; tail feathers black fringed with yellow, the two outer pairs pure white excepting an elongated patch on the margin of the outer web; the whole of the under parts rich golden yellow; axillaries and under wing- coverts paler yellow. The adult female is much less richly coloured, with the head less marked and the under surface of the body whitish washed with olive-yellow, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — In Europe this race breeds only in the Balkan Peninsula, South Russia, and the Caucasus ; in Asia, apparently also in Asia Minor and West Persia. In the Balkan Peninsula its range extends from Greece north to S. Dalmatia and the Danube valley. Its regular winter quarters lie in Arabia and North-east Africa, south to British East Africa, Sudan, etc., and it has occurred at least four times in England (three Sussex and one Kent), on Heligo- land, in Italy, Tunisia and Algeria. [F. c. R. J.] REDTHROATED-PIPIT [Antkus cervimis Pallas. French, pipi A gorge rcmsse; German, rotkehliger Pieper ; Italian, pispola gola rosso]. 1. Description. — Recognised by the vinous chesnut throat and the black striations of the rump and upper tail-coverts. The adult male differs from the female. Adult male, length 6 in. [152 mm.]. General colour of the upper surface sandy brown, with narrow blackish shaft-streaks to the feathers of the head, and with wider and black centres to the mantle and rump; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, fringed with whitish buff; tail similar in colour to the wing, but the outer pair largely white; eyebrow, chin, throat, and upper VOL. IV. 3P 478 RARE BRITISH BIRDS breast pinkish chesnut, with a few blackish spots on the latter ; remainder of the under surface of the body rich buff; sides and flanks streaked with black. The adult female is similar to the above, but has only the throat vinous chesnut and the fore-neck heavily spotted with black. [\v. P. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — In Europe this species breeds only in Northern Norway (chiefly in Fin- mark), Sweden (in Swedish Lapland), and in North Russia, from Russian Lapland to the tundra beyond the forest growth which borders the White and Kara Seas, as well as on Kolguev, Wai'gatz, and Dolgoi. In Asia its breeding range extends along the northern coasts of Siberia east to Kamtschatka and the Kuriles, and possibly even to Alaska. On migration it ranges southward in Africa to Nubia and East Africa, while in Asia it winters in Arabia, India, Burma, and in small numbers reaches the Malay Archipelago. To Western Europe it is a more irregular visitor, but has been recorded from the Faeroes, Spain, and in North Africa from Marocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. In North America it is of casual occurrence in the Aleutian Isles and S. California. There are seven definite records from the British Isles (two Sussex, one Kent, three the Shetlands, and one Mayo), and it has been seen on St. Kilda. [F. c. R. J.] SCANDINAVIAN BOCK - PIPIT [Anthus spinoletta littordlis Brehm ; Anthus rupestris Nilsson. French, pipi des roch.es ; German, Felsenpieper]. 1. Description. — Distinguished from the British rock-pipit (see vol. i. p. 236) by the more vinous under-surface of the body. Length 7 in. [178 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts olive-brown, with indistinct blackish centres to the feathers, especially those of the mantle; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, margined with olive-brown; tail feathers dark olive-brown on the outer web, smoke-coloured on the terminal half of the inner web; cheeks yellowish white, spotted with blackish brown ; centre of throat yellowish white ; fore- neck and chest olive-yellow, streaked with blackish brown and washed with vinous ; remainder of the under surface of the body yellowish white ; sides of the body olive-yellow, streaked with blackish brown ; iris brown ; base of the lower mandible yellow, both mandibles black in the breeding season ; legs flesh-colour, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The breeding-grounds of this species lie on the Baltic coasts of Scan- dinavia, the Cattegat, and the Swedish coast up to lat. 61°, as well as some of the islands in the Cattegat and Russian Lapland west of the Ribatchi Peninsula. Collett states that the form which breeds along the Norwegian coast is the British race, A. spinoletta obacurus. During the winter it occurs commonly on Heligoland, and also visits the coasts of Germany, Belgium, and North France, as well as those of Great Britain (English and Welsh coasts, but not Scotland). [F. c. R. J.] AMERICAN-PIPIT [A-Athus spinoletta rubescens (Tunstall). Pennsylvanian-pipit]. 1. Description. — Distinguished from the water-pipit by the lores, eyebrow, and sides of face, which are vinaceous like the under parts. The sexes resemble one another, but in the female the throat and chest are more spotted with brown. General colour of the upper parts dark ash-grey, with a few indistinct blackish centres to the feathers; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, fringed on their outer webs with whitish grey; tail blackish brown, the two outer pairs largely white ; under parts rich ochreous buff, spotted on the chest with blackish brown and streaked on the flanks with black, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in the Arctic regions of North America from Greenland and Newfoundland on the east side to Alaska and Great Slave Lake on the west. Also on high mountains south to California and Mexico, and in the Aleutian Isles and North-east Siberia. In the winter months ranges south, wintering from the southern United States to Guatemala. Casual on Heligoland (twice), and once on St. Kilda (September 1910). [F. c. R. J.] CLASSIFIED NOTES 479 THE CREEPERS1 [Oni>ER: I'dsseriformeji. FAMILY: Cei-tl. i>. andr. w.] 2 Distribution. — This race breeds in the coniferous woods of Norway and Sweden up to about lat. 65°, in Finland, Russia from the Olonetz and Vologda governments through the Baltic Provinces to Poland and Central Russia; also in North-east Germany, the Carpathians, and probably the Dobrogea. In Asia its breeding range extends through the forest region of the continent south to the Altai and east to the Sea of Okhotsk, Manchuria, etc. Has been identified with certainty on one occasion from Fair Island (December 1906), and has probably occurred at other times. [F. c. R. j.] WALL-CREEPER [Tichodroma murdria (Linnaeus). French, pic de murailles; German, Alpen-Mauerldufer; Italian, piecio muraiolo]. 1. Description. — Recognised by the rose-crimson on the shoulders and wings. The sexes are alike in coloration, and there is a distinct seasonal breeding-plumage. Length 6J in. [165 mm.]. The adult in breeding-plumage has the general colour of the upper surface of the body greyish slate, becoming darker on the rump and upper tail-coverts till the tail is quite black, with the exception of a white bar at the tip of the two outermost pair of feathers ; primaries black, with two large spots of white on the inner web of each feather, and with the basal half of the outer web rose-crimson ; secondaries similarly coloured, but with the spot on the inner web light chesnut instead of white ; throat black ; remainder of under surface of the body blackish slate. The adult after the autumn moult lacks the black of the throat, these parts being uniform with the remainder of the under surface, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2, Distribution. — This species breeds in the mountain ranges of Central and Southern Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula, the Pyrenees, and the Alpine chain to the Apennines, the Carpathian range, the Balkan Peninsula and the Caucasus. In Asia its range extends eastward from Palestine and Asia Minor through Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, etc., to the Himalayas, Tibet, and Mongolia. It probably also nests on some of the Mediterranean islands (Elba, Sardinia, and Cyprus). Outside the breeding season it seems to be rather an erratic wanderer, and has been recorded from Germany, N. France (Brittany and Normandy), the Channel Islands, and five times from England (Sussex three, Norfolk and Lancashire one each), as well as southward in Asia to middle India, and perhaps also to North Africa. [F. c. R. J.] THE DIPPER2 [ORDER: Passeriformes. FAMILY: Cinclidce] BLACKBREASTED-DIPPER [Cinclus cinclus cinclus (Linnaeus). Scandinavian-dipper. German, Wasserschwdtzer]. 1. Description.— Distinguished from the British and Irish forms (vol. i. pp. 297, 299) by the absence of chesnut on the under surface. This, below the white, is dark chocolate-brown inclining to black. Sexes alike. Length 7 in. [178 mm.], [w. p. p. and T. w.] 1 Vol. i. p. 280. ! VoL i. p. 298. 480 RARE BRITISH BIRDS 2. Distribution. — Breeds in Scandinavia and North Russia, the Russian Baltic Provinces, and apparently also in East Prussia. Though mainly sedentary, some seem to migrate southward in winter to North-east Germany and apparently also to East Russia. In other parts of Europe, North-west Africa, and Asia to the Himalayas, it is replaced by other forms. Has occurred several times in east England in winter, chiefly Norfolk and Yorkshire. [F. c. R. J.] THE THRUSHES1 [ORDER: Passeriform.es. FAMILY: Turdidce. SUBFAMILY: Turdince] DUSKY- THRUSH [Turdus fuscdtus Pallas ; Turdus dubius Bechstein. French, merle brun ; German, Rost-fiugeldrossel ; Italian, cesena fosca]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its light chesnut axillaries and under surface of the wing, and by the flanks, which are heavily spotted with blackish brown. Sexes alike, except that the female is duller in colour and has the upper surface more uniform. Length 9| in. [242 mm.]. General colour of the upper surface of the body reddish brown, with blackish centres to the feathers; rump feathers chesnut-brown; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, with the basal two-thirds of the inner web chesnut and the outer web margined with reddish buff; chin, throat, and cheeks white, tinged with buff and tipped with black ; breast and flank feathers blackish brown, broadly margined with white ; middle of the chest and belly uniform white. [w. P. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution.— This species breeds in Siberia, north to the limit of tree growth on the Yenisei and almost to the mouth of the Lena, east to Kamtschatka and Bering Island, perhaps also North Saghalien. In winter its regular migrations extend to Corea, Japan, Manchuria, China, Formosa, Assam, and North-west India ; but some individuals stray westward, and have been recorded from Russia, Germany (?), Heligoland (once), Norway, Italy, Holland, Belgium, South France, and once from England (Notts, 1905). [F. c. R. J.] BLACKTHROATED THRUSH [Turdus ruficdllis atriguldris Temminck ; Turdus atrigularis Temminck. French, merle a gorge noire; German, schwarzlcehlige Drossel', Italian, tordo dalla gola nera]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its black throat and upper chest. Sexes unlike in colora- tion. Adult male, length 10J in. [266 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts pale greyish brown; top of the head with indistinct mesial streaks of brown; primaries and secondaries ash-brown, slightly fringed with whitish; tail similar to the wing; lores, chin, throat, sides of the neck, and upper breast deep black, some of the feathers indistinctly fringed with white ; remainder of the under surface white ; sides and flanks tinged with greyish. Adult female differs from the male in lacking the black throat and chest, these parts being white spotted with black ; otherwise the upper surface, wings, and tail are as in the male. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This form of the redthroated-thrush breeds in West Siberia, in the basins of the rivers Ob and Yenisei, south to the Altai, and, according to Severtzow, the Tian Shan range. During the winter months its migrations extend to Turkestan, Transcaspia, Afghanistan, Persia, Baluchistan, South Arabia (once), North-west India, the Himalaya range, Shan States, Assam, and Manipur. In Europe it has occurred in Finland, Norway, many parts of Germany, Denmark, Austria, Italy (seven), France, Belgium, and four times in Great Britain (two Kent, one each Sussex and Perth). [F. c. R. J.] 1 Vol. L p. 317. CLASSIFIED NOTES 481 WHITE'S THRUSH [Tunln* a.'n-eu* Holandre ; Tt'mlus vdrius Pallas. French, merle dore; German, bunte Drossel ; Italian, fordo dorato]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its large size and by the broad, black, horse-shoe markings on the upper surface, enclosing a yellow spot. The sexes are alike, and there is no seasonal change of plumage. Adult, length 11 in. [279 mm.]. Feathers of the top of the head brownish black, with a spot of golden buff near the extremity ; remainder of the upper surface olive-golden, with a subtenninal bar of golden buff and a deep black loop at the extremity of each feather, giving the whole of the upper surface a richly spangled appearance ; middle of the throat, as well as the middle of the belly, uniform white; but the flank feathers have a subtenninal bar of golden buff and a black tip; primary quills blackish brown, with a fringe of golden buff and with a square patch of yellowish buff at the base of the inner web ; axillaries black on their basal half and white on their terminal half. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The breeding-grounds of this thrush lie in Eastern Siberia, and extend from the south of Lake Baikal to the Pacific Ocean, and also in the island of Hondo in Japan. In the Riu-kiu group it is replaced by a larger form, and by other races in Java, Lombok, Himalayas, and S. India. Buturlin states that it is not uncommon on the Yenisei and the northern portions of the Akmolinsk and the southern parts of the Tobolsk governments. Specimens in summer plumage have been obtained in the Perm and Ufa governments of European Russia. Its normal winter quarters lie in South China and Formosa, occasionally hi Pegu, Assam, and the Philippines; but some move westward and have been met with in West Europe as far as Scandinavia, Heligoland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France (Pyrenees), Italy, and about twenty times from the British Isles, all from England, except one Scotch and three Irish records. [F. c. ». J.] [S i r.KRi AX-THRUSH [Turdus sibiricus Pallas. French, merle nilterien; German, sibirische Drossel]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its uniform slate-grey coloration; but the eyebrow and a line down the middle of the belly are pure white. The sexes are different in coloration. Adult male, length 10 in. [254 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts deep slate-grey, darkest on the head and lores ; a long and very conspicuous white eyebrow ; primary quills dark brown, edged with slate-grey; an elongate rounded patch of white on the inner web; middle tail feathers uniform with the back ; remainder of the tail black, with a small white tip ; under surface similar to the upper surface, but with a line of white feathers down the middle of the belly. The adult female has the upper surface dark olive-brown, with a golden buff eyebrow stripe ; under parts white, shading into brown on the chest and flanks, each feather tipped with dark olive-brown, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in the valleys of Mid Siberia (Yenisei and Lena), near the Arctic Circle, and migrates through Dauria, Ussuria, and China to farther India, the Andaman Isles, South China, and Java and Borneo. Has occurred casually in Germany (ten), Belgium (two), Holland (two), Bulgaria, France, and twice in England (Surrey and Isle of Wight), but the evidence is not quite conclusive. [F. c. R. J.] ] ALPINE RING-OUZEL [Tilrdus torqudtus alpestris (Brehm). French, merle d plastron; German, Alpenamsel ; Italian, merlo dal collare meridionale]. 1. Description. — Differs from the common ring-ouzel (see vol. i. p. 329) in having all the feathers of the under surface heavily margined with white, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in the mountain ranges of Central and Southern Europe, from the Iberian mountain systems and the Pyrenees in the west to the Alpine chain, the Apennines, the Carpathians, Tatra, and the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, but not in Greece. Probably 482 RARE BRITISH BIRDS also breeds in Asia Minor (Taurus), but is replaced in the Caucasus and Elburz ranges by the eastern form. Has occurred in Germany, Belgium, and a few times (at least once, Sussex, 1911) in England. [F. c. E. J.] [AMERICAN-ROBIN [Tiirdus migratorius Linnaeus. Redbreasted-thrush (?). German, Wanderdrossel]. Inhabits east and northern N. America, and winters in the southern United States, and occasionally Bermudas and Cuba. Has been recorded for the British Isles, but was in all cases probably an escaped captive. Has recently been introduced. [F. c. R. J.] ] ROCK-THRUSH [Monticola saxdtilis (Linnaeus). French, merle a roche ; German, Steindrossel, Steinrotel ; Italian, codirossone]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its slate-blue head and throat, and by its bright chesnut under parts. Sexes unlike in coloration. Length 8J in. [215 mm.]. The adult male has the entire head and neck slate-blue, shading into bluish black on the upper back, rump, and scapulars ; middle of the back white, each feather tipped with bluish black ; upper tail-coverts and tail reddish chesnut ; middle tail feathers with the terminal two-thirds blackish brown ; primaries and secondaries blackish brown, tipped with whitish; chest, breast, belly, thighs, under tail-coverts, axillaries, and under wing-coverts uniform chesnut-red ; bill, legs, and feet black. In the female the upper surface is brown, each feather indistinctly barred at the tip with black ; upper tail-coverts and tail as in the male ; under surface of the body pale brownish chesnut, with the subterminal bar of black ; axillaries and under wing-coverts pale chesnut. After the autumn moult the whole plumage is spangled with light chesnut above and with whitish below, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in the mountains of North-west Africa, and also in those of Southern and Central Europe (Spain, Pyrenees, France locally, the Alpine region, some of the Mediterranean islands, locally in Germany, Austro-Hungary, Poland, Italy, the Balkan Peninsula, and the Caucasus). In Asia it breeds from Asia Minor, Lebanon, and Hermon east through Persia and Turkestan to South Siberia, Mongolia, and North China. European birds migrate chiefly to tropical Africa, wintering south to British East Africa, the Gold Coast, etc. ; and Asiatic birds winter in North-west India and China. Has occurred casually on Heligoland, and five times or more in Great Britain (Sussex two, Orkneys two, and Herts one). [F. c. R. j.] WESTERN RUSSET- WHEATEAR [Oendnthe1 hispdnica hispdnica (Linnaeus); Saxicola stapazina (Linnaeus); Saxicola occidentdlis Salvadori. Western blackthroated and blackeared wheatears. French, cul-blanc roux ; German, Schwarzkehliger-steinschmdtzer or Ohren-Steinschindtzer ; Italian, monticJiella\. 1. Description. — Has the same black wing lining as the eastern russet-wheatear, but it differs therefrom in that, after the autumn moult, the light areas are of a bright ochreous yellow, and in spring, when the plumage is abraded, of a pale cream colour, almost white. The sexes differ in coloration. Adult male, length 6 in. [153 mm.]. Feathers at the base of the culmen, the lores, a stripe over the eye, the ear-coverts, wings and scapulars are of a deep black ; the rest of the head, nape, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are of a bright ochre-yellow ; the two central tail feathers black, white on the basal third ; remainder of the tail white, tipped and margined on the inner and outer webs with black ; under surface cream coloured, deepening into ochraceous brown on the breast. Adult female — forehead, lores, and a stripe over the eyes buff; ear-coverts brownish-buff ; upper parts dark buff, with the exception of the rump and 1 Since Volume I. of the British Bird Book was published it has been shown that the generic name Saxicola belongs rightly to the Chats (hitherto generally known as Pratincola), and the correct name of the Wheatears is therefore Oenanthe. CLASSIFIED NOTES 4s:J upper tail-coverts, which are white; tail marked as in the male, but the black portions blackish brown ; chin and throat pale butt' lighter on the abdomen and under tail-coverts, [w. i>. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Formerly the blackthroated and blackeared birds were regarded as distinct species, but it is now generally admitted that they are dimorphisms of one species which is found breeding in the western part of the Mediterranean region (North-west Africa, including Marocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripoli, the Iberian Peninsula, South France, North Italy, and S. Tyrol, Istria, etc.). In winter it migrates southward to Africa, crosses the Sahara, and has been recorded as far south as Senegambia. In the eastern part of the Mediterranean region it is replaced by the next form. About ten occurrences are on record from Great Britain, two only of which are from Scotland, and it has been obtained on Heligoland. [K. c. R. J.] EASTERN RUSSET-WHEATEAR [Oe-ndnthe1 hispdnica xanthcrmelcena (Hemprich and Ehrenberg) ; Saxicola stapazina (Linnseus) nee Vieillot. Eastern blackthroated or black- eared- wheatear]. 1. Description. — Resembles the desert-wheatear, but is at once distinguished from that species by the black under surface of the wings. The sexes differ in coloration. Length 5J in. [140 mm.]. General colour above dusky isabelline; throat, sides of the head and neck, wings, and scapulars deep black; chest, breast, belly, and under tail-coverts white, suffused with brownish buff; middle tail feathers black, white on the basal third; remainder of tail white, tipped with black. During the spring and summer, by abrasion and bleaching, the isabelline tints are more or less completely replaced by white. In the female the general colour of the upper parts is of a uniform brown, darkest on the wings and tail ; feathers of the throat buff, mottled with black ; breast buff, gradually merging into the white of the under parts ; axillaries and under wing-coverts dark brown, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The breeding range of the eastern form extends to the north of the Adriatic (Croatia, Dalmatia, and Montenegro), possibly also in Southern Italy and Sicily, and certainly also in the Balkan Peninsula, South Russia (Crimea), Asia Minor, and Palestine. In the winter it migrates through Italy and North Africa (from Algeria to Egypt) to the Eastern Sudan and Abyssinia. This form has occurred once in England (Sussex, Sept. 1905). [r. c. R. J.] ISABELLINE-WHEATEAR [Oendnthe l isabellina Cretzschmar ; Saxicola isabelllna Rtippell]. 1. Description. — Recognised by the absence of black in its plumage excepting on the terminal half of the tail and on the lores. The sexes are practically alike in coloration, but the female is slightly smaller. General colour of the upper surface of the body sandy brown ; primaries darker ; rump and upper tail-coverts white ; tail feathers white at the base, the middle pair dark brown on the terminal two-thirds ; remaining pairs black on the terminal half; feathers in front of the eye black, a white stripe from the bill to the eye; ear-coverts darkish buff; chin white; remainder of the under parts creamy buff; axillaries and under wing coverts white, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — In Europe this species is only known to breed in the steppes of South- east Russia and the valleys of the Caucasus, but in Asia it nests in Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia, Transcaspia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, the North- West Provinces of India, Tibet, Mongolia, North-west China, and East Siberia. Its winter quarters lie in North-east and East Africa, south to British East Africa, South Arabia, and Western India, but it has occasionally been recorded from Algeria and Tunisia, and four times from England (three Sussex, one Cumberland). [F. c. R. J.] 1 Since Volume I. of the Britiih Bird Book was published it has been shown that the generic name Saxieola belongs rightly to the Chats (hitherto generally known as Pratiruola}, and the correct name of the Wheateart is therefore Oenanthe. 484 RARE BRITISH BIRDS AFRICAN DESERT-WHEATEAR [Oendnthe1 deserti deserti (Temminck); Saxicola deserti Ruppell. Western desert- wheatear]. 1. Description. — Resembles the eastern russet- wheatear, but may be distinguished by having the inner lining of the wings for the most part white. The sexes are unlike in coloration. Length 6 in. [153 mm.]. Adult male — forehead and superciliary stripes whitish buff; crown, nape, back, and scapulars isabelline buff, more brightly coloured on the mantle and scapulars ; rump and upper tail-coverts white, faintly tinged with isabelline; scapulars black; primaries and secondaries black, white on the inner web at the basal two-thirds; tail white on the basal half, black on the terminal half ; throat, lores, ear-coverts, and sides of the neck jet black; remainder of the under surface whitish buff; axillaries black. Adult female — upper parts similar to those of the male, but the wings and tail much lighter, the black pattern being replaced by shades of brown, [w. p. p. and T. w.j 2. Distribution. — The western form of this species breeds in the Sahara, from Cape Blanco east to Egypt, Nubia, and Arabia. It is chiefly or almost entirely sedentary, but one specimen has been obtained in Sicily, and another, probably of this race, in North Italy. One specimen from England is known to be of this form (Yorkshire, 1885), and three other desert- wheatears have been obtained in Great Britain, but not critically examined. [F. c. R. j.] ASIATIC DESERT-WHEATEAR [Oendnthe1 deserti albifrons Brandt. Eastern desert- wheatear]. 1. Description. — Resembles S. deserti, but is somewhat larger and darker. The female differs from the male in having the wings and tail lighter, brown areas replacing black, [w. P. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The breeding-grounds of the eastern race lie in the steppes and deserts of Central Asia, from the Southern Caucasus and the Kirghiz Steppes through East Persia to Zaidam, Dzungaria, Nan-Shan, Ala-Shan, and Tibet south of the Kuku-Nor to E. Baluchistan. On passage it visits Kashmir, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Asia Minor, and winters in India, South Arabia, Socotra, Nubia, and the White Nile. One British specimen at least (Orkneys, 1906) is known to belong to this race, and probably also those recorded from Heligoland. [F. c. E. j.] PIED-WHEATEAR [Oendnthe l pleschdnka (Lepechin)]. 1. Description. — Differs from all the preceding species of Wheatear in having the mantle black. The sexes are unlike in coloration. Adult male, length 6 in. [153 mm.]. Head, nape, and hind-neck white, washed all over with brownish grey giving a soiled appearance ; lores, chin, throat, sides of the neck and ear-coverts, as well as the wings and scapulars, black, slightly fringed with buff; rump and upper tail-coverts white; middle tail feathers black, white for the basal third ; remainder of the tail feathers white, tipped with black, which colour extends half way up the outer web of the outermost tail feather ; remainder of the under surface white, suffused with buff. Adult female marked as in the male, but the black replaced by brown, otherwise similar, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — From the Dobrogea in East Roumania through South Russia to the Crimea and Caucasia in Europe ; in Asia it also breeds from Transcaspia, Turkestan, and Persia east through Afghanistan, Baluchistan, the North- West Provinces and Kashmir to West Tibet, Mongolia, North China, and South-eastern Siberia. Represented by a local race in Cyprus. On migration it has occurred in North-east Africa and Arabia, and has been met with as a casual 1 Since Volume I. of the British Bird Book was published it has been shown that the generic name Saxicola belongs rightly to the Chats (hitherto generally known as Pratincola), and the correct name of the Wheatears is therefore Oenanthe. CLASSIFIED NOTES 485 on Heligoland, once on the Isle of May in Scotland (1909), in Italy, and apparently in Algeria. It is replaced by a local breeding form in Cyprus, which is also migratory. [F. c. R. J.] BLACK- WEZA1EAR [Oeiidnthe1 leucAra (GmeYm). Blackchat. French, traquet noir ; Italian, monachella ncra]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its almost entirely black plumage. The sexes differ in coloration, and the female is slightly smaller. Length? in. [178 mm.]. The deep brownish black hue of the plumage is relieved only by the upper and under tail-coverts, and the tail, which are white, but the middle pair of tail feathers have only the basal half white, and the terminal half black ; the remainder is pure white, with a subterminal bar of black about a quarter of an inch wide at the tip, fringed with white ; iris dark brown ; bill and feet black. The female has the general colour of the upper and under parts smoke-brown, otherwise she resembles the male. [w. i\ p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The breeding-grounds of this chat are confined to the hilly districts of the Iberian Peninsula, the south of France, and the Italian Riviera. It appears also to breed in Sicily, and wanders occasionally to Italy. Two specimens have been obtained in England (Sussex, 1909), and one observed on Fair Island in 1912. In North-west Africa it is replaced by allied forms. [F. c. R. J.] SIBERIAN-STONECHAT [Saxicola1 torqudta indica (Blyth); Pratincola maura (Pallas). Indian stonechat. 1. Description. — Distinguished from the stonechat by its darker upper surface and in having the upper tail-coverts uniform pure white. The sexes differ in coloration. Length 5 in. [127 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts of the body black, some of the feathers having dusky fringes ; scapulars, outer webs of the secondaries, a patch on the sides of the neck, and the upper tail-coverts pure white; throat black; chest, upper breast, and sides of body uniform dark chesnut ; middle of the belly and under tail-coverts white ; axillaries white, black at the base ; wings and tail black. In the female the general colour above is of a blackish brown, all the feathers fringed with rufous ; upper tail-coverts white ; wings and tail as in the male, but browner ; under surface of the body chesnut-buff, excepting the under tail-coverts, which are white, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The breeding-grounds of this race of stonechat lie mainly in Western Siberia from the Petschora valley and the Southern Urals eastward through Russian Turkestan, Transcaspia, Tian-Shan, Kashmir, and the Western Himalayas, apparently as far as Sikkim. Its chief winter quarters lie in India, but it has been once recorded from England (Norfolk, 1904). Over the greater part of Europe from Southern Sweden to the Mediterranean and North-west Africa, and also in the Caucasus, it is replaced by allied forms which winter in Africa. [F. c. R. J.] LAPLAND-BLUETHROAT [Cyanecula svecica avecica (Linnaeus). German, Schwedisches or Tundra-Blaukehlchen]. 1. Description. — Distinguished from the whitespotted-bluethroat by having the middle of the throat light chesnut surrounded with blue. The sexes are unlike in coloration. Adult male, length 4£ in. [114 mm.]. Upper surface greyish brown, a well-defined white super- cilium ; cheeks, throat, and upper chest rich ultramarine-blue, with a wide transverse bar of 1 Since Volume I. of the British Bird Book was published it has been shown that the generic name Saxicola belongs rightly to the Chats (hitherto generally known as Pratincola), and the correct name of the Wheatears is therefore Oenanthe. VOL. IV. 3 Q 486 BARE BRITISH BIRDS reddish chesnut ; remainder of the under surface yellowish white ; tail chesnut for the basal half, black for the terminal half. The adult female is paler, with the under parts buffy white, with a blackish brown band across the chest. Some old females attain blue feathers on the throat, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This race of bluethroat breeds in Sweden, Lapland, North Russia, and the tundra of West Siberia east to lat. 66° N. on the river Yenisei. It winters in North-east Africa and occasionally in Western India, visiting Eastern Europe and Transcaspia on migration. Has occurred once on the Isle of May, in September 1909. [F. c. R. j.] WHITESPOTTED-BLUETHROAT [Cyanecula svecica cyanecula (Wolf); Cyanecula wolfi Brehm. French, fauvette gorge-bleue ; German, weiss-sterniges Blaukehlchen ; Italian, pett'azzuro a macchia bianco], 1. Description. — Differs from the redspotted-bluethroat only in having the chesnut patch on the throat replaced by one of silvery white, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The breeding-grounds of this race are situated in Middle Europe, includ- ing France, the Low Countries, Germany, the Russian Baltic Provinces to St. Petersburg, Poland, and West Russia, Austro-Hungary, locally in Switzerland, and apparently in small numbers in North Italy. In South Russia and Central Asia it is replaced by allied forms. The main stream of migration passes through Western Europe (S. France, Italy, and the Iberian Peninsula) to North-west Africa, but some birds also migrate to North-east Africa. Seven males have been recorded from Great Britain (three Sussex, one Kent, one Yorks, and two from Fair Island). [F. c. R. J.] NORTHERN-NIGHTINGALE [Luscinia lusdnia (Linnaeus). Thrush-nightingale. French, rossignol progne ; German, Sprosser ; Italian, rusignolo inagyiore]. 1. Description. — Differs chiefly from the common-nightingale in having a short first primary which does not reach to the end of the wing-coverts, whereas in the common- nightingale it reaches a quarter of an inch [6 mm.]. The sexes are alike in size and coloration. Length 6J in. [165 mm.]. It is, however, larger than the common species, less rufous in colour, and has the sides of the throat and chest indistinctly and obscurely spotted, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds from the southern half of Sweden, Southern Finland and Denmark to the Baltic coasts of Germany and the eastern provinces of that country, Russia east to the Urals and south to the Crimea and Caucasus, Galizia and Transylvania, also locally in Roumania. In Asia its breeding range extends east to the Altai. Its winter quarters lie in East Africa, and it has been recorded south to German East Africa and the Zambesi. Casual in Western Europe, and has been recorded twice (or possibly three times) from Great Britain (Fair Island, 1911 ; Kent, 1904; and possibly Norfolk, 1845). [F. c. R. J.] THE WARBLERS1 [ORDER: Passeriformes. FAMILY: Turdidce. SUBFAMILY: Sylviince] [SiBERiAN-RuBYTHROAT [Luscinia calliope (Pallas)]. — Is said to have been observed in October 1900 in Kent, but the evidence is inconclusive. It breeds in Siberia and North-eastern Asia, wintering in India, China, and the Philippines, and has occurred casually in S. France and Italy as well as in Russia. [F. c. R. J.] ] 1 Vol. ii. p. 1. CLASSIFIED NOTES 487 SARDINIAN-WARBLER [#///'''" melanocephala (Gmelin). French, fauvette melanocephale ; German, whwarzkopfige Grasmiicke ; Italian, occhicotto]. 1. Description. — Resembles the blackcap in possessing a black head, but may be recognised from that species at a glance by its white throat and rounded black and white tail. The sexes are unlike in coloration. Length 5J in. [139 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts slate-grey shading into black on the head, neck, and ear-coverts ; innermost secondaries broadly fringed with rufous ; two middle pairs of tail feathers black, fringed for their entire length with slate-grey ; remaining tail feathers tipped with white, the outermost pair having the terminal half white ; under surface of the body white, shaded with greyish white on the chest and sides of the body. The adult female has the upper parts brownish slate, secondaries fringed with tawny buff; under parts white, washed with isabelline on the chest and sides of the body. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — In Europe this species breeds in S. France, the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Isles, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Italy, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Turkey, Greece, Crete, and the Archipelago. In Asia it is found in Asia Minor, but is replaced by an allied race in Syria. It also nests in North-west Africa (Marocco to Tripoli), but the race from the Western Canaries is distinct, though birds from the eastern islands do not differ from European speci- mens. The winter quarters of the species lie mainly in S. Algeria, Tunisia, and the Sahara, also in smaller numbers in Palestine and the Nile valley to Nubia. Definitely recorded once from England (Sussex, June 1907). [F. c. H. J.] ORPHEAN-WARBLER [Xijh-id orphea Temminck.1 French, fauvette orphe'e; German, Sangergrasmiiclce, Orpheussanger ; Italian, bigia grossa], 1. Description. — Differs from the Sardinian-warbler by its much larger size, and from the blackcap, which it closely resembles, by having the ear-coverts black like the head, whereas in the latter species the ear-coverts are whitish. The sexes differ in coloration. Length 6£ in. [165 mm.]. The general colour of the male, as to the upper surface, is of a slate-grey ; the head, including the ear-coverts, black — very sharply defined from the whitethroat ; wings like the back in coloration ; middle tail feathers black ; next pairs black tipped with white, the outermost having the outer web white ; under surface of body white, tinged on the chest with greyish buff and more strongly so on the sides of the body and flanks. The adult female has the upper parts brownish grey, the head a trifle darker and browner, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in North-west Africa from Marocco to Tripoli, and South-western Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula, the greater part of France, Switzerland, and in small numbers north to Luxemburg, Italy, and Sicily. From Dalmatia and Montenegro its range extends southward to Greece, and in Asia Minor, Palestine, Persia, Afghanistan, and Turkestan it is replaced by an allied race. The winter quarters of the western form lie in Africa, prob- ably in the Sahara or the tropical west ; while the eastern form ranges south to SomalUand, Arabia, and India. Four specimens have been taken in England (two Sussex, one each Middlesex and Yorks), where there is a suspicion that it may have bred. [F. c. R. j.] BARRED-WARBLER [Sylvia nisdria (Bechstein). French, babillarde 6perviere; German, Sperbergrasmiicke ; Italian, bigia padovana]. 1. Description. — Has the upper and under tail-coverts barred, and the bastard primary extremely short and not reaching to the end of the coverts. The sexes are alike, except that the female is browner and less barred below. Length 6 in. [153 mm.]. Upper sur- face leaden grey ; lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and scapulars tipped with white, giving 1 Strictly Sylvia hortensit (Gmelin), but this name has for many years been used for the garden-warbler. 488 RARE BRITISH BIRDS these parts a barred appearance ; primaries and secondaries smoke-brown, narrowly fringed on the outer web with white; tail like the back in colour, tipped and margined on the outer web with white ; under surface of the body, including the sides and flanks, white, subterminally barred with crescentic bands of dark grey ; iris pale yellow ; bill dark horn, yellowish at the base of the lower mandible ; legs horn-colour. The young birds lack the barring, and are grey above and white below ; breast and flanks tinged with greyish buff. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Widely distributed in the breeding season in Europe, from Southern Sweden and the south shore of the Gulf of Finland east to the Urals and south to the Black Sea, as well as in Denmark, Germany, Austro-Hungary, North Italy, Roumania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Dalmatia. In Asia east to the Tian Shan it is replaced by a closely allied form. The winter quarters of the European race lie in North-east Africa. In the British Isles nearly fifty occurrences are on record, of which only three are from Ireland. [F. c. R. j.] SUBALPINE-WARBLER [Sylvia cantillans Pallas; Sylvia subalpina Bonelli. French babillarde subalpine ; German, weissbartige Strauchsdnger ; Italian, sterpazzolina]. 1. Description. — Has the chin, throat, and upper chest reddish chesnut. The sexes differ in coloration. Length 5 in. [127 mm.]. The male has the upper surface of the body, sides of the face and lores bluish grey ; wings blackish brown with lighter margins ; tail blackish brown, the outermost pair for the greater part white, the second and third outermost pairs with an elongated patch of white at the tip, a clearly defined white moustached streak ; iris brown ; eyelids reddish ; legs and toes brown. The female has the upper parts sandy brown and the under surface white, tinged with light buff on the chest and sides of the body ; wings and tail as in the male. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The western form of this species breeds in Sardinia and Corsica, locally in Italy, Sicily, the Riviera, Spain, and Portugal. In the Eastern Mediterranean and in North- west Africa it is replaced by allied races. As a rule it is sedentary or only subject to local movements, and it is extraordinary that specimens should have been obtained on St. Kilda (June 1894) and Fair Island (May 1908). [F. c. R. j.] YELLOWBROWED-WARBLER [Phylloscopus superciliosus (Gmelin)]. German, Gelbbrauiger- Laubsanger]. 1. Description. — Distinguished by having a double bar of white across the wings. The sexes are alike, except that the female is a trifle duller. Length 4 in. [102 mm.]. Head, back, and scapulars greenish olive, becoming brighter on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; primaries and secondaries ash-brown, margined on the outer web with yellowish olive; greater and median wing-coverts tipped with yellowish white, forming a double wing-bar ; tail feathers ash- brown, margined on the outer web with yellowish olive, a well-defined superciliary stripe of golden yellow ; cheeks yellow-olive, shaded with darker olive ; chin, throat, chest, and belly white, tinged with yellow, darkest on the sides of the body and flanks ; iris dark brown ; bill dark brown ; legs light brown. The adults after the autumn moult have the upper parts brighter and greener, and the superciliary stripe and wing-bars much deeper yellow, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in Siberia from the Ob valley east to the Sea of Okhotsk and north almost to the tundra bordering on the Arctic Ocean. Southward its breeding range extends to Lake Baikal, Transbaikalia, Ussuria, etc. Its principal winter quarters lie in S. China, Burma, Assam, and Bengal, but it frequently wanders to Europe, and has been recorded from the British Isles (about sixty), Heligoland (eighty), Holland, Italy, Austria, and Germany, as well as Russia. It is replaced by an allied race on the Tian Shan, Himalayas, etc., which winters in India. [F. c. R. J.] CLASSIFIED NOTES 489 PALLAS' WILLOW-WARBLER (I'hyllwojtua prorfyulus (Pallas). German, Goldhahnclien- 1. Description. — Recognised by a double wing-bar and a broad and well-defined golden yellow streak down the middle of the crown. The sexes are alike, excepting that the female is slightly duller in coloration. Length 3J in. [95 ram.]. General colour of the upper surface olive-green, darkest on the head, a broad hand down the middle of the head, a wide eyebrow and a streak below the eye golden yellow; rump primrose-yellow; primary flight-feathers blackish brown, margined on the outer web with olive-yellow ; greater and median wing-coverts widely tipped with golden yellow, forming two conspicuous wing-bars ; cheeks and sides of the face bright yellow ; under surface white, suffused with yellow, especially on the chin, sides of the body, and under toil-coverts : axillarics and under wing-coverts yellow, fw. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Breeds in Siberia from the Lena to the Pacific Ocean and south to the Stanovoi Mountains, while a closely allied race nests in the mountain forests of the Himalayas from Hazara and Kashmir to Butan. The greater part of this species migrates to South China, but some have been recorded from Orenburg (Russia), Heligoland, Dalmatia, and once in England (Norfolk, October 1896). [F. c. R. .r.] GREENISH WILLOW- WARBLER [Phyllfocopua viriddnus Blyth]. 1. Description. — Recognised by having only one wing-bar. The sexes are alike in colora- tion, except that the female is duller. Length 4 in. [102 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts greenish olive, slightly paler on the rump, a well-marked pale yellow eyebrow stripe; wings blackish brown, bordered on the outer web with yellow, the greater coverts being tipped with yellowish white, forming a wing-bar ; tail ash-brown, narrowly edged with yellow on the outer web. General colour of the under surface white, washed with yellow ; axillarics, under wing-coverts, and thighs primrose-yellow. The third, fourth, and fifth primaries longest, and the second primary is intermediate in length between the seventh and eighth, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This species is known to breed in the Russian Baltic Provinces (and probably also in North-east Russia), as well as from Central Russia to Western Siberia as far as the Altai range, parts of Northern Turkestan, and possibly even to Gilgit and Kashmir. It is replaced by other races in East Siberia, and from the Caucasus to Afghanistan. The normal winter quarters lie in the Indian Peninsula, but the eastern race winters in Pegu, the Malay Peninsula, Cochin China, etc. It has occurred three times on Heligoland and once in England (Lines., September 1896). [F. c. R. J.] SIBERIAN-CHIFFCHAFF [Phylldacopus collybita tristis Blyth. German, sibirischer Laubsiinger]. 1. Description. — Differs from the above in having no yellow on the under parts, excepting on the axillaries. Length 5 in. [127 mm.]. General colour above ash-brown, suffused with yellow, especially on the rump, an indistinct dull yellowish white eyebrow stripe ; wings ash- brown, slightly margined on the outer web with yellowish green ; tail similar to the wings ; general colour of the under surface white, tinged with buff, especially on the sides of the face and sides of the body; the third and fourth primaries are the longest; second primary equal to the seventh or slightly shorter, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — In Europe this race is only known to breed in North-east Russia from the Petschora delta eastward, and south to the Middle Ural range. In Asia its breeding range extends from Orenburg through Western Siberia and the Altai range east to Lake Baikal. In winter it migrates through Turkestan to Mesopotamia and the northern part of India. Has 490 RARE BRITISH BIRDS been obtained on Heligoland, and occurs regularly in small numbers in autumn on Fair Island, and occasionally in other parts of Scotland. [F. c. R. J.] SCANDINAVIAN-CHIFFCHAFF [Phylloscopus collijbita abietinus (Nilsson)]. 1. Description. — Resembles the common-chiffchaff, but is slightly larger and a little paler in coloration, the wing measuring 58 mm. against 55 of the common-chiffchaff. [w. p. p. and T. w.J 2. Distribution. — The breeding limits of this race are imperfectly known at present, but it apparently breeds in Scandinavia, probably over a considerable part of Eastern Germany, Austro- Hungary, Bosnia and Montenegro, and Russia south to the Caucasus and north to about lat. 65°. Its chief winter quarters lie in South-eastern Europe, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, and North- east Africa, but it seems to occur occasionally in West Europe, and has once been recorded from the Isle of Wight (April 1907) and regularly from Fair Island on both passages. [F. c. E. j.] EVERSMANN'S WARBLER [Phylloscopus borealis (Blasius). German, nordiscker Laubsdnger]. 1. Description. — -Differs from the above-mentioned species in having two wing-bars. Length 4J in. [112 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts dull olive-green, a well-defined eyebrow of yellowish white extending to the back of the head ; median and greater wing- coverts tipped with greyish white, forming two wing-bars • wings and tail ash-brown, narrowly margined with olive-green ; under surface of the body white, suffused with pale yellow, darkest on the breast and sides of the body; axillaries and under wing-coverts pale yellow ; the third and fourth primary are longest, second primary intermediate in length between the fifth and sixth, [w. P. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This species is confined in Europe during the breeding season to a small district of Norway (Finmark) and Northern Russia, including the Kola Peninsula, the Archangel government, the Petschora valley, and the northern part of the Perm government. In Asia it ranges through Siberia east to Kamtschatka, Corea, and Ussuria. It migrates through Japan and China, wintering in the Malay Peninsula and part of the Malay Archipelago as far as Flores, Sumba, and the S. Moluccas. Has occurred twice in Scotland (Sule Skerry, Orkneys, September 1902, and Fair Island, September 1908). [F. c. R. J.] [AMERICAN RUBYCROWNED-KINGLET [Regulus calendula (Linnaeus)]. — Two are said to have been shot in Scotland, but the records are not sufficiently authenticated for insertion in the British list. [F. c. R. J.] ] RUFOUS -WARBLER [Agrobdtes galactotes galactotes (Temminck) ; Aedon galactodes (Tem- ininck). German, rostfarbiger Sanger ; Italian, rusignolo d' Africa]. 1. Description. — Recognised by the chesnut-coloured tail, barred at the tip with white and black. The sexes are alike in size and coloration. Length 6J in. [165 mm.]. General colour of the upper surface of the body rich sandy buff, a well-defined white eyebrow reaching from the nostrils to the hinder part of the crown ; lores blackish brown ; primaries and secondaries ash-brown, margined on the outer web with greyish buff; tail feathers rich chesnut, broadly barred at the tip with white and submarginally with black ; under surface of the body bumsh white, darkest on the chest and sides of the body ; axillaries and under wing- coverts brownish buff; legs, feet, and claws horn colour, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — The western race of this species breeds in North Africa from Marocco to Egypt, and also in Palestine and the Iberian Peninsula, but chiefly in the south and east of the latter. It is migratory and visits the Sahara, but its winter quarters are not known, though CLASSIFIED NOTES 491 probably it stays in some of the oases. It occurs in Italy from time to time, and has been recorded three times from England (Devon two and Sussex one) and once from Ireland. In Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula it is replaced by an allied form, and other races are met with in East Africa and West Asia. [F. c. R. J.] BROWNBACKED-WARBLER [Agrobdtes galactotes syrlacus (Hemprich and Ehrenberg). German, oeatlicher Heckensanycr ; Italian, rusignolo levantino]. 1. Description. — Closely resembles the above, but the upper parts are greyish brown instead of chesnut, and the middle tail feathers are coloured like the back. Length 6i in. [165 mm.]. General colour of the upper surface of the body, including the middle pair of tail feathers, greyish brown; primaries and secondaries greyish brown, narrowly margined with whitish ; a well-marked white eyebrow, reaching from the lores to the nape ; under surface of the body greyish white, darkest on the chest and sides of the body ; axillaries and under wing-coverts pale isabelline; upper mandible brown, lower mandible horn-colour; legs, feet, and claw horn- colour, [w. i>. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This race inhabits the Balkan Peninsula from South Dalinatia and South Herzegovina to Greece, the Ionian Isles, and the islands of the Archipelago. In Asia it is also found in Asia Minor, and from the Lebanon northward in Syria. It winters in South Arabia, North Somaliland, and occasionally in East Africa. It has been recorded from Italy, and twice from England (Kent, 1907 ; Sussex, 1910). [F. c. R. J.] RADDE'S BUSH-WARBLER [Herbivtcula schwdrzi (Radde) ; Liu;cini6la schwdrzi (Radde)J. 1. Description. — Distinguished by its long first (outermost) primary, which is half as long as the penultimate long primary. The sexes are alike in coloration. Length 5 in. [127 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts olive-brown, purer olive on the lower back and rump ; a well- marked yellow eyebrow from the lores to the nape ; wings and tail ash-brown, margined on the outer web with olive-green ; under surface of the body yellowish white, most strongly marked on the chest and sides of the body; under tail-coverts yellowish buff'; axillaries and under wing-coverts yellowish buff; legs, feet, and claws pale horn-colour. After the autumn moult the vipper parts become tawny olive, and the under parts are more or less suffused with tawny buff. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This species breeds from Kultuk on Lake Baikal to Ussuria and the island of Saghalien, but there is some evidence that it is also found in the nesting season farther westward (between Irkutsk and Tomsk). It winters in South China, Pegu, and Tenas- serim, and has once been recorded from England (Lines., October 1898). [F. c. R. j.] ICTERINE- WARBLER [Hypoldia icterina (Vieillot). French, bee fin d poitrine jaune ; German, Gartenspotter ; Italian, canapino maggiore]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its yellow upper and under parts. The sexes are alike except that the female is rather less brightly coloured. Length 5£ in. [139 mm.]. Upper surface of the body dull olive-yellow ; wings and tail ash-brown, margined on the outer web with olive-yellow; lores, feathers round the eye, and the entire under parts pale primrose- yellow, darkest on the sides of the body ; axillaries and under wing-coverts yellowish white ; the third primary longest, the second primary intermediate between the fourth and fifth. After the autumn moult the olive-yellow of the upper parts is slightly greyer, and the under surface paler, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Generally distributed over the greater part of the European continent in the breeding season, except in Norway beyond lat. 67 £°, Sweden north of about lat. 63°, and Northern Finland and Russia from about 57° in the Urals. It becomes scarce in South Russia, 492 RARE BRITISH BIRDS and is absent from the Balkan Peninsula south of Bulgaria, the north-west and west of France, and the Iberian Peninsula. It probably also breeds in North-west Africa, and either this or the next species has bred occasionally in the south of England. Its winter quarters lie in Tropical Africa, and over twenty specimens have been obtained in the British Isles, fourteen from the south and east coasts of England, ten from Fair Island and Lerwick, and one from Ireland. 4. Nest and Eggs. — The usual site for the nest is in the fork of a shrub or hedge, between four and eight feet from the ground, occasionally much higher, and in a tree. It is neatly built of down, grasses, wool, etc., interwoven with bark strips, fibre, and other materials, and lined with grasses, roots, and hair, with sometimes a few feathers. The eggs are usually 4 or 5, sometimes 6 in number, and have a dull rosy ground, sparingly spotted and streaked with black. Average size of 142 eggs, -72x-52 in. [18-3 x 13-4 mm.]. Incubation is performed by both sexes, the male sitting in the afternoon (Naumann), and lasts 13 days. In Middle Europe eggs can be found from the end of May to mid- June, and in Scandinavia during the latter half of June. Probably only one brood is reared in the season as a rule. [F. c. R. J.] MELODIOUS- WARBLER [Hypoldis polyglotta (Vieillot). Polyglot- warbler, melodious willow- warbler. French, fauvette polyglotte ; German, Sdnger-Laubvogel ; Italian, cvmapino}. 1. Description. — Resembles the icterine-warbler in size and coloration, but may be distinguished from that species by the size and length of the bastard primary, which is more than half an inch long, and extends for more than half its length beyond the primary coverts, whereas in the icterine-warbler it is shorter than the primary coverts by a quarter of an inch. The second primary generally intermediate in length between the sixth and seventh, [w. p. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — There is reason to believe that this species has bred occasionally in the south of England (Sussex, Surrey, etc.), but owing to the difficulty of distinguishing it from the preceding species, the evidence is not wholly satisfactory. On the Continent its range is much more restricted, and it is only known to breed in France (excepting only the north-eastern departments), and locally on the west side of Italy, as well as in Spain and Portugal, except north of the Cantabrian Mountains. It also nests in North-west Africa from Tunisia to Marocco as far as the Rio de Oro. Its winter quarters lie in western Tropical Africa (Senegambia and Upper Guinea), and it has been recorded from Belgium, Heligoland, and Austro-Hungary, as well as four times at least from England and Ireland (Sussex two, Cornwall, and Co. Cork). [F. c. R. J.] 4. Nest and Eggs. — The nest is generally built in the fork of some bush, from three to five feet from the ground, and is neatly and compactly built of dead grasses and vegetable down, with a dead leaf or so woven in, and is lined with down and a few roots, hairs, or feathers. The eggs are 4 or 5, rarely 6 in number, generally rather a deeper rose-red than those of the icterine, dull in texture, and spotted and streaked with black. Average size of 100 eggs, •69x'51 in. [17'7xl3-2 mm.]. Details as to incubation seem to be lacking, but the period probably differs little from that of the icterine. In Spain the eggs may be found from mid-May onward as a rule, and apparently two broods are reared, as fresh eggs may be found about the third week of June. [F. c. R. J.] GREAT REED- WARBLER [Acroctphalus arundindceus (Limueus). French, rousserolle; German, Drosselrohrsanger, grosser Rohrspatz ; Italian, cannareccione]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its very large size. Length 7| in. [190 mm.]. Sexes alike. General colour of the upper surface rufous brown, becoming paler on the rump and upper tail- coverts ; primaries, secondaries, and tail feathers blackish brown, margined on the outer web with CLASSIFIED NOTES 493 olive-brown ; a narrow eyebrow of yellowish white from the lores to behind the eye ; chin and throat pale yellowish white ; breast, sides of the body, thighs, under wing- coverts and axillaries yellowish butt'; upper mandible blackish brown ; under mandible, legs, and feet horn-colour; second primary equal to the third, which is the longest, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This species breeds on the Continent in suitable localities south of the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland, and about lat. 57° in the Urals, but is scarce in Denmark. Southward its range extends to the Mediterranean, and it is known to breed in North-west Africa, but it is not known to nest in Corsica and Sardinia or in the south of the Balkan Peninsula. In Asia it nests in Asia Minor, Palestine, and West Siberia. In winter it migrates to Africa, where it has been met with as far south as Loango, the Transvaal, and Natal, passing through Persia and S. Arabia on migration, and has been recorded about ten times from England. In Eastern Asia it is replaced by allied forms. [F. c. R. j.] BLYTH'S REED-WARBLER [Acrocephcdus dumettrum, Blyth]. 1. Description. — Distinguished from the great reed-warbler by its much smaller size. Length 5 in. [127 mm.]. Sexes alike. General colour of the upper surface of the body dull olive-brown ; wings and tail blackish brown, margined on the outer web with olive-green ; an ill-defined whitish eyebrow ; throat whitish, gradually merging into the yellowish buff of the chest and sides of the body ; middle of the belly and abdomen whitish buff; axillaries and under wing-coverts yellowish buff ; third and fourth primaries equal and longest ; second primary shorter than the fifth. After the autumn moult the whole of the under parts are suffused with buff. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — In Europe this species is only known to breed in Russia, north probably to Archangel, west to St. Petersburg, and south to Novgorod, Tver, Moscow and Tula, and east to Orenburg. In Asia it is widely distributed, and breeds in W. Siberia, Transcaspia, Turkestan, Bokhara, the Altai range, and the Himalayas. Its normal winter quarters lie in India south to Ceylon and Pegu, and seven specimens have been recorded from England and Scotland (Yorks. one, Holy Island one, and five or six from Fair Island). [F. c. R. j.] CETTI'S WARBLER [Ctitia cetti (Marmora). French, bouscarle; German, Cetti's Rohrsdnger ; Italian, rusiynolo difiumi]. 1. Description. — Recognised by having only ten feathers in its tail. Sexes alike, excepting that the female is slightly smaller. Length 5 in. [127 mm.]. General colour of the upper surface of the body reddish brown, brightest on the rump ; a whitish eyebrow, extending from the base of the bill to behind the eye ; wings and tail blackish brown, margined on the outer web by reddish brown ; chin, throat, middle of breast, and abdomen white ; sides of the head and sides of the chest and body reddish brown ; under tail-coverts reddish brown, fringed with whitish, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Resident in the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Isles, South France, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Italy (except in the north), the Balkan Peninsula north to Dalmatia and Roumania, the Archipelago, Crete, Cyprus, Asia Minor, Palestine, and probably also in South Russia. It also breeds in North-west Africa (Marocco to Algeria), but from the Kirghiz Steppes, Turkestan, and Transcaspia to Eastern Persia it is replaced by an allied race, which is also found wintering in India. Has twice been recorded from England (Sussex, 1904 and 1906). [F. c. R. J.] PALLAS'S GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER [Locustella certhiola (Pallas)]. 1. Description. — Recognised by its striped upper plumage and by the black and white tips to the tail. Sexes alike. Length 6 J in. [165 mm.]. General colour of the upper surface of VOL. IV. 3 R 494 RARE BRITISH BIRDS the body reddish brown, -heavily streaked on the head, neck, and mantle with brownish black; rump unspotted ; primaries and secondaries lighter than the back ; tail reddish brown, obscurely banded with black ; tips of tail white, submarginally banded with blackish brown ; under surface of the body whitish, strongly washed with buff on the chest, sides of the body, thighs, and under tail-coverts, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This species breeds in Siberia from the Tomsk government and the Yenisei to the Altai range, and east to the river Amur, Ussuria, and the Pacific Ocean. Its winter quarters lie in India south to Ceylon and the Andamans, Burma, the Great Sunda Isles, and the Natuna group. It has once been recorded from Heligoland and once from Ireland, (Rockabill Light, Co. Dublin, 28th September 1908). [F. c. R. j.] TEMMINCK'S GRASSHOPPER- WARBLER [Locustella lanceoldta (Temminck). Lanceolated- warbler]. 1. Description. — Distinguished by having both the upper and under parts streaked and the tail uniform. Sexes alike. Length 5£ in. [140 mm.]. General coloration of the upper parts reddish brown, each feather having a large blackish brown spot, producing a streaked appearance; wings and tail greyish brown, margined on the outer web with olive-brown ; under surface of the body whitish, streaked especially on the chest and sides of the body with blackish brown ; sides of the body and under tail-coverts washed with buff. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — Only recorded in Europe as breeding from the Onega river in North Russia, by Meves, up to the present, but has probably been overlooked. In Asia Johansen has recently recorded it from the Tomsk government, and from Kultuk it breeds east to Kamts- chatka, and on the Kuriles, North Yezo, and Saghalien. On migration it occurs in Japan and China, wintering in India, Burma, the Andaman Isles, Hainan, Borneo. Has been recorded once from Dalmatia, once from Heligoland, and three times from Great Britain (Lines. 1909, Fair Island 1908, and Orkneys 1910), all on autumn migration. [F. c. R. J.] THE ACCENTORS1 [ORDER : Passeriform.es. FAMILY : Accentoridcv] ALPINE-ACCENTOR [Accentor colldris (Scopoli); Prunella colldris (Scopoli). French, fauvette des Alpes; German, Alpenbraunelle ; Italian, sordone]. 1. Description. — Distinguished from the common-hedgesparrow (vol. ii. p. 95) by its larger size and its spotted throat and tail. Length 6| in. [165 mm.]. Sexes alike. General colour of the upper parts whitish grey, all the feathers having a broad brownish black shaft-stripe, pro- ducing a streaked appearance ; primaries brownish ash ; secondaries similarly coloured but marked on the outer web with whitish ; coverts brownish black, tipped with white on their outer webs ; throat white, each feather narrowly barred at the tip with black ; remainder of the under parts ash-grey ; sides of the breast, belly, and flanks chesnut, margined with grey ; under tail-coverts brownish black, broadly margined with white; iris brown; bill blackish brown, yellowish at the base ; legs and feet cinnamon-brown ; claws black, [w. p. P. and T. w.] 2. Distribution. — This species breeds in the Alpine zone of the great mountain ranges of Central and South-western Europe, above the tree limit, from the Iberian Peninsula and the Pyrenees to the Alps, Corsica, probably also Sardinia, the Apennines, Sicily, the Carpathians, and the Riesengebirge. In the Balkan Peninsula, Caucasus, and Asia Minor, as well as in various parts of temperate Asia, it is replaced by allied races. Though not strictly migratory, it descends to lower elevations in the winter, and wanders to some extent. As a casual visitor it has been recorded from Belgium, Heligoland, and about twenty times in Great Britain, 1 Vol. ii. p. 95. CLASSIFIED NOTES 495 chiefly from the southern counties of England, once from Wales, and once from Scotland (Fair Island). [F. c. R. j.] THE TITS1 [ORDER: Passer if omnea. FAMILY: Par Idee] NORTHERN LONGTAILED-TIT \